.buck//Moment

By the time Applejack got online, the sun was beginning to set. Apparently somepony had decided to use the kitchen to try out cooking, and she'd spent the entire afternoon trying to clean up. She still wasn't entirely sure what kind of meal required apples, eggs and tomatoes, especially when they were spread across the ceiling.

Letting her eyes adjust to the sunset town, she took a few steps forward, breathing deeply. Leaning against a nearby wall, she spotted Violet and Starlight, and trotted over to say hi. The two turned to her and smiled, ending their conversation.

“Well, where's everypony else?” Applejack asked, looking around.

“Ardent and Shadowdancer had things to do,” Violet stated, “and Party Time is Party Time.” The three mares chuckled.

“It doesn't matter darling, it's a low level area anyway so we should be fine.” The pale unicorn walked to the Chaos Gate, inputting the area words, while Violet invited Applejack to their group. Soon, they found themselves in transit.

The zone was a deserted plain, rock formations jutting out of the ground randomly. A far larger rock was visible not too far away, with a huge open entrance, lit torches flickering either side. The night sky was starless, pitch black, an infinite abyss stretching above them. However, the most defining feature of this zone wasn't any of that.

Every surface was damaged, the outer layer removed in shallow scars that glowed orange as though somepony had scorched them. Corrupted data streams shuffled randomly, numbers and letters that made no sense. The sky was worse; above them it was torn in half by a massive fissure which rained code down onto them like a sick storm.

“What in Tartarus...” Violet whispered, eyes wide. “What happened here?”

Applejack gulped. “Ah dunno, but Ah reckon we're gonna find out in that dungeon,” she gestured to the stone structure. The two mares with her nodded in response as they headed off. Still, they couldn't help but glance at the damage, or the hole in the sky, threatening to suck them up.

The dungeon was no better off. Stony castle walls were covered in corrupted data, and static flashed across their views every few minutes. It was also quite cramped.

“Well, this is certainly different,” Starlight muttered, cautiously running a hoof over one of the damaged sections of wall. It was warm to the touch but otherwise still solid, almost like it wasn't really there.

A whoosh caught their attention as they turned to the centre of the room. A stallion appeared, dressed in a bland cloak. Applejack felt his appearance was exactly what she would describe as 'average', in every sense. The pony stood still for several moments before speaking in a monotone voice.

“We apologise for the inconvenience. This area is currently unstable and not functioning properly due to corrupted data configurations. Please return to the field immediately, and Gate Out to the town.”

There was silence for several seconds, before the stallion repeated his message. On the third repeat, the three mares just looked to one another.

“Well, Ah reckon we should jus' keep goin',” Applejack eventually said, “given we don't have no other clues.”

Violet nodded in agreement and the two looked to Starlight, who was a little more apprehensive but soon agreed. Ignoring the repeating stallion, they headed further into the dungeon.

The low level of the area meant that even scaled down, Violet, Applejack and Starlight mowed down everything they came across, rapidly making progress further and deeper. As they advanced, the damage to the area became worse, until by the third floor most of the walls were leaking code and static flashed across their eyes every few seconds.

“Darlings, I think we might need to speed this up before one of us starts getting dizzy.” Starlight commented as she punched the face of one of the monsters in, dissolving it into light. The others nodded and they quickened their pace, heading in the direction where the corruption was getting worse.

Soon, they found the source as they jumped into a room. It was entirely empty, but everything around them was damaged, code floating throughout the room and congealing in the centre. Tentatively, Applejack approached the hovering ball of numbers, almost jumping away as the bracelet lit up in response. Glancing between the two, she lifted the bracelet towards the sphere, which bulged and spun in its presence. Slowly the code deep within condensed into a more solid form, rapidly forming a silhouetted shape. As the outer layers of code shed off the sphere its form became apparent; a strange, rough bird-like creature, green feathers coating its body. It shimmered momentarily, before what little remained of the orb burst and it flapped its wings, hovering above the ground. It was stock still aside from them as it size swelled, growing to twice the ponies' size. Monstrous talons tipped its feet, while its massive beak snapped at them.

Backing away, Applejack heard the portcullis in the doorway slam shut, trapping them in the room with the monster. Her companions came up either side of her, dropping into a combat stance. The bird's powerful wings beat, whipping up a strong wind that blew their manes back before it charged, screeching.

Violet was the first to act, muttering under her breath as she focused. "Bird. Likely wood. Weak to Earth. OrGan Zot!" Magic rose through her horn as she intoned the spell, whipping around the creature which stopped in its tracks for a brief moment. The ground rumbled as a massive spire of rock shot through the ground, slamming into the monster's chest. It was launched skywards, but the scratches formed slowly healed as green hexagonal plates formed along its underbelly. Applejack groaned at the sight of them, glancing at her targetting window.

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"It's another bug," she growled under her breath, drawing her sword. Starlight and Violet gulped, looking to her for guidance. Swallowing herself, she grimaced. "Ah think if we damage it enough this doohickey'll activate." She raised the bracelet, which was pulsing intermittently. Her two allies nodded in agreement, turning to face their foe. It hovered around nearby, screeching but otherwise not attacking.

Violet's eyes closed as she intoned the spell again, another spire of rock exploding from the ground. Starlight dived in straight after, propelling herself into the air with a powerful kick of her hind legs. As she came up over it, she focused and dropped, her fists aimed at its skull.

"King Hammer!"

The blow rocked the room as a visible shockwave expanded out. The monster recoiled under the blow, collapsing to the ground as it sprawled helplessly. As before, it began to heal, but Applejack took its moment of vulnerability to charge in, driving her sword across the join between its wing and its body, causing the creature to writhe around. Sufficiently recovered, a sudden burst of energy launched it into the air as it beat its heavy wings in Applejack's direction, buffeting her under gale force winds that threatened to lift her away. The air swum, swirling around her as it formed into a tornado, buffeting her with random branches and leaves that had materialised around her. Gradually her health began to drop as she was left paralyzed within the vortex.

A rush of colour and sound snapped the spell as Violet cast another spell. This time hundreds of shards of ice condensed out of the air, a chill coming over the room as they hung there threateningly, surrounding the monster. All of a sudden, they collapsed inwards, slamming into the creatures chest and burying it under a ton of shattering ice as it screeched. Now free, Applejack took the opportunity to charge towards it, leaping into the air as she sliced her blade across its cheek. A heavy crack nearby denoted Starlight slamming a hoof into its beak, the creature recoiling. It recovered far faster than any of them expected, however, whirling around and raking its sharp talons across the brawler's chest, causing her to hiss in pain. Violet reacted immediately, and as Applejack landed she spotted a healing potion sail through the air into waiting hooves. Starlight downed it, and her wounds instantly healed as she sighed happily.

The three turned their attention to the bird, which was now hovering menacingly overhead. Diving at Applejack, it opened its beak to bite down, but she dodged out of the way, rolling and raking her blade across its chest. Violet summoned another pillar of earth, but the bird quickly beat its wings and ascended, narrowly avoiding the attack.

What it, nor anypony else, expected, was to see Starlight riding the rock, launching herself off of it and sailing through the air. Landing on its back, she delivered two sharp blows to the base of its wings, seizing them up as it collapsed to the floor. A shell of green formed around it momentarily, before shattering into a million pieces, and Applejack grinned.

"Starlight, get back!"

She immediately did so, leaping away as Applejack's bracelet became fully corporeal. Standing on her hind hooves, she aimed the crystalline structure at her foe, watching the five prongs extend out as it locked into position. A beam of energy lanced out into the creature's head as it froze, before multiple arcs burst forth and speared the monster. Applejack felt her forehooves warm as streams of code surged into the bracelet, the armour around the creature shattering and dissipating. As the final throes of the ability ended, she dropped down, the bracelet humming softly as it disappeared from view. The monster let out a low, laboured cry, but was silenced when a column of earth erupted from beneath it, sending it airborne. It didn't even get to the top of its ascent before it fully dissolved into golden light. The three mares gathered around where it had just been, standing in silence.

“Well uh... That happened,” Applejack eventually got out, “and no, Ah still don't know what it did.”

Violet rubbed a hoof against her chin thoughtfully. “The rabbit hole gets deeper.”

“Huh?” both her friends tilted their heads at her as she coughed.

“Nothing, nothing. Well anyway,” she gestured generally at the room, “doesn't look like your friend is here, Applejack.” She sighed as Violet continued. “Still, I'm sure something else will come up, don't worry.”

"These strange things jus' keep happenin'," Applejack muttered under her breath. "Wha's with all these... bugs?"

Starlight looked to Violet, who shrugged. "I really don't know. There's been no posts on the board about this. Maybe CC Corp doesn't know?" She hypothesized, momentarily switching to Away.

Applejack was still for a second before she nodded, agreeing. She stretched before looking up at the two. “Ah s'pose we should head back ta town then?”

“Mm, probably for the best darling, this place is starting to give me a headache.” Starlight pressed a hoof to her temple to emphasize her point.

Violet nodded to them, stepping out of the room. The other two followed closely, trudging back through the dungeon. Applejack couldn't help but keep glancing at her foreleg in the hopes she'd actually get some answers.

“What are ya?” she muttered under her breath, scowling.

The journey back was entirely uneventful, although strangely the stallion was still standing in the entrance, repeating his message endlessly. Glancing between him and each other, they continued outside, hastily returning to town. Nopony wanted to spend much more time here than was necessary.

*****

It was night time in Mac Anu as the three returned, but the port town was far more lively. Ponies now wandered the streets in droves as the late night players began to settle in. Trotting down the main street to the bridge, the trio leaned over the side, watching the calm canal disturbed only rarely by boats travelling past. Applejack sighed, closing her eyes and letting her tension wash away as she felt herself relax.

Her ears twitched at the sound of faint whispering, and she cracked an eye open, looking around. A short distance away were a pair of ponies, a stallion and a mare, whispering to each other while casting glances in her direction. Applejack groaned and turned away, looking at Violet.

“Hey Violet,” Applejack lifted her head up, “what am Ah s'pposed ta do 'bout curious ponies?”

The mage looked at her for a few moments, a hint of confusion on her brow before she caught on. “Oh, well...” she stared up to the sky in thought for a few moments.

“Just tell them it was an event, dear,” Starlight's voice interrupted from her far side. Both ponies looked at her as she shrugged. “What?”

“They don't do events like that Starlight.” Violet stated matter-of-factly, but Starlight simply chuckled and prodded her chest with a hoof.

“Darling, you know they don't do events like that, but to the common folk, they'll assume it was secret.” She smiled softly. “So there's nothing to worry about.”

“Ah guess so but still, Ah feel mighty exposed out here.” Applejack nervously scratched the back of her neck, unable to ignore the growing number of ponies whispering about her. Violet glanced around, spotting the gathering crowd and nodded at her.

“Right, I have an idea. Follow me.” She hopped up, briskly trotting away. Starlight gave her a look before shrugging and giving chase, Applejack following soon after. They were lead on a very out of the way route, Applejack trying to convince herself she wasn't going to get lost as they went down yet another alleyway.

Eventually they came to a stop in front of a simple wooden doorway. Violet glanced around before pushing the door open, holding it out for the other two to enter. Once inside, she shut the door and breathed out. “And now, we're in private. Better?”

Applejack responded with a distracted grunt as she looked around the room. It was simple, unassuming, with plain wooden walls. The floor was laminated wood, with a bright red rug in the middle of it that covered about two thirds of the total ground. Scattered around were random assortments of items ranging from weapons to trophies to chairs. Starlight trotted to the far end of the room and plopped down onto a thick, comfortable looking pink sofa, exhaling softly. Violet pulled up two chairs in her magic and gestured for Applejack to take a seat as she did the same.

“So, Applejack,” Violet waved a hoof around the general area, “welcome to the Guild Home.”

Applejack whistled. “Mighty nice place y'all've got here.”

Starlight sat up, leaning towards her slightly. “Yes well, don't let Ardent hear that or you'll never hear the end of it.” Chuckling to herself, she brought up a few menus and started tapping away. “Just telling the others where we are,” she said off-hoofedly before either of her companions could ask. Shrugging, Violet and Applejack laid back in their chairs.

A few minutes later the door creaked open, and two pegasi filed in. Ardent Sunrise stood heroically, her armour glimmering, while Shadowdancer was far more reserved, closing the door behind them and rolling her eyes at her companion, muttering.

“Don't worry ladies, Sir Sunrise is here,” the rogue trotted confidently across the room to the sofa, plopping down next to Starlight, stopping only to stick her tongue out at the now very bashful Ardent.

“Very funny, Shadow,” she said after a few moments, pulling up a chair to sit in, letting out a relaxed sigh. “So what're we here for then?”

Violet quickly scanned the group. “What about Party...” she paused, then looked up. “...Time. What are you doing on the ceiling?”

The room followed her gaze, eyes falling on Party Time who was hanging upside down from a rafter, grinning. “Hi!” In one smooth motion, she unfurled her legs, spun in mid air and landed silently in the middle of the room. “I was gonna surprise you but you found me. Hi!” The mare launched herself across the room into a discarded chair, settling into it. She looked around at the stares she was getting from the others. “What?”

Violet shook her head. “Nevermind. So what I was going to say was we have no idea what to do next.” She waited for the couple of disgruntled murmurs to cease. “But we do know one thing. Applejack is in the middle of this.” She pointed to the mare in question, who jumped slightly at being put on the spot.

Hopping up, Violet began to pace around the room, staring at the ground in front of her. “We've been to a recorded sighting of this ghost mare, and didn't find anything to do with her, although we did end up fighting some kind of..." She waved a hoof in a circle as she tried to come up with the words. "...Data Bug, I guess. Whatever it was, it was similar to what we fought in the Cathedral, but a different monster this time; a Green Roc. Again, it was invulnerable, and again, Applejack's bracelet activated and did something to it which made it vulnerable.” She summarized the events of their last outing for the three who hadn't been present, to a mixture of curious nods and mumbles.

Settling back into her chair, story told, she faced Applejack. “So, my only idea is, since Applejack is at the heart of what's going on, we train her. Level her up, so she can hold her own against whatever it is we find ourselves up against.” A chorus of agreement echoed through the room. “Good. Now, if it's alright with you,” she glanced at a corner of her view. “I think we should get started.”