Dustin stepped off the train in Canterlot. She immediately felt every eye turn to her, staring at her nakedness. She froze as myriad pastel ponies turned in her direction. "B-B-Belay…" She hated that her voice trembled.
"It's the Princess!"
"Princess Twilight Sparkle!"
"Good day, Princess!"
"What has gotten into you, Dust? I have never known you to be this skittish before." Belay stepped up beside his friend. "Wow, she really is popular. Everyone knows her, or so it seems."
"I thought they were all staring at me." Dust covered her snout with a hoof to stop the embarrassing words from tumbling out. She turned to look at Belay, and instead of the derision she expected, she saw only sympathy. Tears started to well up on their own, and there was nothing Dust could do to stop them.
"Hey, don't—" Belay was cut off as the suddenly sobbing pony wrapped her forelegs around him. He lifted one leg to half-hug back. "Don't cry. This is the naked thing again, isn't it?" She nodded against him. "Thought so. But this is even better than if we came in with just the two of us."
"What do you mean." Dustin was now acutely aware that she was hugging her best friend and former lover.
"Look at them. Every single pony here is focused on Princess Twilight; do you think any noticed us at all?" Belay gave his friend another squeeze. "We are just two more ponies here."
"Hello. I am Twilight…" Twilight—not the princess—rolled her eyes. "Sorry, Twilight Velvet. Princess," a happy lilt touched her voice, "Twilight's mother. She asked me to give you a little tour of Canterlot while she works."
Belay and Dustin looked at each other as Kiera's translator did its work, quickly disengaging from the supportive hug. Belay noticed Dust shimmy around to the side, half-hiding herself. "The Princess really loves to get into her work quickly." It came as a moderate relief to hear Twilight Sparkle was such an attentive worker. "Where are my manners. My name is Belay, and this is Dustin y Neil." He stepped to the side, revealing Dust.
"It is a pleasure to meet you both." Twilight Velvet honestly meant it. She studied the less outgoing of the two ponies. "Dustin is an odd name for a mare—pretty though."
Dust recoiled at first, but then noticed something that helped her relax; just like Belay and herself, Twilight Velvet was completely naked. Except for the fur. 'Why am I so fixated on this?' "P-P-Pleased to meet you," she had to mentally kick herself, "Miss Twilight."
"Please, just call me Twilight." Twilight beamed at the overly formal greeting. "Now, what do two young ponies want to see first?" The moment she asked, Belay's belly grumbled its dissatisfaction at being short on food.
"Colts will be colts, even when they are all grown up. You are just like my Shiny." Twilight Velvet only smiled more at the embarrassed expression on Belay's face. "We will definitely combine the two activities, somewhere nice for lunch."
Dust stuck her tongue out at Belay. "Greedy guts." She couldn't stop the prance in her step as she started after Twilight Velvet, following her out into the crowd without a second thought to her nudity.
"Oh come on. Your belly rumbles all the time when you get too distracted to eat." Belay wasn't really in a bad mood, but he pretended to distract Dust from her modesty problem. "If you don't me asking, Twilight, where are we going for lunch?"
"I thought something light, yet uniquely pony." Twilight Velvet raised one eyebrow as she looked at Belay. "My little Twily told me some things." She smiled and turned them toward a small dining area that spilled out of an open-fronted coffee shop.
Lifting her snout, Dust felt a tremble of delight run from the tip of her nose all the way down her body to her tail. "Is that coffee? I have only ever had the real thing once, it is almost impossible to get anymore."
"That is because natural coffee is a class six stimulant." Belay couldn't deny how good it smelled though. "But I don't think I will make a log entry about this, if you don't? Last thing we want is to cause a huge rush of people swarming here for their beverages."
Twilight Velvet ignored the quick banter and greeted the shop assistant. "Hello there, Hot Drop." She grinned wide, delighted she remembered the barrister’s name. "Two coffees, a tea for myself, and three wildflower rolls, please."
Dustin let herself be led to a table by Twilight Velvet, and she took a seat. "So, are you a queen?" She wasn't quite sure how to ask in a less outright demanding way, so figured she would just go with it; Twilight was being informal, after all.
"A queen? Oh no." Twilight gave a nervous chuckle. "Why ever do you ask?" She settled in beside Dustin.
"Your children are both royalty." Belay offered, getting a nod from Dust. "Where we are from, only the children of a queen are called prince or princess." He shifted a little to get comfortable on the seat.
"That isn't how we do things. Oh, there are ponies who gain their titles from more mundane deeds. Prince Blueblood, my own Prince Shining Armor." Twilight spotted the server on their way over with drinks. "But mostly, a princess is somepony who embodies a virtue so much they become an alicorn."
"Like Princess Twilight?" Dustin hadn't failed to notice the mare sitting really close to her. Reaching up with a hoof, she bumped her comm button. "Kiera," she sub-vocalized, "I am getting a vibe from Twilight Velvet. Do you have enough data to evaluate her reactions?"
"No, but use your head, Dust. Remember, she is the mother of two royal figures." Kiera didn't spare Dust much of her attention, she was too busy entertaining two heads of state.
"Thanks Kiera, toss me back on the translator." As Dustin asked, a soft bleep sounded in her ear. Just as she looked from Belay to Twilight, a mare brought their drinks to the table. All Dust's attention focused on the cup, but no sooner was it before her than she realized a huge problem with the arrangement. "How do I drink this?"
Twilight giggled softly. "Well, I could just feed you, but I think you deserve to know a little trick. Hold up your hoof for me."
Dust obliged, lifting a foreleg up and holding his hoof out to Twilight. Her horn illuminated with magic and floated a teaspoon over. She felt it touch against the underside of her hoof.
"Now squeeze down on these parts—your frog." Twilight held the spoon in place until she saw Dust's frog grip the handle. "There, see?" She smiled wide and levitated her own teacup up, taking a sip from it.
Turning her hoof around, Dust inspected the frog closely. "It feels like I have two fingers there. But they aren't really fingers, just big soft pads." Squeezing and releasing them a few times, she couldn't help but get completely distracted in the biology of it.
"I take it neither my daughter, nor anypony else, thought to educate the two of you in your…" Twilight Velvet fished for the right word, her hoof gesturing to the pair as she did, "your new selves? No lessons in how to hold things, social cues, magic?" She looked at Belay pointedly.
"Our… boss is probably the best word… she had a meeting with Princesses Celestia and Luna. Your daughter is busy working on fixing all of this." Belay took a deep breath of his own coffee. "So it looks like you get to be our teacher." As best he could, Belay nestled the handle of the cup in the frog of his right forehoof, and lifted it up.
Twilight looked back to see Dustin lifting her own coffee up. The expression of bliss as they took a sip of the drink improved Twilight's mood even further. "Enjoying that?" She sipped more of her own tea, savoring the drink.
Nodding, Dust's mouth was practically singing the flavors to her. "This is better than the stuff I had back home. If Equestria joins the FSP, they could make a fortune just selling coffee…" She sipped more, feeling the tingling rush of the caffeine hitting her system.
"You have that right, Dust." Belay supported the mug with his other forehoof, holding it firmly. "What else should we learn, besides magic?" Inside, Belay was practically bouncing with excitement. 'I'm going to learn magic!'
"Well, money shouldn't be too big an issue, Twily said that anything you wanted to do—within reason—would be covered by Princess Celestia." Twilight Velvet sipped her tea a little more fully, savoring the taste. "We could go and see a show, but you will need some fancy clothes first." She looked pointedly at Dustin and traced the mare's form with her eyes. "You will look wonderful in a fine—" She halted the moment Dustin ran. "Uh…"
"Now you did it. Sorry, Twilight, but Dust is a little skittish about all…" Belay gestured to his barrel with a hoof, "this. It was worse for her, I think for all Dustin's talk about being in wild parties, she never really got out of her shell much."
"Will she be okay?" Twilight watched the mare's tail flick as she bolted from the cafe. Just like when she had mentioned a dress, she admired Dust's curves and lines.
~~~~~+++++~~~~~
Dustin's hooves clattered in time with her heartbeat. She wove through the street and ran from the confusion Twilight Velvet had instilled in her. Closing her eyes to squeeze the tears away, she found herself grabbed in a soft, squishy grip.
A deep voice asking what sounded like a question, brought Dust up short. "Kiera? Kiera what happened to the translation?" She looked around in a panic, but relaxed a little when the big, armored stallion set her back down. "Kiera?" In her haste she didn't even sub-vocalize, she actually spoke out loud.
"I am here, Dust." Kiera spoke only through Dustin's implant. "Reviewing footage now. You knocked your button loose about two blocks back, a filly has it now and is carrying it away." She let a little of her disapproval leak through her voice, until she noticed the spike in Dust's vitals. "Calm down, relax. Say Twilight Velvet's name.
Getting her panic under control, Dust looked up at the big stallion and opened her mouth. "T-Twilight Velvet?" As soon as she mentioned the name the guard brightened, smiling and saying something to her. She nodded, but knew she wore a look of confusion.
"Dust!"
Her ears perking at the yell of her name, Dustin lifted her head up. "Belay? Twilight?" She turned her head and ears, looking for her friends. The stallion lifted a hoof and pointed, giving Dust a direction to look. "Belay!" Her hooves were already moving, and she raced forward to hug her best friend.
"What happened, Dust? You ran off, and then Kiera started blasting me, telling me to move and find you." Belay hugged his friend.
"Why am I feeling like this, Bel? I keep feeling my emotions swing around like mad. I think I want to go somewhere quiet and just relax for a while…" Dust trailed off, the desire in her voice was clear.
"Then we do that." Twilight Velvet smiled at the pair, now realizing that it was the little silver thing attached to Belay that was talking for them. Her memory brought up the first time she had seen Dustin, and she had had one too. "You lost your little language translator?"
"You really are Princess Twilight's mother, aren't you?" Belay shook her head at the jump of insight the mare had.
"Of course." Twilight giggled a little at the compliment. "Now, then, why don't I take care of your friend, then you can still do some exploring of Canterlot. I am sure this handsome stallion here could find somepony to be your guide?" She flicked her eyes to the big guard. "These are Princess Celestia's special guests, after all."
"Oh, uh… yes ma'am!" The guard saluted to Twilight Velvet, then turned to Belay. "Where would you like to visit first?"
"Just relax, Dustin." Twilight Velvet's voice sounded soft and caring. "You can relax at home, maybe even—"
"Kiera, private link to Dust." Belay waited for a soft bleep of acknowledgment. "You have my ear, Dust. If you need anything, or if things get strange, just tell me." She shot her friend a brave smile.
Thought Twilight kept talking, Belay and the guard had walked far enough away that Kiera's comms button couldn't pick up her voice anymore, and the translation stopped. Dustin gulped and lifted her hoof up to tap her ear where Twilight could see. "Thanks, Belay. I trust her and all…" Dust took a deep breath. "Thanks."
Twilight smiled at Dust and pointed down a road, showing the direction to her home. Together, they walked off without another word.