//------------------------------// // Chapter 6 // Story: Livestream // by bahatumay //------------------------------// “I am not out of this funk,” Pipp announced to the room at large. Izzy stood up, only to sit back down. “I thought she needed a funk and I was going to go find one for her,” she whispered to Hitch, who giggled. “What’s going on, Pipp?” Sunny asked. “I don’t know,” she said, “but it’s getting worse. Sage Wisdom is climbing the charts and now she’s in the top 50 streamers, and she doesn’t even show her face! I bet she’s hideous.” “Pipp,” Sunny said.  Pipp blew air out her cheeks. “I’m sorry. That wasn’t nice of me. I just…” “It’s getting to you, isn’t it?” Zipp said. “Yes!” Pipp nearly wailed. “I’ve been working my cute little flank off for years to get the numbers I have, and then she comes out of nowhere and just talks and somehow is scooping up all these watchers!” Her lower lip stuck out as she pouted. “She barely engages with her chat and it’s just her in her room and I’m out here checking lights, angles, and-” Pipp brightened and stood up. “I’m going to go take a beach selfie,” she said, and quickly flew out the door. “I don’t think I know Sage Wisdom,” Sunny said. “I heard Posey was listening to her, and that kinda drained any interest I had,” Hitch said. “Well, let’s check it out. Maybe we can help Pipp.” She pulled out her phone and tapped. “Still getting used to this,” she muttered as she navigated. Before long, they had the stream loaded up. Sage Wisdom chuckled. “Very true! Alright. Here’s another. FedUpWithFeeding says, ‘I have a candy jar on my desk. I like snacking and I like sharing. But I also have a coworker that keeps helping themselves to it, and I mean constantly. It’s getting empty almost every other day. But she’s one of the boss’s favorites, so I have to handle this myself. How do I get her to stop?’ Alright. The nice thing to do would be to talk it out. ‘Hey, I’m glad you like these treats. I bring them to share. But I’d like to make sure there’s enough so everypony can have a little brighter day’.” She paused.  The chat seemed to be expecting something. Most responses were along the lines of ‘here it comes!’. “But if you really want her to stop, don’t do anything. At first. Then, slowly, start adding more gummy bears. Just the regular kind. Skew the ratio just a bit, then a bit more. As soon as she’s used to the jar being mostly full of those and taking a bunch becomes a habit, fill it with sugar-free gummy bears. Put some regular ones on the top so you can eat them yourself without raising suspicion.”  “What’s wrong with sugar free gummy bears?” Sunny wondered.  She wasn’t alone. The chat repeatedly asked the same question, with confused emojis flying up.  Sage giggled. “Let’s just say that too many sugar-free gummies at once can have an… explosive effect.” Sunny and Hitch shared an uncertain look. There came a knock at the door, and they quickly tried turning it off. Hoof after hoof tapped the screen, trying to figure out how to do that. The phone bounced into the air as Sunny and Hitch scrambled to regain control and stop the stream, and finally it bounced on a corner off the table, off of Izzy’s flank, and skidded under a couch. Deciding that that was as good as they were going to get, Hitch opened the door. “Hey, Pipp,” he started. But it was not Pipp. Fifi stood there, with a package with Pipp’s picture on it over a logo with a steaming cup of tea. “Oh, good. She’s been waiting for these,” Izzy said brightly.  Pipp soon returned, and as soon as she crossed the threshold and the door shut behind her, her smile faded.  “Don’t worry,” Izzy said, holding up the box and making Pipp brighten. “I’ve got just the thing.” But unfortunately for Pipp, this would turn out to be somewhat of a disappointment, too. “I like it,” Izzy said again. But Sunny gave her cup a wry look. “Something there at the end is just a little… off.” “I agree,” Pipp said. She morosely kicked the box over to the ‘reject’ pile with her front hoof. “Izzy, give me the next one.” Izzy stirred the next cup of tea, her magic spinning the spoon. “Here. This one is the relaxing blend,” she said, gently sliding it over.  Pipp picked it up and sniffed. “That’s strong,” she commented.  “Yeah. I put in three bags,” Izzy said. “You look like you could use that.” Pipp looked at her askance, looked back at the cup, then looked back at Izzy, then back at her cup, and took a long sip. Her muzzle crinkled. “I don’t know. Still has that same aftertaste.” “I don’t,” Pipp said, and she finished the cup. “I’m just hoping for a little something.” Izzy looked askance at her. “Did your beach selfie not go over well?” “I looked great, like I always do, but engagement is way down. I know, it shouldn’t bother me, but it does,” she said. She sighed. “Izzy, give me the next one.” Posey settled down for her own cup of tea as she pulled out her phone. She’d gotten the notification and wanted to enjoy this. And enjoy it she would; Sage was in full form tonight. “No, no, no!” she said, bumping her hooves on her desk. “Don’t ever get her an appliance unless you want it to be your last anniversary. Here’s a little secret: she doesn’t actually care what you get. As long as her first thought is, ‘aw, he did that for me’, you’re in the clear. If her first thought was, ‘what was he thinking?’, then you’ve got problems.” Posey nodded. She’d been there. “And if you don’t know, maybe you should reconsider if you’re even supposed to be in a relationship.”  Emojis flew in the chat. It was going too fast to read, but it looked like she had a few ponies reconsidering their own special someponies. Sage tittered. “That said, if you want to solve the problem of where you want to eat, there’s a simple solution: ask her. But not upfront, no, not like that. Have her guess. ‘Hey, we’re going to dinner,’ and she’ll say ‘where?’ and you’ll say ‘take a guess’, and whatever she says, wow, right in one! Bam. You now know where you’re going.” Posey blinked. She quickly typed her own chat message. She’s cracked the code we didn’t even know we had! Other responses followed. She’s a genius. Brilliant! Posey grinned. This was fun.