"That was pretty good, Flo!"
The four ponies sat in their usual spots around the dining table, their plates in various states of being picked clean of food. There was a stark contrast between Steel neatly cutting his vegetables into bite-sized portions, and Meteorite opposite him, who was in the process of clutching a piece of broccoli in her teeth by the stem, and using it to mop up the cheese sauce on her plate. Flo beamed across the table at Silverfire, having already scoffed down his portion.
"Thank you Silverfire," she said, with the tiniest hint of a blush shining through her brown cheeks. "I've been wanting to try making this for a while. How's the sauce? Is it good?"
"Oh, it'f fantaftic," Meteorite chimed in, still chewing her mouthful. She took a moment to swallow. "You always make the best meals, Flo."
"Mm," Steel nodded in agreement. "You could stand to learn a thing or two from her, Miss Meteorite."
"Ahh, c'mon," Meteorite rolled her eyes, "It's not my fault I can't manage anything beyond boiling an egg."
"And whose fault would it be, exactly?"
"Ah-" Meteorite hesitated, glancing aside at nothing for a second, before grinning sheepishly. "I'unno, someone's. Besides! I help out when it's 'my' turn to cook, don't I?"
"And when do you plan on doing more than 'help out'?"
An awkward silence filled the air as Meteorite guiltily hung her head. "...I'unno, eventually," she mumbled quietly.
"Hey, she's trying!" Flo piped up, glancing sympathetically at her friend. "So she can't exactly cook much; she's still always ready to lend a hoof when she can!"
Steel gave Flo a look of apprehensiveness, unused to her confronting him like this. He turned his attention to his plate, preparing another forkful to bite. "Be it as it may, Miss Flora, these are key life skills she needs to learn. It's a small wonder she's managed this far without them."
Those words sank in deep, weighing Meteorite's head down even further.
Meteorite sat on her bed later that evening, her legs dangling off the edge in a long-forgotten sitting position. She held up and stared at one of her forehooves with a blank stare, turning it about to inspect every curve and angle of it.
She still hadn't quite managed to figure out how to… just hold things with her hooves. She'd gotten by with a few workarounds, such as using both hooves, or just flat out using her mouth… but just a simple grab and hold with a solitarily hoof? It had rarely worked, if at all.
Steel was right; she needed to learn to fend for herself at some point. She had gotten lucky in her companions helping her get by, but…
They weren't going to be there forever.
…she wasn't going to be here forever.
She drew up her other hoof in level with her first, and stared. Stared as if that would unlock the mystery behind it. It didn't.
A book lay on the shared dresser between her and Flo's bed. It was a romance novel —she'd been getting into them recently— but that didn't matter at this point. No, for now, this book's purpose was to be used, scientifically.
Carefully picking it up with both hooves, she scooted back on her bed and turned about, adopting a more pony-natural posture. She held the book out in front of her, and bit her lip as she considered how to proceed. She decided to let go with one hoof.
The book fell instantly with a soft thud onto the bed.
Unsurprised, she picked it back up, and repeated the procedure with the other hoof. The book fell away as expected.
Nodding to herself, she picked it up again, and as she held it out, she closed her eyes and silently prayed.
Please.
I don't know if you're still there, or if you were even there to begin with.
But please.
I need this.
I've been very patient with everything, but this is important right now. I just need to know how this works.
There was a significant pause in her prayer, as she frowned to herself.
Actually, no. I don't even need that. I just need it to work. I don't care how at this point.
Just…
Make it work.
Please, I'm begging you. That's all I'm asking for.
Meteorite held her pose silently for a long time, almost daring to not even breathe in the process, but eventually she blindly let go with one of her hooves, allowing it to drop by her side.
There was no soft thud this time, and her remaining hoof felt heavy with weight.
Her heart instantly fluttered in excitement.
Shakily, she opened one eye and nervously spied the book hanging off her raised hoof, seemingly impossibly. Her brain went wild with several questions and thoughts, such as 'It worked!' 'I can't believe it worked!' 'Why did it-'
And the book fell once more.
Meteorite stared hopelessly at the book as her hoof hung limply in the air, sagging with defeat. Her instinct was to scream in frustration, but a quiet part of her mind told her to remain calm. Astoundingly, she listened.
She lowered her hoof to the book, gently caressing the cover as she frowned in thought. Too often that happened to her every time she tried. It'd work for a few seconds, but then suddenly fail for whatever reason. That wasn't happenstance. It worked; she actively was holding the book, and for all intents it looked like it would've remained in her grasp.
Something made it not work.
She scooped the book up with both hooves and brought it in close. She frowned at it, deep in thought. Maybe she was going about this the wrong way. Maybe, instead of focusing on what made it work, she instead-
The door to their room rattled and gently swung open, as Flo trotted in with a self-satisfied smile. She halted mid-step with a raised foreleg and a concerned expression as she spotted Meteorite, who glanced up with a few blinks to meet Flo's gaze.
"Is… everything alright?" Flo asked.
"Yeah yeah," Meteorite replied a bit too hastily as she nodded, "why'd you ask?"
"You were… you had quite an intense look on your face."
"...oh," Meteorite uttered as she glanced down at her book, and then half-shrugged as she twisted around backwards to drop it onto the dresser. "Yeah, I was just… deciding if I wanted to read or not." She paused for a beat, and grinned. "I do not."
"Oh, alright," Flo sighed with relief, turning around to close the door behind her. "I was worried that what Steel said during dinner was still bothering you."
"Oh! No no no no," Meteorite waved it off as she shook her head, "No no, I- I mean, he had a point. I guess. No nah, I'll- I'll sort something out. Don't worry 'bout it."
"Well, alright," Flo smiled politely as she moved over to her side of the room. She paused thoughtfully for a moment before climbing up onto her bed, turning about for a moment before sitting down to face her friend. "Hey, Meteorite?" she asked softly.
"Yeah?"
Flo appeared to mull something over for a few seconds as she lightly bit her lip. "Can you keep a secret?"
Meteorite gave her the wryest of stares.
"Like you wouldn't believe."
"Okay good," Flo half-muttered under her breath, glancing aside at the closed door to their room while lightly tapping the tips of her forehooves together. Meteorite stared at her curiously.
"Something up?" she asked gently. Flo returned her focus back to Meteorite and smiled sheepishly as she partially hid her face behind her hooves.
"I… I kinda… like Silverfire," she admitted barely above her breath, a blush fast reddening across her face.
There was no initial reaction at first, with the information taking a moment to be processed by Meteorite's brain. After a few elongated seconds, Meteorite sat up straight, her eyes wide in surprise.
"O-Oh!" She chanced a look at the door herself, before hunching forward and lowering her voice in kind. "I… I take it you mean… like, like, him." When Flo eagerly nodded, still behind her nervous hoof tapping, Meteorite felt momentarily at a loss, unable to consider what to say in this scenario.
"W-Well… good! I- I think- I mean, yeah! …Wow. Didn't see that coming."
Flo appeared to blush harder, although her excitement seemed to fade as she purposefully looked away, as her hooves slowed to a still. Meteorite felt a tinge of guilt about her response and lack of experience in the matter, causing her to step down off her bed before crossing over and carefully getting up onto Flo's bed, sitting down to face her. She took a moment to carefully choose her words.
"So uh…" she began softly, "does… Silverfire… like you?"
Flo hesitated, holding her position as she thought to herself. Slowly, she turned her head around to look down towards Meteorite's hooves with saddened lidded eyes.
"I… I don't know," she admitted. "I think he does? But… I- I haven't exactly…"
"Talked to him about it?"
Flo nodded, still refusing to make eye contact. Meteorite bit the inside of her cheek, considering what to say next. An idea came to her, and she rubbed her chin with the crook of her hoof as she pondered it.
"Do ya… want me to go talk to him about it?"
The suggestion made Flo sharply lifted her head up with a horrified stare, to which Meteorite quickly held up her hoof, while placing her other on her chest.
"I promise I won't give anything away, nor will I be vague enough to have misinterpretations abound on both sides of the discussion as to be left with the wrong impression."
Flo squinted her eyes slightly. "That sounded awfully specific."
"I've seen it happen before," Meteorite grinned.
"I suppose…" Flo muttered, turning her head aside. A moment later, she shook her head. "Thank you, but no. I… I don't want to screw this up."
"I get that," Meteorite murmured sympathetically. "I… wish I could offer advice, but I'm… not exactly the go-to pony for this kinda thing."
A faint smile appeared on Flo's lips. "That's alright, Meteorite. It's enough that you're here to listen."
"Ohh, that I am good at," Meteorite crowed lightly. Allowing a brief pause to pass, she leaned in slightly with a mischievous grin. "Wanna tell me what you like about Silverfire?"
Flo gave her a warm smile as her eyes lit up. "Well, he's very sweet, and kind. He's so thoughtful of everypony around him, and he's very passionate about his music!"
Meteorite giggled quietly. "I have noticed that."
Flo joined in with the quiet laughter, and the two mares talked into the night.
As the evening passes…
Across a way over in the neighbouring town of Ponyville, a deliverypony grumbles to himself as he walks away from his important late-night delivery to the local library, sans signature.
The air above the library becomes tense as powerful magic, unseen even to the trained eye, swirls about chaotically before breaking apart, the air crackling, and surges away to five specific locations.
A bakery. A boutique. A cottage by the forest. A home in the clouds. A farmstead.
The magic wooshes around each location, permeating everywhere without hesitation, sending out ripples and waves of itself from the five buildings, changing even the very air it touches.
And the town slumbers on.
A sunbeam shone through the farm cottage windows, rudely coming to a rest across Meteorite's face as she groggily pulled her bed covers up and over her head, trying to score more sleep. Unfortunately this only provided brief comfort, as Meteorite realised she was now awake.
Grumbling to herself, she fruitlessly kicked at her covers in an attempt to get up. Eventually, she sat herself up on the edge of her bed, her eyes still blurry. Blinking herself awake, she turned to glare outside at the offending light, and the barren, dead trees that was the farm she knew.
Another day, another round of this shit, she thought bitterly.
The atmosphere around the dining table that morning was tense and uncomfortable, as three ponies, Meteorite and the stallions, waited impatiently for their breakfast. The fourth, bedraggled as she was, eventually stomped her way in from the kitchen and tossed a slice of toast onto Meteorite's plate. Meteorite stared at it disinterestedly.
"So, who gets the butter today?"
"Don't be stupid," came the annoyed reply, as two more slices were tossed the stallions' way. "You know we don't have butter."
Meteorite shrugged half-heartedly as she slumped forward, using a foreleg to prop herself up on the table, and began gnawing away at her dry toast. Steel then pointedly cleared his throat.
"If I may, ladies," he began, catching their lackluster attention, "I wish to make an announcement concerning Silverfire and me."
"Is it a secret cache of food?" Meteorite snarked under her breath, already finished with most of her toast. Steel ignored the remark and glanced at Silverfire, who responded with a weary look. Steel took this as a sign of acceptance.
"Very well. It's been decided that we both are no longer needed here on the farm, and we are returning to Canterlot."
This caught both mares off-guard, and Meteorite slowly straightened her posture as she registered a look of dull surprise.
"Oh…" she uttered, looking down at her plate. "Does this mean Sunny and I get two slices of toast now?"
Sunny rolled her eyes in annoyance before turning to the stallions. "You're really going away?"
"There is little point in staying, Miss Flora. There are so few duties for us to tackle that we have difficulty splitting it between the four of us."
"Yeah…" Silverfire chimed in, sounding a little depressed. "I mean it's mostly looking after the chickens."
"Don't forget the pig," Meteorite pointed out.
"Right right, Sir Hamilton."
Sunny looked pensive for a moment. "Well, it's sad to see the pair of you go, but I suppose you're right."
"Yeah," Meteorite agreed. "Honestly, surprised you haven't left sooner."
Steel lifted a hoof to his chin in thought. "It… is curious that we've stayed this long, but I suppose we've been waiting for the right moment."
"Yeah, I guess," Meteorite shrugged, not really caring.
With the sun already high in the sky, Meteorite and Sunny ambled through the barren orchard that surrounded their home, abandoned of all things alive, as they meandered towards the only part of the farm that still did, the animal pens.
"So…" Meteorite began, kicking a small rock off the overgrown path, "you taking the chickens, or the pig today?"
"Chickens," Sunny replied without much thought.
"Tch, figured as much. Alright, fine, I'll go take care of Hamilton, I guess."
Sunny gave her a side-eye. "Why're you complaining? It's just one pig."
"Yeah, but I don't like the mud."
A sweet but insincere smile spread on Sunny's lips. "Aw, that's a shame."
Awkward silence filled the air, punctuated only by the sound of dead leaves crunching under hoof. Meteorite frowned in thought, casting occasional glances at her co-worker.
"Hey Sunny?"
"What?" came the curt reply.
"Does…" Meteorite bit her lip, still thinking. "Does today feel… off, to you?"
"Not really," Sunny shrugged. "Apart from the boys not being here."
Meteorite gave a few slow blinks, shaking her head. "...yeah. Yeah, that must be it."
Coming to a junction, the sounds of rickety wheels accompanied by furious clucking reached their ears from one direction. Turning to look, they saw a straight-maned Pinkie pulling a wagon full of caged chickens down towards them. A few of the chickens escaped.
"Oh… morning girls," she wearily greeted them over the noise behind her, coming to a stop before them. She uncoupled herself from the wagon and trotted on over.
"Morning Miss Pinkamena," Sunny greeted back with a friendly wave. Meteorite shielded her eyes as she looked to the sky.
"Think it's afternoon at this point, actually."
Pinkamena glanced upwards, stress in her eyes. "O-Oh, is it? Okay…" She turned her attention back to the pair. "How's everypony doing over here?"
"Eh, so-so," Meteorite shrugged with a backflop of her hoof. "Steel and Silverfire are leaving the farm, by the way."
As Sunny silently nodded confirmation, Pinkamena hung her head low. "Oh… I… I suppose that's fair. I can't really pay them for no work."
You barely pay us for anything, came an intrusive snarky thought inside Meteorite's head, but she kept it to herself.
After a while, Pinkamena lifted a worried gaze to meet the eyes of her remaining workers. "What about you two? Are… you going to leave too?"
Sunny rubbed her chin with a hoof. "Hm… not yet. I wanna do what I can to help this farm support itself."
Pinkamena's eyes shone a tiny bit as she smiled. She turned her attention to the trees.
"That'd be nice… Can you imagine? Rows and rows of apple trees, as far as your eye can see! It'd be such a sight!"
Yeah… Meteorite mused to herself as she thought back to her memories of the show, the real Equestria. It was impressive.
"What about you?"
Meteorite blinked as she realised Pinkamena was talking to her. She shook her head.
"Nah, ya don't hafta worry about me going anywhere. I still feel guilty over-"
Meteorite hesitated. She remembered the reason she was there; she had accidentally stolen and eaten Pinkamena's apples. But… the farm didn't have any apples, that was why it was in such a state, right? But she clearly remembered eating those apples so-
Ohhh right right, she reasoned quickly, I had eaten Pinkie's only apples. Yeah, that was it.
"...well, y'know," she finished guiltily. Pinkamena nodded her understanding.
"Well, I'm glad I still have you two. Speaking of, you doing anything? I've got a lot of repairs to do, but I also need to get these chickens over to the old barn for safe-keeping while I fix up their coop. I'd really appreciate your help!"
Sunny gave the wagon a worried look as it sagged to one side, threatening to collapse under the weight and frantic wing-flapping of the chickens still locked inside.
"Well, hey," Meteorite began smugly, looking over to her co-worker. "You were wanting to help with the chickens today, weren't ya Sunny?"
Sunny spluttered in response, glancing between the wagon and a pleading Pinkamena before settling on glowering at Meteorite. "...fine. I'll help with the chickens."
"Ohmigosh, thank you Sunny!" Pinkamena said gratefully as she stepped aside to allow an uneasy Sunny to pass by, gingerly hitching herself up to the wagon. "I don't know what I'd do without you girls here."
"Yeah yeah…" Sunny grumbled under her breath as she struggled to pull the wagon past the other two ponies. Pinkamena watched her go with a sad smile, before drooping her head and giving in to a sigh. Meteorite watched her from a side-eye as Pinkamena slowly wandered to a nearby tree and sat down against it, her face in her hooves.
Meteorite had long ago stopped questioning why she was in some weird AU fanfiction where the majority of the Mane Six all had their lives and cutie marks swapped about —a quick glance downwards, yup, Pinkie still had Applejack's cutie mark— and these days just questioned why the fanfic existed. What was the point of doing all this? To see how miserable everypony could get? Well, well fucking done, she'd thought.
She took a few leaf-crunched steps towards Pinkamena. "Permission to join ya, Pinks?"
Slowly looking up, Pinkamena blinked slowly at Meteorite, registering that she was still there. She shook her head slightly. "You don't have to do that, you know."
"Eh, ya're still the boss," Meteorite shrugged apathetically, before letting a small smile through. "Boss."
Pinkamena matched Meteorite's smile with an appreciative one of her own. She lightly patted the ground next to her. "Heh. Alright, you can join."
Meteorite dutifully obeyed and sat herself down. The two were silent when Pinkamena leaned back against the tree, her gaze lost and frightened above the empty treetops.
"I don't know what to do, Met," she quietly admitted to her attentive companion, "I'm trying so hard to keep this farm afloat but it's sinking faster than a… than a…"
"'Rock down a well'?" Meteorite ventured. There was no acknowledgement, but perhaps the silence was enough. Pinkamena swallowed.
"You and Sunny should leave too," Pinkamena choked out, her voice tinged with anguish as her eyes began to well up. "I… I don't think I can afford to keep you, or this farm, around much longer. I… can't do anything right. I… I'm a failure…" Unable to hold it in, Pinkamena buried her face into her hooves and let out a small sob. "I shouldn't have done any of this, I should've just stayed home with my sisters!" A tearstream flowed down her cheek.
Feeling momentarily at a loss, Meteorite did the only thing she could think of, and gently wrapped a comforting foreleg around Pinkamena. Eventually the hug was received as Pinkamena leaned into it, her crying already petering out.
Meteorite wasn't entirely sure how she felt about having one of the main ponies this close to her, even if it was an alternate version of them. She was uncomfortable with the idea as a whole, and yet…
Pinkie needed somebody. Pinkie needed her.
That was enough.
"You're not alone in this, y'know," Meteorite told her softly. "You've got me and Sunny. Sure, she may be a bit of a jerk sometimes, but she genuinely wants to help out. So I think she'll stay, even if you told her to leave."
Pinkamena sniffed back a tear. "She's not that bad…"
Meteorite gave a friendly smirk. "You don't know her like I do."
Pinkamena gave a soft giggle, a sound that Meteorite had all but forgotten. Pinkamena tilted her head to look up at Meteorite with eyes struggling to hold onto hope. "And you?"
"Nah, I'm not going anywhere. I've stuck with you this far, ain't leaving you in the lurch at the last second."
A small, warm smile crossed Pinkamena's face as she slowly partially closed her eyes. "Thank you," she whispered.
"Ain't nothin', Pinks."
Wind whistled through the hollow orchard, shaking loose a few dying leaves. Meteorite allowed a few moments of comfort to pass before deciding to broach a subject she'd been dying to bring up for months.
"Hey… here's a thought," she began as casually as she could, "have you… considered doing something… else?"
"Something else…?"
"Yeah, y'know, besides… apple farming."
A frown formed on Pinkamena. "Like what?"
"Oh, I don't know…" Meteorite said flippantly, "uhh… off the top of my head… throwing parties? I think you'd be good at that."
Pinkamena frowned harder before shaking her head. "I wouldn't know what to do. Besides, that's already Fluttershy's thing. I can't take that away from her."
"Right…" Meteorite muttered, casting an annoyed side-glance at nothing. "I forgot about that."
Still, Pinkamena mulled the overall suggestion over for a moment longer, before shaking her head again, more definite this time.
"No, I… I have to do this. I want the farm to do well. It's…" she paused, feeling the edges of depression setting back in. "It's my destiny."
Meteorite felt a heavy sigh building up within. "Well. It's just a thought."
"And I really appreciate it," Pinkamena said, squirming her way out of the hug, and stood up before Meteorite with a genuine smile. "I just want this place to be as successful as it ought to be."
"I get that…" Meteorite yawned, stretching before standing up herself. "And you totally deserve to be successful too. You oughta be the talk of the town, spreading joy wherever you go, with everypony your friend."
A light flickered for a millisecond behind Pinkamena's eyes, and her smile grew warmer. "That sounds nice…" she whispered to herself. "You… you really think I could achieve something like that?"
Meteorite smiled. "I know you can, Pinkie."
Pinkamena gave a light nicker. "'Pinkie'... I like that one."
Meteorite continued to smile, but a hint of sadness was brought to her eyes. "It suits you."
Pinkamena beamed at the compliment, looking genuinely happy in the longest time as Meteorite could remember. She drew herself up with renewed vigor, and looked around her.
"Right, well… better get back to work." She turned to Meteorite with a broad smile. "Hey! Doing anything at the moment? I've got this wicked water chute that needs banging back into place. Could use your help~"
"Ah, sorry Pinks," Meteorite apologised, scratching at an ear with a hoof. "I oughta be getting over to feed Hamilton and all that."
"Oh…" Pinkamena uttered, losing a bit of her steam briefly. "Well, yeah, you should go do that. Don't worry, I'll… I'll take care of it." She turned around to part ways but stopped to look over her shoulder. "Give Sir Hamilton a super warm welcome for me."
"Will do, boss."
Pinkamena remained as she was, looking thoughtful. Eventually, she smiled.
"Thanks Meteorite. You're a good friend."
Meteorite shrugged dismissively, but kept a smile on her face. "Just doing what I can."
With an appreciative nod, Pinkamena turned and headed back down the path where she came. Meteorite watched her go with a sad and longing gaze. She wondered if the Mane Six would ever be as she rememb-
A sudden downpour crashed upon her, radiating in an area of a few feet about her. Wide-eyed and soaking wet, she glanced up at the perfectly square raincloud directly above her. An unamused expression fell upon her face as she took a few steps forward out of the extremely localised overcast.
"Goddammit Rarity."
Grains poured out of a half-empty feed bag into an even emptier trough, much to the delight and squeals of Hamilton, as the pink pig with a black splotch over his right eye eagerly tried to get at them as they fell. Meteorite took a few awkward steps back, watching with some satisfaction as the pig gorged on his meal for the day.
"Well, at least you're being kept fed," Meteorite muttered, mostly to herself.
Leaving the almost empty feedbag outside the pen, just so Hamilton wouldn't try to have tomorrow's meal today, Meteorite went to check on his other trough, and fill it up with fresh water. Once she was done, she stood by and watched the sole pig enjoy his meal.
"Wonder if you're lonely…" she murmured under her breath, after a while. "...Although I suppose you get all that to yourself, so you probably don't care."
The pig stopped eating momentarily to look up at her with a quizzical oink. Meteorite waved him off dismissively.
"Don't mind me, Hamilton. I'm just airing some thoughts, like I usually do."
Hamilton snorted with a shrug and went back to cleaning the trough out of food. Meteorite half-smiled at the reaction.
"Welp… better go clean myself up, I guess," she continued, looking down as her hooves sank into the wet mud of the pen with each step. Rolling her eyes, she threw her head back dramatically. "Ugh! It's gonna take hours to clean all this off."
A faint musical refrain in the distance caught her ear, perking it up. Confused, Meteorite pulled herself over to the fencing of the pen, using the fence to cautiously prop herself up on it. She shielded her eyes with her other hoof, and squinted through the trees.
Five distinct pony colourations (and one baby dragon) stood out to her as they trotted purposefully further into Sweet Apple Acres. The rest of the Mane Six, minus Pinkie of course.
"Huh," Meteorite mused to herself, watching them disappear from view. "Wonder what they're singing about…"
It was an odd sighting, to be perfectly honest; she couldn't really remember the last time she saw them all hang out together like that… well, apart from on the show. She supposed they were all just busy with their own problems.
They had a lot of problems.
Also… was Twilight wearing her tiara thingy? God, when was the last time she saw that? She had practically forgotten the Elements of Harmony even existed at this point.
…huh.
Come to think of it… why was Twilight the only one out of them to have retained her cutie mark? Meteorite had never questioned this discrepancy until now, but… why hadn't she?
Lost in her thoughts, Meteorite began slowly lowering herself off of the fence. While this was happening, unseen by her, —and by anyone else for that matter— a wave of magical energy unrippled through the air at high speeds, unswooshing through everything. As it passed through the pig pen, Meteorite was suddenly knocked off-balance, and she shrieked as she fell backwards into the mud, her limbs flailing. The water bucket got thrown into the air as she fell, and after a few spins it landed upside down on her head, water splashing down all over her and mixing even more with the mud.
Groaning, Meteorite pushed herself to a sitting position with one hoof, and used the other to raise the lip of the bucket up enough to see. She was met with a chorus of oinks from the pen full of pigs, looking at her curiously.
"Yeah yeah, I'm fine," she muttered to her audience, still wearing the bucket as an impromptu hat, and awkwardly trying to turn about to be on all fours. Once she managed to do so, she looked at herself with dismay at every part of her stained with mud.
"Augh!" she bemoaned, her shouting wobbling a few apples from the nearby trees, "it's gonna take all day to clean this off!"
Sir and Madam Hamilton shared a mirthful snort amongst themselves as they continued eating.
A short while later, one final wave of magical energy unravelled through the entire town of Ponyville, as everypony erupted into song, joining the chorus of the Mane Six's song.
Everypony, except two stallions walking in line to the train station, their backs packed with several bags, and one set of drums.
"Hey… Steel," Silverfire said suddenly, blinking. "Why are we leaving, again?"
"Because we're not needed," Steel replied as he continued walking, not turning around. Silverfire frowned at the response, mostly in confusion. He didn't quite believe that answer, but he chose not to question it.
"Well, okay, but… do we have to leave?"
Steel came to a halt, peering back past and around his luggage and at Silverfire. "What are you suggesting?"
"I dunno," Silverfire murmured, idly drawing a line on the ground with a hoof. "I kinda like it here in Ponyville. It's nice out on the farm, ponies here are friendlier than the ones in Canterlot," he paused, listening to the song in the background building to a crescendo, and gave a small goofy smile, "and know how to sing good, plus, well, I like the girls. I feel like they've been more of actual friends than anypony back in Canterlot." A faint blush crossed his face. "Especially Flo. I wanna stay."
Taking in every word Silverfire said, Steel mulled things over as he sucked in his teeth. Eventually, he drew in a deep breath and gave a small nod of finality to himself.
"Very well, I suppose I cannot argue with that."
"Yeesh, what happened to you?"
Trudging back towards the cottage, Meteorite ran into Flo, who was currently looking her up and down, with a look of mild disgust and a slightly scrunched up snout.
"Fell in the mud, din' I…" Meteorite murmured, lifting a hoof and feeling a wave of ickiness shoot through her as the mud squelched out from underneath.
"Uff," Flo sympathized, giving her friend a small smile of pity. "I guess you'll be wanting the shower first then."
Meteorite sheepishly returned the smile. "If you wouldn't mind…"
Both sharing a small chuckle, they turned about and continued walking home together, with mud still being tracked behind Meteorite.
"How's your day go? Got those chickens sorted?"
"Oh, yes!" Flo said brightly. "Transferred them all over to the emergency coop Applejack got built. Though-" Flo hesitated, looking a little perturbed. "I… can't quite remember why she wanted us to move them."
"Well, it was because-" Meteorite frowned. "Huh. I can't remember either…"
"Wow, that's weird," Flo remarked offhandedly. Meteorite continued to frown, though for a different reason.
"Yeah… it is," she said suspiciously, casting a look skywards.
"Oh well, we can just ask Applejack when we next see her," Flo said with a carefree attitude that Meteorite wasn't about to join in with any time soon.
"Mm."
The pair continued in silence, with Meteorite running the events of the day through her head, and Flo just blissfully enjoying the sun's warmth. As they neared their home, Flo nudged Meteorite to get her attention, before slightly recoiling her hoof in slight disdain at the mud on it. However, it was enough for Meteorite to snap out of her thoughts and also notice Silverfire coming their way, from the opposite end of the path, with a bunch of packed things on his back.
"Hey Silverfire," Flo waved as they got closer. Her smile faded as she noticed the dark expression on his face, as well as that he wasn't even looking directly at them. "S-Silverfire? Is everything okay?"
"Yeah," Meteorite chimed in, equally concerned. "What's with all the stuff? You moving your drums somewhere else?"
Silverfire said nothing as he continued to stare down in front of him. He opened his mouth to talk, but he was having trouble finding the strength to speak.
"...Steel's left the farm," he managed to choke out. "And he's not coming back."