//------------------------------//
// XVII. The Prince of Sorrow 
// Story: Starship Ponyville: Homeward 
// by Vylet Pony 
//------------------------------//



(The Xiaoan Empire, on the planet Xiao)
June 20, 2051
10:37A.M. Xiao Local Time

Spectre walked out onto the balcony of the citadel. He looked out into a congregation of millions of changelings who cheered as he came into view. A spectral serpent, that encircled the citadel, swooped into the skies and obscured the daylight, causing the entire planet to be cast into an ephemeral night. The serpent expelled a ray of light from its tail, that of which Spectre used as a spotlight.

“We will find a way to make them understand that the world is at your knees,” Spectre began his speech; he held a hoof against his chest and and reached out with his other hoof in a theatrical display. The audience erupted with applause and chirps.

“Find a way… To write your name in the stars, so they will never forget.” He climbed up on top of the railing of the balcony and reached out towards his subjects.

“Listen,” he implored, “Very close to your heart. It beats of revolution.” The changelings put their hooves over their chests in a patriotic manner. They began to rhythmically pound against their bodies, chanting in harmony with Spectre’s words.

“Where does your loyalty lie? With oppression, or the oppressed?” Spectre hummed, “Can you see it…? The beauty of it all. This freedom! You can smell it in the air.” He leapt off of the balcony to hover above the crowds.

Spectre motioned with his hooves, “I can part the waters, and I can move the heavens,” The spotlight cast by the serpent followed Spectre as he drifted across the congregation.

“Listen to the wisest of them all, I can tell you of their treachery,” he gestured to himself, “Only I can tell the truth, with a fire in my soul.” A brilliant blaze surrounded the alicorn, evoking an ardent ovation from the changelings.

He swooped back to the balcony, gently touching down onto the railing, and he beseeched them, “Now, can’t you see? They’ve betrayed us all, and their only thoughts for themselves.” He sat on the railing, staring down at the onlookers with a forlorn expression.

“I had everything. A crown, and a castle, the most beautiful of them all,” He turned to face the citadel, then looked up to the serpent above. “All my life, just to grant you safety.” He reached out to the skies above. Spectre closed his eyes, savouring the drama and the theatrics of the moment. He turned back to the congregation and stood back on the balcony.

“Who am I? I am he who will cleanse the universe of its corruption. I am the one who will bring an end to my sisters’ reign; Celestia and Luna are not fit to rule the lands they command. I have endured for ten thousand years a mortal betrayal that will not go unpunished.” The changelings continually applauded their leader.

Spectre stared into the black sky.

“Soon they will remember my name.”





To be continued in Starship Ponyville III: Promise Complex