"Come on, Sheldon. It's not rocket science we're doing here," Penny groaned as she placed her hands on her hips and waited for Sheldon to make a move.

Sheldon, who was standing behind her, shook his head. "Of course it's not. Rocket science is easy and simple. This, Penny, is a challenge. A challenge I am unwilling to undertake."

She heard him yelp after the animal in front of them breathed out a gust of air. Rolling her eyes, Penny turned to face Sheldon, now standing a great distance away from her. It wasn't threatening. It didn't even look threatening. She wondered why he was so afraid of it. He grew up in Texas, and wasn't Texas filled with those kinds of animals? Surely, he had rode one before, even more so since his Meemaw owned three of them. The thought that made her laugh was that she could finally do something easily that the great Sheldon Cooper had trouble with. She would be lying if she said she didn't feel proud.

"Sheldon, if I could do it, you can!" Penny knew that the best way to overcome fears was to face them, but this was becoming too much of a herculean task.

He took a few step backwards, his back bumping into the wooden ladder inside the barnyard. "An average of twenty people are killed by them every year. I am not going to be another statistic."

"IT'S JUST A HORSE!" She yelled out to him. Letting out an exasperated sigh, she placed her fingertips against the temples of her forehead. "It's not going to eat you, sweetie."

"Horses won't eat me, Penny. They are herbivores and herbivores only consume plants," Sheldon said, still not placing a foot forward. He wasn't about to risk his life just to overcome a petty fear of his. "Scenarios of death include being stomped on or kicked at. Even if I survive, the serious injuries that may occur doesn't sound like something I'll enjoy enduring. Now, can you please feed it so we can move on?"

Penny stared at him. Why does he have to act like a big baby most of the time, she asked herself. He was still her friend, though. Without second thought, Penny quickly approached Sheldon and reached out for his hand. He gave her a warning look but she ignored it as she dragged his body across the barnyard and next to the stable. Sheldon was starting to shake as he tried to back away, but Penny had a tight hold of him. She was glad her body's wrist was thin enough for her to have a good grip on. Sheldon pushed away, only to stumble backwards and sigh in defeat.

"You're going to overcome this fear, Sheldon. I've rode horses all my life and not once was I afraid of it killing me. My grandaddy owned a nice farm out in the countryside, and he had a two horses; Minnie and Gray. Grandaddy bought Minnie for my tenth birthday and that's when I started horseback riding lessons. Minnie was a sweetheart, and it made the hobby seem easy. A few months later, I signed up for my first competition and guess who got first place along with a certain American Quarter horse. Yup, Penny Queen, age ten and five months," Penny told Sheldon as she held his hand up to his chest. She could hear his breathing quickened and she knew he was anxious. "Let's start off with something simple,"

Sheldon watched as Penny directed his hand closer to the open stable. Flash, the horse Meemaw bought soon after Sheldon left Galveston, appeared and stood in front of them. He was about to pull away for two reasons. One, it was a horse! What happens if it bursts out of its confinement and crushed his skull? That would be a devastating lost to the scientific world. Two, the horse could be covered in its own feces. Germs. Bacteria. Coma. Death. Nope, he thought, maybe next time. Or never. Never sounds good. As Sheldon rambled about inside his own head, his palm brushed against Flash's face. He held his breath for so long until he found out that nothing bad was happening.

"See, it wasn't bad. You overreact too much. Plus, if you're thinking about germs, it may be comforting for you to know that it's my body you're in. Any germs that may or may not be present will transfer to mine rather than yours."

He wanted to bring up the fact that since she's in his body, she's already been exposed to any contaminants in the barnyard. But he couldn't say a word as he petted the calm animal before him. Sheldon smiled once he saw Flash close his eyes to his soft touch. The thought about death flew out of his head, and this was one fear he finally got over with. He felt Penny slide a carrot into his hand, and he brought the food up to Flash's mouth and awed as he ate it. Yes, Flash's saliva was on his palm, but he wasn't paying too much attention to it. Meemaw always had bars of soap and hand sanitizers back in the house that he'll use afterwards.

Penny's heart melted at the sight of Sheldon and Flash. Like a young boy interacting with his foal for the first time. Well, exactly like it, she told herself. She smiled at her accomplishment on making Sheldon do something he was so stubborn about.

"Fascinating," she heard him say, snapping out of the trance she was in.

"Sheldon, I want you to ride Flash, but Meemaw wants us to clean the place first so let's do that another time."

Sheldon nodded, not breaking eye contact with the horse. "Maybe next time."

After feeding the rest of the horses in the stables, Penny and Sheldon climbed up the ladder in the middle of the barnyard, entering a small loft that had an opening overlooking the green pastures in the distance ahead. The air was hot, and both were sweating after working around to get the place fixed up. Penny had brought an electric fan that she found in one of the storage binds outside, and fortunately, the area they were in featured a socket. They sat in front of the fan, enjoying the breeze passing through them.

"So why horses?" Penny asked, cocking her head to Sheldon. "Why are you afraid of horses?"

Sheldon glared down to the hands resting on his lap. "When I was five, my Pop-pop sat me on top of the saddle of a filly named Daisy. At first, I was excited, having to never been on a horse before. Well, long story short, Daisy freaked out and thrown me off of her. She then stepped on my leg and caused a fracture which required me to wear a cast for almost three months. Mother was so upset about the situation that she suggested that Pop-pop should put the young horse down."

"But she's too young. She never meant to hurt you," she softly said.

"That's what Pop-pop said, but the experience had been traumatic for me. I can still recall the sound of my bone snapping in half as I screamed in pain. The nearest hospital was ten miles away, and I was in agony. After that, I swore to never ride on a horse or come close to it. You can't trust animals, Penny."

Penny placed a hand on his shoulder. "Didn't you see what happened earlier? You warmed up to Flash, and Flash likes you."

"How could you possibly know that?"

She shrugged and chuckled. "I'm a horse whisperer," she joked.

"There's no such thing," Sheldon scoffed.

Penny playfully punched his shoulder. "Come on, we gotta clean out the chicken coop."

Sheldon's eyes widened, seeming alarmed. "Chicken?"

"Yes, chickens," Penny repeated before standing up and holding her hand out for Sheldon to take. He stared at her for a minute before tentatively reaching for it. She helped him get up on his feet and they made their way to the chicken coop outside.

Penny walked up to the coop but realized that Sheldon was hiding behind a tall oak tree. There were several chickens roaming around the two and Sheldon seemed deathly afraid of them. When one clucked towards his direction, Sheldon immediately ran to Penny, gripping on her arm tightly as he urged her to leave along with him. She was reminded of his ornithophobia, and just like with the horses, Penny was determined to help him conquer his fear.

She left Sheldon's grasp and picked up a nearby wandering chicken. Sheldon looked at her wide-eyed before slowly backing up away from her. Penny ignored his scared look and cautiously approached him with the chicken in her arms. When Sheldon couldn't move further, he was cornered by Penny who was gesturing him to touch its feathers. As Sheldon held his arm out, the chicken unexpectedly jumped out of Penny's clutch and bawking nosily before scurrying away.

Sheldon gulped and his voice was shaking as he spoke. "At least I tried. Can we please finish this?"

Biting her lip to suppress a giggle, Penny picked up the bucket and scrub from the floor and glanced at the small opening. "Um, Sheldon?"

"Yes?"

"You're not gonna like this but you have to clean it," Penny told him.

Sheldon shook his head and crossed his arms. "Why me?"

"You're the only who can fit inside," Penny answered before giving the cleaning supplies to an annoyed Sheldon. "Don't worry, I'll make sure no chicken comes close to you."

Sheldon gave her an approving look and sighed. Cleaning was always his forte, but cleaning around the farm was something different. He crawled inside the small opening and started to scrub around diligently. Every nook and cranny he could find was cleaned, and Sheldon could feel his body being strained since he was inside a very enclosed space. The smell bothered him and he wished he brought his nose plugs with him. Awhile later, Sheldon carefully got out of the coop and stretched his body. He was about to turn around when he felt a splash of cold water hitting his back.

"Hey!"

Penny was laughing uncontrollably as she dropped the metal bucket down on the floor. "You had a little dirt on your back so I decided to wash it out for you."

"You could have told me instead of throwing cold water."

As Penny tried to compose herself, Sheldon picked up the hose left on the floor and sprayed her with water. She stared in shock as her clothes were now soaking wet and he chuckled to himself. "Now we're even."

They came back to the house a little after noon, sweaty and in total need of a shower. They entered through the back door and were greeted by Meemaw who was standing by the stove, stirring a pot of soup. "I see you have finished. Thank you both for helping out and later we can set up for George's party. Go clean up and change. I'll be ready in a second to give you a hand."

Sheldon nodded, but kept mumbling to himself. "I need a shower. I need to scrub every centimeter of my body. I need fresh clean clothes."

Penny smiled to herself as Sheldon walked up to the stairs, still mumbling those words over and over again.

"Moonpie, I'm surprised that you're not in that bathroom first. I'm starting to wonder if it's really you in there," Meemaw said with her back against Penny.

She snickered. "I like to embrace the chaos."

A/N:

Just a fun filler chapter for you guys!

I did have a huge writer's block on this story so that's why I couldn't update. My outlines for this story had been scrapped because it didn't turn out to be like how I hoped it would be. I'll try my best to write the next one very soon once I have the time.

Also, George was supposed to be in this chapter but I decided to put him in the following one. Apologize in advance for errors!

Anyways, thank you for reading, reviewing, following and favoriting this story!