Applejack Is An Interdimensional Alien

“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.