//------------------------------// // Chapter 15: The End Of Carousel's Story Ark // Story: Desires // by Skylight77 //------------------------------// 3 days ago: Carousel could feel herself sliding deeply within the dragon’s throat. When she heard about a weak point that the dragon probably had, she had to take it. She didn’t know and didn’t care what she had to do, and she certainly didn’t expect this. All that mattered to her was that it would work. “Gah!” *Splash, splash* Trixie’s hat and cape took back its normal form as they entered the stomach of the dragon, being incinerated by the dragon’s stomach acid. Carousel hovered just above the acid. She was covered in saliva due to the chomping. Thanks to the cloak and distraction the hat and cape caused, she was able to avoid the dragon’s teeth before she was swallowed. *Pant, pant* Carousel wiped some of the saliva that covered her vision. It was really hot in here, and there was quite a bit more space than she thought there would be, but no indication on what the best course of action was. She focused her eye sights on one of the walls on the stomach. She charged for it swiftly, striking it with one of her hind hooves as hard as she could. *RRAAAAAAWWWRRR!!!* The dragon let out an audible cry as it felt a sharp sting in its guts. Trixie noticed that the plan was having an effect. “Hah! Take that you monster!” Trixie let out her beam of magic, aiming towards the dragon’s face. The beam was zapping the dragon’s face, causing it to stumble backwards as it continued to cry out its roar. Carousel continued punching and kicking random parts of the inner walls of the stomach, causing more damage to the dragon. Trixie kept her magic flowing, keeping the dragon at bay with their simultaneous attacks, both inside, and out. *TCCCHHHH!!!* “Nngh… NNNGH!!!” Trixie was straining herself with the amount of magic she was putting into her horn. She was sweating as particles among particles of sparks were bursting out of the sides of her horn. “RAAAH!” *Slam!* *pant, pant* The heat was becoming unbearable, and the abuse was straining Carousel’s body. She kept striking at random spots of the walls, getting weaker each time. *AAAAWWWRRRRRRRR!!!* The dragon managed to act again, placing one of its claws in front of its face, blocking out Trixie’s beam. It let out a huge roar as it slammed its other claw directly towards its own belly. “GAAAH!” The inner walls of the belly shifted so suddenly, darting and slamming into Carousel, causing her to be thrusted back violently. The dragon let out a large breath of fire, aimed towards the ground. The flame moved up, treading towards the direction the beam was coming from. “NNNGH… AAAH!” Trixie was able to notice an intense heat coming closer to her before the flames made contact. She halted her magical lightning beam and leapt off to the side, barely able to avoid direct contact with the flames as they passed by. Carousel was flung towards a landing spot within the belly that wasn’t flooded in the stomach acid. However the movement of the dragon caused some of the acid to splash and spray around the area, some of it landing on Carousel. *Tss* Some of its intense burning became apparent to Carousel as the acid burned small parts off of her coat and mane. “…Urk…” Grunting, Carousel slowly picked her face up with her front hooves from whatever she was lying on. She shook her head around, trying to recover from that impact. When she looked in front of her, she saw something she did not expect to see. “*Gasp...*” Inside the dragon’s belly, stuck on the flooring of this intestine, there was a large and bright crystal sticking out. “What… what is that?” Carousel picked herself up, trying to examine this crystal. She had a very uneasy feeling staring into the bright light of this crystal. The feeling was very similar to the light she was seeing before from that bright tree. She slowly walked closer to it. “Hhh, *Gasp*, hhh…” Carousel’s breathing was rapidly becoming heavy as she approached this crystal. Her mind raced against her. At that moment, nothing mattered to her at all. Not even the amulet that was still attached to the collar she wore around her neck. A strong desire filled her mind to just grab this crystal, and reveal, everything. Carousel grabbed the bright crystal. *TTCCCHHHHZZZZZZZZZZ!!!* “YRAAAAAAAAAGHHH!!!” Carousel screamed at the top of her lungs as the electrical energy flow fueled across her entire body. The electrical energy flowed all across the ground, zapping everything in its path. *RRAAAAAAAAWWWRRR!!!* Outside the dragon, Trixie could hear the intense zapping sounds coming from the dragon. After recovering from that flame attack, she managed to pick herself up just in time to see the start of the chaos. The entire dragon’s form had electricity violently flowing all across its body. “W-what? What’s happening!?” Trixie stuttered, slowly backing away from the dragon. It was as if this dragon was going haywire. Electricity was shooting out of its body in all directions. Even worse than that, the entire void that they were in was flashing. She could catch the glimpses of the room they were in before they encountered this dragon. “AAARRRGGNNNNHHH!!!” Carousel pulled with all her might as the crystal fueled her body with its magical flow. Her entire body burned intensely as the crystal was being pulled out. The entire room was shaking. Lightning shot all across the inside of the dragon’s belly, exploding the walls upon contact. Debris was being scattered all over the place, creating splashes as they fell into the stomach acids. Outside the dragon, it was no different. The entire room shook. Lightning shot across the flashing void. Debris scattered. Trixie had to dig her hooves on the ground to keep her balance. “What happened in there?! Carousel! What did you do?!” Trixie yelled. The dragon clutched its throat and held its head up high. Its throat was causing a regurgitating effect. The pools of stomach acids lost their effects and temperature. They splashed all around the walls as they became nothing more than colored water. The liquid was rising, rising high to meet with Carousel and the crystal. *Shing* “AAAAHHH!!!” The crystal had been pulled free just before the rising pool flooded them out; causing them to rise, rise up towards the dragon’s throat. *Kurrrr, Krrrmmmm, Ptwuh!* The dragon barfed something out of its mouth. This caused the electricity flowing around the dragon to cease. The effects of the void were starting to disappear. The dragon started to collapse towards the ground as the void was disappearing. *Thump, Crash!* Just as the void vanished underneath the dragon, the dragon collapsed on the floor, causing the floor to break apart. The dragon fell through the floor, causing a long drop down that neither Carousel nor Trixie could determine how far of a drop it would be. Trixie covered her eyes as the rest of the debris continued to fall down. There was a bright and intense light coming from the smoke being caused by the falling debris. Carousel and the crystal landed roughly in the center of the now visible room they were in. The crystal was planted within the floor, a few distances away from Carousel. That tree was gone. In its place was the crystal that Carousel had just drawn out. *Flash, Screech!* The crystal resonated a light that illuminated the entire room. It released a magnetic field around it that took hold of Carousel, carrying her towards the crystal. Trixie released her hoof away from her eyes to witness what was going on. Her nerves were attacking her like crazy. “I-is, that…” She couldn’t really think about it. *TCHH! TCHH!... TCCHHH!* The crystal released electrical energy, surrounding Carousel’s body. The fields of magical electricity shot across the room randomly, destroying the walls of the tower they were in. Multitudes of debris scattered across the room, causing massive destruction around their surroundings. The magical flow coming from the crystal was so bright and powerful; Trixie had to shield her eyes again. “AAARRGH, AAAAAAAHHH!!!” Carousel screamed in agony as the electric current resonated through her body. “Nngh… what is going on?!” Trixie was in a panic, trying to make sense of everything. “It’s like, I don’t even know anything anymore… Nothing is going the way it’s supposed to!” Trixie moved her hoof slightly away to take a look at the surrounding areas. The electric fields were practically tearing the room apart while the room’s existence continued to flash on and off. The outside world from the tower were coming into focus the more those walls crumbled. Trixie could only see the sky and barely see the clouds within them. No doubt their current altitude was incredibly high. Trixie looked back towards Carousel and her undergoing torment. “*Gasp* I’ve gotta stop this, NOW!” Trixie jumped a few steps forward to get closer to her target. She released a beam of magic from her horn, targeting Carousel. When the beam hit Carousel, her whole body was enveloped by Trixie’s magical aura, along with the crystal’s electrical current. “Nnnngaaahh!” Trixie screamed in agony. She was trying to use her magic to pull Carousel out of whatever this crystal was doing to her. She put a lot of force in both her head and magic to pull Carousel out. But she wasn’t budging. In fact, now Trixie was starting to feel her pain. Magical electrical shots coming from the crystal were shooting and tracing close to Trixie, but the crystal’s electrical current used the beam from Trixie’s magic as an energy flow to get to her directly. “AAAAAHHH!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!” Trixie cried out louder. Her body started standing on just her hind legs, allowing the source of her magic to generate a more concentrated magical flow. The hairs on her mane started standing and blowing around. The hairs on her coat made it almost look as if she was still wearing her cape. “NNNNGH!!! MMMMMMHH!!!” Carousel could feel the current being forced through her body. They were forcing their way into her mind, into her senses. Her adrenaline scattered violently all around her body with immense speeds. In the midst of all this, Carousel’s visions were returning to her, the visions that had always forced their way into her mind. She could feel the headache forcing her way into her mind even amongst all this electrical current that was tormenting her body. The visions were numbing her senses. She couldn’t feel anything. She couldn’t hear anything. She couldn’t even see anything but the visions that forced her way into her mind. Except this time, that last part wasn’t true. This time, those visions were forcing her to see everything that was around her. The visions gave her a clear and perfect view of Trixie’s form. She was in pain, crying out in agony, all in an attempt to use her magic to pull Carousel out. “AAARRR-KAAAAAA!!!” Trixie’s body thrusted violently forward, but she still remained where she stood. Many objects appeared out of Trixie’s form during that thrust. Pinecones, lots and lots of pinecones were scattering out of Trixie’s body. They tumbled and rolled around the ground. While they rolled, their appearances started to change. One by one, the pinecones started changing into apples. Every single pinecone was changing into an apple a few moments after they bounced off the ground, revealing what they truly were. “AAAAANNNNNGH!!!” Trixie’s head and mouth were forcibly being dropped down. As her crying stance stood lower, the form on her body began to reveal itself. The sides of her coat gave of a bright and extended shine. When the light slowly faded, they revealed pouches and bags, strings and straps, things that would conceal and carry, and most importantly, hide. The bags started flinging open, spilling out its contents all on its own. They were thrown violently across the floor, just like the pinecone looking apples from earlier, but being thrown behind her this time. The items consisted of tubes of paint, rolls of bandages, lengthy rags, books and papers, and quite a few other supplies and devices. They all seemed to be related to what Trixie had done to her. The back of Carousel’s neck gave a magical shining flow. Something became visible on the back of her neck, just above her collar. Through all the electrical currents rushing through her body, a set of bandages became visible on the back of her neck. The bandages were engulfed in flames. They were getting incinerated by the electrical current coming from the crystal. The wound that was being covered up by the bandages soon came into view, only to disappear from view almost immediately by a fog of shining particles. The shining particles flowed around her neck, taking the wound away. *Tcccchhh,… TCH!* “Aaaaahhh… nnnnnghh…” Carousel’s pain was being less focused. The more these images rushed through her head, the more she learned what they meant, and the more painful it was for her to come to such conclusions. Everything really was a lie to her. She was witnessing the revelations of every trick that this unicorn, Trixie, had pulled on her. Trixie was right. Once the secret has been revealed, the magic fades. When Carousel first met Trixie, she saw her sleeping on a pile of pinecones. But they weren’t pinecones that she saw, they were apples. Sleeping on pinecones wouldn’t be comfortable at all, but sleeping on apples was a different story. All those lights she saw were pointed in ways that made her look like she was somewhere else. It only affected the one they focused on. Carousel thought Trixie was showing her the images of her memory, but those were Carousel’s thoughts all along. Trixie only used her words and lights to manipulate Carousel’s mind into making those thoughts, making her believe that she was seeing the images in her mind with her own eyes. Illusions and lies, trickery and manipulation, that’s exactly how everything was around here. They were lies so powerful, they became true. But once they were revealed, their magical truth, ended. *TCCCHHH… tcchhh…* No more. Carousel wanted no more. She focused her eye sights on Trixie, keeping her gaze on all the lies she had created. She desired nothing but revelations. She was blocking out her mind on everything that was a lie to her. “AAAAAAAHHH!!!” Carousel focused on Trixie’s screams of determination. Trixie's magic was a lie, but her desire was very real. Trixie was putting all efforts in her magical pull, even while her secrets and humility were revealed. The items that were being released from Trixie’s form were starting to shine brightly. Their shine soon dissipated them into particles, flying into the air. Quickly, but one by one, the particles were being twirled around the room, circling around Trixie. The particles were getting very small while they twirled around her. The particles seemed to be disappearing into Trixie’s horn. As they disappeared, Trixie struggled further. She gave one final pull on her magical hold on Carousel. *Tcccchhh… TTTTCCCCCCHHHH!!!* In that moment, Carousel now knew what she wanted all along, what she truly desired. “AAARRRHHH…” *CCSSSSHHH!!!* “AAAAAHHH!!!” Trixie flung backwards as her magical pull finally moved Carousel. The crystal had exploded and shattered. Carousel was thrown towards Trixie due to that magical pull. Carousel had collided with her and they were knocked back very far, far enough to cause them to slip off of the edge of the tower. Carousel and Trixie started plummeting from miles away in the skies. Carousel’s body was showing a massive amount of electrical current, flowing around her body. The shine on her body was slowly going away while they were falling. Trixie recovered from the impact first. The sounds of the air being sliced by their falling bodies pierced her ear. The danger of their falling height was no distraction to what she feared when those floating particles continued to rush to her horn. Carousel grunted as she opened her eyes. Her body was rushing faster than their falling speed. She suddenly felt a large amount of pressure being forced upon her neck as they fell. Trixie had placed both of her hooves around Carousel’s neck, squeezing it very tightly in her grip. Trixie was glaring at her with malice. “YOU INCOMPETANT FOAL!!!” Trixie yelled at Carousel, shaking her in her hooves. “DO YOU REALIZE WHAT YOU HAVE DOOONE?!?!?!” Carousel’s senses were slowly coming back to her as she saw the particles rushing into Trixie’s horn. She could barely breathe due to Trixie’s grip, but she could barely feel them either. The particles continued to swirl around Trixie’s horn while Carousel’s nerves became more focused. The particles started forming along the spiral ridge of Trixie’s horn, giving a shine as they entered. Trixie looked like she was starting to lose focus. Her eyes closed and her grip loosened. Her eyes flashed beneath her eyelids before the glow on her horn disappeared, along with all the particles. Carousel’s nerves rushed through her body as they started returning to her. She could feel the winds rushing through her form as they fell. Carousel struggled as she felt Trixie tightening the grip around her neck. She tried to remove Trixie’s hooves off of her, but then she saw Trixie’s body tremble violently. Trixie’s eyes flashed open in a menacing glare. There was something so different about those eyes now. There was a low growl coming from Trixie that could be heard through the sounds of the rushing wind. Trixie pulled a hoof back, and then she tossed it forwards, punching Carousel in the face. Carousel winced from the sudden assault. Trixie was attacking her now. Carousel put her hooves up in front of her. Trixie continued throwing her punches at Carousel, but Carousel defended by using her own hooves to stop their assault. They continued punching each other as they continued falling from the skies. “Nngh!” Carousel spread her wings apart to stop her fall, but Trixie was keeping herself latched onto Carousel, preventing her from getting away. Carousel continued trying to pry her off, punching Trixie with her own hooves. Trixie’s face filled with nothing but rage. She flared up her horn, charging an attack to be fired directly at Carousel. Carousel retaliated by flipping their bodies around, aiming her punches at her face. Trixie fired her beams of magic, but due to their assault on each other, the beams were narrowly missing the target in front of her. Carousel did what she could to distract her fire or dodge out of the way, but Trixie kept her grip on Carousel. *Ping!* Carousel managed to narrowly strike Trixie’s horn, causing her to shoot a beam straight into the air, despite their falling bodies. “AAAAHHH!!!” Trixie’s horn started to spark a dark electric field as she screamed in agony. “NNNGH!!!” The electric field resonated through her body to zap Carousel as well. Carousel started losing feelings around her body again. Trixie used this moment to continue attacking Carousel. She punched Carousel in the face. She then flipped their bodies over so that Trixie was higher up. And then, Trixie fired a magical blast directly at Carousel’s back, releasing her grip as she did this. “AARRRGH!!!” Carousel was blasted away from Trixie. Her body plummeted towards the ground in the direction away from the tower. Trixie’s body was still falling as well, but she held her control. She re-positioned her body to start falling face first towards the ground. She brought all her limbs behind her and sticking towards her body. Her impact sight came into view. Her face filled with confidence as the ground came very close to her. Trixie’s horn started glowing again. Just before she hit the ground, her entire body gave a bright flash. And just like that, Trixie vanished. Carousel’s body left a smoke trail as she continued to fall. She couldn’t see where she was landing. The wind continued to blow roughly against her face as her plummeting speed continued to increase. Before she knew it, Carousel started feeling the scrapes of twigs passing through her body. Before long, she blacked out instantly as she hit a hard surface. ______________________________________________________________________________ “…nngh…” Carousel’s mind rushed as her senses came back to her. Her body was lying flat on something solid when she regained consciousness. She put her hooves in front of her to push along the surface, attempting to pick herself up. She grunted and her face was winced up, just trying to get up. Carousel managed to slowly pick herself up, slowly opening her eyes as she did so. Her surroundings were covered with leaves. She couldn’t tell where she was, except that she was probably deep inside another forest. She hesitantly took a step in front of her. *Snap!* Carousel started falling as the branch she was standing on gave away. *Crash!* A bit of sand was tossed up; covering her vision after her fall had stopped. She slowly picked herself up again, shaking her head slightly while trying to recover from the impact. Nothing was on her mind anymore. She wasn’t even sure what she was doing right now. All she thought about was what was going on right at this very moment. When she opened her eyes, her vision blared. But she could barely see something make itself present as the sand was starting to clear away. There standing in front of her, past the sand cloud, was another pony. That pony was glaring daggers into Carousel’s soul. One word reached Carousel’s ears, which came from that pony. “YOU!!!” ______________________________________________________________________________ Current day: “…And, that was when I first saw you…” Rainbow Dash mentioned after Carousel had finished her story. Carousel just closed her eyes. No more responses came from her. It looked like she was done with discussing anything with them anymore. Rainbow Dash looked towards Fluttershy. Fluttershy just stared back with sad eyes. Those eyes just seemed to be filled with regret. Rainbow Dash had to look away. She couldn’t stand seeing Fluttershy like this. She forced her eyes to close. All she could do was reflect on the rest of the things that she already knew. But nothing could stop her emotions from riling up at the one fact that was staring at Rainbow Dash’s face. Everything that had happened to them, was Carousel’s fault.