Dreamscape

Dear Luna,

I am writing to you in the hopes that you will consider discussing your dominion over the dream realm with me. You see, my special talent also lies outside of the waking world and I feel that we will both greatly benefit from working together.

For you, this relationship will provide an opportunity to share your burdens and knowledge. I understand how hard it must have been for you to be so alone for so long, and if friendship is what you seek, then that is certainly something that I will be able to help provide. As far as danger is concerned, I would not be writing to you if I was not absolutely sure that I was up for the task; while studying at Canterlot University I took several classes to strengthen and amplify my magic, so I am well-prepared for any danger that we may encounter during our many exciting adventures together. In addition, I recently found myself able to cast a dream-walking spell, and I have traveled through other ponies’ dreams every night since then. I now have a great deal of experience with this and know exactly what I am getting in to.

For me, this relationship will provide a unique opportunity to learn from the master—a chance to really discover who I am and just how much I can do. If you just give me a chance to prove myself, then I am sure that you will be greatly impressed by my abilities. I would like to meet with you sometime soon to discuss my internship position in greater detail. I look forward to working with you in the near future.

Sweet dreams,

Lucidity

Celestia silently studied the scroll her sister had just set in front of her, unsure of how to react to its contents. After a short time, she opened her mouth to speak, but changed her mind and quickly shut it again, gathering her thoughts a moment longer before finally saying, “Surely this is not as it appears, dear sister. I am confident that this pony did not mean any disrespect towards you in writing this letter.”

“No,” Luna replied evenly, clearly trying to hold back her rage, with mild success. “We have detected her intrusions for some time now. We refused to believe it could be possible, but now…” Resuming her furious pacing, she noticed her older sister magically pick up the accursed letter and begin to look it over once again. With a snarl, Luna forcibly wrenched the ireful message from her sister’s grasp in a field of her own aura and promptly crumpled it into a tight ball, setting the paper scroll ablaze with a small burst of incendiary magic from her horn. Allowing the smoldering remains to fall from her telekinetic grip, Luna whispered under her breath, “She will pay dearly for this insolence.” She watched as her many minute tendrils of magic fire encircled the small pile of ashes now littering the castle floor, snaking and coiling harmlessly across the flagstones until they were eventually extinguished into nothingness.

“Luna,” Celestia started cautiously, interrupting her sister’s train of thought. “I know what you’re thinking, but you really shouldn’t—”

Luna, however, hadn’t heard a single word her sister had said. All of her concentration was focused on one thing—the signature at the bottom of that letter. It was emblazoned in her mind like a wound that could never heal, constantly itching and burning at her until the time came that she would rise to action. “Lucidity,” she muttered darkly before vanishing in a bright flash of light, the silence following her teleport punctuating the finality of her act.

“—jump to any rash decisions,” Celestia finished lamely.

§§§

“I’m not worried,” Lucidity tried to reassure herself. “I’m not worried.” Letting out a long, drawn-out sigh, she thought aloud, “It’s no use. Even if I’m not worried,” at this point, she honestly couldn’t tell anymore. “It’s my nerves that are killing me.” And repeating this mantra sure isn’t helping anything, she added as a silent afterthought.

Turning around, Lucidity could see a young unicorn mare barely out of university, her mane a golden waterfall of curls cascading down onto the stony greyness of her coat below while a matching tail gently glided along the light current of air wafting into her cottage from a nearby open window. Lowering her gaze from the pony’s sea-blue eyes, Lucidity could also see the mare’s cutie mark: a trio of deep-blue Z’s zigzagging down her flank.

“Come on, you’ve been training for this moment for years and, besides, there’s no turning back now.”

“But what if you fail? What if you’re not quite as good as you think you are?” the reflection asked, clearly paranoid as it voiced Lucidity’s deepest fears through worst-case scenarios. “Luna isn’t going to go easy on you, you know. If you make the slightest mistake, then that’s it—game over.”

“I know, but I have to try,” she said a little too forcefully, trying to convince herself more than anyone else. “I mean, this is my special talent we’re talking about here; I can’t just give up. And it’s not like I could just choose to study astronomy or something. The stars are way too boring for me to enjoy doing that.”

“Thou darest insult our night sky as well!” a powerful voice boomed. Dark storm clouds swirled about Luna, marking her descent as she made her way down towards Lucidity’s home. “Thine mettle was almost certainly forged from either a mind more dense than lead or nerves stronger than steel, and we sincerely doubt it is much of the latter.”

Lucidity galloped outside, shocked to find herself face to face with the one pony she wouldn’t have expected to meet outside of her wildest dreams. The first thought to cross her mind was that Luna was much taller in pony than she had expected. The second was: There is no way that I’m going to be able to do this.

No, pull yourself together, the nervous mare silently reprimanded herself. You can do this, Lucidity. You’ve been waiting for this opportunity your entire life. If you let your nervousness force you to quit now, you’ll never be able to forgive yourself. The words gave her some reassurance but didn’t do anything for her shaking legs or fear-induced near-paralysis. And besides, she said inwardly before gulping audibly. What’s the worst that could happen?

As if on cue, a downpour of rainwater suddenly came from above, soaking the pair. Looking up, they saw a familiar, wall-eyed pegasus waving at them from atop a recently emptied storm cloud. “Sorry,” she shouted awkwardly once she had gotten both of their attentions before continuing to disperse the clouds Luna’s entrance had attracted.

“Um, would you like to come in?” Lucidity asked nervously.

“Fine,” Luna replied, her glare never lessening as she entered the other mare’s home. “If but only to get ourselves dry again,” she added with a snort. They walked over to the fireplace and sat down in silence, trying to warm and dry their coats. Luna felt her self-control start to wane as she waited expectantly for Lucidity to explain herself. Her own inaction was eating at her insides but she continued to say nothing, instead choosing to grant the disrespectful mare one final chance to redeem herself before she decided to resort to anything too… permanent.

After a few minutes of awkward silence, Lucidity finally spoke up. “Thank you for arriving so promptly, Luna.” Seeing that her guest’s perpetual glower hadn’t increased, she continued, slightly emboldened, “I assume that you’re here because of my letter?” Luna, in response, kept scowling at her, silent and unmoving. More and more of Lucidity’s nervousness began to show, her ears lowering and voice beginning to approach a pleading tone as she suggested, “Maybe we should start making some arrangements, then?”

At that, Luna went completely ballistic, roaring, “Arrangements?!” Lucidity sank lower and lower into her chair, fearing that this meeting may not have been such a good idea after all. “Dost thou thinkest that this is some sort o-of... game?” she sputtered, her words almost failing her as her frustrations boiled over to the point where she very nearly broke into the Royal Canterlot Voice.

Then, without any warning, a sudden change overtook Luna, stopping her wild, ranting gesticulations as her body tried to process the change that was just starting to form in her mind. It was barely noticed by Lucidity, but she had no idea what she was witnessing or what its cause was. It was as if somepony had flipped a switch and, for the briefest of moments, left an entirely new pony in Luna’s place. Luna’s eyes, however, immediately flooded with recognition as she silently mouthed out a single word, “Umbra.” No, she asserted. Not again. Taking several deep breaths in an effort to calm herself down, Luna slowly fought to regain control of the situation.

“Thou wast a fool to summon us here,” Luna whispered softly, almost to herself, once she had become composed enough to speak again. A solitary tear dropped down the length of her muzzle, heavy with the burden of traumatic memories long repressed. “Even more so for knowing we could not refuse.” Standing up, she spoke again, this time her voice coming forth much more forcefully. “No, there will be no arrangements made this evening.” She spat out the word with contempt, as if it were a poison that had tainted her throat with its vile presence. “Verily, for if thy thirst for power is so great, then there is but one way through which thou mayst receive it.”

“You don’t mean—”

“Lucidity of Ponyville,” Luna continued in the full Royal Canterlot Voice, ignoring the other mare’s interruption. “We hereby challenge thee to a magic duel.” She paused for a moment to allow the full effect of her words to sink in before continuing in a slightly more-controlled tone, “Thou knowest of the risks and stakes involved, we presume.”

Dumbly, Lucidity nodded her head, unable to believe what she was hearing. She’s actually giving me a chance, she thought to herself, unable to believe her luck. Out of nowhere, a flash of blue light filled the unicorn’s vision and, letting out a large yawn, Lucidity realized that she had suddenly become extremely tired. Her legs and eyelids felt heavier with each passing second and she nearly collapsed from exhaustion, instead turning the motion into a not-so-graceful flop from her chair to the floor. Turning her head, she could tell from the princess’ regal form outlined by her still-burning fireplace that Luna had gotten the same idea, albeit falling on the ground much more gracefully. The two equines attempted to stare each other down from their respective fallen positions for what seemed to Lucidity like hours though she knew it couldn’t have spanned even a full minute. Finally, after attempting to stifle yet another yawn, Lucidity felt her eyes close for the last time.

Opening her eyes again, the first thing Lucidity noticed was that she was definitely not in her living room anymore. She looked around carefully, now finding herself in an all-white, flat plane that appeared to have absolutely nothing in it. What is this place? the grey unicorn thought to herself.

As if reading her mind, the lunar diarch chose that very moment to materialize behind the young mare. “The Dreamscape,” she answered coolly in response to Lucidity’s unvoiced question.

Giving a small yelp of surprise from the shock of hearing another pony’s voice, Lucidity was slow to respond to the princess’ remark. “R-really? It sure doesn’t look like it did when I was visiting other ponies’ dreams.”

“This is because we are currently in Dream Limbo,” Luna explained in a strained voice, her face a fragile dam of calm holding back a raging river of rising resentment already starting to spring leaks. Stepping in front of the unicorn, Luna exclaimed, “Let us commence battle immediately!” She rose up into the air and could not help but smirk when Lucidity’s only response was to look down at her own hooves, unable to make a sound. “What is wrong, my little pony? Wast this not thy wish, ‘a chance to prove thyself’?” she asked mockingly, allowing her voice to reach royal volumes as she referenced Lucidity’s catalytic letter. “Well here it is.”