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// Full Speed Ahead 
// Story: A Study In Nonsense 
// by Professor Piggy 
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For a long time, Daring Do had been running. Sometimes physically, sometimes mentally. Sometimes she ran to get what she wanted, sometimes she ran just to stay ahead, and sometimes she ran just because she didn’t feel like slowing down. And that was cool – there wasn’t anything wrong with running, when you had good reason, and a lot of the time she did: for a long time, there’d been nothing in the world that had made her feel as alive as the thrill of being first.

First to navigate an old tomb, first to recover an ancient artifact, first of her family to settle on the ground, first of her family to inadvertently found a town; it really hadn’t mattered what it was, as long as she was the best at it. Sure, it was a stupid, selfish ambition – she had known that even then – but it had made her happy, and she’d helped a lot of ponies doing it. So even if running, charging ahead and never looking back wasn’t the smartest or nicest thing she could’ve done it was good enough. Always had been.

But then things had changed. She could see that now, even if she couldn’t then. At some point she’d stopped running ahead and started running away. From her responsibilities, from her memories, from the stupid little hopes and dreams she’d thrown everything away to chase after – but most of all from the pain, and the guilt. Running hadn’t made her quite so happy, then – it’d just become a way to make herself numb, uncaring. And when she hadn’t been running, she’d been angry. All the time.

And she’d just kept running, because she didn’t know what else to do. Because she’d been hoping that one day she’d slip, or misstep, or fall, and then she wouldn’t have to run anymore. Because running was easy, and stopping wasn’t.

For a long time, Daring Do had been running. And as she lay on her back in the grass, staring at the clouds high above, she couldn’t really remember why. It felt good, just lying there without moving, the light breeze blowing over her and the sweet smell of cupcakes teasing her nostrils. She was…happy. It felt like it’d been a long time since she’d been happy. So as she let her eyes drift closed and reached into the basket that sat beside her for another cupcake, Daring Do smiled.

It felt good.

And it tasted good, too. But then, Pinkie’s baking always did – she said it was cause it was made with smiles and love, but Daring was pretty convinced that Pinkie was just a really awesome baker. Still, it didn’t matter. The smiles and love thing was sweet, and cute. Like the way the pink pony scrunched her nose up, sometimes, or laughed that dopey laugh. As her thoughts drifted to Pinkie, Daring’s smile grew a little wider.

She wasn’t quite sure when she fell asleep, but when she finally opened her eyes it seemed pretty obvious that she had. The sky was growing darker, and it had gotten kind of cold. But if she had to pick just one thing that seemed different, she’d have picked the bunny. She was pretty sure – not a hundred percent sure, but pretty sure – that Angel Bunny hadn’t been standing on her chest, glaring down at her impatiently when she drifted off to sleep.

Also, she remembered having cupcakes left which, judging by the crumbs around Angel’s scowling mouth, she no longer did. Whatever – there were always more cupcakes, and she wasn’t dumb enough to pick a fight with Angel. She’d totally win, but she didn’t really wanna upset Fluttershy again.

“Daring?” The voice was soft, and hesitant. Just like it always had been, really. The only difference was that Daring didn’t immediately feel herself tense up and want to hit stuff. No, that wasn’t the only difference – it wasn’t even the biggest difference.

Because hearing that voice made Daring happier. Just a little. She wasn’t angry, to hear the voice of the one who’d rejected her – she was happy, to hear the voice of a friend. And when her cupcake thief gave a startled squeak and leapt away as she rolled over onto her belly to look up at Fluttershy, maybe she was happy about that too.

The look on Fluttershy’s face, though, quickly killed any urge she’d had to laugh. ‘Shy’s mane was disheveled and unkempt, and there were bags under her eyes. She obviously hadn’t slept, and Daring was pretty sure she’d been crying – and that just wouldn’t do. With one easy movement she lifted herself to her hooves and moved closer, not letting her smile fade for a second.

“What’s up, Shy?” Her tone was casual – she made it stay that way, and she asked the question even though she kind of already knew the answer.

“I…” Fluttershy faltered, glanced away, and then met her eyes again. She was afraid – it was written all over her face – but she was also determined to say her piece. It was nice, to see. ‘Shy hadn’t always been that strong. She hadn’t been that strong when she was with Daring. Or at least, she hadn’t known she was – Daring had, but that wasn’t quite the same thing.

“I wanted to tell you that I’m sorry. To explain…you know, why.” Fluttershy was speaking clearly now, and she didn’t flinch away even once. Daring couldn’t help but feel a little proud, even as she felt a distant but familiar ache somewhere in her belly. “What I did hurt you, terribly – and I’m sorry. I left without telling you… without even telling you why.”

A long time ago, Daring would have seized those words. Twisted them, and used them as a weapon. A small part of her still wanted to, just a little – but she wouldn’t. She wasn’t that pony anymore. She was better, and she’d keep getting better. And besides, ‘Shy had already said all this before. Twice? Three times? It didn’t matter.

“You know,” Daring answered with a smile, resting a reassuring hoof on the other pegasus’ shoulder, “I heard you the first time you said all this. Didn’t mean a whole lot then, ‘cause I was still kind of in crazytown, but I remember.”

“You…you heard all that?” Fluttershy’s voice was a whisper now, and she stared at Daring with wide, disbelieving eyes.

“Every word. And you don’t gotta say it again – I forgive you, Shy. You made a mistake, yeah. But I made plenty too. Question is, can you can forgive me?”

“I…I forgave you a long time ago. But what I did to you was –“

“Bad. Yeah, it was. But it wasn’t worse than what I did to you. I hated you, ‘Shy. And I never let you forget it. You didn’t deserve that.”

“I did! I –“

“No. You didn’t. And sure, I didn’t deserve what you did to me either – but it’s okay. I forgive you – and if you can forgive me too, I’d like if we were friends.” She laughed lightly, as she said the words, and added “Maybe we can manage it if we both try really hard to avoid being stupid, this time.”

And then Fluttershy was giggling, too, and she knew that everything was going to be alright. And when Fluttershy hugged her and said yes, just a moment later, she felt that ache fade just a little more.

And later as the two sat, just talking under the stars, Daring wasn’t thinking of Fluttershy – of old wounds and new friends. She was thinking of a certain pink pony, the scent of cupcakes, and that maybe, just maybe, it was time for her to move on.