Izzy's Thief

by David Silver

5 - Doing it Live!

Remi brought up her communicator. "It's not that different. The trick is that yours works on pegasus technology, right? Mine work on kitsune technology, and there is none of that around here, so... No calls for me!"

Pipp gasped with offense. "You poor thing." Shocked emojis exploded on her phone, her fans agreeing. "We have to get you a phone that works. Pipsqueaks, what do yo say?!" Hearts and smiles sprang up by the dozen. "That looks like a yes to me. Detour!" She began walking off with a big smile. "We're going to get our foxy friend a nice phone!"

Pipp stuffed her phone away with a parting wave. She had a new job, and her fans knew what it was. "Now let's get you something nice! Got a favorite color? You like big, or small and compact?" She considered Remi's communicator. "That looks on the compact side."

Remi stuffed hers away with a grin. Emergency handled! "You are so nice! You'll just get someone you barely met a phone?"

"Mare, please." Pipp waved that off. "A pony without a phone is barely alive. I won't tolerate that. Besides, I have the bits, so don't even worry about it." She knocked open a door with her wing and headed inside. "Show me your selection!" she half sang out as she came in.

"Hey there, Pipp!" The pony behind the counter waved at her as if they were old friends. "Getting a new phone?"

"I love the one I have." Pipp waved back at her foxy friend. "But she doesn't have any."

The pony gasped with alarm. "Say it isn't so! Well, let's get that fixed." They looked Remi over critically. "Have you had a phone before?"

Remi laughed at that. "Yes. I know how phones work. I--"

"--is from way out of town. Her phone doesn't even work here!"

The pony blinked. "Wow! Alright." They hopped right over the counter. "We have a selection of awesome phones waiting for a good home. All the way from basics that mostly just call and text to the big bad ones here." He tapped at the larger smart phones. "This is the kind Pipp has, minus the customizations."

Remi thought back to the golden sparkly wonder that was Pipp's phone. "It really matches you."

"Right?!" She seemed quite pleased at what she took as a compliment. "But we're here today for something that matches our new friend, Remi."

"Remi, dig it." He nodded with a considering look. "Well... What about this one." He picked a slender phone up and flipped it open with a flick. "Compact, but it has all the features."

Remi clapped her hooves. "Ooo, it's like you read my mind." Sure, she hadn't planned on a phone at all, but that one looked nice. She clasped the phone between her hooves, examining it with turns and twists. Odd thing about the local ponies, her hooves could hold things whenever they wanted, as if they were sticky on command, which was handy for opening and closing the phone. "mMmm, I do like it..."

Pipp threw a leg over the store-keeping stallion. "I knew you were the best pony to ask! We'll take it. And set her up with some service while you're at it. A phone without service? That would be sad."

"Of course." He hop-trotted back over the counter and got to typing wildly on a computer. A new phone popped up, same as the other. "This is yours." He was still typing, setting it up to actually have service. "Sorry to ask, but who's paying?"

Pipp slapped down a sparkling card. "Put it on me. I will not abandon a pony to a life without a cellphone."

"You got it!" He slapped the card with a hoof and pulled it over for a quick swipe. "And... done! Enjoy!"

Remi claimed her box, which the store pony had open even while she held it. "Thanks." She reached inside and drew out a new copy of the same phone. "And it's all mine?" He nodded. "Thanks." She flipped it open... and nothing happened. Fortunately, the idea of turning something on was not beyond her and she soon had it turned on. Primitive technology. "There we go."

Pipp clapped eagerly before she whipped out her own phone. "Hey Pippsqueaks! Check out Remi and her new phone!" She sang out that word. "Looking stylish!"

Remi posed with her phone, giggling. "Does it suit me?" She flicked it open and closed and whirled it about, spinning it up into the air just to catch it on the way down. "I've joined modern society." Modern was debatable, but still.

"Lovin' it!" Pipp gave the store pony a hug in thanks. "The best! If you're in Maretime Bay, stop by this pony! He'll hook you up!" She let the camera linger on the nervously waving pony before she zoomed for the door. "One emergency down! See you later, Pippsqueaks!" With a click, she ended the stream. "Seriously, like it?"

"It's great." Remi stuffed the phone away. "And that it's a gift makes it all the better."

"Aw." Pipp let the door close once Remi was past it. "It's nothing, really. That's a big bummer that your money doesn't work around here. Hm..." She rubbed thoughtfully at her chin. "But we can fix that..."

"Your sister was telling me to get a job." Remi hiked a brow. "Do you have a better idea?"

"Tons." Pipp waggled her brows together. "You could work for me, or... I can do mom a solid."

"Mom?" Remi glanced about, but there were no other pegasi lingering about. "What mom?"

"I'm a princess." Pipp took on as glamorous a stance as she could. "Which means I have a royal mom. She's queen of the pegasi! And I bet she'd love to touch hooves with a new pony tribe. So... I could get a favor out of her by hooking you two together." She brought her hooves together. "And, in return, I can finance you while you're here. Everypony wins!"

Remi weighed the options. Being financed sounded good...

"What's wrong?" Pipp leaned in, looking ready to bounce, but not bouncing. "You've already given two interviews, what's one more? Queen Haven, that's my mom, is super nice! I bet you'll love her!"

Remi suddenly smiled. "Actually, I would like to talk to her."

"Are you sure?" asked the voice in her head.

"I'm here to make friends," Remi said, speaking to both of the people she was with at once. "What do we have to do?"

"That's just the spirit! Ooo, Sunny will be happy to hear you said that." Pipp lifted on her wings. "I'll give her a call and set an appointment." She darted away on her fluffy wings, already chatting on her phone. With the queen? Remi couldn't know from there. "Maybe I shoulda went pegasus..."

"It's way too late for that. They know you without wings."

"Yeah yeah." Remi trotted away from the electronic store, drawing her phone out on the way. "Wait a second." She tapped around on the screen. "There's a number already in here."

"Pipp Petals," it read as the name. "When did she sneak that in there?!" Remi laughed as she swiped away from the number list with only one number in it, only to reconsider. She went back to the list and poked Pipp, then message.

"Hey!," she typed busily, sitting down to focus on the words. "I saw your number in here, sneaky girl. Just in case you don't have my number, here it is. Peace -Remi" She mashed send and nodded, mission accomplished.

"Today's been a real productive day..." Oh, there was one more thing. She quickly texted Pipp a new time.

"Hey, do you have Zipp's number? We're supposed to do dinner."

The reply came almost instantly, "Dinner?! I'll be there. I know the place." With a chime, an address appeared next. "Be there! See you soon!" An emoji of a pony with heart eyes followed and a red heart and a purple heart.

Remi was, alas, not trained on the meanings of emojis, accepting it all at face value. "Cute. But Zipp had a place in mind..." That was between the sisters to hash out, she figured. Instead, she tapped on the address and the phone began giving direction to reach it. It was much closer to the center of the city.

She had to hike along the streets, navigating the cross lanes and traffic to get much further into Maretime Bay. "This place feels larger when you're actually in it..." It had all seemed so small looking at it from above. But nothing crashed into her, and she arrived at the place. It showed a picture of a pony reeling in some great fish overhead. "Lucky Jack's Fine Sea Food," it read. "Hm."

Sea food wasn't something she had often, at least actual fish. Reconstituted fish-like stuff, sure... But actual fish? "A treat..." Remi hastened into a lively trot. "Now where are they?"

Zipp landed in front of her suddenly, forcing her to recoil instead of ramming into her. "Hey! Pipp invited herself to our celebratory dinner. Sorry about that! She can be like that sometimes. Love her, even when she's a pain." Zipp turned away, facing the seafood place. "It wasn't too hard to find, was it?"

Remi fished out her phone. "She sent the address."

Zipp turned right back around and came in close to peek at the messages and address. "Great! Oh... Um... I need to ask her a question later. Don't worry about it."

"Getting a tick," reported the voice in her ear. "I think you're on the right path."

"This looks like the right place. So, sea food? Sounds tasty." It smelled slightly of, well, fish, pungent as that was. "Have you been here before?"

Zipp shook her head quickly. "No. I was going to take you somewhere way more informal. At least they don't have a dress code. If this is too... everything... I'll tell her."

"Don't even worry about it." Wasn't like Remi was paying. She had a hunch Pipp was volunteering that responsibility. "Where's she hiding? Is she inside?"

"She sh--" Zipp trailed off as a chime came from her phone. "That might be her." She dug out her phone. "Yep! She says she got us a table. I don't even know how she does it. You're supposed to reserve ahead of time at this place. Let's go."

Remi took a hesitant step forward. "That offer goes for you too. If you'd rather go somewhere more comfortable, I can tell her that."

Zipp flashed a brief smile. "Nice of you, but you already came all this way, and you don't even fly. I wouldn't even dream of it. You came all this way for some sea food, so let's see the sea food!"

"Aye aye," cried Remington as they headed inside for a culinary adventure.

Maybe time traveling had some perks?

Author's Note:

Pipp demands more screen time. This feels proper for her.

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[MatTheBook]

Its detective Izzy!