Despite their connected beliefs to reach their dear friends, Applejack felt uneasy as her every being was being twisted and stretched out of order, her mind swimming with uncertainty as she spun in various directions. Where used to be stability now felt like a constant tunnel of distorted lights, gravity taking no part in supporting her on her trip.
The farm pony narrowed her eyes as a wave of dizziness overtook her.
….Is this what Rainbow and Fluttershy felt? Ah don’t like it, wha…what in tarnation is goin’ on…?
As she continued her journey, she felt a presence pass by her at a faster speed, a pink distorted blur being pulled into another direction different from the orange mare until it escaped her sights completely.
“…Pinkie Pie----!!!“ Her voice rung out in layers as it unraveled itself as soon as it left her mouth, instead sounding like an echo of garbles. Her party-pony friend wasn’t able to receive her call before she flew out of view.
Looking at the opposite direction beside her, she saw what looked like a distorted white and purple blur being pulled into yet another separate current, away from the sight of the confused earth pony.
“Rarity---!!!” Applejack tried again, her voice again releasing through the currents as just a sea of garbles, making the trip through the portal that much more nauseating as well as frustrating.
She didn’t really understand what was going on, but she did know one thing for sure. Pinkie and Rarity were separated from her, most likely in another area in this new chaotic world.
…She was on her own for now.
As her emerald green eyes slowly closed out of exhaustion, her body was engulfed in a pool of endless white as she felt the currents coming to a slower pace…
…Until she was suddenly assaulted by a large display of colors as her back slammed into the cold hard ground, letting out a huge yelp as she hit impact. “Gah!!!” Her blonde mane spilled out of her brown worn-out Stetson across the strangely green and hard floor as Applejack moaned out of discomfort as she slowly brought her right fore-hoof to her head…
…Wait. The mare’s eyes opened wide as she brought her fore-hoof away from her head and into view.
“W-wha…Land sakes, what the hay happened to mah---?!” Applejack stammered as she stared more closely at what was supposed to be her fore-hoof. Where an orange hoof used to be now appeared to be a peach colored thing with five claw-like stubs, nothing like a hoof should be. Feeling a heavy sense of doubt, the mare quickly checked her other hoof.
…It was also turned into the same claw-like thing.
“Now if this was somethin’ Discord did as a prank…” She warned as she looked down from the claws to a fabric of green and white, the rest almost out of view except for what looked like cowboy boots just at the edge of her vision. Maybe things would be clearer if she wasn’t just laying on her back.
Rolling over onto her stomach, the mare frowned at her predicament as the action only made looking at herself a little harder. She’d have to lift herself up with these claws. Slipping the peach claws underneath the stomach, Applejack took little effort in forcing herself up onto her rump, fore-claws in the air.
She gulped. “…Whatever this is, it ain’t no pony, that’s for sure!” She declared as she began to take in her surroundings.
The entirety of the place looked like some kind of children’s book with the crayon-like scribbled walls, and well, multiple kinds of crayons just stuck into the ground itself. Not to mention, the place was raining crayons from the sky even! Despite that, the place was mainly green and all kinds of weird. Something wasn’t right about it…and it sure was no Ponyville…
Despite that, maybe there was something okay about the place. Like, what if there were locals she could try and reason with?
Oh, her hat was just beside where her head was earlier. Figures…
Shifting her body around to face the brown Stetson, the farm pony(?) bent over while reaching a claw out towards the hat, reaching as a dog would with its paws in order to grab onto the Stetson and placed it back on her head. Good thing she often watched Winona take care of stuff.
Speaking of which, her ears weren’t exactly tickling the hat as it usually did…Definitely no pony. The mare shuddered at the realization.
But that wasn’t the big issue at the moment. First things first, the locals! Was this place always full of crayons and obscurity like it looked? How could anypony survive in this place?
And first of all, how could she even move in whatever she was? She figured out how to turn around and grab and all, but that wasn’t gonna be enough if she was goin’ to get by somehow in this crayon place. She needed to move out of the area as soon as possible if she was gonna get anywhere.
“Umm…alright…” She muttered before taking a deep breath. “These claws can serve as mah fore-hooves…and uh…whatever Ah’m sitting on right now can be…” She lifted the back half of her body, sticking her rump up into the air as she lifted herself up from the ground. Looking behind her, she smiled with satisfaction at her work. “Right, like this ah can move like a regular pony!” She grinned as she slowly started to move forward as a pony should, albeit quite wobbly. Turns out her back hind-hooves were now extra longer than her fore-hooves, and that was knocking her off-balance.
“…Ah think Ah need a reflection or somethin’…” Applejack muttered as she continued on her way, a large green path of crayons in her direction. “…Just what the hay am Ah…?”
A sudden shift of movement in the distance caused the mare to stop short in her tracks. In front of her, the weirdest looking thing was just floating in the distance, sitting on some gray thing. It looked like the rest of the place, like some drawing made out of crayon, but this thing was moving around.
Blinking, Applejack shrugged. …Maybe it’s friendly? After all, she didn’t really know what the locals here looked like, and it seemed to be harmless…
The scribbled crayon creature caught eyes with the mare, its tongue constantly out in a playful expression as it phased in and out of view as it sat there, keeping a close eye on the farm pony.
In fact, it seemed to inch a little closer.
The mare gave a small smile as she leaned forward to look closer at the creature. “Hey, there, sugarcube. Ya’ got any buddies ‘round here?” It seemed to be alright…
The creature said nothing as it phased in and out, constantly swaying until it began to let out some kind of laughter, weird and sickly to the pony. “DA DA DA DA DA!”
It happened. “WHOA, NELLY…!” Without a second thought, Applejack forced her body onto her side as she dodged what looked like several nuggets that shot out of the gray thing the creature sat on, causing her shoulder to sting as she once again hit impact with the cold hard green floor. “This thing’s crazy!” She shouted to nopony in particular, a sense of panic starting to rush through her as she slowly lifted herself up just to catch eyes with another scribbled drawing and a crazy weapon, her emerald green eyes slowly widening.
…These locals weren’t very friendly. And there were more of them.
“GAH!!!” Applejack panicked as she turned towards the opposite direction of the creature, her claws and hind-whatevers taking her down another path full of green, scribbles pursuing right behind her all shouting “DA DA DA DA DA!”
“Ah get it, ya’ll are crazy!” The mare shouted as she rushed past an endless path of green, constantly having to take a turn at some point or another, each having yet another scribble crayon monster ready to ambush her. Maybe she could take ‘em on, if she had her rope like she usually did! But how would she match up to their gray weapon thing?! It was like a creepy version of Pinkie’s party cannon!
Pinkie and Rarity…were they dealing with these things, too?!
“DA DA DA DA DA!” Applejack swerved towards her left as she just barely dodged another string of nuggets, the sound of the evil cannon ringing in her ears, which she discovered were now at the side of her head instead of the top.
What was she gonna do?! How many would she have to avoid if she can’t take ‘em on?! Where were Rarity and Pinkie?!
Applejack shook her head frantically as she pressed on, the chase clearly taking a toll on her body. “Ah…Ah don’t think the body’s supposed to move like this…!” She wheezed as she dodged yet another string of nuggets.
A flight of green stairs sat in the center of the hall just ahead, surrounded by another wave of ambushing scribble monsters, the light at the top of the stairs glowing and seeming welcoming to the exhausted earth pony.
‘…If Ah can just get up there…Ah may be able to get out of here!’ Applejack bit her lip as she forced her body to wobbly move even faster as she made a mad dash in front of the incoming scribbles, causing each of them to follow her with their eyes as she sped past them, and towards the steps, leaving the flood of scribbles to wait down the stairs, not one of them making an effort to climb after the mare.
She whooped as she threw her head in a triumphant moment. “YEEHAW!!!”
…That is, until she halted her gallop when she just saw another room full of green and crayons.
This room like pretty much about the same as the one before; only the arrangement of the walls were different as she saw various scribbles just wandering around and minding their own business as they phased in and out of the farm pony’s view.
Applejack slumped. “Ah can’t believe it…! Another…floor…?!” She wheezed as she dropped her head. “Consarn it! How long does this thing go?!”
Normally Applejack liked a little challenge. Give her a rodeo and she’d bring the house down. She was no less competitive than Rainbow Dash was, even.
But this…this wasn’t competition…
…This was downright survival.
“DA DA DA DA DA!” The farm pony threw herself into the wall in order to dodge the attack, a wave of adrenaline surging through her as she readied her body for another run for her life.
…It didn’t feel right…not at all. Just what were these things? Why was the place full of crayons like it was? It just…it didn’t feel…real. Not to her…
Dash. Jump. Dodge. Push. Shove past ‘em.
The scribbles pursued after their prey, each shooting out a set of nuggets as the cannons blasted in complete disarray, each aiming to hit their target.
She couldn’t let that happen. She was sent here for a reason, after all.
She made a tight turn around the corner, causing several scribbles to slam their cannons right into the wall as she passed.
…When she eventually found a way out of this…! She’d go look for Rarity and Pinkie. They were supposed to find ‘em together.
‘I hope y’know just how much we’re all sacrificin’ for ya', sugarcubes…’ Applejack thought, her mind returning to the time they departed.
…The princesses gathered in the throne room.
…Twilight with her eyes full of tears as she each begged for them to promise to return.
“I ain’t gonna break that Pinkie Promise!” She shouted as she forced herself into the light as her body sped up another flight of stairs, leaving another set of scribbles behind her as she pressed forward through the green crayon like place.
She’d return. And she’d bring the others, too.
Nothing but white…
When the farm pony could see again, there was a large void of nothingness just above, except for what looked like a purple and green eye in the sky. All around her, there was a ring of a foal’s play blocks, just scattered around the area, crayons in the ground by a set, making it look like a house. There were more scribble monsters here, too…
Applejack cringed. Seems like she just ran into even more trouble… “Just what in tarnation is this place…?” She whispered to herself. Maybe lack of movement would turn their eyes away from her…
…Until she saw it appear from the sky.
A weird peach like figure appeared in the distance, its eyes black and hollow as night without a star in the sky as it was dressed in a blouse of red and a pair of purple overalls. It had a blonde mane pulled back into a pair of pigtails, poofy and with a lot of volume as it stood there with its orange and white boots. In fact, it kinda reminded the mare of how Pinkie’s mane looked, only not quite so creepy and foreboding.
A shiver ran down Applejack’s spine as she looked deeply at the creature just only about maybe 30 feet from her, yet it felt like it was standing just in front of her, towering over her with those empty eyes it had…
…Those scribbles meant nothing to her now. This was something even worse…and yet the creature just sort of…sat there without a word, sometimes waving its rather rounded fore-hooves as it took in its surroundings.
“DA DA DA DA DA!” Applejack winced as she dodged another scribble’s attack, rolling away from the wall and closer to the opening, where the creature was.
…She didn’t mean to catch its attention.
…And yet it continued to stand there, just observing as the mare pulled herself back onto all fours just over to the side of it. Breathing a sigh of relief, she began to inch a little bit, each movement trying to get away from the creature…
It moved as the creature lifted its fore-hooves to its face, suddenly letting out an ear-splitting cry. “WHAAA!!! WHAAA!!! WHAAA!!!” A force stronger than anything the farm pony ever felt surged through the area, causing the mare to freeze up without a sound as her mind was overrun with each cry ringing in her ears.
…It wasn’t that she hadn’t dealt with a crying foal before…! But this cry wasn’t normal, she couldn’t think straight…! She couldn’t move right…! She couldn’t…!
The scribbles slowly approached her, each eager to take a piece of the apple pie.
…She couldn’t get away like this…!!!
…She couldn’t even scream, let alone yell for help…!!!
The scribbles surrounded her as their leader continued her long-winded cry, causing the mare to fall over onto the floor as she lost strength in her fore and hind hooves, her eyes blinded by confusion.
…This…no…this wasn’t right…!
The bigger creature began to approach her along with the others, each filled with a deadly nature as they closed in on the farm pony.
…Somepony…anypony…
She glanced ahead of the mass around her…
There among the crayons…
…A shadow…?
Somepony…get me out of here…!
…The shadow shifted its tail.
…Is that what you want?
Applejack felt numb as her eyes grew watery. She couldn’t fight this herself…even if she wanted to…
…Get me outta here…! Please, Ah beg of ya’…!
A sudden surge of pain filled her body as the farm pony shut her eyes in terror as she felt the world twisting around her, the ground feeling weird, like if it was changing or something, she didn’t know…
…All she knew was that she had lost. That weird creature got to her, and now she was…
…Still…
…Still…breathing?
Applejack slowly dared to open her eyes. Where there used to be a sea of terrible monsters and crayons, now was an alleyway, just barely lit by the streetlight that sat just up a set of stairs leading to this alleyway. Otherwise…there seemed to be nothin’ ‘round here…nothin’ dangerous, anyway…
She pulled herself back onto her flank. “Just…wha…what happened back there?” She breathed; her heartbeat still unsettled from her encounter with the crayon-like creatures. “Was…was Ah saved…?”
“Your wish to ‘get out of here’ resulted in teleportation.” Applejack yelped at the sudden intrusion as she pulled herself away from the white thing that appeared before her. “Geh..!!!” She shouted, moving closer until she sat against the wall. “What in tarnation are ya’?!”
The creature flicked its tail. “My name is Kyuubey. Through me granting your wish, a contract was made. You must now perform your duties as a Magical Girl.”
Applejack was flabbergasted. “Buh…? A-a what now…? Wait, w-what contract!? Ah never heard about no contract--!”
Kyuubey closed its eyes. “If I had to explain the full conditions, you may not have survived as you did. I gave you help through a wish, and in exchange, you must fight Witches as a Magical Girl.”
She paused for a moment. “…So it was you who helped me. Why?”
“I have the ability to grant anything you desire, but the condition is to become a Magical Girl and spend a lifetime fighting Witches.” It held an empty smile as it faced the farm pony. “As a Magical Girl, you now have the ability to go back into the barrier and take care of that Witch you faced.”
“…Wait, a lifetime…? I don’t have a lifetime! Ah need to find mah friends!” Applejack’s eyes narrowed into a glare as she faced the creature. “Ah promised Ah’d be back!”
Kyuubey shook its head. “As a Magical Girl, it is a requirement to remain in the vicinity of Witches, so that you may keep your Soul Gem clean.”
“Soul Gem?! What the hay are ‘ya talkin’ ‘bout now?!” She barred her teeth at the creature in defense.
The white creature lifted a paw towards an orange jewel with a golden base just in front of the pair. “That over there is your Soul Gem. You must take good care of it, as it is the source of your power.”
Applejack reached a claw over to pick up the jewel, its orange color seeming bright to the mare as she looked over the base. Above the jewel, a crown was attached to the top with the shape of an apple, much like her own Element of Honesty.
“…You’re sayin’ this is the source of mah power?” She held up the jewel for the creature to see.
“Indeed.”
She pursed her lips. “…And you said before that Ah could go and take care of that…that crayon monster was a Witch?”
Kyuubey nodded. “It is one of the many Witches that plague this world with despair. If you take care of it, it will drop a Grief Seed, which will cleanse your Soul Gem if it is corrupted by the Witch’s impurities. Using magic will also cause corruption, so you must fight Witches and care for your Soul Gem.”
She nodded. “Ah still don’t like the idea…but it look like Ah don’t have a choice.” Facing Kyuubey, her green eyes burned with determination. “…How do ‘ya get back in that crayon-like place?”
“The barrier is still nearby. Simply seek for it using your Soul Gem.” The creature explained.
Applejack nodded. “Right, uh…Ah kinda need mah claws and all. Any way to make this jewel a little smaller for carryin’?”
It blinked. “…Your claws? Do you not have hands?”
…Hands. So that’s what they’re called.
“You should not require your hands in order to walk…” Kyuubey looked further at her posture. It looked strikingly similar to another group of girls it had to instruct…
“…Are you perhaps truly a pony?"
Applejack gasped. “H-How’d ya’ know ‘bout that?”
It took everything in its power not to display emotions of frustration. Still, it shook its head.