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++WELCOME INQUISITOR-LORD GRUMANN++
++THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: THE WISE MAN LEARNS FROM THE DEATHS OF OTHERS++
++OPENING FILE "COMPILATION AND ANALYSIS OF PRE-WAR INCIDENT DELTA", AUTHOR DETAILS CENSORED.++
++ERROR: ATTACHMENTS FAILED TO LOAD++

Incident Delta is the most important of the pre-war incidents in determining strategic goals, tactical dangers, and the capacity of the enemy to maintain a war. The following is pieced together through a compilation of security footage, diary entries from main examiners, and subsequent inquiries regarding unknown equinoid species alpha, beta, gamma and the theorised delta. See figs 1-5 for equinoid musculature, which was assumed reading for this report.

Abstract: Analysis on unknown equinoid species alpha, beta, and gamma.

Diary entry one

We (Doctors von Hamfried, Smithson, and McThompson) received samples of equinoid species alpha, beta and gamma (delta, while theorised by some of our less orthodox colleagues, is most likely fanciful in nature). Said samples were composed of: one male and one female adult of each species, one adolescent of each species, and one of the young of each species. Said samples were alive when received.

Two main tests were conducted on these samples while alive. Blood samples were taken and counts were made of blood type and other chemicals in the blood.

Results were standard for equinoids of their size and age. We then euthanised the animals for dissection tomorrow.

Camera footage of these events indicates that what we now recognise as sexual dimorphism is extreme in adults, noticeable in adolescents, but virtually impossible to discern in young. Adults were NOT, as the researchers thought, split between genders. They were universally female. This random sample collection fits with current theory on gender breakdown of the equinoids, which is brilliantly exposited in "The Equinoid Menace", by William Lee Matz. See figs 6-8 for gender dimorphism in the different species. Delta does not have a known male.

Here must be added a note on equinoid species delta. At the time, it was theorised that with the two variants of equinoid species alpha (at the time, only species alpha was accepted as an actual species, known as equus caballus dicens for its habit of being able to approximate human speaking, much like a lyre bird, while the other two were theorised as offshoots that were still within the same species), a third which combined both of the variants' features would also be present, but rarer. At the time of this analysis, this was not a widely held belief and those who held it were often ridiculed.

Diary entry two

By all that's holy....

This rather uninformative diary entry has forced us to use camera footage, transcribed for this.

VON HAMFRIED: Have specimen αa1 brought out.
ORDERLY: Yes, doctor.
VON HAMFRIED: Today we can begin a proper analysis of the equinoid life. <is interrupted by ORDERLY>
ORDERLY: What in blimey? The body's still warm!
<Muttered curses, loudest from SMITHSON>
SMITHSON: Who the hell left it out all night?
VON HAMFRIED: It doesn't matter. At least it hasn't decayed. Orderly, a scalpel.
<ORDERLY hands VON HAMFRIED a scalpel. Body can be seen to belong to FEMALE of the species. VON HAMFRIED makes opening incision, cutting along stomach. A faint noise can be heard. Silence, incision halts.>
VON HAMFRIED: If you're feeling squeamish, feel free to exit for now. Who was it?
<Mutterings. No one lays claim to the sound>
VON HAMFRIED: Very well, we'll continue.
<Incision continues. Sound is heard again, but louder this time. Now blood can be seen from where incision is being made>
VON HAMFRIED: Mein Gott! It's still alive!
<Confused shouting. Guards enter.>
GUARD: What's the matter, sir?
VON HAMFRIED: The beast is still alive. Somehow!
GUARD: What?
VON HAMFRIED: I don't know. Orderly! Bring me another dose of the euthanising poison!
ORDERLY: Right away.
<ORDERLY exits. Re-enters, muttering curses>
VON HAMFRIED: What is it, orderly?
ORDERLY: They're all alive!
SMITHSON: By all that's holy! What do we do?
MCTHOMPSON: Stop the dissection. We'll have to find a way to put them down permanently.
VON HAMFRIED: The events in this room are absolutely top secret! Do you understand? <looks to the camera> Cut the camera! Shut it off!

End of footage.

As we can see, the first problem with our campaign was noticed here. However it was also here that sparked our greatest victory. See fig 9 for a brief tactical analysis of the threat here.

Day Three

We did the dissection today. Anaesthesia works still, thank God.

I think it's dead now. We took out all of its organs. We put the remains into the freezer. We can forget about it, for now.

Wait.

The organs aren't dying. We've just checked them. They're still damned well alive.

What the hell?

Anyway. Organ size appears to be similar to that of equinoid Equus Caballus of similar sizes. αa1 shows no signs of infection. Brain is substantially larger, and head shape is different as well. Strangely, the head shape has extreme variance between ages but not between genders. The adolescent αa has a remarkably different head shape to αa1, for example.

Here must be added a note. The researchers had, either by luck or misfortune, only recovered female adults. Adolescents were mostly evenly mixed, and the juveniles were all female again. Despite the vast majority of their people being female, the enemy appears to have no population concerns (inbreeding being the most predictable). They appear to have a wide variety of shades and colours, far more than would be predicted. This was one of the major causes of victory in the twelfth battle of Settlement Alpha, where our forces were able to identify clearly enemy forces. For further information, I would urge the reader to examine 'A Bridge Too Near', by a prominent equinoid historian at the time, whose name is currently untranslatable. It is well regarded, if slightly over dramatic.

Something still troubles me. There are noises coming from the freezer. I'm going to check it out.

Subsequent to this, the rest of this entry shows rambling writing. Sentence structure shows no apparent language. No words can be discerned. We have thus changed back to camera footage of the freezer. This is a transcription of the camera footage.

VON HAMFRIED: <enters from left> No one is here. What the hell could that noise be coming from?
UNIDENTIFIED VOICE 1: <weakly. Slight accent> Help me.
VON HAMFRIED: Who is that? Damn-fool tricks. <makes to leave>
UNIDENTIFIED VOICE 1: <slightly stronger> Please, let me out, I'm so cold.
VON HAMFRIED: <snorts> In the freezer, are you? All right, I'll play along. <opens freezer> Now what?
UNIDENTIFIED VOICE 1: <clearly> Get me out, please.
VON HAMFRIED: Right...MEIN GOTT!<visibly shaken. hands shaking>
UNIDENTIFIED VOICE 1: <comes from freezer. recognised as specimen αa1.> Thank you.
VON HAMFRIED: <laughs weakly> Jesus Christ. You scared me, guys. Come on, come out.
ΑA1: I am out.
VON HAMFRIED: <laughs haltingly> O....Okay. This is a hallucination. You're dead.
AA1: I'm not dead.
VON HAMFRIED: Ha...thinking an animal could talk. Proof that this is a hallucination.
<GUARD enters>
GUARD: Look out, sir! <sound of gunfire. Two shots. One hits AA1>
AA1: That....hurt...<AA1 collapses.>
<GUARD moves closer>
GUARD: That's the second one that's gotten loose. The other killed one of the orderlies somehow. We had to burn the body of the beast. Sir, you're not safe alone any more. Someone is letting them loose.
VON HAMFRIED: <appears dazed> Yes...yes, thank you.
GUARD: <concerned tone> Sir? You okay? <turns to where he came from. Sound of gunfire, barely discernible> Jack? JACK! GET HELP, DAMNIT!
<second GUARD enters>
GUARD2: McThompson's wounded, sah. Somehow the beast grabbed a scalpel and started cutting on 'im, desecrating 'is flesh, sah.
GUARD: What? Didn't you burn it?
GUARD2: Must 'ave done it before. If Smith hadn't been so la-
GUARD: Enough. Just make sure to get Von Hamfried to safety. I'll deal with this one.
GUARD2: 'e won't like it, sah.
GUARD: Too bad. I'm responsible for his safety. I'll call in evac for McThompson after I burn this one. Who'd have thought?
GUARD2: That all, sah?
GUARD: Yes.
GUARD2: Rightio, sah. <exits with VON HAMFRIED>
GUARD: Right...let's get this over with. I know you're still alive. Damn you. <he fires two more shots> Your bastard partner, you know what he did? He cost me a friend, the murderer!
AA1: <coughs> Not a he.
GUARD: SHUT UP! <fires again twice. AA1 stops moving> Now time to burn your Godforsaken body. <leaves. He comes back with a flame-thrower and torches the body>
GUARD: This is the way.
(Camera footage ends here)

To add to this, we now have diary entry from the chief guard, known as GUARD in camera transcripts.

Brief sabotage. Don't know who it was, but someone let the hyperactive pink male out. Killed an orderly, two guards, and wounded McThompson. Seemed to want to torture them. Put it down and burned the body. Type αa. Other specimen also escaped and nearly killed Von Hamfried. Just the adolescent and child to go.

I'm not sure what the government is playing at. These things are clearly dangerous. We should be wiping them out, not diplomacising with them. Heard from a buddy in the Corps that their 'delegate' or whatever is a princess, if you can believe it. Seems overly concerned with one of them who 'went missing' and turned up in our facility.

Seems they can survive what would be mortal wounds to a person. I need bigger weapons than just these handguns.

Damn it all.

Day Four

Today, we checked over our systems. Nobody released the first specimen, the violent one. The bars just unlocked. I need a drink. I just can't understand it all. We've got pressure to finish this experiment quickly and dispose of the bodies before their leader learns of this place.

I need a drink. FLYING. PHYSICS SHOULDN'T LET THEM. WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING? We've given our superiors what information we can on αa. Time for βa. The winged ones.

I need a drink.

We've just finished the dissection. The yellow one. It whinnied the entire time. I can't forget that. The anaesthesia didn't work. I need a drink.

We're having troubles this analysis. McThompson was our head of biology here. We don't know how this stuff can happen. They can fly, but they shouldn't be able to.

Camera transcription unavailable. Transcriber was physically unwell approximately twelve seconds into the video.

Sketches were taken this time. Analysis by other biologists and veterans confirms our suspicions that these are the beasts that caused the Destruction of Chicago, and that they shouldn't be able to fly. This is further evidence for the belief of the 'specialisation'. While all of the equinoid variants are tough, alpha are supernaturally so, taking several mortal wounds to bring down. Beta have specialised in their wings. Gamma have specialised in their ++THIS SECTION CENSORED BY ORDER OF THE INQUISITOR REGULAR HUMANUM FOR SEDITION. HUMANITY PREVAILS!++, as is well shown in fig 10.

With this in mind, it becomes crucial to understand how these 'specialisations' affect them. Alpha are typically focused around physical activities, especially those based upon simple endurance and strength. Beta focus once more on physical activities, but are more about speed and agility. Gamma... Well, they have to be seen to be believed, but ++THIS SECTION CENSORED BY ORDER OF THE INQUISITOR REGULAR HUMANUM FOR SEDITION. HUMANITY PREVAILS!++
I shudder to think what the delta are capable of, but the records speak for themselves.

Day Five

We're running very late. We don't have time to do the dissection of the rest of the alphas. They were burnt instead. Drinking helps.

We've prepared the last beta adult for dissection. Something feels off about this one, though. I'd swear it is waiting to trick us, to turn the tables.

It's done, God help us. At least this one was silent. As per orders, the body was burnt.

There's no more vodka left. I'll have to find another type of alcohol soon. Keep from thinking of the dissections. I can't speak about how they've changed me, except This section was suppressed for numerous reasons, too many to list here. Suffice it to say, the information is not important. Notable to add is their adapting 'nicknames' for the subjects at this point. We have retained the original titles (αa1 αa2 βa1 βa2 γa1 γa2) for clarity, though the names are to be recorded here: Applejack (presumably for the apple marks on its flank), Pinkie Pie (presumably for its pink colour. The pie part remains unknown), Fluttershy (no possible connections have been made), Rainbow Dash (presumably because of the rainbow colour of its mane), Twilight Sparkle (Sparkle presumably for the mark on its flank. Twilight part is unknown, possibly for colouring), Rarity (only possible connection is the 'Rarity' of the gems marked on her flank, though this appears too convoluted to be the real reason). See fig 11 for a breakdown of the six equinoids examined.

I keep thinking about her when I sleep. She says something I can't understand. It'd be crazy. It's impossible. I try not to sleep. She's always there. Always. And then she says ++THIS SECTION CENSORED BY ORDER OF THE INQUISITOR REGULAR HUMANUM FOR SEDITION. HUMANITY PREVAILS!++

Further sign of his lack of a stable mentality now. Why would he be seeking its forgiveness? We believe this is due to the ++THIS SECTION CENSORED BY ORDER OF THE INQUISITOR REGULAR HUMANUM FOR SEDITION. HUMANITY PREVAILS!++ of the gamma type. No protection has yet been found. Thus it is essential for all units to have a sniper unit attached, for taking down gamma and delta before they can use said powers.

I don't want to sleep. I'll just stay awake all night. It's better than sleeping. Oh god. I can still hear it. I'm not asleep yet. Shut up! Go away!

The rest of the entry dissolves into mad ranting. He appears to compose himself a bit near the end.

This one was βa2, known also by 'Rainbow Dash'. Camera transcripts are unavailable once more, as the transcriber has refused to leave his room, claiming illness. However, the camera footage described a simple dissection. The creature appeared to be dead or incapacitated, as it showed no sign of feeling pain.

Indeed, it was

We've just returned. There was a loud gunshot. We followed it to its source, our transcriber's room. He had shot himself with a shotgun.

What the hell was in the fourth day's dissection footage that could have led to him wanting to kill himself? This makes no sense. We're going to review it. It seems to be the source of all the instability.

We've reviewed it. It was slightly unsettling, but nothing out of the ordinary. We've transcribed it, and it runs as follows.

VON HAMFRIED: <partial despair in voice?> Very well. The beta type today. Orderly, would you?
ORDERLY: Yes, sir. <he exits>
VON HAMFRIED: Halfway done today. <yawns> I haven't been able to sleep well since that one came back to life...
GUARD: Don't worry, sir. Happens to the best of us. <makes to continue, is interrupted by the ORDERLY re-entering with the first beta adult specimen. It is FEMALE.>
ORDERLY: Here you go, sir.
SPECIMEN: Please. Don't hurt me. Please! <tone indicates despair, misery. Obviously able to mimic human vocal tones extremely well. Bears worth cautioning soldiers about this>
VON HAMFRIED: <pretending he cannot hear> Orderly, scalpel, please. <is handed a scalpel> Those wings are extremely small for the frame, do you agree, Smithson?
SMITHSON: Indeed. They don't look able to carry it.
SPECIMEN: <crocodile tears running down eyes> Please, let me go! I won't tell anypony, I promise. Just let me go. Please!
VON HAMFRIED: <stress beginning to show> Well, I'll start the incision. <he cuts open the stomach>
SPECIMEN: <as he does so, it screams> Please please please! Please! Don't do this! Please! It hurts, oh Celestia, it hurts! <she continues to scream>
VON HAMFRIED: <he cracks> SHUT IT UP! Dear God shut the beast up! Or I'll lose the bare control I have.
GUARD: Sir, do you need a break?
SPECIMEN: Please, let me go, please!
VON HAMFRIED: SHUT IT YOU ANIMAL! STOP PRETENDING TO BE HUMAN! <he lunges at the SPECIMEN. GUARD drags him away>
GUARD: <as he exits> Calm down, sir. It's going to be alright. Calm down...
SMITHSON: Well, I guess I'll continue this myself. <hums a jaunty tune as he continues cutting, exposing the rib cage>
SPECIMEN: <piteous tone, the bitch> Please, stop, please, please, please! Please, I'll do anything, please!
SMITHSON: Shut it or I'll make you redefine pain for the next experiment. Now, where were we? Oh, yes. The back. Orderly, turn her over. <he does so> Now, I wonder how those wings of yours work. Let's find out! <he begins cutting open her back> Good animal. Stay quiet.
<the rest of the dissection passes without major incidents>

Day Six

The majority of this entry is filled with insane rambling, mainly concerning ++THIS SECTION CENSORED BY ORDER OF THE INQUISITOR REGULAR HUMANUM FOR SEDITION. HUMANITY PREVAILS!++, but also occasionally mentions another name. Celestia. We have yet to match the name to any deities, divine beings, legendary figures, or anything of any consequence. He shows no sign of understanding what the name means or refers to. He does get a bit clearer near the end, when he says the unicorn looked into my soul. She ++THIS SECTION CENSORED BY ORDER OF THE INQUISITOR REGULAR HUMANUM FOR SEDITION. HUMANITY PREVAILS!++ me anyway.

I can't do this. Someone, please, kill me. I can't live with this. And I have to do it again tomorrow. I'm going to throw up. Excuse me.

He goes back into the rambling here. His favourite topics appear to be Celestia and something being alive. He, quite conveniently, does not say what it is that is alive, only that it is. However, we can now guess what it was, based on our experience. This is needless, though, as he is merely rambling here.

Camera footage was unavailable. Somehow, the footage was erased and replaced with the head of a white γα. It has multicoloured hair (see fig 12). It appears to be speaking the native equinoid tongue, though of course this would be impossible to translate. Bloody things barely have any intelligence at all. This is one of the least useful days in terms of extracting information from the scientists, but according to misc guard diaries (see fig 13 for the combined extracts) they destroyed the adolescents and young on this day. This is important.

The chief guard left a diary entry for this day, too, which helps frame the time of this.

Damn it. These days... We had to destroy the young ones today. Word from the Corps is that their leader is getting very twitchy, and may somehow have learned of this base. We're making sure to evacuate now, but if she knows, we could be in an awful rush.

Day Seven

It's...it's over. We just finished the second unicorn. God help us all. They just burnt the body. We can go home now. It's over.

We just checked the remains. They're still doing it. We torched them again anyway. The guards are beginning the break down and pack up of the facility.

She's still in my dreams. I hope she goes away. But I also don't, for some reason. I don't want to sleep, for I dread seeing her. But I also clamour for sleep, so that I may see her again.

I can hear shooting, and shouting. Maybe the ponies have found us. Well, girl. I hope you still forgive me. Then at least someone will. I go The rest of the text is completely obscured by dark staining. Perhaps coffee?

Camera footage was recovered, though it is patchy in the extreme. Confused gunfire, shouting, and a white shape are most of what it shows.

++END OF FILE++