Returning Home

by SandyShores

Chapter 3- This Wall Between Us

Starlight stood with her jaw wide open while overlooking the town she once ruled, a solid brick wall now splitting the rows of small houses in two.

Rarity was first to break the silence. “What in Equestria happened here?”

For a moment every fear Starlight had about returning to her old town dissipated. Where she had just been filled with fear at the thought of reuniting with ponies she had once brainwashed, now she was filled with an existential feeling of worry.

Twilight had told her that everypony decided to stay in the village after Starlight had been overthrown, so how could the town now be separated? Starlight couldn’t help but feel that whatever had drove them apart, it was her fault.

Now all she wanted to do was run down the cliff and see what was going on. After only a moment of silent reflecting, the purple unicorn took off at a fast pace down the hill. Rarity was nearly left in the dust of her friend as she tried to keep pace with Starlight.

“Darling, do slow down just a bit,” Rarity called out.

Starlight looked back and had completely forgotten about her friend, she slowed her pace and allowed Rarity to catch up to her. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to take off like that.”

“It’s quite alright dear,” Rarity said. “What do you think has happened?”

“I don’t know what’s going on, but whatever it is I’m going to fix it,” Starlight said with determination in her voice.

“That’s the spirit. Oh, if Twilight were here she’d be so proud of you.”

As the pair approached the town, Starlight couldn’t help but stare at large brick wall which became more and more of a reality as it drew closer. She simply couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

The two stopped at a fork in the road which began the split of the town and Rarity spoke up. “Where do we go from here?”

Before Starlight could give an answer her stomach gave one for her, rumbling loud enough for the white unicorn to hear. Starlight blushed. “Maybe we see if Sugar Belle’s still around…maybe still baking?”

Starlight led her friend down the left path as they entered what was now one-half of the town she once led. The brick wall had felt much larger and more dividing as she walked next to it.

As the two made their way towards Sugar Belle’s small bakery, which still had same appearance as every other building on either side of the town, they noticed ponies who stood outside their homes staring at the two of them, murmuring quietly to one another.

Starlight began to feel the pressure of their gazes and lowered her head to the ground in shame. Rarity raised the chin of her friend and gave her an assuring smile, Starlight smiled back with less certainty.

They walked up to the home of the baker and Starlight drew in a deep breath before knocking on the door. She waited anxiously at the front of the door for a moment before it slowly crept open.

The pony that opened the door wasn’t Sugar Belle, but rather a green earth pony which Starlight recognized as Ember Shine.

“Starlight Glimmer?” he asked in disbelief, his brow furrowed.

“Oh uhm, hi Ember,” she responded nervously.

The look on his face quickly changed from confusion to anger as he realized the mare standing at his door was truly that of the Starlight Glimmer and not a figment of his imagination.

“What do you think you’re doing here?” he demanded. “Come to take over the town again?”

“No, no,” Starlight began, the confidence in her voice quickly falling. “I’ve come to apologize for what happened.”

The stallion let out an annoyed snort. “Well, it’s a little bit late for that isn’t it?”

“I just want to know what happened. Why is there a wall?” The stallion shook his head in irritation as he began to close the door. Starlight kicked out her hoof, stopping the door but only further angering the stallion. “Please, just tell me what happened to Sugar Belle at least!”

Ember Shine loosened his hold on the door as a false smile appeared on his face. “Oh, Sugar Belle. You two are looking for Sugar Belle.” He mocked in an exaggerated tone. “Oh why didn’t you say so, I didn’t know you were looking for Sugar Belle.”

He now opened the door fully. “I’ll tell you what, you two just just head down this road.” He pointed at the dirt path. “Walk down it for a bit, and you’ll reach a fork in the road.” He demonstrated the concept of the split path with his hooves. “Walk down that path into the other side of town and you’ll find that traitor.” With that, he stepped back into his home and slammed the door on them.

The two were silent as they headed back down the path and out of the northern side of the town. Rarity wasn’t sure what to say after their first encounter and Starlight allowed her head to fall in defeat.

After a short walk, the two reached the fork again and Starlight stopped, letting out a sigh of anguish. Rarity turned to face her friend. “That guy was a jerk.”

“No, I don't know what I was thinking coming back here. I should’ve never stepped off that train.” Starlight’s face was filled with defeat. “We should just head back, there’s no way these ponies are gonna accept my apology.”

Rarity rested a hoof on her friend. “Oh dear, this isn’t about apologies anymore.”

Starlight looked up in confusion. “What do you mean, that’s the whole reason I came here.”

“That may be the reason we came here, but I saw the look in your eyes when we saw that wall,” Rarity said. “Darling, you were devastated.”

Starlight looked away. “It doesn’t matter, there’s nothing I can do to help these ponies.”

“Weren’t you the one who said you we’re going to fix whatever is going on in this town?”

“Yes, but…”

Rarity interrupted. “Well I’m sure we can figure this out,” she assured Starlight. “Together.” Rarity stepped back and presented the path which led to southern side of the town. After a moment Starlight picked up her head, gave a feigned smile, and began walking up the untravelled path.

Rarity walked just behind Starlight, almost following her lead. Her face, now out of view of friend, was filled with her own uncertainty. She was afraid that she had made the wrong choice by bringing Starlight back. She only hoped that whatever lie in the southern side of town was friendlier than the north side.

As the two entered the other side of town the first thing thing they noticed was how much more alive it felt. Simple things like planters proudly displayed in front of each home, and the houses were more colorful.

After a short walk through the more lively side of town, Starlight and Rarity sat at a table outside of what was clearly a bakery. They each picked up a menu that sat in front of them and looked over the options.

“Wow,” Rarity exclaimed. “Look at these things they have. Pies, cakes, sorbets, fruit salads, cheesecake,” she rattled off the options. “They all sound so tasty.”

“Yea, they seem to be doing better over on this side of town,” Starlight said. “I wonder why that is?”

As the two sat pondering over the choices listed on the menu, a familiar purple unicorn came trotting over wearing a frosting stained apron. She had her attention focused on her writing pad and hadn’t noticed the specific ponies that sat in front of her.

“What can I get for you two today?” she asked as Starlight lifted her head at the unmistakably sweet voice of the baker unicorn.

Sugar Belle squeaked as she saw Starlight Glimmer sitting at her table. “Sta…Starlight?” she asked fumbling over her tongue. “Is that really you?”

Starlight couldn’t help but smile at sight of the mare. “Sugar Belle, it’s so great to see you ag…”
Starlight was cut off as Sugar Belle couldn’t help but hug the unicorn. Though shocked, Starlight enjoyed every moment of the embrace. After a second, she released her hold and stepped back before noticing the other pony. “And Rarity too I see.” she said with excitement in her voice as she turned back to Starlight. “I never thought I’d see you again.”

Starlight tried to hide a smile of embarrassment.

“What brings you two back here?” Sugar Belle asked with nervous excitement.

“Well, I came here to seek forgiveness for what I’d done. But now I see that there is a bigger problem,” Starlight said as she looked at the large wall.

“Oh…” Sugar Belle said as she lowered her writing pad and looked over at the wall. “That.”

“Darling, could you tell us what happened here?” Rarity asked.

“Of course,” Sugar Belle started. “It all began after you left. For a few weeks everything went well. Everypony was happy. But after a while we started to run low on basic supplies like food and water. We just couldn’t keep up because things weren’t as organized as they had been with you. Some of the pegasi started making trips to other towns to gather supplies, but soon ponies began talking about going back to the old way.”

“The old way?” Starlight asked.

“When you were in charge,” she answered . “Ponies started to fight and some thought it’d be for the best if we went back to the old ways.”

“They wanted to be brainwashed?”

“No, not that far,” Sugar Belle clarified. “But they wanted everypony to share equal work. Just like you had us do.”

“But that’s crazy. That way didn't work.”

“Some of us knew that, but others believed the old way was best for a small town like this. They started doing things their way, the old way. After that, the two sides only started to hate each other more and more. Eventually, both sides agreed to build the wall, since no pony was willing to leave.”

“What about you?” Starlight asked.

“Me?” Sugar Belle asked confused.

“Do you hate the other ponies?” Starlight clarified.

Sugar Belle looked off to the side. “No… I don’t know. I just want us all to get along. We never really gave it a chance. Ponies on this side think they’re all crazy for wanting things the old way.” Sugar Belle looked at her flank. “And ponies over there think we’re too foolish to run a town.”

“What about Night Glider and Party Favor and Double Diamond, what happened to them?”

“Both Party Favor and Night Glider are here, on this side. Although right now Night Glider is off getting more food from Appaloosa.”

“And Double Diamond?”

Sugar Belle let out a sigh before responding. “Double Diamond believes in the old way. He’s on the other side of town.”

Starlight looked down, upset at the revelation.

“Do you know what goes on in the other town?” Rarity interjected.

“No, I used to go over there and share some cakes and muffins along with Party Favor. But…” She paused letting out another sigh. “We stopped going over when the wall went up. Now we don’t know what goes on over there.”

Suddenly Starlight’s stomach interrupted with a loud growl.

“Oh goodness, I’m sorry. I’m being so rude. You two have made a big trip coming here, I’m sure you’re both starving. What can I get for you?”

Starlight wanted to know more about how the two towns split, but she found herself craving the idea of one of Sugar Belle’s new treats. “Well, this cheesecake looks delicious.”

“Oh, I’m sorry we don’t have the cheesecake right now.” Sugar Belle admitted.

“Oh uh okay, how about the sherbet?”

Sugar Belle smiled innocently as her face began to blush indicating that the sherbet was also a no-go.

“Fruit salad?” Rarity interjected.

Sugar Belle shook her head. “Sorry, we don’t have much. Not until Night Glider gets back with more supplies.”

“Let me guess…” Starlight said. “Muffins?”

————————

A few minutes later the baker came back with a small tray with two steaming muffins and sat them down in front of the two. Rarity stared nervously at the muffin while Starlight didn’t hesitate as she picked up one of plain muffins and bit into it. While not the explosion of blueberries that she enjoyed earlier, she had to admit she still liked the taste of the plain muffins.

Rarity, after seeing Starlight enjoying the muffin, picked up her own and was surprised to find it much better than the last time. She gave a ‘Mh-hm’ of approval to Sugar Belle.

“I’m a much better baker with my cutie mark,” she joked as Starlight smiled timidly.

“So what else can you tell us?” Starlight asked in between bites of her muffin.

“What else do you wanna know?” Sugar Belle responded politely.

“Like, what happened to my old cottage?”

Starlight had seen her old cottage when she had first seen the town, it was hard to miss the oddly placed house. She just hoped she would never have to go back there. She knew that was one thing she couldn’t do. There were just too many memories of her abusive power, especially now seeing the town so divided.

“Nothing really. After you left, it was just something we all kind of avoided. We wanted to repurpose it, but then the wall went up and we really didn't want to fight with the North over it. Eventually we just boarded up the windows and doors and tried to forget it.”

“Hmm,” Starlight responded. “And the cave?”

“Oh, the first thing we did was cover up the cave.” Starlight gave a perplexed look. “With a boulder,” Sugar Belle clarified. “We all decided that it’d be best if we just sealed it off.”

Starlight nodded understandingly. It was best to try and forget the dreaded cave.

“Oh, I’m just so happy you’re back,” Sugar Belle said, surprising Starlight.

“You are?” Starlight asked.

“Of course. You really are great when you’re not trying to brainwash any pony.”

“Aww, thanks,” Starlight said as she got up to hug the baker once more.

————————

Just as the two were finishing up their muffins the light blue unicorn Party Favor came bouncing up to them.

“Hey Starlight, hey Rarity, hey Sugar Belle,” he gleefully announced. “Say Sugar Belle would you mind…” He stopped and looked directly at Starlight. “Ah, Starlight you’re back!” he said with excitement as he hugged the unicorn.

“Hi, Party Favor,” she began before being interrupted by the energetic pony.

“What’s it been, like five years?”

“Not quite that long,” she said smiling as she rolled her eyes and the two broke from their hug.

Party Favor was still practically vibrating when he stepped back and held her face with his hooves, as if examining her. “You changed your hair.” He paused. “I like it.” Starlight gave a shy smile.

“Ahem, you were saying?” Sugar Belle interjected.

Party Favor shot his gaze back to Sugar Belle. “Oh sorry, Night Glider’s just fighting with Double Diamond.”

“Oh no, not again,” Sugar Belle said as she ran off to settle the argument. Starlight, Rarity and Party Favor all followed her.

The four ran back to the fork in the road and found Night Glider, who was carrying two full saddle backs on her back, and Double Diamond arguing.

As they drew closer they were able to make out the argument.

“And that’s another thing we don’t want Starlight or Rarity coming through our side of the town!”

“What in Equestria are you talking about, Starlight Glimmer? Here?! I think you guys are starting to hallucinate over on your side.”

Just then the four, including Starlight, walked up to the arguing pair who turned to face them.

“Starlight?” Night Glider exclaimed. “So you really are back?”

“Yea, and she can stay on your side,” Double Diamond announced.

“What’s going on here?” Starlight asked.

“Well,” Night Glider started. “Flame Heart’s been missing for two days now, and I just know they had something to do with it,” she said accusingly, looking angrily at Double Diamond.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the white earth pony quickly responded.

“Of course you do!” Night Glider practically shouted to Double Diamond.

“You just stick to your side and keep Starlight over there with you,” Double Diamond said as he began to walk back down to the northern town. “It’s not like it’s going to matter for too much longer anyway.”

Comments

[Hooper_Canson]

“Of coarse. You really are great when you’re not trying to brainwash any pony.”

You mean 'course'? Coarse is what you would use to describe a rock

enjoying it so far though

[Skye Mist]

I don't have Pinkie Sense, but that last line is full of foreboding.

[zalla661]

Oh good lord its the north child and the south child tantrum syndrome again! Oh, Starlight has her work cutout for her and and Rarity.I wonder what DD means by his comment? Soon... Hmmm...

[zalla661]

7268347 Very foreboding. DD is mad.

[Emperor]

Well, given the cover art it looks like Double Diamond will play a fairly outsized role in the rest of the fic, sooooo...well, he WAS pretty much Starlight's trusted lieutenant and the most hardcore of them, right up until it was revealed Starlight had kept her Cutie Mark.

I'm surprised they haven't achieved some level of self-sufficiency in Our Town yet if they still have to go get basic food supplies from other places. Though I suppose with the town split in half nopony's quite willing to put in the work when the talents they need are on the other side still.