//------------------------------//
// MISTAKES 
// Story: EntiQuest [OLD] 
// by Sputniik 
//------------------------------//

"Dipper...."

I listened intently on the ambient sound of my own hooves clicking against the wood floors and the howling breeze that rattled between the cracks of the front door. Ivor was asleep, and so I had the house to myself. Normally, I'd have made time in studying the physics of this world, or sift from book to novel for a cure to rehabilitate my magic. Only I hadn't been able to allow myself to relax since Dipper had run off. And without magic, I now realized how difficult it was to find something beyond the visual radius. And near hours of wood searching did nothing but dirty my pelt and burn precious daylight. 

Any earlier belief I'd had in Dipper had vanished, as now my only honest concern was for his safety. Whether he was... alive, or not. 
Childish, it seemed, but rational. 

"Where on earth are you...?"

I had half hoped my question would be miraculously answered, as my gaze sped to the door. It rattled, then settled again as the wind died down. At that, I felt an unusual chill frost over my bones and my blood flow cold. Nothing felt right about that sensation. It was as if my body were telling me to fear something, but my tired mind couldn't catch up.

Get some slumber, Princess. You are keeping me awake with your pestiferous thinking! Parasite had broken the silence.

My gaze flew over the room, squinting to adjust to the sudden illumination of the house as a cloud revealed the morning sun. A tip of the gaseous star was visible through a few distant autumn trees and faint hills at the horizon. And then it vanished again. Almost fascinating, outside of the current predicament. I felt tears prick my eyes as I was forced to adjust again, but this time I'd spun around and crept beneath the string of light that flickered to life again, vanishing when I had made way across the room. 

Here-- Ivor's books. 

Something about the unusual lighting of the living space, or maybe how the light reflected off the books, giving the dust some sort of luminescent glow, I hesitated. Almost without my own consent, my magic flickered, dragging one of the books off the shelf with a dull scratching until it tipped off, and exploded in a cloud of dust when it hit the floor. Only when the sound of the fall had echoed throughout the house, had I realized how... empty, it was.

That was when I realized I was alone.

A new sense of dread drowned me, every instinct in my body was screaming-- something was wrong. Something was truly, truly wrong.

I pressed a hoof against the cover, only in hopes to stop my trembling. I glanced behind me, scanning my eyes over the house. My gaze stopped at Ivor's door. 
Open. Empty.

Where in Equestria is everyone?

I levitated the book and shuffled only a bit further until I was sure the bedroom was abandoned. I was right-- but an ambient sound filled my ears that pulled me closer.

Flies? Bugs, maybe. White, sickly winged creatures buzzing over the bed, hungry and viscous. I swallowed, nausea overcoming me as I picked up the distinguishing smell of a rotting corpse. But nothing was there. Only the insects.

"Please... hurry."

But the voice wasn't mine. I spun around, heart in my throat and catching the sight of the flickering sunshine. Sun, that didn't illuminate the house. But instead flickered like a dry candle.

"Please, Twilight. Look at me." Something touched my shoulder and I cried out, my horn flickering loosely before I laid my sight on a figure now across the room. 

I threw my gaze to my own shoulder, the thumping of my heart sounding like an ocean in my ears. I looked back up-- and now she was in front of me.

"I'm sure it was only a mistake. We forgive you," This was Fluttershy, I was sure. My nerves had finally calmed.

"But, er... please don't blame him! I-It's not his fault--"

"Fluttershy...?" I croaked, still quivering, hoping I could at least lock with my friend's gaze. Only, it was as if she were never there. I was looking right through her.

"Fluttershy, what are-- I don't understand..." I shook my head. "No. Fluttershy, where are you? Wh-where am I?"


"I'm so sorry, Twilight! I can explain! Please, give him one more chance! I take the blame for everything-- all of it!" Tears left streaks down her face, more opaque than the pegasus, herself.

"It's all a bad dream, I promise! I can fix it! Please, let me fix it!" Fluttershy gave, and dropped to her stomach, screaming, yelling, and yet I couldn't make any sense of it. A bad dream, I was nearly sure. But why had she come to cry to me about... about something I couldn't understand?

I couldn't see her anymore, but I knew she was still there. Some sort of leftover ambiance of her cries remained, and had shaken me up again. And when I thought too much, I swore she was always still there, weeping at my hooves. I felt something wrap around my foreleg, and the sounds returned. So did Fluttershy.

"I'm so lost, Twilight!" her shouts were rasped, now. "I'm lost, and I can't go back home! I'm scared, Twilight, please don't hate me!"

I suddenly couldn't distinguish the muscles in my face-- I couldn't find myself to say anything. All I knew was that I was certainly no longer in the safety of my home, and this was certainly not Fluttershy.

Only, even with the satisfaction of having that knowledge, being completely aware of my surroundings and situation, another idea dawned on me as the noise seemed to dwindle, a chill coursed through my blood. 

This happened before.

The sense of familiarity hit me, and all of a sudden, my setting seemed so much more... surreal. Fluttershy was still there. I only heard her wails once my mind had wandered, and wound back to what I'd made out from her choked sobs. Only now, could I really hear her dreadful cries, and they blurred out all other noise until I could only hear her voice.

"I've gone through so much to get here, Twilight!" She finally released my hoof, only now she shrunk back, curled up in a tight ball. "I don't even want to be here! You made me come here, Twilight! And I wanted to get away!"

I remembered this. At least I knew that much. It was unclear, where, but I--

No, that surely couldn't have been it. Parasite wasn't here. I knew it wasn't. Wherever-- or whatever, this force was, it held the parasite out of my reach. And it's own. We were disconnected here. 

But why?

Why.

'Why' was an obtuse idea. 'How' was more reasonable question. Or 'who'. I must admit, I did have the slightest idea-- who. Ridiculous it seemed, again. But yes, reasonable.

The Epitome, maybe. Back at home it was almost taboo to think an idea such as that, but there were enough signs to prove it to me. Nopony had to know. 

The Epitome-- embodiments of people, I believe, made up of dark particles of Rovii, working as separate sentient beings to tell stories to it's malefactor in some sort of... a peaceful form of revenge, if that sounds right. It was all I could get my hooves on. Just enough for me to slip under the radar of the eagle-eyes of those townsponies. If they were to discover their highest in command, reading such illicit...

Nevermind. 

I'd hate to think of the consequences. 


Now awake, I'm sure, the book is still here. Fluttershy is gone, and there's an upside-down cresent dent on the cover of the book. And all the writing is still there.