Fictional

by Meteorite Shower

Chapter 8

Safely outside and away from Pinkie's clutches, Meteorite let out a sigh of relief. The whole encounter with Pinkie had left her high-strung for the entire duration, which was a shame because she liked Pinkie. Pinkie often made her laugh, but…

Meteorite paused briefly in her thoughts to look back at Sugarcube Corner as she walked away.

...but coming face-to-face with her and her antics was stressful, which made Meteorite frown worryingly at the realisation. Would she… not be able to enjoy Pinkie now that she was… part of the action, so to speak?

"Fer fuck's sakes…" she muttered under her breath. "If I can't even have fun with Pinkie of all ponies, why am I even here?" She fell silent for a few seconds, closing her eyes in the process.

"Why am I even here…" she repeated, almost inaudibly. Several moments later and inhaling deeply, she opened her eyes once more, and marched onwards down the street.

---

It was a question she didn't have an answer for.

By all rights, she should never have existed in the first place. Self-inserts were moronic, self-absorbed caricatures of the writer, blinded to the inanity of their character, touting how special and amazing they were. She had prided herself on knowing what not to do as a writer, even if she didn't exactly have a lot of stories to her name.

And yet, here she was. An affront to every ounce of sensibility she once held dear.

Why was she here?

Unfortunately, as she was once more lost in her thoughts puzzling out her existence, Meteorite wasn't paying much attention to her surroundings. In the past, she took pride in her ability to focus downwards on a book in her hands and walk around obstacles with enough context clues in her field of vision, but doing the same as a pony proved more difficult as she was far closer to the ground, and lacked sufficient early warning signs. As such, she walked straight into somepony else.

"Ah- sorry!" she apologised immediately, stumbling backwards. "I wasn't watching where I was- uh…"

"It's quite alright," the light brown stallion remarked, smoothing down his tie with a hoof. "I'm afraid I was in a bit of a rush myself, so-" He stopped as he noted Meteorite staring at him. "Is… everything okay?"

Oh fuck it's him! Meteorite thought as her eyes darted from the stallion's dark brown spiky mane to his hourglass cutie mark. I shouldn't I shouldn't I shouldn't-

"Miss?"

...aw maaan... I'm gonna embarrass myself, aren't I.

Meteorite forcefully swallowed, slowly building the confidence she needed. "Uh… I'm fine," she squeaked. "Um! I… I have to ask… but, are you… The Doctor?"

The stallion frowned in confusion. "No, I'm not a doctor. Are you sick? The Ponyville Hospital is a few blocks over that way."

"No no," Meteorite quickly protested, failing to combat the rush of embarrassment she expected. "I meant… like… time and stuff…" she finished lamely.

The stallion scratched his head. "Well, my name is Time Turner, but I'm not a doctor."

By now, Meteorite's cheeks were flushed red from making a fool of herself. "Okay sorry I thought you were someone else," she said hoarsely before scampering away. Time Turner watched her go, thoroughly confused.

"Well, that was odd," he muttered. Placing a hoof thoughtfully on his chin, a curious smile grew as he considered the mare's words. "Still… that's a fascinating idea, a doctor of time… Perhaps I ought to look further into that…"

---

Fucking idiot! Fucking moron! Fucking idiotic moron!

Meteorite was still in the throes of berating herself, even though the encounter was several blocks behind her.

'Herp a durr! Are you The Doctor??!' Way to go! What the fuck were you expecting?! 'Why yes, actually! I won't question how you knew that, so come join me in the TARDIS and we'll travel the universe!' Sure! Let's just check off all the dumb fanfic wish fulfilments! Why fucking not?!

Breathing heavily throughout her internal rant, Meteorite eventually calmed back down, albeit still feeling incredibly bitter about the entire thing.

...couldn't let me have that, could you? she ended up asking herself. Gallivanting about Ponyville as a pony is perfectly fine, but heaven forfend you go off travelling with the Doctor. That's too much, apparently.

A few more bouts of bitterness, it occurred to Meteorite that she might have reacted a tad selfishly, considering that she was in fact, a pony in Ponyville.

And that was proving to be tough enough to deal with, without all the dangers that the Doctor brings with him.

So. Okay, probably just as well then.

Still. Dick move by herself, having her run into the Doctor or 'Time Turner' or whatever garbage name she came up with for him.

She sighed, frustrated with all the emotional highs and lows she kept bouncing between, and plodded along the main road of Ponyville. She half-heartedly wondered if she should just head back to the cottage and call it a day… but then realised that'd mean skipping Pinkie's party, which felt like the biggest sin she could enact upon the cheerful pony.

"Okay..." Meteorite muttered under her breath. "I guess we're sticking with our 'Explore Ponyville' plan for now… Alright, so... where to then?"

In the distance, over the horizon, rose the leafy branches of a very familiar looking tree.

The library, huh… Meteorite thought sombrely. Kinda asking for trouble if I head there, what with Twi being the main main character and all. But then again… I am also working for Applejack anyway so… and I do kinda wanna check it out but...

Taking a moment's pause to consider her options, she breathed in deeply, taking a step forward.

…fuck it.

---

Meteorite stood in front of the library door, her left hoof raised and ready to knock. She had been ready to knock for the last half minute.

I shouldn't do this.

Her hoof inched closer to the door.

It's a terrible idea.

Her hoof pulled back slightly.

I have no business intruding on the Mane Six, much less Twilight.

Her hoof twitched, not knowing which direction to go. She exhaled the breath she'd been holding.

I… I should just leave. I'm just a dumb ol' self-insert. Hell, for all I know, 'I' probably want me to-

The door swung open, snapping Meteorite out of her thoughts. Standing in the doorway was Twilight Sparkle, wearing some saddlebags and looking quite surprised.

"Oh, hello!" Twilight greeted brightly.

Meteorite stared wide-eyed at her for a moment, before promptly slamming her hoof down to the ground.

"Hi!" Meteorite grinned forcefully. "I was just about to knock, actually!"

"Oh? Can I help you with something?" Twilight replied, smiling warmly.

"Uh," Meteorite shuffled slightly, craning her neck to look behind Twilight. "So uh, I… heard that this was a library?"

Twilight glanced aside at the walls crammed with books of varying sizes before looking back at Meteorite with lidded eyes. "Yes, yes it is. Oh! Are you interested in checking out a book?" she asked, her eyes lighting up. "I think you'll find I have books on several subject matters!"

Meteorite chuckled nervously as she rubbed the back of her head. "Uh heh, I… I don't know, I guess so, maybe?"

"Hm, well, do you have a particular subject in mind? Or genre!" Twilight added cheerfully, "I have several stories from a wide variety of genres as well!"

"Uhhhh…" Meteorite stalled, looking at the imposing section of books she could see from the doorway. "Well. I'm not really after anything in particular; I just… thought I could look around…?"

Twilight's enthusiasm deflated slightly. "Oh. Yes, you can do that." Pausing to adjust her saddlebags, she continued. "I was just leaving though, so if you find something, Spike can assist you with it."

"Right, sure," Meteorite nodded along, before remembering she shouldn't know who Spike was. "Uhhh, 'Spike'?"

Twilight blinked briefly in confusion before her eyes grew wide with realization, and her hoof flew to her chest. "Oh my gosh! I am so sorry! I've been terribly rude, and haven't even introduced myself! I'm Twilight Sparkle. Spike's my assistant."

"Ahh," Meteorite nodded, before noting the expectant expression on Twilight. "Oh! I'm- I'm Meteorite."

"Pleasure to meet you, Meteorite!" Twilight remarked, just as a flash of recognition crossed her face. "Say, you're that pony Pinkie was with earlier, aren't you?"

"Ah h-heh, yeah," Meteorite said with a hint of embarrassment. "She was uh, showing me around town."

"Well, good to see she hasn't scared you off," Twilight said, smiling sympathetically. "That pony can be just a little overwhelming at first."

"H-Heh, yeah…"

"Anyway," Twilight continued as she moved past Meteorite. "I hate to leave so soon, but I'm afraid you've caught me on my way out to run a few errands. You're welcome to stay and look around until I get back though. I hope you find something interesting!" With a wave, she turned around and headed down the street, leaving Meteorite standing in the open doorway to the library.

"And just like that," Meteorite half-muttered to herself, "she's gone. Just left a total stranger all alone inside her home." She paused, turning about to face the interior of the tree. "Well, library, I guess." Is Equestria just that trusting, or is Twilight just that naïve? ...could be a bit of both, actually.

Plucking up enough courage to step inside, Meteorite cautiously approached the centre of the library, slowly turning about as she took in every bit of detail before her. Spike wasn't anywhere to be seen, oddly enough, and the library stood silent. It gave off an odd sense of familiarity about it, appearing to be just as she'd remembered seeing it, as if she had been the one to spend the past couple years here rather than Twilight.

However, what wasn't shown in those couple years, or perhaps maybe she just hadn't paid that much attention to, was the sheer volume of books, neatly packed into every shelf. A few more piles of books still sat on the floor, strategically stacked in out of the way spots. She'd been in libraries before, but this one felt different. Overwhelmingly so.

So many books, she mouthed to herself, eyeing the books as she skimmed the shelves. This is all- This is all… pony literature, she realised. Oh my god, I could just spend days just read-

With a frown, her thoughts were interrupted by a more cynical thought. As she considered the new thought, she suspiciously eyed the library and its contents, slowly forming an idea. An idea that she intentionally avoided thinking about, so that her thoughts could not be 'read' by the author. She threw in some garbled meaningless thoughts as well, for good measure.

In addition, she casually wandered over to a random spot in the library, intentionally focused on the shelves. Standing still, her thoughts were entirely on the shelves in front of her and-

Suddenly she spun around to face one of the stack piles, and swiped her hoof across the top book, flinging it open to a random page in the process, and she stamped her hoof down on the book, holding it open as she glared at its words.

'overwhelm a pony's will and will need a counter to remove it from their aura. Sometimes the counter is built into the spell itself, but not always.'

Below the half-paragraph was a crudely drawn unicorn, apparently in shock, with spirals in place of their eyes. Swallowing, Meteorite carefully peeled back the page and read the other side. At the top of the page was a chapter titled, 'Curses, Magical Diseases, and other Magical Oddities'. The rest of the page served as an introduction to the topic, with the final paragraph on the page reading, 'Curses are not common, but they can appear in many forms, with spells being the most known. These kinds of curses can be cast upon others, but most are self-inflicted by an unwitting pony's actions, unaware of the spell's true results. They are most likely to'

Meteorite stared at the paragraph, and flipped the page back over, rereading the rest.

Fuck… she thought clearly as she skimmed the rest of the book. Okay, so all this looks like it actually makes sense. Shit. I… I wasn't expecting to get something that was actually readable.

She glanced up at the rest of the shelved books, towering over her.

There's… There's no way all these books have content in them. Because if they do… then… I can't actually be the one writing them…

Feebly resisting the rising panic she was feeling, her eyes flitted over the titles printed on each book's spine, silently reading each one to herself.

I must be cheating somehow, she reasoned, trying to convince herself. Yes, that's it. I must be finding a way around all this.

Eventually, her eyes passed over a series of books with a very prominent and recognisable name on the spines, and she hesitated.

Well, I know for a fact I didn't write the Daring Do books, she told herself. I wonder if these really are the Daring Do stories Rainbow Dash and Twilight go mental over…

Clucking her tongue, Meteorite stared down the collection on the shelf as she considered her next move. Eventually, curiosity took hold and she quietly stepped on over and carefully raised herself up to meet the books at eye level, using lower shelves as hoofholds to steady herself. The irony of feeling off-balanced on two legs was still not lost on her.

With careful movement, Meteorite reached out towards one of the books, presumably the first one in the series given its position on the shelf and the idea that Twilight would shelve a book out of order was absolutely ludicrous, and gently pawed at the top of it in an attempt to tip it over and out of its nestled location. It tilted, but was caught on the shelf above.

"Come on…" she lightly growled, as further attempts proved useless. Switching up tactics, she sidled over until the book was directly in front of her, and attempted to pin what little of the book was jutting out in-between her hooves. The book jostled slightly, but stubbornly refused to budge. She tried wriggling the book from side to side to loosen it and with a firmer grip on it, tugged hard on it.

It slid out quickly, surprising Meteorite as she awkwardly stumbled backwards, still holding the book. Panicked, she clutched the book to her chest with both forelegs, and awaited the ensuing crash.

However, to her surprise, Meteorite soon realised she was in fact not falling over backwards, but actually keeping her balance on her hind legs. She still felt unsteady, but nevertheless she was standing upright. Throwing a nervous glance down at herself and back up again, a tiny grin formed on her face as she took a gamble and lifted a leg to take a step.

Unfortunately, it did not pay off.

Immediately thrown off-balance, she fell backwards into a book trolley, which rolled violently into the wall. Sat with her back against the trolley, Meteorite grimaced as she nursed the numb stinging she got from falling down, and paused as she heard a slight tremor from behind her. Looking up too late, she gave a short yelp as a shelf's worth of books crashed down on top of her.

"Twilight?" came a young voice from upstairs, followed by a hurried pitter-patter as Spike came bounding down the stairs. "Is that you, Twilight? Are you back already?"

Confused, he scanned the library and stopped as he stared at the horrific mess of books, haphazardly piled upon each other, half-open with pages bent, and what looked like a purple hoof sticking out from underneath. Quickly scampering across, he began pulling books off the pile, and grabbed the hoof, trying to free the buried pony. He didn't have the strength to move them, but the action seemed to encourage the pony to get up anyway.

"You're not Twilight," Spike said apprehensively, confused by the sight of Not Twilight slowly climbing out from under the pile.

"No 'm not," Meteorite muttered as she purposely looked away, more embarrassed than hurt from being under the books. Clearing her throat, she found the courage to face Spike. He had his arms crossed, looking at her uneasily.

"So… who are you, exactly?"

"Ah, I'm… Meteorite," she said reluctantly, beginning to hate having to introduce herself to every new face she met. "I was uh, just looking around the library. I'm… new in town."

"Oh!" Spike exclaimed, dropping his suspiciousness along with unfolding his arms. "Neat! That'll mean Pinkie will be throwing a party soon. Her parties are the best!"

"So I've heard," Meteorite unenthusiastically replied. Before she had a chance to think about her next line of thought, Spike thrusted an open claw towards her.

"I'm Spike, by the way! I'm Twilight's assistant!"

Meteorite stared briefly at the offered claw, and gingerly placed her hoof in Spike's grasp. He gave her hoof a hearty shake. "Nice to meet ya!"

"Heh, likewise," Meteorite responded, a smile creeping on her face. "You're a dragon, aren't ya?"

"You bet!" Spike proudly exclaimed as his eyes lit up. "But don't worry," he said slyly, covering the side of his mouth with the back of his claw, "I'm one of the nice ones."

"I don't doubt that," Meteorite said as she giggled lightly. Spike beamed, but hesitated as his gaze fell upon the books lying about them.

"Ah, hang on a sec," he muttered as he set about picking up the books one by one. "If Twilight sees these books like this she'll lose it!"

Ah, yeeah, Meteorite thought guiltily as she silently watched. She instinctively wanted to offer help, but well, Spike was the one with hands. Claws. Still, she nudged a few books into a short stack on the pretense that she was actually doing something.

"Hey, thanks," Spike said as he jogged over to pick up the few books in front of Meteorite, taking them back to the shelves. Meteorite sighed quietly, but her expression brightened as she spotted the Daring Do book she was trying to grab earlier lying amidst the pile. Covertly watching Spike, she bent down and lightly bit down on the book and stepped off to the side.

"I'm… just gonna be reading this book, alright?" she called out, dropping the book into her hooves. Spike blinked as he looked in her direction, and gave her a dismissive wave as he returned to his duty.

"Yeah yeah, go nuts. I've got this."

Right, Meteorite thought to herself as she turned her attention back to the book. She stared intently at the cover, studying the artwork, before turning the book over. The back cover was bare, which surprised Meteorite as she was expecting to see a blurb of some kind or, rather, a short summary of the story.

Intrigued, she turned the book back the right way round, and carefully opened it. Instead of diving straight into the story, she instead focused on the foreword page as well as, for the first time ever, carefully read all the publishing info.

It… It all looked legit.

Troubled, she bit her lip and flipped the rest of the book over, so that she was at the end. She found the end of the story, not even reading anything but the word 'END', and flicked through the remaining pages. Most were blank, with the final page containing a short author bio.

Fuck… this looks like a real, actual book. W- Would I have gone through all this trouble with these details? She frowned, now taking in the contents of the bio. A.K. Yearling… Is that- I… I don't remember hearing that name at all. Did they even mention the author in the show? I don't think they did… I can't remember. Still… this is a lot of detail to put down just to fool me… She glanced up at the rest of the library. And I'd… have to have done it with every book there is…

Her worried contemplation was quickly interrupted by a sudden knocking at the library door, making her jump. She couldn't see the door from where she was sitting, but saw Spike jump down from a shelf and jog across the room.

"Coming!" he cried as he disappeared from view, followed shortly by the sound of the door swinging open.

"Oh, hello Spike!" Rarity greeted as she trotted past him, "Is Twilight about?"

"U-Uh, no," Spike stammered, running to her side, "She left a short while ago. Said she had to go pick up a few things from Sugarcube Corner."

"Oh," Rarity sighed as she turned to face him. "I must've just missed her. That's… frustrating. I had wanted to ask if she was done with that book I lent her a while ago."

"Hm," Spike mused thoughtfully as he folded his arms, with one claw on his chin. "You mean that one about art and inspiration and junk like that?"

"Mhm!" Rarity nodded. "I've seemed to have hit a sort of… rut with my designs, so I was hoping to look it over again as a..." -she twirled a hoof, trying to think- "a reminder, I suppose."

"Oh…" Spike said, unsure. "So, it's important then?"

"Very much so! Do you know when she'll be back?"

Spike shook his head, but grinned sheepishly at her. "No, buuut, I'm pretty sure I know where it is! If you wait right here, I can go get it for you!"

Rarity gasped with delight. "Oh Spike," she cooed as she tousled Spike's head spines with her hoof, "that would be marvelous!"

That was all Spike needed to hurriedly leap his way up the stairs. As Rarity watched him go, she smiled and patiently inspected her hoof. However, she sensed something was off, and half-turned around. It was then that she saw the purple pony sitting in the corner staring back at her, her book lazily held in her hooves.

"Ah-" Rarity started, her hoof instinctively pressed against her chest from startlement. "I do apologize; I was unaware Twilight was having company! How do you do?"

Meteorite didn't respond. She knew she ought to; she ought to say something. But her mind had locked up at the sight of Rarity. It would have been very similar to her initial meeting with Applejack but this time, for some reason, it… felt different. Just… something… about… Rarity. Being here. Right in front of her. Growing uneasy with the lack of response.

It was fortunate at this point that the book slid from Meteorite's hooves and hit the floor with a thud, snapping Meteorite out of… whatever that was. She gave a small shout from the noise and jumped up to her hooves.

"Ah-! H-Hello! Hi! Sorry! I-! Um! Hi!"

Rarity gave a small sigh of relief, though she was still somewhat on edge. She politely cleared her throat and put on a smile.

"Hello there. Who might you be?"

"Uh, heh, ah-!" Meteorite nervously tittered. "I'm…! My name's M-Meteorite!"

"Mm, charmed," Rarity responded, continuing to be polite. "I'm Rarity, it's a pleasure to meet you, darling."

Meteorite barely held in her delighted gasp as she quickly adopted a wide and silly grin, waving Rarity off and blushing. "Ah stop, no it's not-!"

Rarity raised an eyebrow, confused by the response. "Ah, well, if… you say so. Are… you a friend of Twilight's?"

"Me? Nononono!" Meteorite giggled, "I'm not any- anypony important! I'm just here to read books!" She sat and eagerly held up the Daring Do book with both hooves. Disdainfully regarding the book choice, Rarity placed her hoof on top of the book and slowly lowered it out of view.

"Well. Reading is important," Rarity said carefully, clearing her throat once more. "So, are you… new here? I don't believe I've seen you about."

Meteorite laughed giddily. "Yep! Yep, sure am! C-C-Completely new, hehe!"

Not really knowing how to respond to that, Rarity was thankfully distracted by a triumphant cry from upstairs.

"Found it!" Spike proclaimed from the top of the stairs, holding up the book reverently. Dashing down the stairs, he stopped before Rarity and knelt down on one knee, bowing as he presented the book with both claws.

"Oh!" Rarity exclaimed, levitating the book with her magic. "Yes, this is it! I cannot thank you enough, my little Spikey!" Leaning down, she planted a big kiss on Spike's forehead leaving him in a daze, and with a big dopey grin.

"Anything… for you, Rarity…"

Rarity nonchalantly patted him on the head a few times before making for the door, her attention entirely on the book in front of her. Suddenly remembering her previous company, she paused mid-step and turned to face Meteorite with a friendly smile.

"Well, I must be going now, I'm afraid," Rarity told Meteorite, pausing to consider her briefly. "You know, you ought to drop by my boutique sometime, if you're interested. I guarantee you I'll find the perfect dress for you!"

A deep crimson blush crossed Meteorite's face as her gaze fell and absent-mindedly traced a squiggly circle on the ground with her hoof. "Ahaha… oh t-totally, I-I'd l-love to do that…" She finished by accidentally snorting back a laugh, though she appeared to not notice.

"Mm," Rarity murmured unsurely. "Well, yes, anyway. Until the next time we meet!"

She had barely turned to leave when Meteorite cleared her throat and half-called out, catching her attention again.

"Um!" Meteorite began hopefully. Her blushing from earlier was still visible, though fading. "I-I… That is, um… Pinkie! Pinkie's throwing me a welcoming party today. W- Will you… be there?"

Spike perked up at the question and also looked to Rarity expectantly, fidgeting his claws together. Rarity looked between the two, a sense of uneasiness growing within her. Confused, she forcibly shook it off.

"Ah… I am afraid I cannot," Rarity replied with a hint of regret. "I am rather busy today. Perhaps another time?"

Meteorite's face reddened once more, although with embarrassment. Her smile wavered slightly in addition, but stayed where it was through effort. "Ah-! Yeah, no, no no…" she scoffed, waving a hoof back and forth. "I was just wondering, h-heh. Nnn-No problem. Seeya."

"Hm. Very well, I shall… 'see you', darling." Turning, she waved briefly to an equally disappointed Spike before leaving. "Bye Spikey, thank you again for finding my book!"

As Rarity headed off back into town, both Meteorite and Spike watched her go from the open doorway of the library. Once Rarity disappeared from sight, the pair let out a shared sigh.

"She's a heartbreaker for sure, isn't she," Spike murmured wistfully.

"Yeah…" Meteorite muttered back. A few seconds later she blinked a few times, coming to her senses. She leaned away from Spike, her foreleg raised defensively. "Pf-Pft, noo!" she objected, "I'm not heartbroken!"

Spike turned to face her, raising an eyebrow in confusion. "I wasn't… talking about you."

Meteorite blinked some more, regaining more of her senses, and relaxed her posture. "Right… I knew that," she lied, as she began to feel more and more troubled for some reason.

Spike chuckled at her reaction, folding his arms. "Boy, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were the one with a crush on Rarity, not me!"

Meteorite awkwardly joined in with a forced chuckle, but soon froze as she took in Spike's words.

Oh fuck, I am! Oh god, I have a crush on Rar-

"Agh!"

Meteorite's internal panic attack was quickly interrupted by Spike gripping hold of her foreleg, having a panic attack of his own as he looked up at her, fearfully.

"I didn't say that, alright?! I don't have a crush on Rarity! Promise you won't tell her! Or anypony else!"

Meteorite stared back at him, seeing her reflection in his eyes. Oh god, I'm Scootaloo and Spike. Fuck me. Her thoughts immediately turned to Rarity, and she blushed heavily. Wait, no! I mean…! I mean… fuck.

"Yeah sure," Meteorite muttered, shaking her thoughts clear. "I promise I won't tell anyone."

Spike studied her for a moment but let go and exhaled a sigh of relief, wiping his brow with his arm.

---

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

---

"Th- That was our first meeting?"

Rarity was always one for dramatics, and you would be forgiven for thinking that here, with one hoof clutched to her chest and a look of abject horror on her face as she stared wide-eyed at her quietly embarrassed companion. But dramatic flair or not, by the time Meteorite had begrudgingly finished describing the event, Rarity was feeling downright awful about it.

And maybe a little ashamed too.

"That was our first…" Rarity repeated, more to herself than anything else. Her hoof rose to her mouth as she furiously concentrated, trying to think back to that day.

"...Yes," she eventually spoke, nodding as her eyes lit up slightly. "Yes, I remember now. That was you…" Her eyes met with Meteorite's, and her cheeks were still tinged with embarrassment.

"Y-Yeah… Not the… greatest first impression ever…" Meteorite mumbled, glancing away. "Actually, probably the absolute worst."

"Darling, it wasn't that bad," Rarity said pointedly. She reached across the table, placing a hoof near Meteorite, trying to be reassuring. "I can promise you, I didn't even realize you were crushing on me!"

The kitchen suddenly grew cold around them as Rarity's own words caught up with herself, and she realized Meteorite was firmly holding her averted gaze. Feeling worse, Rarity withdrew her hoof.

"I'm sorry," she apologized softly, "that was the wrong thing to say, wasn't it?"

Meteorite closed her eyes with a light nod, and drew in a breath before turning to face Rarity with an unhappy smile.

"It's okay," she sighed. "I know you didn't mean anything by it. Besides, doesn't matter now, does it? And... it's not like I didn't make things worse afterwards anyway."

Rarity dreaded asking, but she simply had to know.

"Worse? How?"