//------------------------------// // Protocol-507: Houdini // Story: SCP: Equestrian Protocol // by P0nies //------------------------------// Run. Why was it always run? Twilight thought to herself, eyes still peering out of the door, expecting something to do the same to her as it did to that biped creature. A corner was the only thing that felt somewhat safe at this moment, seeing as how nothing could possibly come from behind her. Red was everywhere, the color of death and emergency. Blood stained and dripped from the walls outside of the door, and when her mind finally caught up with what had happened, she began to panic. Breathing became sporadic. Thoughts of a painful death raced across her mind. She began to dry heave, trying to hold back the contents of her stomach. A small flicker of light glimmered on the pool of blood, reflecting the light into Twilight's eyes. Something was coming for her, and no matter what it was, she didn't want to have anything to do with it. There was nowhere to hide for her, the room was void of any object, except for the bed that rested in the corner. Her eyes darted back out the door, the light that she had seen getting brighter with every given moment. It was now or never, and this may be the last thing that she could do in her existence in this strange place. Twilight dove for the bed, grabbing the rough wool blanket that rested upon the mattress. She fell short, landing just in front of it. There was a small space under the bed, big enough to fit a larger pony. The light outside grew brighter, and the muffled steps of a creature could be heard. Heavy panting also came from whatever was coming closer. Crawling under the bed, Twilight dragged the blanket over her body and attempted to stay out of sight. The blanket was rather small though, and it barely covered her body. She couldn't help but feel like some part of her body was sticking out from under it, and no matter how she adjusted herself, the feeling was still there. She attempted to control her breathing, but she only caused herself to begin hyper-ventilating. Through the porous fabric the blanket consisted of, it appeared that the light had stopped just outside of the door. Whatever it was, it had stopped and pointed the source of the light at the floor, where she had seen the creature walk out just moments before. “God dammit...” could be heard as a faintly Russian accented male spoke from outside the door, sorrow heavily dripping from his voice. “It fucking killed him. I actually liked him too...” Light glimmered off of the walls as the light reflected of of letters painted onto the concrete walls. A small click echoed into the room as he jumped around the corner. The way that he came around the corner showed little knowledge of any training at all. He quickly scanned the room with a flashlight he carried in one hand, and pointed another metal object around the room as he quickly scanned it. The light that was emitted from the flashlight drowned out the dreary red the emergency lights filled the room with. The metal object he carried seemed to be similar to that the other creature carried, but in a smaller form. It was a larger creature, and they began to seem more familiar as Twilight gazed upon them longer. A human? She thought to herself, I thought that they were just old mare-tales... The human looked to be twice the size of her, at least six feet tall. His blonde hair shone in the light, and his green eyes glowed in the aura of his flashlight. The belly of the human slightly jutted out from the rest of his figure, implying that he was slightly over-weight. Skin a pigment of sand covered most of his body, except for the hair on the top of his head. She observed his actions as he closed the door to where it was only cracked open. The light he carried with him began to be pointed around the room, examining what he had to work with. The light fell upon the object that Twilight had ripped from the ceiling, and he slowly walked over to it. He shoved the metal object in the back of his pants right at the belt-line and picked up the camera. Looking up, he saw the mount from which it had come. It was an interesting cut on it, he noted, mainly because of the fact that it had a clean cut with no signs of anything used to remove it. He stood, the camera still in hand. A faint violet glow came from behind him as the feel of cold metal against his lower back dissipated. He turned around to see his gun floating in mid air, a purple aura surrounding it. All he did was just stand there, mainly because of the fact that his weapon was hovering in front of him due to some unknown force. “What in the hell...” he exclaimed, his mind pooling over the situation that was playing out in front of him. Twilight's heart began to beat rapidly as the nervous tension in her muscles began to increase. She peeked an eye out from under the blanket, her violet eye staring right into the humans. They both froze, and Twilight's magical field disappeared. The weapon dropped to the ground, firing off a single round. A small rubber ball bounced around the room, colliding with each wall before colliding with Twilight's flank. “GAH!” she screamed in agony as the rubber bullet impacted her rear, making her jump and hit her head on the metal frame of the bed. The man looked upon the bed, pulling out his flashlight and taking a step back, illuminating the area where he saw the eye. He slowly bent over and picked up his gun, pointing it at the bed. His hand shook, the adrenaline pumping through his body enhancing the nervous feeling in his body. “Who are you?” He asked, pausing a moment. The room filled with silence, and he spoke again. “You don't say anything I'll shoot you...” “Twilight...” she replied in a quiet voice. “Come out of there, uh, Twilight,” he said with a nervous tension ringing in his voice. Twilight crawled out from under the bed, the blanket slowly falling away from her body. She continued to come out from under the bed, not wanting to feel the pain in her flank again. Twilight expected to have something happen to her, so she clenched her eyes closed. When nothing happened for a few moments, she began to crack her eyes open. The man standing in front of her no longer had the weapon pointed at her, but now it was held at his side. “Son of a bitch...” he muttered. “They brought you into this. They would find a way to make it so that even fictional characters are real.” “You know who... who I am?” Twilight asked him, both eyes now completely open and trying to anticipate any attack from the human. “Sadly, I do. I know about you and all of your friends, and so does half of our world. But, here, you aren't real. You are just a cartoon. But now... these assholes here have found some way to bring you to life. And for you, that is pretty bad. There are things here... that give way to normal fear and induce a new level in your mind. You need to go home, no matter what it costs. This is not where you belong.” Twilight looked upon the human, who now sat with his back against the wall and his hands over his head. “How do I know I can trust you? I mean, I don't even know your name. And if all of this is true... why would they want me of all ponies?” “To be honest, you can't trust me. Yeah, yeah, really cliché, but still. And for now, you can just call me Houdini.” Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but before she could say anything, both of them heard a strange sound coming from the other side of the concrete wall. It sounded like something was trying to dig its way through, the sound of claws scratching at layers of concrete and steel rebar getting closer with every moment. Twilight backed away from the wall, fear building up inside of her heart. The scratching got closer, but finally ceased to exist for a few brief moments. Twilight and Houdini sighed in relief that nothing was actually breaking through. They took their time of gratitude too early, and right after thinking that they were safe, a large scaly claw busted into the room, showering it with dust and blocks of concrete. The event startled Houdini, who had jumped to his feet and began unloading what was left of his rubber bullets into the claw of the creature. The claw retreated back into the hole from which it came, but a head broke through in its place. A large reptilian head filled the gaping hole, both Twilight and Houdini now pressed against the wall. The creature began to rasp, its voice harsh and barely comprehensible. “You... disgusting...” “Son of a bitch...” Houdini said, carefully opening the door he had closed on his way in. “Twilight, trust me. Just run.” Twilight bolted out of the room, nearly tripping over the corpse that lay in the hallway and almost slipping in the pool of crimson blood. She turned her head back to see Houdini following close behind, his flashlight illuminating the hallway in front of them. The tearing of metal from concrete could be heard from behind them as they bolted down the partially lit hallway, running from the creature that was in pursuit of them. “What is that thing?!” Twilight asked, running as fast as her small pony legs could take her. “I'm not sure, but I think that that thing is 682... which means that we are fucked.” Running down the hallway, Twilight tried to keep her stomach steady as she came across pool after pool of blood on the concrete path. The walls were nearly destroyed, most were riddled with small holes or large scratches.They came to a bend, and nearly tripped rushing around the corner. A guard stood at the end of the hallway, pointing a weapon in their general direction. “Stop! Don't move!” he called to them, slowly advancing to where they stood. The crashing and clawing echoing in the hallways behind them was getting louder, and the raspy breathing of the creature was close. Houdini looked around to see if there was any possible way out of their predicament, and to his luck and dismay, there was a door located behind the guard. The faint sound of scraping against concrete could be heard behind the sound of the creature rushing behind them. He looked down at Twilight and whispered, “There – we need to teleport to that room.” “I don't know if I can,” Twilight said, “I've never gone somewhere I haven't been, and I haven't ever teleported a human!” “Both of you, quiet now!” the guard shouted at them. “Just try...” Houdini mumbled. Twilight's horn began to glow as she prepared herself for the teleportation spell, and just as they were engulfed in a violet flash, the reptile tore around the corner and charged for the guard. Luckily for them, they were safe inside a room for the moment being. Twilight looked up after the teleport, the screams of the guard outside ringing through her ears as he was torn into pieces. Even with everything that was going on, she smiled at successfully saving herself and Houdini. But there was something strange about this room that they had made it into, mainly the fact that the floor was covered in a redish-brown substance. And in the corner, facing the wall, stood a tan stone figure. Houdini looked up and noticed the creature inhabiting the other side of the cell. “Well, our fucking luck. Just whatever you do, don't blink.” Just as he said that, the lights in the cell went dim, nothing in farther than a foot away visible.