Rainbow Dash
Rainbow glared across at one of her Reavers, cold calculated rage written clearly across her face as she seethed with silent rage. When she spoke, it was not a shout or a whisper, but a carefully measured and dangerous growl.
“So, tell me again, and this time, let’s pretend I’m stupid and go from first principles. Where are my slaves?”
“Y-Yes, Champion,” the Dark Eldar nodded, not looking directly at Rainbow as he started to recant his story yet again.
***
“We get one chance,” Scootaloo grimaced, before tapping her hoof on the activation rune.
The five second fuse stretched on for what felt like far too long, before the ball hissed angrily in Scootaloos hoof and rose upwards, before sparking and disappearing in a small ball of pure energy. A second later, the field shot outwards, passing harmlessly over Scootaloo and the others, but causing the forcefield to audibly pop as it flickered out of existence.
“Come…” Scootaloo began, before being knocked over by Lightning, the mare slamming her against a nearby wall and doing her best to growl threw her sewn shut lips.
“Lightning, get off her,” Spitfire began to run towards the pair, before her eyes went wide as Scootaloo pulled a knife out, darting it up to Lightnings face. “Don’t do it kid!”
Spitfire's horror soon faded however, the knife effortlessly cutting through the stitches in Lightnings mouth, Lightning almost immediately releasing Scootaloo as she staggered back, opening her mouth and gulping down air, savouring each mouthful as if it were her last.
“If you’re done, Lightning, maybe we can stop fighting and run,” Scootaloo hissed, glancing nervously over her shoulder. “R-Rainbow and Gilda are in the slave pens h-having their…f-fun down there. We have thirty minutes before she’ll come and check on Goge and the others. Most of the Cult is still watching the mop of fights between the rest of the Wyches, this is our only chance.”
“Why…” Spitfire began, before Tar’nek cut her off, helping Juhani to her feet.
“The what’s and the why’s can wait until we are away from this place. Scootaloo, I take it you have a plan?”
“I do,” Scootaloo nodded, darting towards the door and slowly opening it, checking both ways before gesturing for the others to follow her. “Applejack is in Tau space, that’s all R-Rainbow knows, because she’s blind to any way that isn’t hers. There’s a wing of ships in the hanger bay, the only pilots there are drunk as they come, I made sure of it. We can take one, get to a webway portal and be gone before anyone realises it, I know the defensive codes but we need to go NOW.”
“Lead on Scoot’s, we’ll chat when we’re out of here,” Spitfire nodded, Scootaloo leading them out of the room and scurrying down the corridors.
True to Scootaloos word, the corridors were deserted and in a matter of minutes they were at the door to the hanger, Scootaloo peering into the room, checking that there were no surprises inside.
The garage was packed with vehicles, from Jetbikes and Venoms, all the way up to Assault boats and the few bombers that were kept at the arena as opposed to in the Triumvent’s fleet. Guarding them were five Dark Eldar, two of them bearing the markings of the Shadowbolts, while the other three were clearly Wyches. All five were laughing merrily, a terrified slave being pushed between them, letting out a scream every so often as they sliced the wretches skin with one of their many blades.
“O-ok, wait here,” Scootaloo pulled her head back, looking at the others.
“You can’t go in alone,” Juhani grunted, pushing away from Tar’nek and standing, albeit barely. “We’ll support you.”
“You’ll stay here until the signal,” Scootaloo hissed back, giving her knife out and giving it to Spitfire, before tapping her Splinter pistol. “Stay quiet, and we may pull this off.”
Before anyone could voice anymore concerns, Scootaloo slipped into the room, Tar’nek cursing slightly, Goge shaking his head.
“You ponies are all insane, you know that?” he muttered. “Scootaloo’s barely a kid and she’s got this all worked out.”
“She’s a kid who’s seen pretty much everything Rainbow’s done,” Lightning corrected her grimly. “I wouldn’t underestimate her.”
The five escaped prisoners lapsed into silence for the next few moments, Spitfire clutching the knife as they all kept their heads on a swivel, making sure that all corridors leading to the garage had eyes on them. Suddenly a pained cry sounded from the room, different from the cry of the slave, followed in quickly by four more. A moment later, the door to the garage slid open, Scootaloo standing behind, beconing them in. Her eyes betrayed no clue as to what emotions she was feeling, the five guards lying dead, the slave shaking fearfully in the corner.
“Come on, that one will take all of us,” Spitfire pointed towards a bomber, missiles slung underneath both of its wings.
“We’re taking that one,” Scootaloo corrected her, pointing to a Slavebringer class Assault Boat.
“We don’t need…” Juhani began, but Scootaloo cut her off.
“It’s not just us escaping, we’re taking as many as we can, and that’s the best ship to do it in,” she growled.
“But..” Juhani tried again, but Tar’nek silenced her, putting her arm around his shoulders and heading towards the large ship.
“I hope you know what you’re doing, Scootaloo,” he grunted, half carrying, half dragging Juhani up the ramp, Goge grabbing one of the dropped Splinter pistols and chuckling to himself.
“Damn, if the Commissar’s could see me now.”
Scootaloo watched them all get on board, turning to face Spitfire and Lightning, the two ponies looking at her in turn.
“I know you probably hate me…for not acting sooner,” she began. “Especially you, Spitfire. I didn’t…if I had known she would take your wing…”
“Don’t,” Spitfire smiled weakly, her ruined stump twitching slightly as she placed a hoof under Scootaloo’s chin, raising her head so the pair were looking eye to eye. “I don’t know if that monster has done anything physical to you, or if it’s just mental, but you’re her victim too, and you got us all out, I can’t fault you, Scoots.”
Tears filled Scootaloo’s eyes at Spitfire's words, the younger mare all but collapsing into Spitfire's hooves, her shoulders heaving as she sobbed.
“There there, it’s alright, it’s alright,” Spitfire cooed softly, before Lightning nudged her, pushing a pistol into her hooves.
“We have incoming, we need to leave, now,” she grunted, edging towards the assault boat.
“No! They’re not our enemies!” Scootaloo cried, breaking off from the hug and galloping towards the door, beaconing a cluster of slaves inside and pulling one over to her. “How many are there?”
“S-seven of us, m-m-mistress,” the wretch stammered.
“Don’t you ever call me that, or anyone else that,” Scootaloo smiled. “Get everyone aboard. Now, we’re leaving.”
Scootaloo and the others hurried aboard the craft, the doors sliding closed almost as soon as the last foot was on board, Tar’nek piloting the craft out of the garage, slightly clumsily, but soon they were in open airspace, heading towards one of the closest and smallest webway portals out of the district of the city.
“Scootaloo, I’m glad you’re here,” Tar’nek didn’t turn around from the pilot’s pod as she came onto the ships small bridge. “We already have fourteen dark lance batteries tracking us, they’re asking for codes."
“I’ve got them,” Scootaloo nodded, pulling a small crystal from her pouch and placing it on a receptacle in the control panel. Transmit and keep flying, don’t give them any reason to doubt us.”
“I hope you’re right,” Tar’nek muttered, but followed her words.
The ship crept forward, inching ever closer to the portal into the greater webway. As they drew in, Scootaloo could see the gun batteries that Tar’nek had mentioned still tracking them, but even as she watched, they swung back to a relaxed position, both Tar’nek and Scootaloo breathing a sigh of relief.
“I’ll be down below if you need me,” Scootaloo tapped Tar’nek’s shoulder. “Join us once we’re away from the city.”
Heading down below, Scootaloo stood in the middle of the hold, eyeing the many barbed pens that could have once hold the very slaves that were now escaping in the craft, before clearing her throat.
“We’re not out of this yet, but even if they follow us, we’re not giving up, and we’ll die before they take us back there.”
“W-where are we going that they won’t find us?” one of the slaves stammered, looking down as soon as Scootaloo looked at her, before forcing himself to look up at her, standing a little straighter.
“They will find us, I can almost guarantee you that,” Scootaloo shook her head. “Because we’re going to the one place in the universe that I know Rainbow Dash will end up in. Unlike her, I’m not only focused on one plan. She knows there in Tau space, but only one Tau Sept has a strange member of their auxiliary.”
“How do you know all this?” Lightning asked in surprise. “That’s one hell of a lot of information to know off the top of your head.”
“Rainbow and Gilda focused on killing their way to the information they needed,” Scootaloo shrugged. “I managed to get some contacts around the galaxy, a few have paid off. I didn’t pay any attention to them at first, they didn’t seem to matter, but now that Applejack is apparently in Tau space, the pieces are falling into place. I would have told Rainbow…but by the time I knew…she was…too far gone.”
“Well then? Where is this ‘Applejack’,” Goge asked.
“She’s definitely with the Tau,” Scootaloo nodded, a small smile gracing her lips. “She’s a Shas’El in the Pa’Laa sept.
***
“Five dead, two of our own. Five prized slaves, a child, and seven less important slaves, as well as an Assault Boat, and you think this is acceptable?” Rainbow growled.
“No, of course not, I…” the Reaver began.
“You should have been in the garage!” Rainbow roared, the sudden change in volume catching the Reaver by surprise. “You were in that group as well! Where were you?! Watching the fights?! Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t add a sixth body to the count and have the entire detail dead?!”
“Because it was your bitch Scootaloo who…” The Reaver began, before Rainbow ripped her claws across his throat, the man stumbling backwards as his lifeblood spilt onto the floor.
“Oh, and I know you have a pod reserved at Eethron’s Covern,” Rainbow whispered, kneeling beside the dying Eldar. “But I promise you, you will be fed to the incinerators beneath the arena, not a hair will be left, and you will die for the final time.”
The Eldars eyes went wide as he vainly tried to grab at Rainbow, Rainbow pushing his hand free and watching him finally die, before standing and turning to one of the slaves in the room.
“Incinerate the body, nothing remains or you will answer for it,” she watched as the slave quickly grabbed the body, dragging it from the room, Rainbow following him and heading towards the garage once more. She had ordered her Reavers to gather there, Scootaloo’s little stunt forcing her to move up her plans considerably.
There must have been hundreds of them, all wearing their armour, their weapons strapped to their sides, all they were missing was their jetbikes, the majority stored away underneath the floor of the garage. Gilda stood in front of the warriors, her own heavy armour strapped to her body as she looked warily at Rainbow.
“My Shadowbolts…” Rainbow began, before the door behind her slid open again, Rainbow turning to see Ilithia, Ale’ri and Eethron striding into the room, as well as a pair of Incubi, though who they were serving under was unclear for the time being.
“I am sorry to interrupt your little rousing speech, Dash,” Ilithia called as she strode forwards, her bladed high heels clinking menacingly on the floor. “I’m sure it would be something impressive, but I take the slaughter of my Wyches by your slaves and a traitor who you brought into my Cult rather seriously, but I’m sure you anticipated that.”
Her soft voice started to take on a harder tone as she spoke, her face contorting into a snarl, her lips pulling back over her teeth. Her hand was hovering over the knife at her waist, Rainbow instinctively preparing to draw her own blade.
“We’ll get them back, and exact revenge on them soon enough,” Rainbow growled back. "We know they’ll be heading to Tau space, it won’t take long to find out where they are.”
“We’re not going, and you had best speak fast if you wish to keep your position in this Cult, or your head.”
“Ilithia, behind me are scores of Reavers who would willingly see me dead if they thought that they could get away with it. I’ve gone into battle with them, and you, countless times, and they’ve never tried to put a knife in my back, because they know what would happen next,” Rainbow growled. “So, I would thank you to not threaten me, and stick to the bargain struck.”
“The bargain?” Ilithia snorted. “You were to kill those slaves, not to take them as your own, but I allowed it. But with this transgression and your deviation from our agreement, I will not see my Cult or this Triumvent head to an area of space as lacking in worthy slaves as the Tau Empire.”
“I expected as much,” Rainbow muttered sullenly, before glancing at the Incubi. “Which one of those here is your employer?”
“Do not talk to them,” Ilithia snapped, Rainbow ignoring her entirely and asking her question again.
“Incubi, which of those present holds your contract? Cult, Kabal or Covern?”
“I do, Dash,” Ale’ri tilted his head as he looked towards Rainbow.
“Good,” Rainbow nodded in reply, before diving at Ilithia and baring her claws.
Ilithia instantly drew her own dagger, catching Rainbow’s claws as her lips pulled back from her teeth in a snarl. No words were spoken between the pair as they blurred into motion, Ilithia’s natural skill, honed over hundreds of years, matching Rainbow’s drug filled blood and natural aptitude for the ways of battle.
Rainbow managed to occasionally catch glimpses of those who were watching the fight, none looking like they were going to intervene anytime soon. Even Ale’ri and Eethron were both simply watching in rapt fascination at the flurry of blows that were being showered upon the other, each one fully capable of ending its intended recipient, only for each one to be blocked in turn.
An odd feeling suddenly hit Rainbow as the pair continued to fight, one she had not felt for a long time. It was the feeling of being utterly outclassed, and the realisation that maybe she had finally met her final opponent.
Then another feeling hit her, this one a physical blow, and completely alien to her. Her mind was cleared of all thoughts of doubt as a wave of clarity swept over her. In an instant, she knew what she had to do, and threw all caution to the wind as she dived forward. She felt a burning pain in her side as she did so, Ilithia opening a tiny cut upon her side, allowing the poison that coated it to seep into her blood stream, but it was too shallow a cut to be fatal, and Rainbow now had her opening.
Her muscles swelled from her combat stims, Rainbow wrapped her forehooves around the Succubus, squeezing hard enough to break ribs and forcing her to drop her knife. Before she could do anything else, Rainbow flared her wings and shot upwards, bearing Ilithia upwards out of the garage and over the arena. Ilithia was still trying to break free, but whatever had given her this flash of inspiration had sealed the fight.
It took but a matter of moments for Rainbow to be high above the arena, before finally loosening her grip, digging one claw into Ilithia’s shoulder and dangling her in mid-air.
“Your Cult is mine now, Ilithia,” Rainbow sneered. “The mighty Lightning Fang and its Succubus, brought low, by a pony. Live with that shame.”
“You will die screaming, Dash,” Ilithia snarled, even as Rainbow’s claws began sliding out of her shoulder.
“Probably,” Rainbow sneered back, “but that won’t happen today. Goodbye Ilithia.”
With that, Rainbow wrenched her claw free from the meat of Ilithia’s shoulder, the Succubus trying one last attempt to grab hold of Rainbow’s claw as she was suddenly unsupported in the air, but Rainbow easily avoided the wild flailing, watching as Ilithia plummeted towards the sands of the arena, hitting the ground hard. When Rainbow landed beside the impact zone, there was little to indicate that the mess had once been an Eldar.
“Good fucking riddance, bitch,” Rainbow sneered, before taking flight once more.
***
“So,” Rainbow looked across the obsidian table at Ale’ri and Eethron, the Archon and the Haemonculus sitting in the chairs denoting their positions within the Triumvent, while Rainbow now occupied what had once been Ilithia’s seat.
“So,” Eethron nodded, a small smile spreading across his thins lips. “That was certainly an interesting display.”
“It was close, Dash almost lost,” Ale’ri scoffed, scratching his pale temple as he regarded Rainbow with beady eyes. “But…the laws of the Cult are absolute. Congratulations, Succubus Dash.”
“And the position Ilithia held in the Triumvent?” Rainbow asked, a smile of her own spreading across her muzzle.
“The same,” Eethron nodded. “And as you still hold position of Champion of the Reavers and the Arena you have a significant sway in our forces, but Ale’ri and myself can over power any decision you make if we combined forces, in words, and deeds, remember that.”
“I plan to,” Rainbow nodded. “Now, Tau space, I wish to raid there, and I would see both the your Covern and your Kabal to take the lion’s share of the prizes from any raids, I am more interested in seeing their auxiliary forces swell the ranks of our gladiators, and a specific individual within their empire. What say you to raiding there?”
“Ilithia was the main reason we refrained from going there,” Ale’ri admitted. “She did not want to sully her blades with those so weak in combat and souls. We hold lesser concern they make good working slaves for me, and I know Eethron appreciates what he can craft their flesh into.”
“Then it’s settled, we deploy to the Tau Empire, and bring it to its knees,” Rainbow laughed, laughing as Ale’ri stood up, grabbing his helmet and leaving the room without a word.
“Eethron, a word if you will,” Rainbow called, getting up and moving towards the Haemonculus. “Did you do something during the fight?”
“An interesting question. With a surprisingly simple answer. Yes, I did, a new drug I’ve been developing to clear the mind of doubt. I felt it something you needed for that fight, if you were to succeed.”
“And you wanted me to succeed?” Rainbow asked, surprised by the answer.
“But of course, have we not formed a friendship over the years,” Eethron nodded.
“I would call it a mutually beneficial agreement,” Rainbow retorted.
“The Tau Empire holds many races within it, I would see them swell my gardens so that I may take advantage of them and advance my craft yet more. Ilithia did not want to allow this, you did. If you are looking for a practical reason, then there is one. Now, if there is nothing else, I must prepare my creations for transit, I will see my ships readied to join the Triumvent forces.”