Pipp groaned as she walked around in the throne room, grumbling to herself and sighing every minute. Obviously feeling very inconvenienced about something that had just happened. Zoom and Thunder, Haven’s two favourite guards were present, unsure what was making the princess so upset. But they knew from experience it was just another over-the-top meltdown, she'd be fine in the end. However, the former was a little irritated by her squealing and exclamation of random noises. The latter, was a little concerned, a little less from her first few meltdowns he witnessed. But whatever it was that upset her appeared to have been really important to her.
Haven was busy taking an important phone call, seemingly not bothered by Pipp’s upset state. Not in a mean way, of course. But she knew whatever Pipp was whining about wasn’t something she could help with at the moment, or at least not as important as whatever she needed tp do. Besides, she was basically a grown mare now. She needs to fix things herself. Starting with this inconvenience situation that apparently ‘ruined’ her livestream. The two guards groaned a little as the young princess cried out loud in agony, like someone just pulled a few of her feathers out her wings. They may be used to these meltdowns, but they were not enjoying being the ones to get the earful of drama she had to belt up.
“Why today!?” She whined, making a dramatic fainting pose onto a cushion she kicked into the throne room earlier. She then flailed her hooves about in a dramatic way before looking back her phone. “Why not tomorrow or the day after- or any day after today!?” The two guards looked at each other. Finally after thirty minutes of squealing, grumbling and stomping around the place, she did something else. But she was still complaining. So they decided to at least get a stop to this. Her meltdowns were rare, thankfully.
”Anything we can help you with, your highness?” Zoom asked, trying to not sound annoyed by her constant whining noises and repeated words. It was clear she had enough after the thirty minutes of her complaining. It was thirty minutes and neither had any idea what she was whining about. For all she knew, maybe a popular musician retired, or the new trending game she was streaming decided to delete itself.
“Are you okay?” Asked Thunder. Who was handling this as well as Zoom was… Which was not well at all.
”It’s terrible!” Cried Pipp as she jumped up and on all fours in such a way it was like a cartoon character, Haven having to leave the throne room for a quieter area for her important business on the phone and paperwork. Yep, Pipp was being that loud! “It’s horrible! I was about to do a makeup tutorial on somepony but they cancelled last minute!”
“Of course.” Zoom muttered under her breath. That pony, the one Pipp was talking about for weeks. Her name was Twinkle Polish, which was honestly a little on the cheesy side, but whatever, it wasn't her fault cheesy names were a trend when she was born. Twinkle was a famous designer who was going to do a collaboration with her in the palace. It was so anticipated that ponies were talking about it in the town. But being the busy and popular pony Twinkle Polish was, being one of the top stylists in Zephyr Heights. She ended up being too busy and having the cancel for whatever reason she did. Zoom had a gut feeling something was going to happen, so she was going to keep a stern eye on the guest. But now she didn’t have to, but maybe she would have preferred that if it meant no earful...
“Perhaps Queen Haven or your sister can help.” Thunder suggested in his voice as Pipp began typing a note out to her fans. He knew Pipp knew Twinkle since they were foals, they hung out pretty often. But he always felt something was off about her, too. But didn’t know what.
”She’s too busy, and Zipp is nowhere to be found!” Pipp exclaimed. “It’s too late to ask anyone else! It has to start in ten minutes! If I can’t at least find a replacement- My fans will be so disappointed! They already are, but-” She exclaimed then paused, looking at Zoom. Gazing at her for a few seconds till she started to grow confused at being stared at so intensively. “Hey, you aren’t busy right now, are you?”
”My break starts in an hour your highness. Why do you ask?” Zoom asked, hoping this wasn’t going anywhere… Why was she asking this? Well, hopefully, she was overacting because she was not going to lie to the princess!
”Great!” She jumped up with a large desperate smile. Getting right up to her and grinning as she stood right in front of her with a large smile. “As princess, I have a request I may ask of you!”
“Of course, your highness. What’s your request?” Zoom tried not to sound nervous at the incoming request. Why was this all feeling so forboding?
”Well, you are currently the only mare available to me at the moment. So, I want you to finish your current duty and come with me!” She ordered, pointing right at her face, looking as if she was going to boop her.
Zoom looked slightly confused but remained with her stance she usually does when standing in place. She tried to keep a straight face. Wondering how on earth- she a royal guard was going to help Pipp- a princess, with a makeup video tutorial thing. There would only be one reason why she’d have a big part of it, she thought. That would likely mean she’d have to sit there and be her ‘dummy.’ “I’d love to help your highness but-“
”No way out! Princess request C’mon!” She said, grabbing Zoom by the foreleg and pulling her out her position, causing her to faceplant the ground before she was dragged down the hall.Thunder was shocked and had no time to react before she was gone, he just watched on with confusion, he was now alone and was speechless at what he had just witnesses. Who knew Pipp was so strong?
Eventually, she was dragging her upside down through the hall. Her wings fluttered, and hind legs kicked as she flailed in surprise at this while thing. Being dragged down the hall by a princess what not something she was expecting. Pipp was stronger than she looked! She was dumbfounded as the pegasus dragged her all the way down the hall. “Y-your highness!” She exclaimed, flabbergasted.“Dragging isn’t necessary. I can walk on my own!” Queen Haven had taken a peek out of the room she was in to see what the shouting was about, smirking slightly as she got a glimpse of poor Zoom dramatically flailing as she got dragged. Letting out a yelp when they turned a corner.
Once in Pipp’s room, she got up and dusted herself off and shook her ruffled feathers back in shape. Looking rather displeased as she looked round the room. Seeing a fancy vanity up against the wall, with a large cushioned chair right in front of it. “Ugh! What did you need?” She asked, hoping that spot was not meant for her, but she was being too hopeful. It was already heavily implied she’d be taking Twinkle’s place for the make up the tutorial. Now she was a little annoyed at Twinkle for cancelling, adding to her distrust for her, but maybe it was an emergencancy of some sort, so maybe she shouldn't judge.
“I need you to sit in that chair so the make up tutorial can happen!” Pipp smiled. Not noticing her let out a soft groan.
”M-me?” Zoom paused and gulped, wanting to have another shot of getting out of this. “Your highness, are you sure that you want me to be your muse?” She asked. “I’m not really the most make-up knowledgeable pony out there…”
“You don’t need to be!” Pipp exclaimed with joy as she led Zoom to the chair, not bothering to mentioning the odd choice of word. “You just need to sit still and let me do my work.”
”If you say so, your highness…” Zoom said in an unsure voice, looking a little uneasy about being her muse-or whatever you call them. But she was prepared to serve the princess with whatever she asked. This was something the requested, after all. As Pipp set up her phone she climbed into the chair. Curling her tail up next to her as she sat on her rump, getting comfortable. One thing she knew about these things, they took ages. So she'd be here for a while.
“Okay Pippsqueaks! The make up tutorial you’ve been waiting for!” Pipp exclaimed as she spoke to the phone. “Unfortunately, as I said about ten minutes ago. There has been a change of plans and the pony I hired couldn’t come today! But I managed to get another pony who was completely available!” She said before pointing the camera at Zoom. “Say hello, Zoom!”
”uh-“ Zoom opened her mouth she felt frozen in place as butterflies happened in her tummy. She gulped, feeling a little nervous as she wasn’t the biggest fan of being on camera. Absolutely not one of Pipp’s things. She wasn’t too certain on what to say here, but judging what Pipp said, her first thing was simple and she already messed up by freezing! Not a good look at all, who would want to be protected by a royal guard scared of being on camera!? She scolded herself for freezing up and finally spoke. “Hello?” She said softly as the phone was put down in a holder and the screen facing her. She could see herself in the screen and see some of the comments.
“What a surprise!” Said one comment. Pretty normal reaction she assumed, they would have been expecting somepony else.
”I think I got scolded by this guard once for stealing from a store…” Said another comment that made Zoom roll her eyes. She scolded and caught many ponies in her years of being a guard, so she couldn’t really pinpoint who this one was since it could have been somepony a few months ago, or a few years ago. But it was intriguing that they remembered which guard scolded them anyway, she thought most ponies would forget most details. Well, her being one of the only two blue ponies that worked in the guard might have helped, too… Pipp started to speak again as she brought in a trolly full of stuff.
”So Pippsqueaks! The first thing you’d want to do is remove any accessories that might get in the way.”
Zoom gazed at Pipp, listening to what she was saying just before she got the hint! She was about to take her helmet off by herself. But she was caught off guard when Pipp suddenly yanked it off. “Hey!” She exclaimed in shock when she carelessy threw it across the room onto some pillows on her bed. “Y-your highness. We are expected to handle our gear with care.” She informed her, a little off guard and flabbergasted by the sudden yank and throw, raising her voice as a result.
”Relax Zoom! It was a soft landing!” She dismissed her concerns, knowing she was more shocked and surprised, so she wasn’t shouting at her. But she was a bit shocked at her concern, she didn’t think any guard was that worried about taking care of their stuff and just threw them down when done for the day or something. Besides, if a stallion tossing his on the floor a week ago didn’t damage it, throwing it on the bed should be okay, right? Her reaction made Zoom sigh a bit as she pondered why it had to be her that ended up here. She knew at least two or three other guards who wouldn’t mind this. So why couldn’t she ask them? Her ears flinched as Pipp went through her short, messy mane. “When was the last time you brushed?”
”Your highness, I brush every morning and night. If you wish for a mare with longer hair, there’s a few I can suggest.” She asked. Hiding her desperate attempt at backing out of this. She’d rather do a patrol in the mountain side, sure it was boring. But Thunder sure was funny when he’d fall in the small pond from time to time. It kept happening. Or when walking at the precise moment, he’d walk past a unicorn-shaped shadow and get scared by it, only to realise it was a pile of rocks. That stopped after a few weeks, but it was hard to not smile about it.
”We already started, besides, mares can rock short hair like yours! Just needs a brush!” She said, humming as she grabbed a brush and started brushing her mane. Spraying it with some sort of spray, seemingly to make it easier.
”Goodbye helmet hair.” A comment said with a smiley emoji, making Zoom roll her eyes again. Pulling her serious expression. Until her face turned to confusion ay the next comment.
“Sayonara! Helmet hair! Greetings beautiful mane! Let it down, mare!” A random comment said in bold. Making Zoom’s face turn to confusion as her muzzle screwed up with slight cringe.
“The earth-“ She said, about to use ‘earth pony’ as a rude word, but cathing herself. “-worm does say-oh-nara mean?” She asked, getting no answers but getting distracted by another moment soon after. Who had coloured text, unlike everyone else. Which wasn’t a concern or anything, ponies usually only used coloured text for fun and laughs and rarely made their entire comment a single colour.
”Why is Pipp green here? Did I miss something?”
Zoom gazed at the comment and back at Pipp. Who was very well pink, not green, she looked back at the screen with a puzzled expression. Deciding to respond to it, no one said she couldn’t. Besides, it was clear this one was trying to spread misinformation about royalty. Unless it was some sort of inside joke of some sort. “She’s pink, Leafrabbit-One…” She said bluntly. Then suddenly a long comment really caught her eye.
”This guard will sure have a story to tell. Not every day you get a free makeover from who you protect.” It wasn’t really a big deal she thought. She hoped the guards wouldn’t be so loud or annoying about it. The stallions tended to be noisy when off guard. She wasn’t worried about ponies talking about it. She just didn’t want to be the centre of attention when they did. She was snapped out of her thoughts with a sharp, painful yank.
”Sorry, Zoops.” Pipp apologised. Zoom let out a huff as she sat there, not pleased with the nickname but not saying anything. A guard being upset by a simple nickname might be a bad look, besides at least this one wasn’t as bad as other nicknames she gets, thanks to Thunder. But she was still wondering why she had to agree to this. Naturally she had to listen to orders from the queen and most orders by the princesses, but was this really one of them?
“That mare is a lovely shade of blue, so soft.” A comment said with a heart. Zoom squinting slightly as she glared at it, ears down and muzzle slightly scrunched up. She was a little confused at that comment on why they would say that. Sure they meant it was a compliment, for all she knew, maybe they liked blue in general. But she didn’t really like being called lovely or soft…
”Uh hello? Pipp is green? On top of that, the entire room is blue! I thought her room was gold!”
”She looks so adorable when she’s mad.” Another comment said. She rolled her eyes slightly as her ears shot back. It was also pretty weird to be in the palace without wearing her helmet, she couldn’t help but feel a little naked at the moment.
”First you wash any excess dirt off, or sweat! Guards can get pretty sweaty sometimes when performing harder jobs in the sun- or- a lot of jobs that isn’t standing around. Worse in summer!” Pipp exclaimed as she brought out a soaked towel from the trolley. “Zoom here might as well smell like…” She said begore taking a quick wiff, she couldn’t help but pull a ‘what the heck, dude?’ Type face as she did do. “Oh!” Pipp exclaimed with a pleasant smile. “Is that my newest Deep forest summer soap?!” She exclaimed with a generous smile, Zoom looking like she was caught. It smelt like the trees and the leaves in the summertime just after it rained a bit.
”I belive so. Your soap is pretty nice, your highness.”
”Aww, we got a fan!” Pipp exclaimed with happiness, hugging Zoom who was shocked and then glanced at her. Using Pipp’s soap wasn’t a huge deal. At least half the guard, or more, used her soap. It was good quality, available and she made more smells than flowers and plants. She made soaps based on the smell of other things, too, like burning wood or fresh muffin. It was rare to see such variety. Then Pipp grabbed a towel and aggressively wiped off any excess water before she grabbed a pink tube of cream. “Now the next thing you need to do dab on some cream!” She said before putting blobs on her face, who scrunched up her muzzle at the smell. She gave a little giggle, “Appears somepony doesn’t like the smell.”
”It’s not horrible, your highness-“ Zoom said, trying to make it seem better than it was. It wouldn’t smell terrible to anyone who liked the combo of eucalyptus and olive oil. Also, for all she knew, perhaps this cream never intended to smell nice, judging by Pipp’s remark.
“Now, this cream is just to freshen up and hydrate your fur and skin. It doesn’t take long to rub in and vanish…” She said, scowling at Zoom slightly as she just sat there. “If you rub it in…” She said giving her a little nudge.
”Oh? Right.” Zoom said before rubbing and spreading it across her face as requested. Getting the cream all over her hooves in the process. Suddenly she felt a sudden burning pain in her eye, and she started to squint a but as it teared up. She quickly wiped her eye with her leg.
“Just don’t get any on your eye.” Pipp warned, receiving a glance from Zoom, who was displeased with the late warning. Would have been nice to know earlier.
”Thank’s for the warning.” She snarled slightly. Then she realised something; ponies are certain to belive face cream is now a guard’s weakness or something if they see it stinging her eyes. The grief this could cause was unimaginable! Face cream being weaponised would be one of the worst things to happen in Zephyr Heights! She couldn’t let is risk of that happening go by. “It doesn't hurt me, your highness. Just got an… uh…” She froze as she tried to make an excuse. “unexpected texture… That feels a little funny, but harmless.” She said, gazing at the comments, seeing a particular pony in the comments repeat a question. It was clear Pipp wasn't reading the comments at the moment because she would have responded to it.
”Okay, but why is Pipp green?”
”You’re welcome!” Pipp sung, ignoring the excuse she made, believing she was just providing a silly excuse she didn’t mean for the video or something. She started getting ready to explain the next step as Zoom grabbed a tissue and washed her eye off screen and rub the rest of the cream in.
“The next step takes a while. But all you need to a facial mask, or facial mud and freshly slice cucumbers.” Pipp exclaimed.
“Oh no.” Zoom’s voice was heard as a response on knowing where this was heading… But to make thing worse. That commenting pony that was getting on her nerves was still there. Were they not sick and tired yet since they were getting ignored besides that one time?
”I may not understand what’s going on, but I like your new blue tiara Pipp. But what made you swap that from the golden one? Some sort of upcoming event?”
Author's Note
Random story fact:
This one-shot was foreshadowed/inspired a line from “A Little Froggy Haven” (Same author, otherwise I’d be giving credit for the idea in the description)
“Besides, even tho she and Pipp had times where they had not agreed on… Well. Things. Like the time she had to test hoof polish and other crazy ‘styling’ stuff when somepony had to cancel their visit one day.
It took way too long to wash that daisy and raspberry perfume from herself… Or get that glitter out her mane…”
Zoom sat in her chair, finding herself with a faceful of a green slimy goop of some sort. It felt cold on her fur, like some sort of slime that was in the fridge. She must have had put it somewhere cold, now she was fighting the urge to wipe it off, which wasn’t easy, but she had to do it, for Pipp’s sake. She agreed to do it, so she had to…
“So, what kind of tunes do you want to listen to?” Asked Pipp as soon as her ‘dummy’ was reflecting on what she would be doing now if Twinkle hadn’t cancelled.
“Anything you find fit is fine, your highness…” Zoom said in a slightly unamused tone of voice. Letting out a slight annoyed noise when the music wasn’t what she expected. A pop song, really? She thought relaxing music was played during these types of things. Well, this was her make up and stream session, so she could play whatever music she wanted during it… Hence she wasn’t going to complain, but she did twitch a little when come cold stuff was squeezed onto her foreleg she had on the chair. She felt Pipp move it up onto some sort of table she temporally placed besides the chair.
“You don’t need to be so tense, Zoomy Boomboom! Just relax.” She said before messaging. Zoom letting out another groan. Yet another nickname of Thunder’s that made it’s way to Pipp’s dictionary! Great, just great. How many more of them did Thunder tell her about? This was out off a hand of bananas! If ponies still say that…
After what felt like twenty minutes, Pipp grabbed a hooftowel and went over to her, wiping the facial off and producing a deep, dramatic gasp when she was done, making Zoom glance in confusion as he face looked amazed. “Your highness?-“
“You are absolutely glowing!” She squealed with excitement. Zoom blinked in confusion as she looked at the mirror, seeing absolutely nothing different about face or her coat. Looked exactly the same, but Pipp was the expert with this stuff, so she had to trust her, right? But right after that moment she noticed the same pony comment again.
”Ignoring the fact that Pipp is still green. Can anypony tell me where red cucumbers in the video came from?”
Zoom had to take a double take at that comment. Red cucumbers, there was no such thing as red cucumbers. To begin with this pony was claiming Pipp was green, her tiara as being blue and now cucumbers are red? There was a chance she was missing a joke here, but she was utterly puzzled at this pony. She let out a slight sigh at this whole situation.
“Now you put on fondant!”
“What?” Zoom asked as she raised a brow and gazed at Pipp. Feeling this was going a little fast, fondant already? She thought there was at least five steps between cleaning the face and fondant.
“Of course, you do a quick wipe over of you need to if there’s any excess cream. But Zoozoo did a very good job!
At the sound of yet another nickname Zoom’s ears had perked up and her eyes widened in surprise as she looked at Pipp. The nicknamed caught her off guard. She had to make Thunder stop calling her by that specific ridiculous nickname months ago! How did Pipp know it, she thought she wouldn’t have found out since he never said any nicknames front of her, but this one didn’t even last as long as the others. Did he tell her while she wasn’t around or something? She groaned, putting it in her mind to give Thunder a right talking to about this. No pony calls her ‘Zoozoo.’ Or any over awful nicknames like ‘Kazoo’ with ‘m’ put on the end. She rolled her eyes slightly as Pipp patted a large soft pad in a small container of some sort of blue powder.
“You need the closest tone to your fur colour. Unless you are going for something else. Sky blue is what ‘m gonna use now. Because that is roughly what colour Zoom is.”
“No, I’m… uh… Your highness, I think I am cyan?” Questioned Zoom, who then looked at the comments. Seemingly puzzled by her own colouring. Was she sky blue or cyan?
“Yeah, no. Sky blue is your fur colour…Maybe with a hint of cornflower. But that could just be the lighting of this room.”
“Cornflower?” Zoom asked, wondering why she was being compared to flowers.
“Nah, Pipp. She’s brick red.” A comment laughed. Making a joke from how Pipp pointed out her colour. But of course a certain pony saw this as an opportunity.
”Oh, where’s Zoom then? All I saw is an orangy yellow guard here? Where’s the blue one because that one is not blue?”
”I most certainly am blue!” She exclaimed, seemingly offended by the two comments, the confused green commenter just spamming question marks now. Then she looked to the side in shock, seeing a large poofy pad with powder all over it go towards her, she leaned back away from it, almost falling off her chair.
“Oh c’mon, Zoom. It's just powder! I’ll be gentle.” Zoom groaned a bit and let out a sigh. Leaning forward as she reminded herself she was serving the princess and had agreed to her orders prior. Even if she was going to look silly. But what instantly caught her off guard was the quick and aggressively dabbing against her face, causing a massive cloud of light blue dust. She then felt some tickling in her throat and nose, just seconds before she let out a bit sneeze, before coughing up some of the dust violently. She groaned as she sat there, not impressed. She glanced at Pipp, wondering how long this was going to take. “Oh Zoom, it’s not gonna kill you.” Pipp giggled slightly. “See?” She asked as she stopped, watching as Zoom gazed in the mirror. Not seeing much different at all. Besides the fact some blue power was now on the vanity and table, which was soon wiped off.
”Pipp. That was light orange-yellow fondant powder on a light orangy yellow guard!? That’s like the opposite of blue or something!”
Then a few seconds went past after she rolled her eyes and groaned where she overheard Pipp’s voice from behind her. “Zoom, would you like pale icy blue, light jam, pale plum, violet, grape, watermelon, cream, or pink lemonade? I think I have a few more in my drawers if you don’t like the sound of them. But I think these suit you well!
Her mind went blank, wondering why Pipp was naming food, she blinked a few times before speaking. “What kind of jam, your highness?” Then paused. Wondering why she was talking about jam, was there snacks?
“Uh, you know? Purple?” Pipp’s response was, Zoom tried to look behind her but only got Pipp’s behind, so she couldn’t see what kind of snacks she had. “Oh! We got light blueberry!”
“I’ll take the blueberry.” Zoom answered, her tummy rumbling slightly. It was almost lunchtime, so maybe it was time for lunch!
”Good choice!” Pipp answered, giving Zoom a small stick, she turned with a puzzled look on her face. The bottom half was a small circular container with Pipp’s face along with blueberries. Sticking out top was the long, blueberry coloured stick in the shape of a heart. It was flat overwise. More came out when you pressed a button at the base, most of it jumped out at her slight press. Must be broken if it came out so much. But what was it? It had a sweet smell to it, she sniffed it. It didn’t smell like lipstick, it even look like it. Must be some sort of lolly. The texture was also a little squishy and oft, like gummy bears. With a press of the button, the whole thing came out and Zoom tossed it in her mouth, chewing it happily while Pipp stayed by her side with a shocked expression.
After a few chews, Zoom stopped. The waxy texture filled her mouth quickly, her face slowly screwing to disgust as comments sent out laughing emojis and words. She wanted to gag as she just sat there, soon spitting it into a nearby bin.
“That was lipstick. You weren’t supposed to eat it…”
”I-it looked like a lolly…” She paused. “Wait! But you were naming foods!?”
”That’s because it was part of my candy disguise line, where I make my products look like candy!” Pipp giggled at her confusion. “Besides. Orange isn’t the only word that refers to both a fruit and a colour, silly.”
Zoom felt rather silly with herself. She gazed at Pipp, a little embarrassed by her actions. “Sorry, your highness, I will replace it.”
“It-it’s fine.” She assured, “It was just a silly trend from last year.” She said before suddenly opening Zoom’s mouth and grabbing her tounge with a smile, all she could do was look in shock as her mouth was shown to the camera.
“Yurh high’ngess. Wha- ah yur duhng?” Zoom tried to ask as her mouth was held open by the princess.
“This is what happens if you eat a whole stick of lipstick…” She smiled, showing Zoom’s blue tongue and teeth. “But on the bright side, this can be fixed!”
She only gazed in confusion at the screen. The comments seemed to also consider it kind of funny.
“Blue-tongued skink.”
”Guys, that’s like some dull mustard or something…”
“Blue-tongued skink? More like blue tongued pegasus!”
“Huh?”
”We’ll be right back!” Pipp said before pausing the live stream.
When the livestream was back, the viewers got a view of Zoom gazing at Pipp with her mouth open. She looked very confused on why the viewers needed to see the lipstick was all gone now. Soon she closed it as Pipp grabbed another lipstick, a light violet. “This is how you put lipstick on…” She said, gently spreading the lipstick across her lips as she leaned back, pouting a soon as she was done. “Nearly a perfect match to her feathers.”
”Let me guess. That’s not yellow.”
”It suits her so well!” The comments started complimenting Pipp.
“Thank you!” Pipp thanked the comments, reading them too as Zoom groaned, her ears nearly flat.
“Imagine being chased by a guard in makeup!” A comment laughed, Zoom giving the phone a death glare. Hoping this wasn’t a mischevious pony plotting something.
“Yeah, it’d be the cool and rare sight, seeing somepony kick butt in a face full of makeup!” Pipp added, Zoom rolling her eyes. She sighed softly, not enjoying it much. The makeup felt a little weird on her fur, too, since she was not used to it. She looked over at Pipp and then looked at her reflection in the mirror, hoping this would be over soon.
”Alright, Z, I’ll need you to close your eyes.” Pipp told her with a nickname and a pat, smiling as she obeyed. ‘Zed’ wasn’t as bad for a nickname, so she was going to let that one slide. “Lightly.” She added then spoke to the viewers. Zoom twitched a little as she felt something softly brush against her eyelids. She had to fight the urge to swat it away or look. “So you need to go over the eye softly with eyeshadow. Make sure to lightly close your eyes so they aren’t scrunched up for best results.”
She wanted to ask. “May I ask a question?”
“Sure.”
“Why didn’t you ask Thunder to do this. I think he would have liked this a bit more?”
There was a puase as she thought about her answer. Finishing the lightning bolt shaped eyeshadow pattern on one eye and moving to the next. “Oh. Well, his mane would likely be too short for the mane style I wanted to try.”
“His mane is longer than mine, your highness… by an inch or two.”
Pipp was a little surprised. But when they are keeping their helmets on all the time, it is a little hard to tell what length their manes would be. Unless it was Buttercup, who had her mane styled and sticking out from under her helmet because it was so long and she refused to get it cut. Well, she was only working part-time as a guard at the moment, so maybe that was why. “An inch or two won’t matter for this mane style.” She smiled a bit, Zoom’s was the length she actually needed. Longer would have been harder to do the style with. The mare she originally wanted to do the styling on had a slightly longer and more curly mane. Zoom wanted to open her eyes when she felt something brushing against her eyelashes but kelt them shut. Eventually there was a few pats made on each of her cheeks, which she was used to at this point from the previous powder being fluffed on her face.
“Alright. You can open them now!”
Then she opened her eyes and gasped as she looked into the mirror, her eyeshadow was different from what she expected. They were styled was purple bolts of lighting, starting around her eye and moving outwards, fading into a light blue. She slowly gazed over at Pipp, who was now scraping some sort of flat stick object over her hooves, dust flying from it as she worked on.
“Not bad. Your highness,” Zoom smirked. “I dig the lightning streaks. But what are you doing now?”
”Glad you like it, Zoom!” Pipp thanked. “Now I am fining your hooves!”
The first thing that entered Zoom’s mind was a different type of ‘fining.’ Like having to pay authority money for doing something wrong. Like entering an unauthorised area, for example. “What? What are you fining them for? How much?!”
Pipp had to pause as the room went silent, she looked up at Zoom. Her expression told her this was an actual question and not a joke. Unlike what most of the comments were saying. Seemingly they thought she made a joke and were laughing, while Pipp was dumbfounded. “Uh… Yeah. Funny?” She questioned then continued what she was doing. “Also known as filing, refining and buffing. I am making sure there are no lumps, old bits or wonky bits on your hooves. This is to shape them up and made them perfect for the hoof polish I’m about to put on!” She cried cheerfully then whispered to her. “But, I’m not all that good at it, so you’ll have to bear with me, okay?”
“Uh… Sure?” Zoom responded as she simply rested her hoof on Pipp’s, where she had moved it to, so she could see what she was doing. It was an interesting sight, but she hadn’t really thought about filing hooves much, it was rare for her to do it as she felt it was unnecessary. All the walking she did mostly kept them down anyway. As she watched dead flakes fall off her dark navy blue hooves, she noticed that they started to look a bit more clean. There were slight bands of a deeper colour going across her hooves naturally, that were all covered by buildup. In fact, once filed, they looked a little shinier. Not as shiny as polished hooves, but still looked much better without all that buildup on them.
She gasped as her other leg was suddenly yanked towards Pipp, snapping her out her thoughts. She glanced over at her as she hummed a tune then sighed. This was going to take a while… So she took out her phone and read a text that Thunder just sent her, she didn’t get a chance to read it before she felt something poke the frog of her hoof, making her jump slightly as she yanked her hoof back on instinct, almost dropping her phone in the other one. Pipp didn’t seem upset at all when she did that, and instead, she smiled.
“Seems we’ve got a ticklish spot!” She exclaimed as Zoom held her hooves close to her, blushing a little in embarrassment. “Don’t worry Zoom, I’ll be gentle like I was with your other forehoof. You didn’t feel a thing, did you?” She only grunted a bit as Pipp pulled her hoof back and started brushing it down with some sort of brush, being mindful of the frog. She made sure all the dirt and debris was gone as she explained to the stream what she was doing and why. “So, you need to use a brush to get rid of all the dirt and debris. Our hooves touch-who knows what when out and about. So we need to clean them first with a brush and a damp cloth. Occasionally you may need to use a hoof pick if you’ve been in the dirt. Some ponies are more ticklish than others, but be mindful of the frog. It’s not easy to hit accidentally if you are paying attention. But be careful when cleaning somepony's, it’s the most sensitive part of out hooves, like how Zoom demonstrated for us then.” She said. Getting a glance from Zoom who felt that comment implied she did that to her frog deliberately. She glanced at her underhoof while Pipp was wiping it down with a damp cloth and filing down dead bits.
The hoof was pretty much a U shape, but there was a heart-shape marking in the middle, covering some of the area where the sole and the frog was. Unlike their ancestors who were reported to not have such markings. Maybe it was a result of no magic for generations? Who knows.
She couldn’t help but let out a sigh as her tummy rumbled. Hoping this would be over soon. But not wanting to say anything. She had to do this. It was a request by the princess and she agreed to it. The comments were seemingly enjoying it, not feeling bored unlike how she was, weird. Well, until there was a very long comment that obtained the stream’s attention, apparently. Zoom was able to give it a read before it vanished, her face screwed up in disgust as she glared at the details of somepony’s frog getting punctured. She cringed a little too. Must have really hurt, at least the annoying commenter was less painful to read. Which was something she didn’t expect, but she was testing her patience.
”Let me guess. You are gonna do some cool opposite colour design on this pegasus who is totally blue and not a shade of orange?!”
“I am blue…” Zoom grumbled under her breath. “Pipp is also pink, her crown is gold and cucumbers are never red. We know what you are doing, so quit it!” She exclaimed with Pipp holding onto some hoof polishes and gazing at the comments with confusion before making an exclamation of realisation and a chuckle.
“Oh! That’s what's been annoying you on my phone! I thought you had a grudge with my phone for some reason!” She laughed.. “That makes a lot more sense!” She exclaimed with amusement, surprising Zoom with her humoured reaction instead of an annoyed one. She expected her to get offended at being called the wrong colour or something.
“Wait. Those comments don’t annoy you?” Zoom questioned. “You aren’t gonna do something, aren’t you?”
“Nah. If I get anything nasty, I can just warn them, but if that fails, it’s a simple block and report. But in Leafrabbit’s case, he somehow inverts his device accidentally without even knowing it! Which means his confusion kind of adds to the stream a little, sometimes you gotta lighten up and find the humour in harmless things, Zoom. Not every silly comment out there is an insult or something.”
”I inverted myself again! Shoot!”
Zoom glanced the comment and her cheeks blushed a little on how she was thinking earlier. The constant green Pipp question was a joke or some sort of gag after all and not actually an insult. It did make sense, Pipp would have had to encounter those common comments during this session at some point since she often did gaze upon it to answer questions as she did her work. If that pony did have bad intentions, Pipp would not have let them go scot free without at least a warning. “I understand, your highness. Thank you for the explanation.”
After that, she remained quiet as Pipp did her job at the hooves, she did good a good job at painting them. Sure the yellow lighting bolts were slightly smudged in a place or two in the purple polish. But they still looked good, she wasn’t sure why Pipp said this wasn’t her strongest styling skill. Or maybe this was a really simple style, she wasn’t sure, but either way, she kind of liked them. A violet, purple colour with a single yellow lightning bolt going straight across!
“There!” Pipp said with a smile, right after doing final touches on the last hoof. She looked up at Zoom and smiled, “There we go! Now you look fab!”
“Uh…” Zoom said, glad it was finally over. But wondering why Pipp was complimenting her! It was her work, it should be the other way around. Oh well, at least this whole thing was over and done with. But Pipp saw her about to get up. “Oh wait! But I’m not finished yet!” Pipp pushed her back in the chair. A bit harder than expected, making her gasp and almost fall off. “The mane, remember?”
“W-we’re not!?” Zoom exclaimed, not blaming Zipp for running from this. Wherever she was. This was taking rather a long time. It hadn’t processed to her that her mane wasn’t styled yet. Her stomach even grumbled a little, this better hurry up, or else she'd miss lunch!
“Just need to do some touch-ups!” She added, grabbing some sort of spray and aiming the mane, spraying some sort of spray onto it before brushing it back. She used brushes and sprays, getting it into shape and making it all sparkly for whatever style she was going to do. She wasn’t keen on the sparkles, but the shape wasn’t looking too bad. She was expecting some sort of fancy swirls and curls. Or some crazy beehive hair thing. Her mane was all brushed back, shiny and sparkly. The shape almost similar to a mohawk. Sticking out at the end, like she was in the process at flying a high speed.
“Not bad-“ She said before violently coughing when Pipp started to spray her with perfume. It was so sudden and unexpected she got some up her nostrils and eyes. She groaned a bit when she finished. She then sniffed herself, hoping she didn’t smell ridiculous. At least the sparkles would be hidden under her helmet till washed out.
“Awww, Zoom! Thank you for being my special guest for this livestream!” Pipp thanked.
“You are welcome, your highness.” Zoom said with a bow after she got up. Going to fetch her helmet, trying to ignore the fact she kind of smelt like daisies and raspberries. Good thing the guard was strict with bullying, if bullying didn’t equal punishment, then she’d be having a few teasers. Also, she was a bit pleased when she overheard Pipp make a disclaimer on her live stream. About how to always respect the guards, and that she had special permission to do what she did. She also pointed out that she didn’t want to hear a single pony making fun of her from today’s video, or call her by any of the nicknames she referred her as. Because the stream was meant to be a tutorial with an occasional joke, not to make anypony look like a fool. She had a smile on her face as she went to put her helmet on, only for Pipp to snatch it out her hooves as she raced over.
“Wait!” She cried out. “You’ll destroy your mane!”
“Ugh…” Zoom groaned. “But I have to… It’s my uniform.”
“No helmet for the rest of the day! Princess request!” She exclaimed. Only for Zoom to facehoof in slight annoyance before regaining composure, ready to make a correction.
“I belive you cannot request that.” She said, rolling her eyes slightly, which Pipp jokingly pouted at, she knew the rules very well. She put her helmet on and left the room. Pipp only shrugged, knowing she had a point and was just following guard rules. There was some things she couldn’t request guards to do, and that was one of them. Besides, that was a big one she made earlier.
