The Wishday Waltz

by Love And What Came After

V

Izzy bucked open the doors to the Brighthouse dramatically. "We're hereeee!" She announced in a singsong tune, trotting inside.

Misty trailed behind her. "Hi, guys." She waved, smiling awkwardly.

"Hiii!" Pipp raised both of her forelegs high and waved them.

"Hello." Hitch waved politely from the slumped position he had assumed on the sofa. Being sufficiently comfortable, he didn't attempt to stand.

Sunny leapt off of the sofa. "You're here! Finally! That's great! We're having such a fantastic day today, I'm glad you could make it, Misty."

"So I heard. If you want to, I'm sure you ponies will gladly regale your tales of adventure over some hot chocolate or ponycorn or something. Or whatever you're having right now. You guys are having something now, right? I'm kinda hungry."

Pipp soared overhead, pivoted gracefully, and descended with a mug in her hoof, which she offered. "Tea?"

"Yes, please. Thanks." Misty grateful accepted the cup. She sipped repeatedly, then clutched it close to her chest to warm herself.

"Do you like it? That's one of my brews." Izzy trotted into the center of the room, then paused. As if having forgotten her fur was covered in a thin layer of snow, she quickly shook to rid herself of the stubbornly clinging snow. She hopped onto a cushion beside the sofa and curled up atop it with an audible sigh of comfort and relaxation.

Misty hesitated before the lounge area, sweeping her gaze around as she searched for an appropriate place to sit. She could attempt to squeeze herself onto the sofa, but that probably would have been awkward...

"Hey, there's room here. Wake up, sheriff! Stop snoozing!" Zipp leaned against Hitch and shoved him with her shoulder, unsubtly coercing him to scoot over a smidge. She patted the newly formed seat beside her and waved invitingly.

"Umm, thanks, but I'm alright!" Misty placed her mug of tea onto the floor and splayed herself over a plush armchair. Her forelegs dangled over the edge of one of the arms and her head and scarf drooped.

"You both took so long, I've already laid Sparky to sleep. And I'm almost conked out myself." Hitch's remark was accompanied by a wide yawn. His eyelids fluttered closed as he relaxed.

"We went to Bridlewood," Izzy clarified.

"So that's why you're soaking wet. You went all the way there? In this weather?" Zipp raised an eyebrow as she silently judged their decision.

"It's not that cold tonight." Misty wriggled into a position so she was lying supine, then laid over the arm of the armchair with her head upside down and her mane and scarf dangling. "But, yeah, it was a lot of trotting. My legs are sore."

"Misty hadn't hung an ornament on the Wishing Tree yet, so that's the first thing we did. And then we practiced the dance of that one waltz that's been playing on the radio in town recently! It goes like: Hmm hmm, hmm hmm..." Izzy motioned to Misty to indicate she should join in.

"Hmm hmm, hmm hmm, hmm..."

Unprepared and fatigued as they were, they didn't harmonize together. Sunny giggled. "I guess I've heard worse renditions of that song!"

"Thanks. I know, I'm just sooooo harmonious. I should do caroling around Maretime Bay," Izzy joked, smiling. "We were talking about how ponies might have danced to it in dresses in Canterlot many moons ago. Imagine that!"

"They're called gowns," Sunny gently corrected. "My dad had an old box of them stored away in a closet. The material was exquisite." She pointedly gestured to Hitch with a flick of her head and smirked. "Hitch tried one on when we were younger."

Hitch's eyelids flung open like drawn curtains and he bolted upright to a sitting position. "SUNNY!" A blush surged through his face, spreading to his cheeks and the tips of his ears. "That was a secret between us!"

The girl's chortled among each other at his reaction.

"Oh. My. Gosh! What I wouldn't do to see that!" Pipp giggled.

"You? Mister 'brawny and no-nonsense' stallion?" Sitting the closest to him, Zipp leaned against him and smiled playfully. "Wow, I thought I knew you before."

"He looked like a very cute colt, definitely." Sunny winked, much to Hitch's chagrin.

"It was a long time ago!" He attempted to defend himself, then slumped back against the sofa and concealed his face in his hooves.

"Hey, if everypony's in agreement, we can all dance together sometime," Pipp chimed in. "I can ask mom for a favor so we can have one of the ballrooms all to ourselves. Plus the musicians, too, obviously."

"Nah, I don't think so. That'd be way too much trouble." Zipp shook her head. "Besides, even if it means we all wouldn't be together for the whole evening, I'd rather attend one of those regular non-fancy balls. Actually, I guess technically we've already been to one, huh?"

"The Manesquerade Ball isn't technically a ball, Zipp," her sister reminded her. "Everypony just calls the Manesquerade that."

"Right. If I had the choice, I wouldn't want to attend one of those 'real' fancy balls if I didn't have to. They're too stuffy and boring. And mom forces me to wear a dress." Zipp rolled her eyes and waved her hoof dismissively.

"I know what you mean, Zipp," Sunny sympathized. "Plus, they can be pretty uncomfortable, especially if they don't fit perfectly. Hitch and I danced together once! But he didn't actually wear a dres—"

"Sunny!" From his reclined position on the sofa, Hitch raised his hoof and pointed at her. "I swear! Shut up about that." Though his eyes were closed, the smile on his lips revealed the amusement he secretly felt.

Sunny giggled. "Let's just say I was the only one who looked pretty that time."

Misty smiled, internally laughing along with the others. With her eyes closed, in a comfortable position reclining atop the armchair's arm, it was tranquil. She heard Izzy chime in with a story of her own, entertaining everypony with an amusing tale about her past experiences in Bridlewood and the types of unicorn dances she had participated in. All was peaceful. She could listen to her friends converse forever.

"Misty?"

Her eyelids flung open. Everypony gazed at her expectantly.

"Misty?" Izzy repeated. "You're not falling asleep, are you?"

"A little," she admitted. "It's been a long day."

"Would you like to practice that dance to the waltz? I brought the record!" Izzy presented it using her levitation music, spinning it in midair. "And I have a record player in the storage closet."

"Oh." Misty awkwardly glanced aside as she attempted to devise an appropriate excuse. "Once I finish my tea, then I think I should probably be heading home. I'm pretty tired after all of that walking, and it's getting really late, and I know my roommate is going to be really upset if I don't—"

"It's okay, don't worry! She can wait a little longer. It's Winter Wishday! Let's party!" Izzy reared onto her rear legs excitedly and cheered. Everypony whooped and hollered, leaping from their seats, except for Hitch, who remained seated momentarily. He exchanged a knowing glance with Misty, and in a brief moment of eye contact they silently communicated, acknowledging how it would be polite if they participated with their more energetic friends.

"I'll get my record player!" Izzy dashed to the storage closet.

"Alright, in that case..." Hitch rose to his hooves and stretched, releasing a soft groan as he did so. "Let's partner up, then."

They moved to the wide open space adjacent to the lounge with the ornately-decorated, mosaic-patterned ring adorning the crystal floor.

"Sis?" Pipp circled over Zipp and landed before her, offering her hoof.

"Nah, I'm with the sheriff, here." Zipp poked Hitch's side with the tip of her hoof. "The big oaf is sleepy, he needs somepony to wake him up a little."

"May I have this dance, princess?" Sunny propositioned, mock curtsying and giggling.

"I believe I can pencil you in!" Pipp reciprocated the mock formal greeting.

"Got it!" Izzy deposited the modern record player near the arm of the sofa and placed the record onto the plastic platter. "I'm with Misty!" With a surprised yelp from the levitatee, she levitated Misty from the armchair and gently deposited her onto the floor, hooves down. She rested her foreleg over Misty's shoulders.

"This dance isn't exactly a pegasus tradition, so you ponies will have to teach me. Sunny?" Pipp waited for her partner to lead. She carefully watched Sunny's hooves, then adopted her partner's stance. They held hooves as they assumed the starting position.

"Yeah, ditto." Zipp extended her hoof as she waited to be led. "C'mon, sleepyhead, wake up and show me that earth pony groove."

"I'm not that tired!" Hitch protested with a chuckle. He assumed Sunny's stance, and Zipp mimicked him after analyzing how he stepped.

"You know, we have the advantage," Izzy spoke quietly to her partner. "We have practice, and they don't."

"Only a little bit. And we were alone for that." Misty frowned. "I'm still unsteady on my hooves. And now there's four other ponies here, and—"

Izzy flipped the switch to activate the record player. "Hey, don't worry about them." She smiled encouragingly. "I bet once we start, they're going to be just as confused and clumsy as you. And about the hooves: it's okay. You'll be a novice for a while. But the only way to get good at something is to practice."

"I'm not worried about being bad. I just want to not look silly in front of ponies I care about..." Misty sighed. Gingerly, she extended her hoof and widened her stance.

"You have me to help you! And I'm the best dancer in Bridlewood." Izzy winked. "Don't tell anypony I said that, okay? I know a few unicorns who would take that personally."

The music rose, the waltz commenced, and the cue sounded.

Hmm hmm, hmm hmm, hmm hmm, hmm hmm...

The first routine was surprisingly uneventful. Izzy counted aloud under her breath to aid the timing of their movements, and Misty found her legs to be unexpectedly cooperative. As the other two pairs danced in place to practice the sequence, Izzy slowly led her partner in a circle around the rim of the ring.

"Are we supposed to be—?"

"Yup! Relax, it's okay," Izzy reassured her.

Hmm hmm hmm...

As the second movement began, and Misty attempted to cross her rear legs as her partner did, she, again, found it to be especially troublesome. Her knees trembled, and she wobbled unsteadily.

Hmm hmm hmm...

Izzy sensed impending danger, and her eyes bulged. "Misty, w - wait! Let go—!" But unfortunately, her cautions were for naught. Misty, still firmly clutching her partner's hoof, tripped over her own legs, stumbled, and collided forcefully into her partner, causing them both to tumble and collapse onto the hard floor in a pile with a chorus of pained grunts.

"Oof!" Misty untangled herself from her partner, and her ears laid flat against her head from embarrassment. "Sorry."

"It's okay!" Izzy rolled onto her back and raised her hoof, pointing. "They didn't fare too well, either."

Sunny and Pipp were in a heap of tangled limps, groaning painfully.

"Uh, Hitch? Little help, please!" Zipp had tripped and found herself precariously leaning in such a way, with her legs angled beneath herself and her weight shifted to one side, that supporting herself would be impossible if she ceased using her hoof to anchor herself to her partner and keep herself afloat. Fortunately, being heavier and bulkier them his partner, Hitch acted as a sufficient counterweight. He hoisted Zipp to her hooves.

"Will we ever finish that song properly?" Misty wondered aloud, half-joking. As she stretched her legs, she realized landing onto the hard crystal floor had injured her shoulder. She winced, messaging the tender skin.

"Ouch!" Pipp partially unfurled her aching left wing and allowed it to hang limply by her side.

"Maybe some day," Sunny suggested. "After we get some rest. I think we could all use some sleep right about now."

Pipp's muzzle scrunched with discomfort. "Agreed. I have a lot of work to do tomorrow! And I can't be seen in public walking everywhere! I need to rest my wing."

"Yeah, I think I'll retire for the night, too. Night, everypony!" The royal sisters split from the group and departed. Before Zipp trotted for the stairs, she flipped the switch on the side of the record player and deactivated it, bringing the cheerful music to a halt.

"You don't mind if I crash on your couch, do you, Sunny? Mmm..." Hitch's question was punctuated with a deep yawn. After he received polite confirmation from Sunny, he gladly slumped onto the sofa and drew a blanket over himself.

Sunny chuckled. "I think that's our cue. It's been such a fantastic day! I couldn't have asked for a better Winter Wishday! Well..." She nodded to Misty. "I would have preferred a Wishday where you joined us for the whole day, Misty, but I'm still glad you showed up! Thanks for coming. I think I speak for everypony when I say we're glad you made the decision to."

"Thanks for inviting me." Misty smiled.

"Goodnight! See you next moon." Sunny waved as she departed for the stairs.

Izzy giggled. "It's funny thinking we won't see each other for a whole moon after tonight. Even though the new moon will be fully risen in..." she attempted to consult a watch, then remembered she didn't typically wear one. "Just about a few hours from now."

"In that case, see you next moon, then, I guess! Thanks for tonight, Izzy. You really, um, helped m—"

Izzy sprang forward and coiled her forelegs around Misty, clutching her in a tight hug. "Thank you for spending your holiday with us!"

Misty rested her chin over her friend's shoulder and reciprocated the hug. Her lips curled into a smile, and her ears perked up happily.

"Hey, Misty?" Izzy withdrew from the hug to initiate eye contact. "Do you promise to confront that pony in your life? You don't have to do it tomorrow, or even soon, but, you know, I understand how it feels to be in the position you're in. But if you need more time, I also get it."

"I don't think it's as simple as you're making it out to be, but... well, when is anything ever simple? I'll think about it." She nodded resolutely.

"Great! That makes me feel less worried." Izzy smiled encouragingly. "I promise to keep it a secret between us until you're ready, okay?"

After quickly draining the remaining tea from her mug and politely excusing herself, Misty departed from the Brighthouse. Outside, descending the snow-blanketed hill in the dead of night beneath the subtle illumination of the moon and the accompanying stars overhead, she paused to ponder, gazing upwards thoughtfully. The moon gradually rose in its course across the navy blue sky, destined to soon reach the apex of its climb and punctually transition into the new moon.

She nuzzled her hoof-knitted scarf with a smile. The chilly winter air felt a bit less uncomfortable. She realized, then, that the holiday had indeed been as successful and fun as she had initially hoped for.

Comments

[Scyphi]

Very nice!