Applejack Is An Interdimensional Alien

“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.