Shoeshine stifled a yawn as she continued flipping through her comic and shifted on her seat. She hated to admit it, but she was bored. She had already cleaned her entire house, her entire small farrier shop, visited Carrot Top and her sister.

"Anypony home?" A soft, melodic voice called and Shoeshine tensed up, breathing softly. If she didn't move or make a sound, Lyra wouldn't see or hear her. "Shoeshine?"

Shoeshine quietly slid off her chair and started tip hoofing away, praying Lyra wouldn't hear.

"Hi!"

"Gyah!" Shoeshine screamed and flailed backwards as Lyra appeared in front of her. "What the fuck?"

"I thought you didn't hear me. Hiya!" Lyra waved happily and Shoeshine scowled at her before pointing at the door.

"Out. Now."

Lyra's ears flattened as she gave her a confused look and Shoeshine glared at Lyra harder.

"Why?" Lyra asked sadly and shook her saddlebags. "I just wanted to get my horse shoes replaced. And we're friends. Remember all the benches we used to sit on?"

"Oh yeah," Shoeshine laughed bitterly and worked her way to table. "Used to."

To say Shoeshine was jealous was understatement. She and Lyra used to be best friends till this Bon Bon became friends with Lyra. Bon Bon even shared Shoeshine's mane style. Shoeshine pretty much tried to avoid Lyra as much as she could now. But that usually only worked for a bit evidently. Lyra was a pretty prominent member of Ponyville and was often seen everywhere. Hell, Shoeshine even saw her at the Grand Galloping Gala for some reason.

"Sit down," Shoeshine barked and Lyra hastily complied. "On your stomach. It helps me get to your old horseshoes."

Lyra rolled onto her stomach and Shoeshine gave a frustrated sigh as she started examining Lyra's hooves.

"I hate this," Shoeshine mumbled and Lyra flicked an ear curiously as Shoeshine picked up her hoof knife.

"I thought this was your job? It's on your flank, after all. How can you hate your flank?" Lyra asked cheerfully and Shoeshine glared at the back of her head.

"I meant being here with you."

"Why?" Lyra asked and gave her a hurt expression that Shoeshine hated to admit hurt her to see.

"Gee, I don't know?" Shoeshine replied sarcastically and started trimming Lyra's hoof. "Maybe the fact you abandoned me for Bon Bon? Some friend you turned out to be, huh?"

"I didn't abandon!" Lyra protested and started to sit up as Shoeshine pushed her back down.

"Don't sit up like that!" Shoeshine snapped angrily and inhaled. "I'm working on your hooves with a knife. I could have cut your hoof open. As hurt and mad as I am, I don't want you injured."

Lyra nodded and relaxed slightly on the wooden surface as her eyes flicked around the shop anxiously.

"I'm sorry," Lyra said softly and Shoeshine paused. "I never meant to make you feel abandoned."

"Hmph."

Lyra shivered slightly at her words. It took a bit to speak Shoeshine's language. A simple "hmph" meant she was more upset than she was willing to let on.

"Truly I am," Lyra continued as Shoeshine put down her knife and picked up her hoof nippers to start removing the excess hoof wall on Lyra's hooves. "I just kinda got caught up with Bon Bon and all. She's uh, cute and all, you know?"

"I'm happy for you. By extension, I'm cute because she copied my mane style, so thanks for the compliment," Shoeshine grunted as she moved onto another hoof.

"You weren't this snippy seven months ago," Lyra noted and Shoeshine gave a dry laugh.

"Yeah well, I've spending a lot of time with Trixie and Sunset. Those two go back and forth a lot."

"Oh yeah Sunset," Lyra commented and Shoeshine shot her a flat look.

"Don't even start about Sunset. Yeah, she was apparently aggressive in her early years. But she's a close friend of mine and the girls. So watch your tone. Please."

"I didn't say anything!" Lyra shot back and Shoeshine raised an eyebrow as she kept working. "In all honesty, Minuette and I were the nicest to her compared to the others. Even Twinkleshine was neutral to her. It's Moondancer, Twilight and Lemon Hearts who Sunset has issues with. For an element of harmony, you're surprisingly angry."

"Just because I'm an element of harmony doesn't mean I'm not allowed to have feelings, Lyra. You literally stopped showing up in favor of Bon Bon. You hurt my feelings, for crying out loud. You think I like being this upset for almost a year? Hell no, I don't," Shoeshine sighed and wiped a few stray tears away. She set down her hoof nipper in favor of a hoof rasp to smooth the inside of the hoof.

"I waved hi to you all the time, Shoe. You just turned around and walked away. Maybe we can just not avoid each other anymore?" Lyra asked hopefully and Shoeshine hesitated. "I'm not a mean pony by nature. You know this. I'm one of the most friendliest ponies around."

"I guess we can," Shoeshine conceded after a long silence. "As long as I don't get forced to be around Bon Bon. I'm not entirely sure she likes me. I'm actually fairly certain she hates me."

"She is actually quite fond of you, believe it or not-" Shoeshine snorted and Lyra snickered. "I'm serious. How is Sunset?"

"Well. Going to see her later on in the day for a regular get together with Roseluck I think. I heard about the screaming match she and Lily had."

Lyra winced slightly at that. She was the three sisters neighbor and she occasionally heard fighting. More than not the three got along very well. Lyra didn't have any real siblings so she didn't understand why they occasionally argued. Only ponies she knew with siblings was Twilight and Twinkleshine. And Berry Punch, of course. And Rarity. And the Apples. Okay, maybe more ponies that she knew had siblings now that Lyra really thought about it.

"I quite like Sunset, actually. She's doing a lot for Ponyville to be honest. She wasn't necessarily mean to any of us when she first came to town. Just kinda a loner and occasionally rude, you know? She just wanted friends deep down and didn't know how to go about it. I can relate," Shoeshine continued as she kept working on Lyra's hooves.

"I'd say me too but well, I've always been a really friendly pony even as a kid. How much longer till you're done?" Lyra asked curiously and glanced back.

"A couple more minutes. Still gotta clean out the dirt in your hooves then place your shoes on. I still have your size in stock."

"Okay. How much do I owe you?" Lyra asked and her saddlebags glowed a faint gold. "I made sure to bring enough bits with me."

"Seventy bits," Shoeshine said simply and Lyra winced. Seventy bits was a lot but Shoeshine was known around Ponyville for her excellent work. And Shoeshine wasn't afraid to let that fact be known. She was a pretty proud mare and make sure ponies knew of her accomplishments.

"Wanna get milkshakes after this? Or some other time?" Lyra asked hopefully with a wide smile as the mint green unicorn shifted slightly.

"Maybe not today. Me and the girls got plans to watch a movie at Silverspeed's house. But tomorrow, we definitely can," Shoeshine promised and stepped back. "And done. You can get off now. Get off my table, I mean. Not get off as in getting off."

"Sounds good. I'm really glad we worked out issues, Shoeshine. I really missed you," Lyra commented and hugged Shoeshine with a smile.

Shoeshine hesitated before hugging her back.

"Yeah me too Lyra."

Author's Note

This chapter with Shoeshine and Lyra would be a pretty decent canon story. I should do that. Anyway, there's actually a lot of fan art of Shoeshine and Lyra. She sat on the bench with Lyra, not Bon Bon. People just colored Shoeshine in Bon Bons colors.