//------------------------------//
// Chapter 3: The Dilemma 
// Story: A Shoe Problem 
// by EquestrianKnight97 
//------------------------------//

"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!"