Dreamerby Axan ZenithChaptersPrologueChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3PrologueDreamer - Prologue Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria, there were two ponies. A mare and a stallion, to be exact. One was rather soft-spoken and gentle. The other, confident and strong willed. One fateful day, in a small, out-of-the-way cafe in downtown Canterlot, these two star-crossed lovers glanced up from their cups of somewhat decent coffee to find the other staring straight at them. Their eyes met, their hearts melted, and they fell deeply in love with each other. After a long and beautiful courtship, the young ponies arranged to be married, and prepared themselves to embark on a heartwarming journey full of life, laughter and love. This is not their story. Rather, this is the story that takes place directly after that one. You see, many years passed since those days, (at this point the two were in the stages of their marriage when they argued over which side of the plate the fork went on), and the couple decided to take their relationship a step further. That is, they wanted to have a foal to call their own. So one day, they locked the doors, applied the proper mood lighting and... Ahem. Yes, well, months later the mare had a beautiful baby colt. A light grey in colour, with an untidy red mane. As the two parents held their child, the stallion, (The soft-spoken and gentle one), decided they should start trying to name the little tyke. The mare, (the confident and strong willed of the two), agreed, and chose the name Comet Crusher. The father wanted to name him something nicer, and suggested to name him Fairy Dust. Not wanting to be left out, the newborn colt cried out, “Blurgle!”, at the top of his little voice. The two parents considered this, but decided that while “Blurgle” sounded dependable, but still in touch with the feminine side, it didn’t quite fit. As the newfound parents debated on what to name their newborn foal, the little earth pony decided to turn his infantile mind to bigger and better things. The hospital wall, to be specific. After a few milliseconds of painstaking study, the colt decided, perhaps conclusively, that the wall was boring. He looked to another wall, this time on his right. No, that one was boring, too. It was then that he realized that the entire room was quite dull, even if it was one of the few rooms he had ever been in. He huffed and puffed, and waved his tiny hoof around. Partly for experiment, partly because he thought it might be interesting. Anything to break the monotonous drone of voices saying things he couldn’t understand. He had just about given up on the prospect of finding something worthy of his attention when he happened to glance at the wall on his left. Identical to the aforementioned boring walls, a drab cream coloured wallpaper with a horribly clashing pink stripe, except for one major detail. There was something set into the wall. A small, square shaped portal filled with what appeared to be a solid but transparent material. But it was not what was in the window that grabbed his attention so completely. It was what was on the other side. Vast. That was the only word to describe it, even if he didn’t even know what the word “vast” meant yet. It was so incredibly vast, that he doubted that even the adult ponies in the room, (who were, at this point, completely oblivious to his trance like state, and were currently debating “Red Baron” over “Bird Song”) could possibly comprehend its size. It was vast, and dark blue, and studded with lights. The lights seemed to twinkle at him. Waving at him? Calling him to them? He didn’t know. He wasn’t sure if he should trust these twinkling lights from the heavens. They seemed so distant.... But there was something else. Something massive. Perhaps not as large as the thing it was resting on, (Submerged in? Floating over?), but gigantic all the same. It was an orb, a huge, white orb, that hung majestically above the land. Its surface was scarred and pockmarked with shadowy craters. The dark patches stood out against the ghostly white exterior like cancerous lesions, especially a large grouping of them that looked remarkably like the head of a pony. Was that what it was? Something made by ponies, like him, and then branded by their mark? Maybe. The whole thing was glowing softly. Not shining, no, just glowing. As if lit by borrowed light. It should’ve looked beautiful. And it would’ve been, if the mark hadn’t been there. There was something about it that just seemed....wrong. Off. A clumsy splotch of paint on a masterpiece. He took in the sight behind the window. And so it was that the little silver colt fell in love with the night sky. Of course, his mind was still childish. In fact, everything he had learned in this short time ended up pointing back to the good old options of blubbering and drooling and doing the things an infant should do. And so he did. But it was still there. The sky, the moon, the stars, all of it. Somewhere in the midst of his developing brain, there was stored a love for the heavens, and it would not be overshadowed by an intense desire to make unintelligible noises at random objects in the room. He continued to cry and babble and be generally agreeable with everything, until another truly extraordinary thing happened. His mother and father were still in the thick of their argument when it happened, so it was sometime until the father suddenly looked down at the little bundle he’d been absentmindedly carrying in his unicorn magic and fell silent. His mother took the sudden lack in verbosity as a victory, and had only begun crooning when she saw it too. The small silver foal lay curled in his linen wrappings, grey-blue eyes shut against the world, and shifted slightly in his sleep as the smile on his round face seemed to grow with every second. For one fleeting moment they both wondered what visions could be bringing their child such happiness, but it was lost as they looked at each other in a way they hadn’t done in a very long time, and smiled themselves. For they knew now exactly what to call him. ══════════════════════════════════════ Many years later, on the sunlit grasses in the royal city of Canterlot, a silver coated colt with an altogether smoother red mane sat, absentmindedly staring across the grounds. His name is Dreamer, and he is about to be smacked in the face. This is his story. Chapter 1Dreamer - Chapter 1 She was beautiful. No, more than just beautiful. Breathtaking. The way her pale pink mane tumbled past her shoulders. The way her ivory coat shone in the sunlight. They both served to suck the breath out of his lungs as he gazed in awe at the perfect figure in the distance. Truly she was the daughter of Fleur de Lis. Where else could she have gotten her flawless poise? Her glittering smile? Her bright, sapphire-blue eyes that pierced his heart and- THWOCK … Grass. It tickled his nose and brushed softly against his face. The grass was springy, still damp from the last remnants of dew, and smelled fresh and clean in the warm sunlight. … Why am I thinking about grass? Dreamer blinked. Lifting his head out of the grass, he gave the mare next to him a questioning look. “How did you do that?” A pair of cloudy, topaz eyes turned his way. “Well,” she said, “I lifted my hoof, and then I smacked you in the face. Was there something I missed?” He blinked again. “You’re blind.” Open Book cocked an eyebrow over one of her sightless eyes. “Your point being?” If he had thought his friend could see it, he would have shaken his head in wonder. He let his voice communicate his disbelief instead. “You’re amazing, you know that?” “I try.” The silver colt folded his forehooves in Open Book’s direction. “You mind telling me why you hit me?” The unicorn shifted slightly on the grassy lawn, her black coat shimmering in the noontide sun, and a cocky smirk on her face. “You mean besides the usual reasons?” “Yes, besides those.” “You were doing it again.” Dreamer sighed explosively. She could be so difficult sometimes. He massaged the bridge of his snout with one hoof, his plaintive exasperation saturating his tone for his friend’s benefit. “Doing what, Topaz?” Her smirk widened at the sound of her nickname. She gestured toward the shape of Pale Rose in the distance, (Celestia knows how she figured that out), explaining as she did. “That thing you do when you think all those mushy thoughts about a filly that doesn’t even like you.” Dreamer bit his lower lip. The two were sitting on the warm grasses of Canterlot, drinking in the warm summer air, and shooting the soft breeze that floated gently by. Across the path that led up to the bustling city, the white pegasus in question was oblivious to the young ponies’ gossip, and daintily picked the gorgeous flowers that grew upon the banks of one of the royal cities’ many streams. “But none of them are half as beautiful as you, my sweet,” Dreamer murmured to nopony in particular. Unfortunately for him, Topaz picked up the sweet nothing with her sensitive hearing. She laughed, and it was the sound of bells. “You can be a real Casanova, huh? Funny, I never really pegged you as the romantic type. Always seemed more the pony that trips over their own hooves to get a filly’s attention before you even know if the feeling’s mutual.” He snorted derisively. “Oh, yeah,” he said, rolling his eyes, “and your love life is totally spotless, right? You’ve got half the colts in town tripping over their hooves trying to win your heart, and none of them even know you’re into ma-” Dreamer was suddenly silenced as Topaz plunged her hoof into his open mouth, effectively shutting him up as she whispered furiously into his ear. “Would you keep it down?! I am not, okay! You keep shouting stuff like that around and I’ll be the laughingstock of Canterlot by tomorrow morning!” Dreamer spit her hoof out, wiping his mouth with mock disgust. “Bleh. Tastes like denial, if you ask me.” It was Topaz’s turn to roll her eyes as she said, “Oh, ha ha. Very funny. Listen, Dreamer, I am not into mares. Never have, never will be, got that?” He shrugged nonchalantly. “If you say so. I’ve just been noticing all those looks you give that purple unicorn that lives in the tower, what was her name, again? Starlight Glimmer?” Her response was immediate. “Twilight Sparkle.” Topaz realized her mistake too late, and clapped her hoof to her mouth in horror. If Dreamer’s smug grin was any wider, it would’ve touched the horizons. The black coated mare groaned in frustration and stood up. “Ugh. Spare me. Let’s just get out of here before the whole city thinks I’m chasing after Celestia’s star student.” She strode off with Dreamer trailing after her, the young colt still grinning like a madpony. “Aww. That’s so cute! Topaz and Twilight, sittin’ in a tree, K-I-S-S-” THWOCK “Okay, seriously, how do you do that?!” ══════════════════════════════════════ Dreamer said his goodbyes to Topaz as she closed her front door. Walking the blind mare home had become somewhat of a ritual between the two ponies, and today was no exception. He smiled to himself as he set off for his own home, knowing full well that Topaz could find her own way home without any help from him, and that his escort was just a friendly gesture. His smile faded somewhat. Friends. All he ever had was friends. It was why he found himself so entranced by Pale Rose. Young love. It sounded so cliche, when he thought about it, but the idea intrigued him nevertheless. Growing up in Canterlot meant he was always exposed to wonderful literature, and more often than not, his favorite stories ended with the hero saving the day, and getting the girl. Dreamer sighed heavily as he walked. In books and stories, love was easy. It was something that the characters find by just walking out their front doors into some chance encounter, or something that was right in front of their noses the whole time. He had walked out his front door many a time, and all he usually ran into was the wall-eyed mail mare on her way to a delivery. Similarly, every time he crossed his eyes, the only thing he usually saw in front of his nose was a wall, and he usually proceeded to run into that as well. SMACK He crossed his eyes. His front door, this time, but he suspected a wall would come along at any moment. He pulled the door open with his teeth and cursed, perhaps for the umpteenth time, the fact that he was not a unicorn. Dreamer’s parents gave their usual grunts of acknowledgement as Dreamer entered the house, and promptly returned to arguing over proper silverware placement. It was all the young colt could do not to roll his eyes, and decided to just head up to bed, despite the sun only beginning to set. His room brought him no small amount of solace from the weight of his longings. It was a place where he could think properly, without any distractions from the outside world. So Dreamer thought. He thought long and hard, about nothing really in particular. Life and love and running into walls. Those things seemed to inhabit his thoughts of late and he wondered, not for the first time, if he was overthinking them all. But wasn’t that his special talent? He glanced back at his cutie mark, a white thought cloud, and pondered its meaning. To be honest, we wasn’t entirely sure what his special talent was. He remembered clearly the day he had gotten his mark. ══════════════════════════════════════ Sobbing. The sound of sobbing reached his ears on his way home from school. A filly, maybe only a year or two older than him was weeping brokenly in a dingy looking alley. Dreamer came to her side, brushing away her tears with a gentle hoof, noticing how her dark fur was matted with the dirt of the alley. “What’s wrong?” The filly sniffled and wiped her eyes. She replied in a small, broken voice. “The other foals. T-they called me names. Ripped my saddlebags. Made f-fun of me.” “Why would they do that?” She looked up into his eyes, and it was then that he noticed that her topaz pools were clouded over. He knew the answer before she gave voice to it. “I c-can’t see.” “Oh.” She swallowed hard and wiped her nose, her setting her jaw in what she hoped was a defiant look. “Y-yeah, ‘oh’. So what? You g-gonna make fun of me too?” Dreamer cocked his head and looked at her with wide eyes. “Why, of course not. I can’t see either!” The filly’s jaw unlocked and hung open. Her lower lip started to tremble. “R-really? You’re blind, too?” The silver colt’s face broke out in a grin. “Nah, I just run into stuff all the time.” She blinked at him several times. Then she snorted, giggled, and finally collapsed into fits of laughter. Dreamer’s grin grew wider, and he pressed on with a reassuring tone of voice. “No, really! Can’t see a thing! Watch!” Doing a neat about face, he turned and walked straight into the alley wall, bouncing off with his tongue sticking out in comical dazedness. This sent the blind filly rolling around in paroxysms of giggles, making her sides heave with exertion. By this time Dreamer was chuckling as well. and the young ponies didn’t stop laughing until they were out of the alley and onto the street. He told the filly that his house wasn’t too far from here, and that she could come and play if she wanted. She took up the offer immediately, saying that she needed a distraction from the days events anyway. The two strode off together, chatting amiably. “By the way, I never asked your name.” “It’s Dreamer.” “Hmm. Dreamer. Not a bad name, I guess.” “What about you?” “Open Book.” Dreamer furrowed his eyebrows. “That’s kind of a long name, don’t you think?” Open Book shrugged. “I guess.” They walked in silence for a few moments. “What about ‘Topaz’? Cuz, you know, the colour of your eyes.” She stopped, and Dreamer stopped with her, watching her face with interest. Open Book mulled it over for a while. Then she smiled gently at him. “Topaz it is, then.” ══════════════════════════════════════ The Dreamer of the present smiled as well. The two friends had been so engaged in conversation that they didn’t notice the cutie mark on his flank until several hours later. It wasn’t until a few years had passed that Topaz had gotten hers, a scroll with the outline of a pony on it, and discovered her talent of being able to read the ponies around her, despite not being able to see them. He frowned as he realized that he still had no idea what his own mark meant, something that had troubled him ever since he had gotten it. He sighed and laid back on his bed, gazing up through the slanting window set into his wall. High above him, the moon shone brightly in the night sky, the lonely looking image of a pony clearly visible on its alabaster surface. As he drifted off to sleep, he wondered if that pony was searching for the same answers he was. Chapter 2Dreamer - Chapter 2 “C’mon, Topaz, just a bit more! Woah, steady, steady...” The blind unicorn gritted her teeth and struggled mightily to keep the rock afloat. They were back in their usual spot on the lawns, only this time their idle conversation was replaced with rigorous magic training. Being blind had severely hampered Topaz’s ability to use her magic as a foal, but with Dreamer’s help, she was functioning more like a proper unicorn every day. Topaz wiped the sweat off her brow with a hoof, causing the head-sized boulder to wobble. Dreamer trotted up to the levitating rock, sticking his head underneath and inspecting the periwinkle aura that surrounded it. “Huh. Lookin’ good, Topaz. Mana flow looks nice, no spikes in the telekinesis field.” As if to prove him wrong, the undulating energy suddenly bulged outward toward him, and snapped back around the rock when it was an inch away from his nose. Dreamer chuckled sheepishly. “Ah, heheh, well, not very many spikes, anyway.” Sighing heavily, Topaz blew a lock of her charcoal coloured mane out of her face. “You know,” she growled, “This would be a whole lot easier without comments from the peanut gallery.” The field spiked again, and Topaz grunted, trying to compensate for the instability of her own magic. Dreamer did his best to look hurt. “Peanut gallery? Beg pardon, young lady,” he stated in his best Manehattenite accent, “but I am merely making my observations on your arcane performance!” Topaz shot a glare in his direction. “Yeah? Well, you’re merely being annoying. Now zip it. I’m trying to concentrate here.” The silver colt rolled his eyes. “Yes, yes, I know,” He said in an attempt to placate his friend. “You’re doing fine, Topaz.” He stuck his head underneath the rock once more. Seeing more and more spikes in the magic field, he frowned and called over to Topaz where she stood, hooves dug in and teeth still tightly clenched. “Hey, Topaz? The field’s getting a bit jumpy, here. Why don’t you try-” “Seep into the cracks,” chimed a voice behind them. The blind mare gasped and whirled around to face the speaker. Twilight Sparkle stood, trying to look as officious as possible, but unable to keep a small smile on her face as she watched Topaz’s jaw drop. The glow that suffused Topaz’s horn vanished instantly, and behind them there was dull thud followed by a very filly-ish squeal. “Seep into the cracks,” Twilight repeated calmly. “If you just try to grip the rock outright, you don’t have any leverage. Let your magic slip into all the nooks and crannies of the rock, and grip it that way. It’s a lot easier, you’ll find.” Topaz let her mouth work soundlessly, trying to form words to say to the unicorn filly. Here she was, the star pupil of the Princess herself, coming to give her advice? The two had never even met, let alone exchanged magic tactics. C’mon, Topaz, don’t just stand there like an idiot, say something witty, or clever! “Uh, um, y-yeah, sure,” Topaz stammered out, “Seep into the cracks, g-got it.” Oh, that was brilliant. Real suave. Twilight nodded happily and turned to trot away, but craned her head back to look over her fellow unicorn’s shoulder. “Um, Miss? You might want to help your friend out a bit,” Twilight said with concern. “He looks to be in between a rock and a hard place. Literally.” Topaz clapped a hoof to her brow and whirled around.. “Oh my gosh, I totally forgot!” If her eyes had worked, Topaz would’ve come across an amusing situation indeed. Dreamer half stood, half slumped, his head trapped underneath the hefty boulder. His hooves pawed blindly over the grass, trying to get leverage enough to pull himself out, but to no avail. He flopped down on the grass, defeated. A muffled yet wholly annoyed voice came from underneath the rock. “If you two are done flirting, I could use some help here!” Twilight blinked. “Flirting? What does he mean, flir-” “Nothing!”, Topaz quickly interrupted, “Nothing at all! Why don’t we just pretend he never said that, okay?” Raising her voice, she hissed out in a strained tone; “In fact, let’s also pretend that if he says anything like that again, I will personally cave his skull in with that boulder!" Silence. Then, a small, fragile voice squeaked from underneath the rock. “Don’t hurt me.” The black unicorn sighed. Her horn flashing, she tried to reassure the trapped pony. “Hold on. I’ll get you out. Just....give me a sec.” Using her magic, Topaz began to sweep through the grass in Dreamer’s general direction. The soft blue glow formed an undulating patch on the grass, and the springy stalks rippled and rolled as the energy floating over it. Much like a cane, Topaz used her mana to slowly feel her way toward the boulder, until she finally felt her magic flow over it. “Okay,” she breathed, “Now, just seep into the cracks.” The periwinkle glow grew tighter and thinner around the rock, until only a faint shimmer gave away her magic. With her newfound leverage, Topaz hefted the rock up into the air and tossed it away with a flick of her horn. Dreamer came up gasping like a fish out of water. “Whew,” he said, massaging his head and neck, “Thanks Topaz. To be honest, I thought you were just gonna leave me there after I made that comment about...” A fierce glare from the unicorn caused him to shrink down. “...nothing at all and I’m shutting up now,” he finished meekly. Topaz turned to Twilight Sparkle with an apologetic smile on her face. “Sorry about that. Dreamer was just helping me out with my magic. I guess I got a little...distracted.” For a moment, Twilight merely stared with a puzzled expression on her face. Her eyes flitted from Topaz, to Dreamer, and back again. She blinked several times, as if figuring something out. Suddenly she shook her head to clear it, and composed herself once more. “That’s quite alright, ma’am. I just, um, can’t help but notice that you’re...well, not that I wish to pry, or anything, but it seemed to me that you’re...” Sensing what the unicorn was getting at, Topaz lended a hoof. “Blind?” “Yeah. Sorry, I don’t mean to be so forward about it, I just...wanted to know if you’d like to come by the tower sometime?” Topaz blinked, her jaw going slack for the second time that day. “W-wha...?” Twilight quickly rushed to remedy the situation. “It’s strictly for research, of course,” she said hastily, “I’ve never gotten the chance to study how a unicorn’s magic is affected by the loss of one of the senses, and I was kind of hoping that you’d be willing to...?” The black unicorn struggled valiantly to form a composed response, but all she got out was a jumbled mess of stuttering and stammering. “Uh, um, well, I-I dunno, I’m n-not sure that...” Backing away hastily, Twilight reassured the still fumbling Topaz. “No no, don’t worry about it! I didn’t mean to impose, and it was rather rude of me to ask something like that, so I understand if your answer is--” “YES!” Topaz’s outburst startled everypony present, including herself. Blushing furiously, she tried to regain some dignity. “Um, I mean, yes, thank you,” she said, “I think that would be wonderful.” Twilight’s face lit up with a smile, and she shook the other mare’s hoof warmly. “Oh, thank you! Come on, I can’t wait to show you the tower! This is gonna be sooo great!” With that, the purple unicorn trotted off excitedly, Topaz keeping a firm magical grip on Twilight’s tail to guide her. She called back to Dreamer as she jogged. “Uh, you don’t mind, do you?” “No no, it’s fine.” he said, smiling, “I’ll see you tomorrow. Go have fun, you two!” “We will! Now, Topaz, was it? You know, being Princess Celestia’s student gives me access to a lot of different magical artifacts and instruments, so we’ll have plenty of stuff to experiment with!” “Sounds great! As long as there are no ouija boards. Those things freak me out.” ══════════════════════════════════════ “Topaz and Twilight, sittin’ in a tree...” Dreamer hummed the rest of the tune to himself as he walked home. It was all so wonderfully awkward. Topaz would probably be having a panic attack trying not to embarrass herself, and Twilight, of course, would be completely oblivious. Ignorance is bliss, indeed. No doubt the two would be together within the month. A twinge in his chest stopped him short. Frowning, he placed one hoof over his heart. It was thumping a little faster than usual, almost as if it had skipped a beat. He kept walking, muttering under his breath. “What the hay...?” It was not the first time something like this had occurred. His heart tended to flutter in his chest whenever Pale Rose was around, little notions like a friendly wave or her stunning smile sending it into overdrive. So what had caused it this time? Without warning, a small voice sprang up in his mind. You don’t like the idea of Topaz with somepony else. He shook his head violently. That was ridiculous! Why would he have feelings for the blind filly? She was his best friend, not to mention the fact that she was probably more into Twilight Sparkle, famed student of the Princess herself, than him. Probably. Dreamer sighed in frustration. Why now? Why did that blasted purple unicorn have to come along and plant the seed of doubt? He was romantically confused enough with Pale Rose as it was. The last thing he needed was to be wondering if he had feelings for his closest friend as well. But, all things considering, was it really such a bad thing? Pale Rose was distant. A trophy that lay on the far horizon. He could spend his whole life pursuing it, and miss what was going on around him. Topaz was here and now. Close. Warm. A friendly anchor in a stormy sea of uncertainty. But if he ventured a relationship with her, would it ruin what they already had? Uproot the anchor, and send him hurtling into the tempest? Sigh. He resolved to figure all this out tomorrow. Right now, all he wanted to do was get home, climb into bed, and try to distance his thoughts as far away as possible from- SMACK A door. But not his door. Oh, no. He had run into Topaz’s door. Of course he did. It occurred to him that, lost in thought, he had taken the route he normally would’ve taken at this time of day. The route that he took when he walked Topaz home. It also occurred to him that somewhere, right now, the Universe was laughing at him. Uproariously. Chapter 3Dreamer - Chapter 3 The days couldn’t have passed more slowly after that. With Topaz being absent more and more on what Twilight Sparkle called, “research”, Dreamer found himself alone with his thoughts more often than he would have liked. Of late, thoughts were a dangerous thing, voices of doubt that kept his mind hurtling one way or another. Pale Rose is the most beautiful pony you’ve ever seen! She barely knows you exist. Topaz is your best friend! Exactly! I don’t want to ruin what we have. I don’t want to lose her. Losing the blind unicorn was another concern that gnawed at his consciousness. In the few times that he had managed to speak to her, she seemed....flustered. Stammering, spacing out frequently, never quite looking him in the eye. All of this served to add one more thing to the growing pile of problems. Open Book was hiding something. Of course she is. She doesn’t want you getting jealous of Little Miss Magic. They could be behind that tower making out or something- Dreamer clapped his hooves to his head, trying to physically push the bitter thoughts down. Laying on his bed brought him none of the solace he associated with being in his own bedroom. The last thing he wanted to be was alone. When did life get so complicated? Why couldn’t he be like the heroes from his stories, the ones that always knew without a shadow of a doubt who they loved? For them, love was as beautiful as the stars in the sky, as powerful as the waves of the sea, and as constant as the- He sat up slowly. Maybe he wasn’t alone. Silently, as to not wake his slumbering parents, he slid off his soft mattress, his hooves making the slightest of clip clop’s as he tip-hoofed to his window. There, still as bright as the night he had first seen it, hung the moon. He looked up in awe at the image of a pony’ head on its ivory surface. A pony who seemed trapped up there in the sky. Cold. Isolated. Alone. And so the young silver colt spoke to the night sky. Dreamer told the Mare in the Moon everything. About Topaz, about Pale Rose, about Twilight Sparkle, about the whole harrowing situation. He even included his wishes, his desires to be more like the chivalrous protagonists of his myths and fables. He spoke of the way his heart fluttered in his chest at the sight of Rose’s elegant beauty, and how his heart warmed to hear the soothing voice that could only belong to his best friend. His own voice was little more than a whisper, but something in his heart told him that the pony could hear him nonetheless. It occurred to him that he didn’t even know this pony, whether it was a male or a female, or what it’s cutie mark was, or even if it had a cutie mark. All he knew was that, like him, it was alone. And after he finished his quiet prayer, he felt....lighter. As if a great weight had been taken off his chest. He had told somepony about his troubles, and by confiding in them, he had lessened the burden. “So, that’s basically it. Topaz has been with Twilight more and more recently, and it’s just so nerve-wracking to think about-” Dreamer stopped mid sentence, then groaned to himself and put a hoof to his brow. He chuckled ruefully. “Jeez. Listen to me go on and on. I mean, what do you know about jealousy, right?” Still smiling warmly, he looked back up at the Moon. “Still....” “I don’t know who you are, or how you got there,” Dreamer murmured, “But, thank you. For listening.” Turning, he trotted back to his warm bed, ready to slip into the dusty reaches of his dreams, when a odd sound reached his ears. Looking back toward the window, he saw a piece of paper, blown by the wind, had stuck itself to the glass, and was fluttering against it. He almost dismissed the sheet as random trash, but something unexplainable compelled him to grab it. The paper had nearly shaken itself free, and had been swept off by a gust of wind until Dreamer’s teeth caught it, holding it tight. Closing his window, he smoothed the crumpled sheet on the floor of his room and began to read. THE PARTY OF A MILLENIUM! That’s right everypony! The Summer Sun Celebration is here at last, and it’s bigger than ever! This year will mark the thousandth Celebration to date, so you can bet your flank that there’ll be one hay of a party to get throw! And what a party it will be, when it’s hosted by none other than Pale Rose, daughter of the rich, famous, and quite stunning supermodel, Fleur de Lis! So, whether you want to hear the latest gossip, find your Soul of Solstice, or just party hard, come on down to the Turris Solis, just south of the royal palace, on the eve of the Summer Sun Celebration to dance till the sun comes up! See you there! Dreamer sat back on his haunches. He had forgotten how close the Celebration was with all that had been going on. Being the Royal Capital of Equestria, Canterlot always threw a massive festival for it, even if it wasn’t being hosted there that year. Typically, Canterlot’s youth put together their own parties to precede the event, and Dreamer was certain that other cities in Equestria did the same. He vaguely remembered somepony mentioning that the Celebration was in some quiet little village named Ponyville this year, but he had never heard of the place. His mind wandered back to the flyer. If Pale Rose is hosting a party before the Celebration... The answer came to him in a flash. It was all so simple! Everypony knew the tradition of the Souls of Solstice. When the sun was first raised by Princess Celestia, she selected three pairs of ponies to begin the great civilization of Equestria. These ponies became known as the Souls of Solstice, and their love for one another became legend. This spawned a tradition that was passed down through the ages: everypony has a special somepony, somepony that they treasure above all others. During the Summer Sun Celebration, it is not uncommon to ask or be asked by that pony to be Souls of Solstice. Of course, the tradition was far from perfect. Dreamer had heard stories from ponies who had been Souls of Solstice with somepony else, only to have their relationship fall apart later on. He pushed those thoughts away. He couldn’t afford to think like that. This was his one shot to set things straight! All he had to do was go to the party and ask Pale Rose to be his Soul of Solstice. If she said yes, then he would know that the feeling was mutual, and he could finally be with the filly of his dreams. If she said no, then maybe he could have some closure on how she felt about him, and he could try and ask Topaz to be Souls of Solstice instead. And what if they both say no? The tiny voice in his head stopped him cold. A pit formed in his stomach as he contemplated the grim outcome. “If they both say no...” he whispered to himself. Dreamer sighed. If they both said no, he’d just have to deal with it. He wasn’t sure what life would be like if he didn’t have somepony to love--or dream of loving, anyway--but then again, he wasn’t really sure of anything anymore. He took a deep breath. Shaking his head, he tried to rid himself of the dark thoughts. He had been given an opportunity and he was going to use it. For better or worse. Rolling up the party flyer, Dreamer walked over to the desk next to his window and placed it neatly in one of the drawers. Satisfied that it was safe and sound he turned once more to get back in bed, and again, he stopped, for something had occurred to him. He turned back toward the window, where the Mare in the Moon was still silently watching. He had prayed, and it had answered. Smiling warmly, he spoke to the moon once more. “I don’t know what will come of this, or, hay, even if it’s a good idea. But...thanks. For everything.” Dreamer climbed into his warm bed, and drifted off to sleep. The Eve of the Summer Sun Celebration was tomorrow. He had a long day ahead of him. ══════════════════════════════════════ A/N: In case you didn't notice, the whole Souls of Solstice idea isn't exactly mine. I asked permission to use it from the lovely shortskirtsandexplosions. Stop whatever you're doing and go read Background Pony. Right now. I'm serious. Then go cry. (Seriously though SS&E is amazing why can't I be as good as him damn it all aaaagh)
PrologueDreamer - Prologue Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria, there were two ponies. A mare and a stallion, to be exact. One was rather soft-spoken and gentle. The other, confident and strong willed. One fateful day, in a small, out-of-the-way cafe in downtown Canterlot, these two star-crossed lovers glanced up from their cups of somewhat decent coffee to find the other staring straight at them. Their eyes met, their hearts melted, and they fell deeply in love with each other. After a long and beautiful courtship, the young ponies arranged to be married, and prepared themselves to embark on a heartwarming journey full of life, laughter and love. This is not their story. Rather, this is the story that takes place directly after that one. You see, many years passed since those days, (at this point the two were in the stages of their marriage when they argued over which side of the plate the fork went on), and the couple decided to take their relationship a step further. That is, they wanted to have a foal to call their own. So one day, they locked the doors, applied the proper mood lighting and... Ahem. Yes, well, months later the mare had a beautiful baby colt. A light grey in colour, with an untidy red mane. As the two parents held their child, the stallion, (The soft-spoken and gentle one), decided they should start trying to name the little tyke. The mare, (the confident and strong willed of the two), agreed, and chose the name Comet Crusher. The father wanted to name him something nicer, and suggested to name him Fairy Dust. Not wanting to be left out, the newborn colt cried out, “Blurgle!”, at the top of his little voice. The two parents considered this, but decided that while “Blurgle” sounded dependable, but still in touch with the feminine side, it didn’t quite fit. As the newfound parents debated on what to name their newborn foal, the little earth pony decided to turn his infantile mind to bigger and better things. The hospital wall, to be specific. After a few milliseconds of painstaking study, the colt decided, perhaps conclusively, that the wall was boring. He looked to another wall, this time on his right. No, that one was boring, too. It was then that he realized that the entire room was quite dull, even if it was one of the few rooms he had ever been in. He huffed and puffed, and waved his tiny hoof around. Partly for experiment, partly because he thought it might be interesting. Anything to break the monotonous drone of voices saying things he couldn’t understand. He had just about given up on the prospect of finding something worthy of his attention when he happened to glance at the wall on his left. Identical to the aforementioned boring walls, a drab cream coloured wallpaper with a horribly clashing pink stripe, except for one major detail. There was something set into the wall. A small, square shaped portal filled with what appeared to be a solid but transparent material. But it was not what was in the window that grabbed his attention so completely. It was what was on the other side. Vast. That was the only word to describe it, even if he didn’t even know what the word “vast” meant yet. It was so incredibly vast, that he doubted that even the adult ponies in the room, (who were, at this point, completely oblivious to his trance like state, and were currently debating “Red Baron” over “Bird Song”) could possibly comprehend its size. It was vast, and dark blue, and studded with lights. The lights seemed to twinkle at him. Waving at him? Calling him to them? He didn’t know. He wasn’t sure if he should trust these twinkling lights from the heavens. They seemed so distant.... But there was something else. Something massive. Perhaps not as large as the thing it was resting on, (Submerged in? Floating over?), but gigantic all the same. It was an orb, a huge, white orb, that hung majestically above the land. Its surface was scarred and pockmarked with shadowy craters. The dark patches stood out against the ghostly white exterior like cancerous lesions, especially a large grouping of them that looked remarkably like the head of a pony. Was that what it was? Something made by ponies, like him, and then branded by their mark? Maybe. The whole thing was glowing softly. Not shining, no, just glowing. As if lit by borrowed light. It should’ve looked beautiful. And it would’ve been, if the mark hadn’t been there. There was something about it that just seemed....wrong. Off. A clumsy splotch of paint on a masterpiece. He took in the sight behind the window. And so it was that the little silver colt fell in love with the night sky. Of course, his mind was still childish. In fact, everything he had learned in this short time ended up pointing back to the good old options of blubbering and drooling and doing the things an infant should do. And so he did. But it was still there. The sky, the moon, the stars, all of it. Somewhere in the midst of his developing brain, there was stored a love for the heavens, and it would not be overshadowed by an intense desire to make unintelligible noises at random objects in the room. He continued to cry and babble and be generally agreeable with everything, until another truly extraordinary thing happened. His mother and father were still in the thick of their argument when it happened, so it was sometime until the father suddenly looked down at the little bundle he’d been absentmindedly carrying in his unicorn magic and fell silent. His mother took the sudden lack in verbosity as a victory, and had only begun crooning when she saw it too. The small silver foal lay curled in his linen wrappings, grey-blue eyes shut against the world, and shifted slightly in his sleep as the smile on his round face seemed to grow with every second. For one fleeting moment they both wondered what visions could be bringing their child such happiness, but it was lost as they looked at each other in a way they hadn’t done in a very long time, and smiled themselves. For they knew now exactly what to call him. ══════════════════════════════════════ Many years later, on the sunlit grasses in the royal city of Canterlot, a silver coated colt with an altogether smoother red mane sat, absentmindedly staring across the grounds. His name is Dreamer, and he is about to be smacked in the face. This is his story.
Chapter 1Dreamer - Chapter 1 She was beautiful. No, more than just beautiful. Breathtaking. The way her pale pink mane tumbled past her shoulders. The way her ivory coat shone in the sunlight. They both served to suck the breath out of his lungs as he gazed in awe at the perfect figure in the distance. Truly she was the daughter of Fleur de Lis. Where else could she have gotten her flawless poise? Her glittering smile? Her bright, sapphire-blue eyes that pierced his heart and- THWOCK … Grass. It tickled his nose and brushed softly against his face. The grass was springy, still damp from the last remnants of dew, and smelled fresh and clean in the warm sunlight. … Why am I thinking about grass? Dreamer blinked. Lifting his head out of the grass, he gave the mare next to him a questioning look. “How did you do that?” A pair of cloudy, topaz eyes turned his way. “Well,” she said, “I lifted my hoof, and then I smacked you in the face. Was there something I missed?” He blinked again. “You’re blind.” Open Book cocked an eyebrow over one of her sightless eyes. “Your point being?” If he had thought his friend could see it, he would have shaken his head in wonder. He let his voice communicate his disbelief instead. “You’re amazing, you know that?” “I try.” The silver colt folded his forehooves in Open Book’s direction. “You mind telling me why you hit me?” The unicorn shifted slightly on the grassy lawn, her black coat shimmering in the noontide sun, and a cocky smirk on her face. “You mean besides the usual reasons?” “Yes, besides those.” “You were doing it again.” Dreamer sighed explosively. She could be so difficult sometimes. He massaged the bridge of his snout with one hoof, his plaintive exasperation saturating his tone for his friend’s benefit. “Doing what, Topaz?” Her smirk widened at the sound of her nickname. She gestured toward the shape of Pale Rose in the distance, (Celestia knows how she figured that out), explaining as she did. “That thing you do when you think all those mushy thoughts about a filly that doesn’t even like you.” Dreamer bit his lower lip. The two were sitting on the warm grasses of Canterlot, drinking in the warm summer air, and shooting the soft breeze that floated gently by. Across the path that led up to the bustling city, the white pegasus in question was oblivious to the young ponies’ gossip, and daintily picked the gorgeous flowers that grew upon the banks of one of the royal cities’ many streams. “But none of them are half as beautiful as you, my sweet,” Dreamer murmured to nopony in particular. Unfortunately for him, Topaz picked up the sweet nothing with her sensitive hearing. She laughed, and it was the sound of bells. “You can be a real Casanova, huh? Funny, I never really pegged you as the romantic type. Always seemed more the pony that trips over their own hooves to get a filly’s attention before you even know if the feeling’s mutual.” He snorted derisively. “Oh, yeah,” he said, rolling his eyes, “and your love life is totally spotless, right? You’ve got half the colts in town tripping over their hooves trying to win your heart, and none of them even know you’re into ma-” Dreamer was suddenly silenced as Topaz plunged her hoof into his open mouth, effectively shutting him up as she whispered furiously into his ear. “Would you keep it down?! I am not, okay! You keep shouting stuff like that around and I’ll be the laughingstock of Canterlot by tomorrow morning!” Dreamer spit her hoof out, wiping his mouth with mock disgust. “Bleh. Tastes like denial, if you ask me.” It was Topaz’s turn to roll her eyes as she said, “Oh, ha ha. Very funny. Listen, Dreamer, I am not into mares. Never have, never will be, got that?” He shrugged nonchalantly. “If you say so. I’ve just been noticing all those looks you give that purple unicorn that lives in the tower, what was her name, again? Starlight Glimmer?” Her response was immediate. “Twilight Sparkle.” Topaz realized her mistake too late, and clapped her hoof to her mouth in horror. If Dreamer’s smug grin was any wider, it would’ve touched the horizons. The black coated mare groaned in frustration and stood up. “Ugh. Spare me. Let’s just get out of here before the whole city thinks I’m chasing after Celestia’s star student.” She strode off with Dreamer trailing after her, the young colt still grinning like a madpony. “Aww. That’s so cute! Topaz and Twilight, sittin’ in a tree, K-I-S-S-” THWOCK “Okay, seriously, how do you do that?!” ══════════════════════════════════════ Dreamer said his goodbyes to Topaz as she closed her front door. Walking the blind mare home had become somewhat of a ritual between the two ponies, and today was no exception. He smiled to himself as he set off for his own home, knowing full well that Topaz could find her own way home without any help from him, and that his escort was just a friendly gesture. His smile faded somewhat. Friends. All he ever had was friends. It was why he found himself so entranced by Pale Rose. Young love. It sounded so cliche, when he thought about it, but the idea intrigued him nevertheless. Growing up in Canterlot meant he was always exposed to wonderful literature, and more often than not, his favorite stories ended with the hero saving the day, and getting the girl. Dreamer sighed heavily as he walked. In books and stories, love was easy. It was something that the characters find by just walking out their front doors into some chance encounter, or something that was right in front of their noses the whole time. He had walked out his front door many a time, and all he usually ran into was the wall-eyed mail mare on her way to a delivery. Similarly, every time he crossed his eyes, the only thing he usually saw in front of his nose was a wall, and he usually proceeded to run into that as well. SMACK He crossed his eyes. His front door, this time, but he suspected a wall would come along at any moment. He pulled the door open with his teeth and cursed, perhaps for the umpteenth time, the fact that he was not a unicorn. Dreamer’s parents gave their usual grunts of acknowledgement as Dreamer entered the house, and promptly returned to arguing over proper silverware placement. It was all the young colt could do not to roll his eyes, and decided to just head up to bed, despite the sun only beginning to set. His room brought him no small amount of solace from the weight of his longings. It was a place where he could think properly, without any distractions from the outside world. So Dreamer thought. He thought long and hard, about nothing really in particular. Life and love and running into walls. Those things seemed to inhabit his thoughts of late and he wondered, not for the first time, if he was overthinking them all. But wasn’t that his special talent? He glanced back at his cutie mark, a white thought cloud, and pondered its meaning. To be honest, we wasn’t entirely sure what his special talent was. He remembered clearly the day he had gotten his mark. ══════════════════════════════════════ Sobbing. The sound of sobbing reached his ears on his way home from school. A filly, maybe only a year or two older than him was weeping brokenly in a dingy looking alley. Dreamer came to her side, brushing away her tears with a gentle hoof, noticing how her dark fur was matted with the dirt of the alley. “What’s wrong?” The filly sniffled and wiped her eyes. She replied in a small, broken voice. “The other foals. T-they called me names. Ripped my saddlebags. Made f-fun of me.” “Why would they do that?” She looked up into his eyes, and it was then that he noticed that her topaz pools were clouded over. He knew the answer before she gave voice to it. “I c-can’t see.” “Oh.” She swallowed hard and wiped her nose, her setting her jaw in what she hoped was a defiant look. “Y-yeah, ‘oh’. So what? You g-gonna make fun of me too?” Dreamer cocked his head and looked at her with wide eyes. “Why, of course not. I can’t see either!” The filly’s jaw unlocked and hung open. Her lower lip started to tremble. “R-really? You’re blind, too?” The silver colt’s face broke out in a grin. “Nah, I just run into stuff all the time.” She blinked at him several times. Then she snorted, giggled, and finally collapsed into fits of laughter. Dreamer’s grin grew wider, and he pressed on with a reassuring tone of voice. “No, really! Can’t see a thing! Watch!” Doing a neat about face, he turned and walked straight into the alley wall, bouncing off with his tongue sticking out in comical dazedness. This sent the blind filly rolling around in paroxysms of giggles, making her sides heave with exertion. By this time Dreamer was chuckling as well. and the young ponies didn’t stop laughing until they were out of the alley and onto the street. He told the filly that his house wasn’t too far from here, and that she could come and play if she wanted. She took up the offer immediately, saying that she needed a distraction from the days events anyway. The two strode off together, chatting amiably. “By the way, I never asked your name.” “It’s Dreamer.” “Hmm. Dreamer. Not a bad name, I guess.” “What about you?” “Open Book.” Dreamer furrowed his eyebrows. “That’s kind of a long name, don’t you think?” Open Book shrugged. “I guess.” They walked in silence for a few moments. “What about ‘Topaz’? Cuz, you know, the colour of your eyes.” She stopped, and Dreamer stopped with her, watching her face with interest. Open Book mulled it over for a while. Then she smiled gently at him. “Topaz it is, then.” ══════════════════════════════════════ The Dreamer of the present smiled as well. The two friends had been so engaged in conversation that they didn’t notice the cutie mark on his flank until several hours later. It wasn’t until a few years had passed that Topaz had gotten hers, a scroll with the outline of a pony on it, and discovered her talent of being able to read the ponies around her, despite not being able to see them. He frowned as he realized that he still had no idea what his own mark meant, something that had troubled him ever since he had gotten it. He sighed and laid back on his bed, gazing up through the slanting window set into his wall. High above him, the moon shone brightly in the night sky, the lonely looking image of a pony clearly visible on its alabaster surface. As he drifted off to sleep, he wondered if that pony was searching for the same answers he was.
Chapter 2Dreamer - Chapter 2 “C’mon, Topaz, just a bit more! Woah, steady, steady...” The blind unicorn gritted her teeth and struggled mightily to keep the rock afloat. They were back in their usual spot on the lawns, only this time their idle conversation was replaced with rigorous magic training. Being blind had severely hampered Topaz’s ability to use her magic as a foal, but with Dreamer’s help, she was functioning more like a proper unicorn every day. Topaz wiped the sweat off her brow with a hoof, causing the head-sized boulder to wobble. Dreamer trotted up to the levitating rock, sticking his head underneath and inspecting the periwinkle aura that surrounded it. “Huh. Lookin’ good, Topaz. Mana flow looks nice, no spikes in the telekinesis field.” As if to prove him wrong, the undulating energy suddenly bulged outward toward him, and snapped back around the rock when it was an inch away from his nose. Dreamer chuckled sheepishly. “Ah, heheh, well, not very many spikes, anyway.” Sighing heavily, Topaz blew a lock of her charcoal coloured mane out of her face. “You know,” she growled, “This would be a whole lot easier without comments from the peanut gallery.” The field spiked again, and Topaz grunted, trying to compensate for the instability of her own magic. Dreamer did his best to look hurt. “Peanut gallery? Beg pardon, young lady,” he stated in his best Manehattenite accent, “but I am merely making my observations on your arcane performance!” Topaz shot a glare in his direction. “Yeah? Well, you’re merely being annoying. Now zip it. I’m trying to concentrate here.” The silver colt rolled his eyes. “Yes, yes, I know,” He said in an attempt to placate his friend. “You’re doing fine, Topaz.” He stuck his head underneath the rock once more. Seeing more and more spikes in the magic field, he frowned and called over to Topaz where she stood, hooves dug in and teeth still tightly clenched. “Hey, Topaz? The field’s getting a bit jumpy, here. Why don’t you try-” “Seep into the cracks,” chimed a voice behind them. The blind mare gasped and whirled around to face the speaker. Twilight Sparkle stood, trying to look as officious as possible, but unable to keep a small smile on her face as she watched Topaz’s jaw drop. The glow that suffused Topaz’s horn vanished instantly, and behind them there was dull thud followed by a very filly-ish squeal. “Seep into the cracks,” Twilight repeated calmly. “If you just try to grip the rock outright, you don’t have any leverage. Let your magic slip into all the nooks and crannies of the rock, and grip it that way. It’s a lot easier, you’ll find.” Topaz let her mouth work soundlessly, trying to form words to say to the unicorn filly. Here she was, the star pupil of the Princess herself, coming to give her advice? The two had never even met, let alone exchanged magic tactics. C’mon, Topaz, don’t just stand there like an idiot, say something witty, or clever! “Uh, um, y-yeah, sure,” Topaz stammered out, “Seep into the cracks, g-got it.” Oh, that was brilliant. Real suave. Twilight nodded happily and turned to trot away, but craned her head back to look over her fellow unicorn’s shoulder. “Um, Miss? You might want to help your friend out a bit,” Twilight said with concern. “He looks to be in between a rock and a hard place. Literally.” Topaz clapped a hoof to her brow and whirled around.. “Oh my gosh, I totally forgot!” If her eyes had worked, Topaz would’ve come across an amusing situation indeed. Dreamer half stood, half slumped, his head trapped underneath the hefty boulder. His hooves pawed blindly over the grass, trying to get leverage enough to pull himself out, but to no avail. He flopped down on the grass, defeated. A muffled yet wholly annoyed voice came from underneath the rock. “If you two are done flirting, I could use some help here!” Twilight blinked. “Flirting? What does he mean, flir-” “Nothing!”, Topaz quickly interrupted, “Nothing at all! Why don’t we just pretend he never said that, okay?” Raising her voice, she hissed out in a strained tone; “In fact, let’s also pretend that if he says anything like that again, I will personally cave his skull in with that boulder!" Silence. Then, a small, fragile voice squeaked from underneath the rock. “Don’t hurt me.” The black unicorn sighed. Her horn flashing, she tried to reassure the trapped pony. “Hold on. I’ll get you out. Just....give me a sec.” Using her magic, Topaz began to sweep through the grass in Dreamer’s general direction. The soft blue glow formed an undulating patch on the grass, and the springy stalks rippled and rolled as the energy floating over it. Much like a cane, Topaz used her mana to slowly feel her way toward the boulder, until she finally felt her magic flow over it. “Okay,” she breathed, “Now, just seep into the cracks.” The periwinkle glow grew tighter and thinner around the rock, until only a faint shimmer gave away her magic. With her newfound leverage, Topaz hefted the rock up into the air and tossed it away with a flick of her horn. Dreamer came up gasping like a fish out of water. “Whew,” he said, massaging his head and neck, “Thanks Topaz. To be honest, I thought you were just gonna leave me there after I made that comment about...” A fierce glare from the unicorn caused him to shrink down. “...nothing at all and I’m shutting up now,” he finished meekly. Topaz turned to Twilight Sparkle with an apologetic smile on her face. “Sorry about that. Dreamer was just helping me out with my magic. I guess I got a little...distracted.” For a moment, Twilight merely stared with a puzzled expression on her face. Her eyes flitted from Topaz, to Dreamer, and back again. She blinked several times, as if figuring something out. Suddenly she shook her head to clear it, and composed herself once more. “That’s quite alright, ma’am. I just, um, can’t help but notice that you’re...well, not that I wish to pry, or anything, but it seemed to me that you’re...” Sensing what the unicorn was getting at, Topaz lended a hoof. “Blind?” “Yeah. Sorry, I don’t mean to be so forward about it, I just...wanted to know if you’d like to come by the tower sometime?” Topaz blinked, her jaw going slack for the second time that day. “W-wha...?” Twilight quickly rushed to remedy the situation. “It’s strictly for research, of course,” she said hastily, “I’ve never gotten the chance to study how a unicorn’s magic is affected by the loss of one of the senses, and I was kind of hoping that you’d be willing to...?” The black unicorn struggled valiantly to form a composed response, but all she got out was a jumbled mess of stuttering and stammering. “Uh, um, well, I-I dunno, I’m n-not sure that...” Backing away hastily, Twilight reassured the still fumbling Topaz. “No no, don’t worry about it! I didn’t mean to impose, and it was rather rude of me to ask something like that, so I understand if your answer is--” “YES!” Topaz’s outburst startled everypony present, including herself. Blushing furiously, she tried to regain some dignity. “Um, I mean, yes, thank you,” she said, “I think that would be wonderful.” Twilight’s face lit up with a smile, and she shook the other mare’s hoof warmly. “Oh, thank you! Come on, I can’t wait to show you the tower! This is gonna be sooo great!” With that, the purple unicorn trotted off excitedly, Topaz keeping a firm magical grip on Twilight’s tail to guide her. She called back to Dreamer as she jogged. “Uh, you don’t mind, do you?” “No no, it’s fine.” he said, smiling, “I’ll see you tomorrow. Go have fun, you two!” “We will! Now, Topaz, was it? You know, being Princess Celestia’s student gives me access to a lot of different magical artifacts and instruments, so we’ll have plenty of stuff to experiment with!” “Sounds great! As long as there are no ouija boards. Those things freak me out.” ══════════════════════════════════════ “Topaz and Twilight, sittin’ in a tree...” Dreamer hummed the rest of the tune to himself as he walked home. It was all so wonderfully awkward. Topaz would probably be having a panic attack trying not to embarrass herself, and Twilight, of course, would be completely oblivious. Ignorance is bliss, indeed. No doubt the two would be together within the month. A twinge in his chest stopped him short. Frowning, he placed one hoof over his heart. It was thumping a little faster than usual, almost as if it had skipped a beat. He kept walking, muttering under his breath. “What the hay...?” It was not the first time something like this had occurred. His heart tended to flutter in his chest whenever Pale Rose was around, little notions like a friendly wave or her stunning smile sending it into overdrive. So what had caused it this time? Without warning, a small voice sprang up in his mind. You don’t like the idea of Topaz with somepony else. He shook his head violently. That was ridiculous! Why would he have feelings for the blind filly? She was his best friend, not to mention the fact that she was probably more into Twilight Sparkle, famed student of the Princess herself, than him. Probably. Dreamer sighed in frustration. Why now? Why did that blasted purple unicorn have to come along and plant the seed of doubt? He was romantically confused enough with Pale Rose as it was. The last thing he needed was to be wondering if he had feelings for his closest friend as well. But, all things considering, was it really such a bad thing? Pale Rose was distant. A trophy that lay on the far horizon. He could spend his whole life pursuing it, and miss what was going on around him. Topaz was here and now. Close. Warm. A friendly anchor in a stormy sea of uncertainty. But if he ventured a relationship with her, would it ruin what they already had? Uproot the anchor, and send him hurtling into the tempest? Sigh. He resolved to figure all this out tomorrow. Right now, all he wanted to do was get home, climb into bed, and try to distance his thoughts as far away as possible from- SMACK A door. But not his door. Oh, no. He had run into Topaz’s door. Of course he did. It occurred to him that, lost in thought, he had taken the route he normally would’ve taken at this time of day. The route that he took when he walked Topaz home. It also occurred to him that somewhere, right now, the Universe was laughing at him. Uproariously.
Chapter 3Dreamer - Chapter 3 The days couldn’t have passed more slowly after that. With Topaz being absent more and more on what Twilight Sparkle called, “research”, Dreamer found himself alone with his thoughts more often than he would have liked. Of late, thoughts were a dangerous thing, voices of doubt that kept his mind hurtling one way or another. Pale Rose is the most beautiful pony you’ve ever seen! She barely knows you exist. Topaz is your best friend! Exactly! I don’t want to ruin what we have. I don’t want to lose her. Losing the blind unicorn was another concern that gnawed at his consciousness. In the few times that he had managed to speak to her, she seemed....flustered. Stammering, spacing out frequently, never quite looking him in the eye. All of this served to add one more thing to the growing pile of problems. Open Book was hiding something. Of course she is. She doesn’t want you getting jealous of Little Miss Magic. They could be behind that tower making out or something- Dreamer clapped his hooves to his head, trying to physically push the bitter thoughts down. Laying on his bed brought him none of the solace he associated with being in his own bedroom. The last thing he wanted to be was alone. When did life get so complicated? Why couldn’t he be like the heroes from his stories, the ones that always knew without a shadow of a doubt who they loved? For them, love was as beautiful as the stars in the sky, as powerful as the waves of the sea, and as constant as the- He sat up slowly. Maybe he wasn’t alone. Silently, as to not wake his slumbering parents, he slid off his soft mattress, his hooves making the slightest of clip clop’s as he tip-hoofed to his window. There, still as bright as the night he had first seen it, hung the moon. He looked up in awe at the image of a pony’ head on its ivory surface. A pony who seemed trapped up there in the sky. Cold. Isolated. Alone. And so the young silver colt spoke to the night sky. Dreamer told the Mare in the Moon everything. About Topaz, about Pale Rose, about Twilight Sparkle, about the whole harrowing situation. He even included his wishes, his desires to be more like the chivalrous protagonists of his myths and fables. He spoke of the way his heart fluttered in his chest at the sight of Rose’s elegant beauty, and how his heart warmed to hear the soothing voice that could only belong to his best friend. His own voice was little more than a whisper, but something in his heart told him that the pony could hear him nonetheless. It occurred to him that he didn’t even know this pony, whether it was a male or a female, or what it’s cutie mark was, or even if it had a cutie mark. All he knew was that, like him, it was alone. And after he finished his quiet prayer, he felt....lighter. As if a great weight had been taken off his chest. He had told somepony about his troubles, and by confiding in them, he had lessened the burden. “So, that’s basically it. Topaz has been with Twilight more and more recently, and it’s just so nerve-wracking to think about-” Dreamer stopped mid sentence, then groaned to himself and put a hoof to his brow. He chuckled ruefully. “Jeez. Listen to me go on and on. I mean, what do you know about jealousy, right?” Still smiling warmly, he looked back up at the Moon. “Still....” “I don’t know who you are, or how you got there,” Dreamer murmured, “But, thank you. For listening.” Turning, he trotted back to his warm bed, ready to slip into the dusty reaches of his dreams, when a odd sound reached his ears. Looking back toward the window, he saw a piece of paper, blown by the wind, had stuck itself to the glass, and was fluttering against it. He almost dismissed the sheet as random trash, but something unexplainable compelled him to grab it. The paper had nearly shaken itself free, and had been swept off by a gust of wind until Dreamer’s teeth caught it, holding it tight. Closing his window, he smoothed the crumpled sheet on the floor of his room and began to read. THE PARTY OF A MILLENIUM! That’s right everypony! The Summer Sun Celebration is here at last, and it’s bigger than ever! This year will mark the thousandth Celebration to date, so you can bet your flank that there’ll be one hay of a party to get throw! And what a party it will be, when it’s hosted by none other than Pale Rose, daughter of the rich, famous, and quite stunning supermodel, Fleur de Lis! So, whether you want to hear the latest gossip, find your Soul of Solstice, or just party hard, come on down to the Turris Solis, just south of the royal palace, on the eve of the Summer Sun Celebration to dance till the sun comes up! See you there! Dreamer sat back on his haunches. He had forgotten how close the Celebration was with all that had been going on. Being the Royal Capital of Equestria, Canterlot always threw a massive festival for it, even if it wasn’t being hosted there that year. Typically, Canterlot’s youth put together their own parties to precede the event, and Dreamer was certain that other cities in Equestria did the same. He vaguely remembered somepony mentioning that the Celebration was in some quiet little village named Ponyville this year, but he had never heard of the place. His mind wandered back to the flyer. If Pale Rose is hosting a party before the Celebration... The answer came to him in a flash. It was all so simple! Everypony knew the tradition of the Souls of Solstice. When the sun was first raised by Princess Celestia, she selected three pairs of ponies to begin the great civilization of Equestria. These ponies became known as the Souls of Solstice, and their love for one another became legend. This spawned a tradition that was passed down through the ages: everypony has a special somepony, somepony that they treasure above all others. During the Summer Sun Celebration, it is not uncommon to ask or be asked by that pony to be Souls of Solstice. Of course, the tradition was far from perfect. Dreamer had heard stories from ponies who had been Souls of Solstice with somepony else, only to have their relationship fall apart later on. He pushed those thoughts away. He couldn’t afford to think like that. This was his one shot to set things straight! All he had to do was go to the party and ask Pale Rose to be his Soul of Solstice. If she said yes, then he would know that the feeling was mutual, and he could finally be with the filly of his dreams. If she said no, then maybe he could have some closure on how she felt about him, and he could try and ask Topaz to be Souls of Solstice instead. And what if they both say no? The tiny voice in his head stopped him cold. A pit formed in his stomach as he contemplated the grim outcome. “If they both say no...” he whispered to himself. Dreamer sighed. If they both said no, he’d just have to deal with it. He wasn’t sure what life would be like if he didn’t have somepony to love--or dream of loving, anyway--but then again, he wasn’t really sure of anything anymore. He took a deep breath. Shaking his head, he tried to rid himself of the dark thoughts. He had been given an opportunity and he was going to use it. For better or worse. Rolling up the party flyer, Dreamer walked over to the desk next to his window and placed it neatly in one of the drawers. Satisfied that it was safe and sound he turned once more to get back in bed, and again, he stopped, for something had occurred to him. He turned back toward the window, where the Mare in the Moon was still silently watching. He had prayed, and it had answered. Smiling warmly, he spoke to the moon once more. “I don’t know what will come of this, or, hay, even if it’s a good idea. But...thanks. For everything.” Dreamer climbed into his warm bed, and drifted off to sleep. The Eve of the Summer Sun Celebration was tomorrow. He had a long day ahead of him. ══════════════════════════════════════ A/N: In case you didn't notice, the whole Souls of Solstice idea isn't exactly mine. I asked permission to use it from the lovely shortskirtsandexplosions. Stop whatever you're doing and go read Background Pony. Right now. I'm serious. Then go cry. (Seriously though SS&E is amazing why can't I be as good as him damn it all aaaagh)
