"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?"