Pinkie Pie Dies Her Hair

by SparklingTwilight

So You'll Smile!

It was a difficult time for Ponyville and its premier party planning pony, Pinkie Pie.

Her husband, Cheese Sandwich, and most of the children were away, planning ultra-important festivities overseas in Zebrica while Pinkie Pie remained home. It was important to stay. But she had less time to plan parties than her prospering town required. Her days were accounted for and although she threw herself into power-party-planning during her nights, party planning didn't feel as good as it had, and *the argument* had underlined that point.

She needed to make a decision.

She blinked slowly, staring at the beauty salon window, with Gummy, her pet crocodile clamped on her back with claws (not jaws). Gummy mirrored Pinkie's blinks. Ponies went in, got their hair cut, or dyed, then went out smiling--a proven measure of satisfaction! In with hair problems, out with solutions!

Pinkie's hair reflected in the window: tangled, as usual, a candy cane stuck a few inches up from her left ear from when her eldest son stuck it a week ago before he left with Cheese Sandwich. A couple of pigeons pecked at it yesterday and their whitish-black waste was also jammed somewhere within her curly locks. This morning, she awoke to ants burrowing within! Biting ants, not the happy ones. She didn't want to get rid of her daughter's sweet-smelling candy cane, but it was too sugary. She had never left food tangled for so long (she, or her children, usually ate it within a day!). The food wasn't why she was at the salon, but its experts could solve *that* problem.

She was still in front of the salon when her pegasus friend, Rainbow Dash, buzzed past.

"Heya Pinkie Pie!"

"Hi Dashie!" She forced a smile.

"How's it going?"

"Just peachy!" She grinned wide.

"You goin' in?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Soon. I'm just thinking about what it might mean."

"You mean the--" Dash started.

"Die-ing my hair. I should do it."

"...what color were you thinking of?" Dash heard the homophone "dyeing" instead.

"I guess it'll be pink afterwards--whatever's left."

"But it's pink now."

"You mean it'll be a different color beneath everything!" Pinkie asked, suddenly excited. "Layers upon layers?"

"...Yeah, if you've been dyeing it awhile, colors can come off in layers, maybe. Probably. I don't care much about hair fashion." Rainbow Dash tossed her sparkling multicolored mane.

"Wow. I haven't died it before... what colors might show?" Pinkie, worked up, hopped in place. "Red, yellow, blue, green, orange, blue-green, lime-green, purple, violet, ebony, ivory, ROUGE!" She shivered, then straightened. "It could be 'Rouge', Rainbow Dash, do you know what this means?" She grabbed Rainbow Dash's shoulders and squished the pegasus' body down, adjacent to Pinkie's face.

"N...o?" Rainbow Dash squeaked.

"I could be a clown underneath! Poofy rainbow clown! I could look like *anything*."

"Yeah, rainbow... clown... hair." Rainbow frowned, possibly noting her own (thankfully non-poofy) rainbow-colored mane. "Dye your hair any color you want. You go girl." Rainbow Dash detached herself. "Should I fetch Rarity for some actually relevant fashion advice, or are you gonna be all right?" Rainbow Dash flapped her wings furiously as she moved up and out of Pinkie's reach.

"...sure. Sure!" Pinkie forced a smile, suddenly glum again as she was reminded why she had come to the salon.

"Great. I'll come by tonight to the place like we planned. Rarity'll come too... probably. And Applejack for sure. It'll be a party, just like you said."

"Thanks."

Dash saluted, then darted away.

Pinkie watched after her friend with wide eyes, and she smiled. Then she looked back at the salon and took a deep breath.

She went inside.

And tried.

Her hair--it died.

---

She emerged later, curly pink mane shorn. Gummy, her croc, got a mani-pedi-cure.

Underneath her popping pink mane, disappointingly, was a merely pink dome, colored the same as the rest of her body. Dash hadn't been right. But, pink was good. Pink was fun. Pink was beautiful. Just like the gray coloration that her sisters and parents bore. All colors could sparkle with joy.

She smiled and when paying let the hairdresser know that her shorn hair could go to needy ponies who wanted a natural wig. Her donation would make other ponies smile.

Her hair wouldn't be poofy for a while now; it wouldn't be obvious at a distance that a party was permeating when she crested a ridge, but she could now more easily wear a wig or paint her head or don a hat--although that'd be defeating the main purpose, so she wouldn't explore those options yet. Tears welled in her eyes. There wouldn't have to be more *arguments*. She was doing this for an important purpose.

She trotted across town to the hospital and entered it, passing Nurse Redheart at the check-in desk. With a deep breath, she opened the final door and carefully approached the very important pony to visit--her daughter who lay in the bed, exhausted and bald from necessary treatments.

Pinkie Pie wanted to laugh and shout and encourage, but she'd frightened a mare into labor last time and it was quiet hours. But her daughter glimpsed her mother's smile and sat up to speak.

"Mommy?"

"It's me, brilliant one," Pinkie smiled.

"You're--You're--"

"Like you." Pinkie placed a hoof on her daughter's shorn head.

Her daughter smiled.

"See! I was telling the truth. And I'm still pretty too, like you now." Pinkie raised another hoof to her missing mane, then lowered it against her bare head.

"You didn't have to do that, mommy."

"I wanted to."

"I... I'm sorry mommy." Her daughter hid her face under the hospital sheet covers. "I didn't--I'm sorry about the candy cane... I'm too sensitive for the wigs. I shouldn't have--"

"Hush."

"You were so proud of your curls... I loved mine too."

"Your head is beautiful how it is, my dear. And now--we match!"

Pinkie kissed her daughter's forehead. And her daughter's face emerged from the sheets. She reached up to her mother and hugged her neck.

Author's Note:

- In case this is new information to you, places take hair donations for cancer patients.

- St. Jude Children's Research Center focuses on cancer research and treatment, as do other places like The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and I am sure many of you have your own favorite charities.

- In case you missed it above: "Permeating"... "Perm".

- In the Thousand Words contest, my other entries are viewable at this link.

Comments

[silverMEGAlicorn]

That was a truly unexpected ending. I’m now wrought with so many emotions that conflict one another. Poor Lil Cheese and what a wonderful mother Pinkie’s become

[peanutcream]

Wow.

[FanOfMostEverything]

Well. This took a turn. I feel like this puts too much focus where it doesn't need it. The Dash/Pinkie exchange feels off and distracts from the intended mood, and the lengthy description of the state of Pinkie's mane is more disgusting than anything.

All told, this is suffering from the word limit; it has to try to manage the mood shifts in very few words, and as a result doesn't quite make them work. Good idea, but cramped execution. Still, thank you for it and best of luck in the judging.

[SparklingTwilight]

11265914
Thank you for reading. I disagree with those comments; however, I appreciate you took the time to explain and they did inspire me to consider a different alteration in one paragraph. When I am permitted to edit this (after the contest results are delivered) I will make an adjustment related to the lollypop "mane" paragraph, which is already inherently tied into the story's conclusion on multiple levels. Since the contest is still being judged, I will refrain from elaborating until later although I certainly would prefer to be able to tie things up sooner.

Also, here is the mane picture that inspired that section, lollypop and all--> HERE.

[Bicyclette]

It was a difficult time for Ponyville and its premier party planning pony, Pinkie Pie.

so many "P"s!

Her days were accounted for and although she threw herself into power-party-planning during her nights, party planning didn't feel as good as it had, and *the argument* had underlined that point.

ooh, foreshadowing!

She blinked slowly, staring at the beauty salon window, with Gummy, her pet lizard clamped on her back.

aww, glad to see Gummy still around after all these years

Pinkie's hair reflected in the window: tangled, as usual, a candy cane stuck a few inches up from her left ear from when her eldest son stuck it a week ago before he left with Cheese Sandwich.

aww, so that explains her very unique manestyle in the flash-forward!

A couple of pigeons pecked at it yesterday and their whitish-black waste was also jammed somewhere within her curly locks. This morning, she awoke to ants burrowing within! Biting ants, not the happy ones.

and oof, such a vivid description of the unfortunate consequences of such mane

"Die-ing my hair. I should do it."

"...what color were you thinking of?" Dash heard the homophone "dyeing" instead.

dang, Dash is just so #relatable in every story i am reading!

"...Yeah, if you've been dyeing it awhile, colors can come off in layers, maybe. Probably. I don't care much about hair fashion." Rainbow Dash tossed her sparkling multicolored mane.

gotta say, Rainbow is pretty privileged to have a mane that just looks like that. and yes, i am very jealous

"Should I fetch Rarity for some actually relevant fashion advice, or are you gonna be all right?" Rainbow Dash flapped her wings furiously as she moved up and out of Pinkie's reach.

aww, yeah, i'd be worried for Pinkie too!

She went inside.

And tried.

Her hair--it died.

poetry, love it

Underneath her popping pink mane, disappointingly, was a merely pink dome, colored the same as the rest of her body. Dash hadn't been right.

aww! and yeah, since their bodies are covered in hair, would shaving their manes off expose a different coat underneath? it is confusing and i guess that is why Pinkie was confused by what Rainbow said!

But, pink was good. Pink was fun. Pink was beautiful. Just like the gray coloration that her sisters and parents bore. All colors could sparkle with joy.

augh, love this!

Tears welled in her eyes. There wouldn't have to be more *arguments*. She was doing this for an important purpose.

oof, that word again! perfectly timed in the emotional arc, augh

With a deep breath, she opened the final door and carefully approached the very important pony to visit--her daughter who lay in the bed, exhausted and bald from necessary treatments.

aaaaaa

"Hush."

"You were so proud of your curls... I loved mine too."

"Your head is beautiful how it is, my dear. And now--we match!"

augh, my heartstrings!

i really loved this, wow. augh.

Pinkie is older now, as are all the ponies around her, but she is still very much in a lot of ways unchanged from her younger self, and that's causing problems. it's very easy to imagine the *the argument* arising from this contradiction between the carefree, insensitive, easily-distracted Pinkie of her youth and her more adult responsibilities and roles of the present, and with the reveal the pieces do finally come together. what Pinkie needs to be for her daughter is different from anything that she has faced before.

in that way, the way the story's focus shifted so much between unrelated topics before becoming crystal-sharp and clear in the final reveal scene, just worked excellently. that is a reflection of Pinkie's internal journey of struggling with her Pinkie tendencies before coming together right when everything matters. agh, so great!

and the way the on-the-surface silly title and line of inspiration is turned into something with such weight, just a brilliant inversion of the intention of various lines within contest descriptions as always! excellent stuff here.

[BirdsBooksBrownies]

(sudden thought bubble)
What if a Pony Cancer patient had to shave ALL of their hair off...

no disrespect intended.

[Walabio]

We have been giving BoneMarrowTransplants to patients whose BoneMarrow died from ChemoTherapy or RadiationTherapy for cancer 3 generations and wondering why they how enough StemCells in critical categories, such as for the walls of BloodVessels or the lining of the intestines, survived for allowing them to live. Recently, a male recipient regained fertility after extreme ChemoTherapy and a BoneMarrowTransplant. The resulting offspring were the children of the donor. All of this time, some StemCells from the BoneMarrow changed type to other types of StemCells. If the donor is female, and the recipient is male, because females only have X-Chromosomes, all of the offspring of the recipient must be daughters.