//------------------------------//
// A simple misunderstanding.  
// Story: Intangible 
// by DtdFIMBrony 
//------------------------------//

	Dash and Twilight awoke in a shifting darkness, one that seemed to go on forever. Dash looked around feeling like she was being strangled, yet at the same time, she could breathe better than ever before, this place was disorienting her, but before she could ask where they were, the voice of Moon echoed around them. 

"This is my shadow realm, much like a separate plane of existence, but this one is only as big as I will it to be, for you see, I am not a pony, I only take the form of one when I need to get away without being suspicious in town, but today was different, you see, you may think I am to blame for what has been happening around here, when in reality, I was trying to stop it, much like you were Rainbow Dash." She paused, causing a stillness to fall upon the two ponies, "I needn't explain to you why I am trying to help, as you may not see any reason for me to, but the one you are against is not who you thought it was, he is much more powerful, and needless to say, he is dangerous."

Dash looked over at Twilight, then asked, "Then why did you attack Princess Luna?"

"She attacked me, not the other way around, my shadows simply reflected her attack back at her, so she is to blame for becoming harmed, not me. As for why I tried to avoid you as I did, I simply did not want to engage you without any reason, and I wanted to deal with the situation at hand without anypony getting involved more than they already are." Moon stopped talking, and the ponies saw the shadows fade, and shift into an image of the castle of the royal sisters, and to Dash's surprise, it was completely in tact, no collapse, nothing. "You have been tricked multiple times to think something bad was happening around you, when in reality it was all in your head, like a daydream, but if you had fallen to the ways you envisioned, you would surely not have survived, for your mind is a powerful thing, if it thinks you are drowning, you will drown, if it thinks you are being crushed to death, your heart will compress until you die. Be wary of these apparitions, find only that in which is familiar, and what you know to be the truth and you will succeed. If you fall for a lie, I can only try to pull you out of it, but there is only so much I can do." 

Moon's voice faded, and Twilight and Dash were standing in Ponyville again, Moon standing in front of them as a Pagasus. She nodded at Dash, and flew away, fading into the shadows of the forest, and Dash, who in which was still processing everything that just happened, sat down fast, then said, "I don't believe it, everything that we thought was happening was just a lie?" She looked at Twilight who was frantically trying to explain to herself how that just happened, and realizing that there was no getting through to Twilight, Dash decided she was going to go help Luna, and flew over to the Treebrary. Pulling Luna out to the grass, she sat over her, and watched diligently to be sure she was going to be alright, as if what Moon had said was true, then Luna could be a target too, but Dash didn't really know. After a few hours Luna finally woke with a start, looking around frantically trying to find Moon. Dash put a hoof on her and said "Its fine, she isn't here anymore, but she wasn't the enemy, or at least, I don't think she was. She said there was somepony else who was doing everything around here that made me see things or dream things, that it isn't who we thought it was." Dash finished, and seeing Luna's shocked look she knew what Luna was about to do, so she backed away, to which Luna took off, flying back to Canterlot as fast as possible to inform her sister of her findings. 

Watching Luna disappear into the distance, Dash wondered, who is it that we are fighting against? Also, what do they hope to achieve? Exhausted, Dash returned to her home, flopping down on her cloud bed, she did everything she could to hold back the tears of stress that were welling up in her eyes, all the while asking herself how she could be so stupid to fall for something like that, first the castle collapsing, then the crazier apparitions, she didn't know if Moon was even real, and if she was, was she telling the truth? Dash was afraid to find out, but before she could think any harder about it, she fell into a deep sleep, and for once in a while, no dreams came to her, she would wake up the next day to face the challenges. She only woke once during the night, to which she thought about a couple of things, what was the intention of the enemy, and how did they intend to do whatever they were planning, it didn't make any sense to her. She tried to brush it off, and laid back down, and just before she fell asleep, she felt a warmth flow through her body, relaxing her and making her feel at ease. It seemed familiar, as a mothers arms feels familiar around her child, or a sibling hugging their sibling to support them, but it was different too, and she heard in her head, 'I told you I would try to help you, and if that includes helping you to get a good nights sleep, then I shall.' Dash knew immediately that it was Moon, but rather than becoming alarmed, she felt more relaxed, and fell asleep quickly. Moon remained by her side the whole night, making sure no illusions were to be played on Dash again, as that is what she promised, and she wanted to see this evil destroyed. 

"In the morning, I will show you what I am talking about when I say that your enemy is something else." Moon said, directed toward Dash, but knowing that only she heard it. "I only hope you and your friends can overpower it in time, we all need you." Moon then faded into the shadows again, watching over Dash until morning in complete silence.