Stan(d)on In Equestria Chapter 2: A Man With No Name Part 2

>Despite being invisible to them, Rainbow Dash’s friends made an admirable effort in including you in their slumber party.
>Communication was easy enough to figure out; once Dash got tired of relaying your half of the conversation Twilight produced a piece of paper and a quill (an honest to god quill!).
>Even if they didn’t call it English, it seemed that generally speaking, the ponies had the same language as you which was… odd, to say the least.
>You chalked it up to being part of Rainbow Dash’s soul, whatever that meant.
>As for seeing you, well that took a bit of thinking.
>Eventually the girls just settled (with your begrudging agreement) to drape a sheet over you and cut a hole to poke your head through.
>As irritating as it was to wear what was basically a budget Halloween getup (or Nightmare Night, as the girl’s called it) it was almost worth it for Spike’s reaction when he snuck in to ‘borrow’ more snacks.
>While lacking wings, you were all surprised by how far the little dragon flew when he lay eyes on you (or at least, the floating sheet suspended in midair.)
>But, as the party portion of the night wound down, the girls settled in for the most important part, the slumber.
>You personally weren’t even sure you needed, or even could sleep as a weird soul ghost, and as Rainbow Dash drifts off to sleep, you resolve yourself to stand guard over the sleeping pony.
>For a while, nothing happens. The clock ticks on and the world continues to spin on it’s axis.
>Then, with suddenness that feels like you’ve fallen out of reality again, you find yourself once again in the void.
>This time however there’s the distinct feeling of ground under you feet, and as opposed to the featureless white that delivered you into Equestria the environment around you is a rolling, writhing sea of grey.
>Your tentative steps echo off into infinity, and after a time the world around you starts to slowly reassert itself.
>Paved streets form out of the featureless fog, followed by buildings that stretch upwards overhead.
>The fog starts to form more thick clumps of cloud that move slowly along the sidewalk, and as you watch one approaches then pushes right past you.
“Hey, watch where you’re goin’ buddy!”
>You swat at it as you turn, only for your hand to pass through the head of a featureless pony, standing upright like you and slowly walking away.
>Around you more equine figures form from the fog, all in various states of dress and walking in a range of postures.
>”Is this… Manehatten?”
>The voice turns your head, and you see Rainbow Dash, standing out from the surrounding pallet of grey in the middle of the street, looking about as confused as you feel.
“Hey Dash, are all ya’ dreams this weird?”
>”No. They are not.”
>You and Dash turn to the third voice and spot Princess Luna lazily hovering above the street, her wing beats making no effect on the surrounding fog.
>”Princess? What the hay is this about?”
>”I’m doing what’s needed to protect you, Rainbow Dash.”
>”Protect me from who?”
>”Him.”
>The only thing colder than Luna’s tone is the icy gaze she lays on you, and you throw your arms up, palms forward, in an attempt to placate the clearly pissed princess.
”Woah, let’s back it up here. You can see me?”
>”I am the Princess of the Night, invader, and as such the realm of dreams bends to my whim.”
“Invader? What the fu-”
>You’re cut off as the half formed figures around you converge and one grabs you around your neck.
>Bound as you are, you do the only thing you can do and throw all your weight backwards.
>You land hard on you back, the fog figure dissipating and reforming off the the side amongst the ever growing crowd that surrounds you.
“Hey! What’s the big idea?!”
>You don’t have time to wait for a reply as another figure lunges at you.
>With a nimble step you dodge it’s clumsy attack and bring your hands down on it’s back.
>Only for your hands to pass straight through swing into your own stomach.
>The figure raises itself again and drives a half formed hoof into your stomach, pushing out what little air remains in you.
>You hear a gasp of pain and see Dash’s hooves clutching her own stomach.
>”Luna! You don’t need to do this!”
“Yea! What the hell is wrong with you princess? This ain’t right!”
>”They may not be ‘good’, but my actions are those of justice!”
>Another figure grabs your shoulder, and with a yell you reach back and grab the arm, using your weight to throw your attacker over you and into the mass of figures in front of you, clearing a path to Dash.
>You make it two steps before lance of light strikes you in the chest, and you and Dash cry out as your body seizes up, leaving you at the mercy of the cloud figures.
>”Give up, ‘Anonymous’. I have no desire to inflict any more pain upon Rainbow Dash by attacking you.”
>Luna flies down, stopping once she’s eye level with (and uncomfortably close to) you.
>”I didn’t want to believe my sister, but now that I see you with my own eyes, see you act, I know how independent you truly are.”
>”And though you may have muddled your memories, and you hide behind the tale of being some creature not of this world it’s that independence that marks you, Nightmare!”
>The figures grab you and none too gently force you to your knees.
>”Princess please, why are you doing this?”
>”Because I too once trusted the character of an intelligent Stand!”
>Luna’s booming voice blows away the facade of the street, only for it to reform in the shape of some castle chamber
>”I let it convince me that we were friends, then let it’s words lead me down a terrible path.”
>This time the world reforms sharper, more vividly and is awash with a pallette illuminated by the light of an illusionary sun streaming through an ornate window.
>”A path that I will let nopony retread!”
>Your captors melt away and the indistinct fog flows past Luna and rises up behind her, blocking the sun and casting the two of you back into shadow.
>The swirling cloud becomes even darker, shifting from gray into an inky, indistinct mass of black.
>”Princess, what is that?”
>Luna turns, and judging from her expression she’s just as shocked to see the inky figure as you and Dash are.
>Despite the evidence of Luna’s hostility still fresh on you body you spring into action, only taking the smallest bit of pleasure from roughly shoving her to one side and putting yourself between you and the shade.
>A strangled cry splits the air, and a glittering beam of magic shoots past your shoulder and strikes the shadow in it’s center of mass, piercing straight through.
>The dreamscape around you breaks apart like a shattering window, and the violent currents subside and dissipate leaving you, Rainbow Dash and Princess Luna alone in an indistinct field, under the light of the half formed images of stars.
>The silence feels like a vice, and try as you might to put your confusion into words it’s Luna that speaks first.
>”I… you should not have seen that.”
>You cock an eyebrow at the solemn princess, then at Dash, who responds with a curt shrug.
>“What was that thing?”
“Hell, what was any of that?”
>”My Stand, or rather, a reflection of the being that was my stand.”
>Luna exhales, and raises her head to look at the two of you.
>”When my sister first acquired her stand, I thought that the stress of our ascension to power had finally become too much, but as we dug deeper and discovered more about them I became jealous. Why had she been gifted this power, and not I? What made her more deserving?”
>”When I thought I gained a stand of my own I was overjoyed, doubly so when I discovered that unlike my sister’s it had a modicum of thought and independence. I had gained a companion for those lonely nights protecting the dreams of those ponies under our rule. My only companion, and the only one I felt I could confide it, in those days.”
>Luna casts her gaze skywards and lets it wander across the facade of the night sky.
>”｢ＮＩＧＨＴＭＡＲＥ｣. I thought the name a joke, a humorous pun. I was too blind to see what was hiding right in front of me until it was too late.”
>”I won’t deny my part. Nightmare Moon was as much me as it was him. He fed off my jealousy like a parasite and gave me the strength to defy my sister, and the drive to keep that desire for revenge burning all those long years trapped in the moon.”
>”But wait, if Nightmare Moon was you and your stand, how did we free you with the Elements of Harmony?”
>”That’s a question that I’ve pondered every night since that it’s defeat, Rainbow Dash. Truly I did not even believe myself free of him for the longest time, and when I found out that you had suddenly gained a stand with the ability to talk and think for itself…”
>Luna breaths deeply, mentally and physically recomposing herself as you and Dash wait for her to continue.
>”I won’t apologize for my actions, but I will admit that they seem to have have been unfounded.”
>”Seem to have been?”
>”As much as I would like to trust you, Anonymous, I can’t. Not truly. For that fact I will apologize for.”
>You run a hand over your head and sigh.
“As hurt, like, physically hurt, as I am by that... hell I can’t say that I blame you Princess. A little heads up next time wouldn’t hurt though.”
>”Hopefully there will not be a ‘next time’, Anonymous.”
>Luna stands and steps forward, the reality of the dream parting before her and letting her slip out of the dreamscape around you.
>With a sigh, you sit and lean back on your arms, watching the stars go by.
“So, we good?”
>”What do you mean?”
“You’re not worried that she’s right?”
>”Are you?”
>You shrug in response and keep your gaze fixed on the night sky.
“I mean, I can’t remember anything about myself. I mean, I don’t think I’m the stand the princess was talking about, but…”
>You flex your hand and feel your fingers dig into the ground beneath you.
“I don’t know.”
>”Well, we’re connected, right? I think I’d know if you’re secretly evil.”
>You nod, unable to fault her logic and sit there in silence.
>”So hey, you want to see what my dreams are usually like?”

>Your first slams into the hard chiten of the changeling’s lower jaw, and it comically flips end over end before landing on the cave floor with a resounding thud.
>”Heads up!”
>You duck, and a shiny black streak flies overhead.
“Now this I can get used to!”

<=To=Be=Continued==
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNEk5Yf-MYY