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// Chapter 3: Applejack‘s Mission 
// Story: Mega Mares 
// by Keeper of time RD 
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	Once Applejack could see something other than the flashing light of a teleportation spell she found herself on a ridge overlooking some train tracks. A smiled graced her face at the building roar that gave warning to the approaching train.

The side of her torso popped open slightly, as the armored plate slid outward it revealed a metallic lasso hanging on a hook on the inside of the plate. As she spun the lasso up to speed she recalled the advice she’d received in the practice range earlier. “While you can easily pull your own weight with it, Don’t try to lasso any robot bigger then you, as their motors are likely strong enough to snap even high-strength cable like this,” Gears had said.

Looking over the oncoming train, Applejack spied an exposed rooftop tube near the back that lacked any enemy robots nearby. Breaking into a full gallop she ran alongside the train from above the ridge, leapt off the cliff and let her lasso fly. The lasso connected and the robo-pony swung around landing on top of the train, near the caboose.

After retrieving her lasso and returning it to its compartment Applejack ran along the rooftop, but didn’t get far before robots made in the likeness of rabbits started joining her on the roof. For a brief moment she considered thinking the mechanical bunnies cute. Then their ears clicked forward, becoming double-barreled beam cannons, pointed right at her. “Nope, definitely varmints.”

Much like the wolves from her first mission, Applejack found that the robotic bunnies were mere mass-produced combat drones, and fell quickly to her blaster. Although she found more robots in her way, atop each train car, they only slowed Applejack’s progress at best. Her forward charge only came to a halt when she reached the first flatbed car, and by proxy the first of the massive artillery cannons being transported.

Shrapnel from the last of the car’s guards were swept away by the rushing winds as Applejack did a quick double check to make sure she wasn’t under attack anymore. She pointed a hoof at the massive gun and charged her cannon. A golden-orange blast flashed at near pointblank, and created little more then a *tink* noise on impact. “Yeah, that ain’t gonna work.”

“Hmm guess it’s high time Ah try this out, in the field,” Applejack added, as she spun on her front hooves. Activating her magic weapon, golden-orange light began to shine from the lines between the armor plates of her hind legs, and around joints. Balancing on her front legs, Applejack coiled her hind legs for a second and then gave her target the best buck she could muster.

The resulting clang was loud enough to be heard over the roar of the train, and probably for miles around it. Not only did the attack dislodge the armor plate she was aiming at, but also sent it flying out the opposite side of the artillery piece. Looking through the hole, she saw broken gears falling down from above, snapped wires sparking away, and a damaged magic power cell that had energy arcing wildly around it.

A second later the control box attached to the damaged artillery exploded. Inside the piece, the magic coming off of the damaged power cell was sparking lots of little explosions, spreading across the cannon. “Yeah… Ah’ll take that as my cue to get out’a dodge,” Applejack muttered, just before she bolted for the next train car.


A few minutes and several train cars of light fighting later and Applejack found herself on another flatbed car. However, this time there was no heavy weapon, instead there was a large robot rabbit standing on the opposite side of the car, at least three times bigger then the ones she’d been fighting so far.

“You’re not going to let me pass are ya?”

The giant mechanical rodent, with metal boxing gloves for front paws, shook its head and pounded its fists together.

With a smile Applejack closed her hoof, hiding her beam cannon, and said, “Well you’re in luck. Ah’m not opposed to a good brawl.”

With that both charged at each other. The rabbit swung high, Applejack slid underneath the attack, angled her attack to the side, bucked hard and sent her foe flying off the train. “Of course Ah ain’t opposed to letting gravity do my job for me either,” the robot farm pony said. The robot rabbit spun in the air and landing feet first immediately rebounded right back at the train. “Oh snap!” Applejack added once she’d calculated that her enemy would land on top of her.

Rolling to the side, Applejack narrowly dodged the bright red boxing glove that smashed into the floor and the battle resumed. After two more dodges, Applejack got tired of trying to land a punch or kick, so she charged and fired her beam cannon. Though taken off guard by the change in tactics the robo-rabbit responded by lowing its ears and returning fire with its own beam cannons.

The two fought, alternating between trading blows with beam cannons and limbs for a minute or two, until Applejack slid in under an attack and countered with two quick kicks using her front legs. Seeing that her opponent was off balance from the blows, she activated her magic weapon, charging her hoof with energy and slugged the robo-bunny clean in the chest.

Her rival’s shields flickered and gave up the ghost as Applejack’s hoof smashed through the armor, leaving a gaping hole in the robo-bunny. A quick series of sparks and pops spread through the robot rabbit, the light faded from its eyes and then it fell to the floor.

Breathing heavily out of habit rather then necessity, Applejack frowned as she took notice that her shields were down to 50% and her weapons power cell only had 20% of its energy left. Looking to the next train car she muttered, “Ah wonder what ya got in there that seemed worth protecting.”

Slipping inside she flashed her beam cannon back and forth as she looked about, relaxing when she found that she was the only thing moving inside. Smiling when she realized the shelves lining either side of the car were stocked with shield and weapon magic power cells. Opening her hoof up, she pressed the lens array of her beam cannon against the power cells and drew in the magical energy. When she had finished with the last of the power cells, it hadn’t been enough to top off, but moving forward with 80% shield energy and 70% weapons seemed much less daunting to finish her mission with then the previous numbers.

Fighting her way up the rest of the train, Applejack now stood with only the engine and the last artillery piece before her. The reason she wasn’t moving onward to finish her mission? The large orange tiger-like robot standing between her and her target. The walls that had popped up the minute she’d stepped onto this car and were stopping her from advancing or retreating off of the current car weren’t helping either for that matter.

“I commend you for making it this far. But your path end here, pony!” the mechanical tiger said, in a distinctly male voice.

Despite being designed in the likeness of a tiger, he clearly preferred to stand upright on his hind legs. His front paws looked more like a minotaur's hands with three blades strapped to the back, than a tiger’s paws.

“See’n as there ain’t much of the train left, Ah’m guessing that makes you the artillery commander?” Applejack asked.

“Yes, and now it is time that you learned just how much stronger than the average robot commanders like me are!”

Red magic glowed around the tiger’s claws, moving like fire, but not quite the right color to be actual flames. Taking a sing at the air, three blades of energy came off of the claws, flying right at the robot pony.

Dodging to the side, Applejack returned fire with her blaster. The shot didn’t accomplish much of anything as the tiger-bot took another swing and its claws tore the energy shot apart before it could even hit his armor. Passing a quick glare back and forth the two ran at each other. The tiger’s claws shimmered with magic, and Applejack’s blaster glowed with energy as she charged it up. The robot tiger leapt high, lashing out with its claws. Sliding low Applejack ducked under the attack and fired her blaster up, into the tiger’s belly.

While the robo-tiger didn’t even flinch, electricity flashed around his armor. Spinning around both robots rushed at each other again. Every little bob and weave Applejack made was matched by her adversary. She gave a low snarl as she charged, all the while the glow of her magic radiated from her leg. Two front limbs lashed out, one clawed, one hoofed. Both attacks hit home, sending both robots tumbling to opposite sides of the flatbed car, while their armor crackled with electricity.

Soot, down to fifty percent shields already? That ain’t going to work! Applejack thought as she scrambled back to her hooves. When the tiger rushed at her again the robo-farm-pony turned and ran toward the wall behind her. She leapt high, the tiger slashed at the air, sending a magic shockwave at her. Kicking off of the wall, Applejack rebounded over the top of the attack. Charging her hoof with magic she came down hard on the tiger’s back, slamming him to the floor as she rebounded off of the tiger. Landing well out of reach of any counter attack she fired several quick shots from her blaster to add to the damage she’d done.

Raising back to its feet, the robot tiger charged its claws with magic and started slashing away the beam-cannon shots, ending the assault. The magic aura around his claws grew brighter just before he jumped straight up, releasing a wave of energy three times Applejack’s height, right at her. Charging her beam cannon, Applejack turned and ran, raced the wave of energy to the far wall, opening her side compartment and retrieving her lasso as she did. As she reached the wall she leapt into and kicked off of the wall, barely getting over the wave of energy as it rushed under her.

While Applejack was dodging the first wave the tiger jumped high and slashed at the air sending a second wave of energy flying, several feet off of the floor.

Just as Applejack cleared the first wave she let her lasso fly, snagging one of the tiger’s clawed hands and yanked herself down faster then gravity alone would have, ducking under the second wave.  The second her hooves hit the floor, she her pointed one at her enemy, fired the blast from her beam cannon and took off running right at her foe.

Using one claw to cut the cable around the other, the tiger was too distracted to block the beam-cannon shot. As his armor’s shields crackled under the strain of the hit, a startled look flashed on the mechanical feline’s face for an instant, only to be replaced with an angry glare the next. Charging his claws with magic he rushed forward to meet the stampeding pony-bot head on.

Spinning around on her front hooves, the glow of her magic systems surrounded her hind legs and both robots lashed out at each other. Both struck home. Claws came down on Applejack’s back and her shields flashed like lightning. Despite her shields preventing any real damage, she acquired three long scratches in her paint job. The energy arcing around the tiger’s armor seemed to shatter outward, as if riding on an invisible shell as it exploded, and Applejack’s hooves punched through the tiger’s chest armor.

As the pony-bot withdrew her hind hooves from the tiger, the light in its eyes flickered out and a chain of small explosions ran through its body.

Applejack looked down on her defeated foe. “Whoa!” she exclaimed, as her heads up display seemed to go nuts. After a second the words ‘compatible upgrade detected’ flashed in her field of view, followed by ‘scanning’ and then ‘reconfiguring.’

When her heads up display seemed finished, Applejack opened her weapons menu and immediately noticed a new weapons system called ‘Tiger Strike’ was listed there. The next thing she noticed was the sound of the train slowing down. Realizing that the train’s engine had gone dead and nothing remained between her and the last artillery cannon, Applejack gave a satisfied grin and trotted onward to finish her mission.