Chapter 2: A Sensitive Subject
8:15 AM
Lewis’ eyes snapped open and he sat bolt upright, gasping for breath. He could feel the living room sofa beneath him, so he spoke angrily to himself, not giving a darn if anyone heard him or not.
“When did you start fainting when faced with the impossible, Dr. Lewis Knight?” he grumbled. “Isn’t the thirst for the unknown what made you who you are?”
The clearing of a throat nearby alerted him that he wasn’t alone, so he turned to face whoever had made the sound.
His eyes fell on the two creatures that somehow made him pass out, as well as the large black man he’d spoken to when he’d first answered the door.
“Hey,” Lewis said with a small wave. “Sorry about that. A man like me shouldn’t faint from something like that. Must be something wrong with my drive for knowledge at the moment.”
“Understood, Dr. Knight,” the black man said with a nod. “I’ll leave you to get acquainted with your guests. If you need assistance from us, call your dean and ask him to connect you with Agent Grayson, meaning me. We don’t have time to give you a direct connection to us right now, so your dean will have to serve as a middleman for now.”
“Yes, sir,” Lewis replied as he got to his feet. “Is there anything else?”
“These beings requested to tell you the rest themselves,” Agent Grayson responded stiffly. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have important matters to attend to elsewhere. I’ll show myself out so as to not waste any more of your time.”
“Of course,” Lewis said with a nod before turning to the pair of horse-like creatures standing in front of him. One was about four feet tall, mint green with a mint and white mane and tail, huge amber eyes, a depiction of a lyre on both flanks, a horn and a short snout. The other was slightly larger, mulberry with a dark purple mane and tail with a pink stripe and a purple stripe running through both, purple eyes that were as proportionally huge as the other being’s were, a depiction of a starburst surrounded by smaller stars on both flanks, the same horn and short snout as the other equine, but sporting wings as well.
As he continued to look over the two creatures in fascination, Lewis heard the front door shut, and the mulberry one suddenly spoke up: “Hello, Dr. Knight, my name is Princess Twilight Sparkle from Equestria. You were the one who contributed the majority of the information to your kind’s experiment, yes?”
This time, Lewis didn’t faint. Instead, his fascination grew stronger, and he started feeling as giddy as he had on his first day at BYU when he was fourteen, or to put it in layman’s terms, like a kid in a candy store.
“You can talk!” he exclaimed excitedly, completely ignoring the question he’d just been asked. “This is amazing!”
“Um… Could you please answer my question?” the Princess asked.
“Come on, Twilight! He’s just acting how you acted when you saw how advanced these people are!” the mint one said. “You went into full-blown nerd mode!”
“But none of them were asking me questions at the time!” Twilight protested. “Besides, you couldn't stop geeking out at all the humans when we first got here!” She turned to address Lewis before continuing. “Dr. Knight, please just answer my question!” She emphasised the last part with a stamp of a hoof, startling Lewis back into reality.
“Oh, yes, that would be me,” Lewis replied. “I provided a large amount of the theories and formulas that were supposed to turn an artificial micro black hole into an electrical power source that could power an entire continent for decades before having to be replaced.” Lewis’ expression turned grim as he continued. “But something went wrong. The black hole expanded until it swallowed the entire universe. Luckily, people are starting to forgive me for that because of the planet getting supersized, but I still can’t figure out what went wrong in the first place.”
“Was there a green vortex spewing purple lightning?” Twilight interrupted. “When my experiment went awry two weeks ago, one appeared and swallowed our entire universe. The hysteria still hasn’t completely faded.”
“You, too?” Lewis gasped. “So, you’re saying that we ended up combining two different universes into one, then?”
“How else would you explain hundreds of nations full of humans popping up in a few hours?” the mint one interjected. “Humans were supposed to be a myth! But I liked studying you anyway. My name’s Lyra Heartstrings, by the way. Former cryptozoologist, currently an ambassador from Equestria for the sole purpose of speaking with you, Dr. Knight.”
“So, let me guess,” Lewis quipped. “You’re saying that you’re from one of those new continents?”
“Well, to us, your continent is one of the new ones,” Lyra replied, “but yes. We’re from a continent that wasn’t in the same world as you until yesterday. Our planet fused with your planet, so it’s quite possible that every planet in both universes merged with a counterpart planet from the other.” She turned to Twilight and added, “is that what you told me?”
“Pretty much,” Twilight replied. “Your nations’ governments want us kept secret for the time being, so we’re willing to comply with those wishes for now. They want to have something to tell your people, and that’s an explanation for what happened. It seems the prevailing force in your world was science, but it was magic in ours. This new world seems to have both in equal balance, so researching what happened to link both ends should be possible with both forces having equal sway.”
“Wait, you’re telling me magic is real?” Lewis asked. His scientific mind refused to believe such a thing. He was religious and believed in a higher power, but he believed that that higher power just manipulated all of creation through science. Science beyond human understanding, yes, but still science. Magic just didn’t seem possible. “No, you’re joking.” he said with a shake of his head. “There’s no such thing as—”
He cut off when Twilight’s horn started glowing. Next, his medal was encased in the same glow, and the field levitated it off of him.
“That’s impossible!” Lewis exclaimed as the field deposited his medal on the sofa’s armrest. “That defies all scientific explanation!”
“That’s because it’s magic, Dr. Fingers,” Lyra giggled. “I’m a unicorn, so I can use magic. She’s an Alicorn, so she can do it, too. In fact, all kinds of ponies can use magic. It just varies from tribe to tribe.”
“Don’t call me that,” Lewis snapped. “It sounds wrong. Anyway, so magic exists. What does that prove, anyway?”
“Nothing, yet,” Twilight replied. “But if you and I can combine our studies, we might be able to come up with an explanation that’ll satisfy the human governments, as well as the scholars from both your society and ours.”
“Then why was I told that she’d be staying for an extended period, not you?” Lewis asked while pointing at Lyra.
“She’s going to stay so we can keep in touch, of course.” Twilight replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “As a princess, I’ve got duties to take care of back home. Plus, I’ll be able to help more with access to my personal lab. Lyra’s necklace can teleport items to my location, as well as receive items from me.”
It was then that Lewis realized Lyra was wearing a thin gold necklace with a glowing orb that seemed to be filled with green fire set into the middle.
“That thing’s a teleporter?” Lewis asked, not sure what to believe anymore.
“It imitates dragonfire, something I use to send letters from time to time,” Twilight replied. “Just have Lyra tap the orb with a hoof, then touch it to the object you want to send for five seconds. It’ll do the rest.”
“If you say so,” Lewis muttered. “Well, we might as well get everything underway. Have you two already eaten?”
“We have,” Twilight replied while Lyra nodded. “Is there anything else you need to show us before we get started?”
“Well, I have to show Miss Heartstrings the guest room,” Lewis answered. “It’s the only room in this huge place that I have set up for guests at the moment.”
“Please, just call me Lyra,” Lyra said, batting her eyelashes slyly. Turning to Twilight, she asked, “hey Twilight, want to come along?”
“I don’t see why not,” Twilight replied. “This is my first time inside a human residence, so learning about their interior design would be a good place to start. I know Rarity would like to know.”
Lewis sighed as he led the two ponies up the stairs. “For trying to hit on me, I’m going to continue calling you Miss Heartstrings, got that? Ambassador or no, you can’t just flirt with your host! Besides! We’re not even the same sapient race! I don’t know whether or not it counts as wrong, but I’m treading on the side of caution for the time being. Understood, Miss Heartstrings?”
“I understand, but I make no promises!” Lyra said with a wink. Lewis heaved a heavy sigh as they reached the guest room.
Opening the door, Lewis ushered the ponies inside. “For a house this big, I’m sure you’d expect better accommodations, but—”
“Some of the books are missing from these shelves,” Twilight declared, pointing a hoof at the bookcase.
“There aren’t any missing books, Your Highness,” Lewis lied. “There’s nothing wrong.”
“Don’t lie to me,” Twilight said with a smile. “I’ve worked as a librarian for quite a while before getting my own castle. I can tell when a spot used to have a book, but doesn’t anymore. Now where are the other books?”
“I removed them,” Lewis admitted. “They’re the kind of books I wouldn’t want to discuss with representatives of another nation. Sensitive subjects and all that.”
“Such as?” Twilight inquired, leaning in to hear better.
“None of your business, that’s what!” Lewis snapped.
“Human books you don’t want me to read?” Twilight exclaimed as if she’d been slapped. “Lyra, how would you react if you were denied knowledge about humans?”
“I’d do just about anything to get to it,” Lyra replied with a nod. Without another word, both ponies’ horns lit up and they began searching the room.
“That information is sensitive and up to interpretation!” Lewis protested as he reached for his smartphone. Maybe Agent Grayson and the others could help with this.
Suddenly, his phone flew out of his hand and hovered near Twilight’s head.
“Nope!” she said as she and Lyra approached the twin dressers. “I already know what that thing does, and you’re not talking to anyone to get help! Now tell me where the other books are!”
“They contain information I believe to be true, but other humans disagree on these subjects! There’s nothing concrete about them from the scientific perspective!” Lewis snapped as he sat down in a chair, admitting defeat. He couldn’t harm them. One was royalty, and the other an ambassador. He could do jack squat.
“Aha!” Lyra said as she stopped in front of the very drawer all the religious books had been hidden in the night before. “This is the spot! They’re in this drawer, Twilight!”
And with that, Lewis let out a groan as the drawer became encased in a golden aura and slid open. A few seconds later, the two ponies were looking at the titles of the various books before levitating them into a set of neat stacks off to the side.
“Let’s see, this Tennis Shoes Adventure Series looks like a set of action novels,” Twilight noted, holding thirteen books in her magical grip. “Why would you hide them?”
“Please stop,” Lewis begged, but the ponies didn’t comply.
“There’s a lot of these “The Work and the Glory” books here, too,” Lyra added, levitating a group of nine hardcover books into a stack.
“Oh! I saw this book earlier!” Twilight said as she levitated out a copy of The Holy Bible. “How is this sensitive when your dean had one sitting on his desk?”
“Everyone at BYU believes in the same concepts taught in the books in that drawer unless they have obtained special permission to attend,” Lewis grunted. “Now, you’ve had your fun. Put those books back before—”
Lewis froze when he saw Lyra levitate a book that meant a lot to him, his family, and everyone who shared the same belief system he did: a book with three titles on the cover: The Book of Mormon/Doctrine and Covenants/The Pearl of Great Price. Out of all the books in that drawer, that was the one he definitely didn’t want any guests from anywhere outside Utah to see.
“What’s this?” Lyra asked before Lewis suddenly yanked the book from her grip and held it to his chest with both arms crossed, hugging it tightly.
“Not for your eyes,” Lewis said angrily. “People have been killed in the past for believing in the concepts of the three titles in this book. Don’t touch those Work and the Glory books, either. They go into dramatic detail about the tragic events that followed the people who believed in what this volume teaches. Some say that others have suffered more for their beliefs, and I don’t doubt it.. But the short history of the followers of this book is something you shouldn’t have to know about yet. It’s too tragic for such a short period of time. So please, put those books back in that drawer and don’t touch them again. These books are for fellow believers, only.”
“Oh,” Twilight said quietly. “I think we should do what the man says, Lyra.”
Lyra nodded, and the two ponies returned the collection of religious-oriented texts to the drawer, and Lewis finished by placing the Triple Combination in the drawer and closing it firmly.
“Religion is a touchy subject,” Lewis told the two mares. “People have fought wars over it, claiming that their conquests were sanctioned by a higher power. Religion is something that was meant to give man hope and a foundation of principles to believe in, to find peace and harmony in a chaotic world. But it’s been turned on its head so many times that it makes me sick to remember learning about those times. So please, don’t bring up those books again.”
“If they’re so sensitive, why keep them?” Lyra asked curiously.
“Because this is Utah,” Lewis replied simply. “Utah is a place where the majority of the population are believers of that particular religion. Outside this state, we’re a small minority, and bringing us up is rarely a good idea when not in Utah. It’s a great way to start a fight, or a heated religious debate at the very least. So, pretend you never saw those books, okay? As far as you’re concerned, this is just your average American bachelor pad.”
“I understand, Dr. Knight,” Twilight replied. “I won’t mention those books.”
“I won’t, either,” Lyra said. “Your secret’s safe with me!”
“Good,” Lewis said with a nod. “Now, it’s almost lunch time, so I’ll get some food prepared. After that, I can show you my findings.”
The two mares nodded, and Lewis left the guest room to go to the kitchen downstairs.
Once Lewis left, Twilight turned to Lyra and asked a question.
“Why do you think he was so adamant about us not touching those novels?”
“I don’t know,” Lyra said with a shrug. “You should see if you can obtain copies of them to take back to Equestria for reading. As for me, I’m going to use his books. Even if the history behind this certain aspect is dark, I want to know everything about humans.” Lyra put a hoof to her chin and thought for a moment before continuing on a different topic. “Why do you think he reacted that way to me?”
“If he simply wasn’t interested in you, I doubt he would’ve reacted so harshly,” Twilight replied with a shake of her head. “Maybe humans see relationships with anything not human as taboo. We’ll need more research on that, so Lyra, I’m asking you to do some field work on that for me.”
Lyra nodded before sliding the drawer open again and carefully removing the first Work and the Glory book from the drawer: “Pillar of Light”.
“I’ll read this when I’m sure he’s not around to stop me,” Lyra informed Twilight. “I’ll just hide it under the bed for now.” After doing just that, Lyra joined Twilight in waiting for Lewis to announce that lunch was ready.
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In my personal opinion, I don't see Lewis Knight being of the Mormon faith as either unusual, or significant to the story in any meaningful way, unless you plan to have religion or faith in general be a major theme later on in the story.
Instead of that whole section this chapter involving the irritatingly vague exchange between him and the equines over a subset of human religion, a more detailed description of Knight's physical appearance beyond the fact that he wore glasses would have actually enriched the story up to this point.
5693762 Well, for him to be a BYU professor, he'd have to be Mormon, or be one of about three who obtained special permission to teach there without being of the faith. No matter what, I'd have to go into it, since BYU is a real university. Plus, I never said that there wouldn't be plot points involving his faith in the future, so there very well may be. I haven't written for a while because I'm having trouble with my medical situation at the moment, and until it's in order, i can't think well enough to write a third chapter.
Now, as for why I didn't go into his image much, I've been criticized for going overboard on details such as appearance in the past, so i tried to avoid such criticism by minimizing details. Apparently, i went to far in the other direction. Please accept my apologies.