‘Sorry’. Such a complex word. So many uses. You’ll hear it nearly every day; whether it is sarcastic, apologetic, forced… the list goes on. But there are times when you won’t hear it when you probably should, this can make you ma and anger. But then there are the times you don’t expect it at all.

Those are the most worrying of all…

...   ...   ...   ...   ...

I’d woken up on the outskirts of the forest. I was once again lying by a mirror. This on seemed normal apart from the 3 butterflies carved into the back. As I stared, I thought to myself, ‘Strange, I recognise these markings but from where…’

‘Oh, umm…excuse me’ A quiet voice whispered. A few seconds later, a wooden floorboard squeaked.  I turned and found myself almost nose to nose with a larger yellow animal, the same one to have chased and almost broken me in half. Being so close, it was inevitable for me to scurry away, hiding in a small corner, but for the large equine to have also run scarred almost gave me a heart attack.

It took a few minutes for me to quell up the courage to speak to her. As I crept out of my room, I saw her singing in her kitchen.  “Da-Da-Da-Da-Da, Da-Da-Da-Da-Da, Da-Da-Da.” Her singing voice was heavenly. I knew interrupting her would be a mistake, so I sat patiently by her fire.

‘Oh, umm…excuse me’ It came again after a few minutes. ‘Grrr….’ I’d tried to speak, but it sounded like a snarl. ‘Grrr…’ I couldn’t stop, I couldn’t talk. This couldn’t get any worse. But, as the nature of the universe, it did. She wasn’t scared, she looked serious. I wanted to apologise but it only came out as a whimper. I would have turned and ran by this time but my rear hit something small, but very unmovable at least until I stepped over the small white rabbit. My stomach suddenly growled. No wasn’t the time. Unfortunately, as I was still walking backwards, I didn’t realise there was a wall directly behind me. I was stuck and had nowhere to go. I closed my eyes waiting for a fate to befall me. What I got though filled me with warmth. She was smiling, a soft gentle heart-warming smile.

‘Don’t worry. Please don’t be scared.’ From then on, I had a hunch I was safe. She ended up guiding me to a chair, asking me to just listen to her. She said her name was ‘Fluttershy’.She told me she looks after animals and runs a pet shop. She told me that I wouldn’t be up for adoption but she’d like to keep me around. It didn’t worry me much until she told me about her rabbit.

Angel. Probably the most inappropriate name for someone in the world. He was a stubborn, self-centred pain-in-the-neck who kept staring at me, giving me the evils. It wasn’t too bad until he told me what would happen if I tried to replace him. ‘Listen here and listen good, I’m the one and only animal pal of the mare and don’t you forget it. If you even try to get anywhere near to her, I’ll pound your caboose until you get the message. And if you think I’m kidding, just ask him. He pointed out the window, to a small grave. ‘Daisy… I read aloud to my surprise. Hang on, I couldn’t talk before. How…’

‘You’re talking to an animal. Animals communicate with one another one way, Ponies communicate in another. It’s just we can understand them but they can’t understand us. Capishe?’ Although he was a little guy, he wasn’t a half bad intimidator. He certainly had me confused. I just nodded. I looked over to the kitchen again, she was singing.

Suddenly, she pulled out a very large knife. Then, she slowly turned her head to look at me. Her eyes had gone red. She was smiling manically. She was slowly coming over to me. She was definitely done a better job in the ten seconds I was looking at her, that the rabbit had done for the ten minutes he’d stared and lectured me. Being close to leaving a puddle, I ran outside, more scared than I had been than when I’d been chased by her before. By the time I was out of her sight, I heard a near-silent call from her. 'Don't Go', But I was gone.