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// Ladders and Bandages 
// Story: A Tale of Equestrian Proportions 
// by DitzyDerpy1992 
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I awoke on the fine Equestrian morning with the events of the past few days fresh in my mind. I had my ticket to the Grand Galloping gala pinned to the wall above my bed and it was only a few days away now. Excitement was brewing in all areas of my body as I thought about that night. It would definitely be a night to remember, and the opportunity to meet Canterlot’s elites would be a one in a lifetime experience. I opened my wardrobe where my tuxedo hung neatly to one side, and I inspected the fine hoofwork on the stitching. The shirt was the purest white shirt I had ever seen and the buttons looked like they were made of bronze, which was a bit flashy but then again, Rarity wasn’t known for making things look bland. A matching, black bowtie was neatly tucked under the collar of the shirt. The jacket was black with matching black buttons, and had neat tails at the back which complemented the look of the entire ensemble perfectly. 

I was working today so I quickly ran a brush through my morning mane and made my way down the stairs to grab myself some breakfast. The fridge was relatively well stocked considering that Robbie had given me a pretty complicated recipe to cook for when Twilight had come to dinner. He hadn’t hung about that night to give Twilight and I some privacy to speak and just have a good time in general. I quickly decided that, although there were plenty of healthier options in the fridge, I would have one of Robbie’s muffins. I had opted for one of the blueberry muffins, that Robbie favoured, and I could see why. The spongy goodness of the small cake, with chunks of blueberry baked all the way through, was absolutely delicious and would definitely set me up for the day. I levitated my saddlebags onto my back before securing the straps underneath my body to keep them balanced and steady. Heading out the door the sun had only risen recently, and there were few ponies around at this time so the walk to work was always quiet. I was feeling a little groggy, but that wasn’t out of the ordinary, and the walk always seemed to wake me up before I arrived at Twilight’s Library. The morning air was crisp, and the grass and leaves were damp with dew which would evaporate before long. 

It wasn’t long before I arrived at the Library, and as usual the door was locked and I knocked gently to signal to Twilight that I had arrived. The tired looking purple unicorn answered the door after a brief moment and I greeted her happily before giving her a hug and entering the Library. My eyes were immediately drawn to a pile of boxes that sat on top of the centre table. 

“They arrived last night,” said Twilight trotting her way over to the table before opening one of the boxes, and producing a brand new book, “I just love the smell of new books, don’t you?” She turned to look at me while taking a large smell of the book that was levitating in front of her. 

“Yeah, it is a great smell” I trotted over and the smell of freshly printed books was strong in the air “So I take it we’re sorting these all day then?” I asked pulling out a few volumes on obscure Equestrian history before laying them carefully on the table to be sorted. It was quickly confirmed that the books would all need to be taken down in the library’s inventory, and I would be spending my day sorting and shelving them.

I got started as quickly as possible, and after retrieving the inventory book I began taking note of the books titles and giving them a serial number. It was a long process but ultimately a satisfying job to get done. Twilight and I spent the time we were doing this discussing the gala that was coming up, and I decided to pluck up the courage that Robbie had managed to find, before biting the bullet and asking her if she would be my date for the night. She immediately dropped the book that had been hovering in front of her and gave me a slightly shocked stare.

“I don’t know what to say, I mean, I have been doing some reading on what couples are supposed to do and dates are one of them, but I never expected you would ask me to the gala!” I was slightly taken aback from this response and I was beginning to feel a little silly for asking her so quickly into starting to see each other, but she continued “But I suppose it could be fun, so I happily accept your invitation Matt” She gave me an excited smile, which I eagerly returned, and she trotted her way around the table to give me a hug, which expanded my smile from a possibly quite charming grin, to a quite odd looking, full blown smile.

We quickly got back to work and soon the morning was beginning to press on as most of the books had been given a serial number and placed ready for sorting on the table beside the empty boxes. Spike made the occasional appearance during the day to get himself something to eat or to ask Twilight a question, but before long he had joined us to have a chat. The rest of the morning had passed quickly and before long Twilight disappeared into the kitchen to prepare some lunch for both me and her. I was grateful that she would take the time out of her day to prepare something to eat for her employees, and it was certainly a whole lot better than any job I had managed to get back home. 

The peace and quiet of the morning was quickly interrupted by the Cutie Mark Crusaders bursting in looking for a couple of books on hairdressing, and I assisted them in finding the books they were looking for, but at the same time felt sorry for the unfortunate pony who would be their test subject. They quickly thanked me for the help and galloped excitedly from the library onto the street. Twilight called my name from through in the kitchen and I trotted my way over to the doorway and was greeted by the smell of a delicious looking apple fritter with ice cream on the side. I licked my lips and trotted my way to the table and took a seat beside Twilight and tucked into the delicious looking treat she had prepared. She admitted to me that she hadn’t been the one to cook them and that it was Applejack’s home cooking that she always got samples of every now and again. I quickly finished my meal and I was feeling satisfied from the great food she had served. 

I got started on my afternoon’s work of sorting the books into their relevant categories and then alphabetically. It was a tedious job but it was passing the time quickly, although I was beginning to get a little tired of the unstable ladder which I spent a lot of time on. Twilight soon joined me after clearing up the dishes from the kitchen and she gave me a hoof with putting the books away and we started chatting again while we were working. I quickly glanced at the clock and noticed it was around half past twelve and I immediately asked Twilight if we could put the radio on quietly for a while. She didn’t think that was a bad idea, so she trotted off and quickly returned with a small radio from where I assumed her bedroom was. Turning it on a familiar voice filled the room as Robbie introduced a song by an up and coming artist from Canterlot. I laughed as he tried his best to keep his accent under control but unfortunately he was still a little hard to understand over the airwaves. With music on in the background Twilight and I propelled through the work at an alarming pace and before long we were ahead of schedule. All of a sudden, a guitar I was all too familiar with started playing in the background, as Robbie spoke over the airwaves. 

“Okay everypony! This next song goes out to my friend Matt at Ponyville Library. It is entitled Jennifer, by My Little Comets; remember to get your hooves moving and Matt I hope you are listening!” The rhythm of the song soon flowed through my body, so being rather spontaneous, I grabbed her hoof and gave her a small spin before beginning to dance to the beat of the song. She gave me a smile before beginning to dance with me and we were having an absolute blast, and at one point she even began singing along and she had a beautiful voice. 

Before long the Lunchtime Show with Record and Robbie was drawing to a close, and Record began to announce the final song which came as a little bit of a shock. 

“Finally today we have a song which was first played to a small crowd in a Ponyville nightclub only a few nights ago by none other than Robbie himself! Robbie I would like to say that this is a pretty great mix and I have enjoyed this song more than once since I first heard it.” Record announced proudly over the air, and I could just imagine the look on Robbie’s face right now. His jaw would probably be on the floor, with his eyes wide and full of shock at this latest development at his work. 

“Thanks Record it’s great to know you enjoyed it, and I hope all of you Ponyville citizens will too!” Robbie said with an obviously different than normal tone in his voice, probably from the shock of having his song from the nightclub played over the air. I laughed slightly to myself as the familiar song he had played began to flow through the speakers, beginning with harmonic strings and a build-up of electronic sound effects before dropping into a heavy beat. The bass line continued and Twilight and I couldn’t help but begin to dance once more. The song lasted the full ten minutes, the same amount of time that it had lasted in the club, and Twilight and I danced the whole song through before we noticed that there was an awkward looking cream coloured earth pony with a purple and blue mane standing just inside the doorway. Twilight looked bashfully at me and I returned the look before her cheeks turned a light shade of crimson. I quickly got back to work and Twilight assisted Bon Bon finding the books that she needed for her confectionary business. Sorting the books into their category was beginning to become boring but the time I was spending with Twilight was great. We seemed to get along so well and I wasn’t regretting inviting her out to Bass Drop the night we went clubbing. 

As the day was drawing to a close the pile of books had been reduced to just a few on the table and I was happy that the tedious job was almost over, but I was satisfied with the day’s work I had put in. I climbed the ladder to put away a small stack of books which I levitated up beside me as Spike ran down the stairs. He let out a large burp and a scroll of parchment materialized itself in a puff of green flame and purple smoke, and I had not really been paying attention, and caught off guard I tumbled from the ladder backwards before landing with a significant thump on my back, and my head collided with the floor with a sickening crack. I let out a groan and my eyes were sealed shut as I tried to sit up, rubbing the back of my head with my hoof. Twilight was immediately by my side, worriedly helping me to my hooves and I was pulled through to the kitchen to take a seat while she checked me over for any injuries. I was feeling woozy and the walk through the kitchen was slow as I was a little shaky on my hooves, but Twilight was as patient as ever with me as she supported me until I could sit myself down. Immediately she began to rummage through a cupboard and returned shortly afterwards with a first aid kit which she placed on the table beside me. Thoroughly checking my head she made a few concerned sounding “Hmm”s and she informed me that I had hit my head pretty hard and there was a lump and a small amount of blood from a small cut on the back of my head. I sighed and she began to clean the wound with some antiseptic which made the already sore area on my head sting even more, before she wrapped my head in a bandage and suggested that I go home. 

She asked Spike to run to the cottage and fetch Robbie to escort me home as I was still very wobbly on my hooves and would probably fall on my face before I got back to the cottage. We chatted quietly while we waited for Robbie and Spike to arrive back and I thanked her for looking after me. 

“It’s no problem at all Matt, but I’m not sure that bandage will go very well with your tuxedo.” She gave me a smile and I let out a small laugh before she trotted over and gave me a hug and kissed my forehead. Robbie and Spike arrived back sooner than expected, having obviously flown with Spike on his back, Robbie was looking rather out of breath and he immediately asked how I was feeling and asked what had happened. I explained the story to him and he had a small laugh at my clumsiness before helping me to my hooves and making sure I was okay to walk home. We departed from the Library and began the slow walk home but Robbie didn’t seem to mind the slow pace as he was probably enjoying the last of the sunshine for today. 

We made it back to the cottage after the slow walk and it had been rather uneventful, but Robbie had needed to support me for the last few streets as I had lost my balance and almost fell down. He had placed my foreleg over his shoulders and I had to improvise an even slower three-legged walk. Arriving in the cottage Robbie sat me down on the sofa and brought me some chocolate because something sugary would be good for me right now apparently. After eating the chocolate I began to feel slightly better and the shakiness was beginning to wear off so I could stand now without such a large risk of falling. But even though it was early I was beginning to feel tired and Robbie said I should get some bed rest, and if I needed anything I was just to shout on him and he would help me out. I was grateful for the help he was giving me but then again he had had many head injuries over the years and he knew exactly how I was feeling. After helping me into bed and bringing me a glass of orange juice he left me alone before quickly returning with the copy of Daring Do book that he had borrowed from the library before.

“I haven’t had the chance to read it yet, so I thought you could read it while you’re stuck in bed and give me a review after you’re done.” I thanked him and he pulled the door almost closed on the way out, but left it slightly ajar so he could hear me if I shouted on him. I placed the book on my bedside table and turned off the lamp before rolling onto my side to get comfy, and take the pressure off of the painful area of my head which was still throbbing. The sun was only just beginning to set now and even though it was so early I felt sleepy so before very long I passed out and began to dream the night away. 

Robbie had checked up on me a few times during the night but I hadn’t needed anything while I was asleep but when I woke up in the morning he had made me some breakfast and presented me with a fresh orange juice to start my day. He said it would be best if I stayed in bed all day and I was more than happy to oblige him and before long I began to read the book he had left me on the bedside table. It was a brilliant book which conjured up an excellent image in my mind as I was reading it. Adventure books weren’t really my thing but this was definitely an exception, and before long I had read the first few chapters completely unaware that the time was passing so quickly. A knock on my bedroom door quickly snapped me out of the trance I had gotten into and Robbie entered closely followed by Rainbowdash. 

“Hey heard you had a fall off of Twilights slightly broken ladder.” She said to me giving a sympathetic smile and sitting on the floor beside the bed.

“Yeah was a pretty bad one, I swear I was seeing double for most of the walk home” I replied honestly and Rainbow seemed to sympathise with me, being an athlete she was bound to have had her fair share of bumps and scrapes over the years. She quickly spotted the book that was sitting on my lap and we went into a conversation about the series, and I had only read a few chapters so I asked her not to ruin anything for me. She agreed to keep her lips sealed and we discussed the chapters I had read and the time passed quickly before her and Robbie headed out to get some lunch. He asked me if I needed anything before they went out, and after a quick think I told him that I would be fine and that he was just to go and have fun. He gave me a smile and I said farewell to Rainbow knowing that she would probably be back after they had eaten, but for now I would continue the book. 

The day passed quickly as I read my way through the book, which I had reached chapter fifteen by now. Twilight had dropped by for a quick visit and to make sure that the bandage was still clean and attached firmly to my head. We had had a brief chat before Robbie served me some dinner and offered Twilight some, which she gratefully accepted and he left us alone to eat dinner while he had some with Rainbow downstairs. But once again my day was cut rather short by me becoming tired reasonably early and Twilight agreed to stay the night because we would be getting the train to Canterlot tomorrow in preparation for the gala. She didn’t mind going to bed so early thankfully and she curled up under the blankets in my forelegs and I felt completely at peace at that moment. This was definitely a mare I would like to get to know more and I could feel her warmth spreading through my body like an antidote to a terrible poison. Soon the pain in my head slipped out of all knowledge and all I could focus on was who I was lying with, and I wanted nothing more than for this moment to last forever, but I only had the night to enjoy this feeling so I would be content with that. My eyes began to droop slowly and eventually they closed, allowing the warm embrace of sleep to overcome me, and I felt Twilight kiss my forehead tenderly before I drifted out of consciousness.