28: Departure
Somewhere between Ponyville and Canterlot, on a set of sparsely used side tracks that lead into a patch of overgrown brush, a single car train sat silently in the shadows of the forest. Out of sight of any train that passed by on the main railroad tracks, the silent locomotive showed no signs of life from the outside, but inside of it seven stallions and one mare inhabited the train.
Pacing back and forth, Thunderlane stomped a hoof impatiently against the floor. "This is a waste of time! We can still easily get to Canterlot without being seen by any train, there's only three trains from Ponyville to Canterlot each day. Sitting here is just a waste of ti-"
Fed up with his complaining, one of the other stallions punched Thunderlane on the side of his head, sending the pegasus crashing to the floor. "Shut up, just shut up! You're the one who got us lost while we set up our ambush and you almost got us caught getting to the train station! You are absolutely useless and are only still alive thanks to Specter ordering us not to lay a hoof on you for some unknown reason! I highly suggest you shut your muzzle and stay out of our way until we get to Canterlot, or I may have to just tell Specter that you were accidentally run over by the train."
Knowing very well that every other pony on the train would gladly back their friend up, Thunderlane backed down but had one last complaint to air. "But there's nothing to do..."
"I don't give a flying buck what you do, just get out of my sight!" the stallion said, causing Thunderlane to flee towards the rear of the car.
Huffing in annoyance, Thunderlane sat down and looked out the window at the dull foliage outside. The other stallions were cleaning their weapons or sleeping, one last stallion standing guard outside the bathroom where Starshadow was tied up while the train engineer slept the day away in the locomotive. One idea finally popped into his head, and after coming up with a rough plan he slipped off of his seat and made his way to the bathroom.
"Hey, what's going on?" Thunderlane said casually to the pony on guard duty outside the bathroom.
The stallion glared at Thunderlane for a few seconds before returning to inspecting his knife, but Thunderlane continued to press on.
"Hey, um, it's kind of boring here, so since I have nothing to do I can cover the rest of your shift." he offered.
The stallion thought about his proposal for a moment, and figuring that he'd rather sleep than watch a door for the next three hours, the stallion nodded and left the area. Unable to believe that his tactic actually worked, Thunderlane made sure nopony was around before he slipped inside the bathroom. Shutting the door quietly behind him, he turned to face his helpless captive, grinning as he looked at the bound and drugged pegasus mare in front of him; Starshadow.
"Well, hello there again. I've been waiting for this for a long time." Thunderlane said. Pushing her back and spreading her legs, Thunderlane positioned the helpless mare in the perfect position for him to take her. She had her wings bound to her body and her front hooves tied up, and though her hind legs remained free, she was in no shape to resist as the group's leader decided to keep her drugged with the extra hoofies they had to prevent any chance of her escaping. As he rubbed his hoof roughly against her exposed crotch to get her prepared, he felt himself hardening quickly as he neared his goal. "Ah yeah, you're nice and wet for my cock. You've been wanting my seed in you, haven't you?" he asked her.
With a blank, empty look dominating her eyes, Starshadow didn't show much reaction to Thunderlane's foreplay, but her body was definitely responding. In a matter of moments, her pussy juices started flowing and her crotch bucked up slightly as Thunderlane drew his hoof away to taste the liquid covering it. "Heh, you want it that badly, slut? Don't worry, Thunderlane will take good care of you..."
With no warning, the bathroom door was flung open and Thunderlane found himself being dragged back out to the train car. A savage blow hit him in his stomach, and with teary eyes he looked up and saw the five other stallions all standing around him.
"What in Tartarus are you doing, you foal?!" the leader yelled out. "What part of our task do you not seem to understand?"
"H-hey, give me a break! I wasn't going to hurt her, just gonna have a little bit of fun. Nopony would know!" Thunderlane said.
Still furious, the leader of the group walked into the bathroom to make sure Thunderlane hadn't harmed his target. Thankfully, he saw that she was unharmed, but as he inhaled the intoxicating aroma of her sexual arousal he found himself unable to look away from her still exposed crotch. Stepping towards her, he touched her sensitive crotch and smiled as she instinctively bucked her hips up at him. The weeks and weeks of being cooped up in the secret cave, along with the bruises and scrapes he'd suffered subduing that surprisingly tough farm mare, had taken a toll on him; he and his gang usually frequented one of the many lounges that catered to stallions who needed 'stress relief' in whatever town or city their current task found them in, but thanks to Specter it had been ages since any of them had had the pleasure of touching a mare. However, they now had one at their disposal, and as she was completely helpless they could do anything they wished...
Touching Starshadow's sex one last time, her muffled but erotic moan sealed the stallion's decision. Grabbing a hold of Starshadow, he dragged her out of the bathroom and dumped her body on the floor just outside the ring of ponies surrounding Thunderlane. Walking back up to the scared pegasus stallion, the group leader frowned down at him.
"So, you thought you'd just use this mare however you wished without including us, those who actually worked hard on this mission? Well, you'll get your turn at her, but after we're all finished." he said.
One of the ponies standing nearby walked up to whisper into the leader's ear. "Hey, what gives? We're supposed to bring her back alive and uninjured."
"I know, but since Specter miseed the rendezvous, he won't be meeting up with us until we make it back to Canterlot. We'll have plenty of time to clean her up before then. Besides, we can always place all the blame on that moron. It's our word against his." the stallion whispered back.
Not one to argue against fucking the beautiful mare with no foreseeable consequences, the other stallions nodded and smiled at the idea of finally being able to have some fun. Thunderlane tried to protest his sudden position in the back of the line, but he kept his mouth shut once he saw the dangerous look of lust in every other pony's eyes. With no other choice, he stepped back and silently waited for his turn.
Jumping on the opportunity to be first, the lead stallion staked his claim by pushing Starshadow onto her back and stood over her. Worked up from before, his cock hung semi-rigid below his body, but as he began to rub himself up against her slit he felt his cock throbbing as it became fully erect.
"Celestia, I've been waiting for this for a long time." he muttered as he began to sink himself into her body. He groaned as he felt Starshadow's hot cunt surround his sensitive shaft and squeeze it as he penetrated her, and despite his pride he turned to glance back at Thunderlane. "Guess you had a good idea after all."
Turning back to the task at hoof, the stallion leader began to thrust in and out of Starshadow's body in a steady rhythm. Helpless to whatever came her way, Starshadow let out a gurgled moan as she managed to feel the stallion inside of her despite being drugged. She tried to raise her tied front hooves to push the stallion off of her, but her feeble attempt failed as she couldn't raise her limbs more than a few inches. She also tried to tell him to stop, but all that escaped her mouth was another indecipherable sound that nopony paid attention to.
The lead stallion started to get annoyed by Starshadow's attempt to talk. "Somepony shut this whorse up already." he said. Without hesitation, one of his buddies came forward, his cock already hard from watching the scene unfolding in front of him, and with quick savagery he pulled Starshadow's head towards him and thrust his cock into her ajar mouth. Starshadow didn't have time to even gag as she felt the second pony's cock fill her mouth and slide into her throat, and with a grunt of approval the stallion began to lightly fuck her mouth.
It didn't take much longer for the first stallion to reach climax. Quickening his pace to a frantic thrusting, he let out a series of deep grunts before finally thrusting as deep as he could one last time and emptied his balls, his hot cum filling Starshadow's tight foal hole. Pausing only to catch his breath, the stallion finally withdrew his cock from her body, his stallionhood still semi-hard to prove that he would be having another turn soon. "Alright, who's next?" he called out to his remaining group.
The next stallion walked up but made a disgusted face as he saw a trickle of semen leaking out from Starshadow's used hole. "Aw, come on, did you really have to cum inside her?" he complained.
The complaint didn't have any effect. "Hey, if you don't like it you can just sit out or use her ass."
Huffing in dissatisfaction, the pony decided sloppy seconds was better than nothing. Not a fan of anal, he inhaled sharply before sinking his cock into Starshadow's used pussy, and despite being grossed out about his buddy's sperm now touching him, he closed his eyes and tried to enjoy her small tight body as best he could. It didn't take long for him to forget about the white goo that had freaked him out moments earlier, and he soon was thrusting into Starshadow's body vigorously and without hesitation.
The pony using Starshadow's mouth was growing bored as her lack of participation wasn't helping to get him off. "Hey, hurry up and finish. This slut can't use her mouth properly." he said impatiently.
"Hey, it was your choice." the other pony snapped back. "Besides, we have all day, don't rush me."
With no other choice but to wait, the pony using Starshadow's mouth continued to throat-fuck the mare with partial enthusiasm until the other stallion grunted and finished, thoughtfully pulling out and cumming all over Starshadow's stomach. Once he had finished, the pony using her mouth quickly withdrew his cock and moved over to her crotch, eager to finally use one of her other holes. Unluckily for him, the sensation of sliding his cock into her hot, slick pussy gripping his shaft put him over the edge, and before he could get himself all the way inside of her body he blew his load.
The premature ejaculation created some snickering among his friends, but he too knew that he would have another chance to redeem himself. Not forgetting what was in front of them, another stallion stepped forward and flipped Starshadow over onto her stomach. Pulling her tail aside, he set his eyes on his target and spit a glob of saliva onto her ass before lining his dick up with her rear hole. He moved his hips forward, pressing the tip of his cock against her tightly puckered hole until he felt her body beginning to give in, and once he felt himself penetrating her he thrust forward hard and sunk his rod inside of her rectum.
Starshadow gave out a gasp as her dulled senses still felt the sharp pain of the sudden intrusion. She slowly flailed her rear legs in futile protest and let out a soft sob as she finally began to realize what was happening to her. "N-n-no... p-please you c-can't... Big Ma- Mac..."
"Shut up, slut." the pony inside her ass growled, smacking the back of her head hard with his hoof.
The pain from the strike and the realization that Big Mac wasn't here to save her caused her to start crying. "Stop, stop please... only my... special somepony can..." she tried to say but she was cut off as the thrusts became more savage.
"I said shut up, you whorse!" the stallion commanded again.
Thankfully for him the last stallion in the gang came up and filled her mouth with his cock, his shaft reaching farther down her throat than his buddy's. "This will teach you not to speak out when you're not supposed to." he sneered as he began to roughly fuck her mouth, not caring if the helpless mare could breathe.
Soon Starshadow found herself fighting to get even the smallest of breaths of air, struggling and talking no longer even a remote option for her. Despite her lack of resistance, the lead stallion noticed her movements becoming sharper and her eyes clearing up. "Hey, how long has it been since she's been drugged?" he called out.
"I think this morning just after sunrise." one of the other stallions called out.
Realizing that she was regaining her senses, the leader quickly retrieved another hoofie and approached Starshadow. Her eyes went wide as she saw the little white pill, but as her reflexes were still dulled she couldn't react quick enough as the pony's cock in her mouth was pulled out just long enough for the drug to be shoved into her mouth. She managed to prevent the pill from being swallowed, but she soon felt her rapist shove the first two inches of his rod back into her mouth.
"Make her swallow it." the group's leader commanded.
Smiling deviously, the pony using her mouth grunted and started to urinate in her mouth. Starshadow let out a muffled cry and tried to move backwards to spit out the pony's cock, but thanks to the stallion still fucking her ass she was unable to retreat. With her mouth quickly filling with his rancid urine and her inability to spit any significant amount of it out thanks to the angle of her head, she instinctively began to swallow his piss to clear her mouth. Just as planned, the small hoofie easily slipped down her throat and dissolved quicker than normal thanks to the warm urine surrounding it. It only took a few moments for the hoofie to take effect, and soon everypony in the train car noticed Starshadow beginning to lose her grasp on reality once again.
By the time the two stallions using Starshadow finally came, it was clear that the drug had once again taken control of Starshadow as her eyes were glassed over and her speech was gone. Smiling that it was finally his turn, Thunderlane jumped on her as soon as the other two ponies moved away. Not wasting any time, he plunged his cock into her pussy, ignoring the seed from the other five stallions coating her insides and stomach.
"Oh yeah, finally, you're getting a taste of Thunderlane. I'm gonna fill your slutty little holes all day. Yeah, and you're gonna be begging for my cock." he said mostly to himself as he thrust in and out of her, not caring that nopony else was joining him like they all had before for each other. Thunderlane didn't see the group leader sneak a few photographs of him fucking the drugged Starshadow, though he wouldn't have really cared if he had seen. He was in heaven, his long sought-after mare was now at his mercy. Further spurred on by his dirty talking, Thunderlane finally climaxed, filling Starshadow's cunt with hot horse semen once again. Once he had thrust one last time to make sure his seed would reach into her womb, Thunderlane turned around and smiled triumphantly at the five other stallions. "You see, I told you this would be a great idea." he said proudly.
The stallion leader smiled and nodded his head. "Oh yeah, this great idea was ALL yours..." he said. "Well, who's ready for another go at this slut?"
Far away in Ponyville, the hospital was busier than it had been in recent memory. Though there were only two patients in the entire building, the doctors and nurses had spent the last few hours running around frantically as they did their best to keep their two charges stable, all while Twilight and her friends were forced to do nothing but wait patiently in the waiting room.
After Twilight and Rainbow Dash had dropped off the critical Starsong and been forced to leave the emergency room, the two ponies went back and met Big Mac, Fluttershy, and Rarity halfway between Sweet Apple Acres and the hospital. As soon as Dash and Twilight took off with Applejack, Big Mac collapsed onto the ground, the strong burly stallion reduced to tears as Rarity and Fluttershy tried their best to console him. By the time they had gotten him calm enough to continue walking to the hospital Rainbow Dash had already rounded up Pinkie Pie and Octavia. However, as soon as Vinyl entered the hospital waiting room Octavia got up and left without a single word. Vinyl failed to notice her strange behavior and went straight to the nurse at the reception desk and started demanding answers. However, before the nurse could call security to prevent Vinyl from jumping over the desk, the head doctor came out and found himself quickly surrounded by everypony, their voices all mixing together as they wanted to know how Applejack and Starsong were doing.
To their relief, the doctor informed them that they had managed to stabilize Starsong and Applejack was now fully conscious but still not quite ready to accept any visitors. Everypony breathed a sigh of relief, and after the doctor returned to the emergency room to tend to Starsong, Twilight called everypony to gather around her.
"Okay, I know everypony is glad to hear that Applejack and Starsong are going to be alright, but we still need to find Starshadow. Vinyl has already alerted the guards so they'll be out looking as well, but we need to get as many ponies to help as we can."
The small group nodded in understanding. "Good. Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Vinyl, why don't you four resume the search for Starshadow?"
All four nodded, understanding that their missing friend was a higher priority than waiting to see Applejack and Starsong. Without a word, they left the hospital and raced to the spot where they had found the other two mares to begin their search there.
The next two hours passed by uneventfully. Twilight, Big Mac, and Fluttershy remained mostly silent as they waited for the doctor to come back and tell them that Applejack was well enough to see them, but before that could happen the main doors were thrown open and six royal guards entered the waiting room, all of them flanking a tall, white unicorn stallion.
The sudden entrance caught the three friends off guard, looking at the unknown stallion march up to the receptionist and glare at the nurse. "What room is Starsong in?" he asked bluntly.
"R-room 6B, but no visitors are allowed yet." the nurse said.
The stallion ignored her and turned away, walking towards the door that led to where the patient rooms were. "He- hey! I said you can't go in! Security!" the nurse shouted.
The uniformed security guard standing by the door adopted a defensive stance to repel the intruder, but he soon found himself swallowed up in a red aura and helplessly cast aside as the unicorn used his magic to clear his way.
"Hold it, she said you can't go in there!" Twilight shouted, getting up to cut off the suspicious pony. However, before she could get more than five steps, two of the royal guards intercepted her and blocked her path. Stunned at what was going on, Twilight finally managed to find her voice again. "What in Celestia's name are you doing? Stop him!" she yelled out.
The two guards refused to move and instead stood their ground. Big Mac got up and prepared to charge forward to stop the stallion, but three more guards moved in to restrain the red pony. The last remaining guard simply glared at Fluttershy, causing her to shrink down in her seat and tremble in fear.
"What the hay are you all doing? I command you to stop that stallion from going in there!" Twilight desperately said, finally resorting to use her position as princess. However, the guards ignored her commands, but the stallion finally stopped... and laughed.
"With all due respect, Princess Twilight Sparkle of Ponyville, these guards are under my strict command for the time being. They are here to obey my command and nopony else, not even Princess Celestia." he said coldly yet calmly.
Twilight peered closer at the armor and noted the small stamped sun that proved that these were the elite ponies that were tasked with protecting Celestia herself. "What are you all doing? Who gave you orders to follow this pony's orders?" she questioned.
"Princess Celestia." all six guards repeated immediately in unison.
Twilight was left in shock that some of Celestia's most loyal guards would take orders from some unknown stallion, even if Celestia commanded it. How did this pony know Princess Celestia and how did he manage to talk her into giving him six of her guards to command? But most importantly, what did he want with Starsong?
"She was attacked by somepony and isn't in any condition to see anypony yet." the nurse spoke up.
The stallion turned his eyes on her and looked at her coldly. "Foal, I'm not here to visit her. I'm here to bring her home and keep her away from this putrid town."
"Now hold on!" Big Mac's voice boomed. "You can't simply walk in and decide where she goes! Who do you think you are?"
The stallion turned his attention to Big Mac, his stern red eyes locked on to Big Mac's. "I'm her father."
Big Mac felt a surge of emotion course through his body. He glanced down at his flank and saw that the background of his cutie mark was identical to Starshadow's and Starsong's; the tri-colored aurora. Anger started to uncontrollably swell inside of him as he faced down the pony responsible for all of Starshadow's pain and suffering. Everything that had gone on in her life was because the stallion before him refused to treat her as his daughter and had forced her to run away. All because she wasn't a unicorn like the rest of her family...
Noting Big Mac's body language, Fluttershy realized what the red pony was about to do. "No, not here..." she said meekly, but it was too late. Big Mac pushed forcefully past the three guards that were blocking his path and charged at Polaris. However, he quickly found himself on the floor on his back as Polaris had calmly sidestepped the assault and tripped him, and before he could get up to attack again four of the guards jumped on him to restrain him.
"Big Mac, stop it!" Twilight shouted, but the guards had enough strength to subdue the struggling stallion.
Still sane enough to hear Twilight's words, Big Mac stopped struggling and tried his best to calm himself. To everypony's surprise, Polaris simply shrugged off the attempted attack and continued on his way into the hospital without speaking another word to Twilight or Big Mac. The guards blocking Twilight followed him immediately, and after a few moments of making sure Big Mac was done fighting the four other guards finally released him and left the waiting room.
Once the entourage had left, Twilight and Fluttershy rushed over to Big Mac to make sure he was alright, but he brushed them off as the only thing hurt was his pride. Concerned that this Polaris character was seriously going to try to take Starsong out of the hospital, Twilight ran up to the doctor as soon as he walked into the waiting room a few moments later.
"Doctor, you have to get to Starsong's room and stop somepony from taking her!" Twilight pleaded.
The doctor let out a tired sigh. "Please don't mention Polaris, I already tried to stop him before he left." he said wearily.
Twilight, Fluttershy, and Big Mac were confused by what the doctor had just said. "But, um, they never came back this way. They're still in Starsong's room, right?" Fluttershy asked.
The doctor shook his head. "No, they all left and took the patient with them."
"But how?" Twilight demanded. "It's not like they could sneak Starsong out the window and run off with her."
"Don't be absurd." the doctor said. "Starsong isn't conscious, let alone able to even walk. No, that stallion teleported everypony in his group and Starsong back to Canterlot."
Twilight balked at the claim. "He teleported... all the way to... that's impossible! Nopony can teleport themselves such a far distance, let alone another pony as well. Besides, how could you let him just take her without calling for help?"
The doctor shrugged helplessly. "I'm sorry princess, but he had this... I couldn't refuse an order like this." he said as he brought out a scroll from his lab coat pocket. Twilight's eyes widened as she saw Celestia's seal on the scroll, grabbing it from the doctor's hold and quickly unraveling the scroll to read it. Curious, Fluttershy and Big Mac came up from behind Twilight to peek over her shoulder, and as they read what Princess Celestia had written they all felt their hearts drop like rocks;
By Order of Princess Celestia of Equestria;
The bearer of this note, Polaris of the Star Family of Canterlot, is not to be hindered or delayed in the rightful return of his daughter, Starsong, to Canterlot. Anypony willfully delaying the bearer of this notice shall face penalties most severe, as decided by the Royal Guards escort or Princess Celestia herself. It is requested that all citizens of Equestria assist with any requests made by the bearer of this notice to the best of their ability.
Twilight reread the notice three more times, each time gazing at the signature at the bottom of the notice in hopes that she could detect some sort of trace that the signature was a forgery. However, there was no doubt in her mind that the signature was flawlessly authentic. "How... how could Celestia allow this?" she wondered aloud.
Just then, the doors leading outside were thrown open, causing everypony to turn in fear that Polaris had returned. However, everypony sighed with relief as they saw that it was just Spike, but the small dragon clearly looked extremely stressed and worried about something. "Twi- *gasp* Twilight! You *wheeze* have to read *gasp* this!" he exclaimed out of breath, holding up another scroll with Celestia's seal.
Tearing the seal apart and opening the letter, Twilight read the message that Celestia had sent her;
My dearest Twilight,
I come to you with a matter of the utmost importance. One of my closest and most important advisors has informed me that his daughter, Starsong, was attacked last night. He is being flown to Ponyville by my personal guards and will need you to escort him to the Ponyville Hospital as soon as he meets you at your library. He will be bringing Starsong back here to Canterlot immediately. Do not worry; I have already lined up the best doctors to take care of his daughter as soon as they arrive and he should not need anything but directions from you. I know you will use your lessons on friendship to help my friend in his time of need. Thank you, my faithful student. ~Princess Celestia.
Having read the letter to herself, Twilight repeated it aloud for Big Mac and Fluttershy. By the time Twilight had finished, the large red stallion was fuming mad, and he made his emotions very, very clear by slamming his powerful hooves down onto the floor and cracked the stone tile floor. "How can she allow HIM to just come and take Starsong? There's still Starshadow missing, and he an' Celestia didn' even MENTION her!" his voice boomed.
"Big Mac, please! Calm down." Twilight begged before turning to Spike. "When did this letter arrive?"
"When I was walking through town with Granny Smith. As soon as it came in I ran back to the library, but he had already arrived and you all were still out." Spike said. "He said he was here to pick up his daughter Starsong, but when I asked 'what about Starshadow?', he got really mad."
"Um, maybe he was, you know, just worried about her having gone missing and couldn't talk about it?" Fluttershy said, but the angry scowl Big Mac shot her caused the demure pegasus to quickly retreat behind Twilight.
"Ah told ya, he an' Celestia don' care about Starshadow!" he growled again.
"Woah, calm down everypony. I'm sure that in the panic Princess Celestia just wanted to make sure we knew about Starsong and Polaris wanted her home. I'm sure he's worried sick about Starshadow also and is asking Princess Celestia for help in finding her." Twilight reasoned.
Fluttershy nodded in agreement, but Big Mac's expression made it very clear that he did not buy that story. "Fine, I'll ask Princess Celestia myself." Twilight said. "Spike, take a letter..."
Moments later, Spike sent off the letter asking about Starshadow to Celestia. It took about fifteen minutes for Spike to receive the reply, and as Spike handed off the scroll to Twilight she smiled as she read her mentor's response;
My faithful Twilight,
I believe you are mistaken. Polaris's only daughter is named Starsong. She was attacked and then taken to Ponyville Hospital, not missing. They are already back in Canterlot and she will be recovering at home, safe and sound. Do not worry, she will be looked after by my own doctor, so she is in good hooves. ~Princess Celestia
"See? Ah told you!" Big Mac said.
Twilight's smile fell faster than Rarity had in Cloudsdale, causing the purple princess to scratch her head in absolute bewilderment. "Only daughter? That's impossible, Starsong and Starshadow are clearly sisters. There has to be a mistake. But... Princess Celestia would never say that somepony is an only-foal unless she was absolutely sure. But she would only know that if Polaris told her that."
Fluttershy remained silent as both she and Twilight realized that Big Mac was right. "Something isn't right." Twilight said. "I need to speak to Polaris a bit more and figure this out."
"But what about Starshadow? We need everypony we can to help look for her." Fluttershy pointed out.
"I know, but I think that Polaris may hold some answers that will help us find her." Twilight said. "I know it's not likely, but I think there's something Polaris is holding against Starshadow, and it may be the key to finding her."
Just then, another nurse entered the room and announced that Applejack was finally well enough to see the three ponies. Wanting to brighten the mood a little bit, Twilight put on a smile and gestured Fluttershy and Big Mac to go first. "Come on, let's go see how Applejack is doing." she said.