Where The Apples Grow

The Apple family wagon creaked and groaned as it was pulled along the dirt road. Rows of trees could be seen on both sides of the road, and the skies up above were clear. Big Mac, hauling the wagon, didn't seem to mind the heavy load. The wagon had been carrying large unlabeled crates inside, and Dylan was curious to know what was inside. He wanted to ask, but it wasn't his business, at least that's what he figured.

"Are we going the right way?" Applebloom spoke up, breaking the silence. Dylan wanted to ask the same thing, but it was still, like he thought, none of his business.

Big Mac only replied with an "Eyup" as usual, ending the short conversation, if it was even a conversation at all. Dylan felt very uneasy about going to Apple Con. It would be his first time meeting anypony other than the Apples and Twilight. What if they saw him as a freak? What if they tried to put him in a zoo? Would he be laughed at? Those thoughts kept him awake the night before.

Applejack spotted the look on Dylan's face. It was something she'd seen Applebloom do whenever she was teased. "You'll be fine, Dylan. Chin up, now. We got a little more road left." And she was right. On the left side of the road, some of the trees cleared up, and there was some sort of playground coming up on the side of the road. Next to the playhouse seemed to be a small school building, at least that's what Dylan could understand.

"Just past the school and the train station, and we'll be there soon," Applejack commented.

Dylan, unable to keep his mouth shut any longer, had one thing on his mind now. "Who puts train tracks near a school?" Applejack's eyes widened a bit at this startling question. She had never stopped to think about such a thing.

"Ya know, sugarcube, you're right. It does seem a little dangerous," she agreed. And with that, the conversation was ended. They continued their walk for about thirty minutes or so before the faintest glimpse of a convention could be seen ahead of them. Dylan could see a wooden gate with a welcome banner above it, connected to fences that closed off the area and a crowd of ponies going in and out. This made Dylan nervous.

"Y'all ready for some fun?" Applejack asked the family.

"Eyup," replied Big Mac. Dylan began to slow his walking, staying behind the Apples. This made Granny Smith suspicious.

"Why are you so quick to hide?" she asked.

Dylan just looked down at his feet. "I umm... Well, this is gonna be the first time I see other ponies besides you guys. What if they don't like me? What if they call me a freak?"

"Ain't nopony gonna call ya a freak as long as we're around, sugarcube," Applejack consoled, "Now come on! We gotta get in and set up."

They walked through the crowd of ponies, making Dylan sweat. He could feel all their eyes on him, judging him. He didn't belong there and he knew it. It what was actually minutes felt like hours as they passed through the crowd. When they finally came out of the crowd, Dylan realized he wasn't breathing, and let out a gasp, taking in as much air as he could.

The Apple family all unloaded the crates from the old wagon and opened them up, revealing clear glass bottles of apple cider. Applejack was being particularly fast to unload them. "Hurry up, family! We gotta get this shipment sold before Rainbow Dash finds out we're here! Last time she saw us here she nearly cleaned out the entire stock!"

Dylan didn't understand who Rainbow Dash was, but if she was that bad, he had to hurry. He unloaded the bottles as fast as he could. As soon as he unloaded the last crate, he turned to look at Applejack, nodding, "We got 'em all unloaded!" He sat down on an empty crate and looked at all the brightly colored ponies trotting by. None of them said a word to him when he passed through the crowd. Maybe he was just being dramatic. Maybe none of them really cared what he looked like?

He was just about to walk over to Applejack and help when we noticed... her. Peach colored fur with a bright orange curly mane, and bright blue eyes. She had a brown leaf as her cutie mark. Dylan felt his heart skip a beat. What was this feeling inside of him? Surely he couldn't be having THOSE kind of feelings for a PONY. He shook his head and tried to clear of mind of the emotion.

It worked for a while before he saw that she was headed his way. She eventually reached him and smiled. "Howdy! I heard y'all are sellin' apple cider?"

Dylan felt his stomach do flips as he nervously grabbed a bottle off an empty crate. "Y-Yeah. It's two bits per bottle."

The mare grabbed two bits out of seemingly nowhere and handed them over to Dylan. He took them in his hand and briefly felt her hoof, sending his heart into overdrive. She took the bottle of cider and looked him over a bit. "Are y'all new around here?"

"Yeah?" he responded, unable to think.

"I'm Amber Harvest! Nice ta meetcha!" she eagerly announced.

"I'm D-Dylan... Nice to meet you, too." Dylan couldn't help but stutter. There was something wrong, something horribly wrong. As she walked away, he looked over to Applejack, who gave him an odd look. But, seeing nothing else amiss, she gave him a smile and went back to work.

Dylan watched Amber as she walked away, his heart slowing back down to its regular pace. He never wanted to feel that ever again.

Dreamscape

"I can feel something in the creature's heart... It's too much of a threat to let it be..."