Upon closer inspection, above the pile, you notice a few sheets of paper written with rather neat lettering. You pick them up and begin to read the first page:
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SECTION I: RESEARCHING THE CROSSBREEDING OF DARK AND LIGHT PEGASI- Markings of the Pinto Pegasus
When watching the hatching of pinto pegasi eggs, there was one question that came to mind: if a pinto pegasus comes from a Light and Dark pegasus crossing, will the child inherit equal amounts of white and grey fur across their body and manes? Do these shades of white and gray vary between different children by contrast between light and dark values? Are the shapes and patterns of this colored fur completely randomized, or do the Pintos tend to follow some type of pattern conformity?
SECTION II: Some Statistics
For the sake of readability I will keep this part concise.
As I didn’t have enough time to capture enough eggs from the Stream and Mountain Junction pass I opted instead to purchase a majority of my pegasi from other magi around the Keep.
I purchased an entire mixed herd of pegasi, of which there were:
23 Light Pegasi
23 Dark Pegasi
From 34 attempts to breed light and dark pegasi together, 20 eggs were produced (a 59% success rate). These include:
11 Light pegasi (55% of all offspring)
4 Dark pegasi (20% of all offspring)
5 Pinto pegasi (25% of all offspring) that were used for observing my research
I also noticed something rather interesting: the acquisition of Crossing Stones across breeding attempts.
25 Crossing Stones stones were created across all 34 breeding attempts, whether failed or successful (74% chance of receiving a Crossing Stone)
9 stones came from unsuccessful breeding attempts (36% of all stones)
16 stones came from successful breeding attempts (64% of all stones)
What can be done with these mysterious crossing stones remains to be seen- but that is not the purpose of this paper.
SECTION III: Observations of the Pinto Pegasus
When I had successfully hand-reared all five pinto pegasi to adulthood, I recorded the following observations:
- The first pinto pegasus: A female. Sported more white than gray. The white was pure; the gray, lighter compared to the other pegasi. Patch-like white markings blotted the pattern composition.
- The second pinto pegasus: A male. Equally grey and white. The white was slightly softer than purest and brightest white, with the grey appearing as a fine, lightly blue-tinted paint. This pegasus was stunning in appearance- it was as if an artist had carefully painted a canvas of colors across this pegasus’ body. It’s feathered wings were painted in angelic white. If you thought of any pinto pegasus in this world, this would be the archetypical one that comes to mind.
- The third pinto pegasus: A female. Sported more white than gray. The white was milky in color, and the grey matching it’s slightly cream-toned saturation. If you splashed fresh cream into a cup of hot cocoa- that is what these markings reminded me of.
- The fourth pinto pegasus: A male. Sported more white than gray. I could compare this white to porcelain, near-translucent under bright light. The grey was opaque as stone. The patterning of these colors formed a fine marbling, with each color stark in contrast to one another. The most asymmetrical of the five.
- The fifth pinto pegasus: A male. Sported more gray than white. This grey was shades darker than the remaining pegasi that were observed, with a stormy and ashen mane and tail trailing behind faint streaks of cloud white. I felt as if I looked upon the sky on a rainy day when clouds were parted by the wind.
SECTION IV: Conclusion
It is interesting to note that in line with the high rate of Light pegasus eggs that were created from breeding, three of the pinto pegasi I bred had more white fur than gray. Likewise, the white coloring on these three matched the brighter tones of their Light parent. The same can be said of the pegasus that took on the darker colored attributes of it’s Dark pegasus parent.
The color distribution was uneven among pinto pegasi that demonstrated an affinity to matching the dominant color of one of the parents, with the exception of the equally colored pinto. The patterns were so varied between offspring I can see that there is no consistency between them.
This research may be useful in shedding light on what the crossings of other equine species may entail. I would have loved to cross a Eleuthyian and a Aresian Hellenic Pegasus together; though they produce no hybrids, would their offspring demonstrate traits inherited from it’s opposite parent? What of the crossing of the Arkenian and Etanian Tantivus? I really want someone with infinitely more time, patience and shards to do this for me...
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A separate sheet provides a list of citations used for this research:
- Bestiary Page 16: “The Pegasus”, by Damien
Bestiary Page 17: “The Dark Pegasus”, by Damien
Bestiary Page 129: “The Pinto Pegasus”, by Damien
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You set the papers down, and take one last look at the table. One small sheet at the corner sticks out oddly amongst the rest, so before leaving, you decide to pick it up too.
It contains a note written with a considerably sour tone: “I’ve drained my pockets empty to purchase enough adult pegasi and drinks for an entire night’s worth of sustenance to the point that I might as well be destitute… I hope that [a name is hastily scribbled out here, though you can make out a M and a B together] and his two assistants and [there is another scribbled out name starting with a R] at that inn are happy with their latest financial acquisitions from me…”
The writing past this point slowly turns into an incoherent scrawl that trails off the paper entirely.
You chuckle and shake your head lightly. Despite the Magi’s best efforts to hide the two names, it was easy enough to guess the two people in question. You gently set this back in it's original place, and leave the room for the night.
𝖒𝖞 𝖆𝖗𝖙: 