//------------------------------//
// Chapter 18 
// Story: Fictional 
// by Meteorite Shower 
//------------------------------//

Silverfire woke up late.

Now, this didn't concern him too much; if he needed to be up earlier then Steel would've definitely dragged him out of bed by his tail.  This didn't happen, so it must've not been a work day.

Though, he was pretty sure it was.  Their usual day off was still a few days away, so unless he overslept for three days, something must've come up.

He was pretty sure he didn't sleep for three days.

Stifling a yawn, he wandered into the kitchen to prepare some quick breakfast.  Nopony else was around it seemed, which was weird, but he shrugged it off as he poured some cereal into a bowl, figuring they were all off doing something.





It wasn't until Silverfire ventured outside that he spotted his brother and their two mare companions off in the distance, sitting under a tree on a small hill, facing away from him.

"Heeey, wassup?" he called out, trotting over to them.  Steel inclined his head back slightly to spot him.

"Morning, Silverfire.  Good to see you've managed to wake up while it's still morning."

"Yeah, what's that about?" Silverfire asked, not slowed down at all from the jab.  "Aren't we working today?"

"Have you already forgotten what Miss Applejack told us last night?"

"Uhh…" Silverfire droned, trying to recall.  He remembered Applejack dropping by to talk about something, but he was preoccupied with after-dinner chores.  He figured Steel'd tell him if it was important.

"Their family's having a reunion," Flo helpfully pointed out, also pointing down at a distant Applejack running back and forth around the farmstead, setting up festivities.  "So everything's about them doing stuff today."

"Oh," Silverfire noted, sitting down next to Meteorite.  "Are we supposed to help set things up or something?"

Steel shook his head.  "No, Miss Applejack was very insistent on it being the Apple family only."

Silverfire watched for a moment as Applejack instructed a rainbow-maned pegasus on a cloud to fill up buckets with rainwater.

"I've already pointed out the irony in her saying that," Meteorite chimed in.

"It's not ironic Miss Meteorite, it's simply contradictory."

"Steel also already pointed that out as well," she informed Silverfire.  Steel gave her an annoyed side-glance.

"And yet you persist in saying the wrong thing."  

"Yup!" Meteorite cheerfully agreed.  As Steel shook his head slowly in disapproval —a sight Silverfire was familiar with— Silverfire quietly considered the day going forward.

"So… what do we do now?"





The front door of the cottage was thrown open at the behest of Silverfire, holding it open as the rest of the group filed inside.  Meteorite loitered about the entryway for a bit.

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm staying in all day.  Don't need to get involved with the reunion and all that, I reckon."

"How considerate," Steel murmured dryly.

"Hey, I ain't part of the Apples, and I ain't about t' pretend t' be one," Meteorite shrugged apathetically, a hint of southerness upon her wry smile.  "Let 'em have their fun.  I'm sure if something goes wrong, they can come a'runnin'."

Silverfire tilted his head slightly in confusion.  "You think something might go wrong?"

Meteorite seemed to stiffen slightly before readopting her relaxed posture.  "I mean…  it might.  Assume something will, I say.  It won't blind-side you as much then."

"How very pessimistic, Miss Meteorite."

"I prefer to think of it as 'optimistically realistic'."

"Hey uh," Flo called from the living room, studying the bookcase.  "Let's talk about something else, 'kay?  Why don't we play something?  There's a few board games here we've never touched in all the time we've been here."

Meteorite perked up as she trotted past the stallions and into the living room.  "Heck yeah, I'm in.  What games do we have?"

When Silverfire followed after, Flo had already pulled out a few game boxes.  "Let's see, we've got Monopony…" —Meteorite looked very unamused for some reason as she rolled her eyes over towards the two stallions watching from the doorway— "Candy Land, Ogres and Oubliettes, Clue-"

"'Clue'?" Meteorite piped up suddenly, poking her head round Flo's shoulder to get a better view.  "Oh oh, let's play that!"

"Yeah?" Flo smiled, looking at the box she was holding before turning to the stallions, "What do you two think?"

"Is it good?" Silverfire asked with some uncertainty.  He and Steel never really played board games when they were younger.  Or any other sort of games, actually.  While Silverfire was off outside playing with his friends from school, Steel just… stayed home.  Either studying or reading a book.  Sometimes both.

"Yeah it is," Meteorite grinned happily, "you gotta work out who k-"  She cut herself off abruptly, pausing to lift the back of the game up to read it.  She frowned slightly. "Hm.  Actually, I think this might be different to the version I'm familiar with."

Still holding the game, Flo jerked it away from Meteorite as she put it in her mouth to carry as she stood up to head over to the dining room.  "Welf, we can read the ruleff aff we fet it up."

"I hate that I'm getting better at understanding everypony when they do that," Meteorite remarked offhandedly, before turning to Steel.  "What about you, you playing?"

"I shouldn't think so," Steel said disinterestedly, brushing off his coat.  "I have more important things to attend to."

"No you don't," Meteorite shot back with a grin.  "Come on, it'll be fun."

Steel gave her a weary stare before turning away slightly.  "I'm quite sure a game for foals would be, but I must respectfully decline, Miss Meteorite.  You are free to enjoy it, however."

Exiting the room, Meteorite bitterly joined Silverfire in watching Steel disappear from view as he turned the corner at the end of the hallway.

"Hmph, spoilsport."

"Ah, don't mind him," Silverfire told her, with a dismissive wave of his hoof.  "He's never been one for games."

"Nooo," Meteorite drawled, her voice dripping with sarcasm.  Although she then had the good grace to stop and look abashed when she noticed the slight disapproving frown on Silverfire.  "Sorry.  I just… he should have fun once in a while."

Silverfire couldn't help but agree.

The pair headed over to the dining room where Flo was meticulously unpacking the game, and setting up the pieces on the board.  Taking a seat opposite, Silverfire studied the board, trying to understand it, as Meteorite carefully nudged a piece towards her, also seemingly taken with it.  The room would've been quiet if not for a growing rumble of a distant crowd flitting in through the open window, accompanied by what was clearly Applejack's echoed voice.  Meteorite looked up curiously.

"Is that… a sound system?"

Both Flo and Silverfire stopped to listen, both a single ear cocked towards the window.

"Actually, sounds more like a megaphone," Silverfire remarked.

"Huh.  Guess that makes more sense…  I think." Meteorite noted, as Flo went back to pulling out pre-printed note sheets and worn-out pencils for everypony.  Meteorite was in the process of nudging the pencil given to her in disgust, when Steel passed through the room, feather duster in his mouth.  Meteorite watched him dust a few of the room's furnishings.

"Oh yes," she called out very pointedly as she leaned on the table with a foreleg, head on hoof. "So important what you have to do now."

"It needs to be done," Steel said out of the corner of his mouth, failing to resist giving Meteorite a side-glare.

"Now though?" Meteorite persisted.  "Come on, you're obviously just doing busywork.  Trust me, I know busywork when I see it."  She offered a very small but sly grin.

"Is that a confession, Miss Meteorite?"

"It's me trying to get you to loosen up and be part of the group for once."  To everyone's mild surprise, there was no immediate rebuttal from Steel, instead his gaze slowly swept across the three ponies before lingering briefly on Silverfire.

"If it helps," Meteorite continued, her voice softer, "you can consider it 'team building'."

Steel inaudibly sighed as he gently lowered the feather duster onto a side table under the window, and pulled up a chair to sit down.

"Very well, you've made your point."

"Yaay," Meteorite cheered softly, clapping her hooves.  "Deal him in, Flo!"

"Hang on, I'm still reading the rules."

The room grew quiet for only a moment before Silverfire spoke.  "So what do we do, exactly?"

Flo gave an exasperated sigh before going back to the start of the rulesheet.  "Okay, so, the aim of the game is to figure out who stole what artifact from which room of Canterlot Castle."  She tapped the board, still reading.  "There's nine rooms, six artifacts, and six suspects.  We're… the suspects, I think."

"Surely this is a responsibility for the Royal Guard more than the criminals themselves," Steel muttered sarcastically.  Meteorite bit her lip to hide the smirk she had.

Flo went on to explain the other rules, including how everyone gets a selection of cards and must figure out the missing three cards which indicate the true crime, with the help of the pre-printed sheet to mark off who has what.  As they rolled to see who went first, Meteorite quickly left the room and came back with a random book, which she set up open in front of her game sheet.

"What's that for?" Flo asked.

"So none of you see what I'm writing down."

"It's just a game," Silverfire said, confused.

"A game I intend to win."

"Hm," Flo mused.  "Well, Silverfire rolled highest, so the order will be Silverfire, you, me, then Steel."  She turned to Silverfire.  "You can pick your piece now."

Silverfire looked at the board, still feeling lost.  "Does it matter which?"

"Not really," Meteorite chimed in.

"Okay, well, uh… I'll guess I'll pick this one," he said, pointing at the nearest piece, a pure red pegasus.

"Scarlet Streak," Flo noted.  She turned to Meteorite, who was already pointing at a purple unicorn piece, reading her sheet.

"Plum Pudding."

"Oh!  That makes things easy."  Flo turned to the board and nodded at the yellow earth pony piece, "I guess I'll pick Custard Cream."

"Yeah I was wondering about that," Meteorite interrupted suddenly, "shouldn't it be Mustard?"

Flo scrunched up her snout in disgust.  "Ew, no!  Why?  Mustard cream sounds disgusting."

"No, I-  I mean-"

"I'll pick this one," Steel interrupted, indicating the green earth pony in front of him.  "Greener Pastures, correct?"

Flo turned back with a nod. "Yeah, that's right.  Okay, I guess we're ready; you're going first Silverfire."

Silverfire nodded, slowing with growing apprehension as he felt everypony's eyes on him.  "Okay… what do I do?"

"Roll the dice, and move to a room in the castle," Flo instructed, helpfully pushing the pair of dice his way, "then take a guess."

Meteorite leaned over with her own advice.  "Let's say you think it's…" she paused to check her sheet, "Peacock Plumage with- I mean stole, the Ancient Book in the Throne Room. Then we go round the table to see if any of us has those cards.  So I would check my cards, and if I don't have anything, then Flo checks hers, and then Steel.  If we have one of the cards you suggest, then we privately show you the card and then, assuming you're not going to accuse, your turn ends."

"Uh.. I- okay…" Silverfire murmured.  "What if nopony shows me a card?"

Meteorite grinned with a flippant backhoof.  "Well, assuming you didn't guess a card you yourself have, then that's gonna be the actual crime."

"Why would I guess my own cards?" Silverfire frowned.

"Reasons," Meteorite shrugged.  "Narrow your guess down, throw everypony else off, that sort of thing."

Silverfire shook his head, picking up the dice.  "Nah, not gonna bother doing all that…"  With a flick of his hoof, the dice tumbled onto the board, revealing a pair of low numbers.  Silverfire frowned as he counted the spaces he could move.

"Okay, I… can't get to a room.  What now?"

Flo shrugged sympathetically.  "Your turn ends, I'm afraid.  You're next, Meteorite."

Straightening herself up, Meteorite leaned over and scooped the dice together before pressing her hoof down on them.  Lifting her hoof back up, the dice clung on for a few seconds before clattering back down, landing on a decently high number.  After a few seconds of silent contemplating, she scooted her piece to a room.

"Okay… uh… White Orchid with… the Moon Amulet?  In the Tower Spire."

Flo drew up the cards she had and studied them.  Eyes lighting up, she gasped happily.  "Oh, oh!  I have something!"

Silverfire couldn't see what card Flo was showing off, but Meteorite had quickly retreated back behind her book, scribbling furiously away with the pencil in her mouth.  Silverfire looked at his own sheet, with only a hooffull of crosses on it, denoting the cards he himself had.  He wasn't sure why Meteorite was spending so much time on a single card.

Soon Steel was already making his move, Flo already having made her roll and also failing to reach a room.  After checking his notes, he mused briefly.

"Hm, let's suggest it was Custard Cream that stole the Royal Regalia from the Ballroom."

Silverfire waited for a few seconds before realizing everypony was waiting on him. "Oh right."

His cards didn't match anything, having only Steel's character and the two pieces not controlled by anypony, plus the Conservatory and the Moon Amulet.  Huh, Meteorite had asked about two of his cards, but he was pretty sure he shouldn't mention them now that her turn was over.

"No, I don't have anything like that," he shook his head.  Meanwhile, Meteorite was already in the process of sliding a card over to Steel.

"Yeah, I got one," she mumbled around her pencil, still in her mouth. "Surprised you're not saying somethin' like 'Mr Custard'."

Steel gave the card a cursory glance before sliding it back.  "It is a game piece, Miss Meteorite.  It does not need to be addressed with respect."

Meteorite's eyes flicked over to Silverfire for a fraction of a second, before silently returning  to making notes on her sheet, as Silverfire moved to collect the dice.

"Hey wait," he said suddenly with a frown, "how come Flo's piece is now in the same room with Steel?"

"Oh um!" Flo cried, rechecking the rules, "that's what happens when you make a guess; you move whoever you're guessing to the same room you're in."

Silverfire continued to frown as his gaze swept over to Meteorite's corner of the board, her piece accompanied by White Orchid.  He jabbed a hoof towards Meteorite.

"So, how come you didn't guess my character so I could be in a room too?"

It took a few seconds of silence for Meteorite to realise she was being addressed as she looked up wide-eyed, her pencil dangling from her mouth for a few seconds before unceremoniously dropping onto the table.  She cleared her throat sheepishly.

"Uh… it's… better for me if… it takes everypony else longer to reach a room?"

"I do believe Miss Meteorite has already made herself clear earlier," Steel cut in, making Meteorite blush a bit more from embarrassment.  "She is 'playing to win'."

"Great…" Silverfire murmured, slouching as he rolled the dice, again coming up short to reach a room, by a single space.  "Oh, come on!"





The game progressed quickly, well, except from Silverfire's perspective.  Meteorite had continued to not call upon his character on her next turn, instead choosing to guess Peacock Plumage, the Royal Scepter, and the Royal Library Archives.  And of course it would get around to him having to show her his Peacock card.  Flo must've felt a bit of sympathy for him however, because on her next turn, she called his character over to hers over in the kitchen.

Several turns later, Silverfire wasn't having much luck as he peered at his game sheet.  He'd only managed two new cross marks, meanwhile Meteorite was apparently writing a novel behind her book of secrecy.  Even now, when it wasn't even her turn!

"What are you even writing over there?"

Meteorite peered over the top of her book as she slowly laid down her pencil.  "...stuff," she said carefully.

"But… what?" He gestured over to the other two ponies, as Steel took back the card he'd just shown Flo.  "You don't even know what card Steel has!"

Meteorite glanced down at her sheet, clucking her tongue.  "...I might."

"How?"

"She's paying attention, Silverfire," Steel said matter-of-factly, writing on his own sheet.  "She knows what cards Miss Flora has asked for, and what cards have and have not already been shown.  From that, she's ascertaining new information without explicitly asking about it."

Meteorite sunk into her chair a little, her ears falling flat.  "...yeah," she quietly admitted.

Silverfire turned his attention back to the board then his game sheet, and slumped down slightly, looking defeated.  "Huh…"

"Anyway," Steel pushed on, "I shall suggest it was Custard Cream that stole the Royal Scepter from the Royal Library."

Silverfire morosely waved it off.  "Nah, nothing."

Meteorite immediately tensed up as it came to her, making direct eye-contact with Steel.

"...I don't have anything either," she cautiously swallowed.

The two continued to wordlessly confirm each other's suspicions as Flo cheerfully announced, "Oh, I do!  I have something!"  Steel took the card out of courtesy, but was already writing down what it was before he looked at it, as did Meteorite.





The mood seemed to shift after that round, as Meteorite was taking longer in deciding her turns, being very focused and deliberate with her words.  Steel too was contemplating his guesses, carefully watching Meteorite.  Silverfire met Flo's eyes and subtly nodded questioningly towards the two other ponies seated on opposite corners of the board.  Flo just shrugged in confusion.

When Silverfire's turn came around, he carefully considered his options.  He wasn't going to let himself be left behind while everypony else was figuring everything out!  He was smart enough, right?  He could do this!  It's just a game, after all!

"Okay…" he muttered carefully.  "I'm… going to guess Plum Pudding stole the Star Diamond from the Library."

Meteorite watched with hitched breath as her piece was moved to the Library Archives.  "I don't have anything…" she croaked.

"Yeah, me neither," Flo shrugged.

Steel hesitated, looking uncertain with the current state of the board as he plucked a card to offer Silverfire.  "I have… this."

Silverfire studied the card, the Star Diamond, before crossing it off on his sheet.  "Right…  thanks, Steel."

Steel nodded, while keeping his eyes on Meteorite.  She was brimming with nervous energy, hoof on her mouth as she continuously glanced between her sheet, the board, and the two stallions.

"I-" she cleared her throat.  "I'm going to stay where I am-"

"You can do that?" Silverfire asked.  Meteorite nodded before Flo reached the rules.

"If you've been called to a different room, yes.  I'm going to guess Plum Pudding, Royal Sceptre, Library."

"You can guess yourself?" Silverfire asked but was met with silence as Flo checked her cards.

"Nothing here."

Steel inhaled deeply as he conceded, shaking his head.  Meteorite snapped her wild stare over to Silverfire.  "I don't have anything," he muttered, before rechecking his cards in confusion.  "Wait, that doesn-"

"I wish to make an accusation!" Meteorite proclaimed in a subdued shriek, standing up on her chair, forelegs on the table.  "I am going to say that I did it-" her hoof on her chest, "I stole the Royal Sceptre from the Royal Library Archives!"

"Isn't that more of a confession?" Silverfire muttered under his breath, as Flo handed over the three secret cards for Meteorite to check.  Her eyes lighting up, Meteorite giddily tossed the cards onto the board for all to see.

"Yes, it was I!" Meteorite announced with a huge grin, further descending into her role as the villain, "I did it, and I'll do it again!"

"Yes, very good Miss Meteorite," Steel replied dryly, already tidying up his cards and notes.  Silverfire frowned at the scattered revealed cards as Flo lightly groaned in disappointment, revealing her partially filled game sheet.

"Aww, I was nowhere near figuring any of this out."

Meteorite peered across the table before hopping down and trotting over to Flo's side.  "Lemme see…  Oh wow yeah…" she murmured, reaching over to slide her own sheet out from hiding for comparison.  The few spaces that didn't have dots or crosses squiggled down in them had small tallies in the corner.

"Wow you…" Flo began, unsure if she ought to have been impressed or weirded out, "you really went all out, huh?"

Meteorite smiled sheepishly.  "I like this game."

"Clearly," Steel flatly noted as he got up with a stretch, walking past towards the kitchen, earning himself a brief questioning side-look from Meteorite as he did so.  Her attention was brought back as Flo herself stretched, getting up.

"Still, good game!  Have to try harder if I wanna beat you though," she grinned, before her glance caught sight of the window.  "Hm… I should tend to my garden before it gets any later.  You don't mind packing up, do you?"

There was a mild 'hemm' from Meteorite as she apparently considered her hoof before waving it off, "Yeah, I reckon I can handle it," she grinned, maybe a little too much.  She gestured blindly towards Silverfire. "And if it's a two-pony job, I've got Silverfire, haha."

Flo rolled her eyes playfully as she turned about and left the room.  With a faint smile to herself, Meteorite began scooping the cards together.

"Hey Silverfire, mind grabbing the pieces for me?"

Sensing no immediate response, Meteorite glanced up to see Silverfire staring forlornly at the board.

"A… Are you okay?" she softly asked with trepidation.

"...I don't think I'm smart enough for this," Silverfire admitted.

"Hey c'mon," Meteorite tried to encourage with a worried smile, "it was just your first game.  You'll pick it up."

Silverfire shook his head.  "Nah, I mean, look at your notes," he said, sweeping his hoof towards Meteorite's side of the table, "ya were writing down everything.  I was having trouble remembering most of the rules."  He hung his head slightly.  "I'm just not good enough for these kinda things…"

The words were left hanging in the air in the ensuing silence, with only the soft hoof clops on the wooden floor sounding as Meteorite rounded about the table.  With a sharp screech of wood on wood, she pulled up a chair and sat next to Silverfire.

"Hey come on, don't say that…" she told him softly.  "You're plenty smart."

Silverfire scoffed as he looked away.  "Ya just sayin' that."

"No, I mean it," Meteorite persisted, trying to catch Silverfire's gaze.  "What about your music?"

Silverfire waved off the notion without considering it.  "That's just my talent."

"So what if it's your talent?" Meteorite challenged as she planted her hoof onto the table.  "You still have to know things for it, right?  It doesn't automatically put stuff in your head, yeah?  You still have to know how to time things and how hard to play each note.  I wouldn't know that.  To me it's just-" she mimed swinging her hoof down.  "'Hit big round thing with stick'."

Meteorite gave Silverfire a hopeful but slightly goofy smile as she pantomimed, to which he couldn't help but smile a little back in response, though his heart wasn't really in it.  "I guess… but it's not really the same thing."

"Sure it is," Meteorite insisted, "It's just… y'know, different areas."  She trailed off in her thoughts as she stared down at the table.  "Okay well, look.  How about I teach you some of the tactics?"

Silverfire immediately dismissed the idea with a wave.  "Ahh nah, I wouldn't get it…"

"Silverfire…" Meteorite softly admonished, a worried look of concern on her face, "you're not gonna 'get it' with that attitude.  Look, I… I believe in ya, okay?"

"...Yeah?" Silverfire responded, hope beginning to seep into his voice.  Meteorite nodded enthusiastically, sitting up straight.

"Yeah!  You're just doubting yourself."  She paused, her gaze drifting as she apparently considered her words.  Shaking it off, she then put her hoof on her chest in a mock-proud manner, complete with cheesy grin.  "And I know all about doubting yourself.  C'mon, you'll get this, I'm sure of it."

"Um… if ya say so," Silverfire conceded, sitting upright himself.  He watched as Meteorite spread out the cards face up and group them into four piles of three cards each.  She then moved them into a diamond arrangement.

"Okay, we won't go crazy here, just an example or two to help you get the point of what to do," Meteorite explained, as she began indicating the fanned out groups of cards.  "Same arrangement as before, your cards, mine, Flo's, Steel's.  Different cards, that doesn't matter though.  All good so far?"

Silverfire nodded.  "Yeah, got it."

Meteorite beamed.  "Alrighty.  Okay so, let's say it's Flo's turn and she asks for…" she took a moment to consider the cards.  "Peacock Plumage, the Spell Scroll and the Dining Room."  She moved her hoof towards the next card group.  "Steel doesn't show anything, you don't show anything, but I show Flo one of my cards."

Silverfire dutifully followed Meteorite's indications, and when she had stopped speaking, he turned to her questioningly.  She clapped her hooves together lightly before continuing.

"Now!  What did you just learn from that?"

Silverfire frowned as he turned his attention back to the cards, not really sure how he should answer.  "You… have… Peacock Plumage?"

Meteorite hemmed as she tilted her head.  "Well, no, you know I have one of the cards; you don't know which one.  But more importantly, what do you know for a fact?"

Silverfire continued to frown as he studied the cards, but eventually his shoulders sagged.  "...I don't know," he admitted in defeat.

"That's fine," Meteorite told him sympathetically.  "So, what you now know is that Steel definitely has none of those cards."

Silverfire looked at her, puzzled.  "How does that help?"

Meteorite's eyes lit up as she explained.  "It helps because it narrows down possibilities!  The more you know for a fact that somepony doesn't have a card, the harder it is for them to hide what they do have!  Okay, let's skip around to my turn.  Let's say I ask for Greener Pastures, the Spell Scroll and the Dining Room.  Flo doesn't have anything, but Steel shows me a card."  Meteorite firmly planted her hoof onto Steel's card pile, hiding them.  "I know what card he has, obviously, but do you…?" she trailed off, prompting him for an answer.

Silverfire considered what he had been told, and with a flash of insight he perked up. "It's gotta be Greener Pastures, right?  Because he doesn't have the other two!"

"Yes!" Meteorite cheered, clapping her hooves together.  "And that's how you figure stuff out when it's not your turn!"  She lightly slugged him in the shoulder and smiled slyly at him.  "See?  I told you you could do it."

Chuckling bashfully, Silverfire rubbed the back of his head.  "Yeah, I guess ya did."

"So, how about it?  Feel like you'll be able to keep up next time we play?"

Silverfire furrowed his brow with uncertainty.  "Maybe?"

"That's fair," Meteorite conceded with a nod, moving to gather up the cards.  "It's not gonna be that easy in a proper game, after all.  But it's a starting point."

The dining room fell quiet as Meteorite began putting the game away back into its box, with some assistance from Silverfire.  As she pressed the lid of the box closed with both her hooves, Meteorite turned to and regarded Silverfire once more.

"Believe in yourself more, okay?  You're too nice to feel bad about yourself."

Silverfire slowly nodded, quietly mulling it over.  Hopping down from her seat, Meteorite clenched the game box in her mouth, and began to walk out towards the living room.  Silverfire hesitated for a moment, but called out before Meteorite fully exited.

"You too."

Meteorite paused mid-step, a hoof still hovering above the ground.  After a few moments of silence, she turned her head back to make the barest sliver of eye contact.  Her expression remained neutral, but she eventually gave a small nod, rattling the pieces inside the box as she did so, and continued on her way.

Silverfire sighed and sat back in his chair, alone with his thoughts, but soon lost his moment to himself as Steel emerged from the kitchen doorway, wearing a troubled expression of his own.

"Sil-" Steel croaked out, before trying again.  "Silverfire… I had no idea you felt this way about yourself."

Silverfire shrugged it off, turning himself away.  "Ah it- it's nothing really.  It's just me being dumb."  Silverfire paused, reconsidering his words.  "I mean… emotionally dumb?  N-Not the other-  although that is part of-  I mean-"

Steel held his hoof up to signal for Silverfire to stop.  "It's… fine, I know what you're trying to say," he worded carefully, still visibly distraught.  "How…  How long have you felt like that?"

Again, Silverfire shrugged non-committedly, still not making eye contact as he dug at a groove in the table.  "I dunno.  It's not like I feel it all the time, just now and then when I'm with other ponies I sometimes feel like I'm just not getting something simple that everypony else gets."

Steel forcibly swallowed.  "I see…"

"But no, it's- it's fine," Silverfire insisted.  He gestured with both hooves towards the other doorway.  "Meteorite told me about the game so it's…  it's all fine… I get it now."

"Silverfire, I…" Steel struggled as he became lost for words, a sight Silverfire was unfamiliar with.  Biting his lip in thought, Silverfire stepped down and trotted on over, putting a hoof on Steel's shoulder.

"Hey, forget it dude.  I get it now.  I'm not dumb, okay?  I was just- what did she say…?"  Silverfire twirled his other hoof to jog his memory, "...doubting myself, that's it!"

Steel eyed his younger brother critically, still with a worried expression.  "I'm just looking out for you, Silverfire," he said quietly, his voice without all the strength it normally carries.  "I want you to do well."

"I know you do, dude," Silverfire grinned.  "Don't worry about i-"

Suddenly, a blood-curdling shriek cut through the air, making the two stallions jump.  Before they could begin to react, Meteorite shouted from the other side of the cottage.

"The hell was that?!  Was that Flo?!"

A few seconds later, they heard the front door slam open, accompanied by Flo's frantic panicking.  Rushing over, they saw Flo cowering by the wall as a couple of pudgy bat-like creatures —one blue and one green— swooped about her, apparently trying to get at the few tomatoes, carrots and various berries Flo had harvested from her garden.

"Somepony help!" she shrieked, covering her head with her free hoof.

Silverfire and Steel looked across the entranceway at Meteorite on the other side, who seemed equally stressed by the situation, hopping from hoof to hoof, looking about for ways to help.  Silverfire began scanning his side for anything to use as well.

"R-Right," Steel began hurriedly.  "Silverfire, find something to catch them with, and Miss Meteorite, you find a cloth to cover and protect Miss F-"

Rushing to Flo's side, Silverfire cut off Steel's orders as he brandished the feather duster in his mouth as if it were his trusty sword.  With a deft swing, Silverfire connected with the two bats mid-flight, knocking one into the other, and launching them against the far wall, stunning them both.

Silverfire stepped forward as he intended to stand guard between them and Flo, but having shaken off their daze, the two bats twitched their leaf-like ears and glanced at each other, seemingly to rapidly understand it wasn't worth it.  Taking flight again and hurriedly turning around they shot past Meteorite, causing her to yelp and duck for cover, and both bats located and flew out an open window in the living room.  The cottage became quiet once more, save for the distant flapping of wings.

"...well, there goes a shiny," Meteorite muttered as she got up to close the window.  "What were those?"

"Fruit bats, Miss Meteorite.  I believe Miss Applejack had warned us some time back about the west orchard being infested with them."

"Yeah, but why did they look weir- oh god, 'fruit' bats, okay I get it now."

Ignoring the conversation behind him, Silverfire lent a hoof down to Flo.  "You okay, Flo?  You aren't hurt or anything?"

Flo shakily shook her head as she sat up, taking Silverfire's hoof.  Taking a few calming breaths, she looked up at him with a mix of relief and adoration.

"Y- You saved me…"

"Aw nah," Silverfire grinned with a hint of a blush on his cheeks, as he rubbed the back of his head.  "I just did the first thing I thought of."

Steel turned his focus onto his younger brother with careful consideration.  "...Yes, that was fast thinking, Silverfire," he admitted.  Silverfire felt a surge of pride, and beamed.

Meteorite turned to Flo with concern.  "So, why'd they attack you?"

Flo took a moment to blink and realize Meteorite was talking to her.  "Oh! Um…" she gestured to her still coddled bounty, spilling a few berries.  "I was picking a few things from my garden to use for dinner, and I guess they saw a ripe meal themselves."

Silverfire picked up a few of the fallen berries.  "Need help carrying it?"  Flo snapped her attention back to him with a timid smile.

"Oh heh, i-if you don't mind, I'd… like that, yes."

Gathering and sharing the load between them, the two of them headed past a quiet and thoughtful Steel, and into the kitchen.  Meteorite then stepped to his side.

"'Find a cloth to protect Flo'?" she questioned with a raised eyebrow.  Breathing in deeply, Steel cast an aside glance at her.

"I… panicked, Miss Meteorite."





That night in his corner of their shared room, Steel sat upright in his bed intent on continuing with reading his book, but he was having trouble maintaining his focus on the text before him.  On the cusp of giving up trying for the night, Silverfire strolled into their room, already covering a yawn with his hoof.  Steel watched him make a beeline for his still unkempt bed from earlier that day for a few moments.

"'night Steel," Silverfire murmured, pulling back his covers.

"Goodnight Silverfire," Steel replied automatically.  After Silverfire had finished making himself comfortable with his back to the room, Steel felt a heavy stillness in the room.

"Silverfire?" he asked cautiously.

"Mhmm?" came a sleepy response.

"About earlier today, when you mentioned how you felt about yourself…" he let the words hang in the following silence long enough to sink in, "...have I ever made you feel that way in the past?"

There was a very long pause, and Silverfire carefully made no movement to turn about to face Steel.

"Nah bro, you're good."

Steel considered the answer for a while, before closing his book with a heavy heart and turning out the bedside lantern.

"I see.  Thank you for your answer, Silverfire."