Today’s prompt: Draw a pony facing a mistake from their past / Draw a pony trying to make things right.

This one might be a mild case, but it’s what came to me when I saw this prompt. One thing that tends to bother me with some episodes is when we don’t get an onscreen apology or acknowledgement of wrongdoing or hurting another pony’s feelings because of their actions. We do get it plenty of times, and it’s satisfying to see, but there are some episodes that I feel like would have had better closure if we’d been able to hear an apology or seen some method of making amends. I know that can’t always be the case, since they only have 22 minutes to work with, but it doesn’t change it being a missed opportunity.

One of the biggest examples for me is in Filli Vanilli, a divisive episode because Pinkie’s tendency to not think about what she’s saying and her lack of awareness of how she effects ponies around her was dialed up to 11, at poor Fluttershy’s expense when she was dealing with stage fright. As someone with autism, I know what it’s like to say things without realizing the effect they’ll have, and I’m even often unaware of the tone I’m using when I say it, so I understand somewhat how Pinkie operates. Pinkie doesn’t have a mean bone in her body, and never means any harm by what she says or does, but her lack of social awareness and blindness towards social cues can get quite worrisome.

As evidenced by her own dialogue, Pinkie was honestly unaware that she wasn’t complimenting Fluttershy’s singing at all, and gave an embarrassed ‘oops’ when called out for it. Once she was aware of how much she’d unintentionally hurt Fluttershy, very likely clued in by her other friends, there’s no doubt she’d want to apologize for the thoughtless way she spoke. Of course, Fluttershy, being the ever-loving sweetheart that she is, would easily forgive her. <=)

There is an excellent fic that’s a follow-up to that episode, called The Lessons Left Unlearned by Donnys Boy. It’s one of my favorite follow-up stories, and kinda served as an inspiration for this drawing, even if it’s a lot simpler. You should definitely give it a read if you haven’t. =)