The Mane Melody Attraction
Ever since the grand opening, Pipp's beauty salon had been well-visited nearly every day. There was some scepticism at first, so soon after unicorns and pegasi had begun to live in Maretime Bay, but between her skill, her performances, and her bright personality, Pipp very quickly won over the townspeople.
Now, no chair was left empty for long and the princess found herself moving from one customer to the next, while Jazz and Rocky were doing the same, constantly checking in and wordlessly communicating to see if they had a chance to trade the styling tools for the microphone on the stage. Exhausting as it could be, it was also rewarding, and Pipp was genuinely excited about anypony who came into her salon.
Especially when "anypony" included her friends. Zipp had always been protective of her 'do and Hitch was either too busy or too self-conscious to make use of the free makeover offer she had extended him. But Sunny came in once every couple of days to see how business was going and get a once-over. And then there was Izzy.
"No." Pipp stomped her hoof, a quiet clack on the polished tiles. The unicorn froze mid-step, only just inside the door. The handle slipped from her magical grip and the door lightly fell against her flank instead of falling closed.
"No?" Her expression sank into a disappointed pout, in a way that made Pipp feel guilty for her tone immediately. She quickly tried to think of a way to backpaddle without just giving in.
"Izzy, you were only just in yesterday. And the day before and before that," she tried to explain, quickly trotting up to her friend and ushering her inside and to the side of the waiting area, so she wasn't blocking the way for other customers. "I told you on Monday I have to start charging you and--"
"Oh, that's okay, I started selling my unicycling projects! I got a whole five bits for--"
"And!" Pipp raised her voice just enough to cut Izzy off, prodding a hoof into her chest. Her tone softened again immediately. "I already worked through all the ideas I had with you. I gave you six different styles last week and already three more this week! And I'm really extra busy today."
Izzy glanced at the floor and self-consciously slid her hoof over the tiles. Pipp sighed and nudged her friend's foreleg.
"Your mane is going to get damaged if I keep washing and treating it every day. I'm supes stoked that you wanna hang out, but you don't gotta be my customer for that, okay?" She looked up at her unicorn friend, her only unicorn friend, and their eyes met for a long moment.
"Uh, boss, chairs're full!" Rocky's voice cut through the room and - suddenly reminded of all the work that needed doing - Pipp turned on her hooves.
"So sorry, Izzy, I gotta go! I'll see you back at the Brighthouse later, k? Love you!" she said hastily and quickly got back in the zone, trotting up to a customer patiently waiting in one of the chairs. She started doing small talk as she got to work and when she glanced back to the waiting area, Izzy was already gone.
"Izzy isn't back yet. I thought she was going to the salon today?"
The guilt hit Pipp's stomach again like a sack of stones. In retrospect, something had definitely been off. First she had left without a word, now she wasn't even back at the Brighthouse yet? She climbed onto her bed and sat on her haunches, her wings fidgeting a little as she tried to settle them to her sides comfortably.
"What's wrong? Did you have a fight or something?" Pipp looked over to her sister, in her own corner of the room. She was on her hooves again right away, starting to pace.
"Not really. I mean, I didn't mean for it to be. Oh, she seemed so off today and then I told her off and I didn't mean to sound harsh, but I was stressed." She stopped for a moment to take a breath. "I should have noticed that something was going on, there was definitely something wrong, I mean, who comes into a salon ten days in a row, with no emergencies?"
"Emergencies?" Zipp raised an eyebrow. "What kind of emergency requires a salon visit?"
"Fashion emergencies," Pipp asserted firmly, before continuing to pace. "But nothing looked out of place. I mean, she looked as stunning as ever, I was happy to work on her, but... ten days! Oh, something was definitely wrong." She gasped and extended her wings, leaping onto her sister's bed. "Zipp, am I a bad friend!? I am, aren't I!?"
Zipp waited a long moment as Pipp took deep breaths, staring at her, dreading the answer. Then, she extended a wing of her own to push Pipp to sit down.
"First of all, no you're not. But, maybe she was just really unsure about her mane?"
"No, no, she never said that anything was wrong. You know how she is, she'd be honest about that. And every day she asked for the same thing!"
"Uh-huh. And what would that be?"
"Surprise me," Pipp recalled, hearing her friend's voice echo in her mind, "If it's you, I'll love it."
"Oh really..." Zipp tapped her chin with a hoof, though Pipp barely took notice in her unrest, fidgeting with her hooves.
"Oh, but she was acting so strange this week. When we were talking, it was like she wasn't really listening. And she was watching me perform, but she wasn't dancing along like she usually does. Like she was somewhere else." She sighed and her head slumped against Zipp's shoulder.
"Well, if she wasn't really there for the makeover, and she wasn't there for the music..." Zipp tried to prompt, but all she got back was an uncooperative pout. "Then, the only reason she'd come would be...?"
Pipp's eyes moved, glancing about the room, like the answer was just written somewhere on the walls. "But we live together," she finally pointed out, motioning into the room with a hoof. "She can see me any time!"
"Well, I don't think any time will do in this case."
Pipp frowned, but before she could press her sister for details, the sound of the front door faintly echoed up from downstairs.
Izzy quietly trotted into the kitchen corner to set down the basket of groceries, quietly humming the same melody that had been stuck in her head since last Tuesday. No matter how much she heard it, it just wouldn't leave her. She would have sung it, had she any hope of getting close to the real thing.
"Izzy!" Pipp came gliding down the staircase halfway, then fell into a short gallop until she had caught up with her. Izzy's heart jumped, just a little, like it did every time.
"Oh, I'm sorry I was so dismissive earlier!" She didn't stop in front of her, nuzzling into Izzy's chest fur and staying there for a long moment. Izzy's heart skipped, like it had only been warming up until now.
"Oh, that, pffh!" She made a discarding hoof motion, trying her best to seem casual. "You were totally right, I've been kind of a mane-iac recently!"
Pipp took a step back and gave her a once-over. She shifted in place, feeling the pegasus' eyes sizing her up. Her mane was still a bit less curly than usual, from when Pipp had straightened it that Monday. Otherwise, it just cascaded over her withers like it always used to.
"You didn't like it?" Pipp asked gently, the disappointment now clear in her voice, as much as she tried to hide it.
"No, no, I loved it! Really, everything you did with it, it's just..." She shifted on her front hooves, her head tilting as she desperately tried to find the right words. "It wasn't really... about that. I guess I just wanted to try some things."
That didn't seem to be a satisfying answer, but Pipp seemed less down about it, at least. A long, uncomfortable silence passed, before Pipp took a small step closer again.
"Are you okay?" she asked quietly, gently putting her hoof on Izzy's chest. She prayed to nothing in particular that she couldn't feel her heartbeat.
"I-I'm fine, totally, nothing's wrong, I'm all... good..." The nervous chuckles stopped the moment she properly met Pipp's eyes. She didn't want to lie to her like this. But she definitely couldn't tell her the truth yet, either. She sighed quietly, then forced a small smile again.
"Look, nothing's really wrong. But I've been... figuring things out, I guess. Things I could never really think about that much in Bridlewood. And hanging at your place just seemed to... help." She winced a little at all the details she kept clenched in her throat.
"Aww, Izz! You know you can just come in whenever. I'll be thrilled to just have you around. You don't need to actually get work done every time."
Izzy's head swam with just the memory of Pipp's hooves in her mane, so gently pressing against her scalp as she washed it, her sweet voice so close to her ear. "Yeah... totally not."
"Okay! I'll make sure there's always a seat for you! And if you need any other help figuring things out, just let me know!" The princess puffed out her chest, her wings fluffing up slightly. The sight drew a small, honest giggle from Izzy and she gave in, stepping in and pulling her gently against her chest again.
"Okay, I will."
The minutes ticked away in relative darkness. Sunny was out cold from making deliveries and Pipp's soft snores drifted over from one corner of the room. From closer beside her, Izzy heard the ruffling of Zipp's covers.
"Figuring things out, huh?" she teased quietly.
"Please don't tell her."
"No, that's on you. Just don't wait too long. She's totally clueless."
Izzy snickered quietly. "Perfect, so we're both kinda bad at it."