The smell of shampoo floated through the air as Skylight Scintillate galloped closer to eir destination. Ey rounded a corner and saw it: Star Silk’s Self-Care Shop. Ey practically burst inside, dashed right to the staff-only section in the back, and immediately saw the pony ey was looking for, who was currently mixing some potions.
She looked up to see who it was, and noticing em, she folded the page she was on to bookmark it.
“Hey Starry, it’s so nice to see you again!” Skylight exclaimed, hugging Star Silk.
“It’s nice to see you too, Skylight,” Star Silk replied, hugging Skylight back. “So, how have you been?”
“Oh, you know, the usual. It’s been crazy busy in Canterlot working on the magical tablet, and there are, like, so many events going on in Canterlot simultaneously. And I love the hustle and bustle of it all, but sometimes I want to get away from all that, so I’ll stay here and work in Ponyville for a while. What about you? What have you been up to?” Skylight asked.
“Well, I’m making a new mane conditioner that will cause the user’s mane and tail to shine better. I perfected the recipe, and now I’m making a larger batch to use on Sophie for a photo shoot with Photo Finish tomorrow,” Star Silk replied. “Speaking of which, I don’t think I have introduced you to Sophie yet. Sophie, meet Skylight; she’s a darling. Skylight, meet Sophie; she’s a sweetie. ”
There was a loud crashing sound as Skylight realized a third pony was in the shop. Ey looked behind Star Silk and noticed a white pony with a blonde mane and tail staring back at em. She seemed to be blushing excessively, or maybe Star Silk was also testing a new blush on her.
“Um, hi Sophie, I’m Skylight Scintillate,” Skylight introduced.
“Hi Skylight, I’m Sophie,” Sophie replied as they shook hooves.
“Anyways, I got a mane conditioner to finish,” Star Silk announced as she turned back towards her lab setup and picked up right where she left off.
“Oh wow, so your shop has been doing really well recently—first, a partnership with the Ponyville Spa, and now a photoshoot with Photo Finish. I heard Lotus and Aloe really like your products too,” Skylight remarked.
“Yeah, I know. In fact, today has actually been kind of quiet. Normally, it’s much busier,” Star Silk replied as she poured her finished liquid into a glass bottle and shook it gently. Pleased with the results, she turned to Sophie.
“Ok then, it’s ready,” Star Silk said. Sophie nodded, and Star Silk sprayed her with a showerhead. Then, she handed Sophie the bottle, and Sophie lathered her mane and tail up with it. Finally, Star Silk sprayed it all off with the showerhead. And then, she screamed. Sophie screamed too.
“My mane! What happened to my mane!?” Sophie freaked, hyperventilating.
I looked over to see what happened, and I noticed that Sophie’s once blonde mane had turned a spicy red color. Sophie hooved at her mane almost as though it was some alien creature that had attached itself to her head. However, her mane also had that shine that Star Silk seemed to be going for.
“Shoot, Photo Finish can’t see her like this. Nopony can see her like this! If they do, I’ll be ruined,” Star Silk cried. “What would remove it? What would remove it?” she panicked, pacing back and forth.
“Water!” she suddenly exclaimed as she blasted Sophie again with the showerhead. This got a grunt of protest from Sophie as her head got soaked in water again. Unfortunately, when Star Silk turned off the showerhead, Sophie’s mane and tail were as red as ever.
“Hey uh, I think that-” Sophie said, only to be interrupted by Star Silk.
“Uhh, Soap, uhh, poison joke remedy!” Star Silk listed off as she tried applying a bunch of different solutions onto Sophie’s mane and tail and then scrubbed Sophie until she was covered in suds, and then blasted it all off with water. Nothing worked. Sophie’s mane and tail continued to be as red as ever. However, Sophie’s mane now stuck up like a porcupine due to Star Silk’s aggressive scrubbing.
“Shoot, there has to be something here that would work,” Star Silk panicked as she darted out to the mane care section of the store. “Shampoo, already tried that, conditioner, nope, mane dye, definitely not! Ugh, why isn’t there anything here that works?! Photo Finish is going to come here tomorrow, and once she finds out, nopony is ever going to buy anything from me again!” Star Silk cried.
“Hey, I’m sure we will be able to come up with something…” Skylight said, trying to reassure Star Silk while not being too sure emself.
“Are you sure about that?” Star Silk asked.
“Yeah,” Skylight replied, trying to sell it to Star Silk as much as to emself. “Oh, I know; let’s take a look at the recipe that you used, and maybe we can figure out what needs to be in the remedy to fix this,” Skylight suggested.
“Ok then,” Star Silk said, blinking quickly and dabbing her eyes dry from the tears. She got up and walked over to her lab setup where her recipe was.
“Ok, so I used starseed powder and crystal dust which together cause the shine, and some evertree sap to bind it to make sure it can’t be washed off easily, and water to make the whole thing a liquid that can be applied on easily,” Star Silk explained, reading off of her recipe.
“Oh, so to counter the binding agent, we would simply use an amphipathic with some sodium hydrogen carbonate. This would allow the whole thing to be washed off with water,” Skylight explained. Ey stopped when ey noticed that there was an extra pair of eyes on em.
“Do you mind? I can’t work on the remedy with you breathing on my back like that,” Skylight asked Sophie as ey turned around to face her.
“Sorry,” Sophie apologized as she backed up. Star Silk handed Skylight the ingredients as ey mixed them all together in a glass bottle.
“Ok then, it should work,” Skylight said as she turned towards Sophie.
Sophie noticed the bottle and held up a hoof to stop Skylight. “It won’t work,” Sophie said.
“What? Why?” Skylight asked, confused about what Sophie meant. Star Silk looked on the verge of bursting into tears again when she heard this.
“Because there’s an ingredient missing,” Sophie revealed, unfolding the page that Star Silk folded earlier. “That’s why nothing Star Silk tried worked. I should have told you all sooner.”
“Oh, why didn’t you say so?” Skylight asked as ey added a mint leaf to the remedy and shook it gently. “Now it should work.” Ey handed it to Sophie, who applied it to her mane and tail. Then, she hosed it all off with the showerhead, and her mane and tail were back to their usual blonde color.
“How do I look?” Sophie asked as she dried herself off with a towel. Skylight and Star Silk winced at the results. With all the water gone, Sophie’s mane and tail looked extremely dry and dull.
“Ouch, I forgot to mention that since the remedy reacts with the binding agent, it leaves your mane and tail extremely dry and dull. And reapplying the mane conditioner from earlier would not end well,” Skylight explained.
“Oh,” Sophie replied as she realized what that meant. Her ears drooped, only to suddenly perk up again. “Wait a minute; Photo Finish never said that it had to be me in the photo shoot, right?” Sophie asked.
“Oh yeah, why don’t you do it?” Skylight asked.
“Me? Oh, I could never…” Star Silk said, trailing off when she realized the other two ponies were staring back at her. “Well I‘m the only one that could do it,” Star Silk replied, laughing nervously. She walked back to her lab setup nervously and checked the recipe multiple times for no folded pages as she mixed the ingredients together.
“Please, wait outside,” Star Silk said as she finished mixing the ingredients together, gesturing to the customer section of the store. Skylight and Sophie walked out and waited outside.
Skylight could feel eir heartbeat a million times a minute as ey waited for Star Silk’s results. The minutes seemed to stretch on for hours as Skylight patiently anticipated the results. Skylight tried to do some writing and drawing on eir magical tablet while ey waited, but ey found it hard to concentrate.
“Are you done yet!?” Sophie shouted, nearing the end of her patience.
“I’m done!” Star Silk sang as she stepped out for Skylight and Sophie to see.
“Wow, you look amazing!” Skylight complimented. “The mane conditioner’s shine perfectly compliments your purple mane and tail!”
“Thanks!” Star Silk replied.
