• Published 4th Feb 2024
  • 394 Views, 75 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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11 - Curious

Sandra walked down the street. Her steps made very little noise, the tip of her shoes touching down lightly on the ground before the rest of her weight followed. She could see the grocery store just a block away, taunting her with its closeness. Jogging to it didn't feel right.

"Hey there." The voice came from behind her.

Sandra twisted to see a figure approaching her. "Hi." She kept her eyes on him. He was dressed casually, wearing a shirt and pants combo, but his hat was hard to miss. His smile wasn't setting her at ease either, though she couldn't nail down exactly why. "Need something?"

He spread his hands out, approach slowing a bit. "Just wondering if you know about the pony community here?" He tapped a foot on the ground. "I heard there's some ponies around."

She felt her blood run icy in her veins. "Have you tried a stable? I haven't looked up where the closest one is, but I'd expect horses and stuff around one of those?" Sandra inched back, not wanting to be near the stranger. "Look, um, nice meeting you." She half turned to get away from him.

His steps picked up again, hands raised peacefully. "Hey, nothing bad. Just looking for a pony. I heard a good friend of mine got their hands on one, and they aren't sharing."

She squinted at him, her pace picking up in kind. "Share what? Sorry, not looking for ponies myself. Um, bye!" She sprinted for the grocery store.

He watched her flee, but didn't hasten past a determined walk. "How horse-like, bolting at the first sign of trouble like that."

Sandra slammed through the doors of the grocery store, scrambling inside and watching the strange man pass by, heading elsewhere. She didn't move until he was out of sight. With a shudder, she stepped further inside. At least the store was air conditioned. Soft background music played to lull shoppers into a generally nice mood to spend their money. People were hurrying around on exactly that task.

She collected a shopping cart and grabbed a list. "Alright, Sandra, focus on shopping." She swallowed and considered who'd have given that stranger her trail. Jay would be the obvious suspect, but why? Jay seemed nice enough. Lucky wasn't the type to leak where she was either. Sandra nibbled her lip, trying to figure it out as she shopped.

Somebody tapped her shoulder, causing her to spin around with a startled yelp. Her cart nearly spun too, only a little catch keeping it from rushing off without her. "Jay?" She let out a heavy sigh of relief. "Don't sneak up on me!"

Jay put a finger to her lips. "Easy there, girl." She nudged Sandra towards a quiet corner of the store. "I have you under watch, and someone tagged you. You run into someone, or did they just tag you without coming close?"

Sandra stared at Jay. "Tag me? Someone talked to me, asked about ponies." She played with her shirt. "Um, do I have a tracker on me or something?"

Jay tutted. "Nothing so physical, but still, not a bad comparison." She patted Sandra down as if searching for something. "I'll get rid of it. Who were you talking to?"

"I didn't get their name! Um, hat guy, brown hair, smiling way too much." Sandra hunched up slightly. "He knew about ponies, Jay. What's going on here?"

Jay hummed gently. "Easy, girl." She stroked at Jay as one might to ease an actual horse. "Easy. Hat, brown hair, smile for days? Huh, I think I know who you're talking about." She relaxed. "Prick. Scaring my little pony like that. He's not a bad guy, just a jerk."

Sandra nibbled on her lip. "So, not someone to worry about?"

"Oh, totally a creep!" Jay snorted and shook her head firmly. "Not dangerous to ponies though, usually." She frowned with new thought as she fished out a tablet and tapped at it busily a moment. "Not sure he's actually seen one before. Probably why he was bothering you."

Sandra peeked over her shoulder. "What are you doing?"

"Monitoring the jerk. He tagged you with something simple. Well, 'simple' in that I could tell it was him, hard in that nobody makes it easy for me to erase those things." She hissed softly under her breath. "Primal energy is his specialty. Look, this isn't work for the middle of a store. You go on doing your thing. I'm heading home."

Sandra rocked from foot to foot, shopping forgotten for the moment. "Jay?"

Jay paused, tablet still open as she turned towards Sandra. "Yes?"

"Thank you for protecting me." She tried a smile, even if it didn't last long. "Appreciate it."

Jay turned away. "If I see him, I'll give him an earful for making your day worse." She waved without looking back on her way out.

Sandra resumed her shopping with a heavy sigh. Jay had a tablet, but also magic powers. Something about the energy of primal things? What did that mean? She shuddered gently. Lucky's IT job kept him in computers too. Did he have a magic tablet? She snickered at the idea, doubting it. Pony magic didn't really work with tablets so far as she knew it.

She tried to enjoy her shopping, but felt on edge every time someone got near her. That was silly. Jay said this person wasn't dangerous, just a jerk. Sandra finished her shopping as quickly as she could, heading home after paying for it. However odd things got, her debit card still worked properly.

Sandra smiled at that little victory, knowing she had her supplies. Jay was a sweetie, but what she considered to be 'healthy food' was, to be blunt, kind of terrible. Living on pizza alone just wouldn't do. Sandra carried her groceries back towards Jay's place, humming under her breath as she did.

"Hey there." The same stranger fell into step alongside her. "Groceries? Good idea. Pizza alone isn't healthy, though our friend likes it. Bad habit of hers."

Sandra grit her teeth and picked up her pace. "Jay's nice. Who are you?" She wanted to call for help, but something kept her mouth shut. Fear maybe, the fear that this stranger was more dangerous than Jay let on.

He kept pace easily, a smile on his face. "Jay is nice, when she isn't messing with my things." He spread his hands. "Name's Jacob. Yours?"

Sandra shivered gently, not slowing down. "Could you stop following me?" There, she just said it. If he was a good guy, he'd back off.

Jacob clicked his tongue on his teeth. "Following? That seems rude. I'm walking with you, at most. Jay doesn't like ponies, and yet one's holed up in her place."

"She doesn't like ponies?" The tone she had used, she only realized after saying it. "Ugh!" She twirled on him. "What do you want, really?"

Jacob spread his hands peacefully. "To meet the pony. Jay doesn't share." He tapped his foot. "She's an IT mage, which makes her into a hermit on the best of days. I never met a pony, but I'd like to."

Sandra nibbled her lip gently. "Look, Jay's not a bad person." She wrung her hands gently. "Um, she saved me from someone worse. If you were following me because you heard ponies were around, then, thanks?" She wasn't sure how to feel about that. "Chasing after horses is a good way to get kicked though."

"Ah, true enough." Jacob bobbed his head. "Still, Jay likes her privacy. A pony showing up? Interesting. Want to introduce me to it?"

Sandra flinched back. Confusion welled up in her. Was Jacob not looking for her specifically? "Introduce you to it?" She twisted her mouth slightly. "Jay, mentioned primal things, and the jerk tagging me." She half turned away from him. "Um, does that mean you're a mage too?"

Jacob wagged a finger. "Naughty girl, the public's no place for that kind of talk." He leaned in despite that. "I'm one of her peers, to answer that question. Jay doesn't share, but ponies? Curious things." He clicked his tongue on his teeth again. "Jay was vague about the pony. You're not it, are you?"

Sandra backed up further. "Jay's nice! Um, please stop following me?"

Jacob held up his hands peacefully. "Following still seems rude, though I hear ponies bolt." He had already seen it in practice once. "Can't we just have a friendly conversation?"

Sandra considered sprinting. Jay hadn't come to her rescue yet, and Jacob didn't seem dangerous. However, he knew ponies existed. A mage that wasn't a creep like the technos Jay talked about would be good for ponies. "Talk, sure, yeah." She adjusted the bags in her hands. "You caught me at a bad time."

"How un-gentlemanly of me." He reached to take one of the bags from her. "Allow me to assist."

Sandra reflexively yanked it away. "Um, no, thanks."

Jacob clicked his tongue. "Jay trained you not to trust mages well, I see." He bobbed his head and kept pace alongside her. "Probably a good idea, all things considered. Funny thing, you're going in her direction. Live that way?"

Sandra grit her teeth and marched on, bags in hand. "Jay lives that way, yeah."

"Interesting." Jacob stroked his chin, hat staying on easily. "She likes ponies, doesn't share, but is housing one? She's the naughty one. Sorry for casting doubts on you." He inclined his head towards Sandra. "Jay likes her privacy. Ponies though? Curious things."

Sandra quickened her pace further. "Not following me, got it." She huffed gently.

She fled to the apartment building, but Jacob was still attached to her. He slid in the way at the door, causing a moment of panic before he slid his hand into the handle and pulled it open for her, waving beyond. "Allow me."

Sandra trembled gently as she headed inside, bags feeling much heavier in her hands. "Jay, lives here," she repeated, hoping he'd get the message.

Jacob kept pace easily. "Oh, I know that. We're friends. What sort of friends don't know where the other lives? That'd be impolite. Jay likes ponies. Curious things, and no sharing?" He tutted gently. "She's on the fourth floor. 405?"

Sandra's pace slowed slightly, Jacob confirming things too well. She glared around at the closed doors around them. Dropping the bags, she balled her fists. "Stop it! Stop messing with my head." She stomped a foot firmly. "Jay's not the bad guy here, you are!"

Jacob spread his hands peacefully. "Playing tricks? Never. Jay has a pony friend. Curious thing. She's the one keeping secrets. Sharing is caring." He kept pace alongside Sandra. "405?"

Sandra battered his attempts to calm her away. "Look. I'm not going a step further." She crossed her arms, guarding her bags as if they were a last stand against an insurmountable foe. "Stop it."

Jacob hummed gently. "Stop what? Talking? Walking?" He rocked from foot to foot a moment. "You can relax, no trickery. I just want to meet a pony, same as Jay. Curious things, adorable and fluffy." He smacked his lips gently. "How can I prove that I'm not here to hurt anyone?"

Sandra grit her teeth harder, jaw aching slightly. "Jay saved me." She sucked down air slowly. "Jay protected me. You're her friend, but you chased me home. Stop messing with my head too. Um, Jacob."

Jacob did slow at that. "Now now. Let's be clear, I'm not using anything on your head. You're just confused because a new person's entered your space." He gestured at Jay's door. "There's her space. You'll feel safer in there, won't you? She'll push me out if I do anything in there."

Sandra flinched. "Stay away from Jay!" She slapped him firmly. "Leave her alone. Jay saved me, not you. Um, Jacob."

Jacob didn't stagger at the slap, or even seem bothered by it. "Protective, good trait to have." He bobbed his head firmly. "Don't forget your bags." He pointed to her abandoned groceries. "You bought those with Jay's money, right?"

Sandra grabbed them up quickly, panic on her face as she was reminded of them. "I can pay for my own things!" Face reddened, she fled towards Jay's down in a rapid little trot.

Jacob didn't stop her as she grabbed for the knob, though it was locked. She pressed the doorbell.

"Open now," came Jay's broadcast voice. The lock clicked open, Sandra and her groceries fleeing inside quickly. Jacob slid in behind her, hat sitting neatly on his head.

Jay froze at the sight of him, her tablet glowing faintly before dimming again. "Christ almighty. Jacob, do you just not know when to give up? I swear." She thumped her armrests as she stood up, glaring at him. "This is my space. Why are you invading it?"

Jacob's hat had an aura about it, Sandra noticing it only as Jay reacted to him. A gentle shimmer clung to it, unseen unless something tried to affect it. Not wanting to be between two angry mages, she fled into the kitchen to put away what she had purchased.

Jacob stepped deeper inside, Jay matching him step for step. "Invading? Friends visit friends. Ponies though? I never met one." He clicked his tongue on his teeth grandly. "You've been holding out on me."

"Friends visit without stalking," Jay shot back firmly. "Ponies aren't mine to share. Sandra is a vtuber. Leave her alone." She spread her hands slightly. "I didn't know you cared at all about streaming. Do you even have a computer? I swear, everyone has one these days. Luddite."

Jacob stopped in his approach, just watching Jay evenly. "VTuber? Never heard of it. Streaming though? Curious." He rocked from foot to foot grandly. "Tell me about it?."

"VTuber means she uses computers to stream herself and her friends having fun. But she doesn't show her face. She uses a computer to show a virtual one instead. That's the V in Vtuber. Get it?" Jay huffed with obvious irritation.

Jacob bobbed his head a moment, the aura on his hat stronger for that moment. "Fascinating! So she already is used to presenting a different public face than her private one." She glanced towards Sandra. "Well, we're in private now. May I see you without your mask on?"

Sandra didn't freeze, having finished putting away what she could already. "Um, no, thanks. Jay's helping me hide from bad people. Um, Jacob."

"Bad people, or a bad person? Such vague terms. Helpful of Jay." Jacob considered that carefully. "VTuber. Curious, sharing the computer around like that." He hummed grandly. "Jay, protecting aren't your specialty."

Jay glared at him firmly. "No, it's not. Look, you know the deal. It's the same deal with literally everything on this planet that has a secret. If they want to share, they will. If they don't, forcing them is a good way to get attacked. Why are you picking a fight? Sandra's a harmless streamer. I'm lending a hand. That's all there is to it."

Author's Note:

This is the problem with poking one's snout into mage circles.

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