Lost Muse

by David Silver

52 - To New Projects

Libel sat in front of a stack of books. Bottom was on the other end of the coffee table with her own pile arranged. Color was off to the side, peering at his canvas.

"Huh." Day tilted his head a little. "The atmosphere's really thick in here."

Libel twitched an ear at him. "We're working."

Bottom nodded. "Be a good pony and I'll reward you later."

Day smiled at that. He liked Bottom's idea of rewards. "Alright." He rose to his hooves and walked calmly outside, likely to visit the house's garden.

Color swerved an ear back to the two mares. "It's nice working with you two."

"You too, Splashy." She nudged a book aside and grabbed for another. "This is... much bigger than me."

"Hmm?"

"I always held it... like a personal shame." Libel let out her breath slowly. "But it affects a lot more ponies than just me, each burning in their private shame." She perked. "I need to write that down." She reached with her wings to the typewriter, quickly tapping out that quote. "It's not just a thing for old ponies, though obviously they're the most common case."

Bottom nodded softly. "I have the numbers here." She tapped at the book she was reviewing, floating there in her magic. "Surprisingly large. I suppose it's still a small number, in the larger scheme of things, but still... It's very much not just Libel."

"It's not just me..."

Color set his brush aside and came up on Libel. He gently put his hooves on her shoulders and drew her back. Soon he was hugging her still form, cradling her. "It's not just you," he repeated. "And you're handling it."

"I am!" she suddenly blurted, sitting up. "I am..." It wasn't 100%, and likely never would be... She still wore her 'crinkly pants of shame', but she didn't always need them, at the end of the day. "Thank you, both of you." She rolled her eyes. "I am terrible at guessing the emotional impact of what I shove my face into."

"You could have become a fiction writer." Bottom set her book aside and reached for another with her magic. "Distanced the subject matter from yourself, but no, you had to tackle something like this to start."

Color gently squeezed Libel before he seperated. "Keep at it. I know it's a little rough to start, but what isn't? I'm super proud of you, Libel."

"Speaking of that." She glanced over at the canvas. "I notice you're starting with a darker fabric."

"It's a space shot, the night sky... starting dark felt right." He waved at it lightly with a hoof. "I need to paint the world, as a little thing, Equestria visible. Luna will be here." He moved his hoof down. "On the moon, large around her. She'll be the center point, of course, a stalwart defender."

"Sounds lovely." Libel's eyes were on her books, reading slowly. "I want to see it when you're done. Is she alright, you know, being put back on the moon?"

"You can blame Day for that one."

Bottom hiked a brow. "Should I be withholding rewards?"

"No! No, he was great, a big help." Color laughed a little as his magic pulled the brush into position. "But it was his idea, and Luna went with it."

"Was Celestia there?" Bottom tilted her head. "Suppose you were wrong about that fortune teller."

"Even a broken clock, as they say." Color rolled his eyes. "Most of the games were pretty rigged, nice they had something authentic going on."

Libel's tongue extended as she flipped a page with a wing. "This feels strange."

"Working without the usual pressures?" Bottom glanced up from her book. "We should talk less and work more, perhaps."

"Mmhmm." Color soft dabbed color onto his canvas, resuming his work with proper intensity.

Libel quieted herself, focusing on her book for several long moments. She could hear her clock ticking gently on the wall. Had it always been so loud? "Mm..." She flipped to the next page and frowned, her wings typing something down to remember later "Mm... You know, we're overdue."

"Overdue?" asked Color.

"You got her permission, but we're... serious... we should go talk to her, together. I should show you to her, like any boyfriend, for her actual, to my face, approval. It's an important event."

Bottom glanced up from her reading. "I thought you two were just putting off getting married for propriety sake."

Libel began to color swiftly. "I know we're getting along, but I'm trying to do this right! Hmmph, I don't see you racing down the wedding aisle with your stallion."

Bottom raised a hoof to her chest. "We're both very relaxed about it. We only recently decided we're cool enough to be proper boyfriend and girlfriend."

Libel set her book down. "And you didn't tell me?! Congratulations!"

"Huh..." Color glanced over. "Day hadn't mentioned that, but that doesn't surprise me. He's really quiet about his own stuff. Congrats, really. I hope you two make each other even happier than he usually is."

"That sounds like a challenge." Bottom laughed gently as she willed the next page on her book. "I'm happy with him, and he seems to like being around me. I never thought I'd wallow in the mud li--" It was only at that moment that she realized what she was saying. "Oh Celestia, please forget I said that."

Libel blinked softly at Bottom. "I mean, if you two do it in the mud... that's a personal thing..." She frowned a little. "I... didn't imagine that... and I kind of wish I never had."

Color set his brush down gently and turned to Bottom with a grave expression. "What do you see when you look at Day?"

Bottom looked away from that stare. She had been caught and she knew it. "A... lovely earth pony that adores me."

"Is he just your dirty little fling?" accused Color with a growing scowl. "He's so much better than that!"

"I know that! I know!" Bottom put up her hooves wardingly. "I know.."

"And yet?"

"And... I still feel dirty when I'm with him, and I... like it?" She sank miserably in her seat. "Oh please don't tell him. Please! I was hoping it'd fade with time, as I got to know him, as a person, and it did, sort of... I love him, I really do. I want him to be happy, and to be with him, and he's still a dirty mud pony that I wallow with and I feel filthy and I can't get enough of it."

Color's anger started to transition to befuddlement. "I... you really love him?"

"So far as I can tell... I... want to be with him. I'm happy when he's nearby. I'm safe when he's near. He makes me smile. He's full of strange wisdom... I... Yes." Bottom nodded once firmly. "Yes. Yes I love him."

Libel lifted her shoulders gently. "Well, then who cares? Far be it for me to talk about propriety being... overwhelming, but if you really love him, and you like how he makes you feel, then is that feeling wrong?"

"But he isn't dirty." Bottom sighed gently. "He's one of the cleaner ponies I know, minus some grass stains. After he's been in it, the grass smells lovely anyway. I think it's part of his talent... Either way, clean, he is that... He would be hurt if I told him."

"Told me what?" Day poked his head in from outside. "I heard talking. Is it break time? I could make some sandwiches if you want."

Bottom went stiff. Libel nodded towards Day. "That sounds fantastic. Do you know how to use a press? Some coffee to go with it would be lovely."

"On it." Day ambled past them all towards the kitchen with a little whistle on his lips.

Bottom's eyes slowly widened, recognizing the song. 'Dirty little pony, look at the mess. You dragged all the mud in, over my dress.' Her mouth moved along with the imagined words as he whistled them. "Day!"

Day poked his head back in. "It'll take a moment."

"Day!" repeated Bottom all the more firmly. "You heard us."

"I hear a lot of things." He smiled gently. "Something wrong."

"Day..." Bottom rose to her hooves. "Day..."

"That is my name," he admitted with a queer smile. "You don't need to remind me."

"Day... We promised."

"We made several promises." He nodded softly. "What's wrong, Bottle?"

Bottom blushed softly at her pet name. "I suppose I broke it first. Day, you... You're mad, at least a little, admit it."

Day ambled up towards her and planted a kiss right at the end of her snout. "Nah."

She crashed to her haunches. "Well you should be... Nopony has the right to call you filthy."

"Bottle, I roll in the dirt most of the day." He returned to the kitchen to resume lunch preparation. "I get dirty. Dirt ain't a bad thing, but I get it..."

Bottom scrambled to her hooves to follow Day into the kitchen, their conversation becoming harder to hear.

Libel set her hooves down gently. "I think it's a good time for a break."

Color nodded in agreement. "It's not easy to focus when your friends are having a heart to heart." He perked an ear towards the kitchen. "They don't sound angry."

"Does Day know how to be angry?" Libel hiked a brow. "Bottom's pretty subtle about that when she wants to be as well. The two could be having the equivalent of death threats and we wouldn't know."

"They'd know." Color approached Libel with a little smile. "They have things to work out, but they'll work them out." He sat next to Libel. "What are you reading?"

Libel lifted the book in her hooves. "Medical journal. Mostly dry information to be found here, but I want it. I need facts, not just emotions. The book has to have both in abundance to really drive the point I'm trying to convey, you understand?"

"I do." He gestured towards the canvas. "My last piece had a lot of ponies in it, and they were all real ponies, some alive, some not. I had to get their impression, and get the facts right, or the effect would be ruined. The two have to come together."

"Exactly." She leaned over and kissed his cheek. "I'm glad we're not fighting."

"Well, about that. You really want to visit your mother?"

"We should!" Libel nodded firmly. "We really should, sooner is better. I'm sure she knows we're together still... I'm sure she's making assumptions about it... We should put them to rest with a friendly dinner."

Color rubbed behind his head. "Well, alright. Just pick a day and let me know. I... presume we continue pretending we aren't laying a hoof on one another?"

"You want to talk to her about our sex life?" Libel arched a brow. "Even if she was the nicest mare in the world, why would you want to talk to her about that? We keep that sort of thing behind a closed door, where it belongs."

"When do... you come to my home?"

Libel's ears went upright. "Oh right! Well, that shouldn't be nearly as stressful, so just set a date. Provided we don't manage to plan the same date each way, we should be fine."

"I'll aim for the weekend," volunteered Color with a little smile.

"Sounds lovely. I'll aim for a Thursday then, usually Mother's off day. No idea where she got that habit from, but it hasn't changed as far as I know. Now--" She looked to the kitchen. "--if you two are finished having a lovely little conversation, still waiting for lunch over here."

"Coming coming." Day ambled in, a platter on his back. Bottom followed after, a fresh carafe of coffee floating beside her with some mugs. Soon lunch was set out for all the busy ponies to take a break from their work.

Author's Note:

Working from home can be difficult at times, setting your own rhythms and such.

Comments

[David Silver]

9396138
Fix fix fix.

[Gyro Pony]

Working from home, self employed is hard at times for those reasons you've mentioned.

It is also very freeing - time off when you need it.