Returning Home

by SandyShores

Chapter 4- Strange Happenings In The North

“What did Double Diamond mean when he said it wouldn’t matter for too much longer?” Starlight asked.

The five ponies were all in Sugar Belle’s bakery. Night Glider was unloading some of the supplies from her trip and Sugar Belle was sorting the different ingredients away. Party Favor was sitting at one of tables mindlessly wrapping balloons together and Rarity sat across from him. Starlight trotted back and forth throughout the kitchen.

“I’m not sure,” Sugar Belle admitted. “But they’ve acted strange over in the north side for a while now.”

“Maybe they're moving away,” Night Glider offered. “Wouldn’t that be great?” Sugar Belle responded with a polite, but insincere smile.

“I’m not sure,” Party Favor suggested still effortlessly making balloon sculptures. “I mean, they said they would never give up their side of the town, right? That’s why we have the wall.”

“Then what could he have meant?” Rarity posed the question but no one could answer.

Starlight continued to trot back and forth, her mind buzzing with questions. What happened to the ponies that Night Glider believed were taken on the north side? What made them so hostile in the other town? But above all else, she wondered what had happened to Double Diamond to make the once sweet and kind earth pony bitter and angry towards the South.

After a short silence she spoke up, hoping to learn more about him. “Can you guys tell us what happened to make Diamond choose to live in the northern side?”

Night Glider sighed as she continued to help Sugar Belle put away and rearrange supplies. “No idea, he just started to get more and more resentful. A lot of ponies got that way. Then all the fighting started and…well, we all decided to put up the wall.” She looked like she wanted to say more but her face lowered as if she couldn’t.

Sugar Belle walked over to the pegasus. “They won’t even speak to us anymore,” she said to Starlight.

“I do hope they’re not planning something drastic,” Rarity spoke up.

Starlight perked herself up and began trotting over to Rarity. “Why don’t I go ask him?”

Both Party Favor and Sugar Belle laughed while Rarity and Night Glider looked at the unicorn with baffled expressions.

“Good one Starlight,” Party Favor said still chuckling.

“No no, I’m serious.”

“Darling, I don’t think they’ll be too kind to you over there.”

“So what?” Starlight posed the question. “I said I wanted to help, and there’s no way I can help from over here,” she said directly and with passion in her voice. “I have to figure out what’s going on over there. Besides, if they liked things the old way, then maybe I have the best shot of getting through to them.”

Sugar Belle walked up to Starlight. “Maybe you’re right. If there’s any pony they’ll listen to, it’d probably be you.”

“Very well, but I want to go with you,” Rarity stipulated.

“You can’t,” Starlight responded while shaking her head. “Like I said, maybe they’ll be a little more receptive to me if I go over there and be honest with them, but only if I go alone. If I show up with any other pony, they won’t even trust me enough to say two words to me.”

Rarity wanted to argue, but she reluctantly agreed. “Fine, but do be careful darling, we don’t know what they’re planning.”

Starlight nodded as she made her way out the door and out of the bakery, just a few seconds later however, she heard a voice calling out her name. “Starlight!”

She turned to see Night Glider flying to catch up to her. Clearly the pegasus wanted to speak with Starlight without the others present.

“Look, I know every other pony is convinced you’re here to help us, but I want you to know that if you’re planning something behind our backs or with the North, I won’t let it happen.”

Starlight understood her concern. “Night Glider, I’m sorry for everything I’ve done, but right now I just want to figure out what’s going on.”

“Okay,” she said while nodding. “but I’ve got my eye on you.”

————————-

Starlight began the short walk back over to the hostile side of town with new found determination. While she found herself filled worry, she hoped that she’d be able to get through to the struggling ponies.

Her mind began to wander, just as it had earlier, but now she recalled the day she met Double Diamond. She and her few followers had just settled into their newly built town, and Starlight would often go for walks around the area to clear her head and devise her next speech, though later she would go on walks to try and find wandering or lost ponies and try and bring them back to her town.

On one of her earliest walks, she came across the young Double Diamond. He had been skiing through one of the mountains in the area as he found them more challenging and fun, but after a mild heat wave, the snow had become unstable and he was caught in an avalanche while skiing down the slope.

He broke his leg on the way down and was trapped near the bottom of the mountain, and as an earth pony he had little hope to survive. Fortunately, after only a few hours Starlight happened to hear him struggling and was able to bring him back to her town where she and the other citizens helped nurse him back to health.

After a few weeks his leg had healed, but he was stunned when he learned that Starlight expected no compensation for his recovery. Fearing that he was taking advantage of their generosity, he stayed in the town and helped out by doing chores. At first he didn’t believe in what Starlight would preach about cutie marks, and he found it strange being surrounded by ponies who all gave up their marks, but as the weeks went on he found himself more and more accepting to his new life.

Eventually, he had become her most loyal subject, hanging on her every word. The day Starlight offered to remove his cutie mark was one of the happiest days of his life. He soon became essentially her second-in-command, reporting infractions to her and helping dole out punishments to those who needed reminders of their way of life.

She knew if she could just get through to him, maybe there was a chance she could bring down that dreaded wall and reunite the two sides.

As she trotted through the street in the north side, she was once again met with stares by several of the ponies she recognized. She held her head slightly down as to avoid making any unnecessary eye contact.

She made it to the house that Sugar Belle had told her Double Diamond lived in. It was the same as every other house on the north side, indistinguishable from the rest. She hadn’t realized it earlier, but it was clear now that while the South felt more lively and colorful, the North had remained the same as when Starlight ran the town.

She drew in a deep breath and knocked on the door. Through the thin wooden door, she could hear a scene of chaos beginning to unfold. Cabinets being shut, glass bottles frantically being clanged together and the sound of rushed hooves. After only a moment however, the pandemonium died and the door opened just enough for Double Diamond to reveal himself.

The white earth pony looked her up and down, scrutinizing her. “What are you doing here, I thought I made it perfectly clear you weren’t welcome on our side.”

“Please, I just want to talk,” Starlight spoke with sincerity.

Diamond chuckled. “Yeah, I’m sure you’re here to change our minds and get us to rejoin the other town, huh?”

“No, I swear, I’m not here to do anything like that. I just want to talk.”

Double Diamond still held the door open just a crack, he looked down as if considering the unicorn. “No tricks?”

“No tricks,” she said crossing her heart with her hoof.

“Very well then, I suppose you can stay for just a minute,” he said as he stepped back and opened the door revealing the inside of the small house. It had remained mostly the same except now the home looked as though a bomb had gone off. Loose and crumpled papers covered the floor and tables, empty jars and bottles with the smallest residue of the liquid once contained inside them littered the counters. The whole place was an absolute mess.

As she walked into the equally messy kitchen she saw Ember Shine standing near the sink. He had a look of irritation written on his face.

“What’s she doing here?” he asked turning to Double Diamond.

“She’s just here to talk,” Double Diamond said nonchalantly as he walked over to one of the chairs sitting at the kitchen table and lifted a stack of papers off of it, presenting the seat to Starlight.

She sat down slowly, trying not to disturb her surroundings, as Double Diamond trotted over to Ember. He whispered something in his ear and although the look on Ember’s face was one of annoyance as he still peered at the sitting unicorn, he nodded at what was said and made his way out of the small house.

With Ember gone Double Diamond walked over and grabbed a seat sitting across from Starlight.

“So, what brings you over to our side?” he asked politely.

“Like I said, I just want to talk.”

“Okay, let’s talk.”

Starlight drew in another sharp breath clearly Double Diamond was not going to go easy on her. “Maybe, we can start with the wall, like why it’s there?”

“Oh, I’m sure they already told you all about how hostile we are, and how much we hate them, so we put up the wall, hmm?”

“Well, not really,” Starlight admitted. “They said both of your sides weren’t getting along and agreed to put up the wall.”

“Seems like you already have your answer then,” He quickly responded.

“Yes, but I want your side of the story.”

“My side of the story,” Double Diamond asked as he stood up from his seat and began walking around the kitchen. “You want my side? Well, I’ll tell you. They don’t know how to run a town,” he said, pointing a hoof to the South accusingly.

“But they seem to be doing fine over there. Actually them seem to be doing better over there.”

“No…no, I don’t believe for a second that they’re truly happy over there.”

“Why do you say that?”

Double Diamond didn’t respond, he just looked at her for a moment as if he knew that he couldn’t give her a satisfying answer.

Starlight decided to change subjects. “What about you, why did you move to this side?”

“Does it matter?”

“Sugar Belle had said this side prefers the system I had put in place.”

Double Diamond stopped, looking directly to Starlight as if he’d waited for her to say something like that. “That’s not true, they’re trying to trick you.”

“Well, when this was my town, you were at my side, remember? You had more power than most of the other ponies in town.”

“You think I’m over here so I can be in charge?”

Starlight nodded, she thought it was possible that he was trying to run the town just as she had.

Double Diamond responded with a honest burst of laughter, not quite the response she expected.

“No, no,” he said. “I’m definitely not trying be in control.”

“Fine, what about Flame Heart, they say she went missing?” Starlight asked.

Suddenly, Double Diamond’s face lowered, his tone becoming more serious. “And what do they think happened to her?”

Starlight stared at the pony, cautious, but determined to finish her thought. “They think you kidnapped her.”

“And what do you think happened to her?”

Starlight turned her head away, not able to look the earth pony in the eyes. “I...I don’t know.”

Double Diamond snapped to Starlight, his voice now filling with anger. “You...you believe them don’t you? You really believe what they say, that we would actually kidnap a pony from their side?”

Starlight didn’t respond.

Double Diamond trotted over to the front door and held it open. “I think it's time for you to leave.”

Starlight got up from her seat went over to him. “But…but.”

“If you wish to believe their lies, that’s fine. But I won’t have you speak them on our side. Now please leave,” he demanded.

As she approached the door she wanted to say more to Double Diamond, but she knew she couldn’t find the words. She stepped out and saw Ember Shine waiting just outside the house. As he watched her walk out, he quickly scurried inside and shut the door behind him.

Starlight hadn’t learned anything from coming over to the North just as she feared. She was shut out from the moment she sat down and Diamond Diamond wasn’t about to tell her anything new, if anything she only made the situation worse. She had begun to fear that all hope was gone and there would be nothing she could do to help either side.

But Starlight had a one plan left. She still wasn’t sure what was going on, but she had one backup plan, one that she hadn’t told anyone about, and now was the time to set it into action.

Starlight trotted over to one of the few places she hoped she’d never have to return, she began the walk over to the cottage she had once called home.

Comments

[Skye Mist]

Things are snowballing downhill, I can see it clear as day.

[MagicPopcorn]

This story is getting even more interesting!

[SandyShores]

7270764 And the best is yet to come.

[Iron Comet]

Why do I have a feeling she has a scrying device in her old home?

[SandyShores]

7271068 Well I kinda wanted it to something where you'll read it and think 'Oh wow that makes total sense, how did I not see that coming'.

[zalla661]

Oh come on! What happened!?! I wanna know! You can't keep me hanging with cliffhangers forever.

[SandyShores]

7271548 New chapter tomorrow

[Emperor]

I'm guessing Starlight has something set up in her old cabin for her backup plan. Hopefully it's not 'let's start sucking away ponies' Cutie Marks to bow them into submission to find out what's going on' or something. Maybe it'll be a general-purpose sweeper that lets her search and detect Cutie Marks or something like that, something to help her find the missing pony.