The Broken One

I stood in the open doorway that lead to my balcony and stared out across the land at the rising sun. The peacefulness of the predawn castle eased my troubled mind and allowed me to think. I watched as a night guard made his rounds inside the courtyard and waved as the random bat pony bowed to me.

“What is going on”, I whispered to myself. “Lord of the Dead? Prince of Chaos? Titles I don’t want to have.”

“Master”, Cindra whispered quietly as she trotted up behind me. “Are you okay?”

“Yes, Cindra”, I lied as I rubbed my face.

“Please don’t lie to me”, Cindra smiled. “You’ve been staring at the sunrise for the past four days.”

I smiled back at her and ruffled her mane as I walked by. She giggled and leaned into the touch but almost fell as my hand left her head. She followed me into the room and hopped up on the bed but cocked her head in curiosity when I crossed the room and retrieved my sword belt from the top of my dresser.

“Where are you going”, she asked quietly.

“To look at our new castle”, I said indifferently as I made my way back to the balcony.

“Can I come”, she asked hopefully.

“You won’t be able to keep up”, I replied as I flooded my magic into my wings. “Besides, I’ll be back in a couple hours. Will you take care of Shadow until I get back?”

“Of course, master”, she replied slowly. “But what do you need me to do? She doesn’t even have a baby bump yet.”

“Wash her mane, play dress up, hell you could fuck her silly, I don’t care”, I growled. “I just need to be alone for a little bit.”

“I’d prefer if you did the fucking”, Shadow mumbled as she propped herself up in bed.

“Master’s gonna check out your new castle”, Cindra yawned as she curled up around my future wife. “He won’t let us go with him.”

“Just be safe”, Shadow begged as she walked to the edge of the bed. “Please be safe.”

“I will”, I smiled as I kissed her lips. As an afterthought I planted a kiss on Cindra’s forehead making her giggle. “You two be good while I’m gone.”

“No problem”, Cindra grinned as she pulled the vampony back over to her side.

I nodded and stepped out onto the balcony as the trailing edge of the sun rose above the horizon. With one flap of my wings I launched myself skyward and turned toward Ponyville. In no time I was passing over my sleepy little town and caught sight of my favorite Pegasus busting clouds. I drifted to a stop and watched as she raced from cloud to cloud destroying them with her powerful legs. She spotted me and waved, breaking apart one final cloud before she made a beeline for me.

“Hey Jackson”, she called as she got close. “Haven’t seen you in- WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR WING?!”

“Hey Dash”, I responded. “My left wing got cut off and this feathery one grew back in its place.”

“It grew back”, she shouted. “Whoa, so cool! So what are you up to today?”

“I’m headed over to finally see Castle Everfree”, I smiled. “Wanna come with me?”

“Hell yeah”, she shouted, surprising me.

“I thought you ponies didn’t know any curse words”, I laughed.

“Hey, I learned from you”, she smirked.

I drained the magic from my wings and we headed for Everfree Forest at a leisurely pace. We waved to Derpy as she passed by pulling a wagon that was somehow floating along behind her and dropped lower as we approached the forest. Just outside of the trees’ shadows we landed and began walking into the forest.

“Hey, I need somepony to talk to that won’t judge me”, I said quietly.

“Judge you”, she scoffed as she waved her rump in the air in front of me. “After everything we did, I’m in no position to judge anypony.”

“That was fun”, I grinned as memories of that night flooded my mind but I shook my head clear. “Anyways, it’s about Shadow and Cindra.”

“If both of ‘em are too much for you”, she grinned, “I could maybe be persuaded to help.”

“It isn’t like that”, I groaned.

“Then what is it?”

“Shadow’s pregnant”, I uttered, causing her wings to freeze and drop from the air.

“What”, she gasped.

“Apparently I can get ponies pregnant”, I sighed.

“Oh no”, she mumbled. “Oh no no no. I can’t be a mom. I’m not ready for that!

“Dash, you had me put it in your plot.”

“Oh yeah”, she sighed in relief. “Hey, speaking of that-“

“Not without Shadow”, I interrupted. “Back to what I was saying.”

“Okay, I get the deal with Shadow”, she said, “but does that mean Cindra is pregnant too?”

“I wish it was that simple”, I sighed.

“Huh?”

I stopped walking and stared at what little bit of sky I could see through the clouds. The prismatic pony stopped beside me and stared expectantly at me.

“I killed her.”

“WHAT”, she shouted as she jumped back.

“I got in a fight with Chrysalis, she jumped on me from behind and I stabbed her”, I whispered as tears began to well up in my eyes. “She died in my arms. Our kiss was the last thing she felt before she slipped away.”

“Jackson”, she whispered as she fluttered up to hug me. “I’m so sorry.”

“I brought her back”, I said quietly. “At the cost of my own life I brought her back from the dead.”

“Wait, what”, she gasped and held me at arm’s length to stare at me.

“I followed her to the spirit realm or something”, I said hollowly. “I fought the Grim Reaper to get her back.”

“What?”

“I killed the Grim Reaper to get her back, so now I’m the new Grim Reaper”, I replied.

“What?”

“I’m also the Prince of Chaos.”

“What?!”

“And a magical golem with no soul.”

“WHAT?!”

I covered my ears as she shrieked and stared at the ground. She battered me with questions, some I could answer and some I couldn’t. The trip through the forest took less time than expected, considering as soon as we rounded a bend in the path I saw a familiar rope bridge and the castle looming just ahead in a thick fog.

“Wow”, I said quietly as I beheld my new home. “Would you look at that?”

“Don’t change the subject”, Dash grunted. “How did you kill the Grim Reaper?

“With a spectral sword”, I shrugged as we walked through the portcullis and into the courtyard.

The castle was much smaller than the royal castle in Canterlot but it was still impressive. The stonework shone in the sunlight. I heard movement atop the wall and drew my sword while dropping into a fighting stance. A unicorn popped his head over the battlements and shouted down to us.

“You are trespassing on the lands of-“, the unicorn began but I cut him off.

“These are my lands”, I shouted. “Are you seriously not able to tell who I am?!”

“P-prince Jackson”, the guard stuttered. “Please forgive me!”

I waved him away but he galloped down the stairs and slid to a stop in front of me with a salute. I returned the gesture and he turned his eyes on Rainbow Dash.

“Is this Lady Shadow”, he asked but cocked his head to the side as I burst out laughing.

“No, this is Rainbow Dash”, I laughed loudly.

“F-forgive me”, he trembled.

“What’s your name”, I asked.

“Silver Lance”, he replied nervously.

“Well, Silver”, I smiled, “take a little break. I just wanted to come check out the castle.”

“Of course, your Highness”, he nodded. “May I ask when you will take up residence?”

“What’s today, Wednesday”, I asked and he nodded. “Two days before we move in.”

He bowed politely and made his way back onto the wall. I shrugged and led the way in through the wooden and steel doors. As soon as we stepped inside I was amazed by the sight before me. Crimson carpets as soft as a cloud lined the middle of the hallways and in every nook and cranny possible I spied Lavender. The crystal chandelier in the entryway shone like the sun thanks to all the candles on it.

“I can tell Aunt Luna had a hoof in this”, I sighed.

“How”, Dash asked.

“Lavender.”

We made our way up the grand stairway before us and peeked into the throne room. My eyes widened in surprise when I gazed upon the two thrones on the raised dais. They were similar, but the top of the backrest on my throne looked just like my crown.

Shit, I left that thing in Canterlot, I thought as I ran a hand through my hair. Gotta make sure to bring it with me.

We poked around the throne room and Dash wanted to see me on the throne. With a groan I flopped down on my seat of power and slouched against the arm rest. She cocked her head this way and that as she stared at me.

“Now all you’re missing is some scary ass armor and a certain hot vampony hanging all over you”, she grinned as her wings slowly unfurled.

“Your excitement is showing”, I grinned back and pointed at her wings.

“Celestia dammit”, she grumbled as she forced her wings back against her sides.

I stood and led the way out of the throne room with a rather aroused Dash following me closely. Her wings brushed mine as we walked and a chill crept through me. I had a feeling she did that on purpose and my suspicions were confirmed when I asked about the fleeting contact. I shrugged and kept going through the castle.

“I’m gonna need a map of this place”, I sighed when we finally made our way back to the front doors.

“It isn’t that bad”, Dash laughed. “We only got lost four times.”

“You enjoyed getting lost with me”, I teased.

“Yeah”, she blushed, “but it would’ve been even better if we got lost in the bedroom.”

“I told you, not without Shadow”, I sighed.

“What about Cindra”, she asked as she perked up.

“That’s between you and her”, I chuckled.

We exited the castle, waved to Silver Lance and took to the skies. The flight back to Ponyville was a short but enjoyable one filled with talking about everything and nothing but before long the conversation took a perverted turn.

“Ya know”, Dash called out to me, “if you’re worried about getting one of us pregnant again you could always just buy some condoms.”

“I was thinking of magical sterilization”, I retorted.

“I wouldn’t go that far”, Dash said as she blushed. “What if one day you want more foals?”

“Oh, I see”, I smirked as I caught her blushing. “You’re thinking you can get knocked up with my foal and collect foal support, huh?”

“I would never ask you for a single bit”, she shouted.

“You just want to have sex with me again.”

“Guilty”, she chuckled.

“I’ll let you take that up with Shadow and Cindra”, I scoffed as I shook my head but sniffed the air. “Do you smell smoke?”

We looked around and spotted a small wisp of smoke rising from the general area of Fluttershy’s house. Fear raced through me as I put on extra speed. The sound of beating wings let me know that Dash was keeping up as we streaked toward the shy pony’s cottage.

“What the hell”, I shouted as her cottage came into view.

The entire thing was ablaze and poor Fluttershy was frantically trying to use her water hose to put the flames out. She heard our approach and started flagging us down for help.

“What the hell happened”, I shouted as I slid to a stop.

“I put a rag on the stove and didn’t realize I left it on”, she sobbed. Please help! Harry’s stuck inside!”

I cursed loudly and leapt into action. I shouted for Dash to gather some clouds to put the flames out as I kicked the door in. as soon as the door opened a fireball rolled out at me. I threw my right wing around me and to my surprise the flames rolled harmlessly across my wing.

“Holy shit”, I gasped.

I ran into the burning cottage and began quickly searching for the mountain of fur named Harry. I coughed smoke out of my lungs as I shouted for the big bear and heard him upstairs for some reason. I raced up the stairs and began checking rooms for the beast. When I reached my old room I spotted him huddling in the corner.

“Harry”, I shouted as I stepped into the room. “Harry, its Jackson! Come on!”

The lumbering fuzz face crawled across the floor to avoid the smoke that was drifting through the air and took the hand I held out to him. I told him to follow me and we fumbled our way down the stairs and through the burning living room. About halfway across the floor I heard a crack and looked up just in time to see a burning support beam fall from the ceiling.

“Shit”, I gasped.

I braced for impact but a furry arm struck me, knocking me to the side and sending me rolling toward the door. I jumped to my feet and turned to check on Harry but my stomach turned at the sight that greeted me.

“Harry”, I whispered sadly.

I dropped to my knees in shock. The beam that would have killed me had pierced the bear’s skull from the top and as the dead bear lay on the floor his blood and brain matter dripped from the gaping wound. I stared in shock until my stomach emptied its contents onto the floor.

“Jackson”, several voices shouted frantically from outside.

I stumbled to my feet and began making my way toward the front door when a hissing noise caught my attention. I turned to the left and spotted blue flames shooting from the stove. A feeling of dread washed over me as I turned to a window that had shattered from the heat.

“Everypony get back”, I shouted.

A split second later I heard a massive explosion and turned back just in time to see a blue fireball rolling through the air at me.

“Fuck me”, I shouted and wrapped my right wing around myself.

Time slowed down as I felt the pressure and heat of the fireball slam into me. The sensation of flying briefly registered in my brain before I slammed through a wall and shot out the other side. I slid to a stop and tried to catch my breath.

“Jackson”, Fluttershy cried, “where’s Harry?”

I tried to speak but could only cough up blood. I knew I had damaged something inside but I didn’t know what. I hung my head sadly and grimaced as the distraught mare fell to my chest sobbing uncontrollably. My other friends gathered around Fluttershy and held her as she wept. The Pegasus ponies managed to put the flames out shortly afterward but the damage was done. Fluttershy’s cottage was a complete loss. Eventually they managed to pull the poor girl aside and I sat up, completely astounded by the devastation.

“Well, fuck.”