sed

# echo "123456" | sed -n 's/^\(.\)\{4\}\(.\)/\1-\2/p'
4-56
# echo "123456" | sed -n 's/^\(.\)\{1\}\(.\)/\1-\2/p'
1-23456
# echo "bla1bla1" | sed -n 's/\(\(bla1\)\|\(bla2\)\)\{2\}/\2--\3/p'
bla1--
# echo "bla1bla2" | sed -n 's/\(\(bla1\)\|\(bla2\)\)\{2\}/\2--\3/p'
bla1--bla2
# echo "bla2bla2" | sed -n 's/\(\(bla1\)\|\(bla2\)\)\{2\}/\2--\3/p'
--bla2
# echo "bla2bla1" | sed -n 's/\(\(bla1\)\|\(bla2\)\)\{2\}/\2--\3/p'
bla1--bla2