Chromatophageby n3k1dsk1llzChaptersPrologue13 March 202014 March 202017 March 202018 March 202020 March 202022 March 202024 March 20205 April 20207 April 202020 April 202022 April 202025 April 202030 April 2020Epilogue21 March 202019 March 202023 March 202014 April 202024 April 2020PrologueCherry Jam was walking home from work, exhausted from a hard day in the Canterlogic Factory. She had some pep in her step, though, as it was the first of the month and summer was about to start. She could get herself a new swimsuit and relax on the beach this weekend. It wasn’t quite summer, but it was certainly warm enough. She began thinking of what type of suit she would want. A flashy red one would look good on her cream coat and match her bright red mane. A small clatter in the alley caught her attention. She looked and saw a pony standing over something on the ground looking like it was making out with it. It wouldn’t have been the first time she found a couple of ponies that couldn’t wait to get home. She was about to just shake her head in disapproval and walk away when she noticed the glow that began to appear on the standing pony’s sides. It was faint, probably only visible due to the dark of the alley. But very slowly, it grew brighter. Her curiosity grabbed hold and compelled her into the alley for a closer look. As quietly as she could, Cherry made her way into the alley to observe this strange glowing pony. The glow was so beautiful, she couldn’t look at anything else. Her hoof kicked a piece of paper. It sounded like a drum parade in the dead silence and the glowing pony whipped it’s head up to find Cherry mere feet away. The same glow from the pony’s sides was dripping from its mouth, yet somehow more vibrant. Like it was more exposed. It stared at Cherry Jam with brilliant blue eyes that invited the mare closer. She took a small step forward, but stopped as a drop of that shining liquid fell from the mysterious pony’s mouth. Cherry’s eyes followed it and watched it splash onto the fur of the pony on the ground. The pale, nearly colorless pony. That wasn’t natural. Cherry Jam snapped out of whatever it was she was in and turned to run. She was nearly out of the alley when the pony landed on her. She felt herself fall and slide, the concrete below her scratching at her fur. She struggled and pushed, trying to get up and run once more, but this pony was strong. She felt herself being tossed back into the alley where she landed face to face with the other victim. His eyes. Oh gods his eyes. They were colorless. He stared at her, his breath ragged and shallow, as if to beg for her to end it. She turned just in time to see the flash of color descend upon her and take a hold of her neck. She struggled as best she could, but her strength was leaving her. She pushed as hard as she could, each time moving her attacker less and less. She felt her life leaving her and all she could do was look in terror at those blazing, beautiful blue eyes. ____________________ Hitch Trailblazer, Sheriff of Maretime Bay, was inspecting the scene before him. It was gruesome. With one pony dead and the other barely alive, he began wondering what the buck was happening in his town. He began wondering if this had anything to do with the ponies that were being dropped off in front of the hospital at night. Ponies that looked very similar to the one that was still alive. Hitch looked over to the dead pony under the sheet. Why was it white? Where were its irises? Why was it an it? Where were its features? These questions tugged on his mind as the legends of pegasi joined them. This couldn’t be a pegasus. Could it? His thoughts were such that he didn’t notice the little book on the ground until his hoof kicked it. He bent down and looked at it, finding no real distinguishing marks. He picked it up and flipped through some of the pages, his eyes widening. He was going to have to read through this whole thing. 13 March 2020I was doing my rounds down in the terminal today, when I heard a loud crash off in the north east corner. I decided to check on the crash, as it could have been somepony that got lost and I didn’t want them to get hurt. When I got close to the corner, I could tell it was going to be too dark for me to see properly. I walked in anyway and called out to see if anypony was there. I was thankful for my decent night vision as I walked through the dark and cramped space. I still ended up tripping on a loose shelf that was on the floor. As I stumbled, I bumped into another cabinet and knocked it over. The cabinet doors popped completely off, revealing a large jar filled with some sort of glowing liquid. And it was really glowing. It actually provided me with enough light to stop tripping on other pieces of furniture as I finished looking for any other pegasi. I never found any, though I did end up finding some chalk and a little stuffed pony toy. Tomorrow I’m gonna take the jar and see if I can do anything with it. It’s the first thing I’ve found down there that gives me the feeling that I might be able to start making progress on developing flight for pegasi. Significant things found today: Jar of glowing rainbow liquid Half a box of chalk (Decent condition) Stuffed pony toy (might clean and give to Pipp) 14 March 2020I checked over the stuff I found yesterday. Turns out that the stuffed toy was moldy. Pipp wouldn’t appreciate a moldy toy even if it was clean. Not sure why the idea crossed my mind anyway. She’s so absorbed into her “Pippsqueaks”. Gods that’s a stupid name. I told her that today and she got mad. Whatever. The other items were just as I left them. I put the chalk by my board and set the jar up on a table. Then I started my daily search. The quadrant I had mapped out for today was pretty sparse. It had a few chairs for ponies to wait in and a counter with nothing behind it. I wonder why it was completely empty. Most of the nooks and crannies are full of random stuff. Usually junk and trash, but there’s something there. All these shelves had was dust. It was weird but I was okay with it. It gave me more time to look at the jar. I went back to the table and stared at it for I don’t even know how long. The rainbow colors never stopped swirling around, but also never mixed. What kind of swirling liquids don’t mix? Then I remembered that the jar tumbled over onto its side but didn’t spill. I looked at the lid of the jar. It appeared to be sealed with wax, but I tested it and it was certainly a lot harder than any wax I’ve worked with before. Since the seal looked nice and solid, I decided to try shaking the jar to see if that caused the colors to mix. They weren’t mixing so I shook the jar harder. And I ended up shaking the jar a bit too hard. The edge of the lid closest to my face came loose and dropped some of the rainbow fluid onto my muzzle and chest. On instinct I licked my lips and got some in my mouth. It was bitter. It was sweet. It was spicy. More flavors than I can describe, and all of them at once. Nothing has happened to me, so I’m not too worried about that little amount. I’ll just be more careful in the future. But at least the lid is open now. I’ll be able to work on it more tomorrow. 17 March 2020My mother kept me super busy for a couple days, but I was finally able to get back to the terminal today. It was a bit hard for me to focus, though. I thought about continuing my grid search, but just didn’t feel like it. But as I was staring at the jar of rainbow (Yes it’s a terrible name), I thought about how nothing bad happened to me when some of it got in my mouth. I know it’s not normally encouraged, but I decided to try drinking a little more. The flavor was interesting and, like I said, nothing bad happened. I got my measure kit out and found the cup, measuring out just one ounce. Just a swallow, really, and that’s what I did. I drank that ounce of rainbow liquid. It stung my throat on the way down. It churned my stomach and I nearly lost my breakfast, but I held it down. Soon enough, the pain went away and I felt...lighter. And I had so much more energy, it was incredible! But that’s not the craziest thing. In my giddiness and rush of energy, I jumped around a bit flapping my wings. And I noticed that my feathers were glowing. My primaries and secondaries were glowing like they were filled with light bulbs. I craned my neck to see what I could and also noticed that my cutie mark was glowing too! It was crazy. I decided to test the light coming from my wings and cutie mark in the north east corner where the light barely ever reaches. My wings put off enough light to see everything pretty decently. It wasn’t enough to read by, but I could definitely see all the debris and furniture that was knocked over. I started with the cabinet where I had found the jar. I picked it up and put it in place against the wall. I noticed a paper in the cabinet that I hadn’t seen before and left it there, resolving to bring it back with me when I was done straightening up. I fix it up pretty good, making it look like a proper office with a desk on one wall flanked by filing cabinets. The old couch I left on he opposite wall. I ended up moving one of the filing cabinets to the entrance, as I kept finding papers and documents so I began filing them away. Well, stuffing them in is more accurate since I couldn’t really see what was on any of the documents. When I was done in the office, I pushed my filled filing cabinet over to my table where there was light. Fading light but light, nonetheless. Then I remembered that first piece of paper and went back to get it. I realized as I brought it out with me, that it was a different size from all the other papers I had collected. When I got it to the table, I realized that it was the perfect size to use as a label for the jar of rainbow. I was able to read it as the sun was going down: Final Jar of Spectra from Pegasus Device 001 So I found out the rainbow fluid is called Spectra. I’m gonna have to go back in tomorrow and organize all those papers I found. See if I can find out more about this Spectra. The glow from my wings went down with the sun as well. And I felt really heavy and tired. Some sort of energy crash, I assume. With the glowing and the crash, I’m thinking it’ll be a good idea to not drink anymore of that Spectra. At least not until I read through all those documents and get checked out by the royal physician. 18 March 2020I couldn’t get in to see the royal physician today, as he was out on account of his wife giving birth. He’ll be unavailable for a few days, at least. My mother likes to make sure our staff has enough time for their families and I get that. I’m definitely gonna make sure that stays the same when I’m on the throne. Family is important, even if you don’t understand their fascination with views and likes. But until I can see the doctor and get my blood work done, I won’t be drinking any more of that Spectra. Besides, I have a lot of papers that I found and that I need to go through. That filing cabinet isn’t going to organize itself. So that’s what I worked on today. It took up all my time just to separate the documents into just basic categories, since it was mostly just loose papers. I started with just organizing by type. There were some personnel files that I put into one pile. I set aside a couple really technical documents. One looked like it was for a machine and one looked like it documented some sort of process. I’ll have to really take my time with those. There were also some organization charts breaking down the ways tasks were performed between departments. This Cloudsdale Weather Corporation really liked to make sure all the I’s were dotted and the T’s were crossed. There was one piece of paper that caught my eye among everything. It was a hoof written note talking about how this was all they were able to save and that they hoped it was enough. I dunno what that means. Maybe there’s answers in the rest of the papers. That’ll have to wait until tomorrow though, since it took me so long just to organize everything into some sort of order. Gods, I wish I didn’t have princess responsibilities taking up so much of my time. Something tells me this is way more important than learning how to sit properly at a royal banquet. I’ll be consolidating all the information I start gleaning from these documents as I go through them. This journal of mine just might actually become important. 20 March 2020I spent the day flying again. I decided that I would try flying outside. It was such a nice day. Warm sun, gentle breeze and lift! I caught my first thermal today and it was so amazing! Up to this point I had only theory, but actually catching one, riding up as high as it would take me, I felt like I belonged there. High above the palace, looking over my people. Outside really tested everything that I've been studying for a long time. I felt the drag and pull of cross breezes and headwinds. I relished in the boost of a tailwind. I would have stayed out there all day, except that the guards saw me. I was too far away for them to make me out, but they spotted me in the air and ran to investigate. Kudos to them for being brave enough to protect against the unknown. But before they could get to me, I dove down the side of the mountain, wrapping my path through some of the lower crags in order to completely lose them. I wish I hadn’t done that. I ended up in The Pit. For those in the future that might read this and not know, the Pit is our tragedy. We have a cliff here, in Zephyr Heights, where ponies used to fling themselves off to their deaths. I never fully understood it myself, but I knew that problem was bad. I begged my mother and a railing with posted guards was set up about two years ago. The guards were there to stop any attempt at jumping and guide them to some help. But some still got through. The smell of The Pit was something that I wasn’t expecting. It didn’t smell like rotting flesh. It didn’t really stink at all. Possibly because most of the bodies here were well over two years old. But the smell that was there was definitely a smell I will forever associate with death. I landed among the bodies and gave them a moment of silence. Anypony hurting that much deserves at least that much. I then noticed that one of the bodies had a note tied into their mane. I took it and I’m transcribing it here: To Whoever Finds Me, My name is Cloud Crusher. I tell you this because it’s reason enough for me to jump. Not only am I a pegasus that can’t fly, but my parents gave me a name that I will never be able to live up to. I hope finding this doesn’t break you like how I’m broken. It’s too late for me, but it doesn’t have to be too late for you. Go and live your best life. I wasn’t strong enough, but I hope that you can be. This letter made me angry. It made me angry with my mom for not actually trying to figure out where our magic went. It made me angry with our ancestors that lost the magic in the first place. But most of all, it made me angry with myself for being so selfish these past couple of days. I didn’t do much else today. I went back to the terminal and set it up for tomorrow. I have a lot of work to do. This is for you, Cloud Crusher. 22 March 2020So….when I got down to the terminal today...half the Spectra was gone. I was wondering why my wings were still glowing when I left. I had to wear a cloak to dinner to hide it. My wings are still glowing from yesterday as I’m writing this in my room, actually. I don’t remember drinking that much of the Spectra. I was able to control myself and not drink any of the Spectra today. Not that I needed to do it since, you know, my wings have now been glowing for almost two days and I can still fly. So that’s what I did. I went flying because nothing motivates you like being high in the air and being on top of everything. It’s a feeling that just can’t be described. I flew around the mountain, enjoying the sunlight and freedom. Then the guards saw me again. I was still too far away for them to see clearly, but thankfully there were some thick clouds I was able to hide behind. And that’s when i found out something else about this magic. I can sit on clouds. Just like it’s a chair, I can sit on a cloud. When the guards were gone, I tried fluffing it up like a pillow...and it worked! What the heck is this?! Then for giggles I sculpted the cloud into some shapes. They weren’t amazing since I’m not a sculptor, but it was something I could do. I gotta get this studied and try to start replicating it. So I got back to the terminal and threw myself into the materials. The rest of the loose papers really were just organization charts for the company. Who ran what departments and chain of command and those sorts of things. Things not important. Then I went through the Process Manual. It was painfully dry, but thorough. It detailed every pipe, terminal, conversion process, mixing process, and everything else needed to know to keep a weather factory running. Because apparently our ancestors created the freaking weather! I don’t know why I didn’t glean that from the logo I’d seen on every single sheet of paper. But that makes sense, right? With our pegasus magic, we can fly, manipulate clouds, and I’m sure a bunch of other things. I wanted to jump right into the final manual for the Pegasus Device, but it was too late. I’m excited. I have an amazing resource for how to process Spectra and tomorrow, I’m gonna find out how to get Spectra! 24 March 2020I got everything burned. I even combed through the office area again and made sure I got everything. This can never get out. Not only would it be bad for me, but it would cause even more vicious rumors to begin floating around. I can’t have that. I could take it, but Pipp would be destroyed. I have to protect her from this. 5 April 2020Hey. It’s been a while since my last entry. I’ve been back in my normal swing of things and it's been good. I haven’t been down in the terminal since I burned all the documentation for the Pegasus Device. But the past few days I’ve been having dreams of me killing ponies. I’ve never had dreams even remotely like this. It’s been different ponies, but it's always the same dream: I sneak up behind the pony and lunge, sinking my teeth into their neck and sucking out their Spectra. It’s so weird. And last night, the dream had Pipp in it. I stalked my sister through the streets. I pounced and drank my sister’s essence. And...I could taste the Spectra in my dream last night. It danced across my tongue as I drank it from my sister. Thinking about it now is making my mouth water. I want it. I want more Spectra. I may have an issue. I’m gonna try and sleep it off. 7 April 2020I woke up this morning with my teeth on the neck of a guard. The look of sheer terror on his face shook me to my core. I pulled my teeth away and was thankful I didn’t break his skin. I was able to convince him to stay quiet about it, as well. I’ll have to start locking myself in at night. Pipp is getting worried about me. She says that I look like I’m not resting well. I looked at myself in the mirror today and I have to agree with her. These dreams aren’t letting me rest. The taste of Spectra is no longer there in the dreams. And I want it. I know that’s not good. I know where Spectra comes from, but that doesn’t change the fact that I want it when I’m in those dreams. I read through some of these entries and nearly threw this whole journal away. What the buck was I talking about when I was defending Rainbow Dash? If she was the Executive Director, that means she was condoning the use of the Pegasus Device. She was throwing failures, innocent pegasi, to their death in that machine. For what? RAINBOWS?! Rainbows aren’t worth the lives of our people. UGH! My stomach has been hurting today. Random pains here and there. They don’t last long so maybe it’s just indigestion. The food’s been tasting a bit funny lately. I’m gonna go lock up my room so that I can’t get out while I’m doing this new sleepwalking thing. ____________________ It bucking happened again! I woke up just now with my mouth on the neck of a guard. He was on the floor unconscious already. I took my mouth away and looked around, but nopony was there, thank the gods. But that relief allowed me to taste what was in my mouth. Then I touched my hoof to my wet lips to make double sure. It was Spectra. That rainbow glow and combination of flavors is unmistakable. GODS did it taste so much better fresh. Thankfully I was still in a panic and able to focus at the time. I loaded the guard up on my back and ran him as fast as I could to the barracks where they have an infirmary. I don’t know why we don’t have doctors on call here in the palace. We’re bucking royalty. Anyway I got him there and laid him down. Thankfully the medic was close by and able to attend to him. And it was there, in the bright light of the barracks infirmary that I noticed the guard was pale. Not like he was sick, but like his color was being erased. His normally orange coat was faded almost to a pale yellow. His breathing was shallow and labored. As I was pushed aside by the medic’s assistant, I noticed something else: His cutie mark was faded as well. What was once a bright blue shield was now barely an outline. I walked away in shock for a bit. I started paying attention to my mouth again and tasting the Spectra that still lingered. I finished licking my lips and swallowed. I feel bad for it, but my body shuddered in pleasure as I finished it off my lips. I’m sick. I’m bucked up. My lips and mouth were feeling irritated so I checked them out when I got back to my room. They had small scratches that were beginning to sting. I started to say “what the buck” to myself and that’s when I felt it. I stuck my tongue out and saw three tiny barbs on the tip of my tongue. They aren’t big, but they could cut my mouth if I press too hard, which I obviously did. They really are small. Easy to miss if you don’t know they’re there. What the buck is happening to me? 20 April 2020This problem is most definitely not solved. It’s getting harder and harder to resist the urges. I can sense the Spectra flowing through ponies. I sit next to my sister at dinner, all I want is that delicious spicy nectar contained in her body. I walk down the street and all I can focus on is the ocean of Spectra that I’m surrounded by. This is torture. I’ve taken to keeping myself completely isolated. I’ve convinced my mother that I’m sick for now, but I know that isn’t a permanent solution. I’m gonna have to come up with something in order to keep ponies away. Let’s hope I can think of it soon. 22 April 2020I’m writing this in a tree far away from Zephyr Heights. I’ve done the most horrible thing I’ve ever done in my life. I killed a pony. Not just killed. Erased. It must have been a new maid. Maybe she didn’t understand the instructions. I had standing instructions to leave all my meals outside my door, knock once, and then leave. But this new maid just walked right in, talking about how delicious the food was and how I was gonna love it. I just stared at her, my mind couldn’t even come up with a response. That’s probably why I moved so quickly. Before I knew it, I was standing in front of her. She was caught off guard by my speed. She was cute. Pink coat. Yellow poofy mane. Deep blue eyes. I dove for her neck, relishing her gasp as I started sucking and licking her sensitive spots, searching. I could feel her melting in my hooves. I’m sure she thought I had something else on my mind. But then I found it. Another gasp escaped her lips as my tongue found it’s goal and pierced the source. The sweet spicy nectar flowed and I drank. I drank until I was full and I kept drinking. She went completely limp as she fell unconscious and I kept drinking. I had been so empty for so long I just needed to be filled again. I didn’t notice at first as her yellow mane turned white and fell flat. I didn’t notice as her pink coat faded away to pure white. Then she was empty and I let her fall to the floor. Pure ecstasy was flowing through my body. I felt strong. I felt powerful. I felt full for the first time in weeks. I didn’t have to look to see that my wings were glowing. I could feel the magic pulsing from my feathers. I stretched them out and relished the afterglow of a good meal and licked my lips clean. The maid had been so good. Then I remembered the maid and looked down. I almost puked all the Spectra I had just drained from her. Because she was no longer a her. She wasn’t a him either. All her color and distinguishing features were gone. She was completely white like a ponnequin you’d see in a dress shop. Her wings were still there, but lacked any features. Not even the outlines of feathers. Her eyes were completely gone as well as her cutie mark. I began to panic. I had no idea what to do, so I just did the first thing that came to mind: I opened my window and threw the body out. I watched her fall limply into the darkness below, praying for forgiveness the whole time. Yet I was thankful my window overlooked the mountain range and that there was nowhere below my window that anypony would be checking for bodies any time soon. I flew out my window and got as far away as I could, which happened to only be the base of the mountains. It’s dark tonight. Yeah my wings are glowing, but they don’t shine all the way to the ground from a few hundred feet. I’m only able to see my journal because of my wings. I’m gonna stay away for a couple days. Wouldn’t be the first time it happened. I’m gonna get some good air in the morning and pick a direction. I just...feel like there’s somewhere I can go. 25 April 2020I was able to feed tonight without killing the pony. I drank enough to feel my power grow and I was able to stop myself before she was fully drained of her Spectra. Gods it’s hard to do because it’s so much better fresh, but I can live like this if I’m not killing. I can’t be like those monsters and their Pegasus Device. Thinking about it still makes me sick. 30 April 2020I’ve been keeping a steady feeding schedule for the past month. Right as the sun goes down, I hop out my window and glide through the lower crags to that same tree. Then I flap hard and make amazing time to that earth pony town. There’s always some pony that is there to lend me some of their Spectra. I’ve had a few that spotted me before I could get my mouth on them and they’ve tried to run. But I can...give them a look that stops them and makes them come to me. I’m not sure exactly how I do it, but it’s helpful. Pipp asked me the other day why I don’t eat dinner anymore. I stared at her a moment and was about to object to her statement, but then I realized she was right. With my daily feedings of Spectra, I don’t feel the need to eat. I just laughed and told her that I’m cutting down on my caloric intake for a while. It’s a lie, but she doesn’t need to know the truth. No pony does. Other than that, life has been going great. I’m still in my training to lead my people. Pipp is still...Pipp. And mom is happy that things are mostly back to normal. I still visit that Earth Pony town to feed every couple days. I haven’t killed anypony and I’ve checked in on my previous meals. They seem to be recovering, the color of their coats is slowly returning to normal. That’s good and makes me happy. Not only do I have a very nice food source nearby, but also I’m not really hurting them too much. We’re all going to be okay. EpilogueHitch closed the journal and placed it in his desk drawer. He rubbed his face with his hooves and tried to wrap his head around everything he had just read. It was certainly all the evidence he needed, explaining literally everything that had been happening in Maretime Bay the past few weeks. He glanced over to Sprout’s desk and wondered how his deputy would take the news. He’d probably scream and want to be sent away on some dumb assignment so that he didn't have to deal with this...Spectra Vampire. These deaths were increasing in frequency and the morgue was already full of these...white corpses. Hitch shuddered. That was the worst part about all of this. Not only were these ponies dying, but they were being drained of all their color, even their cutie marks, being left like ponnequins out in the streets. If they couldn’t do anything, then they may as well abandon the town. Hitch shoved himself up from his desk with a grunt. He would talk with Sprout and his mother about it in the morning. He turned off the station lights, walked out into the cool night air, and turned to lock up the station. It was a nice night, interrupted by a curious glow forming on the doors. Hitch turned and was stunned. She was absolutely beautiful. Her wings shone like an angel of lore and her eyes bore into his own, lending a strange sadness that one would never expect from such a beautiful creature. Hitch found himself walking to her. Though he knew the danger, he was both unable and unwilling to stop. She was so beautiful and she was all he wanted. She reached out her hoof and stroked his mane with the gentlest of touches. Hitch smiled, despite himself , and leaned in to nuzzle her neck. She did the same and he was in pure ecstasy. Even as a pain sliced through his neck, he wanted only to be with her. Even as his vision waned, he wrapped his hooves around her withers and pulled her closer as best he could. The last thing he was aware of before drifting away was a spicy sweet scent and a whisper of, “I’m sorry.” 21 March 2020I started today with every intention of going through that paper work and learning all I could about this Spectra. I did eventually get to it, but it took me hours of fidgeting my hooves and pacing through the terminal. For some reason, whenever I sat at my table to start looking at the papers, the only thing that crossed my mind was the jar of Spectra and how all I wanted to do was drink some and go for a fly. Eventually I compromised and took just half a cup. It was so delicious. But once I got that down, my ability to focus kicked in and I read through a lot of the files. Rainbow Dash was the Executive Director, but was terminated due to a vote of No Confidence. I’m sure it was some sort of plot. Not only was she the only pegasus to ever achieve the Sonic Rainboom, but she rose up the ranks of Cloudsdale Weather Corporation in just 3 years. You don’t become a legend of achievement like Rainbow Dash if you mess up your most important role in life. There were also two other files that weren’t personnel files like I initially thought. These were Pony of Interest files for “failures”, whatever that means. One was a mare that escaped, so she was followed. Nothing too important there. The other was a filly. Her picture was all mangled and all her personal details were redacted. She is only referred to as 2011-RF01. She played a major role in two major disasters for the factory. Thankfully she finally died after the second one. What was interesting about this file was that it had a bunch of hoof writing scribbled all over it talking about her being hated and useless. But then a small note at the end asking why she failed. I can tell it was somepony sad and empathetic. Most likely it was Rainbow Dash. The file does say that Rainbow Dash trained her a lot in order to pass her tests. So yeah that’s the basic breakdown of all the personnel files that were in the pile. The sun was going down and I had to go get ready for some dinner, so I filed them into the filing cabinet properly. And left. I’ll try to get through the rest of the loose papers tomorrow. 19 March 2020So….something interesting happened today. I figured it hadn’t hurt me yet, and the glowing wings were really cool, so I decided to have a cup of the juice. It tastes good and it’s harmless. I was sipping on it as I was flipping through the personnel files and I saw the Legend. Rainbow Dash worked at the Cloudsdale Weather Corporation! The one ancient equestrian that any pegasus cares about and I was looking at her personnel file from the job she had centuries ago. I got so excited that I flared and flapped. And. I. Flew. I’m not even joking. I flapped and spun around in the air, I was so excited. And then I realized what I was doing and I fell on my ass. I got up and checked to see how much of the juice I drank, and it turned out that I already drank the whole cup. I figured experimentation was in order, so I hopped up and flapped my wings, taking to the air like it was nothing. I flew around the terminal, very thankful for it’s high ceilings, laughing and enjoying the air flowing through my feathers. I did loops. I raced from end to end. I bobbed and weaved through the scaffolding and various leftover machinery. I landed as high as I could, up on a catwalk I didn't even know was there until today. The new perspective and the bright glow from my wings allowed me to see so much more of the terminal than I ever had before. For instance, the catwalk I landed on led to a breaker box at its end. After some priming, I was able to activate all the breakers and get power to all the grids in the terminal. I watched as the lights came on one by one across the space. A few of the bulbs burst with the surge of power, but now I could see everything. Excitement filled my chest and I got giddy like a little filly on her birthday. None of this would have been possible without drinking that rainbow juice. That Spectra. Thank you, Rainbow Dash for being so awesome and leaving that Spectra here for me to find it. 23 March 2020I think I’m gonna be sick. In fact, I’ve already thrown up three times. so...I read through the Pegasus Device manual. It’s actually a very interesting piece of equipment. It was developed over 2000 years ago to help with Rainbow Production. Which makes the swirling rainbow fluid make sense now. The process was surprisingly simple and straightforward. They would take the raw resources, throw them into the hopper at the top, and the machine would produce Spectra. I read the whole manual and there is so much technical information given, that I could build a Pegasus Device right now, if I wanted to. Full on schematics were provided along with all maintenance requirements for the machine. It was at the end that it finally revealed what the resources were that it needed: Failures. I didn’t believe it. It couldn’t have been talking about what I thought it was talking about. But then it was confirmed by the “List of Alternative Resources” which included: Those wishing to sacrifice themselves Ponies that were to be terminated Enemies of Cloudsdale Oh. And it also stipulated that any ponies could provide Spectra. It didn’t have to be just pegasi. I would say that the worst part of this was the fact that the Pegasus Device manual was the newest document out of all of them, implying that all this other stuff had happened and they still wanted to know how to replicate it. But that’s not it. The worst part was that, as soon as I figured out that Sprectra came from killing ponies, I realized I already drank over 75% of the Spectra in that damn jar. I threw the jar with what was left out the window into the crags where no pony goes. I’m done with this. I’ve spent the past few hours alternating between vomiting and crying. Pipp came to check on me once, but I couldn’t face her. Not after what I’ve been doing the past week. I’m burning all of that documentation tomorrow. I’m sorry, Cloud Crusher. I want to restore our magic, but the cost of this method is too high. 14 April 2020I’ve been doing good. I convinced Pipp that I’ve been sleep walking and want her to lock my doors from the outside so that I don't get out and hurt myself. It’s not a lie so I don’t even have to feel guilty about it. I’m waking up slightly better rested with this method. I set up a camera to record myself during the night. The nights where I left the room always had me feeling exhausted the next morning. But with my doors locked, I just turn around and head back to bed. Its a good system and it’s working. I am still craving Spectra, but when I’m awake I can control the urges, so no pony is in danger. It’s looking like this will be the last entry. Problem solved. 24 April 2020I found an earth pony town! I didn’t know it was so close to Zephyr Heights. I would have found it sooner if I knew the direction and flew in a straight line. I guess I know the direction now, though. And I found it just in time. I’m tired and can’t get back in the air. And my wings are fading. And I’m hungry. I’m gonna try just taking a little bit of Spectra from a few different ponies. It should be okay if I don’t drain them too much. That guard was still in recovery but seemed to be doing better. The maid….as long as I don’t do that, it should be fine. I can fill up and not kill any ponies. I don’t want to kill any ponies. But I’m so hungry. I just realized that I said “I’m hungry” twice. But I am. I’m gonna go eat. ____________________ I killed another pony. It was an earth pony, but still. I jumped on top of him from behind and bit him through his short red mane. It didn’t stay red for very long. His white body was lighter than I expected for being a large stallion, and I was easily able to lift him up into a nearby dumpster. I figured if he was hidden, suspicions wouldn’t be raised as quickly. I am going to have to do something about these wings, though. It’s hard to be stealthy when you glow. But at least I’m full now. I’m gonna make sure I don’t wait that long before I eat again. If I eat before I hit that point, I should be able to restrain myself.
PrologueCherry Jam was walking home from work, exhausted from a hard day in the Canterlogic Factory. She had some pep in her step, though, as it was the first of the month and summer was about to start. She could get herself a new swimsuit and relax on the beach this weekend. It wasn’t quite summer, but it was certainly warm enough. She began thinking of what type of suit she would want. A flashy red one would look good on her cream coat and match her bright red mane. A small clatter in the alley caught her attention. She looked and saw a pony standing over something on the ground looking like it was making out with it. It wouldn’t have been the first time she found a couple of ponies that couldn’t wait to get home. She was about to just shake her head in disapproval and walk away when she noticed the glow that began to appear on the standing pony’s sides. It was faint, probably only visible due to the dark of the alley. But very slowly, it grew brighter. Her curiosity grabbed hold and compelled her into the alley for a closer look. As quietly as she could, Cherry made her way into the alley to observe this strange glowing pony. The glow was so beautiful, she couldn’t look at anything else. Her hoof kicked a piece of paper. It sounded like a drum parade in the dead silence and the glowing pony whipped it’s head up to find Cherry mere feet away. The same glow from the pony’s sides was dripping from its mouth, yet somehow more vibrant. Like it was more exposed. It stared at Cherry Jam with brilliant blue eyes that invited the mare closer. She took a small step forward, but stopped as a drop of that shining liquid fell from the mysterious pony’s mouth. Cherry’s eyes followed it and watched it splash onto the fur of the pony on the ground. The pale, nearly colorless pony. That wasn’t natural. Cherry Jam snapped out of whatever it was she was in and turned to run. She was nearly out of the alley when the pony landed on her. She felt herself fall and slide, the concrete below her scratching at her fur. She struggled and pushed, trying to get up and run once more, but this pony was strong. She felt herself being tossed back into the alley where she landed face to face with the other victim. His eyes. Oh gods his eyes. They were colorless. He stared at her, his breath ragged and shallow, as if to beg for her to end it. She turned just in time to see the flash of color descend upon her and take a hold of her neck. She struggled as best she could, but her strength was leaving her. She pushed as hard as she could, each time moving her attacker less and less. She felt her life leaving her and all she could do was look in terror at those blazing, beautiful blue eyes. ____________________ Hitch Trailblazer, Sheriff of Maretime Bay, was inspecting the scene before him. It was gruesome. With one pony dead and the other barely alive, he began wondering what the buck was happening in his town. He began wondering if this had anything to do with the ponies that were being dropped off in front of the hospital at night. Ponies that looked very similar to the one that was still alive. Hitch looked over to the dead pony under the sheet. Why was it white? Where were its irises? Why was it an it? Where were its features? These questions tugged on his mind as the legends of pegasi joined them. This couldn’t be a pegasus. Could it? His thoughts were such that he didn’t notice the little book on the ground until his hoof kicked it. He bent down and looked at it, finding no real distinguishing marks. He picked it up and flipped through some of the pages, his eyes widening. He was going to have to read through this whole thing.
13 March 2020I was doing my rounds down in the terminal today, when I heard a loud crash off in the north east corner. I decided to check on the crash, as it could have been somepony that got lost and I didn’t want them to get hurt. When I got close to the corner, I could tell it was going to be too dark for me to see properly. I walked in anyway and called out to see if anypony was there. I was thankful for my decent night vision as I walked through the dark and cramped space. I still ended up tripping on a loose shelf that was on the floor. As I stumbled, I bumped into another cabinet and knocked it over. The cabinet doors popped completely off, revealing a large jar filled with some sort of glowing liquid. And it was really glowing. It actually provided me with enough light to stop tripping on other pieces of furniture as I finished looking for any other pegasi. I never found any, though I did end up finding some chalk and a little stuffed pony toy. Tomorrow I’m gonna take the jar and see if I can do anything with it. It’s the first thing I’ve found down there that gives me the feeling that I might be able to start making progress on developing flight for pegasi. Significant things found today: Jar of glowing rainbow liquid Half a box of chalk (Decent condition) Stuffed pony toy (might clean and give to Pipp)
14 March 2020I checked over the stuff I found yesterday. Turns out that the stuffed toy was moldy. Pipp wouldn’t appreciate a moldy toy even if it was clean. Not sure why the idea crossed my mind anyway. She’s so absorbed into her “Pippsqueaks”. Gods that’s a stupid name. I told her that today and she got mad. Whatever. The other items were just as I left them. I put the chalk by my board and set the jar up on a table. Then I started my daily search. The quadrant I had mapped out for today was pretty sparse. It had a few chairs for ponies to wait in and a counter with nothing behind it. I wonder why it was completely empty. Most of the nooks and crannies are full of random stuff. Usually junk and trash, but there’s something there. All these shelves had was dust. It was weird but I was okay with it. It gave me more time to look at the jar. I went back to the table and stared at it for I don’t even know how long. The rainbow colors never stopped swirling around, but also never mixed. What kind of swirling liquids don’t mix? Then I remembered that the jar tumbled over onto its side but didn’t spill. I looked at the lid of the jar. It appeared to be sealed with wax, but I tested it and it was certainly a lot harder than any wax I’ve worked with before. Since the seal looked nice and solid, I decided to try shaking the jar to see if that caused the colors to mix. They weren’t mixing so I shook the jar harder. And I ended up shaking the jar a bit too hard. The edge of the lid closest to my face came loose and dropped some of the rainbow fluid onto my muzzle and chest. On instinct I licked my lips and got some in my mouth. It was bitter. It was sweet. It was spicy. More flavors than I can describe, and all of them at once. Nothing has happened to me, so I’m not too worried about that little amount. I’ll just be more careful in the future. But at least the lid is open now. I’ll be able to work on it more tomorrow.
17 March 2020My mother kept me super busy for a couple days, but I was finally able to get back to the terminal today. It was a bit hard for me to focus, though. I thought about continuing my grid search, but just didn’t feel like it. But as I was staring at the jar of rainbow (Yes it’s a terrible name), I thought about how nothing bad happened to me when some of it got in my mouth. I know it’s not normally encouraged, but I decided to try drinking a little more. The flavor was interesting and, like I said, nothing bad happened. I got my measure kit out and found the cup, measuring out just one ounce. Just a swallow, really, and that’s what I did. I drank that ounce of rainbow liquid. It stung my throat on the way down. It churned my stomach and I nearly lost my breakfast, but I held it down. Soon enough, the pain went away and I felt...lighter. And I had so much more energy, it was incredible! But that’s not the craziest thing. In my giddiness and rush of energy, I jumped around a bit flapping my wings. And I noticed that my feathers were glowing. My primaries and secondaries were glowing like they were filled with light bulbs. I craned my neck to see what I could and also noticed that my cutie mark was glowing too! It was crazy. I decided to test the light coming from my wings and cutie mark in the north east corner where the light barely ever reaches. My wings put off enough light to see everything pretty decently. It wasn’t enough to read by, but I could definitely see all the debris and furniture that was knocked over. I started with the cabinet where I had found the jar. I picked it up and put it in place against the wall. I noticed a paper in the cabinet that I hadn’t seen before and left it there, resolving to bring it back with me when I was done straightening up. I fix it up pretty good, making it look like a proper office with a desk on one wall flanked by filing cabinets. The old couch I left on he opposite wall. I ended up moving one of the filing cabinets to the entrance, as I kept finding papers and documents so I began filing them away. Well, stuffing them in is more accurate since I couldn’t really see what was on any of the documents. When I was done in the office, I pushed my filled filing cabinet over to my table where there was light. Fading light but light, nonetheless. Then I remembered that first piece of paper and went back to get it. I realized as I brought it out with me, that it was a different size from all the other papers I had collected. When I got it to the table, I realized that it was the perfect size to use as a label for the jar of rainbow. I was able to read it as the sun was going down: Final Jar of Spectra from Pegasus Device 001 So I found out the rainbow fluid is called Spectra. I’m gonna have to go back in tomorrow and organize all those papers I found. See if I can find out more about this Spectra. The glow from my wings went down with the sun as well. And I felt really heavy and tired. Some sort of energy crash, I assume. With the glowing and the crash, I’m thinking it’ll be a good idea to not drink anymore of that Spectra. At least not until I read through all those documents and get checked out by the royal physician.
18 March 2020I couldn’t get in to see the royal physician today, as he was out on account of his wife giving birth. He’ll be unavailable for a few days, at least. My mother likes to make sure our staff has enough time for their families and I get that. I’m definitely gonna make sure that stays the same when I’m on the throne. Family is important, even if you don’t understand their fascination with views and likes. But until I can see the doctor and get my blood work done, I won’t be drinking any more of that Spectra. Besides, I have a lot of papers that I found and that I need to go through. That filing cabinet isn’t going to organize itself. So that’s what I worked on today. It took up all my time just to separate the documents into just basic categories, since it was mostly just loose papers. I started with just organizing by type. There were some personnel files that I put into one pile. I set aside a couple really technical documents. One looked like it was for a machine and one looked like it documented some sort of process. I’ll have to really take my time with those. There were also some organization charts breaking down the ways tasks were performed between departments. This Cloudsdale Weather Corporation really liked to make sure all the I’s were dotted and the T’s were crossed. There was one piece of paper that caught my eye among everything. It was a hoof written note talking about how this was all they were able to save and that they hoped it was enough. I dunno what that means. Maybe there’s answers in the rest of the papers. That’ll have to wait until tomorrow though, since it took me so long just to organize everything into some sort of order. Gods, I wish I didn’t have princess responsibilities taking up so much of my time. Something tells me this is way more important than learning how to sit properly at a royal banquet. I’ll be consolidating all the information I start gleaning from these documents as I go through them. This journal of mine just might actually become important.
20 March 2020I spent the day flying again. I decided that I would try flying outside. It was such a nice day. Warm sun, gentle breeze and lift! I caught my first thermal today and it was so amazing! Up to this point I had only theory, but actually catching one, riding up as high as it would take me, I felt like I belonged there. High above the palace, looking over my people. Outside really tested everything that I've been studying for a long time. I felt the drag and pull of cross breezes and headwinds. I relished in the boost of a tailwind. I would have stayed out there all day, except that the guards saw me. I was too far away for them to make me out, but they spotted me in the air and ran to investigate. Kudos to them for being brave enough to protect against the unknown. But before they could get to me, I dove down the side of the mountain, wrapping my path through some of the lower crags in order to completely lose them. I wish I hadn’t done that. I ended up in The Pit. For those in the future that might read this and not know, the Pit is our tragedy. We have a cliff here, in Zephyr Heights, where ponies used to fling themselves off to their deaths. I never fully understood it myself, but I knew that problem was bad. I begged my mother and a railing with posted guards was set up about two years ago. The guards were there to stop any attempt at jumping and guide them to some help. But some still got through. The smell of The Pit was something that I wasn’t expecting. It didn’t smell like rotting flesh. It didn’t really stink at all. Possibly because most of the bodies here were well over two years old. But the smell that was there was definitely a smell I will forever associate with death. I landed among the bodies and gave them a moment of silence. Anypony hurting that much deserves at least that much. I then noticed that one of the bodies had a note tied into their mane. I took it and I’m transcribing it here: To Whoever Finds Me, My name is Cloud Crusher. I tell you this because it’s reason enough for me to jump. Not only am I a pegasus that can’t fly, but my parents gave me a name that I will never be able to live up to. I hope finding this doesn’t break you like how I’m broken. It’s too late for me, but it doesn’t have to be too late for you. Go and live your best life. I wasn’t strong enough, but I hope that you can be. This letter made me angry. It made me angry with my mom for not actually trying to figure out where our magic went. It made me angry with our ancestors that lost the magic in the first place. But most of all, it made me angry with myself for being so selfish these past couple of days. I didn’t do much else today. I went back to the terminal and set it up for tomorrow. I have a lot of work to do. This is for you, Cloud Crusher.
22 March 2020So….when I got down to the terminal today...half the Spectra was gone. I was wondering why my wings were still glowing when I left. I had to wear a cloak to dinner to hide it. My wings are still glowing from yesterday as I’m writing this in my room, actually. I don’t remember drinking that much of the Spectra. I was able to control myself and not drink any of the Spectra today. Not that I needed to do it since, you know, my wings have now been glowing for almost two days and I can still fly. So that’s what I did. I went flying because nothing motivates you like being high in the air and being on top of everything. It’s a feeling that just can’t be described. I flew around the mountain, enjoying the sunlight and freedom. Then the guards saw me again. I was still too far away for them to see clearly, but thankfully there were some thick clouds I was able to hide behind. And that’s when i found out something else about this magic. I can sit on clouds. Just like it’s a chair, I can sit on a cloud. When the guards were gone, I tried fluffing it up like a pillow...and it worked! What the heck is this?! Then for giggles I sculpted the cloud into some shapes. They weren’t amazing since I’m not a sculptor, but it was something I could do. I gotta get this studied and try to start replicating it. So I got back to the terminal and threw myself into the materials. The rest of the loose papers really were just organization charts for the company. Who ran what departments and chain of command and those sorts of things. Things not important. Then I went through the Process Manual. It was painfully dry, but thorough. It detailed every pipe, terminal, conversion process, mixing process, and everything else needed to know to keep a weather factory running. Because apparently our ancestors created the freaking weather! I don’t know why I didn’t glean that from the logo I’d seen on every single sheet of paper. But that makes sense, right? With our pegasus magic, we can fly, manipulate clouds, and I’m sure a bunch of other things. I wanted to jump right into the final manual for the Pegasus Device, but it was too late. I’m excited. I have an amazing resource for how to process Spectra and tomorrow, I’m gonna find out how to get Spectra!
24 March 2020I got everything burned. I even combed through the office area again and made sure I got everything. This can never get out. Not only would it be bad for me, but it would cause even more vicious rumors to begin floating around. I can’t have that. I could take it, but Pipp would be destroyed. I have to protect her from this.
5 April 2020Hey. It’s been a while since my last entry. I’ve been back in my normal swing of things and it's been good. I haven’t been down in the terminal since I burned all the documentation for the Pegasus Device. But the past few days I’ve been having dreams of me killing ponies. I’ve never had dreams even remotely like this. It’s been different ponies, but it's always the same dream: I sneak up behind the pony and lunge, sinking my teeth into their neck and sucking out their Spectra. It’s so weird. And last night, the dream had Pipp in it. I stalked my sister through the streets. I pounced and drank my sister’s essence. And...I could taste the Spectra in my dream last night. It danced across my tongue as I drank it from my sister. Thinking about it now is making my mouth water. I want it. I want more Spectra. I may have an issue. I’m gonna try and sleep it off.
7 April 2020I woke up this morning with my teeth on the neck of a guard. The look of sheer terror on his face shook me to my core. I pulled my teeth away and was thankful I didn’t break his skin. I was able to convince him to stay quiet about it, as well. I’ll have to start locking myself in at night. Pipp is getting worried about me. She says that I look like I’m not resting well. I looked at myself in the mirror today and I have to agree with her. These dreams aren’t letting me rest. The taste of Spectra is no longer there in the dreams. And I want it. I know that’s not good. I know where Spectra comes from, but that doesn’t change the fact that I want it when I’m in those dreams. I read through some of these entries and nearly threw this whole journal away. What the buck was I talking about when I was defending Rainbow Dash? If she was the Executive Director, that means she was condoning the use of the Pegasus Device. She was throwing failures, innocent pegasi, to their death in that machine. For what? RAINBOWS?! Rainbows aren’t worth the lives of our people. UGH! My stomach has been hurting today. Random pains here and there. They don’t last long so maybe it’s just indigestion. The food’s been tasting a bit funny lately. I’m gonna go lock up my room so that I can’t get out while I’m doing this new sleepwalking thing. ____________________ It bucking happened again! I woke up just now with my mouth on the neck of a guard. He was on the floor unconscious already. I took my mouth away and looked around, but nopony was there, thank the gods. But that relief allowed me to taste what was in my mouth. Then I touched my hoof to my wet lips to make double sure. It was Spectra. That rainbow glow and combination of flavors is unmistakable. GODS did it taste so much better fresh. Thankfully I was still in a panic and able to focus at the time. I loaded the guard up on my back and ran him as fast as I could to the barracks where they have an infirmary. I don’t know why we don’t have doctors on call here in the palace. We’re bucking royalty. Anyway I got him there and laid him down. Thankfully the medic was close by and able to attend to him. And it was there, in the bright light of the barracks infirmary that I noticed the guard was pale. Not like he was sick, but like his color was being erased. His normally orange coat was faded almost to a pale yellow. His breathing was shallow and labored. As I was pushed aside by the medic’s assistant, I noticed something else: His cutie mark was faded as well. What was once a bright blue shield was now barely an outline. I walked away in shock for a bit. I started paying attention to my mouth again and tasting the Spectra that still lingered. I finished licking my lips and swallowed. I feel bad for it, but my body shuddered in pleasure as I finished it off my lips. I’m sick. I’m bucked up. My lips and mouth were feeling irritated so I checked them out when I got back to my room. They had small scratches that were beginning to sting. I started to say “what the buck” to myself and that’s when I felt it. I stuck my tongue out and saw three tiny barbs on the tip of my tongue. They aren’t big, but they could cut my mouth if I press too hard, which I obviously did. They really are small. Easy to miss if you don’t know they’re there. What the buck is happening to me?
20 April 2020This problem is most definitely not solved. It’s getting harder and harder to resist the urges. I can sense the Spectra flowing through ponies. I sit next to my sister at dinner, all I want is that delicious spicy nectar contained in her body. I walk down the street and all I can focus on is the ocean of Spectra that I’m surrounded by. This is torture. I’ve taken to keeping myself completely isolated. I’ve convinced my mother that I’m sick for now, but I know that isn’t a permanent solution. I’m gonna have to come up with something in order to keep ponies away. Let’s hope I can think of it soon.
22 April 2020I’m writing this in a tree far away from Zephyr Heights. I’ve done the most horrible thing I’ve ever done in my life. I killed a pony. Not just killed. Erased. It must have been a new maid. Maybe she didn’t understand the instructions. I had standing instructions to leave all my meals outside my door, knock once, and then leave. But this new maid just walked right in, talking about how delicious the food was and how I was gonna love it. I just stared at her, my mind couldn’t even come up with a response. That’s probably why I moved so quickly. Before I knew it, I was standing in front of her. She was caught off guard by my speed. She was cute. Pink coat. Yellow poofy mane. Deep blue eyes. I dove for her neck, relishing her gasp as I started sucking and licking her sensitive spots, searching. I could feel her melting in my hooves. I’m sure she thought I had something else on my mind. But then I found it. Another gasp escaped her lips as my tongue found it’s goal and pierced the source. The sweet spicy nectar flowed and I drank. I drank until I was full and I kept drinking. She went completely limp as she fell unconscious and I kept drinking. I had been so empty for so long I just needed to be filled again. I didn’t notice at first as her yellow mane turned white and fell flat. I didn’t notice as her pink coat faded away to pure white. Then she was empty and I let her fall to the floor. Pure ecstasy was flowing through my body. I felt strong. I felt powerful. I felt full for the first time in weeks. I didn’t have to look to see that my wings were glowing. I could feel the magic pulsing from my feathers. I stretched them out and relished the afterglow of a good meal and licked my lips clean. The maid had been so good. Then I remembered the maid and looked down. I almost puked all the Spectra I had just drained from her. Because she was no longer a her. She wasn’t a him either. All her color and distinguishing features were gone. She was completely white like a ponnequin you’d see in a dress shop. Her wings were still there, but lacked any features. Not even the outlines of feathers. Her eyes were completely gone as well as her cutie mark. I began to panic. I had no idea what to do, so I just did the first thing that came to mind: I opened my window and threw the body out. I watched her fall limply into the darkness below, praying for forgiveness the whole time. Yet I was thankful my window overlooked the mountain range and that there was nowhere below my window that anypony would be checking for bodies any time soon. I flew out my window and got as far away as I could, which happened to only be the base of the mountains. It’s dark tonight. Yeah my wings are glowing, but they don’t shine all the way to the ground from a few hundred feet. I’m only able to see my journal because of my wings. I’m gonna stay away for a couple days. Wouldn’t be the first time it happened. I’m gonna get some good air in the morning and pick a direction. I just...feel like there’s somewhere I can go.
25 April 2020I was able to feed tonight without killing the pony. I drank enough to feel my power grow and I was able to stop myself before she was fully drained of her Spectra. Gods it’s hard to do because it’s so much better fresh, but I can live like this if I’m not killing. I can’t be like those monsters and their Pegasus Device. Thinking about it still makes me sick.
30 April 2020I’ve been keeping a steady feeding schedule for the past month. Right as the sun goes down, I hop out my window and glide through the lower crags to that same tree. Then I flap hard and make amazing time to that earth pony town. There’s always some pony that is there to lend me some of their Spectra. I’ve had a few that spotted me before I could get my mouth on them and they’ve tried to run. But I can...give them a look that stops them and makes them come to me. I’m not sure exactly how I do it, but it’s helpful. Pipp asked me the other day why I don’t eat dinner anymore. I stared at her a moment and was about to object to her statement, but then I realized she was right. With my daily feedings of Spectra, I don’t feel the need to eat. I just laughed and told her that I’m cutting down on my caloric intake for a while. It’s a lie, but she doesn’t need to know the truth. No pony does. Other than that, life has been going great. I’m still in my training to lead my people. Pipp is still...Pipp. And mom is happy that things are mostly back to normal. I still visit that Earth Pony town to feed every couple days. I haven’t killed anypony and I’ve checked in on my previous meals. They seem to be recovering, the color of their coats is slowly returning to normal. That’s good and makes me happy. Not only do I have a very nice food source nearby, but also I’m not really hurting them too much. We’re all going to be okay.
EpilogueHitch closed the journal and placed it in his desk drawer. He rubbed his face with his hooves and tried to wrap his head around everything he had just read. It was certainly all the evidence he needed, explaining literally everything that had been happening in Maretime Bay the past few weeks. He glanced over to Sprout’s desk and wondered how his deputy would take the news. He’d probably scream and want to be sent away on some dumb assignment so that he didn't have to deal with this...Spectra Vampire. These deaths were increasing in frequency and the morgue was already full of these...white corpses. Hitch shuddered. That was the worst part about all of this. Not only were these ponies dying, but they were being drained of all their color, even their cutie marks, being left like ponnequins out in the streets. If they couldn’t do anything, then they may as well abandon the town. Hitch shoved himself up from his desk with a grunt. He would talk with Sprout and his mother about it in the morning. He turned off the station lights, walked out into the cool night air, and turned to lock up the station. It was a nice night, interrupted by a curious glow forming on the doors. Hitch turned and was stunned. She was absolutely beautiful. Her wings shone like an angel of lore and her eyes bore into his own, lending a strange sadness that one would never expect from such a beautiful creature. Hitch found himself walking to her. Though he knew the danger, he was both unable and unwilling to stop. She was so beautiful and she was all he wanted. She reached out her hoof and stroked his mane with the gentlest of touches. Hitch smiled, despite himself , and leaned in to nuzzle her neck. She did the same and he was in pure ecstasy. Even as a pain sliced through his neck, he wanted only to be with her. Even as his vision waned, he wrapped his hooves around her withers and pulled her closer as best he could. The last thing he was aware of before drifting away was a spicy sweet scent and a whisper of, “I’m sorry.”
21 March 2020I started today with every intention of going through that paper work and learning all I could about this Spectra. I did eventually get to it, but it took me hours of fidgeting my hooves and pacing through the terminal. For some reason, whenever I sat at my table to start looking at the papers, the only thing that crossed my mind was the jar of Spectra and how all I wanted to do was drink some and go for a fly. Eventually I compromised and took just half a cup. It was so delicious. But once I got that down, my ability to focus kicked in and I read through a lot of the files. Rainbow Dash was the Executive Director, but was terminated due to a vote of No Confidence. I’m sure it was some sort of plot. Not only was she the only pegasus to ever achieve the Sonic Rainboom, but she rose up the ranks of Cloudsdale Weather Corporation in just 3 years. You don’t become a legend of achievement like Rainbow Dash if you mess up your most important role in life. There were also two other files that weren’t personnel files like I initially thought. These were Pony of Interest files for “failures”, whatever that means. One was a mare that escaped, so she was followed. Nothing too important there. The other was a filly. Her picture was all mangled and all her personal details were redacted. She is only referred to as 2011-RF01. She played a major role in two major disasters for the factory. Thankfully she finally died after the second one. What was interesting about this file was that it had a bunch of hoof writing scribbled all over it talking about her being hated and useless. But then a small note at the end asking why she failed. I can tell it was somepony sad and empathetic. Most likely it was Rainbow Dash. The file does say that Rainbow Dash trained her a lot in order to pass her tests. So yeah that’s the basic breakdown of all the personnel files that were in the pile. The sun was going down and I had to go get ready for some dinner, so I filed them into the filing cabinet properly. And left. I’ll try to get through the rest of the loose papers tomorrow.
19 March 2020So….something interesting happened today. I figured it hadn’t hurt me yet, and the glowing wings were really cool, so I decided to have a cup of the juice. It tastes good and it’s harmless. I was sipping on it as I was flipping through the personnel files and I saw the Legend. Rainbow Dash worked at the Cloudsdale Weather Corporation! The one ancient equestrian that any pegasus cares about and I was looking at her personnel file from the job she had centuries ago. I got so excited that I flared and flapped. And. I. Flew. I’m not even joking. I flapped and spun around in the air, I was so excited. And then I realized what I was doing and I fell on my ass. I got up and checked to see how much of the juice I drank, and it turned out that I already drank the whole cup. I figured experimentation was in order, so I hopped up and flapped my wings, taking to the air like it was nothing. I flew around the terminal, very thankful for it’s high ceilings, laughing and enjoying the air flowing through my feathers. I did loops. I raced from end to end. I bobbed and weaved through the scaffolding and various leftover machinery. I landed as high as I could, up on a catwalk I didn't even know was there until today. The new perspective and the bright glow from my wings allowed me to see so much more of the terminal than I ever had before. For instance, the catwalk I landed on led to a breaker box at its end. After some priming, I was able to activate all the breakers and get power to all the grids in the terminal. I watched as the lights came on one by one across the space. A few of the bulbs burst with the surge of power, but now I could see everything. Excitement filled my chest and I got giddy like a little filly on her birthday. None of this would have been possible without drinking that rainbow juice. That Spectra. Thank you, Rainbow Dash for being so awesome and leaving that Spectra here for me to find it.
23 March 2020I think I’m gonna be sick. In fact, I’ve already thrown up three times. so...I read through the Pegasus Device manual. It’s actually a very interesting piece of equipment. It was developed over 2000 years ago to help with Rainbow Production. Which makes the swirling rainbow fluid make sense now. The process was surprisingly simple and straightforward. They would take the raw resources, throw them into the hopper at the top, and the machine would produce Spectra. I read the whole manual and there is so much technical information given, that I could build a Pegasus Device right now, if I wanted to. Full on schematics were provided along with all maintenance requirements for the machine. It was at the end that it finally revealed what the resources were that it needed: Failures. I didn’t believe it. It couldn’t have been talking about what I thought it was talking about. But then it was confirmed by the “List of Alternative Resources” which included: Those wishing to sacrifice themselves Ponies that were to be terminated Enemies of Cloudsdale Oh. And it also stipulated that any ponies could provide Spectra. It didn’t have to be just pegasi. I would say that the worst part of this was the fact that the Pegasus Device manual was the newest document out of all of them, implying that all this other stuff had happened and they still wanted to know how to replicate it. But that’s not it. The worst part was that, as soon as I figured out that Sprectra came from killing ponies, I realized I already drank over 75% of the Spectra in that damn jar. I threw the jar with what was left out the window into the crags where no pony goes. I’m done with this. I’ve spent the past few hours alternating between vomiting and crying. Pipp came to check on me once, but I couldn’t face her. Not after what I’ve been doing the past week. I’m burning all of that documentation tomorrow. I’m sorry, Cloud Crusher. I want to restore our magic, but the cost of this method is too high.
14 April 2020I’ve been doing good. I convinced Pipp that I’ve been sleep walking and want her to lock my doors from the outside so that I don't get out and hurt myself. It’s not a lie so I don’t even have to feel guilty about it. I’m waking up slightly better rested with this method. I set up a camera to record myself during the night. The nights where I left the room always had me feeling exhausted the next morning. But with my doors locked, I just turn around and head back to bed. Its a good system and it’s working. I am still craving Spectra, but when I’m awake I can control the urges, so no pony is in danger. It’s looking like this will be the last entry. Problem solved.
24 April 2020I found an earth pony town! I didn’t know it was so close to Zephyr Heights. I would have found it sooner if I knew the direction and flew in a straight line. I guess I know the direction now, though. And I found it just in time. I’m tired and can’t get back in the air. And my wings are fading. And I’m hungry. I’m gonna try just taking a little bit of Spectra from a few different ponies. It should be okay if I don’t drain them too much. That guard was still in recovery but seemed to be doing better. The maid….as long as I don’t do that, it should be fine. I can fill up and not kill any ponies. I don’t want to kill any ponies. But I’m so hungry. I just realized that I said “I’m hungry” twice. But I am. I’m gonna go eat. ____________________ I killed another pony. It was an earth pony, but still. I jumped on top of him from behind and bit him through his short red mane. It didn’t stay red for very long. His white body was lighter than I expected for being a large stallion, and I was easily able to lift him up into a nearby dumpster. I figured if he was hidden, suspicions wouldn’t be raised as quickly. I am going to have to do something about these wings, though. It’s hard to be stealthy when you glow. But at least I’m full now. I’m gonna make sure I don’t wait that long before I eat again. If I eat before I hit that point, I should be able to restrain myself.
