“Spike, hit it!”
“If you say so, Twilight.” Spike rolled his eyes and tuned the small crank on the deluxe gramophone that Twilight had purchased—and directed him to install in the castle’s empty ballroom—not twenty minutes prior. The record on the turntable, likewise recently purchased, started to spin, sending pops and hisses of static out of the speaker. A moment later, actual sound started to pour out as music filled the room.
In the center of the huge space, Princess Twilight Sparkle held a large book aloft in the aura of her magic. It was a soft cover book, and therefore one she’d usually overlook in favor of books with a bit of backbone to their spines. It was also in large font, had less than one hundred total pages including the table of contents, and was—rather embarrassingly—illustrated. In its defense, however, it did come highly rated for those looking to learn how to dance.
As a sad fact of her new royal life, Twilight ‘Clutzasaurus Rex’ Sparkle needed to learn how to dance. She needed to know how to put one hoof in front of the other in time with music, and she needed to know it before the next royal gala. Her friends in Ponyville were well aware of her...condition. They all offered to help, but it was too embarrassing for her to accept. She had cracked Haycarts’ Theorem before her first day in Magic Kindergarten. She had finished Starswirl the Bearded’s last spell. She had invented a whole new school of magic for crying out loud!
Dancing, irritatingly, continued to elude her comprehension. After exhausting her Ponyville-based resources, Twilight reached farther afield, and tapped one of her oldest friends for aid. Somewhat disappointingly, Moondancer was just as rubbish with rhythm as Twilight, but she did know a book that held the answers Twilight was seeking. A book that she now owned for herself. A book called…
“Dancing for Dummies: A Gentrified Guide to Gliding Gracefully at Any Gathering or Gala, Guaranteed.” Twilight squinted at the title, her eyes scanning the following script. “An illustrated guide by Equestrian Stage Sensation: Fleur di Lis.”
Twilight flipped the page, narrowing her brows as she searched for more substantive text amid the glossy photos of a unicorn twirling, dipping, spinning and dropping gracefully. Besides the page number and printing documentation, the guide was so far less than illuminating. At least the pictures are nice. She sighed and flipped several more pages until she finally landed on one with a higher concentration of words.
“Here we go! The basics of rhythm!” Twilight rubbed her hooves together, absorbing the knowledge she so desperately craved. Unfortunately, she soon realized that much like painting, poetry, and water polo, dancing was more of an ‘art’ than her beloved science. But there were some useful tidbits.
“First: listen to the music and identify the base beat rhythm. Slower paced songs call for sweeping motions and smooth moves that flow seamlessly from one stance to another. Fast beats are better for dance moves that pop and change direction quickly for flash and showy presentation.”
“Do you have to narrate the book, Twilight?” Spike yawned from his stool, turning the gramophone's crank steadily. “I know how to dance already.”
“You also know I retain information 22.4% better when I pair auditory recitation with reading.” Twilight shot the dragon a look over the top of the book.