Chapter 6: Dusk to Nightfall, Part 2
“Okay, maybe Dusk was on to something with these stones.” Leon said as I walked around the room, pacing back and forth while worrying about Dusk. “Did you see how they all turned black?”
“Ee-yep!” Dog told him. “But now that they changed, do we still give them to the girls?”
“Man, I wish Dusk was here.” what Leon said made me stop pacing.
“Well, he’s not here, is he?” I told him and Dog, now just angry that he brought that up. “He’s still out there, dealing with what Discord did to him! Until he gets back, we’re on our own, got that?”
“Whoa! Take it easy, Shield!” Spike told me. “Geez, are you guys always like this without Dusk?”
“What y’all expect?” Dog told him, pointing out the obvious. “Dusk’s our leader. He’s always known what to do at times like this.”
“Yeah. Even I have to admit that I feel pretty lost without him.” Leon added.
I sighed, knowing that I was much the same as those two. “Yeah, same here. Dusk should have been back by now. Really hope he got himself together.”
“You and me both.” Spike told me. “I just really hope Twilight and the others are doing better than we are.”
Though I didn’t admit it, I was hoping that too. Right now, I was wishing Dash would get here soon.
Twilight’s view
As Discord laughed with thunder booming all around him, I was still staring in horror as the draconequus rolled on the floor while clutching his sides. I was still trying to comprehend the fact that we had failed, that Discord was going to reign chaos across Equestria because we couldn't stop him. I was still trying to understand that we had failed our home, our families… Dusk… when an angry Pinkie spoke up.
“And what are you laughing at?” she demanded from Discord.
He paused to wipe a tear from his eye, still smiling away. “Ho! You ponies are just the most fun I’ve had in eons.”
“Well, quit it!” she ordered. “You’d better think before you laugh at the Pink…ie Pie!”
“Oh, yeah? Well, ha, ha.” Fluttershy laughed cruelly, further aggravating Pinkie.
"Quit it!”
“No. Ha, ha.”
“Quit it!”
“No. Ha, ha-ha, ha, ha.”
This was the worst part as I watched my friends began to squabble among themselves. Fluttershy continuing to aggravate Pinkie and Rarity fending off Applejack when she tried to take her “diamond”. Thanks to what Discord has done to them in this maze, Applejack had taken to lying, Fluttershy was behaving cruelly, Pinkie had become a cynic, and Rarity convinced that a huge boulder was a diamond.
Now I was really regretting leaving Dusk behind in Ponyville. Seeing how he resisted Discord like that, not only would have Dusk been able to help the girls snap out of it, he would have stuck by my side to find the Elements and stop our foe. Right now, I really wished he was here as I tried to calm my friends down.
“Girls, stop fighting! We need to stick together.” They ignored me and continued to fight and I felt that sense of hopelessness once more.
“It’s just too entertaining.” Discord had conjured up a row of seats and was laid back on them, eating popcorn from a tub.
Approaching where he sat, I glared at him angrily. “Stop it, Discord! You’re not playing fair!”
“I’m not playing fair? Perhaps we haven’t met.” He stood up and held out his lion's paw like they were just getting acquainted. “I’m Discord, spirit of chaos and disharmony. Hello?”
“How are we supposed to find the Elements of Harmony when you took away the labyrinth before we could get to the end?” I demanded.
“Oh, wait, did you…?” He paused to laugh once more, as if I had said some kind of joke. “How funny! You thought the Elements were in the labyrinth?”
He snapped his fingers and transported me back to the Royal Canterlot Tower, when he had set us off on this whole wild goose chase. I heard again the riddle he recited and, once again, I wondered at the last verse. What was it we needed to stop Discord completely along with the Elements of Harmony? Something that is supposed be more even if Dusk and the others helped us? Was it some other kind of artifact we had missed? What were we meant to be looking for?
Before I could ponder this further, Discord transported them back, a self-satisfied smile on his twisted features.
“I never said they were in the labyrinth," he pointed out.
“But… but…” He cut me off and started to walk away.
“Keep trying, Twilight Sparkle. Maybe the magic of friendship can help you.” he added mockingly. “Or maybe your number one pony assistant. Hm?”
Anger flared inside me at the mention of Dusk. “If you’ve done anything else to him, I swear you’ll regret it!”
“Temper, temper, Miss Sparkle.” he tutted, wagging his finger. “You should be careful or it’ll get you into trouble. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some chaos to wreak.”
He snapped his fingers and vanished from sight, clouds of cotton candy darkening the sky above our heads and raining down chocolate upon us. I could feel it dripping over my mane and fur, as if it was some kind of cruel reminder that we had failed thus far and this was our punishment for it.
“Chocolate milk? I hate chocolate milk!”
I groaned at this and began to think about the riddle again, repeating the last line and rapping my skull with my hoof as if constant repetition and emphasis would make the answer more clear. “Back where you began”… “Back where you began”, that was the crucial part. But began where? Were they back at Canterlot tower again?
Dusk would be good at this with his imaginative thinking and sharp mind, like my own. Together, the two of us could have figured this out and thwart Discord, which would show him. I remembered when I’d been trying to figure out a different riddle and Dusk had helped me with it. He made it look so much easier…
“Something wrong, Twi?” Dusk asked as he walked by my desk.
“Nothing big.” I replied with a sigh. “It’s this riddle Applejack posed for me. I’m having trouble getting my head around it.”
Dusk examined it as I levitated it to him. “Hm, interesting. ‘Trapped in a tower with no door and no windows, with only an apple and a knife, how do you escape the tower using only what you have?”
“I’ve tried everything I can think of, but nothing I come up with seems to fit. Any ideas?” I asked.
Dusk stared at it for a few minutes. I could tell his mind was working furiously as he frowned at it thoughtfully. I couldn’t help but blush at the thought that I liked it when he did that. It reminded me of why I admired Dusk and respected his intelligence. He snapped me out of these thoughts when he suddenly smiled and levitated it back to me.
“Got it.” He simply said. “I have to say, that’s a good one.”
“What?” I found myself staring in disbelief. “I've spent about an hour trying to figure that out!”
“You're thinking about it too hard. Don’t try and look at it literally. You just need to think about the answer that'll make it whole.” Dusk advised, winking as he said the last word.
“What does that…” I thought about what he was getting at and smiled myself. “Oh, I see… Cut the apple in half, two halves make a whole and you just climb through the hole!”
“Exactly!”
“There's that creative thinking coming through again.” I remarked, eliciting a blush from Dusk.
“Well… you know how I think.” He mumbled, scraping the ground with his claw.
“How do you think about it so easily?” I asked admirably.
“I just do.” He shrugged. “A riddle can have more than one way than looking at it and most times the simplest answer isn’t the right one, a little bit like life. But you can always find the right one…with a little imagination.”
“Very profound.” she commented with a smile.
“I suppose.” I agreed modestly, returning the smile and setting back to work…
Once again, I wished Dusk was here. He’d be able to figure this out with some imagination and some creative thinking. Not that I couldn’t manage that either, but he just seemed so much more free in his thoughts and ideas… I liked that about him too.
But I shook my head and told myself to focus. This longing for Dusk wasn’t helping me come up with a solution nor was my friends’ bickering which was starting to grate on my nerves and patience.
“Ugh! I just want to go home… with you, Dusk…” In that instant, the solution came to me, almost like Dusk himself had inspired it. “Wait a minute… home! ‘Back where you began’! The Elements must be in Ponyville!” I turned around only to discover my friends were still fighting. “Hey, cut it out!” With that order, I used my magic to break them up and dump them on the ground.
“Hey, I was having fun.” Fluttershy snapped, glaring at her.
“Well, stop.” she retorted. “I’ve figured it out. The Elements are in Ponyville! We need to get back right now!”
“I knew that! I, uh… was just waitin’ to see if ya would.” Applejack informed falsely.
“Took you long enough.” Fluttershy added. “Not as smart as you think, are you?”
“I hate Ponyville!” Pinkie shrieked.
“Finally! Now I can get this big hunk of a diamond home.” Rarity crooned to her boulder, grabbing it possessively.
“Let's just go.” I groaned.
Leading the way out of the dirt crater that had once been the Canterlot Labyrinth, I knew we wouldn’t be able to get back on the train as Discord would have seen to that. Perhaps it would be an inflatable or something like that. So we took the path down from the mountains and across the meadows to where Ponyville was, our pace slowed somewhat due to the reluctance of the others and Rarity carrying her boulder.
As we trotted on the path, I paused as we neared the Everfree Forest, seeing the menacing trees with their wicked branches reaching out like clawed hands and felt that pang of longing again. I had seen Dusk in there, at the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters. What exactly he was doing there, I didn’t know, but I knew that I didn’t want him to be alone in that place. I needed to know if Dusk was okay, if I could help him in any way…
“Hold on, girls.” I said to them, heading towards the trees. “There’s somewhere else we gotta go first.”
“Great! ʹCause I really wanted to go to the Everfree Forest.” I heard Applejack say.
“But we need to go in there!” I said urgently.
“No! What I need to do is get my diamond home!” Rarity countered, shivering under the weight of her boulder.
“Look, are you coming with me or not?” I asked, beginning to lose my patience.
“No!” they all said in unison.
“Ugh, fine! Wait here! I won’t be long.” I told them and turned away.
A little afraid I would be alone, but secretly grateful I’d be able to get away from their negative attitudes, I set off towards the trees. Thinking about how negatively my friends were acting, I was now worrying what this… Black Blood was doing to Dusk. I prayed to Celestia that it wasn’t anything bad. I’m just hoping that it wasn’t making him think he wants to be alone, that he haves no real friends. I wouldn’t think to stand the sight of Dusk acting like that… He wasn’t like that anymore…
I headed to the path that Princess Celestia had shown me that was a safer route to the ruin. Taking elation that I would hopefully find my friend safe and well, especially after what Discord had done to him, I quickened my step and entered the trees, only vaguely noting Rarity’s labored grunts far and the others squabbling behind me.
Dusk’s view
After getting consumed by the Black Blood, what I found myself in wasn’t a surprise. I was all alone in a pitch-black void, one that had a cold and ominous atmosphere. Ever since I’d set mine down on the harsh, cold earth, I had been plagued by images and sounds that were played over and over again in my mind, those cruel visions that Discord showed me. Hearing the dismissive and annoyed tones of the girls as they talked about me…
“After today, no more Dusk…”
“You'd have thought he'd have gotten the message earlier that we don’t want him around…”
“Even I don't like him and I like everypony…”
“Honestly, I never thought we'd be able to ditch him…”
Do you think, when we get to Canterlot, we can ask Princess Celestia to make him go away…”
“That's just silly! Absolute nonsense!”
I tried clutching my ears and screwing my eyes shut to silence it, but if anything it just made it worse than it was before. It was like some tormenting reel of film that I was being forced to watch, something trying to make me think I was nothing, but a useless and pathetic stallion.
“ENOUGH!” I snapped, causing the area to be filled with silence.
Cautiously, I opened my eyes and took my claws away from my ears. At first, it seemed like I had reawakened in the cave I took refuge in. but I could tell, just instinctively, I was somewhere different, though it looked the same. The main indicator was that my hat was missing from my head, giving a sense of emptiness without it like my necklace, both objects of tender memories. I also noted Ophelia was absent, which made me feel even more alone.
However, it was when I turned around and saw that—instead of the cave wall at the back of the cave—there was a passage that had appeared, leading down into the rocky depths of the earth. That definitely hadn’t been there before and that little feeling was telling me I should venture down there to find something. At first, I wanted to ignore it, to remain up here where the sun was streaming in behind me, but… I knew I didn’t have a choice. I had to go down there.
So, with a large gulp and a few deep breaths, I conjured up a ball of light that would give me some visibility down there and I set slowly off, my hoofsteps echoing and resounding off of the rocky walls. The jagged rocks seemed to bear down on me like the sharp teeth of an animal and, where the light couldn’t illuminate, I had the feeling that something was watching me the dark. Trying to ignore that feeling, I pressed on, alert and ready.
As I ventured down, I noticed that the tunnel took many twists, turns, and bends throughout, enough that it would be easy to get lost. Bearing this in mind, I scraped arrows into the dirt at my claws, hoping I’d be able to find my way back… Was it my imagination or had I just heard a cold laughter, distant and echoing from the deeper recesses of the cave? I shook my head, knowing my fear was getting the better of me.
“Darkness is merely the absence of light. Shadows are nothing but an effect of the light.” I said to myself, trying to keep calm. “There’s nothing to fear in the dark, as there is nothing to fear from a shadow, for neither can harm us.”
“It is what waits in the shadows and the darkness that can harm us.” I felt a shiver up my spine at the sound of the echoing, cold voice, his laughter following minutes later.
Now I had a good idea of what was waiting for me down here in the depths of the darkness, what I would have to face when I reached the journey’s end. While I found it easy to ignore him, now he was here, prepared to fight and ready to end me so he might take over. Well, despite my usual views on violence, I wasn’t going to go down without a fight as I knew there wasn’t going to be any negotiation in this meeting of minds. If I couldn’t stop the corruption here, then I would try to delay what I would become to give my friends a fighting chance.
I was getting a strong sense of déjà vu as I took the path deeper down into the omnipresent darkness. It was like when I had traveled with the guys and the girls down into the Paraserpent’s lair to rescue Twilight from its clutches. Except, this time, I was alone, no friends here to help me and I got the feeling that it would be me in need of rescuing rather than Twilight. Whatever was down here would be far worse than the Paraserpent.
The shadows appeared to press down more on me the deeper I traveled, my light becoming less effective from the oppressive darkness…or was I just imagining it? Was that along with the dark shape I thought I sometimes saw, moving in the shadows at times? I thought I could see a flash of white, a hint of violet in the dark that just as quickly vanished, along with the cold laughter that came with it. My heart beating against my chest, I tried my best to tell myself that it was just my eyes playing tricks, just my mind plagued by the fear created by the Black Blood that was making my legs shake.
After what seemed to be an age, I emerged from the tunnels into a larger area. I sent my light up and increased the brightness to illuminate his surroundings. It was a huge cavern with a high ceiling and steep walls of rock, parts of it cloaked in shadows that seemed to follow me everywhere in here. At the center was a pit, large enough for somepony to fall in and appearing to have no end. I made a mental note not to fall in there and cast my gaze around the rest of the cavern. It looked like there was nothing here, but I could feel it: an unseen presence that had been watching me since I came down here.
“I know you’re here.” I called out to the darkness. “Show yourself!”
I sensed movement behind me and rounded slowly as the pony that stepped down of the darkness to meet a dark version of my elemental form, detaching from the shadows. His body was as black as a starless night with a spikeless tail, his wild and long mane as white as the bones of the dead. Upon his forehead was his curved horn with a plume in a shape similar to an almond eye at the top. Those horrible purple eyes were like my normal green, dragon-like, elemental eyes, but they held no warmth like the wicked smile filled with fangs that played on his lips. Despite this, I could still see the pain I had to endure in his eyes, the rage and hate that would never end.
My darker self, in the flesh at last.
“Finally… you’re here.” my darker self said in that chilling voice.
“I am.” I affirmed simply, controlling the fear I felt. “So I’m guessing you represent the Black Blood coursing through me, huh?”
“That is correct.” he replied with an empty smile. “You know what will happen and why?”
I nodded. Deep down, I knew this was coming. “I suppose that this won’t be resolved peacefully between us?”
“Not unless you wish to surrender and let me take over without a fight.”
“Never.” I growled, trying to be brave. “I won’t become like you. You’re not really me, you’re just something formed from Black Blood Madness, the illness that so many people experienced from exposure to Black Blood. You’re nothing more than the monster it’s trying to turn me into.”
“I suppose I am… Even so, it is so much better to embrace one’s true nature, wouldn’t you say, Dusk?”
“Not if that nature is that which would destroy it.” I countered. “I’m not somepony you can just claim as useless. I might have flaws, but I’m still capable of love and compassion, unlike you.”
“Such things are burdens that I do well without.” he replied coldly, though I noticed with a hint of regret.
“They’re not burdens, they help to make life better. You…” I pointed at my other self, glaring at him. “You can only hate and rage. You’re nothing but a black hole of despair, sucking in and bringing doom to all those who get too close.”
“Huh. A black hole of doom…” My darker self appeared thoughtful and smiled with a warped self-satisfaction. “Yes, that fits rather well. I was wondering what my title would be once I get out of here.”
“What title?”
“The one I’ll have as a Kishin, of course. While you don’t desire it, I plan on becoming one of the strongest Kishins in Equis. The Blackhole of Doom, it’s perfect! That is the title that everyone will know and fear at the utter mention of my name! When I am done, there will be no one left to even remember you or even know your ties to me.”
“So you already have a name for yourself.”
“Of course. I don’t want to be labeled with your pathetic excuse of a name.”
“My name is one of the things I’m proud of.” I shouted back. “I would be happy to keep my name and all I am rather to succumb to the darkness and pain that you offer.”
My darker self chuckled. “Well, that’s just how it is. If you’re trying to make a last stand or something, you’re in the wrong place. This is a place of darkness. You can’t contain darkness. It’s a force of nature… like me.”
“Force of nature? You’re a force of something, alright.”
“Always got jokes, huh? Do you not realize how powerful I am?”
“I know how dangerous you are. And, as a Fire Dragon, I cannot allow something like you to come into Equestria.”
“Ah, yes. The duty of the Fire Dragons. Equestria’s greatest protector. That’s practically what keeps you going, keep on fighting till the end. Well, what I got to keep me going is not some nonsense like that. It’s the one thing you never admit being what really got you where you are.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Don’t you know? What really keeps you going is your own instinct to fight. Every Fire Dragon haves it. The instinct to fight the strongest opponents they can find. You know it’s true. Don’t you remember the rush you felt while fighting strong fighters? The grin you flashed at them to show how much you enjoyed it?”
“I do, but I didn’t and never will act like that with every opponent I go against.” I countered. “Sure, I do feel a bit proud of myself for taking down a villain or two, but my real enjoyment in a good fight only comes from having it with friends close to me. Not only do I get to see how strong they’ve become, but I can help them to improve even further. And I liked doing it because I know they are great ponies who would only use their strength for the good of the world. And I already know what you’re gonna say. You’re gonna say that, unlike me, you would show enjoyment with whoever you fight. Whether they are good or bad. Am I wrong?”
“Nope. You’re spot on. And, as such, I will be searching for the opponents I want and crush anyone who dares get in my way.” he then gave me his cruel travesty of a smile. “You and I, I come to think of us as brothers.”
“Brothers?”
“Yes. Like brothers, we have different goals for what we want. I say we fit nicely together. You, a shining light of hope; me, the great shadow of despair. Once I get out of here, I’m going to kill the light of this land and put everyone in my shadow. That way, everypony in Equestria will learn how it feels to live in the world we truly live in: a world without hope. A world without mercy. A world without you… without El Dragon. And then all will see me for who I truly am.”
“And… who are you?”
“Still haven’t figured it out? You are the symbol of peace and justice, beloved by all. As such, I’ll become the force of chaos and destruction, who all will hate and despise. And who’s power they will all fear! You said it yourself, you’re a devil. And, in every devil, beats the heart of a demon. That’s what I am: the demon who you tried to hide, the one you reject as part of you. I am… Diablo Nightfall!” There was a moment of silence between us as I could feel the aura of fury around him and fill the area. After that, he then spoke to me again. “Now, my brother, we waste our time with words when we could settle this with action. With the weapons we possess to see which is truly superior: the light or the darkness.”
“Words are what win wars, not weapons.” I retorted as we began to circle each other, our eyes never leaving as hazel locked with violet.
“Words are the weapons of weaklings like you.” He stretched out his claw. “I ask you one last time: let me take over, let me become you. I could give you so much power, so much strength, if you would but let me.”
“I desire neither power nor strength, especially that of Black Blood. Power corrupts and strength can fail.”
“You’re half right, for it is your strength that will fail.”
“I’d be happy knowing I spent it trying to stop you.”
“Then you are nothing but a fool, a weak coward, and pathetic child.”
“That’s not how I see it.” We were both tensed, ready for the first move, to strike first. “I only desire that you should never set hoof in Equestria.”
“You would accept that when you could have so much more?”
“I would rather be a scholar dissatisfied than a pig satisfied.”
“As you wish." He smiled once more and then suddenly he pounced.
I reacted at this, ducking underneath the attack, but felt a sharp pain as Diablo aimed and landed a kick on the back of my head. I whipped around, knowing that my opponent would strike me in the back if I was given the chance, but I had gone. Melted into the shadows that surrounded me.
Trying my best to cast my light around as wide an area as possible, my eyes darted from every shadow, watched every movement that could be my dark foe. Diablo had the shadows as his allies, but I had the light to banish them. I could at least say that I tried my best. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted movement and whipped around, just as Blackhole bought his hoof down on my head.
Or he would have done if I hadn’t blocked it and countered with a punch to the gut. My doppelganger grunted from the strike as he sent another to my head, but Diablo blocked it impossibly fast and sent another blow to my own gut, making me double over in pain, followed by a kick to the head that made me skid across the jagged floor.
Despite my aching head, twinging from the pain, I ran to catch up with him as he tried to retreat into the shadows again and jumped on me, sending some punches to the back of his head. I thought I’d be able to keep him pinned, but I soon discovered Diablo was stronger than I was. Diablo then rolled over so he had me pinned, smacking me hard with his claws, blurring my vision and filling my mouth with the salty taste of blood. Grabbing me by the neck, Diablo flung me across the cave and I crashed into the cave wall, the pain filling every inch of me.
I tried to bring myself to my hooves claws while at the same doing my best to maintain my light orb, which was starting to flicker from my waning strength. While I had shown I could hold my own in a fight, as much as I didn’t like fighting, I wasn’t used to this kind of intense combat to such an extent, certainly not against a foe who was essentially myself who was with nothing holding him back and no moral code. I had barely recovered when another blow was sent to my skull and sent me to the floor.
I could see Diablo in the blurred vision I had to get used to. I tried to swing my claw at him, going for a nerve I knew would paralyze him, but Diablo blocked it, slapping it away and returning with one in kind. I barely had the chance to try again when I felt Diablo’s fist slam into my back, making me scream and convulse. With a strong, black claw around my neck, tightening my throat and restricting air, Diablo held me in place. His face was contorted with rage, sending punch after punch at me until he tossed me aside like yesterday’s garbage, additional pain coming from the rocky ground.
My usually sharp mind having trouble focusing, I noticed a pattern to his fighting after what seemed like hours of this brutal treatment. Every time I was knocked to the floor, Diablo gave me the opportunity to recover myself before engaging me in combat again. Then he would back off once more and let me recover, then wash, rinse, repeat. He knew he was stronger than I was, so why was he doing this. Then I realized it.
He was toying with me. He was letting me get up, just so he could smack me down again. Well, I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction that easily. I could hear the sound of his hooves approaching again, when I—with what little was left of my strength—sent a punch that landed on his face. I saw Diablo flinch and cry out, reeling back away from me. At first, I tried to press my advantage, staggering to him and trying to send another one but Blackhole grabbed it and sent a paralyzing pain up my leg, making me fall again. Grunting, tears falling, I saw his face, a vision of rage and anger.
“That… hurt.” he growled down at me.
“I… know.” I coughed, reeling from the burning in my limbs. “I’ll try… better next time…”
“As will I!” Diablo screamed and punched me again. “You see now how weak you are?” SMACK! “You flinch at pain, I revel in it.” CRASH! “You suppress anger, I let it flow through me.” CRASH! “You cower in darkness, I embrace it.” WHACK! “You hide from your rage, but… I AM RAGE!”
Though I was at my limit, I tried to pick myself before Diablo smacked me back down with his tail.
“Stay down, Dusk.” He told me. “You’ve lost.” I tried to get back up, but collapsed with my strength now gone. “I’m done with this game.” The front of the plume on his horn began to glow as red as blood, the outlines within it revealing to make it look like a widened eye with a shrunk pupil. I felt a stab of fear when I saw black tentacles coming out of the pit before they rushed over and grabbed me, dragging me past Diablo and towards the pit.
“No… No, not there!” I tried to grip the ground and break free, but my strength was completely gone. My light flickered once more and died, plunged me into darkness, except for the glow of Diablo’s magic.
“You’ve had your fun, brother. Now it’s my turn." He suspended me above the pit, like the jaws of an animal about to consume. “I am thou… Thou art I. Let the light begin to fade and allow the darkness to grow. A hero’s brave heart now blackened by evil. Now let the demon arise and chaos reign!” With the tentacles now hold me over the pit, I saw that evil smile flash at me again. “Goodbye, Dusk Noir.”
The plume stopped glowing, I felt my stomach rush as the tentacles instantly pulled me down. All I could see was Diablo grinning down at me as I was pulled away. Pulled into the never-ending darkness, unable to stop, screaming at the dark at my loss… Endlessly falling into the depths of darkness.
No one’s view
Back within the cave, the black blob that consumed Dusk had suddenly jerked and began to shake, its surface rippling erratically. A short moment after it did, parts of it began to stick out, five portions being stretch out from it with two in front and three in the back. A minute of this stretching, the tips of three portions began to change and took shape with one in the back forming a reptilian tail and the two in front forming what looking like clawed hands.
After this occurs, the front portions slammed on ground, the hands they formed lying flat with the back portions doing the same. With the tail wagging around and the portions bending, the blob was lifted off the ground where it began to change shape. With the upper portions becoming built with muscle, a majority of the blob molded itself to where it now resembled a muscular pony stallion torso, the four parts supporting it revealed to be arms and legs.
The remaining part of the blob then began to mold itself, adding a bald pony head to the torso. Then, as hair spouted on it to form a long and wild mane, a horn spout out in a curve from the head’s forehead. While a plume formed at the tip, edges resembling that of closed eyes, a set of nostrils, and the curve of a mouth slowly formed on the head.
After the blob has fully taken on the appearance of a unicorn stallion, small areas on the back of the torso grow out before sprouting a large set of demonic dragon wings.
From this, the mouth on the stallion then curves to form a grin of one who suffered from insanity. With the front of the plume glowing purple and revealing it to resemble a wide eye with a shrunken pupil, the eyes of the stallion open as well to reveal them glowing purple as well.
The stallion gave off a demonic purr as I looked forward with a malicious grin.