Trial and Error: Second Edition

Chapter the Thirty-Third: End of All Hope

Kai lay defeated on the ground. Stain strode up to his unmoving body and gave it a firm kick, then turned his attention to Fluttershy. She wanted to fly away, to flee in terror, but she couldn't move. Her fear paralyzed her as Stain bore down on her.

"He caused me a great deal of pain," growled Stain. "And he cost me a fortune." He grabbed her by the throat and shoved her to the ground, climbing on top of her. "You're going to pay off that debt in triplicate. But first, you're going to experience my suffering. Starting NOW!"

He grabbed at her knees. Her senses returned to her and she kicked. Her hooves landed squarely in the center of his chest, knocking him off of her. She turned and limped away, still in pain from Kai's impromptu surgery. She opened her wings only to wince. It seemed as if she had injured her wing when she had been thrown to the ground. She couldn't fly in this condition.

Something large and heavy collided with her shoulder, knocking her to the ground. Once again, Stain was on top of her. He punched her in the gut, knocking the wind out of her. She wrapped her hooves around her stomach to protect herself. She gasped for air, but her lungs weren't responding.

"Only one use for you," he said, grabbing again at her knees. She held her legs together. He pushed them apart even harder, and she responded in kind be forcing her legs together with more and more of her strength. Unfortunately, her strength ran out before his, and her legs flew open with a sickening crack.

She cried out in excruciating pain as he readied himself. Between the spasms of her diaphragm and the torment she was in, it was all she could do to keep herself oxygenated. She hadn't the power to stop him as he forced his shaft into her. To open her up for easier entry, he pushed her fractured leg up until it was parallel to her spine. Her face was saturated in tears and snot.

"I'm going to put a foal in your belly, slave," he growled as he began to thrust repeatedly into her. She didn't want this. she tried to push him off, but she couldn't. All she could manage was to close her eyes tightly and wish for this to be over.

Suddenly, he pushed deep inside her and held there. Fluttershy could feel a warm liquid trickling against her abdominal flesh. What was unexpected was that the liquid was on the outside of her body. She cracked open an eyelid to see Stain still standing over her, a strained look on his face. She looked down at the liquid dripping on her, and found that Stain had been run through by a pitchfork. As he slid out of her to the ground, she found that Kai had followed them, dragging behind him a trail of his own blood. Still in agony, she dragged herself over to him. As her hoof grasped his, he passed out. She was left alone until the guards arrived.

It had been three days since the battle. Kai had spent the entire time out cold. He might have awoken sooner, but Fluttershy had insisted that he not be given painkillers, as he had suffered adverse effects the last time. Instead, he had been kept under anesthesia until the doctors were certain that he was in a stable condition. He opened his eyes slowly, adjusting to the light flooding in through the windows.

His ears were ringing softly, and all sounds around him were muffled. He could only hear indistinct voices saying indistinct things. As his vision cleared, he looked around. He was in a hospital bed. As he leaned forward, He discovered that he wasn't going to leave anytime soon, as his hooves were chained to the bed frame. The first thing he was able to hear was the rattling of his shackles. As his other senses came back, he noticed that the muffled speech had been replaced with silence.

He leaned back. He wondered what had happened after he had collapsed. He thought about Fluttershy, and hoped that she was alright. He had caused her such pain. He wondered if she could ever come to forgive him.

He would have his answer soon enough. The curtain separating his bed from the next was pulled aside. Twilight was there. Next to her was a rather large stallion, mayhaps three or four inches shorter than Kai. He wore a royal guard uniform, which made Kai very nervous. Most importantly, behind them, in the neighboring bed was Fluttershy, a cast around her broken leg.

"You're awake!" beamed Twilight. "You've been out for a few days, now. We were starting to worry that you might not come back." She walked over to his bed, the guard following close behind her. "I bet you're wondering why you're chained up."

"To a degree, yes. I can think of a multitude of reasons, but I wonder which one it is this time."

"This is Shining Armor," she gestured to the stallion. "He needs to ask you a few questions regarding what happened the night you faced Stain."

"I'm also her older brother," smiled Shining.

"Good for you," groaned Kai. "Can the interrogation wait? I would like to talk with Fluttershy, if that's alright." Fluttershy looked briefly over to Kai, but couldn't hold her gaze on him.

"Really, I'd prefer to be finished with this quickly, so if we could--" Shining was interrupted by the push of Twilight's elbow into his ribs.

"We'll give you fifteen minutes," said Twilight. "We'll be waiting in the hall."

"But Twily..." Shining was again interrupted by his little sister pushing him into the hall and shutting the door.

Kai looked over to Fluttershy's bed. "Are you alright?"

She shrugged.

"How bad is it?"

"I have a... A broken leg and a sprained wing. There's also some other... damages."

"He didn't... He didn't finish inside... Did he?"

She sniffled and shook her head. "No, thankfully. A lot of it is just... psychological."

Kai looked down at his own hooves. "I'm sorry. I really wish I could help with that. I'm not very good at being a comfort."

She shrugged as tears welled up in her eyes.

"I'd hug you, but I'm chained up."

"I don't think I'd even accept one at the moment. At least, not from you."

Kai's eyes went wide. "I don't understand."

"I saw you there. You killed Stain. Right in front of me."

"Fluttershy, I--"

"I know you were only trying to protect me. You saved me from a terrible fate in doing so. In fact, half an hour earlier, you saved my life. He tried to kill me, but you saved me. I know I should be grateful, but every time I close my eyes, I see his lifeless body in front of me."

Kai hung his head. He squeezed his eyes shut, and a trickle of tears ran down his face. "I'm sorry. I'm so very sorry. I wish things had worked out differently. If I had come back from Canterlot to find you safe in your yard, everything would be wonderful. If the plan to rescue you had worked, he'd be rotting in a prison, and we never would have fought. If he had left when you showed up, we could have avoided this end."

"But that's not how it happened. You killed him. You took his life away. I know why you had to. He left you with little option. If you had let him live, I'd be a tortured slave, and he might have even come back and made sure you were dead."

Kai sniffled. "I suppose it would be best if I were to leave you for awhile, then."

Fluttershy looked over to him. "I know I owe you my life, multiple times over. What's more, I don't want to be rid of you forever. Not remotely. But I can't look at you without thinking of you as a murderer. Perhaps it would be for the best if you left me be for awhile. At least until the scars heal."

The two sat in silence until their fifteen minutes had passed. In the meantime, Kai's stomach growled. He hadn't eaten since before he had seen his mother. He thought himself insensitive, but he would miss her cooking dearly.

"Your fifteen minutes are up," said Shining Armor as he walked back into the room. "No more distractions. The sooner we begin, the sooner we're done."

"Fine," answered Kai. "I am indeed responsible for Stain's death. Further, I offered him royal treasure twice, performed an unlawful surgery on a pony who had not given consent, and caused a rather hefty amount of property damage. I admit my guilt."

"Oh. I didn't know about the treasure. How much treasure?"

"Two and a half million bits. I'd do it again, too. Fluttershy's life is more valuable than all of the treasure in the world to me."

Fluttershy looked away. The guilt she felt had only increased.

"Shows no remorse," muttered Shining, writing down everything Kai had said. "Now, how much of the damage was caused by you, and how much was caused by Stain?"

"Anything that was struck by fire, lightning or ice we'll just say was me. Anything else we'll say fifty/fifty."

"Okay. And is this your first offense?"

Kai looked over to Fluttershy. She was weeping quietly. "No. I have many others. When I was six, I was accused and convicted of domestic terrorism. When I was seven, I was accused of grand larceny, but I resisted arrest. Nothing else until two months ago. Fluttershy wasn't off working on a secret project, as her friends believe. I kidnapped her and held her in a cage, forcing her to do my bidding. While she was with me, I stole treasure that belonged to princess Celestia, shattered the front window of Rarity's Carousel Boutique, harbored a well-known criminal and coerced a surgeon into performing an untested, unlicensed surgery. I also forced myself on miss Fluttershy while I was on drugs."

Shining's eyes were as wide as dinner plates. "That's quite a list. I was going to try to let you off with community service and a chance for early parole, but I don't know if I can do much with all of that."

Again, Kai looked to Fluttershy. She was also shocked by Kai's admission.

"If at all possible," said Kai, "I'd still like to do the community service. I've made quite a mess, and I'd like the opportunity to clean it up. Even if it won't reduce my sentence. Even if it extends my sentence because I'm not spending time in the cell I'm assigned. Even if I have to work from inside the cell, with all profits from my doing so going to pay somepony else to fix my damages."

"I'll see what I can do," promised Shining. "Though I don't expect it will do much." He left the room.

"Why did you say all of that, Kai?" Fluttershy shrank down. "You didn't have to admit to everything. You'll be in prison for the rest of your life!"

"I've been running and hiding all my life," said Kai. "I want to be a pony you can look at proudly. I want you to think of me as a good pony. And that means answering for all the wrongs I've done. Applejack was right: I'm no better than Stain. Some time in prison will do me some good. And when it doesn't hurt you to see me anymore, you'll know exactly where to find me."