Applejack Is An Interdimensional Alien

“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.