***
Celestia casually disrobed, and Twilight's jaw dropped to the floor along with the dress. With a flick of magic, all of her jewelry, regalia and robes had phased through Celestia's flesh and left it gleaming and bare for all the world to see. The heat present in the room--already sweltering--suddenly spiked to boiling point for the young woman staring at the naked form of the Princess of all Equestria. Celestia, for her part, walked to the other end of the room, grabbed a book and a fan, and utilized her magic to idly attempt to chill her exposed bosom with the rushing air produced by said fan. Twilight simply stayed stock still, her brain trying to process what just happened.
Celestia only noticed the state she had left Twilight in when she looked over the top of her book. Twilight, of course, was still swimming in a sea of humidiy and estrogen, the gaps of skin showing between her skirt, vest, shirt and stockings dotted with sweat. She swallowed on nothing at the sight of Celestia staring back at her, then blinked and immediately looked away. Celestia smirked, flicking her waving hair with an idle hand. As if to maximize her teasing, she then let her magic carry her book and placed both her hands behind her head, leaving her chest fully visible to Twilight's dilated pupils. The fact that Twilight's blush only deepened made her certain that she was still within the poor woman's peripherals. "Enjoying the show, dear? It's your spell, by the way. The one for instant clothe changing. I've found it very useful for removing my royal vestments, I must say. "
"Princess--you--I--what just..." Twilight's brain continued to fish for words, context, or even the slightest hint of meaning that might make her more coherent. At last, Twilight managed to find the words "could you please put your clothes back on?"
"In this heat? Why ever would I do that, dear?"
"Because it--well." Twilight turned around, her mind trying to reclaim its grasp on reality as best as it could. "Because you're making me uncomfortable, and I'd like to be able to spend our date time together without thinking about things I'm not ready to do or see yet. I love you, I do, but...what you're doing is pushing me out of my comfort zone."
"And why is that?"
"Because I..." Twilight worked on her words, trying to skirt her feelings. She knew why she was feeling what she was, of course. She also knew why she didn't want to speak about it.
"If you feel uncomfortable with me being so open with you, I can raise the veil on my bed, you know."
Twilight wished she were not so fond of the element of honesty in that moment, for she longed to jump at the excuse for her discomfort. Of course, there was also a horny part of her brain that simply enjoyed ogling Celestia's form that also rebelled against it. She at last turned around, deciding to share her open feelings face-to-face.
"No, I--It's not that. Well, it's kinda that. You feel comfortable enough to just do stuff like this. You're not...naked. You're nude."
Celestia raised an eyebrow. "I'm not certain there's a difference."
"There is, per Ety Mology's Guide to Definitions. And it's all about confidence. You're as happy like this," She threw out her hand to gesture at Celestia's gleaming, fleshy thighs and fatty behind, "as you are with your robe. And I never am. You'd never catch me doing something like this around you, and it--" Twilight swallowed again. Celestia set down her book and her fan, uncrossing her legs and folding her arms on her lap to give Twilight her undivided attention. "It's because you're so, so, attractive, and I'm really not. Like, really not." Twilight shrunk down, wilting under her own judgement. "You're strutting, and it--It just reminds me that I can't."
Celestia smiled. Her magic tugged on Twilight's collar, unbuttoning it with the subtlest and most gentle of touches. Magic wrapped around Twilight's shoulders, letting her feel Celestia's touch from across the room. "I must thank you for the lessons on anatomy, Twilight. They've done wonders fo my aching back and the sores I kept getting on my throne." Twilight was barely listening, her mind caught in conflict as it was, and Celestia registered this quickly. "My dearest Twilight," the solar regent said, "you are ashamed of your fear, then? That you are afraid to have me see you, naked, and assume I will see something worse?"
Twilight grabbed her arm, looking away again. "No, it's not that I think you'll see me as worse. It's just that I will be."
"Will be?"
"Well, look at you. You're beautiful. You have perfect, shining teeth, you've got your perfect, flowing hair, you've got your muscles and--well, you've got perfect bounce to those curves," Twilight's cheeks turned crimson and puffed out, expelling extra air. "You've got those giant boobs and that bouncy ass and not a wrinkle or a cellulite patch across any of it. You have just the right amount of fat," Celestia actually scoffed at this, "and this amazing neck that's smooth and silky all the way across it. And wherever we go a skinny, pallid, pimply bag of bones like me is forever going to be the most beautiful mare in the world's ugly girlfriend." Twilight sagged.
"Twilight," Celestia stood up, walking slowly and quietly to her student, "am I as smart as you?"
"Of course! You manage the kingdom an--"
Celestia fixed her clothed counterpart with a stare. "Twilight."
The librarian relented. "Well...not exactly. I mean, not in the technical way, but there are a lot of ways in which people are smart, and--"
"And there are lots of ways in which people are beautiful." Celestia smiled, placing a hand on Twilight's hips. "I, personally, think that you are deeply attractive. You, personally, think I am quite intelligent. To the academia, I am the genius scientist's dumber wife, even if I was once your teacher."
Twilight made to protest, but Celestia placed a finger over the younger lady's lips. "I'm a better diplomat than you, in private or public, and you are a better artist than I am. You're a better friend than I am, and I'm a better singer. We appeal to different people for our different qualities, and for each quality I have you'll find you have one to match. You cannot be my equal in every way, nor I yours. But consider this, Twilight. I have some questions to ask you about these assumptions you've made. And seeing as this is the root of your uncertainty," Celestia wiped the sweat from Twilight's brow with a delicate hand, then opened her younger's shirt at the front with a flick of her hands. "Promise me you'll get away from this sweltering heat with me if you can't find fault in them."
"Y-you want me to get naked." Twilight squeaked.
"I want you to feel comfortable with my being naked. If part of being comfortable with my nudity is found in your own, so be it. Maybe a game is in order." Celestia hummed, her eyes flashing with that devious playfulness the guards were so wary of. "One question you think is fair will lose you a layer of clothes, and one question you can find fault with will mean we both put a layer on." Celestia squeezed Twilight's shoulder, giving a breezy smile. "Do what feels natural to you, and let me do what I feel to be natural. Does that sound fair?"
"Right." Twilight nodded, grabbing Celestia's hand in her own.
"Does the opinion of the academia on my own understanding of their practices influence what you think of my intelligence?" Celestia tilted her head, studying Twilight with a casual smile.
Twilight tilted her head. "The questions are rhetorical?" Celestia, true to her word, levitated over a set of panties and slid her legs back into them.
"Is the question not still valid?"
"Well, yes. And the question's answer is...no. No, of course their opinion doesn't translate to mine."
"Because they don't know me or appreciate me like you do, yes?"
"And because their definition of the word isn't mine." Twilight removed her sweater and rolled up her sleeves, giving a sigh of relief at the heat escaping her body at last. "I think I like the game. It's a formula I can get behind, and it makes it more comforting to make it a formula."
"Next question: Would you want me to stop teaching you new spells, sharing my better plans and giving you tips on ruling simply because I felt you were my superior in that regard?"
"Of course not!" Twilight said, pulling her socks and shoes down and off with a flick of her magic. She sighed at the feeling of her bare legs touching the carpet.
"Your freckles are adorable, by the way." Celestia said, noting the specks along Twilight's exposed calves with a coo.
"In a good way?"
"Is there a bad way?" Twilight unbuttoned her shirt, letting it fall to the floor. Celestia raised an eyebrow.
"You asked a question I don't want to find fault with. You know what, you're just right. It doesn't matter how ugly or hot anyone else thinks I am but you when I'm with you, and even if I'm ugly it doesn't mean I'm worthless or have nothing valuable to add. I...thanks."
"I'm glad you think so, now--"
"Come on, keep going. You're on to something here, and I want to hear it out as much as you want to see me dress it down." Twilight frowned at the set of lacy white panties Celestia bore. She noted, to her mild amusement, that they were embroidered with little Daring Dos. "And don't bother with those." Twilight pulled them down with a firm but gentle yank.
Celestia smiled. "You aren't going to take this dressing down for showing off my smarts thing too liberally, are you?"
Twilight teased back. "Whatever feels natural, right?"
Celestia chuckled. "If I were to suddenly become uglier, would you think I was a worse pony?"
Twilight removed her skirt, letting it fall to her gangly knees. Her legs were pale as the moon, and dotted with a scattering of couch sores and pimples from time spent trapped on a couch reading from dawn till dusk and vice versa. Celestia placed a hand on Twilight's hip, feelings the crests and troughs of the skin with a tender, dancing touch of her featherlight fingers.
Celestia turned, making sure that her body was facing Twilight to the right. She looked over her shoulder and the two moles that were visible against it to stare meaningfully at her backside, and now that Twilight was not afraid to look she saw a red birthmark was splayed across the curl of Celestia's right buttock.
"Is every surface as perfect as it first seems?"
Twilight pulled away her shirt, and Celestia noted that her exposed ribs and the delicate flesh of her stomach would make even skeptics think twice on calling this pony unattractive. She pulled Twilight against her, her in stark nudity and Twilight in a set of underwear.
"Do you wish for me to spend my private time with you wondering how we are equal in every way?" Twilight removed her bra, and with the bra came stuffing that revealed a chest with breasts less than half Celestia's size. Twilight blushed at the sight of them revealed, but Celestia simply pulled Twilight's bosom to her own in response.
"And, last and most important of all, do you think it does not hurt me when you reduce you--my deepest love, first and foremost of everything--everything, Twilight--to something so much less than the woman I love?" Twilight's last bit of clothing came off, showcasing a buzz of wiry hair as the slender set of underwear fell to the floor. Twilight stepped away, and spread her arms and legs to give Celestia a view unimpeded.
"What do you think?" Twilight said, the knowledge of exactly what Celestia thought shining through her eyes.
Celestia paused, her hand touching the tip of her chin.
"I think you look really hot." She said at last. She levitated some books on magic, history, math and physics to the bed, then lay down on top of it. "Now then, dear," Celestia beckoned, sprawling out on the bed in a pose of pure relaxation, "what do you say we strut our stuff?"