Wish Gone Awry. Enter Equestria! Enter New Life!

"Well, at least that's how things were when I was last on Earth," Julius said after telling the three ponies a bit about humanity's past. Julius took a deep drink of his hot chocolate and looked at the three ponies. "What?" Julius asked as he saw the three ponies staring seemingly blankly at him.

"You're lying," Celestia flatly said. "You have to be lying. Fifty thousand dead in one day. A war that lasted thirty years, wiping out over fifty percent of the population in places, and the state of your world. Even the most hawkish of the griffons and minotaurs wouldn't go that far. Even the changelings at least don't consider their kind as their enemy. For all her faults, Chrysalis genuinely cares for her subjects. But from what you said, if it were to be true," Celestia shakingly said.

"How did your world reach such a state? What could have possibly happened? And why tell us all this?" Luna asked while holding back a shudder.

"The how, that's a long depressing answer. What happened, greed, pride, arrogance, etcetera," Julius flatly responded. "As for telling you all this, simple, so you avoid making a tragic mistake. I came to this world. Accidentally, but still, here I am. If a day comes when a portal between our worlds opens, you very well might have done something foolish, like joining the U.N. How'd you like to import the problems of my world to Equestria? What about having foreign governments dictate Equestria's foreign policy?" Julius asked as he looked at Celestia. "Look, I get it; all that sounds very bad, and, frankly, it is. But still, there are good people trapped in my world, people who, by no fault of their own, are trapped in a borderline abusive relationship with their government. I'd like to save them if the opportunity comes," Julius said before finishing his hot chocolate.

"I'll admit such a union sounded attractive. It sounded too good to be true," Celestia said. "I may have considered entering into negotiations with some of your countries after learning about them. But with this, well, it's given me more to think about. I'm sure you have your own biases, and, from the sounds of it, your government has personally wronged you and your family several times in the past," Celestia said as she collected herself. "Should such a day come, I'll have to take any diplomatic considerations under intense advisement. Still, regardless of that, your family is welcome here, and those you personally know who fit into our values are as well. Any others, well," Celestia said as she trailed off.

"Think you could make an exception for the Amish? They don't exactly fit into Equestrian values, but they are pacifists who largely want to be left alone," Julius asked.

"Hmmm, from what you've said, they live in mostly self-sufficient communities. I'd have to meet with the leader of their community and judge for myself," Celestia told Julius.

"Fair. Frederick is a pretty agreeable man. He's the head of the community my siblings and I would stay at when we really screwed up. Honestly, he was a bit light on us. The number of times he caught me napping under a tree next to a Haflinger is probably a lot higher than I know," Julius said with a chuckle.

"What's a Haflinger?" Celestia asked as she levitated a cup of tea to herself.

"It's the breed of horses that Frederick's community keeps. My siblings and I were there for the birth of a few of them. Each of us even got to name one; I named mine Epona because I like The Legend of Zelda. Then my younger brother learned how to ride to spite me, and my twin sister learned the ocarina also to spite me. And no, you cannot convince me otherwise," Julius poutingly said.

"That seems a little petty," Celestia said while staring at Julius.

"It is, and we are petty enough to screw with our siblings in ways like that. One time, my brother and I put a bunch, I think about two hundred or so, plastic cups half-filled with water in our sister's room and covered her doorway in saran wrap. That took a lot of time and was really stupid, and we'd do it again," Julius told Celestia.

"Why would you do that?" Celestia asked as she tilted her head a bit at Julius.

"I don't know; I forget why. She was probably being a bellend in some way," Julius replied. "I do remember hearing a very audible 'What the fuck? You knob gobblers!' from her, though," Julius said as he laughed.

"I'm guessing that sort of thing happened a lot between you three," Celestia said with a sigh.

"It felt like it was a daily thing. We'd screw with each other, but we had each other's backs at the end of the day, and we took the collective punishment in stride. Honestly, we laugh about how we got punished now. I mean, when your punishment involved painting rocks, you know it's something that you'll laugh about later," Julius said while smiling.

"I'll admit, that does sound like an amusing way to discipline your children. It seems to have been effective enough for as odd as it sounds," Celestia told Julius. "Now, I take it that's the thing you needed to tell me about your kind's history, correct?"

"Yes, though, I'd like to know why the whole battalion to guard Zecora and me? Surely just a team or a squad each would be enough," Julius asked.

"You've probably heard the rumors that I'm expecting a threat to Canterlot," Celestia said as she got up and looked out her balcony window. "Those rumors are true. For some time, I've been getting intelligence that Chrysalis might be planning an attack on Canterlot. While information coming out of the Changeling Lands is usually questionable at best, this source is reliable. I don't have much to go on. So, in preparation, I've been looking for a reason to move proper soldiers into Canterlot. You and Zecora coming to the city make for a good excuse. I've moved as many soldiers as I reasonably could into Canterlot. While a whole battalion may seem a bit much, I can justify it as following the procedure of taking entire groups instead of taking only partial groups. While it's true that there are smaller battalions, again, I can justify bringing the Seventh Iron Lightning Battalion as a show of strength to a possible foreign dignitary. As such, you have been designated as both a dignitary and a royal consort. To allocate you inadequate protection would reflect poorly on the crown. While some in the court have raised some concerns, they have all been alleviated," Celestia explained.

"That sounded like a very political answer, with very political reasons. While it's justified, that whole roundabout dance is why I never liked politics. If only more beings would take to being direct," Julius sighed.

"Tell me about it. You have no idea how stressful it can get. There are days when I fully understand why our mother made the court rules what they were. But stupid concessions forced some changes. Honestly, why push for that? The only stallions it affected were the ones that enjoyed it. It still happens, just unofficially," Celestia slightly angrily sighed.

"What concession?" Julius asked as he lightly patted Celestia's whithers.

"Our mother was very much about keeping the status quo. Some nowadays would call her a reactionist mareinist, but that was the order of the day back then. Still, neither she nor I passed any laws against stallions. That said, our mother was a fairly lusty mare. It was extremely difficult to find her without a stallion's head between her legs. That caught on, and as such, it became the norm in the royal court, despite there being no laws passed about it. In a weird way, it did benefit them as they could hear nearly everything that happened at the royal court. Stallionists, who were never a part of that, were rallying against it. Stallions who were a part of it told them to stop and that they enjoyed it, but they were ignored. It still happens, just more in private. Honestly, it really helped relieve stress and made the doldrums of the royal court more bearable," Celestia explained.

"You know, having lust and violence switch places is weird, but it makes more sense; making life is generally better than taking it. Still, it's better to keep that stuff behind closed doors. Ah well, if you're ever looking for that relief, well, I'm willing," Julius half-joked as he raised his hand.

"While you're here, I might take you up on that. Also, it did take place behind closed doors; the royal court is the innermost part of the court. It's not open to the public. You can only get in by direct invitation and through several security checks. Honestly, nothing exciting happens there; it's almost all paperwork. Some joking, some small talk, and some assistance with crossover work, but that's it. If you're really curious, there are minutes of the royal courts available to the public. Though I'm warning you, they are quite dry, save for some bad jokes," Celestia told Julius.

"No, no, that's OK, I'm good; I'll take your word for it," Julius said as he waved it off. "Oh yeah, that reminds me for whatever reason. Any thoughts about using your alchemists to make more titanium?" Julius asked Celestia.

"Well, as long as you have your ring, we can see about it. I'd imagine that it'll take a lot of magical energy to duplicate. Maybe in the region of changeling black stone. If it takes that much, then either my sister or I will have to add our magic to the spell," Celestia told Julius.

"Really, why you two specifically?" Julius asked.

"The crown strictly controls materials that have high degrees of magical resistance. If we used non-alicorns to supply the additional magical energy, then A) it would take a large number, possibly ten or more. B) they would demand high payment, possibly some of the titanium. And C) that would reveal the workings of the transmutation spell to those unicorns. As things currently stand, only myself, Luna, Cadance, and the Aleric brothers know the spell. For obvious reasons, the spell is a heavily guarded state secret," Celestia explained. "Now, if the spell takes that much energy, then Luna will likely have to supply the energy while I supply the fire to make it workable," Celestia hummed.

"That sounds about right," Luna said as she spoke up. "While I don't think that duplicating the titanium will take quite that much magical energy, I do believe that it will take a substantial amount. It'll be a long night for me when we do it," Luna sighed. "I'll probably end up delegating most, if not all, of my dream work."

"I already have preparations for that. Just give the word, and we'll set it in motion," Aloysia told Luna.

"Nice to see that you've finally changed your mind about that," Celestia quipped.

"Hey, even with the political ramifications, I still got rid of your nightmares. Well, after the one hundred year bright age," Aloysia responded while rolling her eyes.

"I've no idea what you're talking about. Equestria has never had a bright age. A dark age lasting a hundred years, but not a bright age," Celestia confidently said.

"Of course, you wouldn't remember. The griffon must have really done a number to you. Wonder what happened to him," Aloysia hummed as the three others looked oddly at her. "Right, of course. During the bright age, Celestia wasn't Celestia. That changed after a golden griffon in radiant armor met her. No idea who the griffon was or what happened in the meeting. All I know is that it ended the bright age. And that the griffon noticed me as I was in the shadows. I remember he looked right at me and said, 'The right of griffons is neither yours, your kind, or your estranged kind's to claim. You'd do well to remember that, foolish little shadow walker'. Not entirely sure who he was, but safe to say, he wants us to stay out of Griffonia," Aloysia told the three.

"Interesting little story, but I don't remember any of it. Are you sure that you're not making it up? That you didn't have a realistic feeling bad dream?" Celestia asked.

"Very much so. I would have recognized it right away if it were such a dream," Aloysia assured.

"Shot in the dark, that griffon wouldn't be some sort of spirit taking physical form or anything, would it?" Julius asked.

"That's what I'm guessing. But, unless he shows up again, I doubt we'll get a solid answer," Aloysia responded.

"From the sounds of it, we don't want him to show back up. It could be dangerous if he does," Luna cautioned. "But, such speculations are moot points. Your ring, you have it with you, correct?" Luna asked as she looked at Julius.

"Uhhh... no... I forgot it," Julius awkwardly smiled as he patted down his body.

"That's alright. I'll retrieve it from Zecora's place," Luna said as she trotted over to the balcony.

"Alright, sister. Meanwhile, we'll go to the brothers; we'll meet you in the treasury's alchemical laboratory," Celestia told Luna.

"Very well," Luna responded as she flew off towards the Everfree Forest.

"I'll go back to the keep," Aloysia said before fading into the shadows.

"Alright, follow me," Celestia told Julius as she led him out of the room.