The Pasture, Ponyville’s most popular bar, was the type of place with something for everypony—at least, almost everypony. This night in particular, there was one unicorn mare who didn’t seem quite satisfied with the selection.
Rarity frowned as she glanced through the liquor list. Didn’t this bar have anything more…classy? It would only seem right to be prepared should a member of society’s upper echelon grace the bar with their patronage. But alas, there seemed to be nothing that would fit her refined tastes. At least the others seem to be having fun. Applejack and Rainbow Dash seemed to have started a cider drinking contest. Pinkie Pie was weaving through the dance floor, talking to every pony she could. Fluttershy sat next to Rarity, listening politely as Twilight informed her of recent scientific advances, which there had either been many of, or Twilight was just being particularly long-winded.
As her eyes wandered amongst her companions, Rarity couldn’t help but notice a tinge of amber in the space above Twilight’s head. Is that…cognac? Oh, please tell me that it’s cognac. She leaned forward on her seat, squinting to try to read the bottle’s label. Oh, thank Celestia, at least they do have a more exquisite option for ponies such as myself.
The barcolt had noticed the bottle she was eyeing, and reached up to retrieve the drink. “Can I interest you in this Louis XIV, madame?”
“You may, sir. It seems like I’ve found just the thing to fit my taste after all.”
The bartender grabbed a snifter from under the counter, holding it sideways as he artfully filled the glass, stopping just before it overflowed.
Rarity took the glass with her magic, swirling it several times, as was customary, before holding it to her snout and inhaling the wonderful aromas of the drink. Sure, wine was nice, and other varieties of brandy could occasionally prove passable, but nothing truly matched the experience of indulging in a fine cognac. She took a brief sip.
“Ah, this is simply divine,” she said, giggling to herself. She took two larger sips, stopping to appreciate the flavor before swallowing. There’s only one thing about drinking cognac. Each drink goes away so quickly. Well, that was simply wonderful, so I don’t see the harm in having another glass or two. “Excuse me, bartender, would you mind indulging me with another glass of that delightful Louis XIV?”
“And that’s why it’s possible to reach a negative temperature. It’s not really negative; moreso hotter than anything we can imagine.”
“Oh, that’s very interesting, Twilight. I’m not sure I understood every bit of it, but I could tell you were very excited to find someone who wanted to listen,” said Fluttershy
Twilight noticed something warm sidling up to her, and turned to see Rarity on the adjacent stool, her white face tinged a delicate pink. “Oh, hello, Rarity, I can’t believe I’ve forgotten to talk to you all night. I guess I was just so interested telling Fluttershy about all the recent discoveries.”
“Oh, dear, that’s quite alright. I overheard some of your discussion, anyway. I especially found the part about heat transfer interesting.”
“Of course! It’s fascinating that objects at a negative temperature transfer heat to anything, no matter how cold it may be.”
“Well, it’s not exactly that I was interested in, Twilight, dear. I was wondering if perhaps we could experiment with a bit of our own heat transfer back at the library,” Rarity giggled.
“Oh my.” Fluttershy smiled knowingly to nopony in particular, “Maybe I should just go see how Pinkie Pie is doing…”
“Rarity, I’m a little bit drunk, so I’m not really sure what you—”
“Twilight, you never were the type of pony to pick up on hints, perhaps this will be a bit easier for you to understand.” Rarity quickly glanced around for anypony who might be staring, before pulling Twilight into an embrace and locking lips with her.
“Whoa, Rarity, maybe you’re a little bit more drunk than I am.” Twilight giggled as Rarity broke the kiss. Why am I giggling? One of my friends just kissed me. That’s not something to be giggling about!
Twilight could think of about a thousand reasons that she should not have enjoyed the kiss, and if she were sober, she could likely come up with many more. After all, friends didn’t do that sort of thing. Rarity was drunk, anyway, and Twilight would never take advantage of anypony like that—especially not a friend.
But on the other hoof, none of those reasons provided anything as concrete as the kiss had. As brief as it had been, Rarity had made her intentions entirely clear. It wasn’t just a friendly peck, as might be possible between a couple of tipsy friends, but it had held fire in it; the sort of sweet, succulent fire that Twilight found so hard to push out of her mind. If she can do that with only her lips, I can’t imagine how she would be if she used her tongue, too.
Of course, that was out of the question. She was just a friend—an absolutely gorgeous friend whom she had perhaps shared a drunken kiss with; a delightful, warm, sweet kiss. But that didn’t matter. They were just friends, right? Besides, I would never take advantage of anypony like that. Although I guess it’s not really taking advantage if I’m drunk, too. She looked over to Rarity, who was staring airily at her. Well, maybe it’s just one night.
“Rarity?” Twilight asked, grabbing the other mare’s attention. “You know, I think I understand what you mean pretty well now.” She winked at the fashionista. “Heat transfer is pretty interesting, so I say we go and maybe try a couple of experiments.”