Wish Gone Awry. Enter Equestria! Enter New Life!

"Well, I suppose we should get going," Julius said with a yawn and stretch as he stood up. "The hour is just about up," Julius affirmed as he cracked his neck.

"Carousel Boutique isn't that far away," Rainbow Dash told Julius as she slightly tilted her head, "you wanna be early or something?"

"A little. Honestly, if I can help it, I prefer to be a little early. I hate rushing to places unless I have to," Julius confirms as Fluttershy, Zephyr, and their parents stood up.

"That's understandable," Mrs. Shy said as she stood up, "it was a pleasure meeting you," she smiled as she walked towards the door.

"Definitely," Mr. Shy agreed as he followed his wife, "you'll have to come up to Cloudsdale sometime," he offered as he and Zephyr made for the door.

"Isn't that a city made of pure clouds?" Julius asked as he racked his mind. "I don't think I can go there. Humans have this nasty tendency to fall right through clouds. Upside, it makes skydiving far easier," Julius chuckled as the other ponies stood up.

"Oh, don't worry about that, dearie," Mrs. Shy comfortingly said, "there's a spell that lets you walk on clouds."

"Yeah, tourism is the second biggest industry in Cloudsdale," Mr. Shy backed his wife up. "Biggest is the weather industry, obviously," he smiled.

"Yeah, that spell can exist all day, good for it and all. But I'll only be going to Cloudsdale if either Luna or Celestia is with me, and even then, only if I'm holding onto them the whole time," Julius laughed while Rainbow sighed.

"Oh, come on, you'll skydive but not walk on clouds?" Rainbow Dash laughed as the ponies started to leave Fluttershy's Cottage.

"I never said that I ever went skydiving; I only said that it exists," Julius laughed as Fluttershy ushered him out.

"Fair, but you should try that spell. Trust me; clouds are way more comfortable than any bed," Rainbow Dash told Julius while Fluttershy locked up her cottage.

"Really? I would imagine they'd be rather cold and wet," Julius said as the group started to walk towards Carousel Boutique.

"Yeah, you'd think they'd be, but they feel more like the down of newborn birds," Rainbow Dash said, with the other pegasi nodding in agreement. "Granted, they are a little cool, but they aren't cold."

"Sounds interesting," Julius said as he looked up towards the sky. "Don't suppose one of you could fly up and bring a small cloud down, could you?"

"Give me one moment," Fluttershy said as she flew up into the sky.

"Ugh, I wish my wing was better," Rainbow Dash grumbled as she watched Fluttershy fly into the sky. "Can't you use your healing magic to speed things up?" Rainbow Dash complained despite knowing the answer.

"You know I can't; besides, Zecora's potions are working just fine. I know it sucks, but take it as a lesson to never fall victim to the same kind of trap," Julius told Rainbow Dash, who just rolled her eyes.

"Sorry I took so long," Fluttershy said as she flew down with a small cloud. "I didn't want to get one that was too big," Fluttershy said as she brought down a cloud that was slightly smaller than a pony.

"It's alright," Julius said as he reached out a hand. Running his hand across the cloud, his fingers lightly sunk into it. True to Rainbow's words, the cloud felt like it was made of the softest feathers, only slightly chilled. "That is really soft, but, I can tell if I tried to sleep on this as is, I'd fall right through, look," Julius said as he clenched his hand inside the cloud, his fingers going right through the cloud with no resistance. Pulling his hand back, a few strands of cloud stuck to his hand before dissipating, "see?"

"Well, yeah, that's why you need the spell," Rainbow Dash said as she watched Julius grab at a strand of cloud. "What are you doing?"

"This is made out of solidified water," Julius said as he narrowed his eyes at the cloud, "I can eat this, I can eat you," Julius said as he looked right at the cloud. Slurping up a loose strand of cloud, like it was spaghetti, Julius swallowed the bit of cloud. "It's tastes like a mix of many different kinds of flower water," Julius remarked while the pegasi chuckled.

"We've all done it at some point," Mr. Shy assured as he composed himself.

"Makes for a nice wakeup drink," Rainbow Dash said, the other pegasi nodding in agreement.

"I get it, believe me, back home, we have this homemade winter snack where you pour maple syrup onto the snow and eat it," Julius said as Pinkie Pie tried some of the cloud.

"Yup, that definitely tastes like honeysuckle water," Pinkie Pie remarked as she drank some of the cloud's water. "That maple syrup on snow thing sounds like it'd be delicious; we'll have to try it in a few months!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed as she bounced beside Julius.

"Ah yeah, we're just hitting autumn, aren't we?" Julius sighed as he rubbed his eyes. "Really not looking forward to winter," Julius winced as he thought of home.

"Can't stand the cold?" Fluttershy asked with concern.

"Hah, I've dealt with negative thirty degrees wet cold; I'll be fine. It's the snow that I'm not looking forward to; shoveling is a pain," Julius assured.

"Yeah, plowing the snow does suck," Rainbow Dash agreed. "But with winter, you get all the winter sports!" Rainbow Dash happily exclaimed.

"Fair, skiing isn't too bad. And who knows, maybe I'll finally get into snowboarding," Julius conceded as the group made their way through Ponyville.

"Do you think we should be here for this?" Mr. Shy asked as the group approached Carousel Boutique.

"Yeah, it feels like something not exactly meant for us," Mrs. Shy agreed with her husband.

"You two don't seem like gossips, so as long as you don't tell anycreature what Luna has to say, it should be fine," Julius told the two. "That goes for you as well," Julius firmly stated while looking at Zephyr.

"Relax, relax," Zephyr lightly laughed while slightly backing up. "After last time, I don't feel like making Luna angry; once was more than enough. But what about her?" Zephyr asked while looking at Anya.

"I'm pretty sure Luna wants her there," Julius flatly said as Rainbow Dash spared him a glance.

"You sure seem to know what Luna has to say," Rainbow Dash slowly said. "What do you know?"

"I'm like, ninety-nine point nine, nine, repeating, of course, percent sure of what Luna wants to say," Julius told Rainbow Dash. "If I'm right, Anya being there won't be a problem, though, Onyx or somepony like him would probably be better."

"You're right," Anya agrees, "but he and most of the others are asleep right now," Anya continued as the others watched them.

"You two seem to know each other. And who's Onyx?" Rainbow Dash asked, slightly confused at the odd amount of familiarity the two seemed to have.

"Onyx is a friend of hers. As for us, well, you can say that we've met before," Julius told Rainbow Dash.

"Yeah, it was a brief meeting while Julius was out on a late-night run. We talked for a little bit under the moonlight; it was nice," Anya smiled in agreement.

"You really should be careful," Mrs. Shy said with concern. "While it's rare, there are mares who'd take advantage of a lone stallion at night," she cautioned as Rainbow Dash started to laugh.

"Good luck with that," Rainbow Dash laughed, "he'd be fine. Tartarus, I pity any mare who'd try that with him."

"I've been here for a month, and God, it's still weird hearing that reversed," Julius rolled his eyes. "I wasn't in any real danger, at least from that. The Everfree Forest doesn't have many ponies in it," Julius told Mrs. Shy.

"Why were you walking in the Everfree Forest at night?" Mrs. Shy asked. "You know that's extremely dangerous at the best of times."

"Oh, there are a few beautiful lakes and ponds in there," Anya quickly said. "They're nice enough at the daylight, but moonlight brings out their true beauty."

"She's right," Julius agreed. "There's this one flower by a few of the ponds; during the day, its petals are folded up, so you only see the dark brown undersides. But at night, the petals open up, revealing their violet and yellow petals."

"Luftacen móna," Anya said, "that's the name of that flower. It's usually given as a romantic gift," Anya told Julius.

"Makes sense," Julius said as the group approached the door to the Carousel Boutique. "Well, let's go in," Julius sighed as he knocked on the door. "Rarity, Luna, you both in there?"

"Yes, darling. Twilight and Zecora are here too, come on in," Rarity said from inside.

Julius opened the door and ushered the group inside. After the last pony entered, Julius followed behind, making sure to shut and lock the door. Looking around the room, Julius saw all the ponies sat around on different couches and pillows, all with well-made embroidering. Julius sat down on a slightly larger couch and watched as the ponies moved around, deciding where to sit. Unsurprisingly, Anya sat the closest to Luna.

"You're all here, good," Luna calmly said as she looked around the room. "What I'm about to tell you doesn't leave this room, understood," Luna very firmly said while looking right at Zephyr.

"Yeah, yeah, I already got that from Julius," Zephyr said while fighting the urge to roll his eyes. "Though, honestly, this feels like some conspiracy theory stuff. Is Alex Pones going to come out spouting his latest insane theory?" Zephyr joked as a few of the ponies stifled their laughs.

"Oh my God, yes, please!" Julius laughed. "Tell me where I can find this guy; I got some things I wanna bounce off him!" Julius heartily laughed.

"I have no idea who that is," Luna said, "also, can we focus?" Luna firmly asked as she waited for the laughter to die down. After a few laughter-filled moments, all the laughter died down. "We all good? Alright," Luna sighed as she prepared to continue. "Tell me, what do you know of the pony tribes?" Luna asked the ponies.

"Well, there are three tribes. Earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns," Twilight started to say. "They've existed since time immemorial. Earth ponies worked the land, pegasi managed the weather, and unicorns moved the sun and moon, well before you and Celestia," Twilight started to explain. "A very long time ago, the three tribes escaped from the frozen north and founded Equestria," Twilight summarised.

"Yes, that is the answer I was expected," Luna sighed, sounding a little sad. "I see the whole history hasn't been taught," Luna said, much to Twilight's surprise.

"What's missing?" Twilight energetically asked.

"A lot, though for now, we'll focus on one thing," Luna told Twilight. "There weren't just three tribes in the beginning; in truth, there were four tribes," Luna said, confusing the ponies. "The fourth tribe guarded the night and the dreams. This lost tribe are the thestrals. Sadly, from events out of their control, history hasn't been kind to them, and they've been all but forgotten," Luna explained.

"Guarded the night, sounds almost like vampire ponies," Twilight commented. "Why have they been forgotten? What happened?"

"Vampire ponies don't exist," Luna assured, "that's just a slur for thestrals. As for what happened, well, it happened a thousand moons ago," Luna said as the other ponies immediately got what she was getting at.

"Reinforcing that something big happened a thousand moons ago," Julius absentmindedly commented.

"Yes," Luna sighed. "Anyways, suffice to say, thestrals don't hold my sister in high regard. There are many reasons for that, but the two main ones are what happened that day and their functional isolation from Equestria," Luna explained.

"Well, where are they now? And why are you bring this up now?" Twilight asked.

"They are still in Equestria, just in their own communities, called covens. As for bringing this up now, I have reason to believe that Julius may have encountered one," Luna explained.

"Luna, you know I've encountered one," Julius confirmed. "Context behind our meeting aside, he seemed rather pleasant, if not a little formal."

"Wait, you encountered one, when, why?" Twilight asked.

"You want to tell them, or shall I?" Julius asked Luna as Anya stood up.

"I think I'll take over from here," Anya said. "Roughly one month ago, one of the covens got word that a strange new creature was found in the Everfree Forest. The creature was placed under watch to study it and to see what threat it posed to the coven. As you can probably guess, the creature in question is Julius here," Anya said as she pointed to Julius.

"Wait, with how you're saying this, it sounds like you're a part of this coven," Rainbow Dash said as she looked at Anya.

"I am, though I'm not a thestral. Frankly, those of my kind find the Thestren more welcoming than the Equestrians," Anya told Rainbow Dash. "Anyways, myself and another, Onyx, were ordered to test Julius."

"Yeah, both of you were," Julius laughed as he rolled his eyes. "Bring in Onyx, and he'll fact-check that."

"What was the test? And what do you mean by 'my kind'?" Twilight asked.

"Not important what the test was. As for what I am," Anya started to say as she spared a glance at Luna, "well, with the present company, it should be safe enough," Anya said as azure flames enveloped her body slightly awing, and worrying the ponies. As the flames vanished, a glossy red pegasus stood in her place, only her wings seemed more bug-like, and her hide seemed to be chitinous, not furry.

"Changeling!" Twilight exclaimed. "Quick, Luna, do something!" Twilight freaked out as Julius and Anya rolled their eyes, and Zecora chuckled.

"Twilight, though many are ill thought of, not all of Anya's kind are fell. This is one that I can assure you means well," Zecora calmly said as she looked over Anya's body. "It has been quite some time since we've met. Would you please forgive Twilight's fret? Unfortunate as it is, her sentiment is one shared among the masses. From the lower to the upper, it is shared among Equestrian classes," Zecora said as Julius quickly shot her a look.

"Wait, you met her before, when, and why didn't you say anything about it to me?" Julius asked as he looked at Zecora.

"My apologies but to secrecy, I was sworn. Given how you are, I don't expect you'll show any scorn. As for our meeting, well, that was a year ago. An injured Anya stumbled into a herb patch and tripped over my hoe. Far be it of me to turn away one in need. Like you, I invited her in and commenced a healing deed. After that, on rare occasions, she and some others would come by my home. I would give them healing salves, and they would give me many a pome," Zecora explained to Julius.

"Yes, it was seen as a fair trade," Anya spoke up. "Honestly, finding a skilled apothecarist in the Everfree was a blessing; it was extremely convenient."

"While this is all interesting, I must ask, why did you need to do all of this here?" Rarity asked as Twilight slowly calmed down. "It seems like you could have held this meeting anywhere. Honestly, Zecora's house seems like it would have been a safer place."

"I do agree," Luna said as she gently placed a hoof on Twilight's head to help calm her down. "However, there are a few reasons to do this here," Luna said as she looked at Julius.

"Right," Julius said as he turned towards Rarity. "It seems to me like you have a lot to do," Julius said as Rarity listened.

"I do; why do you ask?" Rarity confirmed as she gave Julius a questioning look.

"Well, what if you hired somepony to work at night while the store was closed?" Julius asked.

"Interesting thought," Rarity said as she mulled it over, "I could find quite a few things that need to be done, and it would save me a lot of time during the day. But my sister and I live here."

"But you're open to the idea," Julius said as Rarity nodded. "Well, what if Luna stayed here for a few days at first, then came to stay, let's say, three times a week?" Julius asked. "Trust me; there are concerns from the other side as well."

"Well, I suppose if you can find a thestral that's into fashion and is willing, I suppose we could try it," Rarity concedes.

"I'd be willing to do that," Luna told Rarity.

"Velvet Dance," Anya said. "She's pretty into fashion, though I doubt as much as Julius."

"I'm not into fashion. Humans have to wear clothes; they're kind of like our fur," Julius said as Rarity chuckled.

"Oh really?" Rarity smugly asked. "Then why do you insist on being well put together?"

"Just because I prefer to look nice, and have a decent eye for it, doesn't mean that I'm into fashion," Julius insisted.

"Really?" Rainbow Dash asked. "The last time we were all here, all you and Rarity talked about was fashion. Honestly, it was worse than that time Fluttershy got talking to Lacyshy," Rainbow Dash told Julius.

"Oh, uh, Lacyshy is one of my aunts and herdmothers. She works in a fashion store in Cloudsdale," Fluttershy explained.

"OK, fine, I might be more into fashion than most creatures here, but I don't think I am too into it by human standards," Julius conceded.

"Oh really?" Rarity once again smugly asked. "How many outfits do you have at home?"

"Well, I do have some random shirts and pants, though I do make sure they're matched. Then I have a bunch of specialized clothes, all in fully matched sets. My favorite was a set was a light green tunic, with navy blue pants, a black tabard with light green embroidery, suede leather boots with polished black leather gaiters, black suede leather gloves, and a dark green cloak with navy embroidery," Julius explained as some of the ponies giggled. "OK, yeah, kind of proving your point there," Julius admitted.

"OK, OK," Anya laughed, "as fun as teasing stallions can be, we shouldn't do it too much. Look, I need a firm answer as to what's happening. I'm running on a tight timetable," Anya explained as she stood up.

"Well, if Luna vets this Velvet Dance, and Luna agrees to stay for the first few days and to come back every few days, then I'll agree to it," Rarity tells Anya.

"That'll have to improve, but I suspect that'll improve over time. Still, I'll agree to it," Luna told Rarity as she stood up with Anya. "We'll head off now to the coven. I've meant to check in on the covens for some time. The best one to start with is the one closest to Ponyville," Luna said as Anya retook her previous form. "Remember, all the information about Thestrals, Changelings, and what not stays here, well, for now," Luna firmly reminds the group before she and Anya leave the Carousel Boutique.

"Hmmm, I'm guessing she's a little worried at how the masses will take the news or something like that," Rarity hummed as the two left. "Shame, it'd be nice to see another culture's style, speaking of," Rarity started to say as she turned to Zecora, "I do believe this is the first time that you've been here. You must tell me all about the styles of your homeland!" Rarity exclaimed with sparkles in her eyes as she walked up to Zecora.

"Oh, brother," Rainbow Dash sighed. "Rarity, I'm going to make a snack," Rainbow dash said as Rarity just nodded, "any of you want anything?"

"I could go for a sandwich," Julius said as he stood up. "Maybe some honey or blueberry jam."

"Oh, making food? Count me in!" Pinkie Pie happily chirped as she followed the three into the kitchen.

"So Zecora, about the fashions of your homeland," Rarity continued to ask, as the other ponies laughed.