//------------------------------//
// Shut up and dance with me~ 
// Story: Filia Noctis 
// by Storylover-Vodhr 
//------------------------------//

Dash followed Cadence nervously, her heart feeling slightly heavy as the pair having left the ballroom behind. walking past the large double doors and into the foyer. And for a moment, Dash wished to have a moment of silence to herself, to allow her heart to calm and her surprisingly roiling stomach to settle.

To her disappointment however, the halls were far from empty, instead filled with the noises of a surprising number of waiting staff rushing to and from the kitchens with platters of food and other items for the party, most likely to replace what had been ruined.

She couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt at that.

But, while she expected to see the castle's staff rushing to fix the issues made by the catastrophe made in the ballroom,  Dash was surprised to see that there was a good number of staff that Rainbow Dash didn't recognize at all, a plethora of unicorns, earth ponies, and pegasi that all ran around, many of them wearing a strange outfit that didn't mesh well with the normal outfits of the castle staff.

She had no idea who they were, to be honest.

But, beyond them, the halls were also filled with guards. Lots of guards. Gold plated ones like the normal ones that plagued her seemingly every day she spent over here, several outfitted in the full plate of silver and obsidian that officers like Shining armor wore, and even the silver plated ones, like the ones normally found in the streets like her father. 

But Cadence paid none of them any mind, and instead continued to lead Dash farther and farther into the depths of the castle, her hoofsteps echoing throughout the halls as they walked.

ANd walked they did, down hallways, past countless guards, down enough staircases to feel as if they were no longer aboveground; the pair continued for what felt like five minutes, Dash's impatience and strange nervousness growing until they finally came into a hallway that looked vaguely familiar. They then walked down it for a while, before they came to another, smaller ballroom, one that even Dash hadn't even been aware of. 

The doors of the ballroom, while not as large as the ones from the previous room, were far grander, carved from some magnificent black stone that practically shimmered, and not only that, but they guarded not by the standard guard, but by a pair of Lunar knights, who immediately noticed their arrival, the pair of their heavy, full plate helms turning to look directly at them, their bat wings twitching slightly, ready for probably anything that could possibly happen.

They were probably prepared for even her. They always made her feel nervous. 

"Hello, Rainbow Dash, Milady Cadence."

Dash just stared blankly at the pair of knights for a moment, straining to recognize the voice that spoke, before finally giving up. She never could tell which knights were who, and never even found out any of their names, which was kinda sad, seeing as there was always a pair of them hovering around Twilight somewhere. 

Always there. Watching and judging. Yet, they never seemed to stop her from getting into trouble. They either were really bad at their jobs, or very, very good, seeing as, to date, Twilight had always been suspiciously clean or unharmed by their exploits. 

But she didn't really know what their jobs were, so she wasn't really able to say.

"Oh, uh, hi. Is... Is Twilight here?"

There was just an awkward silence at that, the guards not looking at her, but Cadence, who stood beside her, the pair seeming to wait for the Royal Maid's response or refutal. But after a moment, the Cadence nodded, and the pair of knights relaxed, and the one on the left spoke.

"Yes, milady, the Princess is here. Shall we escort Rainbow Dash inside to see her?"

Dangit, that wasn't even directed towards her at all. What, was she not a pony anymore?

"Yes, if you could. I must return to our High Princess."

The knights simply nodded, the clanking of their armor distracting Dash from their verbal agreement as they did so, and Cadence turned to Rainbow Dash, a soft smile on her face. "Rainbow Dash, enjoy yourself. And please, don't cause a ruckus?"

All Dash could do was swallow and nod nervously, watching as Cadence turned around and left. 

"Rainbow Dash, this way please."

Dash didn't respond immediately, instead watching as Cadence made her way further down the hall. There was a small part of her that didn't want the maid to leave; that she'd stay, and possibly would help clean up her destined to be mess. 

But, a small part of her reckoned, she had Twilight, who could outdo any stuffy old maid any day. The thought comforted her slightly, but even with that, there was a small part of that part of her that was nervous for an entirely different reason. 

She was somewhat afraid to see Twilight. Sure, they were best friends and all, but this was her birthday party. She was probably dressed in the finest of whatever, preened by beauticians and groomed by the fanciest of something-or-others. And here was Dash, coming from a party where the cake had a casualty count. Was her mane ok? Did her dress still look cool? 

She didn't understand why she even felt this way, but the feelings were enough that Dash actually stopped, and took a moment to look her dress over. Luckily, it was completely fine, probably due to the Princess' efforts of cleaning her. But, that didn't meant that her mane was good. But how to-

Ah. 

Dash quickly rushed over to the knight that sat by the door, prepared to open it, and leaned up close their chest piece, the metal shined to a dark, if mirror-like sheen. It wasn't the best mirror, but it would do. 

And... Her mane was mostly intact. Perfect. She wasn't feel her most confident still, but she could at least act cool and ready for Twilight.

So, with herself properly rallied, Dash sighed and forced a grin on her face before looking up towards the knight on the right of the door. There was a short pause, as if the knight expected her to do more preening in their chestplate, before finally giving in with a nod. Then, they pushed the giant, beautiful door open, and gestured inside, the other knight remaining by the door as Dash's newly appointed guide went through the portal, obviously expecting Rainbow Dash to follow. 

Dash did, and the second she passed the threshold, she found herself suddenly immersed in the beat of some loud music that simply wasn't there before, and better yet, it not the stuffy music from the ballroom above, but actual, real music. 

And not only that, but she found that the room filled with a equal amount of ponies as the previous ballroom. But, unlike the previous party, this one seemed to spend the extra bits for actual ponies, rather than boring mannequins filled with self-righteousness and superiority complexes. There were young Pegasi, swooping about the room as they danced and moved, teenage earth ponies, with their weird forms of line dancing and jigs, heck, they even had some of those weird formal dances adolescent unicorns often did with a partner. 

This actually felt like a party. A genuine, honest to goodness party. There weren't butlers, there were tables with servers, giving you what you requested, a sight that made Dash's mouth water. There weren't dancing sections, ponies just moved and grooved wherever they felt like it. 

There weren't guard patrols, there were- Actually, there were about twice as many guards here as at the party above, most of them being Lunar knights for some reason. But at that thought, Rainbow Dash actually felt a flicker of excitement. This party was gonna be totally awesome. 

With that in mind, Dash followed the knight as they moved through the crowd, following closely behind the plate-armored pony as it cut through the crowd with the ease of a razor sharp knife through a cake. Maybe she should stop by the buffet table and grab something before- Nah, that could wait until Twilight. Besides, knowing her, she'd need to prompt her to eat something, anyway. 

So, with that in mind, Dash continued to follow the knight until, to her relief, she spotted the dorky visage of her best friend, sitting at a table alone, flanked by another standing pair of knights that stared directly at Dash as she moved towards them. 

Meanwhile, Twilight was totally being Twilight, sipping tea daintily and reading a book, even as the music blared around her, and the crowd that surrounded her continually gave her curious glances.

She even looked bored. Imagine that.

And the more Dash stared, the more she felt better. Heck, if Dash was to act like a total sap, she’d say something like how her heart lifted at the very sight of her or some garbage. 

Her mistakes, her screw ups, the previous party, none of it mattered. Not when her best friend was nearby. 

"Hey, Twilight!"

She couldn't leave her waiting. So, Dash quickly shot over to her best friend, passing the Lunar knight that was guiding her with nary a care, a huge grin on her face as she nearly plowed through the remainder of the crowd between them, several young ponies stumbling aside to get out of her way.

And Twilight, the poor unsuspecting girl, jolted up a bit, looking surprised upon hearing Dash’s voice, now pulled away from her book to glance around for the source. But if she looked shocked before, she looked even more surprised when Rainbow Dash collided into her side, letting out a squeal that earned them several looks from the surrounding ponies, including the strangely passive Lunar knights that stood around them.

The pair hit the ground like twin sacks of flour, Dash laughing, and Twilight still squealing,  rolling a couple times past the chair that Twilight had sat in moments previous, before they finally came to a halt and sat upon the ground for a short moment.

Dash was naturally on top, smiling down towards her best friend as she sat on top of her, and Twilight on the bottom, simply being dazed and slightly squashed, before the young Princess finally understood what just happened and recovered with a glare and a huff before pushing Rainbow Dash off, the pegasus falling to the side with a thud.

"Rainbow Dash!?"

Dash just continued her grin at Twilight’s outrage as she laid beside her friend, looking at her best friend's face. It felt like they hadn't been together in forever. Heck, she even missed her uber-stick-in-the-mudness and seeming inability to take a joke, which were easily the worst parts of the royal pain.

Sure, it had only been three days since they had last hung out, but still, that was a long time without her Best Friend For All Eternity. She'd have to find a way to hang out with her more. 

"Your mom's party is, like, uber boring." 

The comment earned a moment of silence from the literally grounded Princess, the Alicorn sitting awkwardly on her side as she tried to connect her exclamation with Dash's own response, before Twilight finally mustered up the exasperation to roll her eyes. 

Yeah, Dash knew that she was a pain. But she was Twilight's pain, a fact that Twilight herself seemed to begrudgingly accept. 

But, after several moments of just sitting there on the ballroom floor, Twilight followed the eye roll up with a half exasperated smile as she finally lifted herself up from the ground.

"Yeah, it probably is. Mom can be boring."

Dash just gave the Princess a wise nod, remaining on the ground for a moment as she watched Twilight get up and try to regain her "Princessly composure". Twilight had to get her stick in the mud-ness from somewhere after all, and while Dash had no idea who her father was, it had obviously not come from them. 

"So, you gonna get off the floor?"

The question was a good one; She couldn't sit on the ground forever. But, for the moment, she was content. She was here, so was Twilight, and the world hadn't ended. So far, it was a pretty good day. 

"Eh, just looking at your dress, your "highness". 

There was a return of the dreaded eye-roll from that, and Dash grinned. She had been completely right earlier; Twilight had obviously been dressed by the finest of everything, her hair pinned up in a elegant bun, her dress a beautiful blue with a weird weave of something inside it that reminded her of Twilight's mother's own mane, it's skirt-thingie wavey and nice. It looked like it would be awesome to watch move around, with it's sparkles and waviness.

Not that she cared or anything. But it did look totally awesome. And Twilight definitely deserved to have a dress that looked better than anypony else's anyway. 

"So, what's the plan? We gonna do pin the tail on the pony, or something?"

The question was deliberately obtuse; of course there wouldn't be pin the tail on the pony or anything, even if only not to have to deal with the ridiculous amount of tails and ponies required. But, at the same time, she was speaking to the Princess of literal, and Dash found that she wasn't disappointed when Twilight just rolled her eyes once more, like she had been deadly serious. "This is a ballroom."

She was so fun to tease, and it was so cute to watch Twilight act like she knew what she meant. "Yeah, so?"

Another roll of the eyes, this one more exasperated, and thus, more adorable. "So, we dance. That's what one does in a ballroom."

That earned a snort from Rainbow Dash at the very idea, before actually rolling around the idea for a moment around in her head. Wait, did Twilight actually *want* to dance? 

Did she even know how? Dash knew Twilight's routine as well as the Princess herself did; it would be impossible to plot their adventures and hangouts otherwise. But, never before did she recall there being dancing lessons anywhere in that itinerary. Or, heck, anything that could even translate into dancing. 

She avoided exercise like the plague, doing only the basics. 

She only flew when her mother literally forced her to. 

She only went outside to either read under a tree, or because Dash drug her out there. 

All in all, she didn't know how she thought she could dance.

But, Dash could be wrong. Maybe it was part of some other lessons or something. It wasn't impossible, seeing how Dash's own "lessons" that the High Princess had given her included both flower arrangement and how to fight with a spear for some otherworldly reason. She liked the second, but hated the first enough to avoid both.

Yeah, it'd be best just to check. 

"You can dance?"

There was a moment of silence at that, before Twilight's cheeks bloomed into a blush, and Dash found that she was probably completely right, and that Twilight had no idea what she was doing, or even talking about. "Yeah! My mom taught me."

Dash just smirked up at Twilight from the floor. Unlikely, but possible. But, she would admit that it was a better excuse than Twilight normally had when she didn't have a clue. "Oh yeah? You sure you just didn't read it in a book?"

Twilight blushed lightly at the jab, sputtering weakly, before scowling. "Wha- No! Mom told me all I needed to know."

Dash just gave Twilight a smile and a raised brow. and Twilight had finally had enough, and backed up from her spot, before giving a pathetic spinning wiggling motion. Rainbow Dash watched for a moment, trying to hold in her laughter, before finally giving up and bursting out with a barely controlled laugh fit as the Princess continued.

"You-Pffffft! It looked like somepony put firecrackers in your dress!"

Twilight immediately stopped her awkward gyrations, and looked down at her with a withering scowl.

"Oh yeah?"

Dash took a moment to properly calm down, but once she did, she just grinned and nodded. This was what she was missing. Her best friend, the dorkiest thing this side of equestria. 

"Oh yeah."

Twilight just continued scowling for a moment, before letting out a huff. "Well, if you're so great, why not show me how *You* dance?"

That comment made Rainbow Dash pause for a moment as a thought came up. 

Should she dance?

The idea was there, and her mother had explicitly taught her how to dance properly, at least for a pegasus. Perhaps in hope of her finding a special somepony and wooing them with her moves or something. But, while it had never came up afterwards, the dancing was surprisingly fun when one had a partner they liked, like when she danced with her own father.

The energy, the moves, the sheer danger and speed one needed to properly sky-dance was awesome, even if it was used for something as boring as moving in sync with music. 

But it raised a question; Could they?

Or better yet, should they? The ballroom was large enough for a small one, sure, and even though there was several other Pegasi dancing, none were dancing beyond the normal spins and casual movements. They'd have the entire upper section of the air to themselves.

So, they definitely could. But should they?

Dash took a look at Twilight, her amused yet curious expression, and that question answered itself.

"You know what? Sure."

Twilight hesitated at that, obviously not expecting Dash's own response, but after a moment she seemed to catch on, and began grinning, almost teasingly, even as Dash finally pushed herself up off of the floor, and stood up properly.

"Alright. Show me what you got."

Dash then smiled eerily in return. Hopefully, little miss "I love the ground" didn't mind a bit of flying. "Ah, but I only know one dance."

Twilight, the poor little nerd, didn't seem to suspect a thing, and instead just tilted her head questioningly to the side, as if she were a puppy. 

"Oh?"

Dash continued smiling. The nerd was so cute. "I need a partner. And you're gonna be it."

If Twilight had hesitated before, she was definitely hesitant now, her ears tilted fully back, her curious smile now closer to a frown as it looked like the poor nerd suddenly had a million things rushing through her skull. Dash had no idea what they could be, but this was Twilight they were talking about; One could ask her about the weather and get a similar reaction if one asked it the right way.

"But, er, um,.."

But Dash had a secret weapon. One that never failed to get Twilight to do something.

"What are you, chicken?"

Twilight froze at that, her expression slowly morphing from one of hesitation to some sort of understanding, and, dare she say it, some strange form of acceptance. Whatever she had been thinking, apparently it had gotten resolved. Good, now they could focus on dancing. 

"What?"

Dash just gave her BFFAE a casual, almost careless grin, even as the Alicorn's face began to turn fully toward her, looking at Dash as if it had been the first time she had ever seen her.

"I said you're a chicken."

There was a moment of silence, as Twilight stared at her with that strange expression, as even the Lunar knights beside her looked between her and Dash, seemingly confused as for what to do as Twilight was. But after what seemed to be a full minute, the purple princess acquiesced with a nod, seemingly having figured out what she had been stuck on.

"You know what? Sure."

Dash just gave a grin, even as the knights seemed confused at what had just transpired.

"Alright! But I lead."

Twilight just nodded resolutely, and Dash and the Princess pulled away from the pair of guardians and onto a more open section of floor, the crowd parting neatly for the Princess as they moved through it, a plethora of whispering heard as the current song began to wind down, and a new song began to play.

"Alright... so... how do we do this?"

Dash just gave a smile as she tried to ignore the whispering. "Well, we are gonna sky-dance. The room's big enough."

At that, Twilight's eyes opened fully. "But Dash, that's totally-"

"Do you trust me?"

There was a moment of silence at that, as Twilight stopped her rant preemptively and instead contemplated the question. But, as Twilight did so, as did Dash. The dance wasn't important, not really. But yet, Dash found that she truly wanted this dance. 

She didn't even have a reason why. 

"...Yes."

At that, Dash gave a soft smile, happy with the answer, and instead began to flap her wings, bringing herself into a hover, prompting Twilight to do the same as the crowd of ponies all slowly began to stop dancing, and instead began to watch them. At that, Dash lifted up a bit, and gestured for Twilight to follow, the eyes of the crowd seemingly focused on only them. After a moment, a moment filled with nervousness and hesitation, Twilight finally did, and Dash linked a hoof with her's, making sure to keep a healthy distance between them as they hovered several feet above the ground.

"Just... uh, you know, follow my lead."

Twilight just gave a nervous nod, and Dash tried to give her a reassuring smile as they sat there hovering, their wings beating somewhat in sync as the pair hovered midair. 

"Ok... So, let's get some height."

Twilight nodded as they did so, getting to roughly halfway between the ceiling and the floor, before stopping. The pair looked at each other for a moment, and Dash felt her previous bravado weaken a bit. Her hooves were sweaty as were Twilight's, and she felt, for some unknown reason, like she was about to go down the drop at the beginning of a rollercoaster. She recognized the feeling; it was one that she felt whenever she was in a contest or in a race. Pressure. Not to fail, not to make others look foolish for trusting in her. 

It was the feeling that she couldn't screw this up. Not the most welcome feeling, especially seeing as this dance was supposed to be for fun. But, it was too late to back down now, so Dash looked at Twilight, who was still flying right beside her, and just gave her friend a reassuring grin, even as she herself began to feel her nerves act up.

And so, they began to casually bob back and forth, the pair trying to find a good middle ground in pacing and meter as they tried to match their partner's own wingbeats. It was clumsy, awkward, the only thing keeping them relatively connected being their linked hooves as they both bobbed up and down at different times. 

The perfectionist side of Dash couldn't help but wince, and the irritation grew as the crowd below them got more and more curious, the whispering growing into murmurs as more and more of the ponies below discovered Dash and Twilight in the air. 

Great, now they had spectators. Dash took a moment to look around, spotting that, unfortunately, most of the pegasi had dropped from the air to watch, and found that they now had the majority of the room's attention. Beyond a few outliers, they had a crowd watching their every move. 

"Uh... what next?"

Twilight's whisper was nervous, too nervous for just being nervous of a dance; She had to have noticed the crowd. 

Well, they had their attention. Dash took a moment to contemplate their next move; her desire for the dance was now partially counterbalanced by the irritation of not doing the best job with such a poor start. 

But, at the same time, she had gotten Twilight to dance with her in the first place, and she obviously wasn't the most graceful of ponies; she knew this going in, and she wasn't shallow enough to stop because Twilight wasn't good at dancing. 

But that didn't mean that she'd settle for mediocrity; Now that they started, they might as well give them a show, and she knew that Twilight had greatness in her. She'd just have to do what she promised, all those years ago, and grab the coolness Twilight had buried inside of her and drag it out.

"Alright, so... first off... we both gotta make seperate loops, then meet back up in the middle. Kay? Just... do what I do."

Twilight just swallowed, hesitating for a moment before finally nodding, and Dash lessened her grip of her partner's hoof. This was gonna be a challenge.  

"Ok... go!"

Immediately, Dash pulled back into a stiff full loop, careful to take her time for her slower dance partner as the air rushed through her styled mane and wings, her dress fluttering as she flew. It was controlled, it was careful, it was the academy definition of what a loop should be. And yet, it felt like it was missing something, something vital, and Dash grimaced at herself. 

She could do so much better. But, regardless of the thought, after a moment she came full circle, and yet she still found herself waiting for a short moment for Twilight to finish hers, the alicorn being slower and less experienced. 

Dangit, she'd need to go slower as well. They were supposed to match, and if Twilight couldn't match her, she'd match with Twilight.

But, once Twilight's loop was done, Dash relinked their hooves, and gave her friend a reassuring smile as they resumed their weaving and bobbing through the air, trying to sooth the nervous frown on Twilight's face. And, to her relief, the young alicorn did seem to calm a bit, her frown lessening a bit as they stared at each other, their faces barely a foot or so apart. 

"We're doin' good."

The expression on Twilight's face as they floated through the room told Dash that she didn't believe a word, but the Alicorn didn't say anything. So on a whim, Dash pushed her away with her left hoof, watching Twilight's expression morph from nervous to shocked as she made several revolutions in place. It almost looked planned even, and Dash found a amused grin form as she recaught Twilight with a practiced hoof of a pony used to catching her friend whenever she forgot she had wings, linking their hooves once more with a flourish.

It somehow worked, and the crowd below seemed to actually enjoy it, amused and impressed mutters coming from below, and Dash grinned, even as Twilight's previously nervous expression turned sour once she caught her composure, and she quickly shot Dash a harsh whisper. 

"Tell me next time!"

Dash could only offer a sheepish shrug in return as they resumed bobbing through the air, their wingbeats now matching each other's better. It was still out of sync, far more than Dash would've liked, but it was enough to keep each other together cleanly. And better yet, it was Twilight that was matching Dash's, not the other way around.

Dash knew that she had it in her.

"Uh, now we do a twirl going up. Then we break, and then we go do a half loop backward, then meet up where we were last time. Kay?"

Another nervous nod, another reassuring smile and the pair lifted further into the air, twirling  slowly upward whilst connected, the hooves linked as the spun through the air. But even so, Twilight was still nervous, almost anxious, and it showed in their stiff, almost forced movements as Twilight hesitated and Dash compensated. After their twirl, they split back up, and made a half loop, this time in better synch. But, to Dash's relief, this time around, Twilight was the one that connected the two of them, the pair closer than last time as she anticipated their next action. 

Her expression was still nervous, but she seemed to have gotten the feel for what was happening, her wingbeats now matching Dash's near perfectly as they resumed their bobbing and casual circling in the air above the crowd, the crowd now a bit more receptive to their movements, it's approval slowly rising up to meet them as they casually floated above it.

"Not too bad, huh?"

Twilight's expression didn't change; It was still fearful and hesitant, but she did give a nod in return.

"You're doing awesome, Twi. Just keep... ya know, doing what we're doing."

That seemed to calm the nervous Princess a bit, and Dash got another, more confident nod in return as they continued moving through the air, their wingbeats keeping them aloft. 

"Alright, time for another spin, kay?"

This time, Twilight nodded, and was prepared when Dash gave her the push needed to spin, even going as far as to push out her wings and hooves to do a near-perfect pirouette as she spun. And, as she spun, Dash actually found herself staring for a moment, somehow entranced as she watched her friend spin, the dress she wore waving and weaving wonderfully. In fact, she stared for long enough that Twilight actually started to drop down a bit before Dash regained her wits and caught Twilight, the Princess now wearing a nervous smile once they relinked. 

Dang it, her best friend looked too awesome. 

"Uh, Alright... Another Twirl?"

Dash struggled to keep her previous composure, and the nervous smile Twilight gave her didn't help, even as her friend nodded and pulled her closer without question. This, along with her newfound nerves made Dash swallow nervously, even as the pair moved flew upward, this time a bit faster, the spins a bit neater, and the pair a bit closer as the moved toward the ceiling, a nervous smile on Twilight's face, and a mixture of something unknown coming from Dash herself. 

She had no idea where this was going anymore, but there was a bit of excitement to it, Dash's heart beating faster as the speed, the acceleration, and the pony in her hooves pulled her closer, their wings now completely in sync as they twirled in the air.

When the time came to split up came, through, for some reason, Twilight didn't let go, instead holding on as they stopped spinning, and for a moment they both just sat there, midair, staring at each other for a moment. 

Twilight's expression was one of dawning comprehension, the revelation she now had Dash hadn't the slightest idea, and while that was happening, Dash's was an expression of a bemused confusion, her own feelings and emotions suddenly betraying her, giving her some sort of mystery that she couldn't even begin to comprehend.

She just felt... happy. Happy and nervous, like before one was about to open their biggest birthday present, one that you didn't have the opportunity to sneak a peek at. No idea why, no clear reason, just... joy and nervousness. 

And so, the pair floated there for a split second, staring at each other, before gravity finally reclaimed them, and they began to spin down towards the floor. It was then that they managed to split, and Dash found the strange desire to return to her dance partner as quickly as she could. 

And so, she did, giving a powerful flap of her wings, and Dash finished her loop with near-record time, a grin appearing on her face as she found that Twilight somehow managed to keep up. The pair then reconnected, their hooves linking immediately and pulling their partner close, and without hesitation or even explanation, Dash led Twilight into a full paired loop, the pair twirling and spinning as they shot through the air. 

It was awkward and clumsy, their wingbeats never finding a nice matching pace at the unnatural movement, but at the same time, Dash couldn't feel any shame in the fact as they spun through the upper regions of the ballroom, the eyes of every party-goer now on them.

After all, Twilight looked too excited to have it be a bad thing, a nearly face splitting grin adorning her best friend's face as they shot through the air. In fact, once they finished the loop, Dash couldn't help but make another, twisting awkwardly to make it in the opposite direction for symmetry's sake, making an impromptu figure eight through the air. But Twilight didn't seem to care, just letting out a very enthusiastic whoop when they twirled through the metaphorical skies. 

She had no idea where this was going, but Dash didn't want it to stop. So, they danced throughout the air for several moments, making enthusiastic yet clumsy motions through the air, watched on by the ponies below as they danced. And then, without warning to Twilight, she pulled them back up to the ceiling, and split, prompting Twilight to make another loop.

But, instead of meeting her in the middle, Dash shot past her partner, and flew to the near-opposite end of the ballroom before stopping and turning around. 

This was her favorite part. She hoped that Twilight would catch on quick, but, heck, if she didn't, it didn't matter. Dash moved fast enough on her own to make it work anyway.

But, to her excitement, Twilight seemed to have caught on, and had managed to end up on opposite end of the ballroom a few moments after Dash had turned around, and was facing her, hovering, and Dash grinned, before giving her best friend a nod.

Then, with the biggest push she could manage, Dash shot towards Twilight, and after a second, Twilight mirrored her, and the pair shot toward each other, before meeting in the middle. 

The collision was clumsy, awkward, and the connecting was more akin to a full body hug rather than an embrace, but regardless, the pair met in the middle and turned skyward, the pair spinning as they held desperately at each other. 

They continued to spin, their chest held together as the shot upward, and Dash almost missed the cue to split up, instead focused on the tight hug the pair seemed to have been stuck in. 

It was probably the best hug she had ever received. 

But after a moment, they eventually split, and they did another loop, reconnecting in the middle once more, this time much cleaner, and with more vigor. The pair made another twirl upward, the pair rotating rapidly, and Dash found herself entranced by the beating of Twilight's own heart as their chests pushed together. Twilight looked overjoyed, and Dash herself mirrored that sentiment. 

And, when it came time to split up like they were supposed to, the pair couldn't seem to manage, and instead stopped once more midair, hovering for several moments, just enjoying the presence of their partner before falling back down to earth, their momentum spent. The pair didn't really make a move to stop it, either, until halfway down, when Dash opened her wings, prompting Twilight to do the same. 

With a pair of wings, now perfectly in sync, the pair stopped hovering feet away from the ground, and landed. Their faces inches away, both wearing matching maniac grins as the crowd around them cheered. 

They were close. Extremely close. In fact, Dash could practically taste Twilight's breath, could see the red flush of her cheeks, the twinkling of her eyes, and yet, for whatever reason, the pair didn't pull back, instead remaining in that position for several moments.

And then, Dash found herself moving her face forward toward Twilight's. She had no idea what force made her do so, but at the moment, she didn't understand nor care what she was going to do, not even when she was barely an inch away, the look on her friend's face not changing in the slightest.

Just a happy smile, and acceptance.

But, before her action could be finished, her stomach made a painful lurch, and growled loudly out of hunger, bringing Dash back to reality, and, furthermore, suddenly giving her a startling realization of what she was just about to do. Dash then immediately froze in place, mere millimeters before Twilight, and at the same time, Twilight froze as well, eyes practically shining in surprise and, dare she say it, concern. 

"Uh..."

Dash's stomach made another growl, and she couldn't help but wince, as she suddenly found herself hit with the realization of what she was feeling, her heart pounding in tempo with her sudden revelation.

"You... You alright?

No, she wasn't alright. Not at all. No way. After all, she was totally about to kiss her best friend in the middle of her birthday party with hundreds of ponies watching. That was pretty not alright. That was probably treason, if anything.

But she couldn't tell Twilight that, no way. Not in a million years. As such, Dash's mind immediately found itself rushing, looking for a plausible excuse. She had to get out of here, if only to think for a moment, and she couldn't just sit here and pretend that she was fine; She was a crappy actor anyway.

Another growl. 

What was with her stomach?

Wait...

No. That was perfect. A perfect excuse, and it only hurt her pride a tiny bit. Dash couldn't help but thank her lucky stars, and immediately capitalized on her divine gift.

"Ugh... I think I ate something funny at your mom's party."

Twilight's eyes changed from surprise to understanding, and she immediately moved closer to Dash, forcing the now unwelcome feeling to return, Dash's stomach reeling like a rave full of butterflies had just formed in her gut. No, not good. Abort!

"Ah! Oh, um.... the bathrooms-"

Dash didn't even wait for her friend too finish, and instead gave a push of her wings and shot off the ground. No way she was gonna use one of the public ones. No, she'd go upstairs to Twilight's. She needed privacy. To... think on things. 

To yell at herself. 

She was such a moron. How could this even happen, dang it?

"Nah, I'll go use yours. Be right back!"

And, with that, Dash shot towards the main ballroom doors, and rushed out, Twilight watching in worry the entire time.