Wish Gone Awry. Enter Equestria! Enter New Life!

A good thing about Big Mac's side work, satisfying mares, was that the Apple Family usually had a free large room. Sure it wasn't something they made use of much, but today was different. Gently levitating Julius off her back, Luna stripped off Julius's torn clothing, then placed the half-asleep human down on the free bed. He did a good job healing his wounds, with most of them fully closed, but it still meant that he was bleeding for quite a while across Luna's back.

"I'm going to take a bath, wash this blood off me," Luna said as she placed Julius stomach first on the bed. "Can one of you wash off the blood from his back?" Luna asked as she went to leave the room.

"I can," Twilight said as she started to follow Luna. "I just need a rag and some warm water."

"I can help with that," Applejack said, walking next to Twilight. "Here, I'll show you where everything is," Applejack told Twilight as the three mares left the room, each to do their stated tasks. Leaving Celestia, Rainbow Dash, and Spike alone in the room with Julius.

"Well, I guess the talk will have to wait a little bit," Celestia sighed as she watched the human fade into sleep.

"What talk?" Rainbow Dash and Spike asked, both with a look of confusion.

"It would seem your reckless stallion here wishes to bring a whole new metal into Equestria," Celestia started to explain as she levitated a small red velvet bag from her side. "This metal is from his world," Celestia continued as she gently dropped a ring from the bag onto the nearby bedtable. "The thing is," she continued as she tried picking up the ring with magic, "it resists magic," Celestia sighed as her magic slipped off the ring.

"Cool!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she got a closer look at the ring.

"Wait, are you saying that you can't affect the ring?" Spike asked in disbelief.

"Oh, not at all, Spike," Celestia chuckled as she lifted the ring in the air with her magic. "It's just that, to affect it with magic takes far more energy than it normally would," Celestia explained as she gently placed the ring on the table. "I'm not entirely opposed to such a metal, it definitely would have many uses, but I do want to know what exactly he wants to use it for and why," Celestia explained as Twilight and Applejack reentered the room. "Ah, Twilight, you're back."

"Yes, Princess," Twilight said as she levitated a warm, moist cloth over to Julius, Applejack close behind with a warm tub of water. "What were you doing? I thought I heard the sound of something falling," Twilight asked as a soft golden glow took ahold of the cloth.

"Here, let me wash the blood off," Celestia told Twilight. "There is a ring on the table. I want you to take a look at it and tell me your thoughts on it. Be thorough, but be careful; no harm is to come to the ring, understood?" Celestia asked as she began softly washing Julius's back.

"Understood, Princess," Twilight said as she walked to the table. "I don't understand, though. Why do you want me to look at the ring? I sense no magic from it," Twilight said as she looked at the ring. "And aside from looking highly polished, it looks like a normal silver ring," Twilight said as she tried to lift the ring with her magic. A violet glow engulfed the ring before slipping off, fading into the aether. "What?!?" Twilight exclaimed in surprise, barely managing to keep from shouting. "Princess, what just happened?" Twilight asked with evident concern.

"It's ok, Twilight," Celestia reassured as she massagingly washed Julius's back. "That appears to be normal for the ring," Celestia reassured. "I can't tell you anything about it at the moment; I don't want to color your opinion. Rest assured, though, after I have your honest opinion; I'll tell you everything I know about it," Celestia told Twilight as her focus remained on the lightly sleeping human.

"Ok, Princess," Twilight said as she went back to examining the ring. To Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Spike, it appeared like Twilight was playing with the ring, flipping the ring over in the air, looking at it from all angles, once she even slipped it on her horn, only to have her magic stop working. A chuckling Rainbow Dash and Applejack watched as Spike removed the ring from Twilight's horn. After several more minutes of examining the ring, Twilight finally placed the ring down on the table.

"Well, Princess," Twilight sighed as the exhaustion of fighting the timberdirewolf and testing the ring set in. "The ring is unlike anything I've ever encountered. It's lightweight, durable, beautiful, and somehow naturally resistant to magic. I have no idea where you got this from, but the material could be beneficial to Equestria as long as it remains a controlled material," Twilight tells Celestia, who strains the cloth.

"I am glad that we have the same opinion," Celestia tells Twilight as she moved on to cleaning Julius's legs. "As for the ring itself, it does not belong to me. It belongs to Julius here, the material that it is made of is titanium," Celestia explains as she washes the blood from the back of Julius's legs. "I wanted a second opinion on the ring before talking to Julius about it."

"You don't say," Applejack says as she lifts the ring in a hoof, slightly marveling at how light it is. "Rarity would go crazy working with this," Applejack chuckles at the thought of Rarity losing her mind.

"Speaking of Rarity, shouldn't somepony go get her. Julius seems to like clothes, and honestly, he should be wearing them in public," Twilight states to the agreement of all.

"Already taken care of, Cadance is getting Rarity and Zecora as we speak. Shining Armor is downstairs helping with supper," Celestia tells Twilight as Julius's body is scrubbed clean. Looking over Julius's body Celestia puts a golden glow around him. "Well, he has done a good job at healing himself; Julius has missed a few spots," Celestia remarked as the few remaining cuts closed themselves.

"Wait, I thought it was difficult to magically heal creatures other than ponies?" Rainbow Dash asked as she watched Celestia heal Julius.

"For serious injuries, yes. Knowledge of the creature's anatomy is required to fully heal them. But for superficial injuries, like those cuts, the healing is pretty straightforward," Twilight explained as Celestia turned to the ponies.

"Alright, it would do Julius well to have some peaceful rest," Celestia told the ponies as she ended her healing. "We should leave the room," Celestia said as Luna reentered the room. "Oh, Luna, we were just leaving."

"I can see that," Luna told Celestia as she walked up to the bed, "I'll be staying here," Luna told her sister as she took off her peytral and crawled into the bed cuddling up next to Julius.

"It's ok," Julius sleepily said. "It's nice cuddling something warm and soft," he sleepily moaned as he nuzzled his head into Luna's tuft. Shrugging, the four other ponies left the room, heading downstairs to help with supper.

Julius's rest was pleasant and peaceful. On several occasions, he thought he had heard the voice of an excited Rarity and a concerned and enraged Zecora, but he just brushed them off to return to his rest. Luna's tuft made for a very interesting pillow, soft, comfy, and thick her tuft felt very reminiscent of Rainbow Dash's, but with the delicate scent of lavender and blueberries. Coaxing him deeper and deeper into sleep, Julius faintly feels the bed shift as a second body crawls into the bed to cuddle up to him. Shifting and rolling around, Julius awakens only to have his head firmly embraced by Luna's and Zecora's tuft.

"Feeling better?" Luna asked as Julius's eyes flutter open.

"Reckless human fighting such a beast," Zecora admonishes from Julius's other side. "But you are fine at least, now downstairs what awaits is a feast," Zecora tells Julius as she lightly brushes his arm with a hoof.

"If not me, then someone else, so why not me?" Julius said as he slowly pulled himself up; stretching his body Julius still felt quite heavy. "Ugh, I'm still exhausted," Julius groaned.

"That is to be expected," Luna remarked as she and Zecora helped Julius up. "You used a lot of energy, nearly all of it. You'll be suffering the effects of magical exhaustion for a few days," Luna explains as the three get to their feet and hooves.

"I see; what about the others?" Julius asks as the three make their way to the kitchen.

"Twilight and Shining Armor are pretty tired, but not as severely as you. A good night's rest should be all they need. Cadance is perfectly fine. While she has no actual combat training, she does have alicorn magic and alicorn energy. It'll take a lot to exhaust her," Luna explains as the three enter the kitchen.

"Julius! You're awake!" Twilight remarks at seeing the three enter the kitchen.

"I'm aware," Julius chuckles as he nearly falls into a chair. "So what's to eat; I'm starving," Julius says as he lays back in the chair.

"Well," Twilight starts listing off a plethora of different exotic foods. Colorful dishes line the table; various fruits fill the presented platters, elaborate dishes interspersed among the salads and fruit plates. Grabbing two traditional dishes from the Crystal Empire, Julius has a bowl of what looks like schi and a plate of carrot, apple, and nut salad.

"I hope you don't mind," Luna started to say as she levitated two bottles and a cup to Julius. "But I looked through your dreams to find something you may like," Luna said as Julius gave her a narrow glance. "It's not quite this 'rum' and this 'coke' in your dreams, but it is the closest we have," Luna said as she placed the bottles and cup by Julius.

"Thanks, I think," Julius said, unsure of how exactly he felt about it. Pouring a bit of the bottle labeled 'Canterlot Épicé Sec' into the cup, Julius tried a small mouthful of the drink. It was wine, dry, with a hint of cinnamon and vanilla; while the taste was quite telling, the '8%' on the label removed all doubt. Trying some of the drink in the other bottle, Julius was surprised to find that it was some kind of fizzy cherry soft drink. A mild sweetness accompanied a robust cherry taste.

"Well, I can see what you were trying, good effort," Julius complimented as he mixed himself a drink. Trying a mouthful of the mix, it did, to an extent, stimulate his usual drink. Pouring herself a similar mixture, Luna got herself a drink, quickly followed by the rest of the ponies. The taste was an interesting one to the ponies; a warm, fizzy mixture with a dry sweetness played with their tongues as it danced in their mouths. In a few short moments, every pony had their meals served. It was weird, seeing so many non-apple-based foods in the Apple Family farmhouse, weird but refreshing. The group made light small talk as they enjoyed their meal.

"Sorry about not being able to do more today," Julius said between mouthfuls of food.

"Think nothing of it sugarcube," Applejack told Julius. "If you didn't do what you did, there would have been timberwolves attacking the orchard. Stopping that attack was work enough," Applejack assured Julius as she ate her seared apple, grapefruit, and peach stew.

"If you say so," Julius responded as he ate his meal. The small talk continued as the ponies got to know Zecora better and how the last month with Julius was. Much to everypony's surprise, it was a relatively quiet month. Julius spent most of his time training in the Everfree Forest, most improving his physical augmentation and coming to grips with his situation. Twilight, Luna, and Celestia learned what Zecora had taught Julius. Zecora covered a widespread, from general knowledge to some relatively obscure knowledge. His magical tutelage under Zecora was basic, very basic, but strongly focused on being creative and clever.

"You certainly had a well-rounded education with Zecora," Luna remarked as the group finished their supper. "I can think of a few different ways to take your magical training."

"What did you have in mind?" Julius and Celestia both asked.

"Well, you have natural healing magic," Luna starts. "So after confirming your classical elemental affinity, I would like to try a specialization of healing magic, purification magic," Luna stated as she finished her meal.

"Wait, don't tell me," Julius started. "The four classical elements are Earth, Air, Fire, and Water," Julius laughed.

"Good guess, you are correct," Celestia said, as she, Luna, and Twilight were unsure of why he was laughing.

"Of course they are. Do I need to go on an epic quest to get a treasure of each of the elements so I can save the world from a great evil?" Julius laughs.

"No, the test is very simple," Twilight said. "Although it's usually only done on unicorns, to find their secondary element," Twilight explained.

"Explain, please," Julius requested as he finished his meal.

"Well, you see, each of the pony tribes is naturally attuned to an element," Celestia started to explain. "Earth ponies and pegasi are attuned to Earth and Air, respectively. Unicorns are attuned to Fire but can manipulate the other three elements. Generally, most unicorns have a secondary element, one they can learn and manipulate with almost the same ease as Fire. This test is used to find out what that second element is," Celestia explained. "Oh, and if you are wondering, alicorns are attuned to all four elements," Celestia told Julius before he could ask.

"Makes sense," Julius said as he laid back in relaxation. "You don't mind if I lay back down, do you?" Julius asked as he relaxed in his chair.

"Go ahead, Celestia wanted to talk to you anyways," Applejack allowed as she and the other ponies started to clean up.

"Follow me," Celestia said as she led Julius into the living room. Entering the living room, Julius made sure they were out of earshot of the other ponies.

"Is this a booty call? If it is, I'm not opposed, but time and place, you know," Julius asked as he laid down on the couch.

"If it were, you'd be at the castle right now," Celestia told Julius. "No, this is about your ring and duplicating its metal," Celestia told Julius.

"Yeah, I thought there might be a bit of a problem," Julius sighed. "So what do I need to do to get you to allow it?" Julius asked as he relaxed on the couch.

"I just want to know what you want it for, why exactly it has to be this metal, and what, if any, plans you have for it in the future," Celestia calmingly said.

"Well, I want it for some clothes Rarity is making for me. To have it knitted into an attached mail undershirt," Julius starts to explain as Celestia gives him a very odd look.

"Knitted metal? And an undershirt made for stallions?" Celestia asked in confusion.

"When I said 'knitted,' I mean attaching the rings with rivets. And mail doesn't mean stallion; it's a form of armor. The armor looks like a mesh net when finished, well, if properly made," Julius cleared up for Celestia. "Mail can be attached to clothes, so in this case, it would be an attached undershirt. I've heard that pegasi have difficulty flying with plate armor, so you could switch their plate for mail," Julius suggests, hoping it will help sway Celestia. "It has to be titanium because it's much lighter than ĉiela metalo and more durable. As for plans for the future, well, I honestly don't have any at the moment. You could keep the metal as a special reward, like a badge of honor. Or use it to outfit your elite guard," Julius offers to Celestia.

"I see," Celestia says, her voice measured. "There would be a problem, though. The Aleric brothers don't have the energy to transmute material into titanium. To make it work, either Luna or I would need to lend power to the spell. Maybe Twilight, but that would require her learning the spell, and ever since ancient times, it's been illegal for anycreature other than alicorns and the royal transmuters to learn the spell," Celestia explains. "Seeing as titanium is magically resistant, and all our forges use magical heat Luna would have to lend her power to the spell as only my magic would be able to make the titanium workable. Well, I suppose a lot of unicorns could also work, but it would cause a lot of problems for the economy," Celestia explained to Julius.

"I'm sure you could do it," Julius starts flattering Celestia. "To a powerful alicorn mare such as yourself, such a thing would be easy," Julius continues, much to Celestia's amusement. "I could make it worth your while," Julius slightly sings.

"Hmm, you do drive a hard bargain," Celestia hums while keeping a straight face. "Very well, I accept your terms," Celestia says, allowing Julius to think he's convinced her despite having already made up her mind. "I'll be bringing you to the castle later this week for your payment," Celestia slightly smirks as she tastes the word on her lips. "Aswell as to discuss something else. Luna told me that you're interested in repairing and renovated the old castle," Celestia said as she stood up. "But that's a conversation for another day. Today, I fear I spent too much time away from the castle. I better get going before Bright Sky calls the whole Solar Guard to tear Equestria apart to find me," Celestia says as she makes her way to the door. "The meal was very lovely; thank you for the meal, Apples," Celestia said to the mares in the kitchen.

"Oh, think nothing of it, Princess," Applejack said as she finished cleaning up.

"The pleasure was all ours," Granny Smith followed up. Celestia stood outside, moments after Luna stood beside her. Standing together, the two sisters lowered the sun and raised the moon.

"So then, the metal will be made?" Luna asked, already sure of the answer.

"Yes, it will," Celestia confirmed. "Come to the castle tomorrow; we'll make it then. The blank check Julius gave me, I'll cash in later," Celestia chuckled to herself.

"Oh, you're terrible, Celestia," Luna chuckled, "playing with stallions like that."

"Every pony has their vices, Luna. Besides, how many stallions do you think ever get close to me? Bright Sky usually threatens them with a trip to that accursed place," Celestia shutters with disgust.

"You really need to talk to her about that," Luna sighed.

"I have; it's pointless, you know how they are. No reasoning with fanatics; can only keep them on a short leash," Celestia sighs regretfully. "I imagine you wish to stay with your stallion," Celestia says while looking at Luna.

"Yes, I do," Luna confirms.

"Thought as much; I'll see you tomorrow, sister," Celestia says before teleporting back to Canterlot.

"Celestia already left?" Julius asked as he walked out of the farmhouse.

"Yes, she has preparations to make at the castle and some fanatics to keep leashed," Luna told Julius as she started to walk away. "Forgive me, but I must excuse myself for a moment."

"Oh, I see. Please hurry up; I have to 'excuse myself' as well," Julius said as he saw the outhouse Luna seemed to be going to. A mild chill blew through the evening air, leading Julius to head back inside. "Why don't the Apples have an indoor toilet?" Julius sighed as he reentered the farmhouse. Several long minutes passed of Julius holding it in before Luna entered the farmhouse.

"Great, you're back; I'm out!" Julius rapidly said as he bolted right out the door. In this world and his, Julius hated using outhouses. They were always messy and smelt horrid, even when well kept. Not to mention they tended to be pretty far away from anything else.

"Ah, I needed that," Julius sighed into the night air.

"Yes, herr-fürst, I imagine you did," a voice addressed Julius.

"So you have a voice," Julius sharply said, his head looking around the area. He could have sworn that the voice came from his left, but there was nothing there.

"Oh, I have more than a voice herr-fürst," the voice said as it seemed to circle Julius. "I have knowledge. I know of your dealings with the Divine Mistress," the voice slightly laughed as it seemed to circle Julius.

"Ok, this is getting old," Julius said as he prepared himself. "Come out and face me like a man, er, stallion, ummm, mare?" Julius tripped over his words, trying to find the right one. "Warrior, sure, warrior. Come out and face me like a warrior!" Julius shouted to a laughing voice.

"Oh, but you see herr-fürst, I already am out," the voice said as a hoof tapped Julius's back.

"What the hell!" Julius exclaimed as he swiftly jumped forward and spun around, only to see nothing. "Where the hell are you?" Julius asked in anger.

"Why herr-fürst, I'm right infront of you. You just can't see me," the voice started to taunt. "Maybe it's because..."

"Don't you dare!" Julius warned as he saw what appeared to be the shimmering outline of a pegasus approaching him.

"Ya basic!" The voice said nearly right in front of Julius before retreating. "I am told that it is a human insult and that it is devastating. Tell me herr-fürst, are you devastated?" The voice mocked as it faded away.

"Motherfucker!" Julius exclaimed as he swatted at the air around himself, trying to hit something. After several angry moments of thrashing the air and the sound of nothing but his anger a miffed, Julius made his way back to the farmhouse.

"I'm back," Julius said as he took in a deep breath.

"You sound a bit angry," Applejack said at hearing how deep Julius's breath was. "Something bothering you, hon?"

"Just the stalker," Julius sighed. "Turns out it's a stallion."

"You saw it?!?" The ponies exclaimed in shock.

"Not entirely," Julius said as he sat on the couch. "It was kind of shimmery and translucent, almost like it was cloaked. Like imagine looking at a pegasi-shaped blob of water," Julius tried to explain awkwardly.

"Fascinating; I've never heard of such a thing!" Twilight exclaimed. "I meant it's disturbing too, but fascinating!" Twilight said while lightly clapping her hooves.

"Well, now that we know it's a pegasus, we can prepare for it," Rainbow Dash said as she sat beside Julius. "Don't worry; I won't let any pegasus do anything to you."

"Your wing is still injured, and besides," Julius started to say. "Aren't gender roles here reversed from my world? Won't there be problems if you attack a stallion?" Julius asked as he scratched the back of his neck.

"Normally yes, but this is an extreme case," Luna said. "Still, a shimmering, nearly invisible pony. Twilight, you should look more into this," Luna suggested.

"I plan to," Twilight said with a mixture of glee and seriousness. "Would you know anything about such a pony Luna?" Twilight asked.

"I believe I do. But before I say anything, I want you to research it for me," Luna said.

"Why?" Twilight and Julius both asked.

"After I came back, I tried to find something, something lost. I found them quickly enough, although I could find no record of them. The fact I could find nothing about them before meeting them has disturbing connotations," Luna explained. "So I would like you to try to find out, independent of my knowledge," Luna told Twilight.

"But what about Julius?" Twilight asked.

"Don't worry. I swear that Julius will come to no harm. I will see to that personally," Luna assured the ponies and the human.

"You're hiding something," Julius said while looking at Luna. "You have your reasons, but you're hiding something. I want a full explanation once this is all over," Julius flatly told Luna.

"Of course, and you will have it, I promise," Luna promised as she nuzzled Julius's free side. "Thank you for trusting me on this."

"Well, you haven't done me wrong yet; I can't see you starting now," Julius assured Luna as he scratched the top of her head. Looking around the room, Julius turned to Applejack. "Where's Apple Bloom and her friends?"

"Oh, they're staying at Scootaloo's place," Applejack told Julius.

"And her parents, and uh, herd mothers are ok with it?" Julius asked, unsure what to call the other mares in that herd.

"Snap Shutter and Mane Allgood are members of the Royal Equestrian Geological Corps. Unfortunately, they're rarely at home," Rainbow Dash explained.

"Yeah, and Snap Shutter only has the one mare, although he does extra work, like Big Mac," Applejack followed up.

"So four fillies are home alone?" Julius asked with evident concern.

"Scootaloo's aunts make sure that she is well taken care of," Rainbow Dash told Julius.

"Not what I asked," Julius firmly said.

"Not all the time, though there are nights when Scootaloo is home alone," Applejack cleared up. Looking firmly at a wall, Julius finally sighed.

"Looks like I have something to talk to Celestia about," Julius silently sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "I know I rested for most of the afternoon, but I'm still quite exhausted. Let's turn in for the night," Julius said as he mustered his energy.

"Fair enough. Get started early tomorrow," Applejack said as she got up. Leaving to go to her bedroom, the other ponies followed suit, Applejack going to her bedroom, Granny Smith going to her's, and the rest going to Big Mac's. Starting to get up, Luna pulled Julius back down.

"What do you have to talk to my sister about?" Luna asked. "I know it has to do with Scootaloo and her parents."

"Well, you see," Julius started before hearing a knock at a nearby window. "What's that?" A pony stood outside the window. At first glance, it looked like Fluttershy and sounded like Fluttershy, but something was off, very off.

"That's a magical anomaly," Luna explained. "You see, as negative emotions arise, the dream realm gets filled with negative energy. If it gets too much, then the odd anomaly can slip out. The anomalies tend to take a nightmarish form of somepony, you know. Usually, they cannot harm you; only a very rare few get that strong, like Grogar," Luna explained as the anomaly beckoned them over.

"I see; how do you beat them outside the dream realm?" Julius asked as he fixed his gaze to the anomaly.

"A simple purification spell will usually suffice," Luna said as Julius walked over to the window. "What are you doing?"

"Well, you don't want to break the window, do you?" Julius said as he stared into the anomaly's eyes. Dark, baggy, and bloodshot, the eyes were all off. The teeth looked like row upon row of jagged razors. The mane appeared normal enough, although streaks of what appeared to be blood ran through them. Looking right into the anomaly's eyes, Julius favored it a slight smile. "Hello," Julius greeted before opening the window. Swiftly sidestepping, Julius cleared the way for a very stern-looking Luna.

"And goodbye," Luna followed up, blasting the anomaly to oblivion with a purification spell.

"Good work Luna," Julius congratulated as he closed the window. "Now, let's go up and join the others," Julius said, playfully slapping Luna's flank.

"Oh, stop it, you," Luna blushed as she followed Julius upstairs to the bedroom.

Having retreated deeply into the apple orchard after taunting Julius. After scanning the area carefully, the creature came fully into view.

"That was more fun than I thought it would be," it chucked. "That won't work on me Anya, I know what to look for," the creature flatly stated while looking at a rock.

"Oh, you're no fun," Anya said as the rock transformed. Taking a pony's form but with a glossy crimson, carapace-like coat, Anya approached the creature. "Seriously, Onyx, couldn't you at least pretend I wasn't there?"

"Could you not watch me?" Onyx shot back with a sigh. "My sister sent you, didn't she?"

"She was worried about sending her little brother to keep surveillance over an unknown creature, that human. Thought you could use some changeling help," Anya said, chuckling. "Honestly, it was sort of looking like you might."

"The Divine Mistress seems to trust him. Is that not enough? Besides, what do you mean I might need help?" Onyx asked with a raised eyebrow.

"That human, he fought off timberwolves and survived, with help, in the Everfree. He even fought off manticore venom long enough to find help. Sure, for most creatures fighting a thestral at night is insanity; this one just might try it," Anya speculated as Onyx stretched his large bat-like wings.

"That's fair, though, The Divine Mistress doesn't want any harm to come to him," Onyx told Anya as he flexed his body. "She knows about the test the coventry wants and is ok with it happening, though," Onyx tells Anya as he limbers up his body.

"Yes, The Maiden of Mercy does seem quite fond of the human. How far do you think they've gone?" Anya asked with a chuckle.

"Don't be absurd; a Goddess does not need such things," Onyx sighed while rolling his eyes. "Now come, let us make camp; I am starting to get hungry," Onyx said as he flew off deeper into the orchard.

"Stallions," Anya chuckled as she flew after Onyx.