Come and Catch Me

I sat in a dressing room having a panic attack. I don't know if you've ever been in a small fitting room, but I had. This alone was fine, but the magical pencils and tapes circling my mostly nude figure were mildly terrifying. I did the only thing I really could and held still. There was a snap and everything moved outside the room. I heard Rarity outside my room. "That's all dear, just throw on your outfit and I'll run my ideas past you."

I looked myself over as I talked. "You're the boss, just make something comfy and I'll wear a clown outfit." I paused at my bandaged leg. I slight red stain was slowly growing under the gauze. "Uh, Ms.Rarity, do you happen to have some bandages? I need to change mine, and I don't want to stain your wonderful floor."

There was a pregnant pause as I realized she might just barge in, but she apparently managed to reign in her desire to come in and check on me. "Of course dear, let me fetch a roll and a towel." I propped my leg up on a nearby stool and began to untie the knot holding the bandages on. I was right, my sting would have some stitches in it, and while none had popped it was bleeding a little bit again. I held the bandage in place as I waited for Rarity. It didn't take too long before a soft red towel and a roll of bandages came through the curtain separating me from the rest of the building.

I laid the towel on the stool and rested my leg on it. I put the bloodied bandage on the floor with the clean area on the bottom, trying to keep the floor nice and shiny. I then held a corner of the towel and dabbed at the wound. The blood seemed light, probably just one of the stitches ripping me a tiny bit more open. It did raise the question of why it didn't hurt. I could guess that whatever Zecora gave me was also a painkiller, which seemed likely. I pushed that thought back as I watched the blood slow from a steady drip to an almost invisible leak. I began slowly wrapping my leg and hummed a jaunty tune.

When It was fully wrapped I tied off the end with the tail I had poked out when I started wrapping. It wasn't the worlds best bandage, but it would keep blood off the floor and pressure on the wound. I nodded to it and put on the spare outfit Rarity had given me. It was just a grey T-shirt and pants, apparently used for a template on general clothing. My socks were mostly clean, so I left them and my shoes on before throwing on my cloak and mask. I picked up the bloody towel and threw it over my shoulder, before walking out. I smiled as Rarity looked me over. "I apologize for that. It seems my wound was not fully treated, but enough of that. In what manner can I possibly hope to repay your generosity?"

Rarity shot me a smile that could have sent a lesser man weak in the knees. "Dear, you don't need to pay me a dime. I couldn't take a bit from a traveler with little more than the clothes on his back. Though a name for the order would be nice."

I flushed with embarrassment. "I'm Peter. Peter Buck. Are you sure there's nothing I can do? I'm pretty good at manual labor and the like. If you need something moved or fixed I'll try to get it done."

Rarity raised a perfectly manicured hand to her chin. "Well, I may need some help digging up some new gems in a little while. If you'll do that it would be absolutely fabulous."

I nodded. "Of course, and I do hate to be a bother, but do you have a spare pair of gloves for me to borrow? I would prefer that to the... alternative." I left my alternative vague, seemed safer than saying I would run like a bat out of Hell until I hit somewhere safe.

Rarity simply nodded as her horn began to glow. A pair of leather gloves floated in front of me, and I swept my cloak open slightly, grabbing them from beneath the rough hide. I slipped them on quickly, finding them a good fit. I reached out and saw that my whole body was now covered. I smiled under my mask. Using my new freedom I picked up the towel from my shoulder and put it into a basket near the back of the room with a small washboard beside it. "Thank you, madame. I will make time for it whenever you ask. Though I think I shall return to Twilight's humble abode. I would prefer not to strain my host's goodwill."

I gave a bow, which Rarity returned with a perfect curtsey. "Of course, always nice to meet a gentlecolt like you. I should be able to drop off a much better ensemble than those dreary rags tomorrow." I nodded as I grabbed my old clothes and slung them over my shoulder. I clicked my tongue which made Tucker disengage from whatever game he had been playing with Spike. I walked out of the building, leaving my guide with his crush, before retracing my steps back to the library. Without Spike, I got quite a few more stares but that was fine. I did nod at the red stallion again and got another nod in return. I distracted myself by trying to keep Tucker from making new friends. To be clear, by making new friends, I meant attempting to assault nearby ponies for love and affection.

I made it to the library with little to no difficulty. I say little because I did trip over a group of children screaming about crusades, but I wasn't going to take the time to question it. I decided the better option was to go up to the library and begin my holy work. Some might say I should have been grilling any pony I could find for where my home was. To that I say nay! My mother was a librarian, and while I may be a man of action, I will research the hell out of this before going full batman for answers. I looked down to Tucker who was happily sniffing around the library. I sighed and let him do his thing while I scoured the library. And hit my first roadblock. Only about a quarter of the books were in English, and those were the high academic textbooks. Like how Latin is used in legal proceedings, it appeared that English was the language of academics.

I was fucked.

Now let me explain that a bit more fully. I'm not just meaning that apparently advanced magical theory was about eighty percent math that I couldn't follow, but also that all the basic books were in some strange pony hieroglyphics. I stared at the whole library. A veritable bank of knowledge, that locked me out with a wall of glass. I cursed. "Damn ponies and they're inability to have multiple languages I understand. Why are some of them in English anyway? They didn't understand it while speaking." I picked up what looked like an adventure book and flipped through it. I paused at a block of English in the middle. "Oh, cool. I can read the forbidden sounding prophecy, but not the book." I put the book up and sighed. "fuck it, Tucker?" I heard the skitter of claws as he appeared from behind a bookshelf. "Wanna play tag?" He gave a happy bark and began walking outside. I smiled at my dopey dog, at least some things could go well.