30. Confrontation
"This is it." Octavia said, pointing at the large mansion in front of them.
Big Macintosh was in absolute shock at the size of the house that Starshadow grew up in, and even Twilight was surprised at the sheer size despite having grown up in Canterlot herself. Though dwarfed by Celestia's castle just up the road, Polaris's home still was perhaps the largest private residence in all of Canterlot, not to mention the most expensive thanks to its prime location.
Moving up to the front door, Octavia took the lead and rang the doorbell. Just a few short seconds later a butler opened the door, eyeing the unusual group carefully. "May I help you?" he asked dully.
Octavia cleared her throat before speaking. "Uh, good day sir. We'd like to speak with Polaris if he has a moment..."
"Mister Polaris is preoccupied at the moment and is not accepting any visitors for the next few days. Good day." the butler said, but as he tried closing the door Big Mac rushed up and stuck his hoof between the door and doorframe. Ignoring the pain from having his hoof caught, Big Mac shoved the door back wide open, causing the butler to tumble backwards and fall on his flank. He gasped as he saw the angry red stallion looming above him, but Twilight quickly dragged Big Mac backwards as soon as she saw him raising a hoof in anger.
"Big Mac, stop!" she yelled. Nightshade blocked the stallion's path back inside as Twilight helped the butler back to his hooves. "I'm so, so sorry about that! He wasn't going to hurt you." she apologized.
The butler dusted himself off. "Hmph! I should hope not! Do you not know the royal guards also protect this property? They would have you all arrested on the spot!"
"I truly am sorry, but it's imperative we speak to Polaris." Twilight said. "If you could just tell him that Princess Twilight Sparkle wishes to speak to him, I'm sure he'd be willing to make time for me."
The butler surprisingly didn't give in. "Princess or not, Mister Polaris busy with a family emergency, and he has already received permission from Princess Celestia to hold off on his official duties until the crisis is over." he said. "The most I can do is inform him that you wish to speak to him, and he shall reach out to you as soon as he is available."
It was clear that they weren't going to be able to speak to Polaris, so Twilight tried another tactic. "Well, what about Starsong? Can we see how she's doing?"
The butler sighed and rolled his eyes impatiently. "Miss Starsong is still recovering from her ordeal from her journey in some shoddy one-horse town and is not receiving any visitors. Now then, I have other matters I must attend to, so if you don't mind..."
Big Mac started to try to push past Nightshade, having heard the insult against his beloved hometown, only to find that his limbs were being anchored to the ground by some invisible force. Realizing she was fighting a losing fight, Twilight simply nodded. "I'm sorry for troubling you." she said, bowing her head.
Without another word, the butler slammed the front door shut, leaving the group with no other leads to go on.
"Well now what do we do?" Big Mac huffed impatiently.
Octavia, Nightshade, and Big Mac turned their attention to Twilight, but the princess looked back at them helplessly. "I... I don't know." she said finally.
"... and then Applejack told us that the fillies had accidentally taken a barrel of the hard apple cider by mistake!"
Both Starshadow and Silver Veil laughed as Starshadow finished up her story of the birthday celebration she and Starsong had shared. She felt good sharing her adventures in Ponyville to her mother... well, parts of it. Silver Veil was also smiling from a combination of relief and joy that her daughter was finally finding true happiness. However, the laughter eventually trailed off and the mood became somber as both of them remembered that she had been snatched away from her paradise and had been brought back here against her will. However, before either of them could move on to the topic on both of their minds, Starshadow's door opened and in walked the very last pony she had ever wanted to see.
Polaris strode into the room and looked down upon his youngest daughter like she was a toad. "Silver Veil, I believe Starsong needs you to attend to her." he said to his wife.
Starshadow bolted up. "Starsong's here also? What did you do? What's going on?" she asked slightly panicked, but Polaris ignored her.
Silver Veil looked over at her husband suspiciously. "Starsong is still sedated, dear." she said calmly. "The doctor said she should rest until at least tomorrow morning to make sure all the drugs are out of her system."
With a look of indifference, Polaris repeated himself. "You should go check on Starsong. Now." he said with a hint of agitation in his voice.
Silver Veil saw the anger beginning to show in her husband's eyes and knew that it would be wise to take her leave now as to not upset him further. Starshadow knew this too, and after giving her mother a quick but loving hug she watched her mother leave to tend to her other daughter.
Alone with her vile father, Starshadow did her best to avoid eye contact with her dad. However, she could still feel his eyes on her, causing her to shift uncomfortably as he towered over her in silence. Finally, she could take no more, and with her pent up emotions finally breaking free she let her feelings be known.
"You foal-fucking monster!" She shouted, her intense hatred taking hold in her, drowning out her fear of the powerful unicorn. "Why did you bring me back here?! Why can't you just leave me alone?! I was out of your life and finally happy! Why can't you-Aaah!" Her tirade was silenced as Polaris slapped the side of her face with a surprise magical strike.
Her cheek stinging sharply, Starshadow recoiled slightly as Polaris took another step towards her. "Do you have any idea how much trouble you've caused this family, how much I've had to sacrifice to bring you back here? Since you ran away-"
"Ran away?! You threw me out! And as far as I'm concerned, that was the best thing you've ever done for me!"
"You forced my hoof with that disgusting and pitiful display," Polaris said slowly, though there was clearly malice in his voice as he recalled the night he lost his composure for the first time. "You brought everything that happened to you upon yourself when you defiled the gift that for reasons unknown was bestowed upon your flank and turned your back on your family and home."
"Don't make me laugh! A home is supposed to be a place of safety and peace; your family is supposed to love and care for you..." Starshadow's eyes welled up as she thought back on her foalhood; of being ignored and shunned by her father and the rest of the family, of never being allowed outside the estate for fear of bringing shame upon the family... "This place was a prison for me and my family cursed my very existence, all because I was born with wings instead of a horn! Without this stupid mark, I may as well not exist to you! Why in Tartarus would I ever do anything to help a family that never wanted me at all?! Why won't you just stay the buck out of my life-"
"Enough!" Polaris roared, grabbing her mane in his magic and pulling it up, forcing her to meet the towering unicorn's eyes; Starshadow was barely able to keep her back hooves on the floor from this new position. "I will not let the Star Family's legacy be tarnished by you any longer! I will not allow your selfish nonsense to drag my family into decline! You will face your destiny here and now or you will know inconceivable suffering!"
Starshadow spit at Polaris's face. The surprise attack almost caught him off guard; he was able to deflect the wad of spit with his magic just before it found its mark, but in doing so he lost his grip on Starshadow. Once free, she quickly scrambled back to her hooves, continuing to stare up at him defiantly. "Fuck you Polaris! Fuck you stupid family, and fuck this so-called 'gift'!" She ran a hoof over her scarred flank as she continued. "I don't care what you do to me, I will never, ever, open that Luna-forsaken book!"
Once she finished Starshadow shrank slightly, expecting some violent reprisal; to her immense surprise, the unicorn stallion simply turned and walked over to the door. "I see. I'll admit, you are much more willful than I expected, given everything that has happened to you. Very well then; you've made it very clear that you are unwilling to embrace your fate and destiny." Starshadow felt a small pang of satisfaction at her father's words; though she was still trapped and at the mercy of her family, at least she was able to thwart Polaris's insipid plans for her destiny. That feeling quickly faded when Polaris spoke again. "Your obnoxious disobedience notwithstanding however, that disgusting whorse body of yours can still be of some use to this family."
Her door glowed red in her father's aura before swinging open. Starshadow gasped and her eyes went wide in horror as she saw a familiar stallion standing in the doorway. As soon as he saw her, the stallion put a wide grin on his face and slowly approached her, licking his lips as he recalled the last few times he had seen her.
Polaris couldn't help but laugh at his daughter's reaction. "So I see you _do_remember him, then I believe no introductions are necessary." he smirked. "Well, you'll be happy to know that he and I have reached quite the deal; the Star family now holds majority control of the Cloudsdale Weather Factory thanks to you, and all you have to do in return is be a good wife and submit to his every whim."
Starshadow wanted to puke just at the thought, but with nowhere to run she could only grimace as the approaching stallion finally reached her and stroked her face with his disgusting hoof.
"It's been a while, Starshadow." Cirro Stratus said.