Sleep came easier to Meteorite that night, thanks to the inviting comfort of her new bed, as well as being inside a house once more, and oddly enough, the comfort of knowing someone was nearby if she suddenly needed help. Even if said someone was probably not real.
Although, Sunny Flora was feeling very real the next morning as she gently nudged Meteorite awake.
"Hey," Sunny said with a hushed voice, "Meteorite, it's time to wake up."
Meteorite sluggishly aroused from her slumber, immediately lost in the darkened surroundings. She peered around, trying to pinpoint exactly where she was again, and make sense of the brown and yellow form before her. Eventually her vision cleared and she recognised Sunny, then the darkened room, and the fact she was still in Equestria. She yawned, and grumbled as she tossed to her other side, pulling the sheets up close for warmth.
"Come on now," Sunny said more firmly, shaking Meteorite's shoulder. Meteorite groaned loudly as she turned back over.
"Iss still dark…" she slurred, fighting to keep her eyes open. Sunny took a moment to pity her roommate, before turning about and heading to the bathroom.
"Better get used to it! This is normal waking hours here, being a farm n' all. Gotta lot of work to do!"
Meteorite blurrily watched Sunny disappear into the next room, and flopped her head back down on her pillow as it all sank in.
"Aww, fuck."
Meteorite eventually found the strength to leave her bed. Unfortunately she needed coordination after that.
Through half-closed eyes, she awkwardly made her way over to the bathroom after Sunny had left, swaying as she stumbled her way to the basin and fumbled her way around the faucet. Some part of her brain put forth the quandary of how to cup water with hooves, but her lack of energy pushed that issue aside and decided the best method instead was to flick the water up at her face with one hoof.
It was not the best method.
Regardless, it was enough to help her focus a bit more and soon after, she found herself stumbling slowly through towards the dining room. Silverfire was already seated, eating a bowl of something. Mouth full, he waved when Meteorite groggily located a chair that was probably her spot and climbed up on it. Taking a few full seconds to finally register Silverfire's greeting, Meteorite limply waved back with her own greeting.
"Ngh."
"Wow, you look tired," Silverfire said, swallowing his mouthful.
"Pr'bably because I am," Meteorite mumbled back, failing to hold back a yawn.
"Yeah," Sunny's voice called out from beyond the kitchen doorway, accompanied by the clinking of cutlery, "she completely slept through my alarm clock this morning."
Meteorite squinted, trying to focus on her thoughts. Unfortunately, this only served to make her look even more tired. "There was 'n alarm clock?"
"How did you not hear it?" Sunny responded, with a quite audible air of bafflement. Meteorite lifted a hoof to cover a huge yawn, which quickly became a leaning stand on the table, propping up her head as she rested some more.
"I'unno… always been a heavy sleeper."
There was no response to that, at least not any Meteorite heard. Shortly after though, Sunny came in from the kitchen carrying a tray in her mouth. With careful precision, she placed it on the table between her and Meteorite, the sounds prompting Meteorite to open one eye to see what was going on. The tray contained several items, the prominent ones being two bowls and a pot of coffee. Catching a whiff of what smelt like strong black coffee, Meteorite opened both her eyes, and sat up slightly.
"I made some coffee if you want any," Sunny explained as she took the pot off the tray. Meteorite numbly nodded, to which Sunny silently poured a mug for her. Without much thought going into it, Meteorite took the mug in both hooves as soon as it was offered to her, and proceeded to down the entire mug in a few gulps. Sunny and Silverfire watched in disbelief.
"Uhh," Sunny ventured, "I guess you really needed that, huh?"
Meteorite blinked, now fully alert as the coffee warmed her insides, and gently placed the mug down on the table. Still holding onto it, she stared into it as she contemplated what she had just done.
"Uh, I guess I did…?" Did I really just… that's not possible though. That coffee oughta be scalding, I know it was. So how-
Meteorite interrupted her train of thought as she looked up at Sunny's concerned face, and quickly shifted gears.
"Oh! I'm sorry, that was rude, wasn't it? I didn't mean to drink it so quickly! It just kinda hap-"
"It's fine," Sunny cut in with a wave of her hoof, "I was just worried, that's all. I don't think it's healthy to drink coffee that fast."
"I mean, agreed!" Meteorite nodded. "I... can honestly say I've never done that before."
Sunny's tension seemed to loosen. "Well, okay. As long as you're fine."
"I… think so?"
That seemed to placate the other two ponies at the table, though Meteorite herself was still perturbed. Carefully pushing her mug away, she gave it one last glance as she carefully mentally filed away what just happened for later consideration.
Breakfast consisted of a bowl of oatmeal, which Sunny had prepared an extra bowl in addition to her own as well as a gesture of goodwill. Meteorite hadn't had oatmeal before, and discovered upon her first taste that she wasn't that keen on it, but it was at least passable. She also withheld the terrifying urge to remark 'Oatmeal? Are ya crazy?', as she was reasonably sure both of her breakfast companions would definitely not get the reference, so instead it remained her own inner source of amusement.
A short while later, Steel Gaze entered the dining room, already looking ready to start the day. He nodded an acknowledgement at Silverfire, and turned to greet Sunny, purposefully ignoring the fact Meteorite was currently holding her bowl up to her face, trying to finish up the last of her oatmeal.
"Good morning Miss Flora," Steel began, followed by a pause and a clearing of his throat. He stood by Meteorite's chair, still purposefully not looking at her. "Miss Meteorite," he announced, "once you're… finished, you will be… assisting me today."
Lowering her bowl, Meteorite turned her head and quizzically looked up at Steel. An afterthought later, and used her foreleg to wipe the oatmeal still around her mouth.
"Uh, okay. I'll do what I can."
Steel deigned to look at her, and simply remarked, "You have an oat on your nose, Miss Meteorite."
"Oh sh-!" Meteorite half-swore, hoof already on her nose.
Meteorite shivered as she followed Steel out of the front door. It was still pre-dawn, and the occasional breeze bit away at Meteorite through her fur. It occurred to her at this point that technically she wasn't wearing anything, an embarrassment cut short by currently being too cold to care about being embarrassed.
"Bloody hell," she muttered under her breath, before speaking louder. "Is it always this cold in the morning?"
"Usually," came Steel's curt reply as he set off down the path. "Follow closely now, Miss Meteorite. We're here to work, not chit-chat about the weather."
Meteorite's eyes narrowed as she silently obeyed, glaring at the back of Steel's head. I really don't like you. Her mind flashed back to last night's assessment of her situation, and quietly mulled things over.
Alright. Let's say this is just one whole dumb little story I'm writing… did I come up with Steel here? Did I purposefully make him annoying as fuck? Why would… oh, fuck, is he the antagonist? Do I have to overcome him or some shit like that? She considered the possibility for a moment before dismissing it, shaking her head. No, I can barely overcome walking as it is. And, it doesn't seem like the kind of thing I'd want to write about. I think.
If Meteorite had to be honest with herself, it was exceedingly difficult to determine just what she'd be willing to write about. As far as she could tell, she was a self-insert currently taking part-time work on a farm as a pony, all things she had thought to be well out of the bounds of her expertise and willingness to commit to text. And considering events so far, certainly more than any amount of commitment to any story she had attempted thus far in her life. It was beginning to become more than a little unsettling.
A loud yawn interrupted both her thoughts and her pace, as she stopped to bring a hoof to cover her mouth. She looked out over the horizon, squinting as she spotted the sun peeking through the trees and casting light over several patches of flowers, lighting them up in vivid hues of purple, orange and yellow.
"Oh hey," she murmured dully, "the sun's coming up. Wasn't expecting that for another five hours."
She looked over at Steel, and frowned as he showed no apparent reaction to her, just continuing along the path. Meteorite hurriedly caught up, lest he chastise her for falling behind.
Okay, I know I would've enjoyed that sarcasm -well of course; I fucking said the fucking thing- okay, whatever. So, if I am writing Steel, I'm really not going to break character it seems. I mean, commendable, I guess. I just wish it wasn't a fucking struggle just to figure out what's going on.
Meteorite sullenly continued following Steel in silence for a while, until she noticed something about her surroundings, taking her out of her thoughts.
"Hey," she called, "I noticed we're not anywhere near the apple trees. Where are we going, exactly?"
Steel slowed as he looked back at Meteorite. "We're going to the cow shelter. We'll be doing our duties there today."
"Cow shelter?" Meteorite queried.
"Yes. Ponyville has a few herds of cows that roam nearby. Though they prefer their nomadic lifestyle, they also enjoy protection from the elements at night. So, the Apple family refurbished an old barn into a shelter for them to use occasionally."
"I guess that makes sense," Meteorite uttered absent-mindedly, as she tried to recall any scenes she remembered having cows.
"Glad you approve, Miss Meteorite. In any case, we're nearly there, so if you have no further questions, let's be on our way," Steel said as he stepped his pace back up.
Meteorite held her tongue as she followed. Yeah, I've got a question: why do I wanna fucking deck you one? Yeah, no, nevermind. I already know the answer to that.
The cow shelter looked like a typical barn to Meteorite, at least from the outside, when it came into view. Only the herd of cows that were exiting the building tipped her off that this probably was it. As they drew nearer, one of the cows at the forefront spotted them and eagerly waved as she called out.
"Hellooo! Good morning!"
Steel picked up his pace, with Meteorite apprehensively following as closely as she could.
"Good morning ladies," Steel greeted, "I trust you all slept well?"
"Oooh, like a dream," came the reply, as several other cows from behind murmured in agreement. "And don't worry, we'll be out of your mane soon enough!"
"It is of no trouble, Ms Annabelle. We can wait."
Annabelle became quizzical for a moment, before spotting Meteorite lurking partially behind Steel. "Ooh! Well then, who do we have here?"
Meteorite nervously stepped out from behind and stood beside Steel, looking up at Annabelle. With Annabelle and the other cows being nearly twice as tall as Meteorite, the height difference felt staggering, causing Meteorite to feel like a child being told to say hello to her parent's friends.
"Um, I'm… I'm…" Meteorite managed to mumble before Steel stepped in.
"This is Miss Meteorite. She is…" Steel paused to briefly consider Meteorite, "a new worker for the time being. She'll be assisting me today."
"Oh, how lovely!" Annabelle replied with a flop of her hoof, "Well, don't worry, we left the place exactly how we found it!"
"Much appreciated, ladies."
A few light farewells from the herd later, the cows eventually dispersed into the fields with an assortment of titters and light chattiness. Meteorite watched them warily before following after Steel into the barn. The barn itself had two entrances, at opposite ends for each other, and a light breeze carried a musty odour with it from the stalls lining the wall. Meteorite did her best to not scrunch up her nose in disgust, but failed.
"This is what I want you to do," Steel began, surveying the stalls, "Our job for today will be to ensure this shelter is ready for tonight, for if and when the new herd of cows come in to stay." A few moments of assessing the situation later, he turned to face Meteorite. "You will not need to worry about the finer touches; for now, your task will be to remove the hay bedding that has become old and brittle."
Meteorite gave a disdainful stare at the hay-strewn floor of each stall, some of it spreading out into the main area.
"Uhhh… how?" she asked, already feeling overwhelmed.
"There's a pitchfork, Miss Meteorite," Steel stated, indicating one leaning against the wall adjacent to an entrance, "I believe that'll be a good starting point."
Meteorite frowned with worry as she carefully walked over to the pitchfork, glancing down at her forehooves with each step. Oh god, how am I going to hold this? There's no fucking way. Tentatively, she reached out with a hoof, but left her hoof hovering as she froze, not knowing how to proceed.
"Miss Meteorite," she heard Steel sigh behind her with all the weight of the world, "what are you doing?"
"Um. I'm- I'm just- I… never held a pitchfork before," she whimpered lamely. "I'm not sure how to go about it."
The ensuing silence was terrible, and Meteorite did not dare to look anywhere except at the pitchfork.
"Well," Steel eventually replied. "I think you'll find the most efficient way would be to hold it in your mouth, Miss Meteorite."
Oh… yeah, Meteorite quickly realised. Ponies do… hold things with their… mouths, don't they. A grimace crossed her face as she realised what was expected of her.
"I'd… rather not…"
"And why is that?" Steel asked sternly. Meteorite could feel his short fuse burning away with each word.
"I… have… a fear of germs?" Meteorite said quietly. More silence came.
"I see," Steel said flatly. "In that case, follow me please."
Meteorite sharply turned her head to see Steel heading back outside. "Whoa, w-wait, where're we going?"
Steel halted in his path. "We are going to go see Miss Applejack, and tell her you are unfit to work here."
Panic swelled up inside Meteorite's chest, and she leapt into a trot towards Steel.
"Whoa, no no no, wait! I have to- I mean, I have to work here! I… owe… her!"
Steel fixed Meteorite with a glare. "You are unwilling to perform the simplest of tasks, Miss Meteorite. Whatever it is you 'owe' Miss Applejack, I am quite sure that is not it."
Meteorite felt a lump in her throat as she sat, pinned down by Steel's eyes and words. "Please…!" Meteorite found herself uttering, words flowing out of her in a desperate attempt to grasp any solid ground to stand on, "I've got nowhere else to go! I-I-I can do this, I just- I need time to adjust! Please, don't…! Don't do this, I-I'll do what I can, p-please let me have a shot… I promise I'll try..."
As Steel listened to Meteorite's pleas, his expression softened and turned away, silently debating inside his head. Meteorite sniffed as she awaited his judgement.
"Very well," Steel said calmly, turning back to face her. "If you can show me you're serious about working here, I'll forget this exchange happened. But you have to be serious, understood?"
Meteorite nodded hastily, whereupon Steel turned about face, and headed towards the pitchfork.
"But we will not coddle you, Miss Meteorite. You will be expected to do everything that is asked of me and the others, is that clear?"
"I- I'll do what I can," Meteorite echoed, "I honestly don't think I'll be able to do everything."
"Hm, very well. We'll discuss it further when such a time comes then. But for now… pick up the pitchfork, Miss Meteorite. Everypony on the farm has already, it's not going to kill you."
Meteorite unsteadily approached the pitchfork, staring at it glumly. "C- Could I at least… wipe it down first?"
Steel resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "If you must."
Meteorite was not happy.
Certainly, having an old and weathered pitchfork gripped between her teeth was not helping her mood, regardless of how vigorously she rubbed the side of her foreleg against it beforehand in order to 'cleanse' it. There was no way she would be truly happy with the state of the pitchfork but as she mentally prepared to hold it in her mouth, she directed a few threatening thoughts towards the potential author version of herself, with the claim that if she were to die from simply handling a pitchfork in her mouth then she was an awful person, and a fucking shitty writer.
That made her feel a little better about her situation.
Still, temporarily overcoming her germaphobia did not help with her current mood, as moving hay about with the pitchfork meant repetitive muscle strain in her neck and jaw, bobbing her head about in an attempt to work with the alien movement. It was a miserable experience, but she'd be damned if she let it get to her now.
Steel was on the other side of the barn, presumably preoccupied with whatever task he didn't want Meteorite to handle, which suited her fine. Her mind had been preoccupying her by continuing to replay their earlier conversation as she worked, causing Meteorite to cringe internally at how she had reacted. However, the more she thought about it, there was another worry lying within.
If there was another her in charge, then she just had her newfound home and source of food threatened to be taken away. By herself.
A shiver ran across Meteorite's spine. Granted, this was very much preferable to just being handed everything on a silver platter through virtue of being a self-insert. But even so, she couldn't help but feel just a little intimidated. By herself.
Frowning, she clenched her teeth, reaffirming her grip on the pitchfork. Maybe Steel wasn't her antagonist after all.
Maybe she was.
"You may stop now, Miss Meteorite. I think you've done enough."
Meteorite looked up from the last stall she was cleaning out, with a worried look. Steel was briefly inspecting the other stalls.
"Mm?" she queried, muffled by the pitchfork.
"Yes, this is acceptable," Steel replied, giving one last glance over the stall Meteorite was at. "We should have our appointed break now, don't you think?"
"Ng," Meteorite agreed with a short nod. She stepped over to the wall and carefully placed the pitchfork up against the wall, grimacing as she let go of it.
"Blegh," she gagged, her tongue hanging out. "Ugh, somehow the taste is worse afterwards!"
"I recommend you don't 'taste' the pitchfork in the future then, Miss Meteorite."
Meteorite turned to glare at Steel, but the sound of a large bang in the distance suddenly cut through the air, quickly followed by a tremor through the ground underneath them.
"Wh- What was that?" Meteorite croaked, turning her attention towards the window.
"I'm… not sure," Steel admitted with a frown, looking in the same direction as Meteorite. "It sounded like it came from Ponyville."
Giving Steel a quick worried glance, Meteorite went back to looking outside. "Should we… do something?"
Steel remained silent as he continued to sternly study the outside. "No," he finally said, "we're too far away to be of any considerable use, and besides, we still have our jobs to do."
Meteorite frowned as she looked away, down at the floor. "Yeah, I guess," she conceded.
"Best we can do is to remain alert," Steel continued. "Now come along, we-"
Steel was cut off as another tremor could be felt growing, but this time accompanied by the sound of multiple hooves hitting the ground. Both Steel and Meteorite turned towards the northernmost entrance, and watched as multiple sheep stampeded by, bleating in fright. When the stampede petered out, a half-exhausted Silverfire slowly followed, pausing to catch his breath.
"Silverfire!" Steel called out, startling him. "What's going on?"
"Uhh…!" Silverfire stammered, turning to face Steel. "T-The sheep I was rounding up for AJ got like, super spooked. Didja hear that loud noise just now?"
Both Steel and Meteorite nodded. "What was that?" Meteorite asked.
Silverfire shrugged. "Dunno. Sounded like… like a tree exploding, or something."
"Fascinating theory," Steel muttered drolly. "What of the sheep?"
Silverfire rubbed the back of his head. "Well, uh, they kinda ran all over the place. I went after a bunch of them, but they're going the wrong way."
"Unsurprising," Steel said dryly. "They're in a panic right now so they're not thinking straight, which is why you have to." Steel punctuated by tapping the younger stallion on the forehead with a hoof, causing him to flinch. Meteorite was a little surprised by Steel's actions, but said nothing as she continued to pay attention.
"Does Miss Applejack know about this?" Steel asked. Silverfire shook his head.
"She got called away to Ponyville earlier this morning."
Well, at least whatever's happening in Ponyville, Applejack and the rest of 'em will probably take care of it, Meteorite mused idly. Her attention snapped back to Steel as he looked back at her thoughtfully.
"What?" she asked abruptly, though decided that might've been too rude and amended her question, with a softer tone. "What is it?"
"Hm…" Steel mused, his face betraying his uncertainty. "Silverfire, where is Miss Flora now?" He asked while still studying Meteorite.
"Dunno. Think she's still on the other side of the farm."
Steel inhaled sharply through his nostrils. "So it's just us three then…" he muttered under his breath. Squaring himself up, he approached Meteorite.
"Miss Meteorite, I am afraid… we may need your help rounding up the sheep."
Meteorite hesitated at the suggestion, instinctively drawing up a foreleg. "I don't- I-" She stole a glance past Steel and at Silverfire, who readily agreed with a few quick sharp nods. Meteorite let out a sigh.
"You'll have to tell me what to do," she said quietly, giving in.
"Of course," Steel said softly, before turning about. "This way, Miss Meteorite. I have a fairly good idea where they'll be heading."
With the two stallions leading the way, the three of them cut through the farmland and past the fence at the perimeter. Eventually they slowed to a stop by the edge of a steep incline heading down. Steel firmly gave Meteorite a signal to stay where she was and remain quiet as he carefully looked over the edge, with Silverfire joining him.
"Is that all of them?" Steel whispered. Silverfire furrowed his brow as he tried to mentally count the flock of sheep in the field down below. They were slowly milling about in groups, nervously looking around and offering quiet bleats as they did so.
"Think so," Silverfire whispered back. He made another recount, using his hoof to count off each sheep one by one. "Looks about right, yeah."
Steel gave a nod of acknowledgement and the pair backed away from the edge, back over to Meteorite.
"Okay, good," Steel said quietly, addressing Meteorite. "They've found their way to the field down there as I'd hoped they would."
"They've gone there the past couple times they've broken loose. They seem to like it," Silverfire explained.
"Yes, I'd imagine the cliff face feels like protection. Now, we still have a rather tricky situation here, Miss Meteorite, but the three of us should be able to herd them back to their pen."
Meteorite nodded with uncertainty, as something in her memories of the show bothered her. "Why don't we just, y'know, ask them to come back?"
"Ideally, that is exactly what we would do," Steel replied, "but they're only just now recovering from a blind panic. Even approaching them with caution at this point has the potential to set them off on another panicked frenzy."
"Ol' Steel here learnt that the hard way the first time we had to deal with this," Silverfire grinned, ignoring the glare Steel was shooting him.
"Yes, thank you, Silverfire."
Meteorite bit her lip to stop herself from smirking, as Steel cleared his throat.
"Anyway. As we have learned, our best course of action right now is to use that panic to our advantage, and that would be by herding them." Steel glanced around at the ground and picked up a small but sturdy stick, and began drawing in the dirt.
"At the moment there are three groups of sheep segregated down below," Steel explained, drawing a few circles in a larger half-circle. He marked three spots on the outer perimeter with crosses. "This will be where we'll position ourselves. The main group we'll be targeting will be this one at the back here. One of us will drive them from this angle, which ought to push the surprised group into the other two groups, both of which should start running with the flock out of confusion. One of us will be ready here," -he pointed to another cross- "and will drive the flock away from the open lands and towards where we need them to be. Finally the third pony will be waiting over here to further direct the crowd, maneuvering them as we please. Everypony follow?"
Silverfire gave a hearty "Yep!" while Meteorite was still studying the crude tactical plan before her, growing unsettled.
"I think so…"
"This is not a good time for 'think so's, Miss Meteorite. I need you to be ready."
Meteorite looked up and met Steel's stare, feeling unable to move from where she stood. Swallowing, she looked down at the plan once more for a moment before returning to face Steel.
"Yeah… got it," she replied hoarsely.
Steel's gaze lingered for a moment as he indicated the marked spots. "Right. Given our options, I feel you and I, Silverfire, would be best positioning ourselves here and here, directing the flow of the herd."
Silverfire slowly turned his attention from the plan to Meteorite. "So that just leaves…"
"Leaving Miss Meteorite to drive the initial group forward."
"You want me to what?!" Meteorite panicked, a little shrilly.
"It's arguably the easiest part," Steel told her matter-of-factly.
"But what if I screw things up?"
"Don't."
"Oh yes, that's real helpful," Meteorite muttered, lowering her head.
"He's right though," Silverfire cut in. "All you gotta do is run at them from the other side of where you want them to go."
Meteorite lifted her head to look at Silverfire, remaining thoughtful for a moment before turning back to Steel.
"Do you really think I can do it?" she asked timidly. "Wouldn't it be better if we wait for Applejack instead?"
Steel looked back at Silverfire in silent inquiry, who shrugged in response. "We do not know how long it'll be before Miss Applejack makes her return, and anything could further startle the sheep in the meantime, even now as we dither in place, Miss Meteorite." He gave her a stern and disapproving look. "I thought you were serious about working here, Miss Meteorite. It seems to me you've gone back on your word."
Meteorite gasped, the air getting caught in her throat. "No! I-I'm serious! I'm just… scared of messing up. I'll- I'll do it."
Steel gave her a thoughtful stare before blinking slowly, his expression softening afterwards. "Good," he said, sounding a bit kinder. "Do not fret, Miss Meteorite. I wouldn't trust you with this important task if I didn't believe you could do it."
That helped ease Meteorite's tension, although not by much as doubts about her capabilities in this new body was very much at the front of her mind. Steel turned away to face the edge once more, pointing off to a side path heading downwards.
"Right. With that settled, Silverfire and I will head down this way to our positions, and you Miss Meteorite can fly over to your spot. Give us a few minutes before starting."
There was an uncomfortable silence, punctuated by an awkward cough from Meteorite.
"Um. About that… I… can't fly."
"Now's not the time for jokes, Miss Meteorite," Steel told her, looking back with a stern glare. However, when Meteorite unwaveringly stared back at him, his expression slowly faded as it dawned on him. "You're… serious, aren't you?" Meteorite nodded, and Steel sighed as he rolled his eyes to the skies.
"Right. Well. There goes most of the tasks I had been planning for you."
"Sorry," Meteorite said, looking apologetic. "I should've mentioned it sooner."
"No, no…" Steel sighed, before reconsidering things. "Well, yes, actually. It would've been nice to have known that ahead of time." Shaking his head, he turned and pointed to a second path heading down on the other side. "But that's for a later discussion. For now, head down that path. Silverfire, go with her and make sure she gets to her position safely. You'll be able to reach your position from that side as well."
Silverfire gave him a very casual salute, and waited with a smile for Meteorite to join him. The group split up, and Silverfire and Meteorite made their way down the long winding path ahead of them. About halfway down, Silverfire broke the silence.
"So uh… can't fly huh? That's gotta suck," he started, sounding uneasy.
Meteorite tensed up. "Uhh… yeah," she replied, sounding noncommitted. "Yeah, it's uh… yeah."
"How… uh…" Silverfire continued, unsure of his words. "How did… it… uh-"
"Look," Meteorite cut in, uneasy herself. "Don't- Don't worry about it. It's uh, just something that's… always been the case. It's not a big deal."
The moment she said it, Meteorite realised she was lying. Some part of her, deep within her, was upset that she couldn't move her wings. As much as heights bothered her, being given the opportunity to explore new perspectives but denied for no apparent good reason, it tore at her. She was a pegasus, yeah? She had a right to be able to fly so how dare-
"You okay?" Silverfire asked with concern, jolting Meteorite out of her mood.
"Huh, wha- what?" Meteorite shook her thoughts clear. "Oh yeah, I'm fine. Just… was thinking."
"Right," Silverfire nodded.
They continued down the path in silence, mostly due to the awkwardness of not knowing each other, but in part to not alert the flock of sheep as they drew near. Reaching a suitable spot behind a tree and some bushes, Silverfire turned to Meteorite, speaking lowly.
"Okay. Well, this is your spot." He paused, peeking over the bush. "You see the sheep there?"
Meteorite peered round the side of the bush before pulling her head back behind cover. "Yep," she quietly replied.
"Okay, give me-" Silverfire gestured with his hoof haphazardly, "-five minutes or so to get to my spot, then leap out and run straight at 'em."
"Just run?"
"Well, make some noise or something, I guess. Just get them running scared."
"Hmph. Noble," Meteorite muttered under her breath.
"Hm?" Silverfire queried, confused.
"Nothing. Just muttering to myself."
"Oh okay," Silverfire said dismissively, albeit slightly confused. He tilted his head towards the path around the bend. "I'm… gonna go then."
"Yeah yeah, go," Meteorite whispered, shooing him off with both hooves. "Thanks, by the way. For bringing me here."
"Yeah, no problem."
Meteorite silently watched Silverfire cautiously trot away, and let out a sigh of relief at being by herself again. Even if it was to be for only five minutes. Or so. She didn't exactly have a way to track time.
She sat down by the tree, her back up against its bark as she stared up at its leafy green foliage. Her forelegs hung to her sides as for the first time in days, she sat relatively human-like. It wasn't entirely uncomfortable.
Okay, she half-thought, half-mouthed to herself, What's the plan here? Run out, scare the living shit out of the sheep… day is saved, huzzah. Closing her eyes, she ran a hoof through her mane, flinching only when she bumped into one of her ears, flicking away from the touch. She paused in that position for a few moments, her shoulders eventually shaking as she let out some hushed nervous laughter. Gasping, she tightly shut her mouth and opened her eyes, trying to force herself to calm down.
Okay, no, don't. Don't lose it. ...any more than you already have.
She looked back and around the tree, spotting the sheep through the gap between the tree and the bush. You've gotta stay strong and do this. You gotta do this for them. She made a disinterested face at that, so another approach came to her. Applejack needs you to do this for her.
That thought struck a chord with her, and she calmed down considerably as she mulled on it.
You'll let Applejack down if you don't do this.
"Huh…" she muttered softly. "That's… quite the sentence." Blinking a few times, she groaned lightly as she clambered to her hooves. "Alright," she muttered, moving to the other end of the bush, "Job first, nervous breakdown later, I guess."
Peering intently at the sheep through the leaves of the bush, Meteorite decided to crouch as she got into position, waiting for the moment to pounce. It occurred to her that she was acting like a cat stalking its prey, and an involuntary soft chuckle escaped her lopsided grin, and she briefly glanced back at her rear end, and gave it a slight wiggle, the way she'd seen cats as they prepared to pounce.
It furthermore occurred to her that that was probably sending a very wrong message to anybody watching and she promptly stood up normally, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. As she did though, her head rustled the leaves and branches of the bush, alerting a few nearby sheep, who nervously bleated in her direction.
Well fuck now or never I guess, she thought very quickly before leaping into full view, making a strangled yell as she did so. Her hooves had barely touched the ground when the sheep had already begun to flee, panicked baas becoming deafening as the flock turned in on itself, sheep bumping into each other as they tried to escape this sudden new purple menace.
Luckily, as Steel had predicted they started to run in the opposite direction, and as Meteorite stood watching them go, she quickly realised she ought to be chasing them. Without much thought, her hooves sprang into action and she ran after the fleeing flock, causing a few of the stragglers to pick up pace when they looked behind and saw she was still there.
Meteorite would've liked to see where she and the flock were headed, but it was all too apparent that she wasn't tall enough to look over the top of the sheep. Nevertheless, she soon heard Silverfire on the right hand side, shouting directions at the sheep. Still running, Meteorite drifted slightly to the right and saw a bunch of new sheep trying to run away from both Silverfire and the other group of sheep stampeding towards them. They quickly did the only thing they could do and ran with the new flock, Silverfire running with them on the right, keeping them in line.
Oh my god, Meteorite thought to herself as a grin slowly formed on her face, we're actually doing it! I'm actually doing it! I'm helping herd the sheep!
A brief moment later she heard Steel over the cacophony of noise from the stampede, and noticed the flock turning. She turned with them running down what looked like a clear path for days. Eventually she heard a sharp whistle from her right, and assumed it to be Steel, but when she turned her head to look she saw Applejack up on a ridge, running parallel with them. Sunny Flora was behind her, struggling to keep up.
"Yee-haw!" Applejack hollered, waving her hat. "That's the way t' do it!" Meteorite allowed herself to grin wider as she felt amazing, being cheered on by Applejack.
And then one of her hooves came down the wrong way on a rock in the road.
Everything currently happening was forgotten in an instant as Meteorite shrieked while tumbling forward, the momentum flipping her over a few times as her vision briefly became a blur of purple and red, before finally skidding to a halt, face down in the dirt. She was minutely aware of shouting, but disorientation and sudden awareness of pain shooting through her took precedence.
Regaining her senses for the briefest of moments, Meteorite forced herself to get to her hooves to resume chase, but the sounds of the stampede was already fading, along with the sight of Applejack taking Meteorite's position behind the flock. Applejack gave a worried glance behind her as she ran, but when she locked eyes with the barely standing Meteorite, she gave a knowing nod and returned her attention to the stampede. The adrenaline in Meteorite's veins dissipated and she collapsed back to the ground, defeated and bruised.
"Oh my gosh!" Meteorite heard Sunny cry out, getting closer with each word. "Meteorite! Are you okay? Are you hurt?"
"I think I hurt my hoof…" Meteorite plaintively moaned into the dirt.
"Meteorite, you were standing just now."
Meteorite lifted her head, seeing Sunny standing over her. "That doesn't prove anything," she said stubbornly.
Sunny looked at her, unsure. Nevertheless, she got on the ground and tentatively reached out and held Meteorite's hoof. "Does that hurt?" she asked, giving it a light squeeze.
"No…" Meteorite admitted, watching Sunny let go of her, carefully moving onto her other forehoof.
"And this?"
"No…"
"Well, I'm no doctor, but I think you're going to be okay," Sunny smiled warmly. She got up and circled Meteorite, inspecting her. "Yeah, you look alright. A few scrapes and bruises, but you'll survive."
Meteorite had to admit, the sharp pain from earlier was already fading to a dull ache. Slowly, she pushed herself up to a sitting position.
"Ow," she grumbled.
"You're fine," Sunny reiterated firmly.
Meteorite woozily turned to look at Sunny. "I just did a highspeed seven-twenty or so with a perfect landing on my face. I think I've earned the right to whine if I want to."
Sunny grimaced, and smiled apologetically. "Alright…" She cleared her throat. "It… uh… It was an impressive fall."
Blinking and shaking her head lightly, Meteorite tried to clear her vision as she looked back at the rock she had tripped over, several feet away. Her eyes ran along the path to where she had landed, and finally where she had stopped moving and was currently sitting.
That hadn't just been an impressive fall, it had been a cartoonish one.
Troubled, she turned her head back towards Sunny, when she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her neck.
"Ahh-!" she hissed through her teeth, instinctively reaching to the base of her neck with a hoof.
"What- What is it?" Sunny asked quickly, moving in closer. "Move your hoof, let me see."
Meteorite obeyed, and Sunny moved aside Meteorite's mane to get a better look. "Ohh…" Sunny said lowly. "Yeah, you've got a small cut back here. Nothing a bandage can't take of."
However, Meteorite was currently preoccupied by the small red stain on her hoof to pay much attention. "I'm… bleeding," she uttered.
"Only a tiny bit, come on, we've got bandages back at the cottage."
Sunny turned and left, but stopped when she realized she was alone. Turning back, Meteorite was still sitting in the middle of the path, staring at her hoof.
"Meteorite!" she called urgently. "You coming?"
Meteorite snapped out of her thoughts and looked up at Sunny. "Uh! Yeah, coming!" She glanced down again at her hoof before vigorously rubbing it into the dirt, scrubbing it free of blood.
"Coming…" she repeated quietly, standing up and following after Sunny.
"Annnnnd there! All done!"
Back at the cottage, Meteorite sat on the floor of their bathroom as Sunny carefully cleaned up and put a plaster over Meteorite's cut. Sunny walked around in front of Meteorite. "How do ya feel?"
"Better," Meteorite swallowed. She slowly lifted her hoof and stared at it. She had washed off the remaining blood when they arrived home, but the memory was still there. "Better…" she repeated, quieter.
"Okay, good!" Sunny chirped, putting away her first aid kit. After she had done so, she stretched her body. "Okay… well. I reckon it's almost lunchtime, so I think we should just have lunch now. You want me to make ya anything?"
Meteorite blinked as she looked up, surprised by but appreciative of the hospitality. "Uhh, sure! Sandwich, I guess?"
Sunny nodded. "'kay, what'll ya have?"
Meteorite hesitated, her primary option of 'meat' unfairly stricken from her internal lifetime menu. "Um… Tell ya what, surprise me. I'm… open to anything, at this point, I guess."
Sunny gave a soft giggle. "Well, alright!"
As Sunny left the bathroom, Meteorite fell back into her solemn demeanour as she closed her eyes, envisioning the blood on her hoof. She hadn't remembered blood being shown before, not that there would have been on a show like that, but nevertheless it made for a startling sight. It also made for a powerful statement, that she could get hurt. She could die.
"Well, at least the pain definitely rules out the dream theory…" she muttered. She never really took much stock in the 'you can't feel pain in dreams' myth, but at this point she wanted any reason to rule out options, just to be able to focus on only one.
Unfortunately, she was still stuck with the two options of 'this is real' and 'this isn't real, but alternate me really wants me to think that it is'. She was determined to stick with the latter though, if only because it possibly annoyed her other self.
She sighed and opened her eyes, staring up and past the ceiling. "Alright," she muttered, "you've made your point. I oughta be careful." At that point, she thought she heard voices drifting in through the window, followed by the front door swinging open.
Meteorite glanced towards the doorway and out towards the hall, her ears swivelling as she heard what sounded like Applejack's voice. She gave a swift return glance upwards before getting to her hooves and heading towards the hallway.
She rounded the corner to find Applejack, Steel and Silverfire in the entranceway. Applejack spotted her and trotted up to her with a big grin. "Hey, there she is!" she touted, slapping Meteorite on her back and making her stumble. "Ah gotta say, Ah was surprised t' see ya out there today, but ya did good!"
Meteorite stared back at Applejack with an uneasy grin, suddenly uncomfortable with standing this close to her. "A-Aha, uh heh, thank you…" she eventually got out. She had wanted to call Applejack by her name, but even that sort of familiarity with her felt uncomfortable as well. Besides, something else bothered her, and she hung her head. "But I tripped…"
Applejack shook her head. "Aw, don't let that bother ya. Everypony trips up once in a while. But that, that was some nice herdin'."
Meteorite felt herself blush. "A- I only did what they told me to do," she said, pointing towards Steel and Silverfire. Applejack looked at them, and Steel nodded.
"Well even so, y'all saved me and mah family a lot of headache by roundin' up those sheep, and Ah reckon that's good enough."
Meteorite felt some pride at that and lifted her head up as a result. Applejack beamed as Sunny walked in, hearing the commotion.
"Oh good, y'all here," Applejack said, noticing Sunny. "Now, Ah'm not here just t' congratulate everypony on a job well done, Ah'll be out of town fer the rest of the day, so if any more issues pop up, y'all see mah brother about it, y'hear? Ah don't doubt yer capable of handlin' it yerselves, but it's best if everypony knows what's happenin'."
"You're going away?" Sunny asked.
"Yeah… one of mah friends is in a bit of a tizzy about a test she has t' take in Canterlot, so me and the rest of our friends are going along fer moral support."
That definitely has to be Twilight, Meteorite considered.
"Oh, well, I hope she passes!" Sunny said brightly. There was a mumbled agreement from Silverfire, and Meteorite found herself quietly half-nodding. Applejack winked at them.
"Ah don't doubt she will."
The rest of the day went by surprisingly smoothly. Steel had led her back to the cow shelter, where they focused on finishing up for the day. Steel had given her more simple tasks to do, which she followed up on without much fuss, if only because she was still riding the high of being praised by Applejack.
And it seemed that Steel wasn't going to get any further on her case, so that also was a big plus.
But the day came to a close, and everypony made their way back home to the cottage. Sunny was still excitedly talking about the herding, asking the others questions about what happened, but during a lull where Meteorite wasn't being talked at, she slunk off to her room in order to collapse onto her bed, face first into her pillow.
After a while, she heard soft clip-clops come into the room. "Oh hey," she heard Sunny say, "there you are. Was wondering where ya got off to!"
Meteorite wearily shifted her head towards Sunny and faintly smiled at her. "Heey… sorry, I'm just exhausted."
"Mm!" Sunny agreed. "It has been a lot of excitement for one day, hasn't it?"
Oh god she's still talking. "Uh huh…" Meteorite decided to return to firmly planting her face into her pillow, hoping that'll send the message. It sort of did, but now Meteorite was acutely aware of the awkward silence that hung in the air, at least until Sunny spoke again, softer this time.
"Uh… are you alright?"
Meteorite sighed into her pillow and turned to face Sunny again. "I'm tired, Sunny. I'd like to get some rest now, before I have to go and embarrass myself again later tonight eating dinner."
Sunny swallowed, hanging her head slightly as she turned to face the door. "Okay…" she said, sounding dejected. "I'll leave you alone…"
Meteorite felt her heart being stabbed as she watched Sunny leave the room, but she gritted her teeth and hardened her soul, just to finally have her alone time.
Besides, Meteorite thought to herself, it's not like she's even real or anything, right? It's just me trying to annoy me.
Admittedly, she wasn't entirely happy with that assessment, but she doubled down on it as she closed her eyes, settling herself into a more comfortable position.
I will not be intimidated by myself.