These are the Stories of the NLAC

by Blake Skies

Ready Player One

Ready Player One

Arrow Wind smirked a devilish smirk upon her face as she properly dressed herself for tonight’s affair. Getting on her Bosmer ears was simple enough, more so she had made sure her Thieves’ guild “outfit” would work out perfectly for the NLAC’s party. Even her bow and arrows were properly ready for the gamer theme that would define tonight. The only trick was, outside of the thieves’ hood and facemask, Arrow Wind would not have any clothing on. Even better she was going to take her sister Blazing Wind to the same affair. It was perfectly devious and fabulous, take her sister to a nudist party!

“It shall be the ultimate payback!” Arrow giggled highly.

Back when the two girls were in middle school, Blazing pranked Arrow just after they got done with gym by stealing Arrow’s clothes. That forced the poor girl to nearly streak around the school to get the clothing back, and gave her the unfortunate nickname of “Clear Winds.” Now it was time for payback, this time it would be Arrow’s turn to be the thief.

All Blazing knew was that she was going to a video game themed party, and the duo had dressed accordingly for their personal favorite: Elder Scrolls V Skyrim. While Arrow was attending as her sneaky Nightingale Thief from Valenwood, Blazing Wind was going as a Nord Warrior who was a part of the Companions. The most ironic thing was if they were going to a normal party Blazing would be the least dressed as Nord women in Skyrim followed the standard tradition of video games of wearing less clothing.

Still none of it was going to matter tonight, and for Arrow that was all she needed. Arrow had been to two parties before but she was far from a Nudist, she mostly liked the atmosphere and the unique ways people came up with wearing costumes while naked. But Blazing was nothing short of a prude, and seeing her within this atmosphere would be very, very hilarious. Wrapping up her hard work, Arrow walked back into her room, donned her outfit, and walked down to the front hall. Blazing was already there waiting impatiently for her.

“It is not wise to keep a Companion waiting.” Blazing snipped, already in character.

“Nocturnal was late in her arrival so forgive me for keeping you.” Arrow giggled, “Are we ready to depart?”

“Let’s, before the nightwalkers make their presence known.” Blazing smiled getting up.

“Wouldn’t you be one of them Madam Lycian?” Arrow giggled again.

“Hush up you!” Blazing responding, though even she couldn’t help but smile.

“Well then let’s get going.” Arrow smiled.

With that the duo headed off. Once they reached Canterlot High, Arrow sprung her surprise upon Blazing. It didn’t take long either because upon their arrival they instantly ran into two students running around without clothing on. After a moment of shocked silence, Blazing caught on quickly.

“A NUDIST PARTY!” she bellowed nearly loud enough to be heard in Zebrica.

Arrow did her best to stifle a laugh, “Clearly that is the case, I mean why else would these students be acting that way?”

“You…you knew already didn’t you little thief?” Blazing snapped, her face becoming red.

Behind her hood and mask, Arrow could only barely hold back a smile as she sang, “Maybe.”

Blazing’s nose was bent out of shape as she angrily glared at her sister, who was very much enjoying herself, “This is payback for that streaking prank isn’t it?!”

“Oh you know it sister. Now you have two choices, walk home in defeat or shed most of your armor and partake in tonight’s amenities.” Arrow smiled.

Blazing glared, “Then what will my sister do?”

“Oh I’ve been here before, I do not intend on going home today.” Arrow smiled and headed off to the locker rooms to get undressed. Blazing watched her go with a raised eyebrow, trying to stifle a growl. She had been bamboozled and worse left in a situation that was far from perfect. While the exact details of the party had been left a secret, the party was still Video Game themed. Yet it would mean being naked. Biting her tongue, Blazing resigned herself and raced after her sister.

“I will not be outdone by you Thief. I am a Companion after all and we do not run from a fight, or a challenge.” Blazing announced.

Twenty minutes later, Arrow was in honest to goodness shock. Her sister had effortlessly shed her costume, slapped on some war paint in strategic areas to help cover some dignity, and was now mingling around the crowds of fellow cosplayers and gamers as if nothing had changed. Thank goodness her hood remained to cover her face, or Blazing might have mocked Arrow’s dumbfounded expression.

However, Arrow had not been idle in the festivities. Like a good thief, she had been hard at work “pickpocketing” and “robbing treasures” as well as taking part in some quests that fellow party attendees had created right on the spot.And most of it had been great fun despite the lack of a full costume. Finally, the Wind sisters met up at the snack table to eat their weight in food.

“Ah I underestimated you sister,” Blazing smiled, seemingly comfortable.

“Nah, I think I’m the one who underestimated you. I hadn’t intended for you to be this comfortable. I’m proud of you sis…” Arrow smiled back.

“Oh? Well then I guess I’ve done my job,” Blazing chuckled, “Like I’ve always said, ‘You’ll never get the better of me.’ Still even I must admit this is kinda fun.”

“You know what’ll make this even more fun?” Arrow giggled, “I hear you can get a really fun quest upstairs.”

Blazing’s eyes widened, “Really?”

“Oh yeah and a few are tailored to the person’s style.” Arrow smiled, “And this time I am not fibbing.”

Blazing pondered for a moment before nodding, “Then let’s be off.”

Smiling Arrow lead her sister out of the cafeteria and up the steps to the second floor. Of course there was in fact a billboard that was plastered with missions capable for anyone and everyone to play. Of course Arrow managed to find a quest suitable for a Thief but it was Blazing who found the more interesting quest. All the directions said to start the quest was: “Go to the roof.” Saying goodbye to her sister, Blazing did so. Upon reaching the roof she was met with the statue of a feminine angel holding her hands outwards towards the sky.

It was painfully obvious that the statue was a person in a costume, as she was clearly as naked as Blazing, but still Blazing played along as the statue spoke to her.

“A new champion approaches, listen to my words mortal and obey.” The angel spoke in an admittedly good attempt at a god-like voice, “A fowl darkness has seeped into my temple, a fowl darkness that you must destroy. Do for me this task, and you will be rewarded handsomely, fail and your soul will forever be trapped in the realms of oblivion.”

Blazing knelt down and responded, “What is it you ask of me madam Daedra.”

The Angel seemed to recognize the name, “The necromancer Malkoran has defiled my shrine and uses token to fuel his fowl deeds. You mortal will enter my temple, retrieve my token, and put down the defiler.”

“It shall be done milady.” Blazing nodded and headed off.

“Before you leave,” The angel spoke again, “I shall provide you with this beacon, it’ll be the light you’ll need in the darkness.” Then one of her hands left its position and switched on a laser beam that slowly found its way to pointing down.

Now with a sense of purpose, Blazing followed the beam of light back through the school, avoiding any party goers who wanted to get in her way. Finally the light led her to the basement, into the massive storage area that the NLAC club members had painstakingly turned into a dungeon complex. Blazing was slightly impressed, there were some cosplayers dressed up as Draugr, skeletons, and other creatures that go bump in the night. However the vast majority of obstacles were nothing more than cardboard or Styrofoam cutouts.

Still Blazing was glad she broad her foam axe to help “cut” her way through any and all obstacles. It didn’t take long to deal with the threats, one or two hits doing the job, until she reached the area where Malkoran was waiting. He stood in front of a glowing alter holding an actual orange sword whose hilt was glowing like the stars. Dressed in black robes that were not as revealing as Blazing’s outfit, Malkoran turned around and faced Blazing.

Without saying a word, the necromancer struck firing blasts of ice magic at the Companion. Jumping and dodging out of the way, Blazing looked for an opening. She found it when Malkoran stumbled. With one strike, she buried her axe into the necromancer’s shoulder ending his reign. With her task done, Blazing approached the altar.

“That is Dawnbreaker,” the angel said, having discreetly followed Blazing down, “My tool to vanquish the vermin that plague the land. And with Malkoran dead, it can be that again. Take my Dawnbreaker champion, use her to bring light to the darkest places.”

With a sense of pride, Blazing picked up the blade and much to her shock it was real. Roughly weighing ten or so pounds, the blade had amazing balance and the grip felt comfortable. Taking a few swings, Blazing instantly fell in love with the blade.

“This is amazing.” She said.

“I’m glad you like it,” the angel said, dropping her tone and returning to a normal voice, “My brother and I made it ourselves.”

“Really?” Blazing said, stepping down to help the Necromancer back to his feet.

“Yup, I did the metal work and my sister here worked on the lights.” He smiled, “I’m Cold Steel, and my friends call me Sharpie though.”

“Hard Strike,” the angel introduced.

“Blazing Winds,” Blazing smiled, “I must say I’m impressed I’ve never seen craftsmanship this good unless I’m at a really high end Convention.”

“Well it’s yours if you want it.” Hard Strike smiled.

Blazing’s eyes widened again, “Oh no I can’t accept this.”

“Of course you can, you earned it. Besides we can make real easily.” Cold Steel responded.

“Yeah we came here both cuz we like the theme’s and because we sell our merchandise here.” Hard Strike responded.

“Wonderful.” Blazing said, “Well how about I make it up by getting you both something to eat?”

- Blake Skies.

As with everyone else in the world, there were aspects in Jay's life that she was less than happy with. But at the same time there were a lot of aspects that she was more than happy with. It was a constant balancing act, as was with everything else, but sometimes it was easier to keep your balance than it was others.

On the positive, she was a student attending CHS. On the negative, CHS was still a high school, and entailed all the soul-crushing unpleasantries and eldritch horrors associated with such.

Positive: she had a lot of friends, so she wasn't alone in that situation. Negative: she was mute, and communication with most of them was difficult and time consuming.

Positive: there were very few at CHS that would actually make fun of her for her deficiency. Negative: she was still mute regardless, and had been since way back when in grade school, when she'd caught that baseball to the throat.

Neutral: she was a nudist. Positive: she knew a lot of others who were also nudists, or at least had no objections to the lifestyle. Negative: her parents didn't know, and she couldn't bring herself to actually tell them, for fear of what their reaction might be.

Positive: CHS had its own nudist club right on the premises. Negative: it wasn't officially sanctioned with the school, making it a gamble to attend.

Positive: The club hosted themed parties. Negative: these parties only came once a week, on Friday nights.

Positive: Tonight's theme was video games! Motherfucking, honest to goodness, video games! The most requested party theme had finally been selected and made into a real event! Negative: none found.

All in all, as far as she was concerned right now, the positives in life outweighed the negatives, so she had good reason to be happy; especially tonight when the party was getting into full swing! So lock up the women and hide the fried chicken!

Alright, that last one was a silly reference, even by her own standards, but she was excited enough to not care about such. A video game theme had been on the request list ever since Sweetie Belle concocted the idea of themed parties, and now, finally, it'd come to pass.

Of course that led to its own difficulties. Video games, as with many other media aspects, were largely defined by visuals, one of which was character design, which involved a great deal of detail related to clothing. But at a nudist party, that really wasn't an option. So, par for the course, that left makeup, prosthetics, and accessories to convey which video game they were referencing to meet the theme.

She'd lucked out easy tonight, having decided to go with the "Tomb Raider" franchise for her entry. Even though she wasn't built like Lara Croft -and pity to any girl that actually was- that did little to actually get in the way. While shorts and a tight tank top weren't options, the double weapons rig certainly was; both thigh and shoulder holsters, making it very easy to be ready for tonight. Granted it was a bit fetishy and all with how the stuff rode on her, as well as where it rode on her, but that -much like the inevitable chafing- was unavoidable.

"Alright, I showed up for this party. Can I go now?"

Jay looked over to her left at the guest she'd brought along to tonight's party; one Fizzlepop Berrytwist, who looked very uncomfortable with the whole thing. She stood there with goosebumps popping out across her plum-colored skin, despite the warm weather of the season, with her arms crossed against her front in a less-than-efficient manner of doing anything to either warm herself, or conceal anything.

In response to the question, she shook her head and began signing back, pointing out that they'd just gotten here.

"I said that I'd show up for the party. I never said that I'd actually stay for it," Fizzlepop pointed out.

Jay shook her head and signed back at an accelerated rate, pointing out just how stupid that was.

"Slow down, I can't understand you when you stutter," Fizzlepop stated in an annoyed tone.

Jay frowned back in an equally annoyed manner, but was quick to respond. One of the aspects of her theme getup tonight was lots of pouches for vital accessories, such as a pen and notepad. She pulled those out and began writing out a response, moving with the speed of someone possessed by otherworldly forces.

Another positive: she was quite skilled in speed writing, and with legible penmanship. And from the looks of it, she was going to be needing those hard-earned skills right now to communication with the reluctant Fizzlepop.

"It's Friday night. What other pressing matters do you have right now?"

"Work," Fizzlepop stated plainly.

"You're already maxed out on overtime for the month at Sugarcube Corner."

"There are other places in Canterlot looking to hire people for part-time work. There's always day labor to be found, even at this time of night," Fizzlepop replied dismissively.

"With your hand broken?"

Fizzlepop had no immediate response for that one. All she could do was unfold her arms and look at her left hand, at the ring and pinky fingers that were currently bandaged and splinted to keep them immobile. Making it worse was the fact that it was her dominant hand that'd suffered the break.

"It's not like it was broken that bad, the doctor was just overreacting, that's all," Fizzlepop grumbled as she folded her arms again, tucking the bandages back out of view. "Besides, I've still got one good hand, I can still do something..."

"Fizz' you're pushing yourself too hard."

"That's easy for you to say. You might not have to work, but I certainly do. And my being here is interfering with that," Fizzlepop stated.

Jay knew that Fizzlepop was going to bring that up in protest, as it wasn't the first time. Having been on her own, and taking care of herself ever since her parents tragically died when she was still in junior-high, the girl had been forced to developed a hard work ethic, that bordered on ludicrous. Her body was a testament to this fact, bearing numerous scars from various odd and part-time jobs she undertook to ensure she had enough funding to make ends meet. And while it was admirable, it wasn't healthy.

"One night off isn't going to do you any harm. Relax and have fun."

"If I wanted to relax I've got a game console back at my apartment I could just dust off and fire up," Fizzlepop stated.

Jay did her best to groan, already involved in a response that was going to take at least a whole page to get across just how bad of an excuse that was.

"Besides, everyone here is naked. I don't do naked," Fizzlepop added.

That made Jay stop writing and look back at Fizzlepop, unsure of just how to respond. She'd told her about what could be expected at one of these NLAC parties when she'd invited her to attend. She knew what she was talking into.

"Look, Silent Bob, I decided to be a good sport and show up to take a look around out of basic politeness since you invited me, but I don't do the whole party scene thing," Fizzlepop stated. "I'm gonna grab my clothes and get the hell outta here before anyone else tries to stop me and make this anymore awkward. And if we're really friends like you say, then you'll respect my decision in this, and not try to get in the way."

Jay didn't want to admit it, but she felt crestfallen at this turn of events. Here she'd been trying to be nice and help out a friend who was terribly overworked, by showing her a fun way to relax, and said friend was rebuffing her efforts because she was too worried about work to actually let go and even catch her breath. This wasn't good. This was Fizzlepop's last semester at CHS, possibly her last semester for school at all, and if she didn't let herself stop and take a break while she still could, she likely never would. She could very easily see Fizz' working herself into an early grave if this pattern didn't change.

Instinctively her hand went for her phone to text her friends, in hopes that they would be able to do something about this that she couldn't do herself. But as she touched her hip, she remembered that her phone had been left with her clothes, and wasn't a viable option. She'd have to go about finding her friends the old fashioned way, and hope that she had enough time. Fizz' might not want her to interfere, but that didn't mean the rest of her friends couldn't become involved if they saw her.

---

Much to Fizzlepop's surprise -and general discomfort- there were still people streaming in to partake in tonight's party. The number of people who were currently in the changing room as she stepped inside, was even greater than the number that'd been present when Jay had brought her here. Just how open of a secret was this whole NLAC club? How many nudists were there at this school!?

"Fuck it," she muttered to herself as she stepped back into the room. She needed her clothes, and she needed them right now.

She was aware of the fact that she was drawing at least a few stares with her swimming upstream approach to doing things, but she didn't care. More to the point, she was well beyond the point of even being able to care about what they might've thought. She was going to get her clothes, get dressed, and get the hell out of here. What she really needed right now was to get out of here, and find somebody who was willing to pay her for logging a couple hours of labor; not to be surrounded by a bunch of naked fools who had to take their clothes off to have a good time!

"Wow! That was rude."

Fizzlepop froze in the middle of getting back into her underwear as she heard that.

"I said that out loud, didn't I?" she asked without turning around to see who was addressing her.

"You certainly did. And if that's how you feel, fuck you too."

Saying nothing, Fizzlepop finished pulling her underwear back up and grabbed her bra to throw on, before turning around to see just who she'd pissed off without realizing it. She recognized the student by sight, as her prosthetic leg was unmistakable, although her name eluded her at the moment. It had something to do with Wind, but that was all she knew for certain right now.

"Why'd you even show up if you had no intention of staying anyway?" she asked pointedly.

"I was tricked," Fizzlepop replied and returned back to getting dressed as best she could with only one and a half hands at her disposal.

"And you didn't think anyone of it when everyone was getting undressed?" she asked.

"I was in a state of shock. It took a minute for my brain to reboot and figure out exactly what was going on," Fizzlepop replied defensively as she pulled her pants back on.

"Uh-huh," came a response that was filled to the brim with disbelief. "Look, Fizzle, if you don't wanna stay for the party, that's no skin off my nose. But there's no need to be rude about something you don't understand."

"First, don't call me Fizzle," Fizzlepop replied as she slipped her arms into her shirt to pull over her head. "Second, I wasn't being rude. And third, I understand plenty. I just don't like it."

"Why?"

It was a funny little question. It only consisted of a single word, and yet when asked to the right person, it had so much destructive potential. It could reveal if someone was a great liar, was convinced beyond doubt that they were right in their position, or even potentially trigger a psychological meltdown as the one who was asked delved too deep into the existential. And Fizzlepop knew that.

Rather than giving a direct answer, she opted to shrug in response. "Some other time. Right now I've gotta get going."

"Or, alternatively, you could actually stay for the party and give it a chance, rather than scurrying off like you're terrified," the other girl pointed out.

"Now why would I do that? And what's it to you anyway? What interest do you have in all of this?" Fizzlepop asked.

"Well I know that my friend, Jay, invited you to tonight's party, and she's going to be mighty disappointed if you just cut and run like a chicken," the other girl stated. "As to the why. If you stay for an hour I'll give you twenty bucks. How's that strike you?"

A bribe. This girl, this amputee with an attitude, was actually resorting to offering her a bribe to hang out at this nudist mosh pit? That was certainly a new one. There was the distinct urge to slap her in the face for doing such.

On the other hand... it was twenty bucks, it was almost three times the minimum wage rate in Canterlot city, and all she had to do to earn it was stick around for an hour. There were certainly harder ways to make a dollar, and she knew about them very well. This didn't really count as prostitution, but it did count as selling herself. Then again she'd planned on going around town to find someone she could basically sell herself to for a few hours to make some extra money, so it really wasn't all that different.

"Deal," she said and sighed in defeat. "But I'm keeping my clothes on. Cheerilee said that I could," she added.

"Fine, fine, whatever you want," the girl replied and waved dismissively.

---

"Wow!"

Not having access to her phone, Jay had to track her friends down the old-fashioned way, on foot. Luck had been with her, however, when she'd found several of them clustered together, their presence practically beckoning her like an oasis in the desert to someone dying of thirst.

Shady was in the process of trying to learn how to play a guitar, under the watchful tutelage of Sunset Shimmer as she stood close by, offering up advice, and helping the younger girl adjust her hold on the instrument. But the real luck had come in the form of Vinyl Scratch also being present in the little group. Unlike the other two girls, Vinyl actually knew sign language; a skill she'd found invaluable for communicating while wearing her headphones and effectively deaf to her surroundings. That allowed her to explain the situation with Fizzlepop to Vinyl, who in turn could explain it to the others.

"She went and pulled that on you? That's just messed up," Vinyl stated and shook her head.

"I knew she could be kinda bitchy, but I never thought Stormy would do that," Shady agreed, her attention no longer on the guitar in her hands, but rather on her friend in distress at having her friendship with another friend threatened in such a manner. "Hey, Bacon, if you wrote P.T. about this, do you think she'd come over and hand stormy her ass?"

"I kinda hope she does, I'd pay to see that," Vinyl stated.

"Yeah, you and me both, Pop," Shady added.

Jay could tell that Sunset wanted to facepalm as Shady and Vinyl shared a high five at the direction this conversation had taken. That left her with wishing she could audibly groan at the antics of the two chuckleheads she was friends with.

"I don't think it would come to that. At least I hope not. But Twilight would certainly have some unkind words on the subject of weaponizing friendship and all that," Sunset replied.

"Magical curb stomping aside, what are we really supposed to do about Stormy not wanting to be here? We know nudity isn't for everyone," Shady pointed out as her fingers found their way to tuning keys to slightly adjust the tension on the top string. "Last I checked, we weren't tasked with making people like these parties. Not that I know how we could if we were though."

"I gotta agree. If someone doesn't like bein' here that's their loss, not ours," Vinyl added.

This wasn't the way Jay had been anticipating things to go when she brought this development to light. She'd been hoping for words of advice on what to do, or maybe even someone offering to go talk some sense into the stubborn girl. But not apathetic acceptance. Two of these three girls were part of the group that'd kicked the Dazzlings right out of CHS, shouldn't this have been a cakewalk for them?

She briefly considered going after Fizzlepop herself to try and write some sense into the girl, but then stopped, and started gesturing in the direction of the entrance until the others followed her lead.

"Huh. Would ya look at that," Vinyl commented.

"Where?" Shady asked.

"It looks like your friend, Wind Rider, managed to get Fizzlepop to hang around. She's dressed, but at least she's here," Sunset explained.

"Way to go, Strut," Shady commented and grinned, before once again returning her attention to the guitar she'd been holding.

"So does somebody wanna explain why she's carrying a shotgun and a chainsaw to this party?" Vinyl asked as she tilted her head sideways in trying to figure out what Wind Rider's video game of choice was.

Strut responded by scribbling down a response, before tearing out the sheet of paper and passing it to Vinyl to read.

"She decided to come as the Doom Marine."

"Wait, seriously? She actually went with that? Dude, that's awesome, I love that game!" Vinyl stated.

- Charlie_K

“What!” Moonlight cried. “You can’t go out like that?”
Night Streak and her mother looked at the distraught girl with a perplexed gaze. They were steps from the the garage. “Why not?” Night Streak asked crossing her arms over her head and stretching a little.
“You’re nekkid, that’s why!” Moonlight said, “And stop doing that. It’s embarrassing.” Her voice choked on the last word as Night Streak accentuated her pose.
Night Streak couldn’t see the blush under her friend’s facepaint, but knew it was there. While it was cute, it put Night Streak on edge. She had hoped her playing up her nudity would make her friend laugh, but it had obviously backfired and she put her arms back down.
“Sorry.” Night Streak looked down at herself and changed tactics. “But really, I’m wearing paint.” She was too. For the party she was going as the resurrected vampire Raziel from the Soul Reaver video game series. He happened to be nude in the game and that was perfect for her. Her mother, a cosmetic artist for the local theater, had used Night Streak’s natural black skin to give the blue paint depth. The effect was stunning. From head to her toes, it looked like she was a gaunt ghoul with sinuous blue muscles. Her only real covering was an oversized brown scarf that had silver tear streaks under her eyes. “And a scarf!” She added as she tussled it.
“That doesn’t count! People can still see -- can still see your everything!” Moonlight was becoming more and more flustered and tried to cover herself.
It was Night Streak’s hope that tonight would change Moonlight’s feelings about nudity and maybe join her. A few months ago, Night Streak had introduced Moonlight to her nudism and while her friend was supportive, she didn’t seem to want to join. That’s what tonight’s surprise was suppose to be about, it would be her big entrance into nudism. But she had to get her to the party and this obviously wasn’t helping. Maybe changing the focus would help.
“Well, what did you think? I’d be wearing a coat all evening?” Night Streak asked. “Besides, your costume is going to get more attention than mine.” Night Streak knew Moonshine liked to appear shy, but lived for showing off in front of others. Especially in athletic competitions, but tonight she was showing off in a different way. Her costume was even more impressive than Night Streak’s. Night Streak crossed her fingers and hoped her ploy would work.
“Really?” Moonlight looked at her costume. She had decided to go as Sly Cooper from the same named game series. Like Night Streak, Moonlight had been painted but it only covered her legs, arms, and face. She wore a black leotard under the iconic blue shirt and had the matching hat, gloves and boots. She also wore a prosthetic raccoon nose that Night Streak’s mother had made and a racoon tail they had bought off the Internet. It was fastened with a clear belt over the leotard.
Night Streak put her hands on her friend’s shoulders and sighed. “You’ll be fine and look amazing. They will flip for that nose.” She tapped it a little. “I’ve done this, I know them, and they’ll be cool, okay?” Despite her smugness she felt herself continuing to falter. Her plan was so close to coming together and falling apart all at once she wished she knew which way it was going to go. Pushing her friend like this went against a lot of her more solid feelings towards nudism, but nothing she’d tried to get Moonlight into try it had worked. It was all or nothing tonight. Night Streak grabbed her friend’s hand and said “Let’s go!” There wasn’t any resistance.

“Buckle up!” Night Streak’s mother called as they pulled out of the garage a moment later.
Night Streak put her hand on Moonlight’s wrist in an effort to calm her friend. She could understand why Moonlight was so nervous. She remembered the butterflies in her own stomach the first time her mom had driven her to a party. But Moonlight didn’t know what she was walking into. The conundrum was troubling for Night Streak, she accepted her nudity but didn’t want to be nude herself. “It’ll be okay.” She kept repeating to herself under her breath.
A few minutes later, Night Streak was startled out of her stupor as Moonlight gasped in surprise and then felt the blood drain from her as Moonlight exclaimed, “Oh my god, they’re nekkid!”
Night Streak had hoped there wouldn’t be any students out to spoil the surprise, but on reflection that had been a dream. She looked out her window and saw some of the NLAC members strolling across the athletic field. Nothing she could do about it now except advance her plan by a little more than she already was.
“Um, so you see, the reason I won’t have a problem with my costume is.”’ Night Streak couldn’t help suppress a guilty grin. “Everyone else will be naked too.”
“No!” Moonlight said, her tone clearly sharp and aggravated. Her eyes darted from side to side in frantic thought. “This wouldn’t happen to be one of your plans to get me nekkid, would it?” She gave Night Streak a hard penetrating stare.
“Whatever do you mean?--”
“Nope! You’ve been acting weird all night. This is why, right?” Moonlight shook her head and stared at the van floor. Night Streak could feel her frustration. “We’ve been friends for so long and shared a lot, but now this. Do you realize -- Yes, you’ve been nekkid around me, and I’m fine with it, but stop pushing me!”
Night Streak drew back. This was what she’d feared. Trying to surprise her friend into just being nude had been a stupid idea. She felt herself crumbling and thought she lost it all until her mother spoke up.
“Well, from what I know of these parties, they’re clothing optional, right? You don’t have to get naked. Isn’t that right, Nighty?”
Night was stunned for a moment. She was right. There was no push for anyone to be naked, was there? Earlier her mother and her had had a long talk on if the plan was a good idea at all, but this angle was new and so obvious. It was only about getting Moonlight to experience a nudist event. That’s when an idea clicked into place. “Um, yup.” Night Streak said. “You may stand out, but you can stay dressed.”
Moonlight’s outward expression didn’t change for awhile as she contemplated. Then she sighed and said, “Fine. I’ll go. You know I can’t stay mad at you.” Moonlight’s shoulders drooped a bit, but she quickly regained her posture and looked Night Streak in the eye. “But I’m staying dressed, hear me?”
“Fine, fine, okay.” Night Streak smiled and put her hands up in resignation. Then she pulled the door open. Her plan was still working, if modified a bit. There was only one more thing to pull off, the hardest thing, but she’d come this far, it had to work.

She waved to her mother as she drove off and felt a rush of excitement as she stood nude in the middle of the parking lot. She didn’t have long to enjoy the feeling because Moonlight grabbed her arm and dragged her into the school and down to the cafeteria. Once both were seated, Moonlight demanded to know what was going on and what else Night Streak had planned. Night Streak knew the gig was up and gave her the story of how the NLAC was formed and how she’d gotten involved. While she told the story, many students they knew walked by and stopped to say “hi.” No one was unfriendly or mean, which wasn’t all that of a surprise being a nudist event, but just the amount of people they knew at the party was surprising. Even more surprising was how Moonlight seemed to relax as more and more of her friends or people she knew talked to her. So Night Streak decided to push for just a little bit more.
“Why don’t you take off the leotard?”
“What!? No way.” Moonlight shrieked and covered herself with her arms. “You said I didn’t have to get naked”
“But you wouldn’t be naked!” Night Streak said and glanced at the shirt.
“That’s pretty thin.” Moonlight said and gave her a weak glare. Night Streak knew she had won and let out a sigh of relief. Her friend’s more playful nature was coming back. Moonlight looked around at the students. “Okay, fine. This is just a big step and I wish you hadn’t pushed me into it.” She took a deep breath and held it for a second before letting it out. “Just the leotard?”
“Yes. Keep the rest of the costume on. Otherwise, you’d just be a raccoon and that’s no fun. All I’m asking is that you give it a try, alright?” She smiled and held Moonlight’s hand. “Trust me.”
Moonlight let out another sigh. “Trust you when you look like a demon. Sure. Okay. At least I’ll be more dressed than they are. Where can I change?”
“That’s the spirit!” Night Streak cheered. “Let’s get you to the changing rooms.”

Moonlight timidly stepped out of the changing room and pulled down on the shirt that did nothing to hide her lower half. Night Streak grinned. Moonlight’s natural skin color was white and, combined with the makeup, gave her friend a white furred tummy look. Not quite like Sly, but they were gender bending their character anyway so what was a little extra artistic license? Besides, in Night Streak’s opinion, they should’ve been female to begin with (or at least had the option to be), but that was an argument for later. Right now she was just so excited her friend had done this for her and was hoping she’d go along with the next part too.
“Ah! Now we have the great thief as she should be!” She loudly proclaimed as she embraced Moonlight. “You can’t get more authentic than that. Even at a game con! Imagine what they would say if they saw us as we are now? You’d win the costume prize for sure.” As she spoke and continued to embrace her friend, Night Streak could feel the tension wasn’t leaving Moonlight. She whispered in her ear “Stay calm. You’ve got this. Soon, you won’t even notice. I promise.” Moonlight nodded slightly and Night Streak let go. She gave the costume another look over and nodded in approval. She loved how the tail seemed blend into the costume. The clear belt didn’t show up at all. “Definitely an improvement. Now, let the games begin!”
“Games?” Moonlight asked. Her posture was becoming more natural and her arms dropped to her sides. “What games?”
Night Streak knew that a challenge might have taken Moonlight’s thoughts off the nudity earlier and would have avoided a lot of this. Looking back on it, she should’ve led with that, but it was too late now.
“Oh, did I forget to mention? I signed us up for the escape room challenge.” She grinned. In the video games, Raziel was about as clever as Sly and both had puzzles to solve, so having a real-life puzzle room would be authentic for the characters and fun for both of them. “I hope you brought your ‘A-game’ and don’t mind a little sweat.” She was happy to see Moonlight perk up at that.

They made their way down the hall to the event and signed in. Calling it an “escape room” wasn’t really accurate. In reality, it was more like a cross between that and a team building obstacle course.
They were informed they could start immediately since the last group had just made it through the halfway point and the first part had been reset. They quickly entered and were met with a high wall with a cut out in the middle that looked like some sort of window. The room had nothing in it to give them ideas of what to do or how to solve it. Like most escape rooms, they were allowed three hints, but each hint would reduce their score. If that wasn’t enough, they also had to beat the clock. The faster time, the more points.
They didn’t waste any time getting to the wall and scoured it for any clues. Night Streak found the first set of handholds and discovered they were meant for pulling, not climbing. Her attempt to pull only managed to wedge whatever it was in place. It took both of them pushing it back in, finding the other set of hand holds, and then pulling it out together to solve the puzzle. As they pulled, a shelf revealed itself and both were able to reach the window and enter the next level.
That set the tone for the rest of the rooms. Every challenge, every obstacle, required at least two people to solve it. There were points where one person might have been able to do it, but it would’ve either taken a lot of strength or flexibility. It was impossible in the rooms where they had to turn a set of keys in sync or lift each other up to open a hidden compartment.
Through it all, Night Streak waited for her friend to bring up the nudity, to mention something, for them to have a moment to talk, but she was given the cold shoulder, unless they were solving the puzzles.
Finally, they came to the last room and of course it was the hardest. The problem looked simple. There was a pit with an idol head on the other side. They couldn’t jump it and there was no way to wall run or swing across. Suddenly a voice boomed out. “Present your sacrifice!” The two girls were confused. They didn’t have anything to sacrifice. There wasn’t anything from the previous chambers they hadn’t already used to solve a puzzle. It was just them.
Then the realization hit. It was wrong. The rules said both had to exit. How could they sacrifice one of them after coming so far. Was this was how it ended? Neither wanted to accept the outcome and agreed they had to be missing something. Precious minutes ticked away as they put their heads together, but what else did they have to sacrifice? They refused to ask for a hint.
Night Streak made up her mind. She dragged her friend into this. She had to make it out. Without anymore thought, she ran towards the pit.
“Night! Wait!” Moonlight yelled and charged past her in a dead sprint. She was always faster. She stopped inches from the edge and, without any hesitation, whipped off her shirt and threw it in. “Here’s your sacrifice!” It happened so fast Night Streak didn’t have a chance to stop. In a motion Night Streak couldn’t possibly describe or do herself, Moonlight grabbed her waist, spun both of them around, and pulled her back to safety.
“Your sacrifice is accepted!” The voice boomed out. A drawbridge lowered from the far side and they easily walked over the pit. Night Streak looked over the edge and saw the shirt just just a few inches below on a crash pad. She picked it up and realized it could’ve been her and then wondered how many other student’s had been “sacrificed.”
Night Streak thought the biggest surprise tonight would be getting Moonlight naked, but in the end it was being awarded tickets for two, all expenses paid trip to an exclusive nudist resort no one had heard of on a privately owned island. The award was donated by an anonymous donor. It turned out they were one of the few teams to not only finish the game with both of them, but to do it in the shortest time and with no hints. Night Streak felt like celebrating and splurged on treats from the concession stand in the Student Union, with a slight stop at the body painting booth on the way to fill in some parts of Moonlight’s costume. Moonlight said she didn’t want to put the shirt back on with how sweaty she was.
They got their food, and settled down in a booth. Night Streak had so many questions. Her first one was “what would we have done without your shirt?”
“That’s easy.” Moonlight smiled and looked strangely contented as she ate her ice cream. “We would’ve made a sacrifice of self.”
“But we had to end with both us--”
“Not a physical sacrifice. We would’ve had to admit something about ourselves or make an affirmation. When we don’t have anything left, we have ourselves. There’s more than one way to sacrifice ourselves. It came to me after we made it over the bridge and there’s something I have to admit.”
“You sly little -- Wait. speaking of sly, how come you seem okay with nudity now?” Night Streak asked taking a sip from her milkshake.
Moonlight blushed and swirled a curly-q french fry in her ketchup. “Well, that’s the thing I have to tell you. You see, I --.” She ate the french fry and chewed it to prolong the wait. “I’ve been going nude at home.” As soon as she said it, she looked down and it was obvious she was embarrassed.
Night Streak felt like she had been knocked sideways. She was happy for her friend, but frustrated all the same. “If you were okay with nudity then why did you put me through this? Why did you fight it so much?”
Moonlight looked up with anger in her eyes. “First, this is social nudity. It’s completely different than home nudity and a big step. And because you don’t have the right to push me or anyone else into things we’re not ready for! If you knew I was a home nudist, I know you’d gloat about getting me into nudism and try to get me to go nude with you. I wasn’t ready for that. I was afraid you’d push me faster than I was ready. Turns out you did anyway. You shouldn’t do that to your friends.”
Night Streak felt crushed. Did she hurt her friends that way? She thought back on her life. She had always been enthusiastic about sharing her interests, she just thought her friends would share her enthusiasm after they tried it. Did she really know their feelings? It pained her to admit that she didn’t. She knew she had pushed Moonlight tonight, but she thought about her feelings or how much fun she alone would have?. Did that make her a bad of a friend?
Moonlight broke her train of thought by continuing. “Look. I know you mean the best. You wanted a friend in nudism, but the more you pushed the more I resisted, even though I liked it, because you weren’t giving me a choice. I needed to come to it myself. Understand? Why do you think I hung out with you so much? Maybe I did need a push, but it was too much. I don’t know” Some tears fell Moonlight’s eyes. “I’m sorry for the deception. Are you sorry? Can we still be friends?” She held out her hand.
The flood of words hit Night Streak like a tidal wave. She tried to unpack them on top of her own thoughts but it just collapsed. In the end, she realized her friend was a nudist like her, that was good, she needed to not push her friends into things, but it was okay to share, and that they were still friends after all. “Yes.” Night Streak took her friend’s hand. “We’re still friends.”

-Clickety_Clak

Comments

[Nyperold]

“A fowl darkness has seeped into my temple, a fowl darkness that you must destroy.

It is... the Cucco of Shadows! Unlike other cuccos, which only attack when you've hurt them enough, this one attacks you just for being in the same area!

[Clickety-Clack]

Both stories went in ways I wasn't expecting. Way to go. I hope you all had fun writing them as I did. Thank you for contributing.

[Windy0]

Can you do a Pokemon theme next?