A Study In Nonsense

by Professor Piggy

Hollow

It was really, really hard to be mad at Fluttershy. Part of it was because you couldn’t be mad at her without her fussing, and worrying, and assuming that you’d never, ever want to talk to her again – it was kinda like being mad at a puppy, except that instead of nuzzling you or giving you that stupid big eyed ‘I’m adorable and you’re a jerk for making me sad’ look from the other side of the room, Fluttershy would apologise every five seconds and make it as clear as she could that whatever you thought of her, she thought like a million times worse. But most of it was the fact that she was always – she’d apologise immediately, and she’d mean it every single time.

The thing was that when you were dealing with Fluttershy, being sorry and being sorry were two totally different things: sure, she’d apologise after dropping a cup and breaking it, but she wasn’t sorry your cup got broken – she was sorry she did something stupid, because you probably hated her now and would never ever want to be her friend. So she apologised. And apologised. And apologised. In the hopes that you’d be willing to overlook her terribleness long enough for her to remind you what an amazing friend you are for putting up with her. She’d forget about the cup in a few minutes – but she’d tiptoe around you for days.

It had taken Rainbow Dash a long time to notice it. Too long, really – all the years they’d spent together and she’d only really realised it a little while before they’d ended up in Ponyville. She supposed she shouldn’t really be mad at the others for not noticing it yet, but part of her still kind of was – they were smarter than she was, and they were better friends too. They should’ve noticed – should have known – but they didn’t. But she was only a little mad at them – she was trying to be a lot mad at Fluttershy, and she was a whole lot madder than that at herself.

She sat outside Fluttershy’s room, staring at the same door she’d been staring at for about an hour and trying to think of something new to say – something to make ‘Shy understand that no, Rarity probably didn’t hate her for accidentally ripping that new dress when she’d fallen over. She’d just been angry and said something dumb. Like Dash had said something dumb when she’d heard about it and called Rarity about six different variations of ‘buttface’ without thinking that maybe that would just make ‘Shy sadder and maybe kind of angry. She’d just been trying to help. She’d just wanted to make ‘Shy feel better. But she’d blown it, because she was an idiot and ruining stuff was just what she did.

Nothing came. Nothing ever did. Apologies were hard. Being mad at ‘Shy was hard. And being mad at herself was easy. But sometimes she got a little tired of it. She knew that she’d forgive Rarity pretty soon. She knew she’d pretend she’d been mad at Shy so she could pretend to forgive her as soon as Shy poked her head out, so that she’d feel better. And she knew she’d forgive their friends for not picking up on this stuff sooner. But she’d gotten used to the idea that she’d never forgive herself for missing it for so long – and she kinda figured that Shy’d never get around to figuring out that she didn’t have to be forgiven for who she was. Which meant that they’d probably be doing this forever.

It was a sad thought. She didn’t like it. But that just meant she wouldn’t ever give up on showing Fluttershy just how worthwhile she was – even if it never came to anything, ‘Shy was worth it. And maybe ‘Shy made her feel worth it too.

Slowly, with a heavy sigh and a roll of her eyes, Dash pushed the door open and wandered inside.

Author's Note:

The Prompt: Forgiveness is never easy.

Special rules (Choose either A or B. You do not have to do both, but you do have to do one.):

A: Your story must be completely devoid of dialogue and monologue.

B: What needs to be forgiven cannot be mentioned in the story at all.

Comments

[ForSpite]

Tsk, you're slipping. The first story met both conditions but I found out what everyone was angry about in this one.

I'm joking, of course, they were both well-done if mildly frustrating.

[TheAlmightySage]

Okay, first time was clever, but now I need to know.

EDIT:
ALSO! Number 100 hundred ahead!