//------------------------------// // The Strong Silent Types // Story: Cuddling // by cooopercrisp //------------------------------// Chapter 3: The Strong Silent Types Twilight was settled comfortably in her bed. She had thought much about Rainbow Dash’s sudden display of affection, and remarked to herself that it was curious that such a “cool” pony could become so intimate. Twilight had expected that kind of willingness to cuddle from Fluttershy or even Rarity, but not from the ever brash Rainbow Dash. And then there had been Spike’s reaction to it all. Needless to say his initial outburst had been presumptuous and immature. Twilight supposed she could forgive him though; she imagined it had to have looked a little odd to someone who hadn’t known what was going on. Twilight wondered, however, if she would have reacted quite as strongly had she been in Spike’s situation. She liked to think she would have been calmer about the whole thing and not judge prematurely what was happening in front of her, but she realized that this was an idealized view of herself. These musings fluttered through her head entirely out of her control, as thoughts tended to do in the moments before sleep took over the conscious mind. However, just before Twilight was about to nod off, she heard a quiet knock on the door. Annoyed, she nevertheless tried to be polite as she answered the dragon on the other side of the door. “What is it, Spike?” she asked tenderly, wondering what he was doing up here. Recently, Spike had insisted that he have his own space to sleep that wasn’t right next to Twilight, so she had let him set up his bed in the main room of the library. Now, apparently, he was not quite so eager to have that privacy. “Can I come in, Twilight?” Spike asked softly. Twilight sighed but figured she had better humor the dragon or he would end up in a foul mood. “The door’s open,” Twilight said, and Spike slowly opened it and walked in. He was clutching his blanket, and Twilight couldn’t help but notice how young he looked carrying it. Yes, he was still a baby dragon, but Twilight had been treating him as if he was older at his request. That made seeing him now so strange, almost as if he had regressed. “What’s the matter, Spike?” Twilight cooed. Spike blushed, apparently unsure how to answer Twilight’s question. Twilight decided to be patient with the baby dragon and let him answer when he was ready. “I kind of had a nightmare…” Spike started to say, “and I was just thinking about what you said about cuddling the other day, and I was wondering if I could try it with you. It might help me fall asleep.” “That’s fine, Spike,” Twilight said, excited that the baby dragon had gotten over his stigma about cuddling so quickly. “There’s plenty of room on the bed for you to climb right in.” “Really? Oh, thanks, Twilight. To be honest, I wasn’t sure what you were going to say.” Spike climbed up into the bed and lay on his side facing Twilight. Twilight wrapped her hooves around his tough hide and almost grimaced. He was much less comfortable than Rainbow Dash had been, but she did not want to disappoint him, so she said nothing about it. “So what was your nightmare about?” Twilight asked. “Do I really have to talk about it?” Spike asked with a whine. Twilight sighed again but smiled reassuringly. “I always find talking about your fears makes them easier to deal with,” Twilight said. “I used to be deathly afraid of spiders until I talked to my dad about it. He showed me that they were just little bugs and that they wouldn’t hurt me.” “Okay, but you’re going to make fun of me if I tell you,” Spike said. “When have I ever done that?” Twilight asked. “Never mind, you’re right, Twilight. I’m just being a big baby about it,” Spike said. “It’s okay, Spike. Just tell me. I’m sure it’s not so bad.” “Well, in my dream, Rarity rejected me. I had apparently asked her out, and she had told me she would never date such a lizard-like creature. She then started to laugh at me, and then you and all your other friends joined in. I felt humiliated.” “Is that all?” Twilight asked. “Yeah, that’s it. Pretty lame, huh?” “Not really. I know getting rejected by somepony you like can really hurt, so I don’t blame you for being upset.” “Since when have you ever had a crush on anypony?” Spike asked. “Never mind that, Spike,” Twilight said. “The point is I don’t think your dream is silly or something to make fun of. It really upset you, and that’s all I need to know. So of course you can sleep here for tonight.” “Thanks, Twilight, that really means a lot,” Spike said. “No problem,” Twilight said. Spike turned over and Twilight held him close. His spikes thankfully were not razor sharp like an older dragon’s, but they were still a bit uncomfortable pressing up against Twilight’s chest. Twilight ignored the discomfort for the sake of her assistant and really her oldest friend. She recalled that he and Shining Armor had been the only two friends she’d had growing up, and that there was a time where she hadn’t treated Spike so well. She sometimes wondered how he could still trust her and like her as a friend, the way she had taken him for granted. But none of that mattered now while she was holding him close. Spike quickly fell asleep, his little snores filling the air. They reminded Twilight of how tired she was, and so she soon drifted off as well. *** Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were busy at their sleepover. As Fluttershy had promised, they had played a round of Truth or Dare. Rainbow Dash had of course always chosen Dare, but Fluttershy’s dares were so meek that Rainbow Dash hardly felt like she was playing the game. Fluttershy, however, picked Truth, and Rainbow Dash had drilled her with incredibly personal and embarrassing questions about stallions that they had known back in flight school. Rainbow Dash had learned quite a lot about Fluttershy’s taste in colts from those probing questions, and apparently it was the strong silent types that really attracted Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash wondered what she thought of Big Mac, but before she had a chance to ask they had decided to do something else. So they had started to tell ghost stories, but once again Fluttershy’s offerings were quite timid, not frightening in the slightest. Meanwhile, even the tamest of Rainbow Dash’s ghost stories had Fluttershy quivering where she sat. Just to be cruel, Rainbow Dash had told Fluttershy her goriest, creepiest story, but before she’d had a chance to finish it Fluttershy had begged to do something else instead. So she had never finished her story about the serial killer horse with the black saddle. Thankfully makeovers did not come up as an activity they wanted to try. Fluttershy said she had had enough of that during her brief stint as a model, and Rainbow Dash of course was much too cool to have anything to do with that girly stuff. Eventually, the hour grew late and, both of them now out of ideas, they decided to turn in for the night. Rainbow Dash climbed into bed behind Fluttershy and wrapped her hooves around her. Fluttershy squealed with delight and nestled in close to her pegasus friend. The two of them stayed like that as they closed their eyes, waiting for sleep to take them away. “Hey Fluttershy?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Yes?” Fluttershy said in response. “Sorry my ghost stories freaked you out.” “Oh, Rainbow Dash, you don’t have to apologize for those,” Fluttershy said. “They were, um…interesting.” “More like terrifying,” Rainbow Dash said. “Oh, and sorry for making you spill your darkest secrets during our Truth or Dare game.” “Oh no, that’s okay. We’ve known each other for so long, you were bound to find out about all that sooner or later.” “You’re too nice, Fluttershy,” Rainbow Dash said. “The fact is I embarrassed you and frightened you and I’m apologizing for it now, so you should just accept my apology.” “I don’t think you can force somepony to do that. I don’t think that’s how it works.” “You’re right,” Rainbow Dash said. “Sorry that I—” “Really, Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy said, “don’t mention it.” “Okay,” Rainbow Dash said. Now that her conscience had been cleared, that curiosity about Fluttershy returned to Rainbow Dash. “So you said you like the strong silent types, right?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Where are you going with this?” Fluttershy asked nervously. “What do you think about Big Mac?” Rainbow Dash asked. “He seems like the strong silent type to me.” “He’s Applejack’s brother, Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy said, as if this made talking about him in this fashion off limits. “So what? Does that mean you’re not allowed to have feelings for him?” Rainbow Dash asked. “I never said I had feelings for him,” Fluttershy said. “Why are you so interested in bringing him up?” Touché, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash thought. “I don’t know. I just thought he fit your profile of what makes a good stallion, so I figured I’d ask, is all.” “Sure,” Fluttershy said. “I can tell you for a fact that I don’t like him that way, but something is telling me that you do.” “Well…I guess he is pretty cool. He’s a hard worker, and he’s really considerate, and he’s also quite muscular…” “I think my point has been made,” Fluttershy said. “Darn you, Fluttershy,” Rainbow Dash said. “I didn’t even know I liked him until you brought it up!” “How can you not know you like somepony?” Fluttershy asked. “Well, I have thought about him before. I just never knew why.” “I guess that doesn’t surprise me,” Fluttershy said. “What’s that supposed to mean?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Well, begging your pardon, Rainbow Dash, but you’re not exactly in tune with your own feelings. You’re too extroverted.” “I…” Rainbow Dash started to say, looking to object. “I think you’re right.” “That’s why this interest of yours with cuddling is surprising to me,” Fluttershy said. “Yeah, it surprised me, too. Trust me, it was weird enough asking Twilight to do it.” “You asked Twilight to cuddle with you?” Fluttershy asked. “Well…yeah,” Rainbow Dash said. “She suggested I try it with all my friends, so that’s why I came here. Why, is that a problem?” “No, I’m just surprised you went to her first over me,” Fluttershy said. “We’ve been friends for a lot longer. In fact, you’ve known Twilight the least amount of time out of all your friends.” “Well, to be honest,” Rainbow Dash said, “I thought you’d be too embarrassed about the idea to really go for it. Then I thought Pinkie Pie wouldn’t take it seriously, Applejack wouldn’t be into that mushy kind of stuff, and Rarity would just make it awkward.” “Why would Rarity make it awkward?” Fluttershy asked. “I don’t know, she’s just acted really weird around me lately, like she’s always tripping over stuff and she can’t seem to talk very well. And you know how Rarity normally talks.” “Oh, so you’ve noticed that, huh?” Fluttershy asked, more to herself than to Rainbow Dash. “What are you talking about?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Nothing,” Fluttershy said, remembering that she had been sworn to secrecy. “Let’s just go to sleep.” “All right,” Rainbow Dash said, and the two of them lay still as they waited to fall asleep.