Preliminary Tour

“Hm? Oh yes!” Celestia said. “I haven't explained about that yet.”

“You... you just molested--” Twilight sputtered.

“I did no such thing,” Celestia said. “The inspections are part of the agreed upon process by the student and their parents. They are also infrequent and limited strictly to myself, Vice Principal Luna, and Nurse Redheart.”

“You put your hand down her underwear!”

“Only to see how agitated she was,” Celestia said calmly. “Periodically, we conduct inspections to see if a student needs to be reassessed or has been neglecting their releases. A student can only be inspected once a week and is encouraged to report if they've already been inspected that week. Naturally, it's possible they may lie to get out of an inspection, but since we're already committed to making sure the students are comfortable, we let it slide.”

“So, if she had said someone else had... inspected her already?” Twilight asked. Her voice has the tone of someone dancing on the edge of madness.

“Then I would have stopped immediately,” Celestia answered. She looked at Twilight who was looking very flushed and dizzy. “I think you could use some air, Twilight. Why don't we go out to the athletic field?”

“Yes, air! Good!” Twilight said. “Air would be nice! Thank you!”

“This way.” Celestia put a hand on Twilight's shoulder and guided her down a hall to the exit leading to the athletic field. Twilight put a hand up as the sudden influx of sunlight caught her by surprise. She put her hand down and stared.

“As you can see, Canterlot High has one of the best athletic programs in the public school system. We work hard to cultivate a supportive team environment, both in our athletic teams and in our standard gym classes.”

Celestia smiled at the class of students that were doing calisthenics on the field. Rainbow Dash was out front leading the group.

“One, two! One, two!” cried the athlete. “Hey, Thunderlane! I see you slacking back there! Come on, guys, only ten more! You can do it!”

Celestia looked back at Twilight. “See? Fully supportive.”

Twilight stared at the principal in disbelief. “They're all NAKED!”

This was true. The entire class was doing their exercises in the nude. And yet, not a single one of them seemed embarrassed or acted like this was unusual. Twilight's gaze kept ping ponging from the class to the principal and back again. “What is going on here?!”

“Gym class, duh!” said Rainbow Dash who had come up to them. She threw an arm around Twilight's shoulders, causing the nerdy girl to jump. Twilight's gaze dropped to Rainbow's naked chest then sharply back up, blushing madly.

“B-but you're naked!”

“Well, yeah,” Rainbow confirmed. “All the gym classes are done in the nude. Well, y'know, except for the ones for the prudes.”

“Rainbow Dash.” Celestia's voice held a disapproving tone as she raised an eyebrow. Rainbow grinned sheepishly.

“Sorry, Principal Celestia, it just slipped out.”

Celestia rolled her eyes and turned to Twilight. “We've found that holding gym classes in the nude for those students on the special disciplinary program helps everyone become more comfortable with their bodies, and it saves on wear and tear on gym uniforms.”

“Plus, since everybody's seen everybody naked already, no embarrassment when we hit the showers!” Rainbow added.

“Also a benefit,” Celestia agreed. “Not just for these students but for everyone. I cannot tell you how often, earlier in my career, I could easily tell which students had just come from gym class every day. I had to keep a steady supply of air freshener in my desk.”

Twilight voice came out slow and strained. “I... guess that's a good thing?”

“It's awesome!” Rainbow said, slapping Twilight on the back. “The team's practice in the buff and we become closer than ever. It's really good for morale!”

“It is?” Twilight asked.

“You betcha! Listen, you give it a week, and I guarantee you asking out the guys is gonna be a lot easier, especially if you've already seen what they're packing, if you get me.”

“Ahem,” Celestia chided. Rainbow grinned again, blushing.

“I think I better get back to it,” she said.

“Yes, I think you better,” Celestia replied.Rainbow gave Twilight a quick one armed hug, causing the nerdy girl to freeze up and squeak.

“Lookin' forward to see you in class, Twi! Catch you later!”

Rainbow ran back to the rejoin her classmates, who greeted her warmly. Celestia looked down at Twilight.

“Ready to go back inside?”

“Yes,” Twilight said absently. “No. Wait. I'm sorry, this is kind of overwhelming. How long has this been going on?”

“Only two or three years,” said Celestia. “Why?”

“I just find it hard to believe that everyone is okay with this. I mean, what about other transfer students? This must be just as upsetting to them as me. Is there anyone here who started after all...” Twilight waved a hand vaguely in the direction of the group of naked students. “... this was already going on?”

“Why yes,” Celestia smiled. “I'm sorry, Twilight, perhaps I should have had her warn you in advance. Sunset Shimmer went through a similar period of adjustment when she first came here. Maybe she can help you make sense of all this.”

Twilight nodded so rapidly her glasses almost flew off her face. “Sunset Shimmer! Yes! I would like to talk to her!”

Celestia looked at her watch. “Ah! Perfect. She's currently in Vice-Principal Luna's office. Let's go meet her there.”

Twilight nodded again and allowed Celestia to lead her back into the school. As they entered the building, a thought occurred to her.

“I'm sorry, Principal Celestia,” she began. “But why would Sunset be in Vice-Principal Luna's office?”

“Oh, she's having one of her regular discipline sessions.”