Practice Makes Perfect

Cider, Twilight thought, was in some ways quite superior to wine. While she had never had the most discerning of palates it was still a treat to sample some from time to time. It, however, lacked the same nuance of spice that made the contents of the small keg Applejack had brought over so delightful.

At least, that's what she was thinking through a lovely little haze while doing her best to ignore Rainbow’s various gestures and motions as she bragged about her latest interaction with some stallion. The would-be Wonderbolt had her hands held out in front of her, as if wrapped around an invisible...endowment in a way that Twilight was quite sure was exaggerated. She’d read anatomy books--she knew they weren’t that big!

“And while I'm just goin’ to town he can’t even move, too busy grabbing my hips and trying to hold on and keep up, so anyway I start doin’ this thing with my butt and really riding him hard, I can feel his dick inside me and I just slam down and kiss him, shoving my tongue down his throat, and I feel him start to, y’know, clench and buck and--” Rainbow was saying as she held her hands in front of her and thrust. Applejack was just rolling her eyes and nodding along, as if she’d heard it before, while poor Fluttershy was practically hiding behind a couch cushion. . Pinkie seemed to be taking notes, worryingly enough.

Rarity, however, had had enough it seemed. “Rainbow, really now! I know a little gossip can be fun, but must you go into such vulgar detail about your conquests?” she interrupted, sounding beyond exasperated as she sipped cider from a delicate little cup.

Dash snorted. “Ah c’mon, don’t be a spoilsport! Just because you haven’t gotten laid recently doesn’t mean I can’t share a little of my fun!”

“A Lady does not kiss and tell, Miss Dash!” Rarity said with a sniff. Twilight could hear the capital L. It was rather well done--too many of the nobles she’d met at various functions tried to pronounce every word as if they were just so terribly important, which lessened the effect.

Dash rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, whatever you say. Like you’ve never talked about the juicy bits. C’mon, some of you had to have had some fun worth sharing recently! AJ, you get hot and heavy with any of the farmhands recently?” she asked with a lascivious grin, eyebrows bouncing.

Applejack shrugged. “Nah, but I had a tumble with Thunderlane a couple nights ago. Pretty nice, let off some steam. Held up longer’n I thought he would,” she drawled, taking another swig of cider.

Dash stared at her, practically vibrating on the spot. “...That's it? ‘Pretty nice’? C’mon, you gotta have more details than that!”

AJ chuckled. “Nah, not really. We had fun, both went home sore. All you need to know, Miss Ten-Seconds-Flat.”

Dash flopped back onto her chair, groaning. “C’mon guys! Someone’s gotta have a story! I mean, Pinkie?” she asked.

The ever-energetic girl grinned wide. “Well I did have some fun last week that used up two whole cans of whipped cream, but I don’t think I should talk about who I was with, they don’t want people to know they’re in an open relationship, but I have a date behind the barn tomorrow night, but I don’t think Big Mac wanted AJ to find out, but I also have a date with Thunderlane the night after that, and he asked me to bring chocolate sauce, but I don’t know if he means chocolate chocolate or triple chocolate shell coating, or white chocolate supreme, so I’m just gonna bring’em all, I hope he uses the last one it’s really yummy and looks fun when splashed all over my-”

Applejack, at that point, shoved an apple fritter into Pinkie's mouth. “Alright girls, maybe we’ve had a bit too much cider,” she said, giving the pink pony a lingering look that promised a Talk with her brother later. “And it’s gettin’ kinda late, maybe we should start packin’ it in.”

Dash let out an exasperated huff. “C’mon! I mean, someones gotta have a cool story! Flutter--” She paused, reconsidering, and gestured to Twilight. “Twilight, how about you?”

Twilight blinked and tilted her head curiously. “Are you asking me to talk about my, um, dating life?” she asked, quite happy that her cheeks were already flushed from the alcohol in the cider, and couldn’t show how she felt about the question.

Dash snorted. “I’d rather hear about your sex life, Sparks, I mean you’re from Canterlot. I’ve heard all kinds of wild stories about what people get up to up there!” she said with a lewd grin on her face, hands gesturing in arcanely obscene ways that Twilight refused to think about.

Twilight shrugged, shaking her head. “Sorry to disappoint, Rainbow, but I never really had time for all of that. I don’t think I’ve ever been on a date, or even kissed someone.”

Dash slumped further in her chair, groaning. “Laaaaaame! You’re all so boring!”

Rarity stood, gesturing as her horn lit. “That's quite enough of that, Miss Dash. If you’re going to be insulting to your host, perhaps Applejack is right.” she nodded to Twilight who just looked on, bemused, as a struggling Rainbow was lifted from her seat.

“Hey, woah, put me down!” she yelled, thrashing in mid-air. Her flailing wings send gusts of wind about, knocking over a stack of book returns.

“Oh, I am sorry about that Twilight! I’ll make sure the ruffian gets home safe and come back to help!” Rarity said as she headed to the door with Rainbow in tow.

“Don’t worry about it!” Twilight called, waving off Applejack as the farm-pony started to pick them up. A gesture and a light of her horn had the books floating back into place. “I’ll get these resorted and see you all later!”

Applejack took her leave after that, one-arming the small cask of cider as she nodded her good-byes.

“Do you want me to leave too?” asked the yellow pegasus, still hiding behind her hair and shrinking back in her chair.

Twilight shook her head with a smile. “No, no, it’s alright. You can finish your cider at least, it’s really tasty,” she said as she began to reshelve. Behind her, Fluttershy’s small tea-cup of cider vanished under the waterfall of pink that was her mane.

A minute or so later, just as Twilight reached “An Idiots Guide to Thaumic Physics” Fluttershy spoke up again. “I...um. I’ve never kissed anyone either.”

Twilight glanced back, seeing that the pegasus had pushed half of her mane back up, exposing some of her face. She looked a little flushed.

“Would you...maybe um. Maybe we could...try to...practice it? With...each other?”