Applejack Is An Interdimensional Alien

Chapters

Tickles
The Eternal Darkness
The Piercing Cold
The Open Window
The Start Of The Day
The Explanation
The Car
The Shot
The Story
The Destination
The Book
The Memories
The Meeting
The Conversation
The Spell
The Symbol
The Imposter
The Suspicion
The Ropes
The Choice Of Words
The Blast
The Answer
The Air
The Castle
The Letter
The Meal
The Normalness
The Threat
The Lies
The Princesses
The Slight Sickness

Tickles

“So anyway,” the Princess of Friendship started as the mare she was speaking to stared at her with a completely blank expression, “I was thinking that maybe we could try and-”

“I’m going to stop you right there, Twilight,” she interrupted. “I’m actually not Applejack. I’m an interdimensional alien that’s somehow been zapped into her body."

“Uhh… what?” Twilight asked, wearing a look of confusion.

“I’m an interdimensional alien that’s somehow been zapped-”

“No, I heard what you said, AJ,” Twilight told her. “I’m just… I… what?”

“I’m an interdimensional alien. I’m not sure what’s so hard to get about that.”

She spoke without a hint of her trademark southern accent. Not only that, but she said it with complete conviction, like it was the most obvious thing in all of Equestria. She stared Twilight dead in the eye as she spoke, who was unsure of how to react to her words.

“Uhhhhh... “ Twilight trailed off, trying to find a good way to respond to her claim. “Are you feeling alright, AJ?”

“Other than the fact that I’m trapped in somepony else’s body, I’d say I feel pretty normal.”

“I see…”

“Do you think I’m lying?”

“What?”

“Do you, Twilight Sparkle, think that I’m lying to you about being an interdimensional alien?”

“Why would you-”

“Because it’s absurd for someone to claim to be an alien inhabiting somepony else’s body, so it’s natural for you to think I’m lying to you. Plus, you look like you think I'm either lying or hit my head recently.”

“Well… I mean, it is a little absurd…”

“Okay, let’s think this out, alright? You’re a smart mare, so we’ll be logical about this. I’m the Element of Honesty, correct?”

“Uh, yes, but I don’t see-”

“So as the Element of Honesty, I wouldn’t be one to lie, would I?”

“That makes sense to me.”

“So then it stands to reason that I’m not lying about being an interdimensional alien, doesn’t it?”

“Well, uh…” Twilight started, causing the mare who was apparently an alien to frown at her. “I… think we should get the girls here.”

“Hmmmmmm… you sure do look a lot like Applejack” Rainbow Dash said as she examined her friend. “How do we know you’re not pulling a prank on us?”

“Has Applejack ever pulled a prank on you, even once?” She waited for a second for somepony to answer, then continued, "Well then, I guess I'm not pranking you guys."

“Well… I guess that makes sense,” Fluttershy said thoughtfully.

“If you’re really not Applejack,” Rainbow Dash started, “how would you feel if I told you that I think apples are the worst food in all of Equestria?”

“I’d say that’s quite alright, and that everypony is entitled to their own opinion,” she answered.

"What if I said that I'm waaaaaaaay better than you at sports?"

"I'd probably agree with that, seeing as I'm an alien."

"What if I said that Flim and Flam are my best friends in the whole wide world?"

"I'd say good for you for making new friends, Rainbow."

There was another pause before the blue pegasus spoke again. “Welp, I think that settles it, guys," she said. "Applejack is an alien.”

“This is so weird,” the purple pony said. “It doesn’t make any sense. Something like this has never happened before.”

“But there’s always a first time for everything!” Pinkie Pie excitedly announced. “And if you really are an alien, I can totally throw my very first “Interdimensional Alien: Welcome To Ponyville” welcome party!”

“I wouldn’t put it past you,” the mare told her with a smirk. “You and those parties, Pinkie Pie…”

“Something has occurred to me,” Rarity got out. “If you really are the alien you claim to be, how do you know so much about Applejack and her friends?”

“Because I’ve been watching you all on a giant TV screen back in the universe I’m from for basically your whole lives. That’s why.”

The five were stunned silent at Applejack’s suggestion. They were just starting to accept the fact that maybe their friend was an alien, and now she said that she’d been watching them?

“Ah… come again, dear?” Rarity got out. “What was that once again?”

“You’ve been spying on us?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Not, spying per se; I have been watching you all back where I’m from, and know basically everything about you though,” she told them. Then she chuckled, adding, “I guess it’s kind of like spying in a way.”

“Uhhhhh, I think we need to see Princess Celestia about this, darling,” Rarity told Twilight.

“So you’re an alien?” Celestia asked as she and Luna stood in front of Applejack, examining her closely.

“Yup,” she answered nonchalantly.

“From another dimension?”

“Yup,”

“And now you’re stuck in Applejack’s body?”

“That’s right.”

“And you’ve been watching us on a giant screen where you’re from and know everything about us?”

“You got it.”

The two alicorns gave each other a look that asked if she was being serious, then turned back to the mare before them. “It is a strange case, I will admit,” Luna said.

“Yes it is,” Celestia replied, then asked, “Are you certain of your case, dear creature?”

“Absolutely, positively certain, princess.”

“I see. Well, in that case, it seems you would need to be destroyed.”

“Oka- wait, what?”

Celestia gave her a kind smile as she spoke. “You said that you know everything about us, so that means you know what’s going to happen in the future, which we absolutely cannot have anypony having knowledge of. Twilight's battle with Starlight Glimmer showed us that messing with time is a big deal, so the only course of action we have is to destroy you.”

“Now wait a minute!” she protested. “I never said I would tell any of you!”

“I’m afraid that does not matter,” Luna told her. “You already know, so you may inadvertently change things, which could have ripple effects throughout the whole kingdom. The longer you’re alive, the more risk there is, so it’s best to eliminate you now.”

“Hold on!” she protested. “Aren’t you going to, like, interview me, and try and send me home? Or something? That’s how this is supposed to go!”

“I’m afraid that would take much too long,” Celestia answered, still smiling. “We need to get rid of you now to avoid any repercussions your presence might bring. I’m sorry.”

“What about you, Twilight? Aren’t you going to protest against this?”

“I’m afraid I have to go with the princesses on this one, AJ, errr… whoever you are. It’s just too much risk letting you know the future. You understand right?”

Applejack sent her a look that asked if she was being serious. “You’re really just going to let them destroy me, Twilight?” she asked in a questioning tone. “Like… really? Seriously?”

The Princess of Friendship simply shrugged. “Sorry. For what it’s worth though, it was nice knowing you for the brief time we did.” The other four mares behind her murmured in agreement.

The orange pony turned back to the princesses. “Is it too late to say I actually am Applejack?” The two sisters nodded their heads, and she continued, “Well, I guess it’s all settled then. I have to be destroyed. I guess I’ll go along with it since it’s for the good of Equestria.”

“We’re glad you have such an understanding heart, dear creature. Are you prepared for the end?”

“I’m as ready as I’ll ever be. Say hi to Granny Smith, Big Mac, and Apple Bloom for me.”

"Will do," Twilight answered.

“Here we go!” the princesses said at the same time as they shot a green beam at Applejack. She fell to the floor on her back, and then…

“Heh. Heh heh. Ah ha! Ha! HA HA HA! Okay! Okay! Ah ha! Ah- Ah give up! Heh ha! Ha! Just stop- stop ticklin’ me, y’all!”

“Do you admit to trying to prank us, Applejack?” Rainbow Dash asked

“Yes! YES! Ah- Ah admit ta- ha ha! Ta tryin’ ta prank y’all!”

With the acknowledgment, Luna and Celestia let up, giving a small giggle of their own before it morphed into a hearty laugh. Before long, everypony in the room was laughing hard at what had just happened.

“How- how- how’d y’all know Ah was lyin’?” the mare asked as she tried to catch her breath.

Twilight smiled at her and said, “You’re the Element of Honesty, Applejack. It was just obvious. By nature, you’re not very good at lying.”

“And really, darling? An alien? You could have come up with a much better lie for your prank.”

“Ah figured Ah should, but once Ah got the idea in my head, Ah had to try it. But’ y’all didn’t even question me. Ah was kinda hopin’ y’all would, too. Ah had this place called Earth made up an’ a whole backstory an’ everything ta go with it.”

“Leave the pranks to me and Pinkie, AJ,” Rainbow Dash told her, still smiling. “Pranking is not your thing.”

“Can y’all imagine if I actually was an interdimensional alien? Heh heh, dang, Ah crack myself up sometimes.”

The Eternal Darkness

“Hello?” the orange mare called out, unable to see her surroundings. “Is anypony there?”

It was dark, darker than anything Applejack had ever seen before, penetrating everything around her. Funnily enough, despite the darkness, she could see herself well enough, as though she was the only thing illuminated in the vast emptiness. It was very eerie though, very quiet, and she didn’t like it one bit.

“What in tarnation is goin’ on here?” she muttered to herself as she continued to look around, hoping her eyes would adjust to the darkness that surrounded her. As she waited, she tried to think of what happened before. She was… what was she doing? It was only a few seconds ago, that she knew, and yet she couldn’t remember. It was already starting to feel like years that she’d been standing in the darkness, and despite her efforts, she couldn’t recall exactly what it was that brought her here. She knew she should know, and it frustrated her that she didn’t.

The darkness stayed, but after a little while, she was able to begin making out somepony drawing near her. Or rather, something. As it got closer, she could tell it wasn’t a pony, or any other creature she’d ever seen before. For starters, the thing was tall. Very tall, over double her height. Not to mention, gangly looking, with arms and legs that seemed to stretch on forever, and thin enough to look almost emaciated. It was hairless except for the top of its head and had an extremely pointed face, one with sharp edges that made it look hideous to her. It honestly reminded her of one of those human things Lyra Heartstrings constantly went on about, although what she described was nowhere near as creepy as the thing that made its way toward Applejack.

“What are you?” she called out to it, having a feeling that it would understand her. “What am Ah doin’ here?”

It stopped all of a sudden at her question, staring directly at her with eyes that seemed to be looking through her. She felt the urge to take a step back, but suppressed it, standing her ground as she stared back at it, trying to be as intimidating as it was.

After a very long while, the thing spoke, and in a very deep, very ominous voice, answered, “You’re here to bring me back to Equestria.”

“Bring ya back to Equestria?” Applejack asked, putting on a confused expression. “What do ya mean by that? I ain’t ever seen anything like you there. What’s goin’ on here?”

Applejack noted the look on its face as it sighed, and thought it looked a bit… sad. Depressed even. It was a very strange sight, and she thought she almost felt bad for it just by the look on its face, at least until she heard the next words out of its mouth.

“The world you’ll inhabit is an awful world, one filled with death and destruction, some of it by my hands, much of it by their own. It will be brutal, painful, soul-crushing. You likely won’t survive, but if killing you is the price I pay for returning to my world, then so be it.”

What was this thing talking about? Killing her? Sending her to another world? She didn’t understand what it was saying, but she knew that she didn’t like the sound of it.

“Now wait just a minute here,” the mare tried to interrupt, but was unsuccessful as the creature continued to speak.

“Don’t believe that I picked you out. The reason I’m using you is simply because of the fact that you were the first pony I was able to access.” It sighed tiredly, and continued sadly, “I’ve tried everything I could think of, from dealing with spirits and devils to attempting to change the world I inhabited into Equestria, and always failed… until now. As terrible as it will be for you, I won’t allow this opportunity to slip away from me.”

“Now I don’t know what y’all are plannin’ ta do ta me, but don’t go givin’ me a big ol’ speech on how-”

“As terrible as what was before, that’s all past now that you're here and I'm able to return to my home. And now, I bid you farewell.”

Suddenly, the thing sprinted towards her, and Applejack instinctually turned around to buck it into the endless darkness. However, the moment before her hooves made contact with it, the being turned into smoke and vanished, leaving the mare to buck at the air. She looked around for a moment, confused as to what just happened, before realizing she was alone once again.

“Hey! Where in Equestria did you leave off ta?” she called out, hoping for the creature’s reappearance. However, she was answered only by silence and darkness.

“I don’t know what y’all think yer doin’ but let me go right now!” she demanded, calling out to nothing as she stomped a hoof down. She waited another second for an answer before deciding to take matters into her own hooves and setting off for… somewhere. She didn’t know where, but she did know that getting somewhere was better than standing in one spot. So she set off into the darkness, carefully at first, then picking up speed after a few minutes of hazardless travel.

“Twilight?” she called out after a few minutes. “Spike? Rainbow? Anypony?” She was answered only by the silence of the darkness around her. It was almost unbearably quiet, the only thing keeping her focused being the sound of her hoofsteps indicating she was still moving towards somewhere else. She didn’t know how long it would take to reach somewhere else, or where somewhere else even was, but she felt determined to get there, seeing no better options.

Eventually, the place she was going took shape. As if suddenly fading into view, she stepped into a snow-filled landscape under a bright night sky filled with stars. She immediately closed her eyes and shivered in the cold wind, instinct telling her to turn around and head back into the darkness. However, behind her was the same unending snowfield, one that showed a long trail of hoofprints, as though she’d been walking through the snow the whole time.

“Anypony out here?” she called loudly as she began to wonder if she was dreaming. It seemed very realistic for a dream to her, but that was how dreams were. You didn’t know you were in a dream until you woke up. Maybe that’s what this was, she figured.

“Hello?” she called again, waiting a second for a response before she started to walk along again. It was bitterly cold, colder than anything she’d ever felt before. It’d only been a couple of seconds that she’d been standing in the snow, and already she felt parts of her body becoming numb. She wished she had something more than her hat on, a scarf at least, but seeing as she was without one, decided to simply keep moving to keep her body warm and hoped to find someplace to stay quickly.

“Are Twi and the others out here?” she wondered, before dismissing it. She was fairly certain that… thing said she was the only one… along with mentioning she might be killed, and a land that was in ruins based on its description…

“Calm down,” she told herself aloud. “Ain’t no use getting yerself all worked up. Finding someplace warm is the first thing ta do. After that, then you can try and figure things out.”

The Piercing Cold

As she walked, Applejack couldn’t get it out of her mind how cold it was. It was unbelievable. In all her life she’d never felt it be so cold. She knew that the only thing keeping her from starting to freeze was the fact that she was keeping pace and letting her blood continue to circulate. However, it didn’t stop every small gust of wind from feeling like it was biting her.

It was nearly an hour of walking through the cold and snow before the earth pony saw anything of note. It was a bridge, one that she found herself walking under rather than over, which only reinforced into her mind how cold it was. She knew she had to be walking on a lake or a river of some sort, one that clearly had to be frozen solid for her to be able to walk under the bridge without trouble. She’d never seen anything like it in Equestria, not even in the Crystal Empire, and made sure to step carefully just in case there were any parts of the river that were more fragile than she thought. Stepping in any water at this temperature would not be good.

Past the bridge, farther in the distance, was a sign, one with white lettering against a blue background that welcomed her to someplace called Kansas. She never heard of such a place, but then again, she was fairly certain that she wasn’t in Equestria, so it would make sense that she wouldn’t know what it was. Farther up ahead was what looked to be a small town, one smaller than Ponyville, that, despite the temperature, had all its lights out and didn’t seem to have any fires started. It was very eerie, but she figured it was better than the destruction that that… thing promised. She also wasn’t entirely convinced that she wasn’t asleep right then, but decided to wait until she was inside someplace and warm to even try to think about what was going on.

Despite how recently she got to… wherever she was, she suddenly felt very tired seeing the town, and moved faster, breaking into a trot before stopping at the first building she came across, figuring it was as good a place as any to seek refuge. It looked to be a farmhouse of some kind, but not any kind of farmhouse she’d ever seen. There were a few silos that looked to be entirely made of metal, as well as metal pipes suspended in the air that tracked through the snowfield beyond. She saw a couple of giant metal somethings, maybe three or four times her length and twice her height, sitting in front of the house that, judging by the wheels she saw on them, were for carrying things. As well, she saw another metal contraption, green she thought, on the other side of the house in front of another large field that had spikes that seemed to be made for cutting things. It was a whole lot of metal she picked out, the most she’d ever seen in one place before. Not even when she went to Manehattan had she seen so much metal all at once, and yet this farm, not large from what she gathered, had it seemingly everywhere.

She also noticed a distinct lack of animals, but given the cold, that didn’t entirely come as a surprise. What did come as a surprise was the lack of a barn, as though this farm never had any animals to begin with. As far as she knew, every farm in Equestria had a barn, a lot of times more than one, depending on how big it was, and it was a shock to see a farm without one.

“This ain’t Equestria,” Applejack reminded herself, “and yer focusin’ on the wrong thing. Right now, ya gotta get out of the cold, not worry about whether this farm has a barn or where in the heck all this metal came from.”

Focusing back on the task at hoof once again, she quickly made her way up to the door and knocked loudly, trying to be polite but somehow not expecting an answer to come.

“Anypony in there?” she called, waiting a few seconds before trying the handle and finding the door unlocked. She wasn’t keen on just waltzing into somepony’s home, but it was blistering outside and she was starting to freeze again now that she wasn’t moving anymore.

After taking a quick look around her to make sure nopony was watching, the mare called out, “Ah’m comin’ in. Ah ain’t tryin’ ta rob y’all or nothin’. It’s just cold out here.”

Cautiously, she pushed the door open and saw a fairly empty, eerie looking home. As she stepped in, there was a staircase to her right, a door that led to somewhere else on the far side of the main room, and other rooms past the main one on the far left. The room in front of her was a barren living room, one without furniture or decorations or anything. It had a fireplace that wasn’t lit on one side along a wall, a carpet, and nothing else. It was dark, quiet, and cold, although staying inside would at least provide a little bit of insulation from the outside air.

Figuring there wasn’t much else to do until daylight came and still feeling tired, the mare decided to forgo exploring the house and simply made her way upstairs, heading into the first bedroom she saw. Once again, she saw a room that was nearly completely empty, this one containing just a mattress and nothing else. Nothing else besides a shivering pink mare who lay sleeping next to the mattress on the cold floor, having left one of the windows in the room wide open while she slept.

Applejack couldn’t help but shake her head at the foolishness and quickly shut the window, watching the pony on the ground shiver a little less intensely at that, then stood over her, debating whether or not she should wake her up. After a moment of thinking, she decided to do so, thinking of how she herself would want to be awoken if somepony were in her home.

“Hey, missy?” she called, loudly enough to be heard but softly enough to try to avoid startling her. “Missy? Can y’all hear me?”

She watched the mare stir a bit at her voice, but she mostly remained unchanged in her position. As she did move though, Applejack noticed that her flank was notably blank, which she thought was incredibly strange to see on a fully grown pony. However, once again, she filed that away for questions for later. She was incredibly tired for some reason, perhaps because of the night and the piercing cold, and had the urge to collapse onto the mattress and fall asleep right there despite the fact that she knew she woke up only a few hours ago, before this whole… something… happened to her.

“Sugarcube? Ya with me?” she asked louder, lightly touching her side and shaking her just a little bit. “Ah wanna know if Ah can stay here fer a little while, just until the mornin’ if that’s alright with you.”

“...hmmmm?” the pony mumbled, opening her eyes and taking AJ in. “Who are you?” she asked tiredly. “I’ve never seen-” Suddenly, she stopped, her eyes going wide in fright at the sight of the cutie mark on her flank.

Applejack took notice of her sudden change in body expression as she watched the pony tense up and took a step back. “Now Ah ain’t tryin’ ta hurt y’all. I just-”

“You’re one of them!” the mare interrupted, yelling at the top of her lungs, quickly standing and stumbling as she tried to back up, keeping her eyes on Applejack. “You’re one of them! You’re- you’re one…”

A second later, Applejack watched as the mare fell back to the floor and fainted.

The Open Window

“Are y’all there?” the mare, a pegasus, heard somepony say as she very slowly came to. “Can ya hear me?”

“Yes, I can hear you…” she answered as she rubbed her head with her hoof. “My head hurts though…”

“Well, Ah reckon it would, seein’ as ya bumped it against the floor.”

“I did?” she asked as she sat up and slowly opened her eyes. “Did I pass out? Cause I feel like I was awake a few-”

She stopped mid sentence, her eyes trained once again on Applejack’s cutie mark, her body becoming filled with fear at the sight of it. She knew what it meant, and she didn’t like it.

“Please don’t hurt me,” she said quietly as she pushed herself back against the bedroom wall. “I’ll do whatever you want. Just please don’t hurt me.”

“Just calm down missy,” the mare told her. “Ah ain’t here ta hurt y’all. Ah just need a place ta stay out of the cold.”

“Th-th-that’s what the other one said,” she stuttered out fearfully, her back pressed fully against the wall, almost standing on her hind legs, wings outstretched. “Th-that’s the s-same excuse he used. S-s-someplace to stay out of the c-cold. You’re just like him…”

“Just like- all y’all talking about that tall thing Ah saw before Ah got here?” Applejack knew she might not have been as smart as her other friends, but it didn’t take her long to put together who this pony was talking about. The creature said it had caused destruction and death, and so naturally assumed that it was the ‘other one’ this pony was talking about.

“If y’all mean that tall, gangly lookin’ thing Ah saw that brought me here, Ah ain’t anything like it, and hope ta give it a piece of my mind.”

“Y-y-y-you’re wh-who he said w-would come. He went on and on about h-how he needed s-someone like you t-to release him… and now…”

“As Ah said, Ah ain’t here ta hurt ya,” she tried to tell her. “Ah don’t even know what Ah’m doin’ here, other than that thing sayin’ something about going back ta Equestria, but-”

“That’s what he said!” she interrupted. “He said he’d make Earth like whatever that place is, and now we’re horses, and the world is…”

As the mare paused to take a breath to calm down, Applejack broke in, “That thing told me something about destruction and death and whatnot. It’s not… like that, is it?” She took a step forward, and the mare flattened herself further against the wall.

“Don’t come near me,” she tried to tell her. “I don’t want you to come near me. Just please, just- just don’t hurt me…”

“Ah already told ya Ah ain’t here ta-”

Before she could get more out, the mare was sprinting away from her, flapping her wings wildly as she ran, running out the door a few seconds later. Applejack noticed that she didn't fly, and followed after her to see her leaving tracks in the snow as she continued to run, away from the town and into the snowfield, becoming smaller and smaller as she ran.

“What in Equestria is going on here?” she silently wondered, debating whether or not she should go after her before deciding that it was probably best if she stayed inside. She was tired, and would probably just scare her more if she went after her.

Quickly and quietly, she closed the door behind her and turned to head back upstairs, only to stop at the foot of the steps to see another pony staring back at her from the top. Another pegasus it looked like, a foal, with a blue coat and eyes from what she could tell in the dark, one that looked absolutely terrified of her.

Applejack tried to put on a reassuring smile and greet it, saying, “Now Ah ain’t here ta hurt ya, little one. Ah’m just tryin’ ta get out of the cold. Y’all can go back ta sleep now.”

It didn’t say anything back to her, only continuing to stare and looking ready to bolt just like the mare had done. Applejack thought she could almost see from where she was how fast its heart was beating.

“Do y’all have a name?” she said kindly, keeping her smile on. The foal shook its head in response, and she continued, “Well, mine’s Applejack. You have a… very nice home. Mind if Ah stay here a little while?”

She waited a few seconds to see if it would answer, and when no words came, she very slowly made her way back up the stairs. She tried her best to keep it from being afraid of her, but could see it shaking like a leaf by the time she reached the top, probably from fear rather than cold.

“We didn’t mean to close the window...” it said quietly, just barely being able to be heard.

“What was that, sugarcube?” she asked politely before watching the foal, a colt, run in and try his best to open it again, jumping and flapping his wings as he pushed it up about halfway.

“Now what are y’all going doin’ that for?” she asked him, staring into the room at him with a weird expression as a cold burst of wind hit her coat and made her shiver.

“She didn’t mean to close it, I promise,” he answered. He stared at her fearfully, then repeated, “She didn’t mean to close it…”

“Now why would ya go leaving that thing open anyway?” she asked. “Especially with how cold it is?”

The foal didn’t answer, opting only to shake his head as he went back to being silent. He was clearly terrified, that much Applejack could tell, and looked like he would start crying at any second.

“Now listen here,” she said in a kind but assertive voice as she stepped forward, “Ah ain’t here ta hurt you. Ah’m just tryin’ ta stay out of the cold.” She made her way up to the window again, continuing, “Now Ah’m just gonna-”

“No!” he yelled, interrupting her as he jumped in front of it. “You can’t close it! Mom said not to!”

“Why can’t ya close it?” she asked, getting a shake of his head from him again as her response. She opened her mouth to argue, but stopped herself when she saw the colt lay down directly in front of it, clearly planning to stop any attempt she made at closing it. He still looked like he was so scared he was about to cry, but had enough courage to guard what he thought was important from somepony he didn’t know.

“Some mom that mare is,” Applejack silently said, thinking about how she didn’t take her son with her when she ran away from somepony she thought would hurt her, who was now sleeping in the cold and had been for who knew how long cause she told him to. Even if they didn’t have any fuel for their fireplace, from what she saw, the house itself should’ve provided enough insolation from the cold to keep the temperature more bearable than outside.

She sighed to herself, deciding it was an issue to take up with the colt later, or that mare when she came back. For right now, she was tired and wanted to sleep, and so laid down and curled up next to the empty mattress where the mare had been. Before that though, she took off her hat and placed it on the colt’s body so he could at least have a little protection from the frigidness.

The Start Of The Day

Applejack was only asleep for a couple of hours before the light from the sun shining through the window forced her awake. For a moment, she was confused as to why she was lying on the ground in a house she didn’t recognize, but then remembered the thing and the darkness and the snow and falling asleep where she lay now. At least in waking up she now knew for sure that she wasn’t dreaming. Not that she really thought she was in the first place, but it was good to have confirmation. Now all she needed to do was figure out what in Equestria- or, wherever she was- she should do.

The mare stretched her legs and looked over to the colt to see him still lying where he was, not moving, but eyes staring directly at her. She noticed this morning that he was more green than blue, with a dark blue mane with dark red eyes, and saw that he’d somehow been able to cover almost his entire body with her hat. Not that he needed it anymore. It was much warmer now than it was a few hours ago, the temperature having risen considerably in the short time she’d been asleep.

“Did y’all sleep well?” she asked, only for him to remain silent and shrink back away from her slightly. She frowned, not liking that he was still afraid of her, but understood it. She was still an unknown pony sleeping in a stranger’s house. She'd be afraid if she was in his situation.

“Well, uh…” she started awkwardly, rubbing one of her hooves behind the other, “Ah guess Ah best get going now. Don’t want yer mom ta get mad with me or freak out that Ah’m still here.”

Carefully, she bent down and picked her hat up from off of the colt, and saw a sight she didn’t notice in the darkness yesterday, one that she didn’t like to see.

“When was the last time ya had something ta eat?” she asked seriously as she scowled at the sight of his ribs. He didn’t answer, but he didn’t need to, because Applejack was already marching downstairs to see if the mare had returned and give her a piece of her mind.

She moved into the living room and through the house to see… nothing. There was just as much nothing there now as there was the day before, the light shining through the windows letting her take in just how bare the house truly was. She’d never seen anyplace so empty, and it was almost shocking how little there was. No food, no furniture, hardly anything but dust was present. As she continued to move, she also noted the fact that the colt’s mother clearly hadn’t returned back despite her son still being there.

“I wonder if she’s hurt…” Applejack thought. “Or maybe froze her tail off with how cold it was out there…” She really didn’t want to think about that. While she might have had a few words to say about her parenting skills, she had to admit that she did just waltz into their home by surprise, and the mare did look terrified of her… not to mention, she really was against leaving a foal all alone in a place like this, with no food or games or anything to keep it occupied.

“He’ll probably be fine,” she tried to tell herself. “His mother will come back and then everything will be fine. He looks old enough to handle being on his own…”

Of course, some other part of her also said that maybe she wouldn’t some back and maybe the poor thing wouldn’t be fine. With as thin as it looked, she didn’t want to think about what might happen to it after a few days if the colt’s mother didn’t return, or even if she did return, considering how thin it looked. Not to mention, it was mostly her fault she was gone, seeing as she technically broke into their home…

AJ sighed to herself. Of course she was going to go after the boy’s mother. There wasn’t any other way this would play out. She knew that in the back of her mind the moment she saw him standing at the top of the steps last night. She just wished the mare wouldn’t have freaked out of her like she did, or at least had taken her son with her when she ran off.

She turned to head back upstairs to get him, but saw that he’d already quietly crept down and was standing near the base, wearing her hat on his head, his eyes barely peeking out from under it. She couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight as she spoke to him.

“Hey, sugarcube,” she called. “Ah know ya don’t know who Ah am, but Ah’m not really comfortable leavin’ ya here all alone with nopony around…” She paused, then continued, “Ah think ya should come with me until we find yer mom.”

“Find her?” the foal squeaked out, tilting his head.

“Yeah. Ah was thinking we follow the tracks probably left through the snow and-”

“That’s not my mom,” he suddenly interrupted, speaking in a whisper.

“Um, what?” Applejack asked, completely confused. “Ah thought you said that was your mom. You said she told ya not ta close the window.”

“That’s not my mom,” the colt whispered again, sniffling a bit. “My mom left and didn’t come back.”

Now Applejack became concerned, and started to ask, “When did she leave? Who was that pony?”

The colt shook his head to say he didn’t know, and answered, “She ate all the food Mom left for me… but I stayed awake to make sure she didn’t close the window.”

“What’s this business about now closing the window for?” the mare asked. “It looks like the middle of winter out there. Don’t ya get cold?”

“Mom said not to close the window cause then people will know I live here and try to take me…”

“Well... “ she trailed off, hating that she told him that, disliking that places existed where ponies actually had to lock their doors. “Ah’m not tryin’ ta take y’all or anything,” she said, “but Ah don’t want y’all here all alone.

“Mom also told me about ponies with pictures on them,” he continued quietly. “She said you’re the reason this happened to us…”

“The reason what happened to you?”

“The reason I’m a horse…”

Applejack didn’t know what he meant by that or what he could've been before besides a pony, but she really didn’t want to leave him all alone by himself, especially with the way he looked. She knew he wouldn’t last more than a few more days if he were left alone.

“Well, Ah gotta say, you look mighty cold and hungry ta me. Ah ain’t tryin’ ta force y’all, but Ah really do think you should come with me.”

The colt took a step back, shaking his head once again, and the mare found herself at a loss. She didn’t know what she should do, other than her common sense telling her she couldn’t let him stay all alone. She didn't want to force him to come with her to... wherever she was going to go, but she knew she couldn't let him stay alone.

“Well… why don’t y’all start by telling me what yer name is?”

“I… don’t have a name…”

“You don’t have a name?” she asked, getting another shake of his head in response. “What kind of pony doesn’t have a name?”

The colt looked at the ground in embarrassment, his ears going flat against his head, causing Applejack to instantly start feeling bad.

“Ah’m sorry,” she apologized. “Ah’m sorry. Why don’t ya start by telling me what ya were before you became a pony?”

The Explanation

“It was nice to see you all again for this,” Celestia said sweetly with a kind smile, “but I do need to get back to running the Daycourt. I do look forward to the next time you all stop by." She went silent for a moment, then continued, "Although before you all leave, I do need to discuss something privately with you, Twilight Sparkle.”

“Oh! Of course! Anything, Princess Celestia!” She was surprised but happy to get to spend an extra moment with her teacher. However, as the two of them moved to the side, Celestia spoke with a bit more seriousness.

“I’d like you to keep a careful eye on her, Twilight, and notify me of anything strange she might do.”

“A careful- on Applejack?”

“Yes, Applejack,” she confirmed. “Not that you need to keep your eyes on her all the time. In fact, you can go about your days as you normally would. Just keep a note of how she is when you’re around her, and let me know if she seems like she’s acting strangely, or out of character in any way.”

“Is this about the joke she was trying to pull? I hope she didn’t upset you. I promise she wouldn’t ever purposefully-”

“It is about that, yes,” the princess interrupted, “but it’s not that it upset me in any way. In fact, I thought it was rather delightful seeing her attempt at a prank.” She chuckled to herself at the thought, then became more serious again, continuing, “However, that place she mentioned that she said she created as part of her backstory, Earth…”

“What about it?” Twilight asked curiously, wanting to know.

“I heard that word mentioned before as a place, sometime in my past. I’m certain of it, I just can’t quite remember where I heard it… This was back in the days when Earth Ponies were simply called ‘horses’. I’m just trying to remember where I heard Earth referred to as a place and not just used as a substitute for ground or dirt…”

“I can try and find out for you,” Twilight offered. “I’m sure there’s something in the Royal Library about it. I can put it in my schedule and try to find out what that place is. I mean, if you want me to, Princess…”

“I would appreciate it if you could, Twilight, or at least help me jog my memory by seeing what kinds of events were happening around the time Earth Ponies were called horses…”

Celestia stared silently for a second, still trying to think. She felt as if the answer was on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn’t quite piece together what it was.

“Anyway,” she finally continued, shaking her head, “I’m sure it’s nothing. It’s probably just a coincidence that she came up with Earth as a backstory. But just keep a tiny eye on her, and try to find something out for me, will you please Twilight?”

“Not a problem!” the mare answered enthusiastically. “You can count on me!”

“That’s… is that really all true?” Applejack asked the colt.

“That’s what my mom says it was like… I don't really remember though...”

“And ya didn’t use ta be a pony either?” The colt answered by shaking his head, and Applejack sat down thoughtfully, worried. If what he said was true, then this was so much bigger than just some creature sending her off to this place. She could only imagine how she’d react if that thing had done to Equestria what the foal in front of her said happened to his home. Turning creatures into other creatures, creating panic and chaos, releasing monsters and demons, killing ponies… If everything the colt told her was true and that thing was in Equestria like it said, it would be bad news. Not that she wasn’t sure the Elements of Harmony couldn’t stop the likes of it, she was sure they could, but right now, her element wasn’t in Equestria.

Not only that, but apparently she and all her friends, along with just about everypony she knew, had been spied on for quite some time. He told her that, in this place, Equestria to them was just a story and didn’t actually exist. At least, they didn’t think it existed until that thing turned them all into ponies and a lot of their creatures into things found there. It seemed completely bizarre to AJ, but without anything else to go on, decided to take what he told her on faith.

“Ya said yer mom also told ya somethin’ about ponies gettin' some sickness?” she asked.

He nodded, telling her in a whisper, “She told me that there was something in the air now and on the ground and everywhere inside of us that’s making a lot of people sick. She said in places with more people, it’s worse, but told me it’s still bad here. She thinks it’s magic…”

“Wait, they’re gettin’ sick because of magic?” Applejack asked. “Not because of a spell that was used on 'em er something? That doesn’t really… sound right ta me...” She couldn’t claim to be an expert in the ‘magic’ department, but as far as she knew, ponies didn’t get sick off of magic alone. They got sick because of the things magic did to other things. She’d never heard of anypony getting sick just from the ambient magic that was in… well, everything. However, this would be more in Twilight’s department. She only had a general understanding from her time with the bookish pony, and found herself wishing that her friend was with her now.

“Is it a different type? Like evil magic er something?”

“We don’t have magic… at all..”

“This... there’s no magic where we are?”

“No. My mom said magic isn’t real… I mean, wasn't real before...”

She had to think about that. She remembered that Tirek could consume a pony’s magic and leave them sick looking and helpless, so she guessed that the reverse could also be true and you could get sick from too much. The whole thing though seemed… like a lot to take in. However, she had nothing else to go off of and it didn’t seem like the colt was lying, so decided to take his word on everything he said to her. She honestly wished she could talk to his mother though...

“Ah know y’all don’t know where she took off to, but do ya think ya know where yer mom might’ve gone?” the mare asked, hoping for an answer.

“Well… I don’t know…” the foal answered sadly, sniffling a little bit.

“Any idea where she might have gone?” Applejack pressed. “Like, any markets er things that might be nearby?”

He shook his head once again, sadly saying, “I’m sorry… the closest place is a long time away, and I don’t know where it is...”

“Hm..... well.... Ah thought Ah saw train tracks out there in the snow if Ah’m not mistaken. How often do they run through here?”

“Not that much,” he answered quietly. “I haven’t seen one in a long time, and they never stop here…”

“Well, if they don’t stop by that much and markets are a long ways away, how do ya get there?”

“We used to drive to the store…”

“Yer mom drove the train?”

“No,” he responded, shaking his head. “She drove our car.”

The Car

“Are ya sure about this thing?” Applejack asked as she and the colt looked at the car, the former staring at it with skepticism. “Ah know it’s got wheels, but it doesn’t look anywhere near as powerful as a train, and ya said before there ain’t a lot of magic where we are.” She then looked to the colt who seemed more comfortable around her now and asked, “By the way, how old are ya?”

“I’m ten,” he told her simply as the two walked around the vehicle in the snow. The sun was shining down on them, warming their fur, the air much warmer by comparison to yesterday. It almost felt like a cold spring morning to Applejack, or maybe just a random warm day in the winter to relieve her from the cold. Regardless, it was nice, and the mare took the opportunity to appreciate it.

“Yer older than Ah thought,” she replied, then turned her attention back to the machine. “Do ya know how ta use this thing?”

The colt shook his head, then admitted, “I do, but I’m not old enough to… or big enough I think.”

“But ya do know how ta use it, right?”

“Mmm-hmm,” he said as he opened the driver door and wriggled his way into the seat. “You use this to steer,” he said, touching the wheel, “and these two pedals to start it and stop it,” he explained, wiggling his hooves that were unable to reach them.

“How do ya turn the thing on?” she asked him.

“There should be a key in here somewhere… found it!” he said, picking it up in his teeth. He quickly tried to insert it into the ignition, but, unable to find the right angle, told her, “I need help getting it in.”

He gave the key over to AJ, but watched wide-eyed as she took it in her hooves, staring at her in stunned silence, staying where he was and she waited for him to move.

“Uhhhhh… what’s the matter with ya?”

“How did you do that?” he asked, using a hoof to point at hers.

“What? Pick up the key?” she asked. “That’s just my hoof grip. Comes with being an earth pony. Most Pegasi don’t have that.”

“That’s really cool!” he got out, then looked sadly at his hooves. “I miss having hands…”

Applejack looked at the colt sadly. He’d just explained how his whole world was turned upside down and how he was alone with nopony, and it made her upset. She found herself wishing she could do something about that, and getting a bit angry with herself with the knowledge that she couldn’t.

“Listen,” she started, trying to be optimistic. “Once Ah get back to Equestria, me and my friends’ll come back here and get this whole mess that thing created fixed for ya. Why actually, Ah bet Twilight Sparkle's already on top of this and is lookin’ for a way to fix it now.”

“You think so?” the colt asked hopefully.

“Ah know so,” she said with complete confidence, believing what she told him. “This ain’t my first rodeo, bucko, Ah promise.” She watched the colt smile at her for the first time, and smiled back, but then continued seriously, “The first order of business though is seein’ what we can do ta get me back there, and that means finding yer mom, since it seems like she has some answers we don’t.”

“Okay!” he exclaimed, feeling and feeding off of her optimism and moving out of the way for her to get in and try to start the car. She turned the key until it clicked, and watched as lights in the car turned on.

“Now how do we get this thing moving?” she asked aloud, half to the colt and half to herself.

“Oh, you have to turn the key all the way, until the car makes a noise.”

Applejack did as he said and turned the key again, feeling another click, but listened as no noise came, and so turned the key more. This time, she felt it resist against her and move back to its previous position, but heard the thing rumble and felt it vibrate as it started up. The rumbling sound didn’t go away, but she did notice lights on the front of it and the inside turn on now and some air start blowing through the vents she saw.

“Ah assume it’s supposed ta do this?” she asked curiously as she looked around at everything. A bunch of numbers she really didn’t recognize on a screen, a lot of button and knobs that she assumed were important in some fashion, a steering wheel, two pedals, a lever that had a button on the side and a bunch of letters next to it, and a bunch of trash thrown all over the floor. She had to admit, it was interesting, if not a bit concerning, seeing as she didn’t know what everything did and what she might need to use.

“Are ya sure all Ah do is press the pedals and steer? Which pedal makes it go?”

“Uhhhhhhh... “ he trailed off. “I know one makes it start and the other makes it stop…” He looked down at her hooves and decided, “The long, flat one is the gas, and the other is the brake.”

“Alright… I’ll take your word for it,” she told him as she lightly touched the pedal and looked dead ahead of her. She heard the car rumble a bit harder, but didn’t see it moving at all, and so pressed down with more force.

“Nothin’s happening,” AJ told the colt, as she put her hoof as far down as it would go.

“Oh yeah, you have to move this,” he told her as he used both hooves to switch the car’s gear into reverse.

Suddenly, they both felt the car speed backward, Applejack tensing up and keeping her hoof on the gas for a few seconds before the vehicle hit the metal silo behind her, causing the back window to shatter and her to hit her head on the dashboard.

The Shot

“Oh, my head…” Applejack moaned after being out for a few seconds. “Why- what… where am Ah?” she asked to nopony in particular.

“Oh good! You’re okay!” the colt told her happily, the relief evident in his voice. “I thought you were hurt.”

“Not so loud, please,” AJ responded quietly. She looked around for a second, trying to piece together what had happened, and then remembered about the colt’s mother and the car and hitting her head after slamming the back of the vehicle into the silo. She could hear the engine of the thing still running, and turned around to see the hole in the back window, glass from it coating the backseats.

“How do we get this thing goin’ forward?” she asked slowly, not really comprehending the fact that she just hit her head, only knowing that it was better to be moving than it was to be staying still. Answers were supposedly ahead with the colt’s mother, rather than in that empty house with the open window.

“Doesn’t really make a lick of sense to keep a window wide open in the winter,” the mare found herself thinking. “Not one single bit of sense at all.”

“We have to put it in D for drive,” the foal answered. “But… um, are you okay?”

“Ah’m fine,” she answered a bit groggily, her speech slightly slurred, waving a hoof at him. “Ah’m fine. Just a little hit on the noggin. Ain’t nothin’ ta be worried about. Ah’ve been through worse.”

“Okay, if you say so,” he answered, accepting her response. “Be careful though. I’m gonna change it now.”

She heard the gear shift twice, and, not having her hoof on the break, watched the car slowly start to crawl forward, turning the wheel in the direction she wanted to go as it inched along.

“Is this as fast as it goes?” she asked, looking down at the pedals before remembering what he said earlier. “Oh yeah, ya gotta press these things.”

Gingerly, she touched the gas, and felt the car lurch forward a bit as it sped up. She had enough sense to make sure it didn’t get too fast this time, and only touched the pedal every few seconds, making sure it didn’t go all the way to the floor like before. It didn’t take long before they were slowly turning onto the road.

“You need to get to that road over there,” the colt told her, pointing his hoof over to the interstate a few hundred yards away. “That’s where my mom always goes when we drive.”

“Will do, kiddo,” she confirmed, guiding the car where she wanted it to go. “Using this thing is much easier ta do than Ah expected,” she commented, her driving becoming slowly less jerky, the mare becoming more sure of herself by the second as they moved. “The other pedal is ta stop?”

“Yeah, but if we stop too fast, it’ll make us hit the window.”

“Noted,” she replied, noting the headache she had. “I’ll be just as gentle with it as the driving pedal.”

She didn’t drive too fast as the two of them turned onto the interstate, although she saw a sign that told her she could go seventy-five miles per hour. While she was sure of herself operating the car after so little time, she wasn’t quite that sure of herself just yet.

She looked at the gauges on the dashboard again, trying to decipher what they meant as she concentrated on the road. One of them was obviously the speed, hence the mp/h sign under it, the needle pointing at around the twenty miles per hour marker, but the other two she had more trouble with. The first one had r/min and a needle that inched up past the three on it every so often before dropping back down to one, seemingly at random times. The other one, from what she could tell, was a fuel gauge that told her the car was completely filled up, however she wasn’t certain that’s what it meant.

“Hey, uhhhhh…” she trailed off, looking over to the colt, uncomfortable about the fact that she had nothing to call him. “Is it okay if Ah called ya Blue? Or Green? Or somethin’?”

“You can call me Blue,” the colt, Blue, answered. “I don’t care.”

“Say, Blue,” Applejack asked as she drove, “do ya know what these gauges mean? Ah know the first one is our speed, but what are the other two?”

“Ummmmmmm… the one on the right is how much gas we have left… and… and I don’t know what the other one is. I don’t think my mom really looks at that one.”

“Fair enough, Ah guess. Do ya know how far we can go with it sayin’ we have a lot of gas?”

“I don’t know, but the store shouldn’t be that far. We can usually get there in, like, an hour or something.”

Applejack didn’t question him, deciding simply to stare ahead at the road, realizing after a little while she should be keeping the thing in between the dashed lines on the road and trying her best to do so. She saw a few signs as they drove, namely one that advertised a place called McDonald’s as being fifteen miles ahead, and somewhere called Hays as one hundred fifty-five miles away. That seemed like an awfully long ways away, and while the speed limit sign did tell her she should be able to get there in two hours, at the pace she was driving, it would take her almost three to four times as long.

“We ain’t goin’ all the way to Hays are we, Blue?”

“No, there’s a bunch of stores and stuff in the town ahead. I’m pretty sure that’s where she would be…”

She found herself trusting what he said. He didn’t seem like one to tell a lie, and couldn’t help but listen to him. Not that she would really have any other choice if he were lying, or even just mistaken, but as she thought to herself before, going someplace was better than staying still.

It was a tiring task Applejack found out, driving. The endless road and fields ahead of her, unchanging, with hardly any twists or turns in the road, made it hard for her to keep her focus held on driving. She almost thought she felt her eyes starting to get heavy when after about forty minutes of silent, unchanging highway in front of her, she thought she could see a couple of building far off in the distance, and much closer, a mare walking along the road, heading in their direction.

“Is that her?” AJ asked Blue as she carefully pressed on the break, planning on pulling up to her. It was a pink mare she saw walking towards them, one that looked like it had a bit of a limp in its step, carrying a bag of something on her back, what she couldn’t tell.

The colt shook his head, answering, “My mom’s brown.”

“That ain’t the mare from last night, ya think?” she asked aloud, mostly to herself, her head still a bit foggy from the hit it took. “Why Ah oughta give her a piece of my mind. That’s her, ain’t it?”

“I think so, but we-”

He was interrupted by the car jerking to a stop, AJ opening the door as the mare approached a bit more quickly and Blue switched the vehicle to park.

“What do ya think yer doin’ out here?” Applejack called, the pegasus’s eyes widening in recognition at her voice, the fear still clear in her eyes when she looked at her cutie mark. “Y’all just went and abandoned-”

It was AJ's turn to be interrupted as she suddenly heard a bang coming from the mare’s direction and she found herself staggering back and falling to the ground, seeing just a tint of red in the snow as she did.

The Story

“I- I didn’t mean- I did it because I think- or, I thought- I thought that would fix all of… this!” the mare cried, then closed her eyes and flinched as though expecting a blow from Applejack.

The blow didn’t come, but she kept her eyes closed anyway, hearing the mare growl at her as she stood over her. The growling slowly quieted down into nothingness, and after a minute, the mare gained the courage to open her eyes, seeing a frowning AJ staring down at her.

“Don’t y’all ever go doin’ anything like that again, ya hear me?” she commanded the pegasus. “Ever. Again. Understand?” The pony quickly nodded her head, and the earth pony continued, “What exactly did y’all try and do? What was that bang?”

“I- I- I didn’t mean to- I shot you, but-”

“You shot me?” she interrupted, confused. “With what? Metal? How? Actually, no. Tell me why yer thinking hittin’ me with things will fix yer problems.”

She swallowed nervously and answered in a whisper, “He said you would come…”

“Who said I would come? Why?”

“He did. He said you would come and now you're here, and- please don’t hurt me!”

Applejack finally sighed, “Ah ain’t gonna hurt ya, but don’t you go runnin’ away from me when Ah stop standing’ over ya. Ah have some questions for you. Like what’s yer name for starters?”

“A-a-angelina…”

“Ah ain’t ever heard of a name like Angelina before. Where are ya from?”

"I- I… I live in Kansas, and- and I stayed at Blue’s h-house because I knew who he w-was…”

“Blue?” she repeated, looking at the colt who was still in the car as he used his teeth to turn off the engine. “He told me he didn’t have a name.”

“A lot of people d-don’t remember theirs, and some people don’t remember who th-they are at all…”

“Why? Tell me exactly what happened.”

Angelina looked around as if checking to see if somepony were listening in on her, then flapped her wings a bit as she closed her eyes and started to speak.

“Not that long ago, that man just suddenly appeared out of nowhere. It was right here in Kansas, back in Kanorado. He just… it was like he just popped into existence, right in front of us. I watched it happen. He looked… he looked absolutely enraged when I saw him, and I and a lot of other people ran up to him to ask him what happened. He only told us that once one of the Elements of Harmony got here, it would be all over. And then he- he just… walked off.

“A lot of people wanted to just shake their heads at him and say he was crazy and that he did some sort of trick, but I went in and looked up what Elements of Harmony were, and it was your picture that came up… err, at least, yours was one of the pictures that came up. So that’s… that’s why… and with everything that happened… I’m sorry…”

“What happened after he said that?” Applejack asked seriously.

“He started to appear everywhere, in newspapers, online, on TV, and… he was saying that since he couldn’t be in Equestria, he’d turn Earth into Equestria. A lot of people didn’t really believe him, including me, but… he was also… not normal. Like, he was able to do things that normal people couldn’t do, like fly, or predict the future, or use magic. And whenever he used magic, people would get sick. Not just people around him, but like, entire cities, and sometimes plants and animals, too. The scientists said it was some new element they’d never seen, or maybe some type of radiation that was being emitted, but most people just called it magic, and it was.

“A lot of people wanted him locked up and dissected, but most people didn’t mind it, and a bunch of people were convinced that it, that he, was a hoax. Most people stopped thinking that though once he started reshaping the world, as in, its actual terrain. He was able to use his hands to tear the Earth apart and shape it how he wanted it, like building mountains and leveling forests wherever he wanted. That phase didn’t last very long though, and it was mostly the center of the country where he did that. After that though, he did start messing up when the moon and the sun set and rose, and how the planets and stars looked in the night sky, and also messing up the ecosystem to try and make the world more “perfect” as he said, more for ponies. As in, ridding it of meat-based products and things like that, replacing farms of wheat and corn and potatoes with hay, and changing the climate, too. And then, he…”

Angelina took a breath and continued, “And then, a few months ago, just… all of a sudden.. we- we changed. We…” She sniffed and there were a few tears as she curled her wings closer to her body some, continuing, “We turned into ponies… it was just… all at once. If you blinked, you would’ve missed it happening. A bunch of ponies were killed on the spot, and then more died because of reactors exploding and cars and airplanes crashing and things going out that we need to be humans to take care of. And then over the next few weeks, a lot of people got sick from magic, especially people who were turned into unicorns. They got terrible headaches and either died or just… went completely insane from the pain. I didn’t get sick, but a lot of the bigger cities were where he was at, so that’s where most of the people were affected.

“We never saw him again after that, after he made one final announcement that he was going back to his home, back to Equus or Equestria or wherever he said he was off to. And then he left, and now we’re… yeah…”

The Destination

Applejack was only half paying attention to the road as she started to drive again, carefully keeping an eye on Angelina, making sure the pegasus wasn’t up to anything. She made the mare sit next to her in the passenger seat, putting the colt, Blue, in the backseat as they drove. Of course, the foal leaned forward to see out the front windshield, making sure they were heading the right way. Despite the story she heard, AJ wasn’t anywhere close to trusting the pegasus next to her yet.

“We shouldn’t be that far away now,” Blue told her. “I think you… take the street with the sign that says seventeen, and then turn right… I mean, left. You turn left.”

The earth pony did as she was instructed, following the sign that explained there was food and lodging and a college and a city called “Goodland” ahead. As she drove up the exit and turned to the left, she could see there were more vehicles like the one she was in, as well as a few other ponies out and about and speaking to each other. She thought they looked strange at first, not able to figure out what was wrong with them, before she realized that none of them had a cutie mark. None of them had found out their special talent. Just to be sure her eyes weren’t tricking her, she made a quick glance at Angelina's flank, and was able to see that she didn’t have one either. None of the ponies here did. It made her a bit sad to think that these ponies didn’t know what they were supposed to do in life.

“Or maybe they had a purpose before, until… whoever it was… wiped it away…” she thought to herself. “It’s a whole big ol' mess it looks like. If Twilight were here, she’d be right on this…”

“That’s it!” Blue called out, using a hoof to point to the left as they drove down the street, seeing billboards and buildings and a sign with a giant yellow 'M' on it. Applejack looked to where he pointed and saw a very large, brown building that labeled itself ‘Walmart’ in bold, white lettering. There were also cars parked there, though not nearly as many as a parking lot the size of the one in front of her could potentially hold. There were also a couple of other ponies standing outside of the store, both without cutie marks, both looking listless and tired as they spoke to each other. Although the sun was bright and the sky was blue, it was quite a dreary-looking scene to AJ.

“That’s where she would be!” the colt continued, flapping his wings in excitement.

“What is that place?” she asked him, confused. “What’s a wall mart?”

“It’s a large store that sells things,” Angelina explained. “They’re everywhere, and have stuff like clothes and food and tools.”

“Okay, well, if that story ya told me holds up, why ain’t everypony here right now?” Applejack asked. “Ah’d think they’d all be frollicking ta this place if that was the case, seeing as ya were talkin' about everything being destoryed.”

“Well, like I said, they’re everywhere,” she told her, “and not everything was destroyed... just... a lot of things. Goodland is kind of a small town, much smaller than the thousands of other cities there are. I’m pretty sure all the people here went to Kansas City or Denver or Amarillo or something before they changed.”

Applejack took her explanation at face value, seeing as she didn't know enough to argue with it, then turned to Blue and asked, “Ya sure yer mom’s in there?”

“I mean, I think she is… if she’s not, I don’t know where else she’d be…”

“Well… Ah guess we should check it out, seein’ as we’re here.” With that, the mare pulled into the lot and, seeing how the few other cars there were positioned, did her best to place the vehicle between the lines before killing the engine. She was just starting to open the door when something occurred to her and she quickly shut it again.

She turned to Angelina and asked in an authoritative voice, “If Ah step out of this here car, are all these ponies gonna wanna hurt me? Like you wanted to?”

“Ummm… I don’t know… I don’t- I don’t know… I don’t think… everyone knows about you… so... maybe not... I only, ummm…” She trailed off embarrassedly, looking down at her hooves.

She tried to gauge the pegasus’s reaction before deciding to trust her. “Can’t get anywhere without at least a little bit of trust,” she figured to herself. “Plus, Ah’m pretty sure Ah can take on whatever these ponies throw at me if they do try ta hurt me.” She looked down at her side, which still stung and, seeing the area where Angelina’s shot grazed her, silently continued, “Although things might get a bit nasty if they have more of the same things she had… Ah really wish Ah had my friends here with me. Ah’m sure Rainbow would brag about how she could just zip past 'em.”

With her thought finished, she opened the door again and called from inside her car, “Hey y’all! Is it alright if Ah get out here?” She made sure to keep part of her body in the vehicle just in case she needed to duck back in quickly and get away. Luckily for her, the ponies she spoke to only looked confused, as if they didn’t know what she was talking about, and simply nodded before going back to their conversation.

“Welp, it seems alright enough, but stay near me Blue, just in case one of 'em tries somethin’.”

With that instruction, she and the colt stepped fully out, the latter hurrying to the former’s side as they started walking slowly up to the stallions in front of them. They only gave a weird stare as they walked, Applejack smiling widely at them as they passed, noticing they were looking at her flank, but watched as they turned away shyly when she looked where they were looking, too.

“It’s my cutie mark,” she thought, “but at least they’re not freakin' out like Angelina was. It’s probably 'cause they don’t-”

“That’s her!” the colt suddenly gasped, quickly running up to the sliding doors at the front of the building, flapping his wings wildly as AJ trotted after him. “That’s my mom!” exclaimed said, using a hoof to point to the mare just behind the see-through glass.

The Book

“Earth,” Twilight read aloud to herself. “The substance of the land’s surface; soil. Earth ponies get their name from this after the legendary alicorn Gaia the Great shifted their name three millennium ago from the name ‘horse’. Hmmm…”

“Whatcha reading there, Twilight?” Spike asked curiously as he made his way into the main room of her castle. “Something important from Princess Celestia?”

“Yes, I am. She wants me to find out where the name ‘Earth’ comes from, and try to find out when the word was used as a place instead of as a substitute for soil or in the name earth ponies.”

“That sounds interesting. Find anything yet?”

“Not yet, but I’m still reading.” With that, she cleared her throat, continuing a bit louder so he could listen, “Earth is also a place referenced by Gaia as a mirrored version of Equus, a separate world without magic. See ‘Gaia’ for more information… Spike, can you-”

“On it,” he answered, already heading up to get her books on the pony. A few minutes later, she was opening up to a chapter indicating ‘Travels of Gaia the Great’ under a section titled ‘Earth’ as its own area to read through.

“Earth is a world inhabited by many creatures,” Twilight read, “much like Equus, although one key difference being the development of a creature called a ‘homo sapien’, which ruled alongside horses (now called earth ponies). However, after a certain amount of time, the homo sapiens became more oppressive, and gradually began to take control of them, oftentimes for them to end up being used as slaves, and, occasionally, as food.” Twilight grimaced at that, able to hear Spike gasp as well, before continuing, “However, this was before Gaia the Great went to Earth to try to put a stop to it. However, when she went and saw the homo sapiens numbers, she chose instead to bring with her to Equus as many ponies as she could. Still yet, despite their treatment, many were unwilling to go, some having grown fond of their terrible masters. However, it’s estimated that she increased the population of Equus by some two million ponies, many adopting the name earth ponies as a reference to their home world, the name being officially changed over from horse once it was seen that they outnumbered native Equus horses five to one.”

“Wow… that’s crazy,” Spike commented simply. “I’m glad she saved them though. It sounds like an awful place.”

“It sounds terrible. I’ve never heard of anything like it…” Twilight looked back to the book to finish reading the section, continuing, “Being in an alternate universe to the one Equus inhabits, Earth was placed on a list of banned worlds because of what was witnessed by Gaia, to date the portal being opened only once since being placed on the list… that’s it? It doesn’t say when it was opened again or what happened?” Twilight flipped the page back and forth as though it would reveal more information, and was disappointed when it didn’t.

“Who would even want to go to a place like that?” Spike asked. “It sounds terrible. Just thinking about it makes me afraid, knowing that someplace like that exists.”

"But- but... it doesn't even say who opened it again or why!"

“AJ, get a hold of yourself,” Applejack whispered to herself as she sat in the Apple family home, Granny Smith sleeping in her rocking chair and Big Mac and Applebloom out bucking apples in her place. “Just a little sickness is all. Nopony’s gonna notice. It’ll be better in a few days. I’ll be- Ah’ll be better in a few days. Nopony even knows why you're sick. Just need to get used to havin’ magic is all. It’s been a little while. In a few days, it’ll all be better, and then you can get back to business.”

She sighed to herself, looking around to make sure nopony was listening, then taking a walk outside, her legs feeling just a little bit wobbly under her weight. It wasn’t too bad, but she didn’t like it and wished it would go away. She had things she needed to do.

She took a walk out to the apple trees where Big Mac was doing her job, not even bothering to look her way as he worked, forcing apples out of the branches and into the buckets on the ground with perfect precision.

“Mind if Ah take one there, Big Mac?” she asked politely.

“Enope,” he replied simply, before sending another wave of fruit raining down. She made sure to pick it up with her teeth, still a bit unaccustomed to using her hoof grip, seeing as it had been years since she’d done so.

“Mmmm, perfectly ripe and ready to harvest as always,” she commented as she bit down, enjoying the flavor. Equestrian food always tasted delicious, something about earth pony magic making them taste so much better than food from other places she’d been.

“How long will it take ya ta buck all these apples here without me?” she asked as she enjoyed the sweet, slightly crunchy fruit.

“Not long,” the stallion answered. “Applebloom an’ Ah can get it done in a couple of days.”

“Ah really hate to leave all of this on you two,” she told him, putting a sad look on her face and sorrow in her voice. “If Ah could be out here, Ah would, y’all know that.”

“Ain’t no trouble,” he told his sister. “Y’all jus’ stay restin’ up now. The two of us can take care of it.”

“Thank you, Big Mac. I don’t know what Ah’d do without you.”

“Must be some bug,” he told her before as he bucked the tree he was under again. “Sounds like yer losin’ yer accent, too.”

“Am Ah? Ah don’t think Ah sound any different… maybe Ah should see if Twi can cook somethin’ up for me…”

With that, she walked back off away from him, heading off to Ponyville again, silently cursing at herself for her foolishness. She couldn’t believe she let herself slip up like that, and so soon. She needed to keep a low profile, the only real thing of significance being that ‘prank’, which she did only to make sure she wasn’t being too inconspicuous. However, letting her accent slip up like that was not what she should’ve been doing. Having that happen would get her found out rather quickly. And then…

“Just a little slip-up. I’m lucky my legs started acting weird at the right time, otherwise, there’d be no way to explain that… Just need to keep a low profile and then... get Celestia alone and make her pay. Oh, she’ll pay. I’ll make her suffer for what she did to me. And then after that, everything will be perfect. Just need to stay low until then…”

The Memories

“Mom!” Blue yelled as he ran up to the glass, using a hoof to hit it. The mare looked in his direction, looking completely confused as the sliding doors opened, and gasped as the colt ran up to hug her legs. He used his cheek to rub against her fur as she stood there, looking completely shocked, Applejack smiling at the sight for a moment until she heard the next words out of her mouth.

“Who- who are you?” the mare asked, completely confused.

“Wh-wha? I- I’m me, mom!” he answered as he looked into her eyes. “You don’t remember me?”

“No?” she answered, causing a look of pain to put itself on the colt’s face. “I- I think you have me confused for somepony else?”

“What?” the colt got out as he backed up a bit, already almost on the verge of tears before Applejack trotted up and put a hoof on his shoulder.

“Maybe you should get back to the car, Blue,” Applejack offered as she motioned for him to head back before moving up to the mare and speaking to her.

“Uh, look,” AJ started, “Ah don’t know what’s goin’ on, or why ya left him all alone like that, but the poor thing really misses you. Ah ain’t here to judge y’all or nothin’, but-”

“Um,” the mare interrupted, “I- I don’t have any foal, so… do- do I know you?”

Those words earned a strange look from Applejack as she tried to piece together what she was saying. “Y’all don’t know him?” she asked. “He told me ya told him about what happened and said you could tell me stuff about how y’all got turned into ponies, and maybe what to do ta get it fixed?”

“What do you mean?” she asked as she raised an eyebrow, before continuing, “I’ve always been a pony.”

Applejack frowned at that, wondering if she was joking as she responded, “Ah don’t think ya have been. From what Ah hear, there aren’t any ponies here… err, there weren’t before. Ah heard y’all used to be some creature else? A human? And that y’all know what’s goin’ on here?”

The mare shook her head, responding, “I- I’ve always been a pony. I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t even know what a human is… is that- is that your colt?”

The earth pony stared at the mare completely confused. She opened her mouth to speak, before closing it again, not knowing what to ask. Both Angelina and Blue insisted they used to be people and that there weren’t any ponies before, but here was this mare saying she’d always been a pony, and saying it as though it was a matter of fact. It sounded so true and convincing and simple that she was ready to believe it, if not for her eyes straying to her flank.

“Say, miss, what’s yer name?” AJ asked casually, taking a step closer and bending her head down.

“It’s uh… it’s… I- I don’t… for some reason, I can’t remember. It’s on the tip of my tongue though…”

“Hmmm, and I see y’all don’t have a cutie mark. Any reason fer that?”

“I- I don’t?” she asked, sounding surprised as she looked at her flank, noting that, sure enough, it was noticeably blank. “I should’ve gotten one by now, I think…”

“Yeah, yer a bit old to be goin’ without one,” the apple farmer commented.

“It’s so strange,” the mare continued as she twirled in a circle, examining both sides of her flank. “How do I not have one?”

“It is mighty strange, Ah hafta say” Applejack agreed. “Maybe you should come with me and we can try and find out why?” The mare simply shrugged her shoulders, agreeing immediately, much to the former's satisfaction.

“This is what Twilight would do, isn’t it?” she wondered as the two walked back to the car. “Try and find out why these ponies think they’re ponies? Or maybe they think they’re humans… no, that doesn’t make sense because they don’t have cutie marks… ugh, even Rarity is better suited to all this investigatin' business than Ah am… where are they? I hope they’re tryin’ ta get to me now ta help me out here…”

As the two of them got back, she saw the car still vibrating where it was parked, indicating that it was still running, seeing the pegasus still sitting inside idly, looking out the window with a hoof on her chin. It was then that she realized that she left her alone with the vehicle, and wiped a nonexistent bead of sweat off her forehead, thankful that the mare hadn’t driven off with it on her own. Despite trying to hurt her before, she was glad that at least this mare was honest.

“M-mom?” Blue asked as the door opened and Applejack pointed to a seat for the mare to sit, the fur around his eyes now visibly wet. The mare thought nothing of it as she sat down next to him, flinching a bit as he placed his head on her legs.

“Are ya sure this is the right pony?” Applejack asked Blue, getting a nod in response from him.

“It looks exactly like her,” he explained tearfully, his eyes now closed.

“Oh, well, um, you probably have me confused for somepony else,” the mare said as she patted his mane uncomfortably. “I don’t have any foals.”

“She might be right. Are ya sure we don’t have her confused for somepony else?” AJ asked again. "We can do some more lookin’ around just to be sure if you wanna.”

“She said she would be there…” Blue responded as he pointed to the building, his voice cracking as he rubbed his cheek on her leg. “She said she would be here, and then come back… I don't know where else she would go...”

“Hmm… well maybe she's… I don’t know…” the earth pony trailed off, unable to think of any explanation.

“I told you some of these people lost their memories,” Angelina jumped in. “Nobody uses the word ‘foal’ or ‘somepony’ like you do. They lost their memories.”

“Oh, yeah, ya did say that… did she remember who ya were before she left?” Applejack asked.

The colt nodded, before adding, “I mean, I think so. She did forget some things though, like how old I am and my name… and I forgot my name, too… I think I did anyway…”

“Hmmmm… y’all three stay here,” Applejack instructed as she closed the car door again, trotting off back to the store again as she got an idea. "Ah’m gonna take a quick look around this place. Ah wanna see it for myself."

The Meeting

Blue sat in the car sadly with Angelina and the mare, sniffling sadly as he looked up at the pony sitting next to him. He couldn’t comprehend how in the world it could be possible that she didn’t remember him, seeing as he certainly remembered her. He closed his eyes and put his cheek on her leg, the mare flinching and grimacing at the gesture.

“Hey, it’s going to be okay,” Angelina said suddenly. “I’m, uh… I’m sure she’ll remember you if we can… do something… maybe…”

“I really don’t know what’s going on here,” Blue’s mother responded. “I’ve always been a pony. I’m sorry, but… but it's just the truth.”

“Maybe she’s just playing a joke on us…” Blue trailed off sadly, getting a reply from Angelina.

“No, she’s not. A lot of the people I met start to forget who they are, especially if they absorb too much magic.” She paused at that before continuing, “Which means we really shouldn’t be staying out here for too long, especially since I was here all last night.”

“We’re not leaving without Applejack,” the colt told her. “She said she was going to help me, and we can’t just leave her here.”

“I’m not going to leave her, I’m just concerned about it all. We can’t stay out here too long. It’s not good for us.”

“Hello?” Applejack called. “Anypony in here?”

She entered the store to see… she didn’t know. It was a building, yes, but not like anything she’s ever seen before. White tiles lined the floor, mostly anyway, every so often a blue tile in its place. Near the front were signs with numbers on them from one to twenty that were partitioned off every so often, with black counters and weird machines on top of them. In front of many of them on the ground were thousands of green pieces of paper with weird creatures faces on them as far as she could tell. There were also baskets that looked to be used to wheel things around that were empty for the most part except for the occasional box, although some of them had cans and things in them.

There was also a smell in the air, one that wasn’t great smelling, like rancid milk. It made her scrunch her nose, but it was faint enough that after a few deep inhales she basically couldn’t smell it any more. Other than that, it smelled a bit dusty in the building, like one that had been abandoned for a few weeks or months.

“Makes sense though. If all that stuff happened, they probably couldn’t get in here. They might have starved. Celestia, what happened?”

“Anypony in here?” Applejack called, trying to hear if there was somepony else inside. She thought she remembered seeing somepony behind Blue’s mother, but couldn’t remember, although she did know that she didn’t hear any creature at the moment.

“Oh, what am Ah gonna do?” she asked herself as she sighed, taking a breath as the full weight of what was happening started to settle in on her. She was trapped here. She really was. Not in the building maybe, but on this world, far away from her friends and family, not knowing what she was really supposed to be doing, completely guessing her actions. What was she even doing in this building? Looking for somepony? What would she say when she found them? She didn’t know what she was supposed to do. That was what she had all her friends for: to help her out with that part. Except her friends weren’t here.

“No, AJ, don’t start gettin’ down on yourself now. You gotta stay strong. Cryin’ and complainin’ ain’t ever got anypony nowhere. Just gotta keep pushing on and hope ya find something to latch onto. It’ll be alright.”

She took another breath and shook her mane out of her face as she walked down the path in front of her, looking at the things on either side of the walkway as she passed to see if anything was useful. It was a store alright, she could say that much, but it wasn’t like anything she’d ever seen. This place had everything, from pots and pans to toys to clothes to mattresses to food to everything else she could imagine. Nothing like this existed in Ponyville, and she wondered how anypony could possibly find what they were looking for in a place like this.

Eventually, after a few minutes, she found herself walking through a section of the store that held books, although even the books they had were weird. Many of them were like normal books, but many of them looked more like pamphlets, except bigger. She eyed the titles as she passed for anything useful, although she couldn’t really say that anything stood out to her, not until she got to nearly the end.

“The end of days: How to survive the coming apocalypse, including the secrets to using magic to your benefit?” she read as she tilted her head. It was quite a mouthful for a title, and seemed like it was written recently, saying that the previous week’s topic was about famine and radiation. She was almost certain this was written recently, although probably before Blue and Angelina were turned into ponies seeing as it had strange creatures pictured on the cover of the magazine.

“That’s a good one,” somepony said behind her as the mare eyed it, causing Applejack to nearly jump out of her coat. She turned around to see a stallion who looked a lot like her cousin Braeburn, although with blue eyes, no clothes, and without a country accent and cutie mark.

“I’ve read it a few times, and I’ve learned some cool things even though I’m an Earth pony. I even met the person who wrote that, but that was before this whole mess happened. But I learned something, and I’m pretty sure you can learn something too if you give it a read.”

“It certainly looks interesting, but why are y’all tellin’ me this? Who are you?”

“My name is Happy Hoof, but a better question than that is: What are you doing outside of Equestria, Applejack?”

The Conversation

Applejack stood surprised at what the pony said, though not completely shocked. After all, Angelina apparently knew who she was, too. It was unnerving though, to have somepony she had never met know who she were.

“Wow, you look just how I expected in real life,” Happy Hoof commented as he circled her. “Same cutie mark and trademark hat and everything. I’m surprised though, I honestly thought Twilight and her friends would be here too, with you. Unless you guys split up? Cause if so, that’s a horrible idea. Splitting up never leads to anything good.”

“How do y’all know who we are?” Applejack asked, a bit accusingly. “What’s goin’ on here?”

“That’s a good question,” he retorted. “What is going on here? Cause I’d certainly like to know. I mean, I like My Little Pony and all, but being turned into a pony is a bit much, honestly, even for me. I greatly preferred being a human, no offense.”

“All Ah know is that I was in Equestria before, and now Ah’m here in wherever this place is, talkin’ to you. Before last night, Ah was just a hardworkin’ farm pony. Still am, if ya ask me, but apparently this place is in a heckuva mess from the looks of it.”

“That’s the understatement of the year,” he mumbled, rolling his eyes before looking back at her. “So where’s Twilight and Fluttershy and them? Like I said, splitting up doesn’t ever lead to anything great. It’s never a good idea.”

“No, we didn't split up. My friends ain’t here, but Ah’m sure they’re comin’ soon. Twilight is one smart cookie. She’ll know something’s wrong.”

“Wait, what?” he asked, confused. “That guy said you guys were coming here, but… it’s only you? You’re sure nopony- no one- else is here?”

“Ah didn’t see anypony else. Ah guess they might be, but Ah’m not sure. But… somethin’s tellin’ me they’re still back home.”

“Oh...” Happy Hoof sighed, deflating slightly. “Well… I guess we’ll just all stay like this then. If it’s only you, then our lives are truly lost.”

“What, do ya think Ah can’t do anything ta try and help ya?” AJ asked. “Ah might not be as smart as some of my friends, but-”

“No, I don’t think you can, not on your own,” the stallion interrupted. “Neither would Twilight or Rainbow Dash or any of them. One pony being missing from the group is the same as all of them being missing from the group. It’s the magic of friendship that helps you all… are you really Applejack? You should know this by now. I shouldn’t have to explain this to you.”

“Ah know about the magic of friendship,” the mare said defensively. “I know we’re all stronger together… hmmm… maybe that’s why Ah’m here. Maybe that thing was tryin’ to break us up.”

“That would make sense, seeing how- wait, did you say Twilight Sparkle was coming? When will she be here?”

“Ah don’t know, but I know she is. She always comes, and things always work out. Ah’m sure it’ll be the same this time.”

“God, I hope so,” Happy Hoof sighed. “I mean, I like MLP, but even I didn’t want to be turned into a pony, especially not with all this… mess. Not even if it meant being my OC.”

“Your OC?”

“It means ‘original character’. I designed the character I transformed into. Well… mostly. My OC had a longer mane and was supposed to be a unicorn and was a mare, but…” He chuckled at the thought to himself, continuing, “I guess it’s a good thing I became an earth pony. I’m lucky.”

“You’re lucky being an earth pony? What’s wrong with being a unicorn?”

“It’s the magic,” he explained. “We’re not supposed to have magic here, so our bodies aren’t used to it and it hurts most ponies who take it in over time. Unicorns go crazy because they can’t do magic to release what they build up in their horn. Pegasi start to lose their memories because of the magic. They can’t fly to release the build up. But earth ponies like us are lucky. Earth ponies don’t really have any active magic. Anything we intake we just stamp back into the soil through our hooves, so we aren’t really affected by it. I’m pretty sure we’re designed to grow crops and be good with plants and things like that, but hey, even if we don’t, we still do it subconsciously, like breathing. Although maybe there is something that will eventually hurt us, and we just don’t know it yet. It wouldn’t surprise me. And too much magic all at once will still kill us. It’s still a good idea to avoid places with high magic content. It’s like radiation.”

“How do you know all of this?” Applejack asked. “You seem like you know more than anypony else so far.”

“Because I actually paid attention to that guy when he started talking about what was going to happen. I kept notes and stuff, and even got that magazine published to try and help other ponies- people. Not that anyone really bought it.” He shrugged at that statement, commenting, “Oh well. Their loss.”

She looked back at the magazine in her hooves and asked, “Okay, so if y’all know how to use magic even though yer an earth pony, then what are ya doin’ in a place like this? Why haven’t ya turned back into whatever creature you were before?”

“Well, it turns out, magic might not be as easy as I expected. Even with how much more of it we have now, it’s either that it’s not enough to do things with or I don’t have the right technique. I don’t know which. Besides, this place has food already here, so why leave? We already have years worth. I might be meant to be good at farming, but I can’t really do anything with these hooves, unfortunately.”

AJ listened as she flipped through the pages, reading what the pony had written. It detailed which areas of the world to avoid and where to head to, saying someplace called Pittsburgh was safer than somewhere else named Ohio. It also described the highlights of some of the speeches that creature gave out, as well as instructions for how to perform magic.

“Y’all don’t have a horn though,” AJ said. “Earth ponies aren’t supposed to do magic. We’re meant ta be working in fields and plantin’ crops.”

“Well, that’s a bit racist, but I’m almost positive anypony can do- anyone can do magic. Earth ponies just need to do it other ways, with runes and symbols and candles and stuff. That’s what that guy said.”

“And yer believing somepony who turned y’alls world upside down and inside out?”

“Well, he never explicitly lied about anything he said, not as far as I know anyway. But what other option do we have anyway? If he can get from Earth to Equestria like he said he would, then we should be able to go to Equestria, too, and we can get help for all the people here.”

“Yeah, but… what if you’re takin’ somepony’s place?” Applejack argued. “It said it needed me ta get here to go to Equestria in the first place. You might be sending some poor pony here in yer place.”

“It’d only be to get help,” he countered. “I mean, look at us! It’s only been a few months, and things already aren’t great. If years go by, everything is just going to fall completely apart! It’s not too bad right now, but eventually it’ll get to the point where buildings will start to crumble and reactors will melt down and stuff and ruin Earth even more!”

“Well… Ah do know y’all need help… but what am Ah supposed to do? Ah’m just me. Ah’ve been on my fair share of adventures, but it was always with my friends. Ah’ve never been alone like this.”

“Well… I guess there’s not much you can do anyway except for be here for when your friends come," Happy Hoof sighed sadly. "If they’re all in Equestria, they’ll notice you’re missing and find you… hopefully. Hopefully it doesn't take years to do. And you can’t do magic because like I said, even though it makes us sick, there’s probably not enough of it here to do anything with… except you have your own magic! That’s how you got a cutie mark! You have magic inside of you! You can probably cast magic for us!”

The Spell

“Well, here we are!” Happy Hoof proclaimed as he and AJ entered into what looked to be a storage area. Large metal shelves lined the walls everywhere, each filled to the brim with boxes and boxes of… stuff. She didn’t know what their contents were, but they were stacked quite high, each of the shelves reaching the ceiling, a ceiling that went up to what she had to guess was twenty or thirty feet. There were also boxes lying on the ground on pallets, each of these stacked high as well, some filled with what she could tell was food, others containing things like pillows and hammers and lights and chemicals from what the boxes read. There were about fifteen pallets stacked high throughout the room, and yet even despite all the metal shelves and pallets of boxes, the room still seemed empty, like it could hold ten times the amount of stuff currently contained within it. It was impressive how large it was, and she could see why somepony would set up shop here in the face of the disaster that was described to her.

“Did y’all collect all this stuff on yer own?” the mare had to ask as she walked around a bit, examining it all.

“Nope,” Happy Hoof answered. “It was all here when my friends and I got here. Apparently, nopony- nobody- thought to come here before it all went to hell, which I guess is a good thing. And if nopony is here, there’s probably nopony at the Walmart in Colby, either, which isn’t that far, only like a day’s walk, if that. So we’ll have stuff for, like, years if need be. I mean, assuming there’s no tornadoes or nuclear explosions or any more weird stuff happening to us.”

“Hmmm… okay… so y’all have all these tools and all this food for… what? What’s the plan?”

“Oh, well…” the stallion rubbed a hoof behind his head. “There isn’t a plan. We were just going to… rebuild, you know? Start over as ponies the best we could. Err, that’s what we were going to do, but now that you’re here, you can help us! Like I said, you have cutie mark magic inside of you, so you should be able to cast whatever spell you want and grab Twilight Sparkle and fix all of this!”

“Ya said that before, Ah think, and Ah don’t know if ya know this, but Earth ponies can’t do magic like unicorns.”

“Well, of course you can’t, you don’t have a horn,” he agreed, “but that’s why you’re not going to do it like a unicorn. You just need the right tools, and we have all the right tools right here! It’ll be a breeze for you!”

“Ah… Ah don’t know…” Applejack responded, a bit nervous. ‘Ah don’t know if Ah’m comfortable with an Earth pony doin’ magic. It just don’t seem right ta me.”

“Well, that’s still very racist, but despite that, think of how much help you could be to us! You could be doing something real right now that could really help us!”

“Well… like Ah said, I’m pretty sure Twi will be comin’ here soon. That pony is one smart cookie. She’ll know somethin’ is wrong and be right here in no time.”

“But what if she’s not here in no time?” he asked. “What if it takes her, say, another week before she comes here and fixes it? That’s another week that things get worse for us, another week that we have to sit here and forget who we are or go crazy because of the magic! Don’t you want to help us now?”

“Ah- Ah do,” she told him sincerely. “Ah really do. Ah’m just not sure if… what if somethin’ goes wrong? Ya said ya got that spell from that… creature. How do ya know that’s not exactly what he wants us ta do?”

“Well I- I can’t be sure, but…” He paused for a moment, considering to himself Applejack's words before continuing with more conviction, “But I’m almost certain that this is a good idea. I wouldn’t be for it if I didn’t believe it was a good idea. I mean, you’re an Element of Harmony! There’s so much magic inside of you at your disposal that we can use, and it’s… it’s something we can put to good use! Just trust me, please when I say this is a good idea, because the only alternative is sitting here and waiting for something else to happen or somepony to come to us, and I’ve already been doing that for weeks as a pony, and years since he first showed up. I want to try something.”

The mare sighed to herself. What would Twilight do, or any of her other friends? She imagined that each and every one of them would do what they could to help this pony out despite any fears they might have had. But she wasn’t them. She was just a simple farm pony. If there was hard work to be had, like building a shelter or cutting down trees, she wouldn’t hesitate to help. But magic? She had no experience in that, other than the bare bones of what she’d learned in school and from Twilight. It wasn’t something she expected to be sought out for help in.

Still though, this pony was asking for her help, almost begging for her to help him out. She couldn’t just turn him down, could she? That wasn’t what she was about. Even if it wasn’t something she was an expert in, she knew she had to buck up and do what she could. After all, the stallion was right. What else could she do besides wait for Twilight and try her best to help with whatever these ponies needed?

“Okay,” she started carefully, “Ah’ll try my best, but don’t go expectin’ me to be some sort of expert, or gettin’ yer hopes up that Ah’ll be able ta do much. But Ah’ll try my best.”

“Perfect!” he smiled happily. “Let me get everything set up.”

She watched him trot off to grab materials, setting candles down in seemingly random places before grabbing chalk to draw out stuff on the ground. She thought she saw Twilight and a couple of other ponies do something similar before, which she took as a good sign, and stared at him as he meticulously went through, making sure everything was perfectly straight and exactly how he wanted it. She wasn’t sure if there was something she should have been doing right then, but he didn’t ask for her help, so she simply stood watching, waiting for him to call her for something.

“Almost done,” he said with a piece of chalk in his mouth as he continued to draw. “Can you light those candles for me? There’s a lighter on the ground somewhere. Just turn the wheel really fast while holding down the button. It might take you a few tries to get it though because of these dumb hooves.”

She ignored his comment about hooves being dumb as she did what she was told, quickly figuring out how to work the lighter and lighting all of the candles, being careful not to hurt herself. It only took a minute or two, and by the time she was finished, Happy Hoof was announcing that he was finished, too.

“Alright,” he said cheerily. “Now all you need to do is stand in the large circle I drew and- actually, wait, we are going to need a bit of your saliva.”

“Saliva?”

“Yeah, that way the spell knows it’s you that’s casting it. I mean, we could use blood, but I’m assuming you’re not going to want to be cut, so… I have a tray of dry paint you’ll use to draw what you have to. That should be good enough for the spell to know it’s following your commands.”

She followed his instructions as he brought out a tray of simple paint, using her spit to wet the red color before dabbing a bit of her hoof and mimicking the hoof strokes he demonstrated for her, drawing them out on the ground. It ended up being another circle with what looked to be a five-pointed star, a pentagram she thought she heard Twilight call it before, with a hook on the top and bottom of it in the shape of an r and j respectively and a line through the middle of each letter.

“Okay, before you do the last part, I just want to let you know that… that I’m trusting you to not abandon us… if this works anyway. I really hope you don’t go back to Equestria and then forget about us…”

“Ah promise Ah won’t abandon you,” Applejack told him. “And Ah’m not one to go breakin’ promises. Ah mean, you already know Ah’m the Element of Honesty, so y’all know Ah ain’t one ta lie.”

“Pinkie promise on it?” he asked, not quite ready to fully believe her yet.

“Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” she assured him, getting a smile back in response.

“Thank you,” he said genuinely. “All you should have to do now is draw a horizontal line straight through the center of the pentagram, cutting it in half. Then, the spell should work right away.”

“Okay, is there anything else Ah should know before Ah… do this?”

“Ummmmm… it should create the same symbol on the other end, so if you can’t remember what to do, just show Twilight Sparkle. She should be able to figure out how to get all six of you back here to help us.”

“Okay, Ah guess if there’s nothing else…” she trailed off as she slowly started to work her red paint covered hoof across the symbol, moving carefully as though trying not to disturb whatever magic was going to make the spell work. She didn’t feel anything happening, and it made her anticipation start to build as she was almost to the edge of the circle she drew. She took a breath as the paint finally made contact with the other edge of the symbol, cutting it in half, and when it did, she felt much of her energy suddenly drain and heard a loud pop as the spell she cast did its work.

The Symbol

Applejack blinked a few times, letting her eyes adjust to the light. It was bright where she was, the sun shining directly on her it seemed, and it took a few seconds before she was finally able to see where the spell she cast had taken her to.

Around her were apple trees, the ones she knew well, and she could see her home a bit off in the distance, not too far though. The sky was cloudless she noticed, the sun shining brightly, and beneath her hooves was the same symbol she drew out on the floor of the building she was in just a moment ago, the only difference being that these were black and not red. Just like Happy Hoof said, the symbols she painted were created on the Equestrian side as well, and like he suggested, she was going to get Twilight to check them out and get the two of them back there, or maybe even all six of the Element Bearers if need be.

“Applejack?” Big Mac called out as he heard a noise and turned to see her in their family orchard, a few yards away from him. “What’re y’all doin’ out here? Ah thought the doctor told y’all ta rest up.”

“Big Mac!” she suddenly yelled, galloping up to him and catching him a bit off guard, making him fall on his haunches. “Where’s that creature?” she asked aggressively, turning her head and looking around to try and find that… thing. “Y’all have to’ve seen it by now! Where is it at?”

The red stallion looked at his sister weirdly. “What’re y’all goin’ on about now? What creature?”

“That thing!” she insisted, turning around to see if it was behind her. “We have ta tell Twilight and the Princesses about it! After what it did ta that other place, we can’t let it get loose and have somethin’ like that happen here!”

“Are y’all sure y’all are alright?” he asked suspiciously with a bit of concern as he stood back up. “Ah think y’all need ta head back inside and get some rest like the doctor said instead of foolin’ around out here.”

“Ah ain’t foolin’ around!” she protested. “Ah’m bein’ serious. We hafta get ta Twilight right now and find that thing!”

He moved around her to nudge her forward as he responded, “No, Ah think y’all need ta follow the doctor’s orders and get some rest. Ya’ve been actin’ mighty strange lately, and Ah don’t think y’all are well.”

“What doctor? What are y’all talking about?”

“Ya don’t remember seein’ the doctor today?” her brother asked, stopping for just a moment before continuing to guide her inside. “That proves that y’all ain’t well. Now go ta bed an’ let me take care of these here apples. Ah don’t wanna see y’all outside again fer the rest of the day.”

“Wait, Big Mac-” she got out, but to no avail, the door being shut in her face. Trying to open it back up only brought frustration to her, seeing as the thing wouldn’t budge. She didn’t know what he did, but he was clearly trying to keep her inside, apparently thinking she was sick.

“Ah need a doctor, my flank,” she grumbled to herself, trying to debate what she should do. She figured trying to go outside would be a waste of time, seeing as her brother would likely be working nearer to their house now to make sure she didn’t leave. Not that she could let that stop her. There were ponies that needed her help, and they were counting on her to go back to help them. She promised that she would grab Twilight and go back to help them, and like she said, she wasn’t one to go breaking promises. Which, of course, meant that she had to get back outside, which would involve getting pas Big Mac.

And also that creature. That creature was here, which meant they had to do something about finding that thing. There was a lot they had to do, find that creature and teach it a lesson, and get back to where she was before and help those ponies, too. She didn’t know where she and her friends would start, but she figured getting to Twilight would be a good first step.

She tried the door again, and found that it was still blocked, which made her growl to herself. She couldn’t waste time stuck in here, she knew that much.

“Big Mac,” she told him angrily. “Ah ain’t sick. Ah need ta see Twilight right now. There’s somethin’ serious goin’ on in Equestria that she needs to know about.”

“Eenope, ya were just with her an hour ago, AJ. If y’all thought there was somethin’ serious happenin’, ya would’ve told her then. Y’all need ta rest up like she and the doctor said.”

“Do y’all think Ah’m lyin’?” she asked him with a tone in her voice. “When have Ah ever lied? We need ta do somethin’ right now before we’re in serious trouble!”

“Ah think y’all are sick and need ta rest,” he responded simply.

“Of course he thinks that,” she thought to herself. “What happened here while Ah was gone?

She sat on her haunches for a minute while she tried to think. What proof did she have? There was her word, and everypony knew she wasn’t one to start telling lies, but that was hardly proof if they thought that she was sick. She had to think hard. What proof did she have?

Then she got it. The symbol on the ground out there was her proof. She could show that to Big Mac as a sign that she wasn’t sick or whatever he thought she was. Even if it wasn’t direct proof of anything, she knew he would admit that it wasn’t nothing either. He would be able to bring Twilight over to study it, and then she could tell her about what happened and work out a plan for what to do next.

“Look, Ah can prove it,” she said. “Let me outside for one minute, and Ah’ll show ya Ah ain’t lyin’ or sick or nothin’ like that.”

“Eenope, yer stayin’ in there, AJ.”

“Look,” she continued, almost pleading, “if Ah can’t prove somethin’s goin’ on right away, Ah’ll go right ta sleep like ya want. How does that sound? Just give me one minute ta show ya.”

There wasn’t an answer to that, and she waited several seconds for him to say something, but received nothing. She didn’t know what to make of it, and was about to ask her question again when she saw the door open up a moment later.

“Ya have one minute ta prove it, and if ya can’t, it’s back ta bed where ya belong,” he told her, a slight scowl on her face.

“It’ll take me quicker than that,” she told him confidently, trotting ahead of him to where the spell she cast had teleported her in. “Follow me.”

It took only a minute to follow her tracks back to where she came in at, although it wasn’t quite the same now as when she came in.

“Wait, what?” she asked aloud, surprised at what she was looking at, or rather, what she wasn’t looking at. All she was seeing now was her hoof prints and nothing else. The symbol she saw when she came here just a minute ago had seemingly vanished.

“Where did it go?” she asked, completely confused and pacing around a bit, shifting the dirt some to see if it was being covered. “It was just here, Ah swear! Ah came in one minute ago! It couldn't've disappeared that fast! That stallion said it would be here, and it was! It has ta be that creature!” She paced around a bit more, looking around at the ground to see if she was in the wrong spot.

"There ain't no creature, AJ," Big Mac told her. "Yer just sick, like the doctor said when ya saw him this mornin'."

“Ah know it was here!” she asserted. “Ah saw it! Ah'm not losin' my mind! It has to've been that creature! Ya hafta believe me!”

“Time ta get y’all back inside, AJ,”Big Mac instructed her. “Ya need ta rest like the doctor said.”

The Imposter

Maybe she was crazy. That was a possibility, however faint it might be. Big Mac wasn’t one to lie, and he seemed convinced that Applejack had gone to the doctor with Twilight that morning. Maybe she should rest like he said, and then she’d feel better.

No, no that couldn’t be the case. She wasn’t crazy. It was a ridiculous thought. There was no way she could have thought all that up. She felt the cold and smelled the air and heard the noise of that car. Those weren’t things she could make up. There was no way she was crazy. Right?

“Ah have ta see Twilight,” Applejack muttered as she paced around her home. “She’ll know what’s goin’ on. She has ta know what’s goin’ on. Big Mac said Ah saw her today. Somethin’s definitely goin’ on, and Ah have ta get to the bottom of it.”

It was quiet in the house, Granny Smith out selling their apples in the town and Applebloom probably sitting in school right now with her friends. The only sound that could be heard was the steady bucking of apples off the trees by Big Mac and the occasional bark of Winoa next to him. The world seemed normal enough, like almost every other day in Equestria. There was nothing to indicate that something was wrong. And if something were wrong, Twilight would know. She always knew, always on top of every little detail. Something like what happened back in that other place to those ponies wouldn’t slip past her. She was too obsessive for that to happen.

“So then Ah must be crazy, but Ah know Ah ain’t,” AJ thought as she continued to pace, trying to not get herself worked up. “How do Ah prove to myself that Ah’m not crazy though?” She stood still for a moment, trying to think about what she could say or do to prove it, but came up empty. Anything to say needed to be said to Twilight, and the only way to do that would be to get past Big Mac, who she knew wouldn’t believe her. He’d force her back inside and into bed, and might even stop his work to make sure she was resting, which she didn’t want to happen.

“Ah wish Ah was as smart as her, dang it!” the mare got out, frustrated. “There has ta be something Ah can do ta prove Ah’m not crazy!”

She grumbled to herself and sat down on her haunches, trying to think harder.

“Okay, think. What have Ah done there that can prove ta Big Mac Ah’m not makin’ stuff up and Ah’m not sick? There’s that creature, but Celestia knows where it’s at. Ah… Ah met that colt, Blue. Ah drove that car and met Angelina, and she-”

And then her proof came to her. She looked down at her side to confirm the wound was still there, and sure enough, it still was. The spot where the bullet had grazed her didn’t hurt anymore, but it removed a bit of the fur and looked red and angry, with dried blood covering part of the spot she was hit. She then put a hoof to her head and touched the spot she had hit herself on the steering wheel when she backed into that building the first time she drove the machine and felt a small lump. These weren’t small wounds either. They were big enough that Big Mac would know that she didn’t have them before he last saw her since he said it was only a little while ago, especially her side. She grinned widely, unable to believe that she was grateful for Angelina trying to hurt her earlier.

“Ha! Ah guess that pony actually did me a favor tryin’ ta kill me!” she exclaimed happily, giving a little hop in the air. “Ah’m not crazy, and I can prove it because of her!”

“Oh no, you don’t!” somepony suddenly said behind her, wrapping their hooves around her neck. She gasped because of it, and instinctively bucked at whoever it was that had her. However, despite hearing a few grunts of pain from them, she wasn’t able to get loose, and actually felt their grip tighten around her.

“You really think I’m just going to let you come back here after I worked for so long to get back here? Cause you’re stupid if you think that! I’m never going back to Earth! Never!”

“Get yer hooves off of me!” she demanded the pony who had her, kicking them in the stomach to no avail as she was dragged. Before she knew it, despite her flailing, she had her hooves tied behind her back and was laying on the ground.

Applejack looked up to get a good view of who it was that caught her, and had a feeling about who it would be. Sure enough though, she saw herself, which wasn’t that much of a surprise based on what her brother told her. The creature in her skin had a furious expression on its face, one that would’ve terrified the mare had she not been so angry. It matched her coat, eyes, cutie mark, everything from head to hoof, everything except for the mean look in its eyes.

“Big Mac! Come he-” she started to get out, only to be kicked in the face for her efforts before the creature in her skin took more rope and used it to gag her. It hurt painfully, and it wasn’t something that Applejack normally would’ve let happen to her. However, because of the suddenness of the attack, there wasn’t anything she could do to stop it.

“You really think I’m going to let you ruin what I worked so hard to get back to, don’t you?” it asked again, almost yelling at her. “I’ve spent years there trying to get back here, planning to get back here, and I’m not going to let some dirt pony take that away from me! Do you understand me?”

The creature didn’t wait for a response, hurriedly painting out the symbols Applejack herself had painted out a few minutes ago, working as quickly as it could as it watched the mare squirm in her restrains, trying to get loose. It knew what it was going, and it was just a minute before the thing was finished and dragging the mare roughly across the floor, doing it’s best to get splinters in her coat and trying to draw blood against the nails on the ground for the spell. Applejack struggled uselessly against it as it did, and heard it yell in her ear once she was in the middle of the pentagram.

“I’m only going to say this once: Go back to Earth, and STAY THERE!”

With the declaration, the imposter dragged it’s hoof through the paint to complete the symbol and sent her away again.

The Suspicion

“Have you learned of anything, my dear Twilight?” Celestia asked from her throne as the alicorn stepped into the room. “The longer time goes on, the more the word ‘Earth’ bothers me.”

“I have, Princess,” Twilight Sparkle answered respectfully, bowing low. “I found out that Earth is in an alternate universe, one that Gaia the Great visited many years ago.”

“Gaia the Great… I haven’t heard that name in years… I should have remembered it was her… please continue.”

“Well, it says it was placed on a list of banned worlds because of how dangerous it was for ponies, and that the name ‘earth pony’ is because earth ponies outnumbered native Equestrian horses here by a lot, over five to one. So that’s where the name comes from. Earth ponies have genetics that come from the world Earth.”

“I see… a simple explanation then,” Celestia responded, speaking half to herself as she took a breath. “I do believe I remember those times, yes. I have made more than one stop with Starswirl there, yes. It’s coming back to me now. I guess it really wasn’t anything to get worked up over, but it’s always good to be thorough. Good work, Twilight.”

“Thank you, Princess,” Twilight smiled, proud of herself. “Glad I can help, and learn something new, too! But, um, I have to ask: do you think I could make a stop by the Royal Library today?”

“Of course, you know you’re always welcome. Although I must ask what ever for?”

“Well, when I was reading through, I saw something that said the portal to Earth was opened up once after being placed on the list of banned worlds, and was curious about why.”

“It was opened up again?” Celestia asked, tilting her head. “Are you sure you read that correctly? I don’t remember doing so, and I’m certain that Starswirl wouldn’t have done so if it were on that list. You must have misread.”

“I didn’t misread, Princess. The book definitely said it was opened up again.”

“I can back that up,” Spike added. “Twilight practically threw a fit because it didn’t say why it was. I’m pretty sure half of Ponyville heard her scream.”

“Spike!”

“What? It’s true. I’m just trying to be helpful.”

Celestia put a hoof on her chin, deep in thought. “I don’t recall ever opening it again. I’m certain I’d remember opening a world on the banned list again, although my memory isn’t what it used to be because of how long ago those days were… I certainly would have recorded doing so though, I know that much. Take a look for me as to why, please Twilight?”

“I’m already on it!” the pony assured her, turning around to run out of the throne room before her teacher stopped her.

“One more thing before you go: how has Applejack been? Has she been acting strangely?”

“Huh? Oh! No, I think she’s been normal for the most part. She’s been sick though. We actually went to the doctor earlier this morning. Her legs were weaker than normal, and so we-”

“Weaker than normal? What do you mean? How weak? Was there anything else?”

“Well, she couldn’t buck her apples like she normally could,” Twilight said. “But we went to the doctor and they said that she was just getting sick.”

“Hmmm… if I recall correctly, Earth hasn't any magic, so if somepony came from there, they’d be overloaded with it all at once. That might be why she’s sick. Do you think you could bring her in here, please?”

“I can, but I don’t think anything’s wrong with her. She said it was just a joke, the thing about being from Earth. Plus, I thought you wanted me to check out why the portal to Earth was opened.”

“I do, but bring Applejack in first. But make sure it’s not obvious why. Make up an excuse, like we want her family’s apples for our chefs to cook with. Say we want her to demonstrate her and her family’s cooking skills. And then once she’s here, I can keep an eye on her while you do your research. As well, you'd be able to look around her home and farm for clues to see if she really is being truthful.”

"Being truthful? AJ? She's always truthful, but about what specifically."

"About if she's really the mare she says she is. If she is, then all that's needed from us is an apology, but if she's not, then... well, I'm getting ahead of myself. Are you able to do what I ask, Twilight?"

“Of course, Princess, but I really don’t think anything’s wrong with her. But I can go bring her in. Should I go get her now?”

“Yes please, and thank you. The sooner she’s here, the better.”

“The princess wants me ta cook somethin’ fer her?” Applejack asked as she spoke to Twilight. “But Ah’m sick.”

“I know, but she said she’s really been craving apple pie, and wants the Apple family to cook for her,” the mare responded. “I tried to tell her you needed to rest, but she wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

“Ah, well… if you think it’s okay fer me to, Ah guess Ah’ll go.”

“That’s the spirit! Let me get us teleported there, but um, maybe you should get the best apples first? I don’t think Princess Celestia will want anything but the best.”

“Heh, Twilight, all my apples are the best. We don’t grow nothin’ but good apples here. But did ya want me ta bring some of my family, too? You know us Apples work better together.”

“I don’t see why not. That should be fine. Did you want to go get them?”

“Won’t be but a minute. Just wait here, Twi.”

With that, the mare left, leaving the alicorn alone to take a breath and look around the home. Nothing really looked out of place since the last time she was there just a few hours ago. However, it did smell weird, like cleaning chemicals she thought. And something else, too, but she couldn’t tell what it was. Another home was the best way to describe it, as if she was opening the door and entering somepony’s home for the first time. It was an obvious smell, and it made Twilight just the tiniest bit concerned that Celestia might be right.

“Calm down. It’s probably nothing. Probably just AJ working on a new food with apples or something. She should be resting, but she's probably still trying to work on stuff. You know how she gets.”

Still, she knew she’d have to report it to Celestia when she could, and probably come back here and do a bit of investigating to see what was going on. She could come back and do a deep magic sweep of the home and the surrounding area. Not that she thought she had to, but she had to admit, she was a little concerned about her friend, especially since Princess Celestia was concerned.

But it was probably going to be alright. She would check for any strange magic, then do her research in the Royal Library, then report back to Celestia that everything was fine and that her friend was just playing a harmless prank. Easy peasy. There was no way that Applejack was anypony besides Applejack.

The Ropes

“Okay, it’s been almost three hours and she's still now back,” Angelina said. “What on Earth is taking her so long? What is she doing?”

“Maybe she’s getting something to help my mom remember us?” Blue suggested. “Hey! Maybe she found something that can help us!”

“She said she would just take a quick look around and be right back and yet she’s been in there forever. We should go in and check on her.”

“Ummmm… I’m still not sure what you all need me for,” Blue’s mother said. “I mean, I still want to know why I don’t have a cutie mark, but…”

“Do you really not remember anything about being a human?” Angelina asked. “What’s your first memory?”

“Ummmm…. well, I remember seeing this colt, Blue, but he’s not my son. Uh, I remember walking here. I remember… ah, I remember… an explosion a few weeks ago? Or months maybe? But I- I don’t really know… I guess I don’t remember a lot of stuff… but I do know I was always a pony. Why I don’t have a cutie mark though…”

“Maybe we should go in and try to find her,” Angelina said. “What if she’s hurt?”

“Or maybe she found something!” Blue said again. "I really think she did, because I don't think she'd get hurt. She looks too strong."

“Like about why I don’t have a cutie mark maybe? She said she would see why.”

“Probably not, but still. We should go in. I hope she’s coming up with a way to fix this, as much as I can’t really say I trust her yet. Hopefully, that’s what’s taking her so long.”

“Applejack! What happened to you?” Happy Hoof asked concerned as he took in the sight of her. “What in the world is going on over there?”

Quickly, he bent down to untie her, taking a while as he was forced to use his teeth. She flinched as rope rubbed into her now splintered and cut up body, grateful that he started working on the rope that gagged her first, spitting it out once it was loose enough.

“Ah found that creature,” she responded, sounding a bit hoarse. “Couldn’t get ta Twilight though. It looks exactly like me and is makin’ ponies think Ah’m crazy. Ah couldn’t even leave Sweet Apple Acres.”

“What happened?”

“Apparently Big Mac think’s Ah’m crazy or somethin’. Something about how Twi took me ta the doctor earlier and me needin’ ta rest. Ah was gonna try an’ convince Big Mac that Ah was okay, but then Ah saw it, and… well… you can see what happened.”

“Why didn’t you show him the symbol? If Big Mac saw it, I know he would've gotten-”

“It wasn’t there anymore. That… imposter, it probably wiped it away when it saw me. Ah don’t know. But it wasn’t there.”

“Ummmm… let me think, let me think, let me think…” Happy Hoof said aloud, mostly to himself, ignoring AJ for a minute to pace around the backroom. “Ummmm… do you think you can go back? I mean, you need to get better and all, but we don’t really have anything to clean up wounds and stuff, and you… you’re all cut up. You look bad.”

“Ah’m fine. Ah’ve had worse. Just keep untyin’ me. But Ah don’t know about goin’ back. Ah mean, there’s still Angelina and Blue and that colt’s mother and… and- and this is so overwhelmin’!” Applejack suddenly yelled, shutting her eyes tightly. She didn’t cry, but she was clearly getting upset. She took deep breaths as she continued to be united, the stallion doing his best not to injure her or hurt her further.

“Ah’m not meant for all of this! Ah’m meant to help my friends out, not… come up with the plan and figure out what ta do! Ah can’t do all that! It’s hard and Ah don’t know what Ah’m doin’!”

There was a long moment of silence before Happy Hoof started, “Well… umm… well, I can say that at least you're here, because… well, as far as I know, you guys have always succeeded, and like I said, Twilight should be here since you’re here. I… I don’t see how she wouldn’t know what’s going on. She’s too obsessive to let something slip past her.”

“...yeah, that’s true. That pony is something else.”

“Plus, you’re an Element of Harmony! So I don’t see how you can fail. I mean, everything always works out, right? So I don’t see why it would be different now.”

“Yeah, but… Ah mean… Ah- Ah don’t know what ta do. Ah really don’t know, and Ah just wish Ah had my friends here ta help me…”

“Well… I still think that maybe you should go back? Like I said, I know you’re hurt, but maybe we can make a plan for what-”

“Hey!” somepony, Angelina, called as she suddenly walked into the back room. “What’s going on here?”

“Who are you?” Happy Hoof asked, a confused look on his face.

“Who are you?” the mare shot back immediately. “Why are you hurting her? What’s going on?” As she said it, she took threatening steps towards the stallion.

“Ah’m fine, you. Why’d you come in here? Yer supposed to be with Blue and his mother in the car.”

“Because you’re taking forever in here. You said you’d just be a minute, and we started to get concerned that you might be hurt, which you clearly are, seeing as you were all tied up by him.”

“He didn’t tie me up. Y’all don’t need ta worry about that.”

“Then what happened? Who did this to you? Because you look bad.”

“Who did this ta me? The same pony who turned y’alls live upside down, and we’re about to come up with a plan for how ta fix it,” AJ replied, already more confident than before.

The Choice Of Words

“Y’all wanted ta see us, Celestia?” Applejack asked as she stood in front of the princess. “Twilight here told me ya needed somethin’ from my family and Ah?”

“Yes, that’s correct, miss Applejack,” Celestia responded, wearing a slight smile. “I’ve caught a mood for apples, and was hoping you could make me some treats, if it’s no trouble? I’d quite enjoy a nice glass of apple juice and oatmeal, as well as a slice of pie, perhaps? Some for my sister as well, if it’s no trouble.”

“Ain’t no trouble at all,” the mare told her confidently, she, her siblings, and Granny Smith lining up in front of her wearing proud smiles. “We’ll fix ya a feast of a meal, the best one ya’ve ever eaten. Am Ah right, guys?” The apple family nodded next to her, and the alicorn smiled at them happily and kindly at their display of enthusiasm.

“I truly do appreciate it. I’ll wait patiently for it to be finished. Thank you. And if you need compensation for coming all the way out here, the crown can arrange that.”

“Ain’t no need ta do that. Always a pleasure for you, Celestia. Come on guys, let’s get ta work!” With that, the four family members bounded for the kitchen, leaving the white and purple alicorns alone in the throne room. Once they were done, Celestia dropped her smile, although Twilight didn’t pick up on it at first, immediately speaking in the earth pony’s defense.

“See, princess?” the purple-coated pony said. “Completely normal, just like I said. She’s just plain old AJ.”

“Twilight, dear, a pony as studious as you has to have picked up on what I noticed from her just now. It doesn’t seem like something you would miss.”

“What? What do you mean?”

“Think about what she said. Can you figure out what was strange about it?”

“Um… no? Everything she said sounded just like her.”

“Think carefully,” Twilight’s mentor instructed. “Go through each word. I’m sure if you do, you’ll see what I heard.”

The mare did as she was instructed, replaying in her mind the short conversation, once, twice, three times, and wasn’t able to find anything out of the ordinary, explaining that her accent was as perfectly southern as always, not the slightest bit off from usual.

“I’ll give you another clue,” Celestia told her, wanting the young princess to figure it out for herself. “Take what she said and compare it to what you would have said had you been in her place. Go through each sentence again as you do.”

“Okay…” she responded skeptically, doing the same thing again, but this time realizing what was off much more quickly.

“There’s- there’s no way she said that. She wouldn’t say that. It’s not like her. We must have misheard or are misremembering”

“I heard the same thing, too, Twilight," Celestia assured her. "And I hardly think either of us are the type to misremember a conversation that happened just a moment ago, especially one so short."

“But that doesn’t make sense! She wouldn’t address you as Celestia! It’s always been as Princess! We must have misheard.”

“It would be quite the coincidence if we both misheard, especially given the circumstances we’re facing. It’s hardly like anypony, Applejack least of all. She’s too polite to ignore something like that.”

“Well… we did take her to the doctor this morning, and he said she was sick, so it could be-

“Twilight,” her teacher interrupted, “do you think that your friend would forgo addressing me as ‘Princess’ if she were on her deathbed?”

“I…” Twilight sighed, saying, “I know she wouldn’t… but I really do want to believe the best. I’m sorry Princess. I’m letting my friendship with her cloud my judgement.”

“It’s quite alright, Twilight,” she told her student politely. “That’s why I have you investigating the matter, and right now is the time to do so.”

“I understand, Princess. I’ll do a deep magic sweep to see if anything strange is lingering around her family’s farm, and then head to the Royal Library to do my research. I won’t let you down.”

“I know you won’t, Twilight. Now please, head off. Don’t waste this time.”

Twilight quickly hurried off, leaving Celestia alone again, waiting on the meal the apple family was preparing. Applejack was rolling her eyes as she heard her hooves clopping out the door, trying to keep herself from scoffing at her. She hadn't heard the conversation they had, but she was sure she knew what they were discussing.

“She really thinks she can stop me?” the mare thought to herself. “I won’t be letting that happen, especially since she’s an idiot. You’re gonna let the person you’re suspicious of cook your food? This is too easy.”

“AJ! Come help yer sister with this here pie crust!”

“Ya got it, Granny!” the imposter replied happily.

Twilight didn’t waste time teleporting back to her friend’s home, only making a quick stop to her own castle to gather gear she needed to do a proper deep magic sweep. She teleported inside the Apple’s home, looking around and still noticing the strong scent of chemicals and furrowing her brow, more worried now.

“Please, AJ, please just be sick or acting weird or something,” Twilight silently asked the mare. “Please let this all just be for nothing. Please let us just be overreacting. Please, AJ.”

With that silent hopeful thought, the mare took a breath and started to do her task, deciding it best to work from the top of the home to bottom. She swept through room after room, finding nothing out of the ordinary, and slowly became more hopeful that nothing was happening, gaining more confidence in her friend. Surely she would finish the house and find nothing! Not that there wasn’t the whole orchard to investigate, but if there wasn’t anything in here, there was likely nothing out there as well.

Her confidence died when she swept her magic across the center of the living room and felt something very off with it. It felt like a teleportation spell, that much she knew, but not like any kind of teleportation spell she ever encountered, at least not in real life. She quickly lit up her horn to see what characters were cast, but was surprised instead to see the faint outline of a pentagram in the floor, one that was drawn weirdly and had extra lines added into it.

“Huh, I’ve never seen something like that before,” the mare commented aloud. She knew better than to mess with it right then and there. All her years of schooling taught her that. She decided instead to take a note of it and draw it in her log before continuing on, making a point of casting a spell to disperse the energy and send the magic back to wherever it came from.

The Blast

“Hmmm…” Twilight thought to herself. “We need to find a way to actually test strange magic as opposed to just detecting it. It’d be interesting to have a report on what kinds of properties it carries. Oh well. Sending it back to where it came from will have to do.”

“Y’all can tell me how ta draw that stuff again, right Happy?” Applejack asked the stallion as she carefully stood up, trying to ignore the cuts in her back.

“Yes I can,” he responded, “but maybe you should get some medical attention? I mean, we have some stuff here somewhere, and I don’t want you to, like, die of an infection or something.”

“Ah’m fine,” she responded confidently, but realizing how stubborn she could be sometimes, quickly added, “But, um, if ya wanna get somethin’, that’d be mighty nice.”

“Hey kid,” Happy Hoof started, turning to Blue. “Do you think you can find us some first aid stuff? It’s gonna be near the pharmacy. Do you know where that’s at?”

“I can find it!” he replied eagerly, taking off from the backroom on his mission.

“Let’s get ta drawin’ that stuff,” AJ told him as Blue went looking for medical supplies. “Ah don’t wanna wait too long before we go there. Twilight needs ta know about what’s happening.”

“Okay… do you need any help standing?”

“Ah’m fine. I might be hurt, but Ah ain’t-”

“Oh my gosh…” Angeline suddenly said, closing her eyes and swaying to the side as if struggling to keep her balance. “Something… something’s happening…” She put a hoof to her forehead as she sat on her haunches, keeping her eyes closed and breathing deeply.

“What? What is it? What’s happenin'?”

“Something… something just rushed over me… like… a gust of wind or something and now… I need to lie down…”

“I felt it just now, too,” Happy Hoof said, “and it’s making me a little bit dizzy, but I’m not too bad off.”

“Ah didn’t feel anythin'” Applejack told them. “What’s goin’ on?”

“I don’t know. It could be anything though… maybe it’s you?”

“Me?”

“Yeah. I mean, like I said, you have a whole bunch of magic inside of you since you’re from Equestria, and Earth doesn’t have any magic, so maybe you brought some back when you came back here? I don’t know though. I’m just guessing.”

“Wait, doesn’t magic hurt y’all?” the earth pony asked. “Ah think ya said somethin’ about that.”

“It does, but I should be fine. It might be best if we got her out of this room though… where’s that other pegasus? The mare, I mean.”

“Oh, Ah don’t wanna hurt anypony… can we hurry this up? And Ah don’t know if y’all should come with me anymore, if y’all are gonna get hurt…”

“Let me move her out of here. It might be best if you got out of here, too. Like I said, I’m just guessing it’s magic, so for all I know, it could be a gas leak or something. Plus that kid is going to get your stuff, so we don’t want him coming in here when he gets back.”

With that, Happy Hoof carefully grabbed Angelina by the scruff of her neck to drag her out, Applejack carefully standing up and helping him carry her as well. In just a moment the three of them were outside of the backroom and standing on the white tiles of the store isles.

“Hey!” Blue called, seeing them as they moved out. “I got the stuff!” he said as he waved a wing and ran over with first aid equipment in his hooves.

“Thank ya kindly, little colt,” Applejack responded, patting his head with a hoof before turning back to the pegasus mare who still had her eyes closed. “Although frankly, I’d say she needs medical supplies more. What should we do for her?”

“Well… I’m no doctor,” the stallion started, “but since it’s probably magic that’s making her sick, there’s not really anything we can do, honestly, except wait I guess. The only thing I can think is because you have magic inside of you, it’s making her sick that way.”

“But Ah’ve been next to her all day!” the mare argued. “She didn’t get sick until just now!”

“I don’t know. I guess when you went to Equestria and came back it brought some magic back? I’m pretty sure Twilight Sparkle could figure this all out in a second and help her. Not that we can bring her to Equestria though, since she might die because of the magic there.”

“I’m… ugh…” was all Angelina was able to get out as she stayed laying down.

“Come on! There has ta be somethin’ we can do! Aren’t you like a whizz with all this stuff? I thought you had it all figured out, Happy!”

“I don’t know everything! But… I mean, she’s a pegasus! She doesn’t have any way to release magic that’s building up inside her. I mean, she naturally does very slowly, but not in any significant way. That’s why pegasi become forgetful. If she could fly, it’d be a different story, but-”

“Wait, if my mom flies, will she be able to remember stuff?” Blue suddenly asked hopefully, eagerly.

“I don’t know, maybe? But that’s a separate issue. I don’t think this mare’s gonna be doing any flying right now, assuming it is magic that’s making her sick and not a gas leak like I said.”

“Pony feathers… we have ta get Twilight back here, but we can’t risk bringin’ Angelina to Equestria, and Ah really don’t wanna leave her here by herself while you, Blue and Ah go back ta find her.”

“Well, actually, that colt wouldn’t be able to come with us either,” Happy Hoof explained, throwing a quick glance his way as his head slumped down sadly. “He’s a pegasus, so going there would probably be just as bad for him, too. Actually, it’d probably be bad for me, too, but I could stand the best chance if it was cause I’m an earth pony like you.”

“Ugh, of course he can’t come… and you have ta go because you know the most about what’s goin’ on, so ya can’t stay here ta watch over him.”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“Hrrmmm… would it be too much ta ask you ta go by yerself?” the apple farmer asked. “Ah don’t wanna leave these two- err, three including his mom- here alone. Ah mean, I know it's dangerous and all, but... please?”

“I… don’t feel comfortable with that. I mean, I guess I could, but if something happened to me and nopony- I mean, nobody- knows about it, then… Plus I can’t even cast the spell. I’ve tried a bunch of times. That’s why I was happy to see you here.”

“Ah understand,” Applejack sighed disappointedly. “Let’s go get that stuff ta draw what we have to, Ah guess…”

The Answer

“Quills, Twilight?” Spike asked as he stood next to the mare who was seated at a table in the Royal Library, a large stack of books next to her.

“Check.”

“Notepad?”

“Check.”

“Pretzels and water?”

“The most important part some might say,” Twilight joked lightly in an attempt to calm her nerves at what she might discover. “Check.”

“That’s everything on the list!”

“Perfect!” the mare said enthusiastically. “Then let this research session begin!” With that, she stuck her nose in the first book in front of her as Spike went off alone to another section of the library. She had about twenty books on Equestrian History and Gaia the Great in the stack on the table, but didn’t want to take too much time reading through each one. She planned on skimming through them until she spotted on something worth investigating.

While interesting, it was a boring process for the mare who wanted to hurry through and either prove her friend innocent and dispel all fear or prove herself wrong and rid herself and Celestia of all doubt. However, she had to admit that right now, she had more than just a doubt about her. There was reasonable suspicion, especially with what she found back on the farm.

After leave the home of the Apples, she investigated around the farm and found the same magical signature somewhere in the orchard, the difference being that this one was used as the marker for where somepony came to through teleportation. Of course, ponies teleported all the time, but that was unicorns who were proficient in magic, and only advanced ones at that. Not to mention, unicorns didn't need to write symbols because they had a horn to cast magic. It didn’t make any sense why it would be there.

Unless, of course, some non unicorn came to Equeestria, found Applejack, and did something to her before taking on her appearance.

But she couldn’t put all her faith in one theory. There was the problem of the extra lines in the pentagram and what they meant. Not to mention, Applejack pulled her prank before all that happened. It would be quite the coincidence if something happened to her after her prank had been pulled.

Unless something happened to her before she pulled her “prank” and she was just using that to deflect suspicion.

But it was probably nothing. The most likely explanation to Twilight was that her friend was still trying her best to keep up the appearance and doing what she could to pull a fast one on everypony. She wasn’t the joking type, but she sure was stubborn. She could see AJ not giving up on a prank so easily once she set her mind to it. Maybe Rainbow Dash was helping her, too, since she went so far out there with her prank. It would make sense. She would tell her what to do and then the two of them would jump out in surprise when it turned out to all be an elaborate hoax. That was probably what this was. A continuation of her original prank.

Unless, of course, there was never a prank to begin with.

“Stop it, Twilight,” the mare told herself silently. “Focus on finding out what’s going on, not making up theories in your head. Once you have all the facts, the truth will reveal itself. If only there weren’t so much to sort through...”

Luckily for her, she had quills and paper, and everypony knew the best way to sort through what the facts were was to write them down. Quickly, Twilight got started.

Reasons for Applejack being the real Applejack:

She’s been acting normally around me and her friends

Her family hasn’t noticed anything out of the ordinary

High likelihood of this being a continuation of a prank she pulled

Earth is on the banned worlds list

Deep magic sweep revealed nothing out of the ordinary

Reasons for Applejack being an imposter:

Teleportation magic found in her home, along with magical symbols

Princess Celestia is suspicious of her

She mentioned “Earth” in her prank

She didn’t call Princess Celestia ‘princess’

Other facts:

Smell of cleaning chemicals was found in her home

She wasn’t feeling well today

I believe in my friend...

Twilight stopped on that thought. That was an issue. She believed in her friend. She was being biased. She needed to work through this objectively. There was no room for preconceived notions right then, especially if her friend wasn’t her friend and was in danger. She needed to remove her emotions and place them to the side. She took a breath and closed her eyes for a moment to do just that before opening them again and turning back to the book before.

She read to herself for a few hours, her hopes rising as she thought she might be able to clear her friend of suspicion before she found a piece of information to latch onto.

A blurb about Celestia fighting many enemies in her time as princess led to the name “Unity”, which further led to a story about an earth pony of the name who fought Celestia in combat to control the continent and make it more ‘uniform’. It didn’t mention what he meant by more uniform, but it did say that he nearly succeeded before Celestia finally overcame him, the battle ending with him being banished to Earth and him killing the previous rulers of the continent, Celestia’s parents. It described him as ‘worse than the nightmare, worse than the tantabus, worse than anything imaginable’, and listed his time in Equestria as the last time one pony killed another.

“As he was being sent away,” the book read, “he promised he would do the very same thing to where he was being sent, and if he couldn’t make the world his own, he would come back with a fierce vengeance.”

Twilight found herself absolutely terrified of what she read and did everything she could to try to think of this “Unity” pony as just another villain. It was impossible though. Despite every villain she faced being evil and trying to take over Equestria, none of them had ever killed another pony. It was terrifying, and she desperately, desperately hoped that her friend was just plain old Applejack. Unity sounded like somepony she absolutely didn’t want to have to face. Part of her told her to ignore what she read and pretend that everything was okay.

Instead though, she sighed, took a breath, and called to Spike to let him know that they were headed to Canterlot now that they had an answer to who Applejack might be and what Celestia remembered about Unity.

The Air

“Okay, Angelina, ya both promise yer are gonna stay here with Blue and that other mare while Happy and Ah are gone?” Applejack asked. “Ah don’t want y’all ta try and run off and leave him all alone like ya did last time.”

“That- that won’t happen again,” she assured her, still laying on the ground on her back and breathing heavily. “I only did that originally because I thought… yeah. I’m sorry. I will stay here with him. I promise.”

“Good. Yer gonna have Tartarus ta pay if yer lyin’, but Ah’m trustin’ you.” With that, she turned to the stallion with her and asked, “Are ya ready? Is there anything else we need ta do?”

“Not that I can think of,” he responded. “I’m as ready as I’ll ever be, which is to say kind of nervous. Equestria is only something I've ever seen watching TV. It’s like… being turned into a pony and being told, “Hey, we’re going to Equestria now” is like walking into a story book. It’s not something that’s supposed to be real, and yet, here we are, about to leave.”

“Ah promise, Equestria ain’t anywhere that’s dangerous or nothin’... well, some spots, but if it brings us to the same spot we were in before, it’ll be my orchard.”

“I trust you. It’s just… strange. Like a dream. But I don’t think standing here talking about it is gonna change anything. If you’re ready, you can get us going…”

“Well, here’s ta hopin’ this spell doesn’t take us ta any random location…”

Applejack didn’t waste any time, looking at Angelina for a second and using her eyes to indicate her to keep track of Blue before striking her hoof through the symbol. A second later, they were transported back to Equestria, in the exact same spot Applejack appeared in just a few minutes ago.

“Oh good, it took us back to the same spot, but.. is it night time already?” the mare asked, looking around confused. “It was only a few minutes ago right? It hasn’t been that long. Also, how does it know ta take us here specifically?”

“I don’t know about either of those things, although I bet the time difference is just because this is another world. But I want you to know that I’m feeling kind of dizzy…”

“Is it the magic like ya said? Maybe we should take ya back and-”

“I’m fine,” Happy Hoof interrupted. “It’s just- this air is thick. It’s like syrup, it’s so thick here… it makes my coat feel sticky.”

“Ah mean, Ah don’t feel any different. The air feels just fine ta me.”

“I don’t know how you can’t feel this, let alone stand this.” He took a deep breath before continuing, “But I’m fine. I’m just a little dizzy, and this air is so oppressive and muggy… but look at this! I’m in Equestria! This is, like, every brony’s dream to be here! Not as excited about it as I would be given the circumstances, but that’s a side point. I assume Twilight’s castle is… somewhere around here. Where at?”

“Just a few miles down the road. Shouldn’t take to long ta-”

“Miles?” the stallion asked. “It’s miles away?”

“Well, yeah. Ah mean, ya need a lot of space for an orchard. It’s not gonna be right next ta Ponyville.”

“I guess that makes sense, but… I wasn’t expecting it to be so far. And this air! It’s absolutely heavy with magic. How can you live in this?” As he said it, he took a few deep breaths and closed his eyes, looking to the mare like he might pass out.

“We can sit down in my house for a little while if ya want, and get a drink of water and such. Ah don’t want y’all keelin’ over before we get there.”

“It’s fine,” he told her, waving a hoof at her but keeping his eyes closed for a few moments longer. “I’ll be fine. Let’s just get going before this air smothers me…”

Applejack didn’t ask further with that, the two setting off down the trail that led to Ponyville and Twilight’s castle. The stallion was breathing heavily as he walked beside her and looked as though he wanted to stop and rest, but didn’t complain, keeping pace with the farm pony. However, she did slow down herself a bit for his sake. Although she wanted to get to her friend quickly, she didn’t want Happy Hoof to fall over and die like he looked like he wanted to do. Better to be a bit slower and get there in one piece she figured than have to go to the hospital.

The moon was bright and the night was cool as they walked, the stars shining brightly in the sky. It reminded her of the difference between here and there. She didn’t notice it until now, but the night here was much brighter than it was where Happy Hoof came from. There it was pitch black outside when she showed up. She was lucky there was snow on the ground back where he came from for the light to reflect off of, otherwise it would’ve been impossible to see anything at all. She was glad to be back though, even if it was only to get Twilight to help her and that whole world out.

“This is just a big ol’ mess, ain’t it?” Applejack thought to herself. “But it’s alright. We’re gettin’ somewhere, and Twilight’s gonna know what’s goin’ on very soon. This’ll all get taken care of, eazy peaszy. Once we get ta Twilight, we can get the Elements of Harmony and-”

“Okay, AJ?” Happy Hoof suddenly interrupted, sounding extremely worn out. “I really need to rest for a minute. I’m gonna pass out and die in a second if we keep going.”

The Castle

“Do you really not feel this?” Happy Hoof asked as he set his back against a tree on the side of the road, seeming like he was having trouble breathing as he did so. “It feels like I’m breathing through a straw…”

“Just lay down for a while and get some air, okay?” the mare instructed. “We’re over halfway ta Twilight’s castle. Once we get there, Ah’m sure she’ll have some sorta magic spell ta use on ya ta make you all better, and if not, we can take ya to the hospital a bit further away. Just don’t pass out on me or somethin’.”

“I’ll certainly try not to, but Equestria sucks… it’s just overflowing with magic and getting all over me. It’s bad.”

With that the two of them went silent, Applejack watching over him and he closed his eyes and breathed deeply, taking in as much oxygen as he could. As he did, AJ thought over the events that happened, going through each step along the way. Some creature has taken on her appearance and sent her to a place called Earth, then she ran into Blue and Angelina, then drove over to some store to try and find Blue’s mother, then met Happy Hoof who said he knew her and sent her back to Equestria, and then came face to face again with-

“Wait a minute,” she said aloud, causing the stallion to open his eyes. “How did ya know how ta do magic?” she asked. “Ah mean, ya said it was in that book, but why would some creature like that ever put it in a book ta begin with or tell anypony about what was gonna happen? It didn’t seem like the kind of pony ta wanna give other ponies a heads up. It doesn’t make sense.”

“I mean, I don’t really know why either,” Happy Hoof replied. “All I can tell you is what he told us, which was that he wanted to make our lives more uniform or something.”

“What? That doesn’t make sense, cause that thing told me it spent years tryin’ ta get back to Equestria. Somethin’ doesn’t add up.”

“I don’t know. I can only tell you that he showed up here out of nowhere. Maybe a few years ago at most? Probably less than that though. Let me think... he said he wanted the world to be more perfect, I remember that, and he definitely talked a lot about uniformity and how it mattered so much. He didn’t say how it would be more uniform, only that it would. In fact, a lot of people just started calling him ‘Unity’ because he talked about it so much. I don’t know if that was his actual name, but that’s what we used. Um…” He put a hoof under his chin to think as he continued, “He did talk a lot about the Elements of Harmony and how they would be here soon, which is why I wasn’t surprised in the slightest when you got here. I actually took it as a good thing because, with what he was doing, I knew that none of you six would put up with it. Ah… um… then he, um... ah... it’d be easier to think if I weren’t so out of breath, I’m sorry.”

“Do ya think you can push through it at all?” AJ asked. “Like Ah said, we’re more than halfway to the castle…”

“Ugh, okay…” he answered, although he struggled greatly to stand back up. “Do you mind if I lean on you for a while? Just a couple dozen yards or so?”

“It’s no trouble at all fer me. Like Ah said, Ah don’t want y’all passin’ out now.”

He did just that, slowly walking over to her and leaning his whole body weight onto her. Being an earth pony, it wasn’t any trouble, but she was very concerned, especially at the slow pace they were moving at. She didn’t want this to take one second longer than it needed to. She wanted to get to Twilight and hopefully put a stop to all of this right away.

By the time they reached Twilight’s castle on the outskirts of Ponyville, the mare was practically carrying the stallion who leaned on her shoulder. The two quickly entered and went up to the main meeting room of her castle, expecting the alicorn to already be there strategizing with Applejack’s other friends, and perhaps the princesses as well. In fact, they were almost shocked to not see them there, the map-table that they used to host such meetings being completely empty.

“Wow, this place is bigger than I thought…” Happy Hoof said breathlessly as he sat down at the table in Fluttershy’s seat. “I thought they would be here though. I don’t see why they wouldn’t… ugh. I’m gonna close my eyes for a while.”

“Ah thought they’d be here, too, honestly,” the mare agreed. “Twilight’s usually on top of these things, so much so that she’ll panic over somethin’ that ain’t even there. What do ya think we should do, Happy?” She turned to him to see him not moving, breathing deeply with his eyes closed and his head slumped over on the table.

“Happy? Please tell me y’all ain’t out right now. Ah need ya here ta help me. Ah can’t do this all on my lonesome.”

“I know, AJ. I’m not passed out, I’m just thinking… ugh, I don’t know. I feel so sluggish…”

“Well, just try and think of somethin’? Anything?”

“Hold on, give me a second…” he sighed, still keeping his eyes closed as he thought for a moment before saying, “We could try calling for Discord? I mean, doesn’t he just show up if you say his name? Plus, he’s like a deus ex machina, so I don’t see why he couldn’t snap his fingers and fix everything back to normal… god, this sucks.”

“Ah doubt it. From what Flutters tells me, he can’t really do much in the way of fixin’ things. He’s a creature of chaos, and if things are too orderly, he starts ta get sick from what Ah hear. Besides, he ain’t really around much anymore these days. He’s normally off doing whatever it is he does in… Ah don’t know where he lives. Point is, he don’t really pop around if ya just say his name like most ponies seem to think.”

“Then I don’t know. We could just- I don’t know! Is there no way to signal Twilight to come back to this castle?” he asked. “I mean, she has to be obsessive enough to have something set up.”

“If she does, she didn’t tell me. I think we’re gonna have ta go all the way to Ponyville since she ain’t here.”

“Fuuuuck, I’m not gonna make it all the way to town…” Happy Hoof complained, Applejack worried that it might not be an exaggeration. “Let’s try and look around here for something first before I go back outside and start to die, cause I really don’t think I’ll make it…”

Author's Note

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The Letter

“Is there really nothing here?” Happy Hoof huffed, closing his eyes and leaning against a wall every few minutes as they explored the empty castle. “I thought for sure there’d be something… she’s too obsessive like that.”

“Well, let's keep on speakin’ kindly of her, but Ah get what ya mean. That’s one prepared pony, Ah’ll say.”

“I mean, there are no teleporters or candles to send letters or anything. I don’t believe this.”

“Well, let’s just keep lookin’ and see if we can find anything, alright? Ah’m sure we’ll come across something.”

“Okay, but… I need to sit down, I’m feeling really lightheaded…” As he said it, he moved into a position where his back was against the wall and his back hooves were extended in front of him, his front legs hanging at his sides.

“Ah really think we should be gettin’ ya ta Ponyville at this rate. Ah don’t want ta have ta carry you to Nurse Redheart. Ah will if Ah have to, but Ah don’t wanna.”

“You just go ahead and see if you can find something,” he assured her, waving a hoof. “A book about magic and spell casting would probably be good, and teleportation I think. But also that candle thing that Twilight uses to send messages. I’ll wait here for you while you do that.”

“Well… if yer sure, Ah guess Ah can. But don’t y’all pass out on me now, ya hear?” Applejack said.

“I won’t, promise,” the stallion assured her half-heartedly as he had his head leaned back against the wall. She was skeptical of that as she stared at him for a second longer before she turned to walk through the hallway to the library to see what she could find.

It turned out there was a lot she could find, so much so that it was completely overwhelming to her. Hundreds of books on just magic alone, so many that she had absolutely no idea what she should be grabbing and what she could toss away as unimportant. She tried just finding a book labeled Earth Pony magic, or even just a book about teleportation, but honestly, she was lost in a maze of titles ranging from “A Brief History of Arcane and Clandestine Magic’ to ‘The Transfer of Matter and Energy Between Vast Distances’. Eventually, after a minute, she gave up, figuring her work was futile, and headed into the office.

She didn’t have very much luck in the office either, not seeing anything useful immediately to her eye. Not that she was even sure if she could spot something useful. She knew it would be better if Happy Hoof himself were doing this, but it didn’t seem like he’d be immediately available to help unfortunately. It was all on her to try to find something, or at least think of something. It was a lot of pressure, and she knew that she sure didn't like it.

Still, she tried her best, and searched around the large office her friend had before she stumbled across some candles. She couldn’t exactly remember if the stallion said that she could send a letter through a candle, and she couldn’t say that they looked any different than normal candles. Nor did she remember Twilight ever using candles to send letters, always using Spike as far as she was concerned. However, she figured she would try anyway, or at the very least, deliver them to Happy Hoof so he could see what to do with them.

It didn’t take her much longer to find a stack of paper and a quill ready to go, and she decided she would save him the time of writing something out and do it herself.

Twilight,

It’s AJ. Something serious is going on. I don’t know how to describe it. There’s a pony here named Happy Hoof from a place called Earth trying to help me figure out what’s going on. He and a whole bunch of other ponies need our help. I don’t know what else to say, it’ll be easier to explain face to face. We’re at your castle right now. We’ll wait here for thirty minutes before heading over to Ponyville General because Happy’s not taking well to being here. Come meet us up here as soon as you can.

-Applejack

She decided to copy the letter twice and left one on her desk where she would be certain to see it, just in case they weren’t here when she came back and she didn’t get their message. With that, she quickly picked up her materials and the candles and headed over to where the stallion who was with her should have still been waiting.

Waiting there he still was, although now he was completely on the floor, laying directly on his stomach, prone. She made her way up to him and used a hoof to shake his shoulder, to which he only responded with a groan.

“Hey now, Ah got the stuff you were lookin’ fer. Ah need y’all ta help me out with this.”

He didn’t respond with much more than another weak groan, not moving, or even flinching at her words at all, and she leaned down to give him another shake.

“Can ya hear me?” she asked, turning him over on his back. He was limp as she did, his eyes completely closed, looking as passed out as she told him not to be. It worried her to see, but didn’t surprise her.

“Dagnabbit…” she mumbled, looking around, trying to decide what to do before letting out a small huff and using her Earth Pony strength to pick the stallion up and set him on her back, carefully lifting the candles and paper after to take with her.

“Ah got ya,” she said aloud to him, even though he couldn’t hear it. “Ah ain’t gonna let ya down. Although Ah do remember me tellin' ya not ta make me do this.”

The Meal

“Well, it seems you weren’t kidding when you said you and your family would fix a feast of a meal,” Celestia commented with a smile as the ponies rolled out more than a few plates of food for her. “It all looks quite lovely. Thank you.”

“Ain’t no trouble at all, Celestia,” the imposter told her. “The Apple Family always puts their love and hard work into everythin’ we make, ain’t that right?”

“Eeyup.”

“That’s right,” Granny Smith agreed, “but Ah reckon ya excuse yerself and call her Princess, ya hear?”

“Oh, Ah’m sorry Princess Celestia,” the mare apologized. “Ah’ve been a bit out of it. Just ask Twilight.”

“It’s quite alright, my dear,” Celestia told her politely. “I always tell ponies they don’t need to be quite so formal with me. You may call me Celestia if you wish.”

“Anyway we made the best meal you could possibly ask for,” Applejack finished, giving a large smile. “Ah hafta say, we really outdid ourselves, right guys?” The Apples nodded along with her in agreement.

“Well, it looks quite lovely, and I’m sure it tastes just as delicious. Would you care to join me?” she asked. “It’s very rare that I get to eat with my subjects, and I’d like to have you here, if that’s acceptable to you.”

“Course we would!” the mare responded enthusiastically. “It’d be an honor!”

“AJ?” somepony suddenly asked as she carried Happy Hoof on her back, Rainbow Dash she recognized. “What are you doing out here this late at night? What’s going on?”

She felt her heart leap at the sight of her friend, but didn’t express it outwardly, getting tired as she carried the stallion down the path into Ponyville. She gingerly lowered him to the ground, resting him on his back before taking a moment to catch her breath.

“Ah need ya to go get Twilight,” she said after a minute, looking directly up at her, dead serious. “Somethin’s goin’ on, but Ah can’t describe what it is. It’ll make the most sense ta her. Also, get Rarity, Pinkie, and Flutters, too. Ah think we should all be here for this.”

Rainbow Dash didn’t fly off to do as she was requested like Applejack expected, instead hovering above her and staring at her like she was speaking gibberish.

“Are you okay?” she asked as she blinked at her. “Twilight said you were acting weird earlier, but I didn’t think she meant this weird. What’s going on?”

“Ah- it’s- Ah don’t know how ta describe it,” she said as she sighed tiredly. “Can ya just go get her? She needs ta hear what Ah and Happy Hoof have ta say because she’ll be the one who can make the most sense of it.”

“I mean, I could,” Rainbow replied, “but she’s in Canterlot right now. It’s gonna take hours to get there, even for me.”

“Of course she is,” Applejack muttered frustratedly, rolling her eyes. “This is such a mess… can y’all at least help me get Happy Hoof here ta the doctor?”

“Yeah, that was gonna be my next question,” Rainbow Dash commented as she bent down to pick him up. “What’s up with him?”

“He was complainin’ about there bein’ too much magic in the air and it bein’ thick and weighin’ down on him, and before Ah knew it, he collapsed. He said somethin’ like that would happen though, cause there’s no magic where he’s from.”

“What do you- what’s going on? Really? Is this another prank, AJ? You can tell me if it is.”

“What? No, Ah ain’t prankin’ y’all. Can ya just go get Twilight and the others? She’ll want to be here to see what Happy Hoof has ta say.”

“I… okay, I can get her,” Rainbow responded skeptically. “But if this is a prank and I fly all the way to Canterlot for nothing, I’m gonna be mad.” With that, the mare took off, leaving the earth pony to grumble to herself.

“What in the world is goin’ on?” she asked herself. “Ah’m supposed to be the honest one, and she thinks Ah’m prankin’ her? What’s that other pony doin’?”

Celestia smiled at the Apples, who had already begun to eat, as she carefully scanned her food with her magic, checking to see if anything was off about it. She might not have been as booksmart as her student, but she had a knack for telling when things were wrong. When she was satisfied that it looked acceptable, she gingerly took a bite.

“Mmm, this tastes quite lovely,” she commented as she ate, making sure to scan each piece that she consumed. “You and your family are as good chefs as you are farmers. Thank you for this meal.”

“Don’t mention it, princess,” Apple Bloom said happily. “It’s our pleasure!”

“That’s right,” Granny Smith agreed.

“Eeyup,” eeyuped Big Mac.

“You’re all very wonderful,” Celestia continued. “I appreciate you taking my request on such short notice. Especially you, Applejack. Twilight told me you were sick, but I appreciate you’re making it to me anyway.”

“No trouble at all, Celestia,” the mare smiled. “In fact, Ah was just thinkin’ about how Equestria needed more togetherness before Twilight asked me to come over here and cook for ya.”

“Oh really?”

“Yeah. Equestria needs more uniformity, don’t you think?” the mare smiled, looking right into her eyes. “I certainly think so.” The princess’s ears flicked at that in familiarity, but she didn’t know from where.

“Why yes, of course it… wait, no, Equestria is already a wonderful place,” she responded. “I hardly think that… no.” She had no idea why she started to say that. Her head felt fine as far as she could tell.

“Oh, well of course it is,” the mare continued, no longer caring about portraying her southern accent. “But wouldn’t it be great if it were even better?”

“It… how would you go about making the continent better?” the princess asked. She wanted to keep her sentences as questions for now. She didn’t know what was happening, but could tell it wasn’t good. Why she didn’t immediately go on the offensive, she couldn’t say. She just didn’t feel compelled to.

“Oh, well first we’d start by abdicating the throne to me, of course,” she said. “After that, we’d need to change a few things. You know, flattening these ponies' emotions, getting rid of their cutie marks, killing the royals who control the land, that sort of thing. That’s a good plan, don’t you think?”

“I…” She had to be careful. She could tell something was happening with her. Abdicating the throne to the Apples of all families made absolutely no sense, and yet she was somehow feeling like it was a good idea. She knew something was going on, but couldn’t say what it was.

She used her magic to carefully check her food again, but before she could do more than a small section, Applejack put her hoof to her side and she shivered.

“It’s not the food, it’s her aura,” she realized as she took a step back. “Just her mere presence is a powerful force.”

“Come on, Celly,” the imposter, Unity, grinned. “Don’t you want to abdicate? Think of how nice it would be to retire. Wouldn’t that be so nice? Just leave Equestria to me. I can take care of it.”

The princess could say nothing as she did her best to get away.

The Normalness

Twilight blinked at the empty throne as Apple Bloom, Big Mac, and Granny Smith took trays and things back to the kitchen.

“What- where did Princess Celestia go?” she asked, slightly concerned, holding the notes that she took in her hooves. “Where’s Applejack?”

“Ahunno,” Apple Bloom responded with a shrug. “The princess ran off after we gave her some food, and sis said she had ta go do somethin’ important and ta clean up while she was gone.”

“Oh no,” was all the mare was able to get out before she quickly ran off, not waiting for an explanation. She didn’t know what was happening, but whatever it was, it couldn’t be good.

“We should have known better than to let one of us be alone with her,” Twilight thought as she ran through the halls, scanning her surroundings to see if she spotted the princess. “We should’ve both been with her the whole time. This is not good.”

Eventually, she found herself in the princess’s bedroom, watching as Celestia and Applejack chatted idly. They even had tea cups laid out in front of them, smiling as though they were old friends. She blinked at the sight of it, staring silently at the scene before both the alicorn and earth pony turned toward her.

“Oh, hello Twilight,” the alicorn smiled, as though nothing about the scene was out of place. “Did you want to join Applejack and I for tea?”

“Ah, no,” she replied, backing away slowly, worried about what was happening. “Are you okay, Princess?” she asked, not exactly afraid but still very anxious about the scene in front of her. “Applejack? You both are acting very strangely. Weren’t you worried about her before?”

“Yes, I was,” she explained, “but I see no cause for suspicion anymore. The two of us were just having tea to go through and work through exactly what was going on with her. Isn’t that right, Applejack?”

“Right as rain, Princess!” the mare responded happily. "Ah'm surprised you'd even think that Ah'd try and hurt y'all, but Ah think we got this all under wraps."

"Quite right, Applejack," the alicorn agreed as she took a sip from her cup. "I'm glad we had this chat. Perhaps you care to join us, Twilight? It's a very good explanation that the mare has for us."

“Well, I have… actually, nevermind. I trust you princess,” Twilight agreed, knowing better than to disagree right now with how the two were acting, which in her opinion was far too normal. “I’m glad everything worked out,” she continued, faking a smile. “I’ll see you later, AJ,” she waved before teleporting away back to the library.

“Oh, fetlocks, fetlocks, fetlocks,” she thought to herself as she paced around the lonely room. “What the heck do we do? Fetlocks. Umm…”

Princess Luna. She needed to see Princess Luna. And maybe her step sister, Princess Cadance, too. She didn’t know what happened to Princess Celestia between the time she left and when she came back, but she didn’t like seeing it, and didn't know if it was okay to be near them.

“Maybe it’s nothing though,” Twilight started, unable to stop the doubt from creeping into her mind. “It’s more than likely nothing. Just two ponies getting along…”

She forced herself to shake that thought away. She couldn’t let that thinking infest her head. She needed to see what she could do right now, and what she could do was see Princess Luna.

Before long, Applejack, carrying Happy Hoof, had ended up in Ponyville, making her way to Ponyville General. She walked in casually, the receptionist taking one look at her before rushing up.

“What happened to you?” she asked in surprise. “You’re all cut up, and that wound in your side looks like a magical strike from a powerful unicorn! And what happened to him?” She looked back to call to her doctors, the receptionist starting to push the mare back to the examination rooms before stopping her.

“Ah don’t need anypony ta look me over,” she declared as she carefully set the stallion on the ground. “Ah need y’all ta look at my friend here.”

“What happened to him?” a nurse asked as she came up to check his vitals, using her stethoscope to listen to his lungs and heart. “Was it the same unicorn that attacked you? His magic level looks like it’s overloaded, like somepony just shot him full of it. Doctor!”

“He was complainin' about magic and how the air was thick, but Ah have a more important question right now. Do y’all have any way ta send messages?” the mare asked, her eyes tired. “Ah need ta send somethin’ to Twilight Sparkle right away.”

“We do, but you’re not in any shape to send anything to anypony, miss Apple-”

“Ah’m fine,” she assured them. “Just a little bit nicked up here and there. Sendin’ a message ta her is more important than a few scratches.”

“With all due respect, your back is covered in wounds and a piece of your side a third the size of your hoof is missing. You can’t walk around like that. We have to get you to the back and treat you.”

“Ah need ta talk to my friend,” AJ insisted, following the nurse as Happy Hoof was lifted up. “This is more important than how I look.”

“I understand that you’re one of the Element Bearers, Applejack, but we can’t let you leave here looking how you do. We’ll let you send her a message as soon as we fix you and your friend up.”

The earth pony couldn’t help but roll her eyes. “It’s always somethin’ else, ain’t it?”

The Threat

Applejack winced a bit as she was worked on, alcohol being poured onto her wounds as she considered exactly what she wanted to say. She also watched Happy Hoof next to her, his eyes still closed, but breathing a bit deeper. Several doctors crowded him and had their horns lit up, looks of concentration on their faces. She watched for a long moment before she felt more alcohol being poured onto her wounds.

“What unicorn did this to you?” the nurse asked as she worked on the mare. “They had to have been an extremely powerful wizard to completely overload your friend with magic and give you cuts this deep. What happened?”

“There was no unicorn,” Applejack responded irritatedly. “There was an earth pony who looked exactly like me who did this. She said somethin’ about tryin’ ta get back ta Equestria, which is why Ah need ta talk to Twilight. There’s somethin’ big goin’ on that she has ta know about.”

“Are you sure you’re okay though, AJ?” the nurse asked. “Do you remember you were in here this morning for your legs? Are you sure you’re not still sick? You might just not remember what happened.”

“Do Ah look sick ta you?” she asked seriously, frowning at the pony. “Ah’m fine. Ah’m just a little bit cut up. Now Ah need ta send a letter to my friend.”

“You were here this morning, remember?” she asked, tilting her head with a worried expression, already calling a doctor over to her to look at her. “You don’t have a fever or anything. Whatever unicorn attacked you must have done a number on you. We’ll have to get the Royal Guard to investigate this.”

“Ah’m tellin’ you there was no unicorn!” she said angrily as she was being pushed to lay down. “My brother was tellin’ me that Ah was actin’ funny this mornin’, but that wasn’t me. There’s some creature out there who made a clone of me and sent me ta another world or universe or somethin’. That’s why Ah need ta talk ta Twilight. She’ll know what to do about this best. Just let me send a letter her way.”

“I don’t think it’s wise to bother Princess Twilight in your state, Applejack,” the nurse said. “Especially with how you’ve been today and how you’re acting right now. Your mental state’s not clear enough for us to-”

“Dag nabbit, Ah’m the Element of Honesty!” she said angrily. “Why would Ah lie about somethin’ like this? Twilight is my friend! Just let her listen to me!”

“You need to rest, Applejack,” the nurse told her firmly. “That’s what we told you this morning, and it doesn’t look like you’ve gotten very much of it since then. Resting will make you feel better.”

It was true, she didn’t do very much resting since she woke up in that house hours ago, but to be fair, there was a lot going on around her. She was extremely tired after being awake all day. But that didn’t mean she was hallucinating or doing whatever the nurse thought she was.

She was going to say as much, but was stopped when she saw Happy Hoof’s eyes flutter open. It made her relieved to see, both because he was was okay and because it meant he could back her up on what she was saying.

“Huh? Where am- oh! Applejack! Did you… oh, I passed out didn’t I?” he said tiredly, apologetically. “I’m sorry. That was my fault. I know I said I wouldn't. Ugh, magic is so heavy…”

“It ain’t your fault for passin’ out. That’s not somethin’ you can control. But Ah need ya ta tell these doctor’s what’s goin’ on. They ain’t listening to me.”

The stallion raised an eyebrow at that. “Aren’t you the Element of Honesty?” he asked. “And they don’t believe you about what you said?”

“Who was the unicorn that attacked you?” the nurse asked seriously. “Are they in Ponyville? How long ago was it?”

“No unicorn attacked me,” Happy Hoof said tiredly. “It’s just the ambient magic in the air that’s making me feel awful… god, it’s so heavy. I didn’t think Equestria would have so much of it… I can’t believe I’m actually in Equestria though. This is crazy. It's, like, every brony's dream.”

“Maybe whatever unicorn that attacked them had a memory spell?” one of the doctors suggested. “If they were able to cut up Applejack the way they did and funnel enough magic into this stallion to make them pass out, they must be unbelievably powerful.”

“What?” they both asked at the same time, Happy Hoof more tired and AJ practically yelling. “Why don’t you believe us?” the mare continued angrily. “Does it look like we’re lyin’ or somethin’?”

“Applejack, ambient magic doesn’t work like that,” the nurse said slowly, speaking like she was a child. It made her scowl more as she continued, “You can’t get sick from just the magic in the air. It’s not possible, unless you have a very serious genetic condition, in which case, there’s no way he would ever just be out and about, and wouldn’t have lived to be a full grown stallion.”

“Ah’m tellin’ you, that- look, just let us send a letter to Twilight so she can know what’s goin’ on. It’s gonna take two minutes. If she says we’re botherin’ her, we won’t ask again.”

“You need to rest, AJ,” the nurse told her, pushing her back down into a laying position. “You were told this morning that you need to rest. A good night’s sleep will do wonders for you. If you still feel how you do-”

“Can I check myself out?” Happy Hoof suddenly asked, sounding extremely tired, like it might have been the last thing he wanted to do.

“Huh?”

“I’m gonna check myself out if Applejack can’t send a letter to Twilight Sparkle,” he asserted, looking extremely tired, the doctors still having their horns lit up as they worked. “She needs to hear what we have to say.”

“You can’t just-”

“Yes I can, and I will,” he interrupted. Before the mare could comment, he said, “AJ, this matters to me. I care about my home. I don’t want to waste time while everyone on Earth just suffers because who knows what’s going to happen next? I want Twilight to fix this, and I want her to fix it as fast as she can.”

“Ah understand, but ya passed out just walkin’ here is the problem,” she told him. “Ah don’t think you’d make it ta Canterlot in your condition if you’re right about just regular magic hurtin’ you.”

“We walked for, what? An hour or two to get to Twilight’s castle? And we stayed there for a little while, and I was fine. How long does it take to get to Canterlot by train?”

“Longer than that,” she said. “It’s gonna take Rainbow a good while ta get there, and she’s the best flier in Equestria.”

“Well, that’s an okay risk to take, I think,” he decided firmly. He turned to the doctor and said, “Let her send a letter or I’m going to check out right now and we’ll go to Canterlot to see her.”

Author's Note

Sorry for the late update, I've been busy at my actual job.

The Lies

"Make sure ta write it exactly as Ah tell it ta you,” Applejack instructed, giving the nurse a look as she rolled her eyes, quill and paper in her magic. “She’s not gonna listen if ya just go writin’ whatever.”

“I’ll make sure,” the nurse insisted, not really caring one way or the other. “What do you want me to write down?”

“Tell her that her friend is here and needs her ta get here as soon as she possibly can. There’s somethin’ goin’ on, but Ah don’t know what it is. Some creature stole my appearance and ruined a whole nother place called Earth and we need ta see what we can do ta fix it. He said he was tryin’ ta get back to Equestria and Ah’m worried he’s gonna make just as big of a mess here as he did there, and Ah don’t know what ta do about it. Ah need yer help.”

“Anything else?” the nurse asked, AJ looking to Happy Hoof to see if he had anything to add.

“That should be good enough,” the stallion said. “Once she gets here, we can explain the rest.”

“Okay, I’ll go ahead and send this off now,” the nurse told her. “Now no more being noncompliant, okay? You both are really hurt and need to be treated.”

“Alrighty,” the mare agreed. “As long as ya make sure ta send that straight ta Twilight.”

“I will make sure,” the nurse replied, rolling her eyes again.

“Princess Luna,” Twilight started, suddenly appearing before her night court, interrupting the conversation she was having with somepony else. “I need to speak with you right now.”

“Good evening, Twilight,” Luna smiled, not the least bit bothered by the interruption. “It’s been quite a long time, hasn’t it? How have you been these days?”

“That’s not important,” she started. “I need to speak to you about something that’s going on. Um, in private preferably.”

“I understand, Twilight,” she replied. “Just give me a minute to finish up with those who are waiting, and I’ll see right to you.”

“This isn’t something that can wait, Princess,” Twilight urged her. “This is something we need to talk about right now, as busy as you are. It can’t wait.”

“I see…” she said thoughtfully, considering it for a moment before standing up and announcing, “For the time being, the night court will be closed. We shall return as quickly as possible. We are quite sorry if this affects your schedule poorly.”

A lot of the ponies grumbled at that, a few muttering how Twilight always got what she wanted whenever she wanted it, but the mare didn’t care. This was serious business, and she didn’t want to waste any time.

A minute or so later, the room was clear of all except for a few of the royal guard and the two of them, Princess Luna looking at the purple alicorn expectantly. Twilight took a breath to calm her nerves before she started to speak.

“There’s something going on with Applejack and Princess Celestia,” she started worriedly. “The princess was concerned about her, and now she’s here and both of them are acting very strangely. I’m worried that she might be hurt or under mind control or something else.”

“My sister did tell me about her concern with the mare, I do remember that,” Luna said. “I found her concerns unfounded, not seeing any issue myself with Applejack’s little joke, however, she was insistent. Are you saying that she was right to be afraid?”

“Well, right now she’s apparently having tea with her, but this is coming after she was just talking about how afraid and skeptical she was of her. I’m afraid that whoever Applejack actually is, she’s taking control of Celestia and manipulating her. I don’t think she’d get over being afraid in a second, especially after I’ve been doing research all day and trying to figure out what’s going on like she told me to.”

“Hmmm…” Luna trailed off, putting a hoof on her chin. “It’s possible. Although it’s equally possible that her fears really were unfounded. As we say, communication is key. Perhaps the two just needed to have a conversation to alleviate any fears she might have had.”

“I- how likely is that though?” Twilight asked. “It’s not. She was just talking about how she wanted me to do research just now, and how suspicious Applejack was being! She pointed out that she didn’t even call her ‘princess’! I don’t think any of her suspicions would be solved this fast, otherwise why would she want me to investigate?”

“That is true as well,” Princess Luna agreed. “My sister is not one to forgive or forget things so easily. Although you yourself just called my sister by her name alone a few seconds ago, so I'm not sure what you're trying to indicate in Applejack's case."

"That's because I'm getting stressed out standing here and I don't know what to do!" she said, starting to prance in place. "We need to do something! Or at least make a plan!"

"It is very curious to hear about at the very least. Although you're right, I hardly think standing here talking about it will do either of us any good. Perhaps we should be-”

“Tw… Twilight,” Spike called as he entered, jogging tiredly into the room the two were in, carrying a letter in his hands. “This just came in for you from some doctor,” he said groggily. “Right as I had just gotten to sleep in the guest room of this castle.”

“I’m sorry Spike, but thank you for bringing this to me,” she told him, interested in what it could possibly be. She quickly unfolded the page to see what it said.

Addressed to one Princess Twilight Sparkle,

We’ve written to inform you that one of your friends is here with us in Ponyville General Hospital. It looks like they and somepony else they know was attacked by a unicorn. We don’t know who it was at this time, but we’ve called the guard stationed in Ponyville to investigate the matter. Normally, we wouldn’t bother you with such things, especially at this late hour, but the two of them were insistent on having a letter sent out, to the point where both of them were willing to check out of the hospital if something wasn’t delivered to you, despite their injuries.

Both of them are in stable condition, except for perhaps a few memory problems, likely because whatever unicorn attacked them didn’t want them to remember what happened. However, we’ll take care of her, you can be assured that. Feel free to visit if and when you see fit.

-The Ponyville General Hospital Staff

Not good, that much Twilight knew. She hated hearing that her friends were hurt, especially by somepony seeking to do them harm. However, she couldn’t bother with that, not yet. She would visit them tomorrow if she could, but for now, she needed to go with Princess Luna to meet with Celestia to see what was wrong with her. She could only wonder which friend of hers it was that was hurt though. She wished they wrote it down.

The Princesses

“Where is she?” Applejack asked anxiously. It had only been ten minutes since the letter was sent, but she was already fed up waiting on her friend.

“She should be here right now if ya wrote down exactly what Ah told ya to. Twilight ain’t one ta wait. Did ya mess up sendin’ it out somehow?”

“No, we didn’t mess up,” the nurse said. “I’m sure she’ll be here tomorrow if you’re patient. It is getting rather late. She’s probably just asleep.”

“She wouldn’t wait until tomorrow though!” the mare protested “We can’t wait until tomorrow for this! We need ta do somethin’ right now!”

“We might just have to say screw it and leave,” Happy Hoof told her. “I don’t want to wait either. The longer we wait, the worse things get. Not to mention, those other ponies you met back on Earth, Angelina and Blue, are still waiting for us.”

“You said if we sent the letter-”

“Ah know! And ya know Ah hate lyin’, but with everythin’ that’s goin’ on, we’re just gonna have ta get goin’.”

“This is why we think you’re sick, Applejack!” the nurse protested. “If you were in your right mind, you wouldn’t back down on what you said. You said you would stay here if we sent that letter, and now you’re about to lie. That’s how we know a unicorn attacked you. You wouldn’t normally act like this.”

“Ah know, but Ah- Ah think that…”

“No, AJ,” Happy Hoof started. “We need to go now. These nurses and doctors are being aggressively unhelpful, to the point where it feels like they’re trying to manipulate you. Let’s go.” As he said it, he was already looking a bit breathless to the mare.

“Ah… okay, if ya say so,” she agreed, the two doing just that. They faced the great protest of every single doctor and nurse around them, but they couldn’t be stopped, eventually ending up back outside in the night, Happy Hoof already looking ready to pass out again. Applejack herself hated every second of lying, but decided all would be forgiven given the important nature of why she was.

“Ughhhh… this is all so ridiculous. We’re not going to make it to Canterlot, are we?” the stallion asked

“Ah don’t know. Probably not, at least not in yer condition,” she said. “Ah told Rainbow Dash ta tell Twilight while you were out, but Ah don’t know how quick she’s gonna get there.”

“So, what? We just wait here and hope somepony- err, someone- else does something?” he asked. He didn’t wait for an answer as he flopped to the ground, clearly upset.

“Faust, this sounds so hopeless… I mean God! God damnit! I hate that it feels like there’s nothing we can do! Why is everypony working against us? It’s ridiculous!”

“You don’t hafta tell me twice. Rainbow kinda seemed like she was leanin’ toward that way, too. It is somethin’, I’ll say that much.”

“It’s more than something,” he complained. “It’s actively hindering us and working against us, and it doesn’t make sense that it’s happening. Nopony in My Little Pony is this… I don’t know! Ignorant? The point is it shouldn’t be happening.”

“Let me think about what we can do…” she said, half to herself, tapping her hoof on the ground as she did. “Take a minute to breathe, too. Ah don’t know if you gettin’ all worked up is gonna be great.”

“I’m already worked up,” he said as he closed his eyes, stopping to think, too. “Are there any other unicorns that can send a letter for us? Rarity?”

“Nah, Rarity wouldn’t have that kind of spell… Actually, she might. She has customers all over Equestria. I bet she sends letters like that all the time! That’s a great idea, Happy!”

“I’m just worried that we’re going to walk to her boutique and she’s gonna be just as unhelpful as everypony- everybody- else has been.”

“I’m sure she'll help us,” AJ responded. “If she doesn’t though, I have an idea that might get her to. She would make a huge fuss about it though, and I wouldn't feel great doing it, but these are desperate times.”

“Sister, are you quite certain everything is fine?” Luna asked as she and Twilight stepped into Celestia’s bedroom, Applejack still chatting with her. “You are not known to be one who is quite so forgiving.”

“Yes, quite sure,” Celestia answered, she and Applejack taking a sip of tea as she did. “It was indeed a misunderstanding, as you told me before. Quite sorry to have taken up your time with this task, Twilight.”

As she spoke, the purple pony kept her distance, watching the scene. It was unnerving to see the princess act so casual, and she glanced at Luna next to her to gauge her reaction. What she saw wasn’t what she wanted to see.

“Well, as long as it’s all settled,” Luna started with a smile on her face, one that, despite its friendly nature, was unsettling, “then I see no issue. And what about you, dear Applejack? Has all been forgiven on your part?” She took a few steps closer to the mare as Twilight took a few steps back from her, closer to the door.

“Yup! Ain’t nothin’ a little talkin’ can’t work out!” she proclaimed. “Care ta join us fer tea? And you, too Twilight? Ah know ya said no earlier, but the offer’s still there.”

“Why certainly,” Luna started without a second thought. “Don’t mind if I-”

“No!” Twilight yelled, yanking the alicorn back with her magic and teleporting the two of them back into the throne room.

“Now that was quite rude of you, Twilight,” Luna complained. “If you’re not in the mood for tea, you only have to say so. I, for one, however, am in the mood, doubly so as it’s been quite a long time since I’ve stopped for tea with my sister.”

“Can you see what’s happening though?” she asked desperately. “There has to be something with Applejack that’s clouding your judgment or something! It doesn’t make any sense at all!”

“I’m sure it’s nothing, Twilight,” she told her. “I perhaps feel a little bit foggy, but I do not believe it’s near enough to cloud my judgment. Have you felt anything while being around her?”

“Yes! Like, I don’t know why, but just interacting with her makes me want to believe her and just forget everything, and you know I’m not the kind of pony to do that! In fact, I’m the opposite! It’s like… something about her is just infectious! It’s not good!”

“I’m certain you’re just overreacting, Twilight. It’s almost certain to be nothing. Both Celestia and your friend looked perfectly happy in each other’s company. Besides, my sister is quite the strong mare. She would sense something was up before anything happened and stop it.”

“Listen to yourself, Princess! You were just saying a few seconds ago we should investigate! And yet we walked out after practically nothing being said and are ready to declare her innocent and have tea! Does that make any sense?”

“I… hmmm... You might be right, although I’m not sure what can be done about it, if as you say, being around her is infectious. Although right now, I am truly feeling you are getting worked up over what will amount to nothing.”

Twilight looked ready to scream at that, and sent a pleading look Luna’s way. It got the blue alicorn to give in, and she asked, “What do you suggest we do in this case then? As far as I understand, having tea never hurt anypony, but if you’re suspicious, what should we do?”

“There is nothing you need to do, dear sister,” Celestia suddenly said, appearing behind the two, the imposter of the apple farmer right next to her. “I’ve already signed Equestria over to Applejack, or rather, Princess Applejack now.” As she said it, the imposter extended her wings and lit up her horn in a smug expression.

The Slight Sickness

Somehow, Applejack was able to regain her senses quickly, bouncing back up almost instantly and running towards the mare. She ignored the pain in her side as she chased her, the pegasus dropping the thing she had in her mouth in fear and heading towards the car. The earth pony didn’t know what happened, but if she had to guess, just based on what the mare said yesterday, she wanted to see Applejack dead, and tried to take the opportunity to do so, not that the former knew how.

The pegasus was able to open the car door and watched the colt scramble to the other side, trying to get in and switch the gears of the still-running vehicle before she felt a powerful kick to her side, one that knocked the wind out of her. Because of it, she wasn’t able to resist the Element of Honesty’s hooves from dragging her out and back into the melting snow in the road.

As she was placed on her back, she saw the absolutely enraged expression the pony wore and froze up, staring her right in the eyes, threatening to faint again as she made out the cutie mark on her flank in the corners of her sight. Clearly, she wasn’t a very good aim, because the bullet she sent her way only grazed her side. She knew that this would be it for her because of that.

“Tell me what’s goin’ on right now!” Applejack screamed loudly as spittle hit the mare’s face. “Why are y’all out here shootin’ things at me? What did Ah do ta you?” The mare’s teeth were chatting noisily as AJ growled at her, towering over the mare as she stared her down, her hooves keeping her pinned.

“I- I- I-” she got out shakily as she shivered, “I- d-d-di-didn’t m-mean-”

“Yes, ya did!” the earth pony snapped. “There ain’t no way ya didn’t mean ta try and hit me like that! Y’all were plannin’ on killing me, weren’t you?”

“I- I wasn’t-” she tried to lie, only to be interrupted.

“You were! Tell me why right now! I know ya know what’s goin’ on here!”

Hey, Applejack, can I talk to you?” Twilight asked her friend the morning after. The two were on her farm as the alicorn watched her buck apples into a bucket. Or, at least, she attempted to. She looked like she was having trouble, giving the tree a few kicks to no effect.

“Actually, are you okay?” the purple pony continued, unsure. “You look like you’re having a little trouble there…”

“What, this?” Applejack asked before grunting as she kicked the tree again. “Ah’m right as rain. Don’t know why these apples ain’t comin’ down though…” She gave another kick, this one sending her to the ground on her stomach before she admitted, “Okay, Ah might be havin’ a bit of trouble.”

“What’s going on?” Twilight asked carefully, remembering what Celestia told her. The princess said to be on the lookout for something strange with Applejack, and this certainly was strange, at least to Twilight. In the entire time she’d known her, she couldn’t recall once when her friend was unable to buck apples. She was the strongest pony she knew, and the fact that she was unable to now set off alarm bells in her head.

“Ah don’t know. My legs don’t feel right… Ah hope Ah’m not gettin’ sick. Ah need to get this field cleared this week.”

“I think we should get you over to the doctor,” Twilight told her, suddenly teleporting both of them into the waiting room, taking a few minutes to explain what was going on to the receptionist and being told that AJ would be seen in a few minutes as the two were walked to a room..

“Ah hope everything’s alright…” the mare said worriedly. “We can’t afford ta have me lollygagging around without my legs for Celestia knows how long… Ah don't feel that weak, but somethin' ain't right if Ah can't get apples out of them trees...”

“I actually wanted to ask about that,” Twilight said, figuring now would be as good a time as any to put it out there. “Celestia told me that she was worried about you, too, that you were… ummm…”

“Oh, Ah hope Ah didn’t make her mad,” AJ started, sounding concerned. “It was just a little joke. Ah didn’t think it would hurt anypony.”

“No, she wasn’t mad, she just thought you were acting weirdly. She told me to ask about where you got the idea for that joke, and that place you mentioned.”

“What, Earth?” she asked, slightly confused. “Ah just came up with that myself. Ah figured to come up with a place called Earth, seein’ as Ah’m a earth pony and all…”

“Oh, okay, yeah, that makes sense,” Twilight decided. “She was just confused is all. She told me there was an actual place called Earth and that earth ponies used to be called horses.”

“Ah heard somethin’ like that, about earth ponies being called horses, Ah mean,” she said. Then she chuckled to herself, continuing, “That's a real place then? Ah can’t believe Ah made up someplace that already exists. That’s kinda crazy, right, Twi?”

She chuckled back, relaxing some and responding, “A little bit, yeah. It was a really good joke, I have to admit.”

“Wasn’t expecting the princess ta prank me back though, Ah have ta admit.”

The two shared a laugh at that as they watched the nurse make her way into the room, examining the mare and diagnosing her with a slight illness, and explaining that it was the reason she was a bit weaker than usual this morning, continuing that she should be back to normal by tomorrow morning. As she did so, Twilight made sure to keep to herself that Celestia told her to watch her for anything strange. Not that she was really sure why. As far as she was concerned, this was just plain old Applejack, and any strangeness lately seemed like they had reasonable explanations. However, Celestia was the princess, and she probably knew what was best. Although it was good that Celestia herself didn’t seem too concerned as well, she figured. It seemed to Twilight like her mentor was just being cautious in the face of her joke, not that she herself wouldn’t either had she not seen right through what was obviously an outrageous prank.

“Can you imagine if Applejack were actually an alien?” Twilight chuckled silently to herself, shaking her head slightly. “Although I did tell Princess Celestia I would watch her. Oh, I should get started on finding out more about that Earth place she wanted to know about…”