Wish Gone Awry. Enter Equestria! Enter New Life!

Quite some time passed as Julius and Zephyr swam in the lake and rested on its shore. Feeling that he was dry enough, Julius got up.

"Alright, Zephyr, you ready to go back?" Julius asked as he went to get his clothes.

"I suppose," Zephyr sighed as he swam back to shore. "I'm just," Zephyr sighed again, "I'm not looking forward to it, you know?" Zephyr continued to sigh as he stepped out of the water.

"Look, if it's about Luna, she won't kill you or anything when we get back. Though, if you do or say anything stupid again, I promise nothing," Julius assured Zephyr as he got dressed.

"Well, Luna too," Zephyr nervously laughed. "It's my parents. Facing them after anything like this is the worst," Zephyr sighed as he started to walk towards the path.

"Yeah, owning up to people who've seen you do wrong is never easy. But you have a loving, understanding family. You have nothing to worry about," Julius said as he got dressed. "Look at it this way; your family does that because they care for you. If they did nothing, then it'd mean that they don't care what happens to you. If they went overboard, then it would mean that they don't respect you," Julius told Zephyr as he put his shirt back on. "Sure, you might get the worst of it from Fluttershy, but that just means that she cares the most about you. Now, come on, the longer we wait, the worse it'll be," Julius said as he started to walk down the path.

"That is an interesting point," Luna said as she looked through the scrying bubble, "he isn't wrong, is he?" Luna asked as she looked at Fluttershy and her parents.

"He isn't," Fluttershy blushed, the view of a naked Julius still fresh in her mind. "Zephyr has always had a great artistic talent. Whenever he could be bothered to, he'd always do fantastically in art class. But those were rare times. More often than not, Zephyr would hit a minor stumbling block, lose hope right away, and just give up. As his big sister, it hurts to see."

"Yes, that can be a painful thing," Luna agreed as she saw Julius and Zephyr start to walk back to the cottage. "Looks like they're coming back," Luna sighed as she ended the scrying spell. "Rainbow Dash, are you sure you have everything figured out?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that I do," Rainbow Dash confidently smirked.

"Well, here we are again," Julius said as Fluttershy's cottage came into view. "First thing I'm doing when I get in is having another glass of that wine," Julius said as he smacked his lips together.

"What, that blueberry wine?" Zephyr asked as he ruffled his muzzle slightly. "I think you, dad, and Fluttershy are the only ones who like that kind of wine. I mean a dry, berry wine, ugh," Zephyr remarked in mild disgust.

"More for us," Julius shrugged off as the two walked up to the cottage. Opening the door to the cottage, Julius stepped in. "We're back," Julius said as he and Zephyr entered the cottage.

"W-welcome back," Fluttershy blushed as she avoided Julius's gaze.

"I take it that everything is all smoothed over?" Luna knowingly asked as she made herself comfortable on the couch.

"More or less," Julius said as he started to walk towards the kitchen. "Fluttershy, Mr. and Mrs. Shy, I'm having another glass of wine," Julius said as he washed out his previous glass.

"Another glass already?" Rainbow Dash chuckled. "And I get grief for how much I like cider," Rainbow Dash laughed as Julius poured himself some wine.

"Hey, with everything that's happened today, I deserve it. Besides, I just want some," Julius playfully shot back as a blue glow enveloped a clean glass. "You want some too, Luna?" Julius asked as he looked at Luna, who just nodded.

"Thank you," Luna thanked as she stretched her body. "Unfortunately, we haven't had much luck with Fluttershy," Luna lightly moaned as she stretched her body out.

"Again, relax, I have it all figured out," Rainbow Dash assured as she got herself a glass of water.

"Well, I'm interested," Julius said as he gave Luna her glass of wine. "Alright, Rainbow Dash, what do you have?" Julius asked as he sat down by Luna and Pinkie Pie.

"Alright, the problem with asking Fluttershy to be selfish is that she literally cannot be selfish. Trust me; I've tried," Rainbow Dash started to explain as she sat back down with her glass of water. "Throughout flight school, the instructors tried the same thing that you're trying. It never worked. That's OK though, I know what will work!" Rainbow Dash proudly said before she took a drink of water. "Fluttershy will just join the herd!" Rainbow Dash proclaimed, much to Julius's surprise.

"OK, I said find something that Fluttershy wants for her to join the herd, and you say just wave that. Interesting take, ignoring what I said. Care to explain why before I roll my eyes and mock it, or mockery first, I'll let you pick," Julius said as he sipped his wine.

"Fluttershy will never ask for something for herself, and she won't improve for herself; she never has," Rainbow Dash explained with a sigh. "Around the end of flight school, I found the secret to get Fluttershy to do both! The secret is, make her a part of something!" Rainbow Dash happily said. "Fluttershy won't do either of those things for herself, but she will do it for a group; that's how I got her to improve her wing power. So if you just accept her into the herd, as she is, we can help her improve! She'll be far more open to it since she'll be a part of a group!" Rainbow Dash happily proclaimed.

"Rainbow Dash," Julius stoically said as he took a drink of wine, "that is," Julius continued as he sat his glass down, "brilliant!" Julius exclaimed as he hugged the mare. "I never would have thought of that! Yeah, yeah, actually, I'm on board with that!" Julius said as he ruffled Rainbow's mane. "What do you say, Fluttershy? Are you OK with Rainbow's idea?" Julius asked, smiling as he sat back down.

"I don't know," Fluttershy meekly blushed as she hid behind her mane. "I can be a lot of work," Fluttershy dismissed. "When Rainbow Dash helped me with my wing power, it didn't improve by that much," Fluttershy started to refute.

"Ugh," Rainbow Dash sighed in slight anger. "Listen, Fluttershy, the only reason your wing power didn't improve that much is that I found out that trick a week before I stood up to those bullies for you!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed as Julius and Luna gave her an odd look. "That happened in the last week of flight school. Fluttershy fell to Ponyville in that race, and she's stayed here ever since," Rainbow Dash briefly explained. "Look, Fluttershy, even if you don't believe it, you are so much better than what you think you are. We can help you; we want to help you, please, Fluttershy, take this!" Rainbow Dash pleaded.

"But, if I join, that'll take time away from you and the others. I don't want to do that; that'd be too selfish," Fluttershy meekly said while continuing to hide behind her mane.

"Ugh, Mint, Cloudy, some help here, tartarus's sake, Zephyr, help?" Rainbow Dash sighed while slapping her forehead with a hoof.

"Fine," Zephyr said after looking at his parents, "if neither of you will speak up, then I guess it's up to me, Zephyr Breeze, to do it!" Zephyr proudly said. "Listen, sister. Ma and Pa have read the letters home you sent, hay, I've read them too," Zephyr said as he draped a wing over Fluttershy. "We all know that you want this, and now, it's just being given to you. All you have to do is something that you've wanted to do for a long time now. Listen to your baby brother, take the deal," Zephyr reasoned with Fluttershy, who just blushed intensely.

"Zephyr Breeze!" Fluttershy loudly exclaimed as she flew into the air, seemingly forgetting about the others. "Why did you read those letters? They weren't meant for you!" Fluttershy said with an energy that surprised Julius, Luna, and Pinkie Pie.

"Now, sister, I can see that you have some feelings about this," Zephyr chuckled. "But Ma and Pa were just cooing so much. I had to see what it was about; speaking of, they seemed to want this, you don't want to disappoint them, do you?" Zephyr slyly asked.

"Well, that's dirty but effective," Julius whispered to Luna and Pinkie Pie, who nodded in agreement.

"Why are you bringing them up?" Fluttershy asked as she flew above Zephyr. "They aren't even-" Fluttershy started to say as she looked to her side. Seeing her parents sitting down, Fluttershy stopped flying. Looking around the room, Fluttershy remembered who else was there. "Eep!" Fluttershy squeaked before blushing and running into her bathroom.

"See?" Mr. Shy asked while chuckling into a hoof. "Fluttershy is the bold one," Mr. Shy confirmed as Mrs. Shy and Zephyr nodded in agreement. "I'll talk to her," Mr. Shy said as he stood up and walked after Fluttershy.

"Well, at least she looks like she's starting to break," Julius laughed as he drank his wine. "Honestly, I didn't think Fluttershy would be this kind of hard."

"Yes, it is a bit odd," Luna confirmed before taking a sip of wine. "When it came to Fluttershy, I thought you'd have to help her tend to animals, or something like that," Luna said before taking another sip of wine. "Though I suppose she could have self-image problems that would prevent her from ever accepting," Luna speculated as she drank her wine.

"Sounds about right," Rainbow Dash sighed while shaking her head. "Unfortunately, Fluttershy has had that problem for nearly her whole life," Rainbow Dash confirmed as she continued to drink her water.

"Yeah, though you'll still need to like animals!" Pinkie Pie reminded Julius in a singsong voice as she saw Julius slightly back up. "What's wrong? See something you don't like?" Pinkie Pie giggled as she looked where Julius was looking.

"I respect all animals," Julius said as his eyes followed something. "That doesn't necessarily mean that I like every animal," Julius stated as Mrs. Shy lightly giggled.

"Oh, that little guy," Mrs. Shy chuckled as she walked up to a small creature that was walking towards Julius. "This is a supporter spider," Mrs. Shy said as she gently lifted the red-eyed brown spider on a wing. "I know they look scary, but they're quite nice," Mrs. Shy said as the spider pulled out a few small flowers.

"Can it understand us?" Julius asked; Mrs. Shy nodded. "Alright," Julius breathed deeply, "as long as you don't build webs in places like doorways, and you don't crawl on me randomly, we'll be fine," Julius told the spider.

"Guessing spiders doing that is a problem in your world," Luna chuckled as she petted the spider.

"God, yes," Julius sighed. "I cannot tell you how many times I accidentally walked into a spider web and turned into a kung-fu master for like, a good two or three minutes. But, at least all the spiders where I'm from aren't dangerous to humans," Julius chuckled as he nervously took the flowers from the spiders.

"Guessing that you have some really dangerous spiders," Rainbow Dash said as she sat down beside Pinkie Pie.

"Oh yeah, we do," Julius laughed. "Hell, there's one spider that can eat birds and shoot its hair at you," Julius said, shocking the ponies and even the supporter spider. "We also have some cute ones, like the peacock spider and the jumping spider. Male peacock spiders dance, and jumping spiders can become your pet; they'll even shake your hand."

"Your world has some weird animals," Pinkie Pie giggled, "though, I would like a peacock spider as a pet; they sound really fun!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed as the supporter spider started to dance awkwardly.

"Heh," Julius lightheartedly snickered, "that'll do spider, that'll do," Julius chuckled as he very carefully petted the spider's abdomen. "I honestly can say, I did not expect to be petting a spider today, or, well, ever really."

"OK, I think she's ready," Mr. Shy said as he walked out of the bathroom. "Oh, hello, mister spider, thank you for the silk. It made some very nice curtains and doilies," Mr. Shy said as he saw the supporter spider, who greeted Mr. Shy with a swift salute. "Fluttershy will want to speak to you alone about joining," Mr. Shy told Julius, "she's waiting in the bathroom," Mr. Shy said as he went to pour himself and Mrs. Shy a glass of wine.

"Makes sense. Despite being the bold one, Fluttershy is still very shy," Julius said as he got up. "I'll go talk to her now," Julius said as he slightly stumbled before catching himself. Walking into the bathroom, Julius saw a heavily breathing Fluttershy, clearly steadying herself. "Hey, Fluttershy," Julius calmly greeted.

"Oh, Julius," Fluttershy said with a slight shock, "I take it that my father told you I was ready?" Fluttershy asked as she turned around. Julius just nodded. "If," Fluttershy started to say, quite unsure of herself, "if you're really sure, then I'll join," Fluttershy said while averting her gaze.

"Of course, I'm sure," Julius assured Fluttershy. "Though, I have to ask, what brought you around? What did your father say?" Julius asked as he took a few steps towards Fluttershy.

"Not too much, mostly he just retold me what Rainbow Dash said, only in his words. Father is very persuasive; that's how he got a job at the could factory, and how he got promoted so quickly," Fluttershy smiled. "Also," Fluttershy lightly pawed at the ground, "father reminded me that I was starting to come down with H.S.S," Fluttershy said while looking away.

"Hss, never heard of that before; what is it?" Julius asked as he gently patted Fluttershy's mane.

"H.S.S, Herd Separation Syndrome," Fluttershy said as she relaxed her head into Julius's palm. "It's extremely rare; few mares ever get it. Usually, they only get it if they're separated from their herd, though mares not in a herd can get H.S.S. All they need is to feel like they're in a herd, and if the herd they feel like they're a part of either rejects them or moves away without them, they can get it," Fluttershy explained. "As I said, it's extremely rare."

"I see, mare only mental ailment?" Julius asked as he caressed Fluttershy's mane.

"Only mares have been seen with it," Fluttershy purred as she savored Julius's petting, "but stallions can, in theory, come down with it too. But because of how few stallions to mares there are, a stallion could easily get into a herd," Fluttershy explained as she rocked her head against Julius's palm.

"I see, well, sorry for making you suffer," Julius smiled as he rubbed the back of Fluttershy's head.

"It's quite alright; you didn't know," Fluttershy smiled as she relaxed. "So, what did you have in mind for me? I can't imagine that you'll give up on improving me," Fluttershy hummed.

"Well, after Rainbow's wing is fully healed, she and I will be training together with Luna," Julius said as he gently wrapped his free arm around Fluttershy. "You'll join in on that," Julius said, much to Fluttershy's surprise.

"Me? Train? With Rainbow Dash? And a Princess?" Fluttershy stammered in surprise. "Why?"

"Your biggest problem seems to be self-confidence. Training can be a great way to build that and to continue to work on your wing power," Julius started to explain. "Rainbow will be focusing more on developing a new martial art with me. As for you, well, Luna seems to be well put together. You two could really benefit from each other. So she'll be helping with your mentality," Julius explained.

"Wait, Princess Luna said she would?" Fluttershy asked with some surprise.

"Well, no, but she'll be helping with Rainbow Dash and me. Besides, I'm sure she will say yes; you two will be in the same herd after all," Julius assured.

"Well, if you're sure," Fluttershy said as she turned around in Julius's arm. "Well, I guess there's just one thing left to do-" Fluttershy started to say as a knocking was heard from the outside door. "Oh, another guest," Fluttershy gasped," guess we should hurry along. Do you want to take the feather, or would you like me to get it?"

"I think it'd be more special if you took it off," Julius smiled as he hugged Fluttershy. Reaching her wing around, Fluttershy plucked off one of her primary feathers, a slight magical tinkle held to the feather, as soft pink sparkles danced in a pale yellow glow. As Fluttershy gave the feather to Julius, a new voice was heard.

"I'm Anya, Anya Shift," the voice said from outside. "May I come in, please?"

"Guess we should get out of the bathroom and meet the new guest," Julius lightly smiled as he took the feather. "Fluttershy, welcome to the herd," Julius said before kissing Fluttershy. Fluttershy's eyes went wide as she felt Julius's lips meet hers. They were smaller than her lips, and his tongue was smaller too, but the kiss made her melt ever so slightly.

"Hey, you two, hurry it up in there!" Rainbow Dash yelled at the bathroom. "There's a guest here!" Savoring their first kiss for a few moments more, Julius and Fluttershy broke their kiss.

"I guess we should meet our new guest," Julius lightly smiled.

"Oh, yes," Fluttershy blushed as she touched a hoof to her lips, "we should," Fluttershy said as she gathered herself. Walking to the door, Fluttershy opened the bathroom door and let Julius walk out first. Stepping out into the living room, Julius and Fluttershy spotted a deep purple-colored unicorn with a black mane. "I take it that you're Anya Shift?" Fluttershy asked as she walked towards the new pony.

"Yes, I am," Anya replied before looking at Julius. "A pleasure to meet you," Anya said while giving Julius an extremely quick wink and smirk.

"Yes, a pleasure to meet you too," Julius chuckled in a huff. "Where's Luna?" Julius asked as he looked around the room.

"Luna is going out, said she has somethings to do," Pinkie Pie started to explain. "She said for us to meet her at Carousel Boutique in about an hour for something important," Pinkie Pie told Julius and Fluttershy.

"Oh, the Princess of the Night has something important to tell you. I wonder what it could be?" Anya said as she sat down. "She does need to work on her timing, though. I have a business appointment at Carousel Boutique in an hour," Anya chuckled.

"Well, I suppose you can come with us," Rainbow Dash said. "Worst case, Luna just asks you to leave," Rainbow continued as Julius chuckled.

"Rainbow," Julius said while chuckling, "I think Luna may want Anya there, call it a hunch," Julius said while winking at Anya. "Either way, we got about an hour to kill, and I really should meet my new in-laws," Julius smiled as he held up Fluttershy's feather.

"Nice work convincing her, Mint," Rainbow Dash smiled while giving Mr. Shy a light shoulder bump.

"Oh, it was nothing," Mr. Shy blushed. "Honestly, you all did the hard work. It was a group effort," Mr. Shy brushed off. "So, Miss Shift, tell us about yourself," Mr. Shy shifted the conversation.

"Why not," Anya smiled as she walked to the seat. "I'm in Ponyville to invest in businesses that have potential-" Anya started to say as she sat down. And so, the group got to know the new pony as they passed the hour away, Fluttershy now sitting much closer to Julius.