//------------------------------// // Touch of Grey // Story: The Ballad of Rainbow Dash // by Ron Jeremy Pony //------------------------------// GTA: The Ballad of Rainbow Dash Chapter 17: Touch of Grey (Niko and Dash’s Penthouse – Twelve hours later) Dash sat up. Her eyes were wide and she felt the need to scream. It boiled out of her faster than she could contain it, and moments later she erupted in a loud strangled cry. Trixie ran into the room with her. She brought a cold damp wash cloth and pressed it to the back of Dash’s neck. “It’s just the after effects of the magic, but did you see what you needed to see?” Trixie asked. Dash nodded. She had seen more than she needed to see. She had saw Niko being tortured, beaten, and he was withstanding it. They needed to get over there, and they needed to get him free. She started to stand, but her head started to swim. “It’s going to take you a while before you can really stand on your own. The magic takes a lot out of you, and it’s worse when…” Trixie paused for a moment seemed to think, “It’s worse when the focus point of the spell has more than one soul inside of them. It has to determine which soul to remove and which ones need to stay.” Dash looked at her and tried to take what she had said into account. “What are you talking about?” Dash asked. “You know what I’m talking about. How does a mare have more than one soul in her?” Trixie asked. “No, no I’m not. I know I’m not,” Dash said as she stood up. “The spell wouldn’t have reacted to the degree it did if you weren’t!” Trixie exclaimed. Dash touched her stomach. This was getting to be far too much. She was pregnant? She wasn’t sure she ever wanted to be pregnant. After all, the only kiddo she had any experience with was Scootaloo. The idea wasn’t horrible, but it was scaring the living hell out of her. She had to force herself not to think about it. She couldn’t be thinking about it right now. She needed to focus on something different. Right now she needed to focus on getting Niko back. “It doesn’t matter,” Dash said. Trixie looked at her as the rainbow haired woman breathed out evenly. “It doesn’t matter because it doesn’t change the fact that we need to get Niko out of there. I need to be up, and I need to find a way of getting him away from that thing,” she said. “You can’t get up yet, but your other friend is out on the patio. He said when you came to he wanted to know what you saw,” Trixie said. “Bring him in,” Dash said. She leaned against the wall near the bed. Silently she prayed that Niko was still holding on. She didn’t know what the Changeling was doing to him, but she was going to make that thing pay for all of it. She was going to make it pay, and she was going to get Niko back. What she had seen had been terrifying to say the least, but she knew that Niko was at least alive and he hadn’t broken yet. She turned to the sound of footsteps and saw Little Jacob. “He’s in Broker, the warehouse district. It’s the old fishing warehouse near the port,” she said. He nodded and pulled a cell phone out of his pocket. She watched as he dialed a number and a moment later someone picked up. “Badman, Yeah, this is Jacob. I wanna call in a favor. The Niko boy is in trouble with a rassclot that got ‘im held up in a warehouse. Yeah, I wanna visit them a whole bumbclot of trouble,” Jacob said as he stood there, “Good, Be there in half an hour.” He turned toward Dash and nodded. “We’re gonna get the Niko boy back now,” Jacob said. She nodded. She wanted to get up, to go with him, but she was having trouble just sitting up. Whatever the spell was the Trixie had used had drained her so hard it was unbelievable. She looked at Trixie who seemed to be focusing on helping her. “What about you girl? What you gonna do?” Jacob asked. Trixie looked up at him and then back at Dash. “I’m going to make sure that she recovers over this. She doesn’t need to be risking herself right now, and she needs someone here,” Trixie replied. He nodded and then headed out of the door. “Why do you want to help me?” Dash asked. Trixie looked at her and shook her head. There was just too much to say. She didn’t really know her. It wasn’t as though they were friends. It was something different. She just wasn’t interested in fame anymore. Chasing fame had given her nothing except for heartache. She wanted something different, something more, and she had hopes that she could find it by doing things different than she had before. “I cast the spell, and you’re still suffering the effects of it. My job isn’t finished until you recover,” Trixie said. It was a half-truth at best, but she seemed to accept it. “Thanks for helping me find Niko,” Dash said. Trixie nodded and got up. She took the washcloth with her and began to walk toward the kitchen. “I’m going to freshen up the cloth a little. Do you want anything from your kitchen?” she asked. Dash shook her head. She looked toward the door Jacob had already left through. She trusted the Rasta. She knew that he could and would find Niko, but regardless she wanted to be there. She felt the need to be there and help out. She tried to stand again, and this time she found that she had the strength to actually make it completely upright. Her head began to swim and she almost fell when Trixie came back into the room and helped her back to the bed. “You need to relax,” Trixie said. She shook her head. How could she relax? There wasn’t any chance that she was going to relax until she was sure that Niko was safe, and then she wanted to make sure that the Changeling that did this paid for it. “I need to be there,” she said. Trixie shook her head and took a seat beside her. “Look, I know that we’re not really friends. Honestly, the last time I saw any of you I had been made a massive laughing stock of, but it doesn’t change the fact that I’m sorry this happened,” she said as she patted Dash’s hand, “And, I want to help. I don’t want to deal with them, but I want to help you make sure that your, Niko, is fine.” Dash looked at her in complete surprise. She almost wanted to believe this was some kind of set up, but Trixie didn’t seem to be lying. She couldn’t see any of the normal tells she had begun to see in other people. After a moment she nodded. “Good, now, go ahead and try to relax. I’ll see what I can do about preparing you a little something to eat. I’ve learned to cook a few things here, although I would give my left hand for a plate of hayfries,” Trixie said. “You and me both,” Dash replied. (Broker – East Hook – Smells like Tuna Warehouse – 30 minutes later) Jacob stepped out of his car to see Badman standing there. Behind Badman was a couple of hired thugs that had started hanging around the older drug dealer. He motioned for them and Jacob tossed Badman a shotgun. “You ready?” Jacob asked. “Sure’n I’m ready Rasta! Gonna put some rudeboy in the ground for messin’ with ma boy Niko!” Badman exclaimed. Badman aimed the shotgun and blasted the door in front of him. The old lock in the door gave way and it flew open. They walked in to see a blackish creature standing in front of Niko. Their friend was hanging by his wrists, trying to mock the creature, and upon their arrival the thing hissed at them and tried to run. Badman shot again, but missed. He looked at the two thugs and pointed in the direction it went. They both ran off toward that direction and he walked toward Niko. Both he and Jacob lowered Niko to the floor. He stumbled and they helped keep him upright. “Come on my youth, we gonna get you out of here,” Badman said. “Dash…” Niko half moaned. “De girl is home ma boy. She’s waiting,” Jacob said as they made their way outside. They loaded Niko into Jacob’s car. Badman looked at Niko and then at Jacob. “What was that thin’ my youth?” he asked Jacob. “Not sure, but that rassclot gonna pay for this,” Jacob said. “Sure enough my youth,” Badman said as the sound of gun fire erupted from inside of the warehouse. They turned and saw one of the thugs stumbling out. The younger man had a long claw mark down his chest. He collapsed and seemed to stop breathing. A second later the sound of police sierns began to fill the air. “Go,” Badman said. “What about that Rassclot?” Jacob asked. “I’ll rain a bumbclot of pain on it, now go rasta!” Badman exclaimed. Jacob nodded and got into his car. He started it and took off into the night. Badman looked at the thug lying there and cocked the shotgun he was holding again. He began walking toward the entrance of the warehouse when the thug’s arm reached out and grabbed his leg. “It’s always easier to take someone’s place when they’re alive… Your friends had a little accident, but you….” it said before Badman tried to shoot it. The thing tossed him hard against building and knocked him out. “Now, let’s try this again,” he said as he began to change form once more. It took the creature almost no time before he was standing in Badman’s form. Of course like every other time he transformed, unless he happened to be wearing clothes at the time, he was nude. He stripped Badman and put on the downed drug dealer’s clothes. Once that was done he formed a sack of greenish gel and put Badman into it. “Everything you know I will know, and everything you do I will do. Oh, this is going to be fun. The element will be broken, and I’ll get to finish breaking that human as well,” it said. (Niko and Dash’s Penthouse – Two hours later) Dash was thankful that she was feeling stronger. Enough of her strength had returned for her to stand, to walk, and right now she was pacing. Jacob had brought Niko back, and with him was the same doctor Niko had taken her to when she first arrived in his world. The doctor had explained that Niko would be better off in a hospital, but Jacob insisted that he be treated here. Dash knew why. Jacob had seen the Changeling. She didn’t know if it was dead or not, but there was every chance that where there was one there was another. Having Niko here meant that thing couldn’t get to him. It meant that he would be around they trusted. Once the doctor had treated him he stood up and looked at all three of them. “Look, I understand that you don’t want him going into a hospital. It doesn’t change the fact that he would have a much better chance of surviving there then he does here. Regardless, I’m not going to make you choose the hospital if you don’t want to. I am going to suggest that if you know anyone who has experience being a licensed nurse that you have them come here and help you. Your friend was very close to death. The I.V.s I’ve hooked up to him will help, but there’s a lot more that needs to be done. Also, the next twelve hours are the most crucial,” the doctor said. “If we call…”Jacob started and the doctor nodded. “Of course I’ll come. The rate is the same though. Two thousand up front, and then if there is any complications or other problems I’ll tally the rest,” he said. “We know,” Dash said. He nodded and walked out of the penthouse. “What happened Jacob?” Dash asked. “That Rassclot was beating on ma boy Niko. Badman, he stayed to pour down a bumbclot of pain on ‘im, but the police came,” Jacob said. “Dash…” Niko groaned. She walked toward him and took his hand into her own. “Hey,” she said. “He… he wants to find you…” Niko said. “I know,” Dash said. “I told him that he liked it up the ass,” Niko said before he coughed. Dash smiled and kissed his forehead. “We’re going to be right here,” she said. Trixie looked at him and walked over. Even in the condition he was in she could see some of the attraction. He wasn’t a bad looking human. She wasn’t sure how much her healing spells would help. After all, most of what she had done was create a spell that helped speed up healing a little, but she didn’t do it often, and right now the most it could do was maybe sway things in the right direction. Her hands glowed blue and she touched Niko’s foot. Dash watched as a light blue aura covered him and then she looked toward Trixie who stepped back. She started to thank her when Trixie began to sway. Jacob caught her and helped her toward the living room. “That was too much,” Trixie said. “Take a rest girl,” Jacob said. She nodded and soon her eyes closed. He walked back toward Dash when his phone went off. “Badman? You deal with that thin’ then?” he asked, “What happened?” He paced back and forth for a moment before stopping. “It didn’t escape? Badman, you gonna come with me to the holyland?” he asked. Jacob’s eyes widened for a moment. He took a seat and shook his head. “Sure,” Jacob said before he hung up. “What is it?” Dash asked. “Badman, he wants to go to the holyland,” Jacob said. “That’s good right?” Dash asked. “It is, but this is the first time he ever say it seen. He never say it before now,” Jacob said. “It’s not him,” Dash said. Jacob nodded and stood up. “It took Badman, and I’m gonna take this thin’ to a whole bumbclot of pain!” Jacob said standing up. “Jacob, we need more help than just us. We need everyone we can get on this,” Dash said. (Broker – Brucie’s Apartment – a day and half later) Brucie stood listening to everything being said. Near him Packie, Derrick, Dwayne, Roman, and Little Jacob sat. The five of them listened as Dash filled them in on what the plan was. After a few minutes Brucie held his hand up and shook his head. “Hey, I’m willing to help bring the pain to the asswipe that did this to Niko, but Dash, it sounds like you were smoking some serious herb with Jacob over there,” Brucie said. “Hey rudeboy! You wanna watch your bumbclot mouth?” Jacob asked. “Fuck, I didn’t mean anything by it, but seriously, this sounds like some fucked up shit. I mean this sounds like something straight out of Galaxytrip or Galactic Battle. A shape shifting alien that is able to morph into anyone it wants to? That’s pretty hard to swallow,” Brucie said. Packie stood and shook his head. “I’ve never known Dash to lie before. Fuck, she’s proved herself a dozen times over. Besides, this might be something those bastards at the FIB have been working on. They might have wanted to squeeze information out of Niko about all of us,” Packie said. “It could be anything. I saw a lot of things in Ireland,” Derrick said. “Fuck it, Niko’s been a friend. I don’t care if she ends up saying the thing stands seven foot tall and shits fire. No body fucks with my friends,” Dwayne replied. “Okay then, where do we go?” Roman asked. “I’ve called it. I told it that we were going to be meeting at the warehouse in a couple of hours. With any luck it’s going to be there already,” Little Jacob said. “What should we do once we get there?” Brucie asked. “We kill it,” Dash said. The nodded and stood up. Roman stopped and looked at all of them. “Guys… I… I,” he started before Dash shook her head. “I know Roman, but what I want you to do is have the car ready. Wait for us out in the car, and be ready to leave when we come out there,” she said. He nodded, and followed them down. The six of them walked down to the Patriot waiting on them. The gloss black SUV was powerful enough to ram its way out of a situation if there was one, and it only proved that Dwayne knew what he was doing when they told him they needed something big, strong, and fast. The large vehicle rumbled to life and soon they headed toward the Warehouse. Within moments they pulled near it and Roman looked at the rest of them. “I’ll be right here,” he said. “Don’t take off Roman. Seriously man, if 5-0 comes your ass better still be here,” Packie said. He nodded and quickly locked the doors once everyone was out of the Patriot. “Let’s kill this rassclot,” Jacob said. They walked toward the warehouse, and then to their surprise the main door came up. Dash looked in surprise as twenty armed men stood there. “FUCK!” Packie shouted as he dove toward cover. The entire group of those things began to rush outside and Dash took that moment to run into the warehouse. Seeing what she was doing Brucie, Jacob, Derrick, and Dwayne followed her. Packie fired from their left side drawing fire. “Die you fucks!” Packie shouted. Soon Dash began firing on them as well and then hid behind the door frame when they fired back. She moved away from the front door and found her way into a small office. She fired again and ducked when they shot back. The sound of bullets ripping into the door frame and wall echoed in the small room. Dash tried her hardest not to think about the fact of how many there was outside. In truth, any number of them could be the changelings. She didn’t know when they came over, but they were here now, and one of them was going to pay for what they did. “I know you’re out there!” she shouted. “Ah, the Element. How is your human doing?” a voice shouted. “We’re going to kill the entire fucking lot of you!” she shouted. “I doubt it… I seriously doubt i…” it shouted back, “You miserable fucking meat sack! How dare you hit one of the brood!” More shots fired, and Dash helped them return fire. The sound of gunfire began to slow down, and she raised up in time to see one of them running away. She tried to get out of the room, but a stray bullet hit right in front of her. She shot back and after several minutes it ended. She walked out of the office to see several bodies. Four of them began to morph slowly turning into talk blackish creatures with holes in their legs. The rest of them seemed to be normal. “Okay, what the fuck is going on?!” Brucie exclaimed. “They’re here. That’s what’s going on,” Dash said. (Westdyke Memorial Hospital – an hour later) The Changeling hobbled into the hospital. While it was in this form the human medicine should work on it. It grumbled about losing the other Element. The one it came through with had escaped, and now it had no way of getting to the other Element. It growled lightly until it heard a familiar voice. It followed it to a room where a large human female was lying in the bed. There sitting beside her was the element it had brought over. It didn’t need the human medicine after all. All it needed was her fear. All it needed was for her to scream. It walked into the room, dropped the form it had, and listened to the beautiful scream from the Element. “Ah, Pinkie, I have missed you,” it said.