Broken Worlds: A Sea Of Tears

“You cannot win, human,” I growled as Cyrus closed in for his attack. I felt so foolish; I had let my guard down so willingly, so unquestioningly, and now he could strike at me entirely unimpeded.

The human smirked cleverly. “I’m afraid I already have,” he pointed out. “The pieces are all set in my favor, and there is no hope for you to escape.” Cyrus cracked his knuckles in preparation for what he was about to do. “Any last words, Princess Celestia?”

I frowned and bowed my head shamefully. “Make it quick,” I said numbly.

Cyrus nodded and reached forward. “Checkmate!” he cried happily as he moved his queen into position on the chessboard. “That’s three, Celestia. Now will you show me the royal archives?”

I sighed heavily. “I suppose that was our agreement, wasn’t it?” I asked aloud. “Fine, I’ll bring you to the archives, but I would appreciate if you didn’t go around bragging about this,” I added quickly. Twilight would never let me live it down, seeing as how I had trounced her in chess time and again during my time tutoring her.

Cyrus looked like he didn’t care about the victory itself, though; he had enjoyed my teaching him about Equestria, as well teaching me new things about Earth. It felt good to be a teacher again, for I finally had the distraction I needed from this unending war. Rather than looking at the carnage and destruction going on outside our door, I was instead showing a young mind the fascinating history of a world foreign to him.

If only Allen had been more willing to learn history; he was a rather eager magic student, but having known so much about our world through the children’s program he watched that depicted us, he claimed to already know enough of our history to get by.

“Tell me the story of the discovery of rock candy,” Cyrus pleaded eagerly.

I raised an eyebrow as we walked down the hallway. “Again?” I asked incredulously, “I’ve already told you that story a hundred times!”

Cyrus shrugged. “It’s hilarious!” he cried. “A pony living on the edge of a town is regarded as crazy for eating rocks; a bugbear attacks the town, and he offers it some rocks if it goes away; the other ponies finally try them and ask where he got them, and he brings them to the hills where the surface is littered with chocolate rocks!”

I smiled warmly at Cyrus’s enthusiasm. He was like a curious foal, always asking questions and wanting to hear stories. I suppose he was telling the truth when he said that his father never took the time to properly raise him. Being a speed-grown clone of his parent clearly had some rather adverse psychological effects.

There’s also the strength issue, I reminded myself, remembering his astounding physical capabilities. He told me it was because of an experiment his father performed on him; now he had to be very careful around others, since he didn’t know how to control how powerful his movements were just yet. I had made him release the guard he trapped in the cell by crushing the lock with the key still inside and, and the two apologised for the way they treated each other.

“Celestia… may I ask you something?”

I gave Cyrus a surprised look. “Goodness, you're actually giving me a warning this time?” I asked, and chuckled to let him know I was joking. “Of course you can,” I said comfortingly.

Cyrus looked nervous. “I mean, this could be a personal question, so you don't have to answer if you don't want to,” he explained, “but… do you have any children?”

I lowered my head and stared at the floor intensely. “No,” I said simply.

Cyrus nodded slowly. “Why not?” He inquired.

I signed. “I never really got the chance to,” I explained. “After all, I was the sole ruler of this kingdom for nearly a thousand years, so I didn't have time to start a family or get married. Luna always had to worry more about suitors, anyways,” I added nonchalantly.

The human looked surprised. “Really?” He asked, his voice full of disbelief.

I nodded. “Despite what my sister may have claimed before her fall from grace, she was the one who ponies loved more; they may have cowered in the darkness that she brought in the hours of night, but her physical beauty was always the envy of our subjects. Stallions wanted her, and mares wanted to be her. It was never about what she was, though; she wanted to be loved for what she did, what she represented.

“I did have my fair share of suitors, though,” I added. “However, like I said, I was never interested in starting a family; I was afraid that raising a child would distract me from my duties as a princess.”

Cyrus nodded slowly. “That could be why my father made me,” he said sadly. “Raising a child from infancy would be too much work; easier to speed-grow a clone, and pre-program it with false memories.”

I smiled sympathetically. “You know, just because I never had children does not mean I never raised anypony,” I said kindly. “Although her parents were still a large part of her life, I was one of Twilight Sparkle’s primary influences when she was young. I've had many students over the years who are like children to me, despite already having parents of their own.”

Cyrus nodded slightly. “I must admit, Celestia, I never expected Equestrians to be so… well, like us. Humans, I mean.” He smiled sadly. “Before I came here, I didn't really care one way or another who won this war; I was too focused on keeping my father appeased by making the company look good. Now that I've spent some time here in Equestria, I can now see that you're all… well, so human! We have such similar customs, we're both intelligent and thoughtful… I'm beginning to see that Drayke Blackwood and his followers were right; without BlackTech in the picture, humans and ponies would get along astonishingly well.” Cyrus smiled, possibly thinking of what a world where humanity and Equestrian had successfully melded their cultures.

I nodded, also smiling. “Indeed,” I replied, remembering how well earlier visitors, like Allen and Drayke, got along with my subjects.

Well, the latter took some time to adjust, but he grew quite fond of his new allies rather quickly.

~-~-~-~-~

Cyrus and I spent the rest of the day in the archives, and I taught him about the history of Equestria and its people. He listened intently, and I couldn't help but think of when I would teach Twilight about magic and friendship. He may have been uncertain about his purpose in life, having found that he was an expendable clone, but I could tell he was a scholar at heart. He listened to my words intently, asked many thoughtful questions, and gazed at the artifacts and works of art with wonder.

“Celestia, what is this?”

I turned to what he was pointing at, and saw a pile of broken, metal fragments, accompanying a red-and-gold handle.

“Those are the fragments of the Sword of Harmony,” I explained. “It was created by Starswirl the Bearded, as a way for the hero Argentum Vindex to harness the Elements of Harmony and defeat Sanguis Cruciatus.

“The sword was broken when Drayke Blackwood attempted to combat Sanguis while he possessed the body of my brother-in-law, Allen Greathouse,” I concluded. “Before returning to the physical world after their battle, I recovered the shards in hopes that they may one day be reforged to their former glory.”

Cyrus nodded thoughtfully. “May I…?” He asked, gesturing to the handle.

I nodded. “I see no harm in it,” I replied.

Cyrus carefully reached out, but quickly withdrew his hand with a pained cry. “I cut myself on the blade shards,” he explained, wincing. I quickly stepped over and investigated his wound; there was a shallow gash running across two of his fingers, and a small stream of blood flowed from the cut. “I've never been cut before,” he said, dumbstruck.

I smiled caringly and carefully sealed the cut with a beam of golden magic. “There,” I said gently, and Cyrus inspected his hand, flexing his fingers and smiling.

Just then, Cyrus did something that caught me by surprise; he leaned forward and wrapped his arms around me in a tender hug. “Thank you, Celestia,” he said softly, “for everything.”

I smiled and returned the embrace with my wings. “You're very welcome, my little human,” I replied, but narrowed my eyes when I saw something strange on his lower neck. Using my magic, I pulled at the fabric, and saw a strange, black device embedded in his skin.

“Tracking device,” I murmured fearfully, and the building shook. “We're under attack!” I cried, and dashed out of the archives with Cyrus in close pursuit. “BlackTech must traced your location here; they've come to collect you,” I explained grimly.

Cyrus looked panicked. “What?! Celestia, I swear I didn't mean for any of this to happen!”

I nodded. “I understand, but that doesn't matter right now,” I said, slowing my pace to a halt as we reached the staircase that led to the bedroom wing of the palace. “Go up these steps, and hide in the fifth room on the right,” I commanded.

Cyrus looked uncertain. “But, I-”

I glared at the young man. “Cyrus, I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if anything happened to you; now get upstairs!” I snapped, trying to keep my voice at a normal volume. Cyrus nodded and quickly sprinted upstairs.

~-~-~-~-~

Twilight approached as I entered the throne room. “Celestia, it's BlackTech! What do we do?” She cried.

I nodded to two guards that stood by the entryway to the room. “Raise the shield, and order every guard in the city to assemble at their emergency posts!” I turned to Twilight as she and her friends gathered before me. “You must all take shelter in the bedroom wing of the castle,” I ordered. “Cyrus is already there; you must stay safe, or Equestria is doomed!”

The human girl named Tess looked distraught. “You mean we can’t fight?” she asked sadly.

Her older brother Joseph took a determined step forward. “With all due respect, Princess, we’ve been training to fight BlackTech for months; we could be valuable soldiers in this battle!”

I thought about this tensely. “I suppose,” I said finally, knowing that there was no time to waste arguing. “Gather your equipment and meet near the north gate, but stay together; do not let each other out of your sight!”

The group nodded as Marcus led them to the door. “My equipment is at the castle gate,” he explained. “We can gear up there and meet the guards at the checkpoint.”

~-~-~-~-~

I teleported to the north gate after I made sure the castle’s defenses were in order, and Twilight, her old friends, and the new Elements of Harmony were already working on driving back BlackTech’s forces. They stood together in a tight circle, with the humans firing their weapons, the earth ponies holding the line with melee combat, and the pegasi doing quick, striking maneuvers as they flew past defenseless and distracted soldiers.

I summoned my royal solar armor as I galloped through the shield, letting out a mighty battle cry as I emerged into battle. A white-and-gold halberd materialized by my side, controlled by my magic as it deflected bullets and slashed hostile humans that tried to approach. “They must not have known that Cyrus would lead them directly to Canterlot,” I called triumphantly, “these soldiers are clearly not organized enough to warrant a planned assault!” One soldier threw a grenade at me, but I simply knocked it back with my weapon as it detonated a safe distance away.

The battle seemed to be going well in our favor at first, but BlackTech quickly decided that it was time to bring out a trump card. “MISSILE!” I heard Marcus cry, and a massive explosion blasted me away from the battle, consciousness leaving me instantly.