17: That Owner
Applejack and Starshadow slept soundly through the rest of the night. Applejack woke up just before sunrise out of habit, and wanting to give the tired pegasus next to her some additional rest she quietly left the room and headed outside to feed the livestock. As she approached the pig pen she saw that Big Mac was already up and had just finished the task. Walking up to her big brother, she saw that Big Mac hadn't slept at all last night and had most likely completed all the morning chores sometime during the night. "Couldn't sleep, could ya?" she asked him.
Big Mac nodded yes, letting out a big yawn as he put down a sack of chicken feed. Applejack patted his back and led him over to the well where she pulled up a bucket of cold water for him. He quickly gulped down half of the water from the bucket and then using the rest to wash his face. Feeling refreshed and slightly more awake, he turned to face Applejack but his eye caught something he had never seen before. Applejack noticed his strange stare and turned around, gasping as she saw Rainbow Dash walking up to them, her wings limply held against her side and sweat covering every inch of her body. The normally energetic pegasus collapsed a few feet in front of the two Apple siblings, panting hard and unable to speak. Applejack quickly refilled the bucket with water and emptied it over Dash's body, making sure to empty a bit into her mouth. The cold water was just what she needed, and with a satisfied "Aahhhhhh" the rainbow pegasus felt her body go limp and relax.
Applejack and Big Mac stared down at Rainbow Dash in slight confusion. "Rainbow, what'n tarnation happened ter ya? Ya'll are more tuckered out than when we took part in tha Runnin' of the Leaves." Applejack said.
Rainbow Dash looked up at Applejack. "Hey, you try keeping up with Fluttershy for almost a whole day and see how tired you are afterwards." she explained.
Applejack burst out laughing and Big Mac couldn't help but let out a muffled snicker. "Hold on there, ya trying ta tell us that you, Miss 'Fastest-Flyer-In-Equestria', couldn't keep up with lil 'ol Fluttershy?" Applejack laughed. "Looks like all yer midday naps are finally catchin' up ta ya."
Rainbow Dash got up and glared at Applejack. "Hey, it's not my fault! She's gone mental! You know how long it took me and Twilight to convince her that we needed to stop and sleep last night? And I only slept for, like, an hour at most before Fluttershy was banging on my door to start looking again! She wanted to go search the Everfree Forest in the middle of the night and said if I didn't go with her she would still go by herself!"
"Wait a darn second, Fluttershy was gonna go search tha woods by herself?" Applejack said between giggles in disbelief. Rainbow nodded yes in complete seriousness, causing AJ and Big Mac to realize just how determined their normally quiet friend was. "Ya serious? Golly, Ah didn't know she would get this rustled up." AJ said.
"Yeah, no kidding. I mean, I want to catch him just as much as everypony else, but Fluttershy has just gone completely off the wall." Dash said. "She's looking up the river right now and wants to fly out to Ghastly Gorge next, and the only way I could get a break is by saying I was going to check in with you and Big Mac."
Applejack and Big Mac were surprised but nonetheless impressed by Fluttershy's determination. "Well, we really appreciate what ya'll are doin', 'specially Starshadow." Applejack said, Big Mac nodding in agreement.
Rainbow Dash's expression softened at the mention of Thunderlane's victim. "Y-yeah... hey, how's she doing?" Rainbow asked. "She's gonna be okay, right?"
"She'll be fit as a fiddle soon, Ah'm sure." Applejack said optimistically. "Ah'm sure she'd love ta see ya'll in a day or so once she's feelin' a bit better."
Rainbow Dash turned her head and tried to hide her motion of wiping a tear from her eye. "Of course I'll be stopping by. And you can bet I'll have Thunderlane's sorry flank on ice by then too. No way I'm gonna let some scumsack like that get away from me." she said, finding renewed energy. "Yeah, he's toast when I find him. No way I'm letting Fluttershy find him first, I'M the best flyer in Equestria after all!" With new found determination Rainbow Dash took off and headed north to meet up with Fluttershy, waving bye to her earth pony friends before disappearing into the clouds.
Having taken care of the few morning chores that needed attending to, the two siblings returned to Applejack's room and saw that Starshadow was now awake. Applejack brought in a plate of apple fritters for the freshly awoken pegasus who gratefully accepted them. Once she was done Big Mac and Applejack sat back down on either side of her, causing Starshadow to automatically once again move closer to Applejack. Big Mac tried his best not to take too much offense and also decided that bringing up the continued search for Thunderlane would only hurt her further. "Why don't ya continue off from yesterday." he said, getting straight to the point. Starshadow nodded, having come slightly more to terms that her past was going to be fully exposed to these two ponies.
The next few days living with South Pole degraded Starshadow's relationship with him even further. Having already taken her virginity, South Pole began to visit Starshadow's bedroom multiple times a day, always for the same purpose. He had been right about it hurting less and less each time, and by the third day of using her body for his pleasure it no longer stung when he would bury his shaft in her small hole. However, he started to become more forceful and violent, hitting her flank with his hoof and making her put his dick in her mouth before and after he was done using her. She gagged every time he would force himself into the beginning of her throat, but surprisingly she wasn't put off too much by the taste. Still, she was unable to breathe every time he forced himself down her throat, and the fear of suffocating dominated her mind every time he forced her to suck him off.
She tried to refuse to deep throat him one day when he tried to force his entire cock down her throat, but when she spit his dick out and refused to open her mouth back up South Pole snapped and slapped her hard across the face, yelling at her that she was his and she could never disobey him or else he would throw her back to the streets. To punish her, the stallion held her down on her stomach and lined up his dick with her last untouched hole, determined to make her truly his. Starshadow begged for him to stop but her pleas fell on deaf ears, and with only two large globs of spit to act as lube he stole the last bit of innocence she had and claimed her as his. His thrusts were nothing but selfish and brutal, and once he was done with her he left her crying all alone on her bed. But she wasn't crying out of pain; she cried from her broken trust and a broken heart.
She decided that she had to escape and somehow find her way to Los Pegasus like she originally planned as Starsong was the only pony she could go to. However, South Pole always locked her door from the outside to keep her trapped. Her window was also locked, and with her room being on the second floor of his house there was no way she could escape through it as her wings were still weakened by her recent break. With no choice but to wait until South Pole slipped up, Starshadow could only brace herself and endure his constant desires for her small underage body.
Luckily for her, her lack of resistance caused South Pole to drop his guard as he thought that Starshadow was beginning to enjoy his special attention, and after one long session of anal conquest the small filly didn't hear the familiar 'click' of the door locking once South Pole had left her room. Waiting a few more minutes, she finally got up off of her bed once she saw that South Pole wasn't returning, and with an abundance of caution she slowly opened the door and peeked out into the hallway. Seeing nopony else around, she snuck out into the corridor but froze as she approached the next room as she heard South Pole's voice. Standing perfectly still, she heard him talking out loud seemingly to himself about plans to establish a town in the wild lands to the south. She finally dared to peek around the doorway and thankfully saw that his back was turned to the door, and without any incident she managed to slip past the open door and got that much closer to freedom. Worried that South Pole would come out at any moment, Starshadow kept her eyes locked on the doorway as she slowly made her way forward and tripped over the edge of the hallway carpeting. Falling to the ground, Starshadow landed on her left side, and though her left wing had been only sprained a few weeks ago, the sudden weight suddenly being forced on it causing Starshadow to yelp in pain.
The voice from inside South Pole's office abruptly stopped, and before Starshadow could pick herself up his head poked out into the hallway. His look of curiosity quickly turned to a look of rage as he saw that Starshadow was trying to run away from him, and without wasting a second he dashed after his filly. Panicking, Starshadow scrambled to get up on her hooves but was quickly caught by South Pole. She struggled in vain to free herself from the older pony's grasp, but South Pole's anger got the best of her as he struck her over and over again. "How dare you try to leave me!" he yelled down at her. "After everything I've done for you! After I saved you from living on the streets and took you in, this is how you repay me? I was going to make you my wife! I was going to give you everything you could ever want! But no, you don't want any of that do you? Maybe you'd prefer to just be my slave!"
Starshadow tried to protect herself but of course was unable to stop most of his attacks. "I'm sorry! Please, please stop! I'm sorry, I won't run away again!" she cried out, hoping that he would give her a second chance.
South Pole was in no mood for giving her another chance and dragged her back to his room. He threw the frightened filly onto his bed, and before she could get up he reached under the bed and brought out a coil of rope. With no trouble he tied her wings down against her body as well as her forelegs to keep her from trying to run away again, and once he was done binding her he then walked over to his closet and brought out a leather crop. Distracted by the slight pain in her wings due to the ropes tightly binding them to her body, Starshadow didn't see South Pole raising the leather crop above her, but her eyes snapped open and she cried out in pain as he brought the leather tip down and struck her flank as hard as he could.
"Augghhh! I-I'm sorry! Please don- haanngghh! Don't!" Starshadow tried to say in between vicious blow after blow. Her cries were ignored as South Pole continued to whip her, the majority of his blows hitting her in the same general area and causing her skin to become raw. Starshadow had no choice but to try to endure the severe pain of the whipping, but as the pain built inside of her so did another feeling; the same sensation that had always confused her began to also quickly spike, and after a few more strikes she found herself wanting more of his punishment.
Her excitement didn't escape South Pole's notice as he saw that her crotch had become soaking wet and her hips wiggled slightly when he stopped hitting her. "What's this? Don't tell me you're getting off from this." he said, a flood of sick thoughts entering his head as he began to realize that he had struck gold. Starshadow was still crying from the pain but she made no move to hide her beaten flank. Deciding to see how much torture she could take South Pole produced another length of rope and tied her hind legs to the bed posts and placing two pillows under her stomach, causing her crotch to remain completely exposed to him. Grinning with anticipation, South Pole dragged the tip of the crop around her crotch teasingly, letting the end dip into her quivering filly sex a few times. He let the tip of the crop slide off of her body but then struck her inner thigh hard, causing her to let out a yelp in surprise and new pain. South Pole continued to strike her inner thighs with the crop, slowly moving up her legs until he gave her one last hit where her leg and torso met.
By now Starshadow was crying out in a confusing mixture of pleasure and pain, and her entire body was shaking as she tried to figure out if she wanted him to stop or continue beating her. Her predicament was solved for her as the stallion began to tap the end of the leather crop on either side of her quivering lower lips. Starshadow couldn't stop herself from gasping in pleasure at the hard taps and tried to shift her hips so the crop would hit her throbbing clit, but South Pole managed to keep her on edge by avoiding hitting her there. It didn't take long for her gasps to become ragged moans and erotic cries, and as she began to lose herself in the building pleasure the twisted stallion decided to send her over the edge. In quick succession he struck her over and over again straight on her engorged clit, causing the poor filly to shriek in surprise as her body went rigid and a burst of fluids erupted from her spasming pussy. South Pole's smile became even wider as he saw that he had been right, that this filly was aroused by pain, and he kept up his rapid strikes on her groin with his crop. Only when the stream of liquid coming from her body slowed down did South Pole finally stop hitting her, allowing Starshadow to finally go limp after her first orgasm ever.
Her body still held up by the pillows under her, she felt the unicorn stallion suddenly mount her and thrust his rock-solid cock into her still sore body, eliciting another scream from her as his body roughly collided with her raw skin. Extremely aroused by her response to his whipping, South Pole began thrusting frantically as he released his pent up arousal and frustration on her small body. "Hrggg, you like that, don't you? You like being treated roughly like this, don't you?" he growled into her ear, receiving only a few whimpers and yelps from her in answer. He struck out and hit her still raw flank with his hoof, causing her body to spasm and her stuffed hole to tighten. "You answer me when I ask you a question!" he yelled at her.
Starshadow shook her head. Yes, the pain felt good for some reason, but everything was happening so fast she wasn't able to quite understand the confusing sensations. "N-no... please, s-st-stop. It hurts..." she pleaded.
Her answer angered South Pole further, causing him to grab a hold of her still aching wings. "Don't you dare lie to me! I know you love it, you little whorse! Answer me truthfully or I'll pluck every last feather from your sad excuse for wings!" he threatened. To show he was serious, he yanked out a secondary feathers from one of her wings and tossed it onto the floor like a piece of garbage.
Starshadow howled in pain as the feather was ripped out. Fresh tears sprang to her eyes as she quickly nodded her head to agree with him. "Y-yes! Yes, I love being used. Just please, don't tear out my feathers! Please, anything but that!" she said frantically. It wasn't the pain of having her feathers ripped out that Starshadow was afraid of, it was what they symbolized to her; freedom. As long as her wings were usable she would have the chance to fly away and find safety with Starsong, but having every feather torn out would definitely cripple her wings for life and destroy any hopes of being able to escape quickly.
Her forced response was good enough for South Pole as he resumed thrusting his cock into her sore pussy. He struck her flank a few more times to keep her crying, and finally he finished himself off and emptied yet another load of hot cum into her small abused hole, hitting her flank one last time in satisfaction. As Starshadow felt her body being filled once more and then felt the sharp pain of having her flank hit once more she came for the second time, her pussy squeezing every last drop out from South Pole's cock. Finally satisfied, the stallion withdrew his member from her and moved to the other end of the bed, grabbing Starshadow's mane to lift her head up and forced his cock into her mouth. Knowing that he wouldn't let go until she had licked him clean, Starshadow quickly let her tongue wrap itself around the intruder in her mouth, trying her best to rush through the task of cleaning his shaft. She gagged slightly as she was still not used to the taste but managed to clean South Pole's pole enough for him to be satisfied. He finally backed away and released her mane from his grip, letting her head fall back onto the bed as she tried to recover from her rough ordeal.
South Pole hopped off his bed and returned to his closet, reemerging moments later with a leather collar and a leash. He unceremoniously wrapped the collar around her neck and locked the buckle behind her neck with a sealing spell. The leather bit into her neck, slightly constricting her throat and making it just a little difficult to breathe normally. She gulped to try to clear her airway but it didn't work, and instead she turned her concentration to trying to get used to shallower breaths. However, she didn't have much time as South Pole attached the leash to her collar, and once he untied her hooves from their restricted positions he pulled her down to the floor in front of him. "You will NEVER disobey me or try to run ever again. IS THAT UNDERSTOOD?" he yelled at her. Starshadow quickly nodded, afraid of what he may do next should she enrage him further. Luckily, her answer satisfied him and he smiled in satisfaction. "Good, good. Since you don't deserve to be my wife anymore I'll make you my slave instead. Yes, perhaps you preferred to just serve me with your body, isn't that right?"
Starshadow nodded again. "Y-yes." she said meekly.
South Pole yanked on her leash, causing Starshadow to choke. "You address me as 'Sir' or 'Master' only, you stupid whorse! Do you understand, or do I have to rip your feathers out after all?" he scolded her harshly.
"Y-yes Ma- *cough* Master! Please, I'm sorry! Don't rip out my feathers! I'll be a- *cough* I'll be a good pony for you, I swear!"
South Pole frowned down at her. "You're no pony, you're a slave. A pet. But don't worry, you'll have plenty of time to learn your place. You're mine, forever."
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Two ponies dressed in winter cloaks approached South Pole's grand home and one of the ponies knocked on the heavy front door. A few seconds passed by before South Pole opened the door and smiled as he saw his visitors. "Ah, you're finally here. Welcome back, North."
The pony who knocked on the door removed his hood and flashed a grin at his host. "It's been a while, hasn't it brother?" he said. The two brothers shared a quick embrace before South Pole moved aside to allow his brother and companion in. The three made their way to the living room where the two brothers sat down and relaxed while the third smaller pony remained standing obediently by North Pole's side. North and South talked about their jobs and compared trends between their respective areas of authority, but after a few drinks of whiskey the two turned the conversation to their personal lives.
"So you decided to take your mare with you on your latest rounds?" South Pole inquired, motioning to the small figure standing next to North Pole.
North nodded and used his magic to take off the cloak covering his companion, revealing a young mare with a fiery red and yellow mane. "Of course, I could never dream of spending a night alone without Sunset Flash by my side. She's the best bed warmer and also quite the fun travel companion, isn't that right my loyal pet?" North Pole asked the young mare. The pony by his side nodded in agreement and received a gently pat on the head for her correct answer. "Good girl." North Pole praised her before turning back to his brother. "I'd offer to let you borrow her on your upcoming trip but I'm afraid my pet needs to relearn that cumming is a privilege."
South Pole let a small smile creep onto his face. "Actually, that's why I asked you to come here as soon as you returned to Canterlot. I don't need to borrow your pony pet anymore. I found my own a couple of weeks ago."
North Pole lowered his drink, Sunset Flash obediently taking the glass to hold it for her master. "Oh? You found a mare of your own? Well, this is quite the surprise. I didn't know there was an auction taking place while I was away. I'm also surprised you would settle for a mare since you have the same tastes in age as I do." North Pole commented, looking at his own slave. North Pole had paid quite a large amount of bits to acquire Sunset Flash as his own, but mares so young were almost impossible to come by.
His brother shook his head. "No, there was no auction. I found her on the streets one morning and took her in. She's also about the same age as your slave, so it looks like I lucked out." South Pole explained.
North Pole almost felt like he was going to have a heart attack. "You did what?!" he exclaimed. "You fillynapped somepony? It's only a matter of time before her parents come looking for her and the guards find out!"
South Pole laughed a little. "Brother, calm down. There's no need to worry about that. She's an orphan, she has no family who is looking for her." he said calmly. "I spent two weeks taking care of her and waiting to see if any news about a missing filly came up but nopony reported any. No one will care that I have her."
North Pole sighed in relief. The last thing he needed was for their strange sexual taboos to come to light as it would mean their immediate termination as high ranking ponies in Canterlot. "G-good, that's a relief." he said. "So, where is she?"
South Pole stood up and motioned for his brother to follow him. Sunset Flash obediently followed the two stallions after putting the glass on a table and all three ponies ventured down to the basement. Making their way down the stairs and through a heavy door, North Pole and Sunset Flash began to hear a steady 'thwap thwap thwap' as well as the muffled cries of somepony. Seconds later they entered a dimly lit room and saw what was making the noises they had heard.
Starshadow was strapped down to a table, spread eagle. A series of ropes kept her secure in her position and a ballgag muffled her cries of desperation as a machine by her crotch continued to torture her. Powered by an electric crystal, the machine slowly turned a wheel with three paddles extending from it. As the wheel turned the paddles would catch on a bar just above her crotch, causing the paddle to pause before snapping down and striking her exposed pussy. As each paddle struck her it would cause the bound pegasus to squeal and cry out from the pleasure and pain that she felt, but the rate of the wheel was far too slow to effectively pleasure her enough to cum. Her legs shook violently each time one of the paddles would strike her, straining the ropes holding her legs down. However, the roped held firm and Starshadow could only hope that the next paddle came quick enough for her to cum, but the paddles never came quick enough.
South Pole grinned evilly as he walked up next to where Starshadow was tied down and removed her gag. "M-Master, your p-pet can- hmmppphhhh! Your pet can't t-t-take it anymo- anymore! Please, l-let your pet cum! Sh-she'll do a-a-anything to c-cum!" she managed to cry out as she tried to buck her hips up. North and South glanced at the filly's crotch and saw that her snatch was absolutely drenched in her own juices, as was the table and floor underneath her crotch. Starshadow's eyes filled with hope and happiness as she saw South Pole reaching for her pussy with his hoof, but his reach stopped mere inches from her body. Instead, he kept his hoof still for a few moments and then drew it back, causing a slight sob of frustration to escape from Starshadow's lips. "N-no, Master, don't! Please your p-pet needs to cum!" she cried out in desperation.
South Pole lightly smacked the side of her face. "Now, that's rude of you. Selfishly asking to cum without greeting our guests." he teased her.
"M-Master, please forgive your naughty pet. She d-didn't mean to ignore the-them." she said shakily. Neither North Pole or Sunset Flash seemed too worried about the lack of greeting from her; North Pole wasn't able to take his eyes off of Starshadow's small body, but Sunset was looking at the small pegasus in pity.
South Pole shrugged and turned off the machine. "Hmphh, next time be more attentive. Anyway, North and I have some business to take care of."
North Pole nodded. "Sunset, why don't you get to know this little filly a bit while we're busy. I'm sure you'll be seeing a lot more of her before you know it." he commanded.
"Yes, of course Master." Sunset Flash said without question. She waited until both unicorn brothers walked back upstairs before she set about untying Starshadow.
As soon as her last hoof was freed Starshadow slumped off the table and groveled at Sunset's hooves in desperation. "Please, I n-need to cum! Let me cum! I'll be a good pet for you, please!" she said, almost crying in desperation.
Sunset Flash gulped. Her master hadn't told her that she could help this poor young filly find relief, and she knew by now that taking such action without North Pole's permission would probably lead to punishment. However, memories of her own training came back to her mind, especially those long nights where North would arouse her over and over just to pull away right before she could cum, and with a sigh Sunset decided to help the filly in front of her. "Turn around." Sunset instructed. Starshadow quickly turned her back to the fiery filly, raising her tail in anticipation and eagerness. Without hesitation Sunset dove forward and began licking at Starshadow's soaked pussy, causing the aroused filly to shriek in pleasure as she finally reached her peak. Starshadow's fluids shot out of her spasming hole right onto Sunset Flash's face but the more experienced filly kept up her oral administration, allowing Starshadow to release every little bit of pent up frustration that she had bottled up inside of her. After about twenty seconds of cumming, Starshadow collapsed on the floor, her legs unable to hold up her weight anymore. Sunset wiped her face off with her hoof and knelt down next to her exhausted partner, stroking her mane gently as she recovered from her ordeal. "Poor little filly." Sunset murmured as she heard Starshadow's breathing begin to ease.
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The days passed; days turning into weeks. But none of that mattered to Starshadow anymore as she had lost track of how long she had been living with South Pole. All she knew was that serving and pleasing him was in her best interests, and his 'training' reinforced in her that failing to obey him was the last thing she wanted to do. By the end of the first month she had been subjected to countless sexual tortures and punishments that most ponies would never even think of trying. Almost all of her free will and individuality had been beaten out of her, and if it weren't for the occasional visits and help provided by Sunset Flash, Starshadow would have become a mindless sex toy.
Most days Starshadow was given a list of chores to complete around the house, but she found herself occasionally interrupted by South Pole whenever he became bored. Sometimes he would just slap her flank as he passed by, but more often than not he would mount her and penetrate her pussy or ass, quickly getting himself off and filling the small filly with his seed. Starshadow had no choice but to hold still and let him use her until she felt him cumming inside of her, and once he was finished she would let him slide out of her and then obediently lick his dick clean before he walked off to continue his work. Once she was done her work, she would quietly enter his office and sit silently by his side until he was done his work for the day and his attention fell back on her. So long as she followed this ritual every day South Pole didn't punish her, but she also rarely got the time to feel any pleasure from his quick sessions during the day. It was only at night that she had the chance to finally cum, and that all depended on South Pole's mood.
The only days where Starshadow didn't have to worry about being fucked during her chores were the days that her Master had guests over. Most of the time it was his brother, North Pole, that came over to discuss about work issues, and as always he brought Sunset Flash with him. While the two unicorn siblings talked Sunset and Starshadow had some time to talk privately without fear of being interrupted. Starshadow learned that, though they were almost the same age, Sunset had much more experience in serving as a sub to her Master than she did. Sunset offered some tips and tricks to keep South Pole happy and some other advice on how to fix any screw ups she may make by mistake. But most importantly, Sunset was the perfect pony to listen to Starshadow's worries and breakdowns whenever depression began to set in. This life was still a bit of a shock for Starshadow but Sunset Flash was able to calm her down each time, reassuring her that as long as Starshadow was a good pet, her Master would reward her and make her life easy.
Taking her advice, Starshadow did her best to please South Pole and her efforts were rewarded. Her punishments lessened and South Pole took the time to let Starshadow cum more often as well as allowed her to sleep with him after their nightly sessions instead of forcing her to walk back to her room alone. As Sunset Flash had promised, Starshadow's obedience and loyalty were rewarded with his kindness, and she began to think that maybe this way of life wasn't so bad. As long as she followed his commands, South Pole brought her more pleasure than she could imagine and took care of her other needs as well. Even his punishments were a bit of a turn on for her, and with the help of Sunset Flash she was able to admit that she liked the pain she received from her owner.
Life continued like this as the months continued to pass by. South Pole was extremely pleased with the pace of her training and how quickly she had allowed him to conquer her body and mind. However, his inexperience at hiding the fact that he had an underage mare as a sex toy brought everything to an end one day when one of his assistants walked into South Pole's office and saw Starshadow sucking on his cock. South Pole managed to catch the young stallion before he could run out of the house and managed to convince him to stay quiet about what he saw by sliding him an extra thousand bits. The stallion swore he wouldn't tell any other pony about what he had seen, but a few days later South Pole noticed a few ponies around the castle and his home eyeing him and talking in hushed whispers about him. It wasn't until he heard one of his guards whisper 'foal fucker' a little too loudly that South Pole knew that the stallion had broken his promise and had begun to spread word about what he had seen. Panicking that he was destined to spend the rest of his life in the dungeons beneath Canterlot Castle, he rushed over to his brother's house and frantically asked him for help. After hours of going over what had happened and sending a trusted servant to confirm that rumors were spreading around Canterlot, North Pole told his brother that there was only one solution; South Pole would have to give up Starshadow if he wished to save his career and stay out of prison.
A knock at Applejack's door interrupted Starshadow's story. Big Mac got up to open the door as Starshadow sighed with relief; retelling her past was taking a toll on her mind, and whoever had knocked on the door had given her a much needed break from her story.
Big Mac opened the door and was pushed back slightly by a strange unicorn with a dark brown coat and white mane. The strange mare's green eyes darted around the room as if searching for something, or somepony. Before Big Mac or Applejack could ask the strange unicorn mare any questions, another pony entered the room, but this pony was very well known to both Apple siblings.
"Hi Big Mac, hi Applejack. Sorry for the intrusion, I just wanted to stop by and see how Starshadow was doing." Twilight said as she entered the room a bit more respectfully than her companion.
"Heya Twi. Um, who's yer friend?" Applejack asked, nodding towards the brown unicorn who was still eyeing the room warily.
Twilight sighed somewhat remorsefully. "That's my new bodyguard, Nightshade. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna have both insisted that I have a guard detail ever since my coronation, but I don't want to have fully armed guards scaring away everypony around me." Twilight explained. "The only compromise we could reach is that I take one of Princess Cadence's personal bodyguards as mine."
Having confirmed that there was nothing in the room that posed a threat, Twilight's bodyguard retreated back towards the door to stand guard. Applejack tried introducing herself to the new pony but all she got in return was silence, insulting Applejack a little. Twilight saw her friend's annoyed look and decided to intervene before AJ started an argument. "Don't mind her, she rarely speaks, even to me." Twilight said.
Applejack eventually nodded and backed down, much to Twilight's relief. "So what brings ya both all tha way out here?" Applejack asked the princess. "Ah thought Ah was supposed to stop by yer library at one o'clock if we hadn't caught that vermin yet."
Twilight looked a little confused. "Applejack, it's almost four in the afternoon. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash stopped by and said they hadn't found any clues, but you never showed up so I came over to see if you were okay. Granny Smith and Applebloom said you were both still up here and hadn't left for hours."
Applejack and Big Mac looked at the clock on the wall and were shocked that Twilight was right; it was just a few minutes before 4 o'clock. "Well Ah'll be... sorry, Twi, Ah guess we jus' got caught up listenin' to Starshadow's story." Applejack said apologetically. "Ah'll be back in a tick, gonna go rustle us up some food."
Applejack rushed downstairs to make a tray of food for everypony while the rest of them waited upstairs. Twilight eye caught Starshadow who bashfully looked away, but the purple alicorn made her way over to the small pegasus to introduce herself. "You must be Starshadow. I'm Twilight Sparkle. I'm sorry it took so long for me to meet you; I've been caught up trying to finish all my tasks so I didn't have time to welcome you to Ponyville when I heard you moved here." Twilight said, extending a hoof in greeting.
Starshadow immediately jumped down from the bed and bowed in front of the princess. It took Twilight a few seconds to get over the initial shock of being bowed to as ponies did to Celestia and Luna. "Oh, please don't bother with that. There's no need to bow for me." Twilight finally said. It had taken her long enough for her to finally convince the other ponies of Ponyville to stop bowing every time she walked past them or stopped in their store, and she didn't want them all to start again. "Really, there's no need to bow. A simple hoofshake is fine enough."
Starshadow slowly stood back up and nodded, extending her hoof to meet Twilight's. Starshadow couldn't help but feel calmed by Princess Twilight's mere presence, almost as if her just being there would ensure her safety. Starshadow was caught off guard when she felt Twilight suddenly embrace her in a quick hug of compassion. "Don't worry, me and my friends won't rest until we find Thunderlane." Twilight said before breaking contact. Starshadow's head reeled with confusion; here was Princess Twilight Sparkle, the savior of Equestria, hugging HER. As far as Starshadow was concerned, she was an absolute nopony, not even fit to be in Twilight's presence, but here the princess was hugging her like they were close friends. She wasn't sure of what to say or do, but thankfully Applejack returned with a giant tray of an assortment of food that Granny Smith had prepared for everypony. It was more than enough to feed twenty ponies, but the small group gratefully chowed down on the homemade treats. Even Twilight's bodyguard accepted a steaming fritter at Twilight's insistence.
Almost as if they were drawn to the farm by the smell of food, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy arrived a few minutes later. Fluttershy was thankfully more like her old self, the long day of searching without any sleep the night before finally catching up to her. However, the mere mention of Thunderlane's name brought back a spark of energy to her eyes, and Twilight almost had to have her bodyguard calm the normally reserved yellow pegasus. After having a group discussion where Thunderlane may be hiding, Twilight, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash took their leave for the night, promising Starshadow that they would resume the search for her attacker first thing in the morning. Big Mac also wandered back to his room, absolutely exhausted by the last few days, not to mention the lack of sleep. He gave Starshadow a light kiss on the cheek before returning to his room, and as Applejack saw how drained the small pegasus looked she also suggested that Starshadow call it a day and go to sleep. Starshadow nodded in agreement and allowed AJ to tuck her in, but as the orange earth pony tried to leave the room Starshadow stopped her.
"I... please, I don't want to be alone." Starshadow pleaded. Applejack gulped and nodded, feeling slightly more confident than she did last night about sleeping next to the mare. She climbed into bed next to Starshadow and once again felt the small mare trembling slightly. Remembering how her dog Winona would also tremble whenever there was a thunder storm outside, Applejack reached over and began to gently stroke the back of Starshadow's neck. Her gesture had an immediate effect as Starshadow's body relaxed and she cuddled up closer to Applejack. AJ thought about asking Starshadow not to get so close, but the small smile on Starshadow's face kept her silent for now.
As Applejack continued to stroke the small mare's mane, she felt Starshadow's crotch beginning to rub up against one of her legs. Applejack paused her hoof as the confusing feeling in her stomach began to grow, but Starshadow looked up at her with hopeful eyes and asked her to continue. Hesitantly, Applejack did, causing Starshadow to nestle her head back against the earth pony's chest. It didn't take long for Starshadow to fall asleep, but in the position she was in her crotch was still pressing directly against Applejack's leg. There was no way for AJ to wriggle free from her position, and with a defeated sigh she closed her eyes to go to sleep also. She still felt somewhat uneasy that Starshadow was sleeping so close to her, especially with her groin pressed up against her leg still, but a part of her... liked it.