EntiQuest [OLD]

by Sputniik

CHAPTER 5

It was... dark.

Hard to see much anything, and it was just about impossible to generate an amount of light for myself that won't wake up the others. It had been a long day; crossing the murky part of the woods in order to get to where we were now. And I, myself, was tired, as well.

Not to mention the fact that I have little control over any magic since... since I'd hit my head, as I had been told. Just a little amnesia, which honestly, doesn't properly add up to me at all. But I believe that's a situation to ponder over another time.

The path separates Wolf and I from Daniel, who's found his own spot beneath the trees to rest for the night. I'd refrained for the first time I can remember, from counterpoling him any further, since our little conversation bubbles had grown tense.

After eyeing him for a while, I curled up by Wolf and shut my eyes. No, fake sleeping wasn't something I'd applaud to, but I knew falling asleep was hopeless in my case, and Daniel wouldn't shut an eye until we were all out. It felt almost like some form of remorse that throbbed in the back of my head.

So, almost regretfully, I relaxed my position and stabilized my breathing, and while hoping that maybe, the soothing sounds of the forest would somehow lull me to sleep. But... something was different-- something was off, I should say, as I shifted my position in the grass.

Sleeping outside was about a natural thing, by now. I just didn't get what felt so wrong and almost... almost filthy, about sleeping outside at night, in the short damp grass beneath the ominous shadows of the mighty trees that towered over us.

I-I know, I’m being silly...

It was something I had heard in my ear like a devilish whisper, almost in the form of a question. I didn't like the dark? Did I? I perked up at the buzz of my thoughts quarreling, as the realization that I had just about no idea what I so greatly feared-- I didn't know what was so scary.

I twisted in the opposite direction, my face once facing the somber green silhouette of the bushes to the sleeping form of Daniel, who's head rested limply on his shoulder, his sweater the only blanket, so his arms had been pulled out of the sleeves and were crossed over his chest beneath the fabric.

I softly rose to a sitting position. At least he's getting some rest. The wind bristled my fur as I felt a chilly breeze glide through the path like a wanderer, sprinting through the woods. I frowned, as the scent of rain scurried along behind the wind. Wolf's ear twitched as I brushed past him and padded through the trail; the way the breeze had come from.

Just as I had stepped hoof out of the more 'foresty' potion of the track, I glanced up at the now fully clear, midnight sky. The crescent moon was just barely visible, above the grey clouds, lined with a moonlit white that made the storm clouds almost majestic looking. I could see the rest of the river-- the river that I hadn't seen since the start of our trek. The stream flowed calmly between rocks and stones, and roots that struck out from the sides of the water.

I felt my legs give out beneath me. I plopped into the dirt as sleep caught up, quite overdue. The burst of dust clouds fogged my vision, as I lay my head in the rising dirt. Eyes shut and the world around me went dark, as I sacrificed my mind-- over to Rest. The sounds of the forest night filled the air; chirping, clicking, scattering and hooting..

I popped open an eye, raising my head as the rest of my body stayed suspended to the ground, as if everything else was already asleep.

I scanned the pale, orange-shaded trees, as my eyes fell on a form perched on a thin line-- a branch-- of the tallest of the many trees. It’s head was bathed in the moonlight, as it ruffled it’s feathers and stared down at me with it’s fierce, golden eyes. I squinted at the creature, as it waddled into the spotlight-- an owl.

It ‘hooted’ at me, quietly, as I was just barely able to hear it’s call. Cocking it’s head, chest puffed out, it outstretched it’s wings, as if signaling to fly off. His body I only watched, as the air was sliced by thin wing-tips, as it took flight into the night sky, the white light sparkling his coat of feathers, as if the luminescence was not from the moon, but the owl itself.

It was like the sky faded around him, as his light, silver form glided further into the distance. The darkness tried to snip and snap at his feathery hide, and soon, his grey blur was all that was visible.

The edges of my vision darkened like a deep, dark abyss, and so I let go, plunging into the unconsciousness as it swallowed me; sleep.

I heard a bolt of energy coarse through the sky, as a flash of white flickered behind my eyes. There was a shriek of pain, and then the sound of something plowing into the patch of trees.
But that was just silly.

I felt a smile, as I rolled onto my side, at the phantasmal sounds my sleep-deprived mind had formed.

Sleep was nice.

“Twilight, Twilight....!” the familiar voice hollered. “T-- where are you?”

I blinked a few times, the corners of my vision burning. I widened my eyes, straining to make out anything in the night. No, no... this wasn’t just night, was it?

My lips quivered, as I hesitantly returned the call. “W-who’s there?” I was finally able to choke out. “Show yourself.”

I could see a faint light, just now, signifying that there was, indeed, someone out there.

“Oh... oh, Twilight, I’ve been searching for you!” The voice was loud and clear, and easy to make out, but something nagged at my hide as I took a tentative step forwards. I swallowed my heart back to where it belonged, as I was finally able to muster,

“F-Fluttershy...?”

It was clear now, as the darkness clouded away like the calm after the storm. The path, sparkling blue from the luminescent moonlight, the trickling river and the shining scales of fish, the lush trees that varied from dark green to sunset orange. And Fluttershy.

“Twilight, th-there you are!” the butter-yellow mare scampered down the trail, her hooves clicking as she skidded over pebbles. “I don’t have much time, but--”

Suddenly I leapt back, a few good hoof-steps. I scowled darkly, lowering my head as I slowly backed away.

“Who are you really...?” I muttered, involuntarily baring my teeth. “Y-You’re not Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy immediately skidded to a halt, as stone tumbled past her legs. She straightened her posture, head high, as she revealed her mighty stature. It suddenly came to mind that she wasn’t the timid little filly I remembered.

“Twilight...” she padded closer, holding out her foreleg.

I glanced back distrustingly, brows furrowed in confusion, as I backed a bit further than I should have.

I felt the ground disappear beneath my hind-legs. I yelped in surprise, twisting around and facing a world of a black abyss. It bubbled dangerously, as I scrambled back onto the path.

Fluttershy stared horrifyingly, as a fell to my stomach, in almost terror. She stomped back down her foreleg into the dust, as I opened an eye, her hoof blurring the majority of my vision. Then I noticed...

“Oh.” I sighed, embarrassed.

Writing in proud bold, black writing on the tip of her foreleg, was her identification mark.

“Nothing to be ashamed of,” she smiled, offering a hoof up. “But as I had--”

“How on EARTH are you here? Is someone else watching the barrier? W-where even is the--”

“Twilight, please, I don’t--”

“Where’s Spike? Is he okay? I-I’m sorry about... about leaving you and--”

Before another rebuttal was fired, something else shot in the distance. The pegasus gasped, as the darkness closed in on us, the rivers now swallowed by It. I glanced at her desperately, inching away from the body of water.

“Twilight, listen.” a loud rumbling erupted from below, as she danced nervously on her hooves. “There isn’t much time! I... I need to warn you of something!”

She closed the space between us, as the world began crumbling, and vanishing into thin air. She nudged my shoulder trustingly, the way she did whenever I left home.

“Flurry Heart, y-you remember her?” I nodded mutely.

“W-e found who is responsible. D-” she cut herself off, as the thunderous rumbling rose above her voice. “Him! He’s trying to... trying to restrain me, Twilight!”

“What? Wh- who? Fluttershy, if--” I cried over the sound, as her opacity... was going away...

And apparently, so was she.

“Twilight, He knows! He knows, he knows! H-he wants to kill me!”

My heart leapt at the urgency wavering in her voice, hot tears streaming down her soft face, her light pink bangs hiding her missing eye, and what I believed, the rest of her desperate tears.

“I won’t.. let... Him, do this! Fluttershy, stop whatever it is, now! I can’t loose you!”

She bit her lip, fighting back cried of agony, I could sense. She briskly shook her head, as if fighting with herself. Then she gasped out, “Then wake up! Wake up Twilight, or he’ll kill me!”

I had promptly noticed my body was immobile, as I felt the force of this... of Him pull me into this body of darkness, prickling the fur on my back.
‘Wake up, Twilight. Wake UP, Twilight!’ I chanted in my head, as I watched the deathly claws of the Darkness wrap it’s fingers around her throat. It was pulling her in...

“Twilight! TWILIGHT! He-help me!” she shrieked, as her hair clung to the sticky mass like tar, and the rumble grew into a hysterical laughter.

‘WAKE UP, TWILIGHT, WAKE UP!’

Author's Note:

I've officially set my update schedule:
New chapters should be posted twice a month

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