//------------------------------//
// The Test Subject 
// Story: If I Could Catch Fuzz In a Bottle 
// by shortskirtsandexplosions 
//------------------------------//

	"Okay."  Rainbow Dash sat on her haunches, frowning.  "Just one question."  She glared viciously aside, ruby eyes aflame.  "WHY?!?!"

Spike jumped back, trembling.  "D-don't ask m-me!"  He nervously resumed attaching several wired electrodes to the blue pegasus' head, neck, wings, and legs.  "I'm just the assistant!  Twilight's the one m-making me do this!"

"Uhhhhhhh..."  Twilight stood at a safe distance, hiding a blushing muzzle behind her clipboard.  "...well... you see... uhhhh..."

"Twilight said that she needed a control variable, am I correct?" Rarity said, trotting forward slightly.  "I'm guessing by that, she means you."

"Yeah, but..."  Rainbow fidgeted like a disgruntled feline with strips of scotch tape attached to its fur.  She shook the limbs that the electrodes were attached to.  "...why me?"

"It's simple.  You're uhhh..."  Twilight squirmed in place, avoiding direct contact with Rainbow Dash.  "Uhmm... you're..."  She looked at the others in the room, one after another.  "Uhhhh..."

Applejack shrugged.  Fluttershy blinked.  Pinkie Pie sat on her head.  Spike cleared his throat.

Twilight snapped her gaze back at the pegasus in the center of the room.  "You'retheleastcuddableponyinthisexperiment?" she spat out, then hid behind her clipboard again.

Rainbow stared at Twilight.

The unicorn began to tremble slightly.

"... ... ..."  Rainbow's nostrils flared.  "Yeah, sure."  She looked up at the ceiling.  "I can buy that."

Twilight's body deflated in a lavender exhale.  "Whewww..."  She shut her eyes, smiling in relief.

"Wait..."  Rainbow's fuzzy muzzle scrunched.  "I'm less cuddable than AJ?"  She winced from the cold touch of an electrode being pinned to her flank.  "Hey!  Watch it, scaley!"

"S-Sorry... eheh..."  Spike then traveled the length of the electrodes' wires and made sure they were attached to a glossy black monitor standing on a pedestal behind Rainbow Dash.  "Alright!  That should do it!"  He gave a thumb's up.  "We're all set up, Twilight!"

"Great."  Twilight scribbled on her clipboard and swiveled to face the mares.  "Thus begins Experiment Number One in Fuzzy Nuzzle Cuddles."

"Mrrmmmfff..." Rainbow Dash grumbled, squirming where she sat beside the bottle and its glowing crystal cap. "Do ya have to give it such a fruity name?"

"I rather like it," Fluttershy said with a soft smile.

"Pfft.  You would."  Rainbow squinted across the way at Twilight.  "Just how long do I have to sit here?  I hate not moving."

"Please, Rainbow Dash, you have to try your best," Twilight insisted, flipping a page of her clipboard.  "I promise, so long as you cooperate, this will be over sooner than you know it.  Besides, it's perfectly harmless."

"Ohhhhh..."  Rainbow pouted.  "Perfectly harmless?  Where's the fun in that?!"

"Now that's the spirit!"  Twilight flipped another page.  "Okay.  Let's begin with Phase One.  First up—"

"Oooh!  Me!"  Pinkie Pie waved her hoof.  "Me Me Me!  Lemme cuddle Dashie!"

"Sorry, Pinkie," Twilight said.  "I've picked a specific order for this."

"Awwwwwwww poopsies," Pinkie slumped down, folding her forelimbs.  "Some experiment."

"Don't worry, you'll get your turn."

"'Turn?'" Rainbow arched an eyebrow while Spike switched on the screen behind her.  Rainbow's name glistened across the dark surface, accompanied by a beeping heart monitor.  "Why do I not like the sound of that?"

"Oh hush," Twilight muttered.  "We've delayed the experiment enough as it is."  She cleared her throat.  "Alright... first up."  She looked over.  "Applejack?"