The Devil Within

by Nightmarity19

Chapter 5 Merry Go Round

I awaken where I was left last time, engulfed by nothing but ink and losing air fast, but a surge of adrenaline kicked in as I was swimming upward, hoping that something was coming towards me would help me. My lungs began to have this burning sensation with me holding my breath this long, until I finally reached up and breathed a sigh of relief as I rose up from my inky fate that befallen me.

The place I ended up in was an amusement park setting with rides and prize stands all over the place which is what I enjoyed a small colt. But what was this doing in my dream? Was it replaying my memories or something? If this was really a memory, it would show the colt version of me along with my mother and father but that didn't happen unfortunately. I started walking around than I remembered as a colt, the rides music was dark and brooding instead of cheery and playful, most of all blood was out of them. My fear creeped back in but I choose to hold it back, all of a sudden that stallion from before stood near a black and white tent past the merry go round.

He stared at me for a good minute or two before going in the tent and soon enough I followed.

Entering the tent, everything was empty except for the one spotlight shining on Fleetfoot who was dressed as a sad clown looking up at the light that shined on her.

"Come sit" the stallion said to me.

I sat next to him, still in shock that this is where that ink led me to.

"I can't really image that I would be in a tent...but why is Fleetfoot in a clown costume?" I asked the mysterious stallion.

"She is going to perform for our amusement" he responded coldly.

I looked over as soft music started to play, prompting Fleetfoot to dance in a strange motion. Most moves involved knocking over things, others involved staring and making out with a picture of....Spitfire! How could I have been so stupid, she's reenacting her tactics she used to get to the top of Spitfire's list or at least she was almost there if I hadn't left her with Thornheart.

This image of Fleetfoot doing all these things made me sick and amused at the same time. This stallion seemed to enjoy himself because he was eating some popcorn in accordance to what's going on in front of him. I guess if he was enjoying the show then I might as well. The show lasted what was a few hours I guess, time works differently in my dream. Soon as we left the stallion guided me to another place which from the look of it was some twisted house of mirrors only without mirrors.

"What is this place?" I asked looking around at this place.

"Your deepest desire" he said unlocking the door.

He stepped out so I could enter, for a moment I hesitated but after a minute of me standing there my hooves began to move inside the decrypted place. The hallways were completely dark so I couldn't see a thing, small voices began to point me in so many directions I couldn't fathom one. I turned left into a now lit room where two doors stood out, one was painted completely black while the other painted a cool shade of bright orange.

I wonder which door I should enter first? I pondered, rubbing my chin with my hoove.

Two nameplates suddenly appeared on the doors out of thin air.

Shadow Ink

Spitfire and the Wonderbolts

The room would show me my deepest desire so I chose the black door and entered. Ink surrounded me again but this time it wasn't going to try to suffocate me but it just stayed at the bottom, small drips occasionally fell on my head. I hit something very slimy and gross touching my dark red coat then realized that slimy thing was actually an ink version of a cocoon placed in the far side of the wall, barely clinging to life.

"What is this doing here?" I asked myself.

I poked it once with my hooves making it jiggle a bit which I thought was kinda funny. All of a sudden the cocoon started to shake before opening, revealing that Shadowbolt Shadow Ink wearing a red velvet dress, her mane in a ponytail, red lipstick and eye shadows of the same color, and black diamond earrings staring at me with those yellow eyes and smiling.

"Well hello my little flame" she teased.

I looked down at myself, noticing my clothes suddenly changed into a suit and tie. I didn't know how I got that but it looked good on me.

"Shall we dance?" she asked, extending her hoof.

"Of course sweetie" I responded.

I took her hoof and began to dance with her, the venue changed into some kind of ballroom dance routine so I went along with it. We danced in front of thousands of other ponies young and old watched us dance to our hearts content, without any outside interference at all.

Wow this is really amazing I said to myself, looking around at the sudden crowd of ponies.

Dancing around with this mare made me feel happy so I began to smile again after a long time of having to deal with all those other ponies. I was finally able to be my beloved. We ended the dance with a soft kiss while everypony applauded our performance and we took a bow as we got a standing ovation from the crowd.

That has never happened before.

My alarm clock awoke me from the greatest fantasy I have ever had but from looking down at myself, it would seem that my body heated up for a second after that amazing dance routine with Shadow Ink. My heartbeat moved a step faster than normal because of the fact Ink keeps surrounding my mind night and day, even if I'm just doing exercises it never leaves my head.

"That was awesome" I said with a beaming smile on my face.

It was a good thing I didn't have to head over to my workplace due to the fact the Olympic Games start in 1 day. So today was relaxation day for me, I decided to go pay Shadow a visit to her home in a small village called Hollow Shades deep in the Everfree Forest. Going there would require anypony to have nerves of steel and a strong will to navigate through the Forest instead of 'giggling at the ghostly' or some other nonsense.

Entering the Forest was the easy part, navigating was hard due to a growing mist forming which made seeing anything virtually impossible. I used my horn's orange hue to guide me through the mist until the village of Hollow Shades came into view, it looked like a small town with every type of supernatural pony going about their normal lives as if they're special abilities didn't really bother them.

"Firestarter Dazzle in Hollow Shades? This is quite a sight to behold" Shadow said appearing out of a market with a saddle bag full of stuff.

I turned around to get a good look at her semi gray coat that shined with her jet black mane, that just completed the look entirely.

"Shadow Ink I-I didn't know you were here, let alone be stocking up on food" I stammered a bit.

She exchanged a smile before escorting me to her home.

I was finally going to see what her life is like outside the Shadowbolts My heart skipped a beat again.