Deus Ex: Equine Revengeance

"Necessity is the mother of invention."

Rainbow Dash looked for her destination as she flew over Las Pegasus. Her attention however was drawn to a part of her heads up display as she heard a ringing sound in her ear. "Dash here," she said as an image of Twilight came up in the corner of her HUD.

"Did you really beat up the security staff of Club Errera in your search for information?" Twilight asked. "I know Princess Luna gave you free rein to do whatever you deem necessary for your search by making you one of the Shadowbolts, but you're still using Sparkle Industries augmentations, and your actions at least somewhat reflect on us."

"I'll try, but I can't make any promises," Dash said. "I may have had to start a brawl, but I found out where our missing friend is. And I doubt he'll be happy to see me."

"Probably not," Twilight agreed. "How are the augments feeling?"

"They feel good," Dash said.

"Well, before you get there, Facet wants to talk to you," Twilight said.

"Alright. Put him on," Dash said.

The image changed to one of Facet. "Well Rainbow, I do hate to say I told you so but... I told you so."

"If all you wanted was to rub in my face that I had to get augmented after saying I'd never need the tech, then get off the comm," Dash said with a frown.

"I do in fact have a lead, Rainbow," Facet said. "I've been doing some digging into the mercs who attacked the company, and I've determined that they weren't terrorists of any sort. More likely, they're either paramilitary or employees of a PMC."

It took Dash a moment to recognize the acronym. "We might have been attacked by a private military company?"

"Of course," Facet said. "You didn't really think civilians were the only ones getting augmented, did you? No. With the advances being made in augmentation technology, cyborgs are becoming a subject of great interest for the military-industrial complex. While civilians are more interested in the prosthesis aspect, PMCs are developing cyborg bodies that are armed. Imagine. A fire team with the firepower of a platoon and the dexterity and coordination of machines. Truly a fearsome opponent, wouldn't you agree?"

"Yeah. Not someone I'd want to fight," Dash agreed as the image changed to a white stallion with a red mane.

"Not just ponies. Other races as well. Griffons, minotaurs, zebras. Augmentation spreading to all of them. Potential limitless. Replace lost limbs and organs. Higher standard of living. Just mechanical currently. Have heard of tests in nanotechnological augmentation. Nanomachines to place enhancements. Medical applications boundless. Regrow organs and limbs. Cure cancer. Stave off age. All advantages of mechanical augmentation. More potent though. Still look fully organic." Dash heard him take a deep breath. "Never see them coming. Baser bodily functions left intact as well. Like reproduction."

"I won't meet anyone like that, right Monkshood?" Dash asked.

"Not likely. Nanotechnology still in infancy. Not even in beta yet," Monkshood said.

The image changed back to Facet. "Moving on from this fascinating talk of biomechanics, you're aware of how your new comm works, right, Rainbow Dash?"

"The ringing directly stimulates the bones in my ear, meaning only I can hear it and the pony on the other line. And my responses are made in subvocal range so that nopony can hear my side of the conversation," Dash said.

"Exactly," Facet said. "I'll put Twilight back on." The image switched back to Twilight.

"Okay, Rainbow. When you find Clean Cut, try not to rough him up too badly," Twilight said as Dash neared the penthouse, seeing that her target wasn't there at the moment.

"No promises," Dash said before cutting the connection as she landed on the roof. Slipping inside, she made her way to Clean Cut's room and let herself in, lying in wait for him. She didn't have to wait long. The door opened and Clean Cut, a brown earth pony with a small mustache and dressed in a nice suit entered, shutting the door behind him. She got his attention by engaging the deadbolt. "Evening, Clean Cut."

"R-Rainbow Dash!" Clean Cut stuttered, clearly frightened. "You're l-looking well." Before he could go on, Dash flew at him, grabbed him, and slammed him into the wall, making him grunt in pain.

"Talk, Clean Cut," Dash said, glaring at him. "I want to know why you didn't die in the labs, why you were suddenly unwilling to tell what you saw, and why you skipped town after you got out of the hospital."

"I got lucky," Clean Cut said. "And I got scared afterward."

"Bullshit," Dash said, leaning in closer. "Twilight said you were fully prepared to give a detailed account. But then you wouldn't say a word. Then when you get out of the hospital, you skip town without a word to anypony. Why?"

Clean Cut started sweating and tried to stutter out another response before Dash flew him across the room and slammed him into the window, cracking it.

"What happens next depends on you," Dash said. "If I get answers I don't like, we're going to have problems." She extended the blade in her left foreleg and put it right next to his face. "First, I'll cut off the stuff you don't need. One at a time. I'll start with your ear. Then I'll pop out one of your eyes. Maybe the other eye too. Or maybe not. If that doesn't loosen your tongue, I'll cut off your balls, one at a time. Then I'll cut your dick off and force you to eat it. After that, I'll start skinning your flanks. Cut off your cutie mark. Then I'll start cutting strips of meat off your hind legs. Tiny strips. Not enough to let you bleed out, but enough to cause you a shit ton of pain. And that cyberbrain of yours? I can sync it with mine and keep your blood sugar and adrenaline levels regulated to where you can't pass out from pain. But you can avoid that. All you have to do is tell me who. Murdered. My. Family." The entire time Dash was narrating these plans to Clean Cut, she was speaking in a calm, level tone.

Clean Cut, meanwhile, had gone and pissed himself. "Okay! Okay! I was paid to get the security specs and deliver them to some pegasus cyborg! She gave me half up front and I'm supposed to meet her outside the city later tonight to get the other half."

"Who is she?" Dash asked, the blade gleaming next to the trembling Clean Cut's ear.

"I don't know! She was wearing a helmet the whole time and using a voice filter!" Clean Cut said through his terrified sobbing. "I swear that's all I know!"

"Where's the meeting place?"

"A half mile outside the city. To the north. At midnight."

Dash retracted her arm blade and threw Clean Cut down. "Leave. If I ever see you in Equestria again, the things I'll do to you will make what I described tonight seem like a sweet vacation in comparison."

Clean Cut nodded in terror.

Dash turned around and started walking away, then stopped. "On second thought..." Putting her weight on her forelegs, she bucked Clean Cut out the window, listening to his fading scream as he fell to his death. Flying out the hole in the window, she headed for the meeting place. Placing a call, Twilight's picture came up in her HUD. "Got a lead, Twi."

"And Clean Cut?" Twilight inquired.

"Dead," Dash said simply.

"You didn't have to kill him, Rainbow!" Twilight snapped.

"I considered letting him live, but on second thought, he caused my family's deaths." Dash's eyes narrowed. "I'm going to kill everyone who was involved in that attack."

"Be careful," Twilight said. "Remember, they beat you badly last time. Especially the pegasus."

"I've got my enhancements this time. They won't be a problem," Dash said.

"Still, exercise caution," Monkshood advised as his picture came up beside Twilight's. "You are far from only cyborg to employ carbon nanotube muscle fiber in augments. Packs power of jackhammer in each strike and superior to baseline ponies physically, yes. But enemy has it as well."

"They also might have families of their own," a new voice said as a picture of a black pegasus with red eyes and a fiery mane appeared in her HUD. "Revenge is an understandable motive, but don't let it cloud your judgment, Rainbow Dash."

"I'll be fine, Rapidfire," Dash said rather curtly. "Does Spitfire know you're on my support team?"

"As far as Spitfire knows, I share her belief that you're a pain in the asshole," Rapidfire said. "But I know full well that your expulsion from the Wonderbolts was due to Spitfire's jealousy that Soarin chose you over her."

"So you didn't support my expulsion?" Dash asked.

"None of us did, but we knew talking to Spitfire about it was pointless," Rapidfire replied.

"Approaching the meeting place. Rainbow Dash out," Dash said before cutting all her comm connections. Looking down, she saw the meeting place, and a group of ponies from the same merc group that attacked the company. Eyes narrowing further, she flew down and landed among them, the shockwave scattering them with yells of surprise. "So... Where's your boss?"

"It's Rainbow Dash!" One of the mercs exclaimed as they all brought their guns up and pointed them at Dash.

"You guys aren't very smart. Surrounding me like this... You'll just kill each other if you all fire at once," Dash said in a very condescending tone, her face never shifting from its scowl. "Where's your boss? I won't ask a third time."

"This bitch thinks she can take us?" one merc asked with a very amused tone.

Dash's answer was to activate her tactical cloak. As it forced light to bend around her, she became invisible to the eyes of the mercs. Before they could begin wondering where she was, two of them had already been killed by blades to their necks. The remaining mercs tried to fire on her, but as she predicted, only succeeded in killing each other. "Idiots," she muttered as she deactivated her cloak and moved to check them for survivors to question.

Sensing someone attacking from behind, she whirled around with her foreleg blade and blocked the strike of a blood red katana. What surprised her, however, was the one wielding the blade. "Gilda?"

"Dash?" Gilda returned as she backed down and sheathed her sword. "What are you doing out here?"

"Could ask you the same thing," Dash said as she retracted her blade and started looking for still living mercs.

"Investigating that attack on your friend's company," Gilda said as she joined the search.

"Why do you care about an attack on a pony company?" Dash inquired.

"Because despite how things went the last time we saw each other, you're still my friend," Gilda said. "That pink one just caught me on a bad day."

"Just don't get in my way," Dash said. "I'm going to find who killed my family, and they, and everyone who tries to stop me, even a punch clock employee, will die. Families be damned. They made their choice to fight me. I'm just the reaper."

Gilda looked at her old friend with a shocked expression. "Damn... That's pretty cold, Dash. That's not like you."

"A lot's changed," Dash said. "I've always hated injustice. The thought that they could get away with this... Why should they go on living when a good stallion, an innocent teenage filly, and a foal who had his whole life ahead of him lie buried?"

Gilda was taken aback. She had heard a child was killed, but not the kid's age. "A foal?"

"Yes. A foal. My barely week old son," Dash said, her voice cracking a bit as Radiant's smiling face filled her mind. "Snuffed out before he could even really experience the world."

Gilda walked over to her oldest friend and put a clawed hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry." To her shock, Dash shrugged her hand off.

"I don't want your pity," Dash said as she moved to the last merc. "If you want to help, then help me find my family's killers, so that I can butcher them." Her fist impacted the ground as she found he was dead. "Dammit! Now I don't have any leads."

Gilda was about to speak when Dash's stomach loudly growled. "Dash. When was the last time you ate? Or slept?"

"Last time I ate was about 18 hours ago," Dash said before a yawn escaped her. "Third day straight with no sleep. Rage and adrenaline are kickass stimulants. Especially when my cyberbrain is maintaining my blood sugar levels. Beats the hell outta coffee."

"Go home. Get some sleep and some food," Gilda said. "I'll meet with some contacts and meet up with you at your place. You still living in FIllydelphia?"

"Yeah. I am," Dash answered. "And I suppose some rest would do me good."

"Alright. See you later, Dash," Gilda said, giving her friend a sympathetic look before flying off toward the city.

Dash walked away from the bodies and took off in the other direction, heading for Fillydelphia.

Rainbow Dash sighed as she let herself into her home. Even a year after the loss of her family, the place still held ghosts for her. Hence why she hadn't been back much. There was a layer of dust on everything, and there were still a lot of broken objects from when she had torn the place up in a rage. She thought back to that night.

[flashback]

Monkshood had insisted that Rainbow Dash get plenty of rest while her body recovered from her ordeal and got used to the new augmentations. She knew he meant well, but there was a reason Dash wanted to avoid her house despite the orders of her cybernetic surgeon.

Already she had reacted to greetings from Soarin and Scootaloo, only to remember that they weren't there anymore. The kitchen, where Soarin had made many a fantastic meal for them. The gym, where Scootaloo and Dash would often work out together. Dash choked back a sob as she passed by the most recent addition to the house: the nursery. All three of them had worked together to design it, making it easily able to accommodate a filly or a colt. A tear rolled down the mare's cheek as she ran one of her new hands over some of Radiant's toys. Toys that would never be played with. Another tear came. She would never see him grow. His first word, his first crush, his cutie mark, his cutecenera... None of it. Then she looked in a mirror in the hall across from the door. And the mare in it stared right back. Arguably more machine than pony now.

Walking over to it, she set her hand at its side, her thumb resting on the mirror's surface. So much had been changed. Her thumb applied too much pressure and sent a crack through the mirror, marring Dash's reflection. And finally, the floodgates opened. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she let loose a scream and punched the mirror, shattering it. That was only the first thing she broke. She galloped around her house, breaking everything breakable she could lay her hands on. Tables, decorations, shelves, picture frames. It didn't matter. All the while, she didn't stop screaming. It was a scream that expressed many things, but more than anything, two emotions were clear: grieving agony at the loss of those she loved most, and pure, undiluted hatred for the ones that took them. Seeing an intact mirror in the master bathroom, she saw, for an instant, not herself, but the pegasus cyborg that had so thoroughly injured her. "I'LL KILL YOU!!!" Dash screamed as she rushed the mirror and shattered it. Fist still against the wall, pinning some shards, she took ragged breaths. "I'll kill them. I'll kill them all. I will follow them to Tartarus and back if I have to."

[end flashback]

Dash shook her head and went into her bedroom, pulling open a drawer on her nightstand and grabbing a pill bottle before heading into the kitchen for some food. Nothing complicated, just some cup ramen and a sandwich. Once her stomach was sated, she opened the pill bottle and shook about a dozen of the little round pills within into her hand and tossed them into her mouth, chewing and swallowing them without any drink.

Closing the bottle, she returned it to her nightstand drawer and got into bed, sliding her shades back before falling into a fitful sleep.