>A single flash of light appears before my eyes, followed by shadows
>I am back where I started off
>Floating through darkness
>I was so close that time
>I made it to the crack
>I saw what was inside
>At first I thought it was earth
>But I knew something was off
>Before I could touch the crack, that thing grabbed me again
>It just waits, watching me, toying with me
>I don't even know what it is
>I get just a little bit closer towards the crack, and it grabs me, dragging me back into the darkness
>I float forward, it's the only thing I can do
>I'm getting out of here, one way or another
 
 
 
>I don't know exactly how long I've been trapped
>I'm not even sure how I got here in the first place
>I just woke up here
>Floating in darkness
>I would just move straight ahead, observing the emptiness around me
>Small lights in the distance, but to far to get to
>And all the while, something is watching
>It's alive, but it's not a creature
>It's a force
 
>I'm in a forest now
>Or at least a poor imitation of one
>There was no transition from darkness to nature
>They just appear
>The sky, the grass, everything around me is fake, like a crude cut out
>The thing is playing with me again
>I don't know if it's trying to trick me, or making fun of me
>I just need to keep walking
>The trees turn towards me as I walk
>The shake, as if they are about to fall apart
>They always fall apart
>Soon, I'm back in the darkness
>No transition
>Just darkness
 
>This force, shadow, whatever it is, has powers
>It can shape this darkness into whatever it wants
>The others can too
>They are like clouds, floating consensuses in the bodies of smoke
>They will speed by my, heading towards far off lights
>They leave behind floating islands, frozen landscapes, endless deserts
>Those are much more real then the shadow's imitations
>But soon enough, the land melts into a sea of darkness
>Either that, or the disgusting cut outs I'm forced to walk through
 
>I come across a crack
>Not the same one as before
>I can feel a fierce wind blowing around it
>I try to move closer, but the winds are growing stronger, making it harder to move
>I can hear a screeching in the back of my head
>I can catch a glimpse of what's inside
>An ocean
>Suddenly, I'm pushed away from the crack
>The wind is angry
>I should go now
>As I leave, I start to think
>These cracks, do they lead to new worlds, or are they just windows?
>And if they are other worlds, then what is this place?
>Is it another dimension, or some sort of place in between worlds?
>I shouldn't think about this kind of stuff, it will mess with my head
>I need as much sanity as I can have
 
>I see it
>The crack from before
>I move as fast as I can towards it
>I can see real trees, real grass, the actual sun
>I'm closer then I have ever been before
>I know I shouldn't get my hopes up, the shadow will just take me away, but I can't help it
>I don't care if this isn't my home, it's a way out
>I touch my hand against the crack
>Light flashes before my eyes
>I see everything
>It's strange and confusing
>I don't know what's going on, but at the same time I do
>The birth of a world, the creation of a civilization, a battle of two great power
>But before I can see anything else, I feel the shadow grab me
>It's upset
>Darkness blurs my vision
>I'm being smothered
>I can't breath
>I can only see a small shine of light
>I can't go back empty handed
>This all can't be another trick
>I need something, something to prove I'm making progress
>My hand is being pulled away from the crack's surface
>I can sense something coming out
>An outline
>And soon, everything is dark
 
>I'm floating again
>Empty handed
>I don't know if I should go back to the crack
>I'll just be pulled away again
>But I saw something, and I want to see more
>I see an object in the distance
>A large flat rock
>I float towards it
>There's something moving on it
>As I move closer and closer, I can see more details
>It's purple
>It's on all fours
>It's a horse
 
>I land on the stone, looking at the creature
>It's a unicorn, nervously looking over the edge of the stone
>This has to be some sort of joke
>"Um...what"
>It turns towards me
>"Wha- who are you?"
>And it talks
>Just wonderful
>"What are you doing here?" I ask the horse
>"I don't know!"
>If this is another trick from the shadow, it's a weird one
 
>I walk away from the unicorn
>"Wait! You're going to leave me here?"
>I look up
>"Nice try, but I'm not falling for it"
>I jump off the rock
>I start floating away
>"No, wait, you can't just leave me here"
>I look back, and see her run towards me
>She jumps off the rock, and slowly floats towards me
>She looks down, and realizes she's floating
>She looks confused, but fascinated
>"Who exactly are you?" I say to the horse
>"Oh, I'm Twilight Sparkle. I'm sorry, but I just need to know, where are we?"
>"I wish I knew"
 
>We're in a field
>A fake one, of course
>Twilight looks around, noticing something is off
>"Trust me, you'll get used to this feeling"
>"I don't even know what's going on, but it sure is fascinating"
>Her horn glows, and a patch of the grass is ripped off
>She uses magic?
>"I need to study this when I get home"
>I stay quiet, I shouldn't crush her hopes of getting back to her world
>The unicorn drops the grass, and looks blankly forward
>"Do you see that?"
>Something is walking towards us
>It looks like a human, but different
>A grey, hairless body, creeping towards us
>I back away, but Twilight stays still
>She's observing it
>Suddenly, it breaks off into a sprint, growling like an animal
>A strange glow surrounds its body, and it's pulled right into the air
>The unicorn moves around it, studying it
>The field begins to shake
>It's falling apart
>But it's not like before, I'm not just being put into darkness
>The ground is collapsing on itself
>The unicorn looses control, and drops the creature
>It lunges towards her, and begins to rip at her skin
>Suddenly, it falls to the ground, and shatters like glass
>We are thrown into darkness
 
>I can see the crack in the distance
>It will take time before we get their
>The unicorn is holding her side with a hoof
>"Are you alright?"
>She looks up, a small look of pain on her face
>"Yeah, I think so. It just burns a little"
>We float silently for a bit
>Bored
>"Hey, um, that monster was kind of weird, right?"
>She doesn't respond, still holding onto her wound
>Awkward silence
>I take this time to think about what happened at the crack
>The visions I saw
>"Hey Twilight...tell me about your world"
 
>Twilight tells me about what her world is like
>Ponies, pegesi, griffons, all that weird stuff
>and the odd thing is, it seems reasonable to me
>"Hey, Twilight...I think I know why you're here"
>I remember touching the crack, being pulled away, into the darkness
>I wanted to have something, proof I was making progress
>I think I brought Twilight here
>and if things kept going on like this, she'll be trapped here forever
>"So, why am I here?"
>I think for a bit
>"Never mind, it's not important," I tell her
>"No, I insist, tell me. Any ideas should be helpful"
>"Don't worry. All you need to know is that I'm getting you home"
 
>We're in a new place
>An imitation of a town
>I think
>It's like being in a sketch of a town
>The houses are shaking, made of lines that seem to move towards us
>"Just keep walking and we'll be fin-"
>The street is full of those grey people
>They lumber towards us, their bodies are shaking like the line houses
>Twilight grimaces in pain, holding her wound again
>I look for anything to defend us with
>Nothing
>As the creatures approach, my vision begins to blur
>I need to fight them off
>I can see the creatures being flung away by magic, but it all looks like different blurs of color
>I look around, I can see the lines of the houses moving towards me
>A line breaks off, and speeds towards my hand
>No time to think, a grey is running right towards me
>I slam it with the line, it shatters
>My vision clears up
>I turn to Twilight, she's running away from the others
>I run over and slam the line into nearby creatures
>I haven't felt this empowered in a long time
>The world suddenly falls apart
>The remaining greys are floating off into the distance
>Twilight looks a little weaker
 
>The crack
>It's so close
>Twilight is more sickly then before
>Maybe this time, if I can't get out of here myself, at least I can get her home
>Hopefully the shadow won't stop me
>As I approach the crack, a strange feeling overwhelms me
>I can sense the other world, I can see others in there
>Twilight looks up at me
>"Thank you"
>She places her hoof on the crack
>Suddenly, a black tendril stabs right into the unicorn
>She is pulled away
>Shocked, I can only look on in horror
>She is unable to pull herself away
>Out of the darkness, the greys appear, and swarm Twilight
>Twilight stops screaming
>I need to do something
>I float towards her, and push my way past the greys
>They don't attack me, and they stop attacking Twilight
>I can't let this happen, I won't let her die because of me
>I pull at the tendril, but it won't come out
>It seems to stretch for eternity
>Twilight's skin is becoming paler
>She won't speak
>I don't understand, the shadow was cruel, but it never did anything like this
>"Stop it! Leave her alone!"
>Twilight turns to me
>She speaks, her voice is deep, otherworldly >"Vessel"
>Twilight shatters before me
>Just like the greys
 
>The greys sink back into the darkness
>I need to get back to the crack
>It's the only thing I can do
>I hold my head, it aches now
>I don't know what to think
>One minute she was here, and the next she's gone
>She just fell apart, like those monsters
>And if the greys are made by the shadow, was Twilight fake the whole time?
>That must have been it, it was all another trick
>I'm in hell
>But what if she was real, and I just killed her
>Then it's all my fault
>I'm a murderer
>I move towards the crack
>It's the only thing I have left
 
>I place my hand on the crack's surface
>I'm immediately rushed over by the blinding light
>The visions return
>I can see more now, it's hard to understand, but I see more
>I can see others
>For a second, I ask myself if I should take another one out
>No, I can't. One of them is dead because of me
>I took something from them
>I want to give something back
>I can see a human outline walk through the light
>I feel much weaker now
>Am I going in? Am I leaving?
>The shadow quickly envelops me
>It's furious
>It speaks with its booming, otherworldly voice
>"No"
>I am back in the darkness
>But not all of me is back
 
>Something has happened
>My body feels empty, not all there
>It's like I'm walking on a tight rope
>I can hear things
>Voices
>Thoughts
>"I could make anything for you, and you want to leave me?"
>I move, as if I'm running away from the voice
>I feel strange, I'm moving faster, more fluidly
>"Stop now! Just stop running from me"
>I'm going back to the crack, and nothing is going to stop me
 
>I know where I am now
>Or where it wants me to be
>It's a place called Ponyville
>Faint black lines create the world around me
>Ponies are walking around, but they look as if they could fall apart any second from now
>"Heeeeeeeelllooooo, I'm Twiiiiiiiliiiggghht"
>An imitation of the unicorn is in front of me, eyes blackened, skin grey
>I want to destroy it
>My mind is different now
>I can see things differently know
>I'm on the ground, but I can see things from above
>I force the ground below the imitation to collapse
>Fake Twilight falls through, floating away through darkness
>"I don't like what's happening to you", says the shadow
>I force the imitation ponyville to collapse on itself
>"I don't like it one bit"
 
>One of the mists comes towards me
>A cloud of sand
>It has no eyes, but I know it's looking towards me
>"Another..."
>If flies off, leaving a desert behind it
>I move across the sand, almost flying
>A long time passes
>The sand stretches on forever
>The sand hasn't melted into darkness
>"You won't leave here, I won't let you"
>Is this a new strategy?
>Is it trying to torture me?
>Or is it trying to stop me?
 
As I glide through the sand, I can feel myself changing
>I'm not a human anymore
>But I'm not a mist, at least not yet
>I'm something in between
>My vision has expanded
>I can see outside my body
>Sometimes I wonder if my physical form is still a part of me
>I remember the crack
>The outline that I saw
>Did I give up my physical form?
>But then what was the outline I saw before that?
>I look up
>I move up
>I'm flying now
>A sandy smoke follows behind me
>Pretty soon, I won't be anything like a person
>I'm scared
 
>I can see the faint glow of the crack in the distance
>I'll be there soon
>The shadow won't stop me
>But it will try
>Greys flow out of the darkness, flinging themselves towards me
>Right when they enter the cloud that surrounds me, they slow down, ache in pain
>I pick one out, and force the smoke into its body
>I am pulled along with it, and the next thing I know, I'm seeing the world through a grey's eyes
>I move my vision over to another grey
>I can command them to do whatever I want, move them with my will, make them into my personal army
>It's empowering and strange
>But soon, I'm forced out of their bodies
>The break apart into shards of darkness
>I can defeat the greys with ease now
>They are hollow, easy to control, but still creations of the shadow
>I remember the first outline from the crack
>Was Twilight hollow too? Is that why she shattered? Did I really bring her here, or was it just a shell?
>And if the darkness could control her outline, I could control my own outline.
 
>Closer to the crack now, mists have begun following me
>Many of them are made up of different elements, and others made of strange forces, hard to describe
>I can hear their thoughts
>"It's going to open the gate"
>"It's not even its home"
>"I am going to love seeing what it does there"
>I can feel the shadow's anger
>I think I understand what it wants now
>It hates seeing me like this, like one of the mists
>It wants me for itself, it wants something physical, something it didn't need to make
>My transformation is taking that away from him
>The darkness around me seems to shake, poorly made landscapes surround me, but the forces of the mist would quickly destroy them
>I doubt they will help me through the crack, they are only amused by my actions
>But at least they make traveling more entertaining, watching the worlds fall apart in an explosion of fire, ice, wind, stone
 
>I'm at the crack now
>The mists have dispersed
>I knew they wouldn't help me here
>As I near the crack, my vision starts to blur
>"Stop now, you don't want to do this"
>I place my hands on the crack
>Black Tendrils surround me
>They wrap around each other, forming a ball of tendrils
>I am unable to phase through them
>"If you leave, you will be something different, something you don't want to be"
>Visions of destruction, death, and misery flash before me
>Dead ponies everywhere
>"Innocents will die because of you"
>I push myself against the tendrils
>"You're lying! I'm not your plaything! I am leaving now!"
>The tendrils won't budge
>6 ponies appear before my eyes, dead, covered with sand
>Twilight is among them
>"No! I won't stay!"
>I flood the cage with sand, and burst out
>I'm leaving
 
>My hands are on the crack now
>They aren't hands anymore, really, more like concentrations of dust
>I can see this place
>Equestria
>I see great things
>I see myself
>Or at least my outline
>And I can see other ponies
>And Twilight
>I see so many things
>Past, present, future
>I can see everything
>Past, present, and future
>I don't like the future I see
>It's always hard to understand, but the future does not look bright
>I can't stay in this place, I must open the crack
>I don't know what will happen, but if I hurt anyone, I don't mean it
>I break the crack open
>I go inside