//------------------------------//
// Chapter 10 – A Hop, Skip, and a Jump 
// Story: Dreamscape 
// by Palomino Pone 
//------------------------------//

	Having finished the depraved deed, Luna called out into the surrounding air. “It would seem that thou art more cunning than we originally gave thee credit for, Lucidity. We had all but forgotten that subconsciouses tend to physically manifest themselves within the boundaries of the Dreamscape. Indeed, they are extraordinary allies to have in battle—notoriously difficult to incapacitate and impossible to kill, directly at least. Which just leaves the question of where thou hast stowed thyself over the course of our little encounter.”

Lucidity wiped away the tears streaming down her cheeks, knowing that she couldn’t afford to waste any time mourning over the death of her subconscious or the repercussions that it might have on her own psyche. She desperately hoped that she wouldn’t be spotted as she strained to put the last few details of her plan together. Thank Celestia I decided to pursue a minor in Advanced Magic Theory, she mused to herself. Making sure that she still hadn’t been discovered during Luna’s inspection of the throne room, Lucidity triple-checked the structure and stability of her magic cannon. Main barrel still looks good, no signs of cracks or other flaws. All of the fuel cells are still full and online. I’ll have to wing the aim, though, since there’s no time for a test run. Oh well, there’s no use crying over spilled milk. I’m just going to have to make this one count. Lucidity was pretty sure that she had constructed the cannon correctly, but that didn’t stop her from feeling another checkup was in order. It’s not just about having one shot and potentially blowing my position and only chance to beat her if I screw this up, Lucidity reasoned to herself. If I don’t get this exactly right, there’s a pretty solid chance misfiring this much raw energy would kill me. Then again, the consequences will be even worse if I don’t hurry up and Luna finds me before I get a chance to use this thing.

Satisfied as she could be with her cannon given the current situation, Lucidity quickly moved on to the second component of her magical apparatus—a magic amplifier in the form of a giant magnifying glass.

Cursing under her breath, Lucidity mentally chastised herself for not thinking to build the amplifier first. With most of her magic tied up either as ammunition or in maintaining the cannon, the strain of building the second step in her plan was proving to be too much for her.

Her magic reservoir nearly depleted, Lucidity barely managed to assemble both pieces and place them into their proper positions. Sparing a look over the balcony railing, Lucidity saw Luna storming back into the throne room. That’s strange, she thought to herself. When did Luna leave? Oh well, at least she’s here now. I just need her to keep still for a couple sec—

The remainder of her thoughts were interrupted by an exasperated scream. “Where art thee, inept swine!” Dropping out of her royal tone, Luna continued in a slightly more inside-friendly voice. “No matter, for there is nowhere thou canst hide from us eternally. We will find thee, Lucidity, even if we must tear this entire blasted realm asunder.” The newly motivated princess began walking towards the throne room’s doors, but then stopped abruptly as a new thought occurred to her. “Then again, what is the rush? She came to us once before and she shall do so again.” Luna turned around and sat back in her throne, content for the time being to wait for her prey to come to her.

Lucidity, having regained some of her strength during Luna’s ranting, saw her opening and swiveled her magic cannon to face the lunar dais. She fired.

There was a loud boom as Lucidity’s cannon unleashed its payload upon the princess of the night. The magic punched through the air with a sizzle and pop, crackling all along its trajectory as it made its way towards Luna.

Lucidity, however, didn’t see whether her shot had made its mark or how much damage it had caused. Upon firing, the recoil had sent her flying head-first out of a window facing her overhang. She found herself tumbling wildly through the air, all sense of orientation lost to the wind blowing through her wavy, golden locks. She was too terrified to think straight—dimly aware that she needed to find a way to avoid crashing into the ground below, but having no idea what she should do to try and stop it from happening.

A few moments of uninterrupted freefall later, Lucidity had managed to get herself facing what she thought was upright but still had no idea how to get herself out of the mess that she now found herself to be in. Looking up and down as far as her vision would allow, she could still only see the wall of Luna’s castle on one side of her and the ever-blank whiteness of Dream Limbo on the other. “Well this sucks,” she shouted angrily into the infinite expanse of the Dreamscape, her words immediately drowned out by the harsh winds howling past her. So how do I get out of here? Lucidity thought to herself. She attempted a wide array of acrobatics, including jumping, somersaulting, and even the breast stroke, but nothing that she tried seemed to be able to end her downward plummet or force her hooves back onto solid ground.

Lucidity racked her brains in an effort to come up with a different solution to escape her current predicament, but no such thought occurred to her. Wishing now more than ever that her subconscious was still around to help her think of something that she may have missed, the unicorn kept at it, hoping that, by some miraculous token, something—or someone—would come to save her soon. Her fervent brainstorming eventually yielded a few options, each one less promising than the last. Settling on one such plan, Lucidity tried to calm herself down and empty her mind as much as possible so that she could concentrate on funneling her magic where she wanted it to go.

Opening her eyes a moment later, Lucidity found herself no longer falling and with Luna’s castle nowhere in sight, much to her general elation. This jubilance was short-lived, however, as her horn groaned in protest of its overuse in the form of a rather large shock of pain being shot through the unicorn’s entire body, causing Lucidity to feel lightheaded and dizzy. There was a moment of silence as she contemplated what her next course of action should be and how best to survive before another interruption arrived.

“Thou shalt pay most dearly for that, decrepit wench!” came a furious voice from far above the grey mare.

Looking up in shock, Lucidity could barely make out the form of what she could only assume to be Luna diving down ferociously to meet her. How the hay did she find me?! she thought panickedly. I better get out of here quick. I should be good for one more spell, right? Her horn immediately gave off another deep stab of pain, as if in response to her question. “Ow! Alright, no magic, then.”

Now hearing hurried hoofsteps close behind her, Lucidity desperately searched her surroundings, hoping to spot something that could aid in her escape from Luna. Immediately spying an elevator against the whiteness of the Dreamscape, she galloped inside and closed its doors. Wasting no time, Lucidity quickly sent her makeshift escape downwards and, unbeknownst to her, out of Dream Limbo entirely.

Moments later, Luna came across the elevator duct and peered over the edge to observe how far down it went. Seeing its destination, she silently cursed her luck and flew down the abandoned shaft, now more intent than ever on catching up to her quarry.