//------------------------------//
// Chapter 12 - The Great and Powerful Omen 
// Story: The Severed Dimension 
// by StarPrism 
//------------------------------//


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