//------------------------------//
// The Living, Breathing Personification of Generosity 
// Story: Late-Night Conversations 
// by EileenSaysHi 
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"Maybe we should sit down." Sunset, listening, nodded and dropped backward onto the steps, with Rarity setting herself next to her.

"I'm…" Sunset paused, collecting her thoughts. "I'm the bearer of the gem of Empathy. I used the magic of friendship to become a being of light… I stopped Twilight from tearing our dimension apart by offering kindness and support where no one else could! How can I feel like this about someone?! How can I have this kind of anger… this contempt that makes my blood run cold around her? It's wrong! I know it's wrong and I know it's what's brought these dreams back! But I don't know what to do…"

She swallowed. "I've never felt anything like this. Not when I was a snide little pupil in Equestria, not when I was a bully, not even when I was a demon. I've felt... passion. Drive. Poisonous ambition. Taking joy in cruelty. That... desire to win, to crush anyone who stood in my way… but not this kind of hatred." She looked over at Rarity, who appeared somewhat disbelieving. "Not anything this personal."

"I mean it certainly felt personal sometimes…"

"Look, I…" Sunset breathed for a minute to calm herself, and slowly allowed a bit of mirth to reenter her body. "I’m sorry about a lot of things, but I'm reeeaaallllly sorry about that thing with the mannequins."

"Hmph." Rarity gave an exaggerated indignant scoff, then a sly smile when she looked over at Sunset’s sheepish grin. They both giggled.

"All in the past, dear, all in the past. But I am glad you brought that point in our history up. I, well, I think it can give you some insight into your current situation with Wallflower." She watched Sunset perk up, then continued. "Because, if I’m quite honest, I, erm…. I used to hate you. Genuinely hate you."

"I wish I could be more shocked by that."

"No interrupting, darling, I'm trying to establish narrative flow here. But, ah, even if it didn't feel personal to you—and, to be clear, I do understand what you mean when you say that, and I’m not offended—it naturally felt quite personal to me. I'm afraid I rather despised you even before the time you hurled a fireball at me at the Fall Formal. So I really do know where you're coming from when you say you couldn't instantly forgive Wallflower for her actions. Because that's exactly how I felt when Princess Twilight asked us to forgive you that night.

"I’m sorry if this is a bit much to hear right now," she noted. "I can't imagine I'd be comfortable listening—"

Sunset put a hand on her shoulder, silencing her. She looked right at her and gave an approving smile. "Go on, please. I really want to know how things changed."

Rarity nodded as the hand withdrew. "As you can imagine, even with the cathartic image of you spending the rest of the dance as a bricklayer, outright forgiveness was… a tall order, to say the least. But with the rest of the group agreeing, and myself having been named as some sort of magical avatar of generosity that evening, I decided I should give it an honest try. And my first few interactions with you after that, I admit, were very, uh, forced and rocky—"

Sunset made a whistling noise that earned her a vicious glare. "Sorry!" she squeaked.

"—but it was because I just had no clue where to even begin relating to you, or finding some kind of common ground to build on, or anything of the sort! Where could I possibly start? Well, naturally, I started with what I knew I was good at. I helped patch up your jacket, I offered some of my wardrobe, and found a real opening there. Talking to you about your style gave me a point to latch onto. It felt freeing. None of the others really think about personal image quite in the way you do. And from there, it was really a game of, to put it in a way Rainbow Dash might, 'fake it till you make it.'" She smiled brightly. "And eventually I did. I think."

Sunset beamed. "Yes, Rarity. Yes you did."

Rarity's smile suddenly turned sour. "I thought I'd burned my hatred away. But then, for three ugly days last year, it sprang back to life, and I found myself taking the lead in driving you out. When you lost your memories you didn't turn back into a bully, but I turned cold and callous in a way I can't fully explain as simply instinct or self-defense. Perhaps, if it weren't for me, Twilight or someone may have clued in that something was terribly wrong." She looked away from Sunset. "That's what I mean, really, when I say I failed that day—I learned the hard way that there may be a part of me that never did forgive you, and maybe even wanted to see you hurt."

She groaned. "Because that's me! That's Rarity, the living, breathing personification of generosity! Unless I get amnesia, because then I'll just kick you into the dirt rather than deal with any unresolved issues of mine!" She cupped her hands and dropped her face into them, letting out a harsh, ragged sigh.

She looked up as Sunset began to stammer, struggling to form words as the shock of Rarity's statement hit her.

"You... you can't possibly believe that of yourself…" Sunset choked out. "You can't! I won't let you! How many times have we harnessed the magic of friendship together? Do you really think that would be possible if you had some seething hatred for me bubbling just under the surface? We even did it that day! When we were both amnesiacs!"

Now that the words were there, they were pouring out ceaselessly.

"Friendship carries on, Rarity. You helped teach me that. I didn't learn friendship by being blown into a crater, or from the lecture of a magical pony princess. I learned it from five humans who took a chance on me and showed me its worth by themselves. I don't take that for granted. And I'm certainly not about to let someone who overcame so much personal baggage for me drown in self-doubt because she happened to act weird when she got a magical lobotomy! I-I-I…"

Sunset finally caught herself and started to ease up when Rarity laid a hand on her shoulder. Her eyes went wide as she realized the scope of her outburst. "Oh. Oh Rarity, I'm so sorry, I never meant to lash out like that…"

"Don't be, Sunset. Really. I… honestly did need that reality check. I shouldn't be looking to blame myself. You're right. Few things last, but… friendship carries on. And if our friendship wasn't strong, we wouldn't be out here right now talking this through."

"Still, though, it wasn't appropriate. And I really need to be more cautious. I blew up at Twilight once, and the world nearly ended."

"Darling, don't undermine what I just said by being a complete hypocrite about blaming yourself for something ridiculous."

"Sorry."

"Speaking of undermining," Rarity said as she pulled back, "I'm afraid my little tangent reminding you of all that unpleasantness probably, well, undermined my point about how this links back to your situation. To make a long story short, I understand why you're evading Wallflower, and why you don't want to see her. And I'd certainly never encourage you to fraternize with an abuser. But I think it's clear by now that she's not out to get you. I have... interacted with her a number of times in recent months, and... it's fairly evident to me she's still quite repentant. She's happy with her new friends, but I do think it's hurting her that you—and all the rest of us, really—are skittish around her."

Now it was Rarity's turn to stop and breathe for a moment as she tried to gather her words properly. "Obviously, you're deeply uncomfortable feeling the way you do about Wallflower. You've said as much. The only advice I can offer is to confront it. Start talking to her again if you can work up the nerve. You're a kind person, Sunset, one of the kindest I've ever met—show it. Offer a kindness, and I bet you'll be able to find an entry point and run with it. I can't promise it'll work, but you can't succeed without trying.

"I won't judge you if you don't. You have every right to steer clear of her and, well, I'm sure it'll be all the easier to do so in a few days. What Wallflower did was cruel, heartless and borne out of some of the vilest desires a person can have, and I don't blame you in the slightest for your feelings. But do keep in mind that, for me personally, working through that ill will I had about you changed my life—really, truly changed my life—for the better. Because I know for a fact that I would be in a much different, far less fulfilling and far less happy place in my life if I hadn't made friends with Sunset Shimmer."