> Mistakes
>  by ManeBrony
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Realization
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was a nice, normal, perfect morning, and Twilight Sparkle was having a nice day of reading. She had gotten up quite early that day and things had been going wonderfully. Things were quiet and calm. Peaceful. That is until she was loudly  interrupted by the voice of a certain pink pony.

"Hi Twilight!" Pinkie practically shouted directly into Twilight's ear.

Twilight dropped her book and yelped, nearly screaming in surprise. After taking a few moments calm herself she turning around and glared at Pinkie, "Pinkie Pie! Where did you come from?! What have I told you about sneaking up on me?!"

Pinkie giggled, "Oh yeah. Sorry! Anyway, whatcha doing?" she asked excitedly, as she always did.

Twilight sighed, "Well before you broke into my house, I was reading. Wait... How did you get in anyway?"

Pinkie giggled once again, "The door silly!"

Twilight tilted her head, "Wasn't the door locked?"

Pinkie just smiled at the question, "It sure was! So what're you reading about?"

Twilight sat there in confusion for a moment, before deciding that any further questioning would likely not be worth the trouble, "Well, I was reading about alchemy magic, at least until you came up and screamed into my ear and made me lose my place," 

Pinkie lowered her head and her ears flattened against her head a little as she was beginning to pick up on Twilight's annoyance, "Oh... Sorry. I'll just go visit somepony else," she said as she started walking to the door.

Twilight sighed, feeling a tad guilty after seeing Pinkie's mood change, "No no, you can stay, I was just about to take a break to get something to eat anyway,"

Spike's voice chimed in from the kitchen, "Ha. Yeah maybe after I yanked the book out of your hooves and made you," This got a giggle out of Pinkie, and a huff out of Twilight. 

Pinkie perked right back up, "Yay! Thanks for letting me stay Twi!, We can eat lunch together!"

Twilight smiled, "Sure thing," she said as she lead Pinkie to the kitchen.

Pinkie followed, bouncing along happily, "So how's your morning been Twi?"

Twilight began preparing something for the two of them, "Oh it's been good. Uneventful, but good,"

Pinkie giggled, "Oh I know what you mean! I was super bored this morning! Gummy wanted to sleep in so I couldn't play with him, Sugar Cube Corner barely had any customers so the Cakes didn't need any help, Dashie was busy with the weather, Applejack was working on her farm, and Rarity was busy designing!" Pinkie was shouting by the end of her rant.

Twilight nodded, "So that's why you came to see me huh?"

Pinkie smiled, "Yeah! I was so so happy you weren't busy! If you were I would've had to go see Fluttershy, and of course she'd probably be busy too with all her little animal friends. Then again maybe I could help her with the animals! That would be so much fun! Maybe I'll do that after eating with you. Thanks again for letting me eat with you by the way!"

Twilight giggled, amused by Pinkie's rambling, "Sure thing. And it's probably good to wait on seeing Fluttershy anyway,"

Pinkie tilted her head, "Whaddya mean? I thought today would be perfect since I haven't seen her since the Flutterguy incident. Is she sick or something?"

Twilight paused, slightly confused, "Uhh no... I just meant after what happened the other day y'know?"

Pinkie scratched her head, "Something happened? Was it something bad?! Is Fluttershy hurt?!" Pinkie shouted starting to get worried.

Twilight held up her hoof to stop Pinkie, "What- no! She's not hurt Pinkie, I just meant after... After what happened with you two, remember?"

Pinkie sat there silently, she blinded seemingly completely oblivious, "Something happened with me and her? Twilight are you sure it wasn't a dream? Those can be awfully convincing you know! This one time I thought Rainbow Dash was a griffon when I woke up!" Pinkie gigged at that thought.

Twilight shook her head, "No Pinkie it wasn't a dream, trust me. Do you really not know what I'm talking about?

Pinkie shrugged, "sorry Twilight I really don't. Could ya remind me?"

Twilight looked off to the side, thinking carefully about how she should explain this, "Ok well... Pinkie do you remember the other day when Fluttershy used the poison joke potion to sing for the Pony Tones?"

Pinkie nodded, paying very close to attention.

Twilight continued, "Well, it's just that- I mean I'm sure you didn't do it on purpose- but you kinda- well you-" Twilight was having a difficult time explaining this in a way that wouldn't upset Pinkie to much.  Shouldn't this be obvious? What do I even say? Twilight thought to herself 'you made Fluttershy's anxiety far worse with your rambling,' 'you were extremely rude and mean,' 'you made Fluttershy cry because you're incapable of reading the room or paying attention to what you're saying and how it's affecting others!'...well it's not exactly untrue. Twilight sighed, "Pinkie you really upset Fluttershy that day,"

Pinkie was taken aback, with a mix of disbelief, and worry, "What?! How!? What did I do!?"

Twilight went and sat next to Pinkie, being sure to speak carefully, "Do you remember the things you said to her when we were talking to her about her stage fright? Or when we went to see her after the curtain fell and everypony saw her singing?"

Pinkie frowned, "Well yeah I remember I said... I just said that she would have a lot of ponies looking at her, and that she was really really, super good at singing"

Twilight shook her head, "There was more Pinkie,"

Pinkie looked down at the floor and tried to remember.   'you'd be there on stage, basking in the hoof lights! The center of attention!' what was so bad about that? she thought to herself 'with everypony STARING at you! JUDGING you!' oh... Yeah maybe I was a little - 'jealously noting how they could be way better than you!' ok yeah that wasn't very nice I guess. 'Why wasn't it them? Why wasn't it them? And then when you choke, they'll turn on you! Becoming a seething angry mob! And you'll be horribly humiliated! Never able to show your face in ponyville again!'... oh. Pinkie sniffled and looked up at Twilight, "I guess I was a big meany... You're right, she wouldn't wanna see me,"

Twilight patted Pinkie's shoulder, "Hey it's alright, What's important is that you know you did something wrong, that's the first step to making up for it,"

Pinkie nodded, "You're right Twilight! I do need to make it up to Fluttershy!"

Twilight smiled and nodded, "Good idea Pinkie, I'm sure she'd forgive you quickly,"

Pinkie, "Now I just need to figure out how!"

Twilight paused, "What do you mean? Just go and apologize?"

Pinkie shook her head, "That won't do! A simple apology won't make up for a mistake like this! I need something big!"

Twilight stood up, "Pinkie I really don't think you should-" Twilight was interrupted by Pinkie hugging her tightly.

Pinkie released her after a few seconds, "Thank you so much for helping me realize what I did! Well anyway I gotta go! See ya!" Pinkie then bolted out the door.

Twilight sat there, a bit stunned, she then sighed, "This can't end well,"


To Be Continued
> Attempts
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pinkie rushed home, hyper focused. She was determined to make things up to Fluttershy, but how? A party? she thought. No! Parties are loud, and crowded. Fluttershy likes quiet. Something different. Maybe a... Party? No! I just said no parties! Is that all I can think think about?! So stup- Pinkie's train of thought was violently interrupted when something ran directly into her face, knocking her to the ground.

Pinkie's head spun for a moment before she looked up, realizing something had not run into her, but she had run into a the door to Sugar Cube Corner while she was distracted.

Pinkie frowned.  That's what you get for not paying attention. She put a hoof to her face, checking for any blood. After verifying her lack of injury she sprung up, ran inside, and up to her room, where Gummy, who had apparently woken up now, was standing on her bed.

Pinkie flopped onto her back next to her pet and sighed, "Oh Gummy something awful has happened! And it's all my fault!"

The Alligator blinked in response.

Pinkie turned to him, "I just found out that I did something really really bad, and now Fluttershy is upset! I have to make it up to her! Any ideas?"

Gummy blinked once again.

Pinkie frowned, "No! No parties! It need to be special, and designed specifically for Fluttershy. So what does Fluttershy like?" Pinkie stared at the ceiling and thought, "Hmmm... Oh I know!"

...

Pinkie sat and waited, hiding behind a bush. She had set up what she thought would be a perfect way to make up for what she had done. What is it you ask? Well it was a giant banner in front of Fluttershy's house, praising her for her singing skills. Pinkie thought that since she had upset Fluttershy with mean words, she could make it up to her with kind ones. The banner read, "From your biggest fan! Your voice is beyond beautiful!" and it had lots of hearts and others decorations, including a drawing of Fluttershy herself in her Pony Tones suit.

Pinkie did not sign the banner, as she thought that if Fluttershy knew it was from her she wouldn't like it, considering how she had left things last time they saw each other. She was going to tell Fluttershy afterwards, and hope that she'd be forgiven.

Pinkie was then startled by a voice behind her, "What're you doing?"

Pinkie jolted and turned around to face the pony, "Oh hey Twilight. I'm waiting for Fluttershy to see my apology," she said as she turned back to watch the house.

Twilight became slightly concerned,"What exactly did you -" she was swiftly interrupted by Pinkie pulling her down into the bush with her.

"Shh! She's coming out!"

Twilight looked and Fluttershy was Infact exiting her house. As soon as the pegasus turned around after closing her door she was started to see the massive banner, "Oh my..." She then looked around for who could have placed it in front of her house.

Pinkie watched, incredibly nervous, as Fluttershy examined the banner. She watched for what felt to her like many long minutes. She was then very disappointed when Fluttershy started dismantling and taking down the banner.

Pinkie frowned as Fluttershy went back into her house, "She didn't like it," Pinkie said as she sniffled.

Twilight got up out of the bush, "Well uh... I about that. She didn't seem upset by it at least. Maybe you shouldn't go so big. That's kinda what started all this in the first place y'know? I mean, a big banner? I don't think that's really something Fluttershy would respond to well,"

Pinkie didn't reply and continued to sadly stare at the ground.

Twilight nudged Pinkie, "Here, how about you just go up to the door and-" she stopped, as she was once again interrupted.

Pinkie stood up, "New plan! I gotta go Twilight! See ya!" She said as she darted back to her house.

Twilight groaned, "Why does this have to be so complicated?"

...

Pinkie was once again laying on her bed, pondering how she could apologize to Fluttershy. "Let's see... What does Fluttershy like...She likes animals..." Pinkie gasped, "Balloon animals!"

Pinkie excitedly sprung out of bed and got to work. "I'll need lots of balloons!" She said as she ran out of her room, down the stairs, and into her party cave, grabbing a box from her balloon stash. Specifically the long ones designed for making into shapes, "What animals should I make..." Pinkie thought aloud as she started inflating them, "I probably shouldn't make any more than twenty or so. I wouldn't wanna overwhelm Fluttershy like I did with my big dumb banner," she said with a bit of sadness. 

As she worked she again began to think about the stuff she had said to Fluttershy. 'That was totally unbelievable! I mean, the curtain came up and there you were, singing in front of everpony! And y'know I don't think anypony was jealous, because there certainly wasn't an angry mob!' Pinkie's guilt wavered a bit when she remembered that. Hey maybe I wasn't that mean. I mean sure I was a little loud when I said that but- 'it must've been horrible standing there on stage. All eyes glued directly on you! It was like you were living your own personal wort nightmare!'... nevermind.

With her guilt renewed entirely Pinkie finshed up making her balloon animals. She had quite a wide variety of them too, "This will totally work! Fluttershy loves animals! And everypony loves balloons!" Pinkie now had what could only be described as a mountain of balloon animals. She had a dog, a cat, a couple rabbits, a few birds, and even a bear and a lion and just about everything else you'd expect. "Perfect!" Pinkie yelled, and ran off to deliver them.

...

Pinkie sat and waited, hiding in a bush once again. She had placed all the balloon animals on Fluttershy's door step, waiting for her come out and see all of them.

Twilight once again showed up to see what, misguided, attempt at an apology Pinkie was currently making. "What is it this time?" she asked, slightly afraid of the answer she would get.

Pinkie smiled and looked at Twilight, "I made her a bunch of balloon animals!" 

Twilight paused for a moment, "That's... Actually not such a terrible idea. But I still think you should just go up there and-"

Pinkie interrupted, as you would expect, "Hush! She's about to see it!"

Twilight watched as Fluttershy walked out of her house, only to be greeted by a pile of fake animals. Fluttershy stared for a moment, once again looking around for the culprit, before looking back at the pile, "Huh..." She stated simply, before picking them up and taking them inside one by one.

Pinkie smiled, "I think she liked it!"

Twilight nodded, "Yeah actually I think you're right. So are you gonna go talk to her now?"

Pinkie frowned a little, "Oh I can't do that, she's probably still mad at me. I'm gonna wait a little bit before telling her that the balloons were from me,"

Twilight paused for a long moment, before turning to look at Pinkie, "Pinkie Pie... Did you not sign them or... Leave a note or something?"

Pinkie frowned more, "Well no. I thought she might not like it if she knew they were from me,"

Twilight face hooded, "Pinkie Pie, how is it an apology if she doesn't even know it's from you?!"

Pinkie lowered her head, "Oh... I ruined another one... Horse apples! Alright I'll see you later Twilight, I'm gonna go work on another plan,"

Twilight shook her head, "Wait no that's not what I meant. You can still go and -"

Pinkie was already leaving by the time Twilight tried to stop her, "See ya!"

Twilight sat there, completely fed up with this by now. Why did Pinkie not just go talk to Fluttershy? Twilight sat for several minutes and thought about this whole situation. Knowing that this was all pointless, and could be easily solved if, she decided to put a stop to things herself. Twilight stood up, "Alright that's it!" Twilight stated, before teleporting away.


To Be Continued
> Enough is enough
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight burst into sugar cube corner, ready to confront Pinkie Pie, who it seemed was currently doing a lot of baking. "Pinkie Pie! Stop what you're doing!"

Pinkie spoke without looking at Twilight, "Can't stop now Twilight! I gotta make these apology deserts for Fluttershy!"

Twilight shook her head, "No! I've had enough of this! You're going to go to Fluttershy's cottage, knock on the door, and apologize face to face," she said very firmly.

Pinkie whimpered quietly, "I can't do that Twilight. It's like you said, she wouldn't wanna see me after all the stuff I did," she said as she slowed down with the baking.

Twilight sighed, "Pinkie that's not what I meant, I'm sure she would have no problem seeing you if you just apologized already,"

Pinkie looked at Twilight, "I'm trying to!"

Twilight rolled her eyes, "In all the wrong ways. Now c'mon, we're doing this now,"

Pinkie shook her head, "No! I can't!"

Twilight grabbed Pinkie with her magic and started levitating her out of the building and towards Fluttershy's house, "You will!"

Pinkie tried to hold onto something, but her efforts were futile, "I won't!"

Twilight continued walking, getting a few stares from ponies who were watching the two, "You have to!"

Pinkie squealed as she was carried away by Twilight's magic.

...

Twilight sighed, "Quit fighting! We're here,"

Pinkie shook her head side to side, "I can't do this Twilight!"

Twilight set Pinkie down in front of her, " Why not? What's the big deal?"

Pinkie stared down at the floor sadly and sighed,"Well... It's just that, I'm supposed to be the element of laughter, and my cutie mark is all about making people happy, but that's not what I did at all for Fluttershy. I made her cry, that's the opposite of laughter,"

Twilight tilted her head, having a hard time understanding, "I get that you feel bad but everpony makes mistakes Pinkie,"

Pinkie poked at the ground, "Well yeah I guess so ... But it's not just that. I didn't even notice what I did. You had to point it out to me,"

Twilight sighed, "Pinkie... Y'know sometimes we need help seeing when we've done something wrong. It happens to everypony. Not apologizing to Fluttershy would also be pretty bad don't you think?"

Pinkie paused, and nodded.

Twilight smiled, "Plus, if you never apologize to Fluttershy, you'll never be able to spend time with her anymore. Is that what you want?"

Pinkie paused once again, and shook her head.

Twilight nodded, "That's right. So go on and do it already so you can stop feeling so bad about all of this,"

Pinkie sighed, "You're right... Ok, I'm going," Pinkie stood up and walked up to Fluttershy's door, preparing her apology.

Twilight smiled and walked away a little, so that she could watch from a distance.

As Pinkie walked over to Fluttershy's house, she again began remembering all the things she has said, and how Fluttershy had responded to them. Remembering how she had gotten in Fluttershy's face. How Fluttershy had cried. Fluttershy's panicked breathing. The more Pinkie thought about it the worse she felt. The guilt was building up inside her, making her feel nervous and slightly sick. She eventually got to the door and knocked, and when Fluttershy opened it, well the dam broke.

Pinkie dropped down on the floor in front of Fluttershy and basically began shouting, "I'M SORRY! I'M SO SORRY FLUTTERSHY!"

Fluttershy was extremely taken aback. She stared down at the highly distressed, and seemingly on the verge of crying, pony in front of her in completely confusion. Fluttershy looked around for some kind of clue as to what was happening. All she saw was Twilight in the distance, who looking just as shocked, simply shrugged.

Fluttershy looked back down at Pinkie,"Um... Pinkie Pie? Is... Something wrong?"

Pinkie stood up, "Yes! Something is wrong! I was so mean to you the other day!"

Fluttershy looked off to the side,"Well Pinkie-"

"I said so many awful things! And I made you cry! And I probably made your stage fright so much worse!"

"Pinkie I don't really-"

"And I didn't even realize until Twilight pointed it out to me and-

"Pinkie!" Fluttershy shouted to stop the other mare from continuing her rant. (Well as close to Fluttershy gets to shouting) "Please slow down. I can barely understand you,"

Pinkie sniffled and nodded in response.

Fluttershy stepped outside with Pinkie, closing her door behind her, "Now... You said this is about the other day? With the pony tones?"

Pinkie nodded, "Yeah! I came to apologize for being so mean to you!"

Fluttershy frowned a little, "You weren't mean,"

Pinkie paused in completely shock, "Wasn't mean?! I made you cry!"

Fluttershy didn't respond, she just stared at Pinkie. Then she looked over at Twilight who was merely watching with a shocked look stuck on her face. Fluttershy looked back at Pinkie after a moment of thinking, "Here let's go Inside,"

Pinkie stood up and followed Fluttershy into her house, though slightly hesitant, "Well... Ok,"
Fluttershy closed the door behind them both and brought Pinkie over to her couch, "Sit down,"

Pinkie did sit and looked at Fluttershy, "Why did you want to come inside?"

Fluttershy sat next to her, "Pinkie... It's really nice of you to apologize for this but... Why do you feel so bad about it? I mean I understand feeling bad but you were crying a lot,"

Pinkie nodded her head quickly in response, "Of course I feel really bad! I made you really sad, and scared, and upset! And I'm supposed to be the element of laughter!"

Fluttershy paused for a moment, thinking about what the say, before eventually responding, "Pinkie... Do you remember what happened with Iron Will?"

Pinkie nodded, "Uhh yeah I guess so. He gave you really bad advice,"

Fluttershy nodded as well, "And I followed it. I said really mean things to you and Rarity, and I made you cry. And I'm supposed to be the element of kindness," 

Pinkie looked down at her hooves, "Well... I guess so. But that's diffe-"

Fluttershy placed her hoof over Pinkie's mouth to stop her, "No, it's not different at all. I made a mistake just like you did, and you and Rarity forgave me didn't you?"

Pinkie nodded.

Fluttershy smiled and removed her hoof from Pinkie's mouth, "That's right. And I forgive you two. Even without all the dramatic apologizing," she said with a small giggle.

Pinkie blushed slightly in embarrassment, "Haha, sorry about that... Hey wait a minute! Which one of us tied themselves to a chair and boarded up her windows?!"

Fluttershy then blushed the same way, "Well... At least I didn't leave a bunch of unmarked gifts on your doorstep,"

Pinkie looked off to the side, which resulted in her noticing that the gifts she left were put neatly in a corner of the room "Oh... How'd you know they were from me?"

Fluttershy rolled her eyes and smiled, "Who else silly?"

Pinkie giggled, "Speaking of gifts... I have some 'apology desserts' I was working on before coming over here that we could share?"

Fluttershy smiled and nodded, "I'd love to,"

Pinkie smiled and hugged Fluttershy, who happily returned it. After all the drama over the past day or so, Pinkie was thrilled to just share a hug with her friend. They both were.

...

Twilight had been sitting there just staring at the house for probably twenty minutes at this point, before standing up,"I should... Go home,"


The End