Broken Worlds: A Sea Of Tears

I was awakened by a mind-numbing pain that flooded my senses, sending what I initially thought was the waking world into a hazy blur. I could tell that I was dreaming, but the sensation that attacked my every nerve felt real.

I was on my hands and knees, breathing heavily. I glanced around at my surroundings, finding myself trapped inside a glass cage. The outside room was bleach-white, the brightness of which strained my unfocused eyes. I saw shapes moving around outside, some of them appearing to be watching me, and others were operating consoles that lined the walls.

“Turn up the voltage,” an echoey voice ordered, and I felt another painful shock rack my body. I cried out in agony as I fell to the floor, breathing hard as I stared straight ahead.

“I am sorry for this,” a familiar and gentle voice said, “but I had to be sure you were listening.”

I looked up to see that the room around me had vanished, being replaced with an endless, star-filled void. “You…” I growled, “You said you wouldn't be able to speak with me again…” I turned my gaze upward to see Princess Luna standing over me, her eyes filled with pain and sorrow. I don't know why, but although I had just experienced what could probably be considered the most mind-destroyingly painful, her presence made me feel strangely at peace.

“BlackTech is transferring me to a more secure location,” she explained. “I'm taking advantage of the break in my torment to contact you one last time. After this, however, I'm afraid I will be unable to contact anyone until I am freed from BlackTech’s clutches.”

I shakily rose to my feet, having recovered enough strength to stand. “Last time we spoke, you mentioned something about a ‘Crystal Prince’,” I said slowly. “The last thing I remember before waking up here, I was attacked by a creature made of crystal; is that who you were talking about?”

Luna shook her head. “No, the Crystal Prince is my husband, not this creature you speak of,” she said fondly. “I haven't been able to locate him with my powers, but I can feel in my heart that he is still alive.

“I fear, however, that something terrible happened to him after I was captured,” she concluded sadly. “You must reunite with your friends and seek him out; he will be of great help not only in freeing me, but also in stopping BlackTech.”

I scowled. “They aren't my friends,” I said angrily, “I don't have any friends.”

Luna looked unconvinced. “Indeed?” She asked, and the starscape changed to a clearing in the forest, watching a boy run through the forest as he carried an unconscious pony in his arms. “It certainly seems that you care for her,” Luna's voice filled my mind like a narration, as she was no longer by my side.

I watched as my past self placed G.B. on the ground and drew a pair of guns, taking shaky aim at the advancing soldiers. “What was I supposed to do, just leave her there?” I asked aloud.

“You felt ashamed for lashing out at her,” Luna said simply. “You did not save her just out of morality; it was also out of guilt.”

I clenched my fists. “Stop it,” I demanded.

The scene froze as Luna stepped out of the air in front of me, and the world returned to its starry state. “You must stop this charade, Wayne,” she said sadly. “I can see your innermost thoughts, even though you cannot yet. You are broken, and the only way you will ever be truly fixed is by letting friends into your heart. “

I rolled my eyes. “I don't need friends!” I snapped, “I've handled myself just fine so far! What makes you think that I can't keep going on my own?”

Luna looked me in the eyes, and hers were so filled with nothing but sorrowful sympathy. “Because you know you can't,” she replied softly. “You call yourself lucky, but you still find it hard to believe that you've gotten so far on your own. You know, deep down, that your luck is going to run out someday, and you fear that it will be soon.”

I stood there, trembling with anger; or was it fear? There was no way that could be true. I knew how I felt, and what I wanted: I wanted to destroy BlackTech, and I didn't care if I had friends to help me reach that goal or not.

“Shut up,” I growled.

Luna took a step forward. “I can help you, Wayne,” she offered gently. “I can fix you, if you'd like; here in your mind, I could realign your emotions and clear the fog blocking your senses.” As she spoke, a warm, blue light formed at the tip of her horn. “I cannot force you to accept this gift, however; it must be taken willingly.”

I scoffed. “Well, then I refuse,” I replied angrily. “I'm pretty damn sure I'm fine the way I am without you rooting around in my head.”

Luna raised a quizzical eyebrow. “Is that what Tony would have wanted for you?” she inquired, “For you to be all alone with no one to care for you?”

I scowled and snatched a pistol from my belt. “Get out of my fucking head!” I screamed, and fired at the alicorn. As soon as the bullet hit its target, Luna and the star-filled illusion shattered like a stained-glass window, and I fell through a vortex of blurred memories.

As I fell, I could hear Luna’s gentle voice whispering, so close that it sounded like she was right next to my ear.

We will meet again, and you will accept the gift I have offered you here today. Her voice was getting quieter now. You will accept who you really are.

You will accept what you are meant to be.

With that final word, the sea of memories exploded in blinding white light, and I suddenly found myself in the physical world. It was nighttime, and I was being tossed around in a stormy sea as I gripped a fallen tree for dear life. I coughed up lungfulls of seawater and blinked the salt out of my burning eyes.

I clinged the log with all of my strength, unsure if I'd be able to hang on for much longer, when I suddenly found myself covered in rope; a net had been thrown over me! I gasped and coughed as the net was hoisted out of the water, and I turned my head to see where the net had come from. It was a massive ship, like one you’d see in a pirate movie, with huge, billowing sails and a pitted, wooden hull.

“Reel him in, boys!” I heard a hearty, gruff voice call out. “This human won’t be reporting to BlackTech anytime soon!”

I was dropped onto the deck with a thud, and I wasted no time in scrambling out of the net and drawing my machetes. “Come on!” I shouted, my teeth bared and my eyes wide as saltwater stung my eyes and blurred my vision. “Who wants the first go?!”

“Hey, it's just some kid! He doesn't work for BlackTech!” I heard a voice call out.

Another scoffed, and I quickly turned to face the source of the sound; it was too dark and my eyes were too unfocused to make out who was speaking, but I could tell they were quadrupeds. Great, more horses, I thought angrily.

“Throw him in the brig,” the first voice said dismissively, “we'll figure out what to do with him at first light.” I felt two pairs of forelegs wrap around my arms and force me to drop my machetes as I was dragged backwards.

I struggled to break free from my captors’ grip. “Let go of me, you stupid horses!” I snapped, thrashing around pointlessly as I was suddenly tossed down a small set of stairs into a dark room.

“We aren't horses, you numbskull!” A female voice snapped, and I heard the sound of a slamming door. I scrambled up the stairs and banged on the door.

“Let me out!” I screamed, slamming my shoulder against the sturdy wood with all my strength. After a few charges, the door swung open, and I found myself face-to-face with a grinning creature with an eagle’s head, wings, and forelegs, and a lion’s body, hind legs, and tail.

“Shut up and go to sleep, ape,” the bulky gryphon growled threateningly as he pointed a cutlass at my throat. “Cap’n has got enough to worry about without your bellyaching.” With that, he withdrew the blade and slammed the door in my face.

I descended the stairs and sat down with my back against the wall, shivering in the darkness. “Could've at least given me a towel or a blanket,” I muttered as I rubbed my arms to conserve heat.

I heard a voice in the darkness chuckle smugly. “Even if they had one to spare, they wouldn't give it to you after the way you acted, you dweeb,” a girl’s voice said with a laugh. I watched as a match struck on the floor and lit a lantern, illuminating the room and revealing my company: a single, white-and-brown gryphon. She brought the light over by me and set it on the ground, and I wasted no time in holding my hands around it so I could at least get the feeling back in my fingers. “So, how'd you end up on this floating hunk of junk?” she asked, blowing out the match and tossing it aside.

I glared at the gryphon angrily. “Why in the hell would you care?” I snapped, continuing to recover from hypothermia.

The gryphon shrugged and lied down on the opposite side of the lantern like a cat. “Just curious is all,” she replied nonchalantly. “It's been a while since I've had some fresh company.”

Just then, a voice called out from the corner. “Come on, Gilda, we’re trying to sleep over here!”

The gryphon rolled her eyes. “I can only be so quiet, Scootaloo!” she replied. “Why don't you three come meet our guest?”

There was some frantic scrambling, and a trio of young ponies ran over from a darkened corner to join us. One of them was yellow with a red mane, another was white with a two-toned lavender mane, and the last was orange with a deep purple mane. They all stared at me with wide eyes that would have tugged at my heartstrings if I still had those.

Alright, I'll admit that even I thought it was pretty fucking cute.

“It's been a while since I've seen a human so close,” the yellow one said nervously.

Gilda laughed. “I'm sure he won't try to hurt you three,” she said with a friendly tossel of the filly’s mane. “‘Cuz if he does, I'll throttle him,” she added in a low voice as she gave me a death glare.

I nodded stiffly. “Even if I wanted to hurt any of you, I couldn't; I'm so damn cold…” I said, my voice trembling as I continued to rub my arms and hug my sides; I was pretty sure I wouldn't last much longer like this, even with the warm lantern so close.

Just then, I let a shocked gasp as something small and warm pressed against my side. “Come on, girls,” Applebloom urged as she nestled against me, “can't you see he's freezing?”

“What the- get off of me!” I snapped, but made no move to push the pony away; she was so warm, and it was so relieving to have something soft nestled against my aching muscles. I stared with shocked eyes as the other two fillies trotted over and lied with me, each of them pressed against me like I was a big stuffed teddy bear.

“Come on, Gilda!” The white unicorn insisted. “The three of us alone won't be able to warm him up fast enough; you're really soft and fluffy, and will probably heat him up like a radiator!”

The gryphon stared at me with a shocked expression that matched my own, and I gave her a look displaying my disgust of being cuddled by so many strange creatures. “Look, pal, I don't want to do it, either, but if I don't, you'll die, and I don't want to have that on my conscience,” she explained exasperatedly, and carefully stepped over as the fillies repositioned themselves so she could join.

“Try anything funny, and I swear I'll flay you with my bare talons,” Gilda growled as she pressed her side against my back. I felt a wave of pleasurable relaxation wash over me, and I found myself drowsily putting my weight on my unorthodox, feathery, breathing bed. I blinked my eyes sleepily, each close becoming longer and longer until I finally fell into the most comfortable sleep I had ever experienced.