Twilight's Guilty Little Pleasure
Twilight's Guilty Little Pleasure
It was a rare event that the Ponyville Library would be closed on a bright, sunny afternoon. And yet, it was, as verified by the large ‘Closed’ sign hanging from the door. The tree’s librarian and habitant, Twilight Sparkle, usually wouldn’t allow something like this to occur any other day. But for her, it was a special kind of day. Her faithful assistant and close dragon friend, Spike, was away on official Canterlot business. She allowed her pet owl, Owloysius, a day to explore and rest outdoors. That meant she was the sole occupant of the library. Chances like this hardly ever came by, so she was determined to make the most of it.
Inside, the mare looked around the first level of the tree. The floor was nice and clean, and ideal for her special day. She trotted over to each window and made sure all the curtains were shut. She would have the privacy she desired. Lastly, she made sure the door was locked up tight. Nopony would be able to barge in on her. She let out a guilty smile as she reexamined the room. It was nearly perfect. She used her magic to light several candles strewn about the room. At that moment, everything was perfect.
It was a guilty pleasure of hers, one that she dared never to share with anypony or even her own assistants. She had no idea what her friends would think of her if they knew. She figured they would look down on her, make her feel as if she was strange or different. However, she felt that she was also deceiving her friends for keeping this well-guarded secret from them. Still, she reasoned with herself with one simple thought.
Everypony deserves to have at least one secret.
The moment had arrived at last. Her third and final check of the room reassured that the scene was perfect. She walked over to her record player sitting at the corner of the room. She needed some good music to suit the scene after all. Searching the cabinet’s contents, she pulled out a simple record. Despite the sleeve’s title, ‘Advanced Magic for the Gifted Unicorn: Audiobook,’ she knew the actual vinyl inside was something completely different. With the use of her magic, the record was freed from its packaging and lowered onto the player’s turnstile. Eagerly, she lowered the needle, the initial scratch sound made her rush to the center of the library.
A quiet beat escaped the record’s grooves. Twilight closed her eyes and stood perfectly still. Another sound, accented by steady drum beat followed. Twilight started to stamp her hoof to the music. She took a deep breath in preparation for the next sound to follow.
"You know this boogie is for real…"She sang along while still tapping to the beat. Finally, she shot her eyes open and started to move to music, singing out the next lyric.
"I used to put my faith in worship," She pressed her fore hooves together to simulate praying, shaking her body about. “But then my chance to get to heaven slipped.”
“I used to worry about the future,” She waved her fore hooves in front of her, taking a few steps back. She then swung a hoof over her head in a circular motion. “But then I threw my caution to the wi-in-in-ind!”
“I had no reason to be carefree!” She took a few side-steps to the left, shaking her head. “No-no-no, until I took a trip to the other side of town!” She started bobbing her head excitedly. “Yeah-yeah-yeah!” She began to swing her rump to the beat. In the back of her mind, she was praying that nopony was watching her. “You know I heard that boogie rhythm… hey!” She started to shake her body once again, this time slowly lowering herself to the floor. “I had no choice but to get down! Down! Down! Down!”
“Dance! Whoo!” Twilight jumped up onto her rear hooves, a huge grin on her face. “Nothing left for me to do but dance!” She kicked out one of her rear hooves, her fore hooves rigidly twirling around just below her head. “All these bad times I’m going through, just dance!” Soon, all four of her feet were on the ground, awkwardly dancing out completely random steps. “Got canned heat in my hooves tonight, ba-by!”
She closed her eyes, now focused on singing the next set of lyrics. “I feel the thunder, see the lightning. I know this anger’s heaven sent…” She eyes shot open as she belted out the next line. “So I’ve got to hang out all my hang ups! Because of the boogie I feel so hell-bent! Hey! Hey!”
Each of her hooves started to kick out, one by one, as she continued singing. “It’s just an instant gut reaction that I got. I know I’ve never ever felt like this before!” Swaying her head haphazardly, she brought a hoof to her chest. “I don’t know what to do, but then that’s nothing new.” She spun around, taking steps backward while still swinging her head. “Stuck between hell and high water, need a cure to make it through! Hey!”
“Dance!” She struck a clumsy pose atop her two back hooves. “Nothing left for me to do but dance!” Her next pose, more humorous than the last, left her falling on top of her back. “All these bad times I’m going through, just dance!” She quickly recovered and once again allowed her legs to dance out their own steps. “Got canned heat in my hooves tonight, ba-by!”
“You know-know-know I’m gonna dance, yeah!” She propped back atop her rear hooves, flailing her fore legs to the sides. “All the messed up things that ponies say! Dance, yeah!” She awkwardly kicked her left rear leg up, pumping her fore legs up and down over her head. “But I’m gonna make it anyway! Dance, yeah!” She twirled around on her right rear hoof, swirling her fore hooves in circles once again. “Got canned heat in my hooves tonight, ba-by!”
“You know I got canned heat in my hooves!” She pressed all four legs on the ground, slowly walking forward in a sway to the music. “You know this boogie is for real…” She turned her head several times to the beat’s rises. Once the next lyric began, she stopped walked and started rocking her body while her eyes were closed.
“Only the wind can blow the answer… and she cries to me when I’m asleep…” She pressed a hoof to her chest, shaking her head slightly as she sang. “She says you know that you can go much faster. And all the ponies’ talking feels so cheap! Yeah… yeah…”
Rearing herself up, she pointed her horn straight to the ceiling. It released a ray of light right into a disco ball suspended above her. The flicking orb spun and filled the room with tiny beads of spinning light.
“I’ve got this voodoo child in-veined on me!” She looked around the room, her eyes sparkling from the light display she had created. “I’m gonna use my power to ascend!” She raised her fore hooves up high and began to twirl. “You know I’ve got these running hooves to use! Sometimes there’s no way I’d lose!” She took a big jump to the left, eyes narrowed and grin wide. “I was born to run!“ She took another jump, this time to the right. “And built to last!” Her hooves stomped fast and frantically while she bobbed her head. “You’ll never see my feet, ‘cause they move so fast!”
“Dance! Yeah!” She leapt up and landed atop her rear hooves once again. “Hey! Nothing left for me to do but dance!” She waved her right hoof, slowly rising it over her head. “All these bad times I’m going through, just dance! Hey!” She slid her hooves backwards one at a time, moving herself a bit fidgety. “Got canned heat in my hooves tonight, ba-by!”
“Hey I gotta… dance yeah!” She hugged herself with her fore hooves, still allowing her rear ones to dance. “All the messed up things that ponies say! Dance, yeah!” She landed atop all four legs, but used her right fore hoof to spin her body in a full 360 degree. “But I’m gonna make it anyway! Dance, yeah!” When her spin was over, she bounced atop her hooves, alternating between the right legs and the left legs. “Canned heat in my hooves tonight, ba-by!”
“You know this boogie is for real…” She kicked out a rear hoof. “Got so much canned heat in my hooves, yeah…” She kicked out the other, and followed up with a running slide forward. “Gonna dance! Gonna dance my blues away tonight!” She posed while sitting atop her haunches. “You know I’m gonna dance my blues away!”
“You know this boogie is for real…” She rose to all her hooves and raised her head up as she sang. “Got so much canned heat in my hooves, yeah…” She closed her eyes and crooned with all of her soul. “Gonna dance! Gonna dance my blues away tonight!”
“Dance! C’mon!” She sat herself down again and held up a fore hoof overhead. “Canned heat in my hooves tonight!” She got up and started stepping in place, yet still pulling off another full turn. “Oh-oh-oh-oh-yeah!” She rocked her head side to side, swaying her body. “Canned heat in my hooves tonight!” While still moving her head, she made another 360 degree spin. “Oh-oh-oh-oh-right!” Once she was finished, she stopped moving completely and sang out the next lyric. “Canned heat in my hooves tonight, ba-by!” She sprung up on her rear hooves. “Hey! Got so much…!”
“Ah… ah-ah-ah-ah-ahh…” While she harmonized the next set of sounds, she started to sway her entire body to the beat. “Ah-ah-ah-ah-ahh…” Slowly, she held out her fore hooves. “Ah-ah-ah-ah-ahh…” She began to raise them up, gradually until they were over her head.
“Dance!” She tapped a hoof to the next set of beats, swinging her still overhead fore legs from side to side. “Hey DJ! Let the music play! I’m gonna live this party life!” While trying to keep her balance, she started taking steps back. “I wanna live this party life!” She spun atop her hooves and continued moonwalking in another direction. “Hey DJ! Throw my cares away! I’m gonna live this party life!”
“I wanna live this party life!” She stopped and landed back on four hooves. “I wanna live this party life!” Her voice got louder with each new lyric. “I wanna live this party life! Party life!” Soon, she was at the near point of screaming. “I want it to…! I want it to go on! Hey!”
“Canned heat in my hooves tonight! Dance!” She started to take strutting steps forward, her entire body swaying to the music. “You know that this boogie is for real!” She stopped and took some steps to the right. “Got so much canned heat in my hooves!” She stomped out her hooves feverishly. “Gonna dance! Gonna dance my blues away tonight!” She reared back for a few seconds and slammed her fore hooves down, using them to hold up her whole body. “Whoo!”
“You know…! You know this boogie… ! This boogie is for real!” She continued to sing while still in her hoofstand. “Got so much canned heat…! Canned heat in my hooves…!” She looked up as the song started to fade to an end. Immediately, her eyes widened and pupils shrank as she saw that her front door was wide open. Standing outside, with their jaws dropped in silent awe, were her five best friends and her faithful dragon assistant, holding his spare key to the door.
Twilight seemed to forget the position she was in, that is until her body fell to the floor with a loud thud. Her cheeks were a bright crimson as she stared at her friends. She opened her mouth to say something, yet she had no words to speak. She just laid there on the ground, embarrassed beyond belief of what they had just witness.
She wondered how long they had been standing there. How much of her crazy dancing and singing routine they watched. She pondered how hard it would be to change her name and move as far away from Ponyville as possible. She shut her eyes, fully expecting Rainbow Dash and Applejack to start making fun of her. Spike and Pinkie Pie would more than likely laugh at her. Rarity and Fluttershy would never see the unicorn in the same way again; maybe even never want to see her again.
However, those fears were left unfounded, once the little dragon started to clap his claws together. She opened an eye and saw Spike grinning and applauding even more. Pinkie Pie would be the next to follow, her excited cheering emphasizing her applause.
Rarity and Fluttershy joined in with their own polite ovations, their faces showing bright and happy smiles. Rainbow Dash and Applejack joined Pinkie in the cheering, adding some loud words of praise for Twilight. She was certain she had heard a few cries for an encore from the two.
Twilight’s guilty little pleasure had earned her a huge acclaim from her friends. It was the very last thing she could have ever expected from them. It made all the embarrassment caused by shame transform into embarrassment caused by her modesty. Yet the feeling was much better than the former.
She raised herself back to her hooves and smiled warmly at the five ponies and dragon. She demonstrated even more show-mare-ship by taking a slight bow. It seemed that her little secret was no longer going to be kept only to herself, but she wouldn’t change that for the world at that moment.
Dear Princess Celestia,
Today, my friends discovered my secret dancing routine. I had been keeping it from them for so long, that I had feared that when they saw just crazy my dancing was, they’d think I was strange and not want to be friends with me anymore. And yet, they all loved it! They were cheering and applauding and it felt so good! I couldn’t believe it! I also couldn’t believe how spun up I was over keeping this so hidden from them…
I learned today that while it’s easy to fear what your friends would think of you if they found out your ‘guilty little pleasures,’ your true friends will not only accept it, but maybe even applaud you for it. I can’t wait to show off my dancing when my birthday comes up next week!
Your Faithful Student,
Twilight Sparkle
Dear Twilight Sparkle,
I’m very happy that you can now share your love for dancing with your friends. I’m also very happy that you learned such a valuable lesson from all this. Perhaps you can share this knowledge with my younger sister sometime? She still thinks I can’t hear her singing Gloria Estafawn’s ‘Conga’ in her bedroom. If you can’t convince her to be unashamed by this, then maybe you can reteach her how to better control her volume? If I have to wake up in the middle of the night one more time because somepony is shouting ‘do that conga’ in the Royal Canterlot Voice, I’m going to go crazy!
Your Teacher,
Princess Celestia
