Mitch POV<<<<<<

"Thanks for bailing us out of that, Reks." I told my rather smug looking companion as we walked down one of the bigger streets of the city. "Though, I didn't know you were a walking piggy bank."

Back at the Cafe, Reks had managed to pop out a few coins and gave them to our waitress. Apparently, he had the currency for this kingdom on him at all times. And since it was a type of metal, he could pop it out of his body whenever he pleased.

Reks snorted at the comment before he suddenly stopped suddenly and looked around, his ears moving a bunch before he turned his head to me and narrowed his eyes, lifting up his right paw and rotating one of his fingers around.

"What?" I asked him before I began to look around, realizing that even though we were on what looked like the shopping district of the Empire there was not a soul to be seen anywhere.

"Where the hell is everyone? I know it's a bit cloudy and all, but it's still the middle of the day!" I exclaimed as Reks shook his head and motioned for me to follow him.

A couple of silent minutes later and we found out why there was a huge lack of ponies around as we made it to the center of the crystal city. It looked like the whole kingdom was currently standing outside the castle thing ahead of us, each of them standing in line side by side in an almost military fashion.

"Five of those weird coins you popped out of your fur that they are rioting about something." I told Reks, getting a chuckle and a nod of agreement from him as we got closer to the crowd. "Think someone here knows about my arm?" I asked Reks as I attempted to figure out who to approach, getting only a shrug out of him as I settled on a nearby blue pony with two shades of grey in their mane.

Tapping the pony on the shoulder, I gave them a casual smile and a wave as they turned and faced us.

"Hey, would you mind answering a few questions I have?" I asked the pony as they tilted their head and squinted up at me.

"Only if you tell me what kind of diamond dog you are. I've never seen your breed before." The female sounding pony answered in a slightly monotone voice, almost as if she was angry about something and was restraining her tone.

"Well, I'm one of a kind, and no dog." I told her as I heard Reks scoff at that. "But what about you? Why are you and the rest of yall outside the castle?"

Please be a riot Please be a riot!

Her eyes lit up as she pointed a hoof at the castle ahead of us. "We're here for the Crystalling! The princess and prince have had a baby, and its tradition for them to use the love for that child to power to Crystal Heart!"

Excuse me, what? I thought, raising an eyebrow at the rather...silly reason for everyone being out here. Guess Im bankrupt to a fucking dog now.

"So, the ENTIRE city is out here to watch some ceremony about a couple powering a rock off of love?" I asked incredulously as the mare in front of me nodded, though the frown on her face told me she had caught on to my disbelief.

"Of course we are. It's our job as citizens of the empire to support our princess anyway we can!" She exclaimed with pride, deciding to ignore my skeptical mindset as she gave a me a slightly forced grin. "Anything else you needed to know, stranger?"

"Yeah, actually. Do you know about anybody around here that would be well versed in magic? Like a wizard or something?" I asked the mare as she tapped her chin in thought before pointing down a side road that veered off to the left of the castle grounds.

"There's a unicorn that stays holed up in that little house of his down that street." She answered before pointing at her eye with a hoof. "Keep your eyes peeled though, it's much smaller than most of the houses around it and you might pass it."

Smiling, I gave the mare a nod and a quick thanks as I turned towards Reks, who had been looking past the crowd and over what whatever they were fixated on.

"Alright, let's go." I told him, getting a sigh of relief from him as we began to go down the street the mare had pointed out. "So, what do you think the guy were looking for will look like?" I asked my canine companion, who stopped in his tracks at the question before motioning his paws beneath his chin as if he was stroking a beard.

"So, some guy with a long beard?" I stated as he then bent over forward slightly and let off a weak groan as he hobbled around me. "Oh! An OLD guy with a long beard!" I exclaimed with a laugh as Reks gave me a sly grin, continuing at a moderate pace down the road we were traveling as I followed closely behind on his right side, scanning houses for any small buildings.

However, a couple steps in I was revisited by that aching feeling in my legs, causing me to slow down slightly as I tried to push the sensation out of my mind.

C'mon, it doesnt even hurt that much, Mitch! Just shrug off the damned pain and keep going!" I thought to myself with a quiet moan of pain under my breath, which ended up being less quiet than I wanted it to be.

With his ears suddenly turning towards me, Reks halted again and gave me a questioning glance as he pointed at me and huffed.

"I'm alright." I told him through gritted teeth as his gaze became a glare as he walked over to me and pushed me on the ground. 'Hey! What do you think your-?"

I was cut off in suprise as Reks knelt down and began to massage different parts of my right leg before stopping right above my tendons when I felt a sense of relief at the pressure applied there.

"What the hell, man? Are you giving me a fucking massage in the middle of the street?" I asked through bated breath as Reks switched legs as he looked up at me and nodded before returning his eyes to my leg.

Great. Im supposed to be looking for a unicorn, not getting kneeded by a fucking metal bending dog on a crystal paved street! I thought in exasperation before blinking slightly and running those words back through my head again. Never figured that would be a sentence I would say anytime in my life.

As I came to terms with how weird my life was, Reks finished working on my leg and stood up before his body glowed slightly, replacing his tunic with his armour as he waved a paw over it and pointed at my legs.

"What are you trying to tell me?" I asked, standing up as I looked his armour over. "I know you wear that armour as a soldier, but what does that have to-Oh!" I exclaimed suddenly, smacking my head as it came to me. "Your an officer, right? And I'm sure you've had subordinates with similar leg pains before due to whatever drills you've done!"

Reks gave me a smile and made his armour melt back into his fur (Which was a mix of disturbing and awesome to watch), returning the blue tunic back on his blackened fur while I stood up and stretched my legs.

Well, whatever he did, it worked! That stupid ache isnt there anymore. I thought before facing Reks and pointing my normal finger at him.

"Two things: One, that's awesome as hell. Two, don't push me to the ground, even if you have a good reason behind it, your lucky I didn't slam my head on the road." I stated, getting a both a nod and a sheepish whimper from Reks before he looked past me with a squint.

Turning to see what he was facing, I noticed a small road that lead off the main street. There were a couple of doors that led into houses along the grass bordered crystal path,(Don't ask me how there's grass growing on crystal, because I have no clue how botany works) though there was a singular house that stood at the end of the path.

Compared to the shiny houses around it, this one seemed intent on being in the shadows on purpose by design. It was much smaller than the houses surrounding it, and the green and orange colors of the house were dim and didn't help brighten up the alleyway at all. The only thing special about the house was that, for whatever reason, the makers of the house put a fucking wizards hat as the roof. Sure, it was made of crystal, but a damned wizards hat?

How nerdy does someone have to be to have that made for them? Because that's the first wizard house I have seen since I've been here.

Glancing back at Reks, I couldn't help but shake my head at the sheer wackiness that was now my life.

"Welp, I am absolutely sure that's the place we're looking for." I said as I walked down the alleyway, hearing a grunt of agreement from Reks as he followed me. "All we have to do is meet our resident unicorn and get him to help out with my magic dilemma, and we are set!"

Stopping at the front door of the house, which had a image of a sun shining down from its top on it, I pulled out my phone and looked at the first objective on the checklist Wackjob gave me.

1. Find the wizard of the sun I thought as I heard Reks suddenly growl and turn to the alleyway entrance.

"Um...who are you?" I heard a female voice ask, causing me to look up from my phone at the source of the voice.

What the hell?

Standing in front of Reks and I was another duo, except neither of them looked like the locals. One was a unicorn mare, though her pink fur and purple mane were a brighter color than any of the locals I had seen before, especially with that blue streak going through her mane.

The second figure was a small lizard thing. It had purple scales with what had to be green fins running down his head and back and was currently carrying a scroll in his claws as he seemed to be glaring at Reks.

"Uh...My name is Mitch, and this is Reks." I stated, sliding my phone in my sweatpsnts pocket and pointing to me and my companion respectively. "We're here to see a unicorn wizard about a magic-based problem, does that ring any bells?"

"What does a diamond dog and...whatever you are want with Sunburst anyway?" The lizard asked in a very unfriendly tone as he pointed at us, letting his little scroll droop a bit in his other claw.

Sunburst? So we're on the right track then. I thought with a smile as the mare tilted her head slightly.

"I thought diamond dogs couldn't use magic?" She asked as Reks snorted and did that little trick he does with his armour, summoning it in seconds and making both of their jaws drop.

"Tada! We're a little bit different than the average dog and man combo." I stated with a smile as I pointed a crystal finger at the little lizard guy. "But whats with the hostility, dude? We haven't done anything to you or your pony friend."

The lizard huffed and narrowed his eyes at Reks again, getting the dog to growl in return.

"All diamond dogs do is steal gems and kidnap ponies. They're nothing but trouble." He stated, causing me to remember what Zephyr and Bertha had looked like in shackles. "I should know, they kidnapped my friend Rarity a couple years ago." He stated as the mare looked down at her friend in shock.

"They what?!" She exclaimed before turning back to us with a glare of her own. "Step away from that house, now."

"What? You think were here to kidnap your buddy? Look at my damn hand, unicorn!" I exclaimed, raising my crystal arm and waving it around. "I ended up with this and have barely any idea how to use this, so we came her for answers!" I dropped my crystal hand and let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. "And I sure as hell ain't leaving without any."

For a moment, no one said anything. We all just stood there, waiting for the other to make the first move. Then, after looking at my arm for a while, the unicorn sighed and stepped forward.

"Can I look at your arm? I want to be sure your telling the truth." She asked me as I warily lifted my arm up so she could see it. She walked up to it before tapping her now glowing horn against the crystal, holding it there for a moment before looking at it in shock.

"I can't believe it! You have a artifical magic core! But how did you manage to..." She trailed off as her horn shined green for a second, making her remove it from my hand and receding back next to her friend. "T-Thats a Dark core."

I nodded. "Yeah, so? It's the only core I could get."

The unicorn shook her head. "And it doesn't bother you that you have literal darkness just built up in your appendage?"

Does it bother me? I thought, looking at the crystal for a moment before shaking my head and returning my gaze to the mare.

"No. It's what I needed to survive, and it's why I am standing here now. Consequences be damned, I need this thing to help me get home." I said, earning a pat on the back from Reks while the unicorn sighed.

"Well, your magic story checks out from as far as I can tell, and you definitely don't look the part of the evil bad guy either." She said, causing me to look myself over.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, looking over my dirty sweats and T-shirt with frown. I mean. they WERE dirty, but that doesn't mean I'm some sort of hobo on the streets.

Reks, however, found that comment hilarious, as he was now wheezing to himself. Hell, even the damned lizard was giggling slightly, and he's scrawnier than I am!

Crossing my arms, I groaned at the light teasing that was occurring.

"See what you started, unicorn." I stated as said pony giggled to herself, though it was on a lesser degree than the two stooges nearby. "Now my prides been damaged." This made Reks howl even louder as he ignored my furious glare in his direction.

"I meant that as a compliment, Mitch." She said before clearing her throat and extending her hoof. "I'm Starlight, by the way, not just Unicorn."

Accepting the hand(Hoof?)shake, I smiled at the mare, though I noticed that the lizard had finished laughing and was giving me and Reks the same distrustful gaze again.

How big is the stick that's in this dudes ass?

"Now that we got that settled, how about we visit your little friend." I said, ignoring the dragon and turning towards the door, knocking on it three times.

"Well, he's not exactly my friend just yet, but we used to know each other back when we were young." Starlight said, though there was a hint of melancholy in her tone at the end of her sentence.

But before I could ask about the shift in her mood, the door opened slowly, with a yellow unicorn sticking his VERY unkempt face out of the doorway.

"Hello?" He asked before looking at me in shock, allowing me to see he was wearing the same glasses one would find on Harry Potter. "Excuse me for asking, but what are you?"

Giving the guy a smile, I waved my crystal hand.

"Hey! Names Mitch, and I got a couple questions about magic, mind if we come in?" I asked him as he looked past me to see each of us, though he lingered on Starlight for a moment longer than anyone else.

"Um...Sure!" He stated as he opened the door and walked into his house.

Taking a deep breath, I stepped inside, knowing that one way or another I was going to get answers on my core.

I need to make this core stronger. The sooner I finish with it, the sooner I can try and return home.

Author's Note

Well well well, looks like "Main characters" are starting to appear. (Don't get too used to it, Mitch and Reks just happen to be there at the same time Starlight and Spike arrive to Reunite Starlight with Sunburst.)

If this chapter is a bit shorter than the others, that's because finals are this week. I wanted to get this out before I get slammed, so be thankful I didn't end up postponing it instead, lol.

Things will be picking in speed next chapter though, considering we ALL know what a certain Alicorn baby is about to break.

As always, if there are any errors or questions, feel free to comment!

See yall next time or whatever