//------------------------------// // 27 - Who Are You? // Story: Lost Muse // by David Silver //------------------------------// Libel snorted softly. "That's ridiculous!" She turned away and stormed off several steps. "Stupid! What are... I don't..." She suddenly swatted a clock off its shelf with a wing, sending it tumbling to the floor to smash into pieces. "You don't mean that!" Color was quiet, watching her. "Stop staring at me! Look..." She hurried away, coming back with a letter clutched in a wing, slapping it down just in front of Color. "Look!" Color did look down at the letter. It was a neatly written one. The signature made it abundantly clear that it was from Libelous' mother. "She gave up?" "Exactly!" With her wings still outstretched, she clopped a hoof. "So I wasn't doing it for her. See?! Now stop it and let's be happy. This is a good day." Color rolled a hoof. "I'm not an expert... But she told you she's giving up on you, so you get a husband just the way she'd allow. You do that right away, and you're looking forward to telling her. You're hoping... hoping that she'll be happy, that she'll praise you and accept what you've done and even--" "Stop it!" "Even accept you," he completed with a soft tone. "And... you want that. You just want her to stop--" "I want you to stop!" she barked, her entire form trembling. "I thought this is what you wanted..." "I mean... it is..." "Then why are you hurting me like this?" She looked away, a few tears dripping hot from her face. "Why are you doing this?" "Be...cause I love you." He approached a half-step. "I want to... be with Libelous Word, the real her, not... like this. This isn't her. This is the chastised little filly that is doing what she can to make her mother proud of her, and that is not Libelous Word. That is not the filly that practically led the way." "I'm not a filly," she petulantly denied, sniffling up a loud bit of snot she hadn't had a moment before. "No, you're not... You are Libelous Word, a dear and wonderful mare. A wondrous adult that has control of her life, and can do whatever she wants... Who should do things because she wants to." "I can't even control... that." She sank, her wings limply hanging on either side to the ground. "Maybe I am just a filly..." Color stomped down a hoof. "Stop that! Just... no. It was not a filly that dragged me down this path today. It isn't a filly that I took on a delightful dinner date. It isn't a filly that I'm still chasing." She looked back towards him over a shoulder, her makeup horribly run with her flowing tears and phlegm in a ghastly display. "You're still chasing me? I'm just a little filly... Doing whatever mother wants... I thought you were sick of me..." He couldn't resist. He rushed her, grabbing her despite all reason. She thrashed and fought him with a sudden cry, but he held her and they collapsed in an ungainly pile. She was crying into his fur, sobbing in fitful shakes. She also stank like she still had a problem, but he wasn't paying that much mind. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm really... I'm not a psychologist... Please don't be sad... I didn't mean to... attack you..." "Well you did!" she blurted in almost a shriek, but the sobs ebbed and became labored breathing. That was all there was, ragged and deep breathing as they clung to one another. "Splashy..." "Yes?" "Do you hate me?" "No." He kissed one of her pinned ears. "I do not." "Why not? I don't love you." He cringed at the admission, shrinking back a little. "I still love you... Even if we go back to being friends... Even if you chase me out of here..." She sat up slowly, disentangling from him. "Splashy, you're the one that needs help." She stuck out her tongue a little. "A mare chases you out of her house, that is not a sign you should come back later like nothing happened. What am I going to do with you if you don't even know that?" Color stood up, his magic reaching for some folded napkins and bringing them over to Libel in a pile. "You're going to clean yourself up, then we're going to sleep on this and approach it tomorrow like adults?" She snatched a napkin in a wing and began applying it to her face angrily. "This isn't how today was supposed to go, Color. I did everything you asked for, more if you ask me. I'm offering you a happy ending worthy of making into art, and you just... flip it right back in my face." "That's nice for me." He put a hoof on his chest. "But what about you?" "What about me?" "Is this the ending you were hoping for?" She arched a brow at him. "Well, unless you want to let a unicorn with too much magic and too few ethics perform a quick little tweak to make you speak a few octaves higher and round you out..." He blinked at that. "Oh..." She huffed a weary sigh. "Mares make me happy... And they don't try to control me, mother excluded." She booped him right on the nose. "Unlike stallions, who like to tell me what to do." "Libel... You know this isn't like that." "I do..." She sank a little in place. "I do... Hmmph, bet you want to make me fat and disgusting too." He tilted his head to the left. "Libel, you take that back. If we were married tomorrow, we'd not have any foals until, and unless, you happened to want one. Even if you did, not like there aren't ways of getting one that have nothing to do with getting fat and/or disgusting." "You're just saying that." She rose up with a huff. "You're right though. I'm going to bed. I'm going to wash up, wash off, and just... see you tomorrow." So he was left in the darkened room. With no one moving, the lights saw no reason to stay on, leaving Color staring at the space Libel once sat in. Had he done the right thing? Had he said the right thing? He was far from certain... Part of him felt terrible. He was literally throwing away what he had come for. She had basically proposed to him, and he... He said no... "Stupid." He stood up and the lights flashed back into operation, forcing him to squint against the sudden glare. "Alright, that isn't always amazing..." He made his way towards his room at a slow walk, trying to piece together what he had done right or wrong, but not getting far with either thought. He hoped a little sleep would help bring resolution to his troubled thoughts. Maybe they'd help her too. Maybe the next day they'd laugh at how silly they had both been. Day sat down from just outside, having heard most of the spirited argument. "Heavy..." He looked around and found the phone with some poking around. He pulled the receiver off the base and... had no idea how to use it. Fortunately, an operator came on after a moment. "Hello?" "Yeah, hi!" Day smiled at the operator, even if they couldn't see each other. "Can you get me to Bottom Line?" "Let me check..." He heard pages being flipped through. "There are two Bottom Lines. Can you narrow it down?" "Unicorn mare? Works for Libelous Word?" "Here we are. I'll connect you." The line went dead a moment. "Hello?" She sounded like she was sleepy or had just been awakened. "Who is this?" "Hey..." "Day!" She suddenly sounded much happier. "When did I give you my number?" "I asked the operator." He nodded into the receiver uselessly. "We have a big emergency on our hooves." "You sound worried, and I don't think that's natural for you. What kind of emergency are we discussing?" He tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Color and Libel got into a fight, and I don't think it's a stupid one." "All fights are stupid," counted Bottom. "What makes this one less stupid?" He smiled a little into the receiver, reminded of another reason to really like Bottom. "He noticed she was shaping him and then he got in her head and she was all angry and sad and they cried and hugged and now they're going to bed all sad and angry." "That is one way to describe the situation... Are either of them hurt?" "Nah, not physically. It's all in here." He thumped his chest. "They're hurt inside, really bad I think... What can we do?" "She has to come into work tomorrow. I'll gently pry into things. You do the same with Color. He'll be moping around, I should imagine. He trusts you. She trusts me. We'll pull the information out of them and then compare notes." He nodded softly, form relaxing. "You're good at handling emergencies." "It's part of what I'm paid to do." He could hear something being written down. "Now, I'm going back to sleep. I'll talk to her at work, then we'll get back together. Don't forget your part. See what he's thinking, and what he wants. Just be... you. I bet he admits things to you all the time." "You got it." He took the receiver in his teeth. "See you tomorrow." "One last thing." "Yeah?" "Love you." He blushed brightly in his cheeks. "Love you too. I hope we never have any arguments, stupid or not." "Right back at you." She hung up, and he followed suit a moment later. The house became quiet then. All the ponies settled in for bed, hoping for better to come the next day.