Notes of a Researcher

by Kanthaka

Rating: teen
Tags: Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Original Character, Mystery, Death
Length: 1858

A cryptic entry notes from an unknown researcher

Day 1st, 3rd Month. "This strange book I discovered could be a great supplement to my research notes. Ponies are truly fascinating creatures."

My first experimental story. Criticism is welcomed.

Published 2023-01-23 20:40:01 UTC
Last updated 2023-01-25 10:33:25 UTC

3rd Month and 4th Month

Day 12th, 3rd Month

The drones brought a new batch of test subjects.

I took an unicorn mare in her 30s.

Her name is Blue Nova.

Her magic is quite strong after we examine her further.

Day 21st, 3rd Month.

We gave her quite powerful shock therapy as a form of torture to see how she could conjure her magic under extreme stress.

If she is proven strong enough, then she will be the best for genetic material and magic extraction.

Day 30th, 3rd Month.

The extraction process was successful.

We sent Blue Nova's corpse to the cremation team as planned.

All we need now is a Pegasus and an Earth Pony.

Hopefully, the drones will bring some of them soon enough.

Day 5th, 4th Month.

It turns out, Blue Nova has a filly daughter who managed to follow her mother into this place.

The drones managed to snatch her quickly and bring her to me.

It's a shame that she's not as strong as her mother.

I have no choice but to terminate her because she cannot conjure her own magic anymore.

Day 12th, 4th Month.

I report my progress to Lord Glycon.

However, he does not appear to be satisfied with the outcome.

Thankfully, he promised us to abduct some local ponies for our research.

The drones are terrifyingly silent and efficient at snatching the ponies from their homes.

Day 20th, 4th Month.

This time, the drones were able to capture an elderly Pegasus.

He curses so much that I have to silence him with mute magic.

The way he flapped his wings and trying to escape its a helpful hint for his magic power if measured.

Day 25th, 4th Month.

Another successful extraction of genetic material and magic from that elderly Pegasus.

His old body could not survive during the extraction, so all that's left is his skeleton and ashes.

Save me the trouble of sending him to the cremation team.

5th Month and 6th Month

Day 1st, 5th Month.

Lord Glycon is pleased with the result.

All we need now is an Earth pony.

The intelligence team suggested the drones to snatch one from the Lumber family.

They have the strongest magical affinity of earth themselves.

Hopefully the drones are not in trouble enough to kidnap one of them.

Day 7th, 5th Month.

The elite drones swiftly snatched an Earth Pony colt from the Lumber family.

Thankfully, the colt is not as noisy as Blue Nova's daughter, though he might be too scared to do anything reckless.

Day 15th, 5th Month.

I found something interesting yesterday : Apparently, Earth Pony can produce a lot of magic essence if they endure an extreme measure of pain and torture, which is excellent for getting a successful extraction.

Forceful tooth removal is a good method for this, as the colt reeks out the magic essence to heal the pain of having his tooth removed.

Day 22th, 5th Month.

Extraction complete.

In the end, I had to forcefully remove all the colt's teeth to get the maximum result.

Sent his dead body to the cremation team as usual.

Now that we have the genetic and magical material of an Unicorn, a Pegasus, and an Earth Pony, the Amalgamation Project will begin.

Day 30th, 5th Month.

The purpose of the Amalgamation Project is to create an Alicorn through artificial means.

By fusing the genetic and magical material of the Unicorn, Pegasus and Earth Pony, we will be able to extract the substance we need to construct and mold the design of Alicorn that we want.

This was one of Lord Glycon's goals that needed to be achieved at all costs.

If possible, we can create an Alicorn that is even more powerful than Celestia and Luna.

Day 5th, 6th Month.

Although the initial results of this amalgamation were not what we were looking for, we discovered a true miracle.

Instead of the Alicorn that we originally designed, we ended up creating an entire new type of pony.

This new type of pony is able to shift their own body into either Unicorn, Pegasus, or Earth Pony under certain conditions.

We are quite proud that we managed to discover the fourth type/tribe of pony.

All of the researchers found the perfect name for these artificial ponies that are able to shift between three types of ponies :

Shiftling.

Day 10th, 6th Month.

We temporarily stop the Amalgamation Project to further observe the Shiftlings as Lord Glycon ordered.

One thing to remember that they are not Changelings.

Changelings are born in their true insect form, with equine-like characteristics and the ability to shapeshift into any creature later on.

Shiftlings are ponies through and through; they have been to change their physical form entirely of their own choosing between Unicorn, Pegasus, or Earth Pony since their creation.

While Changelings have the ability to transform into anything they want, their magic and attributes are less effective when compared to genuine beings.

Shiftlings can fully utilize the magic and characteristics of the ponies they've been transformed into, but it seems they can't shift into anything other than those three types of ponies.

Even with Changeling Detector devices or spells, the Shiftlings are still identified as a genuine ponies.

Day 16th, 6th Month.

The Shiftlings are surprisingly obedient, if not a bit rebellious.

Though they act like normal ponies, they are more phlegmatic and composed.

They had already earned their cutie mark since the moment they were created.

Their cutie marks are always in the shape of a Triskelion, a Triquetra, or any type of triangular symbol, signifying their nature to be able to shift between three types of ponies.

Day 23th, 6th Month.

We held an experiment to see if they could ascend into an Alicorn.

It turns out to be impossible.

When we maximize their magical abilities, they can temporarily gain the power of an Alicorn, as well as features like unicorn horns, pegasus wings, and earth pony strength, but they ALWAYS lose control of themselves.

They start firing magical beams from their horns, creating tornadoes with their wings, and breaking through the facility walls with their strength.

We had no choice but to terminate them after the extent of the damage they caused.

We still have a few Shiflings in the containment cell, but I think they will stay there for a long time since their purpose is mundane research.

7th Month and 8th Month

Day 2nd, 7th Month.

When we taught them Equestrian language, these Shiftlings picked it up quickly.

They are able to communicate with the others normally like ponies once they finish their language learning session, especially with the other Shiftlings.

If we released them into the land of Equestria, the ponies there wouldn't even notice the differences.

Day 30th, 7th Month.

Me and my stupid jinx. I should have noticed it sooner.

The Shiftlings were secretly conspiring behind our backs all along. They managed to shut down all the power of the facilities and disable the entire drone guards.

Not only that, they also helped the kidnapped ponies escape the facilities. Teaching them how to communicate is a bad idea.

Now here I am, with no test subject ponies since the Shiftlings already helped them break free, no Shiftlings since all of them ran away with the other kidnapped ponies, and no progress at all in Amalgamation Project for creating the artificial Alicorns.

I was surprised, however, that the Shifting has compassion and a kind heart to help the other ponies.

Day 5th, 8th Month.

Of course Lord Glycon was absolutely furious with the escaping Shiftlings and the captured ponies.

It sends shivers down my spine every time I remember what Lord Glycon is going to do to us if this incident happens again.

We have no choice but to temporarily hold everything in this place until we establish a new research facility.

The current one has already taken too much damage and been exposed to outsiders as a result of the shiftlings and former captive ponies escaping.

I will bring this book with me, just in case.

Day 17th, 8th Month.

While I took some time to rest, I wrote a summary of the Shiftlings.

It might be useful for the future, especially when we have the time to hunt them down.

Here are the following important points that should be noted about them :

The Shiftlings were recently discovered through the failure of the Amalgamation Project.

The Shiftlings are officially documented as the fourth type or tribe of ponies in our records.

The Shiftlings are able to shift their physical form into either an unicorn, a pegasus, or an earth pony.

The Shiftlings are able to wield magic in accordance with the physical form they've transformed into.

The Shiftlings are not Changelings; they are 100% pure ponies.

The Shiftlings gained their cutie mark the moment they were created. It's always in the shape of a triskelion, triquetra, or other triangular symbol, representing their ability to shift between three different types of ponies.

The Shiftlings are not advised to ascend into Alicorns because they cannot fully control their Alicorn form.

The Shiftlings are mostly distinguished by their phlegmatic temperament, though some Shiftlings have been observed to exhibit other temperaments.

The Shiftlings may manifest indifference on the outside, but they are shown to have compassion on the inside.

The Shiftlings are quite fast learners, especially in cognitive knowledge.

Day 26th, 8th Month.

Lord Glycon ordered us to seal away the facility and put all the current research in one giant archive.

He also told us to destroy any magical properties that are not related to the research, including this book that I am writing right now.

But I won't; it's too valuable as a backup of our record.

So I will put this book in my personal drawer and lock it. This is going to be my last entry in the notes.

I hope the one who discovers this book will be our own.

10th Month (Epilogue)

I found this book in one of the researchers' personal drawers.

The first part of previous entries is about the abduction of the ponies as their test subjects and their abhorrent experiments on them afterwards.

The rest of the entries are about us, the Shiftlings.

I will never forget what they did to us and the rest of the captured ponies.

The ponies suffered just to create the likes of us.

Helping and rescuing everyone who is still imprisoned in the other active facilities around the world is the only way to repay those who couldn't make it out alive.

This book will serve as a personal record of my experiences as well as a reminder of our existence.

Author's Note

I include an epilogue in case I decide to write a new story about the Shiftling.