Chapter 3
She opened her eyes and looked at the gray, cold ceiling. The room was almost bare; a cabin in one of the corners, a desk where books and parchment was laying all over, and a bed were the only things in Lily Feather’s room; not that she couldn't put stuff in it, she just didn't feel like it. The only thing on her wall was a Wonderbolts poster of Spitfire.
She’d been a Wonderbolts fan ever since the orphanage went on a trip to Canterlot to see the display. She didn't really feel like going. When they all were there to see it, she snuck away and began looking at the surroundings. Suddenly, she heard a voice behind her say, "Hey, you're not allowed to be here!" Lilly turned around and saw a yellow pony with orange hair. "I'm...."
"It's OK sweety," the yellow pony grinned. "Are you lost?" "No, I just didn't want too look at that boring race," she said. The yellow pony looked at Lily. "So you don't want to look at my friends race? You do know, I’m going to race in this," she said proudly. Lily looked at the yellow pony, saying “Are you Spitfire?”
“You bet I am! For someone that doesn’t like us Wonderbolts, you sure know my name well,” she said smirking at Lily. “Well....” Lily began. “Doesn’t matter sweety, at all! I was your age once, believe it or not,” she smiled. “What you need is something special.... hmm.... I KNOW,” she suddenly said, “how about I take you to the VIP and you can see the display from there? MUCH better view than where the normal ponies are!" Spitfire pushed Lily over to the entrance of the VIP lounge.
Lilly went inside and saw a lot of fancy looking ponies. When they saw Spitfire, they all ran over and began talking to her. Lily went a bit away from the crowd and walked over to the side and looked out. "WOW!" she gasped. The view was amazing; everything could be seen from there and it looked like one of the races was about to start. She looked excited as the Wonderbolts flew around.
"Amazing, right?" Spitfire asked Lily; she’d been standing beside the filly and looked smiling on the excited pony. "Didn't think you’d like the display," Spitfire teased. "I must admit it's much better from here," Lily said. "Its my turn next. Just be here and watch if you like, and after my race I think you should sneak back to your group before they notice you’re gone." Spitfire went down to the track and Lily waited, excited to see Spitfire race.
Just before the race started, Spitfire lifted her goggles and winked to Lily and then the race started. Lily hadn’t seen anyone fly as fast as Spitfire did; there was no doubt who’d win this.
Lily snuck back to the group just after Spitfire won. She could hear some of the other foals being excited about Spitfire and smiled to herself. ‘If only they knew,’ she thought, knowing that this would be her secret. After the race, she began following Spitfire and became a Wonderbolt fan.
After staring at the ceiling for a bit, Lily went out of her bed; she couldn’t sleep anymore. She knew the caretaker would come soon anyway and wake everyone up so the older foals could go to school on time. She went out in the hallway and went to wash up and get ready for the boring breakfast she knew would be the same she had been having for as long she had been in the orphanage. On her way to the dining room, she met the caretaker.
“Good morning Lily! You’re up early,” the earth pony with a gray mane said to Lily.
“Morning,” Lily just said in a low voice and went to get something to eat before she went to school. She knew this day was going to be a bad day, the entire school would probably tease her now, why wouldn’t they? Sweet Song had probably already told them to get back on her for what she did. She didn't know why she had done it in the first place, but she had found it easier to deal with the fact that she had no parents by bullying others.
She had always wanted parents, and all her so called friends she had in the orphanage had found a home. Every one of her friends but her. She didn't know why no one wanted her, and she tried not to get too close to anyone for the fear of losing something again. Her Mother had died not long after she was born, so she didn't know who she was. Her mother had given birth to Lily while knowing she was weak and would not be able to survive it. Lily’s Father had been killed in an accident eight months before Lily was born and since she had no other family she was brought to the orphanage to live there. The only thing her mother had left her was a picture of both her parents and a letter. She had kept them both and had been reading the letter so many times she knew everything in it by heart. Her Mother had just before she died made a letter for Lily. Her last words for her daughter.
To My Beloved Lily Feather
I know that I don’t have much time left, it has taken the most of my powers just to make this letter, but I just has to tell you how much I love you. I know I will not be there for you, or your father but I want you to be strong for me. I lived my entire life in an Orphanage just like you will. The Doctors have said they will put you in the care of Miss Sprinkle Flower, the caretaker of the Orphanage here in Ponyville. When I grew up, I didn't think I would ever care for somepony, until I met your father. He was living in Ponyville and I met him one day when I was out shopping, and we felt in love fast and not long after, I moved in with him. His job was to travel a lot around Equestria, so he was not home that much but I still loved him so much. One day when he was away on one of his travels, I found out that I was pregnant with you. You don’t know how happy I was; finally being able to have a happy family which I never had myself. But the happiness didn't last long. One month after, a letter came in which told me about a collapse in a mine your father was exploring with his team. No one had been found and the collapse was so deep underground that it was not possible to save them or find out what had happened. I was devastated by this; somehow I grew weaker and weaker and you grew bigger and bigger. The Doctors said there was a very little chance for me to survive if I had you, but I knew that I had to do it! even if it meant leaving you alone. How could I not? You were the best thing that have ever happened to me. No, you ARE the best thing that ever happened and you should know I will always love you no matter what. I made an agreement with the Orphanage that all the bits I got from the house and the things will be given to you when you are able to live by yourself. I know you probably will hate me for taking this decision, but I regret nothing and I LOVE YOU, my dearest Daughter.
From Your Mother
Lily didn’t really hate her mother, but not being able to have experienced what love was, she had a hard time being able to love her mother. The picture was one of her mother and father, Lily could see that she looked a lot like her mother, and she had her father’s eyes. Her father was an earth pony with a green mane and crimson eyes, and her mother a pegasus as white as snow with deep blue eyes; she probably got her pegasus genes from her mother.
After all that had happened to Lily, she’d had a very hard time trying to get close to ponies; no matter what she tried, she always ended up hurting them before they would be hurting her. All she ever wanted was someone to love her and actually have a friend, but she knew it would be no good since she knew she would always be hurt in the end.
After breakfast, she went to her room and got all the stuff she needed for school. She didn’t want to go today; she knew the secret would probably be out by now and then it was too late for her to ever be who she deep inside wanted to be.
She walked slowly to school, looking at all the other fillies and foals who walked happily with their parents. She hated all of them, for being able to be happy when she was imprisoned. When she got to school, she was expecting the others to look at her and even talk behind her back, but that didn't happen; everyone ignored her as she was used to and nothing had changed. 'What’s going on here,' she thought, 'why are this like it use to be? Didn't she tell everypony? Is she planning on hurting me even more?' Lots of thoughts went through her mind.
She went into class to see Sweet Song and Dinky sitting and talking happily like nothing had happened. She went to her seat and sat down. Sweet Song suddenly saw her and went over to her desk. "Ummm.... I know we are not the best of friends but would you PLEASE take this letter and read it?" Sweet Song stood with a letter in her mouth looking a bit worried. "What are you planning?" Lily said in a cold icy voice "I don't want any pity from a freak like you!" WHY did she say that? She didn't mean to, but she instinctually said it defensively.
"I didn't mean it like that, and believe me, I would never sink to your level, so don't worry nopony will know," Sweet Song said almost as coldly. "But at least read it and decide what you want to do." Sweet Song turned around and went over to Dinky again. 'Who does she think she is?,' Lily thought. 'Like I would read her stupid letter.' She threw the letter into her saddle back and waited for this stupid class to be over.
When recess finally came, she went outside towards her private spot she had in the far corner of the school grounds; there, she could be herself and just read. Reading was something she had found exciting, and she could get lost in her own world and imagine that she was somepony else on adventure. She didn't get far before she was stopped by two familiar foals. "Hey there Lily," one of her so-called friends called to her. "Hey, Sunburn,".
"So what’s new? Still grounded for getting in trouble?," Sunburn asked; Lily had told them that her parents had grounded her for what she did to Sweet Song. She really didn't want to hang out with them, so she had told them that. "Yeah, I hope I get out of it soon,".
"Well that's a shame. We’re going to find some easy targets somewhere, care to join?," Sunburn asked and Lily shook her head. "Not today, had a really lousy day." Sunburn just looked at her and smiled. "That can happen too all of us. See you later Lily," He said and they both went away.
Lily sighed; she couldn’t avoid them forever, she knew that, but that was not something she would think of now. She only needed to get away and keep her mind off of things. She found her place and sat down, taking out her book; it was a nice little spot she’d discovered, surrounded by trees and a little opening in the middle so no one could see her from outside.
She could not concentrate: no matter what, the letter Sweet Song had given her kept crawling into her mind. She had decided to not read it and just let it be, but her mind kept wandering to it and curiosity got the better of her and she opened it. It was not a big letter and there were some small drawings on it that probably should be ponies. After she had read the letter she felt sick to the stomach. 'So that is what she is planning,' Lily thought. The letter said:
Hello Lily Feather. I know that we have not been the best of friends, and that you probably didn't like that I found out you lived in the orphanage. I feel very sorry for what I said the other day, really I do and I will like you to for just ONE day be a part of our family. I know it sounds very weird but please just do it! After, I will never talk to you again and we can leave each other alone. We will be waiting after school for your answer, just say yes or no.
Sweet Song
'So that was what she was planning,' Lily thought, 'she wants to step on me even further by rubbing it in my snout, how much a family she got!' She felt sick, but decided, “I will not let them step or look down on me like that; I will say yes to this and show them that I will not let this get me down!” She wandered in circles to calm down a bit, but it didn't help much. She just went back to class and waited for it to end.
After class she went outside to see Sweet Song waiting under a tree for her, and Lily walked over to her. "So?" Sweet song asked looking nervous. "I don't know what your are planning to do, I don't really care, but I agree to this," she said again coldly and walked away before any of them could reply. "We’ll get you next Saturday morning," Sweet Song yelled.
The week went really slowly for Lily; she’d regretted that she said yes so many times now, but she knew she couldn't take it back they would think she was scared, witch she actually was; and in a way, wasn't this what she wanted? To have a family? But she knew that this was impossible; why would they like her in a family, being as she was? So, the only thing she could think of was ruining the day for them in some way when she know more about this.
Tomorrow was the day and she felt anxious; there hadn't been anything at school and Lily just went to her spot and was thinking. After school she decided that she wanted to go to Twilight Sparkle’s library; that was the only place where she felt secure. Some time ago, she went on an errand for the caretaker and was greeted by Twilight, who invited her inside and began looking for the books on the list. She had never been in a place with so many books and she just walked around looking at the book covers and wanted to read so many of them. Suddenly Twilight asked, "So you like books? You can take one with you home if you promise to bring it back, then you can borrow one more after that." Twilight had smiled and Lily took the first book in the Daring Do series.
She had loved the book so much she came back the day after to borrow one more and this put on for some time until Twilight had said she could take more books with her home. Eventually, she had given permission to sit and read in a corner of the library if she wanted, so she had a place to be, and she needed that today so she went over to the library.
When she entered, she saw it was more messy than it used to be; Twilight was running around, taking one book out, reading through it fast, throwing it on the floor, and onto the next. A baby dragon went after her, trying to clean as well as he could, just to have some of the books he just put in the bookshelf be taken by Twilight again. Lily went slowly inside; "is this a bad time?" she asked slowly. "OH, hi there Lily," Twilight said, "No, don't worry about it; I'm just looking for something to help my friend and I can't seem to find anything," and she hurried on with looking for whatever it was she was looking for. Lily began picking up books and Spike looked up and smiled. "Thanks, it’s not easy following her sometimes". Lily sometimes helped Spike clean up; it was her way of thanking for borrowing books. Spike just kept on talking about all kinds of stuff and Lily just nodded and said yes when she felt like it was time for it. Cleaning helped her keep her mind off of things, and she could forget a little about tomorrow. After a while, Lily could see there wasn’t need for much help anymore and went to her spot in the back of the library..
After some time, she stood up and packed her saddle back and went into the other room of the library just to find only Spike doing the last cleanup. "Where’s Twilight?”, Lily asked. "She went to Zecora’s house to look for help there." "Zecora?" Lily asked. "She’s a zebra living in the everfree forest," spike explained. "Oh, I’ve seen her sometimes," she said and just after, the door burst open, and Twilight came in with an annoyed expression, " ARRRGGH, that zebra, she drives me nuts sometimes, blaming it on me.... OK, I was the reason we’re here now but I did it to help" talking to herself. "I’m sure they don't blame you Twilight. I know they didn’t want anything but this," Spike tried calm her down and Twilight saw that Lily was on her way out.
"WAIT," , " I'll follow you home, on my way to Applejack, it's on the way".
They walked without saying anything, until Twilight broke the silence. "Sorry about that, it's just been a stressful week". "It's OK, Twilight, may I ask what’s wrong?". "It's just that I tried help two of my friends with magic and now it’s backfired quite a bit and I feel so guilty, and there’s not a thing in Equestra that can stop it," Twilight explained. They kept walking in silence and Lily thought how wonderful it would be to have a friend that would fight no matter what for you. “I guess I'm just not that lucky”. They came to the orphanage and Twilight gave the filly a little hug and went towards the Apple Family Farm. Lily went on in and just waited for the dreaded day to arrive.
The next day, Lily was dreaming about her mother, not something she did often, but today she did. “Lilly, hun, time to wake up,” her mother said to her in a gentle voice, “in a min, mom I’m still tired” Lily replied and turned around. Wait, something was not right here. Lily opened up her eyes and saw with horror a grownup Sweet Song beside her. 'Grown up, Sweet Song?' she thought and saw that her mane was different and her eyes more bright. She finally realized that this was not Sweet Song but probably one of her mothers, and sat up quickly and asked, confused, “How did you...” Lily looked confused and the mint green pony answered, “never mind that hun, I'm here to pick up my lovely daughter”.
Then she realized that Sweet Song probably got her mothers in on this too, and they probably were planning on getting to her. She didn’t know HOW she got in here but she had, and she led her guard down.
Lyra pushed Lily gently out of bed and towards the washing room, “Now go in and freshen up, I’ll be waiting outside, we have a BIG day ahead of us!,” The mint green pony said and left Lily.
Lily did what she was told and a lot of thoughts ran through her mind. 'This was unexpected,' she thought, 'but I’ll follow their plan. I don't want them to think I'm weak,' and so she did.
Outside, the mint green pony was waiting and she smiled when she saw Lily. “LETS GO” she said happily and began walking and Lily followed her. They didn’t say anything to each other; the mint green pony just smiled and went on. Lily broke the silent “umm miss....?”, “Call me Lyra, or mom!” Lyra said grinning “Miss Lyra, where are we going?” Lily asked a little confused since she had no idea.
“We are going home to eat breakfast and then a little surprise for you,” she smiled at Lily. 'A surprise? So they wanted to surprise her and then mock me even further,' she thought and went on.
They arrived at a nice looking house and a little garden surrounding the house.
They went in the kitchen and Lily saw that Sweet Song and another pony were there. She had the same mane and eye color as Sweet Song, so Lily knew this was the other mother of Sweet Song. She also smiled when she saw Lily. “Ahh you must be our new daughter!,” and went over and hugged Lily. Lily pushed her off “Yes I'm Lily, and I'm NOT your daughter!” She said more coldly than she wanted to do. BonBon just smiled at Lily Feather and showed her to the table. “Eat sweety, we didn’t know what you liked so we did a little of everything,” BonBon said as if nothing was wrong, and they all sat around the table and Sweet Song and her mothers laughed and talked like nothing was wrong. Lily just looked down at the table not eating.
“Not hungry?” Lyra asked Lily. Lily couldn’t take it anymore, why did they mock her so much? WHY? and she just lost it “why..... WHY ARE YOU SO NICE TO ME!? I HAVE BEEN SO MEAN! I DON’T DESERVE ANYONE’S PITY! JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!” she yelled and tears were gathering in her eyes. She couldn’t hold it back anymore; she let the tears flow down and looked down at the table again. Suddenly she felt a hoof lift her chin up and she looked into two bright eyes that actually looked concerned, and Lyra said, “Sweety, we don’t care at ALL what you did. And we really mean it that we are going to be your family today! Everyone deserves a chance to be loved and we wanted you to see that we are not really some kind of freaks, we are just normal ponies, nothing else.”
Lily couldn’t take it anymore she began to cry. Cry as she hadn’t done before, since there was no one she could cry to, and now after all these years, she broke down and cried. Lyra embraced her and stroked her mane until she finally calmed down.
Lily looked up at Lyra and asked again, “why” in a tiny voice.
Bonbon went over to Lily and Lyra stepped back, Lyra knew this was something BonBon had been waiting for, it was really her part and she let her love handle this.
“Sweety, may I tell you a story? One from when I was a child?,” BonBon asked and Lily just nodded and Bonbon began.
“When I was just your age, I’d been living in an orphanage almost my entire life since my parents both died. You could say I was just like you, afraid of getting close to ponies afraid of being hurt and left, so I began bullying others to keep my distance from others. But in the end, it ended up that some of the other ponies found out and I ended up being the one teased, and someday it almost went wrong and I was almost beaten up by somepony, but then that crazy pony over there,” BonBon pointed her hooves at Lyra who just smiled. “She came out of nowhere; actually, I think she came out of the bookshelf itself, but I was kinda busy trying not to get beaten up so I didn’t really see.”
“Actually, I DID jump through the bookshelf. The librarian didn’t really like the mess” Lyra looked embarrassed. “After she jumped the older ponies and tried to beat ‘em up, she was the one ending up beaten, and I had to take her to the infirmary. I didn’t know what to say to her at ALL. Nopony ever did this for me before, so I was sitting there crying over Lyra’s bed and I just asked. Why did you help me, I don’t deserve this! And can you guess what her only reply was?”
“N...no?” Lily was still crying a bit. “I really like you,” BonBon said, “those were the only words she said to me and from that day we never were apart and became friends, and see where we are today!” BonBon said, and pointed at Sweet Song. “We got a child, the best thing ever happened to us, and we love her just as much as two normal parents would, and sweety, we really want you to feel the same way! No plans on hurting you at ALL.”
Lily didn’t know what to say; she finally realized that they actually meant every word they said, and she decided to do it. “May I tell you all a story too?,” she asked, and everypony nodded, and she told them about her mother and father, the life she had in the orphanage, everything.
BonBon came over and hugged Lilly and gave her a kiss on her forehead. Lily hugged her and said, “Thank you ,mother.” Lily went over to Sweet Song, saying, “I’m so sorry, I truly am,” and looked down the floor shyly. Sweet Song put her snout against Lily’s snout and said, “Don’t worry! I'm really happy that you decided to come!” Sweet Song hugged Lily and Lily did the same. Lily wasn’t really used to it, but she liked it and welcomed the new feelings she had. They continued the breakfast and Lily hadn’t had anything like it! For her entire life, she only really tried what the orphanage served, and she had gotten used to it so she didn’t really know how much better homemade food tasted. Lyra entertained with some stories and Lily really found some of them weird, but she liked the way she told them and was laughing before she knew it.
When they finished, BonBon asked, “Did you like it sweety?” and Lily nodded happily.
“OK, time to go to the park!,” Lyra said and pushed Sweet Song and Lily out the door, walking with them to the park while BonBon stayed behind to clean the kitchen.
Lily was surprised when she saw how many ponies had gathered in the park; it looked like almost all of Ponyville had gathered there. She saw Twilight and smiled. Lily yelled “Twilight!” happily, hugging Twilight. Twilight was a bit taken by the sudden change of character in Lily, but hugged the filly, “Hey Lily, looks like the plan worked just fine!” she said smiling.
“I didn’t know that I really needed this, but I think I do, and I thank everything to Sweet Song.” Twilight Smiled and went over to some of her friends. There were so many ponies here that Lily had only seen sometimes in Ponyville. A rainbow pegasus she had seen sleeping around on clouds at times, a white unicorn she knew was a famous dress maker, a yellow pegasus with pink hair she didn’t know who sat beside a white unicorn with pink hair. She knew who Applejack was, who didn’t? The family who ran the apple farm outside town, and Pinkie Pie she had always given her an extra cupcake when she went on errands for the orphanage. There were lots of others there she had only seen very little of.
Sweet Song came over to Lily. “I can see you know Twilight, so no idea in introducing her,” she smiled at Lily. “The yellow one over there is Fluttershy, and just beside her is my awesome foal sitter Lyniv. I think they might like each other but I’m not sure,” Sweet Song said with a smile and went on. “That’s Applejack, the one working on Sweet Apple Acres.” “I Know who she is, and Pinkie Pie, but the rest I’ve only seen a bit,” Lily interrupted Sweet Song.
“Oh, OK! That over there is Rarity, she runs the Carousel Boutique and she makes a lot of fancy dresses for ponies in Canterlot. Over there you have Rainbow Dash.” Sweet Song pointed a hoof to where Rainbow Dash was floating; Rainbow Dash saw and came over. “Hey there squirt!,” Rainbow said to Sweet Song, “who’s your friend?”
“I’m Lily Feather,” Lilly said and put a hoof forward Rainbow Dash. “Rainbow Dash here wants to join the Wonderbolts, and met ‘em lots of times!” Sweet song explained. “I LOVE THE WONDERBOLTS” Lily yelled and almost scared both Rainbow and Sweet Song. Lily began telling about her story with spitfire and Rainbow listened excitedly.
After a good talk, Rainbow said, “SO, those tiny wings of yours are they any good?” with a sly smile, and said “Race you to that tree!” and went off. Lily was quick to chase. Her tiny wings couldn’t keep up with Rainbow Dash at all, but when she came past the tree, Rainbow smiled and went over to Lily. “That was impressive, very impressive! I think I could make you even faster then me with some training, what do you say? Want to be trained by the fastest flyer in all of Equestria?” Lily couldn't even begin to explain how happy she was right now; not only did she find a friend, she also found a teacher who’d train her in flying. “YES YES YES YES YES” was the only thing she could say, hugging Rainbow Dash tightly.
“OK OK, I got it!” Rainbow blushed and tried to push the filly away.
“Hello!” Dinky came over after just arriving. “So, did it work? Is she still being a mean filly?,” she asked Sweet Song teasingly. “Hmm... I think she might, so be careful,” Sweet Song caught on and teased Lily.
“HA HA, very funny you two” she said and went over to Dinky. “I’m really grateful that you two did this for me. I really am and I’m so sorry for what I did. I hope you can ever forgive me,” Lily looked down embarrassed. Dinky just hugged Lily and she hugged her back, knowing that she’d forgiven her.
For the rest of the afternoon, they just played and had a lot of fun; Lily was so happy.
What Lily and Sweet Song didn’t see was the sadness and tears when ponies gathered around Lyra.
When they had said goodbye to everypony, Lily and Sweet Song went home with Lyra to have some dinner. When they all sat there eating, Lily said, “I don’t know what to say, but I’m really grateful that you all did this today. I think that if you hadn't done this I probably would have kept on doing this, believing that nopony could be my friend and I think I would’ve been lonely.” Lily looked down at the table and couldn’t hold her tears back, which were dripping down on the table.
BonBon lifted her head and looked into her eyes. “Sweetie, that is exactly why we did it. You deserved better than being alone, and now you have a place you can call a home. You’re ALWAYS welcome here.” She hugged Lily and wiped her tears away. They continued the dinner and Lily knew now that even though they were not her real family, she now had one that would at least love her as much as it were her own family.
The next day around noon, Sweet Song and Lily were walking toward the orphanage alone. Lily was really sad that the day was already over; she had, for the first time in her life, slept at somepony else’s house. She had a hard time falling asleep since so many things had been on her mind. She’d asked Sweet Song why she really did this and Sweet Song replied, “There had to be a reason that you acted like that, so after I saw you at the orphanage I somehow figured out that you probably were just lonely, and I don’t think anyone ever deserves that. So I figured that if I let you meet my parents, you would open up a bit and we could work something out. I can only say that it worked like a charm.” Sweet Song had cuddled up beside Lily and they both fell asleep.
When they arrived at the orphanage. Sweet Song said, “Dinky and I will be here Monday morning to pick you up so we all can go to school together.” “Are you sure that's going to be OK? You know not many ponies like me, and the new side of me might be too much for them....” Lily said worriedly. “They can just TRY! I won’t let anything happen to my friend!,” Sweet Song said and hugged Lily. “And you ARE my friend now if you like it or not.” Lily could do nothing but smile as she waved at Sweet Song and began her way home. Lily wanted to thank Sweet Song and Dinky for what they had done, and she knew what she would do; she had read that in a book.
That Monday Lily was so excited to, for the first time, go to school with somepony else. She went out washing up and went by the caretaker. “Good morning,” Lily said with a smile and was gone before the caretaker could reply. ‘I have to thank Lyra and BonBon for making her finally realize that there is a meaning to everything that happens,’ the caretaker thought and smiled.
When Lily went outside, Sweet Song and Dinky were already waiting for her and they both waved when they saw her. They all went to school. Everyone was looking when Lily came in with Sweet Song and Dinky; they didn’t expect to see a smiling Lily and one actually laughing with another pony. In the start, they couldn’t believe that this was the Lily Feather that had been so mean before, but after some time they began realizing that she had changed and this was what she was for real.
In recess, Sweet Song and Dinky took Lily with them to the library. She felt at home when she was surrounded by books. Sweet Song and Dinky Smiled to her when they saw how she actually enjoyed books. Lily took some heavy reading books over to the seat they usually sat at. Dinky looked at the thick book in amazement. “That’s some heavy stuff you like to read Lily...”
“Not really this is only light reading, I love to read about everything,” Lily smiled. “Light reading.... You could kill somepony if you dropped that on them!” Sweet Song said with a smile.
Suddenly Lily sprang up on her hooves, “OH! I forgot something in the classroom, going to get it right away!,” and she almost flew out of the door toward the classroom. She went over to her saddle back and took out 3 bracelets with a small silver trinket. Lily had spent the entire day making those friendship bracelets. The materials were borrowed from Rarity. When Rarity heard what she wanted to use it for, she found some of her best materials and gave them to Lily in the promise that she would someday come work a little in the shop. Lily would love helping in the shop, because she always wanted to know more about dressmaking. She read lot of it in books. After she made the bracelets she went to Twilight's house and asked her to perform a spell on the bracelets. After Lily explained, Twilight had agreed and it had taken her almost the entire evening to cast the spell.
Lily looked at the three bracelets she had made in the colors of her friends and herself, and she added 3 trinkets that twilight gave her that were made from the magic.
She went back toward the library but when she turned a corner she bumped into somepony and she looked up and saw who it was. “Well if it isn't Lily our fearless leader, what’s the hurry? On your way back to your new friends?” Sunburn smiled mockingly “OH yes, we know that you began hanging out with those freaks! And we also know that you live in the orphanage, do you really think we are that stupid?” And Sunburn pushed Lily down on the floor. Lily looked angrily at Sunburn, “DON'T.YOU.DARE.CALL.MY.FRIEN...” She was suddenly hit and fell down again.
“We call em exactly what we like, freak lover,” and Lily felt that her arms were twisted behind her back and Sunburn’s friend was holding her tightly. She could see Sunburn’s grin as he prepared to hit her again. She closed her eyes and waited for the hits she knew would land on her soon. 'Please help me' was the only thing she thought. The hit never came; she heard someone say “ugh” and she slowly opened her eyes to see Sunburn tackled by Dinky, feeling the hold loosen up and seeing that Sweet Song had planted a hoof on the side of the one holding her.
Almost synchronized they both said “DON'T YOU DARE LAY YOUR DIRTY HOOFS ON OUR FRIEND!” Dinky backed off Sunburn and went over to stand in front of Lily; same did Sweet Song, saying, “And I suggest that you two keep away from us from now on. We are NOT afraid of you,” she said with a ice cold voice. Sunburn and his friend backed off a bit and began walking away. “You have not heard the last of us, believe that!” he sneered and they wandered off.
Sweet Song and Dinky turned around and helped Lily up on her hooves again. “You OK?” Sweet Song asked, “I tried worse, I believe your hit hurt more than his did,” she smiled and hugged both her friends. “How did you know?” Lily asked in wonder. “Oh, Twilight saw you and hurried in and told us. I think she didn't want to interrupt since she is not a part of the school, or she had other reasons? Who knows,” Dinky said. Lily really loved her friends; this was what it felt like to have friends, and she would never change it for anything in all of Equestria. “Thank you for standing up for me. I didn't know why I felt so weak. Maybe I’m more weak than I thought” Lily didn't know why she hadn't stood up to Sunburn. “No, you are NOT! You would do the same for us, that makes you strong,” Sweet song said while she hugged Lily tightly.
They returned to the library. Lily went over to Twilight and thanked her, and returned to her friends.
“I have something for you two! I spent the whole day yesterday making these.” She showed the bracelets to her friends. Both fillies let out a little gasp when they saw them. “WOW,” Dinky said. “That must have been expensive to get all that!” And she looked at the gift in wonder. “Not really, I have some work I need to do for the treads and Twilight made those silver charms with magic. They have the ability to sense if one of us is in danger. I know it’s not much, but I wanted to thank you for doing this for me and I found this the best way.” Lily blushed and looked down on the ground and circled her hoof around. “Awwww.... You didn't had to do this, but we thank you very much!” They all hugged.
From that day, Lily had gained two new best friends, unaware of the events that soon would unfold.