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// Applejack v Raynor 
// Story: Ponies of the Storm 
// by generalsnaz 
//------------------------------//

	Applejack walked along the cobblestone street beside her mindless squad of minions. She looked around carefully, noting the terrain, specifically the spots of tall grass she figured she could hide in. She easily passed through another magical gate that looked like it could prevent entry from anything it didn't want. Across a large open space, she saw another gate between two towers that looked identical to hers, except they were bright red instead of blue. Applejack saw minions emerge from behind the enemy gate. They looked like the blue minions, except they too, were red. The two waves of red and blue collided as the minions began a slow paced combat.
"Alright," Applejack said to herself. "Looks like it's time to get down n' dirty! Yee-haw!" She ran at the pace she was stuck at to meet the wave of incoming minions. "Sorry, little fellas! Twilight says I gotta beat y'all up!" She began to kick the mindless creatures. Despite how hard she tried, or how fast, she was only able to hit them at a steady pace. "This must be my basic attack," Applejack mused. As she pounded the face of a little soldier, she could feel how the minion's health was dropping with each kick. Finally, the weird little creature fell. Its limp body disintegrated as it died. "Ooo-whee! One down- Ow!" Applejack recoiled as tiny archer minions shot miniature arrows at her. She could feel her health drop a little. "Okay, y'all are annoying as all get out, but I'm more worried about this hero I'm supposed to fight!"
Just as she mentioned him, a large man stepped out from behind the red gate. Applejack's jaw dropped at the sight. The man wore a giant metal suit, gray, adorned with metallic fixtures, painted with the design of a snake skeleton on one of the shoulders. He carried a gun, a gauss rifle, that was almost as large as he was and just as dark, equipped with a blade at the end. The man's face was hard to see, a metal helmet protected him on the back and the sides. He was young, mid thirties, but his face bore the lines of decades of war and strife. His scruffy facial hair was black and it supported the excited grin he gave.









"Well, well, well. What have we here?" Raynor mused to himself with a southern drawl. He pointed his rifle at Applejack, who took a step back at the sight. "Looks like the Nexus messed up. Sent me to play with some little pony girl."
"Hey!" Applejack shouted nervously. "I ain't here to play!"
"Oh, I know it, kid," Raynor laughed. "This whole place is filled with things like you." He pointed his giant metal hand to the sidelines where the background ponies were trapped in their spectator positions. They talked frantically to each other, some cried. "You must be one of the locals," he said, grinning at Applejack.
"That's right!" Applejack defended. "Me and my friends are gonna beat you and restore our town, ya hear!?"
The minions around the two of them continued to fight despite their conversation.
"Haha!" Raynor laughed halfheartedly. "Well, I can't say I don't respect your determination, but I gotta feelin' I've got more  fightin' experience than you. I didn't become Marshall back on Mar Sara with just my looks."
Applejack swallowed nervously. The man was daunting. He had presence.
Raynor noticed Applejack shaking and smiled sincerely at her.
"You know, this ain't really my idea," he said casually. "I got better things to do than fight you or ruin your town. I got a revolution to win. I got a girl to save."
"Then... you'll leave?" Applejack said hopefully, despite herself.
"No can do, little lady," Raynor smirked. "You see, I'm trapped here too. And the only way I can go home, is if you lose." He pointed his gun at Applejack again to emphasize the point.
"Sorry, but that ain't gonna happen," Applejack grimaced. "This is our town!"
"You're quite the little cowgirl! What's your name, kid?"
"Applejack."
"Haha! Don't know why I was expecting anything other than that," Raynor laughed at Applejack's simplistic name. "Pleasure to meet you, Applejack. Name's Raynor. James Raynor. But you can call me Jimmy."
"...Pleasure's all mine, partner," Applejack said.
They both stared at each other. The standoff was quiet, until Raynor spoke.
"Piece of advice, kid: give up now. I ain't one to lose."
"Neither am I."
"Well then, missy, can't say I didn't warn ya. Get ready, Applejack!" With that Raynor grabbed his gun with both hands, ready to fire. The metallic helmet covering his head dropped a visor down over his face. A spray-painted skull on the visor smiled maniacally where the man's head just was. He opened fire. 
"Landsakes!" Applejack cried as she grabbed her hat, bent down, and tried to shield herself from the bullets. They all hit their mark. With the same repetitive speed that Applejack had attacked with, the flurry of bullets hit her. She instantly felt her health drop, it was significantly more painful than the minions had been, but it didn't kill her.
"I can survive bullets!?" Applejack said to herself. "Twilight was right, we're fighting on equal terms!"
"Let's step it up!" Raynor said, mostly to himself. "INSPIRE!" He yelled the ability name, his voice came out speakers built into his suit. The two exhaust vents on the back of Raynor's suit fired up as he cast his ability. Magic lit up beneath his feet in response to his power and it spread to the red minions around him. The frequency of his and the minions attacks increased dramatically, inflicting more damage on Applejack.
"I can't just stay here and take this!" Applejack grunted to herself. She saw her health was dropping fast. "Time to go on the offensive!" She started to run towards Raynor, who didn't stop firing on her. Applejack thought on her abilities. She had read them and roughly knew what they all did. "Alright, let's try... this!" Applejack said as she approached Raynor. "APPLEBUCK!" she shouted as she mentally selected the ability. Without any sort of command or control, Applejack's body stopped, turned, and she reared up on her front legs.
"Woah, wait-!" Raynor said with surprise. He tried to take a step back, but it was too late. With incredible force, Applejack kicked Raynor with her hind legs. "Guugh!" he coughed as his body was launched an unbelievable distance backwards. His massive metal boots screeched him to a halt.
Applejack was surprised at her own power. She didn't think she would have been able to knock someone so heavy that far.
"Guess that's part of the equalization, too," she muttered to herself.
The attack only briefly stopped Raynor, who resumed fire almost immediately.
"Don't stop now, Applejack! Keep it up!" Raynor shouted, enjoying the fight.
"Shoot!" Applejack cried as she felt the bullets ricocheting off her. "Can't loose focus! I'm just gettin' started!" Applejack yelled. "LASSO!" With that, she pulled out a lasso out of nowhere and quickly launched it towards Raynor. The rope effortlessly entangled the man and Applejack pulled it hard. The force knocked Raynor off his feet and he was helplessly dragged up to Applejack. The attack did a small amount of damage to Raynor but the rope disappeared immediately afterward.
"I'm gettin' the hang of this!" Applejack said cheerfully. "Time for another APPLEBUCK!" She tried to select the ability with her mind, but nothing happened. "Wait, what?" Her eyes shook in disbelief as the image in her mind reflected back a number. 10. "Ten... seconds...?" Applejack muttered in horror. The number turned to 9. "Nine seconds... until I can use APPLEBUCK again...?"
"Sorry, but that ain't enough time," Raynor said with a smile. Applejack looked up at him in terror. Raynor's visor still covered his face. The skull looked down mockingly at Applejack. He voice came out of the speakers, muffled and crackling. "That was a good effort, kid. Piece of advice though, since you're new: don't waste your cooldowns." He pointed his gauss rifle at her and said, "PENETRATING ROUND."
The blast finished Applejack. Her world went dark at the sound of the bullet's fire.


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