The Tale of Neon Light

by DeffBwade

Chapter 11: Mane Melody

The Tale of Neon Light

Written by DeffBwade

Chapter 11: Mane Melody

---

Adjusting to my new environment, my new home, wasn't hard. It was all about remembering where each room was, which drawers contained what, establishing a routine, etc.

If I'm being honest, I kind of like it here more than my last apartment. It wasn't bad or anything considering it was in Zephyr Heights, but it just seems more...my style here in Maritime Bay. Everything here doesn't look too modern or extravagant (not that there's anything wrong with that), just simple materials. You don't hear the bustling activities of everyday citizens going about their days most of the time. And when you look through the window, you get a nice view of the horizon where the ocean and sky meet rather than just the town square.

Even my neighbors are better than my previous ones.

---

2 days ago

---

After furnishing up my apartment, Hitch came up with the idea of giving us a tour around Maritime Bay to see what this town has to offer, to which we all agreed.

It would've went smoothly, but just when it began, Izzy ended up getting trapped in some metal box. Turns out, before the three tribes united and magic returned, the earth ponies set up these unicorns traps in case of an invasion. And Izzy just so happened to step on one that apparently wasn't deactivated.

We tried hitting the release button, but surprise surprise, the world decided to say "screw you, that button ain't gonna work."

Somehow, though, Izzy was able to levitate the box off the ground, and by extension, herself. It was almost comical to look at.

I decided not to question it...out loud at least.

Nevertheless, we proceeded with the tour with a floating box with a cheery unicorn inside. We went through the town square (which Izzy ended up accidently wrecking), an art museum called the Houvre, a forest with bridges and swings to have fun, and the beach.

All of which with Izzy stuck in a box. And said box was strong. Even after it landed on a rock after falling from a great height, it was the rock that broke.

Eventually, we managed to get Izzy out of the box by hitting an emergency release button...only for Hitch to get stuck in another one later when we decided to redo the tour.

I honestly laughed when that happened.

Fast forward to later that night. We redid the tour (after freeing Hitch), we hung out, got some food from a Hay Burger, and eventually went our separate ways.

"Phew. Hay Burger really hits hard. So good, yet so unhealthy," I thought with a slight burp as I walked through the streets, the streetlamps lighting the way in the night, "The night here may not be as active, but it's as beautiful as it is back in Zephyr Heights. Go figure."

Entering my apartment building, I saw a family of unicorns entering the elevator.

One was a mare with light silver fur, dark gray hooves, green eyes, a blue mane and tail that were styled eloquently, and a cutie mark of a parasol.

Another was a stallion with orange-bronze fur, brown eyes, a silver and blue mane and tail, and a cutie mark of a magnifying glass and an anvil.

The last was a filly with turquoise fur, castleton green hooves, violet eyes, a royal purple and amethyst mane and tail, and a cutie mark of two crossed wands. She was also wearing a polynesian blue collar with a white trim and a golden brown ribbon hanging from it.

"Could you hold it please?" I asked as I sped trotted to the elevator as I was too tired and lazy to take the stairs.

"Oh sure," the silver mare said, holding out a hoof to prevent the doors from closing and allowing me to get in.

"Thanks," I said with a smile.

"No problem," the mare said. Seeing as she was closest to the buttons, she asked, "What floor?"

"Fourth."

"Isn't that a coincidence?" she said with a bit of chuckle as she only pressed the button to the fourth floor, "I don't think I've seen you around here before. Are you new here?"

"Yeah. I actually just moved in earlier this afternoon."

"Well, let me be the first to welcome you to the building. I'm Silver Bonnet," she introduced herself before pointing to the stallion, who up until now had a bit of a firm expression, but then gave me a small smile and nodded in greeting, "My brother, Cobalt Justice," she then pointed to the filly who gave me a gentle wave while sort of hiding behind her, "And my daughter, Moonlight Rose."

"H-hello," Moonlight meekly said, to which I waved back.

"Neon Light. It's nice to meet you all," I greeted as the elevator doors opened and we all got and started walking the same direction, "So how long have you all been here?"

"About a week now. Soon after magic returned, I decided to use my talent with fabric to open a shop here," Silver said, gesturing to her cutie mark, "And Cobalt here decided to retire early to help me take care of Moonlight."

"That's sibling love right there," I said with a chuckle, "Not that I know what it's like because...no siblings. But my two closest friends are sisters. So...I guess I know what it's like?"

Just as I reached my apartment, I saw that Silver and her family went to the one literally across from mine.

"Huh, look at that. Neighbors," I pointed out.

"I guess we are. Well, I don't want to hold you for too long and I got to get my daughter to sleep. If you ever need anything, just let us know," Silver offered.

"Thanks Ms. Bonnet," I said.

"No problem. And please just call me Silver."

---

Based on first impressions, nice folks.

Let's just say the last neighbors I had were a bit on the entitled side. Thankfully, I never interacted with them much, and therefore didn't have much flak with them.

"Hmm. Maybe I should ask Silver about some clothes for when the winter season comes around. Wait...does it even snow here in Maritime Bay?" I thought before realizing, "Speaking of shops..."

---

Many ponies from around Maritime Bay were entering a white brick building with light pink trim and a dark gray roof, and its establishment's logo is made up of two music notes each shaped like the letter "M" in the front of it.

Mares and gentlecolts, welcome to Mane Melody. Run by the one and only Princess Pipp Petals, aka my friend.

A few days ago, Pipp decided that she wanted to share her gift of beauty and style, hence why she decided to open up a salon. Thanks to the rest of use, she was able to create one in her image. There was even a karaoke stage due to her love for singing.

Not that I would ever go up because I'm a terrible singer.

Nevertheless, me and the others decided to go to Mane Melody for its grand opening.

Cue the music for said opening.

Clickity clack, who's that?
It's your girl Pipp, styling with a brand new track
Setting up shop, got a brand new gig
With colors that pop and a drip so big

Pipp flew all around the salon styling the manes of everypony present, including ours.

Come in and get your hooves buffed, your mane puffed
Everypony's getting their tail fluffed

She started with Sunny who was casually sipping on a drink and, by the power of magic, she twirled her around, styling her mane with a ponytail and prompting her to smile at her new look. Pipp then went to Hitch and twirled him around, styling his mane so that it'll be more combed to one side, to which he smiled at this. She then went to me, twirled me around, and styled my mane to be more combed upwards.

Dance to the beat, dance to the beat
Who could ever sit still with a groove this sweet?

"Heh. Now I just to dye my mane and I'll pretty much be a carbon copy of Zipp. It's still good, though," I thought as I smiled and nodded my head in thanks, "Speaking of Zipp, where is she?"

I looked to my right and saw an empty seat instead of the white pegasus. Pipp, I guess assuming her sister would be there, started looking around for her. In my peripheral vision, though, I saw the aforementioned white pegasus peaking out from behind the stage.

I guess I can see why. While she cares about her sister and her interests and is willing to support her business (hey, that rhymed), as I said before, Zipp was never the type to style her mane or apply makeup. Hence why she was hiding.

A place you can go
Where you already know
You can find your pony flow
When you step through the door

Deciding to put her sister for now, Pipp brought Izzy to a mirror that magically (I think) showed her a selection of mane styles to choose from. Izzy, being the goofy mare she is, started making funny faces as Pipp was looking through the selections. As Izzy turned around, Pipp picked a section with her mane down with a crown with stars and hearts. Izzy loved it, so Pipp twirled her around to grant said mane style. Unfortunately, since the unicorn turned her head, the style covered her whole face, but that didn't stop her from liking it and giving a five star review on her homemade phone that she made with her unicycling skills.

Yes, you heard me right. She built a phone.

Pipp then hopped onto the stage with two other ponies: Jazz Hooves and Rocky Riff, I think.

Jazz is an earth pony mare with light turquoise fur, coral pink hooves, teal eyes, a wavy light red tail, a light red forelock as well as a longer portion of her mane that fades to magenta with an orange hair tie close to the end, he wears a pink bandolier, and a cutie mark of a purple nail polish brush crossing through a pink horseshoe.

Rocky is a pegasus stallion with cream fur, white hooves, mulberry eyes, white hooves, a mulberry colored tail and slicked back mane, golden orange wings (dope), a pendant of a golden orange electric guitar, and a cutie mark of a mulberry music note with a stem shaped like a comb, surrounded by three gold sparkles.

The three ponies joined together on the stage and continued singing.

Try something new, take a chance, just believe it
Let out your light, shining bright, can't you see it?

For every pony that got their mane styled was another five star review.

Woah-oh-oh, oh-oh, woah-oh-oh (Hey!)
Woah-oh-oh, oh-oh, woah-oh-oh

Meanwhile, Zipp was still hiding from her sister. She was (terribly) hidden by using a pillow to cover a face, but then she (not surprisingly) got spotted by Pipp and ran away.

Try something new, take a chance, just believe it
Let out your light, shining bright, can't you see it?
At Mane Melody (Hey!)
At Mane Melody

Everything was awesome.

One pony, Posey Bloom, was walking out of the door was a new mane style where it was all spiked up.

Posey is a a yellow earth pony mare with light brown hooves, green eyes, a pink tail tied in a green bow, a pink mane that's normally similarly tied back in a ponytail with a green bow, a beaded necklace with a five-leafed clover, and a cutie mark of a ring of six pink tulips with green stems.

As she was exiting the salon, she gave a review...of three stars.

DUN DUN DUN!

Apparently Pipp saw this and stopped singing.

"WHAT?!" she yelled as she stared at Posey in shock. Everypony else looked at Pipp, then at the yellow mare, who only stared in confusion. Pipp, I'm guessing wanting to not be rude, nervously gulped and said, "What...a...l—," she stammered before smiling creepily, "Lovely review, heh. Thank you... so much, Posey."

"Oh boy. She's going cray cray."

And when Pipp's going cray cray, you best get the heck out of there. Let sleeping dogs lie.

Posey merely smiled nervously, then practically jumped through the doors.

"She's got the right idea."

"So, who is ne-ext~?" Pipp sang after composing herself.

The doors then opened, revealing...

Well, remember that pink earth pony mare that was also Sprout's mom?

Phyllis Cloverleaf. CEO of Maritime Bay's technological company, Canterlogic, and representative of earth ponies, I guess.

"I am," she said in a kind of intimidating tone.

I, as well as everypony else based on the whispers I'm hearing right now, have heard rumors of how Phyllis came to the grand opening of various businesses, to see whether they are great or need to be shut down.

And right now...it's Mane Melody's turn.

"So you're the new stylist in town?" Phyllis asked adjusting her glasses as she inspects the place.

"That's me! Welcome to Mane Melo—~" Pipp tried to sing, but was interrupted.

"We'll see about that," Phyllis chuckled.

Pipp gulped nervously at this. If the rumors I've heard are correct, then a bad review by this mare means Mane Melody being shut down on the same day it opened.

"So…" she said with a nervous chuckle as she inspected Phyllis's mane, "Um, what can I do for you?"

"Surprise me," Phyllis requested, which only caused Pipp to freak out even more, "You know, this place used to be a restaurant until I reviewed it," she continued, "Free all-you-can-eat pizza? Puh-lease!"

"Uh...yeah," Pipp said nervously, glancing at Phyllis's phone, which had the options for star reviews.

"This is it. The final boss before Mane Melody stays standing as a business. You got this, Pipp!" I thought, "Also, 'free all-you-can-eat pizza?' That sounds awesome! Then again...I can only imagine how much that cooks would have to do to satisfy the customers. Not to mention the amount of ingredients that had to be used must have been immense."

"Before that, it was Fancy Filly Fashion Boutique, Painting Palomino's Pottery Café...oh, and a salon actually," Phyllis listed out the business that came before, which didn’t put Pipp's mind at ease. "Hair Today? More like Out of Business Tomorrow!"

"I feel like she's purposely saying this to intimidate Pipp or something," I thought before I noticed that Pipp was panicking...and not paying attention while slowly bringing a mane clipper closer, "Oh no."

BUZZ

Pipp gasped in shock once she noticed the bald spot that was now on the back of Phyllis's head. She backed away slowly, whimpering nervously, before running out the door.

"Oh boy. That's not good," I muttered as I saw Zipp run after the pink pegasus. I decided to follow as well. As I passed by Sunny, I said, "Sunny, do something! Distract her!"

"D-distract her? How?!" Sunny asked, but I was already out of the door.

---

Upon stepping outside, Zipp and I immediately heard the sound of panic noises. We looked to where it was coming from and saw Pipp hiding in the alleyway.

"Pipp! There you are" Zipp said, relieved, "You have to come back inside!"

"I can't!" Pipp cried out as her mane was a little messy, an indication of her having a mental breakdown, "You saw what happened! I took a huge chunk out of her mane! Who's the style icon now?" she asked sarcastically and then hit her head against the wall.

Zipp and I looked at each other, worried for the pink pegasus.

"You are," I said with a smile, "Always have been and always will be."

"So you shaved one bald spot. Big whoop!" Zipp exclaimed before gesturing to all the ponies whose manes have been styled thanks to Pipp, "See all that confidence and swagger?" she asked as the ponies were admiring their manes, taking selfies, and complimenting each other, "You brought that to Maretime Bay! You did that!"

"I did?" Pipp questioned, still a bit doubtful. Then she looked over to Posey who was checking out her new mane style in a mirror, and then a pegasus mare came by and complimented her. That caused Pipp to finally smile, "I did!"

"Of course you did. Remember what my mane used to look like when we were foals? How awful it was? If it wasn't for you, I'd still look like an emo that fell through a tree...or something like that. You know what I mean," I said, recalling the days where my mane was long, messy, and covered one of my eyes. I'm pretty sure a twig got stuck in it at one point. When other ponies don't really pay attention to you, you tend to stop caring about your appearance that much, "Everypony makes mistakes, Pipp, even if it's with something they're good at. Now will you accept defeat or rise up stronger?"

I should write a philosophy book.

---

The three of us entered Mane Melody with swagger and determination.

Well, more like Pipp entered with swagger and determination. Zipp and I just kind of followed behind normally.

Sunny, who apparently put kiwis on Phyllis's eyes and was trying to work on her mane, and everypony else gasped and smiled at Pipp's return. She stepped back for the pink pegasus to take her place.

Pipp cracked her hooves and stretched, then grabbed the haircutter and hairdryer, ready to get back to work.

One, two, three, four
Bring that tail right through the door

Pipp reclined Phyllis's seat and wet her mane with soap and water, washing it down to get rid of the poofiness.

Five, six, seven, eight
You're not leaving here 'til you feel great

Pipp brought more tools as she ruffled Phyllis’s mane in determination, styling the mare’s mane with four tools at the same time.

Shine bright, sparkling glow
Flick that mane with a flow like woah

She bitted down the mane as she straightened it out with a straightening iron and cut a piece of loose hair that was sticking out.

Vibe. You're on it
You're a brand new pony so flaunt it
Hey

Eventually, after more styling and twirling, Pipp took off the kiwis that were covering Phyllis's eyes. The earth pony looked at the finished product in the mirror.

"It's...it's..." she stammered, trying to find the right words to say.

Suspense. The feeling you get in anticipation of a final result...I think.

"It's...exactly the same…" Phyllis said, pointing out that Pipp brought her mane back to the way it was before. Looking at the mirror, she picked up her phone and took a moment to think about her mane style. While me and everypony else was nervous, Pipp was smirking and Izzy couldn't see anything due to her mane, "Just the way I like it," she said before rating Mane Melody five stars.

Phyllis got out of her chair and proceeded to walk out the door, flipping her mane side to side, but that caused the curls behind her head to fall, revealing the bald spot. Everypony gasped in fright, hoping that she wouldn't notice, and luckily she didn't as she exited the salon. Everypony began to cheer at Pipp's, and therefore Mane Melody's, success.

"I knew you could do it, Pipp," I thought as I let out a sigh of relief.

"That was amazing, Pipp! I knew you could do it!" Sunny congratulated.

"Thanks for covering for me, Sunny," Pipp said with a sigh of relief before turning to Zipp and I, "And thanks for always being there, guys."

"Hey, it's no problem. You're our friend, Pipp. Of course we're gonna be here for y—" I said, but was interrupted as Pipp gasped and her eyes sparkled. I looked where she was looking and saw Zipp sitting in one of the salon chairs, "No way."

"Really? You never let me style your mane!" Pipp said to her sister in shock.

"Mmhm" Zipp said with a smirk.

"Oh, my pony!" she called as she brought Zipp to a mirror to see which option she would style her sister’s mane with, "I always thought you'd look amazing with a pony perm, or like, okay, a manehawk or maybe in a different color!" she suggested as she went through the various options of mane styles to Zipp, who cringed at the sight of them, probably having second thoughts about her decision, "Okay, okay. How do you feel about bangs?"

In short, Zipp has made a tactical error at that moment.

Author's Note:

Thanks to ponydog127 for his OCs Moonlight Rose, Silver Bonnet, and Cobalt Justice.

Now go read his stories or I'll post your search history.