Desires

by Skylight77

Chapter 14: The Greatest and Powerfulest Lie

3 days ago:

“*Bzzzzt* …you… *bzzzt* …everything here… *bzzt* …see?”

“…What, are you… *bzzt*…”

“*bzzt* saying that you’re so gullible.”

Carousel twitched herself back at this mention.

“Do you really believe me when Trixie says this-“ Trixie motioned in front of her, “-is the Tree of Harmony? Harmony means nothing to you does it?”

Carousel looked her surroundings over. Nothing was able to process to her. They had managed to reach the top of the temple that they were traveling in, but the room they were in made it look like they were deep in space, yet they could breathe. In fact, they appeared to be standing on nothing. However, a pair of lights was shooting across a path in front of them every few seconds, as if they were marking the path. Stranger than that, it didn’t feel like they traveled nearly far enough to reach this sort of height.

In the center of this strange room was one lone tree. It sparkled and glowed brightly to the point where you couldn’t even tell it was a tree. It was even quite a thin tree as well, with very little amount of leaves and branches covering it.

“But, as soon as we came in, you’re the one who shouted,-“ Carousel cleared her throat before continuing, “-‘Welcome to the Tree of Harmony’,” she finished in an imitating pose, waving one hoof in the air. Trixie had to suppress a giggle not just because of her gullibility, but also how silly she looked doing that imitation.

“Not everything is as it seems, my little admirer,” Trixie started. “Everything you’ve been seeing… is a lie!”

Carousel had a confused look on her face. Trixie turned away from her to look directly towards the glowing tree that was in front of them.

“Trixie will tell you something, Carousel,” Trixie started. Carousel hesitantly moved closer for a better hearing, “the reason magicians never reveal their secrets.” Trixie paused for a second as she went into deep thought. She started lighting her horn.

______________________________________________________________________________

“You of course remember the first time we met each other, am I right?” Trixie started as she flashed her horn brighter to illuminate her surroundings. The flash made her cape and hat disappear before Carousel’s eyes. “What you didn’t know was, I knew more about you than I was letting on.”

“W-what?” Carousel was really taken aback by this. She took a few steps back away from Trixie. “H-how?”

“You should know that already,” Trixie continued as she returned her gaze towards Carousel. “The griffon you fought?” She walked closer to Carousel as she spoke. “She told me all about you, all about how she found you just lying near that temple with-“ she poked the amulet on Carousel’s collar, “-that treasure.” Carousel looked down at the amulet, then back at Trixie.

“B-but…” Carousel tried to intervene by trying to think of how that couldn’t have been possible, but Trixie continued.

"She thought she could just get away with saying she traveled that temple alone, but I saw through her lies.” Trixie backed away, eyeing Carousel carefully. “I bet you’re thinking I’m making one as well.” She turned and walked away from Carousel, continuing her speech. “But you were the one who told me everything you knew.”

Carousel let her mouth hang open at this remark. She tried to form words to say, but nothing was coming out right. She never told Trixie anything. So why was she saying that? Trixie turned her head back towards Carousel.

“When I looked into your fortune, I showed you all of the things that I knew about you.” Trixie formed an odd smile on her face. “That was when you started leading me.” Carousel managed to close her mouth, but had to slowly blink for a second. She tried to remember what happened during that point.

“When I first saw you, you did look a little lost for somepony who just had her precious treasure stolen from her." Trixie chuckled a bit at this remark before continuing. "I was beginning to think my apprentice was lying to me again. That is... until you started showing signs of remembering when I showed you what I knew.” Trixie looked towards the non-existent ground in front of her, shaking her head. “So, gullible.” Carousel decided to walk closer to her.

“Why are you telling me this?” Carousel asked. Trixie looked back at her as she responded.

“It is a magician’s secret.” Trixie’s horn started glowing brighter again. She lifted her head up high. “For once a secret has been revealed... the magic... fades.” She threw her head down quickly, letting her horn illuminate the area again.

______________________________________________________________________________

Carousel had to cover her eyes as the area revealed itself. Everything was so much different now. It actually looked like they were in a large room now. The path they were following that the lights showed earlier was clear with a carpet now.

But the only thing that Carousel was focusing on was the tree that was previously there. She slowly walked closer to it because she could no longer tell what it was. It now just looked like a bright source of light generating on nothing, giving off a few small sparks flying slowly away before disappearing.

Carousel could feel her mind pulsating from looking at this light. It was too staggering to describe. She felt her whole body tremble on its own, her wings shivering, and the adrenaline in her body going nuts.

“It is as Trixie says,” Trixie started as she walked next to Carousel, staring at the light. Carousel noticed that she had her uniform back on. “Once you learn the secrets, the magic of such a trick wears off.” Trixie started breathing a bit harder now; Carousel casted her gaze towards Trixie as a result. She was finding it hard to breathe as well.

“The Tree of Harmony… it’s the greatest and powerfulest source of magic in all of Equestria.” Trixie breathed very slowly, but very loudly. “For many years, this tree has lived itself on a lie, a lie that continues, even today! *Pant* it has hidden itself for so long, with the name of, The Tree of Harmony. It has lived this form for so long, it now hides its very existence!”

Trixie could barely contain her tone while she spoke. It sounded like she was revealing a failure that was so bad; it was sealed away from reality itself, using its false powers as a cover up.

“Trixie doesn’t know where the real Tree of Harmony is… *gasp* But she has discovered the next best thing! With your help…” Trixie turned to Carousel, to which Carousel had stumbled back a bit as a response, gasping for breath.

“Trixie will have nothing to hide anymore! Everything will be revealed to even you!” Trixie was sweating a lot. Carousel could find a deep and lustful desire within herself.

*Bzzt, tchh tchh* Her mind felt so unstable. Carousel and Trixie both looked into the light. They both brought a hoof to push into the light.

“Our reward, lies now!” Trixie concluded with great determination in her voice.

*Screech! Tchh!*

“AAAAHHH!!!” Both Carousel and Trixie started yelling as the light grew so much brighter. They felt their bodies being pushed inside, disappearing into the light.

______________________________________________________________________________

The images returned back to Carousel. She started seeing lots of her past events all at once. But they all related to Trixie.

She saw the pile of pinecones that Trixie was lying on. They started spreading apart wildly in the air. Each one was bursting into flames, being incinerated into charcoal within seconds.

She saw Trixie bringing her horn towards the burnt part of her right wing. The burnt part of that wing suddenly reignited its flame. The flame dispersed quickly, taking away the mark.

She saw the images of Trixie showering lights all around their surroundings. The lights were turning off, one by one. Then the shattering of the lights became apparent. All the lights were gone.

Now she was seeing a huge cloud of pink smoke. Within the smoke, she could see Trixie treading through it in slow motion.

All of these things had one thing in common. They were all tricks. She saw one thing happening with them, but another was happening all along. They were all lies that she had witnessed or been told, being revealed. They were beating into her mind like bricks. Nothing was ever as it seemed.

Her surroundings had changed before she realized it. The smoke was clearing away. She could hear a low and deep growl in front of her. She could feel so much pressure going on in her mind and body. The images focused on where the growl was coming from. For that moment, she became aware of everything.

Everything, everything to her, was a lie.

______________________________________________________________________________

“*GASP!!!*” Carousel’s mind returned to her. Reacting quickly, she grabbed Trixie and dove out of the way from what was in front of her.

*Crunch!*

A large dragon was directly in front of them, nearly inches away. It had nearly dropped its jaws on the two ponies before Carousel had regained her senses and took her and Trixie to jump out of the way.

*Thump!* Their landing on the ground was a very rough landing. Trixie gasped in surprise upon impact, suddenly regaining her senses as well. The first thing she saw was that large dragon.

“H-H-AAAAAHHH!!!” Trixie cried out. Carousel and Trixie scrambled back on their hooves before the dragon could recover its balance. The two ponies started stepping back in fear of this large dragon.

“What… what is going on?!” Carousel asked.

Nothing was right anymore. Their surroundings were completely gone. They were in an endless void with no visible exits in sight. All they could see was the large dragon in front of them. This dragon had purple scales with a red belly. It had wings that looked very sharp, spikes that surrounded its back and tail, along with a spike on its nose, razor sharp teeth, and giant claws.

As the dragon recovered its balance, it looked directly at the two ponies with a predatory glare. It opened its jaws widely, giving off a loud sound.

*RRRAAAAAAAAA-* Carousel and Trixie could feel the room shaking, *-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-* they stumbled their balance as the loud roar blew on them, *AAAAAAWWWWWWWRR!!!!!!*

Carousel and Trixie had to hold on to their manes while that dragon blew out that large and extended roar. It felt like the force of the dragon’s breath alone possibly blew out some of the hair off their coats and manes.

“*Pant*, Wha-ht, No! This… What?!” Trixie stumbled over her words. “*Pant* this wasn’t supposed to happen!”

“What?!” Carousel yelped in shock.

*Thump, Thump!*

The two ponies felt the ground shake when that dragon stomped its fore claws on the ground they couldn’t see. They could hear a deep audible growl coming from the dragon. It spread its wings wide apart, prepping itself to attack. Without a moment’s notice, it lunged itself towards the two ponies.

“Scatter!” Trixie yelled.

Both Carousel and Trixie leapt towards opposite directions, barely managing to avoid the dragon’s lunge. The dragon kept going, bringing itself airborne, very high in the air.

“What is a full grown dragon doing here?!” Trixie yelled out while she started running in the opposite direction of the dragon. “They don’t live in Equestria!”

Carousel ran over towards Trixie’s direction, placing distance between her and the dragon. “Why are we here? How do we get out?” she asked in a panic.

“I don’t- AAHHH!!!“ Trixie was cut off when a large breath of flame shot from the dragon’s mouth, sending it directly in front of the ponies’ path. “Other way!” They turned around to run in the opposite direction.

*Thump!*

But they were cut off when the dragon landed directly in front of them. Carousel and Trixie froze in place, looking directly upwards at the mercy of this fierce dragon.

“What are we going to do?” Carousel asked fearfully.

“I don’t know,” Trixie responded. “I wasn’t prepared for something like this.”

“What about all those tricks that you have?” Carousel asked, looking towards Trixie. “Can’t we fight back?”

“Are you insane?!” Trixie darted her head very close to Carousel’s in a scolding manner. “Do you have any idea how DANGEROUS a dragon is?!” Carousel backed away slightly from the scolding mare. Whether the dragon or Trixie was more terrifying at the moment was now debatable. “We can’t fight a full grown dragon, it’s impossi- AAHHH!”

Trixie was cut off when the dragon blew a large breath of fire again. The fire swirled around in the air, heading towards the ponies. Carousel and Trixie dropped deeply into the ground, hugging their forms as close to the ground as they possibly could. The flame swirl blew over their heads, just inches away from them. The heat wave coming from the flame had managed to singe part of their manes in the process. Trixie managed to save her hat by pulling it off and moving it under her just before it passed by.

“Just do SOMETHING!” Carousel yelled after recovering from that blast.

“Why don’t YOU come up with a PLAN?!” Trixie yelled back as she flared her horn quickly and brightly. She used her magic to gather as much of the tiny water particles in the air as quickly as she could. She gathered all the water particles into a single pile in the air, allowing them to form a storm cloud.

The dragon started charging forward again. As soon as Carousel saw that storm cloud come into view, she immediately took flight towards it. She came within range of the storm cloud quickly, and struck it with her hooves.

*Bam!*

The cloud created a powerful bolt of lightning that was aimed straight towards the dragon.

*BZZZT!* *RAAAAWWWRRR!!!* The bolt of lightning struck the dragon, but its effect only seemed to enrage the dragon more than harm it. It was still charging straight for the two ponies, but more changing its course towards Carousel.

“Ahh!” That lightning bolt barely phased it at all. Carousel tried to move away from the cloud, seeing the dragon get closer. The dragon struck with its claws.

*Smack!* Carousel was unable to move away in time. She was struck and knocked away by the claws of that dragon.

“No!” Trixie cried out. She focused a lot of magic into her horn to create a beam of pure energy, aiming straight for the dragon.

The beam was trailing on the dragon’s scales like a zapping lightning bolt. But it didn’t seem to be doing anything to the dragon. Trixie tried putting in more power into that beam.

The dragon caught sight of the unicorn that was firing that beam. It turned its attention towards Trixie. Trixie noticed this and stopped firing her magical beam. Fear struck her knowing that her magic was having no effect on this dragon. The dragon raised both its claws in the air. Trixie tried to run before the dragon brought its claws down.

*Crash!*

The dragon smashed the ground, causing Trixie to get blasted by the destroyed debris that escalated from such an impact. Despite not being able to see the ground, the parts of the ground and its debris instantly became visible when they scattered. Trixie tumbled and rolled across the ground due to the force of that attack.

Carousel managed to recover from her attack earlier. She may have been struck, but due to her actions, she was able to escape serious injuries. Seeing Trixie getting attacked like that, Carousel acted fast and started charging straight towards the dragon.

Carousel took the opportunity to strike the back of the dragon’s head with as much force as she could muster. The dragon gave off a deep growl after experiencing that strike. It moved its tail swiftly behind itself. Carousel attempted to strike again, but…

*Whack!*

Carousel got smacked with that spikey tail, somehow avoiding the spikes. She got thrown directly towards Trixie, who was just about to get back up after recovering from her impact earlier.

“AHH!” Carousel crashed directly into Trixie, causing them both to tumble and roll across the ground. They rolled a bit before coming to a full stop, lying apart but next to each other.

The dragon gave a deep growl as it looked towards the downed ponies. Carousel and Trixie hesitantly pulled themselves up to look towards the fierce dragon that was relentlessly attacking them. The dragon slowly treaded closer to them.

*Thump, thump, thump.*

“Ugh… I told you, it’s hopeless,” Trixie stated in agony. “Dragons are too dangerous and powerful. It’s impossible for ponies like us to defeat this thing…”

*Thump*

“Urk… what if we attack from a different angle?” Carousel asked.

*Thump*

“That’s out of the question! It won’t make a difference unless we attack from its weak point!”

*Thump, rrrrr…*

“Then why are we not doing that?”

*Thump*

“Are You Out Of Your Pony Mind!?” Trixie blurted while turning her attention towards Carousel. “Do you have any idea what you are asking?!”

*Thump*

“Of course I don’t!” Carousel responded while picking herself back on all fours. “But you’re the one who told me to come up with a PLAN!”

*Thump, RRAAAAAAWWRRR!* The dragon raised its head up high, ready to strike.

“And THAT’S the best you can come up with?!”

“JUST DO IT!”

Trixie quickly released her magic towards the ground, causing a large pink cloud of smoke to emerge, concealing them both. The dragon dropped its large, open maw directly into this pink smoke cloud, chomping down on whatever was inside. The dragon brought its head out of the smoke soon after. It started chewing on whatever it had captured in its mouth, creating a large crunching sound effect with each chew. It then gave a big gulp, swallowing its contents. The contents showed a visible lump in the dragon’s neck, swiftly sliding down it until it disappeared within its stomach.

The pink smoke started to clear up. Trixie could see the silhouette of the dragon in front of her as the smoke started evaporating. Looking to her left, she could see that Carousel was no longer there.

*Rrrrrr…* The dragon took notice of Trixie as the smoke disappeared. Trixie’s uniform was gone, and she was alone now. She shivered at the sight of the large dragon before her, being cautious with her movements. She had never been so nervous before in her life. Regardless, Trixie started prepping her magic.

“Carousel, you foal… you better hope that worked… nnngh…”

Author's Note:

We're coming very close to the major plot point of this story. Hopefully it'll start to get interesting now.

Next Chapter: The End of Carousel’s Story Ark.

Hope you enjoyed reading.

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Feedback and criticism are appreciated.