The Broken One

“Come again”, Cindra and I asked at the same time.

Both of us stared at the Pegasus, but we had very different expressions on our faces. The confusion had to be as visible in my face as was Cindra’s, which bordered somewhere between hatred and jealousy. The buttery mare returned Cindra’s glare with one of protective territorial rage. I stood and walked to the front door, opened it and just stood there staring into the clear blue sky.

“What makes you think he’s yours”, Cindra snarled. Neither of them noticed I walked away. “Have you done more than kissed him yet?”

“Doing that doesn’t make him my special somepony”, she shot back hotly. “We share a strong emotional bond that the likes of you would never understand."

What in the hell am I caught up in, I asked myself. She thinks I’m her mate? Her stallion as she called me.

I stared into space and only halfway listened as they spent the longest time arguing. Eventually the argument dissolved into name calling and eventually threats. A primal cry from Fluttershy pulled me from my stupor and I turned just in time to see Fluttershy launch herself at a snarling and hissing Cindra.

“What the fuck”, I shouted.

A splash of purple blood accompanied Fluttershy’s front hoof slamming into the changeling’s muzzle. Her sharp teeth had pierced her upper lip and now blood ran from her mouth as she snarled and lunged forward to sink her teeth into the exposed shoulder of the Pegasus.

“Stop”, I shouted as I charged into the fray.

I leapt on top of the tussle, grabbing whatever I could. I was rewarded by a barrage of hooves from both sides, much to my distress. I squirmed my way out from under the enraged equines, guarding my head the entire time.

As soon as I was free from assault I climbed to my feet and bolted out the door. My breath left me as I ran headlong into an immovable furry white mass and I fell back on my butt. As I sat there trying to breathe I stared up into the worried face of my mother.

“Don’t get involved”, I gasped. “Those bitches are psycho!”

My mother grimaced and stepped around me to enter the house. I covered my ears as her Canterlot Voice demanded they ‘cease and desist this instant’ but to no avail. A deafening bang and blinding white flash roared from the room, causing me to jump in surprise before I turned around. To my surprise the two combatants were frozen mid strike providing a quite comical view of Fluttershy latching onto Cindra’s ear. The rage on her face was terrifying.

“Whoa”, I muttered as I approached mom’s side.

“Quite the predicament indeed”, the white alicorn sighed to herself.

“I did not do this”, I said earnestly. “At least I don’t think I did.”

“Tell me everything right now”, she demanded flatly.

I told her everything. The longer I talked, the lower her ears dropped. The more I explained, the narrower her eyes got. It was at this point I realized I bucked up.

“Let me see if I understand this”, she sighed slowly and squinted her eyes shut. “Fluttershy is under the impression that you are her special somepony mostly because of all the intimacy of your kisses and cuddling, but also because of her romantic desires for you, but these feelings drew in this roving changeling, who you had mistakenly viewed as a threat and tried to kill but Fluttershy stopped you and now said changeling has molested you in your sleep because she was ‘starving’, and Fluttershy choked her to death when she witnessed this.”

“Yeah”, I grimaced as mom stared in shock at the two ponies. “Actually, she didn’t choke her to death because she still had a pulse.”

My mother shook her head and used her magic to separate the two. She floated them to opposite corners of the room and released her spell. As the magic left them I heard a loud click as Fluttershy’s teeth clamped together and the normally sweet Pegasus shook her head ferociously. Her eyes went wide when she realized she didn’t have an ear in her mouth and found herself staring at my mother in the middle of the room.

“You’re dead you worthless nag”, Cindra shouted as she launched herself at Fluttershy.

I leapt forward and caught Cindra around the torso as she went by, which caused us both to spin and crash to the floor. The furious changeling snarled and turned on me, sinking her teeth into my shoulder. I cried out in pain and anger before I slammed my fist down on her snout. When she fell to the floor dazed I picked her up and threw her back into the corner.

“Quit your shit, Cindra”, I yelled as I put pressure on the bleeding wound in my shoulder.

“You should as well”, my mother admonished as she laid her glowing horn against my skin. “Let me handle this, please.”

“Okay”, I sighed and threw my hands up as I went to the recliner and sat down.

I watched as my mother looked over the two ponies, healing wounds on both of their bodies as she found them. Fluttershy shivered in the presence of royalty but when faced with my mom the changeling dropped to the floor with a terrified shriek and curled in on herself.

“How dare you attack my subject and son”, she asked coldly as she approached the changeling.

Whimpers from Cindra were the only sounds breaking the silence. I eased over to the angry alicorn and laid my hand against the side of her neck. We stood in silence as Cindra cowered in fear.

“You know who I am”, Celestia stated as Cindra nodded. “Jackson is my son. What does that tell you?”

“H-he’s a p-prince”, she whimpered almost inaudibly.

“The Prince of Chaos to be exact”, mom uttered as she leaned even closer with a dark grin.

“Oh no”, Cindra moaned pitifully and covered her head.

“You know the punishment for assaulting royalty”, mom grinned even wider with a wild glint in her eyes.

“NO’, I shouted, causing that glare to turn to me.

“It is for the best”, mom whispered quietly. “Nobody hurts my son.”

She turned her gaze back to the changeling and her eyes narrowed.

“Cindra of the changelings, you are found guilty of attempted murder of royal blood. I hereby sentence you to death by immolation.”

The long white horn began to glow as mom reared her head back and a voice whispered something in the back of my mind and I felt the Shiver. Just as the great white alicorn released her magic I jumped between the two and pulled Cindra in my arms, wrapping my wings around the both of us.

“JACKSON, NO”, Fluttershy shrieked as the orange flames enveloped us.

The intense heat lasted for just a second but it was enough to burn half of my feathers off and put a new set of blisters across the back of my neck and legs as well as my wings. An anguished cry from my mother drew my head up slowly. I stood and stretched my wings out, groaning at the painful blisters as several burst just from that simple movement.

“Jackson, what in Equestria were you thinking”, mom shouted.

“Life claim”, I grunted.

“Life claim”, she repeated in confusion as she eyed me. “You have a life claim over this insect?”

I nodded and turned to her, my golden eyes flashing. She stared at the two of us and closed her eyes in frustration. I heard her quietly counting to ten. When she opened her eyes there was no trace of anger or whatever that was.

“How did this happen”, she asked evenly.

“When I saved Cindra’s life”, I answered.

“When”, mom demanded.

“The Fluttershy debacle”, I replied as tactfully as I could.

“Odd”, mom muttered before she cleared her throat and addressed me. “How do you wish to proceed?”

“Eh?”

“As you hold the life claim over her, it is up to you to determine her punishment”, Celestia said flatly. “Do with her as you wish.”

I turned around and grabbed her by the ear and pulled her to her hooves, eliciting a painful gasp. She turned toward me and tried to pull away but I squeezed her ear harder and she pranced in place crying. As I eased the pressure she calmed down, staring into my golden eyes with her dull green ones.

“We are going to have a serious talk”, I hissed in her ear. “Go sit in the middle of the floor in my room and touch nothing.”

I released the changeling and she bolted away up the stairs. Two seconds later I heard my door slam shut. I listened to the sounds of the house and noticed Fluttershy was still kneeling on the floor shaking. I told her to rise and she complied right away. As she caught sight of my burns she teared up instantly.

“Oh my gosh Jackson, are you okay”, she whispered before hugging me gently.

“I’ll be okay as long as you don’t beat me again”, I said, not returning the hug. It hurt to move.

“I’m so very sorry”, she whispered tearfully. “I don’t know what came over me.”

“Jealousy”, I scoffed. “What did you two start fighting over this time?”

“She made some inappropriate and very lewd comments about your stallion parts and my mare parts”, she whispered with a blush.

“Is that why you attacked her”, I asked.

“No.”

“Is it because of what happened last night?”

“Partially”, she whispered.

“Then what made you attack her”, I asked in exasperation.

“She’s trying to seduce the one I love”, Fluttershy wailed. “She told me she would have her way with you and ‘leave me cold broken and alone’ as she said it.”

“Ya know what”, I growled as I stormed from the room.

I stomped up the stairs and kicked my bedroom door open. The sudden crash of the door slamming against the wall made Cindra jolt exactly where I told her to sit. I eyed her angrily before locking my door. As I slipped the key into my pocket I felt a slight shift inside.

I walked over to her and stared down at her as she shifted nervously. I materialized a chair under me as I sat down. I curled a finger, motioning for her to come to me. She obeyed with lowered ears, cocking her head when I pointed to my thighs. I growled, grabbed her by the base of her mane and pulled her across my lap.

“This is your punishment”, I said.

I held her down with my left hand and held my right hand in the air above me. I flooded it with magic to the point of glowing red and brought it down hard on her flank. She jumped and shouted in pained surprise but my left hand held her firmly. I struck again eliciting another shout but one of anger this time. I spanked her several more times, my last swat making her cry.

I stood her on her hooves facing me and stared into her sobbing face. I waited for the tears to stop before I spoke.

“What was the fight about”, I asked heatedly.

“Mating rights”, Cindra sniffled quietly.

“What the fuck”, I groaned. “And how did this topic come about?”

“What’s the big deal”, Cindra scoffed. “It’s only sex.”

“Only sex”, Fluttershy shouted from the hallway right before a blast of light shone through the now silent hallway.

“Explain”, I growled.

“Seriously”, she asked, sighing when I nodded. “In the hives there are more females than males. That causes problems when the mating seasons begin.”

“And you’re telling me this why?”

“In the hives there are no mates”, she said quietly.

“And why is it this way”, mom asked from beside me, which caused me to jump slightly.

“It was always this way”, Cindra said with a gulp. “There were a few that did choose a single mate but the remainder of the hive takes as many partners as possible to ensure the survival of the race.”

“Forced procreation”, Celestia gasped and jerked her head back. “That is simply barbaric. How could Chrysalis do this?”

“Who”, I asked, turning to mom.

“She was once an alicorn like us”, she said quietly. “She was turned into the queen of the changelings by y- Discord. She looks quite similar to this changeling, but is much taller. Oddly enough, they also hatch from eggs.”

“You’re shitting me”, I blurted.

“I am not”, mom replied. “However, we are getting off track.”

“Right, the molesting and fighting thing”, I said. “I thought you fed off lust, not acted on it.”

“Well, I hate to tell you this”, the changeling grimaced. “I’m one of the three in our entire race that not only feeds off of emotions but for some reason have the ability to feel emotions, too.”

“Oh, shit”, I muttered as I face palmed.

“Jackson, language”, mom warned.

“Sorry”, I said to mom before I turned back to Cindra. “So now you’re saying you might try to rape anyone to feed off of?!”

“Rarely”, Cindra muttered sheepishly.

Throughout the entire conversation I thought about Fluttershy’s situation and realized that the two of them were in fact fighting for possession of me. I slowly stood and turned, approached my dresser and materialized a large travelling bag. I placed every item of clothing in my bag and closed it.

“What are you doing”, mom asked pointedly.

“I’m going to stay somewhere else”, I stated plainly as I walked to the door.

Despite their protests I took to the skies, searching for a certain rainbow trail to follow. Before long I spotted her, pushed magic into my damaged wings and bolted after her. In ten seconds flat I was flying upside down above her, taking her picture with a camera I had picked up in town. She slammed through a cloud and began tumbling toward the ground. I did the first thing I could think of and darted down and grabbed her, positioning her so that her wings were oriented the right way as she clung to me for dear life.

I heaved a grateful sigh as she took her own weight with her wings and flipped over into a slight dive before unfolding my wings. She yelled for me to land, so I picked a nice looking spot with soft grass. About five feet from the ground I leaned back out of the dive and folded my wings tight. I posed in my sliding super hero landing for a few seconds, mainly because it looked badass but also because it hurt like a mother!

I stood slowly as Dash circled in for a landing, trotting in as she folded her wings. She laughed when I called her a showoff but showed me a video of my landing. I watched my body curve up and spin backwards. The left foot made contact right before the left fist as I slid ten feet.

“How is that video in existence”, I shouted.

“I’m the president of the Rainbow Dash Fan Club”, a familiar voice gasped.

“Oh, hey”, I smiled at the orange Pegasus with a purple mane named Scootaloo.

“Hi, Jackson”, the filly replied. “I was out looking for my hero hoping to get a glance but I got the whole thing with you and Rainbow Dash and it was AWESOME!”

“Yeah, sure”, I shrugged.

“Oh my Celestia, you’re Prince Jackson, the Prince of the Everfree and Prince of Chaos”, she squealed excitedly.

“Just Jackson”, I smiled.

“Please forgive me, your Highness”, she squeaked.

I got an idea. I got an awful, wonderful idea.

“Call me that one more time”, I said darkly, nodding at Dash beside me.

“Yes, your Highness”, Scootaloo grinned, camera at the ready.

“Wha-“, Dash began, silenced by my lips on hers.

I pressed the kiss and her wings flew straight out. She tilted her head with a blush and opened her mouth, easing her tongue against my lips. She groaned in frustration and fell flat on her back when I let go of her, her eyes dazed.

Scootaloo hopped on her scooter and used her tiny wings to generate the thrust for cruising through town. I waved at her and turned back to a recovering Dash. She glared at me a moment before she began to blush and look away.

“What do you want, Jackson”, she demanded.

“I was wondering if I could crash with you for a while.”

“Sure”, she replied with a grin. “I’m assuming you’re not afraid of heights?”

I unfolded my wings with a grin of my own and took to the skies, waiting for her to lead the way. She gained altitude faster than I did, even with the small amount of magic flowing through my wings. She turned east and continued gaining altitude. I couldn’t believe my eyes when we rounded the next cloud bank and set down on a cloud ledge. I was hesitant at first but figured I could fly back up if I fell. Much to my surprise I found myself standing on the cloud. It felt like walking across bubbles.

The entire building was made from super compressed clouds. The support beams were so tightly packed you could make out the individual clouds used. All the walls in the two story house were like that, which did well for deadening sound. The floors I noticed were yet again the same way.

“At least it’s sturdy”, I murmur.

“Yeah, but in the winter it gets drafty”, Dash said as she pushed the cloud door closed.

“I can imagine”, I whispered in awe.

As I looked around I noticed the furniture was just clouds with blankets thrown over them. As I made my way into the kitchen I almost died laughing. Everything except the stove was made of different density cloud formations. I wiped tears out of my and opened a cupboard expecting to see cloud cup but porcelain flatware met my eyes.

“Oh”, I said dumbly.

I looked around the downstairs some more and decided to head upstairs. I met Rainbow Dash at the top of the stairs and she led the way down the hallway to the end and turned right into another hallway. The second door on the left in this hallway was the one the daredevil stopped at.

“Seriously”, I whispered to myself.

I headed through the door, having to duck slightly. I glanced around the cloudy space and was surprised by an actual bedframe. What surprised me even more was the mattress made of clouds. I walked over and ran my hand across the surface, smiling as little puffs drifted up and away.

“Yeah, that’s great for spring and summer”, Dash laughed, “But in the fall and winter you’re gonna wanna throw a blanket over them. Another good thing about ‘em is that they’re perfect for pegasi!”

“What about me”, a voice griped from the hallway.

I looked over Dash’s head and saw an honest to goodness fucking GRIFFIN! She was sort of brownish gold in color with purple highlights near her eyes and a white stripe running from her chin all the way down and back to her white tail feathers. The eagle talons of her right front foot, I guess, tapped the floor inaudibly.

“Hey, Gilda”, Dash called jovially.

“Who’s the dweeb”, this Gilda the griffin asked as she eyed me with contempt.

“Well, fuck.”