Merry Jinglemas, the bringer of stars
Snowflakes danced from the sky, transforming the quiet town of Ponyville into a winter wonderland. Well, a winter wonderland compared to anything that isn't as fancy as Canterlot, but the town still provided its own brand of charm. Stores were covered in festive decorations, the air had a faint scent of pine and cinnamon, and ponies were in the middle of their usual routines with an overall merry spirit.
Unfortunately, for one pony it wasn’t entirely merry in his favor.
Tender Taps stretched his legs across the bench he is sitting on, glancing at the clock every often. The young colt’s life was forever changed following his cutie mark in dancing, leading him to be cast in almost all dancing events that happened in Ponyville. Sometimes he would be cast at other locations but for now he was leaning towards local events at his hometown.
One event that was soon to happen was the Hearth's Warming Eve dance performance that was happening at the Ponyville Dance Academy. This wasn’t his first rodeo when it comes to dance performance shows like this. Normally this wouldn’t be a problem.
Unfortunately, his go-to dance partner was unavailable for this event. Apple Bloom and her Apple family had to attend a Hearth’s Warming Eve party at Pinkie Pie’s family rock farm. Tender Taps was, however, at least happy that she got to spend time with her family.
Tender sighed as he glanced at the clock once more. Thirty minutes ago, his new dance partner for this show was supposed to be here at the dance studio for some dance practice. Of course, he personally knew why she was late. The second he found out who his new dance partner was, he knew that there would be some complications and problems. Slight problems if he’s lucky.
“Hi.”
Tender Taps quickly turned to the voice, where he saw a young pegasus dressed in training dance attire staring uncomfortably at him.
“Uh, hey.” He greeted back with an awkward wave.
Everypony now and then joked about how Twilight had the tendency to be open to reformation programs. So naturally this led to total confusion on doing the same to Cozy Glow. Rumor has it that even Twilight was considering this to be a step too far. But on the bright side, Cozy seems to be learning a bit. Twilight reports that the pegasus hasn’t mentioned wanton destruction… too much these days. Some optimistic ponies would consider that a start.
“Sorry I’m late.” She said as she began to walk towards the colt. “My parole officer caught me breaking into the candy store. Speaking of which…”
She pulls out a small amount of yellow candy balls and presents them to Tender. “Want some sour balls?”
Tender just raised his eyebrows. “Uh, no thanks. I don’t like candy that was stolen.”
“Hey, I bought this candy with money, fair and square.” Cozy retorted with a glare.
“Candy bought with stolen money doesn’t count.”
“Spoil sport.” Cozy mumbled as she rolled her eyes. “So uh, Tender Taps, right?”
The colt nodded, causing Cozy to smirk at him. “Don’t think I’m getting soft just because I know somepony’s name.”
Before Tender could respond, Cozy bluntly interrupted as she sat on the same bench he was sitting.
“Anyway, some dance thing is happening at some point, blah blah blah. You need a partner and my silly parole program wants me to participate.” Cozy began to shake her head before crossing her wings together. “Alright first off, we need to make some rules between you and I.”
“Rules?”
“I agree to not bother with making you help me escape parole or free Tirek or Chrysalis from their stone prison. In return, you promise me to not talk me into giving up being evil and be all lovey dovey harmony loving do-gooder stuff.”
“Uh, sure.” Tender nodded in slight confusion. “I didn’t really have any plan to talk you out of being evil or anything. That would probably get me destroyed or something.”
“Oh relax.” Cozy reassured him with a sweet smile. “I’m not gonna destroy you or anything. I gain no strategic value over your demise so it’s pointless.”
“Thanks?”
Cozy hopped off from the bench as she headed for the dance floor. Tender once again sighed mentally before hopping off from the bench to join her.
“So how’s your dancing experience?” He asked, which the pegasus responded by shrugging.
“So-so.” Cozy said as she did a very quick dance. “I know a few moves from my short dances of evil triumph but I’ve bothered with a few moves in my free time.”
“Short dances of evil triumph?” Tender raised an eyebrow but couldn’t help but to find it a bit amusing.
“What’s the point of being evil if you can’t dance in victory over the destruction of harmony?”
“True, I guess?”
Tender rolled his eyes but let out a small smile as he stretched his forelegs a bit. “Let’s start and see what we can work with or improve on, if necessary.”
Cozy nodded as she did a mocking bow at her dance partner. As much as Tender wanted to tell her to be a bit more serious, he knew that would yield no results. He opted to roll his eyes before mimicking the same mocking bow. They both began to dance a bit as they faced each other. As Tender expected, Cozy was a bit inexperienced but was not a total failure. Cozy, however, couldn’t help but to be very impressed at how he danced. Apple Bloom once talked about how well he was a dancer but to see him in action was insane in her view. They continued to dance a bit before they got to the point of having to dance a bit closer to each other. That went as we both expected.
“Ow.” Tender Taps muttered as he felt a hoof on his hoof.
“Sorry.” Cozy Glow mumbled with a small frown. “Uh, maybe I shouldn’t apologize at all since it makes me soft. Don’t tell me that apologizing makes me a good pony. Remember our agreement beforehand.”
“Less talking, more dancing.”
They continued to dance closer to each other but at a slower pace. Mostly so that Cozy could iron out her mistakes as Tender gestured on how to avoid them. Thankfully this meant less occasions of her stepping on his hooves. Tender still knew that she needed more practice on this part but at least figured it would be professional to give her some encouragement.
“See, you’re getting the hang of it.” He said with a motivating smile, causing the pegasus to grin evilly.
“Sweet.” Cozy said as she stuck her tongue at him. “I knew I was a natural at this.”
Not wanting to comment on her sudden smugness, Tender chose for a different response. “Let’s take a break.” He said as he motioned for the bench.
Cozy nodded before they both trotted to the bench to sit down a bit. Cozy let out a soft sigh as she felt her sore body ease up a bit as she sat down. Tender internally sighed as well as he felt his sore legs loosen up. Cozy glanced at the colt and couldn’t help but to bite her lips a bit as she shuffled nervously.
“I was bad, wasn’t I?”
Tender shook his head gently. “You’re not a total disaster but you definitely need to practice more. I can tell however that dancing isn’t really your career choice.”
“Well that dance recital thing isn’t happening right away or anything. We still have time.” Cozy commented with a shrug.
“Yup. I’m sure we’ll get the hang of it eventually.” Tender responded with an encouraging smile, up until he noticed Cozy staring at him with a raised eye.
“You make it sound like you actually want to keep dancing with me.”
“I try to be professional when it comes to this thing.” He answered with his forelegs crossed. “And as long as you don’t make me evil and I make you good, then I can see this dance partnership working out.”
“You wouldn’t be an evil pony.” Cozy replied with an eye roll. “You’re too much of a do-gooder.”
“Is that a bad thing?” Tender asked, at which point Cozy let out a snort.
“To me, yes. But to you, eh, I think not.”
Tender chose not to respond to Cozy’s comment, opting to sit on the bench a bit to relax his muscles a bit. Cozy chose not to respond any further and to sit quietly a bit. After a few minutes of silence, Cozy was a bit overwhelmed by thoughts of how this dancing thing was going to work out for her. She tried to avoid them by thinking of other things and found herself with one thought she figured she would let out from her chest. She moved a bit forward to Tender before she spoke.
“I’m surprised you’re not dancing with Apple Bloom.” Cozy commented before her eyes widened a bit. “Not like she’s my friend or anything. Just curious.”
“She had to go attend a party with her family.” Tender answered plainly.
Cozy tilted her head a bit. “You two always dance a lot together. From what I’ve heard, that is.”
“Yeah, she’s not a professional but she and I have some good chemistry when it comes to dancing.”
Cozy let out a small mischievous smile. “I figured you dance with her because you like her.”
“Well of course I like her.” Tender answered obliviously with a gentle smile. “She’s a good friend.”
“I mean, like LIKE her…”
“Oh.” Tender realized before he shook his head rapidly. “Oh you meant that kind of ‘like’… Uh, not really. As mentioned before, she’s a good friend but she’s already taken and I’m happy for her, so not jealous about that.”
Cozy rubbed her chin in confusion. “So what, is she dating Sweetie Belle or Scootaloo?”
“No. Sweetie is dating Button Mash and Scootaloo is dating Rumble.”
Cozy’s confusion grew. “I thought Sweetie was dating Spike.”
“Nope, Spike is dating Rarity at some point after his growth spurt.”
“Oh.” Cozy muttered before scratching the back of her neck. “I’m sorry then.”
“For what?”
“You’re not really dating anypony, are you?” Cozy asked with some slight concern that she tried to hide.
“Nope. You’re making it sound like a bad thing.”
“You’re a fantastic dancer.” Cozy said with a firm look on her face as she found herself moving a bit closer to Tender Taps. “It’s really crazy how girls aren’t swooning over you.”
“Well some are, but they don’t really attract me in that way…” Tender admitted with a neutral face that immediately turned into surprise as he nearly gawked at Cozy Glow. “Wait, you think I’m fantastic?”
“Yes!” Cozy blurted out with her forelegs almost waving around. “And I’m not saying that to flatter you into manipulating you or anything like that! Apple Bloom talked about how you dance and stuff, but to see it in front of my eyes, she really undersold that part.”
“Thank you.” Tender Taps said softly with a smile on his face. “Really, thank you very much for that.”
Cozy eventually found herself closer to the colt as she fidgeted around nervously before blurting out, “If I wasn’t in the middle of trying to take over Equestria, I’d probably date you just to-” Realization immediately crashed upon her and she eeped before pushing Tender away from herself as she put her forelegs on her head.
“Gah! I didn’t mean it like that! I just mean, uh, you see…”
Not finding any good explanation to say, Cozy got up to Tender to place a hoof on his chest with a firm look on her face. “Ah, forget what I said! You’re just going crazy with all the dancing and you not being evil an-”
“Why couldn’t we date each other?”
Shock once again crashed on Cozy as she registered what Tender had just said to her.
“Well, besides you being evil,” Tender admitted with a shy smile. “Which means a relationship would be very complicated… But you kinda get what I’m saying, right?”
“Did you just ask me why couldn’t we date each other?” Cozy quietly asked the colt as she removed her hoof from his chest.
“Um, yup I did.” Tender Taps admitted as he put a foreleg on Cozy’s shoulder. “Besides you stealing the elements and such, I kinda imagined you being just misunderstood or you needed some therapy or something. If so, well you are kinda cute and despite being somewhat of a beginner of dancing, you and I seem to have a similar chemistry like with Apple Bloom and I. She’s not entirely a great dancer but she and I have some sort of connection when it comes to dancing. For you, it’s not the same but it’s getting there. Heck, with enough practice, you might be a better dancer than Apple Bloom.”
“Okay, first off,” Cozy gently removed his foreleg from her shoulder. “I’m not misunderstood or need therapy. Don’t try that psycho mumbo jumbo on me. I get that enough from Twilight.” Cozy’s tone suddenly turned warm. “Second, you really think I can be a good dancer?”
“I promise you that I’m not trying to flatter you or anything to lower your guard.” Tender confessed as he put a hoof on his chest. “In fact, since our break went on a bit longer than I expected, how about we continue our dancing?”
Cozy Glow found herself conflicted with many feelings. Not just evil feelings this time, but surprisingly warm feelings. The evilness inside her is still there but now it’s finding itself in the presence of a new feeling that she feels when she thinks about Tender Taps. Would a relationship work out between her and him? It would definitely be complicated but Tender outright admitted that he wasn’t entirely against the idea, for some reason.
Deciding that it’s something she needs to think about more later on, she opted to smile at Tender Taps before answering, “I’d like that.”
They both find each other smiling as they continue to stare at each other for a bit. Eventually Tender jumped off the bench which led Cozy to follow suit.
“Oh, and one more thing?”
Before Tender could ask what she wanted, he ended up feeling a quick peck on his cheek, causing him to blush a bit.
“Thank you.” Cozy muttered with a shy smile and a blush of her own.
Tender wanted to enjoy the moment a bit but knew he had to at least get one thing off of his chest.
“Between you and me.” Tender commented with a shrug. “This parole thing isn’t going to work out, is it?”
“Not one bit.” Cozy said as she shook her head. “But if I’m given a bit extra time before I turn into stone, you wouldn’t mind getting some lunch together at some point?”
Tender smiled at her as they both stared at each other’s eyes while standing in the middle of the studio floor. He extended his hoof, allowing Cozy to grab his hoof. They silently began to dance a bit with more confidence compared to earlier. No mistakes were made unlike last time as they danced quietly. As their faces were close to each other, Tender’s smile once again grew as wide as Cozy’s already huge grin.
“It’s a date.”
Author's Note
My prompt was simple:
I would like a Holiday comedy/romance story on Cozy glow and Tender taps
As mentioned with my last story exchange story, my writing juices were dry from work and other stuff. I hoped that a SFW story exchange would be easier to write than a NSFW story exchange.
It was a bit easier to deal with but darn it my writing juices may have been dried out more than I expected. I was still glad though to participate since I heard this story exchange has the most participants so far. I wouldn't forgive myself if I saw myself left out of this... And it was good to write a bit about Tender Taps. He's definitely underrated.
All in all, hope you enjoyed, star bringer!
