EntiQuest [OLD]

by Sputniik

CHAPTER 8

It was funny, really.

While the two younger 'humans' had gathered around the front-yard outside in an enclosed circle, Twilight had found herself sitting obediently on one of the dozens of cots that lined this strange house. Funny, also, how the owner had made the simple decision of lining half of their living room with mattresses stood upon countless stacks of cinder-blocks.

It was certainly comfortable, Twilight couldn't deny, and so she obeyed whoever it'd been that had ordered her to stay in place, while the two sat in the cool, damp grass in the rain outside.

Wait.

Oh good, you're awake! How did you sleep, my little sleeping beauty?

"It's back; I see," Twilight announced to no-one in particular, placing her head between her fore-hooves. "Please, whatever it is, just leave me alone.."

I would think you'd know a bit better than that, Princess.

Suddenly, the dark aura faded off; as if it'd never been there in the first place.

It had never been there in the first place, had it, though?

Twilight grimaced, raising her head enough to see past the ruffles of the old blanket. It was pretty evident that she'd been lead here by this parasite.. and it sent a shiver up her spine, as the realization that the... thing, could manipulate her mind any way it wanted.
It was feeding off of her soul, devouring her mind, her thoughts, her knowledge, slowly.

She was being dragged right through a path of fire, and there was just about no turning back.

Shaking her head briskly to rid of the thoughts that clouded her mind, Twilight rose to a sitting position, her eyes dodging immediately over to the side window. Rain pattered the glass, a few flickers of white in the distance, deep rumbling..
The damp scent of fresh precipitation leaked through the cracks of the rotting walls, carrying a whiff of moss along with it, topping off the weather-y reveal with a bright, red cherry.

A storm.

The storm.

The storm, it just felt all too... familiar.

Twilight twitched, fighting back the urge to scurry after the two boys outside. Biting her lip in some sort of eager frustration, she brushed closer to gain a better view of the outdoors, pressing one side of her face to the glass.
Her gaze first ran over Daniel, legs crossed, focusing on the invisible circle he made up half of. And there was someone else, someone she couldn't exactly place her hoof over, but she knew this one; he was certainly a friend.

Her eyes followed around the dirt circle, over and over again, following the muddy cycle like a game. The draw pulling her outside grew only much stronger, beckoning her outside in a desperate call.
"Wh-what am I--"

She'd caught herself before her body had made complete contact with the floor.

Biting her tongue again, in self-frustration, Twilight stiffly worked her way back up onto the mattress, pouting a bit as she glared outside again.

A fore-hoof pressed against the foggy window, tracing abstract shapes into the mist. There was something familiar about this, too.

Retracting her hoof with a sudden speed, Twilight groaned, prancing across the collective cots anxiously.

She was not to move, not even a little bit. Because... because Dipper had said so.

Yes, it was Dipper, wasn't it? The... the younger boy with the tree hat. Yes, the tree hat!

The boy with the tree hat was her friend-- D-Dipper, yes. He had told her to stay. To stay put and not to move a muscle. And Twilight had disobeyed. Her ears pinned back at the thought.

Swerving around to face the window again, Twilight cocked her head in burning wonder. Why was the tree-hat friend sitting with the boy that was not her friend-- D-Daniel, yes.
It didn't make sense.

"It certainly doesn't..." Twilight wondered aloud, her head buzzing at the sound of her own voice. "I would never have thought those two as acquaintances, not in a thousand moons,"

Maybe because they were... different.

"No, not in that way..." Twilight groaned, tightening her jaw, "They look different... Dipper was... he was a human, right?"

It was a bit understandable, Twilight had wanted to admit to herself, but there was something nagging her in the corners of her mind. She'd missed out on something. Something important. Something the pest didn't want her to remember.

Maybe that was why there were golden horns growing out the side of her face.

Reflexively lifting a foreleg to caress her neck, her breath hitched, as there was, indeed, a set of horns by her jaw. Her initial reaction was to remove her foreleg and to forget her discovery as a whole. But a thought crept inside her head.
Dipper wasn't normal.
Daniel was... less, normal.
She didn't recall Dipper being apart of their journey, either.
She didn't remember having left the Nowhere, either.
She couldn't recollect the events between the falling of the old lab and the venturing of the forest.
But there were the scars left beneath her fur, constantly took her mind around a roller-coaster of memories, of the monsters in the lab that had chased her down.
And then the remembrance stopped.
Because the parasite, the virus, in her body, it was cutting out events like the mistakes in a movie. It was watching her, overhead as the director, making sure it's story was following the script.

Which...

Which meant she was vulnerable.

More vulnerable than ever.

Something inside her snapped.

"I don't understand!" Twilight howled in exasperation, "I don't understand, I don't understand!"

She glared shakily at the hooves presented before her face, watching in mild horror as even her own two forelegs appeared foreign. The edged of her vision crumbled, as everything in plain sight was clearer, yet duller than ever. Her body contracted, as she found herself in a spineless ball on the floor.

The tears that sprouted from the corners of her eyes fell,
"I don't understand..."

But you know who does?

The mare only ducked her head further into her chest, hoping to drown out the noise.

Oh, It sounded irritated, don't be that way. After all, I have the answers you wanted, yes, right here in your little head.

"..."

You were not wrong Princess; those little unneeded thoughts in the back of your head are quite a prize, oh, for something like me all cooped up in here, aha.

Twilight gasped in discomfort, as the sensation swept to the front of her mind, it's echoing voice only nagging her more.

Hellooo? Can you here me over here?

"Stop it, stop it, stop, stop, stop..." she wailed, "I don't want to do this anymore! Please...! Please, let me go..."

Perhaps I can grant you a small favor... It had shifted back into the mere corners of her mind again. Or, perhaps... a little trade!

It sounded hysterical, and almost, overjoyed.

Yes, yes, a trade we shall do, precious stone! Would you like to make a trade?

Twilight had remained silent, running her glance across the floor, scanning the flecks of dust the were scattered and tangled under the cots. She opened her mouth, as if to contemplate her thoughts, but quickly shut her maw with a snap.
There was an echoed giggle in her head again.

It IS a yes, isn't it, Princess? You said so in your head! Oh, I am just bursting with happiness!

"Fine." Twilight swallowed, gathering herself back up, leaning against the end of one of the window-cots. "What's your bargain,"

Oh, it's quite simple; I want... your 'humanity'.

"M-my..."

I return for, say, a portion of your forgotten memories? Or maybe some answers? Yes, some truthful answers, anything you wish to know.

Twilight shut her eyes wistfully, "I... don't know what you mean..."

Oh, don't play silly-filly with me, Princess. Humanity--

The darkness that had clouded her vision had shut Twilight in, now glancing out, into a midst of black. The black clouds shifted away as if on command, revealing the form of an older pegasus. Fluttershy.

Humanity, Princess... Is not one's physical being,

The butter yellow pegasus, in the blink of an eye, had transformed before her eyes, into the younger, shy filly, who glanced down in horror at the sight of the shadow beneath her hooves.

Nor is it the ability to be born as a human.

It is the make-up of the soul, or, the Spirit, that keeps your body alive.

The younger Fluttershy was again replaced by the older mare, who glared at her surroundings, wings unfurled and shielding her body from the invisible enemy. The staff rested on her rump, as if her only force of power and protection.

The physical body and state can change, but the soul is quite unchanging.

But sometimes, people aren't all that lucky..

An inkish black claw that matched in with the darkness around it, caressed the neck of the pegasus. Fluttershy had dropped her staff, closing her eyes momentarily and leaning her head towards the hand as if to nuzzle it back. But the hand betrayed her.
Phasing through her chest, the claw picked at the white, glowing substance, phasing it out of her chest, as the lifeless mare lost her footing, and collapsed.

Death.

Twilight swallowed again, forcing her body stationary.

The spirit can be stolen, if the body isn't strong enough to repel forces from feeding on it. WE are quick to act.

Along with the spirit goes the humanity.

The hand revealed itself, in the form of a shadowy silhouette, with four glowing white eyes, it stared at it's claw which the spirit clung to, as if desperate not to fall.

Suddenly it was all too clear.

The spirit needed a body to keep it stabilized.

The spirit would die.

And once feasted on, it gains a new home.

The creature greedily fed off the spirit, quickly encasing itself with a matching aura.

The scenes clouded away to black yet again.

Twilight sat gaped, as she was met with plain darkness again. She fished for words, something, anything... Instead she became the fish, as her mouth mocked one, opening and closing in pattern-like. Shaking her head briskly, the mare was eventually able to form a reply.

"Why..." Twilight breathed, now consciously trying to remove her hooves from the black abyss that made as a floor. "Why, would you show me this? All you seemed to be interested in is setting me on the edge; you ate away at my memories..."

It's quite simple, Princess, The voice replied, I want you to know what I want; I want you to see the fine print of this little deal of ours.

I want you to know how I desperately crave just a little piece of your spirit...

"My humanity..." Twilight trailed off, raising a hoof to her chest.

Three answers, Princess... anything in the world...

The alicorn's breathing had skipped a step. Was a deal like this truly worth it?

"A-anything," Twilight mused, shuddering at the sense that brought up a wicked smile of the voice's face, one she could not see, but rather, feel.
"Anything I need the answer for-- you'll reveal to me, the truth,"

It came off more as a command than the intended question. But there was a long silence, before Twilight had realized the voice might have been regretting the making of the deal.

Oh, Princess, you just love to push my buttons, don't you. Haven't I made it clear before? If it's a deal, we both gain what we want. All I ask you is a small favor...

Twilight remained still.

She closed her eyes, squeezing them tight, feeling the presence of the parasite loosen.

Fine, oh, fine. You have until cold season to respond to me. If you continue to ignore me...

There was a faint and fading laugh.

I'll kill you.

---

---

Danny glanced down at the dirt-turned-mud circle that was being crafted into the dirt.

It was still raining, and although anyone would expect a thirteen-year-old who had just barely survived a flood and recently recovered from pneumonia, Dipper had taken it upon himself to hunt for the most decent stick in the woods.

It had honestly confused Danny at first (and frankly, concerned him) that Dipper had dragged him outside in the midst of a brewing storm to go... summon the devil or something.

At least it's what it looked like.

Around the circle were poorly crafted symbols that were almost familiar to the older teen. It was just... too unclear to be able to make out.

Danny snapped back into reality as a grunt of frustration caught his attention, in unison with a stick smacking the side wall of Ivor's house.

“So…” Danny had started, pulling the hood over his head as the storm began picking up, “Do you just
make pentagrams in the dirt on a daily basis, or…”

“No, not normally,” he’d replied, now retracing a much larger circle into the mud. “This is something I only
do during dire situations,”

"But now?"

If he was given a response or received some sort of reply, it was silent and subtle. Dipper had already continued remaking the little dirt symbols, now in an uncomfortable silence. The sudden tension in the air was suffocating, as Dipper had trudged around the area in a quicker pace, one that would only describe as discomfort.

And the silence he returned, burned with the raw stench of 'I don't want to talk about this right now.'

But Danny narrowed his eyes hiding a cold shiver as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"Dipper,"

"Ah, what?" He didn't turn around, but rather, stayed frozen in place with his back turned towards him. The stick was tight in his fists.

"Come on,"

It was a simple phrase that even Twilight herself couldn't comprehend. But Dipper had understood something, and his hold on the stick became a deathgrip.

Then he let go.

"Fine." He'd rolled his eyes, turning away from the window. "Here, look,"

Scampering over to one of the closer trees, Dipper's hands fell over a tattered leather book, and retrieved it, holding it in front of his chest for display.

"I... think I may have found our cure."

Real frickin awesome comic piece by LuneRemika on DeviantArt

Author's Note:

Some things I beleive need to be acknowledged for the entirety of ETQ:

-Dipper's somehow a cervitaur
-Danny's somehow a werewolf
- Twilight lost memory of the past few days
-Ivor.
-But this isn't an alternate timeline.

Also, I feel this chapter was rushed--
I really hope it isn't.
This was literally finished at 1AM, so I really hope I'm not being delusional

Comments

[Misty Spell]

9477370
His eyes of ghost, a claw-tipped hand
He slimes and waits for the day he had planned. ?

[Sputniik]

9490548
_{pretty close}

[Misty Spell]

9490774
Is it smiles then?

[Sputniik]

9490802
y e p