Author's Note

Now, I'd like to preface everything by saying that the Rainbow Factory inspirations, and even the barest connections, are hardly there. I just couldn't put to words How to connect em', so I left that vague, but it's there.

Do hope y'all enjoy, however. It's been surprisingly fun, (And been three different writing styles...)

From The Journal Of R.D; Entry 92

From The Journal Of R.D, Entry #92

I couldn’t tell you when it began. But I can remember the oldest memory of it.

It was many a year ago, when the thrill of being an Element Of Harmony had really kicked in. It was right after Twi had become a Princess, after that whole debacle of kicking Discord’s butt in for that cruel prank he set up for-friggin’-ever ago.

And let me be the first to tell you, nothing was more nightmarish than an entire crowd body-blocking you from being able to get out of Dodge, especially when there was a perfectly good series of clouds just Waiting for me to fly through.

It was autograph after autograph, and I’m 100% sure my hoof would have been stained black with ink for the rest of the week.

Though, after like, 50, I felt… weird. Do you ever get the feeling that you’re being watched, just out of sight? I felt that. The little tingle running up and down your back, making your mane stick out.

I ran my eyes through the crowd, just out of impulse, fully expecting to just see another rabid fan, trying to get my attention, and then Bam-

White.

Out there, in the crowd, was a Stallion. He looked thin, sickly, and had not a drop of color to him. His eyes just, stared. Empty.

Colorless.

It sent a chill through my heart.

I blinked, and he was simply gone, not a single detail moved, and not a single hair on anypony’s mane moved. Like he was never there.

Of course, this is The Rainbow Dash we’re talking about here! Some creep looking at me like that wasn’t gonna stop me from having a good time.

Still, it made me pause. A weird thing, I guess.

The next instance occurred at Ponyville, while Pinkie and I were enjoying a hearty drink of Cider. He was by a bench, sitting next to that weird pony addicted to those weird “Humans” she kept going on about, but she didn’t seem to notice him.

Now, he was close enough to make out details. He was a pegasus, and his eyes weren’t all White. It was kinda inverted. The whites of his eyes, I think I’ve heard Twi call it the Sclara? Or something, were black. I could make out his mane, too. Ragged, dirty, and I swear I could see bare patches of skin, just as white as the rest of him. And his wings… they looked Mangled.

I remember asking Pinkie “Hey, Pinkie, do you see that guy over there?” and I pointed over to the Stallion.

“Over by the bench? That’s Lyra, you silly filly! She’s a Girl, not a guy.” The party goer laughed at her friend.

“What? Not her, I mean that white stallion, right next to her…”

He was gone.

“What? He was just there!”

“RD, I think you need to take a nap or something. Nopony’s over there but Lyra, and if there were, they’d have messed with the paint on the bench! Speaking of that, we should probably get Lyra off the bench before the paint dries.”

Yeah, it took me a bit to actually notice that the bench was still a glistening white, the tell-tale sign that the local Painters forgot the sign.

I really thought that Pinkie was right, that I just needed a nap.

But those Colorless Eyes didn’t leave my mind. It was like a hypnotic spell, stuck in the back of my brain, never leaving. It was there when I blinked, it was there when I slept. Eventually it went away, but then he showed back up. Closer, though.

Every time, his face started changing. After the bench, he started to, well, I guess he was starting to Smile. It was hard to tell, as he had no visible lips, and his eyes never changed from their fully blown open state.

It took several months for him to get closer.

At the time, I only saw him as a stalker, nothing more. Persistent, yeah, but I could deal with it. After all, that jerk was fast enough to vanish before Pinkie saw him, and if anypony was as fast as Me, it was that Bubblegum Menace. Nopony Else needed to get involved. After all, this jerk was picking with Me, so it’s My problem.

At least, that was my reasoning, back then. Truth is, I was scared out of my mind. I mean, could you blame a Mare? Every waking moment was haunted by that Freak, and constantly vanishing on me made the fear I felt every time he appeared Worse. Thankfully, he never showed up anywhere near my home, or near work, or while I was around Unicorns like Twi, and Rarity.

Funny, he actually made my relationship with the two better. Well, Was.

I say that, as just a few weeks ago, he began getting closer, and sleep became a distant memory. I slept about a total of 3 hours, in like 6 whole weeks. Because every time I tried, he was there, outside my window. And…

He was crying. That single, black and white eye, pouring tears, constantly. It didn’t leave any tracks, as per usual, so I guess that’s when I started figuring it out.

He wasn’t real. But that didn’t matter to my brain when he popped up outside my window in the early hours of the morning. Nearly gave me a heart attack, and had me running to Twilight with my tail between my legs. She, uh, wasn’t happy to see me at 2 in the morning.

I guess I’m writing this all down in case… I dunno, in case I die in my sleep? After this morning, my brain and heart just refuse to accept he’s fake, so I’m terrified that they’ll just, shut down in the middle of the night.

I guess I can call this my “Memento Mori”, then. Or, a Eulogy?

Who knows, who cares.