//------------------------------// // Chapter 21 // Story: Fictional // by Meteorite Shower //------------------------------// The door to the Carousel Boutique swung open with a cheery jangle, allowing Meteorite to swiftly trot inside with a smile on her face.  There was no obvious sign of Rarity being around, so she lifted a hoof to the side of her face to call out.  She'd gotten only the first syllable out, when she was interrupted by a loud crash off near the back, startling her.  Worry crossed her face for a second, until she heard a very miffed Rarity from the same direction. "Oh, for Celestia's sake!  I don't have time for this right now!" Relieved that Rarity was not in any apparent danger, Meteorite hurriedly trotted towards the back.  As she got near, she called out Rarity's name, just so she wouldn't unintentionally startle her with her sudden presence. "Oh…!" she heard Rarity utter in surprise, from a room down the hall.  Rarity's design room, if Meteorite recalled correctly.  "In here…  do mind the mess when you enter though." Even preemptively bracing herself as she reached the doorway, Meteorite was unprepared for the sea of fabrics, sewing tools and overturned mannequins that covered the floor before her.  Beset on all sides was a very bedraggled and bespectacled Rarity, begrudgingly using her magic to pick apart the fallen items one by one.  Eyes widening at the mess, Meteorite recoiled slightly with a raised foreleg in bemusement. "Eugh," she uttered through closed teeth, "what happened?" Rarity looked up at her wearily.  "A disaster, darling.  I simply needed this fabric-" she levitated a bolt of aquamarine material and shook it angrily, "-for my design-" Looking past the frazzled mare, Meteorite noted a half-finished dress on a still-standing mannequin, "-but it refused to budge from my shelves!"  Rarity dramatically threw a foreleg back across her forehead and sighed theatrically.  "It must've gotten lodged in and become stuck, and when I tugged on it, it all came tumbling down!" Meteorite rolled her tongue into her cheek as she silently took in the scene before her, before looking straight at Rarity with a sympathetic smile. "Need any help?" Rarity blinked her eyes open at the request, and slowly settled back down into a more graceful posture as she sat down on her haunches.  She lightly cleared her throat into her hoof. "Well, if you wouldn't mind…" she asked sheepishly, gesturing down at the floor.  "Could you be a dear, and help sort all this away for me?  I really must focus on finishing this order before the day is done." Straightening herself upwards, Meteorite gave a half-serious salute with a nod.  Stepping into the room she considered the pile before her, musing on where to best tackle it first. "Alright," she announced, still deciding, "but I'll remain a pony if it's all the same to you." Rarity peered over her glasses in a mixture of stress and confusion at the pegasus that was currently during her best to hide her amusement as she methodically busied herself in her task.  Realization eventually dawned on Rarity, causing her to turn away towards her work with an eye-roll and a mild huff. "Not now, Meteorite…" Rarity stood back from her creation and smiled with pride as she took it all in. "Et voilà!" she announced as she twirled with a flourish full of poise, both her and her finished product giving off a glow.  The glow faded as her pose drooped slightly, blinking at the lack of any sort of applause.  Looking about the now tidied room, she spotted Meteorite off to the side, facing away as she carried some fabric in her hooves, faintly hovering in the air, while frowning at Rarity's shelves.  Rarity walked up to her and lightly cleared her throat. "Meteorite?" Meteorite looked down to her side and her frown disappeared.  "Oh, hey Rarity," she greeted cheerfully.  "Almost done!  I just-" She turned back to the shelves, frowning once again.  She stared at the different bolts of fabric already shelved away while clutching tighter on the one she held, her wings gently flapping. "I'm trying to decide how to best sort this," she eventually muttered.  "Like, I don't know if you have your own system for how you want this organised or not.  See, at first I figured sorting it by rainbow, yeah?" She gestured with her head, indicating the currently sorted array.  "But now, I'm realising that some of these are different kinds of material-" she lifted the bolt in her forehooves, "-so now I don't know if that's how you sort it instead."  She glanced aside at the patiently listening unicorn.  "How do you want it, Rarity?" Rarity found herself smiling as she lifted the fabric out of Meteorite's hooves with her magic, and slotted it in the currently free space.  "It's fine as it is," she said, as Meteorite lowered herself to the floor.  Rarity paused as she studied the shelves, before hastily swapping two bolts of fabric.  She turned back to Meteorite with a curious gaze.  "Why didn't you ask me sooner?" "You were busy," Meteorite shrugged. "Indeed I was!" Rarity nodded, giddily hopping over back to the mannequin she was working on, spinning it around to show off her work as she sat beside it, hooves outstretched to it.  "What do you think, darling?" "Oooh!" Meteorite cooed as she took it in, "I like it!"  A beat passed and her expression fell slightly, as she stared at the dress more critically.  "It's uh… um…  it's… evoking the sea, yeah?" "Close darling!" Rarity said eagerly, pointing at several places, "It's all cycles of water!  The main design is the ferociousness of the ocean, certainly, but see here how it splits off into rivers leading to smaller lakes?  And to tie it all together, this woollen collar symbolizes the clouds to go with the droplet crystals lining the hem!" "O-Oh, yeah, I… see the cloud now," Meteorite added lamely. Rarity beamed for a moment before turning her attention to the outfit, carefully taking it off the mannequin and carefully placing it in a flat and wide box.  "I'm glad you like it darling, now I just have to hope Madame Cascading Rapids does as well." With a name like that, I can't imagine she wouldn't. Satisfied, Rarity lightly fitted the lid of the box and placed it at one end of the nearby table.  Turning about to face Meteorite again, the distant chime of the doorbell sounded, perking Rarity up. "That's probably her now!" she said in an excitable hush.  She gestured with both hooves to Meteorite to stay put.  "Wait here, I'll be back in a jiffy!" Pausing to fix her mane and adjusting her glasses, Rarity cantered out of the room, her cheerful greeting echoing back to Meteorite as she made to meet her client.  Meteorite awkwardly glanced about the room, wondering what she ought to do in the meantime.  Glancing down at the floor, the idea to sweep up after the aftermath for a moment crossed her mind, and decided that'd be a nice thing to do for Rarity.  She spotted Rarity's broom leaning up against the wall past the table, and took a step towards it. And then she froze. The outfit Rarity had worked on was between her and the broom, jutting perilously over the edge of the table. She was alone in a room with a precious and valuable item that was easily destroyable due to unpredictable antics. Meteorite promptly sat down where she stood and dared to not even breathe, her eyes transfixed on the box before her. A few moments later, Rarity happily trotted back into the room, her focus on the boxed outfit.  "Don't mind me darling, just retriev… ing…" she paused as she took in Meteorite's stiff posture and shrunken pupils.  "Is… everything alright, Meteorite?" "What, yes!  Yes, all good!" Meteorite said hastily, her body already relaxing as Rarity held the outfit in her magic.  "I'm-  I'm gonna sweep now!" she added with a forced grin as she gestured towards the broom. Rarity looked on with a concerned stance, but turned to look back in the hallway.  "...Well okay, darling.  If you say so…  I'll be right back, alright?" Meteorite nodded wildly with the broom already in her mouth, but as soon as Rarity left she slumped to the floor, the broom cluttering against the floor as she lay beside it, staring sadly at it. Way to go, you idiot. "Care to explain what that was all about earlier?" Having finished her business with Madame Cascading, Rarity went back and pulled Meteorite out of that room and sat her on one of her couches in the main area.  Figuratively, of course.  Meteorite wasn't entirely catatonic from her self-professed idiocy. Regardless, Rarity did end up floating a tub of chocolate ice-cream into Meteorite's hooves, which she passively accepted as she stared into nothing, if only because she didn't want it to fall and cause a bigger mess. "I got scared…" Meteorite eventually spoke up, her hoof resting on the spoon already pre-inserted into the tub. "Of what?" Meteorite slowly lifted her head to stare into Rarity's worried eyes, and gulped. "...I got scared that I might do something stupid and end up ruining the outfit you spent all day on." Rarity frowned.  "How?" "I'unno…" Meteorite mumbled with a shrug.  "I might've… accidentally bump it while sweeping, and that'd send it flying across the room and get sucked into a sewing machine, and the ensuing mess would startle Opalescence and she'd shred it into… shreds… and all that would fall into a wood chipper and turn it into confetti." There was a heavy pause as Rarity took all that in. "Darling, none of what you just said were even in that room." Meteorite turned aside.  "Doesn't matter.  Would've ruined it somehow.  The setup was too perfect." Rarity continued to frown thoughtfully as she climbed up onto the couch next to Meteorite, and gently rested a hoof onto her leg.  "Meteorite, you can't be afraid of something that might happen, especially something as unlikely as what you've described." Meteorite stared at Rarity's hoof for a while before running her gaze up her foreleg, and then directly into her eyes. "Would you have forgiven me if I had destroyed that outfit?" she said piercingly. "Ah-!" Rarity started, caught off-guard with the scenario.  As she silently and anxiously contemplated it, enough time passed for Meteorite to look back into the tub of ice-cream. "And there we are," she whispered. Rarity fretted, feeling frustrated with the conversation.  Jumping off the couch, she turned to face Meteorite.  "This is ridiculous, darling!  Nothing happened!  Besides!  You don't seriously think Alexandra would let something so disastrous like that happen, do you?" Meteorite didn't respond right away, instead only slowly circling the spoon around the tub, balling up some ice-cream. "Hasn't stopped her before." The boutique fell quiet, with both ponies not really knowing what to say next.  In the moment, Meteorite took the spoonful of ice-cream and ate it.  Her eyes perked up slightly. "Mm, that's actually pretty good." Rarity nodded mutely, giving a small flourish with her hoof.  "Naturally darling.  Only the best quality for dealing with hardships." Meteorite twiddled with the spoon thoughtfully, tapping it against the rim of the tub, before resting it back down. "I don't know, Rarity.  Maybe you're right, maybe I am overthinking things.  I'm just-"  She shook her head defeatedly.  "-worried things will get out of my control if I become too…" "Complacent?" Rarity offered. "Comfortable," Meteorite corrected. Rarity nodded her understanding, allowing silence to continue as she mulled over what to say next, before slicing through it with her follow-up question. "What did you mean, it 'hasn't stopped her before'?  What happened?" Meteorite's eyes flitted up towards Rarity for a split second before returning back down to the tub, and she sighed. "Guess we're getting near to that point of the story anyway…"  She picked up the spoon and ate some more ice-cream, momentarily losing herself in the richness of the flavour.  Opening her eyes, she lifted her head to face Rarity with a look of determination. "Ready to hear some more?" Rarity mused with a hoof to her chin as she looked about her boutique.  "Well… there's not much else left I had planned for today… Give me a few moments to wrap a few things up, darling?" "Sure," Meteorite smiled faintly. Those few moments (plus a few extra moments) later, Rarity sat down next to Meteorite, having locked up for the day. "Alright, where were we?" Meteorite pondered out loud. "Steel had just left Ponyville," Rarity said, biting her lip while refraining from adding 'forever' in massive air quotes. "Right right," Meteorite nodded.  "Well, I don't need to tell you this, but that was far from the only shocking thing to happen that day…" ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ "What do you mean, 'Twilight's a princess'?!" Applejack stood in front of her farmhooves' cottage the morning following, as her remaining workers stared at her in amazement from the doorstep.  In the middle, Meteorite in particular was especially agape with disbelief. "'xactly that, suga'cube," Applejack replied.  "One moment she'd disappeared in a big boom of light, the next she was floating down from the sky, all alicorny-like.  Princess Celestia said so just as much too." "You got to meet Princess Celestia too?" Flo asked with awe, stepping forward from Meteorite's right.  Applejack gave a light chuckle at that. "Well, ain't the first time Ah met her, to be fair." "So-" Meteorite cut in, her mind struggling to comprehend the facts, "So, like… she's an actual alicorn?  How tall is she now?  As big as Princess Celestia?" Applejack shook her head.  "Nah, she's about the same as before Ah reckon, just ya know, with wings."  Applejack turned her attention to Silverfire, standing on the other side of a now glassy-eyed Meteorite, and noted the distracted look on him as he seemed to be lost in his own thoughts.  "So, y'all said that Steel left last night?" Silverfire dumbly nodded, as Flo lightly cleared her throat. "Yeah… apparently he felt he wasn't needed anymore.  At least, that's what Silverfire told us." Applejack scratched her head, her hat lifting up slightly.  "Well shoot.  Ah wouldn't have said that… but if he don't want t' be here any more, well, Ah guess that's his own decision." "Do they work?" Meteorite suddenly asked, snapping out of her own distraction. "What?" "Her wings," Meteorite clarified, staring at Applejack with pinpoint focus.  "Do they work?" Applejack blinked, but gave it some thought.  "Ah… guess they do?  She was moving 'em okay, if that's what ya mean." "Oh," Meteorite muttered darkly as her mane fell forward slowly, casting a shadow over her face. "Yeah no, that's… that's fair." The other ponies, including Silverfire, stared at her with various degrees of worry. "Ya alright there, suga'cube?" "Me?  Yeah no, I'm…  I'm fine.  Yup.  She gets wings and can use them right away.  Why wouldn't I be fine?" Meteorite muttered, almost spitting out the last part through clenched teeth. "Ya don't sound fine…" Applejack said cautiously. There was no retort, at least not one that Meteorite wished to say out loud, thanks to a still deep-seated moral ruling to avoid saying something crass in public, coupled with not wanting to offend her employer.  Stepping back, Flo reached out to lay a comforting hoof across Meteorite's back.  The pegasus instinctively flinched at the touch, but ultimately didn't pull away. Applejack watched the pair for a moment, before stealing a glance towards Silverfire, who had returned to his previous state of looking lost.  She stamped a hoof to get everypony's attention, and drew herself up. "Right, well, Ah understand that it's been rough for everypony involved, but y'all still have a farm to tend to.  These trees ain't gonna t' wait fer yer troubles to be dealt with in due time before needing harvestin', same with the animals." Letting her words sink in, Applejack then softened her voice a bit.  "That said, Ah understand Steel leavin' has prolly upset y'all, so have some time t' yerselves to recollect a bit.  And-" Applejack tipped her hat back slightly as she offered a kindly smile, "-remember that yer ain't just workers here.  If any of ya feel like talkin', come see any of us an' we'll hash things out a bit, alright?  While yer here, yer one of us, an' us Apples never leave our kind behind." There was no immediate response from the crew, with the exception of Flo giving an understanding nod.  There was still an aura of indignation surrounding Meteorite, however Applejack's speech seemed to reach her as she glanced away with her expression softening, if only slightly as she fought to hold onto the anger.  Silverfire seemed to be the most affected by the speech, as he eventually nodded, clearing his throat in the process. "Y-Yes, Mi-" Silverfire stopped as he grimaced mid-word, and tried again.  "Yes, Applejack.  Ma'am." Applejack gave him a pitying glance before straightening her hat, and turning to leave.  "Y'all take care, alright?" After she left, Flo swung around to face her two friends, and put on an encouraging smile.  "Well!  How about I go make breakfast for you two, huh?  I'm thinking pancakes!  You two like pancakes, don't ya?" She got two non-committal shrugs in response.  That would have to do, Flo conceded as she reluctantly stepped past them, and inside the cottage.  The two remaining ponies stood outside in silence, each lost in their own brand of depression.  Eventually, Meteorite turned towards Silverfire, and regarded him for a bit. "...sorry Steel ditched ya like that." Silverfire considered the words, and nodded in response. "Sorry you can't fly." A faint look of appreciativeness crossed Meteorite's face as she turned to head back inside. Breakfast now eaten, Meteorite splashed water onto her face as she stood in front of the bathroom mirror.  It was both an attempt to snap herself out of her mood, and a necessity in washing away the maple syrup that clung to her fur.  Pancakes were nice, but not so much when your main method of eating was smooshing your face into it. The worst part about it was that nopony at the table was silently judging her for it. Yesterday had left everypony in a dour mood when Silverfire had announced that Steel had left.  Flo had tried to keep the atmosphere chipper, but Silverfire had already sunken himself in gloom by that point.  Meanwhile, Meteorite was having trouble believing the whole scenario.  Sure, Steel had been acting a little odd now and then for a while… but she'd never for an instant expected him to leave.  Regardless, his absence now was all too glaring to ignore.  Silverfire was definitely still feeling down about it, obviously, but Meteorite was starting to notice the little things Steel would get on her case about. Honestly, she missed the banter they had, even if Steel was very weary about it. She tried remembering if Steel had shown any inclination of leaving that day, but… her memory was weirdly hazy on the matter.  Suspiciously hazy.  All in all, the day felt surreal, and that was before she heard about Twilight from Applejack. Meteorite stared at her reflection, the anger she felt earlier having ebbed away leaving a blank expression in its wake.  She felt… numb. She tried picturing Twilight as an alicorn princess, but her mind couldn't settle on a clear image of what that'd look like, trying to mishmash the appearances of Twilight and Princess Celestia together into one, even if Applejack had already mentioned that Twilight didn't look any different, just with the addition of wings. Wings. Twilight had wings.  And she could use them? Meteorite frowned at her reflection, glancing down at the dormant appendages stuck to her sides, barely peeking over the bottom of the mirror.  Fat lot of good they were doing her. Why the fuck couldn't she use hers?  What was the fucking point of making herself a pegasus if she had no intention of letting herself fly?  Why the fuck did she give herself the extra fucking task of keeping her fucking wings in fucking good condition every fucking day if they did fuck all for her? Oh good.  The anger was starting to come back. Meteorite bit the inside of her cheek and glanced away from the mirror, trying to quell the fury crashing upon the shores of her mind.  Closing her eyes, she took a few slow and steady breaths to calm herself before daring to look back at herself.  She still frowned, but it was now crossed with an expression of thoughtful study. Why was she a pegasus?  She didn't like heights, and the idea of being up high in the sky with absolutely nothing between her and the ground made her quail at just the thought. …so why was she getting upset about it? Meteorite stared her reflection down for a while, before sighing to herself and breaking away to leave and prepare for the day's work.  It was probably just the injustice of it all getting to her, that's all. Yeah, that had to be it. With Steel gone, it fell to the other three to decide how they were going to split their tasks between them.  Only… at the moment it was more up to Flo and Meteorite, as Silverfire was gloomily dragging his hooves a short distance behind the mares as they talked. Well, as Flo talked.  Meteorite wasn't faring much better than Silverfire, but at least she was keeping pace.  Flo cleared her throat to get her friend's attention. "Meteorite, are you even listening to me?" she asked, half concerned and half frustrated with the lack of response. "Yeah yeah…" Meteorite muttered, with a quick wave of her hoof.  "Apple trees up north.  I can do them, sure." Flo nodded at the confirmation, but was still concerned.  "Okay, but… do you have any input here?  We have to decide this as a team." "Why?  Steel never bothered asking us anything." "Well, I'm not Steel," Flo said, a little too bluntly for her own liking.  Dialling back her attitude, she spoke softer.  "I think it'll be good for morale if we all have a say." Meteorite turned her head slightly to give a side-glance at Silverfire, a couple metres behind.  "What about him?" she asked quietly. Flo grimaced unsurely a little at the question.  "I… I'm not really sure what to do." Meteorite gave the situation some consideration, her mood lifting a little from now not thinking about her own issues.  After some mulling, she spoke up again.  "I think you oughta work with him for a while." That earned her a puzzled glance from Flo.  "Yeah?  You think so?" "Sure.  He needs someone right now, I can pretty much guarantee that."  Meteorite hesitated a little before continuing.  "And… I don't really wanna step over your… intentions." Flo blushed a little, but smiled appreciatively.  "Thank you…  but is now really the time for that?" "Oh no no," Meteorite hastily replied, before catching her volume.  "Just… y'know, be there for him and all that." There was a brief lull as Flo considered the advice, before nodding with a smile.  "I can do that."  A further lull.  "Are ya gonna be alright by yourself?" "Pft, I'll be fine," Meteorite readily countered with a scoff, before reconsidering her stance.  "I mean… it'll be slow, but, y'know." Briefly frowning, Flo shook her head.  "Not… what I was asking." Meteorite felt confused for a few seconds, until the unspoken part of Flo's question finally hit her.  Wincing slightly, she nodded with some uncertainty. "I'll… be fine," she repeated, with less confidence.  She glanced back at Silverfire, still slowly following along behind the two of them, his eyes not really taking anything in.  "Worry about one pony at a time, alright?" Flo nodded her understanding and came to a stop, with Meteorite following suit.  As they waited for Silverfire to catch up to them, Flo deliberated for a while as she tussled with her thoughts.  Eventually shaking her head clear, she stepped on over to draw Meteorite into a close hug.  Caught off-guard by the sudden embrace, Meteorite awkwardly stood stiff for the initial part, but quickly warmed up to it and fumbled a foreleg about, trying to find a way to wrap it around Flo in return. She'd have to figure out how to hug efficiently as a pony.  She liked hugs.  Hugs were nice. With the two mares preoccupied in their comforting cuddle, they soon found themselves in the shadow of Silverfire as he gradually approached them.  Coming to a stop, Silverfire's distant stare broke as he blinked a few times, now fully taking in the sight before him.  His emotionally drained face didn't change, but for a split second his mouth twitched into something that might've been a faint smile. Realizing Silverfire was now with them, Flo broke away from the hug with a hopeful smile.  In response, Meteorite smiled appreciatively as she gave a small nod. "I'm good, Flo, thanks." Flo's smile widened as she noticeably perked up, now turning to Silverfire.  "Hey Silverfire," she greeted with a quick wave.  "Meteorite and I have been talking, and we both think it might be a good idea to have you and me working together for today.  What do you think?" Silverfire made a half-attempt at a disinterested shrug, but the sight of Flo's deep orange eyes burning into his —eagerly awaiting his response— sparked something within him.  In that moment he felt…  needed? No.  Wanted. "Uh- yeah, I… guess that sounds good?  Could probably use the help, really…" "You'll do fine," Flo said encouragingly, patting him on the side as she passed by him.  Silverfire turned on the spot to follow.  "It's a bit rough, I know, but I have absolute faith in you!" "Y-Yeah?" Silverfire responded, his head held higher than it had been all day.  It wasn't much, but Meteorite could tell even at a distance that Silverfire was stepping with more purpose than just a few moments ago.  She smiled faintly to herself and turned, taking a step towards her designated area for the day. Hopefully she had been telling the truth about being fine. Meteorite stood in front of the trees she was tasked with applebucking.  Fortunately, the Apples had already placed baskets at the base of the trees that they had deemed ready to be harvested, so she didn't have to worry about accidentally working the wrong trees.  Just that… There were a lot. Letting out a sigh, Meteorite stepped up to the nearest tree and turned about face.  No point in delaying an already long day's work, she supposed. Not that she particularly minded the applebucking duty when it came around.  Sure, it left her aching in certain muscles the next day, but she felt good doing it.  Mentally, that was.  It was a task she could do well enough, with the additional bonus that it helped out Applejack and her family. Plus, she was still proud of just knowing how to applebuck. Planting her hooves firmly on the ground, she kicked out behind her, smartly connecting with the tree.  Several apples soon thudded onto the grass about her, and that was fine.  She would've preferred them to all neatly pile up in the basket for her, but it was a privilege that she expected to not have. …much like the use of her wings. A privilege that was just handed to Twilight. Several minutes passed as Meteorite stood still, surrounded by glistening red apples, but none nearly as red as the indignant anger boiling up within her at being unfairly shafted.  By herself of all people too!  What right did she have to toy with herself like this?!  Was it funny?!  Oh, that was probably it!  She was having a right ol' chortle at herself being upset like this, she betted!  In fact, she probably gave Twilight wings just to fuck with her, and- and-! "Yer alright there, suga'cube?" The anger wrapped around her heart instantly melted as Meteorite blinked her mind clear.  Glancing up, Applejack was standing in front of her, looking quite concerned. "Oh!  Uh-!  Hello Applejack, uh, I-"  Meteorite looked about her, remembering that she still had these apples to pick up.  "Um.  Sorry, I…  I lost track of what I was doing… Won't happen again." Applejack watched with apprehension as Meteorite began picking the apples up one by one in her mouth, carrying them by the stem over to the nearby basket. "Meteorite," Applejack called firmly, but with no sense of irritation in her tone.  Rather, Applejack spoke with utmost patience.  Dropping her current apple into the basket, Meteorite looked back. "Yeah?" "Tell me the truth.  Are ya doing alright?" Meteorite wanted to look away, but she felt locked in.  She could feel her eyes betraying her feelings underneath Applejack's unwavering stare. "...not really, no," Meteorite eventually admitted, much to her annoyance.  She wanted to curl up somewhere and be forgotten about. Nodding solemnly, Applejack began pacing around the tree, deftly scooping up and lightly kicking the remaining apples into the basket and, with a bit of finesse, carefully placed the final apple on the pile, leaving her standing next to Meteorite.  She turned to her with a friendly lift of her hat. "Feel like talkin' about it?" Meteorite wasn't sure how to respond.  For the most part, yes, oh god yes she wanted to talk about it, about everything… but she also knew she couldn't.  Ignoring the fact that she wouldn't be believed —hell, she barely believed it herself— she just… couldn't bring herself to tell anypony, 'hey by the way, you're not actually real'.  Constructs of her own writing or not, she liked them.  They were nice to her.  Even Steel, sometimes. …even Steel. Meteorite's eyelids drooped as she looked down at the ground.  The base of the tree was within her view, and that only reminded her that it had been Steel that had taught her how to applebuck.  Even at his most standoffish, he had helped her. Swallowing hard, Meteorite turned her attention back to Applejack, still politely waiting for her to respond.  She didn't have to do that.  She's a busy pony; she shouldn't waste her time with some idiot wallowing in her own stupid problems.  And yet… They were nice to her. "Yeah…" she croaked.  "I… I think I do." With a faint smile, Applejack stepped aside and walked a few paces away from the trees.  Twisting about, she promptly sat down and beckoned for Meteorite to join her.  Still unsure if she even made the right choice, Meteorite obediently followed, if only because Applejack was still her boss.  Sitting down to face Applejack head on, Meteorite lightly fidgeted her hooves together. "So, what's been eatin' away at ya?" Applejack asked, taking care to not sound confrontational.  Ain't no quicker way to make somepony clam up than to make them feel forced to talk.  "Ya've been out of sorts, an' Ah don't think it's the whole situation with Steel." Feeling antsy, Meteorite rubbed a hoof up and down a foreleg.  "To be honest, it hasn't exactly helped…" Applejack silently conceded the fact as she lightly stroked her chin.  "Is it about Twilight, suga'cube?  Ah hate to say it, but ya weren't exactly happy about the news." A lump formed in Meteorite's throat, and she forcibly swallowed while looking away.  Taking a deep breath, she faced Applejack once more. "It's…  well- I…"  Annoyed with herself, she shook her head clear.  "Okay, well, look.  What's going on with her doesn't bother me.  To be perfectly honest, I don't think it's even sunk in yet that she's a princess now." But as soon as she said it, that's when it suddenly became real.  Holy shit… Twilight was a princess.  How does something like that even happen?  Can anyone become a princess then?  And… what was going to happen now?  Surely becoming a princess would completely change the direction and dynamics of the- "Suga'cube?" Snapping back to reality, Meteorite refocused on Applejack.  "Yeah?" "Nothin'," Applejack said with an air of relief. "Ya just… were lookin' a little glazed over there." "Right…" Meteorite muttered into her chest, feeling a little embarrassed.  She shook her head again.  "Anyway.  I don't mind Twilight being a princess now, as weird as that is, I just…"  She paused, biting her lip.  She looked down at her side, at her wing, and stared at it, trying to come up with the right words that didn't need several footnotes to understand. Turning back towards Applejack, she twisted her body to display her feathered limb.  "I'm a pegasus, Applejack.  You know that."  When Applejack nodded, Meteorite continued.  "And, well… there's also the fact that I can't fly." Applejack nodded again, slower this time, as dots were beginning to become connected.  Meteorite went on. "So… like, I'm happy for Twilight and all that, but… when I think about how she has wings now, and she can just… use them…" The words hung in the air as Meteorite contemplated for a few moments before resuming. "I-" Meteorite got out before halting briefly, taken aback by her voice cracking suddenly.  "I just… when I think about it, I… it gets to me, y'know?  Like, I was okay with not being able to move my wings…" …Was I okay with that? Meteorite shook her head swiftly.  "Actually… probably not, but… what could I do about it, right?" Applejack drew in a breath before nodding solemnly.  "Ah don't rightly know, suga'cube." "Exactly," Meteorite nodded back, taking a moment to swallow.  "I… just figured… it was just one of those things I had to deal with."  Closing her eyes, she took a few deep breaths before looking aside to stare off into the distance. "It shouldn't bother me…" she said, barely above a whisper.  "But, I just… keep thinking about how… unfair it is.  Why does she get to use hers?  I've had mine first!"  Meteorite suddenly stood up, taking Applejack by surprise.  She turned slightly to put one of her wings front and centre.  "I've been patient!  I've hardly complained!  I mean, sure, I've grumbled a bit here and there, but is that any right to deny me my due?!" Applejack raised a hoof apprehensively.  "Suga'cube, Ah think y-" "All I'm asking is just some consideration!  It's not fair to rub Twilight and her stupid princess wings in my face an- and-" She sniffed. Oh no, she wasn't gonna start to cry, was she?  Meteorite sniffed again, fighting back a sob that was threatening to escape.  Oh goddammit, she was. "No no no, n-not now…" she hiccuped weakly, falling back onto her rear and using the back of her hooves to preemptively wipe away any tears, but it was already too late.  A blurry Applejack approached her, and reached out to gently touch her on the shoulder. "I-I'm sorry…" Meteorite sniffed, hiding her face in her hooves.  "I-I don't know why I'm crying.  I s-shouldn't be this s-stupidly upset about it, but I am…" "It's alright suga'cube," she heard Applejack say softly, as she felt a comforting rub on her shoulder.  "Sometimes feelings get all muddled up like that.  Best thing t' do is to get it all out so ya can sort through it with a clear head." A muffled sniff. "I… I suppose…  I just…" A dreadful pause as Meteorite hiccupped a sob.  Then… "It's not fair!" she began wailing, face still buried in her hooves.  "Why can't I fly?!  No, not even that!  I don't even want to fly, I just want to move my wings!  That's all!  Why can't I have that?!  Is that too much to ask?!" Applejack wished she had an answer.  Or rather, a good answer. Done with her tirade, Meteorite began heaving with a considerable amount of sobbing.  Taking pity on the poor soul, Applejack respectfully removed and held her hat to one side, and extended her reach to comfort Meteorite with a side-hug, which she readily leaned into. "Easy now, filly," Applejack said softly, giving Meteorite a few light pats through her mane.  "You just let it all out now." Meteorite weakly nodded in between a few sobs. Several minutes, two bleary eyes and a runny nose later, Meteorite had petered out as far as her crying was considered, but now her embarrassment was running at an all-time high.  At least Applejack remained mostly silent throughout the past few minutes, for what it was worth.  She had broken away and was now standing before the dishevelled mess that was Meteorite. "Feeling better, Meteorite?" Meteorite had her head turned away, purposefully not looking at Applejack. Her cheeks were still wet with tears. "Not really.  I feel stupid for crying like that in front of my boss…" she muttered under her breath. Applejack stomped the ground and shook her head.  "Ya can forget that whole 'boss' nonsense right now.  Ah'm here as yer friend, Meteorite, not yer boss." A short beat as Meteorite reconsidered her words. "I feel stupid for crying like that in front of my friend…" Applejack squinted as she leaned her head around, studying Meteorite and trying to get a good look at her face. "Well, it might just be me, but Ah reckon right there was ya makin' some sort of joke," she half-smiled. No response, save for sniffing back a tear.  A slight breeze picked up through the orchard, and Meteorite grunted as she began wiping her tears away. "I don't know why it's bothering me so much…" she groaned to herself.  "Why do I even care…" "Well, Ah reckon it's like what ya said, yer a pegasus.  Only natural ya wanna do what ya were born t' do."  There was a twitch in Meteorite's face, and Applejack amended further.  "What Ah mean is, there's this other pegasus 'round these parts, her name's Rainbow Dash.  Now, that girl there loves t' fly, an' Ah reckon if she were stuck in yer situation, she'd be just as much of a wreck about it as well, if not worse." The scenario of Rainbow being trapped on the ground struck a chord with Meteorite, and her expression softened.  She finally turned to face Applejack, intent on being more attentive to her words. "Ah'm just sayin', don't be too hard on yerself about it," Applejack told her, smiling sympathetically.  "Makes sense t' me that ya care about wantin' t' fly." Meteorite glanced thoughtfully down back at one of her wings.  "...I… never used to," she said quietly.  Applejack rubbed her chin. "Well… maybe it's been buildin' up inside, an' today it just burst like an overloaded dam."  She scratched at her head underneath her hat.  "Or somethin' like that.  Ah'm not so good with the analyzin' inside a pony's head stuff." Meteorite mulled it over, and gave Applejack a weak smile.  "Seems good enough for me." "There's that smile ya keep hiding," Applejack said playfully.  When Meteorite instinctively glanced away at the compliment, Applejack stepped closer and laid a hoof on her shoulder, regrabbing Meteorite's attention. "Listen," Applejack began, meeting her eye to eye. "Ah can't rightly say if there's anythin' ya can do about yer situation, but Ah know ya can be strong about it." A scoff escaped Meteorite's lips as her gaze drifted.  "Yeah okay…" she muttered sarcastically. "Ah mean it," Applejack said firmly.  "Ya wanna know how Ah know?" Meteorite shrugged apathetically, but gave Applejack the courtesy of looking back at her.  Applejack drew herself up, and spoke. "Because ya've made it until now.  Today was yer breaking point, an' sure, it's gonna be rough buildin' back up but now ya know that it's somethin' ya want.  An' this time ya can find a way t' either accept yer situation or do somethin' about it.  But what yer ain't gonna do is try an' ignore it by buryin' it under a whole heap of feelings, because as ya've just found out, that kinda thing never works." Applejack finished with a heavy breath, and waited.  For the first time in a while, there wasn't a sound out of the pegasus —not even a sniffle— as she stared back, her eyes lost in thought as she took in every word said to her.  Eventually, she parted her lips, still considering what she had been told. "It's… something I want." Applejack gave a quick nod in response, stepping away.  Groaning, Meteorite got to her hooves, the phrase still bouncing about in her head.  She shot Applejack a quick look as she continued wrestling with the concept. "I've… never really considered that I might want something like that, but… I think you're right.  I do want it." She felt a warm feeling begin radiating from within.  Weird as it was, admitting that she wanted to fly… it felt right.  She couldn't explain it; by all rights, the idea of flying should have left her terrified at the thought, and in some way it still did, but now… now that she realised that she desperately wanted the use of her wings… She yearned for it. Maybe not to the same extent as Rainbow Dash, no, definitely not, but… "I think…" Meteorite began softly, "for the first time ever, I'm feeling my pride in being a pegasus…" Applejack grinned at her, stepping to her side and placing a hoof around her.  "An' nopony here will blame ya fer it.  Sounds like yer pride got hurt when ya heard about Twilight." To Meteorite's own surprise, she let out a shaky, but hearty chuckle.  Smiling, she wiped away a few lingering tears. "Didn't even know it was there to begin with…" Applejack studied her for a bit after that remark.  Giving her a light squeeze with her hug, she broke away to stand in front of Meteorite again. "Meteorite, fer what it's worth, pegasus, earth pony, unicorn… it don't matter t' me.  Ah know being here on this farm ain't exactly yer thing, but ya've never given up on a job, even when it's probably time t' head home fer the day." "Well, it's important," Meteorite mumbled into her chest, slightly blushing from being praised, "has t' be done…"  Also, don't wanna let you down… "An' that tells me what Ah need t' know about ya," Applejack smiled, "Yer a good pony, Meteorite." Lifting her head sharply, Meteorite stared in shock as Applejack's last words echoed inside her head.  She almost dared herself to disbelieve it instantly. I'm… a good pony? Applejack… thinks I'm a good pony? Her gut reaction was to reject the notion as stupid, and clearly herself as the author preening herself trying to tout her dumb self-insert, but… ...Applejack thinks I'm a good pony. Her eyes threatened to well up again, only this time from happiness. She felt appreciated. "T-Thank you, Applejack," she said shakily, her voice threatening to crack again.  Applejack waved it off with a big smile. "Don't mention it.  Consider it one of those… 'employee valuations', heh." Meteorite's smile turned into a small grin as she sniffed again.  "D-  Does this mean you're back to being my boss?" Applejack winked at her.  "Ya nevermind what it means."  Looking around, she tilted her head off to the west.  "The river's nearby over there.  Go clean yerself up an' come back.  Ah'll help ya catch up with the applebucking fer a while." Meteorite's legs wobbled as she stood to attention, offering a proper salute for once, with a smile still on her lips. "Yes ma'am!"