//------------------------------// // Chapter 7: the dancer and the farm pony // Story: Button Rekt: Button's Revenge // by Sunblast X //------------------------------// “So, remind me. What’s going on with your friends again?” Tender Taps asked. He and Apple Bloom were sitting across from each other at the local Hayburger. “Long story short, Sweetie Belle broke Button Mash’s heart and now Button wants revenge,” Apple Bloom informed him. “Rumble’s tryin’ to convince him to not hurt Sweetie, but that ain’t goin’ very well.” “Wow,” Tender Taps replied. “Yeah. As for me, Ah’m stayin’ out of it,” Apple Bloom told him as a waitress presented them with their food, “But if Button so much as leaves a scratch on Sweetie, Ah’m goin’ straight to an adult,” she added, taking one of her star-shaped fries into her mouth. “Well, at least you’re looking out for you friend. I respect that,” Tender Taps said, taking a bite of his hayburger. Apple Bloom snickered a bit. “Thanks again for invitin’ me to lunch,” she said. “Well, I thought it’d be nice for us to spend time outside of dance class. You’re a lot of fun and I want to get to know you better.” Apple Bloom smiled a bit, her cheeks flushing pink for a brief moment. “What would ya like to know?” Apple Bloom asked. “Well, do you have any siblings?” Tender Taps asked. “I’ve got an older brother and an older sister,” Apple Bloom told him. “Oh? What’re they like?” Tender Taps raised a curious eyebrow. “Mah brother’s a bit quiet, but he always there when you need him. Mah sister on the other hoof… she’s can be a bit stubborn at times.” “How stubborn?” Tender Taps asked. “One time, she tried to complete the entire apple-buck harvest by herself. She was refused to accept help from her friends until she passed out from exhaustion. The sad part is she only got half of the work done.” “Wow. That IS stubborn” Tender Taps said. “Yeah, and she’s also overprotective. Especially of me. I may be a kid, but I’m no baby,” Apple Bloom said. “Eh, she’s just looking for you. All older siblings do in one way or another,” Tender Taps said, taking another bite of his burger. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. I think you’ll like them though,” Apple Bloom took a sip of her soda. “What about you? Do you have any siblings?” “No, I’m an only child. It’s not so bad though. At least I don’t have to worry about there being a line for the bathroom,” Tender Taps joked, popping a fry into his mouth. “Heh heh” Apple Bloom chuckled. “It’s funny you said that. This one time, mah sister told me she went to Manehattan and she said she saw a colt with ten sisters.” “Huh, his parents must’ve wanted a big family,” Tender Taps commented. Tender Taps took a few more bites of his hayburger, Apple Bloom gazing at him with small smile. After finishing their lunch, the two foals headed to the movies. The two of them had decided to see the new Pony Rangers movie. It was the sequel to last year’s Pony Rangers movie, and this one involved them fighting an evil ranger created by the main bad guy. Today was half price day on the movies, so they had decided to watch the movie in 3D. “So, which ranger is your favorite?” Tender Taps asked in a whisper. “Ah have to give it to the pink ranger. You?” Apple Bloom asked back. “It’s a tie between the blue ranger and the green ranger. I know the green ranger’s evil, but he’s awesome,” Tender Taps replied. Last year, Apple Bloom went to go see the first movie with Applejack. Her sister thought it was horrible, and while Apple Bloom herself didn’t think it was that great, she didn’t think it was horrible either. So far though, this sequel turned out to be pretty good. The yellow farm filly reached out to grab some popcorn. However, she felt something touch her hoof. She turned her head to see Tender Taps’ hoof on top of hers. “Ahem… Tender Taps?” Apple Bloom whispered, getting the colt’s attention. The colt looked at Apple Bloom to see her looking at the popcorn and saw that their hooves were touching. “Oh, sorry Apple Bloom!” Tender Taps quickly pulled his hoof away, an embarrassed, burning blush crossing his face. “It’s alright,” Apple Bloom said, turning her head, looking at him out of the corner of her eyes. She covered her mouth with a hoof, holding back a giggle as a blush crossed her face as well. Once the movie was over, Apple Bloom and Tender Taps had decided to head to the bowling alley. It didn’t take long for Apple Bloom to notice was a decent bowler. At the very least he wasn’t getting gutter balls. This turn though, the dancing colt actually did manage to get a strike. “Wow, Tender Taps. You’re pretty good at this,” the farm filly commented. “Thanks. I come here and practice with my dad on weekends. He’s better than I am,” Tender Taps replied. It was Apple Bloom’s turn now. Unlike Tender Taps, she wasn’t that great at this game. Sure, she was better at it than Scootaloo, but that probably wasn’t saying much. Apple Bloom had mostly gotten gutter balls. The red-haired filly looked at the pins ahead and sighed. “What am Ah doin’ wrong?” Apple Bloom looked at Tender Taps. “Hmm…” Tender Taps rubbed his chin. “Well, I’ve noticed that when you throw your ball, your foreleg goes off in either direction. Try using a little less force when you swing,” he advised. “Use less force?” Apple Bloom looked at him rather quizzically. “You know, cut back on your strength. Force doesn’t always guarantee success. Sometimes you need to be a bit gentle.” Tender Taps placed a hoof on Apple Bloom’s shoulder. The next thing the farm girl knew, she had one of the dancer’s forelegs over her shoulders. She felt his hoof on top of the one she used to hold her ball. Apple Bloom then felt herself moving along with Tender Taps. They reeled their forelegs back before swinging it forward, rolling the ball down the lane. As Tender suggested, they cut back on the force of the throw. As luck would have it, the ball managed to hit the pins, knocking down seven of them. “See? A little bit goes a long way,” Tender Taps said as he removed his foreleg from Apple Bloom’s shoulders. “I guess you’re right. Thanks, Tender,” Apple Bloom gave him a small smile. “You know, we’ve still got a lot of rounds to finish” “Might as well finish them, right?” Tender Taps replied, grabbing his ball and rolling it down the lane. Despite the rocky start, Apple Bloom had fun bowling with Tender Taps. He had the higher score, but he didn’t really care about that. All Tender Taps cared about was spending time with his friend. Their next and final destination was Apple Bloom’s choice. She had decided they’d go to dance class, the place where they first met. “So, why’d you want to come here?” Tender Taps asked as they entered the building. “Tender Taps, how’d ya get so good at dancing?” Apple Bloom asked, somewhat answering his question with another question. The dancer colt gave a small shrug. “I guess it just comes naturally for me” he said. “Our dance teacher says you’re a natural born dancer” Apple Bloom said. A thought then came to her, “She can be a bit harsh sometimes, don’t ya think?”  she asked. “A bit. I think she’s only harder on the newcomers because of the potential she sees in them” Tender replied. “Yeah, Ah guess ya’ve got a point there” Apple Bloom shrugged. “I’ve seen the way she treats you. She comforts you a lot when yer down. Ta the point where she hugs you. Nuzzles the top of yer head. Sometimes she even kisses you affectionately. Almost as if she’s yer—” “Mom,” Tender finished in a low voice, cutting Apple Bloom off. “She treats like that because she’s my mom.” “Oh. That must put a lot of pressure on ya,” Apple Bloom said. “A little. It’s not so much the dancing that she pressures me with, more so the preforming in front of a crowd.” Tender clarified. “Preforming in front of other ponies is terrifying.” “Well, at least ya know how ta dance. Ah can’t dance ta save my life” Apple Bloom kicked one of her forelegs back and forth. “Which is why Ah brought ya here. Ah was hoping ya could teach me ta dance better” “Oh?” Tender raised an eyebrow. “Yeah. And in return, Ah could help ya get over yer cripplin’ stage fright,” Apple Bloom offered. “What do ya say?” She extended a hoof. “Hmm…” Tender tapped his chin. “Deal!” he said, shaking the filly’s hoof. “So, where do you want to start? Tap dancing?” he asked, kicking his legs in all directions in a small demonstration.   “Actually, Ah was thinkin’ we could do one of the ones that requires two ponies to dance. Together…” Apple Bloom looked at him while shyly rubbing her foreleg with her hoof, a small blush crossing her face. “Oh. You want to do that kind of dance,” Tender replied. “Sure, I guess we can try that” he took her hoof in his as they stood on their hindlegs. Tender grabbed Apple Bloom’s other hoof and placed it on her shoulder, before placing his own hoof on her hip. The fact that Tender’s hoof was so close to her flank was enough to make the filly’s cheeks as red as her hair. Apple Bloom then found herself moving slowly from side to side in a small circle. She looked at Tender Taps, who was looking at her with a small smile. She almost tripped, but Tender caught her. “Heh. Sorry. Ah’m not very good at this” Apple Bloom admitted sheepishly. “No, it’s ok. You’re doing fine” Tender replied. Apple Bloom felt Tender’s foreleg wrap around her waist, pulling her close. This instinctively made her wrap her own foreleg around his neck which pulled him close as well. They were now close enough to where their cheeks touched. Tender Taps led by waltzing forward. For some reason, this dance was easier for Apple Bloom to manage. “You know, Apple Bloom, you’re not as bad a dancer as you may think,” Tender Taps said while they moved in the opposite direction. “Really?” Apple Bloom asked, smiling with her ears perking up. “Mm-hm,” Tender gave a confirming nod. The farm filly soon found herself reeled to the side, only to be yanked back with a twirl. Ok, that was kind of fun. It didn’t take her long to realize that Tender Taps was now behind her while still holding her hoof, his other hoof once again on her hip. “In all honesty, if I were to have anypony as my dance partner, I’d be honored if it were prettiest filly in class,” Tender told her in a low voice. “Aww. That’s so sweet!” Apple Bloom said with half-lidded eyes. “Ya sure Ah’m not that bad a dancer?” “Positive. You just need to work on your…” Tender spun her around, dipping her and cradling her waist in his foreleg, “Coordination,” he said with a playful wink. Apple Bloom placed a hoof over her mouth to stifle a giggle.   The sun was setting over the horizon, signifying that the day had come to an end. After their little dance session, Tender had offered to walk Apple Bloom home which the filly gladly accepted. “This was a really great day, Tender Taps. I had a lot of fun,” Apple Bloom said, stopping at the porch of the doorstep. “So, did I. Did it help you get your mind off that thing your friends?” Tender asked. “Mm-hm” Apple Bloom nodded, “And whatever happens, happens” “Great. So, if you’re up for it, maybe we could do this again sometime” Tender nervously rubbed the back of his head. Apple Bloom chuckled. She then leaned in and planted a kiss upon the dancing colt’s cheek. “It’s a date,” she said. Tender Taps smiled as he watched Apple Bloom enter the house, closing the door behind herself. He chuckled as he made his way home. Apple Bloom closed the door behind herself, walking in on a conversation between Granny Smith and Applejack. “Granny, for the last time, I’m too busy fer dating. Ah’m needed on the farm,” Applejack told her grandmother. “Pfft! Yeah, that’s why,” Apple Bloom sarcastically remarked with a roll of her eyes as she made her way upstairs. “That’s no excuse. Yer brother has his eyes on a mare from another village. Even yer sister has a little boyfriend now,” Granny commented, a comment which Apple Bloom blush. “At this rate, Apple Bloom’s gonna give me great grandfoals before you.” Apple Bloom entered her bedroom, quickly shutting the door behind her. She jumped and plopped onto her bed on her back. This day was quite eventful. She ate at the Hayburger, watched a decent movie, went bowling, and practiced a few dance steps. And all of it with the colt she somewhat had a crush on. Now she had a chance to go on an actual date with him in the future. For all either of them knew, it could probably lead to something more. Today really helped her get her mind of the whole Button Mash revenge thing. Although, something did cross her mind, a small, yet curious thing. How was Scootaloo handling all of this?