Lucidity exited the elevator, taking notice of her surprisingly empty and dark surroundings. Undeterred, she magically wrapped her horn in a soft, blue light, causing a dull, throbbing sensation to run through it periodically. Ignoring the pain and discomfort, she ventured further into the darkness, away from Luna.
Lucidity walked on aimlessly, desperate for some sort of change in the omnipresent blackness saturating this section of the Dreamscape. She eventually came to a small, dark pedestal, the only object besides her for what may as well have been forever in Lucidity’s mind. Coming closer, she could scarcely make out writing in what appeared to be ancient script engraved onto the obsidian stand, but had no idea what the indecipherable scrawl could mean. I guess it’s the name of the statue, the grey mare thought to herself. But that begs the question, where is the statue? Responding to her unspoken wish, a black cloud of smoke-like substance formed above the onyx plinth, the plume’s sudden appearance causing another small twinge of pain to erupt throughout Lucidity’s horn.
“Wherefore hast thou called for our presence, mare?” the formless void demanded in an accusatory tone.
“Please, I need your help. Somepony is after me and I need a way out of the Dreamscape. Can you help me?”
The dark spirit grinned, taking on a slightly more defined, pony-like form. “Certainly. It would be our pleasure, provided that we may accompany thee, of course.”
Suddenly, with a loud thump, Luna crashed to the ground and ran towards the black, stone slab, hoping that the foalish unicorn had not already freed the evil abomination from her enchanted prison. “Lucidity, wait!” She stopped, seeing the shadow holding the grey mare’s attention. “Umbra, we beseech thee, do not take this young child as a host. She is dealing with powers that she can neither comprehend nor control.”
The apparition paused for a moment, as if lost in thought. “Very well, Luna. Just this once, we shall take heed of thy words, but be warned, this obedience comes with a price.” And with that, the nightmare let loose a wild grin and cackle, diving straight into Luna’s unsuspecting body.
The shade’s laughter mingled with the blood-curdling screams of its host as Luna fell to the ground, rolling and writhing about in agony. Finally, she went completely still. Standing up, an eerie silence filled the air, broken by Nightmare Moon’s chilling whisper, “Run.”
And just like that, Lucidity was once again running for her life from the princess of the night. This is ridiculous, she thought to herself. How did things get so out of hoof? All I did was send her a letter. But I guess it’s like Lucidity said: there’s only one way that Luna will ever let me leave this place. It may be crazy, but I’m never going to get out of this nightmare if I don’t face her. I don’t want to have to keep running away. Her mind made up, the grey unicorn skidded to a stop and turned to meet her pursuer head-on.
She was instantly met with a pair of fiery, glowing, red eyes connected to a tall, black form barely bearing any resemblance to Luna. Or maybe I should just keep on running, Lucidity thought, all of her newfound confidence lost to the smoking embers before her. Without another moment’s hesitation, the alicorn of darkness lowered her head and shot off a beam of dark magic at her prey.
With all of her other options used up, Lucidity was forced to meet the blast with one of her own, the bright blue of her aura shining light across the dark plane. The two beams collided, sending up a shower of sparks into the inky blackness of the Nightmare Realm surrounding them.
One long and tension-filled minute later, the two equines were still at a standstill. Now sweating profusely, Lucidity was desperate to finish off her opponent before her horn gave out. Its constant throbs of pain continually disrupted her concentration, rendering her incapable of maintaining this single spell for much longer. They both started to vary their strategies, her opponent trying to outmaneuver her by making her aura split and barrel roll every which way in an attempt to attack the grey unicorn directly, while Lucidity—who could feel herself growing weaker and weaker with each passing second—went on the defensive, placing up a series of psychic walls in quick succession in order to protect herself from the quick darting and jabbing of the Nightmare now attacking her with an endless, never-tiring tirade of telekinetic tendrils.
“Luna, this isn’t like you!” Lucidity tried to yell over the crashing waves of light. Her voice was weakened by exhaustion and fatigue and she wasn’t entirely sure that her opponent could actually hear what she was saying. “Please, we can work this out!”
“Silly foal, thou canst not possibly know of the pains and sufferings we have endured. It is beyond the limits of thy inferior mind and meager imagination.”
“But all I wanted was to understand you better, to learn from you. Luna, I wanted to be your friend.”
The uttering of those words seemed to break Nightmare Moon’s concentration. It was as if a mask had fallen from her face, exposing the eyes of Luna—wide-open in surprise and sudden understanding. Wasting no time, Lucidity pressed her advantage with the last of her magic, pushing her beam through all of her adversary’s defenses and striking her directly in the horn, effectively cutting off her attack. Both duelists collapsed onto the ground as their magic failed them, whatever was left of their respective auras shooting straight out towards where their intended targets had once stood. The two ponies—both too weak at the moment to do anything else—laid on the dark floor for a while, the only movement coming from Luna a few minutes later, an involuntary shudder passing through her as she reverted back to her normal form.
“Thank you,” Luna croaked, her voice hoarse from the strain her body had sustained during the battle. Getting up slowly, she stood and walked towards Lucidity.
The unicorn looked up at the sound, tears streaming down her face, then let her head fall back into her hooves, sobbing quietly as she said, “I give up; I can’t do this anymore. I don’t want to fight you, Luna—I just want this nightmare to end. I want to go home.”
A gentle touch on her shoulder briefly interrupted the anguished sobs wracking her body and Luna spoke just loudly enough to still be heard while keeping a gentle, almost maternal, tone to her voice. “Thou hast done us a great service today, Lucidity. As it is thy wish, consider this battle over. We would be honored to declare this magic duel a draw.”
Giving her a gratified smile, Lucidity gladly accepted Luna’s outstretched hoof and stood up, immediately having to lean over on her shoulder for support. They walked back towards Lucidity’s elevator in tandem, both happy to soon be rid of their depressive surroundings. Barely still in existence, the edges of their transport were pulsating in and out of the Dreamscape as they began to fade into translucency. Luna quickly added her magic to the structure, supporting its framework and anchoring it to the Nightmare Realm. Not wanting to risk anything, they entered the elevator as quickly as they could manage and rushed it to their destination. Upon re-entering Dream Limbo, Luna began the cumbersome task of integrating them both back into the waking world.
Eventually, the portal was ready and Luna stepped through it, the walls of the Dreamscape hugging each contour of her body as she walked through the now-permeable barrier. Lucidity followed close behind, but found the surface to hold fast like a wall to her touch. “Luna, I can’t pass through. What’s going on?”
“We are not certain,” the lunar ruler admitted, going over the various parameters of the portal that she’d set up and searching for some sort of flaw in her calculations. “Nothing of this description has ever occurred before. Unless...” she paused, momentarily lost in thought.
“Unless what?!” Lucidity asked panickedly, desperate to leave this white nightmare for good.
“Unless the Dreamscape itself is preventing thy escape.”
“What do you mean?”
“It is possible that, because of thine actions and admissions in the Nightmare Realm, the Dreamscape hath decided that we won the duel and is enforcing thy punishment accordingly.”
“But that would mean—”
“Yes,” Luna answered gravely. “It would appear that thou art being forced to remain here, in the Dreamscape, indefinitely.” As Luna’s grasp over the intricate spells holding the portal in place began to waver, she quickly added, “We are sorry, but there is nothing we can do.”
Lucidity began to freak out and hyperventilate while her mind immediately went into overdrive, refusing to believe that she was trapped here and trying to discern the way out before it was too late. As the portal began to close, however, the prisoner finally resigned herself to her fate and bowed her head in acceptance, a single teardrop falling from her face as she watched the portal wink out of existence and whisk away her one chance at returning home.
§§§
A bright flash of light bathed Lucidity’s living room in a harsh white and the accompanying gust of air snuffed out the smoldering remains of embers left in her fireplace, accentuating the darkness of the room following the teleport.
Celestia strode into the room determinedly, her posture slackening slightly when she saw that her sister was indeed present in the small cottage. It had taken her hours to track Luna’s teleport, and she had feared that the worst would happen during her absence. The scene confronting her now, however, was puzzling—the two bodies of ponies she had thought to be in conflict huddling close for warmth near a now-dead fire—but she was relieved to find that they were both still breathing. Although, the longer Celestia stood before the dozing pair, the more worried she became. Knowing the contents of Lucidity’s letter and Luna’s easily enraged temperament, combined with each of their special talents, sleep was probably the most dangerous state for them to be in at the moment.
A sudden movement caught Celestia’s attention, interrupting her train of thought. She turned towards the dozing pair, hoping to see some sign of their current conditions. Luna stirred again, prompting a sigh of relief from the elder alicorn. “Luna,” she breathed contentedly. “Thank goodness you’re alright.”
“Yes, yes, we are awake, sister. Do not fret,” the younger alicorn said slowly, shrugging off her sister’s advance so that she could attempt to stand up on her own. Succeeding, she walked over to Celestia, grateful for a familiar face after her harrowing experience in the Nightmare Realm. “She saved our life,” Luna whispered weakly once she was close enough for her sister to hear.
Celestia guided the woozy princess of the night into a chair, casting a quick spell to check all of her sister’s vitals before asking, “And Lucidity, is she alright?”
“She is fine,” Luna grumbled in her weakened state. “Though we fear she may never wake again.”
~End Act One~