Discord faded into the Realm of Dreams, the plane where all dreamers’ consciousnesses went to when they slept. Clouds of all colors scattered about the realm itself. “The things I do for that mare…” he grumbled as he walked over to a pair of pulsing orange clouds. Tapping each of them, he tapped into the dream and eased the dreamer’s nightmares, the clouds themselves turning to a soothing, soft green. As he busied himself with the clouds, a near black alicorn pony noticed him and investigated. As she walked up, her draconic eyes narrowed and her wings flared aggressively, revealing the purple splotch on her flank with a little puffy white cloud inside.

“Discord, what are you doing here in the Realm of Dreams?” Nightmare asked dryly, seeing the draconequus. He looked over to the alicorn, before backing off the clouds he’d touched.

The Chaos Spirit slung an arm around Nightmare’s back, drawing her into a friendly hug. “Well hello to you too, Nightmare.” He waved his free arm dismissively. “Oh, I’m not doing much of anything, really. Just spreading a little goodwill.”

Nightmare shot a deadpan look at him. “Truly? In all my years guarding the Realm, you’ve not once shown any goodwill to any dreamers.”

He held up a claw. “Filly Scout’s Honor. All those little colts and fillies love their video games, you know?” Discord winked.

Nightmare nodded. “When we spoke a few days ago, Luna said as much.” She looked down forlornly, ears pinning back. “At least we get along better than before our unfortunate fusion.” Discord chuckled a little. Nightmare shuddered and shook her head as she continued, “I still can’t believe that whole Eternal Night business was a product of our insanity from that. Messy stuff.”

“Anyways, Luna said she was overwhelmed containing all the nightmares from a few of those new releases, but never said how bad it really was!” He held a paw up to his forehead.

Nightmare shot him a dirty look before moving away a few hoof-lengths. “Fair enough. I may be the Spirit of Dreams, but I haven’t had to actually create any nightmares in a week. I wondered what caused all these natural ones to form.”

Her face took on an annoyed visage as she gazed about the pulsing orange clouds and continued, “I’ve actually had to disperse some to keep the Realm’s stability intact.” She spread her wings and took off to a pair of orange clouds. As she hovered next to one, her horn touched it and the dreamer’s nightmare was disrupted, the cloud glowing a soft green.

“Really, that sounds kinda boring.” He looked over to a nearby cluster of the Realm’s flashing orange dream clouds, peering into their owners’ dreams. “Oh! Got a pair here!” He snapped a claw and the dream clouds slowly turned from their angry orange into a gentle green.

Nightmare smirked maliciously as she lit her horn, starting to cast a spell. Discord shifted uncomfortably. “What are you doing, Nightie? I’ve not done anything wrong!”

He got his answer as she flicked her horn and a holographic window appeared in front of her. After a few seconds, a little icon of a phone appeared and vibrated. “Why Discord… I’m not doing anything at all.”

Discord, fearing for his being leapt behind some of the nearby clouds to hide as well as he could.

A click rang through the realm and Luna’s face appeared in the window. “Luna here, what seems to be the problem, Nightie?”

“Luna? Can you send the Realm’s stats into this monitor, please? I left my monitor at home. If you’ve got Discord helping you with these nightmares–” Nightmare yawned. “–I can lend a hoof as well.”

“Alright Nightie.” Luna looks away from the camera and pokes something a few times. “I’m sorry Celestia says you can’t come live with us in Equestria yet. She still feels insecure about you, being that you resemble Nightmare Moon so much. I will try and see if for a night, you can come and visit, maybe on Nightmare Night! You really have to see the Realm-management terminals here that Twilight and I designed. They are amazing! Much faster and more efficient than being there in pony.”

Nightmare shook her head. “That’s a good idea. As for the terminals, I’d rather give my own personal touch to the dreams I invade, thanks.”

“That is a shame.” Luna’s ears flattened, but she continued regardless, “You now have real-time stats piped to the monitor as you requested. Is there anything else I can help with? Perhaps blasting a certain draconequus with a spell for some reason or another?” She smiled mischievously.

The mentioned draconequus, who’d been hiding out of sight, squeaked in fright. He may be the Spirit of Chaos, but he wasn’t stupid enough to challenge either alicorn on their home turf. Nightmare shot him a knowing look, “Another time, maybe. He’s not done anything yet. Thanks, by the way.”

“No problem, Nightie. May there always be fair winds at your back.” Luna winked.

Nightmare nodded. “And may your horn never break. Make sure to tell Celly that I’m sorry again. I know she’s still uneasy about me and all, especially for my duty and appearance, but that doesn’t mean I hate her.”

“Will do. Luna out.” Luna’s face disappeared from the holographic window and was replaced by a pie chart, constantly changing as the Realm did.

Nightmare sighed. “She’s gone, Discord. If you’re still scared of her after last time she blasted you in here, why are you helping?”

Discord’s head popped out from behind a cluster of dreams, while his torso popped out from another, and his limbs from a third. He quickly reassembled himself before answering, “Twi asked me, not her. You know how I can’t say no to that face. Besides, if I help her, then Luna’s likely to forgive my next prank easier!”

Nightmare snickered, holding a hoof up to her mouth. “Fair enough. Even after a century and a half, she’s still so adorable.”

After a moment, the silence was unbearable. Discord broke it, waving a claw. “Welp, now that my demise isn’t imminent, I’m just going back to work. Thanks and have fun, Nightie.” He turned back to the orange clouds, a claw tapping against one lightly.

Nightmare yawned before speaking, “No big deal. You didn’t do anything to deserve it.” The new monitor floated over to his side. “Here, after roaming the Realm for the last few days, I’m a little tired. I planned on helping out for a little while, but my bed is calling my name.”

Discord prodded the window and took a step experimentally. It followed him, seemingly tethered in its exact location relative to himself. He waved her off. “Alrighty then. Nighty night, Nightie. Don’t let the Nightmare bite.”

Nightmare snickered again before yawning audibly. “Night, Dissy. I’ll do my best to keep Nightmare from biting me.” She turned away and took a running start before flying off, her horn lit. After a few seconds, a deep blue flash resonated off the clouds, indicating her departure.

Discord sighed, the cloud he tapped turning to a nice gentle green. “That was probably the highlight of my night. Ah well, some work will do me good for a change. Probably.” He stroked his beard tuft for a second. “Nah, but it’ll keep the boredom and angry alicorns away.”

v>^^^>v<^>v

As she passed through the portal, a blast of warm, night, ocean air caught her wings. Nightmare glided down to the little shack she called home. Nestled on a remote little island chain, it boasted tropical temperatures year round. The little oak shack wasn’t much to look at, but it was home.

It was only a decoy, but fully furnished all the same. Her real home was far below it, and she was too tired to bother with it at this point.

She strode over to the bed and flopped down lazily on it. “Wow it’s been a long few days. Time really does fly when you’re dreaming.” she spoke to nopony in particular. Hoof met face as she realized her folly. ‘I’ve really got to stop talking to myself.’

Nightmare curled up on the bed, snuggled in a blanket and soon was out like a light.

v>^^^>v<^>v

Nightmare stood in the Realm again, this time not as a Guardian, but as a Dreamer. ‘I’m not really in the mood to make something up to pass the time. I don’t have any particular memories I want to relive, so…’

A light bulb appeared above her head before sprouting a mouth and two yellow eyes, their red irises looking down into the dream intently. Nightmare’s horn glowed before sending up a flare, the cloud turning red around her.

“You rang?” Discord’s voice came from above her.

Nightmare teleported away, wings flared aggressively. She spun around at where she’d been standing. A light bulb winked at her before reforming into the draconequus. Nightmare shot him a flat stare. “I thought you were helping dreamers.”

“All part of being a Spirit of Chaos, dear.” He chuckled. “So, you called?”

She folded her wings back and nodded. “Yeah. I’m going to put some faith in you, like Luna and Twilight have. Surprise me.” Nightmare’s wings folded and unfolded in a shrug.

“You’re sure? I can be very creative if you give me free reign,” he warned her.

“If I give you free reign, there is to be no porn and no torture. Horror’s fine, though.”

“Spoilsport. Fine, I’ll see what I can whip up. Anything else?” He quirked an eyebrow.

Nightmare shook her head. “Nah. Other than those two rules, I’m pretty sure I can take whatever you throw at me.”

“Very well. Give me a few minutes and I’ll have your new dream delivered to you.” He bowed and faded away.

Author's Note

I might want to straight up explain this, as I’m not sure the subtext was direct enough. Nightmare Moon, the pony from Season 1 Eps 1 and 2, as you know her, was a fusion of this Nightmare, the Alicorn Spirit of Dreams and Nightmares and Luna, Alicorn Spirit of the Moon. Their fusion was an unstable grasp for power to counter Celestia’s gaining popularity among Equestria’s ponies. The fusion didn’t go quite right, and as a result, Nightmare Moon (took her name from combining Nightmare and Luna’s charge) made her bid for power and was banished to the moon from the Elements’ power. The first strike from the Elements of Harmony (IE: Celestia’s solo-blast) that sealed her, fractured Nightmare Moon’s mind, resulting in Nightmare and Luna individually in the body’s subconscious. And the second blast, from Twilight and her friends, truly separated the two. Nightmare, to recover, was sent back into her Realm by the Elements. Luna was left in the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters to be found and helped by her sister, Twilight, and Twilight’s new friends.

I’ll definitely do my best to elaborate and story-tell on that, and expand the Realm. I’ve got more to come about what the mysterious Realm of Dreams is capable of.