It was just afternoon on the day of the Summer Sun Celebration, where the Princesses of Equestria would gather and give thanks to their favoured star for the plentiful bounty it provided. The majority of Ponyville’s citizens were out and about the town, enjoying the festivities while soaking up the season’s intense sunshine. Normally, Rainbow Dash would be one of them, but not today. Instead, she had a more personal quest in mind, requiring a brief break from civilisation.
Bright shafts of light shone through the trees of the Everfree Forest, highlighting the lush vegetation and various small critters lying here and there. Currently, all was quiet. With the heat of the day reaching its peak, many animals decided to conserve their energy for cooler times. Even the songbirds had stopped their chirping to take a much-needed siesta.
Not exactly the conditions Rainbow Dash had hoped to encounter. She had, after all, come prepared for action; armed with her trusty gladius and circular wooden shield.
If it were any average day, she would’ve long since gone stir-crazy with all this peace and quiet. But for today, this wasn’t a problem. With the more predatory beasts vacant from here, she had nothing to worry about. For now, she was content to just take a leisurely, yet brisk, walk through the forest outskirts.
Wiping the sweat from her brow, she stopped for a moment to look around. Her eyes immediately drifted towards the small patches of moss growing at the base of the trees; the unmistakable calling card of her druid friend—and best friend, for that matter—Fluttershy.
She was expecting her.
Despite the short journey, Dash’s marching was already making her blue tunic soggy with sweat. Following the moss trail, Dash soon came upon what she was searching for.
Surrounded by a ring of trees, the glimmering blue waters of a wide lake greeted Dash alongside a cool breeze. This was just what she needed on a day like this!
Yet as Dash approached the lake shore, she couldn’t spot Fluttershy anywhere.
Guess I'll have to thank her later, Dash thought to herself. 'Cause right now, I'm going for a swim.
Unbuckling her scabbard and sliding her arm out of her shield, Rainbow Dash pulled her tunic over her head, tossing the weighted garment aside. Kicking off her signature blue-coloured wing boots, she dropped her brown breaches, taking a deep breath as the wind gently caressed her bare limbs.
Once her undergarments were removed, Dash placed her clothes in a neat pile next to her armaments, freeing her hands to undo the braid holding her multi-coloured hair in a ponytail. Free from the confines of her gear, Dash took several paces back before breaking into a run, jumping into the lake.
The loud splash shattered the early afternoon still, echoing out as the cool water washed over Rainbow Dash's bare skin. Bobbing up to the surface, she closed her eyes and laid back, soaking away all the muscle aches and unpleasant stickiness built up from an intense morning at the Wonderbolts training ground.
It wasn't that Dash didn't enjoy the long hours of warm up exercises and routine drills – all planned out in a manner organised stricter than Twilight Sparkle at a book fair. She revelled in such exercise, pushing herself to limits far beyond where others faltered. When her fellow adepts did one-hundred squats, she would do two-hundred. Asked to run a mile? She would run three. If it meant deeming herself worthy of the Pegusi clan’s greatest Battle Mages, it was all worth it.
However, from time to time, she needed to forget all about it and just be. If there was a better way to chillax than skinny dipping in a secluded woodland lake, she wouldn't know about it!
Flipping over, Dash took a deep breath and dived to the bottom of the lake. Once there, she arched her back and spun forward; orientating herself before pushing her feet against the muddy bed to ascend.
Breaking the surface, she gave her hair a majestic flip, creating a series of small rainbows as the sunbeams bent through the spray. Leaning forward, Dash casually pushed herself across the length of the lake with light breast strokes, faster with each length travelled. Every so often she would break the rhythm, dipping just below the surface to test how long she could hold her breath.
After several minutes of non-stop swimming, Dash's arms began to ache once more. Taking this as a sign that she'd gotten plenty of independent exercise for one day, she flipped over onto her back and closed her eyes. Feeling the contrast of water on her back and sun on her front, she took a deep breath and cleared her mind – allowing her thoughts to drift as she floated there.
“Dashie?”
Dash's ears pricked up slightly, for a moment thinking she heard the smallest squeak. Probably just a squirrel or something, she reasoned, returning to her state of bliss.
“Rainbow Dash?”
Yet more of this odd chatter. She thought most of the animals had decided not to bother with the heat today. Dash supposed there would always be one or two workaholics, much like a certain violet-haired sorceress she knew. I swear, there’s never a moment Twilight isn’t face-deep in a book. Dash thought and chuckled. Honestly, that girl must read books in her sleep!
“RAINBOW DANGER DASH!!!”
“Huh?! I... what?!” Dash nearly jumped out of her skin, the bellowing call of her name throwing off her coordination and leaving her floundering in the water.
“Oh, um, sorry, Dash. Was I too loud?” the meek voice of a pink-haired girl with pale skin came from the other side of the lake.
Dash groaned, taking a moment to figure out who was yelling; “Fluttershy?! What the hay was that for?”
She then took another moment to realise that, like herself, Fluttershy was naked.
Blushing bright red, Rainbow Dash pushed herself lower in the water, covering everything from the neck down – despite the crystal-clear water being see-through.
“Um, Rainbow Dash, why are you covering yourself?” Fluttershy asked, tilting her head.
“Well... I- I mean, you! You're naked!”
Fluttershy blinked, still looking blankly at Rainbow Dash. “Of course, I am? I never wear clothes – except when visiting Ponyville. We've known each other since we were little kids, Dash. Is something wrong?”
Gears turning in her mind, it occurred to Dash that this wasn't the first time they had seen each other naked, nor was it something that Fluttershy ever cared about. “Oh, yeah, you're right,” Rainbow Dash blushed again, this time from her sudden bout of startled amnesia.
“Are you sure everything’s okay, Dashie?”
Swimming back to shore, Dash pulled herself out of the water, standing a foot taller than Fluttershy. “Oh yeah, everything's fine, Flutters. I just don't get the whole yelling part. I was only chillaxing, so what’s the deal?”
“Oh, um… Sorry, Dashie. It's just that… Well, you see… I noticed you in the lake, so I came to say hi and then... well...”
“Spit it out, Fluttershy!” Dash snapped, impatiently tapping her foot.
“The squirrel family are napping in your clothes!”
“Huh?” Now it was Rainbow's turn to look confused. Glancing over Fluttershy's shoulder, she could indeed see that a group of squirrels had slid themselves inside her tunic, trousers and undergarments, snoring softly in a pile of red fluff.
“Well, can't you get them out? Use your, y'know, Druid, magical, staff thingy?”
“Oh no, I couldn't do that! Just look at them. All snuggled up together, dreaming of juicy green leaves and crunchy acorns, no doubt. They're just so adorable, aren't they?”
Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to object, but one side-eyed glance at the squirrels put a stop to that. Instead, she let out a short huff. “I guess so” she begrudgingly agreed. Even she couldn't deny their cuteness.
Now that this issue was settled, the two stood there in an awkward silence for the next few moments, avoiding eye contact. Dash racked her brain for a way to progress the conversation beyond the, admittedly irregular, introductory topic.
“So...” Dash said hesitantly. “How has the weather been, lately?”
Perhaps not like that, though.
“Wouldn’t you know, Dash?” Fluttershy responded, tilting her head. “You’re part of the weather team.”
“Oh! Yeah, so I am, heh…” Dash chuckled awkwardly, rubbing the back of her head.
Conversation making was evidently not her strongest skill. When she wasn’t talking about either herself or the Wonderbolts, anyway.
“Oh! Sorry, Dashie, I’ve been meaning to ask,” Fluttershy replied with a light smile. “What brings you to the forest today? Everyone else is back at the Summer Sun Celebration. I expected you to be enjoying it with them.”
“Nah, it's getting kinda boring, to be honest,” Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Same old stuff. You know the drill; maypole dancing, cake stalls, monuments to the sun, the works. Besides, I've got a trial with the Wonderbolts next week, so I figured I could use some R&R before I get back to training. That, and it’s pretty obvious you wanted to see me sometime today.”
“I see...” Fluttersy paused. “This training, is that why you brought your sword and shield with you?”
“Yep!” Rainbow Dash stated with exuberance. Oblivious to the hesitance in Fluttershy's voice, she struck a pose, placing her hands on her hips. “Like I've said countless times, the Wonderbolts are the greatest, most awesome group of Battle Mages in existence! I still can't believe that they accepted me for their training academy!
“Although, there is one thing that’s bugging me about it all. They keep telling me over and over that, before I officially join, I need to do something about becoming 'one with the wind', whatever that means. I’m sure I’ll figure it out, though. I’ve worked everything else out so far!”
“That's amazing! I'm so happy for you, Dash!” Fluttershy's smile widened yet was still restrained. “But I still don't understand why you need to be training in the forest? N-not that I mind, of course, it's just that-”
“Isn't it obvious?” Dash proclaimed, mimicking the swing of her sword, not bothering to retrieve her actual sword just two feet away, for some reason. “I'm gonna find the biggest, baddest, most terrifying monsters out there and slay them all! I'll hone my skills to become a hero of all Ponyville – no, of all Equestria! The monsters will be like 'RAWR!' and then I'll be like 'SWISH!', 'SLASH' and then they'll be like 'NOOO!' and I'll be like-”
“NO!”
Rainbow Dash blinked at Fluttershy, wondering what this sudden outburst was about. She also wondered why she was suddenly in mid-air without her winged boots on, though that last fact meant she didn't have to wonder why she was losing altitude, plunging head first into the lake again.
That much was kind of obvious.
“Oh, my goodness!” Fluttershy gasped. Her violent rejection of Dash's monster hunting proposal had sent a rather large tree root bursting from the ground, punching her friend under the chin at high speed. “Rainbow Dash, are you alright?”
Spitting out water and flipping her soggy hair out of her face, Rainbow Dash grumbled as she paddled back to shore. “Fluttershy, what was that for?!”
“I'm so sorry, Dash! My magic must have gotten a little out of hand when you threatened the forest creatures.”
“What do you mean, 'threatened'?” Dash asked upon reaching dry land again, giving a harsh glare to the squirrels giggling at her. “Don't you know what counts as a monster?”
“I know what you're thinking, and I don't care,” Fluttershy folded her arms across her chest. “All creatures are welcome in this forest, and I won't anybody disrupt the ecosystem, no matter what.”
“Eco-whatsit?” Dash asked, staring blankly.
“I'm sorry, Rainbow Dash, but I'm putting my foot down on this issue. No killing forest animals!”
“Alright, alright! I won't kill any of the forest animals. Now could you call off your attack plants already?”
“I'm glad we could reach an agree- wait, what attack plants?”
“Oh, come on, Fluttershy. I'm talking about those vines slowly creeping towards us in a big green ball!”
The look of shock on Fluttershy's face suggested that maybe she wasn't entirely responsible for what was creeping towards them.
“You did make that... right?”
“Get down!”
Throwing themselves to the ground, a huge, arm-like mass of vines lashed out, coming within a hair’s width of smashing them against a tree. Dash rolled over backwards, grabbing her weapons and shoving her feet back into her boots. Without time to dress any further, she leaped over the next attack and into the air, flying above the thing in a blur of motion. Yet this also came with its own unforeseen consequences: as the twisted plants swept underneath, it captured her discarded clothes in its tangled mass of greenery.
“Hey, give those back!” Charging through the air, Dash pulled her gladius from its scabbard and slashed in one smooth motion; slicing clean through the outer strands.
Unfortunately, this did little to release her outfit from the creature’s reinforced bulk. In fact, as the vines began to regenerate, she realized she’d done more damage to her clothing than to the monster itself!
“That's enough!” Slamming her open palm to the ground, Fluttershy summoned from the earth a long wooden staff, curving inwards at the top into a moss-covered spiral.
Channelling her raw magic directly through the weapon, Fluttershy surrounded the rogue elemental in a bright emerald glow.
At first, the creature recoiled from the magic light, withering as the vines began to unravel. Yet just as it looked like Fluttershy was defeating the creature, the vines parted, oozing out a sticky, black substance from within a huge, hardened beak at its centre. Reshaping itself, the elemental shifted is form from a largely spherical being, to one more humanoid in nature.
“Fluttershy, what in Equestria is that thing?” Rainbow Dash asked, gulping hard. It towered over her, its limbs as thick as tree trunks, ending in three, claw-like appendages each.
“It must be a Dredge,” Fluttershy replied as she began to weave another spell. “Although I never expected to see one here, of all places!” With a swing of her staff, Fluttershy released a wave of magic, enchanting the grass to quadruple in size, binding the creature in place.
“Okay, makes perfect sense,” Dash replied, flying over the Dredge's arm as it snapped free. “Oh wait, no it doesn't, 'cause I don't know what a Dredge is, either!”
“They’re Nature Elementals,” Fluttershy clarified, grunting as she tried to strengthen her spell. “They’re supposed to live in boggy swamps, not anywhere near Ponyville!”
“Well, isn't that encouraging.” Rolling her eyes, Dash flipped over the Dredge's fist as it collided into a tree, blocking a shower of splinters with her shield.
Lowering the armament, her vision suddenly filled with a bright green flash. Kicking her heels, Dash pushed herself higher, narrowly avoiding the beam as it blasted into the elemental's chest.
“Please, calm down,” Fluttershy said, her wispy tone contrasting the spell’s volatile appearance. “I don’t want to hurt you, just tell me what’s wrong.”
Just as it looked like Fluttershy was gaining ground against the Dredge, a pulse of magic recoiled back through the beam, striking her in the gut.
“No… no, it cannot be!” Fluttershy’s sudden, ominous rambling did little to fill Rainbow Dash with confidence. Even less so when she let out an ear-slitting scream, tears rolling down her face like a torrential rain storm.
“Hang on, Fluttershy! I'll take care of this!” Diving at the elemental, Rainbow Dash swung her gladius in a wide arc, slicing clean through its torso, severing the magical link. Landing behind the Dredge, Dash swung herself around to face it, her shield raised in preparation for the next bout.
However, the creature didn’t start reforming as expected. Instead, it let out a loud groan, thrashing its limbs wildly as its body began to unravel. What had moments before been fighting toe-to-toe with the two mages was, in seconds, reduced to a withered pile of organic matter, sinking lifelessly into the soil.
Yet this was not the end of the threat. Already, whatever force was causing the elemental to decay was spreading, expanding outwards from the Dredge’s corpse, to coating every plant it touched with its tar.
Breathing heavily from her unexpected ordeal, Fluttershy sprung back into action, casting a spell over the dying area – cleansing flora of its pollution.
“Okay, now I'm officially freaked out,” Dash said, stepping carefully over the elemental’s remains. “I don't suppose you know what just happened?”
Taking a few long breaths to calm herself, Fluttershy ignored Dash’s question, striding past her as if she was never there.
“Hey! Where the hay do you think you're going?!” Dash asked. She placed her hand on Fluttershy's shoulder to stop her but was immediately rebuked with a counter-slap.
“Go home, Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy replied, her voice unusually stern for someone so normally timid. “Something's wrong with the forest, and it's my responsibility to take care of it.”
“Uh, Equestria to Fluttershy? Aren’t you forgetting something?” Stepping in front of Fluttershy, Dash gestured over her naked body. “That thing we fought destroyed all my clothes! I can’t just fly back home in the buff, now can I? What do you think the Wonderbolts would say if they saw me like this? I'd be the laughing stock of Ponyville!”
“I'm sure they'll understand it was an accident,” Fluttershy said dismissively, turning up her nose. “Just go home, find some clothes, and everything will be fine.”
“It’s not just that, Fluttershy,” Dash retorted, locking eyes. “I saw what that thing back there did to you. Please, Flutters, let me help you. I can't stand to see you get hurt, or worse...”
With neither side willing to back down, the two girls just stood there in silence for two solid minutes; broken only when a bird decided to tweet up, which Dash could’ve sworn sounded like a wolf whistle.
“Oh, come on!” Dash exclaimed. “Can't a girl have a heart-to-heart moment without any sexual implications, for once?!”
Fluttershy giggled, blushing brightly. “Alright, Dashie. I'll accept your help. Just promise you won't hurt any animals unless you have no other choice, okay?”
“You can count on me!” Dash banged her fist on her chest in salute, turning red upon remembering her nudity. “Although, mind if you make me some new clothes first?”
“I can try. Although I’m no seamstress,” Fluttershy said, her voice returned to its usual wispy softness. “Want me to make a dress out of leaves or something?”
“Could you?” Dash asked, covering her breasts and crotch with her hands. “I'm starting to feel just a little too exposed here.”
With a flick of her wrist, she swept up a flurry of leaves, using her staff to swirl them around Dash’s body with the grace and precision of an orchestral conductor. With the gentlest of motions, the leaves settled around Rainbow Dash's body, shuffling over one another to match her form and cover her from below her shoulders to above her knees.
Flexing her arms and legs in various positions, Dash’s smiled. “Nice work, Flutters,” she said, giving her friend a thumb up gesture. “This dress feels super soft, and it doesn't restrict my movements at all. Are you sure you haven't been taking sewing lessons from Rarity?”
“Oh no,” Fluttershy replied, shuffling on the spot and letting out an awkward giggle. “Well, not recently. I mean, she’s helped me with a dress once or twice before. Staying in Ponyville is the only time I need them, so I don’t keep any at my cottage.”
“Well, either way, you’ve done good,” Dash said, patting Fluttershy on the shoulder. “Let’s get a moving.”
True to her name, Rainbow Dash got moving on with great haste, only for her to stop after a few paces – a strange sensation rising across her body.
“What's wrong, Dash?” Fluttershy asked.
“I dunno, I just feel kinda funny all of a sudden-” Dash's eyes went as she looked down at herself, taking in the full view of her naked body with a pile of smouldering ash collecting at her feet.
“Argh!” Feeling her feet burning even through her boots, Dash leaped out of the smoking granules, flying past Fluttershy and plunging back in the water. “What was that all about?!” She yelled upon surfacing.
“Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry, Rainbow Dash!” Fluttershy dropped her staff and buried her head in her hands. “The spell miscast! What happened with the elemental, it did something to my magic. Please dash, I didn’t mean for this to happen!”
“Ugh, it’s okay, Fluttershy, not your fault,” Dash reassured, pulling herself out of the lake. “Stupid Dredge with their stupid curses, destroying all of my stupid clothes!” Storming past Fluttershy, Dash continued her irritated rambling.
“So… um,” Fluttershy tentatively spoke up. “Want me to try again?”
“Nah, I’m not gonna risk destroying my boots as well,” Dash replied, her voice growing calmer despite not looking back. “Though I’ve gotta ask. What exactly was that thing between you and the Dredge?”
“Well, um…” Fluttershy hesitated, shuffling her feet as she walked. “It’s… I don’t think you’d understand…”
“Hey, if it’s important to you, then it’s important to me.” Dash reassured. “So, what’s buggin’ ya?”
“I saw…” Fluttershy began, taking a deep breath before blurting out the rest. “I saw all the animals being forced to be clothed!”
Dash stopped, opened her mouth, but shook her head instead of responding. “Nah, that’ll never happen,” she said, attempting to reassure her friends’ worries. “Besides, who’s gonna go nuts over naked animals?”