And We Danced

by iDash

Chapter 4- Learning to Stand

And We Danced
Chapter 4: Learning to Stand
By iDash

“Um... Are you sure you know where we’re going?” Fluttershy asked her cousin once again. The two were, again, making their way through Ponyville on another summer’s day, or morning in this case. This time, though, they were headed for the address Simon had given to the mare. However, it seemed that Candy Mane, who was leading the way, had no idea how to get to said address, but she would never admit.

Candy rolled her eyes. “I already told you, of course I know where we’re going.”

Fluttershy was not convinced. “Well, we’ve been out for quite a while now and it’s almost nine o’ clock.”

Candy stopped abruptly, causing Fluttershy to almost bump into her from behind. The leading mare raised a hoof to her chin as if she were thinking. She turned her head this way and that, brow furrowed in thought.

“Um...” Candy hummed. “Let’s see. It should be... that way!” she exclaimed and jabbed a hoof in the direction to their left.

Fluttershy pondered that direction for a moment before her face fell flat. “That’s Sugarcube Corner.”

Candy stuttered for a moment before composing herself. “Um- uh... Yes! Exactly! We need... cupcakes! To, uh, get... where we’re going... which is that way!” And with spurious confidence, the mare led the way. Fluttershy just sighed and followed her hopeless counterpart.

‘Maybe we can ask Pinkie Pie. I have to make sure I don’t tell her why, though.’ she thought.

The two cantered into the busy marketplace towards the Sugarcube Corner bakery. They passed through the doors and were promptly greeted by an excited shout that made the shy one of the two leap in surprise.

“FLUTTERSHY!”

Not a moment later, the poor mare was tackled by a speeding pink blur.

“Ooh, ow- um, hello, Pinkie Pie,” Fluttershy said from her painful position on the ground. “Could you get off me, please? If that’s okay with you.”

“Sure!” the jubilant pink mare exclaimed. She jumped off of her friend with a ‘sproing’ noise as she did. “So what brings you guys to Sugarcube Corner? I haven’t seen you in foreeeveeeerrr, which is really only three days, two hours, forty-seven minutes, and eight seconds, but it still felt like foreeeveeeerrr! Oh, hi, Candy!”

Candy who had managed to sneak away to the shop’s counter to order a cupcake turned around and waved with a smile to the excitable, bouncing mass of pink. Fluttershy stood up and dusted herself off.

“Um, actually, Pinkie, I was hoping you could help us.”

“Sure! Watcha need?” She suddenly gasped. “Is it a party? Is it a cupcake emergency?! Don’t worry, Fluttershy, I’ll get you more cupcakes on the double!” Pinkie was about to dash off in search of said cupcakes, but fell flat on her face when Fluttershy grabbed her tail with her teeth to keep her in place.

“Wait, Pinkie! It’s not cupcakes.”

“Aww, it’s never cupcakes,” Pinkie said, disappointed.

‘I wonder why,’ Fluttershy thought to herself. “Well... um, you see, we were going somewhere and Candy got lost, and-” but she was cut off.

“Hey! I’m not lost... I’m just misunderstood,” Candy pouted.

Fluttershy opened her mouth as if to say something, but quickly thought better of it. “Um, okay? Anyways, Candy got lost, and we just need some directions. Could you tell us how to get to 224 Birch Street, please? If you don’t mind.”

Pinkie hmm’ed and stuck her tongue out and thought for a minute, then said, “Sure!” much to Fluttershy’s relief. “First you go out the door then turn right, then turn right again, then you gotta go left, then right and left again, then you go sideways, and up, down, backwards...” she said all of this as she made all sorts of movements and gestures with her body that Fluttershy didn’t think possible while simultaneously bouncing. She stopped abruptly and took a deep breath. “And then you have to take the elevator and-”

“Pinkie!” Candy shouted, much to the confused Fluttershy’s thanks, making the pink mare stop. “Just tell us where it is.”

“Yes sir!” Pinkie saluted, then shot back down and straightened her body until it was as stiff as a board, even her tail which was pointing in one direction. “That way!”

Candy shot Fluttershy a smug look. “See, I told you it was this way.”

Fluttershy rolled her eyes and smiled at Pinkie Pie. “Thank you, Pinkie.”

“No Problem!”

The two trotted out of the store and turned towards the direction their pink friend had pointed to them. It wasn’t long until they came across a sign that read ‘Birch St.’ and happily followed it down the road until they reached the address that they sought.

Candy sighed. “We’re finally here, it’s about time.” The mare stepped up then raised her hoof and tapped it against the door, knocking a few times before stepping back. It was quiet for a few seconds that they waited, then there came the muffled sound of hoofsteps and exchanging voices from behind the wooden door.

Finally, it opened to reveal the expectant face of none other than Simon. His eyes shifted between the two before he smiled at them. “Ah, you’re finally here. You are a little late, though. I’m guessing Candy got lost again?” he said with a smirk towards the younger mare. Her cousin giggled beside her.

“Hey! We’re here, aren’t we?” she protested.

Suddenly a voice sounded within the house from behind Simon. “Are you kidding me?! You come here almost every week. How do you still get lost?!” Candy froze and Fluttershy tried to place the owner of the familiar voice. Simon then stepped aside to reveal the mare as she trotted to the doorway. She was a light aquamarine unicorn. Her mane and tail were both a light gray cyan with white highlights. Her cutie mark was a single golden lyre on each flank.

“Lyra?” Candy said with a confused expression. Her gaze shifted from Lyra to house and back again, then her eyes widened as she was hit with realization. "Oh yeah! This is your place, isn't it, Lyra?"

Everypony, even Fluttershy, facehooved, with the clueless exception of Candy.

"Anyways," Lyra said, attempting to move on from her friend's blunder. "Why don't you girls come in." They nodded in compliance and followed the mint colored unicorn inside. Simon waited until they were all inside before shutting the door behind himself and following them into the house.

It was a moment before Lyra spoke up once again, looking back over her shoulder as she did. "I'll have to admit, I was pretty surprised when Simon said that you had joined, Fluttershy. I almost didn't believe him; thought he was talking about a different Fluttershy, definitely not the timid mare I know."

Fluttershy lowered her head as she felt the heat rise in her cheeks. Lyra giggled in front of them. "I'm just kidding, Fluttershy." The mare led them through the hallway and past the living room and such to the left and began ascending a set of stairs to the second floor. "So- just curious- what made you decide to take up dancing?"

Fluttershy hesitated as she thought about the question. She opened her mouth, then closed it again. Why *did she decide to join? There was just something about it that... "Um, I guess- I mean, I think... It was how the music felt." She quickly lowered her head again and blushed lightly. "I'm sorry. It's just hard to explain."

Lyra just giggled and smiled warmly back at her. "Don't worry, most ponies can't." They had reached the top of the stairs now and continued to follow Lyra as she veered off to the only door to the left. Without a word, she opened the door and stepped aside, gesturing for the others to enter. They obliged and casually cantered in.

Fluttershy's mouth hung open a bit as she took in what she saw. The room was large, much larger than she had first suspected. Sunlight flooded in from a large window that took up at least half of the opposite wall. The light was reflected brightly off of the smooth, wooden floor, which looked as though it was polished and waxed regularly. Large mirrors completely covered two walls, while the wall to the right was blank save for a few chairs that were propped up against it and traces of papers that had been posted up then torn back down.

"Wow..." was all Fluttershy could say.

Lyra smiled at her. "You like it? This is Bon-Bon's dance studio. She and I built it ourselves; took a lot of work and a spare bedroom or two, but it was worth it."

Simon sighed next to her. "I'm still jealous that you two have such a great studio at your disposal."

"You two still got it better than me," Candy chimed in. "I gotta use my *carpeted floor." She shuddered. "The rug burns. Oh Celestia, the rug burns," she muttered to herself.

Fluttershy looked at them and blinked. "Wait, are you a dancer, Lyra? Um, I didn't see you at the Spot."

The mare was floating over three of the foldable chairs with her magic when she answered. "Uh... well, no, I'm not a dancer, but Simon always takes the new members to me."

Fluttershy cocked her head. "Why's that? Um, if you don't mind."

Lyra smiled at her. "That's okay. I teach the beginners the basics of dance. I don't really dance much, but I know enough to teach the fundamentals." She unfolded the chairs and set them down in a row next to her. She and Simon sat in two of them while Candy flipped hers backwards and sat down, leaning forward with her fore legs crossed and rested atop the back of the chair.

"Which, Fluttershy, is what we're doing today. So!" Fluttershy let out a surprised 'eep!'. "Let's see what you've got," The minty mare said with an expectant smile.

Fluttershy looked at her before she registered what she'd said. "W-wait, what?!"

Simon wore the same expression as Lyra. "She wants to see you dance. In order to teach you, we must first know where you currently stand."

"B-but I can't dance! I don't know what to do," Fluttershy stuttered.

Simon held up his hoof. "Nonsense, Darling. There is nopony who can't dance in some way or the other. Some have more skill than others, but everypony possesses the innate ability to dance." Candy and Lyra nodded in agreement beside him.

"Don't worry, 'Shy. We won't think anything less of you, I promise," Lyra said reassuringly.

"Okay, I'll do it," Fluttershy sighed. The mare took a deep breath and steeled herself. She readied herself, bending her knees as she crouched down a bit. Then, in one gracious movement, she straightened out, and lifted her front left leg and back right leg simultaneously, throwing her head up, her muzzle high in the air with her hair whipped back as she struck a majestic pose.

There was a painfully silent pause. After a moment, Fluttershy noticed nothing was happening and put her hooves down and lowered her head, looking now at the unreadable face of the three other ponies from behind her long, pink mane.

There was another pregnant pause, the silence was suddenly broken as a certain yellow mare exploded into a fit of laughter.

“Pffft- Bahahahahahah!” Candy clutched her stomach and tumbled backwards out of her chair, landing with a thud on the floor before she began rolling with laughter on said floor. Fluttershy’s face flushed and she ducked her head even more. She looked to the left at Simon and Lyra. The latter was quyite obviously trying to suppress her imminent laughter, though she let loose with a few snickers. The former was faring a bit better, but not by much. His alabaster face was flushed red and his lips pursed, while his eyes tried desperately to look anywhere but Fluttershy.

Lyra stuttered as she tried to speak. “I- um, it’s- well- Oh Celestia. That was... just awesome,” she managed with a few giggles.

Candy finally began to calm down and struggled to pull herself back onto her chair, catching her breath still. She held up a hoof, regarding Fluttershy. “No no. We- we know.”

“Don’t worry, Fluttershy,” Simon spoke up, smiling. “All of our new members go through this; it’s a sort of ritual, I suppose.”

“Yeah,” Lyra agreed. “It wasn’t much, but at least it wasn’t as bad as Candy’s.” She smirked at the mare, who returned with her own pouting face.

“What are you talking about? Mine wasn’t that bad!”

Lyra gave her a deadpan look. “Really? Because I seem to recall two broken mirrors and a large hole in the ceiling.”

“Psh, I was just a little enthusiastic is all. And besides, it wasn’t that big.” She muttered the last part to herself. To this day, she still doesn’t know how she ended up upside down with her back left leg stuck in the ceiling.

Fluttershy smiled as she watched her friends. She lifted her head rather than hide behind her mane as she started to feel her tension and anxiety lift like a weight off her shoulders, a feeling that was starting to become familiar to her. Lyra rolled her eyes at Candy, then turned again to Fluttershy. “Anyways, now that we know where your, um... abilities lie, we know where to begin.”

“Um, where is that?” Fluttershy asked timidly.

Lyra clapped her hooves together and sported a wide grin, which Fluttershy didn’t know was good or bad. “The beginning, my timid friend. The very beginning.”

“Wait, what are we doing?” Fluttershy stood in the middle of the room across from Lyra and one of the mirrored walls. She was looking at the mare with a quizzical expression. It was only the beginning of her first lesson and she was already lost.

Lyra just smiled like it was simple. “I’m going to teach you how to stand.” Fluttershy paused and looked back for help, but didn’t find any. Simon and Candy had gone off to run some errands while she practiced with Lyra.

She turned back to the minty mare. “Um, but I think I already know how to stand.”

“Nope,” Lyra stated simply, then chuckled at Fluttershy’s confusion. “You’ve been to the Spot, right?” Fluttershy nodded. “Then do you remember how they danced? If you noticed, the whole time, they never stood on all four hooves.” Fluttershy paused, then nodded again as she thought back to the other night. The way they danced had seemed so strange to her.

“Well, if you’re going to dance like that, you need to know how to balance yourself on just your hind legs. Thus, I teach you how to stand,” she finished.

“Okay, I... think I understand. Um, so, how do we start?”

“First you’ll watch me do it, then you’ll give it a try and we’ll go from there.” Fluttershy nodded in confirmation. “Alright then, watch closely.” There was not much to watch, though. It wasn’t a complex movement like Fluttershy was expecting. Rather, it was just one simple motion as Lyra effortlessly hoisted herself up, letting her fore hooves leave the ground, until she stood about a foot over Fluttershy with only her hind legs to balance her.

“See, just like that,” she said, still standing. “It’s pretty easy once you get used to it.” To demonstrate, she took a few steps around in a circle before dropping back down to four hooves.

“Your turn!” She pointed to Fluttershy.

“Um, o-okay then. Here I go.” The shy mare got in the same position she’d just seen. She took a deep breath, and pushed off the ground and hoisted herself up just as her minty friend had. However, to her misfortune, her balance chose that exact moment to keel over and die.

As soon as she was up, she began to careen backwards, her hooves flailing in the air with desperation, and finally fell, hitting the ground with an adorable “Eep!”

She looked up to see Lyra looking down at her and giggling softly. “Yeah, that’s what everypony’s first try is like.” She then extended a hoof, which Fluttershy graciously accepted, and pulled the shy mare back up onto her feet, figuratively speaking.

After she was resituated, Fluttershy hesitantly asked a question that had been on her mind. “Lyra, uh, if you don’t mind me asking... why is it that you know how to... stand like this?”

“Well that’s...” she paused for a moment. “You know how I study those mysterious creatures?”

“Those weird hoo-man things?”

Lyra placed a hoof between her eyes. “Yes the- the hoo-mans.” The word was mispronounced so many times that she didn’t even bother correcting ponies anymore. Seriously, it was like mispronouncing ‘dog’ and saying ‘dug’ or ‘dig’ instead. “Anyways,” she continued, “humans are bipedal, meaning they walk on two legs. And since I’m kind of a fanatic, I sort of taught myself how to walk like that, too. I didn’t have anyone to teach me, though, so it took me a while to figure it out.”

She stood up on her hind legs again and began walking around. “But now it’s like second nature to me.” She dropped back down. “I could do it in my sleep,” she bragged. “I actually did once. ‘Scared the hay out of Bon-Bon and she started screaming ‘Human! Human!’... and throwing stuff at me.” She sheepishly rubbed the back of her head.” Yeah, I slept on the couch for a while after that.”

“Anyways,” Lyra clapped her hooves together and looked pointedly at Fluttershy, thus ending her monologue. “Back to the lessons.” She trotted over so that she stood next to her friend. “Try it again, but don’t put so much force into pushing yourself up, or else you’ll fall back again, and it’s better to fall forward than backward.”

The shy mare nodded, taking in the new information. She face forward and tried again, doing as she was told. To her surprise, she was able to hold the position for a second but began tilting forward and landed softly on her hooves rather than her back. With Lyra’s instruction, she tried again and again, each time staying up just a bit longer than the last, but ending with the same result. Lyra gave her various tips like spreading her legs farther apart to obtain a wider base or to straighten herself out more to center her balance.

“Good, you’re making nice progress,” Lyra said after a while of watching her attempts. “Okay, this time I want you to spread your wings to balance yourself. If you start to fall forward, give them a little flap- just a little one- to keep you up. Everypony uses this technique when they start out: pegasi use their wings, and unicorns use their levitation magic.”

“What about earth ponies, like Candy?”

“They rely on their natural physical prowess, so it’s usually much easier for them. Alright, now show me what you’ve got, and use your wings like I told you.”

Fluttershy complied and tried once again, this time spreading her wings when she was up. When she started to lean forward, she gave a single soft flap and corrected herself. Her wing moved back and forth, making slight movements to adjust her position. She closed her eyes in anticipation as she waited for the feeling of falling again. Another moment passed and nothing happened until she heard the sound of somepony giggling.

“What’re you closing your eyes for?” Fluttershy heard her say.

The mare opened one of her eyes a little and saw Lyra standing in front of her with a proud smile on her face. She looked past her and into the mirror on the wall and couldn’t help but grin at what she saw. She was standing- on just two legs! She was doing it! In her excitement, she let out a joyful ‘squee!’, which made her lose her balance for a second, her legs flailing, before she quickly righted herself again.

Fluttershy blushed sheepishly at Lyra who was laughing again. “I mean, yay...” she said in the hushed whisper that was her normal voice level.

“Well would ya look at that,” came a voice from the doorway. It surprised Fluttershy enough to make her land back down on the ground. Both her and Lyra turned to see Candy and Simon trotting into the room, the former wearing a grin on her face. “Doin’ pretty good, ‘Shy,” she said.

“Yeah,” Lyra chimed in. “She’s doing better than I thought, and she’s a fast learner, too.”

“Ah, that’s my cousin for ya.” Candy slapped Fluttershy on the back, eliciting another ‘Eep!’ from the mare. Simon chuckled beside her. “I’m proud of you as well, Fluttershy.”

‘This is... fun,’ Fluttershy thought to herself. “Thank you,” she said with a proud smile. “And thanks for helping me, Lyra.”

“No problem, ‘Shy,” Lyra said. She took a quick glance at the clock, then turned back. “Sorry, but we’re going to have to finish up another time. I promised Bon-Bon I’d help her out at work and it’s about time.” She looked pointedly at Fluttershy. “I want you to keep practicing, though. Practice until you can get it down without using your wings. A good exercise is to get a few books and balance them on top of your head, see how long you can keep them up.”

“Um, o-okay. Should I... come back tomorrow, then?” Fluttershy asked.

The minty mare shook her head. “I’ll be busy tomorrow, too. Stop by at the same time the day after tomorrow and we’ll start the next lesson.” Fluttershy nodded. “Oh and try to start walking on your hind legs as well.”

“Okay. Thanks again, Lyra.” Receiving her last instructions for the day, Fluttershy said her goodbyes and left with Candy and Simon, the latter going his own separate way after a while.

“You sure you don’t want me to walk you home?” Candy asked her cousin.

Fluttershy shook her head. “No thank you. I have to stop by the library to get some books anyways.” She needed the books to practice. She would use her own, but she no longer possessed any, courtesy of her various animal friends that apparently eat paper.

Candy chuckled. “Alright then. See ya later, ‘Shy. And great job today, too.” She trotted off, Fluttershy waving behind her with a smile. When she was gone, the shy mare began her way towards the Ponyville library.

---

“Hey, Fluttershy. What’s up?”

“Ah!” Fluttershy yelped and whipped around to see who was behind her before letting out a sigh of relief. “Oh, sorry Twilight, you scared me.”

The unicorn giggled at her shy friend. “Sorry, Fluttershy. I just haven’t seen you in a while. SO what have you been up to, lately?” It was an innocent question, just a question. Should be easy enough to answer. Come on Fluttershy, you can do this.

“Um... N-nothing?”

Twilight raised a brow. “Really? Nothing? What about your animals?”

“Oh, uh, yes! My animals. I’ve been, um, taking care of them... a lot.” Smooth. What was she here for again? Oh yeah. Books. Smiling innocently at Twilight, she started grabbing random books from the shelves behind her.

Twilight chuckled. “Taking care of your animals must be such a hassle, and you have so many of them, too. I have no idea how you do it.”

She grabbed another book. “Oh, it’s not that bad. They’re usually very nice and behaved.”

“Well that’s good. So what are you doing here?”

Fluttershy stopped. “Um, j-just here to check out a few books.” Twilight looked at the pile of books she had collected, then at Fluttershy, then back at the books.

“You mean like Equestria’s Most Frightening Horror Stories?” Twilight pondered, gesturing to the book on top of the pile.

...

‘No.’

“Yes.”

‘Crap.’

“Well, um, thanks for the books Twilight, I’ll see you later, bye!” With that, Fluttershy rushed out of the library, Twilight calling something after her. The shy mare flew through the town as fast as she could, which, albeit, was not very fast, but she rushed nonetheless. She finally saw her cottage and gently glided down to it, books in hoof. She touched down onto the grass and quickly opened her door and rushed inside, dropping the books down in front of her. Panting, she sat down and leaned back against the door.

After a moment, she looked down and saw her baby bunny, Angel, staring at her with a quizzical expression. The bunny looked down at Equestria’s Most Frightening Horror Stories on the top of the pile, then at Fluttershy, then back at the book. He gave the mare a look that seemed to ask, ‘Seriously?’.

Fluttershy just sighed. “Don’t ask.”

Author's Note:

Sorry this took so long! I couldn't do anything for a while. I was stuck in the middle of nowhere in a town in New Mexico with no internet and no computer. It was probably the most agonizingly boring two weeks of my life...

Comments

[Skeeter The Lurker]

Heh. Good'ol Lyra.

Wanna learn to stand? Go to her.

Still, nice update all the same.

~Skeeter The Lurker

[Silver_Lined_Sky]

The minty mare shook her head. “I’ll be busy tomorrow, too. Stop by at the same time the day after tomorrow and we’ll start the next lesson.” Fluttershy nodded. “Oh and try to start walking on your hind legs as well.”

Now, I might be assuming, but considering that the exercise was walking on her hind legs, wouldn't she mean to say "walking on your forelegs" instead?

[iDash]

2959979 Not really. The excercise was standing on her hind legs, but she still has to learn to walk.

[Silver_Lined_Sky]

Fair enough. My misunderstanding, still reading this.

And still seriously wishing someone with animation talent would make a break-dancing Fluttershy video.

[djbcool]

I've got to say: you're getting a lot better at the comedy bits, you actually managed to make me laugh at some of the shenanigans (hoo-mans )
I'll be looking forward to more chapters

[Casse Tete]

I really like this story! I can't wait to see when Fluttershy actually break dances-- and maybe she'll serve a couple of ponies in a dance-off.
MAKE MORE!

[KibaWR]

nice to see that Lyras obession with "hoo-mans" is useful for something for once^^

The end was the best though^^ "dont ask" I just love those words whenever I see them^^

[angelic_song]

PLzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz update

[Super Trampoline]

4709812 I second this.

[angelic_song]

Flutters should be like half ballet and half break dance. CLASSICAL BREAK DANCING!

[PaulAsaran]

You can has review!

[Mossy Pages]

...Shame this is dead, I was interested..