Applejack Is An Interdimensional Alien

“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.”