• Published 4th Feb 2024
  • 383 Views, 73 Comments

Little Hooves in a Dark World - David Silver



She was in the gig economy. She was also a little pony. Her people needed her, inspired to motion and action. That meant her life was getting a lot busier on the pony side of things. Her human life proved to be... understanding, or so she hoped.

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10 - Closing the Box

Raspberry jumped as her phone began to ring. She leaned over it and squeaked at who she saw was calling it. Snapping forms quickly back to Sandra, she grabbed it and slapped the answer button. "Hello?"

"Well, hello there!" A cheerful voice from the other side replied. "A little birdy told me that you've made a new friend. I don't get out much, but I'm glad to see that you're okay."

Sandra whirled away from Jay. "Glad to hear from you. Um, theoretically, my problem's taken care of?"

"So I hear! But, just between us, you should be careful. Walking alongside Mages? Risky business." There was a smile in her voice. "They're humans that deal with things like you. Their kind does strange things. If they decide they 'like' you, getting away can be tricky. Keep it professional! Just a warning."

Sandra found herself a little stunned by that. "Yeah, but, she saved me!" She shook her head at the thought of anything bad coming from that. "She didn't do it to mess with me."

"I didn't say she was messing with you."

Jay leaned in from behind Sandra. "Are you talking about me? Who would you be talking about me with?"

Sandra blinked, considering the options. "You heard us?"

"Eavesdropping, that's what I'm doing." Jay's hands went on Sandra's shoulders, petting her gently. "But mostly your half. You're not quiet. Silly thing." She laughed, twirling in place and heading towards the fridge. "Want a drink?"

Sandra nodded with a quiet swallow. "Look," she directed into her phone, dropping her volume. "She just seems to like ponies, so she protected me."

"Alright." The voice didn't seem fully convinced. "Just don't forget what I told you." She sighed into the phone. "The world is a big place, and there are a lot of dangerous things in it. Sounds like she already likes you. If you don't mind being hers, who am I to talk. If you do, get out, now."

Sandra felt her mouth go dry at the advice. "It's not that bad, I don't think." She slunk back to the couch. "And I really don't want to start a fight or anything."

"Little fights now, big fights later. Just don't let her run over you. Mages are good at that. That's half their point, flipping reality the bird and daring it to backtalk them. Stay safe, Raspberry." A soft click ended the call.

Sandra put away her phone, turning around to face Jay. "You heard all of that, right?"

"Well, it was hard not to." Jay's expression betrayed nothing of her thoughts. "Again, at least your half." She approached with two glasses, both filled with fizzing cola. She put one down on her usual table for foods and drinks. "Here you go. Now, if I wanted the other half, I'd have to do a little digging. That seems kinda rude, so I'll pass." She sipped from her bubbling soda with a satisfied hum.

Sandra stared into her glass for a moment, before taking a careful sip. It didn't taste like anything wrong, so she drank more. "Alright, um, how do you like being a Mage?"

Jay blinked once, staring at Sandra a moment. "They mentioned that? Neon Christ on a stick." She rolled her eyes grandly. "I wasn't specifically trying to hide that. Ratting out people like that? A little rude. You tell them next time you chat."

Sandra was half-sitting in her seat, awkwardly curled in on herself. "She's just concerned for me."

"I hear that." Jay slouched in her seat. "Silly girl, what would I do to you?" She reached and soon was patting Sandra on the shoulder. "I've been pretty upfront. You're a delightful vtuber that only got better the more I learned about you. You're also an adorable pony. You have an adorable pony for a boyfriend. All positives in my book."

Sandra gripped the drink harder, squirming as Jay kept petting her. "Thanks, but the rest of my herd can't come over. Can I tell them about you?"

Jay laughed at that. "If you don't trust me, why would you bring a whole more ponies over for me to squee all over? I'm not opposed, if they're as nice as you are. My own personal petting zoo, I can think of worse things."

Sandra tilted her head slightly. "I've known you for one day."

"It's been an eventful day." Jay waggled her brows. "One of those 'days that could last a lifetime' deals." She drummed her fingers together. "Look, you're not my prisoner." She waved towards her front door. "If you want to head out, I'm not stopping you. Or you can relax, knowing a big scary mage has your back."

Sandra looked down at her drink, then took another sip. "Thanks, but how is someone like you okay with ponies? You said you already knew about them before I came around."

Jay stared off into the distance, gathering her thoughts. "I've heard rumors. Advantage of being online constantly, plenty of opportunities to hear about things, especially if you're looking." She sat at her computer and swiveled to face her computer properly. "People that are ponies, like the wolves, but significantly less snarly, or prone to lacerations?"

Sandra took a deep breath. "They can be like that. Wolves have a tendency to attack first, talk later. Which is fine if you're as tough as they are, but bad news if you're not." She looked down at her hands. "Ponies can get pretty mean too, but not usually. Most of them just want to be left alone."

"Oh, so you don't care if I start 'projecting' images onto every media station on the planet?" Jay snorted softly. "I wouldn't, but I doubt that'd make you happy."

Sandra stiffened tightly. "None of us like tattle tells."

Jay wagged a finger. "You're right on that. Not a single creature I've met likes anyone that tells their secrets. Well, I'm not tattle, as you put it. That's just rude." She settled back in her seat. "Let me tell you about what I've found out, for my own part. Wolves, angry dogs, snarly things? We keep away from each other. Ponies, adorable, but hadn't actually made contact until you. Changelings, distant rumors, never met one. Vampires? Not my thing, and abusive by definition. Pass."

Sandra listened intently. "I never met most of those." She dared a little smile. "I met a mage though. She seems nice."

"We're not so bad, on the average." Jay tossed her hair. "Well, on the average. It's always important to note exceptions, and even some non-exceptions." She perked up. "Oh, forgetting an important part. Not all mages even like being called mages. Technomancers? You run into one, you get away, slowly. Don't turn your back." She hiked a thumb at herself. "And before you ask, my love of computers doesn't make me one."

Sandra twisted her mouth slightly. "Okay, then what are you?"

"Rude." Jay snorted in amusement. "Just a woman with some talents and a way to put them to use." She drained the rest of her glass and set it aside. "Getting into specifics is edging towards that rude zone. I'm on the good guy list! I think people should be able to enjoy the marvelous world they live in, not be slaves to it."

Sandra shifted in her seat. "The people who don't like ponies seem to think ponies don't have a place in the world." She glanced at Jay, reading her expression, but saw only interest.

Jay waved that away. "Exactly! The baddies, the technos, would take all the ponies and either finish them off or put them in a very specific holding pen where nobody would ever actually see them. A crime in either event. Jerks." She tapped away at her computer. "Me? I think ponies are great. Go forth and do your thing. You're harmless, helpful even."

Sandra closed her eyes as she sucked down some more soda. "Good to know there's some good mages." She fiddled with the top of the glass. "Um, what else should I know about you?"

Jay considered that a moment. "My favorite color is an off-orange."

Sandra snickered. "I'm not trying to date you, Jay."

"Aw." Jay snickered gently. "The odds are I'd say yes if you asked. Still, not trying to push your boy out. You two are obviously tight."

Sandra opened her mouth to protest, but didn't. She thought about it for a moment, the way she felt about him, the way she acted around him, the things they had in common. "We've been friends forever. We only became an actual pair recently." She rubbed an arm with the other hand. "But I like him, a lot."

Jay leaned forward. "Do you love him?"

Sandra looked away, her cheeks reddening slightly. "Maybe." She curled up on herself more. "I think so."

"He's my boyfriend," Sandra added quickly, cheeks brightly colored.

Jay blinked once at that. "Dang, yeah, you are." She let out a dramatic sigh. "Lucky for him, really. Still, he seems like a nice guy."

Sandra sighed with a happy rumble in her throat. "He is a great guy. The kind of guy who takes a dangerous trip to rescue his girlfriend." She laughed gently. "Like coming here, not knowing you, ready to snatch me up."

Jay wriggled her fingers at Sandra in a bad imitation of an evil witch. "No way he'd get past my spells." She laughed at the very idea. "No, he seems like a good pony. He's welcome to invade my space whenever."

Sandra played with the hair on her head, touching it with her fingers. "Thank you for your help. If I could do something for you, I'd be willing to, just name it."

Jay raised a lone finger. "Be careful how you phrase promises like that. Now, I said I'd do some slime cleaning, and I got most of the gunk out form behind you, but there's one stubborn spot that refuses to come off." She jabbed the same finger at her screen. "You still have a stalker, and I'm not talking a fan."

Sandra slowly dragged herself to her feet. "Where is he?"

"Where is a tricky question." Jay resumed tapping at her keys. "I'm looking at him online. His location's tricky, as he's doing his best the browse safely, safely tucked behind layers of VPNs. I could tell you where the last layer's at, but that would be useless."

Sandra approached the computer, eyes skimming over the lines of code she didn't understand. "I wish I knew what that was."

"It's stuff." Jay rolled her eyes. "Real easy, real hard." She swiped her mouse. "Bottom line, this guy, the one person in the world that was following the jerk we just took care of. Their odds of being related, high. I swept through the history of their comments on your videos, 85% were auto-modded. That doesn't improve his case for not being a sleazeball we should probably keep an eye on."

Sandra stared at the code flying across the screen. "Is there any way to track him down?"

"A few ways come to mind." She leaned back, hands met on her belly. "Which get progressively more intensive. It's a matter of cost vs benefit, you know? How much is this creep worth to me?"

Sandra scratched an itch on her nose. "Um, we're friends, right?"

Jay gave Sandra a curious look. "What brought that on? It isn't a matter of how much we are or are not friends." She smirked at that. "We're buddies, by the way." She clicked her tongue on her teeth. "But I do have other things pulling at me too. I can't spend all day every day watching after my favorite fuzzy."

Sandra paced a bit, fiddling with her shirt. "No, you have things to do, and that's okay. I just, want to feel safe, again. You know? I don't want to wake up every morning thinking about the people that are trying to hurt me."

Jay sighed gently at that. "Yeah, I hear that." She glanced around. "This place? My happy place. I went through a lot of effort to make it that way, a safe little haven. It's still not perfect, nothing is."

Author's Note:

It's hard to go back to that safe feeling.

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