Pix Sprite made himself comfortable in the room of Applejack's house, walking around to familiarize himself with the room. He plopped down on the bed and reached for the only thing he brought with him the moment he ran away. Looking at the felt figure brought him the only good memory of his family. Occupied by the suffering, he found joy in the books that inspired this felt trinket, he set the felt item on his pillow as he noticed the alarm clock on his nightstand, he gingerly caught the ticking clock and set it to wake him up ten minutes before five in the morning.
That night when everypony had retired to bed, Pix Sprite tossed and turned in his sleep as a nightmare unfolded. He found himself back in a dark cell as his stomach cried out in hunger, a shadowy figure approached him as he's enveloped in a magical aura and tossed to the wall.
"YOU WILL DO AS INSTRUCTED, IT IS YOUR NATURE!" The figure bellowed with a feminine voice. Pix Sprite weakly staggers to his feet.
"N-no, I don't want to, I don't want to hurt anyone." Pix Sprite wailed
"YOU REALLY ARE PATHETIC, DO YOU HONESTLY THINK YOU'LL BE ACCEPTED, DO YOU HONESTLY THINK SHE'LL STILL LIKE YOU AFTER YOU LIED TO HER? YOU ARE JUST LIKE US, MONSTERS, AND YOU CAN NEVER CHANGE THAT! The figure yelled.
"NOOOOO!" Pix Sprite yelled as he shot out of bed breathing heavily. Pix Sprite looks around noticing he is still at Sweet Apple Acres managing to catch his breath. He picks up his memento from the only family members he liked and knew as he holds it close.
Applejack rushed in and saw Pix Sprite sitting up. "Are ya okay, sugarcube? I heard ya screaming." She cooed and turned on the light. Pix Sprite was in a complete breakdown, deeply embracing the Daring Do doll like a newborn foal.
Pix Sprite gasped for air, trying to calm down. "Y-yeah, just a bad dream. I'm sorry I didn't mean to wake you." Pix Sprite said as he placed the Daring Do doll on the pillow blushing heavily that Applejack saw.
"Oh, would ya like to talk about it?" Applejack asked as she put a hoof around his shoulders.
"Just a nightmare about my past, I was back where I ran away from, I can still hear her voice." Pix Sprite shook with fear.. "I-I really appreciate what you've done for me, but I should leave." Pix Sprite mumbled as he started to get up.
"What? Why? Applejack asked with a curious look.
"I-i'm sorry, it's just I come from a bad crowd, they say I can't fight it. I don't want to hurt you or your family, I really should go. I'm sorry, I should've told you." Pix Sprite said, struggling to get up, but Applejack kept gingerly pulling him back down.
"Sugarcube, it's ok. Whoever yer family is yer not like them. When I saw you in the barn I knew you weren't there to hurt me." Applejack chuckled, pulling him into a hug. "Listen sugarcube, you are who you choose to be, I know you're not gonna hurt us, please stay."
"B-but…." Pix Sprite said before being cut off by Applejack gingerly placing her hoof on his mouth.
"I trust you, and so does my family. You are a good person so please stay." Applejack countered and removed her hoof from his mouth.
Pix Sprite's eyes welled up with tears as he threw his arms around Applejack. "Thank you, Applejack. I really needed to hear that.
"You're welcome, sugarcube." Applejack nodded and embraced the hug. "Oh, I should introduce you to Twilight, she loves Daring Do too." Applejack said she pointed to the doll.
Pix Sprite grinned sheepishly, hiding the blush. Seeing this Applejack chuckled a bit. "There's no need to be embarrassed about sugarcube, I also still have my favorite doll." Applejack smirked and playfully nudged him on the shoulder.
Pix Sprite blushed as Applejack said this before speaking. "Actually, this was given to me by my brothers when they helped me run away, I didn't even know I had brothers, but I guess they were taken to, they stayed behind to make sure they wouldn't look for me." Pix Sprite daydreamed to Applejack's honesty.
Applejack's ears dropped low while hearing this, "I hope they're okay." the orange pony said while patting Pix Sprite on the back.
Pix Sprite happily sighs as he looks at Applejack. "I know they are." Pix Sprite says as he sets the Daring Do doll beside him. "Thank you for checking on me, it really means a lot." Pix Sprite said as he completely calmed down.
"Yer welcome, sugarcube. I'm just glad I could help." Applejack raised up and headed to the exit "Best if we catch some more z's before it's time for work." Applejack said as she left the room.
Pix Sprite fell asleep with a smile on his face and snoozed for a good hour before the alarm started ringing to mark the awakening. The tired guest woke up to turn off the alarm and makes his way downstairs and outside, the rest of the Apple family hasn't risen yet so Pix Sprite takes it upon himself to pull the wagon into the barn and start to load it up with the crates of apples ready to be sold by the bushel or just a basket.
Pix Sprite spends ten minutes loading up the wagon and as he places the last crate on the transport, Applejack comes in with a look of surprise on her face.
"Well, mornin' early bird." Applejack greeted him at the doorway.
"I really wanted to surprise you so I set the alarm for ten minutes before five." Pix Sprite said as he blushed and wiped away the sweat from his brow.
"Well, ya sure did sugarcube, I highly appreciate it." Applejack said as she threw a hug around Pix Sprite. "Come on in and you and I will make breakfast for the family, it'll be another two hours before we can set up our booth." Applejack said as she and Pix Sprite walked to the house to start cooking breakfast.