The Magic of Dreams

by MegaTJ

Rating: everyone
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Romance, Original Character, Twilight Sparkle
Length: 39867

Upon finding a very battered colt on her doorstep, Twilight Sparkle finds herself on a new adventure with the Pegasus without a past.

He was found with bruises and scrapes, and upon waking, is found with a tortured view on life...

Published 2013-07-02 05:50:01 UTC
Last updated 2015-06-14 00:31:29 UTC

Dream Runner

Dream Runner

Twilight Sparkle paced nervously beside the couch that held her surprise guest. Her breath came in small gasps and her heart was doing summersaults in her chest. Three hours had passed since she found him on her doorstep, and his condition had yet to improve. She glanced at him again.

His dark gray-blue body was covered in bruises, scratches, and bandages. The same bandages she placed over his cuts three hours ago. His sudden appearance scared her more than she would have liked to admit, especially the condition he showed up in.

“Zrhrmngah…” he mumbled in his sleep. She stared at him. It was the first sound other than snoring that had come from him since she found him. Her hope was that he was waking up.

He moved a little in his sleep. Was he coming around?

Twilight stood over him, ready to help him sit up if it was needed. After a few very tense seconds she looked away. False alarm.

Twilight sighed. She was hoping he would wake up so she could know what had happened. A gentle knock came to the library’s door. The unicorn eagerly answered, glad something had turned her mind away from the Pegasus that lay on her favorite reading couch. One question did remain. Why would anypony visit her at this time of night?

Fluttershy stood on the other side. She smiled tenderly.

“Fluttershy, what are you doing here this late?” Twilight asked, motioning for her to come in.

“Forgive me Twilight, but I think I left Angel’s favorite toy carrot here when we visited earlier. He won’t sleep without it. Do you mind if I—oh, my…” Fluttershy started. She spotted the blue Pegasus on the couch and fluttered her way over to see him better.

“Twilight, what happened?”

“I don’t know. I found him like this on my doorstep. I took him in and bandaged him up. He still hasn’t woken up yet”, Twilight explained.

Fluttershy looked at her curiously. “Do you know who he is?”

“No, the initials on his bag say ‘D.R.’. That’s all I know to call him.”

“Eurgahm…Wherz…whoerzm…” his voice came again wearily. The two mares looked at him. He was slowly waking up.

D.R.’s eyes opened slowly. He blinked the blurriness from them and focused in on the ponies that were watching him. He quickly shot up in fear. He wished he hadn’t have done that.

Intense agony fired through every part of him. “Owwwww”, he nearly cried. The pain was more than anything he had ever felt before in his life. He tried speaking, but only to be hushed by Twilight.

“Shhh, it’s okay. We won’t hurt you”, she said softly.

He stopped trying to talk and instantly and watched her in wonder. This was the first filly, or living thing for that matter, that had ever looked at him with the caring eyes that she did. A blush sneaked its way over his cheeks and settled down across his nose. He quickly looked away, searching for something else to examine other than her face.

Fluttershy moved forward. “Can you tell us your name?”

“Uhh…D-Dream Run-n-ner”, he strained. His voice was shaky from the pain, but behind that sat curiosity.

“Can you tell us what happened to you Dream Runner?” Twilight asked. She immediately regretted asking that. If it brought back painful memories, it could hurt him even more.

Dream Runner thought for a second. The last thing he could remember was entering that forest. Everything after that was full of the black, unforgiving darkness of blocked memories. He cursed himself for being such a coward.

He shook his head. “I don’t remember.”

Twilight silently sighed. His eyes were fixed on hers for a moment. The warm brown made her heart decide to skip over several beats. She quickly turned so that Fluttershy wouldn’t see her blush. It didn’t work; Fluttershy had caught a glimpse before she looked away.

“That’s okay”, said Fluttershy, “It may be for the best that you don’t.”

Dream nodded. He remained silent, partly from the pain, partly from shock, and partly from the anxiety of being in the presence of two girls. Redness crept back to his face. Dream Runner tried desperately to think of something to start a conversation with.

“Where am I?” he inquired. The smiles that came from them didn’t help his blush, but they sure did tell him he was in good hooves. They were the first friendly, non-evil smiles that he’d seen in long time.

“You are in the Ponyville Library. I’m Twilight Sparkle”, the librarian stated. She offered a hoof to him and he awkwardly shook it. He caught his first real detailed look at the lavender unicorn’s eyes. His heart must have stopped completely when he saw just how beautiful her violet eyes were. He tried to jumpstart it by looking away, but his head would not move, nor would his hoof let go of hers.

The unicorn didn’t want to let go, but she didn’t want to hold his hoof in front of her friend. “Um…Dream Runner, may I have my hoof back?”

He shook himself from his reverie. “S-sorry, Twilight, forgive me.”

“Oh, it’s okay.”

“It’s just that…I haven’t been in the presence of such hospitality in all my life. I don’t know how to react to it other than awe”, he explained. He looked at the floor, remembering how harshly he was treated by others in the past.

“Oh, you poor thing”, Fluttershy cooed.

Dream Runner looked at her. He stuck out his hoof. Blushing, as was her gentle nature, she shook it. By now she was treating him as a colt, rather than an injured individual, so her shyness had returned.

“I’m Fluttershy”, she said barely above a whisper.

“It’s nice to meet you Fluttershy”, he said, only about a decibel louder than her.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Twilight staring at Dream Runner again. She smiled.

“Twilight, I’m going to go home. I’m sure Dream Runner needs his rest”, the nature-loving Pegasus stated. “I can find a way to make Angel get some sleep.”

“Good night”, Twilight said, walking her to the door.

“Good night.”

As she turned to leave, Twilight could have sworn that Fluttershy gave her the smallest of winks. She shrugged it off as a trick of the light and walked Fluttershy to the door.

As they were saying their goodbyes, Dream Runner was trying to get a clear thought to form in his head. The pain made it hard to think, let alone sit up, but he needed to. He wanted to show Twilight that he wasn’t weak and could handle himself.

“How are you feeling? Are you hungry? Can I get you anything?”, Twilight asked, having returned from the door.

“Just…thirsty”, he gasped. The pain was going to give Dream a run for his money. He gritted his teeth and took it.

“I’ll be right back.”

“Wait.”

“Yes?”

Dream Runner pulled together all of his remaining strength and dared to stand. He got down from the couch. Once on his full weight, he collapsed, unable to stand the enormous jolts of pain that ran through his legs. It was so unbearable that he couldn’t even mutter a sound of agony.

“Are you okay?!” Twilight exclaimed. He couldn’t even muster a single word, so she used her magic to set him back on the couch.

“No, please, let me-”

Twilight hushed him with a raised hoof. “I won’t let you hurt yourself any further.” Her voice was stern, almost scolding. “Now, let me get you that drink.”

With nothing left to do, Dream Runner closed his eyes and started to think. He wanted very badly to be able to walk, but it wasn’t going to happen. Then he remembered his secret weapon. He reached around him. Sheer terror hit him when he grabbed nothing but air. He frantically started to look around for it.

“Where is it? It’s gotta be here!” he panicked.

“Hey, hey!” Twilight shouted, seeing him straining to get up. He stopped, shaking with fear.

“M-m-my satchel, w-w-where is it?” he stammered. His eyes were as wide as eyes could go and his breathing could have out flown Rainbow Dash.

“Don’t worry, it’s safe”, Twilight said softly.

The Pegasus relaxed, he knew he could trust Twilight. If she said it was okay, then by Celestia it was okay.

Twilight used her magic and pushed a glass of water up to him. He sipped it through the straw that Twilight set in it.

“Ahh”, he sighed, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Can I have my satchel now?” He looked at her. His face was hard to resist, especially since he looked so sad about not having it.

Twilight couldn’t resist. He was just so shy and innocent. Her horn glowed and the khaki bag floated from upstairs into his awaiting hooves.

He started to dig through it, going deeper and deeper until half of his body had disappeared within it. Twilight heard the clanging of bottles and the clattering of metal as he rummaged through the bag. Something inside it slammed. “Ow! I’m fine Twilight, I just hit my head on a wood carving.”

Twilight was about to pull him back out in fear that he would hurt himself again, but he had just finished as her horn started to tingle

“There you are!” He announced. The pain in his chest made him stifle, but it wouldn’t matter in a few moments.

He came back with a vile in his mouth. It was small, with a cork to seal the green liquid inside. He tore off the cork and quickly gulped down the potion.

“Ugh”, he gagged, “I hate the taste of that stuff.” His eyes squeezed shut and he stuck out his tongue in disgust.

His bruises and other injuries started to fade and heal. It was only a matter of seconds before they were completely gone.

“What was that”, Twilight asked, amazed, though slightly amused at his “ugh”s and “ack”s. She had to suppress a few giggles.

“Ack…A special healing potion”, he said. He looked back into his satchel. “And by the looks of it, my last one. Ugh.”

“Healing potion?” she asked.

“I’m very educated in the…ugh…study of medicinal potions and alchemy”, he explained. He cringed again, before putting the vile back into his bag. “You have to…ugh…know the type of medicines I do in order to be a Dream Chaser.”

Twilight’s ears perked up. “Dream Chaser? What is that?”

“I’ll explain later, but for now…” he started, hopping down and shaking his bandages off, “I would like some sleep. The potion I drank really makes you sleepy.”

“Oh, okay.” Twilight smiled gently.

She took his standing as a chance to get a closer look at him. He was about two inches shorter than she was. He had no muscles whatsoever. He was a scrawny colt, and he didn’t look to be very strong. His Cutie Mark was half covered by his wings, but she assumed it was a dream cloud with a map inside it. His mane and tail were very peculiar. They were both dark blue, without the grey that his coat carried. His mane was somewhat mid length and was fashioned so that it barely covered the tops of his eyes and ran down his neck and curled into him slightly. It kinda looked mareish, but at the same time, coltish. His tail was simply spiked outward. The peculiar thing was that they both had pink stripes running perfectly through the middle of them. In her eyes, he was still handsome.

All the staring Dream Runner was getting from Twilight caused him to shy away, his face red again. He couldn’t handle the attention of mares much. He lay back down on the couch and yawned.

“I have a spare bed upstairs”, Twilight said, “Why don’t you come and sleep in it?”

The invitation was one of the best offers he had ever gotten. He nodded gratefully.

Twilight motioned for him to follow her. She used her magic to put the bandages on the floor into the nearest trash bin.

Dream Runner gasped as he saw that the spare bed was directly across from hers. He had never slept in the same room with a filly before, and his nerves were kicked into overdrive as he tried to process it.

“Wait…you…me…sleep…same room?” he sputtered.

“Yes, is that okay”, Twilight asked, nervous at how he was shaking.

He shook his head hard. “Yes, it’s fine. I haven’t slept in an actual bed in a long time.”

“Is that so?” Twilight cocked her head at him.

He strained as hard as he could not to let his nervousness get the better of him. He nodded. “When you’re on the road like I am, you don’t get to sleep on anything short of a pile of rocks.”

Twilight gave him a look of sympathy.

He chuckled, “I’m used to it though.”

Her response was a nod, and she moved to her bed, sleepily. Twilight didn’t notice how tired she was until she finally thought of it. On nothing but impulse, Dream Runner dashed forward and pulled back the blanket for her.

“What?”

“Consider it a small token of gratitude for watching me. I’ll think of another way to thank you better later”, he said from the corner of his mouth.

She nodded, too tired to say anything. She lay down and he pulled the blanket over her. To add to her surprise, he took the extra time to tuck her in snuggly. He’s so sweet, she thought.

“Good night”, Dream yawned. He walked back over to the other bed and plopped down.

“Good night, Dream Runner.

Author's Note

For those of you who don't know me, and that may be a very good bit of you, you'll notice I have a very unique writing style. I make sure my quotes are purposely punctuated incorrectly to make for a smoother read. You may also notice that I use words out of context and make up my own vocabulary to enhance story effects.

A Walk Around Town

A Walk Around Town

The next morning, or, rather, late the next morning, Twilight woke up to the welcoming smell of a daisy sandwich. When she opened her eyes, she was greeted by the bright sunlight that flooded her room through the window that was supposed to be covered by the curtains somepony had opened. She blinked at the sudden brightness and let her eyes adjust. The sandwich was placed on her nightstand.

She sat up and yawned groggily. Her thoughts were still in shambles from just waking up, so she didn’t notice the neatly made bed that sat against the opposite wall. She looked at the sandwich. Her belly growled.

“Haha! I guess I missed dinner last night. It sure looks good”, Twilight laughed. She levitated the sandwich over to her and began to satisfy her empty tummy. She was right when she said it looked good. Whoever made it sure knew what they were doing.

When she had the satisfaction of a full stomach, Twilight quickly made her bed and turned to see that the guest bed was empty. She would have freaked out, if she didn’t see Dream Runner’s satchel lying in the middle of the bed.

She heard movement downstairs and decided to check it out. It was brighter on the ground floor. Somepony must have opened all of the windows in the library. The air downstairs was also crisper, as if all of the dust had been removed from the library. The surprises kept getting bigger as Twilight saw more of the first floor.

Everything was spotless, not a book out of place, not a dust bunny to be found. And sitting happily on her favorite reading couch, was Dream Runner, a pile of books beside him and one open in front of him. She blushed upon seeing him. He was so cute sitting there. She shook the thought from her head.

“Dreams are a representation of what a pony experiences in life and thoughts. The most bizarre dreams are said to be real life experiences just torn down and rebuilt into what we want to see most, or fear most”, he read. He sighed, “If only that were true for me.”

He placed the book atop the pile. Only when he walked back to the shelf for another book did he notice Twilight.

“I was wondering when you would wake up.” He smiled warmly. “You can thank Spike for the sandwich. He said that daisies are one of your favorites, so I made it for you.”

“You met Spike?”

“Yeah. He scared me at first. But that was before he told me he wouldn’t eat me”, Dream explained.

Twilight giggled.

“I thought you might laugh at that”, he grinned.

“Did you clean up the library while I was sleeping?” she asked. He grinned even wider, glad she was on the other side of the room.

“I said I would find a better way to thank you.”

“You didn’t have to do this.”

He shook his head. “You brought me in and took care of me. I’m in your debt.”

“No, really, you’ve done too much already.”

The Pegasus sighed. He didn’t want to argue, so he started to put the books he collected back in their rightful places.

To come up with a conversation, Twilight brought up what Dream mentioned the night before. “So, Dream Runner, will you tell me what a Dream Chaser is?” Twilight asked.

He squeezed the final book into position on the shelf. “Sure.”

Twilight sat on the couch and listened to his explanation.

He took a deep breath, unsure about he should go about it. “Okay. A Dream Chaser is a pony that has a special Dream Talent. The talent will tell what kind of Chaser that pony will become. I don’t know what other Dream Talents there are outside my own. I didn’t read that far into it. Anyway, no matter what Dream Talent a Chaser has, they have to follow and abide by it. I have the Dream Talents of Forecast and Scope.

“Forecast dreams tell me the future and where I have to travel next. If it rains in a Forecast dream, then it will rain. If I get hurt, well, I get hurt. Scope dreams pull me into others’ dreams. I don’t exactly have to follow those dreams. There isn’t much use for that Talent unless you want to spy on what others dream about. It’s weird, because a Dream Chaser is only supposed to have one Dream Talent. That’s why I always read about dreams, to find an explanation. I can choose which Talent Dream to have before I sleep, but I have to follow which happens in either of them.” The only reason the Pegasus wasn’t blushing is because he didn’t see Twilight as a mare. He instead saw a listener.

“So you came here because your dreams said to?” Twilight scratched her head, trying to put everything he just said together. If she had to be honest, he didn’t exactly explain it very clearly.

“The last Forecast dream I had showed me traveling east. I never got to see my destination, so I just walked east until I came to a forest. The next thing I knew, I woke up in here”, he answered.

“Forest? You mean the Everfree Forest?” Twilight asked. It only made since. It was west of Ponyville.

“I wouldn’t know. I’m not from around here.”

“It had to be. That would explain why you were in such a bad condition last night.”

“Maybe so. I know that I can’t stay for long. My dreams will eventually tell me to move on.”

Twilight frowned at this. “You don’t ever get lonely?” The unicorn looked at him curiously.

“No. In fact, I’m actually quite used to it”, he shrugged. “I’ve been alone for as long as I can remember. No friends, no family.”

“That’s so sad.” Twilight said. “Not even a single friend?”

He shook his head and looked at the floor. Sadness had finally hit his heart. Twilight smiled. For some odd reason, she moved over and hugged him. Instantly, he turned red as a tomato.

Twilight hugged him for several seconds, slightly squeezing him harder. He was so warm. It was meant to be a comforting hug, but she knew that deep down she wanted it to be more than that. All of the mixed feelings she had for him pointed to one thing. She wasn’t even going to deny it. This colt needed friendship and love. And she was going to give it to him.

“Twilight, what are you doing?” Dream managed to ask.

“I’m just trying to make you feel better”, she said, finally letting go and taking a step back. A slight pink hotspot settled on her cheeks.

He waved a hoof in the air. “Like I said: ‘I’m used to it.’”

Twilight thought a second. She needed to get to know him a little better. So she came up with a way to talk with him about that subject.

“Do you want to go see the rest of Ponyville”, she asked.

Dream Runner thought it over. “Sure Twilight, but I need my satchel first.”

The Element of Magic silently cheered. “Okay, I’ll close up the library while you get it.”

Her horn glowed and so did all the windows that were in the library. She snapped them shut. Dream Runner returned with his satchel slung over his shoulder and held in place at his side with his right wing. Twilight noticed that underneath his initials was an elm leaf. It was familiar, but she couldn’t place the emblem. She decided not to think about it for the moment and invited Dream Runner to the now open door.

The two exited the library and entered the warm, sunlit afternoon. A nice breeze was blowing over them, and Dream Runner couldn’t help but close his eyes and take a big whiff of the fresh air.

“Ahh, there’s nothing better than feeling the wind running through your mane”, he sighed.

“Oh, speaking of your mane”, Twilight said, referring to the light pink stripes.

He exhaled grimly. “I suppose you want to make fun of it. You wouldn’t be the first”, he replied solemnly. His face soured a bit.

“No, not at all. I just want to say it’s very unique. Not many colts have a color pattern like yours”, Twilight said quickly.

He brightened a little. “Really? I didn’t think that anypony would find a way to compliment it. Thanks.”

Twilight beamed. She beckoned for him to follow her and they held a light conversation along the way. The Pegasus stared in awe at some of the buildings and shops as they headed to their first destination. Many of the residents turned to look at Twilight and her new companion. He shyly walked close to her to try to seem less noticeable.

Then, out of the blue—or better yet, out of the pink—the inevitable happened. A pink, sugar-fueled blur hit Dream Runner with full force and sent him rolling. After the dust settled, it was revealed that a certain, party-loving pony was standing on top of him, leaving the poor colt confused and terrified. She looked at him curiously.

Dream Runner cowered under her and was shuddering hard. He was nearly crying.

“Please don’t hurt me, please don’t hurt me”, he whimpered over and over again.

Luckily, Twilight came to his rescue. She pulled Pinkie Pie off of the Dream Chaser and a few yards away from him.

“Twilight who is that?” she inquired. She peered over Twilight to see Dream standing up, shaking.

“He’s a traveler that’s staying with me”, answered the unicorn, “and he’s very sensitive.”

“Oh, gotcha Twilight!” Pinkie rushed back over to him. Dream flinched and dashed past her and behind Twilight for protection against the energetic pony.

“It’s okay, Dream Runner. Pinkie Pie may have a rough way of meeting new ponies, but she doesn’t bite”, Twilight half-whispered.

Dream was still shook up by the event, but he hesitantly moved around to meet Pinkie Pie. She was grinning from ear to ear.

“I knew you were new in town! I know everypony in Ponyville! Are you staying long? Did you move here? What’s your name?!” she asked at the top of her lungs.

“I’m Dream Runner”, he said softly, “It’s nice to meet you…”

She held out a hoof, “I’m Pinkie Pie! I love making new friends! That reminds me!” Before Dream Runner could even start to raise his hoof to shake hers, she took off, no doubt heading for her room in Sugarcube Corner.

“That’s Pinkie Pie for you”, sighed Twilight. “Shall we continue?”

He blinked, “S-sure Twilight.”

“I’m sorry you had to meet her like that.”

Dream faked a relaxed chuckled, “It wouldn’t be my first time getting pounced on. I’m glad that it was a friendly tackle.” Then he added under his breath, “Not that I knew what one was until now…”

They walked on in silence. Until they came upon Ponyville’s antique shop. Dream stopped and dashed over to peer into the display window.

“Twilight, can we?” he asked brightly.

Twilight held in a giggle. “You sound like a filly outside a candy store”, she commented, “But sure, of course.”

He walked in first, and she trailed behind.

“Welcome to Old Antiques, where new arrivals are just as old as me!” greeted the salespony behind the counter.

Dream Runner poured over the shelves, looking for any rare objects. Twilight watched him in amusement. His smile was one of pure excitement.

“Would that be your coltfriend?” the salespony asked.

Twilight blushed a few shades of pink at the thought. “No, just a friend. I’m showing him around.”

“Oh, that’s too bad. You two would make a very cute couple.” The salespony watched the overexcited Pegasus from behind her glasses. “A very energetic one, isn’t he?”

“I’ve never seen him like this”, Twilight replied, ignoring the previous comment, “One minute he’s quiet and shy, and now…”

“Oh, hohoho! It seems we have a treasure hunter in our presence”, the pale blue pony laughed, “They tend to do that around items of age and rarity such as the ones here.”

Dream Runner was only focused on finding a very rare item he had been hunting for a very long time. The odds of one being here were almost zero to none, but that wouldn’t stop him from looking. He zipped passed a shelf, only to slowly walk back and gaze at a small, glowing white orb. He examined it, making sure it was the real thing. It was just barely bigger than a gumball and was sitting in a ruby red case. A ghostly white aura was swirling around inside it. He slid it onto his wing and carried it to the counter.

“I would like this”, he stated, holding the small box out on his wing.

“I’m very surprised that somepony would take interest in that. That small sphere has been in my shop for quite some time. However, it is rather expensive…” the shopkeeper said.

Dream set the case on the counter. “I have no money, but I am willing to trade.” He opened his satchel and started to dig for something of equal value. A loud banging noise came from within it. “I’m okay”, he called. “Stupid shelf…”

“I don’t think that-” she started to protest. Her mouth stopped in shock of what Dream Runner had pulled from his satchel.

He held in his mouth—amazingly—a gold nugget that was about the size of a basketball. He strained his neck as he placed it on the counter. “Pure gold, no other metals mixed in. I hope that will be enough to trade.”

“How did you get that?” Twilight asked in amazement. “Better yet, how did that even fit in your bag?”

“Cave exploring. When you do it as often as I do, you come across a few abandoned mineshafts.” He beamed proudly. “And to answer your second question, my satchel is enchanted. It can carry almost an infinite number of objects. How do you think I manage to fit inside it all the time?”

Twilight nodded in comprehension. Enchanted clothes and equipment weren’t exactly rare, but it wasn’t as if everypony carried them around.

“I think that my whole shop is worth less than this nugget! I can’t possibly trade you—” the salespony started.

“Ma’am, if you knew exactly what this little pebble is, you would understand”, he interjected.

“If you insist…then it’s yours”, she said.

Dream Runner nodded a “thank you” and put the case that contained the orb into his satchel.

“What exactly could that thing be for you to trade a clump of gold that big for?” Twilight asked.

They were outside now, and continuing to Twilight’s first decided destination. She watched him walk with pride. It certainly was valuable whatever it was.

He looked around at how busy it was getting around them. “I’ll tell you later”, Dream said, now shy again. The stares were starting to grow more intense as they ventured deeper into the marketplace. He couldn’t fight the heat that burned his cheeks. They were as red as can be, mainly because he was walking so close to Twilight. Every so many feet, their flanks would brush, causing them to move away slightly.

Dream Runner was so absorbed in his own thoughts that he didn’t notice the new shop in front of them. He almost bumped into Twilight, who managed to get ahead of him.

“Here we are”, Twilight announced.

He looked up to see a very decorated and clean building. “Uh…why would you bring me to a dress shop?”

His tone almost made Twilight laugh. He sounded like she was going to force him into a dress! “This is Carousel Boutique. I want you to meet one of my friends. She owns the shop.”

“Oh, that’s better”, he sighed in relief.

Twilight rolled her eyes sarcastically. “After you.”

“No, mares first”, he replied. He moved and held the door open for her.

“You’re such a gentlecolt.”

“Thanks.” He smiled, blushing lightly.

The bell rang as they entered the shop.

“Welcome to the Carousel Boutique—oh! Twilight, how nice of you to stop by!” Rarity quickly crossed the boutique and hugged her fellow Element.

Dream Runner tried to make himself as small as possible. He wished Twilight’s friends weren’t so loud and energetic. Well, with the exception of Fluttershy.

Rarity peered over Twilight’s head to see Dream Runner sitting as quietly as he could. “Twilight, who is this?”

“Rarity, I want you to meet my new friend. This is Dream Runner. He’s going to be staying at the library with me so I decided to show him around.”

“Hi.” Dream whispered.

“Oh, there’s no reason to be shy I assure you. I’m no stranger.” Rarity said. She held out her hoof. “I am Rarity.”

“Dream Runner. It’s very nice to meet you”, Dream replied.

Rarity noticed his mane. “Are these your natural colors?” She held part of his mane up in her hoof, admiring the shades.

Dream nodded. “Most ponies make fun of me for it…”

“They must indeed be blind. These mixed hues are unquestionably rare. Certainly, a pattern such as this should only be complimented. Why, I’ve never seen such—”

“Pardon me Rarity, but I think Dream gets the point.” Twilight grinned.

Dream was smiling and staring off into space.

“Come on, Dream, let’s go meet the others. It was nice seeing you Rarity.” Twilight pulled Dream along with her to the door. “Sorry to leave so soon.”

“It’s fine Twilight. It was nice to see you too, Twilight. I hope to see the two of you again soon!” Rarity called as the door to the boutique closed.

Dream didn’t say anything as they walked again through Ponyville.

Twilight decided to make conversation. “How do you like the town so far, Dream Runner?”

“It’s very peaceful. I would love to live here.” He looked at Twilight and smiled.

“Then why don’t you? There’s room in the library. I’m sure we can squeeze you in as the assistant librarian.” Twilight waited for his answer anxiously.

“I wish I could”, he said sadly. Dream stopped. “And I will, so long as I don’t have a Forecast Dream that tells me to move on. It’s unlikely though. Whenever I find something that makes me even a little happy, a Forecast Dream comes along and ruins it for me.”

“Can’t you just ignore them?” The unicorn asked.

He shook his head. “I can’t. It’s like a curse. If I try to ignore it, my body will act on its own to fulfill the dream. I have no choice.”

“Is there a way to break this…curse?” Twilight asked, ignoring the funny feeling the word left on her tongue.

“Not that I know of.”

Twilight pondered their options for a moment. “I know!” Twilight exclaimed. “I can ask the Princess. She’ll definitely know how!”

“Princess…Do you mean Princess Celestia?” Dream stared in awe.

“Yes. I happen to be her most faithful student!” Twilight smiled brightly at him.

Dream’s cheeks became violet as the pink of a blush settled on them. Twilight’s smile always made him think that she only smiled for him.

“Where are we going next?” he asked.

“I’m going to introduce you to my good friend Applejack. You shouldn’t have to worry, she isn’t as energetic as Pinkie Pie. She does like to make new friends, so I may have to speak with her before you actually meet her.” Twilight explained.

Dream nodded. A sweet smell drifted to his nose. He stopped, wondering just what that could have been. He looked around, but didn’t see a bakery nearby, nor did he spot any fruit stands or shops. He tested the direction of the wind. It was blowing lightly into his face. He looked around again, but chose to dismiss it after seeing nothing. Twilight was starting to gain some distance and he didn’t want to be stuck alone in a town he had just arrived in.

He quickly made it next to her side again. She hadn’t noticed he was gone. It seemed that the more they walked around, the more stares that the other ponies gave them. The attention was actually starting to frighten the Pegasus. He moved even closer to Twilight until she had no choice but to point it out.

“Dream Runner, why are you walking so close to me?” She looked down at him.

He smiled shyly. “I-It’s just that all the stares we’re getting are scaring me.”

That was so cute that Twilight really had to subdue a giggle.

“It’s okay, Dream. They’re just…curious. Ponyville is so small that a new pony is easily recognized”, Twilight explained.

“Oh”, Dream replied. He moved a couple inches away from Twilight, but still made sure to stay close enough for protection.

They continued through the town until they came upon an apple cart.

“Thank y’all, come again, ya here.” Applejack called to a customer who was walking away with some apples. She noticed the unicorn and smiled wide. “Twilight! Did y’all come all the way to Stirrup Street just to visit me?”

As the two walked nearer, she noticed the skittish Pegasus that hugged Twilight’s right side.

“Well, howdy there!” Applejack darted over, only to be held back by Twilight.

“Applejack, you have to be gentle around him. He’s very panicky.” Twilight whispered to Applejack.

“Gotcha Twi’”, Applejack replied.

Applejack approached the Pegasus.

“Howdy, Ah’m Applejack”, the Earth pony greeted.

Dream shook her hoof. “I’m Dream Runner”, he whispered.

“Now don’t be shy. Ah don’t bite”, Applejack laughed.

Dream managed a smile. “Neither do I. Much.”

The three snickered at his poorly made joke.

“So…Applejack, you sell apples?” he asked, trying to make small talk. Very small talk.

“You bet your tail Ah do!”

Applejack looked over at Twilight. She smiled after seeing the twinkle in the unicorn’s eyes as she watched the Pegasus. “Dream Runner, do you mahnd if Ah have a little talk with Twilight for a sec?”

“No, not at all.” He sat, and rummaged through his satchel. Something inside crashed. “Ouch! I’m fine! …dumb statue.”

“What is it, Applejack?” Twilight said after the Earth pony pulled her aside.

“So…when are you going to tell’im?” Applejack flashed Twilight a sly smile.

“Tell him what?” Twilight tried to keep her cool. She knew playing dumb with Applejack would only fly about as far as Rainbow Dash with a sprained wing.

“C’mon Twi’. I seen the way you were lookin’ at’im. Go on and tell’im.” Applejack nodded towards Dream Runner, who was inspecting the orb that he bought earlier.

“No, I don’t think the time is right.” Twilight smiled sheepishly in the direction of the Pegasus in question. “I’ll tell him when it is.”

Applejack looked at her sternly. “You’d better, or Ah’ll do it for you”, she threatened. She quickly brightened up. “Haha! Ah’m just messin’ with y’all Twilight!”

The librarian sighed in relief. “That wasn’t very nice, Applejack.”

“Heehee! Ah know, but y’all shoulda seen the look on your face!” she laughed. Deciding playtime was over, she turned around and started back to work. “It was nahce meetin’ y’all, but Ah hafta be gettin’ back to the cart”, Applejack said as she passed Dream Runner. “Ah’ll see y’all later!”

Before Twilight and Dream turned, the unicorn saw Applejack give her another look. She sighed. As far as she knew one of her friends could see right through her.

“Where to now?” Dream asked.

“Now we’re going to see my friend Rainbow Dash”, Twilight replied. She knew she could persuade Rainbow Dash to be calm around Dream Runner.

Nothing could go wrong.

Author's Note

I didn't spend as much time revising this chapter as I should because at the time of writing I was under a lot of pressure. Sorry if it isn't as well written as the last chapter, but the next chapters are much better.

The Pegasus That Can't...

The Pegasus That Can’t...

Twilight guided Dream Runner away from the busiest part of town to the quieter hills of Ponyville. They soon reached a meadow not far from the town’s southern entrance. It was so quiet that Dream could even hear his heartbeat. He was following closely behind Twilight, taking in the sights around them.

“Rainbow Dash usually practices out here when she’s not on weather patrol”, Twilight explained. “…Or taking a nap.”

“What does she practice?” Dream asked. He sounded more confident and brave now, only because they were out of the streets of town.

Twilight decided not to tell him yet. “Come sit on this hill and you’ll find out.” She smiled back at him as he followed her to the only hill in the meadow.

Dream Runner followed Twilight’s gaze to the sky, expecting to see something. There was nothing to see but a few clouds and a brilliant clear blue sky. Dream kept looking, trying to focus his eyes to the troposphere. When nothing came to be seen, Dream looked at Twilight again. He took in her features in detail for the first time. He noticed how the deep purple and pink stripes in her mane made it stand out. The way her eyes always held curiosity and assurance gave him a small boost of confidence. Her smile was—

He quickly shook his head. I can’t fall in love again. Not after what happened last time… he thought. He had to get his mind off of it. Then he got an idea.

“Twilight”, he said, reaching into his satchel. Another crash made Twilight roll her eyes. He pulled the ruby case that held the little sphere he bought earlier. “You asked about this earlier.”

Twilight watched him as he opened the box and revealed the orb it held. She couldn’t speak due to her captivation by its glowing light.

“This”, Dream began, “is an Emotion Orb. As the name suggests, they hold emotions. In ancient Equestria, legends state that the tenth ruler of the lands created these in order to maintain balance in the world of emotions. The orbs were made to hold the excess amount of each emotion, whether it be happiness, anger, love…etcetera. You see, there was so much of each emotion, that there weren’t enough ponies to hold them. The leftover emotions in turn tried to find a way to present themselves, so they pushed each other in and out of ponies. The ponies only showed whatever feeling had pushed itself into them, and many times it was a negative one.

“The great King Sun Dawn found a way to hold these emotions. He created twenty orbs to hold and prevent them from selfishly taking over ponies. Ever since I heard of the legend, I’ve been searching for the orbs. I currently have eight of them. I have to research into it, but I think this is the Orb of Tranquility.”

“That’s incredible”, Twilight said, “And you’ve been doing this with your…uh, problem?”

“You mean my curse”, he asked. “Don’t worry Twilight, it’s fine. It doesn’t offend me.”

“Well, it’s not that. I don’t particularly believe in curses. I—”

He chuckled softly, “No, no…I know that curses don’t exist. What I meant by curse was ‘extreme burden’. Sorry for the misunderstanding.”

“It’s fine, Dream”, Twilight replied shyly. His chuckle was adorable!

Neither could say anything more before something tore through the air above them at a supersonic speed. The tailwind nearly tossed them off the hill they sat on. Dream used his wing to hold Twilight in place and held onto the Emotion Orb and his satchel.

The wind stopped, and Twilight recovered first. “There she is!” she shouted. “Dream, look, it’s Rainbow Dash!”

Dream had to force his eyes to open and look up. He scanned the sky and saw something tearing through it. It was doing swirls, loop de loops, corkscrews, and tricks that he couldn’t even name. He found it hard to focus on Rainbow Dash with the way she would go in one direction and then suddenly dart back the other way. She flew around and through clouds, bringing them to a big area with her tailwind. After she had fifteen clouds gathered, she collected them into one giant cloud, and began to fly around it at a blurring speed. The cloud twisted up into a point until it looked like a giant ice-cream cone in the air.

Rainbow Dash spotted her two spectators and flew down to complete her trick. She landed hard and stood up on her back legs. “Mares and gentlecolts, Rainbow Dash’s Sundae Special!” she boasted proudly.

“Wow! I’ve never seen flying come even close to what you just did!” Dream Runner cheered in excitement.

Rainbow Dash’s aerial acrobatics is definitely something to marvel if Dream Runner could be coaxed to shout in amazement, Twilight thought.

“And I’m the only one that can do it”, Rainbow bragged. She gave the new Pegasus a weird look. “Who are you anyway?”

Instantly, he lost his excitement. “Oh…I’m Dream Runner. I’m staying at Twilight’s for a few days”, Dream said more quietly.

“I’m Rainbow Dash. The most fantastic flyer to come out of Coudsdale!” She shook his hoof.

Almost instantly she forgot about him and turned to the third pony on the hill. “Twilight, did the next Daring Do book get back to the library, yet?”

“Not yet, Rainbow Dash.”

Taking their distraction to his advantage, Dream snuck the Emotion Orb into his satchel. He fastened it to himself and turned to hear Rainbow Dash finish talking about how she really wanted to read about Daring’s next adventure.

“Excuse me, Rainbow Dash, but what book are you waiting to read?” Dream asked.

“Only Daring Do’s most awesome adventure yet! Daring Do and the Werewolf’s Ward!” Rainbow Dash performed a backflip in delight.

Dream nodded and reached into his satchel. The two mares watched him as he dug deeper into it and jumped when something crashed loudly. “Oww! …Dumb vase.” Dream reemerged from his satchel with a book in his mouth. He tossed it to Rainbow Dash. “There you go.”

Rainbow Dash caught it and stared at the cover of the book. Then she shot straight up, squealing, “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I’ve been waiting for this forever!”

“You’re welcome.” Dream watched as she did tricks in the air as she held the book close to her.

“That was really nice of you, Dream Runner”, Twilight said, “That book is very hard to come by.”

“I’ve read it three times already; besides, Rainbow Dash has been waiting a long time to read it.” He closed his satchel and watched Rainbow Dash still flying and cheerfully celebrating.

She landed, still hugging the book close. She smiled at him. Unable to think of anything else to say, she said the most Rainbow Dash thing she could. “You wanna race?”

Dream jumped, “Uh, n-no thanks…”

“Oh, come on, I’ll go easy on you for giving me the book”, Rainbow Dash persuaded.

“No, I really don’t…”

Twilight decided to try to boost his confidence. “It’s okay, Dream Runner. It’ll only be me watching. I’m sure you can win.”

“No…I really can’t…” It seemed that Dream got quieter and quieter as they kept pushing him.

“What’s wrong? Why don’t you want to race me?” Rainbow Dash flew up to him, somewhat offended.

Twilight started to feel bad for him. “Rainbow Dash, I don’t think Dream Runner really feels comfortable racing.”

“It’s not that, Twilight”, Dream mumbled.

“What is it then? You think you’re so good you don’t have to race me?”

“No, I would like to race, but—”

“But what?”

Twilight was starting to get aggravated. “Rainbow Dash!”

Dream Runner murmured something.

“What”, Rainbow asked.

“I can’t…” Dream whispered.

“What?!”

“Rainbow Dash!!” Twilight exclaimed.

“I can’t fly alright!” Dream cried. He wailed, and then took off, running as fast as he could away from them.

Rainbow Dash stared after him, stunned. What had she done?

Twilight glared at her. “You should be ashamed of yourself.” The unicorn dashed after Dream.

Rainbow Dash looked at the book Dream let her borrow. Then she looked down at the ground, chagrinned. She glanced up to see Twilight disappearing behind the tree line. She knew how to make up for her big mouth; she just hoped that Dream would let her.

______________

“Dream! Wait!” Twilight called. She was barely managing to keep up with the Pegasus. That colt could run. He was gaining ground way faster than she was. When his tail was just disappearing, she focused her magic and used a Teleportation Spell. In an instant, she appeared in front of him.

Having no intention to stop, Dream left the ground. He jumped as high as he could. He sailed over her and landed without even a stumble. Twilight darted after him again, calling his name with no positive results. Then she came up with a plan. She teleported in front of Dream again. This time, when he jumped over her, she used her magic to hold him in place above her. She gently set him down.

He collapsed in a heap when she let him go, still sobbing.

“Dream…” Twilight said softly, “It’s going to be okay…”

Just her voice managed to calm him down. Something about it, something he couldn’t explain made him feel so much better. He stood up and wiped his face. He turned to look at her. His tears had stopped flowing, and what was left of them was starting to crust on his face. “I know everything will be…It’s just that when I think about not flying…I can’t help but feel ashamed of being the only Pegasus with fully developed wings that can’t fly. I usually get over it pretty quickly though…”

Twilight wiped the crusty tears from his face. “I’m sorry about Rainbow Dash…She usually doesn’t behave that way.”

Dream waved his hoof in the air, “She’s a good pony at heart. I can tell. It wasn’t her that made me run. It was past experiences.”

“I’m sorry, regardless. Let’s go. I’m sure some lunch will cheer you up”, Twilight offered.

His answer was only a nod.

The walk back into the heart of Ponyville was silent. Twilight couldn’t think of anything reasonable to say to Dream without running the risk of setting the fragile Pegasus off. Dream was too busy thinking about the Emotion Orb to talk. He may have been completely fine now, but Twilight couldn’t shake the feeling that something was still bothering him.

When they past several restaurants, Twilight was reminded of her idea. She finally spoke up.

“Dream, what would you like for lunch?” She watched as he stopped and thought about it.

“Hmm…I wouldn’t mind a juniper salad”, he answered, and then more softly, “…if that’s okay.”

“I know just the place!” She grabbed his hoof and pulled him back down the street. She stopped in front of a decent-looking diner.

Since it was the slow period just before everypony braked for lunch, they managed to get a table outside relatively quick. Their server gave them the menus, but they already had what they wanted picked out.

“Menus won’t be necessary. I’ll have a tulip and daffodil sandwich”, Twilight said.

“I’d like a juniper salad, please”, Dream said shyly.

The waitress wrote down their orders. “Okay, what would you like to drink while you wait?”

“Apple juice please.” Twilight looked at Dream.

“Water”, Dream said distantly.

Their server nodded and walked back inside.

Twilight noticed how Dream seemed to be in the clouds. “Hey, Dream Runner, is something on your mind?”

“Not really, I was just thinking about the Emotion Orb.”

Twilight looked at him, she wanted to talk about his inability to fly, but she didn’t want to bring it up again.

Dream, seeing her troubled expression, knew what she was thinking, and said, “Twilight, if you’re wondering why I can’t fly, I’ll tell you. I have no problem with it…”

“If it brings up bad memories—” Twilight started.

“Twilight”, Dream interrupted, “What’s in the past is in the past. I’m not a pony to dwell on it. I only cry about it once. After that, I only look at the positive things that have come from it.”

“Positive things?”

“Uh-huh, I think of all the things I can do with my wings instead of fly.” He smiled, flexing his wings.

Twilight got curious. “Such as?”

“Well, I can hold my satchel in place, use them to hold things. I’ve climbed trees with them, and used them to run faster. Heheh, I’ve even used them to swim. One time they helped me feel my way through a cave.” Dream thought back, trying to find anything else his feathered appendages had helped him do.

“Wow, that’s amazing”, Twilight said, “Wings with many talents.”

“Except flight”, Dream snickered.

Twilight giggled slightly.

An awkward silence grew between them. They both looked away from the other, trying to find something to say.

“What’s your favorite color?” Dream blurted. He blushed at the silly question.

“It’s dark violet. You know, like the sky just after the sun sets?”

He nodded.

“What’s yours?”

“Rose pink.” Dream immediately hated himself for that. Why in Equestria would he just announce that to the whole diner?

If Twilight was stifling a giggle, he couldn’t tell. She only smiled at him. “That’s nice. Any particular reason why?”

“Umm…” Dream said nervously. His blush was starting to burn. “I-it reminds me of my favorite Emotion Orb.”

“What would that be?” Twilight examined him to make sure he wasn’t getting too nervous. She was just about to take back her question when Dream replied.

“Love…” Dream said so quietly that Fluttershy might have been impressed. “It was something that I never knew before.”

“Was?” Twilight was extremely interested now. Had somepony helped him along with this? Who was it?

“Here you go!” There server had returned with their drinks. She levitated the two glasses and set them in front of the ponies.

Dream immediately began to sip his water.

“I just checked with the kitchen and your food is almost ready”, the waitress said.

“Okay, thank you”, Twilight replied.

The server nodded again.

Twilight turned back to Dream. He was still sipping his water. “Hey, save some for lunch.”

“Sorry, it’s just my mouth’s extremely dry”, Dream muttered.

“Twilight?”

They turned to see Rarity and Sweetie Belle walking out of the diner.

“Oh, hey Rarity.”

“Hello again Rarity…”

“Fancy seeing the two of you here”, Rarity said.

The sisters sat at a table next to Twilight and Dream’s. Sweetie Belle eyed Dream intensely.

“Oh, where are my manners? Sweetie, this is Dream Runner. Dream Runner, this is my sister Sweetie Belle.”

“Hello Sweetie Belle. It’s nice to meet you”, Dream said barely above a whisper.

“Same here.”

Rarity quickly busied herself with the menu, which left Sweetie Belle to talk with Dream Runner. After a few minutes, his and Twilight’s food had arrived.

“I haven’t had a juniper in a long time”, Dream commented before taking a bite out of his lunch.

“Are they your favorite?” Twilight asked.

He nodded. “In taste, color, and smell.”

As Twilight ate her sandwich, she watched how Dream would take a big bite of his salad and somehow manage to savor it as he gulped it down. She was so absorbed in watching him, that she hadn’t even notice that her plate was clean when she looked down to see how much she had eaten. Dream was just finishing up, and apparently Sweetie Belle scarfed down her lunch before Rarity.

The little filly watched how Twilight dreamily watched Dream Runner. She got curious and decided to ask a simple, innocent question. “Are you two colt and fillyfriend?”

The ponies in question froze and blushed hard. They both tried to stammer something out, but neither could, and they nearly started to babble incoherently if it wasn’t for Rarity.

She saw how nervous Dream and Twilight were becoming and quickly acted. “Sweetie Belle!” Rarity scolded, “You can’t simply ask somepony a private question like that. It’s an incursion of—”

The younger sister rolled her eyes. “I’m sorry.” Sweetie apologized before Rarity could finish her explanation. Immediately the filly forgot what had just happened when she saw an advertisement on the diner’s window. She looked back to her sister and excitedly asked, “Hey, Sis, can we have chocolate cake for desert?!”

Rarity seized the distraction. “Of course you can, Sweetie.”

All three of the older ponies sighed in relief for their own reasons. Twilight, however, wasn’t exactly relieved. Rarity was giving her the same knowing—this time gentler—smile that Applejack had given her. Now two of her friends knew.

“I’m finished Twilight.” Dream pushed his plate away from him and stood up. “I’ll go pay.”

“I don’t think they take chunks of gold here”, Twilight objected with a small laugh, “I’ll pay.”

Dream didn’t want to argue, so he only nodded. “See you later, Rarity. It was nice meeting you Sweetie Belle.”

“Goodbye Rarity.”

Rarity waved goodbye. Sweetie Belle was too busy thinking about her cake to notice Twilight and Dream leaving.

____________

“Okay, Dream, you ready to get back to the library?” Twilight asked when she walked out of the diner.

He nodded. “Yep. I was hoping to finish a book I started anyways.”

“Which book?”

“‘The Dreamer’s Guide to Interpretation’.”

Twilight nodded. “Is it very good?”

“I can’t tell just yet, but I think it will be, yes.”

They trotted off, headed for the library. Twilight wanted to get back quickly. The sun was starting to set and something told her that Pinkie Pie had a surprise set up at the library. It was just a small hunch, though. She was so absorbed in her thoughts, she notice how troubled Dream was becoming.

When The library came into sight, Dream stopped. He looked down. He couldn’t keep it in any longer.

Twilight immediately took notice. “Dream, what’s wrong?”

He sighed. “Twilight. Please sit down…”

“Dream, is something bothering you?” Twilight was beginning to worry.

“I’m going to tell you why I can’t fly”, he stated.

“Dream, you don’t—”

He held up a hoof to silence her. “I know you’re still curious. Besides, you have a right to know…It’s simple and it doesn’t hurt to tell. I promise it doesn’t.”

Twilight only nodded. He was obviously going to tell her whether she wanted to know or not. Maybe it was a good thing she still wanted to know.

He took a deep breath. “This story goes back to my very first memory. Do you remember when I told you how I’ve always traveled alone, no friends, no family?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Well, that’s the worst part of being a Dream Chaser. When a pony becomes one, he or she is stripped of all memory of the life before. It’s almost as if you’re being born again with the exception of the basics. Dream Chasers are blank slates ready to start another life. They…We, have no pasts. I don’t know how it is for other Dream Chasers, but my first moments of becoming a Chaser was waking up in a meadow somewhere. I didn’t so much as even know my name. I am a very lucky Pegasus, though. You see, I had this with me.”

He pulled off his satchel and placed it in front of him. “My satchel has been with me since my first moments in the new life. When I opened it for the first time, I found an information tag. It had my name, birth date, and age on it, nothing else.”

“Dream…”

He continued. “Even my flank was blank. I didn’t even have my old Cutie Mark anymore, if I even had one at all. The only thing that was there was this.”

He turned and showed Twilight his Cutie Mark. He pointed to the dream cloud. “This dream cloud is not a part of my Cutie Mark. It’s a Dream Chaser’s Mark. All Dream Chasers have one that surrounds the actual Cutie Mark. I earned my actual Cutie Mark a few months after I woke up” He paused, and then he chuckled. “Look at me. Here I am, beating around the bush. Anyway, aside from what I had just explained, I can’t fly simply because I never learned. No pony was ever there to teach me how and I couldn’t do it on my own. I just can’t because I can’t learn by myself. I’ve tried believe me, but with no success.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, Dream…”

“Don’t apologize. It’s not your fault.”

Twilight couldn’t think of anything else to say, so she did what she thought was necessary. She hugged him…again. Dream froze, but only for a short moment. He surprised Twilight when he put his foreleg around her and hugged her back.

“Thanks for caring about me so much…” He whispered after they parted.

“No problem”, she replied with a smile.

The two continued to the library, blushing the whole time.

Pinkie Pie watched them from one of the windows.

“Shhh! They’re coming!” She squealed.

It was almost time.

Author's Note

Well, that's it for my trial run, but don't worry, there's more to come after the uploading of my other stories. I hope you're all enjoying the story so far.

Please leave a comment. I love hearing feedback from my readers.

Cared About

Cared About

Dream Runner's body felt heavy when he came to. From somewhere, he could hear muffled voices speaking to him. Fuzzy shapes filled his vision as he began to open his eyes. The voices started to become clearer at the same time his eyes adjusted to the light. In a matter of moments he saw three ponies standing over him with looks of worry stuck to their faces. Twilight, Pinkie Pie, and a third pony he didn't know were peering down at him. Something didn't make sense. One second, he was walking with Twilight into the library, and in the next second, well, this. It was all so confusing, so he decided to ask, "What happened?"

Twilight opened her mouth to answer, but Pinkie Pie's mouth was a tad faster.

"When you came in we all yelled 'surprise!' for your Welcome to Ponyville Party, and you were so excited you passed out!" The pink pony exclaimed happily. "Then again, it's probably my fault. This is one of the biggest parties I've ever thrown! It's almost as big as the one I threw for—"

Pinkie Pie was muted out by a cupcake shoved into her mouth by the third pony in the group. "Here Pink, I think you need a sugar break."

"MMMMM!" She squealed with delight.

"Sorry Dream." Twilight gave him a hoof up. "I forgot about Pinkie Pie's eagerness to welcome new ponies. When we came in…well, you didn't even make it past the lights coming on."

Dream didn't say anything. He was too busy looking around at the army of welcoming ponies staring at him. He whimpered quietly.

The blue unicorn that had shoved the cupcake into Pinkie's mouth turned around to face the crowd. "Okay, everypony! Nothing to see here, go back to partying!"

They all obliged and dispersed into a swarm of disorganized chatter and socializing. Somepony pushed the play button on a stereo. A happy tune was thrown into the air. Many of the ponies started dancing to the music.

Dream, however, was one of the ponies that didn't move much. As a matter of fact he hopped around to the other side of Twilight and hid behind her. He gave the lavender unicorn a terrified expression.

And to think about all the progress we were making with his socialness today…She thought disappointedly.

"Twilight…" He said uneasily.

"Yes, Dream?"

"Since you're a unicorn, can you make me disappear please?"

To be honest, she didn't know whether to laugh or feel even worse for the colt. She answered with a frown, "Sorry, Dream Runner, but I can't."

"Oh…" He looked down sadly.

"Dream…would you like to meet some of my other friends?" Twilight tried. "I promise no pony will hurt you."

He nodded his head slowly. All of Twilight's friends were nice so far, so shouldn't the rest be too?

She smiled warmly. Looking around the library, she spotted Bon Bon conversing with Berry Punch and Roseluck near a nonfiction shelf. Dream looked over her shoulder and saw the trio of ponies laughing joyously.

"Follow me, Dream", she coaxed, trying her best to ignore his panic stricken face. She led the way through the crowd and to the three friends.

Dream followed as closely alongside her as he could. His whole side was touching hers. She didn't mind much, but Twilight knew he wouldn't be very sociable if he kept using her as a shield. She needed a way to get him to leave her side. You can't make friends if you're somepony's shadow.

"Hey, Twilight", Bon Bon greeted happily. She saw Dream Runner hiding behind the unicorn. "Aren't you the new arrival?"

He nodded meekly.

Twilight put a hoof to her mouth. "He's very shy", she whispered.

"Well, I have the perfect cure for that!" Bon Bon reached into her saddlebag and pulled three candies from it. They were blue, red, and yellow with different symbols printed to their wrappers.

She held them out to the jittery Pegasus. "Here ya go!"

Dream's ear twitched. He hesitantly took the treats from the Earth Pony and deposited them into his satchel. "…Thanks. Uh, I really like candy."

Twilight suppressed a giggle. "Dream Runner, I'd like you to meet Bon Bon, Berry Punch, and Roseluck. They own some of the most successful shops in Ponyville. Girls, I would like to introduce you to Dream Runner. He's an explorer."

"Ooh, tha's real intresting", Berry Punch stated. "I used to acksplore a tad bit meself. Never was very good…"

The Pegasus perked up a little. "Well…" Dream started, "I'm more of a cave and ruins explorer. Like a myth hunter."

"I think my cousin did something like that before botany", Rose contributed. "He went with archeological teams though."

Dream steadily became more interested in these ponies. Between the small amount of exploring and the sweets, he found that these ponies were quite the company. He even poked his head above Twilight to talk with them. Of course he did keep his unicorn shield between them. The five ponies managed to keep up the conversation for several more minutes before they were out of relevant topics.

Twilight then dragged Dream around the library in an attempt to meet more ponies. She couldn't get him to talk as much with them, and that's about when Twilight got an idea about how to separate herself from him from a while. He needed to be alone for a few minutes. He might even find somepony to talk to.

"Hey, Dream, I…have to go use the little filly's room", she said with an embarrassed smile.

The color left the Pegasus's face. "O-okay", he replied weakly.

Twilight put a hoof on his shoulder. "Don't worry Dream, nothing is going to happen to you."

He put all of his might into forcing a smile for her. She smiled back and then left him in the middle of the library. Dream peered around. Many of the guests were paying him no mind as they enjoyed themselves. However, there was another Pegasus eying him from across the library.

Cloud was watching Dream Runner through the mess of ponies as he talked to Rainbow Dash, who was resting her head on the desert table. "You're saying you—" Cloud began.

"Yeah." Rainbow's voice had every bit of sadness in it.

"And that he's—"

"Yeah."

"And now you want to—"

"Yes, Cloud!" Rainbow cried. "I told you what happened. And that's that."

"Then go yourself. I think it'll mean more if you do", Cloud suggested. He sipped his punch.

"Cloud, you weren't there. You didn't see what I did to him." Rainbow sniffled.

No he wasn't there, but he knew that if Rainbow was feeling this guilty, then it must have been really, really bad. The black and gray pony sighed. "Rainbow Dash. An apology stinks if it doesn't come from the pony that needs to say it. Trust me. I'm pretty sure he'll forgive you."

The mare looked at her hooves. "I don't know if I can…"

Cloud put a hoof to his chin as he thought about a good threat to get her moving. He smiled evilly when one came to mind. "If you don't I'll tell the whole library about the hooficure you got yesterday."

Rainbow Dash's head jerked up. With a glare she said, "You know I would never, ever—"

"Yeah", Cloud laughed, "I know. But does everypony else, Miss Shiny Hooves?" His eyes watched her challengingly.

She backed down. "Fine", she sighed angrily, "you win."

"As always."

Rainbow growled at him.

Dream Runner watched as Rainbow Dash left the stallion's side and walked towards him. He seized up, having no clue what her intentions were. If it wasn't for the fact that he knew her—somewhat—he would have quit breathing. He saw her weave in and out of several ponies before breaking an eight feet radius from him. It was then he saw how sad she looked. Confusion now set in replacement of panic. Why…

She finally made it to him after what seemed like hours for them both. Then she just sat there for several seconds before speaking. "Uh, h-hey, Dream Runner…" she said to the ground.

"Hello again, Rainbow Dash", he barely whispered.

More silence ensued. Rainbow glanced at him between looks at the floor and the black Pegasus in the back.

When Dream finally chose to say something, Rainbow interrupted him.

"Look, about earlier", she said. "I just wanna say sorry…"

"Oh", he replied, "It's okay Rai—"

"No it isn't", she interjected quickly. "I want to make it up to you."

"You don't—"

"Yes I do", she interrupted again. She thought back to the scene. If that had happened to her, she would be completely destroyed inside. "What I did…it was so uncool. I mean, like, really, really uncool."

Figuring he probably didn't have a choice, he asked, "How could you make it up to me?"

Rainbow hesitated. "I…I want to teach you how to fly."

Dream froze. At that point he was sure he had a moment of delusion. "W-what?" he squeaked.

She changed her approach. "I'm going to teach you how to fly", she proclaimed.

The colt shut his eyes tightly in disbelief. "I-I don't believe you", he said queasily. Something was making him feel sick, and he couldn't fight it or the feelings it was bringing him.

"What? Why?" Rainbow stood up.

In angry sadness, he answered, "Why would anypony teach me something like that? What did I do to deserve such kindness?" Tears creeped from his eyes as he waited for her answer. "Tell me!"

Rainbow Dash was lost for words. What was happening here? Shouldn't he be happy? Did she do something wrong?

Gritting his teeth, he stood up too. "I thought so." He opened his eyes when he turned his back to her. In his way stood a bewildered, almost scared Twilight.

"Are you okay, Dream?" she inquired cautiously. He was apparently having a mental breakdown in response to Rainbow's offer. But why?

His realization of her presence cracked something deep inside of him. Dream Runner could feel his heart rate picking up. All of a sudden everything around him went blurry. Time slowed down as he gazed around the distorted library. The lights were running together and blending into everything else until he felt himself falling. For how long he was in the air he couldn't have been sure. An enormous boom echoed around him when his heavy body hit the floor. Somepony screamed something, but he couldn't understand what it was. His heartbeat thundered in his eardrums. The world around him faded away. He couldn't even begin to imagine what was going to happen next. Not even a single thought could make itself form. A second later, his mind was filled with darkness.

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" Dream Runner shot out of his sleep. His hooves flailed wildly in an effort get out of wherever it was he woke up. His body was then forced to freeze.

"Dream Runner calm down!"

The voice belonged to Twilight. Dream saw her standing beside the bed he was desperate to leave. Her horn was glowing with magic aura. Even though her shout was stern, Dream still sensed care behind it. When it appeared he was no longer hyperventilating, Twilight dropped the force field.

He slumped back into the bed. More tears filled his eyes. It wasn't long before he was crying hard. "T-Twilight I'm so sorry!"

"Sssshhhhh Dream. It wasn't your fault." Twilight held out a hoof to him. To her satisfaction, he didn't move away. He only gave her a look of sorrow.

"H-how could it not be my f-fault?" he sniffled.

"You had a mild panic attack. All of the stress of the party just compiled and got to you…" Twilight explained. "You really scared everypony. They'll all be happy to know that you're okay."

"T-they w-will? W-why?"

Twilight recoiled in surprise. "Well, because they all care about you Dream. I mean, who wouldn't care about a friend?"

He didn't reply. He only shifted uncomfortably.

Twilight didn't know what to say to make him feel better. She knew that he was very unstable and anything could set him off again. She looked down at the bed, feeling defeated.

"Twilight."

"Yes, Dream?" She raised her head to meet his eyes. They were red with crusted tears.

"How long have I been out?"

"About an hour. Why?"

"I want to help clean up the party downstairs." He scooted over to get out of bed.

Twilight stepped in his way. "You need rest Dream. Besides, Pinkie Pie would never allow it."

As if on cue, the pink pony popped her head up the stairs. On instinct, Twilight whipped around and threw a magic field over her mouth. She quickly crossed the room to the energetic ball of pink. "Pinkie, please don't be very loud. Dream is very sensitive right now." Celestia that was asking the impossible!

Pinkie Pie nodded comprehensively. Twilight let her go and they both trotted back to Dream. "Twilight's right."

"About…?" Dream tilted his head curiously.

"Under the Pinkie Pie Party Guidelines Chapter Eight Section Five Subsection Cupcake: parties are to be cleaned up by only the party planner—that's me—and not the party celebratee—that's you." Pinkie Pie explained happily.

"Are you sure?" Dream asked. "I mean, I kinda ruined it…"

"No pony ruins a Pinkie Pie Party!" she chirped. "Everypony still had fun! And they'll have even more fun when I tell them you're okay!"

With the way she was getting fired up, Twilight knew she had to do something. "Okay, Pinkie Pie, I think Dream Runner needs to rest now." The unicorn put her hoof on her fellow Element's shoulder.

"Oki Doki Loki! Nighty night, Dream!" She didn't wait for a reply before bouncing back down the stairs to finish cleaning.

Dream thought about what happened before he passed out. Hesitantly, he asked, "Twilight is Rainbow Dash still here?"

"No, Pinkie Pie was the last one here. It's just you and me now."

"What about Spike?"

"He's staying at Applejack's for the night."

"Oh. Well, anyway, could you tell Rainbow Dash something for me?"

"Sure thing. What is it?"

"I'll take her up on her offer. I mean, if she still wants to teach me how to fly…"

Inside, Twilight's heart nearly held a parade. She nodded vigorously. "I'll get right on it, Dream."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." She rushed down the stairs to deliver the message.

Now by himself, Dream closed his eyes. He recapped the day's events. From meeting Twilight's friends to having a whole party thrown for him…it was almost as if he was in a fairytale. And even if he was, it was better than his old life. On the nightstand by his bed sat his satchel. He reached over and pulled it to him. To avoid injury, he only delved his hoof into it. He withdrew the four items he acquired in the day.

He first looked at the Emotion Orb. He removed it from its case. His gaze fell on the box as he searched its lid for the name of the orb. "Aha!" Engraved in the lid was a very odd marking. He flipped the box around so that the ancient language was right-side-up. He stared at the word until he deciphered it. "Huh…I was wrong." He placed the orb back into the box and snapped it shut. "What a coincidence." A mental note formed in his short term memory bank. From then on he would refer to that particular orb as the Orb of Compassion.

Now he focused his attention on the candies he received from Bon Bon. He wasn't in the mood to eat them, but just looking at them made him feel content. The fact that a pony had given them to him just to make him feel better was a new, wonderful experience. He smiled at his new treasures happily. Just as his satchel made it to the surface of the nightstand, Twilight ascended the stairs again.

She didn't say anything. She only walked up to him. He saw her troubled expression.

She sighed, "Dream…I was hoping I wouldn't have to, but I have a few questions I need to ask."

He stared at her blankly. "What questions?"

"About today." She slid a chair to the bed. "I'm very confused about your behavior."

"What about it?"

"Well, you keep switching from nervous and scared to happy and energetic. Like in the antique shop. Why is that?"

He thought about his answer. "I don't know really. Back in the shop all I could think about was looking for a rare piece of treasure. I didn't really think about being scared."

She nodded. "And in the meadow, why did you run away?"

He already knew the answer to that one. "Shame really. That and I'm used to running away from my problems. I didn't mean to, but instinct took over." He shifted uncomfortably.

"Okay, next one."

"What is it?"

"In the park. Why did you tell me why you can't fly? You barely know me."

He didn't answer immediately. "…I…I trust you Twilight. For some reason I know you won't laugh or be mean to me."

"Last one."

He nodded. "Earlier at the party. Why did—"

"I get mad", he interrupted. After she nodded, he explained, "I don't know…When Rainbow Dash offered I didn't know what to think. Something deep down just snapped."

Twilight didn't get it. Nothing made sense according to what she knew about basic psychology. If she wasn't so tired, she would definitely have gone down to research it.

"And Twilight."

"Yes?"

"Believe it or not", he said, "I'm trying my hardest not to be such a coward." Before she could ask why, he answered, "I feel like I can find courage here in Ponyville."

She remained quiet. She didn't know what to say as she tried to process everything. She decided to just sleep on it. It would all come together in time. Things like this usually did. Or at least that's what she had read before. Putting it to the back of her mind, she told him, "I think we could both use some rest. After all, you have a big day ahead of you tomorrow with your first flight lesson."

"Okay, Twilight", he said drowsily. "I'm starting to get pretty tired anyway."

"Me too. It's been a pretty crazy day." Twilight giggled.

"That's right", he agreed. He lay back down with a yawn.

Twilight saw an opening and she took it. She pushed the blanket underneath the colt. She made sure to take extra care in tucking him in. Both of them were blushing madly by the time she returned the favor. Neither of them said anything for a few seconds; they only enjoyed the moment.

"Thanks." Dream said sheepishly. His now violet face was burning fiercely, but he barely noticed. He could only think about the happiness he saw in Twilight's eyes. It might have been his drowsiness, but he could have sworn that her eyes were twinkling.

Twilight looked right back into his. The warm brown held a new peace in them. Not like the first time she looked into them. Her smile grew with the time she stared into his brown eyes. Bashfully, she looked away. "Good night, Dream", she said giddily.

"Night Twilight." He watched as she walked to her bed and used her magic to turn out the lights. With a last glance at her darkened body, he lay back down. It's settled,, he thoughtonce again remembering everything that happened in the day, I'm staying. He waited until his drowsiness was getting the best of him before succumbing to sleep. Just before he entered the first stage, he quietly whispered, "Twilight."

In the realm of dreams, Dream walked on in silence. Only the echo of his hoofsteps kept him company. The blankness of the world around him wasn't unfamiliar, though it had been some time since he had gotten to experience it. He had always wondered why dreams had to come into focus instead of appearing instantly. It didn't make much sense to him. As soon as the thought crossed his mind, the edges of the empty space around him began to change color.

The colors divided and spread as if somepony were painting a picture. Dream watched them mix until he found himself in a forest. Light shone through the treetops and littered the ground with specs of warmth. A warm breeze drifted in from behind Dream. He turned to face it. The wind barely ruffled his mane, but he didn't mind. It still felt nice to be in a good dream for once. A bit of joy found him and, with a skip in his step, he trotted his way through the forest.

He walked and walked without a care. It no longer mattered to him why he was there. It only mattered that he wasn't going to be a slave to his dreams this night. He only felt the slightest bit guilty when he remembered that he had entered another pony's dream without asking for permission. He stopped.

"Speaking of…" Dream looked around for the very pony he was dreamsdropping on. The dream had only been fully materialized for only five minutes, but he still should have seen her by now. He broke off into a run. Paranoia started to grab the back of his mind with thoughts of how he may have messed the process up. For every new thought that formed, about another two miles were added to his speed.

"Go Dream! You can do it!"

The Pegasus skidded to a halt. That outburst put his fears to rest, but now he was thoroughly confused. He couldn't see anypony. And even if he could, there was no way he could have been seen. That must mean…

"Sh-she's dreaming about me…" The words left his mouth in disbelieving amazement.

More cheers of encouragement floated through the air. Dream decided to follow them. He was curious to see exactly what was going on. The shouts got louder when he finally found where they were coming from. The trees started to thin out. He saw that they kept thinning until the forest opened out into a clearing. He immediately recognized it as the meadow from the day before. He spotted Twilight at the top of the hill they had sat when he met Rainbow Dash. She was looking up towards the sky when he saw her. Dream followed her gaze.

What he saw took every ounce of breath from his lungs. There were three other ponies in the dream. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were both in the air kicking a beach ball back and forth. The final pony was him. He was in the air as well, waiting for the ball to come his way. He couldn't believe it. He was flying.

He walked up to the hill and sat beside Twilight. He watched himself play the ballgame with Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. He and Rainbow Dash competed for the coolest trick passes, while Fluttershy focused on just getting the ball to the next pony. Friendly laughter came from the four ponies. Dream watched how happy his abstract self was. How his smile wasn't forced…

"She must really want me to fly…" He thought aloud.

"Hey, Twilight!" The flying Dream called. "Catch!"

Twilight stood and readied herself for the ball. She dipped low and bounced the ball high off her head. It sailed over the three Pegasi. Rainbow flew after it and backflip kicked it back down to Dream. He put his hooves together and launched it to Fluttershy.

Now all four of them were enjoying the game. Dream watched in wonder. It was so weird seeing himself. Even more so since he was flying. The scene made him feel livelier. He felt his spirit soar beyond anything he had ever felt before.

"Twilight…" he said to the unresponsive mare. After that he didn't know what else to say. He didn't know where he wanted to go with his words, so he fell silent his gaze dropped to his hooves, but the smile never left his face.

"Dream Runner!"

He jumped. He looked up from his hooves to see himself flying down to Twilight.

"What is it Twilight?"

"I wanted to give you something", she said nervously.

He cocked his head to the side. "What is it?"

"I've been doing some research and…" she began.

"Yes?" Both Dreams leaned forward expectantly.

"I wanted to give you something as a celebration gift for earning your wings."

"What is it?"

She didn't answer. Instead, she reached behind her and pulled out of nowhere a silver case. She levitated out to the abstract Dream. He opened it to reveal a small, golden orb.

Both Dreams gasped. "Which one is it?" he asked excitedly.

"It's—"

Nothing else happened. Time stopped in the middle of Twilight's sentence. The dream around him started to fade into black. He didn't say anything in his disappointment. He merely witnessed the dream come to a close. The only sound now was his sigh. Morning was coming, but for once, he was looking forward to it.

Dream awoke slowly when morning crept through the windows of Twilight's bedroom. He felt completely relaxed, so he decided to close his eyes again and sleep in. No sooner were they closed did he feel something else land on top of the bed with him. He tried his best to ignore it. That became difficult after whatever it was started to move closer to him. Dream sighed and opened his eyes to find an owl was looking him directly in the eyes.

"Hoot!"

"Wah!" He jumped and fell off the opposite side of the bed. He owl hopped over and peered down at him curiously.

"How did you get in?" Dream asked, a little annoyed.

"Hoo?"

"You. How did you—" He stopped. "I'm talking to an owl." He shook his head. "And now I'm talking to myself."

He stood up and was about to shoo the bird away when he noticed a letter clutched in its talons. Owlowiscious held it out to him. He took it and unfolded the paper. To himself, he read:

Good morning, Dream,

I take it you've met Owlowiscious. I hope he didn't scare you with his way of sneaking up on ponies. I woke up and didn't want to wake you, so I'm already downstairs waiting. I have a surprise for you so hurry!

Dream folded the note up and put it in his satchel. He slipped it on and quickly made the bed. He glanced back at Owlowiscious. "Uh…here boy?"

"Hoot!" He flew across the room and landed on Dream's back.

Dream shrugged and made his way downstairs. It wasn't as bright as the first morning, but that was only because he had opened all of the windows the day before. It also seemed a little colder.

"Hey, Twilight!" he greeted brightly upon seeing the unicorn. Owlowiscious flew from Dream's back to his perch near Spike's writing table.

She smiled brightly and hopped off the reading chair to cross over to him. She giggled.

A blush crossed Dream's cheeks and nose. "What's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing", she laughed, "…Bedhead!"

"Huh?"

Twilight continued to laugh as she levitated a mirror up to the colt. He knew why she was laughing when he saw that his mane was now sticking out every which way and now the pink strip in his mane had somehow managed to turn and was now running horizontally. He sighed. "It always does that", he sighed. He lifted a hoof to the top of his head to straighten it out.

"Here, I'll get it." Twilight levitated her brush from upstairs. Before Dream could object, Twilight pushed the brush into his messy mane. He blushed deeper with every stroke. He doubted Twilight could right his mane out with the brush, but letting her brush it was strangely relaxing. She even took the time to brush the back of it.

"There you go!" She held up the mirror for him to see.

He gasped at what he saw. Twilight had played a trick on him. His mane was fashioned to look just like hers! Pure red overtook his face when Twilight started laughing hysterically at his shock. Alarmed, he frantically ruffled his mane and shook his head fiercely. It only took two seconds for him to get his mane back to normal. Meanwhile, Twilight had nearly laughed herself to hiccups.

He mumbled uncomfortably, "…Good one."

"I'm sorry Dream I couldn't help myself", she chortled.

"It's okay. I appreciate a good laugh every once in a while. If I manage to stay long enough you might get to see my humor." He smiled, his blush now faded into a cute pink on his cheeks.

Twilight grew her own blush as she thought about adorable he looked. They both stood there in awkward silence.

Dream broke it. "So, uh, you said you had a surprise?"

"Oh", Twilight said in realization, "Yep, I made you breakfast!"

With a warm omelet in his stomach, Dream grabbed his satchel from the back of the chair he sat in. "That sure was good!"

"Thanks." Twilight levitated his plate into the kitchen sink. "Spike usually does the cooking, but I like to make a meal or two when I can."

"Thank you, Twilight, you're a really good cook", Dream complimented. He climbed out of the chair. All of the kindness he was receiving gave him a new feeling, but he didn't know what it was. It was so weird, feeling it for the first time. Almost as if…he thought.

"You ready?"

He flinched out of his thoughts. "Huh?" He looked back to Twilight, who was getting ready to leave. "Ready for what?"

"You have a very big day ahead of you", she answered with a huge smile.

"I do?" What was she talking about?

"Yup, today is the day of your first flying lesson!" she cheered.

Mixed emotions hit Dream like a tidal wave. At first he felt panic as he thought about who would be teaching him and her expectations. Then he felt joy at the thought of finally learning to get in the air. And finally fear when he thought the possibility of still not being able to fly even with somepony to teach him.

Despite what he was feeling, Dream smiled for Twilight and nodded.

As she lead the way out, he thought, If not for anything else, for her…

Author's Note

And we have a continuation.

Lesson One: Acceptance

Lesson One: Acceptance

As Princess Celestia once again raised her majestic sun for another wonderful day in Equestria, she once more read over Twilight Sparkle's letter. The smile under her nose couldn't grow any wider as she read it over for the eighth time since she had received it the night before. She was so ecstatic at the news, that she almost raised the sun fast enough to set the morning time to three in the afternoon.

Princess Luna couldn't help but notice her sister's growing excitement. Especially since Celestia was about to burst into a fit of giggles at the breakfast table. "A bit of good news, Sister?"

She didn't answer immediately. She was too busy contemplating on what to do about the predicament Twilight had wrote to her about. She was so engrossed in her thoughts that she had completely forgot about replying to Luna entirely.

Luna gave an annoyed huff. She levitated the letter from Celestia. Giving it a quick read, she found she didn't understand why Celestia was so giddy. "It seems as if Twilight Sparkle has developed a crush, and this 'Dream Runner' is in need of help. I'm afraid I don't share your enthusiasm."

"Isn't it GREAT?" Celestia blurted. "Twilight Sparkle, the unicorn who has only fallen in love with books has fallen in love with a colt! I never thought I would see the day!"

Luna frowned, "The letter doesn't entail falling in love, Celestia."

"You must read between the lines", Celestia explained, "Can you not tell how concerned she is about him?"

"I will admit, the words 'urgent help' and 'immediate assistance' do appear often", Luna said. She read it again, and noticed something else. "It also appears she does not want him to leave. That she has stressed several times."

"Exactly." Celestia sipped her orange juice. "I can't tell you how lucky Twilight and Dream are. That the poor colt happens to be a Dream Chaser. I know I may seem insensitive at the moment, but this could be an opportunity to make two ponies very happy. Especially since we both know the solution for—"

"The Dream Chaser Quandary?"

"Precisely."

Luna was beginning to understand where Celestia was taking their conversation. Celestia was always meddling in the personal lives of the subjects of Equestria. She wondered exactly what happened during all those long years she was stuck on the moon.

"Luna", Celestia said suddenly.

"Yes, sister?"

With a smile, Celestia asked, "How would you like to help me play matchmaker?"

D

By the time Twilight and Dream made it outside, the day had already blossomed with beautiful weather. The heat was only barely moderate, and a cool breeze had blown in a dry cold front from the north. To Dream's satisfaction, the breeze ruffled his mane continuously, making him feel even more content as he walked alongside Twilight. Dream had immediately taken notice of the many Pegasi flying around Ponyville, and for a second he found himself imagining what it would be like to be flying among them.

"Nervous?" Twilight asked, giving an interruption to his thoughts.

"A little", he lied. Inside, Dream was shaking like a leaf. Guilt from the previous night was still caught in his throat. It wasn't something he could just forget. Something like that he couldn't even control scared him. He was in absolute terror that it might happen again and knew that he would have to do everything in his power to make sure it didn't happen again. Before anymore of the thoughts could form, he hurriedly cleared his mind of everything except the breeze, where he was going, and Twilight.

"Don't worry, Dream, I have every bit of faith that you will do just fine", she assured.

To Dream, she sounded as if he were taking a test for school. To be honest, he wished he was. It would be so much easier to do. "You think?"

"I know", she said as-a-matter-of-factly.

He wondered just how she could be so sure about it as his mind was full of doubts against succession. He once again shook the negative thoughts from his mind. He wanted to ask where his lesson would be since Twilight wasn't leading him back to the meadow, but decided against it in case it would be a place he would second guess and want to leave. The wind picked up a little more, erasing all thoughts from his mind.

Twilight had pulled ahead by a few steps, and was hoping to get Dream to pick up the pace. They were late already and Rainbow Dash didn't exactly have a lot of patience. She knew that Dream wouldn't learn properly from an irritable teacher. Her incentive worked; Dream quickened his trot to catch up.

"I hope it won't take long to learn", Dream stated.

"Why's that?"

He blushed sheepishly. "I kinda want to start flying as soon as I can."

"That's the spirit!" Twilight cheered. "Have confidence!"

Dream gave her a smile. Twilight's enthusiasm was welcoming, and he really wanted to hear more support, so he said, "I'm going to be flying by tomorrow, just watch!"

Twilight opened her mouth to commend him again, only to be interrupted by a cyan mare. "Twilight, where have you been!?"

Dream jumped and nearly suffered an adrenaline overdose. The anxiety kicked in with full force. He froze over with nervousness.

Twilight didn't notice. "Sorry Rainbow, breakfast lasted a bit longer than I thought", she apologized. Then she added teasingly, "And Dream decided to be lazy this morning."

The joke snapped Dream back to his senses. "Don't let her fool you, Rainbow", he replied, "She's only covering for how slow she cooks."

"Oh, please", Twilight countered, "I had to literally drag you out of bed this morning."

They glared at each other until Twilight burst into a fit of laughter. "Hahaha!"

Dream couldn't help himself and started laughing with her. It was odd, laughing for the first time in a very long time.

Rainbow Dash facehoofed. She didn't know what was up, but was eager to get on with the lesson before her shift started at the Weather Patrol Post. "Come on, guys", she said, "We don't have a lot of time today."

The two lightened their laughter until they were barely giggling. Rainbow Dash, finally happy that they could start, said, "Okay, so today, I'm going to just see what you know and then go from there. We have until one before—"

"Twilight!"

They all turned to see an angry Spike walking towards them. He was making fast pace for some reason. "Twilight you have to get back to the library! There's an army of complaining ponies outside the door and I can't get them by myself. And how long's the library been closed? Pinkie Pie says she's been waiting forever to return her books!"

Twilight shivered. She had been so preoccupied with Dream that she completely forgot about her daily responsibilities as Ponyville's librarian. She nearly had a heart attack. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Spike. Quick, you go ahead and start taking care of what you can, and I'll be right behind you. Oh, I hope Princess Celestia doesn't hear about this!"

Dream Runner almost passed out. Guilt ran his conscience over like a train. He immediately felt like the biggest burden in Equestria. Luckily for him, before any fear could set in, Twilight came to his emotional rescue.

"Don't worry, Dream. It's not your fault. Everypony will understand when I tell them I've been helping you", she said.

He nodded, not fully convinced. He just hoped he hadn't got her into too much trouble.

"Will you be okay without me?" Bad question Twilight, now he might get discouraged!

In the back of his mind, Dream felt the burning sensation of wanting to prove himself a braver pony than he was for her. It gave him the energy to smile, nod, and say, "Yep!"

Twilight wasn't sure his reaction was forced or genuine, so she went with the benefit of the doubt. "Okay, Dream. When you're done, you know where you can find me."

Dream watched her gallop away, somewhat longing to chase after her, somewhat happy that he had managed to pull off such a hard decision.

"Ready, Dream?"

Dream turned to see Rainbow Dash waiting for him to walk with her to the training ground. He nodded and followed behind her. It was when he looked past her that he saw they were at a lake. Taking a look around, he saw that he had walked with Twilight to the outskirts of Ponyville. The only sounds he could hear were from the small clearing around him. That brought some comfort. He wouldn't embarrass himself in front of anypony other than Rainbow Dash.

"Okay, open your wings", Rainbow instructed. He replied with a confused stare. "So I can make sure they're strong enough. You can really hurt yourself if they aren't."

"Oh." He opened them up. "They're pretty average in strength. I exercise them regularly."

She inspected his feathered appendages. They weren't at all bony, and he was right when he said he exercised them; both wings were just slightly more muscular than Fluttershy's, and that was more than enough for his lesson.

"They should be good enough", she observed, then added, "And if not, a few wingups won't kill ya."

Dream nodded and followed her to wherever he was going to learn to fly. He was feeling sick to his stomach with nervousness and guilt and many other negative emotions. With Twilight now gone, he felt so unprotected. He got so lost in his thoughts that he barely noticed the water of the lake nipping at his hooves. There was a small boat nearby and when he looked out onto the lake, he noticed that there was a small platform with a high diving board floating in the middle. He gulped. I'm going to learn on that!?

D

Twilight sighed as she signed another small stack of books out to another one of the library's members. It was nothing but busy work ever since she arrived. She had never seen the library so packed before. She was enthused that more ponies seemed to be focusing more time on reading, but did there have to be so many at once?

"Whoa!"

On instinct, Twilight used her magic to catch Spike before he hit the library floor. The books he was carrying to the top of the ladder, however, weren't so lucky. "Spike, what have I told you about carrying too many books while climbing the ladders?"

"Sorry, Twilight", he said as she set him down, "I'm just trying to get done faster so I can go over to Applejack's."

"Well, how much do you have left?"

"Just a couple of stacks."

Twilight sighed, "Go ahead and leave early, Spike. I'll get to them later."

Spike wasn't going to ask Twilight if she was sure. Any chance to get out of the library and head to the farm pony's house was going to be snatched up by him in a heartbeat. Twilight watched him leave the library as quickly as he could and wondered exactly what had happened to his work ethic. She would have to have a talk with him about it later. For now she merely focused on serving the ponies in the library. It wasn't much longer before there were only three ponies browsing the shelves. Now that all of the excitement was over, she was left wondering how Dream was doing. Her thoughts were interrupted by Owlowiscious, who landed on top of her desk. He let a scroll drop from his beak and, after a scratch on his head, flew back to one of his perches.

Twilight immediately saw Princess Celestia's seal holding the scroll together. She hurriedly snatched it up and began reading.

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

It is most unfortunate to hear of Dream Runner's predicament. Fortunately, Princess Luna and I both offer you our services to help him through it. We do require an audience with the two of you so that we can become further educated in exactly what a "Dream Chaser" is. We have no specific date in mind at this time and would like to work around your schedules, so whichever day you are free and would like to meet will be fine with us. We hope to see the two of you soon.

Sincerely, Princess Celestia

Excited relief filled Twilight's mind. She was going to get Dream help! The librarian nearly jumped up and began dancing. She giddily levitated a quill and parchment over and began writing a thank you letter explaining that she and Dream would be in Canterlot by morning the next day. The remaining ponies in the library checked out their books. Twilight followed them out and hung an "Out to Lunch" sign on the door. She couldn't wait to tell Dream they were going to Canterlot!

D

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH—"

SPLASH!

Dream once again experienced the shock of the lake's cold water before he swam back up. Being suspended in the water was the closest thing he could ever come to flying, and he didn't understand why it was so much easier to swim. Once his stomach stopped stinging, he decided to break the surface of the lake. He looked up to see the diving board looming over him. Rainbow Dash grabbed him from under his wings and flew him back to the platform.

"Okay, Dream, I know where we have to start now", she stated. She observed his trial jumps and found that the colt had to start from square one and forget everything he tried to teach himself. When he jumped, he instantly panicked and flailed around helplessly. He wouldn't be able to fly like that. "Get back to the top of the diving board."

Dream followed the order hesitantly. He mentally prepared himself for the queasy sensation of his fear of heights. He climbed the ladder as fast as he could. Any non-solid ground scared the feathers off him.

"I want you to jump off again, but this time, just keep your wings straight out", Rainbow instructed, "You'll want to learn to glide first, so that you can learn how to weight shift."

He nodded and closed his eyes. There might have been water underneath him, and he might be a very good swimmer, but falling was still falling, no matter how he looked at it. He stepped to the end of the plank. He stretched his wings out and locked them into position. He took a step over and…

Rainbow Dash facehoofed. The second the colt stepped over the side, he instinctively began to flap his wings and flail his hooves wildly. "A Pegasus afraid of heights", she sighed, "Great."

Dream Runner surfaced again and swam back to the floating island. "Sorry, Rainbow Dash!" he called, "I'll get it right this time!"

Back at the top, he shook himself free of as much water as he could. "Okay, wings straight out…"

"Hang on." Rainbow landed in his way.

"What?"

"Close your eyes, and when you jump off this time, hold your breath." She was sure that if he could get rid of the sensation of falling, then maybe he wouldn't panic.

Dream closed his eyes and walked to the end of the diving board again. He took a huge breath. It's just water... He stepped over the edge and it was as if nothing had happened. He was sure he wasn't touching the platform anymore and that he had jumped. Only a couple of more seconds passed before his hooves felt the lake water. The cold caused him to flinch and close his wings. He fell the rest of the way into the water. He swam back up immediately. What just happened?

"Good job, Dream Runner!" Rainbow shouted as she drifted back down to lift him out.

As she grabbed him, he asked, "What did I do?"

"You glided!"

"I did", he inquired, amazed. "I didn't feel anything though."

"We'll work on that", she replied. She carried him to the lake's beach. "I don't have a lot of time left before I have to get to Weather Patrol. So, uh, lesson over for today I guess."

Dream stopped her from flying off. "Hey, Rainbow Dash…"

"Yeah?"

The colt wasn't sure what to say exactly, so just put it simply with, "Thanks. I swear I'll return the favor."

"Don't worry about it", she chuckled, "It's what friends do."

With that, she was off. Dream watched after her. When she was gone, he turned back toward the lake, then looked up to see that the sun wasn't even close to the position of one o'clock. He didn't know why she left early, but that wasn't on his mind. He took a look at the ground. Tears threatened to fall from his eyes. "Friends", he repeated. It's almost as if he finally realized it. "I have friends…"

The words gave him more confidence. He gazed out onto the lake to the diving board. It wasn't a long swim, and he still had some time before he was supposed to be back to the library, so he waded through the water and swam to the board. Thoughts of possible insanity wandered into Dream's mind when he looked up the long ladder. He drew a deep breath and climbed the ladder as fast as he could. Doing as he did before he opened his wings and locked them outwards. He closed his eyes and held in a deep breath. Once again he stepped over. Just like before he felt nothing. A few seconds into it, he dared to open his eyes. A gasp escaped his mouth when he saw that he was slowly drifting over the lake. He slowly exhaled. Dream found that nothing bad was happening, so he tried to change direction. He leaned right. To his misfortune he leaned too far and went head first into the water. He swam back up. Almost, he thought.

On his second attempt he managed to jump off without closing his eyes. He kept his breath held to keep calm, and let it out as he progressed farther out over the lake. This time he leaned to his right slowly. He gradually yawed right. Then he leaned left. He kept it up until he was zigzagging over the surface of the lake. He let himself drop when he reached the water. On his swim back, Dream got an idea. "What would happen if I leaned backwards?" he pondered to himself.

Once again back at the top, he contemplated how far he should lean. He didn't want to lean too far and fall, so he figured just a little should do. He jumped off and almost immediately shifted his weight to his tail. He was elated to find that he rose higher. I'm going up! Celestia, I'm basically flying! He leaned a little more and more, until the inevitable happened. His ascension slowed to a halt.

"What?" Absolute horror gripped him as he started to fall back down. "NO!" he screamed, "Nonononononono!"

His instincts kicked in and forced his hooves and wings to move on their own. He fell like a rock as he vainly tried to regain altitude. He hit the water with a loud smack. Underneath the surface, his tears of pain, trauma, and failure dissolved into the fresh water. He looked up at the mirror of water and air above him. He refused to go back up. He felt that the moment he gasped for breath, he would be subjected to painful teasing by a hundred skilled flyers. His oxygen reserves were starting to evaporate, and it wasn't long before his heart was pounding in his ears. Dream's lungs were by then screaming for him to go back up, yet his mind refused to listen to them.

Two voices began arguing in his head. Stupid colt, one—a mare's—said maliciously, You'll never fly…

Yes you will! Screamed the second one, which sounded a lot like Twilight's, Look how close you came just now!

You're a joke, a mediocre pony…

No! You're a wonderful Pegasus with a bright future!

You are the lowest of the low. A disgrace to your kind…

You've only had a bad past! You can't possibly call yourself a Pegasus if you don't try! Be positive!

No pony cares if you win or lose or if you just wither away into nothing…

I care, Dream! I know you can do it! I believe in you!

He's a horrible Pegasus!

He's an amazing Pegasus…And I…I…I lo—

He couldn't hear anything else. The water overtook his body. He faded into darkness as he gasped in a mouthful of water. All cognitive functions in his body stopped. He couldn't tell he was drowning.

What happened next was a sure sign of his luck…

D

"No Dream, don't leave me!" Twilight screamed as she pounded her hooves into his chest another time. Her tears streamed from her eyes as she desperately attempted to revive the almost drowned colt. She tried mouth to mouth again. She blew as much air into his lungs as she could. He still ceased to show signs of life. She slammed her hooves into his chest over and over. Her sobs got louder the longer she took to bring him back. When she thought it was all over for him, she slammed both hooves and her head down on him.

Dream was brought back to the living coughing and sputtering water. He opened his eyes in shock to see Twilight crying over him. She instantly pulled him into a tight hug and sobbed into his soggy mane. Dream Runner didn't move. Confusion and embarrassment kept him from moving. She held him close for several minutes before letting him go and holding him out.

He didn't need to ask what happened. "Twilight…I'm sorry."

"No, I'm sorry", she cried. "I should have gotten here sooner…"

Instead of arguing, Dream Runner did the unimaginable. He closed the space in between the two and put his hooves around her. Tears left his eyes as he hugged her with happiness. He was so overjoyed to be cared about to the point of being resuscitated. H-have I once again fallen in love? Twilight's hooves around him confirmed it. Yes. But I think it'll be different this time…

They held each other until Dream was mostly dry. Silently, they let each other go and stood up. Dream grabbed his satchel from the top of the rock back where the grass met the sand of the lake's beach.

The walk back to Ponyville was peaceful. Well, with the exception of Dream's shivering. The cold air mixed with his still damp fur was a formula for Shuddering Colt. Twilight took immediate notice. Remembering a spell she was taught a couple days ago, Twilight conjured a blanket over the Pegasus. She draped it over him. His new wind shield brought instant warmth. "Thanks Twilight."

"Would you like some hot chocolate?"

He nodded.

She turned and started in the direction of Sugarcube Corner. Both were thinking about what had just happened, but didn't want to say anything about the traumatizing experience. It was evident that Dream wasn't going to scare Twilight like that again. And that it was her who had levitated him out of the lake. No explanations were needed.

Dream stuck close to Twilight. It was different this time. He only wanted to be close to Twilight not to use her as a shield, but because he wanted to be close to her.

I love this, he thought, I love this new life. And, he smiled, I love Twilight…

Canterlot

Canterlot

Dream Runner gulped. He had no idea what was going to happen when he stepped off the train. Never once had he ever been in such a big city, and the idea of the hundreds of ponies walking around put him on edge, not to even mention they were going to meet the princesses! Twilight noticed he was very jumpy, and had already tried to calm his nerves in several different ways.

"Dream, why don't you come sit away from the window and have a cup of tea?"

It took him several seconds to pry his eyes from the giant city in the background of the scenery. They were still a few hours away from what he could tell, leaving them alone in the small cabin they were using for the ride. The sip of tea was a little relaxing, but the wired colt was still shaky beyond help. It was his first train ride, his first trip to Canterlot, and his first audience with the rulers of Equestria, giving him plenty of reason to be nervous.

The violet unicorn sighed. There was nothing she could do about it. Not even her strongest Calming Spell would be enough to set him at ease. She didn't like seeing him so worked up and she was worried that he might give himself an ulcer. While they sipped their tea, neither of them spoke. The rattle of the train was the only noise made. Twilight helplessly watched him tremble in his seat. How he even got any sleep the night before was a total mystery.

"W-what are the P-princesses like?" he stammered.

"Don't worry, Dream. You'll love them. Both are very calm and completely nonthreatening."

He didn't show any signs of settling down. She racked her brains for anything she could do or say to help him overcome his anxiety. She just wanted to hug him and stroke the worry right out of him. A fierce blush took over her face as she imagined holding him. The scene did give her an idea. "Dream Runner, you can always hide behind me."

He stopped shaking. "W-what?"

"Just like when you first got to Ponyville, remember?"

He nodded embarrassingly. He had hoped she never noticed, but guessed she couldn't help but be aware of his clinginess. He did only stick to her like glue. He was about to mumble an apology, but suddenly their room plunged into darkness.

Twilight forgot all about the tunnel in the mountain side. For what little was left of Dream's sanity, she tried to use a Torch Spell to light up the room, but something gripped her around her body and squeezed all of the air out of her lungs. She did her best to get a breath, and when she managed to get her lungs half full, illuminated the room with a white orb she formed at the tip of her horn. She looked down to see Dream Runner clinging to her for dear life. He was shaking like a leaf and slightly whimpering. She didn't try to coax him away. She put her hoof around the colt and hugged him, just like she wanted to do. The brightest smile came to her face when she realized that she was actually calming him down! Eventually, his shaking stopped entirely, and they separated, leaving an awkward silence and blushes nearly as bright as the light orb.

Dream sat back down at his seat. His heart was beating to hard he was positive Twilight could hear it. He didn't know that her own heart was beating just as loudly in her ears. He didn't let Twilight see it, but he was smiling, giggling even. Twilight had hugged him, just as he had planned. He knew it wasn't exactly right for him to steal a hug like that, but he sure wasn't ready to ask outright for one. He forced his smile to go away and, since the light wasn't very bright, turned with the blush still burning his face.

Twilight never stopped smiling. She was really happy that she could get the colt to stop shaking. "Better?"

He nodded. "Thanks, Twilight."

The train lurched, nearly sending them to the floor.

"Ugh, they still haven't fixed that bump…"

"You visit Canterlot often?"

"Only about every few weeks. I like to keep Princess Celestia up to date with what I learn about friendship without sending letters."

"The world could use that knowledge…" Dream said, his voice trailing off.

Twilight knew it wasn't the time to ask about his life, no matter how badly she wanted to. He was still too fragile. Instead, she remained quiet, wondering if there was a subtle way to make him blush again. He was so cute when his face turned violet. Twilight strengthened her spell, allowing more light to fill the room.

Dream Runner yawned. The warm glow of the light was super relaxing, but he forced himself to stay awake. Twilight wasn't asleep to keep him from having a Forecast Dream. It was too risky. He was so on edge about staying in Ponyville that he was currently working on a new potion altogether. If only I can find my journal…

As if Twilight read his mind, she asked about the very thing that he had mentioned the night they met. "Hey, Dream, do you remember when you told me you made potions?"

He nodded, "Yeah, why?"

"I've been really curious since then", she admitted, though it was never really on her mind, "I've never met a potions master."

"Oh, no", Dream chuckled, "I'm far beyond a potions master."

Her head tilted with confusion. "Far beyond?"

He smiled proudly. "I'm an alchemist."

Twilight completely forgot about him telling her about the alchemy part that night. "An alchemist!?"

He nodded modestly. "I don't want to brag, but, um…I'm actually pretty good."

"You'll have to show me some of your work!"

Dream was drowning in Twilight's attention. "Just a second." He reached into his satchel and, avoiding a very expensive vase, returned with a small rack of vials in his mouth. He set them on the table. They were all the same size, but sported very different potions on the inside. One of them glowed with an eerie green glow, and another was boiling despite the cool temperature in the room and the cork in the bottle.

Twilight's nose was, in an instant, inches from the rack. "Wow! They're amazing!"

"These are just a couple of new ones I've been experimenting with." Dream explained. He hovered his hoof over the different ones, and named them off. "This one is supposed to turn a pony's coat into a mirror. This one is supposed to cure hiccups." He pointed to the glowing one. "That one's supposed to make you see in the dark. The yellow one, um…I think is supposed to make ponies walk on water. I don't really remember." He paused at the fizzing one. "This one…"

Twilight leaned in with curiosity. "What does it do?"

"…is supposed to cure me…"

"Cure you?" Twilight asked in confusion. Taking a glance at his Cutie Mark, she realized what he meant. "Oh…" She quickly perked up. "Have you tried any of them?"

Dream dropped the moment's depression and shook his head. "Too unstable. I still have to analyze all of their chemical and magical properties. I haven't found the time to do that yet. That, and I still need ingredients for a counter potion for each of them."

"What ingredients do you usually use for potions?"

"That's the thing with alchemy", Dream stated, "Any ingredient will do, even if it's just the dirt from the ground."

"Even something as simple as dirt?" Twilight propped her head up on her hooves to listen to the alchemist in front of her. This side of Dream was very intriguing and she wanted to know everything about him.

Dream showed his teeth with the next smile. "I'm not sure if you know, but all matter in the universe contains chemical, physical, and magical properties. Alchemy takes both magical and chemical properties and combines them into one product."

He stood up to continue his lecture. Twilight was the first pony to show interest in his hobby, and he wanted to give her the full rundown, even if he was forcing himself to open up to her. "It's too complex to explain completely, but when they are mixed, alchemy ingredients react in different ways. You can have two ingredients with the exact same chemical properties, but entirely opposite magical properties."

Twilight nodded in comprehension.

"Ever since I started alchemy, I've been coming up with a lot of potions." He chuckled, "I have a field journal somewhere in my satchel, but I haven't been able to find it in a long time."

The unicorn got an instant idea. She was going to LOVE it if he agreed. "Is it that cluttered?"

Dream laughed, "I wish it was cluttered!"

"When's the last time you organized it", she asked.

"There was a last time?"

She stood up. "Wanna organize it?"

"Sure, if we had four hours to clean a satchel."

"As a matter of fact we do!" Twilight exclaimed. "This tunnel winds all the way through the inside of Foal Mountain. It's about a five hour climb."

"In that case", said Dream Runner, opening the satchel and setting it on their table next to the potions, "Let's get started."

"You want me to just step inside?"

He nodded. "I used to do it all the time."

Hesitantly, Twilight peered into the bag. She gasped. The inside was massive! She could barely see where it ended! "It has to be five hundred square feet in there!"

Dream Runner smiled, "Really? It seems bigger than that."

Twilight rolled her eyes. Taking a deep breath, she wriggled herself into Dream's satchel. She had expected the inside to be just like the inside of an ordinary satchel, but to her surprise, it was enchanted to be fashioned like a warehouse. The floor was marble and the walls granite. Orbs of magic light drifted around near the ceiling. What really captured her attention were the mountains of cluttered antiques and artifacts, and the broken glass that littered the hard floor. It also had its own gravity. Well, that's what she assumed since the many cluttered shelves were still upright considering how his satchel jostled around as he walked.

"This is why I don't sleep in here anymore. It's too dangerous nowadays", Dream said sheepishly, pushing a few shards of glass around with his hooves. "I don't even know where to start…"

"Could I take a look around first?" Twilight asked. "I would like to see what we're dealing with."

"Yeah, I guess…" He watched her turn around. "Be careful, though…" He watched her walk away and disappear behind a pile of pottery. He sighed. He wanted to chase after her, but a spike in his heart rate stopped him. He then realized that she was in his satchel. This was practically his home! A huge blush filled his face as he thought about how this could be the next step in their relationship. Well, if we had a relationship…

Twilight couldn't believe her eyes. Dream had the greatest collection of artifacts, gems, and treasures she had ever seen. There were tapestries, crystals, tools, even paintings lying about. As she ventured deeper into the mounds of valuables, she found that Dream had tried to keep it organized over the time of his collecting. It was haphazardly arranged in zones. He attempted to keep treasures of the same variety together, and as she moved along, she found that the types of treasures changed. It went from the gems to paintings, to ancient weapons and artifacts, and then on to miscellaneous things lying about. "No wonder he said it was dangerous", she said to herself, "Everything is just one touch from falling over!"

She kept walking until she found the one thing in the whole satchel that was kept tidy. It was his display of his collected Emotion Orbs. She quickly looked over the eight he had found. There were gaps in between them, which left her wondering how he was arranging them. She looked for their names, but the only letters on the cases she could find were in an ancient language she couldn't decipher. She would have to ask Dream about them later. Maybe when they were finished. She continued walking on until the clutter began to thin out and she came to the back wall. The rest she could explore as they cleaned. Somewhere deep in the satchel's halls something crashed, sending a small quake beneath Twilight's hooves. It's no mystery as to why he keeps hurting himself, everything in here is very unstable. Another crash somewhere in the distance coaxed her to move away from the shelves and piles of weapons. After a third, closer crash, she decided she had lingered long enough. She quickly made her way back to the opening of the bag.

Dream was exactly where Twilight had left him when she got back. He stood up upon seeing her. "What do you think?"

"I think we have some work to do", she laughed.

He looked away, embarrassed. "Yeah, heheh, I'm a bit of a packrat."

"I know exactly what to do about that!" Twilight focused as much power into her horn as she could. Her levitation spell encased every loose object in the satchel and lifted them into the air. The stress was instantly present. However, she wasn't going to let Dream down. "We'll do this just like reshelving day in the library. How do you want it all organized?"

Dream shrugged, "It doesn't matter. I just don't want to die in here."

Twilight giggled. "I think that can be arranged."

D

"Phew", Twilight sighed, "That didn't take too long." She forced herself to look as less exhausted as she could. Two hours of continual levitation drained her magic energy to the point of nearly passing out. She was happy with their progress. Together, they managed to organize his entire inventory, find an alchemy lab, a floor, and an old bed. The hundreds of items he owned were now all neatly placed on his shelves, leaving both ponies beaming at their work. Now there were only a few things left that Twilight didn't have to levitate.

During the time they spent cleaning, Dream had told Twilight several stories of his adventures in Equestria's caves and darkest ruins. He told her of how he nearly got trapped in an ice cavern in the Arctic North, and how he got away with nabbing an ancient crest from old catacombs in Saddle Arabia. When she asked him about if he thought his discoveries belonged in museums, he told her that he had attempted to submit them, but the museum directors either refused to accept his artifacts, or took them from him and claimed them as their own discoveries, so he kept them for himself. Now he was currently telling her another story about his trip to Crystal Cave south of Phillydelphia.

"I nearly died in that one too", Dream recalled, pushing a vase onto a shelf. "If I never learned to swim with my wings. In the end I still got the gauntlets."

"Wow, that's quite some adventuring you've done", Twilight said.

"And of it all, nothing will compare to my trip to Sunrise End." He turned and sat with a grin. "Wait until you see what I found there."

Twilight didn't think her interest or curiosity could go any higher, but the news of his greatest discovery drove it right through the ceiling of her mind. She attempted to stand, but her exhaustion thought it would be funny to shoved her right back down. She saw Dream's concerned face, and quickly said, "Sorry, Dream, I'm a little tired from all the levitation."

"Oh, I can help with that!" Dream declared. He turned and grabbed a corked glowing blue test tube that sat on his alchemy station. "Here, this should help you out. It's an energy restoration potion. Just a sip and you'll be just fine."

"And you just so happened to have this already mixed and ready?" Twilight asked skeptically.

"I actually have a few ready", he replied, "You never know when you have to run for your life…I don't know if it will work for magic energy, but it definitely replenishes stamina."

Twilight stared at the potion in uncertainty. "Does it…"

"No", Dream chuckled, "It's completely harmless and tastes like blueberries."

Levitating it from his hooves, Twilight hesitantly took a small drink from the glass tube. The blueberry flavor chilled her body over briefly, then warmed it right back up with a huge wave of energy. She almost dropped the tube in shock.

"Did it work?"

She nodded. "That was weird. I feel so much better now."

Dream took the potion back and made a mental note to put the newly discovered effect in his journal. Twilight watched him. The more time that went by, the more interesting Dream became. And, to Twilight's delight, the more comfortable he got around her. Ever since the incident at the lake, Dream had taken an even bigger liking to the unicorn. He made it his mission to force himself to talk to her even more, and now it was becoming easier. Twilight expected that soon he would be ready to fully open up to her. And when that happens…

"Are you ready?"

Twilight snapped out of her thoughts. "Ready for what?"

With an eager smile, Dream said, "To see what I got at Sunrise End!"

Whatever it was, it sure had Dream excited. Twilight was super anxious to see what Dream had to show her. "Yeah, I can't wait to see it!"

Dream beamed. He turned and, surprisingly, bounced down one of the newly made aisles. Twilight trotted after him, careful not to fall behind. The excitement Dream felt almost made him burst into giggles. Twilight would be the first ever pony to ever see what he had stored in the deepest reaches of his satchel.

Twilight found Dream's bouncing adorably cute. The urge to tackle him with a hug was playing a heated game of tug-o-war with the desire to not embarrass herself. The silence between them was a bit unwanted, so Twilight broke it. "You said 'Sunrise End'?"

"Mmhmm", Dream hummed. "It's an old temple in the Changeling Hives."

"Th-the Changeling Hives?" Twilight was in total disbelief. There was no way Dream Runner walked into that horrid place and survived. Not even the most stubborn of Celestia's elite knights would ever think about even looking at it.

"I know what you're thinking", Dream called ahead of her. "And yes I did go there."

"How…"

"Invisibility potion!" Dream chimed. "I used ten of them before even I got there. I was investigating the ruins after a rumor I overheard about a priceless treasure there. Since I'm also a treasure hunter, I just had to see if it was true."

"So you traveled to the Changeling Hives, used your potions, and—"

"Snuck into the temple", Dream finished proudly. He puffed out his chest just like Rainbow Dash would.

Twilight found him even cuter now. He was acting like a filly showing her new doll off! She couldn't suppress her giggles anymore. She tried her best to keep them silent, but every so often one would slip out. Dream didn't seem to notice.

"Sunrise End was the most dangerous ruin I had ever gone into", Dream explained, "There were traps everywhere, but with my experience, it wasn't a problem. Most of the temple had caved in, so I had to use a special acid to go down further. There was a very old ritual chamber down there."

"Is that where you found the treasure?" Twilight inquired.

He shook his head. "No. That chamber was empty. Nothing but rocks. I almost left, but I accidentally stepped on a pressure tile. It activated a large door in the back of the room. When I got behind it, I found myself in a long hallway." He paused to take a breath, giddy from the recollection. "I followed it down until I got to another room." He stopped abruptly in front of a large chest Twilight didn't remember sorting. He put a hoof on top of it in remembrance. "That's when I found this."

"What is it?" Twilight leaned forward and was close to levitating it open before he spoke again.

He sighed. "Twilight, I need you to promise that what you see today will stay in my satchel and only between us."

Twilight frowned. What was going on? His attitude changed entirely in just one second. "I-I promise, Dream."

He nodded and walked around to the back of the chest to open it from behind. "What I found at Sunrise End is my biggest discovery, mystery, dream, and nightmare. Even more so than the Emotion Orbs." He unbuckled the front clasps. "Twilight, I give you…" He opened it. "…the Dusk Sword."

Twilight's gasp lasted ten whole seconds. Her eyes widened more than Dream thought was physically possible for anypony. "It's beautiful."

The sword was four feet long and four inches wide. The blade was colored royal blue, the hilt and grip were darker blue, and were decorated by a thin, purple wire. A ghostly white aura floated around just beneath its surface.

"Yeah, but that's not why it's my most prized possession."

"Huh?"

Dream pointed to where the blade met the hilt. "Look. It's almost scary."

Twilight saw that there were words engraved in the steel. She read aloud, "For my great grandson, Dream Runner." The unicorn's mouth couldn't gape any wider. "This sword is a gift from your—"

"Yes, or it's just a coincidence." Dream shut the case and snapped the locks back into place. "I haven't looked for whoever left this there. I know better than to chase empty dreams. The odds of my great grandfather even being alive are too thin for me to even look. That is, if this sword really is meant for me. And I can't really chase the dreams I want to with my Forecast Dreams messing it all up."

Twilight thought she would see another frown on the Pegasus's face, yet he never dropped his smile. She noticed that his eyes were glossed over with complete happiness, and that the brown in them was much lighter than before. It was then Twilight knew that she was looking a different Dream Runner. She was looking at the true happy Pegasus he had been hiding from the world.

Dream snapped the locks back into place. "That's that." He struggled for more words. "Um…do you want to go back out?"

She nodded, and started back toward the gap at the other end of the satchel. Dream trotted up to walk beside her. He thought about talking about more of his adventures, but didn't want to sound self-centered. That caused him a problem because now he didn't have anything to discuss. He hoped Twilight would say something soon; he liked it when she talked. She was so much better at it than him.

D

The Friendship Express gradually came to a stop in front of the boarding platform in Canterlot Station. There, two Princesses waited eagerly to meet Twilight Sparkle and her new friend Dream Runner. Their guards had fallen back as was ordered by them so they would not intimidate the timid colt. The unloading ponies quickly crowded off the train as they finished the first part of their daily commute. Twilight and Dream were among the last ponies to leave the train. They departed from one of the cars at the rear.

Upon seeing them, Celestia's most faithful student quickly trotted up to them, almost leaving Dream behind. They both gave a bow of respect; Dream Runner's lasting longer than Twilight's.

"Twilight, how good to see you!" Celestia smiled and gave the unicorn a hug. She then turned to Dream, who cringed slightly. "And you must be Dream Runner. Twilight has told us much about you."

Fighting his blush down, he bashfully nodded. He inched a little closer to Twilight. "Um…y-yes, Your Highness."

"Oh, Dream Runner, there is no need for such formalities", Celestia assured warmly, "This is merely a meeting of introduction."

Dream didn't reply. He absolutely just did not know what to say. Talking to the princesses of Equestria was extremely nerve racking, so it made sense to him that the best way to speak to them would be not to speak at all. He also refused to make any eye contact, especially since one of them almost brought the land into eternal darkness.

Princess Luna looked down at Dream Runner, unimpressed. What Twilight saw in him was a mystery to her, but then again, she didn't know exactly what his full story was yet. Maybe there was something underneath that timorous exterior of his. "Shall we proceed to the castle?" she asked with a little impatience.

"Why of course Luna." Celestia put a wing around Twilight and Dream toushered them along. Dream offered a little resistance until Twilight turned to give him a reassuring smile. The two of them were so adorable that the princess nearly giggled uncontrollably.

They all proceeded to the main foyer of the castle. Twilight thought they were going to the throne room, as usual, until Princess Celestia turned to surprise her. "Twilight, if it is okay with Dream Runner, Luna and I would like to talk to him in private to get to know him a little better."

Dream hesitated, but Twilight brushed his hoof with hers, smearing a little of her confidence on him. He nodded with a meek smile.

"That sounds like a great idea, Princess. I'll go take a walk in the archives for old time's sake."

Celestia could look into Twilight's eyes and tell that she really didn't want to leave Dream's side. However, it was imperative that they were separated, at least for a few minutes. "Very well, Dream Runner, if you would be so kind as to follow Princess Luna and me, we can become better acquainted."

The Pegasus gulped. He hesitantly stepped forward away from the comfort of Twilight and into the cold, foreign land of the princesses' hospitality. He was no longer in Ponyville, and his memories of the other places of Equestria delivered him fears he didn't want to feel again. Twilight watched him go, longing to go with them, but the desire to go to the archives was much bigger, commanding her hooves to gallop toward the library to start off her research.

The halls were fairly lit with the different colors of the stained glass windows telling the stories of Equestria' history. Her hooves echoed against the floor in the empty corridor. Twilight rounded corner after corner and climbed two staircases before she slowed to a stop in front of the library doors. She gasped for breath; the run hit her with way more exhaustion than it used to when she lived in the castle. When her lungs stopped burning, she entered her favorite place in the whole castle. On the inside, Twilight immediately noticed every little change that was made to it since her last visit. The biggest change was the paint. It had been repainted to a light blue and the book cases and shelves white. There were now reading couches scattered about. If Twilight didn't know any better, she could have sworn it was fashioned more like a public library instead of royal archives. From the looks of it, though, everything was still organized the same way.

Her hooves moved before she could turn to watch where she was going and crashed right into an old friend. She picked herself up to see robed unicorn picking up scrolls and parchment that were scattered about by the crash. "Ghost Writer?"

He quickly glanced up in surprise. "Twilight Sparkle!" He took a step closer. "It's been forever since I'd last seen you!"

"How is everything, Ghost?"

He shrugged. "Nothing has changed much since I got back. I'm still the Princess's favorite scribe."

"Have you been practicing your magic?"

Ghost scratched the back of his neck and nervously shook his head. "I haven't the time too. Besides, my runes are still working just fine."

Twilight cocked her head to the side when she saw that something was missing from the gray unicorn. "Where's Flare?"

"He's in my room taking a nap", he replied. "I was just on my way up to finish a few reports, but I hadn't expected to see you here. Um…would you like to sit down and catch up?"

Twilight really didn't want to be rude, but this would be the only time she would be able to visit the archives for a while. "Would it be okay if we walked, I'm looking for a book."

Ghost Writer shook his head. "Not at all, I understand."

Twilight took that as her cue to head for the back of the massive room, completely forgetting about the "walk" part. She had never gone to the part of the library she was aimed for, but knew what she was looking for could be found there. She flew past the Equestrian History section and breeze by the Star Swirl the Bearded shelves. Ghost Writer was struggled to keep up and nearly got left behind before Twilight stopped.

Ghost adjusted his glasses. "The Wing of Family Trees?"

"Yes. I'm looking for the family of my co…friend. He's, uh, lost and doesn't have memory of his parents or family, so I'm here to help him out."

Ghost dropped his things. "Would you mind my help?"

Twilight smiled in thanks. "No, actually, that would be a big help, thanks! His name's Dream Runner. Let's look for the Personal Information book first. I'm not very worried about finding his Clan."

Ghost climbed a ladder and together they set out to look for Dream's life information. That was a task, since neither pony could figure out how the names were arranged. At first, Twilight thought that they were arranged to date, then alphabetized, until Ghost pointed out that her parents' names were next to the princesses' names. Eventually they settled with sifting through all of the books that started with the letter "D". They were making some head way, but that was until they found out exactly how many ponies with the name "Dream" had ever been in existence. Twilight had shuffled through the last book at the opposite end of the section before she answered Ghost's question about life at home.

"It's been pretty boring", Twilight answered, "The incident with Phantom was the last exciting thing that's happened so far."

"I see." He dusted the spine of a book only to uncover the name "Dream Dancer".

Twilight wanted to ask Ghost about how life was going since his time in Ponyville, but was cut off by her name.

"TWLIGHT!"

"Oh, hey, Twist!"

The brown unicorn bounded up to the librarian and gave her a big hug. "Jeez it's been forever!"

"Yep", Twilight agreed. A small portion of her was a little resentful that she had run into another of her friends. It was slowing her down.

"Clever Twist, you know Twilight too?"

"Yep, we go way back, Ghost!" He put a hoof around the scribe. "Started out as study partners!"

"The funny thing is", Twilight said, "I didn't actually consider him a friend until after I moved to Ponyville."

"Nearly broke my heart", Twist joked. "But, thankfully I'm tough for a nerd!"

Ghost readjusted his glasses. "That's wonderful, but could you please let me go?"

"Twist, could you help us out?" Twilight called from the top of aladder. "We're looking for any information on a pony named Dream Runner."

Twist rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry, Twilight, but I have to get back to the Magical Development Department."

Ghost rolled his eyes. "A little work won't kill you Twist."

"I'm not taking that chance!" he cried. Then he smiled deviously, "Unless, I could get a kiss from a certain somepony…"

"I'd rather kiss a cactus", Twilight replied candidly.

"Or is it you're loyal to another colt?"

Twilight paused. "Now where would you get an idea like that?"

"Ooh, so you are!"

Twilight blushed in embarrassment. "No I'm not."

Twist opened his mouth again, only to have it filled with a wad of paper. "A lady's privacy is her own", said Ghost Writer. "I don't think you should pry into Twilight's."

"Thank you, Ghost." Twilight climbed down from the ladder. "So are you going to help us? Or do you like the taste of that paper?"

Twist rolled his eyes and shrugged. He spat the paper out. "Who're we looking for again?"

B

Dream was once again shaking himself to pieces. Even though Princess Celestia did her best to warm the atmosphere with different methods of hospitality, he still refused to relax. His gaze drifted from her to Luna, and back again like a cornered mouse watching two hungry cats.

"Twilight says you're a Dream Chaser. Would you care to elaborate for us?" Celestia's second attempt to coax the colt to talk failed as well. She could have offered him anything in her kingdom, but she couldn't change the fact that she was the Princess and he was the humble subject. Or could she? Maybe taking that approach would be the way to go. "Luna, I think I have the perfect way to help Dream Runner relax."

"You do?" Luna was doubtful. This colt was easily more frightened by them than the Element of Kindness was of her in Nightmare Night form. Her sister nodded confidently, and cast a spell on the two. She could feel her body changing. She had to hoof it to her sister; Celestia did always know how to think outside the box.

Dream watched the princesses shrink down until they were his size. Celestia levitated her tiara to the arm of her throne and hopped down. "Does this change anything?" she asked in a filly's voice.

Princess Luna followed Celestia's lead, but kept her tiara atop her head. "Don't think of us as your rulers, but as your friends."

Fear had moved completely out of Dream Runner's psyche and was replaced by the new tenant, shock. They just aged themselves backwards just so he wouldn't be so scared of them. Maybe they aren't so bad after all…

"So, let's have that name!" Celestia shouted.

"D-Dream Runner", he replied uncertainly.

Luna rolled her eyes. Now her sister was overdoing it. Does she really have to act like a filly too?

"Nice to meet you! I'm Celestia!"

Dream cracked a smile. This was so much better than what he was faced with when he first walked in. And the fact that she had basically become a mild Pinkie Pie was hilarious. He managed to hold his laughter in, which was good since he didn't want to risk an execution.

"And I'm Luna", said the night princess dully.

"Oh, don't mind her, she's just cranky!" The white Alicorn decided it was time to get down to business. "So, I guess you wanna know why you're here, right?"

"Twilight said that you were going help me." Dream stated.

"That's right, but first we need to know a little more about Dream Chasers."

"We know only a little about them", continued Luna, "And have never met one in person."

Dream was hesitant, but wanted to get their help. They were still strangers to him. "O-only if it stays between us."

"That's not a problem!"

B

"Gah! Twilight we've been at this forever already!"

"There are only a few more shelves left to check, Twist", Ghost replied. "Then you can complain somewhere else."

"But I want to complain right here!"

Twilight shook her head in exasperation. How Ghost and Twist were friends was a mystery that not even Sherlock Hooves could crack. Their bickering plus the grueling search for Dream's information made one hay of a dance team for her nerves. She continued to ignoring them and dusted off the final book on the bottom shelf. She sighed. Dream's info book was nowhere to be found. She was ready to call the quits along with Twist until Ghost levitated out a book proudly.

"I found it!"

Twilight snatched the dusty book out of the air and immediately opened it in front of her. The other two took a spot over her shoulders to join in her gasp of shock. Even though she was levitating it outwards, the book trembled in her grasp.

"I-it's empty…" She frantically flipped through the pages, only to find them as white as her face. Page after blank page turned in her magic. When she reached the back cover, Twilight finally dropped the book in defeat.

"Hey, Twilight, it's not all blank", Twist said, levitating it back up.

She solemnly looked up to see a small information page. She read it to herself. "Dream Runner. Age: 16 Date of Birth: September 26th. Weight: 115 lbs. Height: 5' 2"."

"How does the book know about the stuff that changes?" Twist whispered to Ghost.

"The books are magically enchanted to keep up to date with ponies' records, at least to the best of their ability. The enchantments aren't the most reliable."

Twilight closed the book and levitated it back into its rightful position. "Thanks, you two. I have to go now." The stallions watched her leave slowly. Twilight didn't have any place in particular to walk to, so she only let her hooves carry her wherever they wanted to go. Her mind was plunged too far into her thoughts to worry about where she would end up. Maybe it was best left to the princesses. She could solely work on Dream's social behavior while they worked on curing him of his Dream Chaser dilemma.

She had thought that coming to Canterlot would help out, but it only raised more questions from the confusion graveyard. I hope everything works out in the end…

Surprises of Winter

Surprises of Winter

A few weeks had gone by since Twilight and Dream's visit to Canterlot. The air had since begun to get much colder, and the Pegasi Weather Teams were setting up for the first snowfalls across various regions of Equestria. Ponyville's was scheduled for the third Saturday of September, which was the day the Elements of Harmony planned to set their duties aside for a get-together.

Princess Celestia had designated Dream to become Ponyville's assistant librarian, despite the obvious resentment from Dream. She told Twilight in secret that they needed to work on his socialness even more, which was her reasoning for putting the colt in such a social position. Twilight readily agreed, glad that the Princess was thinking the same thing she was. It turns out it was a terrific idea. It only took the once timid Pegasus a few days to be able to talk to everypony who came in. He didn't know it, but the first ten guests were staged by Twilight, and he didn't notice that they were Twilight's closest friends through his nervousness. But he eventually got over his anxiety once he was used to dealing with the library's visitors.

Now he joyfully helped the ponies of Ponyville find books along with Twilight and Spike. The work wasn't very strenuous, which aided him at night when he had to focus on using his Dream Scope ability to prevent rogue Forecast Dreams and stay in Ponyville. He found that Twilight didn't dream very much, leaving him to wander around in the cloudy grayness of her dreamless subconscious. It was a little confusing, he knew that ponies didn't dream sometimes, but dreamless sleep night after night? It didn't make any sense, but he wasn't going to complain about it at all. He didn't like the idea of intruding into the private parts of her mind.

Dream stretched and yawned. "Twilight, does anypony come to the library at this time of the year?"

"A few", Twilight called from the other side of the room. "It'll be slow, especially today. Most ponies are out getting ready for the first day of winter."

"Why aren't we out there?" Dream asked, "I thought you were a part of the season changeup crew?"

"Only Winter Wrap Up", Twilight replied. "It turns out that the Organizing Team isn't needed to tear down summer and fall."

Dream nodded and shelved another book. "We're closing early today, right?"

"Yep." Twilight shelved the rest of her books with one levitation spell.

"Why?" he asked curiously.

Twilight stopped. "Uh, because…I have errands to run."

"What about me?" he asked in confusion, "I can run the library while you're gone."

"Oh, you'll need to help me with them. I can't do them myself." Fortunately, Dream couldn't tell her voice was a bit hesitant.

"What are they?"

"Just some stuff. We'll worry about that later though, okay?"

He turned with a bright smile. "Okay."

Twilight blushed. Everytime he smiled like that she couldn't help but find him at his cutest. Sometimes he would do it so much she wondered if he did it to make her blush on purpose. She rolled her cart back to the side of her desk and grabbed the last one.

Dream listened as the wheels squeaked away, farther down into the library. He was no longer worried about keeping to her side. He hadn't worried for a week now. He actually managed to go out on his own the day before, proving to himself that he was adapting to the new life in Ponyville. He still liked being with Twilight, no dummy in love would ever stop liking that. He was still afraid on some levels about it, or maybe that was just shyness. Either way, he was nowhere close to admitting his feelings to her. Good friends was good enough for him for now. He sighed to himself happily.

Chirping from the top of the shelf let him know that Peewee was finally awake. He and the phoenix got along great, becoming very close in only a few days after they first met. Peewee jumped from the top of the bookshelf to his Pegasus landing pad below. Dream caught him with his wing and retracted it so that Peewee could hop around on his back. The pony wistfully hummed in tune to the bird's tweeting and chirping.

In the fiction section, Twilight was almost finished with her small cart of books. She watched the books levitate into the blank spaces on the shelf. She could hear Peewee chirping in the main room. She didn't know why the bird liked Dream so much, but he definitely made a great companion for the Pegasus. Both were learning to fly, and both were really cute. Twilight giggled to herself. She pushed her last book into place, unknowing that she was being watched.

"Psst!"

She looked around to see Pinkie Pie suspended upside down from a rope only inches from her face.

"Pinkie!?" Twilight exclaimed in a whisper. "You're supposed to be—"

"We're done!"

"Shhh!" Twilight shushed, "Dream will hear you!"

Pinkie Pie nodded. She put a hoof to the side of her head and pretended to crank down an imaginary volume knob.

"I just told Dream about the fake errands later. I can't take him out now, he'll get suspicious."

"Okay, everypony can wait 'til then", Pinkie replied simply. "No problemo!" She climbed back up the rope and out the window silently. She poked her head back through before leaving. "You didn't see anything", she hissed, and promptly disappeared, trailing the rope behind her.

Twilight rolled her eyes with a laugh. She rearranged a few out-of-place books on the top shelf and pushed the squeaky cart into its place in the far corner of the room. She looked around for stray books on the podiums and tables. She didn't see any and returned to the main wing. She saw Dream browsing her personal shelves for something to read while they waited for somepony to come in. Peewee wasn't around; he was probably ransacking his food pan again.

Nothing in particular stood out to the colt. He had already read every book in the Daring Do series, and by the looks of it, those were the only books that interested him. They were the only adventure oriented novels on the shelf. He kept browsing anyway. Maybe there was something in her collection he was overlooking. He started over at the top, and saw one book that didn't fall in alphabetical order. He climbed the shelf and pulled it down. "Slumber 101: Everything You Wanted to Know about Slumber Parties but were Afraid to Ask…" He curiously opened it to find that it was just instructions to a successful slumber party. The first chapter's checklist was completely filled out, but the rest of the book was completely blank.

"I've only thrown one slumber party", Twilight said out of the blue. "That's why only the first chapter is finished."

Dream flinched at her sudden appearance. "I couldn't even check the first chapter off", he replied, "I've never had one."

That statement gave Twilight an idea. "Well, then, would you like to? I can get the girls together and we can all plan a night for it."

Dream blushed. "Um, aren't slumber parties only for girls?"

She levitated the book from his hooves. "Not necessarily. There is a section for inviting boys. Maybe we can get one or two other colts to sleep over too."

"What do ponies do during slumber parties", he asked.

"The activities change with each chapter, but the ultimate goal is to have fun."

"Oh, okay. I'd like to see what's it's like", Dream admitted. "It sounds like fun."

Twilight snapped the book shut excitedly. "Yes! I can't wait! The last one was so much fun! This one will be so much better!"

"Why do you say that?" Dream smiled teasingly. "It's because I'm going to be there isn't it?"

"That's exactly why!" Twilight exclaimed. She immediately blushed. "I mean, yeah, that's why."

Dream chuckled. "I didn't know I was so much fun."

"Well, not as fun as Pinkie Pie", Twilight teased.

"Hey, that's not fair!"

"Why is everypony yelling?" yawned Spike as he finally descended the stairs for the day.

"Afternoon, Spike", Dream greeted.

"You let me sleep in that late!" Spike exclaimed.

"It was a pretty hard night for you last night", Twilight explained. "We wanted to let you sleep."

"How am I supposed to be a good assistant if you won't let me assist you?"

"Spike, you're still a good assistant. Just because you aren't completely exhausted all the time anymore doesn't mean you aren't doing a good job."

The dragon still didn't look convinced. His protest was about to continue, but was stopped by his stomach. It growled loudly. "Ugh, I'm starving."

"There's a bowl of sapphires waiting for you in the kitchen", Twilight replied.

Spike was in the kitchen before the now-bewildered ponies could blink. They briefly gawked at each other before bursting into giggles. "That dragon and his stomach", Dream laughed.

"I can still hear you!" Spike called from the kitchen.

Twilight slowed her giggles to the occasional snicker. Dream managed to stop altogether. The library grew silent with the exception of the sapphire eradication in the kitchen. Dream eventually cured his boredom by setting his alchemy lab up near the section about potions in the library. He wanted to put it in the basement, but Twilight's many scientific contraptions left no floor space for it. The unicorn in question helped him get it out of his satchel so he didn't hurt himself doing it alone.

"Is that everything?" Twilight asked, emerging from the bag levitating the last few vials out.

"I think so." Dream looked over his things. Everything looked the way it did in the satchel. The lab sat between two shelves holding his collection of empty test tubes and beakers. He nodded. "Thanks, Twilight."

"You're welcome, Dream", she replied brightly.

He opened his notebook. "Let's see, I think I left off with the analysis of…"

Twilight watched him work in awe. This side of Dream was different from the one on the train. Maybe it was because he wasn't lecturing her, and instead was doing what he preached. He murmured to himself and flipped the pages of the journal over and over. Twilight had expected to find just notes in the pages, and was greatly surprised to see detailed sketches of the different ingredients he cataloged with notes. She watched over his shoulder silently. Every question that formed in her head was answered with every page he flipped. It seemed he left nothing out during his time as an alchemist. Each ingredient was named with its physical, chemical, and magical makeups. He made sure to list the common locations of each as well as the places were large abundances could be found.

He kept flipping until he reached the pages he had yet to write anything on. Dream frowned.

"Everything okay?"

"Yes", Dream sighed, "I just don't know what I want to do now."

"What about the potions you're researching?"

"I still have to study them. The magic product of the three ingredients in any potion is hard to determine. And that can't happen since I'm out of ingredients to test them on."

"Test them on?" Twilight raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"To find what the counter potion is, the safest way is to test a potion on different things. What happens in effect helps determine if the property is where you want it. There are three factors in figuring out what ingredients you need for the counter potion. If the mixture cools down, glows green, or completely cancels the effect of the original potion, then it's a counter ingredient. Once you have three, then you can mix those. The only problem is finding the right ingredients that don't pose a hazard of their own is grueling work. The only good thing about it is some ingredients have the same magical properties."

Twilight struggled to understand. "Can't you just use the first ingredients you find work for a potion?"

"Sometimes the combined effects come out to be a poison instead of a remedy."

"Yikes." Twilight cringed. The only way he could've known that was to experience it.

"Anyways", Dream continued, "I think I'll start on a new potion."

"Are you sure? You'll just have to find a counter potion like the ones you have mixed already", Twilight pointed out.

"True." Dream sighed again.

"If you want help, I'd be happy to."

"Really?" At that moment, Dream really wanted to hug Twilight. He suppressed the urge to avoid the embarrassment.

Twilight nodded. "Sure. Alchemy is very interesting and I would like to learn more about it. What better way to learn more than to learn from a master like you?"

Dream blushed modestly. "I don't know about 'master'", he chuckled, "But I can teach you what I know."

"Yes!" Twilight cheered. "Where do we start?"

Dream looked around in thought. "Why don't we just start by finding the counter ingredients for one of the potions?" He picked up the rack that held the prepared potions. "Which one do you want to start with?"

The unicorn almost told him she wanted to do the one that was supposed to cure him of his curse, but decided against it after a brief flash of how depressed he became when he first brought it up. "Um…how about the one that is supposed to turn a pony's coat into a mirror?"

"Okay", he replied. "The first thing we have to do is consult my journal. There are some ingredients that have very little negative effects when mixed with a formulated potion."

Dream flipped to the first one he remembered. "This one has never failed a counter test", he explained.

"Blueberries?"

He nodded. "They're what I call a 'pure ingredient'. It's for that reason I use them for most of my counter potions."

"I have some in the kitchen I'll be right back." Twilight quickly left the colt to collect the ingredient he needed.

While she was away, he flipped through the pages of his book again. He came upon the entry he put down about glass. "Hmm…It's mostly a buffer except for the small emotional side-effect. It shouldn't be much of a problem since the blueberries will nullify its effect." Taking a look at his shelves, he knew he was fresh out of shattered glass. He flipped through a few more pages. Wheat? No, with its explosive properties it wouldn't mix well without a duller…

"I'm back Dream!" Twilight chimed. She carried with her a bowl of blueberries.

Dream snickered. "We don't need that many. Just one will do, Twilight."

"I kinda figured that", Twilight giggled. "The rest are for lunch."

"Am I even hungry", he mumbled to himself. Suddenly when he thought of it, his stomach became the emptiest of voids. "That's a yes…"

"Here you go!" Twilight held the bowl out for him to grab a few of the berries.

He put two in his mouth, and three in the small dip in the table. Taking the pestle from the lab's tool rack, he crushed the berries into a fine paste. Twilight observed him open and pour a small amount of the mirror potion into the bowl. The mixture simmered before lighting up with a bright green glow. "That's one down", Dream stated through a mouthful of blueberries. "Now for the other two."

"I heard you say something about an ingredient on my way in." Twilight levitated her second blueberry into her mouth.

"Oh, I was talking about glass. When it's crushed it makes a great buffer for potions. It's side effects are dulled by the blueberries. The two are a great combination. It's too bad we had already thrown out all of the busted bottles and everything else broken in my satchel."

"Hmm…I don't think there is any broken glass around", Twilight said.

Dream cheekily knocked an old beaker over. "Oops", he cooed innocently, "Now there is."

Twilight laughed. "Was that necessary?"

He shrugged while she levitated the shards up. "Probably not. Just a small shard will do, Twilight. You can put the rest in one of the other beakers." The fragment landed in the now clean mortar in the table. He crushed the glass into smaller and smaller shards. He added a drop of the potion to the glass. Upon contact, it immediately froze over and frost crawled over the table. "That was a strong reaction. I need to half the glass content. Otherwise it'll give us a chill when we drink it."

"Now we just need one more right?"

"Right. The only thing is I don't know what we should use next." Dream scratched the back of his head. "Maybe a hawk feather would work, but it has regenerative properties that are accelerated by glass."

"What about phoenix feathers?"

Dream stopped rummaging through his book. "We could test them. That is, if Peewee doesn't mind sharing a couple."

Twilight smiled. "I actually have a small collection of feathers. I…like the way they look and since they're supposed to be good luck, I keep all of the ones I find."

Dream smiled at her blush. "Three will work just fine for the test."

Twilight once again left Dream's side. While he waited, Dream began crushing his ingredients once more. He combined the two in the mortar until he had a sharp paste. He tapped the pestle against the side of the bowl and set it aside. He shoved another hooffull of blueberries into his mouth. He savored the taste, loving how ripe they were. Sweet, not sour, just the way blueberries should be.

Twilight didn't immediately make her presence known when she came back in again. Instead, she watched Dream Runner from the doorway. He moved fluently around the alchemy lab, priming it for the final ingredient. At one point he opened his wings for balanced and moved from one side to the other so quickly that he left a slight blur of blue in his movements.

His wings made her think of his flying lessons. He made little progress in achieving flight. Since the day he nearly drowned, Dream was reluctant to step out on the diving board, and had even gone backwards in training. He was too shaken to even glide. Rainbow Dash kept at it though. She tried everything she knew to teach him and even recruited other Pegasi for help. But now winter was here, posing huge issues for the flight lessons. How is Rainbow Dash going to teach him how to fly now that the lake is frozen over? And will she even have time? The Pegasi are incredibly overworked during the snowy months…

Dream stopped working. "What's taking Twilylight so long?"

Twilight's face boiled over in red. T-Twilylight? A pet name? For me?

Dream began to turn around, causing the blushing unicorn to rush around the corner and take a few deep breaths to cool down her cheeks. With her best effort she smiled and walked in like nothing happened. "I'm back again."

"You didn't forget why you left did you?" Dream joked.

"No, I just forgot where I put the feathers", she replied, levitating them out.

The flaming quills burned brightly even though they were detached from the tail-end of the bird they came from. Dream took them from the air and dipped one in the tube of potion. He quickly removed it. The feather was now faintly green. "Perfect! These ingredients are near pure, so we shouldn't need further research for alternatives!" He mashed the remaining feathers into the concoction in the mortar. "Now we only need the liquidation catalyst."

"What's that?"

"It's a special acid whose only magical property is liquidizing and combining other ingredients without compromising the original magical properties."

"Okay, what is it exactly?" Twilight asked.

"It could be any number of things", Dream replied. "I personally like to use saltwater."

"Saltwater isn't very acidic", Twilight remarked, "How can it break down the clumps of feather and glass?"

"By using a special heating technique." Dream rotated a retort full of water around so that its neck was aimed at the mortar. He rubbed his hoof vigorously against the table under the spherical end of the retort. The ancient symbol changed colors from white to red. Twilight watched the water inside boil and the vapors collect in droplets along the neck. "I don't know how it works, but alchemy tables are enchanted so that the heat removes all magical properties and raises acidity and viscosity."

Twilight added that to her list of things to research later to avoid pestering Dream about the details. They waited until more droplets formed and eventually started flowing down the neck and out of the spout. Dream lifted the neck when the mortar was full and tapped his hoof near the frame of the retort. The red symbol faded back into white. Dream used a large dropper to collect the counter potion and squeezed it into a test tube. He corked it. The solution inside glowed slightly yellow-green.

"We're not testing it?"

Dream chuckled at his new apprentice. "You don't test counter potions, Twilight. You test the originals first."

He took the mirror potion from the rack. He almost drank what was left after the testing, but stopped. He held it up to Twilight. "Here, I think you should try it. It should be harmless, but if it isn't, we have the counter potion."

Ignorant to the possibilities of a serious backfire, Twilight took the potion and drank every remaining drop confidently. It was a little sour leaving the aftertaste of bananas. Both ponies ran their gazes over her coat. Nothing seemed to happen.

"How do you feel?" Dream observed Twilight intensely for any hint of side-effects.

"No different."

"It can't be a dud…" Dream circled her slowly.

For ten more seconds nothing happened. Both were about to call the quits when Twilight's fur washed over with a bright white light and then reflected everything around them. "It works!" Twilight exclaimed.

"No kidding." Dream peered into his lavender reflection. It was crystal clear.

"Rarity would love this!" Twilight rubbed her leg, enjoying how smooth, almost like glass, it was. "She'll be ecstatic to be this shiny!"

"I can brew up a batch for her soon. Maybe for that Ballroom Blitz thing", he replied. "Okay, ready for the counter potion?"

"Already?" Twilight asked in disappointment.

"Yeah, I have to formulate a timer so that the effects of the Mirror Potion don't become permanent."

As pretty as her coat was, Twilight didn't think the idea of living life as a walking mirror was very appealing. She levitated the uncorked tube from Dream's hooves and gulped down the lilac flavored liquid. Instantly, the shine in her coat faded back into non-reflective fur. The counter potion left her body with a warm sensation. She gave the test tube back to Dream, but stopped to admire him. She sighed.

Dream shivered slightly. "Twilight, why are you looking at me like that?"

"Like what?" she cooed.

A strong blush muscled its way to his cheeks. "You're acting a little weird. How do you feel?"

"Like I'm looking into the eyes of the cutest colt ever", she breathed. Twilight's insides froze over with fear. She couldn't control anything she was doing! She just told him the complete truth of what she was thinking!

Dream could look into her eyes and tell there was something wrong. He figured out what it was when Twilight's steady advancing pushed him into the alchemy table. The counter potion! It must be a love potion too! I need an antidote now! His head shot around in an attempt to find something to counteract the glass in the counter potion. "Twilight, you need to try to control yourself. The feelings you feel aren't real, it's just a symptom of a potion-gone-wrong!"

"They're definitely real", Twilight truthfully said against her will. "I love you, Dream!"

The Pegasus's whole face lit up red as all of the blood in his body pumped through his sprinting heart and into his face. Twilight puckered her lips and advanced upon the cornered colt. As a defensive measure, Dream grabbed the bowl of blueberries left on the table. He took a hooffull and shoved them into Twilight's mouth.

Caught by surprise, she swallowed them. Instantly she got control of her body again. She sheepishly backed off. Her face was no competing with dreams in a blush contest. So far hers was winning. "I'm sorry, Dream…"

"It wasn't your fault, Twilight", Dream replied. "I should've added more blueberries from the beginning. The potion wasn't proportionate enough."

Twilight allowed him to take the blame to avoid argument. She wasn't sure what to do now, but Dream had it covered. He put the notes for the now successful formula in his journal. "I never created a love potion before. That was some pretty strong stuff."

Twilight sighed. If only he knew that it wasn't a love potion. It was a truth potion, she thought. She needed badly to change the subject. A gaze at the grandfather clock near the door way told her it was still too early to head to Sugarcube Corner. "Or maybe…"

"Maybe what Twilight?"

Twilight frowned in thought. "I was thinking maybe we can close up even earlier than we planned. No pony has come in all day", Twilight said unconfidently. She quickly cleaned up her uncertainty. "And, hey, we can go by Sugarcube Corner later for hot chocolate first!"

"That sounds, um…how does Pinkie Pie say it again?"

"Super-duper a-otikitay?" Twilight tried.

"Well, that's one of them", Dream snickered.

Twilight led the way to the front door. She wiggled her hooves into the new boots that Rarity had made for her for the upcoming winter season. She levitated her scarf around her neck and adorned her ear muffs for protection against the frozen town outside. "Almost done Dream?"

"Almost", he called from inside his satchel. He emerged wearing an orange and green scarf around his neck. "Done!"

"Dream, you're going to freeze", Twilight said incredulously. "Don't you have boots at least?"

"Don't need boots." Dream smiled widely. "My scarf's enchanted to keep me warm no matter how cold it gets."

"I've got to go exploring with you sometime. It seems the payoff is worth it."

"Oh, no", Dream replied. "I bought this scarf."

"From where?"

Dream struggled to remember the place he purchased the enchanted clothing item. "Umm…I think it was west of Manehattan. It was a little town…but I don't remember the name."

"We can get a map and look later, okay?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I love enchanted things! I'd love to get more!"

"They're growing on me, too." Twilight opened the door, letting the cold air invade the warmth of the library.

Dream crossed the threshold first. His hoof sank almost six inches into the snow. "I don't get it", he said, looking at the white blanket that covered everything outside, "Why are the weather Pegasi making it snow in September? Winter is supposed to be a December thing!"

"Rainbow Dash says it happens every seven years in Ponyville. An early winter and an early spring. It's tradition."

"That's interesting." Dream began walking through the dry powder. "I'd like to look into that. Could be treasure involved."

Surprisingly, not many ponies were out despite it being in the middle of the day. Dream had at least expected to see fillies and colts sledding and building snowponies. They trotted on with light conversation to keep them company. Along the way, Dream would scoop up a light ball of snow in his hoof and make it exploded into tiny flakes with a quick blast of air from his puckered lips. He told Twilight he liked doing it because it looked cool when the ball came apart.

They walked so casually that eventually Dream opened his wings and held them up, something that Twilight noticed him do for the first time. He looked strange, funny even when they quivered with the breeze. Twilight's heart jumped. Is…is this the real Dream Runner? Omigosh I've waited forever to see this day!

"Closed?" Dream asked. "Sugarcube Corner…closed?" He turned to face Twilight's excited expression, but didn't notice it. "Why are they closed?" he asked, completely shocked. The inside was dark as can be so he couldn't see anypony on the inside.

"It may be for the first day of snow", Twilight offered.

He bought it, but only barely. "Wouldn't it be better for business to stay open when all of the children don't have school?" He shrugged. "All well. Pinkie'll still make us that hot chocolate right?"

Twilight nodded. She tensed up with excitement as he pushed the door open. The inside was eerily quiet. Then, the lights flicked on.

"Surprise!"

Dream blinked, his mouth agape as party blowers rang in the air. He looked around the decorated bakery. Blue, pink, and gray balloons and streamers hung in the air. Confetti littered the floor. What really caught his attention was the giant banner that read: Happy Birthday Dream Runner!" and the ten ponies standing in front of a giant cake colored with the same hues as his coat and mane. A few of them snickered at his loose hanging mouth.

The Pegasus turned around to see Twilight smiling in his face. "How…?"

"The patch in your satchel", Twilight lied to avoid telling him about the blank book in the Canterlot Archives.

"Alright everypony!" Pinkie Pie shouted, "It's time to paaaarrrtaaaaay!" She kicked a record player and immediately started dancing to the party mix she picked out just for the occasion. The other ponies met Dream halfway and wished him happy birthday personally before dispersing to dance or get something from the spread of food Pinkie Pie and Applejack put out.

Dream didn't know what to do. Everything looked so inviting. He could only stare in near disbelief. He looked around until his gaze once again settled on Twilight. Her smile was still touching her ears. She held out her hoof. Come on, let's dance before Pinkie Pie lights the candles."

He grabbed her hoof, but didn't budge. She tugged at him. "I can't dance…" he mumbled to the ceiling.

"Neither can I!" Twilight laughed. "Come on!"

Dream allowed her to drag him into the middle of the dance floor. She helped his confidence along by throwing out her best dance moves. She wiggled herself around and threw her hooves in the air out of tune to the music. Dream stared with chuckles. He eventually started to dance with her. He lightly shuffled at first, then got into the groove and was soon wildly tossing himself around in the same manner as Twilight.

The other ponies stopped what they were doing to watch in amusement the two dancers embarrass themselves. Most of them even started laughing. They danced close to each other and would occasionally bump but didn't stop until the song faded into interlude. Everypony applauded their horrible effort. They smiled sheepishly.

"You guys sure have some nice moves", Bon Bon complimented.

The unicorn that helped Dream during the last party stepped forward. "Yeah, completely radical", he snorted. It turns out Dream came to like Strings enough to become real good buddies with him. They frequently shared stories of their adventures in the world. As a matter of fact, most of the ponies at the party were the friends that Dream had made since he began to warm up to the world.

The Elements of Harmony, Bon Bon, Lyra Heartstrings, Strings, and Derpy Hooves had all managed to make it. He kept looking at their smiling faces until Pinkie Pie announced the next phase of the party.

"Cake time!" She struck a match and quickly lit the sixteen candles. She lifted him up and placed him on top of a tall stool to reach the miniature torches. "One, two, three!"

Together, everypony sang, "Happy birthday, happy birthday to you! Take a deep breath so you can maaake a wish. Happy birthday to you dear Dream Runner, happy birthday to you!"

The light shown on Dream's face. He selected his wish carefully, and when he had it, blew the candles passionately. Twilight joined the second applause. Dream climbed from the stool to have a box wrapped with striped paper thrust into his hooves. He stared at Pinkie Pie in confusion. The tag on the box read, "To Dreamy, from Pinkie". Oh, right…ponies get presents on their birthdays…

He tore the wrapping off to reveal a plain box. Inside the box was a pair of hollow, lens-less glasses. The arms were very long, bringing back the confusion that he had just cleared up.

"They're straw glasses!" Pinkie Pie explained excitedly, hooking them around his ears. Holding up a glass of milk she pulled from thin air, she dipped arm into it and held the other up for him to grab in his mouth. "They're really fun to drink stuff with!"

Curiously, he gave the straw a strong sip. The drink climbed up the opposite end, looped around the circular parts, and into his mouth. He liked how the coolness of the milk traveled with the liquid. He took the glass from her and drank the rest of it as she brought out her own and copied him. He smiled. "Thanks Pinkie Pie, these are fun!"

"Me next", Rainbow announced. She shoved a rainbow wrapped present into his face. "Mine will obviously be the most awesome gift here!"

Dream rolled his eyes. He opened it to find two things. The first was an autographed picture of the mare who gave him the box, and the second was an officially licensed Daring Do explorer's hat. He quickly put it on his head. "I've been looking for one of these since I got into Daring Do!" He tipped it backwards a little. "How do I look?"

"Like Daring Do's little brother", Strings snickered.

Dream looked around to see the others nodding in agreement. "That's great! Now I can become a real treasure hunter!"

"I hardly think it is the equipment that determines one's true potential", Rarity said, coming forth with two presents. "But, if you would like to look ravishing as you explore, I think you should wear these. The purple present is one from Twilight as well as me. She put the order in for you."

Dream opened the first very neatly, and somewhat annoyingly intricate, gift. It was a light blue hooded traveling cloak with green trim. He threw it around his body and latched the hook through the eye.

"A perfect fit", Rarity chimed. "You look very handsome, Dream Runner."

He blushed modestly. "Heheh, thank you." He quickly delved into the second box to find that Rarity had made gotten him a very expensive-looking pair of bracers. They were obviously steel lined with bronze trim and plated with titanium.

"I was unsure of what to get you, so I picked out the most stylish adventuring equipment I could find."

Dream didn't feel comfortable accepting something so valuable from a close friend. "Rarity, I'm not sure—"

She held up a hoof to silence them. "As my grandmother has said before, 'those who pay know the trouble, so please don't argue and make it double.'"

He slipped them over his forehooves. "Thank you, Rarity." He smiled warmly.

She nodded and moved aside to let Lyra hold out her cream colored wrapped present with a blue bow. It was the smallest so far but it didn't matter. The cases of the Emotion Orbs were far smaller, so he knew that whatever was in the box could easily be one of best things he could receive today. The lid slid off easily to reveal a seven piped pan flute. Each of the tubes were distinctly marked by different colored ribbons at the mouth end. The longest tube had a string connected with two blue beads on both sides of a pink one. White feathers were knotted in the end to keep the beads from slipping off.

"It's a custom pan flute", she said. "It's not exactly a lyre like I know you wanted, but it's what I could get on such short notice."

He held the light instrument up for a better look. "It's perfect!" He held it into position and blew a soft tune into three of the tubes. The tune came out beautifully.

"Hey, you're a natural!"

"You're super-duper good at that!" Pinkie Pie screamed, "Play some more!"

"Heh, okay."

Everypony leaned forward to listen to a short song he played from the top of his head. It was peaceful, and nearly magically swayed everypony in the room. He stopped playing and smiled at the gift. "I promise to practice every day, Lyra."

"Just play your best." Lyra ruffled his mane.

"Um…here's mine", Fluttershy meekly pushed a large box up to him.

Twilight blinked. She didn't…

Dream opened the box and pulled out a huge blanket. It was blue, red, and green. Twilight sighed. So it wasn't the fox…good.

"I hope you like it", Fluttershy said, "I made it myself…"

Dream nuzzled his face into it. "So soft…and warm!" He wrapped himself up in it snugly. "I'm going to sleep so good tonight!"

Blushing, Fluttershy took that as his thank you and said with a smile, "You're welcome, Dream." It was then she realized they were the center of attention and quickly retreated to the back of the crowd.

Derpy hoofed him an unwrapped box of muffins. "Here ya are! Chocolate, raisin, and blueberry!"

"Breakfast", Dream replied. "Thanks, Derpy."

"Welcome!" the gray mare replied, excitedly stretching her wings into the faces of Twilight and Applejack.

The farm mare tucked Derpy's wing back into rest position. "Here, Dream, Ah gotcha somethin' y'all maht be able t' use whahle y'all explore."

She tossed him a very well-made lasso. "Strongest kahnd there is."

Dream inspected the rope. It wasn't like the one he had seen Applejack use in the rodeo that came to Ponyville. It was twice as thick and was made from different fibers weaved together in a crescent pattern.

She saw the look in his eye to try it out as soon as he could. "Ah wouldn' use it insahd if y'all don' want t' break somethin'"

He nodded. "I'll use it later. Hey, Applejack, could you teach me?"

"Y'all're darn tootin' Ah can!"

"Okay…maybe after my flying lesson tomorrow!"

"Whah not?" She smiled promisingly.

"Can't wait!"

Bon Bon came forth with his tenth gift. "Since you like my candy so much, I figured you'd like this."

Expecting to find a box of chocolates or candy, he opened it up and was surprised to find a hoof crank candy maker. It looked old fashioned, but was completely clean and sterilized. Along with it came a myriad of different colored packets and containers.

"Now you can make your own candy so you don't have to wait on me. Oh, I put a recipe book telling you how to make element candy in there too since you like them so much."

"Whoa." Dream gave the crank a spin with a goofy grin.

Twilight giggled, bringing the whole room's attention to her and the small, pink present she was levitating outwards. She didn't have to walk to him; he unwrapped himself from the blanket and excitedly trotted up to her. He took the present and gently unwrapped it. It was a small treasure chest. Every passing second was another jolt to quicken his heartbeat. He lifted the lid to find a dingy looking rolled up piece of parchment. He withdrew it and unrolled it. He dropped the box in shock. "A-a treasure map? Are you sure Twilight?"

She nodded. "You always talk about how you love to find treasure maps, so I searched everywhere I could until I found an honest map."

A surge of warm energy hit Dream at full force. He lurched forward and grappled Twilight in a tight hug. The ponies in the room disappeared, leaving only him and Twilight in his mind. "Thank you", he whispered in her ear.

Twilight was way too stunned to even think of a response. She stood idly in his gripped, barely noticing the ponies take their attentions elsewhere. Dream's hug was firm, though she didn't want to leave it. As a matter of fact, she actually leaned into the soft colt. She could hear her heart in her ears screaming at her to kiss him. Its orders became so strong that she actually moved to follow them.

He let go before she could land her lips on his check. She was blushing hard, but it felt too nice to be so close to him for her to care. "You're welcome, Dream."

"Y'all ready for party games, yet?" Applejack called holding up a blindfold. "First one's up's pin the horn on the unicorn!"

Twilight and Dream exchanged glances and shrugged indifferently. They happily trotted together to finish celebrating the best day of their lives.

D

"I believe I am beginning to understand why you requested that I place a Dream Embargo Spell on Dream Runner", Luna said to her sister as she restored the information deleted weeks ago in Dream Runner's personal information book. "But I am still confused as to why you wanted me to curse him with a Flying Phobia Spell and erase all books from the library with any information on him."

"All will unravel in time, Luna", Celestia replied as she began to lower the sun. "You'll find they are mainly precautions."

Luna resumed placing text on the pages. "I hope you are not thinking about becoming too involved in this. Remember that you are a princess."

Celestia ignored the last comment. She continued to stare out of the window of their study to observe the white, snowy town of Ponyville. The time is approaching…

Slumber Partay!

Slumber Partay!

Dream Runner looked over the checklist Twilight wrote out for him one more time. It seemed that he had everything gathered for his very first slumber party plus a few extras he included. A check on the setting sun told him that the time was at hoof for everypony to arrive. He had never looked forward to something so much in his whole life. Since Twilight confirmed that they were indeed having a slumber party, the colt could hardly contain himself about the subject. At one point he was afraid that he had pestered Twilight to the point of annoyance. The unicorn, however, was overjoyed to see him so giddy. She found every drifting moment to remind him just to see his face brighten up again.

No pony but him was currently occupying the library, but that didn't stop his huge grin from giving away his anticipation. He bounced to the kitchen to double check their snacks for the night. "Let's see…" he looked over the counter packed with junk food. "S'mores ingredients…check. Chips…check. Candy. Check. Sodas…check…baked snacks, uh check." It was somewhat disappointing that he couldn't muster the courage to bother Twilight to get his favorite snack, but with the amount of sugary and fatty foods before him, it almost didn't matter.

The clock in the next room chimed six. "Where is everypony", Dream asked himself somewhat impatiently. He went back to the main foyer where he and Twilight had pushed the furniture against the shelves to allow the ponies to catch Zs on the floor. He finished going over the rest of the supplies. The activity materials were neatly stacked on the tables the two left in the center of the room. "Everything's ready…except no pony's here…" With Spike out camping with the Cutie Mark Crusaders, it was completely empty on the inside.

He didn't let it get him down. Even though it was almost dark out, Dream decided to go out and look for them. The second he put his hoof on the door, it exploded inward, pinning him against the wall while Rainbow Dash excitedly flew in followed by Cloud, Applejack, Thorny, Linen Fiber, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy, Strings, Fluttershy's helper Day and Twilight all carrying their own rolled up sleeping bag.

"Hey, where's Dream", Cloud asked.

"He was here when I left", Twilight replied.

A moan of pain turned everypony's attention to the still-open door. Twilight levitated the door closed, allowing Dream to fall to the floor. "Oh my gosh! Dream, are you okay!?"

He nodded slowly. Twilight helped him stand up. He shook the pain and dizziness away. When he didn't need help standing anymore, Twilight let him go. He looked around the room at the ponies Twilight managed to coax into staying overnight with them. Rainbow was the first to say something.

"Eh, heheh, sorry, dude", she apologized. "Didn't know you were behind the door."

Dream shrugged. "I'll just get you back during the pillow fight", he replied with a grin.

Before Rainbow could start a standoff, Rarity asked, "What shall be the first event of our slumber party entitle?"

Twilight, Fluttershy, and Dream smiled to each other. "First", Dream said with a little more enthusiasm than he intended, "My idea." He grabbed ten labeled paper bags and tossed them to all of the ponies with the respective names. The only two that didn't get one were him and Linen. "Don't look into them just yet. Go into the other rooms and then look into them. You'll know what to do. Linen, Twilight told me you probably brought your own. Just follow the guys with your things."

They all obeyed without objection. The guys went to the nonfiction wing of the library while the girls entered the astronomy section as per Dream's directions. Twilight trotted up to her room, leaving Dream in the main room to open his bag. When he was finished with it, he simply tossed it in the nearest trashcan. He waited patiently for the others to come back. If he had a large grin before they left, what was now plastered to his face couldn't even be recorded when they all came back. It was going to be funny to watch what happened.

He could hear the mares in their room chatter with excitement while only the sound of trotting and sounds of grumbling came from the stallion's room. The Elements were the first back, wearing brand new nightgowns designed to their specific colors and Cutie Marks. The first to thank him was Rarity, who practically choked the life out of him with a hug.

"Oh, Dream Runner, I simply adore it!" she exclaimed, relishing over the white gown dotted with the gems of the image on her flank. "You have such great taste!"

"The design was all on Twilight and Fluttershy", Dream said bashfully. "I only suggested we wear them."

"Oh, it was nothing, really…" the shy Pegasus whispered when all eyes fell on her.

"I still can't believe we have to…" mumbled Rainbow Dash as she tugged on her blue gown. Needless to say she found it waaaaaayyy to girly.

They each paid their compliments and thanks as the first colt emerged from the fiction wing. "A brilliant idea, Dream Runner", said Linen on his way back, "Now I shall not be the odd one out!" He smoothed out a wrinkle in the sleeve of his button down pajamas sporting violet and sprinkled with math symbols and numbers.

The first colt to get the actual embarrassment out of the way was Cloud. He trotted out holding his head as high as a Pegasus wearing gray thunderstorm patterned button downs could. He muttered thanks before taking his place beside the sleeping bag he dropped when he arrived. Next to show his face was Daylight, who quickly made his way for his things while keeping his gaze on the ground. Strings was next, and actually held his head up pretty high. He smiled as he showed off his dark green pajamas sporting musical notes and bass guitars. And finally was Thorn Hopper. He moseyed in slowly, trying to pretend he was the only pony in the room.

Dream and Twilight, who had finally descended the last step from her room, let their friends burn in the fiery pits of embarrassment for a few more seconds until their blushes slowly faded away. Dream gave Twilight a nod, prompting her to take charge of the group. "Okay, everypony", she said bubbly, "Since this is Dream's first slumber party, he wanted to add a few things to the list of things to do in this chapter of Slumber 101. We'll pick and choose randomly among the list."

"This ain't gonna be like last time is it, Twi?" asked Applejack in concern over the memories of the previous night over with the unicorn.

"Oh, no, it won't be anything like that."

"Let's get started by setting our things down and getting set up", Dream interjected while AJ and Rarity exchanged relieved expressions. Everypony obliged and began laying out their things on the clean floor. Dream withdrew several old quilts from his satchel to spread out over a larger portion of the floor. The slight chatter and sounds of sleeping bags spreading over the rest of the floor slowly faded into an awkward silence when everypony finished preparing for the night.

Twilight broke it by reading the first thing listed in the chapter. "Since the sun is still up, we can start the evening with a little warm up activity." She suppressed her excited squeal with a deep breath. "It's a form of hide-and-seek, but with a twist."

"Eh", Pinkie Pie said dismissively, "I like shakes better."

"What's this 'twist'?" Cloud asked suspiciously.

"Everypony must pair up and tie themselves to their partner", she answered, "Even the seekers."

"That makes things difficult", Day commented.

"How are we figurin' out who our par'dners are?" Applejack inquired.

"The book says the best way is to take the number of players divide it by two—"

"Eh, can we skip the math and just draw flags?" Rainbow interrupted.

"Flags?" Dream asked.

"We did it back in flight school. We just need, uh…four…seven…twelve flags—"

"Of which there will be double colors so as to randomly choose pairs based upon the probability of sixty eight, point six nine six percent!" Linen deduced enthusiastically. "Fabulous!"

"Twilight, what'd he say?" Strings asked.

The unicorn conjured up twelve small flags and placed them in an opaque container color-side-down. "When we draw, everypony will pick a color that somepony else will have."

After a round of "ohs" the ponies in the library picked a flag. Once everypony was paired up and tied together somehow, Linen summoned a six-sided die from another plane of existence. "To accurately—"

"Two!" Cloud called before the lengthy explanation could start.

Fluttershy got the idea and went second, picking her number with the loudest whisper she could muster, "Six."

"Five!"

"Four!"

"One"

"Leaving three for me and Day…" Linen tossed the numbered cube to the floor where it bounced three times, spun, then striking the bottom of a bookshelf, finally settled on the single-dotted side.

"Awww, dagnabbit Ah was hopin' t'hide first!" Thorny complained. He turned to his partner. "C'mon, Rainbow, let's go count."

The Pegasus muttered "lame" under her breath before walking with him to the other side of the library's front door. "Jus' t'ten, right?"

Twilight nodded.

He closed the door behind him, straining to hear where the instant eruption of noise was headed as the ponies on the inside rushed to find a place to conceal themselves. "One."

"Two." Rainbow Dash continued.

"Three."

"Four."

"Five."

"Six."

"Sev'n."

"Eight."

Thorny put his hoof on the door. "Nine."

Rainbow smirked. "Ten."

Together they burst through the door into the still air of the silent library. They scanned the room for any signs of obvious hiders. Thorny pointed to the far closet. Rainbow noticed it was slightly open. "Shh", Thorny breathed with a hoof to his lips.

"Gotcha."

They awkwardly crept to the closet as quietly as they could. Rainbow grasped the door and threw it open to reveal that the inside was completely empty. Thorny chuckled. "Got all riled up for nothin'."

The mare attached to him by the foreleg tugged him along. "Come on, I want a turn to hide tonight!"

"Calm yer wings, Rainbow. With my trackin' skills, we'll find'em in no time!"

As they walked through the library, both ponies saw little signs of their friends. They strained their ears against the silence for the slightest sounds. Rainbow Dash constantly pulled at Thorny in her rush to get the seeking out of the way. He offered her full resistance so they didn't miss any clues that would give the hiders away.

They walked past a bookshelf, not noticing that two pairs of eyes were watching them closely from behind a single layer of books. Both Dream and Cloud held their breaths while the pair strolled by. A nervous exhale and chuckle escaped the bookshelf when the prone ponies were sure they were no longer in earshot.

"Aha! Thought you could pull a fast one on us, eh?" Rainbow called.

The stallions tensed fearing they had been found out.

"Awww, what gave us away?" they heard Strings whine from another room.

"Dude, Pinkie Pie's whole tail was sticking out!"

"Oopsie, heehee!"

There was some movement before the four appeared back in the first room. "That's two down!" Thorny called, "We're gonna get y'all!"

A loud bang from Twilight's room prompted Rainbow to drag her partner through the air to investigate, leaving Pinkie Pie and Strings to tickle fight over the mare's mishap in their hiding technique.

"Rainbow!" Thorny cried when he was back on solid ground, "Ya can't just be draggin' me all over like that!"

"What? Too intense for you?" she asked smugly.

"Ah get airsick real easy!" he claimed, holding his stomach in an attempt to keep his lunch in place.

Rainbow frowned in disgust. "Yeah, I think I'll pass on seeing you toss your cookies."

"Thanks", Thorny breathed, "Now let's find just who made that noise."

The first place to be checked was under Twilight's bed, which only housed old science equipment and a few textbooks from the mare's days in Canterlot. Dream's bed held no better results. The only thing under it was a sign that said, "No pony's hiding here, keep looking."

"Now they're just messing with us!" Rainbow growled.

"Whoa, there, Rainbow Dash, don't get mad now", Thorny coaxed.

The irritation faded when the Pegasus noticed something out of the ordinary. The shelf above the window rocked slightly. Upon further inspection, she noticed that there was a very suspicious blanket covering a slightly squirming object underneath. She tapped Thorny on the shoulder. He stopped looking under Twilight's dresser to follow his partner's gaze to the ceiling.

Smiling, he lifted her up as far as he could without hurting her hoof. It was awkward to lift her like that, but it was worth it. She threw back the blanket to discover two unicorns, tied at the hip, struggling to keep their balance on the narrow plank of a shelf.

"Found y'all!" Thorny announced to the library.

Rarity and Twilight sighed in disappointment.

"I was sure they would never find us up there!" Rarity said on the climb down.

"Sorry, Rarity. My sinuses couldn't handle the dust", Twilight apologized with a congested sniff.

"Oh, don't blame yourself, Twilight…"

The two continued their conversation while Thorny and Rainbow Dash left to ransack the kitchen for the remaining four contestants. It didn't take long at all to find Fluttershy and Applejack, who were hiding in the top of the pantry.

"Now it's just Linen and Day, and Cloud and Dream", Rainbow pointed out.

"Did we check Twi's closet before we found her an' Rarity?"

She shook her head. "Nuh, uh. Come on let's go!"

They rushed back upstairs, past the ponies lounging and idly talking in the foyer of the library. They tore open the door to Twilight's closet, but weren't fast enough to dodge the two ponies tied back-to-back who fell out. Linen and Daylight grunted as they struggled to roll off of the two ponies that had just found them.

"…Sorry, you guys", Day said when all eight hooves were finally on the floor.

"Y'all're alright!" Thorny replied, dusting his hat off.

"Come on, we only have to find Dream and Cloud now!" Rainbow shouted, pulling Thorny back downstairs.

"Have you found everypony already?" Twilight asked when the mare saw them descending the stairs.

"No, we still ain't found Cloud an' Dream."

"There's only one team left?"

"Yeah, and they're a tough find."

"Did anypony happen to see where they went? Because the book says that once the last team is to be found, everypony can join in the hunt so long as no pony knows where they are", Twilight said.

Everypony shook their head.

"Are you saying that we should unfairly turn the odds against two of our closest friends?" Rarity questioned seriously.

Twilight shrugged. "It's only a suggestion."

"Why not", asked Fluttershy. She squeaked when everypony simultaneously looked at her.

"Fluttershy, is that really you?" Day asked.

"I-I…um…just thought it might be fun if everypony looked together", she whispered honestly.

"Ah'm in!" Applejack announced.

"Woowee! Le's go get'em!"

Cloud and Day gulped as the ten non-hiding ponies dispersed in their pairs. They waited in silence while sounds of the search echoed through the library. Their worry over being found was for nothing. It was nearing about forty minutes before the main room was once again filled with ponies.

"Anything", Rainbow Dash asked first.

"Nothing."

"Nuh uh."

"Ugh!" Rainbow Dash threw her hooves up and fell over. "I give up!"

Thorny put a hoof to his mouth and called, "Alright, Dream an' Cloud! Y'all can come out now!"

From across the room on a low shelf, books fell, followed by two laughing Pegasi. They stood up and untied Dream's foreleg from Cloud's rear leg. Everypony else facehoofed at how close they were to finding them.

"Is that why you wanted to shelf this section earlier", Twilight asked accusingly, "To pull the books away from the wall for space?"

Dream smiled. "Maybe…"

"You cheeky sneak!" laughed Applejack.

"That was awesome, Dream. I swear I didn't think it was going to work!" Cloud gave his partner a well-deserved pat on the back.

"Okay, who hides next?" Rainbow Dash asked impatiently.

Taking a look at the nearest window, Twilight received the misfortune of telling her friend a bit of bad news. "Umm…It's already dark…if we keep going it could take hours and—"

"Ain't nopony got time for that!" Pinkie Pie shouted.

"Exactly", the lavender unicorn agreed. "We should go on to the next activity."

"Ugh!" Rainbow fell over onto her rainbow sleeping bag in defeat.

"What's next", asked Cloud.

"Hmm…" Twilight ran her hoof over the list. "This one's a little new to me…'spin the bottle'?"

The faces around her turned bright red with the exception of Pinkie Pie and Dream, who were reading over her shoulder. "It doesn't say how it's played", the Pegasus pointed out, "Anypony have an idea?"

"I know exactly how it's played", Rarity said. Stares fell on her like bricks. Some of terror and others of pure embarrassment. Applejack even shook her head pleadingly. She gave the worrisome ponies a wink of trust. "You simply spin a bottle in a circle of ponies and if it lands on a said pony of opposite gender, the pony who spun must kiss the selected pony. It's a game of chance and humor. I recommend playing." She conjured a glass soda bottle out of thin air. "Shall we?"

Now that everypony was officially blushing, Twilight shook her head. "I'm not sure about that…it will put ponies in a very fragile position…"

"It's all in good fun, Twilight, no feelings incorporated." If looks could kill, there would be eight accounts of murder coming from the ponies not hovering over Twilight's book. Rarity backed up to Applejack for support and subtly whispered something into her ear. Twilight didn't catch it, nor did she see Applejack pass the message along. She didn't even catch on when everypony suddenly changed their minds about the game.

"I think it's a great game to play", Fluttershy said.

"Come on, Twilight, don't be chicken", coaxed Cloud followed by several more nods.

Still against the idea, she couldn't deny the near unanimous decision. "Okay, okay, let's do it then…"

Everypony eagerly formed a circle on the half of the floor that wasn't covered by sleeping bags. Rarity placed the bottle in the center. "Twilight, why don't you have the honor of the first spin?"

The red-faced unicorn looked around, but couldn't deny the stares. "Okay…" She took a deep breath and used her magic to give the bottle a strong kick counterclockwise. The heads followed the neck of the bottle around and around and around until it began to slow. Twilight held her breath and bit her lip. It spun passed Cloud and eased by Linen to finally stop right back on her. A small sigh escaped her mouth. "Next pony."

"Ah ah ah", Rarity tsked, "You must spin until a successful stop."

When Twilight spun the second time, Rarity decided to stop playing games with the mare and go in straight for the kill. She tweaked her magic frequency just a little bit and watched as the bottle slowed to a torturing pace. It eased past Fluttershy, and crept past Thorny before coming to a stop on Dream at the opposite side of the circle.

His irises nearly disappeared as he looked down at the bottle, then to Twilight. He had hoped it would land on him, but didn't think it would happen! He watched in excited horror as Twilight stood up and crossed the diameter of the circle to him. She leaned down, puckering her lips as she closed in on him. About halfway, she closed her eyes. Dream closed his too, forgetting that they weren't the only two in the room.

What took three seconds dragged on in their minds for several days as they waited for contact. Twilight kept going until she felt the burning sensation of Dream's blush against her lips. She kept the kiss planted for something of six seconds before leaving the colt's cheek. A jolt of energy exploded from the hottest part of Dream's face and rippled through the rest of his body. He opened his eyes and was stunned to see Twilight staring into his eyes. Then, with only their blushes to confirm that anything had even happened, she left for the other side of the circle.

"Isn't this supposed to be a slumber party?" Pinkie Pie exclaimed in accordance to the second part of Rarity's plan. She pulled out her pink stereo and inserted a mix tape. "Let's party!" No pony objected. Instead they all were more than willing to avoid embarrassment.

D

Dream rested his head on his hooves as he relaxed on his blankets. Six of the best hours of his life had gone by, leaving the smiling colt feeling happy and accomplished that everything had gone by successfully. He sighed peacefully, reflecting the games that they had played, from Fluttershy kicking everypony's flank in the pillow fight, to Rainbow Dash and Strings teaming up to win the scary story contest. The junk food shifted in his stomach, reminding him of the role reversal game they all pulled off after Pinkie Pie blew the biggest bubblegum bubble. It sure was different to act like Linen, and it was hilarious to see Twilight act like Cloud even if she lacked the wings. The harder he tried to remember the night's hijinks, the harder the highlight of the night tried to take over the center of his memories. He was never going to forget his first game of spin the bottle, even if there was going to be another in his future. He could still feel Twilight's lips on his cheek, making him blush and smile even wider.

"Twilight, is that everything on the list?" he yawned without getting up.

The unicorn looked around. "I think everypony's too tired for the rest of the chapter, Dream. Besides, it's midnight. I think we should get sleep, anyway."

"I second that motion", Linen called tiredly from his light gray sleeping bag.

Twilight yawned. "Then I guess it's settled."

The ponies that weren't already lying down made haste to copy those who were.

"Everypony have fun?" Dream asked hopefully.

"Yeah…"

"You betcha!"

"Best. Slumber Party. Ever!"

As the positive feedback came, Dream couldn't believe how much fun his friends had. The little part of his subconscious that had been doubting the outcome finally dissipated, leaving him completely content. "Well, then, goodnight…"

What he mostly got in return were yawns, but a few "goodnights" still did go around, including a "see ya in the mornin'" from Thorny. He felt Twilight snuggle into her sleeping bag right next to his palette, and look over to see her already half asleep. He blushed at how pretty she was. It deepened when his mind was invaded with a quick, daring thought. Kiss her goodnight… a gentle voice in his head whispered. Don't pass up this chance…

He froze, unable to argue. Cautiously, he gazed around. No pony will see… it coaxed. Go on… He scooted closer to her. He targeted her cheek, but couldn't engage it. It was as if whatever was controlling his body had given him back control. Go on…do it…

It was quick, sweet, but definitely to the point. The peck he left on Twilight's cheek was so short lived that if he blinked, he would've missed doing it. He was back under his blankets in a flash, with a path of red expanding across the bridge of his nose and stopping on his left cheek.

Twilight didn't mind. She even giggled a little. Using one last spell, she amplified her voice once again to Dream's ears. Goodnight, Dream Runner…

A Miraculous Miracle

A Miraculous Miracle

The two regal sisters of Equestria relaxed peacefully in the royal study. Both enjoyed the glowing fire keeping them warm from the fall temperatures of Canterlot. Princess Luna sipped her tea quietly as she read a new book sent to her from Twilight while her sister continued to stare down at the snowy town of Ponyville. Both were so wrapped up in their thoughts that neither noticed the other's actions. At least, until Celestia cleared her throat loudly in six quick successions.

Luna rolled her eyes, but looked up to see Celestia still gazing out of the window. "Is there something you require, Celestia?"

"I believe enough time has passed", she simply stated.

"I'm afraid you must be more specific."

"The time has finally come to lift a spell…"

D

"Whaaaaaaa!"

Ploom!

Twilight and Rainbow Dash cringed. Dream's landing might have been cushioned by snow, but it still looked like it hurt. He quickly clambered out of the three-foot hole. The library's balcony was a long way back up, and he really didn't feel like making the climb again. He took a deep breath and a seat next to Twilight on the bench they moved close by for her to watch from the ground. She would have caught him with her magic, but he refused to let her, explaining that it wasn't helping him to stop him from falling while still in the air. The only thing she could do was keep piling snow in his landing area for some kind of cushion.

"Ready to call it a day", she asked.

He nodded slowly. Helplessly, Twilight watched him writhe in depression, just like he did every week during his flight training. It had been another few days since he started the lessons again, and just like the first session after his near-death experience, he failed once again. Little did she know that he only became depressed whenever she came out to watch. Only one good thing ever came out of the frequent failures. Twilight had made a tradition of taking him out to Sugarcube Corner for a treat to cheer him up. She looked up to Rainbow Dash and shook her head, signaling the Pegasus to call the quits and fly off to do whatever it was she had planned after they had finished.

The two remaining ponies outside waited in silence for the colt to come back from the cold depths of sadness. When Dream Runner closed his eyes, Twilight decided to put a hoof around him and pull him into a hug like she did everytime he felt bad. The gesture always got a smile, and this time was no different, especially since this time she decided to tickle him.

"Haha! Twilight! Stop! Heheh, you know I have sensitive sides!" It took some work, but he squirmed out of her grip. He smiled gratefully while he brought his giggles under control. "Thanks."

"You're welcome, Dream", she replied brightly.

Taking his smile as a signal to get up, Twilight stood to leave. When she didn't hear his hooves crunching in the snow too, she turned to find him still sitting on the bench. He was watching the clouds move along with the wind, only vaguely aware that Twilight had almost left him there.

"Dream, aren't you coming?" She tilted her head to the side in confusion.

He shook his head. "You can go to Sugarcube Corner without me, Twilight. I want to relax here for a few minutes. I'll catch up later, okay?"

The cold made it incredibly difficult for her to refuse to leave, no matter how stubborn her want to stay with him was. "Okay, Dream, just don't take forever."

He gave her his best grin. "I won't, Twilight."

She giggled silently before trotting away to the warm inside of the Corner. Dream closed his eyes again and listened for her sounds of departure to disappear. He snuck a peak when he could no longer hear anything. To his relief she was gone. He hopped up from the bench, and trudged through the deep snow to the door of the library.

He couldn't tell how much warmer it was on the inside while wearing his scarf, but it didn't matter since he was already on his way back out. He brought with him to the balcony a book that was sent to him anonymously. He had kept it from Twilight as per the instructions on the note that came with it. He could have sworn he knew the hoofwriting, but after hurting himself trying to place a name on the writer, he gave up. Now he decided to read the final chapter of the book titled, The Ten Steps to Flying.

It was kind of scary to have somepony he didn't know send him a book containing instructions to solving the second largest problem in his life, but that didn't keep him from reading it, especially since his confidence could only take so many more hits. Dream opened the book and shielded the pages from the breeze. He skimmed back over the pages his eyes had already scoured tirelessly, wondering if there was something he wasn't getting from the text. "I read the first nine chapters over and over, but…I still can't even glide…"

The words in the book didn't change no matter how many times he flipped the pages. He wanted to believe that whoever had sent it was a pony just trying to help out with vain results, but something about the text in the book told him there was something more to the strange tome. "You don't become one of the most successful treasure hunters you know without a sixth sense…What are your secrets?"

After undergoing various tests that would have broken the spirit of any lesser book, it remained intact without so much as a creased page. No pony would have gone through the trouble of placing strong protection enchantments on it if there wasn't something important in it. "Maybe…I should just read the last chapter…It can't be cursed…I hope…"

He turned to the suspicious last page of the book that bore the title "Chapter Ten". He took the weight of his hoof from it to allow the wind to flip it for him. He took a deep breath. "Although the previous nine chapters have outlined the basis for taking flight, there is one last important thing that must be considered by every Pegasus Pony: the Spirit of Flight. This is something not taught in any flying school. The reason is because that it is learned throughout the life of the Pegasus from the time they are born to the second they are ready to get in the air. However, there are those ponies who have been cheated out of learning what their Spirit of Flight is…"

Dream wasn't sure that this was going anywhere. There was just one small paragraph at the bottom of the page, and it could hardly be enough room to provided him with the information he needed. However, his curiosity had been peaked, so he read on, "For these ponies, there is a simple way to quickly find out. You must simply look into the deepest regions of your heart and find the thing that is most important to you. When you have it and are sure that it is most important to you, hold onto that thought. That is what you will be flying for."

The text stopped there, but Dream knew exactly what it meant. He smiled, unsure at first, then in realization. "Of course", he chuckled. He stepped up to the banister. "I fly for Twilight." For Twilight, he echoed in his head. He pictured her in his mind. "For you." In one quick movement, he jumped over the edge.

D

"I wonder what's taking Dream so long", Twilight pondered to herself. "It shouldn't be taking him this long just to walk here." Another sip of her hot chocolate did little to calm her steadily fraying nerves. The darkening clouds outside gave her plenty of reason to worry about him. She forgot to get the weather report from Rainbow Dash, so she didn't know if there was a scheduled blizzard or not. Asking Pinkie Pie was out of the question. Sugarcube Corner was so crowded with ponies that she and the cakes couldn't stand still long enough to blink their eyes. Twilight even had to wait for a table! She continued to watch the path she took from the library, hoping to see the Pegasus following the tracks her hooves made. It wasn't much longer before somepony sat across from her.

"Twilight, what are you doing her so alone?" Fluttershy asked.

"Dream's supposed to be here with me, but he hasn't gotten here yet…"

Something seemed wrong with the situation, so Fluttershy asked, "Are you okay, Twilight? You look worried."

"Fluttershy, is there supposed to be a blizzard today?"

She thought back to what Rainbow Dash said at the last Pegasus meeting. She shook her head. "No. That's tomorrow afternoon. The weather teams are just getting ready today."

Twilight sighed heavily with relief. "Oh, good. That means he won't get caught in it. That scarf of his can't possibly keep him warm under six feet of snow."

"Here ya go Fluttershy!" announced Pinkie Pie, firmly planting a plate of chocolate brownies down on the table along with a large mug of hot chocolate for the two.

"Is your shift almost over?" Fluttershy asked, to which Pinkie nodded vigorously.

She slipped a large pair of black glasses over her eyes. "I'll be back", she said slowly.

Twilight laughed with Fluttershy at Pinkie's silliness. The mares made idle chat over the sweets while they waited for Pinkie to return from work. Twilight occasionally turned her glance to the scenery outside of the corner to find that there were still no signs of Dream. Fighting the paranoia with another brownie, she answered Fluttershy. "No", she sighed, "He still can't fly…"

The yellow mare couldn't find something to say that she thought was appropriate and fell into silence, with the only noise coming from her being the sound of quiet chewing. The interlude didn't last for long.

"I'm back!" Pinkie declared, sliding in next to Twilight. "Did you miss me!? Pfft haha, of course you did!"

"Did you have a teaspoon of sugar on your way back from the kitchen", Twilight asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, why?" Pinkie bounced up and down with enough energy to cause any fizzy drink to explode.

"Because I can feel the rush from here", Twilight chortled.

"Hey, where's Dream?"

"I don't know, Pinkie. He probably fell asleep on the bench back at the library." The thought set her mind further at ease. The night before was a long one for the two librarians. It was the night they scheduled to move every piece of Twilight's science equipment from the basement to the attic to make room for the bookshelves they had to order to hold the hundreds of books that came in from the Canterlot Archives. They were too heavy for her to lift with her magic without hurting herself, so of course Dream helped. Together, the duo took five hours to get everything moved. "I'm going to check on him."

Pinkie Pie stood up to let the unicorn go find her Pegasus. The cold air and ground made her flinch with a shiver. The cold shot right through her boots and into her hooves. She adjusted rather quickly then made off in a moderate trot back to the library. The wind outside blew much harder than it did when she got to Sugarcube corner, further lowering the temperatures.

D

Dream once again ended up with a mouthful of snow as his body hit the ground for the third time since he decided to give flying another try for the day. He shook his head free from the fuzziness filling his vision. He shakily pushed himself up from the powder. "One more time", he gasped, "Lucky number four. Then I'll stop."

And so he climbed the stairs yet again, hoping that his trust in his favorite number wouldn't betray him. His hooves were still sore from the second, almost bone-shattering fall, but a healing potion on the way back up fixed that problem easy. While the tingly feeling repairing the damaged cells in his hooves fought off the pain, he focused his mind on Twilight again. His daring side took him out on a limb. "If I don't fly this time", he said before he caught himself, "then Twilight and I are not meant to be."

His breathing stopped. He had practically just doomed any chance of a love life he had with the unicorn of his dreams. Dream stepped up to the banister for what would most likely be the final time. "I can do this…I have to. For Twilight. For Twilight." His fears melted away when he pushed all scenarios of failure out of his mind. Complete confidence engulfed him with a shot of adrenaline. He felt much more capable than he ever felt in his life. He filled his lungs to their maximum capacity. He leapt over the edge with only the picture of Twilight in his head to keep his confidence thriving.

The ground came a lot faster than he last remembered. Dream's wings flapped frantically in every desperate attempt to keep him from landing face first. The ground got dangerously close to his nose, and he shut his eyes in fear that he just jinxed his whole life. This is it. Twilight and I will forever be just friends, and I'll be the most pathetic, flightless…wait…where is the pain? He slowly opened his eyes to find that he was gently hovering over the snow covered ground of Ponyville. His heart stood still, making it hard for his brain to process what was happening.

Dream Runner cautiously stretched out a hoof just above the snow and waved it back and forth. He turned his head to see that his wings were flapping in unison and were actually keeping him up. "I-I'm doing it! I'm flying!" He cautiously gave his wings a little more energy. He rose so slowly back up to the balcony. By shifting his weight forward, Dream found that he moved in that direction. "How am I—it doesn't even matter! I'm flying!" He gave himself a quick review in moving, hovering, and gliding from the books that Rainbow Dash had given him from flight school. Everything worked!

He didn't even think about trying to do anything but fly around. Tricks could wait until later. He circled the top of the library a few times, laughing and giggling at his greatest accomplishment outside exploring. He spotted Twilight coming up the path toward the library. A great idea hit, making him fly higher behind a cloud.

The unicorn trotted along, but didn't see Dream on the bench as she had suspected. She quickened her trot to a light gallop, hoping that he just fell into deep snow. She didn't find him anywhere near the snow. She did find several trails of hoofprints leading to the library. She followed them until and was just to the door when something grabbed her from the side and rolled with her in the snow. When she recovered, she realized Dream was looking her right in the face. Upon a second look, she saw that he wasn't touching the ground.

"I did it Twilight! I'm flying! I did it!" he announced to all of Ponyville.

She smiled in amazement. "You sure did, Dream", she breathed.

D

"For he's a jolly good flyer! For he's a jolly good flyer!" everypony invited to the party devoted to his first flight chanted. The Elements of Harmony gently put him back down on the floor. It took Pinkie Pie only ten minutes to set the celebration up, and three minutes to get her friends to the library.

Dream looked around at the six ponies who worked hardest to help him fly. They all smiled back at him, waiting for him to say something. Grabbing Twilight first, he pulled them all into the biggest hug he could ever give them. The girls didn't know it, but Dream was secretly celebrating something else too. Flying was the exact thing he needed to see that his life had become nearly complete. It signified the true start of his new life. He reflected back to how it all happened. At one point or another, they were always there.

"I can't thank you all enough", he said when the hooves around him eased, "You all gave me a new life, and I can't be happier for that." He paused to let the "aaawwwsss" pass, then continued. "A month and a half ago I was the most pathetic pony in Equestria…" His reminiscing caused tears to form. He blinked as many back as he could away before continuing. "I-I wouldn't be happy with my life if it wasn't for you…thank you. Thank you all so much for turning my life around."

Silence ensued with the second hug. Dream sniffed. "I…I want to give you all something to show how much I appreciate you."

"Dream Runner, ya don' hafta do nothin' like that", Applejack replied for the group.

"I know, Applejack. But I'm going to anyway." He motioned for everypony to form a circle around him. When Pinkie Pie stopped bouncing in place, he reached into his satchel and withdrew six small cases.

Twilight's eyes grew the second she realized what he was placing on the floor in front of them. "Dream, you—" His hoof shot to her mouth to hush her.

When all cases were distributed, he spoke up in the voice that he used when explaining his artifacts. "On the floor in front of you are six of the nine most precious treasures to me. I have worked hard my whole life collecting them. They are Emotion Orbs, containing the very essence of emotions within them. I give them to you because everything you have given and done for me is by far more valuable and precious than anything I have ever pulled out of cave." He turned to Pinkie Pie. "For showing me why it's important to smile, I give Pinkie Pie the Orb of Happiness." Within the case was a glowing sphere with a gold aura swirling around inside.

"It's so pretty! Thank you, Dreamy!"

He turned around to face Fluttershy. "Fluttershy, you have taught me that it's okay to be scared, and that there's no fear that I can't overcome. I give you the Orb of Serenity." This orb's glow was fainter, and its aura dull blue.

"Thank you…" she said meekly.

"You've taught me that I can like myself as well as others, Rainbow Dash. I give to you the Orb of Joy." Rainbow's orb held an unstable-looking yellow mist.

"This is so awesome!"

"Rarity, you've shown me that friends are anything but a burden, and that I shouldn't hesitate to ask for help. You may have the Orb of Bliss."

"I adore it! It's simply beautiful!" She held the green orb to her closely.

"Applejack. The best way through life is to be able to make fun out of everything life throws at you. Thank for the lesson, you may have the Orb of Compassion." The orange in the orb was the same shade as the mare's coat.

"Thank ya, kindly, Dream."

The Pegasus didn't immediately say anything when he stopped on Twilight. He only smiled down at her before sighing. "Twilight Sparkle. For being with me before I even opened my eyes for the first time in Ponyville, and for showing me that the world is much nicer than I had come to believe, and also for caring about me in a way that no pony else ever has, I give you the Orb of Love."

Twilight only stared at him in disbelief. She couldn't wrap her mind around the fact that he had just given her his favorite Emotion Orb. He nodded in acknowledgement to her "are you sure?" expression. "Thank you, Dream."

"The six of you are my closest friends, and I couldn't imagine it any other way."

They all shared one last hug before Pinkie Pie kicked on the music. An intense party followed after, leading all the way into the early hours of morning. There was nothing planned for them to do exactly, so the suggested activities stopped the second Dream was too tired to fly anymore. He and Twilight walked their friends to the door, before turning in.

He smiled up at the ceiling in his bed. Perfect, he thought, My life is almost perfect. He looked up to see that Twilight was already asleep. And tomorrow, I tell Twilight I love her…