Seeing as how he was going to be out in public again, Sprout made sure that his mane was neatly combed before stepping outside with Hitch before the two of them made their way towards downtown Maretime Bay.

"So just what kind of errands are these?" Sprout asked as he trotted alongside Hitch, still relieved that his mom was absolutely fine with the two of them dating.

"The kind that I keep to myself because I want to surprise you," Hitch replied with a smirk.

The pair continued down the main stretch of Main Street until they came to a business on the left corner.

"Mane Melody? What are we doing here?" Sprout asked.

"I guess you'll just have to find out, come on," Hitch chastised, nudging him as they came up to the front entrance.

Sprout had never been in Mane Melody before, one of the new businesses that had come into town after Reunification Day, this one with Sunny's friend Pipp Petals at the wheel. The pair of ponies stepped through the front door, and beheld what was essentially a beauty salon and karaoke bar mashed together into one building. The waiting area was against the front windows, salon chairs and stations were on both the left and right walls, and at the back, was a stage with large speakers and a microphone stand, currently unattended.

"Hello, and welcome to Mane Melody, my name is Rocky Riff. How can we spruce up your day?" a cream-coated pegasus stallion asked, coming up to them. His mane was a dark crimson, save for a much more fiery streak of bright red and yellow going up and back the left side of his head.

"We have an appointment. Couples Hooficure For Two?" Hitch answered.

Rocky grabbed his smartphone that had been tucked under one of his bright gold wings, and scrolled through the screen.

"Ah yes, right here. Please follow me, Mr. Trailblazer. Mr. Cloverleaf, Miss Jazz Hooves will be taking care of you," Rocky answered, before taking Hitch over to the first available salon chair.

"Right with me, Mr. Cloverleaf," an earth pony mare greeted.

"Hey there, Jazz. This is where you're working now?" Sprout asked the light turquoise mare.

Jazz nodded.

"I am, and honestly, I couldn't imagine a more perfect job," she told him, as she got him seated in the seat right next to Hitch, who was already laying back in a reclined position.

Right before she laid him back by reclining his seat, he saw Rocky take a picture of Hitch's cutie mark. That was all he saw before Jazz came up and placed a pair of cucumber slices over his eyes. He heard a camera shutter sound come from her phone as well, and he began to wonder what the pictures were for.

"So how's Pipp been?" Hitch asked.

"Extremely busy with a new project ever since she got back from visiting Queen Haven in Zephyr Heights. We've been pretty much running this place for the past two days. Not that we mind; we're both already in overtime as of today," Rocky told him.

"That's for sure," Jazz added. "And whatever she's working on, it'll be amazing, I know it. Whenever Pipp puts her content creation on hold for a couple days, what she comes out with afterward almost always shocks everypony, in a good way."

Sprout felt his leg rests get adjusted, before feeling a hoof file go across each of his hooves. He wasn't all that familiar with hooficures; he had let himself get dragged along to one of his mom's hooficures that he had gotten her for her birthday, but other than that, this was a somewhat unfamiliar experience for him. After the filing, came what felt like some sort of polish; Jazz was slow and attentive with each hoof, as both she and Rocky talked their respective clients up in some friendly group chit chat.

Finally, after what was likely a layer of protective coating, Sprout felt the cucumber slices get lifted away, and the back of his chair get lifted into the upright position.

"And all done, what do you think?" Jazz asked.

Sprout looked down at his hooves, and saw that they had been painted in a gold pattern, with cobalt-colored horseshoes and teal hearts. He did a double take and realized that it was patterned in Hitch's cutie mark. He then looked over and saw that Hitch's hooves had been painted purple with green sprouting leaves, and it finally dawned on him what the Couples' Hooficure For Two symbolized.

It meant that Hitch was not at all afraid or ashamed of being seen out in public together as an item, with the hooves showing that they were together. He smiled warmly over at him as they both got to their hooves, and Hitch went to pay at the front counter.

"Thank you very much for your patronage, and enjoy the rest of your day!" Jazz said, bidding them farewell.

"Thanks, Hitch," Sprout told him after they had stepped back out onto Main Street.

"Anytime, Sprout. But we're not done. I hope you're ready for one more surprise."

Author's Note