The Broken One

The instant my mother stormed into my chambers the paralysis lifted and my body slumped into the mattress. There was a rage in her eyes that I had never seen mixed with hurt and pity. I glanced at her before turning my attention to the rest of the room. My gaze passed over Twilight and scanned the rest of the room.

“Where are Cindra and Umbra”, I asked as I rubbed my pounding head.

“What”, my mother hissed.

“Where are Cindra and Umbra”, I repeated.

“That is the least of your worries”, she exclaimed furiously. “You raised your hoof to one of the rulers of Equestria and your own mother!”

“What?”

“Jackson, don’t you remember”, Twilight asked quietly. “You were about to slap Princess Celestia.”

“I would never do that”, I whispered before turning to my mother. “I love you, mom.”

“You tried to strike me and put Umbra in the infirmary”, my mother replied coolly.

“I did WHAT?!”

“How can you not remember something that happened ten minutes ago”, my mother shouted. “I watched you beat Umbra before throwing her though your throne! If I hadn’t stopped you she could be dead now!”

“Umbra”, I whispered before I burst into sobs.

I felt my heart breaking all over again as images and sensations floated through me. I felt my fist connecting with her face. I could taste her blood as it splashed in my mouth. I remembered what happened.

“I’m a monster”, I gasped.

“Jackson”, my mother called quietly as she reached a wing toward me.

“Get away from me”, I shouted scrambling to the other side of the bed. “I don’t want to hurt anypony else! Audrey! Lock me in the dungeons!”

I cannot follow a command that would endanger you, Prince Jackson.

“FUCKING DO IT AUDREY”, I shouted.

“She can’t do that”, my mother said calmly as she rounded the bed slowly. “Jackson, please calm down and let us help you.”

“I’m not safe”, I murmured. “I’m a monster.”

Before I could move I found myself enveloped in a warm hug. A second pair of hooves wrapped around me and I lost all strength in my legs. The three of us fell to the floor as the two mares’ tears joined my own. We huddled together for the longest time before my tears stopped flowing.

“We’ll get through this”, mom whispered as she stroked my hair. “We’ll help you through this.”

“You know we love you, Jackson”, Twilight smiled. “You can always count on us.”

“I have to see Umbra”, I mumbled.

I stiffly stood from our embrace and made my way through the halls. Every servant I passed bowed their heads and scurried away from me. I felt like dying by the time I got to the infirmary. The sight before me made me feel like dying all over again.

Umbra was lying on her side on a hospital bed with Cindra in a chair beside her. Her left wing was bandaged tightly, as were her ribs. Nasty bruises had already formed on the left side of her face and her left eye was swollen shut. Her left rear leg had a cast on it and her lip was busted. She looked like I felt.

I eased in through the open door and froze when Umbra’s good eye focused on me. She stared at me with an expression that was two parts apology and one part fear. I couldn’t understand why she would feel bad about the occurrence but I slowly approached her bed. When I stood before her I summoned a dagger and held the hilt out to the vampony.

"Kill me", I murmured.

“Master”, Umbra whispered.

“Kill me”, I replied quietly. “Please.”

“No, master”, Umbra uttered as she shook her head. “I deserved the beating I got.”

“How”, I asked quietly. “How could you deserve that? I should die for what I did to you.”

“No you shouldn’t”, she replied as she stared at me. “I deserved to be beat for assaulting my master.”

“Nopony deserves that kind of treatment, Shadow”, I moaned.

“What did you call me”, the vampony blinked.

I froze when I realized what I had said. I fought to find something, anything, to say but I was unable to. I felt tears in my eyes again as Cindra leaned over to wrap her hooves around me. I blinked away the tears and smiled sadly.

“I’m sorry, Umbra”, I whispered. “I just… You…”

I tried to pull away but Cindra held tightly to me begging me to stay.

“Please stay with me, master”, Umbra whispered. “Please don’t leave me.”

“Okay”, I eventually sighed sadly as I cupped her right cheek.

At that moment I heard two more pairs of hooves enter and I turned my eyes to the newcomers. I saw the tears in my mother’s eyes and disentangled myself from the mares on the bed.

“Jackson, why do you have a knife”, Twilight asked as she snatched it from me with magic.

“It’s not important”, I replied quietly.

“Are you well”, my mother asked as she approached me and pulled me into a hug.

“As well as can be”, I sighed and leaned into the hug. “Umbra is the one to worry about right now.”

I pulled back from the hug and turned to tell Cindra and Umbra that I would be back later. They nodded and I stepped out of the room. I barely heard my mother tell Twilight to go with me before she galloped to catch up to me. We walked in silence until we made it to my bedchambers.

“Jackson, are you okay”, she asked gently.

I ignored her as I went to the corner and pulled out my wheelchair. She cocked her head to the side when I told her to leave for a minute but she complied. After the door closed I removed my boots and the lower half of my leather armor and sat down in the wheelchair. I unbuckled all of the straps from my leg braces and dropped them to the floor.

The muscle weakness was instantly noticeable as I pulled my armor and boots back on. I rolled to the door and opened it a few inches to allow Twilight to enter. When she stepped through the door she gasped at the sight of me in that cursed chair.

“Jackson, what are you doing”, she asked.

“If Umbra can’t walk, neither will I”, I replied quietly.

“What purpose will that serve”, she demanded. “This penance of yours is completely unnecessary!”

“My penance would be unnecessary if I could only find somepony strong enough to end me”, I growled. “I should die for what I did to Umbra.”

“Jackson, stop it”, she shouted. “Confining yourself to a wheelchair doesn’t do anypony any good! So you injured Umbra! Has she forgiven you?!”

“She says she deserved to be beaten”, I whispered. “For attacking me.”

“Jackson, that’s just how the vampony culture is”, she groaned in annoyance. “I read up on her cultural views and you actually let her off easy!”

“I hospitalized her”, I moaned. “Twilight, she’s in pain because of me!”

“You are her master”, she argued. “She believes she stepped above her station and got put in her place! She holds no ill will!”

“I SAW THE FEAR IN HER EYES WHEN SHE SAW ME”, I bellowed. “I’m a fucking animal.”

“Do you know what I see when I look at you”, she asked as she slammed her hooves on the armrests of my wheelchair. “I see a self-hating stallion that needs to realize his own self-worth! I see a father that loves his daughter! I see a distraught widower!”

“I see a waste of space”, I mumbled.

“That’s what I’m talking about”, she shouted. “You think you’re worthless and you couldn’t be more wrong! I’ve seen your Cutie Marks, Jackson! They may be the same as Discord’s, but you are not him! Your Marks mean endless possibilities and unlimited potential!”

“Did Neightsche tell you that”, I muttered bitterly. “Twilight, I’m-“

“If you say a soulless golem I swear to Celestia I will kick you in the balls”, she growled.

“I was going to say the Prince of Chaos”, I blinked in surprise.

“You listen to me, Jackson Everfree”, she hissed as she got in my face. “You are going to put those leg braces on and march straight to that infirmary and do whatever you can to make Umbra comfortable and happy.”

“And if I refuse to put the braces on?”

“Then I will strip you and put them on you myself”, she said with frightening calm. “I will not be gentle.”

“Well, fuck.”