Rebuilding

by InTheStands

Rebuilding

In Equestria, she was a pony named Sunset Shimmer, the former student of Princess Celestia. She had grown impatient and bitter with her lessons, and instead sought a way to gain friendship and respect through power.
In this world, she was a human named Susan Shelby, a student of the local high school, bullying and tormenting others to gain dominance over the school.
Her plan was simple: Steal the Element of Magic, and turn the students into her private army to overtake Equestria. At least, it seemed simple.
Then two things happened.
The first one was Celestia's new student, Twilight Sparkle, arriving, fixing the friendships Sunset had broken, and defeating her through the true power of the Elements of Harmony.
The second one was when Sunset herself put on the Element. She had felt herself grow cold as she was forced to watch all she had done. The tears. The breakups. The hatred. All her doing. It was as if the Element itself deemed her unworthy.
She hated herself.
She still did.
By all accounts, Twilight and her friends should have kicked her while she was down. Crushed her. Humiliated her.
But they didn't.
They took her in. They befriended her. They showed her that true friendship meant knowing someone did something wrong and accepting their apologies. Even after Twilight had returned to Equestria, her friends' human counterparts still spoke to her as if they were friends their whole lives.
She did not go unpunished, however. Her attempted attack left the front of the school in ruins. As such, she was forced to aid in repairing the damage until everything was fixed.
But as the bricks and mortar went up, she wondered.
Could everything be fixed?

Susan wiped her brow before taking a step back. The yellow-skinned girl looked up at the construction crew taking care of the topmost part of the school's face before looking back at her own work.
It had taken countless stays after school, and just as long withstanding the ramblings of the dimwitted boys that acted as her pawns at one time, but her work was nearly finished, and her punishment was nearly over. All it took was a few more bricks and mortar for it to be complete.
Then she could focus on other things she broke.
She put her hands through her red-and-yellow hair and returned to her work, picking up the last of the bricks, unaware of the figure walking up from behind her.
"Hey."
She tensed up, standing still for a moment before turning to face the owner of the voice. In front of her stood a particular student, sporting jeans, a jacket, yellow skin of a darker shade than hers, and blue, combed-back hair. He set down his guitar case and placed both hands in his pockets. In Equestria, he was a Royal Guard pegasus named Flash Sentry. This world's counterpart was named Flint Senters.
Susan stared at him for a moment before saying, "Hi." Then, not waiting for a response, she returned to her work. Her guest was not deterred.
"I...wanted to talk...about the Formal."
"What's there to talk about?" Susan began to grow irritated. "I did something wrong. I did a lot of things wrong. And now I'm making up for it."
Flint exhaled through his nostrils. "It's not about the whole...demon...thing," He admitted. "It's about what happened afterwards. When I saw you, crying in that crater...what happened when you put on the crown?"
Susan said nothing, continuing to place the second-to last brick in its place, pursing her lips and trying to ignore him.
He frowned. "Susan."
Her hand began to shake until the tool she held fell to the ground. She placed a hand on the wall for support.
Flint grew worried. "Susan?"
She shook her head. "Why are you calling me that?"
He was taken aback by this question before answering. "Because that's your na-"
"No, it isn't!" She spun around, her sky-blue eyes wide with anger. "You know it isn't! It's Sunset Shimmer! It's ALWAYS been that! It was SUNSET that ran away from her real home! SUNSET that came to this school! SUNSET that made everyone's lives miserable all because she never had any friends of her own!" She felt the tears trickling down her face as Flint took a step back. She began trembling before leaning against the wall and gripping her arms. "And the crown...made me see all of that. I could FEEL what I've done. Feel what they all felt. It didn't turn me into a monster. It...it just showed the monster I was all along. To the other students. To Twilight and her friends. To..." She sniffed, staring up at him. "To you." He said nothing, waiting for her to continue. "I'm sorry. I know that can't make up for it, but I'm sorry. I broke your heart, and I could feel every crack it made when I put on that crown."
Flint looked down as Sunset stifled her sobs, burying her face in her hands. He looked back up. "Do you mean it?"
"What?" She found her eyes meeting his.
"Are you actually sorry?"
She stared at him, comprehending his question. "What does it matter?" She shook her head. "Didn't you hear me? I could feel what you felt. Nothing...nothing can fix that."
Flint sighed. "No. There isn't. But I'm not here to have you fix it." He stepped closer to her. "You want to, though. You want to do whatever you can to make it right."
"But I told you-"
"I'm going to ask again," Flint firmly interrupted her. "Are you honestly sorry for what you did?"
Sunset looked at the ground before nodding solemnly.
"Then listen. You obviously can't undo everything. But you can at least show everyone you WANT to undo everything. To fix it all. Twilight left her friends here for you to show you how." Finally, he put a hand on Sunset's shoulder. "Them and me."
Sunset was taken aback. "W-what?"
"When we broke up...you were like a completely different person. Way apart from the girl I dated. But at the Formal...when you looked up at us - at me - it was like the old you was back again. And if she's still there...I want to get to know her again."
Sunset couldn't believe her ears. She shook her head, stammering. "I don't understand."
Flint took his other arm and touched her, pulling her into a hug while still looking into her eyes. "There's nothing to understand. That crown showed you what you did was wrong. And if you learned that much - if you want to become a better person - then I want to give it another chance."
Sunset could feel her lower lip trembling. "But...what about Twilight? You've been with her the whole time she was here."
"And now she's back wherever she came from. With her own friends. Her own life. Maybe even her own love life." Flint tightened the hug. "Just like I have mine. And I want to restart it with you. The real you."
She stared at him for a moment, her eyes growing moist. "Oh, Flint..."
Sunset squeezed her eyes shut as she placed her head on his chest. She could hear herself sobbing out loud and feel Flint's hand lightly patting her back. After letting it out for what felt like an eternity, she could finally feel herself smiling for the first time in a long while. She looked back up to him, beaming, as he did to her. "Yes. Yes, I'd love to start over."
"So what do you want me to call you?" Flint asked. "Sunset?"
"No," She decided. "It'll be Susan. The Susan you knew...and loved."
Flint held up her chin with his hand. "Still love, you mean."
Almost instantaneously, the two found their eyes closing and their lips meeting. It wasn't very passionate; It wasn't meant to be. Just a quick, simple kiss to mark the renewal of their relationship.
The two broke the kiss and smiled at each other before Susan pushed away. "I need to finish this up. "I'll...see you tomorrow."
"Looking forward to it."
With that, Flint picked up his guitar case, turned around, and walked away, leaving Susan to place the last of the bricks into the school to end her punishment and begin turning over a new leaf in this world.

The rumors were true.
SHE was back.
Well...not exactly.
Susan first heard it from Paulina. The pink girl's borderline obsessive desire to meet new faces meant getting every bit of information she could about new students. And her description of one particular newcomer - one that apparently moved back to the town after moving away - was one Susan, admittedly, was not ready to hear.
Susan sat alone in the cafeteria, her eyes passing over everyone there. She sighed as she folded her arms on the table, looking down at the two cards before her.
"Excuse me?"
Susan winced before looking up. She saw a face both familiar and unfamiliar: A lavender-skinned girl with long, purple hair, looking down at her with equally purple eyes. She looked at Susan with a mix of both anger and confusion.
The newcomer spoke again. "I...got your note. You were the one that posted those videos of me?"
Susan looked back down, removing one of the cards. "I...yes. It was me."
The purple girl sat down opposite from her. "I'll ask 'how' later. I just want to know 'why'."
Susan shook her head, closing her eyes and opening them, before speaking. "I've...done horrible things to people in this school. I've humiliated them. I drove friends apart. They only listened to me because they were afraid of the things I'd do to them." She breathed deeply before continuing. "It...wasn't you. It was someone that looked like you. Someone who was able to fix what I did. And I hated her for it. I tried to to everything to humiliate her. But she didn't give up. And before she left...she..." She put a hand to her mouth before continuing. "She forgave me. She showed me what friendship can do. What it can fix. What it can start." The new student was now giving her her undivided attention. "But after she went back to...her home...I realized I needed to get rid of those videos. And then there was the possibility of running into you, and having to explain myself before apologizing. So...for what it's worth..." Susan reached across the table to put her hand over her guest's. "I really am sorry for any problems I've caused. Do you...want to start over?"
The girl was confused. "Start over? How do you know I'll be just like this girl?"
"Believe me," Susan smiled a little. "I know." The two of them stood up as Susan pointed to one of the tables. "Those five over there want to meet you. I'll be right there to say hello. And they told me to give you this." She gave the girl one of the two cards - an invitation to one of Paulina's parties put together to welcome her.
The new student thanked her before walking off to the table in question, leaving Susan alone at the table once more. She pulled out the second card and opened it, reading it yet again that day:

Susan,
You can do this. If you need to be alone together, just let me know. I'll have some of the guys sit elsewhere for you. Just let her listen and let her know you mean everything you say.
I love you.
-Flint

She put the card away and smiled at a table elsewhere in the cafeteria. A yellow, blue-haired boy smiled back as she stood up and joined the other six girls, more than ready to take the opportunity to start over.