Wish Gone Awry. Enter Equestria! Enter New Life!

"Well, this has been nice; your designs are very interesting," Julius said as he looked around Rarity's workshop, "but we should get going," Julius sighed as he started to walk out. "Though, you still need metal for my outfit, correct?" Julius asked as he scratched his chin.

"Correct. Unfortunately, no metal matches what's required for your clothes. They're all in bar or plate form, that is, assuming that they haven't been made into something," Rarity confirmed. "Even if they weren't, it's all too heavy, or stiff, or, well, both to be used," Rarity told Julius.

"Well, I have to go to Canterlot anyways, so how about we go there tomorrow?" Julius suggests to the group.

"There shouldn't be a problem, well, for the most part," Luna responded. "The court and," Luna snickered a little, "guards," Luna snickered again, "have been told about you. So as long as you stay in the castle and the castle grounds you should be fine. Leaving the castle grounds, though, could cause problems. Canterlot is an old city with many old families stuck in their ways. We could provide you with a guard detail, but that'd draw attention and could cause problems," Luna explained.

"Sadly, that sounds about right for Canterlot," Twilight sighed. "I've only ever seen diplomats, ambassadors, and other such dignitaries from different countries and species. Even while wearing obvious diplomatic clothes and guard ponies, most Canterlotians were cold towards them," Twilight agreed with Luna.

"Well, there are a few places that'd probably be fine with Julius," Spike spoke up. "Canterlot Confectioners," Spike said as Twilight looked at Spike, "that's Donut Joe's place. Maybe The House of Enchanted Comics. They seem to care more for their fans and readers than the creature. Oh, the School for Gifted Unicorns. I'd imagine they'd like to do some tests on you," Spike offers in suggestion.

"Well, I'm sure the castle alone will be fine. I'll definitely be staying away from that school, though. Under no circumstances am I a science experiment," Julius lightly laughs.

"Well, with the equipment there and the professors, they could learn a lot about you, and by extension you," Twilight absentmindedly said.

"Oh really? And just how would they do that?" Julius asked as he raised an eyebrow at Twilight.

"Oh, was that out loud, sorry," Twilight half-heartedly giggled while blushing. "They'd likely start with some blood tests, then some bio-physical tests, probably involving using medical magic to scan you while getting you to do various activities. Then there would be mental and psychological tests, testing your mental health and well-being, your general intelligence, how you'd react to different stimuli. Spike went through those tests before," Twilight told Julius.

"It was a long month," Spike sighed.

"Not only no, but hell no," Julius flatly said. "I already know that I'm generally healthy, with a slight need to watch my diet for cholesterol and with O Negative blood. Blood tests suck; I'm not having any done unless absolutely necessary. Also, I'm not staying away for testing for a month, just no," Julius firmly told Twilight.

"Blood type? What's that?" Twilight eagerly asked.

"You haven't found out about blood types yet?" Julius asked as Twilight looked right at him. "Right, it's only useful for blood transfusions. Your parents and genetics determine your blood type. O Negative means any human can receive my blood. It also means that my sister, my brother, my father, and I kept getting harassed for our blood," Julius explained to Twilight.

"What about your mother?" Twilight asked. "Doesn't she have the same blood?"

"Nope, well, kind of; mother has O Positive blood. She gets the odd call for her blood, but not as often as the rest of us," Julius sighed as he rubbed his head in memory of all the phone calls.

"Why do they keep coming after you for it? Can't they just go to other people?" Twilight asked.

"Not really. O Negative is extremely rare. While anyone can take our blood, we can only receive other O Negative blood. It kind of puts us in an awkward position. Thank my father for that," Julius laughed.

"Why, what did he do?" Twilight asked as she listened.

"Well, my mother had a rough childbirth. She needed a blood transfusion during it, so in stepped my father. It worked, but he was on record as a blood donor from then. I suppose we can complain, but we still joke about it," Julius laughed.

"Awww, that's sweet of him," Twilight cooed.

"Yeah. As I said, he's a good man, just wasn't around too much. Thank his work for that," Julius sighed.

"Sounds like it," Twilight said as she hummed. "So blood types are used to determine what blood somecreature can receive. Is that correct?"

"Basically, yes. Well, blood cells and plasma," Julius nodded.

"I see. The Equestrian Medical University needs to hear about this!" Twilight happily clapped as Julius gave her an odd look. "Right, we already do transfusions, but they're magically aided for success. Without magic, they usually fail. It's been theorized that there's a way to do transfusions without magic reliably, but no way has been found. With this, we know what to look for; it solves a medical mystery!" Twilight happily said.

"I see; it's always good to have a non-magical solution, just in case. Tell them to look at the blood plasma and blood cells for markers when you tell them. That's how you'll determine the blood type," Julius tells a very giddy Twilight.

"I will!" Twilight happily said. "Who knows what else we'll find with this! Maybe it'll just be blood types, but could we also learn more about possible magic unique to blood? I can't wait!" Twilight giddily said.

"Twilight," Luna sighed, "blood magic is illegal in Equestria. I would have thought that Celestia would have taught you that," Luna told Twilight.

"If it was to help ponies, I'm sure it'd be fine. Besides, we use magic for transfusions already," Twilight argued.

"That was heavily debated but was decided that it wasn't blood magic. Besides, just because magic can be helpful to ponies doesn't mean it's safe," Luna told Twilight, who just looked at her. "Celestia hasn't taught you anything about spirit magic, has she?" Luna asked as Twilight shook her head. "The most well-known spirit magic is dark magic. It's often seen as evil, though it's not inherently evil. As you can infer, light magic also exists. It's often seen as inherently good, though, again, not true. Tell me, have you heard of the healer's curse?" Luna asked Twilight.

"A little bit. I think the records of it were destroyed. So all I know are old foal's tales," Twilight told Luna.

"Well, ages ago, spirit magic was more commonly used. Light magic was often used to supplement healing magic, and it worked to great effect. However, those healed with this light augmented healing had a high chance of suffering consequences. The healing would spiral out of control, as the healed creature would get covered by growths. The light magic, which was meant to help, harmed far more than it helped. This phenomenon became known as the healer's curse. A counter was developed, but it too was risky, as it used dark magic to counter the light magic. And even then, the growths would need to be removed. This whole event was just one reason that spirit magic was banned, despite being extraordinarily powerful," Luna explained to Twilight.

"That's awful; I feel so sorry for those poor creatures," Twilight and Fluttershy both said. "Are there any creatures in Equestria that know spirit magic?" Twilight asked.

"Well, three creatures legally know it. Celestia, Cadance, and I," Luna told Twilight. "Celestia specialized in light, while I specialized in dark. I'm sure that in forgotten corners, there are those who use it illegally, but they wouldn't use it openly," Luna told Twilight.

"I see. Is there any chance I can learn it?" Twilight eagerly asked.

"No," Luna flatly responded. "It's only taught to alicorns, and that's out of necessity, as the spell to turn one into an alicorn involves infusing them with spirit magic," Luna explained to Twilight.

"Wait, infused with spirit magic," Twilight hummed. "That sounds like what happened to Julius," Twilight slowly said.

"You are quite sharp, that is correct," Luna confirmed. "While it's unclear just how much it's affected him, it's likely that Julius will need to learn some basic control of dark magic out of necessity. That is still something Celestia and I have to agree on. Julius, not knowing any is dangerous, as if it goes out of control; well, Sombra learned what happens first hoof. On the other hoof, spirit magic is extremely seductive to use. It's far stronger than regular magic. Once a creature starts using it, it can become easy to allow yourself to be controlled by it, which is dangerous," Luna explained. "Honestly, there isn't a good option here. Though something that can work in favor for him learning it is him not jumping to use magic to solve every problem, and him not relying on magic."

"Hah, why do I have the feeling that's a backhanded comment at Twilight," Julius lightly laughed.

"Well, Twilight did rely on magic during the Winter Wrap-Up, well, at first," Rainbow Dash said while looking at Twilight.

"Ohhh, Ohhh!" Pinkie Pie said as she started bouncing. "Winter Wrap-Up! Winter Wrap-Up! Let's finish our holiday cheer!" Pinkie Pie started to sing.

"Pinkie Pie, it's not Winter Wrap-Up. It's not even winter; save it for next year," Rainbow Dash told Pinkie Pie.

"Awww, but it's so catchy, Dashy," Pinkie Pie pouted. "Oh well!" Pinkie Pie started to sing. "Springtime Mash-Up! Springtime Mash-Up!" Pinkie Pie began to sing in the same voice.

"Kind of walked right into that one, didn't you?" Julius laughed while looking at Rainbow Dash. "Ah well, she isn't wrong; it is catchy, even if it's not the type of music I usually listen to," Julius said as he lightly hummed along.

"Agreed, it is, but it's more of a seasonal song. It feels weird hearing it out of season," Rainbow Dash told Julius.

"I agree with Rainbow Dash. While the song is catchy, hearing it out of season just sounds a bit odd to me," Rarity chimed in agreement with Rainbow Dash. "So, you'll be going to Canterlot and staying in the castle. Can I come!" Rarity happily asked as her eyes twinkled.

"I don't see why not. I mean, I can't imagine a castle is hurting for rooms. But wouldn't that mean losing out on business?" Julius asked.

"Oh please," Rarity brushed off. "A day off can easily be justified when you're building possible future business relations. Besides, a chance to stay in a castle in Canterlot, how could I say no?" Rarity asked as she looked at Luna.

"Well, there are a lot of empty rooms at the castle that are there for guests. However, I don't know how exciting it'll be. Most of the nobles are in court for the day, where they argue and debate over small silly things. Though, some of the dignitaries seem like they could be interesting," Luna told Rarity.

"So I can come, great!" Rarity giddily sang as she happily jumped up and down.

"I don't see why not," Luna said, "though, I don't look forward to staying up in the morning to leave. Nights are long and tiring. Hopefully, tonight will be an easy night," Luna sighed. "And hopefully, I won't have to go to your dreams," Luna said as she looked at Julius.

"Wait, why me specifically?" Julius asked.

"Your dreamscape, or at least what little I've experienced of it, is odd. I wouldn't say it's draining or anything, but it's different. It could be unique to you, or it could be a human thing. That, combined with the unusual way I had to enter it, lends itself to an unusual experience, one I don't want to deal with if I know I'm in for an early morning," Luna explained.

"Can't you enter it more easily now? I thought you could enter it more easily now?" Julius asked.

"To an extent, yes, though, it still feels odd. I wouldn't worry too much about it. Griffon's dreams feel different from the dreams of ponies, so I think that it's a human thing and that I just need to get used to the feeling of your dreams," Luna assured Julius.

"Ah, OK," Julius said, "I'll try not to have any bad dreams for you then," Julius said with a light smile. "Instead, I'll have a late-night and try to find that odd figure I saw in the Everfree," Julius lightly joked.

"Please don't," Luna smiled as she shook her head.

"Oh come on, I said that ironically, we should be fine," Julius laughed as he looked around. "Wanna watch me tempt fate. What are the odds of that happening? Again, said it ironically, we should be fine," Julius laughed as Rainbow Dash laughed too.

"Pinkie warning, Pinkie warning!" Pinkie Pie quickly said as her body convulsed oddly. "And it's a doozy," Pinkie Pie sighed as Rainbow Dash stopped laughing.

"What?" Julius and Twilight asked.

"My Pinkie Sense is telling me something big is going to happen," Pinkie Pie explained to the two. "Though I don't know what, I never felt anything like this before," Pinkie Pie hummed in thought. "No, wait, I did once. Right before the whole Nightmare Moon thing, remember Dashy? That reminds me, you still own me a cupcake from that," Pinkie Pie said as she booped Rainbow Dash.

"Do I? I thought I gave you one for that," Rainbow Dash said as she looked at Julius. "Well, apparently, you temped fate to give you exactly what you want," Rainbow Dash chuckled.

"Doubt it. I mean, really, what are the odds of that happening?" Julius asked as Pinkie Pie convulsed again. "That, proves, nothing," Julius firmly stated.

"I don't know; it proves enough to me," Pinkie Pie told Julius. "Even if you don't believe it, could you stop tempting fate? The convulsions are getting annoying. I mean, at least my twitchy tail feels funny, and my flappy ears look cute," Pinkie Pie told Julius.

"You know what? Just for you, I'll do it," Julius told Pinkie Pie.

Thank you!" Pinkie Pie happily sang as she lightly kissed Julius's cheek.

"No problem," Julius smiled. "Now, let's get back to Zecora's, it sounds like we have a busy day tomorrow, and I wanna be rested for it," Julius said as Twilight looked out a window.

"Yeah, it's starting to get dark; we should be headed back," Twilight said in agreement with Julius. Looking between Julius and Spike, Julius nodded. "Spike, wanna come with us?"

"Sure, while it's nice to have spent so much time with Rarity, it'll be good to spend the night with you again," Spike said while smiling.

"Alright, I'll see you all out," Rarity said as she led them to the door. "Have a good rest, and I'll see you all bright-eyed in the morning!" Rarity happily said as she saw the group off.