//------------------------------//
// Surprises of Winter 
// Story: The Magic of Dreams 
// by MegaTJ 
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Surprises of Winter


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Why?" he asked curiously.

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

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

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

"What are they?"

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

He turned with a bright smile. "Okay."

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

Dream listened as the wheels squeaked away, farther down into the library. He was no longer worried about keeping to her side. He hadn't worried for a week now. He actually managed to go out on his own the day before, proving to himself that he was adapting to the new life in Ponyville. He still liked being with Twilight, no dummy in love would ever stop liking that. He was still afraid on some levels about it, or maybe that was just shyness. Either way, he was nowhere close to admitting his feelings to her. Good friends was good enough for him for now. He sighed to himself happily.

Chirping from the top of the shelf let him know that Peewee was finally awake. He and the phoenix got along great, becoming very close in only a few days after they first met. Peewee jumped from the top of the bookshelf to his Pegasus landing pad below. Dream caught him with his wing and retracted it so that Peewee could hop around on his back. The pony wistfully hummed in tune to the bird's tweeting and chirping.

In the fiction section, Twilight was almost finished with her small cart of books. She watched the books levitate into the blank spaces on the shelf. She could hear Peewee chirping in the main room. She didn't know why the bird liked Dream so much, but he definitely made a great companion for the Pegasus. Both were learning to fly, and both were really cute. Twilight giggled to herself. She pushed her last book into place, unknowing that she was being watched.

"Psst!"

She looked around to see Pinkie Pie suspended upside down from a rope only inches from her face.

"Pinkie!?" Twilight exclaimed in a whisper. "You're supposed to be—"

"We're done!"

"Shhh!" Twilight shushed, "Dream will hear you!"

Pinkie Pie nodded. She put a hoof to the side of her head and pretended to crank down an imaginary volume knob.

"I just told Dream about the fake errands later. I can't take him out now, he'll get suspicious."

"Okay, everypony can wait 'til then", Pinkie replied simply. "No problemo!" She climbed back up the rope and out the window silently. She poked her head back through before leaving. "You didn't see anything", she hissed, and promptly disappeared, trailing the rope behind her.

Twilight rolled her eyes with a laugh. She rearranged a few out-of-place books on the top shelf and pushed the squeaky cart into its place in the far corner of the room. She looked around for stray books on the podiums and tables. She didn't see any and returned to the main wing. She saw Dream browsing her personal shelves for something to read while they waited for somepony to come in. Peewee wasn't around; he was probably ransacking his food pan again.

Nothing in particular stood out to the colt. He had already read every book in the Daring Do series, and by the looks of it, those were the only books that interested him. They were the only adventure oriented novels on the shelf. He kept browsing anyway. Maybe there was something in her collection he was overlooking. He started over at the top, and saw one book that didn't fall in alphabetical order. He climbed the shelf and pulled it down. "Slumber 101: Everything You Wanted to Know about Slumber Parties but were Afraid to Ask…" He curiously opened it to find that it was just instructions to a successful slumber party. The first chapter's checklist was completely filled out, but the rest of the book was completely blank.

"I've only thrown one slumber party", Twilight said out of the blue. "That's why only the first chapter is finished."

Dream flinched at her sudden appearance. "I couldn't even check the first chapter off", he replied, "I've never had one."

That statement gave Twilight an idea. "Well, then, would you like to? I can get the girls together and we can all plan a night for it."

Dream blushed. "Um, aren't slumber parties only for girls?"

She levitated the book from his hooves. "Not necessarily. There is a section for inviting boys. Maybe we can get one or two other colts to sleep over too."

"What do ponies do during slumber parties", he asked.

"The activities change with each chapter, but the ultimate goal is to have fun."

"Oh, okay. I'd like to see what's it's like", Dream admitted. "It sounds like fun."

Twilight snapped the book shut excitedly. "Yes! I can't wait! The last one was so much fun! This one will be so much better!"

"Why do you say that?" Dream smiled teasingly. "It's because I'm going to be there isn't it?"

"That's exactly why!" Twilight exclaimed. She immediately blushed. "I mean, yeah, that's why."

Dream chuckled. "I didn't know I was so much fun."

"Well, not as fun as Pinkie Pie", Twilight teased.

"Hey, that's not fair!"

"Why is everypony yelling?" yawned Spike as he finally descended the stairs for the day.

"Afternoon, Spike", Dream greeted.

"You let me sleep in that late!" Spike exclaimed.

"It was a pretty hard night for you last night", Twilight explained. "We wanted to let you sleep."

"How am I supposed to be a good assistant if you won't let me assist you?"

"Spike, you're still a good assistant. Just because you aren't completely exhausted all the time anymore doesn't mean you aren't doing a good job."

The dragon still didn't look convinced. His protest was about to continue, but was stopped by his stomach. It growled loudly. "Ugh, I'm starving."

"There's a bowl of sapphires waiting for you in the kitchen", Twilight replied.

Spike was in the kitchen before the now-bewildered ponies could blink. They briefly gawked at each other before bursting into giggles. "That dragon and his stomach", Dream laughed.

"I can still hear you!" Spike called from the kitchen.

Twilight slowed her giggles to the occasional snicker. Dream managed to stop altogether. The library grew silent with the exception of the sapphire eradication in the kitchen. Dream eventually cured his boredom by setting his alchemy lab up near the section about potions in the library. He wanted to put it in the basement, but Twilight's many scientific contraptions left no floor space for it. The unicorn in question helped him get it out of his satchel so he didn't hurt himself doing it alone.

"Is that everything?" Twilight asked, emerging from the bag levitating the last few vials out.

"I think so." Dream looked over his things. Everything looked the way it did in the satchel. The lab sat between two shelves holding his collection of empty test tubes and beakers. He nodded. "Thanks, Twilight."

"You're welcome, Dream", she replied brightly.

He opened his notebook. "Let's see, I think I left off with the analysis of…"

Twilight watched him work in awe. This side of Dream was different from the one on the train. Maybe it was because he wasn't lecturing her, and instead was doing what he preached. He murmured to himself and flipped the pages of the journal over and over. Twilight had expected to find just notes in the pages, and was greatly surprised to see detailed sketches of the different ingredients he cataloged with notes. She watched over his shoulder silently. Every question that formed in her head was answered with every page he flipped. It seemed he left nothing out during his time as an alchemist. Each ingredient was named with its physical, chemical, and magical makeups. He made sure to list the common locations of each as well as the places were large abundances could be found.

He kept flipping until he reached the pages he had yet to write anything on. Dream frowned.

"Everything okay?"

"Yes", Dream sighed, "I just don't know what I want to do now."

"What about the potions you're researching?"

"I still have to study them. The magic product of the three ingredients in any potion is hard to determine. And that can't happen since I'm out of ingredients to test them on."

"Test them on?" Twilight raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"To find what the counter potion is, the safest way is to test a potion on different things. What happens in effect helps determine if the property is where you want it. There are three factors in figuring out what ingredients you need for the counter potion. If the mixture cools down, glows green, or completely cancels the effect of the original potion, then it's a counter ingredient. Once you have three, then you can mix those. The only problem is finding the right ingredients that don't pose a hazard of their own is grueling work. The only good thing about it is some ingredients have the same magical properties."

Twilight struggled to understand. "Can't you just use the first ingredients you find work for a potion?"

"Sometimes the combined effects come out to be a poison instead of a remedy."

"Yikes." Twilight cringed. The only way he could've known that was to experience it.

"Anyways", Dream continued, "I think I'll start on a new potion."

"Are you sure? You'll just have to find a counter potion like the ones you have mixed already", Twilight pointed out.

"True." Dream sighed again.

"If you want help, I'd be happy to."

"Really?" At that moment, Dream really wanted to hug Twilight. He suppressed the urge to avoid the embarrassment.

Twilight nodded. "Sure. Alchemy is very interesting and I would like to learn more about it. What better way to learn more than to learn from a master like you?"

Dream blushed modestly. "I don't know about 'master'", he chuckled, "But I can teach you what I know."

"Yes!" Twilight cheered. "Where do we start?"

Dream looked around in thought. "Why don't we just start by finding the counter ingredients for one of the potions?" He picked up the rack that held the prepared potions. "Which one do you want to start with?"

The unicorn almost told him she wanted to do the one that was supposed to cure him of his curse, but decided against it after a brief flash of how depressed he became when he first brought it up. "Um…how about the one that is supposed to turn a pony's coat into a mirror?"

"Okay", he replied. "The first thing we have to do is consult my journal. There are some ingredients that have very little negative effects when mixed with a formulated potion."

Dream flipped to the first one he remembered. "This one has never failed a counter test", he explained.

"Blueberries?"

He nodded. "They're what I call a 'pure ingredient'. It's for that reason I use them for most of my counter potions."

"I have some in the kitchen I'll be right back." Twilight quickly left the colt to collect the ingredient he needed.

While she was away, he flipped through the pages of his book again. He came upon the entry he put down about glass. "Hmm…It's mostly a buffer except for the small emotional side-effect. It shouldn't be much of a problem since the blueberries will nullify its effect." Taking a look at his shelves, he knew he was fresh out of shattered glass. He flipped through a few more pages. Wheat? No, with its explosive properties it wouldn't mix well without a duller…

"I'm back Dream!" Twilight chimed. She carried with her a bowl of blueberries.

Dream snickered. "We don't need that many. Just one will do, Twilight."

"I kinda figured that", Twilight giggled. "The rest are for lunch."

"Am I even hungry", he mumbled to himself. Suddenly when he thought of it, his stomach became the emptiest of voids. "That's a yes…"

"Here you go!" Twilight held the bowl out for him to grab a few of the berries.

He put two in his mouth, and three in the small dip in the table. Taking the pestle from the lab's tool rack, he crushed the berries into a fine paste. Twilight observed him open and pour a small amount of the mirror potion into the bowl. The mixture simmered before lighting up with a bright green glow. "That's one down", Dream stated through a mouthful of blueberries. "Now for the other two."

"I heard you say something about an ingredient on my way in." Twilight levitated her second blueberry into her mouth.

"Oh, I was talking about glass. When it's crushed it makes a great buffer for potions. It's side effects are dulled by the blueberries. The two are a great combination. It's too bad we had already thrown out all of the busted bottles and everything else broken in my satchel."

"Hmm…I don't think there is any broken glass around", Twilight said.

Dream cheekily knocked an old beaker over. "Oops", he cooed innocently, "Now there is."

Twilight laughed. "Was that necessary?"

He shrugged while she levitated the shards up. "Probably not. Just a small shard will do, Twilight. You can put the rest in one of the other beakers." The fragment landed in the now clean mortar in the table. He crushed the glass into smaller and smaller shards. He added a drop of the potion to the glass. Upon contact, it immediately froze over and frost crawled over the table. "That was a strong reaction. I need to half the glass content. Otherwise it'll give us a chill when we drink it."

"Now we just need one more right?"

"Right. The only thing is I don't know what we should use next." Dream scratched the back of his head. "Maybe a hawk feather would work, but it has regenerative properties that are accelerated by glass."

"What about phoenix feathers?"

Dream stopped rummaging through his book. "We could test them. That is, if Peewee doesn't mind sharing a couple."

Twilight smiled. "I actually have a small collection of feathers. I…like the way they look and since they're supposed to be good luck, I keep all of the ones I find."

Dream smiled at her blush. "Three will work just fine for the test."

Twilight once again left Dream's side. While he waited, Dream began crushing his ingredients once more. He combined the two in the mortar until he had a sharp paste. He tapped the pestle against the side of the bowl and set it aside. He shoved another hooffull of blueberries into his mouth. He savored the taste, loving how ripe they were. Sweet, not sour, just the way blueberries should be.

Twilight didn't immediately make her presence known when she came back in again. Instead, she watched Dream Runner from the doorway. He moved fluently around the alchemy lab, priming it for the final ingredient. At one point he opened his wings for balanced and moved from one side to the other so quickly that he left a slight blur of blue in his movements.

His wings made her think of his flying lessons. He made little progress in achieving flight. Since the day he nearly drowned, Dream was reluctant to step out on the diving board, and had even gone backwards in training. He was too shaken to even glide. Rainbow Dash kept at it though. She tried everything she knew to teach him and even recruited other Pegasi for help. But now winter was here, posing huge issues for the flight lessons. How is Rainbow Dash going to teach him how to fly now that the lake is frozen over? And will she even have time? The Pegasi are incredibly overworked during the snowy months…

Dream stopped working. "What's taking Twilylight so long?"

Twilight's face boiled over in red. T-Twilylight? A pet name? For me?

Dream began to turn around, causing the blushing unicorn to rush around the corner and take a few deep breaths to cool down her cheeks. With her best effort she smiled and walked in like nothing happened. "I'm back again."

"You didn't forget why you left did you?" Dream joked.

"No, I just forgot where I put the feathers", she replied, levitating them out.

The flaming quills burned brightly even though they were detached from the tail-end of the bird they came from. Dream took them from the air and dipped one in the tube of potion. He quickly removed it. The feather was now faintly green. "Perfect! These ingredients are near pure, so we shouldn't need further research for alternatives!" He mashed the remaining feathers into the concoction in the mortar. "Now we only need the liquidation catalyst."

"What's that?"

"It's a special acid whose only magical property is liquidizing and combining other ingredients without compromising the original magical properties."

"Okay, what is it exactly?" Twilight asked.

"It could be any number of things", Dream replied. "I personally like to use saltwater."

"Saltwater isn't very acidic", Twilight remarked, "How can it break down the clumps of feather and glass?"

"By using a special heating technique." Dream rotated a retort full of water around so that its neck was aimed at the mortar. He rubbed his hoof vigorously against the table under the spherical end of the retort. The ancient symbol changed colors from white to red. Twilight watched the water inside boil and the vapors collect in droplets along the neck. "I don't know how it works, but alchemy tables are enchanted so that the heat removes all magical properties and raises acidity and viscosity."

Twilight added that to her list of things to research later to avoid pestering Dream about the details. They waited until more droplets formed and eventually started flowing down the neck and out of the spout. Dream lifted the neck when the mortar was full and tapped his hoof near the frame of the retort. The red symbol faded back into white. Dream used a large dropper to collect the counter potion and squeezed it into a test tube. He corked it. The solution inside glowed slightly yellow-green.

"We're not testing it?"

Dream chuckled at his new apprentice. "You don't test counter potions, Twilight. You test the originals first."

He took the mirror potion from the rack. He almost drank what was left after the testing, but stopped. He held it up to Twilight. "Here, I think you should try it. It should be harmless, but if it isn't, we have the counter potion."

Ignorant to the possibilities of a serious backfire, Twilight took the potion and drank every remaining drop confidently. It was a little sour leaving the aftertaste of bananas. Both ponies ran their gazes over her coat. Nothing seemed to happen.

"How do you feel?" Dream observed Twilight intensely for any hint of side-effects.

"No different."

"It can't be a dud…" Dream circled her slowly.

For ten more seconds nothing happened. Both were about to call the quits when Twilight's fur washed over with a bright white light and then reflected everything around them. "It works!" Twilight exclaimed.

"No kidding." Dream peered into his lavender reflection. It was crystal clear.

"Rarity would love this!" Twilight rubbed her leg, enjoying how smooth, almost like glass, it was. "She'll be ecstatic to be this shiny!"

"I can brew up a batch for her soon. Maybe for that Ballroom Blitz thing", he replied. "Okay, ready for the counter potion?"

"Already?" Twilight asked in disappointment.

"Yeah, I have to formulate a timer so that the effects of the Mirror Potion don't become permanent."

As pretty as her coat was, Twilight didn't think the idea of living life as a walking mirror was very appealing. She levitated the uncorked tube from Dream's hooves and gulped down the lilac flavored liquid. Instantly, the shine in her coat faded back into non-reflective fur. The counter potion left her body with a warm sensation. She gave the test tube back to Dream, but stopped to admire him. She sighed.

Dream shivered slightly. "Twilight, why are you looking at me like that?"

"Like what?" she cooed.

A strong blush muscled its way to his cheeks. "You're acting a little weird. How do you feel?"

"Like I'm looking into the eyes of the cutest colt ever", she breathed. Twilight's insides froze over with fear. She couldn't control anything she was doing! She just told him the complete truth of what she was thinking!

Dream could look into her eyes and tell there was something wrong. He figured out what it was when Twilight's steady advancing pushed him into the alchemy table. The counter potion! It must be a love potion too! I need an antidote now! His head shot around in an attempt to find something to counteract the glass in the counter potion. "Twilight, you need to try to control yourself. The feelings you feel aren't real, it's just a symptom of a potion-gone-wrong!"

"They're definitely real", Twilight truthfully said against her will. "I love you, Dream!"

The Pegasus's whole face lit up red as all of the blood in his body pumped through his sprinting heart and into his face. Twilight puckered her lips and advanced upon the cornered colt. As a defensive measure, Dream grabbed the bowl of blueberries left on the table. He took a hooffull and shoved them into Twilight's mouth.

Caught by surprise, she swallowed them. Instantly she got control of her body again. She sheepishly backed off. Her face was no competing with dreams in a blush contest. So far hers was winning. "I'm sorry, Dream…"

"It wasn't your fault, Twilight", Dream replied. "I should've added more blueberries from the beginning. The potion wasn't proportionate enough."

Twilight allowed him to take the blame to avoid argument. She wasn't sure what to do now, but Dream had it covered. He put the notes for the now successful formula in his journal. "I never created a love potion before. That was some pretty strong stuff."

Twilight sighed. If only he knew that it wasn't a love potion. It was a truth potion, she thought. She needed badly to change the subject. A gaze at the grandfather clock near the door way told her it was still too early to head to Sugarcube Corner. "Or maybe…"

"Maybe what Twilight?"

Twilight frowned in thought. "I was thinking maybe we can close up even earlier than we planned. No pony has come in all day", Twilight said unconfidently. She quickly cleaned up her uncertainty. "And, hey, we can go by Sugarcube Corner later for hot chocolate first!"

"That sounds, um…how does Pinkie Pie say it again?"

"Super-duper a-otikitay?" Twilight tried.

"Well, that's one of them", Dream snickered.

Twilight led the way to the front door. She wiggled her hooves into the new boots that Rarity had made for her for the upcoming winter season. She levitated her scarf around her neck and adorned her ear muffs for protection against the frozen town outside. "Almost done Dream?"

"Almost", he called from inside his satchel. He emerged wearing an orange and green scarf around his neck. "Done!"

"Dream, you're going to freeze", Twilight said incredulously. "Don't you have boots at least?"

"Don't need boots." Dream smiled widely. "My scarf's enchanted to keep me warm no matter how cold it gets."

"I've got to go exploring with you sometime. It seems the payoff is worth it."

"Oh, no", Dream replied. "I bought this scarf."

"From where?"

Dream struggled to remember the place he purchased the enchanted clothing item. "Umm…I think it was west of Manehattan. It was a little town…but I don't remember the name."

"We can get a map and look later, okay?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I love enchanted things! I'd love to get more!"

"They're growing on me, too." Twilight opened the door, letting the cold air invade the warmth of the library.

Dream crossed the threshold first. His hoof sank almost six inches into the snow. "I don't get it", he said, looking at the white blanket that covered everything outside, "Why are the weather Pegasi making it snow in September? Winter is supposed to be a December thing!"

"Rainbow Dash says it happens every seven years in Ponyville. An early winter and an early spring. It's tradition."

"That's interesting." Dream began walking through the dry powder. "I'd like to look into that. Could be treasure involved."

Surprisingly, not many ponies were out despite it being in the middle of the day. Dream had at least expected to see fillies and colts sledding and building snowponies. They trotted on with light conversation to keep them company. Along the way, Dream would scoop up a light ball of snow in his hoof and make it exploded into tiny flakes with a quick blast of air from his puckered lips. He told Twilight he liked doing it because it looked cool when the ball came apart.

They walked so casually that eventually Dream opened his wings and held them up, something that Twilight noticed him do for the first time. He looked strange, funny even when they quivered with the breeze. Twilight's heart jumped. Is…is this the real Dream Runner? Omigosh I've waited forever to see this day!

"Closed?" Dream asked. "Sugarcube Corner…closed?" He turned to face Twilight's excited expression, but didn't notice it. "Why are they closed?" he asked, completely shocked. The inside was dark as can be so he couldn't see anypony on the inside.

"It may be for the first day of snow", Twilight offered.

He bought it, but only barely. "Wouldn't it be better for business to stay open when all of the children don't have school?" He shrugged. "All well. Pinkie'll still make us that hot chocolate right?"

Twilight nodded. She tensed up with excitement as he pushed the door open. The inside was eerily quiet. Then, the lights flicked on.

"Surprise!"

Dream blinked, his mouth agape as party blowers rang in the air. He looked around the decorated bakery. Blue, pink, and gray balloons and streamers hung in the air. Confetti littered the floor. What really caught his attention was the giant banner that read: Happy Birthday Dream Runner!" and the ten ponies standing in front of a giant cake colored with the same hues as his coat and mane. A few of them snickered at his loose hanging mouth.

The Pegasus turned around to see Twilight smiling in his face. "How…?"

"The patch in your satchel", Twilight lied to avoid telling him about the blank book in the Canterlot Archives.

"Alright everypony!" Pinkie Pie shouted, "It's time to paaaarrrtaaaaay!" She kicked a record player and immediately started dancing to the party mix she picked out just for the occasion. The other ponies met Dream halfway and wished him happy birthday personally before dispersing to dance or get something from the spread of food Pinkie Pie and Applejack put out.

Dream didn't know what to do. Everything looked so inviting. He could only stare in near disbelief. He looked around until his gaze once again settled on Twilight. Her smile was still touching her ears. She held out her hoof. Come on, let's dance before Pinkie Pie lights the candles."

He grabbed her hoof, but didn't budge. She tugged at him. "I can't dance…" he mumbled to the ceiling.

"Neither can I!" Twilight laughed. "Come on!"

Dream allowed her to drag him into the middle of the dance floor. She helped his confidence along by throwing out her best dance moves. She wiggled herself around and threw her hooves in the air out of tune to the music. Dream stared with chuckles. He eventually started to dance with her. He lightly shuffled at first, then got into the groove and was soon wildly tossing himself around in the same manner as Twilight.

The other ponies stopped what they were doing to watch in amusement the two dancers embarrass themselves. Most of them even started laughing. They danced close to each other and would occasionally bump but didn't stop until the song faded into interlude. Everypony applauded their horrible effort. They smiled sheepishly.

"You guys sure have some nice moves", Bon Bon complimented.

The unicorn that helped Dream during the last party stepped forward. "Yeah, completely radical", he snorted. It turns out Dream came to like Strings enough to become real good buddies with him. They frequently shared stories of their adventures in the world. As a matter of fact, most of the ponies at the party were the friends that Dream had made since he began to warm up to the world.

The Elements of Harmony, Bon Bon, Lyra Heartstrings, Strings, and Derpy Hooves had all managed to make it. He kept looking at their smiling faces until Pinkie Pie announced the next phase of the party.

"Cake time!" She struck a match and quickly lit the sixteen candles. She lifted him up and placed him on top of a tall stool to reach the miniature torches. "One, two, three!"

Together, everypony sang, "Happy birthday, happy birthday to you! Take a deep breath so you can maaake a wish. Happy birthday to you dear Dream Runner, happy birthday to you!"

The light shown on Dream's face. He selected his wish carefully, and when he had it, blew the candles passionately. Twilight joined the second applause. Dream climbed from the stool to have a box wrapped with striped paper thrust into his hooves. He stared at Pinkie Pie in confusion. The tag on the box read, "To Dreamy, from Pinkie". Oh, right…ponies get presents on their birthdays…

He tore the wrapping off to reveal a plain box. Inside the box was a pair of hollow, lens-less glasses. The arms were very long, bringing back the confusion that he had just cleared up.

"They're straw glasses!" Pinkie Pie explained excitedly, hooking them around his ears. Holding up a glass of milk she pulled from thin air, she dipped arm into it and held the other up for him to grab in his mouth. "They're really fun to drink stuff with!"

Curiously, he gave the straw a strong sip. The drink climbed up the opposite end, looped around the circular parts, and into his mouth. He liked how the coolness of the milk traveled with the liquid. He took the glass from her and drank the rest of it as she brought out her own and copied him. He smiled. "Thanks Pinkie Pie, these are fun!"

"Me next", Rainbow announced. She shoved a rainbow wrapped present into his face. "Mine will obviously be the most awesome gift here!"

Dream rolled his eyes. He opened it to find two things. The first was an autographed picture of the mare who gave him the box, and the second was an officially licensed Daring Do explorer's hat. He quickly put it on his head. "I've been looking for one of these since I got into Daring Do!" He tipped it backwards a little. "How do I look?"

"Like Daring Do's little brother", Strings snickered.

Dream looked around to see the others nodding in agreement. "That's great! Now I can become a real treasure hunter!"

"I hardly think it is the equipment that determines one's true potential", Rarity said, coming forth with two presents. "But, if you would like to look ravishing as you explore, I think you should wear these. The purple present is one from Twilight as well as me. She put the order in for you."

Dream opened the first very neatly, and somewhat annoyingly intricate, gift. It was a light blue hooded traveling cloak with green trim. He threw it around his body and latched the hook through the eye.

"A perfect fit", Rarity chimed. "You look very handsome, Dream Runner."

He blushed modestly. "Heheh, thank you." He quickly delved into the second box to find that Rarity had made gotten him a very expensive-looking pair of bracers. They were obviously steel lined with bronze trim and plated with titanium.

"I was unsure of what to get you, so I picked out the most stylish adventuring equipment I could find."

Dream didn't feel comfortable accepting something so valuable from a close friend. "Rarity, I'm not sure—"

She held up a hoof to silence them. "As my grandmother has said before, 'those who pay know the trouble, so please don't argue and make it double.'"

He slipped them over his forehooves. "Thank you, Rarity." He smiled warmly.

She nodded and moved aside to let Lyra hold out her cream colored wrapped present with a blue bow. It was the smallest so far but it didn't matter. The cases of the Emotion Orbs were far smaller, so he knew that whatever was in the box could easily be one of best things he could receive today. The lid slid off easily to reveal a seven piped pan flute. Each of the tubes were distinctly marked by different colored ribbons at the mouth end. The longest tube had a string connected with two blue beads on both sides of a pink one. White feathers were knotted in the end to keep the beads from slipping off.

"It's a custom pan flute", she said. "It's not exactly a lyre like I know you wanted, but it's what I could get on such short notice."

He held the light instrument up for a better look. "It's perfect!" He held it into position and blew a soft tune into three of the tubes. The tune came out beautifully.

"Hey, you're a natural!"

"You're super-duper good at that!" Pinkie Pie screamed, "Play some more!"

"Heh, okay."

Everypony leaned forward to listen to a short song he played from the top of his head. It was peaceful, and nearly magically swayed everypony in the room. He stopped playing and smiled at the gift. "I promise to practice every day, Lyra."

"Just play your best." Lyra ruffled his mane.

"Um…here's mine", Fluttershy meekly pushed a large box up to him.

Twilight blinked. She didn't…

Dream opened the box and pulled out a huge blanket. It was blue, red, and green. Twilight sighed. So it wasn't the fox…good.

"I hope you like it", Fluttershy said, "I made it myself…"

Dream nuzzled his face into it. "So soft…and warm!" He wrapped himself up in it snugly. "I'm going to sleep so good tonight!"

Blushing, Fluttershy took that as his thank you and said with a smile, "You're welcome, Dream." It was then she realized they were the center of attention and quickly retreated to the back of the crowd.

Derpy hoofed him an unwrapped box of muffins. "Here ya are! Chocolate, raisin, and blueberry!"

"Breakfast", Dream replied. "Thanks, Derpy."

"Welcome!" the gray mare replied, excitedly stretching her wings into the faces of Twilight and Applejack.

The farm mare tucked Derpy's wing back into rest position. "Here, Dream, Ah gotcha somethin' y'all maht be able t' use whahle y'all explore."

She tossed him a very well-made lasso. "Strongest kahnd there is."

Dream inspected the rope. It wasn't like the one he had seen Applejack use in the rodeo that came to Ponyville. It was twice as thick and was made from different fibers weaved together in a crescent pattern.

She saw the look in his eye to try it out as soon as he could. "Ah wouldn' use it insahd if y'all don' want t' break somethin'"

He nodded. "I'll use it later. Hey, Applejack, could you teach me?"

"Y'all're darn tootin' Ah can!"

"Okay…maybe after my flying lesson tomorrow!"

"Whah not?" She smiled promisingly.

"Can't wait!"

Bon Bon came forth with his tenth gift. "Since you like my candy so much, I figured you'd like this."

Expecting to find a box of chocolates or candy, he opened it up and was surprised to find a hoof crank candy maker. It looked old fashioned, but was completely clean and sterilized. Along with it came a myriad of different colored packets and containers.

"Now you can make your own candy so you don't have to wait on me. Oh, I put a recipe book telling you how to make element candy in there too since you like them so much."

"Whoa." Dream gave the crank a spin with a goofy grin.

Twilight giggled, bringing the whole room's attention to her and the small, pink present she was levitating outwards. She didn't have to walk to him; he unwrapped himself from the blanket and excitedly trotted up to her. He took the present and gently unwrapped it. It was a small treasure chest. Every passing second was another jolt to quicken his heartbeat. He lifted the lid to find a dingy looking rolled up piece of parchment. He withdrew it and unrolled it. He dropped the box in shock. "A-a treasure map? Are you sure Twilight?"

She nodded. "You always talk about how you love to find treasure maps, so I searched everywhere I could until I found an honest map."

A surge of warm energy hit Dream at full force. He lurched forward and grappled Twilight in a tight hug. The ponies in the room disappeared, leaving only him and Twilight in his mind. "Thank you", he whispered in her ear.

Twilight was way too stunned to even think of a response. She stood idly in his gripped, barely noticing the ponies take their attentions elsewhere. Dream's hug was firm, though she didn't want to leave it. As a matter of fact, she actually leaned into the soft colt. She could hear her heart in her ears screaming at her to kiss him. Its orders became so strong that she actually moved to follow them.

He let go before she could land her lips on his check. She was blushing hard, but it felt too nice to be so close to him for her to care. "You're welcome, Dream."

"Y'all ready for party games, yet?" Applejack called holding up a blindfold. "First one's up's pin the horn on the unicorn!"

Twilight and Dream exchanged glances and shrugged indifferently. They happily trotted together to finish celebrating the best day of their lives.


D


"I believe I am beginning to understand why you requested that I place a Dream Embargo Spell on Dream Runner", Luna said to her sister as she restored the information deleted weeks ago in Dream Runner's personal information book. "But I am still confused as to why you wanted me to curse him with a Flying Phobia Spell and erase all books from the library with any information on him."

"All will unravel in time, Luna", Celestia replied as she began to lower the sun. "You'll find they are mainly precautions."

Luna resumed placing text on the pages. "I hope you are not thinking about becoming too involved in this. Remember that you are a princess."

Celestia ignored the last comment. She continued to stare out of the window of their study to observe the white, snowy town of Ponyville. The time is approaching…