.buck//Moment

Applejack hadn't been in a wide variety of castles, but the first room wasn't really what she expected at all. It was just a small, square room, devoid of furniture. The walls and ceiling were made up of large, even stone bricks, while the floor was one smooth surface, with a small pattern of coloured tiles along the edges. Along the walls were lit torches, although at least these weren't disembodied pony legs. At the far end of the room was a doorway with a metal portcullis raised above it.

The one defining feature of the room, however, were the giant spinning rings orbiting a golden, runed disc floating in the centre of the room. It pulsated gently as she stared at it.

“That's a monster portal”, Ardent spoke plainly. “When we get close it will spawn a monster for us to fight.”

Applejack turned to the pegasus, nodding acceptingly. After what she'd seen it was easier for her to just roll with all this new terminology. She took a few tentative steps forward, watching as the portal shimmered and pulsated more frequently. Quietly she heard her allies' hoofsteps just behind her, the clinking of armour echoing through the room, as they advanced. The portal bulged briefly, then a shadowy form manifested itself in the centre, bursting free and shattering the rings as it dropped in front of them. Features formed on it, revealing a goblin, at least twice as large as the ones outside, wielding a large sword and shield. The target box appeared in the corner of her view, labelling the creature as 'Golbin Soldier'. Behind it, she watched the far portcullis drop into position over the doorway, trapping them, and a clunk and a glance confirmed the same had occurred to the way back. The creature paused for a few moments, then snapped its head up and growled, charging at her.

Ardent reacted first, ramming the creature with her shoulder, deflecting its blow. Applejack heard sparking noises and ducked, rolling left and drawing her sword, as Party's cannon fired overhead, shattering the goblin's shield into a cloud of splinters. The creature staggered back, swinging its sword towards the pegasus, who deftly parried the blow with her own and reversed it, forcing it into a helpless spin.

Applejack saw her opportunity, diving forwards and driving her sword through the back of the monster's neck. It sputtered in pain as she watched its health bar drop to almost nothing. Growling, she twisted her neck, moving the sword around inside of it. The goblin howled as the last fragment of health faded and it collapsed into a cloud of light. She sheathed her sword and turned to her companions, who both gave a slight nod as their own weapons were sheathed.

“Looks like you're settling in nicely, Applejack.” Ardent playfully prodded her chest, earning a huff from the earth pony.

“Yeah, Ah might be enjoyin' mahself. So what?”

“You didn't seem like the kind of pony who'd like this sort of thing.”

Applejack blushed slightly, recalling her previous lack of interest when the others were talking about it. “Well, Ah changed mah mind.”

Party Time bounced a couple of times, somehow making far less noise than somepony wearing that much armour should have made. “Yay Applejack's a gamer!”

She rolled her eyes, then paused. “So who is ev'rypony else then?”

Ardent looked confused for a moment, then laughed. Party simply gasped. “You don't know anypony? Oh no! That won't do!” she turned to the pegasus. “Ardent, we have to introduce the poor newbie to the others!”

“In time, Party, in time. Everypony is asleep anyway at this hour. I'll talk to them and we'll have a guild meeting tomorrow night.” She looked at Applejack, who was staring blankly at Party. “For now though, I guess we should just tell you about them.”

Raising a hoof to her mouth, she cleared her throat, only to be interrupted by Party Time. “Oh so we have Violet Blaze, our guild leader, Starlight, who runs the guild shop, and Shadowdancer who's evil.” The reaper met Ardent's disapproving expression with a plain “What?”

Shaking her head, the pegasus groaned. “Nevermind.”

Applejack stood dumbfounded for a moment before speaking up. “Hey, y'all haven't told me who ev'rypony is, jus' who they're playin'!”

The two armoured mares grinned at her simultaneously. “Guessing is half the fun”, the pegasus winked as they strode past her and through the far door. Applejack went to protest, before she realised they wouldn't relent no matter what she said. Letting out an exasperated sigh, she trotted after them.

The next room was more complex, like a T shape. A short hallway connected to a room not unlike the previous one, and two other corridors headed out of either side. Again, in the centre was another portal, and the three mares approached it, weapons drawn. The shadow forming in this one was different; two smaller, smoother shapes. As the portal collapsed the figures slumped to the ground before rising up and floating in mid air. They were of similar shape to the goblins, but sat on golden rings that hovered in the air. Long, unkempt beards adorned their chins and they both carried a twisted, oak staff with a gem set in the top. Her HUD marked them both as 'Goblin Shaman', as combat began.

“Party Time, right! Applejack, with me!” Ardent barked. Both earth ponies nodded in agreement. Applejack charged as the shaman raised its staff, speaking in some unknown tongue. A strong gust of wind slammed into her, knocking her to the ground, as small leaves and pebbles pelted her, dealing minor damage. Picking herself up, she steadied herself until it died to a breeze, then charged forwards, swinging her sword at the monster. It swerved, ducking under her attack, but was met by Ardent's blade chewing cleanly through the ring and sending it tumbling to the ground. Applejack watched as the pegasus launched herself into the air with the momentum of the strike, shouting loudly.

“Rai Divider!”

She twisted in mid air as electricity arced across her armour and into her blade, which shone dimly as she drove the sword down through the creature's skull. Immediately following, a blinding bolt of lightning dropped from the ceiling, disintegrating the shaman into glowing mist. Both turned to the other goblin, watching as Party Time deftly avoided spell after spell and answering with shots from her cannon, but cursing as each was dodged. Applejack galloped at her foe, skidding along the ground as a stray shot barely scraped her muzzle and impacted the far wall with a sizzle. Reaching the end of her slide, she leapt up, bringing the sword down on the monster's head.

Unfortunately, the shaman moved to dodge another shot, and the sword merely struck the golden ring and glanced off, sending Applejack to the ground. The sudden shock sent the monster careering away, right into the hooves of Ardent, who turned and bucked it back, keeping it disoriented.

“Party, to you!”

The reaper grinned maliciously, and Applejack watched as the cannon collapsed into her arm and she reached across her back, drawing a long, black shaft. It clicked menacingly, snapping open and extending with an eerie light until it was as long as Ardent's sword. At one end, a long, curved scythe blade snapped out and Party charged, screaming as she met the wildly flailing shaman.

“Lotus Flower!”

The scythe's blade shone deep purple as the edge vibrated visibly, humming filling the room. Laughing maniacally, the weapon sliced upwards through the monster, knocking it up. Launching herself off the ground, she met it in mid air, swinging her weapon around her so fast it was a vague blur. The creature was dead on the first strike, but she continued to carve it to pieces until there was nothing but fine mist, which dissolved away as she floated back to the ground, sheathing her scythe and grinning. This time, even Ardent was shocked.

“Wow, Party... that was... something.”

“It annoyed me,” she said cheerily, her voice as happy-go-lucky as always.

Applejack and Ardent shared a worried look, before chasing after the reaper, who'd bounded away down the left passageway and slipped into the next area. The pegasus gently tapped the orange mare on the back and whispered in her ear.

“Just don't get on her bad side and you'll be fine.”

Nodding, she couldn't help herself from gulping nervously as she entered the next room, followed closely by her armoured companion. This room was like the first, but with no visible exits and instead of a portal, there were two chests in the middle, which Party Time was now giddily bouncing in a circle around. Applejack felt a nudge from behind pushing her towards them, as the reaper turned and grinned.

“Hey Applejack, look! Treasure!”

“Treasure?” she eyed the two chests. One was glistening golden in the torchlight, while the other was a more muted blue colour. Tentatively, she reached out for the golden one, tapping it with a hoof. It snapped open with a loud 'thunk', and a menu appeared in corner, where it had been reading her 'XP' gains from combat, letting her know that she'd picked up 'Healing Potion x2'. Nodding in acceptance, she reached for the blue one when her hoof was batted away by Ardent's.

“Whoa now, don't touch that. It's a trap.”

Applejack looked from the mare to the chest. It wasn't particularly subtle for a trap, even if she did nearly get caught by it.

“Well then, what d'ya do ta it?”

The pegasus grinned, a menu appearing over her face, covered in writing and numbers. “It's my inventory”, she stated, tapping one of the entries, then clicking through several extra menus until a blue message flashed in front of Applejack's face.

Player  Ardent Sunrise  wants to trade!

Touching the 'Accept' option, she watched with interest as a menu appeared over her view. It had two large boxes, one on the left and one on the right, labelled Applejack and Ardent Sunrise respectively. The left one was pretty much empty aside from the healing potions, while the other was packed with lots of different things that Applejack couldn't even hope to understand.

The screen flickered as another box appeared between them, marked Fortune Wire x10. She tilted her head as a green tick flashed at her, which she pressed cautiously. The little window appeared in the corner to tell her that the trade was complete.

“Right, now you need to use one on the chest.”

Applejack's face contorted in concentration as she tried to will the items to be used, but that didn't seem to work. She heard a groan from her companions, and saw both had a hoof on their faces. Rolling her eyes, she sighed.

“How do Ah bring up that darn screen?”

Party shook her head sadly. “Did you read the manual at all, Applejack?”

“No, Ah don't even know what that is.”

“It's a book that comes with the game”, Ardent responded bluntly. “Teaches you how to play. But since we're already here...” She mimed some actions in the air, and Applejack watched as the menu formed in front of her face.

“Now you try.”

Raising her eyebrow, she concentrated and tried to copy the actions as well as she remembered them. It took her a few tries until she got the right menu, and glanced across it briefly. It was a large checklist with 2 columns, but was almost entirely barren. The only two lit entries were her healing potions, and those Fortune Wire things. Tapping on that entry, she watched as the counter dropped to 9, and the chest in front of her flashed, the blue fading to reveal the gold beneath. Reaching out, she placed her hoof firmly on the lock, the lid snapping open at her touch. This time, she got one The Hanged Mare, whatever that meant.

“What's this 'Hanged Mare' thing? Seems pretty morbid ta me.”

Ardent looked across, waving a hoof across a menu and dismissing it. It took a couple of seconds to register the question before she answered. “Oh, it just paralyzes a target when you use it.”

“Huh?”

“Stops it from moving or attacking.”

“Oh, okay, Ah understand.” Seemed like it could be pretty useful.

“Come on!” Both mares jerked slightly as Party's sudden outburst surprised them. “I wanna go kill some things!”

Sighing, the pegasus shook her head and motioned to the door. “Let's go then, no sense in waiting around here.”

The rest of the dungeon was uneventful. For the most part, having these two experienced and high level party members made most combat a breeze, although Applejack certainly didn't slack off. Her two companions seemed to focus on breaking enemies and making them vulnerable for Applejack to strike, never leaving her out of it. She was pretty certain either of them could've ended most of these fights in one action before it had really started, but that was no fun for any of them.

The dungeon's first floor was quite short; there were only two more rooms before the staircase, and one of those had been another treasure room anyway. For her troubles, Applejack got another Healing Potion. Even when she offered, her friends refused to take anything, stating that they were already set, and she needed it more than them, which, if she took what little she saw of Ardent's inventory into account, was pretty true.

They cleared the first room of the second floor when the pegasus paused, stating that she had to go AFK (Away From Keyboard, whatever one of those was), for a short time, but she insisted that Party and Applejack continue ahead for a bit and that she'd catch up soon. So they did, pushing on a couple of rooms. It took a little time to get used to Party's exceedingly violent combat style and apparent randomness with what weapon she decided to use (“It's more fun that way!”), but as brutal as her strikes were, her control over them was impressive. There had been many times where Applejack had nearly been caught by a wild swing or shot, but she'd never actually been hit. Dryly, she questioned whether this was the reaper's idea of 'spicing things up' and keeping her alert, but didn't get a coherent response as the armoured pony continued onwards cheerily.

It wasn't until several rooms later that Ardent Sunrise caught up with them. They were standing in another T-junction debating which direction to go when the pegasus nearly barrelled into them, bouncing off the far wall and groaning.

“Looks like ya still fly the same as real life,” Applejack stated sharply, smirking. Party giggled as Ardent glared at them both, trotting over.

“Well, in my defence, I didn't realise Violet would need me for that long.”

Applejack raised an eyebrow, to which she continued. “She was wondering whether you got a chance to get on given you weren't where she said she'd meet you” nervously, she scratched the back of her neck “And uh... she may have ranted at me a little for dragging you away.”

Party and Applejack chuckled. “Ah think ah can guess who she is.”

The armoured pegasus rolled her eyes, smiling. “Yep, she's pretty much the same.”

The three shared a few laughs at their friend's expense, then settled down enough for Ardent to continue. While Violet was mad, she'd been persuaded to let Applejack off the hook, since it was mostly the pegasus's fault. She'd be waiting for them at town when they finished with this zone, given how close they were to the end anyway.

“How do we even know if we're done?” Applejack had asked. Party looked at Ardent, who shook her head.

“There's a treasure statue. Big thing, can't miss it,” she paused, thoughtfully. “Can't believe I didn't tell you that.”

“Trust you to overlook something, Sunny. You probably missed loads of important stuff! Poor Applejack.” The reaper bounced, her voice a mixture of teasing and disapproval.

Applejack's ears twitched as the sounds of rushing air travelled down the corridor. Perking up, she stared at the end of the hall, beginning to head towards the source. Her companions looked around awkwardly.

“Hey, Applejack... What's up?”

“Ah thought Ah heard somethin'...” the noise grew louder as she crept forwards, brow wrinkled in thought.

The two higher levelled mares shared a look, and Ardent spoke, warily. “I didn't hear anything. Party?”

“Nope, nothing here.”

They stared at Applejack with concern, trotting after her. Applejack was halfway down the hall, focused on something.

“Ah definitely heard somethin', like air whooshin' by...” the sound grew louder, and she jumped back in fright, slamming into Ardent, as a figure entered her field of view.

Time seemed to slow, and Applejack watched as the creature, now clearly a mare, turned to look at her, brilliant sky blue eyes filled with terror. She was pale, almost like a ghost, and slightly translucent, floating through the air despite lacking any kind of wings or horn. Her body was covered with a plain white cloak, clasped at the neck with a brooch in the shape of a sideways eight. Her bleached mane and tail were long but tidy, flowing in an otherworldly fashion. As she disappeared down the passageway, a second figure entered, clearly giving chase as it ignored the three mares.

This one was terrifying; a giant alicorn, at least three times her own size, flying on ragged, messy wings. Its coat was a sickly yellow, and its eyes a dull, lifeless blue. A long, frayed blood red mane swept backwards as it shot by, emitting a chilling screech. Pointed fangs were visible as its mouth opened wide, ready to strike. Wrapped in crimson magic and carried by its side was a lengthy spear of ruby, roughly carved, but visibly sharp. One end had a large ring, the size of her head, fastened to it. Smaller segments of scarlet formed a cross inside it. The world seemed to warp around that section ever so slightly, making Applejack feel strangely nervous.

The scene lasted only a few seconds before the sounds of chase faded as the two figures disappeared into a doorway, which was long enough for Applejack to gather her bearings and charge after the pair, ignoring the cries of protest from her allies. All focus on protecting that ghostly mare, she galloped on through to the next room.

It was empty. As she stood there panting, her companions came up behind her, and she felt a sudden thwack reverberate through her skull as somepony hit her on the back of the head, hard enough to be noticed but soft enough to not cause damage. Turning in anger, she saw Ardent staring back, equally angry.

“Applejack, what in Tartarus do you think you're doing running off like that?!”

“Y'all saw that mare! Ah had t' help her!”

Ardent moved to speak, but stopped short, anger swiftly being replaced with a mix of confusion and concern. Slowly, she began to speak again.

“What mare?”

Now it was Applejack's turn to be confused. “Tha ghostly one”, she plainly stated, but her friends just looked at her blankly.

“Oh oh, are we playing hide and seek?” Party Time said giddily, bouncing on the spot. "I didn't see anypony but that sounds like a fun event!"

“But... she... Ah...” she trailed off, trying to pull her thoughts together. Had she been seeing things? She'd never have expected her imagination to be that active. Maybe it was--

Static flashed across her view, colour fading for a brief moment. The portcullis slammed shut, drawing her friends' attentions. A faint buzzing filled her ear, and she turned to find the source. Behind her, floating barely a foot off the ground, was the ghostly mare. Even when she wasn't moving, her hair and cloak billowed in an ethereal wind, and Applejack couldn't help but approach her. Her brilliant azure eyes were caring, but had a deep layer of sadness to them. Applejack barely heard her companions voice their concerns as she came face to face with the ghost.

“Hello, Applejack.” The mare's face remained perfectly still, even as the melodious voice echoed through her head. To her surprise, she didn't find this worrying, just slightly odd. “My name is Aura.”

“Uh...” Applejack wasn't entirely sure on how to respond to somepony inside her brain, so just tried talking out loud. “H-Howdy there Aura, Ah don't think we've been properly introduced...”. She held out a hoof as a gesture of respect.

The ghost looked at it, then placed her hooves on Applejack's own. “There is no time. Take this.” A soft glow shone forth between them, and as the mare's hooves retreated, she found herself looking down at a thick book covered in strange markings and symbols. “Give this to Twilight.”

Applejack shook her head in disbelief. “Woah woah, jus' how do y'all know about--”

“There is no time!” The calmness in the voice cracked slightly, letting through just a hint of what sounded like desperation. The mare looked around, and although her expression didn't change, Applejack could tell it was in fear. Aura's head suddenly snapped back to her, voice now clearly pleading. “You have to go, now! She is coming!”

“Wha... hey don't jus'... ya can't...!” but Aura's form was fading as she rose into the air, vanishing into a cloud of light. She looked down at the book, which also disappeared as it forcibly inserted itself into her inventory. Turning her gaze back up, she saw a figure where the ghost was previously.

It was the alicorn.

Its face contorted into a horrific grin, sharp, misshapen teeth bared at her. It roared, slamming the spear into the ground at its feet, effortlessly piercing the stone. Unlike the expected reaction, the floor didn't so much crack, as melt, breaking apart and falling, revealing a shadowy abyss of random numbers and symbols. Applejack backed away quickly as it spread, the insidious laughter of the demon alicorn drilling itself deep into her skull.

Abruptly, Applejack found herself swept into the hooves of another, and suddenly remembered her companions. The cackling drained from her head, and as her thoughts cleared she could make out their words.

“...ty Time, get us out of here!”

“I'm trying Sunny, I know it's in here somewhere.”

“Celestia's sake FIND IT! We need to get to Twilight!”

There was a pregnant pause, and all Applejack could do was stare at the approaching void, threatening to suck in her very soul. An emphatic cry of her name broke her out of her trance, and she finally looked up at the person holding her. Ardent was staring down in worry, her wings flared as she resisted taking flight, while Party shuffled through menus behind her. Leaping up in triumph, she suddenly held out a small golden egg, which broke and showered them with dust.

For the third time, the world fell away around Applejack.