My Little Claymare

Chapters

Chapter I- The Outcasts, pt. 1
Chapter II- The Outcasts, pt. 2
Chapter III- The Black Card
Prologue: An Evening in the Woods

Chapter I- The Outcasts, pt. 1

The land of Equestria could be described as a hell on Earth and for one particular reason. It wasn’t the animals. There were no monsters of legends or myth, though monsters were quite real. It wasn’t the plants, none possessing any sort of primal cunning or a hint of sentience. They just photosynthesized as plants do. No, Equestria was Hell for one reason and one reason only: Changelings.

No pony, griffon, or dragon can remember where the Changelings came from. For all that they knew, the Changelings have always been present. What the races did know, is that Changelings are evil. They can disguise themselves to look like any creature. They can sound exactly like loved ones. They also ate any living thing, feasting on the guts from each victim.

The ponies of Equestria needed saviors. What they got instead, were Claymares: specially selected mares transfused with the flesh and blood of Changelings to give them power, abilities, and stamina beyond those of the normal inhabitants of Equestria. Even though the inhabitants were thankful, the knowledge that the Claymares contained the blood of their killers set the saviors as outcasts in society, shunned from towns and cities unless required.

Ponyville was one such town that needed saving. It was a modest village, the kind of place where everypony knew everypony. Now, suspicion and fear gripped the village: there was a killer in their midst. Spike was both, just like everypony else. He was a bit of an outcast, he and his brother Thorn. They were both dragons. While ponies and dragons generally had amicable relations, there was still some distance. Most of the residents had reason to stay away from the two of them beyond racial differences.

His parents were two of the first ones killed in town, about a month ago. He watched the Changeling bust in through the wall and with a sweeping arm knock his mother into the wall. He and Thorn ducked between an overturned table and a wall, while their father attempted to fight it off. Spike closed his eyes and covered his ears, but that still didn't block out the wet sounds of eating. When he felt Thorn grip him tightly, he looked up and saw the neon green eyes of the Changeling staring back at him. Blood & drool mixed and dripped together from it's gaping mouth, bits of flesh still stuck between it's pointed teeth. He and Thorn quivered together, whimpering in fright as it roared once more and lunged at them. And then... that was it. Spike couldn't remember anything past that. He knew he hadn't been eaten (obviously) and neither had Thorn because Thorn was the one that shook him awake. Big brother later told him that a large group of the other ponies had shown up and chased the monster away. Currently, they were staying with a pony couple who was nice enough to take he and his brother in. While his memory about that night was still fuzzy, the sight before him was perfectly clear.

The poor pony had been assaulted from behind, obvious from the abrasions grazing the stallions face. His eyes stared, blank and glassy, at the crowd encircling him. Track marks on the dirt showed where he tried to claw with his nails and push with his hooves, but to no avail. His back, or what was left of it, was a gaping hole. The killer had jumped the victim and tore through the back, ripping through the spine and ribs to get to the soft parts inside. There was nothing identifiable inside anymore, just chunks of meat slowly drying in the sun. Rib-bones, held somewhat upright by the skin and muscle still attached, poked towards the heavens like fingers in supplication. The jagged edges where they were broken outwards were white and dry, while a few inches down were reddish brown from dried blood. The stallion's cutie marks across the sides of his hip were ripped through, but it was still possible to make out the hammer and plank symbol.

"What's going on here!?" cried out an authoritative voice. The ponies across from Spike started jostling each other to move away and to the side, no pony wanting to get closer to the corpse than they had to. They parted to let the town Elder and a few guards through. The Elder was a an old stallion, his once dark blue mane now streaked generously through with gray. He looked around at the crowd a second before tilting his gaze down. There was a few second delay while his brain processed the grotesque scene before him. Once the sight came together, he gasped and backed away a few steps, a hand flying to his chest. " Oh my Faust! Lumber Knot!" At his cry, the blank stares of the gathered ponies found life again and with a collective gasp, they all backed away. The guards left the side of the Elder and started encircling the body of Lumber Knot, helping to push the crowd away. Having regained a semblance of composure, the Elder examined the corpse, forming a plan in his mind. With a heavy sigh, he called to several of the ponies gathered in the crowd to follow him and they headed away.

One of the guards took the cloak off his back and laid it over Lumber Knot, obscuring the sight and thus putting an end to the gathering. The crowd dispersed slowly after that.

Spike looked up at Thorn. "What does this all mean? Who would kill Mr. Lumber Knot!?" He didn't realize he was crying, the fear coursing through his body. The full impact of the butchered body hit Spike's young brain like a charging bull. He felt his stomach churn and was just able to get to the side of the closest building before vomiting everywhere, a scaly claw digging into the wood to hold himself up. Once his breakfast was on the street, he got shakily back up to his feet. Thorn had only moved enough to watch his younger brother expel the contents of his stomach everywhere.

"It means, younger brother," Thorn began, turning once more to stare at the covered body. "The Changeling is still among us."

"The Changeling's back!?" the stallions all cried.

The Elder, seated at the head of the table where he and the others had gathered, nodded his head slowly. "That's the only explanation for this horrific act. And that would also explain the disappearance of Morning Glory. It's been five days since she's gone missing, Fillydelphia said she never showed up, and none of our searches have turned up anything. Lumber has got to be number four."

An earth stallion with a leaf green coat and bark brown mane & tail stood up and leaned on the table. "We've looked miles into the forest and haven't found any sign of her. How can we be sure she wasn't taken by a forest cat?"

A unicorn stallion leaned forward, crossing his arms slightly on the table-top. "Arbor, we can't ignore the obvious anymore. Glory was a capable unicorn and no mountain cat would have been able to take her. It must have been the Changeling."

Arbor looked at unicorn. "How can you be so sure?" His right eye started to twitch. "Unless you're a Changeling yourself!" He cried, pointing a finger.

The room exploded in shouts as the unicorn shot to his hooves, denials streaming forth as his horn became sheathed in a reddish aura. Arbor tensed his legs, ready to preempt the magical attack with a flying leap of his own, when a loud crack sounded in the room. The red glow vanished and shouting died as everypony turned to see the Elder on his hooves, his hand splayed across the table from where he slapped it.

Inside, he was howling in pain with how much his hand stung; but outside the Elder was composed as best as he could be. His voice was a little strained, but he convinced himself that it was stress. "There will be none of that, do you hear me!?" He looked each pony in the eye, holding for an extra moment on Arbor. "If we start accusing and pointing fingers at each other, it'll only lead to panic. Now, everypony take your seat." He paused while the members present sat back down again. Arbor was the last to take his seat, a guilty look across his face.

The Elder took a deep breath to steady himself before beginning again. "Now then, there's only one solution available to us and I need the consensus of everypony here. We know that we alone can't battle the Changeling," he stared pointedly at Arbor. "And we can't expect it to just leave again like it did before. I see no other option than to request the help of the Claymares."

The room erupted once again, cries of disgust and anger spewing forth: "They're unnatural!"; "They'll curse our village!"; "They're not like normal ponies!"; "Daemons!"

"SILENCE!" the Elder cried, voice cutting through the outrage. "You're all right, but what other choice do we have? Our only hope--,"

The mayor was cut off by a knock at the door. It opened slightly and a guard stuck his head in. All eyes of the council present glared at him for the interruption. The guard swallowed nervously as he stepped in the rest of the way, the door still slightly cracked behind him. "Forgive the interruption, sirs, but there's a mare outside, wanting to speak with you."

If gazes could cause spontaneous combustion, the Elder wouldn't have need of a Claymare; he would just have to turn his present stare on the alleged Changeling and also look to hire a replacement guard. "We're in the middle of an important meeting! Turn her away!"

The guard saluted again, nervousness apparent from the profuse amount of sweat coming from his body. " I would, your Eldership, but she's, uh... she's..." That was as far as he got before the door opened up again, catching him in the back, knocking him to the floor.

The members of the council all leapt to their hooves, but any outrage that had been forming on their lips died as the mare in question stepped in. Her coat was a sheer white, at least the parts that could be seen. She was covered head to hoof in a long, dark-brown trench coat that, while large, still managed to emphasize her femininity. A horn rose from her head, perched just behind it was a fedora of the same color as the coat. Her eyes were obscured by shades with ruby red lenses. Dangling from a finger was a pair of cobalt blue headphones, a pony skull embossed on the outside of the speaker portion.

"Sorry to interrupt," the mystery mare said, sounding anything but. "But I can't stand shouting unless it's coming from these," she finished, giving the headphones a twirl.

Arbor was the first to regain his composure. "Who the hay are you!? We are in the middle of a very important meeting here!"

The lenses turned their focus on Arbor. An involuntary shudder ran through his body. "You mean concerning the Changeling you have in your midst?" At the accursed creature's name, there was a sharp intake of breath from every stallion present, including the guard on the ground. "Oh, don't act so surprised," she said, stepping further into the room and closing the door. "You all know it, but none of you wanted to say it. So I did."

The Elder collected himself and sat back down, his fingers steepled before him. "And you know this how, Miss...?"

The mare waved off the question. "Who I am is unimportant. Who I represent, though..." she paused for dramatic effect, "is what really matters. And I happen to have first hand knowledge about Changelings and their attack habits. The Company likes to stay on top of... current events."

The stallions let out a collective gasp of awe at the mention of The Company, but also all took a collective step back. The Company was the organization that handles and manages the Claymares, employing them where Changeling attacks were prevalent. The Elder reset his face to neutral and spoke. "I was just about to propose contacting you ponies. How did you get here so fast?"

A smirk crossed the mare's face. "I was in the neighborhood. Let's just leave it at that. As it just so happens, I can have an employee here by tomorrow afternoon, should you agree to our price."

The Elder arched an eyebrow. "An employee?" he asked. "You mean... a Claymare?"

The mare shrugged. "That's the name you ponies gave them, but yes."

Arbor spoke up, a touch of defiance in his voice. "Isn't it you ponies' job to kill Changelings!? Why should we pay you!?"

The lenses once again focused on Arbor and like before, a chill went up his spine. "You're mighty outspoken, aren't you? To answer, yes, it is our job and that's the exact reason why you pay us. Should you refuse, we'll leave you 'brave' ponies to deal with the issue yourselves."

The stallions present didn't have a proper response and Arbor felt his bluster waning fast at the implication of a Changeling loose in their midst. The Elder closed his eyes for a brief moment, then motioned for the mare to take a seat at the foot of the table.

The guest lifted her shades from her face, eyes the same color as her lenses gazing out. A smile crossed her face that put none present at ease. "Excellent," she said, getting settled and perching her glasses over her horn. "Now. Let's talk business."

Later that night, miles away from Ponyville, a small fire burned in a field. The night wasn't cool and no food was staked over it to cook. It was just made to burn for the sake of burning. The mare who started the fire stared into the flames, seeing visions of times past. None of them were pleasant, but still she stared. She'd lost count of the amount of other ponies she'd come across or the distances traveled. The only constant in her life (and for that matter her only companion) was the long claymore-type sword currently buried almost half-way into the dirt, whose flat she leaned against. A light breeze blew across the field where she sat, gently brushing her purple mane across her horn and making the flames waver.

She didn't lift her gaze from the flames at the crunch of dirt behind her. "You know," she began. "If you were anypony else, you'd be dead by now."

"And you know," the white unicorn mare said, standing directly behind the sword, staring at the flames as well, "that that's an enormous lie. You're very well aware of the rules."

The purple unicorn continued to stare at the fire.

"Exactly," said the white, fire light reflecting off of her lenses. "I have a job for you, in a village just south of here. Not more than a few hours out for you."

"How many?"

"Just one, by my guess."

"Class?"

"A C. Anything larger would have been noticed a long time ago. I'm guessing this one is a fairly recent addition to the town."

"Understood. I'll take care of it."

"See that you do. And don't disappoint me."

Another breeze blew and the flames danced.

The following morning:

Spike was walking with Thorn, out on an errand for the ponies they were staying with, when a shout sounded from the front of the village.

"She's here! It's the Claymare!"

Spike stopped and turned towards the shout. He wasn't the only one, as almost every pony around him stopped their work and looked towards the village front. In ones and twos, the citizens started making their way towards the entrance to town. Spike joined the throng making their way towards the front.

"Spike, get back here!" Thorn called out. "We have work to do!" But his words fell on deaf ears as his brother was running to get to the front.

A sizable crowd had already gathered by the time Spike showed up. As small as he was, he was able to push and jostle his way to the front, rewarding himself with a few curses directed his way and his tail being stepped on. He bit back a curse as he got to the front of the crowd and his breath caught at the sight.

The mare was about average female height, but of a thin, statuesque build. She wore shin-high, lobstered-style steel boots over her hooves and Spike could hear the clink of the metal. White tights covered her legs the rest of the way, with mid-thigh and waist being obscured by a metal-studded, tanned leather skirt; the skirt being made of overlapping strips as opposed to a solid piece. The same material that covered her legs also covered her stomach, chest, & arms, so Spike made the assumption that it was a bodysuit as opposed to separate pieces. The only real armor that the mare seemed to be wearing was her mantle and even then it was only the pauldrons. The mare's coat color was identified only by her face, being a light purple, similar to that of an early evening. Her mane and tail were slightly darker shades, with a magenta streak going through it as well. The handle of a giant sword stuck over her right shoulder while the naked bladed extended down past her left calf.

Spike couldn't help but feel disappointed. Here was this warrior, this outcast hero of the people of Equestria and she looked so... normal. He was turning away, spirit crushed at this mystery pony, when something glinted. He looked again and gasped in shock. It was her eyes: they were silver!

"Her eyes are silver," Spike muttered to himself.

"That they are," said the pony next to him. Spike looked up. "That's why we call them the 'silver-eyed witches'. It's said that their eyes turn glowing green when they fight Changelings."

The crowd parted to let the mare pass. Ponies were intrigued by her, but none wanted to stand too close.

" I can't believe the Elder agreed to hire her," Arbor whispered to a pony standing next to him as the mare walked past. "She's half-Changeling. I guess it really does take a monster to kill a monster."

The mare stopped walking and spared a side-long glance at Arbor.

The pony next to him reached up and covered Arbor's mouth. The mare continued walking in the direction of the Elder's residence. "You idiot!" the pony hissed. "You talk like that and she'll kill us as well."

A large bag of gold bits thudded onto the table

"Here's the payment for the assignment," the Elder said, gesturing. "You can count it to confirm."

The mare didn't even glance at the bag. "There's no need for me to." The Elder looked slightly confused. "If I should fail and die, then there's no need for the payment. If I succeed, then somepony will be by to collect it later."

"I... I understand," the Elder stuttered. "So... how will you go about finding the Changeling? Will you be able to find it right away?"

The mare turned to leave. "Depends. If it's suppressing its Yoki*, it'll be a little more difficult to find."
*(Author's Note: In the "Claymore" series, the Yoki is the aura the Yoma, the daemons, emit. It's detectable only by the Claymores. This is a different energy type as opposed to that given off by the magic of unicorns.)

Just as she was about to exit, "Either my corpse or the Changelings will appear soon." And with that, she left walked out the door to begin her search.

The Elder finally gave in to his weak knees and sank to the floor. I thought she would be more like us, but that... that wasn't a pony!

The mare set a steady pace as she walked down the center of the street. Ponies young and old hurried into their houses, grabbing fillies and closing windows. She expanded her focus and sense when the sound of running feet came dangerously near. Eyes flashing to glowing green, she reached up and pulled the sword from its sheath and into a horizontal cut in one smooth motion.

The blade stopped a hair's breadth from scalping Spike, as sweat immediately jumped from his scales and his eyes went crossed trying to focus on the deadly edge in front of him.

The mare gave him a glare and sheathed it, continuing her walk.

She had gone a few steps when Spike snapped out of his daze. "Hey, wait up!" he called, running to catch up. "So, are you really a Claymare."

"No."

"No?"

"Our organization has no formal name. That's what you have chosen to call us."

"Ooooh, I see," Spike said, arms behind his head as he strolled along behind her. "Well, I honestly thought you'd be a bit scarier and stuff." He almost walked into the mare from her stopping so suddenly.

She turned to give him a sideways glance. "You... aren't scared of me?" The mare was a little intrigued by this young dragon.

Spike chuckled a bit. "Nope! I guess it's because I'm a dragon, but you look just like any other pony around here," he said, giving a big, toothy grin.

The mare gave him an unreadable look before walking again.

"Hey, wait up!"

Later that evening:

Spike had stayed with the Claymare for the full day, wandering around town with her. Everywhere they walked together (well, he followed), other ponies would either duck inside houses or hurry in the direction away from the mare. Spike frowned every time he saw this. These ponies aren't even giving her a chance. Like they don't want to know her. He was a little sad that they never came across Thorn. He wanted to introduce the mare to his brother. That's when it hit him. I don't even know her name. Spike opened his mouth to ask just that question when she stopped walking. They had come to the edge of the town.

"Is this where the village ends?" the mare asked.

"Yep!" Spike answered, eager to be of assistance. "There's only a mine and a small orchard out that way. And past that is the forest that leads to Manehatten."

The mare didn't reply. She did, however, take the claymore from her back and drive it about halfway into the ground. She sat down and leaned back against it, closing her eyes.

Spike cocked his head to the side. "Uhh... what are you doing?"

"Resting. I haven't slept in three days."

"... Oh."

The mare cocked an eye open as she heard something thud into the ground. Looking over, the young dragon was sitting a few feet away with his legs crossed and arms folded, leaning back against an old, discarded fence post, a look of triumph on his face. "Why are you interested in me?"

"Because you're here to take care of the Changeling!" When she didn't respond, Spike became pensive, looking at the ground. "My parents...," he began, voice soft. "They were the first to die. I remember the Changeling attacking and hiding with my brother Thorn. I can still hear the sound of it eating my...," his voice trailed off as he composed himself. "It found us and... that's all I remember. They were right there and I... I couldn't do anything. But you're here to kill it, right!?" he exclaimed, eyes wide with hope.

"Don't be mistaken," the mare said coldly, eyes closed again. "I'm not here to avenge your loss. I'm here because I was hired."

The hope in Spike's eyes faded. He stared at the ground. "Yeah, I know." He was going to say more, but then the bell rang out. He looked towards the horizon and the setting sun. "Oh snap, I didn't realize it was this late! I've got to get home and make supper!" He got to his feet and ran a few paces before stopping. "Oh yeah!" he turned back towards the mare. "I never found out your name. I'm Spike! What's yours?"

"There's no need to tell you, as it will soon be forgotten anyway," the mare said. Her eyes were open, but they were glassed over, as if a distant scene of some kind played before her.

Spike thought about the mare's words all the way back to where he was staying. It's like she expects to never be remembered. Surely there's somepony who'll care that she's gone... is't there? His train of though broke off as he arrived at the door.

"Sorry I'm late!" he called out, wiping his claws on the rug. "I'll get started right a...way...," his voice trailed off as he entered the kitchen, mind going numb at the sight before him.

The kind pony couple he and Thorn had been staying with since their parents were butchered now lay butchered themselves. Blood and viscera covered multiple surfaces, fresh enough to still be dripping from the ceiling. Whether it was the light from the setting sun itself, the light reflecting off of the blood, or a combination of the two, it bathed the whole room in a deep red and gave the appearance of a charnel house.

Spike backed out of the kitchen, letting the door close to obscure the sight, but not the smell. What little was left in his stomach came back out again as me expelled it's contents on the floor. He was just getting his breathing under control again when he heard a step. Looking over he saw his brother.

"Thorn! The ponies, they're...!" Spike cried, but cut himself off. No, something was wrong. Something was very wrong.

"Sssssspiiiiiiike," Thorn said. It sounded like Thorn, but there was an overlapping echo to the sound, like the buzz of a swarm of insects. Thorn's body started to twitch and it sounded like bones were breaking on the inside. "They were quite delicious. Their guts, that is."

"Th...Thorn?"

Thorn started to grow in size before Spike's eyes. The snapping of the bones that he was hearing was in face the dark purple scales falling off and the endo-skeleton being brought to the outside to form a glossy black exoskeleton. Thorn continued to twitch and spasm, the row of spikes running down his back falling to the floor. A set of gossamer wings, laced with several holes and wet still from mucus, started moving, filling the house with a buzzing noise. His snout extended slightly and became a little more rounded. The large fangs inside shrank and were replaced with small, yet needle sharp teeth. The dark, golden eyes of his brother transitioned into glowing green with no pupil. The final transformation took place where a jagged horn extended from the Changeling's forehead, about a full foot in length.

"What, you never noticed?" the Changeling buzzed as Spike, who's brain had effectively shut down at the twin sights of the horror before and behind him. "I ate your brother at that time. How else do you think I was able to pass at him?" The Changeling whipped out his claw and back-handed Spike into the wall.

The young dragon cried out in pain, but was quickly cut off by a choking grasp around his neck. He scratched feebly with his own claws, but the carapace was too strong.

"I was planning on staying here for a while longer," the Changeling continued, bringing Spike closer to its face. "But then you ponies had to call that NAG here!" It threw Spike, hard, into the opposite wall. Spike felt blood on his mouth as his nose broke. Tears sprang to his eyes as he squinted against the pain.

"Before I leave, though...," the insectoid monster said, stalking closer. "I was holding back, saving a delicious morsel like yourself for the end...," the monster lashed out with it's hoof this time, catching Spike in his stomach. He flew into the wall again. "You're the cook, so you know it's best to tenderize the meat before eating."

The Changeling reached down and wrapped Spike's head in a vice-like grip. Lifting up the young dragon effortlessly, the monster brought it's other fist back, ready to hammer his next meal.

The roof imploded and Spike was aware of the pressure leaving his head and being sprayed with a warm liquid. A roar of pain filled the room as he slowly fluttered his eyes open.

The Claymare's sword had shattered the stone flooring. The Changeling had backed away from Spike, spraying and dripping purple blood everywhere. Probably the most shocking sight was the mare herself: her eyes glowed the same green color as the Changelings.

"How'd you...!?" the Changeling screamed at her.

"Your foul stench was all around this young dragon," she replied, turning her gaze on the other monster in the room. "I knew if I followed him, I would find you."

"You bitch!" the Changeling howled. Faster than he had struck Spike and faster than normal eyes could follow, the Changeling took a swipe at the mare with his remaining hand. Even faster than the insect was the mare herself, suddenly appearing behind it in a flurry of her blade. The Changeling's last arm was severed as well, transforming it's howl of rage into another scream of pain.

Spike stared in awe at this turn of events. Here he was, about to be this...thing's next meal and this demure pony appears and lays waste to it in no time! She truly is..., he began thinking but cut off at the new sight playing out before him.

The mare turned to face the Changeling, who had fallen to its knees. Spike noticed the mare's right arm, the one holding the claymore, began flexing and expanding starting at the wrist and working up. Even through the bodysuit, the veins in her arm were obvious! His eyes kept traveling up and stopped at her face, where the most shocking change had taken place. Her eyes were still glowing green, but her muzzle was pulled back in a rictus, her normally flat teeth replaced with the needle-like ones of the Changeling.

"No, wait!" the Changeling begged, struggling to its feet. His stumps dripped blood onto the stone floor, the purple liquid spreading and pooling along the cracks. "Spare me, pl-," was as far as it got before the mare's sword arced high, sundering the insect-like monster in twain from cleft to crown. The sides split apart, new blood and gore falling to the floor.

With a swipe of her sword, the mare flicked the blood off and sheathed it once more along her back. She glanced over at Spike, who from his seated position, had watched the one-sided fight transpire. Shock, horror, disgust, & fear all danced through his eyes thousands upon thousands of times all within the blink of an eye as his brain tried to process was had just transpired over the past few minutes and what the implications of those same minutes meant for the past month.

His brain settled on curling him into a fetal position and crying. The mare walked out, leaving Spike in his broken state, with nary a backwards glance.

Chapter II- The Outcasts, pt. 2

Spike stumbled up the hill, using his hands to support and drag himself along almost as much as his legs to push. Even though some time had passed, he still couldn't figure out how it had come to this. He hadn't done anything wrong! The tears sprang fresh to his eyes again at the memory:

"We're sorry, Spike. Don't hate us."
"But we can't take a chance with you possibly being a Changeling also."
"Or turning into a Changeling. Your brother was one. How do we know you aren't also?"

"But I'm normal!" Spike shouted to the heavens. He realized, to late, what a mistake it was to lean back and scream. Throwing himself off balance, he tumbled down the hill, adding new scratches and bruises to the collection he has from being run out of town. He pitched forward upon reaching the bottom, his snout gouging a track in the dirt as his momentum carried him forward.

Spike laid there for a moment with tears of anger, shame, and disappointment falling from his eyes. He picked himself up, snorting the dirt and grass from his nose. The most frustrating thing about his situation, beside being run out of town, was that he didn't know where to go. He had no extended family that he knew of and obviously no money to his name. The closest town was Fillydelphia, but that was a few days walk out. And he hadn't eaten since the morning the Claymare arrived, two days ago. As if in agreement of his thoughts, his stomach rumbled, followed shortly thereafter by stinging cramps.

Spike grunted and grit his teeth against the discomfort. He couldn't call it pain. Being beaten thoroughly by a Changeling, that was pain. He held an arm to his stomach all the same and picked himself up from the ground. He looks to the crest of the hill and then to his left, which leads into the forest.

He glared at the top, "Buck this hill," and began shambling into the forest.

Spike was beginning to regret going into the forest. Unlike the field leading up to the hill and the area around said hill, the forest was loud. Animals and birds of all kinds were crying, cawing, thumping, and thudding everywhere. Ponyville could be noisy, but this was... discordant. What made it even worse was all the underbrush he was walking through. Even with the tough scales of his feet, they were starting to get a little torn up. Spike had wandered away from the beaten path back when he first left town. With nowhere to go, where did it matter he went?

Spike's gaze was cast downward, watching for trip hazards and thorns. His stomach growled again and even though no one was around to hear it, he still blushed a little bit in embarrassment. He stopped and rubbed his sore belly.

"Don't worry, buddy," Spike said, more as a comfort to himself than to his bodily organ. "I'll stuff you like a fat pig... when I can." He took a couple steps forward and as he lifted his head to look up, he cracked it on a really low branch. He fell to the ground, eyes scrunched up as he rubbed his head to stop the throbbing.

"Owowowowow," he muttered. He blinked back the tears in his eyes and then really started blinking to clear them up. It couldn't be... could it? He forgot the ache in his head and rubbed his eyes, squinting for clarity. It was! It was the Claymare! He found her! Not that he had really been looking for her, but it was still the best thing to happen in the past few days. He got to his feet, vision still swimming a little bit from the bump. He lost focus of her outline, but found it again.

"Hey," he called out, picking his pace up from earlier. "Hey!" No reaction at all. He's running now, not caring about the scratches across his face, his feet, his arms... all that mattered was catching up to her. "Hey!" "Wait uuaaaaah-!" His feet struck air. He never noticed the drop-off until he was careening down it. The initial impact wasn't so bad, since there was a decent carpet of fallen leaves & pine needles to slightly cushion him, but then he kept rolling. Even with the sky and ground changing places on him, all Spike could think was, "At least this isn't as bad as the--" *thunk*

Ponies lying dead...
Blood everywhere...
Thorn transforming before his eyes....
Silver eyes becoming glowing green...
A flashing blade...

Spike's eyes snapped open, ending the visions before him. He was lying down not in foliage, but a bed. A surprisingly comfortable bed. He sat up and looked around. The room was plain: the bed he was on, a small side table to the left, and a dresser along the right wall. There was a window across from him, showing a decent view of the large village he was in. Squinting from the light coming in, he figured it was about midday.

The door opened and a garnet red earth pony, with a white mane and tail walked in carrying a large tray of food and a bottle of some sort of liquid. Spike's mouth immediately started watering at the sight and his stomach agreed by growling its assent.

The earth pony chuckled as Spike blushed in embarrassment. "It's good to see you're awake. You've been out of it for a while since you were brought here." He set the tray on the side table, which Spike immediately set into. Grabbing the hunk of bread, he bit off a mouthful and attempted to swallow it after three chews. Having difficulty getting the almost whole piece down, the pony gave him the bottle. Spike knocked it back. Even though it was just water, it was the most wonderful thing he'd ever tasted. His throat clear, he coughed, getting his breathing right.

"Easy there, big guy," the earth pony said, a slight look of concern on his face. "Take it slow or you'll make yourself sick."

Spike smiled sheepishly and started eating the bread again, taking much smaller bites. Swallowing his latest piece, he asked, "How long have I been out?"

The pony leaned against the wall, watching the young dragon eat. "About a day. You came in with a rather nasty goose egg on your head."

Spike reached up and tentatively felt around his head. Towards the back, displacing two of his head spikes, was a large bump. Knowing he shouldn't, but doing it anyway, he poked it lightly and winced at the shock it caused.

The pony laughed. "Yeah, it's going to be tender a while. Believe it or not, its shrunk considerably. The doctor rubbed a lotion on it to help.

The young dragon's smile dropped as he realized something: he was lying in a bed, being fed, and he had been given meds. He looked down, a depressed look coming upon his face.

The pony perked up, standing straight. "What's wrong?"

Spike looked up at him, "I... don't have any money to pay for any of this."

The stallion waved it off, "No need to worry about that, little guy. You were already taken care of: food, board, and medical." He gave the dragon a wink and a smile.

"Really? Who would..?" Spike trailed off. "You mentioned someone bringing me in. Must be the same pony who paid for everything. Who was it?" he asked, bringing the water bottle to his lips.

The smile left the stallions eyes as he got serious, "It was a silver-eyed witch."

Spike choked on his water and started a coughing fit. The stallion walked over and pounded on Spike's back to help clear it up a bit. The dragon, when breathing normally again, looked up at the stallion, a surprised and questioning look in his eyes. "What!?"

The stallion nodded, "A Claymare saved you."

Spike had wanted to immediately jump out of the bed and go looking for his personal savior, but the earth pony held him down, again suggesting that he take it easy and at least finish his meal first. Spike had struggled for a brief minute, but conceded when he knew he wouldn't have the energy to mount a full blown search for her. Settling down, he had told the earth pony that he would stay to finish his meal, then head out. Now, Spike was jogging through Fillydelphia, hoping to catch a sight of his purple hero.

Having gone through the streets with no success, Spike settled onto the edge of a fountain in the town square, cradling his head in his hands. He let out a sigh of defeat, depressed that his search had been fruitless. He stared at the cobblestones, lost in his own thoughts, when he felt a touch on his shoulder.

Looking up, he saw a cream color unicorn male standing over him. "Hmm? Did you say something?"

The unicorn nodded. "Yeah, I did. You're the only dragon I'd seen, so you must be the one she was talking about."

Spike sat up straight, his interest piqued. "'She'?"

The unicorn nodded again, hefting his bag on his back. "Yep. It was a Claymare just outside of town, that way," he said, pointing.

Spike was gone in a run before the unicorn looked back.

The purple and green dragon jogged up the lightly worn foot path, keeping his gaze constantly shifting up and down. Given his luck with hills lately and the drop-off on his left, he wasn't taking any chances falling down again. There was a slight bend to the right up ahead. He paused at the elbow and leaned against a tree to rest a moment. He'd only taken a few steps after when he stopped dead.

It was her! It was the... wait. No it wasn't. It was a Claymare, but not his. This new one before him was blue and had an orange mane and tail. Everything else about her was the same as his. He sighed lightly in disappointment, but brightened. This was progress! This one could get in contact with someone else who would know where his particular Claymare was OR even better, this mare could know where the other one was! Spike gave a silent cheer, having made a step in the right direction. He began approaching slowly, not wanting to surprise this one or even knowing her general disposition.

He closed the gap to her, when the mare turned around. Spike was caught off guard at how pretty she was and saw that she was a unicorn as well. He smiled sheepishly and waved, not knowing what else to do. She smiled and started walking toward him.

"You made it," she said silkily. Spike couldn't help by admire the way this mare moved. It was smoother than water. A slight haze took a hold of his thoughts.

"Yeah, I... I did," he didn't know what was wrong with him, but he didn't mind it. After the past few days he's had, this was... kinda nice. "Were you... were you the one that sav...saved me?" He was getting deep into the haze now.

She was a little less than an arm's reach from him now. The mare bent over and stretched out her hand, cradling the side of Spike's head. His skin tingled at her touch. It was nice. "It was. It's my job as a Claymare to help all those in need."

Spike was almost fully consumed in the haze that this mare put off, but like a rainbow in the dark, it cleared with one simple word. He slapped the mare's hand away and backed up a step. "You aren't a Claymare! Real Claymares never call themselves that!"

The mare's eyes went wide, then narrowed slightly. "Hmm, I'll have to remember that for next time." The mare's blue fur darkened and crisped over, taking on the appearance of an exoskeleton. Before Spike could comprehend the oddness of glossy black skin and the orange hair, the Changeling blurred before him and appeared behind him, wrapping a large claw around his head. It slid the tips of it other claw under the scales on Spike's neck.

"I know you've been looking for me!" the Changeling yelled, seemingly to nothing. Her voice was a combination of the buzz of an insect swarm and the silky voice it was just using. "Come out now or this dragon dies!"

Spike was about to comment on the potential state of craziness of the Changeling holding him, when a crunch of the underbrush sounded. He moved his head as much as he could to look over. It was her... again! This time was real. Despite his situation, Spike smiled then winced as the grip on his head tightened and claws pricked his skin just a little bit more.

The Changeling cackled. "I knew I was right to get this dragon! When I saw you tenderly carry him into town, he'd be a perfect hostage!"

The (real) mare didn't say anything. She just stared blankly at the proceedings before her.

"Now," the Changeling continued, putting Spike more in front of her. "Drop your sword!"

The mare kept her expression blank, but she did reach up and grip the hilt of her claymore. The Changeling tensed, increasing the pressure of its striking claw against Spike's skin. He felt the tips break the skin and a small, thin trail of blood wound its way down the Changeling's claw.

The mare unsheathed her sword. Turning slightly, she whipped the blade down the hill into the underbrush. Spike's eyes widened in shock. "No!" he cried out.

Cackling loudly, the Changeling shoved Spike away, no longer needing him as a hostage now that its true target was unarmed. The insectoid pony flew at the mare, intent on devouring her. Screaming a battle cry, it readied its claw to stab through her.

It struck, but instead of a satisfying plunge through soft, pony flesh... nothing. The Changeling was confused for a split second before it coughed up blood and began struggling to breathe.

The mare, sensing the Changeling's attack, had ducked at the last second. She lost a couple strands of her mane to the clawing strike of the Changeling, but that wasn't a concern for her. "Rarity, on the other hand"... She blinked. That wasn't important right now. What was important was the exposed midsection of the monster that just tried to kill her. Her eyes changed to glowing green and with a vicious uppercut, she took advantage of the opening before her. That caused the Changeling to cough out that first bit of bloody phlegm. The second knocked out what little air was left in its lungs. The third cracked the exoskeleton. The fourth saw the mare's fist penetrate the shell and punch out the back, in a fountain of blood and carapace pieces. Spike looked at the bloody fist poking out the back of the Changeling, mouth open in awe at the sheer physical power on display before him.

The Changeling would have been screaming in pain if it had any air left in its lungs. Coincidentally, it wasn't going to be breathing again anytime soon. The mare had ruptured the equivalent of its diaphragm when her fist had gone through. Pulling her arm out with a sucking noise, she stood up and out of the way as the Changeling sank to its knees. She gripped it's horn with one hand and grabbed an edge of the hole she made with the same bloody hand.

Spike watched as the mare did a full turn and threw the Changeling down the hill in the same direction that she threw her sword. Before he could ask why, the mare jumped and slid down the hill after her latest kill. "Hey, wait up!" Spike called, not missing the irony that he about to go down another hill, but not in a tumble this time.

By the time he made it down to the base, the actions of the Claymare made sense: when she had thrown her blade down, she had calculated its rotation so that it landed blade pointing up. Then she had thrown the body of the Changeling so that it would land skewered upon the point. These Claymares are...

"Amazing," Spike whispered.

The mare flicked her sword, flinging the blood off before sheathing it. She turned to look at Spike. Much like the gaze of the Changeling-in-disguise, this one also set a haze upon his mind, but the difference being it felt like... sun-bathing. Very similar to the feeling one would get when lying in a grassy field without a care in the world, being warmed by a spring or summer sun. "You..," Spike began, suddenly overcome by emotion. "You saved me again! First from the Changeling that killed my family and... and now this!" Tears started to form in his eyes and he quickly wiped them away. "I remember what you said before, about how your name didn't matter and you'll soon be forgotten? I won't forget you, ever! And I mean it when I say: Thank you!"

"Why aren't you at the village?" was her response.

Spike opened his mouth to answer, but closed it and looked down instead.

"Were you thrown out?"

He stayed looking down, fighting back different tears as he nodded.

The mare studied the young dragon. He couldn't be more than ten years old, twelve at the most, and he's already experienced more hardship and rejection than a dozen ponies triple his age ever will. She thought back to their first meeting:

You aren't scared of me?
Nope! You look just like any other pony!

Unbidden, her thoughts carried the mare to her own past. Shockingly, this young dragon's current life events paralleled her own quite strongly. She blinked away the past, forming a plan for the present.

"You can cook, right?" she asked.

Spike looked up, head cocked to the side, not sure if he'd heard her right. "What?"

A ghost of a smile played across the mare's lips. "I asked if you can cook. You mentioned that you had to cook dinner back at Ponyville. Can you do it well?"

Spike just stared, not quite comprehending what he was hearing. Then Part A slid into Slot B in Spike's mind and clicked together. He felt his spirits rising, a toothy smile spreading across his face. "Yeah. My bro... my family really liked it when I cooked."

A true smile was on the mare's lips now. "Good. Then so long as you continue to cook well, you can come with me and be my assistant until you find a place you'll be happy at."

Spike didn't care that there were tears falling from his eyes again, for these were ones of happiness. Still, he was a male dragon! He wiped his eyes and smiled again. "Deal!"

The mare nodded and began making her way back toward Fillydelphia to report her mission complete.

"Hey."

The mare turned around and saw that Spike hadn't moved. She raised an eyebrow in question, "Yes?"

"You still haven't told me your name."

The mare's eyes relaxed, and in her mind, she heard a distant voice say her name. That's the day she considered herself truly alive. She'd have to tell Spike about it sometime... maybe. At that moment, the light of the setting sun broke through the tree-cover and illuminated her. Spike wasn't much for religion or believing in higher powers, but that moment he was sure there was a higher power at work, looking out for him.

"Twilight. My name is Twilight Sparkle."

Chapter III- The Black Card

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.

Author's Note

So I know I said this before, but Wow. o_o I want to firstly apologize for this taking so long. My living and working environment are one & the same. They don't exactly leave room for inspiration. BUT, I'm glad that I was finally able to finish this. Makes me feel good that I still got it and that I still have the inspiration to keep it going.

To all of you that have hung around, (im)patiently waiting the 4 months for the update: I sincerely thank you. :)

And, once again, be brutally honest in your opinions and/or criticisms. That's the only way I'll hope to improve.

Prologue: An Evening in the Woods

It was a rather picturesque scene: a quiet night in the woods, with a wide yet fairly shallow river flowing through. No birds were chirping and all animals had run away. This was a time for certain, that if a tree fell in the forest, somepony would be sure to hear it.

A unicorn was around to hear a tree fall, should it happen. Morning Glory was a traveling merchant from Ponyville on her way to the neighboring town of Fillydelphia. She was alone, but wasn't scared. She, being a unicorn, had a degree of magical ability and enough knowledge of defensive spells to keep herself safe should danger arise. She had been warned by her lover, Arbor, back in Ponyville that a Changeling could still be lurking around. The last Changeling attack had been over a month ago, so it must have been long gone. She brushed it off, gave him a kiss, and headed on her way.

Glory had just crossed the river and was magicking the water from her legs when she heard a crack. She looked over in the direction of the sound. Nothing was there. Shrugging, she went back to her task.

crack

Her head snapped up and ears perked at the sound again, this time closer and louder. The sun yellow aura around her horn took on a slightly more goldenrod color as she readied a stun spell. Her eyes were wide and searching as she backed up to the edge of the river slowly, where her bags were resting. She had only taken a few steps when her backward progress was stopped by a wall.

Screaming, she jumped forward and spun around, wildly firing off her spell. It missed the obstruction and hit the water, causing steam to rise from where it struck and fizzling out.

Breathing heavily, she focused on what had stopped her. The sun was setting and was shining directly into her eyes, so that light obscured the pony before her. It was certainly the largest pony she'd ever come across. "Oh dear me!" she exclaimed, heart still pounding. "Sweet Faust, did you give me a fright! Ha ha! Whew," she laughed, rubbing a hand across her forehead. The pony didn't move or respond.

"I'm Morning Glory, from Ponyville. Nice to meet you," she introduced herself, extending a hand. Still, the pony didn't move. Glory's smile faded a bit as she slowly pulled her hand back, feeling a little awkward. She got her smile back up again as she continued talking. "That's okay. My cousin in Manehatten in the same way. Bit of a germ-a-phobe. So, what's your name?"

The strange pony didn't speak. It only took a step closer towards Morning Glory.

At that moment, a cloud passed in front of the setting sun. And Morning Glory screamed.