Author's Notes: And here we are with yet another chapter! Sheesh, am I glad my inspiration has hit a good patch once again...I really hate leaving all of you hanging like I have been on a couple of occasions.

Once again, a huge thank you to everyone who has read, favourited, alerted, and of course reviewed. To all those who were wondering about my lack of reference to Starfall and Luna's dancing at the party; I apologise...I meant to reference it last chapter, but it slipped my mind. As it turns out, the reference I've made this chapter flowed into the scene fairly well, anyway, so hopefully that will satisfy you.

Once again, "DiamondGirl400" was unavailable to beta this chapter, so any mistakes and goofs are completely and utterly my own. Hopefully there are few of them.

But alas, I am wasting the time you could be spending reading this chapter, so off you all go...while I return to OpenOffice to begin work on Chapter 30!

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Chapter 29

Mail Run

Troubles...they seemed to follow Starfall around like a bad smell. As soon as he got rid of one, another one simply seemed to take it's place, leaving him once more floundering for a solution before another problem could manifest itself and start snowballing into a disaster the young pegasus was no longer able to control.

Starfall's current predicament, a few days on from the lucky break he'd gotten while introducing Princess Luna to modern music, was a prime example. Having managed to get around that problem, thankfully without attracting any ill feelings from the Princess herself, another problem had surfaced to take it's place...his recurring nightmare.

His dreams had been relatively peaceful since coming to Ponyville, that vague nightmare of distorted screams, loud noises, and maniacal laughter seeming to have remained in Canterlot to pester somepony else. But now it was back...and the nightmare was growing more vivid than ever before.

The distorted screams were becoming not only clearer, but louder too...clearly coming from more than just a few ponies, but rather an entire herd, possibly a small town's worth of ponies, if not more. As for the loud noises...they were definitely impacts or explosions of some kind...violent ones. Whatever this was, his vision is the dream was still too poor to make out, but he could tell it was horrendously destructive, and the completely justified reason for the panic of the other ponies he could hear. And the cackling...while Starfall still couldn't discern exactly who it was, he couldn't escape the nagging feeling that he knew the voice somehow...like it was different, but somehow familiar to him, and he should know the pony laughing so madly.

But no matter which way Starfall looked at his nightmare, he could not make any kind of sense from it, and was forced to simply try and push it from his mind once he woke up. There was an alternative possibility to the reason for his nightmare recurring is this way, but he refused to even consider it. If that was what was happening to him, then...

"Starfall! Hey, Starfall!" a familiar, slurred voice called out, snapping Starfall out of his thoughts, making him look around the street he was wandering down, looking for the blonde-maned pegasus he knew would be source.

His gaze quickly found Derpy Hooves, sitting at an outside table at a small cafe, clearly indulging in a bit of lunch. He was surprised to see her carrying a set of mail saddlebags, which she currently had lying next to her seat, along with a mail-pony's hat she was wearing rather crookedly on her head. The uniform briefly reminded Starfall of his earlier experiences with the clumsy pony, remembering that she had mentioned once that she was one of the mail-ponies for Ponyville. It looked she was taking a brief lunch break during her rounds, so Starfall saw no harm in heading over to talk for a little bit.

"Hey there, Derpy!" he called back, trotting over in her direction, smiling in gratitude as the grey pegasus pulled out a chair for him, though accidentally knocked it over on her way back to her own seat. "Don't worry, I've got it," he said patiently as the young mare offered him a sheepish look, before smiling and sitting back in her own seat as Starfall fixed the chair up and sat down. "So, you doing your rounds, then?" he asked.

Derpy nodded happily. "Yup, just making sure everypony in Ponyville gets their letters. But it's my lunch break now, so I thought I'd stop by here for a couple of muffins...want one?" she asked, offering one of a small batch she had obviously just bought up to Starfall, who so far had yet to organise his own lunch. And while the offer was tempting, especially since the muffin itself smelled like it was still rather warm and fresh, he couldn't deny Derpy food she had bought herself.

"No thanks, Derpy. It smells great, but you have it," he said, giving her a smile. "I'll arrange my own lunch later, don't worry." he added, trying to put her at ease. It was a little early in the day for him to really want any lunch, anyway, and he wasn't all that hungry at the moment, regardless.

"Okay!" Derpy replied cheerfully, taking the muffin back as she went back to her lunch, clearly not intent on pressing the issue...something Starfall liked about her. She always respected his decision, even if she might not necessarily agree with it, where a lot of other ponies might keep pushing him a little longer. "So," Derpy continued, clearly having found another subject to work on. "How are you liking Ponyville so far?" she asked.

Starfall paused, taking a moment to look around while he thought about his answer. "It's a nice place, really. Most ponies here are really friendly, and everypony seems to know everypony. It's quiet, but not overly so," he finally said, his soft smile at the thoughts fading as the description reminded him a little of his birth-town, and all the troubling memories associated with it.

Derpy smiled. "That's kind of the way I think about it, actually. One of the big reasons I moved here, too," she added softly. "So you and the Princess have settled in well, then," she added, Starfall nodding in response.

"About as well as can be expected, I guess," he said, still remembering the recent lucky break he'd had regarding his complicated relationship with Luna. Fortunately, things had settled down since them, and their studies were back to a normal routine, Starfall also resuming his studies of the comet they had discovered back in Canterlot. While Starfall was enjoying the change of atmosphere here in Ponyville, he was glad to return to his true passion, up in the night sky.

But before he could say anything further, Starfall paused, catching a sight that had him curious. "Hey, Derpy, is that...a zebra?" he asked, pointing out a mare, her coat striped in alternating light and dark grey, her mane similarly striped, as well, creating a look that was highly unique. Starfall had only vaguely heard of zebras, knowing only that they hailed from a distant land beyond Equestria's borders, and that they were distinguished by their striped, monochrome coats...exactly like the mare Starfall had spotted.

Derpy gave him a curious look, before following the direction his hoof was pointing, grinning and waving at the zebra. "Oh, that's Zecora," she said, smiling as she got the mare's attention. "And yeah, she's a zebra, alright. Hi, Zecora!" she called as the zebra approached, giving the young pegasus a return smile of her own, before replying in a heavily accented voice, betrayal her ancestry being from lands beyond Equestria.

"And hello to you, Miss Ditzy Doo," the zebra greeted happily, Starfall pausing a moment as the accent caught him off-guard...being far stronger than he anticipated. As she turned to Starfall, he got ready to introduce himself, only for Derpy to beat him to it.

"Oh, this is Starfall, a friend of mine. He's staying in Ponyville for a while," she explained, Starfall grimacing slightly as Zecora's gaze lit up in recognition, a sign she had heard of him before. Starfall was pretty sure he knew where she had heard of him, too.

"Starfall...your name is one I've heard before," she replied slowly, before giving him another smile. "You study stars, and other lore," she finished, Starfall raising an eyebrow at her rhyming. He thought she had merely fluked it during her greeting, but now she had done it twice in a row, which seemed like a stretch to him.

Before he could ask about it, or anything else, for that matter, Zecora seemed to remember something. "But, I am afraid I cannot stay," she said reluctantly, already turning to leave, though giving them one last smile as she trotted off down the street. "I wish you both a good day!"

Starfall watched her go for a few moments, merely waving in farewell, while Derpy remained her usual, cheerful self. "Okay, see you around, Zecora!" she called, before turning back to Starfall, catching his baffled expression. "What?" she asked him.

"Does she always do that?" he asked, before spotting that Derpy, for once, wasn't following, and elaborated. "The whole rhyming thing?" he added, looking back over to where he could still see Zecora, heading down the road...interestingly, in the direction of the Everfree Forest.

Derpy finally seemed to get what had confused Starfall. "Oh, that's what you're all confused about!" she said, before nodding at him. "Yeah, she pretty much always speaks like that. Most of Ponyville's used to it by now. I guess I just forgot you wouldn't have met somepony like her, before," she added sheepishly, giving him an apologetic look.

Starfall nodded. "It's fine, she just surprised me, that's all," he explained, before settling back into a comfortable silence. After experiencing Luna's archaic speech for a few months, Zecora's rhyming wasn't too hard to imagine for the young stallion...though it was certainly unexpected, and very different from anypony he had ever known. Then again, he had never met a zebra before.

Eventually, though, Derpy had finished the last of her muffins, and clumsily got back to her hooves. "Well, I have to get back to work and finish delivering these letters, Starfall," she said, seeming reluctant, before suddenly brightening up again. "Hey, you can tag along if you want!" she suggested, making Starfall pausing halfway out of his own seat.

"Are you sure, Derpy?" he asked. "I mean, won't I just be a distraction?" he elaborated. He in no way wanted to avoid Derpy...the unique mare was one of few ponies Starfall considered a good friend, and he was glad he ran into her. But he was worried tagging along with her while she was doing her job could see her get in trouble with her superiors. He was aware that she was clumsy, and that had to come into play during her work as well, though he was glad her boss appeared to be giving her a bit of leeway for it, considering her eye condition.

Derpy grinned. "Nah, my boss doesn't mind if I bring somepony along, as long as I get my rounds done. You'd probably help, anyway...I mix up the letters sometimes, since I can't see the addresses very well. You could stop me from messing it up too much, and my boss would appreciate that, since it means less hassle for him, and less time I spend out here doing my rounds."

Starfall took all that in, thinking on it for a few moments longer before finally conceding she had some good points. That, and if her boss really didn't it, then it wouldn't hurt to help her out a little. "I guess I can come with you...I'm free until sunset, anyway."

Derpy gave a small whoop, Starfall quick to her make sure her little jump didn't knock anything over...fortunately the pegasus had thought to move away from the tables before she had expressed her happiness...either that, or she had just gotten lucky for once. "Awesome!" she cried, grabbing her mail saddlebags and slinging them over her back. "Come on, let's go!"

Chuckling at Derpy's exuberance, Starfall quickly neatened up the table they were leaving, before heading off after her, quickly catching up as she lead him towards a part of town he was not familiar with. A small, out of the way residential area that really had little of interest to anyone not living there.

As they wandered the streets, stopping occasionally to deliver a letter, Starfall pointing out any letters she was misidentifying for her, the stallion allowed his mind to wander, though this just caused it to focus on last night's nightmare. He was starting to suspect that the nightmare was something he should know of...something that was important. But without any truly coherent details, the young pegasus could not figure any of it out...all he could do was wait, and see if any other, future revisits of the nightmare provided any further insight.

His face must have given his troubled state away, though, because Derpy was quick to pick up on it. "You've gone awfully quiet, Star...something bothering you?" she asked, snapping the stallion out of his thoughts as he turned towards her.

"I'm fine," he replied after a moment. "Just something that's been bugging me a bit, that's all," he added, not really interested in talking about it. It was a nightmare, after all...hardly anything to be concerned over, except for the fact that he was having trouble getting a good night's rest because of it.

Derpy, however, seemed to be about to ask further, but was stopped when she noticed that recipient of her next letter was home, and out in the front yard. "Hi, Rose!" the pegasus called, grinning at the creamy yellow Earth Pony, who pushed her bright raspberry-coloured mane out of her face to look back, giving Derpy a wave as well.

"Hey, Ditzy," Rose replied, before Starfall paused, spotting two more mares behind the Earth Pony. Again, both were mares, and the three seemed to be a trio of close friends, if not sisters, by the way their appearances and cutie marks all seemed to revolve around flowers. While Rose was obvious given her appearance, the pink mare with a gold-hued mane was only distinguishable for Starfall by the three white flowers that made up her cutie mark...lilies. The last of the trio, a faded purple mare with a pale green mane, had two daisies as her cutie mark. And as Derpy greeted them all, it appeared they were all named after their cutie marks; Rose, Lily and Daisy.

As Derpy fished for the letter addressed to Rose, Lily turned her attention to Starfall. "Wait, Derpy, who's your friend? He looks familiar..." she said slowly, Starfall pausing at the comment. He had never seen any of this trio in his life, so how could even one of them know him? While his association with Princess Luna had made him famous, he was fairly sure the worst of the gossip had not spread beyond Canterlot yet.

It was Daisy, however, who provided the answer. "Wait, you're Starfall, aren't you?" she asked the stallion directly, leading to him making a small, reluctant nod. "That explains it, Lily, remember how Pinkie Pie threw that big welcome party because Princess Luna was visiting, with a student of hers? Pinkie mentioned that Starfall was the student, and I recognise him, too. I saw him dancing with the Princess during the party!" she exclaimed, giving Starfall a look that expressed how lucky she thought he was for the opportunity.

Starfall, however, just blushed and averted his gaze. He had hoped that there wouldn't be too much attention on him back on that night when he had convinced the Princess to dance, despite his own misgivings. True to his thoughts, Starfall had not been a very good dancer, settling for a simple, shuffling style, little more than swaying and stamping his hooves to the rhythm. But, to his relief, the Princess had certainly enjoyed the experience, and had danced with a little more life than Starfall had, though she was a long way off the wild, exuberant style some ponies had been dancing with that night.

She had even set aside her misgivings for Starfall's feelings long enough to allow him once one dance together. It was far from romantic, the heavy electronic music making their shared dance more lively and less intimate, but it was a lot more than Starfall had ever expected to Princess to be willing to try. It was obvious that Luna had enjoyed herself, and Starfall, as embarrassed as he had been, and still was, had to admit that it had been enjoyable in the end, and he was glad that Derpy and Rainbow Dash had pressured him into it.

"Well, I know Starfall doesn't want any more attention over his time with the Princess, girls...and he's helping me deliver the mail, so I'm afraid we can't stop, anyway." Derpy's voice snapped Starfall back to the present, and as what she was saying clicked in his mind, he threw her an appreciative smile, especially upon seeing the mildly disappointed looks from the trio. Being the subject of gossip was one thing. To have a bunch of ponies quizzing you about said gossip was not something Starfall ever wanted to endure in his life.

Rose was the first to recover from her disappointment, smiling at them both. "Well, thanks for the letter, Ditzy, it's always nice seeing you around. And it was nice to meet you, too, Starfall," she added, holding her hoof up, Starfall hesitantly shaking it, before giving the other two mares a hoof-shake as well and they gave their farewells, before following Derpy back out onto the road once more, remaining silent for a few moments.

After a few moments, though, he remember a detail from their encounter today that had him curious. "Derpy?" he called, getting her attention. "I've heard both the zebra, and Rose just now, call you Ditzy. Why is that?" he asked, Derpy giggling a little as she realised where he was going with this.

"Oh that...it's just a nickname some friends came up with. I mean, I know I'm clumsy, and fillies like Rose and Zecora mean it in a nice way, so Ditzy has just kinda stuck, I guess. Somepony even extended it to Ditzy Doo, and I sometimes hear stories about how visitors to Ponyville think that's my actual name!" she added, giving a short laugh, even Starfall finding himself unable to restrain the smile at the thought of somepony mixing up her name because her nickname was so prevalent in Ponyville.

After the shared laugh, Derpy paused, deciding to be the one to get things rolling this time. "Now, what were you saying before we met the fillies? There was something bothering you, right?" she asked again, Starfall sighing as it was brought up again...he thought he had successfully avoided that one for a moment, there.

"It's really isn't anything to worry about, Derpy, I swear," he replied, giving her a reassuring smile. "Just a nightmare that keeps popping up and disturbing my sleep...nothing to go fretting about."

From from relaxing the blonde pegasus, however, Starfall's explanation seemed to make her pause, instead. "When you say it keeps popping up, Starfall...do you mean it's the same nightmare coming back again and again?" she asked, sounding concerned...and surprisingly serious, making Starfall pause just ahead of her, wondering where she was getting at, as he nodded slowly, not really sure what to expect, now.

His nod just spurred Derpy on. "Wow, you're actually getting a recurring dream that you can remember! Starfall, I don't know if you believe in this stuff...but from what I've heard, recurring dreams are often really important, like the magic of Equestria itself is trying to tell you something. What's the dream about?" she asked, clearly just as curious as she was worried. She obviously hadn't forgotten Starfall's mention that this was not a pleasant dream he was reliving.

Starfall shrugged. "I don't really know...it's all kind of hazy," he admitted. "But...the dream has been getting clearer lately," he added, which made Derpy's ears stand up straighter than before, the young mare turning to look directly at Starfall...or as directly as she could with her crossed eyes.

Derpy finally sighed, seeming to realise that Starfall did not have much more to tell. "Well, if you ever figure out what the dream's about, hopefully you'll be able to tell what makes it so important that you keep seeing it over and over. I've heard tales that the history of Equestria has been changed drastically because of recurring dreams that one pony has had, usually right before some big event. Just...be careful, okay?" she asked him.

Starfall really struggled to figure out what to make of this. Derpy was taking this really seriously, and seemed to think this could either be very important...or very bad, possibly even both. He gave her a reassuring nod, though. "I'm always careful, Derpy," he assured her, the grey mare soon back to her cheerful, smiling self at his response.

"Good!" she exclaimed, before checking the next envelope she was delivering. "Now, I think this is the next stop," she said, Starfall giving the address a cursory glance, nodding to let her know she was right, before settling into place behind her as she went up to the front door and knocked, trying to remain somewhat inconspicuous as Derpy did her job.

When the front door opened, though, Starfall whirled back in her direction at the derogatory tone the stallion living there took...a tone that was strangely familiar. "Oh, it's you," the male voice said heavily, clearly unhappy at seeing Derpy as his mail-mare for the day. "Hopefully you have the right letter this time. I swear, sometimes...wait..." as Starfall's gaze finally found the stallion standing in the doorway, his face unknowingly ended up matching that of the stallion before him, staring at each other in wide-eyed shock. "Starfall?" the stallion asked, too stunned to say anything more.

Starfall, for his part, was left just as speechless...they had lost contact so long ago, and here, years later, they meet up, this stallion actually living in Ponyville, of all the towns in Equestria. Like the figure standing before him, Starfall could only manage one word in response...one he had not uttered in some years. "...Brother?!"