Cuddling

by cooopercrisp

A Warm Feeling

Chapter 2: A Warm Feeling

As soon as Rainbow Dash left the library, Twilight left her room to go find her sulky dragon. He was in the main room of the library dusting the bookshelves. He only works diligently like this when he’s really mad, Twilight thought.

“Spike,” she said, “I appreciate you wanting to help dust the shelves, but I took care of that yesterday.” Spike grumbled something inaudible. Twilight could understand what had him flustered, but now she was starting to get a bit annoyed with his behavior.

“Spike,” she said, “seriously, stop what you’re doing and get down from there. I need to talk to you.”

“What’s there to talk about?” Spike asked. “It’s none of my business what you do with your friends. I would have appreciated a ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign or something.”

“Spike, I just don’t want you to get the wrong idea about what you saw.”

“And why wouldn’t I get the wrong idea? You and Rainbow Dash were sleeping in the same bed. It doesn’t take a genius to put two and two together.”

“For Celestia’s sake Spike,” Twilight said, exasperated, “that’s not what was going on at all. You need to let me explain what was happening.”

“Rainbow Dash already explained it!” Spike cried. “I told her it was all right because I didn’t want to embarrass her, but I don’t think I believe her. And now you’re going to try to sell me the same story? Please, save your breath.”

“Spike, you’re so frustrating!” Twilight yelled, her patience now completely gone. “You’re really immature, do you know that?”

“Is that it then? Are you trying to shelter me because I’m too much of a baby to handle knowing what you two were really doing?” Spike asked.

“You’re unbelievable,” Twilight said.

“All right, look,” Spike said, finally coming down from the ladder he’d been standing on. “Do you swear to me you’re telling the truth? Were you and Rainbow Dash really just cuddling?”

“I swear to you, Spike, that’s all we were doing.”

“Okay, I’m sorry,” Spike said, giving Twilight a hug. “I just got so confused and I feared the worst.”

“Don’t you remember when you were younger and you’d have nightmares?”

“Don’t remind me,” Spike said.

“You’d come up to me in the middle of the night and wake me up and ask if you could sleep in my bed with me, and I let you do that every time, no matter how annoyed I was that you woke me up. That’s all that was going on.”

“So…Rainbow Dash had a nightmare?” Spike asked. Twilight shook her head and sighed.

“No, Spike, like she said, we were just experimenting as friends.”

“I wish I could experiment like that with…” Spike stopped himself from saying out loud what he was thinking, but Twilight got the hint.

“I don’t think Rarity would want to lead you on like that,” she said with a smirk.

“Who said anything about Rarity?” Spike asked innocently. Twilight laughed and followed Spike to the kitchen, where he started to cook dinner.

***

A few days had passed since spending the day at the library, and Rainbow Dash hadn’t mustered up the courage to ask any of her other friends what they thought about cuddling. Her original assessment of their reactions still held firm in her mind; she thought Fluttershy too timid, Rarity too awkward, Applejack too stubborn, and Pinkie Pie too goofy. But something within Rainbow Dash told her not to give up, and it was a voice that sounded a lot like Twilight.

I just want to know what it feels like with my other friends…she thought. Is that so wrong?

Rainbow Dash paced the bedroom of her cloud home, thinking of possible ways to bring up the subject of cuddling with her best friends. She was running into a proverbial brick wall with her ideas; they just didn’t seem to be going anywhere.

Then Rainbow Dash remembered something about herself that steeled her resolve. Rainbow Dash had never been one to sit around and think about things. That was for eggheads like Twilight Sparkle. No, Rainbow Dash was a doer, a go-getter, somepony who took action to get things done. Her way now clear before her, she took off from her house to go visit Fluttershy. Being her oldest friend, Rainbow Dash figured that she would be the safest friend to talk to about this, that she would understand better than her other friends.

Rainbow Dash landed at Fluttershy’s cottage in almost no time at all, given the speed at which she was used to travelling. She knocked on the door politely and waited for Fluttershy to answer.

“Hello?” a meek voice whispered as the front door peeked open. “Oh, Rainbow Dash! Come in. I wasn’t expecting you to come over today.”

“That’s okay,” Rainbow Dash said. “I wasn’t expecting to visit until about five minutes ago.”

“You always were impulsive,” Fluttershy said. Rainbow Dash sat down on her couch, but Fluttershy continued to float about the house.

“Do you want something to eat? It’s just about lunchtime.”

“No thanks, I’m not hungry,” Rainbow Dash said. Now that she was here, bringing up the subject of cuddling suddenly seemed like an insurmountable barrier. What was making the usually action-oriented Rainbow Dash so paralyzed? Was it shame?

Fluttershy sat down in a chair opposite from Rainbow Dash.

“So what brings you to these parts?” Fluttershy asked.

“I just kind of felt like popping by,” Rainbow Dash said, laughing nervously. Fluttershy paid close attention to Rainbow Dash’s body language. She was glancing around the room at anywhere but her, she was fidgeting her front hooves, and her wings kept flapping open and shut.

“Are you feeling all right?” Fluttershy asked.

“Me? Oh, I’m fine, really, never better. Why do you ask?” Rainbow Dash said, laughing nervously again.

“You look really uncomfortable. Oh, am I making you uncomfortable?”

“What? Of course not. Really, Fluttershy, I’m fine.”

“You keep emphasizing your words,” Fluttershy said.

“Do I? Oh, I mean, do I? I hadn’t really noticed.” Now Rainbow Dash’s hind leg started to twitch as she moved it up and down. Fluttershy noticed this as well, and she finally sighed.

“What’s wrong, Rainbow Dash?” she asked. “You come here unannounced, acting like you only wanted to see me, and yet you’re so nervous and tense that I feel like you have some terrible news to tell me. If something’s wrong, I wish you would just tell me. I thought we were supposed to be best friends…” Fluttershy started to whimper, and Rainbow Dash could see tears forming in her eyes. Realizing she was making her friend upset, Rainbow Dash steeled herself and confessed what was bothering her.

“A few days ago, I went to Twilight’s place to try an experiment, and it went so well that she wanted me to try it with my other friends.”

“Experiment? You mean like a science experiment?” Fluttershy asked.

“No I mean like a…look. I’ll tell you what happened, but you have to promise not to laugh or think of me any differently once I tell you. Can you do that?”

“Sure, Rainbow Dash, but please, just tell me. I’m starting to get worried.”

“Okay, here it goes,” Rainbow Dash said. “Twilight and I…were cuddling in bed.”

“What?” Fluttershy asked, not sure if she had heard her friend correctly.

“We basically climbed into bed and I held her and we took a nap, and then she held me and we took another nap, and that’s how we spent our day.”

“So, let me get this straight. You…cuddled with Twilight, and that’s it?”

“Well, yeah,” Rainbow Dash said, unsure how to gauge Fluttershy’s reaction.

“Well, that’s a relief!” Fluttershy said, breathing a sigh of relief. “I thought you had done something really weird.”

“That’s not weird?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Rainbow Dash, I’ve always wanted a cuddle buddy,” Fluttershy said. “I used to get nightmares when I was a filly, and I always wanted to be able to go to my parents’ room and sleep in their bed, but they would never let me. They ended up buying me a stuffed bear, but that could never beat the presence of a real live pony. Oh, so did you come here to…try cuddling with me?” Fluttershy blushed at the suggestion, hoping she wasn’t being too forward.

“That’s what Twilight wanted me to do, so…” Rainbow Dash said.

“But what do you want to do?” Fluttershy asked.

“I guess I want to try it. I was just afraid it was going to be weird.”

“Oh, don’t worry, Rainbow Dash, it’s not weird at all,” Fluttershy said.

“Well, that’s a relief,” Rainbow Dash said. “I thought you would think I was crazy or something.”

“Not at all, Rainbow Dash. We’ve been friends for too long. Why would I ever think that?” Fluttershy asked. Rainbow Dash grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of her head.

“Guess I never thought of it that way,” Rainbow Dash said.

“Well, I don’t have any plans. Do you want to, um…go to my bed?” Fluttershy asked.

“Sure, if that’s okay with you,” Rainbow Dash said. “We could do this now.”

“Excellent,” Fluttershy said, and she rose from the couch and flew into her room. Rainbow Dash quickly followed, only to find that Fluttershy had already snuggled under the covers and was waiting for her friend to join her.

Huh, Rainbow Dash thought. If I didn’t know better, I’d say she’s almost too eager… Rainbow Dash thought nothing of it, though, when she decided to join her.

Once Rainbow Dash had settled into the bed, Fluttershy squealed in delight and wrapped her front hooves around Rainbow Dash’s body and rested her muzzle against Rainbow Dash’s neck. Rainbow Dash settled into the hold and closed her eyes. Fluttershy had a tight hold on her, but she was warm and soft so it felt nice.

Rainbow Dash lied there for a while, unable to fall asleep. Fluttershy, however, did fall asleep, and she started to snore quietly. Rainbow Dash had to keep from laughing; she had no idea Fluttershy snored in her sleep. In all the years they’d known each other, Rainbow Dash had never slept with her in the same room, so it was amusing to hear Fluttershy’s little snores. Rainbow Dash finally felt herself growing tired, and she fell asleep as well.

When she woke up, she noticed that Fluttershy had stopped snoring, so she knew Fluttershy was awake as well. Rainbow Dash thought about how this experience had been compared to the one she’d had with Twilight. Fluttershy had held her a lot tighter, but that had made it better somehow, like Fluttershy had really appreciated Rainbow Dash’s company. That gave Rainbow Dash a warm feeling in her stomach. Rainbow Dash, now ready to go about the rest of her day, tried to get out of the bed. Fluttershy tightened her grip on her and whimpered, so Rainbow Dash stayed where she was.

“You know, Fluttershy,” Rainbow Dash said, “I have to get going eventually.”

“Oh, but this is so nice,” Fluttershy said. “I don’t want to let you go.”

“Okay, maybe a little longer, but I will have to go home.”

“You can sleep over if you want. We’ve never had a sleepover, and it seems like a crime that two close friends such as us have never had one. I could make dinner for you, and then we could tell ghost stories or play Truth or Dare or have a pillow fight or whatever else Twilight was telling me about her sleepover with Rarity and Applejack—”

“All right, I think I get your point,” Rainbow Dash said. “We’ll have a sleepover.”

“Oh, goodie!” Fluttershy said. “I guess you can get up now if you want. You don’t seem to be one to like being cooped up all day.”

“No, we can stay like this for a little longer,” Rainbow Dash said. “I stayed in bed with Twilight all day, so it doesn’t seem fair to rob you of that same experience.”

“Oh, okay,” Fluttershy said before adjusting herself to hug Rainbow Dash even closer. Rainbow Dash smiled to herself, glad that she had given Fluttershy a chance, because clearly both of them were enjoying this.

Comments

[CaspianSK]

physical contact is awesome, so of course a very awesome pony would want their share!

of course I was talking about Fluttershy

[Diokno44]

DAWW OVERLOAD!

[Dalkrin-the-Wanderer]

I can see this getting twelve shades of awkward, especially when rarity gets her turn!

[MarshmallowSundae]

1578218 Yep. Everything's fine as long as that dragon remains unloved.

[Mr V]

Poor Spike. No one ever wants to cuddle with him.
Oh well.

[A mess]

Dawwww, so cute, and I would cuddle with spike if he ever needed it!
I have found that under the right circumstances no matter how old I get if the conditions are juuuuust right my imagination can still get away from me while I am in the twilight between consciousness and sleep and really freak me the F*** out! (one reason I avoid caffeine after 5pm)

I guess when you are young you know so little that anything can be scary.
But the older you get the more things you know there truly are to be afraid of and why.

oh and 1567675
Originally I was trying to find a story I had heard about earlier that day, I later found it but had already linked the older story.
More recent incident
And your right, it is ironic how when bullying is such a big problem that they should punish simple signs of concern and caring.
I already have a lot of other stories planed but now I am at least musing about the idea of Discord ending up in our world and then once he gets to know the place simply leaving because in the end its more screwed up and twisted then he could even hope to make it.

Probably would be tagged "tragedy" and "slice of life" and also be a quick one shot that is all inner monolog of him just reminiscing over the absurdities he has learned here.

[Atlas_Nebula]

RD goes on a quest to complete her cuddle list? I approve

Now if we can get Caramel in there . . .
johnjoseco.deviantart.com/art/Good-Morning-Caramel-260977680

[chasethebrony]

CH 2:

Fluttershy finds a wild Rainbow Dash!

Ranbow Dash uses awkwardsness!

Its ineffective.

Fluttershy uses Cuddles!

It's Super Effective!

Rainbow Dash Falls asleep.

[Me and I]

Acwordness+rainbow Dash=SO ASESOME

[proto-alpha]

Is it wrong that now I want a Rainbow Dash plush or a Fluttershy plush?

[CloudTwister]

1654384
Is it wrong to want both and to do the 'now kiss' thing?

[LunaLover1990]

Omg, I love this! I know it's casual, but I love Flutterdash, and I hope that more of it will show later on in this book series I love this! Great chapter! Great Series!

[LunaLover1990]

:1654384 Probably not

[kooarbiter]

if i didnt know any better i would say that this is an inplicit kinda sorta child friendly clop (but thank goodness i do know better and re-reading that it sounds kind of really weird saying clop and kid friendly in the same sentence, but i couldn't think of any way to say it)

1670948

is it wierd to get a non-sexual satisfaction from killing a horde of nazis? (non zombies, i want them to show emotion )

[KibaWR]

seems like Fluttershy really needed a good cuddle^^ Maybe Dash should have held her too like she had done with Twilight^^ But I guess she'd never get out of that bed again. hehe

[asylum1388]

Can't do it. The characterization is off and the pacing is nonexistent.

[Grabnock]

2121289 But But, the D'awww!

The D'awww man, the D'awww!

[FlavoredMoon]

I just want to know what it feels like with my other friends…she thought. Is that so wrong?

Is it weird that I feel exactly the same way to my group of friends, guy and girl?\

Also, I'm pretty sure Fluttershy gottsa crush

[MaggotKing556]

You say Rainbow Dash too much. Have you tried saying Rainbow or Dash or somepony calling her Dashie. Reading her full name all the time gets SUPER boring and repetitive very fast. I find myself shortening her name just to break things up and keep moving forward with the story cause I do like it