Wish Gone Awry. Enter Equestria! Enter New Life!

Laying back on the bed, Julius got lost in thought. Running through the events of the day, he tried to think how things would go over. Sure he had saved one of the ponies, but there was no guarantee it was from the nearby town. It could have been from a different nearby town or just visiting. Maybe it wasn't well-liked, or perhaps it wouldn't even be believed. It could just have written off the event as an odd occurrence; according to Zecora, such oddities are relatively common in the Everfree Forest. Countless different scenarios played through his head.

"Well, at least it didn't follow me. I'm pretty good at covering my tracks," Julius sighed under his breath. "Still though, I should make a marker system in the forest," he continued rubbing his eyes. "It would be -" he was cut off.

*KNOCK KNOCK* A firm, steady knocking rasped at the door. Julius's head snapped towards the door at a remarkable speed while Zecora's ears perked up. Breathing deeply, Julius grabbed his staff. Sure using it inside would be awkward, but he could use it to poke whatever's there away. Julius gave a questioning look at Zecora. She knew what he wanted to do, but this was Zecora's house, so it was her call.

"It is rare for visitors to come. What a social spot my house has become," Zecora chuckled while Julius eyed the door intently. "Greetings to you, my wayward guest. Tell me with whom are we blessed," Zecora asked close to the door while not opening it.

Thinking of her response, Luna waited. Sure she could boom her name and title in the Royal Canterlot Voice, but whatever lived here likely didn't know her, know about her. Maybe it would be nice to have friends who didn't know, who wouldn't treat her so differently. Sure hiding the fact that she was an alicorn would be difficult, but well, maybe they'd get the hint.

"My name is Luna," she responded confidently, "and I come with a young pegasus named Fluttershy. some creature saved her earlier today. We have come to meet it, and thank it," she finished as Fluttershy meekly tapped Luna.

"Princess, that wasn't the voice of the creature that saved me," Fluttershy meekly said.

"I figured. What was talking to us is likely a zebra. Her speaking patterns are the same as one," Luna explained quietly.

While the two were outside, Zecora looked at Julius; his eyes were wide, nearly as wide as hers.

"How, how did they follow me? I was sure I covered my tracks. I was sure they were impossible to find, let alone follow," Julius said, his hand tense around his staff. Zecora placed a hoof on Julius's leg and softly rubbed it.

"Calm down, my friend; all will be well. Behind the door, the mare sounds like quite the belle. Take cover in the bedroom if you must. But I'll be letting them it to earn their trust," Zecora said, walking towards the door. Julius followed though stopped mid-way to the door. There was something about that voice, something that sounded familiar; he just couldn't place it.

"Well, if they want to thank me, I suppose I should meet them," Julius said, leaning his staff against a nearby wall and sitting on the floor. Zecora smiled before opening the door; before Zecora stood a taller mare with a horn and wings. Looking right at Zecora, she softly smiled.

"I thank you, wisemare, for letting us in," Luna said before looking up. She would have scanned the room and try to find the mysterious creature, but she would have had a harder time finding the moon on a clear night. There it was, sitting in the middle of the room. Luna could tell right from first glance that it was bipedal, lean, likely an omnivore, and tense, very tense. For his part, Julius's eyes narrowed. He had placed the voice. This was the same voice as the one from four weeks ago, the same one that tried to invade his dreams. His eyes locked onto hers. For her part, Zecora knew that this was a princess but didn't quite understand why she didn't introduce herself as such. Maybe she didn't want them to know or act upon it, or perhaps she thought it was a bit much. Zecora stepped aside and ushered the two mares inside.

"And you must be the mysterious creature," Luna said, containing her emotions, rather poorly but still trying. "I've been looking forward to meeting you," she said, stepping closer to Julius.

"I could tell," Julius replied dryly. "Your little dream invasions made that quite clear," he was prepared for a fight, despite knowing that would be the worst thing he could do. Aside from wrecking Zecora's house, he was still basically out of energy, and this mare looked like she could take him even fully rested, no problem.

"D-dream invasions?" Luna gasped and slightly jumped back in shock and dismay. "I've done no such thing. I am a dream warden. I help in looking after the dream realm. I protect others from bad dreams," she explained, not entirely telling the truth, hiding enough to hide her royalty, well hide from a stranger who didn't know any better. "From you, I felt an unusual signal and felt a negative energy. I was only trying to help," she pleaded.

"Sure, sure," Julius replied unconvinced. "Look, just don't cause any trouble here, OK. And in the future, if you want to try digging around in my head, let me know beforehand, OK," he said, mildly annoyed but more exhausted. "Anyways, you said the pegasus I saved earlier is here and wants to thank me, are you sure? I think she's more comfortable hiding behind your leg," Julius said, chuckling.

"Y-you can see me?" Fluttershy meekly asked.

"Well, I hope I can. If not, then I must be going insane," Julius jokingly said. "Although that would explain a lot," he laughed.

"Go ahead, dear Flutter. He's quite friendly, no need to pause or stutter," Zecora encouraged, walking up to Julius and laying partially on his lap. As if on cue, Julius placed a hand on Zecora's head and started petting her, softly caressing her ears, massaging those spots hoofs could never hit.

Luna stifled a laugh at this while Fluttershy thought about it, she has always wanted to be the pet for once, and Luna would surely protect her. Slowly walking up to Julius, she felt an odd mixture of emotions, emotions she couldn't make sense of. Seeing Fluttershy approaching him timidly, Julius reached out his hand lowly with his palm up as if to caress the underside of her chin; but he stopped before touching her. Cautiously bringing her head to Julius's hand, Fluttershy gently nuzzled her head into it, the underside of her chin in his palm. Sighing softly, Julius was taken aback by the sheer softness of the fur. Slowly his fingers danced up Fluttershy's cheek until reaching the back of her right ear, gently scratching the same spot behind Fluttershy's ear as Zecora's ear Fluttershy started to melt. Her head leaned deeper into Julius's hand, letting his fingers scratch deeper, harder. The rhythmic massaging of Julius's fingers coaxing Fluttershy closer to him until she laid down across Julius's other leg, occupying the other half of Julius's lap. Fluttershy gently rocked her body and made pleasant cooing while Julius deftly worked over Fluttershy's body.

"It would seem you have a way with mares," Luna chuckled. "I wonder if it'd work on stallions as well," Luna laughed jokingly.

"It would trust me," Julius calmly said back. "You ponies seem to have all the same sweet spots as large dogs, and I had them as pets before," Julius explained softly, teasing Fluttershy's and Zecora's necks. "So I'm sure you have questions for me, go ahead, I'll answer, well answer as best as I can," Julius told Luna, a soft smile creeping onto his face as he relaxed.

"Yes, I do," Luna plainly stated as she sat down, trying to ignore the two mares practically melting in pleasure. "Let's start with what you are," and so the line of questioning began. Every question was one that Zecora had already asked during the past four weeks. As he answered question after question, the expressions on Fluttershy's and Luna's faces changed. Fluttershy's became more relaxed and warmer. While Luna's slightly hardened, her mask reinforced. Luna knew full well the Julius was dancing around questions that could be considered dark, especially the history of his people.

As their questions became more scientific, Luna felt something she wasn't expecting; she felt fear. She felt fear, awe, and pride. She wanted to believe what Julius was telling her was lies, but she could tell he wasn't lying. That his people, these humans, had gone to the moon, no magic, no real reason, they just did it because they could, and that was baffling to her. The explanation of nuclear energy awed her. Then he told her about some of the more theoretical things, and they stretched her mind to the breaking point and beyond. When he got to a Dyson Sphere, Luna was frozen. Here sitting before her, was a creature from a species that dared to dream of impossible things, of unbelievable ventures, yet they persisted; despite all odds and reason, they chased their impossible dreams and succeeded. She couldn't help but feel pride, for some strange reason, while she saw the terror they could be, she saw hope as well; she saw the realization of dreams.

Luna knew that she had to see what Julius saw while he slept, what impossible wonders he would come up with, what daring feats he would attempt. He went on for hours Fluttershy and Luna losing themselves in what he told them, a world that seemed to be too fantastical to exist, and yet sitting before them was proof that it did.

Zecora made supper for all four there while Julius told the other two mares the stories he had told her. While she has already heard them, it didn't take away from the wonder of them. It comforted Fluttershy and Luna to see that Julius could eat vegetables and wasn't a strict carnivore. True to what Zecora was implying, Julius was rather pleasant company. The two mares spent more time at Zecora's than they thought they would, then came the question, the one that Julius thought would have come sooner.

"Ummm, Zecora, Julius, why are you living in the Everfree Forest?" Fluttershy asked.

"I tried to move into Ponyville. My being there went against their will. I was driven out with spears and jeers. The town, I think, is ruled by fear," Zecora explained.

"Yeah, you drove Zecora out, and she's an equine like everypony else in that place," Julius followed up. "Now, if you did that to her, what do you think you would do to me?" Julius asked leadingly. "Yeah, I'll take my chances here in the Everfree with Zecora. She did save me from manticore venom when I first came here after all," Julius said, looking out the window, the unmistakable colors of the sunset were coming through.

"I did not realize the time. We should be going," Luna said, standing up. "Thank you for the food and for telling us about yourselves. We shall see about things being made better for you two," Luna said thankfully but somewhat cryptically.

"Yes, thank you for the food. It was very delicious," Fluttershy thanked the two. "And both of you are welcome at my house anytime. It's the cottage right by the forest with all the animals," Fluttershy said, smiling.

"I suppose I should go with you," Julius said, standing up, cracking his bones and joints. "There is a place just outside of the edge of the forest I want to go to," he explained, grabbing his staff. "Don't worry, I won't be too long, Zecora," Julius smiled back at her.

Julius led Fluttershy through the Everfree Forest. Having trained there for nearly four weeks straight, he knew the forest well, and what took Fluttershy and Luna hours Julius did in around forty minutes. The trio emerged from the Everfree close to a lake and near Fluttershy's cottage. Taking in a deep breath, Julius sighed and looked around. Other than Fluttershy and Luna, there was nopony.

"I take it you know where you're going from here," Julius said, eyeing the nearby lake. "Not to be rude, but I don't think it'd be good if I were seen with any pony just quite yet, so I'm just going to go over to the lake there," Julius apologetically explained as he made his way over to the lake. Fluttershy and Luna looked at each other quizzically. Fluttershy went right home, but Luna just ducked out of sight. When the time was right, she raised the moon and then started to make her way over to the lake where Julius was.

It never ceased to amaze Julius at how swiftly the day and night transitioned into each other. It was a magic all of its own. With a sigh, Julius laid down on the grass by the lake and looked up at the starry night sky. As Luna approached Julius, she saw something she wasn't expecting. She saw Julius drawing lines in the air with a finger and laughing. Walking up to him, Luna sat down next to Julius.

"What are you doing?" Luna asked, slightly tilting her head.

"I'm drawing constellations," Julius replied. "In my world, the stars made pictures in the sky. I never could see them, though; I saw different pictures. So I made my own constellations and my own stories to go along with them," Julius explained, smiling. "The funny thing is, they always seemed to change night by night," he laughed. "See that one there," Julius said as he drew connecting lines from star to star, making a flower "that's the Faerarhea flower. The honey made from its nectar was so divine that those who ate it grew wings. However, it was a delicate flower, so when the war of Cleradin happened, they were all destroyed. God lamenting the loss of such a flower placed it forever in the heavens, so all would remember it," Julius said, finishing the story. Luna knew better. She placed the stars, and she knew the history; she knew that Julius got exactly zero things right, and yet she couldn't help but smile. The next words Julius said, Luna really wished she didn't hear. "Oh night sky, may your beauty forever give succor to a weary soul," Julius offhandedly sighed while laying back. Blushing, Luna stood up and nuzzled against Julius.

"I know it's a bit sudden, but..." Luna trailed off, trying to steady herself "may I look inside your dreams tonight?" Luna asked, poorly suppressing a blush.

"Well, since you asked nicely and since you're cute, sure," Julius replied, as he nuzzled Luna's fur back, the soft, soothing fur calling him to rest. "I'm just going to rest here for a while," Julius said, lying to himself as he fell asleep nuzzled against Luna's soft fur. Draping a wing over Julius, Luna softly kissed his forehead.

"Thank you," she softly said, small tears of happiness in her eyes. "You do not know how much that meant to me" she smiled as she took her mind into the dreamscape. And all was well that night, but the morrow brings a heavy specter.

"What is that? What is it doing with Luna? Why is it drawing lines in the sky? Why are they nuzzling together? Why did Princess Luna kiss it?" Twilight freaked out, looking on from the Golden Oak Library's telescope. "No, no, no, it's OK, Twilight, it's OK," she tried to reassure herself. "It's Princess Luna. She can handle herself," she told herself in a failed attempt to calm herself down. "I'll just have to find out tomorrow, oh I can't wait, I can't wait, I CAN'T WAIT!" Twilight trotted in place, her eagerness overcoming her. Sleep would be difficult for her tonight.