A post-apocalyptic story about exploring ruins, the mistakes of another civilization, and memory.

No one must ever know,
This land where we must go,
They hoped and shared their love,
Yet death rained from above,
The scars of passing linger on,
Through empty husks and unheard songs.
Although they now live in my heart,
The truth still hurts...where do I start?-Twilight Sparkle

Coverart by this guy who is awesome. THIS GUY Also, major thanks to Luna-tic for helping me edit this sucker! Perhaps even bigger thanks to Obabscribbler who made a radio play of it. You can find that radio play HERE!

Twelve thousand years ago, humanity was driven into a war with an unknown enemy. Fire rained from the heavens and the sky turned dark as the sun dimmed. Acid poured from the clouds and a plague was unleashed upon mankind: A virus that caused men to turn on one another. A disease that forced man to fall to his knees and beg for mercy. A pathogen that ravaged man’s civilization.

And when humanity lost all chances of reconciliation, all hope of keeping their loved ones safe, they pulled the plug, three hundred souls left Earth while sacrificing their only home to the angel of the enemy.

In the twelve millennia since the Great War, all traces of humanity have been wiped from the surface of the Earth. In man’s rightful place now are a multitude of sapient species. For twelve thousand years, these animals have lived in peace and harmony, man reduced to nothing more than but a myth, a folk tale, a legend.

But word has spread across the countryside. Word of forgotten beasts that still walk the western wastelands. Creatures able to bend the world to their will without the help of magic. Creatures said to be older than time itself.

Teen for language, and dark moments. Character tags will be added as the story progresses

"Uh... attention, all personnel. There seems to be a problem with the SCIP Network. No Foundation computer at this site seems to be able to access the Control Systems, and that includes the Door Control System. We fear we might have been hacked by a Splinter Group, or a massive system glitch has occurred. Whatever the case, we are initiating a site-wide Class A1 Lockdown out of precaution, until control can be remotely restored. We will update everyone shortly."

This was never supposed to happen.

"Attention, all personnel! The Door Control System is being accessed remotely from an unknown source. An immediate Class B3 Lockdown has been initiated per direct order of O5-█! We advise all personnel to seek out a safe space, or prepare for an evacuation."

Why? Why did she have to do this? She- she was curious, fascinated with it. So enamored with the possibilities she didn't even begin to consider the potential dangers. And now look where she is.

"Attention, all personnel! Somebody is opening up the containment chambers! This site is now experiencing multiple Keter and Euclid Class Containment Breaches, and we advise all remaining personnel of Class-C or higher to enter to your nearest evacuation shelter immediately! Full-site lockdown initiated!"

Stuck. In a room, with a horrifying abomination, something so terrifying she couldn't even begin to comprehend had she not seen it first hoof, outside the door, ready to devour her. Smashing it's huge body into the door in an attempt to break it down. Snarling. Growling. Waiting for it to give way.

"We've dispatched several MTF Task Forces, including Epsilon-11, to this facility for immediate re-containment purposes. We advise all personnel to remain in your evacuation shelter and to ignore any and all personnel attempting entry unless verified to be both human and at least Class-C. We can't take any risks in a breach of this magnitude. The following SCPs are confirmed out of containment: SCP-002, SCP-005, SCP-008, SCP-009, SCP-016, SCP-017, SCP-019, SCP- wait, what is- OH MY GOD!"

And now she was going to die.

"...You... disgusting, RETCHED creatures... you... you think I am secured here... you think... I can be contained. That... you... are... protected. That you... are in control. That any of these... ABOMINATIONS... can be... locked away. That you can win."

And now they were all going to die.

"You... are gravely mistaken..."

And it was all her fault.

Crossover with the SCP Foundation Mythos.

The Canterlot Caverns are a strange and enigmatic place, untouched and forgotten by pony-kind for centuries. So when a strange metal object is unearthed in their depths, it's up to Twilight Sparkle and Lyra Heartstrings to discover the many secrets it holds.

Together, the two of them will have to do their best to understand the remnants of an ancient civilization, and decipher what remains of Those Who Came Before.

The cover-image is a cleverly edited stock image, which was modified by the stupendous Corvo.
Proofreading was performed by the equally fantastical writers:
Timetraveling Pony (Who started as a proofreader when Cloud was writing this. Hats off to him for being dedicated and staying on as a proofreader for me.)
DustyPwny
Tidal
Superluminous
Night Spark
PhiliChez

And a special Thank You goes to The Sentient Cloud for allowing me the honor of continuing this great story after he retired from writing fimfictions.

As it turns out, this story is eerily similar to Lyra Heartstrings and the Hand of Man. Due to their similarity, I feel that it would be appropriate to give said story a mention.

The plight of the endless CT-T war has arrived in Equestria! Observe the Equestrians as they watch the CTs and Ts duke it out and see endless humans die and come back to life, all while watching their beloved buildings and monuments be possibly destroyed every match for 10 rounds!

This story brought to you by Valve, Gaben, My Little Pony, Hasbro, the letter 'T', and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.
Negative six-star rating and never featured on Equestria Daily!

On July 17th, 2023, satellites around the world began to pick up a strange radiation source coming from the North Pacific, just above Hawaii. Just as the US, Japan, Australia and other such nations along the Pacific begin to investigate, something covers the entire North Pacific in blinding light, a loud crack rippling through the air. When the light finally died down and humanity rubbed it's eyes in shock, they saw none other than Equestria.

The first contact had gone well enough, with pony and human delegations meeting in New York, Celestia herself showing up for a moment. They claimed that the appearance of Equestria was purely accidental, a 'magical mishap' as they put it. They established 'Conversion Bureaus' around the globe, establishments for the sole purpose of permanently changing a human into a pony.

As it turned out, this was all a ruse. Shortly after the final conversion bureau was built, Celestia herself declared humanity to be a 'vile' and 'unfit' species, citing examples such as their wars, their pollution, and so on. All at once, the Conversion Centers released hordes of Pegasi and Unicorns, bent on forcibly turning all of humanity into 'peace-loving' ponies.

All at once, millions of humans were transformed. Military bases sabotaged. The world couldn't even get a missile out of the ground in time, much less perform a coordinated counter-assault. Humanity simply wasn't prepared for this.

But as it turned out, there were other players in the game. Humanity had gotten out of fixes much worse than this before, and they didn't even realize it. Organizations, unknown to even the world elite, sat beneath the surface of the Earth or disguised as ordinary facilities, prepared to do everything in their power to prevent the extinction of humanity.

As humanity panics, the SCP Foundation takes action.

THIS STORY IS A CROSSOVER WITH MY LITTLE PONY: FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC AND THE SCP FOUNDATION.

THE SCP FOUNDATION MYTHOS IS A COLLABORATIVE WRITING SITE CONTAINING THOUSANDS OF USER-SUBMITTED ARTICLES DESCRIBING FICTIONAL, ANOMALOUS OBJECTS AND ENTITIES.

I DO NOT OWN MY LITTLE PONY: FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC, NOR DO I OWN THE SCP FOUNDATION. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.