Hey, everyone! Sorry about the wait on this chapter...oh...never mind. I just checked the traffic log. Well, I'm having fun writing it, so maybe you'll have fun reading it. Don't forget to leave a review with some of that magnificent feedback!
Dusk ran through the last few minutes in his head. Well, he tried to. He couldn't get over the fact that he had actually had a full conversation with Steel Heart and not...well, died. That combined with his new Cutie Mark more or less balanced out how terrible the day had gone elsewhere.
He shook himself. No time for sentimentality right now. There was an impostor out to ruin his father's memory, and quite possibly kill his family. He closed his eyes and tried to channel the unique visions that ran in his family. The little bits of image he got were gravelly at best, but he could make out his mother and Shining Armor chained to pillars in a dark room. Cadence and his fake dad were nowhere to be seen.
Dark room...pillars...definitely the dungeon. Now where was the nearest entrance to the dungeon. He tapped his hoof as he looked around, eager to get moving.
Tap.
Taptaptaptap. He stared straight down at the floor. Since when did the floor echo?
Tap.
Taptaptaptap. Yep. Definitely hollow.
"Well, ask and ye shall receive." His horn began to spark and a ball of crackling orange energy formed around him. Before he could even pick a direction to burrow in, though, the ball had begun melting away the stone beneath him. "Straight down, then."
It only took a few seconds for the dungeon ceiling to give way. Dusk Star came crashing to the ground, legs bent and ready for a fight. None was forthcoming, since he'd landed in an empty old catacomb. Just a blank square room that smelled of magic and something else. He didn't quite recognize the scent, but it put him at ease, much like the smell of his mother. He took a deep breath and felt not just peaceful, but more powerful. More confident. He'd have to find this place again, but now it was crunch time.
"How are you feeling right about now, Cadence?" The fake prince strolled around her, grinning smugly. "I'd guess you're angry, frustrated that you can't do a single thing to stop me. Of course, you never could. There's no shame in recognizing your betters."
"Right you are." The fake Day's End turned, his eyes bulging. There in the doorway stood Dusk Star, Luna, and Shining Armor. "I tell you what. How about we figure out which one of us needs to not be shamed right now?" The older pony threw back his head and laughed.
"Ha! Do you really think you have what it takes to challenge me? I don't care who's son you are, I am unbeatable!" Dusk Star disappeared into thin air and reappeared behind his fake father.
"Then prove it." He swung a hoof into the air where Day's End had been. The Alicorn was behind him now.
"I think I will." Dusk Star was caught in the back by a sharp hoof and he shot forward. Luna and Shining Armor had just gotten Cadence unlocked.
"Go! I'll hold it off. Steel Heart's in the east wing." Shining Armor's eyes bulged and he took off. Dusk Star turned to his faux sire once again. "Now that all my distractions are gone, let's try another round." They both charged, moving faster than could be seen. Shockwaves cracked back and forth around the room as the only markers for where they struck each other. After the seventh round of spontaneous attacking, Day's End slipped up. Dusk Star's hoof smashed into his chin and he smashed all the way through the wall, leaving a crumbling pile of dirt in the middle of the floor. Dusk Star settled to the floor, waiting for the doppelganger to reappear. It took him almost a full minute to realize what had happened. "Oh, come on!"
All the citizens of Canterlot saw was Day's End leaping from the earth. They couldn't have been blamed for whatever they did or said as Dusk Star leapt from the wall of the castle and smashed into their hero. Either way, everything they said seemed to grow the power of Day's End. By the time they hit the ground, Dusk Star couldn't even hold onto him anymore.
"Something wrong, son? Can't seem to keep up?" His horn sparked and a wall of force shoved Dusk Star backward into a wall. The brick crumbled and cracked beneath his body. As the thing got right up in his face, he felt something new. It was faint, but growing every second. "I'm going to enjoy picking your mind apart." Day's End reached out to place a hand on Dusk Star's forehead, but a strange force smashed into him from the side.
"Have fun trying while you're buried, sicko." As Dusk Star's eyes adjusted to the new light, he caught the colors orange and pink for a few seconds before they rushed after his father.