On an intellectual level, Twilight Sparkle knew that there was simply no reason to be nervous right now. But that knowledge was currently doing nothing to ease her anxiety, or otherwise address the fact she was just about ready to fidget in her seat while waiting to be called.
This was her first act of public speaking in front of one of her classes since her time at Crystal Prep. And as the old saying went, first impressions are lasting impressions. So, yeah, she was under a lot of pressure to do this right! But CHS was a whole lot more laid back than Crystal Prep, so in theory this should prove to be easy.
Or... at least she hoped so.
Still, it never hurt to double -or quadruple- check just to make certain she had everything she needed for her presentation. And checking over her notes once more would help her focus on something other than the lingering sense of dread that accompanied waiting for her turn to be called.
It might be hyperbole, but right now she would swear her heart seized in her chest when she looked through my notes. Or rather what should've been her notes. Everything was completely illegible!
Not merely written in a sloppy manner, but in a manner that didn't even look like it was writing; it looked like chicken scratches! What'd happened to all the notes she'd spent so much time writing out!?
Had she... had she actually dreamt that she'd drafted her notes? It certainly wouldn't be the first time she'd done something like that, but why wouldn't she have noticed before now?
"Twilight Sparkle. If you would."
As much as she'd like to freak out over such, she simply didn't have the time necessary to do such, as her name was being called. She'd simply have to make do with what she had at the moment; that being memories of the notes she thought she'd taken, and what she'd dreamt about writing down. Surely she could manage that.
Steeling her nerves as best she could under the present circumstances, she stood up from her seat and made her way to the front of the class to address everyone. She had to do this, regardless of whether or not she had notes at her side. She'd simply have to proceed regardless.
"Hello, fellow sociology students. For today's assignment I've decided to give my presentation on the steampunk culture."
Simple, basic, good enough to let the others know what to expect. It could've been better, but that was neither here nor there. With a quick adjustment of her glasses to move them back up where they belonged, she continued before things could get anymore awkward. He who hesitated was lost, and she wasn't in any mood to get suffer that on top of everything else.
"While the term "steampunk" is relatively modern in origin, what it entails actually has its roots back in the mid-to-late 19th century. One of the earliest known literary works that falls within the steampunk genre is-"
"Why're you naked?"
Her groove hadn't even come to full fruition before being thrown immediately off at the interruption from some student she couldn't even manage to recognize at the moment.
"Um... e-excuse me?" was all she could really get out for a response.
"Why're you naked!?" the same student asked again, only MUCH louder this time, to the point the entire classroom could hear it. All of them were looking straight at her, and not in a good way either. Her heart was already beating faster as adrenaline started coursing through her veins, making her skin feel uncomfortably hot, and even tight.
She didn't want to look down, but there was an overwhelming feeling of a NEED to actually look down and confirm for herself if such is the truth.
She anxiously looked down, and shrieked in response before she could even quell the primal response leaping out of her throat. She was standing entirely naked in front of the whole class! How had she not noticed before!? Immediately she tried to cover her important parts with her arms and hands, notes forgotten about in the chaos, but the damage had already been done at this point. Before she knew it she was being assaulted by both laughter and insults.
"What's the matter, four-eyes, do you need a new prescription or something!?"
"Whore!"
"You've got a Bony ass!"
"Put some clothes on you slut!"
"Look at those knobby knees!"
"Your boobs are lopsided!"
She wanted to run and hide. She wanted to scream. She want to cry. This was more horrifying and humiliating than she could ever possibly dream of.
On, and on, and on their jeers go, bringing them a perverse sense of pleasure at her expense. She was never going to live this down. She would be lucky if she didn't get arrested and dragged out of school in front of everybody.
"Looks like this bitch wants a good fucking. Probably wants it done right in front of the whole class too!"
"SILENCE!"
A violent, forceful voice erupted from behind Twilight, and she couldn't help but jump in response, immediately snapped out of her own thoughts.
And just like that everything... stopped; like somebody has pushed a pause button and froze life itself in place.
"Greetings, Twilight Sparkle," a feminine voice from behind her stated in a warm, downright friendly manner.
It might've been grammatically incorrect, but... curioser, and curioser still. Slowly, she turned around to see just who and/or what she'd be dealing with now.
A pony. So help her, she was staring at a pony, who's staring back at her. A pony with a horn, and wings, midnight blue fur and feathers, and a mane and tail that look they're made from the night sky itself and blowing in some unfelt ethereal breeze. Tall enough to look her right in the eyes, and what had to be the friendliest blue eyes she could ever remember seeing.
"H-hello," she eventually manage to get out and add an awkward wave while still keeping myself covered. "Um... don't take this the wrong way or anything, but who exactly are you, and what're you doing here? For that matter, how're you here like you are? Sunset Shimmer said anything that comes through the portal from Equestria -I'm assuming you're from Equestria so I apologize if you're not- gets transformed into a physical form that's compatible with our world."
"All in good time. Let us start with basic introductions. I am Princess Luna of Equestria. Although just plain "Luna" is fine as well," the pony replied and extended one of her forelegs towards her.
Years of social conditioning forced Twilight to respond and take the offered limb in an awkward shaking gesture, before immediately covering myself back up again once said gesture was complete.
"Can I ask how exactly you knew my name? I'm afraid you've got me at sort of a disadvantage here."
"Your teacher," Luna replied and gestured over to the desk where the sociology teacher currently sat. "That, and the mind is wide open in a dream, making relevant information quite easy to gather. However I only dug deep enough to confirm who I would be addressing."
Beat.
"A dream?" she finally managed to ask. Luna nodded in confirmation. "I'm dreaming?"
"I would classify this more as a nightmare, but essentially that is the case," she explained.
The amount of relief Twilight felt at hearing this simply couldn't be overstated. It was... she really didn't know how to go about describing it. Like finding out she wasn't pregnant? Not that she'd ever actually had to worry about that, but it was currently the closest analogy she could draw.
"I have so many questions right now," she admitted. "Can we get back to the question of how you're here, and especially as a pony?"
"Of course," Luna replies and nods. "I trust you are aware of the fact the portal between our worlds is bleeding magic from ours to yours?"
Twilight nodded in response. She'd heard Sunset Shimmer talking about that fact before, among other details. But there was little else she could do about that right now.
"That bleed over is essentially why I am here. For reasons that are not yet known, when our two worlds are synchronized in sharing a full moon phase of the lunar cycle, the dreams of this world become detectable in our world, and I am able to interact with them," Luna explained.
"That's... fascinating," was all Twilight could manage to get out at the moment.
Even if this is a dream, however, she still don't trust herself in this interaction; not yet anyway. Oh, why couldn't she be a lucid dreamer!?
"So to what do I owe the visit of royalty on this night? Aren't there other, more important people more worthy than me to be visiting?"
Luna shook her head in response. "I sensed a very distressing nightmare and chose to investigate. That is what I do; I come to those in need during their rest so that they may sleep peacefully," she explained.
"Oh. Well thank you! I certainly appreciate that, especially with... this..." she stated, distaste heavy in her tone as she thought about how things had gone in this terrible dream she was currently stuck in. The fact this pony saw fit to cross the divide between our respective worlds just to help her out... she honestly couldn't put into words just how happy that made her feel to think about.
Plus, she now had an answer as to how she could be here in pony form. So... yay for science?
"I'd honestly hug you for intervening, provided you have no objection to my doing that, but I'm a little indecent right at the moment," I mumbled nervously.
"I have no objection to such gestures. But I do not understand exactly what makes you indecent. You seem like a very fine female individual as far as I can tell," Luna replied.
So help her, Twilight could swear she was blushing at that.
"T-thank you for that, but, the thing is, I'm naked..."
"As am I. But I still do not understand what makes you indecent," Luna replied.
Twilight very nearly responded, but stopped before actually getting into it. This might've been a dream, but she honestly didn't feel like getting into the idiosyncrasies of the human species with Luna right now. There was no sense in confusing someone -somepony maybe?- who'd come to help her when she couldn't even help myself.
"On second thought, it's not really important. Just general human insanity," she replied and finally let her arms fall back down at my sides, putting an end to her futile efforts at hiding herself from Luna. The fact she was also -technically- naked took some of the weight off the situation from her perspective. And honestly, it wasn't like she hadn't been naked by others before.
"Then if that matter is no longer an issue, I believe there was the promise of a hug?"
She wasn't wrong. She had said she'd hug her for what she'd done. Although it was really awkward to think about how to execute. All she could really do was go for it rather than think; stepping in close and awkwardly wrapping her arms around her neck. Which seemed to motivate Luna to return the gesture and wrap a foreleg around her back.
It was... odd. Not unpleasant, but odd. And oddly comfortable. Like hugging a big stuffed animal but with a solid frame underneath all of its plush.
"Now then," Luna eventually spoke up as the hug ceased. "There is still business to address; such as the root cause of this nightmare. Although I admit, this being a different culture than my own makes it more difficult."
"I guess that makes sense," Twilight muttered and shook her head. "I'm in a new school, with new students, and tomorrow's my first act of public speaking in front of them for an assignment. There's a lot that could go wrong. I guess I'm just feeling kinda vulnerable at the moment with all those thoughts? Which would probably explain my being naked in front of everyone, since society tells us we're most vulnerable in that exposed state. But I come from a family of nudists, so that last bit is just artificial nonsense and shouldn't really apply."
Luna blinked at her in response. Leaving Twilight to wonder if that a good thing, or a bad thing.
"Your analytical skills are quite impressive; on par with your pony counterpart," she stated, causing Twilight to smile in response. "If I may ask, though? What exactly is a nudist, and how does that apply in this situation?"
Maybe Twilight had said too much? But, in for an ounce, in for a pound she supposed.
"In simplest terms a nudist is someone who believes basic nudeness doesn't have a sexual connotation about it, nor has to have such a connotation about it, regardless of what society at large believes to the contrary," she explained, doing her best to keep the matter as simple and concise as possible to account for any cultural differences that might be encountered.
"Oh..." Luna replied slowly, in a tone that felt all TOO knowing in how it sounded. "I believe I understand the problem for what it is, now."
Twilight could only give an awkward nod in response, not sure just what to say at the moment, since saying the wrong thing had the potential to produce an uncontrollable tangent of thought. And that really wasn't something she wanted to subject the pony princess to.
"I may have a solution. However I would like to ask another question first. What exactly is this "steampunk" that you mentioned prior to my intervention?" Luna asked.
"Ah, well," Twilight paused as she tried to organize her thoughts again. "In basic terms, steampunk is sort of an informal term to describe a retrofuturistic subgenre of science fiction, where technological advancements are paired with the aesthetic designs from the industrial revolution; bronze coloring on metal, visible gear wheels and hydraulic pistons, lots and lots of exposed rivet heads, and other such details that simply aren't seen with modern technology where such hardware is hidden from view."
"Oh," Luna replied in a neutral, flat tone. "Well then, I believe I have a solution to the problem. If you would like, I could rewind this dream to the start, and you could give a presentation on such. Or, instead give your presentation on the nudist culture that you are a part of, to an audience that would be most receptive of what you have to say. It certainly will not affect what happens in the waking world tomorrow, but at least you can have a good dream about it."
Twilight would be lying if she said the prospect Luna was proposing wasn't appealing. The idea of being able to speak freely with others about what was ultimately such a deeply personal aspect of her life was something that she had wanted to do for a very long time now, but never dared to believe was possible with how judgemental people could be about what they didn't understand. Or worse, what they might understand, but simply didn't care about.
"I'll... I'll take the latter option, please," she replied, trying not to sound overly eager, although she was fairly certain she'd failed on that front.
Steampunk, while interesting, could wait until the waking world.
Luna simply nodded and tapped her right front hoof against the floor, and Twilight could do little more than watch as the dream world around her rewound itself to just before she'd started speaking.
And then it just paused in place, as Luna proceeded to walk over to the rest of the students, proceeded to conjure a desk of her own, and sat herself right down to face forward.
"Luna?"
"This topic is obviously important to you. If it is alright, I would like to hear the presentation as well," she explained.
Terrific. Now she was performing for royalty as well as strangers. Yeah, not like that couldn't go wrong. But at least it was just a dream and not the real thing, so that helped. And with how supportive Luna had been after just meeting her, it'd be incredibly rude to tell her to leave. So she nodded in agreement, and Luna in turn set the dream back into motion.
Twilight cleared my throat, and jumped right into things with both feet, with as much ferocity and determination as she could scrape together. He who hesitated was lost, or something like that.
"Hello, fellow sociology students. For today's assignment I've decided to give my presentation on the nudist culture. And in the spirit of such, I've decided to give my presentation while nude!"
She paused briefly after the introduction, steeling her nerves and bolstering her thought process before continuing.
"I actually come from a family of nudists, stretching as far back as my great grandparents, making me a fourth generation nudist. It might go back even further than that, but after that point records are hard to find, and even harder to verify," she admitted somewhat reluctantly, before doing her best to push past such.
"A-anyway, the nudism culture is defined primarily around the belief that nudity doesn't have to be sexual. This is largely why the culture is so misunderstood, as society has more or less conditioned people to believe that nudity and sex are not only directly linked, but completely inseparable from one another. Society at large tells us as individuals that are bodies are shameful and need to be hidden away, even from each other. But this sort of outlook that society at large demands of us, has the potential to cause a wide array of serious psychological health issues relating to body image, and self-confidence. We're conditioned to believe that if we don't look a certain way, that something is wrong with us and is in need of change. This sort of negative body image outlook can drive others to undergoing drastic surgeries in the desperate effort to feel like they belong to something; it's just plain not healthy! Nudists are raised to accept themselves and others for who and what they are beneath the artificial trappings that society demands of us as individuals. We see the person, not the airs they put on for their own benefit."
Twilight knew this is a dream. But even with that knowledge she was still finding it more difficult to breathe as she went on. Like a panic attack had no care whether she was awake or not.
"I know I'm not the supermodel type with a drop dead gorgeous body, and I'm alright with that. I respect myself for who and what I am; flawed but secure. And nothing can ever take that away from me. If more people could see themselves the same way, rather than always assuming there's something wrong with them, society might be better off as a result. Granted, the cosmetic surgery industry might go under from this outlook becoming widespread, but that's a minor consideration! A lot of what their industry really does is prey on the vulnerable anyway."
Her skin was getting hot again. Even if it was just a dream, even if she was nude, she felt like she was sweltering.
"It's not all fun and games, however. There are certainly negatives involved that can't easily be overcome. Possibly the lowest point of my being a nudist is the fact that I'm afraid to tell my friends the truth. I'm afraid of what they'll think of me if I tell them. And I'm equally afraid of what they'll think of me if I don't tell them and they find out on their own. I honestly don't know what to do, because I just recently got them and I don't want to lose them, just because of what society demands of us! It's not fair!"
Her vision was getting blurry. She was going to cry, she knew it, and she knew there was nothing she could do to stop it from happening. Right now the best she could do is hope to finish her presentation while she was still able to speak coherently, before she started blubbering pathetically.
But she couldn't do that. Without warning Luna practically propelled herself across the room, leaving her desk in the dust, and enveloped her in a tight hug that was all too readily sunk into, as Twilight clenched her eyes shut, and tried to keep from bawling.
"I'm sorry!"
"No, no, it is alright," Luna replied in a warm -downright motherly- tone as she gently rubbed a foreleg against Twilight's back. "I honestly had no idea the subject was so... stressful. I am at fault here, not you. Had I known more about your culture, this might not have happened. I am sorry I made you uncomfortable in your own dream."
"Can you stay?" Twilight asked as she tried not to sniff. "Please? I really don't wanna be alone right now."
"If that is what you wish, then I will stay."
"Thank you," she mumble and nodded, feeling far too close to the edge of completely losing her composure again, certain that if she spoke too much, she'd come entirely undone.
For a while, the two just stood there together, human and pony, holding each other.
Twilight honestly didn't know how her friends would react to the news that she was a nudist. The prospect of it terrified her to contemplate what all could go wrong. But, at the moment, she at least knew someone who was accepting of the truth, and who wasn't simultaneously family. Someone who wouldn't judge her as being some sort of sick, deviant freak. Someone who was just as naked as she was right now, but far more cuddly. So at least there was that; some high point in all of this, small as it might be.
