//------------------------------// // Nine // Story: It's just Baldness // by Charlie_K //------------------------------// Despite having a significant head start on the others, Rarity and Spike managed to catch up with Applejack as she was opening the main doors of the palace to gallop outside. That at least made it easy for all of them to be on the same page, even if it didn't make it any easier for them to actually find Pinkie. "I don't get it. What is up with Pinkie anyway? I've never seen her act like that before," Spike stated as he ran along, doing his best to keep pace with Rarity and Applejack. "I haven't the faintest idea," Rarity stated as she levitated Spike up and onto her back, allowing her to more easily keep pace with Applejack, without risking him falling behind with his shorter stride. "This was the sort of response I would've expected from Fluttershy being read in on the situation, but not Pinkie; never Pinkie." "Tell me 'bout it," Applejack said as she galloped, her mind racing with thoughts. She had thought that when it came to bringing Pinkie up to speed, they'd have to hold her down to keep her from organizing a party for Twilight's benefit, as they explained just why this shouldn't come out in the public. But this had thrown her for a loop. If she was being honest with herself, it had actually left her feeling a bit scared over not knowing what to expect. "So where do we start looking for her?" Spike asked. "Ah don' really know. Tha' mare could literally be anywhere by now," Applejack stated, the thought conjuring up memories of how Pinkie had a habit of popping up in the strangest of locations at the strangest of times. There were times she honestly wondered if the pink pony was in fact a fragment of Discord's essence, which would certainly answer a few questions, but at the same time raise dozens more. As she saw it, best not to get into it at this point in time. "Should we try and find Rainbow Dash, ask her if she has any idea where we might find Pinkie?" Spike asked. "She is good friends with Pinkie, those two are always engaging in pranks together. She might have some useful insight on this," Rarity added as she nodded. "Sounds like a plan. Ah'll try an' find RD, ya two keep lookin' and see if ya can figure out where Pinkie went until then," Applejack stated, already having a few ideas of where Rainbow Dash might be; especially if that pegasus just happened to be napping. "Right then," Rarity replied as they split into two parties, each one set out on a different mission, but connected by a specific purpose; helping out a friend in need. But whether the friend in need turned out to be Pinkie or Twilight, she didn't know just yet. She'd ask questions later on, all the while hoping Twilight didn't worry herself into a fit over this during their absence. The last thing they needed -right after Pinkie letting the cat out of the bag- was Twilight having a nervous breakdown. Cup Cake hummed to herself, an icing bag held firmly in her front hooves as she went about providing the decorative details to a cake that had been ordered by a customer earlier in the week. It was for an engagement party for some lucky mare, meaning it required a certain mature touch that only somepony like her would possess. She dearly loved the work Pinkie did, and the heart she put into her word, but the dear mare simply didn't understand that not all parties had to be as festive to the same degree; an older couple didn't need the same wham bang approach of festivities that a foal did on their birthday. That was why she was working on this cake herself, and had no intention of leaving it without her attention to such important details. However things didn't work out quite as she was expecting. It was the sound of the chime above the door that prompted Cup Cake to come out of the kitchen, and see Twilight coming through the doors of Sugarcube Corner, looking as if she'd run all the way here from wherever she'd been at the time. "Mrs. Cake," she panted as she stood more upright now, "by any chance have you seen Pinkie?" Cup paused for a moment before responding. "Not exactly. I heard her come back a while ago, but she raced up the stairs before I could get a word out, and shut herself in her room," she explained. "Do you know what might be going on?" Twilight shook her head in response. "Not really, I'm just as confused as you are about all of this. But I intend to get to the bottom of what's going on." It wasn't precisely a lie; she really didn't know what it was about her baldness that had caused Pinkie to freak out and go running off like she had. But one way or another, she was going to get some answers to the mounting questions. "Alright then," Cup replied and nodded, "I'll leave the matter in your capable hooves. You know her about as well as anypony can know Pinkie." While it was a technically true statement, it did little to change the fact that Twilight was just as lost as anypony else would be right now. Despite how well she thought she knew Pinkie, there were still a great many things that simply couldn't be figured out; not even when Pinkie actually tried to explain them. Nevertheless, she was intent on getting to the bottom of this mystery. With a polite nod to Mrs. Cake, she made her way to the living portion of Sugarcube Corner upstairs, and to Pinkie's room specifically; being friends with the pink party pony, locating it was a trivial matter. "Pinkie?" she asked as she stood in front of the closed door. She expected some sort of response, but was only met with silence. "Pinkie, I know you're in there. Mrs. Cake said so," she stated. "I'm not here!" Pinkie called through the door. "Pinkie, I just heard you," Twilight replied, one eyebrow quirked as she did, much as Applejack would in a similar situation. "This is a recording!" Pinkie stated in response. "Pinkie," Twilight replied calmly, but also firmly, as she wanted her point to get across. "I can easily unlock this door and march in there if I want to. But I don't want to do that; not to a friend. Now, would you please open this door, and tell me face-to-face what's going on?" she asked as kindly as she could. The response she was met with was one of silence. At first. The telltale sound of a bolt being pulled back could clearly be heard from behind the door, before it was slowly opened, just wide enough for a single blue eye to look out. Twilight simply smiled, taking this as a sign of Pinkie being willing to discuss whatever had upset her. "Twilight?" "Pinkie?" The door opened wider, and then wider still until it was completely open. Pinkie stood there, a smile and, a look of utter relief sweeping over her face in the process. Twilight's smile increased, going from friendly, to relieved as well, now that she could see her friend was alright. "Oh, Twilight, you're not going to believe what happened, I just had the worst nightmare!" Pinkie stated as she quickly latched onto Twilight and pulled her into the room in a tight hug. "I didn't even know I was asleep, so it was a really, really bad nightmare! Like 'it's your birthday and nopony knew or even cared about it' bad!" "Pinkie-" Twilight wheezed, caught off guard by the sudden enthusiasm in her friend's embrace. But at least Pinkie didn't seem any worse for wear now. Maybe this whole mess hadn't been as serious as she'd initially thought it was. "Twilight? Why does your coat feel so funny?" Pinkie asked as her forelegs started to shift against her, her voice suddenly growing uneasy as she did. And then again, maybe this whole mess really had been as serious as she'd initially thought. "Pinkie-" Twilight started uneasily. "Twilight? A-are you-" Pinkie started to ask, but was quickly silenced as Twilight put a hoof against her mouth. "Pinkie, listen to me, this is very important. I need you to Pinkie Promise me that you're not going to react like you did back at the palace. Can you do that? Please?" Twilight asked her. Pinkie managed to give a shaky nod, prompting her to remove her hoof and let her speak again. "Do you promise to be calm? No screaming and panicking?" "I... I promise," Pinkie replied and nodded, although it was evident that this was going to be a promise she had to actually work at keeping. "But under protest. This isn't the proper use of a Pinkie Promise," she added. "Noted," Twilight replied and nodded as she prepared to explain herself. "Alright then. The truth is, this is just an illusion that you're seeing. It takes five minutes for my fur and such to fully regrow. Normally this is just a minor inconvenience so long as I plan ahead, but considering the state you were in when you left the palace, I was really worried about you, and didn't feel like standing around uselessly and just wait, not knowing what might be going through your head. In a time like that, five minutes can feel like an eternity. So I had to make a decision about what was more important to me." "Really?" Pinkie asked. Twilight nodded. "So underneath that you're really... bald?" "As a bowling ball," Twilight admitted sheepishly. She had hoped the comparison would at least earn a giggle from Pinkie, but sadly it didn't get even that. She looked far too curious to show any signs of amusement. That meant it was time to get serious again, and continue with her explanation. "I decided that you were more important, than my own personal embarrassment over the fact that I was running nude through town, in full view of everypony, with nothing more than an illusion to keep me decent; all the while knowing that if it were to fail, everypony would be seeing everything there is to me," she stated, her cheeks burning even if the redness wasn't showing through. "Wow," Pinkie replied in astonishment, "you actually did that because you were worried about me?" "I did," Twilight nodded, "and although it's a small price to pay for my friends, I hope it's something I won't ever have to do again. Streaking really isn't my thing," she said as she shuddered. "Streaking?" Pinkie asked quizzically as she tilted her head to the side. "I'll explain later. Much later," Twilight replied, not wanting to open that can of worms just yet. "Right now I'm just glad you're alright. You had us worried when you ran off like that. What was that about anyway?" "I... I-I don't wanna say," Pinkie said as she stepped back uneasily and looked down at the floor. Twilight frowned at that as she took a step forward. "Pinkie, I don't presume to believe that I'm entitled to any sort of explanation if you're honestly not up to it. But I ran here all the way across town, wearing absolutely nothing but an illusion, and a smile to try and avoid raising suspicion, because I was worried about you. Doesn't that earn me at least a little consideration?" she asked. Pinkie wanted to say no. But try as she might, she simply couldn't deny that Twilight had gone to a lot of trouble just to make sure that she was alright. It was a really, really friendly thing to do; especially when she was under no obligation to actually do what she did. And it was also the sort of thing that left her feeling like something needed to be done in return. "I-I guess so," she replied slowly and nodded. Twilight smiled at Pinkie's willingness to fill her in on whatever details were missing from this matter. The more she knew, the more good she could do as a result. As her friend made herself comfortable on the bed in preparation, she sat down on her haunches to listen. "Alright," Pinkie sighed and took a breath to steady herself. "The truth is... our parents... they used to... to shave us..." Twilight blinked at hearing Pinkie's statement. "They shaved you?" she asked. Pinkie nodded. "They shaved us. All of us. Me, my sisters, everyone. Any time the weather would get warmer and lice, or fleas, or ticks would find their way to the rock farm. Out came the razors, and off came the fur..." Pinkie shuddered as she stopped talking, uncomfortable with the memories that were bought up by her tale. She really didn't want to talk about this for that reason. But Twilight had cared enough to come looking for her, so telling her was the least she could do. "It was horrible! We had to sit still for so long while Mom and Dad would shave us nose to tail, and everything in between. Everything. It always took forever, and it always itched so bad afterward; razor burn is seriously not fun to have," she stated and shuddered again. "And if that wasn't bad enough, Mom and Dad always used the old fashioned straight razors for shaving us, so you had to sit really still, because if you moved while they were shaving you, you'd get cut too, and it always hurt so bad!" Twilight couldn't help but be horrified by the recounting of events. "Oh, Pinkie, I'm so sorry. I had no idea you had to go through something like that." Pinkie nodded in response. "They shaved themselves too. Sometimes before us, sometimes after, but either way it was still horrible. And after they were done shaving us, we still had work to do on the farm, where anypony could see us if they came up. It was super embarrassing and humiliating to experience! I've never wanted to crawl in a dark hole, and totally be left alone by anypony, than during those times without my fur!" Twilight responded without thinking when she saw the tears starting to form in Pinkie's eyes. She closed the distance between them and pulled the distraught earth pony into a firm hug, which was immediately reciprocated. "It's okay, Pinkie, it's okay," she said as she rubbed her friend's back in an effort to soothe her. Pinkie, in response to the gesture, stiffened up. "Twilight... d-do you think you could let me go? Please?" she asked. It was only after that Twilight realized the mistake she'd made. Being that Pinkie had bad experiences with baldness in the past, thrusting herself upon her as she had probably wouldn't make her feel better. Immediately she pulled away and released her, her cheeks burning underneath the illusion. "I'm sorry." "N-no, it's alright, you didn't know," Pinkie replied and shook her head. "Still, that must've been a traumatizing thing to experience," Twilight stated, before quickly thinking otherwise. "Er, I mean the shaving, not the hug." "I knew what you meant. And you're right, it was. It was horrible..." Pinkie groaned as she shut her eyes. "To this day I still get nervous when the weather gets warm, because I just know that when summer comes around, my coat's going to be coming off. Even today I still think like that, and it's been years since I was last shaved!" Twilight didn't know how to respond. Part of her mind wanted to ask if Maud was the same way, and that was why she wore a dress while the rest of her family felt no such need to. But she didn't actually think to go that route; not this time anyway. "Um... I don't know if it's of any interest, Pinkie, but if it makes any difference, I don't actually shave..." she stated slowly. This caused Pinkie to actually look at her in confusion, as if something so far off the wall had been said that even she couldn't follow train of logic that was involved. "But... b-but I saw you... bald... how'd you end up like that without shaving?" Pinkie asked. "With a medical spell I found. It has the same overall results, but it happens a lot quicker, and without the risk and discomfort involved with using a razor," Twilight explained, hoping that differentiating the act of being bald from the act of shaving -and being shaved- would help put her friend at ease. But from the look on Pinkie's face, and how she was uneasily shifting, she felt it was safe to assume that the difference wasn't making her feel any better. "This really upsets you, doesn't it?" she asked. Pinkie nodded uncomfortably. "More than I can put into words," she admitted, "that's never happened to me before. I've always got words to put things into." Twilight just sighed and shook her head. "I guess seeing me bald like that brought up a lot of uncomfortable thoughts and feelings for you, right?" "Yeah..." Pinkie replied and nodded again. Twilight sighed again, feeling quite low now. "I'm sorry, Pinkie, I never stopped to consider that others might be less receptive to what I was doing, due to their own experiences. I guess I got too wrapped up in what I was doing to think about it," she explained. "Why... why would you do something like that? Why would you wanna be bald in the first place?" Pinkie asked quizzically. "Well..." Twilight paused as she tried to figure out what to say in response. Should she justify it based on the benefits it presented? Should she explain her experiences in the other world and what led her to this course of action? At least with her other friends, she'd been able to introduce them to it slowly, and in a controlled manner. But with Pinkie it was all damage control. "You're probably going to think it's stupid when you hear it," she admitted. "What is it?" Pinkie asked. Straight to the point. Twilight didn't know what to make of that when it came from Pinkie. She decided to proceed cautiously. "Well I've never had any experience with baldness before, so I was naturally curious about the spell. Then one day I had the palace all to myself, I was in the privacy of my own home, and I... just tried it out to see for myself. It was... it was interesting," she explained, giving a glossed over account of her initial experiences with nudism. "But... it's not so interesting anymore if it just causes others discomfort to be around." Ever since the beginning when Rarity had caught her in the act, even before then, she knew that being a nudist was a sensitive subject. But she didn't know just how sensitive a subject it could be for some until now. She remembered Luna saying that being rendered bald used to be used as a punishment for certain crimes, but Pinkie's issues went well beyond that. Suddenly all the advantages to being in just her skin were losing their appeal in light of all this. For an uncomfortably long time, neither pony spoke up, leaving nothing but silence between them. Twilight wanted to break that silence, but she didn't know what would be the best way of doing it. Right now she was just waiting for Pinkie to speak up and say something; anything really, she didn't care much at this point, so long as her friend showed some sign of communication. Finally she cracked first. "Should I leave?" "I..." Pinkie started to say, but stopped. She tried several more times to speak, before settling on simply nodding her head. "I don't wanna be rude, Twilight, I know you were worried about me, and I really appreciate it. But right now I just wanna be alone." "Alright. If that's what you want," Twilight replied and stood back up. She'd respect her friend's wishes, it being the least she could do right now. "I'll just let Mrs. Cake know that you're... you're... what should I tell her? She was worried about how you ran upstairs." "Number 66," Pinkie replied. "What now?" Twilight asked. "It's... it'd take a while to explain. Just tell her 'number 66' and she'll know what it means," Pinkie explained. "Um, alright then," Twilight replied, hopelessly lost on just what that all meant. But she decided not to press the issue. "I guess I'll see you later, after my fur grows back in?" she asked. "Yeah," Pinkie mumbled and gave a noncommittal nod in response. "Later..." Twilight really didn't like the idea of leaving under these circumstances; not with how Pinkie currently was. It didn't feel like the right thing to do. But she did have to respect Pinkie's wishes, even if she didn't like it. All she could really do was give her friend some time to sort out whatever she was going through, and approach her at a later date once she'd had the chance to calm down. Maybe once that occurred, they could get somewhere. But until then it was just a matter of waiting, and giving her friend whatever room she needed to work through what she was experiencing. "Okay," she nodded and quietly left the room, closing the door behind her until it clicked shut.