.buck//Moment

Applejack stared in bewilderment at Ardent Sunrise. Her view danced between her apparently insane companion and their new opponent, now rising to full height and beginning to stride over to them, fists raised in fury. Gulping nervously, she eyed her companion.

“Ya can't be serious.”

“Don't worry, things get scaled down. It's your level.” Her eyes flicked away in thought for a brief moment. “More or less.” Quickly, she leapt off of Applejack and offered a hoof to her. Obliging, she barely got to wrap her own around it before she was pulled to all fours. A hoof ruffled her mane again, causing her to glare at her friend, who simply beamed back. “Just try not to get hit. Believe me, this'll be fun.” Ardent turned her attention back to the beast, which was now beginning to lumber towards them. Drawing her sword, she flourished it dramatically before charging into combat, screaming a battlecry.

It was... strange. Ardent looked like she'd be a slow, lumbering beast, but she moved fast, flying around her foe and delivering blow after blow, chipping bits of rock off it piece by piece, but it just kept on fighting. A wild swing caught her wing and she tumbled to the ground, landing on all four hooves and skidding a distance. Testing her wing, she winced and groaned. Applejack had a pretty good idea that she needed her flight to take this thing on. Drawing her own sword, she charged into the fray, letting loose a significantly less awesome battlecry. The giant roared, swinging a fist around to meet its the new opponent, who dodged under it at the last second, sliding beneath its arm and trailing her sword along its underside and stopping behind it. Through its legs, she saw Ardent gracefully launch herself across its body, raining chunks of rock as she went and, she would imagine, leaving a deep gash, but the giant appeared to ignore it, stamping down with an oversized foot as she landed. The blow barely missed as she spun about, bounding immediately and making a reverse cut before running to Applejack's side, panting.

The two watched as the behemoth froze for a few moments before turning to face them, its stony gaze glaring down. Its chest was marked with a wide, deep cross, gashes and dents marking other locations where it had been struck. The golem, however, seemed indifferent to the damage it had suffered and continued the attack, bringing both of its arms up in an overhead slam. As it came down, both mares dived in opposite directions, dodging the blow by inches.

Unfortunately for Applejack, while her companion managed to land firmly on her hooves, her own landing was far from spectacular, as she tripped and fell. Struggling to get up, she barely registered her companion shouting before something rough lightly grazed her flank, throwing her into the air even with the slightest touch. Howling in pain she tumbled helplessly as she came down hard, the edges of her vision flashing red as the little green bar quickly drained until barely a sliver remained. Slowly, she came to, forcing herself upright and glaring at her attacker, now flexing its fingers. Sword still drawn, she started forward when a hoof wrapped around her neck and pulled her back. Turning her head to the source, she started to growl when she saw Ardent's worried expression. A vial was pressed against her lips and she turned to reject it when her head back was pulled back forcefully.

“Drink it.” The tone was commanding, but had a subtle layer of concern underlying it. Applejack relented, letting the cool green liquid flow down her throat. Instantly, she felt rejuvenated, the crimson in her vision fading and her health bar quickly filling up again. Blinking at her companion, she let out a muffled “bwuh?”, getting a short chuckle in return. “Healing potion” came the reply. Oh how she wished she could have some of these for her work days.

The hoof on her neck pressed more firmly as Ardent began to talk, voice laden with concern. “Applejack.” She looked deep into those caring, silvery eyes “You don't have to fight this thing. It's far more powerful than I realised. Look at its stats.” Before Applejack could say anything about her lack of understanding, Ardent gestured to an area in front of her face. She followed it and, lo-and-behold, there was another small box, this one with a portrait of the giant by it, labelled 'Rock Golem', with a small '6' in the corner. Next to it were a green and blue bar, like the ones by Ardent and herself, but there were also lots of random symbols and numbers, laid out in a chart. Way too many. Applejack blinked in astonishment, partially at the deluge of information in front of her, but mostly at the fact that she'd missed it somehow.

“Sword is attack, shield is defense, staff is magic and robe is magic defense. Rest are irrelevant.” Ardent summarized. “The worrying thing is its attack. That's the value it normally has, at my level. It didn't get scaled.”

Even if Applejack didn't quite comprehend the terminology, she did get the implication. Face paling slightly, she hoped she was wrong. “Which means...”

“Which means we're fighting something that hits like a level 80. Which will instantly kill us.”

Both ponies stared at each other, then watched as the golem lumbered towards them. Applejack swallowed her anxiety and lowered herself into a fighting stance. “Well then” she turned to her companion, who was gawking in bewilderment. “Can we kill it?”

“Applejack are you insane?! What bit about instantly killing us didn't you get?!”

“It got lucky last time. This time, Ah ain't lettin' it hit me.”

“But... you... bwuh?” Applejack wished she had a way of capturing her friend's look of utter disbelief, her grin widening at the sight of it.

“What's wrong, Miss Ardent?” She winked. “Chicken?”

Instantly her face hardened, and a grin to match her own formed. “This is a very stupid idea.” She drew her sword. “But you're on!”

The two companions switched their attention back to the golem, which was now pacing about in an impatient fashion, and charged.

The rock golem's first punch was aimed at Applejack, but she dodged to the side, skidding and driving her sword across its wrist, its hand splaying out in response, shattering one of its fingers against the ground. In the corner of her eye she saw Ardent slide between its legs, her own sword leaving a broad wound in the back of its knee, causing it to stumble forwards. The mares ran behind it, standing side by side as the creature roared and turned to face them, arms whirling around.

“Ya know.” Applejack started as she ducked under a wild swing. “Y'all never did answer mah question.”

A heavy crack resounded through the area as Ardent slammed the flat end of her sword against the golem's fist, shattering another one of its fingers from the sheer force. “What question?”

“Can we kill it?”

Then the golem's face exploded.

Applejack held a hoof over her head as debris rained down over her. The giant's body rocked and it nearly fell over backwards as it brought its hands to cover its maimed face. Looking across, she met Ardent's look of wonder and glee with an equal look of mind-blowing terror. Ardent ran over to her, cackling like a madpony. Applejack just continued to look horrified.

“WHAT IN TARTARUS?!”

Her companion just picked her up and whispered. “Our third party member's just arrived.” Twirling around, she shouted over Applejack. “Hey Party, you're late!”

In confusion, she turned in the direction of the yelling, her jaw dropping as she saw the recipient.

Standing not far away on their hind legs, was the grim reaper. With a giant arm cannon.

Okay, now that she thought about it, it probably wasn't, but the earth pony before her certainly seemed like she was trying for it. The newcomer was most certainly terrifying, her pale grey face framed by a dead straight dark purple mane and punctuated with piercing red eyes, evil and cunning, with the massive grin on her muzzle that made her look murderously insane.

The most defining feature of this pony was her armour. Where Ardent's was ornate and elegant, this mare was coated in jet black plates of cold metal which appeared to suck the light from her surroundings. The only places spared their touch were her head and a small portion at her rump, that let her tail flow freely. Each plate ended in a short spike, tipped with what appeared to be blood, and her hoofboots were clawed, like a gryphon's talons.

Her weapon made Applejack quiver. As she stood, her hind legs were splayed, right forehoof pointed at the golem, left bracing it. Instead of a simple boot, an intricate set of plates rotated around her extended limb, forming a short gun barrel, which was currently smoking. It began to glow slightly, then intensified, lightning arcing between it and the ground. The bolts increased in frequency, until a flash momentarily blinded her as the cannon fired again, a multicoloured spray of light launching itself into the crouching colossus, which emitted a mix between a groan and a roar as it struggled to get up. The smell of ozone filled Applejack's nostrils as the light show subsided.

Lowering the cannon, the mare's attention turned to the two companions and her smile somehow grew wider as she bounced over to them. Applejack watched with curiosity as the cannon collapsed into individual plates which settled themselves inside her leg armour, becoming undetectable. The reaper neared, and she couldn't help but slowly back away. Ardent, however, ran over and gave her a proud hoofbump

“Thanks for saving our rumps there, Party. Didn't realise you were on.”

The mare nodded then bounced a couple of times. “Yep! Somepony said that somepony new was in town so I thought I'd say hi!”

Applejack knew that voice. She'd heard it so often and it was so unique. “Pinkie?!”

The two armoured mares looked at her, Ardent with disappointment and Party with fascination. The reaper pony bounded over, and Applejack had to use all her willpower to not just turn tail and run. Those piercing red eyes etched marks into her very soul as she gulped nervously.

“You aren't supposed to use your real name, Applejack.” She jumped as Party spoke, then sighed as her body calmed down. Placing a hoof on her face she muttered.

“Ah know now, but it ain't like Ah can do anythin' about it.”

“Also, you shouldn't use my real name either.”

“Ah know, Ah just... ya kinda surprised me with yer look is all.”

The reaper giggled. “Oh I know, isn't it fun? By the way, I'm Party Time. And...” her focus changed from Applejack in front of her to something behind her, smile weakening slightly “...and we aren't finished yet.”

Ardent came up alongside her, copying her expression. Applejack turned, watching with horror as the golem she'd assumed had finally died slowly rose to its feet. It steadied itself, then roared at the three and charged.

“Well then.” Applejack turned to Ardent, steeling her expression. “Can we kill it?”

Ardent grinned, then glanced at the newcomer. She froze for a moment, then a small box appeared in the blademaster's view, and the reaper's face joined Applejack's and Ardent's. “With Party Time? No sweat.”

The colossus reared up, bringing both fists down in one strike, but they were ready this time. All three dived in different directions; Ardent left, Party right and Applejack straight forwards. Continuing, unfazed by the near miss, she went for its untouched leg, driving her blade deep into it and causing it to unleash a low groan as it stumbled. Wrenching the sword free, she struck again in a different spot, repeating several times until it tried to stand on her. Rolling away, she cried out.

“Ardent!”

A streak of silver rushed past, the unmistakable CRACK as her blade smashed into the weakened leg, cleaving it straight off. As the golem howled in pain, it tumbled, falling towards Applejack. Staring up, all she could do was gulp before the streak slammed into her, carrying her out of harms way. Air rushed past her as she looked up into the determined face of her saviour, who glanced down and nodded, circling around. Readying her sword, she steeled herself as they dove towards the struggling stone giant. Tapping her hoof once, she felt freedom as she was dropped down onto the golem's neck and plunged her weapon deep into it. As gravity pulled her around, the sword cut roughly, leaving a deep gash in half of its neck. Slamming into the ground, she took minor damage but barely registered it, taking off at a gallop, not wanting to be anywhere near its attack range as it stood back up.

As she ran, she caught a red and black blur shoot past her, and turned her head to see Party Time tearing into the creature with an oversized scythe. Skidding to a stop, she just sat there are watched, mouth agape, as her friend struck blow after blow into it, faster and faster, until there was nothing but a rapidly moving dark band rushing up and down the creature, cuts and chips forming seemingly at random, until Party flew up, hovering high above its head. Applejack watched in awe as she lingered in mid air for several tense moments, before dropping, spinning her scythe through the golem's neck as she passed. It sliced clean through, finishing her job. The head fell agonizingly slowly, bouncing off the ground and rolling a short distance before dissolving into golden light, soon joined by the rest of it. Applejack couldn't help herself from grinning, then laughing loudly and lying on her back in the grass, relaxed at last. She barely even noted the box in the corner alert her that she'd gained 1000 XP and 320 GP, until a flashing yellow message appeared in the middle of her screen, along with a short jingle.

Level Up!

The sunlight was blocked as her two companions' faces suddenly popped in over her head, smiling down at her. She was pretty sure she looked a complete mess, but she wasn't really surprised by all that. Even if that fight was a challenge, it was definitely fun. She could get used to this.

A hoof beckoned to her, and she grabbed it, feeling herself hauled up and to her hooves. She felt a brushing on her back and saw Party dusting her off, grinning. While still slightly disturbing, the knowledge that it was Pinkie at the other end made it less so.

“Damn good fighting Applejack.” The comment snapped her out of her thoughts, and she turned to look at Ardent, who had an expression of pride on her face. She felt herself blush and looked away nervously.

“A-ah just did what came naturally,” she mumbled, and Ardent laughed.

“Wow, really? Because if I didn't know better, I'd say you were a pro!” A gentle bump to her shoulder just intensified the redness on her cheeks.

“Yeah Applejack! That was really cool when you were all like “SHOOM SWISH STAB” and the giant monster was like “AAHH NOO MY ONE WEAKNESS AHHHH” and then he fell and died.” Yeah, it was definitely Pinkie Pie.

Applejack rolled her eyes, gazing at her other companion, who was frozen in place, an amber spinning circle over her head reading 'Away'. Soon after, it faded, and Ardent resumed, looking between the two.

“Sorry, I was just sending in a ticket. The GM's would probably want to know about this bug.”

Before Applejack could ask what any of those terms meant, Party interrupted. “Oh oh I met a GM once he was nice and friendly and gave me a cupcake, did you know they can make items at will he didn't want to but then I asked nicely and he was like 'oh okay but only once' then I was all like 'thank you thank you' and...”

“So Applejack” Ardent continued, ignoring Party's story. “You still up for clearing this area?” the earth pony followed as she gestured to the foreboding castle. “Or are you tired after that fight?”

Pulling herself to full height, she shook herself off. “Y'all think a measly giant monster thing is gonna tire this pony out? Bring it on!”

Ardent actually looked surprised. “Wow, you sure? Because you just fought a level 78 rock golem at level 1.” At Applejack's continued look of confidence, she shook her head, grinning. “Alright, I'm game. Let's do this! You in Party?”

Party Time bounced happily, wiping some drool from her mouth. “Of course! Let's go let's go let's gooo!” And she was off like a rocket, leaving the other two in the dust.

“Hey! Y'all ain't leavin' me behind!”

The armoured pegasus watched with amusement as the blademaster took off after her friend, although quite a little bit slower. Smirking to herself, she flew over, picked her up and carried her there, much to Applejack's protests. The orange mare squirmed and shouted multiple death threats, trying to get free of her grip, until she was dropped unceremoniously at the entrance to the dungeon, an angry glare plastered on her face.

The three stood facing the black abyss the served as an entrance. Gulping, Applejack gazed at her companions in turn, both looking completely unimpressed. Breathing deeply, she braced herself, and strode into the darkness.