It was swift, sudden, and painful. one moment there was glowing crystal hound charging down at me, the next… well I don't think ‘woke up’ really applied here. I was just suddenly aware, and was under assault by alien sensations.

I couldn't see, but I knew exactly what, and where, things were happening.

I couldn't move, but every time I tired, I knew something new had happened.

It hurt so much…

Too much information at once.

I just couldn't process it all.

I eventually managed to narrow my… view? into a small cone, and it became increasingly apparent I was in my shadow realm.

‘In’ just didnt feel right in this situation.

I still couldn't move though.

Something had moved into my ‘view’. I almost immediately knew it was the keeper, but… it was so fucking huge!

No, not huge. my ‘view’ was pathetically tiny. yet it was looking right at me?

It did something to me and picked me up, carrying me back to the island.

After quite a long walk, it set me down. Every so often it would do something to me, I think it was poking at me it’s hard to tell when I can’t see it.

I was getting tired of my view rocking back and forth. I shifting my sight to look at it and sure enough it was poking me with a tendril.

I wanted to scoot away from it and focused as close to ‘myself’ as I could, wanting nothing more than to get away from the persistent prodding.

I finally made myself move and was aware of a part of the tendril moving with me, but not the rest of it. The Keeper looked at its tendril for a moment and then left. It didn’t take long for it to come back and start poking at me again.

I was getting better, every time it poked me I ripped another piece off. As violently as I could, might I add. It also wasn’t as big as before, I think that with every piece I tear off I get bigger!

I will rip you apart! Piece by bloody piece!

Stop staring at me! What the hell do you want!

It finally stopped poking me and now it’s just sitting there, expectantly. Just when I couldn’t take the staring anymore, it finally did something! Reaching out to me with its tendrils, I tried to rip them off like I’d been doing but it wouldn’t let me this time. Instead of just poking me, it was pushing and pulling at me as I tried to wiggle and squirm out of it’s grasp.

Which is very hard to do when you feel numb.

When it finally stopped my ‘view’ was sideways. I let my senses return to me so I could try and feel for what the Keeper did, while at the same time trying to keep them as limited as possible. I eventually felt something click and found myself staring at myself, and was rather surprised at what I saw.

A miniature Keeper.

But where was the original? Something was reaching up to my ‘face’, I tried to swat it away and the mini Keeper started to flail around. It tugged on me and twisted me around to see the original Keeper staring at me before it put me back on the ground. sideways. I instinctively tried to right myself, and found myself properly oriented.

Wait, I could move now? I tried moving what I thought was my forelimb in front of my face.

That… wasn't my hoof. That miniature keeper I saw? that was me.

What the fuck happend to me!?

Oh god, what about Ribbon?! The attack! Did they make it out of Canterlot?! Before my thoughts could spiral any farther, something smacked me on my nose. I glared at the Keeper and its tendril that it draped over my muzzle. I batted it away in annoyance as more tendrils manipulated the ground into shapes. Three Keeper statues, each bigger than the last.

I knew it was getting smarter, but this? Next it pointed up to the two stars in the sky. There used to be three, having thinned the wispy darkness long ago so I could see my way out.

There used to be three of them.

Was it Ribbon or Mirage? I would knock Canterlot off that mountain as long as I get to kill whoever invaded if they’re harmed! Again the Keeper lightly smacked my nose, leaving its tendril to lay on my muzzle. I batted it away again, thinking about why I made it in the first place as it created a fourth statue. Looking at them, each one was bigger and more solid than the other.

...I don't get it, what was it trying to tell me? Is it lonely?

Wait. Since when could it feel?

I didn’t do anything, not sure how to respond to something like that. Eventually it tried to tell me something else, reshaping the statues. The first and smallest one was turned into a large rock and rolled away from the others, the second became a model house like one I’d imagine some rich kid would have, the third was a tree was actually look like it was alive, and the biggest one was turned into the other creature.

I still don't get it. I am really starting to regret not giving it a mouth because I have no idea what it's trying to tell me.

Giving up on that line of though for now, I looked up at the two ‘star’s, and made my way towards them, floating off the ground with oozing wings spread. When I eventually reached them, the first thing I did was check on Mirage, whom, to my relief, was sleeping peacefully alongside an egg. Satisfied that she was in no immediate danger, I moved over to Ribbon’s, and tried to make my way through it to emerge.

It felt like i had walked into a brick wall.

Why the hell can’t I leave!?

I started banging against it practically, my whole body trembling as it tried to find some way to express the panic I was feeling. I kept on pounding, desperately hoping to achieve something, even as Ribbon made her way to her bedroom.the one in ponyville it seemed. Regardless, I kept banging until she had crawled under the covers, at which point I sagged in defeat. “I hope you’re ok up there, Chi.”

Up… there…

oh my god. She thinks I'm truly dead this time.

… but I’m right here, why can’t you hear me? My body jerked as I let out a soundless, tearless sob.