//------------------------------// // One Dance // Story: Something I Can Never Have // by Soraya //------------------------------// Tempest Shadow paced around the floor of the hall, waiting for something to happen. The tables and chairs had been put away and Celestia’s party would commence within a space of a few minutes. Vinyl Scratch was playing a record with an upbeat piano-driven song. Tempest stood idly in a corner. She waited patiently, not really taking in her surroundings or the other ponies around her. Her eyes swept around the room. Then she noticed the young stallion she had seen earlier – Xenon – slowly approaching her way. He looked to be about the same age as her, maybe half a year younger or older. Perhaps he was requesting her as a dance partner? “Hello, Tempest,” Xenon said. “I was wondering if I could talk to you. After I finished preparing for Vinyl’s set I wanted to meet you, but I didn’t get the chance.” “Yes, this is a good time to talk. Vinyl Scratch told me a little about you. I’m not doing anything right now, just waiting for the dance party to start,” answered the unicorn. Xenon looked slightly hesitant at first, but then he looked her in the eyes. “Tempest, are you feeling okay?” He paused, and then began again, choosing his words carefully. “I just noticed…that every time I’ve seen you tonight, you looked really sad.Even when you were with your friends it seemed like something was making you unhappy.” Tempest Shadow lifted her head slightly. “You are certainly perceptive, and I appreciate that you are showing concern for me. I’m not really sure how to answer that, but no, I’m not very happy, at least not recently.” The stallion pointed a hoof up at the stage. “Is there something specific that is bothering you? I mean…I wanted to make sure you were going to be all right.” “Well, I’m happy to be here at this party, but I think it’s because events like this are a way to…” Tempest searched for the right words. “Social events are a way to take my mind off my internal thoughts. And talking with my friends helps as well, sometimes.” She stopped, and then added something else. “As for how I feel, well, I’m not sure how to say it.” “That’s fine,” Xenon said. “If you don’t want to open up about it, then I understand. I have felt the same way myself. One of the reasons I sought out Vinyl Scratch was to create a diversion from my mind. I was...well, she would have already told you this anyway. I was in a relationship with a beautiful Pegasus mare. Her name was Caramel Blaze, and she said she loved me and wanted to spend the rest of her life with me.” He added, “It didn’t work out the way I had planned or hoped.” “So you and Vinyl Scratch are just friends, then?” Tempest asked. “Since you decided to start assisting her as a way to take your mind off Caramel Blaze.” The stallion nodded. “We get along well, but you are correct. Vinyl Scratch doesn’t really view me as her coltfriend either, although she has asked what my feelings were before. You know, just because some pony has similar interests with you doesn’t mean they’re meant to be with you romantically. Or that the relationship is going to be a perfect one.” “You talk like you’ve learned that lesson yourself,” the mare answered thoughtfully. “If this isn't too prodding, was Caramel Blaze into music? You know, the way you are?” “She was. Expressing what I have on my mind often helps me, in a way,” Xenon said. “My friend Vinyl Scratch sees music as a form of expression. That’s one of the reasons I enjoy helping her out at gigs. Even though we have stylistically different musical preferences, we both have the same viewpoint on music as a whole. I know you were talking to her earlier, but since she’s busy with her set I wanted to…” He broke off his words as the current song ended and the next one started up. From the stage, Vinyl Scratch had begun playing a celebratory, loud dubstep song. Xenon turned in her direction and motioned to her with his hoof. “It looks like most of the ponies have arrived,” he said, looking around. “Do you and Princess Celestia want to start the party officially?” Vinyl Scratch nodded and adjusted the knob on her record player, turning down the volume enough to get everypony’s attention. Princess Celestia made her way to the front of the platform. The regal white unicorn looked over at the large turnout. Everypony in the room ceased talking to listen to what she had to say. “Ponies of Canterlot, I am grateful for each one of you that arrived. We are gathered here to simply remember a very special magic in our kingdom – the magic of friendship itself. Celebrate tonight and enjoy this occasion with friends. The dance officially commences now!” At a nod from Princess Celestia, Vinyl Scratch turned up the volume again. “Would you like to dance with me tonight, Xenon?” Tempest asked. “Yes, I think you would be a great dance partner,” Xenon replied. “We can talk some more during the dance, Tempest.” “I’m pretty sure you were working towards that question eventually,” Tempest said, breaking into a rare smile. “But for now, we dance and listen to the music. Remember what Princess Celestia said. We are here at a happy event.” Xenon took Tempest’s hoof and they made their way from the side of the stage to the other ponies in the center of the room. Xenon and Tempest Shadow danced as a pair alongside the edge of the crowd. For a while both remained silent. At some points the two were performing their own moves in the center of a circle of ponies. Once they were done, the mare and stallion allowed other ponies to take the center. Xenon made his way over to a line of ponies, and he and Tempest followed whatever moves this group ponies was performing. After about half an hour had gone by, Vinyl Scratch let up on the tempo during a few songs. Tempest Shadow felt she had to say something to Xenon. Vinyl Scratch wasn’t playing any slow dance songs tonight, but she decided now was a good opportunity. “Xenon?” she asked. “Yes, Tempest?” “I think about my broken horn a lot,” the mare told him. “Other times I feel like I’m supposed to be happy given that I’m in a better situation, and then I’m confused when I don’t feel any better. When you asked me if I was okay, I wasn’t sure how I should respond to the question. It’s just that no pony, other than my friend Twilight Sparkle on occasion, has really asked me that before. Maybe to them I appear bored or apathetic when I’m inside my own head.” “Your broken horn isn’t your fault, regardless of what those fillies may have told you,” Xenon answered quietly, so that only Tempest could hear. “Vinyl Scratch once told me that unresolved emotions are a reality sometimes. Not all situations end as ideally as we want them to.” “Vinyl Scratch seems to think highly of me, and of you,” the orchid mare observed. “I’m glad you have her as a friend.” Something about the stallion’s reserved manner and demure approach appealed to Tempest. It made her feel more comfortable talking to him. Admittedly, his status as an earth pony likely had something to do with her confidence in her conversation. He had never owned a horn, so he couldn’t look down on me for having a broken one , the mare thought to herself. From Tempest’s previous experiences, she wasn’t entirely sure whether an unfamiliar unicorn would view her on an equal plane, treating her as one of them. It wasn’t that she was intentionally distrustful. As a filly, she had received many negative reactions from her broken horn, when she still called herself Fizzlepop Berrytwist. It was only recently that she had met Twilight and Rarity and the rest of the Mane Six, and even then it took her some time to accept that they viewed her as a friend. “Many ponies, unicorns, and pegasi here do as well,” Xenon reminded her. “They aren’t angry at you for what happened.” “I know that, and my friends Twilight and Rarity have told me the same. Sometimes I only think that…” she paused. “I think we should go back to just dancing and enjoying Princess Celestia’s party. Let’s enjoy this night.” She offered her hoof to Xenon. “I’ll lead in the dance this time.” After the celebration had finished, Tempest Shadow lingered in the room. Vinyl Scratch and Xenon were packing up their records and equipment. Tempest watched them both with a quiet smile. “Looks like you have made a new friend tonight,” Vinyl Scratch told Xenon kindly. The mocha stallion looked over at his new dance partner. “Well, if she wants, we could meet up again another time,” he said. Tempest Shadow nodded. “I can ask Spike if he could send an invitation over with his fire breath, once I decide where I would like to go. You were a good dance partner.” “Thanks,” Xenon replied. “You were too.” He stacked up the vinyl discs, and then set them down. The stallion walked off into another room, and then re-entered holding the stem of a pink rose in his mouth. He set it down near Tempest’s hooves. “Here you go,” he said. “In case you have anything planned with me in the coming week or so.” Tempest accepted the flower. With a nod towards Xenon, she carried it between her teeth and began looking for Spike and Grubber. After some searching outside, she saw that they were both leaving the castle in the company of three of the Mane Six: Rarity, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash. Spike had a few gems he had saved for later. That was fine with Tempest, she sometimes preferred going by herself. Twilight Sparkle was leaving the castle around the same time. She smiled when she saw her friend holding Xenon’s rose. “Tempest, it looks like you met a special colt tonight,” she said. “I’m happy for you. I noticed that you and that colt seemed to be having a good time.” “How was the dance for you?” Tempest Shadow asked, setting the rose down for a moment. “Oh, I saw a few handsome colts there,” Twilight replied. “But I mostly danced as a member of a large group of ponies, with my friends.” Tempest nodded. She and Xenon had danced among Twilight’s circle for a good part of the night. “Are you going to try to meet up with him again?” Twilight wanted to know. “He wanted to, and I would like to make plans for it,” the orchid mare replied. “Although we haven’t planned anything yet. The one thing I don’t understand is…I was having a great time, and Xenon behaved like a gentlecolt to me. Yet in the middle of the dance, I started talking to him about how I still think about my broken horn, and how I’m not happy when I feel I should be happy. Is there something wrong with me thinking that? In the middle of the dance, I mean.” “I think you handled the situation very well,” Twilight said. “You told Xenon how you were feeling, and then you decided to focus on the dance – something good – for the night. I don’t think you spoiled the night at all if Xenon gave you that rose. You were just being honest with him.” Tempest Shadow nodded at her friend's response. She felt a little better. "I want to meet Xenon again soon. That was a good night, and he was very kind to me. Twilight...you should thank Spike for inviting me when you get back to your house. He’s already left with Rarity, but he’s not that far ahead.” She picked up the rose and strode back in the direction of her house. “I will! Have a good night,” Twilight called after her. The winged unicorn galloped off in the direction that Rarity, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash had left from the castle.