//------------------------------// // Snuggle Trouble // Story: Stories from the Nightly Twilight Thread // by Rubick_Magus //------------------------------// With a grunt you brought a hand to your eyes to shield them from the almost painful sunlight shining upon them. Eyes shut tight, your body’s other senses gradually began gaining picking up the slack. The cool air still lingering from the night before hardly even bothered you thanks to the heavy blanket draped over the bed. As your mind sluggishly returned from the confines of sleep you groggily wondered why the bed was softer than usual. Oh yeah. It wasn’t yours. A faint recollection played through your mind, and for the briefest of moments you considered it the remnant of a dream soon to be forgotten. Yesterday, due to an impending storm, your hostess extended you an invitation to stay the night. Rain still heavily pattered against the nearby window and the wind continued howling through the upper branches of the Golden Oak Library; barely anything compared to the torrential downpour hours earlier. You carefully moved the hand shielding your forehead to the side. For better or for worse, your eyes were getting used to the light. You had to open them at some point in the near future. Being awake, of course, didn’t necessitate you getting out of your warm, comfortable position. Your hand drifted down to your chest, where you felt slight pressure against your ribcage. After brushing the underside of the linen sheets your hand came across the fuzzy body of your bedmate. On what you presumed was Twilight Sparkle’s shoulder, you lazily began stroking your fingers in circles around the contours of her small muscles. Small, purple hairs tickled your fingertips as they slid along the natural outlines of her body. It must have tickled her too as you felt her small frame shifting on the opposite side of the bed. The short purple hair lining Twilight’s back pressed and rubbed along your torso as the mare shuffled to find a comfortable position. Though not wearing a shirt made you colder through the night, feeling her silky coat brush against your skin made it all worthwhile. Twilight let out a drawn out sigh, slightly muffled as her muzzle rested beneath the covers. After a few moments following her movements you slowly began trailing your fingers across her elbow towards her barrel; a thorough tummy scratching was in order. You decided first to rub your hand along the smooth underside of her belly starting from her forelegs. Not a third of the way through, however, your hand abruptly stopped from bumping into something hard. So unexpected was the stop that you brought your hand back up and down with the slightest more amount of force in an attempt to move whatever it was aside. Had your unicorn friend brought a book with her to bed last night? It wasn’t out of the realm of possibility: the two of you had spent the majority of the previous day reading in the library. You didn’t recall spending too much time awake after crawling into bed. Didn’t you two fall asleep fairly quickly? Memory is by no means a perfect vessel, but the groggy state induced by just waking up certainly didn’t make remembering things any easier. You opened your hand to examine whatever it was impeding your massage. Something firm and round came into your grasp. It was fairly flat and came to a thin, dull point that ran the entirety of the curved length. It wasn’t entirely as round as you first expected. Instead a series of these round obtrusions ran along a surface which a bit like leather or rubber. After grasping one of the fins and lightly jostling the offending object, it became clear what you were dealing with even in your dozy state. A series of light grunts, an interrupted snore, and a set of claws lightly pawing at your hand all but confirmed your suspicion. “Ugh… sorry Spike.” You quietly muttered as you brought your hand back towards you, barely managing to exhale the phrase. Your remaining breath left you in a sigh. Too bad your brain hadn’t felt like remembering. Last night, just after you settled the wool blanket on the bed and crawled under the covers, Spike moseyed in while carrying the pillow from his basket bed. Spike enjoyed sleeping while it rained, but the excessive thunder strikes and violent winds no doubt unnerved the young dragon. You couldn’t blame the small guy for wanting to be with others. As much as it pained you to do so, you cautiously opened your eyes to the morning sun. Unexpectedly, the bright morning sun you anticipated was heavily dulled and grayed out by the overcast sky above. Your eyes had little trouble adjusting once you finally exposed them. ”Ssokay…” Spike slurred together as he began stretching his arms and legs alongside his pony sister. “What time is it?” ”Can’t tell.” You responded with a glance toward the window. The clouds above didn’t yield any clues as to the position of the sun. “Don’t think it’s that early.” You rolled to your back and mentally prepared yourself for the most difficult task of the day: getting up. With gentle care you shoved off the covers and sat up in the bed. You brought your hands above your head and stretched them towards the ceiling. Good, Twilight hadn’t budged at all. You didn’t want her waking up just yet. She could be a grumpy little pony if she didn’t get enough sleep. Slowly and steadily you swung your legs over the edge of the bed and stepped onto the wood floor, luckily it wasn’t too cold. Thank God you had boxers on too – wouldn’t have been appropriate with Spike underneath the covers. Your clothing still was strewn about the floor in front of the nightstand so you leaned down, grabbed your t-shirt and put it on. Pants, you decided while standing up, could wait. A blanket from the closet on the ground floor would be much comfier. You walked to the footboard of the bed and turned to face the smaller of the motionless lumps beneath the covers. “C’mon Spike, let’s get breakfast.” ”Eh… I’m not hungry.” Spike answered as he shifted beneath the sheets to again find a cozy position. ”I bought donuts from Sugarcube Corner yesterday.” Spike clawed at the covers to bring them below his head. He looked at you with renewed interest and his eyes showed no sign of the sleepiness you expected. ”Any gems on those?” “Pinkie made one just for you.” A smile formed on Spike’s face and the dragon flung the sheets covering him into the air. Spike’s desire for sweets blocked out any discomfort from the cold air bombarding his now bare scales. Twilight, however, didn’t enjoy the sudden change in temperature. The gust of chilled air swept beneath the comforter of the bed and caused the unicorn to shiver in discomfort. As Spike attempted to push himself to a standing position on the soft mattress Twilight, still sleeping, reached out with all her hooves for anything to alieve the cold. Upon coming into contact with the warm dragon, Twilight wrapped her forehooves around Spike’s torso and her hindhooves pinned his legs in place. A slight smile adorned Twilight’s face as she unconsciously pulled Spike in for a tight hug against her belly. She mumbled a small, incoherent phrase and adjusted her head to press up against Spike’s. You, grinning like a madman, couldn’t take your eyes off of the duo. In less than three seconds, Twilight had forced Spike to be the small spoon in a mandatory cuddle session. Though he squirmed and struggled, Spike couldn’t find the strength to escape from Twilight’s vice-like hold. He had just enough room to maneuver his head towards you to pleadingly stare for help. For Twilight’s sake, Spike was kind enough to stay quiet through the ordeal. He too knew just how much sleep the mare needed. Just to remind him you brought a finger up to your lips and shushed. It immediately hit you that ponies had no fingers, so he might not even get the gesture. “Just stay quiet, I’ve got an idea.” You said as you maneuvered towards a chest below the window across the room. You knelt down and opened blue and gold trunk. Hidden beneath a few copies of Twilight’s favorite books and various odd trinkets was something the unicorn held dear since she was a filly. It was old, ragged, patched up, and the red button serving as its right eye was falling off, but Smarty Pants was such a treasured memento she never could let go. Twilight once told you the doll came with a notebook and quill accessory and that she pretended they were doing homework together when she was younger. You wouldn’t be surprised if the old toy helped motivate her to become the studious pony she is today. Spike chortled at the sight of the doll as you came back to the bed and dropped to your knees to better examine the bundled-up pair. These ponies certainly were more flexible than their counterparts back from earth. Seeing how Twilight’s forehooves bent around Spike made you want to look at a pony anatomy book. Maybe there’ll also be information on how these ponies can pick things up with only one hoof too. You shook your head at your momentary lapse in concentration and refocused on how to free your friend. After setting Smarty Pants on the bed you gripped both of Twilight’s forehooves and gently brought them apart. One you pressed and held against the bed while the other you slowly pried away from Spike and lifted above him. Some ponies, Pinkie in particular, seemed extremely dexterous and could stretch their legs at a respectable angle to the sides of their bodies. With no idea what Twilight’s limit was you only pulled just far enough for Spike to scoot his upper body away from her reach. After letting go of Twilight’s hooves you quickly slid Smarty Pants in to take Spike’s place. The momentary look of confusion on Twilight’s face swiftly faded back into a smile of contentment as she once again held something close to her. Successfully pulling off the switcheroo reminded you of Indiana Jones from the beginning of “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” Your mind yet again drifted off as you wondered if there a Daring Do equivalent of it. Spike grasped at the sheets with his now free claws to wrench himself away, but even so his adoptive sister’s hindlegs still prevented his escape. Seeing how Spike still needed help you took a look at Twilight’s rear limbs. They still had the dragon’s legs and tail pinned down, but her hindlegs didn’t seem to have as strong a hold as her forelegs did. Reckoning a simple tug would get Spike free, you placed your hands beneath Spike’s arms and tugged him out of Twilight’s hug to set him on the floor. ”Thanks, Anon.” Spike whispered as he stretched his arms into the air and yawned as he walked to the door. “Donuts are on the kitchen table. You’ll know which one’s yours.” You responded as you began readjusting the messy bedsheets to accommodate the one occupant the bed still had. “I’ll be down in a minute.” The mere mention of donuts made the dragon audibly lick his lips as he left the bedroom and closed the door behind him. For a moment you paused from tucking the purple unicorn back in to listen to the pitter patter of his footsteps heading down the stairs. Soon the only thing you heard was the gentle breathing of the sleeping pony. She was certainly comfortable, but there was one more thing you needed to do before you went down for breakfast. Pulling the covers aside and kneeling over at the side of the bed brought you once again face to face with your favorite mare. “Sleep tight, Twilie.” You whispered as you brought your face in and gave her a quick kiss on her lips. Barely a moment after your lips left hers, a still sleeping Twilight’s hooves spontaneously wrapped around your head and pulled it close to her belly. Dammit.