Applejack opened her eyes to a dimly lit room and stared at the clock on her nightstand, It was nearly 4am. Feeling well rested from sleeping relatively early Applejack yawned while stretching every limb she could and they cracked in response. Applejack had promised Granny Smith that she’d rise early and get some chores done before they all begin their responsibilities of the day.
“What was it Granny wanted me to do?” Applejack thought to herself. “Oh, yeah, wash the dishes, bake some pies for Granny’s family get together, make caramel apples to give to the youngin’s at Applebloom’s school, mop the floors, and start some laundry. Right!”
She made a few mental notes before her hooves hit the floor. AJ made her way over to the mirror grabbing her hat on the way with a smile of determination. She appreciated seeing a happy expression as one of her first sights of the day before shaking her hair and placing that iconic hat atop her head like a crown. “I nearly forgot, Twilight is supposed to help me paint the barn today. Well I’ll be happy to see her too”. Her thought was interrupted by a sudden hunger accompanied by a low growl.
“But first, breakfast”. Applejack took one last glance at her room before turning off the light and exiting.
Applejack was feeling more grateful for today. She walked down the hall thinking of how her family met a new harvest record this year, how they don’t have to worry about having food on the table for a while or being able to live so freely on land they can call their own. Even though it was another day of hard work, it always paid off in the end. Today would surely be another great day.
The kitchen tiles clicked from the weight of trotting hooves which made for a quite relaxing sound. Applejack placed a bandana around her neck and gloves over her hooves to begin doing the dishes. Like the super-mare she was, the dishes were done in the blink of an eye. She inspected the dishes for any leftover grime but instead they sparkled. In a few fancy moves, the skillet made it to the pan. First was oil, then eggs, bacon, pancake batter, milk, and more eggs. It was a big breakfast but a working mare had to eat more than average. As the food was cooking she decided to set out a few ingredients for a couple of pies, for she’d begin all other chores right after she finished breakfast.
Applejack completed all her chores only moments before sunrise, it went by much faster than she thought it would. Though the timing couldn’t be more perfect as the rooster cooed to wake the family on time. Applejack had a few of her own chores to do so she walked outside to beautiful morning breeze and greeted the outdoors openly. She energetically ran to the barn to gather today’s tools. A ladder, 10 cans of red paint, a couple brushes and a power washer.
“Eeyup, that’ll get the job done.” she said aloud to herself. Applejack put all her supplies in a large wheel barrow and wheeled it with ease to the barn which desperately needed some TLC.
She grabbed an extension cord from inside the barn to plug in her trusty power washer and a hose from the fields for the large contraption that powered the machine. As Applejack removed old paint chips the water’s mist sprayed freely through her mane and fur. This was a wonderful feeling, freedom was it? Either way, it gave her the wash she didn’t know she needed. When enough of the old paint chips disappeared Applejack made her way down the ladder and walked back to take in the progress. She wiped her face with her bandana and huffed with a smile.
Twilight’s silhouette was just over the hill when Applejack turned to see clear hills. Twilight trotted into view and gave a huge grin as she met eye’s with her friend who’s attention had just shifted.
“Twilight!” Applejack exclaimed excitedly. Applejack tossed her bandana to the floor and began walking over to Twilight. They collided instantly into a hug when they were close enough. “Oh it’s so nice to see you again sugarcube!”
“It’s wonderful to see you too Applejack! I’m sorry we haven’t been hanging out lately, I’ve just been so busy.” Twilight took a deep breath. “There’s still lots to do but for now, I’m glad I’m here today.” Applejack smiled mischievously, “Applejack, why are you looking at me like that?”. Twilight was interrupted at the tail end of her sentence,
“Last one to the barn is a rotten apple!” Applejack blurted and swiftly dashed away. “Oh no you don’t!”, Twilight ran down the hill as fast as she could and off into the distance they went.
Nearly an hour passed and the final strokes of the paint’s first can was done. “One down, 9 to go!” Applejack said. Atop the tall ladder she looked down at an exhausted looking Twilight. She looked up and smiled, “You make it sound so easy Applejack.” Applejack looked at her progress on the barn and warmly laughed to herself. “It is quite a large barn Twi, how about you go take a break and I’ll go on and make some more progress.” she insisted.
“Oh, no Applejack, it’s alright, if I didn’t have the endurance then I wouldn’t be half the mare I am today!” Twilight closed her eyes and lifted her head up high with confidence. Applejack tapped her chin, “Oh yeah, i guess you’re right about that... Say, do you have any extra paint Twi?” Twilight searched around, “One down, 9 to go?” Twilight shrugged.
“I see, in that case, would you mind flying me up a new can of paint and a rag?”
Twilight nodded her head in agreement and trotted off to the wheel barrow.
Twilight grabbed a can with a fresh bandana. The paint was a bit heavy but she didn’t mind it all too much, she would be strong as Applejack today. “Coming up!” said Twilight. Using her mouth, she picked up the can with strain but it only took a few flaps to hit the top. She closed her eyes and started the journey to the top, feeling her body going up with each flail of her wings. She eventually made it to Applejack who tapped where to put the new can.
When Twilight attempted to toss the paint to Applejack with a bit too much swing, she hadn’t known the horrors of what would come next. The bucket slipped away from Twilight’s mouth opposite of Applejack. Twilight’s wings twitched and failed to stop her from crashing right into the ladder.
“WooAHH!” Applejack yelled on the brink of toppling down. In her brief moment of reflex she grasped Twilight’s hoof for dear life, hoping that her friend had the strength to hold them both up. To her dismay she only dragged Twilight down with her.
It was like they fell in slow motion quickly catching each other’s eyes before closing them and screaming in unison. Closer to the ground their screams began to muffle instead being replaced by a slowly rising ringing.
This was the mistake that caused a terrible fate Twilight would soon regret.
The fall took longer than it should’ve and the ringing began to prove near unbearable. As soon as Twilight opened her eyes she fell atop of Applejack and knocked her head on a softness which thumped her skull.
Brightness pierced through her eyelids. Twilight merely peeked her eyes blindly at what she thought was the sun above her. Slowly closing and opening her sights to a sickly yellow, she could’ve sworn the sun was never this close.
Sounds of buzzing droned in Twilight’s ears as she finally tried to reach consciousness. The haze she was in began to fade, although slower than usual. Twilight came to and noticed she was on her back, the damp carpet brought her discomfort but she was grateful to be safe. Of course, she was safe, but was Applejack okay?
Twilight stood up with a twinge of unexpected disorientation-- sure, she fell from a pretty tall ladder but this pressure in her head offered a concerning connotation. She finally noticed her surroundings over her physical sensations.
The greenish yellow walls blended together in what seemed like unending hallways. The smell of mildew and dust only made it more eerie. A gaze into the halls formed a pit in her stomach. Where are we?
“Hey Twilight, are you alright?”, Twilight snapped her head back to the voice behind her only to recognize that her friend was on the floor and seemingly alright.
“Yeah! Yeah, I’m alright Applejack! Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I think so...” Applejack looked around observing a whole new environment. She scratched her head “Say Twi, you don’t happen to know where we are, do you?”
Twilight looked back towards the hallway she was previously staring at, “No, actually. I’m sorry, I wish I had a better answer but this place... It does feel familiar.”
“Familiar? Hold on just a second, we fell off a ladder, didn’t we? How in tarnation did we end up here?”
“I’m not sure but we should definitely look for an exit, I don’t have a good feeling about this place.”
Applejack looked directly at the blinding florescent lights and blinked tightly in response “I agree, these lights are a might too bright for my liking...”
Twilight walked over to Applejack and helped her stand up. “And now to find that exit...” Twilight looked around yet again. “It shouldn’t be too hard.” Applejack pointed down the hallway that showed most promise in their escape, “Let’s start by going this way.”, she said.
“Yes, good idea!”
Applejack followed closely behind Twilight as they made their way down the halls. The further they went the more confusing things got. If they had questions before, they had a load more now.
“Huh? What the hay?” Applejack saw the hallways. The never ending hallways of gross yellow wallpaper. “Now, you said this place looked familiar?”
“Well, it did, until now. I have no clue in Equestria where we are!”
“That’s really, really not good. I’ve got no idea neither.”
“Wherever this place is, we have to explore it, we won’t find a way out if we don’t!”
