Applejack is sitting against a tree in her family's orchard. She's just finished a long day of hard work tending the trees, and now she gets to relax in their shade for a little while, before she needs to head back inside and help Granny make supper.
The trees sway softly in the breeze, a few clouds drift lazily through the sky, and the afternoon sun hangs calmly above it all.
She lays her head back against the tree. Maybe she'll have a short nap, before she has to head inside.
There's a faint shimmery sound, and an unfamiliar looking creature with hairless tan skin and a long mane of reddish brown hair seems to undissolve into existence from a sparkly pink smoke.
They're wearing a loose slightly floaty garment, a little like what a dress might look like adapted for a non-pony body, made from a deep blue fabric with sparkly bits embedded so it vaguely resembles a night sky.
Sapphire looks around at her new surroundings. The colors seem more vibrant in a way she can't quite put her finger on. The apple trees look reassuringly normal though and the clouds and the...
Wait no the small bright orange animal with a cowboy hat on isn't normal, it looks a little like a horse but also not.
Apparently the Spirit is pushing her more on the whole different types of people thing than she expected, well the hat suggests they're a person at least. They seem to be napping though, that gives her a chance to think before saying anything. Is there anything she should do first? She briefly considers using her size difference power to be less intimidating but decides against it for now. They're lying down so it's hard to judge how tall they'll be once they get up.
"Hello?" she asks more than says; she's not sure whether to expect a shared language.
The creature looks towards her eyes and seems to smile. "I don't really know. I came from a really really long way away. A friend, well really a friend of a friend, thought that coming here would be good for me. Only, the thing is, they didn't tell me anything about where here is before sending me. So I'm very lost. That's mostly okay though, because I expected to be."
Well, that sounds odd, but she can probably help, at least.
"I see. Well, if you don't know where you are or where you're going, I suppose I could bring you to dinner, then introduce you to my friend Twilight? She might know what to do with you."
She turns in the direction of the Apple family home.
"Name's Applejack!"
And she'll politely not remark at what an odd-sounding name "Sapphire" is. Maybe it's short for something? Either way, Granny taught her better than to ask that sort of thing.
"It's nice to meet you. Are there other humans here, people like me, I mean?"
Sapphire will follow after and look ahead to see if she can tell whether she's going to be inconveniently tall for the doors and ceilings of where they're headed. She'll also look around some to see if there's anything else interesting.
"Well, I don't know, surgarcube! I've never seen any—" She pauses and corrects herself. "—anybody like you before, but it's a wide world out there, and I know there're types of people I haven't rightly met before."
She leads the strange girl through orchard and towards the Apple family farmhouse, looking back occasionally to make sure she's following.
"Ponies, darling."
They're nearing the house now, and she can faintly smell the scent of apple-potato stew boiling in the kitchen. Did Granny start early?
"I take it there's no ponies where you come from, then?"
She's glad to see she'll fit inside. She did expect that since Applejack didn't bring up her height as a problem but it's good to have confirmation. "We have animals called horses that look a lot like you, and we call small ones ponies but your head is a lot rounder and your face looks more like mine than theirs do. More importantly, they can't talk like you can and they definitely don't build buildings like the ones here on your farm. Actually, how do you do things like putting your hat on?"
Applejack demonstratively removes and replaces her hat with her hoof, giving Sapphire a bemused look at the question.
It is not particularly obvious how she's holding the hat with a single flat hoof.
"Huh. So the ponies where you're from are mute, like forest animals? That must be so odd."
She opens the barn door with her hoof, yelling in, "Is that soup I smell? Hope you made enough for one more!"
It's magic. She pauses for a moment in shock. But then she giggles a little at herself. She already knew magic is real. It'ss still a new kind of magic though and that's exciting. "Most animals are like that where I'm from, not just ones from forests. Maybe we're using the word animal differently though." She could go into a lot more detail but it doesn't seem like Applejack is looking for an extended answer.
"Well now, anything living and moving is an animal, ain't it? 'Cept maybe timberwolves, but then I guess I don't know if they're rightly alive…"
She trails off as she walks inside.
Granny Smith smiles as Applejack walks in, then gives her human companion a confused stare as she sees her walking behind the pony.
"More'n enough soup for five. Who's this?"
"I'm Sapphire. Thank you for welcoming me into your home." She can leave talking about what the definition of animal is for later.
Granny Smith begins dishing up stew for her family and their unexpected guest, gesturing for Applejack to pull up a chair for her.
Applejack readily grabs a chair and sets a spot at the table for Sapphire.
Sapphire is a little confused by there being a chair appropriate for her but doesn't focus on it. "What are we having?"
"Granny's famous apple-potato stew! Give 'er a try."
Applejack slides a bowl and spoon over to Sapphire's place at the table.
Sapphire will graciously accept. It's not a flavor she's had before but it doesn't sound likely to be poisonous.
She spoons a little up to her mouth, and blows on it if it seems to be streaming. Then she tastes it. "Mmm." It is actually pretty good, a more savory version of apple pie filling with maybe a little less spice.
She'll follow the lead of her hosts on whether they talk during the meal.
Granny yells for Applebloom and Big McIntosh to come down for supper. Then, once they're audibly on their way, she asks Sapphire, "So darling, what brings you to Ponyville?"
Sapphire thinks for a moment, "I don't actually know yet. That's something I need to figure out."
Granny takes that as a cue to leave the topic alone and moves on, asking Big Mac and Applebloom about their days as they arrive and dish stew up for themselves.
Sapphire will eat quietly for the rest of the meal if she's not addressed. Mostly trying to absorb what she can about this new place she's found herself in.
Applejack asks Applebloom about her day at school, and Applebloom launches into a long story about her friend Scootaloo figuring out a new trick with her scooter. By the time Sapphire's finished eating, Applebloom has barely eaten half her bowl of stew, and has to hurriedly scarf down the rest of it to finish at anywhere near the same time as the rest of the family.
Big Mac, on the other hand, hasn't said a single word all dinner.
