Insurgence

by Rose Quill

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?

Comments

[Fangren]

My oh my...I can't even begin to guess what's been done, so good work on that.

[MySisterBroughtMeHere]

My head is rolling but no theories or guesses are coming up. I have this horrible feeling that can't be good.

[Lightning_Striker]

My guess: Magic!

Yes, that's the best I got. xD. Haven't read your homecoming continuum in a few weeks, really not sure why, it's so good. Oh, right, illness, then school, that's why. And trying to work on my own fanfic while trying not to get distracted. Oops, I'm distracted and reading in the Homecoming Continuum again. It's too good to stay away.

[The Scarlett Mare]

I think... That the spell Chrysalis cast is one similar that Sorla used to wake the dead (thaumathology or however you write it it's midnight and I'm tired) and well, a mix between that and the mind control magic of the changelings that creates illusions... WAIT... Are you saying this is all a reinforced illusion spell that loses its partial effect or it becomes corrupted in the human world? Because in equestria normal ponies were affected by staying put as if they were cocooned, yet the spell in the human world actually takes form by fusing sunshine and P. Twilight, partially erasing Sunset's memories and making everyone, possibly within a close range to Canterlot City turn into ponies. Therefore it has some level of corruption or it shifts slightly due to the metaphysical position of the portal and all the changes one would go through by crossing it... Is this going to be a "humans cross the portal and remain humans" or something like that by the end? This is just me rambling and speculating over a story that's already finished, yet I like it. Because I'm pretty sure I'm wrong.