//------------------------------// // CHAPTER 4 // Story: EntiQuest [OLD] // by Sputniik //------------------------------// Things have been off lately. A weird way to start off, I must admit. But what else is there to say about what's been going on? I feel like... we're all trapped in this torrent of trouble, and just a single mistake, or the wrong step of a hoof, is all it'll take for...for.... That's.. not important. My name is Twilight Sparkle. Or, at least it was, until Equestria had fallen. Now, they all look to me like a leader, and to some, the enemy. Nothing is the same, and perhaps, it may never be the same again. Everyone, with the exception of myself, isn't the same anymore. Even Fluttershy is... a completely different mare, someone I just didn't know. It's all been a headache. After Flurry was killed, under all of our noses- under mine.. and the royal guards, Celestia... Luna... Cadence and Shining... I have no idea where they are... for all I know they could be dead... Spike and Fluttershy are all I have left, and yet, something just isn't the same between us anymore... I just don't understand! I just want everything to be like how it all once was. Peace and Harmony, friendship... the everyday problem we always found the solution to... together? Ever since Rainbow and AJ left to assist in battle, we fell apart. It was like the link in the center of the chain has snapped, and few stayed linked together. It hadn't been long until Pinkie and Fluttershy were called to nurse the injured. While Fluttershy thankfully refused, Rarity had no choice but to take the spot for her. Fluttershy and I felt guilty about this for... quite a while. It was just recently she had been put in charge of the barrier staff... by me. I hadn't had much of a choice, with just about half of the surviving ponies of the kingdom I was assigned to by Celestia before she... left, I wouldn't allow myself to refuse to listen to their wishes. I had apologized to Fluttershy practically everyday, and she only ever replied to me with, "Twilight, don't be so hard on yourself. I am grateful for my job, I'm protecting the town I love; your town," And she always said it with a warm smile, every time, although there'd been dark and heavy bags under her eyes, scars decorating her body, frazzled hair, and tears in her eyes. Oh. She lost an eye. Yet all she ever did was treat me with nothing but honest kindness, a bright smile on her face... as if she could've been every element of Harmony at once. As if she should have been given this land to rule, not me. While I left in search of help, desperate help, with four legs, two eyes, and a single scar. Yeah. I... I appreciate her. I really, really do. And Spike? It's just about fine with him. He's.. older. But we watch each other's backs. And he's gotten... stronger. Spike had scared me, just a bit, a few times. He was naturally a good fighter. Nearly got himself killed protecting me once. Fluttershy was always quick to come by and leave the barrier unguarded for as long as a few hours to fix his wounds, and always, she kissed his wound like she did when he was just a baby dragon. We looked after each other. And every so often, I would slip off without the kingdom knowing, Spike and Shy covering for me every time. They wished me luck, and when I returned, they made me dinner. Every time. When I got into a fight with someone, they stepped in the middle. Every. Time. We were the closest thing to family that... wasn't family. When I was with them, everything always felt okay. The everyday pain I felt was bandaged and instantly healed, the second I saw their faces. It made every single day worth living. And I left. I left my home; the land I was given to rule and care for. I left my old friends to war, and never checked up. I left the princesses, and never tried to find them. I left Flurry and her grave to the mercy of those foul, hungry beasts. I left Fluttershy... Spike... my family. I left them. I left it all. But I can't help them this way. As much as I deeply hated to admit it, I needed help from someone I despised. But I did it. I did it for Equestria. And yes. Odd things have been going on. But... that's okay. Because I know it'll all pay oft in the end. It'll all get better, like it did every time. And... And... I know that I can't do this on my own. ... A lot of things have slipped my memory over the past.. few days. I had.. possibly returned a deadly infection in Wolf's home land. No... I did. It was my fault. I wasn't aware that wandering off into the forest would have lead to something as serious as restoring a plague... It seems as if I'm the one causing all of these issues. None of us would have had to trek out this far to find the man with the cure. But I only kept silent the entire time. And I certainly don't want to be a burden. According to Wolf's description of the last infection, it'd been horrifying, to say the least. Turning normal people and animal-people into rabid, blood-thirsty beasts in just a matter of time. He had to fight his own mother, who had... passed, during this massacre. It sounded as if it brought out the worst in everyone. Well, not everyone. Wolf had mentioned, briefly, that the unlucky who were infected had become the prey. And the true tainted ones didn't hesitate to rip them to shreds and devour them. Just the sound of it sends chills down my spine. It's been, I believe, about two days since I had gotten infected. It spreads through the air in bubbles, slowly swallowing the sky with it's purple shade. I was only tainted a few hours before Daniel, who has only shown a single symptom. Not relevant, but he's developed a wolfish scent. Strange, he hasn't shown any other side effects over the past ten hours or so. Most of my face has lost it's fur. Or more simply, the center of my face starting from my muzzle resembles a cartoonish skeleton. At first, the excessive shedding had honestly concerned me, but by now, it almost feels normal? Perhaps it's another symptom. Wolf hadn't been infected during the first plague. The second, no-- or at least, not yet. This disease, apparently, can't be caught, like a cold or a flu, no. Only through the air; by contact from one of the bubbles. Thankfully, I won't have to worry about infecting anyone. I couldn't put anymore guilt on my shoulders. It's enough as is. But enough already. Our break is just about over, and we have a way ahead of us.