Wish Gone Awry. Enter Equestria! Enter New Life!

"You know, of all the board games for Equestria to have, I really didn't think a survival horror mixed with social deduction would show up. I'm not complaining; it's a welcome surprise," Julius said as he helped to clean up the game.

"It's not a game we often play," Pinkie Pie said as she put the pieces away. "Applejack doesn't do well with social deduction, and Fluttershy doesn't deal well with either social deduction or horror. I'm proud of you, Fluttershy," Pinkie Pie stated as she cleaned up the game.

"I've had to do worse. Besides, Rainbow Dash has been trying to get me to try some new things," Fluttershy said with a blush.

"I have, and you're doing great with it," Rainbow Dash complimented with a smile. "Shame Twilight isn't here. She has some of the best freakouts with social deduction games. She went insane about fifteen minutes in the last time we played one," Rainbow Dash laughed.

"I can see that all too well," Julius chuckled as Pinkie Pie stored the board game in her mane. "So, I'm guessing that enough time has passed for Celestia to have some free time?" Julius asked as he got up to stretch.

"She should have some free time soon, yes. Head into the castle proper now, send a messenger to her, requesting a personal meeting, and by the time you make it to her chambers, where I suspect you'll want to talk, she should be there," Aloysia told Julius.

"Alright," Julius said with a heavy sigh, "I suppose I've been putting this off long enough. Might as well just get it over with," Julius sighed with a wince. "Come on, Luna, let's get this over with."

"Wait, why only Luna? What about us?" Rainbow asked, sounding a little insulted and a little left out.

"Look, what I'm going to tell them, well, if I said that it was bad, that'd be an improvement. I'm not sure how it is for this world, but in my world, history is a harsh teacher, often showing us some genuinely despicable things. There are bright spots, but, in many ways, the few really are like stars in the night sky," Julius solemnly said.

"I won't lie; our world and even Equestria itself have had its fair share of terrible moments. But I think the difference between good and bad moments has been switched. At least, if what you're saying about the bright moments being akin to stars in the night sky," Luna said as she got up to follow Julius. "If that is the case and the things you plan on telling us are that bad, I do suggest that you do not come with us or try to listen in. Celestia, Aloysia, and I have each lived through a lot and have seen the worst of the worst. Just half of the worst things I've seen would give any other pony, probably any creature alive, nightmares for the rest of their life. We can deal with it," Luna explained as Aloysia followed her.

"Are you sure that you want Aloysia there?" Julius asked before leaving the room.

"Well, I am curious, I have the time to kill, and I've been by Luna's side through the worst of the past. Whatever you're going to tell those two, I can take it. Besides, it's been ages since I've talked directly with Celestia, not since that night. I really should say hello," Aloysia laughed.

"Wait, has this keep been empty all that time?" Julius asked in bewilderment.

"No, we of the chosen have been maintaining the place. We kept the doors sealed for nearly everycreature. Only those that we knew were allowed in," Aloysia told Julius. "Now, enough delaying; you have things you want to tell us, so let's go," Aloysia commanded. "The rest of you can stay here if you want, or leave, either-or."

"I don't know about you two, but I think we should head back into the castle and find Twilight and Zecora," Rainbow Dash said as Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy nodded in agreement. "Then that's settled; we'll be headed back into the castle," Rainbow Dash said as the two others got up to follow.

"I thought as much," Aloysia said, "one of the guards by the main hall should know where Twilight and Zecora are. Though, if I had to guess, they are probably in the dining hall," Aloysia suggested.

"Alright, thanks for the suggestion. Now let's head out," Rainbow Dash said while smiling. Walking down the spiraling staircase, Rainbow Dash nervously chuckled. "I know I'm not going to be attacked or anything, but still, seeing all these red eyes watching us creeps me out."

"They're just on guard duty. Frankly, they're no different from the castle guard, aside from quality. In terms of quality, these are some of the best we have. Just one of them would be able to easily deal with any threat that attacked," Aloysia proudly stated as the outside doors opened. "All these years later, I still don't care for the sun. I'll meet you two in Celestia's chambers," Aloysia said before fading into the shadows.

"How'd she do that?" Julius, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie asked at the same time.

"Shadow walking. Quite a useful spell. Dark magic in nature. While slower than teleportation, it has much better fine control and allows you to see everything that you usually would. It's far better for battle and covert operations than teleportation," Luna explained as she led the group into the castle.

"Hah, I'd imagine that's something that Twilight will be eager to learn," Pinkie Pie said as she happily bounced behind Luna.

"She would be, but Twilight is not yet ready to learn any form of spirit magic. Honestly, she has a lot of maturing to do before learning spirit magic. As she is now, Twilight would likely do significant damage if she learned spirit magic, even if she didn't intend for it," Luna explained as she led the group to the main hall.

"What do you mean? Twilight Sparkle is great at magic. She can do any spell, no problem," Rainbow Dash said in defense of Twilight.

"Twilight's skill isn't in question. What is, is her ability to use magic responsibility. That is a problem that's common among unicorns. While it may not seem like it at first, unicorns tend to grow too accustomed to using magic for everything. That goes for Twilight as well. What's more concerning is Twilight's willingness to use magic as a first resort and her potential power with it. Should she learn spirit magic as she is, I fear that it would lead to her causing a horrific amount of damage, possibly mentally scarring her, along with what other damage it would cause. For that reason, she is not ready to learn it," Luna explained as they reached the main hall. "Here we are; we'll part ways here," Luna said as she turned to go to Celestia's chambers.

"Alright, good luck with your mysterious meeting!" Pinkie Pie happily said as she waved them goodbye.

"So," Julius started to say as the two walked to Celestia's chambers, "Twilight isn't ready to learn, but I am," Julius lightly laughed.

"Well, yes, and no," Luna bitterly chuckled. "Due to your magical entwinement with dark magic, you have to learn it. If you don't, it's only a matter of time until you accidentally use it. Should that happen, I fear the result would be similar to what would happen if Twilight used spirit magic. For this reason, you must learn it. Fortunately, you don't have the problem of using magic for everything. Unfortunately, because you grew up without magic, you need to work heavily on your control," Luna explained to Julius.

"Yeah, I suppose that's fair. I'm guessing that a lot of my training will first consist of learning how to control magic, right?" Julius asked as Luna led him up a marble spiral staircase.

"Yes, from what I saw Aloysia preparing, yes. Prepare to get cut a lot," Luna warned.

"Why would I get cut? What is she planning?" Julius asked with some concern.

"From what I saw, she's likely going to use an old training method for controlling magic. If I'm right, she'll give you a special set of cutlery, glasses, plate, and bowls. They'll be very easy to break, and you will have to use them instead of their regular variants. Not only that, but you'll have to use them while using magic to increase your strength as much as you can," Luna said as she hummed and hawed.

"Geez, I hope she has a lot of replacements," Julius dryly laughed.

"Not needed. If she uses that method, they'll all have an enchantment that will repair them a few moments after they're broken," Luna assured Julius. "It'll probably be the same old set that Celestia and I learned with, back when we were students of Starswirl the Bearded," Luna said as the two got to the top of the stairs.

"That old, huh," Julius said as he looked around, spotting only one hallway, with a single door at the end and many heavily armored mares, the closest two snapping their necks to look right at Luna and Julius. "Well, they look different from the normal guards," Julius said as the two mares approached Luna and Julius.

"You are in a heavily restricted area. Leave immediately, or you may be prosecuted to the full extent of the law," one of the mares commanded.

"It's OK; I'm Luna Empyrean Astra, Sovereign Dirach Princess of Equestria, Sovereign Queen of the Threstrals, Warden of the Dream Realm, and Slayer of Beasts," Luna told the two mares in response. "And this is Julius, my consort, and I guess, by default, an ambassador from another far-off realm," Luna said as a third mare approached the four, this one looking slightly more important.

"Celestia did tell us that the two of you may be coming here. However, for security reasons, we have to confirm your identity. If you truly are Princess Luna, you should have no problem raising the moon. Not too high, just over the horizon will do," the third mare said as she looked at Luna.

"Security is a lot tighter than the last time I was here. I'm guessing that there's more to this than just a check," Luna sighed as she lifted the moon into the sky. "I trust this is high enough?" Luna asked as she looked at the three mares.

"Yes, that'll do," the third said. "Forgive the impudence, but Celestia has reasons to believe that Canterlot may face a threat sometime in the near future. For that reason, security here is tightened heavily," the third mare explained. "While we have no way of confirming your identity, you are with Luna, and that's enough. If you are a changeling infiltrator, I'll warn you now, resume your standard form; you do not want to draw the ire of the Royal Sisters. A stay in prison would be far more preferable," the third mare warned.

"You know, I'd really love to be able to transform. If nothing else, I'd be abusing the hell out of the Sexy Jutsu. Sadly, I cannot transform; I'm just plain old normal me, the human. Hell, I'm so human; you could call me superhuman," Julius joked.

"Sure, sure," the third mare dryly said. "Return to guard positions! Resume guard duties!" The third mare commanded. "Follow me," she said before leading Luna and Julius to the door; walking up to the door, the mare opened the door for the two. "Enter; Princess Celestia is waiting for you," the mare commanded as she opened the door. Walking into the room, Luna and Julius walked into a grand anteroom.

"Well, if nothing else, this is the most impressive room I've ever seen," Julius said as he looked around the room. Walking up onto a step, Luna led Julius into Celestia's room.

"Indeed. My sister has always preferred wide open designs," Luna said as she walked up the few stairs. "I am here, sister, as is Julius. I take it that you know why we are here," Luna said as she crested the stairs.

"Yes, I have," Celestia responded. "And, it was a rather slow day at court. For two hours, several nobles argued about cheese, of all things cheese. I don't think that even the yaks or minotaurs spend that long arguing about cheese," Celestia laughed as she looked at Luna. "What's the matter? You look like you're expecting something?" Celestia asked as she saw Luna looking around.

"Ah, there you are," Luna said as she looked into a shadow. "How long are you planning on hiding in there?" Luna smiled at the shadow.

"At least until you got here," Aloysia said as she walked out of Celestia's shadow. "While they might be your best, your guards are still lacking," Aloysia told Celestia as she walked in front of her.

"After over a thousand years, that's how you greet me?" Celestia asked as she looked right at Aloysia.

"I promise you, that's a far better greeting than any of the other chosen would have given you," Aloysia assured.

"Considering that you and your kin abandoned your sworn duty, I'd expect a friendlier greeting," Celestia retorted.

"After sending Luna to the moon, keeping that duty would be political suicide; you and I both know that. Besides, after the bright age, I did save you from the worst of your nightmares. And for the rest of the time, we upheld our duty. Only to the thestrals and those under the mantle of the coven," Aloysia argued back.

"Enough, you two can argue more later," Julius sighed as he rubbed his temples. "Is there somewhere I can sit and have a warm drink? Hot chocolate, maybe," Julius asked as he looked around.

"There is a chaise lounge over there. As for hot chocolate, there's hot chocolate imported from the cultists in Tenochtitlan. Along with fruit from Tenochtitlan as well," Celestia said as she levitated a platter of those to a table near the chaise and a kettle of boiling water. "Now, about this history that you need to tell us," Celestia said as she looked at Julius.

"Right," Julius sighed heavily while Luna and Aloysia made themselves comfortable. "I guess I'll start with Cannae," Julius solemnly said as he made himself a cup of hot chocolate.