The. Worst. Possible. Thing
Applejack
Applejack’s awakening was not peaceful, and she let out an ear-piercing scream, before finding herself being pushed forward into a small cell, Plexiglas surrounding her on all sides. It took her a moment before she could fully get her bearings, spinning round wildly to try and make sense of her current situation, before focusing on the tech-priest now watching her.
“I am Magos Biologis Fonteyn of the Adeptus Mechanicus,” the woman began to speak with a slightly robotic edge to her voice. “If you can understand me, raise your right forehoof.”
Applejack glared at the tech priest, massaging the point where the needle had been inserted earlier. “Where am I?” she demanded.
“I will ask you again,” Fonteyn continued, looking between Applejack and a datapad she was holding. “Raise your right forehoof and place it on the glass.”
“Blow it out…” Applejack began, before letting out a scream as electricity surged through her. She collapsed to the floor, before shakily raising her right hoof and placing it against the glass.
“So, it seems you can follow simple instructions, and now you also know the price of lying or failing to answer,” Fonteyn nodded as Applejack got back to her hooves, removing her hand from the button she had been pressing. “I am going to ask you simple questions, I suggest you answer in the same manner. Now, how do you know Low Gothic?”
“Screw…” Applejack began, before stopping as Fonteyn placed her hand over the button. “Ah…don’t know.”
“Elaborate,” Fonteyn didn’t move her hand.
“Ah speak Equestrian, ah speak Tau, ah don’t see any difference between the two, or this Low Gothic yer talkin about.”
“Interesting,” Fonteyn began to type on the datapad, before looking up at Applejack again. “What are you?”
“Pony,” Applejack replied simply.
“Some time ago a mechanicus outpost on the world Omega-88757109 was razed completely. Data recovered from the base cameras showed one of the warriors as a winged equine creature, fighting alongside Eldar from the craftworld of Saim-Hann. What do you know of this?”
“Nothing,” Applejack answered instantly, having to force herself to lie, before crying out again as Fonteyn pressed the button again.
“Ok fine!” Applejack managed to speak through gritted teeth. “It…she was mah friend. Her name is…Rainbow Dash.”
“She was wearing sealed armour, but she also had wings which were much more prehensile than those of the Swooping Hawks. Does your race have the ability to create sophisticated bionic limbs?”
“No,” Applejack shook her head, her voice hollow as she felt like she was betraying Rainbow. “They’re real.”
“So she has wings and you do not,” Fonteyn clarified. “Two different strains of your race?”
“Yeah,” Applejack nodded.
“What is she?”
“A…a Pegasus,” Applejack answered, eyeing the button warily.
“As in ancient Terran legends?”
“Ah don’t know,” Applejack admitted.
“What are you then?”
“An Earth Pony.”
“And that is?”
“What do you mean?” Applejack asked.
“Explain to me the dynamics of your race,” Fonteyn spoke, running her fingers over the button.
“Fine,” Applejack sighed. “There’s three kinds of us, Earth Ponies, Pegasi and Unicorns. Earth Ponies are stronger and can farm better, Pegasi can fly and control the weather, and unicorns can use magic.”
“Magic?” Fonteyn suddenly look very concerned, leaning forward. “Your race has psykers?”
“Ummm…unicorns can use magic like lifting stuff up and teleporting,” Applejack answered, Fonteyn’s sudden concern unnerving her even more.
“And you? Do you have those abilities?”
“If ah did ah wouldn’t be here,” Applejack snorted, before her body was wracked by electricity again. “No! No ah don’t. Mah magic’s passive, it helps with growin food and farmin.”
Fonteyn leant back, clearly deep in thought as she began to walk around Applejack, examining her from every angle. Finally she stopped in front of Applejack again.
“How do you lift things up? The being you identified as Rainbow Dash carried a sword in its hoof. Is this more of your magic?”
“Ah think so, but ah’m not an expert,” Applejack glared at Fonteyn. “Ah’ve told ya what ah know, what do y’all want from me?”
Fonteyn didn’t answer, instead making more notes on her datapad, before a servitor entered the room.
“There will be more questioning sessions in the near future, I suggest you remember what the price of disobedience is,” Fonteyn turned to face the servitor as she finished talking to Applejack. “Remove this creature and place her in cell 229.”
The servitor didn’t reply, simply moving towards the cube Applejack was in. Applejack expected it to open the cube, and she prepared herself to run. Instead, the servitor simply picked up the cube, sending Applejack crashing into the clear wall.
She watched as the facility went past her cube, fear gripping her mind as she caught half-glimpses of room filled with sharp knives, saws and other implements. Before she could concentrate on them however, her journey came to an abrupt halt as the cube she was in was placed on the floor. The front section was pulled open, and Applejack took a tentative step forward into the small cell, the entrance sliding closed behind her, leaving her locked in the new cell.
It was bigger than the cube had been, but not by much. The back wall was the same gunmetal grey as the floor and was freezing to the touch, while the other three walls were made up of thin bars, closely spaced, making sure that Applejack couldn’t get her hoof through them, and limiting her options even further, as well as ensuring that the occupant had no privacy. Looking to the sides, Applejack saw rows of other identical cells, almost all of them occupied with creatures of some description. The cell next to hers had a Tau in it, and Applejack hurriedly tapped the bars.
“Hey, can ya here me?”
“It’s no use talking to him,” a soft voice caught Applejack’s attention.
“Who said that?” she asked, turning around, searching for the source.
“I did,” a humanoid creature leant forward in one of the cells opposite hers. “The Tau is gone, I do not know what they did to him, but I have not heard him speak or seen him move freely for almost a week now.”
“What is this place?” Applejack asked fearfully, eying the unmoving Tau and shuddering.
“A Mechanicus Crawler under the command of the Magos Biologis Fonteyn, I am sure you have already met her. I am sorry to see you here, I would hardly wish this place on my worst enemies.”
“Why? What does she want from us?”
“It varies from subject to subject,” the humanoid replied with a shrug. “Some exhibit certain traits, some are new species, some are simply needed for experimentation. Were you captured in battle?”
Applejack nodded silently, breathing hard as the weight of where she was continued to press down on her.
“I am Ko’roc.”
“Applejack.”
Ko’roc nodded slowly, allowing Applejack to get a better view of his face. His features were angular, but he had bags under his eyes and bruises on his skin that detracted from the overall look. His modesty was protected by a small strip of fabric wrapped around his waist that hung off his tiny frame. From the amount his ribs were showing through his chest, Applejack guessed that he didn’t look this way by choice.
“Are you…an Eldar?” she asked cautiously.
“Yes,” Ko’roc nodded. “And you are?”
“A pony,” Applejack replied.
“Interesting,” Ko’roc sighed, getting to his feet. “Maybe we can continue this conversation soon, though I make no promises.”
“Where are you going?” Applejack asked, watching as a pair of servitors walked towards his cell, opening the door and roughly grabbing hold of him.
“Where are you taking him?!” she roared, getting to her hooves and slamming a hoof into the bars, the servitors not even turning. “Where are you going?! Ku’roc!”
The Eldar didn’t respond, staying silent as the door slammed closed, leaving Applejack to roar in the darkness until her throat hurt. Finally she stopped shouting, collapsing onto the floor and allowing her weariness to overtake her.
***
Applejack growled as Fonteyn approached her again, Applejack once again in the clear cube. For a minute, Fonteyn made various notes, before speaking.
“Today we are going to discuss your hooves,” Fonteyn began. “You said that you have some sort of passive psychic…”
“Piss off,” Applejack growled, gritting her teeth as the electricity predictably coursed through her body, refusing to scream.
“Let’s try again,” Fonteyn continued. “What…”
“Piss, off,” Applejack growled again, the electricity coming just as fast.
This time Applejack did cry out, her fur singeing slightly before Fonteyn finally turned it off.
“I will give you one more…”
"Don’t waste your breath,” Applejack snapped. “Ah ain’t answerin’ any of yer questions. Ah don’t care if ya kill me, yer not getting anythin’ from me.”
Applejack’s scream echoed around the cube as she collapsed to the floor, convulsing wildly, before lying still.
“Very well, it seems that pain will not serve as an efficient incentive,” Fonteyn looked towards one of the servitors in the room, blurting out an order in the odd static language they spoke.
The servitor disappeared for a few minutes of silence, before returning, the Tau who had been in the cell next to her dragged with him. His eyes were glazed over and his feet dragged on the floor, the servitor barely needing to exert any force over him to make him do what it desired.
“This subject has outlived his usefulness,” Fonteyn began, pulling out an odd, gun-like tube. “He has been kept for a control, but maybe he will serve a new purpose. You will talk, or he will be punished in your stead.”
Applejack froze, locking eyes with the Tau. She almost buckled there and then, part of her wanting to drop to her knees and beg for mercy, but the rational part of her brain looked beyond the outside of his body and looked into his soul, looking for any emotion in his eyes, and finding none. In an instant, Applejack saw what Ko’roc had meant with him not being suitable for talking to. He had long since passed on, his body just hadn’t caught up with the decision yet.
“Fuck you,” Applejack whispered, locking eyes with the Tau, determined to keep the gaze for as long as she could.
“Very well,” Fonteyn raised the tool to the Tau’s temple, before pulling the trigger.
There was a soft thump sound, the tube shuddering slightly, before blood began to seep out from the Tau’s temple, not breaking the skin, and turning it a dull purple colour. The light died from his eyes instantly, and he fell forward, the servitor catching him and carrying the lifeless corpse out of the room.
“We could have done this easily,” Fonteyn turned away as another servitor picked up the cube. “Take her to the examination room and prepare my tools.”
***
Applejack hit the floor in her cell hard as the servitor simply dropped her, drawing a soft groan from her. Her throat was once again painful from all the screaming she had done, the door to her cell sliding closed. She tentatively tried to stand up, before wailing as she put weight on her hooves and falling back to the floor.
All four of the sensitive appendages were covered in cuts and gouges where skin had been removed. True to her word, Fonteyn had changed tact's, from simple questioning to physical examinations. She had screamed for hours as the tech priest used knives, scalpels and a host of other implements to learn all she could from her hooves, before finally leaving, a servitor wordlessly taking her back to her cell.
“Applejack,” Ko’roc looked across at her, placing a hand against his bars.
He was about to speak, before stopping short of asking if she was ok. The answer was plainly clear as she dragged herself across the floor, using her legs rather than her hooves themselves to move across the floor towards her water bowl, taking a long gulp from it, before she looked across at Ko’roc.
Her body may have been showing signs of wear, but her eyes still had a fire in them. “Ah’ll be fine,” she croaked. “Fonteyn can do what she wants, ah’m not talkin to her anymore.”
“She’ll break you,” Ko’roc warned, sighing heavily and looking round at the other cages. “Everyone else except for you has been here longer than me, and you saw what that Tau was like.”
“Fonteyn killed him, to make a point,” Applejack growled, dragging her way over towards the bars. “Right in front of me, because I wasn’t talking.”
“Then he is the lucky one,” Ko’roc shook his head. “You saw Fonteyn, she will get results one way or the other, and no price is too high for her.”
“How long have you even been here?” Applejack asked, resting her head on the bars and looking at Ko’roc.
“Two? Three weeks?” he shrugged. “My brethren and I were captured in battle, and let me tell you, they are the lucky ones, they got a quick death.”
“Tell me about them,” Applejack murmured, her eyes getting heavy as she fought the urge to sleep.
Instead she simply listened, letting Ko’roc’s words wash over her as he told him his past and how he came to be here. They talked for hours, before Ko’roc looked over and smiled softly, Applejack snoring softly as she leant against the bars.
***
How long had Applejack been in the crawler? A week? Ten days? The days had started to run together as they had dragged on, the lack of any view of the outside ruined her perception of time, and forced her to rely on her internal clock, as skewed as it may have been.
Ko’roc had been her rock for most of her time here, comforting her when she came back from Fonteyn, he legs covered in new surgical cuts to try and unlock their secret. He had always been kind, and without him Applejack didn’t know if she would have stayed sane.
Then one day, he simply stopped talking. He was deposited back in his cell by a servitor, and as usual Applejack crawled over towards him, asking him what had happened, only to receive a hollow, thousand yard stare in return.
Applejack had stopped eating shortly after that, determined to end the torment once and for all. It took days to die from dehydration though, and she could go weeks without food if forced before passing on, and Fonteyn had no desire to lose her newest test subject yet. Fonteyn had personally forced a feeding tube up Applejacks nose and down her throat, allowing her to pump food directly into her stomach.
The only respite she got from the pain was when she slept, her brain usually too tired from the day to bring up the memories again as nightmares. Then, even that was taken from her. Unseen speakers on the ceiling had started to buzz. At first Applejack had thought nothing of it and had tried to get some sleep regardless, but after tossing and turning, trying to drift off, she had found it impossible. The sound died off for exactly seven thousand two hundred seconds, before it started up again, and it had become Applejack’s only way of telling the time, as soon as it went off, her eyes slumped and her body shut down, only to be awoken far too soon when it came back on.
It was during one of these times a servitor came for her, opening her cage door and grabbing her by the neck, guiding her out of the cell. It barely needed to drag her anymore as she walked towards whatever fresh hell Fonteyn had in store for her. Her hooves no longer raised off the floor as she walked, dragging along as she shuffled forward, her head low to the ground, her nose almost touching the floor.
Even in this stage, she still flinched when she saw Fonteyn, and her flight instinct tried to kick in. Before Applejack could even entertain the idea, the servitor had picked her up, strapping her down to the table, before falling silent once more.
Fonteyn began to probe Applejack as she usually did, paying attention to her head, twisting it this way and that, making notes all the while, never once speaking, working with a clinical detachment.
Finally, she broke the silence.
“You are a fascinating specimen, did you know that? I dare say I have learnt more about you in the short time you have been my charge than you know about yourself.”
Applejack didn’t reply, simply looking at Fonteyn as she pulled a strap tight against her forehead, keeping her from moving her head.
“Your hooves for one, your friends wings for another. Imagine what I could learn from her, or from one of the ones you call unicorns, but I digress. Your eyes are interesting though, for such a small creature you have larger than normal eyes. I have been observing them closely, but observations only get so far.”
Fonteyn picked up a scalpel, examining the blade for a moment, before advancing on Applejack. Applejack would have liked to say that she struggled, that she fought against her encroaching fate, but in truth, the fight had been taken out of her, and she lay still as Fonteyn placed the scalpel just above her eye.
***
Applejack sat in her cell, her back propped up against the wall as her one remaining eye stared off into space, half of her head wrapped in bandages that covered her empty socket. The buzzing noise was silent, but she hadn’t been able to go to sleep. She had counted the seconds she had been back in the cell, counting down to the time the buzzing would come back on.
Seven thousand one hundred and ninety eight, Seven thousand one hundred and ninety nine, Seven thousand two hundred.
On que, the buzzing started and Applejack let out a low groan. The sound came from deep within her chest, the sound twisting into a raspy moan before it even left her lips. She didn’t know what she could do anymore, every part of her body was in pain from the experimentation that Fonteyn had done. Even walking hurt, and large clumps of her fur had been shaved off, giving her a ragged appearance. The bands that had held her mane in a braid had long since been discarded, and the sweat drenched hair now hung in clumps across her face. Rarity would have had a fit by now, but Applejack was far past the point of caring.
Her vision swam in and out of focus, before she squinted, her one eye almost closed as she strained herself. Her cell was bland, all of the walls and bars the same dull metal, and even the servitor guards were mostly machine, their remaining skin having an unnatural grey pallor, so why was she seeing colours, specifically blue.
Applejack tried to say something, but it came out as nothing but a guttural bark. Swallowing, she tried to wet her throat as best she could with the little spit she could muster, before trying again.
“R-Rainbow?”
The blue blur moved closer to her, and Applejack was sure that it was Rainbow as it knelt down before her, placing a hoof on her cheek. Part of Applejack knew that it wasn’t real, that Rainbow hadn’t miraculously appeared to rescue her, but she so wanted it to be real, every fibre of her being wanting to see her friend again. She could almost feel the hoof against her cheek, before she closed her eye, not even the buzzing managing to keep her awake.
This chapter was always planned, but I'd like to say a special thank you to shinikage for your comment which helped me flesh out the ideas. You're awesome. 
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Damn nazi's
That was fucking awesome as hell. A bit disappointed that Rainbow will be the focus for a few chapters, but interested as to how she learned of AJ's location.
I also wanna hear about the Tau completely fucking up the Imperium on that planet btw. It must happen.
Ah the Adeptus Mechanicus. Taking the Imperium's fucked up tendencies to 11, one Forge World at a time. Poor Applejack got to see it all firsthand. She definitely won't be a fan of humans after this little trip, if the Ultramarines and Titan invasion of the farming colony didn't set that firmly.
This is the fortieth millennium, so I expect that Rainbow Dash will save Applejack, but the Tau will get an ass kicking from the Dark Eldar that Rainbow has brought along with her, to the point where the Imperium is holding onto a scrap heap, the Tau lose the Cadres they sent, and more slaves fill the bloody arenas of Commorragh.
Remember everyone, it's 40k: Nobody really wins, except for the person who is the most fucked up. And it's harder to get more fucked up then a Wych Cult Leader and an Archon. A lot of machine cultists and Tau are going to be fodder for the masses of the Dark City!
...now I want to go reread the Damocles Crusade fluff book. Other than the Kor'sarro Khan/Shadowsun weird stuff, it really ends up showcasing how much Agrellan/Mu'glath Bay cost both sides of the war.
The Imperium loses a Hive World and gives the Tau a place where they can cross the Damocles Gulf, a Raven Guard is captured alive and has many of his memories stolen by some strange Tau-aligned mind-hive-worm thing, Kor'sarro loses honor in the White Scars for failing to return with the skull of Shadowsun as he was tasked, and the Terryn Homeworld is right in the path of the Taus expansion.
On the other hand...
The follow up battle at House Terryn's gates kicks the T'au so hard in the brain that the Third Sphere grinds to a halt, Shadowsun is in Aun'va'ks shit list, and Shadowsun herself has grown 'hot blooded' like Farsight and is less interested in the patient hunt and more interested in the killing blow, and to top it off, she's severely wounded and the only survivor of the Imperium ambush. The Tau are starting to realize how vast the Imperium is, some of the crazy shenanigans they have laying in wait (Muglath Bay was the first time they had seen an Imperial Knight!).
6377529 Where can i get a copy of that book?
6377854 http://www.blacklibrary.com/all-products/damocles-ebook.html
I doubled check to make sure, but yeah, the Damocles Anthology is what it is. It was released with the Damocles Crusade campaign book.
"not peaceful, and she let out an ear-piercing, before finding" i feel there should be another word here
Im gonna be the outlier. Thank god for this chapter. I hate hate HATE the Tau and their beliefs, so seeing agents of the Imperium punish those who would follow said beliefs makes me happy. Shame AJ had to be the one to suffer, but then, she seemed all too eager to join the Tau.
6379081
You wanna fucking go? Do you? Fire Warriors will blow your head off before you even get into range. XV-88's will turn your tanks to scrap. So go on, go for another bayonet charge, try again with the tanks. Come on! Lets fucking do this! We have more rights then you do you fucking puppet of corpse. COME AND HAVE A FUCKIN' GO!
suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/17215659/images/1323905367071.jpg
*ahem* apologies for that last bit and the profanity, got a bit too into it.
6380029
Hehe, to tell you the truth, while I do like the Imperium, I find that CHAOS, IS THE ONLY TRUE ANSWER! So bring your warp blind tau to us. We will offer their souls to the gods, meager meal that they are, and use their bodies to fuel the forges that produce daemon engines. Gotta love the It Will Not Die special rule!
Terrible cliffhangers.
6380029
6380036
Now you see, you're both wrong. The Imperium, The Tau, even the followers of chaos are but wheat before the harvest, and Dark Eldar are the scythe. Your warriors will fill our arenas, you weak will please us in their pain, and your dead will provide us with more fuel to experiment with. When we are done we will retreat with the choicest morsels to where you cannot hope to reach us.
So prepare yourselves, fight or flee. It makes no difference to the inhabitants of Commoragh
6380641 ok how the buck did dash get in there 2 can i refeance this in my fic
6380641 ok seriusly i sooooo want to pick a fight with these guys can i
6380986
Huh?
6380991 the fic im working on can i refeance the rescue as in a past tense like after it happens and i just want to pick a fight with the dark guys
6380995
Who says she been rescued? And This isn't really an open universe at the moment, it doesn't lend itself to being a universe style fic yet
6381011 cool and besides youve seen my work its gonna be ages to get right migt make a prolouge intro to he charaters im using
6381022
Yeah, true. Just make your own universe and do whatever you want would be my advice
6381126 kk also wat u think bout me using game characters as actul characters for it
6381198
It's your story, go for it
6381499 true but im asking a writers opnion couse all my friends tell me its good but i need critasisim
6381508
Writing existing characters means you have to get personalities perfect or the character comes across wrong. It's much harder, which is why OCs are used quite a bit
6381662 true but i ment like actul non pony charactrs from starwars the old republic resident evil and deadspace
6381725
I thought you were doing a Warhammer fic???
6382108 i am there in it as part of a team lead by one of the ocs im using il send u the character list i have
6384940
IM me if anything
6385189 spike obisly wat
6385236 for the deamon to round out the line up
6385278 actuly there all in my oc well tecnicly only 2 blood cleaver the earth elemental demon and claw whos a compleate psychopath that attacks anyone diablo and gelu are living twin blades made of fire and ice that was seperated from red also he needs to reconnect with cleaver to keep claw in check
6377456
I'm kinda cross AJ caved so early in the Chapter. Kind of runs counter to what military ppl. are taught to do in POW situations. At least she started to fight back in the middle.
6422735 Well I suppose not everyone knows how soldiers are trained in the POW situation
6422822
Yeah, all you're supposed to say is name, rank, and serial number and your top priority is to find a means of escape.
6422873 Ahh righto
6422873
Yeah, true, although she was under torture, and had just been in a fight, plus she had an unknown cocktail of drugs pumped into her system that hadn't necessarily been fully flushed out yet, so I think it's not as unrealistic as it could have been
6423051
I wish you'd had been more detailed in stating AJ had a cocktail drugs injected into her during the initial interrogation.
6423149
Well she doesn't even know it yet, so I thought it would have just added something odd and feel shoehorned in. I've got a plan to spread some more light on this whole scene in the next AJ chapter
6423173
Well, you could've gave her slurred speech or had her act a bit drowsy a la "show not tell" as a hint, but it's done now.
6423217
Yeah, that possibly would have been better. I don't know if a retcon is needed or just explaining afterwards.
6423200
I had him before this story was even made, I just had the luck of having my Tau Sept featured in this story
6423800
I do hope our characters can work together at some point. Other than just him being cross at my OC for not bringing reinforcements. -_-'
6433264
I guess this would be his reaction to see his warriors not doing what they are told/retreating due too not having the back up they needed
6433785
Well, if you read the Chapter, my OC wasn't exactly happy about not bringing extra troops. :(
Applejack’s awakening was not peaceful, and she let out an ear-piercing, before finding herself
What do you know if this
but
itshe also had wings which wereIf this more of your magic
“Where are you taking him?!”she roared
Don’t waste your breath,” Applejack snapped
True to her word, Fonteyn had changed tact’s
as skewed as may have been
The one day, he simply stopped talking
that Rainbow hadn’t miraculous appeared to rescue her
1. And she let out an ear-piercing... Scream? Shriek?
2. Of.
3. Extra It.
4. Is.
5. Forgot your spacing.
6. Forgot your opening quotation mark.
7. Hmm... I'm actuallt not sure about this one. I know the saying, but I'm not sure if the apostrophe is needed.
8. As skewed as it may have been.
9. Then.
10. Miraculously.
*wildly thrashing but being held back* Let me at the sick demented freak! You hurt a Pony and I'll hurt you so much your grandparents will regret even being born!