"Hey, My Herdmates!" She smiled at the camera, but the camera wasn't capturing her. It was just looking for that smile, the way her head was inclined, and other little things. It translated all that mess onto a virtual avatar of an equally smiling pony that danced along with her. "What a fantastic day we're having! Now, how many of you did the challenge I gave you?" She waved a finger, which made the avatar wave a hoof. "Be honest!"
The chat filled with viewers noting they did, or did not. She had viewers, which was good, but never quite enough to survive on. "More of you than I thought you would. You're so good! Today we're talking..."
She gave her show, even getting a few superchats out of it. "Oh no, look at that time. Raspberry, signing off!" She waved at them as she slid her other hand to her mouse, ending the stream. With a heavy sigh, she sat back. "That is draining... But fun."
She actually was Raspberry. Raspberry Sunrise. But she was also Sandra Tate. She was a little pony in that wide world, and being human was where she spent a good amount of that time. She could have, if she was stupid, just gone on air as her pony-self. But that would get her in trouble, with all her fellow ponies, and maybe other things that decided they were interested in a real pony.
That was far too many things, and too many of them were unsavory. Nope. She would be a human wearing a pony mask, even if she actually was a pony under that. It amused her, in the end. "Time to get to work." Not that vtubing was work free, but she had to make enough to pay bills and things. She left her house with a little whistle.
"Hey, Sandy." Her neighbor was out there, waving at her as they walked their dog.
"Hey, Tom." She returned the wave on her way to the car. Soon she was safely cocooned in that car. "I love this neighborhood. Nice people." She started it up and got the app going as she installed the phone in its traditional place. "Now let's see who's too lazy to go shopping."
There were quite a few, and an order came in quickly. She pulled out and zoomed off towards the first, a grocery stop. "Your... blueberries..." She read off the app as best she could while driving. "Are on the way."
Sandra pulled into the grocery store parking lot and hurried inside, consulting her phone for the customer's list. She grabbed a cart and efficiently checked items off one by one - milk, eggs, bread, peanut butter. As she turned down the fruit aisle, she scanned the shelves intently for those blueberries.
"Aha, there you are," she murmured, selecting a pint of plump ripe berries. She carefully placed them in her cart, along with the other items. At the register, she packed everything neatly into paper bags.
The morning passed swiftly as Sandra continued making her deliveries. She enjoyed glimpsing inside customers' lives during each brief interaction. Most people were friendly, if distracted - except for Mr. Fennel on Elm Street. He complained that she got the wrong type of yogurt. She politely apologized and made a mental note to double check his items next time.
As lunchtime approached, Sandra's stomach rumbled. She decided to treat herself to a quick burger before her 1PM stream. Her phone dinged with another grocery order. "Ugh, more blueberries?" she laughed. She didn't mind really - it was all part of the job. And she took pride in providing good service, even to the fussiest of customers. Sandra couldn't imagine doing anything else. This work perfectly suited her cheery, helpful nature.
But that address. She had never seen it before. Still, it wasn't her job to filter the addresses. She grabbed everything on their list. "I'll turn off the app the moment this is in your hands. Eat time, stream time..." Sandra pulled in front of a lonely little house. She slid from her car, bag in hand, and hurried up to the front step. "No contact, good." She put it down, snapped a picture of it, and turned to flee.
The door opened before she got far. "Thanks." A male voice.
She turned to offer a smile. That was polite, and got tips. "You..." She trailed off. The man had obvious sores on his face and neck and had far too few teeth on top of that. The ones he did have seemed to be dangerously sharp and he had them exposed in a dangerous grin. "Welcome." She backed away with a nervous laugh.
"Don't be like that." He took a step out into the light. "I'll tip you extra if you hang around..."
"Have a nice day!" She hurried to her car and pulled away with a squeaking of her tires. "I am not one of those kind of drivers..." She shook her head violently free of that ickiness. "Food, stream. Let's do it!"
Sandra drove to a nearby diner, eager to put some distance between herself and that unsettling customer. She ordered a BLT with fries and took deep breaths to calm her rattled nerves as she waited for her food.
When her meal arrived, Sandra ate slowly, scrolling through her phone to catch up on social media. She smiled at a silly meme her brother had tagged her in and left cheerful comments on a few posts. By the time she finished eating, Sandra's upbeat mood had returned.
She headed home to start her stream, pondering fun topics to discuss with her viewers. As she pulled into the driveway, Sandra made a mental note to contact the grocery delivery service about that customer's address. She would feel better if they removed it from the system, so other drivers could avoid an uncomfortable situation.
Sandra entered her house ready to immerse herself in the bright, cheerful world of her pony persona. She pushed the strange encounter out of her mind, eager to spread some joy and positivity online. There was still plenty of daylight left for making that day great.
"Hey, My Herdmates!" She had a customary sign on, that usually helped, or so she read somewhere. "I had to gallop so far today, delivering mail to all the good mares and stallions." It was not exactly what she had done, but close enough? "And even one not so good one, but let's not get into that. It's the afternoon, which means today we hit the news, the good news!"
She began playing clips of nice things going on around the world, adding her own commentary as she went, awwing and discussing with her viewers. "Too many people out there focus only on the bad parts. I'm so glad to share some of the nice things with you all." She blew a kiss at her audience. They could hear it, but the pony-avatar couldn't perfectly even try to follow along with that.
Still, it did the job, with hearts and other such emoji popping up. "You're all so good." Her eyes darted to a message, one of so many, but it caught her eye.
Hope you come back soon. That offer for a big tip's open.
Ice cold ran through Sandra's veins. How? "Did you know they're building a replacement for the community center that got knocked down a few years ago? About time! But good! Maybe..." She had been about to say she'd visit it, but with that stalker... She decided against it. "I'll send them a few dollars. Put your money where your values are, right?"
That got her a few superchats, people enthusiastically giving to the cause through her. "Silly ponies! Give them a call if you want to give to them. They'll thank you! I'm not mad. It's so good to see so many open hearts out there."
Another superchat came, from her new stalker. $50, a considerable superchat.
Hugs and kisses.
From any of her other fans, it would have been cute, and a reason to cheer. She forced a smile. "You're all too much! I'll make sure some of today goes right to them."
Inside, her thoughts raced with concern. She resolved to contact the authorities about the harassment. For the rest of the stream, she remained upbeat but avoided directly addressing further inappropriate comments, not wanting to reward such behavior with attention.
The moment the stream ended, Sandra picked up her phone with a shaky hand. She reported the customer's username, super chats and messages to the police. They promised to look into it and send a patrol by her house to check for anything suspicious.
Sandra double-checked all her security precautions, deeply unsettled. But she reminded herself this was likely just an idle threat from one socially awkward person rather than true danger. Still, they didn't even know where she lived. She was the one that had visited them... It was likely alright, or so she hoped.
She just had to rely on the police to get anything done." She buried her face in her hands with a weary sigh. "I thought this wouldn't happen. I'm a virtual horse. Why would someone stalk a virtual horse?" Sure, she was a real one too, but they didn't know that!
Filled with nervous energy, she stiffly went for her car, not for a delivery, but to head to a friend. She hurried over and up to their door, knocking firmly.
The door swung open to reveal a 20-30 year old male with a clean shave and a mild smile. "Sandy! You should have warned me."
"I should have." Sandra colored faintly. "But today's been a day... Can I come in?"
"Sounds serious." He stepped aside for Sandra and soon they were both in the living room, and on all fours. He was a unicorn, with a blue mane and tail, that tail swaying fitfully. "What's wrong? I'm here to help if I can."
Sandra, then Raspberry Sunrise, shook herself out with an equine whinny. "It was awful! This creep creeped all over me when I delivered to him, and he somehow showed up on my stream! How? Seriously... how? That was not natural!"
He closed to touch his snout to her cheek. "I'm sorry. You're safe here."
She snorted gently. "Don't make it a habit to almost-kiss upset ladies." But she hugged him. "Lucky, I know you..." They were quiet in that embrace a moment. "It's.... It just really freaked me out."
"I would be too." He drew back and stood up. "I'm not a Youtuber... But I can imagine, at least... What can I do for you, right now?"
Raspberry considered that. "This will sound odd, maybe... But can I sleep over here tonight?"
He nodded firmly. "Of course! What are friends for?" He turned, tail lashing. "Besides, we're more than that. Ponies of a herd have to stick together. Who else is gonna?"
Raspberry felt a wave of relief wash over her as Lucky readily agreed to her spontaneous request. His calm demeanor and steadfast support was exactly what she needed after the jarring experience.
She gave him a grateful nuzzle. "Thanks, Lucky. I know it's silly...I just don't really want to be alone tonight." She scuffed a hoof against the plush carpet. "I keep replaying that whole weird interaction in my head. The way he looked at me..." She shuddered.
Lucky listened patiently, his ears pricked with concern. "No, not silly at all," he assured. "I totally understand why you'd feel shaken up. And safety first, always." He tilted his head thoughtfully. "We should do a perimeter check outside and make sure everything looks normal around the house while there's still daylight."
Raspberry nodded, appreciating her friend's level-headed protectiveness. The two ponies stepped out into the backyard, peering cautiously around. But all seemed peaceful - chirping birds, a neighbor mowing their lawn, the faint laughter of kids playing in a park a few streets over.
After determining nothing seemed amiss, they headed back inside. Lucky bustled about setting up a cozy nest of blankets and pillows for Raspberry while she browsed his movie collection. "Ooh, how about a comedy?" she suggested, grabbing out a stack of DVDs with an eager hoof. She was still a bit jittery, but snuggled up here with her best friend, she already felt safer.