Wish Gone Awry. Enter Equestria! Enter New Life!

Aloysia led the group out of Luna's room while Luna slept. As Julius walked out of the room, he stopped.

"You know, I think it's less dark if I close my eyes. I don't know how that's possible, but I'm pretty sure of it," Julius said as he stopped to let his eyes adjust to the darkness. "Hey, Pinkie, got anything in your mane for this?"

"Hmmm," Pinkie Pie hummed as she rummaged through her mane. "I got a glove!" Pinkie Pie sang as she gave Julius a rubbery glove.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" Julius asked as he looked baffled at the glove.

"Rub it!" Pinkie Pie happily said as she lightly rubbed the glove, causing it to glow slightly, barely illuminating anything.

"How does that-, no, no, let it go," Julius sighed as the glove glowed.

"That glow is really helping," Rainbow Dash sarcastically laughed as she followed Aloysia.

"Yeah. It's helping so much," Julius sarcastically agreed as the glove's glow fizzled away. "Even more so now," Julius quipped as he carefully followed the group.

"I know, right!" Pinkie Pie happily squeed. "It's hard to be worried when you're joking around," Pinkie Pie said as she stuck close to Fluttershy. "Don't worry, Fluttershy. Auntie Pinkie Pie will protect you."

"Pinkie, I'm older than you," Fluttershy flatly told Pinkie Pie.

"Yeah, yeah! That's the spirit! You keep telling yourself that, and one day it will be true!" Pinkie Pie happily said as she lightly patted Fluttershy's withers.

"Pinkie Pie, I'm not that scared," Fluttershy sighed. "I'm just adjusting. I was scared at first, but after having some time to think things over, I'll be fine. Besides, Julius made some good points; and I look after their bats, apparently. No animal lover would harm a creature looking after their animals," Fluttershy reasoned while she followed behind.

"Timidness or intelligence?" Aloysia said as she led the group down the spiraling stairs. "For a while now, that's been a question about you. While you are quick to run and hide, you are also quick to avoid trouble and de-escalate. While your actions speak highly of timidness, the way in which you carry them out speaks of intelligence," Aloysia hummed.

"For Fluttershy, a bit of both," Rainbow Dash replied. "She might be scared of nearly everything, but she's also one of the smartest ponies I know. I think only Twilight is smarter. Fluttershy, what were your grades again?" Rainbow Dash asked as she closely followed Aloysia.

"Oh, it's been a while; I don't really remember," Fluttershy brushed off. "They were in the low nineties, though. Oh, except this one grade was only in the high eighties, but that was Prench class," Fluttershy said with a light blush.

"See, a bit of both," Rainbow Dash said. "Also, show off; I'm proud of you, Fluttershy," Rainbow Dash said as she looked back and winked at Fluttershy.

"Oh? Was I showing off? I'm sorry," Fluttershy said, blushing as she slightly hid behind her mane.

"That's more like Fluttershy!" Pinkie Pie sang as she saw Fluttershy being timid.

"I see. Most of us suspected that; it's good to have it confirmed," Aloysia said as the group got to the bottom of the stairs. Leading the group through some hallways, Aloysia opened a door, leading to a wide-open, slightly lighter arena. "Here we are, the indoor training arena," Aloysia said as she ushered the group inside. "Now, as for the test, well, as long as it pushes you and involves you using everything that you can, the activity taken for the test doesn't matter. So go ahead, choose how you'd like to be tested," Aloysia told Julius.

"OK, what do you mean? And why let me choose?" Julius asked as he felt the ground, swiftly pocketing a handful of sandy dirt.

"What exactly the test is, does not matter. All that matters is that you are tested appropriately. As for letting you choose, well, the gap between us is so vast that it doesn't matter how you wish to be tested. For example, in a popular foal's comic, this teacher tested her students by requiring them to grab a bell from her; we could do that. Of course, that is just an example. We are in an arena; you could test yourself in a straight-up fight if you wish. Perhaps you'd like to try hiding from me? That too, is an option. Or maybe a written test? There are ways we can test your abilities with a written test. Of course, all of these are just suggestions; common ways that I've tested others," Aloysia told Julius.

"Hmmm," Julius hummed as he slowly paced. "Interesting suggestions. I'm interested in seeing how a written test would test my abilities, but I can take a few guesses," Julius hummed as he slowly got closer. "Playing hide and go seek with a vampire seems like a losing game. So, I guess," Julius said as he paced closely to Aloysia's flank, "I'll-," Julius slowly said before swiftly lunging at Aloysia, grabbing the vampire pony before she turned into black mist and flew away.

"No such thing as a fair fight, I see. Good mentality. A mentality I've often seen before, one that's never gotten the better of me, though it's a mentality I agree with," Aloysia said, her voice echoing from the shadows.

"Hey, at least I tried," Julius shrugged as he started to calm himself.

"Calming yourself, trying to sense where I am. Fairly basic, every thestral learns it, though few who are not blessed as my kind can sense us with it," Aloysia commented as the shadows twisted and turned.

"You said this is a test," Julius said as he closed his eyes. "And the point is to take my measure and test my spirit magic abilities. So, I'm guessing that you're going to force me to use it, aren't you?" Julius asked as he intensely focused.

"You are correct. Though, there is more to using spirit magic than just using it," Aloysia said as she remained sequestered in the shadows.

"Found you!" Julius triumphantly said as he quickly turned to look at a group of shadows, only to get grabbed by a shadowy tendril.

"Congratulations are in order; you found me," Aloysia sarcastically said as she walked out from the shadows. "It's a shame that you forgot about your surroundings," Aloysia said as she walked up to a struggling Julius. "What now?" Aloysia asked as she took a few measured steps towards Julius. Waiting a few moments, Aloysia sighed. "I know what you're planning. You're not the first to try it; you won't be the last," Aloysia firmly told Julius, who steadied his breathing. "Fine," Aloysia sighed, taking a few more steps towards Julius, "for the test."

"Element of surprise!" Julius shouted as dark energy pulsed through his body, giving him enough strength to break the tendrils and charge at Aloysia, only to get casually batted away.

"I told you, I've seen that trick before. You'll have to do better than that if you want to trick me," Aloysia firmly told Julius.

"At least I'm trying," Julius grunted as he slowly stood up, only to crumble down in pain.

"Yeah, if you aren't used to it, dark enhancement can be quite painful. Still, you have healing magic. So quit whining and use it," Aloysia commanded.

"Geez, not letting me rest much, are you?" Julius asked as Aloysia appeared to his side and pushed him down.

"Not much rest?" Aloysia asked as she forced Julius down. "In a real fight, you'd be getting nowhere near this much rest. In a real fight, I'd have won within the first few seconds," Aloysia told Julius from atop of him.

"I think I know about real fights," Julius grunted as Aloysia kept him belly down on the floor.

"Why? Because you beat a few timberwolves? That means nothing. Any competent soldier can take them down. Or is it that timberdirewolf? Most are wise enough not to bring one forth. And of those few times they are brung forth, a competent squad can take them down. You required an alicorn, a guard captain, and the element of magic. What you've done may seem impressive, but that is compared to a meager standard. Or perhaps you speak your time in your world? You may have been in multiple fights in your world, but this is a world of magic; fighting here is quite different," Aloysia said while running down Julius.

"Geez, kind of made everything I've done seem irrelevant," Julius sighed as he healed up and gathered his strength. "Though, I suppose you're right. This is a different world; there would be differences," Julius said as he reached into his pocket. "Still, some things do carry over, like -" Julius hummed as he took his clenched fist out from his pocket. "POCKET SAND!" Julius shouted as he threw the sandy dirt from his pocket into Aloysia's eyes.

"Cheap trick," Aloysia grunted as she backed up off Julius and shook her head.

"I've got plenty," Julius confidently said as he uppercutted Aloysia in her teets, to no response.

"Please, this is a test. At least try to retain some class," Aloysia dismissively said as she bucked Julius in the head, sending him flying back as she shook her head.

"Really? Nothing?" Julius grunted as he sat on the ground, panting heavily.

"You're not the first to try the teet beat, and you won't be the last. If I were a normal mare, then yes, that would have been effective," Aloysia said as she gave her head one last firm shake before walking towards Julius. "If this is all you can do, then I've seen all I need to see," Aloysia said as she stood a little bit away from Julius.

"No, I can do more," Julius grunted as he slowly stood up.

"Since when?" Aloysia asked as she steadied herself.

"Oh, you know, about nowish," Julius grunted as dark energy flowed through his body.

"Hmmm, dark magic-infused healing. Effective, if you know what you're doing," Aloysia said as she carefully watched Julius. "Oh, using dark magic to bolster your strength and speed again, a bit boring," Aloysia hummed before her eyebrows slightly raised. "What's this, something more?" Aloysia slowly said as she braced herself.

"Yeah, yeah, something a lot more," Julius firmly said as he stood up. "Even without magic, humans can drastically boost their strength, as you'll see," Julius grunted as his arms slightly twitched.

"Hmmm, it seems like you humans are capable of frenzied vigor. Here we thought only minotaurs and dragons had that ability," Aloysia said as she prepared herself. "Alright, I'm game. I always wondered what would happen if dark enhancement mixed with frenzied vigor," Aloysia slightly smirked as she kept her eyes on Julius.

"Well, let's find out," Julius said as he charged at Aloysia.

"He's fast!" Aloysia commented as she swiftly backed up, barely avoiding a hard punch. "Hit me now, and I might actually feel it," Aloysia commented as she avoided punches, elbows, knees, and kicks by the narrowest of margins. "As is, you seem to have speed on par with my kind, but strength, well, one way to find out," Aloysia grunted as she braced herself for what she needed to do.

"You might be letting me hit you, but a hit is a hit," Julius grunted as he landed a solid punch on Aloysia's flank, sending her flying. "Still counts," Julius heavily panted as he fell to one knee.

"Yes," Aloysia grunted as she picked herself back up. "And you couldn't do the job. This is over; you are finished. Your body is too damaged from the combination of frenzied vigor and dark enhancement. Besides, I now know all I need to know," Aloysia said as she turned to the door, hoofsteps echoing from the hall.

"From the feeling of dark energy, I take it that the test is finished?" A tired Luna yawned as she entered the arena.

"Yes," Aloysia flatly said. "I already have a few ideas of where to start his training," Aloysia said as Julius slowly limped up behind her. "Turns out we were right about frenzied vigor mixing with dark enhancement. So for a starting place, we-AHHH!" Aloysia yelped as Julius tackled her to the ground. "What do you think you're doing?" Aloysia angrily asked as Julius held her down.

"I don't remember giving up," Julius grunted through gritted teeth.

"You can't be serious. You're in pain; your reserves of magical energy are low. You are beaten; just give up," Aloysia angrily commanded.

"I may be beaten, but I'm not defeated," Julius grunted as Aloysia sighed. "I'll fight you in the arena; I'll fight you in the fields. I'll fight you in the hills and the mountains. With growing confidence and growing strength, I'll fight you in the seas and the air," Julius started to say as Aloysia rolled her eyes.

"I've heard this before, and I know how to deal with it," Aloysia sighed. "You like fish; it's a part of your diet. I'm guessing that you'll get little, if any, from the Equestrians," Aloysia flatly said.

"I know what you're doing, and you can forget it. I cannot be tempted," Julius resolutely said.

"Give up now, and I'll make sure that whenever you're with us, you'll be able to have some, along with other things that you want," Aloysia told Julius.

"Oh, I forgot," Julius said as he loosened his grip, "I can be tempted by things I want, deal," Julius said as he helped Aloysia up.

"Bribery always works," Aloysia said as she got up. "Now, you should get some rest, or a warm bath, or both," Aloysia said as she turned to Luna. "As for us, we should talk about areas he needs to focus on; well, after you wake up," Aloysia said as she looked at Luna.

"Agreed," Luna yawned. "The usual?" Luna asked as she levitated Julius to her.

"I think some of the food was prepared with different herbs, but other than that, yes," Aloysia confirmed.

"Great. I'm just going to drop Julius off in the bath. Bring my food to my room when it's ready," Luna lazily yawned as she took Julius out of the arena.