32. Negotiations
"It's been a while, Starshadow." Cirro Stratus said.
Starshadow was frozen in shock as her old boss walked towards her. Her eyes darted around the room to look for a way out as her instinct to run kicked in, but with Polaris blocking the door and her knowledge that her father always kept the windows magically sealed shut, she was trapped.
Cirro stood in front of Starshadow and lifted a hoof to stroke her face, but the pegasus mare quickly swatted his hoof away from her in disgust. "Don't touch me, you creep!" she spat.
Cirro was shocked by her behavior, but quickly recovered and looked over at Polaris. "Looks like she's forgotten some of her training." he remarked.
Polaris shrugged uncaringly. "Guess you'll have your hooves full with that." he said.
Starshadow was in shock. "W-what is going on? You can't expect me to marry him!"
Polaris stepped forward. "You've disgraced me and our entire family's legacy for the last time. I'll find some other way to open that tome, but you've wasted too much of my time and bits for me to just let go without getting something in return. The Star family now has majority share of the Weather Factory, no thanks to you and your stupid, selfish actions. We have no more use for such an ungrateful whorse like you in this family." he said.
"Ungrateful?! How in Celestia's mane am I supposed to be grateful for you locking me up for my entire childhood?!" Starshadow yelled back. "No other parent in all of Equestria treats their foals like you did!"
"You're lucky that I didn't kill you or send you to an orphanage!" Polaris answered. "Your existence was bad enough, but then you willfully desecrated the gift that fate bestowed you for Luna-knows why, insulting every pony in the family by doing so!"
"Well why don't you go take your precious family pride and shove it back up your flank! Maybe that will open your damn book!" Starshadow spat.
His anger boiling over, Polaris lashed out with magic, striking Starshadow hard across the face, silencing her as her eyes began to tear up in pain. Ignoring her pain, Cirro and Polaris headed for the door. "Let's finish that paperwork, I can't wait to take her home with me." Cirro said, taking one last lustful glance at Starshadow.
"Just remember to keep her out of sight. I don't want her ever surfacing again." Polaris said, slamming the door shut behind them.
Once the door was closed, Starshadow rushed over to it and tried the door handle, but of course it was locked from the outside. Sitting down on the floor, Starshadow let out a quiet sob as she thought of the fate Polaris had thrown at her. She had tried so hard to escape her old life and had found happiness with Big Mac in Ponyville, but Polaris had snatched that away too and was now casting her back into a life where nopony would ever know what became of her.
"...so have her delivered there and that should be everything." Cirro said, standing by the front door.
Polaris nodded, passing a freshly signed scroll to his assistant standing behind him. "Just remember our terms." he said.
Without any further delay, Cirro Stratus took his leave, flapping his wings and headed to the Royal Plaza Hotel a few blocks away. Glad that his egotistical visitor was now gone, Polaris turned to head back to his office but found Silver Veil and Starsong standing there.
Polaris looked at his daughter, who was still somewhat unsteady standing on her own. "Dear, get back in bed. You're still ill." he said.
Both mares ignored his advice. "Polaris, Starshadow's door is locked. We can't get in." Silver Veil said.
"Yes it is." Polaris said flatly. "Now Starsong, you really should be getting back to your-"
"I want to see Starshadow." Starsong interrupted, stepping forward shakily.
"That's not going to be possible." Polaris answered. "Now get back in bed."
Starsong refused to budge. "I want to see my sister." she said again.
"Dear, you really must get back to bed. Those ponies that attacked you-" Polaris started to say, but he was once again interrupted by his eldest daughter.
"Those ponies? You mean your employees?" Starsong said bitterly. "Don't try to deny it, I know they were yours. I recognized Lead Bar and Rocky when they attacked us."
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Polaris said, but in his head he cursed the dead ponies for not thinking of covering their cutie marks. "Why would I send ponies to attack you?"
"I just want to see Starshadow." Starsong said one more time.
Silver Veil looked sympathetically at her husband. "Just let her see her sister, dear. There's no harm in that." she said.
Polaris stood firm on his decision. "You cannot see her right now, and that's final." he said.
Starsong stormed off in anger, leaving Silver Veil and Polaris. "Just let her see her sister. It will give us time to talk about what Starsong just said." Silver Veil said somewhat angrily, having been talking to Starsong earlier about what she remembered from the attack.
"I'm sure she was mistaken." Polaris said, brushing her off by starting to walk away. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some work that needs my attention immediately."
"And when are you going to let us see Starshadow?" Silver Veil demanded.
Polaris stopped, his hair raising slightly as he was becoming tired of hearing that name over and over. "Her room will be unlocked by tomorrow once I leave for a business trip. You both can go in then. Understood?"
Silver Veil nodded, but Polaris was already walking away once again. "Thank you." she said quietly, happy that her husband would allow her and Starsong to see Starshadow. However, she didn't know that by the time they would be allowed into Starshadow's room, the small pegasus would no longer be there. If everything went according to plan, she'd officially be Mrs. Cirro Stratus.
To the northeast of Canterlot lay Neighagra Falls, one of the most beautiful natural attractions in Equestria. A favorite destination for families to take their vacation, it was also an extremely romantic spot where countless ponies had proposed to their special somepony. The falls also attracted another type of clientele; the area around the falls was a favorite spot for the Canterlot elite to escape the bustling equestrian capital and find some peace and quiet in their solitary mansions that were spread throughout the woods.
Though most of the ponies that bought land around Neighagra Falls were earth and unicorn ponies, a few pegasi also took a liking to the natural scenery. One of those pegasus ponies was Cirro Stratus, and as the morning sun rose he stood on his balcony and watched the sun glinting off of the lake that fed the falls. Being the CEO of the Weather Factory, he was one of the few ponies able to afford the heavy cost of buying a portion of land that bordered the lake. Only the elite of the elite could afford this prime real estate; not even Filthy Rich could afford to buy one-tenth of the land Cirro held.
A light tap at the balcony door broke the silence of the morning. "Sir, Mr. Polaris is here to see you." a servant said politely.
Cirro Stratus nodded, motioning for his servant to bring his guest in. Polaris came forward and ignored the scenic view laid out in front of him, instead taking a seat at a table that was set up. "Where's this assistant of yours?" he said anxiously. "I have a full schedule today and can't waste any more time on this."
"Calm down, Polaris. Come enjoy this beautiful day I've scheduled." Cirro said. "Surely two of the most powerful members of the Star family can spend some-"
In the blink of an eye, Cirro went from carelessly overlooking the lake to staring up at Polaris from the ground, one of the unicorn's heavy hoofs pressing at his throat. "You are not a member of my family!" Polaris snarled. "You are simply taking Starshadow off of my hooves. Do not think it grants you any special privileges among the Star family."
Cirro quickly nodded, relieved when he felt Polaris lift his hoof away, allowing him to get back on his hooves. "Yes, yes. I remember, not unless I convince Starshadow to open some book." Cirro Stratus said, having endured the lecture about the Star family legacy more times than he cared for. "Honestly, I don't see what's so hard about opening a book. What's to stop you from just opening the stupid thing yourself? It's a book, how hard can it be?"
Polaris ground a hoof into the polished tile floor in anger, wanting nothing more than to summon an aura sword and impale the pegasus in front of him upon it. However, before he could make any moves the butler returned, this time with two mares behind him. "Sir, your assistant and Miss Rainbow Dash have arrived."
Polaris tried his best to lower his blood pressure as Cirro greeted his two other visitors. Sunset Flash bowed politely as she greeted her boss and Polaris while Rainbow Dash sleepily waved a hoof in greeting. 'Two days in a row! I hate these morning duties!' she thought as the fought to stay awake.
"Take a seat, you two. We have a lot to get done today." Cirro said, motioning for the two mares to take a seat.
All four ponies sat around the table on the deck and Cirro laid out a map of Equestria. "So, Rainbow Dash, I've been informed that you're covering my office while I'm away, correct?"
Dash nodded, her eyes still heavy from being awoken at four in the morning by Sunset Flash to get ready for this last minute business trip. "Yup, that's right." she said before letting out a long yawn.
Polaris was not impressed with Cirro's 'replacement' and got up. "I don't believe my presence is needed here for this." he said.
"Oh come now, surely you'd like to stay and 'discuss' some things with my secretary after this." Cirro said, glancing at Sunset and winking at Polaris.
Polaris knew exactly what Cirro was hinting at as he knew that the rumors surrounding Cirro and his secretaries were all true. "You have all my demands, there's no reason for me to waste any more time here. Good day." he said, turning to take his leave. Everypony watched him as his horn lit and a moment later the unicorn disappeared in a crimson flash.
Finally Cirro broke the silence. "Don't mind him, he's just in a bad mood. Then again, I've never seen him in a good mood." he said, winking at Dash next. "Anyway, thank you both for coming out here on such short notice. I needed to discuss a slight change in the weather patterns we had planned directly with you."
Rainbow Dash looked confused. The weather patterns for Equestria were determined by the Farmers Unions based on the needs of their crops and the weather factory scouts who flew across Equestria to see what kind of weather was needed where. Cirro had the authority to change the weather patterns but it was a power that was to only be used as the very last resort, and even he acknowledged publicly that changing the weather patterns the professionals came up with would be a massive mistake. However, as he began outlying the new areas that had priority and slid Rainbow Dash a packet outlying the new weekly weather patterns for all of Equestria, the rainbow pegasus was now wide awake and was deeply troubled by what she was reading.
"Uh, Cirro, sir?" she spoke up. "Where did you get these changes from? These aren't even close to what we have planned right now."
"Don't worry about that, Rainbow Dash." Cirro said smiling. "We've simply had a shift in priorities for certain areas. It's just a small change that won't affect anypony."
"But, look right here. The farms outside of Fillydelphia are scheduled to go three weeks without any rain! And you have a two day storm over the San Palomino Desert when it's their dry season! That was supposed to pass over the White Tail Woods and Los Pegasus, and then out to the ocean."
Cirro Stratus looked at where Rainbow Dash was pointing on the map and shrugged. "It's a small oversight, just a minor inconvenience." he said uncaringly. "We have to keep that area clear those days, so we'll take the storm south through the desert."
Rainbow Dash was equally as baffled as she looked over the rest of the revisions her boss had made. Snow thunderstorms above Baltimare, a tornado at the top of Foal Mountain, five rainbows above Dodge Junction in the middle of the night; nothing made any sense. The biggest shock came when she looked at the schedule for Canterlot.
"Rain?" she exclaimed in surprise.
It was common knowledge amongst all the weather pegasi that there was NEVER rain scheduled during the day in Canterlot. All rainfall occurred at night when the city was asleep as to not inconvenience anypony, especially the Royal Sisters. But now Rainbow Dash was looking at the first scheduled rainfall for Canterlot during the day in the capital's entire history.
Cirro shrugged. "We have to keep Unicorn Range clear that day, and there's no other choice but to move the rain clouds over Canterlot that day. It's no big deal."
"Not a big deal? This is the biggest deal!" Rainbow said. "Canterlot is in my sector! I don't want to be the pony to break a thousand-year tradition! Why the hay do we need to keep the rain out of Unicorn Range? There's nothing out there!"
Turning through his own personal notes, Cirro found the page he was looking for. "Let's see, let's see... ah, there we are. Polaris is scheduled to take the Equestrian Third Reserve Battalion out there for training."
Rainbow Dash's jaw dropped when she heard this. "You're going to make it rain over Canterlot so somepony doesn't have to get wet?!"
Cirro chuckled. "Of course not, that would be absolutely silly. Listen, don't worry about those small details, just distribute this new weather plan to the factory supervisors and everything will go as smoothly as usual." Dash looked skeptical over his claims, but Cirro closed his folder to signal that he was done. "Thank you for your time, Rainbow. That is all." he said, confirming the meeting was done.
Despite her still uneasy feelings, Rainbow Dash had no choice but to gather up the papers and take her leave. Sunset Flash also stood up to leave but Cirro motioned for her to stay. "No, I need you to stay with me. I have a special task for you."
Sunset's heart fluttered and a big smile appeared on her face. "Of course, sir!" she said excitedly. "Rainbow, if you need any help at the office..."
"Yeah, I'm fine, don't worry." Rainbow replied, still confused over the contents of her papers. "I'll see you later, Sunset."
Without any further ado, Rainbow Dash took off into the morning sky and flew as quickly as she could back to Cloudsdale to drop off the new orders. With her now gone, Sunset assumed the role she had been trained to when alone with her Master. "So, Master... what would you like your slut to do?" she asked, getting out of her seat and approaching Cirro. As she had been instructed to do every time, Sunset turned to present herself to her newest master, spreading her hind legs unashamedly. "I was so sad when you left and didn't bring me, but now I'm so happy."
However, Cirro had something more important on her mind. "Get up, I don't have time for playing around right now. I need you to help prepare my newest and greatest prize."
Sunset stood up and turned to face him, somewhat disappointed that her master didn't wish to use her body as he normally did. "I'm sorry, Master. Did I do something wrong?"
Cirro stood up and patted her reassuringly on the head. "No, you did nothing wrong. Now come with me."
Sunset followed her master obediently as they went back inside the large lakeside mansion. She had only been here once before, back when Cirro had 'hired' her to be his secretary. Though North Poll had freed from her sexual slavery conditions once she had grown too old for his tastes and had even given his former pet a substantial amount of bits to start a new life, Sunset's unique upbringing prevented her from being able to function in normal society and she quickly found a new master to care for her. She found herself passed around a few times due to various reasons, and she was actually at her lowest when she found herself without a master and stranded in San Prancisco. She finally ended up waiting tables at a bar and offering her body in lieu of rent to her landlord, as well as to any customer who offered her an 'extra tip'. She became depressed as day after day passed by without finding somepony to care for her, to own her, until that fateful day when Cirro walked in and sat at one of her tables. She immediately succumbed to his advances, and after a somewhat rough bucking in the stallion's room she eagerly accepted his invitation for her to come 'work' for him. Of course, there was an 'interview' she had to pass, but she of course passed with flying colors once he brought her here and spent the majority of five days inside of her.
"Hey, Sunset, pay attention!" Cirro barked, snapping the fiery mare out of her reminiscing.
"I'm sorry, Master. I was thinking of the last time you brought me here, when you took ownership of me." she said fondly. Looking at her surroundings, she realized that they had walked down into the basement without her even noticing.
Cirro brushed her comment aside like it was dirt. "Hmph, well, don't make me have to fire you. Now come here."
Always scared he would, Sunset quickly ran to his side and found herself in front of one of the storage room doors. "Like I told you before, I'm getting married, but it seems that my beau is less than willing to feel the same way about me." he said.
Sunset's ears drooped as she nodded. Cirro was _her_master, but him getting married would most likely mean she was now obsolete. However, she knew it was not her place to object and she had to accept whatever decision Cirro reached.
"Good, you're not as slow as you seem." Cirro said, not noticing, or not caring, about Sunset's saddened state. "Anyway, she's inside here. You have until sundown to make this mare accept me as her husband and to prepare her for our wedding night. Do you understand?"
Sunset Flash nodded obediently, holding back the urge to cry. "Then get to it." Cirro said, unlocking and opening the door.
Sunset walked in and heard the door slam shut behind her, the door locking with a loud_'CLICK'_. Looking around the dimly lit area, she saw the usual clutter of extra and obsolete furniture scattered around the room, but all the way against the far wall a small cot was set up with a pony fast asleep on it. Walking towards it, Sunset removed the blanket covering the pony and gasped. The body was very familiar, but the cutie mark solidified her suspicions. She hadn't seen this pony for years, not since they were both fillies. Not since that fateful night where her best friend was sold for twelve thousand bits.
Silently, Sunset sat down next to the cot and gently ran her hoof through the pony's mane. It was clear that the pony had been drugged, so all Sunset could do was wait until the drugs wore off. Despite the dark circumstances surrounding them, Sunset smiled as she was finally reunited with her long lost friend.
"Starshadow..."