//------------------------------// // Eight (edited) // Story: It's just Baldness // by Charlie_K //------------------------------// It wasn't exactly quitting time per say, Applejack noted as she looked around her, but even she wasn't blind to obvious facts. There was still some time left in the day that could be worked before it was time to close up shop and take everything back to the farm. And as dedicated as she was, she could spend that last bit of time trying to sell a few more apples; if nothing else it would be the principle of the thing, sticking it out until the day was officially done. But the facts were plain enough to see that the marketplace really wasn't busy enough to justify staying open for the next 20 or so minutes left in the day, on the off chance of a late arrival customer needing to pick up a few apples for a supper dish. On the other hoof, there was still 20 minutes left in the day. And Rarity had said she'd swing by at the end of the day before they both went over to Twilight's together. If she closed up now, that would still leave her a while to just stand around after putting everything away. But on the other hoof, if she started putting things away now, she wouldn't have to do it later, and keep Rarity waiting. And not keeping her waiting would mean a better day for everyone involved. With that fact in mind she set out to deconstruct the stand to make it ready for transport back to the farm, along with the unsold wares. The process was a little more complicated with the inclusion of the canvas roof, but the system for holding it was pretty ad-hoc and jury-rigged with some hardware from Barnyard Bargains so it wouldn't be permanent; something she was pretty sure Qatgyver would be proud of. With a little fiddling, and holding her mouth just right, the framework eventually came down and folded up well enough to be stowed away for transport. After that it was just a matter of loading everything up onto the hauling wagon, and waiting for Rarity to show up. It was a wait that turned out to be shorter than she'd anticipated, as she could already see Rarity approaching with her saddlebags in tow. Apparently getting everything down and loaded had taken longer than she'd thought it would. "Ready to go, darling?" Rarity asked as she stepped closer. "Just about," Applejack replied as she slipped herself into the harness attached to the wagon so she could pull it behind her. "A'right." Rarity nodded wordlessly and the two set off on their shared journey, making their way towards Twilight's palace, each with their own purposes in mind. But while the journey started out silently, it didn't stay that way for long. "So wha's in the bags?" Applejack asked as they trotted along. "Just some fabric swatches. Twilight expressed an interest in possibly having some clothes made, so I figured I'd let her pick through what materials she'd like them made out of," Rarity explained. Applejack chuckled to herself. The idea of Twilight developing an interest in clothing after finding out about being a nudist still struck her as a funny turn of events. Prior to it all, Twilight's view on clothing was pretty much like that of most others in Ponyville; nice but mostly unnecessary. Now here she was looking at them with a newfound interest. Rarity had to be beside herself with this whole setup. "So's she got any preferences wit' that?" she asked. "Primarily cotton. But it's such a plain fabric. I'm hoping to broaden her horizons a bit with a few other choice samples she might find equally satisfying," Rarity explained. Applejack simply nodded and continued walking, not really sure what else she could really add to the conversation at that point. Cotton was fine as far as she was concerned in her own experience; it made for fine sheets, so it should make for fine clothing. Closed until further notice. That was what the sign laying on the ground in front of the palace said. And it was enough to leave both Rarity and Applejack confused as they read it. "Oh dear," Rarity mumbled, "do you suppose they had to leave for Canterlot on short notice?" she asked. "Ah reckon if they did, the sign would be hung up properly. Ya know how Twi' is 'bout those things," Applejack pointed out as she unhooked herself from the harness. "We'll find out here real quick," she said as she approached and firmly knocked on the doors. A minute later the doors were opened to reveal Spike standing there. "Oh. good. It's just you two," he replied. Rarity opted to ignore the perceived rudeness of Spike's greeting to them, as something told her that there was good reason to it. Something about how he'd said "it's just you two" suggested relief at seeing some familiar faces. "Something wrong, little guy?" Applejack asked, beating Rarity to the punch of asking the obvious question. "You could say that," Spike groaned in response. "Look, if you're coming in, just... don't yell, and don't freak out, alright? Please? Twilight's got a bad headache, I've got a bad headache, we..." he paused and sighed. "Just see for yourselves." Applejack and Rarity shared a concerned glance, before stepping into the palace. Whatever was going on was obviously enough to leave Spike feeling disturbed, and looking quite frazzled. This had to go beyond Twilight simply being a hoofful right now. The two followed Spike as he led them towards the library, each wondering -and worrying- about whatever it was that had him so on edge. Although once they crossed the threshold into the room, they found out just what it was. Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle were all present and sitting on the couch, not all that unlike students sitting at attention while at school. Standing not far off from them was Twilight, bald and draped in a tied shut blue terrycloth bathrobe, looking almost as haggard right now as Spike had. "Wha' in tarnation?" Applejack asked in surprise. "Oh. Good. You're here," Twilight said as she turned to regard them. "Just park yourselves, I'll be with you shortly," she stated. "Twilight-" Rarity started, but didn't get the chance to say anything else. "Park," Twilight practically barked at them. Again, Applejack and Rarity looked at each other, before finding a spot to sit down as they'd been told. "I'm sorry. It's just been a really hectic day," Twilight replied and rubbed her head with her hoof. "I just wasn't expecting three uninvited guests popping in on me like they did, and catching me completely off guard." "What?" Applejack asked as she looked at her sister and her friends, who looked like they'd just been caught with their hooves in the cookie jar. "I'm sorry, darling, I never thought that Sweetie Belle and her friends would actually be so rude as to just barge in uninvited," Rarity apologized, feeling embarrassed about this whole mess, and the lack of manners on her sister's part. "They'll be gettin' quite the talkin' to when we get 'em home," Applejack assured her. "Applejack," Apple Bloom whined, knowing that tone in her big sister's voice wasn't good. "Don' start. Ya jus' head on home already," Applejack instructed. "You too, Sweetie Belle, I'll deal with you later," Rarity added. "Oh no you don't," Twilight stated firmly as she looked at them, catching them off guard. "They might've barged in without invitation, but from what I understand, you two are the ones that set things into motion that motivated their actions in the first place." "Say wha' now?" Applejack asked, surprised by that. Twilight nodded in confirmation. "Apparently Apple Bloom and her friends overheard you two talking about "jaybirding" while out in the marketplace, and came to me to figure out what you two were talking about. When they talked to Spike at the door, he freaked that they knew the term, one thing led to another, and they wound up finding out about far more than they were expecting to," she explained. Behind her the three fillies were nodding silently in agreement with her assessment of what had transpired. "I'm not saying they're entirely without fault, because they're not. But as a former filly with overwhelming curiosity, and my own track record of behavior I'm not exactly proud of in pursuit of satiating that curiosity, I'm not going to blame them for what they did," she added. Now it was Applejack and Rarity's turn to feel uncomfortable at Twilight's words, feeling like they were in school, and being scolded by a displeased principal. "That said, I'm not going to blame you two either," Twilight stated, causing them to look up in surprise. "Say what?" Scootaloo asked from where she sat. "Why not? You said they're responsible. Shouldn't they be in trouble or something?" "That's true, I did say that they were responsible," Twilight replied and nodded, "but I still stand by my decision. I'm not going to blame them for what happened, just as I'm not going to blame you; because that would involve blaming myself as well since I started all of this. This whole episode can, and should, be written off as a screw up on all of our parts, and left at that," she explained. She considered joking about requiring each of them to submit a 500 word essay on the importance of proper manners, and being careful of what was said where prying ears might hear, but she opted to drop it instead. "So we're not in trouble?" Sweetie Belle asked. "Not with me," Twilight replied and shook her head. Although she couldn't speak for their sisters after they left. "So yer not cancelin' "Twilight Time" fer us fer bargin' in on ya?" Apple Bloom asked. Twilight shook her head again in response. "The first time around was bad enough, I'm not about to do that again, just because you fillies made a mistake," she explained. As hard as it had been on them, it was even harder on her, because she regarded it as a significant failure on her part as an educator. She'd rather not go through all of that again if it could be at all avoided. "Now then. Can we all agree to just forgive and forget about this whole mess?" she asked. All around a chorus of nods and muttered agreement were had. She smiled in response to that, thankful that they were willing to move on. "At this point forgivin' might be a little easier than forgettin'," Apple Bloom pointed out. "Yeah," Scootaloo replied and nodded in agreement. "I don't think I can forget what I saw..." "Yeah. Eww," Sweetie Belle stated, "no offense," she added quickly in an effort to avoid hurting Twilight's feelings, as well as avoid any further lectures by Rarity later on about impoliteness. "None taken," Twilight assured them. "Let's face it. Walking in on a pony without their fur isn't exactly an everyday occurrence. Of course it's going to seem strange." "Hey now, wait jus' a second," Applejack spoke up, "Ah had that conversation with Rarity a couple o' hours ago. If ya overheard us havin' it, wouldn' that mean ya've been here the..." Twilight nodded in answer to the unasked question Applejack was trying to get out. "The whole time. I've spent nearly the last two hours explaining everything to them as best I can." "Oh my," Rarity replied, finding the very idea to be anything but pleasant to consider. "So they know everything about what's going on?" Again, Twilight nodded in response. "Everything that I could tell them about it. Lying wasn't exactly a viable option here; it would've been easy, but it wouldn't be right." "No. No I suppose that it wouldn't," Rarity agreed. From the very beginning, Twilight had been honest with each of them about her endeavors, so she could hardly expect her to do otherwise just because Sweetie Belle had unwittingly gotten involved with this whole mess. So much for controlling the flow of information. Now the cat was really going to be out of the bag. She was starting to feel Twilight's headache coming on herself. "So now there's seven of us that know 'bout this," Applejack commented. "I fear it's going to be far more than the seven of us before the day is over," Rarity replied and pinched the bridge of her muzzle. "The news is bound to get out into the public now." "Hey!" Scootaloo yelled as she jumped up on the couch. "You don't have to be mean about all this." Apple Bloom nodded. "Twilight told us how important it is tha' we don' go talkin' wit' others about all this. It ain' like we can't keep a secret." "We know how to be discrete when it's important," Sweetie Belle added. Applejack looked back at Rarity, who looked back at her. They knew there really wasn't all that much they could do in response to this development occurring; the proverbial bell had already been rung, and damage control was the best they could hope for now. They looked back at Twilight, who nodded to them, indicating -as best they could assume- that she felt they could be trusted with her secret. And if she felt she could trust them, then it was only appropriate that they extended them the same courtesy. "A'right then," Applejack replied and nodded to them. "Darling," Rarity spoke up, "I know it's none of my business, but if you don't mind my asking. why exactly are you wearing a bathrobe right now? Why aren't you wearing your necklace? It was your idea to use it for situations like... well this," she pointed out. "I know. But I started getting this really bad headache earlier today, and the longer I wore it, the worse it got. Finally it got bad enough that I wanted to throw up so I just had to take it off. I think I might've gotten the spell mechanics wrong somewhere, so I'm going to need to examine it later on. So when company came I had to improvise with this, although the damage was already long done by that point," she explained, the three fillies uncomfortably nodding in agreement as she spoke. "So why'd ya leave it on if they already saw ya bald an' such?" Applejack asked curiously. "It ain' really like ya can un-ring the bell an' whatnot." "While that's true, it was a matter of basic politeness mainly. They expressed no interest in seeing me nude after the fact, and I had no desire to make them anymore uncomfortable than they already were," Twilight explained. "That said, I would've chosen something lighter to wear if I'd known I'd be wearing it for the next two hours. Right now I'm hot, I'm sweating, and if nopony has any objections I'd really like to take a shower and freshen up." At hearing this, the Crusaders became visibly uncomfortable. "We'll just show ourselves out then," Sweetie Belle stated. "Yeah. Have a good one," Scootaloo added as they got up from the couch, eager to leave. "Alright," Twilight agreed, "if you have anymore questions, don't be afraid to come back and ask." The Crusaders offered up no response as they quickly excused themselves and left the library, making their way for the front door of the palace, eager to put some distance between it and themselves. Once they were no longer within estimated earshot, Twilight let out a sigh and slumped, utterly exhausted by it all. "I love those girls, I really do. But sometimes they're just so tiring to deal with," she stated as she sat down on her haunches. "I'm so sorry about them, darling," Rarity said as she moved over to Twilight to massage her withers. "I know that Sweetie Belle can be impulsive at times, but I didn't think she would be so rude as to simply barge in without being invited first." "The same goes fer Apple Bloom. We raised 'er better than that," Applejack added. "Ah know wha' ya said, Sugarcube, but we can still give 'em a good talkin' to fer wha' they done." "That's really not necessary. I think they learned their lesson about asking permission and such," Twilight replied as she rolled her withers under Rarity's hooves. "Would either of you mind if I..." "Not at all, darling," Rarity replied, stepping back as Twilight undid her bathrobe and slid out of it. "Thanks. That feels much better," she replied, thankful to be free of the heavy garment once again. "Like I said, though, I think they learned their lesson already. Scolding them isn't going to change what happened. And I really don't want to make them feel like they need to stay away from me." "If you insist, Twilight," Rarity replied as she levitated the robe off the ground and began folding it up neatly. She'd still talk with Sweetie Belle later, she'd just adjust what it was that they were going to talk about. "So how'd the talk go anyway?" Applejack asked, deciding to change the subject since Twilight didn't seem interested in discussing it further. "Eh. A lot like it has for everypony else so far," Spike replied and shrugged. He'd been there for the whole thing, just as he had been when Applejack and Rainbow Dash had been brought in on it. As far as experience went, he was practically a veteran on the matter of the nudist talk. "They pretty much had all the same questions. What's nudity, how she found out about it, why does she do it, what's it like... it's like everyone's reading from the same script." Twilight giggled at Spike's summation of the afternoon's events, which were largely correct, but still glossed over a lot of the more awkward moments that had been present. "Well that's mostly accurate. Except for when Apple Bloom realized something interesting about all the facts," she stated, causing Spike to groan as she did. But she paid him no mind as she continued. "When she realized that a nudist is somepony that goes without fur, she asked if Spike qualified as a nudist as well since all he had were his scales to wear." Spike grumbled and folded his arms over his chest in indignation at Twilight presenting that piece of information, made all the worse as Applejack started chuckling at his expense. "I could've gone without that bit of trivia coming up. Now I can't quit thinking about it. It feels weird..." Applejack didn't really mean to, but she couldn't resist chuckling at Spike's disposition. "Well at least yer in good company, Spike," she said as she tried to make the best of the situation. "Actually he might not be," Twilight spoke up, "it's an interesting question, but we don't really have a definitive answer. There's about three different cultures in play right now, so it's sort of complicated." "Oh? How so?" Rarity asked, finding herself curious about what observations Twilight had made. "Well the basic concept of nudity is a wholly human concept and deals with going without clothing when society requires clothing. Here in Equestria where we don't normally wear clothing to begin with, so the closest comparison that can accurately be made is baldness, so it could be argued that Spike is a nudist since he has scales rather than fur. But dragons, to the best of our knowledge anyway, have no cultural norms of their own with regard to wearing clothing. This, combined with lacking outer covering layers that can be removed one way or another, would suggest that dragons can't really be considered nudists," Twilight explained. "Based on what we know currently, the wearing of clothing might be considered a breaking of dragon societal norms, rather than the opposite." "Huh," Applejack replied and scratched her head. "That does seem a might confusin'. Ah can see why ya wouldn' have an answer one way er another." "It still feels weird though," Spike replied, still not happy with it all. He was perfectly fine with his own ignorance on the entire matter. "Now it's worse because I don't even know what I am in all this." "It's alright, Spike, we'll figure it out," Twilight assured him, before wrapping a foreleg around him to pull him into a friendly hug. Spike tried to remain annoyed, but eventually submitted to Twilight's hug, knowing that she -and likely the others- didn't mean to find his misery entertaining. "Well if I am a nudist by default, at least I don't have to go through any shedding to participate." "Yer right as rain there, Sugarcube," Applejack stated. "That's true, there is that at least," Rarity replied as she tried to help lift Spike's mood. Ever since the first time this topic had been approached by Twilight, she'd been very careful to avoid making any such comparisons for fear of making him uncomfortable about himself. And now here it had been done regardless, while simultaneously denying him a straight answer on just how he'd be classified. "I guess so," Spike replied, starting to feel a bit better about everything. There were certainly worse situations he could've found himself in. "Oh! Before I wind up forgetting, darling, I brought you some more swatches to choose from," Rarity stated as she levitated her saddlebags off. "I recently got in some new materials that might be to your liking." "Oh, thanks," Twilight replied as she took the saddlebags in her own magic and set them down on the couch, before pulling away from Spike to look over what was being presented for consideration. Applejack watched as Twilight carefully dug through the saddlebags, with all the excitement of a foal opening their gifts on Hearth's Warming morning, pulling out various material samples to sort through them like she was searching for buried treasure. A gentle nudging to her ribs broke her focus, and made her aware that it was Rarity, most likely using her magic for such. She was giving her that particular sort of look, and that subtle motioning of her head, that usually communicated the unspoken prompt of wanting somepony to step forward for a particular task. She'd done the same thing herself a time or two, usually when it came to Apple Bloom, so she knew what it meant. Although it took her a few seconds to actually figure out what it was about in relation to this. "Hey, Twilight," she started to bring the alicorn's attention back to them. "Would it be a'right wit' ya if Ah came over fer Saturday night? Maybe after dinner?" "Of course," Twilight replied, not even needing to think before responding. But then she did think, which interrupted her testing one particular swatch against her cheek. "Do you mean just you?" she asked. Applejack nodded. "In that case, why don't you come over before dinner?" "Well Ah didn't wanna impose," Applejack replied. "You're not," Twilight stated. If Applejack wanted it to be just her coming over, then she had an idea of what was going on. And if that idea was close to the truth, then she was going to do everything in her power to make things go as smoothly as possible. "I insist." "Well so long as yer insistin' on it," Applejack chuckled, "a'right, Ah'll be there." "Oh dear. I just thought of something that might prove to be a complication," Rarity spoke up, bringing their attention over to her. "Apple Bloom knows about what's going on now. What... what if the dear expresses an interest in coming along with you this Saturday? She's going to likely suspect something of being up when you say you're spending the night at Twilight's." Applejack didn't know what to say in response to that. She hadn't even considered it a possibility. She turned to look at Twilight in hopes of finding out what she might have to say. "Well... if that happens, then we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. But I really don't think it's going to be something likely to occur for a while," Twilight replied. As uncomfortable as they'd all been during their visit/lesson, she didn't foresee any of them being particularly eager to come rushing back for more. Not that she was happy about them possibly being uncomfortable around her, but there was only so much she could do at one time. "Ah guess we'll jus' have ta wait an' see then," Applejack replied and shrugged. And if that was all there was to it, she could let Twilight get back to her swatches, get her own stuff home, have a little talk with Apple Bloom, and get ready for a good dinner tonight. "Darling," Rarity spoke up as she addressed Twilight, "while we're on the subject of those three, I feel the need to ask. How can you be so certain that they won't talk about... well whatever went on here? I mean, after all, they're only foals. And foals don't always think things through before they act. They have a tendency to act first and think later," she pointed out. "I know. But I don't want them to think that I don't trust them. I explained how important it was that this not get out to the public, and they seemed to understand," Twilight explained, idly running a particular swatch against her skin to determine whether or not she liked it. "I also, sort of, had them Pinkie Promise that they wouldn't talk about it to anyone else," she added sheepishly, not exactly proud of utilizing the tactic in such a manner. Spike nodded in agreement. "They understand what's at stake here, they don't wanna hurt Twilight. Plus they understand that losing a friend's trust is the fastest way to lose a friend." "FOREVER!" Everypony jumped at the sudden yell, despite recognizing just who the voice belonged to. One by one they each turned to the library's doorway and saw Pinkie standing there, a look of surprise and disbelief on her face at just what she was seeing. "And then there were nine," Twilight mumbled to herself, before forcing herself to appear more positive. "Hi there, Pinkie." Before any of them could say anything, Pinkie had disappeared from view in a proverbial cloud of dust, a loud, piercing shriek sounding and slowly dying off, leaving no trace of her behind, and leaving the four of them standing in stunned silence. That definitely wasn't the kind of shriek they associated with Pinkie determining that something was a party emergency. This was one that was far different, and that just served to make the whole thing far more disturbing. "Now wha' in tarnation was that all about?" Applejack asked. "I don't know. But I've got a bad feeling about this," Twilight stated as she shook her head. "Could you three see if you can find her while I get dressed? I don't want to leave her unattended for too long; there's no telling what she might do." "Ya can count on me, Sugarcube, Ah'll get 'er tracked down quicker than a hog lookin' fer a truffle," Applejack stated and quickly took off running. The cart would have to wait, as this was far more serious. "Don't worry, darling, we'll find her," Rarity added as she followed, with Spike following close behind. "I so didn't need this right now..." Twilight groaned. Who would've ever thought that they would have to solve friendship problems amongst themselves?