"Can't believe I'm stuck doing this"
Rainbow Dash complained to herself, as she kicked at the clouds hovering over Ponyville. There were too many in the sky, and they were blocking the sun.
"Could have been practicing my new moves, but nooo, stuck doing this, I hate getting last minute jobs."
She angrily bucked a fluffy cloud rather harshly, clearing it away.
She took a short glance around, satisfied with her work, she threw her body upon a spared cloud. Laying on her belly, she poked her head through the cloud's floor, and peaked at Ponyville below. On some occasions, she enjoyed observing the town, and watching other ponies go about their days.
"Lyra kissing Bon Bon, nothing new... Roseluck watering her roses, Caramel breaking Applejack's cart, Rarity eating with some random mare........... Wait what?"
Rainbow stood to her hooves, still on the cloud. She used her wings to propel the cloud closer, careful not to let anypony see she was up there.
"I don't remember her, who the heck is she? Bah, probably just some frilly business pony who wants to buy one of Rarity's dresses."
Rainbow examined closer. She saw Rarity and the gray mare stand up from the table and hug. Then they walked inside the café.
Rainbow blinked a few times, then shook her head rapidly. "Well that's weird. Whatever, I'm taking a nap."
_________________________________________________________________
Twilight opened the door to her home, and eagerly stepped inside. She took a moment to look about the library.
"Oh, good job Spike, it's really tidy in here."
Spike came from the kitchen "Thanks." he said with a smile
"No, thank you number one assistant." she smiled back.
"Hey... Twilight?" Spiked turned to her, but looked away.
"Hm? Yes? what is it Spike?"
"Where exactly did you go?"
Twilight's smiled vanished "Well I went somewhere to meet somepony but that pony wasn't there."
"Ok. Uh, hey I have a question."
"Another one?" Twilight asked
"Yeah, well... you see there's this book and... you know what, never mind. I'll figure it out." Spike nervously grinned and avoided eye contact.
Twilight nodded "Ok," she added, assuming Spike was just being Spike, and cantered off to her room.
Spike ran a claw across his mouth, and then approached the coffee table. He looked upon the book again, still wondering why he found it under the couch.
"'Impressing that Mare'" He read the title again to himself.
"Well, it's not like it can hurt me right?," he said, and opened the book to read it. Unlike the first time he opened the book, Spike actually started reading it. He found it quite interesting, and read various things ranging from interesting to downright weird.
"Wow, never knew that before"
"Really?! That's so strange"
"Gross... for real?"
"Ugh, why would ANYONE want to do THAT?"
"Hm... I wonder if Rarity would like that"
Spike read on, completely lost in the book until he heard hoovesteps coming down the stairs. He quickly shut the book and threw it under the couch.
"Spike is there a bottle of ink down here? I can't find one upstairs."
Spike quickly threw himself off the couch and searched around the room. He quickly found one sitting upon a nearby desk, and brought it to Twilight.
"Here ya go Twilight, anything else you need?" Spike asked rather promptly.
"Uh..." Twilight responded, reeling her head back a bit, "No, thanks Spike."
Twilight took the bottle, and went back up the stairs.
Spike knew he wouldn't be able to hide the book like this, so he carried it to one of the library's storage rooms. He was careful to sneak by the bedroom door, even thought Twilight heard him come up the stairs. The room he found It was a small storage space where some old furniture and ruined books were kept. He took a seat on a wooden chair, and continued to read.
Meanwhile, Twilight was busy writing a letter, inviting Rarity for lunch the following day.
"How to ask this?" She spoke to herself, gently tapping the quill against her forehead. "I could just be casual, however, I don't want to sound that way."
She glanced at the ceiling in thought. Her horned glowed a shade of purple, and she used her magic to grip the quill.
"Maybe I'll sound formal." She cleared her throat "Dear Rarity, you are cordially invited to accompany me tomorrow to dine together at... no that sounds like a wedding invitation."
She licked her lips a few times, and tapped her hoof against the ground.
"I'll just go with casual."
She lifted the paper.
"Dear Rarity, If you are free tomorrow afternoon, would you like to 'hang out' and have lunch? I'll be here at the library if you would like to go, come by at noon so we can go."
She nodded her head in agreement with her own words, and wrote them on the parchment, signing her name on the bottom. She folded up the letter, and gently placed it on the side of the desk. She looked at the letter, smiling, but her smile turned into a frown. Twilight sighed, and shivered slightly. She looked at the ceiling again, thinking about Rarity. Her hooves tingled slightly, and she felt her chest warm up at the thought of her name.
"Rarity..." she whispered into the silent air around her.
She hesitantly grabbed another parchment and began writing. With nothing but Rarity on her mind, her emotions sailed with the words written on the page. She smiled as she wrote, the warm feeling in her chest increasing, and the tingling in her hooves spread to her forearms. She wrote her heart away, and had released some stress built up inside of her. She folded the paper, and placed it under a book on the desk.
She licked her lips again "Thirsty."
She went down the stairs and into the kitchen. She made herself some tea, and sat down near a window. Sipping her tea, she noticed the mailmare flying about outside. It was still fairly early in the morning, and Derpy was right on time.
Forcing down a large gulp of tea, Twilight quickly called out "Spike! Where are you?"
Spike nearly sprang from his chair at the sound of Twilight calling for him, he shut the book and placed it behind an old shelf. He was heading downstairs but was stopped by Twilight's voice.
"No don't come down yet." Twilight informed, "I need you to go to the bedroom and grab a letter for me, it's sitting on the very edge of the desk."
Spike flashed a nervous grin and dashed into the bedroom.
"Hurry Spike!" Twilight called, and opened her front door the greet the mailmare.
The initial startle Spike received when Twilight called him mixed with the anxiety from being rushed made Spike panic. Heading for the desk, he tripped, smacking his chin against the edge of the desk. Reflexively, Spike straddled the sides of the desk to keep him from plummeting his face into the floor, and it sent the desk tilting towards him, spilling papers, books, and ink all over the floor.
"Spiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiike!" He heard Twilight shout.
He scrambled through the mess, unsure of which paper to grab.
"Twilight! Who is the letter for?" he asked, hoping the name of the recipient would be on one of the papers.
There was a short pause until Twilight responded "It's for Rarity!"
"Rarity, Rarity, Rarity" Spike repeated, shuffling through the scattered papers until he found one with her name on it. "To Rarity! Got it!"
Sprinting down the stairs, Spike lost his balance, and tumbled down. Once he hit the bottom, he laid there, dazed and bruised. Twilight rushed over to help him out.
"You ok Spike?" she asked, concerned.
"Yeah... I'm alright" Spike handed Twilight the letter "Here ya go."
"Be right back Spike." she assured and patted his head.
"Derpy! Wait! Here," She handed her the letter. Derpy gave her a salute and a smile, and flew away.
Twilight shut the front door, and rushed back over to spike. He was already standing, and was brushing himself off.
"I'm alright, don't worry about it Twi." he smiled
"Oh, good. It didn't look too bad, but I was still worried."
Spike had fallen down the stairs many times, none were fatal.
"So what took you so long?" she asked
"Oh I uh... just wanted to make sure I grabbed the right letter."
Twilight raised an eyebrow, "But there was only one letter on the desk."
"R- right! But uh... as your number one assistant, I just wanted to make sure I got the right one." he pointed out.
Twilight slightly shifted her head to the side "Well alright then, thanks," she said and went back in the kitchen to finish her tea. Spike took the opportunity to rush back up the stairs and clean up the mess he had caused.
_________________________________________________________________
"Mmm this one is excellent!" Octavia claimed, sipping wine from its respective glass.
"Ah yes, that one happens to be one of my personal favorites." Rarity poured herself a glass of the Merlot.
They were enjoying their evening, wine tasting in a very kempt Late-Night-Café called "Red Grandeur." It wasn't trashy or noisy like a bar, and possessed no naughty forms of entertainment. It was a prestigious establishment, filled with an entourage of high quality wine and classy decor. Childish behavior was not tolerated, and if you were too drunk to control yourself, you were kindly escorted out.
"Hey HEY! Get your hooves off of me." Berry Punch flailed her arms and screamed at the security, pushing her towards the door. Two stallions dressed in black button up vests were trying to get her out of the building.
"We've told you multiple times Berry, you're not aloud in here anymore," One of the stallions proclaimed.
"You smack a mare one time and get kicked out, so unfair!"
"You assaulted the manager with a broken wine bottle."
"Not my fault she thought I was some whore, trying to pay me to do stuff and take advantage of a pretty drunk mare!" Berry flailed her hooves again, swiping at the stallions.
"You weren't just drunk, you were hammered" one stallion gripped both of her hooves, while the other assisted her out the door, "and she was giving you change for bottle of wine you bought, the same bottle you used to assault her!"
The door was shut behind her.
Berry muttered insults under her breath, and stomped away in anger.
"Some ponies," Octavia sighed and shook her head.
"Oh I know darling, simply pathetic. I'm so glad I found a pony as classy as you." Rarity complimented her musical friend.
Octavia giggled and blushed ever so slightly. She leaned forward towards Rarity.
"You're rather charming yourself," the susurration of Octavia's voice was barely heard by Rarity.
"Oh why thank you, I- wait, what was that? Did you say 'charming'?"
Octavia blinked a few times, and leaned back "Oh," she placed a hoof on her forehead and shut her eyes "I meant classy, must be the wine talking."
The unicorn gently poked her friend's shoulder "You've had several glasses of wine tonight, that's a bit much. Don't drink too much dear, wouldn't want you to hurt yourself."
Octavia blinked rapidly, and shook her head, attempting to sober up from the dizziness clouding her head. She could feel that she had too much, and she felt slightly tipsy.
"Yeah, you're definitely right." She placed her glass on the counter, and pushed it away.
"Are you alright? Are you sure you're ok?" Rarity asked.
The gray mare simply nodded.
Rarity returned her attention to her wine, sipping it rather gracefully. Octavia glanced at the unicorn. She felt safe with her, and didn't feel uptight as she usually did around others. While Rarity was taking a moment to admire some of the pictures and paintings hung about the walls, she felt something brush against her hair.
"Ah what?" she looked to her right and saw Octavia with her hoof extended against her head. The glass she had previously pushed away returned to her other hoof, and she took another sip.
"How do you get it so curly?" she asked.
The unicorn gently grasped Octavia's hoof and veered it away from her hair. "Well I curl and brush it every morning."
Her friend nodded, and placed a few more bits on the counter, "One Zinfandel please," she asked.
Rarity widened her gaze, and turned to her friend "Octavia, dear... maybe you should stop. I'm worried you might be having too much."
"Nonsense, just relax Rarity. I'm having a great time."
Still concerned, the white mare sighed, and stared at her glass. Octavia rambled on about something, while Rarity sat silently, a little lost in thought.
"Here you are," the yellow mare behind the counter placed a glass of Zinfandel in front of Octavia. She immediately took the glass and swallowed all of the wine. She softly wiped her lips and slid the glass forward.
"So... Octavia. How often do you do this?"
"Do what?"
"Well, consume this much wine."
She giggled at Rarity "You act as if I am gargling down a keg of whiskey. I usually have just a glass, but I'm with a trusted friend right now," she smiled "So I'm a tad daring tonight."
Another glass of wine was placed in front of her. She took the glass, and took a moment to swirl the dark red wine. She held it closely in front of Rarity's nose. She could smell the intensity of the wine Octavia had, it was far more powerful than her own Merlot she still left unfinished.
"Taste it," she offered. Rarity could smell the alcohol on her breath.
She hesitantly persed her lips, and took a sip. It was definitely strong. She coughed slightly, the spice of the wine hitting the back of her throat.
"Goodness, that was quite... intense."
"But it's exquisite, is it not?"
"Well, I cannot lie, it is rather favorable." Rarity nervously smiled. She watched her friend slowly lose sobriety as time went on.
"Hey," Octavia said "You wanna know something?"
Rarity sheepishly nodded.
"I really like your mane. It's just so nice, curly, really pretty."
Rarity stuttered "Th-thank y-you?" This elicited a laugh from the gray mare.
"Oh Rarity, my, you are so riveting, and simply gorgeous." She placed a hoof on the unicorn's right shoulder. "And so very charming."
Octavia leaned forward, and stared into Rarity's azure eyes. The unicorn shifted her eyes left and right, nervously looking at her surroundings, and the ponies around her. Rarity could still smell the alcohol, that was gradually making her nauseous. However, she couldn't help but stare back into Octavia's captivating purple eyes. Rarity felt fuzzy on the inside, a tingling sensation the came from her lower belly. Her heart rate slightly increased, and her breaths were more frequent.
Octavia placed her other hoof on Rarity's left shoulder, and smiled at her. The unicorn blushed, her face turning as red as the wine still in her glass. She blinked a few times, and started shivering as Octavia's warm, mesmerizing breath brushed across her face. She licked her lips, and leaned forward. Octavia took a hoof off of Rarity's shoulder for a brief moment to grab her glass.
"Here," she said and held it to her lips.
Rarity smirked, and sipped the remainder of her Merlot, and Octavia placed the empty glass back on the counter. Her hooves slid down to Rarity's forearms. They both leaned closer to each other.
"Your eyes are so beautiful Rarity."
The unicorn smiled rather foolishly, taken by the compliment and blushing wildly. She felt her cheeks heat up, and the tingling in her belly expand. Octavia brushed her hooves across Rarity's cheeks, and tilted her own head slightly to the right. Naturally, Rarity did the same, and leaned further into her embrace. She closed her eyes, and felt Octavia's lips press softly against hers. It felt warm and moist, and Rarity could taste the spice from the wine she had. It made her lips sting, but it only enhanced the feeling. She felt Octavia's hoof rub the back of her neck. The tingling inside of her started to burn, it felt so nice. She couldn't help but let out a sigh of enjoyment.
Octavia eventually, slowly pulled away, and let her hooves slip from Rarity's arms to the tips of her hooves. She held them, and gazed into her eyes. Rarity licked her lips, savoring the flavor of Octavia's lips and the wine.
"That was quite..."
"Intense?" Octavia added in with an enormous smile.
Rarity returned the expression. "Yes, it most certainly was."
They stared at each other for a few more moments, until Octavia broke the silence.
"May we uh... May we go to your place?"
"My place?" Rarity questioned, raising an eyebrow, "Wouldn't you rather go back to the inn?"
"No thanks, I'd rather go to your place."
"Al-alright then," Rarity stuttered, and placed some bits on the counter for their drinks. Holding hooves, the two exited the café.