"Alright, I gotta give it to ya, this has been pretty fun."
Ponyville was in the middle of celebrating by way of the Summer Harvest Parade, and despite her initial wishes, Meteorite found herself walking with Flo and Silverfire amongst the crowd on the sidelines of the designated route for the parade. For all her desires to stay out of potential plot-driven spotlights, it felt nice to just be part of the crowd for once.
Plus the attractions and food were worth risking it, she felt.
"See, I told you!" Flo told her, lightly shoving Meteorite on the shoulder, "And you wanted to stay home."
"Just like Steel," Silverfire teased slightly, taking a bite out of his hay dog.
"Yeah yeah okay. You were right, I was wrong," Meteorite reluctantly admitted. A moment later she saw a street vendor approaching and flagged them down, already fishing bits out of her saddlebags. "And I've never actually been to a parade before, so there's that I suppose."
"Wait, really?" Flo asked. "Not even when you were little?"
"Nah," Meteorite said as she received her drink, served in a generic cup with a lid and straw, and sat down with it in both forehooves. "Was always a stay-at-home kinda… filly," she grinned before slurping through her straw. "But this, this is nice."
Having continued onwards, Silverfire looked back and retraced his steps. "Oh. We're… stopping here?"
"For now," Meteorite nodded, not wanting to draw attention to the fact that she still needed both forehooves to firmly hold her cup. She looked out with dull surprise on the main road at the passing floats. "Wow. That's the second biggest golden apple I've seen."
Flo turned to her with a raised eyebrow. "What's the biggest?"
"It's called dry humour, Flo," Meteorite remarked casually, not looking at her and taking another sip. "I do it a lot."
"Hm," Flo mused, unimpressed.
Meteorite continued staring at the floats, lazily sipping as she did, though her mind was focused. Okay, so, evidently cars are a thing ponies can build. Or at least, car-like. Weird technological jump, but whatever, good to know.
Unfortunately, being so intently lost in her thoughts, Meteorite didn't hear in time the patter of tiny hooves approaching from one side.
"'scuze us!" cried a yellow filly as she ran past, jolting Meteorite's cup loose from her grip.
"Sorry!" said a white filly, knocking Meteorite off-balance while she desperately tried reclaiming her drink as it was sent into the air.
"Coming through!" announced an orange filly from behind, sending Meteorite into a reverse spin for a few seconds. Meteorite dizzily looked at her empty hooves before glancing upwards, only to have her cup come back down the wrong way and land on her face, spilling soda and ice over her. Flo covered a gasp with her hoof, while Silverfire merely cringed.
…I don't know what to feel more upset by, Meteorite bitterly thought, not daring to move a muscle as the syrupy liquid dribbled down her neck and body. Losing my drink, or the fact that all this somehow feels like a cold open.
Out of pity, Silverfire plucked the now empty cup from upon Meteorite's head, as she suddenly gave in to a tiny sneeze.
"...'cuse me…"
Deciding to cut the outing short, Meteorite headed back home to the cottage alone, where she hastily hopped into the shower. Having a fur-covered body was taking some adjusting to, especially when it got mussed up. Her fur being dirty or just parted the wrong way was annoying, but it being sticky was unbearable. Not that wet fur was much better, but she at least could dry herself off afterwards.
Ah well, it at least had been a fun day out until that point. Maybe she wouldn't be so averse to future events once in a-
"Snk!"
Another sneeze. She managed to catch herself this time, sneezing into her foreleg, but now she was getting worried.
Fuck, I'm not coming down with something, am I? Fuck, that's all I need.
She briefly wondered if it might be hayfever; it was something she used to suffer from, after all. She vaguely remembered hayfever being mentioned on the show, though with all the punning involved in the scene, she had no idea if it was still the same thing or not.
Although… would I still suffer hayfever now? She pondered while looking at her foreleg, before turning about and letting the stream of water wash over her face. Technically a different body… although I wouldn't put it past me to still give me hayfever anyway.
Finishing up, she got out of the shower tub and started drying herself off with a towel, still lost in thought. The trouble is, if it's not hayfever, then it's something else and that's just as worrying. She raised her foreleg to her forehead to check for a fever, but quickly realised it was difficult to parse exactly what temperature she had. Another issue with fur.
Hmph, gonna need to figure out what an appropriate temperature feels like for future reference…
Walking down the hall from her room, Meteorite crossed paths with Steel, who had been heading into the living area with a book in the crook of his foreleg. He glanced her way with a curt nod.
"Ah, Miss Meteorite. I suspected that was you."
Meteorite raised an eyebrow. "How'd you know it was me? I didn't see you at all when I came back."
"I doubt very much Silverfire would be using your bathroom," Steel reasoned as he settled down on the dark brown sofa, readying his book in his hooves. "And Miss Flora is more… vocal, about returning home," he explained carefully.
"Alright, you got me there," Meteorite conceded.
"Is the parade over already then?" Steel asked disinterestedly, already paying more attention to his book. "I had assumed it was going to be longer."
"Naah, I got soda spilled all over me so I came back to clean up."
Steel flicked his eyes up at her briefly. "Mm. Rowdy crowd, I take it?"
"Nah, just some kids, y'know? Applebloom and her friends."
"Ah, of course, Miss Bloom," Steel muttered, turning a page. "I presume you'll be heading back out then?"
"Nah… think I've had enough for one day," Meteorite said while stretching, with her forehooves planted on the ground. She was momentarily distracted by how cat-like her action just now was, before shaking it off. "You up to anything?"
Steel appeared to not hear her as he continued to very intently read. A few seconds passed, and his eyes steadily rose up from his book to pointedly stare at her. Meteorite sucked in her cheeks as she meekly nodded.
"Right… yeah okay," she trailed off, awkwardly looking elsewhere. She turned about to walk back down the hallway when she was suddenly overcome by a few short dry coughs. Steel peered up at her.
"Are you feeling alright, Miss Meteorite?"
"Y- uh… maybe?" Meteorite ventured, finishing another cough into the crook of her hoof. "I dunno, actually. Sneezed earlier too; might be coming down with something."
"Are you feverish?"
Meteorite reluctantly put her hoof to her forehead for a few seconds, before awkwardly shrugging. "Honestly can't tell."
"Hmm," Steel mused thoughtfully before eventually returning to his book. "Well, do keep an eye on it. Hopefully it's nothing."
Meteorite silently nodded, reserving some doubt as she headed back to her room.
Flopped back onto her bed, Meteorite stared up at the ceiling furrowing in thought. If I learned anything from TV, it's that characters don't just 'get sick'. Am I doing this to me then? Is this like… a plot point or something? Is something finally going to happen?
She thought back to… what was it, a couple weeks now? The ordeal with her wings and Twilight felt very in-the-moment at the time, but after a few days hindsight she couldn't shake the feeling that it felt… Important. Was it Story Important though? She couldn't tell.
There was that thing going on with Pinkie at the time too, which she learned more about from Applejack after the fact. Applejack had shrugged it off as 'just one of those things that happen', but Meteorite went on to quietly file that bit of information under Probably Important.
Truth be told, the whole idea of Pinkie creating magical clones of herself didn't feel like it would come from either herself or the show. But it was a fact she had to concede as happened, at the very least, in the version of Equestria she now called home.
With a sigh, Meteorite rolled her head to the side, and in a bid for a distraction from her thoughts, her eyes fell upon the half-read Daring Do book on her half of the bedside table. It wasn't her kind of story, she had to admit. It was very well-written of course, too well-written to have come from her definitely, but action-adventure stories just didn't really do anything for her.
Plus, some of it did feel contrived, so there was that.
She sniffed and rolled over the other way towards the wall, her hooves under her pillow as she closed her eyes to rest. Her thoughts began flittering towards the only book series she'd ever got invested in, Discworld. She smiled at the memory, only for it to turn sour as she realised that was yet another thing she'll never see again.
"Guess you really can't take it with you…" she whispered to herself, almost inaudibly.
After a few moments, she cracked open an eye as it occurred to her that technically, technically, the entire fictional multiverse was open to her, if her author so chooses. Mulling it over, she went back to trying to nap as she considered that, like what she had decided with the embarrassment back a few weeks ago with Time Turner, doing a crossover with Discworld would probably be A Bad Idea, and so put off the notion of trying to convince herself. Not that she'd probably listen, anyway.
No, apparently, she would much rather waste everybody's time by giving herself a cold. How thrilling. Truly a writer of the ages, she was.
A sneeze suddenly caught her off-guard. Groaning, Meteorite twisted about and got off her bed and into the bathroom. After some searching, she fumbled with both hooves for the tissue box Flo had.
Bet that was on purpose, ya fuck, she grumbled to herself as she clumsily wiped her snout, casting a glare through the bathroom window at the open sky. Wassamatter, can't handle being called out? Need to jab me back in my place, do you?
Meteorite waited for some sort of retaliation, and lightly scoffed when nothing further happened. She moved back to her room.
"Whatever…"
The rest of the afternoon went roughly as expected, punctuated occasionally by a few coughs and a sneeze or two. After Flo and Silverfire returned home and they all had dinner, Meteorite explained she wasn't feeling the best and opted for a very early night.
It was of course to none of her surprise that Meteorite woke up the next morning feeling terrible.
The sound of Flo's alarm reverberated through her skull, and Meteorite pulled her covers up and over her head to muffle the noise, with minimal success. Thankfully the alarm was silenced quickly, and after a while Meteorite felt a hoof prod her in the shoulder.
"Hey, Meteorite…" Flo called softly, fighting through her own bleariness. "How are you feeling?"
"Nnnggghh…" Meteorite articulated to the best of her abilities, pushing her head deeper into her pillow.
"Alright…" Flo nodded, yawning. "I'll let the boys know."
The sound of Flo's hoofsteps grew quiet, before the squeak of their bathroom door closing scraped the inside of Meteorite's head. With a pitiful whine, she leveraged the ends of her pillow with her hooves, pinning them inward in a desperate plea to mute the world around her as she tried to go back to sleep.
How long she managed to sleep for was hard to tell, but what Meteorite did know was there was the sound of a very determined, very persistent, very fucking annoying stallion trying to get her attention. But with no fight left in her, Meteorite slowly peeked out from under her covers with bloodshot eyes.
In a rare lapse of composure, Steel recoiled slightly and audibly grimaced at the sight. He cleared his throat to cover up his embarrassment, but it just made Meteorite wince at the sound.
"It… would appear you are unwell after all, Miss Meteorite."
To his surprise, or at the very least mild surprise, Meteorite made no attempt at a retort, and only weakly nodded accompanied by a few plaintive whines and sniffles.
"Well," he continued with an exhale, "do not concern yourself with anything other than getting better, is that understood Miss Meteorite?"
"Okay…" she quietly murmured, shifting slightly and wrapping the covers around her. Steel turned to leave, encountering Flo just outside the room, with Silverfire off to the side arching his neck around to peer inside.
"Alright," Steel scolded lightly as he left, pulling the door to a close, "this isn't a sideshow."
"Dude, how sick is she?" Silverfire asked.
"Shouldn't we get a doctor?" Flo asked immediately after. Steel held up his hoof and shook his head.
"No need for all that. Miss Meteorite is just a little under the weather, that's all." He clapped his hooves twice in quick succession. "Now come on, we still have our health, and our duties to go with them."
Silverfire groaned gruffly as Steel took lead down the hallway. Flo watched them leave for a bit before she, with growing uncertainty, looked back at her and Meteorite's bedroom door.
Swallowing, she set about down the hall.
Meteorite's head swam as she fought to sit upright in her bed. She wasn't surprised when Steel had come in earlier to confirm that she really was unwell, before deciding that yes, she was unable to put in a day's work.
But what did surprise her was a few hours later, when Flo walked in with a tan-coloured unicorn stallion she only vaguely recognised, clearly garbed in a doctor's outfit and a doctor's bag in his mouth, which he put down upon entry.
"Hello there," he greeted warmly. "I'm Doctor Horse, and I've been told that somepony isn't feeling very well."
If she had the willpower to do so, Meteorite would've sent a few snarky thoughts out into the ether about how embarrassingly lazy of a name that was. But as it was, Meteorite only had the power to weakly nod as she murmured an affirmation. In response, Dr Horse began opening his bag and rummaging inside, and Flo awkwardly shuffled to the far side of the room to keep out of the way.
"Alright, let's have a look at you," Dr Horse told Meteorite, slightly muffled by the small flashlight in his mouth. After checking her eyes and throat, he put the flashlight away in a pocket. "Do you think you can tell me what symptoms you have?"
Meteorite slowly nodded, finally finding her voice for the first time that morning. "Uhh… head's kinda… stuffed, headache, runny nose… uhh… I'm feeling pretty itchy around-" she awkwardly gestured towards her midsection, "-here I guess." She smacked her lips a few times. "Mouth's dry…"
"Okay, that's enough," he told her, as he stared intently at her wing. "Can you unfurl your wing for me please?"
"Uh-!" Both Meteorite and Flo started, before Flo quietened down, not wanting to encroach. Meteorite woozily blinked before continuing. "Can't do that. Can't move my wings."
"You can't move your wings?" Dr Horse repeated, alarmed. Meteorite hastily waved a hoof at him.
"Nah nah no no, it's fine. It's… an existing condition," she told him. "Don't worry 'bout it."
Dr Horse turned to Flo, who silently nodded. Turning back, he rubbed his chin. "Well, if you say so. I am going to need to check it though. Are you comfortable with me unfurling it for you?"
Through her addled thoughts, Meteorite gave the request some consideration. "Yeah, yeah go ahead. Do what you need to…" she trailed off into a yawn. "...sorry."
Popping his flashlight back into his mouth, Dr Horse returned to his bag and came back with some gloves on his hooves. Carefully touching Meteorite's wing, he examined it in detail for a few moments before putting it back by her side.
"Interesting…" he muttered through the side of his mouth. After removing his gloves, he magically lifted up a moist towelette to wipe his hooves with. "What was your name again?"
"Meteorite," Flo replied instinctively.
"Right, Meteorite, have you had Wing Pox before?"
Meteorite slowly shook her head. "Can definitely tell you I haven't."
"That's what I thought."
"What is it, doctor?" Flo asked. "Is she okay?"
Dr Horse turned to her, distracted. "What? Oh yes, absolutely, she's going to be fine. It's just a case of Wing Pox. Most pegasi deal with it at some point, though usually when they're younger. Your friend has been lucky to get through life this far without contracting it." He gave it a little thought. "Or unlucky, depending on how you look at it, I suppose."
Meteorite groaned in response as she slumped back down under her covers. Flo eyed her worriedly, as Dr Horse began packing up. "She just needs plenty of rest, juice," he turned about to address Meteorite, "oh, and this goes without saying, but do not pluck at your feathers. You'll only make it worse."
"Okay…" Meteorite whined softly, now absolutely focused on the itchiness in her wings.
"She should be fine in a week or so," Dr Horse said aside to Flo as he hoisted up his bag, turning to leave. "Are there any other pegasi in the household?"
Flo shook her head as she followed him out of the room. "No, she's the only one."
"Okay, good. It won't do much to non-pegasi, but I'd still advise against getting too close all the same."
Flo nodded gratefully. "I understand. Thank you for coming, doctor."
Dr Horse dismissively waved it off with a smile. "All part of the job."
Flo stood at the front door as the good doctor made his way down the hoofpath, back to Ponyville. Exhaling a sigh, Flo closed the door and made her way back to the rear of the cottage.
"Heeey," she called softly to Meteorite, gently knocking on their door as she entered. "How are you feeling?"
"Itchy…" Meteorite breathed, trying not to give in. She shifted uncomfortably before making an effort to get up.
"Whoa whoa, take it easy," Flo cautioned, holding out her hoof.
"I'm just sitting up…" Meteorite said breathlessly, settling into position and wearily regarding Flo. Her eyes closed momentarily and her head drooped slightly before jerking herself back awake.
"You need to rest, Meteorite."
"Yeah, I'm gonna…" Meteorite yawned. "I'm just-"
She cut herself off as her gaze drifted, apparently lost in thought. With a blink of clarity, she refocused back on Flo.
"Did you call for a doctor?"
Flo felt confused by the odd wording. "What?"
"I was just wondering, were you the one that-" Another yawn snuck up onto Meteorite, developing into a few coughs.
Flo waited patiently for the coughing to finish then nodded uneasily. "Yeah… I went into town and asked for a doctor to come see you."
"Ah, well, thanks for that…" Meteorite murmured through a weak smile, her upper body hunched forward slightly. "Lord knows I wouldn't have known it would be something like Wing Pox."
Flo tilted her head slightly, listening curiously. "Never had it?"
Meteorite giggled a little deliriously. "Not until now…" she trilled, before going into another quiet thoughtful moment. Flo briefly wondered what Meteorite was thinking before the latter spoke up again, now more reserved. "Anyway. Thanks again, you didn't have to, but I really appreciate it…"
"You're very welcome," Flo smiled, feeling justified. "Steel didn't think it was necessary, but looks like he was mistaken, huh?"
Meteorite swayed slightly as she gave Flo a puzzled look. Eventually she sat back, her body pressed up against her headboard. "You went against Steel?" she questioned along with an incredulous chuckle. "Thought I was the one not thinking straight."
Flo looked aside as she shuffled her hooves guiltily. "I… I've always gone to see a doctor whenever I was sick. Even if I thought I knew what was wrong."
Meteorite let out a short half-chuckle as she listened with lidded eyes. "Paranoid, huh?"
Taken aback at first by the accusation, Flo stopped to consider it. "N-No…" she began, unsure if she was telling the truth or not, "it's… it's something my mother always did when I was young. No matter what I had, even if it was just a cold, straight down to the doctor's. She always told me it was better to be sure than not."
Meteorite appeared to have nodded off for a moment before opening her eyes again, with a tired expression. "Sounds like you had a good mum," she muttered through a weary smile.
"Yeah…" Flo agreed absentmindedly, smiling faintly at her foalhood memories. A moment later she blinked and shook her head clear, nervously laughing it off while her face became tinged with embarrassment. "I mean, she still is!"
Flo felt Meteorite's silent gaze upon her but even in Meteorite's weary state, or perhaps due to, her pensive look made it all the more apparent that she wasn't focused on anything currently in the room. Eventually, Meteorite nodded.
"Right… yeah sorry," she told Flo, failing to fight back a yawn. "My- my fault. I'm just… too tired, y'know?" she finished. Flo murmured in agreement as she stepped closer.
"Well, you just get some rest, okay?" Flo said softly, pulling the covers up as Meteorite slumped back under them. "Call out if you need anything."
Meteorite gave a tired nod, before her eyes opened slightly, looking at Flo with a confused expression. "'Call'? Wait, where're you gonna be…?"
"Around the house," Flo replied simply.
"But… don't you… like… have work to do?"
"Somepony has to be here in case you need help," Flo said with a tiny grin. With Meteorite still appearing troubled, Flo explained further. "It's fine, I've already discussed it with Steel this morning. As long as I take on some of everypony's household chores for today, he and Silverfire will handle my share of the work. Well, our share, I suppose."
"Oh…" Meteorite uttered, a guilty look crossing her face.
"Hey, no," Flo admonished with a frown. "Don't be like that. You're sick, remember?"
"...Yeah, you're right," Meteorite reluctantly nodded. "Sorry."
"Don't be sorry, Meteorite; just focus on getting well."
"Okay, sorry."
Flo opened her mouth to admonish Meteorite again, but saw the small grin on her friend's face. Scrunching up her face, Flo lightly stomped a hoof on the ground, turning to leave.
"Ohh… you. You and your… jokes."
As Flo left, she heard a faint titter coming from Meteorite, and as much as she didn't want to in the moment, she felt herself smile.
The next few days passed slowly for Meteorite. Faced with the combination of sneezes, itchiness, tiredness, and a building ache from staying in bed for most of the day, it was starting to drive her more than a little stir-crazy. Especially during the day when she was left all alone in the house, after Steel had determined that Meteorite would be fine by herself now that they knew what she was dealing with.
Pah, 'determined', Meteorite thought bitterly, remembering Steel's choice of words. More like… more like… …fucking told everyone what to do.
She tossed over on her side, trying to get comfortable. A futile effort in her condition, however. She barely held herself together against the relentless onslaught from the Wing Pox, so sorely tempted to just… accidentally brush her wing against her mattress, maybe repeatedly, for some semblance of relief.
She heard the front door open and swing shut, and she perked her head up a little, watching the entryway of their room.
"F…lo?" she croaked, trying to call out. She forced a cough to clear her throat.
"F..lo?" she croaked again. Giving up, she flumped her head back down on her pillow and waited. Eventually, the soft sounds of hoofsteps became louder and Flo carefully stepped inside with a sympathetic smile.
"Heey," she called softly, "how're ya feeling?"
Meteorite tried to clear her throat before answering, but ended up coughing a few times. "Not- Not great…"
"Aww," Flo empathized briefly before perking up. "You hungry? Do you want me to make you some soup for lunch before I hafta get back to work?"
Meteorite lay there, considering the offer. Soup would've been nice, but in her current state she envisioned most of the soup ending up on her snout and all over her bed trying to drink it the way she'd become accustomed to with foodstuff in bowls. She wearily shook her head.
"Sandwich?" she asked hopefully. Flo's smile broadened.
"Oh, feeling up to eating sandwiches huh? What do you want?"
"Nothing too heavy…" Meteorite cautioned. Truthfully, the way she felt she'd rather go without, but she also knew she had to eat something. What was it, 'feed a fever, starve a cold'? Yeah, she was pretty sure that was right. How magical winged horse poxes would play into the saying was something she needed more time on to consider.
"Okay!" Flo said cheerfully, "I'll whip you up something! Give me a minute!"
Watching Flo turn and leave, Meteorite groaned as she made the effort to sit up in bed, in order to receive her lunch. Her dormant wings slid out from under the covers, somehow intensifying the magnitude of how itchy they were. She tensed up while trying to ignore the sensation, questioning exactly how much she cared about potentially scarring her wings. It's not like she was going to be using them anyway…
Luckily before she had a chance to consider acting on her impulses, she was soon distracted by Flo coming back with a couple plates held in her mouth. She gently placed one down before Meteorite before retreating to her own bed, hopping up with her own sandwich.
"Lettuce and cucumber," she announced happily as Meteorite curiously studied her sandwich. "I thought we could eat our lunch together here in our room," she added with an impish smile, before biting down into her sandwich.
Meteorite nodded, not really paying much attention. With practised movement, she carefully slid a hoof under her sandwich, and with her other hoof held it in place as she lifted it up. Careful of its contents, she took small bites in order to maintain the sandwich's structure.
"Why do you hold it like that?"
"Hm?" Meteorite glanced over at Flo, who had been watching her with a puzzled look. Meteorite's gaze dropped down to the sandwich in Flo's hooves, infuriatingly held at the sides, as if it didn't matter that she had hooves. Meteorite did her best to shrug casually.
"I just do," she replied, her voice hoarse.
"But isn't it awkward holding it like that?"
Very fucking much so. "Not really. Not for me, anyway."
Flo frowned, but silently took another bite of her sandwich, sensing she wasn't going to get anything more out of her.
Both mares fed, Meteorite gulped down her last bite and cleared her throat as Flo took her plate away. "Th- Thank you, was very nice," she told Flo, who responded with a big smile as she left the room.
It had been true though. As simple as the sandwich was, Meteorite was starting to accept her new vegetarian diet, and even found herself enjoying some of it. At the back of her mind, a twinge of guilt formed around her childhood memories, remembering how her mother would prepare meat in addition to the meals she made for both of them despite being vegetarian herself.
Her forlorn attention was annoyingly jerked back to the present by her wings, still aching to be attended to. Frustrated, she shifted her body about, trying to avoid just directly ripping her feathers out. The dark thought gave her pause, wondering how much that would actually hurt. She had lost damaged feathers during preening sessions, but those only felt mildly prickish when dislodged. Suddenly, Flo's voice came from out in the hallway, getting louder.
"Well, I have to get back to work, so I'll see-" Flo hesitated as she spied Meteorite's awkward movement. "Are you alright?"
"Itchy," came Meteorite's curt response, now trying to remain still. Flo's eyes widened as she gasped, quickly turning to leave.
"Oh, of course, stupid me, how could I forget-!" Flo shouted as she ran down the hall. Meteorite thought she heard the rustling of a saddlebag, followed by a quick trotting. Soon, Flo re-entered the room with what looked like a toothpaste tube in her mouth. She quickly moved over to Meteorite and placed the tube on her bed.
"I picked this up this morning from in town," she said as Meteorite carefully pawed it closer for a better look. "It's cream to help with the itchiness."
"Really?" Meteorite asked hopefully.
"Mhm! I even asked if it worked with Wing Pox!" Flo then smiled sheepishly. "I uh, explained it was for a friend."
"Aww… you didn't have t-" Meteorite said automatically, but paused as she considered what she was saying and started again, speaking softer this time. "You didn't have to, but I really appreciate that you did. Thank you so much, Flo."
Flo beamed, her cheeks turning slightly red. "You're very welcome, Meteorite."
"How much was it? I'll pay you back."
Flo shook her head feverently. "You don't have to. Consider it a gift. A get well gift!"
Meteorite broke into a half-chuckle despite how she was feeling. "Well, okay, if you say so… Thank you again," she said gratefully.
Flo nodded, still beaming. "You're welcome again. Now, I really hafta get back to work, so I'll see ya later, okay Meteorite?"
Meteorite nodded back, smiling warmly. "Sure, seeya then."
Waving goodbye, Meteorite turned her attention to the tube that lay before her. Reaching forward with both hooves to grip it between them, only then did Meteorite realise she was in trouble with getting the lid off.
"Ah, Flo, wai-!" she cried, but to her dismay was cut off by the sound of the front door slamming shut. She stared fearfully out of the room, all alone for the next few hours.
"Fuck."
The tube of cream sat nestled between Meteorite's hooves as she glared at it. For some god-forsaken reason it had been designed like a regular tube, for humans to hold in their dumb big ol' grippy hands, all fancy and showy with their stupid opposable thumbs and-
Meteorite blinked her head clear, dissipating the rage building up within. Huh, she mused sourly, how quickly I've turned against my own kind it would seem…
Turncoat thoughts aside, she still had the problem that she simply lacked the dexterity needed to open the tube. Anypony else could, no problem, she reasoned. So why can't I? I know I can do it; I've held several things before, just… only very briefly. There must be a reason I keep losing my grip… even though technically I shouldn't have anything to grip with…
The tube in her hooves tilted slightly, prompting her to panic and press her hooves together tighter.
"Ah, no! No, don't, please!" she begged the tube, bringing it closer so she could nudge it upright with her snout. Having done so, she frowned with worry at it, however, the itching crept up on her, prompting her to act quickly.
"Okay…" she muttered softly. "I think I just have to…"
Leaning forward, she carefully bit down on the cap of the tube, locking it in place with her teeth. Satisfied it wasn't going anywhere, she slowly twisted the tube with her hooves, unscrewing it in reverse. Some twists later, she felt the tube jostle and slip through her hooves. Pleased with her problem-solving, she spat the cap down onto her bed next to the tube, which she then eagerly scooped up, until…
Her face fell as she saw the very thin and silver seal covering the opening of the tube. Panicked, she quickly rotated the tube looking for any way to peel the seal off.
"How the fuck-!" she exclaimed breathlessly. "How the fuck are ponies supposed to fucking open this fucking thing?!"
Maddened by both the pox and being no closer to salvation, she pressed her hooves together very firmly, trying to blow the seal off from within. It would cause a mess but she'd be damned if she cared at that moment. She'd fucking roll about in the cream if she had to. Unfortunately, to her ire, the seal bulged but did little else.
Okay, more force, she reasoned. It was almost at bursting point, so a little more would do the trick, yeah?
However, in her haste to slam her hooves together, she had loosened her grip on the tube, causing it to fall through between them.
"No!" she cried out as the tube dropped and bounced off her bed. Quickly leaning over she only had enough time to see it bounce away under the dresser between the two beds. Frantically getting out of bed, she woozily had to stop and maintain her balance for a moment before doing her best to crouch down in order to look under the dresser. She pitifully pawed at the tube, just out of reach.
"No…" she whimpered, each word threatening to turn into sobs. "It's not fair… I just- I just want it to be over and done with…"
Giving up, Meteorite flopped onto her side, gaining a better view of the unreachable but little else. Overcome by the incessant itching and various emotions washing over each other, she gave soft whimpers and moans as tears began to flow.
"Oh god… please… just make it stop," she softly pleaded to anyone that would listen. "Please, I can't take it any more, just… just make it end please! I'll- I'll do whatever it is you want me to do, okay? Just make it stop please, I'm begging you, please…"
She-
"Please… I need you… Help me, please…"
…
The combination of weariness and stress tiring her out, her quiet whimpering faded as her eyelids began to close, sending Meteorite into a long-needed sleep on the soft carpeted floor.