For a normal pony, the present situation would be a vision straight out of Tartarus. For a normal pony, he or she would have collapsed from fear at the sight of one, much less FOUR Changelings. For a normal pony would have done everything in his or her power to not be in this exact scenario.
Fortunately for Rainbow Dash, she wasn't a normal pegasus pony. She was what the citizens of Equestria called a Claymare.
Rainbow smiled,wishing she had an arena-sized audience for this fight. She knew that there were all manner of citizens watching from their houses, so that would have to suffice. She turned her focus back on the task at hand: four Changelings, presently surrounding her. One could potentially be a challenge. Two was considered rather difficult. But four!? For Rainbow, that was just plain fun.
What most of the citizens of Equestria didn't know about Rainbow and her kind, was that each mare was divided into two fields of focus: Offense and Defense. When set into their focus, they work and train to figure out what their special talent the Changeling flesh within their body allows. Some mares can extend their limbs beyond rational means; others obtain enhanced strength; unicorns generally gain the ability for their magic to affect Changelings; Rainbow and some others fall into enhanced speed. Even though there were others that were fast, none were faster than her.
Rainbow knew the odds currently weighed against her. She was also fully aware of her speed and abilities. So, as was her style, she was going to prove the odds wrong. She tightened her grip on her claymore, which she wielded reverse-style. Most of her counterparts considered it impractical, but in her opinion (which was the one that mattered), it made her fights about twenty-percent cooler. Rainbow looked at the two Changelings immediately in front of her, "Let's do this," she whispered.
The Changelings were more than happy to comply. With an almost imperceptible nod from one in front, the two behind Rainbow rushed at her together, hoping to take her down that way. Amateurs, she thought as her eyes flashed green. With a flap of her wings, she was gone in a flash just as the Changeling duo struck to where she had just been.
A young filly watching from her window overlooking the street was barely able to follow the charge of the two Changelings from behind. She watched the cyan colored Claymare vanish in a puff of dust... and that was it. Her mouth had just started to drop open when she heard a faint clink of metal on stone directly above. She looked up to see the pegasus tense and then vanish again.
By this time, the charging Changeling duo were just straightening up from their charge, wondering where their prey had gone. The lower-left Changeling (from the filly's view) bellowed in pain. The others turned to regard the outburst. They saw the cyan pegasus kneeling on the street and their companion starting to fall, its legs severed at the thigh on an angle. Purple blood spurted from all four stumps of the newly severed limbs. The Changelings still standing got as far as turning and flexing their claws before Rainbow flashed away again.
The Changeling that was falling extended its arms to catch itself from hitting the rocks. As long as it could get its legs back and the other three keep that damn Claymare occupied, it could reattach the severed limbs and be back to whole again. A ghost of a smile stared to play across its muzzle, when it began wondering why its arms were not as long as they used to be just a moment ago. That's when it saw the blue pinions and a blade covered in purple blood in the upper portion of its vision and the pain registered of having both arms sliced off at the elbow. It just barely noticed the puff of dust that accompanied the disappearance of the Claymare leaving again.
Rainbow Dash knew that she could have easily ended the fight in four simple maneuvers, but where was the fun in that? Yes, her job was to kill these things and that's why she was created, but wasn't it important to enjoy one's work? Rainbow gave a predatory smile as the rush of blood in her veins made her feel beyond alive. The Changelings seemed to be moving in molasses and the one that she had just made a quadriplegic seemed to be gushing said molasses from its stumps. Rainbow noticed the sunlight glinting off the bodily fluids. No clue why she was paying attention to it now, but it was pretty cool to look at. I think it's time to officially thin the ranks, she thought as she braced on the wall. She was still at street level as opposed to her first jump. Let's make this awesome went through her head and with a strong flap of her wings, she flew off the flat surface.
A flash of movement led the Changeling to raise its head and look up from the ground it was falling towards. It may have been the adrenaline pumping through the body of the Changeling or the pain it was slowly becoming numb too, but it watched the Claymare fly towards it. The monster knew that it was impossible that it should be seeing the mare move, but she seemed to be moving slowly as she came at the Changeling along its right side. It watched the blue pegasus bring the blade from trailing parallel to be perpendicular to her body. It opened its mouth to scream in defiance, knowing it would be its last.
Rainbow's predatory grin stretched even wider, giving the appearance of a rictus to her face. She watched the mouth of the Changeling open in a last roar, not even able to hear it. She watched as her claymore, held flat, entered the Changeling's mouth and felt the first touch of resistance as the blade sliced into it's head. She angled the blade down just a hair and continued the slice down the neck, splitting the monster in half. Knowing she was good for the home stretch and eyeballing her next target, Rainbow Dash flexed her wings and shot forward again, all resistance from the sundered Changeling ignored.
The Changeling that had made the initial attack with the one that was cut watched its companion fall. It had a split second to register the inside bodily make-up of the dismembered Changeling when it felt a very precise pressure and release across its midsection. It looked down to notice blood... its blood weeping slowly out from a thin line on it's waist. At the same time that it registered complete lack of feeling in its legs a bloody, misty spray erupted in a perfect circle along that same line that had been weeping a moment ago.
After slicing through the first Changeling, it had been an open invitation to take out the one that had been directly behind it. Rainbow Dash, not wanting to be rude, gladly accepted and scored herself a double-kill. Bragging would have to wait until she met up with her "sisters" again. The most immediate threat to her at the moment wasn't either of the remaining Changelings, but the wall of the building in front of her. Flaring her wings to bleed speed, it was enough for Rainbow to get her legs underneath her and with a kick & flap, she soared skyward. Flaring once more and wincing slightly at the strain she just put on her wings, she began flapping to maintain a hover to admire her handiwork.
She only had a quick second to look at her work before the other two Changelings were leaping at her, gossamer wings buzzing. She dodged the strike from the first one, it sailing past her. She readied her sword as the second approached, it's feral scream loud in her ears. Rainbow felt it would be best not to keep this one waiting, so with another powerful flap of her wings, she flew down to meet it halfway.
With a flash and a thrust, Rainbow impaled the Changeling through it's mouth as it's thrusting claw caught her on the shoulder. A hiss of pain was all that she allowed the Changeling to hear in it's last few seconds of life, as both of their speeds combined to push the Changelings now punctured head down the full length of the claymore, finally stopping when it was firmly pressed against the quillons of the crossguard, the teeth a hair from grazing Dash's knuckles.
Rainbow wondered if modifications to the aesthetic appearance of the sword would be company approved, when she heard a shout from below her. She looked down to see a young, orange colored filly franticly pointing and shouting from out of a window
"What?" Rainbow shouted back, when it clicked: Oh right, there was anoth...
The filly wasn't sure which she saw first: the blood vomit from the Claymare or the Changeling's claw rupture through the Pegasus' torso. Even from her position, she could still hear the Changeling's cackling laughter. That's when the two bodies and corpse began to fall.
The Changeling was powerful. It could have easily carried the Claymare it just gutted away to feed. But, it couldn't support the weight of one of its own kind as well. The combined weight of the pegasus and the Changeling she had just skewered were taking a toll on the attacking one and together, the three started losing altitude. The last remaining Changeling decided to cut its losses and be satisfied with the death of its sworn enemy. It put its other claw on the pegasus' back and pulled the other out from the body... at least, it attempted to.
The Changeling registered a gripping pressure on the arm that was still stuck through the pegasus. Impossible, it thought. The Claymare should be in shock!! That was hardly the case. Rainbow Dash, while shocked that she let herself be attacked in such a manner, quickly let that shock be replaced by a burning anger. The bastard broke my streak!! She was pissed and she wasn't about to let the monster get away from her.
The ground was getting much closer now. The Changeling, fearing what would happen to it once the three landed, decided that it would be best to take extreme action. Survival instinct kicked in and much as the insectoid would have liked to have seen the Claymare die, it wanted more to live to fight another day. Using the knife edge of its free hand, it sliced through its other arm just above the elbow With a howl of pain it was free as purple blood spurted from its stump onto the Claymare's back. Its wings flared and buzzing, the Changeling arrested is downward descent and watched the pegasus fall the rest of the way to impact the cobblestones below.
Rainbow felt the arm skewering her go limp and a fresh splash of warm liquid across her back as the weight behind her lifted off. She had to stop herself from taking the arm out the rest of the way; that would happen in a moment. For now, she needed to take care of the current issue. The ground was rushing up really close and she would hit in a few seconds. But, with the Changeling off of her back now, she could stop her own fall. Flaring her wings, Dash flapped a few times, dramatically decreasing her speed to land lightly on the ground. She put a boot to the Changeling still stuck on her blade and pushed it off. A wet sucking sound accompanied the blade exiting the corpse and bits of brain matter fell to the ground. She turned, whipping the great sword to get any chunks left on it off and turning to look up at the now one-armed Changeling hovering above her.
The Changeling's eyes widened as he locked them with the Claymare's own. The survival instinct from earlier kicked in and with a shriek, turned and began flying away.
"Oh, no you don't," Dash muttered, reversing her grip on the claymore again. Her eyes flashed green as the muscles in her sword arm began to tense and bulge grotesquely, veins and arteries becoming visible even through the sleeves of her suit. With a yell she swung her blade forward and released it, the sword buzz-sawing towards the fleeing monster. Even before she finished her follow through of the release, her wings were flapping and she was kicking off from the ground, soon bypassing her spinning blade and a few seconds more the Changeling itself.
The Changeling spared a glance over its shoulder and saw the Claymare tensing its arm behind its back. It went back to gazing front, pouring more energy into its wings, willing them to flap faster. It was certain it would be able to escape... at least, it thought that until it noticed a very brief, momentary flash of movement on its left and the pegasus was hoving in front of it, lazily flapping its wings to maintain a hover. The Changeling (figuratively) screeched to a halt in the air, eyes wide and jaw slack that the Claymare was now in front of it.
Rainbow Dash smirked, keeping her eyes on the Changeling. " I dropped my sword." The Changeling could only stare at the creature in front of it, with a severed arm still dangling from its midsection. Before it could even voice a question, the Changeling was screaming in pain as the Claymare's sword punched through the its own torso, straight down to the crossguard.
Rainbow Dash laughed, flapping around to get behind as the Changeling's cres of pain continued. She gripped the hilt of her own sword and with a quick flap of her wings, sliced the Changeling in two from the waist up. The buzzing stopped as it began falling, blood and other viscera trailing behind. Dash let gravity take a hold of her as well, giving into a controlled descent as she made her way back down as well.
She landed close to the mutilated corpse of the final Changeling. Blood was still pooling around the body and it would only be a matter of time before wild animals came to clean up the mess. Rainbow Dash didn't want to deprive them of a full meal. She dropped to a knee and gripped the wrist of the Changeling's arm that still protruded from her stomach. Her eyes changed to a luminescent green and she clenched her jaw, teeth bared from the exertion of what she was about to do. With a short cry, she ripped the arm from her torso, fresh blood splattering on the grass in front of her. She clenched her jaw harder, a portion of consciousness surprised that her teeth hadn't shattered from the effort. That wasn't the part she hated though. Focusing on the slowly spreading pool of blood, Dash concentrated on repairing the hole in her torso. Blood vessels began to bulge from under her skin along her face; mouth drawn in a feral snarl as muscle tissue began to regrow and repair the hole in her torse. This small scale regeneration was the extent to what Offensive types could achieve. Much like the Changelings could, Rainbow Dash and her Offensive types could reattach severed limbs, so long as the separation was "fresh".
After a few moments, the damage from earlier was repaired. Not even a scar remained from the puncture. Still, there was the matter of her uniform being ruined, but she knew the Company would be in contact with her soon, The job was finished and Dash knew that her services would be needed before too much longer. Besides, what village wouldn't want the services of the coolest of her kind?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Later that night
Rainbow Dash leaned against her sword, half stuck in the dirt/sand of the desert miles outside of the town she saved earlier, staring into the dancing flames of the fire, pondering on the events of the day and how she could have done it differently. Lazily toying with a torn end of her uniform, her ears perked slightly at the sound of steps on loose stones.
"You've gotten slow," the visitor said.
Dash snorted at the idea of her being 'slow'. "I got distracted. That bug was a little bit faster diving than I was turning. I made up for it."
"I'm sure you did," the visitor replied. There was a thump and Dash looked down on her left to see a pile of clothes. "A new set for you," the agent continued. "We can't have a representative of the Company looking like a guttersnipe, can we?"
Dash didn't deign to answer the question. Instead, she stood up and began stripping down. She set her boots & pauldrons off to one side and her torn leotard & old leggings off to another. She bent down to grab her new gear. She glanced up at the agent, the firelight dancing on ruby lenses. The agent didn't say anything, but stared at Dash with a sort of half-smirk on her face. Dash had been expecting the agent to speak again, but when nothing came, she just shrugged and set about getting dressed.
Being a pegasus made putting the leotard on a little more interesting than what the unicorns or the earth-types had to do, but after the hell that was training, it was something that pegasi became quite adept at. After getting her boots back on and pauldrons situated. Dash flapped her wings a few times to get the fabric settled around the joints. She was thankful that her and her kind didn't have to wear the standard cape; got in the way too much. She grabbed her old clothes, folded them, and handed the pile back to the agent.
The agent took the proferred clothes and turned to leave. She walked a few steps before stopping again. "Oh, before I forget." Dash cocked an eyebrow, hardly believing that was the case. The agent reached into an inside coat pocket. "This is for you."
Rainbow Dash's eyes grew wide. The item the agent held was a small black envelope. Imprinted on the front was Dash's personal symbol/ cutie mark: a rainbow-colored lightning bolt striking from a cloud. "There's... there's got to be some mistake!"
"No mistake," the agent replied. "Check it yourself." With a flick of her wrist, she tossed it to the pegasus. "I believe the location is the ruins outside of Stormbend. Safe travels." The agent said, walking away.
Dash watched her walk away before turning her attention back to the envelope. She opened the flap, reaching inside to feel a single sheet of heavy paper. Heart beating fast, she slowly slid it out, dreading what, or more correctly who, would be on it. The hand holding the envelope clenched into a fist, crinkling it; her eyes got wide when she saw the symbol imprinted on the Black Card: A white lightning bolt, with three orange stars underneath.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The small filly lay curled on her bed, weeping softly after the events of the day. She wasn't sure how much longer she could hold out. Giving into the pressures would be so easy and just ending it herself would be even easier. Accidents like that happen all the time on the field.
The door to her room creaked open. The filly didn't even look up to acknowlege her visitor, not caring who it was. Soft, padded steps made their way slowly to the bedside. The bed squeaked slightly as the visitor climbed into bed with the crying filly. The filly was about to yell and scream at the visitor, violating her space and alone time when an arm draped across her from behind, pulling her tight into an embrace.
"It's okay," the visitor said softly. "We'll be there for each other. We can get through this."
The filly's eyes widened, then became half-closed as tears of comfort came to her eyes this time. She snuggled into the embrace, ashamed at how close she was to giving up. She could do this.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rainbow Dash flew straight the next morning. Normally when travelling to a new mission her course would be true, but she would take the time to enjoy her flight. Not many other ponies get to experience the sheer joy and amazingness of flight. But today, her mind was heavy and occupied with the task at hand. Dash would gladly take on a legion of Changelings than handle her current assignment.
She could see the town of Stormbend approaching on the horizon. Basic, average village, not much difference than the one she had left the other day. She left her view drift a little more north to a small mountain range, where the remains of what appeared to once have been a great castle had been. The ruins were situated on a plateu within the range. The sight was still hazy due to the distance so Dash couldn't make out if anypony was present, but she knew in her recently repaired gut that her assignment was waiting there. Why me!? she thought for the umpteenth time, but she knew why. She knew why and it hurt more than her wounding did the other day.
She flew over Stormbend, eyes still focused on the ruins before her. Spotting a fairly large open courtyard, she chose that as her landing site. If anypony else capable of flight was about to land, they would have done a fly over of the location to make sure it was secure and safe. Rainbow Dash wasn't concerned. She could handle anything that was potentially down there... even if she didn't want to.
She circled the courtyard on her way down, gliding gently into the center, a few hurried steps upon landing to kill the last of her momentum. The agent hadn't been specific as to where in the ruins Dash should go, so the center was a good place to start. She didn't have to wait long.
"Rainbow Dash."
Those two simple words were enough to get Rainbow to spin around into a combat stance, with sword drawn.
"It's been a while, Dash." The owner of the voice stepped out from the shadows of a column. A blue pegasus just like Rainbow Dash, but where Dash's hair was (naturally) rainbow colored, this pony had alternating streaks of gold and orange.
Rainbow Dash relaxed her stance, but did not ease up her grip on her sword. "It has been, Lightning Dust."
Dust gave a sad smile. "Not since training. Our paths never crossed. In fact, I'm pretty sure we were almost always on the opposite ends of Equestria." she started walking slowly towards Rainbow Dash. "Even still, I thought about you often. Wondering how much you've improved.
"I thought I was strong enough to avoid it. I, just as I'm sure you have, felt that calling deep inside. I fought for so long." Tears were beginning to fall from Dust's eyes. "So, so long. And it finally caught up to me." Dash noticed Lightning Dust's mouth was stretching into a rictus, her teeth revealed to have become the fangs of Changeling. "That's why I sent you the card. If I wanted anypony to do it, it would be you." Blood vessels were beginning to protrude from underneath Dust's uniform and around her eyes, which were still silver. Tears flowed freely from those eyes, but there was still an expression of calmness to them. Rainbow Dash was in the same spot where she had landed. Her only movement was slowly bringing her sword up behind her, but kept underneath her wings.
Lightning Dust was only a dozen paces from Rainbow Dash now. She stopped there. "I...," Dust swallowed, composing herself a little bit more, but unable to qull the Changeling blood inside her. "I want you to do it, while I'm still a pony. Before I change and... and lose myself," she finished, looking at Rainbow Dash with a hint of pleading in her eyes.
Rainbow Dash stared at Lightning Dust, her stoic face not betraying the intense inner struggle going on within her. Yelling, cursing, pleading, and crying: Dash yelling at Dust to be stronger; cursing her for a coward for giving in to the Changeling blood that flowed within them; pleading to hold out a little bit longer; and crying for forgiveness, that she hadn't been around to save Dust like the other pegasus had saved her so long ago. To Dust, Rainbow Dash only nodded.
Her wings flaring and eyes flashing to a luminescent green, Rainbow Dash flashed from being a dozen paces in front of Lightning Dust to being a dozen paces behind her. Dash's sword was drawn across her body a thin trail of red gently tracing its way down the edge, on occasion a drop gathered to plop to the stone floor.
Dash closed her eyes as the first noise, of knees striking stone, sounded behind her. She stood at the same time as the second noise, a wet thump, echoed in the courtyard. She turned just in time to watch Lightning Dust's now headless body collapse forward with a rattle of steel. Dash walked to where Dust's head had settled. It was facing up, only the eyes were closed and a look of peace had settled over it. She knelt down next to the head and picking it up, cradled it in her lap and wept.