... is it normal, Twi?
Rainbow Dash fiddled with her hooves idly, licking her chapped lips and taking deep, slow breaths. While some ponies may have considered this reaction foolish for what she was about to admit, to Rainbow Dash, it was one of her most well-kept and closely-guarded secrets. She heard a cough, causing her to look upwards at Twilight's expression. It was one of understanding, but also partial impatience. After all, Rainbow had been stalling for the past...
She glanced over to the clock on the wall.
... twenty minutes.
Twilight inhaled deeply for a few seconds, before uttering a couple of quiet words.
"It's okay."
Her voice was tender, soft. If it was a material, it would have been like silk, smooth to the touch and so very warm, capable of warming even the coldest of ponies. After a few seconds, Rainbow Dash responded.
"I-It's not, Twi!"
She hated being vulnerable around other ponies - even if it was with those she cared deeply for and knew she could trust. Dash knew she had to make a decision - and fast. She pushed the words out, forcing them out into the open.
"Do you ever just..." she took a pause, inhaling deeply, "... want to be close to somepony, Twi?"
There it was. The words were finally out - the safe deep inside of her wherein she locked it away was finally open. It was a feeling of both relief and further anxiety. She ran a hoof over her soft cloud bed, anticipating her friend's response.
"Could you clarify, Rainbow?"
"I-I mean like..." she paused for a few seconds, considering her choice of words, "physically...?"
While it had been asked as more of a question than a statement, Twilight almost immediately understood her friend's intention with her choice of words.
"Oh!" she cooed "You mean like, cuddling?"
While Dash herself had tried to avoid that word, she nodded slowly, looking downwards. All of a sudden, she heard laughter emit from her friend.
Actually, it was more of a soft giggle, but Rainbow Dash being Rainbow Dash instantly jumped to the worst-case scenario.
"I knew it!" She shouted, "It's stupid!"
Without any warning, Dash took off, flying out of the door. A few seconds later, there was the dull "THUD" of the door slamming behind her. Twilight was left in complete silence. Everything had happened so fast - it was all a blur - but she almost immediately realised her mistake.
"Wait! Dash!" Twilight called after her friend, "I-I didn't mean it like that!"
She took off in an immediate canter, practically jumping down the stairs and running as fast as her hooves could take her out of the door. Twilight let her wings spread wide and took off like a jet plane, searching for any sign of her friend in the distance. Her eyes scanned the horizon, frantically looking for Rainbow's signature cyan coat.
There!
She took off without hesitation, speeding towards the blue dot as fast as her wings could take her.
"DASH!" Twilight shouted when she was confident her friend was within shouting distance.
Rainbow slowed down momentarily, casting a quick glance behind her before landing on the grass beneath them and laying down, staring out over the clifftop. Twilight followed suit, making sure to keep a reasonable distance, considering their earlier predicament. Twilight resisted the urge to utter a series of apologies and instead remained silent, basking in the moment of serenity. One would think it would be a rather awkward situation to be in (considering the events of the past hour), but it was, in fact, quite the opposite. However, Rainbow Dash felt a wave of growing anger inside of her as the events of a couple of hours ago kept repeating inside of her head.
"Why did you laugh at me, Twilight?"
Her voice held restrained hostility within it. Rainbow was trying her best to remain restrained and, while Twilight appreciated it, she couldn't help but feel like she somewhat deserved to be shouted at based on her previous actions. Guilt ate away at her, nibble by nibble, chomp by chomp, and Twilight did owe her an explanation. She licked her lips, inhaling slowly and closing her eyes, before gazing over to her friend.
"I'm sorry, Rainbow," she began, "I really am."
Rainbow opened her mouth to say something, but Twilight interjected before anything could be said.
"I wasn't laughing at you, per se," she explained, shifting closer to her ever so slightly, "It was more of an "oh, that's all?" type of thing, y'know?"
Twilight looked down, fumbling with her hooves in an attempt to distract herself from the awkward atmosphere of the situation. She exhaled, closing her eyes and imagining she was elsewhere - anywhere but in her current predicament.
The silence was deafening, never-ending.
"Oh."
It was as if reality itself had taken a hiatus. No noises, no movements, not even the cool breeze washing over the pair in cold, harsh waves seemed to make a noise.
Everything was silent. And while Rainbow Dash desperately wanted to apologise for her, quite frankly, severe overreaction, something was stopping her. Was it embarrassment?
She fumbled with her hooves, staring downwards at the ground - which had all of a sudden piqued her interest - and mumbled something under her breath. The alicorn's ears perked up and she tilted her head to the side in an attempt to hear her friend better.
"What was that, Rainbow?" she queried
Rainbow Dash sighed softly, averting her gaze even further away from Twilight in a feeble attempt to alleviate the ever-growing awkward atmosphere. She steadied her breathing, closing her eyes and uttering the words again.
"I'm sorry."
That was all it took for Twilight. She nudged closer to her friend until the fur on their sides were touching, unfurled one of her wings and wrapped it tightly around her, resting her head in the crook of her friend's neck.
"Dash," she began, "you don't have anything to be sorry for. I should've understood that it was a sensitive subject for you and restrained myself. But I didn't. I'm sorry, too."
There were a few seconds of silence before Twilight spoke again.
"But if it makes you feel any better, I forgive you."
"I forgive you too, Twi... I'm really sorry for being so..." she paused, searching for a word, "... stupid."
Twilight felt her friend rest her head on hers, sighing in contentment, but also shivering at the bitter cold nipping at her coat. Twilight pulled her friend closer, nuzzling into the crook of her neck.
"This is nice~..." Rainbow cooed.
Twilight's previous actions seemed to not do anything to comfort the mare beside her, as Rainbow Dash was still shivering slightly. Twilight smiled, placing a gentle kiss on Dash's cheek.
"Come on," Twilight said softly, "let's go home~"
The pair's shivering ceased almost immediately after stepping inside of Rainbow's home. Dash sighed happily, a smile plastered across her features.
"Home sweet home~!"
Twilight simply smiled at her friend in response, opting to nod and let out a small hum of agreement instead of verbalising anything. Rainbow's house was in great condition, considering her care-free - some might call it, "lazy" - attitude, she noted. Perhaps Rainbow had engaged in some house-cleaning chores. She giggled at the thought of Dash actually putting things in bins and participating in everyday activities, like using the vacuum cleaner.
Twilight sat down one of the two couches and let out a small sigh of contentment. Cloud couches, she noted, were definitely among the comfiest. Perhaps she should invest in one.
Shoving that thought to the back of her mind for later recall, she averted her gaze over to the cyan pegasus locking the door behind her. When she turned around to face her, Twilight patted the space beside her, motioning for her to take a seat. When Rainbow Dash complied - almost too willingly, she had noted - Twilight wasted no time in unfurling and wrapping a wing around her friend. She nuzzled into her neck and let out a happy sigh.
Rainbow Dash wasted no time in resting her head atop of Twilight's and letting a forehoof stroke her mane gently and repeatedly. She nestled into her further, the pair letting out happy sighs in unison. Dash pulled her closer, placing a gentle kiss on her cheek, her cheeks flushing a deep shade of red as she did so.
It was a few months ago that the concept of "snuggling" somepony else piqued Rainbow's interest. Before, she had dismissed the idea, putting it off as something "uncool". But no matter how long she tried to ignore the urge to cuddle, it remained at the back of her mind. She wasn't sure why it was such a prominent feeling, now. Perhaps it was her lack of physical contact as a filly. Whether it was of her own accord or her fear of being vulnerable around somepony, she would never know. But all she knew that mattered was the pony by her side.
While Twilight had never taken Rainbow Dash for a "touchy-feely" type of pony, she was by no means complaining about the physical closeness of them. While Rainbow Dash had never minded the odd hug or two, Twilight had never really spoken to her about the subject of taking it a step further - whether it was her feeling nervous about her reaction, the subject never really coming up or something else, she didn't know.
No words had been exchanged between the two; neither minded. Rainbow Dash ceased her stroking and wrapped a hoof around her friend's waist, gently pulling her closer and placing a tender kiss on her forehead.
"I love this..." Dash whispered, placing her muzzle against her friend's nose and placing a small kiss on it.
"Awwww~..." Twilight cooed softly, "I do, too~! I always knew you were a big softie!" she teased.
While Twilight had expected resistance to her words, Rainbow simply smiled, nodding.
"You bet..."