The Broken One

I opened my eyes to a gray mist flowing into my room from beneath the door. I sat up and was surprised to hear no noise other than the light ruffling of my thin sheets. The opulence of my room at the palace still unnerved me, even if I was technically royalty.

“This way”, a deep yet almost gravelly voice whispered from the hall.

I leaped to the door and yanked the door open, demanding to know who was there. I was greeted by an empty hallway, so I decided to follow the mist back to its source. I looked closely at the mist and turned to the left, then swallowed hard as I set off at a cautious pace. I followed the mist, having to retrace my steps several times until I wound up on the veranda outside of the royal banquet hall.

“In here”, the voice whispered, impossibly loud to be coming from the maze before me.

I walked down the steps, warily looking around when what I could only describe as electrified fire race from my brain to the palms of my hands. I stopped in my tracks, listening for any movement. I heard absolutely nothing so I continued walking as if drawn by the voice. The various twists and turns of the maze felt oddly familiar and the thickening mist was easy to follow, so it was no time at all before I found myself standing in front of the strangest statue I had ever seen.

This creature had the head and neck of an earth pony, an antler on one side of his head with a goat horn on the other, one long fang, two different arms and legs and some kind of tufted tail. The wings on its back were mismatched as well.

“Discord, God of Chaos and Spirit of Disharmony”, I whispered as I read the plaque. “Defeated by Princess Celestia and-“

The last bit of the inscription had been worn away, but I had a feeling it was important. I tore my gaze from the plaque and stared at the face of the statue, whose open mouth was the source of the mist. I got closer and touched the lion’s claws on his right arm, the stone feeling very warm to the touch. To my great surprise the paw moved, coming up to stifle a large yawn.

“What the fuck”, I shouted as I jumped back and fell flat on my ass.

“Oh son, it’s so good to see you”, the statue said, groaning as he stretched his wings.

“You’re Discord”, I growled before leaping to my feet.

“Now is that any way to greet your dear old dad”, he grinned wickedly.

“I have no father”, I muttered darkly.

“No, but you can have an overgrown pony for a mother?”

“What do you want, Discord”, I shouted, balling my fists up.

“Relax, Jackson”, he said in a placating voice. “I just wanted to finish creating you.”

“What do you mean ‘finish’ me”, I growled.

He grinned and snapped his claws. I found myself floating on my back in front of him, his face and body covered by stone mask and surgical gown. I watched in horror as he reached for my forehead with a scary looking saw, my eyes squinting shut as the blade met my skin. I felt my skin tearing as he drew the blade back and forth and let out an anguished scream.

As blood flowed into my eyes I felt as well as heard the saw biting into my skull. The crunching sounds and sickening vibrations continued for several minutes before the top of my skull fell away, tearing the skin loose from the back of my head and neck. A strangled gurgle was the only sounds I could make as I choked on bile.

“Now then”, Discord hummed. “It would seem you’ve already made quite a few memories already, so let’s just leave the old ones out, hmmm? Ooh, I could always tweak your morality. Oh, but it seems you don’t need any help in that department. Your magical knowledge is coming along slowly, but that’s to be expected. Oh, yes, I could always just give you memories of magic school. Yes, that will do nicely.”

The scrambled screwball reached behind him and grabbed a jar from thin air and opened the lid. He warned me that it was going to be spicy, whatever that meant, and dumped the contents onto my exposed brain. Half a second later I began screaming again as the fiery torment burned into my brain.

A massive amount of memories flooded through me, things I did but didn’t remember doing. I almost remembered hatching a gray egg using magic, but my eyes filled with tears as I remembered the day a loose wagon had crushed that very same baby dragon. My first kiss brought a blush to my cheeks and my first break up still felt like I was kicked in the balls. I could still hear Celestia comforting me.
I felt a twinge in my scalp as the top of my skull snapped back into place.

“Enjoy your new memories, Jackson. Daddy loves you”, he chuckled evilly as everything went dark.

My eyes snapped open and I gasped in terror and confusion as I struggled until I fell to the floor. Darkness greeted me as my gaze flew to every corner of the room.
More than ten feet away I saw my rumpled bed, the cover strewn on the floor. I realized I was in the middle of the room and wondered how I got there. I looked up and noticed scratches in the plaster of the ceiling.

“What in the blue fuck”, I muttered, glancing at my fingernails and finding bloody plaster under them.

At that moment my door burst open, the light from the hallway flooding my room as my mother galloped to my side and dropped to her knees. I waved off her worry, regretting it as her magic caught my hand and held it aloft. She study the particles for a moment before she glanced straight up as I had. A strained groan of some sort slipped from her as she squinted at my ceiling.

“I guess I had a nightmare”, I lamely offered.

“I would say so”, she said worriedly. “It must have been horrible if you did this to yourself.”

“I think I was floating”, I said quietly.

“It sounds like accidental magic to me”, she smiled. “Would you care to discuss your nightmare?”

I didn’t want to think about it, but I knew it would be for the best if I did talk about it. I took a deep breath and began my story, watching as her expression turned from confusion to concern, then horror and finally settling on rage. She stood and paced around the room, hissing Discord’s name like venom several times.

“Mom, it was just a nightmare”, I laughed as I caught her cheek with a hand.

“That was no mere nightmare, Jackson”, she said forcefully as she met my eyes. “You know this as well as I.”

“So what now”, I asked nervously.

“I need to look into your mind”, she grimaced. “I have to see what has been done to you.”

I nodded slowly and closed my eyes, clearing my mind as she drew closer. I felt a nudge when her horn touched my forehead and everything went dark and silent for a split second. I opened my eyes as a shiver raced across my scalp yet again. I looked into her face and saw concern and a hint of something like fearful awe.

“I was afraid of this”, the great alicorn sighed slowly.

“Afraid of what?”

“It wasn’t a nightmare, it really happened”, she whispered as she hugged me. “Those memories are your real memories now. That was how you wound up on the ceiling. I’m not sure how he managed it, but you truly do have a childhood of magical studies in your memory. I would like to see what you can do.”

I walked to the window and threw it open, eyeing the targets guards used for training. I focused on the middle target, seeing a ball of fire flying toward it. I flung my right hand out and smiled as my vision came true. I focused on the next target and ripped it from the ground with magic. I tossed it aside as lightning from my other hand ignited the last target. I stared at what I had accomplished in seconds and thought back to what the area looked like before. I waved my hand, grinning as the targets repaired themselves.

“How’s that”, I grinned as I turned to face my mother.

“Too strong”, she gasped as her eyes took on a faraway appearance. “He’s too strong.”

She leapt back and called for her sister to come to her aid. Her eyes began to glow a ghostly white as magic flowed through her whole body. She reared up and arched her neck, releasing a blast of magic in my direction. Instinctively I crossed my arms in front of me, avoiding taking the blast with my body. The light and heat from the impact forced me to close my eyes.

When I opened my eyes my mother was on the floor panting as she tried to curl in on herself as her wild eyes focused on nothing. I felt a sharp burning pain in my arms and looked down. Everything from the elbows down had been destroyed by that one blast! A reddish gold fluid dripped from the wounds, slowly registering in my mind as my blood.

“Mom”, I called weakly, stumbling toward her. I tried several more times to get her attention before she blinked and actually looked at me.

“What have I done”, she whispered in horror.

I dropped to my knees as she struggled to stand. She ran to my side and laid her horn on my shoulder. I looked into her face as she began to flood healing magic into me. My wounds stopped bleeding, and I must have passed out again because the next thing I knew my newly regrown arms wrapped around an unconscious alicorn. I glanced at the clock and saw it was nearing six o’clock.

“Mom”, I said quietly as I shook her.

She gave a cute snort as she jolted awake, her eyes struggling to focus. She coughed and rubbed her eyes as she stood.

“What is it”, she asked groggily.

“It’s time to raise the sun”, I said as I motioned to the clock.

Without looking up she made her way to the sun chamber, my steps following hers the entire way. She took her place and her horn glowed weakly, the sun just barely rising above the horizon. She turned to me and smiled sadly.

“I won’t have the magic to raise the moon tonight”, she sighed. “I know it is a huge responsibility, but I need you to do it.”

“Of course”, I replied nervously. “Will you be okay before Summer Sun?”

“Rest assured”, she cooed. “I shall have plenty of magic tomorrow morning.”

“So what happened”, I asked as I rubbed my arm.

“I was trapped within my mind”, she uttered. “I was reliving my last battle with him centuries ago.”

She told me the story of the Chaos War, as those that were still alive to remember called it. It was a story of fools and geniuses, cowards and heroes. For three hours straight she spoke to me, finally arriving at the point where she had blasted Discord with her sister, Luna.

“I passed out while you were healing me”, I absently muttered as I rubbed my arm.

“About that”, my mother said slowly. “What little of your original blood that remained was lost.”

“Meaning what”, I asked with dread.

“Your blood has been replaced entirely with magic somehow”, she replied.

“I’m filled with magic?”

“Sustained by it would be a better explanation, but yes”, she smiled sadly.

“If I’m alive then why the long face”, I asked.

“I’m an alicorn”, she replied in confusion. “What other shape would my face have?”

“It means sad”, I laughed.

“Oh”, she muttered sheepishly. “Jackson, your body is sustained by magic now. We have no way of knowing how constant contact with that much magic will affect your body. Or your mind.”

“Well, I feel fine, mom”, I smiled. “But you obviously need some sleep. I’ll handle raising the moon.”

“Thank you, son”, she sighed happily. “Are you going to ride in the chariot with me to Ponyville?”

“I’m not sure”, I replied. “I have a few things I want to do at the academy today, so we’ll see.”

“For heavens’ sake please be careful”, she begged as she pulled me into a hug.

“I will”, I promised.

She released the hug and plodded of to her chambers, her mane and tail barely waving. I realized how much energy she must have used to save me and felt a flood of gratitude for her.

She’s the only family I have, I thought as I walked. Sure I have a friend or two, but aside from that dick Discord…

The thought that struck me stopped me dead in my tracks. Without hesitation I made my way to the banquet hall and stared through the open door at the maze outside. I scratched my left ear and made my way into the dimly lit labyrinth. I relied on the memory from last night’s dream to get to the center, my steps faltering as I approached a familiar statue.

“Hello, father”, I growled as I stepped up to the stone creature, my face inches from his. “Why in the hell did you create me? What is my fucking purpose?”

I got no reply, which may or may not have been what I expected. I have no idea which. I stared into the blank eyes of the statue, trying to make sense of why I was here. My eyes were drawn to the claws of his right paw and I jolted as I saw reddish gold drops hanging from his claws. A grating chuckled seemed to echo from deep within the stone.

“Well, fuck.”