Applejack wiped her brow as she ran down the street. Her blonde ponytail flew back in the wind. She had left her hat at home, like she did whenever she went out for a jog. The last thing Applejack needed was a missing hat.

“I bet Rainbow’d be in for a run for her money if I ever decided to race her!” Applejack exclaimed as she ran. It was a Saturday morning, and not many people were out walking. The farm girl had the sidewalk all to herself!

Applejack’s daily running when straight downtown and past Canterlot High. Applejack could see the school looming in the distance. For some reason, thoughts about the portal to Twilight Sparkle’s world Equestria flew into Applejack’s mind faster than an angry rattlesnake. She rolled her eyes.

“Come on, Applejack! You ain’t supposed to go in there!” She folded her arms and closed her eyes defiantly, which made for a very interesting sight considering she was still running. “Even though it would jus’ take a moment to see myself as a pony…” Applejack opened her eyes again.

“No way!” She scolded herself. “Absolutely no way!” By the time Applejack had finished chewing herself out, she was already at the edge of school property. Applejack slowed down her pace and stared at the portal. Disguised as a marble statue of a stallion, Applejack didn’t know how it worked exactly. She just knew that it brought her friend from another dimension to Canterlot High. She also knew Twilight had left the portal open after the Battle of the Bands. Her knowledge was limited when it came to alternate worlds full of talking ponies.

Applejack felt herself being drawn to the portal. Literally. Like a fly to a lantern, she couldn’t help jogging over to the mysterious statue.

“A little dip inside wouldn’t hurt, right?” She asked herself, reaching out to touch the portal.

Suddenly coming to her sense, Applejack slapped herself.

“Shame on you!” She exclaimed, wagging her finger like she was lecturing her little sister. “You’re betraying your friends’ trust, Applejack! You ain’t supposed to go in there!”

The little voice inside Applejack’s head asked, “Did Twilight or Sunset ever tell you not to go in there?”

“Well, no,” Applejack admitted.

“Then you’re not doing anything wrong. I promise. It’s just a quick adventure before back to the farm!” The voice assured her. Applejack smiled.

“I guess it does make sense like that. Woah, I didn’t think I’d be doing this today!” Applejack stuck a leg through, then her other leg, which obviously came with the rest of her.

In the vortex…
“Yeeeeeeeeeeehaaaaaaaaw!” Applejack shouted. She felt like she was riding a bronco at the rodeo. Colors of every shade swirl around her as she was twisted and turned. Applejack was exhilarated.

Arrival in Equestria
Suddenly, Applejack was thrown out of the portal. The impact didn’t hurt too much as Applejack slid across a hard blue surface.

“Woah doggie!” Applejack exclaimed. She could already see her limbs had been replaced with orange hooves. Applejack was spinning around like she was a baby deer on ice (Bambi reference). Everything around her was a blur, but Applejack could tell she was coming awfully close to a-

Applejack slammed into a large bookshelf! Several books rained down on her head. More accurately, they hailed on her head.

“Durn books!” Applejack grumbled, reaching up with a front hoof to rub her head. No big bruises, thankfully.

“So, I’m a pony, huh?” Applejack asked herself, cranking her neck to see the rest of herself. Her tail was blonde, like her hair color, and it was in a ponytail as well. Applejack chuckled.

“I never thought I’d see a ponytail on a pony like that,” she remarked. A set of three apples also adorned her flanks. The image was nearly identical to the ones on her boots.

“Wow!” Applejack used yet another interjection. “Twilight never told us about these!” It dawned on Applejack that she should probably stand up instead of sitting in a pile of book for ten minutes. Applejack had watched horses at the farm stand up, so she knew what to do. Standing up, Applejack took several wobbly steps forward.

“This is pretty cool!” She remarked, taking a few more steps towards the mirror which was most likely the portal. Applejack stuck a hoof into the mirror. Yup. It was the portal, alright.

Applejack turned to look around the room and gather details. It looked like it was constructed of crystal or some similar material. Beside the mirror/portal and the bookshelf, there was also a window in the wall and a staircase on the other side of the room.

“Going down!” Applejack joked. It was rather easy to master the art of trotting and Applejack had very little trouble descending the stairs. She misplaced a hoof on the second to last step, though.

“Sweet Apple Acres!” Applejack stumbled down to the bottom step. “Careful there, Applejack!” She grinned and looked around. It was just more and more crystal. Crystal furniture, crystal walls, and the occasional window.

“Applejack!” A light blue Pegasus with a rainbow-streaked mane flew up to her from one of the corridors. Applicant’s mouth dropped open.

“Rainbow Dash?” She gaped. The pony Rainbow Dash smirked and rolled her eyes.

“Don’t act so surprised to see me, Farm Pony. We’re both supposed to be house sitting! You took a really quick bathroom break, you know that?”

“Uh, right.” Applejack searched her brain for something to say. “Why does Twilight need us to house sit again?”

“Jeez, Applejack!” Rainbow Dash folded her arms. “You sound like exposition from a terrible Daring Do book, which is thankfully nonexistent. Twilight’s been feeling paranoid recently, so she wants at least one pony to-”

“Hey, that’s great and all,” Applejack interrupted quickly, “but I need to go ‘take a dump’ again, as you put it.” Applejack raced back up the stairs as fast as she could and plunged into the portal. She wasn’t interested in meeting the pony version of herself. That would be freaky.

Back home
“Hey, Rainbow! I’m back!”

“Holy horseapples!” Rainbow Dash cried as Applejack appeared just behind her. “How did you get there so fast?”

Once she was back on the other side of the portal, Applejack dialed Rainbow’s number.

“Hello?” Rainbow asked when she picked up.

“Rainbow!” Applejack exclaimed. “Guess what! I just went into the portal and met the pony version of you, just like Twilight mentioned to us!” She heard Rainbow giggle on the other end.

“Finally!” Rainbow cried. “We thought you’d never come over!”

“Wait, what?”