Post by Bardigan on Jul 26, 2013 1:58:45 GMT -5
One of the things Bardigan likes and hates about the big city is that one can drown in the crowds. There's always ponies *somewhere*, usually in large numbers. The social function he's at now (he can't quite remember why) are the perfect place to drown a lonely twinge in the back of your mind, wearing a fake smile and relishing the (sometimes) fake enthusiasm ponies usually give. Oh, you're that famous actor! I've heard *so* much about you. And so on and so on. Bardigan stands in the midst of ponies without really being part of the crowd. He remembers getting the invitation, but tonight he's barely even able to remember why he came. At least it's a nice soiree, near to the city's edge in one of the city's many gardens. Bardigan airily looks at his invitation again. Blah blah fancy, blah blah royal... oh. Of course. Rumors that royalty would be there. *That's* why he came. He sighs. No sign of Princesses yet.
For her part, Twilight Sparkle is already wearying of the various social obligations that go with being a princess! Over the past several years of her life, she's been increasingly famous for all that "elements of harmony" business, and she thought THAT was stressful at the time, but it also meant more time having adventures with her friends, which is very different from tonight's situation--a banquet in honor of some visiting dignitaries, with various ponies who are thought to be important walking around in the garden being important. But she's seen the guest list, and on it is a theatrical pony she doesn't see enough. So she cheerfully chats up the assembled as best she can, sipping on berry punch (the beverage, not the pony), and scanning the crowd for a particular familiar mane.
"Yes. No, of course! That dress is *lovely.* Ha ha ha! Oh, that joke is always funny." If you've never heard it before. But that goes unsaid as Bardigan leisurely weaves through the crowd, maintaining a low, boring profile, and *especially* keeping away from those tight-lipped bongo ambassadors from Bayhama. Who knew there were creatures that could glare more fiercely than griffons? His scanning is a bit more laid back. A bit more... hold on. Was that a crown? Bardigan freezes like a deer, one hoof off the ground. Gah, out of the way Fancy Pants! He scoots to one side. Is that...? "It's Twilight!" he almost calls out, but remembers this isn't Ponyville. Instead, he tries to - inconspicuously - hop up and down fitfully as he tries to penetrate Twilight's formidable retinue (flying over them would be very rude). Because jumping up and down like a crazy pony is *much* better than yelling.
( "So, yes, the coronation was wonderful!" Twilight explains for the umpteenth time to a pony she hardly knows. The enthusiasm is practiced but convincing; as she speaks the words, Twilight reflects on the fact that her mentor's had to do this for millennia. Every day she finds new reasons to respect Celestia. She manages to continue chatting while having these thoughts, but something else is more distracting. Boing...boing...boing... Hey, look, is that... "Bardigan!" shouts the princess, completely forgetting herself. "Hey! Over here! It's me, Twilight Sparkle!" )
Bardigan stops bouncing the moment his name is flung over the crowd. The assembled ponies look up, follow it over their heads, and watch it land squarely on top of Bardigan's primly made-up coiffure. His eyes dart between all the stares he's getting. Most are curious, but some are clearly asking why *this* pony gets to be called by name to the Princess' side. Oh no there's a griffon in the crowd he doesn't like getting glared at by griffons help. "... Good evening," he says with a strangled whimper at the forty-odd strong crowd all staring at him. Painting another smile on his face and muttering excuses he scootches through them, because at this point running away would just be even more embarrassing. "Excuse me. Hello. Yes. Princess calling. Yes. That dress is *lovely.*" He gingerly takes his position of honor in the ten foot circle around Twilight only *very privileged ponies* may occupy, standing stiffly. "Miss Sparkle," he says out of the corner of his mouth.
Spike is also looking for Twilight, but has taken a different tactic -- he's on all fours, weaving through the forest of pony legs. HIs progress can be tracked by where there are ponies either tripping over something or being startled by something brushing against their shins.
Twilight_Sparkle does the four-legged equivalent of a curtsy to Bardigan. She's wearing a fancy gown herself, one that looks a little uncomfortable on her. (Spike doesn't look excessively overjoyed by his pantsless tuxedo, either, but to know that you'd have to SEE Spike, which currently requires having a very low head. She also grins brightly. "Pardon me," she says to the monacled pony she was talking to a moment earlier. "This pony and I have important business! She motions to bardigan with her head, toward a somewhat less crowded spot, over by the hedge.
Pants have yet to catch on, so Spike isn't alone. Bardigan won't stop fiddling with *his* tux, trying not to look anywhere but at the stares he's still getting. He bows even lower than Twilight to avoid them. Fortunately, nopony ever argues with a Princess ever (except that one time, but let's not talk about that), and they can depart in peace. Bardigan feels his mane itching from all the nosey ponies still trying to snatch glances of Twilight and her new favorite conversationalist. "Whew!" Bardigan sighs the moment they're out of earshot. "Did I rescue you, or was it the other way around?"
Spike pops out of the crowd and scampers over on all fours. "Whew, there you are! You must've wandered off when I wasn't watching." He stands up and straightens his tux.
Twilight_Sparkle laughs. "The rescue is mutual." She looks around to see if anypony's paying close attention, then bumps her flank against Bardigan's, through the folds of her (naturally Rarity-created) dress, despite the fact that, well, everypony's paying attention. "You know," she says to Bardigan, "there's this spell I've been working on. I call it the Shielf of Boringness. It creates a field of disinterest around a pony, or a couple of ponies, and it makes everypony else completely uninterested in them. When I've got it right, this is the kind of night I'd bust it out." She grins down at Spike. "What do YOU think, Spike? How close are we to finishing that spell?"
Spike says "Well...last time you tested it I *did* lose interest, but I think it was because you'd been explaining to me how it works."
Twilight_Sparkle sighs, and rolls her eyes. "You're just not the right test subject for an uninterestingness spell!"
Bardigan's eyes get a little... big. The promise of total escape from this pony purgatory piques his interest. "Well, nothing wrong with a field test, right?" he says with an eager smile. "I'm sure there's nothing in Princess regulations that restricts a spell like that. Come on, see if it works!" he says like a foal asking for a magic trick, returning her flank bump, which gets a couple of scandalized whispers out of the nearby crowd.
Spike struts around a bit. "You should give me a moustache, then cast the spell on me. If the fillies don't swoon over me, it's CLEARLY working."
Twilight_Sparkle whinny-laughs! n.n She looks around, at the sea of pony eyes, watching the princess chatting with her actor friend and dragon...friend/child/pet/test subject. "You know, this *would* be a good time for a demonstration! I mean, the worst that could happen is, it could backfire and a significant number of ponies could run over here and trample us flat, but...the odds are REALLY slim." She ignores the moustache remark, other than by giving Spike a look.
Bardigan takes up what he believes to be a proper 'guinea pony' stance, planting all four hooves in the ground and closing his eyes. He's ready for any potential side effects, up to and including being turned into a newt. "I don't know about you, but I'm more than ready. Fire away, Miss Sparkle!"
Spike is a long-term veteran of these sorts of things. Notably, he goes and stands *behind* Twilight, judging that to be the safest spot. He watches Bardigan intently.
Twilight_Sparkle takes a deep breath, and raises her head in the air! Her eyes and horn flash, and a magic wind blows back over her and her companions, ruffling the leaves behind them! The light dies down, and, one by one, the ponies at the party avert their eyes, becoming more interested in each other and less interested in the Princess and her friends. Twilight beams widely. "It works! And there's a ninety percent chance everypony won't develop permanent amnesia from this."
Spike says "How long does it last? I don't wanna be boring when I go see Rarity later."
Bardigan opens his eyes, looking down at himself. No newtness that he can see! Excellent. Field test seems to be going well. "Ah! Ah ha! Ha ha ha! We're... we're free!" he says, looking rather giddy. At last he can drop this stern facade, and around one of his favorite ponies too! "We're free! Are we? Er... Spike! Set something on fire and see if they notice."
Twilight_Sparkle hmmms. "I'll probably never repeat this request, but...yeah. Spike, set something on fire. NOT some pony. Some THING." She readies the extinguisher spell.
Spike grins. He grins disturbingly widely, in fact. He doesn't usually get *asked* to set something on fire. He immediately makes for the nearest table and breathes fire onto the hanging edge of the tablecloth, setting it alight.
Bardigan watches Spike rush off with an upraised eyebrow. "I hope we didn't just 'start' something," he says as an aside to Twilight. He watches with bated breath, going so far as to lean forward as if to follow Spike. The fire spills out, the tablecloth catches like kindling, and... *wow*, dragonfire spreads quickly. A couple of partygoers hesitate, perhaps wondering if calling attention to a flaming table would be rude and disturb the atmosphere, when a mare with a very flammable looking wig stumbles away screeching, "Fire! Fire!" Save the horse doovers, or however they are pronounced! Bardigan watches with a strange mix of astonishment and *glee* as others rush to douse the flames. And absolutely none of them think to accuse the little dragon in their midst, who is utterly ignored. Bardigan turns to Twilight, blinking owlishly. "It's... *perfect.* We could hide right under their noses!" Behind him, the once calm and happy party devolves into a firefighting furor. With the grin on Bardigan's face, the effect is a little... eerie.
Spike rubs his claws together, a strange gleam in his eyes. "That was fun! Can we test it again?"
Twilight_Sparkle frowns, surveying the scene! The green tablecloth fire is dealt with soon enough, though; the princess's privacy may be protected by a magic spell, but that doesn't mean she wants to be responsible for a disaster at a party. What would Pinkie Pie say? A discreet anti-fire spell, and the assorted background ponies are talking amongst themselves again, once again looking right past the purple alicorn. She smiles back to Bardigan. "Now, where were we?"
Spike says "We were setting things on fire, I think. What's next?"
Twilight_Sparkle grins at Spike. "I hope you enjoyed it. That was tonight's *only* fire."
Bardigan brushes a hoof over the drifting ashes, watching them settle, and wipes it off on the grass. "We *were*," he cuts in after Spike with a smile, "trying to get a bit of privacy." His smile immediately grows a little wistful. "We best savor it while we can."
Spike kicks at a rock. "Aw. I hardly ever get to light fires." He looks up at Bardigan, and drops his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "Ohhh. You want me to leave you two alone so you can do...you know, adult pony stuff?"
Twilight_Sparkle looks back and forth between Spike and Bardigan. She tries for a moment to imagine what Spike thinks he means, by that phrase.
Bardigan's eyes immediately widen. His jaw bobs up and down not unlike a fish lure, and his wings open just a tad. "Adult pony stuff?" he gasps, looking up at Twilight, then back to Spike, quickly clearing his throat. "Ah. Well. I'm sure you, being a very grown-up dragon, know all about that. And how boring and not at all scandalous adult pony things are. No scandalous thoughts here." He glances over his shoulder, at the party, and smiles. "I was just going to suggest to Lady Sparkle a fun way out of this crowd."
Twilight_Sparkle grins back, tilting her head. "I'm all ears! As the expression goes."
Bardigan smiles back over his shoulder. "How would you rate your Princessly poise and grace, Twilight? I think this is a good opportunity to test it."
Twilight_Sparkle bites her lip. "I don't feel like that's had a serious objective test, yet! And...I suppose it has to, eventually."
Bardigan nods. "Very well." He steps up to Twilight and lifts his chin, looking like a game official. "Twilight Sparkle. I challenge you to dance your way out of this crowd with me. Whoever bumps the fewest ponies gets to pick the venue of our next meeting." He's not going to let another chance to see her slip through his hooves easily, it seems.
Twilight_Sparkle blinks a few times. Then, she laughs.
Twilight_Sparkle says "Challenge accepted! I expect to lose, but...I expect not to mind."
Twilight_Sparkle shakes her hips.
"Ha ha. Ha. Ha?" Bardigan plays along at first, nervously glancing back and forth. But then the acceptance comes, and with it, relieved comprehension. A smile slips and slides its way over Bardigan's lips, and he steps back, holding out his hoof. "Then, Princess Twilight, may this humble playwright have this dance?"
Twilight_Sparkle touches her hoof to Bardigan's, looking into the poet pony's eyes. "I'm...not very good," she says, in a confessorial tone.
Bardigan holds her gaze, steadily, and draws her into the crowd, which flows and murmurs around them like a stream. "It doesn't matter what the dance is like." Bardigan's voice is delicate, kind. "What matters is the dancer." And here comes the first obstacle: a sizable pony he tugs Twilight away from, raising their joined hooves over a plate of appetizers a waiter carries between them. Bardigan is even humming a tune to Twilight, just audible above the crowd, combined with the sway of his hips, to guide them.
Twilight_Sparkle is a better dancer with Bardigan's help than on her own! She's a very left-brained pony, normally, but Bardigan's lead lets her get lost in the music more than usual, and soon she's even dancing with her friend in a way that doesn't require a Shield of Boringness to avoid stares.
"~Hmm hmmm hmm... 'til just like a paper plane caught in a hurricane, we are swept away into the great unknown~" Bardigan sings quietly, taking them for a spin through a crowd that is utterly oblivious to the dancers. Bardigan releases her hoof as they let a pair of laughing ponies between them, and comes back just in time to somehow twirl them both in just such a way that they dodge a whole bushel of visiting bongos. All the while, he smiles, and maintains eye contact whenever he can.
Twilight Sparkle's eyes sparkle, enchanted.
"~Your words are like raindrops falling on my hooves, and my heart's blowing back and forth like a weather vane...~" Another group of ponies, too big to be forded... so Bardigan just takes them *over.* With a grin, he lifts Twilight's hoof and flaps, taking them up... and leveling out to waltz right over their heads, utterly unseen. "~The water is rising all around, and if we don't move soon my love, we're gonna drown!~"
Twilight_Sparkle flutters her wings, keeping up with Bardigan. Her movements have become steadily more three-dimensional, in the weeks and months since up has been an option.
"...into the great unknown~" comes the chorus once again, and Bardigan leads them smoothly down to the ground on the other side of the crowd, a grin tugging at his cheeks at how well Twilight is follow his lead. They might have cheated in their little 'no bumping' game just then... but the dance is enough reward for Bardigan. "~So you lean in, and our lips say amen, and I forget what it means to be afraid...~" And with one last pirouette, Bardigan touches down.
... And manages to put out a hoof that trips a griffon, who whaps a waiter with his claw, who faceplants into the dress trail of a dignitary from Prance, who slaps a nearby colt out of instinct who lived in the house that Jack built. Bardigan blinks at the traffic snarl and turns back to Twilight with a huge, *huge* sheepish grin. "Er... you win!" he says, and grabs her hoof to bustle her away from the commotion.
Twilight_Sparkle giggles. She presses her hoof with Bardigan's, and finally leads him away to a bushy path outside the main party area, lit by fireflies. She visibly relaxes. "Mmm...I can let that spell down, now! You know, it's a lot of work. Worth it, though."
"It did not seem to affect your dancing skills," Bardigan says with a warm smile, walking a bit closer to Twilight than necessary. "What was that about you 'not being very good?'"
Twilight_Sparkle grins. "You inspire me. You're a bit of a muse." She doesn't move away from Bardigan, instead letting his side brush hers, through her dress. She stops, and, when you stop, too, looks you in the eyes. She scans her brain for information about how this is best done! This in and of itself causes her to blush. She decides to be straightforward. "I like you."
Bardigan's wing tingles when they brush up against each other. It flicks out, touching her own wingtip. Somehow, he seems to curl around her in the middle of the path, and his closeness becomes a warm, sensitive sensation. It is not long before he answers. "Twilight," he says in a husky whisper. "You... are one of the only mares I know who makes me smile every time I see you." He seems to want to add more, but the rest seems caught in his throat. So many things to say they get backed up, you see. His gaze is steady and unblinking. Who knows how long they stand there, among the fireflies? And then he tilts his head, blinks, and very simply he asks, "May I kiss you?"
Twilight_Sparkle breathes a little harder, and flicks her tail a few nervous times, before touching her lips to the poet pony's. And holding them there. Eyes closed, she lets the kiss linger, and even when it breaks, looks reluctant to open her eyes.
Bardigan's kiss searches. It looks for answers to questions he's asked himself again and again in the middle of the night, staring up at the dawn as it breaks and at the dusk when it falls. It feels like a strenuous next step in those heartfelt deliberations. In spite of how forthright his request was, the kiss sucks out the Discord-may-care bits, the playwright who smiles for all the cameras, and leaves a very vulnerable looking pony in its wake, as uncertain as Twilight. His breath shakes. There's no answer to the rightness of these things, and so he just dives into the moment, and Twilight can feel his nose bumping hers, and his forehead on her own. "For the longest time," he whispers. "The longest time... I have wondered."
Twilight_Sparkle keeps her nose pressed against Bardigan's, even after the kiss ends. "I've..." she starts, then falters a little. "I've loved you for a long time," the princess whispers. "Was always jealous when other princesses got your time...I just thought those were silly feelings I ought never to acknowledge." Her cheeks blush, and she hides just a little behind her trademark bangs. "But it's true."
Bardigan draws back enough to look at her. To preserve the sight and memory of her in a position that one almost never sees another pony in. Is she actually *glowing*? Maybe it's the light. Or maybe it's because she's an alicorn. "Love," he says, holding the word with the care he would of a foal, "is a choice. You have chosen to give voice to those feelings. And tonight, Twilight Sparkle, I choose to love you." He reaches up with a wingtip and gently draws it around her jawline, to her chin. "Princess or no... it's Twilight that I always cherished."
Twilight_Sparkle is seldom at a loss for words. But as she looks Bardigan in the eyes, words genuinely fail her. Her tail flickflickflicks, in substitution. This is followed by some return kisses along Bardigan's jawline. "I knew long before now. I...always knew. Do you emember the first wing spell I ever learned? All I could think about was...flying with you."
Sometimes there *are* no words. It is those words that ring in Bardigan's mind as he watches Twilight falter, and somehow is even more endeared to her by it. He closes his eyes, dipping his head to her kisses as their cheeks brush, leaving electric tingles. "... Tonight," he says, with a sudden burst of conviction, curling his neck around hers in a firm hug as he nips her shoulder. "While we still can without interruption. Fly with me, Twilight. In the way we've always wanted since you got those wings. Just us and the sky."
Twilight_Sparkle pauses only a moment, before smiling widely, and spreading her purple wings!
Bardigan's snap open to their fullest extent, curling in just a moment to touch tips to hers. And with no more words to speak, just a moment to live in, his lips go to hers and whisper a hurried amen. And then with a flap of his wings it's upward they go, to a place where there is nothing but two ponies exalting in the wonder of having truly found one another. Bardigan spirals with Twilight above the city, matching her movements almost exactly, ascending until they are just two little specks that are soon lost in the twinkling sky.
For her part, Twilight Sparkle is already wearying of the various social obligations that go with being a princess! Over the past several years of her life, she's been increasingly famous for all that "elements of harmony" business, and she thought THAT was stressful at the time, but it also meant more time having adventures with her friends, which is very different from tonight's situation--a banquet in honor of some visiting dignitaries, with various ponies who are thought to be important walking around in the garden being important. But she's seen the guest list, and on it is a theatrical pony she doesn't see enough. So she cheerfully chats up the assembled as best she can, sipping on berry punch (the beverage, not the pony), and scanning the crowd for a particular familiar mane.
"Yes. No, of course! That dress is *lovely.* Ha ha ha! Oh, that joke is always funny." If you've never heard it before. But that goes unsaid as Bardigan leisurely weaves through the crowd, maintaining a low, boring profile, and *especially* keeping away from those tight-lipped bongo ambassadors from Bayhama. Who knew there were creatures that could glare more fiercely than griffons? His scanning is a bit more laid back. A bit more... hold on. Was that a crown? Bardigan freezes like a deer, one hoof off the ground. Gah, out of the way Fancy Pants! He scoots to one side. Is that...? "It's Twilight!" he almost calls out, but remembers this isn't Ponyville. Instead, he tries to - inconspicuously - hop up and down fitfully as he tries to penetrate Twilight's formidable retinue (flying over them would be very rude). Because jumping up and down like a crazy pony is *much* better than yelling.
( "So, yes, the coronation was wonderful!" Twilight explains for the umpteenth time to a pony she hardly knows. The enthusiasm is practiced but convincing; as she speaks the words, Twilight reflects on the fact that her mentor's had to do this for millennia. Every day she finds new reasons to respect Celestia. She manages to continue chatting while having these thoughts, but something else is more distracting. Boing...boing...boing... Hey, look, is that... "Bardigan!" shouts the princess, completely forgetting herself. "Hey! Over here! It's me, Twilight Sparkle!" )
Bardigan stops bouncing the moment his name is flung over the crowd. The assembled ponies look up, follow it over their heads, and watch it land squarely on top of Bardigan's primly made-up coiffure. His eyes dart between all the stares he's getting. Most are curious, but some are clearly asking why *this* pony gets to be called by name to the Princess' side. Oh no there's a griffon in the crowd he doesn't like getting glared at by griffons help. "... Good evening," he says with a strangled whimper at the forty-odd strong crowd all staring at him. Painting another smile on his face and muttering excuses he scootches through them, because at this point running away would just be even more embarrassing. "Excuse me. Hello. Yes. Princess calling. Yes. That dress is *lovely.*" He gingerly takes his position of honor in the ten foot circle around Twilight only *very privileged ponies* may occupy, standing stiffly. "Miss Sparkle," he says out of the corner of his mouth.
Spike is also looking for Twilight, but has taken a different tactic -- he's on all fours, weaving through the forest of pony legs. HIs progress can be tracked by where there are ponies either tripping over something or being startled by something brushing against their shins.
Twilight_Sparkle does the four-legged equivalent of a curtsy to Bardigan. She's wearing a fancy gown herself, one that looks a little uncomfortable on her. (Spike doesn't look excessively overjoyed by his pantsless tuxedo, either, but to know that you'd have to SEE Spike, which currently requires having a very low head. She also grins brightly. "Pardon me," she says to the monacled pony she was talking to a moment earlier. "This pony and I have important business! She motions to bardigan with her head, toward a somewhat less crowded spot, over by the hedge.
Pants have yet to catch on, so Spike isn't alone. Bardigan won't stop fiddling with *his* tux, trying not to look anywhere but at the stares he's still getting. He bows even lower than Twilight to avoid them. Fortunately, nopony ever argues with a Princess ever (except that one time, but let's not talk about that), and they can depart in peace. Bardigan feels his mane itching from all the nosey ponies still trying to snatch glances of Twilight and her new favorite conversationalist. "Whew!" Bardigan sighs the moment they're out of earshot. "Did I rescue you, or was it the other way around?"
Spike pops out of the crowd and scampers over on all fours. "Whew, there you are! You must've wandered off when I wasn't watching." He stands up and straightens his tux.
Twilight_Sparkle laughs. "The rescue is mutual." She looks around to see if anypony's paying close attention, then bumps her flank against Bardigan's, through the folds of her (naturally Rarity-created) dress, despite the fact that, well, everypony's paying attention. "You know," she says to Bardigan, "there's this spell I've been working on. I call it the Shielf of Boringness. It creates a field of disinterest around a pony, or a couple of ponies, and it makes everypony else completely uninterested in them. When I've got it right, this is the kind of night I'd bust it out." She grins down at Spike. "What do YOU think, Spike? How close are we to finishing that spell?"
Spike says "Well...last time you tested it I *did* lose interest, but I think it was because you'd been explaining to me how it works."
Twilight_Sparkle sighs, and rolls her eyes. "You're just not the right test subject for an uninterestingness spell!"
Bardigan's eyes get a little... big. The promise of total escape from this pony purgatory piques his interest. "Well, nothing wrong with a field test, right?" he says with an eager smile. "I'm sure there's nothing in Princess regulations that restricts a spell like that. Come on, see if it works!" he says like a foal asking for a magic trick, returning her flank bump, which gets a couple of scandalized whispers out of the nearby crowd.
Spike struts around a bit. "You should give me a moustache, then cast the spell on me. If the fillies don't swoon over me, it's CLEARLY working."
Twilight_Sparkle whinny-laughs! n.n She looks around, at the sea of pony eyes, watching the princess chatting with her actor friend and dragon...friend/child/pet/test subject. "You know, this *would* be a good time for a demonstration! I mean, the worst that could happen is, it could backfire and a significant number of ponies could run over here and trample us flat, but...the odds are REALLY slim." She ignores the moustache remark, other than by giving Spike a look.
Bardigan takes up what he believes to be a proper 'guinea pony' stance, planting all four hooves in the ground and closing his eyes. He's ready for any potential side effects, up to and including being turned into a newt. "I don't know about you, but I'm more than ready. Fire away, Miss Sparkle!"
Spike is a long-term veteran of these sorts of things. Notably, he goes and stands *behind* Twilight, judging that to be the safest spot. He watches Bardigan intently.
Twilight_Sparkle takes a deep breath, and raises her head in the air! Her eyes and horn flash, and a magic wind blows back over her and her companions, ruffling the leaves behind them! The light dies down, and, one by one, the ponies at the party avert their eyes, becoming more interested in each other and less interested in the Princess and her friends. Twilight beams widely. "It works! And there's a ninety percent chance everypony won't develop permanent amnesia from this."
Spike says "How long does it last? I don't wanna be boring when I go see Rarity later."
Bardigan opens his eyes, looking down at himself. No newtness that he can see! Excellent. Field test seems to be going well. "Ah! Ah ha! Ha ha ha! We're... we're free!" he says, looking rather giddy. At last he can drop this stern facade, and around one of his favorite ponies too! "We're free! Are we? Er... Spike! Set something on fire and see if they notice."
Twilight_Sparkle hmmms. "I'll probably never repeat this request, but...yeah. Spike, set something on fire. NOT some pony. Some THING." She readies the extinguisher spell.
Spike grins. He grins disturbingly widely, in fact. He doesn't usually get *asked* to set something on fire. He immediately makes for the nearest table and breathes fire onto the hanging edge of the tablecloth, setting it alight.
Bardigan watches Spike rush off with an upraised eyebrow. "I hope we didn't just 'start' something," he says as an aside to Twilight. He watches with bated breath, going so far as to lean forward as if to follow Spike. The fire spills out, the tablecloth catches like kindling, and... *wow*, dragonfire spreads quickly. A couple of partygoers hesitate, perhaps wondering if calling attention to a flaming table would be rude and disturb the atmosphere, when a mare with a very flammable looking wig stumbles away screeching, "Fire! Fire!" Save the horse doovers, or however they are pronounced! Bardigan watches with a strange mix of astonishment and *glee* as others rush to douse the flames. And absolutely none of them think to accuse the little dragon in their midst, who is utterly ignored. Bardigan turns to Twilight, blinking owlishly. "It's... *perfect.* We could hide right under their noses!" Behind him, the once calm and happy party devolves into a firefighting furor. With the grin on Bardigan's face, the effect is a little... eerie.
Spike rubs his claws together, a strange gleam in his eyes. "That was fun! Can we test it again?"
Twilight_Sparkle frowns, surveying the scene! The green tablecloth fire is dealt with soon enough, though; the princess's privacy may be protected by a magic spell, but that doesn't mean she wants to be responsible for a disaster at a party. What would Pinkie Pie say? A discreet anti-fire spell, and the assorted background ponies are talking amongst themselves again, once again looking right past the purple alicorn. She smiles back to Bardigan. "Now, where were we?"
Spike says "We were setting things on fire, I think. What's next?"
Twilight_Sparkle grins at Spike. "I hope you enjoyed it. That was tonight's *only* fire."
Bardigan brushes a hoof over the drifting ashes, watching them settle, and wipes it off on the grass. "We *were*," he cuts in after Spike with a smile, "trying to get a bit of privacy." His smile immediately grows a little wistful. "We best savor it while we can."
Spike kicks at a rock. "Aw. I hardly ever get to light fires." He looks up at Bardigan, and drops his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "Ohhh. You want me to leave you two alone so you can do...you know, adult pony stuff?"
Twilight_Sparkle looks back and forth between Spike and Bardigan. She tries for a moment to imagine what Spike thinks he means, by that phrase.
Bardigan's eyes immediately widen. His jaw bobs up and down not unlike a fish lure, and his wings open just a tad. "Adult pony stuff?" he gasps, looking up at Twilight, then back to Spike, quickly clearing his throat. "Ah. Well. I'm sure you, being a very grown-up dragon, know all about that. And how boring and not at all scandalous adult pony things are. No scandalous thoughts here." He glances over his shoulder, at the party, and smiles. "I was just going to suggest to Lady Sparkle a fun way out of this crowd."
Twilight_Sparkle grins back, tilting her head. "I'm all ears! As the expression goes."
Bardigan smiles back over his shoulder. "How would you rate your Princessly poise and grace, Twilight? I think this is a good opportunity to test it."
Twilight_Sparkle bites her lip. "I don't feel like that's had a serious objective test, yet! And...I suppose it has to, eventually."
Bardigan nods. "Very well." He steps up to Twilight and lifts his chin, looking like a game official. "Twilight Sparkle. I challenge you to dance your way out of this crowd with me. Whoever bumps the fewest ponies gets to pick the venue of our next meeting." He's not going to let another chance to see her slip through his hooves easily, it seems.
Twilight_Sparkle blinks a few times. Then, she laughs.
Twilight_Sparkle says "Challenge accepted! I expect to lose, but...I expect not to mind."
Twilight_Sparkle shakes her hips.
"Ha ha. Ha. Ha?" Bardigan plays along at first, nervously glancing back and forth. But then the acceptance comes, and with it, relieved comprehension. A smile slips and slides its way over Bardigan's lips, and he steps back, holding out his hoof. "Then, Princess Twilight, may this humble playwright have this dance?"
Twilight_Sparkle touches her hoof to Bardigan's, looking into the poet pony's eyes. "I'm...not very good," she says, in a confessorial tone.
Bardigan holds her gaze, steadily, and draws her into the crowd, which flows and murmurs around them like a stream. "It doesn't matter what the dance is like." Bardigan's voice is delicate, kind. "What matters is the dancer." And here comes the first obstacle: a sizable pony he tugs Twilight away from, raising their joined hooves over a plate of appetizers a waiter carries between them. Bardigan is even humming a tune to Twilight, just audible above the crowd, combined with the sway of his hips, to guide them.
Twilight_Sparkle is a better dancer with Bardigan's help than on her own! She's a very left-brained pony, normally, but Bardigan's lead lets her get lost in the music more than usual, and soon she's even dancing with her friend in a way that doesn't require a Shield of Boringness to avoid stares.
"~Hmm hmmm hmm... 'til just like a paper plane caught in a hurricane, we are swept away into the great unknown~" Bardigan sings quietly, taking them for a spin through a crowd that is utterly oblivious to the dancers. Bardigan releases her hoof as they let a pair of laughing ponies between them, and comes back just in time to somehow twirl them both in just such a way that they dodge a whole bushel of visiting bongos. All the while, he smiles, and maintains eye contact whenever he can.
Twilight Sparkle's eyes sparkle, enchanted.
"~Your words are like raindrops falling on my hooves, and my heart's blowing back and forth like a weather vane...~" Another group of ponies, too big to be forded... so Bardigan just takes them *over.* With a grin, he lifts Twilight's hoof and flaps, taking them up... and leveling out to waltz right over their heads, utterly unseen. "~The water is rising all around, and if we don't move soon my love, we're gonna drown!~"
Twilight_Sparkle flutters her wings, keeping up with Bardigan. Her movements have become steadily more three-dimensional, in the weeks and months since up has been an option.
"...into the great unknown~" comes the chorus once again, and Bardigan leads them smoothly down to the ground on the other side of the crowd, a grin tugging at his cheeks at how well Twilight is follow his lead. They might have cheated in their little 'no bumping' game just then... but the dance is enough reward for Bardigan. "~So you lean in, and our lips say amen, and I forget what it means to be afraid...~" And with one last pirouette, Bardigan touches down.
... And manages to put out a hoof that trips a griffon, who whaps a waiter with his claw, who faceplants into the dress trail of a dignitary from Prance, who slaps a nearby colt out of instinct who lived in the house that Jack built. Bardigan blinks at the traffic snarl and turns back to Twilight with a huge, *huge* sheepish grin. "Er... you win!" he says, and grabs her hoof to bustle her away from the commotion.
Twilight_Sparkle giggles. She presses her hoof with Bardigan's, and finally leads him away to a bushy path outside the main party area, lit by fireflies. She visibly relaxes. "Mmm...I can let that spell down, now! You know, it's a lot of work. Worth it, though."
"It did not seem to affect your dancing skills," Bardigan says with a warm smile, walking a bit closer to Twilight than necessary. "What was that about you 'not being very good?'"
Twilight_Sparkle grins. "You inspire me. You're a bit of a muse." She doesn't move away from Bardigan, instead letting his side brush hers, through her dress. She stops, and, when you stop, too, looks you in the eyes. She scans her brain for information about how this is best done! This in and of itself causes her to blush. She decides to be straightforward. "I like you."
Bardigan's wing tingles when they brush up against each other. It flicks out, touching her own wingtip. Somehow, he seems to curl around her in the middle of the path, and his closeness becomes a warm, sensitive sensation. It is not long before he answers. "Twilight," he says in a husky whisper. "You... are one of the only mares I know who makes me smile every time I see you." He seems to want to add more, but the rest seems caught in his throat. So many things to say they get backed up, you see. His gaze is steady and unblinking. Who knows how long they stand there, among the fireflies? And then he tilts his head, blinks, and very simply he asks, "May I kiss you?"
Twilight_Sparkle breathes a little harder, and flicks her tail a few nervous times, before touching her lips to the poet pony's. And holding them there. Eyes closed, she lets the kiss linger, and even when it breaks, looks reluctant to open her eyes.
Bardigan's kiss searches. It looks for answers to questions he's asked himself again and again in the middle of the night, staring up at the dawn as it breaks and at the dusk when it falls. It feels like a strenuous next step in those heartfelt deliberations. In spite of how forthright his request was, the kiss sucks out the Discord-may-care bits, the playwright who smiles for all the cameras, and leaves a very vulnerable looking pony in its wake, as uncertain as Twilight. His breath shakes. There's no answer to the rightness of these things, and so he just dives into the moment, and Twilight can feel his nose bumping hers, and his forehead on her own. "For the longest time," he whispers. "The longest time... I have wondered."
Twilight_Sparkle keeps her nose pressed against Bardigan's, even after the kiss ends. "I've..." she starts, then falters a little. "I've loved you for a long time," the princess whispers. "Was always jealous when other princesses got your time...I just thought those were silly feelings I ought never to acknowledge." Her cheeks blush, and she hides just a little behind her trademark bangs. "But it's true."
Bardigan draws back enough to look at her. To preserve the sight and memory of her in a position that one almost never sees another pony in. Is she actually *glowing*? Maybe it's the light. Or maybe it's because she's an alicorn. "Love," he says, holding the word with the care he would of a foal, "is a choice. You have chosen to give voice to those feelings. And tonight, Twilight Sparkle, I choose to love you." He reaches up with a wingtip and gently draws it around her jawline, to her chin. "Princess or no... it's Twilight that I always cherished."
Twilight_Sparkle is seldom at a loss for words. But as she looks Bardigan in the eyes, words genuinely fail her. Her tail flickflickflicks, in substitution. This is followed by some return kisses along Bardigan's jawline. "I knew long before now. I...always knew. Do you emember the first wing spell I ever learned? All I could think about was...flying with you."
Sometimes there *are* no words. It is those words that ring in Bardigan's mind as he watches Twilight falter, and somehow is even more endeared to her by it. He closes his eyes, dipping his head to her kisses as their cheeks brush, leaving electric tingles. "... Tonight," he says, with a sudden burst of conviction, curling his neck around hers in a firm hug as he nips her shoulder. "While we still can without interruption. Fly with me, Twilight. In the way we've always wanted since you got those wings. Just us and the sky."
Twilight_Sparkle pauses only a moment, before smiling widely, and spreading her purple wings!
Bardigan's snap open to their fullest extent, curling in just a moment to touch tips to hers. And with no more words to speak, just a moment to live in, his lips go to hers and whisper a hurried amen. And then with a flap of his wings it's upward they go, to a place where there is nothing but two ponies exalting in the wonder of having truly found one another. Bardigan spirals with Twilight above the city, matching her movements almost exactly, ascending until they are just two little specks that are soon lost in the twinkling sky.
