EntiQuest [OLD]

by Sputniik

CHAPTER 17

(Cont.)

With the beaker now out of her grasp, Danny glares at the bottle in his hands, then sends a hateful glance back at the mare.

"Fine. No looking."

Twilight sighed, raising a brow, "Daniel, this is absolutely--"

"Alright, wait." He held up his hands, the beaker still partially in his grasp, only now between two fingers. "Do you really think I'll do anything you ask me, if you don't at least go halfway with me here?"

Without another reply, Twilight complied begrudgingly, turning to face the opposite wall instead. Then a strange silence followed. The kind of silence that didn't really feel so quiet.

And for a long enough moment, had Twilight mesmerized, in deep thought. It was strange, at least until enough moments passed that she couldn't even tell how long she'd been sitting there, staring at the wall. It must've only been a couple seconds, though. Twilight was sure it was just another mind-trick-- from the Parasite, of course.

Opening her mouth to inquire, she left her jaw hanging and the words caught in her throat as a violent ting wiped the air. And now she knew-- when Twilight followed the sight of something blur across the room-- the shattered beaker in the corner of the closet-room.

It hadn't even been only shattered; it had split into so many pieces that most of it looked like white dust, and the rest was just a scattered pile of glass slips, like someone had swung a spiked bat at it. Over, and over.

Realization hit a bit too soon, when Twilight felt rage bubble up, and when she turned her head to face Danny, she cooled, when she saw no one there.

"I'll... find him later." Twilight confirmed to herself, getting back up on shaky hooves and leaving the closet behind. She'd have to inform Ivor of the mess, later.

It really must have been a long morning.

Because right after spotting Dipper, reading on his spot on the beds, she found Ivor, brewing some sort of stew, maybe, in the kitchen. She recognized certain patterns over the course of the few weeks, and Ivor definitely had a record for cooking in the pasta pot for lunch every Sunday. Maybe he was unaware of it, but Twilight had taken note. An interesting way to keep track of what day it was, without studying the stars, or using a calendar they were short of.

And during weekends, Dipper had always spent most of the day with his nose in the books, much like herself. And Daniel...?

"Ivor," Twilight shook herself from her thoughts, walking up to the deer-man.

Ivor jumped a bit, spinning around with the spoon in hand. He noticeably relaxed once his eyes met Twilight, placing a hand over his own shoulder.

"Oh, is there something wrong?"

Is that his first assumption?

"No-- I mean, yes," Twilight muttered, fumbling for the right words, "I mean, no... it's not necessary."

Ivor furrowed his brows, but seemed to let the matter go, quite easily. He nodded lightly, turning back to face the pot. "Well, if you need anything, just call. I'm always here if you need me."

"Well, actually... I've been meaning to talk to you about that..."

Twilight trailed off, awaiting some sort of reaction or reply-- anything. But Ivor seemed to be ignoring her, almost. Or maybe he just didn't hear her. She'd like to believe that. Twilight only took this as a sign to continue.

"See, you haven't been.... around, much... lately."

No response.

"Ivor," Twilight asked, quietly. "Where've you been going?"

That was when the half-deer stopped, seemingly a bit... frightened, maybe. He didn't turn, and didn't really move. He only stood there, looking down at his spoon, tapping at his palm.

"Well...: he breathed, and in hesitance, he stopped himself. "I mean, I know.

"And I am truly sorry if it feels like I'm abandoning you in any way. You three mean the world to me; and it's only taken me so long to realize that. But I'm protecting you. There's so much danger out there in these woods-- I wouldn't want you to-- any of you-- to get involved.

"But--" Glancing back up at Ivor, a look of hurt crossed over him like a dead glaze-- or maybe it was just dew in his eyes. Something was just too off-set about this. Because obviously, there was something more behind Ivor leaving the house, and not returning. Something about leaving his house that put anyone in danger, yet he always returned so scott-free?

And why did this loner who lives in the woods on his own want to take them in? What benefit did he get from this? Or was he just really desperate for company?

And Wolf and Rex-- Ivor knew them, and they knew Ivor. If he was so lonely, Wolf and the giant jackalope would surely stay with him, at least time to time, wouldn't they?

There were so many burning questions all of a sudden, making Twilight's head spin. But Ivor didn't want her to push on any further-- at least she was sure of that. So Twilight sighed, dipping her head.

"Right-- Alright," she finally stuttered out, "But don't believe I'm overlooking anything. If there's anyone you can talk to, it's me."

Ivor breathes a laugh of what sounded like relief, nodding his head and stirring the pot. "I'll make sure to keep note of that,"

And afterwards, it's like Twilight was never even there.

With a mental sigh, the mare prepared to turn towards the living room, only to catch a glimpse of a blur in the corner of her eye. Blinking, she stared for a moment as her eyes caught sight of Dipper speeding to the front door.

"Dipper," Twilight called out, "Where in Equestria are you going?"

He skidded to a stop right before the mat by the door, grabbing the door handle to stop himself from colliding with a wall. He flickered his gaze over, a slight pale.

"Uh, just for a walk--"

"You do know we are not permitted to leave the house without permission, right? Plus, you're still injured!" Twilight scolded, then added, "And didn't Daniel tell you to stay in bed?"

He only shrugged, groaning under his breath. "Come on, I can take care of myself. Besides, I heard Ivor was having trouble locating autumn berries, and I thought I might as well keep an.. eye or two out, y’know…?"

"No, I certainly do not know."

"Well, I do," he puffed out his chest again in some subtle manner, as if it was all on habit, "And I'm going to use that as an excuse to get some fresh air. You can stay cooped up inside as much as your heart desires."

Poorly hiding his limp, the deertaur slipped outside, leaving no room for another word. He picked up his hiking stick off the side of the porch and with audible clicks, he trekked off into the trees.
It was fairly bright out, anyway. So Twilight assumed it may have been best to leave the boy on his own this time.

He does know how to take care of himself, I suppose. He's more than enough proven it in the past.

But Daniel's my next mission. Where the heck is he...?

Turning back, Twilight found her way back to Ivor, who was sifting through the fridge. Not wanting to startle the man, she furrows her brows and waits, until Ivor shuts the fridge door, still slightly jumping when he noticed the mare behind the fridge.

"Ivor?" Twilight began. Placing down the sauce jar on the counter, Ivor raises a brow.

"Already? Uh, do you need anything?"

"Daniel," Twilight answered, "Uh, have you seen him?"

He pauses just a moment to turn down the dial on the stove-top, as if it required complete concentration to be able to do so. Then a look of concern crossed his features that made Twilight nauseous all over again.

"No, I don't recall. Is there something wrong?"

"Uh, no, no, of course not!" Twilight spilled hurriedly, waving a foreleg nonchalantly. "I... think he's just looking around... I'll go check on him."

Quickly trotting away, Twilight found herself back into the storage room, but of course, the halfa just simply wasn't there. Twilight groaned, pacing around, her eyes following the boxes and mess and shattered glass that decorated the floor, sure to avoid it, but not bothering to pick up a single shard.

"It's not like he can just... disappear into thin air!"

Twilight blinked. "I... forgot he could do that."

Glancing around just a bit more, as if she'd catch a glimpse of the boy in the closet somewhere she hadn't checked, Twilight soon enough found herself in Ivor's bedroom.

Discarding the papers that littered her path, Twilight furrowed her brows at the sight of the man's room. It was a terrible mess; More of a mess than anyone would expect from such a neat and organized guy like Ivor, who kept his bookshelves in order apparently more than his room.

There were clothes sprawled out over his floor and dresser, papers laying crinkled up on the floor, some boxes of cereal, it looked like, next to a trashcan he must've missed. Even the bed was left unspread, and a flashlight lay underneath it. A small one, though, about the size that could slip into a pocket, or even a ring-box. Maybe.

Twilight simply shook her head, poking into Ivor's closets, and of course, without a single trace of Danny. It was more than unfortunate how good he was at covering his tracks, considering he never even had to make a sound if he was leaving. But it'd happened enough times in the past for Twilight to figure out how Daniel worked, even though she often times forgot he wasn't just another taint like the rest of them.

But a shy chirp brought Twilight back to reality. She glanced over at a small blue jay, perched on the hanging lantern outside the window, twisting it's head around as if looking for something. It whistled again, before flying off where Twilight couldn't see.

Just below the window, on the sil, was a half-empty bag of bird food.

"I guess he never liked the idea of bird feeders," Twilight muttered, eyes catching the loose latch on the window afterwards.

Ivor had left the window open.

She smiled to herself, although her eyes held a glaze of suspicion. "Too easy..."

With a light chuckle, Twilight lifted the window, rush of pine scent filling the room. Slipping outside, she watched the small bird flutter away, and hurried off towards the cliffs.

Author's Note:

I might end up writing a Halloween Special episode, or something. I already have some promising ideas for that one. I may even skip an upload date just to make the October episode extra special.