Louis entered the apartment, lingering close to Sandra. "Interesting place. I think my place is more colorful, though."
Sandra flopped down onto the sofa. "She likes ponies. A lot."
Jay tapped away at her terminal. "If you're going to just bring that right up, do I get to see two ponies today? Or do I have to earn it first?" She blew a kiss. "The boyfriend and the girlfriend are just so cute together."
Sandra flicked her ponytail out of the way. "Maybe, but we need to talk about you! How does a random girl on the Internet end up being so..."
Louis sank down next to her. "Compared to most random Internet people, not too strange. Has she been nice to you?"
Sandra considered that. "Really, if you ignore the flirting, she's been very nice. She's been way nicer than anyone I've met without even asking."
Louis took one of Sandra's hands, squeezing gently. "Then she sounds like a nice person. And someone we should talk to." He shot a smile at Jay. "If you'd join us, Miss...?"
"Jay is my name, J202 is my tag. Or user handle." She turned in her seat towards them. "Jay works, we're in meatspace. Speaking of that, I think it's time to turn the hunter into the hunted. You two relax while I chase down that jerk that's been making my favorite pony streamer upset."
Sandra pursed her lips together, then leaned forward. "But what does that mean? Like, are you going to shoot him or something?"
"What?" Jay paled slightly. "No! At least, I won't be holding any guns." She rolled her eyes as her typing intensified. "I prefer the digital realms to the dirty meat ones, especially the dangerous ones. Your stalker leaves a nice thick trail, trying to chase you. Which means following him's not so hard."
Sandra closed her eyes. "So, you're going to track down my stalker. That's what you're doing."
"More like hunt him down, but that's the short version of it." She slammed a key with a sneer. "There he is, hiding. He thinks that rundown house is immune from me, maybe, but he has a security camera. Oh, Internet of Things, never die." She grabbed her mouse and waggled it about. "Wow, real dump. You must be right at home." She laughed at her own joke. "And I mean that in the literal sense."
Louis frowned at her. "The stalker's place is messy?"
Jay peeked up. "You two repeat what I say a lot." She snorted, almost a giggle. "It's kinda funny. Two little confused ponies, watching me work. It's nice." She glanced back at her computer screen. "His house is a literal dump. This guy might as well be sleeping in his car, which he might be. The people living around him are scared of him, the poor slobs."
Sandra didn't resist her curiosity, creeping over to see what Jay was looking at. It wasn't the interior of a car, more of an especially dingy house with junk piled high in every direction. A few small holes had been broken through the ceiling, but otherwise it seemed intact. "He's living there?"
"Yup." Jay bobbed her head in time with her words. "You can see him right... there." She focused the camera on a breathing lump, curled on a sofa. "He'd almost be cute if he wasn't a total jerk I plan to make regret even so much as spooking my little pony." She snapped her fingers. "Alright, enough playing around. It's time to let him know what I think of his efforts. Now, I'm just going to blow up his speakers with some loud noise."
Sandra and Louis had both expected a loud noise, perhaps something to startle the man. What came instead was a sonic assault that had the man roll to the floor, screaming in agony. He clutched at the sides of his head, wailing as blood streamed out of his ears.
Louis let out a horrified gasp, sinking to his knees. "That's not legal!"
"Oops! Forgot he'd have sensitive ears. Whoops." Jay didn't sound like she was actually sorry at all. "Let me fix that." She only turned it higher. "Stupid fucker, what you get for messing with Raspberry!"
Sandra blinked, eyes stinging from the noise, which had passed the threshold of what she could tolerate too. She felt glad she wasn't actually in the room, only hearing what Jay's speakers echoed, as uncomfortable as it was. "I can't watch this." She turned away from the assault. Sure, the guy was a creep, and maybe he deserved to be punished. "It's too much."
Louis glanced up at her, but also had to look away. "Should we stop this?"
"You want him coming after you?" Jay slapped the top of her keyboard. "Yeah, not happening, even if I have to scare him into submission myself." Though both had reasons to doubt Jay would stop at 'scaring' the stalker. The screen suddenly switched away, and the sound with it, showing a cartoon horse trotting along with a big smile with some friendly music. "Consider that handled. We don't need to watch the rest of that." She swiveled to face Sandra and Louis. "We can all relax now."
Louis hugged Sandra close, taking the initiative. "You know he'll come after you now, right?"
Jay did not look frightened in the slightest. "That jerk won't be bothering anyone. New topic! I want to see him on hooves, please? I earned it, right?"
Sandra got to her feet, walking over to the corner of the room and ducking out of sight. A moment later, a cute pony replaced the woman, flipping her blue mane out of the way as she walked out into the open. "I trust her."
Louis hesitated a moment. "If you're sure?" He fell down, becoming Lucky with a little whicker.
Jay clapped her hands together firmly. "Too precious! A little lady pegasus and her stallion." She waved them closer. "Come here you little fuzzy things."
Lucky stepped closer to Raspberry, the two huddling together with uncertain snorts. "You'll protect us?"
Jay stepped from her seat, almost seeming to glide across the floor, coming closer with such a big smile on her face. "I'm a gamer, of course I will." She carefully embraced the two, mindful of their equine nature. "Just rest and let me handle this stuff." She ran her hands over their sides, ruffling their furry hides. "You two are so cute! And I can expect to not be ripped to shreds for saying so, unlike some other magical beasts I can think of." She huffed at the thought of those other things.
Raspberry tensed up as Jay began to stroke her, but at least it felt like a good pet, as petting went. She allowed it with a flick of her tail. "Do you know about ponies, besides what you've seen of us?"
"Mmm." Raspberry murmured her agreement. "I know enough. The rest of the supernatural world doesn't take ponies, as a whole thing, super seriously, but they seem to be pretty good at making friends, one on one." She tapped Sandra's nose gently. "You won me over easily enough, and I bet there's others."
Lucky snorted. "If we show them who we are." He pawed at the ground, unsure how he felt about this. "But you seem okay." She took a slow breath. "We, um, ponies, prefer to make friends, if we can, on the average."
Raspberry giggled at the description. "Only getting cuter. I've heard the creed of a few critters that stalk this world, and none of them had 'make friends' high on their priority list." She spread her hands. "Well, go on. Here's a friend."
Raspberry snorted softly. "I can't think of anypony that didn't want to make friends, and not in the bad way." She licked her lips. "Thanks for taking us in."
"See, friend made." She ruffled Raspberry's mane. "Now, technically, you could go home. The creep's gone, but it'll be safer here, little pony." She rubbed her back firmly. "But don't feel pressured or anything."
Lucky sighed with a grunt. "We just met you, and you're inviting us to be permanent roomies?" He glanced aside at Raspberry. "Also, we're a thing. I doubt you want romantic pony couples in your space."
Jay flicked his snout. "Did I say that? You could probably figure out how to share a bed." She half-lid her eyes as her expression hardened. "So, let me clarify, since you're having trouble with the subtle things. I think you're adorable, and that only gets worse the more of you there are. If you think watching you two hug or kiss is going to upset me, you're wrong. I was already a furry before I woke up to greater things."
Raspberry sank against Lucky with a sigh. "You won't attack us, or worse?"
Jay jerked back with a gasp. "Oh my! Little ponies have bad things happen to them?" She scowled at the idea. "Just tell me who."
Raspberry shuddered gently, imagining that sonic assault and Jay's attack on someone else. "Nobody else, promise! If you got rid of that one, then we're all safe." She threw an arm over Lucky, holding him close. "So, thanks. But I don't want anyone else to get hurt."
Jay clicked her tongue. "Oh, it's just one creep. And he really wanted it. You might've heard." She tapped her fingers together. "He wanted to do real nasty things to my cutesies. Not anymore. Now, we're roomies. You stream, I Internet. We should get along just fine." Her eyes went to Lucky. "What do you do?"
"IT guy," Lucky answered plainly, not particularly invested in that answer. "We moved here because this town was cheaper than where we were, and it was somewhere away from most of our families. My friends like it here." He leaned against Raspberry, one of those friends. "Um, thank you, really. It means a lot that you took care of that stalker."
Jay fluffed up his mane. "Anytime. Cute things are to be protected, especially the fuzzy ones." She led them back to the couch, which seemed as soft and comfortable as ever. She took her place with a pony on either side to pet and enjoy. "Man, if every good deed came with petting time, I'd have to work harder."
Raspberry tossed back her head, losing herself in the moment. "I really should give you my own handle. Just call me Raspberry! If you want to protect me, it's best we know each other."
Lucky raised a hoof. "Lucky." He inclined his head. "You're really okay with two ponies?" He leaned in, equine nose close to Jay's cheek. "Magic horses, shedding on your things and going clip-clop?"
"Oh, I don't mind any of that." She clapped her hands together firmly. "Also, Raspberry and Lucky, like candy?" She snickered at the thought. "Now that's just precious." She tickled under Lucky's chin. "You two are too cute for words. Now, one thing. That jerk left a trail of slime leading towards both of you. I'll get on cleaning that up."
Raspberry kicked her hooves lightly, listening to them click against the floor. "If it helps, thank you." She considered those words carefully. "Thank you so much. I'm really glad I met you, Jay."
"I'm one of your biggest fans, remember?" Jay slid to her feet. "Can't have one of my favorite channels going dark like that. There's still pizza, so eat up. I'm going to play janitor."
I still don't know what Jay is.
Im guessing Jay is probably a Virtual Adept I think that was one of the mage groups that specializes in computers.
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Insert bell sounds here.
Welp, for better or worse, Jay is good at using force.
"I was already a furry before I woke up to greater things" is an interesting line since I feel like a lot of pony fans would say the same.
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It was also a pun hinting at what she is.
Ah, right mages are “awakened” and I do find the idea of a mage that’s a furry wanting to hug all the shifters amusing.
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But they get all upset at the idea, and claws come out.
Ponies, on the other hoof, seem to be far more accepting.
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Interesting.
Looking forward to the reveal even more now. 