“Alright. We’re here,” Aura announced.

Silver Spoon and Shady Daze followed her through the front door of Berry Pinch’s place. The house wasn’t too large though it was two stories. at first glance, it appeared to have three or four rooms on the first floor, and like most houses in Ponyville probably only had two bedrooms upstairs.

“My bits are that they’re in the kitchen,” Aura said with exhaustion.

“Really? Umm… I guess my bits are on Pinch’s room,” Silver Spoon said with a knowing smile.

“Nah, it’s the kitchen,” she said glancing back at Silver Spoon.

“How do you know?”

“Well, Rumble is drunk, he’ll want food and more to drink. I bet you Pinch is now as smashed as he was when we found him.” She let loose a small sigh before venturing into the house.

There were light sounds echoing down the hall towards them. Silver Spoon frowned as she noticed Aura’s pace speed up her strut. She may as well have been a very angry train about ready to come off her tracks.

As they rounded the corner into the kitchen, they found Berry Pinch sitting on the counter holding a bottle and a shot glass, with more stacked next to her. Rumble was laying on the floor, his tail wagging back and forth. Berry Pinch giggled and gave a command, “Roll over!”

Silver Spoon couldn't help but laugh even harder when Rumble rolled completely over and then stood up begging for a treat, much like a dog would. They watched as Berry Pinch filled a shot glass and poured the whiskey down Rumbles throat, afterward, Rumble's tail wagged faster and he laid down, looking up at her with puppy dog eyes.

“Alright, I think this has gone on long enough.” Shady Daze stepped in between the two ponies. He looked at Berry Pinch, leaving Rumble to look at his flanks and every glorious jewel Shady had.

“Dude! Get your fun parts out of my face!” Rumble roared as he rolled to one side and stood.

“BAD DOG!” Berry Pinch shouted and threw the shot glass at him, hitting him in the forehead.

“What the hell, Berry!” Rumble yelled, putting his hooves against his forehead as he fell backward.

“Nothing, you're being bad and bad dogs don't get whiskey. So behave yourself!” Berry Punch laughed but when she spotted Rumble moving for the whiskey, she snatched a shot glass off the top of the stack next to her and chucked it at the back of his head, hitting him between the ears.

His hooves quickly covered the back of his head and he hissed at her in pain as she climbed off the counter.

“Alright, Berry, it's time to stop abusing your seductive powers against Rumble.” Aura said, stepping forward and grabbing a bottle of whiskey. Silver Spoon watched patiently as Aura passed the bottle over to Shady Daze who took a gulp before passing it back to Aura who also took a good sized drink out of it. Aura then passed her the bottle.

Silver Spoon took a long look at the bottle, labeled Reigns of Bowe Whiskey. It read 115 proof. That fact alone meant it was going to be strong.

“Drink it already!” Rumble said, anticipating him to be next in line.

Silver Spoon hesitated and just looked at Rumble. She finally sighed, giving in to the liquor, even though she preferred vodka rather than whiskey. She lifted the bottle to her lips and took a small drink, but as soon as she went to lower the bottle, Rumble gripped the bottom of it and forced the whiskey down her throat. She got two large gulps before Aura and Shady Daze pulled him away. Berry Punch was laying on her side laughing.

After Rumble was properly contained while sucking on the whiskey bottle, Silver Spoon sat down coughing up a fit. She'd never been a chugger, she never was one to drink fast or have any sort of contest. She enjoyed drinking games and she enjoyed her buzz rather than be smashed and unable to enjoy her night.

“You okay Silver?” Aura asked sitting down next to her and running a hoof over her back as she coughed. Eventually, her coughing slowed and Silver Spoon simply nodded.

“Alright, Let's get you three drunk now!” Berry Punch said as casual as ever.

“Berry...”

“C'mon, we were planning to party tonight anyways, why not start early? My mom's going to be gone for the next two days! She's been staying over at some stallion’s house lately.” Berry Punch laughed and she started grabbing more bottles from the cabinet. “My mom's been buying it, but she isn't home long enough to actually drink any of it.”

“Well, I'm up for a drinking game! How about Truth and Dare? Every time you chicken out of something or lie you gotta drink!” It was Rumble who suggested it, he had a devilish grin spread across his face as he eyed his friend, Shady Daze.

“Sounds good to me!” Berry Pinch said before carrying all the drinks into the living room using her magic. She also carried a stack of large glasses. Everypony followed her and sat in a semicircle around the table where Berry had set the drinks.

Silver Spoon was first to speak, already having enough whiskey in her to feel a good buzz, much less the coughing fit had made her light headed and just sped up the alcohol's effectiveness. “I call that one!” She pointed a hoof at a bottle of Luna Shine. Though it was the second strongest of all the bottles, it was the only vodka to be seen and the bottle was still nearly full.

Silver reached forward claiming the bottle for herself. “Of course, she'd take first picks.” Rumble sneered at her, before grabbing two bottles of high-quality whiskey. He popped one of the bottles open and started drinking.

“I guess I'll take that.” Shady Daze said grabbing for the Dayflower Creamed Rum.

“This is now mine!” Aura yelped as she grabbed and hugged a bottle of Silver Berry Burst, it was a strong sweet whiskey.

Berry Punch grabbed another bottle, leaving four bottles on the table. Berry had chosen a bottle which only had a black label which had three white X's across the front.

“So who starts?” Aura asked curiously looking from Berry Punch to Rumble. Who would speak first. Of course, it was Berry Punch who called it.

“Aura! Truth or Dare!” She shouted with enthusiasm.

“Truth.”

“Is it true... That you like Rumble?”

“What? NO! Hell No! I'd never touch Rumble. He's all yours, sister.” She spat in Rumbles direction and smiled at him.

“That's just rude,” Rumble said passively.

Silver Spoon noticed Aura's eye linger on her for a moment before moving to Shade Daze and then finally Rumble. “Rumble, I dare you to kiss your hoof.”

Rumble laughed and licked his front left hoof. “Thanks for giving me the option of truth or dare, bitch,” he said mildly.

Aura simply laughed at him, “You were going to choose dare anyways, Rumble, Why waste the time? Now go!”

Rumble laughed, “You've got a point. Hmm. Silver Spoon. Truth or Dare?”

Silver Spoon hesitated, she had never actually played this game before, “I guess I'll go with Truth.”

“Is it true that you're a rich snob?” Rumble asked pushing his nose up with his hoof.

“Actually no, my family isn't rich. Also, Diamond Tiara isn't a snob!” Silver Spoon spat at Rumble just as Aura had and she earned the same response from him.

“Oh, how rude!”

“Not as rude as you!” Silver Spoon laughed and Rumble joined in wholeheartedly.

“I guess it's my turn.” Silver said looking around the table. “Berry Pinch! Truth or Dare?”

“Dare me!” she said with a wink.

Silver Spoon thought for a moment. What to dare her? “I dare you to lick Shady Daze's forehead."

“That's it! That's the worse you could come up with?! What's wrong with you Silver?” Berry Punch seemed to pout a little.

“Well I can think of worse, but I don't want to be the first one to make you drink, Berry Pinch. So lick him!” Silver Spoon laughed and winked at Berry Pinch while Shady Daze simply shook his head not sure what to think.

“Fine,” Berry punch smirked and turned towards Shady Daze who simply closed his eyes. She gave him a big sloppy lick from the tip of his nose all the way up to the start of his mane.

“Awwww Berry! Was that necessary?” Shady Daze rubbed his hoof against his face.

“Alright! My turn!” Berry Punch turned and smiled at Aura.”Aura, Truth. Or. Dare.”

“Dare.” She stared her friend down with a big grin on her face.

“I dare you to kiss Rumble.” She smiled to herself

Silver Spoon watched as Aura stood up from beside her, walked around the table, and gave Rumble a big sloppy kiss. Once she seemed satisfied she broke the kiss and left Rumble sitting there stunned.

“Your turn Aura.” Berry laughed, “Good job.”

Aura turned towards the rest of the group and smiled. “Rumble, Dare or Dare”

Rumble had obviously missed the double dare and spouted off the answer Aura had given him. He laughed and burped. “Give me what you got! I'll never chicken out!”

“I dare you to kiss Shady Daze. On the lips and with tongue.” Aura seemed proud of herself.

“Sure. Shady?” Rumble grinned, “I know how long you've been waiting for this opportunity, just don't enjoy it too much.” Everypony just watched as Rumble turned towards Shady and pulled him in close. Which in turn made everyone, especially Berry Pinch, lean forward in anticipation.

Silver Spoon noticed that Shady Daze was smiling at this point. She wasn't quite sure why but she couldn't help but smile too as Rumble's lips met Shady Daze's. Rumble had hooked a hoof around Shady's neck and another around his hip, pulling him closer. Shady returned his favor by putting both his hooves on Rumble’s hips. Both stallions had their eyes closed as they both got more into the kiss and it quickly escalated from there. Rumble had pushed Shady onto his back and was now standing over him, with their lips still locked.

Eventually, Rumble pulled away and stepped off Shady. Rumble had a huge grin on his face as he looked at Shady, who seemed genuinely stunned. As the girls around him began to laugh he quickly sat up and covered himself as he realized his arousal. “Now I see how you get all those mares,” Shady said still in a bit of a daze.

Rumble laughed and waved a hoof in front of Shady's face. “Hey, did you just pop a boner for your best friend? Wow, how gay of you, Shady.”

Shady shook himself from his daze. “Gotta say bro, you definitely have a way with your tongue.”

“Yeah, too bad for you that's the only time you'll have a taste of my unlimited sexual powers!” he laughed and sat back down, “Alright, my turn right? Shady Daze! Switch drinks with Aura for the rest of the game.”

“Um, that's all?” Shady laughed and passed his bottle to Aura who reluctantly handed her own bottle across the table. Shady Daze immediately took a drink of it and smiled. “My favorite. Honestly, I didn't even notice this stuff was here.”

Shady Daze had started scanning the ponies, “Aura, Truth or Dare?”

Aura responded with a nod after removing the bottle from her lips, grimacing a little at the harsher flavor. She began coughing a little but managed to gasp out a single word, “Truth.”

Silver Spoon watched her friends closely, simply curious to know more about Aura. Shady Daze smiled a little as if amused by her coughing up the drink he'd originally chosen to drink. He cocked his head already ready to ask a question. He was just waiting for her to finish her little coughing fit.

Once Aura had recovered she smiled weakly. “What was the question?”

“I haven't asked it yet,” said Shady.

“Oh well, what was it?” Aura asked curiously.

“Do you prefer mares or stallions?” Shady Daze finally asked. This caught Silver Spoon’s attention for some reason. She wasn't sure why then she remembered her conversation with Diamond Tiara back in her father's blacksmith. She had said she'd always been a filly fooler, and that she wasn't comfortable with others knowing. She listened carefully for Aura's answer.

After a moment’s hesitation and glanced towards Silver Spoon, Aura answered, “Stallions.”

“I call bullshit!” it was Berry Punch. “You're as much of a fillyfooler as Shady here is a coltcuddler. So take your chug!”

With a grim expression, she silently began chugging at her bottle. After her drink, she seemed to stare off in a random direction for a moment with her cheeks flushed. When she finally looked back, her eyes locked on Berry Pinch. “Damn you,” was all she said. “Truth or Dare?” Aura's eyes were big and vengeful for that one.

“Dare.” Berry answered with a challenging voice.

“I dare you to shut up for the rest of this game.” Aura laughed.

Berry Pinch simply nodded and using her magic she gripped a quill, some paper, and some ink. After scribbling something down, she turned a piece of paper around. Across the top, it read, “Fuck you, Aura. Just fuck you.”

Aura laughed and blew her a kiss. Silver Spoon couldn't help but join in on Aura's laughter, they were quickly joined by Rumble and Shady Daze.

Silver Spoon took another small drink from her bottle. Everypony had just casually started drinking from their own bottles, completely ignoring the rules. Silver Spoon just watched as Berry Pinch began to scribble again. She held up the same piece of paper. The previous sentence was scribbled out and just below it was written, “Silver Spoon, Truth or Dare?”

“Dare.”

The drunken mare looked around the table, her eyes falling on Aura. Pinch smiled wide and began to scribble something down. Just as before, the previous sentence was scratched out and just below it the new dare was written.

Both of Silver Spoon's ears fell back as she gulped a wad of saliva.

Rumble read it out loud, smiling thinly. "Make out with Aura." He looked at the two. "This should be entertaining."

Aura and Silver Spoon just looked at each other, they must have been sharing the same thoughts or something because Aura's expression was a mimic of her own. Silver Spoons mind raced, We only just met! What should I do? Chicken out and chug my bottle? I don't know how this would go! Why am I so nervous! Wait, have I even had a first kiss at this point? Does a parent count? Of course not, wait, what was I thinking about? Her eyes scanned her surrounding company. Aura seemed to be in just as much distress as she was, and the others just waited eagerly, except Shady who seemed to be incapable of having any less interest in the two mares sitting next to each other.

With a small sigh, Silver Spoon turned towards Aura and moved closer, Aura did the same. They both began to lean closer, their eyes closed and lips puckered. Suddenly Silver Spoon felt a hoof around the back of her neck and expected to feel lips pressed against hers, but her lips caught nothing but air as her body was pulled forward some. She felt breath on her shoulder and could smell the alcohol wafting off the mare.

“I'm sorry,” Aura softly whispered into her ear before standing up and running up the staircase.

“Um, what just happened?” Silver Spoon asked curiously.

Berry Pinch sighed and began to write something before she used her magic to crumple the paper and toss it behind her, “She's been going through a rough time lately, I'm afraid I may have pushed her too far. I'll go talk to her.” Berry Pinch stood up and started heading towards the stairway, she paused for a moment, “Silver Spoon, come with me. We need some girl time, you boys behave yourselves.”

Silver Spoon stood up and followed her up her stairs. They could hear somepony crying from the first door on the left. Berry tried opening the door to find that Aura had locked herself inside. “Aura! Please open the door, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that to you.”

Aura didn't reply, so Silver Spoon tried, “I'm sorry if I did something wrong, Aura, I was just as nervous as you were...and...umm...” Silver Spoon didn't know what to say really. She didn't have anything to be sorry for anyways. She just wanted to help her friend.

“Who's all out there?” Aura asked through the door.

“It's just me and Silver Spoon,” Berry Pinch said and was answered by the sound of the door unlocking.

Both the mares entered the bedroom, it was Berry's room. “Are you okay Aura? What happened?” Silver Spoon asked curiously, “I'm sorry if I did something wrong.”

Aura looked at her and dried her eyes, “You didn't do anything wrong, Silver. I was being stupid, but it's Berry's fault.”

“How were you being stupid? Why's it Berry's fault?” Silver asked her but turned her attention towards Berry Pinch with a bit of anger boiling up.

“Well, I sorta...hahaha...” Berry Pinch rubbed one leg with her hoof before sitting down next to Aura and giving her a big hug which Aura seemed to accept without hesitation.

Silver Spoon stood there for a moment as the two hugged and whispered back and forth. Eventually, Aura and Berry Pinch both looked at her. Aura stood up, “Well, first of all, Rumble took my favorite drink from me and gave me that shit Shady likes. After that, Miss Pinch here decided to call bullshit on something only she knew to be false AND made me chug that crap. Then she...” Her voice had evaporated into the air.

“Then she dared me to kiss you. I gotta admit it made me nervous too. I've never actually kissed anypony, much less a mare like you.” She turned towards Berry Pinch and just wrinkled her nose and snorted.

“That's just it, though, I've had a crush on you for as long as I can remember, you and Tiara never bothered me when we were fillies and so, I never developed that paranoia every other pony had. Though I knew if anyone knew I was a fillyfooler and had a crush on one of the two biggest bullies in school, I'd be an outcast faster than you could have insulted me.” she sighed and hid her face behind her mane. The truth was out and it was awkward.

Berry Pinch finally spoke, “You know, Aura isn't joking either. She's always had a thing for you. No idea why, but she does and what she just said is the complete truth. Me and her have talked it over many many times and tonight wasn't supposed to end like this. It was my fault it did.”

Silver Spoon laid on the floor with a hoof over her nose. “Aura? I didn't know...” I still don't know what's going on... What do I do now? What should I say? Should I accept this? Should I try that? Where should I go? I've never actually dated anyone! But what if this were an opportunity to try something new? Make a change in my life. Maybe it'll be for the better. I know if I were to say something that brought us closer we could return to the party as if nothing happened, but what are the risks? What happens if my father found out? What would happen if my feelings were to change or what if it were just due to this drunken stooper? What if what they said was fake? What if they were lying? What if this was all a plan to get at me somehow? No... I doubt it. But now isn't the time to start a relationship. I want to get to know her first. I want her to get to know me.

Standing up she walked over to where the two mares sat together. Aura was crying and Berry Pinch was trying, unsuccessfully, to comfort her. Tapping Berry Pinch on the shoulder she motioned towards the door, silently asking for a moment alone with Aura. Berry Pinch whispered a word or two into Aura's ear and left the room quietly. Silver Spoon sat down next to the crying mare and wrapped her hooves around the mare's neck, Aura responded by wrapping her hooves around Silver's waist and holding her as tight as she could.

“Aura, how long have you had these feelings for me?” Silver Spoon whispered softly.

Aura pulled back and looked up at her. “Truthfully, I've had a massive crush on you since before Rainbow Dash saved me from that well you and diamond had tossed me into. And no, that incident didn't change my opinions of you. You're still one of the most beautiful mares I've seen and that hasn't changed at all over the years.”

Silver Spoon felt a tinge of guilt for having helped thrown that filly in the well, “I honestly didn't know that was you... I'm so sorry we did that to you.”

“It's okay Silver, I always blamed Tiara for pushing you into it. You didn't seem like you enjoyed it back then anyways.” Aura's words were true and her soft cracked voice was quite adorable. She'd had a lot of liquor already and it was easy to smell it on her.

“Look, Aura, I do like you, but I've never actually had a relationship, and I don't want to break your heart if my heart isn't in it too. So, how about this. We agree to stay friends and hang out more often. If things start going in that direction then we can call ourselves a couple... but for now, let's stay friends and go have some more to drink,” she smiled and with a wink. “Besides, you still have a bottle to finish chugging!” Silver Spoon started to stand up but Aura still had her hooves around her.

Aura laughed a light chuckle. “Actually, no I don't.”

“Wait wh-” Aura had cut her off mid sentence by pressing her own lips against Silver Spoons without warning. Aura's lips were warm and wet, she moved her lips apart and Silver followed suit as she wrapped her own hooves around her neck. Silver felt Aura's tongue slip in between their lips and begin searching her mouth, then Aura's tongue found hers. Silver Spoon ran her own tongue along the side of Aura's and on into her mouth. She tasted the alcohol on Aura's and her own breath. She pulled away and Aura did as well, as a small string of saliva still connected their lips.

“Well, that was unexpected.” came a voice from the door. It was Berry Pinch who stood there smiling. “Are you two a couple now or what?”

They just looked at each other, Silver Spoon felt her body heat up quickly and her face turn red. “Umm...”

Aura laughed, “Not yet. But we'll get there.” Her face was also pure red as she put her muzzle near Silver's ear. “Also, that was my first kiss, too.”

That made Silver Spoon smile; It meant that she wasn't the only one with absolute zero experience. “We should go back downstairs,” her heart was beating so fast, and she felt new, she had enjoyed that brief moment, she really liked it.

The three mares went down the stairs and saw that the two stallions were both laying next to each other on their back staring at the overhead fan as it spun. “You two comfortable? Or are you ready to continue our 'little' game?” Berry Pinch said looking at Rumble, she giggled as he tried to focus his eyes on her.

“Um Berry, they sorta drank almost everything that was left,” Aura said sounding sort of bummed out now that the tension was gone.

“Damnit!” She kicked Rumble in the flank and then looked at what was left, “Well Aura, apparently your favorite was left untouched and so was yours, Silver. They drank the rest of mine and one of the other bottles. SOO! We have four bottles total,” she grabbed one of the remaining rum bottles and popped it open, taking a drink.

Shady finally sat up but didn't say anything, he just sat there grinning from ear to ear. He grabbed an empty bottle, then another, and a third. Carrying them into the kitchen and placing each one carefully into the sink he said, “I dunno, we just got bored and started drinking, sorry that we got carried away. I blame Rumble. Even if he might already have alcohol poisoning.”

“It's fine Shady, we have plenty more where that came from,” Berry said as she walked into the kitchen and swinging open a cabinet which contained many more bottles of liquor.

Shady smiled and grabbed another bottle, shortly after him, Rumble followed suit. “Thank you, Berry,” Rumble said with a wink.

“You're welcome, Rumble,” looking back over her shoulder, “Silver Spoon, can you grab us the muffins Button's mom made? They're still in there on the counter.”

“Sure!” Silver Spoon spun on her hooves and grabbed the sack off the counter. She spun back towards the living room to see Berry Pinch already standing in the doorway, blocking her. Her expression was hard and serious as if she’d had something on her mind.

“Silver Spoon, I don't know exactly what happened up there, but from what I saw... Don't hurt her. If you do, I’m not afraid to hurt you. Got that?” Her features softened a bit as she noticed Silver Spoon drop the muffins and seem to shrink. “Not that you'd hurt her. Oh. And by the way, you have a chug to take. You lied about being straight. Or was that kiss fake?”

Silver Spoon shook her head trying to make sense of this sudden confrontation. Do I lie and say I won't hurt her? Does she think me and Aura are together now? Just because of a kiss? I mean I don't know how much she saw, but with that kiss... It felt so right. Am I straight? Was I ever straight?

Clearing her mind with a deep sigh, she looked up at Berry Pinch. “Berry, I think you misunderstand. Aura and I aren't together. What you saw was something else, because me and her agreed to stay friends for now and actually get to know each other before we start anything. I've never even dated before. Hell, you saw my first kiss.”

She paused hoping for Berry Pinch to say something, and when Berry simply sat down and wrapped her tail over her hooves, allowing Silver to continue her little rant. “I promise you that I won't hurt her at all, and if I do then feel free to hurt me in return. I'm letting you know now, though, Berry Pinch. We only just met and I was straight up until five minutes ago, right now I'm really drunk, I'm not sure exactly what just happened, and I have no idea what to say or do right now. But right now, I know I'm happy. I'm happier than I've ever been in my life! Honestly. I was almost suicidal just last night! I took almost half a bottle of sleep medication just to get five hours of sleep.”

She stopped talking and noticed Aura was standing in the doorway just behind Berry Pinch. Her eyes were starting to water a little. Silver Spoon spoke quickly, taking some steps forward. “But! I'm glad nothing happened to me last night, and I want to try something new anyways. I'm glad I ran into you, Aura. Berry Pinch, I'm glad you allowed me to come here and party with you. I'm so happy to actually not be going from school to home. I'm so glad I don't have to be tethered to Tiara all the time anymore. I actually have friends now!” Silver Spoon burped, effectively ending her speech.

Aura and Berry Pinch stepped towards her, both of them wore smiles and Aura was still crying. She leaned forward and rubbed her cheek against Silver Spoon's. After a moment, Aura whispered into her ear. “I'm in no rush either, so let's have fun.”

Berry had grabbed the muffins and all three of them turned and walked out into the living room. Sitting down, Berry Pinch wasted no time shoving her bottle of whiskey into Silver's mouth and pushing her head straight up. “You still owe us a chug!” she laughed letting the bottle lower.

Silver Spoon gagged for a moment as the bottle was removed from her lips, she choked down the last little bit of the whiskey in her mouth then spat on the floor. She erupted into a fit of coughing and wheezing until her lips closed and her cheeks filled, she jumped to her hooves and ran to the front door, flinging open the door, letting it smack against the wall. She staggered out into the lawn and vomited up her breakfast before sitting down and dry heaving for a few moments. She spat now and then before she finally looked up to see Rumble and Shady standing in the doorway laughing.

Just then Aura parted them and slipped out with a glass filled with water. Silver filled her mouth with it then spat it out and raised the glass to her lips once more taking a slower drink to clean her throat. Aura looked down at her with a skeptical look on her face. Silver Spoon looked up at her and smiled. “I'm hungry.”