• Published 4th Aug 2012
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Do you believe in magic? - gcsmith



House and Wilson In Equestria

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Chapter 3

Sergeant Lockjaw frowned all the way from the royal castle to the Canterlot central police station. Usually his post around the private gardens was a quiet one, hardly anypony ever went in or out beyond special occasions; apart from the Elements of Harmony and the princesses of course. Now not only was he having to deal with a drunk pony who was laughing constantly and loudly, causing hundreds of pairs of eyes to stare at him, but he would also have to find the breach in security. Most likely a step ladder of some sorts, but a lot of paper work would be involved. Oh, how he hated paper work.

The police station was silent when they arrived, being seven thirty it had yet to open for the day and the only staff present were the ponies that worked the night shift. Great. Now he would have to baby sit the detainee for an hour until the day shift arrived, and deal with grumpy, tired ponies whose resting had been interrupted by this loud mouthed maniac. He hoped that shoving him in a cell would calm him down, but to no avail, instead the pony just rolled around the floor laughing his muzzle off and damaging several fine pieces of prison furniture. Even more paper work.

A silent sigh escaped his lips, he could do the paper work now, while he waited... But it was still early, and he was cranky enough as it was. Nope, it could wait. It would be a problem for future Lockjaw. Instead he just sat down at a table at the end of the cells and decided to put a waiting set of well hoofed cards to use. Twenty minutes into his vigil he heard the sound of approaching hoofsteps, he lifted his head up from the game of solitaire and looked patiently towards the outside corridor. A few moments later a rather rotund pony entered the room and took a seat at the table next to, his chair squeaking in protest as it tried to take his weight. Captain Bronze Truncheon, the fattest night cop in all of Canterlot, quite possibly even the whole of Equestria.

Lockjaw smiled as he sat down, the pony may have a mortgage taken out with Pony Joe's Doughnut Shop, but he was a good sort. In his heyday he had been a local hero, stopping crime this way and that, but after suffering a nasty knife wound stopping a robbery he had been put on night duty.

"Alright, Meat?" he asked him, a small frown of annoyance crossing Bronze's face. He really didn't like the police force's nickname for him.

"Less of the lip boy, I may be only a year away from retirement but I'm still your superior."

"Yes Sir, sorry Sir."

"So I can hear you've already had an interesting morning, what is it this time? Drugs or alcohol?"

"From the smell of it, probably almost drowned himself in beer."

Bronze chuckled. He knew that drunks weren't too dangerous for police ponies like Lockjaw, but they could be rather embarrassing.

"So where did you find him?"

"Coming out of the royal gardens." he replied plainly.

Bronze let out an almighty whistle. "Ouch that’s rough, there's going to be plenty of paperwork for you. Need any help? I could always check the perimeter for you."

Lockjaw's smile increased at the offer, ever since becoming a night duty officer Truncheon tried to help people with the some of the less intensive jobs. Most likely he didn't like being kept around due to his history, he was a pony of action. It was a shame that Lockjaw was of similar ilk.

"Sorry sir, I'd like to do it myself. You know, get the hooves going and all that. Not had much activity recently." Truncheon frowned at this reply, "You could help with the paperwork though."

He rolled his eyes. "Not likely, I have enough paperwork to do around here as it is. Anyway, I'll leave you to your game, got rounds to do." With that Bronze Truncheon lifted his bulk out of the seat and struggled out of the room. Lockjaw sat and listened to the hoof steps until they became little more than a tiny patter before returning to his game.

After a few more minutes of playing Lockjaw realised that the annoying sound of hysterical laughter had stopped, the cells were quiet. Thank Celestia. Rising reluctantly from his chair, he walked over to inspect the detainee, after all, it would be unseemly if something had happened to the detainee under his supervision. One way to ruin your chances for promotion was to have your prisoners injured on you. Perhaps they had choked on their own drunken vomit? He could only hope.

He arrived at the vomit free cell to find the pony fast asleep and let out a sigh of relief, at least the wait for day staff would be more bearable. He watched the prisoner for a second and noticed small rivulets of blood on his coat; any injuries would have be dealt with before any interview could be conducted. Maybe he could get the infirmary to see if they could sober him up as well. That would help things along nicely. Turning away to continue his card game, he found his eyes drawn back to the prisoner, something was amiss about him. It took him a while to notice, but eventually it clicked: despite the pony clearly being a stallion well out of his youth he had no cutie mark. He was puzzled for a moment wondering how that happened but didn't think too much on it, if it was a source of any problems day staff could deal with it.


Wilson awoke - for the second time that day - in a different location to the one he had fallen asleep in, this time with a great deal more clarity. The cold concrete of the cell had been replaced with the reflective glass that could only be an interrogation suite, and the pain of his hangover had also been replaced with the clear sense of clarity that came with soberness.

With his mind clear he began to notice that something felt off. He could feel strange sensations all over his body, especially from his ears. They were twitching this way and that, he was certain his ears had never done that, yet here they were; turning slightly with every noise trying to source the location. They also felt funny on his head, usually his ears were on the sides, but it almost felt like they were on top.

He raised a hand to his head to feel them and came back with two shocking developments. Firstly, his ears were definitely in a different location and were more pointy than usual, almost elfin. Secondly, he realised he no longer had any hands. As he pulled his arms away from his head he just stared at the stumpy ends where his hands use to be. He thought for a moment that someone had simply chopped his hands off, but the ends were hard and bony. It took him a moment to place them, hooves. He had hooves.

"Ok House, what have you drugged me with this time?" he whispered to himself.

He reached a hand - hoof - to his neck and tried to find his pulse. It took him a while to find it - after all a thick padded hoof wasn't the best thing to feel it through, even if it only looked like one due to a drug based hallucination. Counting his heartbeat, he grumbled as he came away with an obviously wrong number. Again and again he took his pulse in frustration, it was normal. That couldn't be, if he was drugged it should be far higher or lower than usual.

As he stood up he remembered the reflective window to the side of the room, if he couldn't tell a difference in his pulse he should at least be able to see how dilated his eyes were.

He rushed over to the window but locked his legs half way, sending him flying into the window. As he picked himself back off the floor, he couldn't help but hyperventilate. Not only were his eyes not dilated, suggesting that this was no drug based hallucination, but he appeared to also be a pony.

Standing there, eyes twitching he wondered just what had happened to him, if this was a hallucination it didn't have an obvious cause. But that was the only possible explanation. This couldn’t be real, could it? Yet for a hallucination, this was remarkably well detailed. Patients who suffered hallucinations back at the hospital often experienced places they had seen or been to before. Even if he was hallucinating talking ponies, he should of been doing it in the streets of Trentville, or even Prinston. Not here, wherever here was.

As he stood there looking at his own reflection, it suddenly dawned on him that while it was quite possible, nay probable, this was a hallucination. There was also the chance it was real. After All, wasn’t he the one often questioning House? Telling him what they saw wasn’t necessarily the only things that existed?

Wilson was still standing there, his eyes twitching in sustained disbelief when the door to the room opened and a large blue pony wearing a police hat walked into the room, a small file tucked under his wings. "It's nice to see you're awake, finally."

Turning at the voice, Wilson stared at the pony, his eyes still twitching. Slowly he made his way to the table which the officer had already quickly sat down at. Surprisingly he found that sitting on the large iron chair came naturally, despite his only recent transformation. Walking wasn't completely sorted out yet, though.

The face of the officer was stony, his expression unreadable as he began to speak. "Interview of prisoner number 10854/JD, Sergent Crystal Clear presiding." It wasn't clear to who he was speaking, but based on the cop shows Wilson occasionally watched, it was probably for the benefit of a tape recorder and some ponies that sat outside the room.
"Sir, may I begin by asking your name?"

It took Wilson a moment to realise that the officer was talking to him, "Did he just call me sir? That's as a strange thing to call a prisoner."

"Wilson." He could barely speak, too busy trying to cope with all this information. Before he had considered it all a joke, but now, it seemed all too real.

"Wilson...? That's a strange name, what are you? Some kind of lawyer perhaps?"

"A doctor."

"Hmm, interesting name for a doctor. Well Wilson, are you aware it's illegal to break into the royal gardens? And are you also aware it is illegal to hide one's own cutie mark?"

"Huh?" Wilson could only be even more confused as the officer talked to him, it was hard enough to cope with the situation as it was without him asking him questions which he had no hope of answering.

"Your cutie mark Sir, it's illegal to cover, change or remove it artificially in order to hide your identity. A pony of your age will have certainly found their special skill, especially if they're a doctor. And look - your flank is completely bare.

Wilson looked down at was now his flank and agreed with the officer, his flank was bare, but as far as he was concerned it was meant to be. He had no idea what this 'cutie mark' thing was. "Cutie mark? What's a cutie mark?"

Crystal barely managed holding back a hoof from his face, the medics had said the prisoner was very drunk but they sobered him up, he should easily be able to remember what a cutie mark was. Of course there was the chance the prisoner was feigning forgetfulness to avoid prison. Even with magic, amnesia was almost impossible to detect accurately.

Taking a deep breath, he wondered how he should continue. By the time he had exhaled he had decided to play along with Wilson, perhaps he would be able to catch him out. "A cutie mark is a kind of emblem which everypony earns when they discover their special talent. For example, my mark is a piece of crystal represents when I discovered my talent was the ability to see things clearly despite the truth being hidden." As he said this he studied Wilson's face, seeing if there was any hint of nervousness at the mention of his special talent. Of course, this was a lie, his real talent was in the distinguishing between gems and determining their worth. But the prisoner wouldn't know that.

Studying Wilson's face, he looked for any sign that his explanation of his 'talent' had caused the desired effect. Sadly, his face had not changed, eyes still twitching away furiously. Crystal sighed breathlessly, this was going to be a long day.


Mid-morning sun beamed down into the royal gardens, birds chirped lazily and a lone figure began to stir behind one of the statues. Reaching up to his face with his hands, House felt his stubble before even attempting to open his eyes. "Hmm, barely anything, can't have been out for more than one night." Next he felt his body, his arms and legs appeared to be movable and his back was against something hard and stoney. All seemed in order, he vaguely remembered lying in an alleyway last night, so his back pressing against stone wasn't unexpected.

Slowly he opened his eyes, not recoiling in the light as Wilson had done. If House had learned one thing from his Vicodin addiction it was how to cope with hangovers. The view around him surprised him for a second before he smiled, "Wilson, what have you done to me this time?" In front of him was a hedge maze and by turning his head he could see what he was leaning against was a statue and not the wall of an alleyway. It was strange, looking like some sort of mythological creature, although he didn't know which mythology this creature could of come from. It was a mixture of a snake, kangaroo and bear. There were other animals as well, but he couldn't instantly place them.

Overall the statue was really strange, and something about the 'discordancy' of the creatures made him want to laugh. He chuckled as he placed his hands upon it and heaved himself into a standing position. For a moment he wondered what it was that Wilson had drugged him with for the statue felt strange under his touch, almost as if it was alive. As his touch lingered he could of sworn he could hear some pleased cackling ring about him, he shook his head, Wilson must have got him good.

Turning his attention away from the statue, he looked around him. He seemed to be in a large garden at the base of a castle. That made his smile wider, now he knew that Wilson had drugged him, after all there were no castles like this one in the US. Heck, he wasn't sure there were any castles in America. Well, that meant this was either an hallucination or a coma, either way it meant he could have some fun.

As he felt a gentle breeze a moments doubt filled him, what if this was real, but the doubt was erased when he took a step. The pain from his right leg that usually killed him was gone. This was definitely a hallucination, his leg wouldn't be pain free in reality, no matter how much he wished it would be.

Gazing around he looked to see if his subconscious had placed anyone else around. He may be drugged but it didn't mean he couldn't have some fun. He was rewarded by the sight of two creatures walking around the edge of the castle, they looked like horses except for the fact one was white and the other was lavender. Not surprised at all at this, he decided to run over to them, it was time for some fun.


Princess Celestia and her faithful student Twilight Sparkle were enjoying a small walk together through the royal gardens. Twilight was in Canterlot to collect some new books for the library back in Ponyville, and since they didn't to see each other often, she took the opportunity while in town to see her teacher.

"Princess, it's such a lovely; bright; sunny day today, you've really outdone yourself."

"Thank you Twilight, but you should know by now I simply raise it in the morning and set it at night. I do not determine it's warmth or light, it decides that of its own accord."

Twilight smiled nervously at her. "I know, but without you the sun wouldn't be there to shine. And it's not like I can thank the sun itself."

"Very true, my student. I am glad, by the way, that you were able to tear yourself away from your studies and come and visit me. I trust your research into the magic of friendship is going well?"

"It's going excellent, Princess, did you read my last friendship report?"

Celestia's face broke into a smile, "Why of course. Might I ask, has Cloud Kicker managed to get rid of all that jelly yet?"

It was Twilight's turn to smile. "Yes, but I don't think she'll be going near any wasps nests for a while."

Celestia chuckled, "Well, at least she learned a valuable lesson about a friend’s personal space. Do you know if Blossomforth will be alright?"

"She should be, she's already met the psychiatrist three times."

"Oh? How is Rorschach by the way?"

"He's fine, although the time Pinkie visited him almost made him need to visit a shrink himself." Celestia simply nodded in response, suddenly focusing on something other than her student. "Princess, what are you...?" Twilight looked beyond her teacher, there was a weird creature walking across the lawn towards them. Her first instinct was to panic, but since the princess didn't move, she felt there was no real threat. "W-what is that?"

"I don't know Twilight, but he seems harmless enough."

"He? How could you possibly know what gender it is?"

"The beard?"

Twilight looked down at the grass, ashamed. "Oh, of course."

Looking down at her student, Celestia chuckled a little. "Don't worry Twilight, I could be wrong. Anyway why don't we say hello to our guest?"

"Are you sure? He might be dangerous."

"Twilight, have you ever seen something like him before?"

"No..."

"Well then, he might be lost here and all alone, or maybe he's here from a foreign land. Either way, it would be rude to ignore him."

Twilight nodded her head in silent agreement. "Be careful."

"Don't worry Twilight, what's the worst that can happen?"

Images of Chrysalis and the Changelings instantly filled her mind, but before she could mention anything to the Princess, Celestia walked away.


Sweat dripped off House despite the short distance he had been running. He thought for a moment that given it being a hallucination that he would of been in better shape, unfortunately he still had the physique that he had gained due to his relative unhealthy lifestyle and long term disability.

As he ran, he saw that the horses had seem to have spotted him and were walking in his direction. Getting closer he noticed that not only were they not a traditional colour, but they also had extra embellishments. The violet one had a horn like a unicorn, and the larger white one had wings as well as a horn. Wilson must have drugged him very well, he doubted his subconscious would normally be able come up with this kind of hallucination.

When he was only a short distance away the large white horse surprised him. It stopped where it was and opened its mouth as if to speak. "Welcome!" it shouted, House tripping over in response. ‘Ok, this hallucination has got quite a lot of detail’ he thought to himself as he slid across the grass.

Picking himself off the ground for the second time in such a short space of time he could've sworn he heard laughter. "Princess, is he alright?"

"Oh I should think so, Twilight. Looks like he's used to rough times."

"What's that supposed to mean?" House had moved beyond being surprised at talking horses, after all it was his mind and it was a hallucination.

"Ooh, it can talk," said the the violet mare excitedly. She was clapping her hooves together in a manner more human than horse.

"Of course I can talk! The question should be, how come you can talk? Then again, you are a projection of my subconscious... So I guess being able to communicate with you makes sense."

Both Celestia and Twilight looked oddly at his outburst. "Your subconscious? I assure you, strange stallion that I am as real as you are."

"Of course you would say that, Amber did practically the same when I hallucinated her."

"Princess?" asked Twilight, a clear mark of concern on her face. "Is he alright? He seems a little out of his mind."

"Of course I'm out of my mind, like Icarus I'm too high and imagining that I'm beside a large castle talking to two horses. Soon my wings will melt and I'll wake up, and knowing Wilson I'll be naked in a hotel room with my Vicodin replaced with breath mints." To House's surprise the horses didn't react like his hallucination usually did, instead they seemed to get rather annoyed at him. Or angry in the case of the smaller violet one.

"Firstly, we are ponies. Secondly, we are not hallucinations. I agree however, that you're drugged out of your mind, you must be to talk to the Princess like this.

"Twilight, please, he may just be confused. There's no need to go overboard." She said, her smile still a constant on her face, if a bit frazzled. "Now, what makes you think you're hallucinating?"

"Apart from waking up in a land of talking Ponies?" The princess nodded, "Well the fact that my leg no longer feels like I'm being constantly stabbed and that I can do this."

"Do what?" asked Twilight and Celestia in unison.

"This," said House as he quickly climbed onto Celestia's back. "If this was real I wouldn't be able to horse ride, one of the skills I have never partaken of."

Twilight stood stunned as this creature just sat on her rulers back, as if she was some sort of slave. Celestia however, reacted calmly and smiling enveloped him in a field of her magic, plucking him from her back and placing him down on the ground, where he stood immobile.

"Twilight, would you be so kind as to go and bring over a guard please?" The violet mare nodded and walked off, anger seeping from her as she left. After watching Twilight walk of, Celestia turned her attention to House. "Now I don't know what it is you're playing at, but you're not hallucinating and until you accept that fact I think it would be wise to place you somewhere you won't be a nuisance and cause further embarrassment to yourself."

"Of course I'm hallucinating, how else do you explain pastel coloured talking ponies?"

Celestia just fixed him with a gaze and didn't answer him, standing in silence until Twilight and a guard returned.

"Princess, are you ok?" asked the guard, who appeared to be a male pony of some kind. His fur pure white and mane and tail blue.

"Of course I am, Shining Armour, could you please escort our guest here to the west wing. I think he may be in the need of some alone time, and can you get a physician to have a look at him, I think he may have had too much to drink last night."

Shining Armour nodded as he picked House up in his own field of magic, taking him towards the castle, leaving Celestia and Twilight alone.

"Princess, what makes you think he was drinking?"

"He reeked of alcohol, couldn't you tell?" Twilight shook her head. "Well, I guess you're hardly around the stuff. And let this be a lesson to you. Drinking in excess leads to embarrassing situations."

"Yes princess, may I ask, what will happen to him?"

"Hmm, I think I'll let him cool off in a cell for a while, maybe he will be easier to talk to when he's sobered up. But let's not worry about that, we have a beautiful day and a whole garden to explore." With that Celestia walked ahead, leaving Twilight marveling at her ability to move on. Something she realised she couldn't do so easily, something seemed off about that creature, and she knew he was going to cause some trouble.