A Shoe Problem

by EquestrianKnight97

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."

Comments

[StarzGecko]

Poor Pipp, she liked the shoes… though I wonder if more of that stuff at the shop will start having magic

[RushingWind-01]

Aw, I knew that Rainbow had a connection with the Rainbow Dash I know from Gen 4. That is too cool, mate!

Good to see that everything came to a happy end for everyone. I really enjoyed the story, and it sure gave me a good laugh at times. Well done.

[EquestrianKnight97]

11538510
Yep. Pipp definitely got fond of the shoes, so it makes sense for her to be sad that they're gone. As for the store having more magical items, you can have your own ideas about what could happen, but sadly I won't be continuing the story past this chapter. Thank you for reading!

[EquestrianKnight97]

11539046
I'm glad I made you laugh! And thanks for reading!

[StarzGecko]

11539057
Oh thought there was one more chapter since it felt like Pipp was about to perform.

[Axolotl222]

Granted it might be because of a little bit of Stockholm syndrome, but I'm Pipp at least got into dancing after everything.

[EquestrianKnight97]

11539843
Don't worry, there's no Stockholm Syndrome going on. Pipp just realized that the shoes were just doing what they were designed to do, so she feels no ill will any more towards them.

[Nocturn Dreamwrite]

This was a very good story. Well done!

[EquestrianKnight97]

11546571
Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it!