"Red Carpet!"

Dust shuffled forward as the line progressed another name, marveling at the fact that the day had finally come. The few dozen architecture majors stretched in a line ahead and behind, all resplendent in robes of the university's sage green. Four years of toil, all those years of work and effort, and all of it finally leading up to this point.

Dust glanced out at the crowd. The seating area seemed to engulf the entire mall of the campus and beyond, stretching out well beyond the point where he could make out faces. The sun didn't help, as it was so bright in the sky that it bordered on painful. Dust shaded his eyes with a hoof and could just make out the face of his mother, dozens of rows back in the crowd. Her smile was warm and proud, and Dust felt his heart swell in response.

"Stone Chisel!"

Dust stepped forward to the front of the line, seeing the stage clearly now. The backdrop and bunting were all pale yellow for some reason, which was a bit of an ugly contrast with the dark green school colors, but Dust shrugged it off. He wasn't an interior designer. Or is that exterior, since we're outside? He shook his head and giggled at his nonsense thoughts. The pony in front of him accepted a rolled scroll and a hoofshake from—was that the university president? Dust realized he'd never actually seen him in the flesh before. He certainly looked stately, solemn as he was in his epaulette-adorned robe. The president nodded to another robed stallion at the lectern, who leaned in towards the microphone.

"Dust Cloud!"

His name rolled over the open space like a wave, carrying his spirits with it. Dust held his head high and grinned proudly as he took a step forward—and was bumped out of the way by another stallion! He regained his balance, looking up at the pony who had been so brazen as to ruin his perfect day. Dust's eyes went wide and his breath stopped in his throat.

It was him accepting the scroll.

The mane and tail were longer, the olive-colored hair worn like he used to instead of how short they were cut now. His coat was the same rust-red coat as his, down to the cutie mark, and the blue eyes were perhaps even more vibrant, but the same shade that he saw in the mirror every day. It was a perfect copy of Dust himself taking his diploma.

Dust dashed forward, shoving the imposter aside. "No!" he yelled, "I'm Dust Cloud! It should be me!"

The mall was deathly silent.

The other Dust stared blankly at his twin, his face registering no trace of recognition, only shock. "...who are you, and why do you look like me?" he asked.

There was a lone titter from somewhere in the audience.

The university administrator smiled awkwardly. "No, I called for Dust Cloud," he said, indicating the robed double, "not Copper."

Dust paled. "But I am Dust Cloud! Copper isn't my name, it's a nickname! Please, you have to believe me!" he screamed as his doppelganger strode down the stairs at the far side of the stage and received a warm embrace and a kiss on the head from his mother.

The crowd began to break up into sparse chuckles at the spectacle.

"Look," the professor said condescendingly, narrowing his eyes at Dust, "we all know perfectly well who you are."

Dust stepped back, nervous. His legs began to tremble. "I—I'm Dust... I'm graduating..."

"Is that a fact? Where's your robe?"

Dust looked down and finally noticed that he wasn't dressed like all the rest of the graduates. "I—I don't know, I m-must have—"

"Uh huh. I'm sure you're very dedicated to your 'studies', but we don't currently have a degree plan for Tail Raising. You could apply for one to be added with the Medical Sciences department, perhaps."

The pegasus shrank back, his gaze alternating fearfully between the imposing president and his unknowing mother. "No! No, I don't—mom? Please, you've gotta believe me. That's not me!"

Dust's mother shrank back, put a protective hoof around the imposter's shoulders, and walked away with a final glare back. "I have no idea who you are," she spat back at him. "How dare you—" She froze as the duplicate Dust Cloud began to fracture and crumble. Dust's mother stood, slack-jawed in shock as the pony she thought was her son broke apart and fell to the ground as dust.

The assembled professors and instructors were all whispering to each other and shaking their heads in the background. The president shied back from Dust. "You should have worn a robe at least, rather than just leaving your shame exposed for everypony to see."

Dust glanced around wildly for a clue, some reason why everypony was recoiling from him so violently and suddenly. In the silence, a quiet sound broke the silence like a gunshot.

*splip*

Dust glanced down towards the sound, looking between his legs. On the polished wood, between his rear hooves, a distinctive pool of white, viscous liquid had formed. He stared at it, his stomach beginning to turn. He knew instinctively what it was as another drop fell from above to meet the puddle.

Dust tucked his tail as tightly between his legs as he could, squatting awkwardly to try to cover himself from more eyes than he could ever hope to count. "I—I d-don't—please, no..."

Behind the administration, above the assembly of teachers, the pale yellow bunting split longways, breaking apart into a leering, hurtful smile. One Dust remembered all too well.

"No!" he screamed, covering his head with his wings. "It wasn't my fault!"

"You invited the consequences when you started selling yourself for money. Somepony get him out of here."

Dust felt the crowds rise and close around him, felt strong hooves wrap around his body to pick him up, heard their anger loud in his ears.

"You let it happen!"

"You wanted it!"

"Bring back my son! What happened to my son?"

He screwed his eyes shut and struggled, fighting against the iron grip of innumerable ponies, screaming uselessly.

"IT WASN'T MY FAULT!"

"Dust! Shhhhh, shhhhh, it's okay, it's okay, bro. You're gonna have to stop trying to kick me, though."

Confused and disoriented, Dust slowly stopped struggling, and he felt the hooves around his body relax as well. He glanced up, eyes wide, and saw Saxus's face staring anxiously back at him.

"It's okay, dude, just a dream."

Dust sagged as he remembered where he was, and curled up defensively as he remembered why Saxus was there.

"I suppose you get your chance to say 'I told you so'," he muttered.

"Dust!" Saxus' voice was offended. "Why would you ever think I would do that to you, especially over something so awful?"

"Hey, is he awake?"

Dust perked up, looking over to see Breeze in his desk chair, leaned back like he had just woken up.

"Yeah," Saxus said.

"W-what time is it?" Dust asked, trying to catch his bearings.

"It's about 3 in the morning, dude."

"Breeze, what are you doing here?"

Breeze got up, yawned into his hoof, and walked over to give Dust a hug as well. "Saxus was pretty messed up over the way we argued yesterday. He left me a note saying he was coming here to apologize, and if he wasn't back in an hour, things had probably gone well and you two were hanging out. I came over to see what was up."

"Ah."

Saxus yawned in sympathy. "Dust, I know it's late—or, early, rather—but we need to see the guards about this."

Dust recoiled, trying to fight his way free of Saxus' hooves. "No. Nonono, no way."

"Dust, why in Equestria not? You were just—" Saxus winced, looked at Breeze, glanced around at the walls, and lowered his voice. "You were just raped, Copper. This is not a small thing."

The pegasus shook his head and buried his face in Saxus' chest fur.

Breeze shook his head in amazement. "Copper, who did this? At least tell us that much."

"No!"

The roommates looked at each other, confused. "Why not?"

Dust just shook his head again.

"Did he threaten you?"

Dust sobbed into Saxus' fur and nodded slowly.

The earth pony nodded along, understanding. "He threatened to have you kicked out of school if you told anypony, didn't he?"

"...yeah."

"Dust," Breeze asked, practically pleading, "I know what being here means to you, but do you really think it's worth letting some scum-sucking asshole get away with doing this stuff to you?"

Dust sat up, rubbing his eyes clear. "You were right, though, Shadow. You said things would go badly."

Saxus winced. "I-I never..."

"It's okay, Shadow, I get it. I put myself in that place, and fighting it only makes it hurt more. This is part of the deal, doing what I'm doing." Dust sighed. "I did this to myself."

"What? Dust, of course not!"

Breeze jumped in front of Dust, practically snorting in frustration. "Dust, I don't ever want to hear you say that! You did not deserve to be treated like this! That pony is a criminal, and I want to kill him myself!"

Dust looked down. "I am, too, Breeze. If we went to the city guards, I'd be in jail along with him."

Breeze, stopped, dumbfounded.

"Please," Dust said quietly, shaking his head, "don't make this into a big thing. I'll make it. Just be my friends. Please?"

Breeze fumed and turned away to stare at the wall with his mane hanging down in front of his face. Saxus sighed. "Dust, you're asking us to ignore somepony hurting you. Is that what friends do?"

"...please?"

"...okay, I won't ask you again," Breeze practically barked, still not looking back at the battered pegasus. "But if I find out who did this, I'm not stopping myself from making this right."

"Fine, we won't go to the guards," Saxus said, giving in. "We're not going to leave you, Dust. No matter what happens."

Dust let out a shaky breath. "Thanks. I really need that right about now..."

*BRIIIIIIIING*

"All right, class, that's it for today. First five problems from the end of chapter 9 on non-uniform cable loads for Monday! Next week we start calculating spread loads on beams and trusses, so be ready. Dust Cloud, can I see you for a few minutes?"

Dust nodded and sank back into his seat, keeping his head down and well beneath the cowl of his fleece hoodie as the rest of the class shoved chairs back under tables and picked up their bookbags. Everypony filtered out of the room quickly as the professor set his books aside and walked slowly over to where Dust was sitting.

"Dust, is everything okay?"

"Yes, sir," he intoned without looking up.

"Could I possibly talk to you instead of your hood?"

Dust slowly pushed back his hood as his professor scrutinized him.

"Quite a bruise you've got there. I'm guessing it's been there for at least a week, right?"

"I got in a fight, sir."

The teacher sighed. "Dust, you had the sixth-highest grade in the class just three weeks ago, after midterms. In Intro to Mechanics last semester, you were one of the most outgoing ponies in the class. Now you're brooding. You keep to yourself at all times. You haven't done any homework lately—which is quite out-of-character for you—and your grade is slipping steadily. To top it off, you've been wearing a hooded jacket for two weeks straight despite the spring weather, and most pegasi don't like to have their wings covered to begin with, so something must be wrong."

Dust shrank in his seat. "I-it's a personal matter, sir. I'm sorry, I'll work on getting my grades back up."

"Dust, I don't care a lick about your grade. Twenty percent of this class is failing right now, so you're not exactly near the bottom of the barrel. I'm worried about you."

"Things are..." Dust hedged, looking at the wall, "complicated."

"Okay, look, I'm just your teacher. I get that." He took a card out of his pocket and slid it across the tabletop towards Dust. "Just talk to somepony. Here's the card for the campus counseling office. Everypony needs some help at some point in their lives, Dust. You're a bright pony. I want to see you do well."

The professor took a step back, signaling an end to the conversation. Dust grabbed the card and shoved it into his bookbag, muttered his thanks to his professor, and left the room.

As soon as he was in the hall, Dust made a break for the restroom. He slid through the doorway and dropped his books to the floor. Pushing his hood back roughly, he stood at the counter, hanging his head over the sink. His stomach was threatening to reject his breakfast yet again. Dust stood and waited for the encroaching sickness to pass. He almost felt like a pregnant mare these days, as regularly as his stomach tried to punish him for eating. If he lost it now, that would make eight days in a row.

Thankfully, this wasn't one of those times. Slowly, the waves of nausea stilled and passed. Dust turned on the sink, splashing water onto his face. He grabbed a hoofful of paper towels and scrubbed his face dry, staring at himself in the mirror.

Over his shoulder, a small pony walked into the restroom and looked at Dust. Dust froze slightly at the sight of his yellow coat, but it was too bright to be... And he was too small. There was something very familiar about his face, though Dust had trouble placing it at first.

"Copper? It's you, right?"

The voice brought the memories back. "Oh, hey..." Dust turned around. "Footlight, right?"

The unicorn blushed. "Heh, yeah. You certainly look different. I almost couldn't recognize you until I saw your cutie mark! I like the new mane and tail. You ever thought about adding some color?"

"Uh, not really, but thanks. What's up?"

Footlight shuffled his hooves nervously. "I—I have a bit of a favor to ask."

Dust arched an eyebrow.

"You see, well—I have a coltfriend now!"

"Good for you. I told you you just needed some confidence."

"I guess so. Anyway, we've been going out for a few weeks, and we got to messing around a bit, and well..." he ruffled his mane, blushing slightly. "He kinda let slip that my... 'technique' isn't all that good."

Dust almost laughed, but checked himself in time.

"I was wondering if you could, I dunno, help?"

"What, like tutoring?"

Footlight beamed. "Yes! Yes, I need tutoring. I need to be tutored in how to blow my coltfriend."

Despite himself, Dust couldn't keep an amused smile off of his face. Inside, though, his mind was racing.

You almost threw up just thinking about the last few weeks. Are you really gonna stick with this?

Dust shook his head slightly. This is innocent enough. Footlight's a good pony.

Some other part of Dust took over, instantly knowing just what to do and who to be. "Sure thing," he said with a confidence he hadn't felt in weeks, "I'll say thirty bits, and I'll help you with what I know."

"Deal!" Footlight shrugged off his bookbag and took a step forward. "Okay, so, like, what's step one?"

Dust jerked, taken aback. "What, here? Now? In the—what a minute, what are you even doing in the engineering building to begin with?"

"I was looking for you, obviously. I asked a few of your dorm neighbors, they said you were an architecture major, so I just looked around a bit. I saw you come in here, and I thought I'd wait, but you didn't come back out." Footlight grimaced slightly. "I guess it is kinda weird to ask you now. I just got too eager."

Dust almost turned down right then and there, but that other part of his mind clicked into gear, unbidden. Everypony's in class, it's early in the day so nopony's in the labs, either. It's the bathroom in the very back of the building. The odds of anypony coming in here are almost nil for the next thirty minutes at least.

"Hey, don't worry about it. We just can't waste much time."

Footlight perked back up, his face attentive and serious.

I can't believe I'm doing this...

"Here's the main thing; you already know what feels good to most stallions. Start off by thinking of what would feel good to you. After that, everything comes down to watching, listening, and taking note of what your coltfriend really seems to like."

Footlight nodded.

Dust reared, standing to his rear legs and leaning back, catching his elbows on the countertop behind him. Footlight stared, his eyes slightly wide. "This—this isn't cheating, right?"

Dust chuckled. "I won't tell if you won't. I bet your coltfriend will appreciate it, though."

"Yeah." Footlight stepped in, sinking to his haunches in front of Dust. He reached up and unzipped the pegasus' hoodie, giving him better access to Dust's torso. "You're not, like, hard at all or anything."

"Yes, I noticed that."

"So, do I, like, just go for it?"

"Woah, slow down there, Footlight. No need to rush. A little foreplay goes a long way. And as a tip, areas that are normally ticklish can be very arousing in the right circumstances and with a light touch."

"Like this?" Footlight reached up, running his hooves slowly down Dust's sides.

"Mmmmmmm, yeah. That's not bad," Dust purred as the bright yellow hooves circled his cutie marks. "Heh," he cuckled, "this is kinda weird. Nopony's ever tried to arouse me before."

"I-Is it working?"

"Yeah, go lower now. Take your hooves around my hips."

Footlight nodded, tracing his hooves through the joint between Dust's legs and torso. Dust took a deep breath, feeling warmth starting to spread across his groin as the soft touch moved up and down his thighs.

"Oh, hey!" Footlight chirped, noticing Dust starting to grow aroused. "It's working!"

"Woah, not just yet," Dust instructed, stopping Footlight from reaching for his member too soon. "It'll get hard all on its own. You just keep teasing. Light touches at first. Along the side of the sac and underneath are good areas to hit."

Footlight obeyed, proving himself to be a capable student. Dust let out a satisfied sigh as his pride stiffened and grew towards full size. The unicorn's hooves were surprisingly soft and dexterous, and he kept his touch gentle.

"Yeah, that's nice. You'll be an expert in no time, Footlight."

The unicorn grinned and leaned in to caress his nose against Dust's sac. Dust reached full hardness almost instantly.

"Mmmm," Footlight sighed happily, "you smell better than my coltfriend does."

Dust winced, feeling like he'd been stabbed. He reached down and caught the unicorn's hooves in his own. "Footlight—Footlight, stop."

"What? Why?"

"There's one thing you can't do, not if you expect to have anything like a happy relationship. You can never, never, compare your coltfriend to me. Whoever you're with, you can't be thinking of me, or anypony else. Once you start those comparisons, they never stop. That's why you're paying for this, so you can disconnect and go on with your life."

Footlight nodded. "Okay, I'm sorry. You're right."

Dust smiled. "Hey, it's cool. Just some advice. Get back to your job, it's time to move on to the next phase."

The smaller pony grinned and looked back down, taking time to admire Dust's fully erect phallus. "So...?"

"Alright, first things first; what are the most sensitive areas of a stallion's member?"

"Um... All of it?"

Dust rolled his eyes, amused. "Okay, smart pony, that may be true, but it's especially nice to feel on the head, along the underside, and at the base. All of these areas feel different, and can be used at different times."

"Like what?" Footlight asked, rolling his hoof around the base of Dust's cock, trying to keep him aroused until the lesson was done.

"Well, generally speaking, the head doesn't feel a whole lot for light touches, but it feels amazing against the roof of the mouth or throat. The underside responds very well to light touches and caresses of the tongue or hoof. It's also pretty good to use your tongue to stimulate it while the head is in your mouth. That part takes some practice, though. The base feels good when it's treated a little rougher. Putting pressure on it with your hoof can simulate the feeling of being fully inside another pony. It feels very good later in the act, when the pony is closer to climax. Your mouth can be used to good effect, too, if pressed to the base."

Footlight nodded, obviously trying to take in all the information. "Okay, jeez, that's a lot to learn. How do they say—like trying to drink from a fire hose."

Dust chuckled. "Oh, no. Getting a stallion off in your mouth when he hasn't been able to cum for a few months—that's like trying to drink from a fire hose." The unicorn laughed along. "Okay, so that's the lecture portion of this class, let's move on to the lab, shall we?"

Nodding eagerly, Footlight returned to the task at hoof. He leaned in to nuzzle at the point where Dust's sheath and sac met, and earned a pleased sigh from the pegasus. Footlight stuck out his broad, flat tongue and ran it lightly around Dust's testes, almost juggling them with his mouth.

"Mmmm, very nice. Now run it up to the tip, slowly, and press into it."

Footlight obeyed, wiping his tongue slowly upwards, pressing his lips in occasionally to kiss and suckle at the hard flesh. Dust's breathing began to speed up. Footlight reached the head, running his tongue all around it as best he could. Without using his hooves, Dust's erection bobbed against his muzzle, almost dancing with Footlight's tongue as it flicked out.

"Oh, yessssss..." Dust hissed. "Lips on the head, use your tongue."

The unicorn had to reach up and draw the head down a bit so he could reach from his seated position, but he eagerly took the head of Dust's stallionhood between his lips. His tongue raced around and across the tip, saliva starting to run down the sides in slow rivulets.

"R-remember," Dust panted, trying to retain his focus and ignore his desire to simply grab Footlight's head and fuck his muzzle silly, "when you go down, use your lips to cover your teeth. Those will really hurt if you're not careful."

Footlight nodded, the cock in his mouth bobbing along and rubbing in wonderful ways against his tongue.

With a pleased murr, Footlight curled his lips in and took Dust into his mouth properly. The pegasus' back arched forward, the completely new feeling taking him unawares. He kept his moan as quiet as he could, bent over so that the tip of his nose almost touched Footlight's head.

Some part of Dust's mind wished there was a clock in the restroom, because he had lost all track of time. Footlight couldn't have cared less, lost as he was in the lewd act taking place more or less in public. The unicorn moaned and hummed in his arousal as he took Dust's cock as deeply as he could into his muzzle, bumping against his gag reflex and coughing slightly.

He pulled off, stroking gently with his hoof as he caught his breath. "Okay, so, how do I do that?"

"W-what's that?"

"Take you into my throat?"

Dust flushed slightly and closed his eyes, banishing unpleasant thoughts until he could deal with them later. "Practice," he replied. "And it helps to try to swallow as you take it, but you're going to gag a lot before it's comfortable. I wouldn't worry about it, you're doing fantastic."

Footlight beamed through his blush. "Wow, really?"

"Look," Dust panted, "either you get back to work and finish me off or you're going to get a lesson in how to clean cum out of your fur in the five minutes before class lets out."

Without even bothering to respond, Footlight got back to work, bobbing his muzzle back down the length of Dust's twitching cock. As he suckled, his hoof pumped at the remainder, treating what his tongue couldn't reach to a vigorous hoofjob. Dust moaned and gasped, biting the corner of his hood to keep from doing anything too loudly and exposing them. Footlight was unrelenting, performing with the enthusiasm of the inexperienced. Despite that, though, his tongue was borderline magical.

Dust twitched, his back arching the other way. He reached down and grabbed Footlight's mane, twisting it around his hoof and pulling back on his head. "Sweet Harmony, Footlight, I'm gonna blow. Keep the head in your mouth so there's not a mess, and you'll probably have to swallow."

Footlight nodded, again bobbing the stallionhood in his muzzle as he slid back so just the head was between his lips, his tongue going mad against the tip. Dust moaned, long and low, and bucked his hips slightly. His release hit hard, spraying the inside of Footlight's muzzle with a blast of cum.

The unicorn murred happily, suckling at the twitching cockhead as it let out burst after burst of sticky jizz. Dust could feel his tongue working as he swallowed each shot, the sensation milking more and more of his seed into the eager mouth.

Dust finally flagged, pulling out to lean heavily on the countertop. He glanced down to see Footlight licking his lips, eyes closed as he clopped himself furiously. Quickly swiping a bunch of paper towels across his retreating phallus, Dust fell to all fours, leaned over and pushed Footlight's hooves aside. He took his customer's erect cock into his mouth, sinking it to the hilt, his throat grasping and twitching around it like a true professional. It was only a matter of seconds before Footlight was twitching and shooting his own load straight into Dust's stomach.

Dust swallowed easily, imagining that the deposit of thick stallion cum was soothing his stomach and easing his earlier nausea. He pulled off, swallowing hard to counteract the feeling of Footlight's member rubbing against his throat. He gulped down a breath and leaned back on his haunches.

"And that—*phew*— it how it's done."

Footlight leaned back against the wall, lightly pawing at his shrinking cock with a hoof. "Wow. Just, wow. I thought you were good before, but by Celestia's mane, Copper..."

"Well, you were gonna make a mess otherwise. As I said before, you're here for a reason. The real skill is in practicing, so go practice. Your coltfriend will love it, I'm sure."

"Right." Footlight stood, a bit wobbly on his hooves, and counted out the necessary bits. He passed the stack to Dust. "Well, I—is it weird to thank you?"

Dust smiled. "Not at all. We both got to enjoy that."

"Alright then. Thanks, Copper. I'll see you around."

Footlight walked out the doorway and disappeared into the hall. Dust dropped the bits into his saddlebag and turned back to the sink. He washed his mouth out, trying to mask the smell of cum on his breath, and checked himself over in the mirror. Once again, he appreciated the way his mane wasn't disheveled or unruly in the least.

So it's done, then, he thought to himself, this is who I am now.

The sound of the bell from the hall shook him out of his thoughts. Dust zipped his jacket back up, pawed gingerly at the remnants of the bruise on his cheek, and threw the hood back over his head before walking out.

Author's Note

Thanks to Boneywings for giving me some ideas that I could meld into my plans and give this story a little bit more substance.
To be honest, it's getting to the point that's both very hard to write and a hell of a lot of fun, because I'm not really driving this train anymore. The story is happening, and the characters are doing what they do. I'm just trying to hang on and catalog this madness.