Wish Gone Awry. Enter Equestria! Enter New Life!

There was a particular pleasure with sleeping in your herd. The soft, fluffy fur of the ponies caressed Julius's body; it was as if his whole body were enveloped by a pillow made of the softest down. Each pony had their unique scent that was very pleasant while mild, requiring close contact to notice the scents fused to make a relaxing aura. The scents of the mares' coats fused, the lavender of Luna's coat, the lilac of Twilight's, the lily of Zecora, and the juniper of Rainbow's mixed, making for a scent that could coax the most restless mind deep into sleep. Julius's body and mind quickly delved into a deep, restful sleep.

"Alright, y'all, time to wake up!" Applejack exclaimed as she entered the bedroom. Twilight woke up with no issue. Being an early riser was nothing new for her.

"A few minutes more," Zecora said as she snuggled up to Julius. "Then we shall be awake for the daily chore," she bargained, some sleepiness in her voice but still clearly awake.

"I agree with her," Rainbow Dash yawned as she cuddled up to Julius. "Just like, five more minutes AJ."

"Fine," Applejack glared at the rest of the group. "You have until breakfast is ready, then I'm pulling you out of bed," Applejack conceded. "Is that fair?"

"Sounds fair to me," Twilight said as she shook her head, getting the sleepiness entirely away from her.

"Yes, thank you, AJ," Rainbow Dash thanked as she started to doze back off.

"Great!" Applejack exclaimed with a mischievous smile. "BREAKFAST IS READY; WAKE UP ALL!" Applejack immediately shouted into the room, waking up the herd.

"AHHH!" Julius and Luna woke up in shock.

"AJ, what the Tartarus?" Rainbow Dash asked angrily.

"I concur," Zecora said, eyes wide awake. "A few more minutes is what I would have preferred such as it were."

"Come on, Applejack, the sun isn't even up," Julius said, looking out the window, sun nowhere to be seen. Almost as if on cue, the sun rose, right as Julius looked out the window. "I stand corrected, also cranky," Julius glared out the window.

"Mhn, Ahn, grrrr," Luna mumbled as she lowered the moon and dropped the firmament. "Stupid Celestia and her early mornings," Luna murmured as she fought the urge to go back to bed.

"I figured y'all would try something like bargaining to sleep until breakfast was made," Applejack said as she knowingly looked right at Rainbow Dash. "So it's already made." Both Julius and Luna looked at Applejack with sleepy yet intimidating glares. Zecora, for her part, was mostly ok, though she did miss the cuddling. Rainbow Dash just lightly chuckled as she pulled herself out of bed.

"I do that a lot, don't I?" Rainbow Dash lightly laughed as she slowly pulled herself to the door.

"Yes, you do," Applejack flatly said.

"You don't have coffee, do you?" Julius asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"No, I don't," Applejack said as her eyes wandered down Julius's body. "We need to get you some better clothes. Those short pants aren't hiding anything," Applejack said, looking away with a blush.

"I can solve both problems," a sleepy Luna said as she charged her horn with magic. "I'll be right back," Luna said as she teleported away, forgetting her peytral and horseshoes.

"She must be sleepy," Twilight said as she chuckled at seeing the sleepy Princess.

"Hey Julius, you could always wear Luna's peytral; she doesn't seem to be using it," Rainbow Dash joked as Zecora and Applejack laughed along.

"Rainbow, that's a bad idea," Twilight admonished. "Luna's peytral is a piece of royal finery; besides, it probably wouldn't even," Twilight was cut off by harder laughter.

"Like this?" A sleepy Julius said as the peytral rested on his shoulders.

"JULIUS!?!" Twilight exclaimed in surprise. "You can't just wear royal finery, quick take it off before," once again, Twilight was cut off, this time by a magical 'pop.'

"Would need to be remade," A half-asleep Luna said at seeing her peytral resting on Julius's shoulders. Placing some large clothes on the bed, Luna looked Julius up and down. "Still not a bad look for you," Luna allowed herself a light laugh. "Here, these are some spare minotaur clothes we had at the castle. Not quite your size, but it's the closest we had. Also, I brought some of my coffee beans," Luna told Julius as she had a paper coffee bag.

"Luna, you're a lifesaver," Julius sighed at hearing that Luna had coffee. Taking off the peytral, Julius put it on, Luna.

"Hey, prince charming, want to put her horseshoes on her too?" Rainbow Dash playfully joked to the other ponies' amusement.

"If she wants it, sure," Julius responded, making Luna blush slightly.

"Well, if you're offering," Luna said, slightly looking away from Julius. Sitting up on the bed, Luna let her hoofs hang free, allowing Julius access to them.

"Very well, milady," Julius said with a wink. Grabbing a hoof with one hand, Julius slid the horseshoe on Luna's hoof, kissing the fur right about the hoof as he did so. The horseshoes went on quite easily, much to Julius's surprise. He was expecting to have to use nails, or glue, or something, but they just slid right on and locked in place. Repeating the process with each hoof, Julius finished, leaving Luna more than a little red.

"T-thank you," Luna said with a blush while the watching ponies giggle and snicker.

"Alright, you two," Applejack says with a giggle. "Enough horsing around; breakfast will get cold."

"Agreed," Twilight said as she started to leave the room. "Get dressed and come down for breakfast," Twilight told the half-asleep pair. Leaving the room, only Julius and Luna remained.

"I suppose I should be getting dressed now," Julius sighed as he reached for the minotaur shirt, only for it to be held in a cobalt blue aura.

"Allow me," Luna said as she levitated the shirt. "It is the least I can do," she told Julius.

"Alright, if a beautiful mare wants to dress me, who am I to complain," Julius lightly smiled as he allowed the shirt to be put on him. The shirt felt weird; it was like a very loose, long sleeve tunic reaching down to the middle of his shin. "Hah, with this, I pretty much don't need pants," Julius joked as Luna slipped the tuniclike shirt on him.

"Not a good idea. Those short pants of yours do little to block your pheromones," Luna told Julius as she grabbed the pants. "Now, just relax," Luna told Julius as her magical aura enveloped him. Levitating Julius up, Luna slid the loose-fitting trousers onto Julius's legs before placing him down. "I'll leave the tightening of the clothes to you," Luna told Julius as she headed out of the room. "I'll go downstairs and make the coffee," Luna said as she left the room. Tightening up the clothes, with their attached drawstrings, Julius made his way downstairs.

"That smells good," Julius remarked as he entered the kitchen. The soft scent of pancakes and the strong scent of coffee caressed his nose. Sitting down at the table, the ponies looked over Julius.

"Well, the colors suit you; just don't let Rarity see you dressed so sloppily," Rainbow Dash said, remarking at the loose-fitting clothes. "She might just try to tailor them while you wear them," Rainbow Dash joked between bites of her pancakes.

"I'll keep that in mind," Julius told Rainbow Dash as a mug of coffee was levitated to him. "Speaking of Rarity, where are the others? You know, Rarity, White Knight, Princess Bubblegum, and Spike," Julius asked, not seeing any of them in the room.

"Rarity went back home last night. Shining Armor and Cadance teleported Spike back to the Golden Oak. they stayed the night there," Twilight explained.

"Good call on their part," Julius commented as he tried some of Luna's coffee, it was strong, really strong. A very dark roast with mild hints of chocolate. "Ok, that's a strong roast. Any cream and sugar?" Julius asked before taking a bite of a pancake.

"Of course, here you go," Luna said as she gave him some cream and sugar cubes. Taking a deep drink of her coffee, Luna sighed. "I usually have mine without cream or sugar; today, I'll really need it," Luna winced at the thought of what she had to do.

"Why's that?" Every creature asked in unison.

"I have to go to an ancient, forbidden place," Luna starts to explain, taking another deep drink of coffee. "Celestia has done well enough in keeping that cursed place sealed, but I still have to refresh my seals on that evil place."

"Oh, what is it? A shadow temple? If so, can you take me with you?" Julius asks, his interest perked.

"The Temple of Shadows is in an entirely different place," Luna flatly tells Julius. "Why would you want to go to the Temple of Shadows?" Luna asked, surprised at the energy Julius showed.

"Simple, I want to go to the Temple of Shadows to get the hover boots and a medallion," Julius laughs as the ponies give him an odd look.

"Neither of those things exist there. Dark secrets, forbidden magic, and rituals best left forgotten are all that exist in the Temple of Shadows," Luna tells Julius.

"Shame," Julius sighs.

"Tell us more about the place you have to go," Twilight requests while eating breakfast.

"I'm afraid I cannot tell you much about it. The place is best left forgotten, as is what took place there," Luna says, giving a quick look at Julius. "All I can say is it was a place sacred to an ancient, nearly extinct death-cult, where a truly fowl practice took place," Luna told the ponies as Zecora looked at Luna.

"I think I know of the place you speak of," Zecora said, cautious of her words. "A place deep underground, not one above. A grotto of practices most gruesome by ponies gone insane. Ponies wishing for death and pain, the age of winter eternal again. The return of wendigos their ultimate goal, to give the world over to their control. These are things I've read in an old weathered scroll. I could say more, but such things are best left forgotten. The act that took place there was truly rotten," Zecora told the group while under the heavy gaze of Luna.

"That sounds... accurate," Luna wearily said while looking at Zecora. "Whisper the name of the place to me," Luna told Zecora as she mentally tempered herself. Leaning in close, Zecora whispered something to Luna. "So, the place you were speaking of is the same place," Luna told Zecora with some concern. "Please, if you find the scroll again, destroy it," Luna firmly said.

"Worry not, that scroll is ash. One day in a flash, Julius here accidentally turned it to trash. Tripped over a pot, knocked the scroll from its spot. The scroll fell into a fire; honestly, I was fine consigning it to that pyre," Zecora told Luna.

"I remember that. I had a lump on my head for a while," Julius said, rubbing his head as he ate his breakfast. "So I take it you'll be away most of the day," Julius sighed as he enjoyed the pancakes.

"Sadly, yes. Believe me; I wish I didn't have to go to that cursed place. For a good while, it gave me the worst nightmares. Even now, it still gives me my second worst nightmares. For Celestia, it's her worst," Luna explained with a slight shutter.

"Wow, that place must be truly evil," Twilight remarked at hearing all the information.

"It really is," Luna flatly said. Finishing up their breakfast, the group cleaned up the mess. With so many doing the cleaning, the mess was quickly cleaned. Walking out of the farmhouse, the group stretched their muscles as the crisp morning air and bright morning light welcomed them.

"As much as I'd like to avoid going, I must," Luna lamented with a sigh. "I'll be back later, probably around nightfall," Luna said as she flexed her wings. Giving Applejack a quick hug and, her fellow herdmares, a customary hug and cheek kiss before standing in front of Julius. "I'll be back as quickly as I can," Luna told Julius before giving him a quick but passionate kiss. Returning the kiss, Julius smiled at Luna.

"If you need some support after you're done, just let me know," Julius told Luna as she began to fly off.

"Don't worry, I'll be ok," Luna shouted as she flew off.

"I should get going too," Twilight said as she started to make her way off the farm. "I'm guessing you haven't been tested for your magical affinity; I'd like to test for it. Also, I would like to spend some time with my brother and Cadance," Twilight told Julius as Zecora started to follow her.

"You are correct. Elemental testing is something that I did neglect. Sadly to say, the equipment to test I lack. When coming to Equestria, those are things I did not pack," Zecora informed Twilight as she followed the mare.

"Alright, see you both later," Julius told the departing mares. "Well, I guess that just leaves the three of us," Julius said while looking at Applejack and Rainbow Dash. "So, where do we start?"

"Well, Rainbow Dash needs to help with watering the crops in the south field. You and I will take care of the trees in the west orchard. Big Mac should be busy all day with mares; I think Bon Bon has him booked for today. Apple Bloom and her friends should be back after school," Applejack explained as she walked over to a shed. "Now we wasted enough time with waking y'all up. Let's get to work," Applejack commanded the pair.

"Very well," Julius responded as he grabbed a cart of empty buckets.

"Yes ma'am, commander Apple ma'am!" Rainbow Dash jokingly responded, earning a small laugh from Julius.

"Very funny, Dash," Applejack said while rolling her eyes. "If you're done trying to be Pinkie Pie, we got work to do," Applejack said as she led Julius into the west orchard.

"As much as I'd like to joke around with you, Applejack is right," Julius sighed deeply. "Lead on Applejack," Julius said as he followed the mare.

"Yeah, I suppose," Rainbow Dash conceded as she made her way to the south field. "Have fun 'working' together, you two!" Rainbow Dash said with a chuckle as she trotted to the south field.

"We're not doing anything like that," Applejack firmly told Julius.

"Sure, sure, I believe you," Julius smirked as the two walked off into the orchard.