//------------------------------//
// Chapter 4: Voices 
// Story: Bounty Hunters 2: Awakening 
// by Jasper77W 
//------------------------------//

There was a knock on the door, and presuming that it was lunch delivery; Rainbow went to open it. Clearly she got a shock when she saw DJ-PON3 standing at her door. 
"Uh... Wrong address?" she asked.
"Rainbow Dash?" Vinyl asked.
"Evidently." Rainbow said, gesturing at her rainbow colored mane. "Come in, if that's what you're here for. Come to stay in Cloudsdale?"
"Probably, but that isn't it." Vinyl said.

*

"Aha." Rainbow said, after Vinyl had explained everything to her. "But, I'm not sure if I should train you." she leant on the table in front of her.
"And why is that?" Vinyl stared her down.
"The science faction is already down. The military can take care of the rest." 
"You know that's not my point." Vinyl said.
They both turned their heads when they heard a squeal, and saw Dainty hiding behind a door; gingerly peaking around.
"Come on out Dainty. You heard of Vinyl Scratch before, haven't ya?" Rainbow smiled.
Dainty nodded, carefully stepping out from behind the door.
Vinyl smiled. "Hello..." she crouched down so she was the same height as Dainty. 
Dainty was bursting with excitement inside, but she kept careful on the outside. Who hasn't heard of DJ-PON3? Best in Equestria! Right here in the house! 
Rather awkwardly, Vinyl patted Dainty on the head. Sure, she goes to parties and performances... But this feels different. 
"Sorry Daint, but you can hang out with Vinyl later. We just need to talk some business, and then you can have your time with her, alright?" Rainbow said.
"OK." Dainty nodded, and went to her room.
"I know it ain't your point." Rainbow said once Dainty was out of earshot. "I'm just saying your point is pointless. They'll be taken care of eventually. The science faction is going down, Vinyl. Nothing is stopping it." 
"I want revenge for Octavia, and I know you do too. I know you can restrain and control yourself, but this is different for me. I need to get rid of this guilt that I got from not helping- do you understand? I wasn't there, at least I need to do something about it." Vinyl said through gritted teeth.
"I know that feeling. She died in my hooves." Rainbow said. "And I couldn't have done anything about it either."
"But I could've. I could've been less of a coward and stayed in Equestria, but I ran." Vinyl said. "That's why I need to make up for it."
Rainbow didn't reply.
"I chose you because I know you would help me. You're the only pony that could. Please." Vinyl said, slumping back into the sofa.
Rainbow was silent for a few moments as she considered it. She wanted revenge for Octavia, sure; but Dainty had made up for that. She doesn't want to be dragged back into the dark side, after finally coming out. And she remembered Octavia's words- she told her herself to get out and stay out. She made the promise.
I'll just train her, Rainbow thought. I'm not going back into that hell. 
"Vinyl... Do you know what you're going into? The dark side of Equestria, I've been in there. And if Octavia wasn't there, I would've lost it completely." Rainbow said, now genuinely concerned for the unicorn.
"I know. And I'm going in regardless." Vinyl said, the determination evident in her eyes. 
Rainbow sighed. "Fine. I'll help you on one condition." she leaned forward, staring into Vinyl's eyes, a serious expression on her face.
"Tell me." Vinyl stopped slumping against the sofa, and sat up straight.
"The condition..." Rainbow said, "Is that you give me platinum editions of all your CDs with legit signatures on all of them. With original packaging." she said, without losing the serious face.
Vinyl just stared at her. 

*

"Let's just see where you're at, shall we?" Rainbow and Vinyl were in the giant backyard, with Rainbow holding a training cleaver that she hadn't picked up for over a decade. The back yard was a huge grass field, fenced off by tall wooden walls. The ground was still muddy from rain though.
"Yay! Go Rainbow! Go Vinyl!" Dainty cheered from the second floor window, and both ponies grinned.
Rainbow pressed a button on the cleaver replica, and the edges glowed blue. Both the training discs and the cleaver was designed to spark once contact was made. 
"Let's see what you've got. Throw everything at me." Rainbow said, the cleaver loosely and relaxedly held by her side.
Vinyl flicked the white discs, activating them. She decided it would probably be safer if she didn't throw them, yet. Rainbow could easily deflect them elsewhere and she'd lose them.
Vinyl struck first, darting forward. Rainbow swung the cleaver over her head, bringing it down at Vinyl.
Vinyl met it with a disc, and the blade slid off to the side. A series of sparks flew from the cleaver as she dragged the disc along the wide blade, then flick it at Rainbow's face. Rainbow grabbed her wrist, keeping the disc well away. She dragged Vinyl's own arm around her neck, and Vinyl gasped.
Rainbow saw an orange flash out of the corner of her eye, and brought the cleaver up to meet Vinyl's other disc. Vinyl kicked down, unbalancing Rainbow and causing her to let go. She quickly leaped away, making some distance between her and the pegasus.
"Not bad." Rainbow grinned. Maybe she was fighting crime back then, but the fighting part was always so exciting. "You've been training, haven't you?"
Vinyl grinned back. "Oh yes."
Rainbow charged, but Vinyl was the one that attacked. She swung a disc into the side of Rainbow's cleaver, which was being held vertical as to block the horizontal attack. 
Rainbow slid the blade into the ground under Vinyl feet, and lifted the entire section up into the air, sending Vinyl into the sky. 
She swung the blade around, ready to hit Vinyl on the full once she came back down.
Vinyl crossed the discs in front of her chest, and felt the cleaver impact ripple through her body. She was sent hurtling back, but she still managed to land on her hooves. They made small trenches in the mud as she slid back, the discs searing through the grass. 
Dainty had her mouth wide open, and she quickly moved a hoof to close her jaw. 
Rainbow was already there before Vinyl recovered, the training cleaver a white blur. 
Vinyl slid under it, then reached up and grabbed Rainbow's wrist. Rainbow lashed out at Vinyl's feet, knocking her down. Vinyl punched a disc into the side of Rainbow's cleaver, causing the downward stab to be deflected into the ground. She rolled backwards, getting further away and getting to her hooves. Her back bumped against the fence.
"Uh-oh." she muttered to herself as Rainbow came charging forth. 
Vinyl tucked a disc away, quickly turned around to face the wall, then kicked off it. The horizontal attack from the cleaver barely grazed her back as she leant back over it, her hooves still on the fence. She stretched out, digging a hoof under Rainbow's chin and kicking off the fence.
Rainbow had seen Octavia perform this trick. Naturally, she invented a counter. She let Vinyl continue with the trick, swinging up and over her.
As far as the move went, Vinyl was meant to land on her hooves and slam Rainbow onto the ground, but with the counter; that wasn't going to happen. 
Rainbow dropped the cleaver, and ran forward. She kicked off the fence too, and did the exact same thing to Vinyl; except now both of them were in the air, spinning and trying to throw each other out. Eventually they both hit the ground, landing in the mud and on their backs.
"That was awesome!" they heard Dainty squeal, and they couldn't help but laugh too.
Rainbow's cleaver was about two meters away, but Vinyl had her discs; and she wasn't about to let her get her weapon back.
Vinyl lunged with both discs, swinging them down from opposite angles. Rainbow reached out and caught both her wrist, then bent them down and clamped Vinyl's arms under her own. She then kicked Vinyl in the stomach(a lot lighter than when facing a real enemy, of course), sending her stumbling back.
Rainbow didn't go back to fetch her cleaver. Because one, she would look like an idiot; jogging back to get her weapon. And two, she probably didn't need it anyway.
To Dainty, all she saw were two bright lights flashing everywhere as Vinyl lashed out again and again, and Rainbow who blocked them all with her bare hooves. Suddenly the flashes ceased, and Rainbow was holding Vinyl's disc against her throat. 
"I think I know where to start with ya." Rainbow said, dropping the disc and walking away, giving Vinyl time to get up. "First off, you are fast- but not fast enough. I can still block those swings pretty easily. Secondly, your precision is a little off. You need to be able to cut your target exactly where you want to cut her in a flash." 
Vinyl nodded, de-activating the discs.
"Anyway, you can take Dainty shopping because you lost." Rainbow said, looking up and hiding a wink directed to the filly from Vinyl. Dainty cheered, and Vinyl sighed. "I'll write you a shopping list."
"Wait- what about my training?" Vinyl asked.
"You'll see..." Rainbow yawned. "Get some rest in the meantime. Make yourself comfortable. Dainty- mind keeping our guest occupied?" 
"Not at all!" Dainty grinned a Vinyl, who smiled back. "Oh yeah, and sis; I'm pretty sure I saw the delivery stallion run away, when you two did that crazy backflip thing." 
"Ah well. We got enough stuff in the fridge to make up for lunch." Rainbow said, walking into the house; completely forgetting about the training cleaver. Vinyl followed.
And so the afternoon proceeded. Soon they found themselves singing to Vinyl's songs that they found on the music channel. They even had music videos to go with them. 
To Dainty, she couldn't be happier. She always loved Vinyl's music. And now she was singing with Rainbow, and the DJ herself. 
"This is boring." Vinyl said, surprising both Rainbow and Dainty; and walked outside.
Dainty looked at Rainbow, who returned a shrug. 
Vinyl returned moments later with a silver metal suitcase. "Mind drawing the curtains?" 
Dainty willingly went to pull the curtains.
Vinyl slammed the suitcase down on the ground, and it flipped open. A machine popped out, way larger than the suitcase. Like Rainbow's cleaver, it unfolded into one big item. 
"Hehehe..." Vinyl grinned wickedly, then turned the machine on. A loud rumbling could be heard, and the entire house seemed to be vibrating as two massive boom boxes warmed up.
"No way..." Rainbow grinned too, looking around her as beams of colorful light shot from the machine. It was Vinyl's mobile DJ station.
"Wub time!" Vinyl yelled, flicking on her iconic purple shades and slamming a hoof down on the discs, creating the beautiful musical noise that both Dainty and Rainbow loved.
It all merged in perfectly with the audio track Vinyl was playing- and it all looked like a walk in the park to the DJ.
So the afternoon rocked on, quite literally at that. There were complaints from neighbors, but all it took was one blank bullet and a pulled trigger.
"That... Was... Fun.." Rainbow fell back into the sofa, her throat dry from all the singing, which was practically yelling. 
Dainty still had plenty of energy left when Vinyl packed away the machine, and was hopping around in circles. 
"I think it'll be time you two go shop." Rainbow said, handing Vinyl a piece of paper and the car keys.
"Really? Thirty whole cucumbers?" Vinyl raised an eyebrow, looking down at the list.
"Yes." Rainbow said.
"Why don't you come with us?" Dainty asked.
"I need to do some other work..." Rainbow yawned. 
"You mean sleeping?" 
Rainbow considered it for a moment. She was going to take a closer look at the formulas. "No." she said.
"You'll miss out on a lot of fun." Dainty said, tilting her head to one side.
"I think I had an overdose." Rainbow said. 
"OK then." Dainty said, following the DJ outside excitedly. 
Rainbow sighed. Sure, she wanted to go. But there was work to do. She was about to go to her laptop, when there was a knock on the door.
"What is it?" Rainbow asked as she opened the door.
"Forgot the keys." Dainty said. 
Rainbow mentally raised an eyebrow. She was pretty sure she gave Vinyl the keys.
"Hold on..." she said, pretending to search. "And tell Melony not to spend all her pocket money like last time."
"Don't worry, I will-" 
That was enough a clue for Rainbow. This isn't Dainty.
"I think I may have left them in the kitchen. Just let me get them-" Rainbow said. She'll need a weapon- and fast.
She heard a soft click behind her, and whirled around. But it was too late.
The fake Dainty had already loaded a silenced pistol, and sent a bullet through Rainbow's right wing.
Rainbow screamed, falling back and hitting her head on the armrest of the sofa.
Through watering eyes, she watched Dainty's face disappear into shiny pixels that faded into the air, her body growing in size. The disguise was completely gone, revealing a dark grey earth pony underneath. Half her face was covered in machines, one large blue mechanical eye staring into Rainbow's own. She had two hands, made of metal. Five fingers each. There was a little metal box at her throat which connected to the machines on the left side of her face. Blue LED indicator lights cast a ghostly glow over her, making her wicked grin even scarier than before. 
Rainbow only stared, watching her own blood soak the carpet.
"Who... Are you..." Rainbow said between deep breaths.
The pony laughed, her eyes, mechanical and biological; glimmered. She placed a hoof on the mechanical side of her face.
"You have yet to kill me..." she said, then her voice split and remerged into something deeper, a lot different from her normal voice. "Rainbow Dash." a familiar synthesized voice said, and her grin grew even wider.
Rainbow's eyes grew wide and her irises narrowed, her face reflecting the same level of shock and awe. 
"Still suspicious of everything, are we?" the pony's voice reverted back to normal. "I suppose I should've realized sooner. Melony? Heh. What a trick question. My bad." she chuckled.
Rainbow forced a grin. "If you're looking for Dainty, she isn't here." 
"But I'm not. She would've been a lucky bonus. I'm here to kill you. Oh, and before you die, I'm Val." 
Rainbow gulped. If she could just get to the kitchen in time... She leaped and rolled into the kitchen, hearing loud thuds as the silenced pistol went off. Another round hit her right wing again, and she screamed. She ignored the pain and stabilized the shaking in her legs. 
There was a flash as she yanked a knife out from the stand on the kitchen table. There was another flash as she deflected a bullet, also bending the knife. Val stormed into the kitchen, pistol raised.
Rainbow hit the side of the pistol, causing the shot to miss and shatter a glass vase nearby, spilling the water and flowers onto the table. She then wrenched the gun in a specific way. It clicked satisfyingly, then fell apart into individual pieces. 
Rainbow grinned, then slashed with the bent kitchen knife.
Val caught it with her mechanical hand, then crushed it into a tiny ball. She drew a knife from the same stand, marching forward.
Rainbow pulled out a drawer, sending the contents scattering all over the ground. She quickly picked up a pizza roller and a cutting knife, then posed for battle.
Continuous clangs echoed around the kitchen as their weapons clashed again and again, showering the floor with sparks. Val looked like she was enjoying herself.
She'll need to get this maniac out of the house, Rainbow realized. If she doesn't, Dainty's gonna be in big trouble when she gets back with Vinyl.