Tender Taps took a deep breath back stage, stretching out his lean, wiry body as he waited for the couple on stage to finish. He was dressed in a faux-leather jacket over a white tank top with his purple hair greased back, jeans practically spray-painted on. He looked out across the back stage, hoping to catch a glimpse of Apple Bloom on the other side.
Lights flashed and music blared on the stage drowning out the incessant roar of Las Pegasus slot machines, arcades, and chatter. They'd been fighting for a spot on this stage for years before making it anywhere close to this far. Now, every dance could be their last on the tour.
Tender ran a hand through his hair, trying to get into character as the audience applauded the performers on stage and the lights went down so the set dressing could be changed up.
You don't belong here, a traitorous inner voice told him. You're going to screw up.
Apple Bloom's words from the green room came to mind, slicing through the incessant doubts.
"As long as y'catch me before I fall off the stage again we're golden."
"On in five," the stage manager warned him, holding up a hand and counting down.
At three, the lights went up. At two, the music started.
On one, Tender Taps saw Apple Bloom come out onto the stage, dressed in a poodle skirt, blouse, and socks rolled down to her ankles, her old hair bow topping it all off. He grinned as his world narrowed down to himself, Bloom, and the music, not even seeing the manager tick off the last count.
He was on the stage in a flash, the bad boy making play for the good girl as the music roared around them and dictated the beat. Hands touched, bodies twirled around each other, muzzles nearly met. Through it all, Taps had just one thought.
"Dear Celestia, don't let me get too turned on out here."
As he and Bloom gyrated around each other, their bodies pressing close together before caution made them part again, Taps couldn't shake the self-conscious awareness of just how tight his clothes were, or the TV cameras that were periodically cutting down towards their feet to track the performance. Cameras that would be sure to pick up any bulges that the judges and live audience wouldn't notice or would be too polite to mention.
But that would be picked up in a flash by a certain gorgeous filly's brother and sister.
Tender Taps refocused, fighting to keep himself in the game, muscle memory picking up for the moments he started to slip, but this was more than just moving right. He smiled at Bloom as he caught her hand, spinning her around and into his arms for a few beats before she danced away from him again.
She released his hand, and he followed towards the back of the stage, catching her and literally sweeping her off of her feet and down into a slide between his legs, catching her on the other side and twisting to pull her back in, the two freezing on the last beat, muzzle to muzzle, just barely not kissing each other on stage.
The audience began to applaud, and Bloom grinned at him, leaning up on her toes to give him a quick peck on the nose before they turned to bow, before leaving the stage so the judges could do their jobs.
"Yer thinkin' too much," Apple Bloom told him once they had a moment of privacy. "Ah can see it in your eyes "
"Trying not to show how much I love holding you," he shot back with a grin. Apple Bloom rolled her eyes and shook her head.
"Rarity would have called that line cheesy, babe."
"Actually, I'm not joking," he admitted bashful. Apple Bloom raised an eyebrow, patting his thigh lightly.
"Maybe you'll have to show me what y'all are talking about when we get back to our room," she teased. She let her hand rest on his leg, slowly sliding her hand towards the heat she felt through the denim.
"If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were trying to get your sister to kill me,” Taps chuckled weakly, pushing her hand to a safer spot.
“You’re up, kids,” one of the managers said after a moment listening to her earpiece. “Good luck!”
“Whatever happens, we already won making it this far,” Taps reminded Apple Bloom, standing up and taking her hand to rush out into the line of performers under the blazing lights, waiting for the judge’s feedback and to hear their fate.
The Grand Equestrian Dance Tour was like a major audition stretched out over three months of agony. Sixteen couples were left at this stage. The top twelve would be sent back after they had been given their feedback. The bottom two would be going home. The thirteenth and fourteenth would know how close they’d come to getting the axe, and have plenty of motivation going forward… assuming the pressure didn’t make them crack, as it sometimes did. Then two more went home the next week, before the top twelve would start being whittled down one by one, until the final three teams went at it to see who would come out on top. Thirteen weeks, praying not to turn an ankle or break down trying to come up with a new dance from scratch with a week’s prep time.
And that nothing happened back home that would call them away before then. Taps hadn’t really thought ahead to what he’d do if they ended up winning. There was no way the Apples could spare Bloom for the winter and spring months they’d be on the road if that happened.
“Avant Guard, Trellis Rose, please step back.” That was one team facing the final review. Tender Taps shifted his focus back to what the judges were saying; he and Apple Bloom were towards the end, but it never hurt to hear what was being said about the competition.
All in all, it was pretty much what he’d come to expect over several years trying out. The three judges each had their own style. Allegro Cabriole was always enthusiastic about the performers, focusing on what they’d done well with just a few criticisms unless somebody had truly screwed up. Chase Tournant was the brutal arch-critic of the trio, decades running his own company having given him the authority to pronounce sentence on any dancer who wasn’t up to snuff. Then, between the tan pegasus and teal earth pony in tone as well as on the panel, there was the lilac-toned unicorn mare Open Cypher.
Taps particularly hoped to hear good things from her; she was the one whose verdict usually swayed the most undecided members of the audience when it came to ranking the teams.
“Eight Count, Gliding Promenade, please step back.”
Crap. Tender Taps exchanged a glance with Apple Bloom; he’d thought they were incredible tonight. If those two were in the bottom four, then they were toast.
Bloom squeezed his hand lightly, not saying anything. He wasn’t sure what she was thinking, but she didn’t look as concerned. Maybe she’d seen something from her angle that he hadn’t.
Somebody came out from backstage and whispered to Chase.
“Well, one of you lucked out tonight,” he observed. “Double Etendre suffered a leg injury backstage; she and Rising Glide will be dropping from the competition.”
Taps hadn’t even noticed that they weren’t in the line ahead of them, too focused on his own concerns. There were hushed whispers and sounds of sympathy from the audience and the other teams.
“With that in mind, Eight Count, Promenade, congratulations. You’re back in the top twelve.”
The two Manehattanite earth ponies both winced; it was one thing to make the cut, but another to know it was because somepony got hurt. Still, they gave polite nods before stepping back up to the line, and the judges continued down the row, providing feedback, each team not told to step back ratcheting the tension higher for the ones who were left.
Tender Taps was just noticing that Apple Bloom was tapping an extra finger against his palm with each team, like she was counting something off, when the next possible cut came up.
“Foxy Trot, Lance Turner, please step back.”
This time, Apple Bloom was the one to tense up, crossing her fingers against his hand. He gave her a reassuring squeeze as the next teams were reviewed... and all of them kept making the cut. When the team ahead of them wasn’t told to step back, he thought he felt Apple Bloom’s shoulders drop slightly before their critique began.
“Apple Bloom, Tender Taps,” Chase started, glancing at his notes. “I’m surprised the two of you did so poorly.”
“You have to be kidding me!” Allegro scoffed. “Listen, the two of you have excellent footwork, phenomenal technical skills -”
“And they both look scared that the other is electrified and going to shock them when they’re up on stage together,” Chase cut him off. “You’d think they just met!”
“What they’re trying to say,” Cypher sighed, “is that you dance wonderfully. But you don’t look comfortable with each other! Next week, if you make the cut, you’ll be doing a samba. You’re going to have to work on staying in the moment, in the mood - or you should consider how you choreograph your dance to work around it.”
“You’re a cute pair,” Chase allowed. “It would just be nice to see more of that on the dance floor. Apple Bloom, Tender Taps, please step back.” Well, that was it. They were out. Tender Taps felt strangely at peace with it as he and Bloom stepped back. The advice wasn’t very helpful though - ‘work on being more comfortable with each other?’ What, were they supposed to - well, okay, with a samba coming up they were practically supposed to have sex on the dance floor. Still, he could work around what they’d said, he was sure.
As he went through how to try and balance on the knife’s edge of their comfort levels, the teams that weren’t facing the cut left the stage, leaving the three remaining condemned to hear their fate. The audience went through their side of the scoring, marking down the order of preference as the hot stage lights beat down on the six ponies waiting for mercy.
Finally, the votes were all tallied, and factored in along with the judge’s numbers.Stage hands worked frantically behind the scenes to get everything in place for the big reveal.
An envelope was passed out to Allegro, who opened it and nodded as he read the contents.
“Foxy Trot, Lance Turner… congratulations, you’re coming back next week!” The audience cheered as the two pegasi both let out their breath, visibly relaxing even as the last two teams each tensed up.
Cypher took the message from Allegro, reading the next line before she stood up.
“Tender Taps, Apple Bloom.” Her voice wasn’t reassuring at all. That, along with the fact that they usually alternated the cuts and keeps, and Tender was convinced they were going home. It was a good run though. They’d get another chance next year, maybe.
“Congratulations, you’re coming back next week!”
Taps blinked as the audience cheered, and the final team of Avant Guard and Trellis Rose lowered their heads, knowing what that meant for them. Apple Bloom pulled Taps into a hug, then they both bowed respectfully to the judges before making their way off stage while Chase let down the final team.
“I was sure we were gonna get the cut,” Taps admitted once they were backstage.
“You were,” Foxy Trot told them point-blank. “Do the math.”
“Eight and Promenade were definitely going to make it - they were the safest team,” Apple Bloom agreed. “So Double getting hurt saved our flanks. What happened, by the way? Is she okay?”
“She will be,” Lance said easily. “She was taking a smoke break out back and got in the way of some delivery guy taking a shortcut through the alley. He went right over her foot and didn’t even stop.”
Taps and Bloom both cringed at the thought, and what that could do to the dancer’s career.
“Lucky it was just a jackass on a moped,” Foxy agreed. “It’ll be easy enough to fix, but she’ll be out of action for weeks unless she can figure out a way to dance on broken metatarsals without the doc coming out to break the other foot to stop her. So hey, whichever one of you ordered the neighponese, good idea!” She winked at them.
“Come on, Foxy,” Tender Taps snorted. “We’re from Ponyville, not Manehattan - Bloom would have had her brother use the truck!”
The four of them shared a laugh before Avant Guard and his partner came back. Apple Bloom held her arms open, patting Trellis’ back when the rose-red unicorn took the offered hug.
“Gonna miss you guys,” Avant Guard said grudgingly. “Guess Mom was right, I am more cut out for the military.”
“Don’t be a stranger - and don’t give up,” Taps told him. “Bloom and I? We’ve been trying out for five years now and we only just made it. Heck, we almost didn’t this week.”
“Well, you’ve got another chance to wow them,” Trellis smiled, wiping a few tears away as she straightened up. “Good luck, everypony - knock ‘em dead for us!”
With that, the crew started to break up, each team heading their own way to get dinner, get drunk, or just get somewhere quiet to relax.
"So what were you tapping out during the feedback section?" Tender Taps asked Apple Bloom when they got back up to their hotel room.
"The - oh! Just trackin’ how much trouble we were in,” she chuckled, hopping up onto the bed and flopping back on it, her kneesock-clad legs dangling over the edge. “You know all the dancin’ stuff, but Ah know the script. Always gonna be two who are really at risk, the others are safe no matter what the audience says, unless they really screw up. So Ah've been tracking how many teams that I know should beat us that end up gettin' called out. When Foxy and Lance were put on the list, Ah knew that meant we'd be in the bottom two."
"And you keep saying you're not the smart one" Taps snorted. "Surprised we made it after what Chase said."
"Compared t'Sweetie, Ah still ain't," Bloom smirked. "She's called the last six seasons at week three. She's just a little biased this year. An' Chase probably saved our tails, so don't you worry about that. He an' Allegro have to go at it at least once a week to keep the mares back home gossipin' about 'em. The audience usually votes to spite him afterwards, so Ah'd rather be in the bottom with him yellin' at us than not."
"You've got this all figured out, huh?" Taps chuckled and slipped out of his shoes, relaxing back in his chair, reaching out with a foot to touch it to Apple Bloom's.
"Doin' mah best. He ain't wrong though. Ah could feel it up there." She tilted her head up to look at him over her prodigious rack.
"We okay?"
Taps looked at her, then got up to climb onto the bed next to her.
"Totally." He smiled and took her hand in his. "I'm just trying to not make you uncomfortable."
"Or get Applejack on yer case when we get home, huh?"
"Can you blame me? Your sister's scary when she wants to be."
"Mmm… she'd have to get through me first," she murmured, turning to kiss the side of his muzzle.
"Thanks." He smiled over at her, returning the kiss, letting himself linger against her lips before he continued.
"I've got a couple ideas for working around it next week. Starting with not wearing anything this damned tight."
"Ah dunno… Ah kinda like these," Apple Bloom teased, wrapping a hand around to pull him against her. "They show off all yer best features."
"And when you get me worked up," he pointed out. Her hand slid around to his front, resting hotly against the swelling beneath the denim.
"Ah know what Ah said."
She leaned in for another kiss, running her tongue along his lips. Taps opened his mouth, letting her take the lead now that they were off the dance floor, groaning as she teased him through his pants.
"What if Ah didn't want you workin' around anything next week?" She asked him as their lips parted.
Tender Taps blinked, needing a minute to catch up with his fillyfriend's thought process. As if to hurry him along, Apple Bloom's hand slid up to undo the brass button holding the waist of his jeans together. His cheeks burned bright red as she unzipped them next.
"W-we really shouldn't do this… what if-"
"Ah ain't in season, an' Ah've been takin' precautions fer a while now. You know how worked up a filly can get because of some of those pills?"
"But your fam-"
"They think we've been doin' this since we were a lot younger. AJ talks a big game because she doesn't want me gettin' hitched before Rainbow drags her out of the closet, that's all."
Taps swallowed hard as her fingers slipped beneath the denim to play over the thin cotton barrier between them and his sheath.
"What if I'm no good?" He asked her in a voice much too small for his toned, wiry body. Apple Bloom blushed a bit herself, pulling her hand out of his pants and wrapping it around the back of his head.
"Ah reckon ah wouldn't know, darlin'. You'll be the best Ah've ever had regardless."
She pulled him in for a kiss just before it dawned on him what she meant. She took one of his hands and guided it down to her chest, undoing the top button of her blouse before she let him take over.
He finished undoing her blouse, the two of them kissing hungrily as he pushed it back and off her shoulders, her yellow-furred breasts held back by a lacy purple bra that she quickly undid. The silk dropped onto Tender’s chest, his deft fingers pressing into her tits as his thumbs rubbed around her perky nipples.
“Mmm… find anything you like?” Bloom teased him. She leaned back, her eyes half-lidded as she unzipped her skirt and tossed it off the bed. She wriggled out of her panties next, while Tender Taps lifted his hips to slide out of his jeans and briefs. The two lovers laid on the bed, each flushed and trying to check out the other as well as they could.
"Celestia, you're gorgeous," Taps murmured as he took in Apple Bloom's near-naked body for the first time. It was all he could think to say; trying to pick out one thing about her was like picking a favorite start from the sky.
"Flatterer," she blushed, hugging him close and pressing her face into the crook of his neck. "The ribbon an' socks make me look like a filly."
"These don't belong to a filly," he grinned nervously, squeezing her breasts. "And I like the ribbon and socks," he added before kissing her. "Remind me of when we - hah!"
"Too rough?" Apple Bloom asked, snatching her hand back from the rigid length pressed against her thigh.
"Just startled me," Taps blushed, moving a hand down to her well-miscled thighs. "We're… we're really doing this, aren't we?"
"If you want to," Apple Bloom confirmed, taking his length in her hand again, her fingers wrapping around him and giving him a squeeze.
"As long as you do." He kissed her, moaning as she started to stroke his cock.
"For a long time, handsome," she grinned, rolling onto her back and pulling him on top of her, straddling her hips. "Love you, Tender."
"Love you too, Bloom," he leaned down to kiss her as she tried to angle his cock, only to find that they didn't quite have themselves positioned right, with his legs around hers.
"Hang on," he muttered, trying to shift his weight so she could move.
"Wai-ouch!" Apple Bloom winced as his hand caught in her hair and tugged at it roughly. "Hang on, just let me - horse apples!"
Tender Taps had rolled to the side quickly as she started lifting a leg, dodging taking a knee to the groin - but falling off the side of the bed in the process, thumping to the ground hard. Apple Bloom rolled over, looking at her boyfriend unceremoniously sprawled out on the floor, looking back up at her.
For a moment, they were both silent, each dreading what the other might say. Taps was the first to snicker, which set Apple Bloom off, and soon they were both laughing as she helped him back up onto the bed.
"Should've known better than t'let a cushy town pony like you take the reins," she teased. This time, he laid on his back, letting her straddle his hips instead.
"Yeah, yeah… the view's better from down here anyway," Taps decided, taking her hips in his hands and pulling her forward until the curly red hair between her thighs was brushing up against the orange spire between his.
"All about these apples, huh?" Bloom hefted her breasts, each about the size of her head, for emphasis.
"More like melons," he teased back, leaning up to take one of her breasts in his hands, wrapping his lips around one yellow nipple and suckling at it lightly."
"Mmm… let's stick with apples," Apple Bloom murmured, taking his shaft in hand and tilting it towards her hips. "'Cause I want you 'in cider.'"
She lifted her hips, guiding Tender Taps' tender tip to the hot, slick lips of her marehood. As she slid down, she bit her lip, savoring the sensation of her body stretching out around him. The colt groaned as he was engulfed by her hot, velvety folds, squeezing his eyes shut and deciding to just ignore the pun. She felt too damned good to argue humor with, especially as she started rolling her hips, working his flared tip around inside of her to get the last few inches worked into her cunt.
Finally, Apple Bloom's hips pressed against his, and she leaned forward, bracing her hands against his wiry pecs, running her fingers through his short orange fur.
“Fuck…” She held herself still, adjusting to having something so much thicker and longer than fingers down there, and then started to slide back up.
Tender helped lift her up, pulling his hips back before thrusting up into her. Apple Bloom gasped as he bottomed out inside of her, one hand going down to just above the unruly red hair that framed the mottled orange shaft sliding in and put of her virgin sex. They found a rhythm quickly, already used to moving in time with each other, and before very long at all Tender was fighting to hold back while Apple Bloom's fingers stroked her winking clit every time it came out.
"Not… not gonna last too long," Tender admitted, trying to distract himself from the feeling of slick filly flesh against his member.
"Fill me up, stud," Apple Bloom moaned.
Tender Taps pulled her down, their lips crashing together and tongues intertwining as his balls pulled up, emptying themselves into her hungry, eager womb. He felt her fingers moving frantically between them, then felt a gush of juices as she came hard around his cock, her inner walls rippling and milking his shaft for every last drop before she laid on top of him with a contented sigh.
"Mmm… now Ah get why Sugar Belle walks funny some mornings," she giggled. She brought her slick, cum-covered fingers up and licked them clean, making a bit of a face when she did. "That's gotta be an acquired taste though."
"Guess we're going to have to keep trying it," Taps smiled, hugging her close to him. "Everything's still good?"
"As long as it is with you," the farm filly murmured as she snuggled up close to him. "So, think you can handle a real samba now?"
"I dunno," Taps mused, then grinned at her. "Might take a little more practice."
Apple Bloom laughed and slapped her coltfriend's chest playfully.
"Goof."
"And you love me for it. Shower?"
"Snuggle first, shower after. Just… before everything dries into our fur."
Tender Taps pressed himself against Apple Bloom, kissing her tenderly as they settled in.
