Mitch POV<<<<<<

Pitch black...again.

That's all I could see when I opened my eyes. Trying to look around changed nothing, though I found I could move with no problems.

What the hell? Last thing I remember seeing was those yellow eyes in the castle. What happened after that? And seriously, this is the THIRD time I've been knocked out cold in a week!

"Get up..."

A small light flickered in the darkness as I found my eyes drawn down towards my right arm, which was now glowing a pale blue hue that engulfed the crystal it was pouring from.

"Where am I?" I whispered to myself as I took a step or two forwards, holding out the glowing arm in hopes of shedding some light on my path.

"Your exactly where you were when you passed out, Mitch."

Hearing the voice behind me, I quickly turned around to only be met by my shadow double, only this time he had the same crystal arm as I did.

"Maxie? Wait, does that mean I'm..."

Maxie shook his head. "Unlike last time we spoke, your body is not in mortal peril...yet." He finished for me, but before I could question him further he stopped me with a raise of his hand. "Hold your questions for now, Mitch. Theres a few things you need to know."

Greaaaat. More things for me to worry about. I thought with a grimace, casting a wary glare towards Maxie, who simply shrugged it off.

"No one said weilding the dark arts wouldn't have its vices, Mitch. But please keep in mind that there are those out there that would have you at best turned to stone if they came across the knowledge of your power."

"Yeah, those royals you mentioned before, right? So?" I replied as I stretched my arms behind my head.

"So? There are three of them in the very city you find yourself in right now, and 'So?' is your response?!" Maxie's voice raises as he points a finger at me. "Mitch, Your life is in danger with just ONE of them nearby!"

My arms dropped to my sides at that, the feelings of frustration being quickly replaced with a healthy dose of dread.

"Wait...three? I thought you mentioned two before?" I asked my replica as he pinched the bridge of his nose with a flesh ridden hand.

"That was because I didn't expect you to waltz into a library the third one and her demonspawn child were occupying! You even came in contact with a child Alicorn!" He exclaimed loudly before taking a deep breath. "Mitch, an alicorn royal is any pony you see that has wings and a horn. They are to be regarded as your number one enemy from here on out. If they catch you, they'll NEVER let you go home."

Taking a step back as his words sunk in, I couldn't help but feel that feeling of worry from before multiply.

No no no no. I am NOT being stuck in this crazy fucking place... Stopping myself from panicking, I slowly but surely managed to slow down my breathing as I brought my attention back to Maxie.

"So, that feeling of fear I felt back when I was near that child..."

Maxie nodded. "That was me reaching out and trying to remove yourself from her. I didn't want to risk speaking out in case the Scion of Love had enough training to sense my presence."

"Scion of Love?" I questioned as Maxie's eyes widened for a bit before dimming back to their usual empty green haze.

"Ah, I forget how little you know of the linguistics of Duisternis. Scions are what we nightmares call the descendents to the First rulers of this realm." He starts, sitting down on quite literally nothing as the darkness seems to hold him up. "There were six rulers at the time, and each one represented one of the six magical schools that are alive now."

Finally hearing something that sounded familiar, I nodded. "Right, Sunburst mentioned something about that...things like Loyalty and Kindness being types of magic."

"Well, at least you've managed to learn something on your trip so far. Yes, there are a total of twelve archetypes of magic, six light and six dark to balance out the world. But back then there were only the six lights with no darkness to balance them out."

"So...what caused the darkness to appear then?" I asked Maxie as the doppelganger let out a barking laugh at the question.

"Where else? From the six rulers of course. No one is perfect, and when you have enough magical power to someone, your bound to to see some of their worst traits come out in some shape or another." Maxie went to say more, but was cut off as the darkness around us began to shake vehemently.

"Looks like our time is up yet again, Mitch." Maxie said as He got up from his chair of nothingness. "When you awake, you need to find your way out of that city. Don't let any of the royals find you or your toast."

"Wait!" I exclaimed just before he began to fade away. "I still have so many questions! Why would the royals want to stop me from heading home, and what do those rulers have to do with the core I have?"

Maxie waved off my questions though, and turned away from me with a chuckle.

"All in good time, my friend. Make an effort not to die today, and I'll see to it that you see me again very soon!"

With that, Maxie vanished into the void as the rumbling intensified, knocking me off my feet and back-first into the floor as all went dark again.

"Mitch!"

Six rulers...twelve schools of magic...

"MITCH!"

Avoid alicorns at all costs...can't let them stop me from heading home...

"MITCH!!!"

Eyes shooting open, I jolted up from the crystal floor as I was face to face with Zephyr, only for my head to throb instantaneously.

Damn, my head feels like it was force feed an ICEE. I groaned mentally as I held my head in one hand while looking to my rather worried friend.

"Uh, what are you doing here? I thought you were enrolled at that mane school?" I asked the pegasus as he shook his head, a rather sheepish look on his face as he did so.

"That didn't exactly work out, but we can talk about that later." He told me as he stepped aside and motioned around the room with a wing, allowing me to take in my surroundings. "As you can see, we're kinda stuck."

The whole room seemed pretty bland compared to the rest of the empire. There was little coloring in the crystal walls and floor, a pale purple in opposite to the vibrant blue found outside. There seemed to be almost nothing in the room except a couple occupied chairs and a table that stood near a broom closet.

Speaking of occupied...

"Reks! Are you ok, dude?" I asked, getting up slowly and making my way over to the diamond dog and the unicorn he was sitting with.

Turning his head up and towards me, Reks gave a curt nod as he motioned to the unicorn beside him, who cleared his throat sharply.

"And you must be this Mitch that Zephyr spoke of. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." The rather fancy stallion spoke as he adjusted his bow tie. "Prince Blueblood, at your service."

Staring at the rather fancy prince, I found myself slowly turning my head slowly to Zephyr with an incredulous look on my face.

"How the hell are you on speaking terms with a prince?" I exclaimed as said prince sighed.

"This is why I keep my name and on the down low when I travel." Blueblood muttered as my gaze went from him to the walls around us.

Or namely, the lack of door in this room.

"And where the hell is the door?" I yelled as Zephyr flew up next to me and grabbed me by my shoulders.

"Calm down, dude. It's MY job to be the worrywart, remember?" He told me before slugging me in my left arm with a hoof. "And buck off! I can have friends in high places!"

"Friends is a tall order, considering we only just met, Zephyr." Blueblood stated as he walked over to me, sizing me up as his eyes glanced over every part of my body. "I must say though, I've never seen someone like you before. Tell me, which region are you from?"

"Region?" I asked him, rubbing the sore spot on my arm from where Zephyr had boxed me. "Hate to break it to ya, man. But I'm from out of country."

The princes' eyes widened at that, and he immediately got closer to me in response...uncomfortably close.

"Your a foreigner?! That's amazing, we haven't had a new species come to Equiis in years!" He exclaimed in joy from about three inches from my face as I pushed the stallion off of me.

"Yeah yeah, mind the personal space space, Blueballs." I barked, running a crystal hand through my hair as I turned my gaze to Reks, who had been watching my panic-induced scene with a smug grin. "What the hell are you smiling at, furball?"

Reks stood up and put out his fist before rotating it so his right paw was facing up, before making his middle finger go up in a slow motion as he moved his left paw in a cranking motion, coming to a full stop as his middle finger graced me at full mast with a 'Your an Asshole' stare to follow up.

Looking back in forth from the finger to his face, I tried my best to tune out the laughing coming from the pegasus and unicorn while staring down the dog in front of me.

"You think that's funny, huh. Just wait until I get my hands on a spray bottle, then your gonna be sorr-" I began to threaten only to have my sentence cut off as a spray bottle appeared in my hand.

For a moment, Reks and I simply stood there, staring at the bottle that had just appeared.

"Hey, Reks..." I started, turning the nozzle cap to the 'mist' option as a wicked smile appeared on my face. "It's bath time."

Reks' ears pinned back as he attempted to push past Blueblood to avoid the spray, but I had managed to catch him in the face with the bottle, causing the dog to blindly jump towards me in an attempt to subdue his attacker.

"Missed me, Asshole!" I taunted him as he had narrowly avoided spearing me through the gut with his body. "Guess it's been a while since you've last been bathed, huh?"

Wiping his face off with a paw, Reks shot me a harsh glare as he got up and prepared to dive again, only to stop as a shrill laugh echoed throughout the room.

"My my, what fun you managed to get up to with just a little bit of chaos." A familiar voice rang out as the bottle in my hand became a plus size gummy bear in the blink of an eye that escaped my grasp and ran over to Zephyr, who stared at the blue candy in awe.

"Whoa...Food that walks? AWESOME!" He exclaimed as he picked up the bear and gave it a fierce nuzzle, which it returned in kind with a soft growl. "I'm naming you Gummi!"

"Discord! I demand you answer me! Why did you trap all of us in this tower room?!" Blueblood scowled ad he looked up towards the ceiling, only to see nothing before looking around the room in a slight panic. "Show yourself, fiend!"

With an echoing snap, What had to be Discord showed up in the middle of the room, a measly couple of feet from where I was standing.

"What the hell..." I whispered in a mix of shock and awe as I looked over the menace to society that was in front of me. The thing seemed to be an amalgamation of multiple types of animals, based on the lions paw and griffon talon he had, alongside the lizard tail and goat horns (even those had their differences, with one being blue and the other being that pale white most horns are.)

"Discord...wait that voice." Looking the demonic figure in the eye, I recognized exactly where I had seen those eyes before.

"YOU!!!" I exclaimed as I pointed a finger at him, only to raise an eyebrow as he had done the same...except he had managed to make a eerily familiar red and blue outfit appear on his body mid shout.

Snapping away the strange suit and smiling menacingly, the serpent nodded his head with a bored glow from his eyes.

"Yes Yes. It's me, the one who sent you here and forced you to work for me under contract, can we PLEASE move the plot past this point?" He asked me as he threw his paw/talons into the air. "This story has dragged long enough in one spot, don't you think?"

Clenching my fist, I took a few steps towards Discord as I felt my boiling point start to be reached.

"Story?!? You see what's happened to me so far as a FUCKING STORY?!" I yelled at him, bringing up my crystal arm. "I almost had my arm melted off, and then I had to trek down a freezing mountain and get torn up by wolves! All because SOMEONE couldn't have the decency to drop me off in a town or city somewhere, but nooooo! You put me in a damn mountain full of SLAVE DRIVERS!!!""

"Of course I put you there! Imagine how simple it wouldve been to put you in ponyville or..." Discord shuttered slightly. "Canterlot. I did you a FAVOR by putting you so far away from civilization." Shaking his head, Discord pinched the spot between his eyes and sighed. "Regardless of authors trying to be creative, that's not why I brought you four here."

"And what reason would that be? If you didn't know, there is a dangerous storm outside and the kingdom is in possible jeopardy." Blueblood stated as Reks walked over to Zephyr and sat next to him, the former entertaining his new food pet while listening in on the conversation.

Discord, however, seemed far less cordial. The serpent stopped floating in the air and landed on the ground as he crossed his arms.

"I brought you four here, because...Darn it Fluttershy didnt tell me it would be this hard...Because I need your help."

That got everyone attention. Here was this magical serpent guy that clearly had some sort of influence if a prince was getting riled up by him and he was asking for our help? Why?

"Why us? The elements of Harmony are here right now. Surely they could help you?" Blueblood demanded as Discord shook his head.

"Absolutely not! He has his grubby hands on their lives enough as it is, if I tried to get their help it would only end up in my removal from the picture." Discord answered as he frowned. "No, this is a job for backup characters."

"Backup? Who are you calling backup?" Zephyr exclaimed, only to retreat to the wall when Discord glared at him.

"Why the hell should any of us help you, anyway? You literally kidnapped us." I told Discord as he smiled at me.

"Well, Mitch. You don't have a choice. since you work for me." He pointed at both Zephyr and Reks. "Those two will probably end up helping you regardless, and Blueblood here will do anything to keep his loved ones safe."

"Was that a threat, Discord? I may not be able to fight you, but I'm sure Auntie still can." Blueblood snarled as Discord waved him off.

"Chill out, princey poo." Discord retorted, snapping his fingers and causing a mound of snow to fall on Bluebloods' body. "If anyone is in danger, it's me for simply doing this."

Discord then turned to me, his eyes sharpened by a serious aura. "Mitch, you managed to get your hands on a book pertaining to that core on your arm, right?"

Casting a glance to Reks, I nodded. "Yeah, So what?"

Discord suddenly got a lot closer, only inches from my face as he stared me down.

"Listen to me, human. Be thankful that I brought you here on a whim. Don't forget that I don't HAVE to help out that girl, especially after what your kind did to me." He growled with a smile, though it didn't reach his eyes. "So lighten up, Mitch. being a sourpuss isn't helping anyone right now."

Taking a step back from the serpent, I nodded quickly and stuffed down any aggravation I had for the chaos being in front of me.

"Alright...what do you want?" I forced out, somehow managing to not sound as angry as I was currently.

"See? Was that so hard?" With another snap, a map of Equiis appeared in between us. humming to himself, Discord drew a talon across the map to several places before stopping on a place marked Vanhoover.

"In the ocean next to Vanhoover is a underwater cavern that hides another pool like the one you got your magic core from. Find it, and you'll be another step closer to your goal of going home." Taking the map and rolling it up, Discord threw it behind him and pointed his talon at me. "You just make sure to both not die, or attract too much attention while doing so."

"So, Mitch just has to go to Vanhoover and the ocean?" Blueblood asked as he looked over the map. "There's nothing out there but the ocean depths, what could be out there that he needs?"

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Reks had began to look far more uncomfortable with the conversation the moment the ocean was brought up. He was fidgeting slightly and seemed distracted from anything else happening around him, such as the Gummi bear climbing up his back at Zephyrs encouragement.

Odd...wonder whay has him so riled up? Does it have something to do with the sea?" I thought curiously as Discord waved his paw back and forth, dismissing the prince aand his claims.

"That's none of your concern, Prince. However, it is Mitchs, so if the rest of you could just..." Yet again, Discord snapped his talon like fingers, causing everyone in the room to vanish from sight.

Except me...great.

Clapping his appendages together, Discord smiled once more. "Now that we are alone, I can tell you the rest."

"The rest of what?" I asked him as I began to feel uneasy at the look he was giving me. It felt like one of those stares someone gave you if they didn't like you, but they absolutely needed to ask you something or needed your help for a problem they had and had no other option.

To be honest, it was worrying considering who was giving the stare to me.

"I had a meeting with a particular someone earlier...and lest just say that someone is very eager to see that you stay here in Equestria." Discord explained, making that feeling of unease triple.

"WHAT?! Who else knows I'm here?! And why would they want me to stay here?!?" I pretty much exploded, pointing a crystal finger at the serpent in front of me. "And why haven't you done something about it if your so powerful?"

"BECAUSE I CAN'T!!!" Discord yelled back, growing to an insurmountable size for a moment as he looked ready to snap before he stopped and took a deep breath, slowly shrinking to normal as he continued his line of thought. "Believe me, I wish I could knock that suit wearing jerk down a notch, but in the end he outranks me in the deity department, and if he learned that I was attempting to mess with his 'Game of Fates' as he calls it, he'd..." Discord trailed off, and for the first time since I've known the guy he seemed more...normal than I'd ever seen him before.

"He'd what?" I pressed softly, as to not cause another outburst from the guy who could literally turn me inside out with a snap of his fingers. Discord shook his head and looked me in the eyes, allowing me to see that behind the yellow and red irises was fear. Pure unadulterated fear.

"To put it this way, we'd both be forced to watch what matters most to us be shred to pieces by whatever monster he feels like using at the time, be it wolves, bears or a Ursa major." Discord shuttered slightly before the usual glow from his eyes came back instantaneously. "Which is why I need you to be VERY careful when moving around Equestria. If anyone in a green suit ever comes up to you, you need to use EXTREME caution in anything he does or says."

Crossing my arms, I turned away from Discord and found my gaze directed to some cracks in the ground nearby, all the while my mind was reeling from the amount of information given and what it entailed.

"So...theres someone crueler than you out there, but you dont want to do what he says. But, if we slip up and he finds out about it you lose someone you care about, and the same will happen to me because I'm under your damn contract?"

Looking back up at Discord, I actually saw some regret flash in his eyes for a split second, though it was gone as soon as it arrived.

"Then you better not spill any beans then, Mitch." He told me as a can of said food item dropped from behind the now floating serpent and clanked to the ground. "Just do what I've told you, follow your gut instincts, and DONT piss off the celestial butts and you'll be fine. Make your way to Vanhoover and I'll reach out to you when you arrive on what to do next."

Snickering to himself, Discord snapped his talons one last time, simultaneously making himself disappear just as another loud snap echoed the room, causing the others to return along with a door etched into the wall behind me.

"What do you mean by not our...concern?" Blueblood spoke before looking around the room, confused. "Wait, where did he go?"

"He left, but at least we know where to go now." I said as I turned to Zephyr amd Reks. "So, apparently I've got to go to the west coast...yall down for a road trip?"

Zephyr Breeze shared a glance with the living candy bear in his hooves before looking up at me with a big smile as the bear wiggled its paws around like a baby.

"I've got nothing better to do now, so count me in." Zephyr said as he returned to babying the confectionary creation in his hooves.

Reks looked from Zephyr to me several times before standing up from his seated position on the ground and looking straight down at me.

Shit, was he always that fucking tall? I thought warily as I noticed that when he stood straight he was almost a head taller than me.

Reks, however, either didn't notice my pensive feelings or didn't care as he nodded once, letting out a small bark in agreement, easing my nerves as I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding.

"Sweet! That makes things a million times easier." I remarked as I turned to the prince. "And what do you plan on doing?"

Bleublood straightened out his tie he had on and flashed me an award winning smile as he turned to the door.

"Im not sure what happened here, but It's clear a lot of its not my business." The prince shrugged slightly, though his shoulders sagged slightly as he continued. "But since your new around here, I'll make sure you and your friends make it out of the Empire safely, but that's as far as I go." He trotted over to the door and pulled it open with his magic, turning back to us. "I have a duty to help the people of the empire, and if we find anyone who wasn't evacuated for the storm on our way we should help them get to safety."

"Easy enough." I told him as slammed a fist into a crystal hand, only to shake the flesh-bound hand in pain afterwards. "Alright, let's go! Damn that hurt"

Besides, how bad could the storm be?

Mitch POV, literally 5 minutes later<<<<<<

"Your fucking kidding me" I yelled over the howl of the storm as we made it out of the castle, just to be met with fierce winds and mounds of snow everywhere.

"It was getting bad when we arrived at the castle, but to pick up so quickly?" Zephyr commented as he attempted to get off the ground, only massing to succeed the third time against the winds. "This storm can't be natural!"

"That's because it's not, Zephyr!" Blueblood explained over the shrill screech of the cold wind. "This is what the crystal heart is supposed to keep from hitting the Empire, but without it the kingdom will become like its snowy neighbors within the hour."

Raising a crystal arm to block the snow from hitting my face, I shifted my body besides Reks' as I turned my attention to the prince.

"You said there was an evacuation? Where to?"

Blueblood squinted through the storm as he looked down a path for a moment before pointing away from his line of sight.

"The evacuees are being sent southwards to the train station, but the storm seems to be coming hitting hard on all sides." He directed his hoof in a sharp ninety degree turn leftwards. "I say we move west and see if anyone is left in the shopping district, and if not then the alleyways on that road should lead to the station."

"Then let's move!" I yelled, dropping arms and following behind the prince and the others as we pushed through the storm and onto the crystal streets.

And to think, this place looked so full of life mearly moments ago... I grimaced as I kept glancing at overturned stalls, decorations slewn in the streets, and even damaged houses and gardens that we passed as we pushed on. How does one even stop a storm this strong? Is there any hope for the city?

Turning onto another road, we all came to a stop as Blueblood starting waving someone down up ahead.

"Hey! What are you doing out here?" He called out as the two ponies and their dragon came up to us.

"Wait, Starlight?"

"Mitch?" The unicorn responded as she shook her head quickly. "Wait, no time. We need to get Sunburst to the castle. He has something that can fix the Crystal Heart!"

"Wait, he does?! That's awesome!" Zephyr yelled, trying to make his voice heard as the storm winds picked up again, causing his voice to be barely even audible instead.

"Not awesome, lifesaving." Blueblood responded as he approached the orange unicorn. "Is this true? Can you save this day yet?"

The stallion pushed up his glasses as he gulped nervously at the spotlight casted on him. "Well, it's all in this boo-"

A loud, ear piercing howl shredded the wind, interrupting Sunburst and causing Reks to wince slightly in pain.

"That...didn't sound good." The little dragon brat (what was his name again...Spok?) worridly stated as the empty buildings and alleyways came to life as several of the snow 'mounds' began to move.

"Oh fuck not again." I yelled as the mounds shook off their excess snow and bared their fangs and hollow eyes that glowed a sharp yellow in the white surroundings.

"Winter wolves..." Zephyr muttered in fear as the Gummi bear on his back began to growl at the approaching threat.

"I knew it...the storm was only the beginning." Blueblood whispered as he magicked a rapier out of thin air and turned to everyone. "We're surrounded on all sides by snow, who knows how many of them are out there, but our main goal is getting Sunburst to the castle."

One wolf charged forward at us, only to get a fist to the face by Reks as he drew a mace out of his armour with his other hand.

Sidestepping another wolf's advance, I shouldered up to Reks.

"Any of these fuckers nick ya and I patch you up, but don't get ballsy aight?" I told him, getting a woof and a nod from my companion. Meanwhile Zephyr, who's poor little Gummi bear was clinging onto for life, yelped and flew over a charging wolf, wincing as he saw it get skewered by Blueblood as he trusted through it.

"I'm not cut out for these sort of things, so I'll just stay up here and-Behind you!" Zephyr called out to Starlight as three wolves appeared from the snow and jumped out at her while she was busy blasting another that had tried to make a snack out of Sunburst.

"Get the buck away from us!" She yelled out as she shot out another beam, hitting two of them as they charged but missing the third as it jumped over the blast and bared its fangs, only to be burnt to a crisp by dragonfire.

"Thanks Spike, I owe you one!" Starlight told the dragon as her horn turned red and flames bursted out of it, melting a couple more Winterwolves that were nearby.

"Anything to keep a friend safe." Spike answered, only as another sharp howl rang out on the street, causing most of the wolves to back off to the edges of the road.

"Uh...why'd they stop attacking?" Zephyr asked from above us, speaking out from the silence as Sunburst did a little nervous trot in place.

"Oooh this is bad. I've read up on Winterwolf behavior since moving here, and the book said they only stop hunting their prey if the prey proves to be too strong or their pack leader commands them to."

Hearing that explanation caused a sinking feeling in my gut as I recalled the giant wolf from back when we were chased through the mountains. Sharing a worried look to Reks, it was clear he was thinking the same.

"Somethings coming! Stand at the ready!" Blueblood yelled out, his voice cracking ever so slightly as he turned his rapier to the opening the wolves had made.

Even with the storm picking up, I could make out something big lumbering towards us. In fact, to my horror, it was eerily familiar in shape and size as it came close enough to be recognizable.

"No...it followed us out here?" Zephyr whimpered, nearly falling out of the sky in shock as the giant wolf from that night in the woods had managed to find us again...only now it's size was even more evident than before.

The giant wolf stood tall among its peers, reaching to the height of some of the one story buildings nearby as its fangs easily looked to be as big as myself, if not far thicker. It's claws we're as big as a pony and waaaay sharper and most of it body seemed to be made of thickly padded snow that glistened like snowflakes.

"A Winterwolf Queen...I'd never thought I'd ever see one with my own eyes." Sunburst whispered in awe as he took a step behind Starlight, who along with Spike had huddled close next to me and Reks while Blueblood stood in front of us and Zephyr stayed afloat.

"I'd heard stories on my travels, but to see such an apex predator up close is exhilarating." Blueblood said in awe as he turned his head slightly, never taking an eye off of the Queen. "Things have gotten much worse, everypony...time to come up with something quick."

"C-Could we melt it? It's made of snow like the rest of its kind, right?" Spike spoke up nervously as the other Winterwolves seemed to be almost grinning at our misfortune as they watched us cower in the sight of their Alpha.

"Sadly, No. Queen and King varients of the enchanted wolf variety are highly resistant if not immune to elemental assault, and even boast resistances to magic as well." Sunburst spouted out as all took a collective step back when the Queen inched forward. "And even then none of us have the magical strength or reserves to take on a Queen AND her pack at the same time."

"Then...what do we do? She's getting closer!" Zephyr exclaimed as the Queen toke several steps forward, at most twenty-five yards away from us.

Shit...gotta think of something, or we're dead meat. Looking around rapidly, I noticed there was a small opening both behind us and to an alleyway off on our left. Perhaps if we split up...and Blueblood said something about the crystal heart thing protecting the empire, so if it got fixed...

"Blueblood!" I called out, getting his attention. "If yall made it to the heart, would it getting fixed push the wolves back?"

The prince nodded. "The magic that pours from its influence would eviscerate all traces of strong dark magic in the area, so it should kill them...but how do you plan on getting to the castle?"

I shook my head, that sinking feeling returning yet again.

"By splitting up. You take Starlight and her friends back to the castle while Reks, Zephyr and I keep them busy." I answered, getting both gasps from everyone and a glare from Blueblood.

"What?!? That's suicide!" Zephyr exclaimed loudly, the little bear on his back nodding in agreement.

"Like Tartarus I'm letting that happen! I'm not leaving you or your friends to get mauled, Mitch!" Blueblood argued as the Queen Wolf bent downwards, ready to pounce.

"There's no time to argue, Blueblood!" I exclaimed, turning to Starlight. "Starlight, these things are weak to fire right? Could you and Spike spit out some flames to block their approach?"

The mare looked to Sunburst, who thought for a moment before nodding in agreement. "In theory, yes. But where would you guys go from there?"

I went to answer, but was cut off as Reks chunked the mace he had in his paw straight forwards, hitting the Queen in the snout and forcing it backwards as it had tried to rush us when we were distracted.

"We'll make do, now fire the spell off now!" I yelled as the wolves around us all charged at once while Starlight charged up her horn again.

"I said to back the Buck off!" She yelled as she released the spell, making a wave of flames push from her outwards, melting several wolves at once and push the others to the buildings walls nearby.

"Spike! On our right!" I called out as I punched a wolf apart with a crystal fist before ducking as Reks threw a wolf into a couple of its friends.

"On it!" He exclaimed, running forward and inhaling deeply before breathing out a large line of flames as he fell backwards in exhaustion, only to be magically teleported on Bluebloods back. The prince made sure the dragon was safely on his back before sending me an angry glare as he motioned to the alleyway I had saw earlier while his floating sword continued to cut some of the straggling wolves down that the fire had missed.

"Mitch! There's an opening off to the side, go that way and stay in the alleyways and the queen shouldn't be able to follow you!" Blueblood stated as he, Sunburst, and Starlight galloped off towards the castle while the Queen Wolf shook off its dazed state and glared right at me and my remaining friends.

"MOOOOOVE!" I screamed, taking off in a full sprint and jumping over some of the flames as Reks and Zephyr followed behind through the alleyways.

Hearing a loud thunk as the walls shook, I glanced over my shoulder to see the Queen had managed to slam into the buildings, but couldn't get through after all!

"Where are we even going?" Zephyr called from behind us as he struggled to keep up with our pace in the air. "And what if the Queen finds us again?"

"Then we continue running!" I call back as an blue light goes off above us, making our group pause and stare at the sky, which was now littered with sparkling blue lights.

"Was that an emergency signal or something? I doubt fireworks are going off right now." I wondered as the sound of approaching bodies startled us back into our run down the alleyways, taking a sharp left turn into another sector.

"Perhaps it was from Blueblood? Or-*huff*- maybe one of the other evacuation teams we ran into while searching for you guys?" Zephyr panted out as we came to a stop in an empty side street.

Leaning my back against a wall, I tried to get my breathing under control while Reks scanned the area for wolves.

"Perhaps...Damn I'm out of shape." I gasp, putting my hands on my knees as I bend over and regain control of my breathing. "Still, it's not safe here. We've got to move to a more condensed area before it finds us."

Zephyr descended to the ground in front of us, pointing ahead at a store that's front door was open.

"Then let's move indoors! We can hide out there until the storm is stopped!" He exclaims as he gallops into the shop, with Reks close behind.

"Well, nothing for it." I muttered as I followed them into the shop, closing the door behind us as we enter the dark building. "What kind of shop is this place anyway?"

Reks looks at some of the counters and throws something at me from the racks.

"What is..." I start, but stop as I notice it's a shirt, and a decently sized one at that. "Wait, this is a clothes shop?"

"Seems like a tourist venue more like. I found those little magezine things that tell you about the 'sights of the Empire' and all that." Zephyr says as I throw off my rather dirty shirt and try on the new one. It was a bit small and the neck area was sagging, but considering this was a pony shop I should be glad it fits at all.

"How do I look?" I asked, striking a pose as Reks barked out a hushed laugh and pointed at the shirts front. "What are you-oh for fucks sake!"

On the front was an image of that pink alicorn from the library, only she was winking and had the words "All hail the Queen of Hearts" In big pink letters around her image.

"Guys! Get over here!" Zephyr exclaimed, causing Reks and I to move over to the counter and see what he was staring at. "Get low and look out the window!"

Bunkering down behind the counter, I leaned over the side of it and looked towards the entrance, just in time to see a giant glowing eye glance over the window from above.

"Hooooly fuck." I whispered as I pulled my head back and leaned further down to the ground, almost to the point where I was symmetrical with the ground.

"What do we do now?" I whispered out as Reks shushed me, pointing upwards as the ceiling started to Crack slightly, making my eyes widen in terror.

It's on the roof!

"We are so bucked...We are so bucked!" Zephyr kept muttering to himself as he pulled his chaos bear closer to his chest, with the little guy snuggling into him for comfort.

There has to be a way out of this...but how? I thought as I desperately tried to come up with something. The doorways are a bust, and we cant stay here forever...shit, does the wolf have our scent? Can it HEAR us when we speak?

Turning to Reks, I could see him looking from the cowering Zephyr to me as his eyes shared what had to be what mine were showing at the time:

Fear. Fear of dying in some random shop in a storm ridden city by the hands of a pissed off wolf.

No...I cant die here. I need to get back home...I need to get back to-

I was pulled from my line of thought as the roof cracked again, much more audibly this time than before.

"Reks, where do we go from here?" I whispered to him, praying to anyone who was listening that he had an answer.

Reks closed his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath as he went to open his mouth...

...only for a giant claw to rip from the ceiling and slam through his chest.

"REKS!!!" The yell was out of my mouth without a moments hesitation as the claw that had pierced him lifted up and flicked sideways, sending the poor dog through the window and into the open streets.

"Fuck!" I was off like a rocket, leaving my bunkered spot and rushing outside to my friends aid, coming to a stop on my knees by the wounded lutienant.

"Reks...shit man, are you alive." I whispered as I looked him over, wincing as he slowly moved his paw from his chest and showing off the gaping hole in his chest, not quite where his heart was but definitely puncturing a lung.

"Hoooooly..." I was at a loss for words...How was I supposed to react to this? I'm a fucking college graduate, not a damn soldier! I've never seen anything more than a nosebleed on a friend, not...THIS!

I heard a loud howl, followed by the sound of some sort of weapon firing off, but I refused to turn my attention away from my companion...no, my friend as I placed my crystal arm on his wound.

"Don't worry, Bud. I'm going to fix ya right up...just like I said I would." I told him, getting Reks to look me in the eyes as he let our a pained cough again and again. "Hey, settle down and let me figure out how this works again."

Alright, last time I did it I simply just thought to myself what I wanted to do, and it happened...lets just hope that this doesnt end up killing me.

As I continued focusing my thoughts on healing Reks, I saw the crystal begin to glow as the light engulfed all of reks' body.

"I-I-It's working, Reks!" I whispered to him as I heard another roar from off to the side, and I could've swore I hear Zephyr call out to me, but I didn't care.

Hell, I don't think I could focus on anything else right now. As the light continued to glow I could feel my consciousness slowly start to slip away.

I have...to pull through. Fuck, STAY AWAKE!

I used my normal hand to grab a loose rock nearby and slammed it down into my left leg, the searing pain slamming into my nerves like a freight train at two a.m on a highway.

"FUCK!!!" I cried out as the glow of the light grew ever stronger, sapping more of my energy away.

"What the buck is he doing? Cancel his spell or he's going to die!"

"If you stop it now, they both die!"

"The only thing we can do is wait, and see if the brat has what it takes to be a healer."

I tried to focus on the voices, but it was for nothing as I felt myself slip from reality for what felt like the fourth time that day.

Mitch POV, A couple hours later<<<<<<

"REKS!" I exclaimed, jolting awake for what seemed like the millionth time recently. "What, where am I?"

I felt a hoof press me back down in my laying position as Zephyr tried to calm me down.

"Whoa there, Mitch. Easy does it, you've been through a lot!"

Glaring at the pegasus, I sat up anyway...only to end up almost falling out of the seats I was sprawled on.

Wait, what?

Looking around, I could see that I was on a train now, and was laying across four or five small chairs with a small blanket on my body.

"Zephyr...where's Reks?" I asked the pegasus, not really caring about where I was at the moment.

Zephyr smiled and motioned towards the chairs to my side, where Reks currently was sitting. He was awake, and had his armour off, instead had that blue tunic on again with a giant amount of bandages running across his chest.

Zephyr stood up and got off of me. "I'm going to go tell the others that your awake, I'll be but a minute!" Zephyr flew towards one of the train car doors, but stopped short of it and turned back to me, ears pinned against his head as his eyes seemed to radiate relief.

"Mitch...I'm glad your alright, but next time try to think before you go and almost deplete your magic reserves, ok?" With that said, the pegasus left, leaving me alone with Reks.

Sitting up entirely, I took off the blanket and looked at my arm. The crystal hue it normally was now a dim blue rather than its usual luster.

Must be recharging or something...I have GOT to get around to reading that book from the library.

"Hey."

Looking around, I looked to both of the doors but couldn't see anyone that had entered.

"Is someone there?" I called out before the dog in front of me cleared his throat, causing me to look back to Reks as he shook his head.

"I spoke, Mitch." He spoke in a strong, deep voice that caused me to jump out of my seat in shock as my eyes nearly popped out of my sockets.

"R-Reks?!? You!?" I stammered out as he stood up and laughed out that damned barking laugh he's done so many times before.

"I did, and if it wasn't for you I wouldn't be here to do so." Reks responded...fuck he actually responded as he stepped forward and brought me into a bear hug. "Thanks for giving me the gift of life, comrade."

I was frozen like ice as Reks squeezed me tightly before letting me go and taking a step back, snickering at my reaction.

"What's wrong, friend? Still reeling from the healing spell?" He let out a heart laugh as I snapped to my senses.

"Holy shit, your voice dude...Why didn't you tell me sooner that you could talk?" I asked my friend as he shook his head.

"Piper never said I couldn't, just that I choose not to most of the time...Ever since ma and pa died, I haven't had many people to get close enough to do so with." Reks explained as he sat back down. "But enough gloomy talk! We must celebrate our victory and the empires continued existence!"

"Wait, what happened back at the empire?" I asked him as I heard the door open off to my right.

"Well, it looks like you win again, Piper." Commando mouthed off as he and Piper entered the room, the former armoured up in his red gear while Piper wore her blue armour. "I didn't think Reks would open up that well to the brat, but here we are."

"Shut it, Captain. Can't you see they've been through enough?" Piper remarked before rushing over to me and embracing me in a full on death grip hug. "Thank you for saving my brother, Mitch. You don't know how much this means to me."

Returning the hug, I couldn't help but smile as she let me go and sat down next to Reks. "I couldn't let him die out there, especially not to that damned wolf."

Reks shook his head, his face darkening at the memory. "Don't remind me, Comrade. It's still fresh on the body and mind right now."

Commando stared long and hard at Reks before he sighed, looking between us as he rubbed his eyes.

"And to think I thought you were nothing more than a fluke..looks like I was wrong on multiple accounts." He turned his gaze to me, never smiling but no longer glaring at me. "I may not like you, but I respect you for what you did here today. And I'm sure you have many questions as to what happened while you did your whole 'healing' thing, right?"

I nodded as my gaze passed to Reks and Piper once more. Piper was trying not to show it, but I could see a tear or two leave her eyes as she held her brother close, never quite letting him out of her eyesight.

Commando watched on as well, chuckling to himself as he smiled for like the third time since I've met the guy.

"We are quite lucky to be alive, and the situation that happened on that street proves it." I turned my attention back to the dog as he sat down next to me. "Now, it started when I met up with Piper and her winged friend in the backstreets..."

Author's Note

Hooooly moly that took far longer to write than I wanted it too, but I rewrote the bigger scenes here like 10 times!

That, and I maaaaay have procrastinated a bit due to gaming and college life (What, I'm human!)

Either way, it's a big chapter with a lot to unload, so if you got questions I'll be glad to answer them. Also, feel free to point out any errors because I'm super tired now and can't go over this whole thing right now.

Hope yall enjoyed it, and stay tuned for the next one:

Release date- whenever it happens I guess