“Are you sure about this, Rainbow Dash?”
Famous last words to be sure, but this time the pegasus insisted her idea was a good one. Twilight Sparkle was glad that, should things go south, she would be the only one around to deal with the consequences of whatever crazy plan Rainbow was dreaming up.
Ever since the Wonderbolt’s show ended, Rainbow Dash had taken to following her around the gala. Everyone else had their own things to go look at before the dinner: Applejack was still operating her stall outside, Pinky was bothering the cooks in the dining hall, Fluttershy was off in the gardens, and Rarity was trying to catch the attention of one of Celestia’s attendants in the main hall. Twilight had wanted to sneak off to the library, but Rainbow Dash’s insistence on hanging out had put a stop to that plan.
They were headed to the kitchen for some reason. There was already plenty of food inside the castle, but Rainbow Dash had insisted that there was something “totally wicked” down in the kitchen that Twilight just had to see. Knowing Rainbow Dash it was probably something along the lines of an extra-large spider or a great place to take a nap, but Twilight was trying to keep an open mind for her friend’s sake.
Turns out it wasn’t anything Twilight had expected. They actually went a floor below the kitchen and into the cellar before Rainbow loudly announced, “This is it!”
“It” turned out to be a section of the cellar full of old barrels and honeycomb racks with bottles in them. Twilight trotted up to one of the shelves and floated a bottle down to her to try and see what it was. They were all very old with spider webs and a thick layer of dust, but the label was readable. “Equestria Red, Merryweather Vineyard,” Twilight read aloud. The gears in her head were turning and she realized what it was she was looking at.
“Rainbow Dash!” she scolded, “This is the wine cellar!”
The pegasus already had one of the larger bottles down and was doing her best to pry the cork out with her teeth. It finally came loose with a loud “pop” and Rainbow smirked over at her friend. “Bingo! No one is going to be down here for a few hours so I thought we could start the party early. You’re the only one I could get to come with me, though.”
Twilight magic’d the bottle out of her friend’s reach, much to the other pony’s annoyed surprise. “We can’t do this, Rainbow Dash. This is the castle’s private stock for the adults.” She let out an indignant huff when the pegasus zipped into the air to reclaim the bottle.
Rainbow Dash, bottle-in-hoof, took a long drink before Twilight Sparkle could try to get it back. “There,” she said, only coughing a small bit from the burning in her throat, “I’ve already had some. Can’t really stop me now, can ya?”
“You’re being impossible! Fine, see if I care if you get kicked out of the castle.” Twilight spun on her hooves and started for the stairs, but a white leg draped over her neck and held her back. Rainbow Dash was holding the bottle in the crook of her other front leg and dangled it in front of the unicorn’s face, taunting her.
“Don’t ‘cha ever get tired of being such a stick in the mud? Walk on the wild side for once! Isn’t that why the Princess sent you to Ponyville?”
The wild side she says. Twilight Sparkle had always been the perfect student growing up: while other unicorns were cutting classes and flirting with the guards, she had been hard at work. It had eventually paid off when Celestia herself chose Twilight as her apprentice, but there was a cost. Maybe Rainbow Dash was right and the Princess had sent her to Ponyville to live a little? Besides, weren’t young ponies supposed to be stupid once in a while?
Slowly, Twilight Sparkle took the bottle from her friend. The wine had obviously been fermenting for quite some time as the smell was strong. She looked at the grinning face of Rainbow Dash and reared her head back, taking a long drink. It burned horribly and she nearly gagged, but there was something to be said for the harsh taste. “N-Not bad,” she coughed.
Rainbow Dash was already back at the wine rack, picking out her next alcoholic conquest. Twilight just nursed hers for a few minutes until the pegasus had picked out a new bottle and they settled in for a prolonged drinking session. Unlike Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash seemed to be old-hat at drinking and she was halfway through her new bottle by the time Twilight had polished hers off.
“You know, I haven’t done anything this crazy since flight school!” Dash slurred. She was clearly starting to get a bit lightheaded and her eyes had glazed over a bit. She looked over Twilight for an odd moment and then giggled. “It was with my old friend Gilda. She really knew how to party. I wonder if you’re a party kinda pony?”
Twilight Sparkle’s nose twitched as her brow furrowed. “Like, with music and stuff? We could go back up to the ball if that’s what you-”
The pony was stopped mid-sentence as Dash stumbled over to her. The pegasus nuzzled Twilight’s neck and laughed again, though it was lower than her former giggle. For some reason, it made the unicorn shiver.
“Nah, I don’t mean anything like that, Twilight,” Dash rasped in a husky, rough whisper. Her nose was warm against Twilight’s neck and it swished back and forth against the fur there as she nuzzled her friend. “You’re pretty soft, ya know?”
“I-I-I don’t t-think we should be doing this, Dash!” Twilight bolted backwards until she slammed up against the wine rack. She looked around, but the door upstairs was…fuck, it was behind Rainbow Dash! “You’re drunk; you don’t know what you’re doing!”
Dash smirked and crept forward like a cat on the prowl. “Oh, I know what I’m GOING to do. To you. Right now.” Then she sprang.
Twilight was too slow with her dodge. Even though she could teleport, that bottle of wine had addled her brain too much to think about it and she was bowled over by the faster pegasus. She was on her back, looking up at Dash’s triumphant face. With the punk pony’s legs on either side of Twilight, there wasn’t any escape.
The unicorn shuddered when Dash’s warm breath brushed across her nose. “Dash, I-” Her protest was silenced by her friend’s lips. Dash tasted of the wine; tangy and rough. It certainly wasn’t how Twilight had imagined getting her first kiss, but even she had to admit it didn’t feel too bad. When Dash finally pulled back, her teeth slowly pulled on Twilight’s lip and made the pony whimper.
“Damn, I’m gooood.” That one whimper had made Dash’s ego bloat to critical levels if her smirk was any indication. It disappeared when a twinkling light surrounded her head and pulled her back down eye-level with her “victim.”
“I don’t know, I think I’m going to need a larger experimental group of those before I can gauge how good you are,” Twilight rasped before pulling her friend into another kiss. This time Dash tasted faintly of candy. “A big, BIG experiment group. And then control groups, some data sharing between researchers, and then testing and experimentation…”
Dash giggled against Twilight’s lips. “Oh, I’m totally down for some ‘experimentation’, professor. Time for a few hoof-on clinical trials…”
It could be blamed on the wine, Twilight assured herself as they moved into more comfortable positions. Just one crazy night in the cellar of the castle that involved far too much alcohol; one more secret that could be covered with bricks and mortar. Canterlot Castle held hundreds of them after all and Twilight was certain that it had room for just one more…