The Broken One

I sat in silence beside my bed and stared at Cindra as she slept. Shadow hung out in the corner, glancing at me every time I shifted slightly. The one time I had gone to the restroom I returned to find Shadow fluffing Cindra’s pillow. She didn’t say a word when I came in and she returned to the corner.

“Are you still mad at me for spanking you”, I asked as I sat back down.

“Permission to speak freely?”

“Granted”, I nodded.

“I have never been that humiliated before”, she muttered with a blush. “Nopony has ever laid a hoof on me like that.”

“It wasn’t meant to be humiliating”, I replied and wiped a cool rag across Cindra’s forehead.

“Then what was the purpose for it”, she asked testily before she hastily added ‘your Highness’ as an afterthought.

I stood up, strode over to her, knelt down and laid a hand on her shoulder. I reminded her not to call me that and slipped a quick kiss on her lips. I laughed as she blushed furiously and went back to my chair.

“What was that”, Shadow asked eventually.

“It’s called a kiss”, I grinned.

“I know that”, she blushed. “Why did you kiss me?”

“It seemed like the thing to do at the time”, I said with a small smile. “Does it bother you?”

“Not really”, she whispered as she blushed harder.

At that moment Cindra woke up, looking around blearily. When her eyes met mine she let out a happy noise and launched herself from the bed to wrap her forelegs around my shoulders. She gushed about how happy she was and pressed her lips to mine. Shadow growled lightly but made no other comment.

“Why is she here”, Cindra asked with a pointed look at Shadow.

“She’s my personal guard”, I replied. “Everywhere I go she goes.”

“Does she share your bed”, the changeling asked with a hint of jealousy.

“What”, Shadow shrieked indignantly. “What kind of question is that you filthy bug?!”

“Enough”, I shouted as the two started to square off with each other.

“Yes, master”, Cindra whispered.

“No, there is no master”, I said quickly.

“But you are my master”, she replied with a saucy wink. “Use me as you see fit, master.”

“Okay, first off, I’m nopony’s master”, I growled. “Secondly, I would never use anypony.”

The changeling shrugged her shoulders and looked around my room a little bit. I couldn’t help but laugh when she curiously dug her snout into my travelling bag and it got stuck on her head. I barely heard the chuckle that slipped from Shadow.

“Hold on”, I laughed before I walked over to her and pulled the bag off of her head.

“Thanks”, she whispered sheepishly.

Shadow scoffed and turned to look out the window for a moment. She shouted for us to get down and launched herself at me. Her body collided with mine and we both hit the floor as a light blue blur crashed through the window and rolled across the floor.

“What the fu- Shadow, stay”, I shouted as I recognized the multi-color mane.

I jumped up and ran to the dazed Pegasus to check on her but my heart skipped a beat when she didn’t get up. The palace guards burst in but I shouted them out of the room before they could even think about firing off any magic. I turned my attention back to Dash and my breath caught in my throat as I caught sight of the crimson puddle that was slowly growing larger beneath her.

“Shadow, get a doctor”, I shouted. “Cindra, help me get her on the bed!”

The bat pony bolted out of the door as Cindra gently grasped Dash’s back legs. I slid my arms under her torso and head. On the count of three we picked her up and carried her toward the bed. I felt warm blood running across my hand and arm beneath Dash’s torso and saw a few drops fall from her mouth.

“Grab me a towel”, I ordered. “Just do it, I got her.”

Worry was painted on Cindra’s face as she flitted to the bathroom. I laid Dash down on the bed with her wounds facing up. A grimace fell over my face as I surveyed the damage to her body. The clatter of changeling wings told me Cindra had returned.

“By the hive”, Cindra muttered as I snatched the towel from her.

Dash’s torso was covered with little cuts and scrapes but what had me worried was the deep gash that ran the length of her ribs. I checked the wound quickly but didn’t see any glass or debris in the cut so I pressed the towel to the wound and directed Cindra to keep pressure on it. As the bug pony obeyed my commands I checked the rest of Dash thoroughly.

I checked her breathing and pulse, both of which were fine. I returned to checking her for injuries and noticed blood on her thighs. I grabbed a hoof and lifted her leg and froze instantly at what I saw. I slowly put her hoof down and backed away, my face bright gold.

Thankfully the professionals arrived and set to work as they roughly shoved Cindra aside. She stepped over to one side of me as Shadow took up a position on the other side of me. In no time they had Dash wrapped in gauze and magic. They bowed their heads slightly on the way out and the door closed behind them.

“Prince Jackson, why are you glowing”, Shadow asked.

“From what I understand, my master’s blood has been replaced with magic”, Cindra supplied as I stared dumbly at the opposite wall. “When he glows like that it means he’s blushing really hard.”

“Master”, Shadow asked dubiously.

“Life claim”, Cindra shrugged.

“What does that mean?”

“It’s kinda like this”, she explained. “He almost killed me but spared my life.”

“How noble”, Shadow smiled.

“Well, some things happened and I bit him so he spanked me-“

“You too”, Shadow gasped.

“Yeah, it really hurt.”

“Seriously”, Shadow asked and shivered before she continued in a whisper. “I love the way it feels when he smacks my flank. I’m kinda hoping I get punished again, actually.”

“What”, Cindra gasped, drawing me from my stupor.

“Wait, what”, I shouted. “No more spankings!”

Shadow tried not to show her disappointment but I saw through her facade. I cocked my eyebrow at them but they remained silent. I shook my head and walked to my closet and pulled out a fresh pair of pants and tunic type thing.

“I’m going to wash this blood off”, I sighed. “Stay here. Cindra, no peeking!”

The changeling sighed and the bat pony giggled before regaining her composure right away. I shook my head again and went to my bathroom, locking the door behind me. I stripped off my bloody trousers and underwear before I reached into the shower and set the water at just the right temperature.

“Why are all of these females gathering around me”, I whispered to myself as I stepped under the relaxing downpour.

Females are chaotic creatures, a gravelly voice whispered in my mind.

“What the fuck”, I shouted and whirled around.

My feet slid out from under me and I crashed to the floor of the shower. A sharp pain shot through my wings and I cried out in pain. The sound of splintering wood and two sets of hooves met my ears as the back of my head began to feel sticky.

“Jackson, are you okay”, Cindra shouted and snatched the shower curtain away.

I stared up at two faces caught between concern, embarrassment and awe. Their eyes roamed over my body, more Cindra than Shadow, and I struggled to sit up. I glanced down and saw a yellow tint to the water.

“Jackson did you just-“

“It’s my blood”, I interrupted the changeling as I rubbed the back of my head and held out a bloody hand.

“Let me see”, Shadow urged, pushing past Cindra to get a look at the back of my head.

As she examined my head I could have sworn I heard her sniffing me before she licked me. After a minute or two she told me it was a minor cut. She stepped out of the shower and I just had to laugh at the drenched bat pony.

Water trickled from the tufts on her ears and dripped from the tips of her half extended wings. I kept myself covered as I slowly stood. I took a step and found a pony on either side of me offering support. I placed my right hand on Cindra’s back as a wave of dizziness washed over me.

“What happened”, Cindra asked.

“I saw some kind of weird critter”, I lied as convincingly as I could. “That thing was butt ugly!”

“If you say so, your Highness”, Shadow smiled.

“Don’t call me that”, I growled.

“I’ll take her punishment”, Cindra grinned. “I offer to sacrifice myself in the name of comradery.”

“You just wanna kiss me again”, I said loudly.

“Yep”, she grinned. “Can I?”

“We’ll see”, I hedged.

The changeling pranced in place for a second and my faithful guard scoffed. Cindra stuck her tongue out at her and smiled as she kept pace with me. Shadow harrumphed and turned her head away. I grabbed my clothes off of the counter on the way by and stepped out into my bedroom.

“Who broke the door”, I asked quietly.

“Me”, they both replied.

“Go put your noses in a corner for five minutes”, I said as I turned to look at the destroyed door.

The two mares complied right away, even though Cindra grumbled about it. When both of their backs were turned to me I got dressed, wondering just how I got into these situations. This was twice now that Cindra had seen me naked, and I was shocked to realize it didn’t bother me too much. I sat on the bed for the remaining four and a half minutes silently and cleaned my fingernails with a small dagger.

“Okay, time’s up”, I said.

The two ponies approached me with drooping ears. They shared a glance before they arrived in front of me. I reached out and laid a hand on each of their cheeks, causing them to look up at me.

“I’m kinda pissed about the door because now I have to pay to get it replaced”, I said, “but I understand why you broke the door down.”

“I thought you were in trouble”, Cindra sighed.

“As did I, Prince Jackson”, Shadow whispered.

“Look”, I said. “Unless we’re in public you only call me Jackson, okay?”

“Yes, your Highness”, she bowed but suddenly realized what she said.

“Cindra, do the honors”, I groaned and stood up.

As I began walking away I heard a small commotion behind me. I turned around and jumped in surprise at what I saw and heard. The two mares were sprawled across the lower half of my bed with their limbs just as entangled as their tongues.

“What the fuck”, I shouted, causing the make out session to end.

“Oh, I kinda learned a new skill a few days ago”, Cindra replied nonchalantly.

“Huh?”

“I can project lust”, she exclaimed happily.

“Well, fuck.”