A Study In Nonsense

by Professor Piggy

Secrets

It was raining. That didn’t matter, so much. She’d been rained on before, and even if she didn’t like it there wasn’t a whole lot she could really do. Granny Pie had always told her that there was no sense in letting the things you couldn’t change get you down, and Granny Pie was usually right about stuff.

The pink pony let out a quiet, humourless giggle with her face still buried in her forelegs. If she’d just accepted that a whole lot earlier she probably wouldn’t be stuck, like she was. She’d be back on the rock farm, stuck in all kinds of different ways instead. But at least she’d be dry, and warm, and have her sisters.

At least she’d have somepony to talk to.

Rocky was good company, of course, but it wasn’t like the little pile was gonna spring to life and start talking to her.

She couldn’t help herself – she raised her head, just a little, and peaked out with one tear filled eye at her oldest friend, waiting. Hoping.

Nothing. That wasn’t new.

“What did I do wrong?” She whispered quietly. Rocky might not be able to talk, but he was a great listener, “I tried. I tried really, really hard. I was nice, I made jokes, I helped…and they all got mad at me. Was I not friendly enough?”

She paused for a moment, but no answer was forthcoming.

“I mean…I guess they got mad because I frightened that Pegasus. But I didn’t mean to! I was just saying hi, and I’d never seen a Pegasus before and she got all scared and I tried to make it better and…”

Another sob wracked her body, and then she was crying again in earnest.

“And I ruined everything. Just like I always do. It’s no wonder they hate me.”

“Um…I don’t hate you.”

Her head snapped up, and for a moment she stared at Rocky in awe. Slowly, cautiously, she reached out a hoof to tap her gently on the head. “Wh…what did you just say?”

“Oh…I…I’m…not…I’m over here.” The voice, faltering and uncertain, wasn’t coming from Rocky – it was coming from…

She pushed herself up onto her hooves with a great effort, doing her best not to fall, and turned slowly to face the voice – she recognised it now, though last time she’d heard it the owner hadn’t been anywhere close to as calm.

“And um…I said that I don’t hate you. And I really don’t think everyone could possibly hate you – m..most of them probably haven’t even met you yet .” The pegasus didn’t meet her eyes, staring resolutely at the ground between them. Pinkie tried to speak, tried to answer – but she couldn’t. For all the talking she wanted to do, really talking was hard.

The Pegasus eyes moved slowly to Pinkie’s scattered belongings – Rocky, a tattered old blanket, and a pair of apples. Then, finally, they did turn up towards the pony herself – they fixed themselves on Pinkie’s own, and stole her breath away. There was no anger, in those eyes. No hate. There was only…fear?

“Have you been living out here in the rain all week?” The Pegasus asked.

“I’m sorry I scared you.” Pinkie blurted at the same time, and then after a moment she nodded. “Yeah.”

“…I see. Well, that just won’t do at all – if you want to, you can gather up your things and spend the night at my house. It’s not much, but I have a fire and plenty of room.”

Pinkie opened her mouth to object, but the Pegasus cut her off. “Um…I insist, actually. You don’t look well, and I’m not just going to leave you out here. I’m sorry.”

When the strange, scared pony put a hoof on her shoulder and began slowly guiding her away there wasn’t much that Pinkie could do besides follow.

——-

Fluttershy giggled. It wasn’t a big laugh, like her own – it was a quiet, gentle thing – more like a whisper than a shout. But it was for her. All for her – she had seen her new friend sad and she had cheered her up. All by herself.

As the seal continued to juggle, she felt her own smile growing wider. She lived for laughter. She lived for bringing joy to other ponies. She always had – but she’d never been good at it. It was different, now.

As Shy gazed around at all the different animals doing all their different tricks, just for her, she was smiling. She was smiling because of Pinkie. And Pinkie never, ever wanted her to stop.

“This must be how having a friend feels.”

She didn’t say the words, but she thought them. And that, combined with Shy’s perfect smile, was enough. She knew she belonged now. She knew she had a home.

Somewhere she could stay forever.

——-

“GET OUT!”

Fluttershy’s voice cut through the air, and Pinkie Pie faltered.

For a moment she stared at her friend in shock, not knowing what to do. And then, with a slow step forward, she spoke gently. “But…is something wrong, Fluttershy? What’s the matter?”

The Pegasus narrowed her eyes, and there was nothing in them but fury. “You’re the matter!” She snapped, “All you do is talk talk talk all the time! You can’t shut up for five minutes, and you never leave me alone. I can’t take it!”

Pinkie took a step back, trying hard to fight back tears. “I…I thought…I thought we….”

“I don’t care! “ The Pegasus turned away from her with a scowl, “Just…go away. I don’t want to talk to you right now.”

When she glanced back a moment later, Pinkie Pie was already gone.

——

She sat huddled under the tree, shaking violently. It was raining.

That didn’t matter, so much. She’d lost feeling in her legs about an hour ago anyway. Probably from sitting in the mud. It didn’t matter. She belonged in the mud. It was all she deserved.

“I thought we were friends.” She whispered softly.

Rocky didn’t answer, gave no sign that she had even heard. Rocky didn’t care. Nopony cared.

And she’d been stupid to think otherwise.

On impulse she swung a hoof straight into the little pile of rocks, breaking it apart as the rocks sailed off in different directions. She didn’t need fake friends. Not anymore. And it was becoming apparent that she’d never had real ones. Would never have real ones.

“…ie Pie?”

She could hear the calls, of course. She’d been able to hear them for an hour now. It didn’t matter. She wasn’t going back, ever. Fluttershy would give up soon, stop pretending she cared, and when the morning came Pinkie would be gone.

Maybe then Fluttershy would be able to smile again.

——-

“This is your ‘wonderful friend?’”

Rainbow Dash was staring at her, scowling intently. When Pinkie Pie looked up at her and tried to smile, the scowl only deepened. “Seems kinda dumb to me. What kind of friend runs off in a thunderstorm and makes you chase after her?”

Pinkie turned her eyes downwards and squeezed them shut, only to feel a pair of forelegs wrap around her soaking body and hug her close.

“She’s not dumb, Rainbow Dash! I told you, she…she left because I lost my temper. It wasn’t her fault.”

Pinkie offered Fluttershy a small smile, and leaned in closer. Maybe they weren’t friends. Maybe Fluttershy didn’t care. But at least she didn’t hate her. “It’s not your fault.” She mumbled softly.

Rainbow Dash only snorted. “Yeah, cause you’re always losing your temper for stupid reasons. Right. I completely forgot.”

Fluttershy didn’t say a word, shooting the other Pegasus a silent glare.

Pinkie didn’t really understand that. It wasn’t like Rainbow Dash was wrong. Mean, maybe. But not wrong.

Slowly, her body still wracked with spasms and her eyes still wet with tears, Pinkie drifted off to sleep.

——-

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, “I’m so sorry.”

She sat beside her first and only friend, holding one of her hooves and talking gently to her.

“I tried to save you. I tried so hard. But I wasn’t fast enough and now you’re dying and it’s all my fault.” She faltered, for just an instant, “I’ll take care of them. The animals, I mean – until you’re better. Because you’re gonna get better, Flutters. I promise. I’ll be there to help, and so will Rainbow Dash, and….and…”

A sob wracked her body.

“You gotta wake up. Please? I need…I need to tell you. I need to say it so you can hear it instead of just while you’re sleeping. I love you, Flutters. I…I wish you could hear me.”

“Get out.” Came a hoarse, angry voice from the door way behind her. Rainbow Dash.

“But…she asked…she said…”

“I don’t care what she said. She was half dead and delirious because of you.” The Pegasus moved to loom over her, glaring down with fire in her eyes.

“Get out. You only get one warning.”

Slowly, painfully, the pink pony raised herself from the ground, still leaning heavily on her crutch, and limped out the door.

——-

Three ponies sat together in the bakery of Sugarcube corner, laughing and talking and enjoying the day.

Fluttershy cleared her throat, and looked at her two closest friends with a smile. “Um…I just wanted to thank you. Both of you. I…I never would’ve gotten better if you girls hadn’t..you know. I never even would have had the chance.”

Rainbow Dash shrugged, trying to stay casual. “Don’t sweat it, ‘Shy. You’d have done the same for us. Right Pinks?”

Pinkie nodded, shooting a reassuring grin at both her friends. “Mmm-hm. Not a doubt about it – you’re the bravest pony ever!” She hesitated for just a moment, “But I gotta ask…what made you bring it up? You haven’t mentioned it in years.”

Fluttershy blushed crimson and looked away, stuttering. Immediately Dash was at her side, forelegs around her and whispering in her ear. “’S okay, ‘Shy. It’s Pinkie. She’s not gonna think you’re dumb.”

As Fluttershy leaned up and kissed Rainbow Dash gently on the cheek, Pinkie’s heart froze in her chest.

“You don’t have to tell me, if you don’t want to.” She whispered gently, with what she hoped was a reassuring smile. “Saying things can be hard, sometimes.”

The shy Pegasus just smiled and shook her head, “You know I don’t have any secrets from you, Pinkie.”

Pinkie smiled wider, guilt eating away at her just a little more.

Comments

[Professor Piggy]

The Prompt: Ninety-nine times I didn’t tell you that I loved you … and one time that I did.

[TheAlmightySage]

Beautiful

[Donnys Boy]

But yes, beautiful. Powerful, too, I'd say.

[G S tol Kriaal]

because of she said.

What "what"? (NO!!)

[Professor Piggy]

1234796>>1235271 Heh. Thanks. I'm really glad you folks like it.

1236766 I appear to have inserted a whole erroneous line in there by mistake. Cheers for pointing it out.

[BenRG]

I have long considered that the primary flaw of the character of Pinkie Pie - She's thoughtless. She really doesn't think about whether another person wants to talk, play or party. She does what she wants, considers the consequences later if ever and then has to pay the price. There isn't a malicious bone in her body but she almost never seems to think about timing.

I do genuinely wonder if she is either educationally subnormal or even insane (possibly a form of delusional schizophrenia).

[Professor Piggy]

1336752 I always thought that she might not have the ability to understand emotions or read people properly, but she's able to compensate for this to a degree because her incredibly observant nature. Seriously - Pinkie Pie notices everything, and it seems unlikely she'd completely miss the fact that she's annoying her friends or even strangers a lot of the time, so why would she persist? Because she doesn't realise that she's annoying them - not until she gets to know them really well, and can associate their behaviour with how they've reacted in the past. This explains how she sometimes knows exactly how to make her friends happy, and sometimes doesn't have a clue - it takes her time to learn, and even when she knows it requires real attention for her to notice it all.