Memiors of a Mane Stylist: The Daffidazey diaries

by Paradise Oasis

Kimono's bad mane day

Kimono's bad Mane Day

*Sigh* Diary, you know how I said things couldn't possibly get any worse after yesterday? Whelp I gotta say today, things just got a whole lot more worse.

Following the crazy commotion in the Petal Parlor yesterday, I had a day here now to clean up the mess, and try to get this place back into something resembling working order. Sparkleworks had already finished repairs on the hair dryers and Twist and Twirl machine, and Toola Roola has repainted my walls. I had decided to give Amberlocks and Snippety Snap the day off, as everybody had gotten their mane's done yesterday for the upcoming cherry blossom festival in Ponyville, and I didn't expect many customers. I was just tidying up the shelves, dear diary, when I heard a soft hoof knock at the door.

"Ah-ah, come in, please." I called out, and the door suddenly burst open with a gust of wind. The autumn leaves swirled though my salon, spinning about in a spiraling swirl of colors, before blowing out the open window behind me. It was at that point, that I knew I had a very special visitor, indeed.

"Hello, Daffeydazey." A tall, pinkish purple mare greeted me, as she trotted into my shop. Her luxuriant purple mane swung to and fro as she walked, and the twin paper lantern on her cutie mark actually seemed to glow. "My friends and I have come to get our manes done, and we were wondering if you had the time to fit us into your schedule.

"Of course, Kimono! There's always time for the wisest pony in the land." I bowed respectfully to the oriental pony, gesturing towards the three open beauty chairs. "Please, won't you and your friends come in, and have a seat?"

Of course Kimono would be coming on the day before a festival , I realized. It was the one day she could actually enter the salon, and relax in peace. All of this towns other, um, 'eccentric' inhabitants were busy preparing for their next party. Kimono is one of the few of our friends with any amount of common sense in Ponyville, one of the reasons she chooses to live in her furnished cave outside of town. There is nothing this mare doesn't know, as all knowledge of Ponyville and the land beyond comes to her on the four winds. The winds of Ponyville seem to respond to this mystical mare's moods, and right now a serene and clam breeze blew in from outside.

In behind her trotted two other oriental ponies I know only a little... Juniper Jade, a purple watercolor artist with a pink mane, whose paintings of natural settings rival Toola Roola's in popularity here in town. And Jade Garden, a white mare with a rainbow mane, who kept the beautiful Zen gardens near Kimono's home. The three oriental ponies bowed to me respectfully, then took their seats in the waiting beauty chairs.

"Most honorable Daffeydazey, we have come here today, because we would like for you to-" Juniper started.

"-give us each a hooficure and perm, so that we may look our best for the celebration tomorrow." Garden finished, as both ponies nodded at their joined sentence.

"I would be happy to, my dears." I replied, sliding my glasses up on my muzzle. "The same for you Kimono?"

"Neigh, my good friend." The wisest of ponies replies. "I would like my mane up in buns, just like last year." She tells me. "But I would care for that hooficure like my other two dear friends here are getting."

Smiling at the oriental pony's flowery speech, I retrieved my metal file, and went to work on Juniper's front hooves. "So, any of you hear about what happened here yesterday?"

"We heard that Minty fouled things up again-" Juniper Started.

"-and made a mess of both your establishment, and poor Rainbow Dash." Garden finished.

"Oh, now that's not really fair, girls." I respond, shifting to Juniper's back hooves. "I mean, the girl does try her best, really she does."

"So much so, that she caused your salon damage?" Garden asked.

"Indeed, that doesn't sound very much like 'trying her best' to me." Juniper answered.

"Now stop that, you two!" Kimono chided them, as I began filing away at Garden's hooves, and readied the polish and gloss to be applied. "You know very well that Minty and the other ponies in this town didn't have the disciplined upbringing that we did!"

"That's true." Garden replied. "The three of us had the strictest of parents, and strict discipline was the key to honor."

"No talking, no making loud noises, no playing in the house." Juniper sighed in agreement. "It was hard to tell who was worse, Kimono's mom, or ours."

"But they always meant well, my honorable friend, just as Minty does." Kimono added. "And if it weren't for their firm discipline, the three of us might not have turned out as the wonderful ponies we are today."

"So, what do you predict for our dear little Minty, Kimono?" I ask her, as I finished up filing her hooves. "What does the all-seeing wind tell you is in store for our dear green friend?"

"My gift does not work that way Daffey." She told me, trotting over to the sink in the back so I could shampoo her mane. "If you want a vision of the future, you'd be better off asking Pinkie Pie."

After finishing with the threes' hooves, I went to work on their manes, one by one. After cutting and washing Kimono's two friend's manes, I finally started work on the mare herself. This beautiful purple head of hair is a miracle- some of my greatest stylist masterpieces have been crafted out of this smooth and silky mane, as Kimono has come in here for different cuts over the years. Whenever I need to work on the oriental pony's hair. I enter an almost euphoric state. So many lovely locks to brush and cut, so many ribbons and tassels to put in! Ohhhhhhhhh...

*Ahem* yes, well... anyway. As I was putting the finishing touches on her mane cut, Kimono turned back to me.

"Most honorable Daffey, Before you put my mane up into the buns... I would care to have a slightly stronger shampoo, to make my mane stick out a bit more for the cherry blossom festival tomorrow."

"Why of course, Kimono." I replied, gesturing over towards the sinks in the back. "Please, go on back and relax, I'll be with you in a moment."

As she rested her head on the back of the sink, I put Juniper and Garden under the newly repaired hairdryers, and grabbed the extra strength shampoo/conditioner mix off the shelf. Trotting back towards the sink, I noticed a golden band with many trinkets on it around the oriental pony's hoof.

"Oh my, what a lovely charm bracelet!" I exclaim, as I turn the water on and begin to moisten her mane. "Did you get that as a gift?"

"Oh yes, from my beloved Breezie Yukata!" The wise pony exclaimed, her smile positively beaming, as a pleasant warm wind blew outside. "You remember him, do you not, Daffey?"

"Yes indeedy!" I reply, giving her a first rinse. "He's the cute cerulean stallion who Waterfire introduced you to, Right?"

"Yes, he's the one. He has been courting me for this entire year past." Her cheeks blushed a deep red. "In fact, I wasn't going to say anything yet Daffey, but... he proposed to me, Daffey! Right at this years Spring Fancy Parade!"

"W-why that's incredible, Kimono!" I replied enthusiastically, nearly dropping the shampoo in surprise. "Congratulations! Are the two of you shooting for a summer wedding?"

"Oh, we're thinking about it, believe me. " Kimono responded, as I applied the shampoo. "That's why I want my mane to look extra shiny for him at the festival tomorrow!"

"Well then, we'll have to make sure you look extra special for him, won't we?" I giggled, working the lather through her mane with my hooves. But as the shampoo began to bubble and sud up, I noticed both it and her mane turning a very odd shade. "What in the world?"

"What is it?" Kimono asked, as she looked up at me. "Daffeydazey, is something wrong?"

"MISS DAFFEY!" It was at that moment, that Amberlocks came galloping through the door of the salon in a panic, nearly out of breath. "Miss Daffey, there's something I have to tell you!"

"Whoah, slow down, Amber!" I told her calmly, trying not to let her excite me or the three customers. "What in the world brings you here on your day off?"

"Miss Kimono, I came to warn you, don't use the extra strength shampoo!" The gasping mare told me. "I was just at the Cotton Candy Cafe, and Minty admitted to me she knocked the bottle over when she was in here the other day, and spilled it down the drain!" My eyes go wide in horror, as I dreaded what was going to come out of her mouth next. "She didn't know what was in the bottle- cause, you know, you take all the labels off all your bottles, so only we know what's in them- so she replaced the stuff inside with some of her green mane dye!"

"Uh oh..." My blood suddenly began to run cold, and my face turned even paler than my coat already is.

"Green?!" Kimono gasps in horror, her own eyes going wide. "Daffey, rinse this stuff out of my mane, at once!"

I rush to comply, rinsing the gooey suds out of her hair as fast as I can... but by the time I get it all out, I can already see it's too late.

That beautiful purple mane, that gorgeous work of art that was the envy of every mare in Ponyville, was now a sickly green and tangled mess, that made a bird's nest look like a masterpiece.

"Aieeeeyahhhhhhhh!" Kimono screamed in horror, throwing her hooves up in shock. As if fate had not already been cruel enough to the wisest pony in the land, her lovely engagement charm went flying off her hoof, sailing across the room...

.. and disappeared down the large open floor drain in the center of the parlor, never to be seen again.

It was at that point, that Kimono's eye began to twitch. "I... that... eck... ungh..."

I had never seen kind and gentle Kimono angry before, I didn't even know she was capable of anger before that moment. But I must say it's kind of like watching a firecracker going off in the evening summer sky... if that firecracker were right in front of your face, that is.

"MMMMMIIIIIIINNNNNNTTTTTTTTYYYYYYYYYYY!" As a loud, terrifying scream and a forceful wind with the might of a hurricane emanated from my beauty shop, I suddenly felt very sorry for a certain green mare in Ponyville...