Post by Bardigan on Apr 30, 2013 16:40:32 GMT -5
Several ponies and a Diamond Dog share a few moments next to Saddle Lake.
--------
Amid the hills and trees near the pond, a stallion wanders the green fields and sparse copses of trees, enjoying the budding spring. Though he's a pegasus, he remains firmly rooted to the ground as he feels the undergrowth underhoof, the gentle sound of bending grass and wandering wind. The Sun has set and the only hint of its light is still raised up over the horizon like a child still saying good night though it's far past bedtime. The stallion is looking very pleased with himself, his well combed mane hanging free without the constraint of his customary tricorn hat. His outstretched wings brush over tall flowers and over the bark of trees as a wispy, dreamy song floats from his lips, sometimes hummed, sometimes sung as a few fireflies start to appear in the dusky half-light. The sound carries quite a distance; this colt has some lungs on him!
And there's Fluttershy, bobbing back and forth a scant few inches above the ground in little fluttery bursts in time to a song she's humming. o/~ We're gonna go anywhere in a balloon... o/~ She sets down on top of a hill and takes in a deep breath, looking out over her wonderful, natural home, like she's seeing a good friend for the first time in a long while.
( Sweetie's hanging out at the lake. She's been Crusading part of the day, trying to skip stones. Hefting a pebble in her mouth, she gives it a toss and it Splooshes right in the water. "Awww," she says. She's tried it a hundred times already. She goes to sit on her blanket, and watch the last of the sunset (She might've also been having a picnic and trying to talk to animals and all sorts of other crusading things). Ears perk lightly and she looks over as she hears what sounds like singing. And now Fluttershy is here and singing too, her eyes get wide. )
Mingled words soon find mixed company. Bardigan's singing, clear and bright though it is, gradually fades away as his ears pick up another voice just under his own. His ears perk and a smile spreads over his face as he recognizes the singer. He turns to a firefly that just alighted on the tip of his wing. "Let's go say hello, shall we?" he asks, to which the firefly beams. He starts crunching through the grass to come to the crest of the hill, in full view of Sweetie Belle. He approaches as quietly as he can, knowing how Fluttershy is about loud noises and surprises. And there he stands and listens for a little while, basking in... everything, really. Apparently, he took her lesson to heart.
Fluttershy lets her deep breath out, and turns, opening her eyes just in time to Bardigan look out over the hills as well. "H-hello," she calls, and trots down the hillside. "Um...how are you, Bardigan?" Strangely, the hills hold a faint echo of her voice.
( Sweetie knows half the adult ponies here, so that's probably good. She picks her way over, creeping tree to tree, and peeks around. Eyes widen as she spies a few moments, feeling a Gabby Gum vibe as she starts to wonder if Fluttershy and Bardigan are in /love/. )
"My dear Fluttershy," Bardigan says in a rough whisper as he trots up to meet her, stopping a scant few inches away. "Here we meet again under the cover of night. I'm glad you're here... I've been meaning to talk to you. And I brought a friend." His wings still spread happily open, he twists one about and the firefly still attached to its tip gently alights on Fluttershy's nose without any complaint. Is it instinctive, he wonders, for animals to feel Fluttershy's kindness? "You remember the last time we talked?" He smiles. "I know I haven't forgotten. I meant to thank you for it." His eyes wander upward. "The atmosphere seems to agree."
"The last time...?" Fluttershy casts her mind back, back... "Of course. I-I couldn't forget. Um...I'm really glad it helped But what, um...what did it help with?" She smiles, keeping her head still so the firefly can dance on her nose, but it's right around then that her eyes flit to the side and she lifts a wing, waving at Sweetie.
( Not getting a good enough vantage point, Sweetie starts scale the tree and ease out over the branch. It bows a little as she dips her head down trying to listen to what they're saying. It would maybe work, but she's a marshamllow white pony. Also the branch breaks a few moments after Fluttershy spots and waves to her. She looks up, eyes swirlies, and says, "Hi Fluttershy!" )
"Well, as a matter of fact..." Bardigan's eyes are drawn to Sweetie Belle, and now she's getting the full force of a handsome playwright's smile, until-! "Oh, dear!" Bardigan sputters as the branch snaps and Sweetie goes tumbling down. He's at her side in a moment to try and help her up... but she *is* a marshmallow pony, and probably less prone to damage! "Goodness me! Are you all right?" he asks, reaching out a wing to steady her.
"H-hello, Sweetie," says Fluttershy, twotting over, her nose still glowing so bright. "Are you all right? Do you need a band-aid? O-or maybe Rarity could kiss it and make it better..."
"I'm ok," she says, shaking the swirls from her eyes and then smiles. "I was just out. And thought I should climb a tree!" She gazes away quickly in case they see through her deception. It's iron clad though! She's helped up and gives a smile to the pair. "I'm not interupting anything..." she asks, adding a rather suggestive "Am I?" on the end.
Bardigan smiles placidly, easily catching on to Sweetie Belle's not-so-subtle nudges. "Oh," he says, drawing back and giving his luscious blonde mane a gentle flick. "No, not at all! I was just about to thank my good friend Fluttershy for her help with something quite dear to me," he says, gazing over at the demure mare next to him, "and I was about to try and find the proper way to thank her."
<OOC> Sweetie_Belle eyes the clock, "Aww, probably should go next pose."
<OOC> Fluttershy says, "Eep."
<OOC> You say, "Nuuuu."
<OOC> Sweetie_Belle says, "If I stay up too late, I sleep in class the next morning and miss out on Miss Cheerilee's lesson!"
<OOC> You say, "But we can teach you *life* lessons!"
<OOC> Sweetie_Belle rubs her chin, "This is true," she says, giving it consideration.
"Oof," whispers Fluttershy as a stray swirl pings off her face. "Oh dear. I, um...n-no, of course not. We were just talking about something, b-but I don't mind having you around Sweetie Belle. I, um - are you sure you're okay?"
Sweetie_Belle looks from one to the other, back and forth. A little closer each time as if the nearness will tell her if they're lying. WHen they seem to be telling the truth, she just grins and figures good gossip is hard to find. She'd probably have just told Rarity if it were so anyway. She dances on her hooves a bit, "I was working on my Cutie Mark," she explains. "And then I heard singing. And then I... fell out of a tree." She sighs and peers up at the sky, "I guess I should go home though. Princess Luna's brought the stars out early and my parents don't like me staying out after dark." She takes a few steps off, pausing to wave back behind her then makes a gallop for home.
"And Rarity complains about that sweet little filly?" Bardigan muses with a chuckle. A few moments of silence fall over them as the wind brushes through the trees, rustling ever so faintly. Bardigan closes his eyes and lets the moving air sweep over his mane, spreading his wings to feel it in his feathers. It's a pegasus thing. Surely Fluttershy understands! "I did mean it," he says quietly, sitting still as his feathers quiver in the breeze, "when I said I wanted to thank you. Your words, and what you did with me in the Lunarium... it set me on a better path, Fluttershy."
"Oh, Sweetie Belle is a very *sweet* little filly. She's just, um...kind of a hoof-ful sometimes, that's all." Fluttershy spiles and waves as the littlest diva gallops off. "Oh, um - r-really? I mean...I'm so glad it could help..." She sets her haunches down beside Bardigan.
"I suppose I shouldn't be surprised." Bardigan turns to Fluttershy, tilting his head. "Where does it come from?" he wonders. "That... special something that makes you and your friends what you are?" He folds his wings in and continues to stare. "Probably a rhetorical question. Everypony has something that makes them special." A long moment of silence, now. "... Luna visited me. And she hasn't given up, if I heard her right," he says, almost shyly, swishing his tail. "Your lesson gave me what I needed to accept things about myself I wouldn't have before."
Fluttershy almost spits out her chocolate milk. "Princess Luna? W-wait, what...what did she want? I mean, um...sorry. I didn't mean to yell." You're not yelling. "I-I don't really know what it is...why do you ask?"
Bardigan stands up very suddenly, his gaze set on her face and his expression immovable and resolute. He reaches out with a hoof, holding it precariously in the air between them. "Fluttershy?" he asks. "Will you share a dance with me? Here, now, under the Moon and in the midst of all this?" He spreads out a wing to indicate "all of this": the fireflies, the sounds of fruit bats fluttering in the trees, even the tiny rustle of insects and the splish splash of fish in the lake. He leans forward, beckoning. "Please? It's how I would like to say thank you." He smiles, wagging his hoof. "No obligations, no fuss. Just one friend wanting to show another how grateful they are."
"Um...w-wait, what?" Fluttershy drops her milk altogether, sending it back to whence it came. "You want to - dance? But why? I-I mean, I guess...you know, I usually only dance with Twilight and Pinkie and the other girls, but I guess as long as it's only between friends..."
"Of course," Bardigan says, still smiling and holding out his inviting hoof. "Far be it from me to breach whatever trust is between us, Fluttershy. It's just that..." He glances off to the side, sighing. "Moments like these are few and far between. I wanted to find a way to make this thank you special. And anyway," he adds with a gentle smirk, "I'm a wonderful dancer, so I can guarantee it'll be fun." He crosses one wing over his heart. "You have my word, Fluttershy. One dance, between friends. It will help me help you understand what I mean. Just like how I sat and listened with you, I would like you to dance with me."
"Oh...o-okay." Fluttershy's eyes dart down and to one side. She wouldn't normally do this at all with anypony but one of her very closest friends, but Bardigan seems very intent on telling her something, and he seems trustworthy... "So...sure. I mean, I wouldn't want to be a bad listener. ...how do we start?"
Bardigan chuckles and shakes his head, standing up and spreading his wings. "Fluttershy, it's *dancing!* How else would you start except with some... music?" He begins to sway back and forth to an invisible beat, swishing his tail over the grass to simulate the sandy sound of mareracas (yes, they're actually called that). He sashays to a tree and taps the trunk, banging out a jaunty, waltzy tune that a woodpecker picks up. Tap. Tap tap. Tap tappy tap tap. Swish swish! And the fireflies pick up a supporting rhythm with their chiming blinking lights. Bardigan swings back over to Fluttershy and gestured with his hoof, encouraging her to join him. "~Pick up your hooves, dust off your tail, make it up as you go along! This is a dance, don't look around and end it too soon, close your eyes and fly to the Moon!~"
"Oh! Um...o-okay." Fluttershy begins to dance along, picking up onto her hind hooves, and - my, but all the animals are being awfully enthusiastic about this. It's been a while since they had a good shindig! "To the moon? Oh dear. That's an awfully long way. Do you think that would be tresspassing?"
"Only if you don't have a spaceship," Bardigan says with a grin, watching some of the animals joining in, and smiling even wider as the Sun dips and the Moon rises. He dances in a quick circle around Fluttershy, all of his movements flitting and breezy, seeming to move almost in slow-motion as he takes little hops and comes down slowly with controlled glides of his wings, and fireflies bloom up in little clouds wherever he goes. Bardigan rears up on his hind legs and throws out a hoof, pointing at Fluttershy. "~Where was I when the rockets came to life? And carried you away into the alligator sky?~"
An unexpected voice picks up the lyric with a rather different cadence but no less enthusiasm. "RemeeeMber to breEeathe, becAuse it wiIll take your breeEath aWAay. When the maAgGics couGH, and yoOu blaaSst oFf... iGnIte the night wIth a fiiRecraCker flaAsh." The owner of the craggly voice strides into view around a hillock, hand grasping the sharp end of her trusty pickaxe, handle used as a cane. Her normally floppy ears are pert right now, perhaps with the magic of the dusk.
Fluttershy's gaze follows Bardigan around and around, which leads her into twirling as well, her mane shimmering beneath the firefly sky. When Clara makes herself known, Flutters does another quick turn, which unbalances her enough that she ends up stumbling back and forth a little bit...although it could be mistaken for a dance move. "That's a lovely song. W-what is it?" she asks the crowd.
Bardigan's smile just gets wider when another voice joins in, answering Fluttershy with a gentle breeze of wings flapping as he circles around her, landing in... a splash of colorful light, like a spotlight flickering on and off? There might be more to the bard's inspiration than one thinks. He reaches out with a wing to steady Fluttershy's wobbling, just in time to pull her into a quick twirl. "~Remember to live, cause you're gonna be thrilled to death when the stars collide and your eyes grow wide. Take it in with your breath against the glass!~"
Clara chuckles, but it doesn't carry or interrupt much. She steps forward, letting her cane fall in the grass and trusting to her hind limbs. She stands some few paces away from the duo, not quite forward enough to offer her hands, but fresh enough to stand before them unabashed. "ReMmeber to DreeeEam, my fRieNds. For it will bE a stARry night oVer eevvevrry toWn... iIIff you choOse to look DOoOwn." She laughs again and explains to Fluttershy. "It is a soOong wriTTen by an AadoleSscent DraAAgon, some three CeenNturIes agO, if I recAaal correctLy. He wAs a briIght oNe who did not TrucK wth TraDdiiItIon. ThuS he traded soOngs with Myy people... and Yoours too, I gaAther." She uses the curve of her ears to simulate the tipping of her hat to Bardigan, her mouth curved wryly.
"Oh my," squeaks Fluttershy again, cast in silhouette against the cascade of sparkles. "A-a dragon who lived with Diamond Dogs and ponies...kind of like Spike?" She speaks quietly so as to not interrupt the song, but her hooves life slightly off the ground as she dances along.
Bardigan spins around and bows, taking off his hat for a flourish towards Clara before it's back to the music, the dance, the peace that he's felt the last few nights, and now trying to pass on to his friends. "~Harmonize with the coalescing lights!~" he says, and each time his hoof hits the ground, another cloud of fireflies lights up, incredibly *in time* with Bardigan's song. "~And remember to scream cause you're gonna be lost for words as the sparks erupt and they light you up. Dip your hooves in the galaxy cause it's yours to explore tonight!~"
Clara starts to dance about, letting her thick tail rise high and whirl half a beat after she does. Her tail is more graceful than she is. "Wheere was I when the RrooOCks all cAAme to lIiFe? And flEew into the AlLigAtor SkyY?" she sings. She then lets her voice drop to a throaty undercurrent, providing a bedrock for Bardigan's voice. She gently takes Fluttershy's front leg in her hand and turns about, ducking her head beneath their joined forelimbs. And a wink is flashed at the yellow pegasus.
Fluttershy flutterblinks! Um... now she finds herself swinging with two fancy dancers at once! It's a little hard to keep in time with Clara, what with the size difference and all, but she does her best, hopping and fluttering back and forth. She hums along - just hums, since she doesn't know the words. "La la la...doo dooood dodooo..." She's good harmony, at least.
"Roller coaster through the atmosphere!" Bardigan serenades the crowd of assorted critters, leaping up into a high arc and somersaulting before he lands again, and those strange sourceless bursts of light and color come again on his landing, pounding in time to the bass beat of the song. "I'm drowning in this starry serenade where ecstasy becomes cavalier~" he says with a happy sigh, drawing a line across the sky as a few meteors track with his hoof, ending just above Fluttershy and Clara's heads.
Clara is fairly assorted herself, and she's noted the various hangers-on, or at least some of them. Especially the fireflies. She swings to a momentar ystandstill in appreciation of Bardigan's maneuver, which astounds her. She watches the sky and gasps. "It must be mAgic," she murmurs, yet doesn't understand. If Fluttershy's eyes are there to exchange a gaze with her, Clara exchanges it. "My ImaaginAAtion is taAking me Aawway," she pronounces seriously.
Fluttershy arcs past Clara, spinning in mid-air and kicking up a spray of glistening dew where she lands. "Now I'll dance like I never danced / Sing like I never sing, dream like I never dreamed..." Lyrics or no, harmony is its own special kind of magic, and now Flutters is caught up with the others, caught in another pony song.
Bardigan spins a heady circle in midair, scattering a little orbit of fireflies from under his wings just as Fluttershy flies past, scattering light from the dew shower. "~Remember to laugh cause you're living in a crazy world, where you'll never guess what could happen next! Give the outer limits my regard as you float to fly away!~" Somehow the lights and activity seem to reach a climax just as the song does, and Bardigan gathers his friends into the midst of it, dancing and twirling with each of them in turn. In one last show of inspiration, he kicks up whirlwind of grass and leaves that playfully tugs at their limbs. "~Where was I when the world came to life, and we danced the night away, into the alligator sky?~"
And true to his words, the entire display does seem to lift off its own accord.
Clara nods solemnly, looking upward at the stars, which seem full of life tonight. They even seem to be accompanied by deeper, darker things. Perhaps distant nebulae. But then she's gathered up and her big paws need to find the beat again. She grapevines awkwardly for a measure before getting into it once more, and her eyes close while her ears flap and her tail soars. "I am NeEeEvVerR letting GoOo," she intones as she courses about.
"No, I'm never letting go," adds Fluttershy in harmony as she closes her eyes and dips her head, singing to the moon. She lets her voice fade out again so the others can take it...in part because she's a little choked up right now. It's the liquid pride.
The strains of song, the flashes of light, and even the movements of the dancers seem to be drained, slowly but surely, of energy. The music in their minds drifts off on the breeze that Bardigan conjured by wing or whimsy, dispersing into the air for all Equestria to share. For a brief moment, a cloud passes over the Moon, and the moment the last firefly goes back into hiding, the three of them are caught in shadowy silhouette for no longer than a breath. Fade out.
--------
Amid the hills and trees near the pond, a stallion wanders the green fields and sparse copses of trees, enjoying the budding spring. Though he's a pegasus, he remains firmly rooted to the ground as he feels the undergrowth underhoof, the gentle sound of bending grass and wandering wind. The Sun has set and the only hint of its light is still raised up over the horizon like a child still saying good night though it's far past bedtime. The stallion is looking very pleased with himself, his well combed mane hanging free without the constraint of his customary tricorn hat. His outstretched wings brush over tall flowers and over the bark of trees as a wispy, dreamy song floats from his lips, sometimes hummed, sometimes sung as a few fireflies start to appear in the dusky half-light. The sound carries quite a distance; this colt has some lungs on him!
And there's Fluttershy, bobbing back and forth a scant few inches above the ground in little fluttery bursts in time to a song she's humming. o/~ We're gonna go anywhere in a balloon... o/~ She sets down on top of a hill and takes in a deep breath, looking out over her wonderful, natural home, like she's seeing a good friend for the first time in a long while.
( Sweetie's hanging out at the lake. She's been Crusading part of the day, trying to skip stones. Hefting a pebble in her mouth, she gives it a toss and it Splooshes right in the water. "Awww," she says. She's tried it a hundred times already. She goes to sit on her blanket, and watch the last of the sunset (She might've also been having a picnic and trying to talk to animals and all sorts of other crusading things). Ears perk lightly and she looks over as she hears what sounds like singing. And now Fluttershy is here and singing too, her eyes get wide. )
Mingled words soon find mixed company. Bardigan's singing, clear and bright though it is, gradually fades away as his ears pick up another voice just under his own. His ears perk and a smile spreads over his face as he recognizes the singer. He turns to a firefly that just alighted on the tip of his wing. "Let's go say hello, shall we?" he asks, to which the firefly beams. He starts crunching through the grass to come to the crest of the hill, in full view of Sweetie Belle. He approaches as quietly as he can, knowing how Fluttershy is about loud noises and surprises. And there he stands and listens for a little while, basking in... everything, really. Apparently, he took her lesson to heart.
Fluttershy lets her deep breath out, and turns, opening her eyes just in time to Bardigan look out over the hills as well. "H-hello," she calls, and trots down the hillside. "Um...how are you, Bardigan?" Strangely, the hills hold a faint echo of her voice.
( Sweetie knows half the adult ponies here, so that's probably good. She picks her way over, creeping tree to tree, and peeks around. Eyes widen as she spies a few moments, feeling a Gabby Gum vibe as she starts to wonder if Fluttershy and Bardigan are in /love/. )
"My dear Fluttershy," Bardigan says in a rough whisper as he trots up to meet her, stopping a scant few inches away. "Here we meet again under the cover of night. I'm glad you're here... I've been meaning to talk to you. And I brought a friend." His wings still spread happily open, he twists one about and the firefly still attached to its tip gently alights on Fluttershy's nose without any complaint. Is it instinctive, he wonders, for animals to feel Fluttershy's kindness? "You remember the last time we talked?" He smiles. "I know I haven't forgotten. I meant to thank you for it." His eyes wander upward. "The atmosphere seems to agree."
"The last time...?" Fluttershy casts her mind back, back... "Of course. I-I couldn't forget. Um...I'm really glad it helped But what, um...what did it help with?" She smiles, keeping her head still so the firefly can dance on her nose, but it's right around then that her eyes flit to the side and she lifts a wing, waving at Sweetie.
( Not getting a good enough vantage point, Sweetie starts scale the tree and ease out over the branch. It bows a little as she dips her head down trying to listen to what they're saying. It would maybe work, but she's a marshamllow white pony. Also the branch breaks a few moments after Fluttershy spots and waves to her. She looks up, eyes swirlies, and says, "Hi Fluttershy!" )
"Well, as a matter of fact..." Bardigan's eyes are drawn to Sweetie Belle, and now she's getting the full force of a handsome playwright's smile, until-! "Oh, dear!" Bardigan sputters as the branch snaps and Sweetie goes tumbling down. He's at her side in a moment to try and help her up... but she *is* a marshmallow pony, and probably less prone to damage! "Goodness me! Are you all right?" he asks, reaching out a wing to steady her.
"H-hello, Sweetie," says Fluttershy, twotting over, her nose still glowing so bright. "Are you all right? Do you need a band-aid? O-or maybe Rarity could kiss it and make it better..."
"I'm ok," she says, shaking the swirls from her eyes and then smiles. "I was just out. And thought I should climb a tree!" She gazes away quickly in case they see through her deception. It's iron clad though! She's helped up and gives a smile to the pair. "I'm not interupting anything..." she asks, adding a rather suggestive "Am I?" on the end.
Bardigan smiles placidly, easily catching on to Sweetie Belle's not-so-subtle nudges. "Oh," he says, drawing back and giving his luscious blonde mane a gentle flick. "No, not at all! I was just about to thank my good friend Fluttershy for her help with something quite dear to me," he says, gazing over at the demure mare next to him, "and I was about to try and find the proper way to thank her."
<OOC> Sweetie_Belle eyes the clock, "Aww, probably should go next pose."
<OOC> Fluttershy says, "Eep."
<OOC> You say, "Nuuuu."
<OOC> Sweetie_Belle says, "If I stay up too late, I sleep in class the next morning and miss out on Miss Cheerilee's lesson!"
<OOC> You say, "But we can teach you *life* lessons!"
<OOC> Sweetie_Belle rubs her chin, "This is true," she says, giving it consideration.
"Oof," whispers Fluttershy as a stray swirl pings off her face. "Oh dear. I, um...n-no, of course not. We were just talking about something, b-but I don't mind having you around Sweetie Belle. I, um - are you sure you're okay?"
Sweetie_Belle looks from one to the other, back and forth. A little closer each time as if the nearness will tell her if they're lying. WHen they seem to be telling the truth, she just grins and figures good gossip is hard to find. She'd probably have just told Rarity if it were so anyway. She dances on her hooves a bit, "I was working on my Cutie Mark," she explains. "And then I heard singing. And then I... fell out of a tree." She sighs and peers up at the sky, "I guess I should go home though. Princess Luna's brought the stars out early and my parents don't like me staying out after dark." She takes a few steps off, pausing to wave back behind her then makes a gallop for home.
"And Rarity complains about that sweet little filly?" Bardigan muses with a chuckle. A few moments of silence fall over them as the wind brushes through the trees, rustling ever so faintly. Bardigan closes his eyes and lets the moving air sweep over his mane, spreading his wings to feel it in his feathers. It's a pegasus thing. Surely Fluttershy understands! "I did mean it," he says quietly, sitting still as his feathers quiver in the breeze, "when I said I wanted to thank you. Your words, and what you did with me in the Lunarium... it set me on a better path, Fluttershy."
"Oh, Sweetie Belle is a very *sweet* little filly. She's just, um...kind of a hoof-ful sometimes, that's all." Fluttershy spiles and waves as the littlest diva gallops off. "Oh, um - r-really? I mean...I'm so glad it could help..." She sets her haunches down beside Bardigan.
"I suppose I shouldn't be surprised." Bardigan turns to Fluttershy, tilting his head. "Where does it come from?" he wonders. "That... special something that makes you and your friends what you are?" He folds his wings in and continues to stare. "Probably a rhetorical question. Everypony has something that makes them special." A long moment of silence, now. "... Luna visited me. And she hasn't given up, if I heard her right," he says, almost shyly, swishing his tail. "Your lesson gave me what I needed to accept things about myself I wouldn't have before."
Fluttershy almost spits out her chocolate milk. "Princess Luna? W-wait, what...what did she want? I mean, um...sorry. I didn't mean to yell." You're not yelling. "I-I don't really know what it is...why do you ask?"
Bardigan stands up very suddenly, his gaze set on her face and his expression immovable and resolute. He reaches out with a hoof, holding it precariously in the air between them. "Fluttershy?" he asks. "Will you share a dance with me? Here, now, under the Moon and in the midst of all this?" He spreads out a wing to indicate "all of this": the fireflies, the sounds of fruit bats fluttering in the trees, even the tiny rustle of insects and the splish splash of fish in the lake. He leans forward, beckoning. "Please? It's how I would like to say thank you." He smiles, wagging his hoof. "No obligations, no fuss. Just one friend wanting to show another how grateful they are."
"Um...w-wait, what?" Fluttershy drops her milk altogether, sending it back to whence it came. "You want to - dance? But why? I-I mean, I guess...you know, I usually only dance with Twilight and Pinkie and the other girls, but I guess as long as it's only between friends..."
"Of course," Bardigan says, still smiling and holding out his inviting hoof. "Far be it from me to breach whatever trust is between us, Fluttershy. It's just that..." He glances off to the side, sighing. "Moments like these are few and far between. I wanted to find a way to make this thank you special. And anyway," he adds with a gentle smirk, "I'm a wonderful dancer, so I can guarantee it'll be fun." He crosses one wing over his heart. "You have my word, Fluttershy. One dance, between friends. It will help me help you understand what I mean. Just like how I sat and listened with you, I would like you to dance with me."
"Oh...o-okay." Fluttershy's eyes dart down and to one side. She wouldn't normally do this at all with anypony but one of her very closest friends, but Bardigan seems very intent on telling her something, and he seems trustworthy... "So...sure. I mean, I wouldn't want to be a bad listener. ...how do we start?"
Bardigan chuckles and shakes his head, standing up and spreading his wings. "Fluttershy, it's *dancing!* How else would you start except with some... music?" He begins to sway back and forth to an invisible beat, swishing his tail over the grass to simulate the sandy sound of mareracas (yes, they're actually called that). He sashays to a tree and taps the trunk, banging out a jaunty, waltzy tune that a woodpecker picks up. Tap. Tap tap. Tap tappy tap tap. Swish swish! And the fireflies pick up a supporting rhythm with their chiming blinking lights. Bardigan swings back over to Fluttershy and gestured with his hoof, encouraging her to join him. "~Pick up your hooves, dust off your tail, make it up as you go along! This is a dance, don't look around and end it too soon, close your eyes and fly to the Moon!~"
"Oh! Um...o-okay." Fluttershy begins to dance along, picking up onto her hind hooves, and - my, but all the animals are being awfully enthusiastic about this. It's been a while since they had a good shindig! "To the moon? Oh dear. That's an awfully long way. Do you think that would be tresspassing?"
"Only if you don't have a spaceship," Bardigan says with a grin, watching some of the animals joining in, and smiling even wider as the Sun dips and the Moon rises. He dances in a quick circle around Fluttershy, all of his movements flitting and breezy, seeming to move almost in slow-motion as he takes little hops and comes down slowly with controlled glides of his wings, and fireflies bloom up in little clouds wherever he goes. Bardigan rears up on his hind legs and throws out a hoof, pointing at Fluttershy. "~Where was I when the rockets came to life? And carried you away into the alligator sky?~"
An unexpected voice picks up the lyric with a rather different cadence but no less enthusiasm. "RemeeeMber to breEeathe, becAuse it wiIll take your breeEath aWAay. When the maAgGics couGH, and yoOu blaaSst oFf... iGnIte the night wIth a fiiRecraCker flaAsh." The owner of the craggly voice strides into view around a hillock, hand grasping the sharp end of her trusty pickaxe, handle used as a cane. Her normally floppy ears are pert right now, perhaps with the magic of the dusk.
Fluttershy's gaze follows Bardigan around and around, which leads her into twirling as well, her mane shimmering beneath the firefly sky. When Clara makes herself known, Flutters does another quick turn, which unbalances her enough that she ends up stumbling back and forth a little bit...although it could be mistaken for a dance move. "That's a lovely song. W-what is it?" she asks the crowd.
Bardigan's smile just gets wider when another voice joins in, answering Fluttershy with a gentle breeze of wings flapping as he circles around her, landing in... a splash of colorful light, like a spotlight flickering on and off? There might be more to the bard's inspiration than one thinks. He reaches out with a wing to steady Fluttershy's wobbling, just in time to pull her into a quick twirl. "~Remember to live, cause you're gonna be thrilled to death when the stars collide and your eyes grow wide. Take it in with your breath against the glass!~"
Clara chuckles, but it doesn't carry or interrupt much. She steps forward, letting her cane fall in the grass and trusting to her hind limbs. She stands some few paces away from the duo, not quite forward enough to offer her hands, but fresh enough to stand before them unabashed. "ReMmeber to DreeeEam, my fRieNds. For it will bE a stARry night oVer eevvevrry toWn... iIIff you choOse to look DOoOwn." She laughs again and explains to Fluttershy. "It is a soOong wriTTen by an AadoleSscent DraAAgon, some three CeenNturIes agO, if I recAaal correctLy. He wAs a briIght oNe who did not TrucK wth TraDdiiItIon. ThuS he traded soOngs with Myy people... and Yoours too, I gaAther." She uses the curve of her ears to simulate the tipping of her hat to Bardigan, her mouth curved wryly.
"Oh my," squeaks Fluttershy again, cast in silhouette against the cascade of sparkles. "A-a dragon who lived with Diamond Dogs and ponies...kind of like Spike?" She speaks quietly so as to not interrupt the song, but her hooves life slightly off the ground as she dances along.
Bardigan spins around and bows, taking off his hat for a flourish towards Clara before it's back to the music, the dance, the peace that he's felt the last few nights, and now trying to pass on to his friends. "~Harmonize with the coalescing lights!~" he says, and each time his hoof hits the ground, another cloud of fireflies lights up, incredibly *in time* with Bardigan's song. "~And remember to scream cause you're gonna be lost for words as the sparks erupt and they light you up. Dip your hooves in the galaxy cause it's yours to explore tonight!~"
Clara starts to dance about, letting her thick tail rise high and whirl half a beat after she does. Her tail is more graceful than she is. "Wheere was I when the RrooOCks all cAAme to lIiFe? And flEew into the AlLigAtor SkyY?" she sings. She then lets her voice drop to a throaty undercurrent, providing a bedrock for Bardigan's voice. She gently takes Fluttershy's front leg in her hand and turns about, ducking her head beneath their joined forelimbs. And a wink is flashed at the yellow pegasus.
Fluttershy flutterblinks! Um... now she finds herself swinging with two fancy dancers at once! It's a little hard to keep in time with Clara, what with the size difference and all, but she does her best, hopping and fluttering back and forth. She hums along - just hums, since she doesn't know the words. "La la la...doo dooood dodooo..." She's good harmony, at least.
"Roller coaster through the atmosphere!" Bardigan serenades the crowd of assorted critters, leaping up into a high arc and somersaulting before he lands again, and those strange sourceless bursts of light and color come again on his landing, pounding in time to the bass beat of the song. "I'm drowning in this starry serenade where ecstasy becomes cavalier~" he says with a happy sigh, drawing a line across the sky as a few meteors track with his hoof, ending just above Fluttershy and Clara's heads.
Clara is fairly assorted herself, and she's noted the various hangers-on, or at least some of them. Especially the fireflies. She swings to a momentar ystandstill in appreciation of Bardigan's maneuver, which astounds her. She watches the sky and gasps. "It must be mAgic," she murmurs, yet doesn't understand. If Fluttershy's eyes are there to exchange a gaze with her, Clara exchanges it. "My ImaaginAAtion is taAking me Aawway," she pronounces seriously.
Fluttershy arcs past Clara, spinning in mid-air and kicking up a spray of glistening dew where she lands. "Now I'll dance like I never danced / Sing like I never sing, dream like I never dreamed..." Lyrics or no, harmony is its own special kind of magic, and now Flutters is caught up with the others, caught in another pony song.
Bardigan spins a heady circle in midair, scattering a little orbit of fireflies from under his wings just as Fluttershy flies past, scattering light from the dew shower. "~Remember to laugh cause you're living in a crazy world, where you'll never guess what could happen next! Give the outer limits my regard as you float to fly away!~" Somehow the lights and activity seem to reach a climax just as the song does, and Bardigan gathers his friends into the midst of it, dancing and twirling with each of them in turn. In one last show of inspiration, he kicks up whirlwind of grass and leaves that playfully tugs at their limbs. "~Where was I when the world came to life, and we danced the night away, into the alligator sky?~"
And true to his words, the entire display does seem to lift off its own accord.
Clara nods solemnly, looking upward at the stars, which seem full of life tonight. They even seem to be accompanied by deeper, darker things. Perhaps distant nebulae. But then she's gathered up and her big paws need to find the beat again. She grapevines awkwardly for a measure before getting into it once more, and her eyes close while her ears flap and her tail soars. "I am NeEeEvVerR letting GoOo," she intones as she courses about.
"No, I'm never letting go," adds Fluttershy in harmony as she closes her eyes and dips her head, singing to the moon. She lets her voice fade out again so the others can take it...in part because she's a little choked up right now. It's the liquid pride.
The strains of song, the flashes of light, and even the movements of the dancers seem to be drained, slowly but surely, of energy. The music in their minds drifts off on the breeze that Bardigan conjured by wing or whimsy, dispersing into the air for all Equestria to share. For a brief moment, a cloud passes over the Moon, and the moment the last firefly goes back into hiding, the three of them are caught in shadowy silhouette for no longer than a breath. Fade out.