“Well, other than reading, I suppose there isn’t that much else to do here,” Twilight said, her voice trembling with unbridled excitement. Step one: get Rainbow to agree to run some trials? Complete! She felt her cheeks warm in a soft blush, and she prayed that Rainbow didn’t see it.
Her ears flicking back, Twilight used her magic to place the finished novel back up in its proper place. She didn’t like how Rainbow was oblivious to her hints of romantic interest, but agreeing to snuggle with her was definitely a step in the right direction.
Opening up the book, Twilight flipped through the first few pages until she got to the first chapter. After taking a deep breath, she let it out slowly to calm her racing heart. She waited several seconds, and when the beating in her chest didn’t slow down in the slightest, she tried again, but nothing changed.
“Uh... Twi? You alright?” Dash asked, nudging her flank with her own.
“Huh? Oh, sorry, my t-throat’s a little dry.” Twilight coughed and cleared her throat, then smiled sheepishly. She didn’t like lying to Rainbow, but if she had tried reading the book out loud to her, she would have done so terribly that Rainbow would have known something was wrong with her. “Can you start reading? I think it’s the cold air.”
“Oh, uh... sure! I can do that!” Rainbow grinned and slid the book from Twilight’s hooves. “Let’s see... chapter one: how to initiate snuggling.” She paused and glanced at Twilight. Rainbow chuckled and pulled Twilight closer with her wing. “Well, since we’re already snuggling, I think we can skip past this chapter, huh?”
Twilight blushed even harder at Rainbow’s words. She was never one to simply skip entire chapters in a book, especially for one such as this. “Wh-why don’t we just skim through the chapter and see what it has to say? If it’s really all about how to start snuggling with, uh... somepony you’re interested in, I suppose we can move on to the actual snuggling chapters.”
“Yeah, sounds good...” Rainbow flipped a few pages and licked her lips.
Oh, come on! That one was so obvious! Twilight bit her cheek and rolled her eyes. She stared at Rainbow’s face for any signs of her realizing what she just said, but all she saw was Rainbow’s eyes reading the page.
“Section four: snuggling on the couch. If you aren’t already on the couch, make your way over to it now.” She glanced at Twilight and folded her wing back to her side. “As comfy as I am right now, you wanna...”
“Okay.” Though she missed the warmth from Rainbow’s wing, Twilight knew she’d get it back soon enough. “Does the book mention anything about blankets and pillows?”
Rainbow scanned through the open page, her eyes darting all over the place. “Nah, I don’t see anything. Might as well bring the blanket, right?” she asked with a smile. “I mean, it is kinda chilly in here.”
“Yeah, sure. Let’s go snuggle, Dash.” Twilight lit her horn and tossed the blanket on the couch. With a nod, she stepped forward, wondering why she felt so nervous about this. They technically were just snuggling with each other, but actually saying it out loud made butterflies flit about in her stomach. Avoiding Rainbow’s gaze, Twilight settled down on the couch, laying on her stomach. She watched Rainbow sit next to her out of the corner of her eye, too nervous to actually look at her properly.
Rainbow mimicked her pose and let her forelegs dangle off the edge of the couch. Twilight felt her cheeks warm in a blush and her ears flicked back. Her tail started to twitch and she forced herself to look at the book between Rainbow’s hooves. She felt something soft graze her rear, making her tense up. A quick look over her shoulder found Rainbow’s tail wrapped snugly around her rear. Twilight opened her mouth to ask her to move it, but she paused. While she felt that it was slightly inappropriate, it still gave her a bit of a rush.
They lay side by side, their wings and flanks touching. Twilight bit her lip as a strong urge to lay her head against Rainbow’s neck consumed her mind, rendering all other thought inconsequential. As much as she hated to, she held herself back. So instead of doing what her heart so craved, she hesitantly flicked her own tail around Rainbow’s rump, figuring that since Rainbow did it to her, she could do the same back. When Rainbow didn’t mention anything about it, she relaxed with a soft smile.
Rainbow opened the book again and cleared her throat. “Once on the couch, get as close to the other pony as possible. Since snuggling requires an actual physical touch, do not be shy when the time comes to initiate the act.” Rainbow giggled then rolled her eyes. “Gee, Twi, this book really does explain everything, doesn’t it?”
Twilight nodded back. “Well, when somepony writes a guide to something, one would assume that they’d go over everything. So... what does the book say to do next, Dash?”
Rainbow licked her lips and looked back down at the book. “Well... this one actually looks kinda fun!” She read the next several lines in silence then slammed the book shut. Rainbow pushed it past her hind legs and said, “So here’s what it said. It wants us to sit down normally, but sit with our backs pressed up against the back of the couch like this.” Rainbow sat up and leaned back, letting her hind legs dangle off the edge of the couch. “See? Nothin’ to it!”
“O-okay.” Twilight sat up and mimicked what Rainbow did. It felt a little strange to be sitting like this, so to hide her nervousness, she started playing with the tips of her tail.
“I think you’re forgetting one simple thing for this to work, Twilight...” Rainbow said with a snicker.
“Huh?” Twilight’s eyebrows furrowed downwards as she turned to look at Rainbow.
“Well, if we were going to snuggle, you would kinda want to, oh... I don’t know... actually be touching?” Rainbow asked with a giggle.
“Oh!” Twilight blushed and grinned. “I suppose you’re right, Rainbow...” Once again feeling butterflies flit around in her stomach, Twilight scootched over until they were touching again. “B-better?” she hazarded. They were so close that if she turned to look at Rainbow, their lips would have met in a kiss. While she would love nothing more than to feel Rainbow’s lips upon her own, and even though she knew she could easily brush it off as an accident, she didn’t want to spook her.
A sudden flash of lightning and thunder outside yanked her from her thoughts. The loud thunderclap made her jump, and she instinctively latched onto Rainbow, wrapping her forelegs around her, holding on tightly. She clenched her eyes shut for a few moments, and then slowly realized what she did.
“Oops, uh... sorry, Rainbow,” Twilight said with a nervous giggle. “I wasn’t expecting to hear thunder that loud, and... I don’t know.” She bit her lip, wondering if she should utter what she had on her mind. Well... nothing ventured, nothing gained... “It just felt like the right thing to do at the moment.” She felt herself blush so hard she was certain Rainbow could see it.
Rainbow giggled and laid a foreleg across Twilight’s shoulders. “It’s all good, Twilight.”
Twilight tensed up as she felt Rainbow tug her closer. She looked down at the hoof holding her, and the way that she was leaning towards Rainbow gave her an idea. Twilight sighed gently and laid her head against Rainbow’s shoulder. She closed her eyes as Rainbow’s scent filled her nostrils. To any other pony, Rainbow smelled of early-morning dew with a faint hint of lemons, but it smelled like pure bliss to Twilight. She would never admit it to anypony, but she was jealous of how soft Rainbow’s fur was; she could never get her own that soft.
Twilight’s smile widened when she felt Rainbow lay her head on top of hers. “Is this what the book wanted us to do?” she asked, her voice soft. “Because it sure feels nice.” She made herself relax, letting herself go slack in Rainbow’s embrace.
“Yeah, Twi... it does, doesn’t it?” Rainbow whispered back. “Here I have an idea... don’t move, alright?” Rainbow pulled the two of them from the back of the couch and unfolded her right wing. She opened it as far as she could then let them lay back. Rainbow adjusted her position so that the top of her wing lay across Twilight’s shoulders, then she pulled her foreleg back.
Twilight shifted closer to Rainbow, smiling when she felt the tips of Rainbow’s wing curl around to cover her belly. She took a deep breath, Rainbow’s familiar scent comforting her. “So Rainbow... what’s this one called?”
“Uh... lemme check.” Rainbow started to lift her head to look for the book, but Twilight stopped her.
“Wait! Here, lemme get it... This feels too good to stop so soon,” Twilight murmured with a blush. She lit her horn and levitated the book into Rainbow’s waiting hooves.
“Heh, thanks, Twilight. Now... let’s see...”
As Rainbow flipped through the pages, Twilight closed her eyes again, simply enjoying the sensation of Rainbow’s shoulders rise and fall ever so slightly with each breath.
“This one’s called... the simple snuggle.” Rainbow chuckled to herself. “Wow, the author couldn’t think of a better name for this?”
“I guess not...” Twilight said with a little giggle, her eyes still closed. “Maybe they’re saving the better names for the special ones?” She felt Rainbow shrug, making her head bounce on her shoulder. Twilight shot her a sour look, then relented a couple moments later. She simply couldn’t feel annoyed at Rainbow, especially after she had agreed to do all of this with her.
“Oops, sorry. Gotta remember to not do that,” Rainbow smiled at her. “You good?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just surprised, really.” Twilight laid her head back on Rainbow’s shoulder. “So while this one’s nice and all, we should probably move on to the next one. Speaking of which, what’s it called?”
Rainbow snickered. “Heh, you’re gonna like the sound of this one, Twi.”
“Yeah? What is it? It’s not nice to keep a mare waiting, Dash!” she teased.
“Yeah, you’re right.” She laid her head on Twilight’s again and tugged her closer with her wing. She nuzzled Twilight right behind the ear, then whispered, “It’s called snuggling on the lower extremities.”