Sow the seeds of strife. Grow trees that your enemies will fear

Earlier, amidst an empty garden

The heavy storm in the skies had intensified within the last few minutes, the sound easily overpowering any other ambiance. The clouds above roared with thunder, and occasionally lit up the skies with bolts of lightning. Waterfalls of rain slipped down Ira’s armor, and across his sword’s blade, as they did to Cruenta, who stood at the opposing side of the castle’s garden. The two stood still as darkened statues in the shadows of the storm; the only noticeable attributes upon both being their equally glowing red eyes.

"As tempting a battle as this is, I still believe you could benefit more from joining me" Cruenta admitted, breaking the deadly silence.

"I thought only the desperate made stupid offers!" Ira spat back, standing just as still as he had before.

Ira's remark seemingly left an imprint on Cruenta, as he regained his earlier silence. Under the sound of rain, the two demons stood eye-to-eye, solid in their own standings as the storm above them raged on. A gust blew Ira's hair over his right eye, then over his left as the fierce wind pushed about in random directions. Slowly, Ira began loosening the knuckles of his claws as Cruenta snorted lightly. (Mark this day! Battle music!)

"Now! DRAW!" Ira suddenly yelled, unsheathing his blade and sprinting towards Cruenta, who reacted with his own attack in the same moment. He swung his tail swiftly at Ira in a spin, to which Ira avoided by jumping high over it and counterattacking with an aerial assault. From his spin, Cruenta moved to swing a claw towards Ira in the air, causing him to relent from his attempted strike and dodge the demon's hand in mid-air by shifting his body and weight downwards. As Ira landed harshly on the ground, he rolled forward under a second claw from Cruenta and stabbed towards his ankle. The poke flinched the red muscled mass, and he quickly lifted his foot and stomped down on Ira. To Cruenta`s surprise, Ira held his sword flat in his hands and held the stomp at bay, pushing hard against Cruenta's force as he began lifting the foot higher.

Ira scoffed in his strain as he spoke "...that all you got?!" Ira shouted through his bared teeth as he strongly shoved against the bulking leg and caused Cruenta to lean back as he tried to regain his balance. Within the second Cruenta was open, Ira took to the moment and leaped upward with an uppercut slash, catching Cruenta in the chin and whipping the sword at Cruenta's reeling head. In the air, he reached towards his weapon and clutched hard, instantly blinking towards the handle and tearing forward through the demon's head with the force of his speed as he retrieved his sword. Cruenta placed a hand on his head in pain as Ira landed behind him.

"Annoying little..." Cruenta began as he turned to face Ira, only to be greeted by a spherical blast of flame that Ira had threw directly at his face with his free hand. Cruenta grunted in pain as the orb of fire exploded against him, and held up his claw to block another that Ira had chucked at him afterwards. "I hope you can cast anything better than those!" Cruenta taunted at Ira as he swiped at him with more claw attacks.

In reaction, Ira leaped to dodge the assault and clenched his fist as a residue of fire began to burn inside it. When he felt his spell charge to it's limit, Ira held his fist downward, allowing gravity to slam him into the ground and cause several pillars of fire to erupt under Cruenta. A few of the pillars stood to hit Cruenta in the chest and stomach. Two others hit his right arm, and the tallest one contacted his chin. Against the push of the ember columns, Cruenta stepped back, hung his head down, and crossed his arms in an X shape to attempt to ward off the flames. Just as the fires dissipated, Ira lunged up towards Cruenta's face and slashed down at his arms, catching his blade on both of the crossed wrists and using it to vault past them. Cruenta's eyes opened and widened as Ira landed on the bridge of his nose and connected a heavy punch right into his forehead. A resounding boom and a small shock wave followed Ira's heavy fist, sending his opponent leaning down towards the ground until he landed with crash against the dampened garden.

Ira quickly recovered from his initiation and landed a short distance from the fallen behemoth, his sword landing with a light thumb into the grass beside him. Cruenta slammed the ground with his fist as he bent up to stand again, cursing a statue-still Ira under his breath. As he waited, Ira slowly gripped the handle of his sword and yanked it out of the dirt. Just as fast as it had started, the demons' fight resumed as the now standing Cruenta stomped the ground, sending multiple crimson tendrils shooting out of the ground towards Ira. He stood just as still as the tendrils grasped around his limbs without a second's deterrence. Now in belief that he had an upper hand, Cruenta swiped his hand down towards Ira in an attempt to grab him. Within the instant his claw met Ira, however, the mini demon swiftly broke free of the tendrils as if their existence never phased him, quickly climbing up and off Cruenta's grasp and onto his arm with his free hand. As soon as his foot touched Cruenta's arm, Ira stomped down and shot forward to the demon's head. During his leap, Ira's sword suddenly lit up in flames that still burned and cindered as he riveted the tip of his blade straight in between his target's eyes. Making the sound of Cruenta's pain his cue as he hung from his sword's grip, Ira quickly shook his weight to tear his blade downwards through the rest of the giant's face, landing softly against the ground with his weapon backwards in-hand. He nearly laughed to himself as he watched Cruenta reel in pain from his attack.

With a catch of his weapon right-side-up and a few backward steps, Ira spoke loudly over the storm "Are you ready to give up yet?!" Ira shot his arms out sideways in a taunting manner "I think we can both accept who the better of us is now!"

Cruenta yelled loudly in anger and pain as his face refused to regenerate the damage done "Never! This fight is far from over!" Cruenta held one claw on his face as he centered his sight on Ira "By the time I'm done with you, nothing will hold back your cries for mercy!"

"Big talk from a two-faced 'size-matters' demon" Ira spoke slightly quieter, scoffing at his own clever pun.

"Silence! You maggot!" Cruenta shouted in his rage-filled response, stomping down against the earth as he pounded down at Ira. With a long backwards leap, Ira avoided the hasty attack and landed a far distance from Cruenta across the garden "You have stepped past a line you will wish you never crossed!"

Not a moment after Ira got his feet on the ground, Cruenta began charging towards him in pursuit. Ira clicked his tongue in annoyance as he swiftly arched up his blade in preparation for a counterattack. Time seemed to almost slow as Cruenta stepped closer and closer, and the preparing strength in Ira's attack grew stronger and stronger. As he landed a foot close enough, Cruenta clasped his fists together and hammered them down at Ira, and, in a huge display of strength and speed, Ira swung his mighty blade against him. The edge of his sword ripped and tore through the dirt with tremendous force as his full-circle slash flew up at Cruenta's fists. The sound of wind and flesh breaking could be heard as Ira's attack crashed directly through Cruenta's, easily disconnecting the fists from the rest of the demon. Cruenta fell almost limply in his shock as the pushing force of his now-broken attack sent him careening towards the ground in front of Ira. However, as fast as he had swung his weapon, Ira swiftly spun and round-housed Cruenta's falling face back into the air with enough force to push him in the opposite direction of his fall. The hulking red mass began to lose balance as his chin reeled up towards the clouds, and Ira took every opportune second to continue his assault. He leaped up to Cruenta's chin and jumped higher up off it as he began channeling for his next, and final, attack. Flames covered his blade and arm, and a red pulsing light formed around the dancing flames. Just as Cruenta crashed against the ground, Ira held his sword pointed downwards to the demon's chest in his quickening descent. With a heavy slam, Ira's blade jutted deep into Cruenta's chest, knocking the wind out of the big red beast with his landing.

"If you won't give up on your own..." As Ira spoke, a red omen pulsed in Cruenta's chest around the sword, brightening with Ira's pauses "Then...I'll MAKE you! I'll strip you of everything you've got!" With one final pulse, the omen shone a bright, flaming red and a short circle of fire began spinning around it.

"What...what have you done?!" Cruenta shouted out in what sounded like terror

"Now, turn to ashes! FIRESTORM!!!" Ira's yell resounded outward to the skies as a huge, spinning tower of flame burst up from Cruenta's chest, covering both of the demons in a twisting tornado of fire that stood as tall as the clouds. The only sound that could be heard over the whooshing and crackling of fire was Cruenta's anguish-filled screams as his body burned and disintegrated within the hateful inferno. The black storm clouds slowly dissipated against the sky-scraping swirls of Ira's strongest spell, signalling Cruenta's helpless loss against him as his body returned to Haimon's humanly shape. The crimson armor adorning Ira's body fell to pieces and disappeared as his equally red skin faded to reveal the human underneath.

After a few moments of both fighters returning to normal, the flames quickly dispersed into small sparks that fell as gently as pedals from the brightening sky. A surreal scene surrounded the garden as the sun began shining back down upon the land, lighting up the tiny orange specs that coated the area.

Something truly serene and beautiful, to signify the end of something truly terrible and wicked spoke a familiarly human voice within Jayhawk's head It's good to be back. It always is...

Jay's self peace was interrupted as he heard shuffling and groans from the fallen Haimon who lay only a few feet from him. At a glance, Jay could tell Haimon had only the strength to breathe, and was struggling to even move. He stepped towards him and grappled his collar, pulling him closer against his painful grunts.

"...you lose!" Jayhawk spat, dropping Haimon hard onto the ground and grinning satisfyingly as he listened to Haimon's responding pain "He may be angrily sporadic and reckless, but at least Ira knows his fights well. You really should have given up!"

"Oh, save it, you punk..." Haimon managed as he lay still on the ground "How could I have ever known that such an insignificant little demon...could match the might of Cruenta?...Impossible..."

"Well, personally, I would've guessed it to be true somewhere between hay-maker that sent you on your ass, and the whole 'cutting your face in half' thing" Jayhawk noted, holding his elbow as he motioned with his other hand "He really kinda had that fight in the bag from the get-go. Was probably just waiting for the right moment to finish it once you were weak enough"

Haimon lightly sighed in annoyance at Jayhawk's remarks "You..."

"Never fought a demon better than Ira, y'know!" Jay interrupted, waving his finger through the air with his eyes closed as he spoke in a smug tone "You didn't even make it to second place on the list. That means you're actually worse than the Baneful Queen Mythra, and she was headless! Not worse than Covetous Borise, though, since he was so fat he couldn't even-"

"I said save it, you overconfident little twat!" Haimon shouted through his gritted teeth. He grunted lightly as his nerves disobeyed his anger, still yelling at a frozen Jayhawk "I lost on fluke, and nothing more! You were more accustomed to your demon's powers!"

Jayhawk still stared at Haimon with a curiously surprised face. He blinked twice before softening his expression and placing his hands on his hips "I told you so, he told you so....what more do you need? Hell, I told you back in that town that you wouldn't win in the end!" Jayhawk spoke in a stern and nagging way, as if to sound like he was parenting Haimon "If you didn't want to get hurt, then you shouldn't have acted like you were so high and mighty after one victory!" Jay closed his eyes and puffed out the rest of his air, hanging his head down and shaking it "Always so sour...I did warn you"

Haimon stayed silent in what seemed to be shame as Jay walked closer to him and crouched down "Alright, promise time. Tell me why you're here and what you planned to do. Tell me everything, Haimon"

With another annoyed sigh, Haimon began to speak "As much as I despise you, I'm a man of my word..." Haimon took a deep breath before continuing "It's simple: Cruenta requires a sacrificing of blood. I needed plenty of bloodshed to use his body...and the virus supplied that very well"

"What about Alphinx, and the princesses? Why target them?" Jay asked, intent to find out such odd motives.

"Alphinx?...she was nothing more than a diversion..." Haimon chuckled lightly through a cough "One that I used to split up you and the pony so I could finish you alone. I admit, I never intended for her to be cannon fodder...but, I also never intended to lose control of the underworld pony...."

"So you came to mind control some ponies, have them shed some blood for you to please the demon, then use his powers to do what?" Jayhawk quickly asked, curious to find the resolution.

"To prey upon your foolishness..what else?" Haimon smirked as he spoke, as if he'd still had an upper hand "I knew you would follow us here. I would destroy you, then return to our world to do whatever I pleased" Haimons' smirk quickly dissipated as he talked on "I was supposed to win. Now it seems this was...all in vain"

"I see...you thought you'd just grease the gears with some innocent blood, so you could shed some more back home, huh?" Jayhawk stood slowly as he eyed Haimon "Well, it's not that easy with me around. I have a bit of a specialty shutting down the bat shit insane ones like you!" With a swift movement of his leg, Jay kicked Haimon across the face. The hit easily took consciousness away from Haimon, and left him laying limply on the grass. "....prick. Now, to find that little pony" Jay quietly remarked, turning his attention towards the town just as Soul entered the garden.

"Jayhawk! Over here!" Soul shouted across the garden at the gate, waving one of his hooves. Jayhawk jogged up to meet Soul as he trotted towards him "Glad to see you're back to normal. I've got some really urgent news that yo-"

"Well, I'm flattered that you like me better!" Jayhawk interrupted with a smile spreading across his face. He shouldered his sword as he quickly glanced at the defeated Alphinx laying on Soul's back "I'm personally glad to see that you took her alive...she is kinda cute, after all" Jayhawk began looking Alphinx over more just as his expression grew suddenly serious "Wait a sec, is she wounded?"

"Yes, but we're short on time! Just listen, there's-" Soul was cut off once again as Jay circled around him and took a knee to inspect Alphinx.

"Look's like she's got some bad lacerations. How much blood has she lost?" Jayhawk seemingly ignored waiting for an answer as he rolled Alphinx off of Soul's back and into his arms, resting her shoulders on his knee. He placed a hand on her forehead before speaking "She's got a bad fever. Must've been wounded during the storm. If only Ira could've stopped Haimon earlier..." Soul exhausted any attempts to gain Jay's attention as the concerned guardian inspected Alphinx further. She winced a bit as he placed his hand on her chest. showing that she was still conscious "Oh, sorry, does it hurt badly there?"

Alphinx managed a nod as she smirked lightly "You're...not too bad looking...yourself...you know" She spoke quietly in gasps and kept her eyes closed. Jay didn't seem to notice the returned compliment as he tended to her further.

"Those ribs must be broken...and these lacerations are still bleeding a bit. Her lungs aren't moving much, and...her spine is fractured?!" Jayhawk spoke in a sudden expression of shock as he turned towards Soul "Jesus, Soul, couldn't you have gone a bit easier on her? You're practically untouched yourself!"

"I...had to subdue her somehow..." Soul spoke quickly, his annoyance of being interrupted now clouded by his pity for Alphinx and surprise at how much Jay seemed to care about her. His thoughts touched his lips as he spoke again "I didn't really think you'd care so much..."

Jay looked blankly at the grass in front of him as he spoke "She might be considered my enemy, but she's in no state to be of any threat to me. Besides, she's clearly out of her league amongst us. I'd feel like a tyrant if I pushed her around and treated her like she was meaningless just because she's weaker than me..." Just as strongly as his words, Jay swiftly hovered a hand over Alphinx's cuts. His palm began to glow a dull white light as he looked at Alphinx "This might sting a little, okay?" In response, Alphinx weakly gripped Jayhawk's other arm, and squeezed it tightly as Jay began slowly mending her wound with an extraordinary magic. The cuts began reseeding as Alphinx's skin stretched over the three gashes. By the time Jay was done, the only proof of Alphinx's wound was her torn clothes. After a few moments, Jay repeated the process over her chest and back, and as soon as he was done, Alphinx suddenly took a deep breath as if she'd been holding it the entire time.

"Ah...thank you...thank you, Guardian" Alphinx spoke in a normal and relieved tone through he full gasps of fresh air "I've never felt my life slip so slowly away from me..."

"No problem. You're alright now, and that's all that matters. Just take some time to rest" Jay sounded somewhat winded from his efforts, but showed no signs of wavering as he stood and lifted Alphinx off the ground. He turned to Soul as he motioned his head towards Haimon "The big guy's out cold, but I got him to tell me his motives. Did you find out anything from this one?"

Soul suddenly remembered his urgency as his interest in Jay's sudden compassion faded "Yes! That's what I've been trying to tell you!" Soul pointed a hoof towards Canterlot and waved it about as he spoke hastily "All of the ponies infected by the virus have been ordered by Haimon to come here and kill us! Alphinx said that if we beat them, the bloodshed would allow Haimon to gain even more power!"

Jayhawk's expression jumped from curiosity to realization as his gaze shot from Soul to Haimon "That sly son of a...I didn't expect him to have an insurance plan!" Jay quickly looked to Soul as he continued "So you're saying we have to take out what could possibly be hundreds of ponies without killing any of them?"

Soul nodded in response, his expression softening a bit "That's why I'm glad you're you again. I was sure Ira would gladly rip through them without mercy..." Soul looked down as he avoided imagining the scene.

"Yeah, it's a good thing he used up his power to beat Cruenta. But that still leaves us with the problem of being non-lethal with all those ponies. They won't stop unless we cure or kill all of them, and I don't like the idea of snapping a legion's worth of pony necks"

Just as Soul was about respond, Alphinx spoke up "Hey, Guardian?..."

"Call me Jay" He quickly spoke back in a soft tone.

"Right...Jay..." Alphinx seemed to withdraw a bit in Jay's arms, holding her hands close to her face as she continued "Um...would you mind putting me down now? I think I'm okay..."

Jayhawk seemed to be blank for a few moments before realizing what Alphinx asked of him "Oh, right! Sorry" Jay moved his arm down to allow Alphinx to plant her feet off the ground, and moved his other arm away as she stood "You...recovered pretty fast"

Alphinx seemed to ignore Jay as she stared at the motionless Haimon "His motives...did he say anything about me?" Alphinx asked indirectly to Jay as she continued to look at Haimon.

Jay's expression to seemed to be burdened by guilt as he placed a hand on Alphinx's shoulder "Well...did you ever get the feeling that you were kept around just because of your looks?" Alphinx slowly turned to Jay as he continued "Cause, in truth, you kinda were. He said you were a diversion so he could split me and Soul up, and 'finish' me off alone while I was without his help" Alphinx looked down at the ground blankly as Jay confessed Haimon's motives. He quickly spoke up again after a few moments in a lighter tone "If it makes you feel any better, he only made you a diversion because he couldn't control Soul, and if it was my choice, I would've never intended to kill you back in the throne room"

"I see....again, thank you, Jay. You're a lot nicer than I was lead to believe..." Jay smiled lightly and scratched the back of his head as Alphinx turned around to face Soul and held out her hand towards him "Soul, do you mind if I use your scythe for minute?"

Soul felt a nagging sensation of dread as he pondered Alphin'x request "Alphinx?...why do you want it?..."

Alphinx responded quickly "I'm not strong enough to carry the Guardian sword, and I've lost both of my weapons. I promise, I won't do anything drastic with it. I...just want to make sure I'm okay..."

After hesitating for a moment, Soul slowly gave his weapon over to Alphinx. As she held it, she looked over the runes in the staff and touched some of the blades. Then, within an instant, her gaze shot to Haimon and she dashed over to him, quickly swinging the scythe in an overhead motion at him. She yelled out in exertion as the middle blade caught Haimon under the chin. Without a second's hesitation, she pulled the scythe back and caused the tip of the blade to stick out of Haimon's mouth. Now fully awake and aware, Haimon's fearful and shocked expression met Alphinx's unwavering gaze just moments before she yanked the blade up, tearing through what sinew and bone got in the way. With the force of her pull, Alphinx spun and slashed at Haimon's neck, easily severing his head from his body in a spray of blood. Soul watched in horror and shock as Alphinx gored Haimon relentlessly, using the weapon he had just lent her. Jay watched as if he'd knew it would happen the second Alphinx asked for Soul's scythe. After she was done, Alphinx stood with the scythe dripping with blood arched over her head as she breathed heavily. She seemed as if she would swing again when Soul spoke up on impulse

"Alphinx! Stop!" Soul shouted. "Why-" He was cut off from continuing as Alphinx pointed the blood-coated scythe towards him

"If you could give me one good reason why he should have lived, then I will gladly give my own life in penance!" Alphinx shot back in a stern tone. Soul stayed silent, and Jay simply shrugged in agreement. Alphinx slowly lowered the scythe and whipped the blood off of the blades before walking back to Soul and handing him his weapon "Here. Thank you for letting me use it" Soul slowly took his scythe back as he watched Alphinx continue walking past him to Jay "From this moment on, I don't care about my former allies. I don't care about Haimon, or Cruenta, or whatever and whoever else I was involved with. Now...I'm on your side. I would rather be allied with people who actually care about my well being"

Jay's expression softened as he held his hand out towards Alphinx "Well, we do care. Even if you were trying to kill us earlier, heh" Jay chuckled as Alphinx smiled lightly and shook his hand "Treating people nicely almost always pays off! Plus, we could really use your help"

"Yes, we really could..." Soul was barely paying any attention to Alphinx and Jay as he stared in nerve towards the entrance to Canterlot "Jay...they're here!"

Jay quickly turned face where Soul was looking to see what looked like a lake of ponies rushing through Canterlot towards the garden they stood in. The ponies seemed to move as a swarm, as if they all shared a single mind that coveted the goal Haimon had given them.

"Eh, it's a swarm of tiny ponies who are as mindless as mindless can be. Even if I wanted to use my sword, I wouldn't need to!" Jay quickly took a readied fighting stance and began bouncing around on his feet in preparation "If these ponies want an ass kicking, then I'll be glad to hand 'em out. Free of charge!"

"He's right. We need to stop them, and the three of us can do it" Alphinx spoke up, taking her own unique stance beside Jayhawk

Soul steeled his eyes forward and readied himself as well, waiting for the imminent charge of what could be hundreds of his fellow ponies intent on taking his life. He gritted his teeth in thought of fighting them endlessly.

"Oh, and by the way, Soul..." Jay quickly added, waiting to grab Soul's attention

"Yeah?" Soul responded, shifting his eyes towards Jay while facing forward.

"When you're facing the worst of your turmoils, fear and doubt are still your greatest enemies. Remember that" Jay said sternly, holding up a fist and motioning it towards Soul

"I will. Thanks" Soul responded, hoping his resolution would not falter in the battle to come.

Author's Note

I think Jay got an S Rank for this mission
Jackpot. Yeah, baby.