Fallen

As I came to, I could make out the blurred faces of several humans leaning over me. I tried to move, but found I was tied down to the floor in a white room. The humans, who were dressed in orange jumpsuits, sneered at me, lying on the floor. One kicked me, and the others began poking me. Weak as I was, I couldn’t even protest, just make a few halfhearted whinnies.
“Eehh, it’s just a normal horse, with weird things on its back.” One of the orange-suited humans spat.
Not a… horse…
I heard an automated voice echo around the room. “All Class D’s move away from subject for testing to commence.” The orange-clothed humans moved away from me, revealing another human, this one with a mask covering his mouth and garbed in a white coat. He held up his hand, which held a needle and syringe filled with liquid.
Oh no…
He injected the syringe into my side, and I knew nothing more.

I woke once again, lying on grass. I found that there were bandages around my wing stumps, as well as some other places, like my sides. I shifted around–
Wait! I can move! I’m not restrained anymore! Looking around, I saw that I was in a small paddock nearby a brick building complex. The fence of the paddock was only half my height. I can escape!
But no. Even if I do, then what? I fly away? I can’t fly anymore…
With that simple thought, my heart turned to lead and my ears flopped. I lost my life in the sky. Gazing at the sky, I felt a tear roll down my cheek.
I never should have come here. I never should have wished so strongly for passage to other worlds like this. I came in search of adventure, to fly in mysterious skies, and what do I get? I lose my sky, my one comfort in life. Pegasi were born to fly. Why me? Why MEEEE?
But… it doesn’t matter whether I had wished it from the start. Someone had to sacrifice himself to save Applejack, Green, Adamant, all of Equestria…
I felt a deep sense of confirmation. Yes. It was worth it all. If I could save my friends from this fate, I would have given up much more than my wings. I still did the right thing.
But, how are my friends holding up? Do they miss me? Of course they would. My gosh, how I wish they were here to bring me at least some comfort…
But, for the entire world, I wouldn’t wish for them to be dragged to this forsaken place, like Wither did to me.
That trickster, Wither! That bastard. Why did he have to bother Equestria in the first place? For his own entertainment? Was he even aware of the fact that he put others’ lives in jeopardy for his pleasure?
Oh, speak of the devil. Here he comes. I thought to myself, as I saw a dark shape morph into the form of a human in a lab coat from shadows behind the building.
“Have you had enough of your games?” I hissed in disgust as he approached.
“Well, yes, thank you. I particularly enjoyed the episode in that forest. Such delicious irony, I must say! Still, now that you’ve landed yourself in the hands of the SCP Foundation, there should be an even greater show on its way. I look forward to watching it, and exploring this fascinating place,” he said smugly. I glared at him.
“SCP Foundation, what the hay is that?”
“Well, I might have miscalculated when making the transition between realities, but no matter. This isn’t the Earth I wanted to go to. This is the universe of the SCP Foundation, which gathers supernatural artifacts and creatures to, well, secure, contain, and protect. That’s what SCP stands for.
“So, SCP’s are the creatures and items that the Foundation keeps away from the general population, for risk of danger. Some of these things are wondrous, some are creepy, and some might, just might, cause an apocalypse to occur on the planet. Like, for instance, the zombie virus that could decimate the human race, or the concrete sculpture SCP-173, which can’t move when you look at it, but will move to you in a flash and snap your neck if you look away or blink.”
I raised an eyebrow at that.
“Needless to say, there are supernatural things in here that Earth physics can’t comprehend, reality benders like me and paranormal deities, that could make a huge mess of things if they got into the general population, because literally everything else obeys the laws of physics, and they could cause mass panic. Or worse, kill or enslave the world if they’re hostile.
“And, I see that you’ve become one of them. From listening around, you’ve been inducted into their ranks. Nice to meet you, SCP-042. Hope you like your number; you just inherited it from a poor reality bender sap who got annihilated by this one guy Dr. Clef, the reality bender slayer. It was actually kind of stupid how he got killed, but I digress.” He bowed mockingly.
“What? First I’m just a mere animal, now I’ve been demoted to a mere number?” I exclaimed.
“Yeah, well, tough. As long as I’m here, I might have some fun elsewhere. Ta-ta.” Wither waved and began to retreat.
“You sadistic bastard! I’ll kill you! How dare you just leave like that! You like messing with innocent lives, all for your own enjoyment! You’re sick, you know that?” I screamed at him, he paused, fading out slowly.
“You ponies,” he sneered, “and humans as well, for that matter, are to me as ants are to you. You cannot comprehend me, I exist on a level far greater than you can imagine. I’m a reality bender. You mortals mean nothing to me. But don’t worry. I can’t stand the thought of death, so I’ll do my best to make sure you don’t expire while I’m here.”
He faded out completely as I glared and cursed the wretched being who could so calmly drag humans and ponies to their doom without batting an eye. I rose to my feet shakily as I heard a door slam. I look to see another human in a white lab coat jog over to my paddock. He had some facial hair on his lip and jaw, and wore glasses. He looked ecstatic to see me.
“A real pony! My god! With a cutie mark and everything! My Jesus! It’s a pleasure to meet you! My name is Dr. Bright, I work here at the Foundation. What’s your name?” He jabbered at me.
I hesitated, surprised at the verbal onslaught of this human. Was he another one of those bronies? He seemed to know I was a pony, and recognized my cutie mark.
“I-I’m Sky High.” I said cautiously.
“Oh great! Can I call you Sky? Gee it’s a pleasure meeting you, as you can see, I’m a huge fan of yours. I gotta tell you, I’ve been accustomed to the unexpected happening, after all, I do work in the SCP Foundation. My soul even resides in a magical amulet. Long story, but to summarize, this isn’t my real body. I’m just a copy of Dr. Bright’s psyche that got sucked into a magical amulet. The psyche can duplicate itself into any person or animal that comes into contact with the amulet. I really have no idea how many ‘Me’s there are running around, but I’m guessing quite a lot.”
I stood there shocked. Wait what? His soul is in an amulet, and yet he’s here too, and he could be in lots of other places too? What exactly is going on? My head felt like it was going to explode. I decided to let it go.
“Sooooo, you’re a brony… I ran into some of those awhile ago. There’s something I don’t understand… I get that these ‘shows’ are how you know about Equestria so well, but… where do they come from?”
“Well,” the human began, “see, you guys are characters in a show called ‘My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic’. That’s how we know all about Equestria. But the idea for a show has to come from somewhere. That somewhere is sometimes make-believe, or sometimes real events and it’s just a retelling of them. In your case, the idea for the show came from the mind of the animator Lauren Faust, who made other cartoon shows like ‘The Powerpuff Girls’ and ‘Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends’. See–“
“Waitaminute WAIT a MINUTE! You say that the show came from the imagination of a human? How? It’s a real world and your information seems pretty accurate? How is it possible that a human simply dreamed up every single facet of life in Equestria?” I asked, a feeling of dread beginning in my heart.
“Well, because your entire world isn’t real, of course! None of it is. It’s not real life. It’s just fantasy… caught in a landsliiiide… no escape from reality… eh. Don’t mind me.
“I really don’t know. In the Foundation, we’ve learned to think outside of the box a little, so I have a few theories. It may really be a legitimate universe in a different reality. We get portals to things like that, and beings that have their own pocket dimension. Anything is possible.”
First I lose my wings, now I find out that my world is a lie? A fantasy? Was I just dragged out of nothingness into being for some reality benders’ play? I felt a strange stabbing pain where my wings used to be, as if to accentuate my grief.
“Anyway, I figure you’re a pegasus, because of those stubs on your back and your cutie mark. What happened to your wings?” The human asked.
This was too much. I sank to my knees, tears in my eyes.
“Hey hey! What’s wrong? Was it something I said?” Dr. Bright asked in concern.
Just then I saw out of the corner of my eye another human in a white lab coat confronting Dr. Bright.
“Now, Dr. Bright, we can’t have you depressing the subject, now, can we? Seriously, what’s gotten into you? First that incident with SCP-237, now this? I tell you, do you even take our mission seriously? You’re a real drag sometimes, Bright. “
“Awwwww… can’t I have a little fun?” Dr. Bright whined.
“Not the way you’re seeming to go about it. I mean, you’re a pain in the ass, either causing security breaches or decreasing people’s morale with your ‘fun’. This is another one for your List of Things Dr. Bright is Not Allowed to Do. Now get back inside.”
“Alright,” Dr. Bright pouted, then slouched off back into the building.
The other man walked over to my paddock and leaned on the fence. “Sorry about him. He can be a real pain sometimes, but he’s damn smart. He’s provided so much to the Foundation, and has potential to give so much more. I hope he didn’t depress you too much.”
I sighed. “It’s alright. I’ve not been in the best of moods lately. I guess finding out that your world is just the brainchild of an animator is just the thing for sinking you into a pit of depression.” I flicked an ear.
This new human patted me on my head. On any other day, I would have been indignant at such patronization, but this time I just took it, appreciating that someone cared.
“My name is Dr. Placard. I’m one of the personnel, but nowhere near as high up as Bright. Still, I may be able to do something to help. What can I do for you?”
I was a little surprised at this question, but I figured what the hay? What do I have to lose? Besides, he may actually be genuine with this question.
“Well, first, you can tell me what exactly happened to me.” I began to tell him how I ran into that huge metal thing in the sky, how the strange air currents blew me away, and I ended up tumbling to the ground.
“Yeah, that’s a jet engine. It’s a vehicle designed to fly using powerful engines using expensive fuel in order to provide lift through massive thrust and aerodynamically shaped wings. The air currents caused by a great mass moving will blow you around the wings and body of the jet, yes. It’s a shame about your wings. But hey, at least you didn’t get sucked into the engine. You would have been shredded to pieces.”
I sighed again. “I’d rather be dead now. I’ll never… fly… again…” My nonexistent wings throbbed, and I began sniffling with that thought. “My life is over…”
“Yes, loss of limbs is quite traumatizing, I’m sure. But remember that your life isn’t over yet…” he assured me, but I didn’t care. I just knew that my cherished freedom was gone forever.
“Normally we have prosthetics for missing limbs, but I’m really not sure that any technology we have at our disposal could create actual functional replacement wings. The very best arm and leg prosthetics still don’t hold a candle to actual arms and legs, and wings are complex things to get right,” Placard mused.
“But,” I thought aloud, “you humans have perfected flight, right? That jet thing I ran into, you made, right?”
“Well, in truth, flying inside aircraft is more stressful than fun, but then again that’s coming from a human, and we weren’t designed for flight. I guess if you were into flight, you’d actually find it quite boring. You’re just basically hurtling through the air in a giant metal box, kind of like in a car or train.”
I had travelled by train once in life. It was when I was just a colt, and I was bored the entire time, and constantly asking my parents if we could just fly there. Of course, my wings weren’t strong enough for the entire journey, but I refused to believe that at the time.
“Well, could you just use that technology to design, I don’t know, engines that let you really feel like you’re flying?” I snorted.
Dr. Placard’s face fell. “Yes, some people have been working on personal flight, and they’ve even made some clever devices like jetpacks and personal hovercraft. But…”
I tilted my head to the side. “But what?”
“Buuuuut…” Dr. Placard looked frustrated, “these things either require a massive amount of fuel, power, or resources to maintain, and even if we had those things, I’d need clearance to get you one. Not to mention the fact that they’re designed for human use, and adjusting one for your body would be quite the challenge. That rules out hang-gliding and parasailing, as well.
“There is no way I’d be able to get an order for you to get one in the first place. The directors of the Foundation have very strict orders regarding the sentient SCP’s, because we want to make sure you can’t escape. An intelligent creature is harder to contain than a non-intelligent one.
“So our best bet for getting you anything here is the façade that you’re completely non-sentient. I know it’s demeaning, don’t give me that look. I’ll try to think of something, but in the meantime it’s probably in your best interest to act as unintelligent as possible. I’ll talk to you later; I should get back to my advisors. They’re expecting a report on the new subject, and I can’t leave them hanging.”