Wish Gone Awry. Enter Equestria! Enter New Life!

"Keep it together, Celestia. This is almost over," Celestia sighed in thought.

"And that is why the price of internal cheese tariffs needs to be raised by at least four bits," a noblepony firmly said as she stamped her hoof.

"Oh yes, this is such a gouda situation, isn't it?" Discord mocking said to Celestia through her thoughts as she zoned out. "What, surprised? Obviously, I can telepathically communicate. I've been zoning in now and then. After seeing human politics, Equestrian politics are just so boring," he huffed as Celestia tried to focus.

"So this is why the internal cheese tariffs need to stay at the same rate," a different noblepony stated as she eyed her counterpart.

"Celestia is it grating," Luna whispered as Discord chuckled in Celestia's mind. "I'm leaving; if I stay here any longer, I'll probably defenestrate somepony."

"If the tariffs don't increase, then our cheese producers won't make any bits," the noblepony shot back as Luna got up from her throne. "Where are you going?"

"Oh, important princess of the night duties. I am not to be disturbed unless it is an emergency," Luna stated as she walked away.

"Well, Luna sure is the lucky one. I bet you wish that you could just get up and leave, don't you? But this cult of personality you built up around yourself over, what, a thousand plus years sure has its disadvantages," Discord chuckled.

"And if the tariffs are raised, then our cheese consumption will decrease. Making several industries suffer," the other noblepony argued back.

"Then just subsidize them," the noblepony huffed.

"You subsidize your cheese producers."

"Enough!" Celestia firmly stated. "Tariffs are damaging to our internal trade. That said, your county has fallen on some rather difficult times, whereas yours has prospered. The tariffs will remain the same, but the Count of Bales shall pay the Count of Whinnyapolis fifty-thousand bits. These bits are to go to economic stabilization, which will be overseen by crown actors. Any misappropriation of these bits will be dealt with with the utmost seriousness. Am I clear?" She leadingly asked.

"Clear and understood, Your Royal Majesty," the two countesses responded.

"Good. Now it's about midday; court is dismissed for lunch," Celestia stated as she watched everypony leave the court. After making sure that all the ponies left her court, Celestia sighed. "I swear, these arguments are asinine," she sighed as she shook her head before leaving to go to the royal dining hall.

"My sister's court is the stupidest thing I've ever seen!" Luna angrily huffed as she teleported into the room that the rest of the herd was in. "Nearly two hours arguing over cheese, cheese! The royal court isn't meant for such petty disputes. Oh, what's this? Who are they, why are they surrounded, what's surrounding them?" She asked as she saw the screen.

"Oh, we're watching Lord of the Rings, Fellowship of the Ring. Durin's Bane is about to show up," Julius explained as the goblins parted and the group began to run. "Those are goblins; they're trying to kill the heroes because evil. They're parting because even though they summoned Durin's Bane, they can't control it and are terrified of it, though, if I remember, it's a bit different in the books."

"Must be quite a monster. Either way, I wouldn't be afraid of it; I'd show it who's boss," Rainbow Dash proudly stated.

"Yeah, keep telling yourself that. If it came after me, I'd run far, run fast, and keep on running," Julius said as the fellowship got to a slender stone bridge. "Oh, you're about to see it," he said as a gigantic flaming shadow demon walked after the group.

"Oh, an Irae Incarnati, I haven't seen one of those in ages. From the darkness, It looks like it's an Umbra variation. The funny thing is, the Lux variation was far more common. Necromancy and light magic usually aren't combined, but for them, it works," Luna said with a shrug.

"OK, I need you to back up; what?" Julius asked as he stared blankly at Luna.

"Oh, those are highly advanced necromantic constructs, combining necromancy with summoning and spirit magic. Fortunately, they were rare, even in the pre-Equestrian days. Unfortunately, they still popped up from time to time. Usually, they stuck to the lairs of necromancers, but sometimes they escaped to caverns, volcanos, and the such. I believe my sister and I eliminated the last of them, but they could come back due to them being a construct. But I doubt that would happen; we destroyed all knowledge on how to make them, and we never taught any creature how to make them," Luna explained as Durin's Bane swung its sword down onto Gandalf.

"Good call; those don't need to exist," Julius said with a shutter.

"Agreed. Honestly, some of the things that necromancers come up with are just disturbing. Not quite as bad as the windigo's cult, though there did seem to be a lot of crossovers. It was speculated that necromancers could be an offshoot of the cult, but as far as windigos go, they seemed more interested in controlling them. I meant to investigate it further and see if windigos were manipulating the necromancer council, but, unfortunately, that never manifested. Still, there should be an agent stilling on the council," Luna said as Gandalf and Durin's Bane fell into the abyss.

"They're going to save him, right?" Rainbow Dash quickly asked as Gandalf fell.

"How? They cannot fly," Julius asked Rainbow Dash.

"Wouldn't being on the necromancer council be highly illegal? I know that necromancy is illegal in Equestria, so shouldn't being a lead necromancer be even more illegal," Twilight asked Luna.

"Normally, yes," Luna firmly stated. "However, if you're an agent of the crown sent on a mission, the rules change a bit. Sometimes it's better to get an undercover agent to infiltrate an organization than to just attack it head-on. If you attack the organization straight away, you'll likely miss members, they'll disperse, and things will be fine for a little while, then they'll come back as strong as ever. So, instead of an endless chase, sometimes an agent is sent. In the process of infiltration, they may have to commit some crimes. It's an unfortunate situation, but it needs to be done. Get enough agents on a ruling body, and you can prevent the worst from happening while ending the threat before it really begins. The Yarding case proved that," she reasoned.

"The Yarding case? I've never heard of that. What is it?" Twilight eagerly asked.

"Technically, it was the fifth case of an attempted break up of Equestria by internal actors. In reality, it was just a continuation of the first. The first four times went exactly the same; we got word of it, then we charged right in, arrested some members, lost some, the group went silent for a few months, then came back with a different name. After the fourth time, Aloysia got an idea. Instead of waiting for it to happen again, why not send specially trained thestrals into the group? Send a small number in to infiltrate the group; once in, they can report to us on the group's movements and activities. If possible, they should become the leaders of the group. To assist their mission, we gave the infiltrators false information but dressed it all up so it would seem real. It was expensive, hiring actors, building false settings, and crafting the information, not to mention the infiltrators themselves, but it worked. The infiltrators became the leaders of the fifth group; they got all the group members to gather in a seemingly secure location and told us about it. We came in with a full division; we were not leaving anything to chance. In one swoop, we got all the members. It set the president for such actions, and so, my thestrals took up the mantle of the EIATO, Equestrian Intelligence and Anti-Terrorism Organization," Luna explained.

"So, even in this world, black operations exist. Funny, the more things change, the more they stay the same," Julius dryly chuckled.

"Indeed. Though, after the schism, the thestrals took their services with them. The current intelligence services, the EIS, aren't nearly as good as the EIATO, but the leader is fantastic at staying anonymous. Even I don't know who they are," Luna replied.

"What are you talking about? Haven't you read Alex Pones's paper?" Pinkie Pie asked with a chuckle. "The leader of the EIS is Prince Blueblood, and how he appears in public is just an act," she laughed.

"Pinkie Pie, that's insane. There's no way the gibbering buffoon could possibly be the head of Equestrian Intelligence," Luna sighed as she rolled her eyes.

"Agreed. Besides, everycreature knows that Alex Pones is just a crackpot conspiracist. You really shouldn't take her seriously," Twilight added.

"Sounds interesting. Where can I get her papers?" Julius asked as Pinkie Pie pulled one out of her mane. "Thanks. Gamia wants to bring Grover the Second back to life to reconquer Griffiona. Is that possible?" Julius asked as he looked at Luna.

"No. While his body could be brought back, he wouldn't have his mind or soul; he'd just be a zombie. The only way for your mind and soul to transcend death is through some extremely powerful forbidden magic that you committed to in life. The most common result is becoming a lich. So while yes, his body could be brought back, it wouldn't do anything other than being a zombie. If he were granted a boon from Lord Boreas, that would have expired along with him," Luna explained.

"I see, so false, but not as false as it could be. I guess that's for the better; fighting a superpowered zombie griffon could be bad," Julius sighed with a shrug.

"You would die; it would not even be a fight," Aloysia said from the shadows.

"How long have you been here for? And what do you mean?" Julius quickly asked back.

"I've been here from the beginning. As for what I mean, Grover the Second could probably beat Celestia and Luna simultaneously. Frankly, if we didn't assassinate him when we did, Equestria probably would have been conquered. Duke Wenceslaus of Bohemia got a promotion and bonus for that," Aloysia said as she thought back.

"Duke Wenceslaus of Bohemia? Neither a name nor place I'm familiar with. Whom is this thestral, and where is Bohemia?" Luna asked.

"No idea. He just randomly showed up one day and introduced himself as such. We tested him; he is a thestral, not a changeling or anything, and a remarkably skilled warrior. He's remained tight-lipped about his origins. When pushed, all he says is, 'died once, won't happen twice.' We tested him for necromancy, and nothing. We just accepted that he's an eccentric thestral with an overactive imagination," Aloysia shrugged.

"Wenceslaus, Bohemia, I know those names," Julius spoke up as the two mares looked at him. "Bohemia is an ancient kingdom from my world. Nowadays, it's a part of Czechia. As for Wenceslaus, I know they were Bohemian kings, but the only one I know of is Good King Wenceslaus, mainly from a Christmas Carrol."

"Must be a coincidence. After all, why wouldn't he look like you and not a thestral if he's from your world?" Aloysia reasoned.

"Maybe, weirder things have happened," Julius said with a shrug.

"So, Celestia, having a salad and some pastries, how boring. For limited mortals such as yourself, I know true chaos cannot be understood, but if I may, you could make a wheel and spin it to decide what you're going to eat," Discord mentally said to Celestia.

"Are you going to be quiet anytime soon?" Celestia thought back as she ate her lunch.

"Oh, well, I could, but I'm too busy at the moment, mowing my lawn with tweezers and bubblegum. You would not believe how out of control my lawn got! Honestly, you seal me in stone, and you don't even look after my house?" Discord huffed.

"I don't even know where you live. Besides, how would I even take care of the absolute storm of chaos that is your house?" Celestia shot back.

"Excuses! Getting to my house is easy; you just need to mail yourself to my address. And do you really think that my house is a storm of chaos? That's what I mean; you mortals have such a limited understanding of chaos," Discord huffed in derision.

"So, just stick a stamp and note on my flank and write 'To Discord' on the note, and the postal service will take me to a place they've never seen, heard of, or been to, is that right?" Celestia mocking asked.

"Exactly! Or just get the IRS to pay me a visit," Discord chuckled.

"Sure, whatever. I'm going to enjoy my lunch, maybe take a nice warm relaxing bath, then get back to court," Celestia huffed as she ate.

"Sure, sure, just try to ignore me. Challenge accepted."