#54

I saw better in Sting, something from inside of me just told me he wasn't this dark persona I was greeted to. Even so, I hadn't mustered the courage to begin anything or make a move on him, I just stood there, pondering what I was doing, and how it ever came to this. I had assured Celestia to stay a safe distance away, along with the party so I could have Sting to myself, but it seemed now I wasn't serious about my words. I never meant harm to him, nor do I want to cause any.

I was frozen in place, my hands twitching slightly and my eyes just staring aimlessly at Sting, hoping to see if I could find something in them, to which I knew I won't anything but hatred. I finally decided to take a small intake of air and let it out in a sigh.

"So, this is what you wanted?" I asked him. He didn't twitch or move, the sound of wind whistling making him even more unsettling. I nodded before closing my eyes, trying to come to terms. "A pointless fight, led by hatred that you've stored in you, and here I thought I saw more in you."

I opened my eyes and looked at him as he squinted his eyes tighter, it was simple to see I was hitting the right nerves. I patted my sheath before gripping my fists, getting a feel for the synthetic leather that made them and letting the sound of leather rubbing against leather fill the air.

"But now," I gripped my fists to the point they slightly shook from tension. "I see a narrow-minded fool, WHO THINKS THAT THROWING HIS HOOVES AROUND WILL SOLVE HIS PROBLEMS!"

I quickly ran my fist into his hoof, pondering how he ever managed to appear before me and maintain his altitude. Levitation? I quickly felt what was a string pressure on my knuckles as I watched Sting glare at me with death in hand. I quickly backed away maintaining ready posture, but I was slowly massaging my hand, moving all fingers randomly and stretching them, my hand almost seemed to spasm slightly. I looked at my hand before struggling to grip it into a fist.

"What the…?"

I finally managed to make it a fist but the complication was worrying. I gritted with it as I glared his way only to find he was up face-close, a hoof about to swipe across my face. I flinched my head away before using my other hand to stop his hoof and unleashing my other on him. He scooted away in the air before braking, midair. He was levitating, as to how, I don't know. I looked at my hand shaking, like I said, I never wanted to hurt him, but it's almost unstoppable when he came at me like that. I got a grip and tightened up.

K squinted his eyes tightly as he closed his own fists. He felt it too, the level of what was going on. Quickly, Chrysalis caught on and stepped closer to his side. "What's wrong?"

K gulped as he glared carefully at what was happening, not once thinking of leaving eyesight off this battle, not since seeing Ben's hand spasm. "Ben…his hand spasmed, almost as if that hoof to hand tranquilized his hand for a moment."

"Are you saying it hurt him?"

"Maybe."

"W-what happened!?" Jade asked still not getting over everything that was happening. Chrysalis and Fluttershy turned over before leaning in, hoping to inspire some comfort.

"D-don't cry…I'm sure he's just not thinking straight." Flutters tried, but it was a fail as Jade shook her head and looked away from her direction, just letting her tears fall to the grassy plain.

"I-I WISH I COULD S-SAY THAT, BUT I CAN'T W-WHEN HE WAS JUST FINE A DAY AGO!" She sobbed in despair. Flutters looked up at Chrysalis to see if she could come up with something. Chrysalis glared at her before sighing and gulping with a level of importance.

"Listen, he didn't mean what he said," Chrysalis joined in to the conversation. In reaction, Jade lifted her painfully drenched face off her hooves and let the tears glisten in the sun that was soon going to be covered by deep gray clouds. Chrysalis turned to Ben, seeing him handle himself before turning to Sting and eyeing him carefully. "Who…are you?" Jade asked.

Chrysalis smirked with a chuckle, of course Jade only met her while in disguise, but now she was out. "I was there when we sat down and had a drink over the table in Twilight's house, he said so much about you then; how you were right for him, and how you were always there even when he was alone."

Jade took stuttered breaths as Chrysalis neared her a bit more before resting by her side. "This thing he has…hatred as you call it, if it made a monster out of Luna…then it's probably making one out of your stallion."

Jade turned over to Sting fighting it out with Ben, although now, she was lifted slightly. Chrysalis's words were soothing and pleasing to hear, giving her belief that this wasn't who she personally knew. Chrysalis smiled and nodded. "Come on, get up, no need to feel remorse for somepony who isn't, who you know."

Jade followed and straightened her posture before Chrysalis came in with her magic to wipe the tears away. Jade glanced at her a blush before looking towards the ground. "T-thank you…"

Chrysalis smirked with some confidence as she held her head high with her chest out. "Hmpf! Let's just see what happens out there, and maybe see what we want to see."

I quickly ducked before jumping high into the air and staying afloat as I watched Sting zoom by under me before looking around. I looked down at him before aiming my hand at him, ready to produce something devastating, but it never came out. I couldn't get over it, my fear of hurting him was blinding me from doing the common, I gritted my teeth before backing away a few.

"STING!"

His ears perked up as he turned to me and stared, wondering how I managed to get up here and stay here.

"I DON'T WANT TO HURT YOU, YOU IDIOT!"

That didn't seem to affect him, he aimed his hoof at me before his horn lit up and out came a violently plasmatic dark beam which forced my hand out. In my head, I planned to absorb whatever he shot out, but the moment the beam reached a foot from me, it expanded to five times the diameter, looking like I was going to touch the surface of a dark sun. I quickly let out of my hand what I held back on and let as much as I could to avoid getting my body anywhere near that darkness.

The blue eruption from my hand pierced through that darkness of his, almost as if pushing the dark plasma away, like a repelling magnet, and headed directly towards him. He stared before he quickly backed away and I retracted my hand. I quickly rushed my eyes to my hand before squeezing it with the other to stop the violent sparks that still surrounded it. It was odd, I knew deep down I didn't want to hurt him, but I was having a hard time stopping myself from reacting violently against him.

I finally managed to stop my hand from twitching with anxiety and turned to Sting looking up at me, looking like he was taken by surprise, unpleasantly. "D-damn it!" I grunted as I lowered myself to the ground and stared at him, wondering how far I must take this before I get the answer I needed. I huffed out a breath, before gripping my hands to fist and positioning myself to defend again.

But, just when it seemed I was going to be attacked, he bared his teeth as he lashed out randomly.

"Stop that!"

I picked my head up with a confused frown forming. "What!?" I asked him, hoping to see him react a bit more civilized, but that was far from reach.

He growled before zooming over to me and running his hoof to my head, but I quickly swayed his attack before backing away again. So much for civility! The moment I backed, he blindly shot out a beam towards me making me use my hand to deflect it before he suddenly appeared before me, my hands being busy couldn't stop the moment his hoof landed on my chest gently.

I felt the immediate danger surge through me the moment I noticed the dark glow slowly begin to erupt from my chest.

"OH NO!" Flutters screeched, covering her mouth in shock, before Luna and Celestia's eyes widened. Jade watched closely as Chrysalis scooted closer to K, who just stared wondering what the fuck was going on!? Suddenly, as if in a split second from those events, what was expected transpired and what seemed like a small explosion turned into what was a nuclear explosion, that quickly forced everyone with magic to create a shield.

"What is he doing!?" Jade asked, inquiring about Ben's refusal to fight back, which had now landed him in a deep place now. Everyone stared as smoke cloud covered everything in sight. Luna and Celestia turned to her before gulping looking away. "W-we don't know! This isn't like Ben at all, he's usually more active!"

K looked over.

"He afraid to fight…" He eased out, uncrossing him arms and getting rid of that frown on him, replacing it with worry. Everyone turned and asked equally.

"What!? Why!?" They asked, Celestia sounding the most stressed.

K looked to them before closing his eyes, he knew Ben's reasons for not being offensive, yet he wouldn't question his motives. "He's doesn't want to hurt him, he still cares for Sting's safety."

"W-what!?" Jade asked by herself this time before gulping as she turned over. "But Sting can kill him if he doesn't fight back!"

Those words struck nerves of fear in the Princesses and Flutters as they turned to K, hoping he would have some positive news. His attitude gave no clues to positivity or negativity. K opened his eyes before looking back at the battle, watching the huge smoke cloud slightly pick up and slowly sway in one direction. He squinted his eyes for a better view before picking his head up curiously and by surprise. "He knows…and he's learned that now."

Everyone took a moment to understand his words before Luna stepped up to ask.

"What does that-

The sudden yell from the left and a shining blue light forced all eyes over to whatever was happening back over. The smoke screen became thin and see-through, and now, easily seen, there was a bright figure standing in front of Sting. Luna stared before her eyes widened as the smoke died down, her question had been answered.

I looked down at my chest before clutching it. Fortunately, I was able to tank that blast with my aura that semi-shielded me, and only received some tears to my shirt and a minor burn to my skin. I looked at my hand, it wasn't trembling anymore, and neither were my feelings. My hand reshaped into a fist as I looked at my aura, exposed.

"So, this is it?" Sting asked, not impressed by what he was seeing. I moved my eyes up to him before my head followed through. I was expecting to be able to give him an opportunity, but now I was far from it.

"Sting…I've warned you enough." I straightened my body and lifted my hand towards him, putting a few inches between his face and my hand. He picked his head up a bit, pondering my action. I unfolded my hand from the fist and faced the palm towards him before spreading each finger evenly from each other, sparks connecting each finger. "I'm going to make this quick."

I was going to make this quick.

I quickly shot out what he wanted and as expected he dodged but made the mistake of judging me to early. He appeared behind me and I quickly launched an elbow towards him, getting him straight in his neck stunning him for a bit.

I turned to him, firmly giving him one on the spleen before gently placing my hand on his chest. He couldn't retaliate when I hit two paralyzing points and made him hunch over. He looked up at me once before showing his anger. I had nothing to express back but the look on my face, and my warning from before.

"Like I said, you've been warned enough."

I watched as my vision became blinded with a glowing blue hue, the sound of violent winds and clashing plasma upon plasma, along with Sting's roar of pain. I stared for a while, seeing how long it would take before the screams dissapeared; not soon enough. I decided to stop and lower my hand, waiting to see the damage I had done.

"He got him cleanly…" Chrysalis mentioned, shocked into an almost immediate silence after that last quick happening. "Yeah, and with so much force…" K agreed, equally silenced by Ben's sudden merciless attitude. Something had happened to Ben, for him to go from being a merciful defender, to a merciless striker, and it reaped in K's mind.

"He's not going to kill him either…is he?" Jade asked, looking around for an answer.

"N-no…Ben isn't like that." Flutters answered, unsure of her answer, which only brought about questions. Jade sighed as she looked towards the princesses, to hear their say. "He isn't merciless, right?"

The princesses turned to her, each one showing some type of insecurity.

"He has mercy in him, at least to those he finds acceptable of it." Luna responded turning to her sister, seeing to it that she gets some help in answering. Celestia picked her head up and made a slight frown, getting a grip of her thoughts.

"Ben has a peculiar mind, which is directed by justice and the protection of others, and in this case, I'd say he's doing what's necessary." Celestia explained, not trying to be soft or too hard on her considering Jade is going through enough. Jade looked towards the ground before looking back up and taking a deep breath.

"Justice…Sting was all for that…"

Luna looked over to Celestia, and Celestia did the same towards her, it is interesting to hear such a contradiction to the reality in front of them. Jade turned away before looking up at K, his face only exempting confusion with his frown of displeasure. Something was oddly wrong.

"K, you're his demon, how's Ben going to handle himself?"

K picked his head before turning over to her, and Jade slightly backed a step. It was still on his face, the confusion and worry.

"Ben's kind of random as far I know, you can never really be sure about what he can do, but from what I see, it seems he just lost all the fear he had for harming Sting and did a flip over to causing some severe pain." K explained his part, and Jade got the confusion equal to K's, but she couldn't explain what the confusion was, it just caught onto her.

"So, what's that mean?" She asked, not really getting the hang of worry and fear just yet. K looked at Ben before turning to Jade and taking a slow and steady breath. "I don't know…"

I watched as I Sting picked himself off the ground, feeling some pain in his hooves as he did so. I lowered my attack slightly as I took a step in his direction.

"I was hoping that knock some sense into you, did it?" I asked. He grunted as he lifted his head and glared at me, maliciously. That look was infuriating, it easily told me to go fuck myself. I picked my head before frowning and aiming my hand at him, just waiting to hear his response and he did.

"As…if that'll-

"Wrong answer!" I let my hand free and he crashed another few feet away. I wasn't dealing his damn taunts now, I was dealing with the questions I wanted answered. I moved up again and watched him cough something up and struggle to get up. "Did it!?" I asked again, swinging my hand behind me, over my head and right at him, he flew another few feet before moved up again.

K's eyes widened before he gulped and took a slight step forward as Ben's hand went up again, behind his head.

"W-what's he doing!?" Jade asked with Flutters. The princesses quickly rose to occasion and shook their heads.

"He can't be serious…he wouldn't…"

Despite the princesses' rejection of his actions, Ben quickly lifted his hand behind his head and charged up what seemed like a blue-neon blackhole. With his vains being as stressed can be, it was simple to see Ben's not a bluff, and that, that thing in his hand was nearly five times as powerful as anything they'd seen today, lethal in other words.

"He is." K answered, a bead of sweat going down his face as he had his hands balled up in fists. Everyone turned to him slowly before turning to Ben make that ball of thrashing power in his hands increase in gravity.

"ANSWER ME!"

Everyone turned quiet as they watched, not really believing Ben's words, taking them as a taunt, but Ben's look of complete agitation was unbeaten. Sting was remaining unresponsive, as he struggled to get up again, and now it seemed Ben was playing a game, a game he'd played before. Sting was weak, too weak to respond, but Ben only saw an opportunity to take a hit.

"WHERE IS THE HATRED STING!? DAMN IT!"

"K, stop him!" Jade begged. K looked over but his mind was mentally stuck between who to really stop. Jade panicked as she looked around for options but her time was running out rapidly. "Princesses!?" She tried but they were equally confused. Jade's eyes widened at the realization she was alone, and she quickly turned at a voice dominating over all.

"That so, well then, TAKE IT WITH YOU'RE HATE!"

Ben yelled as his hand swung from behind him and towards Sting at such a speed, it was like he was throwing the fastball of the century. Everyone too shocked to respond, took in a rapid intake of air and prepared for the worst, all except one.

"N-NO!"

Careless of her own, Jade was a gift to death at this point. She swung with all the magic and strength her hoof could produce and swung it towards Ben's incoming hand and in such a moment it seemed that time had slowed for both.

"J-Jade!?" Were the only words running through me as I noticed herself prepare to meet my own hand in the next moment that seemed to be coming so quick it was slow. Her eyes watery and her magic spasming as she did the most she could. She had teleported in front of me, the obvious reason being that I inteneded to target Sting. What was I doing!? My hand was going to basically touch her hoof, and only destiny will decide what'll happen, but it was already revealed to me. I over-did it, my brutality…but how? I could easily see how much force I put into this attack, enough to kill Sting beyond death. Where did this strength come from!? I don't know but it made sick allover. I didn't want to kill Sting, just force out words, but I lost it somewhere in my head. "H-How did it come to this!?"

I couldn't stop anything, my attack and my eyes from closing.

I felt what was a small touch and a tear hit a blade of grass.

"J-JADE!" Chrysalis shouted along with K before covering their eyes from the blinding blue light and standing firmly in place, not letting the massive wave of the blast move them too far. The princesses created their own shields, shielding everyone in it, except the unfortunate stray.

The whole world became covered in a blue explosion as I felt my body heat rise nearly a million times what it normally was before feeling like I was hit with the hardest volt of electricity. I rolled and rumbled for what seemed like an eternity before finally getting landing with my face to the ground and skid off to a stop, the grass around me getting thrown around.

There was silence, a peaceful silence that let me rest for a second before the pain kicked in and I rushed my hands to my sides, clutching them tightly as my breath became filled with a liquid so sour it felt like I was ejaculating acid. I coughed a few times getting rid of the liquid before opening my eyes, which were parallel to the ground and studying the deep red. I wheezed a bit as I felt my breath almost leave me for a second before it came back and forced me to cough out more of the deep red molten. My breathing was over the top exaggerated as I tried to calm myself but I was in such a pain my lungs were acting on their own, trying to keep me from losing it.

With heavy panting and difficulty, but I managed to use one of my elbows to sustain my body and get on my knees, then I saw it, my body. I was fucked up, it looked like I was put in a cage of starving lions, tears everywhere on my shirt and body, but nothing could compare to my right arm and hand. I lifted my arms, only to realize one didn't act. "W-what…" I cried in a whisper as I looked at the blood drenched limb, which looked like I just pulled it out of a tub of corrosion-causing material. It was immobile, probably dislocated from the long knock back I took, and heavily damaged.

Almost as soon as I noticed the pool of blood under me, the thought of the receiving end hit me hard as I picked my head up and put everything into my legs, just to stand up. "J-Jade…" I called out weakly but doing so only weakened my knees and made me quiver. Nonetheless, I was determined to walk forward, my arm only hanging and dripping vital fluids.

"J-Jade!" I called out again, but with some more strength in it.

My foot hit a small lodged rock, making me jerk forward and collapse to the ground. "F-fuck…" I grunted, coughing more of my blood before getting up again, the process taking longer than last time. The clouds had settled in the sky above me, and it looked like the sky was ready to pour hell on me, I wouldn't mind it now. "Why did I do this!? Why!?"

I walked a minute before hitting something again, making me topple over, and by now, I was so weak I couldn't walk anymore. I forced my one working hand to grip the ground and propel myself forward, until I finally gripped something that wasn't grass. I looked up and noticed a shade of color that came off as familiar and forced my body to scoot up and look down.

I stared for a few seconds, taking in what I was seeing before getting on my knees and gulping as I watched the loose body facing away from me. "J-Jade…" I whispered as I reached a hand out and turned her over. I fell back from my knees and watched in shock and horror, as I tried to understand what I had done.

Her face looked clueless and her eyes were dim with no sign of response in them, almost as if it happened so fast she didn't react and froze in time. She had her own burses and tears to her skin. I forced my hand to go over a tear of flesh on her chest, it was real, and so were my screams of sheer terror as I placed my forehead on her, just crying forgiveness, hoping it would rain soon, and the rain would wash it all away.

"S-stay here!" K yelled as he quickly took off, finally getting rid of his shock. Everyone had arrived now, even the guests that were so eager to come, although, they arrived moments before horror struck. Everyone was stunned into a silence that seemed to never leave, all except Celestia, Luna, Chrysalis, and Twilight. They stared before quickly zapping their way over to Ben, appearing him, and K.

I was crying silly, and K was inducing more blood to flow out of my mouth as shook me.

"Ben! Calm down!"

"WHAT HAVE I DONE!?" I asked as I cried towards him, I was so lost in tears that I wasn't seeing straight anymore, or maybe it was from loss of blood. K looked behind himself before closing his eyes tightly and firmed his hands on my shoulders. "You didn't mean to do it!"

"SHE'S DEAD! SHE DIDN'T DESERVE THIS! SHE WAS PROTECTING HIM FROM ME!"

K looked towards the ground before letting me go and nodding as he turned around to face Jade and kneeled down beside her shaking her a bit before closing his eyes and sighing. "Fuck…"

"Daddy!"

K's head shot up as he turned around and noticed the miniature pony working her magic on Ben. "P-please be okay!"

"Huh?" I asked as I noticed my vision slowly begin to come back. It cleared barely enough for me to make out the color of eyes and and tears on the little pony who called me "Daddy."

"It's me! I-I got you! You'll be okay!"

"Y-you…" K whispered before quickly reaching for her, making her magic disappear and he dropped her in front of him, the little on retaliating like a rowdy baby. "N-NO! LET ME HEAL HIM!" She cried as she tried to outdo his grip, but it was useless as he had a deadlock grip on her.

I knew quickly what K was doing, and I had no objection, I quickly got a grip as I closed my eyes and clenched my teeth, hoping to prolong my span of life. K knew about the power of this little being, so it should have a chance of working. "I'll handle! Do as he says!" I begged before quickly noticing the flash besides me and noticed Strike staring at me, all the horror in her face as she turned to the princesses, Twilight, and Chrysalis.

"PLEASE, HELP HIM! I DON'T HAVE HEALING MAGIC!"

I quickly realized how close I was to passing out. I think I had lost too much blood by now, if they did patch me up, I don't think they could replace the blood I had lost. My blurry vision was a sign of how my blood pressure had dropped from loss of blood, and now I was using my good arm from having me fall over myself.

K explained quickly, and the little one shivered as she looked at Jade and Ben, not wanting to have to abondone none. K firmly placed his hand on her to provide confort. "Come on! Ben wants her alive more than he wants himself!"

She glared at him before nodding and turing to face Jade.

"I-I'll try!" The little one assured K before working her magic. K sighed in some relief before turning to Ben, seeing him slowly tip over to one side, before getting Strike's magic from one side to balance him out.

"HOW DID THIS HAPPEN!?" Dash asked, not having the courage in her to move up to the action. Her sudden speech caused an uproar of worry in everyone there with her.

"He…he killed her." Applejack responded off of Dash's side. Dash's ear twitched slightly before she turned to her in a rapid move and shook her head. "NO! Something must have happened! Ben wouldn't do that! Look at him, he's crying too!"

"I hope." AJ responded giving Dash a reason to not lash out at her. Dash sighed as she looked over and looked away just as quick, Ben covered in blood was the last thing she wanted. "Dang…how did this happen!?"

"IS HE GOING TO DIE!?" Pinkie quickly asked before getting Rarity right over her.

"NO, HE'S NOT! DARLING NEVER DIES!" Rarity quickly objected pressing her muzzle onto Pinkie's making them scrunch up. Rarity backed off before looking over and looking away. "H-he was so innocent yesterday…why must this happen!?"

"What do you think Trixie?" Starlight asked. Trixie quickly gulped as she frowned.

"I think we should offer our help too." Trixie stated before getting a nod from Starlight.

Octavia was frozen in place along with Vinyl, Lyra, and Bonbon by her sides, all studying the horrific scenario. Bonbon, being highly repulsed by blood looked away, and shivered and gaged at the thought of being close to it. Lyra also objected to the sight, recalling her first time seeing Ben bleed, it wasn't a good scene for her to see him bleed this badly.

"H-how…?" Lyra asked before clutching her chest with her hooves tightly and trying to stop herself from getting emotional.

Vinyl clenched her teeth as she tried her best to not look away. "K…he warned me about this!"

Everyone turned to her, no words to ask, but questions boiling up.

"Dang it! He was right to be worried!" Vinyl remarked as she looked up to see Ben cough up some more blood, and this time she looked away not wanting to see that. Vinyl quickly heard a shutter from behind before quickly turning to her dear friend and noticing her watery eyes.

"For such a beautiful voice…he shouldn't look like that!" Vinyl's ears limped down, Vinyl had no disagreement. Octavia gulped as she let an actual tear go down now and followed by her instant objection to what was happening. "BEN!"

I picked my head up slightly before weakly looking off to my right, in the far distance I could see a small blur that I couldn't make out. But the voice was soothing despite being in such a stressed level. "O-Octavia…" I whispered before moving over to one side trying to make myself onto my feet but I was instantly but gently pushed back down some magic, followed by Strike's words.

"I know, but please stay still for a moment, well get you up in a minute!"

Octavia looked with worry before shivering in her place as she looked behind herself and around for the other four.

"W-where's the little three and the blond!?"

Dash's head followed as she looked around too, her eye sight quickly stopped ahead at Ben, three small colors and a gray one over by them.

"They're with Ben…"

"Well then we should too!" Applejack quickly commented before taking off.

"B-Ben! D-don't die!"

I wheezed a bit at feeling some pain in my chest before looking down at my lap and seeing an orange blur with two more beside it. Scoots was easily the orange one, and her friends were the ones by her side. I stared at them before gulping and trying to smile, but I just turned away cough out what I was losing. Damn it! Not in front of them!

"Ben…please!" I heard Scoots again. "Heroes don't die!"

I wish I felt like that right now, but I didn't, I felt about as light headed as could get, and was just gripping onto something. I was lucky to have survived that attack, which ended someone's life, but it seemed like I'm just lingering at the edge of death. For her sake, I lifted a hand my good hand and wiped it with my torn clothes before placing it on her head. I heard her whimper as I rustled that purple hair on her head and let my hand weakly fall to the grass.

"You're not gonna just go like that, leavin' me and my sister like this…right?" Bloom asked, and she was right about that, I don't wanna die like this, I want to go out being a hero at least. "Yeah, us too!" Belle added making me want to smirk, but it wouldn't come out. I shook my head. "N-no…I'm not gonna die…like this."

"You promise?" Derpy asked. I looked over to her next to Strike, and swallowed heavily.

K looked away from Ben, glad Ben had someone to support him, before turning to the little one. The little one was glaring at Jade with her eyes just staring right through her, before she stopped for a breath of air before re-doing her magic. She blew up her cheeks and applied as much pressure as she could to her horn and magic, as she enveloped Jade once more. K had to commend the magic of this little being, she had healed all the scars and tears on her skin, even cleared the blood, the last hoping being if she could bring her back from the dead.

"Is it hard?" K asked seeing the little pony become blue from holding her breath before letting it go.

"Ha…yes…ha…"

K looked at Jade before looking around and seeing Jade all healed. He wasn't a doctor, but he knew about the cliché doctor stuff. "What if we induce shocks?" He asked making the little one scowl at him.

"Are you crazy, we want her alive, not fried!"

K almost chuckled at her response before shaking his head and placing his hands on her chest. "I meant like a defibrillator, just help me induce a shock through her whole body, one that's strong but that won't make her worse."

The little one nodded with blush. "Oh…right, okay, small shock."

K picked up an eyebrow after a few seconds of having his hand on Jade's chest. "Are you not gonna help?"

The little one blinked a few times before tapping her horn slightly and tightening her eyes as she tried to force it, nothing. "Wha…"

K looked and gulped. "Are you drained?"

The little one blushed and nodded with fear as she turned to Ben and shivered. "I-I wasted it all…"

"I'm sure you have more, maybe it needs to recharge," K assured before re-placing his hand on Jade's lifeless body and sighing. "But right now, this has to work."

"You promise?" Scoots asked next after not hearing my response. I had slightly dosed off a bit but I was back and looked towards them again before licking my lips which had gone dry.

"Three, two, one…" K whispered in his head before zapping, no response.

"Ben?" Belle asked next.

"Three, two, one…" Nothing.

I looked up at them and actually felt something in me muster up some courage to smile, I didn't know if it looked right in my state but hell, it's better than coughing blood their way.

"Three, two, one…"

With a sudden shock, he summoned a swift motion from Jade's hoof and K was sent flying almost a few feet back by the scare, he really didn't expect it to work. K watched as Jade slowly twitched before a sudden shift of her torso indicated life. "J-Jade!" K quickly exclaimed before getting up and scooping her into his arms and smiling with achievement making sure to not rock her or disturb her.

"W-what…am I alive?" She asked before K helped her straighten up in arms to have her face everyone. "Yeah! Damn it, don't ever do that again!"

Jade looked around before stopping at Ben and loosely staring at him, before her eyes did the best they could to differentiate that red and natural color of his. "Ben…take me to him."

"You just came back from the dead, you need to rest-

"J-just do it." She begged almost, her eyes wanting to close. K couldn't argue, he sighed and accepted it.

"WE'RE HERE BEN!" The party of ponies arrived from the right.

I finally got the strength and smiled towards the three little ones and gave a swift nod. "I promi-

My voice was cut off by a sudden sound of wind getting sliced. The world stopped for a second before I looked down and looked at my chest with the widest eyes I could make, there was a small line attached to it, a shining line. I looked at it before seeing it drive deeper into me and I quickly placed my hands on it, clutching it before I feeling instant weakness overwhelm me. I felt what was my last ounce of blood leave through my mouth and chest as I looked up and saw the blur in the distance. My hands slipped off the handle before Strike rapidly used her magic to pull out the thick titanium metal and tossed it aside, as I felt my vision fade to black, and that was the end of it.

K watched as Ben's body loosened and fell back, a huge gap in his chest and nothing left of his presence. Jade blinked a few times before seeing it clearly and shaking tremendously in K's arms.

"D-daddy…" The little one muttered as K watched, all three not knowing how to react.

Chrysalis, Luna, Celestia, and Twilight were all left silenced as they watched their magic zap out, they knew as well as everyone there, that magic won't work anymore. They stared at the body before them, not mustering the courage to ask, poke, or attempt to near it. That is before seeing Ben not respond.

"N-no…NO! NOOOOOOOOO!" Luna shrieked as she quickly lifted his body with her magic, but it was all loose and limped over to one side. "BEN! WAKE UP!"

The three foals quickly became full of tears as they watched blood just leave his body and nothing but the absence of life in Ben's body.

"He left his sword around, thought I'd put some use to it."

K slowly turned around, Jade in his arms, towards Sting. They had forgotten about him till now, and boy did he make his presence known with his dark aura. Jade watched before her eyes puffed out and she couldn't express anymore anger than she could in her state, but K, we all too lost in a realm of hatred.

"W-WHY!?" Luna asked embracing Ben's lost for hope body, covering herself in the same blood as him. K quickly turned to Ben and refused to acknowledge Sting as he quickly knelt down, placing Jade on the grass and using a hand to shake Ben, trying to get him to respond.

"DADDY!" The little one cried followed by the cries of everyone else, overwhelming K, Chrysalis, and Jade as they all shivered to no end. K let go and felt his throat grow a lump that was making it hard to breath. Chrysalis watched before looking towards K and looking away, not knowing what to say.

"I-I'm sorry…" Jade apologized, but an apology that K just looked away from, and Jade wanted to cry once more. She knew it was her fault from the moment she realized she was alive and Ben was weak. "I'm sorry K!"

"So that was what defeated Yuson…pathetic."

Jade gritted her teeth as she turned but couldn't find it in her to say a thing.

"I didn't want this…" Celestia whimpered with tears making their presence known, but it was hard to tell the difference between Celestia's tears and that of the sky's, rain had slowly begun to pick up. As soon as Sting's words processed through Celestia, she quickly turned to Sting, not letting his mockery be heard.

"P-pathetic!? You call a hero pathetic when he did what you couldn't do all those years back."

That got an instant response from Sting, he glared up at Celestia, looking as murderous as ever.

"While you let everypony you knew die, and ran away, Ben did the opposite! He saved everypony and fought his body to near death! WHO'S REALLY THE PATHETIC ONE HERE!? THE HERO OR THE USELESS NOPONY WHO KILLS OFF OF JEALOUSLY!?"

Sting stared at her before raising his hoof quickly her way, only to have the area he stood at obliterated to a crater by another dark magic, K's. Sting landed elsewhere and turned to K as he removed his vest and dropped it off to his side, his eyes pure black, nothing in them but a red dot in the middle, that being his pupils. An aura radiating from K's body, not his usual purple dark hue, more like pure black that didn't let light through.

"So that's your hatred, jealously, you're a pathetic bastard." K claimed as took a step in his direction and glared his canines towards him. "Attacking someone who was unable to fight back, you're a coward."

K opened his mouth to let out a breath, letting out some steam of the evaporated saliva in his mouth.

"Killing someone because you couldn't do what he did, you're as good as dead to me."

"Sis…sis…" Luna cried not wanting to let go of the inanimate corpse in her clutches, in her head, she wanted to hold him as much as she could, for she wanted to prove herself to him, even like this. Celestia turned to her before moving up and running her magic through Ben's hair, prickly as ever. Celestia couldn't hold back anymore, she broke down then and there, wanting to just hide from everything that was existed.

"B-Ben! YOU SAID YOU WOULDN'T DIE!" Scootaloo cried out before getting Applejack's hoof around her. "D-don't, just don't." Applejack sobbed through tears that dropped to the ground. Scootaloo cried his name out, despite Applejack's words, she wanted to see the life in him.

"No! He didn't deserve this! I loved him as best friend!"

"I loved him too!" Applejack returned, not wanting to see Ben in his state. "B-but he's gone!"

"HE'S NOT!" Scootaloo argued, making everyone silent, it seemed everything everyone wanted to say, just came out of Scootaloo's mouth. "YOU SAY YOU LOVE HIM, BUT YOU DRAW THE LINE AT DEATH! I DIED ONCE, AND I CAME BACK, SO CAN HE!"

"Then look at him! Does he look like he can be brought back from death!?" Applejack asked harshly making Scootaloo almost choke as she buried her head into Ben's legs and cried. She cried like there was nothing left to do in life. Applejack looked down at the ground before collapsing at the realization of her words and crying equally. Never has anyone heard Applejack cry like she did, it was just enough to put everyone at the edge of a mental breakdown, it was so wrong and passionate.

Everyone was crying except Chrysalis, who was just watching, experiencing second-hand(hoof) pain from watching them all lose their personalities and stop acting like the cheerful ponies she knew them as.

"I'M SO SORRY!" Jade cried before Chrysalis came in and embraced her, trying to calm her. What in the world had happened to make this day so tragic and horrific.

"K…you're not who I asked to fight."

As if K would listen to that, if Sting had such an urge to kill his childhood friend, then he must have expected this. Even then, civility was far from reach, he lifted his hand into the air and used his finger to quickly trace something into the air. Sting lifted an eyebrow before quickly boucing back at the sight of what K traced become an actual symbol floating mid-air.

"Don't mess with me! What's that!?" He demanded, but the only response he got was K's silence. K looked at the symbol, before raising his palm to it and letting it flow into it. He obsorbed it into his palm.

"What's was that!?" Sting demanded once more, easily disturbed. The unknown was a frightening place, and so was K. K shook his head before sending put a punch towards him. Sting quickly flinched but was forced to rethink what happened, the punch he sent out wasn't even going to touch him from ten feet away. Sting smirked in response.

"A joker, that explains-

K quickly snapped a finger and Sting rocketed away, colliding with a few trees which ended in an explosion.

"W-what!?" Twilight exclaimed moving to K before stopping at his side, noticing his eyes and radiating energy. She was stunned for a moment before she getting the courage to tell him off. "K! Just stop, please! Vengence will bring nothing!"

K looked over at her, nothing but a blank rage in those eyes. Twilight remained still, not wanting to run and hide despite her shivering body saying otherwise. "K! I'm not-

"We came to fix a problem, and the only friend I knew for years is suddenly taken from me, just days after I managed to meet him face to face without hiding in his body, the joy I felt then, I never showed to him, and he probably never knew."

K's calm voice was eerie. Easily felt was the desire in his voice, a desire that was no joke. Twilight looked away, her tears getting the better of her and K turned back to see if Sting was visible, he wasn't.

"K…"

"That hatred…it must be extinguished." He said in drop dead voice, watching Sting finally reappear a horribly incriminating grin on him.

Twilight picked her head up. "Hatred?" She asked before her sight became blinded off of one side and she turned to the point of interest. Sting had come back, and with something he showed earlier, his aura.

"Fine then, you want to join him! I'll enjoy your death as well, and maybe a few of your friends as well."

K aimed a finger before taking a step forward, ahead of Twilight and glared at Sting.

"That hatred."

Twilight stepped back before shaking her head. "I'll tell Celestia! Hold him for a while!"

K closed his eyes before opening them to find Sting already before him. K made sure to give Sting a small headstart, but it seemed like he took advantage and forced K to stop his hoof with his hand.

"Maybe I should start with her, Twilight!" Sting remarked before backing away sending a barrage of plasmatic-based attacks. K frowned, quickly bouncing back as well.

"Damn you! And everything you've done!" K let out as he reached his hands to the sky before lowering them swiftly towards him and launching an abundance orbs towards him.

NEXT CHAPTER:

"Oh my…Sting seems to have injured thy innocent soul…"

"C-Celestia…?"

"I beg thy pardon?"

"Y-you…your voice…"

There was a silence before a giggle arose.

"I'm pleased you recognized such a minor similarity, now, if thy eyes were only open-