//------------------------------// // Prologue // Story: Desires // by Skylight77 //------------------------------// "Fluttershy! I'm so sorry I... Aarrggghhhh!!!" "Rainbow Dash, what's wrong?!" There was a loud screeching noise as Rainbow Dash’s body was being enveloped by a mysterious purple aura that was starting to emit. A very concerned Fluttershy, recovering from her impact earlier, tried to step forward to help. "Don't come closer! Aaaahhh!!!" Rainbow Dash shouted through the pain. Fluttershy stopped in her tracks; she could barely watch what was going on. She didn't know if Rainbow Dash knew what was going on. All she knew was they were not in safe conditions. Taking a look at their surroundings, they looked like they were in the basement of a factory, its purpose, unknown. A lot of discarded boxes piled up against the walls. Everything else was practically trash. If they didn't know better, they were in a junk yard, but inside a building. There were all sorts of machines around that they couldn't recognize. They look rusted, and broken. Everything else was charred. It was dark, dusty, and the walls were rough. It was as if they were in an abandoned and forgotten laboratory. The only thing that was illuminating the area at the moment was the bright purple aura that was emitting from Rainbow Dash's body. Fluttershy could only sit there, watching in horror of the kind of pain her friend was experiencing; tears were escaping her eyes wishing that it would stop. Rainbow Dash was bent down on the ground. If she wasn't gritting her teeth, she was yelling from the pain she was enduring. Fluttershy tried to help, but Rainbow Dash insisted on staying back until it was over. And sure enough, it did end, but not instantly. The purple aura slowly, but surely faded, along with the cries of pain, leaving behind a heavily injured pegasus. Rainbow Dash was lying on her stomach, gasping for air and coughing. She was covered in many scratches and bruises that covered her body. Her wings looked dispositioned and stretched, like somepony had tried to tear them off. But where Rainbow was hurting the most was on her stomach. It was hard for her to breathe and coughing didn't help. "Rainbow Dash, w-what happened to you?" Fluttershy stuttered her voice, slowly walking up to Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy was also in a lot of pain, but not in nearly the same condition. She shared the same minor injuries as her pegasus counterpart, scratches and bruises that surrounded her body, but while her wings and stomach weren't in majorly bad conditions, the most noticeable injury was on her left cheek. She had a scar on her cheek that spread slightly wide, but quite long, lined diagonally across her face. It was a scar that Rainbow Dash felt a burning rage at the sight of, even if Fluttershy was okay compared to herself. Silence filled the room after the aura vanished. Only the sound of slow and steady breathing, coming from Rainbow, could be heard. As Fluttershy got up to Rainbow Dash, she helped her onto her hooves. “What was that?” Fluttershy asked. “I-I don’t know…” Rainbow exclaimed between breaths, it was difficult for her to breathe. “But whatever that was, it just saved us… for now.” At this point, Rainbow Dash was now sitting up again, clutching both her hooves on her painful stomach. "What… do you mean?" Fluttershy asked worrying. “You didn’t look like...-“ she pointed to Rainbow Dash’s pained body with her hoof “-this… a few minutes ago.” "I told you Fluttershy, I’m fine," Rainbow said as she tried to continue walking. "Nnnnrrggh… if we don't get outta here-" she was cut off when Fluttershy interjected by walking in front of her, placing her hooves to stop Rainbow Dash. "But you’re not fine, look at yourself," Fluttershy cried. “If you keep this up… you’ll…” Just then, Rainbow’s ears perked up. Her ears picked up a sound that came somewhere ahead of her. . Fluttershy had a look on her face that looked as if she had heard it too. She slowly turned her head around to look. They had forgotten that there was someone else with them. Fluttershy let go of Rainbow Dash as she turned around. They both slowly walked over to the source of the sound. Fluttershy assisted her friend in walking, since Rainbow Dash’s condition had seen better days. They looked down at the pony in question when they reached it. There, lying on the floor was the silhouette of a third pegasus, in no better condition. The right wing was heavily marked and wrinkled like it had been crushed, while the left wing looked sliced as there was a gap in the center of it, spread like a line. Otherwise the rest of its body was batted with similar minor injuries that both Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy have. The silhouette opened its eyes… grunting silently. It caught sight of the two pegasi. There was silence in the room. The two pegasi stared at this silhouette, who was still lying on the ground. Nothing could be heard, until Rainbow Dash broke the silence. "So you're still alive huh?" Rainbow Dash paused for a second. Her voice didn’t seem to hold any care for the sight that beheld her. "I thought that last attack put you out for good.” The silhouette didn't respond. Rainbow's expression was blank. The pain however returned to Rainbow Dash's stomach. She grunted in pain and lost balance on her hooves. Fluttershy put her head under Rainbow Dash's neck to help support her weight as she was placing herself into a sitting position. Rainbow Dash started coughing again; she clutched her stomach as every single cough only made the pain worse. Her eyes were closed. Soon, the coughing settled. Rainbow Dash managed to slowly steady her breathing as a result. “Honestly, I think you deserve just as much…” Rainbow declared as she opened her eyes. “Rainbow, please-“ Fluttershy was silenced gently by Rainbow’s hoof. “But after what you just did earlier, I’ll trust you for now.” Rainbow released her hoof from Fluttershy’s muzzle and continued on. “Now tell us, what do you know, what caused all this to happen, and why we should believe...” Rainbow Dash paused for a second to change the topic. “No, first tell us who or what you are, and then continue from there,” Her tone was very serious. The silhouette lowered its eye lids and paused. It then nodded off to explain its story. ______________________________________________________________________________ Everfree Forest, 4 years ago: A bright green light was emanating in the middle of an unnatural forest. This light was bright enough to pierce through the thick leaves that covered the air outside. A few moments after its appearance, it faded, but it left behind something in its place. It dropped out of the air and landed in an unknown location. This being was left unconscious somewhere in this forest. The air was still, and no other creature could be heard anywhere near the area. That was all this being could recall as it awakened itself from a slumber that felt like it lasted for days. It at least slept on something soft. The being stood up, and took a look at its surroundings. It was night outside, and the being was all alone, nothing but the foliage of the forest’s nature covering its vision even further. It tried to recover itself from the shock by taking a few steps into the forest; however this shock was making it unbalanced in walking. ‘What is this place?’ the being thought to itself. It managed to find a clearing in the forest that contained a small lake. This being walked up to the lake in order to take a look at its reflection, revealing what this being was. The reflection revealed a mare pony with light green eyes. Her coat was slightly light brown and her mane was a sharp bright red. She carefully examined her body. She was wearing what appeared to be a collar around her neck. Her mane was an overhead straight while her tail was long and thin. Her mane, her tail, and the collar she wore were all the same shade of red. She also appeared to have wings on her back. She looked like an ordinary pegasus, but she looked back at the lake with a very confused look at her appearance. ‘I don’t remember this, what happened to me earlier?’ She tapped the lake’s water with her hoof, leaving a rippling effect as she tried to think. “Hey!” a voice called out. Reacting by instinct, the pegasus turned around in a fighting stance at the direction she heard the voice. “I wouldn’t stay here if I were you. This forest is very dangerous, especially at night.” She saw a light purple earth pony mare with a darker purple mane and tail, fluffy in style. This earth pony walked down a path, not meeting eye contact as she made her path that would cross a distance passed the pegasus. The pegasus slowly withdrew her fighting stance. This earth pony had a serious frustrating look on her face. “Who are-“ the pegasus tried to call out in response but was cut off. “Don’t you raise your voice at me!” The earth pony yelled back. “I have a severe headache and I do not need you making it worse.” The earth pony continued walking the path; she looked even more annoyed than before from just two words. Regardless, the pegasus eyed this pony cautiously. Her mouth was slightly open, but only had her clenched teeth visible. “If you need directions on exiting this forest, then you’re free to follow me,” the earth pony continued. “Otherwise you’re free to stick around for the hungry predators of this forest, and I don’t think you’d want that.” The pegasus didn’t have many options. She was confused, lost, and was offered guidance out of the forest. But at what cost, only to get more lost in a world she couldn’t recognize? Not to mention the one guiding her was clearly very irritated. In the end the pegasus decided it was better to be lost in safe grounds than lost in dangerous grounds. She took a slight breath and decided to follow this earth pony. On a side note, the shock from earlier was no longer present so she was able to recover her balance. Oddly, she remembered doing this before, but at the same time, she couldn't. ______________________________________________________________________________ The two ponies continued walking the path for a few minutes in silence. There was no indication that the pegasus could find for this path that they were following, but the earth pony seemed to know what she was doing. The pegasus didn’t want to say anything in risk of getting yelled at again, but the earth pony decided to break the silence and looked back at her. “My name is Berry Punch; you got a name or what?” The pegasus thought for a moment, but wasn’t given two seconds before being cut off again. “Alright before you give yourself a headache too, I’ll just call you Carousel, at least that’s what I see when I see the mark on your flank.” Hesitating a little, the pegasus turned her head to take a glance at what she was talking about. Their on her flank was the mark she mentioned. There were a number of ponies each holding a spear in one hoof and forming a circle formation facing in a counter-clockwise position. In the center was a green flaming blaze along with smoke emanating from the flame as it formed all above them, their spears piercing through the cloud of smoke above. It did look much like a carousel, but when the pegasus looked at it, she experienced something else. In her mind, she was in a dark void, seeing nothing but those flames from her mark surrounding her. Not even the harsh flames illuminated the area she was in, and the flames were burning on nothing but the void. “What? Don’t tell me you don’t know what a Cutie Mark is. I suppose next you’re gonna tell me you don’t know how to fly.” The pegasus snapped back to reality and brought her attention back to the earth pony, who continued to talk. “Well that would explain why you look so confused and puzzled. You’re acting like you’ve never seen anything I’ve seen you lay your eyes on so far.” The pegasus was even more confused now. “What are you talking about?” The frustrated earth pony shook her head. “I’m saying that you have amnesia, now no more questions, your voice is more confusing than what you’re witnessing.” “But you’re the one tha-“ The pegasus was cut off once again by the rising voice of the irritated earth pony. “I AM THE ONE, who is guiding you and possibly saving your life!” The pegasus was taken aback by this outburst. The earth pony stopped moving, placing a hoof on her head and grunting. “Ugh, if you can’t appreciate that, then be quiet! I don’t need a pegasus giving me logic when she has more head problems than I am having now!” The earth pony continued her walk while the pegasus kept a safer distance away. “Just take what you can get and then you can go bother somepony who can answer all the questions you’ll be having that won’t cause their heads to explode!” This earth pony appeared to hold very mixed feelings of being kind enough to help a confused pegasus, while at the same time, very irritable at the condition she was in when this moment came up. The pegasus had no choice but to go with her logic. She always had the option of just stranding herself in the middle of nowhere, but she chose to follow the earth pony. ______________________________________________________________________________ The two ponies eventually found their way out to the forest clearing. The pegasus stopped to take a look at the outside world while the earth pony continued walking. It was still dark. “That forest’s name is Everfree Forest, I recommend staying out of there.” The pegasus looked back to the earth pony who was leaving her behind. The earth pony continued to talk without eye contact, but it seemed her mood had settled down. “The first thing you may want to do is remember how to use your wings. Try to use your instincts, you should still have those.” The pegasus lowered her head, wondering if she should continue following her and risk getting more backlash scolding. It was probably better to part ways here, but the pegasus decided to at least say something. “Hey…” she called out, but the earth pony cut in once again. “Berry Punch; no need to thank me, just take care of yourself Carousel, and don’t cause too much trouble.” With that, the pegasus lost sight of the purple earth pony who she could barely remember was named Berry Punch. She couldn’t figure out whether to be thankful or annoyed by the event she just experienced, and was more lost than ever. The pegasus grunted, placing a hoof on her head. This experience gave her a slight headache all of sudden. She decided to walk it off, in the opposite direction from Berry’s path. At the very least, the pegasus did somewhat have an identity to go by now, and that was the name Berry Punch had given her, Carousel. Thinking back to what else Berry had also said to her, the first thing she should do is regain the feelings on her wings. She looked back at them and through instinct, was able to flare them. She flapped a few times and could feel her weight on the ground becoming lighter. Her walk then turned to a trot, and then a gallop as she flapped her wings harder; getting the feelings of learning flight all over again, except that she had a sense of déjà vu that she had done this before. Carousel reached upon a cliff and used this moment to try and take air. She jumped right off the edge and took flight. But at this moment, she lost all feelings on her wings, the slight headache from earlier returned, but stronger. Reality broke away. Carousel’s vision faded. She could hear nothing but a high pitched screech surrounding her. She clenched her head with both hooves as she began to fall, but her sight was replaced with the visions she saw earlier. The flames had surrounded her in the dark void once again, but this time, she wasn’t alone. Dozens, if not hundreds of other silhouettes of figures she couldn’t recognize were either running or flying alongside her. Where were they going? Where was she going? The screeching became louder as the vision faded. Reality came back to the falling pegasus when she impacted the ground, but it wasn’t the ground she hit. With her normal visions returning, the screeching was silencing. But she noticed that she landed on something, or someone. “Get off of me you idiot!” The figure smacked Carousel off before she could react and was sent flying a distance away. The pegasus landed on her hooves, sliding along the landscape. She took a glance at the figure she had landed on. It had the head, claws, and wings of an eagle, but the legs and tail of a lion. There standing before her, was a griffon, who flew right up to her and grabbed her by the neck. Carousel, being lifted off the ground, clenched her hooves on the claws that were choking her. “You do that one more time and I am gonna-“ The griffon was cut off as Carousel responded to this violent action by kicking the griffon in the stomach with one of her hind legs, causing the griffon to drop her. Carousel landed on the ground and stood low, clutching her neck and gasping for breath whereas the griffon was clutching its stomach looking more enraged. The griffon regained itself and struck the downed pegasus with its claws which sent the her flying back from the impact. She rolled on the floor before coming to a stop, now lying in pain. The griffon flew up to her. “What’s the matter, can’t fly? Well then I’ve got the perfect place for a snot nose brat like you!” The griffon grabbed Carousel again and took flight. Carousel’s wings were secured. She struggled to break free, but could do nothing to escape the grasp the griffon held. They were heading in the direction to the center of the forest she was lost in not too long ago. “Have fun living the rest of your life under banishment!” The griffon let go of her grasp at break neck speed, causing the flightless pegasus to tumble down to where she started. The griffon let out a huge roar before being lost from sight. Carousel impacted on one of the trees in the forest, now trapped on its branches. The rustling of creatures lurking in the woods could now be heard. Her eyes shut tightly as the visions returned once again. She saw, nothing, but heard, felt. A soft cry was made, whimpering, it echoed… ______________________________________________________________________________ Current Day: “Wait, what?" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "That didn't sound right at all!” “It happened four years ago, Rainbow," Flutteshy said. "A lot can happen in that time.” “I know that,” Rainbow Dash replied. “What I meant was that story didn’t make any sense.” She turned her attention back to the brown pegasus she and Fluttershy now knew as Carousel. “How did you survive, and what was all that about?” The pegasus in question didn’t answer. Rainbow Dash sighed. “Do you remember anything else?” She shook her head, causing Rainbow to groan. “You said you heard news about her before you met her," Fluttershy mentioned. "Maybe she’ll remember if you talk about those days?” Rainbow Dash thought for a moment. She couldn’t bring herself to trust this unknown pegasus because of what she already knew about her. But now, due to recent events, she was willing to do so, if not for the lack of options, but for Fluttershy. Fluttershy tried reasoning with Rainbow Dash that there was more to this pony than what she was seeing, despite what Rainbow Dash witnessed. But now, Rainbow Dash accepted Fluttershy’s request. This is the story of the events that led to this disaster that Rainbow Dash believed she witnessed, what she saw, what she heard, and what led to,... their banishment.