Outside the Cave<<<<<<

"Your a weird pony." Kujo said, tilting his head at the pony in front of him as he reclined on the bag his mother had sat him down on before following that weird hairless monkey guy into the cave.

"Weird? How am I weird?" Zephyr questioned, frowning at the minotaur child as he held back a snide remark about the kid and his own barf-colored fur. If it weren't for the fact the kid had a mother that could rip him in two, he would've considered flying off by now. He HAD the cold weather gear to survive it, but in the end it would be Berthas rage he would have to contend with for leaving the kid behind...and that's something Zephyr would rather not have to face anytime soon.

"You have a cows mane, but you have a bulls voice." Kujo answered, attempting to poke Zephyrs beehive of a hairstyle before getting his hand swatted by a wing.

"It's a condition. Your just jealous because you dont have my stylish looks." Zephyr retorted back as he couldn't help but hear something in the distance as his ears turned westward.

Was that...howling?

Apparently, Kujo noticed it too, because the kid had already moved behind him, shaking slightly next to Zephyr as he huddled next to his rear legs.

"Cow-ish pony, what was that noise?" He asked as Zephyr looked down the mountain path, only to see a cloud of snow dust being kicked up by whatever was coming towards them.

"I'm not sure, but your mom and Mitch better hurry up in there." Zephyr stated, a hitch of fear in his voice as he looked to the cave entrance with worry. "Whatever that dust is hiding is coming quick."

Back in the cave/Mitch POV<<<<<<

I awoke with a jolt, sitting upright as memories of what had happened earlier flooded my mind.

The wall...Bertha...that pony...where the hell am I? I thought to myself as I looked around, noticing nothing but the luminescent yet reflective water I was sitting on and the pitch black surroundings around me that seemed to stretch on for miles on end.

"Is this... the pool I was supposed to find?" I asked aloud as I heard footsteps approach from behind me.

Wait...footsteps? But I'm the only-

Turning quickly, there was nothing there but my reflection in the water.

This better not be some horror movie shit, or I am drowning myself in this water, no matter how shallow it is.

After looking around for a couple minutes, but not finding anyone else, I managed to calm down before noticing I had a reflection in the water.

Heh, looking good.

Squatting down, I placed my right hand on the reflective surface as my mirror self did the same.

Thats weird...the water is kind of sticky, almost like a spiders web. The light its giving off is kind of cool though. I thought to myself, my thoughts piercing the silence as I let out an apprehensive small chuckle at the absolutely terrifying yet oddly amusing situation I was in.

Hold on...I didn't laugh.

Looking down at my reflection, I noticed it was staring back up at me with a wider smile than what I had on my face.

"Huh?" I couldn't help but state as I felt my right hand get pulled into the reflective water. "Shit!"

Planting my feet, I began to pull against whatever force was pulling me under, though as soon as I made eye contact with my reflection, my worries only tripled.

Staring back at me as a smiling version of me, though unlike me he had blonde hair and lettuce green eyes in contrast to my ginger hair and hazelnut brown eyes. My reflection let out the same chuckle I had heard moments ago before some of the reflective liquid began to encase my right arm, causing me to panic and tug harder against the water.

"Relax...your in no danger." A voice spoke up, causing me to stop struggling and looked down at my reflection in suprise as he seemed to be speaking, though the voice seemed to echo off the surrounding area rather than come from him. "Your arm was badly damaged and needs to be healed, let the dew do its job."

Noticing the tugging on my hand was gone, I pulled it out of the water as it too became encased in the weirdly clingy water.

"What is this stuff?" I asked as my reflection, causing it to shake its head.

"The pony you met earlier will explain all you need to know." He stated as the water slowly phazed into some sort of blue crystal casing around my arm and hand, layered where my skin would be but stopping just short at my shoulder blade.

"Daaamn. What the hell?" I exclaimed, flexing my new arm around and squeezing my hand shut multiple times. Everything seemed to be working fine and I felt no pain from flexing the arm, but the shock of having a limb of mine was almost overwhelming as my breath was slowly speeding up.

I need to calm down, theres no use freaking out right now. I still have an arm, and thats whats important.

After taking a couple minutes to slow down my breathing, I was able to stop myself from hyperventilating. I turned back to my reflection, only to find it had disappeared, leaving me alone in the waters for a moment before I heard hoofsteps approach from behind me, causing me to turn quickly, this time only to be met with a familiar face.

"Ah, so the healing process has begun. Good."The pony from before told me as he walked up to me and began looking over my arm. "Yes, yes. It seems you'll be just fine." He said, though his voice no longer echoed around the room.

"What do you mean healing process?" I asked as the pony chuckled.

"You do remember the scuffle you got into with the Demon Wall, right?" He stated, making my eyes widen as I glanced at my crystal arm, remembering the acid that had hit my arm in the fight.

"So, your telling me that my right arm...melted?!" I exclaimed in shock, the panic from before coming back as the pony rose on his hind legs and placed both forelegs on my shoulders.

"Mitch...calm down." He said softly, making sure to never break contact as he spoke. "Your completely fine. The dew of Duisternis is more than capable of healing your wounds from before."

"Duisternis?" I questioned, slowly calming down as the pony dropped back to a standing position and smiled.

"Before we get into that, some introductions are in order." He tapped his chest proudly. "My name is Tangerine, and this area you find yourself in is called Duisternis, or the realm of nightmares for long terms sake."

"Land of nightmares?" That didn't sound right. "Why the hell am I getting ANYTHING from a place like this?" I asked him as he sighed turning away from me.

"For those who are born without a destiny or believe their own isn't as grand as they thought it would be, they seek to make their own or... force their own will upon fate." He shook his head. "But, in the wake of doing so they cast a shadow that gets reflected here, and becomes something more." He chuckled softly. "Duisternis is a forsaken place, a place where the universe hides our inner demons and mistakes from the sight and mind of others."

Rubbing my chin in thought, I looked around the darkened place I was in while Tangerines words rung loudly through my head.

So, people who crave power or simply want their lives to have meaning are affected by this world? And the shadow they cast becomes something else? But how?

"What do you mean by that last bit? With the shadows?" I asked him as he turned back to me with a sad smile on his face.

"Well, there two types of shadows. The weaker ones become simple replicas of their hosts, staying here and watching their hosts live out their lives, while the stronger ones are said to be able to latch onto their hosts and be capable of overpowering them...we classify those as Nightmares" He informed me as he looked down at the water around my feet. "And considering your reflection is gone...your situation is of the latter variety."

"So, is this...Nightmare going to be an issue?" I asked him warily as he shook his head, giving me a calming smile.

"No, not as long as you can properly build your power on your journey." He said before tapping my crystal arm. "The dew from the water we stand on is now coursing through your bloodstream. The area where your heart would reside should now have a magic shell around it, and that will be proof of you having a magic core." He finished as he turned away from me and began walking away. "As long as you keep control of that shadow that resides in that core of yours, then you shouldn't have much to worry about."

I went to follow him, but couldn't move due to the water I was in holding my feet in place.

"Wait! I have more questions!" I yelled out to him as he simply erupted in light, blinding my vision entirely as it began to feel like the whole world was shaking.

"Mitch! Mitch, are you ok?"

Slowly opening my eyes, I found Bertha looming over me, shaking me slightly as she looked down at me.

"Hey, your ok!" I exclaimed happily as she smiled at me...before frowning and punching me in the right arm.

THUNK!

We both turned to look at the cause of the sound, only to see my right arm and hand was still covered in crystal.

Seems like thats permanent...though all of this just keeps seeming more and more like a fever dream as the crazy train keeps pumping.

"Why is your arm made of crystal?" Bertha asked me as I sat up and moved it around.

"That pool I was supposed to get in gave me it. Apparently it's a side effect of me getting a magic core." I told her, causing Bertha to shake her head with a laugh.

"You are one weird bull, Mitch." She said before standing up. "Whatever pool you were at is gone though, so I hope you got your core."

Looking around, there was indeed no water around me. The only thing left in the dark and slightly narrow passageway (Bertha was squatting down to almost the height of Zephyr at this point) was what had to be Berthas pickaxe and...

"So, Kogan did die." I said solemnly as I got up and crouch-walked over to a skeleton that had a staff impaled through its left leg. Looking closely at the staff, I noticed a couple of words carved into it.

"Bertha, look at this." I told her, pulling the staff from its resting place and showing it to her, causing her to dquint as she looked the staff over.

"Hmm...here lies the body of one who was absorbed by the lust for power." She read off before shaking her head and turning to me. "It's time we left this place."

Nodding in agreement. I followed her out of the small cavern as we found ourselves back in the room where the Demon Wall had resided, only now it looked like a normal cave instead of all that black smoke from before.

"And to think we almost died here." I thought aloud as Bertha glared at me, causing me to wince. "Too soon?"

"Very. Come, let us leave this cave behind for good." She said, moving to continue walking before she winced and held her stomach.

"Bertha! Are you ok?" I exclaimed as I ran up to her, noticing a couple of deep scratch wounds lining her abdomen.

"Bertha will be fine." She grunted out as she went to move but winced again, this time falling on one knee. "It's but a scratch."

Place your new hand on her stomach.

"Bertha, let me see the cuts." I asked her as she moved her hand away with some grumble about this whole situation being bad for an Alpha, though she frowned when I placed the crystal hand on the wound.

"What are you doing!?" She hissed, but I didn't acknowledge her.

Now, in your mind, think about what you want to do, and your magic core should reciprocate the thought, making it a reality.

Picturing what her stomach looked like before the fight, I felt what could best be described as taking a piss while my hand began to glow.

After a moment the light disappeared and I fell backwards, suddenly exhausted from whatever I did.

"Mitch...how did you do that?" I heard Bertha ask, looking down at me while running her hand over the now clear stomach. No wounds, no blood.

"Dunno...must be whatever magic I got coursing through me now." I told her, making her chuckle as she rubbed her stomach slightly.

"Well, it looks like our hard work wasn't in vain then. You got a crystal arm and you can heal wounds? Sounds like a pretty good deal to me." She turned towards the cave exit as she inhaled deeply before letting it out softly. "Let's get out of this dark prision, shall we?"

I nodded and started to follow her out, albeit slowly due to the exhaustion still plaguing my body. "Alright, lead the way." I said as we made our way through the dark tunnel leading out.

"Ya know." Bertha spoke up as we turned the corner and went down the last tunnel. "I wonder how Breeze and Kujo are doing?"

"Well, at least Zephyr and Kujo didn't have to deal with that Demon Wall. Them being outside was far safer than them being with us." I told her as she laughed.

"Zephyr would've fainted on the spot if he had seen the beast we slayed!" She happily exclaimed before her mood sobered quickly as she looked at the ground. "But Kujo..."

I placed my hand on her left arm, causing her to look back at me as I flashed her a warm smile.

"That's why we left him outside. He's ok, your ok, and I'm ok. We passed the test, and everyone is safe." I told her as she gave me a toothy grin and stood tall as we approached the mouth of the cave.

"Your right! No use talking about what ifs, when everything is...just....fine." She trailed off as we stood at the exit of the cave in shock.

The good news? Zephyr and Kujo were waiting for us unharmed.

Bad news? Zephyr was attempting to talk down what looked like two more Diamond dogs while keeping Kujo behind him, the poor kid was cowering as he looked at the dogs from behind Zephyr.

"Hey!" I yelled out, walking towards them as Kujo ran over to his mother.

"Mama! Those dogs were scaring me!" He exclaimed, burying his face into his moms neck as she gave the dogs a fierce glare.

"Is this true?" Bertha questioned with venom in her tone as the dogs turned to us and one of them stepped forward.

The one that stepped forward was wearing armour that had a blue tint to it. It stood at what had to be almost seven feet tall as it almost matched Bertha in height. And with a careful look at its face reminded me of the snow-white breed of the huskies back home.

Hell, looking at the other dog I could see he also was a husky. The only difference was the one behind the tall dog had scorched fur as if it had been set on fire.

The dog turned to Bertha and raised her right paw.

"Greetings, I am Captain Piper of the North Wind. We were told to investigate this area due to a magic spike nearby." She looked down at me for a second before eyeing my crystal arm. "Though it seems we won't have to search any farther, for our disturbance is right here."

Bertha growled. "Then why are you harassing my child if your looking into a magic disturbance?" She asked as the Captain raised an eyebrow at the minotaur.

"We did no such thing. All we did was talk to the pegasus male about what he knew about the surge." She said as Zephyr smiled sheepishly.

"Yeah, some of that may be my bad. I'm not really good with kids, Bertha, So I didn't know how to calm him down when the dogs showed up." He told her, earning a groan from the minotaur as I frowned at Piper.

"Well, that's all well and good, but that 'magic surge' yall are looking for was caused by some of your own kind messing with crap they don't understand." I told her as she gave me a wry smile.

"And you do, bearer of the crystal core?" She asked, causing me to flinch slightly as she laughed. "Relax, no one but the Grandmaster knows about that level of magic, and that reminds me of the other reason we were sent here."

She turned around and beckoned the black furred dog to come over to her. As he walked up Piper turned back to us while Zephyr walked over to Berthas right side.

"This is my brother and First lieutenant of the North Wind, Reks." She motioned to the other dog, who although was a bit shorter than me, looked like he packed more muscle than Bertha, for his armour seemed to be barely able to contain his body.

The dog nodded a hello and pulled a scroll out from inside his armour and gave it to Piper.

"Don't mind him, he doesn't like talking." She said before opening the scroll and clearing her throat. "A-HEM! Commanders of the North Wind, your mission is to look into a renegade pack of dogs that has moved in to the East of the Crystal kingdom. They are believed to be a trafficking group that may be responsible for the disappearances of several species around the Yaket Range." She closed the scroll and handed it back to Reks, who out it up immediately. "For short, we're your rescue party...your welcome."

"Rescue party?" Zephyr scoffed. "Why should we trust you after how those other dogs treated us?" He stated as Bertha nodded, bouncing slightly as she tried to rock her kid to sleep.

"Breeze makes a good point, Captain. What if you are merely reinforcements that Kogan and his cronies called for?"

Piper sighed before looking towards me. "Normally, there would be no way to prove this to you, but your unusual friend here obtained a magic core from this cave, didn't he?" She asked, making me grin my teeth as she called me out.

How would they know about that? I thought, shivering from the cold as Bertha kept her harsh gaze on the dog.

"So what if he did? What's so special about this cave?" She asked Piper as the Captain winked.

"That's a trade secret with the North Wind, but I have a proposal for you three." She said as she turned and pointed at some sort of castle in the distance. "The North Wind resides in a cave system beneath the pony capitol of this land. Follow us there, and we will tell you anything you need to know." She said as I looked in between her and the castle she pointed at.

Wait...a pony capitol? That had to be the Empire Zephyr was talking about! I thought as Zephry let out a laugh.

"You expect us to just go underground with you guys?! I JUST escaped from an underground prison, and I have no intentions of going back down anytime soon."

"Agreed. Besides, I need to head Eastwards to get back to Trottingham." Bertha says as she nods to her now sleeping child. "I need to get this kid home to the herd before they start to worry."

If Piper was affected by their refusals, she didn't show it as she turned to me. "And what about you?"

Looking from the dogs to my friends I had made in my short time here, I couldn't help but wonder about what I was supposed to do here.

Do I attempt to try my luck with the pony princess, or do I go with these dogs and potentially get more answers about my new magic core?

Coming to a decision, I turned to my friends.

"Guys, I have to go with them." I told them, causing Zephyr to nearly face-plant in shock.

"What?! You can't be serious, man! Their DIAMOND DOGS!!!" He exclaimed while Bertha put a hand on my shoulder and looked me in the eyes.

"This is about that core, isn't it?" She asked me as I nodded. "Very well. If you ever find yourself near Trottingham, ask around for Big Blades Blacksmith. That's where I work and live, and you should find me there most of the time." She let go of my shoulder and smiled down at me. "Be careful, Mitch."

She turned to Piper and pointed at the captain before giving her a deadly smile.

"I better not find out you were lying, dog. Or else your fur will be used as a carpet for my lviing room." She stated as she reached into her bra and pulled out some sort of small crystal before throwing it to the ground. "To Trottingham." She said quietly before throwing it down, causing a flash of light to erupt around her before it disappeared, along with her as well.

Zephyr and I looked at where she was standing in shock as I ran a hand through my hair, trying to comprehend what I just saw.

Did she...just teleport? Could she had done that this WHOLE TIME?!

Before I could think more on the subject, Piper and Reks walked over to us.

"I feel like I should know that minotaur from somewhere...oh well." She clapped her paws together as she looked between us. "Well, shall we get going?"

Zephyr shook his head, but before he could speak Piper cut him off.

"And relax, pony. We'll drop you off at the pony town before we head underground." She said before turning around and walking off. "Follow me, boys!"

Zephyr looked up at me with a pleading gaze.

"Dude, please don't tell me we're about to follow that crazy dog down this mountain?" He asked me as I shrugged, watching Reks follow close behind his sister.

"Um...yeah. Besides, I'd rather not freeze in this weather." I said, grabbing the blanket Kujo left behind and wrapping it around myself while Zephyr grabbed his bag and we began to follow the two guard dogs down the Yaket mountain range.

Besides, I literally just fought a Demon Wall. What could be worse than that?

Author's Note

Hey! Look at that, story progress! And is that Mitch with a new crystal arm?

Seriously though, I haven't brainstormed that much on the idea of something like Duisternis for a while...and half of what makes Duisternis tick hasn't even been revealed yet!

As always, any comments and Grammer corrections are greatly appreciated! Also, thanks for the well received love for the story so far! It really does mean a lot to me!