"...I'll cuddle with Sprinkle Medley.", you say.
The other selections disband from the line, isolating the forest-green mare in your view, who is smiling at you and holding out a moment.
"Cool!", she exclaims, walking up close to you. "I am happy to share my bed with you tonight, and yes, I'll cuddle you too! I love cuddles."
"I have a question, though: Why me, specifically?", Sprinkle Medley asks.
Whoever you ended up choosing, you expected that question.
"Well, I haven't really spent any time with you, and I figured it would be cool to go for something new."
White Lightning chimes in with an unknown bonus of your pick. "I can get behind that, and in addition, you made a really relaxing choice. Sprinkle Medley has a refreshing, cool scent; optimal for sleep."
Based on this pony's name and cutie mark, you could only guess what that scent was. And, well, you're about to get the deepest possible whiff of it tonight.
"Heehee.", Sprinkle Medley giggles. "Well, you'll know what she means soon enough! Shall we get to my sleeping bag?"
"Yes!", you say.
The double-green pegasus walks past you, leading you over to her sleeping bag in the center-south of the room. Her bag is dark-gray color, like a raincloud gray. Not in any way a surprise. She lifts up the opening for you with her hoof and looks at you, signaling her invitation for you to come in first. You slide into the relaxingly dark bed, and Sprinkle Medley joins you shortly.
"So, how should we cuddle?", she asks you, zipping up the bag and laying on her side.
"I'd like to start with the basics, seeing as how this is our first activity together.", you say. "Let's do a basic hug, or, in cuddling terms, a honeymoon hug. While laying on our sides."
"Okay. I'll do that. Starting with the basics sounds good.", she says, sliding up closer to you.
This was going to be a different cuddling session if there ever was one, as you and Sprinkle Medley are jumping head-first into close, loving physical intimacy. You two have only, like, just met. To say you'll be cuddling with a stranger does sound about right.
But you were excited to be experimenting with it. Both you and her spread out your arms/forelegs and move closer to each other until your midsections touch, then you coordinate the simultaneous wrap around each other in a great big hug.
With Sprinkle Medley's mane right in front of your nose, now was the perfect time to take the smell test. Yep, she does smell like rain! And White Lightning wasn't kidding when she called the scent refreshing. You can feel yourself getting woozy as you continue to naturally inhale while so close to her.
The pegasus decides to give a status check after some silence as she looks into your closed-eye face. "Am I cuddling you well? For me, I feel good. You're clearly doing it well on me."
"Yeah. You're doing fine.", you encourage.
"Good!", she says, closing her eyes and resting her head on her pillow while letting out a large exhale. She definitely seems comfortable with you. No stranger anxiety to be found here.
But because you are strangers, and in a bed together, Sprinkle Medley figured it was time to get more acquainted with you.
"So, as you've probably heard, my name is Sprinkle Medley, but with that name being kind of long, ponies nickname me a lot. My friends call me 'Sprinkles', and you can call me that too."
"Sprinkles." You like that nickname. It's cute.
"Got it.", you say. "So then, Sprinkles, why do you have that name, and why is your cutie mark a raining cloud? Does your special talent have something to do with rain?", you ask inquisitively, not understanding how that could be a pony's special talent.
"Yep.", Sprinkle Medley says shamelessly. "As my trading card says, I love to fly in the rain, sing in the rain, and even eat picnics in the rain. Sometimes I myself think it goes a bit too far. Hehe."
You lay there in befuddlement as you continue to hold Sprinkles. Uh, okay, so... she likes being wet., you think internally, not wanting to risk sounding judgmental to her in this delicate situation. Can't ruin a cuddle with a stranger.
"It's okay. All of us have our unusual quirks.", you say reassuringly. "Now, what is your job?"
"Oh yeah, my job!", she says, her breath hitting your face. "Yeah. So I'm a member of the Cloudsdale Weather Team. Not much to say about that job itself, but what my coworkers tend to know me for is that I'm the youngest member to ever join."
"Oh?", you say, with this interesting info.
"Yep. I've been working there for four years and I'm currently 20.", Sprinkles says. "The team hires starting at age 16, and I was that age when I joined."
"Wow.", you congratulate as you briefly hug her tighter. "That's a great achievement!"
Sprinkle Medley did not respond the way you expected. Her face was frowning and she let out a melancholy sigh, which prompted you to listen closely.
"It is a great achievement, but the thing is, and this is something I've been trying to tell society about, is that reaching success at a really young age isn't as cool as it sounds. It's hard, I tell you."
"Think about it in terms of school; I was still a sophomore in high school when I joined the weather team, so I had to go to the trouble of working out schedules, helping the team find substitutes, and overall often feeling overloaded and stressed by the balancing act."
"And then it's about the age in general. Like, when you're still a kid and are entering the workforce, where a lot is expected of you. When your mind is still so underdeveloped. I sometimes felt too much pressure."
"And then after that, I feel ahead of my age, if you get me. Like, because of my early career start, I feel like I'm 25 or 26. Again, I'm only 20."
You did feel things clicking into place as you listened to her insight. She does have good points. Success is great, but any edition of it in general can have struggles as part of the package. And that must be exacerbated when you're so young.
"I can see that.", you say. "Well, in any case, I hope you do great going forward."
Here comes another rainy (in bad terms) thing about this pony you didn't know about.
"Thanks. Going forward though... I don't even know what I want to do going forward."
You raise an eyebrow at this. Didn't she already have a job?
"It's not that I'm unhappy as part of the weather team,", she quickly notes, "but I can tell that it's not what I want as my long-term career. I don't see myself as being there ten years from now. But... I have no idea what I want to do next."
She lays her head onto your right arm with a sad face on, which prompts you to give her mane a pet and bring out your words of comfort.
"Hey. It's perfectly alright to not know what you want to do next. But what you can know is that you will figure it out eventually. There's no way a change won't come if you know it needs to happen.", you say, continuing to slowly pet her mane.
"And in the meantime, you've got me here.", you say, tightening your hug.
A smile comes back to her, and she pats your back gently. "Thanks. I didn't realize how much I needed to hear that."
You do seem to have this way with words that even you don't recognize.
"No problem. This is what I do.", you say.
"So, while we're here, what kinds of pettings or other affection practices do you like, Sprinkle Medley?"
"All of them. Belly rubs, ear scritches, you name it.", she responds, gaining her cheerfulness back.
"Do you like what I'm doing right now?", you say as your hand strokes across her dark-green mane.
"Mmm... yeah. It feels nice."
Sprinkles closes her eyes, and you move from her mane to give her left ear a scratch. She lets out a soft hum in response. "Human fingernails feel like heaven.", she says, pressing her head into the area between your neck and chest.
You move your hand back over to pet her side, where she remains content. Her breathing becomes steady, a possible sign of falling asleep. So you redo the full hug-wrap and settle into the position.
Sprinkle Medley performs a reciprocation on you, by wrapping both of her back legs around your left leg, and, much to your surprise, draping her tail over your side. You had never gotten that before.
And you like it even more than you expected. Her tail is soft and fluffy.
With Sprinkles' eyes being closed and the position seemingly complete, you relish in the full feeling of it. Your arms are cradling her over her back and sides as she's doing the same to you. Your bodies are as pressed together as possible; she still has her head resting below your chin and letting her warm breath fall on you. You two are absolutely all over each other.
"I love this, H.C. For the first time cuddling you, it feels amazing. Thanks so much.", she says.
"No problem, Sprinkle Medley.", you replied.
"I'm glad I chose you."
Perfect last words of the day before you settle in for sleep.