When in Rome...

by Pepper Hooves

Rating: mature
Tags: Random, Slice of Life, Human
Length: 13289

Adjusting to different societal norms can be difficult, especially if they go against what we've been taught our entire lives.

Adjusting to different societal norms can be difficult, especially if they go against what we've been taught our entire lives.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2016-03-08 00:08:51 UTC

Chapter 2

On the next day, Twilight was standing outside the basement door, waiting for Arnold to come out. It was close to noon, but they still hadn't left. It was mostly because he slept until quite late, but it didn't help that it was taking him way too long to undress behind that door.

"Are you ready yet?", asked Twilight impatiently.

"In a minute!", came out a nervous answer from behind the door.

"How long can it possibly take to take off few pieces of clothing?"

"Have some mercy, it's not so easy for us to just get naked before going out!"

Twilight just rolled her eyes.

"Look, can I at least keep the shoes on?", he asked.

"Why, do your feet need protection from the ground when you walk?", she was a little surprised.

"Well, technically we can walk barefoot, I know some native tribes and maybe some hippies do it, but I'd rather..."

"Then better leave them here", she decided, "It will be the best not to get used to relying on them if you don't need them, especially that sooner or later they'd wear out anyway."

"Oh, okay", he just sighed with disappointment.

Another short moment passed, and then the door slowly creeked open. Arnold carefully peaked his head out, but was still reluctant to reveal himself.

"Come on, stop fooling around", Twilight started getting annoyed, "I promise I won't stare at your 'private parts'!"

He just made a nervous grunt and slowly came out from behind the door, like he was a convict marching to the gallow. He stood up in front of her and finally she was able to see what he really looked like.

It turned out that the rest of his body was as hairless as the previously visible places, save for few patches of short hair here and there. On his chest, he had a single pair of nipples, just like other primates. His penis was considerably shorter than that of a stallion and ended with a red tip, it also didn't have any sort of sheath, just dangling down in front of the testes. His feet ended with five fingers each just like his hand, although here the fingers were really short and only taking the feet's tips, likely an evolutionary effect of the upright pose.

"See? I told you it wouldn't be so bad!", she said in an encouraging tone, "I don't understand what you were so nervous about!"

But for him, it was just that bad. He was standing stark naked in front of a member of the opposite gender, even if she was a different species, and he was about go out like that in public, where everyone would see him in all his glory. And that would be his every day from now on. Just standing with his bare feet on the wooden floor and feeling his arms resting against his own naked skin was a very unusual sensation to him, he just couldn't imagine this becoming the new norm from now on. Twilight must have noticed how he felt on his face.

"Look, if it makes you feel better...", she started in a comforting voice, "In just few weeks, your clothes will get sent to the laundry and you'll be able to put them on again if you really want. They're not going anywhere, you can still wear them from time to time, you'll just have to learn to live without them on most days."

"Couldn't I just wear some sort of loincloth over my junk when we're outside?", he asked, "I'm sure a small piece of material wouldn't be a problem..."

"Are you joking?", she looked at him in terror, "If you covered nothing but your genital area, it would actually be worse than simply wearing nothing at all, as it would look like you wanted to bring attention to that area, make others think about what's underneath it, like in some sort of an adult club. You would only look like a pervert walking around like that in public. Just go out like everypony else and everything will be fine!"

"Oh, alright...", he sighed, thinking about what a crazy world he ended up in.

"Now grab your jobseeker's card and let's go see if they found something for you."

"With all due respect", he asked with a satisfied smirk, "But now that I don't really have any pockets on me, obviously, am I supposed to just carry it around in my hand all the time? What if I need to carry more things?"

"Uh, just put it behind you", she answered like it was the most obvious thing.

"What do you mean, behind me?"

"You know, just like I did with our ad yesterday at the bulletin board, remember?"

"Oh, that", he said in confusion, "But how is that even...? How am I supposed...?"

"Here", she handed him the card with her magic, "Just try putting it behind you like I did."

He shrugged as he took the card, and reached the hand holding it behind his back. He then let go off the card and, just like he expected, he heard it plop on the floor behind him.

"No, no, you can't just consciously release the hold on the card!", she corrected him, "It will only cause it to drop to the ground. You have to do this without thinking about it, like you were quickly placing something away on a table. Try again!"

He sighed and turned around to pick up the card, trying not to think too much about how he was basically flashing his naked butt at Twilight when bending down. Then he tried it again, but the card dropped this time too. Annoyed, he quickly picked it up and repeated, this time without even trying. Surprisingly, he didn't hear anything behind him.

"Where did it go?", he gasped in shock as he turned around and the card was nowhere to be seen.

"It's still behind you, you just have to grab it", she explained, "Just like before, try it."

Reluctantly, he reached his hand around and tried to get the card, but he didn't feel anything with his fingers.

"Once again, you're giving it too much thought", Twilight sighed, "If you focus on grabbing it, you will only grab air. You have to do it fast and subconsciously, like the last time. Now try it again."

Still baffled about this whole situation, he reached behind again and tried to grab the card as casually as he could. This time, he felt something thin and soft between his fingers. He pulled it up to his eyes and it turned out to be the very same card which he had been given yesterday and which disappeared behind his back just a moment ago.

"How is this even possible???", he asked in utter puzzlement.

"Basic passive magic, all the creatures here have it", Twilight pointed out, "But what am I trying to explain to someone who refuses to believe that clouds are capable of holding a pegasus pony?"

"Oh, basic passive magic, okay", he simply nodded, not even trying to understand it all.

"Yeah, so put that card behind and we'll be on our way!", she said as she turned towards the door.

As he heard it, he just froze in place, reluctant to make a step. He knew this moment would come eventually, but now that the time finally came, he just couldn't bring himself to it. It was one thing to stand naked indoors in front of just one pony, as bad as it was, but actually going outside like that where literally everyone could see him seemed million times worse. He just stood there with a terrible sucking sensation in his stomach, and Twilight instantly picked up what was wrong.

"I don't know if it helps", she started in a comforting voice, "But if you want to know my opinion, I think you look much better now than when you were all covered up. Now come on!"

He put the card 'behind' him and followed Twilight towards the door, still not used to the unfamiliar sensation of his skin brushing against skin in so many places during walking. As she walked in front of him with her genitals and anus clearly visible to him, he actually felt jealous of her indifference towards her own nudity, as she never had to know what he was going through at the moment. They reached the door and as she opened it, the sight of the big world outside hit him with another wave of sucking in the stomach. Now he could see where he was headed while in his current state, and knowing that someone from the outside could already see him through the open door was like a sneak peak of the humiliating experience he was in for. Twilight left the library, but she must have noticed he was still inside, as she turned back to him.

"Come on, step outside!", she encouraged him, "You don't want to spend your whole life inside that library, now do you?"

He sighed, knowing he couldn't just prolong it forever. Still not believing he was actually doing this, he slowly put one foot outside the door, already feeling its exposure to the world. Making the second step wasn't that easy, but he told himself that standing naked one step outside an open door wasn't really much different from standing naked one step behind an open door, and reluctantly, he placed another foot outside, cutting his last tie with the safety of the library's interior. He was now standing outside, completely bare.

"That's it, I knew you could do it!", Twilight cheered him on as she locked the library, "Now let's go, just like yesterday okay?"

He couldn't bring himself to go after her, but the prospect of standing alone naked in front of a locked library seemed even more terrifying, so he just took a deep breath and followed the purple pony, carefully looking around. To his relief, there only seemed to be two or three ponies around the open area where the library was, all pretty far away and all looking somewhere else. Still, it didn't help him much, as he felt exposed, vulnerable and... small. He tried not to think that he was naked, but the eerily unfamiliar sensation of the soft ground under his feet, the sun in the noon warming him all over and the light summer breeze tickling his bare skin wouldn't let him forget that he wasn't naturally covered like he was used to be. He was only hoping that none of those few ponies would notice him until they reached the fence corner around a huge bush they were heading towards, and that the next stretch of their walk would be equally as easy.

Unfortunately, once they got around the corner, what emerged from behind the bush was a busy street full of ponies walking in all directions. Arnold knew that now there was no chance he could skip by unnoticed. All those ponies would constantly pass him by, walk in front of him and likely see him face to face. Feeling cold sweat running down his naked skin, he instantly slowed down, barely making any advance forward, and this time Twilight noticed it to.

"Come on, get over yourself and stop dragging behind!", she hurried him indifferently, "Trust me, nopony has time to look at your genitals!"

He picked up his pace unenthusiastically, wishing he had ended up in the Star Wars universe instead, and as hard as it was for him to believe it, it seemed she was actually right. Most of the ponies walking by didn't even look at him, and none of them seemed to care about his nudity, some of them even casually greeted Twilight and one actually asked him how he was doing without even taking the eyes off his face. Still, he couldn't shake off the feeling that he was constantly looked at and that everyone focused on his unclothed body, even though he knew it was all in his head. On top of that, seeing all those mares with their vulvae on full display and all the stallions with their balls dangling freely between their hindquarters, he actually felt embarassed and silly next to them when they were able to walk around like that without being ashamed of their bodies while he was making a big deal out of it, even though all his life it was considered a normal reaction where he was from. He actually couldn't wait until they were finally at the employment agency, where at least his nakedness would be contained inside a single room with only few others beside him.

When they finally arrived at the agency, which this time seemed to Arnold like it took twice as long, they were served by the same unicorn mare from the previous day, who took his card when he finally pulled it from behind after few unsuccessful attempts. As he was standing as close to her desk as possible, making sure she could only see him from the waist up, she was shifting through some papers from his folder.

"Alright, mister Naku... Nakuya... mister Arnold", she said while reading something carefully, "It looks like we got one offer for you, it's from the Ponyville Spa. They are willing to hire somepony with fingers as a massagist!"

"That actually sounds like a great job offer for the beginning, what do you say?", Twilight commented.

"Sure, I guess I could do that for the living", he shrugged.

"Here you go", the clerk handed him a piece of paper, "Go to the spa with this as soon as possible, and they will explain to you what next!"

"Thank you", he said as he took the paper and turned around before walking away from the desk, making sure she could only see his butt.

"Say now", the clerk commented offhandedly, "Weren't you actually wearing all those clothes when you were here yesterday?"

He instantly froze in place. She knows I'm completely naked, he thought to himself in panic. All that fear from before leaving the library came back tenfold, and he felt like he was getting out of breath.

"Y-yes...", he nodded nervously.

"Oh, so I was right!", she laughed to herself, "I must admit I was surprised a little when I first saw you because I had never seen anypony wearing this many clothes in the middle of summer!", and he felt instant relief.

"See?", said Twilight when they left the building, "You actually cause more unwanted attention wearing clothes than without them!"

"Yeah, yeah, weren't we supposed to go somewhere next?", he rushed her, desperate to get indoors again as soon as possible, even thought going outside naked didn't seem as terrifying now as it did the first time round.

"Oh right, the spa!", she remembered, "Let's go, it's right around the corner from here, we'll have this one off the list already!"

The spa turned out to be a big multi-treatment facility run by two young mares in headbands. Right now, the blue one was interviewing Arnold about the job.

"So, you want to work as a massageest at our spa, right?", she asked as she carefully studied the paper from the agency.

"Well, yeah, that's correct", he nodded while looking around.

"Alright, then show me what you can!", she extended her front hoof, "We'll see if you'll be useful to us!"

Reluctantly, he grabbed her hoof with both his hand and started rubbing the soft skin on the wrist the best he could. Her reaction was instantaneous. Having ten little fingertips massaging her independently at the same time turned out to be utterly overwhelming for someone only used to massages with big pony hooves.

"Oh, sweet Celestia!", she gasped in complete bliss, "Thees ees simplee amazing! Aloe, come heer quick, you got to try eet!"

The other mare quickly came over and reached out her hoof too. Arnold started massaging the pink wrist in the same manner, and the reaction was identical.

"Oh my, how come we haven't thought of getting a feengered massageest earlier?", panted Aloe.

"You're hired!", they both said at the same time the moment he finished.

"Congratulations!", Twilight applauded him.

"Come heer tomorrow before we open, we'll sign all the papers and explain everytheeng to you. First week it's minimum wage plus teeps, then we'll see how you're doing.", they explained.

"Gee, thanks", he said and they left the spa.

"See? You're doing great here!", said Twilight on the street while Arnold started subconsciously watching around again, "You already have a job, you've learned that you don't actually need clothes to properly interact in society, and who knows, maybe there's already an ad waiting just for you about a nice little place to rent?"

However, after another long, awkward walk through the town, it turned out there was nothing new on the bulletin board that would suit them. Interesingly though, there was an advertisement for a brand new "Ten finger massage" at the Ponyville Spa starting tomorrow.

"Well, might as well go back to the library, maybe tomorrow we'll have better luck", said Twilight and Arnold felt relief that he would finally hide for a while from all those eyes seeing his completely exposed body.

Unfortunately, the day was far from over.

"Hey, look who's here!", he suddenly heard Twilight's happy voice on their way back while fighting that annoying voice in the back of his head telling him that ponies did in fact care about human genitals.

He turned where she was looking and saw the same five ponies from yesterday standing not far away. He didn't know much about them except that the one wearing a hat was named Applejack, but it looked like they were all Twilight's best friends, and he didn't like it. He could already tell that he wouldn't get back to the safety of the library as soon as he hoped.

"Come on, let's go talk to them!", Twilight pulled him in their direction, and he sighed as he reluctantly followed her.

"Twilight, darling, how are you doing?", asked the white one with concern, "Yesterday when we were parting, things didn't look too bright..."

"Everything's great, Rarity!", Twilight assured her, "It took Arnold here a little while to get used to the new situation, but we've explained few things and now he's fully cooperative!"

"And how is our visitor doing in Equestria so far?", asked Rarity with curiosity, while Arnold was just getting impatient that he had to wait in the middle of the busy street in his state while they just chit-chatted, keeping him exposed to everyone's gaze longer than needed.

"Oh, he's doing pretty fine!", said Twilight assertingly, "He already has a job, and we're currently looking for a place for him! It's taking him a little while to get used to life in Equestria, but I'm amazed at the progress he's making!"

"That's mighty fine, sugarcube!", nodded Applejack.

"Uh, what is he so nervous about?", the rainbow one noticed Arnold pacing in place impatiently while constantly looking around at the ponies passing him by.

"Oh, that...", Twilight just smiled awkwardly, "Remember how yesterday at the library he was dressed in all those clothes?"

The others all nodded and agreed, now remembering it.

"Well, you see guys...", she started explaining, "It turns out that where Arnold comes from, they always cover their bodies with clothes, everywhere they go, because they believe that it is wrong to let others see... your... reproductive parts.", by the end of the sentence, she had a hard time containing her amusement.

The rest of them just started laughing and snorting, but they didn't even try to hide it.

"So he's afraid of showing the parts you do it with?", the rainbow one snickered, "Oh, this is so rich, just like in that joke about a rock farmer who always made his daughter...", but then she stopped when she noticed the pink one giving her an angry glare.

"But sugarcube, there's nothin' wrong with that part of y'all, no need to cover it from anypony!", reassured him Applejack while still giggling a little under her breath.

"Oh my gosh, he's completely naked!", the rainbow one screamed in fake terror to tease Arnold, and burst out laughing when it caused him to jump unwittingly.

"Rainbow Dash, that wasn't very nice!", Twilight scolded her.

"Sorry Twilight, just couldn't resist!"

"As much as I can relate to the enjoyment of wearing a nice garment", Rarity chimed in, "I have a hard time imagining myself wearing one all day, especially if it was as covering as yours. Is it really healthy to always keep your entire body sealed like that? Your skin can't possibly have much access to fresh air in there, and then there's hygiene..."

"Rarity does have a point, you know", Twilight pointed out.

"And besides", Rainbow Dash added in a cocky voice, "Imagine one day you meet a nice filly and end up taking her to your place, things get hot and she's waiting for you on your bed, and then you suddenly say 'Wait a second, I need to take off all these clothes first!' Now wouldn't that be awkward?"

"I'm not really planning to date here, thank you very much", he snapped back, getting really impatient still having to stand there.

"Why, have you vowed celibacy back in your world or something?", asked Twilight with curiosity.

"No, it's not about that", he explained, "It's just that I don't like the idea that she would have to pretty much be different species from me."

Somehow, what he said must have been seen as some very offensive faux pas, because they all just instantly felt dead silent and only started sharing awkward gazes among each other.

"Weeell", Twilight started awkwardly, "It's not up to me to judge, but you have to remember that you will be here for the rest of your life and every potential partner will be different from you, so unless you're planning to grow old and die alone, you might think about becoming a little less... exclusive."

He didn't like what she just said, but didn't really know how to respond to that.

"Your new friend is mighty strange, Twahlight!", Applejack noticed.

"I know his behavior may appear odd to us", Twilight started defending him, "but try to put yourselves in his horseshoes for a while. Imagine you were raised all your life to be ashamed of your body, believing it needs to be covered at all times, to the point that you are actually scared of others seeing it. That's what it was like back in Arnold's world, and after all those years it's not easy for him to adapt to our lifestyle, in fact if I hadn't talked him out of it, he would probably have just spent a fortune on laundry just so he could wear those clothes of his all day long. To him, just being outside like right now is a stressful experience."

"Ooh, so he's like Fluttershy?", the pink one asked inquisitively, which caused the yellow pegasus to blush a little.

"Actually, Pinkie, it's much worse", explained Twilight, "Fluttershy at least isn't afraid of others seeing her butt", and to that, the others responded with light snorting, including the one referred to as Fluttershy.

"Aww, don't worry sugar, y'all get used", comforted him Applejack.

"Yeah, soon you won't even believe what a big sissy you used to be about that!", Rainbow Dash winked at him.

"I sure hope so", he just sighed.

"Just look at me!", Pinkie pointed her hooves at herself, "I'm not afraid of being seen and neither should you, even if you do look a little funny!"

"Pinkie Pie, please!", Twilight scolded her.

"No, it's okay", he stood in the pink pony's defense, "I know I may look strange to you guys and I don't blame you for it, not that it makes much difference to me now, anyway."

"Still, he does have a magnificent rump!", remarked Rarity while checking out his posterior, and he just blushed nervously, wondering in how many more ways he'd have to miss his clothes.

"Hey, you know what guys, how about we all go out somewhere?", Rainbow Dash suddenly suggested, "Maybe that would get Twilight's new buddy to loosen up a little!"

"Great idea!", Twilight instantly agreed, "I heard that down at the Ponyville cafe they put up those long picnic tables outside, we could all fit there together and talk about everything over some lunch!"

"Oh come on!", Arnold just groaned, "Can't we just go back already?"

"I know you just want to go back to the library and hide!", Twilight patted him affectionately, "But you have to be outside doing normal things among ponies as much as possible, or you'll never get over your irrational addiction to clothes!"

"What did I ever do to deserve this?", he just asked himself in defeat.

The cafe turned out to be a green-timbered house with - of course - a thatched roof and a large outdoor area where tables actually had bales of hay for chairs, althouth there were also two or three picnic tables on the edge. They all seated themselves around one of them, with Arnold taking a seat next to Twilight, which to him was yet another unfamiliar sensation that day, feeling the wooden surface under his bare skin. Having to actually sit in place in public for a prolonged time felt even more awkward than just walking around, or even standing and waiting while others talked, but at least it made him feel a little better knowing his lower half was concealed by the table, even if the ponies behind him could still see his butt on the bench.

"Go ahead, pick anything you want, it's on me!", said Twilight while he was carefully reading the menu, desperately trying to find something that sounded like it was actually edible to him.

"Have you made your decizion?", he was finally asked by a snobbish French waiter, although he had no idea where anything resembling French culture could come from in this world.

"Uhm, I think I'll take the... hay fries?", he said, figuring it was probably still a better choice than something like a daffodil sandwich.

The waiter took his order and walked away, and as Arnold saw his balls and taint flashed at him, he still couldn't believe just how casual everyone around was about their nudity, while he still felt like a snowman on the first day of spring. A moment later, he was served a plate of what looked like deep fried hay, with a small bottle of ketchup for flavor. Wanting to make it as easy to go down as possible, he tried to douse the pile with a huge load of ketchup, but he had trouble pushing it out of the old-fashioned glass bottle and ultimately ended up with a huge ketchup stain on his chest.

"Goddammit!", he barked to himself.

"See?", Twilight tried to contain her amusement, "If you were wearing clothes right now, you would have to wash them, but now all you have to do is wipe it off!"

"Thanks for making me feel better!", he grumbled back, trying to get the ketchup off himself.

"So tell me darling", Rarity asked from the other side of the table, "How are you finding life in Equestria so far?"

"I think it sucks", he replied while still cleaning himself, "Your society just seems extremely low-tech and some of your customs are downright weird!"

The others just burst out in a soft laughter to that, apparently finding his view of their world somewhat amusing.

"Well, yeah, I guess to someone who spends whole day in his own sweat our way of life probably does look funny!", Rainbow Dash snickered.

"So from what you've mentioned so far", Rarity continued in curiosity, "I'm supposed to understand that clothes play considerably large part in the daily life where you are from, is that correct?"

"Yeah, we are always dressed, not just for special occasions", he explained.

"My, that sounds like a wonderful place!", Rarity sighed in delight, "I'd love to live in a society that holds so much appreciation for dressing up!"

"So do you also take baths in clothes?", Rainbow Dash asked skeptically, "And what about doctors, how are they supposed to examine you properly?"

"No, of course we don't wear clothes in shower!", Arnold protested, "And doctors are different!"

"So lemme get this straight, sugarcube", Applejack asked, "It's okay when a doctor can see y'all, but not when somepony random on the street?"

"Yes, that is correct!", he snapped, now annoyed that not only did they deprive him of his right to cover himself, but now they also made him have to justify it.

"Say now, darling", Rarity started carefully, "I was thinking, since you no longer really need your clothes, how do you feel about the idea of selling them? I really liked the design of many of them, especially the material your pants were made of or the patterns on your shirt, and I am willing to pay decent amount for the complete package."

"Well, actually, I...", he started thinking of a polite way to decline.

"YES!", Twilight suddenly interrupted him, "He'll bring them to your boutique first thing in the morning on his way to work, you'll just have to wash them!"

"Hey, what gives!", he got angry at her, "You said I could keep them and still wear them at least sometimes!"

"Come on, be a big boy!", she quickly shut him down, "You know that the sooner you let go off anything encouraging you to hold on to your old lifestyle, the better for you. Besides, you desperately need money right now, so it's only for the best!"

"But... but...", he still tried to protest, but ultimately gave up, realizing he just lost the only comfort he had in his new life of permanent exposure: the anticipation of one day getting to feel his clothes on his skin again for a little while.

"Oh, that's wonderful!", Rarity clapped her hooves together in joy, "I just can't wait to remodel it all into brand new designs! I can already see the new fashion line I could base off it, of course you all will be invited to the grand premiere!"

"Woohoo, a party!", Pinkie Pie threw her hooves outwards in excitement, and in the process, she accidentally knocked off Applejack's hat to the ground.

"Pinkie Pie, look what y'all have done! Now Ah'll have to pick it up!", the cowpony scolded her in anger, then turned around and bent over to get her headgear. And that's when it happened.

Just like yesterday with Twilight casually mooning him, seeing Applejack's lifted rump sway back and froth from behind the table as she was taking her hat made him feel uncomfortable, but this time he realized it was more than the simple awkwardness of having someone's genitals flashed at him. As hard as it was for him to admit it to himself, it was actually... stimulating to his male brain. He knew he was basically just staring at a horse butt, but somehow the fact that it belonged to a sentient creature he could talk to made it feel more like seeing a naked woman, and the feminine roundness of her hindquarters combined with the hypnotic movement that no horses from his world were capable of inevitably caused an involuntary response in one particular part of his body, and he started panicking once he realized it. He was just getting erection while being completely naked in public, and everyone would be able to see it!

They're going to find out, he was thinking to himself nervously, not even daring to imagine how they'd react to the fact that he got a boner for Applejack. Feeling his manhood rising higher and higher, he started desperately trying to hide it as much as possible. He bent forward to make it more horizontal, he tried squeezing it with his thighs, he pushed himself against the table until the edge stabbed him painfully in his naked chest in order to hide it from the view as far as possible. All the time analizing all the possible angles someone could potentially see it from, and tormented by the thought that there would always be at least one left out of his control. Unfortunately, as it usually is when one tries to hide something, it eventually only caused more attention, and others started noticing something was off.

"Uh, what is he so nervous about this time?", Applejack looked at him suspiciously when she was back upright with her hat on.

He noticed everyone was now staring at him, confused about all his sudden wriggling and twisting. Eventually, Rainbow Dash just bowed and took a look under the table, apparently sensing what he was trying to hide, and now everything was clear.

"Now he's embarassed that he got an erection!", she sighed in a voice equally annoyed and amused.

The others momentarely stopped eating, and Fluttershy blushed deeply.

"You really did?", Twilight asked carefully.

"I- I just... well...", he started sweating profoundly, completely not knowing what to do.

"Forgive me asking, darling", Rarity asked in a stoic voice, "But what could possibly make you... excited about dining out?"

He was thinking about a possible way to explain himself, but none came to his mind that he thought would actually help him in this situation, so he just stared at them awkwardly in silence. They must have eventually figured out what had happened right before, because they all turned their heads towards Applejack, who started blushing.

"Was it because... you saw Applejack from behind?", Twilight blinked at him in shock.

"Oh my gosh, I can't believe it!", Rainbow Dash apparently found the whole thing hysterical, "The poor guy was so repressed back in his wussy world that now just seeing A.J.'s bits makes him hard!"

"Gosh, sugarcube", Applejack just laughed awkwardly, "Ah didn't know mah rump has such an effect on guys..."

"So you guys don't think it's creepy?", he was genuinely surprised, "You know, that I reacted that way about looking at her?"

"What are you talking about?", Twilight looked at him in confusion, "It would be creepy if you were inappropriately hitting on her, or invading her personal space, or maybe making rude remarks about her butt. But you can't really be blamed that your body reacted in a predictable way to finding her attractive, unless if maybe she was a little filly of course. That's like you wanted to judge a mare for her vulva winking when she saw a really handsome stallion."

He wondered what exatly it meant for a mare's vulva to 'wink', but he didn't really feel like asking.

"Of course, the fact that at your age you reacted this way to simply seeing a mare's rump in a normal daily situation is a little sad", Rarity remarked.

"Oh, I'm sorry we're not used to that level of openness!", he rolled his eyes, "It's not normal for us to just walk around naked in public, or to get an erection in front of everyone. Does it also mean you guys just do it in the open, while others watch?"

"Heavens, no!", Twilight actually seemed offended with that, "Just because we're not as prude as you guys doesn't mean we're some sort of perverted deviants! However, it's perfectly natural that certain parts of our bodies react in a certain way when we're attracted to somepony and there's nothing shameful about that, plus it also makes a lot of things easier as it lets a stallion and a mare easily find out how they feel about each other and what exactly they expect. I bet in your world it's not that convenient, eh?"

"Well, no, we mostly rely on talking and non-verbal cues.", he explained.

"That's good too, of course", Twilight agreed, "But more signals is always better for an efficient communication."

"Pardon my curiosity, darling", Rarity asked, "But in your world, how exactly can a lady know when somepony is thinking of her in a lustful way if his male parts are kept hidden from view at all times?"

"Well, I guess he'd just have to tell her", Arnold said rather matter-of-factly, "Otherwise, I don't think she has a way to find out."

"Darling, I think that's creepy!", she shuddered, "If you ask me, a lady should always be able to tell a male's intentions!"

He had no idea how to respond to the fact that he now lived in a world where females were uncomfortable with the idea of him being able to hide his genitals from them.

"Wait, but what about kids?", he noticed, "Is it really acceptable for them to see a stallion parading around with a throbbing erection in plain view?"

"And what's wrong with that?", asked Twilight, "There's no point sheltering foals from how our bodies work, in fact it probably would only be more damaging in the long run, as without the proper knowledge they'd be more vulnerable to being taken adventage of."

He thought about all the articles he had read about how lack of sexual education could apparently result in the victims of predators being too confused to know how to defend themselves or what to tell the adults, and he started wondering if she didn't actually have a point there.

"Well, looks like you do want to have a girlfriend here, after all!", Pinkie started suddenly teasing him about the whole situation, and everyone burst out laughing, even Fluttershy.

He felt himself beginning to blush again, so he just stared at the hay on his plate in silence. As if being naked in public wasn't bad enough, now he was naked in public with visible erection while everyone around him just casually discussed his erection, all during what was supposed to be just having a normal lunch together. He didn't think it could actually get any worse.

"Alright gals, how about we all stop talkin' about our genitals and go back to eatin'?", Applejack suggested and he really felt grateful about that, as well as about how she had just taken it all in stride in the first place.

The topic was quickly dropped and everyone focused on their plates again. As his erection eventually just naturally subsided, he somehow managed to finish his hay fries which actually weren't so bad with enough ketchup. For some time, everyone just talked about regular stuff like their jobs or some upcoming festival, and when they were all done eating, they just got up from the table and said goodbye to each other before going their separate ways. Arnold didn't really like leaving the safety of the cover that the table provided and standing upright in all his glory again, but he still felt relieved to finally be going back to the library.

"I'm so proud of you!", said Twilight in an encouraging voice on their way back, by which point the sun was slowly beginning to set, "Today you've managed to let go off your lifelong attachment to clothes and gather up courage to do something you were always taught to be ashamed of, which certainly wasn't easy for you. That's really quite an achievement, you know!"

"Thanks", he just said after hesitating a little.

"And to think you were so afraid!", she continued, "When we were leaving the library in the morning, it felt like I couldn't drag you out with wild horses, few hours later and now you don't even seem to be paying attention to it!"

Now that they were finally going back at the day's end, he realized she was actually right: at this point he wasn't even thinking that much about his nudity. Sure, it still felt unnatural to be outside in a state he'd be ashamed to show up in to a stranger even inside his own house, he'd still occassionally catch himself checking if others weren't staring at his body, and his feet still weren't quite used to the rough ground underneath them. But after a whole day without clothes, he didn't even notice when it eventually stopped occupying his mind all the time and he was actually able to forget about it for a while and direct his attention to other things just like normal. Apparently, being naked wasn't that bad when everyone else was and nobody was making a big deal out of it.

"Yeah, I have to admit I actually thought it would be much worse...", he reluctantly agreed.

"Just remember", she reminded him, "The only one who really cares about your genitals is you. In fact, I don't think anypony else even realizes you could actually have a problem with this particular body part, since to us it's no different than your ears or tongue. As long as you don't bring attention to your 'private parts' - assuming we can even still call them that - nopony will even think about them. Just act normal and you'll be fine."

"I'll keep that in mind", he promised, although he knew it wouldn't be easy.

The rest of their walk back was pretty easy and peaceful. By this time of the day, there weren't as many ponies on the streets as few hours before, so he didn't worry quite as much about being seen this time. At one point, they passed what looked like a couple on a date, and althought he had no way of telling, the stallion looked like he would likely be considered handsome in this world. He wasn't really looking, but he noticed that the obviously excited mare's vulva was contracting bizzarely, kind of like something that lives on an ocean's floor, and he wondered if that was the so called 'winking'.

Not long after, they finally arrived at the library. It felt weird to Arnold wiping his bare feet on the doormat before going inside, although he knew it was one of those new habits he had to get used to now with his shoes gone. Once they were inside and he heard Twilight lock the door behind him, he felt the greatest relief that this long day was finally over and he could at last be safe from all those eyes inside the library where only Twilight could see him instead of everyone. Of course, he quickly realized that tomorrow it would all start again, and then again and again every other day after that, but at least he knew that next time it wouldn't be nearly as horrible as on his first day.

"Okay, you can go take a shower while I make something to eat, and then we'll prepare your clothes for Rarity!", announced Twilight.

He didn't like being reminded that he had to give all his clothes away, but the prospect of a shower really brightened his mood after all the stress he had endured that day. Not only because of how much he needed it, especially his feet, but mostly because the shower was probably the most private place he'd get to be in that day, and one where he wouldn't have to be ashamed of his nudity. He quickly rushed to the bathroom, where he then spent much more time than yesterday, enjoying the comfort of being surrounded by the shower curtain which safely separated his now permanently naked body from anyone's eyes. After being finally done, he caught himself trying to put his clothes back on, completely forgetting that the familiar transition from "out of shower" to "in shower" was now gone, and then he came back to the main area to eat.

It turned out that this time, Twilight made a salad. It was mostly stuff he was used to, like carrots or lettuce or cucumbers, but he also found some daisies or hay in it. Still, he tried his best to swallow down at least some of it, even if it felt a little weird in his mouth. After they were both done eating, Twilight rose from her seat.

"Alright, take all your clothes and put them in a pile outside of the basement", she ordered.

He went down to the basement where he had left all his clothes earlier that day, which now felt like a million years ago and in a completely different life. He started moving them outside the basement door, and as he neatly stacked the jeans, the underwear, the t-shirt and the socks in a small pile, he was thinking of how he was basically parting with the only thing that reminded him of his own world, the only tie he had left to the life when he could feel safe being outside in public, and it gave him a pang of sadness knowing he would never wear them again.

"Can I at least keep the shoes?", he asked just in case.

"Arnold!"

"Okay, okay!", he said obediently as he put his Adidas sneakers on top of the pile.

"Wow, there's quite a lot of it!", remarked Twilight as she examined the pile, "Did you really wear all of this every day of your life?"

"Yes, and I actually like it that way!", he just barked at her.

"Look, I know I promised you could keep them", she started in a polite voice, "But believe me, it will only be for the best to get rid of them for good and just learn to live without them as soon as possible, they would only hold you back in adapting to our world. Not to mention that I know Rarity well and can assure you that she would pay you a really good money for something she likes, and you could really use extra cash now for lots of things, like buying a warm coat in the winter when you'll actually have a reason to cover yourself. And besides, she will probably make much better use of those clothes than you ever could, you'd be surprised what masterpieces she can create out of it!"

"Okay, you win!", he said in defeat, thinking of how not only someone would take his only clothes away from him, but would also cut them all into pieces to create something for those horses to wear.

"Great!", she put a hoof on his shoulder in support, "Now get ready for bed, tomorrow you'll have a busy day at your new job!"

He went down to the basement and got himself into the sleeping bag. He actually liked it in there, having his whole body finally covered in something even if he was technically still naked underneath. It also helped that he used to actually sleep naked from time to time, so at least he was now in a situation when nudity actually didn't feel so unfamiliar. The difference was, of course, that normally sleeping naked would end with getting up and putting the clothes back on, while here he would just have to leave the sleeping bag to be exposed to the world again, but he tried not to think about it. He turned the lamp off, thinking about all the time that passed since he went to sleep there the previous day, about how he just spent the entire day without clothes despite how unbelievable it used to seem, and about all those years of naked life to come. Hoping he would do well tomorrow at his new job at the spa, he eventually fell asleep.

Chapter 1

Around the Ponyville library, a large crowd of ponies was gathering, attracted by the commotion going on inside. Nopony dared to go check what was the cause of this, but judging from the screams and noises coming from within the tree building, it was nothing nice. The majority of the mane six who didn't live there, already galloping towards the library, were probably the only ones determined to go inside and investigate, knowing that Twilight needed their help. Whatever it was, their friend was obviously in big trouble.

They didn't know much more than the ever growing crowd around the library, but from the information they did have, they could piece together just enough to be worried. Judging from what she had told them earlier that day about an experiment she was planning to perform, and from what Rainbow Dash, who was the one who brought them here, had briefly seen through the library's window, Twilight just made one of the worst mistakes a magical pony could make: she accidently brought a sentient creature from another world.

"Pardon me, coming through!", yelled Rainbow Dash as they tried to push aside all the curious onlookers gathered around the tree. From there, they could already hear the bone-chilling shrieking and screeching coming from the inside, and they knew nothing good would come out of this. Consequences of bringing denizens of different worlds to Equestria were always disastrous, and considering how one time an unwise unicorn in Canterlot accidentally brought a giant tentacled abomination, who knew what kind of a terrifying creature those sounds were coming from. By the time they reached the door, they could also hear the voice of Twilight trying to somehow deal with the situation she had gotten herself into.

"Look, mister, if you only just calmed do... Ouch!", the familiar voice was coming from inside.

"Get away from me! Don't come any closer!", they could hear the screeching more clearly now and they were relieved that it was actually in their language.

As the five ponies opened the door and entered the library, they saw their purple friend standing among few books strewn around the floor, looking very uncomfortable. They followed her nervous gaze and backed against the bookshelves on one of the walls, they saw the creature making all those noises, which turned out to look much less menacing than they had expected. It had a body more or less similar to that of a small minotaur and a face of a primate, and it was mostly hairless save for a short mane on the top and the sides of the head, although it was hard to tell since it was covered almost head to toes in clothes. Literally the only body parts visible were its head and hands. From its voice and from how Twilight was referring to it, they concluded its gender was male. Right now, he was preparing to throw another book at Twilight.

"Twahlight, what's going on here?", asked Applejack in confusion.

"There's more of you?", the creature looked at them, panting nervously, "What are you furry things even supposed to be?"

"Please, you need to relax, I just want to explain...", Twilight continued begging, but then the book was thrown at her, though luckily this time she managed to duck in time.

"Shut up! Just send me back dammit, I demand you!", the creature hissed back, still backing himself against the shelves in panic.

"That's what I need to tell you about!", Twilight tried to reason, but the cornered individual just grabbed the unicorn head statue from the nearby pedastal, with an intent of using it as a projectile too, "Look, sir, I don't want to do this, but if you don't stop, you'll give me no choice..."

But the aggresive biped ignored her pleas and just raised the statue above his head, preparing to throw. Reluctantly, Twilight fired her tranquilizing spell at the creature, but he managed to dodge the magical beam just in time while throwing the statue badly, which just sort of landed at the purple mare's hooves. The spell simply hit the books on the shelves instead, charging them with static electricity.

"Don't worry Twahlight, Ah'll take care of it!", said Applejack as she took out her lasso and started swinging it above her head. The loop fell swiftly around the biped's shoulders, and with one strong pull, he dropped restrained to the floor. Before he was able to put himself together, the cowgirl pony galloped up to him and tied the rest of the rope around his body multiple times. Now completely immobile, he started thrashing around and screaming, calling the mane six dogs, reproductive organs and... a horse? It took good few moments before he finally calmed down and the others were able to approach him safely.

"Look, mister, if you promise to calm down, we will untie you, okay?", said Twilight in a firm voice.

"Pleeease, I just want to go back home!", the biped started begging in an almost crying voice, all his aggression gone now, "I was just waiting for a bus, and then suddenly that bright flash of light came, and then I ended up here with the purple one apologizing me..."

"Um, that's the problem...", Twilight just looked aside awkwardly.

"What are you talking about?", the creature's voice rose a little again.

"Well, I... I can't send you back. That's just impossible", said Twilight, knowing it was time to face the consequences of her mistake.

"What do you mean, you can't?", now he wasn't even trying to contain his voice, "You brought me here, now you send me back just like you did it the first time!"

"No, I really can't!", Twilight tried to explain nervously, "There's an infinite number of different universes, and I connected with yours completely at random, there is no way now to find which exact one it was!"

"I don't care if it takes you ten years", he started hissing and spitting, "You go find the way back to my world and get me there, you hear me?"

"You don't understand!", Twilight only now began to truly understand how much she screwed up, "The number of possible universes is infinite, which means the chance of finding the exact one you came from is one to infinity, so pretty much zero. Even if we did find a universe that looked just like yours, the subset of universes that are different variations of your own is technically also infinite, so we could never know if it's your universe or just one that looks more or less like it but with significant differences, like one where people you care about never existed, or where you are treated very differently. Not to mention there would likely be two of you, which would cause further problems. So at best, you'd live a life that would be remotely like the one you used to have, while also dealing with another you, but it would never be the same."

For a brief moment, he didn't say a word, just staring blankly somewhere in front of him. Then he started breathing more and more intensily, until his hyperventylation turned into another fit of anger, only this time way more intense. It took another few moments of screaming, tossing around and throwing those weird insults, during which Fluttershy almost fainted, before he finally calmed down, and became simply apathetic.

"You realize what you've just done?", he asked in a lifeless, defeated voice, "You ruined my life. I used to actually have a life back home, you know. And then you just came and destroyed it. You should burn in hell for this."

"I know, I know", Twilight didn't even try to defend herself, "And believe me, I will have to live with the guilt for the rest of my life. But although I understand nothing will ever undo the consequences of my stupidity, I assure you I will do everything in my might to make up for it."

"Make up for it?", he just sneered bitterly, "What could a colorful talking dog-thing like you possibly do to make up for my ruined life?"

"Technically, we are ponies", she corrected him, "And yes, I know I can't give you your life back, but at the very least I could make sure that your new life here is as good as possible."

"Are you kidding me?", he kept scoffing, "What good could there possibly be? Just take a look around. You keep books in literal holes carved in the walls. I don't hear any traffic outside. This whole place just seems incredibly primitive. Do you even have any cellular networks around here?"

"What networks now?", Twilight blinked, not understanding much.

"See? I knew it!", he pointed out with satisfaction, "You horse people really are pretty backwards, assuming you can even be called horses! How am I supposed to spend the rest of my life here?"

"Look, sir", Twilight rubbed her forelegs against each other awkardly, "I know it may not be as impressive as your world probably is, but you'll see it's not so bad around here, I'm sure you'll grow to like it. After all, if you are stuck here anyway, why not at least try to make the best of it?", she tried to smile politely.

"Well, I guess I have no choice...", he just sighed in defeat.

"Good!", she said with the first hint of relief, "Now, if you promise not to cause any more trouble, we will untie you, okay?"

"Whatever, it's not like resistance will help me in my situation anyway."

"Applejack, untie him!", she turned to the orange pony.

"Are ya sure about it, sugarcube?"

"Just do as I say."

Applejack reluctantly untied the creature, prepared to get jumped at any moment. However, when the ropes came loose, he simply lifted himself from the floor and started rubbing his numb joints lazily. Still, Twilight carefully watched his every move, always ready to use her tranquilizing spell again if needed.

"Alright, now that we have that out of the way, how about I give you a little introduction to our world?", she smiled politely, and then turned to her friends, "Okay guys, thanks for all your help, I think I will be able to handle it by myself from this point."

"Are you sure we can leave you all alone with him, darling?", asked Rarity with hesitation.

"Don't worry, I still have my magic!", she patter her horn in confirmation, hoping that this time she would always be close enough to him if she ever had to use it, "Besides, I'm responsible for this mess and I feel that I have to face all the consequences of it, even if they include putting myself at risk."

"If you say so", Rainbow Dash shrugged, and the five ponies walked out of the library, save for Pinkie bouncing her way out, leaving Twilight alone with the strange creature.

"Okay", said Twilight when the others were gone, "So now that it's just you and me, how about you introduce yourself? You know, your name, what species you are, or where exactly you come from."

"Well, my name is Arnold", the biped said reluctantly, without even looking at her, "And if you need to know, I am a human, which is a kind of a primate, but I doubt there's any of us around these parts. As for the place of residence, I come from a small planet... called... Earth...", with the mention of his home, his lower lip started tingling in anger.

Twilight was very curious about the planet Arnold came from, but, as much as she wanted to know about it, seeing how just the very mention of it rose his temper again, she chose not to touch the subject for now.

"Alright, Arnold", she smiled politely, "My name is Twilight Sparkle and I would like to educate you a little about our world. We are now in the land of Equestria, which is ruled by two benevolent regal sisters, princess Celestia and princess Luna, who raise the sun and the moon every day. Our beautiful land is mostly inhabited by ponies like me, who can be divided into three races..."

"Wait, did you just say 'raise the sun and the moon'?", he gave her a careful look.

"Well, yeah, princess Celestia raises the sun in the morning, and then princess Luna raises the moon at the day's end."

"But how can you 'raise' the sun, or the moon? How is that even supposed to work?"

"That's just the way it is."

"Well, that doesn't make any sense."

"Ugh...", she groaned, knowing now that it wouldn't be easy.

For the next hour or two, she tried to give him knowledge on everything he needed to know about Equestria, while he just kept asking more and more questions, constantly getting on her nerves. She tried to just answer politely to each and every one of them, knowing she owed him all the help he needed after what she had done, but by the time she had told him everything, she was completely exhausted.

"Alright, I think that's pretty much it. Is everything clear?", she gasped out, wiping her forehead.

"Yeah, just one more thing, do those carts they supposedely haul behind them have that 'passive magic' too when in the air?", he asked with a barely contained smirk on his face.

"Enough!", she just screamed in desperation, only wanting to be finally done with it, "It's getting late and we still have a lot to do."

"What exactly do you mean?", he asked more seriously.

"Well, we need to find you a job and a place to live", she explained, "Now that you have to stay here with us, I'm responsible with making sure you have means to provide for yourself."

"Oh, that's nice of you", he tried to sound polite, although he didn't like being reminded that he was stuck there for good.

"Alright, let's go!", she turned toward the door and he followed her reluctantly.

Once outside, she noticed Arnold carefully studying all the ponies passing them by and all the buildings along the streets they walked, although his face didn't make him look very impressed. Still, she tried to make him familiar with the neighbourhood that was going to be his own too.

"And this big building over here is our townhall", she pointed her hoof, "And across the stream over there, you can see Carousel Boutique, where my friend Rarity - you met her earlier - sells the best dresses in town!"

"Do you really need to have thatched roofs on all your houses?", he suddenly asked, "Aren't you afraid about the fire hazard? And have you never thought about paving those roads? It must be one hell of a mud here every time after it rains. Honestly, that really doesn't seem like the best place to get permanently stuck in, to tell you the truth."

"Oh please, could you at least give it a chance?", she really struggled to still sound positive, "I know it may not be perfect around here, but I'm pretty sure once you get to know it, you will actually learn to love it around here, and one day it may actually start to feel like home to you too. Will you at least try?"

"Yeah, yeah, so where are we supposed to go now?", he just waved his hand.

"Our first stop is the Ponyville Employment Agency!"

It took them a while to reach the agency's building, and once there, they were served by a nice unicorn official in glasses. Arnold waited in front of her desk while she was preparing some documents, until finally she whipped out a blank form from a folder.

"Alright, mister... your name?"

"Arnold Nakuyamitopous."

"And what's your current place of residence?"

"Well, to be honest...", he started, now knowing if it would make any sense to just give his home address.

"Ponyville Library!", Twilight barged in to help.

"Okay.", the clerk wrote that down too, "And your field of employment?"

"Umm... software engineering?", he had a feeling it wouldn't be very useful around these parts.

"Oh, I don't think we'll have anything for that", she just smiled politely, "But I can see you have hands, right? That could actually be a huge asset for you here, mister. As you have probably noticed, not many of us around here are blessed with these, haha, so those like... you, forgive me for not recognizing what species you belong to, are in high demand for manual tasks. I'm pretty sure we'll find a lot of offers for you."

"You'd be surprised how many businesses would find you useful!", Twilight chimed in, "I would probably just hire you as an assistant down at the library, but I already have Spike for that!"

"Good to know", he tried to put on a smile.

The clerk wrote down a few more details on the form, then she stamped a small piece of paper and handed it to him.

"Here's your jobseeker's card, sir", she explained, "Show it to me the next time you come here and we'll see if we've got something for you. Like I said, there's always a need for a pair of hands so you might even have some luck tomorrow!"

"Thank you", said Arnold as he took the card, and then Twilight saw him simply put it in one of the numerous pockets on his pants.

They said goodbye and left the building. Once back on the street, Arnold, looked at Twilight.

"Alright, now where?"

"We'll go check our community bulletin board", explained Twilight, "It's quite a walk from here, but they usually have at least few house rent offers!"

It really did take them quite a while to reach their destination, during which Twilight was thinking how else she could impress Arnold with the neighbourhood, but seeing how indifferent he still looked, she just decided to give him time. Unfortunately, when they finally arrived at the wooden board, they didn't find anything relevant among the countless notes plastered all over it. The only rental offers were one for a group of three, preferably college age, and another one for a single mare.

"Oh well, we'll come again tomorrow, at least in the meantime we can leave our own note", said Twilight as she reached out behind her back and whipped out a piece of paper with her teeth.

"How did you do that?!", Arnold looked at her with his eyes open wide.

"Do what?"

"That paper, where did you get that from?"

"What do you mean? I had it with me all the time!", she couldn't understand him.

"No you didn't, you just reached to that empty space behind you and... and..."

"What are you talking about?", she cocked her head at him in puzzlement.

"Oh, nevermind!", he just rolled his eyes.

Twilight hovered the note to the board with her magic and stuck it to the wooden surface in one of the few empty places. Arnold took a closer look at it and saw that it read: 'Looking for a small house for a single male to rent, more information at the Ponyville Library'.

"Okay, I think that would be it for today, now we can go back to the library and have something to eat!", she said.

After another long walk, they were back at the library, by which time the sun was slowly beginning to set. They climbed upstairs to the residential area, where Arnold took off his fancy laced shoes and put them next to the stairs, although Twilight couldn't see what his feet looked like as it turned out he was actually also wearing socks underneath. She opened the fridge and looked around to see what was available.

"Alright, it looks like Spike made a huge bowl of oatmeal before he left for Canterlot, does it sound good to you?", she asked.

"Well, if there's nothing else...", he nodded.

She heated up two servings of the oatmeal for both of them. After they were done eating, she started thinking of how to host him for the night.

"I'm sorry we don't have a guest bedroom here, but before you get your own place, you can sleep in the library's basement", she suggested, "It's not really too cozy but you'll have a lot of privacy down there."

"It's okay."

"Great!", she grinned with relief, "I'll go get you a sleeping bag, and if you need to, you can take a shower before sleep."

He felt relieved at the thought of a nice relaxing shower after such a hard day, but then he realized that all his clothes had gotten pretty dirty from all that walking and that he had nothing to change into.

"Look, could I have my clothes washed maybe?", he asked awkwardly, "I can't really wear them much longer..."

"Sure, just put them on the pile outside the basement's door and we'll get it washed with everything else when I send it all to the laundry."

"Uhm, and when will it be?", he asked nervously, realizing he would have literally nothing to wear while waiting to get his clothes back.

"Well, it's mostly just bedsheets and tablecloths, so probably in few weeks", Twilight just said casually, "Maybe a little earlier, I'll have to see if my gala dress needs some cleaning."

"FEW WEEKS?!", Arnold screamed in terror, "But what am I supposed to wear until then?"

"Who says you have to?", Twilight looked at him like he was crazy, "It's the middle of summer."

No, you don't understand!", he tried to explain, "I'm not like you guys, I actually have to wear clothes!"

"Why? Are you so sensitive to cold? Or maybe your skin can't be exposed?", she asked with curiosity.

"Not, it's not that, you see, in my world we always wear clothes, all the time!"

"Even when it's hot outside? But why would you do that?", she became confused, "Don't worry, you're not in your world now and you don't have to follow those rules, here you can just drop it all off any time you want!"

"But you don't get it, I just can't be naked outside!"

"But why exactly?", she was just getting more and more confused, "Could you just explain to me what's with your strange fixation on clothes?"

"Well, it's just that... you know, I'd feel kind of exposed being outside without anything covering me...", he started, "Besides, everyone could just see my private parts!"

"Your... private parts? Which parts of you are exactly private?"

"You know... uhm, genitals.", he looked aside while saying that.

"Is there something wrong with your genitals? Do they look funny? I promise no one will laugh at you, we have many different kinds of creatures here, each with their own unique anatomy."

"No, I just don't like having them in plain view."

"What's wrong with that?", she sighed in exasperation, "You can see mine all the time, do I seem to care about that? See?"

And in order to demonstrate, she simply turned around and waved her rump at him, and even thought technically it was just a horse vulva and he had already seen it multiple times that day, having it sway back and forth in front of his face made him feel kind of uncomfortable.

"Well, we just don't like to flash around the parts that we use for, you know, for reproduction.", he said after she turned around back at him.

"So let me get this straight", she looked at him carefully, "You're ashamed of a part of your own body just because every once in a while it is used for intimate purposes? Does that also mean that in your world, you keep beds hidden behind curtains?"

"No, of course not!", he protested, "But that's just not the same..."

"Well, here in Equestria we are completely comfortable with our bodies", she explained, "So I assure you that from now on you don't have to worry about covering yourself anymore."

"It's not about that!", he started getting anxious, "Try to put yourself in my situation, I've spent all my life always having some clothes on me, to me wearing clothes is like... like having an umbrella during rain! If I suddenly had to stand outside completely naked, with everyone seeing every inch of me, I'd feel... well, pretty awful."

"Don't worry, you'll get used to it!", she just smiled reassuringly, "One day you won't even remember about those silly rules from back home!"

"Wouldn't it be easier to just buy some washing powder and do the laundry here?"

"Um, no?", she said as if that was the craziest question ever, "It only comes in those huge industrial-sized packages that are used by laundries and also ponies who work with lot of clothes, like Rarity for example."

"Wait, so you can't just buy a small amount for your own use, like a box?"

"Who would even buy that?", she snorted, "We only dress up once in a while so we don't really need to have our clothes washed that often, well maybe except in Canterlot but most of them are rich over there anyway, and when you need to wear clothes for work, the company always provides the laundry. There's just no point keeping laundry agents at home for your personal use. Not to mention that even in small quantities it would probably be quite expensive."

"How expensive can a little bit of chemicals be?"

"Well, maybe in a world as obsessed with covering oneself as yours there is a high demand for it", she explained, "But here, there's not really much justification for mass producing it, so of course the prices will be higher. Same reason why you don't see small, affordable packages of gold polisher or elephant food lying around in stores."

"So you're saying that... I won't be able to just wear my clothes all the time like I always have?", he gulped as he asked that.

"How do you expect it to work?", she shook her head, "If you wanted to walk around in these clothes all day, every day, they'd constantly get covered in dirt and your sweat, and would need to be washed with something else than just water pretty much all the time. You would have to waste a lot of money on laundry or else you'd smell just like Pinkie's crazy sister. Well, maybe if you only wore a shirt like some of us do, I guess it would somehow work, but your whole body is covered in clothes, judging by your feet in more than one layer in some places, and all the warmer spots are in constant contact with them, I can't even imagine how much of your perspiration all of this would collect after whole day! Sorry, I don't know how it's managed where you come from, but here such lifestyle is pretty unsustainable."

"You mean that I... I will have to be naked here... all the time?", he started sweating as the implications of this were slowly getting to him.

"Well, when it gets colder I guess you'll have to get yourself some coat and warm boots, but outside of that? Yeah, you'll just stay in your own skin like everypony else."

"This is ridiculous!", he suddenly burst out and for a moment, Twilight got scared she'd have to use her horn again, "You can't just forbid me from wearing clothes, this is something I should be allowed to do whenever I choose to!"

"Well, who's stopping you?", she groaned as she rolled her eyes, "You can put on your clothes when you feel like it, just don't do it everyday! I like to wear something nice every once in a while too, but that doesn't mean I would walk around in a dress from when I wake up to when I go to bed, because that would be both pointless and impractical. Nopony else here has a problem with their own nudity, so why should it suddenly be different just for you? Just stop being silly and do what we all do, you won't run from it because you're going to stay here anyway, so might as well just get used to it, right?"

He didn't say a word, just stared at her with a defensive look on his face.

"Look", she said in her most friendly voice as she put her hoof on his shoulder, "Tomorrow we'll go see if there are any job or house offers, and before we leave, you will take everything off and just go out like I am, and I promise you that nopony will even look at your 'private parts', as you call them. You'll see that there's nothing wrong with having your body visible to others and that everything will be perfectly normal, no different from today. Sure, it might feel strange at first, but you won't even notice when you get used to it, and I bet after few days you won't even think about it. I know it's not easy to suddenly make such big changes in your lifestyle, but you're going to live here for the rest of your days so you'll have to get used to the local customs, wearing clothes everywhere would be very impractical in this world and besides, here in Ponyville they wouldn't like it as you'd probably just look like a Canterlot jerk to them. You'll have to go through this sooner or later so let's just get it over with as soon as possible, okay?"

He simply nodded without really saying anything, trying glumly to process the fact that tomorrow he would have to go outside completely naked for everyone to see, and that this would be his every day from now on for the rest of his life.

"That's a good boy!", she gave him a pat on the back with a huge relief, "Now go get yourself refreshed while I prepare your place to sleep!"

He went to the bathroom and had a quick shower, trying to finish as soon as possible and put on his clothes again, even though they were already pretty dirty, just to enjoy wearing them while he still could. Then he got to the basement end went down the stairs to the bottom, where Twilight was already waiting for him next to a sleeping bag and a kerosene lamp.

"Alright, I already made up your place", she greeted him with a smile, "If you need anything, just go upstairs and ask!"

"Yeah, sure, you can go now", he just shooed her away absent-mindedly and the purple mare went upstairs to the basement door.

"Have a good night", she said from the top of the stairs, and then the door closed behind her and Arnold was all alone.

For a moment he was thinking if he shouldn't just sleep in his clothes, but then decided that would be an overkill. He just took off the pants, then slid into the sleeping bag still wearing the dirty t-shirt and underwear simply because he knew it was probably the last night when he was wearing anything to bed. He turned off the lamp and the basement was plunged in darkness. As he was lying there in the sleeping bag alone with his thoughts, he started contemplating his dismal situation. The day started as normal, and then he was suddenly transported to a completely different world, learned that he would never come back, and now on top of that he heard that he would have to always be naked here. Already dealing with the fact that he was stuck in an unfamiliar world and that he would never see home again, he was also haunted with the awkward perspective of being completely exposed to everyone he encounters, every day, everywhere. Thinking about all this kept him awake for hours, tossing back and forth inside the sleeping bag at the bottom of the pitch-dark basement, until finally he drifted into an uneasy sleep.