//------------------------------//
// 9 - Around Town 
// Story: Lost Muse 
// by David Silver 
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Color Splash wandered down the street, a little smile on his face. That had gone well. They had such a nice little conversation. She didn't hate him. She even wanted him around...

That's when he blinked, reality catching up to him. He hadn't planned on staying in Canterlot, not even one day. His horn glowed and he pulled his bit purse into view. "Mmm..."

"Hello!" came an excited and familiar female voice. He barely had time to look up before he was crashed into by a wall-eyed mare. "Sorry about that." She picked herself up and climbed off of him. "I had to say hi to my brother's friend. Did you find that mare you were looking for?"

He scrambled up to his hooves, blinking at the excited mailmare. "Oh, actually, that's some pretty good luck." He nodded to himself. "I did find her, and it went well."

"Yay!" Her wings popped out as she clopped her hooves, looking quite happy for him.

"But I need a place to stay in town for a little while. Do you know a good spot? I don't have a lot of spare bits with me." He jingled the bag he held in his magic for emphasis.

"Oh, hmmmm." She rubbed her chin with a hoof softly. "Well, you are a friend of my brother, so I'll let you in a secret. When they make me stay here overnight, there's a nice little place I go to. They barely charge anything, and they even give you a free muffin." Her smile was quite radiant. "I love it. Um, it's... that way." She pointed. "Just two blocks from the train if you took a right just getting off, then on the first left." She suddenly draped a wing over him.

He blinked at the act of familiarity, but he was more curious than put off. "It's nice to have friends?"

"It sure is." She squeezed him all the harder. "Hey, I have to stay today. Why don't we be roomies? I really should get to know my brother's best friend better." She lifted into the air on flapping wings. "But not right now. I have to deliver things. Go on and tell them you're with me." She burst into giggles. "You'll be roomies with both siblings. That makes you a friend of the family." She threw her hooves wide with joy.

Color smiled gently. It became easier to see how the adorably cheerful pegasus might have some relation to his sedate friend. They both looked on the positive side of things. "It would be an honor, Muffin. I'll head over there right now. Be safe on you deliveries."

She flew off, and he got into a trot, smiling as he made his way along. The day was only improving. He had only met her, but Derpy, or Muffin, seemed like a lovely pony. "He should have mentioned her before." He wondered if his roomie was hiding other interesting relations behind his half-lidded eyes.

He stopped suddenly. To his left was Canterlot Boutique. Dresses and suits adorned the window, gazing at him with unseeing eyes of ponyquins. They were judging him. They found him wanting. He was naked in a city full of well-dressed ponies. This did not bother him back home, but he really wanted to not embarrass the literal pants off of Libelous. "A little peek won't hurt." He trotted up to the front door and head inside.

"Hello and welcome to Canterlot Boutique." A unicorn was approaching him, tall and slender. She wore a smart dress that didn't get in the way of her precise movement. "I'm Sassy Saddles and it will be my pleasure to assist you." She looked over Color with all the judgment of the statues. "Hmmm, not starting with much. Do you have a fashion style you prefer?"

Color smiled back at her. He had met so many mares that day that made him want to draw a picture... "Nice to meet you, Miss Saddles. This is a very nice store here." His eyes wandered slowly, taking in the colors and where they complimented and where they clashed. "I really like the arrangement here." He gestured at one that was a flowing dress. "Not for myself! I mean, but it's still very nice to look at."

Her eyes fell on his rump and the colorful quill that resided on it. "Are you an artist? Thank you for your compliment, but I am not the designer. That credit would fall on the incredibly-talented Rarity. Would that I had half her talent." She gestured to herself. "I am but a humble manager of this store, and your guide to fashion success." She smiled gently. "Now, how can I help you reach that?"

"I am," he confessed with a little half-laugh. "The colors and compositions leap out at me. She must have a good eye for such things." He turned slowly. "Where are you hiding the, uh, more stallion'y fashions?"

"Just over here." She put a hoof on his withers and directed him towards one side of the boutique. It was smaller than the mare's section, but not a corner at least. "Stallions think that a tuxedo is enough to fulfill the display of their inner soul. I disagree! A well-dressed stallion can really command a room. Like... this one." She gestured to a sharp suit that was colored like a sunset. "We'd add your cutie mark right where it belongs, embroidered on to perfection."

Color found himself considering how it'd match with his fur and mane. "Mmm... Not awful... So, let me tell you what it's for. I just had a reunion with a dear friend of mine, a foalhood friend. She's a well-to-do editor for the Canterlot Canter--"

"Ooo!" Sassy's eyes widened a little. "I see the issue. You wish to match her." She gestured at his nude state. "Rather than... not. I see. What is the budget we are working with?"

This trip was becoming more and more costly... He willed out his bit purse, only to have it snatched by Sassy's magic. She gave it a little shaking. "Mmm... Keep it simple, but exquisite! We have a mare to impress." She surrendered the bag back to him. "Something that speaks to the fact that you are a successful artist." She blinked, catching herself. "You are a successful artist, are you not?"

"Oh, yes." He pointed towards the unseen castle. "I have a piece in the castle."

"Tremendous! Put a pin in that thought then." She made a pushing motion with a hoof. "A successful artist meeting a successful businessmare from his colt days, how lovely!" She sat so she could clop her hooves twice rapidly. "Now, how about this..." She pulled out a suit with her magic. "It may seem simple, just an ordinary tuxedo--"

"It isn't," he cut in. "Very nicely made, and that dark blue interweave..." He could see the dark blue streaks that ran along with the deep black, making for an interesting effect. "You mentioned you weren't a designer, but did you stitch this?" He reached for it, feeling the fabric. "Mmm."

"You are full of flattery!" Her eyes half-lidded. "Fortunately for you, that does get you somewhere around here. I will be sure to pass on to Rarity all the nice things you are saying." She moved the suit in her magic so it laid across his side, giving an approximation of what it would look like when worn. "Almost the right size! I'll adjust it, of course. We can't have you appearing with an 'almost' fitting suit, no no no."

He smiled gently at it. "It's perfect. I don't want to, uh, command a room. This makes me reasonable without stepping too far." He produced his bag once more. "How much?"

"If you give me your name and address, we'll do half now and half later." She nodded towards him as she took the suit away. "And I'll get right on getting this adjusted for you."

When had she measured him? He blinked at that, still... "Thank you." Being able to split the payments sounded like a good boon to pay with bits he had at home and hopefully made more of in the meanwhile. "I'll take it." Not that he was sure he had to mention that, since she was already fleeing with the suit.

Left alone, he wandered the store. He wasn't the only one there, he found. There were others, mostly mares, looking at things and considering their own fashions. It was too much. He sat down and willed his notepad to come free, some colored pencils rapidly joining it. He got to drawing furiously, working off his fresh memory of Libelous.

He drew her not as he had romantically envisioned she might be, but as she actually was. Her descending the stairs, like the setting sun, deigning to speak with him. He smiled as he worked on the details with quick strokes. He couldn't help but add just a touch of nervousness to her eyes. She had a little problem she didn't want others to know about.

His pencil drew away and he frowned. Part of him couldn't believe that was still a thing. She was a grown mare, and a successful one! She had everything... but not that... He shook his head softly, wondering how that had impacted on her life. He wanted to find her and just... hug the problems away, but that would probably get him in trouble, and rightfully so. He was not her father or mother. He was a foalhood friend that... kinda really liked her.

He grinned a bit lopsidedly. "And you're being silly," he chastised himself. He didn't know her! She could actually be a huge pain to actually be around... Which is why her invitation to get to know her was so nice. Maybe they'd realize, or at least him, that it would never work out. No harm, no foul, right?

Or maybe it'd... all work... like a story. He sighed gently, thinking fondly on such romantic drivel he'd read before. Two ponies gazing into one another's eyes, all else forgotten. They got married and were happy forever, yay!

That felt very unlikely in the real world. He rolled his eyes and tucked away the pad. He would meet her, for real, and they'd learn about each other, as friends. He would learn if she was the pony he imagined her up to be. Probably not, he figured, but there could be a pony equally as amazing hiding there, and he wanted to meet her, and introduce himself.





Libel tapped the card against her desk, held between two feathers. "I should call him..." She soon had the phone up and it was ringing.

"Hello?" asked an extremely officious sounding stallion.

"Oh, hello. I was sent a letter--"

"Oh! Miss Word is it? I'll go fetch the master immediately." She heard the phone being set down and hoofsteps retreating away.

Steps returned, though they sounded different. "Hello?" called a new voice. "Tub Thumper here. Is this Libelous Word?"

"Yes." She felt silly for saying just that. "This is she. I got your letter."

"I was hoping you would," he joyfully replied. She could feel him smiling. "It's alright. I mean, I heard what happened at the ball, but that's no matter. We're both well-bred ponies who simply want for equitable companionship. I am Tub Thumper, of the Thumpers, have you heard of us?"

She could dimly recall them. They were not a major family, she felt certain. No Blueblood, Pants, or Word. "Of course," she lied nakedly. "What is it you do, Mister Thumper?"

"Oh, don't call me that. We're to be more familiar than that, Libelous." She rolled her eyes but said nothing as he continued, "I sell furnishings; plumbing in particular. Nopony knows a tub like ole Thumper." He sounded quite proud of his accomplishments. "I have two outlets."

Libelous narrowed her eyes a little. He was, at best, middle class in her books. Middle class and sounded horribly boring so far... "I see..." She wondered how the amount he paid the butler figured against his own income.