The Magic of Dreams

by MegaTJ

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…