Insurgence

Chapters

Awakening
Memories
Back to Normal Life
Vengeance, Served Cold
Convergence
Technically
Nightfall
Escape
Resurgence
Emergence
Balance Point
Gathering Storm
Tipping Point
Fallen
Resonance
Divided
Pillars
Broken
Fractured
Insanity
Slipstream
Resolution
Epilog

Awakening

I drifted, floating as I had quite often in recent times. It really had no meaning to me while I slept. I just knew that I would drift towards wakefulness and it would be a bleak and dark as it had been the time before.

I was unable to fight it this time and I came to the surface, smells inundating my nose as soon as my senses were back.

Clean linens were a constant as they had been the last few times I had surfaced. As were the smell of sweat and the faintest hint of sterile medication.

But the blackness remained. I gave a faint sigh and started to let myself drift back down when a new smell grew in my awareness.

Anger, tainted with a touch of sickly sweetness to it.

“Oh,” it purred in what was supposed to be a comforting voice as I sank back into my dreamless sleep. “How you must hate them for this. I think we might be of benefit to each other.”

It terrified me.

“No,” I croaked. Something about that voice…

“I’m sorry,” the voice continued, the sickly smell getting stronger as I felt magic slither over my body.

“I wasn't aware of giving you a choice,” it finished coldly as a spike of magic was shoved through one of the cracks in my horn.

And I screamed in horror as the face appeared before me, fanged and filled with madness.

Luna paced slowly along the path in the dreamscape when a distant scream reached her ears. She paused and turned towards the sound, a particular dreamscape illuminated in the distance. She was beginning to enter it when another scream ripped through it, shattering it and sending a shockwave throughout the dreamworld.

“Sorla,” she breathed as she struggled to regain her equilibrium. She immediately left the dream realm and alerted one of the thestrals standing guard outside her balcony.

“Wake the day guard and my sister,” she hissed urgently. "There is no time to waste!”

The scream rippled through dreams, waking those that it touched.

Starlight Glimmer sat up suddenly, ears twisting this way and that trying to locate the faint screaming that had woke her. It hadn’t sounded like Twilight, and Trixie was sound asleep next to her, both of them covered with a blanket she didn’t remember having brought with them to the sitting room.

“It almost sounded,” she began, ears still twitching as Trixie stirred.

“I dun wann’go to school,” she murmured. “The other students laugh at me.”

She looked down at the sleepy mare, a smile quirking at the corners of her mouth.

“Silly filly,” she said as she leaned down and gave the Unicorn a peck on the crown of her head and pulled the blanket back up over her.

It had probably been a dream, anyway.

Cadence jerked awake, feeling a tingling sensation along her skin. She poked Shining Armor awake and strode to the door, the guards outside snapping directly to attention.

“Sergent Sentry,” she said. “Send guards to the healing ward and rouse Sunburst and Mandible. We’re enacting search protocols.”

The blue-maned guard snapped a salute and turned, cantering off to carry out his Princess’s orders.

“Search protocols?” Shining asked as he came forward, armor settling around his barrel. “I thought we were at peace with the Changelings?”

“Ever since she kidnapped us, I’ve kept a warning spell dormant for the event that Chrysalis tries to return here,” she looked him in the eye. “It just got set off.”

Flash Sentry rushed back. “Your Highness,” he began.

“Steady on, Flash,” Shining said. “Catch your breath.”

The Pegasus nodded, taking a deep breath.

“The doors to the medical ward you set up were broken down from the outside, the guards unconscious. The prisoner was gone, her bandages still laying to the side, with this on them.”

His wing extended, revealing a scrap of linen with a sticky green slime on it.

Sunset screamed, sitting up and grabbing her head, Twilight bolting upright at the sound of pain in her wife’s voice.

Images spun around in her vision, Sorla, the Crystal Empire, a dark cavern filled with ever-shifting holes and cracks. But the fear, so immediate and gut twisting as it had been a moment ago was already fading.

“Another nightmare?” Twilight asked. They had both slowly been resuming normal life, but some of Sunset’s actions had left her with deeper emotional scars than her brainy wife.

She had often seen herself setting Neighlin on fire, and sometimes she would feel the flames engulf her as well, sometimes she would start shifting into her demon form, and sometimes Neighlin would suddenly become her mother instead just as the flames ignited. This wasn’t the first time she had awoken crying or screaming since returning.

“I don’t know,” she whispered as Twilight stroked her back. “It felt different. More like terror than anything I’ve felt before. And I’ve never seen some of the things I saw this time. Caves, tunnels, none of it was familiar.”

Twilight pulled her in, holding her. “It’s just another nightmare, Sunny,” she whispered. “I’m here, and we’re both home and ok.”

Spike hopped up onto the bed, padding up and nuzzling into her. “We’re all here,” he said to the fiery-haired woman.

Sunset sighed, her heartbeat back to normal as she laid back down. Spike hopped over and nestled into Sunset’s stomach as Twilight pulled her into a spoonwise position, their normal roles reverses as Twilight wrapped her arms around the taller girl.

“It’s all ok,” she whispered into her wife’s ear.

Darkness was all around me, but I’d grown used to that. At least the pain was gone now, though the faint smell of burnt flesh and shriveled hair still peeked in from time to time. The sounds I’d come to recognize were gone, replaced by echoes like stonework and a strange, chittering all around, the occasional hissing sound.

“Where am I?” I demanded.

“Why you’re in my home,” the voice from earlier oozed. “And you’re about to be part of my revenge on all of Equestria.”

A strange, sticky substance began covering my hooves, and I tried to scramble away, but I was held fast and slowly lifted into the air.

“And what better method than those secrets you have locked away?” the voice purred as I felt tendrils of magic start to crawl inside my horn through some of the unhealed cracks.

As my screams echoed in the cavern, the hissing sound became louder, almost rapturous in its sound.

Memories

There are times I really wished I thought before I leaped. What had started out just looking for a part of Father to lay to rest had turned into my trying to take over the Crystal Empire when his lingering anger and resentment overrode me.

I'm actually glad I was defeated, despite the wounds. I was lucky I hadn't been banished to the moon, truth be told. But even the moon seemed preferable to what was happening now.

I had managed to piece together what had happened to me in between the assaults on my sensibilities. The chitinous clicking, the hissing snarls, the feeling of being emotionally drained all the time, it didn't take a genius to conclude that Changelings were involved.

But I didn't know what they wanted with me. I was a broken, pitiful wretch of a pony. My eyes were blinded from the mantic backlash of the final spell I had tried to cast in my ill-fated march on the northern kingdom goddess knows how long ago. My constant slips into a comatose state to heal had made me lose track of time, to say nothing of my capture here. My fur had grown back in and most of the burn scars had either healed or become smaller in that time, but I could still feel the cracks in my horn and when I did sleep, I felt the pain all over again.

Sighing, I closed my useless eyes and eased back into memories of happier times, when things made sense. I opened my eyes and saw the gentle snowfall of the village that I had made my home after the curse had been lifted and breathed deeply the cool and crisp air, troubles and pain fading to the background.

It wasn't a very large village, maybe two hundred ponies all told. Life here was hard, but fair. We had everything we needed here.

"My," a voice purred, behind me, stealing what little peace I had managed to garner. "I can see why you keep coming here. It's very idyllic. It's almost sickening."

"Can't you at least let me have this one place without defiling it?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"Oh," the saccharine voice said, it's owner walking around into my view. Tall and lean, she might have been beautiful if not for her fractured appearance. Her diaphanous wings were tattered, her body full of holes, and her hair hanging in lank, seemingly unwashed strands. Madness swam in her eyes and a green aura swirled around her twisted horn that almost hid the small crown that topped her head.

"If I did that," she continued, reaching out with a hoof and tilting my head to face her. Her smile held teeth too sharp for any pony and her breath smelt of fetid water. "What would I feed my new brood?"

"My pain and agony aren't enough?" I spat, twisting my head away.

"Those are delicious, yes," Chrysalis admitted. "But robbing you of your happiness is a flavor this hive has never tasted before. And, personally, mining the secrets from your mind that you've tried to erase is so much easier with your will broken from having every last refuge taken from you."

The village disappeared, and memories started to blur by. I saw the ponies bring me the chest that contained my father's horn, then the months of research I had spent looking for so many spells that had been lost to the depths of time. I was sickened, watching as though the pony doing it was somepony else entirely. Almost every spell was either forbidden or unneeded in times of peace.

Self-recriminations slowly gave way to pain as everything tended to when Chrysalis rummaged through my mind. I collapsed, screaming in agony once again as her hungry look took on a blissful look. The swirl of memories stopped on a single thaumaturgic formula, one that I recognized through the haze of pain as the one that had put me in this state.

"Found it," she hissed as I began to black out. "Thank you, my dear."

I peaked back into the room, seeing Sunshine still curled up on the bed. I walked out and came up to her and began to run kisses up her back, stopping as I reached her mane.

"Don't stop now," she whispered sleepily. "I happen to like that."

I laughed. "Come on, love," I said, giving her a nudge. "It's check-out day and Oxygen Rush will have the boat here in two hours."

She groaned. "Already?" She rolled out of bed, the braided bun wobbling slightly from where it had come undone. The scar on her left shoulder caught the light, almost hidden under her bluish-purple coat. Memories of seeing her get hit flashed to my mind.

I nodded. "I've already packed what I could with you sleeping," I said, eyes unable to leave the wound. "Why won't you let one of us finish healing that?" I asked.

She glanced at me as she levitated her glasses over. "What, the scar?"

"Yeah," I said. "Between the court healers and the number of princesses you know, let alone the Sirens, you don't have to have something like that."

She grabbed the bedsheet in her aura and began making the bed. "It's a reminder of a lesson learned," she whispered. "I can still feel the occasional twinge in my left arm from where I broke it if the weather's going to turn. That taught me to always keep an eye on where I'm going. This will remind me to analyse more carefully and to trust my friends." She flashed me a grin as she fluffed the pillows. "And then there's this," she said, giving our bond a quick thrum.

"What's that teach you?" I said, returning the wave of love.

"That good things can come of even the worst ideas," she said, walking over and nuzzling me.

I breathed in her scent, the lavender and strawberry aroma that had been a constant in my life for the last year, nuzzling her back.

"Well," she said, sliding away while a rolled up bit of parchment appeared with a azure flash. "Time to see what's left to do!"

I laughed. "Really, Twi," I said as I wiped a tear away. "Another checklist?"

"You never know when one will be useful," she said, sliding open dresser drawers and checking off items I couldn't read from my position.

"I'll make some breakfast," I said as she went to the closet. "You knock yourself out with your double checking."

I doubt she heard me as she began to hum a song along with her work.

Back to Normal Life

Oxygen Rush steered the boat back up to the dock, slowing it's mana turbine to coast into the slip. As we climbed out. Twilight couldn’t help but stare in awe at the boat, Hydro Star and it's state of the art magically charged engine. A small stream of magic from any pony would be channelled into a turbine propeller that moved the vessel even on windless days like today.

I sighed as I settled my bags over my withers, loking back at the distant island villa we had spent two weeks in.

"Don’t want to leave, do you?" the mare that had created the ship's unique engine asked softly, a faint accent tinging her words.

I shook my head. "It's peaceful here," I murmured. "We've had little enough of that lately."

"Well, begging Your Majesties pardon," Oxygen Rush said, a hint of nervousness underneath. "We'd be happy to host you again, anytime."

I smiled at the pony. "I'll keep that in mind," I said with a wink. "If you stop calling me Your Majesty. My name is Sunset."

The mare smiled. "Fair enough," she said, returning her focus to the Hydro Star and checking it's moorings. "Sunset."

As I caught up to my wife, I smiled.

"One down," Twilight smirked.

"Only a nation to go," I smirked. We both paused and looked back on the Hello Tropics resort, it's white sand sparkling. Memories flowed through our bond, and we leaned into each other a little, her being careful of my wings. As we turned and headed for the train station she glanced at me.

"When are you going to learn how to properly preen those things?"

"Sunset, Twilight!" Fluttershy called out as we crested through the portal, bearing our pair of small suitcases. "Welcome back!"

Spike ran up to us and leaped into Twilight's outstretched arms. "Did ya bring me home anything?" he asked.

I reached over and ruffled the fur on his head as we laughed. "Let us at least get home, Spike, ok?"

Fluttershy took a spot next to Twilight as we walked. "Tell me everything," she breathed.

Twilight blushed a little. "Everything?"

Fluttershy flashed bright red. "No, no no no! I mean, the island! What was it like? Did it have any interesting animals on it?"

"There were some interesting nests of some tropical songbirds and a few storks regularly made it their port of call," the scientist said, adjusting her glasses as we walked, Spike having dozed off in his mistresses arms.

As we walked, she caught us up on everything that had happened while we were gone, staying through dinner where we were joined by the rest of the girls save Pinkie and the Sirens. It was almost as though we had never left, for all that was the same.

Later that night, as we headed to bed, Twilight leaned over and whispered in my ear.

"We still have to figure out which of us is changing our last name, you know."

I giggled. "In the morning," I said, kissing her and snuggling in to sleep.

It's so good to be home, where things make sense.

Vengeance, Served Cold

I was finishing up a few tasks around the castle when Twilight called me.

"Starlight, do you know where this scroll came from?"

We had become very wary of random bits of parchment lately. Between what had happened in tbe Crystal Empire and just general mayhem caused when one of Spike's Ogres and Obuiletts game ran long, parchment and paper not where it belonged was viewed as suspect. I trotted down the length of the library to look it over.

I got five feet away and it began to smoke, a circle begining to appear in char marks.

"Oh, not again!" Twilight shrieked, throwing up a null magic sphere around the parchment, but the circle continued to take shape, revealing a very intricate mandala within the circle's border. The barrier Twilight put up began to flicker, and we both bent our magic to the task of maintaining the spell.

For all of a minute, it seemed to work. Then, the barrier burst with a cerulean flare and we were flung backward. As I climbed back to my hooves, I heard a manic giggling that made my blood curdle.

"Oh, Starlight!" Chrysalis sang out. "I've come a-calling with a treat for you."

Twilight encompassed me with a teleport aura as I stared dumbfounded at the Changeling queen and how far she had fallen. With a flash of white we were elsewhere in the castle.

I felt magic surge and then a yellow-green shockwave rippled outward, washing over Twilight and I. When I felt no ill effect from whatever it was, I turned to face Twilight.

"Twilight," I said as she stared forward. "What was that?"

She didn't answer.

"Twilight?" I asked, voice quivering a little.

She made no move. Not even to blink. Her eyes were glassy and fixed, and her breathing was barely detectable.

"Twilight!" I shouted, reaching out and shaking the Alicorn, panic starting to set in.

"By now you should have noticed the spell effect," the voice of Chrysalis said, echoing through the corridors. "Everypony in Equestria is locked in a different plane of existence from us. Nopony can see you, and nopony can help you. You can run, if you like, though it won't do you any good. But please do, I would enjoy the hunt."

I teleported to Trixie's caravan, to the town hall, even Maud's house. Everypony I saw was in the same state. As I scrambled for a solution, I heard the former queen start singing to herself.

The high and mighty pony fell out of time today
Out of control she tried to run away
Then came a queen who crushed her under her hooves
And the high and mighty pony never saw the sun again

Her laughter made me shiver as I teleported away again.

Twilight stumbled as she and Sunset passed the doorway to the gymnasium where they had agreed to help Pinkie and the former Crystal Prep students set up for a fundraising dance.

"You ok?" Sunset asked, but before she received an answer, a wave of energy washed through the school, knocking everyone to the ground. As Sunset climbed back to her hooves, she couldn't shake the wool from her thoughts or the sense that something wasn't right.

"Are you ok, Sunset?" Twilight asked.

The amber Alicorn turned to the speaker, the dark lilac coat gleaming under the florescent lighting. The sight of her spectral left wing still unnerved her compared to the physical right one.

Wrong, this is wrong somehow! her brain screamed at her.

"Sunset?

The Alicorn turned again to spy five ponies that she recognized. The Unicorn in the lead, Sunny Flare, stomped unsteadily over.

"What. Did you. Do?!?" she shouted into tbe Alicorns face.

"I don't...know?" she replied. Even speaking was difficult.

"What do you mean you don't know?" shouted Indigo Zap, her wings flaring out and lifting her off the ground. "We're ponies!"

An Earth pony with long white pigtails reached up to adjust her glasses before speaking in a flat voice.

"Technically, you're a Pegasus, Zap," Sugarcoat said. "So is Lemon. Sour and I are ponies and Sunny Flare appears to be a Unicorn." She looked at the Alicorns before continuing. "For what it's worth, it was a wave of energy that burst through here a moment ago that did this."

Their words didn't make sense. "Did what?" Sunset asked.

Sour Sweet turned, tilting her head in surprise.

"We're not supposed to be ponies, you nitwit!"

"Why not?" Twilight asked. "You always have been, right? I remember you..."

She trailed of and stumbled slightly, shaking her head.

"No," she whispered. "This isn't right, not at all!"

And she flew out, heading for the portal.

I was running out of places to hide. She kept finding me and attacking, always with madness in her eyes, toying with me like a cat with a mouse.

Away, I just had get away! But where else could I go? She seemed to be able to track my teleport spell...

My eyes fell on the doorway to the second library.

Where Twilight kept the mirror.

I wasn't in a hurry to step through and have to deal with hands again, but I didn't have many options otherwise. I fled into the library, threw one of the magic journals into the bracket and plunged through, yanking the book with my magic so it would fall out after powering the portal.

When the twisting sensation of the transfer ended, I just lay on the cool ground, breathing hard.

"Starlight?" I heard Twilight ask.

I looked up in surprise then recoiled in shock when I saw who stood before me.

Twilight Sparkle, or as I knew her better, Sunshine, stood there, fully an Alicorn, but she seemed a combination of the two Twilights I knew. Her left wing was made of smoke and shadows, and her coat was a blend between the lavender of the Alicorn I knew and the midnight blue of the Unicorn.

I looked down at myself and saw my hooves, coat, and a quick test revealed I still had my horn and magic. Looking around revealed several ponies trotting by without a care.

"Oh," I moaned, laying my head down and hiding it under my hooves. "This is not good at all!"

Author's Note

Crystal Prep converted as follows:

Sugarcoat - Earth pony
Sunny Flare - Unicorn
Sour Sweet - Earth pony
Lemon Zest - Pegasus
Indigo Zap - Pegasus

This is assuming the standard two per tribe grouping with SciTwi filling the role for the other Unicorn prior to her transfer.

For Chrysalis' song, it's set to the tune of "The Itsy Bitsy Spider"

She may be a tiny bit crazy right now. :derpyderp2:

Convergence

I looked at the assembled ponies in front of me, even though they - and myself, frankly - should have been human on this side of the portal.

"Let me get this straight," Sunny Flare said between attempts to lift something with her horn after seeing me do it with a cup of water. "Some sort of shapeshifting queen cast a spell on that side of the portal and it affected us here, too? That's..."

"Plausible," Sugarcoat deadpanned. "Especially with what we know about magic after the Games and the stories we've heard."

"But I don't know why!" I groaned, covering my face with my hooves for a moment. "The spell should have been nullified by the trans-dimensional barrier."

"Starlight," whispered Twilight. "Where am I?"

I looked at the amalgam of the two individuals that shared a name. "CHS," I told her.

She shook her head. "We can't be," she said. "We're ponies. We'd change through the portal. And why is my coat a different color?" She froze as she saw the spectral wing and spun to Sunset.

Seeing the amber Alicorn physically ok, her face softened and her voice shifted slightly.

"Are you ok, Sunny?" she asked, going over and nuzzling her for a moment before the voice changed back. "Where's Flutttershy?"

I reached out with my magic and held her muzzle shut for a second.

"Princess?" I asked.

She nodded, a confused look in her eye.

"Sunshine?" I asked, hoping I was wrong.

The Alicorn nodded again, a visible shift in her eyes, almost as though tbey weren't focused properly.

"I don't believe it," I said. "But for some reason, both Twilights are in there."

"How?" Sunset asked, her voice still slow and sluggish, as though forming sentences was difficult at the moment. "And why can't I remember anything?"

"What do you mean?" I asked. If this was affecting different ponies differently, then things might be worse than I thought.

"I remember stealing a crown, and...pain...when did I get these wings? Where did these scars come from?" Tears started to form. "I should remember, but I can't! This is all wrong somehow! Why was I walking in with the Princess? Why am I here?"

Twilight rubbed her back gently, between the wings. "It's ok, honey. We'll figure it out."

Sunset shifted away from the other Alicorn, a mask of fear and confusion on her face.

"If someone could fill me in, I would greatly appreciate it," a cool voice came from behind us. Turning, I saw the Princess of the Night standing there, only without any of her royal regalia.

"Princess Luna," Twilight gasped.

The midnight Alicorn blinked, surprised.

"P-princess?"

Chrysalis stalked the halls of the Castle of Friendship, sliding up to the various ponies frozen inside. She could feel the link the spell had forged between her and her little soul battery, a tiny glowing thaumaturgic circle encircling the base of her horn.

"Why can't I feel you?" she hissed, running her hoof across Twilight's neck. "You're hollow, a husk."

She strode slowly away, then bounced along a few little skips as she caught a whiff of emotion, of confusion and fear coming from deeper in the castle. As she rounded a doorway, she spied a blue Unicorn with a gray mane and tail, holding a small and weakening barrier around her and a small tan Earth Pony filly. Her horn was begining to spark and flare, face showing strain.

Chrysalis smiled, sharp teeth gleaming.

"Scream," she whispered.

The filly complied, but it was cut short as the white flare of a teleport made the Changeling queen blink. Inside the suddenly stable bubble stood a pair of Alicorns, one alabaster and one pink. Glaring at the mad queen, they each placed a wing over one of their charges and teleported out.

Chysalis grinned, heading for the door.

"Oh, this makes the game so much more fun!"

As she spread her tattered wings and began flying towards Canterlot, she couldn't keep from humming to herself.

Darkness I had grown accustomed to, but this hazy vision was still strange to me. Pain, too, I was used to, having felt my own magic try to burn my essence away, leaving only the ruined husk of a pony that I was.

But this continual drained feeling, the sense of my very soul being siphoned off was a disparaging feeling. I could feel the burning fire of the two thaumaturgic circles that had been physically carved into my flesh, one to link me with Chrysalis and the other to channel that horrible spell through the link.

I had a fresh understanding of the spell now, and the fact that my soul was the one powering it crushed any joy I may have had from the slow regeneration of my eyes. Once again, I was going to be the source of suffering for ponies that I had no quarrell with, only this time as the weapon instead of the weilder.

And with my insight to the spell, I knew there was no possibility of redemption this time.

At least, not that I could see my living through.

Author's Note

What I think I'll be doing in these next few chapters is show the disjointed nature to the worlds post casting. The only ponies that I'll do in First person are Starlight and Sorla, as they will be the two primary protagonists in this story. Any other relevant story information will be in third person and typically will be the middle third of the chapters.

Guesses on what's been done? :twilightsmile:

Technically

"I don't think that's the Princess, Twilight," I said. The mare in question had a superficial resemblance to the Nightime Diarch, but the lack of the regalia and at least one nearby guard was telling. Almost as much as the fact that there was no luminescence in her mane and tail, the dark hair seeming as normal as my own multi-colored tresses.

"Wait, the Luna in your world is a princess?" Lemon Zest wondered. "That's kind of awesome."

"Cadence is too," I said almost absent minded, turning the pieces over in my head. I was sure of four things.

One: The ponies in Ponyville were frozen, supposedly in another timestream than I was in. But if that was true, it shouldn't have affected anypony on this side of the portal.

Two: There seem to be three reactions thus far. Partial recombination of personality as Twilight had shown, no change save for the obvious such as the Shadowbolts and Luna had evidenced, and some sort of mental debilitation that Sunset was suffering from.

Three: For whatever reason, it had turned the majority of people near the portal into ponies, though I had spied a few griffins, a mule, and a trio of diamond dogs.

Four: I was totally over my head.

"I see you aren't panicking anymore," Luna said calmly. "Can you explain any of this?"

I sighed, feeling a headache begining to form. "I can try," I said. "But a lot of this is just random chaos that..." I froze.

"Starlight?" Twilight asked, tilting her head. "You ok?"

Of course...who else would know anything regarding chaos?

"Discord?" I called. "If you can hear me, get your scaly hindqurters out here now!"

There was a flash of light, a oily smooth voice echoing.

"Well, this is certaintly a pickle, isn't it?" It said as a large jar appeared, the draconequuis slithering out. He glanced around. "This is the second time I'ved tried to go see Fluttershy and not wound up near her. It's becoming...annoying."

I spoke up. "It's something Chrysalis did back in Equestria," I began.

"Oh, but this is Equestria," he cooed. "Or rather, will be." He reached up and pulled down a chart and pointed at the two spherical maps on it with a collapsable pointer that he pulled from...somewhere. I tried harder to ignore his antics than I did Pinkie Pie's. "The two worlds have always connected at this single point," he said, indicating a spot that suddenly had an arrow that read 'you are here' over it.

"As I'm sure you're aware, this would be the portal." He released the pointer to let it hover and reached up to the diagram to slowly push the two spheres together, the shapes deforming around the point of connection.

Twilight gasped. "It's causing a spatial conjunction," she breathed.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" The Spirit of Chaos sighed contentedly. "However, it is interfering with my ability to enjoy my weekly tea with Fluttershy."

"But why is it affecting everypony differently?" I wondered aloud.

"Probably because it's just started," Sugarcoat spoke up. "It's like a Venn diagram. The universal constant is changing, but there are two groups of varying degrees of encapsulstion."

"No," Twilight said, moving a forehoof up as though to adjust glasses. "There are too many variables for it to be a multi-phase system. It's more likely that the spell just didn't affect us as hard, possibly some passive magic resistance."

"Then you and Sunset shouldnt have been afected at all," I said. "Alicorns have massive spell resistance."

"If that's all," Discord said, wiping his hands together before pulling on the string under his diagram, causing it to roll up and vanish. "I'm off to find Fluttershy." He vanished in a flash of light.

"We need to get everypony here," I said. "See how far this extends."

"How bad is it?" Cadence asked the unicorn in front of her as she looked at the forms in the infirmary.

"As near as I can tell," Sunburst said. "It's encompassed all of Equestria, all but a few locations." He nervously adjusted his cloak. "The Castle of the Two Sisters, the Tree of Harmony, and the Capital of the Crystal Empire."

"Why here?" Celestia asked.

"I had a shield spell up at the time of the surge, trying to contain any possible Changeling infiltrators," Cadence said. "We werent sure that abducting Sorla was Chrysalis' only goal."

"It apparently blocked the spell during it's initial phase," Sunburst said. "Actually, any active shield spell at the moment would have done it, as evidenced by Azure demonstrating one at the moment it struck."

"How is she?" Luna asked.

"Exhausted, mentally and physically," the physician said. "She pulled on a lot more mana than she's used to."

"And our friends?" Celestia asked, glancing particularly at the still form of Twilight Sparkle.

"Much like Sorla was after her attacks," the healer sighed. "But without even the abilty to take in sustenance of any sort. They are, sadly, little more than shells that resemble the Bearers at this point."

Cadence turned to a group of guards, her face grim.

"Sergeant Sentry," she said, the pony snapping to attention. "Take Sergeant Lemon Zest, Sergeant Sour Sweet, and corporal Indigo Zap and report to the Mages' Sanctum. We need to open a portal of communication with the other world."

I was suddenly dimly aware of a second presence in the room I was in. The carved wounds still burned, but they were fading as were my other wounds.

"Who's there?" I rasped, my throat dry as sand.

The presence didn't speak. I looked about, my slowly returning sight letting me see a hazy form against the wall opposite me. It shifted and the clinking of metal carried in the silence.

I was about to lay down and close my eyes when I felt the sensation of someone rummaging in my mind again, but this time it was gentle, almost weak.

Then a voice as harsh and dry as mine issued forth in the darkness.

"How long are you going to lay there feeling sorry for yourself?"

Nightfall

I watched as Sunset unlocked the door to her apartment. Every move she made seemed like she had to deliberately decide to engage it. Behind me stood the five students from Crystal Prep and Twilight. Rainbow Dash landed heavily just as the door opened, her usual grace a little lacking. She also seemed to be a blend of colors, her normal cyan blue marred with a slight tinge of darker blue from her counterpart’s pony form. It seemed as though she was in the same state Twilight was.

We entered and Sunset stared around at the place, seeing the photos and little personal touches she and Sunshine had added to the place, bits of the life they shared.

“This is,” Sunset whispered. “This is my home?”

Twilight spoke up, her voice quiet. “Our home, Sunset.”

I glanced at one of the photos, a shot of her, Sunset, and the girls. Strangely enough, the picture still showed them as humans. As I pondered this, a knocking on the door soon presented Rarity, Fluttershy, and Applejack. Pinkie arrived later with the Sirens, who also seemed to have a difficulty thinking like Sunset was. They also had their cloven-hooved bodies like from the time they spent in the Crystal Empire.

Sunset picked up one of the framed photos, staring in confusion at the images contained within.

I looked at each of the assembled ponies, and took a deep breath, drawing spells of scanning to my mind.

“Alright, don’t worry,” I said, thrusting more confidence into my voice than I felt.

***

“So, what have you found out?” Sour Sweet asked two hours later.

I blew my bangs out of my face as I set down my pen. “It’s a lot of speculation, really.”

“More than what we have now,” Sunny Flare said.

I nodded in agreement.

“As near as I can tell, the spell Chrysalis cast didn’t displace her and myself like she said it would,” I said, glancing at my notes. “I think the magic of the portal altered the effect, causing this displacement of the minds of my friends in Equestria. However, Sunset has no counterpart and so part of her memories were dampened or erased. The same for the Sirens.”

“What about us?” Lemon Zest asked, her headphones around her neck as she tested her wings.

“Again, this is just an assumption,” I said, frowning. “But there was likely a radius to the spell, and your counterparts were merely outside the range of the spell. I believe I have met yours, Lemon. She’s a member of the Crystal Guard, which means that the Crystal Empire is unaffected by the displacement spell. I also know that Luna and Celestia had a meeting there with Cadence scheduled, which may be why Luna also remained unaffected.”

“But, why didn’t that cause us to be confused instead of Sunset?” Indigo asked.

“This is a spell completely unknown to me,” I said, crumpling the paper in front of me. “I’m making a lot of guesses and hypothetical leaps. I can only guess at what’s going on at all.”

I looked at Sunset as she traced a hoof along a picture held in her red aura. I blinked.

When had it become red?

Twilight blinked, her horn glowing pink as her eyes went distant.

“Ladybugs awake…”

And then she flashed violet, her wings shooting out and eyes blazing white.

Cadence lowered her horn to Twilights, drawing in her mana and closed her eyes.

“Twilight,” she whispered, focusing her thoughts. Her aura spread to encompass the smaller Alicorn as she began to speak again.

“Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake…”

She froze suddenly as she found herself in a shimmering expanse that she recognized from when she had ascended as a filly. Standing before her were both Twilight and Sunshine, both bound with silver strands of magic around their bodies. It shifted around their barrels and wound along their horns.

“Cadence?” Twilight asked weakly.

The Princess of Love stared at her sister-in-law. She walked up and charged her magic to sever the cords. Her rose-pink blast of magic burned through the binding, releasing the ponies.

“What in Celestia’s name is happening?” Twilight asked before both ponies vanished in a flash.

I scurried backward, fear making me ignore the fatigue and pain of the brands.

“Who’s there?”

The clinking of metal came again and I recognized it as the rattle of chains.

“So, it’s true, then,” the voice rasped. “Blinded. Well, then I suppose this might be tough to believe then. I am Amara, the true queen of this hive. Chrysalis, perdition take her, stole my hive from me and turned my drones into mindless minions. She feeds them anger and hate, and it’s twisted their bodies and minds. I don’t know if I could regain control when I overthrow her and reclaim my status.”

The anger in the voice made me blink as a slight blur of blueish green began to burn from the shape before me.

“So, I ask again,” Amara grated. “How long are you going to lay there, feeling sorry for yourself? Or shall we cast about getting you out?”

I climbed clumsily to my feet, turning to face her directly.

“I’m done. She’s using magic that she doesn’t fully understand and I have to stop her.”

I heard a throaty chuckle in the darkness.

“Excellent, then,” Amara purred, her voice still harsh and dry. “Let’s see about restoring your sight.” Green light appeared, weak and fluttering, but I sensed the magic gathering in her horn.

Escape

I turned away as the amalgamated Twilight flared with bright white light, an aura that was punctured randomly by strobing flashes of other colors. Red flashed through, followed by orange, green, yellow, blue, purple, and finally rose pink.

When the glare died, Twilight stood there, her eyes hard with purpose. Her spectral wing was gone, replaced by a solid one, but the variegated hue of her coat remained.

“Twilight?” I asked hesitantly.

She nodded, a smile I associated with Sunshine on her face. “We’re both in here,” she said. “But we’re aware of which memories are which. We’ve made contact with Cadence.”

I perked up. “Do they have any idea what’s going on?” I asked.

“Not really, just that shielding effects can hold the spell at bay,” she said, levitating a from the countertop to the sink, filling it with water and gulping it down. “The Empire was coated in one after Chrysalis broke in and spirited away with Sorla.”

Applejack swore. Neither of her minds cared much for the unicorn after the attack.

“I also managed to confirm some of your theories,” Twilight continued. “Our bodies were spirited away to the Crystal Palace for protection, but we’re comatose while we’re on this side. Not really sure how to mend it, either.”

“Can you restore the other’s mentalities, like you have yours?” Lemon Zest asked. “It’s really hard to talk to friends that don’t know who they are.”

“I can try, and I have an idea,” she said as she looked at the bookshelf and pulled a white book from its top shelf, bringing it to Sunset.

It was a photo album, filled with pictures from their first date to both their weddings, the one officiated by Cadence and the one officiated by the Vice-principal of their school. She let the bewildered Alicorn gaze at the pictures, her hoof reaching out to touch them.

I always wondered why the portal didn’t alter inanimate objects like bits and photos but would produce or alter clothing. Something to check the library for, I suppose.

“This is my life,” she whispered to the amber pony. “With you and our friends on both sides of the portal.” She pointed at one photo.

“Remember that day?” she whispered still. “We must have waited in line for an hour just to ride the Ferris Wheel. And then it broke down just as we reached the top.” She smiled. “The view was amazing, you could see all of Canterlot City from there.”

A page was turned.

“I still can’t believe Daddy managed to get his thumb in on this one,” she said. I could dimly see the two of them standing in formal dresses, arms thrown over each other’s shoulders and the peace sign thrown up as they grinned madly at the camera. “But he was so proud of us. You cried when he said you could call him Dad. We were late to prom because of that, and Rarity had a fit about having to redo your makeup.”

“I did not,” Rarity huffed from the couch.

“And here,” Twilight continued, plucking a picture from the wall, one we had taken just after the graduation party and mirrored in Equestria after the wedding. Two photos, filled with smiling faces of all of us, both humanized and as ponies. “Our allies,” she said, looking at the Sirens. “Our friends,” she said, turning to Sunset. She reached out with a wingtip to tilt her gaze to the room, all of us in her field of vision.

“Our family.”

I could see realization start to settle into her head, but it was the type that you see when you remember only that you had forgotten something. Anger was there, and I recognized it from when she had returned from reducing Neighlin to a cinder.

“They stole my memories,” she growled. “My life!” her anger suddenly cooled as though a thought occurred to her.

“Nothing stays the same for long,” she whispered. “But when it changes doesn't mean it’s gone…”

“Time will always get away,” Twilight smiled as she began singing the words. “As it leaves behind another day.”

“Things may come and things may go,” Fluttershy sang.

“Some go fast and some go slow,” joined Rarity, and slowly AJ, Rainbow, and Pinkie took it up as well.

I looked on as soft colored light began to surround everypony as the song continued, all by myself and the students from Crystal Prep joining in. Twilight shut her eyes and her horn began to glow, and a small chest floated from the bedroom, two pendants being removed. For the first time, I recognized the ring surrounding the Alicorn’s horn near the base, gold with a cage of silver filigree.

The Sirens began singing as well, wordless harmonies filtering up beneath the song like a choir doing an a capella arrangement of a song. The pendants were fastened by Twilight around her and Sunset’s necks, suddenly flashing with lavender and red lights, Sunset’s eyes bursting with white light. The light spread out to encompass the room, forcing me to squeeze my eyes shut again.

But I could feel the pulse of magic within, and it felt familiar.

It felt hot.

It felt angry.

Celestia leaped to her hooves as each of the Element bearers sat upright and their eyes burst forth with white light.

“What’s happening, sister?” Luna asked as she raced into the room.

“Transdimensional magic,” the Daytime Diarch said. “Similar to when we gave our power to Twilight to thwart Tirek.”

“Then our friends yet live?”

“I believe so, Luna,” she said, turning to look for a physician or nurse as the glows faded and the bodies fell back to their berths.

***

Chrysalis faltered in her flight as a wash of unfamiliar mana thread it's way through her senses. She had found Canterlot just as devoid of life as Ponyville, and was making her way north.

But this mana was streaking towards the small country village. Why would mana be channeled there unless…

Grinning, she turned around. There must be more to the tiny village than simpletons and a gaudy castle.

And she intended to rip every rock up until she found it.

“Try it, but slowly,” Amara said. “This is Changeling magic you’re doing. It’s going to feel different.”

I nodded, trying to focus my magic. My head burned as I suffused my horn with mana, using the spell the deposed queen had taught me to regenerate my horn. It hurt, and by the time I was done, I’m fairly sure I passed out for a few moments.

When I came to, I felt a little more whole for the first time in months.

“Good, good!” said the rough voice. “Now, do it again, but this time focus inward. You can’t force your eyes to heal no matter what, but you can use them. Concentrate.”

I took a deep breath, remembering a mantra taught to me by a tutor once, long ago.

You do not cast with your horn, for those that cast with their horn has forgotten the value of the spell. You cast with your mind and heart as one…

Power ripped through my horn, and turned inward as I released it. Mana flooded me, filling my being and overflowing from me. I opened my eyes, and I could see.

Loosely speaking, of course, my eyes were still far too damaged to function properly. But I could see ghostly images around me, all suffused with my mana, creating a monochromatic image in my mind. I wasn’t able to make out fine details, but I could see the chips in my hooves and the shape of the spells branded onto my flanks over my cutie mark. Spells of channeling and forbearance. I couldn’t use magic against any Changelings that might attack, but I doubted I’d be able to fight and maintain this spell at the same time anyway.

“I can feel your magic,” Amara said. “So it must have worked. Now get me out of these chains already. I have a Hive to recapture.”

I focused on the chains, my vision narrowing into just the cell I was in. A few seconds later, the deposed Queen stood, her spindly legs sporting more holes and gouges than what looked natural for one of her kind.

“I will give you directions to leave this place,” she said. “One tunnel we always kept stationary for those above to use. It is no more than three furlongs hence down the left-hand way.” She stalked to the door, her wings buzzing angrily. “I need another favor,” she said.

“What?”

“I need to feed on some of your ambition and pride,” she said, closing her eyes. “I’ll need the food to remain strong enough to take charge.”

I shifted uneasily, but she had restored a manner of sight to me.

“Don’t be too long to decide,” she rasped.

“Do it,” I whispered. I had barely spoken when I felt the tendrils in my mind again, seeing the ghostly shape of a proboscis distend from her shape and attach itself to my chest. As soon as I felt the drain, it was gone, as though it had never been there.

“I wish I had chosen a different place for my hive,” she lamented for a moment as she easily blasted the door open. “History might have been different.”

As she turned to face the oncoming guards, I turned left and fled down the hall and found a tunnel that was hewn instead of naturally occurring. Into it I went, its gradual incline and fresher air indicating that it was leading me to the surface.

I skidded to a stop when I found the tunnel partially blocked by collapsed stonework. Several black vines with wicked thorns lay dried in the rubble. I cast forward with my new sight and framed the picture clearly in my mind and teleported past the barricade.

I found myself outside a run-down castle, surrounded by trees and plants of unusual kinds. I looked at the edifice, memory dredging up what it used to look like, towers tall and unadorned, one to each end of the courtyard, one capped with a sunburst, the other with a moon amongst clouds.

I turned my back on the Castle of the Two Sisters and began galloping through the forest. I had to find someone not under the effects of the spell and explain to them how to dispell it.

I was ready for my punishment anyway.

Author's Note

The mantra Sorla remembers here is inspired by the Gunslinger's creed from Stephen King's Dark Tower series:

I do not aim with my hand; He who aims with his hand has forgotten the face of his father. I aim with my eye.

I do not shoot with my hand; He who shoots with his hand has forgotten the face of his father. I shoot with my mind.

I do not kill with my gun; He who kills with his gun has forgotten the face of his father. I kill with my heart.

Resurgence

The magic surged and threatened to consume me. The only sound I could pick out was the harmony being sung by the Sirens, having shifted away from the song of the Rainbooms and into a more ethereal and haunting melody. I found myself seeing the events of my past flash before me, as though watching a movie made from the events. I saw Sunburst getting his cutie mark, discovering the spell that let me steal the marks and special talents of other ponies. I tried to hide from them, but no matter where I turned the reel continued to play. I saw the theft of my friend's cutie marks, my defeat, and the months of research.

“No,” I whimpered.

I watched as I broke into the castle that I now called home, casting the time loop spell. My long combat with Twilight. The mistakes made since then, and my quest into the Changeling Hive to rescue my friends.

I realized something, as the reel started over again. The memories were crisp and clean, not dulled with time like when I would remember the events. They were my memories, thrown into sharp relief, and showed me how I had become the pony I was.

I sensed the light from whatever magic that flowed in the room fade, and I opened my eyes as the singing stopped. I looked around and saw that each of my friends had less confusion in their eyes and more determination.

“The songs of a Siren have many properties,” Aria said almost as though remembering a long lost memory.

“Ensaring prey,” Sonata said in the same tone. “Distracting predators and enemies.”

“Inducing emotional states,” Adagio said.

“And dispelling madness,” Sunset said.

***

Memories swirled in my mind, the thick cotton that had dampened my thoughts starting to clear. Then I felt something in the back of my mind, a familiar presence, a warm comfort.

There you are, a voice said. I was afraid I had lost you for a while.

I felt nothing remotely surprising about it, but remained silent as a flood of feelings rushed through me.

Sunshine…

Yes. It’s me, love.

And anger surged up into the forefront of my mind.

The Queen sniffed, following the scent of the mana back to the castle. She stalked the halls, the entire building filled with the smell, though much of it fainter, older. Wings buzzing in impatience, Chrysalis turned a corner and sensed powerful magic just past a set of doors. Pushing in, she spied a spacious library, several tables filled with stacks of books and sheafs of paper and parchment.

And in the middle, up against a wall, stood a large mirror with a strange apparatus next to it, a book resting canted against a bracket above it.

Stepping up to the mirror, the Changeling saw her reflection slowly distort into a strange, bipedal form lacking a horn or wings.

She grinned her shark’s smile, seeing it echoed in the placid glass.

Interesting.

i pounded through the forest, bursting past the boundaries of the Everfree and into the plains beyond. I was breathing hard and I could tell my coat was beginning to lather from the sheer exertion of near constant running, but urgency pressed me on.

Only when the sun began to set did I rest, lungs heaving and burning. I could feel the press of the displacement spell all around me, but as the battery powering the spell I was exempt from it. Only the caster dismissing it or losing the power source would end the spell. Chrysalis showed no rational thought behind her using it, so that left one option.

But first, I had to deliver some important information to a set of ears I’m certain weren’t eager to see me again.

Emergence

A jet black hoof touched the glass, probing it. The magic had definitely come from here, though it was dormant now. The Changeling Queen looked over at the apparatus, tracing each line to and from the device to the mirror, inspecting every detail.

Her roving eyes fell onto the book that she had initially thought had fallen from a nearby shelf, but on closer inspection, the bracket seemed too small to have caught a book. It was more like something designed to hold something. Something the size of the tome, in fact.

Her horn lit as she nudged the book back into place, and was rewarded with a swirling burst of magic as the device hummed to life, the mirror changing to show a swirling purple maelstrom within. With a shark toothed grin, she reached out again and her hoof sank through the surface.

And after chuckling for a second at how clever she was, Chrysalis stepped into the mirror, ducking slightly so as not to catch her horn on the edge.

The pain that flared through her being was more than she had ever before had felt, and it felt as though all her limbs were being torn from her body as the bone-chilling feeling of the void seeped into her. And just as it got to be unbearable, she was out, laying on a rough surface. Her body felt weak, but it recovered soon enough. She rose to her full height and glanced back, seeing a pedestal housing the mirror and the stallion statue capping it.

With a leer, she shattered the sculpture. Her magic still worked here.

Good.

I stumbled and collapsed suddenly as a wash of weakness flowed through me, the energy drain that had become a background constant in my life growing even more demanding. My new sight dimmed for a moment before I grit my teeth and struggled back to my hooves.

Something was wrong, very wrong. The link between me and Chrysalis had sharpened without warning and I felt a strong urge to turn southwest, but I didn’t know why.

My sight was still wavering, the mana drain between the increase of the spell and trying to see as far ahead as possible became too much. I narrowed my vision to the ground directly in front of me and tried to think.

Something had happened, but I wasn’t sure what. As I thought, I continued moving forward, but the further north I went, the sharper the pull to the south was.

I sat on my haunches. Whatever changes Chrysalis had placed on the spell, it had set a tether to it, a distance from the source that the caster could not range from. The spell was trying to pull its mana source closer to the caster.

I growled and started scratching my hoof in the soil, gouging out a rough circle. I may not have much choice in the matter now.

I had come across many lost and forbidden spells in my research while possessed. Many of them were necromantic rituals, spells that used the dead or were fueled by blood sacrifices. I knew of one communication spell, and it wasn’t something I wanted to use, but the Empress needed to know of the threat so she could warn everypony. I hadn’t encountered a single soul since leaving the Hive despite having passed through a small village some hours ago.

I dragged my hoof through the circle, completing the thaumaturgic circle and stepping into it, dropping my sight and directing the mana into my horn, powering the circle.

I then bit my leg as hard as I could, drawing blood. I felt it well up on my leg as I held it out over the circle. I felt the wetness slide across my leg, then pool and drip.

And when the first drop struck the circle, it flared to life.

Cadence was about to check in on her friends again when she was suddenly seized by a burning sensation, freezing in her steps.

Her vision went white, and suddenly she was in a cool, black void. Before her was the form of Sorla, her body displaying none of her wounds. The Unicorn held her head low, though in deference or shame the Alicorn could not tell.

“Forgive me, Empress,” she said. “I would not have used a communion spell unless I had no other choice.” She turned her eyes to the ruler of her father’s old dominion.

“Chrysalis has enacted a spell that has would have dire consequences if not ended soon.”

Cadence rose to her full height, anger momentarily flaring.

“It has already been dire,” she shouted. “My friends, my sister-in-law included, are near death and thousands more like them cover Equestria.”

Sorla shrank before the wrath and Cadence froze. Surely this wasn’t the same pony that had threatened her lands with an undead army not even two months ago.

“Forgive me,” she said. “Concern has left me overtired.”

Sorla nodded but didn’t raise her eyes again.

“The spell was intended to banish targets to an extra-dimensional void,” the mare said. “But it was a small, localized spell. This one has apparently covered the entirety of Equestria. I can feel it all around me since I escaped captivity.

“Chrysalis has used my life force to power the spell and used another spell to speed regeneration so the spell has a constant source of power. I can feel it pulling me to the south, for some reason. When I sever this link, you should be able to scry my location easily.

“Heed, if this spell isn’t ended soon, it could draw everything it affects into the space between worlds, and I’m not sure what would happen to it.”

“How do we end it?” Cadence asked.

“Either Chrysalis must dismiss the enchantment, which I doubt she will do. Madness has taken her mind.” Sorla hesitated. “Or the spell must be deprived of mana.”

“But didn’t you say she tied you to the spell?” the Empress asked.

“Yes,” the whispered reply came.

“But you can’t mean what I think you do,” the pink Alicorn said, her mind rebelling at the thought. “Surely there is another way to sever the link…”

“This spell is consuming me from the inside out, Empress,” came a harsh declaration. “I’m going to die from this no matter what happens to Chrysalis.”

Sorla turned her eyes and locked them onto the pony that had once been her enemy.

“If it comes down to it,” she said. “You will have to do what I thought you would do after my defeat. You’ll have to kill me to save your friends.”

Balance Point

Chrysalis could sense her prey, but it was difficult to track. It seems her magic was a little off after all. Seemed like it was a little weaker than normal, as well. She snorted, wings buzzing in annoyance as she stalked along the strange pavement, her hooves clicking ominously.

A mare with a brown coat and blue mane stopped as she saw the Changeling queen.

“Can I…can I help you?” she asked softly.

Green magic shot through the warped horn and pulled the mare nose to nose with the tall being.

“Starlight Glimmer,” she hissed, teeth flashing briefly in the sun. “Where is she?”

“I don’t know anypony by that name,” the terrified mare squeaked. “Please don’t hurt me!”

Chrysalis stared hard into the fearful eyes, then dropped the pony unceremoniously to the ground.

“Run, little rabbit, run,” she said as she walked away. “Before I discover a taste for coney.”

Silver Vein stared as the dark being faded from view, too terrified to even move from where she had been dropped like a sack of potatoes. Faintly, she could hear the Changeling singing to herself wordlessly.

She shivered. Whoever this Starlight pony was, she was glad it wasn’t her.

I smiled as Sunset and Twilight nuzzled briefly, all too aware of how uncomfortable it may make the Princess side of her mind. I cleared my throat.

“Ok, if I may have everypony’s attention?” I said. “We have a severe case of mantic tampering going on and now that we are figuring out who is who, I think the best chance we have of solving this is back in Equestria.”

“You mean through that freaky mirror?” Sunny Flare said, her tail flicking nervously.

“Sounds rad to me,” Lemon Zest said.

“Count me in!” shouted Indigo Zap, her wings fluttering quickly but she failed to achieve lift.

“No,” came the voice of Sunset. The voice she had only used once before. This wasn’t Sunset my friend or Sunset of the Rainbooms talking.

This was Princess Sunset Shimmer, and as we were in her realm of authority, I was obligated to listen.

“We will not go across the mirror and subject those unprepared to the possibility of harm,” she said, wings spreading slightly. “Celestia appointed me to watchdog the safety of this side of the portal from magical anomalies, and the Shadowbolts turning into ponies counts as anomalous.”

Sour Sweet stomped a hoof and I felt it from where I was across the room. Earth Pony strength could be used to terrifying effect.

“We’re not going to just sit around waiting for you to solve this,” she snapped. “We helped at the Games and we can help here, too!”

Sunset looked hard at her then levitated an empty mug in front of Sunny Flare, settling it on the ground.

“Pick that up,” she said softly. “With only your magic.”

Sunny closed her eyes in concentration, but only a few sparks and a twitch or two of the mug happened.

“Lemon, Indigo,” Sunset continued. “Hover, right now.”

I haven’t seen such crashes since my time loop fight with Twilight.

“My point proves itself,” she finished. “If we’re going to go through the portal and fight Chrysalis, we have to get it so you can at least do the basics of your new forms.”

I frowned. “I don’t know if we have the time for that, Sunset,” I said. “If the conjunction is occurring quickly, the longer we wait the more severe the damage to the two worlds will be.”

“She’s aware, Starlight,” Princess Twilight said through the shared mouth. “I concur with her choice.”

She eyed her counterpart’s former classmates.

“They have the right to choose,” she said. “But we won’t make them lambs.”

I collapsed as the spell ended, gasping for breath. I began to push mana back into the sight spell when I heard a loud pop sound from nearby, a sound I associated with long distance teleportations. As my sight returned, I saw a Unicorn Mare and a hulking Earth Pony stallion walking up to me.

“Sorla,” said the mare in a lilting voice. “We’re t’be your escorts.”

I growled. “Babysitters, more like,” I grumbled.

“Bodyguards, I think, would be the more accurate term,” the stallion rumbled. As they came alongside me I was humbled by his size. “Azure and I are here to give you an extra set of hooves in case you needed it.”

“Gleam’s got th’right of it,” came the lyrical voice of the mare before it grew cold. “This Chrysalis threatened our filly, and I’ll not stand for that without havin’ a say in it.”

I saw the rapier strapped to her side as my sight grew steadier and clearer. I could see the wear marks on the scabbard from long use.

“A mother and father protecting their own are fierce enemies,” I whispered.

“Aye, you’ve a sharp mind,” she said. “But we’re also to guide you where you need t’be going.”

“Where’s that?”

Gleam pointed slightly off to the side of the direction I felt the pull from.

“Ponyville, and the Castle found there.”

I glanced him, puzzled.

“We’ll explain on the way, best we can,” he said as he and Azure took off at a canter, with me following in tow.

Seems things may be a bit more desperate than I thought.

The mare glanced up from her instruments.

“It’s confirmed,” Fault Line said to her brother. “The seismic activity is getting worse. The tectonic stresses are elevating rapidly.”

Lava Flow flipped through pages of notes, comparing them to the new readings. “Things shouldn’t be this severe,” he murmured. “Are you reading any plate shifts?”

“I should be getting readings off the charts, but I’m not seeing a single peak on the scale,” Fault said. “It’s as though something is pressing on the plates in this region but from someplace else.

She tapped a hoof on the map of Canterlot City.

“If this keeps up, I doubt that town will survive the creation of a new canyon from the stress.”

Author's Note

And now all the principal players are set.

OC cameos:

Silver Vein: one of my first pony characters. Got put aside till I could do something with her. This seemed good enough.

Fault Line and Lava Flow: these two belong to Lucky Ness, and I thank them for their volunteering to show up in this chaotic world of mine.

Gathering Storm

The ground shook as we reached the park. After the tremor passed, I glanced at Sunset.

“Are earthquakes common here?”

She shook her head. “I don’t think so,” she said. “Some of my memories are still hazy, indistinct. I think the spell is still trying to enforce its constraints.”

I lowered my head. “I’m sorry,” I said. “This is sort of my fault.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Twilight said. “You saved us from Chrysalis’s plan. It was her decision to enact this new atrocity. It was not your fault.”

I smiled a little at the words. It was still a little difficult to tell which of the two were talking from time to time, but those words were certainly the Princess. I was about to reply when a cold chill raced up my spine. I turned, looking around, my heart starting to pound.

“She’s here,” I said, voice wavering.

Sunset cocked her head. “Who?”

“Chrysalis.”

***

Her head snapped up, a wicked grin spreading across her face.

“Found you,” she purred, taking off and flying towards the west.

I crashed through the gate of the Castle of Friendship, feeling the tug growing stronger.

“I still can’t believe that there’s a transplanar gateway here,” I said. “This kind of thing is supposed to be under strict guard!”

Azure was keeping pace with me, her face grim. “It was until somepony tried to kill a certain Unicorn,” she gritted. “Damned Changelings, never did like them.”

“Steady, Az,” Gleam rumbled behind us.

I followed the pull through the crystal halls, and soon passed into a room and my vision started to swirl, a blinding light in front of us.

“So that’s the mirror,” Azure murmured. “Doesn’t look like much.”

I hesitated, the sheer magic pouring through it making me dizzy. “She’s crossed through,” I whispered.

“Then it’s for us t’be following her,” Azure said, horn flashing for a second. She turned a mischievous smirk to the stallion behind us. “Up f’a new adventure?”

“After you, imp,” came the rumbled response.

I rolled my useless eyes at the undercurrent of affection in their conversation and darted forward through the swirling magic that made up the portal.

And promptly fell flat on my face, effectively blind again. I fumbled around, stumbling to my hooves and trying to reestablish my sight, mana filling my horn but not flowing forth. I could see hazy shapes and colors, but the mantic sight I had been using refused to manifest.

Why couldn’t I use my magic?

“Yes!” shouted Lemon Zest as she managed to gain a bit of altitude. “This is so awesome!”

“You’ve got to…” Sunset started to say, only to be cut off as Lemon crashed back to the ground as she stopped flapping her wings. “Keep your wings going.”

“She managed to stay aloft for more than a few seconds, at least,” I said.

“Always thought she’d be able to keep up with me,” Indigo said as she hovered in mid air. “This is unusual.”

I flung up a kinetic shield in time to deflect a small beanbag that rocketed out of control from Sunny Flare’s control, the raspberry aura flickering as she lost her grip. “This is getting a little dangerous.”

“Well, this is familiar,” Twilight said, chuckling to herself.

Sunset chuckled as well. “I seem to recall having to dodge a book a few years back,” she smiled.

“Not funny, guys,” Twilight replied, her wings spreading as another tremor struck the area.

“This is getting worrisome,” Sour Sweet said. “They don’t feel right.”

“She's right,” AJ said, frowning. “There’s somethin’ plumb unnatural about the whole deal.”

“You’re sensing the magic flowing through the earth,” I said. “The conjunction must be interfering with the natural flow of mana.”

Sunset glanced up. “Something’s wrong,” she said. “The whole flow of mana is slowing down.”

Twilight lit her horn, frowning. “You’re right. It seems like there is a vacuum effect somewhere east of here.

“And it’s getting closer.”

Tipping Point

Hazy images crowded close to me as I tried continuously to cast the sight spell that Amara had taught me. I heard them speaking, but I didn’t pay them much mind until I heard the accented voice of Azure snort.

“And here I was thinkin’ to be getting used to some other body,” she said. “It’s seeming to be the same old one t’me.”

“Same,” rumbled Gleam Star. “Sorla, can you stand?”

I ignored him, still hurling mana into the spell. It was almost as if something was swallowing it as soon as I drew it in.

“Sorla,” Azure began, a blueish shape moving towards me. “Are you…”

Anything further was interrupted by the earth trembling and shuddering under our hooves, the movement so violent it hurled Azure to the ground. As the soil beneath us shook, I felt mana surge through me, wild and untamed, the surge dying out as the quakes subsided.

“Wild mana,” I whispered, not understanding. “But this hasn’t happened for hundreds of years, thousands, maybe.”

“What’re you on about?” asked the wary voice of the Unicorn mare that had accompanied me through the vortex.

“The quakes,” I said. “They’re being accompanied by massive surges of primal mana, but such devastation should have more of an effect on the surrounding land.” I grimaced. “I can’t cast the spell I was using to see anymore. Is there any rifts or cracked ground about?”

“Not that I can see nearby,” Gleam responded, his heavy hoofstep coming closer. “Here, I can bear your weight until you can move about on your own again.”

I struggled to my hooves but pushed aside the proffered one that I felt. “I’m fine walking on my own,” I said. “I’ll just need you to give me directions or a lead of some sort. I’m not sure if it’s the portal causing the difficulty or something else.” I didn’t mention how it felt like all the mana from the quake had surged through me and disappeared. I didn’t want to think that I was suddenly empowering the mad queen that had broken all of my safe havens in the recent past.

She landed, ears twitching and turning. The scent she had caught had suddenly vanished as the ground trembled. But instead of annoyance, she felt elation as a fresh wave of strength washed through her.

Taking to the air again, Chrysalis cast about for her quarry, manic glee played across her features as the tiny ponies she flew over ducked away out of confusion and fear.

And it was delicious.

Sunset and Twilight were focusing on Indigo Zap and Lemon Zest, getting them flight ready while Rainbow Dash idly hovered, darting around as she talked to Fluttershy. I found it odd that simply with a connection through the Elements, They were able to keep some semblance of self despite the conjunction of their two spirits. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to stay sane if I had suddenly been blended with an alternate version of me. Especially if they hadn’t had the same redemption opportunity I had. The clashing of personalities inside would likely have driven me insane.

“Watch out!” Sunny Flare cried. I caught the hurled stone in my aura without even looking up, used to her loss of focus when she managed to succeed on lifting something.

“You have to keep a calm push,” I said, letting her retake the stone and setting it down again. “Emotions can alter the effect of a spell if you aren’t aware of them and how they’ll react. Anger can turn a gentle spell dangerous, just as confusion can cause it to fizzle out or react differently.”

“But your magic isn’t like that,” she said, the tip of her tongue sticking out as she levitated the stone again, the aura surrounding it much more stable this time.

“I’ve had years to get a handle on mine,” I said. “And even though the magic seems a little odd here, it’s still similar enough to what I’m used to that I know what to do to get it to work. I’m not going to trust teleportation magic just yet, but things like barriers and levitation I can trust.”

The sound of hooves clapping together signaled the end of the Pegasi training course.

“Give your wings a rest, girls,” Sunset said as she settled onto the ground. “We’ll test speed next.”

“Let’s see if you’re worth all the talk, Zap,” Dash chuckled.

“Anytime, featherbrain,” she replied. “I bet I’ll beat you as easily as my cousin Lightning Dust did back in sophomore year.”

“She didn’t beat me,” the rainbow-maned pony protested.

“Wait,” Applejack said, looking off to one side. “Is that Azure?”

Twilight looked, then nodded. “But which one?” she mused. “This world’s or Equestrias?”

I turned and as soon as I saw who was with her, I felt my heart sink a little as growls of anger surged through some of the assembled ponies, Applejack in particular.

“What’s she doin’ here?” the farmer bit as she saw Sorla.

“Imperial decree,” Azure replied, dipping a bow to the Alicorns. “Cadence gave her conditional pardon until this crisis is over.” She reached out and helped the scarred and blinded Unicorn forward, the flickering green circle of sigils revolving around her horn unnerving me just as much as the horrible sight of mantic circles branded onto her side.

“So, what have you got to say for yourself?” Sunset said.

“Only that whatever I might have done,” she said in a voice that held pain that I recognized. “Chrysalis has enacted a spell that is likely going to result in a lot of ponies dying without even knowing why.”

She looked over at us, her useless eyes blinking as they not quite settled on any pony. The Shadowbolts cringed at the sight of the barely healed wounds on the former enemy of Equestria.

“What happened to you?” Sour Sweet asked quietly.

“Pride,” she replied, her head hanging. “Pride and clouded judgement. With the exception of the brands, all of this I did to myself by trying to take something that wasn’t mine.”

“And the brands?” Rarity asked.

“Chrysalis’s doing,” Sorla said, the pain and sorrow growing as she lifted her head and looked in the general direction of Applejack. “And in a way, it will lead to the justice you are owed, I suppose, for what I did to you.”

Sunset’s horn lit, the red light clearing away crusted blood and matted hair from around the brands, allowing us to see us clearly just what sort of spell had been carved into her.

“Sweet Celestia,” I said as I saw the symbols engraved around the outside. “Life transferrence regeneration.”

She nodded, head hanging again.

Twilght shook her head in disgust. “Chrysalis is using you like a living mana crystal,” she said as though she had something sour in her mouth. “Overriding the spell cost by using a surrogate mana supply.”

“It’s worse than that,” Sorla said. “She took the spell I tried to use on you all on the overlook and altered it slightly, trying to get somepony caught in a transdimensional rift. But the existence of the portal in your castle caused the spell to fluctuate and form a matrix unlike what it was supposed to do.”

“Your counterparts are all comatose in the Crystal Empire,” Gleam Star said, looking at Twilight. “Just as many ponies are without memories of who they are, some even missing their cutie marks.”

I felt a stab of memory at that mention.

Azure spoke up. “We were tasked t’bring her to Princess Sunset in hopes that She could solve this pest of a problem.”

“I’m afraid the spell has had a rather annoying affect on us as well,” Sunset said. “Our memories are a little jumbled and some of us are harboring more than one personality inside our minds. The Twilights may have gotten a handle on it, but the rest are at half power at best and many of the things I’ve learned are hazy and indistinct.”

“Starlight is probably the only Unicorn on this side that can clearly think or cast spells at the moment,” Twilight said, the voice evidently the princess one. “I’m sure my student can help us solve this mess just like she did the last one.”

“But there’s no throne to destroy, nor hive to steal, nor life to ruin,” hissed a voice that made my blood run cold. “So I’m afraid she’s out of options this time.”

I turned and found Chrysalis standing behind us, her shark’s teeth gleaming in the sunlight. She looked at me, as though I was the only thing she saw.

“Shall we play tag yet again, Starlight?”

Fallen

I stared in shock as the Changeling Queen walked back and forth.

"I'll even give you a head start," Chrysalis purred, her wings buzzing in glee. "How long do you want, ten seconds? Thirty?"

Sunset and Twilight stepped before me, wings spread. "We won't let you touch her," Twilight warned.

"Oh, how precious," Chrysalis cooed. "The little pony princesses want to protect their wayward friend. But there's something you seem not to understand." Her horn began to glow with a green flame. "I'm much more powerful than the last time we crossed paths."

A strangled cry of agony came from behind me, and I turned to see Sorla crumpled on the ground, curling into a ball as a ring of runes began to appear around her horn, floating in the air slightly above the ones circling the base of her horn. Her blinded eyes were swiveling around as she retched.

Sunset fired a blast of magic at the mad queen, but it was absorbed into the flame, giving it a slight red flicker. Sorla cried out again as a similar mantic shot from Twilight was absorbed, the two Alicorns taking flight.

"What's happening to her?" Sour Sweet asked as I backed up to the crying mare.

"Chrysalis bound her mana into her own, somehow," I said as I tried to place a null magic shield around her. "The two types don't mesh well, and whenever Chrysalis draws on magic, she's using Sorla's first. She's draining her life essence for more power."

Explosions echoed behind me as a rapier lowered, a cerulean aura around its grip. "So we don't use magic t'stop her, then," Azure gritted. "We do it the old-fashioned way."

Chrysalis landed, throwing up a shield to reflect a spell back at Sunset, the red bolt flying back and knocking the Alicorn to the ground in a daze.

"Poor little pony, laying on the ground," the Changeling began singing. "Poor little pony, lost her crown."

Twilight rocketed down towards her, throwing her wings out to stall her flight. "You're outnumbered, Chrysalis," she said. "Stand down."

Chrysalis tilted her head in confusion. "How?" she asked with a wolfish grin. She gestured at the rest of us, and for the first time I realized that everyone but myself, Azure, Gleam, and Sour Sweet were bathed in the green werelight of the Changeling's magic. "If they could break free of my enchantment, they would have by now. So I'm afraid it's just you between Starlight Glimmer and I." Her horn began to surge, ripping another cry of anguish from Sorla's throat, sweat beginning to break out along her body.

The Changeling was about to fire when she was bowled over by a rush from Gleam Star. The massive stallion snorted, his nostrils flaring as he placed himself between the creature threatening one of the Princesses he was sworn to protect.

"You'll have to take me down to get to her," he growled as he scraped a hoof along the ground for traction.

"As you wish," Chrysalis said, grabbing the guard in a telekinetic grip and lifting him up before slamming him back down.

I watched, as in slow motion as he hit, his head going in a direction that necks weren't supposed to bend. I doubt I'll ever forget the sound it made.

"Gleam!" Azure shouted, rushing to her husband as we all stood numbly. She nuzzled him, trying to get a response, but his eyes gazed lifelessly to the sky. The Unicorn stood, tears in her eyes as she turned to the mad queen. Time resumed it's forward pace as she screamed in rage and charged the Changeling, only to have a blast of magic rip a hole through her neck, causing her to collapse onto Gleam. She struggled a little and managed to lay her head on his neck before the light in her eyes went out as well.

I stared in disbelief as Chrysalis as she looked at the two ponies as though they were merely napping in the middle of the park. She opened her mouth to speak when a bright lance of color strick her and threw her off balance. I followed it back to see the Shadowbolts suddenly freed from their stasis, Indigo and Lemon hovering in the air above their friends. They had looks of anger on their faces as they planted their hooves firmly on the ground.

And slowly, I saw ghostly images of their cutie marks begin to form in front of them, settling down against their chest as though on chains.

Or golden collars.

The Elements that hung from Twilight and Sunset's necks began to echo the glow as well as the hazy shapes took form, solid and heavy.

"What is this?" Chrysalis shrieked as she regained her footing.

Sunny Flare's horn lit with an angry glow as she stepped forward. "Get away from them," she gritted.

The Changeling queen turned and fired her magic at them with a roar of rage. I teleported over and threw up a shield just in time to block the attack, hoping I could hold it off. As the attack began to press on my wall of magic, I felt a weight settle against my neck, but I didn't take the time to look as the earth began to tremble again, fissures opening in the ground. I looked behind me and shouted.

"Grab somepony and go!"

The Shadowbolts each grabbed one of the paralyzed ponies and rushed off. I saw Twilight grab Sunset and Sorla in her aura before winging away. I concentrated and managed to slip a spell past the shield and encased Chrysalis in the same cube of magic I had once trapped Twilight in.

The last thing I saw before turning and racing away were the bodies of Gleam and Azure slipping into the crevasse that formed in the ground next to them.

And anger began to burn in my soul.

Resonance

I finally stopped running when I caught up with the rest of the group. My legs burned and i had trouble breathing which had nothing to do with the exercise.

The tears flowing down my cheeks wouldn't stop as I kept remembering the parties Azure had played at, her trilling laugh and gentle smile. And then Gleam would appear, his size belying the gentle soul within, tossing River up onto his back as they went out to do something.

Oh, sweet Celestia, what was I going to tell River? She'd already lost one set of parents, to lose a second before she even gained her cutie mark...

"What are these things?" Indigo Zap asked, pulling the collar forward and staring at the amethyst gem cut in it.

"They look like the neckwear the princesses are wearing," Sugarcoat said, looking at hers. "But aren't they wearing magical necklaces?"

"They are," I said, swiping the tears away. "The Elements of Harmony are some of the most powerful artifacts in Equestrian history. They're powered by the Tree of Harmony and have been used to protect ponies for millennia."

"Protect them from what?" Sour Sweet asked.

"Things like what I became at the games, and worse," Twilight said as she deposited her passengers on the pavement. Sunset was still dazed, but Sorla seemed to have passed out entirely. Twilight's stance and bearing shifted slightly as her horn lit up. "I can sense a resonance between your collars and my Element, but I'm not sure why that would be. We've already discovered all seven of them, and they're all here."

"Actually, they're not," I said. "While the bearers might be here, with the conjoining of their minds the way they are, chances are they have too much chaos internally to use them."

"So they did what?" Sunny Flare demanded. "Chose new bearers?"

"I don't think so," I said. "I think they empowered you all with similar traits that you possess yourselves."

I got a wall of blank faces staring at me. I facehoofed and gestured to the other seven ponies in turn.

"Honesty," I said, pointing at Applejack. "Laugher, Generosity, Kindness, Loyalty, Empathy, and Magic. These are the seven known Elements."

I glanced at the five new pendants, taking in the shapes. "I'm not sure what they represent, but they're definitely Elements if they're resonating with currently existing ones."

Another tremor shook the ground, stronger this time. The pegasi hopped into the air.

Fluttershy shivered. "Those are getting more and more scary," she said quietly.

Sorla groaned and tried to sit up. "It's getting stronger," she whispered. "The Conjunction. I can feel it siphoning mana." She locked her sightless eyes off to the east where the spire on the top of CHS sparkled briefly as the sun pierced a cloud. "There's a great draw there."

Sunset sat up, eyes still slightly unfocused. "The mirror," she moaned. She tried to stand up. "Something in the mirror, have to check."

Twilight reached over and put a hoof on her friend. Wife. Whatever term fit the situation. "Take it easy, you're still dazed."

I was about to ask what she meant when a phone started ringing, Pinkie pulling it from her mane.

"Hello?" she answered. "Oh, hi Sonata, what's up? Really? That sounds really odd, hold on." The party pony looked at me and Twilight and tilted her head.

"Did you guys know there's a crystal map table at the school?"

I glanced at Twilight, who shared a shocked look.

"It's getting worse," she said.

And behind us, somewhere, was an insane queen hunting me.

Some days it doesn't pay to get out of bed.

Divided

I saw the map table and I was terrified.

All around it, colors danced and swirled, angry reds and sickly greens twisting around lambent blues and muted oranges. In the center, the table's map kept flickering back and forth between Equestria as I knew it and this strange new world. The portal behind it was even more frightening, however.

Small fragments of crystal spread from it, the same lavender sheen that Twilight's castle held, and some was spreading out over where the pavement once sat. But the portal itself was a huge, giant void of blackness. I summoned some mana to my horn, but before I could cast a spell it was ripped away to spiral into the void.

I tried to figure out what was happening, and its chaos was beyond my comprehension.

"Discord!" Twilight shouted. "What's going on?"

The Draconequus slithered into being, but everything was wrong about it. His form was indistinct and I felt as though a strong puff of air could break him apart by the appearance he had. He looked sick.

"I'm afraid I'm not going to be of much use," he whispered. "The junction is wreaking havoc with my magic and I'm not sure why."

"You're the Element of Disharmony!" Twilight shouted. "The very nature of Chaos itself, how can you be blocked?"

"He lost a portion of his power when he was betrayed by Tirek," Fluttershy answered as the ghostly image faded away. "He didn't know until just after the tea party at his house, when he had difficulty doing chaotic things to maintain his form."

"He may also be overwhelmed by the chaos in the vortex," Sunset said, her wings twitching as she stared at the strange juxtaposition of the worlds. "I'm having trouble focusing. I feel like my brain is in quicksand again."

I was about to speak when I saw Sorla start stumbling towards the map table, her blind eyes fixed on it. The glowing runes that floated over her horn flickered and faded, but they didn't die out. She reached out a hoof and touched the table.

And a huge explosion of ground ripped up from beyond the pedestal, the shockwave tossing us all into the air as a giant crack appeared, stopping just shy of the portal and the table. Shortly after that, a dark form landed hard on the pavement behind us and green magic gripped us all.

"This is the last time your friends will get in my way," Chrysalis growled. She flung her head to the side and all of my companions were flung aside, the bearers of the Elements flung onto the walls of the school and encased in cocoons. The Sirens and the Shadowbolts were flung aside, and Sorla collapsed in pain again. Chrysalis slowly stalked up to me.

"I will count to twenty," she said softly. "Then I will come after you, and I will visit upon you terrors unlike anything you have seen."

"You're mad," I said. "You're already tearing the world apart, just to get to me! Is it worth it to get your revenge if everything is destroyed?"

She tilted her head for a moment in thought, then looked back at me.

"One," she cooed. "Two, three..."

I bolted, turning a corner in the school's design and then teleported to the roof, creeping over to glance down at the scene. Sorla was still curled around the base of the table, her horn sparking and flaring as she tried to cast some spell. Chrysalis was nowhere in sight. I glanced to either side, trying to see where she had gone when a soft buzzing sound caught my attention.

I looked up and saw the Changeling staring down at me with a disappointed expression on her face.

"Twenty," she said sadly. "I had hoped for a longer chase." Her horn glowed green, and the explosion from the attack blew me off the roof. I managed to keep just enough of my wits to teleport to the ground. However, as I rematerialized on the other end of the spell loci, I felt myself pulled towards the vortex slightly, popping back into existence closer to it than I would have liked.

Then another green lance of magic knocked me into the swirl. I felt the same sensation as I did when crossing the portal, but then nothing but cold. I wondered briefly what death felt like when I realized I was floating in a black void. I couldn't see the point where I entered, nor could I find any sort of landmarks, despite the feel of solidity under my hooves.

"While I appreciate the occasional guest," a disembodied voice said, echoing and of indeterminate age. "I do rather prefer to expect them before they arrive."

I looked around.

"Who are you?" I asked, seeing no immediate form.

"What is it with mortals and their incessant need to label everything?" the voice said. "Does it matter what I call myself? You'd barely understand it, let alone be able to replicate all the sounds."

"Then what are you?" I fired back. A silvery light appeared and a formless mass of light and shadow began to coalesce.

"I'm not sure you wish to know that, little pony," it said as it continued to grow, it's shape taking on vague equine proportions and size, but as it finished forming, I wished it hadn't. It was extremely gaunt to the point of skeletal, evoking memories of the undead that had attacked the Crystal Empire. Its head was a leering rictus of death, it's skin stretched tightly over the skull. Robes hung in tatters off its skeletal body.

"After all, few who see me live to tell the tale." the skeletal pony said.

Pillars

"Oh come now," the figure said. "I'm not going to eat you. You can stop trembling like a tiny rabbit."

I tried to speak, but my mouth had gone dry and all that came out was a tiny squeak.

The figure raised a skeletal hoof to his face and slowly went back to the amorphous cloud. "Delirium was right, never show the expected form," the voice muttered, now clearly a feminine voice as the cloud shifted into a human female dressed in dark clothing. There was a peculiar swirl of ink around her right eye.

"What are you?" I managed to force out.

"Me?" the woman asked. "Have you never heard of the Pillars of existence? And I don't mean the ones you read about in that stuffy old Legends of Magic book in that library you live in."

"How do you know that?"

The woman tilted her head at me. "I have borne witness to every soul born so that when the time comes to meet them again, they do not quail in my presence. Is it so difficult to believe that I poke my head in from time to time on some of them?" She waved a hand dismissively. "You didn't answer my question."

I worked my jaw as my mind whirled. "I...I don't know," I replied.

She sighed. "This is what we get for withdrawing," she muttered before visibly perking up and grinning. "Right then, Cliff Notes version."

She placed a hand on her chest, a silver pendant glinted briefly. "I'm Death, nice to meet you. I'm one of the Pillars of Existence, one of the Endless. But if you want, you can call me Teleute."

I paled. "Then I'm...dead?"

She shook her head with a giggle. "Of course not," she said. "If you were, I'd be sitting at a bar to have a talk with you before showing you the door to your eternity. Since I seem to be devoid of any furniture at the moment, well..." She spread her hands.

"Then why am I seeing you?"

She cocked a thumb behind her and in the inky blackness, I saw a slight swirling. "Someone kicked a hole in my wall, so to speak. I was the only one around to try and fix it at the moment." She sat down, seemingly in midair, and crossed her legs. "So basically, I've got to shove you back out the way you came, and I'm afraid it might hurt a bit."

I nodded for a moment. "How do you know where to send ponies?"

She tilted her head for a moment, then passed a hand before me. A sphere of grey light formed in the cup of her hand, the colors slowly separating into brilliant white and dusky black, speckling the grey sphere like a chunk of granite.

"I can see the deeds done by all that I have come to," she said. "Should they be more light than dark, then Providence is their destination. If darkness consumes them, then Perdition."

I looked at mine, the two colors nearly equal. "And mine?"

She closed her hands, the sphere shrinking and vanishing as she did. "Still growing," she said with another grin. "Your time is not yet up, little pony."

I felt a weight lift from my withers. Then two faces flashed in my memory.

"Do you mind if I ask about two of my friends?"

She chuckled. "I'm assuming you mean these two?" she asked as Azure and Gleam appeared in ghostly forms.

"Yes," I said, feeling the tears behind my eyes. "Are they happy, still together?"

"Yes," she said. "But they came here before their times, so I have not ushered them on yet."

My mind screeched to a halt. "Before their time?"

She nodded. "It is possible to stumble by accident into my realm," she said, the pointed look she gave me softened by the grin and twinkling eyes. "They won't remember it, nor will you. It's the cost of traversing the Paths."

"Then they're not dead?" I whispered with hope.

"At this moment, they are without hosts," she said. "But there is a way to undo much of the damage done. The Conjunction is going to destroy both worlds if allowed to continue. You know the path to take to end it all. You merely have to repeat history with a different tack. The Timeless Mare should be able to facilitate you in that." She glanced down at her wrist, a large wristwatch glinting as she shifted her sleeve up. "I do apologize, but I have to hurry this up. I have a dinner appointment with Dream and Destiny later this evening and I don't wish to be late."

She started to fade as the swirl of the portal raced to meet me, the strain of the transit scratching at my brain as the memory of the conversation with...

I landed hard on the ground by the map table. How did I dodge that blast? It had to have hit me, I could almost feel the sting still.

I looked up at Chryalis, her gloating face still hovering in the air beneath a blazing horn. I heard Sorla groan behind me, and an idea formed. I leaned down and wrapped a hoof around her and teleported away, keeping the jumps short since I could feel the tangled weave of magic distorting so close to the portal. I needed time and distance, and I wasn't sure how long I had before the mad queen caught up.

Broken

I don't know exactly how far we had gone when I was too tired to teleport any further, but I was sure we'd have a moment or two to catch my breath. Sorla retched next to me, rolling onto her side.

"Don't do that unless you warn me next time," she gasped, spitting to clear her mouth of the taste.

"Didn't have time, exactly," I said, feeling my own stomach roil a little. "Now, is there any way we can sever her link to your magic?"

The blind Unicorn struggled to her hooves and turned to face in my general directions. "I'm not sure, since I can't rightly see the runes of the spell or the thaumaturgic circles branded onto me," she said, gesturing at her sightless eyes. "I had a spell working in Equestria that let me see the flow of mana in everything and I used that to navigate, but here, that vortex is absorbing and distorting all ambient mana, so it's not working."

I took a moment to brush some dirt from the brands on her side. "If I describe the spells, would that help?"

"Maybe," she said. "My knowledge of magic is about a thousand years off from yours. Side effect of being part of a kingdom that was sealed off a millennia ago." She hesitated. "Where's Azure and Gleam, or the Princess?"

"Chrysalis captured the Princess and her friends," I said, grief choking my voice for a moment. "After killing Gleam and Azure."

Sorla's jaw fell. "She killed..." Slamming a hoof into the ground, she growled, her horn blazing with dark black haze. "I won't do this again."

She turned her head to the east. "I can still feel the vortex pulling on me," she said. "Maybe if I just let it have me it will end all this."

I shook my head before realizing she couldn't see it. "I don't think so," I said, eyes roving over the shape of one of the circles. "One of these brands is a domination enchantment to keep you from doing anything that might harm you. She evidently didn't want you to kill yourself in mid-spell."

"Which means I can't take off my horn and cause mantic buildup, either," she growled. "What's the other brand?"

"I haven't seen anything like it before," I said. "It has parts of several different spells in it, most of which are channeling and binding subschools. Every last inch of this circle is in breach of several Equestrian laws."

"It was made by a Changeling that invaded another hive," Sorla said. "Look for a central rune, it should denote who the recipient of my mana is."

I found a rune in the rough center of the circle, a harsh circular line with a strange rune under it. "I think I found it," I said.

"Burn it off," she said.

"What?"

"Burn it off," she repeated. "Without a designated recipient, my mana should start a feedback effect. The spell won't have a source for mana and should cease if not reverse."

"That's going to hurt," I said, charging my horn.

She raised a partially regrown brow at me. "I've survived pain before," she deadpanned, then howled as I slammed her with as much heat as I could generate.

After a few moments, she rasped. "Is it gone?"

I looked at her barrel and sighed. The rune was still there, and her flesh seemed as though nothing had affected it. "Still there," I said. "And it looks like you didn't even get singed by my magic."

"Must be a protection charm or something woven into the circle," she gasped as she stood. "Meaning Chrysalis is the only one able to alter it."

A Thestral suddenly slammed into the ground between us, wings spread angrily. A blue unicorn raced up, huffing and puffing for breath.

"Java," she panted, adjusting the scarf around her neck. "You can't just charge after ponies like that."

"You might have missed it, Indigo," Java hissed, tufted ears tilted forward in aggression. "But this pony just assaulted another one."

Indigo rolled her eyes. "You're a baker, Java," she said. "What are you going to do, take away their sweet roll?"

Java rolled his eyes. "I can still report them to the authorities," he growled. "If you can keep them from escaping."

"If you two would shut up for a moment," Sorla said. "We could tell you that I asked her to do it."

The two looked at Sorla.

"That does change things a bit, I suppose," Java said. "To a crazy pony."

I sighed. "Let me explain,"

Sorla cut her hoof across the air. "No time," she said. "Too much. Let me sum up."

Author's Note

Guest starring OC's

Javarod - Javarod

Indigo - IndigoMoon

Fractured

I watched as a blue mare trotted up to the group as Sorla finished her summary.

"I turn around to check something out for one minute and you two are off causing trouble again," she said, flipping her pink mane back. "What is it this time, Java?"

The Thestral furled his wings. "A simple misunderstanding, Muse," he grumbled. "I don't know why I'm so on edge lately, it's like I'm waiting for something to happen ever since those quakes started."

As he said this, I felt a thrum in the core of my being as another quake shook the ground, and in the distance, I saw a crystalline pinnacle pierce the sky.

"Luna's Moon," I breathed.

"What?" Sorla rasped. "What happened?"

"Twilight's castle was just fully pulled through the mirror," I said, not believing the sight. "I think we're running out of time."

Sorla turned her blind eyes towards me, the green runes rotating around her horn turning a darker shade.

"Ya think?"

Celestia sat up, her head snapping to the south.

"What is it, Celie?" Luna asked as she saw her sister staring.

"A rift has opened," the Daytime Diarch whispered. "I can sense it from here."

Luna closed her eyes for a moment before her wings reflexively spread out from her.

"But that's..." she stuttered. "It cannot be."

Celestia nodded.

Chrysalis gloated as she saw the castle pulled into view. Now she not only had an excellent place to set up her new hive, she also had some fresh captures to feed the first clutch with. Even addled as they were by this...whatever it was, their love and friendship was still pure and strong. She could live off them for years if done right.

But the taste of victory soured. Starlight had gotten away again! She really needed to put a leash on that pony. She turned to the pods containing the captured Bearers of the Elements, the Sirens, and the strangely rebellious other ponies. She went up and started feeling the fear wafting off of them and the confusion that colored it from some.

And then one started to glow with a fuschia light and it cracked slightly, revealing Twilight Sparkle through the rift.

"Oh, you're much more feisty this time," Chrysalis cooed. "I'll be sure to enjoy you first." Her horn flared and the pod began to seal again, Twilight's retaliatory blasts only slowing the closing of the fissure.

Then the ground began to shudder again, and the facade of the school cracked and crumbled as the castle continued to force its way into the realm around them.

"Why not just paint over the brand instead of trying to burn it off?" Harmony Muse asked, scratching the back of her head.

"It wouldn't work," Sorla said. "The shape of the brand would still exist underneath. We probably need Chrysalis to burn it off."

"Which she would never do intentionally," Javarod said, his membranous wings fluttering for a moment.

"Intention doesn't need to be the erasure of the brand," Indigo postulated. "You said she was after you, yes?"

I nodded.

"Why not do a bait and switch?" the Unicorn asked. "If she is so hell-bent on getting you, the mere image should be enough to incite her desire for revenge. You don't have to be there."

"That would involve me being able to see," Sorla muttered. "And the best I can manage right now is hazy shapes. I wouldn't be able to keep up a convincing act."

"Bait and switch," I repeated. "I might be able to veil you so she doesn't see that you're between her and me. Then her attack would strike you instead."

"Which gets us where?" She asked.

I frowned, then a memory flared suddenly, a scroll floating over the Cutie Map.

"If we were to erase the existing connection, but not the mana channeling spell," I said slowly. "Would you be able to endure tying it to another?"

Sorla turned towards me.

"What is going on in that mind of yours?"

The sight of Azure falling over Gleam's body rose up.

"The possibility of being able to undo a lot of things," I whispered.

Insanity

The castle was shaping up nicely, Chrysalis thought. It was still a bit too bright in spots, but she had only been working on it an hour or two. She was powerful, yes, but she could transform that much crystal that quickly.

She could sense the various emotions flowing from the captive ponies behind her, still encased in their cocoons, but now on the ground as the building she had adhered them to originally had collapsed from the tremors.

The one containing one of the strange tasting ponies was thrashing about as the pony within struggled. Strange, they should be in hibernation within the pods. She went over and nudged it with a hoof, seeing a glowing shape inside the translucent shell. A stylized sun, somewhat similar to the high and mighty princess. Oh, how delicious she'll be. It would be a delicate flavor, aged like a fine wine. Twice she tried to get her, and twice she had failed.

"Third time pays for all," she whispered to herself as she watched the cocoon rock, the frustration seeping through like a light snack.

She watched with amusement, humming to herself.

She didn't notice the light beginning to glow in the other cocoons.

"Stop," Sorla said.

"What is it?" I asked, turning to look at her.

"I can almost see again," she said. "Not like before, but with my eyes."

I looked at her irises. "They are starting to show color again," I said. "Maybe that healing spell she put on you finally repaired the flash burns?"

She shook her head. "Whatever it is, I'll take it."

"Ready?" I asked, placing a hoof on her again.

"No," she said, bracing herself.

I teleported us again, and this close to the mirror I could almost feel the imbalance of the mana in the region. I turned to Sorla and motioned for us to duck down a little behind the brush.

"When she fires, make sure that brand takes the brunt of it," I said. "We'll have at most five to ten seconds to reseal the brand and activate the spell. Once I do, your job is to try and rescue the Elements and the Shadowbolts. Get them to safety. I'm not sure how well this will work, and it may blow up in my face."

"That's the part that worries me," Sorla deadpanned. "This is all in hopes you can remember a spell that you needed a scroll to enact that caught you and Princess Twilight in an endless loop of alternate timelines."

I smiled sheepishly. "It kind of worked, if you look at it from a certain point of view," I chuckled.

She facehooved and suddenly was illuminated by a light. "What in the Northern Lights?" she whispered.

I was confused too until I realized that the light was coming from me and there was now a solid weight around my neck. I looked down to see my cutie mark rendered in clear quartz set in a silver collar.

"Luna's Moon," I whispered.

"Is that an Element?" Sorla asked, squinting. "I didn't get a good look before I got blasted in the face with them."

"It looks like one, but it can't be," I said. "The original Elements were returned to the tree years ago, and the ones of this world shouldn't have bound to me."

"Then I suppose you have an alternate idea of what it is, then?" she asked sardonically.

"Not really," I sighed. "Nothing makes sense right now. We shouldn't be ponies on this side of the mirror, but we are. The Elements shouldn't be fused with their counterparts, but they are. Twilight's castle shouldn't be here, but...what in Celestia's name has happened to it?"

Where there had once been shining crystal, there were now giant expanses of dark rock and mud, holes gouged out of spots and where I knew there were windows solid walls. As I watched, one of the holes shifted down a few yards, and I realized I recognized it.

"She's making it into a hive," I whispered.

"Then we'd best get a move on," Sorla said. "Shouldn't we?"

"Right," I said, gathering mana and casting the illusion spell.

"Harmony help us," I said, trotting forward slowly towards the creature that wanted to kill me.

"Hey! Bug brain!" I shouted as I hopped up on a bit of rubble.

Chrysalis spun at the sound of my voice, an angry snarl sounding. "You dare?" she hissed.

"Oh, kiss my flank, you overgrown tick," I said. "I'm through running. You couldn't hit the broadside of a barn with your magic."

She growled, her horn shimmering with barely contained magic. "I wanted a hunt, but I suppose giving up was your only option at this point. I've found you everywhere you've tried to hide."

"You trying to bore me to death?" I said, affecting a bored expression. "Please, Trixie is a larger threat than you are."

She roared and the magic shot out, striking the edge of my illusion.

Sorla cried out as she fell, the brand that connected her to Chrysalis now marred.

"What?!" Chrysalis screamed as the additional mana being fed to her went out. The circling runes around her horn dimmed and then went out, as did the ones that orbited Sorla's.

"This better work," the wounded mare gritted.

"Hold still," I said, and flared as much magic as I could as I remarked a blank space on her side with the brand again, swapping out Chrysalis's mark with my cutie mark. The other Unicorn screamed in pain...

And I felt a rush of power into me, and I could feel the pain Sorla was in. Agony flowed through every inch of her, but she dampened it with determination.

I was about to race to the castle and to the map when I felt a sudden throb in my body, and five lights lanced up into the sky, the Shadowbolts floating up, each with a gem inset in silver around their necks.

And I understood.

"You've lost, Chrysalis," I said, my voice loud in the sudden silence. "You said earlier that if they could break from your hold they would have. Those you've afflicted with your spell may not be able to on their own, but they're not alone." I felt myself rising into the air and I caught a glimpse of my mane in the corner of my eye. I was briefly surprised to see it shimmering with internal light, but I felt a compulsion to continue to speak, and I felt a voice in my head.

Keep her busy, bruise her ego, the voice said, sounding like Twilight's.

The Shadowbolts drifted over to me, their medallions glowing.

"The magic of friendship has beaten you before," I said. "It can do so again."

"You can't do it with those pale imitations," the Changeling sneered. "I know the smell of the Element's magic, and those are not them.

"No," I agreed. "They're not. But they are just as important."

"Truth," I said, and Sugarcoat's gem linked to a cocoon.

"Faith," I continued, Indigo Zap linking up as well.

"Joy, Compassion," I said, Sour Sweet and Lemon Zest linking.

"Inspiration," I said, Sunny Flare's gem flaring and linking.

"Compromise," I said, feeling my gem start to thump like a heartbeat.

"And Sacrifice," I said, seeing Sorla's body start to float as well.

"These are all parts of the Magic of Friendship as well," I said. "And you can't fight us all at once."

"I see five ponies that barely know how to use magic, and a broken shell of a Unicorn that can't tap her own mana," the Queen sniffed. "I don't see how it's more than just you and me."

Seven cocoons burst open behind me, two Alicorns and five ponies lifting into the air, manes flowing as gems appeared around their necks. Three more cocoons split and three angry Sirens faced off against the mad queen.

"When you hit Sorla, you ended your spell," I said. "It's still in effect, but it's no longer progressing. First, we have to deal with you, then repair the damage."

Chrysalis snarled as she looked at the combined forces and took a step back. I took that moment to teleport into the castle, the combined mana from Sorla and the resonance from the Elements giving me more power that I had ever felt before, even using the spell amplifier we had found in Star Swirls last book when dealing with Acerak and the Gates. I leaped onto the table and looked down at the flickering map, and took a deep breath.

"Here goes everything," I whispered, and shot the spell into the table.

Slipstream

The tear formed above me, and I was forced into its vortex. I remembered the feeling from my confrontation with Twilight, but unlike last time, I didn't have a set destination, so I had to control the transit. Scenes of the past flipped by me like pictures in a picture book, and I found it difficult to focus on the moment I needed. If I was too far off one way or another, nothing I needed to do would work.

The snapshots of the past suddenly slowed, being frozen like a fanned out handful of photos. I looked around, confused and saw the battered form of Sorla standing nearby, looking around in confusion.

"I wondered how long it would take you to figure this out," a voice said from the darkness. "That whole not remembering bit is so inconvenient." It sounded vaguely familiar, but I couldn't place it.

"Amara?" Sorla asked. "What are you doing here? What's going on?"

A mare walked out from the shadows, form somewhere between a Changeling and a pony. She continued to shift subtly, growing longer and suddenly memory flared as she stood on her hind legs and her black coat became black clothing.

"Teleute," I breathed.

"Impressive," the Endless said, giving me a small bit of applause. "For you to remember out meeting means that you are different than most." She turned towards Sorla.

"I looked in on you when under your captivity in the hive, for it seemed you were close to entering my realm," she said, reaching out and passing a hand over the scars and wounds on the Unicorn, a look of sadness on her face. "Things are not going to be easy for you in the next several minutes, I'm afraid."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well, to speak frankly," Teleute said, running her hand through her dark mane of hair. "When time resumes, Sorla will remain here, in my realm. You alone will fall back out of the slipstream, and you will have to think fast to prevent the events you seek to alter. You will need her lifeforce to do so and to remember your purpose."

"But your realm is..." I began.

"I knew it was coming, Starlight," Sorla said. "The strain of the spells and the fact that the spell Chrysalis cast used life force instead of mana sealed that case. I was prepared for the price of penance."

I shook my head. "That's not penance," I said. "That's giving up."

"I should have been dealt with after the war," she said, looking at me. For the first time, I could make out her cutie mark, a closed book over a crescent moon. "That way none of this would have happened in the first place."

Teleute raised a hand. "Regardless, we must move quickly," she said. "If you have any final messages, I would say them swiftly."

Sorla looked at me, and nothing needed to be said. The look in her eyes was resignation and peace.

"Go save your friends," she whispered, and her body was sheathed in white light, dissipating into shards of incandescence as I felt a rush of magic soak into me, my horn sparking with the excess mana.

"This is the moment you will need," Teleute said, reaching out and causing a moment of time to freeze, the group of us facing off against Chrysalis, including Azure and Gleam Star. "Due to the nature of the spell, there will be a moment of adjustment for everyone but you. You have essentially just tied two points of non-congruous time together, so even events they have not encountered yet shall be remembered. It will be up to you to guide them through the transition."

I opened my mouth to ask a question when suddenly I was back in the world, horn still sparking.

"You'll have to take me down to get to her," Gleam growled as he scraped a hoof along the ground for traction. I thrust my horn forward and teleported him away as the telekinetic grip from the Changeling queen reached out for him. He stumbled a bit from the unexpected movement, but I used the confusion to lash Chrysalis' horn in a mantic grip.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the Sorla from this moment of time fade away, and just as before the sudden separation caused Chrysalis a moment of weakness and confusion.

The Elements sparked in the light gold and silver collars glinting as the twelve ponies behind me floated into the air, myself being hauled up as well. Light lanced into me, and from the gem that reappeared around my neck shot a prismatic beam that encased the mad queen and bound her in it's chromatic bands.

"I think you've caused enough trouble with your magic, Chrysalis," I said, instinctively reaching out and severing her connection to the weave of this world. Changes were immediate as we all began shifting to human forms, and I felt as well as saw the shock in the mad queen's eyes as she beheld her new form.

"What is happening?" she shrieked.

"You stretched the boundaries of magic a little too far," Sunset said. "They're beginning to snap back into place. Soon all the damage you've done will have been reversed."

"And there is one thing you didn't consider," I said. "The spell you cast has a cost. It was meant as a sealing spell, to be used by a magus willing to sacrifice his mana or life force in it's casting. The rebound will seal your magic, instead."

The portal flared for a moment, the map table being sucked through, and Chrysalis dug her fingers into the ground to fight against a sudden pull.

"I will not be defeated this easily, Starlight Glimmer," she snarled, the tattered clothing around her snapping in a wind felt only by her. "My vengeance shall never dull, and I will revisit upon you torments you cannot imagine!"

"I've seen Equestria burned to ash through my arrogance," I said calmly. "Nothing you could do would hurt me more than that."

Screaming impotently, Chrysalis lost her grip and was pulled into the portal.

As I drifted back to the ground, damage caused by the convergence slowly repaired itself, leaving me feeling drained.

"Did that just happen?" Azure asked, looking at her hands and the leather bracers she was wearing, sword still dangling from her hip.

"Looks like," I said, grabbing her in a hug while tears streamed down my face.

Cadence dipped the cloth into the basin of water and went to hold it over Twilight's mouth when a flash of golden light momentarily blinded her. Blinking away the glare, she saw her sister-in-law's eyes flutter and begin to open.

"Twilight?" she asked hesitantly.

"The ladybug's awake," the lavender Alicorn said with a weak giggle and smile.

Cadence wrapped her up in a hug, tears running down her face as she laughed in relief.

"Are you ready?" Teleute, or Amara, or whoever it was asked.

I blinked sadly as I watched the handful of images of those friends being reunited with their families, the havoc undone but not healed yet. Time would take care of that.

"I suppose so," I said, lowering my head. "I'm ready to be judged."

"Oh, I'm not going to judge you," the woman said. "That's already been done. I'm here to carry out your sentence."

I closed my eyes. "So be it, then."

I felt a wash of cold, then a comforting warmth. It reminded me of a blanket on top of a feather bed.

"Sorla?" a baritone voice spoke. "Come along, it's time to get up. We have a meeting with the Saddle Arabian Prime minister today and we can't dilly dally."

My eyes flew open.

"Father?"

My father, Sombra, stood off to one side, a soft purple cloak slung along his withers against the chill of the morning air. He gave me an odd look.

"Are you feeling ok?" he asked, his grey horn shimmering to life as I felt a gentle touch caress my forehead. "You seem a bit warm. Perhaps you should stay in bed today. I'm sure the Prime Minister will understand." He turned to leave. "I'll send Serenity to look after you. She'll know what's best."

I stared at the door as he left, the fact that I could see again paling at the fact that my father was alive, and not corrupted. I lit my horn and threw the covers to the side, looking at myself...

And seeing my unblemished brown coat, freshly washed if the way it shimmered in the morning light had anything to say on it.

"What in Equestria?" I whispered.

"Oh, that was my doing," a voice said from the air. "You see, you were willing to sacrifice everything to undo a wrong. The way we see it, you could use a little peace and happiness. I'll see you again, once the sands of your life run out."

I blinked. "How long will that be?" I asked a little nervously.

"Who can say?" the voice said. "But I'm sure it will be a long one. Make it a good one."

And just as the last word ended, the door to my room opened again to admit a glittering Crystal pony bearing a small nurses hat.

"Good morning, your grace," she said. "Your father said you were feeling a little out of sorts."

I blinked.

"That's one way to put it," I said.

Author's Note

Ok, so this is the penultimate chapter of the story. I still plan on one more, maybe two, but the vast majority of the story is complete. Redemption for Sorla and a nice happy ending for her.

However, there are still things left to be done, and I am sorry this tale took so long to write!

Resolution

"So," Celestia said. "This is her fate."

I nodded as we looked at the fragmented mirror. It had been patched up after some event had shattered it, one that not even Twilight knew about. As I watched Sorla interact with a Sombra that held a kind visage and actually was loved by his staff, I felt a smile creep up on me. It was possibly the best outcome she could have gotten, yet I saw a bit of melancholy on Celestia's face.

"And what befell Chrysalis?" the Daytime Diarch asked me as she ushered me out of the room, levitating a shroud over the mirror frame as we left.

I shrugged. "I don't really understand all the technical aspects of the spells," I admitted. "Most of the knowledge I gained was part of the other timeline and Twilight's link with me during the final confrontation. As near as I can tell, she's been locked in the same planar location she trapped me in when she first cast the spell. She's more or less in stasis on an alternate plane, but I don't know for how long or if she'll even be able to leave it."

Celestia nodded sadly. "I had hoped that we could one day reconcile," she sighed. "But I suppose a part of me knew that she was beyond redemption. Still, though, I wonder if there could have been a different outcome."

"I doubt it," I said as we approached the medical ward. "Near the end, she was more than willing to kill, and seeing how casually she did it, I don't think there was enough left of her to be redeemed like Thorax and the rest of the hive."

We stepped into the ward and saw the six Elements being checked over by doctors, testing their reflexes and mantic exhaustion. Whatever had caused the blending of their mentalities had taken a heavy mental toll on them, and being more or less comatose for two days did not help matters.

"How are they?" I asked one of the techs.

"Weary, but so far they seem to be recovering rather swiftly," the nurse said. "A few days of bed rest and they should be right as rain."

Celestia smiled. "Please let us know if anything changes," she requested and nudged me towards the door.

As the portal swung closed behind us, I could tell she was wrestling with something.

"Princess," I prompted. "Is anything the matter?"

She sighed. "It is unseemly for a ruler to admit faults to her subjects," she murmured. "But twice now you have saved the kingdom, so I suppose you have a right to know that I have doubts as to my fitness as a leader."

She paused and looked at the stained glass window that graced the hallway. "Most ponies see my sister and I as infallible and immortal rulers, and that we will always have the best interests of Equestria at heart. And we aren't. We could still be defeated, we still make mistakes. We're only ponies, after all."

"And yet, in this latest crisis, I feel no fear for myself, but those I care for," she said as we continued walking. "Twilight and her friends, Sunset and hers. They both have been through a traumatic experience and will need guidance to recover. I'm afraid I may have to ask a large favor of you, Starlight Glimmer."

I smiled. "I think I know what it is," I said simply. "And I'm going there tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" she asked with curiosity.

"Yeah," I said, stifling a yawn. "I don't know how tired Twilight and the others are, but I've channeled three ponies worth of magic in a day and was close to burnout as it was. I and too tired to levitate a pamphlet at the moment, so sleep would be a welcome respite."

The white Alicorn smiled.

"That much, at least," she said. "I can grant without worry."

Author's Note

Just a short wrap-up. I'll have the epilogue up and out soon and it will be more of a fitting length, and a touch of humor inserted to counterpoint the seriousness of the rest of the piece.

Epilog

I woke up to see Twilight sitting on the edge of the bed, hair a mess and staring at the wall. I got a trickle of distress and anxiety from the bond.

"Everything ok, Sunshine?" I asked.

She glanced back at me, a weak smile on her face.

"Go back to sleep, honey," she said. "Just still trying to sort myself out from the other me. There are still a few memories of hers in my head that haven't faded yet, and it's confusing."

I grinned slightly and sat up, pulling my wife into my arms. "It's ok to be confused. I spent the last few days having to relearn a lot of things before the fog lifted from my head. The Dazzlings didn't have it much better, either. We were pretty lucky, to tell the truth."

She sank into my embrace, her worry still sifting through the bond. "It was so horrible, not knowing who I was," she whispered. "It was like Princess Twilight and I were fighting over the same body, the constant concern for you switching out for worrying about Fluttershy and memories that I wasn't sure which one of us they belonged to flickering past."

"It's pretty much over now," I whispered as I stroked her hair. "Starlight's going to come by tomorrow and try to erase the last of the conjunction aftereffects, so we should know who we are then. Besides, if it weren't for our bond, we'd be like the others, still forgetting which version of us we are. I was out at the farm yesterday and Rainbow actually came close to eating a daisy sandwich." I shook my head.

She didn't respond, but I knew she was still awake.

"That's not all that's bothering you, is it?" I asked.

"Not really," she said. "I mean, we were lucky. In the end, we didn't really do much because of how confused we were about who we were. Even when Twilight and I sorted out which of us were which and helped the rest of us gain a semblance of self, we were still only minor players."

"We can't save the world every couple months, Twilight," I said, a teasing tone slipping into my voice as I rubbed her back, feeling the scar from a rogue bolt of magic. "It's hard on us, and it doesn't pay the bills."

She giggled a little before turning serious and looking at me. "It does seem like an oddly regular occurance," she said. "Which is what worries me. So far, every good thing in my life has been balanced by something equally as bad. I got into Crystal Prep, but excelled so much I was more or less ostracized by everyone there. I met you and the girls at the Games and subsequently tried to rip my way into Equestria."

"And all of which brought you and I together," I said, taking her face into my hands. "Sure, there have been some stumbling blocks along the way, but they made us stronger and better for it. And through everything, we've got our friends and each other to keep us company and help us with any problem, both here and in Equestria."

She sighed. "I know," came her quiet voice. "But I can't help but wonder what will happen now that we're married? Or when we decide to have kids?"

"I'm pretty sure the worst thing about us having kids is the having kids part," I said with a sigh. "I mean, do you know how expensive IVF is? Not to mention the uncertainty of the gestation period, or complications."

"I know," Twilight said with a nod. "And even with the two-ova method having gained significant..." She sat up and speared me with a look. "You looked up the price of IVF?" she asked, an amazed look on her face. "Why?"

I grinned sheepishly. "Well," I started quietly. "We did kind of puzzle about that not long after we moved in here, and the idea just kind of got stuck in the back of my head. I've had more than a few dreams of playing with a little one, especially after seeing how well River and Azure get on, or how precocious Flurry Heart is." I rubbed her back as she leaned back into me. "I love the thought of you teaching them to read or us visiting Equestria on vacation."

She reached up and laid a finger across my lips.

"Have I told you today how much I love you?" she asked, silent joy and releif now flowing in the bond under the love.

"Yes, but you can always lay it on thicker," I smiled.

"Let me get this straight," Indigo said. "This is permanent?"

Starlight pinched the bridge of her nose again. "As near as I can tell, yes." She waved a hand at me. "Sunset, you explain, you've got more experience in this."

I stepped forwards. "It seems that during the event, we couldn't access the magic of our Elements, for what ever reason. Maybe it was the distress of having two different souls in one body, but our magic was severely hampered, no matter how hard we tried to draw on it.

"But the connection to the Tree of Harmony was still there, so it just created relief valves," I said, looking at each of them. "Little failsafe measures so that the magic still had a way out so as not to form a mana torrent and torch the town. Each of you embodies a value similar to each of us, and therefore you gained an Element similar to temporarily take up the strain."

"So how does that explain this?" Indigo asked, an ear flicking in annoyance.

"Well," I said. "After we all connected with our Elements, we could tap them to pony up."

I looked up at the hovering girl. "I guess now you all can too."

Lemon Zest sighed. "Just tell me how to land without falling on my face."

I smiled.

"I brought someone a little better than I for that," I said, giving a whistle.

A blue blur shot up, revealing Rainbow as she hovered eye level with Indigo and Lemon.

"Sup," she said.

I couldn't help but grin at the groan.

"So," I asked. "Do you think you're up to it?"

Sunshine pushed her glasses up and stepped forward.

"We still have a few days left in our honeymoon," she said as she lit her horn. "I think we can at least get a good head start on this."

Books started to drift down from the crystal shelves, all stacking up on the table we stood by at in the azure glow of my wife's magic. She pulled the first book over and set it before her, opening to the first page.

I glanced at her and then kissed her on the cheek before stepping out for a moment. Outside were Starlight and the Princess of Friendship.

"Started pretty quickly," I said. "Looks like we got some heavy teaching to do in the next couple of days."

Starlight shrugged. "I doubt she'll try to read every book on spellcraft in four day," she said. "That's a little much."

Twilight and I gave her blank looks.

"Right," she giggled, rubbing the back of her head. "Forgot who I was talking about."

"She's serious about getting caught up on Equestrian magic so we can at least use it to find a baseline on how exactly the magic in our world differs from here. It's the first step to understanding where it comes from and why bringing an Element of Harmony woke it up."

"It will also let us have an amazing study time!" Twilight said, almost hopping from hoof to hoof like a certain pink pony we all knew. "The last one we had was so much fun, and now we're doing one in my area of expertise! There's so much to prepare for, I have to get some flash cards made!"

I slid a wing out and used it to cover my fellow princesses mouth. "How about we just make it to the first study break first?" I asked. "That way you'll know where to start with helping me explain it in normal Equis to her. She didn't get the primer school like we did."

"That brings up an interesting question," Starlight murmured. "We all speak modern Equis here, and it's one of the common international languages. How did Sunshine learn to speak or read it? She wasn't here very long your first visit to have learned it all at that time."

I shrugged. "Same way you were speaking English the entire time you and the rest of the girls were over for graduation, I suppose," I postulated. "The portal already changes our bodies to fit the world, so why not assume it adjusts the way we hear things?"

Twilight's eyes shone suddenly with a renewed light. "We could do research on it!" she breathed.

I rolled my eyes with good-natured humor as Starlight facehooved.

"Forget I mentioned it," she said.

She floated in the dim darkness of the void, rage boiling impotently within her heart. She had long since given up ranting since she was the only one there to hear it. She was also starving.

Then she sensed it, a cold, bitter malevolence floating in the prison of her mind. She sought it out, and came face to face with another Changeling.

No, that wasn't it. She came face to face with herself.

"What do you want?" she asked, turning away.

"To look at how far we've fallen," her double said. "All because you couldn't bear to take the one chance you had to end your people's starvation."

"Friendship and love?" she spat. "That is not the Changeling way. That's the pony way, a weak way."

"And yet," her double asked. "Whose kingdom flourishes while ours began to wither away?" The shade held up a hoof, the holes within growing larger with every passing second. "You know what will happen if we go without feeding long enough, yes?"

Chrysalis bowed her head. "Dust," she whispered bitterly.

It doesn't have to be that way, another voice whispered. The deposed queen looked around, trying to spot the speaker.

Things could still come out your way, it continued. And you could gain the power to crush anypony that got in your way.

"How?" she hissed.

Two green eyes appeared, trails of purple mana drifting away from them, and a throaty, deep laugh followed.

"So she's hallucinating?" I asked as I looked at the still body of the Changeling Queen below, the shimmering of a stasis spell over her body.

Luna nodded. "I can see the dreamscape she is walking in, and she believes she is talking to Sombra." The Alicorn shook her head. "I think her mind may truly be lost, fracturing into delusions and half-believed truths."

Thorax looked at her, a sad look on his face. "I wish there was something we could do to help her rise above it," he whispered. "I mean, she's one of us. We've already helped the hive that was under the Castle of the Two Sisters."

Luna nodded. "To have found a hive under my former home was a shock," she admitted. "I wonder how much they led to the Nightmare possessing me, and how much was my own doing."

I sighed and ruffled my amber wings as I turned to leave. "There are some answers that should never be answered," I said. "Not all answers are harmless."

"And what will you do," Luna asked. "Now that you have looked upon your enemy in her defeat?"

I sighed.

"Go home," I said. "Kiss my wife, eat some dinner. Study for exams. Start writing a book for my independent study class."

"Those sound like truly taxing ventures," Luna said with a smile.

"What will you write about?" Thorax asked.

"Not sure yet," I said. "I was thinking about this one story about a girl who got in over her head and went down a dark path but was saved by a few special people."

"How does it end?" Luna inquired.

"Don't know yet," I said as we left the prison medical ward. "I'm only 26. Got a lot of years ahead of me, and a lot of living to do.

Sorla walked in and sat down at the table, lifting a quill and setting it to the pages of a leatherbound book. The quill took on a scarlet sheen and she set it to writing.

Nopony should know the things I have unearthed. Inside my mind are the spells that none should have ever written. With each letter I scribe in this journal, they will be erased, bit by bit, leaving me with the memory of having known them, but the runes, circles, incantations, anything that could give rise to them returning will be gone.

For weeks, I suffered for those spells as my mind was viciously ransacked for the information, and as a result, two worlds were nearly destroyed.

I do not know by what right I have been given this second lease on life, nor for seeing my father again, but I thank Harmony for it. Seeing him again, being a family again is a joy I thought I had lost long ago. It almost dulls the pain of the memories.

Almost.

I can tell Father still misses her, and I cannot blame him. When someone leaves a mark on your heart like that, you can never truly forget. Some ponies can love truly only once, they say. I hope that that one chance was not his only one.

For his sake, and the mare he tells me stories of. A mare I never met, the one that bore me into this world.

I close out today with words I have too long gone without speaking:

I love you Mother, and I wish I could have met you.

She shut the journal and set the quill down. She levitated the book over to a bookshelf and slipped it behind some volumes of tax laws that she had slipped into her study for the purpose of hiding the journal. Closing her eyes, she sat and rubbed a spot on her side, feeling the phantom pain of the branding iron, a tear slipping free.

"Milady?" a voice said from behind her. A Crystal pony slipped up to her, green eyes concerned. "Are you alright?"

She nodded. "Quite fine, Serene," she told the nurse. "Just missing someone today."

The nurse nodded. "I see. It was her birthday today, after all."

Sorla turned to the other mare.

"Serene," she said. "Tell me about Mother? It hurts too much for Father to speak of it."

Serene smiled in her namesake. "I'd be delighted to," she said.

Author's Note

And we're finished with part two of Arc Two of Homecoming.

I really wanted to do something different with this one, and I hope I managed to tell a convincing tale that gave a chance for Starlight to shine a little. I know there were a few spots that seem a little...haphazard in the initial read, but I hope all the plot points are nice and tied up with the exception of a few threads deliberately placed for future solo pieces and such.

Thank you so much for those of you that let me use your OC's in here, and I might have one or two show up again further down the line. Those of you that submitted your OC and didn't get in here, don't fret, I may use them in another story a little ways down the road. Keep on eye on your feeds :raritywink: