Dance Dance Reprobation

[magicademymods]

The Twilight Ball Arrival The Promenade has been transformed. Literally. With Modification. Ha ha. Cough. Crickets. Toad familiars eat the crickets. Circle of life. Animals bow before singing lions. You get the idea. Neither tree nor stone form the Promenade now. It is instead a long bridge over a shallow and brilliant pool, the gentle ripples of which catch the afternoon sun and scatter it into a million highlights that play over the Great Hall, the bridge, and those who walk down it. There is no formal receiving line, merely a gentle procession of people across the bridge at whatever speed feels comfortable, slowly making their way to the Great Hall. The Great Hall itself has been enchanted to be completely invisible while one is inside it, save for the outline of doors so people can actually find their way out through means other than smacking their noses into the invisible walls till they find a place with no resistance. Thus the twilight for which the ball is named will show all around the dancers, while they are protected from any errant breezes, faint hints of rain, or slime monsters that might otherwise threaten the festivity. Come in. Find your date and get comfortable. The fun is just beginning. Let the Revels Begin After Headmaster Birony welcomes everyone with a speech about she's going to get on her boat, go upriver, and kick that sonuvabitch Bison's ass so HORDT that the next Bison-wannabe is gonna feel it, the dance formally begins with a peppy number designed to get people out and moving. The orchestra here comprises some of the finest players available anywhere in the world, thanks to the whole Valhudor shtick and graduates of said house, and the music is infectious as it drifts through the slowly-darkening air. But as the dance progresses, they play something for everyone. Martial waltzes and slow dance ballroom numbers. Powerful tunes to lose yourself in, and gentle melodies that slip beneath conversation and encourage intimacy and closeness. Professors Trammel and King treat everyone to an exhibition of what an Earth resident might call 'swing dancing on amphetamines' and many students do call 'the closest I have ever come to death'. No pause for speeches, no announcements or interruptions -- just a steady stream of music, bringing dates and lovers together in dance, as the sun sets and casts the room into gentle and romantic twilight. Also a dolphin and a whale are swimming through the floor and they, too, are unmistakably dancing. If this is the weirdest thing you've seen all night, you need your eyes checked. "Food! One of the food tables has been discreetly slid against a wall, where it positively shudders under the weight of a massive buffet open to everyone. The food here tends towards the light, such as fish and vegetables, cucumber sandwiches and thin-sliced meats. Things that will give you energy without weighing you down, so you can keep dancing till the dawn comes. At one end of the table, an owl the size of a cupboard sits on a perch, serenely watching the varied drinks laid out for consumption. 'Spiking the punch' is so cliche that no one is going to pretend it won't happen or the students will behave on their honor, so here you get a chaperone. Even so, this whole area is a popular gathering spot for those between dances or partners, drawing steady attention throughout the night. Meanwhile, Elsewhere Shockingly, not everyone has found that loving feeling, asked out an attractive someone, and gone to the dance with romance on their minds. The rest of the campus, and of course Anastara itself, remain open as normal... and perhaps even less-minded than normal. The faculty, the familiars, the cleaning golems -- almost all attention is on the dance itself. If there's mischief to manage, now would be the perfect time... or just something else besides wallflowering and missing out. Wait, Wasn't There a Ghost Dragon and an Off-Brand Shoggoth? Professor King managed to find a way around the protoplasmic ooze's resistance to magic and splatted it (with no small amount of help from students and faculty!). The dragon disappeared into the caverns beneath the Magicademy. That certainly isn't ominous and won't inspire anyone to go down there, will it? Don't fall in the river down there. Please don't fall in the river.

Comments

[woo_oo]

Arrival - Louie

[Amazingly enough, Webby still hasn't realized that Louie's intention on asking her to the dance was romantic in nature. Bless her. But she does figure she should be polite enough to wait outside for him, so she tries to kill time by rocking back and forth on her heels, hands behind her, eyes on the night sky. After a delightful shopping trip with a friend, she's dressed as such.]

Maybe I should think of this as one those fancy balls Uncle Scrooge went to...

Arrival - Open

[Moments later, she's in, and taking in the sights! The stars are beautiful this twilight, and she's constantly turning around to see everything and everyone - sorry if she bumps into you.]

Whoa - sorry! Can you believe this? It's like we're in the sky itself!

Let The Revels Begin

[... What was about Bison? ... Eh, whatever. She had dancing lessons with Hendrik, so she's pretty confident, and is in a mood to show off! She giggles wildly to see Tango and Ballet, even pointing at them as they pass.]

Awww, aren't they so cute together? Fluttershy and I helped get them together! ... Well, mostly Fluttershy. 90% Fluttershy.

Food

[Oh boy... fancy food... y-yay...

NGL Webby had been hoping for copious amounts of desserts and a chocolate fountain to stick her head in. She holds up one of the cucumber sandwiches, reminded of the kind of stuff Granny likes to eat.]

... This is party food?

Wildcard
[You know the drill, make your own prompt!]

Food

[unswervingcompanion]

Hendrik comes over dressed as much as he's going to be for the occasion. So he makes his way over to see Webby at the food table.

The knight is here to check on how well those dance lessons are working out for all who showed up and he'd seen Webby out on the dance floor. With her question about the cucumber sandwiches, he walks up behind her.

"I cannot say if that is considered party food or not."

[woo_oo]

Within seconds, Webby is instantly cheered up because Friend Hendrik!!!

"Hi Hendrik!" With the happy greeting, she moves the sandwhich around in her hand.

"It... sure is food!" She's trying to keep positive about the food, at least. "Is it supposed to be a carbo-load for all the dancing?"

[unswervingcompanion]

"Hello, Webby." This is said with a smile on the knight's face. And he has no idea what carbo-load means but he can deduce that she's talking about the food.

"I am afraid that I do not have that answer, but I am glad to see that you are enjoying yourself."

[woo_oo]

"Oh, definitely! All the pretty stars, and everyone dressing fancy and having fun... for my first dance, this is going really well."

Deciding to stay optimistic, she pops the sandwich into her mouth.

food

[pawper]

[She's got a plate piled high with a little.....no, wait, a lot of everything, including the disdained sandwiches. So much that it's a wonder the towering pile of assorted goodies hasn't toppled over and splattered on the floor.]

Sure it is! [It's food, they're at a party, what more could a body ask for?] ...You don't want it?

[woo_oo]

No, no, I'll eat it! It's just... not what I was expecting.

[She nibbles on it, eyeing the human.]

[pawper]

Huh....yeah, I guess it's not all that—

[a pause as she swiftly inhales five sandwiches in one go, making sure to swallow the lot before continuing]

—fancy, right? Nothing's been set on fire or dipped in gold. [...Hm.] Unless someone else ate it all before I got here, maybe.

[woo_oo]

[... That raises about six questions.]

I don't think so? I made sure to come here early, just in case. It's my first dance!

[puzzlers]

oof. [ she does bump into him, but he hadn't been paying attention either. he had also been gazing up at the stars. ] It's alright, [ he covers a laugh. ] I was actually doing the same - it's gorgeous!

[woo_oo]

[Oh, hey buddy! She lets out another giggle, following his line of sight.]

Are all dances like this? No wonder people like them!

[puzzlers]

I would think they're all pretty similar, but I've never actually been to one, myself. I'm enjoying myself though, and it's only just started!

[woo_oo]

Me too! I've never been to one either! So I had to come to this one!

Revels

[stillnewatthis]

[Orisa has settled on wearing House robes for her formal appearance here, because nowhere in her programming could she find a proper reference for how an OR-15 chassis should wear a dress. After a surprise turn on the floor for the first peppy number, she'd stepped aside to give other people a chance out there without risk of a vicious trampling. This leaves her free to hear Webby's comment.]

They are different species. Is that not a problem?

[woo_oo]

Not at all! When it comes to true love, it can overcome all obstacles!

[She is the captain of this ship, it is her OTP!]

[stillnewatthis]

While I do not dispute the reality of love, I also can see no way in which it might overcome the genetic incompatibility which would prevent them from having children, should they so desire. That is true of human-omnic relations and even human-human relations in which the partners have chromosomes incompatible with reproduction.

[Orisa, should you be discussing this with a girl Webby's age?]

Revels

[areasontohope]

Yuki had been walking by and heard something about Fluttershy. So he turned his head and saw Webby pointing at the dolphin and whale swimming together.

He'd admittedly curious so he stops a moment to watch the pair swim.

"How did you get them to do that?"

[woo_oo]

Oh boy, it's storytime! Webby whips around, grinning.

"It started out as an epic duel, sword versus sword, dolphin versus whale! Tango got in some vicious buts, but Ballet was swifter than they looked! Yet even Ballet knew they were not invincible, and so they took the skies, trying to catch their breath and plan the next strategy! But Tango was not so easily thwarted - the chase was on! All throughout the school, in and out of very room, hunting Ballet like a wild animal!"

And you better believe Webby is miming this all out with big gestures.

[areasontohope]

For his part, Yuki is really trying to follow the story, but he has no idea who Tango and Ballet are. He figures out that Webby is referring to the whale and the dolphin though.

With all of the gestures that were going on, he really was honestly trying to follow all of this.

"You mean they didn't always get along this well?"

This had him cast his gaze back to the pair who were pretty content at the moment it seemed.

The one for Louie

[talkyourwayout]

Louie wasn’t psyched about the ball, not because of the misunderstanding - that was no surprise, in retrospect he should’ve expected it. But it was still a dumb fancy ball, and his gold and green robes didn’t fit; especially too big and too long in the arms. He was trying to roll the sleeves up and get them to stay for the twelfth time so far, not looking up much as he approached the Promenade.

He did hear Webby, and shrugged a bit as he worked on those sleeves. “If it helps. Hey, Webby, do you have a pin or something-“

And then he looked up and stared. She looked pretty, but not in her usual way. He almost didn’t recognize her. It was weird, and he didn’t think he exactly liked it. Of course, that would be dumb to say. So after a while of thinking, he went with, “That’s not pink.”

[woo_oo]

Webby cocked her head at him, wondering what the big pause was for. Was there giant monster she was missing out on? A glance behind her said no, so...?

Oh well! She began to fish in her hair for a pin, since it came with the hairdo.

"Here you go!" She chirped as she handed it over, and once it had, she grabbed fistfuls of her dress to twirl it around. "I know, right? I wanted to try something new since this is my first dance! Yotsuyu helped me pick this out! It's really soft and comfortable, and hides my knife really well. Isn't it nice and pretty?"

Of course she's going to bring a knife.

[talkyourwayout]

Louie, being left-handed as animated characters are wont to be, used the pin to keep up the left sleeve of his robes. Normally, he’d freak out a little about the knife, but it’s nice to know she didn’t totally change her ways for this dance. Speaking of...

“I’ve never been to a dance, either. Not for school, anyway. I went to some old people party with Uncle Scrooge, once.” Another shrug. “And it is pretty! I just... Did you pick it out?”

Revels

[nomoremistergneissguy]

[Cliff couldn't help but laugh, then. He's dressed snappily, though he hadn't intended to somewhat match her. He'd chosen his House colors! But he's amused, at least. They'll make a pretty duo on the dance floor.]

Fluttershy's good at that. I'm just glad they didn't hurt each other, in the end. So, would you do me the honor of a dance, Lady Webby?

[And at that, he bows. He's mostly wanting to make Webby giggle with his courtly graces, but Cliff is entirely in earnest about at least having one dance...]

[woo_oo]

[Ooh, Lady Webby! Congrats, that got the desired giggle out of her.

She then straightens up and curtsies - what comes out of her mouth is a British accent, and a dang good one, too.]

Of course, Sir Cliff, it would be my pleasure.

[nomoremistergneissguy]

[Yes, Lady Webby. With Sunset off finding her own fun, it's his turn to do some as well. He doesn't really...get the accent, but so long as she's game...]

Then allow me the pleasure! You do look lovely tonight, I must say.

[And with that, he offers her a hand. He'll shorten his steps a bit so he isn't dragging her across the floor, either--he's had practice at dancing, it's clear.]