The Severed Dimension

by StarPrism

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!”

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End of Chapter 10