Author's Note

This might be the shortest of these chapters but I wanted to get this one out of the way. I didn't really indicate anything about it being the world of One Punch Man besides the gem used and the fact that they're super heroes. I hope it's not a disappointment to the person who requested it.

One Buck

Applejack and Rainbow Dash stared at the portal. They were next. The gem embedded in the top of it was red and shaped oddly, like four weird carrots lined up over the top of a fifth. They didn’t have time to debate going through however. They needed to find a new home, for their entire planet. Fast. Stepping through the portal, they expected to find themselves in a world like their own.

The world they stepped into seemed to be one gigantic city. People went about their day to day, going shopping or to work or school. The biggest difference was how many people were wearing spandex. “Ya don’t think...”

“This is a Super Hero World. Awesome!” Rainbow said, rocketing into the air. “Hey! I still have my wings!” She shouted down to her friend before landing. Applejack looked at her then looked at her own hands, balling them into fists before punching a nearby light pole. The pole bent and buckled on impact with her fist so quickly the light itself was embedded in the ground.

“Looks like Ah got super strength.”

“This is so cool. We’re super heroes here.” Dash said as she flew in circles around her friend. Applejack reached out and grabbed her leg as she passed, bringing Dash to an instant stop. “Hey, that hurt.” She said as she floated back and rubbed her now sore ankle.

“Oops. Sorry ‘bout that Dash, but we don’t got time t’ celebrate yet. We gotta find whoever’s in charge round these parts an’ see if this world has room fer our world.” She said as she helped her friend massage her sore ankle.

“Yeah, I know.” Rainbow said as she stood up, looking around. Spotting someone that looked like a normal person, she walked over to them. “Hi, we’re new in town and we’re looking for the person in charge like the mayor or something. Where can we find them?”

“Town Hall’s up the street, take a left and fifth and go two blocks before taking a right at Saint Green and it’ll right ahead of you. Can’t miss it.” The person said and Rainbow smiled as she walked back to Applejack.

“Ah guess we go t’ Town Hall.” Applejack said and the two headed up the road. Catching a glimpse of themselves in a window, they stopped for a moment to see what they looked like.

Applejack stood a head taller than Rainbow, which made one of them not so happy. She was wearing what looked like an orange shirt over just her chest. Her stomach was wrapped in white bandages, as were her arms. Over her shoulders, she had on a red and orange plaid button down shirt. Not the best fashion. Blue jeans hugged her legs, tucked into cowboy boots and her hat rested on her head.

Rainbow, for her part, took to hovering the entire time so she’d be the tall one. Two blue wings sprouted from her back, thanks to an open backed shirt that tied around her neck and kept her chest covered. Her arms were bare save for a long glove on one arm and a normal glove on the other. Her pants consisted of a pair of jogging shorts that hugged her thighs and her shoes were high tops. Not quite sneakers, way to sleek for that, but they looked like running shoes.

“Do super heroes not wear masks in this world?” Rainbow asked no one in particular.

“Why should they? They’re part of the Hero Association, so even if a villain threatened their family, they’d have a bigger problem to deal with than just one hero.” A random passerby told them and Rainbow thanked them before the two of them continued on their walk to Town Hall.

“So far I haven’t seen doubles of us so we might be alright in this world.” Rainbow said and Applejack nodded.

“Either that, or we have doubles but they’re somewhere else entirely.” She said and they turned down the street to head towards Town Hall. As they neared an intersection, gunfire echoed towards them from a building down the road. “Well, we’re in a hurry, but we are heroes here.” Applejack said and Rainbow nodded, the two of them stopped at the intersection.

Police sirens blared, coming from the opposite end of the street from them. “And the police are on their way. And who knows how many other heroes are in this town.”

“How much time do we really have?” Rainbow asked and Applejack paused for a moment, thinking.

“Ah think Twi said somethin’ about time slowin’ down back home while we’re through the mirror, but that doomsday clock she made says we only got a few days left.”

“So... not a lot.”

“Yeah. Not a whole lot.”

There was more gunfire, the sirens still blaring. Much louder now. The police were there.

“There could be innocent people.”

“But we’re kinda pressed fer time.”

“We are super heroes.”

“But we might not even stay in this world.”

“We have a job to do already. It takes priority.”

The two of them nodded. Turning away from the street and heading towards Town Hall proved to be just as painful as simply standing there had been. They reached town hall moments after even more gunfire reached their ears from the street they’d left. Stepping inside was enough to drown out the gunfire. Seated at the desk was a woman they didn’t recognize. She didn’t look like anypony they’d met before.

“Can I help you ladies?” she asked, looking up from her desk.

“We’re lookin’ fer the mayor. Are they in?”

“Yes, he’s in his office. However he’s not meeting with anyone at this time.”

“Can’t we just be quick? We’ll only be a sec.” Dash said and the woman looked at her, looked at AJ, held up a finger and picked up her phone, pressing a button it.

“Sir, there are two heroes here asking for an audience. They insist they’ll be swift. Yessir. Nosir. Nosir all of your meetings are done for the day. Yessir, right away.” She said before hanging it up. “The mayor will see you.”

“Thanks.” The two of them said before walking into the large office. Sitting at the desk at the back of it was the largest man they’d ever seen. And AJ was related to Big Macintosh.

He towered over his desk, even seated. His shoulders were broad and wide. He looked like the kind of man that could bend iron girders into pretzels. “What can I do for you ladies?” He asked, his voice booming even though he wasn’t yelling at all.

“Howdy sir. Name’s Applejack, this here is Rainbow Dash. We ain’t from this world, and...”

“Say no more. We have had plenty of alien invasions in our time to last a millennium. This isn’t the planet you’re looking for. We don’t have any resources you could use. We don’t have room for your refugees. I have heard all of the requests and given all of the same answers. I’m sorry, but we cannot take you.”

“Ah understand. Thank ya for yer time, Mr. Mayor. T’ be honest, Ah didn’t think this world would be th’ right one fer us neither.”

“Oh? What makes you say that?”

“It just don’t... it don’t feel right. Not t’ say there’s anythin’ wrong with yer world, it just don’t feel like th’ right place. If ya know what Ah mean.”

“I think I do. Thank you for being honest with me Miss Applejack.” The mayor said and Applejack smiled, tipped her hat to them, and the two of them left his office and made their trek back to the mirror.

“Well, that was fast. The last time I went through the mirror it was a bit longer.”

“Th’ same story fer me. Both times it wasn’t a good match fer a very different reason.”

“I do apologize. I will summon someone to see you home.”

“Nah, we know th’ way. Thanks fer the offer.” Applejack said and the mayor nodded as the two of them walked out.

“Well, that’s a bummer. Didn’t even get to do any hero stuff.” Dash said and Applejack just sighed.

“Don’t worry Dash. You’ll get t’ do all kinds o’ hero stuff when we do find a new home. There’s gonna be plenty o’ time t’ make a name fer yerself.” Applejack said and the two of them chatted about things they might do when they did find a new home for their entire planet. By the time they reached the mirror, they already had plans. Stepping through it, they looked at Twilight. She was ragged, using her magic to do everything she could to try and keep the world stable for just a while longer. She looked up at them with hope in her eyes.
It broke both of them to shake their heads, scratching that world off of the list of potential worlds.