Fictional

by Meteorite Shower

Chapter 9

Still in a daze about what just happened, Meteorite decided to leave the library in order to walk around for some alone time in order to reflect. The library would've been a good place for that, except Spike was still tidying the place and was enough to be a distraction, and Meteorite was easily distracted.

Plus, it felt weird to be thinking about Rarity with Spike around.

Rarity.

What, exactly, the fuck happened back there? Meteorite had gone all silly over her in spite of herself. Admittedly, Rarity was her favourite, no doubt about it, but…

But… to be actually crushing on her, that's… that's just sad.

Meteorite frowned at the thought, and trotted off to the side of the main road in order to sit down.

I mean, Meteorite continued to rationalise, she's not even real. Also —probably a more pressing fact, y'know, j- just throwing this out there— she's a goddamn pony! Yes, she's the best pony around, and she's kind and wonderful, and generous, obviously, and yeah, she'll… she'll fight for what she believes in, put everyone else before her, make sure they'll feel good about themselves… and of course, she's… beautiful…

Throughout her thoughts, her frown and any anger she had had faded away, leaving her only with a wistful sigh as she stared over the horizon. A short moment later, she realised what she was doing and forcibly shook her head clear.

NO! Nononono! Goddammit, stop that! She's. Not. Real. And, again, very important, she's a pony! A pony! A PONY.

Meteorite stomped on the ground to emphasise the fact, but all it did was draw her attention to her own hoof, staring at it a little dumbfounded.

...Well. I mean, technically, so am I right now…

That thought left her stunned as the logistics and morality of it all crossed her mind, along with where the lines blurred. Snapping out of it, she shuddered and once more shook her head vigorously, cradling her head in her hooves.

Oh god, no! No no no no! That's just… oh my god no. That's dangerous territory to venture into… She paused to evenly pace her breathing. Okay, calm down, calm down, let's… just try to think this through. I can't be crushing on Rarity, because… because it's stupid. It's stupid, and… wrong, and immoral, and… and… probably a bunch of other things I can't think of right now.

Meteorite felt herself calming down, and pressed on. I'm probably only feeling this way about her because… because… I really like her? Well, duh, no shit. Shaking her head, she continued. Um… Um… maybe because I can now talk to her as well? ...Yeah, that's probably it. My brain probably got all screwed up because she was like, right there in front of me, so I guess some wires got crossed or something idiotic like that.

Satisfied with her self-diagnosis, Meteorite got up and marched on down the street.

"Okay…" she muttered to herself. "So… just avoid Rarity until… I'unno. Your pony hormones settle down or something." Immediately, she screwed up her face in disgust, her tongue sticking out. "Okay, don't say that ever again. Ick."

A short canter onward, Meteorite spoke up again, continuing to reassure herself.

"Besides! We're both mares. It's not like Rarity would ever be interested in me anyway."

Meteorite felt a sudden sharp twinge in her chest which caused her to stumble to a stop as she held a hoof to it. The feeling faded as quickly as it came, but the memory lingered.

"Fuck-" Meteorite murmured in shock, "Jesus, I… actually felt bad saying that."

Shaking off the feeling, Meteorite pressed on. Okay, wasn't expecting that. Still, whatever, it's all part of… She paused, casting a suspicious glance upwards through the sky. Is this your doing? Oh god, it's not, is it? You're not fucking trying to pair me up with Rarity, are you? God fucking damn it, what's wrong with you?

Steeling herself, Meteorite drew in a deep breath and did her best to continue walking calmly through the streets of Ponyville.

Fine. If that's your game, well you're out of luck. I promise you I will never, never, never ever let you turn this into a fucking shipfic. I'll fucking avoid Rarity for the rest of my life if I have to, just so you won't get your own idiotic way!

The words felt as bitter as they sounded but Meteorite fought past them, determined to hold her ground strong. Confident that she had made her point, she continued down the street. Along the way, she walked past several recognisable ponies including Twilight Sparkle, who briefly acknowledged her with a smile before presumably heading back to her library. Meteorite subtly eyed her as she did so.

It's so weird just… seeing the main characters just… out and about. I… I keep feeling like something's about to go down whenever I see them.

"Heeeey!"

Sharply turning her head, Meteorite locked eyes with a cheerful-looking Pinkie, excitedly leaning over the bottom half of the entrance to Sugarcube Corner, a short distance away. Meteorite took a step back, her ears falling flat.

Or… maybe it's just the impending sense of Pinkie looming over me.

Like a shot, Pinkie dashed through the open half of the door, and landed directly in front of Meteorite with an audible springing sound, grinning as she leaned forward.

"Hi again! Gueeeeess what?"

"Er- Err…" Meteorite stammered as she found herself leaning away in response, "...what?"

"You're right on time for your party!"

"I- I am?"

"Of course!" Pinkie said proudly. "A pony is never too early or too late to their own party!"

"Uh… huh," Meteorite murmured, eyeing Pinkie suspiciously. "I… suppose they also arrive precisely when they mean to."

Pinkie giggled. "Well, duh! It'd be pretty silly to arrive when you don't want to!"

Meteorite went to retort, but found herself stumped by Pinkie's logic. Momentarily caught off-guard, she glanced away, allowing Pinkie to grab her by the hoof.

"Come on, the party's this way!"

Alarmed, Meteorite jerked back, managing to shake her hoof free of Pinkie's grasp before she could be pulled away.

"Um! Okay! I'll follow, just… no more dragging me places, okay? Please?"

"Okie dokie!" Pinkie nodded with a wide smile before turning and lightly bouncing back towards Sugarcube Corner. Not wanting to risk incurring any more of Pinkie's… Pinkieness, Meteorite trotted after her, watching her the entire time.

You're… a wild card, aren't you? I mean, I knew that, but… I as the author could… get away with a lot of things through you. Meteorite frowned, skepticism of herself growing with each passing second. If only… if only I fucking knew what your plan was with whatever story you're writing.

As she stewed on that thought, carefully watching Pinkie with each bounce she made, her distrustful eyes slowly widened.

Wait a minute… Pinkie!

"Wait a minute! Pinkie!"

"Hm?" Glancing back, Pinkie stopped after a final bounce and turned around to face Meteorite with a smile. "Yeeesss? What is it?"

Quickly trotting up to her, Meteorite took a brief reprieve to collect her thoughts before speaking. "Pinkie, I'm gonna need to ask you a question."

"Oh, okay!" Pinkie responded, slightly tilting her head as she became thoughtful, deep in concentration.

"Uhh…" Meteorite began, suddenly off-guard again. "What… are you doing?"

"Thinking of something for you to guess!" Pinkie said cheerfully, before giving a nod of finality, shifting into a singsong. "Okay~! I've got something! You have nineteen questions left!"

Meteorite blinked, taken aback by the abrupt turn in the conversation. However, she went along with it, and began scanning their surroundings. "Uhh… hm… is it… an apple?"

"Nope! Try again!"

"Is it… wait."

Suddenly realising what she was doing, Meteorite shook her head clear and fixed Pinkie with a stare.

"Pinkie!" She exclaimed firmly. "We're not playing Twenty Questions!"

"Aw."

With a deep breath to clear her thoughts, Meteorite tried again, her tone becoming quieter. "Pinkie. This is serious, okay? I'm talking serious, with a capital 'S'."

"Ooo…" Pinkie cooed, finally understanding the gravity of the situation. "That is Serious."

Meteorite stared at Pinkie for a moment, growing doubtful of her plan before pushing those feelings aside. "Pinkie, before I ask you, I'm going to need you to promise me to tell me the absolute truth, okay?"

"Okay!" Pinkie beamed. "I promise!"

Grr… Meteorite frowned. You damn well know that's not what I want from her. She shook her head and quietly spoke again, her voice clear of any frustration. "No, I mean, like, super duper promise, y'know?"

"Oh! I can do that!" Pinkie said brightly, beginning to pantomime. "I promise to tell you the truth - cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!"

Gotcha! Meteorite cheered internally, almost failing to hide her elation. "So… you promise to tell the truth?"

Pinkie nodded. "Yes indeedy! I never break a Pinkie Promise!"

That's what I was counting on!

Clearing her throat, Meteorite leaned in close while glancing about, making sure nopony else could eavesdrop, and lowered her voice to a whisper. "Pinkie, I need you to tell me... what's going to happen with the story."

There was a stillness between the two as Pinkie slowly frowned. Leaning in to meet Meteorite's pose, she too glanced about herself before responding.

"What story?" she half-whispered out of the corner of her mouth.

Meteorite cast a wary eye at her, unamused. No no no, you can't do that. Pinkie knows. It's a staple of all fanfic. Pinkie always knows.

"You know…" Meteorite urged, "the story we're in."

Pinkie tilted her head in both confusion and excitement. "We're in a story?"

"Yes," Meteorite replied testily. "The one that's happening right now."

"Ooh," Pinkie crooned, dancing lightly on her hooves. "Is somepony writing a story about us?! Is it Twilight? Oh oh, maybe it's Rarity? Oh! Or maybe-!"

As Pinkie continued to list off potential authors, Meteorite soon was feeling sick as she stared dumbly at her, desperately wanting to refuse to believe that her plan hadn't worked. It should've worked. There was no reason for it not to. And yet…

"Oh!" Pinkie said suddenly, cutting herself off as a new thought occurred to her. "Or maybe you meant like in a- hm, what did Twilight call it… a 'metaphysical' sense! Yeah! Something like, 'all the world's a stage, and all the stallions and mares are merely players'?"

"N-No…" was all Meteorite could stammer out, still staring wide-eyed at Pinkie. A cold chill crossed her back as Pinkie frowned in thought, sitting with her forelegs crossed.

"Huh. Well, sorry," Pinkie said apologetically. "I don't know what story you're talking about. But it sounds great if we're in it!"

"Y- You… don't know."

"Nope! But I sure would like to read it! And that is absoposilutely the truth!" Pinkie beamed, getting back to her hooves. However, when Meteorite didn't respond —her only reaction being gradually staring vacantly at the ground— Pinkie grew concerned and poked her lightly in the shoulder. "Hey, you okay?"

Startled, Meteorite jerked her head back up and blinked as she looked at Pinkie, as if seeing her for the first time. "U-Uh... um. Y...eah. I'm… o-okay. I'm just…" Meteorite trailed off, staring into the distance and lost in her thoughts.

"Are you sure? You seem really out of it!" Pinkie waved a hoof in front of Meteorite, garnering no reaction. Frowning, she stepped into Meteorite's view. "Hm. You know what might help?"

Slowly focusing back onto Pinkie, Meteorite feebly studied Pinkie's face for any sort of clue to latch onto, but gave up almost as quickly as she began.

"...Is it a party?" she weakly asked.

"It is a party!" Pinkie cheered, confetti flying. She pointed towards Sugarcube Corner. "Come on, everypony's already waiting!"

"Okay…" Meteorite stiltedly replied as the confetti settled about her mane, obediently following after Pinkie.

---

The interior of Sugarcube Corner had been decorated since Meteorite was dragged there a few hours prior, with numerous decorations in the form of colourful streamers attached to the walls, balloons tied to tables and posts and even a banner or two. Light music drifted through the air, but that was almost drowned out by the bustling activity within the bakery, with several ponies attending and talking among themselves.

Meteorite could feel the panic within her rising, it becoming heightened ever further when Pinkie leapt in front of her, throwing more confetti.

"Welcome to your 'Welcome-To-Ponyville-Earlier-Today' Party!"

Forcing herself to keep her cool, Meteorite glanced about and looked past the crowd which wasn't even paying her or Pinkie any heed. Several tables had been laid out in the form of a banquet, with several pastries and sweets displayed with loving care. Behind the counter, she could see Mrs Cake happily selling to a short queue of ponies, presumably wanting something that wasn't being offered for free.

"It um… It looks… good," Meteorite had to admit.

"It's what I do," Pinkie said coolly while nonchalantly inspecting her hoof. Looking back up at Meteorite, she broke into a grin. "Do ya like it? Huh? Do ya?"

Even in her stressful state, Meteorite couldn't fight back the tiny smile she got from looking at Pinkie's hopeful face. "Uh… I guess? So far, yeah?"

"Eeee~" Pinkie squealed, hopping from hoof to hoof. "Just wait until you get into the swing of it! You're going to make so many friends here!"

Meteorite glanced back at the crowd, a few of the ponies now casting a few looks towards her and Pinkie curiously. She felt like a prey trapped in the gaze of predators.

"Oh… good," Meteorite uttered, her throat dry. "That's… what I wan-"

Before she could react, Pinkie shushed her by placing a hoof on hers, sniffing the air with a concentrated look. She mulled thoughtfully before turning to face Meteorite.

"I'm very sorry," Pinkie apologized cheerily, "buuuut I have to go and take care of the muffins!"

"Oh, uh-"

"Now now," Pinkie patted Meteorite on the head in an attempt to be comforting, "don't you worry! You just stay here and enjoy your W-T-P-E-T-P!"

"My what?" Meteorite asked, before suddenly having a flash of understanding.

"'Welcome-To-Ponyville-Earlier-Today Party', right yeah, of course," she monotonously added in unison with Pinkie's cheerful reply, as Pinkie bounced over the counter and Mrs Cake, who managed to duck out of the way in time. With that revelation out of the way, Meteorite realised she was now alone in the crowd.

Most of the gathered ponies continued to ignore her, including a few previously curious ones, but as she swept her gaze around the room she'd made enough eye contact to want to slink away and pretend she wasn't there at all. She thought about the exit behind her, but quickly realised that would probably make Pinkie sad if she left her own party.

She… couldn't do that to her.

With a heavy heart, Meteorite made her way over to one of the buffet tables, silently hoping to get through the party without much interaction. However, as she was in the middle of deciding how to scoop food onto a plate without looking like an idiot, she became aware of somepony next to her.

"Hi there!"

Sharply looking to her right, Meteorite immediately recognised the mint-coloured unicorn Lyra, who was smiling politely at her. This took her a few moments to process the situation, but luckily Lyra continued without pause.

"So, you're the new pony in town, huh?" Lyra asked, indicating the party. Meteorite nodded dumbly, unable to find her voice.

"Cool! Nice to meet you. I'm Lyra Heartstrings, and this-" she sidestepped slightly, revealing the equally familiar Bon-Bon behind her, currently perusing the tables, "-is Bon-Bon!"

Bon-Bon casually looked up at her name. "Hey," she greeted, before turning her attention back to the food. Meteorite reflexively gave her an already too late awkward wave.

"So, you got a name?" Lyra asked with a smile.

"O-Oh!" Meteorite exclaimed in embarrassment, and gestured to herself. "Yeah, sorry, I'm- my name's Meteorite."

"Neat," Lyra beamed. "So, what brings you to Ponyville, Meteorite?"

"Uh- um… Hm, good question…" Meteorite murmured, mostly to herself. "Uh! I mean-!" Meteorite quickly backpedalled upon catching Lyra's puzzled expression, pausing for a bit to craft something together. "I'm… currently working over at Sweet Apple Acres, until I find something else."

There was a light scoff from a still disinterested Bon-Bon, surprising Meteorite. Lyra waved away Meteorite's attention.

"Don't mind her; she's still a little sore about something with the Apple family that happened over a year ago…!" she pointedly said in Bon-Bon's direction, who rolled her eyes. "Anyway, I hope you find something soon!"

"Um, thanks," Meteorite mumbled, unsure how to feel about Lyra. It was hard to judge simply from a minute's worth of meeting her, but Lyra wasn't fitting the usual depiction of her as a crazed theorist who was obsessed with humans. Instead, she just seemed… well, normal. And that worried Meteorite. Enough that during the now growing awkward lull, she decided to risk things a little.

"So uh… y-you're a unicorn, yeah?"

Bemused, Lyra glanced upwards towards her horn. "What gave it away?"

"Well y-yeah, obviously!" Meteorite spluttered, hiding her embarrassment behind a laugh. "I mean- I was just thinking- Ah, y'know… Man, picking things up with magic sure seems like it'd be handy."

Mildly confused, Lyra glanced back at Bon-Bon, who looked back at her with similar confusion and a shrug.

"Uh, yeah I guess? I never really thought about it, I suppose."

"Ah heh yeah right of course!" Meteorite rushed her words out, her embarrassment already wearing down her façade. "...Sorry, I'm not good at small talk."

Lyra waved it off with a light-hearted scoff. "Ahh, well who is, huh? Anyway, I won't hold you up, just came on over to say hey, so… hey," Lyra finished with a smile, turning to leave. "Was nice meeting you!"

"Yeah, nice to meet ya," Bon-Bon chimed in, leaving with a plate of food on her hoof. Meteorite solemnly watched them leave before lowering her gaze to the floor, looking away.

"Yeah, nice to meet you too…"

---

The party continued well into the afternoon with music thumping into the street. Pinkie continued to serve everypony and make sure they were having a good time, especially Meteorite. Luckily Pinkie wasn't exactly subtle whenever she made herself known, allowing Meteorite time to feign appearances until she left again. For now though, Meteorite found a table tucked away near the back and sat there, her head flopped upon the table in depression, looking at everypony else.

What do I do? Nothing's… adding up the way they should be. Lyra's… normal, Dr Whooves isn't Dr Whooves, and Pinkie… Pinkie can't break the fourth wall. ...The fuck does that even mean? Why can't she?

Lifting her head up with a sigh, Meteorite looked back and studied the bakery wall behind her, as if that would offer anything new. She frowned when it didn't.

She became aware of an approaching set of hoofsteps too late, and turned around to see Mrs Cake coming towards her, a concerned smile on her face.

"So here's where you've been hiding, dearie! I haven't seen you up and about for a while, is everything okay?"

Meteorite swallowed as she stared back, instinctively wanting to summon forth the false courage to lie. However, Mrs Cake's kindly eyes weakened that resolve, and Meteorite just wanted to tell her the truth. Just a little.

"I'm… I'm just not… I don't do well at parties…" she quietly admitted.

Mrs Cake's expression became knowing, and she stepped closer, speaking softly.

"I see. And I'm guessing Pinkie didn't know that." Meteorite shook her head, and Mrs Cake continued. "I'm very sorry, please don't think too badly of her for this. She only means well."

"Oh, I know that," Meteorite responded, "I'm not like, upset with her or anything. I just… I'm… really not in the mood, currently." She looked down at the table. "But I don't want her to think I'm not enjoying her party; I know how much all this means to her…"

Mrs Cake thoughtfully studied Meteorite for a moment, before smiling. "Well, why don't you just stay right there if you want, and I'll see what I can do to make sure you're not disturbed."

"That'd be nice…" Meteorite smiled weakly.

"Would you like anything from the kitchen, dearie? On the house, since it is your party, after all," Mrs Cake asked. Meteorite thought for a moment.

"A glass of water?" she sheepishly asked.

Mrs Cake laughed lightly with a wink. "I'll see what I can do."

---

It wasn't long before Meteorite was staring unfocused into the empty glass between her hooves, trying to piece together all the conflicting information she had from that day. She didn't like where it was taking her, but she was arriving at one consistent conclusion.

What if… What if Pinkie can't break the fourth wall… because there is no fourth wall?

The thought sent a chill through her and she shuddered, glancing about the party and the ponies enjoying themselves.

What if… I've been wrong the whole time? And this is really happening?

Meteorite was finding herself unhappy with this. Not at being wrong, although that was part of it, but mainly because it left her feeling even more helpless than before. If all this was really happening, then… what could she do? Who could she even turn to for help? Twilight? Then what? How would she even convince her that she was really an alien creature from another dimension where she would watch her and her friends go on adventures and now she was stuck here in the body of a pony?

Meteorite sighed and laid her head down between her forelegs on the table. Even when it's real it sounded like a lazy, hackneyed fanfic.

Also… this meant that for the past week she'd been… well, essentially yelling at nothing. There was no other her. No conspiracy to write the dumbest thing she'd even written. No… anything.

Dammit, of course it's not a story. She would never have the drive or motivation to write this far. She should have known.

She should have known, and she was all alone. Again.

"Hey, I think I see her! Over there!"

Lifting her head at the familiar voice, at the entrance Meteorite saw three friendly faces looking her way. Pushing herself up, she hurriedly left her seat and pushed her way past the crowd.

"Sunny! Applejack! Silverfire!" Meteorite exclaimed with surprise. "What're you all doing here?"

With a smile and a wink, Applejack stepped forward between the other two, being mindful of both their saddlebags. "Well, when Ah saw Pinkie had ya in her clutches, Ah kinda figured a party was gonna be happenin'. So Ah gathered up these two here!"

A warm feeling washed over Meteorite as she looked at the trio, but she couldn't help but frown slightly as she did.

"Steel's not here?"

Sunny looked down sadly, while Silverfire awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck as he tried to explain.

"Steel's… not really into parties, y'know?"

Meteorite squared herself up as she curtly nodded, fighting back her disappointment. "Yeah. I get it."

"Aah, don't ya fret too much about that one," Applejack consoled, putting a hoof on Meteorite's back. "Parties aren't fer everypony."

There was a beat as Meteorite gave Applejack a side-glance. "...Yeah. I get it."

"Hey, so!" Sunny said suddenly, reaching behind to adjust her saddlebags. "When Applejack told me about your party, I wanted to get you something, like a welcoming gift."

Meteorite turned to her, genuinely taken aback. "Aww, Sunny, you didn't have to do that…" she told her, despite eagerly awaiting whatever it was that Sunny had gotten her.

"No no, I wanted to!" Sunny protested, taking off her saddlebags, and holding them up to Meteorite. "So um… like, I was thinking about this morning, and about how you said it'd be awkward to carry things all day long-"

Did I say that? I don't remember saying-

"-and I remembered that I had this laying around in my closet, well, I guess it's our closet now actually!" Sunny paused with a sheepish grin, but quickly moved on. "Anyway! So I had this old pair that I ended up replacing, they've not got that much space, but I thought you might want them? Until you get a proper pair yourself?"

Gingerly, Meteorite awkwardly took the saddlebags from Sunny and stared at them. They were a very faded yellow, and the pouches indeed didn't offer much, but Meteorite found herself at a loss for words.

"S… Sunny, I-" Meteorite began, getting choked as she looked back up at her. "I don't know what to say… You… actually got me something…"

"Well, like I said, I thought you might find it useful!" Sunny beamed, reaching to take the saddlebags. "Come on, let's see how well they fit ya!"

With an eager nod, Meteorite got into position as Sunny fitted her with the saddlebags. As they sorted it out, Silverfire rejoined the group, having previously wandered off to get some food.

"How is it?" Sunny asked. "Not too tight, is it?"

Meteorite looked back, studying her new equipment. Although an entirely new situation, the saddlebags offered a familiar comfort as she was reminded of her old backpack, often her companion as she trekked about town. And while the pouches felt weird against her wings, it otherwise wasn't uncomfortable. She reached back with a hoof and fiddled with one of the flaps, testing how easy it was to access within the pouches.

"No, it's fine as it is! Thank you, Sunny," Meteorite smiled.

"You're welcome!"

"Ayup, that there's a fine gift! Very thoughtful," Applejack nodded. After a moment's pause, Silverfire eventually felt the eyes of the three mares on him, as he looked up from his plate.

"Uhhh…" Silverfire offered his plate to Meteorite. "I got you a bagel?"

Sunny levelled her gaze at him. "Silverfire, that's a croissant."

"What's the difference?"

To her own surprise, Meteorite found herself giggling.

"It's okay, Silverfire, you don't owe me anything. I'm just happy you're here."

To even more surprise, Meteorite realised she had meant that.

"Well, Ah reckon Ah better 'fess up," Applejack chimed in with a slight smirk, "Ah didn't exactly think t' bring anything mahself either."

Slowly turning to face her, Meteorite considered Applejack's words carefully, and bit her lip as she realised she had something extremely cheesy in response. She briefly fought the temptation, but she was in too good of a mood to let this escape her.

"That's not true…" she began, looking back at Sunny and Silverfire with a broad smile. "You brought me some friends."