Princess Luna trudged through the corridor leading back to her bedroom, her head hung low. She had just been able to escape from the Night Court, excusing herself with a lie that she wasn’t feeling all that well. Even though she’d only been in there for a couple of hours, if she had to listen to another pony complain about how they thought the taxation laws were unfair, she was going to lose it.
Hearing the familiar clanking of armor from the guards, she barely lifted her head to acknowledge their presence, even after they had greeted her with their usual, “Good evening, Princess.” Luna grunted back in response and walked between them, making them step aside to make room for her.
As she walked away, she heard them mutter behind her just like they always did.
Her ears flicking back to lay flat on her head, she closed her eyes and sighed. She was already dreadfully tired. She had a minor headache, her throat was rather dry, and her eyes tingled in that weird way whenever she didn’t get enough sleep.
Luna had struggled to get back into her old hobbies, but the friends she had used to pass time with had long since passed away. Flying by herself wasn’t all that fun, and even though she had tried to drag her sister away from her duties to fly with her, she was never really successful. While reading had sated her desire for some variety for a short while, it never gave her what she truly wanted. Sitting around on the couch or on her bed certainly wasn’t helping, so she had given up on that.
Using her magic to open her bedroom door, Luna slammed it shut the moment she got through. Her room was dark, save for the light of the moon she had raised a few hours ago. Luna shed her royal garments and collapsed on her bed. She grabbed her biggest and fluffiest pillow then tightly pulled it against her chest. Luna curled up and as she closed her eyes, she curled a wing over the pillow and let her mind roam.
She imagined that her pillow was a tender, loving stallion. He pushed his head up under her chin and nuzzled her, then whispered the phrase that she hadn’t heard from a special somepony in ages, I love you, Luna. She bit her lip and sighed. Cracking open her eyes, her fantasy shattered when she saw nothing but her pillow in her grasp.
As an alternate way of snuggling popped into her mind, Luna flipped around so that her back was pressed up against all the pillows she had at the head of her bed. She’d done this so many times it had become second-nature to her. She let a smile form on her face as she tucked the blanket behind her back, then as she draped a corner over her forelegs, she curled them up so that it simulated a pony holding her close.
Once again, she closed her eyes and let her mind wander. Luna was tempted to use a spell to warm the pillows behind her to help make her fantasy real, but she was simply too exhausted to bother. If she put too much power into the spell, there was a small chance of her setting her pillows aflame.
She fluffed up the blanket and folded the corner a few times, then placed it back over her curled forelegs. Now it actually felt like somepony’s hoof. She used her magic to place a pillow on the exposed side of her head in an effort to simulate somepony laying their head on hers, but it just wasn’t the same. Her cold, lifeless pillow was nothing in comparison to snuggling with a real stallion.
“Gah!” Luna lifted her head from the sheets and grabbed the pillow behind her head, then chucked it across the room. She huffed once and crossed her forelegs, letting her ears flick back. With a groan of defeat, Luna laid her head back down on a pillow, pulled the sheets up past her shoulders, then let out a long, deep sigh of regret.
As Luna began to doze off, she lit her horn and cast the spell that let her access the dream realm. Luna opened her eyes and found herself not in her bed, but in the dream realm that she frequented nearly every night. Wondering what her lovely little ponies were dreaming about, she pranced along through the dream realm, touching upon the dreams of those she held close. She saw the familiar aura of her sister, so she flew to the portal and peered down into her dream.
Celestia was laying on her bed, shoveling numerous slices of cake into her mouth, pausing in between cakes to drink copious amounts of chocolate milk. With a giggle, Luna pulled her head back and flapped her wings. She looked into the dreams of a few ponies that she did not know, then stumbled upon the dream of none other than Scootaloo. Wondering how she was faring, Luna looked through the shimmering portal.
Scootaloo was racing against her idol, Rainbow Dash. She was meters ahead of her, a wide grin on her face as she raced around the last turn. Rainbow was catching up to her, and if Luna wasn’t mistaken, Rainbow had a look of worry on her face. “Afraid you are going to lose, hm?” she asked herself, a grin forming on her face. She silently rooted for Scootaloo, and right before Rainbow was about to pass her up to win the race, Luna lit her horn and sent a gust of air towards Scootaloo, pushing her further ahead of Rainbow. Scootaloo rocketed across the finish line with Dash hot on her tail.
Scootaloo slowed down just enough for Rainbow to catch up. As Luna watched, Rainbow wrapped her arms around Scootaloo and held her close, then crashed into a thick, puffy cloud. Luna’s eyes went wide and she lifted a hoof to stop this nightmare from going any further, but to her amazement, both ponies emerged from the cloud giggling. Scootaloo jumped on Rainbow’s belly and wrapped her arms around her neck. Rainbow pulled her into a tight hug and nuzzled her. “I’m so proud of you, Scootaloo!” Luna heard Rainbow Dash say. “I can’t believe you beat the fastest flier in all of Equestria: me!”
“Me too!” Scootaloo replied, her tone full of joy and excitement. “So does that make me the fastest flier now?”
“Totally!” Rainbow stood up and flared her wings. “Now come on! Let’s go tell our friends who’s the boss now!” At that, the two of them flew out of sight.
Luna sat back and chuckled. “Silly filly... I sure hope she attains that dream one day.” She pulled her head out of Scootaloo’s dream and flew back up to the ledge that she had come from. Luna folded her wings and pranced down the path, wondering which dream she should poke her head into next.
Then, out of the blue, she heard someone groan. She paused, her ears flicking up. Luna looked all around her, her head on a constant swivel as she waited to hear the sound again. It had come so quickly that she wasn’t able to place where it came from. Luna took a deep breath, sat down, and closed her eyes. She let out her breath and listened.
“Ughhhh...” came the same sound again.
“I... that sounds oddly familiar...” Luna looked up to the right and saw an odd-looking portal. All of the portals to dreams held a shimmering oval for her to open wide with her magic, but the one she was looking at was definitely not shimmering. It was dark, metallic, and it hummed with a powerful magic. Her curiosity piqued, Luna flapped her wings and flew through it.
She emerged into some hallway. The floor was made up of broad pieces of wood that held too many splinters to count. The walls held no decoration, and at the end of the hallway lay a small window with light brown curtains. Luna looked to the right and saw a single door in the wall. She heard someone snoring on the other side of it, then after she heard them grunt and mumble something incoherent, Luna pushed the door open and found none other than Discord.
Cocking her head to the side, she hesitantly took a single step inside. She lit her horn and tried to look into his dream, but for some odd reason, she wasn’t able to do so. She was able to feel that he was having a nightmare, but that was about it. “D-Discord?” she asked softly.
Discord grunted again and kicked the sheets to the end of his bed. He rolled over onto his side and curled up much like a snake would, then covered his face with his paws. He shook his head, moaning, “No, no, no! Anything but that!”
Luna trotted over to the bed and and laid a hoof on his shoulder, then shook him as hard as she could. Woah, he’s heavy! He barely budged from her actions, so she grabbed him with her other hoof and shook him harder. “Discord! Wake up!” she yelled in his ear. Discord woke up a second later, sitting upright in his bed. He blinked slowly and rubbed his eyes, then licked his lips. Luna sat quietly by his bed, looking up at him with her head cocked to the side. She hesitantly lifted a hoof and cleared her throat.
Discord’s head whipped around to look at her. The bottom of his left eyelid twitched twice, then he gasped loudly. “Luna!” He felt around for his sheets, then when he didn’t feel them, he broke eye contact with her and saw them at the end of the bed. He reached out and yanked them back up to him, covering himself up like a mare who just got discovered wearing sexy lingerie. “I’m not decent! And what are you doing in my bedroom?”
“Um, I...” Luna glanced off to the side and looked back up into his eyes. “I was making sure everypony was having a nice dream and I heard someone groaning.” She cocked her head to the side so she could scratch behind her left ear. “I didn’t sense anyone having a nightmare, so I knew something was off the moment I heard... well, you.” She pointed a hoof at him, then let it fall back to her side. “I don’t normally hear sounds from dreams until I’m actually in one, but, well...”
“I am Discord.”
“Yes, be that as it may, I still found it odd that I was able to hear you. When I found you here, you were moaning and groaning, muttering things that I could not make out. I feel it is my duty to watch over the dreams of those in Equestria, ensuring that nopony has to deal with nightmares. I know firsthoof how... dreadful they can make one feel.” Her voice went soft at that last little bit as she remembered the Tantabus and what it had put her through, night after night.
Discord relaxed, letting the sheets fall down to his lap. “And so you thought you could make me feel better by breaking me from my nightmare?”
Luna smiled softly and nodded once. “Mhm.”
“Huh... Nopony’s really, uh...” Discord struggled to find the right word. “Oh, come on! What’s the word I’m looking for...” He snapped his fingers once. “Ah, there it is! Nopony’s been there for me in such a way. T-thank you, Luna.”
Luna’s smile deepened at that. “You are most welcome, Discord. Now, if I am to be perfectly honest, and while this may sound a little... strange, I am glad that I had found you in the midst of your nightmare. It is very strange for me to not sense those sorts of things, and, uh...” She blushed and rubbed the back of her head, then smiled sheepishly. “This is the strangest thing that’s happened to me all week long.” Discord chuckled in a way that Luna recognized: he had just thought of something chaotic.
“Oh ho ho... this was the highlight of your week?” Discord laughed and leaned down, pressing his forehead up against Luna’s. “I’ll just have to fix that, then!”
Luna sat perfectly still, showing no fear. “Uh, hehe... what do you mean?” Her voice trembled, revealing what she was truly feeling.
“To me, it sounds like you aren’t having enough fun! I’ll see you first thing tomorrow morning!”
Luna’s eyes went wide and her ears fell flat on her head. “W-what? No! Don’t come!” she managed to squeak out. Luna closed her eyes to blink, but instead of finding herself in Discord’s bedroom, she found herself back in her bed. She was soaked in a cold sweat and she panted softly. Luna sat up and shook her head, wondering if all of that had just been a dream.
Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted something out of place. The moonlight framed a pure white lily centered right in the middle of her bed. A tiny, folded note sat next to it. Her eyebrows furrowing in confusion, Luna lit her horn and grabbed both the flower and the note. She levitated the flower to lay on her left hoof, then unfolded the note.
See you when you wake up! -D she read. The note fell from her grasp as her eyes glazed over.
“What have I done?”
Luna could not sleep at all. She tried all of her tricks: snuggling with a pillow, then staring at a single point in the wall until she fell asleep. She even tried tucking a pillow behind her back to simulate a pony snuggling her from behind. But alas, it was all for naught, for the constant worrying of what Discord had in mind kept her wide-awake. She could not slow her racing heart, so she chose to finish reading the saucy romance novel she kept hidden in her nightstand.
The morning came faster than she anticipated. The sun’s light shined in through her many windows, bleeding through the curtains. She rolled over, facing away from the light just in time to see her sister trot inside her room. With her ears flicked back, Luna knew what she was going to do. She didn’t even have to look up as Celestia lit her horn, tugging open her curtains and flooding the room with light. Celestia did this every morning as part of her ritual, for she loved to sleep in late.
“Wakey wakey, little sis...” Celestia murmured as she stalked towards her little sister’s bed. She couldn’t even get a hoof on the bed before Luna sat up, much to her disbelief. “Oh, you are already up? This is something I have not seen in many months!” she teased as she settled down beside Luna.
Luna rolled her eyes and smiled as she pulled Celestia under the sheets. Rolling onto he back, she snuggled up against Celestia’s side like she used to do when she was just a little filly, laying her head on her sister’s foreleg. “Can we just spend some time snuggling? I had an... odd encounter in the dream realm last night.” She felt Celestia’s warm wing wrap around her belly.
“We can snuggle as long as you want, Luna, but only on one condition...” Celestia felt Luna’s ear flick up against her side. “I would like it if you told me about your strange encounter. It is not often you speak of such things.”
Luna took a deep breath, then said, “Well... you know how I can enter the dreams of ponies, right? Well... when I was in the dream realm, I heard someone moaning and groaning. That has never happened before, and I was perplexed. Much to my surprise, it was not a pony.”
“So naturally, you went to investigate?”
“Mhm. Turns out it was... Discord.”
“I, um... I see.” Celestia lit her horn again and pulled over a pillow, which she promptly laid her head upon.
“I did not know that I could go into dreams of creatures that are not ponies, so it was quite a shock. I am... not sure, but I think I was actually at his house.” Luna snuggled closer to her sister. “The odd part was that I think I was actually there, not in his dream. I’ve heard rumors that the realm he resides in is very hard to get to, so...”
“You think you traveled to a different realm? Are you certain of this?” Celestia asked with a lifted eyebrow. “This is unheard of, sister.”
“I know. I didn’t stop to think if it was dangerous or not, but I just had to find out where the sounds were coming from. I found him having a nightmare, one that I could not go into. I do not know why I was not able to see it or sense it, but...” Luna sighed. “I woke him up anyways, and I would by lying if I said that he wasn’t surprised to see me there.” Should I tell her that he’s coming here? No, that would not be prudent. That would only distract her from her busy schedule, and that cannot happen... Remembering the note and flower he left her, she glanced around the room, wondering where they went.
“Looking for somepony? There is nopony else here but you and I, Luna,” Celestia said.
“Yes. I know.” Luna sighed. “I’m sorry for bugging you with this little issue of mine.”
Celestia giggled lightly at that. “Please, I want you to know that you can confide in me whenever you need it. It doesn’t matter if I am in the middle of a meeting or if I am in bed.”
“Thanks, but I just don’t like bothering you with little things like this.” Luna rolled over onto her back, laying her head down on one of her many pillows. “I just wonder if I’d be able to replicate what happened last night.” She faintly heard a rustle come from across the room, making her lift her head up to look. Luna glanced around her room, eyeing a rather suspicious looking curtain a moment before she used her magic to lift it. Nothing... I could have sworn I heard something over there, though... With a sigh, she flopped back down onto Celestia’s leg.
Celestia looked over towards the curtain that Luna had just tugged. With a sly smile, she nudged her sister’s shoulder with her own. “Is there somepony else here? A lover that you do not want me to know about? Hm?”
“Ugh...” Luna rubbed her eyes. “I wish. I just can’t find anypony that can’t look beyond me being a princess. My dates from a while ago all moved too quickly, and... I trust that you won’t tell anyone, but... I think that they only wanted to become royalty by marrying me, so I always end up breaking things off. I do so enjoy the company of a special somepony, but I’m sure you know how hard it can be finding someone who can look past our titles. It seems like you, save for a couple of ponies, are the only one who I can really relate with in that regard.”
“We are sisters, after all.” Celestia nuzzled the top of Luna’s head. She slid from the bed. “Anyways, I must be off if I am to keep my schedule. I trust that you will find the solution you are searching for.”
Luna sighed, wondering if she was talking about her constant lack of a lover or about Discord. “Yeah... me too,” she murmured as she watched Celestia walk from the room, her mane and tail flowing as gracefully as ever. After a minute, Luna groaned and rolled out of bed, making her way to her private bathroom for her daily shower.
Shutting the door behind her out of habit, Luna lit her horn and turned on the shower, eyeing her bedhead in the mirror as the room steamed up. Ugh... I hope Discord isn’t going to do anything drastic. She stepped under the shower head, ignoring the almost inaudible soft pop that echoed from her bedroom. The hot water soothed her, making her forget about her worries as it usually did.
With a soft groan, Luna stretched and spread her wings wide, letting the water cascade down her feathers. I really should preen myself soon... My feathers aren’t looking as good as they usually do. Stepping out of the stream of water, Luna lathered up her coat, wings, mane, and tail with the same shampoo she always used, then stood under the shower head again. She thought to use her magic to speed up the process, but decided against it. Several minutes passed as she simply enjoyed the sensation, the warmth of the water a nice contrast to her usually freezing-cold bedroom.
Stepping out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her mane, she thought, So what would be the easiest way to make Discord go away if he shows up? She used a spell to rip the towel from her mane, letting it assume its normal, shimmery style. Walking into the middle of her bedroom, she peeked under all of her curtains, then just as she was about to leave to go about her day, she noticed an odd-looking lump under her covers.
With a lifted eyebrow, she lit her horn and pulled the sheets aside to reveal Discord napping away, her favorite pillow held tightly within his grasp. “D-Discord?” she asked, taking a single step towards the bed. He didn’t wake up, though he did mumble something that she could not make out. He snuggled closer to the pillow and curled up, more inaudible sounds slipping from his mouth.
Luna walked up to the bed and gently laid a hoof on his side, then rocked him back and forth. “Discord...” she said, raising her voice slightly. He stirred awake, blinking slowly as he looked up at her. “What. Are you. Doing. In. My. Bed?” she asked, her voice hinting that she was annoyed. Luna huffed as Discord rubbed his eyes.
“Um... isn’t it obvious?” Discord asked with a shrug and a sheepish grin. “I told you that I would see you in the morning...” He yawned, then licked his lips. “I must have gotten here as you walked into your bathroom to freshen up. You took so long that I fell asleep!” He propped himself up on Luna’s other pillows. “My, my... this bed is much more comfier than mine...” he muttered to himself.
“And what, pray tell, are you doing with my favorite pillow?” Luna hated when anypony but her touched it. She didn’t even let the maids, or her sister, touch it.
Discord glanced down at the pillow that he was clutching to his chest. “Oh! Uh... good question. I don’t know how that got there. I must have grabbed it in my sleep.” He snapped his fingers, making her pillow teleport from his hands onto Luna’s head, impaled on her horn. “So now that I’m here, featherbrain...” He chuckled as a few feathers drifted to the floor, ignoring Luna’s look of shock. “What do you have planned for us to do?”
“There is no us!” Luna shook her head like a dog, flinging the pillow back onto the bed. With a couple of small spells, she returned her pillow to its former glory, then laid it on a chair far across the room. “And I do not have anything planned because I did not expect you to come.”
“But I said I would,” Discord said pointedly. “Come now, shall we have some fun?” He held out a paw for Luna to take, but she merely pushed it away, rolled her eyes, then trotted from the room, leaving him all alone. “Well, well, well... We’re just gonna have to see what I can do to make her laugh!”
“Come on...” Discord whined, hovering above Luna as she trotted to her next meeting. They’d spent the last six hours in meetings about crop harvests and taxation laws, driving him nearly insane from the boredom alone. He’d made himself visible only to Luna during those meetings, whispering jokes about whoever she was talking to without so much as a single laugh.
“What?” Luna snapped at him, her tone revealing that she was more than irritated. “You’ve been distracting me all day! Why are you doing this to me, of all ponies?”
Discord floated in front of her, making her stop. “Because I think, out of all the other ponies, that you’re the one who needs to loosen up the most! I can see why you don’t have fun anymore; you’re always stuck in those dreadful meetings!”
“I still have fun!” Luna retorted, stepping past him.
“Oh, really?” Discord chuckled. “What was the last fun thing you did, hm?”
Luna stopped, then bit her lip. Her ears flicked back, and she knew that Discord saw that. “I, uh...”
“See? I knew it! You can’t remember the last time you had fun!”
Luna sighed, then turned around to face him head on. “Actually, I finished a really good romance novel last night,” she said with a confident grin. “And I had a lot of fun reading it!” With a triumphant humph, she turned around and resumed walking.
Discord snorted, making Luna glare at him. “That’s not fun at all! That’s relaxing! Lemme show you how to have some real fun!” He got on his knees and clasped his hands together. “Pretty please with a cherry on top?” he said with the biggest puppy-dog eyes he could muster.
He’s right, you know... A small part of Luna’s mind whispered. It has been much too long since you had some real fun. Why don’t you do whatever he has in mind? Luna sighed, her shoulders slumping. She reached out to him and helped him stand back up, her eyes averted all the while as her mind raced. “Very well, then. What do you want to do? I still have those meetings to attend to, so I won’t be done until after eight.”
Discord scratched his chin, then snapped his fingers as his eyes lit up with an idea. “Aha! I know! I’ll pick you up at eight-thirty so we can go out to a nice bar tonight! And I know just the place!” With a grin, he waved at her. “Toodles!” And with that, he teleported away, leaving a white lily drifting down towards the floor.
Is this the same flower from last night? Luna caught the lily before it hit the floor, holding it up to admire its beauty. Wondering what to do with it, she was struck with a terrifying revelation, one that stole her breath and made her eyes go wide.
“Did he... just ask me out on a date?” she asked herself, her eyes locked on the lily. “And did I say yes?!”
