"Wait," Tender Taps retorted, his smile fading into a questioning stare, "how are you planning on helping me exactly?"
Rumble smirked, "Simple. You're an amazing dancer, right?"
"Yeah, I guess", Tender taps sheepishly admitted; singing his own praises wasn't something he was used to.
"But you're a bit nervous about organizing everything..." Rumble continued, rolling a hoof in the air.
Tender Taps nodded, shivering ever so slightly.
"So," Rumble continued, "I'll just handle the logistical part of it, you handle the dancing, and next thing you know..."
Rumble walked up to Tender Taps and put a hoof around his neck and gestured to the horizon with his other hoof, "we pull off the most spectacular Hearts and Hooves Dance this side of Ponyville has ever seen!" Although Rumble had tried to say as much in a neutral and relaxed tone, as he usually speaks, a little excitement leaked out; Tender Taps noticed.
"Are you sure?" Tender Taps faltered, feeling Rumble's weight and charm off-balancing him.
"Of course!" Rumble replied smugly, "I've done this before, actually."
"Really? You've organized a dance before? When?"
"Well, I ran my own cutie mark camp once," Rumble quipped half-clamantly, combing back his mane and closing his eyes as if it were no big deal, as if it went absolutely according to plan, "yup. I organized a whole camp of foals, all on my own..."
Tender Taps was genuinely impressed.
Rumble opened his eyes, stammering in realization, "...well my brother helped a little, after I... course-corrected some other fillies' camp. The point still stands! I know what to do to make this work; quite particularly, actually."
Tender Taps felt conflicted in Rumble's grip, he was in awe again, Rumble was confident that he could make his dream come true! And he seemingly wanted to help him, for no reason other than he believed in him and he liked his dancing!
But he was way too laid-back about the whole thing... Were there other reasons why Rumble was doing this? Was he just trying to flatter him? If so, why? Wait, what was that about hijacking camps?!
"...And with me taking charge,” Rumble let go of Tender Taps and gestured towards him with a hoof, "you would be free to dance however you wanted, to your heart's desire. No boring routines or snotty teachers holding you back!" Rumble pitched with a smile, "...your Hearts and Hooves Dance would be one to remember!"
'Whoa, my dance. There's a thought.'
'A scary thought...'
"What do you think?" Rumble lowered his head a little, waiting for his response.
"Uh... I. I don't know... where would we even start?" Tender Taps begun to shrink again.
"Well, that's simple. First I need to know what the event will be like. Is there a story? How many ponies will be dancing?"
Tender Taps relaxed a little with the simple question. "Um, well the dance is a short play followed by a ball for all the visitors. My class will perform a little three act play, set the mood, and then break with music so everyone else can dance."
"Hmm. Seems simple enough," Rumble put his hoof on his chin, "what changes would you like to make?"
"Changes?..." Tender Taps remained uneasy. "Well, Miss Steps has everything planned out already, and..."
"Really, Taps? If the routine I saw in the morning is anything to go by, Miss Step's vision for this dance is boring at best and depressing at worst."
Rumble began twiddling his wing-tips together, remembering Tender Taps in his dejected state. "No, that won't do. You need to give this thing your special touch, otherwise ponies will lose interest in the whole thing and maybe even dancing in general."
"You really think the routine was that bad?"
"No offense Taps," Rumble's bored eyelids sunk again, "Miss Steps has clearly taught you well but that routine you were doing after she told you to stop improvising was lifeless... No one would be in the mood to dance after seeing that."
"Ouch."
"But you can change that!" Rumble poked Tender Tap's chest encouragingly with a wing. "That's why it's so important for you to dance the way you really want to! There's no hiding it, you're an amazing dancer and you give life to everything you do."
"All...alright," Tender Taps stiffened up and looked down at his hooves, imagining dance moves; maybe hiding a faint blush.
"I may have a few ideas..." Tender Taps admitted, unintentionally a little coyly.
"Awesome!" Rumble beamed, "walk me through and I'll figure out a way to convince Miss Steps to give you a chance."
"All right Crusaders, I now call this Crusader meeting to order! First item of business: We are getting Scootaloo a date for the Hearts and Hooves Dance!"
Apple Bloom announced this, a little too teasingly, from the podium inside the Crusader Club House. Sweetie Belle listened intently with a wide grin, ideas already forming in her mind as she held a tight hoof around an embarrassed Scootaloo.
"We will begin with a quick overview of what has already transpired," Apple Bloom continued. "Scootaloo likes Rumble. Now he isn't the one I would have picked... but he'll do just fine."
"Hay!" Scootaloo interjected.
"Aw, you're defending him!" Sweetie Belle hugged Scootaloo tighter, her blush continually growing fiercer.
"It is adorable," Apple Bloom agreed.
Scootaloo groaned as if Sweetie Belle's hug caused her mortal pain. "Apple Bloom, get on with it!" Scootaloo knew she was too flustered to possibly appear intimidating, so she settled on hiding behind her little wings to save the little dignity she had left.
"Alright, alright, where was I? ... Ah, yeah! Now that the crush has been identified, it falls upon us the Cutie Mark Crusaders: Wingmares! to organize that date!" Apple Bloom's playful emphasis on gushy words was met with a chorus of groans from Scootaloo, "I reckon that we start with a proposal from our love expert. Sweetie Belle, may you do the honor?"
"Whoo! This is going to be fun." Sweetie Belle let go of Scootaloo and traded places on the podium with Apple Bloom, who sat next to Scootaloo but at a distance; no need to poke a hornet's nest after all.
Using her levitation magic, Sweetie Belle revealed a book she had brought in her saddlebag and opened it for the others to see.
"Ahem. As stated in Love and You, Hopeless Romantics Edition by Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. Cha..."
"I am not hopeless," Scootaloo fussed.
"Oh, shush you, the expert is talking!" Sweetie Belle's inner Rarity emerged again, to Scootaloo's frustration and Apple Bloom's giddy enjoyment.
"Ahem. Chapter Three, The first date. When you develop feelings or a crush for somepony, scoring a date can be intimidating, scary, or even anxiety inducing? Huh...?" Sweetie Belle flipped through the pages and began reading erratically as she looked for something. Scootaloo listened attentively to her own discomfort, Apple Bloom noticed but stayed quiet.
"You need have no fear... love is for everyone... This guide can help...blah, blah, blah... Sorry, my bookmark must've fallen out... Oh! Here it is! Step Five. How to prepare a romantic setting. The best..."
"Wait." Scootaloo stammered quietly before realizing what she had just implied.
"What is it, Scootaloo?" asked Apple Bloom, honestly trying to hide her smug face and be supportive.
"I uh...," Scootaloo sighed, "I didn't ask Rumble out yet. I messed up." Scootaloo lowered her head in shame.
"Oh." Both Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom exchanged looks.
"Did it go well though?" asked Apple Bloom, a bit apprehensive about how to handle things. What would Miss Cheerilee want her to do? Probably nothing to be honest.
"Uh, well. He talked to me, so... I guess...," as Scootaloo said this she rocked back and forth on her rump a little, still embarrassed. "He uh, did say... that he thought... I was... cool though," Scootaloo cringed and tried hiding again; her friends smiled.
"Really, that's great Scootaloo!" Sweetie Belle announced encouragingly.
"Yeah, that doesn't sound too bad," admitted Apple Bloom.
Feeling a little reassured, Scootaloo lowered her wings from her face to reveal a blush and continued. "I... I don't know what happened, I was so confident up until I actually had to talk to him... Do..."
Scootaloo realized how pathetic she must have seemed to her friends at that moment but she kept going anyway, it's not like it could get any worse. Taking a deep breath and hiding under her wings again, she continued; her speech gradually becoming a quiet whisper, "could you go over that part about... anxiety?"
"Sure Scoots, that's no problem," Sweetie Belle looked back to her book with a smile.
Scootaloo relaxed, this had clearly gone better than what she had hoped. They didn't even tease her this time!
"Yeah, you call the shots, remember!" Apple Bloom smiled a little smugly again, elbowing Scootaloo on her side. "Isn't that right, totally not-hopeless lovermare?"
There it is. Scootaloo signed and rolled her eyes; that wasn't so bad.
"Ahem. Chapter Three, Step One. When you develop feelings or a crush for somepony, scoring a date can be intimidating, scary, or even anxiety inducing. You need have no fear, love is for everyone! This guide can help you gain the confidence you need to ask your special somepony on that date. Pro-tip: ask trusted friends to help you practice... What do you know? That's US!" Sweetie Belle gasped in joyful anticipation, "WE could play Pretend Date!"
"Yeah!" Apple Bloom wheezed.
Scootaloo's eyes bulged and her face reddened again, "Absolutely not!"
"A rehearsal, of course!", Rumble beamed, "That's how we prove Miss Steps you can head the dance!"
"What?!" Tender Taps slipped on his hooves and fell, he had been just in the middle of explaining the second act of the story when he was caught off guard by Rumble's epiphany.
"Yes. A rehearsal. Being so close to the deadline already, Miss Steps wouldn't trust anyone to change the routine just willy-nilly," Rumble extended a hoof and helped Tender Taps get up, "but, if you show her a recital of the act with your modifications already honed and perfected, then she won't be scared of the extra prep-time the change would bring. The new routine would be ready and she would just need to approve it. No risks!"
Rumble poked Tender Taps' chest with a wing encouragingly, "What do you say? Want to give it a shot, show your teacher how far you've come?"
Tender Taps was speechless for a moment, shock and awe kept him from putting together a response.
"Taps?"
"Uh, yeah. That could work." Tender Taps returned from his stupor, "but... I'll need to get the other dancers on board, what if they don't want to make the changes?"
"We can worry about that later, first I was thinking you could change your routine. Then, once it's good, you show the class to convince the other students," Rumble spread his wings to make a flaunting gesture, "get them all enticed for a challenge".
"Oh. Uh, but... My part isn't all solo. There's a duet in the third part," Tender Taps began getting visibly troubled again, he was even sweating a little, "the other dancer really struggled to get the part right, I don't think she'll want to do it all over again, much less a harder routine."
"Huh," Rumble sat on the floor and brought a hoof to his chin, "that is going to be a problem. Is there any other pony who could learn the duet with you?"
"No, most of the other dancers practice in the late afternoons, or on completely separate days than me! Getting anypony else to practice a NEW routine with me is going to be Really hard!" Tender Taps was starting to look around nervously, he sighed, sat down, and looked at the floor, "Lets face it, this isn't going to work."
Rumble thought for a moment. Tender Taps was close, really close to following his dreams and escaping 'the box' of planned performances, but now... he was stuck. Because of other ponies... like Golden. No, this won't do. Tender Taps needs this, he desperately needs this.
'I can't just give him hope and let it die, what if he never takes a chance like this again?'
Rumble knew what the right thing to do was.
"I'll do it." Rumble said flatly.
"Huh?" Tender Taps looked up from the floor, his frown changing to confusion.
"Teach me to dance, Taps. I'll do the routine with you if nopony else can."
"But. You... the. You don't even know how to dance!"
"That doesn't matter, you're good at it, you can teach me. Come on, it's the only way. Besides," Rumble stood up and offered Tender Taps a hoof to get up, again. "... it'll be fun," Rumble said with a smile.
Tender Taps looked into Rumble's eyes for a moment, scanning to see if he was sincere.
He was.
Rumble wasn't worried, or unsure, or hiding something like his eyes had hinted to that morning. No, Rumble was looking at him with an honest face, eyes full of hope, and even pleading.
'Why are you helping me?... Does it matter?'
Tender taps, finally, conceded. He needed the help, and for whatever reason, it seemed that this dance mattered as much to Rumble as it mattered to him, why not take the chance?
Tender Taps smiled, accepted Rumble's hoof and stood up, "Are you sure you want to try dancing?"
"Well, I'll be honest. I've never tried it before but you make it look easy. How different could it be from flying?"
"Quite different I would imagine," Tender Taps admitted.