A Shoe Problem

Chapters

Chapter 1: The Store
Chapter 2: The Shoes
Chapter 4: The Encore
Chapter 5: The Performance
Chapter 6: The Long Wait
Chapter 7: The Night Chase
Chapter 8: The Visitor
Chapter 9: The Last Performance
Chapter 3: The Dilemma

Chapter 1: The Store

"So there's definitely been a lot of dead plants left behind now that earth ponies have magic again," Pipp mentioned, pulling out her phone from underneath her wing. The pegasus held it out in front of her with one hoof and used the other to take a picture with an audible snap.

Sunny, who was walking beside Pipp on the sidewalk, looked in the direction that the phone was being taken and saw the image that her friend was referring to. Littering the cobblestone streets of downtown Maretime Bay, there stood nearly a dozen dead or dying wilting plants of various shapes and sizes --- all of which were either sickly green or ashy black. Further ahead, Sunny could see more plants on the distance roads leading out of downtown, some of which were drooping while others were still in full health.

The sight before the earth pony made her shrink in embarrassment. "Yeesh. I understand that every earth pony here is glad they can do magic like the others, but it would be nice if they could clean up after themselves."

Pipp moved her phone to the side and took another picture. "Yep. Well, if Hitch will be on it, he'll probably fine anypony that does it again."

"I'd rather he didn't do that. I think a healthy, though effective, lecture will be enough to convince them. I can't really blame them for being excited to use magic. I'm sure that even the unicorns and pegasi are going a bit crazy with their own."

"Yeah, well around two phone calls ago with mom told me that she just passed a law that outlawed, like, racing at night because of how it disrupted a lot of ponies' beauty sleep --- including her's."

Sunny giggled. "Well, as the queen it makes since that she gets a good night's rest before a busy day. So what are you going to do about those pictures?"

Pipp placed her phone back underneath her wing. "Those? I'm just thinking about using them for a blog I plan on posting about how the earth ponies are adapting to magic."

"Heh, heh. I don't mean to be biased, but maybe you could leave that bit out? It might paint everypony in Maretime Bay in a bad light."

Pipp gave an unamused scowl. "Well, I would only talk about it for like a paragraph or two. I don't want to make it the main focus, after all."

Sunny could not help but give a pleading smile. "You could at least think about leaving it out, for me and Hitch?"

The pegasus placed a hoof under her chin, obviously musing over the suggestion in her head. "I... guess I could do that. Maybe I could just mention in one tiny sentence that the earth ponies went a little bit over the top with how---"

A loud gasp emitted from Pipp's mouth like a siren, almost causing Sunny to jump into the street.

"Oh, my HOOFNESS!"

Like a magnet, Pipp's face became instantly glued to the window that the duo came up next to. Sunny, curious, regained her composure and went up to the window to look inside. The background behind the glass barrier revealed very little to her, given that the sun was beaming down on her backside and obstructing a clear image, but from what she could see there were cabinets and shelves holding unknown amounts of objects.

"SUNNY! LOOK AT THESE!"

The earth pony looked in the direction that her floating friend was staring at. With a quick glance, Sunny saw Pipp with sparkles in her green eyes and a beaming smile across her face, before returning to the window.

On the other side was a simple, clothed wooden table that held a variety of items, each with a name tag that included their prices.

Las Pegasus Casino Plates: 20 bits

Constellation Binoculars: 30 bits

Bee Repellent Whistle: 25 bits

Snow-melting Snowboots: 40 bits

"What exactly am I supposed to look at?" Sunny asked.

With her only warning being an annoyed sigh, Pipp grasped hold of Sunny's neck with her left foreleg and brought her friend's cheek in contact with her own.

"These, Sunny."

With her field of view now limited, Sunny know knew what Pipp was referring to.

Before both of them were two pairs of feminine dress shoes laid out on the table. The shoes were mostly red on the outside, with the tips having been dipped with the light color of pink. Each shoe had a white bow tie in the center, while the sides each had elegant golden spirals etched. The interiors of the shoes were a vanilla cream color, and though neither mare could read it, a symbol --- likely the name or logo of the manufacturer --- was inscribed in each shoe.

Enchanted Dancing Shoes: 40 bits

"Shoes? But, Pipp, don't you have plenty of them?"

"No. I'm more into hoof polish and hoofiecures. I've only had to wear shoes for special royal occasions, and I left all of them home before I came here."

Able to get free of Pipp's grasp, Sunny walked away from the window and went to the front door of the building. Plastered on the glass of the door was supposedly the name of the shop.

"Enchanted Antiques," Sunny readout.

"Is that the name of the store?" Pipp asked. By now, the pegasus was able to pry her eyes off the shoes.

"Yep, and by the name of it the store sells antique items --- meaning that most of the stuff inside is old. So I don't really know why you would be into those shoes."

The news did little to sour Pipp's mood. "I don't mind taking a few hand-me-downs," she said dismissively. "I mean, if Izzy can do her unicycling with all that trash that nopony wants, maybe I can do something with all this old stuff."

Sunny was not prepared for Pipp's optimism. "Really?"

Pipp nodded. "Sure. I've heard that it's hip for young ponies to have like appreciation for old culture and stuff. I'm sure that the Pippsqueaks won't mind me showing these off as long as there's a positive message at the end."

With her mind set up, Pipp walked past Sunny and opened the door --- greeted by the sound of a ringing bell. Though a little hesitant, Sunny soon followed in after her before the door could completely close.

The interior of the antique store reminded Sunny of an old library that had gone without renovation for ages. Though there was a huge lack of dust sitting or floating around, and an absence of spider-filled cobwebs as well, the atmosphere of the environment gave off a sense that things here have remained undisturbed for quite some time.

As an antique shop, its shelves, glass cases, and cabinets held miscellaneous items of various shapes and sizes. There were too many for Sunny to count, but the items that stuck out to her the most were a jaded tea set, a bicycle suspended in the air, a stack of comic books, and a water painting of a boat sailing off into the morning sea. Attached to each item was a tag with a description and a price.

Excitement Sparkle Tea Set: 45 bits

Leviating Bicycle: 60 bits

Enchanted Comic Books: 10 bits a piece

Weather-Based Painting: 20 bits

A rustling sound made Sunny turn her head to the left, where she saw a pony emerging from a curtain suspended in between a door behind a display counter. The pony was a light blue pegasus mare with a brown coat around her body. Her ponytail mane was the most noticeable feature about her, as it held a mishmash of colors.

The mare noticed the two newcomers and greeted them with a small smile.

"Hello, there!" she greeted the two.

Happy to see a friendly face in the store, Sunny welcomed the mare with a similar greeting.

"Well, hello there, too! Is this your shop?"

The mare nodded. "It sure is. Just moved down from Zephyr Heights a month ago. Business wasn't going so good up there, so I figured I try my luck here."

Sunny tilted her head. "Huh. I had a feeling this place seemed new. I've been around nearly every part of Maretime Bay, so I can tell when something is new or out of place."

"Well, I hope you're at least interested in what I have to offer," the mare said.

The earth pony's eyes wandered a bit more throughout the store. "I've definitely been looking, Miss...?"

"Rainbow. You can just call me Rainbow. No need to be formal."

The mare walked out through a small door connected to the counter and came right in front of Sunny. The earth pony was stunned at the sight of the other mare. From the counter, Sunny assumed that Rainbow was around the size of an average mare, but with the pegasus up close Sunny could see how lean and tall she truly was. She must have been at least a few inches taller than the earth pony.

Sunny examined Rainbow from head to hoof, and took notice of the high heels on her hindhooves. The earth pony was sure that even if she took them off, she would possess her incredible height.

Rainbow's tail held the same colors in her mane, but was arranged in a more stylized or elegant curly fashion. Her brown coat was a bit beaten down, as if it had been through its own hardships. Last of all was Rainbow's eyes, which were a nice crimson shade, had long lashes, and were painted in dark purple eyeshadow.

Sunny was definitely intrigued by the mare's appearance, but she quickly reminded herself that staring for so long was probably not the politest thing to do, even if Rainbow was eyeing her, too.

"So...," Sunny said, slowly drawing out her words. "Did you collect all of these antiques yourself, ... or did you inherit the store?"

Still staring down at her, Rainbow chuckled. "It's a little bit of both. I opened up the store on my own, but all of the stuff here is from my great-grandmother."

"Your great-grandmother?"

Rainbow nodded proudly. "Yep. All of this is hers. After she passed away, she gave it over to the family in her will. Grandma wanted to throw most of it away --- I still don't get why --- but I was able to convince her to let me take the bulk of it. I saw a lot of potential with them."

"What kind of potential?"

"Well, if you've been reading the tags, and even noticed the sign at the door, there's a gimmick to all of these antiques. For example..." Rainbow went over to a shelf and picked up an item. When she brought it over to Sunny, she revealed it to be a yellow toy duck with a screw on its back. "This is a toy duck that, when you wind it up, is supposed to tell you what your blood pressure is like and what might be causing it to act up."

Sunny leaned down to further examine it, without being able to hide the curiosity in her eyes. "Does it really work?"

Rainbow's smile lessened a bit. "Not really. It's used to do that, but ever since magic disappeared long ago, whatever properties they used to have just vanished."

"Well, magic is back now," Sunny stated. "So maybe all of this will start working again."

The store owner's smile returned. "Now that you mentioned it, magic has returned in a way. After those crystals were found, and unicorns and pegasi got their horns and wings working, I was curious enough to see if any of this stuff would do what it was meant to do. Though I'm not certain, I do think that the 'Feather-Flu Detector' and 'Giggle-Powered Flashlight' might still have enough magic to work."

Sunny's ears perked up. "Really? Could I see them?" she said, barely able to contain the intrigue in her voice.

"I guess, but like I said, most of this stuff is obsolete. But, hey, I figure that formerly enchanted antiques are better to sell than just regular antiques. Ponies usually have an inkling for magic, especially before the crystals brought it back to Equestria."

"Where exactly did your great-grandmother get all of this?" Sunny asked.

Rainbow tapped a hoof under her chin. "From what my grandma told me, some things she got from a few places spread out throughout Old Equestria. But for the most part, it all came from Canterlot. That's where she used to live, I think."

A high-pitched gasp shamelessly escaped from the earth pony's mouth. "Canterlot?!?" Sunny exclaimed. The curiosity in her eyes turned into sparks of wonder. "The capital of Old Equestria?!? If that's the case, then I'll definitely---"

"Excuse me?"

Without warning, Pipp zoomed right next to Sunny, holding one of the red dancing shoes in her hoof. "I've been fawning over these shoes for, like, ages now," she said with a beaming smile. "I just spent the past five minutes taking pictures of them at every angle that I could because they are soooo adorable, in like an old-fashioned, doll-house way. You don't mind if I take these off your hooves, do you?"

Though Sunny shot her friend an annoyed glance, the store owner brought a hoof up to her gasped mouth.

"Princess Pipp! I am so sorry that I didn't notice you before," Rainbow apologized, giving the smaller pegasus a small curtsy. "I was too busy with your friend at the moment. I would be honored if you bought something from my store."

Pipp's smile grew even larger. "And it would be my honor to help you out. I just have a quick question, if you don't mind."

"Of course, my princess."

The pegasus examined the shoe, hanging it by its bow. "Are these really enchanted? I'm not accusing you of lying, but I've never seen anything really magical before besides from the crystals."

"Well, as I was telling your friend, all of these antiques used to be enchanted, but when magic disappeared they stopped working. Some of these may have a little bit of magic left, but that remains to be seen. As for these..." Rainbow leaned in further to examine her merchandise. "If I can remember correctly from my great-grandmother's notes, these shoes improve the dancing abilities of whoever wears them. I tried them on a few times, but I never really felt a spark with them."

"So, they're just regular dancing shoes?"

The taller pegasus nodded. "Yes, my princess. I am sorry to disappoint you. If you've changed your mind, I completely understand."

With a skeptical glare, Pipp gave the shoe another look. For a while, she simply stared at it with the intensity of a bookworm intrigued with a piece of literature. Both Sunny and Rainbow looked at the princess with concern as the seconds ticked away, and for a moment it seemed like Pipp would reject the item.

"It's.... no big deal!" she finished with a smile. "I'm sure with the right dress on, these shoes will be a perfect match for me!"

Relief washed over Rainbow's face. "That's excellent! I had a feeling you were still fond of them. Would you like those in a box?"

"Absolutely!" Giving the shoe to the store owner, Pipp reached inside one of her wings with her free hoof and pulled out a bag of bits. Rainbow, in the meanwhile, went over to collect the remaining shoes near the window, and then headed back to the counter. Pipp, along with Sunny, went over to the counter and paid the appropriate amount of bits. In return, Rainbow handed the princess a brown shoebox placed inside a shopping bag.

"I hope you enjoy them!" Rainbow said.

"I'm sure that I will," Pipp replied. "And if you're ever on the Canternet, be sure to watch out for a new video I'll be posting soon. It'll be a dance routine with these lovely shoes." The pink pegasus looked at Sunny. "Are you coming back with me to the brighthouse? I want you to be there when I try these out."

Sunny was hesitant to give a straight answer right away, and looked back at Rainbow. "You wouldn't happen to be opened tomorrow, would you?"

"Sorry," Rainbow answered. "But the store is closed for the weekend. I'll be out of town to do some traveling, and I won't be opening the shop again until Monday."

The disappointment was evident on the earth pony's face. "Oh. Sorry, Pipp. I really want to take my time seeing what I can buy before she closes. I don't want to miss out on buying something awesome, especially if somepony else gets it before I do. You don't mind, do you?"

Pipp gave her friend a reassuring smile and nudge. "It's alright, girl. Take your time. I'm sure Izzy or Zipp will be there to see me do my magic."

With a hoof placed underneath the handles of her bag, Pipp floated off the floor and headed over to the door, activating the bell. When the door closed and rang again, Sunny around and examined the items of the store again, this time with much more enthusiasm for learning as much as she could about them.

"My dad would have loved this place," she said with wonder in her voice. "Can we look at those two things you mentioned?"

"Sure," Rainbow affirmed, unable to keep her proud smile in check. "I had a feeling you were a history-buff pony."

Chapter 2: The Shoes

"How does the angle look?" Pipp asked.

Izzy looked at the screen on Pipp's phone, which displayed the pegasus standing at the foot of her own bed. Despite most of the clutter having been removed earlier on, the unicorn felt an urge to make a comment.

"It... looks good," she said, "but I think the mirror is in the way a bit."

With a quick float, Pipp went over to the tripod and stood next to Izzy. Looking at the screen herself, Pipp saw what her friend was referring to. A mirror on the left side of her bed was showing, and in its reflection, one could clearly see the two ponies next to the tripod. Luckily, the issue could be easily fixed.

"Oh, it's no problem," Pipp said with an unbothered smile. "Just have to tweak this a bit."

Using two of her hooves, Pipp touched the clamps holding her phone in place and twisted them to the right by just a small amount. When the pegasus looked by at the screen, she saw that the problem was solved.

"There. Now it's perfect. Are you sure you don't want to stay and watch, Izzy? I'm gonna do a few takes before I release the official video."

The unicorn shook her head. "Sorry, Pipp. But I have to finish up with some crafts real quick. I need to turn them in tomorrow morning for a foal I'm helping." Izzy went out of the room and headed downstairs. "But if I finish up real early, I'll try and come back!"

With her friend gone, Pipp went back over to her bed. Laying on the covers was the box where her antique dancing shoes were. She took the lid off the box and examined the red shoes surrounded by wrapping paper. They were just as beautiful and splendid as how she found them at that store not so long ago. And now that they were hers, she cherished them as she did with all her other possessions.

"Okay. Let's try you girls on," Pipp said with eagerness in her voice.

Hopping onto the edge of the bed, Pipp took a hold of one of the shoes and placed it on her right forehoof. She then used her right forehoof to put another shoe on her left forehoof. Finally, she used both of her forehooves to place the remaining shoes on her hindhooves.

When the final shoe was put on, Pipp felt something strange happen to her body. It was like a shock spread throughout her entire essence, and the ones affected most by the experience were her leg muscles, all of which suddenly tensed up for a brief second. However, when Pipp got off her bed and lifted her legs, one after another, she found nothing wrong with them.

"That was odd," she stated, before shrugging. "Must have been a little jolt from not doing much today."

With that concern set aside, Pipp went about working on her stretches, as it probably was not wise to start doing dramatic movements without warming up first. She was in a hurry to get her exercises done, though, so all that the princess accomplished was a bit of stationary jogging, some squats, and a few rotations of her joints. Working up a sweat was not a plan either, so it was best that Pipp did not focus on each set for too long.

"Alright, let's do this."

Pipp went over to her phone and clicked on the record button on the screen before returning in between the bed and the phone. The phone was already set to count down to ten before recording, so Pipp felt no rush to make it back to her original spot. She turned around to face the camera, waiting for the beep to sound off.

"Take one."

A second before the signal went off, Pipp immediately knew what to do. By sheer muscle memory, her mouth revealed a beaming white smile and her green eyes widen and twinkled like emeralds. It was all automatic, like a switch turning on in her mind, but Pipp did not see herself as a robotic prisoner to this trait. If anything, she was pleased to know that she knew how to present herself elegantly to a crowd --- whether it be in person or through a screen.

"Hey, there, Pippsqueaks!" Pipp greeted to the phone with a wave. "It's your favorite princess coming at you again from Maretime Bay with a special announcement." The succeeding words came to her head on the spot, yet she knew that once she reviewed the video that she would probably have to edit her sentences for the final piece.

"So, as you all know, a few videos ago I talked about wanting to give all of you a special little surprise. Now, it's not an actual present like you would get for a holiday or anything like that, but I promise you will all love it so much."

The pegasus backed away a bit more from the phone, hoping that her hooves were now on the screen. She proceed to talk again, making sure that she showed off each of her shoes to her imagined audience.

"As you all can see, I have these rather adorable things on. And before you ask, I'm sorry to say that there aren't any more of these things left for sale, but you can find all this other cool stuff at a shop here called Enchanted Antiques. The store sells..., well, antiques. Not just any antiques, but ones that used to have a wee bit magic in them, and it was there that I found these precious little shoes of mine. They're dancing shoes, and from what the owner told me, when they had magic they could help improve the dancing skills of the user.

"But back to my 'gift' --- it's a little something I've been planning for a while now. I'm pretty sure that many of you out there like to dance --- you know like gyrating and shaking that tail and all that. And while that's okay, I think it's time to bring back something more... old-fashioned. As fillies, my mom --- the queen --- had me and ZIpp do all of these ballet lessons so we can show off how elegant we were to those in court. While ZIpp is another story, I remember really enjoying those moments. But as time went on, and I had more princess duties to perform, those lessons sort of slipped away from my mind.

"Now, I know that ballet isn't exactly mainstream anymore, and it may be even a bit boring and stiff, but I think we should at least give the classics some appreciation. After all, dancing had to start somewhere small, and without the traditionals we might not have dancing at all! So, let's give a big hooray for tradition!"

The pegasus moved over to the right side of her bed, where a small pink stereo stood on a cabinet. The disc was already inside, all Pipp needed to do was press play. Clicking the button with the tip of her hoof, she raced back to the foot of her bed. In a near instant, the melodic sounds of flutes and piccolos resonated throughout the room.

"Alright, Pippsqueaks! It's time to dance!"

Though she knew that she was prepared, Pipp was taken by surprise at the sudden movements that her legs took on.

She took a quick skip to the right, then make two additional skips to the left. Next, Pipp spun around in a crouching motion before springing back up and spinning once more. She repeated this again two more times.

Without as much as a second thought, Pipp then stood on the tips of her hindlegs and pitter-pattered across the floor, with her forelegs forming a triangle above her head. After she was done pitter-pattering, she stretched out both forelegs and kicked out her right hindlegs behind herself, freezing in place.

The sudden movements definitely shook her up a bit, as evident by her wide eyes. Pipp could only assume that the ballet music activated a bit of muscle memory that she still had left in her. After all, the disc that was being played held the same songs that were used for her lessons long ago. But any concerns she had about her spontaneous movements were pushed aside once she realized that she needed to focus on the video.

Continuing on with the dance, Pipp brought her right hindleg in front of her and tapped the floor with the tip of her hoof. Each time she tapped the floor, she used her left hindleg to scoot herself forward. After several taps, she turned around and performed the same move in the opposite direction. Her forelegs were again on top of her head in a triangle formation.

So far, PIpp saw that everything was going smoothly. For a moment she was worried that the neglect of her dancing practices over the years would have gotten the better of her, but the pegasus felt as if she was in that very same ballroom years ago. Every move she performed was done so with such elegance and grace that she was surprised that she was able to move her legs without stumbling in any way.

If she could keep this up for the final video, she was sure that the Pippsqueaks would adore her dancing moves.

For over a minute, Pipp performed moves similar to the ones she started off with. Nothing too extravagant had to be done on her part, but mostly the pegasus had to stand on her hindlegs and stretch out her forelegs in various poses. But something was off to her. She knew that a change would occur, and that would likely be because of the music. It had been a while, but one thing that Pipp remembered was that her movements were mostly dependent on the tempo of the beat, and she had a feeling that would all change soon.

After that minute was over, a chorus of stringed instruments --- with Pipp guessing were mostly violins --- came from the stereo, but unlike the placid flutes and piccolos, these devices were played at a much faster pace. Pipp knew that they would come eventually, yet for her to encounter the change in tempo so soon made her worried --- even if this was a practice video.

But as she was wondering what moves she would take on to match the beat, the hooves began to do the work for her.

First, she twirled around in a circle rapidly before taking a small leap to the right, then she performed a similar twirl that ended in another leap to the left. Next, she jumped up in the air and landed with the right hindleg on the ground and the left hindleg pointed up into the air. Finally, she jumped up into the air again and landed with her hindlegs placed in opposite roles.

Throughout the entire minute, Pipp danced hastily and with excessive movements --- very much in contrast with the style she had performed earlier on. The pegasus was moving so fast and stretched out her legs so often that she was still amazed that she was able to do all this without having tripped even once. Most surprising of all was how her body was taking in all of this exercise, for not even a single ounce of her leg muscles felt worn out.

And as for Pipp's mind, it was doing quite well for itself. She assumed that she would have to keep track of her dancing and ensure that she performed the right moves for the camera, but her body seemed to know exactly what to do --- allowing her brain to simply cruise along for the ride without exerting much effort. If things continued on like this, Pipp was sure that she would have a good first draft video to build up on.

Once the minute of violins had passed, the music returned to the soft notes of flutes and piccolos, and in perfect synchronization, Pipp's dancing slowed back down. Like before, all the pegasus did were a few skips, twirls, and sliding. Though she still was left unexhausted, PIpp was glad that her moves were back to a normal pace, since things were getting intense halfway through the song, which she was sure would be over soon.

Around halfway through the third minute of the song, a familiar unicorn popped up into the room.

"Hey, Pipp," Izzy greeted. "I'm still working on my project, but I was wondering if you wanted to come with me to get dinner later. There's this restaurant in town that I've never been to before, but it looks really fancy, and I think that a fancy place would work out for you!"

Normally, Pipp would be annoyed at somepony interrupting her livestream practices. It was especially a pain when Zipp was the main culprit, with most of the time being whenever the elder sister felt like pulling a joke on her. But today was going good for Pipp so far, with her new shoes and her getting the dance routine right, so a little interruption was not a bother to her. Besides, the song was about to end in just a few seconds, and it would be nice to go out to eat before the week ended.

"Hold on, Izzy," the pegasus replied. "I just have to finish with this song real quick and then I'll be down with you."

WIth a calm shrug, the unicorn returned downstairs, leaving her friend to her own affairs. Within ten seconds, the noise of wind instruments left the air and was replaced by silence.

Once the music ended, Pipp let out a sigh of relief. For now, all that she was looking forward to was a break. Once she came back from the restaurant with Izzy, she was going to look over the video to see what kind of adjustment she would need to make for the next video or videos. Then she would practice one more take before going to bed. All she had to do next was take off her shoes.

"All right then, girls. I'm gonna put you back in the box until..."

Pipp had tried to sit down back on the bed, but instead of having her rear placed on a soft mattress, she stayed where she was, continuing to dance.

"What the..."

Looking at her forelegs, the pegasus tried to get them to stay still so that she can use her forehooves to take off her shoes, but those legs were doing their own routine. When she looked down at her hindlegs, she tried to summon enough willpower to get them to stop dancing, but like with her forelegs a strong force kept her from gaining control over her appendages.

Panic began to overtake Pipp, tossing out the peace that was once in her mind so that it could make a new home for itself. Her eyes darted back and forth between both pairs of legs, legs that were moving with such fluidness and grace. Normally, a pony would be pleased to see that they could dance so smoothly, and for a while, Pipp was that pony. But now the sight of her legs terrified her as one would be afraid of seeing a family of spiders underneath her bed.

"IZZY! IZZY!"

WIthout a moment's pause, the thumping of hoofsteps could be heard coming from downstairs, and eventually the unicorn herself popped into the room. Izzy looked at her friend with a face that anticipated a horror scene, but once she saw the pegasus simply dancing without any harm done to her, her expression turned into one of confusion.

"Pipp? What's the matter?"

Immediately, the stereo played a song that started off strong with a band of stringed instruments, and the smooth dancing that Pipp was going through transformed into a collection of fast movements. The first thing Pipp did was move on her tiphooves very rapidly before in both directions before spinning around three times in succession. Next, Pipp brought her forelegs down to connect with her raised right hindleg, causing her to crunch her abdomen. Finally, she lept to the side before performing the same act again from the beginning.

All while she did this, Pipp looked at Izzy with a scared look.

"Help me stop dancing!"

Author's Note

Hope you liked reading this! I'm sorry if the dance descriptions weren't that detailed. It's my first time writing a dance scene.

Don't forgot to let me know your thoughts if you have any!

Chapter 4: The Encore

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 5: The Performance

"Okay. This is not good," Zipp said.

Startled, Sunny put a hoof over her mouth to muffle her gasp. "Oh no! How long has she been there?"

"Beats me," Izzy chimed in. "But it looks like she has quite an audience."

The three mares stood amongst other ponies within a semi-circle that formed on the street that led outside of town. Within the crowd was a very familiar pink pegasus mare who was dancing without the aid of any instruments or overall music. The moves she performed were very athletic, seen by the ponies surrounding her as more like exercises than regular dancing. In one motion, ZIpp, Sunny, and Izzy saw Pipp jog in place for a few seconds and then stand up on her hindlegs to swing one of them in front of her in turn. And on her hooves, the trio spotted two pairs of red shoes.

"SOMEPONY HELP!" Pipp cried out, tears running down her face. "DON'T JUST STAND THERE!"

"We already tried to help!" a stallion said to her, nursing a large lump on his head. "But you keep knocking us back!"

"Pipp!" ZIpp shouted. She, Sunny, and Izzy went deeper into the semi-circle to meet up with her sister, but the sight of Pipp's loved ones did nothing to ease her hardship. "What happened?!? Why are the shoes back on?!?"

"I don't know!" Pipp whined. "I was just trying to get a bit of shut-eye before my hooficure when all of a sudden these things crept up on me."

"What do you mean they crept up on you?" Sunny asked.

"I don't know! They just did, Sunny! I, like, threw them in the ocean far from home. There's no way they should have made it back to land. These shoes are super cursed!"

"Cursed shoes?" Zipp muttered to herself, digging out her phone from underneath her wing. "Note to self: some magical items seem to have a certain degree of sapience. This could also include the Unity---"

"ZIPP!" her sister snapped. "This isn't the time to be a detective right now, unless your detective skills can help me get out of this mess!"

"I don't understand," Sunny said. "How did you make it this far without having danced at Mane Melody?"

"The studio next door started playing jazzercise music when I went by, and I guess the shoes must have picked up on the sounds. That's how I ended up here."

"What should we do?" Izzy asked.

"Argue about something!" Pipp pleaded. "Like the day before. That got the magic to stop working for a bit, maybe the same thing will happen if you guys argue again."

"Well, what you do we argue about?" Izzy asked again.

"ANYTHING! Talk about something that bothers you but that you've kept to yourself because you didn't want to hurt that other pony!"

An awkward silence passed by as the three mares before Pipp did not know what to proceed with for a while. Much of that time was spent fumbling their hooves on the ground or looking up into the air --- all in an effort to ignore the princess' dancing.

"Um..., hey, Izzy," ZIpp said. "I really don't appreciate how you leave your art supplies around the house from time to time. It's kind of a house hazard."

"Oh, I'm sorry," the unicorn apologized sincerely. "I just get so lost in my artistic brain that I forget to put stuff back. I don't blame you for being upset."

"No, Izzy, you're supposed to argue with me. You know --- defend yourself?"

Izzy's eyes widen. "Oh! Right!" She cleared up her throat. "Well, buddy, if you don't like how I arrange my crafts and whatnot then maybe you should find a new place to live!"

Zipp seemed unconvinced. "That... felt off. Are you really angry with me, or are you just saying that because I told you to?"

The unicorn crossed her brows at the pegasus. "The latter!"

"Well, then you and I don't have much to argue about."

"Well, Zipp," Sunny butted in, "I still have some trouble with you."

"You do?"

"Yep. And it has all to do with your mane!"

"My mane?"

"Your style isn't a good look for you! I've been thinking for some time that it would look much better if you grew it out a bit more. You know, like Izzy's."

The white pegasus glared at Sunny as if to retort, but soon the frustration went away as quickly as it appeared. "Eh. I'm not feeling it."

"What do you mean?"

"It's not your fault, Sunny. It's just that I've been given so much grief by my mom about my hair that I've kind of grown a thick skin about how it looks. I genuinely can't get mad at you about something I've just accepted will be a problem."

Let down, Sunny's ears dropped. "Oh. Well, I can't think of anything else to criticize."

"UGH!" Pipp finally yelled. "Just go to Zephyr Heights and find Rainbow from the antique shop!"

"How are we supposed to find her?" Zipp asked. "We don't even know her last name! There could be a bunch of Rainbows in the city!"

The dancing was beginning to take a toll on Pipp, as she struggled to catch her breath. "Mom should know! She should have, like, an address book or something at the palace. Just ask her for something like that and find out which Rainbow is our's!"

"And if we can't find her in the city?" Sunny asked.

"Then ask her friends, her family --- just anypony that knows her and where she could be!" Pipp replied impatiently. "Please, just try to find her so she can fix this!"

"I guess the sooner we leave the better," Zipp said before turning to Izzy. "Izzy, can you keep an eye on Pipp in case something changes? Me and Sunny are going to take a little trip."

"Aye, aye!" the unicorn affirmed with a salute.

"You ready, Sunny?" the older pegasus asked.

The earth pony nodded. "Yeah, just let me concentrate for a bit."

With closed eyes, Sunny breathed in and out in a way that resembled simple meditation. As she slowly inhaled and expelled air from her lungs, a golden glow radiated from her body as if she had turned into the sun. Soon enough, a pair of translucent, golden wings sprouted from Sunny's back, along with a similar translucent horn on her forehead.

The sight of the alicorn drew out "ooo's!' and "aah's!" from the crowd in the semi-circle as if they were foals witnessing the presents under a Hearth's Warming tree for the first time. Immediately, several ponies began to draw out their phones and take pictures of Sunny, with some of the spectators murmuring words such as "alicorn" and "princess".

"We'll be back as soon as we can, Pipp," Sunny assured her friend with a calm look. "Just hang on tight. Izzy won't leave your side."

Sunny and Zipp flew into the air, growing smaller and smaller in the distance as they faded into the cloudy sky. With the two ponies gone, Izzy went closer to the dancing pegasus.

"So...," Izzy started. "Is there anything you want to eat? It might be a bit messy with you moving around, but I'm sure I can try to put the food in your mouth. I don't mind a challenge!"

Pipp gave a mix of a sigh and a pant. "I guess. Maybe something from the Golden Horseshoe would do. It's not far from here."

Izzy's smile grew wider as she turned around. "I know where that is! Just hang tight --- even though you don't have a choice!"

Fours hours. Four long hours had passed since Sunny and Zipp went away to Zephyr Heights, and within those four long hours, Pipp continued with her jazzercise routine.

And for the young princess, the task was laborious and unforgiving.

Sweat perspiring from her forehead and pits dropped down to the cobblestone ground, and the muscles and bones that involuntarily guided her legs had begun to wear out from constant use. And like with the day before, her hooves had become painfully numb with each pressed against the ground. The movements that hurt the most were ones were she had to swing her hindlegs and jump up.

As expected of somepony under constant grind, the toll that Pipp took was evident upon her sullen face. When she started to dance this clear morning her eyes --- she suspected --- must have been full of panic and uncertainty for her future. But now, those very same eyes were dead of any passion or emotion. Like a marionette doll, Pipp was helpless against the strings pulled on her by her shoes. So, knowing best, she did not even try to put on a fight.

As time went on and the sky got cloudier, the crowd surrounding Pipp diminished, but for every audience member that left another passerby took their place, intrigued by the sight of a pony dancing in the streets. Those with phones recorded the incident, ignoring or left unaware of Pipp's dolor, and ponies who had not been there earlier to hear her pleas were left rather amused at the sight before them. But the laughs and smiles did little to raise up the pegasus' spirits.

"Does your tongue still hurt?" Izzy asked as she sat next to a light pole.

"No...," Pipp said lethargically. "It's gotten ... better."

"I'm sorry about that. I should have used a tiny bit of magic to keep your head still before putting that daisy sandwich in your mouth."

Pipp sighed. "It's... not your fault. Nopony knew... that... that... I would twist my head around before taking that bite. At least I... got to eat."

Izzy looked up at the sky. "Just felt a little drop of rain. Looks like it's about to pour."

"It is? I can't really tell with all this... ugh.... sweat."

A violet magical shield popped up above Pipp's head, following her wherever she stepped. At a moment when her dancing permitted it, she looked up to see raindrops hit the shield and run down to the ground. Soon, the pitter-patter of rain filled her ears and her eyes could barely see anything clearly through the screen of falling water.

As expected, the crowd dispersed, no longer able or willing to enjoy the spectacle as they got wetter and wetter.

"It's a shame that everypony is leaving," Izzy said. The unicorn's horn glowed purple, and a similar shield protected her from the rain. "You really had a huge audience."

The pegasus moaned. "I'm not really into that right now..., Izzy."

The unicorn was confused. "But don't you think that something like this would be great for Ponygram or Clip Trot? You could be the newest trend..., for like the fifth time in a row."

"Oh, I have no doubt that I'm the newest trend on the internet. Just not in... the best way."

"Hi, Pipp!"

A young voice caught the pegasus' attention and in doing so she turned her head around. Behind her were three familiar fillies --- Glory, Seashell, and Peach Fizz, with the later using her magic to cast a shield over all three of them. The fillies smiled at Pipp as they held their phones in their forehooves.

"Oh... Hiya, girls," Pipp greeted, trying her best to muster up a smile. "Whatcha doin'?"

"We just got back from playing when we saw some videos of you on Clip Trot!" Glory exclaimed.

"Yeah!" Seashell chimed in. "We saw you dancing and wanted to see you do it live!"

"I know that it's raining and that everypony else is gone, but do you mind dancing just a little bit for us?" Peach Fizz requested.

Despite the situation, Pipp chuckled. "Well, girls, I don't really have much of a choice but to dance. These shoes won't let me stop."

"What do you mean?" Seashell asked.

"To put it simply, these shoes I'm wearing have magic in them. And for some reason, I can't stop dancing because of them."

Peach FIzz gasped. "Oh, no! What can we do to help?"

"Yeah, Pipp. Just tell us!" said Glory.

"Girls," Pipp said, "It's really sweet... But I don't think you all can do---"

In one fluid motion, Pipp felt her entire weight lift off the ground. The next thing she knew, her back was on the wet ground with an impactful thud.

"OW! What in the---"

As she got up to sit on her haunches, Pipp placed two hooves over her mouth to stop herself from screaming. Before her on the ground was a single red shoe that had fallen from her left hindhoof. Slowly, Pipp brought her forehoof down and touched the shoe, like a foal would do with a bug that might have been either dead or alive. When contact was made, no reaction occurred on the shoe's behalf.

Without further hesitation, she gripped the shoe on her left forehoof and threw it off before proceeding to the one on the right forehoof. Once she got up, she violently shook her right hindleg until the last remaining shoe flew off.

Panting, Pipp looked at Izzy. "Izzy, do you know what day garbage day is?"

The unicorn tapped underneath her chin. "It should be sometime tomorrow, I think. Why?"

"I need you to put those things in the trash can --- right now. I'm not taking a chance with touching them again."

Obliging, the unicorn levitated the shoes in a purple glow and floated them over to the nearby trash can between Pipp and the trio of fillies. When the aura went away, the shoes fell down into the hole, the sight of which droved out a satisfied sigh from the pegasus' throat.

"I can't believe it's over again," Pipp said. She moved to take a step forward, but a pain shot up from her hooves, causing her to jump in a panic and hover above the ground. "Ow!"

"Your hooves are hurting again, aren't they," Izzy asked.

Pipp nodded. "I'm going back to the Brighthouse. I can't be anywhere near... those. Hopefully ZIpp and Sunny will find us there."

"I"m coming, too. There's not much to do with all this rain."

Pipp looked at the three fillies. "Well, girls. It's been nice talking with you all, but I really, really need to take a nap. I'll see you later, though."

The pink pegasus raised herself higher into the air and flew off in the direction of her home. Izzy, having no wings of her own, was content with simply bouncing throughout the streets as she reached the outer limits of Maretime Bay.

Chapter 6: The Long Wait

"What do you mean she wasn't there?!?" Pipp asked hysterically. Though Zipp was not as panicked as her sister, she still shared Pipp's worries with a frown.

"I'm sorry, sis, but she wasn't at Zephyr Heights when we got there. Mom helped us find Rainbow's folks, but they all said that she left sometime this morning to look for more antiques in Old Equestria."

Pipp nearly tore her mane out. "Where in Old Equestria?!? Did you at least---"

"We asked them the same thing," Sunny interrupted, though she seemed concerned for the pink pegasus. "But she never really told them exactly where she was going."

After the fiasco that happened this morning, the first thing that Pipp wanted upon returning home was to retreat to her bed and rest her legs. Once that was taken care of, Pipp decided that she would just a nice little nap until Sunny and Zipp returned with Rainbow, and hopefully a solution to solve the issues with the shoes. But the arrival of her sister and friend brought little comfort to her once they told her about the storekeeper's whereabouts.

The shoes were gone, that was true, but Pipp doubted that those menaces would simply stay in that trashcan until garbage day. For all she knew, they may have been on their way to the Brighthouse right now, just planning on forcing themselves on her hooves.

The younger princess nearly curled into a fetal position on the bed. "They could be here any moment! And there won't be anything that I can do to stop them! Oh --- why did I even buy them in the first place?"

Sunny moved forward to put a hoof on Pipp's shoulder. "If it means anything, we put a note on the shop's door so that Rainbow might know what you've been through. If she read it by the time we visit her tomorrow, maybe she would have found a solution."

Pipp rose her head from her huddled forelegs, a small twinkle of hope in her eyes. "Really? You think so?"

Smiling, Sunny nodded. "Of course. She seems like a very knowledgeable pony. I'm sure that she must have book or something that could help us figure out how to damper the magic on those shoes."

"Now that I'm thinking about it, there could be another way to get those shoes off in case they really do come back," Zipp said.

"How's so?" Pipp asked.

"You said that the shoes came off once you fell to the ground, right?"

"Right..."

"Well, if I can take a guess, you probably slipped on the cobblestones due to the rain. So, what I'm thinking is that if those shoes do get a hold of you again, all we need to do is splash some water on the floor to make it all slippery. That way, when you dance in the right spot, you'll fall again and those will come off."

Pipp immediately put up a hoof. "Hard pass! I'm not risking getting a black eye or a chipped tooth just to get those shoes off of me."

Zipp groaned. "We got to have some type of backup plan, Pipp. If these things can swim out of the ocean, they can definitely get themselves out of the trash."

"I know, I know. I just wished that this was all over."

"Don't worry, Pipp," Sunny said. "Like I said before, we just have to wait until tomorrow for Rainbow to get back, then we'll got over to the shop together and tell her about the shoes. But until then, I think it's only right that me and the other girls take turns watching over you and the house tonight."

The younger was helpless against the grateful smile that formed upon her lips. "Wow... Thanks, Sunny. I don't know what I did to deserve you guys."

The earth pony grinned back. "Don't mention it. I'm gonna go check on Izzy and see if she has anything to help board the doors and windows."

Sunny went away from Pipp's bed and headed downstairs. With her gone, the two sisters were left alone in the room to stare at each other.

"So..., you're not leaving the bed at all?" Zipp asked.

"Nope," Pipp answered. "Not only do my hooves still hurt, but I need to give my mind a break after the embarrassment I went through."

"What about dinner?"

"Izzy's taking care of that. She said that she knows just the thing to perk me up after today."

Zipp shrugged. "At least you'll be comfortable. I'm going to go do some reading. Maybe I'll even do some research on magical artifacts if I get the chance."

With her sister turning away, PIpp looked outside of the window. It was still raining, but the approach of the night made the grey sky darker than it was before she came to the Brighthouse. Below the sky was the churning sea, whose waves were oily black with streaks of white foam. Soon, the pegasus became enamored with the tossings and turnings of the waves, but would try her best not to fall slumber to the ocean's rhythm.

Despite being in bed, there was much the princess wanted to do before the day was over.

The spotlight from above came on and shone its beam down on Pipp. Once her eyes adjusted to the brightness, she saw herself before a huge crowd while at the bottom of an amphitheater. Before her were ponies of all races and ages, but most covered in shadows for her to clearly distinguish them. In the front rows, though, were her friends, her sister, her regal mother, and a certain winged pomeranian. Nopony made a sound or moved out of their seats, making the atmosphere eerie.

Looking down at herself, Pipp understood why the audience was staring at her. She was wearing a mulberry and cream-colored ballet dress that she must admit looked fabulous on her, but that self-admiration was watered down by the sight of those dreaded red shoes.

"Please. No," was all that the pegasus could muster before the inevitable happened.

On their own accord, Pipp's forelegs raised themselves up into the air, making her stand on her hindlegs. Immediately, her bottom hooves worked their magic as they tapped against the floor. In order to match up with similar energy, her forelegs waved around in such a manner that the pegasus was amazed that she didn't hit herself as she twirled around and jumped occasionally.

There was no exhaustion on Pipp's part in this affair. In fact, she felt like such a lightweight that she could barely feel her hooves press against the surface. But she was far from fine, as evident by her pinpricked eyes and clenched teeth. She hoped that somepony in the audience would come to her aid and stop her from dancing.

"Somepony! Please help! I don't want to dance anymore!"

But Pipp did not get the response that she sought. It started off small, but soon somepony in the crowd laughed. A second laugh was added in, then a few more, and then nearly a dozen. By the end, everypony in the amphitheater was cracking up at the sight of the dancing princess, even her friends and family --- a sight which sunk her heart.

"Look at her go!" somepony shouted. "That's quite a sight!"

"Man, she must be really loving all of this attention!" somepony else commented.

"I can't wait to see this trend on ClipTrot!" yelled another pony.

Small dots of light came from the rows of the amphitheater, which PIpp registered as being cellphone lights. Enough lights populated the darkened crowd that they resembled stars shining in the night sky, and as Pipp twirled around once more those blurs of lights and the drowning sounds of laughter and jeers gave her mind a spinning headache.

"Please! Stop!" Pipp cried, trying her best not to let a tear leave the corner of her eye. "I don't want to do this!"

"But you have to keep dancing! We can't let you stop!"

The newest voice caught her attention as it was different from the roaring sounds of the audience. It was loud but at the same time very squeaky and high-pitched. If she was correct, the being who talked to her was right next to her.

"Yes! You must keep dancing! You're doing so great!"

Another voice spoke out. This one sounded just like the previous being, except this voice came from the other side of her head. Turning her head to the right, as she did a tippy-hoof dance movement, Pipp saw the shoe on her right forehoof clapping its white bowtie, even though no sound came from the action. At the pink tip of shoe was a weird crease or wrinkle that looked like a crescent moon, which suddenly began to shift.

"Yes!" the shoe shouted from its tip. "Beautiful! Magnificent! Your pose is so elegant!"

Pipp's eyes widen, and a scowl came over her face. "You! You need to stop this and leave me alone! You can't do this to me!"

The shoe on her left forehoof spoke up. "No! You must keep going! The show goes on! It does not matter what you think!"

"Yes!" said the right shoe. "We want to see you dance ---- FOREVER!"

"FOREVER!"

Pipp opened her eyes and found herself staring at the ceiling of her bedroom. In a haste, she zoomed her sight all over the room to see if anything was out of place. Though the area was dimly lit, the pegasus had a good enough memory to recognize that everything was exactly where it was supposed to be. Zipp's and Sunny's beds were left alone --- with Izzy sleeping in her own --- all the girls' belongings were undisturbed, and the windows were covered with blankets and duct tape.

With her observation done, Pipp looked down at herself. Through the blankets, her chest was heaving up and down, which was embarrassing enough for her to slow down her breathing. Luckily for her, nothing about her bed appeared out of the ordinary.

"Such a freaky dream. Hopefully, I can---"

The sound was faint, but a shatter could be heard from downstairs just as Pipp readied herself back to sleep. Sitting straight up in a shock, she stared at the stairs.

"Zipp? Sunny?" she asked as softly as possible to not wake up Izzy. "Was that one of you guys?"

Half a minute had passed by, and no response was given. Anxious, Pipp got out of her bed and floated toward the stairs. She stopped midair to look at Izzy, considering whether or not she should ask her friend for assistance, but in the end she declined. If whatever was happening downstairs was not that important, she did not want to waste her friend's beauty sleep.

Slowly, Pipp descended down the stairs, trying her best not to touch them as her hooves were probably still delicate. Nothing seemed wrong at first for her as she observed the living room, but once she reach the bottom of the stairs she came to a stop.

She could see through one of the windows, and the blanket meant to cover it was laying on the floor. But the blanket was not the only thing on the floor. Though they were small, there were four critters scurrying around the living room, perhaps mice or squirrels that were looking for food. However, there was something off those animals, as Pipp was quick to notice. The four creatures were huddled together, barely distancing themselves from each other, and weird of all was that they would move in the same direction, as if they were searching for the same thing.

It was only when a flash of lightning from the window, accompanied by a thunderous boom, partially illuminated the room that Pipp knew what they really were. They were far from animals, but were instead four shoes that moved around without an owner. But as quickly as the flash came, it went away just as fast, casting the room under darkness once more.

Chapter 7: The Night Chase

Zephyr Heights.

At the palace with mom.

That was what Pipp thought.

If she could make it back upstairs quietly before the shoes could spot her, she could make an escape through one of the bedroom windows and fly her way toward her hometown. Sure, it may have been dark and pouring outside, and the girls might wonder where she went, but it seemed like the best choice. Besides, the shoes were only after her, or otherwise they would have latched themselves to somepony else by now. In addition, it would take the shoes some time to reach Zephyr Heights, and hopefully by then Rainbow would have found a solution.

Still floating in the air, the pink pegasus backed herself up the stairs, her keen eyes focused on the darkened area below. Without the assistance of lighting, she could not tell where the shoes were. Once she reached the bedroom, she knew that she would have to be very careful in not making too much noise when removing the blankets and duct tape from any of the windows. As long as she went through the process at a good speed, she knew that she would be out of there soon enough.

"Hey. What are you doing up?"

As soon as Pipp heard that voice, her rear bumped into something soft and smooth, which of course was not a wall. Without thinking, she let out a very audible yelp as she turned around. These shoes were full of surprises, from having a conscious of their own to being able to swim to sea just to find her, so in that moment of panic she thought that the words spoken were from those shoes, which somehow managed to creep up behind her despite them being downstair just moments ago.

As expected, Pipp yelped out loud as she turned around. However, instead of finding four floating shoes as she anticipated, all that Pipp saw was a tired unicorn mare out of bed.

"Izzy?" the pegasus stated with confusion. In return, her sleepy friend gave out a quick smile.

"Yep. It's me," Izzy said softly. "Is everything alright? I noticed you were out of bed."

At first, Pipp was relieved that her expectations were let down. It was only Izzy, which means that there was no shoes between her and the upstairs windows. But just as she was about to tell her friends about the intruders downstairs, she had a recollection of her recent and loud announcement of her fears. Her eyes widen in panic as she realized that Izzy was the only individual to hear her scream.

Abruptly, she turned around in the direction of the descending stairs, and what she saw was terrifying. In fact, it was so horrifying that she did not even take a second to warn her friend about what was transpiring. All she did was let out a shriek loud enough to be heard from all of Maretime Bay and flew right past a perplexed Izzy and right upstairs.

"Pipp? Bestie? Where are you going?"

Taking her eyes away from Pipp, the unicorn saw what had spooked her friend and gasped. All four of the enchanted dancing shoes were hobbling their way up the stairs in a haste. Each shoe's impact on the stairs was easy for Izzy to hear, and it did not take her long to realize who they were after.

"Oh no, you don't!" Izzy scolded with a scowl.

Wasting no time, the unicorn brightened her horn and levitated the shoes off the stairs. She brought up to her own eye level, shining magical light all over her face.

"You're not hurting my friend, again! Go dance somewhere---"

The act itself was unexpected, though Izzy herself should have seen something like a kick to the face coming her way. The impact was rough, as if there was an invisible hoof in the shoe that did the deed. As the kick was right between the eyes, Izzy's vision was blurred and distorted, like the view of somepony observing fish through shimmering water.

"Whoa... I don't feel good..."

The effect of the kick cascaded down the rest of her body --- ending at her wobbly legs. As soon as Izzy took a step forward, her own weight threw her down the stairs, causing her to yelp "Ow!" with each stair she bounced off of. With her focus gone, the magical aura disappeared around the shoes, which dropped on the top of the staircase.

"Okay!" Pipp said, huffing and puffing. "Come on, duct tape! Be my friend today!"

The pink pegasus tugged and pulled at the cohesive strands, which were glued around a folded blanket that blocked the glass of a window. When her hooves were not doing enough for her, Pipp did not hesitate to pull at the duct tape with her teeth, but all that resulted in was a taste of rubber and furry blanket threads. Pipp knew that Izzy was quite a builder, but she never thought that the unicorn would have something so tough in her arsenal --- even though the pegasus told Izzy to use her best tape.

After a few useless pulls, Pipp let go of the tape and tried to spit out the awful taste.

"Well, that went nowhere."

The sound of something light hitting the floor made Pipp turn around to see the shoes once more. For a while, the two entities simply stared at each other, though Pipp's expression was more fearful than stoic. But once the shoes started to hobble, that was when the pegasus unfurled her wings out of instinct.

Tears nearly formed out of Pipp's eyes as she floated.

"Can't you just leave me alone?!?" she whined as she zipped over them.

It was not much use for her to keep trying to undo the windows in the bedroom, so it was best to go downstairs and leave through the front door. After that, she would head home towards Zephyr Heights. Even if the shoes would track her down, it might take days given the expanse that was the Equestrian wilderness. Besides, if she was lucky a wild animal might try to eat them.

For a quick second, Pipp looked down, wanting to see where the shoes were. She watched just in time to see one of the shoes jump into the air and try to reach her hooves. With a quick squeal, she moved to the side just in time so that the shoe only touched empty air before returning to the floor.

Pipp flew down the curved stairs toward the front door and along the way spotted a dazed Izzy laying still at the bottom.

"Don't worry, Iz! They're just after me! We'll both be gone soon!"

Pipp stopped midair when she reached the door, and the sight before her made her slap her hoof against her face for forgetting such an important memory.

There was a huge cabinet blocking the door --- an idea that belonged to Sunny once she thought that perhaps the shoes were capable of twisting knobs.

"Okay. Don't freak out, Pipp. Maybe you can..."

She hovered over to one side of the cabinet, putting one hoof on the thinner side and the other one on the thicker back of the furniture. With as much force as possible, she tried to sway the cabinet away from the door, just enough so that there was enough space for her to squeeze in between and open it. But the weight of the cabinet was too great for her to overcome.

"IZZY!" Pipp shouted. "Could you use your magic to help with this cabinet?!?"

The unicorn tried to get up, but immediately flopped back to the floor after that attempt. "I... uh..., think that the ground is my best friend right now."

The sound of clopping from the spiral staircase alerted Pipp as to who was coming down. Shifting her attention back to the cabinet, she pushed once more, straining her muscles against the inertia and ignoring the soreness in her hooves. With that much effort, she guessed that around an inch or two was accomplished, but she knew that she would be able to fully uncover the door before the shoes came down.

She flew away from the cabinet and headed for the window that had been broken into. To Pipp, perhaps that was the best escape plan, as there should be as little glass left to hold her back.

"Just got to squeeze through and be careful. Then it's on to---"

She stopped. The broken opening in the window was there, but it was smaller than Pipp anticipated. There was no way for her body to squeeze through without getting poked and cut by the jagged edges. An idea that popped into Pipp's mind was to smash the rest of the glass so that she could escape.

But there was a problem with that.

Doing such a thing might get glass fragments in her fur, which could be hard to get out once she reached home. Despite everything that was happening, the last thing PIpp wanted was to risk having glass irritate her.

Not only that, but what if striking the window could cause her to bleed? Even with all the rain outside, it might not be enough to wash off the red from her fur, and she could already imagine the petrified look on her mother's face if she came to the throneroom with a bloody hoof.

A flash of lightning brightened the room once more, and through the glass, Pipp could spot the shoes just yards behind her. Before the light faded away, one of the shoes lept into the air, and at that sight, Pipp screamed and elevated herself upward. Just as her last hoof went above the window frame, the shoe soared just below her in an arch before slamming against the glass and sliding off.

The pink pegasus turned around to look down at the shoes. The jumper that had failed bundled up against its three companions, and the four of them continued to approach her --- hopping along the way. Not wanting to stay around, Pipp rushed past them once more and headed for the stairs, ignoring her sister and Sunny, who had come across a disoriented Izzy.

"Izzy!" Sunny said with worry in her voice. "Are you okay?"

The orange mare placed her forehooves underneath her friend, lifting her off the floor. Though her legs were wobbly, and her head swayed back and forth, Izzy managed to look at the other two with a smile. "I'm doing a bit... alright. I just... need to lie down."

"What happened to you?" Zipp asked.

The question was answered when she saw the shoes race up the steps one at a time. Shocked, Zipp looked over at Sunny, whose affronted glare was focused on the stairs.

"Did you just---"

"I saw," Sunny answered without abandoning her gaze. "We got to get them away from her. Izzy, just rest on the couch. We'll help Pipp."

While Sunny and Zipp headed upstairs, Izzy took her time in reaching the living room. "That's a good... idea," she said all slurred. "Just be careful. Those shoes... are really tough."

When the duo reached their room, they were treated to a small spectacle. Pipp was buzzing around the room like an anxious fly, going from one window to the next and trying to pull off the blankets covered with duct tape. Each time she spent at a window was cut short by one or more of the shoes jumping right at her. Besides the rolling thunder outside, the room was mostly occupied by Pipp's constant whimpers and the shoes' clopping.

"Don't worry, Pipp!" Zipp shouted. "We've got this!"

Spreading her wings, the older pegasus lept into the air just as Pipp and the shoes were traversing across the room just next to the elevator. Once Pipp had passed her, Zipp managed to wrap her entire body around two of the shoes, while the other duo continued their pursuit.

"Gotcha ya!" Zipp shouted. She hugged the shoes close to her chest as she made her way downstairs. She did not know exactly what to do with the shoes once she had them. Perhaps she would take them outside or trap them in a closet, but all that mattered right now was getting them away from Pipp. Hopefully Sunny would have found a way to take care of the others.

Before she could reach the stairs, though, the pegasus felt a sudden shift against her chest and decided to look down. To her misfortune, one of the shoes was crawling down her left foreleg by using its unfurled bow. Once it made its way to her hoof, the shoe inserted itself onto her. All of a sudden, Zipp came to a stop when her hoof automatically slammed on the floor.

"What the---!"

Outside of her own control, Zipp found her entire weight being pulled forward, until at the end she was standing upside-down on her left foreleg. Though she could not see it, the pegasus could feel the other shoe crawl up her right hindleg until it rested itself around her hoof.

It all started with a few awkward hops on her left foreleg, but that soon transpired into Zipp doing a rather fast yet bizarre dance when she flipped on to her hindlegs. As she could not look at her own body from a third point-of-view, Zipp had a hard time understanding what the shoes were making her do, but it appeared that her moves were all erratic and sudden, indicating that there was no well thought out routine. If she had to take a guess, she must have looked like a tipsy dancer lacking any sobriety with all her hoof-flailing.

Eventually, the dance came to an end when Zipp found herself flipped over on her backside with her legs pointing up into the air. The shoes, out of their own free will, hopped off the two previously occupied hooves and scrambled away, presumably to their other companions. Zipp stayed where she was for a bit, not exactly due to exhaustion but rather because of a sense of befuddlement.

"Ok... That didn't work."

Sunny thought that several well-planned leaps were enough to catch the shoes, but each time they jumped away further than she thought they were capable of jumping. This led to most of her attempts ending with her hitting her chin or face against the floor.

"Pipp! Try to fly closer to the ceiling!" the orange earth pony suggested.

Her words seemed to reach her friend, as the pink pegasus did just that, fluttering higher up in the bedroom. Pipp floated still for a moment, looking down at the shoes below that desperately hopped up and down trying to reach her.

"I don't know why I didn't just do that," Pipp commented to herself.

With the shoes staying mostly in one place, Sunny knew that she had to act fast. She was not certain that it would work, but for Pipp's sake she had to try.

Just like earlier today, the earth pony closed her eyes and breathed deeply --- each exhale increasing the orange magical aura that had started to appear around her. Soon, that aura popped out a pair of wings and a unicorn horn on the young mare.

Rising off her hooves and floating just inches off the floor, Sunny aimed her horn at the shoes and shot an orange beam of magical energy at the shoes. Even with her power her alicorn magic was, Sunny was not confident in her ability to strip away the magical properties that the items possessed. She just wanted the shoes to change into something that nopony could wear, so many images popped into her mind such as a rock or a tree branch or a brick. If she could save those three foals from an ocean wave by turning it into glitter, she was sure that she could do something similiar for Pipp.

When the beam made contact with the shoes, the shoes glowed a bright orange as they were lifted up. A loud, pulsating hum resonated throughout the room as the beam continued to stream out of Sunny's horn. All the mare was focused on was transforming the shoes into something else, not even paying attention to an approaching Zipp.

"Whatever you're doing," Zipp said, "I hope it works!"

"Yeah!" Pipp agreed, still floating in the same spot.

Things at first were going well for Sunny. Though there was not an instant change as she had hoped, she was able to keep her magic under control. But she soon felt a sudden shift with the beam. LIKE a fishing line being tugged, the mare could feel a pushback against her own spell. The idea of her getting fatigue was her initial thought, but once she saw the shoes, she knew where the resistance was coming from.

A white light had replaced the orange glow that encased the shoes, and instead of floating still they were now vibrating midair. Stopping her spell, Sunny looked on in fear as the shoes continued to shake --- especially as a fierce, violent hum grew louder and louder for everypony to hear.

"Everypony, duck!" Sunny shouted.

With the beds as the nearest place of refuge, Sunny and Zipp opted to hide behind those pieces of furniture. Pipp, however, was hesistant with returning to the floor, fearing that she might not find the right cover in time.

Without warning, the shoes blasted several jets of white light that shot out across the bedroom. Each jet made contact with something different, but every object that was hit was transformed into something else. An alarm clock was changed into a brown stuffed teddy bear, a lamp had become a brick, and a Zipp's chair was morphed into a large potted plant.

A few of the jets only hit the walls, causing healthy tree branches to spring out. One such jet hit a portion of the wall next to Pipp, and immediately afterwards a branch popped out that struck the young princess across her back. The push sent Pipp crashing into a wall on the other side, from which she soon slid off of before hitting the ground.

Landing on her back, Pipp groaned in pain. With how bad this day had been, she wanted nothing more than to rest, and so she closed her eyes. But a sudden change overtook her once she felt something on her left forehoof. Sprouting right back up, she looked at her hoof to see one of the shoes there. Eyes widen and with a horrified gasp escaping from her lips, Pipp rushed to remove the shoe, but when she reached with her right forehoof, she saw that another shoe was on there, as well.

Involuntarily, Pipp felt her forelegs pin themselves to the floor. The helpless, whimpering mare could only watch as the remaining shoes took their reserved spots on her other hooves, no matter how hard she tried to kick her hindlegs. When the last shoe was placed on, Pipp stood up --- not ready for the next performance.

Chapter 8: The Visitor

"Okay, shoes, look. I'm sure we can talk about this," Pipp begged. "Maybe we can do this type of thing once a week instead of every day. I'm pretty sure you don't want to---"

The pleading on her part was futile, as soon the shoes began to work their magic. It started with a quick spin in the air with the pink pegasus unfurling her wings, though she soon was brought back to the ground. After that, she moved around the room a bit on her tippy hooves as if she was trying to avoid something, before doing another spin with the assistance of her wings.

Pipp went back to pattering around the room, though this time she was a bit more progressive with her movements. Some subtle changes included the swaying of her hips, her hindlegs kicking out occasionally, and her forelegs trying to grasp something in front of her. With the last detail that she noticed, it was almost as if she was dancing with another pony. This guess was supported when she leaned backward while kicking out a hindleg.

"I think that's salsa dancing," Zipp stated, withdrawing from one of the beds she used as cover. Sunny did the same once she knew that there was no danger anymore.

"Don't worry, Pipp!" Sunny assured her friend. "We'll find a way to get them off!"

Pipp was not convinced. "Sunny, it's hopeless. These monsters have a mind of their own! The only thing that can---"

An invisible presence gripped Pipp's waist and shoved her over to the side. It was a sudden and shocking moment for her and the others, as if a hook had taken a hold of her. She only slid a meter or two away, but she soon got back to dancing.

Pipp started off crouching down on the floor with one hindleg sticking out. Gradually, she began to spin rapidly, and soon she slowly elevated herself while still rotating. It did not take her long to realize that the shoes had switched over to ballet. Normally, the princess would be comfortable with such a familiar dance style, but under these circumstances, there was nothing for her to feel comfortable about.

The spinning stopped and the shoes guided PIpp on her tippy hooves through the bedroom. In between her pattering, Pipp would gallop into a sprint and jump into the air before landing back down. The few times she did this, she mostly either bumped into something hard or landed in a way that hurt her hooves, which brought out many an "ow!' and "oof!" from her.

When she reached the stairs, PIpp felt her wings spring out. As she slowly flew down, the shoes puppeteered her into performing gentle twirling movements, while at the same time Zipp and Sunny followed right behind her.

"I'm thinking we should get her to trip on something slippery," Zipp whispered to Sunny.

"What? Why?" Sunny asked.

"Don't you remember my theory about how the shoes came off because it was raining outside when she slipped? I can't think of any other reason besides that."

"But... won't we accidentally hurt her? I don't want that on my mind."

"We'll be extra careful. While the shoes do their thing, we'll move stuff out of the way before spilling something on the floor."

Sunny pursed her lips. "I mean... if we don't have any other option..."

"Like I said, we'll be extra careful. You move stuff around downstairs into corners or closets while I go in the kitchen."

When the two of them reached the bottom, they went their separate ways. Pipp, who had made it down first, was still in the process of switching between spinning, pattering, sprinting and leaping, and kicking her hindlegs out.

"Look, shoes!" she shouted out. "I get that nopony else wants to spend time with you because of how pushy you are, but I. Don't. Want. To. Dance! So quit it!"

Whether or not it was intentional, Pipp will never know, but her right forehoof smacked her across the cheek, leaving behind a hot red mark that would have been visible if not for the darkness. Her ballet came to a halt, but Pipp did not find herself regaining control of her body. Instead, she floated off and ground and found herself turned upside-down, and without any gentleness, the top of her head was forced onto the ground.

"Ow! I almost broke my neck! What the---"

Pipp began to spin --- not with the assist of her wings or her legs, but with her own head. Unlike the ballet forms, this type of spinning was blurry and nauseating, as was made clear once she realized she could not make sense of the world around her. But just as she was afraid that she would lose her dinner, the spinning came to a stop and her wings reorientated her off her head and on her hindquarters.

"Well... That was--- whoa!"

The pink pegasus flipped into the air and landed on her forehooves, with her hindlegs sticking up above her. Upside-down once more, Pipp soon balanced herself on only one foreleg as she began to spin, this time much more slowly. As she spun around, her hindlegs kicked randomly in various directions. To keep the momentum going, Pipp's foreleg would bounce occasionally whenever the spinning slowed down.

After a while, Pipp's wings flipped her around once more on all four hooves, and she began to dance in a rather fast and intense manner that required a lot of spinning, side-steps, and flips. The speed and rapid movements were a bit too much for Pipp to handle, but the pegasus seemed to notice a pattern of difficulty and pain that occurred every time she criticized the shoes, so she kept any complaints to herself.

Sunny, in the meanwhile, was busy moving furniture around the living room in preparation for Zipp's plan. Besides moving the couch with Izzy still on it, the task was relatively easy for the mare. In fact, she only had a few more things to move before Zipp was done in the kitchen. But just as Sunny was dragging away a potted plant, the doorbell rang.

Letting go of the pot from her mouth, Sunny trotted past Pipp and went to the front door of the Brighthouse. Opening the door, Sunny expected to find perhaps Hitch, as she did not know who else would be coming. But once the door was opened all the way, the orange mare was surprised to see who was in front of her.

"Hello there, Sunny," Rainbow said with a grin. "Can I come in? I don't like getting poured on by rain."

For a moment, Sunny was at a loss of words. She did not see the tall blue mare coming by for a visit this late at night. But remembering the situation at hoof, she shook herself out of her short-lived stupor.

"Um..., sure," Sunny spoke, moving to the side. "This way, please. Are you here because---"

"Of the letter?" the visitor replied. "Yep. And I guess that I was right to come here so soon --- by the way things look."

For a good few seconds, Rainbow stared at Pipp, completely unfazed by the random dancing going on. "If I'm correct, I think she's doing break-dancing."

"I... think you're right," Sunny said.

"Hello, Princess Pipp," Rainbow greeted with a bow. "It's nice of you to be wearing the shoes you brought from me. I'm truly grateful."

"It's not nice!" Pipp stated matter-of-factly. "These shoes have a mind of their own and have been bothering me all weekend! I don't know how to get them to cut loose!"

"Oh. I'm sorry, my princess. I was making a jest, is all." Rainbow rummaged underneath her coat with her forehoof. "Well, I think I have just the thing to help you. But I need to be sure..."

The tall pegasus pulled out a small, worn-out book from her coat. She flipped through a few pages until she stopped at a place where she was content. "Here it is!" She cleared her throat real quick. "Okay, everypony! Let's take five!"

When Rainbow had arrived, Pipp was in the middle of a helicopter technique, in which she, while squatting down, would swing her hindlegs around and would have to move her forehooves off the ground before her hindlegs touched them. But once Rainbow finished her sentence, the pink pegasus suddenly collapsed on her side. But as quickly as she went down, she quickly got back up once she realized that the shoes were not doing it for her.

"Whoa...," was all that Pipp could manage to say. Curious, she tapped her forehoof on the floor, seeing if perhaps it would wake up the shoe she used. But the act did nothing to awaken the hoofwear. With no other test left in mind, she used her mouth to grip the front of the shoe and managed to pull it off. Though she could not see it, she knew that she must have had the most confounded expression on the planet at the moment.

"You--- you actually did it!" Pipp said, turning to Rainbow. "You got them to stop! And I didn't even need to trip or anything."

Though humble, Rainbow seemed very amused. "It was no trouble, my princess. I'm sorry for all the problems that you must have been facing. After all, I did tell you that I wasn't certain if the shoes still had any magic in them. But I guess it's still on me for not checking them out before giving them to you."

Sunny approached Pipp, who was frantically trying to get the other three shoes off. "Are you okay?"

The pink pegasus did not give her friend any attention until the last shoe was removed, during which she gave a long relieved sigh. "Now I'm doing better."

"Okay, guys!" a female voice cried out. "I think I'm done!"

The three mares turned their heads toward the kitchen, where they saw Zipp fly out with a bucket carried by her teeth. The white pegasus slowed down so that she could stop in between Sunny and Pipp. Seeing the state that her sister was in, Zipp raised her eyebrow before letting the bucket full of liquid gently on the ground.

"So, um... I guess you got the shoes off," Zipp said to Pipp. "And we have a guest, too."

Pipp nodded. "Yep. It's because of our guest that they came off in the first place."

"Well, it's more so due to my great-grandma's notes here than me," Rainbow admitted. "Without this book, this problem would still be going on."

"No kidding," Pipp added in. "I probably would have been dancing forever if you didn't come by and stop me."

"Well, not forever. Just for four hours."

The younger princess' eyes widen a bit. "Four hours?"

"That's correct. There was never any danger of the shoes exhausting you to the point of death or anything like that. After four hours, the shoes would stop dancing to give you a quick break. Or you could do what I did and say 'Okay, everypony. Let's take five'".

"But slipping works, too, right?" Zipp asked. "Pipp was dancing in the rain yesterday when she slipped and the shoes came off."

"Do you know how long you had been dancing before you slipped?" Rainbow asked Pipp.

"Probably between.... three to four hours."

The taller pegasus shrugged. "Then the slipping must have been just a coincidence. I've checked the book and the two methods I mentioned are the only ways to stop the dancing. But, apparently, I should have checked the book again before selling the shoes to you."

Pipp tilted her head. "What do you mean by that?"

Though her confidence did not diminish, Rainbow let down her head a bit. "Before I left to come here, I looked in my book and saw what I think might have started all of this. Did you happen to say something after you put them on? Like maybe: 'It's time to dance'? Or maybe: 'Let's dance'?"

"I think I said something like 'It's time to dance', but that was almost two days ago."

"Well, then, I think that solves it. Saying something like that activated the shoes. I tried them on once, but now I'm remembering that I didn't say those words because I was still a bit afraid of them."

"But why were they just chasing after me? Why didn't they just latch on to the first pony they found after I tossed them into the water?"

Rainbow looked down at the book. "It says here that the shoes are very attached to the first pony that activates them. They won't work for anypony else unless the first user passes away. As for why they chased you through town, I don't know. The notes say nothing about that, only that one pony can use them at a time."

"Well, with the message that we got from the princess about magic being stronger, perhaps that's the reason why the shoes have been a bit... aggressive than the book states."

A look of realization came upon Pipp's face. "So I'm stuck with these shoes until I'm dead? Do I have to keep dancing for four hours every day? I can't do that! I got such a busy schedule with vlogs and merch! I can't let the pippsqueaks down with delays and cancelations!"

"No, my princess. There is a solution," Rainbow assured. "It's the reason for why I came a bit later, but I have a scroll with me." She went through the interior of her coat again to pull out a parchment of paper. "It's a spell meant for disabling magic in simple objects. A unicorn should be able to perform it."

Zipp took the parchment gently from Rainbow and flew over to the couch where Izzy was.

"Izzy. Do you mind looking at this spell and see if you can do something like that?"

Turning to face Zipp, Izzy looked at the opened scroll with strained eyes, leaning in closer to better read the words.

"Ooh!.... Aah!... I see... Hmm... Sorry, Zipp. I can't do anything with this. It's been a long time since unicorns have done anything other than floaty magic. As far as I'm aware, most of Bridlewood got rid of any spell books because we thought they brought bad luck, or something like that."

Zipp sighed. "I had a feeling that was your answer. Rainbow, could she teach herself how to do the spell?"

"It's possible. But it could take a long time. To make it easier for her, I have a beginners' book on simple magic for young unicorns. It's old and dusty, but it should do the trick."

Pipp raised her hoof. "So, what happens to me? You said that the shoes only give me a break, right? So soon they'll be back on again?"

Rainbow nodded. "Yes. Probably within an hour."

Pipp's ears flatten. "Oh, great! Well, I guess I'm not getting any sleep tonight." She groaned. "Or at least not enough sleep."

Rainbow retained her optimism. "It's not all that bad, though. You just have to complete the remaining four hours left and then you'll be okay for the rest of the day. You may have to work around changing your schedule, but it should work out for you."

"Really?"

"Yes. All you have to do is just let the shoes work their... magic. Just don't interrupt the dancing or insult them, cause that irritates them and can make things worse for you. You only get a one-hour break daily, so use it wisely. The shoes are meant to help you endure dancing for a long as possible, even if you get tired and sore. But if you want things to be easier for you, just pronounce a certain dance move or style that you prefer."

Pipp looked down at the shoes on the floor--- shoes that just moments ago were as alive as her and made quite a spectacle in the house. Though there was peace now, she knew that in just an hour the dancing would continue once more, and that even if it would be more manageable now, she would have to deal with it for many days.

"If you don't mind me asking," she said to Rainbow, "with that beginners' book, how long would it take for Izzy to do the spell?"

Chapter 9: The Last Performance

"Wow, Pipp!" Sunny stated. "That's really elegant of you!"

"Yeah. But I feel like the wings are helping you out a bit," Hitch commented.

Sparky, still being a baby, could not really use his words like the others, but given by his high-pitched gibberish and happy clapping, the dragon was definitely entertained by the sight before him.

"Thanks, Sunny," Pipp replied. "But if I'm being honest the sissonne is kind of an easy ballet technique. It's basically just jumping around."

"But you're using your wings, right?" Hitch asked.

"Technically, the shoes are making her fly," Zipp answered, her eyes focused on a book. "But to be honest, our ballet classes were different from those unicorns or earth ponies may have taken, since our teachers instructed us on how to use our wings to make our dancing better."

"Yep. Zipp got it right, Hitch," Pipp said. "The shoes are controlling my wings. But even if they didn't, I wouldn't hesitate to fly if it meant showing off some nice moves."

The living room was the place where everypony --- and dragon --- wanted to be for today. No one knew what to do outside at Maretime Bay that wasn't already done this week, so the gang --- minus Izzy --- decided to stay at the Brighthouse to do their own thing. Eventually, Pipp came downstairs during one of her breaks and asked everypony if they wanted to watch her dance for the remaining two hours she had left.

Unlike two weeks ago, Pipp had become accustomed to the dancing that the shoes made her perform. It had become as habitual as the nightly ritual one of brushing their teeth before bed. For the past several days all Pipp had to do was get up out of bed, clean themselves up, get breakfast, and then say to her shoes that it was "Time to dance", that way she could through with the task early in the day.

It was quite easy for her by now. All the princess had to do was dance for two hours, take a quick one-hour break by saying "Let's take five", and then finish up her dancing for another two hours. There were some drawbacks though due to this new schedule. PIpp's involvement time with Mane Melody was cut in half, and her blogs, vlogs, and other projects that her pippsqueaks adore were not as often as they used to be.

But if Pipp was being honest... she had grew somewhat fond of the dancing.

Thanks to the information provided by Rainbow, Pipp realized that the shoes would not restrict her from a certain type of dance style that suited her --- and in addition did she not have to do any moves that she saw as too hard on her body. Indeed, the pegasus took advantage of the opportunity provided to her to try out as many styles as possible.

At first, after Rainbow's visit, Pipp saw it as best to try out salsa dancing, as it seemed to be the right style for her --- with it being passionate and exciting yet something easy for beginners. She even managed to get Izzy, Hitch, and Sunny to be her partners at times. When salsa seemed a bit boring, she switched over to swing. Moves like the lindy hop and jitterbug, though more interesting with a partner, were still fun to do even when she was by herself.

The polka and the waltz were also enjoyable styles for the last few days, with the former involving a lot of quick kicks of the hindlegs while the latter was well-paced and elegant. But for the past two days, Pipp wanted to focus on ballet, since it was a style that she was familiar with since being a filly.

Today, she started off with a few ballet techniques. Pipp could not remember everything she did this morning, as her focus on dancing often left her mind occupied with thoughts that came rapidly and yet were forgotten rather quickly. However, she could recall doing both an emboite, which was rather fun for her as it involved a lot of spinning. Right now, though, she was doing a sissonne --- a ballet move in which Pipp would have to jump up into the air with her hindlegs either separated horizontally or vertically with one leg stretched forward and the other stretched backward.

Excluding Zipp, who was still buried in her reading, everypony in the living room was so intrigued by Pipp's ballet that they did not notice the front door opening. The first to enter the house was Izzy, who, with a big smile, looked around her surrounding until she saw her friends. As the unicorn walked over to the living room, Rainbow came through the door as well, still wearing her brown coat as well as a satchel.

"Hey, guys! I think I can do it!" Izzy yelled excitedly. "I know it's been days, but I think I can do the disabling spell!"

Sunny, Hitch, and Zipp each greeted Izzy and Rainbow immediately. Pipp herself took a bit longer to respond.

"Hey, girl!" she said. "Hey, Rainbow. I just got a few minutes left, then I'll be done. Are you sure you can do it, Iz?"

The unicorn nodded. "Yep. I used the spell on a few small crystals and --- boom! --- the magic just came out of them! Those training books really came in handy."

"I didn't want to waste using the spell on one of the antiques," Rainbow added in, "since the shoes seem to be the only things from the store that actually work. So, I went to Bridlewood with Izzy to use the spell on the crystals there."

"Wow! You hear that Pipp?" Hitch asked. "You can go back to your usual routine soon!"

"Yeah, Hitch, that's... great," Pipp said.

Sunny got up from her spot on the couch, followed closely by Sparky, who had left HItch's side.

"Rainbow. While Pipp is finishing up, is there anything I can get you from the kitchen? I'm sure we still have enough drinks and snacks."

The blue pegasus followed the earth pony and the dragon into the kitchen. "Um, sure. I'm a little parched after coming straight here."

"Sunny," Hitch called out. "If you're going to give Sparky something, don't go overboard. I still have plans for lunch."

After Sunny helped Rainbow and Sparky in the kitchen, they all came back to the living room to wait on Pipp, who had abandoned the sissonne in favor of another ballet form. While Izzy and Sparky were left mesmerized by Pipp's performance, and while Zipp kept her eyes glued to her book, Sunny and Hitch struck up a conversation with Rainbow about her store.

Rainbow mentioned that after ponies learned about Pipp's shoes, she started getting more customers that were interested in her antiques, even if most of them did not work as they used to. When Hitch brought up how he might have to get involved if the antiques ended up hurting ponies, Rainbow stated that she had learned from her experience with Pipp and had only sold items that would not cause any danger or inconveniences to those who bought them.

After twirling down from the air, Pipp readied herself for either another jump or a sprint. But instead, nothing came about with her legs. For a quick few seconds, the princess simply remained stationary, waiting for the shoes to do their usual thing.

"Pipp? Are you okay?" Sunny asked.

When her friend spoke, Pipp realized what was happening. Her four hours were up and the shoes were done for the day. Their last day.

"Sorry, Sun," Pipp said. "Just had some thoughts on my mind."

Izzy nearly launched herself into the air when she lept from her spot on the couch. "So you're ready for me to do the spell? Cause I'm a bit excited to do it again."

Pipp pawed her forehoof at the floor. "Yeah, Iz. You can say that. Just let me take them off real quick."

Twisting all four hooves against the floor, Pipp was able to slip out of the red dancing shoes. She left them where they were and backed away from them, knowing that Izzy would soon do her thing. While the unicorn walked over to the shoes, Pipp regarded the four items with a sober frown.

"Alright! Is everypony ready?!?" Izzy exclaimed. "I don't want anyone of you guys to miss this!"

"I'm pretty sure your spell isn't going to be blowing the Brighthouse away any time soon, Izzy," Zipp said, putting her book aside.

"But it's very colorful, though! It's gonna be a real light show! Okay. Okay. Let me concentrate."

Closing her eyes, Izzy hummed to herself, trying to summon enough magic to make it through her horn. As soon as her horn lit up with a faint purple color, everypony in the room placed their attention on Izzy. There was no straining or struggling gasps for air on Izzy's part, but it did take some time for the magical glow on her horn to get brighter.

Soon, a similar, sparkling aura appeared around the shoes, lifting them off the floor. At the moment that the shoes were at eye level, Izzy's horn shot a purple beam of light at the shoes' aura. Immediately, sparks of various colors exploded from the aura, fulling the room with the sound of firecrackers. But as much of a spectacle as it was, the show was over rather quickly when the shoes ceased glowing and proceeded to fall to the floor.

"Well... That was a bit of a letdown," Hitch admitted. Sparky, in the meanwhile, let out a bunch of happy noises.

"It was more exciting when I was testing it out first," Izzy said. "There were a whole lot of more sparkles!"

"Well, I think Sparky and I enjoyed it," Sunny commented.

Pipp slowly walked over to the shoes and crouched down --- inspecting them so close that her nose nearly touched one of them.

"So, is it over?" she asked Rainbow.

"Yep. Like we said before, we made sure the spell worked on some crystals in Bridlewood. If it worked on the crystals, it definitely worked on the shoes, my princess. Do you wish to keep them as a memento?"

"A memento? What do you mean by that?"

"Well, you don't have to wear them again after what happened, but I can tell when somepony is fond of something. Maybe you can put them in a box and bring them out when you're feeling nostalgic."

Pipp looked down at the shoes once more. "No. I don't wanna risk it in case their magic comes back. I really need to get back to my usual schedule. You should take them."

Rainbow went over to the shoes with her satchel. Using one of her wings to keep the bag open, she grabbed each shoe one at a time with her forehooves before placing them inside. Pipp, in the meanwhile, stood behind the taller pegasus while watching the event transpire.

"I know that nopony intended for any of this to happen," said Pipp, "but I hope you'll still be more careful with what you sell to your customers."

"Oh don't worry, princess," Rainbow replied. "Like I told the sheriff, I'm going to be reviewing my great-grandma's notes before I'm comfortable selling something to anypony."

"Oh. Well, that's good. I hope your business isn't affected by how careful you are."

Rainbow chuckled. "I mean no disrespect, princess, but I think you were too focused on your dancing. I mentioned to your friends that after everypony in Equestria learned about your shoes, I got more customers coming to my store for antiques. Even when I tell them that they may not have magic, they still buy it anyway."

"Has anypony returned something when they realized that it wasn't what they wanted?"

"Nope. I haven't even gotten a single complaint or a returned item yet. To be honest, though, I find that strange. It's been more than two weeks since the shoes did their thing, and I haven't heard about a single other antique doing something magical. Given how the crystals have been activated, I can't tell why the shoes are the only things from my store to be working."

Sunny spoke up. "Either way, I'm glad you didn't feel the need to shut down your shop. I'm still enjoying the items I bought."

Rainbow beamed at the earth pony. "Thank you. I gotta be honest, though. When the idea to open up an antique store came to my mind, at first I was a bit hesitant, cause I couldn't imagine anypony wanting old boring junk. But when I asked my great-grandma if she would be okay with me selling the stuff, she said: 'Now, Rainbow Dash, you're a very charismatic and pretty filly. I'm certain there's even somepony out there that you could sell a rusty horseshoe to'."

Pipp raised up her hoof as if she was in school. "Wait a minute. What did your great-grandma call you?"

The blue pegasus tilted her head. "A charismatic and pretty filly?"

"No. I mean your name. Your full name."

Rainbow's smile came back to her. "Oh. My name is Rainbow Dash, princess."

The younger princess turned to Sunny. "Hey, Sun. Isn't Rainbow Dash one of the Guardians of Harmony that you always talk about?"

The orange mare nodded. "Yep. I was surprised, too, when I found out that was her name."

"When did you learn that?"

Zipp intervened. "It was when we went to find her family back at Zephyr Heights. You know --- when you were doing those jazzercise moves after the shoes came out of the ocean."

Pipp brought her attention back to Rainbow. "So, you're really named after an Equestrian hero?"

"That's true. It was a long, long time ago, back when she was a filly, but my great-grandma was rescued by a pegasus named Rainbow Dash. She named my grandmother after her, and I guess my mom wanted to pass the name down to me when I was born."

"How does it feel --- being named after somepony who was really awesome?"

The taller pegasus shrugged. "Well, princess, I guess it's an honor, but I don't really feel like I have to live up to any expectations if you know what I mean, given I never met my namesake. But still, I hope I'll be able to do something with my life other than collecting random stuff. Hopefully I'll find something truly worthwhile the next time I'm out in Old Equestria."

A smile popped from Pipp's lips. "I truly hope you find what you're looking for."

In return for the compliment, Rainbow bowed. "Thank you, so much. Now, if you all don't mind, I need to get back to my shop and open for another busy day."

Turning to Zipp and the others in the room, Rainbow bestowed another bow. "Farewell, Princess Zephyrina. Farewell, everypony else. I hope to see you all around town soon."

With her goodbyes all sorted out, the pegasus walked over to the front door and exited the Brighthouse. After some seconds, Pipp could see her traversing the skies through a window.

"Well, I guess it's all over, huh?" Zipp said.

Pipp walked over to the stairs, ready to go up to the bedroom. "Yeah. I guess."

"So, what are you about to do?" Hitch asked.

The pink pegasus stopped in her tracks. "Me? Well, I'm thinking about maybe writing another blog for the day, and then doing some more dancing."

"What?" Izzy stated, completely mystified. "After all the trouble that you've been through, and the training I had to do, you still want to dance?"

"Oh, I know. It sounds weird," Pipp said, giggling at the realization. "But if I'm honest, I've gotten fond of dancing because of those shoes. Trust me, I prefer to dance on my own time and not for four hours, but still, once I got the hang of it I didn't mind the extra activity. Besides, I meant to show off for the pippsqueaks when I bought those shoes, and I still want to give them a performance."

Chapter 3: The Dilemma

Author's Note

Just a heads up that this all takes place between CH 1 of Make Your Mark and the Growing Pains episode of Ch 2

Chapter 3: The Dilemma

"PULL! PULL!" Pipp shouted in desperation.

Despite no physical exertion done on her behalf, Izzy strained the muscles in her neck and groaned as she used her magic on Pipp's shoes. A colorful glow enveloped both the unicorn's horn and the shoes that she placed her attention on. In her mind, Izzy imagined the shoes coming off of PIpp on their own, all with the hope that the image would aid in her levitation. But the more that time passed on, the harder Izzy strained against the mental barriers in her way.

"They're not... eh...budging!" the unicorn exclaimed to her friend. "Can you, eh, try staying still for just a little bit? Maybe that'll help out."

In a mixture of both offense and frustration, Pipp looked back and forth between her dancing legs and an anxious Izzy. "Don't you think I would have done that by now if I could?!? These shoes won't let me, Izzy! Just keep pulling---please!"

Izzy put a hoof under her chin. "Hmm. Five minutes of this hasn't been working so far. It might be time to change things up a bit."

The unicorn carefully watched PIpp's legs, waiting patiently for the pegasus to slow down her dancing. So far, the pegasus' movements have been really erratic, with her dashing from side to side and jumping up into the air at random moments. Even when Izzy turned off the stereo at Pipp's request, the lack of music did not deter the pegasus' industrious hooves.

But luckily, the opportunity came to Izzy when Pipp's dancing regressed to simple ballet steps on the floor.

"Gotcha!"

Like a cat ready to pounce, Izzy leaped forward and grabbed a hold of one of Pipp's forelegs. As it was still moving, there was a bit of a struggle for Izzy, but eventually, she slid her hooves down Pipp's leg and was ready to take off the dancing shoe.

But just as Izzy touched the shoe, the leg that she was holding on to shook violently all of a sudden. Having not expected such a response, the unicorn was left unprepared when she was left at the mercy of a leg that left her off the ground and shook her around in a blue blur.

"What the---" was all that Izzy could speak out before she lost her grip on the shoe and was sent flying backwards halfway across the room. The landing was not that hard, so the unicorn was able to quickly get back on her hooves, but was disappointed to see that her efforts were in vain, as Pipp continued to dance. The very sight made Izzy don a determined scowl.

"Alright right!" she announced. "It's time for a combo move!"

Without issuing a warning to her princess friend, Izzy took a hold of Pipp in a magical glow and lifted her two or three feet off the floor. Normally, having somepony take a hold of her entire body would irritate Pipp, but given the circumstances, as she looked down at her excited appendages, this was not the time to make a complaint.

"I hope your new idea works," Pipp commented. She could see from the beads of sweat forming on her friend's forehead that Izzy was having trouble using her magic to pull up a fully grown pony. Though it was a small detail, she was hoping that the exercises she had been performing recently made the task easier for the unicorn. Surely she could not have been that heavy.

"Here I go!" Izzy proclaimed.

The unicorn went to grab a hold of one of Pipp's forelegs once more with her own hooves, but both forelegs began to kick at her, eliciting a few "ow's" as Izzy shielded herself from the blows. Despite the strain being placed on her, Izzy saw it fit to lift Pipp even higher up off the floor, with the pegasus nearly reaching the ceiling. Like before, Izzy squatted down and then, like a cat, pounced up into the air, grabbing a hold of both of the front shoes.

The extra weight almost made PIpp return back to the floor, but an additonal magical boost from Izzy's horn caused the glow around the pegasus to increase in intensity. As a result, the princess stayed where she was in midair, all while her friend dangled below her.

"Now we just, eh, got to let gravity do most of the work," Izzy said with a prevailing smile. "That has to work!"

But as the seconds ticked on, nothing really happened. Neither shoe slipped off, which was the prediction that Izzy had in mind with this plan of hers, and instead, the magical aura around Pipp began to glitch. An exhausted Izzy, noticing what was happening, began to shake her body, hoping by some chance that it would loosen the shoes.

"Pipp, I'm... losing my grip!" Izzy warned through a strained voice and heavy breathing.

The glow around Pipp disappeared, and with that, both mares plummeted to the floor with a heavy thud. Izzy managed to get up off the ground, but soon found herself flying across the room once more when a powerful kick contacted her hindquarters. As soon as she was back up, Pipp started to dance once more.

"Man," Izzy mumbled, as she retrieved herself from off the floor. "Does shoes really won't budge."

PIpp groaned in anguish. "This is just great! I never should have bought those shoes to begin with! I should have known that they would cause something bad or weird to happen!"

The unicorn walked over to her friend. "Well, if you know where you bought them, maybe I can bring the owner by real quick. They might know how to fix this."

"The owner said she would be out of town for the whole weekend. So, she won't be back until Monday. And I don't know if I can last that long!"

A confident smile grew from Izzy's lips. "Well, if that's the case, then we just gonna have to rely on our friends for this."

The unicorn turned around and headed for the stairs, causing Pipp's eyes to widen.

"Wait! Where are you going?!?"

Izzy's voice faded as she descended. "I'm going to get the others! Just hold on, Pipp! I have faith in you!"

"NO!" Pipp wailed. "Don't leave me with these freaky shoes!"

All of a sudden, Pipp's movements quickened and became more energetically as if the shoes had a dial that was cranked up from one to ten. Helpless, the princess could only moan in despair as her legs began to ache.

"Okay, everypony! Keep it up!" Izzy encouraged. "I think we almost got her out!"

Pipp was grateful that the scene going on was isolated within the Brighthouse, or otherwise she would die of embarrassment if ponies were able to witness this, and perhaps even take videos of her. The pegasus was suspended off the ground by a magical aura due to Izzy, who was trying her hardest not to lose her concentration. Though she appreciated the dedication to getting her out of this situation, being frozen felt awkward for her. But the awkwardness of her position was nothing compared to the aches her legs were being bombarded by.

Meanwhile, the others had their own tasks. Hitch and Sunny each held one of Pipp's forelegs with both of their own hooves. Even with the assistance from Izzy's magic, the two earth ponies struggled with keeping their assigned foreleg from moving around too much, unlike Pipp's hindlegs, though everypony agreed that they would try to take the shoes off from the forehooves first.

Zipp's task was to take the shoes off by any means necessary. At first, she started off with her hooves, switching back and forth between each shoe, with Hitch and Sunny giving her space to do her work. When her hooves did not work, the elder princess restorted to using her teeth, hoping that she would be able to get underneath the straps and undo them, but the more she tugged, the tighter the straps dug in.

"OW! OW! They're squeezing in!" Pipp shouted.

Zipp looked up at her sister. "Sorry! I'll try something else!"

Unfurling her wings, Zipp used them to grasp ahold of the left shoe and pulled it down. As she pulled down on the shoe, she used her left wing tip to slip underneath the strap once more and pulled up against it. At first it seemed that some progress was being made as she felt the strap loosen a bit, but in the same moment of realization the strap suddenly clamped down on her wing tip.

"Crud! I'm stuck!" Zipp announced as she tried to break free. As she thrashed back and forth trying to get loose, Zipp ended up bumping shoulders with Sunny.

"Zipp! You're a bit too close!" the earth pony said. "I'm almost losing my grip!"

"GREAT!" Pipp exploded with sarcasm and anger. "This is so awesome! I'm going to be dancing for who knows how long because of these stupid shoes!"

Without a warning of any kind, Pipp's right foreleg went backward before shooting straight back up --- sending Hitch flying right into Izzy. With the unicorn on the floor, the aura around the younger pegasus evaporated. Without Izzy's assistance, Sunny and Zipp found themselves twirling around with Pipp as the pink mare spun around like a ballerina.

From the ground, Izzy and Hitch watched as a tornado of white, orange, and pink ran a rampage throughout the room ---accompanied by three distinct screams.

"That's defintely something new," Izzy stated.

Within time, Sunny was launched out of the tornado, landing convenietly on Izzy's bed. ZIpp, on the otherhoof, was thrown across the room and ended up out the window. A small shower-trail of white, blue, and purple feathers followed behind the older pegasus, who was able to float herself back through the window. Pipp, as expected, went back to her ballet dancing.

"Man, it's a good thing I have wings," Zipp said with a bit of relief in her voice as she helped Sunny off the bed. "Where did you say she got those shoes from again?"

A rather frazzled and ditzy Sunny answered the pegasus' question. "They're from this magical antique store that just opened up downtown. I would get the owner if I could, but I don't know where they went!"

"Why would you let her buy those?" Zipp asked with slight anger in her voice. "We don't know the full extent of how magic's return can affect society, and you were just okay with her getting enchanted objects?"

Sunny's ears lowered. "Well, I bought some stuff from there, too, and what I got doesn't seem to---"

"WHAT?!?" Zipp placed a hoof over her face. "You got something, too?!?"

"Yes, but it's just that they were all made back when---"

"Sunny, we shouldn't be messing with stuff that we don't understand yet! We can't just get whatever we want just because it's appealing! Especially magical stuff! Did you forget what happened on Maretime Bay Day?"

As Sunny backed away abashedly from Zipp, Hitch came in between the two, facing the latter. "Now hold on, Zipp. I feel bad for the predicament your sister is in, but she's a grown mare who made her own choice with her money. You can't blame Sunny for that."

The pegasus remained unamused. "Oh, so now you're all for magical exploration. Just a while ago you weren't a big fan of earth ponies were using their magic, and now you're just fine with us buying enchanted objects we know little about?"

Taking offense, the sheriff snorted. "Hey, last I checked, you're not the one who has to remind ponies to pick up their dead plants or not wage fruit-throwing wars against each other. I have to keep order in this town and prevent actual threats, not just keep others from buying old junk. But I guess you forgot about that, detective."

"I haven't forgotten anything, sheriff. But I have noticed that you forgot that those shoes over there aren't just junk! They're objects cursed with magic --- a type of magic you allowed into town. I mean, why would you allow a shop with that type of stuff to come into town without some form of a protest?"

"That shop is owned by a pegasus from what Sunny told me, which means she and all that stuff came from Zephyr Heights. So why don't you focus on asking yourself why the law up there didn't do anything about her cursed items?"

"Guys, please," Sunny interjected with a plea. "None of this is going to help Pipp. Let's just..."

As the trio argued with one another, Pipp was left alone with her own dilemma, despite the hope she had that her friends would get her out of this mess. It took Izzy nearly three hours for her to find the others, and for those three hours, Pipp spent her time as a hostage to her shoes, who continued to make her dance.

Before the others arrived, Pipp did everything she could to get her shoes to stop by herself. She yelled at them to stop, then politely appealed to their sense of goodwill, and then uttered a bunch of mumbo jumbo like 'abracadabra' or 'hocus pocus' several times in the hope that it would lift the magical jinx away. When words did not prevail, the pegasus did everything shes could to rein in her legs once more, but to no avail.

Rainbow herself had said that the shoes were meant to help the user improve their dancing skills, so Pipp hoped that at the very least the magic inside of them would make her experience bearable. But the exact opposite was true. Pipp's legs were bone-weary from moving back and forth and felt like they would fall off at any moment, like decaying branches from a tree. Worse of all were her hooves, which were as numb as jelly, and were probably red and bruised from constant use.

But just as she was about to give up hope, and continued to listen to her friends' bickering, Pipp noticed a slight change in her movements. All of her legs appeared to slow down a bit, though they continued on with their tricks. An even heavier sense of relief flooded Pipp's senses when her friends' voices grew louder. And then when Izzy decided to include herself in the conversation, shouting whatever she decided to shout, the dancing completely stopped.

Despite her confusion and the possible questions in her mind, Pipp didn't waste any time. She sat down on Sunny's bed and took off her shoes one by one and floated over back to her own bed, where underneath was the box that she got from the store. As she placed each of them in the box, Izzy turned away from the group argument to observe her friend.

"Oh. Hey, look!" she stated with a smile. "PIpp stopped whatever that weird dance thing was."

The voices of the other three ponies in the room died down, and they all looked at Pipp. In return, Pipp gave a quick glare to everypony else as she placed the lid on.

"It was soooo nice of you to stop helping me so that you all could have your little arguing party. It's not like I was still in trouble or anything."

Sensing the frustration in Pipp's voice, Sunny was the first to speak. "I'm so sorry, Pipp. We were all just worried about you, but we took out our worries on each other instead of being healthy about it."

"Yeah, Sunny's right," Hitch admitted, shamefully rubbing the back of his head. "I wasn't trying to make it sound like it was your intention to put yourself in this spot, and I guess Zipp and I did get off topic for a moment there. Right, Zipp?"

Without a word, the older pegasus lifted herself off the ground and flew out of the room through the window.

"Wow," Izzy said. "She must still be mad about what you said, Hitch."

Within ten seconds, Zipp had come back through the same way.

"Guys, the unity crystal were glitching out again," she announced.

"What made you check up on them?" Sunny asked.

"I put it all together by myself. All four of us fighting with each other must have interfered with the magic of the crystals, just like before and during Maretime Bay Day!"

"And since the shoes are enchanted, we must have interfered with its magic, too!" Sunny said.

Zipp nodded, before turning back to Pipp. "Sorry for forgetting about you for a moment, sis. But in a way, all that bickering saved you, in a way. Are you okay?"

Pipp floated off the bed and looked down at the floor with such caution that one would think that she was looking at quicksand. Slowly, the pink pegasus lowered herself until her left forehoof made contact with the floor. A terrible pain shout up from her hoof and through her arm.

"AH!"

In response, she retreated back to the bed and gave ZIpp an answer

"In a way: no. But, I'm grateful you all learned not to put your own personal interest over helping out a frien---"

A slight bump on her side got PIpp's attention, and so she looked down on the bed to see what it was. A horrible shriek burst out of her mouth as she scrambled up to her pillows. To her horror, the box was moving towards her, one shuffle-hop at a time. The rest of her friends gazed in both worry and amazement.

"IZZY!" Pipp shouted. "Get you super glue! Or your duct tape!"