//------------------------------//
// Episode 4: The Dream Realm 
// Story: Last Week Tonight with Discord 
// by FrostTheWolf 
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        Just a day or so after completing his last piece, Discord was using the chance to finally catch a break, drink some tea and find a way to clear his head of any clutter before trying to work on his next piece… of course, trying was only a simple way of putting it. After his piece on the princesses, he had not been able to think of anything to either A.) Follow up on that story; or B.) come up with something new from scratch. And both of them were just as difficult to think about as they were stressful.

        It was then though… that he happened to hear a knock on his door… which was odd, because the only pony that knew of his personal domain was Fluttershy when he invited her to tea. Other then that, nopony else would know… Yet, it would be rude if he kept somepony waiting at the door. Maybe Fluttershy wanted to have a follow up visit or something? There were multiple possibilities going through Discord’s head at the time and none of them involved anypony other than Fluttershy.

        So it was quite a bit of a surprise that when he opened the door, he didn’t exactly find the small yellow pegasus, but instead Princess Celestia. “Good Afternoon, Discord… I was told by Fluttershy that I could find you here.” Now, at this particular point, two particular ideas came into his head on how to deal with the situation. Option A was be in denial about it and tell her she had the wrong address while Option B was to slam the door and hide like an escaped convict who did nothing wrong.

        Fortunately though, he chose Option C. “Why hello, Princess… I’m quite surprised to see you here. I wasn’t expecting any visitors actually.”

        “Can I come inside?” She asked, causing Discord to internally panic. Thinking that he needed to fix up his home. Just like when he had Fluttershy over. “And before you even think about it, don’t go out of your way to tidy things up. I’m okay with you having your domain like it is.” Now he was internally letting out a sigh of relief as he opened the door and let Celestia inside.

        But still, Discord had a question for the Princess… something that he was actually curious about. “So… What brings you here?”

        That had Celestia smile a bit as she looked back at him. “I would like to talk a bit about your… ‘hobby’ so to speak.” Again, Discord began to internally panic. But, that was until he heard the rest of what Celestia was saying. “I’m well aware that you take suggestions for future broadcasts and that my sister, Luna, suggested the last one…”

        All that did was have Discord raise his eyebrows and fold his arms. Until Celestia then said something that caught his attention. “What if I told you that there were some things about my sister that not many other ponies know these days? Some pieces of your last subject were true to the extent that there are some things that my parents kept a secret from Luna and I… but there are some secrets that my sister keeps from the public.”

        “Oh?” The Draconequus asked, personally intrigued and curious by what she had to say as he got out a pencil and a small pad of paper to take notes. “Do tell.”

        “Remember in your first broadcast that you mentioned how my sister created the Tantabus to make all of her dreams nightmares?” Celestia asked, to which Discord nodded as the Alicorn continued to speak. “Well, has she ever thought about actually talking out her problems instead of hurting herself each night?”

        Now… Discord was liking where this was going. “I… have never really thought about that… So you want for me to do the next piece on Luna and the Realm of Dreams?”

        Celestia not only just nodded her head, but also smiled a bit and added on to what she just said. “If you would like, feel free to interview me for it. There’s more to Luna than meets the eye… and I think that the sooner she accepts her mistakes and stops trying to hurt herself, the better she will be.”



Later that Evening

        It was after this very… interesting afternoon that Discord now had the inspirational motivation in order for him to prepare the next broadcast. Ahead of schedule no less! Not only did he have a subject in mind that would most definitely work with where he left off on it the last few times, but he also got a once in a lifetime interview to coincide along with it. So tonight, he had another one of his good suit jackets and ties ready as he looked back at the personal camera that he had set up. Beginning a thirty second countdown before he was to go live.

        In the last few seconds, there was a new animated introduction that was included in order to change up how the introduction for the episodes would be. That way, he could immediately dive into the segment he was going to success. And just as the title page was shown and it was now focused on him, the draconequus began to speak. “Dreams… basically, what you would call your personal fantasies or a playground for shenanigans waiting to happen.” With that, an image of Ponyville during the ‘Tantabus incident’ was displayed to coincide with that as some laughs were heard in the background. “Now, in the first week on the show, I had mentioned to all of you that Princess Luna formed the Tantabus, last seen here,” At that point, it showed the image of Ponyville once again before changing back to the title card. “As a way to make all of her personal dreams Nightmares… something that sounds along the lines of either an Edgelord or somepony with a low amount of self esteem… Well, it turns out that there’s a LOT more to Princess Luna than you might think.”

        The scene changed for a moment to a video segment where Luna was seen with a bunch of orphaned foals and fillies that she called the ‘children of the night’ and letting the viewers listen closely to the lyrics of her song. Only for it to stop just around the ending of the second verse. “Okay look… I know that song was good… but it still ties yourself back around to pain! Not to mention that if you sing that song nowadays, you might not even understand what she is saying. I mean… If you hear that life is ‘murdering beauty and passions’, then you would honestly think of the runway models and stylists in Manehattan as more of a secret mob than just runway models and stylists.”

        Laughs echoed the room as it showed Suri Polomare, one of the most well known… and controversial stylists in the industry being surrounded by others and taking on the look of gangsters in New Yoke. “Now… Back to the main subject of the evening… Princess Luna. Or more specifically, the realm in which she resides in and travels freely during the night… rather than being seen most of the time during the day. The Realm of Dreams.” In that instance, an image was portrayed of Luna looking more like a vampony rather than a normal alicorn. “No, I don’t mean that Luna is at all some form of Freddy Kruger if you are asking that.”

        Another few pieces of laughter soon echoed as Discord took the chance to take a deep breath before looking back at the camera. “We all know the story around Princess Luna. Celestia’s sister who had her jealously turn her into Nightmare Moon, she got banished, returned and was turned back to normal by the Elements like… seven seasons ago now? But the thing is, other than just a few public appearances, Night Court and any incident that immediately gets on her radar like what happened in the Crystal Empire with the Crystalling, not many ponies know what Luna does. For all we know, she could be in her room right now playing video games all day and we wouldn’t know. But… there is one pony who does know… and that is her sister Celestia.”

        A picture of Celestia standing idly in her throne room is shown… while also having a slice of cake as big as the throne itself. “And that’s not all… for this subject in particular… not only did she come to me in order to suggest tonight’s subject… but I was able to get the interview of a lifetime with Princess Cae Cae herself…” That had an uproar of applause and cheers in the background as Discord smiled and accepted the praise. “Not only that… but we are allowed to show you that interview, something that not a lot of journalists in Canterlot could possibly be able to do. So now… I present to you, my interview with the Sun… Princess.”



        The scene of Discord’s desk had now changed over to where the interview with Princess Celestia and Discord had transpired earlier that afternoon. Even going to the point that some part of his chaotic realm that he called home now resembled part of a hallway inside Canterlot. Much to many viewer’s surprise. Now the camera’s were primarily focused on both the princess and the draconequus as they were about to begin their conversation.

        “I must say, it is an honor for you to be here after the last episode, Cae Cae.” Discord spoke.

        “Oh, it's no biggie,” Celestia replied, holding back all her rage. “I mean, I was quite surprised what my parents did before even noticing it just now. Now I’m planning to make a meeting with them in their castle and how it's wrong.”

        “Yes, but as we have learned from before, time's changes. And sometimes, it’s out with the old ways and in with the new.” He replied, tossing a bottle that had the words ‘old ways’ on there as it shattered in the background. “Now, I recall that the last episode was actually based on a suggestion from your sister, Luna. And for all that we’ve known, it’s not often that she makes any public appearances on her own unless she’s with you. Is there any reason for that?”

        Celestia herself took a few moments in order to think of the proper way to respond to his question, but after a few minutes, the alicorn had a response. “Well, most of the times, it's because of our schedules and sleep patterns; I'm an early bird and she's a night owl. So, having her awake really drags her, something I understand when holding the Grand Galloping Gala.”

        “So when both of you are awake, what happens then?” Discord asked.

        “Knowing you, it's going to either be some festival for another kingdom's rulers where we conspire to remove any threat to our position of power, or we’re kidnapped by some deity we defeated 1000 years agose and need Twilight with her friends to rescue us,” Celestia sighed, before looking back at Discord. “Yet, despite the fact that we have enough power to be able to move the sun and moon, what we do with it is another thing… Remember when we gave our magic to Twilight in order to face Lord Tirek before he was sent back to Tartarus?”

        “How could I forget? Tirek drank my magic dry after he tricked me.” Discord responded, trying his best to not have himself dwell on past mistakes.

        “Well…… It’s possible that Luna didn’t give all of her magic to Twilight,” Celestia replied, which caused the audience to gasp a bit. “When we as princesses give all of our magic to another, like Twilight for example, our cutie mark disappears from our flanks too. However, the black spot that was underneath the moon was still there. And it was just recently that I found out that the same spot was part of her cutie mark.”

        “And you’re sure that Luna just didn’t miss a spot?” Discord asked, before hearing a ‘ba-dum tsh!’ sound effect in the background. “For the record, that was unintentional. My sound producer’s not the best when it comes to timing things.”

        “I don’t know what my sister’s reasons would be for holding it back, but then again, it still remains unclear how much of her magic she did give,” The sun alicorn replied. “It could be possible that she only kept some to herself or had some in reserve for when she needed to raise the moon later, but I have yet to have that conversation with her.”

        “Would you do something like that if you were in the same position she was in?” Discord’s question just lead to Celestia glaring deeply at him, causing him to gulp in response as he looked back at the alicorn. “Okay, never mind… So you think that Luna should’ve given all of her magic to Twilight? The end result would’ve been inevitable no matter how much magic Twilight had at her disposal.”

        “That’s… a valid point…” Celestia thought to herself, before responding back to the draconequus. “Yet… My sister is still trying to adjust to modern customs. Heck, when you did your first broadcast and mentioned the Tantabus creature that she made, it just makes me wonder if she uses that to blame herself for things that were out of her control rather than just talking out her problems. If she needed a shoulder to cry on, I would be more than willing to provide that.” A set of ‘awws’ were now heard in the background as Discord made a mental note of that.

        “She could always go to therapy if she wanted to talk out her problems.”

        “I think the last time she tried that, it lead to her making the Tantabus in the first place…” As Celestia said that, she soon followed up that statement with another one. “The pony she was with told her to ‘face her demons’ and look where that got her… I still find her looking for ice cream to try and calm herself down.” That was followed by some small laughs in the background in response.

        “So you like Cake and she likes Ice Cream?”

        “Yes… Why do you ask? We already had Ice Cream Cake for my birthday a few months ago.”

        “Nothing… I just thought that sometimes, since you two like different things, it would be a bit difficult for you to compromise sometimes.”

        “Sometimes, but we try to work things out.” Celestia replied. Which, was a surprise in Discord’s mind as he decided to ask something else.

        “Okay then… is there anything else you would like to share about your sister, Princess?” The Draconequus then asked, trying to extend their interview and not have it be too short for the viewers. “I mean… is there anything that both of you happen to do when you need to just take a break from your royal duties?” Celestia stared blankly.

        “... Well… Besides my cake, I enjoy spending some time with my guards, and Luna… I've seen her play with those… video games? That's what those electronic things are called, right?”

        “I believe so… Have you tried playing those games with her?” Discord asked. “I mean, there’s a clear difference between spending time with guards that serve you and spending time with family.”

        “I see the guards like family, but I see what you mean. I tried, actually, and… well, I'm not really good at it, but I can't really participate in it… if you know what I mean.” she tapped her hooves together lightly.

        “Is it… distorting to you?” Discord asked. “Or is it spasm inducing?”

        “That’s… one way to put it I guess…” Celestia replied, looking back at the draconequus. “Was there anything else you would like to ask me?”

        “Well, I may have a couple of questions, but I really don’t want to take you away from your royal duties after all.” Discord told her in response… only to get a reply from Celestia that he honestly did not expect.

        At first, the princess was chuckling a bit, before looking back at Discord and explaining the reason for it. “Oh sorry, when I heard you say ‘take you away’, it reminds me of all the times Philomena would snatch up Luna in her talons and carry her everywhere around the castle. Ah… poor Luna. She never quite trusted Phimomena until puberty arrived.”

        “Wait… so you’re saying that Philomena carried your sister around like she was a little animal?” Discord asked.

        “For the record, at the time I received Philomena as a birthday present, I was told that phoenixes were carnivorous and they feed on small animals… though I did not expect for Luna to qualify as a ‘small animal’ at the time.” Discord in response just only thought of the possibility that anywhere Philomena flies off too, everypony should hide their kids… and their wives just as a precaution. “You would not believe the amount of brooms I went through to get Philomena away from Woona.”

        “Does that mean that… Wait, did you say Woona? Is that like a name you use to mess with her?” Discord asked out of curiosity.

        “Yeah, like how you use ‘Cae Cae’ to mess with me…”

        “… Fair enough.” The spirit of chaos spoke up. “So, is there anything you want to close out the interview with… Like any main points or something like that?”

        “Only one thing.” She turned to the camera. “I apologize for what I’ve done without thinking about it. I… I made some wrong choices, and wish to fix them. If you give me the chance, sister… we can patch this up together.”



Meanwhile

        Tonight seemed rather… different than normal for Luna. There wasn’t many ponies in the realm of dreams this evening that needed help, especially with everything that had been going on as of lately. But… to Luna, she thought there was something more at work here than before. Especially when she flew down from the dreamy sky and setting herself down next to somepony that didn’t seem rather surprised in order to see her.

        The pony in itself was a young unicorn mare, with a cutie mark of a silver gear and a mane and tail that were a dark leather brown while her fur was a lighter shade of the same color. “Good evening, young one… I’m only here to help.” she spoke to him.

        Yet… the response she got in return was more… unexpected than anything else. “Are you sure you want to do that?”

        The alicorn herself raised an eyebrow, caught off guard from the mare’s response. “Excuse me?”

        “Um… No offense, princess… but you look like a background pony for an extra budget romance film. The kind that wouldn’t be exactly safe for fillys and foals.”

        “... What!? I-I don't understand. Don't you have a nightmare that needs to be resolved?”

        “I’m being serious…” The mare continued as she looked back at the princess. “Did you use to get called Woona? Have a fear of birds after Philomena picked you up way too many times?”

        “This is getting awfully personal…”

        “Do you have any other friends? Relationships outside your sister, the elements of harmony, the night guard or the characters in the video games that you play in your room?” The unicorn then asked as she looked back at the princess… who was taking her time in trying to form a response back to her.

        “ … I have a pet opossum named Tiberius… W-where did you hear about this?”

        “Oh dear, that poor creature…” The pony replied, before sighing a little bit. “As for your question… Have you kept tabs with your sister?” Luna was a little puzzled about the mare’s question before thinking about it to herself, which only lead to her shaking her head in response. “Well, let me rephrase that… do you remember suggesting anything to Discord?” Luna went pale. The hamster (or in this case, Opossum) in her head moved as she connected two and two together; Celestia got her revenge.

        “TIA!!!" The scream was so loud, everypony woke up, unsure as to what just happened.

        “Not so loud, you’ll disturb everypony else…” The unicorn told Luna before looking back at her with an apologetic look on her face. “Look uh… Princess Luna? I’m sorry about surprising you with this all of a sudden. I thought you knew about it already-.”

        "NEIGH!!! CELESTIA HAS REVEALED THY SECRETS, AND WILL PAY!!!" She teleported herself out and into the real world. The Lunar princess walked to where she saw her sister, who seemed to have a pillow over her head as she pulled out a bowl of warm water. Celestia’s left hoof was dipped into the bowl. “Revenge, Wetestia.”

        “Really?” A voice asked from behind her as Princess Luna looked behind her to see Discord standing there with his arms folded. “You result to childish pranks and a bad play on words to get back at your sister? I thought you would do better than that.”

        Luna was caught off guard by the sudden appearance of the draconequus standing right behind her. “You!! Why are you here!? Why would you-”

        “If you’re going to ask about the interview, it’s mostly because of ratings…” Discord said, before scratching his chin. “But for the record, your sister came to me… and she thought you would try to do something like this to get back at her, so she decided to stay at Princess Twilight's for the night and leave behind a doll of herself here.” It was then that Luna actually lifted up the pillow on the bed… and found that what she thought was her sister… was really a stuffed doll of her.

        “... Is this part of your collection?”

        “You mean my broadcasts?” The draconequus asked, holding up what looked like some kind of device in his eagle talon. “I think this explains everything…” With it, Discord turned the tablet around… and it showed all of his previous broadcasts and his newest one… which, in turn was actually getting a lot more popular than his previous ones. “Luna… Celestia wants to try and patch things up with you and if it means she had to do this to get your attention… than I believe it’s worth paying attention too.”

        “... Fine… but when the next Super Smash Sisters comes out, you're going to pay for it!”

        “About that… Has Celestia told you that she personally gets seizures from video games?” Discord asked her out of curiosity.

        “... She does?... I thought that was just her fangirling out by how awesome they were… and her cake coming back out in the process.”

        Discord looked back at her and sighed for a moment. “Yeah… we may need to help you read between the lines some more… which reminds me… Did you run into a mare in the dream realm that pointed this out to you? Because I think she just wanted to help you, but you ran off without telling her you had to go somewhere…”

        “... Oh S*yay!*.” Her horn glowed and she hurled herself back to the dream world, back to the filly. “Sorry for that, kinda got in the zone. What was it that you summoned me for?”

        “Well… I was going to ask if it was okay if we could be friends?” The unicorn asked. “I mean… I really don’t have any and I appreciate the night… a lot.” Luna stared and felt that her heart was rammed by a train that her subjects called ‘The Feels’... which happened in the dream, running Luna over, squishing her like a pancake onto the floor. 

        “... ow… of course…”

        “Oh my gosh, are you okay!?” The mare asked, racing over to her and trying to help Luna up as best as she could. 

        “Yes… not my first rodeo… buy my first being hit by the ‘feels train’... who are you? The train knocked some memories loose.” Some codes from a videogame flew away as well as some other foals. “No!!! Infinite lives! Come back!!!”

        “I’m Gizmo. Many ponies think I’m too smart for my own good and I think I should be like the others… yet, you inspire me to try and branch out from that and to believe in myself.” She replied. “And because of that… I got my cutie mark in engineering.” The mare told her, before going over to Luna and hugging her. “Thank you for being my friend.”

        Unknowingly, to both of them… somepony was secretly recording this very touching moment before disappearing in a puff of pink smoke. And back in Canterlot Castle, Discord could only say one thing. “This is going to be perfect for the follow up video.”