//------------------------------// // Chapter 12 // Story: Do you believe in magic? // by gcsmith //------------------------------// Applejack was sitting on one of the chairs, slowly nursing a cup of a thick disgusting fluid that the hospital tried to pass off as coffee. It had been at least thirty minutes since Princess Luna and Twilight had left, leaving her all alone, the only ponies she had seen in that time were the occasional nurse or doctor moving to and from different parts of the hospital. The silence was dull, but at the same time reassuring, at the very least it meant that there was no change to the Princess' condition. Still, Applejack had a bubbling pit of nerves brewing away in her stomach, even when the princess had been attacked by the changeling queen she hadn't taken this long to recover. She really had no idea what to think, she just had to hope Twilight and this creature she had heard Luna speak about could do their stuff and get to the bottom of this. She took a sip of the 'coffee' and forced herself to swallow the foul tasting stuff before giving up on drinking any more and skillfully throwing the cup into a rubbish bin across the corridor. The cup bounced around the rim for a second, before falling into the darkened bowels, not a drop of liquid spilling in the process. Smiling to herself, Applejack closed her eyes and rest her head against the back of the chair. What could have been seconds or minutes later, the door to the corridor opened, Applejack quickly opening her eyes and returning her attention to the world around her in time to see Twilight and a very curious creature walking beside her. The creature walked on two legs, and it reminded her of the bears that frequented her friend Fluttershy's cabin, though it was shorter and a good deal less hairy. The idea of Twilight being the assistant to a shaved bear for some reason brought a smile to her face. "Had much luck?" She greeted her friend, the frown on Twilight's face answering before her lips. "I'm afraid not," Twilight shook her head. "Just taking House here to the palace library and wanted to check in with you on the way. Everything alright here?" "Appears to be," Applejack nodded. "Been very quiet, rather dull to be honest," she said with a yawn. "So your names House?" She asked, turning to face the strange figure beside her friend, House nodded in response. "Names Applejack," she said, offering him a hoof. "Mighty fine to meet ya." "Nice to meet you too," said House, shaking her hoof. "Might I ask, is Twilight always this high strung?" Applejack pondered his question for a second while studying Twilight's face. The unicorn's hair was a bit more unkempt and she seemed more skittish than usual, rapidly glancing between her and House and the door to Celestia's room. "Don't you worry none," Applejack said, turning her attention back to House. "She's just worried about the Princess, we all are." "Should could moan a little less," House whispered. "All I'm trying to do is help." "She'll calm down soon enough," Applejack replied. "Actually, I was wondering if it was okay to ask, what kind of creature are you?" She asked, "I don't mean to cause offence, but my family is spread all over Equestria, and I've never heard of a thing like you." "Well," House began, "truth be told, I'm not exactly from around here. I'm what you might call an alien. Then again you might not, not exactly clued in on your culture." "An..." Applejack gulped, "alien?" "Ahh, so your culture does feature aliens then." House nodded, "yes, I'm an alien." "You're not the evil probing sort are ya?" Asked a worried looking Applejack. "Oh Applejack," sighed Twilight. "I would have thought you'd have learned after that incident with Zecora to pay less attention to Pinkie. I'm certain House wouldn't probe anypony." House nodded, "That's absolutely right, I'm not into probing. Biopsies on the other hand..." "Biopsawhats?" Asked a confused Applejack, who then shook her head. "Doesn't matter. Anyway, now we know you're not an evil alien, what sort of creature are you?" "Well, since you asked so nicely, I'm a human." Answered House. "Hmm," Applejack mulled over the information in her mind. "Well, nice to meet you again, House, sir. But I believe you two better get going to the library." "Yeah... We probably should," said Twilight, looking longingly at the door to Celestia's room. "Don't you worry none, Twilight," said Applejack, putting a hoof around Twilight's shoulders. "I'll come get ya'll if something happens." "Thanks AJ," a small smile creeped onto Twilight's face. "Come along, House." Twilight led the way down the corridor, and soon both her and House were gone, leaving Applejack on her own again. Twilight was almost giddy with excitement as they approached the doors to the palace library, after all this was her element, and the palace library had managed to solve pretty much every problem she had ever faced. House on the other hand wanted to groan, the ancient looking wooden doors filling his head with images of ancient scrolls which for some illogical reason had yet, after thousands of years, to be transcribed to books which would be a lot easier to read. This searching for information was going to be a lot harder than he originally assumed if the expectations in his head turned out to be true. They reached the doors, and Twilight stopped, turning to fix House with a face like a mother would give to an unruly child before they entered a toy and candy shop. "Now, House, you better behave in there. This library contains many old and valuable texts, some which are many thousands of years old and irreplaceable. So no fooling around, understand?" House nodded before raising his hand and jumping slightly on the spot. "Miss, miss? I have a question. Please miss?" Twilight sighed and brought her hoof - far too quickly, causing a slight sting - to her face. "What is it, House?" "If these texts are so old and valuable, how come none if them have been transcribed?" He asked rather smugly. Twilight groaned, and ignoring the question responded. "Just behave, okay? And focus on the task at hoof. We need to find whatever disease the Princess has as quickly as possible." Twilight's horn glowed, a corona of violet light surrounding both it and the handle of the door, which promptly opened. Quietly, Twilight led the way into the chamber before closing the door behind both of them. "Basic pony medicine is down that way and third room on your left." Twilight pointed down a corridor before House even managed to get his bearings. House began to walk in the indicated direction before noticing Twilight wasn't following and was instead heading in a completely different direction. "Hey, where are you going?" "Advanced medicine. Unlike some ponies, I have more than a foals understanding of basic biology." She replied. "Now, go ahead and get started, I'll come and get you if I need you." House opened his mouth to retort, but Twilight moved past him, not even paying him a seconds notice. In seconds she was already down the corridor and House shrugged. "I'll get you back sometime," he whispered. For a brief moment images of drugs and pranks flashed through his mind, unfortunately, in order to carry out these thoughts he would need to better understand pony physiology and that meant reading the books Twilight pointed him to. He just hoped that based on her comments about foals that these weren't children's picture books. If they were, no force on Equestria could keep him from getting revenge on little miss Twilight. Wilson was incredibly impressed as he was escorted through the palace with the guard and the three fillies. After entering the palace, the guard had led them down various corridors. From immaculate, sparsely decorated servant corridors to grandly done state corridors regularly patrolled by guards. As they walked, the three fillies were incredibly excited. They joked, laughed and pointed out things they thought Wilson would find interesting. The guard on the other hand was as cold as iron, only responding to salute the various guards they passed. Now they walked down a sterile white corridor, it's cleanliness putting Princeton Plainsborough to shame, it almost made Wilson homesick. As they reached the end of the corridor and the guard pushed open a set of swing doors, Wilson glimpsed a familiar orange mare, the three fillies noticing her as well and running ahead to greet her. "Sis!" Shouted a cheery Applebloom. Applejack turned, a huge smile appearing on her face as she noticed her sister. Getting up from the seat, she embraced her sister as Applebloom jumped into her hooves. "There you are, Applebloom, I was starting to worry about you. Where have you been?" "Well..." Applebloom's eyes darted towards Wilson who was standing in the doorway alongside the guard. Applejack followed her sisters gaze and was surprised to see the same stallion that had fallen down in front of her earlier that day. "Applebloom, you and your friends haven't been bothering this nice stallion, have you?" "Nuhuh," Applebloom shook her head. "We were really well behaved, you can ask him yourself." Applejack tussled her little sister's mane. "Don't worry, I will," she said cheerily. "Now, why don't you go play outside in the garden, I'm sure the guard would be willing to escort you three out. Would that be okay?" She asked the guard. The guard nodded, "Come along kids, and sir." Wilson turned to follow the guard but felt a hoof grip onto his back leg. "Actually, if it's alright, I'd prefer it if the stallion stays," said Applejack. "I'd like to chat to him." The guard nodded once again, "Very well, miss. Come along kids." The three energetic fillies followed the guard back through the doors, disappearing from sight long before they could no longer be heard. Wilson turned to face Applejack, her hoof still on his leg. He smiled sheepishly at her contact, Applejack quickly removing her hoof as she understood the situation. "Oops sorry about that." "It's alright. So you said you wanted to talk to me?" "Yeah, if that's okay?" She pointed to the chairs, "how about a seat?" "That would be lovely, thanks" The two of them made their way over and sat down, Wilson far more clumsily than Applejack, still not fully used to his new body. For a moment they sat in silence, Wilson waiting patiently while Applejack worked out what to say. Eventually she broke the silence. "I'm sorry about my sister, she and her friends can be rather... over the top." "It's fine, they're good kids, if a bit hyper." "Hehe, you can say that again. Ya know, one time they tried to get their cutie marks for juggling. Of course being on a farm, the first thing they get their hoofs on are eggs. Soon enough they come trotting into the house so covered in goo that we didn't know whether to clean them, or cook them." A small chuckle escaped both of their lips as Applejack recounted one of the exploits of Apple Bloom and friends, but something felt off to Wilson. "You know, miss Applejack, that was a lovely story, but I doubt that's why you wanted to talk to me." "You're right, that wasn't why I wanted to speak to you. I assume you were with them because you escorted them, correct?" "That's correct." "So how did you end up with them? I would ask Apple Bloom, but she might try to avoid telling me the truth." "Well, all I know is that they followed me. I hope it's alright, but I felt it was only right to bring them back to you, after all they would have stayed with you if they hadn't followed me." Applejack smiled, "Of course it's okay, I'm just wondering why they followed you." "Well, according to them, they followed me because they thought it was strange that I don't have one of those cutie mark things." "Wait, what?!" Applejack checked his flank, the plain tan fur causing her to scratch her head. "But that's impossible, everypony gets a cutie mark, at least by your age anyway!" "So I keep being told." "How in the name of Celestia do you not have one?!" Wilson sighed, "I doubt you'll believe me if I tell you." "Well, depends on wether or not you tell me the truth. I'm the element of honesty after all." "Element of honesty?" "You ever heard of the elements of harmony?" "No I haven't, I'm not really from around here." "Hmm, I'm starting to see that, well I'll give you the short version. The elements of harmony are powerful magical artifacts which when used together can be used to combat powerful enemies of Equestria. I wield the element of honesty, and as such should be able to tell if you're lying." "Alright then. Well, like it said before, I'm not from around here, in fact alien would be a good word to use to describe me." As Wilson spoke, Applejack studied him intently, her eyes glued to him. "Hmm, sure don't look like an alien to me." "Not right now, no," Wilson agreed. "But you have to believe me, last night I fell asleep in my own world and when I woke up I was here, and as you can see transformed into a pony." "So you weren't a pony back where you come from?" "Nope." Wilson shook his head. "So what did you look like then?" "Well, unlike ponies my species doesn't have fur all over the body, just hair in certain places similar to your mane. We also don't have four legs, instead we stand on just two." As Wilson spoke Applejack's eyes glazed over. "Hmm," Applejack seemed to be deep in thought. "Well, I can believe that. I mean you sound an awful lot like somepony I saw earlier." "Really?" Wilson asked desperately, a small sliver of hope growing within him that maybe House had indeed been transported with him. "Yeah," Applejack answered. "Just out of curiosity, what is your species called?" "Humans." He replied, Applejack nodding in response. "Yeah, that's what he said. The guy I saw earlier I mean." Wilson quickly leapt to his hooves and gripped Applejack's shoulders. "His name wasn't House was it?" His voice barely more than an excited whisper. "Yeah, that was it," replied Applejack. "Why, do you know him?" "Yes!" He shouted, "Yes! Yes! Yes! He's here. I'm not alone!" Applejack was confused by his excitement, but she shrugged it off under the fact that she'd never woken up on another world as a different species before. "You wouldn't happen to know where he is?" Wilson asked after he calmed down a bit. "Yeah, he's in the library." She replied. "It's through those doors, take your first left and then the second right and it should be right in front of you." "Thanks, Applejack," he pulled her into a quick hug, letting her go before she could respond. "Thanks very much. Sorry about this, I wish I could stay and chat, but I really need to see him." "Don't you worry partner, thanks again for looking after my sister. Hope you find him, and maybe we'll meet again sometime." "Yeah," he replied over his shoulder as he quickly barged through doors she had indicated. "Maybe." As Wilson ran down the corridor following Applejack's instructions, the doors shut behind him, once again leaving Applejack alone to contemplate everything which had just happened. Adjusting her hat as she scratched her head, she ran through everything again in her mind but it left her no less puzzled by the turn of events. "What a strange day this has been." She muttered to herself. Wilson ran through the corridors as directed by Applejack as fast as he could, his head swimming with various thoughts. Sure, there was his elation at finding out he wasn't alone, however, he also had many questions. Something about what Applejack had said, that how he described his species reminded her of House. Was there a chance he was still human and not a pony like him? If so, why? And how? It was so much to consider. He was brought out of his thoughts as he ran round the final corner, ahead of him stood two great wooden doors. Since they were straight ahead of him he could only assume they were the entrance to the library. Barreling through the doors, their heavy bulk slamming behind him, he found himself in a oval shaped chamber with many corridors leading off. With no bookshelves in this room, the only signs this was actually a library was the age old musky smell of old books and signs hanging over each of the corridors with numbers similar to the Dewey Decimal system. Unfortunately, there was no House in sight. Wilson stood still for a moment, collecting his breath, the sounds of his heavy breathing echoing around the room. Slowly, as his heart rate lowered, he tried to work out what to do next. With no sight of his friend, all he knew was that somewhere down one of these corridors was House. "Oh well," he muttered, "better start from 1 and work my way up." With that, Wilson began to walk down the first corridor and, on a reasonable voice so as to not disturb anypony else who might be here, call out House's name. House had finally found his way to the room filled with basic medical texts, annoyed and frustrated as he was, whatever method ponies used to organise the location of the various topics of books seemed to be a grotesque version of the Dewey Decimal system. Which, for all he could tell, organised books by the colour of their covers as much as anything else. Grumbling, he searched the shelves and found a book titled 'basic physiology of the pony species, suitable for fillies, colts and those of ages above'. As loath as he was to read a book with such a title, he felt that it was probably the best place to start. He didn't think he could bear the shame and the gloating from Twilight if he messed up even the most basic parts of pony anatomy. Picking the tome of the book, he was surprised by the weight, and wondered briefly how any young pony was expected to lift it, let alone be able to read such a thick volume. Scanning the room, he found a table surrounded by what looked to be comfortable reading chairs in the far corner, and went to make use of them. Pacing the book down with a loud thud he deposited himself in one of the chairs and opened the text to page one. As he began to read, he instantly suppressed the urge to flee the library, find the author of the book -if they still lived- and bludgeon them with their own creation. The text opened with a cheery, sickly sweet, nursery rhyme about the differences in pony race. Differences so obvious that they clearly didn't warrant inclusion in a self proclaimed medical text. Thankfully, House was spare any further reading by what seemed to be the distant calling of his name. Or at least, he thought he had heard it. Unsure, he sat straining his ears for any sound remotely related to his name. However, after a minute of hearing nothing even as close as 'bungalow' he sighed and turned his attention, reluctantly back to the book. "House?" There it was again, and while distant, this time he was 100% sure he had heard it. "Twilight?!" He called out in response, after all, who else could it be. Though he was surprised how quickly she was coming to get him, surely she couldn't have found anything out that quickly, could she? "House?" The call was closer this time, though it seemed she hadn't heard him call back. In that case he decided it would be quicker to go out and meet her instead of trying to play some sort of game of Marco Polo. Relishing the feeling of the closing of the book, he stood up and left the room, and headed back in what he hoped was the direction of the entrance chamber. "House?" There was the call again, this time much closer, close enough in fact that he could tell was something different about the voice. It sounded much more masculine than Twilight had minutes ago. Intrigued, he carried on down the corridor, expecting it most likely to be a royal guard that Twilight had sent of in search of him. Strange that she didn't tell the guard where to find him though. "House?" This time the call was much louder, it seemed to be coming from just around a corner ahead, and it was most definitely masculine. The voice definitely did not belong to Twilight, unless this was some sort of prank she was playing on him. An act he wouldn't put past her after what he had done to her already today. With that thought in mind, a plan began to form in his head and a devilish grin formed on his face, two could play at a pranking game. Quickly, as he could now hear the hoof steps of whoever was trying to find him (definitely a pony) he ducked into another reading room to his left, hiding himself in the shadows of the entrance, ready to pounce on the pony as they passed. The sound of hoof steps became louder, the shadow of the pony appearing in Houses view, 'just a few seconds more,' he thought to himself. Then, just as the front hoof appeared, House pounced. "Gotcha!" He shouted as he leapt through the air, instantly realising his mistake too late. The tan pony only had time to shout out "Hou..!" Before House tackled the obviously not a royal guard or Twilight pony to the ground. The pony, first to recover was quick to pick himself up of the floor and set into House angrily. "What do you think you're playing at, House? You could have seriously injured me." The pony nagged him in a way he found familiar "Sorry, Wilson," House replied, instantly realising what had escaped his lips. Wilson? Why had he said that? It had been a comment simply on instinct and it took House a second to fully realise how familiar the berating he had received from the pony actually was. "Wait a second, Wilson, is that you?" "Yes it is me, I thought you'd have realised that when you attacked me. Or is that something you've started doing to anyone who happens to call your name now?" House didn't reply, his mind running a mile a minute as he took in what he was seeing. In front of him stood a tan stallion with a dark brown mane and tail speaking with Wilson. It was like something out of a dream, albeit one usually caused by the aforementioned Wilson drugging his coffee. "House, did you hear me?" Asked Wilson with no response. "Hello? Earth to House?" "Wilson..." Murmured House. "You're a pony?" "Yes, House, I am. And whatever you're going to say next, just don't, okay?" "Wilson, you're a pony," House repeated, almost as if to understand the situation. "Yes, alright, House, I know. No need to say it again." "Wilson, you're a pony." House said again, this time a smile appearing on his face, causing Wilson to groan in frustration. "Alright, House, we get it, I'm a pony. Geez, and for some reason I thought I'd be happy to see you." "Wilson?" House asked, almost giggling. "What?" Wilson screamed, his patience near breaking. "Why the long face?"