//------------------------------//
// Loyalty and Kindness 
// Story: KONO DIO DA: Wrath of Sombra 
// by DIO Brando 
//------------------------------//

The two pegasi sat quietly where they had been suddenly taken. While they felt determination with DIO, it seemed to quickly fade away in his absence as they realized they would be fighting with another pony with no special power or ability. Needless to say, they had not been trained in combat, and surely not as much as any of the ones they were against. At that, who would it be? The warmongering dragon? The seductive equine? The stand user? 

. . .Sombra. . ?

Fluttershy couldn't help but to start quietly crying. She wanted to be strong for her friends, and she knew how to be assertive, but these were ponies trained to kill and enslave. DIO could take life, and while it was fearsome to see, it was something he did only as necessary. Could Rainbow Dash do the same? Could she?

Too many questions, but not enough time as Clarity emerged from atop a small hill. While consoling Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash began to take in the surroundings while keeping her eye on Clarity. A few trees here and there, Canterlot visible in the vast distance and well beyond the scope of shouting for help. She turned to Clarity, standing atop the one hill in an almost empty field of short grass. In the distance was a forest, but it was quite far away, though it did seem familiar. It seemed strange to be at that location, as what she had gathered from Clarity was that he was the strategist of Stalker-54. There wasn't much here to make use of, and he himself didn't seem a blatant fighter.

She started to look at him more closely, noticing an unmistakable expression of sorrow on him as he looked down. That expression struck Rainbow Dash as enraging. How dare he mock empathy being allied with Sombra? She gritted her teeth.

"What are you waiting for?!" Rainbow Dash shouted. Clarity dropped his expression, before looking at her with determination.

"Your first move," he said calmly. Dash felt insulted that he would so blatantly reveal what he was doing, letting go of Fluttershy and darting forward at perhaps the fastest she had ever flown in her life—aside the sonic rainbooms. Fluttershy only looked on in terror to see her friend risking her life so quickly.

Clarity, anticipating such a move, fired a bolt of magic energy at Rainbow Dash, who swirled around and continued towards him. Not having time to attack once more, he jumped off of the cliff and cushioned his blow with magic before using the same energy to launch towards Dash as a projectile. 

'What kind of magic is this?' She questioned in her mind, dodging the attack with a singe on her feathers. Her rage nullified the sting as she flew directly towards him again. Clarity lit his horn, causing earth to burst forth from itself in Dash's direction. It made contact, but not enough to turn her off course too much. Clarity darted back at an uncanny speed as Dash landed her forehooves into the ground with a brute force causing the ground to crack beneath them. This hurt her of course, but she didn't mind, galloping towards him still before jumping forward with her wings to propel her movement.

Clarity responded with another direct attack, but this time the bolt split off into three, seeming to surround Dash. She began to think to herself again as she darted upwards to dodge it once more.

'Is this. . .combat magic?'

The ensuing explosion from the colliding bolts made an unanticipated contact with her, singeing her tail a bit as it threw her off balance in the air. She quickly gained her bearings, darting towards again. This time, she was able to land a blow onto Clarity, who seemed to not move. Before she could think about it, a shield of magic thinly coating his body gave her a shock, blasting her back.

"You're a pegasis, you cannot fight me fairly," Clarity said calmly, "please, surrender."

'This guy pisses me off,' Dash thought to herself, 'but he has a point, I've got to do something different. If I keep at it like this, I'm going to be beaten out of my stamina.'

She darted her eyes around, before dashing forward again. Clarity launched another projectile, which Dash quickly avoided before changing course, making a sharp 180 and flying towards him again. Clarity, once again fired another projectile which Dash once again avoided, but this time cutting a sharp turn as the magic struck a tree. Clarity turned to face the tree, charging up a spell to change it's path before Dash threw both of her hindlegs into his face.

"I've had a lot of time to think about outsmarting unicorns," Dash said, "I never deny an opportunity to teach an asshole like you a lesson."

Clarity grunted, kicking his hindlegs off the ground they were so close to and unexpectedly changing Dash's trajectory, before using her own momentum to throw her into the ground. Dash coughed, before looking up to Clarity once more who was now standing on his hindlegs with his hooves guarding his face. 

'You've got to be kidding me,' Dash thought to herself with irritation, 'Martial arts?'

She hovered over ground with her wings, holding a stance of her own off the top of her head. Clarity shook his head.

"You'll lose stamina flying like that," he said, "it is best to assume a stance on the ground."

"Why would you tell me that if it were true?" Dash asked.

"Because I want a fair fight."

"Didn't you just brag about being a unicorn and being better?"

"You proved me wrong. Now let's see if you hold up."

Dash flew forward with a punch, which was quickly turned into leverage as Clarity threw her back once more with her own momentum. Before she could collect herself, he threw a kick into her side causing her to fall to the ground.

"You also become an easier target for kicks," Clarity lectured, "pegasi have a disadvantage in close-quarters combat because it is difficult to protect the wings in addition to other vulnerable areas."

Dash grunted, getting up off the ground and standing on her hindlegs before folding her wings. She held her hooves up similar to Clarity, who smiled. She jumped forward, throwing a punch before it was blocked again. She took another direct hit to the chest from Clarity's forehoof, but was able to step back and prevent a full contact.

"Good, good," Clarity said, "you're getting used to it much quicker than I did."

Dash smirked.

"I guess it's natural talent, then," she said, before swinging a hoof at Clarity. While it was blocked, Clarity attempted again to strike her chest, but was met with a kick to his hindleg, causing him to trip. He quickly used his open foreleg to push off the ground and send another hindleg flying at Dash. She caught it, throwing him. Before touching the ground, Clarity made contact with his foreleg and landed on all fours.

"Yes, you would make a fantastic fighter," Clarity said with a smile, before twitching his head. Dash tilted her head in confusion as Clarity so suddenly developed a fearful expression upon his face before falling to the ground and covering his head with his forelegs. 

"Uh. . .hey dude. . ." Dash said, slowly approaching him, "are you alright?"

His head lifted with haste, his eyes were bloodshot and the amount of distress in his face alone was enough to make Dash's stomach curl.

"DON'T MAKE ME DO THIS!" he shouted, before lunging forward and throwing a hoof into Dash's ribcage hard enough to cause a loud snap.

Dash fell back, coughing roughly as she struggled to catch her breath. She touched her lip, seeing a streak of red on her hoof.

"Ah. . .d-damn. . .you got me good. . ." she said, coughing again before stepping up. As she did, a sharp pain hit her side as more crackling was heard. She shook her head, getting back into the stance. Clarity was breathing heavily, getting back into stance as well. At this point, Dash knew something was wrong, but at least she had a good reason to beat the shit out of somepony. After all, regardless of what was happening to him, she had to protect Fluttershy. "Come to think of it, you weren't talking to me, were you?"

"What does it matter," Clarity said in a strange voice, "you will be incapable of such a postulation in death."

"Well then," Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth, "looks like I finally get to have a REAL fight."

Fluttershy watched on in horror as the two went from what seemed like a rough but friendly spar to a savage beatdown of one another. Within moments, the blows they both gave to one another resulted in swollen bruises, busted skin, and bleeding faces. Rainbow Dash, with several now-broken ribs, a busted lip, black eye, and several lacerations and bruises across her body, was beginning to get weak. Clarity, having a similar amount of injuries, was still ferocious. Had the equines known more of the world DIO came from, they'd have figured he was on some kind of hard drug. Yet, water seemed to pour from his eyes.

"Wait!" Fluttershy called out, causing Dash to turn before taking a final blow to the face, breaking her jaw. She fell to the ground unconscious, while Clarity charged his horn to deal a final, lethal blow. Fluttershy screamed, instinctively jumping forward and tackling Clarity. He quickly threw her off, causing her to hit the ground with a searing pain.

"One, two. One, two. One, two." Clarity whispered aloud, as he picked up a rock, approaching Fluttershy. He looked into her eyes, striking fear into her as he spoke louder, "Two."

Fluttershy turned away from him, attempting to avoid the horrific sight only to see Rainbow Dash lying nearly motionless on the ground as the old blood began to dry. New blood still calmly flowed from her injuries. Fluttershy took a deep breath, turning to Clarity. He held the rock up, preparing to throw it down onto her head.

Were these her final moments? She thought back, all the time she had spent with her friends before they left. All the time spent with DIO. All the time spent with Rainbow Dash, the only friend to remain. She had given up her home to essentially live with Fluttershy, to make sure she was safe. To make sure she was okay. To make sure that four of her friends leaving wouldn't destroy her. Now, in her moment to pay Dash back for all of the hard work and effort she put forth, Fluttershy was helpless.

"Your time has come, Bearer of Kindness," Clarity said in that odd voice that wasn't his own, "wherever you are going, I am sure you will see your friends there soon as I have sentenced them all to death."

He raised his hooves with the rock held tightly between them.

"By my holy decree, I sentence you as well!" He swung the rock towards Fluttershy's face. 

She thought once more of the past, remembering the times she had stood up for others. She remembered Iron Will, she remembered Discord, she remembered the Cutiemark Crusaders in the Everfree.

'The Everfree Forest,' she thought, 'The cockatrice. . .'

As the rock approached her face, she suddenly locked eyes with Clarity.

"No." Fluttershy said. He stopped.

"What?"

"No."

Fluttershy got up, keeping her eyes locked onto his. Something about her stare was off-putting. Clarity dropped the rock, as shadowy figure quickly tore itself away from him, but with a screech this time. He fell onto the ground.

"What. . .power. . ?" he said quietly, drifting off to sleep before he could complete his sentence. Fluttershy looked at the two of them. 

"I neglected something, Clarity," she said quietly, "thanks for reminding me."

After a moment of silence, she sighed before producing a loud whistle. There was a howl in response, and from that familiar forest, the Everfree, came a Timberwolf. When it spotted her, it broke into a full sprint towards her, snarling before stopping suddenly as it looked into her eyes.

"Sit." Fluttershy said with a stern face, to which the wolf did so. She turned to Clarity, and her friend, "I'm tired of being a side character, Mr. Timberwolf. You're going to help me get these two to safety, then we're going to the Crystal Mountains. YOU GOT IT?"

The wolf cringed with a bit of fear, before nodding it's head gently. Fluttershy smiled.

"Good."