The Broken One

I carried Cindra out of the bathroom with a towel pressed to her head and sat down on the bed. I parted her mane and exposed the somewhat minor injury and took a quick look. I focused healing magic into one of my fingers and slowly drew it across the cut sealing it instantly. I hugged Cindra and sat there on the bed staring at nothing.

“Mast-Jackson”, Cindra asked eventually. “Are we okay?”

“What do you mean”, I asked as I looked in her eyes.

“You and me”, she replied. “You seemed so angry.”

“I’m sorry”, I sighed as I hugged her. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

“The same thing that’s wrong with me”, she smiled sadly. “You’re heartbroken.”

I hugged her tightly as I felt tears welling up in my eyes. She squirmed around in my arms and wrapped her forelegs around me as she laid her head on my shoulder. She sniffed through her tears and squeezed me tight before she spoke.

“We’ll get through this together, Jackson. I don’t know how long it will take but I have faith in you. If anypony can find a way to bring her back, you can.”

“I don’t even know where to start”, I sighed. “I went to the Marribean Sea Oracle with your mom but that ended in more questions than answers.”

“Mother took you to see the Oracle”, she asked as she pulled away from me.

“Yeah but it was all a bunch of mystic mumbo jumbo”, I groaned.

“That mare is never wrong”, she said with wide eyes.

I sighed and slid my changeling off of my lap and onto the bed before I stood stiffly. I made the short journey to the dresser and pulled a fresh outfit out to get dressed. I turned around and saw Cindra trotting toward me. She threw her hooves around my shoulders and kissed my cheek before hugging me.

“I just thought you needed another hug”, she whispered. “I’m going to go check on Aliya.”

“I’ll go talk to Silver about the castle perimeter.”

She dropped down and flicked her tail with a smile before she went out of the door. I finished changing and went down through the castle to the courtyard. I shouted for Silver and he appeared within seconds. I asked him about the perimeter defenses and he thought for a second.

“I believe there are some kind of crystals beneath the castle, but that’s about all I know”, he replied. “You could always ask the chief unicorn about it.”

I thanked him and headed for the barracks behind the castle proper. When I entered I saw three separate offices at the back or the decent sized building. Rows of beds were arranged throughout the room and I made my way past them to the middle office and knocked on the open door.

“Prince Jackson”, the unicorn cried in surprise as he spilled his cup of coffee. “Ow, damn! What do you need, your Highness?”

“What can you tell me about warding capabilities”, I asked. “On the castle perimeter, I mean.”

“Ah, yes”, he grinned. “Your Highness, you will never believe the crystal array we have!”

He jumped from his chair and began leading me toward the lower levels of the castle. He pointed out the doors that could be sealed with magical locks. He gushed about the defensive weaponry that they could only hypothesize what they did. I asked questions from time to time but only understood half of the answers. Before too long we entered one last door and stood before a massive crystal formation that looked suspiciously like the castle above.

“Why haven’t I heard about this before now”, I asked in awe.

“We… haven’t been able to activate it”, he replied sheepishly. “We didn’t report it because we didn’t want to tell you we failed you.”

“You’re getting a spanking later”, I sighed. “Why couldn’t you activate it?”

“Every single unicorn that has tried to activate it has passed out from magical exhaustion”, he replied. “Myself included.”

“I’m made of magic and sustained by it”, I said evenly.

I stepped up to the crystal and rested my hand on the miniature wall around the crystal castle. I opened my magic channels and let my power flow through my arm. As soon as my magic touched the crystal the entire room lit up with a golden light form deep within the miniature castle.

Welcome, Prince Jackson, a silvery voice floated through the air. What is your bidding?

“Wow”, I murmured. “That’s pretty cool.”

Would you like for me to increase the ambient temperature?

“What, no”, I said loudly

I do not understand your command.

I thought for a second before I had an idea. I asked if it was possible to add my vocabulary and expressions and smiled when I received a positive response. I followed the crystal’s prompts and placed my hands inside two glowing circles. Golden tendrils crept up my arms and slipped into my temples as a warm breeze caressed my mind. The contact lasted a brief second but it felt comforting.

Your lexicon has been integrated. Would you like to integrate memories?

“No”, I replied. “What shielding or warding capabilities do we have?”

My capabilities are limited only by your imagination.

“I don’t want anypony to be able to teleport in unannounced”, I replied.

What course of action am I to take with trespassers?

“Redirect them to the road outside the portcullis”, I said after a moment of thought. I motioned to a point a short distance from the gate. “Put them right here.”

Command understood. What of aerial intruders?

“Paralyze and transport”, I replied. “Gently place them in the center of the courtyard.”

Command understood.

“Thank you.”

There is no need to thank me. I am not alive.

“If you can speak to me you’re alive in my book”, I smiled as I pulled my hands from the glowing circles. “Hey, do I have to be in here to speak to you and give commands?”

You do not.

“Do you have a name?”

My designation is Autonomous Defensive Array Three.

“I’ll call you Audrey.”

Designation reset in progress. Confirm?

“Yes?”

Designation reset as Audrey.

“Are the defenses activated yet”, I asked as I exited the chamber with the unnamed unicorn and sealed the door.

Defenses are active. Changeling presence detected in castle. Shall I terminate?

“Fuck no”, I shouted. “That’s Cindra!”

Shall I add biometric identifiers to my database for identification purposes?

“Yeah, do it for all the staff”, I replied quickly.

I heard a yelp behind me and spun around just in time to see some kind of needle sliding back into the wall. I asked what that was and was informed that a blood and magical signature sample had been collected from every single living being in the castle.

Nonliving presence detected in tower. Biological mass under stasis. No indicators of decay.

“That’s Shadow”, I said quietly. “Can you put a biological seal on the doors to that room? Only me or Cindra are allowed in there.”

Command understood. Biolock engaged.

“Do you have to be so formal”, I groaned. “That shit’s annoying.”

I will now adjust communication protocols with new parameters.

Audrey went silent as I strode through the halls toward the nursery and sighed when I smelled smoke as I got close to the room. I entered the nursery and looked around through the smoke. Cindra stood outside the open doors on the balcony with Aliya as the smoke from her incinerated bedding rolled out of the doors.

“Did she set her bed on fire again”, I called through the smoke.

“Yep”, came the reply.

I groaned and unfurled my wings as I sighed. I began flapping them to clear the smoke and before long the air was clear. Cindra stepped back inside and looked around nervously. I watched her as she looked in every nook and cranny of the room and laughed when she turned her wide eyes on me.

“What is it”, I chuckled.

“Something shot out of the wall and stabbed me in the ass”, she cried out making me laugh.

“That was Audrey”, I laughed. “Audrey, say hello to Cindra.

Hello, Cindra. I am Audrey, Automated Defense Array Three. I’m sorry if I hurt you collecting my sample.

The silvery voice coming from nowhere made Cindra crouch over Aliya protectively as her wide eyes scanned the room quickly. I laughed again until I spotted a tiny spot of blood on Aliya’s tiny leg and instantly got pissed.

“Audrey, what the fuck”, I shouted startling my daughter and changeling. “You fucking stabbed Aliya?!”

I had to collect a sample. There will not be a need to do it again.

I shook my head and walked over to Cindra. I pulled her against my side as she stood and smiled down at her and my daughter. The Oracle’s words about my daughter’s importance rang through my mind and I held out my arms to her. She squealed happily and tried to squirm out of Cindra’s grasp. Her tiny wings buzzed as I took her into my hands and snuggled her close.

“So cute”, Cindra smiled.

Jackson, there was an unapproved teleportation attempted redirected three point seven seconds ago. Biometrics identify intruder as Princess Celestia of Equestria.

“Well, fuck.”