//------------------------------//
// Twenty Four 
// Story: It's just Baldness 
// by Charlie_K 
//------------------------------//


Twenty Four


Applejack glanced towards the clock in the market square, noting the current time, and felt a sense of pride at the fact it'd been a whole ten minutes since the last time she'd checked. That accomplishment on her part had been really respectable...

Try as she might, there was no use in denying the simple fact that she was feeling a bit excited right now as she tended to the stall.

It was Saturday. Not only did that mean tomorrow was a day off for the family and even the farmland to relax, it also meant that tonight was her slumber party with Twilight. Making it all the better was the fact Rarity was back in town, and would be right there with them the entire night. It was a promise the fashionista had made the moment she'd gotten back to Ponyville, and unless some sort of emergency arose she intended to hold her to it.

It was just a matter of actually getting to that point first.

"Apples! Get 'em while they're fresh!" she called, hoping to attract somepony's attention so her time out here wasn't wasted by doing nothing.

If nothing else, at least she had a nice roof/awning to stand under and stay out of the direct sunlight. Every little bit helped and whatnot. 

But it was still going to be a long two hours before it was time to close up shop. Made all the longer by a current lack of customers interested in even browsing her wares in this blasted heat!





Time could be such a fickle, infuriatingly stubborn thing when it decided to progress at a snail's pace, and couldn't be motivated to hurry itself up. Doubly so when there was a clock present that allowed for anypony passing by to accurately keep track of what time it was.

But not even time itself was able to out-stubborn an earth pony who was determined and dedicated to doing their job. Although it was certainly doing its dang best to try and do just that, as it just seemed to drag on slower, and slower, and slower...

Finally, after what felt like forever in the heat of the day, and a disappointing lack of customers, it was down to the last ten minutes before everything was finally over, and she could pack things up for the day. She just needed to stick it out a little longer; even if it did feel like the last ten minutes were going to be the longest part of the entire day.

"Apples!" she called, yet again, in hopes of drumming up even a few last minute sales to get a few more bits -and pass a few more minutes- before all was said and done.

But fate apparently decided to throw her a bone, not with a customer but rather a welcomed distraction, as she saw Rarity currently approaching her position, and looking completely unbothered by the current weather.

"Hello, Applejack," she greeted as she approached. "How're you holding up?"

"A whole lot better than Ah'd be without this roof ta keep the sun off mah back," Applejack replied. "Ah still appreciate ya thinkin' it up like ya did."

"Oh it was nothing at all," Rarity replied and waved her hoof dismissively. "But that's not actually what I came to ask about, darling. How're you holding up?"

Applejack's brow furrowed in confusion as she tried to decipher just what Rarity was getting at. Admittedly it took longer than she cared to admit for it all to click into place and make sense.

"The closer we get, the antsier Ah'm feelin'. All fidgety an' sorts," she admitted reluctantly. "Ah wasn' feelin' this way at all jus' a few days ago. But now that it's, what, nine minutes 'til closin' time, Ah'm havin' a hard time not closin' up shop early."

"So why not simply go ahead and do just that?" Rarity asked. "It's only a matter of a few minutes. It'll take you longer than that to get your stall and wares back to the farm."

Applejack could do little more than sigh and shake her head in response. There was no arguing that it sounded mighty tempting right now, what with the lack of any prospective customers coming her way. But she just couldn't do that all in good conscience.

"Ah jus' can't do that, sugarcube. It'd jus' be too easy ta call it quits, ju's 'cause Ah'm gettin' inpatient ta be spendin' time with mah friends. Ah don' wanna be gettin' inta the habit o' shirking mah duties, even if tonight is sorta a special occasion. If Ah do, then wha's gonna stop me from knockin' off a half hour early later on down the line? Or even a full hour?"

"Your friends," Rarity replied without missing a beat. "To say nothing of your family, and your own dedication to them and your farm. The very same dedication that has you out here right now, trying to squeeze whatever business you can out of these last few minutes, despite the fact nopony is buying anything in the market."

Applejack had no immediate retort to that. All she could do was glance around the market square for evidence to the contrary, only to see nothing that she could immediately point to, to show that business was still going.

"It's jus' a few more minutes," she justified.

"Well then, I suppose you leave me no other choice but to wait out those "few more minutes" by your side. It would be simply unbecoming of me to just leave you here all by yourself, when we're both headed for the same destination. Beyond that it'd be nothing short of rude to head over to Twilight's without you as if I were an impatient foal," Rarity stated.

Try as she might, Applejack couldn't fault Rarity's position. Not that she particularly wanted to anyway, as she appreciated it.





The market clock eventually sounded some few minutes later, announcing the end of the business day, and signalling that it was finally time to close up shop; something Applejack didn't need to be told twice to do.

Once it was all said, done, and put away, she found herself perched in front of the dresser in her room, taking a moment to simply let herself relax. after it all.

Things had been a bit easier with Rarity at her side, helping as she could with transporting everything back to the farm and getting it put away until Monday morning.

"To the end of a long day," she sighed to herself, before finally taking a good look at herself in the mirror. 

She honestly looked as tired as she felt. Or maybe she felt as tired as she looked. Whatever the correct standard was, she looked like she'd been put through the wringer.

Making herself look a bit more presentable for her friends surely wouldn't hurt. So she picked up the mane brush that sat bristles-up on the vanity, and began running it through her hair to make it look a little bit less unkempt.

"Applejack?"

And then her attention was brought to the fact that Apple Bloom was currently standing in her doorway. Not for the first time, and hopefully not for the last time.

"Hey there, Apple Bloom," she greeted back as she glanced at her sister's reflection in the mirror. "How ya doin'?"

"Hot," Apple Bloom replied unenthusiastically. "Are ya stayin' fer supper, or headin' over ta Twilight's?"

"Ah'm gonna be headin' on over as soon as Ah'm done here," Applejack replied, before running another pass through her mane with the brush, and setting it back down. "Ah'm meetin' wit' Rarity an' we'll be headed over ta Twilight's together. Been lookin' forward to tonight fer weeks now," she clarified.

"Gonna be one o' those nights?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Unless somethin' comes up an' we need ta reschedule," Applejack replied as she turned away from the vanity and walked over to her. "Are ya thinkin' 'bout comin' along?"

Apple Bloom shook her head in response. "Granny said Ah could have a sleepover wit' Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. We're gonna be set up in the clubhouse tonight."

"Sounds good then," Applejack replied. "Ah guess Ah'll be seein' ya tomorrow then."

"About that," Apple Bloom replied slowly as she held her position in the doorway. "Could Ah talk ta ya 'bout somethin' before ya head out? Somethin' kinda important?"

Applejack looked back at her sister, who was in the process of glancing around the hallway uneasily, before slowly slipping into the room, and quietly closing the door behind her to avoid raising a ruckus. Whatever it was, it must've been mighty important to the filly.

"How come Rarity's a'right wit' Twilight goin' bald, but Sweetie Belle's not?"

"Come again?" Applejack asked, not quite grasping what her sister was talking about.

"Rarity's seen Twilight bald, she's even helped 'er out, and she doesn' even bat an eye. She's been nothin' but helpful an' understandin' 'bout it all. But Sweetie Belle's nothin' like that. She's grossed out by it all. Says it disgustin' an' whatnot," Apple Bloom clarified.

"Ya don' say," Applejack replied as she tried to recall when they'd discovered Twilight's interests.

"Ah do say," Apple Bloom retorted. "Scootaloo couldn' care less. She jus' brushed it off as bein' weird and moved onto somethin' else. But Sweetie Belle acts like ya'd expect Rarity ta act."

"Ah don' know what ta tell ya, Apple Bloom. Some ponies just react diff'rently. Ah mean, look at Pinkie an' all the trouble she had wit' it," Applejack pointed out.

"Ah guess," Apple Bloom sighed. "Ah jus' hope she doesn' wanna stop bein' friends 'cause Ah don' agree wit' 'er 'bout Twilight bein' bald."

Applejack winced. That was a concern she certainly understood, what with the whole debacle they'd already faced with Pinkie and misunderstandings.

"Ah wouldn' worry too much 'bout that, Apple Bloom. There's no point in borrowin' trouble wih' somethin' that hasn' even happened yet, an' might not even happen."

"Bu' what if it does happen?" Apple Bloom asked.

Another one that Applejack found herself having to mull over for an answer. How did her sister go about figuring out these really hard questions to ask?

"Anypony willin' ta end a friendship over who you're friends wit', doesn' sound like much of a friend if ya ask me," she replied, figuring it was the best she could come up with. "The three o' ya have been through far too much fer somethin' as silly as this ta break ya. Besides, Rarity would yammer 'er ear off if she did somethin' like that."

That at least got an amused snort out of Apple Bloom.

"Ya jus' try an' have fun wit' yer friends an' not worry 'bout stuff like that, a'right? Twilight doesn' need us worryin' with 'er; she'll end up getting the wrong ideas."

"A'right, Ah'll try," Apple Bloom replied halfheartedly. "G'night then, Ah'll see ya in the mornin'."

"Not if Ah see ya first," Applejack retorted as she gave her a parting hug, before making her way down the stairs.

She hadn't really been expecting Rarity to be standing by the front door while waiting for her. But regardless that was the scene that'd greeted her as she reached the bottom.

"Ready to go, darling?"

"Ready if you are," she replied, slightly tempted to teasingly suggest Rarity was even more eager than she was to get over to Twilight's. 

But she managed to remain mature about the whole thing and restrain herself as they departed out the front door, even though she wanted to gallop the whole way to burn off some of the energy she was bristling with at the moment. After Rarity had been nice enough to keep her company and all, basic politeness was the least she could do.

"So whadda ya think Twilight has in store fer us tonight?" she eventually asked as they trotted along.

"Hm. It's hard to tell, really. Despite your account of what happened in my absence, I've been brimming over with curiosity ever since I got back to town," Rarity admitted. "It's been so hard resisting going over to Twilight's to see what she's been up to. I wanted tonight to be just as much of a surprise as last week would've been, had I been able to attend."

"Ah don' know if that's possible since Apple Bloom won' be joinin' us tonight," Applejack pointed out. "Ah'm mighty curious ta see wha' tonight's gonna be like wit' jus' the four of us bein' together again."

"In that case, darling, let's get there all the quicker so we can find ourselves just what this night has in store for us," Rarity suggested.





It really wouldn't be right to classify the travel to the palace as a race. Although there had been a fair bit of friendly one-upping one another, as each would periodically make an attempt at quickening their pace just enough to move ahead of the other. 

All good-natured and whatnot, up until the final length of the journey as they neared their destination and dropped any notion of basic politeness as they galloped the rest of the way to the front doors.

Applejack hadn't really been pushing herself all that hard, but it was still a bit surprising just how well Rarity had been keeping pace with her the entire time. If not for the occasional giggles from the two of them, one might've actually thought they were being serious.

"Welp, no sense dilly-dallyin' an' keepin' Twi' waitin'."

Before Applejack even had her hoof on the bell, the front doors were already being pulled open to reveal a positively giddy Twilight standing there, looking like it was taking every ounce of her alicorn willpower to maintain even some semblance of calm as she smiled practically ear-to-ear.

Spike looked far more calm and collected as he stood just off to the side.

"Before we get too far along, I just have one question I need to ask," she stated, a slight hitch in her voice like she was trying not to squeak with excitement. "There's been no surprise developments, and we're still on for tonight, right?"

"Like the shell on an egg, sugarcube," Applejack replied.

Twilight nodded, trying not to lose her composure but quickly losing the battle. "That's all I need to know. Come inside out of the heat so we can get this evening started!"

Applejack and Rarity had barely even stepped inside the foyer before Spike was closing the door behind them. And the instant it was shut what little composure Twilight had struggled to maintain was quickly lost, as she let out a squeal of absolute delight and quickly pulled the two of them into a group hug.

"It's actually, finally happening!" she exclaimed excitedly and allowed the illusion spell to drop, confirming what they'd felt the moment they were grabbed. "I know it's only been a few weeks, but it feels like it's been forever since we made these plans for tonight. And now we're finally here and get to carry them out!"

Whatever their own individual feelings on the subject were, it was hard to not find Twilight's joy over something as simple as spending the night with friends, positively infectious. Applejack couldn't help but smile as she returned the hug.

"Alright. I'll let you bring them up to speed on everything, I'm gonna go start on dinner," Spike announced before turning and leaving, sensing that his contribution to the welcoming had already been fulfilled, and leaving him no further reason to stand around.

"Hm?" Rarity hummed, the good mood from the embrace temporarily pushed aside as her curiosity piqued. "Bring us up to speed?"

At this, Twilight couldn't help but grin. "We've made some advancements since the last time we talked."





The trip to the bathroom had been quiet short, but more than long enough for their curiosity to get going at just what Twilight had meant by "advancements." Her being tight-lipped and insisting on showing rather than telling had only added to the mystery as they were ushered and led inside the room.

As far as Applejack could tell, nothing really seemed out of place that would indicate what had Twilight so excited. About the only thing that looked different from last week was what looked like four colored gems -blue, green, amber and red- done up like soap on a rope, and hanging from hooks on the far shower wall. With Twilight's par for the course OCD tendencies for organization having them hung in a straight line and evenly spaced apart. Not that there was anything wrong with that.

"We've found a way to simplify and streamline the undressing process," Twilight stated triumphantly. "It's now far simpler, there's less hassle, less discomfort, and can now be performed by anypony without my being present. And I have the two of you to thank for making that degree of development possible in the first place."

"Really?" Rarity asked, perplexed at this sudden announcement. "How did we do that?"

She knew the moment she saw Twilight's grin, that they were going to be in for a significant explanation. But even if she hadn't asked, she suspected it was going to happen regardless.

"Through a series of seemingly minute, otherwise unrelated events, all culminating together in a way that's led us to where we are presently; starting with Apple Bloom's question last week, when she asked if the process involved basically amounted to a pony having to ask my permission in order to remove their fur."

Hearing that her little sister had somehow been involved with whatever was currently going on had perked Applejack's interest.

"It was a notion that I just couldn't get out of my mind, because it made a lot of sense. After that I started trying to figure out a process that would let anypony do such on their own without my involvement, should they ever wish to do so. But trying to figure out how to accomplish that was a lot more work than I'd anticipated, as I not only needed to work out a method of how to deliver the spell, and power it, I also needed to figure out a way it couldn't be accidentally triggered by somepony who had no desire to go without their fur."

"Yes, I can certainly see how that could prove to be a problem," Rarity replied, doing her best to keep her expression neutral despite the mental image the explanation brought to mind. "But you apparently found a way to fix it, correct?"

"Well, not exactly. Not on my own anyway. Pinkie and Rainbow Dash sort of helped me out with this one," Twilight admitted. 

"Oh now Ah've gotta hear this one," Applejack stated. There was no way this account could go without being told after everything they'd been through together.

Rarity nodded in agreement. "Quite right. I'm curious how you managed to get Pinkie of all ponies to help you on this, considering her own experience with the matter."

"Well I didn't actually, it just sort of happened. It's kind of a long story," Twilight clarified, before continuing regardless. "Thursday turned into another one of our therapy sessions, although it really just started off as her coming over to escape the heat of the day; we just decided to roll with classifying it as therapy afterwards. We were content to just lay around and relax, not really doing anything. Shortly after that Rainbow Dash stopped by for a visit by slipping in through the library windows, also looking to beat the heat. Although she took it quite a bit further by opting to strip down to just her feathers. On the bright side, I think the therapy sessions are actually doing some good; Pinkie didn't seem to show any additional discomfort from having to be around two bald ponies simultaneously."

"Well now, I'm certainly glad to hear that. But it doesn't really get us any closer to learning how we helped you with whatever advancements you've made, darling," Rarity pointed out.

"I'm getting to that, I promise," Twilight assured her. "Anyway, we were all just settled in, relaxing, and the discussion eventually turned to the project I've been working on. And at hearing the problems I was facing with making everything work, Pinkie decided to redefine the matter as one of helping out a friend. Honestly, her being willing to do that without even being asked was kind of a surprise to me."

"So wha' happened then?" Applejack asked.

"Well we all sort of hit the same wall in trying to figure out how to let a non-unicorn use the spells on their own in a controlled manner. All four of us were coming up with nothing and we were just sort of circling. We were getting tired and frustrated, and the next thing I know Rainbow Dash is declaring this to be a big brain problem that required big brain energy. So she grabbed my necklace to put on and started doing impressions of me. But in truth it was just her spouting nonsense that sounded vaguely scientific. This got Pinkie laughing and insisting on giving it a try, and before I knew it the scene has devolved into a Twilight Sparkle impersonation contest, with each of them trying to outdo the other in being me.

"Honestly, I wanted to be annoyed with them over just how ridiculous their takes on me were. Which only became more ridiculous as time went on. I know they weren't trying to be rude, but still. But as I'm standing there, watching as my necklace gets passed back and forth like a beach ball, it all suddenly just... clicked into place. We finally had the answer we were looking for."

"An' what was that?" Applejack asked.

"The necklace that Rarity gave me for the illusion spell," Twilight stated. "The spell that makes me look normal is ingrained into the crystal's structure, is accessible to anypony who wears it, and is powered through physical contact with the wearer. We had the answer this entire time, and we never even realized it!"

"Is that why ya've got those gemstones hangin' up in the shower?" Applejack asked.

Twilight nodded. "That was actually Pinkie's contribution to the endeavor, once we knew what we were doing. She scrounged up a dozen or so cubic zirconia that Spike doesn't care for the taste of, some rope, and a soap on a rope to make sure her idea got across and understood. From there it was just a matter of a few spells for smoothing out the stones' surfaces, partially liquefying the cores to affix them on the ropes, dying the surface, and attaching the appropriate spells to each of them. Which leads us to where we are right now; four of my best friends helping me out when I needed them, even before I realized that I needed their help."

Another group hug at this point was mandatory. The laws of the universe demanded it.

"I'm quite happy for you, darling. This is wonderful news," Rarity stated as she patted Twilight's back. 

And just as it'd begun, the group hug came to an end as the three separated again.

"A'right. This is good news an' all, Twi', but do ya mind explainin' how these things are supposed ta work?" Applejack asked.

"Oh! Right! Well it's all very simple, Applejack. Each of the stones have a particular spell attached to them, each one corresponding to a specific step of the progress. The green one is the removal spell, the amber one is the analgesic for numbing the skin, and the red one is the restoration spell. The blue one is specifically tailored for Rainbow Dash and removes everything but her feathers, but otherwise is identical to the green gem in terms of function. After much discussion, we decided it'd be best to color code them like traffic signals," Twilight explained. "All anypony has to do is touch the gem for the spell they want for a few seconds, and it becomes activated through the magic in their body, just like the illusion spell."

"Well then, if nopony minds Ah'm gonna get mahself ready fer tonight. Ah came ta spend the night wit' mah friends an' Ah'm gonna do jus' that," Applejack announced as she stepped forward, placed her hat on the ground, and hopped into the tub.

"Of course," Twilight replied, "I'll leave you to it and go help Spike get dinner ready. We have a special treat for tonight, and I want to make sure it all goes off without a hitch."

Now it was just the two of them alone in the bathroom. Not that Applejack particularly cared one way or another. She had bigger matters to attend to, and wasn't in the mood to waste any time worrying about unimportant stuff.

She reached up and pressed the underside of her right hoof against the green gem, and immediately felt a mildly warm sensation radiating from the stone, up her leg, and throughout her entire body. It was a different sensation from the last two times she'd gone without her fur, but that might've been because she'd had running water to distract her at the time.

With a shake of her leg the remnants of her fur flaked away with ludicrous ease, demonstrating that the spell had worked. She briefly considered shaking herself like Winona, but stopped and simply turned on the shower to deliver a jet of lukewarm water over herself, just long enough to wash off whatever traces of powdery fur residue she still might've had left clinging to her.

Then she shut off the shower and shook herself like Winona, a bit of a grin on her lips at seeing for herself that the spell worked like Twilight had said. This was going to make things so much simpler.

It was only when she reached for a towel to dry herself off, that she realized Rarity was still in the room with her. Almost as if she'd been watching. Not that she actually minded if that'd happened, it was just a bit odd.

"Somethin' wrong, Rar'?"

Rarity shook her head in response. "No, not wrong, just... unexpected is all. I feel like I missed out on a lot more last week than I initially thought I would."

"How do ya figure that?" Applejack asked as she climbed back out of the tub with the towel currently draped over her neck.

"... The first time I saw you without your fur, you presented yourself as this paradoxical blending of subtle, soft-spoken strength with your toned muscles being easily visible just under your skin, and a degree of bashfulness that would've easily rivaled even Fluttershy. Had I been any other pony, I wouldn't have been able to resist hugging you where you stood and call you adorable."

Applejack couldn't help but blush at hearing this.

"This time around, you're like an entirely different pony. The way you stand, the way you carry and present yourself, there's no difference between you now and when you had your fur on earlier today. You're confident, secure, and utterly relaxed. You carry yourself just like Twilight does in such a state. However did you make such a drastic change in such a short amount of time?"

"Experience," Applejack reasoned, "it's jus' like ya said, Ah had ta give it time ta get a proper understandin' 'bout it. Apple Bloom an' Ah were too busy last week tryin' not ta get trounced by Twilight while playin' "Hazard" tha' we didn' have time fer thinkin' 'bout much else. Ah was a bit too distracted ta give it much thought, Ah guess Ah jus' settled in an' got cozy."

"So it would appear," Rarity surmised, before letting out a soft sigh. "I just wish I could've witnessed it all for myself. I might not be the biggest fan of Twilight's embrace of nudism, but I always enjoy seeing my friends grow and develop. It's not so much the journey or the destination, but the experiences shared along the way that make it all worthwhile."

"Yeah?" Applejack asked, not really expecting that sort of answer.

Rarity nodded. "I don't believe I'll ever be up to going as far as you and Rainbow Dash have in this matter. But that particular point aside, I still want to see just what develops of all this, whether it remains something shared by just a few of our friends, or winds up becoming a trend embraced by a good portion of Ponyville. Whatever may come, I want to see not only the conclusion, but how we arrive at that point."

"An' maybe givin' a helpful nudge along the way?" Applejack asked.

At this, Rarity had no immediate verbal response. Just the slightest hint of a gentle smile playing across her lips, with what might be considered a politely guilty look at the corners of her eyes.

"Well now, I can't really be blamed for trying to help out a friend who might be in need, can I?" she asked coyly.

"Ah reckon not, seein' as we've got a few of us all doin' the same thing," Applejack replied and shrugged, before retrieving her stetson and donning it once again. "Should we go see wha' Twi's got in mind fer dinner tonight?"

"It would probably be for the best if we did. There's no sense in being rude by keeping the host of this evening waiting," Rarity agreed. "The sooner we eat, the sooner we can see just what this evening holds for us."