Wish Gone Awry. Enter Equestria! Enter New Life!

Stretching in bed, Julius felt around, noticing that Fluttershy was missing.

"Guess I must have dozed off. Ah well, Fluttershy is soft and comfy, worth it," Julius chuckled to himself as he got out of Fluttershy's bed. Getting dressed, Julius looked out a nearby window. "Hmmm, guess I was only out for an hour or two," Julius yawned as he left Fluttershy's bedroom. "Sorry about passing out like that. You and your bed were just too comfy," Julius chuckled as he heard some humming.

"Oh, it's quite alright," Fluttershy giggled as she brought out a serving plate with a teapot on it. "You're a good snuggler. Getting out of your grip was a bit difficult. Still, I made it to the door in time to catch Mooriella for some milk," Fluttershy told Julius as she poured the two some tea.

"Hah, Mooriella. That sounds like a cow's name," Julius laughed as he mixed some cream into his tea.

"Oh, it is," Fluttershy happily said as Julius set his cup down. "Mooriella is very nice, though she can be a bit timid. Why, just a few months ago, she got scared by a snake," Fluttershy giggled as Julius started to breathe heavily.

"Fluttershy," Julius heavily breathed, "I'm going to ask you a question. I know the answer, but please, lie to me. Are cows sentient?" Julius sternly asked.

"Oh, well, ummm," Fluttershy tripped over her words. Looking into Julius's eyes, Fluttershy sighed. "I won't lie. Yes, cows are sentient; why?" Fluttershy asked as Julius slightly backed up.

"Well," Julius started to say, "I think you know the answer to that. My reaction alone should give it away. Look, I can never meet a cow. I think it would destroy me," Julius told Fluttershy, who started to understand.

"Oh. OH!" Fluttershy exclaimed. "Look, it'll be OK. Your world is different. From what you said, only humans are sentient there," Fluttershy said as she walked up to Julius. "You haven't done anything like that since coming here; it'll be OK," Fluttershy continued to comfort as she gently patted Julius's back with a wing.

"I know, I know, it's just," Julius sighed, "it's just weird, OK. Like, if you went to a world where apples were sentient. Sure, you know that you've done nothing wrong, but it would still feel awkward. And you'd still feel horrible," Julius said as Fluttershy continued to comfort him.

"Yes, it would be awkward, and I would feel horrible. But the fact that you're feeling horrible about it shows that you're a good creature," Fluttershy assured Julius as she gently patted his back.

"Thanks, but it'll still take some time to come to terms with that," Julius bitterly chuckled. "Just another thing to work on, for now, though; let's just have a good day," Julius said as he went back to mixing his tea.

"Agreed," Fluttershy smiled as she went back to her seat. "So, I've heard that you've been helping Applejack recently. How's that going? And why aren't you there today?" Fluttershy asked as she mixed her tea.

"Slowly," Julius answered. "Honestly, I've been helping her to win her over. I mean, I'm sure it's helping, but it doesn't feel like I'm getting too much closer. I mean, sure, I'm not exactly expecting it to be as easy as giving her a few gifts, taking her on a date or two, and asking about her teet size. But still," Julius sighed, "I was expecting a little more than what I've gotten so far."

"That has to do with her parent's disappearance," Fluttershy told Julius.

"Yes, I've heard. They died somewhere near the Everfree Forest," Julius responded.

"Well, technically, they aren't dead, just missing, though the case went cold years ago," Fluttershy told Julius. "Their disappearance really hurt Applejack. Ever since, she hasn't allowed herself to get close to any stallion. I'm sorry to tell you, but it's going to take a lot more than hard work to win Applejack over," Fluttershy told Julius.

"Well, I'm open to ideas. Honestly, the only thing I can think of is solving a multi-year-long cold case," Julius laughed. "Trekking through the Everfree Forest to find two ponies that are definitely dead, but legally, just missing," Julius laughed as he took a sip of his tea.

"That's what I was thinking," Fluttershy said as she took a sip of her tea. "About eight years ago, when I first started to talk to animals, some animals told me that they saw some shady creatures in the Everfree Forest. They told me that they were making off with a sack the seemed to be fighting back," Fluttershy started to tell Julius. "I went to tell the guardsmares, but they just laughed it off," Fluttershy said as Julius pinched and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"Jesus Christ, I was joking," Julius sighed. "Well, those odds aren't really in my favor. But, maybe," Julius started to say as he stroked his chin, "if their bureaucracy is good enough," Julius continued as Fluttershy stared oddly at him. "It's a long shot, I mean like, a really long shot. Hell, it's a hail mary on a wing and a prayer, but there might be a way to find them," Julius said to Fluttershy's surprise.

"What did you have in mind?" Fluttershy asked as a slight smile formed on Julius's face.

"Well, a lot of praying to a God that I'm not sure can hear me. If he can, then he and I need to have a serious talk about his plan for me. Then a lot of placing my trust in a forsaken civilization that, from the sounds of things, dislikes Equestrians at best and hates them at worst, hoping that they have both the information and the will to help me find some Equestrians. So, yeah, optimistically, my odds are horrible, but hey, weirder things have happened," Julius laughed.

"OK," Fluttershy slowly said. "I was thinking of asking the Princesses. One of them might know something," Fluttershy suggested.

"I don't think Celestia knows anything; if she did, then I'm sure she'd have done something. Luna, well, I don't think she knows anything either, but she'd probably suggest going to the thestrals, which is what I'm already thinking. Still, I might ask Luna to pull rank at the mayor's office to get me the documents surrounding the case," Julius conceded.

"Well, it sounds like a good plan to me," Fluttershy smiled as a knocking came from her door.

"Fluttershy, is Julius in there?" Applejack asked as she knocked.

"Yes, I am," Julius responded as Applejack opened the door.

"There you are. Two days of slacking off. Do you think farm work just does itself?" Applejack huffed as she looked at Julius.

"Well, plants do a decent job growing themself. But seriously, I thought you could use some time to internalize your revelation. Besides, generally, humans get two days off each week, usually together," Julius said as Applejack rolled her eyes.

"Well, it has been a long two days, I suppose. And it has been nice learning about my mother's side of the family," Applejack chuckled.

"Oh," Fluttershy said as she offered Applejack a cup of tea, "what did you learn?"

"Well, I learned that my mother was a Pear. It turns out that she and Mrs. Cake knew each other as fillies. And my mother was quite the baker," Applejack said with a bittersweet smile. "There's so much that Granny Smith hasn't told us about her," Applejack happily sighed.

"See, not all was in vain. You got to learn about your mother," Julius smiled as he patted Applejack's shoulder. "Hey, Fluttershy, I'm kind of feeling like a snack. I don't suppose you have some potatoes, vegetable oil, and salt, do you?"

"I do odd things to ask for, though; potatoes aren't really a snack food," Fluttershy said as she walked to her kitchen.

"There's where you're wrong. Trust me; I know a way to make potatoes into one of the best snacks," Julius smiled as he followed Fluttershy. "Come on, Applejack; you'd like this recipe; it has the best kind of apples, pomme de terre," Julius joked to Fluttershy's amusement. "Oh, you speak French?"

"A little Prench, yes. Enough to get that joke," Fluttershy giggled behind a hoof.

"Hmmm," Applejack hummed as Julius and Fluttershy got the potatoes and some cutlery. "I've heard of many kinds of apples, but no 'pomme de terre' I'm guessing it's some kind of fancy apple. Considering its name is Prench and all," Applejack said as she watched Julius peel the potatoes.

"Well, pomme de terre translates directly to 'apple of earth' if that helps," Julius said while winking at a giggling Fluttershy.

"Hmmm, apple of earth," Applejack hummed, deep in thought. "That sounds like an apple that grows right from the ground. One that doesn't need a tree," Applejack guessed as Fluttershy filled a bowl with cold, slightly salted water.

"Yup, you're right there," Julius smiled as he sliced the potatoes into extremely thin slices.

"Hmmm, that's all I've got," Applejack said as she looked on the counter, seeing only potatoes, salt, oil, and a bowl of water. "What the hay? Where is this 'pomme de terre'? All I see are potatoes and some cooking ingredients," Applejack asked as she looked over the counter again, making sure that she didn't miss anything.

"Applejack," Julius said with a stupid grin, "pomme de terre," Julius grinned as he held up a potato in his hand, much to Applejack chagrin.

"Pomme de terre does directly translate into apple of earth. But the intended translation is potato," Fluttershy explained while giggling.

"I, you, but, what?!?" Applejack stammered as Julius put the potato slices into the bowl of water.

"Hah, you're cute when you're flustered," Julius chuckled as he mixed some different salts, spices, and herbs.

"Very funny," Applejack glared at the chuckling pair. "So, what now?" Applejack asked as she saw Julius wash his hands.

"Well, we gotta let the potatoes soak for roughly thirty minutes, then we can continue. After the soak, though, they'll be quick to cook up, only like, maybe four or five minutes," Julius told the pair.

"This recipe sounds very odd," Fluttershy said as she looked at the herbs Julius used. "Garlic salt, cloves, parsley, pepper, rosemary, thyme, and chili powder. Interesting choices. I can't wait to try whatever it is that you're making," Fluttershy smiled.

"Trust me; it'll be good. Pretty much every human likes them. I got a little fancy with making them. Honestly, all you need are potatoes, oil, and salt. The extra herbs and stuff, well, they just add more flavors," Julius assured. "I suppose if you wanted to, you could add more salt. I'm guessing that you'd probably like them saltier than I would."

"Why's that? Don't you like salt? I seem to recall a salty smell coming from you while working," Applejack asked as she sat on a cushion. "Among other scents," Applejack huffed under her breath.

"No, I do. Just, humans don't need nearly as much salt as horses. If you're anything like the horses and ponies from my world, then you'll like salt a lot more than I," Julius explained. "As for the salty smell, human sweat is made up of water, salt, and fat; that's likely what you were smelling."

"Makes sense. Most animals that sweat has salt in theirs," Fluttershy said. "Though, mostly all I can smell from you are pheromones," Fluttershy lightly giggles.

"Again, it makes sense. Human sweat is almost entirely water. Anyways, we got like twenty-five minutes to kill. Wanna do something?" Julius asked as he sat down.

"Well, I got a phractari set and cards," Fluttershy said as she went to get the things.

"I could play some Texas Hold 'Em," Julius said as Applejack and Fluttershy looked oddly at him. "Right, I should explain," Julius sighed. Explaining the game, Applejack laughed.

"Oh, you mean Buffalo Style Poker," Applejack said after hearing the rules. "I've played a few rounds of that with Braeburn in Appleloosa. It's pretty popular down there," Applejack explained. "Well, I'm in; deal me up," Applejack happily said.

"I guess I could play a few rounds," Fluttershy said as she sat at the table.

"Great, I'll deal us up," Julius said as he shuffled the deck of cards. Applejack and Fluttershy proved better at bluffing than Julius had thought. Sure there weren't any bits on the line, but he still played to win, and the two didn't make it very easy. The three were surprised to hear a timer go off after some time.

"Oh, the potato slices are done soaking," Fluttershy said as Julius was mid-shuffle.

"Oh. Thank you for setting a timer," Julius said as he placed the deck down on the table. Getting up, Julius walked into the kitchen; draining the water, Julius put the potato slices on some paper towels and patted them dry. Grabbing a large skillet, Julius put some oil in it, then started to heat it. "Alright, now to wait for the oil to heat up, which shouldn't be too long," Julius sighed with a stretch. Sure enough, within minutes, the oil was nicely heated. "Perfect, now for the potato slices," Julius said as he swiftly yet carefully placed the potato slices into the skillet.

"Wait just a moment," Applejack said as Julius finished putting the potato slices into the skillet. "All this here, it seems awfully similar to hay fries," Applejack said.

"If those are anything like french fries, then that's no surprise. The result is similar to fries, but a bit different," Julius said as he stirred the potato slices. "Just trust me, you'll see," Julius assured as he turned his full attention to the skillet. After a few short minutes of stirring, Julius took the fried potato slices out of the skillet and placed them on paper towels. Swiftly drying the fried potatoes, Julius seasoned them almost instantly. "Alright, here you go, try some," Julius said as he ate one of the thin fried potato slices.

"Sure, I'd love to," Fluttershy smiled. Taking one of the slices, Fluttershy popped it into her mouth. It had a nice crunch and a pleasant medley of flavors, followed by a nice mild sweet heat. "It's good, really good! What are they called?" Fluttershy asked as she took another.

"They're called potato chips, or just chips," Julius said as he offered some to Applejack.

"Oh sure, why not," Applejack said as she took a chip. Applejack's ears perked right up while eating the chip. "They're good, really good!" Applejack repeated after Fluttershy as the two took more chips.

"Yeah, they are. As I said, humans love them," Julius chuckled as he set the chips down on the table. Sitting around the table, the three enjoyed the chips, their tea, and a few rounds of Buffalo Style Poker.