Jasper sat on a couch that was a size or two too small for him, looking over at the two arguing mares quite sheepishly. Though to be fair, it was less an argument and more Lyra doing some sort of dance to mock her roommate for not believing in humans.
He had been quite surprised to learn that humans had some form of mythical status in their culture, though he had not pressed her for further details. he could only assume that either most ponies were ignorant of it, or else did not know what a human was, or else, had a negative opinion of them. he had decided that simply playing things by ear would be the best bet for the time being.
And right now, what he was getting an ear full of was Miss Heartstrings shaking her flank mockingly at the other mare in the room, laughing softly between sing-song bouts of crying "In your face" and"I told you so" and things of that nature.
The other mare, Bon-Bon her named seemed to be, was taking it...though not very well. she was still sort of in shock at the fact that he was there. Eyes wide, sort of just staring at him cautiously. She was pale in her coat, with a dark blue mane and tail bearing a rather thick, vibrant pink stripe near the center part of each. one other bright blue eyes twitched occasionally as she tried to soak in something that she seemed to have been attempting to refute for quite some time as she slowly began to speak.
"W-well, Lyra, that's...wonderful she said in a polite, somewhat strained voice as she slowly walked over towards the human "So, your name was...Jasper yes? I think that is what Lyra said in between her gloating." she said as she shot her roommate a look that caused Lyra to give a sheepish smile in response.
He nodded, clearing his throat before he answered politely "Oh er...yes. And you were Bon-Bon, yes?" he asked, getting a nod from her as he scooted forward slightly and gave her his attention properly. "I hope it is not too much of an imposition for me to be spending dinner with the two of you."
She gave him a nervous smile and shook her head "O-oh! No not at all, Mister Mountebank. We would be happy to have such an interesting guest at the table. Would you mind if I talked to Lyra for a moment though, in erm...private?"
He blinked, and shook his head, standing up "not at all, go right ahead, I shall wait outside until you have finished speaking." he said, not waiting for an answer before slowly walking back towards the front door, seeing himself out for the moment.
As soon as he closed the door, Bon-Bon whipped around and glared at her roommate, looking absolutely pissed. "and just WHAT is all of this about?"
Lyra seemed taken aback at her reaction, stepping back a bit and raising a hoof to her chest defensively "What do you mean? I just wanted to show you that I was right! My Studies in anthropology have value, humans are real!" she said, stamping the hoof back down firmly, stepping forward again as she gained back some confidence as she spoke.
But Bon-Bon did not seem to be having any of it! "So you decided that the best course of action was to bring an incredibly capricious, possibly dangerous mythical creature into our bucking house, Lyra!?"
"Oh come on. Don't be like that. Jasper has been nothing but a perfect gentleman ever since we met. Just because the legends paint most humans as incorrigible tricksters of immense magical power does not mean they are all
like that." she said as she walked a bit closer to the other, non-threateningly, leaning in to nuzzle her neck a bit.
Bon-Bon relaxed slightly at this and gave a small huff. "Fine. I suppose he is rather nice from what I have seen. But why did you bring him here in the first place? I really hope it was not just to make a point to me." she said, a tinge of irritation returning to her voice.
She blinked and shook her head, giving her a reassuring look "O-oh no! I invited him over because If you give a human a place to stay and a meal for the evening, they might grant you a wish!
Bon-Bon's eyes widened as she understood what was being told to her "So, you are saying that if we treat them well while they are at our house, we might get a wish granted?"
"Mhm!" Lyra said, her smile widening in a slightly unsettling and excited manner. "And I mean, even if we don't get a wish, look at him! he's so nice. And he was having a hard time with the other ponies in town. I just had to do something, if only to make sure that um...the town doesn't end up a checkerboard Tartarus-scape for a second time this month."
Bon-Bon paled slightly at the thought, giving a small shudder. "Ugh...yeah, I can see what you were thinking now. Sorry I got so mad at you over it..." she said as she leaned in and nuzzled the other mare back gently, giving her a kiss on the forehead.
The two of them having made up, they invited Jasper back into the house and shared a very pleasant, wonderful dinner with him. Everything went quite swimmingly during. Conversation was light but polite and very pleasant. He was of course, on his best behavior, as he always was!
When the evening came around he decided that he would, in fact, be staying the night much to the joy of his generous hostesses. he was given a guest room and told to simply let them know if there was anything that they could do for him and was bidden a good night. And then, all was quiet for the evening.
For about half an hour. Jasper was sitting at a desk, a single candle lit in his room as he put pen to paper and wrote on his days experiences. Partly to keep himself busy, and partly so that in the event he ever made his way home, he could prove, at least to himself that all of this was quite real. His notes were peppered with quick, reasonably accurate sketches of the ponyfolk he had spoken to, and some of the more notable architecture and landmarks around town he had seen.
He was interrupted in this process by the sound of a gentle knock on his door, followed by a bashful, familiar feminine voice. "Jasper? it's Lyra. I was hoping I could come in and talk to you for a little?"
he gave a small sigh, setting his pages to one side to dry as he turned his chair around and called out in answer "very well, please, do come in, Lyra." he said, putting on a gentle smile as he placed his hands in his lap.
Lyra slowly opened the door, peeking in and looking around somewhat confused. "Why is it so dark in here?" she asked as she closed the door behind her, looking this way and that as if looking for something.
"What do you mean? the sun has gown down, and I have a candle on. I do not think it is going to get much brighter." he says with a small chuckle, prompting a similar one from her. this in turn prompted him to give her a confused look of his own. "Am I missing something?"
"Oh, it's nothing important. here, let me turn on the light..." She said as she flicked a switch next to the door, causing the lightbulb in the fixture on the ceiling to light up, the same happening to the eyes of her awestruck human guest shortly thereafter.
"oh! This must be one of those er...lightbulbs I keep hearing about in the science journals. Goodness Edison really has his fingers in every pie, doesn't he..." they finished more softly than they began as they looked up at the fixture with a squint. he was tall enough, in comparison to the fairly squat pony architecture surrounding him, to reach up and gently tap the bulb a few times. "Fascinating..."
"Uh....huh." Lyra said with a slow, unsure nod as she trotted over closer to him and watched him fuss over her light fixture "But er, yes, back on topic, I was hoping to speak with you for a bit?" she said as she made herself comfortable on the bed, curling up and looking towards him.
He snapped from his fascination with the bulb and looked back down to her, slightly embarrassed by his conduct "Oh yes! Quite. I can certainly chat for a while," he said as he licked his gloved fingertips and pinched them together around the base of the wick of the candle to stop the flame. "what was it that you wished to talk about?" he asked as he took a seat on the bed next to her.
"Well, I guess wanting to talk is not the most accurate way to say it. I was more hoping I could ask a small favor?" She said as she scooted a bit closer to him, looking up at him with a big-eyed, soft hopeful expression.
he leaned back slightly, unsure of how to proceed. "A...favor? Hmm, I suppose I can allow you to ask. I cannot guarantee that I will fulfill it, however." he said quickly afterward, wanting to make sure that there were no misunderstandings on the matter.
She hesitated for a few moments, as if unsure how to proceed before speaking once more. "I...I was hoping you could pet me?" She said, more question than demand.
"I'm sorry but what?" he asked her, as he raised an arm, putting a slight barrier between the two of them in slight shock.
She quickly tried to resolve the matter, waving her hoof "w-wait! I-it isn't what you might be thinking I just erm...well, the legends about humans talk about how great their...hands are for petting and rubbing." She said, seeming to almost salivate at speaking the word 'hands'. "It's just sort of a once in a lifetime opportunity and I was hoping you might be able to erm....maybe scratch me behind the ears a bit?"
"What, like a dog?" he asks her, tilting his head as his arm slowly came down, still quite vexed but less disturbed at the very least. "I mean, I suppose...." he said as he took his glove off of one of his hands, slowly flexing his fingers as he thought.
Lyra's eyes seemed to hungrily follow the digits as they curled and unfurled again, with an expression possession all of the subtlety of a bear eying a salmon about to jump from the river into its maw as he reached towards her with a small, slightly uncomfortable smile.
He slid his hand between her ears and slowly began to rub and scratch, the way he would do for one of the hounds on his estate. "Erm, Is...is this acceptable?" he asked her with a soft, unsure tone to his voice as his fingers worked their magic.
And they did indeed work magic it seemed. The pony practically melted at his touches, giving a soft, pleased sigh as she relaxed and raised her head into his touch "O-oh yes, that's the stuff..." She said in once again, a tone that made poor Jasper very uncomfortable as her leg began to kick to boot!
The continued like this for somewhere between several minutes to an hour, time started to lose meaning to the poor fellow after only a brief period of enduring this strange, surreal experience. When she seemed satisfied she nuzzled him and thanked him for his help, trotting back to her room seeming quite satisfied.
And leaving Jasper very much in need of a shower to feel clean.