It's just Baldness

by Charlie_K

Twelve

Cup Cake stood by in the front of Sugarcube Corner, watching as Pinkie went about her own manner of displaying the baked good currently under the counter's glass. She knew the pink mare had her own methodology of doing things, and often she didn't understand that methodology, but it was hard to argue with the results they often yielded. Unfortunately that lack of understanding pertaining to just how Pinkie went about achieving her results, left the older mare with little option but to simply stand back and watch at things unfolded.

Case in point, Pinkie was currently perched on her hind legs, leaning against the display case as she used a drafting compass to measure the distance between the various cupcakes, and make small -often minute- shifts in their respective positions. And all the while this was done as she frowned in thought, while having the tip of her tongue poking out of the right corner of her mouth.

It would be adorable to watch her work sometimes, if it just weren't so darn perplexing!

"And..." Pinkie breathed as she slowly rotated a cupcake with strawberry icing to the right, "perfecto! Optimal visual appeal of confectionery delights has been achieved!" she announced excitedly as she stashed the compass away in her mane.

Cup Cake just shook her head and gave a weak smile, knowing from experience that it was often better to not get into the nitty gritty details of Pinkie's work. Even asking her how she was so certain of what she knew was often a gamble, and right now she wasn't in the mood for anything that would potentially involve charts and spreadsheets being presented to her for review.

Before it could actually come to that being a possibility, however, the chime above the front door sounded, giving Cup reason to feel relieved. With a quiet sigh she turned to see which pony had unknowingly come to her aid.

As it turned out, the pony in question was none other than Applejack, visiting their establishment.

"Howdy Pinkie, howdy Mrs. Cake," she greeted them as she approached.

"Oh, hello, Applejack," Cup Cake greeted in return before Pinkie had the opportunity to speak up first. "How're you doing today?"

"'bout as well as anypony can be doin', workin' outside an' such in this heat," Applejack replied and shrugged. "Is Pinkie busy? Rarity said something 'bout needin' 'er fer somethin' er other."

Cup Cake looked at Applejack, and then back at Pinkie. She couldn't really think of anything she needed Pinkie for at the moment.

"I don't see why not," she agreed and nodded. And if she let Pinkie attend whatever Rarity needed her for, that would spare her the possibility of discussion pertaining to the proper placement of confectionery works to make them most desirable.

Truth be told, she'd much rather leave such matters to Pinkie, and manage the baking herself.

"Thank ya kindly, Mrs. Cake," Applejack replied and smiled warmly, before turning her attention to Pinkie. Except as she did, she realized that Pinkie was no longer there.

"Wha' the?" she asked in surprise and confusion.

"What the what?"

Hearing Pinkie's voice, Applejack turned and spotted the pink mare standing by the front doors to Sugarcube Corner now, rather than where she had been. She wanted to question how she'd done that so quickly, but past experience with such occurrences had taught her that it was simply better to leave some questions unasked.

"A'right then," she replied and decided to let the matter drop, rather than get involved in that particular can of worms.

---

So far, so good. That was Applejack's take on the matter as she and Pinkie made their way to the Carousel Boutique. Procurement had been taken care of, now it was time for the delivery.

"So did Rarity say what she needed me for?" Pinkie asked as she trotted alongside Applejack.

"Well she said somethin', but Ah couldn' really go about repeatin' it in a way that'd make sense," Applejack replied. And for the most part it was a statement of truth.

Knowing her horrible skill for lying -at least outside of a poker game- Rarity had been selectively scant on precisely what was going to go down once they got there. That way she could be honest when she informed Pinkie that she didn't know what she was needed for, because she really didn't.

"We'll be there soon enough," she stated, hoping to keep the pink party pony from pressing for any further details; details that might cause her to break, and ruin the whole plan.

Without a word, she increased the pace of her walking to try and avoid that happening.

Fortunately, for whatever reasons that were in play, Pinkie didn't ask any further questions on the journey to Rarity's. That allowed them to arrive at the Carousel Boutique without issue, and without incident.

Now it was time for the hard part of all this.

Steeling her nerves, she pushed open the door to the boutique, causing the bell above the door to ring in the process as she stepped inside, before allowing Pinkie to trot in behind her so she could shut the door once again. "We're here, sugarcube!" she called out.

"In the parlor!" she heard Rarity call back.

"A'right then," Applejack stated softly before making her way to the boutique's parlor, Pinkie following close behind her.

What she found as they stepped in, was a rather comfortable looking setting, perfect for afternoon tea as Spike assisted in setting out the refreshments for just that purpose.

Although in this case it was a pitcher of iced tea, rather than the fancy type Rarity liked serving in her equally fancy teapot.

"I'm so glad you could actually make it, Pinkie, I was worried you'd be far too busy at work to get away," Rarity stated upon seeing them walking through the parted curtains hanging in the doorway.

"Don't be silly, Rarity, I'm never too busy to help out a friend," Pinkie stated and waved a hoof dismissively at the very notion.

"That's good to know then," Rarity replied in a low mumble, more to herself than anypony else in the room. "Please, have a seat, darling," she said in a more normal tone as gestured to one of the present chairs in the room.

Pinkie wordlessly complied, bouncing her way over to the unoccupied chair and plopping herself down, her poofy mane swaying as the oscillating fan moved in her direction as it performed its assigned task.

"Comfy?" Rarity asked as a nudged a plate of cookies in Pinkie's direction.

"Yeppers!" Pinkie replied as she instantly snagged one of the cookies and popped it in her mouth with gusto. "So what'd you need my help with? Do you have a new design you need modeled? Do you need streamers for integrating into a festive-themed hat? Ooh! Did Sweetie Belle do something that warrants a surprise party!?"

Rarity, calmly and quietly, shook her head in response to each of Pinkie's excited questions. "No, nothing like that, Pinkie. I'm afraid I wasn't quite clear enough when I asked Applejack to find you. I just needed to talk with you about something, that's all," she clarified.

"Oh? Really?" Pinkie asked. The other three nodded in response. "Oh, alright then, sure. What do you want to talk about?" she asked as she popped another cookie into her mouth.

Rarity waited until Pinkie had actually swallowed, before she continued speaking once again. "Well I was hoping to talk to you about Twilight. Or more specifically, what happened at Twilight's the other day."

Had Rarity not actually waited before asking the question, she was certain Pinkie would've choked on her cookie in response, considering the sudden shift in her demeanor at the statement.

"Twilight?" Pinkie asked, before proceeding to shake her head. "No. Nonono, I don't wanna talk about that," she stated quickly.

Once again, Rarity remained silent in response, opting to instead study Pinkie's demeanor, and gauge her friends' reaction in order to get an idea of what to expect. And what she was currently seeing, certainly suggested a significant level of discomfort. Spike really hadn't been exaggerating when he'd told them that Pinkie's experience with baldness had been unpleasant.

Fortunately the others had agreed to let her take point on this particular matter, and were remaining silent as well. Despite their numbers being a three-to-one ratio, this interaction was still as much a dance as any organized social interaction would be. There was certainly the need to lead, but leading also meant knowing when it was appropriate to move. One needed to know when to advance, and when to hold back.

"Might I ask why?" she asked as she eased herself off of her seat and stepped closer.

"I... I-I don't wanna talk about that either," Pinkie stated as her breathing began to visibly increase.

Rarity could do little more than simply sigh as she observed Pinkie's demeanor. It was obvious that whatever had happened, it wasn't a simple misunderstanding. This was obviously something far more... significant. Something that they hadn't anticipated being the case.

Fortunately, a number of things had been anticipated, meaning they weren't completely without options in this matter. With a subtle tilt and sweep of the head as her cue, Applejack made her way over to where Pinkie sat in order to hug the distraught party pony, to offer her a measure of physical comfort in all this mess.

Applejack had originally been approached for the purpose of being supportive if push came to shove as Twilight opened up to their friends. And while this wasn't exactly what they'd had in mind at the time of seeking her out, that certainly didn't mean it wouldn't work. they just needed to adjust things a little, in accordance with how the situation moved.

"It's a'right, sugarcube, it's a'right," Applejack assured her, "deep breaths. We don't need ya hyperventilatin' on us."

Fortunately Pinkie had enough focus to actually heed Applejack's advice, and -with some effort- began taking deeper, slower breaths.

Spike had been watching in silence the entire time, eager to see how Rarity's plan would play out. But this was a curve ball he hadn't seen coming at all, and that left him uncertain of anything. Twilight's explanation of Pinkie having bad experiences with baldness, had done nothing to prepare him for just what extent of badness they might be dealing with. He was starting to feel like they'd walked into an ambush.

And worst of all, this ambush was his fault. If he'd simply stopped, and heeded Twilight's words, they might not be in this situation they were right now.

"Better?" Applejack asked once Pinkie's breathing seemed under control once again.

"A little," Pinkie replied and nodded. "Just... just... please don't ask me anymore, alright?"

"As much as we may like to simply let the matter rest, Pinkie, I'm afraid that we have no choice, but to ask," Rarity stated as she stepped closer. "It's obvious that this isn't a simple misunderstanding; one simply doesn't react like that to one. Something obviously must've happened, but the question is what?"

"I don't wanna talk about it," Pinkie mumbled again as she shook her head. "Please don't make me talk about it," she pleaded weakly.

Rarity could do little more than quietly sigh in response. This was definitely not the Pinkie they'd all come to know so well.

"I promise we won't, Pinkie. But we can't help you, if we don't know what the problem is," she explained.

At hearing this, Pinkie looked up towards Rarity. "H... help me?" she asked.

Rarity nodded. "Of course. I don't know exactly what transpired between you and Twilight, but it's obvious that you could use a friend in all of this that's understanding," she explained.

One could easily see Pinkie mulling over the statement, contemplating the statement that had been made, and weighing over the desire to refrain from speaking about what was bugging her, and opening up to someone that wanted to hear what was bothering her, and who actually wanted to help.

"Do I have to say?" she asked.

"Not if you don't want to. We certainly can't make you talk, nor would we even try to," Rarity assured her. "It's your decision to make on whether or not you want to tell us about what's going on."

Finally, after much internal debate, Pinkie gave a soft sigh of defeat and nodded.

At seeing that Pinkie was no longer panicking, Applejack slowly untangled herself, and stepped back over to where Rarity currently stood.

"Alright," she said as she breathed, trying to steel her nerves for sharing her story with them. "Alright," she repeated as she continued breathing, willing herself to open up to her friends about what was troubling her.

But despite willing herself to actually speak, she found her mouth simply unwilling to actually move in the way she wanted it to. She tried to speak, but no words would come out. It was as if her body simply refused to do as it was told, like it wasn't even her own.

"Oh! This is so hard!" she yelled as she held her head in frustration. "I don't know how to do this..." she moaned.

Rarity tried to be sympathetic to whatever Pinkie's plight was. But it certainly wasn't easy. She honestly couldn't remember ever seeing Pinkie this tight-lipped before, and it left her uncertain with just how to proceed properly.

"Would you feel better if one of us were to pick a starting point, and all you had to do was respond?" she asked.

Pinkie could only give a noncommittal shrug in response. "Maybe? I don't know really..."

"I suppose there's only one way to actually find out," Rarity replied as she weighed just how to proceed. She needed to approach from the proper angle if success was to be had, otherwise they risked frightening Pinkie further, and making her shut down even more. "Alright then, Pinkie, can you please tell us what it was about seeing Twilight bald the other day, that scared you so badly? Honestly, darling, I've never seen you act like that before. It was... actually a little frightening to witness."

Pinkie tried not to let a whimper escape in response to the question being presented to her. Rarity, Applejack, and Spike were all offering to help her like any true friends would. But that help came at the cost of opening up to them about something she desperately didn't want to be opened yet again. She'd been perfectly happy before this entire mess had unfolded, and she was certain she'd be happy again once enough time had passed, and she was able to bury this entire incident, and not have to remember it.

She was reasonably certain that she could opt out of this. Just tell her friends that she didn't want to do it, and walk right out the front door; Rarity had already told her that it was her decision to make, so surely she didn't have to do any of this.

But did she really want to do that?

Strange as it might sound, that was the question she was currently asking herself about all this. Rarity -and by extension the others- were offering to help her with what was troubling her, so long as she knew what the problem was. It was a simple enough offer that anyone could make at seeing a friend in need, but it was the circumstances in which the offer of help had been made, that had made it stick out to her. For so long, she'd been on her own in all of this, unable to talk to anyone, and trying so hard to simply not remember what had happened. Now she was being offered the opportunity of bringing that to an end, if she would just open up to them. If she shared with them, she'd finally have somepony to talk to, that might understand it all.

"Alright," she said once more as she took a deep, steadying breath to steel her nerves in anticipation. And this time around it was going to be industrial grade, skyscraper frame, I-beam type steel. "Growing up on the farm, me and my sisters, there used to be a lot of infestations of pests. Fleas, lice, ticks, etc. And rather than invest in insecticides and pest repellents that were expensive, whenever it got warm out, our parents used to shave us instead. Completely bald, nose to tail and everything in between, all the way down to the skin. They didn't stop until there wasn't a trace of fur left on any of us..."

"Wait, seriously?" Applejack asked. Pinkie simply nodded in response as she looked down at the floor. "Wow..." she replied, stunned by what she'd just heard. That had seriously come out of left field.

"My word," Rarity stated in agreement. "Am I correct in assuming, based on your reaction the other day, that these... sessions... were less than pleasant to experience?" she asked. She could guess and say that such was likely the case, but not wasn't really the time for guesswork. They needed confirmation in order to know what to do.

"They were horrible," Pinkie stated, unwilling to make eye contact with any of them at this point. "I hated it! And I hated it every single time they did it! We didn't even get a say in it, they just went and did it, even if we didn't want to! It always hurt, and itched so bad, and you had to sit perfectly still for like forever until they were done!" she shrieked angrily.

Spike tried to speak, tried to say something in response, but found that he had no words to offer up. Between Pinkie's explanation, and the anger she'd just expressed -far more anger than he could ever really remember seeing from her- he had no idea just what to do.

"It was horrible," Pinkie moaned as she hung her head again, no more anger being carried in her voice as she spoke, but rather pain. "It was so embarrassing..." she whimpered.

Rarity found herself at a loss in the wake of Pinkie's explanation. She'd been hoping that the whole matter had been something far simpler to address, but such simply wasn't the case. This went far deeper than she'd suspected, and that left her uncertain of just how to go about responding to this revelation. Being a mediator for two ponies who were experiencing a misunderstanding was one thing, but addressing a traumatic past incident was well out of her skill set.

In all of her plotting and planning, in all of her efforts at formulating how to best go about helping Twilight, never once had she considered the possibility that one of their friends would have such a traumatizing past experience with baldness, that it would present such a challenge to overcome. Now here they were, caught with their formulations down, as they tried to figure out what to do next.

All the while, she had to acknowledge that she was partially responsible for Pinkie's current state. If she hadn't been so supportive of Twilight in an effort to make up for her past behavior, this key aspect of Pinkie's past would've likely remained undiscovered for a very long time, and would've never become an issue.

"Wait, wait, I'm confused."

It was Spike who made the statement, bringing everypony's attention to him in the process.

"You said it was embarrassing when your parents shaved you?" he asked Pinkie, wanting to make sure he'd heard her right. "How? Why? I mean, if it's something they did regularly to you and your sisters... what was embarrassing about it? Wouldn't it be, I don't know, just one of those things?"

"Y'know, that's a mighty good question right there," Applejack spoke up and turned back to look at Pinkie. "Ah get that ya didn' like being shaved an' all, Pinkie, fer good reason an' all. But wha' made it embarrassin' to ya?"

Try as she might, Rarity couldn't deny that the question had suddenly piqued her own curiosity as well. But as much as she wanted to actually ask, Spike and Applejack had both gone ahead and asked, the duty to refrain from such had fallen upon her, lest Pinkie feel like she was being ganged up on in it all.

Pinkie sighed, uncertain where to look as she spoke up. "Because unlike my sisters, I was always getting cut by Dad's razor because I could never sit still for long enough. I mean I always tried, because I knew it was going to hurt if I moved, but it took forever and I could never do it! I got nicked so many times, but Limestone and the others never did. They didn't have any scars to wear in the summer, but I sure did," she stated.

"Oh..." Spike replied slowly. He could certainly understand all that.

Pinkie nodded in response. "Then after I left the rock farm and learned that other ponies didn't shave, what happened was even more embarrassing to remember after the fact. It... it took a long time to get over that. Or at least I thought I'd gotten over it..."

This time Rarity sighed as she initiated the hug. "I'm so sorry, darling," she offered up as best she could, having little more than mere condolences to provide to her. "I had no idea that was the case."

"Yeah..." Pinkie replied slowly, not knowing what else to say. Other than that, all she had to offer up was a nod, rubbing her chin against Rarity's back in the process.

For a while, nopony spoke up, because none of them knew just what to say about what they'd heard. All any of them could do was just sit in silence, occasionally looking at one another in hopes of someone having some idea of how to proceed from this point on.

"I just don't get it," Pinkie mumbled, "why would Twilight wanna be bald like she was? Why would she do that to herself?" she asked.

"That's something I simply can't answer, Pinkie. For whatever reason, it's simply something that's she developed an interest in, and enjoys doing," Rarity replied as best she could. "Although at this time I believe that may be a moot point.

"What?" Pinkie asked as she sat up and looked at Rarity.

"After what happened at the library, Twilight decided to stop going bald. She just totally stopped after she came back home," Spike explained. Rarity nodded in agreement.

"She did? But... but why would she do that if it's something she liked doing?" Pinkie asked.

"From what Ah gathered, Twi' decided ta stop because o' how upset it made ya. Said somethin' about ya being her friend, bein' more important ta her than walkin' aroun' all bald an' such," Applejack explained.

Again, Rarity nodded. "It seems Twilight felt it was necessary for her to put a stop to her activities because it was upsetting you more than she could accept. She didn't even ask if she should, she didn't consult with us about what she thought, she just stopped because she thought that was what you wanted her to do."

Pinkie looked floored by the revelation, her eyes going wide in surprise, and her jaw practically hanging limp.

"B-but I didn't even ask to even do that!" she stated quickly. "I mean don't get me wrong, I appreciate that she stopped going bald because she thought I wanted her to; that's just what a true friend would do for another friend. But it's something that she enjoyed doing, she could've at least checked with me first to see if I wanted her to go that far. But then again ponies aren't supposed to be going around bald anyway, so it's probably for the best that she stopped. But then again ponies do tend to do a lot of things that aren't necessarily good for them, so it's not all that different. But still... b-but still..."

In the middle of Pinkie's constant, back and forth rambling and sputtering of indecision, she stopped and groaned as she held the sides of her head in her fore hooves and shut her eyes. "I don't feel so good. My brain hurts."

Rarity reached up and rubbed Pinkie's back in response. "It's alright, darling, we'll sort this out. Somehow," she assured her.

Spike had nothing that he could say in response. If he'd known that things were this bad, he would've kept his mouth shut about it, and not gotten Rarity and Applejack involved like he had. But the toothpaste was already squeezed out of the tube, and there was no way of putting it back in.

"So much fer our plan," Applejack stated as she sat down on her haunches, waiting to see how they proceeded from here.

"Plan?" Pinkie asked as she looked up at Applejack. "What plan?"

Rarity looked back at Applejack, who looked back at her uneasily. She gave a simple nod, before looking back at Pinkie.

"Well you see, Pinkie, it's like this. When we thought this was just a simple misunderstanding, we planned on talking with you, and later Twilight, to sort it all out, and come to some sort of an understanding. But that's not the case anymore. I'd say that you have a very legitimate reason to be opposed to Twilight's baldness," she explained. "To be honest, I'm really not sure where we go from here."

"Same here," Applejack agreed and nodded.

"Tell me about it," Spike added. "I still don't get it, though. I mean, sure, you've got a legitimate reason for freaking out at seeing a pony bald, Pinkie. But this is Twilight that we're talking about here, she's our friend. You know she wouldn't make you do something you really didn't want to, right?"

The look on Pinkie's face was enough to suggest that what he'd just said, was something she honestly hadn't given consideration to until just now.

"I-I guess so. I mean, I know Twilight wouldn't knowingly force others to do things they don't wanna do. It's just, I just... just..." she stammered, "oh I don't know what to do! I'm so confused!" she moaned and hung her head once more.

Again, Rarity stepped in to provide some measure of comfort to Pinkie as she rubbed at her back.

"I believe the best place to start, Pinkie, is deciding just what you want to do, before attempting to figure out what you feel you should do in all of this. What's going to make you happy?" she asked.

"I... I don't know. Nopony's really asked me that before. I've always been worrying about making other ponies happy, not the other way around," Pinkie admitted, finding it to be a new concept to consider.

"Well then. It sounds like we've figured out just where to start in all of this," Rarity stated.

This certainly wasn't where she'd envisioned all of this going when she'd formulated her plan for addressing the issue. But whether or not she'd taken such a turn of events into consideration, that didn't necessarily mean it was a bad thing that all of this come about. Perhaps they actually could help out both of their friends, and still come to an understanding. She and the others had known that they'd be playing it all by ear and seeing where their journey took them; this was just another unexpected development that they would need to address. And if they could genuinely help Pinkie with her problem, then all the better.

"I need time to think. About all of this," Pinkie stated, "can I do that? Can I think on this for a while?"

"Of course, darling, there's no rush to this," Rarity assured her. As traumatic as her experiences had been, they weren't about to try and hurry her along. "But whatever you decide, do be sure to talk to Twilight about your decision. I believe she deserves to know."

"Right. I'll... I'll talk to her. Eventually. I just need to get things figured out myself first," Pinkie mumbled as she nodded, trying to contemplate the matter. "I'm just... gonna go now. I need some time alone."

"Alright," Rarity agreed, knowing that they couldn't force Pinkie to stay. Nor would they even try. "But if you need someone to talk to, do come back around."

The three of them had gone as far as they could to try and help, tried to resolve the situation as best the could. But now all they could do was wait and see how things developed from here on out.

Comments

[Cross Lament]

They just need to find a way to combine baldness, parties, and pastry.

[Clickety-Clack]

Very nicely balanced and good cliffhanger at the end.

I like how they kept going around and eventually worked to a natural conclusion only to find a new challenge. Very "real-to-life" in many ways.

Thank you for posting.

[Real_Atomsk]

7939133
Much easier to lick the cream filling off bare skin then fur? I mean sounds like a fun party to me.

[Peachy Keen]

This was a well written chapter. Applejack, Rarity, and Spike were very supportive of Pinkie, they didn't push her too hard or too fast, yet they still helped her talk about it even when she was apprehensive at first. Nice work!