Post by Twilight Sparkle on Dec 15, 2011 0:52:09 GMT -5
Twilight_Sparkle has a record on--the kind of airy classical unicorn music someone like her would listen to, while she works, and sort of half-rhythmically wiggling her hindquarters to it while she shelves a stack of returned books. It's not the most dignified thing you've ever seen her doing.
Making her way into the library is Rainbow Dash, as usual all grins upon her face. "Hey Twilight, whatcha up to? It's obviously not dancing." She says as she looks amused as her brows raise upwards.
Twilight_Sparkle startles, rearing up slightly! Oh! Heh heh...hello, Rainbow Dash! No, dancing is *really* not what I'm doing at the moment! I'm just putting these books away and...I guess my hindquarters got their own ideas, what with the music playing." She shelves the current book, then turns around to face the blue rainbow pony. "Believe me, if I *were* dancing you'd be able to tell! You saw me dancing at your birthday party, remember?"
"Yeah, I sure did. I wasn't sure if you were serious or just mess'n." Rainbow Dash says with a grin on her face. "You looked like a puppet, flailing about. So, hey, I was curious.. uh.. you want some lessons in how to dance? I mean, we're gonna be friends and all, I can't have you embarrassing me at all the cool parties the Wonderbolts may show up at."
Blinking in surprise, Twilight tilts her head. "No, I think you have my dancing confused with someone else's! I was really tearing it up. I've made a thorough study of Sugarhoof's seminal work on the subject of great Equestrian dance steps, and then I've taken the strongest points of each dance and combined them into a dance which is academically perfect. Observe!" And with that, she's dancing. Kind of. Or at least she's doing something which, in context, must be her version of dancing. There's a weird semi-rhythmic head-jerk and hind-leg-kick involved.
"Stop Stop Stop!" Dash cries out as she reaches out with her hooves to pin her friend down. "For the love of Celestia, please stop. You are making my head hurt." She says with a panicked look in her eyes. "Listen, Twilight, you can't read a book and learn how to dance, and you definitely can't take a buncha dances and shove 'em together like that. Dancing is about passion, about feeling the rhythm of the song and moving along with it. It's like .. well.. uh.. it's like.. " She waves a hoof. "Nevermind that. Look, turn the music up and I'll show you." She says as she waits for it to get cranked, then starts to move. Slowly at first, a bit of a bob going along with the beat. "See.. one two three, one two three.. you rock side to side like this." Bop Bop Bop. "Then, you want to put some moves into it." She says as she kicks out a leg, does a quick spin, back trots, then goes back to bobbing.
Twilight_Sparkle watches Rainbow dash, squinting in concentration. "Ah...I see...wait, what are you? Oh...I see, yeah, like that with your tail, and then with the two right legs...hang on, let me take some notes on this!" She magically rifles through an open blank notebook, taking up a quill and scribbling frantically. "Now, does this sequence of body movements loop, at any point, or does it just go on forever, like the digits of pi? I'm good at memorization, I just want to know how much of it I'm up against."
"No No! Do not write anything down. You're killing me here Twilight." Rainbow Dash says as she continues to dance, bouncing a bit on her hooves as she rocks her hips from side to side along with the music. "Putcha paper and quill down and come here and dance with me. It's not about what you write down, it's about what happens in the 'moment'. It's like... when you're kissing a boy I guess, you know? You don't just go for the kill, you gotta ease into it, slowly. It's the same with dancing, unless you're at the Rainbow Rave and then you got freaking nuts in there, but right now I'm teaching you how to dance without embarrassing yourself. So c'mere, rock with me, side to side."
Twilight_Sparkle approaches her friend, her expression skeptical. "Rocking from side to side? You think I need to be taught...how to rock from side to side." She steps into place next to Rainbow Dash, and obediently begins rocking to the music, too, tentatively at first. "This REALLY isn't necessary, Rainbow Dash. I mean, when I can do THIS..." She waggles her hindquarters and kicks her front hooves dramatically. And tosses her head, violently. "See? I've got good instincts! I've studied instincts."
"Twilight, you have the instincts of a drunk buffalo trying to learn how to fly by jumping off a cliff. Listen three left feet, I'm the expert here, you're the student. You like learning things, so learn how to dance the right way, and if you do that weird kick thing again I'm gonna give you a rainboom." Dash says with a grin as she continues to rock back and forth with a bit of a sway to her body. "You need to learn rhythm first before you can start doing fancy moves." She says. "Alright, now as we bounce, we're gonna do a bit of a spin, alright?" She says as she goes first, continuing to bounce as she trots in a circle with a quick two step.
Twilight scowls, and goes back to rocking back and forth. "Well, all right. I mean, if it's SO important to you, I'll concede--completely hypothetically and for the sake of argument--that you MIGHT be right about my dancing. I'll humor you," she says, adding a bit of forward motion so she's trotting forward. She turns her head and continues, "and then you'll see that there's nothing at all to--" she runs head-on into a bookshelf and ends up sprawled on her back, just before an avalanche of books lands on her. *whumph*
Spike blinks awake from a rather excellent nap, uncurls, stretches, and stares bleary-eyed and confused at Twilight.
Placing a hoof to her face, Rainbow Dash lets out a loud groan. With a glance out the window, she spies through the clouds and then let's out a loud 'ah-ha!' "I will be /right/ back. You just .. you lay there and look stupid Twilight. Give me a moment." There is a quick zoom as she leaps out the window and speeds upwards. Soon after there is a loud yelp from the male persuasion, and a minute later she is blurring back through the window, dragging Bardigan by the tail who is clutching a few books to his chest and his hat is lopsided as he tries to keep it on. Thump. She drops him down to the ground and then says, "Alright, Bardigan, you're going to dance with me. We need to teach Twilight how to dance because she's hopeless."
"Up and at 'em' Bardigan." Rainbow Dash says as she shoves her head against his flank, looking to push him to his hooves. There is music playing on Twilight's record player. "C'mon, you've seen her dance, you /know/ what I'm talking about. It's horrifying! She could scare nightmares with her moves. Twilight, you're gonna dance with Bardigan. You need a boy to dance with."
Bardigan struggles to his hooves, straightening out his hat. "I was in the middle of composing some *very* inspired verses!" he complains, dusting off his chest to make himself look presentable. "But. Let it never be said this gentlepony left a poor mare without a dance..." He clears his throat and turns to Twilight, extending a hoof. "Miss Sparkle," he says gregariously, with that sparkling grin he always has. "Shall we?"
By the time Dash is back with Bardigan, Twilight has emerged from under the pile of books, and delegated the job of putting them back onto the shelf to Spike. "Spike. Shelf," she says. She then turns her attentions back to the returning Dash and newly arrived Bardigan. She looks up at Bardigan. "Shall we what? Dance?" She hesitantly links her front leg with his, a bit clumsily, glancing over at Rainbow Dash as if to say 'is this how I'm supposed to do it?'
Nodding her head to Twilight, Rainbow Dash circles the two of them. "Now, don't go falling for my plus-one Twilight. He has some pretty smooth moves that can make a heart go crazy." She says with a grin as she continues to dance to the music, bobbing and twirling about as she goes with practiced precision.
Derpy, who has just shown up, apprehensively enters the library. She sets a hoof inside as if unsure what will happen to her when she does.
Spike sighs, and patiently starts reshelving the books. "I still say we should just use the floor as one big shelf."
"Dance it is then!" Bardigan declares, as if she had a choice. "This is good music for a quick start... put your hooves down to the beat of the music. Follow my movements, but not too closely or you'll definitely trip. Now. One, and two, and step..." Slowly, he glides out onto the floor, swaying his body to the sounds of the strings, keeping a hold on Twilight's hoof so she hasn't an excuse to trail off! "It's easy, see? Just follow my steps," he says, matching the cadence of the music with his voice. Every step is well measured enough to flow into the other... He's been doing this for a long time.
Twilight_Sparkle follows along with Bardigan...clipclop, clop, clopclop, clip...*bump* her flank collides with his, and she wobbles, and only doesn't fall over because Bardigan is holding onto her. She worriedly glances over at Spike, hoping he was facing away, just now. She redoubles her efforts to follow with Bardigan, but she moves awkwardly, unsure of herself. She's well past the point where a checklist can do her any good!
Derpy comes into the library, mouth and eyes open. She pauses when she sees the dancing, and peeks outside at the sign to make sure she's in the right place. Then she comes back in, looking confused.
Fluttershy peeks over Derpy's back, peering with dubious eyes into the room. "Um...hello, um, everypony. Um, I heard something, so I thought maybe...um, what's going on?"
Spike, unfortunately for Twilight, did see her misstep and collision with Bardigan. He pauses his reshelving chores to cover his mouth and muffle a snicker, but it doesn't do much to hide the fact that he's grinning from earfin to earfin. "Hey Twilight, when you're done with this, maybe you should try taking up ice skating again."
"Hey Fluttershy, we're teaching Twilight how to dance so that next time we go to the Grand Galloping Gala, she won't look like a train wreck." Rainbow Dash calls over to Fluttershy as she continues to dance and move along with the music. She is not anywhere as graceful as Bardigan, but she has a bit of an edge to it. She's a rockstar after all. With a twirl of her body, she rocks her hips side to side as she moves about Bardigan and Twilight. "Come dance with me Flutter!" She calls out to her friend.
"That's it!" Bardigan says with an encouraging smile, the bumping and clippity-clopping doing little to unabalance his smooth moves. He survived Rainbow Dash stomping all over his hooves after all! "Wonderful for a beginner. Just listen to the music. Eyes on the hooves. Or wherever makes you comfortable." He speaks softly, keeping his eyes on the wobbly librarian, moving quite slow enough to keep up with. "Don't worry about being watched. Dancing is for the dancers..."
Mirage wanders in slowly and cautiously behind Fluttershy, and is quite surprised to see the venerable library is now a dance studio of sorts. She nods a little hello but tries to seek out a safe place from which to observe.
Twilight_Sparkle is blushing! Suddenly she has an audience...how, she asks herself silently, did I get from sorting a shelf of books and listening to Bay Hoofen's ninth symphony, the Oats To Joy, to having to take dancing lessons in front of several ponies she will find impossible to avoid afterward? Nevertheless, she seems to have found herself an "in." "ONE two three ONE two three ONE two three," she counts under her breath. "Hey, I think I get it! It's like a kind of math thing! Like, the beats are fractions, and the moves are geometry! Wow, maybe dancing isn't just a bunch of ponies doing random things."
Meanwhile, some random half-coherent and awkward mumbling is heard from just outside the library door. "Er, um, excuse me Miss Fluttershy. If, er, you don't mind," the unicorn says from outside before slowly poking in as well. Seems like the library's not only become a makeshift dance studio, it's also become the place to be in ponyville! Naturally, such a thing would generally cause EB to stay as far away as possible as to avoid any further awkward moments. However, given the pony he's trying to find is likely inside, he doesn't have much choice. "Er, is Miss Twilight in the- oh, excuse me Miss," he apologizes to Derpy upon stepping on some appendage of hers.
NightRaven is following along a few steps behind Mirage, her ears perking and gaze drifting over the ones that are here curiously. A soft oh escaping her as she catches sight of the dancing. She glancs over to EB as shs hears him and steps out of the way so he can get by, a slight smile and nod offered to him in the process.
With a leap into the air, Rainbow Dash gives a bit of a twirl with a single pump of her wings before landing on her hooves. With another spin of her body, she reaches out for Fluttershy, only to be cut off by Economist's approach as he makes his way into the library. Ahem. "Oh, hey EB." She says as she drops her hoof down with a sheepish grin on her face. Her rainbow shag-cut is sprawled into her eyes.
Derpy clears her throat, but forgets to make any noise in doing so. She steps forward to lodge her query, but finds a unicorn stepping on her tail and lets out a bizaree "SQQOooNKK!!" Her face convulses in embarrasment as she leaps forward, having interrupted the dance. She glances jerkily to and fro.
Fluttershy stares up at Rainbow Dash. "W-who, me? Dance with *you*? ...*here*?" She looks around - so many ponies staring at her, their eyes drilling through her shell of tranquility right into her soul! Before she gets a chance to realize that nopony is acutally staring at *her*, she finds herself nudged slightly by EB - "Oh, sorry," - and then jumps straight up when Derpy makes a sound like a maimed goose.
Spike sees what happens to Derpy and guards his own tail, holding the pointed tip of it in his hands protectively. He backs into a corner, where it seems safest to be, as things get busier and busier in the room.
Bardigan laughs, a kind, bass sound. "Ha ha! Well. That's one way to put it. Dancing *is* hardly random." Except raves. He's never going to figure those out, no matter how many Rainbow drags him to. "A matter of finding rhythm, reading the floor, the dancers... seeing how all the disparate comes together in one, sublime whole..." Derpy's noise makes him glance up and perk his ears, but he hardly loses any momentum. "Oh, my. Quite a crowd we're drawing," he notes with a smile.
Mirage just watches the ponies dancing on the floor and in the air, and tilts her ear at the classical music playing. "Classical ballroom dancing?" she muses with a sideglance to NightRaven. At the sound of an unusual voice she glances over to see Spike, and her bewildered expression makes it clear she's never seen a dragon, little or otherwise.
Twilight_Sparkle finds the increasing chaos somewhat distracting, and her counting gets louder. "ONE two three ONE two three ONE two three four--oops, no...One three ACK NO one--" she bumps into Bardigan again and nearly bounces off him, but manages a decent save. "THREE one two three ONE two three," she says, as she triumphantly falls back into the rhythm. Hey! She's read about this sort of thing! The great dragon philosopher Ped Xing wrote about this phenomenon, in which a doer becomes sufficiently absorbed in the doing that the two become indistinguishable. Hey, thinks Twilight, maybe dancing is my path to enlightenment! At which point she somehow gets her horn stuck in the potted plant she now has in the library for the purpose of this visual gag.
EconomistBrony apparently just caused poor Derpy to sqonk! Blushing a deep shade of crimson, EB promptly clears his throat and steps back against the wall. Oh boy. This is almost as embarassing as the horn-cleaning cream incident. Which totally wasn't for him, of course. Although his horn does look particularly shiny. "Ahem," he clears his throat again a bit as he shrinks a bit. "Er, hi there, Miss Rainbow Dash," he greets the rainbow-maned pony before pawing at the floor a bit. "Er, since your boy toy over there is occupied, er, Miss Dash," EB begins with a cough as he glances over towards Bardigan. "Perhaps you would, er, care to dance?" he asks Rainbow as he emerges from the back of the room slowly, listening to catch the classical music playing.
Derpy struggles around the room, limping for some reason even though it was her tail that was hurt, and looking for help. "Hello?" she cries. "Hellooo!? Can find boook??"
NightRaven hehs osftly as she hears Mirage. "So it would seem." She offers softly while she keeps to her spot at the side of the door just peering in. Her tail swaying a few times while her wings flutter at her sides. "I think I'll just stay out here.. Me and dancing don't like one another." This said with a soft tone to Mirage.
Wincing as it seems that Twilight whacks herself with a hanging pot, Rainbow Dash turns her attention back towards EB. With a an amused grin, she gives a tilt of her head. "Sure, why not." She says as she offers her hoof to him, stepping back out onto the 'dance floor'. Once they are in position, she settles her hoof on his shoulder and starts to move, taking the lead as usual, since she is used to it. "So, how are you doing?" She asks as she rests her cheek against his.
Mirage gives NightRaven a reassuring smile. "I find that hard to believe, considering how you can literally dance in the air when you're orchestrating the weather," she pauses and then nods. "That's alright, I'm not a dancer, either."
Pinkie_Pie trots down from the upper area wearing a pair of glasses and a neatly starched librarian's outfit. Her hair is done up in a cute bun. "Yes? Can I help you?" she asks Derpy. She glances at the other ponies. "... what? If Twilight's gonna be the dancing party pony and do sight gags, SOMEBODY around here has to handle the books."
"Oh dear." This is okay! This does not destroy the dancing beat. Bardigan chuckles as he reaches up to try and prize the plant from Twilight's head, hoping she isn't too caught up in her dancing zen to notice. Sure she's a unicorn and everything so she can magic it away, but it's not stallion-like to leave a pot on a filly's head!
Watching as Rainbow Dash goes drifting off wth EB, and the way farther into the room is finally clear, Fluttershy squeeeezes her way through the crowd. "S-so, um...is this why everypony came over?" she whispers to nopony in particular, pointing at the dancing couples. The clopping of tiny pink hooves gets her attention and she waves to Pinkie over the crowd - at least being yellow makes you easy to spot.
Twilight_Sparkle extracts her head from the pot with Bardigan's help, then momentarily gets distracted glancing back at Bardigan, which nearly causes her to get whacked in the face by the pot as it swings back the other way. Handily, she manages to duck, then takes Bardigan's foreleg again and falls back into the rhythm. "One two three one two three...hey, I might actually be starting to get the hang of this!" She's still no Ginger Rogers, but she's no longer doing the Humpty Dance, which is objectively progress.
A few thumps, the muffled clatter of a small pile of books falling over, and The Smallest Foal comes skidding down the stairs backwards, four stubby legs splayed wildly. From the way she immediately hops to her feet, this may be her normal method of getting down stairs. She's about as tall as a single stair step. Party crashed, she immediately totters up to Pinkie Pie, and jabs her in the ankle with her tiny, blunt horn. Then the itty bitty black foal opens her gaping white mouth, sticks out her tongue, and demands, "Unh unh!"
Wouldn't it figure that the one time Twilight uses the library for something other than libing, the entire town would happen to drop by? Derpy feels lost in the chaos until Pinkie Pie turns out to be an unexpected librarian. She sighs and starts to talk, but realizes she's forgotten what to say! "...sight gag?" she asks, turning to look at how the potted plant seems to be learning how to dance now. The gray mare shakes her own skull. "Can find book for daughter? Strong words, not so derpy?" Her ears keep flicking, but she tries not to be distracted.
"Er, well then!" Economist_Brony says, catching poor Twilight whacking her head on a hanging shrubbery in the corner of his eye. One must be cautious of shrubbery, after all, even when one is skilled in the way of ni. Even if it is technically a hanging pot. "Er, well, I'm doing fine," he says before blinking as Rainbow takes the lead. Well, that's not quite right. Swiftly changing that by taking the lead himself, he listens for the beat and leans Rainbow in close to him. "Quite, er, very well in fact," he says with a little grin as he suddenly gives Rainbow a twirl, catching her and resuming taking perfect steps.
It seems that Rainbow Dash has been paying attention to Bardigan's lessons as well. When EB goes for the spin, she matches the beat perfectly as her body twirls and once more catches his shoulder with her hoof. As they rock back and forth along the room, she grins. "Quite well, huh? Why is that?" She asks as she blows a strand of rainbow away from her face. At times she will glance over towards Bardigan and Twilight, but her attention comes back to the unicorn in her arms. Just to be a brat, she takes the lead once more, pushing forward with her chest against his as she backs him up two steps, followed by a turn of her body.
NightRaven glances to Mirage, a ear twitching slightly. "Yes well.. That is rather different then being on land and dancing." She offers with a slight tilt of her head at the thought. "I mean.. I'm use to dealing with the clouds an so forth." Her gaze turns back to the ponies that are dancing.
"Ha ha!" Bardigan laughs triumphantly, happy to slide back into the dance. "Next time you go to the Gala, you will be the envy of Canterlot, I'm sure. Stallions will be falling over themselves to have the honor of your hoof, my dear!" Just to be safe, he keeps her a little closer this time round, picking up the pace by taking both her hooves and leading into a quick, swishing spin that makes tails twirl.
Pinkie_Pie carefully stuffs a cupcake into the foal's mouth, then turns back to Derpy. "Bigger words? Um... lessee... I mean, why yes, madame, I'm sure we have something suited to your needs." She produces a book with the letters printed VERY LARGE, titled 'The Queen's Speech'. "Are these big enough?"
Mirage tilts an ear in thought as she listens to NightRaven while watching the dancing. "What if you pretend your partner is a cloud?" she asks, wondering if this will be any help. She still just looks on at the dancers, though. "A waltz? An old fashioned ballroom waltz? Where will they be dancing? Canterlot?"
Derpy looks at the book presented to her. She stands back so as to appreciate the words better. She tilts her head. "Quail speech?" she asks.
Fluttershy just sort of...lands again, worming her way backwards into the gap between two shelves. "I-I'll just stay back here," she mumbles. "Out of everypony's way..." When she can't wedge herself in any more, she lowers her head, but between the forest of flailing pony legs, she sees somepony new - the tiny foal again. Hmm.
EconomistBrony catches himself as Rainbow Dash suddenly pushes forward while taking the lead once more. He tilts his head down and stares back at her, as though to say, ~Oh, this is on.~ He steps to the side and presses back towards her while keeping the beat, recapturing the lead from the rainbow-maned pegasus. "Oh, well," the unicorn continues, tilting his head down slightly to shoot her a sultry look. "Things have, er, been going well." The unicorn leads Rainbow back a few more steps, then to the side before suddenly bringing her down into a dip, his horn shimmering with magic as she floats delicately into his arms, surrounded by an aura of magic. He then floats her back up to standing position before grinning wryly and stepping her backwards again.
The Smallest Foal now has a cupcake in her mouth. Partly in her mouth. The entire cupcake is roughly the same size as her head. She earnestly attempts to chew it, smearing icing all over her muzzle and mostly over her face. Her momentary delight and contentment is interrupted when she goes, "Mmm mmm!" at Pinkie, and stabs the bookshelf with her horn. Another book falls out, entitled 'Canter Berries Tales'.
Well now! That is something Bardigan can't do. A proper dip with magic. Rainbow Dash finds herself falling backwards, her arms hooking around EB's neck for a moment before realizing that she is floating. With a pump of her wings she is back into his arms once more as they start to sway and dance once again. "Oh? And why are they going well for?" She asks with a grin on her face as she pushes back against him once more, followed by a lift into the air as she gives as slow twirl over his head as she lands on his other side, and once more takes his hoof.
NightRaven hums softly as she hears Mirage, pondering what she says curiously while her gaze slowly moves around the library. "Perhaps that is one way to look at it." Though once she catches sight of the tiny foal she blinks and titls her head. Its not often that she sees other black colored ponies after all. "Who's the little foal?" She questions to Mirage pondering if she knows.
Rarity nudges the door open with her nose, grandly entering the Library with a small stack of books precariously balanced atop her head. Posture training, so it seems, and the elgant pony has quite the story to tell, now that she's returned with the books from the library that she borrowed. "Twilight? Hello? Well! It was quite the effort but I MADE it! I've got a-" She announces bodly and freezes, before her muzzle drops open in ernest surprise. A...party? In the Library? And Twilight is swinging a potted plant around on her horn? Is she drunk? Is this...what is happening here?! "...I'll just...pay the late fees. " Rarity sputters quietly, slowly taking a step back towards the door, still balancing the books on her head without the use of magic.
Twilight_Sparkle notices this maneuver of EB's. she glances at Bardigan, and gives him a grin. "Guess you'll have to let me lead for a moment! Ready when you are," she says, then floats herself into his arms and dips herself, then undips herself back into place, without missing a beat. Okay, not quite without, but she squeezes in a lot more beats so they'll average out to the right number. *clopclopclopclop*
Mirage has been focused on the dancing and blinks a bit as NightRaven gets her attention. "What little...?" she says and then sees the foal over by Pinkie, who by the way, is looking very nice and professional today. "I don't know," she replies to NightRaven. "I've never seen her before." She glances at NightRaven again. "Relative of yours?"
Pinkie_Pie stares at Derpy for a long time, then grabs her head with her hooves. "I can't understand Derpy anymore! I've... I've logicified my brain somehow! It might be permanent!" she wails. "For the love of Celestia, someone hit me with a pie!" she runs around the library, frantic, until she barrels into Rarity, sending both of them and the neatly carried pile of books tumbling.
EconomistBrony catches that sudden, surprised little look as she gets that magical dip into his arms. "Well, you see, there's this pretty cyan pegasus I keep having chance encounters with," the unicorn says upon clearing his throat again. He turns up his head and watches as she twirls over top him before taking his hoof upon landing. Not to be outdone, the unicorn levitates over a flower (from where, who knows, but Twilight seems to conveniently have things around that are necessary for silly or romantic gags) and sticks it in his mouth with a handsome sparkle in his eye. He steps back into the beat and seizes the lead once more, stepping her away from the sudden book/pony pileup occuring by the door as best he can.
Derpy is more than a little disturbed at Pinkie's reaction. She stares, eyes bugging out, as she tumble helter-skelter about the place, sending Rarity and a pile of books flying. She dodges one such books, and then takes another, closer look at the large-print book in question. "Ohhhh! QUEEN speech!"
There is a sputter of a laugh from Rainbow Dash as her eyes roll upwards a bit. "Are you flirting with me right in front of my plus-one? You are quite the confident stallion are you not EB?" She asks as she gives a quick swaying of her hips as the music picks up in the air. She lets him lead, for now, twirling and bouncing on her hooves with a flourish as her rainbow mane sprawls across her eyes in that chop-top manner. "You know, you could always cut in and ask Twilight for a dance." She says with a wink.
Fluttershy *squeak*s at a pile of books hurtling in her direction. She scrambles frantically tryign to dislodge herself from her hiding place, but she's wedged in too tight, and winds up buried under wave after wave of classical literature. The wallflower is firmly planted.
It's only about now that Bardigan really notices EB and Rainbow Dash having at it, in the middle of Twilight's improvised dip. His eyebrow sort of... twitches. For just a moment. And then he's all smiles again for Twilight! "Well well! Already getting into the swing of things? Then let's pick it up a bit!" And with that declaration he pushes them up on two hooves, twirling the unicorn before taking her in his hooves and lifting into the air! They continue the spin gently, one of his hooves out and up, the other holding tight around her back before they settle back on the floor and slip back into the dance.
The Smallest Foal insists, "MMMMMMMMM!" and flaps her sparrow sized wings, lifting herself all of an inch above the floor in frustration. With pink icing dripping around her and a cupcake occluding most of her vision, she stumbles urgently forward and turns a bluegreen eye to the page in front of Derpy. Tapping it with her hoof, she then waves the hoof in front of... well, underneath Derpy while complaining, "Mmmm mmmmm!"
NightRaven blinks as she hears Mirage and smirks slightly. "I don't thnk so.." She murmurs out softly, pondering about the little foal before clearing her throat while taking a few steps back. "I think I'l going to step out while I can before I get pulled into this little dance off or osmething along those lines." Works for sure! "Have a good night Mirage." This offered while she turns and starts to trot off humming a soft tune to herself while she goes.
Twilight_Sparkle whinnies in surprise as she's suddenly dancing with Bardigan on two hooves, then back down on all fours. "Hey Spike!" she calls. "Look at me! I'm actually dancing and no one's laughing or staring!"
Spike watches Twilight, looking almost disappointed by the lack of anything to mock about her performance. "That's...pretty good, actually!"
A few books slide down from the pile in the corner. "Um, hello? A-anypony? I think I'm stuck...please help me." The entire pile shifts, and then Fluttershy's head pokes out. "I mean, if it's not too much trouble." As she pulls more and more of her body out and then finally pops free, one of the books manages to slide its way over to Derpy - 'Great Discoveries in Metafiction.' "Oh, good job, Twilight! I didn't know you could dance."
Mirage is trying to remember where she's seen dancing like this before... the old time beat of 1, 2, 3... oh yes, at the quaint retirement home, 'Celestia's Waiting Room'. Champagne music, that's what it was called. She remembers that night, the old style big band, Quarterhorse Lawrence directing....
"Er, flirting?" EB asks with a tilt of his head to the side. "I haven't the faintest idea what you're talking about, plus," the unicorn says with a little grin, his words only slightly muffled by the flower in his mouth. Okay, it's muffled a lot, but his player is terrible at writing muffied dialogue. "And, er, well, I am a stallion, and I do have considerable skill, yes." He steps forward once more before glancing over towards Bardigan and Twilight. "And, er, who said -you're- the cyan pegasus?" he asks before suddenly swinging her around in a sudden twirl. He lets her spin twice before ducking her back into his arms, staring down at her and slipping the flower from his mouth to hers.
As she is twirled into the air, Rainbow Dash lets out a playful giggle as her wings beat a few times before she lands once more in his arms. As they sway about, her hooves hook around his neck. Eyes widening as he leans in to press his mouth to hers to pass the flower, her ears perk straight upwards. There is a bit of an awkward moment as their lips meet, at least from her end, and this is surely going to be scandalous. With the flower now between her teeth, she is blushing furiously as she clears her throat, ducking her head.
As she is twirled into the air, Rainbow Dash lets out a playful giggle as her wings beat a few times before she lands once more in his arms. As they sway about, her hooves hook around his neck. Eyes widening as he leans in to press his mouth to hers to pass the flower, her ears perk straight upwards. There is a bit of an awkward moment as their lips meet, at least from her end, and this is surely going to be scandalous. With the flower now between her teeth, she is blushing furiously as she clears her throat, ducking her head.
Derpy picks up the Great Adventures in Metafiction Book. She looks awkwardly around for someone to check her out...and seeing no one currently prepared for such a thing, she hurries out, dodging the dapping dancers with timid care.
"If they ever stare again, miss Sparkle, it will be in awe," Bardigan declares, pressing up against Twilight and sending them into a quick spin around the dance floor, ending up right next to EB and Dash. Yes, he *saw* that little thing with the flower! He taps EB on the shoulder. "May I have this dance?" he asks, sounding a little terse.
Twilight_Sparkle manages to end the dance without falling on her face, and this fact alone causes her to beam widely. Having seen the trick with the flower herself, she figures the others have things to talk about that don't involve her, and backs away to a safe distance. "Hey, Spike!" she says. "Apparently I used to be bad at dancing! I know, I know, I'm as surprised as you are!"
The Smallest Foal rolls her eyes, and sits her fat little black butt on the floor, giving her cupcake a couple of chews. As she does, her aquamarine eyes slowly unfocus, drifting until she's a little walleyed herself as she kneads the sugary cupcake in her gums, mumbling, "Mmmmmmmmm..."
Spike grins. "You always seemed to enjoy it, though."
You say "Maybe you ought to learn! I'm sure Rarity could find the time to practice with you."
Pinkie_Pie has settled down and is just watching the proceedings dreamily. So romantic! Flowers and dancing and smoochies...
Spike tries his best to look dubious, and waves his hand dismissively. "Nah, that's girl stuff." His disdain is somehow less than convincing, though.
You say "If it's girl stuff, why is a boy also traditionally involved?"
Scandalous? EconomistBrony? Never ever! He's just that quiet, awkward unicorn finance minister who wanders around and acts awkward. And yes, that was intentionally written awkward. *Bad metahumor Ahahaha* Of course, EB watches Rainbow's eyes go wide as she receives that flower. He didn't intend to smoochie or whatnot, he simply passed a flower to the cyan pegasus. A simple matter of a fair transaction. Watching her blush and duck her head, though, the unicorn simply gives a little msile before glancing back to see Bardigan trot over and tap him on the shoulder. "Er, of course. She is your 'plus' after all," he says before clopping back to the floor and walking away, shooting Bardigan a little look and wry smile.
"Oh! Uh, Bardigan! Er, that..was.. probably.. exactly what it looked.. like.." Rainbow Dash says as he steps in to cut in to their dance. With a fleeting smile towards Econ as he trots off, she turns to her plus-one and looks suddenly ashamed as she glances down to her hooves. Her wings give a slight flutter as she drops the flower from her mouth to the ground, then scoots it off to the side with a motion of her foot.
Pinkie_Pie snags the flower and nibbles on it quietly. This party is distressingly inadequate on refreshments.
Spike raises a finger and opens his mouth as if to answer Twilight's question, then frowns and looks puzzled for a minute. He turns and tries to look busy shelving books.
Fluttershy watches EB and Bardigan exchange pleasantries - for a moment, the little Viewmaster in the back of her mind had switched from picturesque nature scenes to seriously wondering if they were about to dance with each other, or maybe perform some strange four-way tango with Rainbow and Twilight. Everypony is still dancing and talking, and there are so many ponies here that it's overwhelming. Fluttershy just sits down next to Pinkie. "...um, hi. Would you like a bunny treat?"
Pinkie_Pie beams at Fluttershy, and offers her the rest of the flower. ^^
"No doubt," Bardigan says under his breath as he peeeeers out of the corner of his eyes EB's way. He is still watching you. Foreverrr! "Well! Twilight seems to have gained new confidence in her dancing abilities. Mission accomplished." He holds out a hoof for Rainbow Dash. "Shall we?"
"Oh, she had confidence before, just the skill set was sorely lacking." Rainbow Dash says as she follows his gaze after to EB. "Um, I.. I don't know.. I'm kinda .. danced out." She says as she inches forward instead and leans into him, tucking her head under his chin for a moment. Slowly she curls her arms around his neck then starts to slowly sway with him to the music.
The Smallest Foal's ears, roughly the size of a bit each, dart straight up at the word 'treat'. Her plump little black body toddles straight through the crowd, failing to end up underneath anyone's hooves with either superpony luck or superpony skill, to pop right out on the other side in front of Fluttershy. "Mmm mmm!" she begs, hopping up and down on her black marshmallow shaped hooves, even though she still has a cupcake bulging out of her mouth.
Twilight_Sparkle returns to the thing she was doing when this all started! She resumes returning returned books to their homes on the shelves, humming and dancing. Only this time, she sucks considerably less!
Making her way into the library is Rainbow Dash, as usual all grins upon her face. "Hey Twilight, whatcha up to? It's obviously not dancing." She says as she looks amused as her brows raise upwards.
Twilight_Sparkle startles, rearing up slightly! Oh! Heh heh...hello, Rainbow Dash! No, dancing is *really* not what I'm doing at the moment! I'm just putting these books away and...I guess my hindquarters got their own ideas, what with the music playing." She shelves the current book, then turns around to face the blue rainbow pony. "Believe me, if I *were* dancing you'd be able to tell! You saw me dancing at your birthday party, remember?"
"Yeah, I sure did. I wasn't sure if you were serious or just mess'n." Rainbow Dash says with a grin on her face. "You looked like a puppet, flailing about. So, hey, I was curious.. uh.. you want some lessons in how to dance? I mean, we're gonna be friends and all, I can't have you embarrassing me at all the cool parties the Wonderbolts may show up at."
Blinking in surprise, Twilight tilts her head. "No, I think you have my dancing confused with someone else's! I was really tearing it up. I've made a thorough study of Sugarhoof's seminal work on the subject of great Equestrian dance steps, and then I've taken the strongest points of each dance and combined them into a dance which is academically perfect. Observe!" And with that, she's dancing. Kind of. Or at least she's doing something which, in context, must be her version of dancing. There's a weird semi-rhythmic head-jerk and hind-leg-kick involved.
"Stop Stop Stop!" Dash cries out as she reaches out with her hooves to pin her friend down. "For the love of Celestia, please stop. You are making my head hurt." She says with a panicked look in her eyes. "Listen, Twilight, you can't read a book and learn how to dance, and you definitely can't take a buncha dances and shove 'em together like that. Dancing is about passion, about feeling the rhythm of the song and moving along with it. It's like .. well.. uh.. it's like.. " She waves a hoof. "Nevermind that. Look, turn the music up and I'll show you." She says as she waits for it to get cranked, then starts to move. Slowly at first, a bit of a bob going along with the beat. "See.. one two three, one two three.. you rock side to side like this." Bop Bop Bop. "Then, you want to put some moves into it." She says as she kicks out a leg, does a quick spin, back trots, then goes back to bobbing.
Twilight_Sparkle watches Rainbow dash, squinting in concentration. "Ah...I see...wait, what are you? Oh...I see, yeah, like that with your tail, and then with the two right legs...hang on, let me take some notes on this!" She magically rifles through an open blank notebook, taking up a quill and scribbling frantically. "Now, does this sequence of body movements loop, at any point, or does it just go on forever, like the digits of pi? I'm good at memorization, I just want to know how much of it I'm up against."
"No No! Do not write anything down. You're killing me here Twilight." Rainbow Dash says as she continues to dance, bouncing a bit on her hooves as she rocks her hips from side to side along with the music. "Putcha paper and quill down and come here and dance with me. It's not about what you write down, it's about what happens in the 'moment'. It's like... when you're kissing a boy I guess, you know? You don't just go for the kill, you gotta ease into it, slowly. It's the same with dancing, unless you're at the Rainbow Rave and then you got freaking nuts in there, but right now I'm teaching you how to dance without embarrassing yourself. So c'mere, rock with me, side to side."
Twilight_Sparkle approaches her friend, her expression skeptical. "Rocking from side to side? You think I need to be taught...how to rock from side to side." She steps into place next to Rainbow Dash, and obediently begins rocking to the music, too, tentatively at first. "This REALLY isn't necessary, Rainbow Dash. I mean, when I can do THIS..." She waggles her hindquarters and kicks her front hooves dramatically. And tosses her head, violently. "See? I've got good instincts! I've studied instincts."
"Twilight, you have the instincts of a drunk buffalo trying to learn how to fly by jumping off a cliff. Listen three left feet, I'm the expert here, you're the student. You like learning things, so learn how to dance the right way, and if you do that weird kick thing again I'm gonna give you a rainboom." Dash says with a grin as she continues to rock back and forth with a bit of a sway to her body. "You need to learn rhythm first before you can start doing fancy moves." She says. "Alright, now as we bounce, we're gonna do a bit of a spin, alright?" She says as she goes first, continuing to bounce as she trots in a circle with a quick two step.
Twilight scowls, and goes back to rocking back and forth. "Well, all right. I mean, if it's SO important to you, I'll concede--completely hypothetically and for the sake of argument--that you MIGHT be right about my dancing. I'll humor you," she says, adding a bit of forward motion so she's trotting forward. She turns her head and continues, "and then you'll see that there's nothing at all to--" she runs head-on into a bookshelf and ends up sprawled on her back, just before an avalanche of books lands on her. *whumph*
Spike blinks awake from a rather excellent nap, uncurls, stretches, and stares bleary-eyed and confused at Twilight.
Placing a hoof to her face, Rainbow Dash lets out a loud groan. With a glance out the window, she spies through the clouds and then let's out a loud 'ah-ha!' "I will be /right/ back. You just .. you lay there and look stupid Twilight. Give me a moment." There is a quick zoom as she leaps out the window and speeds upwards. Soon after there is a loud yelp from the male persuasion, and a minute later she is blurring back through the window, dragging Bardigan by the tail who is clutching a few books to his chest and his hat is lopsided as he tries to keep it on. Thump. She drops him down to the ground and then says, "Alright, Bardigan, you're going to dance with me. We need to teach Twilight how to dance because she's hopeless."
"Up and at 'em' Bardigan." Rainbow Dash says as she shoves her head against his flank, looking to push him to his hooves. There is music playing on Twilight's record player. "C'mon, you've seen her dance, you /know/ what I'm talking about. It's horrifying! She could scare nightmares with her moves. Twilight, you're gonna dance with Bardigan. You need a boy to dance with."
Bardigan struggles to his hooves, straightening out his hat. "I was in the middle of composing some *very* inspired verses!" he complains, dusting off his chest to make himself look presentable. "But. Let it never be said this gentlepony left a poor mare without a dance..." He clears his throat and turns to Twilight, extending a hoof. "Miss Sparkle," he says gregariously, with that sparkling grin he always has. "Shall we?"
By the time Dash is back with Bardigan, Twilight has emerged from under the pile of books, and delegated the job of putting them back onto the shelf to Spike. "Spike. Shelf," she says. She then turns her attentions back to the returning Dash and newly arrived Bardigan. She looks up at Bardigan. "Shall we what? Dance?" She hesitantly links her front leg with his, a bit clumsily, glancing over at Rainbow Dash as if to say 'is this how I'm supposed to do it?'
Nodding her head to Twilight, Rainbow Dash circles the two of them. "Now, don't go falling for my plus-one Twilight. He has some pretty smooth moves that can make a heart go crazy." She says with a grin as she continues to dance to the music, bobbing and twirling about as she goes with practiced precision.
Derpy, who has just shown up, apprehensively enters the library. She sets a hoof inside as if unsure what will happen to her when she does.
Spike sighs, and patiently starts reshelving the books. "I still say we should just use the floor as one big shelf."
"Dance it is then!" Bardigan declares, as if she had a choice. "This is good music for a quick start... put your hooves down to the beat of the music. Follow my movements, but not too closely or you'll definitely trip. Now. One, and two, and step..." Slowly, he glides out onto the floor, swaying his body to the sounds of the strings, keeping a hold on Twilight's hoof so she hasn't an excuse to trail off! "It's easy, see? Just follow my steps," he says, matching the cadence of the music with his voice. Every step is well measured enough to flow into the other... He's been doing this for a long time.
Twilight_Sparkle follows along with Bardigan...clipclop, clop, clopclop, clip...*bump* her flank collides with his, and she wobbles, and only doesn't fall over because Bardigan is holding onto her. She worriedly glances over at Spike, hoping he was facing away, just now. She redoubles her efforts to follow with Bardigan, but she moves awkwardly, unsure of herself. She's well past the point where a checklist can do her any good!
Derpy comes into the library, mouth and eyes open. She pauses when she sees the dancing, and peeks outside at the sign to make sure she's in the right place. Then she comes back in, looking confused.
Fluttershy peeks over Derpy's back, peering with dubious eyes into the room. "Um...hello, um, everypony. Um, I heard something, so I thought maybe...um, what's going on?"
Spike, unfortunately for Twilight, did see her misstep and collision with Bardigan. He pauses his reshelving chores to cover his mouth and muffle a snicker, but it doesn't do much to hide the fact that he's grinning from earfin to earfin. "Hey Twilight, when you're done with this, maybe you should try taking up ice skating again."
"Hey Fluttershy, we're teaching Twilight how to dance so that next time we go to the Grand Galloping Gala, she won't look like a train wreck." Rainbow Dash calls over to Fluttershy as she continues to dance and move along with the music. She is not anywhere as graceful as Bardigan, but she has a bit of an edge to it. She's a rockstar after all. With a twirl of her body, she rocks her hips side to side as she moves about Bardigan and Twilight. "Come dance with me Flutter!" She calls out to her friend.
"That's it!" Bardigan says with an encouraging smile, the bumping and clippity-clopping doing little to unabalance his smooth moves. He survived Rainbow Dash stomping all over his hooves after all! "Wonderful for a beginner. Just listen to the music. Eyes on the hooves. Or wherever makes you comfortable." He speaks softly, keeping his eyes on the wobbly librarian, moving quite slow enough to keep up with. "Don't worry about being watched. Dancing is for the dancers..."
Mirage wanders in slowly and cautiously behind Fluttershy, and is quite surprised to see the venerable library is now a dance studio of sorts. She nods a little hello but tries to seek out a safe place from which to observe.
Twilight_Sparkle is blushing! Suddenly she has an audience...how, she asks herself silently, did I get from sorting a shelf of books and listening to Bay Hoofen's ninth symphony, the Oats To Joy, to having to take dancing lessons in front of several ponies she will find impossible to avoid afterward? Nevertheless, she seems to have found herself an "in." "ONE two three ONE two three ONE two three," she counts under her breath. "Hey, I think I get it! It's like a kind of math thing! Like, the beats are fractions, and the moves are geometry! Wow, maybe dancing isn't just a bunch of ponies doing random things."
Meanwhile, some random half-coherent and awkward mumbling is heard from just outside the library door. "Er, um, excuse me Miss Fluttershy. If, er, you don't mind," the unicorn says from outside before slowly poking in as well. Seems like the library's not only become a makeshift dance studio, it's also become the place to be in ponyville! Naturally, such a thing would generally cause EB to stay as far away as possible as to avoid any further awkward moments. However, given the pony he's trying to find is likely inside, he doesn't have much choice. "Er, is Miss Twilight in the- oh, excuse me Miss," he apologizes to Derpy upon stepping on some appendage of hers.
NightRaven is following along a few steps behind Mirage, her ears perking and gaze drifting over the ones that are here curiously. A soft oh escaping her as she catches sight of the dancing. She glancs over to EB as shs hears him and steps out of the way so he can get by, a slight smile and nod offered to him in the process.
With a leap into the air, Rainbow Dash gives a bit of a twirl with a single pump of her wings before landing on her hooves. With another spin of her body, she reaches out for Fluttershy, only to be cut off by Economist's approach as he makes his way into the library. Ahem. "Oh, hey EB." She says as she drops her hoof down with a sheepish grin on her face. Her rainbow shag-cut is sprawled into her eyes.
Derpy clears her throat, but forgets to make any noise in doing so. She steps forward to lodge her query, but finds a unicorn stepping on her tail and lets out a bizaree "SQQOooNKK!!" Her face convulses in embarrasment as she leaps forward, having interrupted the dance. She glances jerkily to and fro.
Fluttershy stares up at Rainbow Dash. "W-who, me? Dance with *you*? ...*here*?" She looks around - so many ponies staring at her, their eyes drilling through her shell of tranquility right into her soul! Before she gets a chance to realize that nopony is acutally staring at *her*, she finds herself nudged slightly by EB - "Oh, sorry," - and then jumps straight up when Derpy makes a sound like a maimed goose.
Spike sees what happens to Derpy and guards his own tail, holding the pointed tip of it in his hands protectively. He backs into a corner, where it seems safest to be, as things get busier and busier in the room.
Bardigan laughs, a kind, bass sound. "Ha ha! Well. That's one way to put it. Dancing *is* hardly random." Except raves. He's never going to figure those out, no matter how many Rainbow drags him to. "A matter of finding rhythm, reading the floor, the dancers... seeing how all the disparate comes together in one, sublime whole..." Derpy's noise makes him glance up and perk his ears, but he hardly loses any momentum. "Oh, my. Quite a crowd we're drawing," he notes with a smile.
Mirage just watches the ponies dancing on the floor and in the air, and tilts her ear at the classical music playing. "Classical ballroom dancing?" she muses with a sideglance to NightRaven. At the sound of an unusual voice she glances over to see Spike, and her bewildered expression makes it clear she's never seen a dragon, little or otherwise.
Twilight_Sparkle finds the increasing chaos somewhat distracting, and her counting gets louder. "ONE two three ONE two three ONE two three four--oops, no...One three ACK NO one--" she bumps into Bardigan again and nearly bounces off him, but manages a decent save. "THREE one two three ONE two three," she says, as she triumphantly falls back into the rhythm. Hey! She's read about this sort of thing! The great dragon philosopher Ped Xing wrote about this phenomenon, in which a doer becomes sufficiently absorbed in the doing that the two become indistinguishable. Hey, thinks Twilight, maybe dancing is my path to enlightenment! At which point she somehow gets her horn stuck in the potted plant she now has in the library for the purpose of this visual gag.
EconomistBrony apparently just caused poor Derpy to sqonk! Blushing a deep shade of crimson, EB promptly clears his throat and steps back against the wall. Oh boy. This is almost as embarassing as the horn-cleaning cream incident. Which totally wasn't for him, of course. Although his horn does look particularly shiny. "Ahem," he clears his throat again a bit as he shrinks a bit. "Er, hi there, Miss Rainbow Dash," he greets the rainbow-maned pony before pawing at the floor a bit. "Er, since your boy toy over there is occupied, er, Miss Dash," EB begins with a cough as he glances over towards Bardigan. "Perhaps you would, er, care to dance?" he asks Rainbow as he emerges from the back of the room slowly, listening to catch the classical music playing.
Derpy struggles around the room, limping for some reason even though it was her tail that was hurt, and looking for help. "Hello?" she cries. "Hellooo!? Can find boook??"
NightRaven hehs osftly as she hears Mirage. "So it would seem." She offers softly while she keeps to her spot at the side of the door just peering in. Her tail swaying a few times while her wings flutter at her sides. "I think I'll just stay out here.. Me and dancing don't like one another." This said with a soft tone to Mirage.
Wincing as it seems that Twilight whacks herself with a hanging pot, Rainbow Dash turns her attention back towards EB. With a an amused grin, she gives a tilt of her head. "Sure, why not." She says as she offers her hoof to him, stepping back out onto the 'dance floor'. Once they are in position, she settles her hoof on his shoulder and starts to move, taking the lead as usual, since she is used to it. "So, how are you doing?" She asks as she rests her cheek against his.
Mirage gives NightRaven a reassuring smile. "I find that hard to believe, considering how you can literally dance in the air when you're orchestrating the weather," she pauses and then nods. "That's alright, I'm not a dancer, either."
Pinkie_Pie trots down from the upper area wearing a pair of glasses and a neatly starched librarian's outfit. Her hair is done up in a cute bun. "Yes? Can I help you?" she asks Derpy. She glances at the other ponies. "... what? If Twilight's gonna be the dancing party pony and do sight gags, SOMEBODY around here has to handle the books."
"Oh dear." This is okay! This does not destroy the dancing beat. Bardigan chuckles as he reaches up to try and prize the plant from Twilight's head, hoping she isn't too caught up in her dancing zen to notice. Sure she's a unicorn and everything so she can magic it away, but it's not stallion-like to leave a pot on a filly's head!
Watching as Rainbow Dash goes drifting off wth EB, and the way farther into the room is finally clear, Fluttershy squeeeezes her way through the crowd. "S-so, um...is this why everypony came over?" she whispers to nopony in particular, pointing at the dancing couples. The clopping of tiny pink hooves gets her attention and she waves to Pinkie over the crowd - at least being yellow makes you easy to spot.
Twilight_Sparkle extracts her head from the pot with Bardigan's help, then momentarily gets distracted glancing back at Bardigan, which nearly causes her to get whacked in the face by the pot as it swings back the other way. Handily, she manages to duck, then takes Bardigan's foreleg again and falls back into the rhythm. "One two three one two three...hey, I might actually be starting to get the hang of this!" She's still no Ginger Rogers, but she's no longer doing the Humpty Dance, which is objectively progress.
A few thumps, the muffled clatter of a small pile of books falling over, and The Smallest Foal comes skidding down the stairs backwards, four stubby legs splayed wildly. From the way she immediately hops to her feet, this may be her normal method of getting down stairs. She's about as tall as a single stair step. Party crashed, she immediately totters up to Pinkie Pie, and jabs her in the ankle with her tiny, blunt horn. Then the itty bitty black foal opens her gaping white mouth, sticks out her tongue, and demands, "Unh unh!"
Wouldn't it figure that the one time Twilight uses the library for something other than libing, the entire town would happen to drop by? Derpy feels lost in the chaos until Pinkie Pie turns out to be an unexpected librarian. She sighs and starts to talk, but realizes she's forgotten what to say! "...sight gag?" she asks, turning to look at how the potted plant seems to be learning how to dance now. The gray mare shakes her own skull. "Can find book for daughter? Strong words, not so derpy?" Her ears keep flicking, but she tries not to be distracted.
"Er, well then!" Economist_Brony says, catching poor Twilight whacking her head on a hanging shrubbery in the corner of his eye. One must be cautious of shrubbery, after all, even when one is skilled in the way of ni. Even if it is technically a hanging pot. "Er, well, I'm doing fine," he says before blinking as Rainbow takes the lead. Well, that's not quite right. Swiftly changing that by taking the lead himself, he listens for the beat and leans Rainbow in close to him. "Quite, er, very well in fact," he says with a little grin as he suddenly gives Rainbow a twirl, catching her and resuming taking perfect steps.
It seems that Rainbow Dash has been paying attention to Bardigan's lessons as well. When EB goes for the spin, she matches the beat perfectly as her body twirls and once more catches his shoulder with her hoof. As they rock back and forth along the room, she grins. "Quite well, huh? Why is that?" She asks as she blows a strand of rainbow away from her face. At times she will glance over towards Bardigan and Twilight, but her attention comes back to the unicorn in her arms. Just to be a brat, she takes the lead once more, pushing forward with her chest against his as she backs him up two steps, followed by a turn of her body.
NightRaven glances to Mirage, a ear twitching slightly. "Yes well.. That is rather different then being on land and dancing." She offers with a slight tilt of her head at the thought. "I mean.. I'm use to dealing with the clouds an so forth." Her gaze turns back to the ponies that are dancing.
"Ha ha!" Bardigan laughs triumphantly, happy to slide back into the dance. "Next time you go to the Gala, you will be the envy of Canterlot, I'm sure. Stallions will be falling over themselves to have the honor of your hoof, my dear!" Just to be safe, he keeps her a little closer this time round, picking up the pace by taking both her hooves and leading into a quick, swishing spin that makes tails twirl.
Pinkie_Pie carefully stuffs a cupcake into the foal's mouth, then turns back to Derpy. "Bigger words? Um... lessee... I mean, why yes, madame, I'm sure we have something suited to your needs." She produces a book with the letters printed VERY LARGE, titled 'The Queen's Speech'. "Are these big enough?"
Mirage tilts an ear in thought as she listens to NightRaven while watching the dancing. "What if you pretend your partner is a cloud?" she asks, wondering if this will be any help. She still just looks on at the dancers, though. "A waltz? An old fashioned ballroom waltz? Where will they be dancing? Canterlot?"
Derpy looks at the book presented to her. She stands back so as to appreciate the words better. She tilts her head. "Quail speech?" she asks.
Fluttershy just sort of...lands again, worming her way backwards into the gap between two shelves. "I-I'll just stay back here," she mumbles. "Out of everypony's way..." When she can't wedge herself in any more, she lowers her head, but between the forest of flailing pony legs, she sees somepony new - the tiny foal again. Hmm.
EconomistBrony catches himself as Rainbow Dash suddenly pushes forward while taking the lead once more. He tilts his head down and stares back at her, as though to say, ~Oh, this is on.~ He steps to the side and presses back towards her while keeping the beat, recapturing the lead from the rainbow-maned pegasus. "Oh, well," the unicorn continues, tilting his head down slightly to shoot her a sultry look. "Things have, er, been going well." The unicorn leads Rainbow back a few more steps, then to the side before suddenly bringing her down into a dip, his horn shimmering with magic as she floats delicately into his arms, surrounded by an aura of magic. He then floats her back up to standing position before grinning wryly and stepping her backwards again.
The Smallest Foal now has a cupcake in her mouth. Partly in her mouth. The entire cupcake is roughly the same size as her head. She earnestly attempts to chew it, smearing icing all over her muzzle and mostly over her face. Her momentary delight and contentment is interrupted when she goes, "Mmm mmm!" at Pinkie, and stabs the bookshelf with her horn. Another book falls out, entitled 'Canter Berries Tales'.
Well now! That is something Bardigan can't do. A proper dip with magic. Rainbow Dash finds herself falling backwards, her arms hooking around EB's neck for a moment before realizing that she is floating. With a pump of her wings she is back into his arms once more as they start to sway and dance once again. "Oh? And why are they going well for?" She asks with a grin on her face as she pushes back against him once more, followed by a lift into the air as she gives as slow twirl over his head as she lands on his other side, and once more takes his hoof.
NightRaven hums softly as she hears Mirage, pondering what she says curiously while her gaze slowly moves around the library. "Perhaps that is one way to look at it." Though once she catches sight of the tiny foal she blinks and titls her head. Its not often that she sees other black colored ponies after all. "Who's the little foal?" She questions to Mirage pondering if she knows.
Rarity nudges the door open with her nose, grandly entering the Library with a small stack of books precariously balanced atop her head. Posture training, so it seems, and the elgant pony has quite the story to tell, now that she's returned with the books from the library that she borrowed. "Twilight? Hello? Well! It was quite the effort but I MADE it! I've got a-" She announces bodly and freezes, before her muzzle drops open in ernest surprise. A...party? In the Library? And Twilight is swinging a potted plant around on her horn? Is she drunk? Is this...what is happening here?! "...I'll just...pay the late fees. " Rarity sputters quietly, slowly taking a step back towards the door, still balancing the books on her head without the use of magic.
Twilight_Sparkle notices this maneuver of EB's. she glances at Bardigan, and gives him a grin. "Guess you'll have to let me lead for a moment! Ready when you are," she says, then floats herself into his arms and dips herself, then undips herself back into place, without missing a beat. Okay, not quite without, but she squeezes in a lot more beats so they'll average out to the right number. *clopclopclopclop*
Mirage has been focused on the dancing and blinks a bit as NightRaven gets her attention. "What little...?" she says and then sees the foal over by Pinkie, who by the way, is looking very nice and professional today. "I don't know," she replies to NightRaven. "I've never seen her before." She glances at NightRaven again. "Relative of yours?"
Pinkie_Pie stares at Derpy for a long time, then grabs her head with her hooves. "I can't understand Derpy anymore! I've... I've logicified my brain somehow! It might be permanent!" she wails. "For the love of Celestia, someone hit me with a pie!" she runs around the library, frantic, until she barrels into Rarity, sending both of them and the neatly carried pile of books tumbling.
EconomistBrony catches that sudden, surprised little look as she gets that magical dip into his arms. "Well, you see, there's this pretty cyan pegasus I keep having chance encounters with," the unicorn says upon clearing his throat again. He turns up his head and watches as she twirls over top him before taking his hoof upon landing. Not to be outdone, the unicorn levitates over a flower (from where, who knows, but Twilight seems to conveniently have things around that are necessary for silly or romantic gags) and sticks it in his mouth with a handsome sparkle in his eye. He steps back into the beat and seizes the lead once more, stepping her away from the sudden book/pony pileup occuring by the door as best he can.
Derpy is more than a little disturbed at Pinkie's reaction. She stares, eyes bugging out, as she tumble helter-skelter about the place, sending Rarity and a pile of books flying. She dodges one such books, and then takes another, closer look at the large-print book in question. "Ohhhh! QUEEN speech!"
There is a sputter of a laugh from Rainbow Dash as her eyes roll upwards a bit. "Are you flirting with me right in front of my plus-one? You are quite the confident stallion are you not EB?" She asks as she gives a quick swaying of her hips as the music picks up in the air. She lets him lead, for now, twirling and bouncing on her hooves with a flourish as her rainbow mane sprawls across her eyes in that chop-top manner. "You know, you could always cut in and ask Twilight for a dance." She says with a wink.
Fluttershy *squeak*s at a pile of books hurtling in her direction. She scrambles frantically tryign to dislodge herself from her hiding place, but she's wedged in too tight, and winds up buried under wave after wave of classical literature. The wallflower is firmly planted.
It's only about now that Bardigan really notices EB and Rainbow Dash having at it, in the middle of Twilight's improvised dip. His eyebrow sort of... twitches. For just a moment. And then he's all smiles again for Twilight! "Well well! Already getting into the swing of things? Then let's pick it up a bit!" And with that declaration he pushes them up on two hooves, twirling the unicorn before taking her in his hooves and lifting into the air! They continue the spin gently, one of his hooves out and up, the other holding tight around her back before they settle back on the floor and slip back into the dance.
The Smallest Foal insists, "MMMMMMMMM!" and flaps her sparrow sized wings, lifting herself all of an inch above the floor in frustration. With pink icing dripping around her and a cupcake occluding most of her vision, she stumbles urgently forward and turns a bluegreen eye to the page in front of Derpy. Tapping it with her hoof, she then waves the hoof in front of... well, underneath Derpy while complaining, "Mmmm mmmmm!"
NightRaven blinks as she hears Mirage and smirks slightly. "I don't thnk so.." She murmurs out softly, pondering about the little foal before clearing her throat while taking a few steps back. "I think I'l going to step out while I can before I get pulled into this little dance off or osmething along those lines." Works for sure! "Have a good night Mirage." This offered while she turns and starts to trot off humming a soft tune to herself while she goes.
Twilight_Sparkle whinnies in surprise as she's suddenly dancing with Bardigan on two hooves, then back down on all fours. "Hey Spike!" she calls. "Look at me! I'm actually dancing and no one's laughing or staring!"
Spike watches Twilight, looking almost disappointed by the lack of anything to mock about her performance. "That's...pretty good, actually!"
A few books slide down from the pile in the corner. "Um, hello? A-anypony? I think I'm stuck...please help me." The entire pile shifts, and then Fluttershy's head pokes out. "I mean, if it's not too much trouble." As she pulls more and more of her body out and then finally pops free, one of the books manages to slide its way over to Derpy - 'Great Discoveries in Metafiction.' "Oh, good job, Twilight! I didn't know you could dance."
Mirage is trying to remember where she's seen dancing like this before... the old time beat of 1, 2, 3... oh yes, at the quaint retirement home, 'Celestia's Waiting Room'. Champagne music, that's what it was called. She remembers that night, the old style big band, Quarterhorse Lawrence directing....
"Er, flirting?" EB asks with a tilt of his head to the side. "I haven't the faintest idea what you're talking about, plus," the unicorn says with a little grin, his words only slightly muffled by the flower in his mouth. Okay, it's muffled a lot, but his player is terrible at writing muffied dialogue. "And, er, well, I am a stallion, and I do have considerable skill, yes." He steps forward once more before glancing over towards Bardigan and Twilight. "And, er, who said -you're- the cyan pegasus?" he asks before suddenly swinging her around in a sudden twirl. He lets her spin twice before ducking her back into his arms, staring down at her and slipping the flower from his mouth to hers.
As she is twirled into the air, Rainbow Dash lets out a playful giggle as her wings beat a few times before she lands once more in his arms. As they sway about, her hooves hook around his neck. Eyes widening as he leans in to press his mouth to hers to pass the flower, her ears perk straight upwards. There is a bit of an awkward moment as their lips meet, at least from her end, and this is surely going to be scandalous. With the flower now between her teeth, she is blushing furiously as she clears her throat, ducking her head.
As she is twirled into the air, Rainbow Dash lets out a playful giggle as her wings beat a few times before she lands once more in his arms. As they sway about, her hooves hook around his neck. Eyes widening as he leans in to press his mouth to hers to pass the flower, her ears perk straight upwards. There is a bit of an awkward moment as their lips meet, at least from her end, and this is surely going to be scandalous. With the flower now between her teeth, she is blushing furiously as she clears her throat, ducking her head.
Derpy picks up the Great Adventures in Metafiction Book. She looks awkwardly around for someone to check her out...and seeing no one currently prepared for such a thing, she hurries out, dodging the dapping dancers with timid care.
"If they ever stare again, miss Sparkle, it will be in awe," Bardigan declares, pressing up against Twilight and sending them into a quick spin around the dance floor, ending up right next to EB and Dash. Yes, he *saw* that little thing with the flower! He taps EB on the shoulder. "May I have this dance?" he asks, sounding a little terse.
Twilight_Sparkle manages to end the dance without falling on her face, and this fact alone causes her to beam widely. Having seen the trick with the flower herself, she figures the others have things to talk about that don't involve her, and backs away to a safe distance. "Hey, Spike!" she says. "Apparently I used to be bad at dancing! I know, I know, I'm as surprised as you are!"
The Smallest Foal rolls her eyes, and sits her fat little black butt on the floor, giving her cupcake a couple of chews. As she does, her aquamarine eyes slowly unfocus, drifting until she's a little walleyed herself as she kneads the sugary cupcake in her gums, mumbling, "Mmmmmmmmm..."
Spike grins. "You always seemed to enjoy it, though."
You say "Maybe you ought to learn! I'm sure Rarity could find the time to practice with you."
Pinkie_Pie has settled down and is just watching the proceedings dreamily. So romantic! Flowers and dancing and smoochies...
Spike tries his best to look dubious, and waves his hand dismissively. "Nah, that's girl stuff." His disdain is somehow less than convincing, though.
You say "If it's girl stuff, why is a boy also traditionally involved?"
Scandalous? EconomistBrony? Never ever! He's just that quiet, awkward unicorn finance minister who wanders around and acts awkward. And yes, that was intentionally written awkward. *Bad metahumor Ahahaha* Of course, EB watches Rainbow's eyes go wide as she receives that flower. He didn't intend to smoochie or whatnot, he simply passed a flower to the cyan pegasus. A simple matter of a fair transaction. Watching her blush and duck her head, though, the unicorn simply gives a little msile before glancing back to see Bardigan trot over and tap him on the shoulder. "Er, of course. She is your 'plus' after all," he says before clopping back to the floor and walking away, shooting Bardigan a little look and wry smile.
"Oh! Uh, Bardigan! Er, that..was.. probably.. exactly what it looked.. like.." Rainbow Dash says as he steps in to cut in to their dance. With a fleeting smile towards Econ as he trots off, she turns to her plus-one and looks suddenly ashamed as she glances down to her hooves. Her wings give a slight flutter as she drops the flower from her mouth to the ground, then scoots it off to the side with a motion of her foot.
Pinkie_Pie snags the flower and nibbles on it quietly. This party is distressingly inadequate on refreshments.
Spike raises a finger and opens his mouth as if to answer Twilight's question, then frowns and looks puzzled for a minute. He turns and tries to look busy shelving books.
Fluttershy watches EB and Bardigan exchange pleasantries - for a moment, the little Viewmaster in the back of her mind had switched from picturesque nature scenes to seriously wondering if they were about to dance with each other, or maybe perform some strange four-way tango with Rainbow and Twilight. Everypony is still dancing and talking, and there are so many ponies here that it's overwhelming. Fluttershy just sits down next to Pinkie. "...um, hi. Would you like a bunny treat?"
Pinkie_Pie beams at Fluttershy, and offers her the rest of the flower. ^^
"No doubt," Bardigan says under his breath as he peeeeers out of the corner of his eyes EB's way. He is still watching you. Foreverrr! "Well! Twilight seems to have gained new confidence in her dancing abilities. Mission accomplished." He holds out a hoof for Rainbow Dash. "Shall we?"
"Oh, she had confidence before, just the skill set was sorely lacking." Rainbow Dash says as she follows his gaze after to EB. "Um, I.. I don't know.. I'm kinda .. danced out." She says as she inches forward instead and leans into him, tucking her head under his chin for a moment. Slowly she curls her arms around his neck then starts to slowly sway with him to the music.
The Smallest Foal's ears, roughly the size of a bit each, dart straight up at the word 'treat'. Her plump little black body toddles straight through the crowd, failing to end up underneath anyone's hooves with either superpony luck or superpony skill, to pop right out on the other side in front of Fluttershy. "Mmm mmm!" she begs, hopping up and down on her black marshmallow shaped hooves, even though she still has a cupcake bulging out of her mouth.
Twilight_Sparkle returns to the thing she was doing when this all started! She resumes returning returned books to their homes on the shelves, humming and dancing. Only this time, she sucks considerably less!