A Dance to Remember

Asking for a location in which Luna would feel comfortable, the princess thought it to be the simplest of questions. Leading her way past door after door, uncomfortable gazes from guards, and alternatively-suitable rooms, she finally came upon the room she felt most comfortable in. It was by no means a secret, and the dragon already wore a knowing smile upon gazing at the doors leading into it.

"The Observatory," he said as he craned his head backwards a bit, getting a better look at the intricate patterns that lay chiseled into the stone of the archway just above the door. "Should've known, really."

A look of concern came upon Luna's face as she mistook Spike's mellow tone for displeasure or mockery. "If thou dost not find it a suitable location, We could sugge-"

"It's perfect," Spike said, cutting her off with another one of his warm smiles. Though she hid it well, it relieved Luna of a great burden to be allowed such control over the decision of such a matter. To her left she saw two guards approaching - on patrol, most likely - and stopped them.

"Guards," she said in a calm manner, trying to maintain discipline without arising suspicion. The two saluted right away, taking note of their postures and correcting it with impeccable speeds. "Thine duty has been changed. Thou art to be stationed at either side of this door, entrusting entrance only to the most urgent of matters. Understood?"

"It shall be so," the guards said almost in unison, much to Spike's surprise. He arched an eyebrow at Luna, who simply nodded towards the door with a bit of magic to open it. Her guards were among the most well-trained and highly-disciplined units among Equestria. Such loyalty and respect came naturally from them.

They tossed what was supposed to be an unnoticed glance towards Luna's unusual companion, however, but gave no word or indication of mistrust. He was something of an oddity to the guards, being what they might call a "day-dweller". Having proven himself time and time again, however, it seemed they harbored little ill-will towards the dragon. He gave them a quick nod and smiled as a gesture of thanks, but just as he expected the two returned only silence as they moved to their posts on either side of the door.

Shutting the doors behind her, Luna's posture quickly fell into a more relaxed state. Her shoulders slumped slightly and she let her head drop from its regal posture into a friendlier manner. This was her domain, and Spike was something of an acquaintance to her - she could afford being comfortable.

Seeing the look upon her companion's face, she gave a small, calm laugh under her breath. Were it not for the silence of the Observatory, Spike not have heard it. It was nothing practiced - nothing like her sister's laugh, which might calm a horde of rampaging dragons at the sound alone.

"Doth mine appearance jar thou, Spike?" her voice was unsettlingly calm towards Spike; he had expected a bit of a reserved attitude coming from the Princess of the Night. Perhaps he had misjudged her opinion of him, in that she had seen him as something of a distant figure.

"Uh, no!" he said, stammering over his choice of words. "It's just that - well, to be honest, I expected you to be kind of.. I don't know, anxious? Worried?" He tried to recover, but only found himself more and more worried himself as he kept on. Finally, reserving himself to a sigh he added on, "I'm just glad you're relaxed, is all."

" 'Tis not hard to be relaxed when one's company is rather elegant themself," she replied kindly, not at all a dishonest comment. There was a certain air about Twilight's assistant - she assumed it was from all the years spent by her side that had molded him into the gentledrake before her.

Now, however, was not the time to dawdle on obvious details. She had asked him for a favor, and she intended to collect upon it. He was smiling now - surely this would be an appropriate time to act upon such a claim. "Thou saidst thine dance skills could be shared?" she asked politely, urging him to prove his earlier boasting.

"Oh, yeah! Of course!" he said, his expression changing from embarrassment to glee in only a moment. His movements grew quicker and his demeanor grew lighter with each passing gesture. "Alright. So I'm assuming you'll be taking a pony to the dance, so lemme just get down to size," he said as he dropped down to all fours, settling his height just above Luna's.

She took note of the convenience of his new height, glad that she would not need to stray from her comfort zone entirely - only in a major way. Soon, he guided her through a few basic movements - how he observed others moving throughout the Gala, how he noticed the way they spoke, how they wore the expressions on their faces. But on subtly disturbing detail came into play time and time again as he explained: he was speaking not from experience, but from analysis.

"Hast thou ever attended a dance for thineself, Spike?" she asked out of curiosity before she could consider the weight of such a statement. After getting it out into the air, she realized how insulting it sounded after being laid onto the metaphorical table, and was quick to try and recover ground. "Beg pardon - we did not mean to insult thee! It is just that thou speakest as though thine eyes do the dancing, not thine feet."

He held up a hand to signify he felt no negative feelings towards her slip-up, and she felt a degree better. Silently scolding herself, Luna listened intently as Spike went on to explain his various dealings with the Gala. "My first time hearing about the Gala, I wrote it off as.. What was it? 'Girly Gala gunk', I believe I called it."

He topped the sentence off with a chuckle to himself, but soon picked up where he left off. "Eventually, the girls convinced me that going to the Gala might not be all that bad. So I agreed on the condition that I might show them around Canterlot and we could see some of my favorite hangout spots - something for all of us to enjoy."

He gave a pause, which allowed Luna to interrupt politely to comment on the state of things, "But We assume that is not at all how events transpired?" She was all too used to things turning out in that manner - one moment they are blissfully perfect only to be ruined by some random occurrence or oversight. It was a feeling of emptiness that only the passing of time could heal. With time came new memories, and those new memories would push aside the old.

"You got it!" he said with mock cheerfulness. "Turns out they all had their own plans; Applejack set up a stall to sell pies, Rainbow Dash tried to connect with the Wonderbolts, Twilight spent the night lonely - whole thing was a flop. And then that left me, on my own, to try and find something I could do. In the end I just made my way to Pony Joe's and settled in for the night."

"Thine tale.." Luna began, feeling a longing in her heart to reach out and console the dragon whose expression had taken on a rehearsed smile betrayed by sad eyes. "It saddens Us.. Me. I do not wish that burden upon any, for I have felt it myself." Though she did not act upon the urge, she made a mental note to find some alternative.

"Nah, that's okay. Really," he urged, seeing the doubtful expression upon her face, "it was just something that kinda ruined my impression of the Gala. Ever since then, I've kept myself at a bit of a distance from the other ponies. And over time, with my growth spurts and reclusive nature, I realized that I kept getting more and more strange and wary looks at the dances."

"Judged for thine appearance, not for thine deeds," she spoke up, her voice trailing off as she lost herself in thought. Her mind was in a great debate on whether to confide within Spike or keep him at a distance, as she did for all others around her. On one hoof, he was looking more and more like herself - shunned by those close to her and then left to her own devices when she was brought back in - and it appealed to her heart that she might find a friend in the young dragon.

On the other hoof, she would also be spilling private information out to someone that she hardly knew. He was undoubtedly trustworthy, she knew, but even with that in mind it was a terrifying prospect to have someone else have her secrets in their mind. What he could do with that information wasn't truly important to her so much as what he might assume about her afterwards.

"Everything okay?" came Spike's voice, snapping out of her dilemma with a start. She gave a small gasp and clacked her hooves across the ground as she gave a small step back in reaction. "Woah. My bad," he added, his claws in the air as an apologetic gesture.

" 'Tis of no consequence, young Spike. We were only considering something important - should we continue with our lesson?" she asked, desperately trying to change the subject to something a bit less personal. It only occurred to her afterwards that she would be jumping from the frying pan and into the fire - the matter of dancing face-to-face was not at all an undaunting topic.

Whether he sensed her apprehension or not, Spike gave no opposition. Instead, he offered up a gentle smile and a nod. "Sure," he said with his voice just above a whisper. He began by giving a proper bow, bending at the knees and leaning forward, with his head towards the ground.

She responded as she was taught before - the process was almost automatic for her - and crossed her forelegs before bending slightly in a traditional curtsey. With that out of the way, he spoke softly as he moved towards her. "Now, this is gonna require me to place my hands on your shoulders. Is that okay?"

If no other rumors were true, those about Spike's gentle nature were entirely correct. "Of course," she said after going over the various options that might give him her approval. It ranged from "If thou must" to "Please do", the latter of which might make her blush at its forwardness and the former that might make her dance partner shrink away from hostility.

She felt the gentle placement of his clawed hands upon her shoulders, the dangerous additions doing nothing more than giving a slight tickle upon her coat from how careful he was being not to harm her. She had never known how calm a dragon could be in its actions, and she was delighted to find that Spike was capable of putting her mind at ease.

Her heart, however, was another matter. It began to beat frantically, as if she was being chased down by some manner of threat or surprise. It did not accompany a sense of dread, however, as she was so used to with her night-terrors and daily thoughts of negativity or fear. Instead, it was a sense of warmth, perhaps comfort, that rode alongside the tingling feeling that ran down her spine.

Involuntarily, she gave a bright smile at the dragon's touch, which caused him to offer his own toothy grin. "Next, just lean onto your hindlegs and place your forehooves onto my shoulders. After that, We'll go through a few basic moves that I know. Easy stuff - promise."

Doing as she was told, Luna's skin began to flush with that same warmth as she was brought face-to-face with Spike. Her knees wobbled ever-so-slightly and she nearly lost balance if not for the dragon supporting her along the way. "Easy there, I gotcha," he said simply, steadying her with confidence and grace.

"Th-thank you," she uttered rather sheepishly, trying to keep her embarrassment under wraps for the time being. Acting good on his promise, Spike showed her some basic steps; they moved back and forth, working to steady her hooves and synchronize their choreography properly with only minimal stumbling on either part. All in all, it was not nearly as bad as Luna had anticipated - perhaps she had a knack for such a thing.

At the end of the lesson, she felt confident in the fact that she could at least control her own hooves under the stresses of being so close to another pony - or at least a dragon, for whatever difference it made - in such a manner. Her heart had still not stopped beating quickly, however, and she began to wonder at whether or not it was a matter of concern. As the two pulled away, however, the beating slowed to its regular pace within her chest. Along with that, a sense of longing.

The gentle and friendly touch that came from Spike was little more than an instructional and guiding gesture towards her, but she couldn't help but feel as if it were more important than that. Perhaps this is what she had in mind when she sought and alternative to her urge to assist him earlier - she wanted to have him feel that same connection.

So, with nothing more than a grateful glance between the two, Luna reached out and wrapped her hooves around Spike's neck, embracing him in a gentle hug. It was nothing more than an attempt to brighten a darkened heart, though she did not know of which heart she spoke of, but she realized it was more than she had hoped for.

The same frantic beating of the heart returned to her just as quickly as it had departed, though she did not release him upon noticing. Instead, she heard Spike inhale sharply, as if just as startled as she was earlier. It was not a moment later, however, that she felt the return of the embrace with his scaly arms sliding across her back.

For a few tender moments, the two simply stood in the Observatory, enjoying one another's company in the warm embrace. She knew it could not last for much longer, but Luna wanted to savor the feeling as long as she could. She closed her eyes and heaved a deep sigh as she pulled away from the hug, her hair falling partway onto her face, partially concealing the blush that had overcome her after the brash course of action.

Before she could begin to explain, Spike spoke with that same voice he used to calm her earlier, "Thank you."

She stared up at the now-standing dragon with a mixed expression of confusion and joy, finally settling upon saying little more than, "It was Our pleasure."

Spike looked outside, towards Luna's night-sky, before giving a slight frown. "I should be heading back home soon. Twilight will be getting worried any minute now. But.." he rubbed the back of his neck, seemingly apprehensive, "If you'd like, I could come back and teach you tomorrow night?"

What had begun as a simple favor seemed to have blossomed into something more - that much, Luna was sure of. But what it had become, and how large a role she had played in it, she did not quite know. But the emptiness within her heart had given way to the warmth that filled it now, with Spike by her side. "Thou wouldst not mind?" she asked politely, raising and eyebrow.

"Thou doth protest too much," he said jokingly, eliciting a laugh from both parties before he answered her question with a resounding, "I'd love to. See you tomorrow?"

"We shall await thee with bated breath," she replied, mimicking his earlier poetic statement. Another laugh, another memory made. It was not at all a lie, of course- this was the closest she had gotten to having a close friend in years. To say she was unenthusiastic would be a bit of a lie.

Saying their farewells, Spike made his way out of the Observatory and past the guards outside. Luna made sure to peak out and dismiss the guards, thanking them for their dutiful service. Returning to her balcony and gazing towards the sky, she decided to allow herself a bit of a guilty pleasure by shivering with excitement and letting out a quick giggle. That had gone beyond well, in her eyes.

And it had only just begun, from the look of things.