//------------------------------//
// XI. Cadance for the Dying 
// Story: Starship Ponyville: Mystic Acoustics 
// by Vylet Pony 
//------------------------------//





“Who’s next. Perhaps you?” Satyrn shouted at Satellite.

The king looked hardly troubled. Satyrn’s ears rang painfully. Satellite slowly rose from his throne as the amorphous creatures shifted anxiously. Sylver and the others continued to watch the events transpire, unable to assist the girl.

“Are you going to reveal your cliche evil plan now?” Satyrn mused with confidence. A small victory goes a long way, I suppose.

Satellite’s eyes glared.

“Your mark is gone.” Satellite observed.

“What?”

“327. That is your identity, is it not?”

“My name is Sa-”

“327, I would rightfully assume that you truly are oblivious to your own deeds”

Satyrn looked around, confused.

“What are you talking about?” she asked.

“You killed him. In cold blood. I can see the boldness in your eyes.” Satellite replied condescendingly.

Satyrn glanced back at the lifeless body against the far wall.

“Like you haven’t already lost thousands of other lives tonight?” she said.

Satellite remained silent.

Satyrn’s arrogant smirk slowly disappeared. She glanced again at the body. Breathing deeply, she started towards it. Each step she took, the more she became uneasy. The shadowy body slowly became clearer to her as she moved closer. She could make out hooves from underneath the cloak and armour. Her heart raced as the tension in her mind began to increase her pace towards the corpse. 

Finally, she knelt by it and a malevolent grin appeared across the king’s face. With baited breath, Satyrn removed the hood from its head, revealing the pegasus’ blue mane. Blue like her’s. She was paralyzed. Slowly her hubris was replaced by unmitigated despair. Her hooves began to shake. Still, it was dark where the corpse rested, so she dragged it towards the center of the room where the light illuminated the most. Setting the body at rest again, she turned its head to find the face of a now deceased stallion. There were marks on his forehead, partially hidden beneath his mane. Satyrn felt a burning sensation in her eyes. Her throat stung. The ringing in her ears ceased. The only sound she remembered hearing at that moment was her heart colliding rapidly against her chest, painfully. She moved the hair away from the stallion’s forehead revealing the numbers: “328”

It was the end.



▪ ▪ ▪



Satyrn cried into her brother’s neck. She screamed at the sight of his lifeless eyes. Over and over, she tried to deny what she had done. Her tears seeped into the stallion’s wounds. Sylver watched solemnly as the girl buried her face into her brother’s armour.

The midnight hour struck. The Obelisk’s bell rung at the top of its spire, echoing throughout Statera. Satyrn’s memories came flooding back to her. Her mind spiraled into both hysteria and terror equally. Unable to control her agony, Satyrn fell over her brother’s corpse, still weeping vehemently. Satellite stepped down from the throne and towered above the girl. 

“You killed him in cold blood.” the king repeated.

Satyrn looked up towards him, trying to come to her senses. 

“Why did ... “ she stuttered “... you make me do this?”

Satellite grinned.

“It was what you deserved. Killing you outright would prevent me from enjoying your utter anguish.”

The mare’s tears stopped as she stared at Satellite.

“You jeopardized my operations here. Your existence became our liability.” he continued. 

Her brother was the last of her bloodline. Satyrn’s original guardians had been executed two years after her escape; not before they bore another child, however.