Only Love Can Make You New pt. 5

When she was a filly, Lyra Heartstrings always had a look about her that suggested she was either plotting something, or was in on a joke no one else in the world understood. For that reason, among many others, Sunset Shimmer had an instant disliking for the younger unicorn. She was determined to be the best at everything herself, and that included having the upper hoof on everypony around her. Lyra's constant antics or, at the very least, allusions to antics, always made Sunset uneasy. They'd been forced to room together at school and the amber unicorn was vigilant in keeping an eye on Lyra. She didn't really care what the musical unicorn did, so long as it didn't effect her.

Though the room they shared was small, Lyra often had at least one or two friends over on a regular basis. They were all unicorns of course, what with them being in magic school, and annoying giggly and childish. Sunset had constructed a curtain for herself that she could shut to give her at least a small bit of privacy on her half of the room. Lyra was wise to her from the beginning, seeing she was a very private and focused pony, and didn't want to be bothered. Her friends, however, weren't as quick on the uptake. Moondancer, Twinkleshine, Lemon Hearts, and Minuette took turns getting verbally abused each time they interrupted Sunset's studying until they all realized she was not a pony to be bothered.

When her friends weren't around, the two unicorns tolerated each other. Sunset kept her curtain open and Lyra was much more introspective and thoughtful than she appeared to be around everypony else. Sunset knew her game; she'd seen it before in other ponies. It was insecurity that made Lyra act so differently around others, uncertainty about how well she fit in that made her become somepony totally different when the others were around. Well, all the others except for some earth pony she'd somehow befriended. Bon Bon. What a stupid name. That practically doomed her to obesity, didn't it? Still, when she was around Sunset observed a more sensitive and open side to Lyra that hadn't been expected.

On the day Sunset took her magical exam mid-term she was so confident in herself and her abilities, she wasted no time with theatrics. Juniper Berry, one of her classmates, had just tried a similar spell with less than pleasing results. Sunset wanted to blow away not only her competition, but everypony else as well. She could hear the mutterings of the judges, wondering how her growth spell would fare and whether or not it would be enough. It only made her smirk to herself and revel in the reaction that was sure to come. She was, after all, Princess Celestia's star pupil. If she couldn't give them a proper show, who could?

Her horn glowed in a pale teal aura of magic, seeds in the pot before her levitating in midair and glowing in a similar color. Then all at once, BAM! Vines shot forth, growing as thick as giant water serpents, slithering out doorways and windows, shattering the ceiling above her and reaching up as if to wrap around the very sun itself. Amid it all, Sunset stood alone with a wicked grin on her face, distress over the destruction her spell had caused greatly overshadowed by pride. When her instructors applauded – even as they were wrapped in the thick vines themselves – it only made Sunset all the more confident in who she was and what she was able to do. With a show like that, it wasn't long before the stories of her power spread throughout Canterlot.

It was later in the morning that Sunset decided to take her studying to the park. All was relatively quiet, save a little purple unicorn filly being watched over by two older ponies. It was noise easily tuned out, and Sunset settled down at a picnic table to get to work.

“Sunset Shimmer!”

She looked up upon hearing her name. Who in Equestria would be calling for her and sounding so excited? Then she spotted them, the group of young mares coming her way. It was the usual motley crew with Lyra among them. Minuette led the procession as they hurried toward her, breathless and with wonder in her eyes. “That vine you made was AMAZING!”

Sunset looked at her like she had three heads and one of them was leaking snot.

“Really exquisite,” Twinkleshine added, oblivious to the disgust on Sunset Shimmer's face.

Lyra stepped forward, hesitant, and offered her roommate a smile. “Would you like to come have lunch with us?”

The question seemed so out of the blue. Along with the other three, Moondancer and Lemon Hearts watched her with expectant smiles, expressions that only made the repulsion of their company take deeper root within Sunset Shimmer. She got to her hooves and shut her book, magically levitating it into her saddlebags before carefully looking at each one of them. Saving Lyra for last, she snorted and flipped her mane. “I have better things to do than socialize. I'm going to re-read 'Advanced Elemental Magical Practices' and then practice for my Advanced Summoning Spells exam. What are you studying for?” Lyra's pupils had gone wide, a flush of embarrassment on her cheeks, but Sunset narrowed her eyes at the younger unicorn and sneered. “Nothing, that's what.” With nothing left to say, she trotted away with her head held high.

When Lyra came back to the room they shared that night, she slammed the door behind her and ripped Sunset's curtain back with such force that it tore from the metal rod holding it up. Her eyes were red and poofy from having cried recently, and anger swelled her cheeks with color. Sunset Shimmer threw herself against her wall, surprised, her foreleg raised to protect herself. When she saw Lyra, however, she relaxed and took her in with scrutiny. “That is damaged property!”

“Do you have any idea how much you embarrassed me today?”

Sunset sighed and rolled her eyes, relaxing back down onto her bed with her book. “No, and I don't really care.”

“I have tried to be nice to you all year, Sunset! I've tried to include you in on things, to study with you, tried to be your friend and help you get to know my friends. And what do you do? You throw it back in my face as if my friendship was worth nothing more than a moldy bale of hay.”

“I don't need friends,” Sunset hissed, ears flat against her skull. “Why does everypony insist that I make friends? That is not what is important in life. Being the BEST is what matters most.”

Lyra sat back on her haunches, deflated, “What good is being the best if you're lonely?” Sunset didn't say anything, and Lyra shook her head. “I've seen you watch other ponies. I've seen you watch me with my friends. You have this look in your eyes that says you wan to join, want to be able to confide in somepony and laugh with them. I'm offering that to you. I've been offering that to you all along. Why won't you let anypony care about you?”

Sunset was silent as she stared down at her book, though her eyes stayed still to betray the fact that she wasn't reading. For the briefest moment there was a flicker of sadness in her teal eyes, something heavy and deeply powerful, yet as quickly as it was noticed, it disappeared. She turned her head toward Lyra, her glare cold and her brows low over her eyes. “I don't need anypony to care about me, do you understand? I am PERFECTLY happy on my own. I don't need you, I don't need your stupid, babbling, idiotic friends, and I certainly don't need anypony caring about me. If that's what you need in life to feel good about yourself, then that's your weakness, your issue.” She turned back to her book and quirked a brow, a dark half-smile turning up the edge of her mouth. “Maybe you should see if you can get what you need from Bon Bon, because you're definitely not going to get it here.”

The sound of Lyra's sobs as she ran from the room echoed in her ears that night. Now, standing before Lyra, it felt like a chorus of her crying in her memory. Sunset Shimmer swallowed hard and looked into the golden eyes of the younger unicorn. That was the last real exchange they'd had with one another, other than an empty look passing between them as Lyra moved her things into a different room.

“Lyra,” Sunset said uncertainly. “You haven't changed a bit.”

“Neither have you. What are you doing here?”

The question wasn't unkind, though it was not exactly friendly, either. It made Sunset glance at the other two. “I'm, um...I'm...” What was she supposed to say? How much did they know about everything she'd done since the last time they'd all seen each other? It felt lame to say she was making her rounds in Ponyville and Canterlot with hat in hoof, ready to apologize for the way she'd been. It was so strange to be there now. Lyra had been the one to cower before Sunset Shimmer, not the other way around. Yet at that moment she felt so vulnerable and powerless, she couldn't even hold her gaze for long. “I, uh...” She sighed and looked down, ears drooping. “I guess you could say I'm here to try and fix the mistakes of my past.” None of the other three said anything, only shared looks with one another that meant nothing to Sunset. She swallowed again, nervous, before lifting her head. “Amethyst, Twinkleshine...I can't tell you how many times I've thought of that day you all came to find me to tell me you liked my spell. You girls were all so nice to me even after I'd been less than friendly to you all year. I should have been gracious and thanked you.” Her eyes slid to Lyra's expressionless face. “I should have accepted your invitation to lunch.” But she knew the biggest mistake she'd made of all of them and it showed in the sadness of her smile. “I should have accepted your friendship.” There was so much she wanted to say, to Lyra especially, but words wouldn't form cohesive sentences. Instead, all she could say was, “Please for give me.”

For a long moment, none of the three unicorns said anything. Amethyst Star and Twinkleshine looked at one another over Lyra's head, a wordless conversation going on between them. Eyes were narrowed, widened, gestures were made with hooves. When they seemed to come to a decision, both of them elbowed Lyra, who'd been standing there with no expression on her face at all. She looked at Amethyst, who'd nudged her the hardest, and seemed to understand the nod the purple unicorn gave her. Her mouth curved downward in a frown, and for a minute it seemed as though she had nothing to say, but just as Sunset was about to accept the situation and walk away, Lyra shook her head.

“That night we fought is one of the clearest memories I'll ever have. I can't tell how how broken my heart was.” Her withers slumped and she looked down. “I wish I could say it – you - made me make some bad choices but they were my choices to make. I own them.”

“We own them,” Twinkleshine corrected quietly.

Confused, Sunset took them all in in turn. “I don't understand.”

“Remember how you were studying for your Advanced Summoning Spells exam?” asked Lyra. “All that next week you kept getting so close, and just when you thought you'd had it, something unexpected popped up?”

She nodded. “I was in the school library, trying to summon things from my room or from one of the classrooms but the first day, all I could summon was a cat. Then it was a bowl of stale popcorn, and after that, a half-deflated ball.” Amethyst Star grinned widely, the other two looking at her, and Sunset's brows shot upward. “That was you?”

“I was failing all my classes except for that one. They say every unicorn has a specialty and apparently that's mine.” She gave a nervous chuckle. “I'm really sorry. Forgive me?”

“And it was me who put pepper in your toothpaste,” giggled Twinkleshine behind a hoof. “I'm sorry for laughing. It's not funny. But it kind of is.”

Sunset couldn't help the soft laugh that passed her lips. “No, it really is funny. Now, at any rate. My breath smelled like I'd been chewing peppercorns for a week after that.”

Lyra grimaced, her brows coming together. “The last time I saw you, you were going to the pool. I don't know if you ever figured it out, but it was me who threw those chocolate candies into the water where you were swimming.”

Eyes widening, Sunset took Lyra in with astonishment. “You did that? Everyone thought I had...well...you know! They all screamed and couldn't get out of the water fast enough!”

“I'm so sorry, Sunset,” Lyra groaned. “That was a terrible thing to do to a pony. We were dumb kids.”

“Yeah, we were,” Sunset agreed, unable to stop the laughter bubbling up from within her. Together, all four of them relived the moments of Sunset's torture, the humor in the situations easily seen by all now that they were older. The levity, however, didn't last long. Eventually Sunset Shimmer wiped the tears from her eyes and sobered, shaking her head. “We were dumb kids, but that doesn't excuse our behavior, least of all my own. I was awful to so many ponies because I thought friendship was a weakness. Now I know how much of a strength it really is. I would never expect you to want to be my friend after everything that happened...I may not even have any right to ask for your forgiveness...but-”

Her words were cut off when pale aquamarine forelegs wrapped around her neck in an embrace. For a moment she simply froze, unsure of what to do. When the realization of what the embrace meant sank in, her eyes filled with tears once again, though this time it wasn't from laughter, but from a grateful heart. She slid her eyes closed and wrapped a foreleg around Lyra to return the hug, then felt herself enveloped by Twinkleshine and Amethyst Star as well. Soon enough they were a big, colorful ball of tears that passersby gave odd looks to before hurrying on their way.

When the moment passed and the girls extracted themselves from one another, Sunset wiped her eyes once more. “Wow,” she managed, “that was so not what I was expecting.”

Lyra shrugged and gave a watery smile. “I can't stay mad, not when someone is obviously genuine. You have my forgiveness, Sunset Shimmer, but only if you accept mine.”

“All of ours,” Twinkleshine amended.

Sunset nodded, unable to keep from grinning. “Of course!” A weight she didn't realize was as heavy as it had been felt lifted from her shoulders. There were still a great many ponies to talk to and she knew not all of them would be this easy. The revelation of the lengths these three had gone to get revenge for the way they had been treated was definitely an eye opener. She hurt them, so they hurt her. “Hurting people hurt people.”

The quiet mutter was met with confused gazes. Lyra tilted her head. “Who the what now?”

“I just realized how powerful hurt is, and not in the good way. It's like we feel like the only way we can make ourselves feel better about what was done to us is to make someone – somepony – else feel just as horrible as we do.” She made a face. “What a backwards way of thinking.”

Amethyst gave a sad shrug. “That's the way of the world, isn't it?”

“But it doesn't have to be.” Sunset took the three unicorns in, determination in her eyes. “Think of how different things would be if we offered kindness instead of malice, forgiveness instead of held onto grudges. What if, instead of letting wounds fester and grow, we talked about how the actions of others affected us?”

Lyra was nodding slowly. “Maybe then, things like what happened between us wouldn't have a chance to get so out of hoof.”

“I don't know,” said Amethyst, rubbing her chin. “How many ponies do you know who actually want to talk about things and ponies that hurt them?”

“Not many,” Sunset conceded, “but not many ponies believed the earth was round until someone was brave enough to set out and show them another way of thinking. Why can't we show ponies that there is another way instead of paying their hurt forward?”

Twinkleshine grinned wickedly. “We're gonna start a revolution.”

“Heck yeah, we are!” cheered Lyra, throwing a hoof in the air. “We totally need a cool name. Or capes!”

Sunset's ears folded backward and she gave a small chuckle. “How about we just start with seeking and offering forgiveness to those we've hurt and who have hurt us?”

“I guess we can start there,” Lyra mumbled, reigning her enthusiasm in with a blush. “But we need a game plan. We can't just go running around to every random pony asking them to forgive us of things they may not even know about or remember. We'll be thrown into the Ponyville Sanitarium before the day is out.”

Twinkleshine shivered, her pupils going to pinpricks. “Not again.”

Lyra touched her withers with a reassuring pat. “How about we go back to my place for lunch and some strategizing? Bon Bon made peach pie last night and there's still plenty left.”

Sunset looked at the younger unicorn, surprise lifting her brows. “You're still friends with Bon Bon?”

“Totally. We've been living together so long now that everypony automatically assumes we're a couple, but she's been my best friend since were fillies. She's always been there for me without question.”

“Let the haters say what they will,” Amethyst growled, waving her hoof. “Most of 'em are just jealous they can't find another pony who will stick with them as long as you two have stuck together.”

Sunset shrugged. “Whatever your situation is, Lyra, all that matters is that you're happy.”

Lyra beamed. “Thanks, Sunset. Now come on, who wants pie?”

Twinkleshine shook herself from her terrified reverie and squealed, “I like pie!”