//------------------------------//
// 6 - The Editor Is In 
// Story: Lost Muse 
// by David Silver 
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Libel made her way back towards her office. She had a mission, and a plan. She gritted her teeth as she trotted along. She would do what the doctor said. She would do it, and things would get better, hopefully quickly, but she'd be alright if they were slow, so long as it got better.

Had the answer really just been there the entire time? She shook her head quickly. There was no point thinking about what ifs and could-have-beens. She was taking it in her hooves.  She would become master of her own bladder! She snorted softly as she went, weaving around the ponies of the city. As if that was some grand... achievement. The others already had that prize.

They likely didn't even think about it. The idea that a grown pony could not have that... repugnant and terrible. A sign of a diseased mind, or illness, or extreme age. Nothing good. Nothing good at all.

She was getting up to the gate of her workplace. "Let me in," she said without really slowing. The gate was unlocked by the time she was ready to push past it without delay. She smiled on hearing it lock behind her. It was nice some things worked just as they should.

Libelous trotted easily up the steps and into the main office. Heads nodded towards her. "Hey Libel!" called a friendly co-worker. She smiled back and waved a hoof on her way past. She was back in her element. Her work respected her... well, work. They respected what she had done and would do. They didn't ask awkward questions.

She paused at the front desk. "Anything I need to know about?"

The secretary nodded her head. "Courier came by. Probably left a letter for you. Check in with your office."

"Got it." Libelous nodded and headed past, wondering what package or letter had come her way. Was it the start of a new assignment? She smiled a little. A little work actually sounded rather nice. She could sink her teeth into some thick verbiage and massage it into perfection. Yeah, that would be nice...

She willed her door to open. "I hear I got a letter?" Libel looked towards her secretary, only for her eyes to slide off toward her plant. It was... What was wrong with it? Or right? It was bright and vibrant green. "What..."

The secretary sat up with a smile. "You have a letter, and a guest." She gestured across the room to a sleeping pony on the couch. "You can thank him for reviving the plant there. I thought he was a bit off, but he really has a touch. I've gotten so much work done." She pushed her typewriter away. "In fact, I'm done, unless you have more for me, Miss Word?"

Libel tilted her head a little. "Excellent to hear, but what does the plant have to do with that?"

She gestured at it. "It's hard to put a hoof on it, but it really... brings the room to life." She smiled brightly, tapping at a pile of papers. "I couldn't stop thinking about it, but I was typing while I did it, and the proof is in the work. Ah, here's the letter." Her horn lit up, bringing up an envelope to Libel.

"Thank you." She popped it open with a deft wing and read over it quickly.



Dearest Libelous Word,

It was quite a shame that we never had a chance to meet that fateful night. You fled, like an angel into the night. Oh, what it must be like to have wings and command the skies as well as you rule over the land of words. I know the ball has come and gone, but, perhaps, we could meet on our own? If I am being too bold, you may quietly discard this letter and forget it ever bothered you.
On the other hoof, if you are interested, call me. The number is listed below, attached to my business card. I'd dearly like a chance to speak with you.

Yours Humbly,
Sir Thumper



She turned the page around, but there was nothing more to see than Tub Thumper's business card, which she casually pocketed. "Huh..." She folded the letter right back up as it had been and stuffed it back into the envelope it had emerged from. "He's here to see me, right?"

"Waiting patiently." The secretary nodded towards the slumbering Day Dreamer. "He fell asleep and stayed that way. He doesn't even snore, like a stone, really."

"That sentence could use work," Libelous chided gently, getting a snort and an eyeroll from her secretary, their in-joke passed successfully. Libel approached her would-be guest carefully. "Excuse me?" She didn't recognize the earth pony. Most of those who would have come to see her wouldn't have the nerve to just take a little nap on her couch like that. "Excuse me." She reached out a wing and lightly slapped him across the face with a few feathers.

He sneezed and sat up in one motion, but he was not entirely awake. He blinked at her without seeing at first, yawning widely. "Oh, um, hmm... Oh!" His eyes went wide as he looked her over up and down rather intently. "Woah, are you... Libel?"

She canted her head faintly. Was it a random fan? That took some cheek, just marching into her office... "It is. Can I help you?"

"It is you!" He hopped up to his hooves. "My friend's been looking for you forever. Um, Color Splash, do you remember him?"

She blinked. That was a name that prodded viciously at an old memory. "Color Splash... It... rings a bell. What about him?"

"He was your friend, a long time ago, when you lived in a little town that wasn't Canterlot." He waved a hoof lazily at her. "My place, his place. Used to be your place. Does that help?"

Dim memories of her old home came rushing to the fore. Color Splash. How could she have forgotten him? He hadn't just been her friend... He had been her best friend... "I hope he's... doing well?"

"Oh, doing great." Day Dreamer nodded softly. "Oh, I'm Day Dreamer. Nice to meet you." He held out a hoof towards her. "And you're the lost princess. You know he misses you like a lot, right? He puts you in some of his drawings."

Libel felt her cheeks warm and she glanced at her secretary. "Since you're all done, go on home. You'll be paid for your full shift."

The secretary rose smoothly to her hooves. "As you wish, Miss Word." She winked softly. "Enjoy the conversation and good luck." she trotted off with a smile.

Day Dreamer nodded towards the departing mare. "She's nice. Oh yeah! You wanna come home? He'd love to see you."

Thoughts of appearing before him, still wearing that same diaper she had left with, made her pale, ears pinning against her head. "No! I mean... no... I... Not now." She turned away to the side. "I can't."

"Did I come at a bad time?" Day Dreamer tilted his head a little. "I can come back tomorrow if that's better?"

She narrowed her eyes at Day Dreamer. Did he really think one day would make all the difference? She did not know Day Dreamer. Was he in her class, back then? She hadn't gotten along with that many ponies... "Did you come all that way just to tell me that?"

"Yep."

She blinked softly. That was the entire answer? He seemed... She shook her head vigorously. "You are a strange pony."

"Yep." He nodded softly before wagging his still extended hoof. "My name is Day Dreamer."

With a huff, she reached to touch hooves. "Libelous Word, but you know that."

"Oh yeah. What's it like, you know, being rich and important?" His head fell a bit to the right. "Is it easier or harder?"

She arched a brow. Rare was the pony that asked which way it was instead of assuming it was easier. "A little of both, to tell the truth. It's complicated."

"What isn't?" he asked with a dopey little smile. "It's nice to meet you. I'm staying in town, so if you need time to think about it, I can relax."

She frowned a little. "You don't... appear to be well-to-do, how are you affording to casually stay in Canterlot?"

He shrugged softly. "I have enough for a week."

She cringed faintly. Was she taking his bits away just by not being more clear? "And if I told you to just go home and stop wasting your bits?"

"I'd think you were just surprised to hear about him and wait a bit." He clapped his hooves together. "You'd really make his day if you visited, even a little while."

Libel heaved a soft sigh, sinking to her haunches. "You are a faithful friend..." She thought of her secretary, but that secretary was also paid. Day Dreamer was paying to help his friend. "I feel jealous right now..."

"Aw, don't be like that." He reached for her, casually touching her shoulder. "I'm sure there are ponies that dig you. I mean, I know one that wants to give it a try. He's a real romantic, and a good artist. Do you like art?"

It was only as he spoke that she realized she had confessed her feelings and brightened in her cheeks. That was not how a professional mare should be before a low-class yokel. He was harmless,  but beneath her. "Go tell him that I'm sorry for not writing a letter. Give me his address and I'll remedy that before the day ends."

His smile was radiant, looking like he had just won a big lottery ticket. "I can do that, sure! I can even deliver the letter if you want. I already brought one to you. Did you get it? Maybe I should be a mailstallion..."

She considered the languid pony strolling along with a bag full of urgent letters and packages. "I don't think that would suit you... You can bring the letter though." If he brought the letter, that meant he would not be wasting his time in Canterlot, and he would leave. That was a complete victory so far as she could determine.

Soon she had a typed letter written, sealed, and ready to go. She held out the envelope towards Day Dreamer. "Here you are. Get it to him as quickly as you can." She didn't imagine that would be terribly quickly with the lethargic movements the earth pony had displayed so far.

He accepted the letter in his lips. "Sure thing. It was really nice meeting you, Miss Word. I hope I get to talk to you again." He started for the door, ambling out the way he had ambled in. "Have a nice day."





Unaware of his friend's current goal, Color Splash stood on the train's platform. "One to Canterlot, please."

"Certainly, five bits please." The bearded stallion took the bits offered and a ticket spat up from a small slot.

Color took the ticket in his magic and trotted up to where the trains should arrive. "I have to fix this..." Nightmarish possibilities had haunted him of what his friend might have been up to. None of them were good! Well, a few were good, but those were entirely unrealistic.

As if she'd drop all the important things she was doing and decide to run away to see some stallion she hadn't seen in years and had likely forgotten about entirely. He laughed softly at the idea. "She'd have to be nuts to say yes to that..." The Libelous Word he knew wasn't nuts.

She would never!

He would go to her, apologize for the mess his friend had undoubtedly made, and then get out of her life.

Maybe it would also be nice to see her, just for a moment?

He shook his head quickly. He was only going to put wrongs to right.

He had no other motivation.