Starship Ponyville: Mystic Acoustics

by Vylet Pony

XIV. Αστέρι

She had been in a coma for three days. The unimaginable trauma and exhaustion caused her body to give way. Satyrn was never taken to a hospital, however. Amber had trained as a doctor among many other things. Each of those three days, her parents took care and looked after her. It was a better outcome than the worst they feared, at least. She could have never returned at all.

When Satyrn woke up, all of Ponyville rejoiced. It was quite a cliche sight but it was appropriate. You know how it goes. You’ve seen the movies.

▪ ▪ ▪

“Starshit ... what?” Satyrn asked

“Starship Ponyville.” Twilight corrected, chuckling. “I’ve been working closely with a team of scientists and engineers to explore space.”

Meeting Princess Twilight was something to cross off the bucket list I guess. Celestia and Luna had practically been grandparents to Satyrn, as Elden and Amber had to remain in close contact for their work anyway. In reality, Twilight had been occupied ever since the conception of Project Banshee.

“Why?” Satyrn questioned, confused as ever.

“To put it simply, we can’t survive in Equestria if we can’t sustain the population. We hope to colonize other places out there. We’ve developed terraforming technologies an-”

“I don’t need an infomercial … uh-d-uh-princess sorry-I mean” Satyrn tripped over her sarcasm.

Twilight laughed and walked with Satyrn around the castle. The hall was enormous with colourful scenes painted along the walls. Satyrn couldn’t keep her eyes off of the marble floor which reflected her likeness back to her with unparalleled clarity (unless you compare it to a mirror or something that was meant to clearly reflect an image).

“So.. why are you telling me this?” Satyrn continued to question.

“We want you to come with us.”

“What?”

“You’re a born leader. Stubborn and reckless, but a born leader.” Twilight mused.

Satyrn thought about various ways to protest the princess’s’ statement but remained quiet. Twilight continued.

“Luna has watched you ever since the day you came here. She insisted you would be valuable.”

Satyrn wasn’t sure what to think.

“How could she have known that?”

“Well..” started Twilight “she can read thoughts and dreams; see things that nopony else can.”

A moment of clarity quickly turned to embarrassment. Satyrn’s cheeks reddened.

“I feel like that’s a bit invasive..?” the pegasus stuttered. “H-how much does she know about me?”

“Probably more than you know about yourself.” Twilight put it plainly.

“Oh yeah? What has she told you, then..?” Satyrn was nervous

Twilight perked up a little.

“OH! Well, obviously she told me you have some sorta cool fiery spirit … kinda deal going on.”

“Uh-huh.”

“That even from a young age, your mind was structured quite uniquely. Not quite sure what that actually means but-.”

“I mean-well. Yeah-”

“OH YEAH! She also told me that you’re not into stallions.”

“Wait, okay that’s a little too private-”

“I kinda figured you were gay.”

“OK TWILIGHT I THINK I GET IT-”

“Awh, honestly it’s kinda cute I mean-”

“PRINCESS TWILIGHT, CAN YOU JUST-”

Satyrn vowed never to trust Twilight with writing a biography about her.

▪ ▪ ▪

A few months passed. After Satyrn agreed to volunteer for the mission, Twilight continued to fill Satyrn in on the details of their mission in space. Occasionally, Satyrn thought about her encounter with Satellite. Many questions remained unanswered about Statera. What did Satellite hope to accomplish? What were those creatures that were watching the battle? Nopony offered anything other than speculation.

They day eventually came. Elden and Amber hugged Satyrn once more. It was hard enough letting their daughter go for the millionth time. But this time was different. Satyrn had a real mission to fulfill. What excited her the most about it all was the thought of belonging somewhere. Growing up, to her, meant facing new challenges. She had learned this about herself after finding love in an actual family. Satyrn fought for it. Now she wanted to fight for something bigger. Despite this, there would be no applause nor would there be medals or certificates. The ponies of Equestria cannot appreciate what they fear. To the Starship Ponyville team, however, satisfaction would come knowing that nopony could stop them.

It was hard saying goodbye, but Satyrn knew it wouldn’t be forever … or some cliche shit like that. I’m just trying to tell you how it went.

Satyrn was led into a large cavern beneath Ponyville. The walls were lined with various machines and devices. Large desks were scattered around the room, piled with papers and blueprints. To the left there must’ve been thousands of seats, lined closely in rows facing an enormous screen. It was like a theater. At the center of the cavern stood nearly 5,000 ponies, all conversing quietly with each other waiting for what was to come. They made up the majority of the team. There were scientists and engineers; soldiers and pilots; mares and stallions; young and old. Metallic whirs and drones echoed through the chamber, drowning out the hushed conversations of the crew. Satyrn stood anxiously outside the crowd until Twilight joined her.

“Are you ready?” the princess asked.

“Yes and no. I’m really nervous I guess..” replied Satyrn.

Twilight chuckled subtly and quietly led Satyrn around the crowd to a door on the opposite side of the room.

“Let’s go, captain” Twilight addressed Satyrn with a smile.

Satyrn grinned a little.

Slowly, the crowd joined them, seemingly on instinct. Collectively they all gathered into a smaller room. It was pitch black. It wasn’t long until everypony had filed into the room and the door slammed shut.

Satyrn felt an odd tingling sensation as the room began to shake. Twilight put her arm around her in assurance. The shaking became more violent. Satyrn thought again about her parents and how much she would miss being with them. A tear burned her eye.

The shaking stopped.

Now it was cold.

Satyrn drew a sharp breath, feeling nauseous for a moment.

Shortly after this, the room began to illuminate. Hundreds of lights flickered on, revealing that they were no longer in an underground cavern. They had been transported to a large hangar, nearly a quarter mile long. Satyrn was dazzled by the sight. She traced the lights as they activated from the ground up. Eventually, her eyes met the distant ceiling and made out a few words that were printed on it.

“Starship Ponyville 327000” she read aloud. For the first time, Satyrn felt proud to embrace elements of her past.

“Do you like it?” Twilight asked.

Satyrn waited a moment to respond, pulling her gaze away from the words.

“I’m honoured.. Princess,” she eventually replied “what are the extra zero’s for?”

“It looked cool I guess.” the princess giggled.

Satyrn turned towards the crowd to watch them cheer together. But as quickly as they came, they all dispersed across the hangar led by dozens of ushers. Everypony was off to celebrate after completing the first step. It made sense; after all, they were making an effort to save ponykind. No big deal. While most everypony went off immediately to the residential districts of the Starship, others came by to thank Satyrn for her bravery back in Statera. Satyrn couldn’t really pay attention to the praise though. Her mind wandered more than ever.

▪ ▪ ▪

“HAHA! HEY SATYRN!” Sylver exclaimed, downing what was probably a fifth cup of coffee.

Satyrn had not even fully entered the room yet. She attempted to voice her concern

“Hey Sylver. I wanted to see how you wer-”

“I’VE HAD WORSE HAHA!” the dark grey pegasus guffawed, falling back over onto his bed.

After a few more laughs, Sylver relaxed.

“Hah. Oh, you know-” the stallion started, reaching into his satchel.

His room was small, but cozy. No windows though. Shitty lighting too, Satyrn thought. Whatever.

Sylver passed a recording device to Satyrn.

“Take a gander.” Sylver said, adjusting his glasses.

Satyrn listened intently. Through the speaker, she heard various impacts and thumps sounding continuously. She looked over puzzledly at Sylver who motioned for her to keep listening. She didn’t hear anything of interest until about 20 seconds into the recording. Satyrn’s eyes widened as she heard what sounded like a swarm of insects. The acoustics were nearly melodic and organized. Then, silence.

She paused.

“‘Hell was that?”

“They flew out of the room when you finished off the king. That’s all I know. I tried to archive more of the duel but, that’s the best I got.” Sylver looked disappointed. He moved over to his tiny counter to make another cup of coffee.

Satyrn threw the device back onto Sylver’s bed.

“Anyway,” Sylver dismissed “jus’ wanted to show you. Get some rest. Thanks for checking up on me.”

“No problem. Thanks for-”

“Sure thing!” Sylver interrupted, sipping his coffee.

▪ ▪ ▪

She pulled the knife out of her flank. Satyrn cleaned and bandaged the cuts she made. It’s an odd gesture, I suppose. But ponies are always infatuated with symbolism.

Back in Statera, newborns were treated with a spell that prevented them from developing a cutie mark later in life. Not that having some odd emblem on your ass really defines who you are, Satyrn wanted to make a mark on her own despite every obstacle. She was going to determine who she was by her own actions.

Stars seemed even prettier in space than from Equestria, Satyrn thought, as the midnight hour struck.

End of Starship Ponyville Part 1

Comments

[Octavia Harmony]

I've been waiting so long for this, can't wait to read it!

Also listening to the music alongside, of course.

[Trihors]

Hell yes! Definitely hitting up this later this week.

[Undead Parchment]

Oh maaaaan, that was great!

[TheMWord]

Story would get a 4/10, but it introduced me to that album, so I'm giving you a 7/10. I really didn't enjoy the "meta-humor" aspect, trying to make light of the cliches you were using. But I did like the descriptive parts of your story when they didn't resort to that.

Also, that album is just good. Thanks for that introduction!

[Vylet Pony]

8437713
you should say it's cliche to point out cliches 🤔 // i'll keep that in mind for future writing ^w^

[Night Swift]

IT'S OUT IT'S OUT IT'S OUT! YEEEEEESSSSSS!

[PonyDragon]

It was hard saying goodbye, but Satyrn knew it wouldn’t be forever … or some cliche shit like that. I’m just trying to tell you how it went.

Considering where she is going I would expect it to be forever...

Anyway, good story.

I'm curious what might happen in the next part.
Will the spaceship fly?

[Game-BeatX14]

Well, that was a pretty intense story! Satyrn is an interesting character and I loved the sci-fi elements.

Not only that but the music, artwork and writing all compliment each other so well. This whole album is a wild ride and I'm excited to see what you write in the future.

[Ganondox]

Haven't read it yet, but there is no way this can top Scrimmy Bingus.

[Boof Man]

Pretty good read, this last chapter being hilarious

[Hap]

I've not read this yet. I'm going to start tomorrow.

I've been a bit out of it since September, so I had kind of forgotten that this was a thing. I remember seeing the quasi-animation for The Watcher, and thinking that I'd like to see the story. Well, yesterday I was listening to random music on youtube while working, when fate and/or the gods of watch history led me to your music again. I heard several tracks that I liked which I hadn't heard before, all of which were from this album. So I gave the whole album a listen.

Honestly, I was disappointed. There were the few tracks I'd listened to on youtube, and they were still awesome, but there were also these little... cheesy radio-ad blurbs stuck into a few otherwise-amazing songs. Don't get me wrong, the lyrics to songs like The Watcher and Treachery are great in their own right, even as solo songs without a whole fic or even an album to back them up. Some great music in all the tracks, but a few of them just kinda felt like a sad little pitch for the story. I decided that I wasn't going to read the story.

Then I heard the last track, Αστέρι. That just... I don't know. I know enough Greek to pronounce it, and I know what it means. But the sound of it just hit me in the stomach. It's so completely foreign to the rest of the album, but like it was waiting underneath the whole thing and the entire album was just waiting for this. It just grabbed me. By the harmonica bit at the end I was crying.

I stand by my opinion of the ad-like blurbs in the album, but...

if you can do with prose half of what you can do with music, then I will not be disappointed. I am greatly looking forward to this.

[Hap]

“Why?” Satyrn questioned, confused as ever.

Right with you girl.

So

I admit, I'm a bit frustrated, and a bit angry. Not because this story was bad - it was - but because of what this whole thing could have been.

This whole thing. The album, the artwork, the snippets of worldbuilding and action in the lyrics and song descriptions on youtube, and then the story. It was all part of this wonderful cohesive whole, something synergistic and beautiful.

And then I read the "story." This wasn't a story. It was a quickly jotted-down story outline, which could later be written into a story. This made me immensely sad. After listening to the album a few times, and some of the songs literally dozens of times, I was hoping for something as emotionally impactful as the music.

The idea, the grandeur of what you tried to do, that is something amazing. To tie everything together. The art was expressive and evocative. The music was sublime. The prose was... absent.

As a musician, feelings are your stock in trade. You - not musicians in general, you specifically - can tell a story with the sparest words, convey a wealth of thoughts and feelings without having to put together dialogue or narrative. You are among the very few pony musicians I've spent money on, and for good reason. Wireless tells a story. It truly does. Maybe I couldn't put the story into prose, maybe I couldn't tell you who was speaking or what exactly happened, but there is absolutely a story there, and I can feel every bit of it. say what you want tells a story. Maybe it's a true story, maybe it's a story you created when real life ground you under its heel, but when I listen to that, I am right there with you. Little Dreams tells a story. The album Love Letters tells a story.

Αστέρι tells a story, too. It's a story that punches me in the gut. It twists up my heart and brings tears to my eyes. There is not a single word in it, but the art and the music and the songs that came before it all combine in a wonderful synergy that lifts me along with Satyrn into the stars. This is what you do.

Sure, I think some of the songs in the album could have done without the cheesy radio-ad promo lyrics. I'd love to see a version of the album without vocals on a handful of the songs. Because the music was so powerful and so moving. Everything in the album was connected, everything led into the next, and at the end was this wonderful denouement that, even just thinking about as I type this, literally brings tears to my eyes.

Some things are better left unsaid. There was so much beauty and depth and fear and warmth and joy in the story you composed that maybe the details didn't need to be filled in. You can paint with emotions things that perhaps noone can draw with prose. Or perhaps it takes someone with more skill than you or I. Perhaps prose is simply not your forte. You found someone whose art complimented your album so very well. If you truly feel that this album needs a prose fiction to go with it, then I beg of you, find someone whose talent in prose can match your talent in melody and verse.

[Hap]

I had to come back to this. One of those things you just can't stop thinking about.

After listening to the album straight through a couple of times (without reading the lyrics alongside), I retract my earlier comments about the album. The lyrics work better as lyrics than as prose, and are not meant to be read - they are meant to be experienced as part of the musical whole.

I found the album worth spending my scant dollars on.

[Skyson]

8733620
Actually, wireless is a remix from DJ pon3...

[PresentPerfect]

I like your music. This, I think, did not accomplish what you set out to do.

[RoxyTheMagus]

“It looked cool I guess.” the princess giggled.

I quite literally facepalmed here.