Wish Gone Awry. Enter Equestria! Enter New Life!

"Not gonna lie, I'm surprised that Canterlot has a colosseum. Honestly, I'm surprised anywhere in this world has one," Julius commented as he read over a flier advertising the event.

"Yeah, I know, right," Lyra agreed as the group walked through the streets of Canterlot. "I think there's a history behind it, but I have no idea what it is. Do any of you know?" She asked as she looked at the group, who all shook their heads.

"Maybe I'll look into it at some point. Or I'll just be lazy and ask Twilight; I bet she knows," Julius laughed as he joked with Lyra.

"Bet I know what?" Twilight asked as she, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity walked by them.

"Oh, nice timing. The history behind the colosseum. For the life of me, I can't imagine what it would be. Well, I can, but it's a bit counter to Equestria's history," Julius nervously laughed.

"The first colosseum was a joint project between Canterlot and Cloudsdale shortly after the autonomous Grand Duchy of Cloudsdale was absorbed into Equestria. As a sign of the two cultures becoming one, the Canterlotian amphitheater and the Cloudsdillian arena were merged into one building. Due to the effort, and the representation of it, the building was named the colosseum. There's one in every major Equestrian city. The one in Canterlot was the first one built; its official name is The Grand Colosseum of the Royal Sisters in the Name of Unity. But that's a mouthful; so many just call it the colosseum, or The Sister's Arena/Theater, depending on what's happening there," Twilight explained.

"Ah, OK, yeah, that makes sense," Julius and Lyra both said with a nod. "What are you two doing here anyways?" Julius asked as two of the soldiers scanned the mares.

"Rarity and I were talking, and we realized that we don't have much in common," Rainbow Dash said as she ruffled her wings after being scanned.

"Quite," Rarity calmly said as she walked past the soldiers. "Twilight thinks that she found something that we both would like. Honestly, I am somewhat curious as to what it could be."

"It's a new kind of show being held at the colosseum," Twilight said as she pulled out a pamphlet from her fur. "It looks like it fuses elements of traditional theater with physical activities to create a new yet familiar form of entertainment. It seems like it's becoming popular among the griffons, the minotaurs, and some ponies. I figure if anything will bring these two together, this would be it!" She happily exclaimed as Julius read the pamphlet.

"Huh, Equestrian Championship Wildcard," Julius chuckled as he rubbed his temples. "There's even a card," he hummed as he read through the card. "Really? Really? I mean, really?" He sighed heavily. "Well, Lyra, good news, also sad news, also exciting news, there's a pony in the show just like you, Eddie 'The Warrior' Agave. I mean, really, is he even trying? Well, now we absolutely have to go."

"Ummm, do you somehow know this, Eddie?" Rarity asked as the group walked to the colosseum.

"No, and yes, well, if I'm right, which I'm like, pretty sure that I'm right," Julius said as the ponies looked oddly at him. "Even you, Lyra? Come on, you should know!" He exclaimed as she just looked at him.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Lyra flatly stated.

"Come on, lie cheat steal!" Julius exclaimed as the ponies looked even odder at him. "How don't you know what that means, Lyra? How? What were you doing in school? Even I knew what that meant, and I swear I had negative free time!"

"Well, to be honest, mostly band, homework, and dealing with things," Lyra somewhat shyly replied.

"Right, yeah, that's my bad," Julius said as he rubbed the back of his neck. "No matter if I'm right, and I am, then you'll get to see one of the most creative minds at work. I wonder what he has in mind for the show?" He happily said as the group made their way to the train station. "Wait, I think we're lost; that's the train station."

"No, we're not lost," Twilight calmly said. "We're just taking the local line to the other side of the mountain. If we just walked, it would take all day, on the local line, maybe thirty or so minutes. We're between breakfast and lunch, so it shouldn't be too bad."

"Why aren't all those things on the castle side of the mountain?" Julius asked as everyone bought their tickets and boarded the train.

"It was decided early on in the city's development that the commercial and academic buildings would be on the castle side, along with the grand temple. It was seen as being more important for the crown to have direct oversight over those institutions than entertainment. Besides, the princesses could easily fly over to the other side; it'd only take them maybe a minute if they were taking their time," Twilight explained as the train started to move.

"Of course, it must be nice having wings," Julius sighed.

"It is," Rainbow Dash happily said. "But you have hands; they're almost as good," she chuckled.

"Oh, thank you, I feel so much better now," Julius sarcastically said as he rolled his eyes.

"It's good that Rainbow Dash made you feel better," Twilight happily said as Julius and Rainbow Dash looked at her.

"I can't tell if she's serious, and that's concerning," Julius, Rainbow Dash, and Lyra each said simultaneously. "Would a sarcasm detector help you?" Julius and Lyra both asked.

"You two have a sarcasm detector?" Twilight genuinely asked.

"Oh, Twilight, never change," Julius chuckled as he hugged her.

"Is that a no on the sarcasm detector?" Twilight asked as she hugged him back and lightly tilted her head.

"Yes, that's a no on the sarcasm detector. No such thing exists," Julius flatly said.

"Really? Great!" Twilight happily exclaimed. "I'm going to invent one!" She giddily exclaimed as the train moved along.

"Is that even possible?" Julius asked as he scratched his head.

"Well, the emoticrys reacts to the holder's emotions, so with some magical tuning, it should be able to detect when somecreature is being sarcastic. Though, I wonder what color the crystal should change to, maybe brown," Twilight hummed in thought.

"Yeah, I'm out of my depth here, so, ummm, words, just words, words exist, let's use words," Julius slightly stammered as he sat down. "So, any idea which seats we'll get?"

"It depends on how many bits we're willing to spend. Box seats are invitation only, so probably not those, but if we're willing to spend a few bits, we could probably get front-row seats," Lyra said.

"Really? Front-row? Wouldn't they be long sold out by now?" Julius asked in surprise.

"You'd think, but no," Rarity chimed in. "Canterlot is a city very set in its ways. Something new like this wouldn't catch on very well here. While I'm sure that some ponies will buy tickets, they won't be sold out, and there won't be enough buying front-row seats for it to be a problem. Still, it's Canterlot; it's going to be expensive. Considering the location, the scale, and the expected numbers, I would guess that front-row seats would be between one thousand and one thousand five hundred bits, give or take a few. Then there would be concessions; I would imagine those would add another fifty to a hundred bits," she hummed as she did some mental calculations.

"Not a problem for us," the guard captain stated. "This would be considered a work-related expense, so it would be a write-off, though any concessions wouldn't be considered as such."

"So that just leaves us," Julius hummed. "I don't suppose any of you have bits to spare," Julius half-heartedly joked.

"Yeah, I can spare that," Twilight flatly said. "I already planned to, so I took the bits with me. Plus, some extra in case we ran into some creatures that wanted to come with us. If we found no other creatures that wanted to come with us, maybe donate some of the bits or something like that. I haven't really decided yet," she nonchalantly said.

"You know, back at home, the kids always said I was rich because we had nice things, never knowing that my parents worked their lives off. And even then, we weren't rich; they only had enough to put us through school and live reasonably. Then you come along just able to drop five grand like nothing; that's real money," Julius lightly chuckled.

"Well, it's not quite nothing to me. I have a maximum monthly allowance of ten thousand bits from my parent's estate; furthermore, the crown covers any expense related to my work, studies, etcetera, up to a further ten thousand. So this is about half my monthly budget," Twilight said as everycreature stared at her. "What?"

"I swear, Twilight, if I had the ability, I'd have you tested for Asperger's," Julius said as he shook his head. "Twilight, don't mention how many bits you can spend in public. I guarantee you, you are by far the richest creature on this train."

"What's Asperger's, and why shouldn't I?" Twilight asked.

"Asperger's is on the autism spectrum. The short of it, it's a mental disorder that makes you really smart but really socially awkward. To be fair, I was tested, and I was close. I had to work extremely hard on it. And you don't talk about your money because you have extremely more than the greater majority of creatures, and talking about it will make them really angry and jealous," Julius explained.

"OK, but why? Money is just money," Twilight asked as she lightly tilted her head.

"Twilight," Rainbow Dash slowly said, "I'm going to take you out camping sometime. And I mean real camping. And we aren't going for a day or two, oh no, we're going for at least a month. And for that whole time, we'll only have, at most, a thousand bits."

"Isn't that a bit extreme? Even in the most rural places ponies don't live like that, especially on such a small budget," Twilight insisted.

"No, Twilight, there are ponies who live like that," Rainbow Dash sighed. "I have a cabin in the Verdant Weald; we'll stay there."

"How can you afford a cabin in the Verdant Weald? And don't you normally sleep on clouds?" Twilight asked as she took a few steps toward Rainbow Dash.

"I can afford it with my money," Rainbow Dash brushed off. "And yeah, I usually do sleep on clouds, but it can be annoying when camping. All the bugs and everything," she said with a shiver.

"Very good answer Dash," Julius said with a nod. "If someone asks you about money, Twilight, and you're drawing a blank, just respond with that answer."

"But Rainbow Dash works in Ponyville weather patrol; they pay well, but not that well, nowhere near that well. It doesn't make any sense," Twilight insisted.

"Twilight, follow me," Rainbow Dash sighed as she led Twilight away with a wing.

"WHAT?" Twilight loudly exclaimed as Rainbow Dash whispered something in her ear.

"Keep it quiet, Twi; others don't need to know," Rainbow Dash told Twilight as the two returned to the group.

"But that's really big!" Twilight exclaimed.

"I know, I know, but if other creatures find out, well, Fluttershy made that mistake before with her family. That's how we first met, she let news of her family's wealth slip, and I protected her from the fallout. One of the rare times letting your wealth slip didn't completely destroy everything," Rainbow Dash said as the others looked at the two. "Just talking about my parents and what they did and do," she said with a smile.

"Fair enough. I suppose I'll have to meet them at some point. What are they like?" Julius asked as Rainbow Dash's eyes shot open.

"NO!" Rainbow Dash loudly exclaimed. "Let's not rush to meet them; that can wait. That can wait for a long time, a very long time," she said with a fierce blush.

"Now that you mention it, I don't think any of us ever met your parents. Fluttershy has, but she's always been extremely tight-lipped about them," Rarity commented.

"Oh, I think I know what it is!" Julius happily exclaimed as he rubbed his hands together. "Her parents show off her baby pictures!"

"I wish it was just that," Rainbow Dash sighed. "Look, my parents are really supportive and all, but they're a bit too supportive, OK."

"Oh, I got cha'," Julius said. "There was a girl in high school who had parents who were the exact same way. They were nice, but good lord, when it came to their daughter, they went way too far in their support. So far that they got banned from a few events. Poor girl got bullied for it."

"Honestly, I wish my parents could get banned from places sometimes. I don't mind being supported, but when you bring a cannon and fireworks with you," Rainbow Dash trailed off.

"Sweet Celestia! That is going multiple steps too far! Have you talked to them, darling?" Rarity asked.

"I tried many, many, many times. Every time I do, they call me a 'modest pony,'" Rainbow Dash said as everyone laughed.

"Rainbow Dash, you're about as modest as me. The only difference is I have a bit more self-control over it," Julius laughed.

"Yeah, I noticed," Rainbow Dash sighed as she rolled her eyes. "Can we please just focus on the trip and what we'll be doing?" She huffed.

"Fine, fine, I won't tease you about it," Julius said with a wry smile.

"But I will!" Rarity sang as she got close to Rainbow Dash. "So, Dashy," she started to say.

"NOOOO!" Rainbow Dash yelled as the train moved on.