//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 // Story: The Home Coming // by brony114 //------------------------------// (Parrot Port Island, 7:30 pm) The events of that day did little to deter business in the town of Parrot Port. The markets still operated as if nothing new had occurred and the streets were just as busy as they were the day before, however, The talk that circulated throughout the town was full of fervent excitement about the new princesses that had arrived. Also many spread a rumor that their very own police captain was in fact Equestrian Royalty. There were even rumors that he was going to leave them soon. With the threat over from the pirate ship that had shown up, Parrot Port Police had returned to it's planned pace of operations. More Police were at the police station watching the prisoners before they were transferred to the main prison further inland. Twilight And her friends, minus appleJack and Rainbow Dash, were settling in to the hotel that was about three blocks from the north side shore. Since tourism was non existent, the only ponies that stayed there were those celebrating anniversaries and new comers that had unfortunately gotten stuck on the island. The girls situation wasn't a far cry from the later. Rarity was unpacking and making her bed as decorated as possible with frilly sheet covers. She was humming to herself. Pinkie had already unpacked as she wanted to go to the beach as soon as possible so that she could plan her very first beach party. Fluttershy had gone to Twilight's room to help her unpack while Cadence was in her own suite. Both Cadence and Twilight's rooms were guarded by their respective guards along with PPPD officers posted at the entrance as the princesses were now in the care of the island. " That's the last of the suitcases from the ship Twilight!" Spike said as he dragged a brown case towards the large bed. Twilight levitated the case with spike and set them both gently on the bed. " Thanks Spike, You've been a huge help!" She smiled at him. " It's no big deal, I just wish Owlicious could be here." Spike shrugged. " Me too, He's alway a huge help to us. We could really use him here." Twilight said as she looked out the window, The sun had dipped further down on the horizon. It was getting close to that time when Princess Celestia would bring the day to a close. " Maybe we should send her a letter about our progress." " Already did! She's hasn't sent a reply yet so I'm guessing she's busy." "Thanks Spike." Twilight said calmly. " So what now?" Spike asked hopping off the bed. " Maybe… twilight… I was wondering...if you don't mind...if I could go to the beach, just to see the Sea lions near the cliffs? The busboy told me about them." " Of course Fluttershy, you don't really need my permission!" " Well it is your expedition. Thank you Twilight ." Fluttershy said calmly with a smile. " Can we go too?" Spike asked excitedly. Twilight though for a moment. " No Spike, I need to go have a private chat with his highness. I'm not just gonna let him brush me off!" Twilight had a hint of aggression in her voice. " I'm gonna need you to back me up!" She said as she smiled at Spike. Nocturne Trotted from the Police station to go back home and finish healing; his right shoulder was aching so much that he was finding it hard to move fast. His mane was disheveled and his tail hung limp. He was utterly exhausted. As he trotted he noticed many ponies staring at him and many greeted him saying 'good job' and ' Way to take those bastards on!' Some however stared in silence as they wondered if he was going to leave like the rumors had said. He wasn't aware of the rumors so he was confused about the silence he was receiving. " Hey Noc! Way to go!" Said one stallion who was working a fruit stand. " Yeah Thanks!" said Noc with a wave of a hoof. Then he continued on, His head held slightly low from the exhaustion. " Captain!" Said a mare sounding voice from behind him. He almost mistook it for Pepper, but she rarely called him by rank. Noc turned around to see a purple alicorn mare with two celestial guards standing next to her and a young purple dragon sitting between her folded wings. " Yes Princess, can I help you with something?" Noc replied. " I wanted to talk to you one on one. I hope I'm not disrupting your day too much." Twilight Replied back. " Not really your highness, I'm just on my way home. What did you want to talk about?" Noc was calm and courteous. "Well, I wanted to talk to you about decision to stay here and why you left Equestria." Twilight sounded firm in her convictions of getting into his head and getting answers to her questions. Noc almost groaned as he narrowed his eyes. " You want to know why I left among other things? I dont think i owe you any answers." Noc said as politly as he could. " Princess Celestia does!" Twilight frowned with her retort. Noc returned the look. " A few nights ago, I was in her room and I saw a portriat of you standing next to her. When I asked her about you, she started tearing up! I've only seen her do that twice in my whole life ,Once, when she reunited with her sister, Princess Luna, and then when I asked her about you. I've known Princess Celestia for for ten years. She Is hurting because she has no answers as to why you left!" " Then maybe I'll write her a letter." Noc said with apparent sorrow and regret. " No you need to see her in person!" Twilight's frustration was apparent. " Princess! What do you want me to do, leave this Island on a whim? Look around you! These Ponies, are my responsibility! If i leave, their safety is in jeopardy!" " Those Pylons, They go all the way around the Island don't they?" asked Twilight. " Yes! They are the only things keeping the Pirates from invading this island and overrunning out deffenses, but they require care and upkeep! " " Can somepony else take care of them?" " Currently there are only two ponies on this island who are capable enough to watch over them and keep them running. You and me. I doubt very much you would be willing to stay here in my place and keep them working." Noc Said. " We could bring more ships and take everyone back to Equestria! Arent all of you trapped here? Don't they want to leave?" " A, not all the Islanders are here becuase they were ship wrecked. A lot of them were born here and B, many of them consider this home, me included!" Noc pointed to himself with his right hoof. "... And lets not forget, many have been enslaved by the pirates on the main island. I'm not going to leave them behind and the only way we will ever get them back is if we launch a major assult on the pirates. Care to join the war?" Noc rhetorically asked Twilight. Twilight was beginning to feel her conviction waver as she was beginning to see fault in her demands. "What about Princess Celestia! Your Aunt!" " It doesn't matter what we want!" " Why not?" " The only way I'll even consider leaving this island is if the Pirates are all in prison and the slaves freed! Non negotiable!" Noc finished. " Hey thats no way to talk to Twilight, I…" Spike was mad and he wanted Noc to stop talking like a know it all, but Twilight put a hoof to his chest. It was clear Nocturn had no intentions of leaving the Island, at least not till the Pirate menace was dealt with. " No spike,... Sorry for wasting you time Captain. This is all i wanted to talk about to you." Twilight defeated demeanor made Noc think about how he had just talked to her. "Come on Spike, let's go." Twilight did a one eighty and began trotting back the way she came, Her guards followed suit, neither one spoke a word. Spike looked back at her confused about her demeanor. Nocturn watched as Twilight and Spike began to go back to Town Hall. He felt something waver in his constitution as Twilight trotted away in minor defeat. He felt shame, shame that he would talk down to someone close to Celestia as if he had the right to say anything. However, if Twilight managed to convince him to go home, like she almost did, He couldn't guarantee the safety of the island. That was something he could never allow. He shook his head and began trotting back to his home. He didn't even have the strength to go visit his mom at the beach. It wasn't long before he reached his home and upon arival he was met with a furious suprise. perched up in one of his palm trees was Raibow Dash with her suitcase. She was laying back in the middle of the leaves reading one of her daring doo books. Noc looked up in confusion. This prompted Rainbow dash to look down at him. " Hey." She said nonchalantly. " I don't know if I should even ask." Noc asked. " Well Jerkface, in lieu of your decision to stay here on this island, I've decided stay here and never leave you alone till you do leave with us." Rainbow dash said as she turned a page. " And you think being an insane little annoyance is gonna make me want to go back to equestria with you because?" Noc Retorically asked. This made Rainbw Dash angery. " Insaine? Annoyance?" She directed her anger twords him. " Yeah have fun with that." Noc said as he turned and trotted up to his door. He levitated his keys out and opened his door, trotting inside imidiatly. " Hey where are you going? Im not done with you!" Rianbow yelled as she flew down from her perch and landed on Nocturns door step. This prompted Noc to slam the door shut in her face. A muffled voice could be heard from inside saying, " Yeah you are." This enraged Rianbow Dash even more. " Im Not leavig!" " Neither am I. Good night!" Noc cheerfully said ., " Urgh!" Rainbow could only grunt and pout in frustration. When Twilight had gotten back to the hotel to find her friends, she found a note sitting on her dresser. The other girls had found AppleJack, who had given up on getting rainbowdash to go back with her to the hotel. The note had a map showing the way to a beach party that pinkie had managed to set up right after Their meeting with the Mayor. Twilight thought it would be best to go down to the beach, at least to supervise her sometimes rowdy friends. With spike still on her back and her guards waiting outside for more orders, she was ready to go. She followed Pinkie's directions down seal way to the beach. Along the way she received stares from the locals as well. She waved to them and they would wave back, but there was a certain tension that could be felt. However, they seemed as friendly as any pony could be, in fact, Parrot port reminded Twilight of Ponyville. The sound of bass could be heard for a few miles around the beach and lights shimmered on the water. Pinkie had taken over the beach with streamers connecting to tiki torches, a large sound system playing house music and gallons of tropical punch being served up at a bar called Tickie Sue. Twilight had to rub her eyes because she could have sworn she saw Zecora serving drinks. Upon further inspection of the stripped mare she realised the zebra was somepony different. There were plenty of locals who had joined in on the party as well, including off duty police officers. The beach was in a chaotic bout of ecstasy and Pinkie, of course, was bouncing around from pony to pony, growing her incalculably large list of friends. The other girls were mixed in with the crowd that were dancing. Twilight trotted up to the beach and Pinkie waved her hoof. She then proceeded to shout over every pony, " Hey every pony, Princess Twilight is here! Everypony give her a cheer!" As Pinkie had instructed, a roar of cheering and whistling bellowed from the crowd. Twilight shrank back just a little bit from a sudden case of shyness. Pinkie hopped over to Twilight and thrusted a bright orange, long petaled flower into her mane. Come on TWilight, lets get shakin!" Pinkie said enthusiastically. Before Twilight could protest, she was dragged into the dancing crowd. She had no choice but to start dancing with her friends. Cadence, to the dismay of her crystal guards, was among the dancing ponies as well. Twilight humored Pinkie for a while before she made her way out of the dance crowd and towards Tiki Sue's. The ponies made room for her out of respect as she sat at the bar. She wasn't much of a drinker so being there was a bit daunting for her. Takola trotted up to Twilight while cleaning a glass. She said, " Hello Princess, Welcome to Tiki Sue's! Can i get you something to drink?" Twilight still had trouble not seeing her Ponyville zebra friend standing there in front of her. However, despite her Island accent, she seemed more Equestrian in spirit than her calm wise friend Zecora. " Well, what would you suggest?" Twilight timidly asked. " Well Ill start you off on something light, How about Apple wine?" Takola could see that Twilight wasn't an avid drinker. " That sounds lovely actually, I'll try that!" Twilight perked up as she recognised the drink. Rarity had introduced her to the wine when they were celebrating her birthday party one year. Tokala grabbed a wine glass and poured about a half glass of her finest apple wine. she served it to Twilight who took it into her ethereal hold. Takola took note of how she took the glass. " You are very good with your magic, aren't you?" Twilight, after taking a sip, set the drink down. " Excuse me?" Twilight was surprised she would ask about her magic. " You have good control of you magic, I noticed it when you took the glass without spilling the drink." Takola said. " Oh.. well thank you." Twilight politely replied. " Just like my son." Takola added. Twilight finished another sip of the delicious wine. " I didn't know Zebras could use telekinesis like unicorns. How does he do that without a horn?" Twilight was confused. Takola chuckled a little and said, " No He is my surrogate son, but he is my son none the less." she said with a proud smile. " Oh, so he's a unicorn? " Twilight asked. " Yes, and he is very good with magic!" Takola said. " Oh… well I certainly would like to meet him some time." Twilight was intrigued. " Oh I'd be careful Princess, He has many admirers that wouldn't take kindly to that." Takola mused. " Oh it's nothing like that, I'm only interested in getting to know the ponies of this island." Twilight blushed. " By the way, you can call me Twilight, all my friends do. " Twilight smiled at Takola. " Nice to meet you Twilight, I am Takola." Takola motioned to shake Twilight's hoof. Twilight happily obliged. " And my Son's name is Nocturn Armor, i'm sure you have already met him." Takola added. Twilight spat out her drink on the ground. Her shock was only met with laughter from her new friend. " You took him in?" " Yes, He washed up on shore with a couple of his now friends years ago. I took him in as my own to raise him right. Not that he ever listens to me." Takola chuckled at the half joke she told. " That's amazing, The ponies of this island are really wonderful!" Twilight said with a smile. " We take care of those who need our help. My boy knows this well." Takola refilled another pony's drink and slid it back to him. " So he really sees this island as home." Twilight felt a guilty about trying to get Noc to go back to Equestria. " He does, but I have a feeling he has his true home somewhere else." Takola's tone became somewhat more serious. Twilight looked up from her glass. She could see sadness in Tokala's eyes. " I'm the only one he told about his past. he told me what he had done and his heart was really broken. He thought you're princess was never going to forgive him for causing the trouble he did." Tokala spoke softer as to not let anyone else hear but her and Twilight. " Now he sees the ponies of Parrot Port as his family, but he does miss Equestria, even if he doesn't say so. Please, tell me, does Princess Celestia want to punish him?" "N..NO! She's just as heartbroken about his disappearance as you say he was. I've never seen her so happy to hear he was ok." Twilight was speaking in defense of her mentor of course but she knew deep down Celestia was extremely worried about Nocturn. " Then, is there anything we can do to help him get home?" Takola asked with enthusiasm. " I'm not sure, but maybe if we could get him to atleast talk to Princess Celestia, Maybe he can at least get closure from his fears." Twilight replied. " What if we can get him to write to her? Maybe that will help him start to talk to her?" spike suggested. " Why hasn't he done that already? In Fact, why hasn't there been any contact between Equestria and Parrot Port?" Twilight asked. " There was a magic barrier stopping us from sending any messages out to anyone. But I have been hearing rumors that we are able to travel east now, Maybe we can send messages now?" Tokala asked. Tokala didn't have anyone to talk to outside of Parrot port, she was wondering if Equestria can send aid to her island out now. " It's definitely worth a try!" Twilight proclaimed enthusiastically . Twilight left the party shortly after with spike on her back. His sleepiness didn't seem to phase his determination to help her. She had been trotting down the beach towards Nocturnes home per Tokala's directions. She was determined to talk to him even though he was probably not home. It wasn't long before she came to the beach front bachelor pad. She was surprised to hear a familiar snoring coming from one of his palm trees close to his house. Apparently Rainbow was making good on her word to stay there. " Rainbow. Rainbow!" Twilight said in a whisper. Rainbow didn't acknowledge her since she was fast asleep. Twilight frowned. Twilight turned her attention to the front door. She knocked and said, " Nocturne, Nocturne are you there?" Unfortunately nopony answered. The door to Nocturne's home had been locked but a key was visible right under the welcome matt at his door step via a quick revealing spell. Twilight unlocked the door and was poised to enter the home. Spike spoke up, " Twilight, don't you think this is wrong, just entering his house like this?" Spike spoke in a whisper. " Spike this is important and if he isn't home we'll leave." Twilight said reassuringly. She turned the knob and pushed the door open. Inside was pretty dark even for a one room condo. in the livingroom there was a desk with a candle. it was still burning. To the right was a bed with a nightstand. In the bed was a passed out Nocturn, a half drank bottle of rum sitting on the nightstand. Twilight was half appalled to see him in this condition. She could almost hear one of Rarity's gentleman rants. " OH Nocturn…" Twilight said in disappointment. then she looked to the desk where there was a single candle lighting up the room dimly. Above the desk was a shelf with awards. Next to the Desk was the an overflowing waste bin full of crumpled parchment. This gained Twilights curiosity and she trotted to the waste bin. She levitated one piece out, opened it and read it. To her surprise, it had a familiar beginning, " Dear Princess Celestia, Today I had learned that Friendship is one of the most important things to have if nothing else.,." Twilight put it down and picked up another paper. It had a similar beginning. She picked up another one, It too was addressed to Princess Celestia. Every one she picked up was a letter to the Princess; every one had not been delivered. " Spike, do you know what these are?" Twilight rhetorically asked. " Yes, I of all dragons should know, I use to write them every week!" Spike was looking over Twilight's shoulders. " What do we do with these?" Spike asked. " We need to talk to him!" Twilight said with determination.