Wish Gone Awry. Enter Equestria! Enter New Life!

The group swiftly arrived at Sweet Apple Acres. Julius was walking with a bit more energy after his coffee; Fluttershy, too, was feeling a bit more refreshed from her drink. Sure they were a few minutes late, but it was worth it. Standing outside Sweet Apple Acres, Julius looked around, marveling at the town road's transition to the farm's road. The trees lining the town's street were all different kinds; oaks, maples, hickory, and chestnuts were the most common; however, there were a few other types. Going into the farm road, though, was wholly different. At the gate and fence were a few maple trees, but there were just apple trees after that. Red apples, green apples, and golden apples were all growing.

"Lots of apple trees. Guessing they're all different types?" Julius absentmindedly asked Fluttershy.

"Oh yes, they are. I don't know all the types, but I do know a few of them." Fluttershy started to explain. "Gala, Fuji, Honeycrisp, Red Delicious, and McIntosh are the only types I know. I'm sure Applejack or one of the Apples could tell you more, though." Fluttershy listed off as she remembered something. "Oh, there are also Zap Apples, but they're special. They only grow for a short time, and only Granny Smith knows when they'll come in." Fluttershy tells Julius as they walk along the tree-lined path.

"I'm sure Applejack has forgotten more about apples than I'll ever know." Julius chuckled as the group walked down the path. It was surprising to Julius how many dirt roads there were. Considering most if not every sentient creature was equine, he expected more developed roads, but so far, most of the streets just looked like well-worn trails: no drainage, no reinforcement, no decorations, no street lights, no particular dirt, nothing. The only exception was the main roads, and they only had street lights. "Hey Fluttershy, any reason why the roads have no real development?" Julius asked as they got closer to the barn.

"Maybe, I'm not too sure. Twilight might know, or Mayor Mare. If they don't, you could always ask Princess Celestia she should know." Fluttershy told Julius as the two heard some voices close by.

"So the old deal stays the same then?" A masculine voice asked, almost as if he already knew the answer.

"Yes, Filthy, the old deal stays the same." Applejack responds as the group comes into sight.

"I'm glad to hear it. I would love to continue this conversation, but I do find it in poor taste to discuss business in the presence of those not directly involved." The male, presumably named Filthy, said before turning to face the group. "Greetings, I'm Filthy Rich. If I remember, you are that creature from the other day, Julius, was it?" Filthy Rich introduced himself.

"Well, at least you're honest about it. Yes, I am Julius; nice to meet you." Julius returned the greeting, much to Applejack's and Fluttershy's amusement.

"Honest about what?" Filthy Rich asked, somewhat confused before quickly coming to a realization. "Oh, right, the name. My name is Filthy Rich. While I may be rich, I can assure you that I came by my bits honestly." Filthy chuckled while a magenta filly rolled her eyes.

"Like you haven't heard that one before, father." The filly rolled her eyes.

"None of that now, Diamond Tiara. Julius here is an important creature." Filthy half-heartedly reprimands Diamond Tiara. "Forgive my daughter; she was in Canterlot with her mother during the party." Filthy asks Julius.

"Oh, come on, how can that creature be important? He isn't even a pony, much less a unicorn." Diamond scoffs dismissively.

"Diamond Tiara, enough of that!" Filthy harshly reprimands. "Julius here has the ear of the Princesses." Filthy explains to Diamond Tiara. "Please forgive my daughter's rudeness." Filthy slightly nervously asks Julius.

"Hmmm, give me a moment to think about it," Julius tells Filthy Rich while walking towards Applejack. "I'll need Applejack's opinion on it first," Julius lightly smirks while walking over to Applejack. Leading Applejack a little bit away, with Fluttershy close behind, Julius sits down on the ground. "Shot in the dark here, but she's a bully, isn't she?" Julius asks, looking at Applejack.

"I've heard my sister complaining about her. From what she's said, Diamond Tiara doesn't sound too pleasant, though usually, she's decent enough around Granny Smith, Big Mac, and myself." Applejack explains to Julius, who's slightly lost in thought.

"I see. Applejack, I think I have an idea. A way to get Diamond Tiara to stop being a bully, though I need your help with it." Julius tells Applejack.

"I'm listening; what do you have in mind?" Applejack asks, her head slightly tilted.

"I'll tell Filthy Rich that I'll forgive her daughter if she helps out on the farm," Julius tells Applejack. "It'll get her away from whatever's happening at home, give her some time and space to clear her head, and give you a bit more help on the farm," Julius explains to Applejack.

"Well, Granny Smith always said hard work makes for good ponies," Applejack responded, sounding a little unsure. "It's a good idea, don't get me wrong, but I don't think Filthy would be onboard with it." Applejack tells Julius.

"If he agrees, will you agree to it?" Julius asks Applejack, confident that Filthy Rich will allow it.

"Sure. If somehow you can get Filthy Rich to allow Diamond Tiara to help out on the farm, I'll allow it," Applejack tells Julius. Smiling slightly, Julius walks back to Filthy Rich with Applejack and Fluttershy following after.

"Alright, Filthy Rich. I'll forgive your daughter if she helps out on the farm," Julius tells Filthy Rich.

"WHAT!" Diamond Tiara exclaims in utter disbelieve.

"Interesting thought," Filthy Rich says, thinking it over. "Tell me, why do you want Diamond Tiara to help out on the farm?" Filthy asks curiously.

"I think it'll be good for her. I'm sure there are a few ponies who would agree with me," Julius tells Filthy Rich with a wink.

"I see your point," Filthy Rich says with a bittersweet smile. "You know how to make an argument," Filthy tells Julius, both exchanging knowing looks. "Very well, she'll start tomorrow," Filthy Rich offers while Diamond Tiara watches on in dismay.

"That works," Julius tells Filthy Rich while smirking at Applejack.

"I'm glad to hear it. Now I'd love to stay, but I've already spent too much time here; I have to get back to Barnyard Bargains. Until next time, and remember, Buy Better, Buy Brighter, Buy Barnyard Bargains." Filthy Rich says to Julius before leaving, Diamond Tiara blankly following after her father.

"Told you I could do it," Julius smirks at Applejack. "Moving on from that distraction, Fluttershy and I are here to help for the day," Julius tells Applejack, who's smiling and shaking her head.

"Tomorrow will be an interesting time," Applejack chuckles before acknowledging Julius. "I was expecting Fluttershy, not you, though, well, not yet at least," Applejack laughs. "Still though, if you want to start sooner than expected, I won't complain, nor will the mares. Now, if you can keep your clothes on, you can work with us; otherwise, you'll have to work alone in an orchard," Applejack tells Julius.

"You expected me to help?" Julius asked in some surprise.

"Not at first, but after hearing that you beat Rainbow Dash in a race, I figured it was only a matter of time," Applejack explained to Julius. "After all, the only reason I can think of for wanting to race Rainbow Dash is the deal we have," Applejack tells Julius. "Look, I'm okay with it as long as you can work out on the farm in some way. Honestly, your timing couldn't be better. We've been getting requests for Big Mac for a while, mostly from Cheerilee and Bon Bon. Rarity hasn't requested him yet, and Pinkie Pie cut back on her requests" Applejack lightly laughs.

"Are the requests for sex? Is Big Mac getting paid to have sex with ponies?!?" Julius asks, slightly amazed.

"Eeyup," a very hardy-sounding Big Mac responds, walking up behind Applejack.

"Damn, son, respect," Julius chuckles while Big Mac smiles, and Applejack laughs.

"Remember, in this world males are a lot rarer than in your world. This kind of thing is pretty common here. It's a fantastic way to bring in bits for the farm." Applejack explains to Julius while laughing.

"I suppose you have a point, still though" Julius slightly trails off. "It's warm out. I'll probably work shirtless," Julius sighs.

"Alright, Big Mac, take Julius to the western orchard. Julius will be working there while he works here. I'll take Fluttershy over to the reservoir; hopefully, she'll be able to deal with those beavers quickly," Applejack commands Big Mac before she goes down a trail.

"Accalia, go with Julius," Fluttershy tells the wolf as she follows after Applejack.

"Okay," Big Mac responds before looking at Julius. "Follow me," Big Mac tells Julius before walking down a different trail.

"So you can say more than two words in a sentence," Julius jokes as he and Accalia follow Big Mac down the path.

"Eeyup," Big Mac says while taking a few looks at Accalia. Following down the trail, Julius notices Big Mac taking several glances at Accalia.

"Don't worry about her. She's with us because of me. You see, it turns out I picked up a stalker at some point. Not sure when I picked up my stalker, or where, or even why, but I have one now. I noticed it this morning. So far, my stalker has been following me all-day from the Everfree Forest to Fluttershy's Cottage, to Ponyville, and now to here, it seems," Julius explains to a concerned looking Big Mac. "Don't worry; I don't think my stalker is going to harm us. They've had many opportunities to attack me, and they haven't," Julius reassures Big Mac, who still doesn't look all that assured.

"If you say so," Big Mac concedes to Julius as they continue down the trail.

"Huzza! We got an even longer sentence out of you!" Julius jokingly congratulates while Big Mac shakes his head, chuckling. Walking down the path, Julius looks around at the trees. The scent and feeling of being in an orchard felt soothing as if his cares were being washed away into a sea of leaves and trees. It was helping ease his mind about his stalker. Fresh apples on the branch and the clean smell of the air kissed with the soft sweetness of fruit certainly did lull his senses. Despite the hard work that lay ahead of him, Julius enjoyed the feeling. Stopping before a gate, Big Mac unhitches the gate and opens it.

"Here we are, the west orchard," Big Mac announces as he leads Julius and Accalia into the orchard. Walking over to a nearby large shed Big Mac pulls out some large baskets from the shed. Grabbing one of the baskets, Julius remembered what to do. Last time on the farm, he was getting apples from trees; this time, it appeared that he'd be doing it again. Julius took a moment to watch as Big Mac bucked apples out of one of the trees. If nothing else, it was undoubtedly impressive how both he and Applejack could shake every apple down from seemingly any tree. Taking off and folding his shirt, Julius placed it inside the shed before joining Big Mac.

"Hey, Big Mac, shouldn't you be off with the mares?" Julius teases as he shakes some apples out of a tree.

"Nope," Big Mac responds as he bucks all the apples from the tree with a single hoof.

"Starting with them tomorrow?" Julius asked as he filled his basket with fallen apples.

"Eeyup," Big Mac responded as he filled up his basket.

"Back to just one word, shame," Julius jokingly lamented. The two went on as such for some time while Accalia looked out into the orchard. As they cleared the trees of apples, a curious thought began to form in Julius' head. "So Big Mac, you and your sister can buck apples from trees no problem, right?" Julius asked leadingly through heavy pants.

"Eeyup," Big Mac responded with a hardy grunt as he bucked a tree.

"Can you buck fruit out of other trees?" Julius asked as apples fell around him.

"Nope," Big Mac shot back almost instantly before filling his basket with apples.

"Have you tried?" Julius asked with a heavy grunt as he lifted the full basket.

"Nope," Big Mac responded as he lifted his full basket.

"Then how do you know you can't?" Julius asked as the pair walked towards the shed.

"Applejack tried," Big Mac said as the two walked to the shed.

"What did she try on?" Julius grunted as they made their way to the shed.

"Orange trees," Big Mac told Julius as the shed came in sight.

"Just orange trees, hardly confirms anything. There are more trees Applejack could have tried on," Julius tells Big Mac. "Come on; there must be other trees nearby that grow fruit," Julius tries to suggest. Thinking for a moment as the pair reach the shed, Big Mac doesn't say a word; nevertheless, his expression betrays his thoughts. "What are you thinking?" Julius firmly asks Big Mac.

"The abandoned Pear farm," Big Mac almost spits with disgust as he drops off his apples.

"Wow, that's some genuine hatred. What's the story?" Julius asks as he drops off his apples.

"The Apples and the Pears are rivals," Big Mac again almost spits with disgust.

"Why?" Julius asked with some confusion. Big Mac just looked awkwardly at Julius. "You don't know, do you?" Julius asked, eyebrow raised.

"I don't," Big Mac responds while turning to go back to apple bucking.

"Look, Big Mac, we're making good time. We can spare a little. How about we go over to the Pear farm, and you try to buck down some pears if it's not too far, of course," Julius suggests to a stunned Big Mac.

"Nope," Big Mac hardly responds, starting to walk off.

"Oh, I understand if you're afraid that you cannot buck down pears," Julius leadingly chides Big Mac. "I mean, pears are better secured to their branches than apples," Julius mocks Big Mac with a sly grin.

"Now you listen here!" Big Mac commands firmly. "The Apples are the hardest working Earth Ponies around! Anything a Pear can do, we can do better!" Big Mac firmly states.

"Except harvest pears," Julius adds while grinning at Big Mac.

"Follow me," Big Mac commands Julius, who follows after grinning. A grumpy Big Mac leads Julius through the west orchard. Passing trees filled with apples but paying them no heed. The path through the orchard twisted and winded through dense trees and heavy foliage. Singing birds flew away as the group practically mowed through the shrubbery. While heading onto a seemingly non-existent path, Big Mac grumbled while branches to the face slowly washed away Julius' smirk. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, not helped by the branch assault, the group stood before a rotten fence. Looking off a bit into the distance, Julius spots a few pear trees.

"This the pear farm?" Julius asks while hopping over the fence.

"Eeyup," Big Mac gruffly responds, following after eager to put this waste of time behind him. Walking through the mostly fruitless trees, the group finds a tree full of fruit after a few minutes.

"Well, you going to prove me wrong, or you just going to stand there gawking?" Julius teases, earning a glare from Big Mac. Walking up to the pear tree Big Mac turns around, facing Julius and with a back leg ready to buck the tree. Bucking the tree, Big Mac looks right at Julius.

"Waste of," Big Mac starts to say before a pear smacks Big Mac on his head. Looking up, Big Mac sees pears falling from the tree. Looking around him, Big Mac sees that the ground is littered with pears; nearly every pear fell from the tree. Walking up to Big Mac, Julius picks up a nearby pear.

"Well, looks like you can buck fruit from other fruit trees," Julius tells Big Mac before taking a bite from the pear. Grabbing another with his free hand Julius offers it to Big Mac. "Wanna try it?" Julius offers to a stunned Big Mac.

"N-Nope," Big Mac nervously responds while sitting down.

"Oh, come on, you already bucked the fruit down. Are you afraid that you'll like it?" Julius laughs while finishing his pear. Rolling his eyes, Big Mac eats one of the pears. Chewing the pear, Big Mac finds that it tastes good, delicious even, with a taste quite similar to an Envy apple. Finishing the pear, Big Mac looks down and away from Julius. "Better than you thought?" Julius asks, that same infuriating grin plastered on his face.

"Eeyup," a dejected Big Mac conceded, head hung low.

"Come on, let's head back," Julius told Big Mac, snapping him back into his mind. Absentmindedly Big Mac followed Julius back to the western orchard, with Accalia following behind the pair. The walk back to the orchard was rough. There were just as many branches, exposed roots, overgrown shrubbery, and all together rough terrain. After what felt like an eternity of bushwacking, the group finally got back to where they started.

"There you two are!" Applejack yelled out at them, her voice somewhat muffled. Walking towards the group, Applejack was wearing a mask.

"Oh dear God, not here too," Julius angrily said as he saw the mask.

"The mask is for your pheromones," Applejack told Julius. "Guessing you have some mask problem in your world?" Applejack asked as she still kept a healthy distance from Julius.

"Worldwide pandemic, though people are refusing to wear masks for," Julius trails off. "Reasons? Reasons. Reasons, yeah, let's go with reasons," Julius tells Applejack. "Anyways, what's up?" Julius asks Applejack.

"Well, I was shouting after you two," Applejack starts before getting cut off by some barking. "To get you three to get you to come back for dinner. Neither of you responded, so I came by to check things out," Applejack explained. "Where were you two?" Applejack asked, seeing twigs, and leaves sticking out of Big Mac's coat and Julius' hair.

"Well, Big Mac took me to the abandoned Pear Farm to test something," Julius started to explain to Applejack, who began to look at him oddly. "As it turns out, you can buck down pears," Julius told a now shocked Applejack.

"That's impossible!" Applejack stated in disbelieve. "I tried bucking orange trees, mango trees, lemon trees, coconut trees, plum trees, cherry trees, peach trees, fig-trees, pomegranate trees, and grapefruit trees; almost no fruit fell from any of the trees! When I was lucky, maybe two or three would fall, but that was it!" Applejack told Julius, almost yelling at him. "Big Mac, is this true? Did you buck down pears from a pear tree?" Applejack asked almost accusingly. Looking at Big Mac, he and Applejack shared a moment of silence.

"Eeyup," Big Mac said, breaking eye contact with his sister.

"WHAT?!?" Applejack loudly exclaimed in surprise. "I don't believe you; prove it!" Applejack demanded while lying to herself.

"Look, Applejack, I'd love to trudge back to the Pear Farm, get smacked in the face by every branch all just to get some pears," Julius exaggeratedly said while Applejack rolled her eyes at his sarcasm. "But I'm somewhat hungry, and I'm sure Big Mac is as well," Julius said while looking at Big Mac.

"Eeyup," Big Mac agreed with Julius though Big Mac was still somewhat out of it.

"Fine," Applejack said, turning around. "Julius will get washed up; we'll eat dinner, then we'll go to the Pear Farm, okay?" Applejack practically demands.

"Fine by me, I'm starving," Julius told Applejack.

"Same," Big Mac agreed, his stomach punctuating this by lightly growling.

"Alright then, follow me, boys," Applejack told them while starting to head back to the farmhouse. Following after her, Julius, Big Mac, and Accalia made their way to the farmhouse and dinner.