Time to Wake, Little Ladybug
Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake!
Clap your hooves and do a little shake!
Cadance slipped into Twilight's room, sunlight through the window providing enough light to see the filly still curled into her blankets asleep and a book lying not far from the pillow. A slight, serene smile flitted across her muzzle at the reminder of her charge's excessive love of books.
At least she's not using it as her pillow this time, she thought as she levitated it to the desk and approached the bed to look down at Twilight. It was a safe bet she'd wakened after being put to bed and done more reading, but the sun was up now and she should be too.
Cadance tickled Twilight's neck with her hoof and drawled out her name in sing-song, "Twii-liightt..."
Twilight's ears went flat, she squeezed her eyes tighter shut, and tried to back under her covers like a turtle retreating into its shell.
Now the slight smile she'd had almost since entering the room grew to full spread. Ah, so she's already awake and wants to play games. She must have been reading just before she heard me arrive then...
Twilight was never a truly difficult filly to foal-sit for. The two of them had immediately hit it off and honestly enjoyed their time together. Cadance was in the mood for a bit of fun herself, so she decided she'd play along a little.
"Oh dear, it seems little Twilight has been cursed by a sleeping spell," she murmured as she twiddled with the young unicorn's ears, making them flop up and down. Twilight managed to keep from reacting audibly, but her lips were quivering in a failed attempt not to smile.
Motion caught Cadance's eye and she noticed a ladybug had crawled up onto the window and was shaking its wings out in the warm sunlight. In that moment, a burst of inspiration hit.
"I know!" she declared. "Maybe you're just a big ladybug that's forgotten how to start the day. You look a bit like one with your blanket humped up like that anyway."
One eye peaked open at this declaration then immediately squeezed shut again, prompting Cadance to giggle silently to herself.
"Very well then, I'll remind you how it goes."
She grabbed Twilight's tiny hooves and folded them over her eyes.
"Ladybugs hide and sleep away the night - tucked away so nothing can find them. But when the day starts and sunshine warms up the land, she sneaks out and looks all around."
As she said this she flung Twilight's forelegs wide. Twilight’s eyes were now open and giving her their full attention, so she continued.
"After being squished away all the cold night, all she wants is to stretch out and get warm. So she bumps her feet together..." and here Cadance clopped her own hooves together, then stared at Twilight with one eyebrow raised until she giggled and copied the motion.
"Then she stretches out..."
She matched motion to the words and Twilight quickly matched her.
"And then she gives herself a BIG shake!"
Trying to shake one's entire body while stretched out is tricky and results in more of a butt-wiggle than a real body-shake, but she gave it a mighty go. So mighty in fact that she nearly fell over. Twilight did fall over...and right off the bed with an impressive thump.
Instantly Cadance was by her side to make sure she wasn't hurt, but she couldn't stop the laugh that was triggered by the little filly wagging her rear in the air so hard she lost her balance - and by the tiny, startled 'Eep!' that accompanied the fall.
Twilight herself was unhurt and laughing just as hard at the entire series of events. It wasn't long before they more-or-less sobered up and moved on with the day.
*****
A few mornings later when Cadance arrived, she found Twilight burrowed deeply under humped-up blankets with hooves over her eyes. It was such an unnatural position that it was clear she'd arranged herself purposely.
Cadance lay her head on the bed near Twilight. "And what are we at today? Are you a turtle perhaps?"
"Nuh-uh," was the response, along with a little headshake.
"Hmm... Not a turtle. Are you a fuzzy little mole?"
A head-shake was the only response.
"How about a fluffy, burrowing bunny?"
"Nope!"
The grin stretched across Twilight's face was a clear sign that she was enjoying her foal-sitter's inability to guess.
"Well, I'm stumped. Are you going to tell me what you are?"
"I'm a ladybug!" she declared, never coming out of hiding.
"You're a ladybug, huh?" Cadance was starting to see where this was going. "And I suppose you forgot how to start the day again didn't you?"
A giggle was her only answer, but it was enough. She leaned back with a smirk of her own showing. "Very well little ladybug, I'll help you start the day..."
She flipped the blanket away with her magic. "No more hiding, the sun is shining. Time for ladybugs to WAKE!" and on the last word she flung Twilight's forelegs wide.
"Now clap those hooves together..." Which Twilight did, quite enthusiastically, while Cadance did so more gently.
"And give a BIG shake!"
The little filly never had a chance to do so, instead letting out a happy squeal, as Cadance grabbed her up in her magic and wiggled her around in the air.
"Cadance! You were s'pose to do it too!"
"I never agreed to that little ladybug," she replied with a grin. "I just said I'd show you how to start the day. Now come along, we're going on a picnic today."
"Yay, picnic!" Twilight was out the door almost as soon as Cadance had set her down.
*****
As it turned out, Cadance didn't get a chance to foal-sit for Twilight again for almost two months as Celestia had some special studies for her to work on in regards to how nations are run. Boring stuff, and her mind still felt numb from attempting to keep all the rules and protocol straight when she opened the door to Twilight's room and was near-instantly tackled by the excited filly.
"Cadance! You back!" she cried, clinging to the pink alicorn.
"Missed you too, cuddle-bug," she replied as she returned the hug. It was difficult not to feel one's spirit lift when around the excitable filly.
Suddenly, Twilight jumped back and demanded, "Do sunshine ladybug!"
Cadance's tired brain tried to piece together the meaning of this request, but failed miserably. "Huh?"
"You know!" Twilight pouted, then crouched down with hooves over her eyes. "When sunsine…" She scrunched her nose and tried again. "Sun SHINES..." Then she uncovered her eyes, "the ladybugs all wake. So clap you hooves..." She happily clapped her front hooves together, "and do a booty shake!" She finished, leaning forward and wagging her butt in the air so enthusiastically that she nearly fell over.
Cadance couldn't hold back her giggles at the performance. And the giggles quickly turned to laughter at the look of utter confusion on the young filly's face and the cute little, "Did I do it wong?"
The silly antics were just what was needed to help Cadance feel normal again, and also served to refresh the memories of the ladybug story. "No, you didn't get it wrong," she replied once she managed to suppress the worst of the laughter. "Although I seem to recall that it's a 'big shake' and not a 'booty shake.'"
"But that's what shakes..."
"That may be, but that's not the way it's supposed to go. And maybe it should just be a little shake from now on. You're going to fall over again if you keep doing such big ones."
"Okay..." she mumbled, then immediately brightened, "You do it now!"
"What?"
"You do it! You do it!" Twilight chanted, bouncing around.
Cadance giggled again at her happy charge. "But we're already awake now. Maybe tomorrow."
Twilight stopped bouncing and looked up at her. "Pwomise?"
"I promise. Now let's figure out what we want to do today..."
*****
And she did wake the ladybug the next day, and the day after, and the day after... The words and dance rapidly developed into a consistent routine, and over time it became more than just a way to start the day.
It became their own special tradition. A bond between two life-long friends.
Author's Note
Just a fun little idea that popped into my head during a drive. Every goofy little tradition between friends I've seen thus far has had an origin story that isn't always obvious from the tradition itself. So I started thinking of how the sunshine dance might have begun and...well, you got this story. Hope you all enjoyed.
