Fictional

by Meteorite Shower

Chapter 15

Meteorite was getting too used to things.

At least, that's what she was figuring one Saturday morning, lounging on top of her bed. She looked forward to Saturdays now- well, she always had, really. But with the hard work that came from farmlife, Meteorite looked forward to the times where she could just… do nothing. She wasn't one to bore easily either; often she'd lose herself to bouts of daydreaming, be it the fantastical or simply a potential conversation topic she'd might want to cover.

But that was the thing, wasn't it? She was the fantastical. Everything around her was, and yet here she was, tucked away in her room with a philosophical book she kinda regretted checking out, and was barely paying attention to, just trying to forget that tomorrow involved more work.

It was of much annoyance that this particular part of her old life had followed her to Equestria.

The crunching of grass outside her window reached her ears, which perked up at the sound. That was Flo, happily tending to her little garden. Just living her life, free of worry. Meteorite couldn't help but be a little jealous.

Shaking her head clear, Meteorite slammed her book shut —she didn't care about losing her place as she'd probably needed to reread a few pages anyway— and hopped down and headed to the kitchen.

She passed by the stallions' room on the way; neither were in sight but she expected that. She didn't know where they went during their free time, but presumably somewhere in town.

Reaching the kitchen, she fumbled with the cupboards before carefully picking up a cup with both hooves. Carefully sidling over, she proceeded to fill it with water from the faucet before hesitating about trying to carry it over to the table. Deciding to not risk it, she proceeded to drink it there and then.

Her thirst satisfied, she wiped her mouth with her foreleg before awkwardly rinsing her cup and setting it down in the nearby dishrack. As much as Steel irked her sometimes, she was at least appreciative of his desire to keep things tidy. It sort of helped motivate her to… not completely give up on trying to do anything with her hooves.

Stretching her body, Meteorite got up and decided to walk the long way back to her room, if only to give her a reason to avoid going back to being a boring layabout in a world of magical ponies.

As she passed through the entranceway her ears twitched, picking up a faint rumbling sound. Meteorite peered fruitlessly upwards, unable to see her own ears, but still feeling them swivelling to focus on where the sound was coming from. Frankly, she had no idea how her ears were capable of moving on their own, but she had decided to not question it. She already had her hooves filled with… well, her hooves.

Tilting her head from side to side, she found herself before the door down to the basement. Putting her head against the door, the sound seemed to definitely come from the other side, and with the sound being clearer, she noticed it had a kind of familiar rhythmic sound to it.

Gritting her teeth, Meteorite pulled away and frowned with worry at the door. She was curious, but she was not keen on both heading downstairs into an unknown basement, and mysterious sounds from said unknown basement. Silently, she shot an unamused look upwards through the ceiling before cautiously raising a hoof to the door handle.

The door swung inwards, and the rhythmic drumming sound instantly got louder, causing her to wince slightly as her ears thankfully flattened. Eyeing the stairs before her, she delicately took a few steps downwards, using the railing to support her body.

As she neared the bottom, she peered into the surprisingly well-lit basement and spied the source of the noise. Off to the side, behind a set of drums was Silverfire, lost in his own world as he bobbed his head to the beat of his own drum-playing. Significantly more at ease, Meteorite smiled in relief as she touched down onto the stone basement floor, and quietly sat as Silverfire played on.

Coming to a finish, Silverfire flourished by spinning a drumstick on his hoof before striking the final beat. Pleased with himself, he glanced up at Meteorite for a split-second before returning to his drums. Suddenly he gave a piercing screech as he recoiled with a double-take, dropping his drumsticks in the process. This caused Meteorite to instinctively respond with a panicked shout of her own.

"Ah-! Oh my-! Wha- W-What are you doing down here, Meteorite?!" Silverfire spluttered, still trying to recover from the shock.

"T-Trying to not die, apparently!" Meteorite shrilled back, a hoof clutched at her chest. "What are you doing down here?"

Face red from embarrassment and breathing heavily, Silverfire leaned down to pick up his drumsticks. "'Was… playing my drums," he mumbled into his chest, circling the rim of a drum with the tip of a drumstick.

"I didn't know you played," Meteorite said earnestly, before cringing internally. Of course he does! His cutie mark is a fucking drum on fire. You've seen it; of course he plays the drums, you fucking idiot.

"It's something I really enjoy doing," Silverfire smiled for a few moments, before it faded slightly as he looked down. "But I'm still not that good at it."

"Oh, I dunno! I thought it was-" Meteorite hesitated before continuing, not confident in her ability to accurately criticise bad performances from good. "It was okay!" She mentally cringed again. You fucking idiot. You might as well as told him it was utter crap.

Luckily, Silverfire didn't seem insulted and even perked up slightly. "Yeah? You liked it?"

"Ahh… I mean-" Meteorite backpedalled, preferring to stay on the fence in these situations. But the hopeful look on Silverfire's face tugged at her. "...yeah, I mean… yeah! Sounded alright."

"Heh… thanks," Silverfire replied, smiling inwardly as he began idly busying himself with drumming out a slow, soft beat for a little while before continuing. "I don't… really hear that that often."

Meteorite's face fell with a concerned frown as she quietly listened to the rhythm. "Why not?"

Silverfire shrugged. "Guess my playing's not everypony's kinda thing. I mean, it's why I'm down here at all. Steel gets annoyed by it, so I'm down here where it's…" Silverfire's brow creased as he thought. "Soundless."

"Soundproof?" Meteorite offered, and received a nod.

"Yeah, that."

Meteorite began to frown with more annoyance, indignant on Silverfire's behalf. "That's not right. You shouldn't have to hide yourself away just because Steel doesn't like it. Who cares what he thinks?"

Silverfire stopped playing as he gave her an odd look. "Well, I do."

Oh, right, Meteorite thought abashedly, yeah, of course. Brothers.

"Sorry," she mumbled, looking away. Silverfire casually waved it off and went back to his light drumming.

"'s cool, I get it though. But it's not like he's wrong. I get that it's loud and stuff, and not everypony wants to hear it. And once you and Flo started showing up, I thought for sure that if Steel didn't like it, neither of ya would."

Meteorite held her tongue, as she wasn't exactly thrilled about being grouped in the same opinion pool as Steel… but she had to admit that constant drum-playing would get on her nerves after a while. She was about to reluctantly agree, when Silverfire spoke up first.

"But uh… you like it, huh?"

Meteorite felt torn, not knowing how to respond. She cleared her throat. "...well, maybe not on a daily basis…" she said carefully, which only made Silverfire deflate as he suddenly stopped playing, sending Meteorite into a mildly frenzied panic. "B-But, uh! Yeah! Sounded good, to me at least! I think you should keep at it!"

The basement fell into silence, the only sound being one of Silverfire's drumsticks idly circling a hi-hat as he contemplated Meteorite's words. After an agonising wait, Silverfire suddenly struck the cymbals and smiled as he continued playing.

"Ya know, you're alright, Meteorite."

"Y-Yeah?"

"Yeah," Silverfire nodded, concentrating on his music. "I can tell ya don't really mean what you're saying, but you're being nice about it, and not because you think ya have to, but because ya want to."

Ashamed at being caught out like that, Meteorite started looking down glumly, but her attention was drawn back as Silverfire continued speaking, a touch of ferocious determination in his voice.

"But I hear ya; I'm gonna keep playing and getting better, and then someday I'm gonna play ya something you're going to like!"

Charmed by Silverfire's eagerness, Meteorite couldn't help a small lopsided smile from forming, and opted to sit and be an audience of one as he practised. He was good at it, she had to admit, and soon found herself tapping a hoof against the ground in beat with him.

They were both getting into the groove when suddenly a light tremor shot through the basement, nearly knocking them aside as quickly as it dissipated. Steadying herself against the ground with her forehoof, Meteorite shot a worried glance at Silverfire.

"You alright? That… wasn't you, or anything, right?"

"Yeah, I'm okay," Silverfire said as he stood up from behind the drum set, dusting himself off. "How about you? What do you think it was?"

Meteorite nodded as she got to her hooves as well. "I'm good. No idea; think we oughta go check?"

"Probably," Silverfire nodded unsurely, heading towards the stairs.

Making their way upstairs, Silverfire opened the front door to the cottage and stepped outside, with Meteorite in tow. However, they barely made it a few steps out before stopping and staring towards the sky in confusion and, in Meteorite's case, a steadily growing sense of dread.

"Oh, there you are!" cried Flo as she rounded the corner of the cottage, her mane frazzled and headkerchief askew. "Do you see that?!" she asked frantically, pointing upwards. "What is it?!"

"I have no idea," Silverfire said, still baffled.

"I… think it's a… glass dome," Meteorite said carefully.

"What?!" Flo cried incredulously. "How?! Why?!"

"I… don't know," Meteorite continued, turning around and confirming that the entire expanse of sky around them was now sealed off completely.

Okay… Okay, you've thrown me off here. Wasn't expecting a crossover with the Simpsons movie…

---

Quickly heading towards the new glass wall, the trio of ponies soon found the perimeter of the dome, the outside world seemingly sealed off. Apprehensive, Meteorite hung back with Flo and cautiously studied the area, hoping to glean anything useful. The only thing of note though was the unusual curvature of the dome's base, as if it were a giant drinking glass turned upside down.

That thought did not ease her worries.

"Most of the farm's been cut off…" Flo muttered anxiously, staring at the trees beyond the glass. "What do we do?"

"I… I'm not sure…" Meteorite admitted, still unable to spot anything that could clue them in on why this was happening. Her eyes eventually fell upon Silverfire, who had stepped up to the wall and was looking it up and down. He gave it a few quick taps with his hoof, sending out a few crimson shockwaves, each accompanied by a dull echoey twang. He paused to consider the effect, and gave it a few more taps.

"Don't keep touching it!" Meteorite hissed loudly through her teeth. "Who knows what it's doing!"

"Oh…! Oh, um, sorry," Silverfire called back, drawing his hoof back. He frowned at the wall with resignation and trotted back to the two mares. "Well, it's definitely glass, but I don't think it'll break easily."

"Yeah…" Meteorite agreed, craning her neck to take in the full scope of the dome. "Something like this… it's definitely gonna be designed to keep things out. Or in. Both really, I guess."

Flo nodded. "D'ya think it might be magically enhanced too? To not break, I mean."

Meteorite blinked, considering the idea. "...probably, yeah." She hadn't had much experience with magic since her arrival, barring the standard telekinesis displayed by most unicorns around town, which usually only garnered a quiet curiosity from her. Having to consider actual magical enchantments was an entirely different field altogether. She felt woefully ill-equipped to deal with such matters.

"O-kay… so um, w- what do we do then?" Meteorite timidly asked. She was feeling the pressure upon her to act, quite possibly as a protagonist. It was a call she vehemently did not want to answer.

Silverfire rubbed the back of his head. "I'd probably go ask Steel… though he'd probably say we should go find Applejack."

Meteorite's eyes lit up. "Right, yes, Applejack! She and her friends can deal with this!"

Behind her, Flo wore a skeptical look as she glanced at the glass dome.

"Where is Steel, anyway?" Meteorite asked.

Silverfire shrugged. "Think he mentioned something about going into town. I dunno, I didn't really listen…"

As if on cue, they heard rapid hoofbeats from behind them. Turning as a group, they saw Steel running up to them wearing not only his saddlebags, but a grim expression as well.

"Th…There you are," he panted as he came to a stop before them. He took a moment to catch his breath before resuming. "Good, you're all safe. For the time being, at least."

"What's going on?" Silverfire asked, followed by Meteorite and Flo hastily chiming in with the same question. Steel raised his hoof to shush them.

"Calm down. I'm… not entirely sure but, I do believe Ponyville has just been… taken over."

"What?" Meteorite cried sharply. "What do you mean? How, who, why?"

"I don't know the full story; I was busy buying supplies for the week but…" Steel swallowed, pausing to glance back towards town. "There was this unicorn causing havoc in the town square, and nopony could stop her."

"W-Who?" Meteorite asked, joining Steel in looking at the horizon where Ponyville lay. "What about Twilight?"

Steel inhaled. "I fear Miss Sparkle was just as helpless as everypony else." Meteorite sharply turned her head back to stare at Steel with incredulity, as he continued. "In fact, this other unicorn has demanded her to be exiled from town altogether."

"Whaa?" Silverfire frowned. "You're talking about that cute librarian chick, yeah? Why her?"

"I don't know," Steel said quietly, stepping forward and staring up at the dome. "I imagine that's why this is now here. It's all around Ponyville."

As the trio of ponies continued discussing what was happening, Meteorite quietly stood by herself, lost in a sea of her own thoughts.

Twilight's exiled? Twilight couldn't do anything?! Who? Who could… Who could even do something like that? Twilight's quite literally the most powerful unicorn on the show! … Is it the changeling queen? Oh god, are the changelings back? Horrified, she stared up at the dome. Oh god is this like, some sort of sick revenge for shielding Canterlot? What do we do?! If Twilight's not here what do we even do?! What can-

"Hey, you alright?" Flo asked, placing a hoof on Meteorite's shoulder, making her flinch.

"What do we do?!" Meteorite shrilled as she glanced from between Flo and the stallions. Flo opened her mouth but was having trouble finding the words she needed.

"I… I'm not sure, actually."

"The important thing to do, Miss Meteorite," Steel began, drawing himself up, "is to remain calm. Panicking isn't going to help anypony."

Meteorite timidly nodded as she locked eyes with Steel, and tried to steady her breathing, but fear had a hook on her and was unrelentingly trying to worm its way into her mind. She lifted up her hooves to stare at them as they quivered.

"Oh god…" she murmured under her breath. "I'm actually scared… I'm actually shaking…"

Flo took Meteorite's hooves into her own and gently patted them. "It's okay Meteorite," she cooed softly. "We're all scared. But Steel's right, we need to not panic, alright?"

Meteorite looked up to face Flo and saw that despite her smile, there was worry in her eyes. Still, Meteorite did feel calmed by her words and tone. Exhaling, she nodded with resignation.

"Y- You're right. I'm sorry… I… didn't mean to lose it there."

"It's okay," Flo beamed genuinely, "everypony does sometimes."

"Honestly," Silverfire chimed in, pointing behind himself at the wall, "don't blame ya. This is totally crazy."

Steel raised an eyebrow at Silverfire's remark, but paid it no further heed. "Are you feeling better now, Miss Meteorite?"

"I… think so," Meteorite nodded unsurely. Her attention shifted back to the dome and frowned. "But I still don't understand who could've done something like this…"

"Well, wonder no more!" cried a very smug voice off to the side from between the trees. Smug, and familiar.

Nothing, nothing could've prepared Meteorite for the sight of Trixie sauntering towards them, closely followed by a very sour-looking Mane Six, sans Twilight.

"Trixie?!" Meteorite exclaimed without thinking. Trixie looked as Meteorite remembered her, though she had apparently ditched her magician's hat and cloak in favour of a black cloak, adorned with some sort of menacing-looking brooch. Trixie barely glanced her way as she approached the part of the wall Silverfire had been at. Meanwhile Applejack quickly trotted over to the group.

"Y'all okay, suga'cubes?" she asked in a low tone. The four of them nodded silently.

"What's going on?" Meteorite asked urgently, trying to follow the same quiet tone.

Applejack hesitated, glancing over at Trixie, who was busy inspecting the area with a glare. "Hard t' say," she sighed. "But Trixie there is a mite more powerful than we thought."

"What?" Meteorite snapped, a bit too loud. Instinctively she clamped her hooves over her mouth, but it seemed like Trixie hadn't heard her. Lowering her hooves, she tried again. "You can't be serious. Trixie?"

"It's true, Miss Meteorite," Steel added. "That's the unicorn I was talking about."

"But- But- Trixie isn't- She's not-"

"Alright, what are you all whispering about over there?" Trixie said suddenly, walking over.

With her back to Trixie, Applejack intently mimed zipping her mouth shut before turning around. "Ah'm just makin' sure my workers are doin' alright, Trixie. Ya got some nerve disrupting everypony's lives like this!"

"'Their lives?'" Trixie cried indignantly. "'Their lives?!' As if my life wasn't already disrupted by Twilight Sparkle. Fair's fair, I say." She sniffed, before turning her attention to the group. "Anyway, it seems like it wasn't Twilight trying to get back in. It was probably these backwater yokels that tripped my security system, hm?"

"What did ya just say?" Applejack glowered, stepping forward to a chorus of equally outraged responses from her friends, although Rainbow Dash was the loudest. However, it seemed Trixie was purposely ignoring the farm pony, although there was the tiniest smidgen of a smirk on her face.

"In any case," Trixie addressed the group idly while inspecting her hoof, "I'll make it nice and easy for you all to understand. I, Trixie, am your ruler now. And as such, Trixie would very much desire that you treat her with the respect she deserves. You may begin by bowing down to me."

There wasn't an immediate response. While the others were highly apprehensive and were giving Trixie questioning looks, Meteorite felt utterly on edge with how Trixie was behaving. Granted, she had been arrogant in her initial appearance, but this… Whatever this was was filling Meteorite with lavish amounts of unease. Trixie tutted with annoyance, now glaring at the group.

"I said, BOW!" Trixie barked, stomping her hoof. Her horn sparked crimson, and her eyes flashed the same colour for a second.

Meteorite gasped breathlessly as she felt her body jerk, pulled and pushed by some unseen force, until she was held still in a bowing position. Try as she might, Meteorite couldn't wrestle any control over her body, save for a few panicked whimpers falling out of her mouth. Her eyes were wide with fear and she could barely see Flo next to her, also stuck in a bow and struggling to free herself. She couldn't see the stallions, but judging by their pained grunts they were in a similar predicament.

"Stop that!" Applejack insisted, marching up to Trixie. "Yer squabble is with Twilight, not them!" Trixie took a few moments to appreciate her handiwork before turning her head towards Applejack, an aura of smugness about her.

"Oh? Is that so?" Trixie said in mock surprise. She angled her head up slightly, affording Applejack a clear view of her smirk. "Well then, I'll tell you what Applesmack-"

"Applejack," the farm pony corrected, unamused.

"Applesmack," Trixie insisted, her smirk waning, "I'll let them go, if you yourself bow down to me instead."

"Now listen 'ere," Applejack growled. "Ah ain't-"

"And I'll make it very fair," Trixie grinned insidiously. "I won't use my magic to make you do it. It's all up to you."

Gritting her teeth, Applejack stood her ground and stared down Trixie, but hearing the struggles of her workers trying to move against the magic caused her resolve to waver. Casting a forlorn glance their way followed by an apologetic look towards her friends, Applejack remorsefully closed her eyes and removed her hat. It wouldn't have been right to wear it then.

"AJ, you don't have to do it!" cried out Rainbow, but her friend was already dropping down before Trixie, who was gleefully watching the event unfold before her.

"See now? That wasn't so hard, was it?" Trixie gloated, before waving a hoof dismissively at Meteorite and the others. "Okay, they're free or whatever."

With the magic holding them down ebbing away, the four ponies stood back up, a little worse for wear. Steel eyed Trixie warily as Silverfire and Flo shook and stretched themselves out of any crimps they had. Meteorite however, was stricken with fear and quickly huddled herself behind Flo, her breathing becoming heavy as her focus zeroed in entirely on Trixie. Fortunately, Trixie seemed to have lost interest in the four of them.

"Right then, now that that's been settled," Trixie said with an authoritative tone to the main group, "The five of you come back to town with me. I have some big changes to make, and you're going to do it for me."

"Why us?" Rarity huffed, "You have all the power you need! Why don't you just do it yourself?!"

Trixie frowned, and calmly closed her eyes as her horn ignited with magic. A gale wind whipped up solely around Rarity for a few seconds, causing her to shriek in response. As it died down, Rarity's mane and tail had been blown back, no longer their usual maintained curled coiffure, but now loose and frayed. The other ponies gasped as Rarity desperately tried to return her mane back to normal.

"Because," Trixie sneered, "Trixie's revenge doesn't end with Twilight's exile." She turned and pointed at Applejack. "You, gather up your apples. I want you to make Trixie an applesauce facial out of them."

"Have ya gone loco?" Applejack recoiled. "Apples are fer eatin', not fer puttin' on yer face!"

"S-She's right," Rarity sniffed, frantically brushing her mane back into shape. "There's no benefit from it. It'd just be a waste of apples."

"That's not my problem, now is it?" Trixie said snootily as she started heading back into town. "Make it work, Trixie commands it!"

The rest of the group begrudgingly followed Trixie, with only Applejack hanging back to turn to her workers again, hanging her head slightly.

"Yer four okay? Ah'm right sorry Trixie did that to y'all…"

Steel nodded. "We seem to be fine, thank you Miss Applejack."

"Who was that?!" Flo jumped in, worry written over her face. Applejack's brow creased into a frown.

"That's Trixie. She was here a while ago, but got chased off after her lies came to light. Thing is," she paused briefly to scratch under the brim of her hat, "she's not normally this powerful."

"So… what do we do?" Silverfire asked.

"You lot just… keep working as usual." Applejack turned to look at the orchard beyond the dome, and frowned. "Well, as best as ya can, anyways. Don't get in her way fer now; me and mah friends will figure somethin' out. Probably."

"So, lay low?" Steel prompted.

"Yeah," Applejack nodded. Her eye caught sight of Meteorite, still partially hidden behind Flo, and shivering slightly. "Ya okay there, suga'cube?"

Timidly stepping forward, Meteorite nodded even though her expression clearly was saying otherwise. "Y-Yeah… I just…" she swallowed, reflecting on being moved and held against her will. "I wasn't expecting that…" she said softly.

"Ah reckon none of us were," Applejack said solemnly. "Anyway, sit tight, and don't do anythin' stupid, y'hear?"

With a quiet chorus of agreement, Applejack turned and quickly trotted after where her friends went. As silence fell over the four workers, Silverfire spoke up suddenly.

"Am I crazy, or did Pinkie not have a mouth?"

---

The remaining afternoon was a sombre one with the group silently heading back home, Steel holding the front door open as the rest entered one by one. Loitering around the entrance without much purpose, along with everypony else, Silverfire drew in a heavy sigh.

"Well, this sucks."

Nopony responded right away, until Steel had closed the door behind him.

"Quite so," he murmured, before sweeping a glance across the group before him, all looking very lost. Straightening his posture, Steel cleared his throat. "Regardless, what's important is that we stay focused and do as Miss Applejack says."

Silverfire and Flo nodded their understanding, however Meteorite seemed to remain lost in her thoughts, staring blankly at the ground before her. Steel made a more pronounced clearing of his throat.

"Did you hear me, Miss Meteorite?"

Slowly blinking her eyes back into focus at the sound of her name, Meteorite gradually lifted her head to meet Steel's, as she tried to mentally play back the last few words she heard.

"Oh uh, no… sorry, I-" she paused to swallow, beginning to feel overwhelmed. "I wasn't paying attention, sorry…"

Steel noted the fragile tone to her voice, and spoke softer. "It's alright, Miss Meteorite. It's been a very rough day for everypony, it would seem." As he spoke, Flo gingerly sidled over and gently put a hoof on Meteorite's back.

"You doing alright?" she asked, earning a pitiful glance from her friend.

"N-No…" Meteorite admitted, her voice shriller than she'd liked. "I… I don't know what's going on. None of this makes any sense. This shouldn't be happening."

The group fell silent for a moment, leading Steel to ponder thoughtfully with a hoof to his chin.

"Earlier, you seemed to recognize this… 'Trixie', was it?" Steel mused. "Do you know her?"

"Ah-" Meteorite uttered, her eyes widening as a different fear took hold. "Ah, well! Not… personally, no," she quickly said defensively, her mind hastily weaving a plausible cover story.

"I… I've seen her u-uh…! I mean, s-she does tricks and stuff! She does magic shows and all that!" Her eyes drifted to a nearby window, the glass dome in view. "...nothing like this though. She… She shouldn't be this powerful." Her thoughts turned to being forced to bow, and she flinched slightly at the memory.

"Hmm…" Steel murmured taking it in.

"Guess she got power-hungry, huh," Silverfire chimed in, leaning against a wall. He stumbled slightly when Meteorite quickly stood up with a start.

"No!" she said a bit too hastily, and looked abashed. "I mean… Trixie's not like that! She's an entertainer, not some… power-crazed villain!"

An awkward silence hung in the air, the obvious looming over them much like the dome outside.

"Are… Are you sure about that?" Flo tentatively asked. Meteorite's whole body sagged as her sudden adrenaline wore off.

"...no…" Meteorite admitted, hanging her head. "I don't know anymore… but… this is what I mean. Trixie… shouldn't be like this… She's… she's not a bad pony…" Meteorite mumbled into her chest.

"Well…" Silverfire sighed, "guess nopony told Trixie that."

"Silverfire," Steel scolded lightly, before turning back to address Meteorite. "But he does make a fair point. Ponies do change."

"I suppose…" Meteorite continued to mumble, leaning into Flo, looking for some comfort. Flo put a hoof around her and hugged her gently.

"Right," Steel continued. "Well, regardless of the situation, we need to continue with our lives. Miss Meteorite… I would like you to assist me in the kitchen today. It may help take your mind off things."

Meteorite swallowed as she considered it, though her mouth still felt dry afterwards. She responded, her voice barely more than a croak.

"Yeah, sure…"

---

That night a dark cloud hung in the air —both figuratively and literally— as Meteorite sat on her bed, staring out the window. For the first time since her first night in Equestria the air was still, with nary a twitch in the branches or leaves in the surrounding trees. It hadn't even been a day but the atmosphere felt heavy and stale.

The sounds of creaking pipes followed by the bathroom door opening alerted her to the presence of Flo behind her, although she did not react, barring her ears slowly tracking Flo's hoofsteps as she moved to her side of the room. Flo then let out a soft, inaudible sigh as she climbed onto her bed.

"How are you holding up?" she asked, watching Meteorite.

Wordlessly, Meteorite dropped her gaze downwards, blinking as she took in the question. Her mouth opened and instantly felt dry.

"I… don't know," she responded carefully. She turned upwards a hoof to look at it. She had calmed down, but her body still betrayed the truth that she was still afraid. Dropping her hoof back down, she forcibly swallowed as she frowned at empty space. "I… I don't know what to do…"

"Yeah…" Flo half-heartedly agreed, glancing out the window. "It's pretty crazy."

There was a beat of silence as Meteorite finally looked over at Flo.

"Why aren't you freaking out about this?"

"Who says I'm not? Nothing like this would happen back in Manehattan," Flo countered, offering a weary half-smile. "Believe me, I'm just as freaked out about this as you are. But… it's not like we can do anything about it right now, yeah?"

Meteorite blinked as she slowly turned away again. "Yeah I guess…" she murmured.

"Besides," Flo continued, "Applejack told us to stay put. I'm… not exactly sure what she could do about this, but I suppose she and her friends know more about what's going on than we do."

That got Meteorite's attention, as she lifted her head thoughtfully to consider the situation. Flo gave a small stretch as she yawned, politely covering her mouth.

"Anyway… we should get some sleep," Flo murmured, getting under her covers. "Who knows what we'll need to be ready for tomorrow?" Meteorite absent-mindedly nodded as she followed suit, still lost in thought.

"Right, yeah… who knows…" she murmured, more to herself than anyone else.