//------------------------------// // Dance // Story: Scarlet // by Skijarama //------------------------------// It didn’t take long after the sun went down for Primrose to fall asleep. As exhausted as she was from running around the fair and chasing a giant two-headed dog, Scarlet was actually rather impressed that the filly had remained awake as long as she had.  Scarlet was seated on her haunches next to the bed, one hoof on the blankets. Her eyes were glued onto Primrose, watching her chest slowly rise and fall with every breath she took. She had a peaceful, happy smile on her face, only occasionally twitching or shifting. She was still, more so than Scarlet had ever seen her so far. Usually, Primrose would toss and turn, and sometimes mumble to herself. Now, though? Total silence. “She’s pretty cute like that, huh?” Lens pointed out in a whisper from somewhere behind Scarlet. She turned around, finding him standing by the window, having been looking out it at the nightlife of the city for a while. His eyes were now focused on Scarlet and Primrose, though, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips. “Sleeping peacefully, for a change.” Scarlet’s heart warmed a little, and she turned her eyes back to Primrose. “Yes… very cute,” she replied with a slow nod. Carefully, she reached out and lightly brushed a small strand of Primrose’s messy mane out of her eye. “I’m glad she had a good time today… The Five know she needed it.” Lens nodded and slowly made his way over to them. He settled down on his haunches next to Scarlet, close enough that she could feel his body heat. “I’m sure she appreciates you going to the effort,” he whispered. “I know how much you wanted to just sit tight and not draw any attention… but I think letting loose like that will be good for you two.” Scarlet glanced sideways at him with a raised eyebrow. “Us two? What about you? You’re a part of this team as well, do not forget.” Lens lifted his hooves in front of him. “Hey, it’ll be good for me, too. But I’m more worried about you and her than I am for myself,” he clarified before setting his hooves down and frowning at her. “I mean no offense, but… well, you’re not nearly as optimistic as I am. You’re always jumping at shadows and stressing yourself out. And Primrose is just a little filly; doesn’t even have her cutie mark yet. A filly like her needs time to play and laugh, or who knows how broken she’ll be when she grows up?” Scarlet winced, not even bothering to contest Lens’s point. She looked away and let out a quiet sigh. “...I am as cautious as I am for a reason, Lens, you know that,” she pointed out plainly. “It’s helped keep us alive this far.” Lens nodded quietly, placing a hoof on her back for support. “I know, Scarlet. I guess there’s a bit of a balance between us… you’re the pragmatic pessimist, and I’m the optimistic scholar who tries to make sure everypony’s spirits are high.” Scarlet shook her head, snorting in amusement. “Heh. A balance between us,” she echoed before looking back at Lens with a smile. “Well, just remember. Once we’re back out on the road, this ‘pragmatic pessimist’ is in charge again. You’re only really holding the reigns for now because you know this city’s layout, and I don’t.” Lens adjusted his glasses with a grin. “And I’m the one with contacts here.” Scarlet rolled her eyes and lightly smacked him on the back of the head. “Yes, yes, of course,” she went along. At the muffled smack, Primrose briefly stirred in her sleep, letting out a nearly inaudible mumble that gave off the impression of being annoyed. Scarlet froze, as did Lens, both of them realizing they had probably been responsible for that. Scarlet looked at Lens, and he stared right back. “Uh… maybe we should head downstairs,” he suggested sheepishly, a tiny blush on his cheeks. “Y’know, so we don’t disturb the filly.” Scarlet frowned. “Are you sure? Shouldn’t somepony be here to watch?” Lens gave her a reassuring smile. “I already told you, my proximity wards are in place. There’s no way anypony can sneak in here without me sensing it. If anypony sets it off too close to the room, we can go make sure she’s alright, and have plenty of time to get there. It’ll be fine.” Scarlet took a moment to think that through, and eventually had to concede the point. She gave a slow nod and rose to her hooves. “Very well… come on, then,” she said, holding out a hoof to help him up. As Lens stood, Scarlet smirked at him. “If you are certain, then I have an idea of something we could do.” Lens raised an eyebrow. “That so? What?” Scarlet turned and made her way for the door. “Whether you think you need it or not, you could burn off some steam, yourself… and I know just where to go for that.” It was mercifully quiet when Scarlet and Lens descended the steps and came out into the common room of the inn. A few of the griffons were out and about, albeit looking about ready to pass out from being so magnificently drunk. There were some ponies strewn about the central dining area with drinks and food in hoof, enjoying their evening. As they passed by one of the windows that was set into the front wall of the room, Scarlet paused to look outside. She blinked in surprise when she saw that, not too far away, a sizeable crowd of ponies was assembled in the very plaza she had run around in earlier, all of them dancing their hearts away. She could just make out the steady thumps and plucks of the music that spurred the crowd on. “So, uh,” Lens spoke up after a moment, adjusting his glasses awkwardly. “Where are we going?” Scarlet nodded out the window. “Over there - to the crowd of dancing ponies.” Lens leaned forward, peering at the assembly and squinting through the window. He blinked a few times, his eyebrows drifting to the north as he considered what she was suggesting. “So… you want to dance?” he eventually deduced, giving Scarlet a skeptical look. “Forgive me, Scarlet, but, ah… since when have you cared about dancing?” Scarlet hesitated, her ears drooping. A distant look came over her, and she turned her eyes to the floor. “...Crystal. She… she enjoyed dancing. I had to start caring because she cared.” “Oh…” Lens breathed out in response, his expression shifting rapidly to one of regret for touching the sensitive nerve. “I, uh… I’m-” Scarlet silenced him by pressing a hoof to his lips. She turned to look at him, and despite the shimmering in her eyes, she managed to smile. “Don’t… don’t say it. I know… just…” she reached down and took his hoof in hers. “Come with me. Let me show you what I’ve learned… what she taught me.” Lens was quiet for a moment, staring down at his hoof in hers. After a second, he cleared his throat and held his head higher. “If you insist. Lead the way, my lady,” he said with a deliberately eccentric accent. Scarlet snorted at the sound before turning and dragging Lens along with her for the door. With a quick flick of her magic, the door swung open, and the two of them were stepping out into the cold night air. The music became clear, both of them able to pick out each of the many instruments that made up the song. Soon, they were making their way into the mass of bodies. Scarlet tightened her grip on Lens’ hoof to ensure she didn’t lose him in the chaos while her eyes scanned for a relatively open space for them to get situated. It didn’t take long to find one, and, soon enough, she released Lens’ hoof and spun around to face him. “Right, now then,” she said, raising her voice so he could hear her over the crowd and the music. “What do you know about dancing?” “That you move your body around and try not to step on your partner’s hooves,” was Lens’ answer, a sheepish look on his face. Scarlet’s expression flattened into a deadpan. “Are you fucking serious…?” “Well, what were you expecting?” Lens shot back, adjusting his glasses out of nervous energy, his eyes sweeping over the crowd around him. He shrank down a little in place, clearly feeling overwhelmed. “My whole thing is books, artifacts, relics, and anything old enough to have an inch of dust on it. I was never really one for dancing…” Scarlet huffed in mild disappointment. “This is going to be more troublesome than I had thought,” she mused, cursing herself for not figuring that Lens wouldn’t know what he was doing. With an exaggerated sigh, she stepped forward and took his hoof in hers. “Okay, then… to reference something I know you at least have some familiarity with, dancing isn’t too dissimilar to something like a sword fight.” Lens raised an eyebrow. “What?” “Think it through,” Scarlet urged him before gesturing around. “In a sword fight, there is back and forth, there is hoofwork, there is spacing, positioning, and stances. One fighter makes a move, his opponent has myriad responses he can make to counter. The exchange ends, both are in a new stance, a new position, and both make another move. Many of the same elements carry over into a dance: position, hoofwork, your posture, the way you move, and most of all, making sure you are in sync with your partner.” Lens nodded along, fidgeting with his bandana. “Okay, uh, I think I’m following you so far…” “So,” Scarlet took a moment to consider the current energy of the music, the energy of the crowd, and the way the other ponies were dancing. Most of them seemed to just be flailing mindlessly with no real direction or coordination. The typical dance of a pony who either had no idea how to dance, or who simply didn’t care about making their dance look good. With a small smile, Scarlet held her hoof out to Lens and nodded. “So, then… take my hoof and follow my lead. And, as you said, try not to step on my hooves. I’d rather not kick you out of reflex.” Lens, with a gulp that would have been audible, were it not for the music, reached out and took Scarlet’s hoof in his. He managed to put on a small, crooked smile. “Okay… lead on.” Scarlet’s smile widened, and she went into motion. To say that Lens was not prepared would be an understatement. The very first thing he did was stumble and almost fall flat onto his face. Scarlet was quick to catch him, though, helping him back up. “You know, you’re supposed to move in a dance, Sharp,” Scarlet whispered to him once he was stable. He blushed furiously and looked away. “W-well, I… you yanked me!” Scarlet snorted. “Oh, shut up. Here,” she grabbed both of his hooves in her magic, placing one on her shoulder and taking the other in hers. “Just stay like this, and keep up.” Lens was ready for the movement this time. Scarlet stepped into a fairly simple set of moves, one she knew even a total novice like Lens could understand, and sure enough, he started following along. His motions were stiff and janky, reminding Scarlet eerily of the various rigid machines he so loved to poke at, but at least he was moving. She frowned when she noticed his eyes darting all over the place as if he were trying to figure out what all of the other ponies were doing. “Focus on me, Lens,” she instructed, drawing his eyes back to her. “Don’t worry about them. Just focus on your partner.” “R-right,” he replied with a stiff nod. No more words were exchanged between them for the time being. Scarlet took the lead, moving in time with the music, but making sure Lens could keep up and keep track of what she was doing. Slowly but surely, to Scarlet’s pleasure, Lens’ motions began to loosen up and become less robotic and more dance-like. He was still awkward and clumsy as all hell about it, but she could not deny that there was something rather… charming about that. A little quirk she found cute, among others. As the song ramped up in energy and speed, so too did the dance. Lens stumbled once or twice as things went on, but sure enough, he was quick to catch on and adapt. The tense look of concentration he had on his face slowly began to dissolve, replaced with a large, goofy grin as he lost himself in the new experience. “This stallion needs to stop being handsome right now!” Scarlet mentally complained at the sight. Despite her protests, though, she couldn’t help but grin in response. It was contagious, really. The music had started to crescendo into a mad frenzy at this point, and Scarlet knew that the song was about to come to a close. So, with a small flicker of devilish anticipation in her eyes, she decided to do something that would either be very fun or very embarrassing. Perhaps both. Who could be sure until she tried? Just as the music reached its final climax, Scarlet suddenly ditched the dance moves entirely. Coming out of a spin, instead of following up and taking Lens’ hoof for the final motion, she suddenly ducked down and spun around, kicking out one of her hind legs. As intended, her foreleg struck Lens’ three planted hooves with impressive force, knocking them out from under him and sending him falling for the ground with a startled yelp. Moving quickly, Scarlet completed her spin and reached out with her magic, slowing Lens’ fall enough that she could reach out and catch him in a dip with her hooves before letting the magic wink out. And with that, the song came to a close, and the crowd burst into ecstatic cheers and applause for the performance. Panting from exertion, Scarlet grinned down at Lens, who looked back up at her with the look of a stallion who wasn’t entirely sure what had just happened. With a flickering spark of magic, he righted his crooked glasses and pouted. “Hey, what was that for?” he asked, indignant. Scarlet smirked. “What can I say? You’re fun to toy with,” she teased. Lens’ pout became scrunched as his cheeks began to burn a furious shade of pink. “Why, you…” Before he could say anything else, Scarlet’s eyes widened when Lens’ face suddenly became illuminated with red light, followed shortly by a loud bang filling the air. The crowd erupted into cries and exclamations of awe and wonder. Confused, Scarlet turned her head to look up and see what had happened. There, in the sky, a collection of colorful explosions were going off over the city. She could see bolts flying up from the sides of the plaza, and quickly realized that there were unicorns strategically positioned at the edges of the area to fire off those gorgeous spells as a cap-off for the dance. “Huh. Pretty,” she mused, admiring the view for a little bit. It wasn’t unfamiliar to her. She had heard of the spell, as well as the non-magical variation: 'fireworks,' she believed they were called. She hadn’t seen them in Swanrun in all of her years, however, and so seeing them now was more than a little mesmerizing. “Uh… Scarlet?” Lens’ voice drew her attention away from the sky. Looking back down, she was taken aback by the look on the stallion’s face as he stared up at her. His eyes were wide with awe, his pupils had dilated significantly, his blush had turned several shades darker, and he was actually starting to shake a little bit. “...Yes, Lens?” Lens’ mesmerized expression finally formed into a timid smile. “Just… with the fireworks behind you… uh… y-you’re beautiful,” he finally stammered out, averting his eyes. “Really, really beautiful.” Scarlet’s heart skipped a beat in her chest, and she could feel her own blush coming on. “O-oh… uh, th-thank you, Lens,” she whispered, not quite sure where to look or what to say to that. “I appreciate you saying so…” Lens shifted in her grasp until he was back on his hooves. He faced her, still blushing furiously. “S-so, uh…” he mumbled, clearly unsure of where to go from here. Scarlet was quick to collect herself, though. She lifted a hoof to his lips to silence him, her eyes softening affectionately. “Hush… no need to say anything else,” she whispered to him before trailing her hoof down his chest to grasp his again. A new song was beginning to sound from the stage, and fortuitously, it was a much slower piece. “Just dance with me…” Lens blinked a few times but gave a short nod. His hoof held tightly in hers, and with the new, slower song beginning, the two went back into motion. From one side to the other they swayed, never once sparing a glance for anypony else. At that moment, in that plaza, under the night sky and the moonlight, nothing else existed to them but each other. The next time the fireworks came, they were even brighter than before.