"Prep SCP-2526-1 for testing," said a monotone voice.
Another day, another test. I lifted myself off of my cold bed and glanced at my cell door as it opened. Four ponies. One was a magenta male unicorn wearing a long lab coat who magically carried a notepad in the air beside him. The rest were Earth ponies, obviously guards from the amount of armor they wore, I couldn't even see their skin. There was only one guard yesterday, I noted.
The unicorn spoke using the same, dull tone as before, "Follow me. Any aggression, defiance, or attempt to escape will result in sedation."
I crossed my arms. "What gives? Am I suddenly too dangerous for one guard?"
"You are not authorized for that information. Follow me."
"Why?"
The unicorn glared at me. "You're not authorized to know why. Now follow me, or I'll have to sedate you."
I sighed. "Fine." I exited my cell, and followed the unicorn into the hallway, three guards behind me.
I've been here for four weeks now. Every day, they bring me from my fabulously bare cell down to who-knows-where for various "tests" and whatnot. Usually it's just blood samples, basic questions about my biology, and athletic tests. At least I've managed to convince them to let me keep my clothes. I told them it makes me extremely uncomfortable when I'm not wearing my shirt and shorts.
They call me "SCP-2526-1." I told them, several times in fact, that my name is Amaron. Still, they continue to refer to me by that string of letters and numbers. I suppose I should ask them why, eventually. They'll probably give me the same crap they give me about almost everything: "You're not authorized to that information," or something like that. I quickly gave up on asking any of them their names or where I was. These guys are really stingy about who knows what.
We passed through another hallway. They must really like the bare-bones design philosophy. Every single area I've been in during my time here has had white walls with a black stripe stretched horizontally, white metal ceilings and floors, next to no furnishings, zero decorations, and not even clocks. Only essential items, like chairs, tables, and occasional lab equipment were present.
Knowing full well what the answer would be, I asked, "What are we doing today?"
He simply stated, "You're not authorized to tha-"
I let out a groan, "I'm going to find out in a few minutes anyway, why can't you tell me now?"
"Because you'll find out in a few minutes," his pace didn't change at all, "and to be honest, I don't know."
What? "Wait, you don't know either? I thought you guys were just keeping secrets from me, not each other."
He turned his head to face me and sighed. "Not all of us are entitled to the details... now be quiet, I shouldn't even be discussing this with you."
Now THIS was interesting. An organization that keeps secrets from its own members? This seems too much like the Men in Black organization, but with no aliens... I guess they might see me as alien, since I haven't seen any other humans around here yet. I've only seen ponies during the four weeks I've been their test subject.
After taking several turns down this empty hallway, we stopped in front of a door. Which door, I had no idea. None of the doors had any windows or identifying features except for a small symbol, and the occasional number, above a key card slot where the doorknob should be. Even then, I don't understand what these symbols mean. The symbol above this slot depicted a pony looking at a large box containing a question mark. The unicorn magically pulled a key card out of his lab coat and slid it into the slot. It produced a single beep and the door automatically opened.
As we walked inside the room I was immediately hit with a feeling of dread. I quickly looked around, trying to identify the source of my unease. I saw a few chairs with desks to, a door leading to what looked like a testing chamber of some sort. The testing chamber was empty save for a knee-high table, and a window giving vision of that same chamber. The testing chamber was noticeably darker than this room. I guess I'm going in there...
My suspicions were confirmed as the unicorn walked over to the other door and inserted his key card. "Please step inside. You will be instructed with what to do in a few minutes."
As I walked inside, the foreboding feeling intensified. I turned to the unicorn and said, "I don't have a good feeling about this. You sur-" Suddenly, the floor began shaking.
I turned to the unicorn and said, "What's happening?"
The unicorn's normally dull tone disappeared, "I'm not sure. Its probably nothing."
I grinned. Famous last words.
I tried sitting down on the table, but the shaking stopped as soon as my rear hit the hard surface. I sighed, and internally remarked, Of course it stops right when I sit down.
I got back up and asked, "Should I stay here?"
The unicorn ignored me and instructed one of the guards to call an operative.
The guard glanced at me, and the unicorn said, "Don't worry, he won't hear." Having said that, he shut the door to the chamber.
I tried listening to them talk, but quickly discovered that the chamber was soundproof. The window was surprisingly not one-sided. I saw one of the guards discuss something with the operative over his helmet's comm. This continued for a few minutes before I stopped looking and laid down on the uncomfortable, low table.
Some time later, a half hour I guessed since I didn't have a watch, I got up to look through the window again. The guards and the unicorn I was with earlier were no longer there, but now there was an older grey unicorn is pushing a small cart into the observational room, as I've decided to call it. The cart was holding two syringes, several surgical knives, and what appeared to be a Magic 8-Ball.
Oh fun, I stopped looking, and laid back down onto the table, stay calm.
Soon after, the door opened again. That same grey unicorn greeted me, and he wore a plain lab coat similar to the other unicorn who brought me here.
His voice had a strange mixture of frailty and confidence, "Hello, SCP-2526-1, my name is Doctor Hard Science, and I've been authorized to tell you how we brought you here."
Author's Note
Well, here goes nothing! I got the idea for this story while discussing bad fanfic ideas with some of my friends, when one of them brought up this one. It surprisingly didn't seem terrible, so I figured, why not give writing it a chance? I haven't written a single thing outside of schoolwork in my life, but I don't care, and neither should you. I think. Maybe that came out wrong.
Hope you enjoyed it so far!
I'm kind of ticked off. Four weeks I've been here, playing nice, being pushed around and tested on, and NOW they decide to actually talk to me? When I get out of here, I'm going to have a nice chat with the uptight prick who runs this place and give him a piece of my mind.
Doctor Science began speaking, "Firstly, I would like to apologize for the way you've been treated by our staff-"
I sat up, "What's the deal with you guys? Why tell me now and not when I first got here?"
He levitated the 8-Ball between the two of us, "Everypony has been on edge since the last incident, and because we wanted to make sure that no anomalous events would occur if we brought this to you. In addition, since you are a new species, we wanted to study you."
I nodded, calming down, then looked over to the surgical knives and syringes on the cart. The syringes held a pale green liquid, and the knives looked like they were made specifically for prying... Wait, why doesn't he have any guards with him?
"Uh-huh. Where are the guards?" Crap, why did I ask that?
He took a breath, "There was... another incident."
Must of had something to do with the rumbling I felt earlier, "OK, but why did three guards escort me here? Usually there's only one threatening me with a stun baton."
His mouth formed a slight grin, "I assure you, SCP-2526-1, I am more than capable of looking after myself."
"I'll take your word for it. Can you please tell me why all of you keep calling me that? My name is Amaron, for Pete's sake."
He set the 8-Ball back down on the cart, "Interesting... so 'Pete' is the deity in your world? Where did I put my notepad..."
"What? No, its just a saying," I raised my hand to grab Doctor Science's attention, "Look, can you just tell me, slowly and clearly, how I got here, whats interesting about my behavior, and what that Magic 8-Ball has to do with all of this?"
"Certainly, and we only call you SCP-2526-1 for identification purposes. Its how our system works."
"Well I don't like it," I stood up, and shifted my weight to one foot, "now please tell me what I'm doing here."
Doctor Science cleared his throat, "What do you remember about what you were doing before you got here?"
"I've already told you guys that stuff."
"Just tell me. I'm going to fill in the blanks for the parts you don't understand."
I set my eyes on the 8-Ball and pointed to it, "I was messing around with a Magic 8-Ball, just like that one. I've never actually used one before, I just found it in my closet. I don't know how it got there. I asked it a silly question, and poof, I blacked out. I woke up here and the rest is recent history."
Doctor Science nodded, "And what was the silly question?"
"Oh, it was just something stupid and childish, 'Will you take me to-'" I choked on my words as the gears in my head grinded to a halt. I never actually told them that Equestria is a fictional place in my world. Oh God.
Doctor Science asked with a look of concern, "Are you all right?"
I gave him a weak smile as I struggled to recover, "...Yea, its just... um... I asked, 'Will I ever be special?'" That sounds really lame. I'm such a bad liar. "Um, then I shook it, and it said, 'It is certain.'"
He gave me a look that told me he didn't buy it, but he continued nonetheless, "I see. Well, the 8-Ball you used was no ordinary Magic 8-Ball."
"I guess it uses real magic, doesn't it? Just like you unicorns."
"No, actually. It uses a much higher and more potent force than magic. That force affects the very fabric of reality, most of the things we keep in this facility use that force in some way."
"Huh," I shifted my weight to the other foot. "What's it called?"
"We don't have a name for it. Most ponies around here try to pretend it doesn't exist. What we do have a name for are the objects, creatures, and areas affected by this force: SCPs. Each time we find an anomalous entity, we assign a number to it preceded by 'SCP', and a second number to any other entities relating to that first entity," Doctor Science cleared his throat again, "We call this 8-Ball 'SCP-2526.' Since it is the reason you are here, we call you 'SCP-2526-1.'
"We've spent the past four weeks figuring out how SCP-2526 works, in addition to learning about you. We've determined that SCP-2526 functions on a very basic level: Ask it a yes or no question, and it will give a completely random answer, and then it will bend space and time to make that answer true."
I wasn't quite sure what to make of this. That 8-Ball is the cause of my being here? And not only that, but its the same one I found in my room? This doesn't make any sense. I mean, I know magic exists in Equestria, but Celestia ain't got nothing on this reality-altering fortune teller.
Another thought occurred to me, "If this is SCP-2526, and I am SCP-2526-1, then what about all the other numbers?"
Doctor Science chuckled, "I just said, each time we find an anomalous entity, we assign a number to it. Do you really think you're the first unusual thing to happen to our world?"
An image of Discord turning rainwater into chocolate rain appeared in my head, "I guess not."
Just then, I heard a muffled boom come from far above us.
I spoke with a nervous tone, "Eh, what was that?"
Doctor Science said, "That would likely be the incident I told you about earlier. Just ignore it for now, our task force will take care of it."
I sighed, then looked at the syringes and surgical knives on the cart again, "All right... so what are those for?"
"The syringes are amnesiacs, just in case," Doctor Science sighed, "the knives are a poor idea of a joke by one of the senior staff, Doctor Bright Light. He's always up to something."
I frowned and said, "That's a stupid joke and I don't see why someone would do that."
Doctor Science tilted his head slightly, "Hmm? What was that you said?"
"That's a stupid joke. What, did I insult his poor sense of humor?"
He waved his hoof, "No, after that."
"I don't see why someone would do that?" I folded my arms, "What's interesting about what I said?"
"Your grammar. You said someone, not somepony. Is that normal where you're from?"
"Yea. I'm not from Equestria, we don't say somepony."
Doctor Science's face stretched with a look of surprise, "How do you know what Equestria is?"
Oh crap, "Uh, I asked one of the other scientists and they told me."
His eyes narrowed, "None of the other staff were allowed to give you that kind of information."
Oh crap oh crap oh crap, "Um... I overheard them talking?
"Stop lying. How do you know about Equestria?"
I heard a less-muffled crashing sound come from above, this one sounded closer. The floor rumbled slightly.
I looked away from him, "I don't think you want to know. Besides, don-"
Suddenly, a loud female voice boomed, "ALL STAFF PLEASE EVACUATE THE SITE IMMEDIATELY, THE SITE HAS EXPERIENCED A KETER-LEVEL CONTAINMENT BREACH. ALL STAFF PLEASE EVACUATE THE SITE IMMEDIATELY."
"Ow..." I cringed, the volume of the speaker hurt my ears, "What was that?"
Doctor Science pulled his key card out of his lab coat, "That would be standard procedure."
"What's standard procedure?"
"In the event of a Keter-level containment breach, all staff are to evacuate the site. Just like she said."
"What's a Keter?"
He looked anxious to go, "A rating for an SCP with the highest potential danger to ponykind. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to leave."
As he turned to walk out of the chamber, I grabbed his tail. There's no way I'd let him leave me here!
Doctor Science stopped and spoke with an unnervingly calm tone, "I wouldn't do that if I were you. You'll be fine, I'll lock the door behind me."
Another boom sounded above, parts of the ceiling cracked.
I let go of his tail, and looked at the ceiling with worry. Any moment now the ceiling would crash down, I could feel it.
"I don't think I'm going to be fine, Doctor. Please don't leave me here," I pleaded.
He stood there for a moment, not moving at all, when the loudest boom thus far caused bits and pieces of the ceiling to fall to the floor.
Doctor Science turned his head to me, sighed, and said, "I'm probably going to get demoted to D-Class for this... Amaron, grab SCP-2526, and follow me."
There was a violent-sounding snap, and darkness filled the room.
Author's Note
Hopefully this answers some of the worries you guys have been having about this story. I promise there will be less talking in the next few chapters as Amaron and Doctor Hard Science try to make their way out of the facility.
Just to be clear, I'm not following the story line from SCP: Containment Breach. Any SCPs the two encounter will be used only to further the story, with a few cameos.
Leave your thoughts below, and thanks for reading!
Mini sneak peak: Next chapter may or may not include a pair of 3D glasses.
