The Broken One

I pulled my pants back up and shook my head as Pinkie trotted from the room humming a happy tune. The two mares in the room giggled at my discomfort making me sigh.

“Why does this stuff happen to me”, I wondered aloud. “Why are mares so attracted to me?”

“Because you’re an alpha”, Cindra giggled. “We mares tend to look for the strongest stallion.”

“What about Applejack’s brother”, I asked.

“Big Mac”, the changeling scoffed. “Word is only his muscles and heart are big.”

“Wow”, I replied. “Shallow.”

The changeling shrugged before sauntering off to the bathroom. I sat back down in my favorite armchair by the window and gazed down into the courtyard. I watched as Silver made his rounds and cocked my head to the side when his gaze quickly turned to a familiar statue. He slowly approached the statue and stood there staring at Discord’s stone prison before suddenly bolting away.

“That can’t be good”, I mumbled as I leapt to my feet.

I held my hand out to the side as I marched through my chambers and my sword flew through the air and into my grasp. I secured the weapon around my waist and ignored Umbra’s questions as I rushed from the room. As I was making my way toward the front doors of the castle Silver suddenly came tearing around the corner and slammed into me sending us both toppling to the floor.

“What the hell”, I shouted as I smacked him in the back of the head.

“F-forgive me, your H-highness”, Silver stuttered. “I have t-terrible n-news!”

“What is it”, I groaned as I stood up.

“I heard D-d-discord’s v-voice”, he gasped. “It c-came from th-the statue!”

I bolted through the halls as I shouted for Audrey to contain Discord’s statue. I kept running when my feet hit the ground outside and within moments I stood outside of an angry red shield.

“Lower the shield until I pass”, I ordered and nodded as she complied.

I stepped within the shield’s area and the field of red snapped back into place. I approached the statue and stared into the blank eyes expecting something to happen. I wasn’t disappointed.

“The prodigal son returns”, Discord whispered in my mind.

“Hello, father”, I replied evenly.

“Ah, you finally accept the truth”, he chuckled.

“I’ve always accepted the truth”, I sighed. “It just doesn’t make any sense.”

“Well what fun is there in making sense”, he asked.

“It may not be fun”, I replied testily, “but making sense can be useful at times.”

“Just like your experiments make sense?”

“I had my reasons”, I huffed as I looked away.

“Yes, bringing back the pony you love that was stolen from you by your little abomination”, he chuckled.

“If you ever mention Aliya again I will destroy you”, I growled.

“Oh come now”, he laughed. “Surely you don’t think I mean you any harm.”

“I don’t know”, I sighed as I lowered my head. “There are so many things I don’t know.”

“You may not but I do, son”, he replied gently.

“How are you able to speak to me when you’re like this?”

“Chaos magic is a wonderful thing”, he said with a grin in his voice.

“Is it chaos magic that makes the mares of this fucked up world fall for me”, I asked.

“Well, yes and no”, he replied. “You see, you have a presence about you that would best be described as aphrodisiacal. The chaos magic just amplifies it.”

“Why does a completely different species appeal to me”, I asked quietly.

“This life is all you’ve known”, he replied just as quietly. “I could show you another life, if you wish. One in which you would be around other humans.”

“It wouldn’t be real so why bother?”

“Why indeed”, he sighed. “I have to admit you’re no fun right now.”

“Dad, what happened to mom and Aunt Luna? Why do they hate you so much”, I sighed as I stepped closer.

“That’s a story for another time, son”, he sighed. “I want to talk to you about your other abilities.”

“What abilities”, I asked.

“Your Reaper abilities”, he replied.

“I don’t have any.”

“Exactly”, he said sternly. “All this time you wasted experimenting on clones could have been spent learning about your limits and pushing past them.”

“I want to learn but I don’t even know where to start”, I sighed.

“You could start by dying, so to speak.”

“Are you fucking crazy”, I shouted.

“Jury’s still out”, he quipped. “We’ll speak again but I suggest explaining to your precious changeling why you’re arguing with a statue.”

His voice faded away as I looked over my shoulder to see a clearly disturbed changeling staring at me. I stepped away from my father’s statue and the shield fell away when I told Audrey it was unnecessary. I walked past Cindra toward the house and heard her trotting to catch up to me.

“Don’t even ask”, I sighed. “I just found out a few things that I need to think about.”

“I understand”, she replied. “I just figured you would like to know that your clones are finished.”

“Why didn’t Audrey notify me”, I growled as I whirled around to face her.

“She tried but you were ignoring her”, she replied with a look of confusion. “That’s why I came out here.”

“What the hell”, I muttered.

I made my way down to the dungeons but Cindra refused to come with me. I figured it would be for the best so I left her to her own devices. I sighed heavily as I closed the reinforced door behind me and turned my eyes to the three clones just waiting to be slaughtered. I waved my hand and in an instant they were upside down with slit throats draining into buckets.

“Audrey, am I a terrible person?

I am unable to answer. I have no morality nor do I have free thought.

“How would you describe my recent actions?”

Your recent actions have been erratic, eccentric and unbalanced. You have exacted brutal vengeance for the wrongs you have suffered instilling great fear among your subjects and loved ones. To simplify, you have shown signs of mental instability. The closest diagnosis would be Dissociative Identity Disorder.

“Wow”, I muttered. “Fuck you too.”

I do not understand.

I ignored my castle and sent the clones away with a glance. I wheeled Shadow into the room and fitted the funnel into her mouth. I realized my hands were shaking as I lifted the first bucket and began slowly pouring. By the time I finished pouring the third bucket my heart was racing and sweat poured down my face.

As the last bit of blood swirled down the funnel I found myself holding my breath. For several minutes I stood there waiting for something to happen but to my horror nothing did. I felt the arctic chill of fearful despair begin to sink in as I fell to my knees.

“It didn’t work”, I whispered. “It worked for Umbra, so what went wrong?”

Tears gathered in my eyes as I stared at the still form of my beloved wife. I couldn’t quite understand what went wrong. I slowly stood as the tears trickled down my face and squeezed my eyes shut.

“Audrey, what did I do wrong?”

You followed the instructions as specified. Nothing has gone wrong.

“Then why the hell is she still dead?!”

Princess Shadow is not dead.

“What?!”

Princess Shadow is still in stasis and will remain that way until the stasis spell has been removed.

“Well, fuck!”