The Nude School on Horror Hill

Vice-Principal Luna waited anxiously outside of the Student Union Center biting her thumbnail; there was no denying the emotions that were flowing through her now. Despite going over every detail down to the smallest detail, she was still nervous. This was either going to go horribly wrong or horribly right.

When the CMC approached her about having a horror theme for this weeks nudist party, she was dubious. At first she thought it would be like the parties of old: “dress” up for the event, spend some time with friends, and then leave when the party was over. But then the idea ballooned into something more devious. First it was the idea to set up holograms to create ghostly images and shadows. Then the decor Pinkie Pie seemed rather eager to provide. Finally the kicker: this one was going to be a slumber party.

Even Cheerilee went ballistic at that concept, but sly words from Apple Bloom and Sunset Shimmer changed her tune. But the Vice-Principle held firm at no slumber party. Then, with a slip of the tongue it all came crashing down. As if to quote her favorite horror flick, Luna said; “Well if they choose to stay the night I’ll give them a passing grade in a class they want.” It was simply in jest. But before she could pull those words back it was too late.

And now there they were, mere minutes from letting a crowd of fifty students and friends ready for the occasion into the school for one giant nudist scarefest slumber party. The myriad of ways this could backfire were incalculable. Yet internally she felt an eagerness to try this.

It was at that moment Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo appeared from the room. Luna turned and looked at them, “Is everything in place?”

“According to Button and Featherweight all the projectors are set up, the speakers are in place, and the decor is in order.” Sweetie answered, “We’re ready to go.”

Vice-Principle Luna nodded and took a deep breath, there was no turning back now. She walked out to the front entrance to greet a myriad of students awaiting her. Putting on her best Vincent Price expression, Vice Principle Luna addressed the crowd.

“Welcome, welcome one and all to our Night of living frights here at Canterlot High. I’m sure you’re all eager so let me not waste anyone’s time. I propose to you all a little challenge, one that I’m sure many of you could accept. If you manage to spend the entire night at Canterlot High, I'll give each of you a passing grade in ONE class of your choice. Though be forewarned, there are ghosts that roam the halls this night and they have claimed seven victims already. Perhaps tonight you may be victim number eight. Would you come and join us, you don't want to be late to your own funeral?”

To Shady, the premise of this week's NLAC party, at least as far as she understood it, had been simple enough. The theme was horror, being done in an early Nightmare Night sort of fashion. But it went further than just that, and there was the promise from Vice Principal Luna of a passing grade in a class of choice for any students that were brave enough to actually spend the entire night at the school.

Selling her mother on the whole "spending the night at school" idea had been the hardest part. She hadn't been able to think up a way to explain the whole idea, and she knew that if she tried the "spending the night with a friend" routine, said friend would be getting called up and questioned on the matter, so that wasn't an option that could realistically be employed.

Thankfully she had an ace in the hole, and that was Vice Principal Luna herself!

Ever since enrollment in CHS, the two of them had shared a unique point of bond and understanding; or at least she liked to believe that was truly the case. For the two of them, they were linked through their mutual associations with darkness, even if it had been for different reasons. One of them had adopted the darkness as her own, while the other had been born into it, and molded by it all her life.

If nothing else, it made an interesting point of conversation whenever it came up.

She had explained the situation to Vice-Principal Luna, she hated the vice principal term the woman was unfortunately saddled with, and the Vice-Principal had handled the rest from there. With one call to her mother for a discussion between the two older women, she heard as the principal went about explaining the matter in a way that was simultaneously both completely honest, and entirely dishonest about just what was going to be happening overnight at the school, making it appear as a legitimate school function. She weaved the details like a spider weaving its web, everything carried out like a well-choreographed dance, and easily secured permission for her to spend the night at the school with the other students who were participating in the night's events.

With permission secured and in hand, the actual wait to Friday night had felt excruciating, and the few days between then and now had seemed like forever. This was pretty much the first slumber party she'd ever been on, and because of that fact, containing the resulting enthusiasm was more or less impossible for her. By the time Friday had finally rolled around, she was practically ready to bounce off the walls as she waited for the ride to school with her duffle bag in tow, carrying with it a pillow, sleeping bag, spare sheet, a change of clothes for Saturday morning, snacks, and a set of pajamas for the sake of keeping up the necessary appearances of the cover story.

Officially she was here to have spent the night with her friends and have fun with them, as they went about securing passing grades for select classes. And she was indeed doing just that; she had been since arriving at the school, and slipping into more appropriate attire for the night's party. Unofficially, however, she was here simply to laugh her ass off at the others falling victim to whatever scares that Vice-Principal Luna had planned for them, and gloat about her superiority over them.

According to what her friends had been telling her, Vice-Principal Luna had gone all out on getting the school ready for the night's events, doing her best to make it downright terrifying for those who would have to brave the night for the sake of their grades. There were fog machines and strobe lights set up to generate a disorientation effect in the atmosphere, to leave others unsettled and unbalanced. Even the PA system had been commandeered for the night, and was currently broadcasting background noise for heightening the experience, occasionally punctuated by sound effects like chains rattling, heavy footsteps, random screams, and other haunted house goodies.

All in all it was a very, very impressive amount of effort put into this week's party.

But effort could only go so far in the real world. Strictly speaking the night was still relatively young, everyone was still very much awake, there was plenty of sugary goodness available for keeping them hyper, and their mental defenses were still high to guard against potential scares.

And then there was the likes of her, who was immune to visual effects that would undoubtedly get others, and get them good. It didn't matter what sort of salvo size was fired, Vice-Principal Luna was simply way out of her league on this one. She couldn't help but grin just a little bit wickedly at that particular thought.

Of course it wasn't all a matter of scares and varying degrees of horror haunting the school halls. There was still the fact that tonight was still technically a slumber party. And as Pinkie had so -not- eloquently pointed out, if they weren't ready for the slumber portion, then the party portion was in full effect! With clothes removed and properly stored away, Shady took part in the night’s activities.

Where and how exactly the pink party girl had gone about procuring enough pillows for the night's activities, Shady didn't have a clue. Nor did she really care; it meant that her own pillow from home wouldn't be getting destroyed in the resulting pillow fight.

The scares of the evening might've been limited to a PG level -making it more Poltergeist rather than Friday the 13th- but the resulting massacre of said pillows would've been rated a hard R for sure although all the breasts and other such bits of anatomy being present and visible would've certainly contributed to such.

Then there was the matter of Strut and a few other like-minded individuals who'd seen fit to bring nerf goodies along, claiming that the horror theme of the night simply demanded a game of "students vs zombies" while there was enough light to make it practical; something about being able to see to retrieve their munitions later on since they didn't have the glow-in-the-dark sort with them.

When the sun had finally set to the point that they couldn't see by it, that was when the more horror-related aspects of the slumber party started to gear up, and Principal Luna's plans started to become more apparent to the rest of them. Once the sun had gone down, those that had shown up for tonight's fun had found themselves being ushered to the gymnasium where they'd all be spending the night, principal included.

She couldn't actually see anything, but the air was heavily tainted -by her nose anyway- with the smell of hot metal and kerosene as oil lanterns burned, giving both illumination, and helping add to the atmosphere of their surroundings. Maybe there were candles burning as well for the spooky effect, she couldn't be certain.

What she was certain about, however, was that ghost stories were being told. Some present were telling the stories themselves, others were using MP3 players and speakers to play creepypastas read by those regarded as being the top narrators. And as she listened to their tales, it was easy to understand why they were so highly regarded. Through a combination of excellent vocal control, unsettling background music, and sound effects at key moments to emphasize specific details, it was damn unsettling to listen to. More than once she found herself uneasily glancing over her shoulder -despite it being a completely useless thing to do- because she was positive that something was watching her. The background noises coming from just beyond the gymnasium doors didn't help matters either.

She was seriously started to suspect that Principal Luna had taken everything into consideration when planning out this night, including her own inability to see, and responded accordingly to such.

Over to her left, she heard Jabber Jaw giving a full body shudder on her sleeping bag as the latest tale came to a close, before frantically signing something.

"What'd she say?" she asked.

"That she's not going to be sleeping tonight after hearing that one," Strut translated.

Shady just shook her head in response. The latest story hadn't been that scary as far as she was concerned. But then again that was just her.

"Well at least you're not in the dark 24/7 like I am. You can at least see when something might actually be there," She pointed out. That was a luxury she didn't have, and if there was some monster around that left her having to listen for it, or try and smell it out. And while her senses were probably up to the task, she really didn't wanna find Bob in such a manner. And if Vice-Principal Luna had hired Slenderman to be lurking in the hallways of the school... well, she hoped that she was at the right height for punching him straight in the balls should they meet.

This shit was getting way too serious. They needed a way to break the tension before the scares got a little too real and close for comfort. Maybe go talk to Vinyl about getting some music going, or maybe see if there was enough motivation for the group to heckle some of the more ridiculous stories going around the various smaller circles of fellow slumberites.

"Alright," she said as she pushed herself up, "hold down the fort. I gotta visit the bathroom. I've got way too much soda in me."

"What?" Rinky Dink practically squeaked. "You're actually going out there alone? Don't you know that's the worst thing to do in horror movies!?"

"No, the worst thing to do in horror movies is go somewhere secluded or off limits like an idiot," she pointed out as she extended her cane. "I know where the bathroom is, and if something's waiting out there, I intend to swing this to kill. I'll be alright."

She heard Gripes scoff dismissively from where he currently was in the gymnasium, but paid him no more mind than a cursory flipping the bird in his general direction. She had better things to do than stand around and trade barbs with the complainer at the moment; she'd reserve that for when she got back. And if that should fail, it was going to be pillow fight round two, and there would be no prisoners taken. Executions perhaps, but no prisoners.

Fortunately the walk to the girls' bathroom was far more uneventful than any of the ghost stories has been. Even more fortunately, Principal Luna hadn't gone the Castle route of hiding joy buzzers on the toilet seats; which was good because she doubted that she'd be able to forgive something like that, regardless of who was responsible.

The walk back to the gymnasium was even more uneventful than the walk from there. Now that she wasn't pressed so urgently, she could more easily think about the situation she'd gotten herself into.

The real world was a scary place. This? This was all just make-believe, for the sole purpose of entertainment. Her mother was a lawyer, meaning she knew about some of the horrors and atrocities the real world held, that would be called too farfetched to be believed in a work of fiction; stuff the human mind simply couldn't accept as being real because it exceeded the comprehension of most sane people. Werewolves, zombies, and cannibalistic mimes were nothing compared to the things her mother had warned her about. All Principal Luna could throw at her were sound effects, and what was so scary about them when you knew what to expect?

As it turned out there was a lot!

On the way back to the gymnasium she must not have been paying proper attention to her surroundings, because her ears were suddenly assaulted by a horribly unpleasant noise like scraping metal, blaring out of a PA system speaker that felt like it was right next to her. She immediately recoiled in both pain and surprise, covering her ears with her hands, with her war cry desperately being in need of improvement.

"Damn it!" she yelled. She'd come to observe others getting scared, and she'd wound up getting scared herself in turn! She was supposed to be immune to this, but Principal Luna had gotten her good! She was undoubtedly never going to hear the end of this.

"Alright. This requires retribution," she said to herself as she took stock of the situation. "First, I'm gonna learn how to alter the pitch of my voice. Then, I'm gonna learn ventriloquism. And then, I'm gonna make her think Principal Celestia has found out her secret and crashed the party. That'll get her back," she said and chuckled darkly to herself. It would take time to orchestrate everything, but it was going to happen.

There was just one problem she had to tend to before she could actually go about doing that. She was hopelessly lost as fuck right now! When she'd gotten startled she hadn't thought to pay attention to how she'd moved, and now she couldn't remember what direction she was currently facing.

"Damn it," she repeated. She absolutely hated when stuff like this happened to her! Not she had to get her orientation back before she could find her way back to the gymnasium. "Why does crap like this always happen with me?"

Of course she knew the reason this stuff happened to her rather than anyone else, was because she was the only student at CHS who was blind, so naturally it would happen to her rather than anyone else. But knowing the why didn't make things any easier for her.

"Alright, Shady, let's figure out where you are. If they need to send a rescue party to find you, you're never gonna hear the end of this one," she muttered to herself, feeling around with her cane in an effort to get her bearings back. She quickly found out she was standing next to a wall, but that told her very little since she couldn't discern just which wall it was. "I guess there's no choice but to pick a direction, and hope to find something familiar."

Stuff like this really sucked, because stuff like this was nothing but an unpleasant reminder of what reality was. And the reality was that, no matter how confident she acted, or how competent she seemed, or how much sarcasm she used, nothing was going to change the fact it all required a significant amount concentration, situational awareness, and focus to keep everything running as smoothly as they did. And when that concentration was broken, when that situational awareness was interrupted, everything she worked hard to convey was gone. Until she managed to get her bearings back again, she was pretty much totally lost, and just so damn vulnerable! It was utterly debilitating to put up with.

"Gotta find a point of reference. Some familiar landmark or something," she muttered to herself, knowing that if she could actually do that, she'd be able to draw on her mental map once again.

The idea was simple enough. Although actually doing it was proving to be more difficult than she was comfortable with. Her defenses had been compromised, and now she was finding the background noises in the hallways to be more unsettling than they had been originally. The way they echoed off the walls and reached her ears was making it hard to focus, when there were random footsteps and creaking doors to contend with.

"Time to fight fire with fire," she muttered and gripped the phone hanging around her neck. "Siri hit me up with "Sound of Madness" and do it fast."

She expected the sound of the usual chime of acknowledgement to meet her ears, but she heard nothing of the sort, nor any song following.

"What the? Siri? Talk to me."

Again, no response. For whatever reason, her phone wasn't responding, despite the battery being freshly charged this afternoon in preparation for tonight. Had Principal Luna actually found a way to invoke whole the "cellphones don't work" cliché that so many horror movies exploited without mercy, just for the sake of covering all the bases, and ensuring she hadn't forgotten a single student?

She gave a groan of dissatisfaction. She was lost, she couldn't call for help, and now she didn't have her music to listen to. This night was just getting better and better.

"You try to be tough, and this is what it gets you. Nice going, you broken idiot..."

The next thing she knew was the pain of stubbing her left toe against something jutting out in her path. Naturally she screamed, giving off a few less than stellar examples of profanity in the process as she tried not only to cradle the inflamed digit while it throbbed, but also not lose her balance and fall flat on her ass.

Was it really asking too much to get a break at some point tonight? Much to her surprise, it wasn't one but rather two breaks that were had. The first was that her toe wasn't being broken from the impact, meaning she'd actually be able to walk it off. The second was when she realized that she'd collided with a water fountain! There were only so many water fountains to be found in CHS, especially on the first floor where she currently was. And if it was right here with her, there were only a handful of locations that were this close to the bathrooms.

"Alright!" she stated. She'd found her point of reference for narrowing down where she needed to go, in order to get back to the gymnasium. Things were finally looking up! "Principal Luna, you don't win this one!"

There was still the matter of just which water fountain she'd managed to run into, but there were only two that it could really be. She just had to stay sharp for other points of reference, and she'd know where exactly she was.

And then that all went south as she felt her whole upper body crossing through something very stringy, and very sticky, that immediately caused her to seize up, and her heart start beating faster as a tiny squeak escaped her lips. It was a spider web... she HATED spider webs!

She shrieked, cane forgotten about as it dropped to the ground, as she desperately tried to pull the disgusting mess off of her body. Where there were spider webs, there were spiders, and she hated spiders even worse than their webs! Already she was feeling their tiny little legs scurrying across her skin as they began their assault against her; even if they weren't there, she was still feeling them! This left her frantically swatting at every rogue sensation crossing the surface, while simultaneously trying to pull the webbing off and get free from it!

The logical part of her mind knew that there was no way a spider web this big would ever be missed by the janitorial staff. But right now that part was being stampeded by the primal part of her mind that gave zero fucks about what was logical, and there was nothing she could do about it. And with being naked it just made the whole experience all the worse!

"Ick, ick, ick, ick!" she yelled as she frantically tried to wipe herself down, trying to remove the webbing from her skin before any spiders it carried could get any more access to her than they had already. The fact that it was tangled in her hair and on her face just made it even more terrifying. She didn't want to think about it, she just wanted it gone!

Vice-Principal Luna had DEFINITELY done her homework on this one!

If it hadn't been for her heart beating as hard as it was, she was sure it would've stopped completely at the next commotion to reach her ears. Immediately her struggles with the webbing halted as her entire body went stiff like a plank. She didn't have a clue what she was hearing exactly, and she wasn't sure whether it was the distorted breathing, or the background noise that wrestled it for domination, but something about this commotion was terrifying on an extremely primal level.

Immediately her senses were on high alert as she whirled around in the hallway, directing her ears like radar dishes as she tried to pick up on what exactly was going on around her. Was something actually approaching her like a predator stalking its prey? Was it just background noise and panic from everything that'd been happening in the span of a few minutes?

"Screw this, I'm outta here!"

What might or might not be going on wasn't important any longer; all she cared about was escaping as rational thought took a back seat to the blindest of panic possible. She didn't care what direction she went, what was that way, or even about retrieving her cane right now. Throwing her arms in front of her and crossing them to act as a shield, she took off running with her head down as fast as she could, intent on plowing through whatever might be in front of her. If Slenderman was stalking the halls right now then he was gonna find himself flat on his back, wondering what the number of the truck was that ran him over.

Adrenaline was coursing through her veins at high speeds as she ran, plowing ahead as fast as her legs could carry her, and nothing was going to stop her or slow her down. Nothing that is, except for stepping down wrong on something unseen, in a manner that sent her toppling forward with an excited scream as she hit the ground with a hard thud.

Panic temporarily gave way to pain - a lot of pain- as she laid there, her senses trying to reboot themselves from her unplanned landing. But the sensory whiteout and blood pounding in her ears only provided a temporary shielding against that terrible, horrible commotion that'd sent her into a panic in the first place, which came back with a vengeance as the static cleared, and once again asserted terror over her.

She pushed herself back up onto her feet, only to scream as pain shot up her right leg as she put her weight on it. She knew something hadn't been right when she'd tripped and fallen, and now she knew that it was her ankle twisting. That was seriously going to limit her ability to run, especially with it being her dominant leg that'd gotten injured. The best she could do was limp along, bracing herself against the wall for support as she hopped along on her good leg, all the while trying to keep her balance and not fall over again. And if that didn't work she'd crawl on her hands and knees to get away from that horrendous breathing!

Unfortunately she didn't get far before realizing that she'd picked the wrong damn direction to travel, as bumped into something that was in her path, and nearly toppled over again from the impact. And from the grunt that came from it, it was reasonable to conclude that it wasn't any decoration. Escape from such a close proximity was pretty much impossible, so she opted to go down swinging rather than whimpering. Flight was kicked to the sidelines like a deadbeat renter as fight was engaged, and she started swinging her fists wildly, landing at least one good solid hit on whatever was in her path, and earning a grunt for her efforts. Several glancing blows followed, but this was short lived as she found herself being grabbed from behind and pulled away, motivating her to struggle harder.

"Lemme go, lemme go!" she shrieked, desperately clawing at what had her as she squirmed about, and desperately wished she didn't keep her fingernails so neatly trimmed and short.

"Shady! Shady, calm down! It's alright!"

"My goodness! What's gotten into her?"

Voices! Actual speaking voices! Somebody was talking to her; two somebodies actually, who were addressing her by name! That was enough to take the wind out of her sails. And as she was calming down, she was starting to realize that a couple of breasts were currently being squished against her back.

"Who's that? Who's there? Which boobs are these?" she asked.

"They're mine, silly," the voice behind her replied with a giggle. "Don't you recognize them?"

That voice... it was Rinky Dink's sister; Champy was the one holding her from behind. Almost immediately at realizing she wasn't actually in danger, she finally allowed her defenses to lower as she relaxed considerably, just about slumping against the older girl. Champy's body was a stark contrast to everything else she'd been experiencing in the halls since leaving the gymnasium; she was real, she was friendly, she was warm, she was comfy. It was all too much for her to continue remaining on high alert while leaning against.

The things haunting the hallways and stalking her, those weren't, and hadn't been real. Champy, however, was quite real, and here with her right now. She'd been trying to find her way to safety, but safety had come and found her instead. As frazzled as she felt, that was enough to just take all the fight right out of her.

"Now that that's been taken care of, perhaps we could get some answers?" a second voice asked. She recognized this voice as belonging to Clockwork. "If I'm going to be on the receiving end of a beating, I'd like to at least know why."

At hearing this she tried several times to give a response, only to find that the chemical dumps in her system had left her less than eloquent, and unable to properly explain what she'd gone through.

"I thought I ran into Slenderman," she finally managed to get out in justification of her actions. "I heard weird noises in the hallway, and I was covered in spider webs and I... I...” she tried to explain, but simply couldn't articulate what she'd gone through. "I didn't beat you up too hard, did I?"

"For someone of your size and age, you can hit surprisingly hard," Clockwork commented, not directly answering the question he'd been presented. "Let's just get back to the gymnasium. This hallway has an unsettling atmosphere about it."

"Right," she agreed quickly, only to yelp in pain as she felt the pain in her ankle as she put her weight on it once again. And without having her cane to put in its walking stick configuration, this was going to be very tricky.

"Oh dear. That looks like it's quite swollen," Clockwork commented, undoubtedly looking at her throbbing ankle as she stood like a goofy flamingo. "It's probably best if you don't put any weight on it."

"I don't really have much choice. I lost my cane somewhere back there when I got caught in the spider web," she replied, gesturing vaguely in the direction behind her. "I kinda need that to get anywhere."

"Actually, I think I've got an idea."

She didn't want to admit it, but that statement on Champy's part made her a bit uneasy. Rinky Dink's sister wasn't an idiot, but she had a... very unique outlook on things. She couldn't begin to imagine what was in mind for this particular situation.

What followed was Champy letting go of her -an act that nearly caused her to fall on the floor before she regained her balance- before moving around in front of her, taking hold of her hands as she knelt down, and then puling her forward as she gripped her thighs and hoisted her up onto her back for a piggyback ride! It was completely unexpected... but not exactly unwanted.

"There you go. Now you don't have to walk," Champy stated pride evident in her voice as she spoke.

"Well that would certainly do the trick," Clockwork commented. "I'll catch up with you two; I'm going to see if I can find where she dropped her cane."

"Thanks, Clockwork, I appreciate that," Shady replied as she settled in on Champy's back for the return trip to the gym.

"Alright, let's get you back and get that ankle looked at," Champy stated as she readjusted her hold in order to better carry her.

Shady simply nodded in response, not up to offering anything else as she was carried. She'd been through way, way too much to be eloquent right now. All she wanted to do was get back to the gym, get her ankles looked at, and maybe finally turn in and get some rest. Even her snark and sarcasm was drained dry right now, leaving her nothing as she slouched against Champy's back for the ride.

"Um, Shady, those aren't my shoulders," Champy spoke up, her voice squeaking in the process.

"They're more comfortable to hang onto though," Shady replied.

"Shady..." Champy repeated.

Shady sighed in response as she relented, repositioning her hands up on Champy's shoulders. She knew that tone, and she knew that it meant business when it was used. "Spoilsport," she muttered unhappily. But she knew that trying to fight the issue simply wasn't worth it.

"Just because the girls are out and about, doesn't mean they want to be played with," Champy giggled.

Shady merely grunted as she once again settled in for the ride back to the gym, grateful for the fact that she didn't have to walk. Even without her ankle being an issue, she was emotionally exhausted from the psychological roller coaster ride she'd been on. She couldn't remember the last time she'd ever been that terrified before, and she didn't particularly care for ever experiencing it again. This had certainly been quite the eye opener for her. She had to address the fact that she wasn't the unshakable badass she thought she was.

Right now, however, she didn't care about all that. Right now all she wanted was to get back to the gym, get her ankle looked at by the staff on duty for stuff like this, get herself settled in for the night, and if she was lucky, maybe actually get some sleep. She'd be able to better sort these matters out in the morning at breakfast when she was more awake and able to think clearly.

• Charlie_K

The following is a first person perspective by the Author’s character Poe. This is the only situation where it happens do not be alarmed.

Why do I refuse to wear clothes, you ask? It is not madness nor the dare. I assure you, my current undressed state is for survival and heaven forfend I should wear anything until dawn’s first light. Oh yes, a dare was involved. Make no mistake. A silly dare really -- among friends -- to spend one night naked at our high school until sunrise. Good friends, mind you. Still, it was a dare and I believe a good dare among good friends is a dare you can take any day. Was I foolish in taking the dare? No. How was I, or anyone, you understand, to know the horror that lay behind it? Predicting the future, that is madness. Listen to my story and you will understand why my nudity is vital for my continued survival.

It’s not that I want to be naked, I’m not a nudist, at least, I don’t believe I am, and if I thought it safe to slip on a pair of shorts or pull down a shirt, I would do so with gleeful abandon. Wash from your minds that this dare keeps me from doing so now. No, not the dare, even though the sun is close, I would gladly forfeit. Nudity, for me, has always been something forbidden. Something to be seen as wrong or uncivilized. That is not to say I was steadfast against nudity before the dare or I wouldn’t have entertained the thought. After taking the dare I even practiced being naked. It started in my room. I was careful -- oh so careful in my plans. I always made sure I was alone before getting undressed. How I feared someone would walk in unexpectedly. I always left a change of clothes close at hand, just in case. With all prepared, I spent the first session sitting still until I grew bored. Slowly, ever so slowly during the following days, I increased my activities. I watched television, my body coiled like a spring ready to jump at the slightest hint somebody was coming. Then, and I will admit this to no one else, I found being nude added a pleasantness to doing homework. Even my friends, who never let me forget the dare, eventually learned of, then assisted, with my practice. They suggested, and then insisted, I go nude around them. It was awkward and we had a good laugh, but the novelty quickly wore off and not only did we become comfortable with it but soon it was my custom, habit, and even, routine. Finally, I stayed nude for a sleepover. I must remind you that I still have every intention to return to a textile-based existence, but after the sleepover I was tempted to forget it. Whatever my end decision I felt myself as fully prepared as I could be.

Despite my growing confidence and comfort with being nude, fear plucked my nerves as my friends and I walked to the school. We were within view of the solemn and deserted building when the plucking turned to strumming. The building appeared more oppressive and foreboding than I had remembered. I was only in attendance a few hours before but in that time an inexplicable change had befallen it. The trees rustled their leaves at me as if in warning not to approach, the blank windows of empty classrooms told of the nothingness that waited. The bare parking lot was devoid of any signs that life was inside. As the building crawled closer its shadow reached for me. Oh how I wish I would’ve heeded those warnings and turned back, yet I stilled the strumming before it could grow into a cacophony. I had prepared for this; it was simple nudity for one night. I was feeling a spot of stage fright. I could go through with it. I could combat this fear as I did my fear of nudity. I reminded myself that it was the same building, the same trees I had seen before, their rustling was the wind, the shadows from the setting sun, and I had been there when classes let out. All natural occurrences easily explained to a settled mind. No, that was not it. Something still picked at me. Inside the building, I knew something lurked that not even clothes could protect me from.

My friends sensed this change as well and offered me a way out, but one doesn’t let a dare go based on mere nerves and superstition. How could I live it down? In a show of empty bravado, I stripped my clothing at the entrance, neatly folded them and handed them to a nearby friend with instructions to return them in the morning. I even smiled and waved to them as they walked away. To prove my resolve I didn’t walk to the front doors until they had turned the corner and were out of sight. The shock of what I had done hit me as soon as I touched the cold metal handles of the front doors. A dozen thoughts of how idiotic, how wrong, how much trouble I could be in, and even how to reverse my decision, flooded my mind. One night nude in my high school? What madness? How idiotic and foolish! One thing I should mention, because it came to me at that moment, was that I would not, in fact, be alone. I have, until now, withheld the information that this dare was connected to a school function for fear it would expose the innocent to unfair review, for they, in no way, could have had any knowledge of the terror their horror themed soiree would subject me to. Remembering there was a party, and possible safety, I was able calm myself again. The quickest way to end this would be through the front doors and to find the party. Resigned to my fate, I pulled on the heavy metal handle. To my surprise, it opened quite easily. I had expected it to be locked, but open it did. Moving quickly, I slid inside and an inky blackness and utter silence engulfed me. So quickly had I been transported from light to darkness I momentarily forgot all and jerked in surprise as a resounding boom echoed through the entrance hall as the front door closed? I whirled around, my hands fumbling for the push bar, my fingers finding it, quickly clasped it, and I pushed, but it wouldn’t budge. Somehow the force of its closing had clicked the heretofore defunct lock into place. With dread I realized there was no turning back.

As the echo faded a laughing and cackling rose, jeers and cheers clashed with screams of accusation all aimed at my nakedness. Some of the ghastly voices raced down the hall calling for others to see my naked state while more were close enough to whisper in my ear taunts of how much trouble I’d be in. I couldn’t see anyone in the black pitch but it sounded like dozens surrounded me. The door was hopeless as an escape so I ran. I ran without knowing where I was running to or caring where I ended up, so long as I escaped the voices and didn’t get caught. My new goal was to find clothes. Every fiber of my being was calling out for them as my bare feet raced over the cold hard floor. I cursed those who planned the party, my friends for tempting me, and, most of all, myself. Exhausted and humiliated, I slumped against a locker and crumpled to the floor, hugging my knees as tears fell from my eyes and weariness consumed me.

So lost in my sorrow and berating myself, I didn’t notice that the laughing had stopped until I heard the unmistakable slap of sneaker against laminate floor. Someone had caught me or was about to as it sounded far off. My tormentors come to continue what they started or saviors bringing clothing, I cared not. I looked up and saw a lone figure slouched at end of the dimly lit hallway. It’s presence chilled me for reasons I could not put into words. Their clothes looked familiar and I tried to recall the classmate I’d seem them on, yet I couldn’t remember or see who wore them.

They were dressed in a simple tee with a hoodie pulled up, in the dim light, I couldn’t see a face. Below that, they wore jeans that bunched up and spilled over a worn pair of sneakers. I called out to them as I got up, but heard no reply. Drying my eyes and fighting back my tiredness, I again ignored the warnings my brain was sending. Instead, I tried to look as dignant as I could and focused on getting dressed. I was done with the dare, nakedness, this night, and if they offered me a way out, I’d take it. As I got closer, the more naked I felt, which I should’ve realized was odd since I had never felt that way around my clothed friends even during those first few minutes of nudity. Was it the school? The feeling nagged at me while at the same time they were in conflict with my yearn to feel clothes wrap around my body, to feel their warmth, their security, their welcome embrace. Before my first word of greeting was fully formed, I saw whom, or I should say what I was greeting. A paralyzing chill gripped me. The clothing had no body. That is to say, no body wore the clothing. I finally saw what my longing gaze had not seen: the fabric of the shirt hung lopsided in a crude parody of how a person normally wore it, the pants were slouched because they lacked the structure of skin, bone and muscle to properly hold them up, and the shoes were untied because there were no hands to tie them.

A cold sweat broke over my body, my will to wear those clothes faded slower than my drowsiness which had vanished and was replaced by a heightened sense of awareness and alarm. Regaining myself, I moved back slowly. As I did, and this vision will never leave me, it’s empty sleeves raised. Lacking the support it would normally have, the arm slumped in the wrong places and finally completely collapsed as the thing stumbled and lurched forward. I felt the hair on the back of my neck rise as it got closer and then I could make out a moan, if that’s what it could be called: “. . . Body. I need a body!”

Horrid thing be gone! I ran. No longer did I feel the need for bodily cover. I could care less if the whole school saw me naked as I imagined that vile fabric wriggling and writhing over my body, slowly compressing me, devouring me, till there was nothing left. I needed to find a place to hide. Turning down more hallways, I followed the maze of walls and lockers. Lockers that started to slam and bang as I past them, alerting that thing to where I was. I saw the open door of a classroom and ducked inside. I moved under a window and peered through it into the hallway. The lockers stopped their banging and silence was once again my companion, but I knew it was out there. Faintly, I could hear the slap, slap, slap of those empty shoes grow near. They had a slow, lopsided step to them that only added to its unnaturalness. I felt a new fear as those steps were joined by others. I didn’t want to think, to conceive, to know that there could be more. I ducked back down. Please say it wasn’t so.

The steps grew closer until they were just beyond the door. The door I had forgot to shut in my haste! How could I have overlooked it? They would see where I was once they entered. Again I felt the clothing’s tug to stay where I was, for let them find me, to clothe me. I could feel their threads slide over my body and shuddered in revulsion. I looked around and saw the teacher’s desk, as quietly as I could; I crawled over the cool linoleum floor and hid in the foot well. I settled in just as I heard the shoes stop at the threshold of the door. Then I heard them enter.

I held my breath. My heart beat rapidly. It’s thumping growing louder in my ears with each passing moment. Until I couldn’t take it anymore. Fearful they would hear my exhale, I tried to let out my breath as smoothly and silently as possible, but at that moment a scream echoed from outside the door. There was a shuffling of shoes as what appeared to be more than one of those things scrambled to leave. In moments the screaming was muffled and then snuffed out.

I was no longer in control of my breath and it took many precious moments for me to bring it back down. I crawled to the doorway and listened for any signs of their return, of hope that the one who screamed had escaped or that more people were out there and I would be found. I knew my best hope was still to find the party, if such a party actually existed. And while it might be said that continuing my original search could be a sign of insanity, I know it was not as insane as staying where I was in vain hope for help to find me. Who else besides those things knew I was here?

I stepped from the doorway expecting the banging of lockers to start again, but not one sounded. I took another step, barefoot, gently applying pressure to the floor as I inched forward. With bated breath I continued to walk on tiptoe away from where the clothes and scream had come from. Did I think of helping the victim? Yes, how could I not? But what was I to do? I had no defense, no weapon; I had no way of knowing what could stop them? If I survived the night, and I would -- I would -- I would tell others about what happened. I couldn’t lose my focus. I took more steps. I was momentarily reminded of sneaking nude through my house while my parents slept. How safe I had been, I realized. I suddenly pictured myself nude with my family as we watched television together and shared meals. It was a strange thought. Who would go nude in front of their parents? Yet I couldn’t completely dismiss the image as I slowly crept down the hallway.

I turned the corner of an L-shaped hallway and was greeted by a dead end. I looked back down the long, narrow, hallway I had just walked and realized I didn’t recognize it at all, had never been down it in all my time at this school, or even have the faintest clue of where I was in the building. As far as I knew, there were no dead ends in the school. Yes, someone could get lost by endlessly traveling in circles, but there were no dead ends and certainly no hallways that ended like this. I studied the abnormality and wondered what it could mean. Before I could apply my mind to the problem I heard a familiar, bone chilling, slap. Then the realization of my situation hit me. I was at the end.

Had I been led to this place or was it out of my own confusion, I will never know. I could see the clothing now. I watched its slumped mass come nearer, its features skewing into an even more grotesque visage than before. It seemed to spill over itself as its rolls of fabric lunged towards me. I backed up, but where could I go? I ran down what little hallway I had left until I reached the wall. I pressed and pushed at that unforgiving wall for what felt like hours. I pounded and pleaded. I kicked it with my bare feet. Finally, I sat down and cried. I cried in the name of defeat, of exhaustion, the pain in my foot, of anger for the place I was in, and for the clothing that had won. I looked up and glared at the approaching outfit with rage.

As I did, I finally realized where I had seen them before, that set of clothing had been in my closet, my laundry hamper, in the hands of my friends this very night, and it was my clothing! The clothing that I had given up and so cavalierly handed over. How could I have not recognized them before? Now they had come back to claim me. To remind me that I would always put them on. That there was no escape.

What could I do? Wait for it to end? Let them come to wrap me up in their embrace of cotton, wool, polyester or blends that I could never, would never, escape. I don’t know how I knew it, but I did as certain as if I had learned it in these classrooms. I shouted at it to cover me in its synthetics and natural fibers. I ranted, I raved, and I screamed about how great it felt in past week when I had been nude at home and with friends and how I didn’t want it to end. The words came out so fast I couldn’t stop them. I don’t even know where they had come from but once they were out I knew I didn't want to get them back. I realized I had enjoyed my nude time and didn’t want it to end, but it would end as soon as they got me. I made up my mind. If the clothing wanted me, it would have to come for me and even if I had to wear them, I would still be nude underneath. They got closer.

I looked at my clothes again with new resolve and their image shifted. As I continued to look the more I saw them for what they really were, another trap, another illusion, and another deception. They were not my clothing at all. Those were not my pants, my shirt, and my shoes. A new wave of resistance swept over me and I crawled backwards bumping up against the wall. I felt my back grow cool against the stonework that shouldn’t be there and stood. I alternated from staring them down in defiance to looking away. At length there was barely an inch separating us. I could smell their stale and musty fibers; feel them brush the hair of my chest as it seemed to swell outwards having finally reached its goal. I could feel my will crumbling even as I struggled to press myself more into the wall. Anything to prevent being fused with this textile horror. I let out a final scream of despair and closed my eyes waiting for the final embrace.

I became aware of a discordant hum of human voices. A loud yell and a bang that sounded like metal on concrete. It was followed by the patter of what I realized were many bare feet on a hard smooth floor. The set of clothing, pressed in on me so closely I felt like my skin was burning, crumpled to a heap. Lifeless as they ever had been and as they were always meant to be. Bare arms caught me from collapsing myself and hoisted me up. Skin pressed against skin as I felt myself brought into a human hug. I vaguely realized they were nude like me. Had they come from the party? The clothing had lost! We trampled the fabric remains as they helped me down the hallway.

• Clickety_Clack

Rule number one; don't ever enter the elevator of a haunted place! Nightingale thought to herself.

Then again she didn't really have that much of a choice. Being confined to a wheelchair since birth had some disadvantages though Nightingale would never admit it. However tonight might just be one of those nights. Nightingale wasn't born into a nudist family or a nudist lifestyle, but after coming to one nudist party during the final days of school she was hooked. It was interesting at first, especially feeling her bare bum on the wheelchair, but since then she's hooked. Especially with all the friends she met at the first party.

Though tonight, she was desperately questioning her reason for coming. A Nudist Slumber party sounded awesome, and she even packed a sleeping blanket and pillow for the occasion. But when she heard it was going to be a haunted theme, that’s when Nightingale panicked. Even with her deductive reasoning, she was still terrified of things that go bump in the night. And this night was no exception. She was so scared she even tied her sleeping blanket and pillow to her wheelchair so that she could find a safe place to hide and sleep.

The doors to the elevator slid open revealing a dark and cold hallway before her. Tentatively Nightingale slowly wheeled herself out into the corridor. Instantly she was met with a chilling brush of air that made her shiver. Usually these cold bursts wouldn’t affect her, but this time she was naked and her bare skin was getting the full effect. The hair on her jet black skin stood up right as she rolled into the hallway, franticly looking around for anything that can go boo.

Her movements were so erratic that she messed up her perfectly kept green hair with black stripes. When she finally was sure nothing would scare her, she checked on her hair and reorganized it. Now calmer, she took a look around. Whoever had set up the décor for the party needed to be congratulated on a spectacular job: false cobwebs hung from the ceiling, the lockers were covered with a gentle mist of reflective glitter that made them look creepy and ghostly, and best of all only the dimmest of lights were up emerging anyone in the hallway in bluish darkness. Furthermore speakers were playing ambient sounds that were ominous and foreboding, which gave everything a very terrorizing feel.

Nightingale was so immersed within the world that she swore she could see her own breath despite it being nowhere near cold enough. Questioningly, Nightingale rolled on looking for any friendly faces and/or places to hide. So far in her travels she had run into two phantoms and four students in dress up. And out of those six encounters the phantoms were far more convincing.

Then, in the distance, Nightingale saw a silhouetted figure walking oddly through the hall in front of her. At first it moved to her left as if feeling around for something before pausing and then swinging to the right. Nightingale slowly wheeled back, unsure of what exactly was going on before her. Then the figure paused again, this time it seemed to look in her general direction. It seemed a person but with an oddly shaped head that didn’t stand upright but was sort of hunched over in an odd state. Almost instantly the creature lunged forward towards Nightingale. Suddenly frozen with fear, Nightingale could do little against this on coming terror.

But then the creature came into light, revealing Nightingale’s absent minded friend Clear. With normally short but messy fiery-red hair that was collarbone length and a slightly lighter shade of red skin, yet a sea-blue left eye and an orange right eye, Clear’s features were definitely unique in this pastel world. Clear’s real name was unknown to Nightingale, as the nickname she was ironically given seemed to stick better. Yet the duo met at Nightingale’s first party and were friends ever since, even if Clear was very scatterbrained.

However the weirdest thing about Clear was her outfit: a Marshmallow hat with marshmallow gloves on her hands. She had a mischievous look on her face as she moaned and groaned at Nightingale like a ghost.

Catching her breath however Nightingale was having none of it, “Clear!”

“Boo!” Clear responded.

“Clear for goddess sakes you scared the piss out of me what were you doing?” Nightingale pressed.

“Spooky huh…um…you…you…”Clear stammered.

“Nightingale Clear, we met last time?” Nightingale reminded.

“Nightie hello what are you doing here?” Clear cheered.

Nightingale was shocked but quickly recoiled herself, “Clear, we’re at the Nudist themed horror party.”

“This is a nudist party? Wait why you are nude?” Clear asked, “Why am I nude?!”

“Clear focus please!!!” Nightingale shrieked.

“Oh I love guessing games.” Clear giggled.

“Would you please dearie?” Nightingale whimpered.

Clear seemed to straighten out and looked upon Nightingale with a warm smile, “Aww Nightie is everything okay?”

“No it is not. I am scared out of my wits and why are you dressed up like a marshmallow?” Nightingale asked, remembering Clear’s “Outfit.”

“Oh do you like, it’s my ghost costume.” Clear said posing for Nightingale, “Spooky right?”

“Clear that is a marshmallow.” Nightingale commented, trying to not listen to the ambient noises around her.

Try as she might, she clearly couldn’t get over the fact that she was still disturbed by the sounds around her. When she first entered the hallway the distant screams and moans were all she could hear. Now it was the sound of chains rattling in the distance and that chilled the poor girl to the bone. And as she looked at Clear, Nightingale realized that the sounds were affecting her too.

“Clear,” Nightingale asked, “Are you okay?”

Clear shushed her, “Do you hear that?”

“Yes I do Clear, those chains.” Nightingale whimpered.

“No, no, no, do you hear that?” Clear asked again.

At first Nightingale wasn’t sure what she was listening for. But then she heard it, a low grumbling noise like a monster creeping up from behind. Both Nightingale and Clear looked in the noises general direction but saw nothing. Cold sweat ran down their naked bodies, making the girls shiver.

Suddenly Clear wrapped herself around Nightingale, holding her tightly. Nightingale was shocked by Clear’s suddenly clinginess, as she had never been in close contact with a girl before let alone a naked one. Momentarily her fear was displaced as she felt Clear’s warm skin brush up against her own. It was soothing and comforting despite the fact they were both naked.

Nightingale turned her head towards Clear, who was cowering like a child. Quickly she wrapped her arms around Clear and held her close while trying to not be frightened herself. As she rubbed Clear’s back a thought came into her mind, did she like Clear? Obviously her friendship with Clear was established and Clear did look beautiful, but was Nightingale attracted? She had never pondered her orientation ever, then again what was Clear’s orientation? Did she have one? What if she was gay would this be sending the wrong signals? What if Nightingale was actually gay herself?

Then all that thought process came to a crashing halt, when the noise stopped. A deathly silence took over the hall way, piercing in its quiet and terrorizing to the girls. Clear picked her head up from Nightingale and looked around.

“Is it gone?” she asked.

“I don’t know.” Nightingale responded.

The two were now hyper aware of each other’s breaths and heart rates. Clear looked at Nightingale and Nightingale looked back. Nightingale could see the confused fear within Clear’s heterochromia eyes and while Nightingale was trying to be reassuring, it just wasn’t working. Taking a deep breath, Nightingale tried to recoup.

Then a thunderous bang echoed through the halls. It was as if every locker suddenly swung open and then slammed shut all at once. Both nude girls panicked and screamed clutching each other tightly. When the noise came again Clear let go of Nightingale, leapt over the wheelchair, and then started pushing Nightingale at breakneck speeds down the hall.

Both girls were shrieking like banshees as the banging seemed to follow them, passing cobwebs and thick fog as they ran. Suddenly Nightingale saw an open class room.

“CLEAR THERE!” Nightingale screamed.

“WHERE?” Clear shouted back.

Nightingale lunged towards the room, “THERE!!”

Clear spun right and the duo dived into the room. Once they were inside fear took over Nightingale as she threw herself from her wheelchair and started crawling to the other side of the classroom under the desks. In that moment she lost sight of Clear.

She looked around, eyes dancing in the darkness trying to find her friend but she wasn’t in sight. Nightingale’s mind raced as she tried to figure out what happened was Clear caught by a monster or was she simply barricading the door. The banging came again, this time by the screams of a spook in the hallway. Nightingale covered her ears and tried to mask the sounds with screams of her own. Her eyes closed as she panicked there on the floor.

This was the worst situation she could be in, trapped in a classroom, away from her wheelchair, and worst with no support. Finding the classroom wall, Nightingale wanted to hide in the darkness. Suddenly everything went quiet again. Keeping her eyes sealed shut, Nightingale then heard soft footsteps walking her way. Her heart thumped as they got closer and closer and closer.

“No! No stay away!” Nightingale panicked.

Suddenly a hand found its way onto her hip. Nightingale shrieked, as did another person within the room.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t see you there! I was just so scared!” Clear whimpered, “I don’t know what’s going on!”

Nightingale’s eyes shot open. There standing before her was Clear, panicked and without her costume, but there.

“Clear!” Nightingale screamed as she lunged over as far as she could to grab her friend.

Clear, seeing Nightingale’s predicament, knelt down and embraced her friend, “Oh Nightie you’re here. Are you okay?”

Nightingale began crying into Clear’s shoulder as she held on, “I thought you were gone.”

“Nah I didn’t leave, I was just guarding the door in case any of those monsters came in. Besides did you know we’re in Time Turners old class room?” Clear asked.

“I guess we are.” Nightingale said, calming down a little. It was good to hold onto Clear again even with Nightingale not sure if she was attracted or not. Soon enough her brain relaxed and she began to acutely listen to the sounds around her. At that point she ascertained the origin of the noise.

“Oh my goddess,” Nightingale said beginning to laugh, “They’re speakers!”

“I don’t get it?” Clear asked tilting her head.

“The sounds we’ve been hearing, they’re from the speakers the CMC set up around the school.” Nightingale laughed now feeling more relaxed.

“Oh that makes sense, I think. Why would they do that?” Clear asked.

Nightingale leaned back and looked into Clear’s eyes, “You know you’re lucky you’re adorable.”

“I am?” Clear said brightening up.

Nightingale nods, pangs of sleepiness beginning to hold her. She yawns, “Well I think I found my place to camp out tonight. Clear can you…?”

But Clear was already on it, letting go of Nightingale and walking over to the wheelchair. She unhooked the blanket and pillow and brought it over to Nightingale. Quick as a flash Clear got the area set up and Nightingale tucked in. Laying her head down on the pillow Nightingale looked up at Clear who seemed slightly upset.

“Clear did you bring a sleeping bag?” Nightingale asked.

Clear shook her head no.

Nightingale then smiled and lifted her blanket, “You can stay with me then.”

“R…Really?” Clear asked to which Nightingale nodded. Clear beamed as she crawled in right next to Nightingale, pressing her body against hers, “Thanks Ham.”

“Ham?” Nightingale asked with a grin, “Fine I’ll take it.” Then she lay there feeling an interesting feeling. Clear was against her there was no question about that, snuggled up like a bug in a rug. Yet Nightingale felt slightly uneasy, as her naked body was pressed against another’s.

Yet she wasn’t uneasy because it felt gross or discomforting, but that it felt good. And even better since it was Clear’s. Was Nightingale gay, and falling in love with Clear? The two had been through a scary encounter no questions asked, but was that fear now turning to love. And if Nightingale was feeling these feelings, was Clear?

Nightingale decided to test the waters, “Clear?”

Clear opened her eyes and looked at Nightingale, “Yes?”

Without saying another word, Nightingale pressed her lips onto Clear’s. At first Clear didn’t respond but then she kissed back. The two lip locked for a moment, a wave of passion and enjoyment sweeping through Nightingale before she pulled back.

Clear’s cheeks were redder than ever as she looked at Nightingale, “Wha…what was that for?”

“For being with me tonight.” Nightingale responded with a smile.

“Oh, can I have another?” Clear asked.

Nightingale smiled and pulled Clear in for another. There was no doubt, she was in love. After they kissed, Nightingale rested her head against Clear’s and they both went soundly to sleep in each other’s arms.

• Blake Skies

Marine Blue walked up to canterlot high as the sun was setting, she had shown up a little early but she was hoping to meet her friend Sketch Pad before they went inside.

“Hi Sketch! Glad I saw you before we got inside.”

“Hi Marine thanks for coming it’ll be nice to have someone I actually know here. You did hear me say this was a nudist party right? I mean I didn't even need to convince you.”

"Oh you know, I'm on the swim team, those swimsuits don't leave much to the imagination. Plus a locker room isn't exactly a private changing room.”

Secretly Marine loves to practice swimming laps naked at home whenever she was alone. The water felt amazing and not wearing a clingy swimsuit was always more comfortable.

“Huh, I guess that's true. Ready to go inside and put on something more comfortable hee hee.” He said with a big stupid grin.

“Oh har har.”

***

Marine was the last one in the girls changing room after she had talked with Sketch Pad longer than she thought.

As Marine approached her locker and began to undress she still felt a small amount of trepidation.

“Alright, this will be just like before a swim meet… except I won't be changing into my swimsuit… and there won't be any water to cover me… and there’ll be naked boys.” She couldn't help but grin at that last thought.

Just as she was almost finished undressing there was a loud bang from the locker next to hers. She tried to take a startled step backwards but tripped on the pants around her ankles and fell onto the bench behind her. She noticed that the door was unlocked so she decided to look inside, when she opened the door a cat jumped out and ran away.

“Aw poor Kitty, who would bring a cat to-” she looked at the name tag and saw the name Fluttershy. “Oh he must've fallen asleep in her backpack by accident, she's always surrounded by animals.”

***
Marine met Sketch Pad outside the dressing rooms. He only had remarkably detailed skull face paint, while she just had some shell jewelry, she wasn't sure how to dress like a mermaid and be a nudist at the same time.

“So what happens at these parties?”

“It's usually different and sometimes they have a special event like tonight. Plus I heard principal Luna has set up something special just for the straight A students, I thought you might want to check out.”

“Oh, like what?”

“Apparently Luna got the famous hypnotist Starswirl the moustached to hold a special event here.”

“What, like Starswirl the bearded, from the fairy tales?”

“No no, The moustached, very different. Although legend has it that it used to be part of an even greater moustache-goatee combination but he interrupted his wife's mahjong game so she r-r-ripped it off.”

“Why'd you roll your r when you said ripped?”

“That's how he tells it.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, anyway here we are, wanna try it?”

“Sure! I’ve never been hypnotised before.

When they opened the door they were met with an almost overpowering smell of incense. Once inside they saw that all the desks in the classroom had been pushed against the back wall, and in the center of the room sat a man in a full ceremonial vestments, and one giant moustache no wonder he was called The moustached.

“Ah, another exemplary student.” Starswirl said with a grand gesture towards Marine Blue. “Please, lie down and make yourself comfortable,and I'll take you on a grand adventure through the power of hypnotism.”

Spread before Starswirl was an extravagant Saddle Arabian rug and several plump pillows.

Marine Blue cautiously approached and laid down on several of the pillows, as she did she felt a slight tingling sensation but she tried to ignore it and relax.

“Before we begin I must ask the young master to please step outside.”

“Aww, but I wanted to watch.” Sketch Pad said with audible disappointment.

“My sincerest apologies but we must have privacy.”

“Fine, but I'll be right outside.” He said the last part specifically to Marine as he stepped out the door.

“That is fine.” Once the door closed Starswirl began. “Now I want you to close your eyes and relax. I'm going to count backwards from ten and as I do you'll feel yourself falling asleep.”

“Ten...nine... eight…

***
Marine woke up in a dark empty room she sat up and looked around and saw she was in the same room.

“Hey Sketch, are you still out there!” Marine tentatively called out. “Anyone!... Moustache.”

After no response Marine got up and walked to the door, she cautiously opened the door and poked her head out only to see the hallway was dark and empty as well.

“Jeez, did they cancel the party after I fell asleep or something?”

Marine cautiously stepped out into the hallway to look for anybody. As she walked down the deserted hallways all she could hear was the soft slapping sound of her bare feet on the cold floor. Marine soon found herself in the main hall and noticed that even the nightmare night decorations were gone. Marine walked up to the main doors and when she tried to open them there wasn't any give to the handles at all.

“Oh great they locked me in too!” Marine shouted as she threw her arms up in frustration.

Marine walked over to one of the windows, it was pitch black except for a dark red glow on the horizon.

“Is that the sunrise? ...no the color seems wrong.”

Marine turned around to face the empty main hall and was suddenly very conscious of how naked she was, it normally felt comfortable and relaxing but now she felt vulnerable and exposed. It was then she remembered her locker with all her clothes and cellphone in it.

“Oh, once I get my phone I'm going to let Sketch Pad have it for leaving me here all alone.”

As Marine made her way to the locker room she began composing a tirade in her head.

***
Marine walked into the locker room and quickly found her locker, she saw her lock was gone in fact none of them had locks anymore. Although the lock was gone when Marine tried to open it the door refused to open, so she grabbed the handle with both hands placed one foot on the adjacent locker and gave a mighty pull. Finally the door swung open so suddenly Marine stumbled backwards and fell over a bench, she triumphantly jumped back onto her feet.

“Yes! Son of a b-”

Marine was dismayed to find the locker empty except for a small piece of paper, Marine picked up the small scrap and saw there was writing on the paper she squinted in the dim light to make out the message it simply said “If you see a woman don't look at her she isn't human.”

As soon as Marine finished reading the last word she heard the door to the locker room close behind her, she spun around her heart racing but no one was there and she was too scared to see who came in so she ran out of the room as quickly and quietly as she could. Once out in the hallway she was confused to see it was much longer than before and lit by a dim red light.

“What, where's that red light coming from? ...The same red as that light on the horizon. What is that light? I need to see it again.”

***
After wandering around the hallways in a daze Marine found herself in a classroom on the second floor, she stumbled up to the window and looked out. Off in the distance was a giant red cross glowing with an otherworldly red light, as Marine stared at the cross her ears began to ring and her vision started to fade until all she could see was the cross. Marine stared at the cross until she heard the door close behind her, she groggily turned around and there was a tall woman in a white dress standing by the door except her face was distorted somehow blurry and her eyes were black empty pits. Marine couldn't stop staring at the black pits where the things eyes were supposed to be, as Marine stared at the woman standing by the door without seeming to move the woman was suddenly towering over Marine. The woman slowly began to lean down her mouth opening her face inches from Marines.

***
Marine woke with a gasp still lying on the Saddle Arabian rug.

“What, where am I?” Marine asked while looking around.

“Relax, the adventure is over you are back where you belong.” Starswirl said.

“I'm back, what does that mean?”

“Nothing important, go rejoin your friend and enjoy the rest of the party.”

“...ok.” Marine said as she reached for door knob.

“You shouldn't have looked.” Starswirl said as Marine was leaving.

***
Later that night after everyone was asleep Marine was still wide awake in her sleeping bag next to Sketch Pad.

“Hey, Sketch are you awake?” Marine whispered.

“No.” Sketch Pad answered with a groggy voice.

“Can I sleep with you in your sleeping bag?” Marine asked nervously.

“Fine.” Sketch Pad was too tired to question it.

The sound of Sketch Pads sleeping bag unzipping could be heard in the darkness, Marine quickly scampered from her sleeping bag and into his. Even though the sleeping bag wasn't made for two and Marine could feel Sketch Pads entire body pressed against hers she felt safe being next to somebody again.

• Doomguy666

Her plan was perfect. Lemon Zest had crafted a costume guaranteed to scare the living daylights out of anyone attending tonight's NLAC party. She had been planning this elaborate prank for months, down to the finest detail. Now that the biggest obstacle—getting into the school without being recognized—was out of the way, she could execute a scheme so devious, it would leave Rainbow Dash quivering in her boots (if she was wearing any).

When all eyes were off her, Lemon slipped into the janitor's closet to get into the spirit of things. Removing each piece of her Crystal Pep uniform, she slid out of her underwear, revealing a body that was entirely painted black - with the exception of her face. From her backpack, she pulled out a large paper mask that was carefully crafted into the shape of a raven's head. To complete her costume, she slipped over each arm a pair of long, prosthetic wings; smothered in a loose pattern of faux raven feathers that completed the look.

But what was truly ingenious about this costume lay underneath. For Lemon Zest, being a master technician came part and parcel with her love of Heavy Metal music. To give this costume a little extra oomph to its scaring power, Lemon had strung a series of wires through four specific points; all powered by a basic set of AA batteries. Four small buttons hidden in her palms would activate one function each: glowing eyes, fans to blow air around the wings, infrasonic speakers for intimidation, and a high-pitched screech for the ultimate jump scare. With all systems checked out green, she was ready to go.

After hiding her clothes within a small hole in the wall to prevent them from being stolen, Lemon threw open the door and lurched out. The fog machines dotted around the hall whirred at full capacity, filling the halls with the mist of dry ice to decrease visibility to a safe minimum: perfect conditions for a good scare. Now all Lemon had to do was get the drop on a few unsuspecting students and her night would be complete.

Her first fright went off like a charm. Two smaller kids—blond haired and looking barely old enough to even be in high school—walked directly into her path, nearly colliding with her in the process. Leaning over to glare down at the twins, one flash of her eyes was all it took to send them scampering off in the other direction, screaming their lungs out the whole time? The fact that these screams turned to giggles shortly thereafter didn’t bother Lemon in the slightest. It was just typical tween behavior: their mood swinging in a different direction every other minute.

Turning a corner, Lemon found herself coming face to face with her next victims; a pair of purple-skinned girls, with wild patches of hair plastered across their bodies. It was evident that they were attempting to re-create themselves as werewolves, though to Lemon it looked like they stopped half way. Despite this, their reaction was one hundred percent fitting with their choice of monster to imitate. Recoiling back in surprise, the wolf-girls dropped to their knees and arched their backs, snarling and swiping their 'paws' in an over-dramatic show of force.

Undeterred, Lemon retaliated by taking her own show of aggression to the next level. With a flick of her wrists, she fluffed out her wings to their maximum span, flapping them repeatedly in a short-sharp circular motion. This in conjunction with the power of the fans created a swirling vortex of fog; the perfect set up the almighty screech which followed. One look into crimson glow of the raven eyes, and the werewolves were off with their tails between their legs.

Cackling with laughter, Lemon switched off the fans before giving chase. If it wasn't for the fact that everyone was naked, she would have wished for a camera to capture the looks on the other party goer's faces. It's been so long since I had this much fun! Lemon thought to herself. Maybe I should try something like this for the next friendship games.

What wasn't so fun was how quickly she started to run out of breath. Evidently, the werewolf girls were far quicker on their feet than Lemon was. Ugh, guess I'd better hit the gym before then as well.

If anything was to help Lemon get her breath back quickly, a sudden boom of thunder was as good a solution as any. Leaping several feet forward, Lemon found her feet carrying herself around the next corner before she had a chance to compose herself. Geez, who scheduled a thunderstorm for tonight anyway? Checking over her electronics to ensure nothing was broken; Lemon breathed a sigh of relief before she continued on. She had a rough idea of the way to the club room, based on the initial entrance of the students.

Yet for the next several minutes, Lemon didn't encounter a single soul. In fact, now that she thought about it, the fact that she had only seen four students out of the entire party so far was strange in itself. Was the NLAC really that unpopular? The more she walked on, the more her stomach began to clench with a deep feeling of uneasiness. Something was wrong. She couldn't pinpoint exactly what, just some nebulous concept of things not being the way they were supposed to be.

As she brushed her arm against a door handle, Lemon felt a shiver through her body. Now she was getting suspicious. Had someone tampered with her infrasound somehow? Clicking the vibration buttons a few times, she confirmed that it made little difference to her churning gut. Okay, so Canterlot High figured out how to use infrasound, Lemon thought to herself, taking a few deep breaths to keep herself calm. Big deal. Once I find the club, I'm gonna ramp these speakers up to eleven and watch as even Rainbow Dash screams in terror!

Pushing herself onwards, Lemon could feel her heart thumping in her chest harder than the kick drums of Maretalica. As much as she tried to ignore it, her increased levels of perspiration weren’t making everything easy. She had known from day one that over-working herself could demonstrate the limits of her costume's ventilation. It was a risk she had considered worth taking, but now she was beginning to regret not making the air holes just that little bit bigger. Just as Lemon was about to move on, the sound of clanging footsteps started to echo through the halls. At last! More opportunities to scare!

Running towards the sound, Lemon pressed every button at once to get the maximum jump scare out of her upcoming victims. Yet as soon as she spread out her wings, everything started to go wrong. Nothing seemed to be working, and what was worse, the hallway lights were flickering on and off. That was the precise moment when the figures appeared; their naked bodies’ pure white in color with smoke streaming behind them. Heavy chains attached to their feet dragged behind them, undoubtedly the cause of the painful moans booming from the anguished faces.

Lemon tried her best to suppress a scream. In the back of her mind, she knew this would just be another costume. If only the primal part of her brain would recognize this as well, she could stop herself shaking and find a way to turn the scare back on these so-called ghosts. To compromise, Lemon gave in to her instincts and ran in the opposite direction as fast as her legs could carry her; stopping just short of the classroom door where things had started to go wrong. The window to the classroom was too fogged up to see inside, but Lemon still considered it a better option than facing down the ghosts unprepared.

Grabbing the handle, Lemon pushed down on it with her full weight, but it wouldn't budge. “Just my luck!” she yelled, her whole body starting to shake from panic. “That's the last time I rely on Sugarcoat for inside information!” Lemon slammed her shoulders into the door over and over, trying desperately to break in before anyone, or anything, else could catch up to her.

Unfortunately for Lemon, her situation was about to go from bad to worse, as she didn't anticipate something slamming on the other side of the door in response. Screaming, Lemon backed against the wall, frozen in fright as the things on the other side busted out from the classroom.

They too were vaguely human, but only in the most basic sense. Their bodies were covered in scales, their fingers and toes webbed to give them a distinctly fish-like appearance. But what made Lemon wrench the most were the pulsating gills on the side of their necks, oozing with slime that dripped across their entire bodies. Slime would soon is smothered all over her if Lemon didn't get out of here right now.

From this point on, Lemon completely cut lose all sense of rational thought. With fish people in front of her and ghosts creeping around the corner, she had to find the quickest way out. Her lungs still burning from exhaustion, Lemon charged off at full speed, retracing her steps as best as she could. But no matter how fast she ran, she couldn't seem to escape the creatures that had their sights set on her. Bursting from every room, more and more fish people started chasing after her. She hadn't the faintest clue why they desired to catch her so badly, nor did she care. All thoughts of her costume, the prank, or even recovering her hidden clothes were abandoned in favor of focusing her efforts to get out of this Tartarus-be-damned school.

After an indiscernible amount of time running, a ray of hope finally caught Lemon's eye. It was the flight of stairs that led down to the club room. From her previous visit, she remembered that there was a chute frequently used by Pinkie Pie to transfer treats and other confectioneries to the party goers. She knew that it would not be an easy climb, especially with an unknown number of students in the club room itself who would question what she was doing. But right now, she had little other choice.

Leaping down the stairs, Lemon burst through the double doors and through the lobby area, only for her delight to vanish the moment she saw what was on the other side. If the fish people were a horrifying sight, then Lemon didn't have a word to describe just how much fear she felt from what these club goers had become. Everyone turned to face her, their pupil-less eyes staring blankly at her, with splatters of blood and a bizarre, rainbow-colored substance around their mouths. Extending their arms out in front of them, every person in the club let out a unified moan, lurching towards Lemon as a single minded horde.

This was it. Lemon had nowhere left to run. With fish people behind her and zombies in front, she was doomed to whatever fate these monsters had in store for her. Backed into a corner, Lemon fell to her knees and shut her eyes tight, tucking herself into the fetal position as she waited for the end. When the first ice-cold hand of a zombie touched her skin, Lemon let out a scream louder than she had ever made before; pouring her heart and soul into her last, terrified breath.

“Cooookiiiies...”

It took several moments for Lemon to regain enough composure to be baffled by what one of the zombies had just said.

“Cooooookiiiiiiiiiiies!!!” the rest of the horde declared. Cracking open one eye, Lemon looked up to see Rainbow Dash standing above her, extending out her hand.

“Come on, Lemon,” Dash said. “Don't you want to try some zap-apple jam flavored cookies?”

Sitting up, Lemon stared at Dash in confusion. Most of the horde had returned to the snacks table, munching away at the aforementioned cookies, leaving Rainbow Dash and a few others encircled around her.

“I... w-what…?” Lemon stuttered, still struggling to process what was going on.

“Gotcha!” a delighted Rainbow Dash exclaimed, pointing at Lemon. “Now, are you gonna let me help you up, or what?”

“Rainbow Dash, don't you think you owe Lemon an explanation?” said Twilight, dusting off some of the flour that made up the majority of her ghost costume.

“I still want her to figure it out for herself.” Pushing past Twilight, Sugar Coat adjusted her classes and pushed her fake gills closed.

“Sugar Coat?” Lemon snapped, raising to her feet. “What is the meaning of this?! Are you responsible for ruining my biggest prank ever?”

“That is where you are mistaken,” Sugar replied in her usual deadpan manner. “This was never your prank to begin with. It was mine.”

Lemon pulled off her mask and stood with her mouth agape, twitching her right eye as she tried to figure out which of the many emotions fighting for space within her to express first. “I think you broke her, Sugar,” Rainbow Dash giggled. “And you said the prank wouldn't work.”

“Actually, it was you who said that the plan would fail.” Sugar retorted.

“I have to agree with Sugar,” Twilight added. “You did make a bet saying Lemon would never be scared by her own tech. Now you owe her ten bucks.”

“B-but, how?!” Lemon exclaimed, still struggling to comprehend what just happened. “And more importantly, why?! I had planned everything out in secret beforehand, Sugar. How could you betray me like this?!” Burying her face in her hands, lemon felt herself tearing up a little. “Ugh, I'm so embarrassed!”

“Hey-hey, don't be,” Dash said, placing her hand on Lemon's shoulder. “Your costume was freaking incredible! The only reason we pranked you is 'cause you didn't respond to any of Sugar Coat's messages urging you to talk to Sweetie Belle.”

“What has she got to do with all of this?!” Lemon snapped, still on the verge of crying.

“She has everything to do with this,” Sunset said, letting go of Twilight's hand as she made eye contact with Lemon. “She made sure that all pranks were to be organised around her, for the safety of everyone during tonight's events. You wouldn't listen, so we needed to teach you a lesson.”

“Woah there, Sunset,” Dash said as she stepped between the two girls. “Being a bit harsh there, aren't you? This was all supposed to be in good fun! No need to be so mean about it.”

Sunset took a deep breath. “Sorry, Dash. I guess I just have low expectations from students of Crystal Prep.”

“Well...” Lemon piped up, wiping the tears from her eyes. “I have to admit, it was a pretty incredible prank. I tip my mask to you all for pulling off something so big around me! I'm sorry I got too wrapped up in stuff to pay attention to the rules.”

“Hey, no biggie,” Dash said, offering out her open palm to Lemon. “I know what it's like to get carried away with a prank. Now what do you say we go talk to Sweetie Belle and sort out what other pranks we could pull for the rest of the night?”

“Now that is an amazing idea!” Grabbing Rainbow's hand for a vigorous shake, Lemon felt a renewed sense of excitement as a whole new series of prank ideas flashed through her mind. “But first, do ya think we could get my electronics sorted? I think Sugar must have done something to put them on the fritz.”

Sugar shook her head. “I can assure you, I didn't touch any part of your costume. Neither did anyone else, for that matter.”

“Huh, strange. I guess it must have been shoddy wiring after all.” Lemon shrugged her shoulders.

Meanwhile, further back in the halls of Canterlot high, a certain Pink Party Pony ripped open the dimensional fabric, popping out with a pair of pinking shears in her hooves. Turning to face the reader of this fan fiction, she proclaimed, “Ain't I a stinker?”

• Mystic Mind

Author's Note

And with that night of the living frights is over. our next challenge will be up on the Nudist and Nudity Group page at the link provided or on my newest blog that'll come up right after this chapter comes up.
Link: https://www.fimfiction.net/group/206159/nudists-and-nudity/thread/329394/we-remember-it-so-you-can-too

Now as is required by law, let's all start Zombie dancing to Thriller!