Derpy bounced up and down, marching in place as her hooves made and lost contact with the ground and her wings flapped in time.

“You’re excited today.”

“I am. Had a good week at work and I’m just full of energy for whatever reason. Looking forward to getting back to Equestria so we can pick up this week’s guest.”

Karyn shouldered her purse and started bouncing along with Derpy. “Well, I’m in a good mood too.”

“Why’s that?”

“In addition to still having most of the money left on the gift card from last week, I’ve been able to replenish it, almost.”

That brought Derpy to a stop. “How did you do that? Are you earning money some way?”

“Not strictly speaking, no. What I have been doing is following up with my sell-my-stuff project. Nobody bought the stuff we sent, but I have added some books and CDs and such, and someone bought a pair of books from me.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful! But wait, did that offset the cost of the shipping?”

“Completely,” said Karyn, but she turned away as she did.

“For everything you shipped?”

“No. For just the books and CDs. But a little bit extra, so that we can have fun. And if we keep pace with the gift card, maybe use it once or twice more.”

Derpy was noncommittal, but she circled around and knelt so that Karyn could get on her back.

When they made it to Equestria, Derpy had to swing around once again, as Sweet Apple Acres was in the opposite direction from the edge of town where they usually went. Just the change in their usual practice made Karyn take note, and she prepared herself mentally to be a good hostess.

Applejack was all packed and ready to go when they landed at the farm. She waved as Derpy descended and came to a stop.

“Howdy, Karyn. I’m sure pleased you let me come along with you to visit that land of yours. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy told me about what a great time they had, and I’ll be excited to be joining the club.”

Karyn smiled politely, and Derpy took her meaning. “We’re happy to have you along too, but we’re just hoping that this week is a little more uneventful.”

“I heard about what Rainbow Dash pulled.”

“Honestly,” said Karyn, “I think we had a rougher time of it last week with Fluttershy. Avoiding being spotted with Derpy is something I’m used to, but consoling a pegasus who wants to be subservient to humans was too weird.”

Derpy nodded. “It was also more recent, so the memory of exactly how bad Rainbow’s tearing through the storm was may have faded.”

“There’s that.”

Applejack pulled her hat down over her muzzle to cover up the grin she had at the two friends’ banter. “Well, I for one don’t want to give you any trouble whatsoever. If I’m being ornery or something, just give me a kick in the flank and I’ll mind you.”

“Hopefully it won’t come to that. You seem like a real down-to-earth pony.”

Derpy eyed the duplicate saddlebag that Fluttershy had passed on to Applejack. “In one sense, though, she really is down to Earth. Applejack will be the first pony on Earth who can’t fly, and that means we’re going to have to find a way to get her high enough up to deal with that.”

“That’s right. Did you look into any way to do that? Or are we just going up to the town hall and hoping for the best?”

“I think that is what I planned to do. But that’s another reason that Applejack is a good pony to be the first non-pegasus.”

“I don’t follow you,” said Applejack. Karyn and Derpy explained about the difference in position from Earth to Equestria, and how a pegasus in the air would land on the ground when she jumped universes.

“Now, let’s say the worst happens.” Derpy started drawing a diagram on the ground. “And AJ, you transport right below ground, completely surrounded by rock. We’re counting on your strength to kick out of there and reactivate the spell so you can return safely to Equestria. Come to think of it, maybe we should have Big Macintosh test it first.”

“No way. I am not lettin’ my brother take a risk on account of I’m a coward. I’ll dive into that rock if I have to.”

“Well, it’s a worst-case scenario. Let’s go down to town hall and explain what we need it for.”

The three of them marched into the center of town. Mayor Mare was not present at the hall, and in fact the caretaker had no idea whether or not it was permitted for them to use it. But, he pointed out, the town hall, while technically the tallest building in town, only held the title because of the spire. The clock tower had the higher accessible area.

When they went to that building, it was open and nopony blocked their path to climb up. Once there, Karyn thought further about strategy.

“All right, here’s what we’ll do. Applejack, you use the spell and, if you have to, try to come back. Once you do, Derpy and I will fly up to the height we usually transition from, and we’ll go in. Hopefully we’ll spot you and all will be well. But if we don’t, we’ll try to dig straight down and save you. Don’t forget to use the invisibility spell once you get there.”

“Fair enough. I’m trying it out now.”

Applejack held out the spell, took a deep breath, and turned her hoof. Karyn and Derpy watched her vanish with the rush of air that always accompanied such transfers, and held still for a few seconds. When she did not return, Karyn mounted quickly and Derpy took to the sky.

Once on Earth, Derpy concealed herself and looked down, but Applejack was just standing there. “She did forget after all.”

“Maybe. Let’s head down and see. If nothing else, so long as no one sees her cutie mark, she’s the closest to a normal pony someone might see. It’s just weird that she’s wearing a hat.”

They nose-dived down to where Applejack was standing, but before either could chide her for still being visible, they saw the problem. Most of her looked normal, but the bottom few inches of each hoof was stuck in the dirt.

“Are you all right?” asked Derpy.

“Yep. Just give me a minute here. There we go.” As she said it, her back legs kicked out and found purchase on the ground, then her front legs went forward, spraying dirt everywhere.

“Sorry about that,” said Karyn. “I guess it wasn’t high enough.”

“No call to apologize. It ain’t your fault where your world is. But let’s take care of this for the future.” She flipped open the saddlebag and got the invisibility spell before either Karyn or Derpy could mention it. Then she started stomping the ground down. It was right at the back of Gayle’s yard where the lawn came to an end and bare earth ran up to the property line. Having it this way kept it from people’s eyes but still allowed the lawn to be mowed easier.

Finally it was all down to the level where the original holes that Applejack’s hooves had made were no longer distinct from the rest of the ground. “Thank you,” said Karyn.

“No sweat. Now anypony can come who wants, but I might put down a carpet or something if you’re inviting Rarity.”

“Good point. Why don’t you come inside and you can wash your hooves.”

“Nah. I’ve gone around with dirty hooves plenty of times.”

Derpy gave a little cough, hoping to remind Applejack that she was a guest and should take suggestions like that, but once she clapped the dirt off her hooves such that no more was coming off, Karyn relented. “All right,” she said. “Everypony in the car. Derpy, do you mind taking the back seat?”

“Not at all. But we’re not taking the light rail this week?”

“The part of town I want to go to doesn’t have a station near it. The closest one is five miles away. And while you could fly that and AJ might walk it, I don’t want to, and I don’t want to ride one of you all that way either. I know where there’s free parking, so it’s not too much of a hassle.”

Derpy opened the car door. “Let me just show Applejack how to sit.”

Karyn held her place in the driver’s seat while Derpy explained. It went over Karyn’s head as she talked about how to position her tail and how to slouch down in the bucket seat.

“I get it! It’s just like how Lyra sits.”

“Yes,” said Derpy, “But it’s easier said than done. You’ve got to stick out your belly and let it balance out your weight.”

With the ponies invisible, Karyn couldn’t tell how well they were getting along, but Applejack said, “If it ain’t perfect, it’s no big deal. I can take a little soreness.”

“All right. It’s up to you.” Derpy got in the back seat, and Karyn started the engine.

“Hold the harvest,” AJ said. “Who’s pulling this cart anyway?”

“It doesn’t get pulled,” Derpy said from the back. “Karyn, take us out on the road and I’ll try to explain on the way over.”

Karyn backed out of the driveway and listened to Derpy run down the basics of the way a car ran, and recognized some of her own words from years past when she was practicing to take her driver’s test. It amazed her how the motions that had been so difficult back then were now seared into her muscle memory.

“That’s incredible.” Applejack’s voice darted around as she looked throughout the car. “I gotta get me one of these for the orchard. Course, what I’d like is if it actually had a cart attachment, but I could rig that.”

Karyn got a mental image of Applejack in a pickup. “We have vehicles like that, but powering it would be a problem. I don’t think you have oil refineries in Equestria. You might not even have oil.”

“That’s a good point.”

“Maybe you can design one to run on unicorn magic.”

Applejack scoffed. “Unicorn magic ain’t much good for pure power and endurance. Precision, yep. If I wanted to get all the seeds out of an apple without slicing it, then I’d ask for a unicorn. But for lifting and hauling, good old muscles can do the trick.”

They drove on for a while, then Derpy said, “So where are we going anyway?”

“I figured we’d relax and have a meal. There’s a place I know that makes good desserts.”

“Sounds good to me.” Karyn could hear that Derpy’s heart wasn’t in it, and could hear that she still lamented being on a diet. Applejack had no such reservations.

“Darn tootin! I’ll show you all that this Apple’s got plenty of appetite.”

“I hope they have the kind of desserts you like.”

“I checked the menu online,” said Karyn. “They have an apple cobbler and a couple of other fruit-based desserts. This place isn’t a franchise, but they’ve got a couple of locations, and I have a vague memory of eating there once many years ago and liking it.”

They rode on to the restaurant. It was themed to summer and the beach, which only made Karyn regret more the long and cold winter. Karyn went in and asked for a table.

“Could I have one for four, though? You don’t look crowded.”

The hostess was slightly bemused, but brought Karyn to a square table anyway. The restaurant was indeed nearly empty and there would be no need for the waiter or waitress to come near the table. The only awkwardness would be ordering three of everything.

The waitress did bring water, and that helped out the table. Karyn decided that the best way to maintain the illusion would be to order two large salads. “I’m a little hungry today.”

“Chicken?”

“No thank you.”

She wrote it down and left Karyn alone with the ponies. It wasn’t exactly polite for her to wear her Bluetooth, but she kept conversation quiet.

“Can’t we skip right to the dessert?” asked Derpy.

“That would just be too weird. The only thing that bothers me is that she probably thinks I’ll be a bad tipper. Generally people who only order salad don’t tip well. I will, though.”

Applejack leaned over the table. “Can I ask a question?”

“Of course.”

“Why did that waitress ask if you were a chicken?”

Karyn had to suppress the volume on her laugh. “No, she was asking if I wanted chicken on the salad.”

Applejack was silent for a moment. Derpy followed her line of reasoning, hearing the words as a pony would. Before she could interrupt, Applejack said, “Oh, that’s right. Some humans are carnivores.”

“That’s it,” said Derpy. “Most of them like Karyn are vegetarians, but there are some that eat meat.”

“You’ve got it wrong.” Karyn shook her head. “I’m in the minority. It’s more humans that eat mean than don’t.”

“Really?”

“I’m surprised you didn’t know that,” said Applejack. “You seem so knowledgeable about Earth.”

“Well, I read a lot of stuff on the Internet, but I guess I don’t pay attention to statistics and things. Or else I didn’t want to know.”

The waitress came by with the salads, and there was a ritual of cracking the pepper over it before she left them alone to tuck in and resume conversation.

“You two eat well,” said Karyn. “I’m waiting for the dessert mostly, and I could come back here at any time.”

“Among the other meat-eaters.”

“Problem, Derpy?”

Derpy put down her fork. “I really don’t know how to feel about it. I just never thought about humans eating meat. I know Lyra’s OK with it, and I know you don’t, and I think that’s important to me.”

Karyn didn’t know how to respond, but Applejack saved her the need. “I can understand what you mean, but every animal’s got to live by their own code. Now, I ain’t being like Fluttershy, calling humans critters, but a dragon or a timberwolf will eat an animal if given the chance. It’s just their nature. If humans farm and eat their livestock, that’s just what they do. Can’t nopony tell them different.”

“I guess.”

Karyn was still somewhat at a loss for words, but fortunately the waitress came back. “Everything all right here?”

“Yes, but I’d like to put in for desert. Could we—er, could I have three apple cobblers, please?”

“Three apple cobblers? Would you like a box as well?”

“You’ve got it,” said Karyn with a smile. Alone again, she said, “We can all agree on eating that, right?”

“Exactly,” said Derpy, her spirits lifted. “Just so long as the apples pass the test.”

They waited eagerly, and when the desserts arrived Karyn surreptitiously closed the box and put it in her purse. “Now it looks like I’m not being a glutton. Which I’m not. Let’s all dig in.”

They all began eating, but Derpy and Karyn held their forks waiting for Applejack’s verdict.

“Well,” she said. “The cinnamon and sugar sure are good.”

Derpy got exasperated. “But the apples?!”

“They work. Not as good as mine, and nowhere near the zap apples, but they’ll do you. Where do they get ‘em? Any chance I can see an orchard?”

Karyn sipped her water. “That’s a tall order. I don’t even think these apples are locally grown.”

“Then how’d they get here?”

“We do a lot of amazing things with food storage, preservation, and high-speed long-distance transport. But if you just want to see fresh apples, I can take you to a grocery store.”

“OK. Soon as I finish,” said Applejack. “Not that I’m in a rush. This is mighty tasty.”

They finished up and paid. True to her word, Karyn left a big tip, which she hoped was a surprise to the waitress after seeing that a gift card was to be used as well.

The supermarket was not really within walking distance, but it was in the direction they had parked and just a little beyond, so the walk back would be easier. It also wasn’t Karyn’s preferred supermarket, but it was clean enough and she expected the produce to be of good quality. It was right where they came in and she led them past the corn and vegetables to the fruit.

“Here you go. All the fruit we have.”

“There sure is a lot of it,” said Applejack.

“Well, that’s the business model for this kind of store. They buy fresh from all over and package them together so that we don’t have to go all over. There are a few farmer’s markets like what you have in Ponyville, but most people get food from these places.”

“I was actually talking more about the variety. Look at all these. Names like Pink Lady and Gala and…hey, there’s even one called Braeburn! Won’t he be tickled pink when I tell him? And…Macintosh? Granny Smith? Karyn, why are all your apples named after my family?”

Karyn didn’t know how to respond to that, but Derpy stepped in. “It might actually be the other way around. Our world and the Human world have a lot of crossover between them. They think that we’re a fiction story, and if you look at it from that perspective, all of these apples got their own name and your family names were chosen because they match.”

“I don’t know that I like that very much. And I certainly didn’t hear about it. Big Macintosh ain’t named after nothing; he’s just Big Mac, you know? Hey, are there any named after me?”

“Not a type like these,” said Karyn, “but there is a drink called that. It’s very alcoholic, if I remember correctly. Speaking of which, settle a point. Is the cider you make on your farm hard cider?”

“It ain’t easy. But I’m still stuck on this. You’re telling me that I’m some drink?”

Derpy pulled her away from the apples. “No, you’re you. Having a name in another world doesn’t change that. We all look different when viewed from outside, but nopony can see what you’ve got in your heart.”

“That’s really insightful, Derpy,” said Karyn. “Now, are we buying some of these, or do you just want to look?”

Applejack thought for a bit. “Would it be real expensive if I got one of all the ones with an Apple name?”

“I think we can swing that.”

Karyn took several bags and filled them. She was thankful for the self-checkout, since in the first place, she would have a difficult time explaining why she needed so many apples of differing types, and in the second, it gave the ponies more room to stand around without being cramped. Once they paid, they headed back to the car.

“Hmph.”

“What’s wrong, AJ?”

“Well, they all smell so good, and I can’t eat ‘em!”

“Eat them and save the seeds,” said Derpy. “You can plant them and have the only Macintosh tree in Equestria.”

A long-forgotten fact entered Karyn’s mind. “Actually, it doesn’t work that way. You need different seeds to grow the trees that all these apples grow on than the ones they produce. I don’t know what would grow if you planted those, but it wouldn’t be the same kind as what you’re eating.”

“And you say this world doesn’t have any magic.”

“We don’t! You probably have a spell that could preserve or duplicate them, if you can find a unicorn who can cast it, and we can’t do that.”

Applejack looked at the bags. “But that still doesn’t help me now.”

Karyn drove home. She walked to the back where AJ had tamped down the ground. “If you go back from here, you should be right where you started. Thanks for making a landing spot.”

“Thank you for having me as a guest. It was a great time.” She vanished, and what she did with the apples from Earth neither Derpy nor Karyn ever found out.

Derpy and Karyn returned to her room. “Well, we got the nice, calm day that we were hoping for,” Derpy said.

“Yes. Applejack is exactly the kind of pony I want to have. Reliable and no-nonsense.”

“Does that mean that you don’t want to have me anymore? I’m exactly the opposite of reliable, and I’m all nonsense.”

Karyn stomped her foot. “Don’t say things like that! You’re perfectly sensible.”

“No, I’m all nonsense, but in a good way. Like you said, it’s about what’s inside that counts.”

“You said that.”

“See, completely nonsensical.”

Karyn’s dour expression broke. “I have no way to argue with that. Thanks for coming over. Who have we got lined up for next week?”

“I haven’t chosen anypony specifically. Maybe we’ll just have another you-and-me day.”

“We could do that. We’ll have to see what comes.”

Derpy smiled and went home.

Author's Notes:

Coming next week!

“Maybe that’s something you can introduce when you’re a big-name tech person.” Derpy stretched her wings and flew around the room, happy to have the space to do it. “So what do we do till he comes?”

“We wait.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Speaking of school,” she said.

“Were we?”

“Were we what?”

“Speaking of school.”

“Yes, when you asked about Dinky.”

Karyn waved her hand to indicate that Derpy should continue.

“How is yours?”

Come back then and see how much I can stretch doing nothing into a chapter!