//------------------------------// // Training in Fire // Story: The Descent into Madness // by FenrisianBrony //------------------------------// Applejack Applejack stared at the screen in the room she and her friends had been left on, a real-time image of Styro retreating into the distance showing clearly across its surface, captured from one of the ships many external cameras. Even from this distance, Applejack could make out the small shapes of other ships, some human and some Tau. It would have been beautiful, enchanting even, if it had not been for the lances of light that shot through the void of space, marking the furious battle that was still being fought above the planet, just as it was on the ground. Applejack could hardly say that she was sorry to be leaving, but she would be lying to herself if she said she didn’t feel a pang of guilt for being extracted while others died in droves. She didn’t know why she felt the kinship she did, having not known the majority of those on the planet, but it went beyond simply not wanting to see others be hurt, she was just yet to put her hood on it. She was broken out of her inner thoughts by the sound of the door hissing open, her ears flicking back a moment before her head turned, her eyes resting on Aun’Vesa. Koghad, Lofeg and W1, the only others from Styro to join her, also turned to looked at the Ethereal. “Greetings once again,” he bowed his head slightly, matching the gazes of the others in the room as they bowed in return. “I apologise for my quick departure when we arrived on board, but my duties called me to the bridge. I trust you have not encountered any problems?” “None that need be brought up here Ethereal,” Koghad shook his head. “Very good. Now, before we go into stasis, I feel that it is right for me to inform you of events forward of this point in time. First, our destination is Pa’Laa, the world from which the Fire Caste on Styro are from, as well as my most recent station. Secondly, our plan upon arrival. It had been my intention that I would only be transporting Applejack here, but no matter. The main reason for your extraction is still the same, and that is safety. Until we can arrange transport back to a first sphere colony, the three of you will remain close to those able to protect you. When the time comes, you will be moved back away from the frontier and towards a safer…” “Yer babyin’ us,” Applejack murmured softly. “I’m sorry?” Aun’Vesa asked. “You’re babying us,” Applejack enunciated better, speaking louder this time. “The analogy can hardly be used here,” Aun’Vesa shook his head. “My orders are simply to retrieve you and ensure that you are safe.” “By moving us so far away from the frontier where we were actually doing a good job,” Applejack insisted. “Lass, be careful,” Koghad warned, but stepped back as Aun’Vesa came forward. “It is quite alright Koghad, she is within her right to question, as are all in my presence. It is our fundamental right as living beings is it not? That being said, I wonder if you could give Applejack and I the deck. I have a feeling that a discussion like this would be best served with only two participants. There is a mess hall down two levels if you wish?” “Of course Ethereal,” Koghad bowed. “Ah haven’t had much decent grub recently anyhow. Come on Lofeg, let’s git out of the Ethereals way.” Aun’Vesa and Applejack watched the pair leave, before the Ethereal gestured towards a chair. “Please, sit. I was advised to keep weight off of your injured leg for the near future.” Nodding, Applejack sat down, Aun’Vesa facing her. For a long time the pair didn’t speak, the back-drop of space on the screen adding to the calm nature of the room, before Aun’Vesa finally spoke once more. “So? You believe me to be babying you?” “Ah don’t mean ta be rude,” Applejack shook her head, Aun’Vesa shaking his with a smile. “Please, I understand that you are not trying to be so inclined. Consider this an open conversation. Present what ails your thoughts, and I will do my best to put these worries at ease.” “Ah don’t want ta be put on some world where I won’t be doin’ anypony any good. We were needed badly on Styro, and it felt good to work t’wards somethin’.” “And you fear that is I place you on a world that is already established, your skills will be underappreciated. Correct?” “Well when ya say it like that it makes me sound like ah’m blowing mah own trumpet a bit loud,” Applejack blushed slightly. “It’s not that ah think ah’m better than anyone else or nothin’, it’s just ah like to know that what ah’m doin’ is usin’ mah abilities for the best possible cause.” “It is an understandable concern,” Aun’Vesa nodded slowly. “But look at it this way, would you not want the safety inner colony could provide? Your time on Styro, while brief, was not uneventful by any stretch of the word. A Space Marine attack on the military outpost beside your farm, a falling titan, even an assassin sent to find you and retrieve the life you saved. I must commend you on having the fortitude to save the Princeps in the face of what I hear was contentious opposition from your own allies. All lives are precious, even those of our enemies. Though they fight against us, we should not be so quick to turn them away.” “There’s always good in ponies, and people,” Applejack shrugged. “Ah know that ya just want mah safety, for whatever reason, but ah don’t want to feel like ah’m being given special treatment.” Aun’Vesa nodded, before leaning forward slightly. “You are holding back on me Applejack. There is something else, isn’t there?” “Ah don’t know,” Applejack shrugged with a sigh. “Ah can’t shake the feelin’ that ah’m runnin’ away before ah should. Like ah should still be down there.” She gestured towards the screen with her hoof. “Interesting,” Aun’Vesa mused. “Tell me more about this. You wish to be out in the desert still?” “Oh no,” Applejack amended quickly. “No, ah mean on the planet in general. There are so many fightin’ and dyin’ down there, me getting to skip out early seems cowardly and dishonest.” “You were only a farmer,” Aun’Vesa pointed out. “It is not your job to fight the battles of the Fire Caste.” “And back in Equestria ah was an Element of Harmony,” Applejack reasoned. “We were the ones that helped ta defeat those who threatened the country.” Aun’Vesa nodded, his eyes slowly drifting Applejacks form as he lost himself in deep thought, before finally speaking, slowly and deliberately. “Applejack, are you familiar with the idea of a crucible of fire?” “Ah don’t think so, no,” Applejack shook her head. “It is an old idea, one that stretches back to the very beginning of the Tau’s history,” Aun’Vesa began. “If you survive a crucible, you only grow the stronger for it. Whether that is physically, mentally or emotionally, the idea behind it remains the same. Crucibles can tale many shapes, but in this case, it was one by fire, and was characterised by your ordeal on Styro. The guilt you feel comes from knowing you can do something, and yet sitting by and doing nothing. You were a protector of your world once, and for better or worse, you want to be one again, am I right?” “Ah guess so,” Applejack nodded slowly. “Plus when Rainbow came back, she’d been through hell so she could get home. Ah don’t think things will be any easier this time. If ah could have done somethin’ to get ready for things, and she gets hurt, ah’d never forgive myself.” “Very well then,” Aun’Vesa stood up. “We must be heading to stasis soon, but before we do, I would like to extend to you the right to change castes, from Earth to Fire. If you accept, you will be enrolled in basic training when we arrive at Pa’Laa, and if you pass that, then you will once again be the guardian you once were.” Applejack’s resolve faltered for a second as what she was actually asking caught up with her. She had the opportunity to be safe, to ride out the storm that was the universe she found herself in in relative comfort, and yet she was rejecting it to purposely through herself into the fire. She wrestled with herself mentally for a few seconds, before she managed to steel her resolve once more, quashing the negative thoughts as she took a deep breath. “Ethereal Aun’Vesa, ah accept.” *** Applejack took a shuddering breath as the formation finally came to a stop, bottles of water flashing out of pouches on the mock armour they had all been given, and she was no different, retrieving the bottle of tepid liquid and greedily guzzling it down. She had been on Pa’Laa for weeks now, and had been training in the Fire Caste for almost exactly the same amount of time. She had gone into stasis not long after she had accepted Aun’Vesa’s offer, meaning that she still had to officiate the transfer, as well as convincing Koghad and Lofeg to join her, which had certainly not been an easy task. The fruits of her efforts however were clear, as both Demiurg stood beside her, bent double and wheezing hard. “Ah thought ya both used to be combat engineers, or somethin’,” Applejack managed a slight chuckle as she looked at the pair. “Aye, long time ago,” Koghad panted. “Plus, that didn’t require as much runnin’.” Applejack had to concede to him on that point, the run they had been on today was nothing short of suicidal. They had been woken up at the crack of dawn, just as the sun had first started to crest the horizon, which was a full four hours before the time they had been informed would be morning revile. In a sleepy haze they had donned their training armour and gear for the day, save for their weapons, which were all safely left back at base. “Fire Warriors!” Their training Shas’Ui, a scarred and grizzled Tau by the name of Karias, bellowed, and in an instant everyone was back up and in formation, water bottles once again being slipped inside their respective pouches. “We have ourselves a visitor today, all the way from the other side of the planet, Shas’Ui Tra.” The Tau who Karias had pointed to nodded, beginning to walk up and down the lines of Tau, as well as the small axillary contingent that was attached to the unit. “Soldiers of the Greater Good,” he called, his voice considerably more raspy than Karias’s, showing his age. “I was told by Karias that this is one of the more promising units in the current training cadre, that you’ve all done superbly in your training up until now. Is this correct?” “Sir, yes sir,” was the almost instantaneous reply. “Bullshit, I can’t hear you!” Tra bellowed. “Sound off like you mean it!” “Sir! Yes sir!” Tra nodded, continuing to walk down the line, before stopping in front of a Tau and glaring at her. “You, what makes you think that you’re better than the other trainees to deserve the praise Karias has been giving you? You look like every other Fire Warrior I’ve seen in my life, you think you’re above that?” “Sir, yes sir,” the woman nodded. “Bullshit. I’ve seen air caste members who are more intimidating than you are,” Tra smirked, before moving on, finally approaching the auxiliary section and stopping before Applejack, leering down at her as she forced herself to keep looking forward as she had been drilled to. “Now what the hell are you? We don’t let farm animals into the Fire Caste.” “Sir, I’m a pony, sir,” Applejack replied. “A pony?” Tra laughed. “Tiny creature like you won’t last a day in real war. What makes you think that you’re good enough to be here?” “Sir, give me a chance to prove myself, sir,” Applejack replied, biting back a retort, knowing that it would not only land her in the shit, but the rest of the unit to. “A chance to prove yourself?” Tra asked, crossing his arms, before taking a few steps back and addressing the whole unit. “That’s fine, you’ll all get a chance to prove yourself today, and you can start by marching back to camp, curtesy of your short little friend here. It seems that you all stupidly left your weapons behind.” As one, the unit turned their heads to look back up the hill they had just come down. The run that had been sprung on them had been hard enough, but marching back up to retrieve their weapons that they had been specifically told to leave behind was certainly not what any of them had expected. A collective groan emerged from almost every set of lips, before Karias silenced them with a roar of his own. “Did Tra fucking stutter, or are you all afraid of a little exercise? Now start marching, or I will personally send you all back to training with the children!” Sluggishly, the unit turned towards the hill, before beginning to march forward, Tra and Karias marching alongside them, occasionally calling out directions or ensuring that the formation stayed tight. It was going to be a long day. *** Applejack let a half breathe slide through her teeth, before holding what was left of the air in her lungs, just like she had been taught. She was lying down flat on her belly, a small optic slotted over her right eye, attaching back to the weapon that was currently attached to the series of straps she wore. When she had first started training there had been a few teething issues, mostly when it came down to classifications of her species in the auxiliary, manufacturing new gear for her species, and making sure that she got what she needed nutritionally from the food she was served, which luckily did not take too much time to sort out. The biggest challenge by far however was how she could fire a weapon. When Rainbow Dash had told her about how she fired her rifle when she was here, she had spoken about using the magical field on her hoof to use it, which was all well and good if the user could stand on their rear legs for an extended period of time, or could use wings to travel, thus freeing up their legs. Applejack however had never been very good at standing on two legs, and clearly had no wings, so a new method had to be devised. In the end, Applejack had been presented with a custom built harness system, complete with the targeter she now wore, which held the weapon close to her side, and allowed her to fire with a simple chip that was placed on the inside of her mouth, requiring specific movements to activate, and ensuring that there were no misfires when she didn’t want them. Currently she had a pulse rifle by her side, and after making the final adjustments to her aim, moved her mouth slightly, the technology working its magic and firing a small blue bolt at the target down range, scorching the metal plate there. “Good shot pony girl, we’ll make a warrior out of you yet,” Tra smirked as he looked at her target. The words were so simple, and yet they made Applejack’s heart sore as if they had been spoken by Celestia herself. *** Applejack puffed her chest out as she brushed a few flecks of dirt off of her dress uniform, making sure she looked presentable for the coming events. For once her Stetson was found off of her head, her mane instead flowing down her back in a tight braid, bound with strips of leather at regular intervals to ensure that it would not flow wildly in any breeze that caught it. Satisfied with her appearance, Applejack turned back towards her bunk and cupboards, making sure that both were equally as organised, only turning away once she was certain that even Twilight would have been impressed. Her new set of armour, the custom suit only recently released from the workshops of the Earth Caste, was stowed carefully in the footlocker at the end of the bed, the blue plates resting atop one another in such a way so as to ensure that they wouldn’t be scratched before they had to be. The only part of the armour that wasn’t in the foot locker was her helmet, which was sitting in the middle of her bed, the single eye piece polished to a shine. Beside that rested her weapon, a rail-gun squad support weapon. She had been the obvious choice to be the designated carrier of the weapon, its size and weight usually meaning that the bearer was slowed down considerably, but with her stocky frame and four legs, she could carry it with relative ease, as well as having a constantly stable platform to fire it from. Turning around, she looked at the rest of the squad she had been placed in, each one of them doing similar things to her, primping and preening themselves in preparation for the upcoming pass-out ceremony. It had been a long time coming, and it certainly hadn’t been easy, nor had it been without dropouts, Koghad and Lofeg to name but a few, but she personally had done it, and she couldn’t be more proud of herself. The squad, including her, numbered five new unbloodied Fire Warriors, as well as one Shas’Ui who had recently passed his trial by fire, and while they had yet to meet him, every single one of them was raring to go, their bodies having been transformed into springs of coiled muscle and reflex memory, ready to spring into action at any moment. It was a strange change of pace for everyone for her to be in this squad, being a member of a species other than Tau. Usually members of the auxiliary were grouped together with other members of their species in specialised squads, but this clearly presented a problem for Applejack. In the beginning, she had been placed with the Demiurgs, like she had been in the Earth Caste, her strength and natural tenacity marking her as suitable for the rigors of close quarter combat that the Tau were loath to commit to, but as time went on she had begun to exhibit more and more tendencies of a true Fire Warrior, save for the few outbursts and bucking fests she enjoyed when given free rein on the training field, which had almost seen her placed amongst one of the many Kroot packs within the Pa’Laa sept. Nevertheless, she had eventually proved that she was on par with Tau, and after much deliberation, the commanders of the training camp, with the blessing and backing of Ethereal Aun’Vesa, had passed a new standing order, stating that from this day forward, Applejack would no longer be considered part of the auxiliary for terms of classification. She would earn prestige, advance through the ranks, and for all intents and purposes, be treated exactly as if she had been born a Tau, not a pony. “Well, don’tcha scrub up nice, lass,” came a familiar voice, and Applejack turned to see Koghad walking into the room. “Ya know you’re not supposed to be in here,” Applejack pointed out, a small smile spreading across her lips. “‘Specially not this close to the parade.” “Yeah yeah, ah know it girl, doesn’t mean ah can’t come to congratulate mah friend.” “I’m sorry ya didn’t make it, same goes for Lofeg too,” Applejack sighed. “Don’t be, lass, we only agreed to this hare-brained scheme because of you, not ‘cause we wanted it as badly as you seem to.” “I’m not going to be helpless again,” Applejack responded defiantly. “No, you’re not,” one of her squad mates agreed, walking over to the pair and looking down at Koghad. “Now please, this is a moment for the Fire Caste. I would ask you to wait until later to speak to it’s newest member.” “Aye, I getcha,” Koghad nodded. “Ah’ll see ya around, Lass. Drinks are on me tonight.” “Ah’ll hold you to that,” Applejack snorted, watching as Koghad left the room, before returning to making sure she looked smart enough to do the Fire Caste proud. *** “Honour. Obedience. Duty. Self-sacrifice. These are the central tenants of the Code of Fire. For some of you, today marks the culmination of a lifetime of active training, while for others, it marks the end of the intensive training that we have provided here,” Aun’Vesa boomed out, technology amplifying his voice across the parade ground, ensuring none of the assembled Fire Warriors and on lookers would fail to hear his words. “There stands no greater glory than that earned in service of a cause greater than one’s self, for when we strive together, so many hearts beating towards a singular purpose, there is nothing we cannot achieve. Those stood before me today are testament to this claim, each one of you relying on your new brothers and sisters of fire to strengthen your resolve beyond what it could claim to be absent allies. To this end, I forever strike the title of Saal from you all. Bend a knee and cleanse yourself of your fears and doubts.” Applejack instantly fell to her front knees, bowing her head reverently, and fixing her eyes upon the bowl of water that had been placed before each and every one of those now upon the parade square. At an unspoken command, she reached her right hoof forward in perfect synchronisation with those around her, picking up the bowl and pouring the contents over her head. She could almost hear Rarity screaming in horror as the water soaked her dress uniform, the mental image only causing a slight flicker of a smile on her otherwise stoic face. The bowl was quickly drained of water, and Applejack placed it back on the floor before her, waiting for Aun’Vesa to continue. “No longer shall you bear the title underlings in your caste, but shall be known as Shas’La, soldiers of the Greater Good. Arise again, Fire Warriors.” Quickly getting to her hooves, Applejack and the other assembled Fire Warriors looked up at the raised platform Aun’Vesa stood upon, raising their own voices in reply. “For the beginning! For the end! The Fire Caste stands tall!” The parade ground suddenly seemed to become very quiet, Aun’Vesa taking a step back, allowing a Fire Warrior, his identity hidden behind his gleaming armour, to take centre stage. “You are all dismissed. Your time is yours until tomorrow. It is an honour to call you all my brothers and sisters, in arms and fire.” With a sound likethe thunder of the gods themselves, the assembled Fire Warriors brought their feet, and hooves, together, coming crisply to attention. A second later, a fist or hoof came crashing into their chests, held there for a few seconds, before falling back to the floor, those on the parade square quickly making their way towards the edge of it now that the presentation was finished. For her part, Applejack refrained from cheering as many of the others did, returning any congratulations she got with a smile, a nod and a ‘thank you’, before she felt a familiar weight land on her head, the brow of her Stetson once again coming into the top of her field of view. “There we are, lass, ya look like yerself again,” Koghad chuckled. “Ah feel it too,” Applejack chuckled, finally breaking out of the dour demeanour she had adopted for the parade and smiling coyly. “Now, I do believe that you said drinks were on you tonight, correct?” “Yer gonna hold me to that one, aren’t ya lass?” Koghad sighed, looking across at Lofeg with a crestfallen expression. “Did ya expect anything else?” the other Demiurg smirked. “Looks like yer mouth finally made a promise that your pocket couldn’t keep.” “Yer clearly don’t know how deep my pocket stretches,” Koghad retorted good-naturedly. “Well then, if that’s the case, ya’ll shouldn’t have any problem with getting in a round,” Applejack smirked. “Come on, ah’m sure with a nose as big as yours ya can sniff out a place to get some decent cider around here.” With that, Applejack set off at a trot through the crowd, Koghad and Lofeg exchanging glances, before hurrying after her.