Ingress 3
#3 of Ingress
"Are you okay?" Lyra asked, tilting her head to the side, staring at the prone form of Jason.
Jason stirred faintly, opening an eye to peer up at the unicorn. "There's a talking pony in front of me who apparently Narnia'd into my home through my wardrobe."
"I was referring more to your physical well being. You've kinda been lying on the floor for the last hour or so. The strange humans in the box in that room have ceased to amuse me and refuse to submit to questioning," Lyra complained.
Jason sighed faintly and then pushed himself to his knees, swaying slightly in place before steadying himself. "Ugh. Dizzy."
"So you think my magic is doing something to you?" Lyra asked, ears perking at him, nudging him once with her nose in a soothing fashion.
Jason nodded, laying an arm over the unicorn in reciprocation, his brows furrowing. "I think so. My headache only started when you got here."
"Your world is stressful on me, too," Lyra admitted, huffing once. "It's... strange. And there's something that makes my magic kinda weird."
"Weird?" Jason asked blankly, pushing himself to his feet.
"Weird." Lyra nodded once, and then wrinkled her nose. "It's like... a low kind of interference. It doesn't stop it, but I wouldn't try anything really delicate or strenuous in your world. It feels unstable, somehow, you know what I mean?"
Jason raised a brow at her, and then shook his head. "No. No I really don't."
Lyra snorted and rolled her eyes. "I'm hungry. Do you have any cookies? Pleeease?"
Raising a brow, Jason stared at the unicorn for a long moment. "You don't have any shame, do you?"
"I'm hungry!" Lyra protested, huffing a moment. "So I'm asking for cookies! If there was anything you wanted from me, surely you'd ask, right? I mean, you wouldn't get anything if you didn't."
Jason stared at the unicorn for a long moment, and then blinked once. "I... guess you're right." Jerking his head towards the kitchen, motioning for the unicorn to follow him, Jason stepped out of the room and down the stairs.
Lyra bounced after him happily, humming to herself. Jason led her into the kitchen, and pulled open a cupboard, tugging out an airtight container holding a packet of chocolate biscuits inside. He opened the pack, and then offered her one.
Lyra took the biscuit from him with a touch of her magic. Jason's eyes widened, and he winced, a hand flying to his temple.
The unicorn's eyes widened, and she let the biscuit drop, catching it deftly with a hoof, her ears splaying backwards. "Sorry..."
"No, it's fine. Just... try not to do that again," Jason stated, taking one of the biscuits himself and biting down on it grimly.
"These taste strange," Lyra said, as she chewed a bite of one of her own biscuits. "But not bad."
Jason gave a faint laugh at that. "I guess they don't mass-produce biscuits in Equestria?"
"Mass produce?" Lyra asked, canting her head to the side curiously.
"Well, they make thousands of these packages," Jason said, holding up the package of cookies, "And they ship them all over the country. So they've got to add preservatives to them so they don't go stale in transit."
"But... for a system like that to exist..." Lyra trailed off, head canting to one side. "How many humans are there?"
Jason gave a thoughtful hum at that. "Last I heard, we were getting pretty close to the seven billion mark."
Lyra's jaw dropped.
"S-seven billion?" the unicorn asked weakly.
"Well, not yet. We're at like six point nine billion," Jason corrected with a shrug.
"But that's... that's just... so many," Lyra breathed, awestruck.
"Yeah, a lot more than where you come from, from what you told me," Jason said with a wise nod, offering the unicorn another cookie.
Lyra just shook her head in awe, taking the cookie from him and chewing on it distractedly. "Obviously. There are only a thousand or so ponies that I know of... in all the towns and cities."
"That's really not a whole lot," Jason said with a shake of his head. "Though Australia, where we are now, it's not got so many people. Only a few million. It's considered 'low' population."
"Millions is a low population?" Lyra asked breathily.
Jason nodded. "Indeed. China has a population in the billions alone."
"China... that sounds familiar," Lyra murmured.
"Because I said it to you earlier," Jason said with a roll of his eyes.
"Oh, right!" Lyra said with a bright grin, taking another cookie and nomming at it happily.
"Wanna watch a movie?" Jason offered.
"Mo-vie?" Lyra queried. "What're they?"
"They're kind of like... a play. They happen on the TV, you know, big square thing." Jason made a motion with his arms.
"Oh, I like that thing!" Lyra exclaimed with a happy little bounce. "Even though the humans inside it never answer me..."
"That's because it's a recording," Jason explained, beginning to lead the unicorn back upstairs.
"Recording?" Lyra asked, blinking once. "Like... music?"
"Yeah, like music!" Jason smiled, nodding. "But with pictures, as well."
"So like... moving pictures!?" Lyra exclaimed, bouncing along beside him up the stairs.
"That's a pretty good analogy," Jason admitted, smiling at the energetic unicorn.
Jason led her into the TV room. He pushed the button to turn on his xbox, and then popped a disc into the tray; Paranormal Activity. Most of his other movies were quite violent, and he wasn't sure how the bouncy unicorn would take such films.
Jason settled himself down on the couch, sitting at one end of the three-seater, and then watching Lyra, to see how she would incorporate her odd form into lounging. "It's not exactly made for ponies," he admitted with a weak smile.
Lyra nodded, leaping up onto the couch and spinning around once or twice, to get a feel for where it was softest, before she just plopped herself straight down on her stomach, laying on the couch with her head on the arm and her tail in Jason's lap. He didn't think she even realised she was invading his personal space.
Lyra rest her neck on her hooves, and shifted slightly, wiggling to get comfy and then staring at the tv screen.
"So this is just like... a moving storybook?" Lyra queried.
Jason nodded in response. "Yup. That'd be the best way to describe it."
"But it's all so realistic..." Lyra said, with a shake of her head. "Human artists must be amazing."
Jason laughed at that, shaking his head. "Silly unicorn. The pictures are recordings. They're just recorded from actual live people."
Lyra blinked slowly at that, looking back at the TV screen. "But... creating these kinds of things. It must be very inconvenient."
Giving a slight smile, Jason nodded. "Yeah, it is. But that's why they pay actors so much, I guess."
Lyra opened her mouth to ask something, but Jason shushed her. "Shhh. You won't enjoy the movie if you miss half of it from talking."
The unicorn flushed faintly at that and nodded, turning her gaze back to the movie.
Jason settled himself back to watch the movie as well. By this point, it had gotten past the opening credits.
"Why is there writing on the screen?" Lyra whispered.
"it's just giving credit to the people who made the movie," Json whispered back.
More of the movie passed in silence, that is, until something scary started to happen.
"W-what is that?!" Lyra squeaked, her hooves kicking in reflex. Her tail shot up in some kind of response as she tried to still her urge to bolt from the room. The wispy strands of Lyra's tail caught Jason right in the face, whipping across his nose and directly across his eyes.
Jason gave a sound of surprise and pain, a hand lifting to rub at his eyes. "Ow!"
Lyra blinked back over her shoulder, eyes widening slightly. "Oh... I... I was so absorbed it felt like I was in that house!"
Jason nodded, squinting and rubbing his eyes. "Can you please lay the other way? I don't want a tail whip to the face next time something scary happens."
Lyra nodded, and then turned around, squirming slightly to get into somewhat of a more comfortable position, scrunching herself up to try and squeeze into the space she was allotted.
Sighing faintly, Jason shook his head, reaching down and grabbing the unicorn's shoulders, pulling her further up against him so she could rest her head in his lap. "You don't need to scrunch up like an accordion."
"Accordion?" Lyra asked, but Jason shushed her.
Lyra snorted once, and then laid her head in his lap, her cheek resting on his thigh as she watched the movie, her tail resting over the arm of the couch.
Jason idly stroked a hand through the unicorn's mane as he watched the movie with her, letting his fingers twine with the smooth, silky mane.
"Your... hands are very good at that," Lyra breathed.
Jason blinked once, peering down at her, and then gave a slight start of surprise as he realised that he was playing with her mane. "Do you want me to stop?" he asked, concerned.
Lyra shook her head. "No, it feels nice."
Jason smiled and continued to stroke his fingertips through the unicorn's mane, gently digging in to let the very tips of his fingers rub against the base of her 'scalp' or whatever word ponies used for the place where hair follicles entered the flesh. "You ponies must have some bitchin' shampoo."
Blinking at that, Lyra turned over slightly to peer up at him, raising a brow. "Shampoo?"
"You know. Erm... products that you put in your hair to make it all nice?" Jason asked, tilting his head to the side curiously.
"Oh, earth ponies use those, but us unicorns just use our magic to 'lathe' all the dirt and stuff out of our manes," Lyra said with a short, upside-down nod.
"Well, it works pretty damn well," Jason complimented with a smile.
"Well thank you!" Lyra said with a happy nod, before tilting her head again to continue watching the movie.
Jason returned his own gaze to the movie, stroking his fingers through the unicorn's mane and down over her spine, exploring her form idly. He traced across her soft-furred form, rubbing fingertips against her fur, tracing down the smooth muscles under her soft hide. Lyra looked up at him for a moment, and then gave a content sigh, laying her head back in his lap to continue watching the movie.
With a frown, Jason leaned over a little bit, letting a hand brush down over her flank. The mark there, like a harp, was seemingly dyed into the fur. There was no change in texture from fur, to marked fur. "What is this?"
"That's my cutie mark," Lyra said with a single nod and a smile. "It's... well, it's what we're best at!"
"You can play the harp with hooves?" Jason asked, disbelieving.
Lyra blinked once, ears perking at that. "Yes. Why wouldn't I be able to?"
"I couldn't play the harp if I tried," Jason admitted with a wry smile.
The unicorn paused at that, and then her eyes widened. "Oh wow! You must be able to make music so well with your fingers! You've got like, five of them! I only have one hoof on either side!"
Jason gave a nervous laugh at that. "I never really learned any instruments, to be honest."
Lyra's ears drooped at that. "Awww..."
"Well perhaps you can show me your harp sometime?" Jason offered, stroking a palm down over her stomach soothingly.
Lyra nodded and rolled over onto her back, hooves splayed, to allow him easier access to her stomach. Jason smiled faintly, rubbing his palm down over her stomach and tickling gently against it with his fingertips.
The unicorn squirmed faintly, pushing at his arm playfully with a squeak as he rubbed at her stomach.
Jason grinned again, rubbing against her stomach more firmly, tickling at her and smiling helplessly. She really was very cute.
Lyra huffed and mouthed at his arm playfully, making ferocious gnawing sounds and then pulling it down to rest her cheek on, watching the movie. Jason subsided and just rubbed his hand across her stomach and side slowly, watching the movie as well.
An easy silence fell between them as they both watched, until a particularly disturbing part of the movie. An evil-looking creature appeared, and Lyra sat bolt upright, her eyes widening. A fearful squeak left her, and she spun around, trying to scramble away over the couch.
"It's gonna get me, it's gonna get me!" Lyra squeaked helplessly, scrabbling in an attempt to escape. Jason wrapped his arms around her on reflex to try and stop her from springing over the couch and running away.
Lyra ended up wiggling up his form, trying to escape, her breathing hard. Her nose bumped against his own, and she flushed faintly, her ears splaying back as she came back to herself. Jason raised a brow at her.
"I-I thought that thing..." Lyra lamely tried to explain.
Jason gave a wry smile and shook his head, "Understandable."
"I-it can't r-really get us can it?" Lyra asked, ears splayed still, her tone concerned and mildly scared.
Jason shook his head. "No, silly unicorn, it can't," he chided, grinning at her.
"I feel silly," Lyra admitted, looking down and to the side.
Smiling again, Jason lifted her chin with a fingertip. "Don't worry about it. The movies are made to make people react like that."
"But I'm not a people!" Lyra protested, pushing her hooves against his chest.
"You know what I mean," Jason said with a slow shake of his head, chuckling.
Lyra snorted and then nudged him with her nose, dragging a wet lick across his forehead.
Jason squirmed slightly at that, wrinkling his nose. "Oi, stop that!"
Lyra tilted her head curiously. "Humans don't do that?"
Jason stared at her for a long moment, and slowly shook his head. "No, I can honestly say that licking on the face is not a human trait."
"It's only a sign of affection!" Lyra said with an earnest nod. "Do humans kiss?"
Jason raised a brow at that, looking thoughtful, before he shook his head slowly. "Nope, we certainly don't do that either. Why don't you show me?"
The unicorn gave a happy hum at that, leaning forwards and kissing the human full on the mouth without hesitation, her soft lips pressing against his own. She held the kiss for a few seconds before pulling back, grinning. "Like that!"
Jason gave a wry grin at that, and tilted his head at the unicorn. "I kinda lied."
"Lied?" Lyra queried, an ear pricking upwards.
"Yup. Humans do the whole kissing thing too," he admitted with a sly grin.
Lyra flushed, her ears pinning back. She nudged him with her nose firmly. "Devious human," she accused.
Jason chuckled a moment. "Oh you know you wanted to kiss me," he accused.
Lyra flushed again, and she gave a nervous nod, before leaning in and kissing him again, giving a low, eager hum in the back of her throat.
The human happily stroked his palms down her back as she kissed him, until she pulled back, looking worried. "This is just a sign of affection for humans, yes?"
Jason tilted his head slightly. "Sometimes? I guess yeah. Sometimes it means a lot more."
"But it's not a proposal or nothing, right?" Lyra asked worriedly.
Jason chuckled and shook his head. "No, silly unicorn. It's just a kiss."
"And you don't have a problem kissing a talking pony?" Lyra pressed, nudging her nose in underneath his chin, snuffling at his throat.
"You're kissing a human," Jason pointed out with a shrug. "I don't see a problem with it."
"Good!" Lyra beamed, dragging a lick against his chin and then kissing him again, humming happily.
"We're missing the movie," Jason pointed out weakly.
Lyra peered back over her shoulder, and then shrugged slightly, turning back to him, smiling mischievously. "This is far more interesting."
Jason gently nudged the unicorn with his elbow.
Lyra stirred faintly, blinking her eyes open groggily and saying something unintelligable.
"You fell asleep," Jason said with a shake of his head, motioning towards the Tv screen, where the credits were rolling.
Lyra blinked several times and rubbed a hoof against her eyes. "I don't remember much of the movie."
"You were too busy trying to eat my face," Jason pointed out.
The unicorn flushed, pushing at him with her hooves. "It's your fault! Your face is all flat and totally not made for kissing!"
Jason grinned at that, shaking his head. "Is that why it took fifteen minutes of attempts before you gave up?"
"Yup!" Lyra said shamelessly, grinning.
"I really think you should go home if you're sleepy. You can come back some other time if you'd like?" Jason offered, raising a brow.
Lyra pouted, her ears drooping. "I suppose you're right. What're you gonna do? It's still light outside."
"I'm going to go nap. You turn up in the middle of the night and interrupt my sleeping patterns," Jason pointed out.
"I can try turn up earlier?" Lyra suggested.
Jason nodded and brushed a hand through his hair, yawning. "It would help."
"So see you early next time?" Lyra asked, bouncing in place happily.
"Sure," Jason conceded. "Just remember: No magic."
"No magic," Lyra swore, holding a hoof against her chest sincerely.
Lyra had been sent home for the day, and Jason was laying under a thin blanket, with the air conditioner on full, blowing cool streams of air across the room. The sneaky sound of hoofbeats echoed down the hallway, and Lyra pushed her nose through his doorway, eyes narrowing.
Grinning to herself, the unicorn crept up to the end of the bed and wormed her way in underneath the covers, becoming nothing more than a moving lump under the blanket until her head poked out of the end and she squirmed in against Jason's chest. Giving a happy sigh, the unicorn wiggled to get comfortable, pushed her nose into his sternum, and then closed her eyes.