Dylan stood in front of the Apple Pear tree, staying silent and basking in its beauty. It had been a while since he'd arrived here in Equestria. He thought back to the days with his mother. They were times he'd always cherish, even if they weren't always pleasant.

Over time, Dylan had noticed the drastic differences between the Apple parents and his parents' stories. His mother and his pa were from two rival families, just like Bright Mac and Pear Butter, but that's where the similarities ended. Soon after they had gotten hitched, his pa had turned more and more abusive over the following months. Sure, it died down a bit while Dylan's mother was pregnant, but after he had been born, his pa had gone back into the regular routine.

Dylan looked at the Apple Pear tree and placed a hoof on the base of it, feeling the twisted wood surface. "I bet you guys never fought," he said to the tree. It stayed silent, obviously. Dylan shook his head. "I'm so crazy, I'm talkin' to dolls and trees."

"Whatcha say, Dylan?" a voice asked from seemingly nowhere, making Dylan jump. He looked behind him to see a concerned Applejack. "Y'all doin' alright?"

"Yeah," Dylan replied. "Just thinkin', that's all." He didn't want to tell Applejack about the events from several nights ago with his doll. It would only make her worry.

Applejack shook her head with a smile. "If you say so. By the way, I've been wantin' to ask ya somethin'."

Dylan raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Do ya blame me? For wanting to make my parents' dreams come true?" Applejack removed her hat and held it to her chest, as if in respect to those long gone.

"I don't rightly know," Dylan answered. He really didn't. He couldn't really understand having dreams unfulfilled. Did his mother have dreams? Dreams of running away and never coming back? "I mean... I guess I don't." He looked at the hat Applejack held. "I don't know if we can trust Quick Stacks, though. He gives me this... vibe."

Silence filled the air. It was unnerving, making both Dylan and Applejack uncomfortable. After what seemed to be a long time, Applejack asked, "Do you think we should take our business elsewhere? There are plenty of other business ponies in Fillydelphia."

Dylan was slightly surprised at Applejack's sudden change in nature. "It feels like it'd take a long time. At least with Quick Stacks, you'd have a better chance, and it'd be faster... Are you sure?"

Applejack looked at the Apple Pear tree and smiled softly. "Well, I talked to Granny alone after she was done tellin' ya her story, and I just can't do anything with a clear conscience when she's still wary. She's never steered us wrong before..." she looked back to Dylan with tear-filled eyes. "I think maybe their dreams can wait a bit. They've waited this long." Her legs shook a little. "I'm guessin' I see somethin' a lil shady with him, too."

Dylan walked over to Applejack and pulled her into a hug, his face buried into her neck. "I'm sorry..."

Applejack patted Dylan's back, tears rolling down her cheek. "It's fine. I've already got others willin' to come over and discuss business with us. Maybe Granny will like them better?"

Dylan nodded into Applejack's chest with a muffled "Maybe..." He pulled away from the warm fur and embraced the cool autumn air. "It's been a while since Winter Wrap Up. Now I'm curious. What's the next event?"

"Well, during the whole Quick Stacks incident, we missed the Summer Sun Celebration, and now it's autumn, so... I reckon that means Nightmare Night is up next."

"Nightmare Night?" Another holiday that Dylan had never heard of before now.

"Oh shoot! I forgot ya never heard of it!" Applejack rubbed the back of her neck. "Well, Nightmare Night is the night where ponies dress up in costumes are go around collecting candy from other ponies!"

"You mean Halloween?" Dylan asked.

"Hallo-what?"

Dylan shook his head. "Nevermind."

One day later...

Morning could have gone a lot better. However, Dylan was in for a rude awakening. He awoke to a repeated thumping on his side. When he opened his eyes, he saw an excited Applebloom jumping on him, shouting, "It's here! It's here! It's here!"

Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, Dylan asked, "What's here?" The poor colt's sides starting to ache badly.

"Muh package!" she answered as he hopped onto the floor. "Ah've been waitin' for it forever!"

"Package?" Dylan climbed out of bed and wobbled a bit on his hooves. He still hadn't gotten used to walking on all fours. "What's in it?"

"C'mon, I'll show ya!" she squealed as she rushed out the door, leaving Dylan confused.

"Applebloom? What's got ya in such a hurry?" Dylan could hear Applejack asking from downstairs. He eventually made his way to the door and walked down the stairs to see Applejack and Applebloom in the living room, gathered around a small cardboard box.

"So what's this?" He asked as he approached. eyeing the cardboard package.

Applebloom opened up the box to reveal a variety of cloth materials. "This is the stuff we're gonna use for our costumes!"

Dylan tilted his head as he scanned the fabrics. "Never really made my own costume before."

"It'll be fun! I'll help ya!" Applebloom exclaimed, rummaging through the box.

Applejack rubbed her chin and peered at Dylan, eyes squinting. "Ya know, I think you'd make a good scarecrow!"

"A scarecrow?" Dylan tried to imagine himself as a one, but he couldn't seem to find himself looking good. He shook his head, waving the thoughts away. "If you say so. I don't mind dressin' up as one."

"Great!" Applebloom said as she pulled out a number of tan and orange fabrics. Some of them looked very worn out, and they reminded Dylan of the scarecrow back on his old home. "We can use these for the shirt and use our scarecrow's hat for ya!"

Dylan thought back to the first time he saw the Apple family's scarecrow. Instead of being in the shape of a human, it was in the shape of a pony. Dylan found it very odd at first, but as time went on, he came to accept it. "Do scarecrows really work?"

"I think it's more for tradition than anything," Applejack answered. Dylan looked to her and tilted his head.

Within a few hours, Dylan was standing in front of the bathroom mirror. He had on a raggedy old shirt that had been sewn together from the bits of cloth, and upon his head was a tattered straw hat from the scarecrow outside. "It's a little snug," he murmered.

"I think you'll manage," Applebloom assured. Dylan just looked at himself in the mirror skeptically.

"I guess I coul--" A knock knock knocking from the front door interrupted him mid sentence. He poked his head out of the bathroom and then looked back at Applebloom, who just gave him a shrug.

"I wasn't really expectin' anypony," Applebloom commented as they reached the door. Dylan opened up the door to come face-to-face with perfection yet again.

"A-Amber!" Dylan said breathlessly.

The peach colored mare's face lit up when she saw Dylan. "Howdy! I haven't seen you in a while!"

"H-Hi, Amber! How are you?" Dylan stammered, rubbing the back of his neck.

Amber put a hoof to her mouth as she held back a giggle. "I'm fine, thank you. What's with the getup? Is that for Nightmare Night?"

"Sure is!" Applebloom said before Dylan could speak. She gently punched Dylan in the shoulder, knocking him back into reality.

"Y-Yeah! For Nightmare Night!" Dylan managed to squeak out. He couldn't help but look at Amber's eyes. They were very mesmerizing to him. He felt he could get lost in them if he wasn't careful. "Wh-What are you going to be?"

Amber looked up at the sky with a hoof to her chin. "Hm... That's a toughie! I guess I'll have to figure that out later." She then shook her head, remembering what she came for. "Is Applejack here? My parents ordered a crate of applesauce."

Dylan nodded. "Y-Yeah!" He turned to call out for Applejack, only to see that she was already approaching.

"Howdy there, Amber!" Applejack greeted. "I take it yer here for the order?"

"Uh huh!" Amber confirmed. "My parents are gonna use it for Nightmare Night!"

"For Nightmare Night?" Dylan put a hoof to his chin. "What could they possibly use it for on Nightmare Night?"

"Dylan, don'tcha know anything?" Applebloom chimed in. "They're usin' it fer the competition!"

Amber nodded. "Yeah! The applesauce slinging competition! It's kinda like water balloons, except you've got spoons and applesauce!"

"Sound messy," Dylan commented. He had never heard of applesauce being used for events like these. Then again, he'd never been to very many events, even in his old world. Most of the time, he'd be working in the fields.

"Messy AND delicious," Applejack said as she ruffled up Dylan's mane. "You should join us!"

"Oh!" Amber smiled wide. "Will you?! Pleeeaaase?" She gave Dylan big puppy dog eyes.

Dylan stepped back a bit and blushed. He just couldn't resist her. "Y-Yeah! I'll definitely join!"

"Ooh! This is gonna be so great!" Amber jumped excitedly. "Yer gonna love it!

Dylan smiled awkwardly. "I can't wait!"

Meanwhile, at the Rich residence...

"WHAT?!"

Filthy Rich had tried calming down his wife, Spoiled Rich, but to no avail. The prissy mare was stomping around the home, complaining about her paycheck. "Two bits?! TWO MEASLY BITS?! That Quick Stacks has gone too far! How am I going to get a costume with TWO BITS?!"

"N-Now, darling," Filthy tried to say, but the mare wasn't having it.

"Don't you 'Now, darling' me! I'm going to go down there and demand my full paycheck!" Spoiled's nose was flaring with anger, and her eyes were full of fire.

Filthy Rich looked at his cowering daughter in the corner and shook his head, making up his mind. "Spoiled Rich! You listen to me this instant! You're scaring our pride and joy, and I won't stand for it! You can use some of my check! Only twenty bits! No more, no less! We're sacrificing for the company! Besides, it's not even that big a deal. We can still get our bits elsewhere after this fiasco is over."

"Excuse me?!" Spoiled looked at her husband as if she'd been slapped. She'd never been spoken to like this before in their many years of marriage. She looked to her daughter and her voice caught in her throat.

"You heard me, Spoiled. Even we have to go through a rough patch every once in a while. We'll get through it." Filthy kept his steel gaze.

"B-but... My costume. I was going to go as Cleocloptra! With a real gold and lapis lazuli necklace!" Spoiled tried to fight back, but her defenses were crumbling.

"You can still dress up as Cleocloptra. It just won't be as extravagant." Filthy Rich smiled. "I promise you'll have an even better costume next year."

Spoiled sighed in defeat, her head drooping. She then raised her head to look at him with puppy dog eyes.

Filthy kept his steely stare. "Nice try, honey."

Nightmare Night

Dylan walked along the cobblestone road with the Apple family, all of them dressed up for Nightmare Night. Dylan was a scarecrow, Applejack was a witch, Applebloom was dressed as a mummy, and Big Mac was apparently Frankenstein, or Frankenpony in this universe. Granny Smith had stayed behind at home to give out candy to young foals who visited.

"Oh boy, ain't this excitin'?" Applejack was leading the group with Big Mac next to her. Dylan walked next to Applebloom, and he was starting to notice how she'd grown up quite a bit since he had met her. Either she had gotten taller, or he'd shrunk. It was probably the latter since his form had changed. He shook his head and removed the thoughts from his mind.

It wasn't long before they reached a majestic structure. It was a crystalline tree house. No, not a treehouse, rather, a tree castle. Dylan had seen it from afar several times, but he had never been this close before. They went up to the large golden double doors at the base of the tree, and Applejack knocked on them. Dylan could hear the knocks echoing from inside.

Seconds passed, and eventually the doors opened slightly, a purple unicorn stepping outside, smiling when she saw Applejack and the others. "Hello Applejack!" she said with enthusiasm.

"Howdy, Twi!" Applejack greeted. "You said you wanted to meet Dylan before we went huntin' fer candy, right?"

"Uh huh!" Twilight nodded and looked at the group. When she spotted Dylan, she tilted her head. "Is this him? He really has changed since I last saw him!"

Applejack placed a hoof on Dylan's shoulder. "When yer done, come meet us at the marketplace." She then lowered her voice to a whisper. "Amber's gonna meet us there."

Dylan's face turned red and he nodded. When the Apples went off in the opposite direction of the castle, Dylan turned to Twilight and smiled nervously. "Wh-What was it ya wanted to see me for, ma'am?"

Twilight stepped to Dylan's side and ushered him in with a large wing. "I wanted to ask you a few questions. Mostly about how you got here."

Twilight led Dylan through a series of massive hallways. It all intimidated him and made him feel very uncomfortable. He'd never been in such a huge place before. It wasn't long before he started to wonder whether the castle was designed to create these feelings on purpose.

Eventually they reached a large door at the end of a hallway. Twilight pushed it open to reveal a room with bookshelves, a fireplace, and two plush chairs with a table in between them. She walked up to one chair and patted it, motioning for Dylan to sit down. He took her offer and climbed into the comfy seat while Twilight sat down in the other.

Dylan nearly jumped out of his skin when two cups of hot cocoa flashed into existence on the table in front of him. "So," Twilight began, "how have you been doing this past year?"

"Um... I've been doing good," Dylan answered, still eyeing the cups warily.

Twilight put a hoof in front of her mouth, trying to hide her smile at his curiosity. "I don't believe you've seen teleportation before, have you?"

"N-Not really, ma'am," Dylan replied, looking up at her. Twilight straightened her face and cleared her throat.

"I remember hearing the story from Applejack quite well, and ever since then, I had been researching as much as I could about travel between worlds."

Dylan swallowed hard. This topic made him a bit uncomfortable. "You're not gonna send me back, are ya?"

Twilight flinched, remembering what Applejack had told her about Dylan's life. "N-No! Not at all!" she stammered. "I was just trying to figure out how you got here. An apple tree doesn't just fall on someone and transport them somewhere."

Dylan breathed a sigh of relief. That was one thing off his mind. "Well, I don't really know, ma'am. It's all I remember. A tree fell on me, and I woke up in the Apple house..."

After a few seconds of silence, Twilight sipped her hot cocoa and set it back down gently on the table with her magic. "Dylan... I didn't want to tell you this, especially on Nightmare Night, but... I found an old book in the Royal Archives detailing 'special ways' to enter other realms."

"What is it?" Dylan asked, his curiosity piqued. He took a slow sip of his cocoa, enjoying the perfect temperature. Not too hot to burn his mouth, but not too cold either.

"Dylan... you might be dead," Twilight said, her voice unsure.

Dylan caught the cocoa in the wrong tube of his throat and coughed uncontrollably, choking on the chocolatey beverage, his eyes wide. "Wh-wha-*cough* What?!"

Twilight floated a towel over to Dylan and dabbed away the hot cocoa from his cocoa. "Sorry! I didn't mean to startle you so suddenly like that!"

After about a minute, Dylan was able to get his breathing under control. He then looked to Twilight and asked once more. "Wh-What do you mean I'm dead?"

Twilight gave a fake smile and tried her best to explain. "Well... when I first saw you, I originally thought you had come from a world I had been to before, but when I checked your vital signs, my traumalocation spell said different."

"What do you mean?" Dylan asked, trying to keep himself under control.

Twilight bit her lip before speaking. "The spell kept insisting that your heart had stopped and that you were already undergoing rigor mortis. It's a good thing I checked your heart with my own ears just to make sure you were still alive."

"Why would it say that?" Dylan questioned. He couldn't believe his own ears.

"Well," Twilight started, "it's a rare phenomenon. Some ponies believe there's something beyond this life, and Clover the Clever was one of them. He believed that when a pony passed on, they would be reborn in another realm."

Dylan paused for a moment and thought to himself. He then looked back at Twilight. "But I wasn't reborn. At least... I don't think so?" He thought some more for a little bit. "But... that tree should've crushed me."

Twilight could see the discomfort on Dylan's face and spoke up. "It's only one of many possibilities. That one just seemed to stand out from all the others."

Silence filled the room for several minutes, with both Dylan and Twilight avoiding eye contact as best they could. Dylan was the first to break that silence. "I think I'm okay with it, to be honest..."

Twilight's ears flattened back. "Was your life really that bad?"

Dylan nodded and took another sip of his cocoa before replying. "Yeah. There were days where I wished I was dead, actually."

"But just earlier you were shocked to hear it," Twilight tried to reason.

"Yeah, I was shocked, but I'm not against it." Dylan stared at the marshmallows floating in his hot cocoa. "I mean, I met the Apples because of it. They're my family now, and I wouldn't want to trade that for anything."

"Oh, um..." Twilight blushed, yet she couldn't figure out why. "Well... I guess I should ask you a few questions before I let you go. I'll make them quick. Is that alright?"

Dylan nodded, and they proceeded to swap questions and answers. Dylan would answer Twilight about his life and the human world and Twilight would answer Dylan's questions about unicorn magic. Overall, it was fairly informative.

Thirty minutes later, and Dylan was standing right outside the castle with Twilight, both of them laughing at jokes.

"And then I said, 'Spike! That's not a gemstone! That's a beetle!'" Twilight finished her joke before the both of them burst into laughter.

"I guess I should go now," Dylan said as he spied the marketplace in the distance.

"Go have fun, Dylan!" Twilight encouraged, and he went on his way.

Soon after arriving, he couldn't help but notice all the strange references to things from his world. In fact, one of the costumes looked just like Scorpian from Mortal Combat. "Huh..."

Suddenly, something mushy splatted against the back of his head, and he whirled around to see Amber in her costume. She had taken on the role of some kind of vampire pony, with fangs and a black cape. "I vant to suck your blooooood!" she shouted, grinning from ear to ear.

"Amber! What did you just..." Dylan felt behind his head and pulled the mush into his vision. It was applesauce.

Another splat to the back of his head. He turned to see Applebloom. She had a spoon in her smiling mouth.

"Oh no..." Dylan ducked as he spotted Applejack to his right, already flinging applesauce in his direction. He narrowly dodged it as it flew overhead. "IT'S A TRAP!"

Dylan started running, with a few stranger ponies flinging applesauce after him. He ducked and jumped over food stands, trying his best not to get splattered by the side dish. After several minutes of running, he had noticed that the flinging had stopped. He looked behind him to see that everypony was just standing there, grinning.

He squinted his eyes, and a thought crept into his mind. His heart racing, he turned back to face a tall, dark blue pony. He realized he'd seen this creature before. He'd seen her in his dreams. Standing in front of him was Luna, who was carrying a large wooden bucket of applesauce. "Y-You're real?" he asked, more to himself than anypony else. Luna smirked and poured the applesauce all over him.

And now, Cooking with Discord

Discord looked at you from behind a counter and grinned. "Hello, everypony! Welcome to Cooking with Discord! I'm your host, Discord!" From out of nowhere, the sound of clapping and cheering echoed through the chaos dimension. As soon as the noise stopped, he resumed. Today I'm going to show you how to make your own story!"

Discord snapped his fingers and a bag appeared next to him. He reached in and pulled out a miniature apple tree, then he set it down on the counter. After, he pulled out a figurine of a human Dylan. "First, we need a protagonist." He placed it beneath the tree. "Then, a plot device to set things into motion!" He inhaled and blew out a small storm cloud. It drifted lazily over the tree, lightning striking the ground next to Dylan.

"For those of you who think I killed him, allow me to tell you my side of the story." Discord pulled a figurine of himself from the bag and placed it on the counter. "I was minding my own business, enjoying this world's natural chaos when I heard a cry for dear old papa." He walked the figurine over to Dylan. "Seeing this boy getting crushed by the tree, I couldn't help but remember the deal I had made with the Tantabus earlier. I was told to find someone with a tragic backstory and bring them over to good old Equestria.

"It was simply a run of good luck on my end. Bad luck for poor old Dylan, though!" Discord feigned sadness as he placed an arm over his face, pretending to weep. He took a cloth from nowhere and blew into it. "Such a sad tale, but I'm getting off track!" He reached under the tree and pulled out a now-pony Dylan. He dropped it into a plastic bowl and reached into the bag again. "Now we need... a motherly figure, a love interest, and an antagonist!" He drew out Applejack, Amber Harvest, and Quick Stacks, dropping them into the bowl with Dylan. "Then we put it into the oven!"

Discord grabbed the bowl and threw it into a floating oven. Hours passed with him walking back and forth, but to you, it seemed like only a few seconds. Suddenly, the oven let out an unholy screech. "Ah! It's done!" He opened the oven and pulled out a bowl of goop. Embarrassment on his face, his snapped his fingers and the bowl of ooze turned into a simple cake. "See? Easy as pie!... I mean cake!"

And that was Cooking with Discord

Author's Note

Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I worked extra hard on this. Prepare for EVEN LONGER CHAPTERS AS THE STORY PROGRESSES!