"I...lost...I lost...to Rainbow Dash...I lost..."

The words repeated over and over in his mind. No matter how many times he thought them, no matter how many times he reminded himself that this was what he had wanted to happen, he still couldn't believe it. He had wanted Rainbow to win, that was true, but he never dreamed she would actually outsmart him. He just assumed she'd beat him to death or something, he could handle that...but being bested mentally? That was humiliating.

Daybreak had no idea how long he'd been staring at the bleach white sky, a minute, an hour? He really didn't care. He knew eventually Rainbow would pick herself up and come over to check on him....maybe then he'd consider standing. Rainbow had dropped to the ground moments after punching him, but she was holding herself at her knees, so there was no question about who the victor was. Still, even with a victor, they'd probably be left in here until every other students duels were finished, so Daybreak had plenty of time to try and figure out what he should do next.

He went over all his options in his mind, closing his eyes to visualize the scenarios. Having lost the duel, he was allowed, by the rules of engagement, to swear loyalty to Rainbow Dash and submit himself as her servant...until she saw fit to release him, or he regained his "honor" in such a fashion that it was indisputable between either party.

"My pride has definitely been wounded from this...maybe the best option is to just accept it with some grace, for once..."

"FUCK GRACE! GET UP AND BEAT HER ASS!"

"What the...?!"

Daybreaks eyes shot open, he would have sat up straight if his body wasn't still tingling from Rainbows punch! He'd sworn he'd heard a voice yelling a moment ago. His eyes darted around in their sockets...but found nothing. Only Rainbow Dash was in the area with him, and she was still barely holding herself to one knee, clearly in no shape to be making eerie voices.

"Not there..."

The voice seemed to hiss in his ear, his eyes jumped to both sides of his head, but still were met with nothing.

"Where are you...?" The words had barely left his lips before he realized the answer.

"Here!" The voice came out with exclamation, but was as quiet as the wind across grass. Daybreaks eyes widened as a shimmering image of himself appeared inches from his face, staring at him in the exact same position that he lay now. He felt as though he were staring at a mirror, he chanced a quick glance at Dash, but the image seemed to know what he wondered.

"She can't see me, because I am you...the real you that still slumbers within your heart..."

"The...real me?...In my...heart?"

A snake-like hiss slithered through his ears as the voice seemed to reverberate off the inside of his head.

"Yes...you remember don't you? Father was oh so careful that day...the day you found your true self...and denied us"

Daybreaks eyes widened for a moment, then lowered to a glare of hate.

"Go away...You're not here, you're still trapped in the mirror. I never faced you, so you can't escape...that's the rules" He kept his voice to a mere whisper, so as not to alert Rainbow to his muttering, but even so, it was clear he was shaken. The image grew closer and closer until they were nose to nose, then smiled down at him.

"Rules are meant to be broken Daybreak. After all, I'll never truly be trapped, so long as the darkness grips at your heart..."

Daybreak raised a hand upwards, waving it quickly through the image above him, causing it to flicker and dissipate like smoke.

"My heart is not the Darkness' to take, I create my own light so I do not bask in others, and I create my own darkness to conceal my demons. You are nothing, you're not me...you'll never be me."

Though the image was gone, it's voice remained, still echoing within his head.

"I'll always be you, just as you will always be me. At your core, your center, you know your not 'good'. You've said it yourself. You're not on Celestia's side are you?"

A small chuckle escaped Daybreaks lips, he smirked mockingly at the air, as though the other him was still directly above.

"You haven't changed your tactics since you revealed yourself three years ago. You still cling to the notion that just because I don't side with my bitch of a mother, that means I wish her ill will, or would see her overthrown. You're wrong. I don't wish any of that on her, anymore than I wish to see my father done the same. I take no side in that conflict because each side is as corrupt as the other."

"Then you would fight them both if it came to that choice? You lie. You can spout your clever lies any which way you want, but that is all they are...lies. I can see into your heart, even from this distance, whole dimensions separating us. I can feel your anger, your hatred for her. If you could, you would take revenge on the woman who made your childhood a living Tartarus. Just like I can feel your strong feelings for Rainbow Dash."

His eye twitched, just a smidge, but it was enough to give him away. He struggled to remain in control of himself.

"You know nothing about my feelings, about me! I hate Celestia! You're right, I wouldn't lift a finger to help her if a rebellion started right now! She'd deserve everything that became of her, every death, every one of her people that suffered. She'd deserve to bare every one of those burdens, and it still wouldn't be enough to repay for the nightmare of a life I've had! But! You're wrong if you think I'll ever assist my father in destroying her. I don't hate him like I hate her. He's been a better parent by far. At least he took me in, eventually, and trained me, for whatever that's worth. But I know what he wants for the world, and I won't help bring about that. Just like I would not have assisted Nightmare Moon if I had been there for that fateful night. Her rule would have been no better than my father or Celestia. Every Princess and lord and spirit in this land I've met to this day, is not fit to rule.

If tomorrow, a rebellion started, rallied by a leader who was the living incarnation of the values that I see are needed for lordship of Equestria, I would not flock to his cause. Because, there is no one out there who is fit to rule, no one who would take the time to examine every, single, little, problem that this land has on a daily basis and attempt to find a solution. My mother may see anyone who comes to her with a problem, she may hear them, she may express concerns for their plights, and she may even offer a small comfort to them. But it is almost never, that their problem is completely solved, unless they know her personally or hold some importance in her life. I've seen the suffering of Canterlots slums, the back alley streets were little girls and boys are raped, beaten and murdered day and night! Sometimes just because they have money, or sometimes because they are in the wrong place at the wrong time. If I could, I'd take in every single orphan I found on the streets. Every runaway looking for a better life, every bastard tossed out by a hateful mother or father...every one of them! I'd save them all...But I can't. I don't have the power to save them all. So I've detached myself from anything that happens to this world. I live alone, I keep to myself, and I continue learning every day, from everything and everyone. I learn as much as I can and move on, and I do it for one reason. So that one day I might have the power that I don't have now!"

He stopped, and took a large breathe. He looked to his left expecting to see Rainbow staring at him, there was no way she hadn't heard him yelling at the air, probably looking mad as a hatter. But to his surprise, she was not there. Whipping his head around, he searched his surroundings for her rainbow head...but saw only empty whiteness. His mind baffled, he sat up, only to realize how weak and wobbly he still felt from her punch. Again he looked around, straining his eyes through the spots he saw in them, to find her somewhere out in the white...but saw nothing but emptiness. He felt a ping of anger stab at his mind

"Where is Rainbow Dash!? What did you do?!"

He yelled to the air, demanding, but at the same time, begging, for an answer. It came as a huge relief when the voice of his mirror self spoke once again.

"Calm yourself, I did nothing to her. I did do something to you though."

"W-what?" His voice shook, fearful at the possibility that his other half might actually be able to affect him, even after being separated by two dimensions. He heard a snicker echo through the abyss

"You reek of fear, you still fear me, you still fear yourself. Your promises of justice to the weak are marred in disbelief and doubt. You've gone so long without true interaction with others, that you've grown to despise other weaknesses, your pride is proof enough of that. You think everyone is beneath you, and you are right!"

The phantom image of his other self appeared in front of him once more, this time standing, as he now found himself doing. He couldn't remember how he had stood up though, or when. The mirror Daybreak came nose to nose with him again.

"They are weak! All of them. Weak compared to you. That's why you no longer go out of your way to save every little child you see cowering from bullies on the streets, or begging for food, as you did when you first left fathers home all those years ago. Trying to save everyone you met, trying to make everyone's lives better, so they could have a better childhood than you did, or so they would suffer less than you did. And how did that turn out!? Nearly all of them, ungrateful for your help, or demanding more than you gave, begging you to share your power with them. Betraying your small bits of trust, stabbing you in the back, attempting to take what they wanted from you after you offered them your help! You know, deep in your heart, the real reason you gave up and decided to drift from college to college learning all the schools knowledge, then wiping your existence from their memory. You despise them all, you hate them all. You hate them because they are all the same, all of them!"

"No...not all of them...some are different."

His mirror form snorted, cackling wildly as though he'd been told the punch line of the century!

"You're referring to Rainbow Dash I presume? Tell me Daybreak...you remember what happened with Twilight yes? You thought she was different too. You shared your power with her to save her life, and how did she repay you? Becoming obsessive with that power, drunk on it even, refusing to give up the necklace providing it, and confessing false feelings to you in a pathetically desperate attempt to make you hers, so she could keep that power. It was like a drug to her, your aura. And it will be the same with Rainbow Dash!"

"You're wrong! She's not like that, she's different, she's better! She's unlike anyone I've ever met before!"

His mirror self blew a raspberry at him mockingly, while rolling his eyes in an exaggerative manner. It was odd to see himself make such a face. It reminded him of a doll with the wrong head attached to it, everything about it just looked wrong.

"You meet someone like her everyday when you look in the mirror. It's the reason you like her so much. You're just too blind to see it! What? You think it's trust, respect, friendship...love you feel? It's none of those things, she acts like you, has as much pride as you do, she's strong and powerful with magic. She's the 'element of loyalty'...she's what you want everyone to be like, and you're mistaking that for love, the thing you claim not to believe in. Just like a stupid child. You've never been with a woman before, never kissed, you never tried to experience life as it should be lived. You chose instead, to close yourself to emotions and because of that, these new experiences she's bringing you seem like an oasis in the middle of a barren desert. She's just a girl! She's not some demi god like you, she's flawed just like the rest. She will betray you, she will hurt you, and she will destroy what remains of your precious hope for humans when it happens. And guess what Daybreak, I'll be waiting. At fathers, behind the locked room. When you finally realize I was right the whole time, I'll be waiting for your visit."

He didn't know what made him do it, perhaps spite, perhaps pride, perhaps out of sheer stupidity, but it regardless of why...it happened anyways. Daybreak pulled back his fist, a with speed that would have made Rainbow Dash proud, thrust his fist forward , under hand punching his other self straight in the gut, and watched him double over in pain. Then he took a step back, and spit at his mirror forms feet.

"That's what I think of Fathers locked door, and you! I'll never go back there, and I'll never let you out again. Go burn in Tartarus where you belong!"

Suddenly he was on his back, and the abyss around him turned from starch white, to midnight black. Then it changed to blood red, as his other self ignited in an fiery rage. Yellow and red flames shot up his shimmering body, he let out a shriek that pained Daybreaks ears more than a banshee's scream! His other form appeared above him, smiling down at him with sharp canine's that glistened against his flaming form.

"If you won't hear the truth, then I'll show you! Lets take a trip shall we, back out to your duel, and I'll give you a taste of what you're truly like. A demonstration you could say. A demonstration starring your new favorite athlete...Rainbow Dash."

"If you touch her-!"

"But I'm not going to do anything...you are!" before Daybreak could protest, the flaming image of his mirror self floated forward, and phased into his body!

Daybreaks eyes shot open and he let out a huge gasp for breathe! He looked around, he was still on his back, and Rainbow Dash was again kneeled over and breathing heavily. For a moment, he was baffled...he couldn't understand how she hadn't recovered yet after all the time he'd been gone. Then it hit him. He hadn't ever left, he'd merely been inside his own mind...arguing with his other half who had leapt across not one, but two dimensions to track him down. Even whilst trapped inside the mirror he could still reach out and effect him. What had he done just then...as he passed through his body like a spirit?

For a long moment nothing happened, Daybreak thought he had truly just meant to frighten him with his threats. Then his throat seized up, and he began hacking as though he were gagging on his tongue!

He flailed his arms and desperately attempted to draw breathe, but found no air could reach his lungs, it all just seemed to stop halfway down his throat! Rainbow turned and saw him spasming, she was on her feet seconds later, half-sprinting over to him. When she reached him, she immediately flipped him onto his belly, hoping to clear his windpipe. She gave him a large smack on his back, directly over his lungs, and Daybreak felt the trapped air come bursting forth in the form of blood from his lips! He threw up onto the ground of the white abyss, which instantly soaked the warm mess into its cold clutches!

He clawed at his throat as he once again attempted to bring air into his lungs, but found he was still unable to inhale fully. As he attempted to rip off the neck of his shirt to help his air intake, he noticed a change in his finger nails whilst they ripped at his clothing. They were growing right before his eyes. Growing in length and sharpness! His shirt suddenly became torn fabric beneath his swipes, and as he lashed out in his violent thralls to find air, he accidentally slashed across Rainbows burnt hand, slicing it cleanly open across her palm. Luckily for her, it did not bleed much, but she did pull back in surprise, and that allowed Daybreak to break free from her grasp and roll away several feet...before he let out the most terrifying and ear splitting screech, she had ever heard in her life.

His shriek was unlike any creature she could ever remember or imagine! The very sound of it sent cold shivers of sweat down her back. She watched on in both terror and awe as Daybreak stood up, and black flames burst forth from beneath the abyss, surrounding his body in a shadowy lair of fire. The flames formed like a cloak around him while the very fabric of the abyss seemed to rise up from the floor to encircle his palms. White nothingness circled like magical mist around his hands as he admired his features, extended his arms and glancing over his chest. His overall body structure seemed to have shifted, and with his shirt torn to shreds it was all to obvious. His chest looked like it had grown black scales made of fire giving the impression of body armor, and caused him look more muscular than before. His eyes now shined a bright, blazing blue, and shrunk down to slits like a snake. He looked up and smiled at Rainbow Dash, showing his sharpened canines and sending a shiver of fear down her spine as he spoke.

"Now then...time for round two?"

Author's Notes:

Only recently realized I need to do some editing with the character tags on my fic...anyways, short chapter this time and a bit more (sort of) backstory on Daybreaks life. Hope you enjoyed reading it, cause I enjoyed writing it.
Next chapter is of great importance, so watch out for it.

(By the way for any who have been counting so far, Twilight is not one of the girls whose supposed to "change his life" cause he already knew her previously. Just thought I'd clear that up for ya so you don't you've already figured it out)