Nineteen
"These don' really look like hay fries ta me..." Apple Bloom commented as she looked at the plate before her suspiciously.
The interim period between when they'd arrived at the palace and dinner being ready had been... well it'd been weird, that was the only way she could describe it. There had been a surreal sort of aspect to seeing Applejack sitting in front of the air conditioner, all the while completely bald, and treating it all like it was no big deal.
If asked, she wouldn't know which aspect was the weirder to witness; the baldness, or just how casually it was being presented. Or maybe it was the fact it was Applejack that made it all seem weird. She'd had the time to come to grips with Twilight enjoying her own baldness, but her own sister? That one she wasn't too sure about; not yet anyway.
Fortunately the timely arrival of dinner provided a welcomed distraction from the subject at hoof before it could become anymore awkward. But now she had even more questions, as the food was... different than what she'd expected.
"That's because they're not hay fries. They're something new called "french fries" made from thinly cut potatoes deep fried in grease," Twilight explained from where she sat at the dining room table. "Supposedly the name comes from them being french cut, whatever that means. They're more work to prepare than hay fries, but they're oh so very good," she concluded before popping several into her mouth and munching happily on them.
Apple Bloom looked at Twilight enjoying her food, before turning back to her own plate and reached out to sample it. To her delight Twilight wasn't exaggerating. The fries were crispy without being hard, still warm, and covered with enough salt to make the flavor just short of exquisite to her young taste buds. She might've moaned a bit as she chewed, but she didn't know for certain.
"Ah don' even want the hayburger now, Ah'll take a plate full o' these!"
Twilight wasn't certain she wanted to smile or giggle at the moment. So she did both instead.
"I can certainly agree with that sentiment. But I didn't know if everypony would actually like them, so I only made a couple of potatoes worth. I'm afraid that's all there is for tonight."
"Oh," Apple Bloom replied and frowned. So much for that idea. "Well dang."
"Yeah, they are pretty good," Spike agreed, "although I prefer potato chips myself."
Twilight let out a laugh/moan/shudder combination that, in any other context, would probably come off as downright obscene or perverted. Had it not been for the fact that she was surrounded by others who had at least some understanding of how she was.
"We're so making those the next time," she stated and grinned.
"One o' ya wanna clue me in here?" Applejack asked, idly feeling like she was missing out on some sort of in-joke or something.
Spike looked over at Twilight, who looked back at him before nodding, and looking back at Applejack.
"In simple terms, potato chips are very similar to french fries. They're parchment-thin slices of potatoes that've been fried up until they're crispy, but they're a whole lot lighter. The same amount of potatoes that went into making these french fries, when turned into chips, would yield a presentation four or five times that of the fries because of how they stack up. They're more work but they're extremely delicious, without being all that filling," she explained. "The only downside is, once you start eating them, you don't want to stop because of just how good they are. So you wind up tempted to make way more of them to account for such."
Applejack couldn't help but be amused by Twilight's enthusiasm. Or maybe it was excitement. Whatever it was, it was kinda cute to watch. Plus the fries really were good, so it was hard to imagine just how much better the chips might be. But she'd probably find out for herself soon enough.
"Ya keep goin' on like that and yer gonna wind up gainin' some weight yet," she pointed out, before stopping to take a bite of her dinner while it was still hot. "No offense er nothin', Twi', but yer butt's even bonier without yer fur coverin' it."
Spike nearly choked on a fry as he erupted into laughter at Applejack's comment, caught completely off guard by hearing it and unable to do anything but laugh in response.
Which in turn resulted in Apple Bloom losing her composure, and her focus on dinner, as she too succumbed to laughter.
"Ah can't believe ya jus' said that!" she -barely- managed to get out.
"Well she's not exactly wrong," Twilight admitted as she did her best to turn her upper body in a way that would let her more easily glance back at her rump. "When I became an alicorn, everything on me was shifted around; both muscle and fat. Rarity had to get all new measurements for me because nothing fit right anymore. We actually had to modify one of her ponnequins to account for such."
"Huh. Ah didn' know that," Applejack replied and scratched the side of her head, before wincing at the amount of pressure she'd wound up using without realizing it. She decided then to pull her hoof back and reevaluate her approach. This whole furless thing was going to take some getting used to.
Twilight nodded. "Add to that, my metabolism seems to be higher as an alicorn than when I was still a unicorn. I'd estimate an approximate seven percent increase in the rate it works. Although I admit that I don't have any hard scientific data to say for certain, since I didn't think to gather any before my ascension. It doesn't sound like that big of a deal, but my stomach hasn't grown enough to comfortably accommodate an appropriate amount of food yet, so I'm essentially burning through my meals faster than I used to. So I need to eat more throughout the day just to keep pace. Even just gaining weight can be a challenge right now."
"An' Ah'm guessin' havin' ta regrow yer fur from scratch all the time doesn' really help matters either," Apple Bloom surmised.
Twilight shook her head. "It really doesn't. But it's the price I choose to pay for doing something that I enjoy as much as I do. Nothing in life is free, no matter what it might be. So... I guess I'm just stuck with having a bony butt."
That last one had earned a round of snorting and amused chuckles from everyone present at the table, even from Twilight.
"Alright, enough on that subject, let's talk about something else," she announced.
"Less talking, more eating. Dinner's gonna get cold. We can talk about stuff later," Spike called, before immediately returning focus to the food in front of him.
"Ah can go along wit' that," Apple Bloom replied, before taking Spike's lead and diving back into her fries.
"Yeah, okay, that works," Twilight agreed. They had the whole night to themselves, so they weren't exactly pressed for time to get anything done. They had nearly six hours before they even needed to consider turning in for the night.
Dinner first, dessert second, talking third. Hopefully.
As much as Applejack liked the air conditioner, the combination of it, the wet towel, and a bowl of ice cream was just a bit too much chill for her own comfort. So with dinner concluded, and dessert now up in the comfort of the library, she was sitting just off to the side at the edge of the chilled air, letting Spike, Apple Bloom, and Twilight lounge in the direct current. Her skin was just a bit too sensitive for it all simultaneously.
Honestly, she kind of wanted to cover up for a bit with one of the sheets draped on the couch.
Although her thoughts were interrupted by an excited squawk from Twilight when a bit of ice cream fell off her spoon and landed right on her exposed belly. That had earned at least a couple of giggles, before Twilight recomposed herself and used her towel to wipe away the offending blob.
And then Spike went and demonstrated he was king of bad table manners by slurping the melted remnants of his ice cream down, in truly atrocious fashion.
"You're such a little pig!" Twilight stated, doing her best to sound annoyed, while simultaneously trying to suppress the urge to laugh at the crude display.
"Oink, oink," Spike replied dismissively, which just served to make Twilight's plight even worse, and weaken her resolve further.
Apple Bloom, however, laughed without so much as a second thought.
"Apple Bloom," Twilight managed to squeak out, "don't encourage him, please! It just motivates him to be worse!" she rushed to say before losing the battle and finally succumbing to her own laughter.
Applejack just smirked and shook her head at the display. Her friends could be such children at times. But that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
"Alright," Twilight finally breathed, before downing her last bit of ice cream. "If everypony's done with dessert, we can move onto the next part of the evening."
"Which is?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Well, as chaotic and disorganized as it might sound, pretty much whatever we want to do. Games, reading, lounging in the cool air, pillow fights, pretty much anything," Twilight explained.
"Ah reckon Ah can go along wit' that," Applejack replied and nodded.
"Alright then," Twilight agreed, before procuring the empty bowls and spoons. "I'll tend to the dishes. Spike, you go and raid the game closet."
"Aye, aye," Spike replied with a mock salute, before hopping off his spot on the couch to go and do his assigned duty.
Leaving Applejack and Apple Bloom in a -slightly- less awkward silence than the last time.
"So..." Apple Bloom spoke up as she tried to do something -anything- to broach that silence. "How 'bout this weather we're havin'?"
"Apple Bloom..."
Quietly, Apple bloom looked back towards her sister at hearing her name spoken.
"Ah get this is all kinda awkward an' such. It kinda is fer me too," Applejack admitted.
"It is?" Apple Bloom asked. Applejack nodded, but otherwise didn't offer up any sort of explanation. "So then... wha' do we do about it?"
"Ah don' rightly know. This ain' exactly a natural pony concept," Applejack replied and shrugged. "Ah reckon we jus' try an' make the best of it an' such."
"Oh..."
More silence. More awkward silence as they waited for the others to get back.
"Applejack?"
"Yeah, Sugarcube?"
Apple Bloom bit at her lip uneasily, before she continued speaking. "Could Ah see wha' yer skin feels like?"
The request struck Applejack as being a might bit weird. But then again she was sitting around in a very un-ponylike manner right now, with nothing covering her but her stetson hat. At this point weird was in the eye of the beholder.
"Ah don' reckon it'd hurt anypony," she replied and shrugged.
Apple Bloom's approach as she climbed up on the couch was slow, cautious, almost like she was approaching a snoozing manticore. She reached out carefully, gently placing her hoof against her older sister's foreleg, pressing the underside up against the exposed skin.
"That feels weird," she stated bluntly, but nonetheless kept going, slowly trailing up and down Applejack's foreleg, letting her hoof brush against the contours of her muscles just below the surface. It was weird, but that didn't necessarily mean she wanted to stop.
Applejack doing her best not to squirm at being touched was also weird. But she wasn't objecting, so that was good at least.
Before things had the chance to become anymore awkward than they already were, she could hear the sound of squeaking wheels approaching down the hallway. Never -or at least rarely- in her life had Apple Bloom ever been so thankful for an interruption to occur in such a timely manner.
An interruption that came in the form of Spike hauling in a wagon that was loaded with board games. It looked like he'd taken Twilight's instructions of raiding the game closet quite literally.
"Good night," Applejack mumbled as she sat up straighter on the couch. "How many games ya got there, Spike?"
"Yes," Spike replied.
She nearly pointed out the question wasn't the yes or no type, but decided to let the matter rest, and instead see what they had to choose from. Something that Apple Bloom was already on top of as she had hopped off the couch to better scan the titles.
As she did, her eyes lit up with joy.
"No way! They've got "Hazard: The Game o' World Conquest" too!" she stated with all the excitement one would usually reserve for happening upon rare treasure.
"Huh. How 'bout that," Applejack remarked as Apple Bloom eagerly pulled the box out of the pile to look over it.
"Wait, wait, You play Hazard?" Spike asked.
Apple Bloom nodded. "We play with Big Mac a lot at home, but we can never beat 'im at it. But, if we can get in some practice..." she let her sentence trail off, leading to her best attempt at an evil grin to let it convey what she was thinking.
"Then we might be able ta whomp 'im next time," Applejack concluded, to which Apple Bloom eagerly nodded. "Well, we'll wait an' see wha' Twilight wants ta play, but Ah could go fer a game o' Hazard wit' some new faces."
Hearing this, Spike mimicked Apple Bloom's grin at the prospect of what was to come.
Playing Hazard with Twilight was, officially, the worst idea Apple Bloom could ever remember having in recent history. At least as far as this week went.
It'd all started out looking like it might be promising for them. But that had quickly turned out to be a false hope as Twilight demonstrated she knew what she was doing very, very well as she played.
She and Applejack were no slouches when it came to playing, but there was no denying that they were nothing in comparison. As far as she was concerned, she'd easily give Big Mac a run for his money at this game.
She had tried her best to achieve some small measure of victory, something she could be proud of. But as the night dragged on, the more apparent it became that there would be no such victories to be had. The best she could hope for at this point was to hang out long enough to make Twilight's victory the pyrrhic kind, where the resource cost of winning was simply far too high to justify.
Perhaps what made it worse was just how casual Twilight was about it. She did absolutely nothing to rub her victories in their faces, all the while carrying on as if it was good old-fashioned fun they were experiencing. But after so many hours of focus and effort, it was hard to be having fun at this point.
All she could really do at this point was let out a yawn, and prop her head up on her foreleg to try and stay focused. Or at least somewhat conscious. At this point it was hard to tell what the true difference between the two even was.
"Ya look beat, Apple Bloom," she heard Applejack comment, but made no move to visually acknowledge being addressed.
"She hasn' beaten me yet," she mumbled, doing her best not to yawn too loudly. "Bring yer A-game, Princess, Ah'm only gettin' warmed up..."
"I think what she means, Apple Bloom, is you look exhausted. Which you really do right now," Twilight pointed out from over where she sat at the table.
"Ah'm fine," Apple Bloom muttered and stubbornly pushed herself back into a properly upright position. She was not forfeiting, or giving up, or losing this battle due to exhaustion.
"C'mon, Surgarcube, ain' no use in fightin' it," Applejack told her.
"Ah've not yet begun ta fight," Apple Bloom replied defiantly. "First Ah'm gonna whomp Twilight, and then you're next fer not supporting mah campaign ta conquer New Fetlock."
"Uh, Apple Bloom," Spike spoke up, "you started out with New Fetlock when Twilight let you pick. You can't exactly conquer your own country."
Apple Bloom blinked slowly, and looked down as she tried to focus her eyes on what pieces and notes she currently had. Sure enough, there at the top of her tally list was New Fetlock.
"Ah guess Ah am tired..." she admitted reluctantly.
"Maybe it's best if we call it a night," Twilight suggested as she rotated her withers, before glancing over at the clock. When she saw it she found it necessary to do a double-take. Had they really been playing that long? Now the idea of turning in sounded really appealing. "Spike, I'll show Applejack to her room, why don't you show Apple Bloom to hers?"
"Yeah, that works for me," Spike replied as he stretched and stood up from his seat. "C'mon, Apple Bloom, I'll show you the way."
Apple Bloom nodded wordlessly as she got up and followed Spike out of the room, her posture slouching and eyelids as she did.
As the two youngest members of the party left, Applejack could see the look on Twilight's face slowly shifting from upbeat to sad. Or at least that's what it looked like to her.
"I should probably apologize for how this evening went, Applejack."
"Whadda ya mean by that, Twi'?"
"I don't think I did a very good job of being a host for this sleepover. I didn't keep things on track, and instead allowed the night to be consumed with a game of Hazard despite knowing it could take hours to complete a campaign," Twilight explained, before sighing tiredly. "I'm sorry about that, Applejack. Whatever tonight could've been, it was ruined."
"Twi'," Applejack spoke up, "pardon mah Prench an' all, but tha's a load o' bullcrap."
Twilight blinked in surprise, honestly not expecting to hear that.
"Sugarcube, we usually play a game o' Hazard once or twice a week back home. This was perdy much jus' like a night with family for me."
"Really?" Twilight asked. Applejack nodded. "Well that's good, I guess. But I thought you wanted to have this sleepover so you could get a better understanding on what being a nudist is like."
"Ah did," Applejack replied and nodded again as she smiled. "An' Ah did. Ya gave me plenty ta think on an' figure out when we sat down with Rarity. Ah knew then that Ah'd support ya in all this. This here was jus' so Ah could see what it's like goin' without mah fur on fer mahself."
"Oh," Twilight replied, finding herself equal parts happy and curious from Applejack's statement. "So... what do you think?"
"Ah'll share that with ya tomorrow, Sugarcube, when Ah'm not so plum tuckered out. Right now Ah'd like ta jus' get some shuteye if ya don' mind. That game kinda wore me out," Applejack replied.
"Oh! Right. Of course. Silly me," Twilight replied with an awkward giggle. "If you'll just follow me..."
"Ah was more tired before Ah got here," Apple Bloom commented as she stepped into what was assigned as her room for the evening. "Ah don' know if Ah'll be able ta get ta sleep now."
"Yeah, I know that feeling," Spike replied. "You wanna come back to my room and read comic books?" he asked, gesturing behind himself and out the door.
"Ah'm down," Apple Bloom agreed.
The pair quickly relocated, setting up and making themselves comfortable on the bed while Spike withdrew a cardboard box filled with comics from underneath. And with reading material secured, they settled into a companionable silence side by side, slowly becoming absorbed into their own respective worlds.
"Is it weird bein' around Twilight without 'er fur on?"
Or at least one of them did, as the other failed to get anywhere.
"Sometimes," Spike admitted, before turning the page. "But then again there are times it's weird to be around Twilight even with her fur on. Ya know?"
Apple Bloom snorted and nodded in response. There were definitely times that was the case.
"Honestly Ah don' know wha's weirder fer me right now. That both are sisters are completely bald, how casual they're bein' 'bout it, or the fact it's startin' ta seem like it's not all that weird."
Spike could do little more than shrug in response. "It's a new experience. You get used to it."
"Ah guess," Apple Bloom replied, before eventually returning to the pages of her comic book.
Something had disturbed Twilight's sleep. Although in her tired haze it was hard to figure out if she was truly awake or simply still dreaming at the moment. Had she even been asleep?
In the darkness of her room, something sounded and broke the silence. Something that sounded like a tapping at the bedroom door.
She yawned and awkwardly climbed out of bed, before casting a basic illumination spell, bathing the immediately area in a soft purple light; one that experience had taught her provided an adequate amount of light to see by, while simultaneously being easy enough on light-sensitive eyes in the middle of the night.
The tapping sounded once again, just before she reached the door and opened it to see who/what was on the other side. With the who turning out to be Applejack, wearing a look she could only describe as being one of embarrassment.
"Hey, Twi'," she greeted uneasily. "D-did Ah wake ya up?"
"Yes," Twilight replied simply, "but I know you wouldn't without a good reason. What's up? Besides us?"
"Ah can't sleep," Applejack admitted, her demeanor quite foalish as she stood there in the doorway. "Ah've been tryin' ta sleep fer an hour now, but it jus' feels like Ah'm laying in raw burlap. Every little move hurts an' itches at mah skin, an' Ah can't get comfy no matter what Ah do."
"Oh..." Twilight replied all too knowingly, immediately remembering her own experiences when she was free to be more open with her own bald experiences. There had definitely been discomfort involved during the early days, especially with certain fabrics over others.
"Yeah..." Applejack replied as she glanced more at the floor than anywhere else. "Sorry ta bug ya fer somethin' so stupid."
Twilight shook her head. "It's not stupid, Applejack, don't think like that. Believe me, I understand what you're talking about. I had the same experiences and... huh. I think I know what's wrong. And if I'm right then it's my fault."
"Whadda ya mean, Twi'?" Applejack asked, not really understanding what her friend was getting at.
"To put in simplest terms, a possible laundry snafu," Twilight replied and let out an annoyed sigh, more for herself than anyone else. "Back at the beginning, when I could more freely go nude around the palace, I learned the hard way that not all fabrics and bare skin go together comfortably. When you have a fur coat on you don't notice, but without that coat you do notice. Spike and I eventually solved that problem with the right mix of laundry detergents and fabric softeners. But even so, we didn't think to wash all of the bedding in every guest room of the palace. Without asking Spike, I don't know how many sets were treated."
"Oh," Applejack replied.
Now it was Twilight's turn to nod as she glanced toward the floor. "I'm sorry, Applejack. I obviously didn't think this through too well."
"Naw, naw, don' go feelin' like that Sugarcube, we all make mistakes. This didn' ruin the evening any, so don' start thinkin' like that," Applejack told her in a firm yet friendly voice.
"That's a servicable enough excuse at this hour, I suppose," Twilight replied, before giving a dismissive shrug. "Look, it's late, I'm tired, I'm sure you're tired, and there's a lot that needs to get sorted out, but it's way too late at night to do that right now. We both need to get some sleep, so... would you like to come in and we'll bunk together in my bed for the night? I've got two pillows on it for the sake of symmetry."
"Ah've got no objections. Wouldn' really be the first time somepony's had ta double up at a slumber party."
With that matter resolved the two made their way over to the bed, slipping in under the covers and getting themselves situated.
"Oh yeah, now that feels much better," Applejack stated, taking a few experimental rolls and rubs against the sheets to test things out, even grinding her back against the mattress to address an itch that'd been building.
"Do you think you'll be able to sleep now?" Twilight asked as she watched her friend's antics as she got herself comfortable on her half of the bed.
"Ah don' think Ah can not sleep, now that Ah'm not itchin' mahself jus' by breathin'. Right now yer bed's as comfy as the couch in the library was," Applejack stated.
"Alright," Twilight replied and smiled, before laying back down. With that matter adequately addressed, she could more easily rest tonight, without having to worry. There would be time for worrying tonight. "Goodnight Applejack."
"G'night Sugarcube."
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Sometimes that just happens. Take it from a fellow writer. The chapter was enjoyable anyway, so I'd say you did a good job with what you could.
For what it's worth, I'm just happy you did write it!
Just some minor edits I noticed, the red word should be a mite. And the yellow word, according to my spell checker, needs a comma after it.
And for what it's worth these edits are made only with the best of intentions. and as the others have said, I'm just glad you're back. Keep up the good work.
10485549
I'll second that sentiment.
Saw this today and immediately thought of this story.
derpicdn.net/img/view/2021/1/23/2535888.png