08: That Other Sister
The remainder of the time spent packing Starshadow's items went by without any further issues. Starshadow managed to calm herself from her earlier outburst of anger and thankfully neither Fluttershy nor Rainbow Dash had noticed her change in mood.
With the letter from her sister tucked away safely in one of the bags, Starshadow left momentarily to speak to her landlord about her moving. Luckily for her, her landlord allowed her to break her lease without any penalty as he had a new tenant who wanted to move in as soon as possible. She had no way of knowing that her landlord was more than aware of her situation; this wasn't the first time Cirro Stratus had rented an apartment for some young, beautiful mare only to ditch her with the high rent once he was tired of using her, and there was no way he could ethically chase after the mares for rent that they couldn't afford. Thanking him with a quick hug, Starshadow paid off the remainder of her bills and rent before returning to her old apartment. Making sure that she had everything of hers packed up, Starshadow and her two helpers put on the saddle packs with her belongings and left Cloudsdale to return to Ponyville.
The flight back to town was uneventful. Rainbow Dash continued to complain about Fluttershy's slow speed and Fluttershy asked a few more questions about Starshadow, though she chose her questions more carefully. It was late afternoon by the time the three pegasi returned to Ponyville, and after dropping off the bags of Starshadow's things at Vinyl's house Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy returned to their respective homes. Starshadow was somewhat glad she was now alone as she never did like socializing with most ponies. Besides, she had a letter that she was dying to read.
Quickly bringing her bags upstairs to her new room, she tossed them in a corner to be dealt with later and took out her sister's letter from one of the bags. She jumped onto the bed and carefully opened the letter from Starsong, staring down at the elegantly written words on the parchment;
Dearest Starshadow,
How are you? It seems like forever since I've last seen you. I miss you more and more each day, but I understand all too well why you cannot return home or visit me here in Los Pegasus. I wish you could have come live with me, but I do feel better knowing you're in Cloudsdale and out of Father's reach.
I heard rumor that you have been playing once in a while at one of the clubs in Cloudsdale. I know things must be rough for you right now since your last tour got canceled, but I'm glad to hear you're still performing. I also heard from Octavia, one of the orchestra members I'm working with, that you played a huge concert in some small town with somepony named DJ Pon-3 a few days ago. At least, I think that was the name I was told. She showed me a picture from one of the papers and I must say it was very... provocative. Regardless, I was so happy to see that you're enjoying yourself again! Though, I don't think Father would be pleased to see that you were kissing another mare like that. Don't worry though, he doesn't bother with the paper that had that picture so there is no reason to believe he would ever see it.
Anyways, I should be finishing up my tour with the Canterlot Orchestra within the next month or so. I'll finally have a few weeks to myself, so perhaps we could meet up somewhere then? I do miss you terribly, and I know Mother does, too. She asks about you every time I talk to her. I hope things change soon and the three of us can be together again. It just doesn't feel like home without you and Mother.
Your loving sister, Starsong
Starshadow carefully folded up the letter and placed it a small box in one of the bags. The box was filled with every single letter she had gotten from her sister after she had left home. Her sister's letters were her only connection to her family as there was no way she could write to her mother without her father finding out. She carefully stashed the priceless box in one of the dresser drawers, and then unpacked the rest of her items. Putting her things away didn't take long at all, and once she was done she retrieved a quill and parchment from the desk in her room and began to write a reply to her sister.
Dear Starsong,
I'm well. I miss you and Mother so much also. It seems like a lifetime ago that I last saw you both, and I wish I could see you both. You understand why I can't, though, but maybe one day.
I'm actually moving out of Cloudsdale today, and just in time too. When I got your letter I also received one from Polaris. He put some kind of spell on it as I couldn't tear it up, but he must be getting forgetful in his old age as he didn't put a fire resistance spell on it. I'm now living and working in a small town called Ponyville. I'm staying with Vinyl Sctarch, the pony I played the concert with a few days ago, and since I don't have to pay any rent at the moment I should be able to save up a lot more bits. It seems to be a nice quiet town, and I don't think he knows that this place even exists, so I should be safe for a while.
I would absolutely love it if you came here to visit. I just implore you to be careful about who you tell. You know how fast news can reach Polaris, especially when it involves you or me. Please tell Mother for me next time you talk to her that I miss her too and I hope I can see her soon as well somehow...
Oh, and you won't believe this coincidence. Your friend in the orchestra Octavia is apparently Vinyl's old roommate. Since she no longer resides here in Ponyville, we can use her address to avoid catching HIS attention for as long as possible. When you write to me here, please address the letters to Octavia, and I will send my letters to you as if they were from Octavia.
With all my love, Starshadow
Finished with her letter, she sealed it in an envelope and addressed it to her sister's address in Canterlot. Hoping that Starsong would catch onto her ploy to leave their father none the wiser, Starshadow put Octavia's name as the sender, hoping that her sister would recognize her hoofwriting and know it was actually from her. Not wanting to chance missing the mailpony in the morning she put the letter in the mailbox before returning to her room and jumping back into bed, ready to finish the day and go to sleep.
Curling up in her new bed, she thought back to the night she spent with Big Mac, and for the first time in her life she wished that he was here to just cuddle with her. The emotions she was feeling right now confused her slightly; she never felt like this for just one pony, let alone wanted to cuddle without being physically intimate with them first. She used to like sleeping alone, but tonight her bed just felt empty and lonely. Sighing, she closed her eyes and fell asleep, her last thought being that maybe she'd invite Big Mac over to keep her company whenever he was free.
Starshadow couldn't remember the last time she dreamed of anything while asleep, but tonight she had one...
Her dream brought her back to her home in Canterlot, back when she was just a small filly. She was playing in the large garden behind her parent's mansion, laughing and chasing the falling leaves from the trees that lined the perimeter of the garden. Though she never flew at that age, in her dreams she took off and soared into the sky, chasing the leaves as they fell to the ground. As she chased one she came to a screeching halt as the leaf did the impossible and suddenly changed directions and flew back up.
Looking at it in amazement, she looked down at the ground and saw her sister Starsong standing there. Her horn was glowing brightly, and Starshadow realized that she was using her magic to manipulate the leaf. Starshadow saw Starsong sticking her tongue out at her, and she returned the facial gesture. "You think you can beat me? I'll show you I can still catch it!" Starshadow boasted.
She zoomed after the leaf, following it as Starsong teased her sister by letting her get almost within reach, just to suddenly change direction and cause Starshadow to come to a screeching halt before taking off after it again. Of course Starsong had the upper hoof in this situation, but Starshadow noticed that her sister was standing right under a tree. Smirking slyly, she broke off from her chase and began zooming in circles around the tree and became a blur. Starsong couldn't see what was going on and thought that she had won the game, but as soon as Starshadow stopped her flying she saw that all the leaves had been gathered into a ball directly above her. She could only gasp and duck as the leaves fell all around her and buried her, Starshadow laughing as her sister disappeared from view. It took a few moments for Starsong to dig herself out, spitting out a leaf that had somehow strayed into her mouth, but as soon as her head popped out from the foliage she saw Starshadow triumphantly holding up a leaf. More specifically, the leaf that she had been chasing. Both fillies laughed and dove back into the pile of leaves, playing around until they heard somepony call out to them.
"Starsong! Starshadow! Time to come in!" their mother called out. Starsong raced over to where Silver Veil stood awaiting her two children, and they both entered the house. Starshadow ran after them, but before she could enter the house she found herself being thrown back violently. The world around her grew darker and a large shadow enveloped her small, cowering figure. She tried to stand back up but was thrown back once again, and as she looked up in fear she saw her father, Polaris, standing above her.
He glared down at her and scowled. "YOU ARE A DISGRACE TO THE STAR FAMILY!" his voice boomed out. "YOU DO NOT DESERVE TO HAVE YOUR CUTIE MARK BE THAT OF THE FAMILY CREST!"
She looked down and found that her cutie mark had appeared on her flank; the tri-colored aurora and four pointed star sickening her just by sight. She also realized she had grown into a mare, back to her current age. "Father, please! I'm sorry!" she cried out.
"YOU DISGRACE!" Polaris yelled back at her. "YOU'VE DEFILED THE FAMILY CREST THAT YOU WERE GIVEN AND BECOME NOTHING BUT A COMMON WHORSE!"
Looking back at her flank, she saw that the 'X' shaped scars had reappeared over her cutie mark. "Father, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to defile it!" she begged, but he kicked her down once again. Dark shadows began to appear all around her, and from what little detail she could make out she realized that the shadows were each and every stallion she had ever had sex with. They circled her and exposed their cocks to her, and one by one they covered her in their cum. She yelped out as the first shot of cum landed on her body and almost felt like it was burning her, and the sensation increased as more and more cum flew out and covered her entire body except her scarred cutie mark. She had no choice but to cover her head with her hooves and hope the torture would end soon, but the cruel treatment never seemed to end.
Her father's insults and scorn dominated her hearing, but the heavy sounds of somepony approaching could barely be heard. She lifted her head slightly to see who was approaching and saw a rather large stallion pushing his way through the throng of stallions still masturbating and cumming on her. The mysterious stallion began shoving the other ponies, pushing them away from her and soon found herself and the mysterious stallion separated only by her father. The stallion charged the powerful unicorn and at the last second turned around and released a powerful kick, causing her father Polaris to disappear in a cloud of smoke. The area instantly brightened, but her surroundings somehow changed to an apple orchard. She saw the stallion approach her and with a single touch of his hoof to her cheek, the copious amounts of cum on her body seemed to evaporate away, and all at once the horrible burning sensation too faded away. His strong hoof gently lifted her chin and as she looked up at him he kissed her gently on the lips, causing the world around her to spin as she lost herself in his gentle passion. As she felt their lips disconnect she opened her eyes and saw her mother and sister standing behind the stallion who had saved her, smiling at her and her father nowhere to be seen.
"You're safe now." Starsong whispered to her.
"He'll protect you." Silver Veil nodded in agreement.
All too suddenly the two mares faded and disappeared, but the stallion remained present. He helped her stand back up and held her close to his body. She caught a faint whiff of apples, and looking closer at his face she finally began to realize who had saved her...
Starshadow's eyes snapped open and she glanced around her surroundings. She was back in her new bedroom, a hint of sunlight beginning to penetrate the windows of her room as the sun begun to rise. She was alone, but she found herself hugging one of her pillows against her body. She let her head fall back onto her other pillow and tried to recollect the dream that she just had. She cursed softly under her breath as the dream had already broken apart and seemed to disappear into thin air, the only bit about it that she could remember being that it had ultimately made her happy.
She gave her pillow a soft squeeze and let the name "Big Mac" slip from her lips, but she quickly sat up once she realized whose name she had just uttered. She felt her heart skip a beat as she thought back to her special night with him, but more confusing emotions began to flood her mind. She had never had a true special somepony before and didn't know for sure what he thought of her. She rubbed her head as her thoughts began to give her a headache, and deciding that there was no way she could get back to sleep she got out of bed and wandered to the kitchen and made herself a hot cup of coffee.
Sipping on the fresh hot liquid, she looked out the window and saw that the sun was halfway above the horizon. The town outside still remained quiet, and Starshadow guessed that unlike the ponies in the bigger cities, the ponies here could afford to sleep in and open their businesses a little later. She downed the rest of her coffee and decided that a walk around town while it was still quiet would help her relax, plus she could see the town without having to stop and socialize with any pony curious about their new neighbor.
Stepping outside, Starshadow managed to take just three steps before she was forced to duck down to avoid a gray blur. She ducked just in time, the object hurtling right above her and coming to a crash landing in the bush next to her house. Startled, Starshadow slowly raised her head up and saw the gray object come stumbling out from the brush, finally seeing that it was a pegasus... a very strange looking pegasus. "Uh, are you okay?" she asked, a little concerned that the gray pony's crash landing had messed up her face a little.
"Whoopsie." the pegasus said. "Sorry I almost hit ya. I'm just trying to catch up on my mail route."
Starshadow finally recognized the voice and the mare's unique features. "Wait, Derpy? You're the mailpony here also?" Starshadow asked with a hint of horror. Derpy had been the primary mailpony for her neighborhood in Cloudsdale, and the two had been close friends from her time spent at flight school. She knew Drepy to be one of the most pleasant ponies you could meet, but at the same to say that the bubbly pony was accident prone would be a massive understatement.
A smile lit up the gray mare's face as she recognized her old friend as well. "Oh, Miss Starshadow. What are you doing here in Ponyville?"
"I just moved here yesterday actually. And please stop calling me 'Miss Starshadow'." Derpy nodded, though somehow Starshadow doubted she would remember as she had told the ditzy pegasus this every time the two had met since leaving flight school. "Anyway, what do you mean you're trying to catch up? It's barely morning!"
"Oh, I'm not doing today's route yet, silly. I'm catching up from yesterday since yesterday I had to catch up from the day before." the gray mare said matter-of-factly.
Starshadow facehoofed herself. "That makes no sense..." she groaned, but the other mare didn't seem to be listening at all. The ditzy little pony went over to the mailbox and collected the letter Starshadow had put in there to be delivered to her sister, and before she could ask if there was another pony who could take the letter the gray pony flew off, humming happily to herself even as she barely missed crashing into the roof of the next building over.
Sighing, Starshadow decided that if she didn't hear from her sister by the end of the week she would rewrite the letter and find another pony to deliver it for her. The strange reunion now behind her, she continued her walk into town to see what else there was to do. She wandered into the heart of Ponyville and saw some signs of life as the storekeepers began to ready themselves for the day ahead, and as she passed by their stores they all smiled and waved at her. She waved back at them with a hint of a smile, but she was confused by their friendly demeanor. Almost every single pony she encountered in Cloudsdale ignored her or stared at her scarred cutie mark. The only ones who didn't do either of those were the stallions who wanted to plant their seed inside of her. But here in this town the ponies seemed different. It was almost as if they shared a special bond with one another, almost as if they were bound by the magic of friendship.
Finally clearing the main street, Starshadow took a smaller back road and breathed a sigh of relief as she saw nopony else around her. She followed the quiet road and saw that she was approaching part of the large apple orchard of Sweet Apple Acres. The red barn could be seen in the distance just over one of the sprawling hills, but tucked just behind the first row of trees was a tree house. The faint sounds of somepony moving around in the small wooden house could be heard, and after a few moments the door opened and three small fillies came walking out.
"Well, that was a waste of a night." one of the young ponies, a unicorn said dejectedly.
The pegasus in the group yawned and nodded her head. "Yeah, I guess star gazing isn't our special talent."
"Nor is night apple bucking." said the third, an earth pony.
The pegasus looked confused. "I still don't get how apple bucking at night could be any different than during the day. Why would it get its own cutie mark?" she asked.
"I dunno, maybe an apple shaped like the moon?" the earth pony replied.
As the three fillies traversed the last step down back to the ground the little earth pony spotted Starshadow trying to walk away unnoticed. "Hey, hold up a second!" she called out, chasing after the pegasus. Starshadow stopped and turned as the three fillies ran up to her. "Ya need help findin' something?" the filly asked her.
Starshadow shook her head. "Um, no thanks. I was just out for a walk before I went to go see Big Mac over at Sweet Apple Acres." she explained.
"Oh! You must be Starshadow!" the earth filly exclaimed. "You're tha one that mah big brother was talkin about!"
"Big brother?" Starshadow asked. "You mean Big Mac?" Vinyl's words came to her once again, but it didn't make any sense. This tiny filly seemed completely harmless, and the other mare, Applejack, while strong, had been warm and inviting to her.
All three fillies nodded. "Yup. Ah'm his lil' sister Apple Bloom. That there is Scootaloo, and this here is Sweetie Bell." she said as she indicated the pegasus and unicorn respectively. "And we're the Cutie Mark Crusaders!" the trio shouted in unison.
"You're the cutie... what?" Starshadow asked in genuine confusion.
The three fillies turned and proudly displayed their red capes with their logo sewn on to it. "We're the Cutie Mark Crusaders! It's out mission to find out what our cutie marks are and get them as soon as we can!" Sweetie Bell explained.
"Uh huh... um, interesting." Starshadow said, taking a step back and swinging her tail to one side to try to hide her own scarred cutie mark. Unfortunately for her, Scootaloo had already seen it and was mesmerized by the way the three colors of her aurora blended together behind her white star.
"Oh wow, that's an awesome cutie mark!" Scootaloo pointed out. Before she could stop them the other two fillies looked over and saw what she was trying to hide. Sweetie Bell was also infatuated with the seamless blending of her aurora, but Apple Bloom couldn't help but stare at the X-shaped scar that covered both of her cutie marks. Something didn't seem right about the scars. They were clearly not part of her cutie mark, but the way both sides matched each other hinted to Apple Bloom that however she got the scars was not accidental.
Starshadow winced slightly as Sweetie Bell and Scootaloo barraged her with questions about her mark;
"What's your special talent?"
"When did you get it?"
"How did you manage to finally get it to appear?"
"What does the star mean?"
"Did your family help you get it?"
Apple Bloom remained silent while her friends continued to press Starshadow with questions, but when she finally spoke Starshadow felt like she had been stabbed in the heart.
"How'd ya get them scars?"
Starshadow clenched her eyes shut as a torrent of unpleasant and painful memories came rushing back to her. She could hear her father yelling at her in his fit of rage directed at her and she felt like the scars over her flank were beginning to burn just as they had that fateful day. Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell continued asking their questions and Apple Bloom started to try to guess what had happened to her flank, but all three quickly went silent when Starshadow snapped.
"Shut up, shut up, shut up! Is that all you three fillies care about, some stupid cutie mark? It's just a stupid mark that brands you forever and show's your stupid talent! There's nothing great about them, there's nothing special! It just lets everypony else know the only thing you're good for in life and that's it! There's nothing magical about them and it's an absolute waste of time to go out looking for one!"
The three Cutie Mark Crusaders cowered away from Starshadow as she had her outburst. She didn't mean to let her emotions get the best of her, and by the time she was finished venting her frustrations and anger she realized that she had definitely overreacted. However, before she could apologize to the scared fillies an angry voice rang out from the orchard.
"What in tarnation is going on here?" Applejack yelled out, rushing over to where her younger sister and her friends were cowering. The angry earth pony positioned herself between her sibling and Starshadow, adopting an aggressive stance in anticipation that Starshadow was going to attack. Starshadow took a few steps back to show that she meant no harm to the fillies but Applejack just menacingly stepped forward. "What in the hay do ya think ya'll are doin', tryin' ta scare mah sister an' her friends?" Applejack demanded. "Apple Bloom, go an' git on home with your friends."
The three fillies scampered off, leaving Starshadow alone to deal with Applejack. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. I just..." Starshadow tried to explain, but Applejack cut her off.
"Don't ya dare say ya didn' mean to! Ah heard you hollerin' at them like they were nothin' but a scrap of trash." Applejack said, glaring at her. "Ah don' take kindly to no mare that treats mah family like that, 'nor do ah appreciate it when somepony thinks she can lie tah me."
Starshadow was confused. "Lie to you? What are you talking about?" she asked.
Her question seemed to piss Applejack off even more. "Ya'll serious? Ah know what ya were doin' with mah brother the other day! Ah saw you two out in tha orchard!"
Starshadow blushed as her feelings that somepony had been watching them was proven right. "I didn't mean for that to happen! Really, I was here to tell him that I didn't need the cider delivered to Cloudsdale anymore since I moved to Ponyville." she tried to explain.
Applejack slammed a hoof into the ground, leaving a deep indent in the ground. "Shut yer trap! Ah know what ah saw an' there was no way you two were yappin about any cider!" she yelled out. "Ah don' need some flyin' hussy tryin ta seduce mah brother like that an' corrupting his mind. Ya'll better git on outta here 'fore ah buck ya straight into tha Everfree Forest!"
Starshadow turned and ran, a combination of a new found fear of Applejack and the feeling of heartbreak as she had upset both of Big Mac's siblings causing her to flee. She thought that there was no way Big Mac would want to see her after she had made one sister cry while the other one wanted nothing to do with her, and she felt her feelings of finally finding happiness crumble and fall away.
Applejack exhaled loudly, satisfied that the pegasus would never bother her family again. "Hmph, good. Shouldn't see her back in these parts again." Applejack said to herself. She turned to head back to the barn and check up on her sister and her friends, but as soon as she turned she froze as she saw that she wasn't alone.
"Uh... hey, what are ya'll doin' out here?" Applejack asked nervously.
Standing in front of her were her elders, Big Mac and Granny Smith. Both of them looked extremely cross, and Applejack silently hoped that they were mad at the pegasus and not her. However, she was quickly proven wrong as Big Mac spoke. "You shouldn't have yelled at her." he said disgruntled.
Applejack immediately went on the defensive, thinking that of course her brother came to that mare's defense since he had rutted her. "Ah ain't gonna stand for nopony to holler at mah family like that, especially if they try tah seduce ya and try gettin' out of their lies by sayin' she was here tah talk to ya about some sorta cider deal." she said.
Big Mac shook his head. "Yellin' at another pony never solved anything. And you're wrong, she was here to talk to me about a cider delivery." Big Mac said before he ran off in the direction that Starshadow had gone off in.
Applejack couldn't believe that her brother was sticking up for that mare. "G-Granny Smith, ya hearin' what Big Mac is sayin?" she asked in disbelief. "Tell him that ah did the right thing, that ah did what was best fer everypony here!"
Granny Smith shook her head. "I can't say that I condone her hootin' an' hollerin' at Apple Bloom, but ya shouldn't have yelled back at her like that, especially using words like that." the elderly pony said.
Applejack opened her mouth to argue, but she quickly shut her mouth as she knew better than to argue with Granny Smith. "Well, she did deserve it." Applejack muttered before walking back to the farm with the old pony.