Friends and Lovers

by Donnys Boy

Shall We Dance? (TwiShy)

"Shall We Dance?"
(TwiShy)

Twilight Sparkle was a terrible dancer.

There was no escaping that very simple, very basic fact. Out on the dance floor, the unicorn's every movement was jerky and haphazard, just slightly out of time with the big band music that flowed like wine. Twilight's dancing drew attention in the worst possible way. It was large and broad and completely unrestrained, and she looked absolutely ridiculous with the way her eyes were scrunched shut tightly and the very tip of her tongue poked out the side of her mouth.

Fluttershy never loved Twilight quite so much as she did when that purple unicorn was dancing.

Off in a corner of the bakery, safe among the shadows and away from the eyes of others, Fluttershy stood and Fluttershy watched. She couldn't help it. Twilight's dancing all but demanded that she pay attention. In all her years, Fluttershy had never seen anything quite so … so brave. And Fluttershy was a pony who'd witnessed a great many feats of bravery and known a great many ponies with nerves of absolute steel.

But even Rainbow Dash's most death-defying stunts had never wowed Fluttershy to the extent as did the sight before her now. It was downright beautiful, seeing Twilight Sparkle … Twilight Sparkle, the mare who cared so deeply about others' opinion of her that she backed down from confrontation with the Great and Powerful Trixie and Twilight Sparkle, the pony who had a complete breakdown at the thought of turning in an assignment late and disappointing her teacher … in seeing Twilight Sparkle dance with such devil-may-care abandon and clumsy enthusiasm.

It almost made Fluttershy want to go out and dance with her.

Almost.

Instead, Fluttershy stayed in her corner and continued watching, as surreptitiously as possible, just out of the corner of her eyes. She kept on watching as Rainbow Dash flew by, with a yelling Applejack hot on her heels. She kept on watching as Rarity brought over a glass of punch and gossiped a bit about the various handsome stallions at the party. She kept on watching as Pinkie Pie bounded over and began babbling a mile a minute about the new words that Pumpkin and Pound Cake had learned just the other day. And Fluttershy kept on watching as Spike ambled over, a cupcake in one hand and a donut in the other.

"Heya, 'Shy."

"Hello, Spike." Fluttershy smiled in greeting, as her eyes darted over to the small dragon for a few seconds before returning to the dance floor. "How are you enjoying the party?"

"Well, it's a Pinkie Pie party, so it's totally great, y'know?"

Fluttershy nodded. She was an old veteran of Pinkie's parties. "Oh, yes. Definitely."

"How 'bout you? How come you aren't out there dancing with Twilight?"

Fluttershy's head whipped around so fast that her mane flicked Spike right in the nose. "W-what?" she gasped out, before she noticed Spike grumbling and rubbing his snout. "Oh! Oh, Spike, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hit you."

The dragon gave a good-natured shrug. "S'okay! I know it was an accident." He blinked up at her with guileless eyes. "Anyways, you've just been starin' at Twilight all night, so I figured you must wanna dance too."

Staring. All night. At Twilight.

Apparently she hadn't been quite as subtle as she'd hoped.

Fluttershy opened her mouth to respond—to deny, deny, deny—but the words wouldn't come out. She just stared down at Spike and wished, with all of her might, that the floor of Sugarcube Corner would suddenly crack open and swallow her whole.

Instead, Spike flashed her a grin. "Ohhhh. Is this that shy thing again? Don't worry." He patted her on the shoulder before turning away. "I'll go tell Twi that she should ask you to dance!"

"N-no!" Fluttershy lurched forward, eyes wide and desperate. "Spike, please don't—"

But the young dragon had already scampered off and disappeared into the throng of dancing ponies. Fluttershy simply stood there. Her heart thudded in her chest with a sickly heaviness, and a cold sheen of sweat covered her face. Some dim back corner of her brain wondered if this was what it felt like to know that one was about to die.

Because that was what was going to happen. Twilight was going to come up to her and yell at her for being rude and for staring all night, and then they wouldn't be friends anymore, and the others wouldn't want to be her friend either, because who would want to be friends with a rude, staring pony? No one, of course. And then Fluttershy would spontaneously combust from the sheer combination of humiliation and shame.

Not even Angel Bunny would come to her funeral.

But when Twilight came trotting over from the dance floor, the unicorn didn't look particularly inclined to yell. Twilight looked rather relaxed, in fact, and was waving to her happily.

Fluttershy swallowed and willed herself to not look away. It was funny, in a way, that all night she'd been unable to tear her eyes from Twilight—but now, she had to fight with all that she had to not lower her head and stare at the floor.

"Hi, Fluttershy!" Twilight sounded a bit out of breath, and her fur glistened with sweat under the bakery's fluorescent lights. "Spike said you wanted to dance."

Fluttershy swallowed. Twilight … wasn't mad. Fluttershy wasn't sure how to process that information, exactly, but she knew it was a good thing. Twilight wasn't mad. Maybe that meant Angel Bunny would come to the funeral, after all.

After several moments of silence, Twilight Sparkle leaned forward, close enough that Fluttershy could smell the punch on the other pony's breath. "So," Twilight prompted, with an encouraging smile, "would you like to dance?"

Fluttershy didn't, of course. She wasn't brave, like Twilight was. She couldn't just ignore all of those ponies' eyes, and she couldn't just lose herself in the music and its pulsing beat. She couldn't hold a candle to Twilight, really, and for the first time all night, Fluttershy knew what to do. She would smile at Twilight—a small smile, a just-friends smile—and thank her, then explain that she was just fine right where she was. She wasn't much for dancing, she would say, not at big parties like this one. She'd explain that she really liked her quiet little corner, and Twilight would nod in that understanding way of hers and leave.

Twilight would leave, and Fluttershy would be alone again.

Just like it had been all night. Just like it always had been and always would be.

"Twilight?" Fluttershy heard herself say, in a voice loud enough that it surprised even her. "I would love to dance."

---

Author's Notes: I know I've already drawn from the well of Twilight Sparkle Is a Terrible Dancer, but I liked this story too much to not post it. Written for yet another Thirty Minute Ponies prompt.

Comments

[Steel Resolve]

Yes, this. Exactly this. More of this.

[The Princess Rarity]

Totally adorbs! MOAR PLZ

[ugugg93]

Yay!

Not sure, but I really don't have anything else to say. My mind is fried atm I blame Halo 4.

[Esle Ynopemos]

This makes me happy in a way that only a cute TwiShy vignette by Donny's Boy can.

[Lurks-no-More]

I'm sure you're not the only one to like this. Adorkable but effortlessly confident Twilight and the adorably anxious Fluttershy!

[Mystic]

Hehehe

[Jumpitydude]

TwishyTwishyTwishyTwishyTwishyTwishyTwishyTwishyTwishyTwishy! Yay!

... *Cough* I like Twishy.

[TheTwientist]

Well hot dang if you don't write well. These were all pretty awesome. Even if some were sad, or they didn't always get together at the end, or if you did pairings I don't really care for. Doesn't matter.

Do DashPie next. It's not my favorite pairing, but I like it and you haven't done it yet.

[Donnys Boy]

1557613
Heh, glad you liked it even though it's just a bit o' fluff.

1587937
1587965
1588095
1594251
Thanks, y'all!

1588697
1603875
Hee. Glad you think I did okay by TwiShy--it's not one of my fave ships, and I'm always a bit more insecure when writing those. I like to do right by others' ships.

1610866
Aww, thanks! Glad you've been enjoying these! And I've actually done a ton of RainbowPie ... so much so that it's got its own separate story collection, which is why there's none here, heh.

[ColdGoldLazarus]

I like this one, very cute! And The whole bit about the funeral was hilarious.

There needs to be more Twishy -more good Twishy, like this one- on this site.

[dragonjek]

Don't worry, Fluttershy. I'm certain Angel Bunny would attend your funeral to mourn the loss of you and the food in your fridge.

[Titanium Dragon]

Ah yes, that moment when you realize that you're being a big dummy and need to choose different.