The Broken One

“Audrey, call Cindra and Umbra down here now”, I said quietly.

I didn’t have to wait long before Cindra burst through the door with wide eyes. Umbra rushed in hot on her heels and slid to a stop as I turned from my wife. The smile on my face said more than any words I could formulate.

“Is she alive”, Cindra gasped.

“Yes”, I grinned. “I wanted you both here when I removed the stasis.”

“But master, won’t it be a severe shock if she were to see me upon waking”, Umbra asked nervously.

“Oh damn”, I whispered as my smile faltered. “You’re right.”

“This is your moment”, she smiled at the three of us. “I will tend to Aliya until I am needed.”

She left before either of us could protest and I stared at Cindra nervously. We both turned to gaze at Shadow for a long moment.

“So you gonna wake her up”, Cindra grinned.

I returned her grin and reached out to rest my hand against her cheek as I pulled the funnel from her mouth. I removed the stasis spell and my heart raced as Shadow’s chest began to rise and fall in a slow rhythm. I gently stroked her cheek and it felt like a dream when her yellow eyes flashed open. She stared at the ceiling for several seconds before she turned her eyes to us.

“Jackson”, she hoarsely whispered in shock. “Cindra?!”

“Shadow”, I gasped and gathered her into my arms, kissing her deeply before Cindra joined the embrace.

“What’s going on”, she whispered. “Are you dead too?”

“No”, I whispered through tears as I burrowed my face into the soft fur of her neck. “No, we’re alive, just like you.”

“How is that possible”, she whispered as her forelegs slowly wrapped around me and Cindra. “I remember dying in your arms.”

“You didn’t really die”, I smiled happily. “You went into some kind of vampony hibernation.”

“I didn’t die?”

“No”, Cindra laughed through happy tears.

We backed up half a step as Shadow rolled to her side and sat up slowly. She looked around the room and inhaled deeply. She commented about the heavy smell of blood and I rubbed the back of my head as I explained where we were.

“Where’s Aliya”, she gasped as she tried to hop off the bed.

“She’s in the nursery”, I smiled as I held her in place. “How do you feel?”

“Kind of weak”, she replied as her eyes turned down to my throat. “And thirsty.”

I held the back of her head and guided her lips to my throat. She breathed in my scent for several seconds before I felt two tiny pinpricks in my shoulder. She moaned as my blood washed over her tongue and she drank deeply. I began to get a little lightheaded but she felt my discomfort and sealed the punctures in my flesh before pulling her lips away.

“Feel better”, I asked as I wiped a golden trickle from the corner of her mouth.

“I feel much better”, she sighed happily before her lips smashed against mine.

It felt like our first kiss all over again as warmth flooded my heart. The taste of my blood mixed nicely with the taste of her tongue as we shared a passionate kiss. When we pulled apart she reached over and pulled Cindra into a passionate kiss as well before she hugged us both tightly.

“I want to go see Aliya”, she whispered.

“We will”, I smiled nervously. “I need to tell you something first.”

“What is it”, she asked as she cocked her head to the side.

“You’ve been gone for a little while”, I began slowly. “When I lost you I sort of went a little crazy.”

“What happened”, she asked nervously.

“I tried to find a way to bring you back”, I replied. “I had Twilight’s help in some… experiments.”

“What kind of experiments?”

“I was using clones of Silver Lance to try to find a way to bring the dead back to life”, I grimaced. “I tried all kinds of things using my blood and magic but each one ended in failure.”

“One of the clones exploded”, Cindra shivered.

“What”, Shadow gasped.

“Off subject”, I said loudly. “Anyways, I was having a rough time of it and wound up in the library doing research and found a couple books that explained how to revive a vampony.”

“That was fortunate”, she laughed.

“Here’s where it gets a little weird”, I replied. “After a conversation about changeling clones I realized that every failure was because it wasn’t you.”

“Come again”, Shadow said quietly with wide eyes.

“I used my magic to make a genetically perfect copy of you to try to resurrect”, I hesitated. “It worked, but she was nothing like you.”

“WHAT”, she shrieked.

“Yeah, I was able to resurrect your clone”, I smiled nervously. “Her name is Umbra.”

“Say that again?”

“Her name is Umbra”, I repeated, my nervousness increasing as her eyes began to take on an orange hue. “She looks like you but sounds and acts different.”

“So you’ve been living with my clone for who knows how long”, she said with frightening calm.

“He didn’t touch her”, Cindra supplied quickly. “He almost beat her ass the one time she tried to kiss him.”

“I think I’m going to go kill myself”, she said icily as she pushed past us.

“Shadow, no”, Cindra gasped as she clung to Shadow.

“Why not”, she growled. “That cheap knockoff made a pass at my husband!”

“Jackson is her master”, Cindra explained. “She attacked Twilight and Jackson when they resurrected her but he took control and she bowed down to him.”

“You have another servant”, Shadow asked flatly. “A vampony that happens to be a clone of me?”

“Umm… Yes?”

“Luna dammit”, she snarled. “Now I can’t kill her.”

“That’s good though”, Cindra smiled. “Right?”

“That remains to be seen”, the angry vampony growled. “Where is she?”

“Audrey, where is Umbra”, I asked.

“Who’s-“

Umbra is in the nursery at this moment.

“What the fuck was that”, Shadow gasped as she ducked and looked around frantically.

“That was Audrey”, I laughed as I pulled her to her hooves.

“Who?”

“Audrey, introduce yourself”, I laughed.

Good evening, Princess Shadow. I am Audrey.

“What the hell?”

Audrey is the designation given to me by Prince Jackson. My previous designation was Autonomous Defense Array Three.

“You’re not a living pony”, Shadow asked in awe.

“Audrey, you can go idle for a while”, I smiled. “We’ll call you if we need to.”

As you wish, Prince Jackson.

Shadow shook her head in confusion as she stared around the room. I smiled at her and pulled her into another hug before we began making our way toward our chambers. We had just left the dungeons when Silver came rushing up to us.

“Y-your Highness, there you are”, he gasped. “There’s a b-bunch of angry p-ponies from Ponyville outside the gate d-demanding an audience with you!”

“Did they say why”, I sighed.

“Th-they want to kn-know where miss Rarity is”, he stuttered.

“How should I know?”

“They s-said that she said she w-would be coming h-here yesterday before s-searching for gems”, he said as he began shaking.

“Calm down, Silver”, I said as I pushed a soothing aura over him. “Now, how many are out there?”

“There are five Elements of Harmony, one Derpy Hooves and the mayor of Ponyville”, he said vacantly. “There are six Canterlot guards with them including Shining Armor.”

“Well, fuck.”