Sixteen
Under most normal circumstances, Twilight's palace was one of the most fun places in all of Ponyville that Pinkie could think of being when it involved spending time with her best friends.
Right now, though, wasn't one of those normal circumstances. Normal circumstances didn't involve disturbing revelations that quaked foundations. Well, maybe they did sometimes, seeing as this was Ponyville and all, but not like this right now!
Ever since the discovery of Twilight being a nudist, the palace had lost some of that friendly and welcoming allure that Pinkie enjoyed so much. That wasn't to say the palace was feared or anything like that, it just... she was aware of a lot more things now than she had been just a few days ago. And that awareness of new things had forced her to regard things in a different light now.
She wasn't afraid of Twilight. She wasn't afraid of Twilight's palace. But right now she'd rather be almost anywhere else but standing at the front entrance to the palace.
She also hated the fact that she felt that way about all of this. She didn't have any right to be feeling that way right now. Twilight had been willing to give up something she enjoyed for her sake, and had even gone ahead and done such without so much as a second thought, or even being asked to do such. And if that hadn't enough by itself, Twilight had gone far beyond stopping her own enjoyed activities, she'd promised whatever assistance she could provide to help her come to terms with her fears and discomforts; going so far as to put herself in her hooves, by letting her choose what they'd go about doing to achieve such.
Just the fact that Twilight was entrusting her with that great a degree of trust... the very least she could do in return was try and help Twilight, as she tried to help her. To do that she just needed to step closer and knock at the doors to the palace first. It was literally as simple as that.
As simple as that task was, though, she'd been spending the last fifteen minutes trying to perform it. She knew it was silly, but her body refused to listen and let her walk forward. It was like it knew something she didn't, and was trying to protect her.
'I could just walk away...'
She hadn't promised Twilight that she'd be here today. They hadn't even discussed it yet, so Twilight wouldn't be waiting for her. She could just turn around right now, go back to Sugarcube Corner, and nopony would ever be the wiser. She could just walk away and forget all about this.
So why wasn't she doing that either? Why wasn't she taking the easy way out?
'Because you know why. That's just not you. Besides that, you know this is as important to you as it is to Twilight. And as scared as you've been, you've never turned your back on your friends. If you left now, you'd never forgive yourself, ever!'
No. No, she wouldn't turn her back on her friends. Not now, not ever! Now she wasn't scared, as she was too busy being mad at herself over how she'd nearly considered doing otherwise.
'You can do this, you've got this. You just have to go for it. You have to put one hoof in front of the other. Put your other hoof down, down, down!'
She had this situation under control, and she knew it. So, humming the beat to herself, she proceeded to do just that and put one hoof forward in front of the other, before repeating the same step again, and again, and again. Nodding along to the tune in her head, she made her way to the doors of the palace with a bounce in her step, and knocked to announce her presence. Now she just had to wait, all the while trying to maintain her positive energy/optimistic high and not second guess herself before the door was answered.
That, and make use of the brief respite from the intensity of the sun that was being offered by the palace awning.
The wait for a response was mercifully -or maybe unmercifully- short, as the door soon opened to reveal Spike standing on the other side to greet her. That in itself was a big relief, as she'd feared Twilight would be the one to open the door and greet her in all her bald glory. If that'd happened... well she was just glad it hadn't happened.
"Hi, Pinkie," he greeted.
"Hi, Spike," she replied simply, unable to muster her usual enthusiasm at the moment. She at least tried to, but her efforts fell short even by her own standards.
What was worse was the fact Spike apparently picked up on this, despite her efforts.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"I..." she started, only to shut her mouth before getting a full word out, and shook her head. "Not really."
The fact that Spike was aware of Twilight's... unique interests, made things a little easier to talk about when said things related to this, but not by a great deal. It was still a difficult subject to address openly, and right now wasn't doing anything to make it any easier. The urge to turn around and just leave was starting to get stronger, and more difficult to resist.
"Are you here to see Twilight?" he asked.
"Um, something like that, I guess," Pinkie replied as best she could.
"Well, come on in. She's in the pool."
Opening the door wider, Spike ushered her inside, and was mildly surprised as she walked in quite calmly. But he brushed off the surprise and shut the door behind her.
As the door clicked shut, there was little Pinkie could do but accept the fact there was no turning back now. Well, actually there was, as she could just excuse herself and leave. She knew Twilight wasn't going to keep her against her will. But just the auditory confirmation of that "click" sounding behind her as the door shut, really served to solidify the fact that this was actually happening. She'd come this far without chickening out, it'd be a crying shame to lose that courage and...
"Wait, you have a pool?"
In fact, Twilight's palace did have a pool, set up in one of the rooms adjacent to the main library.
Granted it was a small pool that really wasn't all that good for swimming, but it was still large enough for several ponies to sit and soak in without crowding each other for room. And from what she could see from the hallway, it was occupied as there was a snorkel currently breaching the surface.
This was starting to get weird, even by her standards. But at the same time her curiosity was overtaking her apprehension and discomfort, as she stepped closer to examine the matter closely.
But at the same time, in-house pool party was actually a thing, and she hadn't even needed to figure out how to pull it off. Even in her state, the possibilities this presented were already trying to formulate or percolate in the back of her mind, just to the left of the pie recipes.
She watched as Spike trotted over to the pool and proceeded to tug on the snorkel like he was ringing a bell with a pull rope, likely in order to announce their presence.
Two seconds later, the surface of the pool was breached as a very bald Twilight stood up, water cascading down and off her smooth and exposed skin like it was plastic or rubber.
The whole display was nearly enough to send her scrambling for the front door. But she clenched her legs stiff, locked her joints, and refused to budge from her spot. She wasn't leaving, even if she had to force herself to stay still. Running away wouldn't be fair to Twilight, and it wouldn't be fair to herself either. So if she was scared and wanted to be somewhere else, well then she just had to suck it up and stay put! She'd faced down numerous threats over the years, something as minor as this should've been a cake walk in comparison.
Mmm... cake...
She shook her head, trying to dislodge the distracting thoughts so she could focus on the here and now. This was still the same Twilight she'd been friends with for years. She was just... less furry, that was all. It wasn't like she was a completely different pony, or some inequine monster out to snatch everypony bald; that would just be plain ridiculous. That would never make a good story.
"Hi, Pinkie," Twilight greeted warmly, not bothering with removing her goggles as she spoke. "What brings you by today?"
"Therapy," Pinkie replied bluntly without even thinking about it. In her mind it was better to come right out and say it rather than hesitating out of fear; much like bungee jumping, or pulling off a bandaid, or eating broccoli that wasn't deep fried in chocolate sauce. "That is if now's a good time."
The look on Twilight's face was enough to say it was taking a moment for her brain to process what she'd just heard; likely not expecting her to be so direct on the subject at hoof.
"Of course," she immediately replied and put on a friendly smile, "anytime."
Now there really was no backing out. She'd committed herself to this, and had little choice to see it through. Especially now that Twilight agreed to go with it. She wished her friend had been too busy for her, as she really didn't want to do this. But she knew deep down, that if they didn't do this, she'd likely never get any better. And she honestly wanted to get better, and stop being freaked out by what her friend enjoyed doing.
At this, Spike spoke up. "Do you need me for this, Twilight? I promised Rarity earlier that I'd help her with her dress work."
"I really don't know, Spike, it's going to depend on what Pinkie has in mind for today since she's in charge," Twilight explained, before stepping out of the pool and onto a towel on the floor.
Both sets of eyes were now on her as they waited for a response. That was an unfortunate downside of being nominated as the one being in charge, and left with the responsibility of delegating things. For organizing parties it was all fine and dandy, but she honestly hadn't given much thought to what they were going to do. She'd expected Twilight to have some sort of organized itinerary in mind, rather than simply defaulting to her.
In hindsight, she should've thought this out better. But now it was too late to worry about it, and she needed to figure out something. Twilight trusted her enough to put her in charge of things, so she'd better not disappoint. She also needed to think of something they could do without needing Spike to be present since he'd already promised Rarity he'd help her, and she didn't want to make him break a promise just for her.
"You go on ahead and help out Rarity like you promised, Spike, we'll be alright on our own," she told him, reasoning that it was the best option available right now.
"Alright then. You know where to find me if you need me," Spike replied and took his leave, leaving the two of them alone. Alone and with nothing to serve as a distraction between her and Twilight's own bald state...
"So," Twilight spoke up as soon as she was dried off. "What's the plan for today? What would you like to do?"
"Baking," Pinkie replied with a degree of bluntness that surprised even her. "We're going to do baking today; cupcakes specifically. It's low impact, high yield, and it requires a lot of concentration if you want it done right. That way I can focus on what I'm doing and not on... you..."
That had sounded far harsher to her own ears than what she'd meant to say. And now that she'd heard the words for herself, she couldn't actually bring herself to finish her own sentence. It was just hanging out there.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that."
"No, no, it's alright, I understand," Twilight replied, the tone of her voice and the look on her face suggesting she hadn't taken what'd been said the wrong way. "Honestly, since we're playing this by ear, it's a very good idea for how to proceed until we figure out what works best."
That wasn't what she'd been expecting, but Twilight's acceptance of what she'd been saying was another load off her mind, helping her relax a little more. If this was any indicator of how things were going to go, then maybe this idea would actually work out.
"Alright then, let's do it. Those cupcakes aren't going to back themselves. I mean, I've tried to teach them how, but they just don't seem motivated to actually get up and do it."
Twilight giggled in response. "Somehow, that doesn't really surprise me."
Well organized and well stocked. That was how the palace kitchen could be best described. Pinkie knew this fact very well, as she'd used these facilities multiple times for various confectionery purposes when the kitchen at Sugarcube Corner wasn't available. In fact she knew it as well as she knew her own kitchen. Not that she actually had a kitchen of her own to use for her own purposes, but if she did it would be just as well organized and stocked at Twilight's was, so it wasn't that much different. Granted, her own kitchen would likely have to be scaled back due to size constraints, but that was beside the point! They were here to bake, and baking was what would be done, come Tartarus or a bunny stampede!
The walk from the library to the kitchen had gone smoothly enough, mainly because she'd been able to walk side-by-side with Twilight, and not come face-to-face with her bare backside. She'd seen enough of that with her own family growing up to last a lifetime, and was in no mood to confront it once again. Even though she knew, eventually, it would have to come up. Twilight liked going bald, and she wasn't going to take that from her just because it made her uncomfortable. That wasn't what friends did.
"Alright," she said, determined to push such matters aside for the time being. "The name of the game today is cupcakes. Specifically white cupcakes so we don't have the mess of cocoa powder to deal with on top of everything else. So we're going to need sugar, milk, egg whites, flower, vanilla, powdered sugar, shortening, butter and- pffft!"
Her mental list suddenly slammed into a brick wall, taking her mouth right along with it when she turned around to face Twilight, who had donned a chef's hat and apron while she'd been talking.
The combination of proper cooking garb, Twilight's own hairless state, and all topped off with that adorkable smile she wore so well had effortlessly wrecked everything, including her own unease, and sent her spiraling into a fit of hysterics as she succumbed to laughter on the floor.
"What're you doing!?" she managed to squeeze out in between bouts of giggles and laughter.
"You said we're baking cupcakes, right?" Twilight asked, her expression conveying she was oblivious to what she was doing right now.
Pinkie could only bite her lip as she tried to nod in response, fearful that if she opened her mouth to respond she'd lose what little composure she had and start laughing all over again.
"So what's so funny?"
"You look ridiculous!" she squeaked as she futilely tried not to laugh. "I'm sorry! It's just-" she tried to apologize, but just honestly couldn't suppress her own amusement at the situation. She'd been prepared for an afternoon of confronting unease, but not this. This had taken her by surprise and left her helpless, but not exactly in a bad way.
"Oh..." Twilight replied as the realization slowly set in. "Should I get undressed then?"
Pinkie could only nod as she held her mouth shut, trying to breathe deep enough to calm herself down again. Twilight's bald body being on display was uncomfortable to observe, but between it and how silly she looked in her getup, it was the easier one to deal with right now. She could muscle her way through her own discomfort, but there was no way she'd be able to focus on their baking endeavor and not laugh whenever she caught sight of her friend.
She watched as Twilight slipped right out of the garb, back to her furless/naked state again, as the aftershocks of her laughing slowly died down, enabling her to stand back up again.
"I'm sorry I said you looked ridiculous, that was mean," she said as she wiped her eyes.
"No, no, it's alright. I probably did look quite ridiculous like that. The first time I looked at myself without my fur on, I thought the exact same thing. It almost made me stop right then and there."
That was even more of a surprise to Pinkie than what'd happened just a moment ago. But instead of amusement, all she was met with was confusion.
"Really?" she asked, to which Twilight nodded. "So what changed your mind? What convinced you to keep going after that?"
"The experiences I've had with you and the other girls. Back when I first thought friendship was nothing but a waste of time, you showed me that wasn't the case, and there was more to life just than books; more that I would've missed out on if I shut myself off to new possibilities, simply because they didn't seem worthwhile at the start."
Pinkie honestly didn't know what to make of Twilight's statement. The notion that she might've inadvertently, indirectly caused this development to actually occur, and get herself into this position, was something she didn't know how to process. That was going to take some time.
And then Twilight shrugged her withers. "It's probably for the best anyway. There's really not much point in wearing a hat while cooking when you don't have to worry about hairs falling into the cake batter."
"Y-yeah, I guess there is that," Pinkie replied as she tried to look at the positives of the situation she was currently in. No fur did mean there would be no loose hairs to account for, so maybe it wasn't all that bad. But she didn't want to think too deeply on the matter, and cleared her throat before speaking again. "Alright, so, baking. Let's do this."
"Right behind you. You lead, I'll follow."
Pinkie nodded as she turned her attention back to the task at hoof. She could contemplate everything later, right now she just wanted to focus on this, and see if their idea of therapy paid off or not. If it did, all well and good. If not, then they'd have to figure something else out. But at least she knew she wouldn't have to go through it all by herself.
But that was for later. For now it was baking. Where there was baking, there was peace - or something philosophical-sounding like that.
Twilight was torn between wanting to hum and wanting to frown right now. She had been assigned the dubious honor of making the frosting as Pinkie whipped up the cake batter. It was simple in concept, consisting of only shortening, powdered sugar, water and food coloring, but in execution it was proving to be anything but simple.
The consistency of frosting was more art than science, and a great deal of guesswork at what the proper proportions of each ingredient was, as even small variations were proving to be complicating. Too much water and it was too runny. Too much powdered sugar and it was too stiff. Too much shortening and it wouldn't blend properly.
She would get it figured out, eventually, but by the time that happened they might have frosting for days. They'd either have to do way more baking to use it all up, or just plain eat it right out of the bowl. Which wouldn't be bad in small doses, but she knew from experience that too much would curl your mane in all the wrong directions.
"Alright. We've got enough cake batter mixed up for two dozen cupcakes," Pinkie announced from over where she was presently working.
"Well you'd better get some more whipped up. We're going to need ten times that amount by the time I get the frosting right," she replied and let out an annoyed sigh. "How is something that consists of only three ingredients, four if you count the coloring, so difficult to get right? What sort of dark magical arts do you demand of me!?" she shouted down in the direction of the bowl.
Granted, the latter half of her statement was hammy and way over the top. But the fact Pinkie was giggling in response meant the delivery had served its intended purpose.
"I'm all for baking plenty of cupcakes to make sure we have enough. But all the same, best let me take a look and see what the problem is."
Twilight nodded and stepped aside to let Pinkie take over on the frosting preparation. And as she watched, she couldn't understand what Pinkie did differently from her in terms of technique or approach, but somehow she just knew how to get the frosting to the right sort of consistency that was desired. Somehow, in all of her chaotic randomness, she had made it sit up just right.
"Taste!" Pinkie practically barked with all the precision of a drill sergeant, as the mixing spatula was thrust right in front of her face.
Twilight timidly did as she was ordered, and proceeded to lick off a small portion of the concoction to sample and evaluate its quality.
"Just right," she nodded, satisfied with the end results. "But I promise you, one day I will learn your secrets of how you did that."
"You can try," Pinkie replied dismissively and took her own -larger- taste of the concoction, letting out a contended moan of approval. "Perfecto!"
"Alright, we- hold on. You've got some frosting on your nose, Pinkie."
In response to this, Pinkie crossed her eyes to see for herself.
"You're right, I do," she agreed, before booping her on the nose with the end of the spatula. "There. Now you do too."
"So it seems," Twilight replied slowly as she gently took hold of the spatula in her magic, and proceeded to return the favor by applying a slightly bigger dollop of frosting on the end of Pinkie's nose. "But it looks like you have more than me."
"Well that's not really fair. If I have more than you, I should share my good fortune," Pinkie replied.
Twilight could only blink as Pinkie effortlessly took back control of the spatula and moved in a rapid manner, leaving her feeling the rubbery edge dancing over her face.
She didn't know for certain, but she strongly suspected Pinkie had once again gone with giving her a goatee, mustache and monocle.
And the fact that she was grinning happily while basically admiring her work. Well then...
"Of course you know, this means war..."