//------------------------------//
// Trois 
// Story: Home is Where the Heart Lies 
// by The Princess Rarity 
//------------------------------//


~ Chapter Three ~



"Don't forget where you belong! If you ever feel alone, don't - you were never on your own."






Rarity let out a sigh, one of pure satisfaction and relief, as she felt a small smile creep up on her expression. Nothing in Ponyville had changed - and even though that slightly puzzled her, she also felt content with that fact. It almost felt like... it was waiting for her to come back.

She levitated a note out of her saddlebags, giving it to the conductor to let him know one of his employees should send her bags to the address scrawled on the paper.

The address she had chosen was, obviously, the place she had begun.

Her first true home: Carousel Boutique.

Part of her couldn't wait to see it again, while the other half was almost terrified to do so. Now, it was most likely an abandoned building seeing how like everypony in this small town, she had accidentally forgotten about it. Such a shame, too, as she realized that she could've turned it into another store location.

She started walking down the beaten path towards town, contemplating whether or not if she should convert her old home into a shop, when she was suddenly swiftly tackled to the ground. And just as she was about to mouth off whoever had knocked her over, Rarity noticed a very familiar flashing smile and a blur of pink.

...it couldn't have been-

"Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh! It's you!"

-it was.

"I can't believe it! This is, like, the greatest news ever! Better than finding out that peanut butter and chocolate spread exists! You're back! I mean, my Pinkie sense said that a doozy of a miracle was gonna happen today, but wowee zowie, I didn't think that this was it!"

The same hyper bundle of nerves, like always. Rarity almost wanted to cry with happiness. Even after a departure with no contact, it seemed one of her old friends was still happy to see her.

Fumbling to her hooves, the unicorn laughed and smiled wide. "Hello to you too, Pinkie," she declared. "It's nice to see you again."

Wrapping her friend into a massive bone-crushing hug that she was famous for, Pinkie Pie giggled.

"Welcome to Ponyville, Rare-Bear!" she practically sang. "Actually, should I say welcome back to Ponyville, seeing how you've been here before? But then again, it seems like you were gone forever, so-"

That foalish nickname.

The usual inability to never shut up.

The immense kindness.

Oh, how Rarity missed it.

"It did seem like a long time, didn't it?" the unicorn murmured.

That was actually half of the truth. To be honest, five years in Canterlot flew by faster than a speeding bullet. But back here, in Ponyville, five years seemed like a century, which was far too long to be away from such kind, caring souls. 

"You bet it did!" Pinkie announced. "Everypony missed you so so so much!"

"Did they now?" Rarity laughed.

"Well, not everypony," the party pony said, with yet another sweet giggle. "But I did! And of course, our friends too!" She suddenly let out a gasp and clapped her hooves excitedly. "I should throw a super duper Welcome Rarity Back to Ponyville party, so everypony remembers you and knows you're back!"

The fashionista shook her head and rolled her eyes playfully.

"You needn't worry about that, darling," she assured.

"Aww," Pinkie said, with a cute pout. "Can I least take you to Sugarcube Corner later so we can talk and eat cupcakes?"

"Of course," Rarity instantly replied.

While she did have her work to tend to, by just seeing one of her friends, the fashionista instantly knew that catching up was a task with the same amount of importance.

Grabbing her friend's hoof, the brilliant shining of Pinkie's smile put the sun and stars to shame as she hugged Rarity once more. "Come on!" she piped up. "I'll take you around town!"

With no time to protest, the unicorn simply gave in as she was practically dragged across the road by her companion. And she had to admit, just this simple action alone was enough to make a feeling of delight swell in Rarity's heart. It was beautiful, wonderful, and irreplaceable.

She almost wondered why she left.

Pinkie rambled on and on about every little detail, as expected, and all Rarity could do was smile and enjoy it. For the most part, nothing in Ponyville changed drastically, but she did take note of a few things her hyperactive friend pointed out.

For example, it seemed that Pinkie was no longer a measly assistant at Sugarcube Corner, but due to the Cakes' early retirement, she was now the new owner, which was bringing in more customers than ever before.

And right by the marketplace, a small music shop owned by two best friends from Manehatten had opened up a few months back. Apparently, the owners were now well-liked in the community.

In addition to that, the Ponyville schoolhouse had been extended a while ago, to make room for a middle school to service the older foals.

Words continued to tumble out of Pinkie's mouth, one after the next, but, Rarity began to ignore her once they paraded down the road and ended up around a very familiar bend, which caused the dressmaker to dig her heels into the ground and stop. She stared at the sight before her, and a bittersweet smile made it's way across her muzzle as she took in the scene.

"Oh, yeah!" the hyperactive mare chirped. "Your Boutique! We kinda kept it nice for you, y'know, in case you ever needed it out of the blue, like now! Sweetie Belle gave us the spare key a while back, we totally didn't break in or anything... although, Dashie did break a window once."

Rarity could've cried but didn't, although her expression was priceless.

"Thank you," she murmured. "You didn't have to do that."

"Of course we had to!" Pinkie trilled. "You're our friend, Rarity, and we're supposed to care about you, no matter what!"

This is what caused the dam to break. A single bittersweet tear slipped out and fell down the unicorn's cheek as she smiled brilliantly. Thankfully, Pinkie only noticed the latter and returned the grin. Her friend's words were painfully true, like a stab to the feelings, and Rarity realized that she should have taken that fact in consideration as well. Instead, what had she done? She left, became rich and famous, thus getting her head stuck in the clouds and forgetting about everypony who had supported her with her dream.

She was an idiot.

Letting another a soft thanks slip past her lips, Rarity felt frozen as she took in the Boutique, which looked as if it hadn't changed since she left.

Turning to Pinkie, the unicorn cleared her throat, breaking the silence.

"I hope you don't mind, dear, but I like to get settled for the day, if that's alright with you," she said simply. "It was a real pleasure seeing you again, and I promise, I will set aside more than enough time to catch up with you and all of our friends... if of course, they're all still here."

After all, she couldn't have been the only one who left, could she?

"Okie dokie loki!" Pinkie replied, with her usual mega-watt million-dollar smile.

No corrections.

Deciding not to say anything about that, Rarity just brushed it off and bid her farewell to her hyperactive friend as she headed over to her previous home.

It wasn't possible, was it? How could she be the only one who had moved on? She could remember Rainbow Dash's endless dreams of being a Wonderbolt, and Twilight was a Princess (one who managed to stay out of the spotlight - but still), for goodness' sake! Rarity couldn't have been the only one of her friends who had moved on to make her own life.

Then again, in Ponyville, anything was possible.

Letting out a deep breath, Rarity levitated the key out of her saddlebags and unlocked the door, almost shocked as she noticed the inside of her Boutique. A layer of dust lingered around, but she didn't expect her friends to keep it clean at all, so a little mess was nothing to her. Everything seemed like it hadn't even been touched, like the place had been waiting for her to return. Almost like it knew all along, somehow, in some way, she would come back.

Sunshine seeped through the blinds, and Rarity shrugged off her bags, waltzing over to her old fainting couch. She brushed the dust that had collected onto the red velvet and laid down, staring up at the ceiling for a minute.

Right now, in this moment, she could feel like she was almost traveling back in time.

She had been in this position before, wailing about how such a failure she was because of her overly generous offer with her friends' Gala dresses.

Of course, they had been there to comfort her.

...her friends had been so kind to her, and what had she done? She left.

Like a selfish fool - instead of the Element of Generosity she was.

Sitting up, Rarity's gaze traveled all around the building, only before she started to cry from the bottle of bittersweet emotions in her soul. This place wasn't just a shop, and this city wasn't just a town. It was her home, the path to her career, and a household that held many memories.

"Hello, old friend," she said softly, lightly chuckling to herself.

This trip wouldn't break her heart-

-instead, it would repair it.