The Severed Dimension

Chapters

Chapter 1 - Imprisoned
Chapter 3 - Journey Into the Abyss
Chapter 4 - Reflections
Chapter 5 - A Strange Land & Manifestation
Chapter 6 - The Face of Adventure
Chapter 7 - An Eye for Detail and A Very Revealing Party
Chapter 8 - The Younger Sister
Chapter 9 - The Labyrinth
Chapter 10 - Beginnings
Chapter 11 - Personas
Chapter 12 - The Great and Powerful Omen
Chapter 13 - Time for a Rest
Chapter 14 - A Small Meeting
Prologue - Escape!
Chapter 2 - Old Foes & On Top of the Clouds

Chapter 1 - Imprisoned

Chapter 1: Imprisoned
Lorane

What in the world? Did that horse just talk?! I need to get out of here and find the guys!

The strange horse next to me was looking the other way. I slowly raised myself up making sure the animal didn’t attack. I realized it was just a horse and I shouldn’t feel so threatened by a creature that’s so docile by nature. Then I lost my balance and fell backwards.

“Lorane? Are you okay?” Edel’s voice questioned.

I looked up, and saw the green horse was looking at me with bright teal eyes that looked very familiar. After a short panic attack, I noticed I couldn’t feel my hands or feet; as if they were completely numb… I looked down and saw I no longer had hands or feet, but hooves!

I must be dreaming!

“Lorane! It is you. Isn’t it?” The green horse’s mouth moved in unison with Edel’s voice.

I then thought, Well if this is a dream I should just wake up right? So I got up, carefully on all fours as it felt natural, strangely enough, and decided to run into the nearest tree.

BAM!

I felt dizzy and fell on the ground, instinctively moving what were once my hands to my face, feeling a long snout instead of my flat nose.

“I have a muzzle?! You have got to be kidding me!” I yelled out of impulse. I then turned to see two other horses looking at me, both of their eyes seemed familiar… Then it hit me like a ton of bricks. “…Edel? …Regal?” I asked.

“Yes it’s us I’m afraid.” The green horse in Edel’s voice.

“It can’t be that bad!” The blue horse in Regal’s voice.

“Guys?” I asked, giving in to the apparent change in appearance. The green horse nodded, who was actually Edel, still wore a steel plated armor piece on his back and lower body. His long sword was nowhere to be found, assuming this was indeed Edel; but he did have the weighted wristbands on his forelegs.

“Lorane I’m not sure what happened but I think we are all horses now.” Edel said.

“Ponies…” Regal corrected.

Edel looked at him with a puzzled expression. Seeing this, Regal continued; “We’re ponies. Both of you are too small to be fully grown horses. Unless I am bigger than both of you, we are all ponies.”

“Does it matter?! We are not humans anymore, that much is certain!” Edel exclaimed.

I was thinking about the whole situation, trying to make sense of all of this.

Since they are sort of arguing WHAT we are, maybe there is some logic behind all of this...

I looked around. The surroundings were quite gorgeous. The sun was high in the sky, probably right after noon, the birds were chirping, we were in a clearing in the middle of a meadow surrounded by an ominous forest.

“Lorane what do you think of all of this?” Regal asked.

I looked at him, noticing he had an outline of some sort surrounding his body… We definitely weren’t in Durandel anymore. “Regal, I think we were transported to another dimension by Gladius.” I said, trying to think quickly as I spoke. “I think we should be safe here, I mean based on our surroundings it looks peaceful, but if this is our prison…”

Regal and Edel were still looking at me as I trailed off, trying to think of what to say next. Edel always played leader of our little “pack”, but whenever he gave me that look I knew he was looking for my honest input, that look like he was waiting for something, and I should always give it my all.

“Why would Gladius turn us into horses- I mean ponies?” Edel asked as he received a glare from Regal.

“Don’t know. I think we should honestly make a plan, Edel. You always get us out of situations like this. What do you think?” I asked. Knowing Edel, he would lead us in the right direction.

As he finally got up on all fours as I was, and Regal following suit more clumsily, Edel spoke “I think since we might be stuck here, might as well make the best of it.” He said, turning to Regal before gaping at him.

“Are those wings?” I asked.

Regal looked to his side, he did indeed have wings, as if he were one of the steeds of the gods; a legendary Pegasus. But the broken piece of horn on his head was a strange addition. After staring at the wings for a second he shrugged and lifted himself to all fours like us. “I don’t know, I can’t really move them.”

After shaking his head and turning to face the sun, Edel spoke up. “Okay, since there's a forest nearby, let’s head North since the sun is setting in that direction,” he pointed with his hoof in my direction “North should be that way.” He finished pointing towards his right, about 90 degrees from me. I only nodded to support his decision. So we all began to slowly trot to the north, trying to get used to our four feet, and seemingly unlimited stamina. I found it amusing how Edel was now slightly shorter than me now, but Regal was still much taller than both of us.

Remembering, I was out of breath before running into Gladius in the castle. But now I was completely relaxed while trotting at a speed I would normally have to struggle to maintain. Getting used to walking with four legs was easy, but the other two were having trouble adjusting. “I’m going to run ahead, you guys try to keep up!” I said before speeding up.

It was exhilarating. I was galloping at a high speed that I think even our nemesis, Xion would have a hard time keeping up with. That’s right! Xion! I remembered; Xion was the reason why we were out of breath and why the castle was crumbling apart in the first place. He was extremely dangerous and his two cronies who backed him up were also dangerous. Solem, the big brute, was always looking for any fight, and Glacious, the smarter little crony or henchman was the one who was responsible for Regal’s broken leg. Hopefully we don’t run into any trouble like that here in this… strange yet beautiful place.

I got to the edge of the forest; I could hear crickets and a couple of water sources flowing. Plenty of wood to burn, and I can let the guys deal with water. Then I realized: I am a pony. How do I use magic without my hands?! Focusing as I would normally on a spot on the ground I said in my mind Fire. Nothing happened, and my heart sank. Can I no longer use magic? No! I don’t believe this… Fire! Fire! FIRE! Nothing happened.

“Lorane! Caught up to you! Hah hah… What’s going on?” Regal had caught up with me and saw I had my eyes closed and head down.

“Shut it Regal. I’m trying to cast a spell… Any spell…”

After being quiet, he looked around and began to trot arbitrarily around glancing at flowers and random plants as if searching for something to do. After a few minutes of this, Edel finally showed up, getting the hang of trotting and looking around as well. I, however, couldn’t get a simple fire spell going and laid down on the patch of grass I was on.

“Regal, keep looking for something to eat. Fruit, nuts... well, anything.” Edel said before looking at me. Regal nodded and walked off, but then stopped. “Lorane what’s going on?”

“I can’t use my magic. It’s just not working…” I replied.

“What? Well you’re a unicorn. And in our world, unicorns were very magical creatures in the past.”

“A unicorn?” I searched my forehead to my surprise, feeling a small lump protruding in my hair. “But what does that mean?” I thought for a moment. Unicorns do have more of a magical history in the Durandel Library compared to most creatures… I wonder if the horn has a special property…? I concentrated on my horn now. Suddenly I felt a sensation that felt like mana rush through me as I focused. This has got to be the source, I thought. Well here goes… Fire!

A rush of heat rushed to my forehead and I felt my head recoil as my horn apparently shot a small ball of fire in a straight line, however the horn was pointing at a nearby tree branch which exploded in flames.

“Oh shoot!” I exclaimed as Edel looked up at the branch.

Water.

A stream of water burst out of my horn, dousing the flames. I sighed as I let my focus go. So I can cast spells but I need to concentrate on my horn. I thought. This would be very complicated, since I don’t have a good idea how my horn was jutting out of my head. There was a sudden thumping noise, me and Edel looked to see the source; Regal was bouncing out of a nearby thicket with a mouthful of berries. It looked strange to see a pony bouncing around like a kangaroo but then again we all had outlines, and the world was very bright and colorful. I concluded it is the nature of this land to be springy and full of life.

“Well, since it looks like you’ve got magic figured out, I’m going to get some firewood okay?” Edel said. Not waiting for me to nod yes, he added to Regal “And wash those berries, I am going to find water too. Not sure what to fill, but I’ll think of something!” he said before trotting off into the wilderness.

“Did you really gather those with your mouth?” I asked Regal.

After spitting most of them out and swallowing the rest he replied “Of course! Hello? No hands! And besides we're washing them anyway…”

After about four hours, we found ourselves getting settled by a stream of water. It was getting very dark, and laying by the fire I started we found ourselves oddly relaxed. We were looking out for any creatures like wargs, basilisks, hellhounds, even some ware rabbits, but nothing really bothered us at all.

“This place is very peaceful isn’t it?” I said

“Yeah. So far nothing has tried to kill us… Is that odd?” Regal questioned.

“I’m not sure. This is supposed to be a prison for us right? What if… What if Gladius is trying to get our guard down?” Edel said.

It was a ridiculous thing to say, and Edel knew it; if Gladius wanted us dead we would be dead. Why send us here instead of some blank dimension where we couldn’t get hungry? I heard Edel fidget suddenly.

“I should’ve known…” He said as he sat up on all fours, then crouched slightly.

“Monster?” Regal whispered, also getting up on all fours.

I tried to listen… I heard nothing for a good 10 seconds until hearing a rustling behind me. I turned around and saw another figure come into the light of our campfire. It was a pony about the size of Edel.

“Hello? Anypony here?” a soft, female voice came from the pony’s figure.

As she came into the light, we could see she was a pony with wings like a legendary Pegasus, like Regal. She was butter-yellow, had a long flowing pink mane that was set on either side of her head, with a long pink tail behind her. She paused as she saw me, and looked at me first with her teal eyes, then to Edel and Regal.

“Oh… Hello. I hope I wasn’t interrupting... but I saw smoke and thought there might be trouble here in the forest.” She said in a very delicate voice.

I looked at her for a second, not sure to trust her or not, and spoke “Err... hello. Are you a local resident of this dimensi- I mean of this area?” I asked.

“Oh yes, I’m from Ponyville, the town to the west of here. Do you need a place to sleep?” She asked.

I looked to Edel who was still in a crouching position. “Umm, yeah, sure. It is getting late and we were planning to sleep here, but if Ponyville isn’t too far…” I started, trying to cue in Edel who remained still and silent.

“Oh, it’s no problem at all. You can follow me to my cottage.” The pegasus said and turned around.

I began to trot forward towards her as Regal put out the camp fire and Edel stayed close to me. “If that creature tries anything we’ll kill her and run. She might have the rest of her brood nearby.” Edel whispered. I raised an eyebrow at him. The pegasus seemed very nice to me, but Edel does have a distrustful nature with strangers.

“So where are you three from? Are you new to Ponyville?” the pegasus asked.

“Oh yes, we traveled very far. We stumbled across this forest on our travel from the south.” I replied

“The south? Oh my, does that mean you’re from Apple loosa? Or did you come from Dodge City?” She paused for a second before adding “I’m sorry it’s none of my business.”

“It’s okay, I’m Lorane by the way. These are my friends, the short one is Edel, and that is Regal.” I said.

She smiled and said “Nice to meet you all! I’m Fluttershy.”

As we walked she began to tell us about the nearby gorge called Ghastly Gorge, and a nearby ruin of a place called the Ancient Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters in another section of this forest which is called the Everfree Forest. She then turned her attention to Regal.

“Umm... Mister Regal, if you don’t mind me asking, I noticed you have wings and a horn, does that mean you’re related to princess Celestia?” She asked.

Regal merely flinched at hearing his name before answering a second later “I don’t believe I’ve met this princess of yours. But it is possible we’re related…”

“Oh it would be wonderful if you are. She’s sweet, caring and understanding of everypony, and tries to rule Equestria with love and tolerance.” Fluttershy said.

A monarch ruling with love and tolerance? And this place is called Equestria huh? So we really have been teleported to another dimension…

“We’re here!” Fluttershy said as she began to fly but stayed with our trotting speed.

We arrived at a small cottage . She flew towards the front door, I noticed the lights in the distance of the town called “Ponyville” and it was indeed a lot later than I thought it was. I let out a small yawn.

“Reminds me of home.” Edel said as we drew closer to the cottage. There was fencing on the side of the path leading to the open front door. Fluttershy emerged flying in midair holding out her right hoof toward the door. “Make yourself at home! I just started brewing some ginseng tea. It always helps me sleep, so maybe it'll have the same effects for you.” She said, almost in a singing manner.

Well if this was a prison, so far this is the most peaceful prison I’ve ever seen. Why would Gladius send us here? We need to get back and warn the King back in Durandel of Gladius coming for them. I wonder if teleportation is a possibility for escape...?

“Thank you for your kindness, Miss Fluttershy, but we cannot impose. We need to find a way back home…” Regal said “…and fast…” he mumbled.

“Oh it’s really no trouble. I can’t let two foals and an injured stallion just sleep in the woods!” Fluttershy responded as she went into the kitchen. The cottage was very small, few pieces of furniture littered the ground along with bags of animal feed, bird houses, and many more tiny critter homes. The flight of stairs was very small and seemed to only lead to the only bedroom in the cottage.

Injured? She must be talking about Regal’s horn

“Does it seem like we’re taking advantage of her kindness?” Regal asked Edel and I.

“No way. Besides she said it was no problem.” Edel said. “I do hope she’s sincere but part of me is staying on edge. There is a reason why we were sent here. I will not let you or Lorane get hurt because we were tricked by false kindness… again…” Edel looked down. I remembered the first time Deception took someone away from us… it was his brother that was taken away from us forever less than a year ago…

“Edel, if anything does happen I will protect us all. And you are strong enough to get us through any situation. We need to stay on our track okay? I trust this pony who took us in, there is an air of kindness surrounding her, and I think we can trust her.” I said, digging my nuzzle under his neck. It felt natural; I guess nuzzling others is how ponies show comfort and affection.

Fluttershy returned with a kettle of ginseng tea. As we sat around the small table, we saw as she lifted a tea cup and poured tea with her fore-hooves. How the-?! “Umm excuse me, Fluttershy?” I started as she took a sip.

After swallowing she replied “Yes?”

“How did you just do that? With your hooves?”

She looked down at the cup she was holding and started to giggle. She explained about the magic of Equestria and how all ponies have an ability to grasp objects with an extremely limited telekinetic-type grip if something is close enough to their hoof, and this ability was made possible by their ruler named Princess Celestia. After finishing she added “You three aren’t from Equestria are you?”

“We’re from… very far away. A land called Durandel and we don’t usually have such abilities.” Edel answered, trying out his newfound ability on his cup.

“Durandel? I’ve never heard of it. I have a friend you can all meet tomorrow who can help you out, and maybe she’s heard of this ‘Durandel’ place.” She said. After a yawn she added “It’s getting late. Why don’t we get some rest?”

After some arguing, Fluttershy convinced Edel and Regal to share the one bed upstairs, while she and I slept on the two couch-like chairs. I didn’t mind, I was really tired from the events that passed. Hopefully I can fall asleep… Trying not to think of my brother, trying to think he is safe right now, and Gladius has been foiled... Durandel is safe... Kevin is safe... Everyone is safe…

End of Chapter 1

Chapter 3 - Journey Into the Abyss

Chapter 3: Journey Into the Abyss

Edel

As we continued walking I felt more and more concerned about Regal as time went on. I didn’t know that other Pegasus and she could mean us harm, and Regal has a very trusting personality. I may partially trust this ‘Fluttershy’ character but that doesn’t mean we’re allies.

“Lorane” I whispered, we were behind Fluttershy as she absentmindedly hummed a song as she trotted “Why don’t you keep with Fluttershy and I go keep an eye on that other Pegasus. She could mean us harm, and holding Regal hostage could serve problematic.”

“Edel shut up. You’re being paranoid. This place just oozes peace and harmony; I honestly don’t think we need to worry about enemies here.” She said. She did have a point. Since entering Ponyville, a small but busy village, the other ponies here haven’t given us the slightest hint of hostility. In fact most smiled and said ‘hi’ as we passed, even though we are new to the town.

“Still, you can never be too careful. Remember Amura Town?” I reminded her how we let our guard down several times in our adventures in Durandel, and every time we wound up robbed, wounded, separated or occasionally in an enemy internment camp.

“Yeah but there isn’t a war going on. Well there could be… Fluttershy?” I winced as she called Fluttershy.

“Oh! Yes miss Lorane?” Fluttershy answered smiling.

“Please call me Lorane. I wanted to ask; is Equestria at war with any other nations?”

“Oh no! I don’t think princess Celestia would ever start a war. Some of the other nations do look at us with envy I suppose, but we have always gotten along just fine. There hasn’t been any wars since before the founding of Equestria… but there is always the threat of Tartarus and the Changlings…” Fluttershy frowned at this, and it made my heart skip a beat, frowning definitely didn’t suit her at all.

“What? Well we can talk about that later” I said quickly trying to change the subject “What’s your friend, Twilight like?”

To my relief she began to smile again “Well Twilight Sparkle is the smartest unicorn I know. She’s also the most magically adept unicorn I know in all of Equestria, unless you count the princesses of course.” She laughed. “She’s nice, down to Equestria, but sometimes too skeptical at the smallest strange occurrences.” I gulped. If she was going to help us, it might be hard to get her to believe the whole story. “Umm let’s see, she’s the protégé of princess Celestia, oh and she’s the Element of Magic; she’s helped us take down Nightmare Moon and Discord who would’ve completely changed Equestria entirely!”

Lorane and I gaped. “What?” we said in unison.

“Oh I forgot. Um you see, when Twilight first came to Ponyville, she was at first here to oversee the Summer Sun Celebration’s preparations but when the celebration was to happen, Nightmare Moon returned and was going to submerge all of Equestria in eternal night. But with the help of Twilight, we realized we were spirits of the Elements of Harmony: Pinkie Pie is Laughter, Rarity is Generosity, Applejack is Honesty, Rainbow Dash is Loyalty and well, I’m Kindness, and finally Twilight discovered her Element: Magic. The Elements then appeared to us and together we were able to foil Nightmare Moon’s plans and revert her back to princess Luna.”

After a moment Lorane spoke up “So Twilight is not only the student of the ruler of Equestria, but also helped, along with you and four others, save Equestria twice?”

“Actually three times now, with the Changeling invasion a few months ago.” Fluttershy replied.

“Amazing, she must be a very important pony.” I said. Soon we came to what looked like a large tree with windows and a door which Fluttershy opened and within a second a green creature resembling a hatchling wyvern, which I’ve seen many times from enemy bases in Durandel, came running out, turning its head towards Fluttershy and saying something I wasn’t able to hear because rage overtook my entire being as I saw Fluttershy and Lorane who was standing next to her, go flying away from the door as a large black fist hit both of them. Instinctively I sprinted forward as fast as I could, not knowing how to attack as a pony I pounded down on the hand as hard as I could with my hooves. The hand despite being the size of a truck, winced and withdrew back into the tree.

“Fluttershy! Lorane!” I cried, and rushed towards them. Fluttershy was shaking, while Lorane quickly got up with only a small bruise on her snout where the fist struck her, but Fluttershy’s whole left side was black… and smoking. The fist had burned her. “Fluttershy!! Damn it! Lorane! Heal her! Now!” I yelled before taking off towards the tree.

“Wait! We need to run!” the green creature called after me. I ignored it.

As I got into the tree, the inside was filled with shelves and books littered the ground. I saw a bright red light on the ground, and a pedestal with a large black book on it, the pages turning back and forth as wind rushed from an unknown window in the room. As I got close to the red light, I felt the wind get very strong and the red light was actually emanating from what looked like a tear in the ground, like something had ripped it like fabric and inside was what I can only describe as swirling chaos. Without thinking I jumped inside. I felt the similar sensation when we went through the Gate, my body being compressed and my insides boiling with pain. I felt my hooves hit ground and – wait a second. They were no longer hooves!

I opened my eyes. I was in a dimly lit cave, a red lighting which came from seemingly nowhere made everything appear red. I looked down, I had my hands instead of hooves, I was wearing my armor but it was worn terribly. I wasn’t too surprised, it WAS being worn of a pony version of myself. This doesn’t make any sense. What happened? Why am I human again? And where am I? There was a noise to my left and quickly got up on my feet and turned. There was a bright, piercing purple light for a second that quickly died out followed by a female voice.

“Shoot! Why won’t my magic work correctly?!” said the voice.

After my eyes re-adjusted to the dim red lighting I quickly turned my head away from a beautiful, but nude, woman. Without looking I said “Umm excuse me miss, but what are you doing here?”

She gasped then “Stay back, monster!”

“I am not a monster! I’m a pony! I mean, I’m a human! And you… you’re naked.” I said, not moving. I was merely looking into the surrounding darkness.

“Wait a pony? Are you from Ponyville? Did you go into the library and see a portal? Wait what are you looking at what is it?” she asked.

“Wait, yes I did, and it seems my form has…” then I realized “Wait are you Twilight Sparkle?”

“Yes I am. Wait there is no time for pleasantries, come over here and help me focus. I need to find these magical anomalies that are linking the library and this place.”

“Where is this place?” I asked, walking in her direction, but still looking away.

“This is the outer area of Tartarus. It’s… Umm why are you looking over there?” She asked innocently.

“You’re naked.” I know that ponies are always naked so what I’ve seen but, for some reason she has been transformed to a human, and it still doesn’t seem right to stare at a naked woman.

“What? Why are you on your back hooves?”

I couldn’t help but look. She was standing earlier but now she was down on all fours, perhaps the default posture of ponies. I couldn’t help a chuckle, she looked really funny. Long purple hair, with bangs partially covering her brow, her figure is thin, she had either red or pink eyes, the red lighting confusing me of the true colors, and her other features – I quickly looked down at my bare feet.

“This is how humans are supposed to stand. And I think we should get back to Ponyville don’t you?” I said nervously.

“Well yeah, come closer and help me focus!”

“Okay, how?” I asked.

“Well I’ve found out I have focus my thoughts on the verbal words of the spell I was working on – Err I’ll explain that later. But I can’t get my magic to manifest seeing as I no longer have a horn.” She said, sounding like she was thinking very hard.

Recalling seeing Lorane cast spells using her hands I replied “Why don’t you raise your hands and use them as a focal point instead of where your horn used to be? I mean fore hooves!”

“Well I suppose I should try everything” She replied. When that piercing purple light ignited again I took a look at her. Her hands held high over her head as she was standing up straight again the light coming from her palms. She opened her eyes which I could see are a deep shade of purple; and she threw her hands in front of her and a beam of light hit a bulging piece of the cave which exploded with a bright purple light. The red light returned and I looked up, realizing the red light was coming from an identical portal on the ceiling that existed in the library.

“It… it worked! Wow I’m not sure how you knew that, but it worked! There should be two others around here that need to be destroyed.

“Two other what?”

“There are two other magical anomalies that need to be destroyed. After they are destroyed we need to get back to the portal that should transport us back to the library and then I can dispel the portal I… accidentally created.” She said, and looked down. “It was a mistake; it wasn’t supposed to be a portal, it was supposed to be a window of sorts…”

“Well it doesn’t matter now. Let’s focus on the task at hand. How do we find these anomalies?” I asked.

“Okay all you have to do is focus and focus on dark magical leylines. It’ll lead you straight there. From what I see, you head this way and I’ll follow this one…” there was a pause and I just stared at her with a blank expression. “You can’t use magic can you?”

“No I can’t.” I said plainly.

“Well okay then. Just follow me.” She said.

We talked as we walked (she trying to mimic my movements, we were walking slower than normal humans) I grew comfortable with her being nude, and I ignored the fact. “So what’s your name?” she asked.

“The name’s Edel.” I said.

“And how do you know me?”

“Your friend Fluttershy thought you might be able to help me and my friends.” My heart sank; I remember the shape Fluttershy was in before charging in the library. I knew Lorane was an excellent healer but I prayed she was okay.

“Are you okay? You suddenly look… sad” Twilight said, noticing my head down.

“Oh it’s just; Fluttershy was badly hurt before I rushed in here… There was a giant fist or something that struck her and my friend Lorane. Fluttershy took the bulk of the hit but Lorane knows some healing spells. I’m just worried.” I said.

“It was a Dark Scintillian. I take full responsibility for that, it was my fault completely. I managed to banish it back to Tartarus but that’s when I realized about the anomalies and jumped in to find the leylines, then found myself in this form.” Twilight said.

If that thing is still down here, we’re in for a fight. I’m human now… It’s going to get some payback for causing pain to such a pure and innocent creature! Trying to save my anger for when I need it I responded “Let’s just find these anomalies and quickly get out of here.”

As we walked through the cave I was trying to take in the twists and turns we went through. I wish I had some way to keep track of where we’re going… As it got almost too dark to see the ebony walls, Twilight produced a subtle purple light that made about 30 paces in front of us visible. The cave was dark, as we kept moving through different pathways. Left. Right. Left again. I kept a mental note when finally Twilight spoke up “There it is!”

“Finally.” I said as Twilight casted the same spell again and the bulging rock exploded with purple light before vanishing.

“Just one left. It’s a little further in though.” She said. I nodded and we kept walking. I was lost in thought, hoping Lorane was able to heal Fluttershy. Why am I so worried about her anyway? It can’t be any kind of romantic feeling, I definitely don’t feel that way about her. I need to get feelings straight. I glanced at Twilight who had a determined look in her purple eyes. In fact if she got hurt that way I might be feeling the same way about her like Fluttershy… But why? Then there was a noise in front of us.

By reflex I reached for my sword – which wasn’t there. I looked around, for any kind of weapon… to no avail. Fists it was. Twilight gasped and I looked forward. The pathway emptied into a huge opening, a chasm and there was the giant black hand, and it was part of an even bigger figure, roughly about the size of the library.

“The Dark Scintillian!” Twilight cried as it let out a roar.

I burst into action. Being experienced from many, many battles I could read it’s clumsy movements as it tried to hit me, I effortlessly dodged the blow, and gave it a hard kick on its side. I recoiled as the pain from my bare foot hit me. The creature felt like it was made of some kind of wood. Hearing rattling from behind me I jumped as high as I could, thanks to combat acrobatics training from the Royal Task Force Academy, I successfully evaded the blow from its massive hand causing it to hit itself. Out of pride I added a backflip in midair and landed flawlessly. Oh yeah. I missed feeling this nimble already, even though I’ve been a pony for only one day.

The Scintillian roared again, frustrated that it hit itself.

“Oh you think you’re mad? I’m mad!” I bellowed. Anger flowed through my being as I thought of Fluttershy and Lorane getting hurt. I rushed forward, tackling his small finger, wrapping all four limbs around it and twisted. It came off easily, despite the burning sensation I ignored, and I held the digit up like a sword. The Scintillian roared with pain, and I took the chance to climb up on his injured hand, move up to its face and I plunged the digit into its eye. After another roar it began to flee, but I was still on him. It had to die. Die!

I felt my body become weightless and I was floating over the monster as it ran off deeper into the chasm. I looked around; my body had a purple aura, and I saw Twilight holding her other hand towards me… She was holding me in a telekinetic grip! “Twilight why did you stop me?!”

“You were about to kill it! You gave it enough pain, let it go!” She said as she lowered me down.

“Of course! It has to die so it doesn’t hurt anybody ever again!” I yelled.

“No! Stooping to it’s level will only cause it to win. As an agent of disharmony it would succeed in it’s mission to make other’s into monsters as well. That is how beings like Discord gain power. Giving into hate and disharmony causes a shift in the balance in favor of disharmony… Don’t you see?” Twilight said.

“But… Fluttershy and Lorane…” I said. She ran to me and embraced me.

“They are okay I can feel it.” I couldn’t help a blush; a nude woman was hugging me.

“Okay okay. Let’s just finish the mission.” I said

“Right.” She let go of me and the focus look in her eyes came back.

That must be it that must be why I feel so concerned about Fluttershy, and anyone else if they got injured; unlike back on Durandel where it’s the opposite, the reverse in balanced polarities of harmony and disharmony must be why this place is peaceful...Well; peaceful on the surface as opposed to down here. I suppose Tartarus is like a hell for Equestria.

“It’s over here” Twilight said. I looked up, she was about 40 paces behind me. I made my way over and she said “I’m getting a bit tired, which is strange. It’s probably this form; it seems like using magic takes a lot out of me.” I was about to comment on Mana Flows from Durandel but decided not to for now. She cast the same beam spell and destroyed the last anomaly. “Okay let’s get back to the portal.”

It was several minutes later when we got back to the first area with the faint red glow from the portal. By the time we got there Twilight could no longer keep up as she exhausted her energy and Mana maintaining her subtle purple light, and dispelled it. I simply carried her, despite her arguing that she can still walk. I ignored her and continued to the source of the red light.

“Hmm how are we going to get up there?” I said. The ceiling of the cave was a good five or so paces above my head. It seemed to be just close enough to get Twilight through if she stood on my shoulders. “Twilight can you stand?” I asked her.

“Yes that’s why you should put me down!” Twilight said.

“No no, I’m going to put you on my shoulders, you need to stand up and reach your hands inside the portal.”

“Put me on your WHAT and reach my WHAT?” She asked, completely ignorant about human anatomy.

I sighed “Stand with your back hooves on top of my fore hooves while reaching through the portal with your own fore hooves and try to pull yourself in.” I said.

“I… alright.” She said.

I lifted her up, after her feet were on either of my shoulders, she stood still, squatting on me. Are you serious? This is too much! Finally she slowly stood up straight, sure enough she lifted her hands and suddenly I felt nothing on my shoulders. Now what?

End of Chapter 3

Chapter 4 - Reflections

Chapter 4: Reflections
Lorane

As I was putting all of my concentration into healing the burns on Fluttershy’s side, the little green creature was watching with worry.

“Is there anything I can do to help at all?” he asked again for the fifth time.

“No, little one. I am trying to concentrate right now.” I said.

“Spike. My name is Spike.” He said. “Is she going to be alright?”

“I’m going to be fine” Fluttershy spoke up. “and I’m sure Lorane here knows exactly what she’s doing.”

“Stop talking Fluttershy, you need to save your energy for this healing. My spell only helps the healing process but it’s up to your body to heal itself.” I said. The burn wasn’t the worst I’ve seen but I am not too sure about how ponies handle injuries like this. In fact the fact that it looked charred in the first place worried me to no end until I saw it was her wing that was charred, and her side was singed with a first degree burn. The spell was almost finished, as the burn disappeared quickly I asked “So Fluttershy, your wing… Will your feathers you know, grow back?”

“Oh yes, and I appreciate your concern. The pain is gone now, that is you can stop… if you want to that is.” Fluttershy said.

“I’m not going to stop! What’s wrong with you? You need medical treatment and I don’t see a hospital anywhere.” I said.

“Oh I’m sorry. You know the hospital isn’t too far from here.” Fluttershy said. Her burn was almost completely gone now, it has only been a few minutes, finally a colt who witnessed the whole incident came back, I had told him to get help when Edel ran off, and he was surrounded by three stallions, one with a stethoscope around his neck and wore a white top half of a doctor’s scrubs, with a caramel colored coat and a short brown mane. The other two were completely outfitted in what could be best described as paramedic suits and both held a stretcher on either side.

“Hello I’m Doctor Stable, we’re here to escort miss Fluttershy to the hospital.” said the caramel pony.

“Hello again Dr. Stable” Fluttershy said “Thank you for coming all the way out here for me but I’m feeling much better now.” She definitely wasn’t lying; the burn was completely gone now, and she was only missing a large patch of butter-yellow fur under her wing, which is the most damaged area due to the feathers being burned off. As I stopped the spell I began to think of different spells that would help her wing.

“Fluttershy?! Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash’s voice rang loudly, as I looked she was a good distance away and Regal was right behind her, both flying.

The doctor trotted forward, looked at Fluttershy’s wing and then the patch of missing fur. “This looks like you were suffering from an incredible burn, but it’s completely gone! This is very high class healing I’ve seen in a long time. Young filly what is your name?”

“She’s Lorane. She’s new to ponyville.” Fluttershy said, standing up and smiling.

“Fluttershy! Your wing! What happened?!” Rainbow Dash landed next to us as she nuzzled her friend and looked at the damaged area.

“Oh I’m fine now, thanks to Lorane here.”

I couldn’t think of a spell and looked over at Fluttershy “I’m sorry but I don’t think I know a way to fix your wing.” I said, now thinking of Edel. “Something terrible must’ve gone wrong in there if there was a monster in this place. I’m going to see if Edel is okay. Regal are you coming?” I said as Regal landed next to Rainbow Dash.

“Of course. What happened to Fluttershy? And where is Edel?” Regal asked.

I explained the whole situation as I finished Spike finally spoke up.

“Miss Lorane, thank you for helping our friend. I can tell everypony what happened inside, just minutes before Fluttershy opened the door –”

“Spike let me explain that.”

I looked around to see a purple unicorn trotting in our direction from the library. Edel followed closely behind her, his face bore the expression of victory. The unicorn had a purple mane with a bright pink highlight, and had bangs that covered some her brow but her horn was still exposed. She had a long matching tail, and very deep purple eyes.

“Lorane! Regal!” Edel said. “Fluttershy are you okay?”

A few minutes later we were in the library’s foyer, Edel sat next to me and Regal on his other side. Spike was picking up the books that littered the ground, Rainbow Dash was on the opposite side of the library looking at the front cover of what looked like a novel, Twilight and Fluttershy were talking in front of a makeshift pedestal with a thick black book on it.

“I do know of a spell that can mend your wing, but I’m not sure if it’ll work right away.” Twilight said

“Oh it’s okay really, you don’t have to –” Fluttershy was cut off as Twilight said something and began to cast the spell. A purple aura lit up around her horn followed by a flash of green light that filled the room emanating from Fluttershy’s wing. After the light faded, a few seconds later, her wing sprouted feathers and she looked like as she did before the incident.

“Well I guess the effects were immediate after all.” Twilight said, grinning with pride.

“Thank you Twilight. I feel like a new mare!” Fluttershy said.

“Well now that that’s out of the way, I suppose I owe you all an explanation.” Twilight started. Dash looked up from the book she was looking at, and Edel, Regal and I were looking towards Twilight. I was amazed at the spell she used, and I wanted to remember to ask her how she did that. “Princess Celestia has been very busy lately, and I have started to study other means of travel. As you know there is a teleportation spell, my idea is to create a magical leyline that connects two points with a teleportation spell, virtually creating something I call a Wormhole. However doing this is very difficult, so I decided to try out an easier spell with a similar architecture called Scrying. I can go into a lot of details but I know you guys would get bored, so it essentially creates a sort of window that allows the caster to see a distant area using this window.”

In Durandel the spell she is describing is Far Sight. I have tried this before; it’s much harder than anyone would think. She would make a very talented mage, maybe even an Archmage. I thought.

Twilight walked towards the middle of the room as she continued “I was able to cast this spell multiple times in various locations. Then I got curious and wondered how Tartarus would look. I took a trip to Canterlot a few days ago to borrow this book.” She levitated the black book that was on the pedestal in front of her. “This is an ancient book that only a handful of Druids wrote back before Equestria was founded. They wrote about an ancient land called Tartarus and how evil creatures spawned from the depths. I used this as a guide to find the correct magical leyline for Tartarus, and when I was certain I found it, I casted the scrying spell. However some unknown factors and chaotic energies actually turned the scrying window I created into a portal of sorts.

“As soon as I realized the mistake, that’s then the creature – you saw Edel, and you too Fluttershy – made its move. It attempted to flee Tartarus, it damaged much of the library and Spike began to run away towards the door, then as its arm, as Edel calls it, flew outside I made it recoil back inside and I was able to repel it back into the portal. At this point I realized I needed to find the magical anomalies that bound the portal on this side and the other side of the portal, so that’s when I decided to jump in and find them.” Twilight finished.

“I jumped in on instinct, found Twilight, and helped her find those anomalies. Long story short, let’s just say Tartarus has made an enemy out of me.” Edel said.

“Yes if it wasn’t for Edel here I probably wouldn’t have made it back in one piece.” Twilight added.

Spike looked at Edel and nodded in approval. He then turned to Twilight and said “Can we eat? It’s past lunch time and I haven’t eaten since breakfast!”

“Oh yes. Is everypony hungry?” Twilight asked.

The lunch that was prepared a few minutes later was something to get used to. For one I had a dandelion and hay sandwich, and judging from Edel’s grossed out face, he was the only one who didn’t like the taste of grass and hay. It is different to pony taste buds for sure, for me at least the dandelion tasted sweet with a hint of mint flavor while the hay tasted like dried oats. Regal had a look on his face that was hard to determine if he actually liked the food or not.

“Well I would love to stay and chat but I need to finish practicing and my daily work routine with clearing the skies.” Dash said, then looking at Regal added “I’ll be back though so don’t leave!” and with that she flew out an open window.

“And I need to go too, I need to feed the animals and make sure they are okay. Thank you for lunch Twilight, and I hope you can help out our new friends.” said Fluttershy, as she began to trot to the door. “Oh and please come by my cottage if you need a place to sleep, it would be my pleasure!”

“You’re too kind miss Fluttershy.” Regal said as he began to bite his fourth muffin.

“Yes well… Lorane? You saved my life today, I will have to make it up to you. I’ll see everypony later then!” Fluttershy said and exited through the front door. I am truly glad she turned out to be okay. It seems the pony body heals much faster than humans, so my healing spell is magnified on ponies. That is an excellent fact to know.

“Well now it’s just us.” Twilight started.

“Well miss Twilight Sparkle, let me start by saying how nice it is to meet you. I’m Regal, this is Lorane, and you know Edel already.” Regal said, being as polite as he could. It’s gotten painful for me to listen to him introduce people like this, it’s almost a staple every time we are guests in a castle or in a household, just about anywhere really.

“Well somepony knows good, royal manners. Yes nice to meet you all, now Fluttershy said something about you three needing my help?”

I wondered if I should speak up. Edel usually handled situations like this. But to tell the whole story, the truth would make us sound a little crazy. Then again these ponies seem to be a very accepting community. As Edel began to talk about the events in the castle my mind began to wander elsewhere. I began to think about the past, how we all got here in the first place.

I remember Edel, we grew up together. Well we grew up on the same block at least. I met him on my fifth birthday, my mother and his father were old friends and coworkers at the local weapon factory.

“Lorane this is Edel, he’s uncle Bertram’s son! Say hi.” I remember my mother saying. We were both five.

“H-hello.” I said.

“Dad! A girl? What are we gonna do play dolls?” Edel cried.

After a few glaring looks, Edel and I were playmates for the celebration.

6 years later, on my eleventh birthday was when the first of the Xinon raids started. Xinon was a rivaling nation who wanted control over the continent. The raid on my town was terrible but the militia was able to drive off the invaders, however I lost my mom and dad, Edel also lost both of his parents. Edel’s older brother, Alistair had to take both of us in as guardian until we came of age to fight in the war. When we both turned fourteen it was time for us to enlist in the military cadets. That’s when I learned I was born with high levels of mana which meant I had the capacity to use magic. Alistair had become like a father to me, and he even trained me how to use magic and basic spells. We turned fifteen, Edel was the top of his unit while I was one of the youngest fully fledged mages to ever walk the ranks of the Cadet Infantry Militia. The day of our first mission, Edel and I were placed in the same group: Squad 715, and we were to quietly deal with a small uprising in a village of only 100 inhabitants. However the other tree people in our squad were corrupted and evil, they took advantage of the mainly peaceful village.

Some events unfolded, and we ended up having to kill the other three and to flee in order to save the village. As we got back home we found Alistair had been killed in his sleep in previous day, overwhelmed with grief we fled. We went towards the capital hopefully to find the good King Joseph and maybe he could see our loss and why we chose to kill the other three members of our squad. The night we left however, as we were lost in an infamous forest, we found a young man, naked and with no memory of who he is or where he came from. He wound up following us, even saving our lives from a warg, so we adopted him into our group and continued travelling. The man we found, in fact, is sitting in this room with us. Regal, the name we gave him based on his ‘regal’ demeanor, to this day still has no idea where he came from or what he was doing in that forest. The only thing strange about him is his strange connection with the paranormal and he becomes a completely different person, that is, he adopts a whole different persona when he is in a corner and death seems imminent. All the while Durandel is at war. The war continues to this day.

“Lorane? Equestria to Lorane!”

I looked up, snapping out of my flashbacks. Edel, Regal and Twilight were all looking at me. “Hey she’s back!” Twilight said “Well you three are in quite a strange predicament it seems. Having been from a different reality than ours, I wonder how many culture shocks you have experienced!”

“Um, not too many. Lorane seems to be adapting the best of us like I was saying.” Edel said.

“Well since this ‘Gladius’ bad guy sent you here to be imprisoned it seems, I need to research more about alternate dimensions and realities. If we are to get you back home there’s a need to haste about this isn’t there? If he is as scary as you say, then your home is in danger if he’s heading in that direction. Assuming there is no time difference between here and there it’s been a full day-and-a-half correct?” Twilight said. I nodded as she continued “Well I just so happen to have a book about something similar to your ‘Gate’ in Durandel called a dimensional rift. However it’s a natural occurring phenomena and it’s extremely rare and nearly impossible to predict where it will show up.”

“That sounds promising.” I said.

“We need to keep our eyes peeled.” Edel whispered.

“For what?” I whispered.

“Edel didn’t mention that Gladius was going to come looking for us. Remember what he said?” Regal whispered.

I did remember. He said when he finds the Stones he will let us out. But if he doesn’t, he will find us and kill us. I gulped. Somepony – I mean somebody that evil entering Equestria… I really don’t like the thought of that!

“We need to get away from Ponyville. When he comes wherever we are will be in danger.” Edel continued “As soon as we get any sign that he’s here we will have to be ready and expect the worse. Who knows when this will be.”

“Why don’t you just tell princess Celestia?”

All three of us flinched and we looked down to see Spike was listening in on us.

“What? Tell who about what? We weren’t saying anything!” Edel said with a sheepish smile.

“I heard every word you said you know. If you’re in danger just tell princess Celestia. She’ll protect you.” Spike said with a dull look. “Twilight, should I write a letter about this? …Twilight?”

Twilight was concentrating on a book, reading.

“No we can’t let anypony get hurt because of our presence here. Regal, Lorane, let’s go now.” Edel said flatly.

“Now?” I said. I agreed with Edel but I kind of wanted to stay. This place is peaceful, almost a utopia. However I trotted behind them out the door. It was almost night time, the sun was just setting over the horizon.

“I’ll fly ahead, let’s head back where we came from, I believe south-east.” Regal said and with a heave jumped in the air and flew in the direction we were going.

We continued on a steady gallop, losing sight of Regal as the sun went down completely. We were a good distance away from Ponyville now, on the edge of the Everfree Forest. “I still don’t see Regal. Should I send sparks in the air to give him a signal?” I said.

“Yeah. We haven’t had any hostilities so far except that Scintillian, I think we are safe enough to sleep here.” With that answer I sent orange embers flares in the air, bright enough to light the surrounding area for a few seconds. A minute later Regal landed next to us.

“There you are! How far ahead did you go?” I asked.

“I just went to scout the forest, it seems more… alive at night. I would suggest someone stay awake and keep watch if we sleep here.” Regal replied. Edel grunted.

“Fine I’ll take first watch. Regal you get second, go to sleep now and I’ll wake you in a few hours.” Edel said. He then began to trot around the immediate area.

“Well goodnight then.” I said. I fell asleep almost instantly, beginning to dream about what it would be like to live in Ponyville.

End of chapter 4

Chapter 5 - A Strange Land & Manifestation

Chapter 5: A Strange Land & Manifestation
Xion & Regal

I opened my eyes. Something was not right, something didn’t feel right.

“Solem? Glacious?” I called.

After a second Solem’s voice answered “Yeah I’m here. I think I’m blind or something. Dammit.”

“I am experiencing a loss of vision too. It might be a side effect of traversing the Gate.” Glacious said.

I knew I was lying down, I moved my head up, it felt extremely numb. My whole body was numb. Gladius had wanted us to hunt down Edel and his friends, that much was certain. After saying that much, the legendary Gate appeared behind him, and we were sucked into the Gate. I blinked several times, feeling my eyes open but seeing nothing but darkness.

“Okay so we are all blind or we are in a dark room.” I said. I focused my senses trying to initiate my Factus Umbra technique, but I was having an extremely difficult time focusing. “I can’t even sense the shadows here.” I spat. I moved my numb arm, hitting the solid ground with a thump.

“It appears we have been shape shifted.” Glacious said.

“What? What do you mean?” Solem asked.

“It means we are no longer humans.” Said Glacious after moving a little bit to my ears it sounded like he was bulkier than he usually was; which could only mean…

I moved my legs, they were heavier and furrier. “I’m an animal. Great.” I said, as I got to my feet, I lost my balance and fell over. “Son of a – Solem make some light already!”

“I already tried, boss, my magic isn’t manifesting here. Plus my hands are asleep so I can’t cast any mana-type spells anyway.” Solem said flatly.

“Did you fall Xion? Try to get in a crawling position.” Glacious said responding to the sound of my rear hitting the ground.

As I did, it felt very natural. “Are we quad-pedal now?”

“It seems so. This numbness, and the fact that we can’t use magic anymore I’d say we were horses or some other creature with hooves.” Glacious said, accompanied with the sound of hooves hitting the ground.

“Are you serious? How are we supposed to fight those kids without magic or hands?!” Solem shouted, causing the ground to shake a little and rumbling and an echo followed his shout.

“We’re in a cave, with no exit.” Glacious said in a bored tone.

“I assumed as much, captain obvious.” I said with a bubble in my throat.

“Okay then let’s just kick our way out. You said we were horses right? Let’s just, you know, buck the walls.” Solem said quieter.

“Buck? What the hell is that? How do you ‘buck’ something?” I snorted.

“I don’t know it sounded right. And I had in mind kicking the wall with our back legs.” Solem replied.

Apparently Glacious was already on it, as there was a dull thud followed by rumbling.

“There you go! Xion come on! Glacious where are you?”

“Over here Solem.” Glacious responded. I walked – err trotted in the direction where Glacious’ voice came from. After hitting the dirt wall with my nose, apparently I had a muzzle, I turned and… bucked the wall. All three of us kept at it until finally there was light, or at least moonlight, that filled the small cave we were in. I looked around, to my left was a small horse, more accurate; a pony. He was dark blue with blue eyes, with a sky-blue and white trimmed mane and tail. He wore Glacious’ cape, bracelets, glasses and long chin-beard. He also had a horn.

“Glacious… You’re a freaking unicorn!” I said and quickly looked to my right. “HOLY CRAP!” I shouted as I looked at Solem the giant.

He was still not as big as a horse, but towering over me and Glacious. He was light-red had his freckles and his red eyes, as well as a horn, and also had a scarlet and dark-red mane and tail.

“Haha! Xion we should call you Spike from now on! I know you like your hair spikey but that is ridiculous!” Solem laughed.

I took a hand – I mean hoof, and ran it through my hai – mane! It was indeed spikey, almost to a cartoonish extreme.

I was a little let down as I didn’t feel a horn. “How come you guys get to be unicorns and I’m just a regular pony?”

“Does it matter? Come on let’s start looking for Edel.” Glacious said coldly.

“One question, without magic and without any way of tracking, how are we going to find them? Plus we don’t even know if they are ponies too, and if they are it only gets worse because now they look different too!” Solem asked, raising my anger

“Shut up let’s just start looking. We won’t find them here in this cave obviously.” I glanced behind me to make sure the hollow was empty “So our only choice is to go out in this strange land.”

As we trotted out of the cave, I noticed the moon directly overhead. It was midnight and we had no destination, no plan.

“Glacious shouldn’t we find civilization first?” I asked

“For all we know people here aren’t ponies. If they aren’t I’m not sure they would welcome two talking unicorns and a pony. I recommend stealth, as usual.”

“Great. I feel a lot less nimble in this body, this is going to be a hard mission… So the plan is to find civilization, stay stealthy, and find out if they are friendly or ponies.” I concluded.

“Seems that way.” said Solem “You know, I’m hungry. Why don’t we find some food?”

I sighed. Can we eat what we usually eat or do ponies have a different digestive system? Figuring all of this out was going to give me a lot of headaches. There were lights in the distance, a rather small town with what looked like a train taking off from the town.

“There is our destination.” Glacious said.

A few minutes passed as we rapidly approached the town, we found galloping was much faster than the speed we were used to as humans running. We were on the outskirts of town when we saw another pony at a well filling a bucket with water. That one observation completely nullified Glacious’ thoughts of there being non-ponies in this world, as it seemed ponies were the ruling race, and were the basis of civilization. We approached the pony casually.

“Hello.” I said.

The pony took one look at us and screamed “Robbers! No don’t hurt me! Aieeeee!” and she took off towards the center of town.

“Smooth with the ladies as always.” Solem remarked.

“Well wait a second. It’s our clothes. Look at how we’re dressed, and it’s past midnight, of course we would look like gang bangers to her.” Glacious stated.

“I’m not taking off my clothes, I don’t have a change.” I said. I looked over at Solem who was completely naked. “Wait… Solem what happened to your clothes?”

“No idea. It actually feels nice, the extra breeze, and it feels natural. I don’t think ponies wear clothes normally, I mean didn’t you see that mare?” Solem said.

“‘Mare’? Are you serious Solem?” I said.

“Well it’s true. Let’s look for them tomorrow, and get some food and sleep for now.” Solem suggested.

“I am getting tired too, Xion. I think we should forage for some food and camp out on the outskirts.” Glacious said. “There were some cherry trees nearby; I think it would be safe to assume ponies can eat cherries.”

“Fine, let’s go fill up on cherries, and get some sleep since you two are such big babies.” I said.

As we were heading back to the outskirts of this town I noticed a sign near the dirt road that read ‘Welcome to Dodge City’. Well at least we know something about this world.

I was galloping through the wilderness at full speed. Trees and thickets rushing through my peripherals. I needed to keep going… ‘Don’t look back!’ It has to be closing in… ‘NO!’ I turned my head, ignoring my brain. There it was. The monster that’s been haunting me since before I can remember, a huge golem the size of a castle guard tower, it was closing in on me and fast, even as a pony. ‘Wait I have wings!’ I remembered the muscles Rainbow Dash had made me feel, I jumped and opened my wings, flapping very hard as I took off, covering more ground, the path in front of me a straight line, I felt the wind in my mane. ‘I should be losing him now’ I looked back. It was closer than before I took off. ‘Impossible!’

“Nameless one. Come and accept your fate. Your master commands it.” The monster taunted me.

‘Should I turn and face it? I’ve been running from this creature for as long as I remember but I’m not strong enough. I’ve never been strong enough. I’m weak just like when Edel and Lorane found me. I’ll always be weak. Always.’ I stopped flying, giving up.

“Yes. Now meet your fate”

‘NO!’ Everything turned white.

“Regal! Wake up! Oh jeeze he’s in a freaking coma isn’t he?” Edel’s voice echoed.

I woke up eyes wide.

“Oh good you’re up. Listen you take over watch, so far it’s been quiet. I’m going to sleep, wake me up when the sun rises.” Edel said, turning towards the campfire.

“Sure.” I said. I have had that same dream once a week since before I can remember, but it never got that far. Tonight was strangely cool, and noticing I could hear a lot more than usual.

I felt strange. All of my senses were all sensitive. I could hear the clopping sound of Edel’s hooves hitting the soft dirt as he walked, smell the burning wood as well as hear the firewood cracking from the campfire 40 paces away, see the few squirrels in the trees in their nests. I could feel a slight warmth from the campfire as well as a tiny zephyr from the beyond the trees. I opened my wings, jumping first then flapping a couple of times to get airborne. I spotted a cloud, and landed on it to get a good view of the camp.

The fire was clearly visible, the clearing below that held the camp was a little hidden from the main road that led towards Fluttershy’s cottage and Ponyville. I looked up at the moon. It was setting like the sun, which meant it would be dawn in a couple of hours. Edel must’ve stayed up longer to let me get more sleep... That was thoughtful of him. Out of nowhere I heard rustling and soft thumps on dirt from below, very close to the camp. I looked down, not seeing anything, and the noise ceased very quickly. My ears perked up in the direction of the camp, looking for any sudden movements. The campfire’s crackling may be drowning out the noise. Finally deciding, I glided down from the cloud to just a few paces in front of the campfire, feeling intense warmth.

I continued to scan the surrounding trees, seeing nothing until my eyes caught the campfire light reflected off two eyes before disappearing suddenly. Predators. We are being stalked. Continuing to wait for the creature to make a move, I folded up my wings and silently trotted next to Lorane and Edel. I sat down and closed my eyes, focusing my mind on my other senses.

“You aren’t going to make a move are you?”

A deep voice made my eyes shoot open, my heart racing very fast, pumping blood at a high rate causing me to jump on my hooves and my wings spread upward. Looking around, I heard the deep voice as if it were right in front of me. It sounded familiar, perhaps like a long lost friend… or enemy, but I was certain I’ve never heard it before.

“Who’s there?!” I said, a lot louder than I meant to.

Silence returned my call. I was getting beginning to let fear grip me, losing my strange heightened senses. Some kind of animal or predator was close, waiting for my guard to drop like this, at the same time that voice completely enfeebled me. I blinked a few times as I continued to look all around for the source of the voice.

“Whoever you are, leave us alone!” I cried. Lorane began to stir from her sleep.

“Regal?” She started before yawning.

Her voice made me jump and I looked at her, she was stretching and arching her back. “Lorane! I’m sorry I didn’t mean to wake you.” I said quickly.

“Who are you talking to? I don’t see anypony…” Lorane said.

“I’m here.”

My senses died for a second, hearing nothing, feeling nothing, my vision flashed an opaque white before everything returned again. My heart was now racing faster than ever, my instincts telling me to run. It felt like the dream.

“Lorane take over.” I said before flying away, not waiting for a response.

I flew for a few minutes. Not knowing which way I was going, my instincts were telling me to go this way. The night sky would’ve been nice to look at if I wasn’t terrified out of my mind; I looked down seeing a small castle that was in ruins. I immediately began to glide closer; I felt like it was calling for me, something was making me want to go there, as my heart began to slow to a normal rate.

I landed on the rooftop of a large dome-like structure of the ruins. The dome itself looked like it was recently constructed to cover the building, but it was incomplete. There was an opening in the dome, and I found myself going inside. The inside was not as dark as I expected, thanks to the brilliant moonlight; the ground was made of marble and granite, columns lined the walls some overgrown with vines and some broken and eroded, and broken windows were all around the walls, save the few that still had glass and stain glass. In the middle of the room was another structure, a shrine perhaps, that had empty pedestals held all around it surrounded a stone orb. However behind this strange structure was a statue of a strange looking creature and a large piece of rectangular furniture covered with a long, thick white quilt, stitched on it were ponies, but then upon closer inspection I realized they were not ponies. Images of quad-pedal creatures similar to ponies, only instead of where the neck was, it extended into a torso, and a human-like head. Arms stretched out each image had a bow-and-arrow.

Centaurs? I turned to the statue. It was very tall and thin, it sat on its tail and, upon looking closer I noticed it looked like a strange patchwork creature composed of different animals. It had a right bear claw, a left eagle talon, right leg of a lizard, a left leg of a goat, and it’s tail looked like a dragon’s tail. The head was a horse, and it bore a shocked expression, looking to its left, and it’s tongue sticking out. I looked at it for a while until I heard it again, only a lot more clear.

“I’m still here you know.”

Again my senses failed only for two seconds now, my vision went white again for two seconds before returning suddenly. “Who are you? Did you bring me here?” I said.

“Over here. Move the quilt.”

My senses failed again. When my vision returned I moved toward the quilt. It seems like it keeps happening when I hear it.

It took a little bit of effort, but I discovered it was much easier to pull off when I flew in the air clenching the quilt between my teeth. As it came off the large rectangular object shifted, threatening to fall. I realized it was a mirror, seeing the reflection of the room, I moved to look at it, see my reflection as a pony for the first time. After dropping the quilt next to the statue of the patchwork creature, I landed in front of the mirror and jumped back in surprise when I saw a human staring back at me. The human was young, had short blue hair, unnatural lavender colored eyes, and he wore white mage robes. He had a birthmark visible on his forehead in the middle of his temple. When I saw him spoke I realized where I had heard the voice from; the unstoppable Golem in my dream.

“Hello nameless one.”

My senses didn’t fail this time. “Who are you? Why are you calling me that?”

“What? I’m you of course.”

This wasn’t making any sense. “What are you talking about?”

“I mean exactly what I said. You are me, and I am you. For the past 300 years I’ve waited for you to get strong enough to manifest.”

“What?” I didn’t believe a word of this. This has got to be a trick. It’s a demon trying to get in my head. Just stay calm and -

“I am not a demon. You are much closer to a demon than I. You are nameless, but my name is Kabel, or more infamously Kael. I became very powerful, like your current day Gladius. However he obtained one thing I wanted: immortality. I looked for a way to preserve my own life, as I did live longer than all the other humans, I still became victim to time. Growing old was my only downfall. I thought of a plan for my own resurrection; create an artificial body and use it as my vessel. The plan failed, but I wound up creating you, however imperfect, but you had no way to age. I poured my soul into your being, giving you life. However you were too weak to hold my soul, so you wandered the world as a non-aging being, but with the mind of an infant.

As your mind matured somehow, after many years, I was able to slowly sneak some of my power in you. Upon meeting Edel, your mind began to make memories. Building a name for yourself as this ‘Regal’ character as pathetic as it seemed, but I was still there. I was always there. When you were backed into a corner, and it was life or death for you and your friends, you had an opening of which I could take control for an instant. In order to preserve my soul I saved your life time after time. But now you are just about strong enough, thanks to Edel and Lorane by the way, for my soul to finally move in and take this age-less body for myself.”

“That’s not going to happen!”

“You don’t have a choice.”

Before I could turn and flee my mind went blank.

End of Chapter 5

Chapter 6 - The Face of Adventure

Chapter 6: The Face of Adventure
Edel & Regal

A sudden explosion followed by an intense wave of heat woke me with a start. I opened my eyes, to see the night sky. To my right, the campfire now a small ember, stood Lorane. In front of her was a small crater in the ground and beyond that, four creatures stood locked in a stare at Lorane. The creatures looked like they were made from sticks and twigs, almost like a forest sprite from Durandel, but they were shaped like wolves. The wooden wolves began to spread apart and I noticed three more came out of the forest edge behind Lorane.

“Lorane there are three behind you!” I cried as I got up. I began to look for my sword out of a force of habit before realizing I didn’t have a weapon. Carefully watching the other three I began to slowly trot in Lorane’s direction. Within moments another three wolves came out from the forest edge in front of Lorane, and we stood together back to back, or in this case flank to flank.

“Edel these creatures have a natural resistance to magic. My spell I cast earlier didn’t set them ablaze, it only knocked them back.”

“That’s great, just what we need. Lorane I want you to run. I will fight them off while you find Regal and get back to Ponyville. Quickly though, without a sword I’m not sure how long I can take them.” I said.

“No. You need my magic. We can think of something.” Lorane protested.

Dammit Regal. Where did you go?

One of the wolves howled as four of them rushed us. Two coming my way, I attempted to jump forward and use my weight as an advantage to strike one with my fore hooves, but I am not nearly as nimble as a pony, and the wolf easily dodged my attack and countered by biting the side of my neck. Pain radiated from my neck, and then from my left foreleg as the other one bit down hard. Hearing explosions from Lorane’s side, I thrashed around trying to shake off the wolves as two others jumped in the fray. I need a weapon! I thought as the one on my foreleg let go as I kicked it. I noticed it went tumbling several paces, and realizing my kicks are very strong; I am a pony after all. I rolled on the ground, forcing the other wolf to release my neck, as the other two were running towards me, in one motion I forced all of my weight on my fore hooves, and kicked the other wolf with all of my strength, knocking it back even farther than the first wolf, hitting a tree with a solid thud, before going motionless.

Another few explosions echoed into the forest as I glanced at Lorane, who was in much better condition than I; she had forced the first two to flee into the forest and three more began to charge at her. I looked back, the third wolf upon me, I went for a sweep with my back left leg. It connected, as well as its teeth on my leg. This one had a lot more strength as the pain caused me to lose balance and fall. The fourth one dove at me, aiming for my exposed neck. This is it. This is how I die. As a pony, being held down by a wooden wolf, as another wooden wolf rips my windpipe open. I closed my eyes, waiting for it to happen, as I heard a swooshing sound, followed by me being hit by the wolf’s full weight, as if it decided to tackle me instead.

I opened my eyes to see the wolf was on top of me, but it was headless! The pain in my back leg was gone, as I looked the other wolf had released me and was looking at two other ponies, as was Lorane. Visible by the campfire and the several embers on the ground from Lorane’s fire, were two pegasi. The one that caught my eye first had an orange-gold coat. I could tell it was female because of her eyelashes, and her lavender eyes bore a furious expression. Her mane was back with streaks of gray. She had an explorer’s hat on, as well as a jacket with many pockets. The second one was a younger looking Pegasus with a sky-blue coat, dark blue mane slicked back, and wings outstretched, with an impressive looking blade in its mouth. I honestly couldn’t tell if it was a male or female at this point.

“Are you two okay?” The orange Pegasus spoke with a forceful voice.

Before we could answer the blue Pegasus began to hit the blade onto a rock making a loud metallic banging noise. The rest of the wolves began to look intimidated and a second later, fled back into the forest. I was shocked and speechless. How could two pegasi just rout an entire pack of those wolves without breaking a sweat while I almost died and Lorane’s magic wasn’t doing much to stop them?

“Thank you so much! You saved us!” Lorane started. “What were those things?”

“Those were Timberwolves. Nasty predators who hunt in packs at night. We were nearby when we heard explosions, so I thought we’d check it out, and we found you two being overwhelmed so we thought we’d lend a hoof.” The orange Pegasus replied.

“Who are you?” I asked, keeping my eye on the blue Pegasus with the weapon.

“The name’s Daring Do. This is my pupil, Strato Sky, and we are adventurers.” She said casually.

“It is nice to meet you.” Strato Sky spoke up. It was a young male, as I guessed.

“Hi. I’m Lorane and this is Edel.” Lorane said as I got up.

Feeling woozy I limped back to the campfire, before being stopped by Daring Do.

“You’re hurt.” She said plainly. “Strato get over here, let’s put your first aid skills to the test.”

Strato Sky trotted to us as Daring Do was rummaging through saddle bags I just noticed were on either side of her, using a wing to hold open the flap. I noticed the mark on her flank, it looked like a green compass with a golden four-way pointer.

“I can’t help but notice how ponies have markings on their, um… flanks. What do they mean?” I asked, as Strato began placing a bandage on my wounds.

“You’ve never been taught about the cutie marks?” Daring asked, looking surprised. “Hm well I guess if you honestly don’t know I could tell you.” Lorane trotted forward, and sat next to me. I guess she wanted to know too. “Everypony has a cutie mark. Well we aren’t born with it, but when we obtain it, it’s usually a unique mark given to us by the grace of Celestia herself, or at least indirectly of course. It usually is a reference to one of three things; a personality trait, a special talent, or a personal interest. Mine represents my special talent; I’m very good at not getting lost. I have my bearings wherever I go.” I looked at my flank in response; it was covered by the armor I was wearing. I was curious what I had, but I had to look later. I looked at Strato Sky’s flank, his mark was a figure of clouds with wings out on either side.

“What does yours mean?” I asked him.

“It represents my ability to fly higher than any other Pegasus. I’ve been past the stratosphere and almost on the edge of the atmosphere of Equestria. Though it was dangerous, I almost suffocated, and I would have if I kept going.” He said, after biting off a piece of the bandage he wrapped around my back leg.

“What are you guys doing out here?” I asked, curious about their ‘adventuring’.

“Why don’t you tell us what you’re doing out here first?” Daring replied.

“Well, we’re heading south. It’s a long story but we need to stay away from other towns.” Lorane said. I gave her a look.

“Fugitives eh? Well I won’t say anything to anypony. We were just waking up from adventuring near the Rumbling Rock Ridge to the east, our next stop is Ponyville just for some supplies, and I guess a book signing. I am rather famous thanks to one of my old companions writing about my adventures, but after that, we need to find a new lead.” Daring answered.

“Well I need to get back to Cloudsdale, my sister is sick and I need to use the bits I’ve gathered from this last tomb raid to buy her some medicine.” Strato added. He looked rather worried and anxious to leave.

“That’s right. Well, Edel, Lorane; maybe we will meet again. Best of luck wherever you’re going!” And they began to fly off.

“Thanks again!” Lorane called after them. I winced as I saw a peek of sunlight bleed through the trees.

“So much for some sleep.” I commented. “We need to find Regal, what happened?”

“Well I woke up, he was talking to himself. Then he told me to take over watch and just flew off in that direction.” She pointed with her hoof, into the forest.

“Let’s go looking for him. Could you leave a message for him in case he comes back?” I asked.

Without answering she closed her eyes and a beam of light emanated from her horn. She began to trace letters into the ground, searing the dirt as she wrote a message that read ‘Regal, we went looking for you. Stay here, we will return by nightfall’. When she finished she looked at me and nodded.

“Let’s go.” I said.

As we left the camp, she extinguished the flames she caused from the battle earlier, but leaving the campfire alone. We galloped through the forest in the direction Lorane pointed earlier when she saw Regal take off. As we galloped she said “Are you sure you’re okay with that leg? That bite looked really nasty.”

The subtle throb of pain in my leg was barely noticeable. “It’s not that bad. I’ve had worse injuries you know that.” I said, remembering the particular incident when I had to traverse a good 2 miles on a broken foot, among other broken bones, while carrying an unconscious Lorane.

“Well my healing magic worked extremely well on Fluttershy, I am guessing ponies heal much faster than humans. So why not let me try it on your legs and neck?”

“Shouldn’t you save your mana energy? We don’t have any potions…” I protested.

“No. Unicorns seem to have an unlimited amount of energy. It’s not mana-based so it’s not as strong or potent, but I can keep casting without resting for a long time.” She said. Without hesitation she shot a beam of white light from her horn hitting my legs, as we were still running. She kept at it for a few seconds until the pain in my legs completely stopped. I also felt that the bite marks on the side of my neck were gone.

“Incredible.” I commented as we kept going, moving out of the way of thickets and trees. Suddenly we found ourselves in a clearing of the forest with ruins of a castle completely visible. “I wonder if Equestria has Golems. Ruins like this would surely draw a lot of them here.” I wondered, looking at the ruins. It was mostly covered in moss and vines from the surrounding forest. Nearby I spotted a rope bridge leading to the main dirt road across a small ravine.

Would he have gone in these ruins by himself? Maybe he took the road… no he flew off he didn’t walk off. The ruins might be our best bet.

“I don’t think he would’ve just gone into some random ruins in the middle of a dense forest.” Lorane said.

I looked at her about to say what I thought until I saw him emerging from the ruins behind her. “Regal!” I cried.

Lorane turned around. “Regal! Why did you fly off like that?” She said as we galloped up to him. I noticed his horn was complete like Lorane’s.

“So you fixed your horn? What was in there?” I asked him.

He merely looked at me for a few seconds before answering “Nothing interesting. I felt something calling me, and I found a statue of a strange creature. I sensed evil from the statue, so I turned to leave, but was ambushed by a swarm of creatures called changelings… It wasn’t too hard to repel them, but when the battle was over I realized my horn was somehow fixed, and now here we are.” Regal said.

“Well that’s great. We have to get far away before Gladius finds us. It’s going to be sooner or later, but when he finds us…” Lorane started before being interrupted by a look from Regal.

“I’ve been meaning to ask about that. Why do you think he healed my broken leg before he sent us here?” Regal asked.

“…I’m not sure. Why do you wonder now? I mean it’s been like three days since we’ve gotten here.” I replied.

“Think about it. Why would he heal me if he meant imprison us here? I don’t think we have much to worry about. In fact I am positive we have nothing to worry about. I think we should head back to Ponyville and see if Twilight can help us. She seemed to be on to something with the different leylines of this world’s unique mana-like flows of energy. If I can somehow learn more I think I might have an idea or two for her to try and open a similar Gate here…” He trailed off.

“Regal? I didn’t think you knew what she was talking about in the library… Why didn’t you speak up earlier?” Lorane said, adding “I didn’t even know what she was talking about half the time.”

“Oh I was just thinking to myself, assessing the situation. But I’m going back to Ponyville.” Regal said flatly.

I thought for a second. I am not sure if it’s a good idea, but he is right. Why would Gladius heal him if he meant for us to die or be imprisoned. Actually he didn’t straight up say we were imprisoned, he only said ‘Something like that’ when we asked about it. “Okay Regal. I don’t want to put any of those ponies in danger but maybe you’re right. Let’s see if we can learn more about these ‘Leylines and energy flows’ from Twilight.” I said.

“It’s decided.” Regal replied. I noticed a strange look on his face, a look of hunger? It was hard to read, as Regal’s face usually is. But it was certainly out of the ordinary.

Suddenly I was aware. I looked around; I was apparently staring at a great rectangle before me. I was still in the ruins; the rectangle had jagged edges of what looked like glass around the inside edges. On the other side of the rectangle I saw the statue of the strange creature. I tried to walk through the rectangle only to hit an invisible wall. I blinked. I can’t remember what happened. How did I get on this side of this thing? The last thing I remembered was looking through this window… Suddenly I remembered.

I turned around, to see an exact copy of the room behind me, only instead of the statue, the creature itself was sitting on a throne in the same spot. It had an amused expression on its face as it smiled at me, as if he were waiting for me to turn around.

“Well, well, well. You must be the ‘Regal’ character that annoying human wouldn’t shut up about.” It spoke. It’s voice was deep and kind of soothing, but amused and serious at the same time.

“Who are you? What are you? What’s going on here?” I asked a little frightened.

“Then allow me to introduce myself. I am Discord, spirit of Chaos, or avatar of Disharmony which ever you prefer. I am a draconequus. And you, my friend -” He vanished for a second before reappearing at my side, making me jump out of surprise “-have been had.”

I looked down and to my surprise I no longer had hooves. I stared at two bare feet, my long blue hair hanging off my head. I noticed there were broken shards of glass on the ground; each shard shimmered with a dark aura.

“What do you mean I’ve been had?” I asked looking up at him.

“This Kael guy had a special bond with your physical body, his spirit followed you around everywhere, whether he wanted to or not, he was pretty much your invisible and weightless ball and chain. However, as soon as you were transported here to Equestria your physical body changed, as well as some of your special attributes. This freed his spirit from your body, but instead of possessing an empty body, he found that he couldn’t. Equestria is full of magic and mystery, including you – you somehow developed your own soul.”

Discord gave it a second to sink in. A soul? So it’s true? I was only a created human, no, monster that didn’t age? An empty vessel only meant for his return? I looked up at Discord, one of his whiskery eyebrows raised as he stared at me with a smile on his face.

“You see, the whole shocker is, you, right here -” he gestured with his lion paw and eagle talon at me as a person, outlining me, “- should not exist. I bet even old Kael doesn’t realize what has happened. Once he took control, you were supposed to inherit his powers and memories but have no control. But instead you are here where he was, and he is out there with your friends.”

“Out there? Wait where are we?”

“Oh this? We are in a kind of limbo right now. My physical body was turned to stone as you saw out there, and you are merely a raw soul without a body. That mirror was the only way out of here, but when he took your body he cast some weird human spell that shattered the thing.” Discord said looking peeved. “He did that probably in spite of me. But he doesn’t know what I’m capable of. Tell me, Regal, would you like to see what they’re up to?”

“Well of course, but if we’re stuck in this room I don’t think it’s possible.”

“Like I said, I am the spirit of Chaos. I can get us out of here in a second, though no one can see us and we can’t interact with anypony.” He snapped two lion claws and there was a bright light, suddenly we were both flying in the air, the sun was up, and I looked down to see Edel, Lorane, and Kael in my body, galloping towards Ponyville. I noticed I had no control over what I was doing. I looked over and saw Discord grinning. “Don’t worry. I’ll handle all the moving.” Whether I wanted to or not, I was going to see what was going on.

We continued to gallop towards Ponyville. It was pretty uneventful until a voice shouted “I found them! They’re coming out of the Everfree Forest!” I looked up to see a bluish-gray Pegasus with a blonde mane overhead who was shouting in the direction we were going. Then a second later Rainbow Dash landed in front of us forcing us to stop.

“Where were you?! I thought I told you to stay at the library! Do you have any idea how worried we were?!” She shouted at as.

“We… we’re sorry!” Lorane started.

“Yeah I guess we overthought our situation and –” Regal began but Rainbow Dash continued.

“I don’t care. And you!” She pointed a hoof at Regal “I trusted you even though you lied to me. I knew you lied about your story, and told you to stay put. That was so… uncool.”

A few other pegasi came down and hovered next to Rainbow Dash, awaiting orders it seemed. She dismissed them and turned back to us, studying us with her magenta eyes.

“We decided it would be in our best interest to help Twilight study the Scrying spell she was talking about.” I said.

“Good. Come on let’s go now.” She said almost immediately after I finished talking.

We trotted at a fast pace to keep up with her as she hovered overhead. “Why were you looking for us?” Regal asked.

“We were worried. We told our friend you were new to Ponyville, so she had this huge party planned, but you three vanished. Fluttershy didn’t know where you were, Twilight loses herself when she starts reading books, so she didn’t even know you left until I asked where you were.” Dash said, trying to hide it but she sounded hurt.

“A party?” Lorane and I said in unison.

“That’s right. Pinkie Pie is the best pony in Ponyville who plans parties, and she always throws a bash when new ponies come to Ponyville.” She said. “No more questions. I’m just going to drop you off at the library and leave. I have more important things to do anyway.” She finished.

I felt bad. Something happened with her and Regal during the flying lesson, but I wasn’t sure what it was. A lie? What did he tell her? I looked at Regal who was simply staring forward as we trotted.

When we finally reached the Library, Rainbow dash left after Twilight welcomed us in. Spike waved casually as we entered and went back to cleaning up books and parchment that littered the ground.

“It’s none of my business really. Whatever you three did last night is between the three of you. Now if you want to help with this…” Twilight said, and opened a large green book.

“Twilight I meant to ask you earlier about the Leylines of this world.” Regal started.

She looked up, with an excited expression and replied “Yes? I’d be happy to answer any question!”

“Quite studious aren’t you? Alright well our world has a different energy flow than what I can feel here. Our energy is called Mana, and has a very distinct feeling. The energy in this world feels a little bit similar but not entirely. I have experience with Leylines of Mana and Pseudo Mana, both are similar in pinpointing energy fluxuations and I once used this to find magical anomalies –”

As Regal continued to talk, I lost interest. He was a mage like Lorane, but I had no idea what he was talking about. I looked around the room, and saw an interesting looking book, a novel and it looked exciting. I picked it up, and to my surprise I saw Daring Do. I then remembered her saying she was making a stop in Ponyville.

“Twilight! Sorry Regal for interrupting, but Twilight, may I borrow this book?” I asked holding up the book with Daring Do on the cover.

“Of course, it’s a good read. I got Rainbow Dash to read it, and she loves it!” Twilight beamed.

“Thank you. I’ll be right back.” I said.

“Edel where are you going?” Lorane asked.

“Shh, just pay attention. They are talking mage stuff, and I’m no mage. I’ll be back okay?” I replied. Out of impulse I stretched my neck out and pecked her on the cheek before trotting outside. As I got about 30 paces from the door I began to blush.

Why the hell did I just kiss her? I looked down; I didn’t get to think much of it when I ran into a pony, dropping my book, and the pony dropped a small sack of apples.

“Oh I’m sorry! I wasn’t looking where I was going!” I said as I picked up the apples and placed them in the fallen sack.

“Think nothing of it sugarcube. Ah was on mah’ way to meet mah’ friend at Sugarcube Corner.” She said with an obvious southern accent. Noticing my book she added “Well shoot y’all like Daring Do too? I’m meeting my friend Rainbow Dash and we’re gettin’ her book signed at Sugarcube Corner. Why don’t y’all join us?” She said.

As I placed the last apple in the sack I looked up when she mentioned Rainbow Dash. She was a pretty orange pony, with a blonde mane and tail with a tie at the ends. She wore a cowboy hat and had beautiful green eyes and freckles.

“I-I… I’m Edel.” I stuttered.

“Hello Edel, I’m Applejack. Sorry but, are y’all new around these parts?”

“Y-yes. Umm I would love to join you and Rainbow Dash, miss Applejack.” I said, and put out my hoof with the sack of apples. My heart skipped a beat when she giggled and took the sack with her mouth. She smiled and tilted her head to beckon me to follow.

We trotted to a building that looked like an actual, life-sized gingerbread house with a room that resembled a cupcake at the very top with a small balcony. The sign that hung off the edge of the building had a cupcake on it, and underneath read ‘Sugarcube Corner’. There was a huge line out the door, however I noticed Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash already in line near the front. I followed Applejack as we casually bypassed most of the line and went up to Dash and Fluttershy.

“Howdy everypony. This here is Edel.” Applejack said when we got close.

Rainbow Dash looked at me then to Applejack “Oh you two have met. Yeah Edel is the one who disappeared last night with his friends.”

“Well is that so? I reckon that welcome party was supposed to be for y’all. Now that wasn’t very polite tah go and disappear like y’all did.” Applejack’s expression changed to an annoyed look. I looked down in response.

“Now Rainbow, Applejack, I’m sure they have a good reason why they left. And like Twilight said, it’s probably none of our business anyway.” Fluttershy said.

“It’s just; there could be a bad man after us. And the thought of him finding us in Ponyville, he would wreak havoc and I don’t want anything like that to happen here in a place like Ponyville.” I said honestly.

They were quiet for a few seconds.

“If you’re in danger, why not send a letter to princess Celestia? I’m sure she’ll protect you.” Fluttershy said. I remember Spike saying the same thing when he listened in on us talking about this.

“It’s not that simple. I’m pretty sure even Celestia couldn’t stand up to this man…” I said.

“Well then we’ll protect you.” Rainbow Dash spoke. “I mean we’re the Elements of Harmony. We put down a demi-god who could alter reality with a snap of his fingers!”

“I really don’t think anypony here would have a chance, even with those elements I’ve heard about.” I said.

“Why are you so scared of this pony, Edel?” Applejack asked.

“Well for starters he’s not a pony.” I started.

“Wait let’s talk about this later. We’re next!” Rainbow Dash squealed.

I looked and saw the orange-gold Pegasus, Daring Do. Strato was nowhere to be found. She looked up, upon seeing me and she stood up and flew over to us.

“ohmygosh she’s coming to US!” Dash squealed.

“Edel? Is that you?” Daring started before being interrupted by Dash.

“Daring Do! I’m such a huge fan! I’ve read all of your stories! To meet you in person is such an honor!”

“In a moment please.” Daring replied, and then looked at me, noticing my bandages were gone and my wounds closed. “What happened? How did your wounds heal so fast?” She asked.

“My friend used her magic to speed up the process. Thank you for your help back there with those umm things this morning.” I said.

“Timberwolves.” She said. “And I wouldn’t leave a pony like that, being mauled and your friend using magic against those beasts. Timberwolves are pretty much immune to magic.”

“I guess we’ll remember that.” I said, letting out a small laugh. “Oh I’m here for this I guess.” I held out the book.

“A fan already? You didn’t know me when we met earlier.” Daring said, winking at me as she signed the book. “Are you hungry? Tell ya what; I’ll treat you and your friends to lunch if you can just tell me more about yourself. I was curious as to what two ponies were doing alone at night in Timberwolf territory.”

“Um, sure okay. Why not?” I said.

“Everypony, there will be a 40 minute intermission. Signing will resume in 40 minutes!” Daring shouted.

Applejack and Fluttershy were in shock, while Rainbow Dash was excited as she was muttering “Eating lunch with Daring Do!” over and over.

End of Chapter 6

Chapter 7 - An Eye for Detail and A Very Revealing Party

Chapter 7: An Eye for Detail and A Very Revealing Party
Lorane & Daring Do

I sat in the library, speechless at Regal’s never-revealed knowledge of the arcane arts. He was actually grinning as he talked, almost boastful when he brought up something that was beyond Twilight’s knowledge. It wasn’t like him at all. Twilight seemed to be enjoying the conversation as much as Regal, as she seemed very excited and eager to keep talking about energy flows. I had trouble following the conversation, I did know some of what they were talking about, but my education in the Royal Academy as far as magic went was dropped halfway through when Edel and I left the militia all those years ago.

“Well if you’re correct, Regal, then pulling energy from chaotic energy and our natural energy at the same time would allow Scrying into Tartarus or any other location with high amounts of chaotic energy possible.” Twilight said, growing more and more thoughtful.

“Now take that into consideration when you try your spell again. Tell me, how exactly did you sense the correct leyline to establish a link with Tartarus?” Regal asked.

Twilight showed him the thick black book from earlier. I got up from where I was sitting, a couple of paces away from the two, and as I began to look for books about the arcane arts of Equestria, the door abruptly opened, and a white unicorn with a neat and styled indigo colored mane and tail came in. She had beautiful blue eyes, and to my surprise, was wearing makeup, something I didn’t think existed here in Equestria.

“Twilight, dear, I would like that book I lent you about exotic fabric –” She stopped trotting and looked at me. “Why, hello darling. I don’t believe we’ve met. I am Rarity, I run Carousel Boutique. I must say we must do something about that thing that’s hanging off your back and flank.”

“Oh, hello Rarity. I’m Lorane and, what are you talking about?” I asked.

“Your cape dear; it’s worn out, and the colors are fading!” Rarity said. I looked around at my cape. It was indeed worn, some tears near the bottom and it’s once brilliant purple color was worn out by constant sunlight, and it was now faded. “Just wait okay?” She added as she trotted towards Twilight. “Twilight?”

“Oh! Hello Rarity!” Twilight said, acknowledging the unicorn. Regal took this as a cue and began to read the black book. It was very much not like him at all to ignore a lady entering the room…

“I came to pick up that book I lent you on –”

“Exotic fabrics and designs right? Yes I needed it to identify a piece of fabric I found a few weeks ago, but it wasn’t in the book.” Twilight stated, as she trotted up the nearby stairs. A few seconds later she came back down the stairs with an elegant green book floating in front of her. I noticed the aura around it changed from purple to blue as the book moved from Twilight to Rarity.

So unicorn magic is shown with a different color aura. I wonder if it has a significance with the colors like cutie marks have… Wait a second. I remembered. I forgot to look at my own cutie mark! My heart began to race faster out of excitement. I can’t believe I forgot to look! I wonder what it is. Making sure nopony was watching, I carefully lifted up my cape. I let out a ‘huh’ sound as I saw my flank was, well, blank. Why was it blank? I tried to remember what that pony from the forest said. Do Daring was her name? I didn’t remember as I couldn’t recall everything she was saying, I was worried about Edel as she was talking at the time.

“Well keep looking darling, I’m going to take Lorane here to the Carousel Boutique to fix up her cape!” Rarity said as she beamed at the idea.

“Oh you met Lorane. Sorry I forgot, Regal, this is my friend Rarity. Rarity this is Regal.” Twilight said.

Regal looked up for a second before saying “Hello.” And looked back down and continued to read. Something was going on with him, did what Rainbow Dash say get to him that badly?

“Regal huh? I’ll remember I’m sure.” Rarity turned to face me, and I smiled at her. She smiled back saying “Let’s go Lorane, we need to fix that cape of yours!”

“Actually thank you for the offer but, I don’t have any money.” I said. She mentioned she ran the store, so this was probably just a business proposition for her. That thought was expelled when she replied.

“Now who said anything about money? I’m offering to mend a piece of clothing for a new friend, free of charge.” She said.

“What? Oh no I couldn’t. That would be taking advantage of a nice pony and –”

“I insist dear! Besides I’m the one who asked to fix it. Let’s go.” Rarity shortly said as she opened the door. I got up and trotted alongside her.

“Thank you for your generosity miss Rarity.” I said.

“Miss? Where did the formalities come from? Call me Rarity! Now let’s see, it seems to be a deepened purple if I’m not mistaken, and oh! Those tears! How in Equestria did that happen? No matter, it doesn’t look too terribly bad. And your mane, we need to wash it!” Said Rarity and she continued to make more observations about my cape.

The cape was special to me. I received it from my brother, Kevin. He was the only family I had left, aside from Edel. Kevin was part of the Royal Durandian Guard and was off on a reconnaissance mission when our home was raided. He was a strong man. Our task force managed to break out war prisoners from an enemy base, and to our surprise Kevin was one of them. He gave me the cape when we got back to the capital.

We arrived at the boutique as I finished my remembrance. The Carousel Boutique was a large building; the overall structure resembled a giant, layered tent; the top was pointed with a blank red flag that flew in the wind, the second story resembled a merry-go-round with a single window, and the first story was the largest part with large windows showing off what looked like pony mannequins with dresses that looked beautiful for the most part, although a few of them did look tacky. Above the door was a wooden frame depicting a pony with a pink dress with a pole going through its back, and under the hooves read ‘Carousel Boutique’.

A bell rang somewhere from within as Rarity opened the door. The inside was filled with pony mannequins and a miniature catwalk with mirrors around it and as well as everywhere else in the boutique.

“Sorry if it’s a bit messy, I’ve been rather busy lately with my latest shipment, and looking after my little sister, who is off crusading with her friends.” Rarity said as we entered.

“Crusading?” I said.

“Yes. Well they call it crusading, they go on little adventures trying to earn their cutie marks and they call themselves the Cutie Mark Crusaders. It’s rather adorable.” Rarity answered. She looked up and gasped. I followed her gaze to see a fluffy white cat on top the stairs staring at us “Opalescence! Come to momma!”

The cat strode down and merely sat in front of me, still staring at me, and then she hissed and went back upstairs.

“Well that was strange. She usually isn’t good with strange ponies but just straight out hissing at somepony is out of her character. Well I’ll have a look at her later, as for you,” Rarity turned and looked at me “let’s start with that mane. Come on, upstairs. Go ahead and take off the cape and those gorgeous hoof bracelets.”

I looked down. I had forgotten about the rings! Well they were rings before being transported to Equestria. I had gotten them from a gift from my teacher, Archmage Plathios, upon finally besting him in a casting duel. It was obvious he was holding back, but upon completing my training I was to be promoted from a novice mage, to an adept mage upon defeating him. He gave me the rings and he explained they are enchanted to fit the wearer in case of advanced shapeshifting. They are filled with mana, and he explained I was only to use the rings in an emergency if I ever found myself needing an extra reserve of mana. I only used one of the rings at one situation so far; to save Edel, Regal and I from an ancient demon called a Pyroite, and the ring allowed me to cast the most powerful ice spell I’ve ever seen, freezing the demon indefinitely.

I removed the used one and to relief I saw it stayed the same size – as a hoof bracelet. I removed the other and I began to struggle to get the cape off. Rarity merely giggled and said “Why don’t you just take it off telekinetically?”

I looked at her. “How do I do that?” I asked. I honestly didn’t know how Twilight did it earlier and forgot for a second that I was a unicorn.

“Oh it’s easy, the simplest magic trick really, just focus on the object and move it using your concentration.”

It sounded simple enough. I looked at it, and concentrated on my horn and at the tip of my cape. Suddenly the cape began to glow a scarlet color as it removed itself from my body. It felt natural, and I just let it fall to the ground.

“I did it!”

“Well done darling!” Rarity smiled and then looked puzzled and she looked at me. “Why, Lorane! You never earned your cutie mark?”

“I guess not. I mean I don’t know is that a bad thing?”

“Well it’s not good. It’s not bad either but it’s different that’s for sure. Usually ponies get it as fillies but you are almost a full grown mare.”

It might be because we are from a different dimension… I looked at her “Well I guess I’ll need to find it when I have time!”

“Yes, well if you will, let’s go upstairs. I’ll get a bath ready.”

I looked up to see a lot of disappointed fans began to scatter. It was okay though, I’ve been signing since I picked up supplies. I was almost done shopping when somepony finally recognized me and from there I’ve been stuck at Sugarcube Corner signing books, magazines, and even pictures. I looked up at the strange pony I’ve been intrigued with.

“Well let’s see here, I know you, Edel. Who are you three?” I asked.

The cyan Pegasus with the multi-colored mane spoke up first taking my hoof and shaking firmly “I’m Rainbow Dash and I am a huge fan of your adventures! You know I thought this was all fiction until I read the author’s note that said ‘based on true events’ I was all like ‘ohmygosh’ and I’ve been waiting to meet you for, like, ever!”

I withdrew my hoof. “Well Rainbow Dash it’s nice to meet you always great meeting a fan!”

The orange earth pony approached me, also grasping my hoof and with tremendous strength shoot very hard “Howdy there miss Darin’. I’m Applejack and I must ask how y’all know Edel, I just met im’ today too and everypony seems to know im’!”

Again I withdrew my hoof. “Nice to meet you miss Applejack. We can talk about that over lunch…” When the third one didn’t move forward I raised an eyebrow. “And you are?”

“Oh um I’m nopony important…” she got looks from everypony and quickly said “I’m Fluttershy…”

“Hello Fluttershy. Well everypony why don’t we eat here actually? I hear their muffins here are delicious. The cupcakes I love too.” I said. Suddenly I heard a voice to my right coming from further in the bakery.

“Did somepony say cupcakes?!” I turned to see a pink earth pony with a frazzled pink mane and tail bouncing in place next to us. She had blue eyes and a very large smile on her face. I’ve seen this pony before on my few visits to Ponyville, she’s usually very loud. “Hi Fluttershy, AJ and Dashie! And hello new pony I haven’t met.” With that she stopped her bouncing and looked in complete shock at Edel before gasping very loudly and overdramatically. “Oh you! You must be that Edel pony right?”

“Yes, that’s me.” Edel said, backing away slightly.

“Oh that’s good! I’m Pinkie Pie and I want to be your new friend! I see you know Fluttershy, AJ and Dashie already, actually Dashie was the one who told me you were new in town yesterday, so I got this superawesomefantastic party together last night, to find out you were gone! I would’ve been sad, but all of my friends were there and we still had a good time! Dashie got all upset because she wanted to see the alicorn again but when he didn’t show she got really sad and then – ”

“Pinkie! Just give us a seat okay?” Rainbow Dash interrupted.

She looked at Rainbow Dash and winked before saying “Okie dokie loki. Right this way everypony!” she replied and took us to a table in the corner. She took our orders. I took a few mental notes how Edel interacted with other ponies including myself.

Upon first meeting he is extremely distrusting and appears cynical at first, thinking ponies are acting only out of their own self-interests. Deciding to further my study on this odd pony I began the conversation. “So Edel what were you doing in that forest? You and that other mare, alone.”

“Other mare? Well I didn’t think y’all had a marefriend already! What’s her name?” Applejack added in.

“Lorane… wait what? No she’s a friend I care deeply for. She’d never like me that way anyway. She’s back in the library if you’re interested.” Edel said, and then quickly adding “And we weren’t alone. My friend Regal was there, he was just missing when the wolves started attacking.”

“Wolves?” Fluttershy started.

“Timberwolves miss Fluttershy. And if me and my pupil Strato Sky hadn’t intervened there is a good chance Edel and his marefriend wouldn’t have survived the night. Well actually morning.” I said. Fluttershy was looking very concerned.

“Are you okay? Did they hurt you? Timberwolves can be nasty when they hunt. I can give you some tips on avoiding predators… that is if you want…” Fluttershy said.

“It’s okay, really. And Daring, Lorane is not my marefriend.” Edel said. I caught his eyes shift to Applejack for a fraction of a second.

“Okay then. Tell me your story.” I said.

He reluctantly told me a story about the three of them being from another dimension and how they were trapped here by a terrible pony. Originally they were on a quest to collect these stones and this pony named ‘Gladius’ was powerful enough to send them here to Equestria from their dimension they called Durandel. After he finished everypony was in shock, except for Rainbow Dash who began to ask questions.

“So wait, you were in Durandel? What about Xinon, and what about this King Joseph? And this Gate that you mentioned: isn’t it possible that the same thing exists here? And wouldn’t Twilight know something about it?” Rainbow Dash said. I was almost certain now that she was either a quick thinker or she was pondering these questions for a whole day.

“Xinon? King Joseph? I never…” Edel trailed off and looked down. “Regal told you huh? How much did he tell you?”

“Not too much more, but some stuff he left out, like you two. He implied you two found him here, two days ago.”

“Just a minute, Edel. Rainbow, you seem a might upset. Why don’t you go talk to this Regal feller about this?” Applejack said.

“That jerk? No thanks. I’m content getting the answers from somehuman honest.” She cried, then covered her mouth with her hooves before flying outside an open window.

“Here are your muffins and cupcakes!” Pinkie Pie bounced up to us, balancing a tray of baked goods on her head. She proceeded to pass them out and then sat next Edel “So where did Dashie go?”

I noticed Edel edged away from her and was inspecting his muffin as if checking if it were poisoned or defiled. “She flew off, upset about something.” I said.

“That was out of character for her, I mean, she IS your biggest fan after all miss Daring Do.” Fluttershy said quietly. “Um, maybe I should go check and see if she is okay. Thank you for the cupcake Pinkie.” She said after leaving two bits on the table and trotting out the door.

“Well Edel, I reckon I am mighty interested in hearing more about your tale. Why did y’all leave Ponyville anyway?” Applejack said.

“Isn’t it obvious miss Applejack? The scary pony he was talking about. He could come at any moment to finish them off, and I’m sure we would be defenseless against a monster like that. So they left to protect us. Right Edel?” Pinkie Pie said.

“What? How did y’all know the story? Y’all were in the kitchen the whole…” Applejack trailed off… before muttering to herself “she’s just being Pinkie Pie, let it go girl.”

“Interesting. Is Pinkie Pie right, Edel?” I said. He nodded in response.

So he’s not a bad pony. That’s good. When he told me they needed to stay away from towns, he was fearful of this Gladius pony. Now for some reason they’re back in town… I felt like inquiring about that fact. “So why are you back in Ponyville?”

He looked around, as if looking for somepony, then shrugged and replied with “Regal had a good point. So him and Lorane are trying to learn about some kind of teleporting spell or something from Twilight.” I looked around as well, nothing out of the ordinary, yet ponies were forming a line again for more signing.

“Well it was pleasant having lunch with you interesting ponies. Twilight is the pony who runs the library correct?” I asked, trying to remember the names of vendors in Ponyville.

“Yes, she is also one of my bestest friends! I can introduce you if you’d like!” Pinkie said.

“No it’s quite alright that won’t be necessary. Edel I am interested in learning more about you and your comrades. I’ll see you later.” I said with a wink. I got up and headed back to my table to resume signing. After all, this will be an interesting adventure. After this, I’ll check on Strato and see if he’s interested in this next one.

After some scrubbing and brushing, as well as adding a tie, my mane looked great! Seeing myself as a pony in a mirror… I looked rather cute! My mane was getting on my nerves since becoming a pony, it was annoyingly rubbing against the back of my neck tickling me slightly as I trotted, but now it was tied up so I didn’t feel it as often. Rarity was now examining my cape. It had the crest of the Royal Mages Academy on it which was simply an image of the start of a solar eclipse with stars completely visable.

“Odd design. The thread is very strange; I don’t think I’ve seen this material before.” Rarity observed.

“Oh that’s mageweave. It’s an enchanted fabric that must be enchanted. It’s made for blocking spells and it is light to help avoid heavy attacks.” I said.

“Lorane what on earth are you talking about? You sound like you’ve been in a war or something.” Rarity said. Then taking her eyes off the cape, and looking at me she added “Were you?”

“Well yes…” I started, and told her about Durandel and Xinon being at war. I left out the part about us being human, like Edel said. Even if Twilight already knew we aren’t ponies…

“My word! Princess Celestia needs to know about this war! I know it’s some other land, but if you ran away to come here, it must be terrible! The princess can be of help I’m sure!”

“Thank you for your concern but I don’t think even somepony like princess Celestia could help us.” I replied.

“Well I am still going to say something. And about your cape, I don’t have this mageweave you were talking about but I do know of a similar fabric that I can obtain and repair it with that. So come back tomorrow dear, around this time. Where are you staying anyway?” Rarity asked.

Edel hadn’t mentioned this, so I was unsure how to answer. “I don’t know yet, I need to ask my friends where we will be staying.” I answered.

“I’d be more than happy to take you in here but my sister is staying here too and my guest bedroom is occupied. But do come by if you can’t find a place for the night, I can cook up a nice makeshift bed.”

“Thank you for your kindness and generosity, Rarity. I guess I should get back to the library and check on Regal.” I said. As I lifted my cape with my telepathy, she grabbed it with her hooves.

“Don’t you want me to fix it? If you can come by tomorrow at noon I will have it fixed by then.” Rarity said, and then adding as she looked at me “Well this cape is precious to you isn’t it?” I nodded. “Well then, when you come back, remember to bring the cape and I’ll fix it then!”

“Thank you Rarity.” I said and trotted out the door as she said goodbye.

Everypony is so nice! I can’t believe how peaceful it is here. I thought as I headed back to the library. I couldn’t get Regal’s new knowledge out of my head though. It kind of bugged me. I remember when Regal claimed he had feelings for me, he seemed so kind, gentle and especially naïve. He was a mage, yes, but his magical prowess was pathetic, and he could make a small fire if he was lucky. This talk of magical and chaotic Leylines, a subject I had little experience with, still he seemed out of his normal personality. Even when Rainbow Dash was talking to him, he seemed unmoved, and when Rarity greeted him earlier… Something is not right.

I got back to the library to see Regal and Twilight still talking. As I entered Twilight turned to me. “Ah just the pony we need.”

“Hey Twilight, hey Regal, so what’s the news?” I asked

“Well after some practice scrying, we were able to successfully create a scrying window into Tartarus, if you’d look right here.” Twilight said, pointing to a large hole in the ground, emitting red light. I trotted up to it to see it was showing a cave and various creatures moving around, not noticing us at all. It was similar to a farsight spell I’ve heard about in Durandel but farsight only worked where the caster could see and no one else.

“Amazing.” I said.

“Now if we were to use this kind of method but with a teleportation spell instead of a scrying spell with these Leylines, it would be possible to create a one-way portal to travel, we would just have to tweak the Leylines and energy flows a bit, well assuming Regal’s theory is correct.” Twilight said.

Regal walked up to me and added “It’s correct. Now I need to talk to someone about cosmic Leylines; that would be, sun and moon.” Regal said with a scary looking smile.

“And then what?” I asked.

“And then we would be able to use the scrying spell to see Durandel, and then teleport us back there. However we need a source of chaotic energy, cosmic energy, and some other energy with more potency and kick… then we can go home.” Regal replied, adding under his breath I couldn’t hear “among other things…”

Twilight interrupted “Okay I know the place to try this. Sugarcube Corner!” She focused and her horn began to glow as the red scrying window turned a purple color, the same color as her aura. I looked in it to see what looked like a restaurant filled with ponies. Edel and two other ponies sat at a table with half-eaten muffins and cupcakes, and then I noticed the Pegasus that rescued us earlier! She was signing autographs? Yes she was on the other side of the room giving out signatures. The window began to shimmer until it looked like a small puddle of water, the room still visible, as Twilight’s aura disappeared but the window still gave off a purple light. “It’s done. Regal if you’re right, we can walk onto this and we will suddenly fall into that room.”

“Fall is right, we’re looking from above right? So if we were to stand in this we would fall INTO that place?” I asked.

“Yes, Lorane. You want to go first?” She asked, smiling.

“Sure. I need to ask Edel something anyway.” I replied, as I walked towards it, Twilight began to look for Edel, and upon spotting him she acknowledged him.

I placed a hoof on the window. As my hoof went through, it did feel like a very deep puddle of water, only when I withdrew my hoof it was not wet. Curious, I stuck my head in first, I was suddenly in the room and I could hear everypony talking, it was very loud. I withdrew my head, Twilight was beaming.

“It works!” I said.

“Of course it does.” Regal said in a bored tone. “Are you going to go?”

Without hesitation, and bracing myself, I jumped in it, landing on the floor of the Sugarcube Corner. I looked directly up to see nothing but the ceiling, knowing Twilight and Regal could see me, I smiled, and trotted towards Edel and the two ponies. Upon arriving Edel noticed me and called out “Lorane! What are you doing here?”

“Edel! We need to talk, Twilight and Regal are on to something big and –” I had to stop talking as a pink pony face and big blue eyes slowly moved into my field of vision. She simply stared at me for a few seconds before finally, and abruptly yelling to the whole room.

“Everypony! This is Lorane! We are going to throw a welcome party at Twilights in 10 minutes! GO!!” and she darted out the door, along with several other ponies.

“What? Who was that?” I asked.

“Pinkie Pie.” Edel answered.

“Don’t y’all worry about Pinkie. She’s got a good heart and I reckon she always throws parties for new ponies in Ponyville.” The orange pony next to him spoke up.

“Lorane, this is Applejack.” Edel said. As he put a hoof on her neck, a spot that was apparently ticklish as she giggled, I felt my face get hot.

“Hello Applejack. I’m Lorane.” I said.

“Pleasure meetin’ y’all, Lorane. Now let’s humor Pinkie and go to the party. Meet both y’all over there okay?” Applejack replied, and trotted happily out the door, as I saw the orange-gold Pegasus begin to trot in our direction I spoke quickly to Edel.

“Listen, something is up with Regal. I’m not sure what but he’s off. Way off. We need to find out what before we start messing with portals and gateways back to Durandel.” I said as quick as possible.

“What? We have a way back?” Edel asked, looking very interested.

“Talk later, that Pegasus is coming this way.” I replied. He looked to see her coming and smiled.

“She’s okay. Daring! You remember Lorane!” Edel said as she smiled at me.

“Hello Lorane, now we can properly be introduced. I am Daring Do, explorer, adventurer, tomb raider, ya-da ya-da. Tell me are you also from this Durandel place?” Daring Do asked.

“You told her too huh?” I said, as Edel gave me a sheepish grin. “Yes, miss Do, we both are.”

“Please call me Daring or Daring Do. Being called ‘miss Do’ creeps me out.” She said.

I nodded in response.

“Come on Lorane let’s get to the party. I keep hearing Pinkie Pie throws great parties, and we should be there since we disappeared last time!” Edel said, still beaming.

“Edel get ahold of yourself! We don’t have time for any of this!” I said, disbelieving he’s completely loose right now, and now noticing the cupcakes “…how many of those have you eaten?”

“I don’t know, three? Come on let’s go! It’ll be fun!” Edel said as he trotted outside.

“He seems off. Both of my friends are changing…” I said out loud.

“It’s probably for the better. You know, for a creature from another dimension you sure seem tense.” Daring Do said. I looked at her.

How much did he say? “Daring Do, what did Edel tell you exactly?”

“Well only that you’re from Durandel, a war-driven land, and that you’re all aliens.” Her eyes sparkled for a second.

I gaped at her.

“Oh lighten up. Come on, we can chat about that later. You’re all very nice ponies and I don’t mind a good party once in a blue moon.” She said.

“Well, okay but after this party we need to all talk, everypony who knows of us.” I said. We proceeded to trot outside.

After trotting about halfway to the library, Daring said she needed to go talk to somepony real quick and that she’d be at the party later, and flew off. I began to look down and think of home again, until hitting something very solid, with all of my weight. I fell down and looked up to see a large, red pony. No, I meant a large, red stallion. He looked at me with big green eyes.

“I’m sorry, sir.” I said. Before I could react he held out a large hoof, and I grabbed it with my own without any hesitation.

“No problem.” Said the stallion and began to trot in the direction of the library.

“Wait!” I found myself saying.

He stopped and looked at me.

“What’s your name? We’re both going to the library right?”

“Eeyup.” He simply said, then adding “I am Big Macintosh.”

“Hello, Big Macintosh, I’m Lorane…”

“Mighty nice to meet you, Lorane.” He said, and began to trot again.

“Well it’s nice to meet somepony who isn’t crazy. I swear all the ponies in this town are crazy!” I said, a little more loudly than I realized.

Big Macintosh merely stared forward and said “It’s not very nice or wise to judge an entire community based on interacting with only a few, and more than likely those few were in the minority when you call them the crazy ones. This community as I have personally discovered from living here all my life, are very accepting, loving, and the majority tolerates most behaviors including new ponies like you who are quick to judge them harshly by calling them crazy.”

I was stunned, but still kept trotting. He’s right, Rarity, Twilight, Fluttershy, even Rainbow Dash were all very nice and concerned for us. I was merely letting jealousy, even if I wasn’t admitting it at the time, take over. “I… you’re right, Big Macintosh. I’m sorry I said that.”

“You don’t have to apologize to me, nope.” He replied.

I looked up at him, he was still facing straight. He had a very strong looking jaw. His mane was a nice caramel color, and the yoke he wore made him look rather intimidating. I found myself blushing slightly and after realizing I began to speed up. He’s a pony. A freaking horse what are you doing getting all mushy over a stallion! Besides Edel is… I lost my train of thought, and began to gallop. I opened the library door to find it crowded with ponies setting up collapsible tables, streamers and balloons. Pinkie Pie was firing a cannon, which was shooting out confetti and other party swag. I walked up to Twilight.

“Where is Regal?” I asked.

“He’s around; he wanted to find information about the solar bodies, which is upstairs.”

“And what about Edel? Also you don’t mind them throwing this party at your, um, house?”

“I don’t mind at all, I sleep upstairs and I enchanted that room to seal all sound outside. Besides the library is public property. Oh and I saw Edel talking with Applejack over there.” She pointed with her hoof to a corner of the room. Edel was indeed talking with Applejack, and she was giggling as he talked. I felt my face get hot again.

“Well I need –” Loud music cut me off, I looked to see a pony with fancy looking glasses behind a table playing with large discs. The music was coming from the large black boxes from either side of the table. Ponies began to dance all around me, including Twilight. I looked around, but the lights were turned out as there were strange multi-colored lights everywhere I looked, blotching the room. I kept turning to find Rarity enter the party, as well as Fluttershy and an angry looking Rainbow Dash. Feeling relieved I made my way towards them, as Rainbow Dash flew off in the direction of Applejack and Edel, Fluttershy following her.

“Hey Rarity!” I shouted trying to be heard over the music.

“Lorane! Darling your mane looks amazing! You must tell me who fixed it for you!” Rarity said, and we shared a laugh. I really liked Rarity’s company, even though we just met earlier today.

“It’s nice to see you again Rarity! I’m sorry if I appear annoyed.” I yelled.

“You do. What’s the matter dear?” She asked loudly.

“Well it’s Edel. He’s flirting with that pony over there named Applejack.”

Rarity let out a giggle before replying “You’re jealous over Applejack? You have nothing to worry about; Applejack doesn’t seem the dating type I mean I’ve known her for a very long time. She’s never even looked at a stallion.”

“I just…” I ended with a growl.

“Why don’t you go drink some of that punch? It should take some of the edge off of your thoughts. I think I’ll have some too. Come on, dear.” Rarity said and began to trot towards Edel and the rest of them. I joined her, as we got to the punch table; she levitated a cup and poured some punch from another levitating ladle. I drank it, it was a sweet strawberry flavor but it burned slightly going down. It was very nice, so I made myself another cup as Rarity did so too. I saw Edel was also holding a cup as was Applejack.

“…So it was then I realized the only way to escape was to use the currently invincible Regal as a shield against the demon’s fire!” Edel yelled, and the ponies around him began to laugh.

I took a third cup of punch and downed it with one gulp. It was getting much easier now, and I approached a barrel with a spigot. Big Macintosh was behind it, and he casually poured me a mug. “Is this Apple Cider?” I asked when I smelled the familiar scent of the liquid.

“Eeyup.” Is all he said. I drank the delicious drink, it also had a burning sensation going down. I found myself much surer of myself at this point.

“Thanks, Big Macintosh.” I said, winking at him “You know you’re really cute.” I handed him the mug for another refill, and I trotted away, holding the mug and my cup of punch in the same telekinetic grip.

“Dear you’re all over the place! How are you able to concentrate enough to hold your drinks?” Rarity asked as I made my way to Edel.

“What are you talkin’ about Rarity? I’m what?” I asked.

“You’re drunk.” She said plainly.

It hit me. The feel good euphoria, the confidence, the brevity coming out… I was drunk. The drinks were all alcoholic. I’ve never drank alcohol in my life, and never planned to, but this feeling is incredible. “I am.”

I got up to Edel.

“Lorane! Where were you? I was just telling everypony here about our quest getting the Stone of Fire!” Edel said.

“Hey.” I replied. I noticed my mug of cider was half way filled, so I emptied my punch into it, mixing the remaining cider with it and gulping it down in front of him.

“Lorane? Are you drinking? Do you realize the drinks here are alcoholic?”

“Shut up.” I said. “I need you to tell me you care for me. Do you care about me?”

“What? Of course Lorane. What is this about?” Edel said.

“You and her.” I pointed at Applejack.

Applejack merely smiled. “I figured as much. Y’all got nothin’ to be scared about alright sugarcube?” She proceeded to drink her own mug of cider.

“Good. I like you JappleAck.” I hiccupped a bit and giggled. “Edel, so you do care?”

“Of course.” Edel said. In response I pushed all of my weight forward and locked my lips onto his. It felt right, and we made out for the first time in front of these nice ponies who were all giggling.

Regal made his way towards us as we were holding the kiss. As we finally broke, I looked at Edel, as he had a hoof on my cheek, and Regal spoke “Are you both finished?”

Rainbow Dash flew up to him. “You’ve got some nerve you know that?”

“This is none of your business, pony. Edel, Lorane I need to speak with both of you privately.” Regal replied.

“Oh I’ll make it my business, filly!” Dash yelled.

“Rainbow –” Fluttershy started then stopped.

“Shut up Fluttershy. This guy has been pissing me off since yesterday”

“I’ll not be arguing with an animal.” Regal said.

“Animal?! What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Dash cried.

“Exactly what it means. You’re an animal, a beast of nature. I am a human, I will not stand for –” He was interrupted by two hooves hitting him in the face. Dash and I simultaneously hit him. He was quiet for a second, looking at Dash and then me, before turning and walking away. I looked at Rainbow Dash, who was on the verge of tears, and hugged her.

“I’m sorry Dashie. I’m sorry.” I said.

“It… it’s alright. I thought he was a gentlecolt but I was wrong.” Dash said, tears falling onto my back.

“He is, but ever since he went missing in the woods, he hasn’t been himself at all. I hit him because that wasn’t him. The Regal I know would have never even thought about saying any of that stuff. The Regal I know would’ve never stopped apologizing when we met you in the forest this morning…” I said, tears leaving my eyes too, in worry about my friend, feeling sad wit Rainbow Dash, and feeling embarrassed about kissing Edel.

“You and Edel are okay, good ponies.” She wept.

“Wow what did I just miss?” a voice behind me came. I looked and saw Daring Do.

“Daring! You made it!” I yelled, right before hitting the ground and everything going black.

End of Chapter 7

*Hello! StarPrism here! I hope this chapter was okay and I hope this wasn't too much shipping... I promise more action in the future. Thank you for reading, I hope you continue to enjoy the story ^_^ Have a good one*

Chapter 8 - The Younger Sister

Chapter 8: The Younger Sister
Edel

I opened my eyes wide. I had fallen asleep on a small bed in the library next to a larger unoccupied bed. I lifted myself up cursing the fact that I was small enough to nearly fit in the small bed. I’ve always been small, glad that Lorane was actually shorter than me as humans at least, but with the transformation into ponies, I was suddenly shorter than even her. Lorane… had I imagined it? She kissed me, even our tongues… I rose out of the bed, to immediately lose my balance and fall, my head fuzzy as the room spinned slightly, followed by a sharp pain in my head.

“Well good morning!” Twilight’s voice came from my right. I looked to see her smiling at me. “It seems you drank a little bit too much last night.”

“Morning… Where is Lorane and Regal?” I asked, trying to focus as I got back up on my hooves.

“Lorane passed out after Daring Do herself showed up. I was surprised at her sudden visit, I mean Daring Do in Ponyville? Wow.” Twilight chirped. She is definitely a morning pony.

I remembered Daring Do did show up; Lorane tried to give her a hug, but instead staggered backwards on her hind legs, and collapsed on Rainbow Dash and Rarity. I was worried about her until I felt the euphoria finally hit me, so I merely accompanied them… where did we go? My head was killing me.

“So where is she now?” I asked.

“I don’t know. She took my bed; you, Rarity and Rainbow dragged her up here. And this morning she left, took a walk as she said to ‘clear her mind’ whatever that meant.” She said, pensive, then adding with a concerned face “Are you hungry? I can try to get Spike to make us something if you want.”

“A little bit. What time is it?”

“It’s only a few hours until noon, but a late lunch with friends is always nice.” Twilight chirped again grinning.

“Okay sure, breakfast sounds good. Thank you, Twilight.”

“You’re welcome!” She replied and trotted downstairs.

I tried to remember what happened last night. Where is Regal? I need a word with him. I thought, remembering how rude he was to Dash. Something is up, he seems very disturbed… It just isn’t like him. I proceeded to slowly trot downstairs. My head pulsing with pain as the room became still, and my head became less fuzzy. When I reached the bottom I saw Daring Do come out of the kitchen near the second wing of the library.

“Well, the great Edel is awake.” She said with a smile. “You, my friend, are certainly a fun drunk to be around!”

“Yeah so I’ve been told a lot in the past.” I replied, rubbing my head with my hoof.

“Oh so they have cider and alcohol from your world?” She asked.

“Yes we do have it. Right now my head is really killing me, so please let me just have some quiet.” I said.

“Well if you feel that bad, I could lend you…” She opened the saddlebag on her left side with a wing, and rummaged through it with her hoof, and pulled out what looked like a small capsule. “This.”

“And what is that?”

“If anypony takes this, any headaches, be from stress to hangovers, will be relieved in ten seconds flat, or your money back.” Daring said simply. “It’s called The Doctor’s Anti-headache Remedy. No idea who this Doctor is, but she’s a genius!”

“I’m sorry Daring, I have no money. I don’t even know what the currency is even called here.” I said, continuing to massage my temple.

“They’re called bits. And don’t worry about it, I’ll give you this for free, if you agree to take me with you on this adventure you’re about to go on.”

“What adventure? Oww… Okay fine, it’s a deal. Give me the pill!” She smiled, and tossed it in the air. I caught it and almost dropped it. I placed it on my tongue and swallowed. I felt the same for about 9 seconds until I felt a rush of cold go up my spine. My headache was completely gone, and I even felt jumpy. “Amazing! Ten seconds huh? That worked fantastically!” I cried.

“I know. Now I think breakfast is served.” Daring replied and, as if on cue, Twilight and Spike emerged with four plates of hay, muffins, and to my surprise, eggs.

After eating, Daring and I left to find Lorane and Regal. Twilight said she’d wait for us as she continued to study more about chaotic Leylines. We headed to Fluttershy’s cottage first, figuring since it’s pretty much on the edge of town she would have probably seen them come by.

After asking she answered “Not Lorane, but I thought I saw Regal this morning heading into the forest. I thought about asking if he needed help, but I remembered him being mean to poor Rainbow…”

“Well it’s alright. Say how is Rainbow Dash doing?” I asked her.

“I haven’t seen her today; she is probably out practicing her flying tricks again.” Fluttershy answered. “If you do see her, make sure she’s okay, that is if you want to…”

And with that, we said goodbye and left, on our way into the Everfree forest. The forest was especially dark and damp today. What was so special about this forest? It always seemed to have a different atmosphere than the nearby surroundings. I thought as we trudged through the forest.

“Why is this forest so different compared to everywhere else? It seems so ominous.” I asked Daring.

“Well it’s different in more ways than one. Plants, animals and even the weather here are self-sufficient. Everywhere else in Equestria, for the most part, it’s the ponies who maintain the flora and fauna, as well as the weather. Plants grow from seeds, and seeds need to be harvested from plants, planted and taken care of to grow, and the earth ponies are in charge of that.” Daring said.

“Earth ponies?”

“Yes, like yourself. Then the animals, usually taken care of by everypony, need to be fed, watered, and cared for as well. And the weather is managed by Cloudsdale and the pegasus weather team.”

“So wait what do you mean earth ponies? Are there different types of ponies?” I asked.

“Well of course. There are earth ponies like yourself, pegasus ponies like me, unicorn ponies like Twilight, alicorn ponies like the princesses, and some of the fabled ones like the centaurs and sea ponies, but nopony have seen them in hundreds of years.” Daring said.

So centaurs exist here. From Durandel they were very dangerous and easily aggravated. I’ve heard ponies call Regal an alicorn, meanwhile I’m an earth pony, no wings or a horn. I wonder what is special about being an earth pony? My thoughts trailed off as I noticed it was getting very dark. I looked up to see no sky, just thickets of branches all above us. “The sunlight doesn’t reach here…” I observed out loud.

There was a rustling sound followed by a scratching noise and a flash of light where Daring was trotting. She was holding a torch in her left wing, which was curled around the handle like a gripping hand. “Stay close, there are plenty of predators in this part of the Everfree forest, or so I hear.” She warned.

“Do you have a weapon? Or that blade your pupil had?” I asked, a bit of hope behind my question as I really wanted to hold a sword again.

“No.” she answered to my despair.

We continued to trot; I was listening to any sign of stalking predators, listening to the slightest inconsistency in our trotting and the natural ambience. Every so often a gust of wind would cause me to flinch and jump in anticipation of an attack.

“You’ve got to let loose, Edel. You’re so jumpy.” Daring said.

“Of course, we are in what is probably hostile territory. What if we are ambushed by more of those timberwolves or some other predator I don’t know about?” I said.

“With me around, you don’t have to worry about that. I’ve had my fair share of adventures I can assure you. I also meant that let loose comment as a generalization. Around everypony new, that is, you always seem mistrusting and have a cynical way of thinking.” Daring answered.

“Well when you live in a place that’s constantly at war, you kind of have to think like that.” I said, wondering if she had been observing me since we first met.

We eventually came into a clearing with sunlight filling the area, causing Daring to extinguish her torch. There was a roped bridge reaching across a large ravine to a separate part of the forest with the same ruins we saw the day before.

“This is where we found Regal before heading back to Ponyville. In fact he was the one who convinced us that we shouldn’t be afraid of Gladius…” I trailed off; suddenly remembering one fateful encounter with a certain Dark Archdruid who took control of our minds, and made us let our guard down almost killing us with a legion of undead soldiers. Could that kind of magic exist here in Equestria too? Could Regal be under some kind of mind control causing him to act strangely?

“Well if this is where you found him, Regal might be inside. Maybe he remembered seeing something he wanted to investigate further. I’ve had that happen before on a few tomb raids.” Daring commented.

“Did you just say Regal?” A voice came from behind us.

We turned around, nopony was there. Someone is there. How were they so quiet? Were they following us? “Who’s there?” I said. As if that were the cue, there was a burst of fire causing Daring and I to recoil and jump backwards placing us only about 4 paces from the edge of the ravine and bridge. I looked towards where the fire was to see a very large unicorn. He had an orange-red coat, with a short mane that was blonde with crimson streaks. His eyes were scarlet, with large pupils, and he bared a toothy, overconfident smile that seemed eerily familiar.

“Boo.” He said, voice sounded familiar too. “Hello, ponies. Before you die, tell me; where is this Regal you were talking about just now?”

“Who are you? Why do you care, and who do you think you are giving death threats to ponies who have no quarrel with you?!” Daring cried, before a flash of blue light blinded us for a second as an unnaturally cold wind radiated from the area next to the orange unicorn. My eyes widened as a second unicorn appeared. He had a navy blue coat, with a lighter shade of blue mane with white streaks. He wore small round glasses and had a long chin beard almost reaching the ground. His blue eyes were piercing, and what shocked me was the familiar cape he wore. This was looking very familiar, like an act I’ve seen tens of times before, almost instinctively I looked up, and as I expected a third figure was falling from the sky seemingly out of nowhere, and landed silently, bending his legs and standing up with a cold look in his bronze colored eyes. This one was a green pony, no horn which caused me to assume he was an earth pony like myself; he had an extreme spikey dark green mane, and wore a black cape.

“You did it again, Solem. You scared them into thinking we’re enemies.” The blue unicorn spoke.

Solem?! This can’t be… Xion and his henchmen? How?!

“Sorry about our friend scaring you, we are here looking for the same, err, character you were talking about.” The blue unicorn continued. “You see, he’s a friend of ours, and he might be a little confused about who he is, we come from a company in the city, you see, and it’s a long story, we just need to get him back there.”

Daring looked at me with a puzzled expression and I whispered to her in the lowest possible volume, knowing Xion’s keen gearing “they mustn’t know who I am, and they most definitely mustn’t get to Regal.” I then turned my attention to them and said in a different accent in attempt to hide my voice “Ya folks are lookin’ for old man Regal? He’s senile alright, and all but ah don’t think ya got the right pony. He wandered off this mornin’ into his favorite place and we were just pickin’ him up, right darlin’?” I said, in a terribly mimicked Applejack accent.

She looked at me with an eyebrow raised and looked at the blue unicorn who I believed to be Glacious. “Yes, I’m his granddaughter and this is my coltfriend Ed –”

“Edonis! Mah name is Edonis, pleasure meetin’ new ponies! We just don’t take kindly to new ponies who randomly threaten us, ya see?” I interrupted her quickly, as she gave me a sheepish smile.

The green pony looked at me, as if trying to tell if this was a ruse. Xion is hard to fool, I might have a losing battle on my hooves, I can’t take on all three of these goons alone. And Daring would have to flee and get Regal, warn Lorane and start running from Ponyville. I merely grinned at Xion before he finally spoke in his familiar, raspy voice.

“Well, if that’s the case then we obviously have the wrong Regal. Sorry for wasting your time, ponies. Good luck.” He said, and at once all three turned and headed back into the forest.

When they were far enough away we began to trot towards the ruins, across the bridge. Daring was the first to speak “Who were they?” She asked quietly.

“Xion and his cronies; we’ve been running into them since we’ve started the mission to collect the elemental stones. Take my word for it; they are not to be taken lightly.”

“I can tell. That was some of the most impressive magic I’ve ever seen. And I’ve seen a lot of magic.” She said, looking at the ruins. “I remember these ruins; it was one of my first raids. I discovered an underground labyrinth that led me to several treasures, mostly scrolls and books, and a huge shrine of some sort. I’m not sure what the Royal Pony Sisters were thinking when they constructed the castle, but for some reason that place exists. I’ve been meaning to look at it more now that I’m more experienced…” She looked at me with a pleading face.

I found her expression too adorable to say no to so I found myself saying “Well… okay I guess. But we should really find Regal first.” And she smiled at my response as we headed inside. The first thing that caught my attention was the very large statue that had outstretched pedestals that were empty, looked as if it were supposed to hold large orbs. The ground was pretty much littered with gravel and broken pieces of the surrounding columns. I looked up to see a large dome that looked like it was recently constructed over the ruins. There was another tower visible through the broken window on my left. Daring began to inspect the large statue as I began to walk around the room.

I saw a statue of a strange creature, it had a long snake-like body, and its limbs, tail and head were made up of different creatures, as if it were a patchwork monster like a chimera. I looked down and saw a figure staring at it, it was Regal. He was staring at the statue as if expecting it to talk to him or spring to life.

“Regal! There you are! We’ve been looking for you!” I cried, noticing the echo I kept in mind to speak lower.

He looked at me for a few seconds before turning back to the statue and talking “You see this creature? It’s called a draconequus; very rare, especially in Equestria. This particular statue is of an infamous one named Discord. He was apparently this world’s equivalent to our Gladius, only instead of seeking power like him; Discord was merely interested in having fun, and promoting chaos. As such behavior he dubbed himself the Spirit of Disharmony, or Avatar of Chaos. Sounds pretty arrogant huh?”

“Regal? Okay what’s with you? You’ve been acting unlike your usual self, and besides what does this creature have to do with anything?” I asked.

“It has to do with a lot in terms of our goal. The kind of magic he used was chaotic magic, and an obvious source of the chaotic energy we need to begin the process of creating a Gate on this side of the dimension.” He said, and I swear I saw drool glisten from his mouth.

“Edel? Oh there you are!” Daring’s voice echoed and she hovered next to me and looked at Regal. “So you’re Regal huh? And you’re an alicorn! Am I correct in assuming you are royalty?”

“In a sense yes.” He started then looked in a corner of the room. He stared in the same spot for a second, and before I was about to inquire, said “I know you’re back there.”

A split second later a voice echoed “How did you know?” and a small explosion echoed and shook the floor a little bit as Solem appeared about 30 paces away. “Well it looks like we were fooled just as Xion guessed. It’s a good thing he told me to follow you two in here. Edel! Wow you’re smaller than ever! And Regal! Your leg is healed already? I’m surprised. Now how to go about killing you three…”

“Solem! How did you get here? And why are you here?” I asked, my voice echoing through the dome loudly.

“Oh you see we ran into a problem. You disappeared, so mister Gateway himself told us to – woah! Almost revealed our plans again! Xion would be super pissed right about now!” He chuckled, and his horn began to glow a dark green color. “You know how long it took us to figure out we still had reserves of mana? Oh, about a half a day since we got here. By then we found your burned note to Regal on the edge of that forest after getting by that little town. I must say you should cover your tracks better, but now I think you’d like a taste of something that doesn’t exist here in this place. Magic!”

A large ball of fire exploded from his horn, hitting the large statue in the room, utterly destroying half of it as burned pieces of stone debris from the statue rained down, from the resulting explosion of colliding with the statue, caused me and Daring to fly towards him. I tried to get up and kick him with my back legs, but he merely jump backwards avoiding me. His horn began to glow again as he yelled “That first one was just a taste! Now this time I won’t miss!” and a large fireball came directly at me. I closed my eyes, and… nothing. I opened my eyes to see Regal standing in front of where I lie. Solem yelled again “Oh so you can use magic too huh? Well Regal I’m surprised you were able to block my fireblast, considering how incompetent a mage you are! How about a stream of Hell Fire?!”

“Incompetent? I’ll show you incompetent, you foolish mortal!” Regal roared. As Solem’s signature spell bled out from his horn, the stone floor began to melt, and I felt the intense heat from the fire, but Regal stayed, his horn began to glow a pale white color and I saw what looked like a white curtain, and the heat vanished, as well as the fire. The curtain turned black suddenly, and surrounded itself around Solem. Solem’s mouth was agape, and looked like he was screaming, yet no sound was coming out as the black curtain of light suddenly enveloped around Solem, lifting into the air becoming a ball of darkness. The ball suddenly started to get smaller and smaller, and after about ten seconds, the ball of darkness silently vanished.

“What was… that?” I asked after half a minute of silence.

Regal looked at me, his mane slightly ragged and his coat a darker color of blue, and said simply “Wall of the Void, into an advanced Banishment spell. I didn’t kill him; he’s just in a terrible place right now. We don’t have to worry about him anymore.” He said, then looking around, looking for something.

I looked towards Daring who was nursing a broken wing; it was twisted in an awkward angle. “It’s always the right wing. I always somehow injured this wing, it either gets smashed by a boulder, gets trampled on, or I land on it. How about that…” She started to wrap it in bandages.

“Besides that, are you okay?” I asked her as I trotted to her location.

“Yeah, looks like we owe our lives to your friend.” She said then looking down and adding “And thanks for asking, that was sweet.”

“You’re welcome.” I replied, and turned to Regal. He was looking at a broken mirror in the opposite corner of the room, muttering to himself.

“Regal,” I started as I got close to him “let’s get out of here. Maybe we can get Twilight to help with this statue.”

“She’s brilliant but she has no idea about energy essences like I do. Extracting an essence out of a powerful being that’s sealed up is hard enough. I shouldn’t have shattered this damned mirror!” he said.

“What’s with the mirror?” I asked looking at it, noticing a strange quilt also lie on the ground.

“Never mind the mirror. I need to figure this out.” Regal snapped. Then looking at us he added “Do you want a portal back to Ponyville? I can create one no problem.”

“Well,” I started, before looking at Daring who was trotting over here. “Daring are you okay to keep going? Do you still want to go to the labyrinth?” She nodded in response.

“Labyrinth? Where are you two going?” Regal asked, seeming a lot more interested now.

“There’s a hidden, underground labyrinth. Daring explored the ruins here before, and she discovered the labyrinth that led to a shrine.” I replied.

“Yes and the shrine was empty, but now that I have more experience I want to give it another look; maybe I can find something I missed.” Daring said rather excitedly.

“I will join you. Where is the entrance to this labyrinth?” Regal asked, looking around.

“It’s in the northern tower, underneath the throne room… that way.” she said, pointing with her hoof to her left out a window. The tower I saw earlier when entering looked a lot more stable compared to the rest of the ruins, with only the top portion of the tower missing.

“Let’s go.” I said. I thought I heard a faint laugh as we left the room.

We trotted carefully off a narrow ledged that looked like it was once a walkway long ago connecting the tower and the other room. We started to climb up jagged stairs that lead up the tower, about halfway to an opening. Almost losing balance at one point, Daring told us to take more caution even though Regal flew across to the opening and proceeded to look around while we climbed upwards. When I entered the opening after Daring I saw it was merely a single room lined with more ruined columns; it looked like it had several doors and hallways at one point, all ruined and collapsed except for a twisted hallway spiraling up the tower further. We proceeded into the hallway in front of us and it seemed untouched for the most part. Most of the torch molds along the inside walls still had torches, although unlit, and none of the windows viewing the outside were broken. In fact some of them were repaired and I noticed the ground: it was brand new carpet! I heard Regal’s voice as we got near the top. I began to trot faster, Daring keeping pace and we stopped to see Regal was talking to another pony unlike any I’ve ever seen.

The pony he was talking to wore what looked like thick obsidian armor, he had golden colored eyes, and a dark gray coat. The armor itself was reminiscent of some of the guards back in the city of Fenrir back on Durandel; dark colored all around, the design of the center piece had a large gemstone on it that shimmered slightly, the helmet he wore had a webbed crest over it, and the feature that stood out was his golden eyes; the pupils were slits like that of a cat. His voice was deep and raspy as he spoke.

“I told you, nopony is allowed passed this point. Not while the princess sleeps, now begone!” he said, his expression growing into frustration.

“You will let me and my party through or you will perish.” Regal said without emotion.

“Regal!” I cried, as I galloped up next to him. I looked at the pony, realizing he was a pegasus with what looked like bat wings instead of the normal feathery wings that all pegasi had. “I’m sorry, sir, it’s just – we were looking for something my friend here lost long ago.”

He looked at me for a second before saying “As I said nopony may pass this point while the princess sleeps.”

“Bleak, who goes there?” A loud voice boomed from some distance behind the armored pegasus.

“They are but intruders your highness. I am dealing with them peacefully as per your orders!” he responded to the voice without taking his eyes off me.

“Intruders thou says? If thy intruders art ponies we would see them.” The voice boomed.

He blinked in response before saying “Princess Luna wishes to meet you. Please follow me, and be respectful, courteous, and only speak when spoken to. You will be watched.” And he began to trot further up the hall. I noticed even his tail was dark too, as well as his horseshoes, all matching.

As we trotted I looked at Daring and asked “What is he? Is he a pegasus?”

“Yes, but I don’t know the story with the wings or the eyes, all of the Royal Guards of the Night have the same features. It must be some enhancement” She replied, and flinched when the guard replied to her.

“Yes, it is an enhancement. We also have enhanced senses like hearing. princess Luna herself handpicks the elite of the Royal Guard of the Night, and gives them a Lunar Blessing. We gain all of these enhancements so long as princess Luna wishes we have it. It is tradition for the elite Royal Guard, even princess Celestia’s elite have their own blessing.” He said. Not a word was spoken for the rest of the trot up.

When we reached the top, there were two other Night Guards standing outside a very large door. Both guards had the same Lunar Blessing that Bleak had talked about. Without hesitation, the two guards opened the door that led into a large bedroom. The room was decorated handsomely, with the dark blue carpet, the torches lit with blue flames as the windows were covered by dark blue curtains. The room was pretty dark but I could make out an ancient throne near the back of the room, as well as a very large bed a few paces next to it. I noticed the ceiling was decorated, or enchanted I couldn’t tell which, with the heavens like the room itself was in space. Countless stars littered the ceiling, though each giving off a faint glow it was hard to tell if they were reflecting light from the torches or giving off their own light.

A silhouette stirred from the bed, and an alicorn emerged from the darkness into the light. She had a blue coat, with a sort of neck decoration depicting a waning moon. Her horseshoes were made of diamond judging from the shimmer in the lights and the color. Her mane was a lighter color of blue that looked a little unkempt, probably bedhead from sleeping in such a luxurious bed. She had a mark on her flank that was mostly black, but also depicted a waning moon. Her wings were outstretched, and were big enough to encircle all three of us in a large hug if she wanted to. I noticed her horn was incredibly long, longer than any unicorn I’ve seen so far. She gazed at us with peaceful blue eyes, as the door closed behind us and Bleak stood by it, also watching us.

“ART THOU CITIZENS OF PONYVILLE? THOU HAST BRAVED THE FOREST OF EVERFREE TO MEET THY PRINCESS?” she said in an incredibly loud voice that made all three of us move back by sheer volume. My ears were ringing. “WELL? WHAT SAYEST THOU?”

Before I could say anything, Daring spoke first “Your highness, we were not aware you slept here during the day. We apologize for intruding on your royal sleeping grounds”

“IT IS OF – We are sorry. We are so used to using the royal Canterlot voice with our guards.” She said, lowering her voice dramatically. She had a beautiful voice that sounded like she would be an amazing singer. I must’ve had a shocked expression on my face as she looked at me, she giggled and continued “As we were saying; it is of no consequence dear Daring Do.” Daring flinched when she heard her name. “And thou, one who has bounded thou soul to that which should’ve been a soulless vessel” she pointed at Regal, who also flinched “as well as thou. Thou two should not be in Equestria. We have talked to our dear sister about this, but she wants to see how events will unfold from here on out.”

“Your majesty, how did you know who we all are?” Regal asked, a bit of respect in his voice.

“There is no secret that we aren’t aware of. However we know of thou power. If thou wish, thou could strikest us down, as well as thou friends before being subdued by our guards. However we see thou are not all bad, as thou only wish to be one with gods, is this correct?” Luna said, looking directly at Regal. Regal gaped at her.

“Your highness is omnipotent it would seem,” Regal started “you must know what we are looking for.”

“We know what you will be looking for. Thou wishes to enter the underground labyrinth to the forsaken shrine. We will point you in the right direction and nothing more. The entrance thou seek is behind our throne. We have been meaning to seal it off, however, that will wait until after thou is done with it.” She smiled as she pointed towards the back of the room with her hoof, then adding “We would be honest with thy friends if we were thou.” Looking at Regal.

As she trotted back to her bed, I looked at Regal awaiting a response. When he said nothing, Daring began to trot to the throne. I joined her a second later, as did Regal. Behind the throne, Daring began to tap the ground with her hooves, lifting the carpet as she went until one of the taps sounded hollow. She proceeded to bite the stone brick and as she pulled, a large portion of the floor opened up on a hidden hinge like a trap door, revealing a dark staircase leading down. I looked at her and she at me.

“Ready?” she asked.

I nodded. We began to descend the steps.

End of Chapter 8

Chapter 9 - The Labyrinth

Chapter 9: The Labyrinth
Regal & Edel

Edel and Daring descended the large hidden staircase as I watched Kael stare at Princess Luna. I focused my concentration on my body, as I discovered doing so allowed me to hear some of his thoughts. This princess creature… I must figure out how she has acquired her omnipotence. She might even know of my past. I need to tread carefully if I am to –

“Well you seem to be having a lot of fun with your discovered talent.” a voice suddenly rang in my ear. I looked to see Discord had a devilish smile on his face. I sighed as we began to float down the stairs with Kael, thanks to the invisible bonds that Discord had placed on us. Ever since leaving the strange ruins with Discord, we had not left Kael’s side, following unable to interact with anypony. Despite me appearing to be human, I found myself longing to be back in my alicorn body.

“Do you think I could ever get my body back?” I asked.

“Anything is possible, my dear Regal. You just need access to the right resources and the right motivation. This Kael character does seem to have a chaotic aura, but he’s being way too subtle. Well for the most part he is.” Discord responded.

“I can’t believe him. Didn’t you see the look on Rainbow Dash’s face? It was horrible!”

“Yes I did, an excellent way to ruin your name, as well as stir up some classic chaos. Now pay attention, we are just about at the bottom of this descent.”

I looked forward, noticing Kael, Edel and Daring were at a large door which had an abstract decorative design. Daring had a torch clutched in her good wing which lit up the small room; the walls and floor were made of stone, as well as the door for the most part, and the stairs behind us were made of a black material I wasn’t sure what. Daring hit the door with a hoof and to my surprise it made a metallic noise. I never did have an eye for detail. I noticed Edel approach the door get up on his hind legs and push his weight against the door.

“It won’t budge. How do we open this?” Edel said, as Daring was looking around.

“I don’t remember this door here. It must’ve been just constructed or closed after I explored this place.” Daring answered. “Look around, there might be a safe bet that this door was merely open when I was last here and that there is a hidden switch to open it.”

Edel and Kael began to look around. Kael looked at the stairs and then the door before eventually approaching the door and inspecting the designs. I focused but couldn’t hear his thoughts. It seemed I didn’t need to as Daring moved a loose piece of stone aside and located a lever. She looked around for a second before speaking.

“Everypony get back. This might be trapped.” She said, and Kael and Edel obeyed and went a little up the stairs. She pulled on the lever, and after a few seconds of the sound of cogs turning and metal grinding within the walls, the door sunk underneath the ground, revealing a narrow corridor.

Edel and Kael followed as Daring went through the door.

“This looks straightforward enough.” Kael said.

“This room might be; however through that door up ahead is where the labyrinth begins. It’s covered by a ceiling so flying is not an option, Regal.” Daring said as my name being said caught my attention again. I hadn’t met Daring Do yet personally, so it always made me look at her. She had a look of excitement and determination as she trotted forward, with a sly grin on her face.

They reached the door and Daring opened it. It opened into a larger room with 6 different corridors, peering down each, they seemed to twist and turn to different directions. I began to wonder the origins of this place.

“Mr. Discord.” I started.

“Just Discord, my boy. What is it?” He replied.

“Okay, Discord, I’m curious, do you know of the origins of this place?” I asked.

“I do. And I am assuming you want to know about it?” he asked. I nodded and he continued. “You see, this is known as the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters. The titles currently go to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. It was built over a shrine of sorts, I’ll get to that later, and a few years after the two eventually imprisoned me in stone the first time around. I suppose they’d rather have harmony and order rather than disharmony and chaos, I don’t hold a grudge, I just don’t forget. Anyway, this place housed the sisters until roughly a thousand and some odd years ago, Luna became corrupted rather chaotically I might add,” he said with a smile “with bitterness. Apparently ponies sleeping during the night made her sad, and a very long time of this put her over the edge, and she harnessed the bitterness into power, which she started a war with Celestia. These ruins were ground zero, where it all started before Luna, or at the time, Nightmare Moon, was banished to the moon via the Elements of Harmony.” he finished with a gagged expression at the last three words.

“Elements of Harmony? I thought that Twilight and her friends were the spirits of the elements” I said, remembering what Twilight told us.

“Well yes, that is the case now. They seem to be the six elements incarnated. Though if they knew how close to the truth this was… Forget I said that. Now about this labyrinth; Nightmare Moon was the one who discovered the shrine underneath her throne room, shortly after the first battle ended here. She feared it and respected it at the same time, so she created this labyrinth as a test to see who was worthy of making it to the shrine.”

“What is this shrine? What is so special about it?” I asked.

“I could tell you now and spoil the surprise… Or we can pay attention to what’s going on right now.” Discord replied, and looked towards Daring who was facing Edel and Kael.

“Okay follow me.” She said, beginning to trot to the corridor second furthest on the right side of the room.

“How can you know which way is the right way?” Kael said as Edel and Daring trotted through the corridor.

“It’s my special talent. I can recall any path I’ve travelled and not get lost. Even if it has been many years since I’ve been here.” She said, and pointed at her cutie mark depicting a star with a circular background resembling a compass.

Kael merely grunted and continued along with them. Focusing I was able to read a thought. This better be worth the find. I’m sensing higher levels of chaotic energies the closer we get, I can only… and then it trailed off.

“Regal, are you going to explain what the princess meant?” Edel asked. My heart leapt, hoping he would avoid the topic.

“What? I don’t know how she knew so much about us, but I had no idea what she was talking about.” Kael said.

“It backs up why you’ve been acting so strange. Lorane agreed with me, you’ve been different ever since you went off of watch duty when we were camping. Next thing we notice when we find you, your horn is fixed and is freakishly large, and you know all of this stuff about magic that even has Lorane confused… So come on, out with it already.” Edel said forcefully. Daring slowed her trot and watched behind her as the two kept talking.

“What, out with what?!” Kael cried.

“Where the hell is Regal? You’re not Regal!” Edel bellowed, now crouched eyeing Kael with a furious gaze.

I quickly focused my concentration as Discord began to laugh hysterically. I know this stupid fool isn’t picking a fight. Do I have to banish him as well and force this pony to lead me to the shrine?

“Okay listen, I am Regal. I can explain later, but I merely took back my body. My soul and his body are now one, as well as our mind.” Kael said, his breathing becoming rapid.

“So you admit something did happen here after all!” Edel exclaimed.

“Yes yes. I will explain everything when we get out of here. Let’s hurry up to this shrine of yours.” Kael said, looking at Daring.

“Well if you’re not Regal, who are you?” Daring asked.

“You can keep calling me Regal… or Kabel.” Kael said. I remember he did say his name was Kabel, but he was better known as Kael in history. I would have to look that up when we got back home…

“Fine. Kabel. Let’s keep moving Daring.” Edel said grudgingly.

Daring nodded and they continued, going down different paths. The place was quiet, and uneventful save the torch’s fire crackling and the thumping from the hooves hitting the ground as they moved forward. Every now and then the corridor emptied into another branch of corridors, and each time Daring led them down a specific path. I kept trying to pry at Kael’s thoughts but I was unable to get in.

“So Daring, if I may ask, how old were you when you were first here?” Edel asked.

Daring giggled nervously before answering “Well I was still a filly, right after I got my cutie mark I decided to explore here. I was twelve; of course that was a long time ago…” She seemed to wait for another question but it didn’t come and she added “Well aren’t you the gentlecolt? Not asking a mare her age, but I really could care less about appearances. I am 42, it was almost 30 years ago that I came here.” And she glanced back to see Edel nodding.

“Well you don’t look like you’re 42, at least I wouldn’t have guessed.” Edel said, which got Daring to smile and blush.

“Thank you, Edel. Not many compliment me for things outside of adventures and books.” She said looking down. They walked into a larger room and Daring flinched. “What the… I don’t remember this large room at all.”

Kael stepped passed them and spoke “We are being watched.”

Edel stepped forward next to Kael and scanned the dark cavern. “I can’t see anything but I do feel a presence down here.” He said quietly.

I looked around unable to see anything. I turned to Discord who was doing midair backstrokes, realizing he was no longer bounded to Kael I asked “Discord, can you unbind me so I can see look around this place?”

“Oh Regal, what’s the fun in that? You seem to really love spoilers don’t you?”

“Please?” I groaned “Edel is still my friend, and if there is a way I want to somehow communicate with him.”

“That is something I cannot do… Well, for you at least, but if you want I suppose I could let you see through the eyes of your friend.” Discord said, and without hesitation he snapped his bear claw, and suddenly I was staring at a strange shape in the ground about 30 paces away. It looked like a thick, large cord that extended inwards.

Edel trotted forward with prudence, watching it for any movements. I realized I can hear his thoughts too as his voice came into my head It’s not moving, it could be a snake waiting for us. Hopefully nothing like a Basilisk but why would one such creature live all the way down here? As he got within 10 paces, we saw it was definitely not a snake, it was a sea-green-like color that seemed to be larger and round at the tip facing us. It finally moved. It’s alive! the movement was strange, another coating of what looked like the sea-green coating, skin, moved around the ball and back. We both realized at the same time what it was. It’s an eyeball? Oh jeeze! and Edel jumped backwards, turned towards Daring and Kael and yelled “There’s something down here, and it has definitely seen me!”

We looked back, the eye is more apparent as it looked at us with indigo eyes, and slited pupils. It blinked again before the tentacle retracted into the darkness and everypony heard a faint splashing sound followed by louder splashing, like something ascending out of water, for a second. Then another, Then 4 more.

“Is that water? What is it?!” Daring asked.

Before Edel could answer there were faint yellow lights in the distance outlining the source, a very tall tentacle about 35 paces from Edel, was in the air. More lights outlined an identical tentacle to the right of the first one facing us, and 2 smaller ones, and suddenly the light intensified and illuminated the entire cave. They were in a very large puddle of water; the cave itself was broken from the rest of the labyrinth that much was certain. None of the tentacles had eyes; the long ones were simple, a few shallow holes were emitting the same yellow lights that now illuminated the cave, while the smaller ones also emitted light but the ends had extensions that looked like blades curved upwards like a scimitar, surrounding each tentacle. There was a noise of rushing water, and a huge shape came out of the large gap in the center of the four tentacles.

Before the shape was visible and the water had cleared from it, Daring screamed “Get back! It’s an aboleth!”

I found my eyesight return to my own eyes as Discord was chuckling “Have fun? No more of that now, just enjoy the show.”

I didn’t answer, I was watching as Kael’s horn glowed and a dark cloud filled the cave. A large bolt of lightning hit the aboleth but had no effect. The aboleth was now completely visible. It looked like a very large fish; sea-green scales, it had 6 red eyes that glowed as bright as the light it emitted. It had a small slit for a mouth that didn’t look the least bit threatening. In face the only threat seemed to be its size.

“It likes lightning, you know!” Daring said as Kael’s mouth only gaped at the non-effective spell as the dark cloud vanished.

Edel finally got back with Daring and Kael and asked “What do we do? How do we fight this thing?”

“Aboleths are usually found near the bottom of the sea. I’ve only encountered one ever, and I had to escape. I’ve never fought one, I just know it loves eating, and it loves using its powers to get into prey’s minds. We need to get out of here; maybe this shrine isn’t worth getting killed over.” Daring said, a look of hopelessness in her eyes.

“Well, Kabel why don’t you do what you did with Solem? Banish it!” Edel said.

Kael looked at him. “Doing that to something this large, I need to be at full strength, which I am not at the moment. If only I could find a leyline to this shrine and I can get us there in an instant. I agree with the pony, let’s just go back to the tower and think of another plan.”

Daring nodded, even ignoring being acknowledged as pony. Edel agreed, and they turned, only to see the entrance was now a pile of rocks.

“Impossible! When did the entrance collapse?!” Kael shouted.

Daring closed her eyes “It’s powers. The entrance isn’t there, it just looks like it was. It’s making us think the entrance is gone, but it’s hidden from our senses.” She looked at the aboleth. “It looks like we’re trapped.”

The tentacles reached to corner the three to keep from running, and their size tripled, virtually boxing them in. I watched in horror as the two smaller tentacles reached forward, the blade-like extensions opening and closing. Kael’s horn glowed again, and suddenly stopped glowing.

“I can’t - why can’t I concentrate?!”

“It’s the aboleth’s powers… once it’s in our head it has complete control of our senses, as well as our focusing ability.” Daring said, as she sat down. “I’m sorry, everypony. This is my fault. I should’ve never suggested coming down here. I’ve led us to our doom.”

Edel trotted over, and sat down next to her as the two tentacles grew closer. “It’s okay Daring. It was worth the adventure. I hoped we could become better friends before this was over –” Before Edel could finish, Daring locked lips with his, and his eyes reflected a shocked expression, as tears rolled down her face.

“Tough break. Looks like your friend, his new lover, and your body are all going to die.” Discord said with a smug smile.

I looked at him, my eyes filled with anger “No! NO! This isn’t happening!”

Discord looked taken aback and gaped for a split second before responding “Temper temper. Hey this isn’t my doing; I don’t kill ponies when I’m free.”

I looked at Kael. He was cowering under his hooves. My hooves. He’s in MY body. I want it back. I found myself sprinting at Kael. “GIVE ME BACK MY BODY!” I roared and before I dived into him, he looked up as if he had heard me. And then everything went black.

As I found myself lip-locked with Daring, enjoying it, for it is probably the last affection we will both receive before being killed by this monster, a violent flash of cyan light came from where Kael was. Daring broke the connection and looked behind her as well, Kael was oddly floating in midair; eyes closed, wings outstretched but not moving, legs only dangling as his horn was now double the length it was, larger than Luna’s was, and he was surrounded by a cyan aura that even outshone the yellow light from the aboleth. Kael’s eyes opened and only more cyan light came from them, causing the aura to almost triple in size.

The aboleth’s tentacles began to move quickly towards Kael, possibly seeing him as a threat that needed to be extinguished as even the larger ones quickly moved towards him. However as the smaller tentacles met with the aura, there seemed to be an exchange of magic, as the tentacles recoiled and the aboleth let out a loud howl as its tentacles began to disintegrate into ashes. I watched as the aura; now almost quadruple the original size, began to form what looked like a long whip over Kael’s body, and lashed at the closer large tentacle. It cut through the tentacle like butter, severing it from its body. The aboleth let out another howl and began to dive into the puddle it was poking out from.

I began to trot towards Kael, who was now hovering slightly above ground, the cyan light fading rapidly. There was another scratching noise as Daring lit another torch, when the light fully faded and Kael was on the ground unconscious. After waiting a few seconds, I lifted him onto my back.

“I usually end up carrying you after a battle, just like old times, eh Regal?” I found myself saying before remembering it was an imposter. I would’ve dropped him if he didn’t just save our lives. I looked at Daring. “Let’s keep going before the thing comes back.”

Daring nodded, and we both began to trot around the large puddle, which looked like it went very deep, probably into the sea. I began to wonder how that creature got here. I looked around the cave, some of the walls looked like they were carved. As we began to ascend a slope leading upwards toward another corridor from the labyrinth Daring commented “This cave was dug by something. More than likely diamond dogs were the source, looking for diamonds probably.”

“Diamond dogs? Are they hostile?” I asked.

“They are if you have jewels. Otherwise, it’s better to steer clear of them regardless.” She said and looked down slightly as we trotted up. “I’m sorry about that back there. I guess it seemed like the end, and you were close by, and I kind of like you…”

“It’s alright, Daring. I understand, and we can talk about that later if you really want to.” I said, trying to be supportive. I am a really understanding guy, and it did seem like the end for us. I started to think about Lorane, where was she right now?

“I’ve been in plenty of dangerous situations before, but that one did seem like the end. Those creatures are mighty predators and are seldom seen because of their only environment is under the sea. The one I escaped from was based on luck alone, as a nearby kraken just happened to be floating downwards, dead. Dead krakens sometimes expel a large amount of ink, clogging the water, so I used that to swim away, for aboleths have bad eyesight. So when I was out of vision, I was out of its mind altering powers…” she explained. “So you see, when you were telling me it was worth the adventure; a stallion actually telling me it was worth the adventure to spend time with me, and a stallion I happen to like, it just kind of melted over and I… reacted.”

In response I put a hoof around her as we reached the corridor. She blushed and looked at me. “It’s okay. You don’t need to explain so much. Relax okay?” I smiled, and she returned the smile.

We trotted down the corridor to a large door. The door had the same design as the first door before we entered the labyrinth, only it actually had handles on one side. I looked at Daring. “This is it. The shrine is behind this door. Now I finally get to see if there is something more!” she said, excitement raising in her voice. I opened the door.

End of Chapter 9

Chapter 10 - Beginnings

Chapter 10: Beginnings
Daring Do & Lorane

As Edel opened the door I opened my saddle bag with my right fore-hoof and took out another torch. The lit one being gripped in my good wing, I used its fire to light the other torch and I gripped it in my mouth as I began to trot around. There were empty placeholders for torches on the walls like I remembered. I gently placed the torch in my mouth into the one closest to me, and as I expected the torchlight suddenly grew brighter upon placing it. The room was dimly lit now.

Edel trotted forward as I examined the room. It was as I remembered with almost no difference. The room itself was spherical; the walls were made of stone bricks with some mold growing here and there, the ceiling rose up like a dome with some support beams littering the ceiling, and the back of the room had ruins of a large stain-glass window. The ground, instead of rough stone like the labyrinth, was more smooth and refined; it almost had a marble-like feeling. I noticed the mysterious mirror was still in the middle of the room, behind a large indent in the ground and in front of that was a cauldron which I couldn’t budge the last time I was here. Surrounding the large indent in the ground were a number of pedestals and columns that were lined up side-by-side each other. The rest of the room seemed empty.

“So this is the shrine huh?” Edel said, looking around.

“Yes. I came across this place long ago, and I am sure there has to be something more in this room.” I replied. Regal – or Kabel – whoever the alicorn on Edel’s back was – began to stir slightly. “Is he okay?” I asked.

Edel turned his head to look at the alicorn. “Yeah he is alive if that’s what you’re asking.” He lowered his body to gently place the alicorn on the ground, standing up again and then “Hey! Kabel! Wake up!” and proceeded to hit him with a hoof.

“What? What happened?” the alicorn, Kabel, said, waking up.

“You saved our flanks before passing out. The aboleth almost killed us all but you somehow shook out of its psychic grip and were able to overpower it. I was very impressed with your magic.” I said, giving him a smile.

“Im… Impossible! I was completely silenced, the only way I could’ve broken out is if I was at full strength, and I am far away from that right now!” Kabel said, then looking around “Is this the shrine? Did we make it?”

“Yes, like I said, thanks to you,” I nodded “but I need to look around. There has to be something I missed all those years ago…” I proceeded to look around as Edel and Kabel began talking about what had transpired. Kabel seemed to have no idea what happened but I had cut off their conversation as I was looking around. Something had to be amiss somewhere. A hidden room, cache, lore, anything! I believed to the pit of my soul there was something more… special about this room.

I trotted around the room’s perimeter, keeping my eye on every detail. It was always tough to find a hidden lever in rooms like this, where everything had to be symmetrical but the place was in ruins in some parts. I looked at the columns and pedestals; There must be a reason why they are lined up that way I thought How many are there? There must be a significance… One, two, three… There are seven?. Suddenly, I realized something was indeed amiss. Why hadn’t I seen it earlier! I thought. The pedestals and columns lined up, but weren’t symmetrical. There had to be a reason, why didn’t they line up? What was significant about the number seven? I looked at their placement. Six of them lined up, but the seventh one was on the left-hoof side of the mirror in the middle, and the pedestal almost touched the mirror. I trotted to the mirror, seeing my reflection. I need more light.

“Hey Daring, do you see something?” Edel asked as I galloped to a second torch placeholder, placing the torch I had in my wing into the wall.

“I’m not sure. Come here, both of you and take a torch. I need you to find indents like this and place torches in them. We need some light.” As I finished I found two more torches and lit them. I truly am thankful for my enchanted saddlebags. Thanks to a past unicorn companion, I had an almost bottomless saddlebag, very useful for storing anything, and it weighed almost nothing.

We proceeded to light up the room. Each time a torch was placed, the light magnified and the room became brighter. When we had the room completely lit up, I went back to the mirror. I took off my hat, placed an ear next to the glass and knocked, listening for anything out of the ordinary.

“What is this mirror?” Kael asked as I went behind it and continued knocking. “I saw a similar one next to the statue of that patchwork creature in the forest above.”

“That shattered mirror? Wait… what the?” Edel started. I came from behind the mirror to look at him. He and Kabel were gaping at the mirror. I turned to look at the mirror. I saw only my reflection but something seemed off. The edges of the mirror were swirling a little, almost like water. Not even a second passed when all three of us flinched when the mirror rippled and did indeed look like water. I placed my hoof on the surface; it felt like as a mirror should. What did this mean?

“What’s the meaning of this?” Kabel asked out loud as he trotted towards the mirror. I noticed his reflection had a pale white aura, and Edel’s a lime-green. Mine had no aura.

“It looks like a scrying mirror.”

A sudden voice made all three of us flinch again and look to our left. Twilight was before us, trotting to Edel’s side.

“What? Twilight, when did you get here?” Kabel asked.

“Just now; I was scrying you three for a while now, and I was panicking when you three met that monster. I was able to find Edel’s Leyline and I simply followed it, and applied that teleportation spell to the scrying mirror.” She said with a smile, then frowning at Kabel, “So your name is Kabel huh?”

Kabel returned the serious frown before answering “Yes. I believe I can tell everybody here. I was once a great and feared Sorcerer known as Kabel in my early years. I became known as Kael near the end.”

“Kael? Like from the legends Kael? You expect me to believe you’re actually some demigod from before the founding of the Royal Knights?” Edel exclaimed.

“I suppose they began to call me a ‘demigod’, yes the same person. I created, or rather, summoned the being you call ‘Regal’ to our dimension in Durandel. My time was almost up and I needed a new body if I were going to survive time. I made sure he didn’t age, pulled him from an infinite dimension that surpassed time. At first he was confused, but I managed to sever the ties of his soul and body. I didn’t think my power would be too much to fit into my new vessel, but alas, when I conducted the ritual, as my body died, my soul was stuck outside a soulless vessel, wandering Durandel for hundreds of years.

“You know the rest, Edel. You eventually found this humanoid with no name, no memory, and even dubbed him ‘Regal’ for his apparent royal persona. I merely seized the opportunity to reclaim my vessel, though no longer human, the strange properties of this land had given him enough power to contain my soul. I may not be at full power, but I am now unaffected by time. You see, I am now immortal.” Kabel, or Kael, finished. Seemingly amused at his accomplishment he began to laugh almost menacingly.

“Human? What?” I started to ask, but Twilight interrupted me with a hoof. I knew what she was going to say, as she enlightened me before Edel woke up this morning.

“Well, Kael, or whoever you are, while it may not seem like a big deal to you; you three being here have caused an imbalance in harmony and disharmony.” Twilight said. “We’ve always had a good balance between harmonic and chaotic energies, but since you three got here it’s been getting a lot more chaotic. The Leylines have been very hard to trace as of late, and moments before I teleported here, I received a letter from princess Celestia informing me of this information and asking me to tell everypony. This can turn out very bad for all of us.”

“And why is that the case, Twilight Sparkle? Please do tell why it’s bad to let chaos into the world.” A deep, smooth voice that cut into the darkness rang out from seemingly nowhere. This caused Twilight to jump and look around vigorously.

“No is that?” Twilight started.

“I know that voice…” Kael said.

“Oh I hope you remember my voice, Kael. Your friend, Regal sure will.”

“Discord! Show yourself!” Twilight yelled.

Discord? That’s it! That would explain the mirror, the indention in the floor, the columns and pillars. If I can only recall what my unicorn companion told me about dark magic, I could solve this riddle! I thought.

“I can’t show myself, you know that, Twilight. You are all extremely close to a large chaotic node of mine, and it allows me to communicate, though I am not corporal, I would just love if you all kept up with the chaos, so I can visit Equestria too! It’s rather boring to be stuck inbetween.” Discord’s voice rang. I gasped as I saw Discord in the mirror. He was merely floating around us as he talked. “Do tell, Daring Do, what have you figured out about this room?”

I turned to Twilight and Edel. “Listen, I think we should ignore him. The seven pedestals here are supposed to represent something. Seven pillars, seven pedestals. It had something to do with chaotic energies and dark magic.”

“Well there isn’t seven of anything I can think of. There are six elements of harmony and six natural elements.” Twilight said.

“Wait. Twilight I am trying to remember your story about the elements of harmony you told us,” Edel started “didn’t you say there was also an elusive element? One that was hard to find?”

“Yes, the element of magic. We ended up finding with the spark of friendship.” Twilight said. “Why, do you think there is a seventh element?”

“Maybe not a seventh element of harmony but, what about natural?” Kael said.

“What? There are only six natural elements; Earth, Fire, Water, Air, Light, and Dark.” Twilight said.

I knew she was wrong. There is a seventh element. An elusive element like what Kael was saying. I was able to remember what my companion was saying. I remembered what Twilight also said earlier today.

“Twilight, they are on to something. And I think that’s it. Seven elements and you were even talking about a conduit of some sort, a convergence of energies meeting in a location. Twilight what if this room is the conduit?” I said

She looked around the room. “I… I think you might be right. We’re in the middle of the Everfree Forest, very deep underground close to Tartarus. There are seven pedestals, a chaotic mirror, and a cauldron of sorts. You might be right. We should research this more though. Who else knows of this place?”

“Princess Luna.” Kael said quietly. “She knows of this place, she actually pointed us in this direction. How long were you scrying us, Twilight?”

“Since you three entered the large door. I was panicking when you ran into that terrible creature, and was going to ask princess Celestia to intervene but when I returned it had retreated. I meant to ask; what happened?” Twilight answered.

“Kael here saved us. But, okay, now that we know that this place is what do we do now?” Edel asked, looking at me and Twilight.

I thought for a second; remembering legends I was going to pursue. Then it hit me, the pedestals all had indentions on top of them and seemed to fit a small orb in each one, perhaps the Orbs of the Elements from the legends of ancient civilizations. “Have you ever heard of the Orbs of the Elements?” I asked, looking at Twilight.

She nodded. “This would solve what we discussed earlier. We need to find these elemental orbs, which embody the magic of the elements of Equestria.”

Edel gaped as I felt a rush of joy and cried “And if you are searching for legendary relics, I’m just the pony you need for the job!” Taking that as a cue, Twilight created an image of her library on the wall, rippling like water.

“Let’s go back to the library.” She said and trotted through the portal.

I looked at Edel who still had his mouth wide open in shock. I smiled and trotted through the portal as well.

I woke up with my head feeling pounding with pain. I opened my eyes to see a window of the huge and painfully bright daylight, as well as birds chirping extremely loudly. I grimaced and turned my head into the pillow. I felt a figure next to me stir and my heart dropped. I turned to see a purple unicorn yawning with her eyes closed.

“Twi- Twilight Sparkle?” I asked, hoping for a response.

“Oh. Good morning Lorane. How did you sleep?” Twilight yawned as she replied. I felt relief, as I got up and stumbled around until Twilight caught me with her telekinetic grip.

“Thanks. I feel terrible. What happened last night?” I asked rather loudly.

“Not so loud, you’ll wake him.” Twilight said quietly and pointed with her hoof. I looked where she was pointing and saw Edel in what looked like a bed for dolls. I began to laugh and quickly stuck my hooves in my mouth as my own voice made my head throb even harder. Twilight saw this and continued “Well, let’s get you downstairs. Daring Do should be down there with Spike.”

The party must’ve been terribly rough because I couldn’t remember what happened after trotting towards Edel who was flirting with Applejack. As remembering that made my face flush with anger, and my head hurt even more, Twilight carried me downstairs in her magical hold, and set me down in a chair near what seemed to be the kitchen. Twilight proceeded into the kitchen and all was quiet for a few seconds until I heard Spike grumbling and shuffling noises. Spike exited the kitchen along with a yawning Daring Do.

“Thank you again for allowing me to crash here, miss Sparkle.” Daring said as I laid my head down on a nearby table. She must’ve saw me as she said “Well good morning miss, Lorane was it? You seem to have trouble holding your liquor.”

I grunted before saying “Yes. I remember we met in the forest right? Thanks for saving us from those wolves.”

“Oh you were travelers in trouble; of course I would help anypony in need, especially when they are getting overrun by predators… You look like you’re in pain.” Daring said.

“Just a little bit, I’ve never really had um, alcoholic drinks before last night.”

“Well that would explain it! Here, put this in your mouth, and swallow it.”

I looked up to see a small yellow capsule. Perhaps a medicinal mixture of herbs and processed mana; but there was no mana in Equestria… “What is it?” I asked.

“Trust me, you’ll feel better in 10 seconds after swallowing.” Daring said. I shrugged in response, and took it with my hoof, as I had a very hard time focusing for using any magic, and I simply swallowed it. It did take about 9 seconds to feel a tingling sensation run up my spine and then my head was completely clear.

“Wow it worked! Thank you; I feel a lot better but, I’m still a little confused about last night.” I said.

“Oh it’s no problem! I can tell you what happened if you want.” Daring said, as Twilight emerged from the kitchen holding flour, eggs, and some other ingredients in her magical grip.

“Oh no it’s quite alright; I just need to take a walk to clear my head. I’ll be back.” I said, and began to trot towards the door.

“But I have news I wanted to talk to you and Regal about! We can discuss it over breakfast!” Twilight said as I opened the door.

I looked at her; she had a pleading look in her eyes, really wanting to share what she’s learned. I considered but then thinking about Edel, I said “I’m sorry, but I’m going to head out. Just tell Edel and Regal for now, I’ll be back.” And I headed outside. It was a nice day, I thought about what to do to keep my mind off what happened. I vaguely remember kissing Edel, and hitting somepony else.

Hoping to get this off my mind, I began to take a tour of Ponyville. I started in what seemed to be the public park. It looked like any other park in Durandel, even had a few benches, and a fountain. There were several ponies playing and frolicking in the park. Most were young fillies and colts, still without cutie marks as well. I looked at my flank, and wondered how I would find my own cutie mark. I looked around to see three particular fillies moving what looked like a trapeze under a tree. The tree had a few oversized rings hanging from rope, and realizing what they were doing, I galloped up to them just as they set the trapeze into the tree.

“What are you fillies doing?!” I cried. If they were doing what I thought they were doing, somepony could get seriously hurt.

And orange pegasus filly spoke up in a slightly raspy voice “We are the Cutie Mark Crusaders!”

“And we are going to try to be the Cutie Mark Crusaders Acrobats!” A white unicorn filly said, and all three joined in unison with a “Yay!”

I started “Well you shouldn’t do that without safety precautions! Somepony could get hurt!” Then I realized “Wait, crusaders you say? Are you related to Rarity?” I asked the white unicorn, remembering Rarity talking about her sister.

“Yes, Rarity is my sister! Ooh that cape! You must be the mare with a blank flank too! Why don’t you join us!” the unicorn said with a smile.

“Now, Sweetie Belle! We can’t just let anypony in the Crusaders, even if they are fully grown mares!” The orange pegasus protested, as a third filly jumped down from the tree.

“Hey what’s goin on?” the third filly asked. I noticed she had no wings or horn, had a yellow coat and a big red bow. She also had a really cute southern accent.

In response the orange pegasus beckoned her and they huddled and talked in whispers. As soon as they apparently came to a unanimous decision, all three of them turned and looked at me. The orange one spoke first “The Cutie Mark Crusaders have decided to take you as one of our own – if you can pass a test.”

Before I could say anything the yellow pony trotted behind me and began to push me towards the tree and hanging trapeze. “Yah got to swing off the trapeze thingy and do a flip onto the big X over there,” she pointed with her hoof at the white unicorn, Sweetie Belle, drawing an X in the dirt with a stick, “and then you will be a crusader!”

“No, Apple Bloom, she’ll be an HONORARY Crusader. She’s too old to be part of our secret society!” The orange pegasus replied.

“Oh, right. Yah will be an honorary crusader, miss… what was your name again?” Apple Bloom asked.

“It’s Lorane, sweetie. But I just want you three to be careful! Now take down that trapeze, and do something where nopony will get hurt.” I said.

“But you need it to do the test! Don’t you want to be a Crusader?” Sweetie Belle asked, her eyes getting slightly teary. It made my heart melt when I looked at her.

“Oh of course I do… Well fine, but after this, do something safer that doesn’t involve jumping from a tree.” I said, giving in.

“Oh, don’t worry; we never do dangerous stuff, right Scootaloo?” Apple Bloom said.

The orange Pegasus, Scootaloo answered “Yeah, this is our first time doing something like this!” she giggled. I didn’t pay the laugh any mind as I climbed up the tree. I got to the lowest branch closest to the trapeze, about eight paces off the ground. I could feel the three fillies watching my every move. I have to admit I’ve done gymnastics before, as a human, but a pony’s body was much heavier and bulkier than a human’s, so I wasn’t sure I could pull it off.

As long as they’re okay. I can survive a short fall like this, but they could get seriously hurt. I thought as I leapt from the branch with my hind legs, a little stronger than I intended as the branch bent as I jumped. I grabbed on the trapeze; I felt the branch holding on the oversized ring snap and I instinctively let go, and reflexively used my telekinesis to propel myself forward. My body was already upside down from the swing, so I managed to pull off the flip and landing a little farther away than the large X on the ground.

The fillies cheered and galloped up to me. Sweetie Belle lifted my cape as they looked at my blank flank, and then looked disappointed when they saw no cutie mark. “Well it was worth a shot. Welcome to the Cutie Mark Crusaders, miss Lorane. I’m Scootaloo, that’s Apple Bloom and this is Sweetie Belle.” Scootaloo said, pointing at the other fillies.

“It’s nice to meet you!” I said, then remembering Rarity telling me to come by, “Sweetie Belle is your sister home? I was supposed to see her today.”

“Yeah, I think so. She was looking at some strange fabric I’ve never seen before. Then again she usually works with fabrics I’ve never seen before… Go see for yourself!” She replied.

“Yeah, and later we will need your help for our big crusade tonight!” Scootaloo said, as the other two giggled excitedly.

“Thank you girls, and remember to be careful and no more dangerous stunts!” I said, feeling like a nanny.

They agreed and I trotted towards the Carousel Boutique. As I got to the boutique, I saw the front door open and Rarity come out. After noticing me she smiled and trotted toward me.

“Lorane! Darling you’re early, but it’s okay, you can come with me to get the special material I was talking about yesterday!” Rarity said, as she took out a small scroll out of what I was just noticing a saddle bag on her back.

“Good morning, Rarity! If I might ask, what exactly is this special material? Mageweave is unique, and I am curious about what kind of substitute you had in mind.” I replied.

“Oh well we need to make it. It’s not as common as to where one can simply purchase it from a store. Traditionally it’s called Runeblend, and it doesn’t take too long to make. It’s made up of silk and a refined version of a strange substance found near Tartarus called Runeite. The crafter needs a lot of concentration when making this, it is not only a delicate procedure, but strictly magical. One slip up can ruin the whole process.” Rarity answered as we trotted towards a simple silk store.

Upon entering we were greeted by a male, feminine voice, “Welcome to Silks Strivers, where we strive to be the best vender for silks and silk goods.” A pony soon came from behind a nearby door behind the counter on my right. He had turquoise coat and a short emerald mane. He didn’t have wings or a horn either; I made a mental note to ask about ponies like this one and Edel.

“Hello, Reed. I’m here to pick up a couple of spools of your finest silk.” Rarity said.

“Miss Rarity, how lovely to see you. And hello to your friend, I am Reed,” He said “while I get that, could I help you as well?”

“I’m just tagging along with Rarity.” I said nervously. I didn’t like being coaxed to buy something, in general. I was never comfortable around salesmen, or salesponies for that matter.

“Okay, dear what kind of silk?” Reed asked as he went back into the door.

“The usual, and please don’t forget I need ten spools.”

“Ten. Right, you got it. It will come down to 86 bits, with your discount.” Reed said as he came out with a box in his mouth.

Rarity took out six gold coins and four larger bronzed coins out of her saddle bag and gave it to Reed. He thanked her as we left the store.

“So what’s the scroll for?” I asked as we headed towards the edge of the Everfree Forest.

“Oh these are just notes for magically refine the Ruinite, as well as infuse it with the silk. It’s not too complicated; we just need help from an alchemist. Somepony like Zecora.” Rarity replied, she turned and smiled at me. It was a wonderful feeling, somepony like Rarity doing this huge favor just for me.

“Thank you so much, Rarity. Your kindness and generosity is a rare trait to find. Or at least it is back in Durandel. Everypony is so… Let’s just say it’s safe to be cynical like my friend, Edel.” I said.

“Edel? Oh he seemed to be loads of fun at the party. And I think you two make a great couple by the way.” She said with a grin.

“What? We aren’t a couple! What gave you that idea?” I asked, blushing.

“Don’t be coy. I was there when you kissed him. Anyway, if you need to take a cynical approach in Durandel, I’m a little curious about the ponies there.” Rarity said as we continued into the forest. “Oh mind your step, those blue flowers there are Poison Joke, we had a bad experience with it when we first met Zecora.”

“What’s Zecora like?” I asked.

“Oh well for starters she’s a zebra, not a pony. She’s very kind and talks in rhymes, as well as one of the best herbalists in Equestria.” Rarity said, and I detected a slight tone of pride.

“Really? Why does she live in the forest full of predators?”

“She doesn’t fear the predators, and why here? …Probably for proximity of all the different plants and herbs she can collect and use for potions.”

We soon came upon a gnarled tree that appeared to have windows and a door, like the library, a literal tree house. The tree was large, and shaped at a crooked angle, a few bottles and charms hung from the branches, an intimidating mask hung on top of the door, and a similar mask nearby on my left. We trotted to the door, Rarity knocked. After a few seconds the door opened and there stood a zebra with blue eyes, and she was decorated with large golden earrings and a number of gold rings she wore on her left fore-hoof and neck. She smiled at us.

“Rarity, it is always a pleasure. And who is this? Somepony new I measure?” She said.

“Hello, Zecora, so lovely to see you again too. This is Lorane and yes she is new.

“Hello.” I said.

“My dear, come inside. Make sure you watch where you stride.” Zecora replied, as there were a few bottles on the ground.

We trotted inside; there were potion bottles hanging here and there, as well as the many lying on the floor for some reason. The room was decorated with masks and books, and a few candles possibly for atmosphere.

“Thank you, Zecora. We’re here because we need help refining Runeite. We need to fix Lorane’s cape you see, and Runeblend would make for an acceptable substitute in place of her mysterious Mageweave material.” Rarity said, picking up the bottles on the ground and placing them on top of a nearby table with her magic.

“Sorry about the mess, I’ve been without rest. But yes, I can help with Runeite refining, though it will take much defining. Do you have Runeite?”

“Yes, I have a bit of it here.” Rarity said as she took out a small box from her saddlebag. She used her magic to reveal what looked like bits of teal rock as she continued “I had a friend of mine obtain it for me, I wanted to try it on some other designs too, so I think he got more than enough.”

“This is quite a bit, perhaps enough for a whole kit? This will do, I need but make a simple brew.” Zecora replied after taking the box in a hoof.

After waiting and idly chatting for about five minutes, Zecora submerged the Runeite with a ladle into the boiling cauldron of yellow liquid, then quickly withdrew it and poured it into a potion bottle. She repeated this for the rest of the Runeite in the box, and produced 12 bottles of an indigo liquid that was apparently refined Runeite. Rarity thanked her and we headed back to Carousel Boutique. I began to think about Edel, wondering if he was still sleeping or not, and where in the world Regal was. I looked up and saw Rainbow Dash in the distance flying in loops and doing corkscrews in midair. I had to remember to talk to her.

As we finally got inside, Rarity placed the bottles on a nearby table as well as a few spools of silk. I watched as she levitated the spool, unraveling it as she uncorked the first bottle. She poured the contents into what looked like a mold for thread and slid the thread through the mold, soaking the thread in the refined runeite. The thread was then wound up into a ball. She repeated this process for five spools of silk and all twelve bottles.

“There we are.” Rarity said, after finishing. “Now that we have the thread, let’s dye it the right color and repair that cape of yours!”

End of Chapter 10

Chapter 11 - Personas

Chapter 11: Personas
Kael

I looked around the shrine again. I’ve been feeling a presence following me ever since entering Ponyville, and I was beginning to suspect it was the mischievous spirit I met while I was detached from this body, the same spirit that Twilight called ‘Discord’. I felt a volatile tingling sensation in my chest, I knew it was raw chaotic energy, ever sense joining this body, I’ve had this sensation, in these ruins, but I still couldn’t locate the source.

“So, Kabel – I mean Kael, what do you make of this? I mean, I know you’re not Regal, and you know a lot about magic… So what is with this place and this mirror?” Edel spoke up, looking me with a scowl and then the mirror as I scanned the surroundings.

“As they said; it can definitely work like some kind of conduit. There is a huge surge of chaotic energy here, but it’s impossible to pinpoint where it’s coming from.” I said. I thought for a moment. Maybe it’s possible that this chaos energy is the seventh natural element here. But the six Twilight mentioned are the same as the ones in Durandel, so maybe the seventh couldn’t be this.

Edel trotted towards the portal before stopping, looking at me and saying “You know he was like family to us. He was my comrade, best friend… He was like a brother to me. If you ever want to change the status quo, you can just leave, bring Regal back and then you would maybe have earned my respect.”

Respect? I don’t need your respect, worm. I thought as he slipped into the portal. I looked around some more, noticing the mirror still had a strange glow and ripple effect. I trotted towards it. Funny how that Daring Do pony was so sure there was something amiss here, and she didn’t find a secret cache or room she was looking for before leaving. I found myself studying the image of myself closely. I was rather ugly, being a quadra pedal creature with a horn about a pace length sticking out of my head, and a pair of wings out of my sides, long snout and a long blue mane.

“How does this work? Life has only been possible because of mana, but there is no mana in this world, only a strange variation that has no traces of the life-giving qualities that mana has.” I found myself saying out loud. Suddenly a saw a talon wrap around my shoulder, but felt nothing. I knew who it was, as the tall patchwork creature rose from behind me in the mirror, smiling.

“Feeling homesick?” Discord said; his voice sounding like he was indeed right next to me.

“A bit; I need to get back and let real mana flow through me so I can get back to full strength. Perhaps take the Gate from this ‘Gladius’ character.” I replied. “Tell me, Discord, are you the one who saved us from that Aboleth?”

“Well, somepony who wants to talk to me? My, my, my how interesting indeed. To answer your question, no it wasn’t me. Even if wanted to, I do not have enough power in this form to do anything other than talk and influence small events. No, the one responsible for that heroic deed…” He pointed at me.

“No, it couldn’t have been me. I was silenced, mind controlled by that thing!”

“I wasn’t pointing at You.” Discord said, his smiling growing more menacing. I gaped at him. “Well I’ll start at the part where you failed to cast your spell on the creature…”

************

As I walked through the portal into the library several minutes later, I saw Edel and Daring Do talking in front of the kitchen counter. Realizing I was in the kitchen, I trotted out into the main wing of the library, where Twilight was reading a thick book near a small desk, and Spike was holding what looked like a piece of parchment he was rolling into a scroll. He promptly opened a window and, to my surprise, exhaled green flames and engulfed the scroll in ashes as the wind blew it away. I thought about inquiring about this odd behavior, but then realized Twilight was concentrating very hard as she absorbed the contents of the book into her brain. I admired that about her. She was very studious like I was when I was young, and she was someone – ok somepony that I have come to respect here in this world called Equestria.

“You remind me of me when I was your age,” I commented as I trotted next to her.

As I thought, she didn’t look up, merely replied with a short “mm-hm.”

I continued “Very focused and ambitious. Helping us strangers out simply because of the thirst.”

She looked up at this, and I merely smiled. “Thirst?”

“Yes my dear, your thirst for more knowledge. Keep it up and you will indeed make a great mage, or unicorn in your case. Are you reading about the elements?”

“Yes, actually,” She started as she looked back down “it says here, the orbs did exist at one point all gathered by a group of ponies called ‘The Disciples of Chaos’. They used the orbs at an unknown location, to summon a Deity to worship. This Deity, or God, proved too powerful and completely embodying chaos, and proceeded to take over Equestria after he was summoned. He enjoyed wreaking chaos and anarchy so well, he got his namesake from the ponies; Discord.”

I had expected much when she mentioned the words Deity and Chaos in the same sentence. “So what happened to the orbs?” I asked.

“After the defeat of Discord, princess Celestia ordered the orbs be sealed away and never be used again. However, we now know that the princess might still have knowledge of where the orbs are.” She said before I heard a loud belch from Spike who was picking up books that were on the ground. I looked and saw a scroll materialize from his green fire above him, hover for a second and then fall to the ground. Twilight proceeded to levitate the scroll to herself; unraveling it as it travelled. “Oh good the princess replied.”

I looked at Spike, who continued to lift books as if nothing happened. Dragons are used to deliver mail? Odd.

Twilight looked at me and smiled. “Well it seems Princess Celestia wishes to meet you, Edel and Lorane. She asked me and my friends to escort you to Canterlot tomorrow.”

I thought about Princess Luna, who apparently rules during the night. If she had such omnipotence as to see directly through my ruse of posing as Regal, does Princess Celestia have the same ability? Looking at Twilight I asked “So, this princess Celestia of yours, is she also as powerful as her sister, Luna?”

“Oh yes, I think she might be more magically adept than her sister, but they are both equal from an objective standpoint. But, well me being her protégé, I am bias.” She said that last sentence with much pride in her voice. I couldn’t help but think Celestia couldn’t have chosen a better student. I heard hoofsteps behind me and I turned to see Daring Do and Edel coming out of the kitchen. Daring Do proceeded into the other portal Twilight had made on the wall next to the stairs, back to the shrine. I had to remember to ask Twilight how she was able to create two portals.

“Hey, Twilight, I am going to find Lorane. Do you think you can keep an eye on Kael?” Edel started.

“No, I’ll go with you.” I said. “Twilight, try to learn more about the other orbs.”

Twilight nodded as Edel said “Suit yourself. When we find her, you be sure to tell the truth.” And we both trotted out the front door.

We trotted through Ponyville, I knew where we were headed. Lorane seemed to be the type to go to the most public place when she wanted some alone time. She must have left sometime after I departed the library this morning, and it was only a little after high noon. I was certain she would be hungry, like Edel was also getting hungry. I felt a pain in my stomach, and I realized I was also hungry. Hunger. I almost forgot the feeling; my last 30 years as a human I used raw mana in my own body for sustenance but now with the absence of mana I haven’t had a meal in hundreds of years. I looked at Edel who was intentionally avoiding eye contact.

“Once we find Lorane, we’re going to eat a late lunch, as friends. Don’t tell her you’re not the same Regal until after we eat.” Edel said, staring forward. His eyes had nothing but contempt for me. I found it very frustrating.

“You know I’ve been with you three the entire time. I know who you are, Edel, and I know Lorane very well too. Regal was only a node of mine, but if we get out of here, I suppose I can conjure up another vessel and replicate Regal’s memories and personality for you.” I said. To my surprise he abruptly stopped trotting and glared at me.

“You have no right. You have no idea who we are. You talk like you’re some great and powerful being with knowledge of everything! The only thing you’re proving on being is a… Parasite!” he cried.

Before I could respond there was a loud musical fanfare followed by a crowd of hooting and hollering coming from the public park about 300 paces to my right. We both looked to see what looked like fireworks in that direction. “We’re not done with this discussion.” I growled before trotting towards the noise. As I neared the park, rounding around a house not caring of Edel was behind me or not, I saw a large crowed of excited ponies gathered in an arc around what seemed to be a carriage and a stage. There was a pony on the stage wearing a purple cape and matching hat, both decorated by stars. As I grew closer within hearing range of her talking, the mare had a dark blue coat and light blue mane. And she had a smile on her face as she was talking.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie is proud to announce that she is back in Ponyville! Here to perform feats beyond imagination for your enjoyment! Witness the magic that will prove to dazzle all in its glory!” She cried as more fireworks poured out of thin air, rising in the air and popping. It was an impressive sight, I admit.

A travelling magician huh? Well I haven’t been this entertained in centuries. Might as well see her show, I can deal with Edel and Lorane later. I thought, suddenly feeling nostalgic, as if a familiar feeling entered my body and I felt homesick as well as empowered. Wait! This feeling. It’s Mana! Where is it coming from… I focused, feeling out the Leylines of energy. It was mana alright, and I could sense a lot more different Leylines, probably because I was in a public place. I found the Leyline, it was the familiar beam of energy fluxuating between a gold color, then blue, purple, white and back to gold. The other Leylines seemed ordinary as they all led to a different pony or other life sources. I followed it with my gaze, to the magician, Trixie, on stage. It’s coming from her. I have to meet this Trixie at once. But it’s too crowded… Perhaps after the show. I thought.

She performed many tricks from materializing objects in midair, to bending light into tangible objects before exploding into sparks of all sorts of colors. It was indeed entertaining and all the while the mana was feeding my very soul. I took this opportunity to obtain sustenance from the mana, after my fill I continued to watch. Some of her tricks even amazed me, as I kept thinking of spells that would explain her tricks but some of them had no possible way of happening. I laughed as she finished conjuring a simple heat bending spell to create fire serpents that danced around the stage. She reminded me of my star pupil, Eleanor, who betrayed me to the empire hundreds of years ago, but she was also interested in flashy magic like this. Finally as the show finished, I made my way towards the stage. A few ponies stepping aside kindly, some saying “Excuse me, highness.” I found myself smiling at this; most ponies here thought I was royalty given my appearance.

As I reached the stage, most ponies have dispersed and I saw Trixie talking with a teal unicorn colt and a white pegasus filly next to her was counting coins in a hat. I remembered the currency was called bits, so this was merely a show to gain money, must’ve been her way of making a living. I jumped on stage and heard her talking. “…Now remember to keep practicing okay Sunny Light? And little Skyline, you don’t have to count this afternoon’s profits right now. Find your parents and give them the bits while I clean up.”

As the two young ponies trotted away with smiles on their faces, I spoke as Trixie turned to see me. “Hello, Great and Powerful Trixie, I am Kabel. I must say I was very impressed with your show here.” As I talked I tried to feel out the mana, it seemed to be radiating from her very being. Why?

“Well hello, Prince Kabel. And thank you, I must ask, what is royalty like you doing in Ponyville? Shouldn’t you be in Canterlot?” Trixie said.

“I suppose my dear, if I were royalty, yes I would need to be under constant protection, as I’m assuming that’s protocol in Equestria. But I am from a place called Durandel, and I must ask, as a fellow mage, why is your aura so bright?” I replied. I noticed at the mention I wasn’t royalty, she began to levitate fallen stage props and flowers that were thrown at her and placing them in neat stacks around the stage.

“A mage you say?” She asked, and quietly muttered “and not royalty?” then continued “Well I am not sure if you understand, I am merely a performer who uses magic to dazzle my crowd. My real name is Beatrix Lulamoon, and I am a unicorn from Hoofington. My next show won’t be until later tonight, in front of town hall. Bring your friends okay?”

I continued to talk as she trotted away “Well okay, but really, why do you radiate this aura of magic? What is your secret?”

She turned to say “A mare does not reveal her secrets.” and continued to trot away.

I cursed to myself as I heard Lorane’s voice call to me, “Regal, get down from there, come on, we have to meet Edel at Sugarcube Corner.”

I stepped off the stage as we trotted towards the large building that looked like it was made of candy. I was not lacking energy therefore I was not hungry, so I would have to somehow tell them the news that Twilight and her friends were going to see us to the capital of Equestria at sunrise.

We stepped inside the bakery where only a small handful of ponies were purchasing baked goods from the counter. A yellow stallion wearing a red and white hat with a matching bowtie was behind the counter taking orders. I was able to see that his nametag read ‘Mr. Cake’. Edel was next in line as Lorane trotted to a table and sat awkwardly in a small chair. I joined her and began to feel out the nearby Leylines. I’ve began to make a habit out of doing this when I felt idle. There was no sign of the mana Leyline that Trixie was emitting, which was to be expected, so withdrawing my concentration I looked at Lorane, noticed she was missing her cape. She smiled at me upon meeting my eyes. “Where is your cape?” I asked.

“Oh, Rarity is repairing it. I cannot begin to tell you how long it took us to prepare the proper substitute for Mageweave. Mageweave doesn’t exist here, and we had to kinda make a new fabric called Runeblend, which does go into the fabric nicely, but she has to keep it for a few hours to make sure the magic properties bind together.” Lorane said, as she started to look at Edel. I knew the two had silly little crushes on each other. I smiled thoughtfully.

Then a strange thought occurred. Why do I feel this way? I feel way too relaxed. I should be on both of their flanks for not doing their all to help get us out of here, but these feelings of compassion keep rising out of nowhere! It’s unlike me at all, is the different balance between Chaos and Harmony here really making me soft like this? I was acting unlike myself and it had to end. I shook my head and looked up at Edel who was speaking to Mr. Cake. “As soon as he gets here I have news from Twilight Sparkle, regarding our quest to get out of here.”

“Oh? Well can we talk after we eat? I am really hungry, and I missed lunch. It’s almost dusk see?” I looked outside in response, and it was indeed almost dusk. Trixie’s show must’ve lasted two hours or so, it seems time flies. My heart fluttered a little as Lorane said “Hey, I’m sorry about hitting you last night. I should haven’t done that. Even if you did deserve it, you’re still my friend, and I value our friendship more than petty name calling and sticking up for a stranger. Can you forgive me?”

I looked at her… Her eyes were a little watery. She must’ve been really thinking a lot about the events from last night. My head became fuzzy as something I should’ve expected happened. I felt a tug at my own Leyline as my eyes began to water as well. “It’s okay. I did deserve it. I have something to say too, but it can wait until after we eat okay? It will explain why I haven’t been myself.” I said, my voice suddenly serene and graceful.

Lorane blinked. “Your voice just changed. Regal! Your horn! It’s broken again! It just… the top part just vanished out of nowhere!” Lorane said loudly, prompting other ponies to look in our direction.

I raised a hoof and felt it was indeed broken, as it was when we first arrived here. I blinked, suddenly saying “Lorane? Oh thank goodness I’m back!”

Edel arrived at the table we were sitting at, placing a plate full of muffins, haycakes, three sandwiches, and cupcakes. He looked at me, eyes going to my horn and to my eyes. “K… Kael?”

“Edel it’s me! I… I think I took control! I don’t know how but, suddenly I am able to talk and move and… Oh, Lorane didn’t know yet huh?” I said.

“What?” Lorane chirped, a puzzled expression on her face.

I told her the story. How I was being called to a strange mirror in the ruins in the forest, meeting a being called Discord, and then following my body around while this Kael character controlled it. Finally ending at when everything went black, I woke up as Kael but with his memories, knowledge, even personality. Something happened and I was able to regain my own personality and experiences at this moment. I was Regal again. I smiled as Lorane gaped at me and Edel had a hoof on his chin in deep thought.

“So it was you who saved us down there Regal?” Edel asked.

“Wait so you, Regal and Daring Do all went down to this underground labyrinth? And this was all earlier today? Where is Daring? I could’ve helped, why didn’t you get me?!” Lorane cried.

“Lorane it’s not like that, come on let’s eat first and discuss this later.” Edel replied.

Lorane pouted in response and let out a sigh. I looked at my sandwich, took a bite. I’m back! I can’t believe it. I thought. I looked at my friends, glad they were okay.

As my thoughts ended, my head cleared up and I blinked. “Well that was odd.” I said, regaining my voice. Edel looked at me. “He did mention this was bound to happen, I thought he was joking, but it seems Regal did have a soul after all. Well it seems that way anyway.”

“Kael? What happened to Regal? He was just here!” Edel cried.

“Calm down. I was going to say this before his soul slipped in, Twilightand her friends have been ordered to take you, me and Lorane here, to Canterlot to meet Princess Celestia. Okay news out of the way. Oh your friend, I won’t let him in like that again, but I suppose I can conjure a vessel as I said before. The magic itself isn’t too hard; I just need a large amount of mana.” I replied, Edel scowling as he finished his sandwich and began on his muffin. “Speaking of which, there was a unicorn oddly emitting a very large amount of Mana earlier. The one I was trying to talk to before Lorane pulled me away. Now if we can get her, I could use her mana and make a body for Regal to prance around in. How does that generous offer sound?”

Edel got up violently after finishing his muffin and cupcake, looked at me with disgust “You’re pathetic,” he said, before trotting out the door.

“Mr. Kael, would you really do that for Regal?” Lorane asked innocently. I looked at her, she looked confused and sad as she stared into my eyes.

“Yes. It was never my intention to create a soul. It was originally a soulless vessel, an empty body, but somehow Regal developed a soul. I don’t know how, and I will remember to research this, but yes, since he has a soul and consciousness I will create a vessel for him if we can get that unicorn to cooperate.” I said, mustering up a smile.

She was quiet for a moment, looking pensive. After a while, she looked at me. “Well let’s go talk to this unicorn. I want to talk to Regal, so where should we look?”

Remembering what the unicorn Trixie, or Beatrix Lulamoon, said as she trotted away from me on stage I answered “She is performing in front of the town hall tonight.”

“Performing?”

“She is a travelling entertainer it seems. She also has very good control of her magic, I daresay you might even learn a thing or two from her, Lorane.”

She looked disturbed, probably not expecting someone she technically doesn’t know to know who she is, which is expected. “Right. Well it’ll be dusk soon, I’ll go after Edel and we’ll meet in front of Town Hall.”

With that, she trotted out the door. Now I needed to find someplace private, hopefully I can contact this ‘Regal’ character’s soul. It was interesting, somehow another persona, another soul has been forged. I created a soul. Perhaps I can experiment with this in the future, to create life from virtually nothing but mana would push my goal towards godhood greatly. I trotted into what seemed to be a restroom nearby under stairs leading to the second floor of the bakery. After securing the closed door and making sure I was alone, I focused my consciousness inwards trying to feel any presence as I meditated…

I opened my eyes. There was nothing in front of me but an endless white void. I blinked as I looked at my hands. Hands! I was human again! Memories came flowing through me; from a young man and woman finding me unconscious in some strange woods, us getting to know each other and going on many adventures to save our land. I am Regal, but where am I? More memories flowed forth; my father going crazy in a drunken rage, I kill him in defense with my evil magic. That’s right! Back then, more than 700 years ago, magic was considered an evil and unholy gift. My own mother proceeded to take a knife and brandish it at me, shouting “Die demon child! Die!”. I was forced to take her life as well. In anguish I burned down my home, and fled. Eventually gaining mastery over this dark gift called magic.

I eventually became known worldwide and feared but as I grew old, the only thing I wanted was a body in which to continue my magic studies… I am Kael. Where am I?

“Isn’t it obvious?”

I looked around wildly, looking for the source of the deep voice. All around me was the same, just a white, blank void. “Who is there?” I felt myself shouting.

“I’m surprised you don’t know me.”

I turned around to see a small piece of land, covered in tall grass and a tall, dead tree it’s only inhabitant. I moved toward it to see it had burn marks all over it. I studied the ground beneath the tree, the grass seemed to abruptly stop as the white void took over the field of view merely a pace away from the foot of the tree. I flinched and jumped backwards as I looked back to the tree to see a figure standing behind it. The figure was very tall, wore a dark cape, with even darker armor covering his entire body. Two curved swords hung from the belt area, and he wielded a long triple-pronged spear, and an enigmatic mask that had a small glass, but opaque visor where the eyes were.

“You’re… You’re Gladius.” I exclaimed.

“Am I?” Gladius asked. “Are you sure?”

“What? Where… am I?” I asked, looking around. “Who am I?”

“That is for you to sort out. As for me, don’t worry about me. Think of me as your ‘Dark Gift’ as you mentioned before at least.”

“Dark Gift? You were inside my head?!”

“Well that is where we are after all. It’s not much of a sight is it? Your head seems pretty empty doesn’t it? But it wasn’t always like this.” Gladius said, chuckling a little as he looked around.

“What are you? And why do you look like Gladius?”

“I am what you would call a mana sprite. Mana resides in all things, even here in Equestria. Mana has different forms, even consciousness. When us mana sprites choose a host, usually an unborn infant, we live off their experiences and feed them our own power. You, have been very interesting wanting to live forever and all, and I would love to help you with this task. As for why I look like this person you think I look like, well you humans view mana sprites out of your own fears deep in your heart. You must have a fear of this Gladius fellow so here I am.

I looked at him, still not knowing who I am, and now knowing that this thing is living inside my head… I need to research this thing.

“And now you’re wondering if it’s possible to harness my energy for yourself hm? That’s what I love about your dark side, Kabel. However you seem to have another being in here as well. I daresay I am even unsure who this one is.”

I followed his gaze as he looked behind me, and there stood a young man with long blue hair, a pale face, and wore only common cloth robes from small villages in Durandel. “Kael? I want my body back. You’ve had your chance.” He said. I blinked; suddenly I was staring at an older man standing in front of a dead tree with a dark figure behind it. The man, with shorter blue hair, a wrinkled face, as well as bags under his eyes gave him a tired look. I was looking at myself.

I opened my eyes to see the door I had closed earlier. Without thinking I opened the door, and trotted out the front door of the bakery. I had to get to town hall.

End of Chapter 11

Chapter 12 - The Great and Powerful Omen

Chapter 12: The Great and Powerful Omen
Xion & Edel

“Thank you very much! We hope you enjoy your stay in Ponyville.”

I found myself phasing out and staring in the distance while Glacious paid the pink pony innkeeper with pony currency called bits we managed to obtain from an unfortunate pony in a dark alley. I blinked, coming back in focus, and looked to the door we entered from hoping it would open and our comrade would rejoin us finally. We were able to purchase more normal apparel back in Dodge City, the first town we found since getting to this world, so we didn’t scare off villagers. We made sure our other clothes were somewhere safe and hidden before we took the train to our next town: Ponyville.

It was then we decided to check in town, after hearing about new ponies going missing from the town, we searched the nearby forest and found a message in the ground of a campsite mentioning Regal. That’s when we had Solem follow two strange ponies to see if they were hiding something. “It’s been a couple of hours. Where is Solem?” I asked Glacious as he placed the room keys in a red saddlebag he had bought recently.

“Is he still not back? You told him to tail that Edonis pony in the woods right? I’m a little concerned as to where he is and why he isn’t back yet.” Glacious replied with a pensive expression.

We trotted out the door; it was a couple of hours short of dusk. I saw ponies gathered in front of a circular building adorned with windows aplenty and a crimson roof that pointed upward like a spire with a blue flag. There were plenty of ponies gathered around a stage being put together, and others who were not merely going about their business, seemed to just loiter around and idly chatting. “I wonder what’s going on. Hey Glacious, what did that pony from the train station say the ones with the wings are called?”

“Winged Pegasus or Pegasi. The ones with horns are Unicorns and the ones with neither are Earth Ponies.” Glacious said, for the third time. I kept forgetting what each was called; then again I was usually bad with names in general, but Glacious was always cool and patient.

“Right. The pegasuses here look like they control the weather. Have you noticed?” I said, watching some of them moving clouds in clusters to different areas.

“It would appear so. This world really is unlike anything I’ve seen. Getting back to the subject at hand, would you like me to go back to the forest and search for Solem?” Glacious asked.

“Yeah, go ahead and do that. If you find those kids, retreat and come get me immediately, you cannot win alone.” I said.

He nodded and began to trot towards the distant tree line of the forest. I looked around, wondering what to do. Deciding to inquire about the large stage, I trotted up to the nearest pony, an Earth Pony with a pale cream color coat, and mane was distinctively dark blue with pink highlights. I noticed the mark on her flank depicted three pieces of candy, I had to remember to ask about those strange marks every pony seemed to have. She was staring at the stage being built with a big grin on her face.

“Excuse me, miss.” I started as I approached from her left.

She looked at me, the grin instantly vanishing. “What?” She asked, obviously impatient.

“What exactly is going on here?”

“Well there is a pony talking to me who has yet to introduce himself.”

“Excuse me, I’m Xion. I am new to Ponyville see, and I am just wondering what is with that big stage.”

She blinked, and looked forward at the stage “Hello, Xion, I am Bon Bon. They are setting up for the Great and Powerful Trixie! Well, the weather team has planned a quick downpour, and they are strict with their schedule, so the show might be a little late.”

“What kind of show? And who is this Trixie character?” I asked.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie. She is a travelling performer, who performs ‘Feats beyond imagination’ all for us little ponies. She truly is amazing.” Bon Bon said, and with that she trotted away as another pony beckoned her away.

Sounds interesting… I wonder if there is an entrance fee or something. Well I might as well enjoy this show. It does look like it might get rained out though.

I tried to hold back my tears as I galloped to the library. I don’t care if he is the legendary Kael from hundreds of years ago; he took my friend away from me. There must be something I can do to get Regal back with us. My thoughts raced, thinking of any possible way to undo what has been done. Regal is my friend, even closer, he’s been my brother. Never a replacement to my own deceased brother, Alister, but still I cared for him as such.

As I neared the library, the door opened and Spike came out. Upon seeing me, he waved a claw saying “Woah there, Edel! What’s the rush?”

“Hi Spike.” I said, blinking away the incoming tears, “Is Twilight home?”

“She is, as always. She wants me to pick up a few things from the market, I’ll be back. Would you like anything while I’m out?”

“No thank you, Spike.” I said, and trotted inside. The library was spotless and caught me off guard. The floor was usually littered with books but it seemed Spike had just finished clearing it. I trotted around a large horse head statue to find Twilight with her head down on a desk between pages of an open book. Not wanting to disturb her peaceful rest, I sighed and sat down on a nearby bench. I looked at a few of the books resting on a nearby shelf and noticed the novel I saw Rainbow Dash reading the first time we were all here. I picked it up and saw the title: “Daring Do and the Dragon’s Den”. I chuckled lightly and opened to the first chapter.

“And what was so funny about that?” A voice asked. I looked for the source, seeing Daring Do herself, trotting down the flight of stairs and trotting up to me. “Hey.”

“Hi Daring. Sorry, just seeing you on a cover of a book… You’d think this is a fiction novel,” I said, trying to keep the enthusiasm in my voice to a minimum “but it’s actually an archive of one of your many adventures… How many – ”

“Around 46 and counting,” She answered without me finishing the sentence “this little adventure with you guys might make it 47, if I’m lucky an arc of six or more raids, and that would give my old friend more to write.” She said with pride and enthusiasm. Then she looked serious “So when I went back to that shrine, I found another entrance behind the mirror.”

“What was beyond it?”

“I don’t know. It’s completely sealed shut. I spent almost the entire afternoon looking for a way to open it, but with all suspensions leading to the elemental orbs, we will have to perform some kind of ritual before the door opens.” As she finished I heard Twilight stir from her sleep.

“Oh Edel when did you get back?” She asked as she trotted toward us.

“Good afternoon Twilight! I need to ask if you know if it’s possible to remove somepony’s soul from their body?” I asked casually.

“What? Why? That kind of magic is forbidden, especially somepony like me using it. The Princess would have me banished or worse, expelled!”

“Oh okay, sorry.” I said, not too surprised.

The door suddenly flew open and Lorane trotted straight up to me and threw her whole body at me. I instinctively caught her with my hooves, keeping balance using her body as a crutch. “What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Regal. We need to get him back.”

“I know. Where is Kael?”

“He went to town hall. There is a unicorn that he needs to talk to, and he wants us there to help.”

“Who is this unicorn and why does he need to talk to them?” Twilight chimed in, looking worried. I unlocked Lorane’s embrace, to see her in tears. She was feeling as bitter as I was about Regal’s situation.

“Kael mentioned a unicorn that was emitting mana, and that he could use it to summon an empty body… I don’t know.” I said as I turned to Twilight.

“Mana? Are you talking about the force of all creation from your world that I’ve been hearing about?” Twilight asked, looking eager for an answer.

“Yes. I saw him talking to the unicorn as I found him in the park. She seems to be a travelling magician and she’s performing again tonight in front of town hall… That’s where he wants us to be.” Lorane said, lowering her ears.

Twilight gasped and galloped to a nearby desk, and began to levitate a bundle of papers, upon closer inspection they were flyers for what seemed to be about local events. “It’s her! I haven’t seen her in a few years, since I first came to Ponyville. The Great and Powerful Trixie was her name I believe. She was really boastful the last time we meant, trying to get everypony to believe she banished an Ursa Major.” She said, while levitating a flyer to me and Lorane to see. “It’s a long story.” She added as I was about to ask what happened.

The flyer was very colorful, depicting a picture of countless swirling stars and a silhouette of a robed unicorn with the title ‘The Great and Powerful will return to Ponyville! Prepare to feast your eyes on Feats beyond imagination!’ I rolled by eyes at this. “So this Trixie unicorn, she’s not dangerous is she?” I asked.

“No, but if Kael is the pony I think he is, I think we should go supervise. I don’t want anypony getting hurt because I failed to stop an event from escalating out of control. Let’s go.” Twilight said sternly while opening the front door using her magic. We all galloped out towards town hall. As we were galloping I heard something whizz pass me in a cyan blue blur, and flying at the same pace next to Twilight who was leading us, was Rainbow Dash.

“Hi Daring Do!” She called enthusiastically as she passed her, then “Hey Twilight, what’s the rush? Are you four racing?”

“There’s no time to explain Rainbow Dash, come with us, maybe you can help in case something happens.” Twilight replied. Dash responded with a frown as we grew close to town hall. It was lit up brightly, mostly due to the lights on a medium-sized, fancy looking stage next to the entrance. There was a blue curtain as well as pictures of a brilliant azure unicorn with a pale cornflower blue mane. I took the notion that was who this ‘Great and Powerful Trixie’ was.

“We’re here… where is Kael?” I asked, looking around. The crowd was enormous and I couldn’t see too much, everypony being taller than me… Okay as a pony I’m short I get it. I looked at Lorane who’s horn was glowing a scarlet color and her eyes were also glowing a bright white color. “Lorane?” I asked.

“Wait, I’m looking for Regal’s Leyline. I may not be as good with this Leyline thing as Kael or Twilight, but I know my friend’s energy.” She said in a serious tone.

I looked to Twilight, who was explaining the situation to a very attentive Rainbow Dash, then to Daring Do who was looking at me and giggling.

“Does the little pony need a lift to see above the crowd?” She teased.

“Oh ha ha ha… I would appreciate it but don’t make fun of me.” I retorted.

She laughed again and hovered in the air before wrapping her hooves around my body. She was very warm. We ascended a little faster than I anticipated and I saw the crowd. No sign of Kael, but I did see a few foals next to the stage, apparently gathering props and setting them in place. I heard a faint rumbling noise in the distance and looked up to see the sky was very cloudy.

“I thought the weather was controlled or something!” I shouted to Daring as a wind picked up.

Before Daring could answer, Rainbow Dash was in front of me, and she answered “The weather team has a strict schedule and cannot alter the schedule for any event unless deemed necessary.” She said matter-of-factly. She looked around the crowd, and then to me, “Hey I’m sorry about your friend. I’m not sure about what exactly is going on, but Twilight filled me in for the most part. Soon as we find that big lug, I want some answers from his mouth. What was his name? Kael?” she said as the wind died down.

“Yes, it was Kael,” I said. “I hope that helps explain why he was a jerk to everypony yesterday. It was unlike him.”

“Like I said, I want to hear it from his mouth, whoever he is right now. I don’t see him, I’ll keep looking. Edel, good luck.” She then ascended a half a pace to Daring’s level. What she said was inaudible thanks to a gust of wind, and she flew off towards the stage. Daring continued to fly around the crowd, as we flew around, I looked all over, and I let out a small gasp.

“What’s wrong? Is it him?” Daring asked.

“No. It’s Xion.” I said.

“Who? Oh the pony from earlier?”

Xion was down there, idly standing motionless staring at Daring and I. “This isn’t good, we need to get out of his sights. Now.”

Daring abruptly and inhumanly made a 180 degree turn in the opposite direction and began to descend. I assumed all pegasi can change direction like that in the air, so I didn’t ask about it. As we hit the ground I heard galloping from behind me. I turned and crouched, ready to pounce, but instead of Xion as I was expecting, a pink pony with a lighter shade of pink mane, and scarlet highlights galloped up to us.

“Lorane!” I exclaimed, relief washing over me.

“Edel! Daring Do! Twilight and I found his Leyline, he is heading to the back of the stage, Twilight is on her way to intercept him. Let’s go!” Lorane cried and galloped towards the stage, I followed and Daring flying behind us.

As we approached the stage, dodging the dozens of ponies in the way, we rounded the stage to the back, noticing the stage was quite round like a dome. We came to an opening; the door that was once there was apparently ripped off the hinges, and thrown a good 20 paces away. “Let me go in first.” I said as Lorane hesitated and stepped aside for me to go through. The inside of the stage was much larger than it looked on the outside. It must be enchanted. I thought, as Daring and Lorane entered. I looked around; the stage’s interior was not as fancy looking as the outside, in fact most of it looked like it was still under construction. There were bits of plywood here and there, even small scaffoldings where a wall was being painted. I began to wonder if this stage was going to be a permanent addition to town hall, but my thoughts came to a halt as I heard a loud thud come from a nearby door.

I quietly put my ear to the door, and I heard Kael’s voice.

“For the last time, tell me where she is hiding! I need to know where she got her mana from!”

I turned and kicked the door with my hind legs, and the door flew open. There were three unconscious ponies on the ground, a pool table that was split in half, along with balls and pool sticks on the ground. A large creature with huge claws, wearing make-shift clothing, and had drooping ears with a short snout was licking a wound on its side, while a large navy blue alicorn whose long horn was glowing pale white, and an earth pony who was being held in midair, his body radiating a pale white aura.

“Kael!” I shouted, making my presence known.

Almost instantly I felt a massive pain on my left side and I flew through the air, crashing on my right side. I looked to see the large dog-like creature bounding on me before I could react, the creature was also bathed in a pale white glow.

“Easy there, Rush, Edel and his companions are okay for now.” Kael said, and released the creature, who resumed licking its wound on its left side. I noticed there was a small piece of wood penetrating its flesh, but looked back at Kael.

“Kael, what the hell are you doing?” I asked, as Lorane and Daring Do stepped inside.

“I’m trying to get progress to get us home. This Trixie pony obviously has some kind of secret the way she is emitting mana. Mana, Edel, our mana. From Durandel. I only know from sheer experience with the substance of over hundreds of years, there is no mistaking it… But something is amiss here.”

Before I could say anything, both Lorane and Daring Do were levitating in midair with the same pale white glow.

“Kael!” I shouted.

“Quiet! One of them is an imposter.” At that moment, Kael turned away from the earth pony, who took the opportunity to connect a hind leg with the back of Kael’s head. Kael fell forward and promptly hit the ground, motionless. The white light vanished, dropping the earth pony, Lorane, and Daring. The dog-like creature looked around, and blinked at the earth pony.

“You have freed us from the master’s terrible dream!” it cried, but was short lived when a red blur whizzed past Daring and Lorane and hit the creature, bringing it down to the ground. A large crimson stallion with a long, light orange mane, and a large yoke around his neck was on top of the creature, his eyes gleaming with fury. Twilight and Applejack entered the room seconds later.

“A diamond dog? What happened here?” Twilight started, as she looked around at the mess and unconscious ponies.

“We are volunteer carpenters and we were on break here in the lounge, when this alicorn came bursting in with his diamond dog partner, and started to demand to speak with Beatrix.” The earth pony who kicked Kael said, as horror gripped his voice as he spoke.

He has undergone probably the most traumatic experience in his life I thought.

“Please don’t hurt us! We was minding our own business when the mean pony made me have a bad dream. Please don’t hurt us! We want to go home!” The diamond dog pleaded.

“Big Mac, I think it’s safe to get off the diamond dog.” Applejack finally said.

The large stallion, Big Mac, got up, and even helped the diamond dog on his feet.

“Can you escort him to the outskirts of Ponyville please?” Twilight asked Big Mac.

“Eeyup.” Was all he said, as the two left the room.

I looked at Kael, who was still motionless, as the other earth pony started to talk to Twilight and Applejack, as Daring and Lorane checked the unconscious ponies. I trotted up to Kael, and I noticed his horn was again chipped away, like the last time when Regal was with us. He was also a slightly lighter shade of blue than he was just now. I heard him breathe, he was alive, but seemingly unresponsive to any stimulation. I turned to Twilight, who to my surprise was right in front of me, looking over at Kael.

“I wonder what was going through his mind.” She said.

“I’ll tell you.” A voice came from the entrance to the room. We all turned to see the same unicorn that was in the picture on stage, she wore a cape and hat that were littered with stars and a large gemstone that tied together her cape. “He was interested in my heirloom. He kept talking about some energy source or Leyline is the proper term, coming from me. I guess he meant this,” she pointed with a hoof at the large gemstone that connected her cape together “I got this from my father before he passed away. It has been in my family for generations, and I have been pursued before from… infamous ponies who seek it, so upon hearing that my show was going to get rained out, I hid in the stage, waiting for him to make his move.”

“And you must be Trixie?” I said.

“I am Beatrix Lulamoon, also known as the Great and Powerful Trixie. However, I am a bit interested in how you all know each other. You,” She pointed at me with a hoof, “ him,” She pointed at Kael, “ her,” Lorane, “ the legendary Daring Do, Applejack, bearer of the element of Honesty, and Twilight Sparkle…” She trailed off as she stared at the purple unicorn, who stared back.

“Nice to see you again, Trixie.” Twilight said with a grin.

“And you as well, Sparkle. Care to explain any of this?” Trixie asked.

As Twilight began to enlighten Trixie and apparently Applejack as well, I trotted over to Kael, who was still motionless. Lorane joined me, felt his neck and said “He’s okay. Still breathing, he’s just knocked out…”

“What do you think he meant by ‘one of you is an imposter’?” I asked.

“I’m not sure,” Lorane started but jumped as a voice spoke up suddenly.

“I’m pretty sure he knew what he was talking about.” The voice came from the ground. I looked to see Kael awake and looking at me, his eyes were serene.

“Regal!” I exclaimed.

“Yeah it’s me again, but ouch, the back of my head is numb with pain.” Regal said with a smile as he got on his hooves.

“Woah he’s awake! Gosh dangit! Twi, watch out!” Applejack cried.

“No, it’s not Kael. It’s Regal, he’s back. For now at least.” Lorane said.

Regal gave a sheepish smile before saying “Hi everypony, sorry about my body. I really have no control over what happens when he takes charge.”

“What? So you really are still there, Regal? What are you sharing the same body with Kael?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah, you see, I am pretty much part of his mind, sorta. I can hear his thoughts and see his motivations, not that I agree. He is very… motivated, and has plenty of ambition I can tell you that much for sure.” Regal said, as he rubbed the back of his head with a hoof.

“Well that’s very strange. Sparkle, I had the feeling you were just telling me some lie, but if this is true… I mean look at him, he has no horn and his color is off from what it was when he approached me the first time.” Trixie said, trotting up to Regal, “and not half bad looking either” she muttered but Regal seemed to not have noticed.

“This is fascinating! Two souls trapped in the same body! But what happened to Kael? Once he gets knocked out, Regal comes out? What if you were to both be knocked out? We have to run some tests!” Twilight said, and began to speak quickly about souls and bodies seemingly to herself.

“One thing is, I did get a good feel of his power, he is indeed incredibly powerful, and what you’ve seen isn’t even nine percent of his maximum.” Regal said, ignoring mine and Lorane’s gaping faces, “Regardless, he was right. We do have somepony in our midst that isn’t a pony… But we might have to sort this out later.” He finished as six armored ponies entered the room. A large pegasus stallion wearing black heavy armor that was trimmed with gold then entered, towering over everypony, including Regal at his height. He appeared to have a dark gray colored coat with a short, dark mane. He had an eye patch covering his left eye, his other amber eye had a scar over his brow going down his cheek and thinning out, though his amber eye had a hint of kindness.

“I am Captain Thunderbane, what happened here?” He said with a deep voice, as he signaled a few of the armored soldier ponies to pick up the unconscious ponies on the ground.

“There was a disturbance, but it was quelled quickly. You have Strong Hoof here to thank for that.” Trixie said immediately, pointing at the earth pony who knocked out Kael.

“And where is the perpetrator? We need details and eyewitness testimony, especially if he wasn’t caught.” Thunderbane said.

“He’s over the –” The earth pony, Strong Hoof, started but was cut off by Trixie.

“He did indeed get away. As you can see, there was a bit of a struggle here with an enchanted Diamond Dog, who I am sure you saw leaving the premises as you got to the scene.”

“And who are you exactly, ma’am?” Thunderbane asked.

“Beatrix Lulamoon; better known as the Great and Powerful Trixie. Now, captain Thunderbane was it? Please see to it this place gets cleaned up while I prepare for my performance up top; be it rain or snow going on right now, I promised Ponyville a show, and the show will go on.” She said adamantly.

Thunderbane nodded, “Right, you heard her, Clean up this mess. Weavers, see to it that this whole area of the stage is fixed pronto!” The two unicorns in the group nodded, as one left, the other stayed behind and began using magic to place the pool table together while levitating objects scattered on the floor to their rightful places. “As for you ponies, I need to know your involvement with all of this. Somepony did call for the militia afterall, and we need to make sure we have everypony accounted for and details of the culprit. If you excuse me, somepony will see you after the show.” And with that, he trotted out of the room, barking orders at other soldiers who began to help fixing the stage.

“Well, that ought to speed up the process with the stage here. We planned on staying in Ponyville for a few weeks.” Trixie said, as she straightened out her mane with a brush she had levitated from a pocket inside her cape.

“Trixie who are you traveling with exactly?” Twilight asked.

It was Applejack who answered, “The Traveling Equestria Trotters! Twi, please tell me ya heard of them! They’re my favorite performers, why I remember the first time I saw them back in Manehatten when I was living with my aunt and uncle Orange, they have a whole lot of acts from magic and music to plays and dramas…”

“Yes. I’m glad somepony read the fliers. They were so excited to have me part of their group, they decided to make me the mascot of the Traveling Equestria Trotters. Well, I’m a figure head and the opening show at least. Now, I have a show to do, and I would very much want to talk to you three.” She pointed at me, Lorane and Regal with a hoof, “after the show. Stick around.”

“Not to worry, Trixie, they will be staying at the library. You may come by after you finish up.” Twilight said.

“Very well then.” Trixie replied and trotted out the room.

“You don’t want to catch her show?” Regal and I asked in unison. It was nice to have him back.

“We have other business to discuss. Magic shows aren’t really my thing anyway, and I have seen her show before. Let’s head back to the library.” She said, glaring at me as I began to protest. Her horn started to glow and a purple light shot from her horn onto the wall, making a swirling picture of the kitchen in the library. She proceeded to trot through it, as well as Regal and Lorane. As I began to trot I looked back into the empty room, the unicorn had fixed the pool table and it looked like a break room. Something was missing, I wasn’t sure, but I merely shrugged and continued into the portal. I didn’t realize until I was back in the library that Daring Do was missing.

End of Chapter 12

Chapter 13 - Time for a Rest

**Author's note**

Hi everyone! Star Prism here! Sorry for the wait. Work and school are keeping me from writing as much as I'd want to. This chapter is shorter and to the point, I hope no one minds too much. Chapter 14 will have plenty of meat, don't you worry. Thank you for reading, and Enjoy!

Chapter 13: Time for a Rest
Glacious & Regal

I trotted towards the forest. I cursed to myself when it began to rain. I looked down as I continued. The dirt road was flat and free of obstacles, and the rain was getting in my eye. I was always sensitive with things getting in my eyes, and my spectacles getting wet was also a pet peeve for me.

I’ve been with those two for almost six years now, and as always it is always me who takes responsibility of their somewhat incompetent actions. I thought. I looked up a little to see a large tree off the road a little ways. The tree seemed to be a type of willow tree, and the ground underneath was pretty much completely dry. I decided to head over to the tree and wait out the rain, as the downpour began to pick up. I cursed loudly after nearly falling face first on the ground upon stepping in a large puddle. Finally making it to the willow-like tree, I sat down and began to think.

This downpour… I want to ask how they determine the weather here. How do they measure how much rain they need for the week? Is it wise for me to be this curious about this strange land? We are on a mission, but I can’t help but admire this peaceful utopic place. Every creature we’ve encountered have showed very little self-interest. I remembered a train conductor telling us about pony culture, about the different types of ponies and how the only conflict between ponies were before the founding of this land, Equestria. This is the kind of peace humans strive for, but we always let petty things get in the way, like pride, self-interest, or religion.

I blinked. I thought about my own past. I had no real friends, no life other than serving Xion and his father, the soon-to-be-Emperor Lyon Windsbane, simply because he chose to spare my life and use my intelligence to aid in his own conquest. I was foster born, so I had no family to relate to or get close with. I was alone, and here I am in a new world with a new body, somewhere to start new. To start a new life? Where would I start? Now that I’m in this place, do I really owe my loyalties to this incompetent prince? We left Xinon and Durandel behind, simply by… My thoughts trailed off as I heard galloping hooves coming from the road. I looked to see a large red stallion and a large dog-like creature charging after him on all fours. Someone in need of help? Here’s my chance, I’ll help out ponies in need with my magic! Without any more thinking, I got up and galloped after them.

I soon realized I was much slower than both of them, which caused me to mentally slap my forehead with an imaginary palm; I am still not used to being a pony, and my physique was never the athletic type anyway. I focused my reserves of mana into my horn as I learned was the only way to cast spells, and I vanished and reappeared a good 55 paces in front of them. I proceeded to freeze the road around the large stallion, making sure to leave an unfrozen path in front of him, while completely solidifying the large creature pursuing him in a huge block of ice. I saw the stallion stopped galloping and looked from the frozen creature then to me.

“Don’t worry, sir, I saved you from that creature chasing you! It’s something called ‘Magic’ and that was a freezing spell see?” I said as he trotted towards me.

“Please unfreeze him. He’s a good diamond dog, and I was leadin’ him outta town before ponies wrongfully accuse him of harming the ponies inside of the stage near town hall…” He said, with a strong southern accent.

“Oh, I apologize, I didn’t know.” I said, and proceeded to unfreeze the diamond dog. The ice around it turned to water and slid off his body.

“Thank you. We are in a hurry to get to the Everfree Forest, so if you excuse us. Rush, we can continue.” The stallion said.

“Ehh, thank you, Big Mac. We are sorry for the confusion yet again. Our kind is usually shunned by ponies and we understand why.” The diamond dog, Rush, said.

“I’m sorry. I was heading to the forest as well, do you mind if I tag along with you two?” I said, feeling a little judgmental towards the diamond dog. Figures he wasn’t attacking him. I can probably go for a sympathy vote for trying to make up for the mistake I made.

“The forest is full of dangerous monsters, we are not sure if we can protect both of you.” Rush said, looking worried.

“It shouldn’t be a problem, besides, he could’ve easily taken ya’ll out Rush. With strong magic like that, we can probably fight off a dragon with our combined strength.” The stallion, Big Mac, said.

They don’t seem to alienate magic as I thought they would. Interesting… it seems magic does exist here after all. But why can’t I feel any mana besides my own reserves? This is strange.

Rush began to walk as we started into a brisk trot as Big Mac asked “What’s yer name stranger?"

“I am Glacious, nice to meet you, Big Mac and Rush.” I said.

“Methinks you have very good listening skills for a pony. We hadn’t introduced ourselves yet you heard our names in context of our conversation with Big Mac.” Rush observed.

“I agree. Where ya’ll from, Glacious?” Big Mac asked.

“A far away land called Xinon. I have a few… friends… around here. One of them got lost in the Everfree Forest, and I am looking for him.” I said, trying to keep up with Big Mac’s long strides.

“Another foreigner? Ya’ll are popping out of the woodwork aren’t ya? Are ya also friends with Edel and Lorane?”

“Yes, I’ve been looking for them.” I said casually. Interesting… So they are here. This might prove to lead to information I can use to my advantage. I thought before continuing “Are they in Ponyville?”

“Eeyup. We just left them, they were chasing down a rouge prince. Good riddance, I can’t deal with royalty without offending somepony with my awkward… err, I shouldn’t be talkin’ ya ear off about my problems.”

“Not a problem.” I said, “Where are they staying?”

“The library with Twilight Sparkle last I checked.”

“Thanks for the info. I need to find my other friend now…” I trailed off as we got to the tree line of the Everfree Forest. It looked very forbidding, probably because it was getting dark and the wind and rain weren’t making it any more welcoming.

“Ya’ll alright? Let’s go find your friend!” Big Mac said as I had stopped.

“We smell fear from Glacious. We don’t think he’s up to entering the forest.” Rush said.

“No, I’m fine. Let’s go.” I said.

I shuddered as I walked through the strange portal. I wasn’t expecting that feeling, as it was my first time physically going through one. I was in the library’s kitchen area with Lorane and Twilight, who was rummaging through a drawer full of papers and small books. Edel shortly appeared behind me.

“Daring is missing!” He said suddenly.

It hit me. I had forgotten that Kael had a strong feeling that one of the girls were not who they claimed. It must have been Daring after all. I thought.

“What? When did she disappear?” Twilight asked.

“I don’t know, I just noticed right before I entered the portal. I think we should look for her.” Edel said with urgency.

“Why would she just leave?” Twilight questioned.

“I thought something was strange. She smelled… wrong,” Edel started, before glancing at Lorane and adding, “Her scent was different when she was carrying me around the town square earlier.”

“What do you mean? What does her scent have to do with her missing?” Lorane asked.

“Because of what Kael said,” I answered before Edel, “he mentioned one of you were not who you said you were.”

“What? Me and Daring?”

“Yes, Lorane,” I said, “Something happened to Daring Do, we need to find her.”

“What do you mean something happened to Daring Do?” A smooth and deep voice asked from the entrance of the kitchen. I turned to see a young pegasus with a sky-blue coat, and a dark, navy shade of blue mane that was slicked back. Remembering what Lorane told me about the marks on a pony’s flank, I noticed his cutie mark, or emblem as the males seemed to call it, depicted a bunch of clouds meshed together with wings outstretched on either side of the mark. Mounted on his back was a saddlebag on his right side, and what looked like a sheathed sword on his left side instead of a second saddlebag.

“Can I help you? When did you let yourself into the Library?” Twilight asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I let him in, Twilight. Don’t worry he’s a friend of Daring Do’s,” Spike said as he walked into the kitchen from behind the blue pegasus, “I saw him when I was out earlier, he said he was looking for Daring Do, so I brought him back here.”

“Oh. Well then, yes, it seems Daring Do has disappeared, mister…?” Twilight started.

“I’m sorry. My name is Strato Sky, please tell me what happened to my teacher.” He said.

“We don’t know,” Edel said, “one second she was with us under the stadium, and the next thing I knew, she was gone. I hesitated to take in the surroundings of the room before I walked through the portal – ”

“Portal?” Strato Sky said, raising an eyebrow.

“Should we fill him in?” Lorane asked.

Twilight nodded and began to explain about the modified Scrying spell being a portal that covers a large distance instantaneously. I looked at Edel who was also staring at me. “Are you close to her?” I asked.

“No, well, okay a little. We had a moment in the labyrinth before you saved us from that creature, but that was it. I’m worried about her, even though she’s a skilled adventurer. This place is affecting me, Regal, I feel more compassionate and… trusting. The thought of these ponies being hurt or in danger really agitates and enrages me. I mean, these ponies; they aren’t animals, Regal, they’re people. People!” Edel cried at the last sentence, interrupting Twilight’s explanation, and signaling Lorane to trot over to us. Edel’s eyes began to turn watery. Twilight seemed to have noticed this, and proceeded into the other wing of the library with Strato and Spike, to finish the explanation.

“Edel, I understand.” I started, thinking back on the past. I remembered a village we were passing through, a night where Edel and Lorane both drank too much, and to pass time I helped a girl and her family through a terrible ordeal involving the village mob. I never wanted to see the girl hurt, and from that day after I fought to save them, I felt the same to every civilian we passed from then on. “You’re going through a change, much for the better.”

Lorane reached a hoof to Edel’s cheek and turned his head towards hers. After whispering something, the two locked lips. I saw it coming, and held in a chuckle. The two started to talk, and I moved towards the other wing, where Twilight was still talking to Strato. Upon me entering the room, Twilight and Strato looked at me. “Is he okay?” Twilight asked.

“He’ll be fine. What do you think we should do?” I asked. I knew I could trust her input; after all she always had a thirst for knowledge and a knack for thinking ahead. Come on, surprise me, give me an answer to sink my teeth into. I blinked. What did I just think?

“I think we should rest. I need to take all of you to see Princess Celestia, first thing tomorrow morning, and I’d be banished if you all were not in peak condition.” She replied adamantly.

“In the meantime, I will look for Daring Do. I will meet up with you guys later then, since it appears my teacher is involved in this, I am too by extension.” Strato Sky said, and turned to leave the Library.

“Right, and what about Trixie? Isn’t she coming here tonight?” I found myself asking.

“If she does, I’ll tell her what is going on. She seems like a changed mare now since I last saw her. Go and get some sleep, Regal.”

“Good night, Twilight Sparkle.” I said with a smile. I trotted inside the kitchen to see Edel and Lorane asleep, snuggled together on a small quilt. I almost let out a noise, the sight was humorous as well as adorable. Spike walked in, noticing the two, and fetched a blanked to cover them.

“You can sleep in the guest bed. I’m sure Twilight is preparing one now.” Spike said, as he left the kitchen.

So the journey of the elements starts tomorrow. Trixie will be here soon, and I can finally learn why she exhibits our mana. I yawned. For now, I’ll just get some sleep. The kick that mortal dealt to me really hurt, and I need to be careful if I’m to meet the other omnipotent princess of this land.

End of Chapter 13

Chapter 14 - A Small Meeting

Chapter 14: A Small Meeting
Lorane

I awoke with a start when I felt Edel’s body twitch against mine. I woke to see we were both lying down on a soft rug rather than the tile floor we fell asleep on. I could see his eyes moving rapidly underneath his eyelids, possibly dreaming of Durandel. As we have spent more time here, it feels unreal, like I’m the one dreaming and just waiting to wake up back in our war-torn homeland. I didn't want it to end, I wanted us to stay in Equestria, live peacefully away from the problems of our government and its politics back on Durandel. Then I remembered everybody we left behind and that man, the one who can destroy a whole city with ease. We have to save them.

This place seems like an alternate reality. Leylines that are present here are also present in Durandel. The mana in this world, though different, is still very similar. I wonder if it is also the source of life here like the mana from our world. I thought, and began to remember what Kael was saying about the unicorn who was apparently emitting a large amount of mana. Our mana from Durandel. I closed my eyes to focus on Leylines, the same way when I found Regal’s body last night. I gasped when I saw a strange Leyline, that looked like a thin thread of energy that went from a gold color, then blue, purple, white and back to gold and repeated. It felt very familiar when I focused on it… This is mana! Durandian Mana!

I jumped out of the blanket that covered Edel and I, and looked around. It was quiet. I looked out a nearby window to see the sun was just rising. The crack of dawn… I need to see where the mana is coming from. Could it be the unicorn who Kael was talking about? I trotted towards the entrance of the kitchen, hearing voices as I drew close.

“…So let me get this straight, the reason somepony like Daring Do was here is to help out these three, for lack of a better word, aliens? And they need to search for these relics which may or may not even exist anymore in order to create a portal that might possibly lead back to their world in an ancient, underground labyrinth with the help of not only the Elements of Harmony, but also both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna?” a mare’s voice sounded in skepticism.

“Yes, Trixie, that pretty much sums it up.” Twilight’s voice rang out.

“And what did this have to do with me anyway?”

I decided to trot forward, but stopped as a male voice rang from above, the second floor, “I can explain that, miss Lulamoon.”

I was close enough to poke my head through the doorway. Twilight and Trixie, who was wearing her cape from last night, were visible, looking up at the source of the voice I recognized as Regal’s.

“Good morning Regal, was the guest bed comfortable for you?” Twilight asked, smiling.

“It was quite comfortable Twilight. Now, miss Lulamoon – ”

“Please call me Beatrix, or Trixie.”

“Right, Trixie, the reason why… Kael… acted like he did is simply; he was ravenous over the energy you were emitting. You produced a Leyline from an unknown origin that was of energy from our realm called mana. He survived off of the energy for a very long time, and for his first time sensing it since we were transported here probably pushed him off the edge.”

Was Regal defending Kael’s actions? I couldn’t believe it. I trotted out into the open as Twilight replied, “Well if somepony like him observed such a strange occurrence, we should probably look into this phenomenon. Now it’s about time we wake everypony else and get ready to head to Canterlot.”

Trixie looked at me with an observing eye before saying “Hey it’s the pink pony from last night. Is she one of them?”

“Oh! Good morning, Lorane! Yes, Trixie, Lorane here is also from Durandel. Did you sleep well Lorane?” Twilight asked.

“Yes, it was comfortable. Thank you for the blanket, and I must comment Miss Trixie, I do feel the strange aura coming from you. How are you emitting such strange energy?” I asked as Regal glided down the stairs towards me with his wings. I noticed his broken horn looked even smaller than usual.

“You can feel it like Kael could?” He muttered to me as he landed softly.

I nodded before turning my attention back to Twilight and Trixie, “Twilight, can you also feel the strange energy? The energy Leyline even looks different than everything else.”

After a second Twilight closed her eyes and her horn began to glow the same purpleish glow. Almost immediately she opened her eyes and replied “No, I don’t see any difference. I mean sure, her Leyline seems bigger and more defined than most other ponies, but that is usually how the average unicorn’s energy Leyline is for the most part.”

I blinked. How can she not see the enormous difference? I closed my eyes and concentrated, sure enough I saw the same Leyline radiating from Trixie. I opened my eyes to see Trixie staring at me, and the Leyline as brilliant as it was when I sensed it in the kitchen.

“I’m not sure what you are talking about, but I would like to know what exactly this energy is that seemingly only you aliens can sense.” Trixie said. “Sparkle, would I be allowed to travel with you to Canterlot?”

Twilight looked at Trixie with a small grin, “I don’t see the problem but as for meeting with Princess Celestia, I think there would be a problem at the castle gates.”

“It is of no concern. I shall wait by the gates if I am denied entry.”

“What about the traveling performers you are with? Won’t they be wondering where you are?” I asked her.

“It is of no concern of mine or Trixie’s. They are going to be in Ponyville for a few days and Trixie was simply the beginning of the show. Trixie’s next act won’t be for another two days.” She said holding her head up high as she spoke about her stage name.

There was a subtle knock at the door that could’ve easily been missed if Trixie continued to talk. Twilight trotted to the door and opened it to reveal a yellow pegasus who had a small white rabbit on her head. I almost hit myself in the face with a hoof when I realized it was Fluttershy. I had almost forgotten her name.

“Good morning Fluttershy, you’re the first one!” Twilight said as she beamed.

“Good morning Twilight. Pinkie and Applejack are on their way too, they had to stop at Sugarcube Corner to pick something up.” Fluttershy said as she slowly trotted inside.

I turned to Regal, “Hey keep an eye out. I’m going to wake up Edel.”

Regal nodded in response and I turned to head back into the kitchen. Upon entering I saw Edel was staring out a nearby window, his mane a little untidy from sleeping. “Good morning, bed head.” I started.

He turned to me and smiled. “Hey.” He trotted up to me and rubbed his muzzle against my neck. It made me let out a silent squeaking noise I’ve found myself doing around Edel, and it gave me goose bumps. I returned the gesture.

“Hey, Fluttershy and Trixie are here. Regal is still himself, so I hope that’s a good sign.” I said, absentmindedly running my hoof through his mane.

“Good. We can leave soon. I would like to finally meet the ruler of this world. If she is as kind as we’ve heard, we might have better hope.”

“But… Edel it’s been about four days. Surely by now Gladius has what he wants. Why are we still here and why hasn’t anything happened?”

Edel looked thoughtful as he replied “I am not sure. I was thinking about it yesterday, maybe the Gate is proving harder to control than Gladius thought. Regal might know more since, you know…”

I nodded as we both turned to head towards the kitchen. Many years ago, we had come across the Gate before. Regal used to be unable to use magic like me, but we were being chased in a strange forest, and we wounded up inside the Gate. We later found out it was one of the few nodes of the Gate, and after a perilous journey within the node, Regal ended up with a vast knowledge of the Gate and the ability to manipulate and control mana to cast spells. The Gate that Gladius summoned when we ran into him; the same Gate that banished us to Equestria, was definitely not a node. It was the real deal, the actual Gate, portal to all realms and power, giving one the keeper the ability to travel anywhere and anytime.

We left the kitchen to see Applejack and Pinkie Pie had also entered the library. Pinkie Pie was bouncing in place, Applejack was talking to Fluttershy and Twilight, while Regal and Trixie seemed to be in a deep conversation. “Quite a sight isn’t it?” Edel observed.

The door abruptly opened and Rainbow Dash trotted in along with Rarity, who wore stylish saddlebags. Rainbow Dash immediately galloped towards Trixie and Regal, while Rarity began talking with Twilight, Fluttershy and Applejack. “So this is all of them – the Elements of Harmony?” I asked, remembering what Twilight and Fluttershy had said in the past.

“Oh that’s right, all of them have a special connection to a mysterious artifact representing elements of harmony. Didn’t Fluttershy say something about their very spirits being somehow connected?” Edel asked.

“That’s correct.” Trixie had trotted towards us and continued, “These six ponies have a connection with the Elements. They have saved Equestria on more than two occasions and do deserve a lot more respect than they have been getting. You three are from Durandel as I have come to understand correct?”

“Oh, yes. We haven’t formally met, I am Lorane and this is Edel. Edel you remember Trixie right?”

“Oh yes I –”

“Please, my name is Beatrix Lulamoon. But I suppose if you’re comfortable you can call me Trixie. Nice to meet you Lorane and Edel, and I must say I am curious about the head case over there,” she pointed at Regal who was looking down as Rainbow Dash was shouting at him, “his name was Regal or Kael right?”

“Regal is our friend, Kael is not.” Edel said flatly. “Kael is just hitching a ride inside of Regal’s body.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Trixie said as all three of us saw Rainbow Dash embrace Regal with both of her hooves. “It looks like they made up. I was wondering what happened between them but it seems pretty obvious with the change in personalities; anypony could be confused by that.”

"Why are all these ponies coming along with us?" Regal questioned.

"They're the Elements of Harmony remember? Kind of like the Opertum in Durandel Capital City." Edel replied.

"That's just implying..." Regal started.

“Listen up, everypony.” Twilight interrupted. Everypony in the room was looking at her as she stood near a wooden head of a unicorn decorating the center of the room. “Princess Celestia wants to see us before the pre-noon council meeting, so we will need to hurry.”

“Twilight, um, if you don’t mind, I’m wondering how we can get there before noon. The train doesn’t leave for another few hours and – ” Fluttershy started but cut off.

“Not to worry, I have an easy way to get us there…” Twilight closed her eyes and her horn began to glow again. She moved her head and pointed her horn to a wall and a ball of light emerged from her horn and hit the wall, creating a portal like before. The portal, rippling like disturbed water, depicted the exterior of a cobblestone building with a brightly colored blue door. From the looks of it, it was in the middle of a bustling city as ponies were passing by not noticing the portal at all.

“Woah, what is that?” Rainbow Dash asked in wonder.

“This is the portal spell I told you about, Rainbow. Stepping through this portal will take you to Canterlot in front of my favorite bakery from when I was a filly.” Twilight responded.

“Really? Well let’s go, what are we waiting for?” Rainbow Dash chirped. She seemed to be in a very good mood.

As the other ponies began to trot into the portal I trotted up to Twilight. She hopped down from the where the wooden head was and smiled at me. “Twilight, the portal spell is like a one-way gateway right? That is, as soon as you walk through there is no going back am I right?” I asked.

“Yes, Lorane, I don’t think there is a way to manifest a second portal on the other side of the first one, but I can place two at a time personally. A third one is too exhausting to maintain, so I would have to close one of the other two.”

“Wait, you are maintaining these portals? The entire time they’re open you’re expending mana? I mean – magic?”

“Well… yes.” Twilight said, as she raised an eyebrow at me. It almost boggled my mind, just how powerful is this unicorn? “Come on, we should get moving, we’re the last ones here.” And she made her way towards the portal.

Rarity was the last pony with me before entering the gate. “Darling, your cape is almost done. It just needs another couple of hours to draw energy from the sun.”

Before I could ask what she meant, she trotted into the portal. I thought as I trotted towards the portal. Twilight Sparkle is very powerful or... Maybe the mana here is more potent than our own mana in Durandel, which could mean something in terms of casting… I entered the portal before finishing my thought and a sensation of my body being compressed and my insides boiling with pain for a split second as I trotted out into the big city known as Canterlot.

The first thing I did was look behind me, there was no portal, and I had seemingly walked through the side of a building also made of cobblestone like the bakery. I looked towards the bakery to see Twilight beckoning me to follow the group who were trotting along the asphalt road, which I noticed trash was littered here and there along the road, towards a large arch that seemed to be separating the city.

As I caught up to Twilight I asked “What is with the arch? Is this city separated by social castes?”

“The arch is pretty much a division, and to your second question; yes and no. You see, ponies are free to wander Canterlot at any time, but in order to live close to the castle, it requires a lot of money. So at the same time besides being free to wander ponies are required to have a lot of money to stay in the upper sections. That area in particular,” she gestured to the portion of Canterlot behind us as we trotted past the arch, “is Cradle, which is part of the middle section of Canterlot.”

The upper section, which Twilight explained was called Sun Well, was more evidently higher in the social caste, as buildings seemed to be made of marble, the road was cleaner, and there were ponies dressed in fancy clothes walking around with their heads held higher than necessary. We caught up with the rest of the group and I saw Edel and Regal laughing together, perhaps making jokes at said ponies.

Eventually we came to a large gate of a tremendously large building, the outside also made of pale white marble with small windows littering the walls in an organized fashion. There were two armored pegasi and two armored earth ponies who approached us, all four armed with lances. They seemed to recognize Twilight and she explained that Celestia wanted to see all of us. They proceeded to point us through the gate, including Trixie who was not invited.

As we walked into the castle, the foyer was a massive open hall with a wide staircase that led up and split two ways that led further upward into two separate corridors. I noticed banners on the walls depicting two horses, one black one white both with wings and horn, circling the sun and moon decorated with stars. I nearly ran into Twilight as she abruptly stopped along with the rest of the group, they were all looking up towards the right end of the staircase.

A large white pony – no, horse – was elegantly trotting down the staircase. Her mane was flowing, as if blowing in a breeze, and was multicolored light shades of blue, green, purple and pink. She was wearing a beautiful neck piece with a large lavender gem embedded in the center, and tiara, which I just noticed she had a very long horn on her head. I noticed she also had two massive wings that were unfolded and held high as she trotted down the stairs. Depicted on her flank was the image of the sun. Following closely behind her were three armored ponies; one pegasus, one unicorn, and one earth pony.

“Princess Celestia!” Twilight spoke first as the apparent princess reached the center of the wide staircase.

The Princess smiled as she talked “Twilight Sparkle, my faithful student. Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, welcome my Elements of Harmony. And hello to you as well, Beatrix Lulamoon and our three visitors; Edel, Lorane and Regal.” Her voice was as elegant as her appearance. I was taken by surprise already when I saw she had not only wings, but a horn as well like Regal.

I found myself slowly moving to stand next to Edel and Regal. “Thank you, your highness.” Edel answered and gave an awkward bow, allowing his forelegs to buckle and let his whole body slant slightly.

“If I can recall from Twilight’s letters correctly, you three are from a place called Durandel correct?” she asked, still smiling.

Edel picked himself up as he responded “Yes, and we need help getting back. There is a terrible evil about to destroy our home and we must stop it from happening.”

“And to do this you believe you need the seven Orbs of the Elements and a centralized location of elemental and chaotic energies.” Celestia said before Edel could bring it up.

“Princess! So you mean there really are seven natural elements? And the orbs are real?” Twilight exclaimed.

“Yes my faithful student. In fact, two of the seven orbs are in this very room.” Celestia answered, her smile growing as I gaped at the response.

Twilight let out a small gasp, along with Rarity. I saw Trixie place a hoof on her mouth and expressed a face deep in thought. Edel’s face filled with hope and he let out a toothy grin.

I heard a strange noise and saw a faint flash of light come from Regal as he trotted forward a few paces. “So, this would explain the second Leyline of mana I sense. If there are two of these artifacts in this room – that would only mean Trixie here isn’t special, she just has one in possession. The other one is coming from you, your highness. Might I be correct in assuming you have the second one?”

Celestia’s smile faded into a frown. “You must be the alternate persona known as Kabel or Kael. You are correct in assuming this, however I was waiting for you to come out, and I would like to have a personal word with you in private after this meeting.” Her tone grew more serious when addressing Kael.

Kael blinked before replying “Of course.”

“Excuse me, Princess Celestia,” Trixie spoke up and trotted forward, ignoring Kael’s scowl, “I believe I understand where this is going, and I now know that my family heirloom is more than just a gemstone…” she began to caress the jewel that seemed to be holding her cape together, “If I choose to help these ponies what would become of my precious treasure?”

“That, I cannot answer for you. I would assume the energy would be used up and it would need time to regain the energy it has now.” Celestia smiled and turned her attention to Twilight. “Twilight Sparkle, you have chosen to help these ponies get back to their own world, and I know I can count on all of you. Here is the first of the seven orbs.” The Princess’ horn began to glow a golden hue, and the lavender gem from her neckpiece began to glow as well and levitate from its place and float down the stairs to Twilight, who took it in her own purple glow. “This orb is the first of seven – the Orb of the Element of Light.”

I immediately focused to see the Leyline, it was indeed the same I felt when waking up this morning coming from the gem; a thin thread of energy glowing gold, blue, purple, white… and there were two of them in this room. Twilight trotted over to Rarity on her right, and the gem was placed into one of Rarity’s saddlebags.

“As for your gem, Beatrix, I believe that one in particular might be the Orb of the Element of Wind. I could be wrong though; the orbs, as you can see, have been changed over the many years they’ve been lost. Ours both are like gemstones, the rest may look different. Now then, Twilight and Kael, I would like to talk to both of you privately.” Celestia said as she smiled warmly and began to trot back up the stairs with the three guards following her.

“Everypony meet back at the train station.” Twilight said before trotting up after Celestia.

Kael looked at Edel and I. Edel scoweled as he spoke, “As Twilight said, see you over there. Don’t give me that look, Edel. This was originally my body in the first place. Like I said, all I need is mana and I can give Regal a new body. As for you Lorane, try to keep an eye out for Daring Do’s Leyline. She is either scheming against us or is in trouble.” As he finished he turned and trotted up the stairs as well.

Daring’s Leyline? How in the world am I supposed to know her personal energy thread? I only know Edel’s and Regal’s because I’ve known them for so long, but tracing a stranger’s Leyline is… my thoughts trailed off as we began trotting out of the castle.

“Lorane what was that pegasus’ name again? The young colt who was traveling with Daring Do?” Edel asked looking forward as we left the front gate.

“Strato Sky right?” I answered.

“Well there’s Strato Sky now if I’m not mistaken.”

I looked forward, in the distance there was a blue pegasus with a long object attached on his back, flying towards us, the look in his eyes was pure and simple: Rage.

End of Chapter 14

Prologue - Escape!

Prologue: Escape!

Edel

It was high noon when my stomach began to growl. We were in a large entrance hall of a shrine within these castle ruins. I looked over at my comrades and best friends - Lorane and Regal. Lorane had pretty much been like my sister ever since the first raids. Our kingdom of Durandel was at war with the nation of Xinon; and one of Xinon's first raids took away our parents. Our hometown was almost destroyed but the town militia drove them away; but the casualties were terrible. My older brother, Alistier, came back from the front lines to take care of Lorane and I. Some years later, we found Regal and he's been at our side for four years.

We had just fought eight Marble Golems that were guarding the ruins of an ancient castle; that was once said to have been suspended in the air for hundreds of years, before falling to the planet suddenly long ago.Now their corpses added to the rubble along with the pillars that had fallen during the intense combat. I looked to my right at Lorane, who was looking through some of the debris for anything usable; perhaps tools or mana fragments. Lorane was a short, 17 year old girl who had beautiful green eyes accompanied with delicate facial features. Her pernicious pink hair was usually short but she had been growing it out lately, and loved to have red highlights in her hair. She had a short, slender figure and a mark of a single star on her forehead. The mark was called a 'Mage's Mark' given to young mages who passed apprenticeship. She usually was outgoing and very fun to be around but when she got serious, she was almost as scary as she was with combat magic. Yes, Magic exists. There is a force called Mana that is everywhere, such like gravity or even air. Life is only possible because of Mana, and lifeforms all have a little bit of this inside their being. Some lifeforms are born with more than others, and can even develop a skill to bend Mana into energy and form that energy into just about anything, including spells.

Regal who was on my left, was cleaning off his short sword as well as trying to piece together his shield that was shattered by a mighty blow of a golem's arm. Regal was a slender and tall young man. We didn't know his age, as when we found him he had no memory of who he was. We guessed he was probably 20; he had an odd shade of indigo-colored eyes, and his pupils always seemed larger than others. He had long deep sea blue hair and usually wore a headband to hold it back, but it typically comes off in combat. He was built solidly, for a tall guy at least, but he always seemed pretty weak. We nicknamed him 'Regal' because of his 'regal' personality, and he kind of adopted this as his name. He also had skill in using magic, but it also paled in comparison to Lorane's skill. He's usually kind to ladies, as anyone 'regal' should be.

As for me, well, my name is Edel. I was standing idly by, waiting for Lorane and Regal to finish up what they were doing before moving deeper into the shrine. I have - er well had - short, spiky brown hair, and turquoise eyes. People tell me I have a fiery determined look in my eyes all the time; but I usually don't look at myself when I talk. I am not short! I am normal height! I tend to take a cynical approach when meeting others, as it had saved our lives more than once. I was skilled in my swordsmanship and strength, and it won me my current position; captain of our little private squad for the King. Ah yes, why are we here in these ruins? Well, we have been hunting for months now for these mystical orbs called the Stones of the Elements, or Elemental Stones... something like that. We found four already, and this was supposedly where a fifth one was.
As for why the king wanted these stones, I would never know after this day...

"Let's go." Lorane said, as her and Regal walked to my side.

As we began the long walk down the only visible corridor that led deeper into the shrine I looked back. The pillars are going to be an obstacle getting out. I thought as we kept going. I noticed the torches along the walls were all lit.

"Someone has been here. Keep your guard up." I said.

We soon came into the shrine's sanctum, and saw the mysterious Stone on a pearl pedestal. Lorane performed her release spell as always when we obtained a Stone to remove it, and we were soon ambushed; not to our surprise, by some old rivals. The fight was a little more intense than last time, but we eventually routed them but not before one of them threw a bomb at us. The resulting explosion caused the ruins to shake apart, and we had to escape. Our rivals left through some other exit and collapsed it. I held the crippled Regal on my back and began to run after Lorane out the corridor.

************

We need to get out of here! We’re so close!

I was running through the long corridor we were in earlier, and found myself completely out of breath. The battle against my long-time rival took its hefty toll on the rest of my energy. With Regal on my back, Lorane ahead of us, the castle was collapsing with us still inside. With our mission almost complete we just need to escape and get back to Durandel and report to King Joseph what has transpired.

“Edel! Just a little further! How’s Regal?” Lorane asked, also out of breath.

I took a glance to my left, hanging off my shoulder, Regal still barely conscious wheezed, “I’ll be fine… The only thing more broken than my leg is my pride.” He forced a laugh before looking up towards Lorane and managed to yell “I’m fine! But we need to focus on getting out of here!”

“You had to get your leg broken huh Regal?” I joked, trying to make light of our situation. “You know when I said to ‘wait!’ and ‘use a fire seed!’ I meant use a fire seed to defrost your leg, not to throw it on the ground!”

“Edel, if you just did what I asked and prepared the damn anti-magic barrier the captain gave us, we wouldn’t have had to worry about being frozen in the first place! Not to mention that half-breed’s hellish fire.” Regal retorted. I remembered the strange seed I was given weeks ago that was supposed to stop all magic in a large radius once it has been thrown.

“I told you we need to save it for something more serious! Not use it on those creeps, who we always defeat at -”

“Stop arguing you two! There’s a wreckage of fallen pillars in the foyer remember? I am going to need some of those potions Edel!” Lorane interrupted.

I had just realized how close we were to the outside, quickly using my free hand I fished around in my pack until I pulled out a small circular glass bottle labeled Mana in crude handwriting, and popped off the cork holding the blue liquid inside. As we slowed down, I handed the bottle to Lorane who gulped it down like water.

“I still don’t understand how you can just gulp down that stuff so fast. I mean -” A tremor from the castle cut me off as I lost balance and dropped Regal head first onto the ground as well as my pack.

“Ughh… Break my neck why don’t ya?!”

“I’m sorry Regal!” I replied, making sure his leg was not in worse shape. After seeing it wasn’t, I preceded to scoop him up, back onto my shoulder as Lorane began to run ahead.

“Lorane be careful!” Regal called out.

I picked up my fallen pack carefully and began to follow. I wasn’t too worried about Lorane, from what we’ve been through together, I had complete confidence she was going to be okay. I continued to run forward with Regal on my back. As we reached the huge foyer filled with corpses of the Marble Golems, who we had to fight through just over an hour ago Lorane was focusing her magic into a ball of light; about the size of a large beach ball. I’ve always been amazed with her skill in magic. After shifting her weight forward, which made her look like she was leaning on an invisible wall dividing her from the ball of light, she threw her hands forward onto the ball. With a gasp followed by a grunt she pushed the ball forward.

Instantly the ball flew forward at high speed, destroying segments of the fallen pillars that littered the ground, and damaging a few of the golem corpses that were close by. There was now a straight path to the exit, but something wasn’t right.

“No… Do you feel that? Edel it’s the Gate!” said Regal, as fear gripped his voice.

“Not now! We need to get out before this place caves in on us!” I said, trembling slightly. What was coming, I knew, and Regal knew. I had to warn Lorane who was a good 30 paces away. “Lorane! We need to move! The gate is opening here!” I shouted.

“What? Are you serious?! We can’t deal with Him yet!” Lorane shouted back.

I ran towards her. Now I was worried. The only person who I was truly afraid of was about to make his appearance. You never know what his intentions are, however, last time we encountered Him an entire city was destroyed, in an attempt to find us and take the Stones we obtained. We were lucky to find Archsage Linken who shielded us, and warped us to safety as he took Him on alone. Of course we learned of his demise, and the city’s destruction later.

“Edel! Wait, maybe we should try to communicate..." Lorane said as I grabbed her hand and we started running for the exit.

“No! He tried to kill us last time, there is no talking to that… Monster.” The man known as Gladius, the one who destroyed a God to gain power, the one who slaughtered an entire village of innocents; the one who wore an enigmatic suit of armor that seemed completely unbreakable even by magic, was on his way, and he is indeed a monster that deserves to be feared. There is no stopping him. Then it happened. A blast of cyan light engulfed the area, as I heard the castle behind us finally caving in, and around us, the ceiling began to fall.

I stopped in my tracks, something keeping my legs from moving, I looked up and saw the millions of bricks, wood, and debris just hanging in midair. Looking around I saw Lorane was looking straight, blinking in confusion. The pathway behind us, locked in place, as if time around us, had stopped.

“This… is Limbo.” Regal stated.

I looked at where he was staring, and my heart sank. There before us, was a large figure, Gladius. Behind him where the bright, but not blinding cyan light was emanating from was a large hole that looked like it was distorting all reality inside of its gaping opening.

“Gladius what do you want?!” I cried through gritted teeth. I wondered if we were going to get out of here alive.

Gladius remained silent, using his three-pronged spear like a walking staff and began to slowly walk towards us. My heart was racing fast.

“Edel it’s over. If he has enough control over the Gate to initiate Limbo, there is no escape. Limbo is a time stopping spell, and the Gate is the only thing that can allow such a spell to be sustained.” Regal said with despair.

“What? If time is stopped, how can we still talk? And how are we still... aware?” I questioned.

“I… I don’t know,” Regal said.

“Maybe he wants to talk! If we’re going to get out of here alive, maybe we should do what he wants!” Lorane finally spoke. I looked at her, her face was pale, and she was sweating. I wanted to put my hand on her shoulder but I was surprised when my arm wouldn’t move, my hand still holding hers.

“Why can’t I move my limbs?”

“I have allowed you to communicate, but there will be no running this time.” A deep, almost metallic voice spoke. Gladius was somehow already in front of us, somehow from a slow walked he didn’t take long to traverse about 80 paces.

“Wh- What is it that you want?” I asked.

“I am here for the Cosmos Stone. You have no idea what it can do.”

Cosmos? The Stone we took was the elemental Stone of Cosmos? I looked towards Lorane who nodded her head, then towards Regal who was staring at the Gate.

“Will you let us go?” I inquired.

“…Yes. But you must tell me where the other four Stones are being held.”

The Stones that we have been collecting for months on orders of the Royal Magic Academy and King Joseph had a purpose, but they never told us what. And little did I know, that purpose would never be known to us after these events. I nodded.

“Well I need to be able to move-” before I could finish there was a flash of cyan light and my limbs were free. I thought about reaching for my sword but I knew I had no chance. So I reached into my pack after putting Regal down and pulled out the amethyst colored Stone and held it in front of me. Gladius was looking at Regal.

“What is wrong with him?” He asked, almost sounding concerned.

“His leg is broken.” I answered, as Regal looked up at Gladius, and bore a pleading expression. “What does that matter? Here is the Stone you-”

Gladius abruptly raised his right hand, held his thumb in and a bright white beam of light burst from his hand that sounded like a gunshot. The light made contact with Regal’s legs and suddenly the light vanished.

“Huh? You… You healed me?” Regal said, astonished and moving his leg.

Gladius took the Stone from me, and said “Now tell me where to find the other Stones.”

I was baffled as to why he healed Regal, but decided not to question him. If he healed Regal, perhaps he means us no harm and he is true to his word, I thought, before saying “They are in Durandel. I don’t know where though, the Royal Archmage takes the Stones from us and leaves with them. That’s all I know.”

“Durandel you say. Alright then.” Regal began to get on his feet as Gladius spoke “Since you have told me I will spare you. However…”

My heart dropped, and I flinched as Lorane put her hand on my shoulder. However what? Is he going to imprison us?

“I knew it! What are you going to do? Take us as prisoners so we don’t warn our friends?” Regal cried. Saying what I was thinking, he does that quite a bit.

“Something like that. Don’t worry, I will let you go after I find the Stones. If you have lied to me, you all will die.” Gladius said.

Before I could say anything, the Gate abruptly began to make a loud howling noise, and I felt a great pressure pull me towards the Gate. I glanced to my right, Lorane was also being pulled and I heard Regal screaming as we flew towards the Gate in midair. I closed my eyes, and felt a tingling sensation through my whole body followed by what I can only describe as my body being compressed and my insides boiling with pain... Then there was nothing.

“Edel…” a sweet voice called my name. I looked around to see Lorane, staring at me seductively. “Edel… Regal told me. How you feel about me. I just want you to know that I can’t stand you.” I continued to stare at her. Can’t stand me? But I love her. I know all good things need to come to an end, like this adventure we are on, but I have grown to care for her, to love her. Everything she does I admire…

“Edel?”

I just want her love. She has mine, or she CAN have mine. Is she trying to break my heart? I am stronger than that…

“Edel? Anybody?”

I know Regal once had feelings for her, I wonder if he told her what I really feel. But I can’t talk.

“Edel? Regal? Mr. Gladius?”

Suddenly I felt pain in my gut. I can’t open my eyes, but I feel something on my side.

“Lorane?” Regal’s voice called from my left.

“Regal? Where is Edel? I can’t see anything! What are we lying on?”

I couldn’t tell if I was lying on cement or rough stone, but I finally got control of my limbs. My hands felt swollen as I raised my arm and suddenly felt more stone on top of me, suspended. I must be inside of something… like a casket? I felt my eyes open wide, seeing nothing but darkness.

“Edel? Buddy where are you?” Regal shouted.

He only calls me buddy when he’s really worried… I finally caught my own voice and said “I’m right here. I think you guys are next to me.” After hearing a gasp I felt something hit me on the right side of my body. “Ow!”

“Oh Edel! That’s you?! Why are you so… hairy?” Lorane asked.

“Hold on, I think we’re inside of some kind of container. Regal, push up on this stone with me, maybe we can move it.” I said.

Regal shifted and I heard two thuds on the stone. Not sure what that was, but as I also raised my numb hands, I hear the same noise. What the? Choosing to ignore it I said “Okay on the count of three. One… Two… Three!” I pushed with all of my might, and as the heavy stone lifted, sunlight flooded the small chamber the three of us were in. Blindly we pushed the stone to the side, and we were exposed to the sun. After a few seconds I turned my head towards Lorane and opened my eyes.

“Woah!” I exclaimed.

To my right was a pink horse, wearing Lorane’s cape. It was a dark shade of pink, and the mane was bright pink with scarlet highlights, just how Lorane’s hair is. And a horn? It had a horn sticking out of its head, but no mage mark which Lorane had.

A unicorn? They are supposed to be extinct, but this one is wearing a cape… Lorane’s cape?! Then it hit me.

“L… Lorane?!” I said.

The pink unicorn turned its head to look at me. Its eyes were a beautiful shade of green. Lorane’s green eyes, which were now in shock. “What the? Edel where are you?!” the unicorn moved its mouth in unison with Lorane’s voice.

I quickly looked to my left. There was another horse, however this one was dark blue, and larger than the other. It was wearing a piece of steel on its torso and bottom half. It had a long flowing blue mane, like Regal’s hair, and it also had a horn but it appeared to be missing the tip.

“Regal?” I said.

The blue unicorn opened its eyes. It was a shade, you’d almost never see from other creatures. Regal’s deep blue, almost violet eyes stared at me, with a shocked expression that matched Lorane's.

“Edel?!”

End of Prologue.

Author's note:
Star Prism here! Thank you for reading so far, I plan to make every chapter told in first person from a different character. Let me know what you think! Anything I should explain? Etc.

Chapter 2 - Old Foes & On Top of the Clouds

Chapter 2: Old Foes & On Top of the Clouds
Xion & Regal

I awoke with a sharp pain in my abdomen, remembering the battle a few hours ago with that wretched Edel and his stupid companions. I had the one called Regal pinned down, about to finally slit his throat before being blown off by the girl’s magic, and then stabbed. I’ve been stabbed before, plenty of times, so the pain isn’t as bad as it used to be.

“Xion? You’re finally awake huh?” Solem’s voice came from my right. I looked at him. Solem was up, looking at me with a smug grin. He always did have a cocky attitude, even to me – his superior. He lifted his hand and showed a scar on his palm and three bandaged fingers. “This is all I got. They couldn’t touch me too much, and I had to be the one to ignite the bomb Glacious made.” He said.

Solem had crimson eyes, with large pupils. His Pyroite blood gave him such eyes, as well as his natural gift with fire of all forms. His hair was always slick back, blonde, and like the blonde jokes his mind was not the smartest when it came to thinking. Large for his size, and built like a tank however, he was near-incompetent in hand-to-hand combat and preferred to stick with his gift of fire anyway.

“Where are we now?” I asked him.

“I believe we are about halfway to Durandel Capital City. It is our next move as it is probably where Edel and his friends are going.” said a cold voice to my left that almost caught me off guard. I turned to face Glacious, his pale face seemed to glow even in this dark caravan we stowed away on. His glasses reflected light making his blue eyes not visible. His thin long chin-beard hanging down touching the floor where he sat while his wavy blue hair was parted like it always is. Even though his eyes are not visible I could still feel his stare.

“Good. We need to finish the mission, kill them all, take the Stones they have, and return to the Guildmaster.” I reminded them.

“Yeah, I am getting pissed off we still haven’t killed those kids yet!” Solem said loudly.

“Shut up! Are we not stowaways?” I said.

“Regardless, I am a little frustrated as well. It seems to be bad luck after bad luck when we run into the targets. I hate to use the word luck but it does seem fate is on their side.” Glacious said.

“At least we can outrun them now.” Solem said. “I mean we could always outrun them, but when you broke that Regal’s leg, Glacious, that was brilliant. Even if you are of the ice element, I was impressed with the power of that blast.”

“It wasn’t the ice you idiot. He threw a fire seed on the ground and did it to himself probably trying to get rid of the ice on his leg.” I said.

“Well I’ll think of an ambush plan…”Glacious trailed off. I knew why, the caravan stopped and the drivers were talking.

“…Go, you can do your business here.” Came a voice above us.

“Fine.” A second voice came and a thud. There were thuds next to us, as the second voice was walking, followed by the sound of liquid hitting dirt.

“Hey did you hear about the Godslayer making another appearance?” the first voice asked.

Godslayer? Gladius they mean… He’s been a target of the Guild for a very long time now… I should probably pay attention.

“What? Where?” The second voice piped up, still using the dirt as a toilet.

“They say it was at that castle to the south as it fell down as well. His doing I bet.”

“Really? Why would he destroy an abandoned castle, much less one full of Marble Golems.”

“No idea. A traveler said he saw him only a couple of hours ago, leaving as it collapsed behind him. Then he started walking north, and disappeared like a mirage.”

“No way, I already don’t believe it. I bet the traveler probably just wanted attention.”

The two began to talk about something else as the second voice got back on the caravan as they began to continue moving. I looked at Glacious who was looking at a detailed map of Durandel. “So do you think Edel and his friends may have crossed paths with him?” I inquired.

“No way to be certain unless we find Gladius and ask him ourselves, though if we did that, we would certainly meet our doom.” Glacious responded.

“Regardless it might be worth looking into. If -”

A sudden lurch forward cut me off as we were all pushed forward by abrupt cease in momentum from the caravan. I peeked my head up from the very large crate we hid inside opening the lid slowly. Nothing. There was no one at the reigns, and for that matter there were no horses either.

“What the… Glacious! Solem! Hide in the shadows.” I said, signaling them to hide. It was what we did when we didn’t know what was going on. It’s usually a default action as well when something unexpected happens and we need to stay undetected, which usually only happens when we are stalking Edel and his friends.

At the signal, Glacious turned ethereal and almost completely invisible, while Solem, being half-Pyroite, seemingly evaporated into a small and condensed, but light fog. I initiated my Factus Umbra technique. It’s a technique taught to me by my mentor who is a master of stealth and deadly arts. I trained under him for three years before he taught me Factus Umbra, which translates to ‘Become Shadow’ where I meld directly with the shadows, so long as I stay in the shadows I am completely invisible to the naked eye.

Sticking to the shadows I carefully maneuvered my way to the front of the caravan. I could see it was almost night time, and the road was completely empty, however looking through some tearing of the tarp that covered the caravan I could see no sign of any of the men who were driving the caravan.

What is going on? Something doesn’t seem right. Okay Xion use your senses. If the enemy is un-seeable try to pick up any other trace-

There was a slight zephyr of wind, and a flapping of thick fabric like a cape coming from behind the caravan. I quickly turned around. A figure was standing there with a long black cape, black armor with gold trimming that had a slight shimmer, two scimitars were hanging from the belt, and masked with only a reflective surface positioned at the eyes. Even when masked I felt the figure stare at me. As soon as I saw it was holding a three-pronged spear I knew it was him.

“Speak of the devil…” I whispered. I knew he could see me. I moved out of the caravan, breaking my meld with the shadows. “So you must be Gladius. What does the Godslayer want with a lowly bandit like me?”

“I know you’re not alone and I know you are not a bandit. You are Xion Windsbane, son of Lyon Windsbane the leader of the Guild.” Gladius responded.

“Hmph well then. Solem! Glacious!”

A blast of light revealed Solem to my left, and after some mist cleared, Glacious became corporal to my right.

“Is this really Him?” Glacious asked, fear in his voice.

“Well isn’t that something, we were just hearing about you and wondering if you ran into our acquaintances.” Solem said with no emotion in his voice.

I stepped forward, keeping all doubt out of my voice “Like I asked, what do you want? And what did you do with those two merchants?”

“I need you three to do something for me.”

“Regal come on you haven’t said a word since you woke up. What’s up?”

I looked up, breaking my thoughts about the events from last night. Edel was talking to me and I wasn’t paying attention.

“What? Nothing, I am just worried about home and what’s going on over there… I guess.”

“You guess?” Edel replied.

We were trotting towards Ponyville with Fluttershy leading us to her friend ‘Twilight’. Apparently she ran a library and she might perhaps have knowledge of Durandel and how we can get back. However we didn’t explain to Fluttershy that we could be, and probably are, from another dimension.

Lorane who was talking beside Fluttershy, turned around and replied “He’s probably upset about his broken horn and that he doesn’t know how to move his wings!”

Fluttershy gasped in response “That was an awful thing to say miss Lorane! He must’ve gotten really hurt recently, and he might be having some kind of nerve damage that’s preventing him from using his wings…” she began to fly next to me stroking my mane with a hoof “You poor thing.”

No clue why, but I found myself blushing when she said that. “Now I’m fine. I wasn’t injured, I didn’t even realize – I mean I don’t remember how this happened to my horn. And my wings don’t feel numb or anything, I just don’t know how to move the muscles to make them move.” I replied.

“What? How do you not know that? Maybe a massage –”

“HEADS UP!” A cry came from above.

Reacting on impulse I grabbed Fluttershy with my fore-hooves and dove sideways evading what looked like a cyan-colored missile from above. Looking for a few seconds more I realized it was another pony, a Pegasus with a multi-colored mane and tail like a rainbow.

“Oh… My…” Fluttershy stammered “Um can you get off me please?”

I realized I was on top of her, and Edel was laughing a few paces in front of me. Getting up, and helping her up I quickly said “I’m sorry. I acted on my reflexes, hearing something come towards me unexpectedly does that to me.”

“Well thank you for getting me out of the way too…” She said “…it was rather chivalrous though” she added quietly, red filling her cheeks. Perhaps she just isn’t used to this sort of contact with a male. “Anyway Rainbow Dash there isn’t any sort of threat.”

“Um yeah, I’m sorry about that Fluttershy. Hey who are your friends?” Rainbow Dash said, as she got up and looked at everybody. Well, I guess everypony is more appropriate now.

“This is Regal! And that’s Lorane, and Edel! They’re from Durandel and are new to Ponyville”

“Durandel? Never heard of it. But since they’re new to Ponyville, maybe we should introduce them to Pinkie Pie!” Rainbow Dash said

Edel spoke up “Well as much fun as that would be, we were heading to the library, right Fluttershy?”

“Oh um… yes that’s right. We were going to find out more about Durandel and how they found themselves in the Everfree Forest. Oh and probably if Regal here is related to the princess” Fluttershy responded.

Rainbow Dash flew closer to me, looking at my horn and then my wings, then gazing into my eyes. I merely grinned sheepishly as she said “Another Alicorn huh? Well if you are royalty then I supposed I could help you with those wings, you know, teach you how to fly.”

She must’ve heard us talking before crashing near us. Lorane seemed amused and said “That’s a good idea. While we go to the library, Regal you should learn how to fly!” I’ve always wanted to fly, well at least on my own. Back home we once had to infiltrate an enemy airship, and I got to steer the ship when we got control of it. It was indeed exhilarating and I loved every second of it.

“Well I guess. We can meet up later then?” I said.

“Yeah, sure. You have fun, but do be careful.” Edel said as they began trotting off towards the town.

“Okay first lesson: Move a wing.” Rainbow Dash started. I looked at my wing, only to find nothing happened as I tried to flex my shoulder muscles. This is going to take awhile…

*****************************

It was only a few minutes later when we were both in the air. After Dash lifted one of my wings to check for damages, I felt the muscle, of course as a human it didn’t exist but now that I knew what sensation to stimulate and which muscle to move I found after a few flaps I was weightless and rose about 20 paces in the air as Dash let out a small cheer. Flying was just as great as I imagined, feeling weightless as I was drifting in the air, only flapping when I felt I was dropping too far.

“Come on, let’s go higher!” said Rainbow Dash as she climbed another 40 paces above. I followed and took only a few flaps to keep up with her. “Whoa you’re pretty fast for a first timer. Okay, race to that cloud up there” she pointed with her hoof to a cirrus cloud more than 100 paces above “ready? Go.”

I flapped as fast and as hard as I could but she took off much faster leaving a brief afterimage of a rainbow. It was quite a sight to behold. As I got to the cloud I saw she was laying on it, and her wings were at her side. Impossible! How is she laying on a CLOUD?!

“Take a rest, junior. Come on up here and tell me your story.” She said.

“Miss Rainbow Dash, how are you laying on a cloud?!” I asked, in wonder of the physics of this world.

“You’re kidding right?”

I placed a hoof on top of the cloud, it felt solid. Not hard, but like a very soft mattress. Letting myself fall a little, I found the cloud able to hold my weight completely.

“This is incredible. How is this – Can anybo – anypony walk on clouds?” I asked.

“Well no; only pegasi and Alicorns… really anything that can fly. Actually one time my friend Twilight enchanted herself and the others to be able to walk on clouds for a day, but that’s magic. Anyway come on tell me about yourself!” She said, getting in a sitting position.

I thought for a moment, wondering if it would be a bad idea to alienate myself, Edel and Lorane from these more-than-friendly ponies. Well just in case, I will leave those two out of it. Thinking of an alibi for them I finally said “Well you see I come from a land very far away from here, yet very close at the same time. This land is separated from this land – Equestria, by a celestial gateway. This Gate is believed, in my land, to be the fundamental portal through all space and time. No one has ever found this Gate, and only stories were written about it, making skepticism the norm for this object…” Rainbow Dash remained silent, she was looking right at me with her ears pointed directly at me. “I am not a pony like you, well at least I wasn’t before…”

“Before you got here? I’m guessing you found this ‘gate’ you are talking about.” Rainbow Dash spoke up.

“Well, yes I will get there. I was a warrior for my village called Xinon.” Remembering Xinon, the nation at war with Durandel, this is where I was bending the truth. I was trying to keep the idea that Durandel was another place in Equestria. “Xinon was ruled by a good king by the name of Joseph who kept peace and order the norm in all of Xinon. I was a small lad, who had huge ambitions in life.” At this point I am referring to Edel as myself from the story he told me when we had a similar conversation like Dash and I were having, only less one-way. “I trained every day at getting stronger, faster, and more adept with swordsmanship. After matching my mentor in a sparring match, I enlisted in the Royal Task Force of Xinon.

“After a few trials and tests the King gave me a special assignment to collect these magical orbs called the Elemental Stones. There are six elements and after we collected four of them we were ambushed by a group of assailants. They wanted our Stones and our heads. Their leader was a man named Xion who was the son of the leader of Xinon, guildmaster Lyon. After many attempts on my life, however, I still managed to get by despite being alone.” Noticing Dash was looking in deep thought and giving me a strange look I added “Is there something wrong miss Rainbow Dash?”

“Yeah there is… Inconsistencies. You’re lying to me aren’t you?” She said.

“What? Why would you think that?”

“Well for starters, you said you were from Xinon and it was run by a king. Suddenly this Xion guy who is the son of the same leader of Xinon is now run by a guild-whatever you said with a different name? And you keep saying we when you originally implied you were alone.” She said starting to fly above me. “Spit it out, tell the truth!”

“I… I can’t. Well at least not yet I can’t. Will you just bear with me while I finish?” After she nodded I continued. “Finally after the fifth Stone, the palace we were in began to crumble apart after an intense battle with Xion and his two henchmen. I was injured but we were still alive. Upon making it out we were caught off guard by this powerful man, not to be trifled with.” I shivered a little bit and continued “He took the stone from us – me! And after that, he banished me here to Equestria. I used to be a human, that is, a being who is bipedal and had digits on the extremities for grasping objects. I woke up outside of that forest as a pony, as an alicorn.” I looked down for a few seconds, then I quickly added “and that’s when those two travelers Edel and Lorane found me. They were nice enough to help me out and now here we are.”

Rainbow Dash looked at me and said “Well some of that is a bit sketchy but okay I believe you for the most part, even though I think there is a lot more you’re not telling me. Well it’s getting late, let’s go find Fluttershy and the others, they were heading to the library right?”

I nodded, and we began to fly off in the direction of Ponyville. The sun was just beginning to set from high noon, and I soon realized how hungry I was.

End of chapter 2.