False Euphoria

They flow consistently, an endless array of colors, the beautiful rainbow rivers of Cloudsdale. I watch them flow off into the depths; a euphoric state engulfs me. It helps me forget the pain of my incompetence and failures. My name is Spectrum, which is a rather odd for being a black-haired, gray-skinned pony. The colors of my fellow pegasi, of the rainbows, it makes me happy. I love color; though the only color on me is my rustic orange eyes, which are slightly hidden by my glasses. Anyway I digress; the issue is I have yet to get my cutie mark; which is pretty pathetic for my age. Though that isn’t such a big issue right now; my next flight exam is coming up, and like usual I’m prepared; physically. It’s just that my confidence is only a bit better than Fluttershy’s. And I emphasize bit. I’m usually detached from the others, and I tend to keep to myself. By doing this I’ve noticed irregular occurrences happening that to most may seem minute. Such as sets of light patterns in the night sky or distortions in the air. Ever since the battle with Discord, reality seemed…flawed; or maybe I just never noticed before.

Anyway, I have my flight exam tomorrow; no need to think harder than whats needed.

I departed the next morning with my sister, Clavier, an orange Pegasus and pianist in Cloudsdale. We were on our way to the exam.  to the examination course.  At first, little was spoken until an important question came to mind.

“You think waffles would go good with ramen?” I asked my sister. She looked genuinely confused.

“That has to be the most random question I’ve ever heard.” Clavier said in a melodramatic tone. She rolled her eyes and flew ahead. I kept my casual pace, pondering.  I honestly thought they would go good together. I like ramen and waffles. I accidentally bumped into somepony while in this deep thought. A flash of vivid color before me.

It was Rainbow Dash.

Well damn.

“Whoops, sorry about that Rainbow.” I gave a weak smile, making a squee sound. “Oh, it’s alright Spectrum. So, you going to pass this time or do we have to throw you in the Rainbow Factory?” She laughed a bit. I grimaced, even though that place was folklore.

Right?

“Heheh.. Yeah, 9th time’s the charm right? If I can just calm my nerves, I’m sure can do it.” Though I can barely keep calm now, Rainbow was one of my idols; alongside Lulz, a pegasus musician he met a long time ago.

Also her mane is freakin’ rainbow colored. C’mon man.

“Well, I gotta head over there now. Meetin’ up with the Wonderbolts. Good luck out there!” Rainbow then flew off, leaving a rainbow trail behind her. I continued to walk there, seeing I was in no rush; well, not in my mind. Cloudsdale seemed fluid with activity, even those who weren’t attending today’s fight exam were busy going about their business. It was always fun to just look around, take life in a little. For some reason, I caught a shape in my peripheral vision. That’s when I saw it. A face, in one of the clouds; devoid of expression. It’s eyes were sunken in and it’s skin was pale and flaky. It held a stare, it didn’t seem to breath. I felt a wave of fear fall over me. I couldn’t move.

W-What the shi-

“Hey, are you ok?” a Pegasus touched my shoulder. I was caught off guard. “MOTHERBUCKING SON OF CELESTIA- oh hey… Umm… you.  sorry about that. Heheh..” I looked back at the cloud. Predictably, it was gone.

Well, that was a bit weirder than the usual stuff.

“C’mon, stop taking your time and get to the examination course! You’re in it right? They’re startin’ soon!” I flew off with him, thinking about what I saw.

Whatever that was, I’ll cross that bridge when I get there.

The course looked amazing, like usual. And the pegasi were all in their places already along the starting line; eager for what lies ahead, along with many spectators from around Cloudsdale and probably Manehattan. I settled into my “lane” and prepared my goggles. Ok Spectrum, swallow your nerves. You got this. I tuned everything out and focused on the mission at hand. I will win this race. Pass the exam. Maybe even earn some respect from Rainbow. I heard the countdown, the suspense was rising. I ignored everyone; everything. Nothing will get to me, not now.

“LEEEEEEROY WINGKINNNSSS!!” I yelled as the exam began.

Everypony started off, ripping through the course at admirable speeds. At least I think they were; I was too busy winning so hard to notice. I just gotta push forward and believe in myself. Yeah. Just ignore everyone here.

Just keep them out of mind. Block them out.

A few moments later, I see that face again. It appeared in front of me so quickly I freaked out, crashing into a cloud. It was a soft crash, but still enough to catch me. I blew out a puff of cloud, irritated.  Other examinees flew past in a quick wisp. I blink a few times to try and keep focused.

Dammit. What the hell IS that!?

I tried catching up, pushing speeds near the speed of sound; but I soon came to a stop. One of the pegasi flew behind me; ripped in half. Entrails became caught around my neck.  I was frozen in place, blood speckled on my face and mane.

W-What just-?

The rest of the pegasi high-tailed it, their screams pulled me out of his shock. I saw the face again except it had a full body; pale pink tentacles began shooting from its abdomen. They seemed to come from a fresh wound; blood poured endlessly.  A black aura surrounded it. It didn’t have a horn or wings, yet, it hovered there. Staring.

Well. Buck this.

I followed the others, trying to put as much distance between me and this asshole as possible. I never saw it following me, but I didn’t care. I just kept flying, not even bothering to remove the intestines around my throat. When I got back to the course there was chaos in the air, pegasi were panicking and the Royal Guards seemed to already be here. I stood still, shaking. The blood dripping from my mane, I grew so distant I could hear the drops land on the clouds below. That face still pierced my mind; haunting me.

“Hey, Spectrum! What the hell happened over there!?”  Rainbow Dash was trying to shake me back to reality. “Wh-What? Oh… Hey Rainbow. Umm… Please. Sorry, I just… I need to get out of here. Before it comes back.” I managed, trying to move forward. Rainbow cut me off, “Before what comes back?” I looked at her, and paused, trying to come up with a description.

“The tentacle rape pony from limbo.” I stated, and, feeling that would suffice, began to leave again. Until that thing started pulling me through the clouds.

“WAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!” I screamed as it tried to take me under. I decided the best option was to pull back, so I grabbed its tentacles and ripped it from the cloud. Sharp blades emerged from the ends of them, forcing me to let go. Adrenaline flowed through my veins, I never hurt anything in my life, yet, I felt the only way out was to kill this thing. I noticed I still had the entrails on me, so, I decided to make use of them. I lunged toward the creature and quickly wrapped them around it’s neck.

Haha! Get some of this!

I pulled to try and choke it; then it ripped. Nasty substances fell to the floor, and there was a moment of awkwardness. The monster and I exchanged glances.

“Umm… heh, maybe we can settle this over a bowl of ramen-waffles?” I asked, before it grabbed me again. Blades ripped through my body, then I found myself drowning in one of the rainbow rivers. It began shoving me down; I was too weak to resist it. Blood seeped from my wounds and pierced the tranquility of the river.  In the midst of my struggle, I saw Rainbow fending off more of those creatures.

Go Rainbow… Use a chair… Wait, I don't ever recall having chairs in Cloudsdale...

It was my last thought before I slipped out of consciousness.