The first thing you saw when you walked out of the train with your luggage were the big, lavender eyes of one Twilight Sparkle.
Her smile was contagious, and you returned it. “Hey there.”
She froze for a few seconds, her gleeful expression stagnant. Then, she tensed her back legs and leaped right at you.
Just as her front hooves wrapped around your neck, there was a bright flash of light. The next thing you knew you were sitting on the couch inside of Ponyville Castle’s living room, being smothered by the fur on Twilight Sparkle’s chest.
After recovering from the initial surprise of teleportation, you let out a happy sigh into her fur and rubbed your cheek against it. It smelled quite pleasant; apparently she had put on some perfume for your homecoming.
Eventually Twilight removed her hooves from around your neck and sat down happily on your lap, nestling her head under your chin. “I’m glad you’re back,” she moans happily, her eyes squeezed shut.
“I had luggage, you know,” you comment, beginning to pet Twilight’s mane.
Her horn glows and your bags pop into the room. “There,” she says. “Now snuggles.” She wiggles her whole body happily and floats a blanket over herself.
“Are you cold, Twilight?”
“Yeah, just a little,” she replied, trying to maximize the surface area of her body in contact with yours.
You take your free hand and place it under her hips, moving your other hand from her mane to her back and pulling her close to you. She seemed to warm up pretty quick.
“Aaahhhh,” Twilight sighed, rubbing her head against your neck with gusto. “Y’know, Rainbow Dash has been stopping by a lot.”
“Really?” you ask, not quite grasping the significance of that.
“She’s been asking about when you were supposed to get back.”
“She has?” You ask, raising an eyebrow. “I was only in Canterlot for a couple of days…”
“She says she wants to ‘hang out’ with you,” Twilight giggled. “You should probably stop by tomorrow.”
You grin. Seems that the change in Rainbow Dash’s outlook was more than temporary. “Alrighty. I’ll do that…but who am I supposed to cuddle with next?”
“I think Applejack would be a good choice,” Twilight mused. “But, ah, tomorrow, okay?” She undid the top button of your shirt and rubbed her cheek on the area that was exposed. Twilight, for whatever reason, was a true face-rubber when it came to cuddling.
You snicker and plant a little kiss on the tip of her ear.
“Stopppppp…” she whines halfheartedly.
Rainbow Dash scurried inside and drew her curtains, peering through the crack outside conspiratorially for a moment. She then flew to the back of her house and locked the door there.
“Is all this really necessary, Rainbow Dash?” You ask her.
“Yes!” she replies curtly, buzzing into the kitchen. Several crashing noises emanated from it a second later. Come to think of it, you think her kitchen is a completely interior room in the first place.
“I thought we were just ‘hanging out’?” You call with a grin on your face. “What’s with all the fuss?”
There was another crash and then a few seconds of silence. “…Oh,” came the voice of a crestfallen Rainbow Dash. She slowly trotted back out, with her ears down against her head. “Sorry, I thought we were…nevermind. Let’s, uh, hang out. Do you want to like, play a game, or-“
You scoop her up into a hug, and immediately all four of her hooves wrap around your torso. “Let’s just ‘hang out’,” you snicker, bringing her over to the cloud couch and taking a seat. “Silly Dash, what did you think I meant?”
Rainbow Dash just sighed into your neck and squeezed your chest as tightly as she could. “I really needed this,” she whispers in her uncharacteristic, clandestine, feminine cuddling voice. Just then, her ears perked up and she pulled her face back to look up at you. “But I have to finish securing the house!”
You wrap your arms a little tighter around her so that she wouldn’t be able to wriggle free. “Rainbow Dash, chill. This room is totally secure. Somepony will have to break into your house if they want to see what’s going on.”
“Exactly!” She cried, trying to use thrusts from her wings to pull herself free. “I need to reinforce the entryways!”
You just held onto her tightly and made little shushing noises until she tired herself out.
“Come on…” she whined, still weakly trying to remove herself from you and continue with her compulsive quest.
“Shhh…No tears…” you reply, stroking her mane. “Only cuddles now.”
She collapsed onto your chest, grumpy and defeated, and crossed her hooves. “I’m going to beat you up if this gets out.”
“You can try,” you responded, inhaling her scent. She was always very fresh-smelling, like clouds and rainwater, with hints of other notes which could not be described. You briefly considered what she would smell like if she spent less time in the sky, or if her house had oak flooring.
Being a proponent of fine wines had made you like this- an eccentric of the highest order.
At least Rainbow Dash didn’t seem to mind. She was too busy huffing in frustration, her blush fed by both the humiliation of defeat and the emotional stimulation of cuddling.
“So,” you begin, running a hand through the feathers on her wing, “I’m thinking I need a pet name to call you when we ‘hang out’.”
“A pet name!?” Rainbow Dash cried, her voice cracking a little bit. “I’m not anypony’s pet!”
“Of course not. I’m your pet,” you quip, turning her to face you. Her face was still red and her visage betrayed halfhearted disdain for you. “Now, let me run through the list. Dashie?”
Rainbow Dash scoffed and turned her head to look away from you. No good. Probably too mainstream.
“Cuddle Cloud? Nap Buddy? Peganuzzle?”
Rainbow Dash frowned deeper, her face showing only pure hatred for your nicknames. She was right of course- they were horrible.
Still, you posited one more. “How about…My Wittle Wainbow?”
Her ears shot up and she immediately covered her face with a hoof to hide what was certainly a growing blush.
“That’s the one!” You cry triumphantly, pulling her to your chest in a big hug. “Come on, my Little Rainbow, nothing to be embarrassed about!”
She buried her head into your chest. “You are the WORST!” she cried.
“Yeah, yeah,” you tell her, petting her coat gently. About a minute later you feel her hooves wrap around you and her head turn to the side to rest on your chest.
“You’re still the worst, but you’re also really warm and stuff,” she murmured.
“I’m glad you think so. Hopefully Applejack will like cuddling with me too.”
Rainbow Dash raised her head to look at you. “You’re cuddling Applejack? When?”
“Today. At least that’s the plan.” You tilt your head. “Don’t you know? Twilight wants me to cuddle all of her friends, eventually. Something about the magic of friendship being complimented by the magic of platonic yet affectionate physical contact, or some other such academic nonsense.”
Rainbow Dash bit her lip and placed her head back on your chest. “I’m jealous. Lie down so I can snuggle you better.”
You follow her orders and she intertwines her back legs with yours, before busting out her wings, which she began using to stroke your arms. “You ponies always get jealous.”
She let out a feminine growl. “Don’t you dare tell Applejack that you and I cuddle. If you do, I’ll just die…But not before I kill you first!”
That was the Rainbow Dash that you knew. “A murder-suicide. What a fitting end to the tragedy of the inter-dimensional human and his Little Rainbow.” You boop the tip of her muzzle.
She scrunches her muzzle up and growls at you before the door flings open, revealing Twilight Sparkle and sending Rainbow Dash scurrying away from you. She collapses on the cloud floor. “Twilight,” she responds, fumbling to her hooves, “W-we were just…wrestling! Having a fight! Y-you shouldn’t come in, he’s bleeding everywhere!”
“Rainbow Dash,” Twilight scolded, taking a step inside. “I know you two snuggle. I snuggled with you both once, remember?”
Rainbow Dash took a breath. “Oh. I guess I forgot.”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “Hey, you ready to go talk to Applejack?” she asks you.
You stand up from the couch and walk over to the doorway. “Sorry Rainbow Dash. We’ll hang out soon, okay?”
“Do you promise?” she whines, her ears plastered back against her head.
You hug her again and kiss her cheek. “I promise. You’re totally rad.”
Twilight Sparkle made a fake gagging sound. “Come on already! We’ve got the magic of platonic affection to teach.”
_____________________________________________________________________________________
“Ya want him and I to do whut now?”
“Look, I know it sounds a little strange, and it’s an unwelcome intrusion in your work time, but it’s REALLY important that you snuggle him,” Twilight explains.
“And why is that?” Applejack replies skeptically, bucking another apple tree. She leaned over a bucket to observe the apples that fell inside. “Aw, shoot!”
“Because it’s the only way to learn the magic of cuddles! He’s really good at it, trust me!”
You allow a cocky grin to play at your lips. You were pretty good at it.
“Look Twahlight; I don’t have time for this regardless. Ah’ve got to deliver a bushel of ‘PERFECT’ apples to the Rich family for a charity banquet Filthy is putting on, but no matter what I try the apples are always bruised!”
“I’m sure we can find a solution! I could help!”
“Consarnit Twalight, you know darn well magic makes apples taste mealy.”
The duo’s bickering continues and you roll your eyes. Spotting a rake lying against the side of the barn, you walk over and bend its prongs into a cup shape. It didn’t matter how long you were stuck in Equestria; you were a Midwestern boy at heart, and had gone through enough iterations of fall that you knew exactly what an apple picker looked like. You set to work immediately.
“It’s not a problem! I can undo the side effects!”
“No you can’t! They’ll be able to taste the difference no matter what! I can’t lose them as clients, Twahlight! They account for nearly a quarter of our sales!”
“Well you can’t just keep bucking them the normal way, you’ll bruise all of them slightly! Only magic ca-“
“Done,” you interject, presenting a bucket full of pristine apples to the two ponies.
“…Done with what?”
“Apple picking. You can’t just kick them out of the trees, you know, so I fashioned one of your rakes into an apple picker. You just catch the stem between the prongs and twist. Very simple.”
Squinting in distrust, Applejack spent the better part of five minutes inspecting the apples. “Well Ah’ll be a pig’s tail! Ya’ll weren’t kidding! You really did it!”
“See?” Twilight gestured toward you. “Isn’t he great? And huggable?”
Applejack sighed. “Thanks for yer help, mister. But I’m still not sure I want to go around snuggling anypony just ‘cause Twahlight said so. You get that, right?
You nod solemnly. Cuddling, after all, was primarily an emotional enterprise, and without a partner who felt comfortable in the pres-
“Did I mention that he and Rainbow Dash cuddle all the time?” Twilight interjected. “Yeah! They’re super close cuddle buddies. He says that she’s an amazing cuddler, too.”
“HAH!” Applejack scoffed indignantly. “Is that so?” She turned her attention towards you. “Well, ah’ll show ya what REAL cuddlin’ is like…’specially since you deserve a reward for helping me with that work anyway.”
You could tell from Applejack’s obscure expression that it was indeed competition with Rainbow Dash, and not a desire to repay you for your efforts, that characterized her behavior. “Well, great,” you sigh, thinking of the amount of stuff Rainbow Dash is going to break in anger over this development. You just had to make sure that she knew it was Twilight that spilled the beans, and not you.
Twilight turned her back and began trotting towards the castle. “Have fun you two! Be back by midnight for night cuddles!” You get the feeling that you were now viewed more as a commodity than an autonomous person, at this point.
You turned to Applejack. “So…” you begin, scratching the back of your head.
Applejack replied by socking you one in the shoulder. “C’mon Pardner, let’s head to the barn.” She began a slow trot up the hill in that direction, seemingly thinking of something. “Besides showing RBD who’s boss, Ah think it’ll be nice anyway.” She craned her neck to the side, causing several pops to emanate from her neck. She sighed. “I need a little break, and maybe a nice hug.”
“Well, I can provide that,” you replied, thinking yourself pretty cool even though the reply was super lame. You followed her through the barn double doors and took a look around the main room. “Hey, this a pretty nice barn.” There were some haystacks, neatly organized crates, a loft and even a light that bathed the room in a happy orange glow.
“Why thank ya! We here at Sweet Apple Acres take pride in the farm lifestyle,” she grinned. She hopped and threw herself backwards, landing in a hay pile. You sat down next to her in the pile; it was softer than it looked. She scooted over so that her side touched yours and leaned back into the pile with a sigh and a smile. “I need a break.”
“It sounds like you do!” you agree. “Looks to me like you work too hard!”
She groans. “Ah know. It’s just hard runnin’ a farm with only two of us. It’ll get better when Applebloom gets old enough tah start workin’.”
“So, you wanna cuddle now?”
“Ya’ll kiddin’? I need to give a crushing hug to somepony to get rid of my stress, may as well be ya’ll.”
You wrap an arm around her shoulders, but to your surprise Applejack didn’t just rest her head on your chest; true to her word, she flipped herself on top of you, wrapped her hooves around you right under your arms, and squeezed you tightly.
You feel your ribs strain and your back crack. “You’re..ah…pretty strong!” you wheeze.
A few more seconds go by in which she hugs you even harder. Just as your tissue is about to start bruising she lets you go with a cathartic sigh. “Ah needed that.” She wraps her back hooves around your hips and rests her face gently on your chest.
“It sure feels like you did,” you told her, wincing. You run a hand over her coat; it is not as soft as the others’, and her body is more firm. Still, snuggling her is really pleasant, even preferable to somepony squishy like Twilight. Like a firm pillow, gestalt led to pleasure just as well as softness did.
Applejack’s eyes flicker over your face for a moment, and she bites her lip, as if thinking about something.
You raise an eyebrow. “Yes? Am I in trouble?”
“Naw,” she assures you with a smile. “I just wanted to do this.” She plucked the hat off of her head and placed it on yours, allowing her silky yellow ponytail to fall around her shoulders naturally. “That’s a good look fer ya, sugarcube. Just don’t get too used to it, it’s going right back where it came from when we’re done here.”
You tilted the tip of the brim up so that you could see better from out under it. “Thanks, AJ. I can call you that, right?”
“If we’re on cuddlin’ terms, ya can call me whatever you like.”
“I wouldn’t give me that freedom,” you advised, edgy names relating to apple cultivars already swirling around in your mind. Like Rainbow Dash, Applejack needed a pet name, but you had plenty of time to figure one out.
You looked down at Applejack, whose eyes are open and curiously scanning you and your body as she held you. “Well, AJ, why don’t you take off your hair ties? We’re not working, after all.”
She considered it. “Well, ah’ll have to put ‘em back on later, but ah suppose lettin’ the old strands breathe would be good.” She pulled off the band holding her mane together with ease, but had to fiddle with her tail band for a moment before it came off.
` You gaped at her. Her golden mane fell freely around her neck and onto your chest. She looked nothing short of stunning. “Now that makes you look beautiful,” you mutter obtusely.
She froze for a moment before looking up at you with a soft, genuine smile and perhaps just a hint of a blush on her cheeks. “Aw…you mean it pardner?”
“Of course I do.”
Applejack flipped on her back and used her hooves to position your arms around her stomach. She then rolled to the side on the hay so that your body wrapped around hers from behind. “Just cause ya’ll were so nice, ya get to be the big spoon.”
You held back a snicker and opted to nuzzle the side of her face affectionately. She smelled like a day of work in the fields, but it wasn’t an unpleasant smell in the slightest. Her body fit snugly to yours, her firmness and shape providing an excellent contact area as you began to rub her tummy softly. “So, how much time do we have to cuddle?”
“Not much,” she replied thoughtfully, followed by a hum of enjoyment. “But ah’ll make more.”
