While recovering from civil war and suffering from an unsustainable planet, Equestria faces a new age of darkness and uncertainty amidst its scientific advancements..
( This story was written for the concept album by Vylet and Sylver. Check that out here: Mystic Acoustics )
Post civil-war, Equestrian scientists and engineers across the world exhibit incredible technological advancements, such as the ability for earth ponies and pegasi to use magic. However, Equestria's unsustainability and overpopulation crisis further threatens the prosperity of the civilization. To search for a solution to the world's dilemma, Celestia and Twilight devise a secretive exploration project known as "Starship Ponyville 327000". Its goal: to launch hundreds of soldiers and scientists into the farthest reaches of space to discover other habitable worlds. Amidst these things, a brave new hero is born, bringing an even more serious threat with her.
Story written by Vylet and Sylver Proofread by HomieRicky, Lavender, Cadie, and Peacetaker Artwork by Alumx
The grand intuition becomes folly in times of great wickedness. How crippled a world’s essence becomes, blighted by selfishness and rage. Truly, all hope is lost when even a common threat fails to unite those who must fight together. Times have changed, and so have hearts. The world had become unstable; the land’s resources plundered and technologies being sought after to replace them. Magic remained likewise vain. Sorcery could not restore the natural state of things. Overpopulation hindered all food production immensely. From these things came the onslaught of tragedy that would consume the world.
As a result of Equestria’s ever more fleeting survival, the nation turned to science as a beacon of hope and advancement, so much so to the point of developing technologies that would allow earth ponies and pegasi to use magic. Small transmitters called Adaptive Magic Channeling Devices (AMCD’s) were designed and manufactured by PegaSystems for personal and industrial use in the 2030’s. With these devices, ponies could even have hands made of magic, resembling the humans of our neighboring reality. Yeah. The benefits were obvious, but yet, hands still looked uncanny before everypony got used to them.
Even with such progress, Equestria had eventually locked itself in a civil war between senseless terrorism and those who opposed it. Most ponies couldn’t even explain what started the fighting, but they sure as hell remembered the horrors of it. Few have the competence to tell you, out of blind loyalty for the princesses, that the fault truly lies with the Administration itself. Celestia realized before anypony else that Equestria could not sustain itself much longer; Twilight upheld this notion.
The princesses determined that the most effective plan for resolving this devastation was to push for space exploration and planetary colonization. Their objectives were to solve the overpopulation crisis and hopefully acquire more natural resources and land to cultivate. With Equestrian technologies advancing rapidly, one would think that such a feat was of no complication. However, the majority of Equestria had protested the concept of space travel for decades. This opposition can be attributed to the widely accepted conspiracies that dominated the minds of many Equestrians. These conspiracies asserted that outer space was the origin of powerful creatures and monsters. Conspirators would have you believe that traversing far enough would upset the balance of nature.
Despite the overwhelming objections, Twilight developed a plan known as “Project Banshee”, entailing the construction of a starship for the purpose of space exploration. This project was developed and carried out in secrecy for around 15 years. However in 2048, public suspicions began rising around rumors regarding the project’s existence. In response to this, Celestia created “The Black Hoof”, a pseudo-terrorist organization that would create enough destruction to keep Equestria distracted from revolting over the rumors. Unfortunately, while the Black Hoof staged conflicts internationally (carried out without the intent of causing actual injury or death), other ponies began fighting for “the cause”. They became zealots for some sort of perceived rebellion against the state of the world. This is how the Equestrian Civil War began: with those fighting with or against a senseless ideal, conceived by the nation’s own leaders.
Two years later, the fighting ceased following a confrontation between Feather Light, leader of the Neo Black Hoof, and Sylver, captain of the National Equestrian Task Force (NETF). The formal ‘peace ceremonies’ were held a few weeks subsequently, just after Hearth’s Warming Eve.
Soon after, the team was working furiously to finish the construction of the starship in an underground base outside Ponyville. Conveniently, the vessel became known as the “Starship Ponyville”. With all options spent and diversions exhausted, Twilight feared they didn’t have much time before nearly everypony in Equestria would pose questions regarding the administration’s proposed solutions to the crises. With the starship nearly complete, Equestria would face a more imminent danger, unlike the eventual chaos that would slowly ensue as a result of the already-evident problems.
A long time ago, far before the strifes of civil war and starships, Starlight’s Equality Village bred an age of terror that would resurface later on. Though Starlight and nearly everypony she enslaved later found solace in friendship, ‘Equality’ lived on in the minds of two pegasi brothers who were absent during the liberation and desertion of the village. In order to sustain what they believed Starlight wanted, they initiated the creation of a new, great city of Equality known as ‘The Unity of Statera’. It garnered a small population (attracted by the rouse of equal coexistence) which they quickly enslaved and brainwashed, echoing the processes by which the Equality Village came about. However, many years after Statera had been developed, the two pegasi were killed by a mysterious cloaked unicorn that called himself ‘Satellite’.
Upon murdering Statera’s founders, Satellite seized control of the city, bolstering the economic and technological advancements at his will. Nopony questioned it. They were numbed by a binding mindlessness that was created by Satellite’s dark magic. He developed a process for brainwashing the people of Statera using forbidden forms of Starswirl era sorcery, dubbing it ‘tradition’. Satellite fabricated Statera’s history and customs, which citizens were forced to believe in. Propaganda and rhetoric littered every wall and window of the city. Everypony would be referred to by the number stamped on their foreheads.
The city was never seen by outsiders. It sat at the base of the Crystal Mountains, west of Starlight’s Equality village. However, in the winter of 2028, a filly was born and stamped with the number 327. From a young age, the girl acted differently from everypony else. She would sneak out on countless nights to watch the sky, risking a swift arrest. Occasionally she would explore what she could of Statera in an effort to discover if anything existed outside the city walls. Additionally, she was frightened by seeing murals of Satellite. He appeared cruel and scary to her, and rightly so. She never spoke about these things and kept them a secret from her designated household. Her state-issued guardians were nothing more than a couple of older pegasi who beat her day to day. She was distressed by everything around her. This caused 327 to hope that something had to exist beyond Statera.
Year after year, she grew more curious and mischievous. Eventually, she bought a cloth to wear around her head in order to conceal her identity. The young pegasus would steal food for herself, since her guardians only provided one meal a day. After thiefing what she could from merchants, usually some sort of chase would ensue between her and well-equipped guards (but not well equipped for her). Though pegasi were prohibited from flying, that didn’t necessarily stop 327 from training herself to do so. But perhaps the most ‘traitorous’ actions she determined herself to accomplish involved helping other ponies. Public execution was an ordinary sight in Statera. Sometimes, the girl tried to save falsely accused convicts from their demise. It scared her to risk her own life, but horrified her even moreso watching innocent ponies being murdered in the streets. Ultimately her compassion turned to duty, but she failed every time. She could never save anypony and always ended up being pursued again. It fed her desire for the outside world.
When the girl turned seven, she decided to embrace her hopes and escape the city. She never believed what the government said about the perils that remained beyond their ‘safety’. On the night she had planned to leave, a Stateran Guard arrived at the house and instructed her to report to the Central State District for a mandatory ‘examination’. With all of her supplies prepared, 327 reluctantly complied with the guard and followed him to the State District. It was more of a curious endeavor than a necessary one. Before they reached their destination, the girl spotted two heavily armed guards waiting at the entrance of the building. Feeling suspicious, she felt the instinct to run. Immediately, she used her wings to sweep up dust from the ground to form a cloud that obscured the guards’ vision of her completely. The mare took off in a sprint towards the the city’s main gate. Once more, she blasted dust into the air to keep herself from being seen. Reaching the gate, she spread her wings and soared as high as she could manage, clearing the giant wooden doors. Landing back on the ground, she reached the government sector situated just outside the city gate. Then, she caught her first glimpse of the outside world. With all her strength, she pushed her hooves vigorously, darting away from the city entirely. Her ears perked as she heard loud blasts coming from behind her. The Stateran Guards were firing at her from the windows. Each projectile landed in the sand, leaving an even bigger cloud of dust in the fray.
After escaping the city, 327 wandered mountains and forests for some time until she saw a train coming in her direction. As it passed by, she jumped on and climbed onto the roof of one of the cars. As scared as she was triumphant, she cried herself to sleep in a place unknown to her.
Later that evening, she woke up as the train was stopping. Wiping her eyes, the girl encountered a dimly lit village. It seemed cozy and quaint; to her surprise, there weren’t even any barricades or guards. Hopping off the train quietly, she curiously trotted into the town. “Ponyville”, a sign read. It was very late and she could see the stars still out. 327 wandered around a little longer before falling asleep on the side of the street. It rained.
Morning came. She woke up to find herself in something unfamiliar: a bed. Sitting up, the girl investigated the room. There was a small book shelf lined with various notebooks and scholarly journals. On top of it sat a few pastel coloured boxes and a baby bottle. Her gaze eventually stopped upon the door, hearing faint whispering coming from the other side of it. This was the residence of Elden and Amber Startide, two happily married unicorns in Ponyville who do various types of off-campus research for the Royal Canterlot Academic Institute. Elden found the child sleeping outside their house and brought her inside, unsure if she belonged to another family in town. When 327 was fully awake, Elden and Amber introduced themselves and revealed these details to her. When asked about her name, the girl simply responded with her number and told them that she didn’t remember much other than that. The couple reasoned that it would be best for them all to go discuss this with princess Celestia, confusing the girl even moreso .. but still, she was curious.
Elden relayed all the specifics of this unusual encounter to Celestia. The princess informed him that the girl had never been found in any archival database on an international scale.
“She simply doesn’t exist.” Celestia said, putting it bluntly.
“So she doesn’t have a family?”
“Or a name.”
“She has to have come from somewhere.”
“And wherever she came from is a mystery even to her, it would seem.”
Elden scratched his head, puzzled. Without much hesitation, he came to a decision. Organizing all the proper registrations, filling all the necessary papers, he and Amber adopted the child on that day. Soon after, Celestia removed the numbers “327” from the girl’s forehead.
They named her Satyrn.
The girl smiled.
▪ ▪ ▪
Canterlot was quiet that evening. To most, it was ordinary for the bustling metropolis to rest. But that night, the stillness was not so peaceful for everypony.
“Her arrival can’t be left to eventuality.” said Luna, visibly anxious.
Celestia, much less concerned, was finishing her tea. (How cliche. Royalty drinking tea.)
“Even if that was so,” replied the princess, “we’re still far too occupied with Project Banshee to do anything.”
“Then I motion to revise Banshee.” Luna said in a sullen tone.
She slammed an ominous file onto the table. Celestia glanced at it for a moment and looked back up at her sister in confusion.
“I’m not sure I-” Celestia started
“The girl’s thoughts are both immensely vibrant and unstable.”
“She’s claims to have been lost for a ver-”
“There is something about her that is extraordinary. Additionally, the girl truly has not told us everything. She’s hiding something.”
Celestia straightened herself in the chair, much more attentive.
“How do you know this?” the white alicorn asked.
Luna glazed over briefly, lost in thought. Looking back at Celestia, replied
“When Twilight became an alicorn, her spirit became clearest to my perception. But … I can already see into Satyrn … her spirit is unmistakably vigorous.”
“You’re so sure?” Celestia questioned
“She will one day be vital to our survival.”
“Luna-”
“We must keep watch on her.”
“What do you see in her?” Celestia continued to pry.
Luna stood up, unwilling to say more.
“I want those revisions made tonight.” she said, sharply. Luna left her sister alone with the file. Celestia opened the folder, reading the title:
“Project Banshee (Version Control Second Edition) Proposed: 1 / 1 / 2035 etv”
Celestia closed the file and sighed.
▪ ▪ ▪
At seven years old, Satyrn started her new life with Elden and Amber in Ponyville. She finally felt like she was a part of something real. Despite this, she never disclosed the nature of her past life with her parents. She did this thinking it would protect them. Over the years, Satyrn spent hours in her parents’ library; there were books even Twilight didn’t have. But most of the books were about science, history, math, you name it. She was enthralled by every bit. All of these things were hidden to her in Statera. Elden never enrolled her in school, as the girl was so fascinated in learning on her own that it wasn’t necessary. Fortunately, however, he did give Satyrn pet names like “orb” and “my little planet”; just enough to make everypony cringe. At the age of 10, Satyrn became interested in weapons and began to start building her own. Eventually, she managed to craft a gunblade when she was 13, developing it more as she grew older.
Elden and Amber loved and cared for Satyrn the best they could. They were brought immeasurable happiness by the girl. Their first and only child died at birth, leaving Amber sterile as a result of the damage it did to her body. It was no hasty decision to adopt the girl in Elden’s eyes, really. They’d always wanted a daughter. Satyrn continued to grow older. The girl pursued her studies further and the couple continued their work until the day the civil war came. By this time, Satyrn was 20 years old and had been hired by Celestia as a Weapons Developer and Battle Analyst. She even served with the National Equestrian Task Force in an effort to counter the Black Hoof attacks (as one would guess, her parents were reluctant to allow this. They’d get used to it). By the end of the Equestrian Civil War, Satyrn was making enough money to sustain herself, but remained living with her family. She had something to live for. A family to live for. She couldn’t have been more content about it.
“11 / 21 / 2050, 6:54pm”, Satyrn’s transmitter reads to her
The sun shot straight into the bazaar, illuminating clouds of dust formed by the trampling of sand.
“It’s getting kinda late. Guess I sh-AAAACH!” Satyrn shouted as a robust stallion pushed her out of the way, knocking her over.
“Fucking jerk.” Satyrn muttered to herself.
The market was bright with vibrant oranges and yellows cascading across the pale concrete shops. Various exotic aromas filled the air. Canterlot’s Eastern Sector had become a cultural phenomenon. Perhaps it was due to Mr. Cumin opening up “The Tasty Treat” all those years ago that attracted the idea of diversifying the city. Over the decades, Canterlot expanded in all directions, producing four major sectors. Each region functions differently. The western sector is home to … well, homes. It’s comprised of tall high rises that are mostly apartment complexes. South sector is an industrial powerhouse, fit with factories and manufacturing facilities. You get the idea. The Canterlot castle kinda sits where it always has: a short distance away from the rest of the city. Not many ponies loiter about the Castle grounds, though (not that they ever have anyway).
Satyrn started making her way to the Sector Exit when she noticed a peculiar trinket on one of the merchant’s carts. Upon inspection, she found that it was a golden astrolabe. As she started to study it more closely, she heard shouting from behind her. A knife darted past her face. Causing her to stagger backwards. In shock, all she could only hear were screams from the people around her. Satyrn forced herself back into focus and snapped her head to where the knife came from. A hooded figure was fleeing the scene in quite a hurry.
She dashed quickly around the building and chased the perpetrator. As Satyrn turned the corner she saw the figure’s red eyes before losing him again. Continuing her pursuit, the gravel beneath her broke underhoof with the force of her sprint. The stallion dashed through alleys and streets - Satyrn followed quickly behind. She found herself standing in another marketplace. Lost him again. Frantically, her eyes darted everywhere to find him. After a moment, she spotted him through the crowd, running up a stairwell onto the rooftops. Satyrn hastened her pace and rushed on his trail, her sweat now soaking her mane. Gaining ground, she had a clear vision of the watcher. As she endeavored to dash at him, the assassin struck an awning which came crashing down onto the roof. Leaping across the debris, Satyrn was met by two flash grenades, temporarily impairing her vision. A few moments later, the smoke cleared and the assassin was nowhere to be seen. Thoughts of endangering her family flooded Satyrn’s mind. In tears, she became fearful for her own life as well.
Refocusing again, she felt herself still running hurriedly through the Eastern Sector trying to track down her attempted killer. An energy bolt stopped her stride abruptly, singeing the ground in front of her. She skidded to a full stop and traced the projectile’s stream to a window in the building overhead. Another blast came. And another. The assassin began firing relentlessly at the pegasus as she flitted from one corner to the next. More screaming. More panicking. Everything was a blur. A moment later, Satyrn spotted a merchant cart with weapons in it. Seeing she had stopped moving, the watcher fired at the cart and the street filled with dust and smoke. He looked around for Satyrn’s remains, but as the dust cleared, did not see her. For a minute he glazed over and thought about what to do but was interrupted as the ceiling came down. Satyrn flew at the stallion with a blade, striking over and over again as the her opponent dodged each movement. Suddenly she was knocked back by the asassin’s rifle and hit the ground. She tried to get back up but, instead, watched his hoof bash into her face. Rolling over, she used her wings to blow up dust as she was knocked back. The killer struggled to squint through the cloud as Satyrn came back up for a deadly strike. Blood stained the floor and the walls; Satyrn’s blade was completely dark red. The stallion became limp and fell to the floor. Everything was silent now. Satyrn knelt down and examined the body. She traced her eyes along his cloak, her heart racing. There were marks peaking out from behind the stallion’s mane.
“It can’t be..” she trailed off.
Removing the hood and brushing away the stallion's mane, Satyrn found just what she feared. Stamped on his forehead was the number ‘5029’
It was a rude awakening. Safe to say, she didn’t go home and sleep easy that night. They were on her trail; they hadn’t forgotten about her. Satyrn took a short journey back to the location of Statera. She had neither spoken about or thought about the city since she was taken in by her adopted parents. But what horrified her more was not her life being in danger, but rather seeing what Statera had become. It was no longer a small city encompassed by steel walls for ‘protection’. In her absence, Statera had grown to be a fortified monstrosity, with towers, skyscrapers .. more than one can imagine. In the very center of the city was a spire that reached the clouds. So a thought occurred to Satyrn, that perhaps she wasn’t the only one in danger. She ran away crying and scared for her life. Who could blame her?
The next morning, news broke out about the Invasion of Canterlot. Hundreds of armoured ‘terrorists’ charged into the capital and began slaughtering everypony in their way. The reports said that they came out of nowhere; their intents were unknown. But, Satyrn knew why they came. After about half an hour into the attack, some Staterans were able to blow into the Canterlot Castle, but did not breach it entirely. By the end, hundreds of civilian casualties and thousands of injuries citywide had erupted into a huge lockdown. The fighting lasted for hours. Smoke from the various fires could be seen from miles away.
Satyrn was in Canterlot when it happened. Initially, she fled the city when the attack began to make sure if Canterlot was the only target. Once she confirmed that her family wasn’t in danger, she returned to deter the invaders. Though the final defense was quick to end, it didn’t do much to ease the loss on Canterlot’s end. Satyrn believed that the invasion was likely Satellite’s retaliation. Satyrn’s attempted assassination and, now, the invasion of Canterlot finally gave away Statera’s location to the world. As a result of the Canterlot Administration discovering the whereabouts of this rogue nation, orbital scans revealed that Statera was in possession of a nuclear arsenal, massive enough to wipe out the entire Crystal Empire.
The flames were put out. The bodies were buried. Reconstruction began. A day after the invasion, Satyrn set out again to Canterlot to meet with the princesses alongside her parents. At the castle, they sat down together and Satyrn revealed the true nature of the invasion. She explained who the invaders were, where they came from, and why they came; explained who she was, where she was from, and why she came. There was crying. There was silence.
There was forgiveness.
Elden and Amber hugged Satyrn.
Quickly breaking up the family reunion. Luna disclosed the fact that she had been analyzing Satyrn’s thoughts and dreams from the day she came to the castle for the first time. After the invasion, Luna searched through the dreams of an indescribably dark mind present within Statera’s enclosure. The princess explained additionally how Statera came to be, having probed the mind’s memories. Satyrn knew it was Satellite. She hadn’t known of any other highly aware being in Statera other than its king.
What Luna couldn’t explain, however, was the future that would unfold as a result of these events.
Her parents held her for a long time. Though they had expressed a hope that she’d return soon, Satyrn made a point to make herself believe that she would. Celestia had organized a full scale assault plan aimed at Statera in order to stop whatever imminent threat it would pose (like nuclear fallout or something like that). Satyrn had already demonstrated on innumerable occasions that she had the strength and persistence for the responsibility. Her attempted assassination survival was only to the benefit of her reputation. If it meant anything to anypony, Luna was certain she was valuable.
She knew Satellite was dangerous. Forever and a day ago, Satyrn fled Statera as a child. Countless times, she thought about what the ‘examination’ she was called to have would have been, eventually convinced that they were going to start the brainwashing process that evening. Though she had never seen it herself, ponies she knew seemed to develop an apathetic and uncaring attitude about everything. From what she experienced about herself and the ponies she lived with now, it certainly wasn’t the usual maturation that came with aging.
Satyrn met with Sylver, a grey pegasus with various marks and scars all over his body. It was obvious that he was a veteran of sorts. He wore his long brown mane in a ponytail, his eyes were accompanied by thin-framed glasses. Before the march began, Satyrn thought about her family, hoping that she really would return home in one piece. In a way, her life in Statera was hazy … but she couldn’t remember feeling even remotely safe there. Now that she knew what safety was like, Satyrn wasn’t sure if she was truly ready to put herself in danger again. Fighting the civil war was far more conventional and analytical. Conversely, she was hardly at ease being in the middle of a conflict against an unpredictable micronation.
As night fell, they marched straight to the Great City of Equality (as its government once claimed it to be). Satyrn gathered every ounce of courage she could. But, her heart shook and her eyes watered. She was afraid. A sharp winter air lacerated their bodies as they advanced. Once reaching Statera, Satyrn volunteered to look ahead. Sylver waited with the rest of the soldiers. The city was encompassed by an iron wall with a gate resembling a drawbridge at the entrance (It probably wasn’t used much, since Satellite was fond of keeping ponies in). Satyrn took to the air and glided quietly up to the top of the metal blockade. At the top, she floated down the other side. To her surprise, the city was quiet and unguarded. Holding her breath, she looked around for any sign of ambush. The city was dark and desolate. It was as if the city itself was waiting for something. One minute passed. Two. Three. Seeing nopony about, Satyrn scaled the wall down to the gate.
“Nothing.” Satyrn reported over her comms.
Sylver picked up on the other line “Didn’t you say there was a curfew?”
“There should still be guards,” Satyrn replied, shivering. “I’m going to get this gate open. Are you ready?”
Sylver looked back at the infantry, fearing the losses. He seemed nervous.
For a moment everything remained still. What broke the silence was the sound of water droplets coming down. Slowly, at first, the rain came. As the moments became minutes, the the rainstorm approached. Waiting for an answer, Satyrn stared at the colossal spire that rose up from the center of Statera.
“What was it they say back in Neighpon, captain?” Satyrn asked him “before a battle?”
Sylver looked over at the gate, waving a hoof over his face to avoid the rain. Then he turned back to the soldiers. He let go of his fears and took a deep breath.
Satyrn smiled, her heart racing. She switched her Magic Channeling Device to “Auxiliary Function”, allowing her hooves to produce hand-like extensions. Pulling out her AV MKIII, a completed gunblade, she blasted the gate mechanisms. The entrance collapsed as the hinges disintegrated. It came down, breaking upon its impact with the ground. Satyrn crossed it and met back with Sylver and the task force. Together, they moved down the central road. As they marched, they saw that all the streets and alleys were lined with Stateran guards and civilians. Satyrn watched as every civilian, one by one, was executed by firing squad. It was a perverted show of strength meant to strike fear into Satellite’s enemies. The citizens all lined up willingly, too. They were led by their own zealous indoctrination to do as “their master bids” or whatever. Still, it was terrifying to watch.
“Just keep moving.” Satyrn told Sylver and the others. Their eyes were all wide in despair.
Down the road was the spire. The towers surrounding it spewed smoke stacks like geysers. “The Obelisk” was the center of all Statera’s operations, both government and manufacturing. Staterans learned to capitalize on the art of steelworks and weapon making. We found out a few years later that Statera was in a secret trade deal with Saddle Arabia. We should’ve guessed since there was no reason for a seemingly secluded state to focus on economic health. That’s besides the point though.
Once they reached The Obelisk, Satyrn took one last moment to breathe. So did the rest of them. After the time was up, the pegasus took her gunblade and breached the entrance.
Satyrn burst through the door of the enormous spire and saw Stateran soldiers waiting for her. She charged in. Sylver and the others followed close behind. The only real way to describe the scene was that of the most chaos you can imagine. Perhaps not even Discord could muster enough power to create any more mayhem. Everypony fired into the sea of soldiers; bodies dropped one by one. Satyrn and Sylver kept back to back, methodically blasting each enemy they could.
“REMEMBER THE PLAN?” Satyrn screamed to the captain over the onslaught of energy blasts.
“KILL THE KING?” Sylver shouted in reply.
“GOOD ENOUGH”
Through the sea of projectiles and explosions, they pushed up to the stairwell, killing every Stateran soldier in the room. Most of the Task Force survived but a few fallen allies were lost in the mess of armour and blood.
About half an hour had passed since the battle had begun and about half of the infantry were left. Satyrn led Sylver and the others to the lowest floor of the spire. Once more, all was quiet. Catching her breath, Satyrn knelt down and examined the room. Rugged pillars held up a thin layer of metal that acted as a ceiling. It was unusually dark and humid, causing an unfamiliar discomfort to fall over Satyrn. The room rather resembled a cave, more so than a building. Bright artificial beams shone from underneath the walls as the only provided light source. Down the hall, a circular room with a large wooden door at the end. Furthermore, there were long vertical windows; each pane stretched horizontally two inches at most. Without a word, Satyrn stood up and dashed towards the door; she knew it was the throne room. Sylver turned to watch her pry open the door and hurry inside. Suddenly, the door slammed shut and became obscured by a thick metallic barrier. Sylver shouted for the others to follow. He tried to break down the barrier but not even a dent could be made.
“Stand back!” Sylver screamed, as he took out a rifle and fired it at the barrier.
The shot echoed deafeningly through the room as Sylver hit the ground. Satyrn watched through the narrow windows from inside the throne room. The projectile had been reflected by the barrier and, instead, pierced through Sylver’s leg. Satyrn shouted from behind the glass while the others hurried to tend to Sylver’s injury.
“We’ve been expecting you.” a sinister voice remarked.
Satyrn’s hairs stood on end. Her eyes widened. She whirled around to see Satellite himself glaring down at her with unusually green eyes. The throne room was encompassed by formless black creatures with similar eyes. They were not ponies.
“Go to hell.” Satyrn retorted, her voice quivering. “Why are y-” Her inquiry was cut short by a dark figure lunging towards her with a sword. Satyrn evaded the blow and glided towards the center of the room.
“Kill her.” Satellite barked.
The shadowy figure unfolded its wings and rushed towards Satyrn.
Sylver watched helplessly as Satyrn fought for her life as his wound was being bandaged.
Over and over, the creature slashed furiously; its unrelenting thrusts quickly tired Satyrn out.
The task force started searching frantically for some way into the room. Windows were impenetrable. The barrier could not be opened. One soldier valiantly attempted to fire at the barrier a second time, coming upon the same injury as Sylver.
Ten minutes passed. Satyrn struggled to find any vulnerability. The creature continued to strike violently without end. For a split second, Satyrn let her guard down, allowing her enemy to batter her to the ground. Satyrn panicked as she struggled to regain strength. Satellite watched intently as his servant lunged to finish the fight. However, Satyrn managed to push herself off the ground and evade a fatal attack. The creature struggled to retrieve his blade from the stone wall it had become lodged in. Seeing her enemy exposed, Satyrn rushed towards it and pierced straight through its back with her gunblade. A cry of utter torment erupted from the now writhing brute, reverberating throughout the halls. Without any indication of pity or fear, Satyrn assuredly removed her blade from her victim.
“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.
Satyrn became driven by a rage unknown to anypony until then. Her teeth grit as she stood up. Glaring back as Satellite, she unsheathed her gunblade once more. The king straightened himself and looked down on her. Satyrn tensed up, as her fury became ever more compelling.
“You won’t get away with this!” Satyrn exclaimed
The king smiled a sinister smile once more
“Just watch me try.” he replied.
Before she could make the first move, her ears perked as she heard a low drone emit from Satellite’s horn. She grabbed the body and dashed away from the center of the room. Suddenly a blast shook the room, knocking Satyrn with the corpse back towards the wall. Satyrn quickly regained focus and saw that the floor had been pulverized by an energy blast. She turned to see Satellite’s horn emanating with a bright green aura.
The king started charging another blast. Satyrn dashed across the room, attempting to evade the next blow. She lunged away as she heard the burst. Again, she landed safely away from the attack.
“SATYRN!” Sylver shouted from outside the throne room. He stood up, still injured, and watched the battle intently. Sylver’s infantry also watched in horror.
Satyrn evaded each volley of shots and beams jetting from Satellite’s horn. Eventually, she began flying from one side of the room to the other, building up momentum. Satellite’s attacks grew more vigorous and frequent; his arrogant smile becoming a scowl of uncertainty. Had he underestimated a mere pegasus? Despite every effort the king made to hit Satyrn, she eluded every attempt.
“Seize her!” the king shrieked to the creatures circling the room, but they simply watched.
Satyrn increased her pace, now circling the throne room in a rapid orbit around Satellite. The king could not keep up with her movements and began to erratically attacking in every direction. His panic became Satyrn’s advantage.
“It’s over.” the pegasus whispered to herself.
She charged towards Satellite at incredible speed. In an instant, her blade penetrated the king’s armour and into his chest. His attacks ceased and he watched as the girl tore into him. He gasped and coughed as the pain pulsated through his body. Satyrn was enraged, feeling nothing but the most profound hatred. She took her blade and started shifting its position from horizontal to vertical. As she did this, dark blood burst from the wound. The blade cut through everything, producing highly grotesque sounds that echoed throughout the room. Eventually, Satyrn had the gunblade submerged inside of him; the barrel was pointed towards the king’s skull.
“Just watch me try.” she taunted.
Finding the trigger, she fired a fatal shot. The amorphous creatures fled the room, opening the barrier. Whatever was left of the king became listless. Satyrn recovered her blade, soaked in a variety of fluids and objects.
Briefly, she smiled before hitting the ground and blacking out. Sylver and the others rushed in just as Satyrn fell unconscious.
Perhaps she let herself become no better than her oppressor for a moment in a time. Satyrn’s inexorable madness drove her to fight a cruel end as a result of the anguish she was enveloped by. Was it truly a paramount resolution? To torment her enemy out of a thirst for vengeance? Whatever the case, the confrontation would serve to change Equestria forever. Gone, it seemed, were the days of friendship as the only form of diplomacy the world could manage. Surely, companionship was a necessary means for harmony, but it was imperative that everything had taken a dark turn from the magic of friendship.
This is now the kingdom we made Upon all of our sins to our grave We may have all come out shortchanged But this is only the beginning of the world we made
Bridge by bridge We find our way home Everypony sings that same old song That song from home
In ardent cadency We march on through history This is now the kingdom we made Our ardent nation we gave
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.
