Wish Gone Awry. Enter Equestria! Enter New Life!

Walking back to Fluttershy's cottage, Mr. Shy, Luna, and Julius entered the house. Upon entering, everything seemed normal enough, aside from all the guests.

"Nothing?" Julius asked as he looked around the cottage. "He's not going to say anything?" Julius asked as the three sat down.

"Nah, Fluttershy saw to that," Rainbow Dash said as she stretched her body. "You missed something special. It's rare to see Fluttershy go off like that," Rainbow Dash smirked as she gave Fluttershy a playful nudge.

"Please, Rainbow Dash, I don't like doing that," Fluttershy blushed. "Princess Luna, Julius, I'm sorry about how my brother acted," Fluttershy timidly apologized.

"It's OK, Fluttershy," Luna forgave.

"You're not responsible for his actions, don't worry," Julius said as he remembered the flower. "Here, for you," Julius offered as he gave the cloudlily to Fluttershy.

"Oh, thank you," Fluttershy said in surprise. Taking the cloudlily with her wing, Fluttershy thought for a few moments as she got a cloud planter. "So, I guess this means that mom and dad approve," Fluttershy said as she planted the cloudlily in the planter.

"What are you talking about; I got it myself," Julius said as Fluttershy just looked straight at him. "Rainbow Dash got it for me," Julius slightly stammered as Fluttershy raised an eyebrow at him. "OK, fine, yes, they gave it to me to give it to you," Julius conceded.

"That's OK," Fluttershy laughed into a wing. "Though I must admit, it is somewhat unexpected," Fluttershy remarked as she sat back down.

"Oh, I'm sorry, dear," Mrs. Shy apologized. "It's just, with what you wrote about him, we just thought that you were going for him," Mrs. Shy apologized as Fluttershy facewinged. "We just wanted to show you that you have our support."

"It's," Fluttershy sighed, "it's OK, mom," Fluttershy sighed as she rubbed her eyes with her feathers.

"If you say so dear," Mrs. Shy conceded as she turned to face Julius. "I'm sorry about my son. Zephyr can be difficult to deal with, but he's a good boy," Mrs. Shy apologized. "I'm Cloudy, Cloudy Shy, by the way," Mrs. Shy properly greeted herself.

"Sure, let's go with difficult," Julius chuckled. "I'm Julius, a pleasure ma'am," Julius returned the greeting. "Where is Zephyr anyways?" Julius asked as he looked around the cottage, not spotting the brother anywhere.

"Oh, he went off outside for a little bit. He'll be back soon enough, though," Mrs. Shy said as she looked out a window.

"Probably for the better. I mean, getting chewed out by Fluttershy, that's gotta be humbling," Julius chuckled. "He probably just has to get his mind in order," Julius sighed as he turned to Fluttershy. "Sorry to impose, but do you have anything to drink?"

"Well, I have some teas, some juices, water obviously, hot chocolate, and milk. Oh, and my parents also brought some dry blueberry wine," Fluttershy said as she walked into the kitchen. "What did you have in mind?"

"If it's OK with you, some blueberry wine. With what I'll have to do, some alcohol would be very helpful," Julius said as Fluttershy's parents nodded as if to give their OK.

"Alright, just not too much," Fluttershy said as she grabbed a glass. "What do you have to do? If I may ask," Fluttershy asked as she poured Julius a glass of wine.

"Well," Julius started to say as Fluttershy grabbed a tea set, "as much as I don't want to do it," Julius sighed as Fluttershy made some tea, "I have to talk to Zephyr," Julius winced at the thought at Fluttershy put mixed up a special teabag.

"Is it going to be like your last talk?" Fluttershy asked as she brought Julius his wine.

"No, it's going to be more serious," Julius sighed before taking a drink of the wine. "Strong wine," Julius coughed before shaking his head, "good though."

"I see," Fluttershy said as she filled the kettle with water. "Why are you going to talk to him if you don't want to? Zephyr will be OK; this happens now and then," Fluttershy told Julius as she placed the kettle on the stove.

"Normally, I wouldn't have a thing to do with him," Julius admitted. "But I'm going after you; that means that Zephyr will end up being family," Julius took a stiff drink at saying that. "So I'll go further out of my way than I should for him."

"Really?" Fluttershy and her parents all asked in surprise. "You really don't have to do that," Fluttershy said as she shook her head. "Zephyr will be OK after some time; he always is," Fluttershy told Julius as she grabbed some sugar and cream.

"I want to help him though, not for him, but for you," Julius said before taking another drink of wine.

"OK, but why, though?" Fluttershy asked as she grabbed some tea cakes.

"Well, you said that you wanted someone who likes animals. That's a bit nebulous, so I figured that you want someone kind," Julius reasoned. "If going out to help Zephyr doesn't prove that, I don't know what will," Julius said as Luna, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie all nodded in agreement.

"That's not necessary; you seem nice enough. Besides, you seem to like animals," Fluttershy started to say.

"Oh no, don't you start with this," Julius shook his head. "Fluttershy, I have family who are like you; they're too kind. I know where this is going. Please, don't do it; please be greedy, be selfish, it's OK to put yourself first every now and then," Julius told Fluttershy as he took a sip of wine. "If not for yourself, then for me."

"What are you talking about?" Rainbow Dash asked after hearing the odd statement from Julius.

"Fluttershy is planning on just rolling over and joining the herd. She's planning on doing it for her friends and myself while completely ignoring herself," Julius said while the ponies thought it over.

"Yeah, that does sound like Fluttershy. That's a good thing, isn't it?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"No, it's not. Fluttershy needs to think more about herself; otherwise, she'll just let others abuse her for their own benefit. Fluttershy, please, if only for myself, think more about yourself before you do this. Asking me for something more, it's OK," Julius insisted as far too familiar memories came back to him.

"Why do you think that?" Fluttershy asked, bemused at what Julius said.

"My grandparents were the exact same way. In many ways, they were like your parents, only human, and not brother-sister. They were some of the nicest people you could meet, but people took advantage of them all the time; it hurt to see. Please, Fluttershy, if for nobody else than for me, think of something selfish that you want from me, OK," Julius again requested.

"That's sad; I'm sorry to hear that people took advantage of your grandparents," Fluttershy comfortingly said.

"You know Fluttershy," Rainbow Dash started to say, "Julius is right. I've already seen ponies try to take advantage of you."

"Really? I've never noticed," Fluttershy lightly gasped while Julius just rubbed his eyes.

"They do it a lot," Pinkie Pie chimed in. "Like last week, at the market, how many ponies cut in front of you?"

"Oh, that's OK, I didn't mind. I'm sure they had a lot of important stuff to do," Fluttershy smiled while Julius lightly groaned.

"Fluttershy, it's not OK. You're a pony, a living creature, not a doormat," Rainbow Dash told Fluttershy. "What about a few days before that, when ponies kept interrupting you, or those ponies who tried to take credit for those animals that you saved?"

"I didn't have anything important to say. And I was just happy that the animals were safe," Fluttershy smiled before Julius facepalmed, and the ponies groaned.

"OK, I can't hear this again," Julius said in slight pain. "Pinkie Pie, where did Zephyr go to," Julius winced before drinking the last of the wine in his glass.

"He's by Lake Hinny; you should run into him somewhere around there," Pinkie Pie told Julius as he placed the empty cup in the sink.

"Great, thanks. I'll talk to Zephyr. Can you all please help Fluttershy think of something selfish that she wants from me?" Julius asks as he heads out of the cottage.

"Will do!" Pinkie Pie happily chirps as Julius walks off towards Lake Hinny.

Julius didn't exactly make for the lake with any speed as he wasn't looking forward to talking to Zephyr. Sure the glass of wine helped, but it didn't help nearly enough. For the briefest of moments, he thought about going back, getting another glass of wine, or ten, but if he did, he knew he'd stay there, drinking to avoid the talk. Savoring the walk and the aftertaste of the blueberry wine, Julius leisurely walked to Lake Hinny. The walk took a bit of time, not too much, but it could have been longer for what Julius had to do. Approaching the lake, Julius heard some mumbling and some splashing.

"-didn't even do anything," Julius heard Zephyr mumbling before hearing a few splashes. Walking towards the lake, Julius watched as Zephyr sat by the lakeside, skipping stones into the lake. Standing by for a few moments, Julius collected himself, as much as he could, before walking towards the lake. "-my name doesn't matter, your name doesn't matter," Zephyr continued to mumble to himself.

"You about done feeling sorry for yourself. 'Cause I guarantee you, you're the only one feeling sorry for you right now," Julius said as he walked up to Zephyr and the lake.

"Oh, well, look who it is," Zephyr over exaggeratedly said as he looked at Julius. "If it isn't mister perfect magic creature, what out of mares to take. Wait, I know, you got tired of fighting monsters. No, no, you got tired of being perfect at the cottage, so you just decided to come over here to be perfect, right?" Zephyr Breeze said as he angrily looked at Julius, well as angrily as he could look.

"That it? You done?" Julius asked, his arms folded.

"No, no, I'm not done," Zephyr shot at Julius. "Do you have any idea how tired I am of hearing about you? DO YOU?" Zephyr loudly, angrily asked as he took a few steps towards Julius. "Every! Single! Day!" Zephyr huffed before stopping. "It's every day with Fluttershy. Every day, she's sending letters about you. Oh, this day, you beat some timberwolves and saved her. Oh, that day you got with a bunch of mares. Another day you beat even more timberwolves than a timberwolf monster, then got with even more mares," Zephyr huffed in annoyance. "And every letter, every single one, her annoyance come through. Seriously, it's tiring!" Zephyr yelped in exasperation.

"Well, the timberdirewolf was Twilight, Shining Armor, Cadance, and myself," Julius said as Zephyr rolled his eyes. "But from most of that, it sounds like you're jealous," Julius lightly laughed.

"A little yes. Jealous and annoyed," Zephyr clarified. "You just get to walk in here all, 'look at me, I'm mister perfect, I can't do anything wrong, now get over here so I can breed you.' If that wasn't bad enough, you completely ignore my sister after saving her; what's up with that?" Zephyr asked before getting almost right up in Julius's face.

"Hah, me, mister perfect? Boy scout, you have no idea how hard I worked to get as good as I am, how much I sacrificed," Julius said as he pushed Zephyr away from him. "Let's go swimming," Julius said before he started to take his clothes off.

"Oh, I'm so sure that you've sacrificed a lot," Zephyr said while rolling his eyes. "And work so very hard."

"You know, I was in cadets," Julius said as he took off his shirt. "Army cadets, to be specific. For six years of my life, I was molded into shape. For six years, I gave up my free time to improve myself," Julius chuckled while huffing. "For the most part, I did everything fantastically well. I was almost the model cadet, almost," Julius said as he took off his boots and pants. "There was one thing, just one, that I just kept on failing. And boy scout, I failed hard," Julius said as he folded his clothes and sat them on a nearby rock. "You know what that one thing was?" Julius asked as he stepped into the water.

"From the looks of you, keeping your dick in its sheath," Zephyr huffed as he stepped into the water.

"Yeah, pretty impressive, isn't it?" Rainbow Dash winked as she nudged Fluttershy's and Pinkie Pie's shoulders. The two mares shook their heads as they collected their thoughts.

"It'll be interesting to see how he feels compared to Big Mac," Pinkie Pie giggled.

"T-that, in you. O-Oh, Oh my," Fluttershy stammered and blushed.

"This is nice and all, but I do agree with Julius's sentiment; we should be trying to help Fluttershy, not using my magic to spy on Julius and Zephyr," Luna sighed as she kept up the scrying spell.

"Relax, Luna; I got it all figured out. Besides, do you trust those two together right now?" Rainbow Dash asked. The other ponies just shook their heads. "Thought so."

"Human's don't have sheaths for our dicks, and no, that's not it," Julius said as he doggy paddled into the lake.

"Then what is this thing you claim to have struggled with," Zephyr asked as he swam path Julius.

"Swimming," Julius calmly said as he continued to doggy paddle. "To this very day, I can only doggy paddle and barely float. I was constantly criticized for my complete inability to swim or float. Even the instructors said it was something I had to work on improving. When I was twelve, it was seriously bad; I nearly drown. So I took swimming lessons, and for some reason, swimming is just something I never really got," Julius said as he doggy paddled in the lake. "Sure, as the years went on, I got better, slowly, but I did improve. In my last year in cadets, I managed to swim as far as was expected. I struggled the whole way, and I did the worst out of everyone there, but I passed," Julius said as he kept on doggy paddling.

"OK," Zephyr said, very unsure of things. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because you think I'm mister perfect, that everything was just handed to me on a golden platter, it wasn't. I worked hard every day to improve myself. Boy scout, it sucked, it sucked a lot. There were so many days that I'd have rather stayed indoors and play video games or go out and hang out with what few friends I had. Or maybe go out and make more than the two friends that I had. Yes, now I'm pretty impressive, I'm worth being proud about, but that's only because of years of hard work," Julius explained to Zephyr. "Look, nobody is born perfect. Anyone who appears perfect is either putting on a good act or has worked stupidly hard to get that good. Look, if you want to get better, then I'm all for it, but you have to start soon, like now," Julius said as he doggy paddled around.

"OK, but there's one thing I don't get," Zephyr said as he swam around. "Why do this, why go so far for me?"

"Honestly, it's not for you. I'm going after Fluttershy. When I get her, you'll be my brother-in-law. That's why I'm going so far for you. I refuse to have a brother, even if it's only through marriage; that's a loser," Julius told Zephyr. "Just be glad I'm doing this, and it's not my younger brother; Alex wouldn't be so nice," Julius laughed.

"Oh, you have a brother," Zephyr said before dryly laughing. "He must hate living in your shadow."

"Well, to be fair, I have a slightly younger twin sister too, Julia," Julius laughed. "But as for Alex and I, we fought quite a bit, but he's blood. End of the day, we had each other's backs. Son, I cannot tell you how many fights I got in because of him," Julius laughed as he kept on doggy paddling.

"You got into fights, why," Zephyr asked, surprised at hearing about fights.

"Alex is a firebrand who cannot stand bullies. It started in grade two. A kid started to pick on him; eventually, he threw Alex into a wall. Alex got hurt, and, thanks to zero tolerance violence, Alex and the bully both got suspended, despite Alex literally having done nothing," Julius sighed as he doggy paddled. "After the suspension, my sister, Alex, and I were out for blood. My sister kicked him hard in the dick, I uppercutted him back up, and Alex pushed him down some stairs, squad goals!" Julius chuckled. The three of us got suspended for it, but our father had our backs, asking if the bully would get suspended too, zero tolerance and all," Julius started to explain. "After some arguing, the bully was suspended for it too. Our parents weren't too happy with us, but they understood. Unfortunately, though, that was the start of Alex becoming a school vigilante. He fought back hard against anybody who tried to bully him, and he picked fights with known bullies. Julia and I got pulled in more than a few times," Julius laughed.

"That's not very nice," Zephyr said, shocked at what he's heard.

"That is, or, well, was, the world that I lived in. Look, the point is, you're going to be family whether or not I like it. So, yeah, I'll go out of my way to help you. Now, you wanna go back or stay here swimming for a while?" Julius asked as he doggy paddled around the lake.

"I'd like to stay here for a bit," Zephyr said as he floated on the surface of the lake.

"Alright, we'll go back when you're ready," Julius agreed as he doggy paddled back to shore. Getting up on the shore, Julius rolled over on his back, letting the sun dry him off.