Red Little Reality

by Whirl Hoof

Bonus: Red Hot

Author's Note:

By semi-popular demand.

Twilight muddled around in the pantry, looking for anything sweet. She needed a kick right now, considering what she was doing.

She looked around the kitchen, taking a deep breath of coffee-filled air. It was nice, beyond nice to be back home. Her time in what Scranton affectionately called 'SCP F*ck It' hadn't left her completely unscathed, physically or mentally. She'd lost a good portion of her mane, and even some skin from her stomach. One of her wings had been heavily defeathered, and she had damaged vision for a few weeks. Luckily, none of these were permanent, though she didn't know if the same was true for her mental state: she still had nightmares, nightmares of being stuck in an empty, uncaring, toxic void for all eternity, slowly wasting-

No, stop it Twilight. She smacked herself in the muzzle to get back her senses. She'd escaped, in no small part with Scranton's help. She could only hope the human had gone back to his world in good condition, though that was doubtful. Considering he both lacked magic and had been there for much longer, odds were he suffered much worse from the dead end dimension. She didn't envy whatever doctors had to salvage him.

But if this little project worked, she might be able to see for herself.

Grabbing an espresso and several lemon cakes in her aura, she trotted over to the laboratory, where her current project- and her #1 Assistant -awaited.

Another wormhole generator.

As she walked in, Twilight grimaced at the lingering sores of her scarred belly. It very well may never heal properly, a lasting reminder of her near-lethal mistake. Ponyville General and a couple specialists had tried their best, but the skin wasn't simply damaged, it just... vanished into the aether. Difficult to repair something that isn't broken, but simply doesn't exist.

Spike looked up from a blueprint when she arrived. He was prepared for a long day too; he had a small pile of topaz next to him on a table, known for being to dragons as coffee was to ponies.

Spike had, understandably, been even more attached to Twilight than before, ever since the incident. Starlight was more protective, of course, but Spike almost refused to leave her side. She could barely get him to wait outside the bathroom, and he'd even turned down multiple offers to hang out from Rarity, just so he could stay near Twilight. She definitely loved him and appreciated it, but any attempts to tell him 'I'm fine, really, you can relax, do other things' failed completely.

The little dragon popped a topaz in his mouth, crunching while he set the blueprint down. His face was a mix of concern and frustration, which wasn't surprising- given what happened last time, Twilight could see why he wasn't exactly eager for another reality-tearing device. She'd convinced him though, with a combination of appealing to his love for her, a mint-condition amethyst, and possibly some guilting.

Starlight, though, completely refused to take part. In her own words: 'We're now two for two on spells breaking the world in a bad way, I don't think the third time's the charm.' Fair enough.

As Twilight munched on a lemon cake and scanned over the finished- she was very certain to actually complete it this time -wormhole generator, Spike crossed his arms and glared at the machine.

"This is really, really stupid. LIke, phenomenally dumb," he grunted.

Again, Twilight could fully understand his... hesitation. "It'll be fine this time, Spike. The chaos magic was obviously not a good choice, so I'm relying on my own magic, much more stable. The worst that can happen is the generator poops out, and I need to look over the blueprint again."

Spike dropped his arms, eyes glistening. "I just... what if it happens again? What if you don't have that Scranton guy to help you get out? What if-"

Twilight picked him up in a big glomping winghug, nuzzling him. "It won't. Trust me. Using my own magic means it'll take much longer, and it won't work at as large a scale, but there's no risk to us. Again, worst case scenario, it just fizzles out from not enough power."

Spike rolled his eyes. "Fiiiine." He hopped out of Twilight's grasp, stepping over to the thaumic keyer.

She cracked her neck, and glanced at the blueprint herself. She had to look closer and squint- her vision was still not fully repaired -and made sure everything was in order.

"So where are you hoping to go this time?" Spike asked, fiddling with a few dials.

Twilight smirked. "I think we'll try to visit Scranton. I know where it is... relatively."

"Relatively?"

She sighed. "It isn't exactly a cakewalk to look through hundreds of realities to find the exact match, even with it narrowed down to the extreme." Twilight offered a lemon cake to Spike, who shrugged and grabbed it out of her aura. "Now, can you read the-"

"Thaumio instability gauge? Yes, I can. It says the local field is at 7.39 quanta, give or take a couple notches for error."

Twilight blinked. "How... did you know that?"

He grinned, putting his claws on his hips. "I've lived with you literally all my life. I've picked up a couple things." He grabbed onto a red lever. "Now?"

She looked over the blueprint and a few gauges one more time. "Go ahead."

Spike yanked the lever, and, once again, the machine began groaning and shaking. This time, though, Twilight filled the mana packet with her own magic, rather than Discord's.

The result was that the machine took far longer to warm up; they ended up waiting for a good ten minutes before the generator finally began beeping to indicate it was ready to receive coordinates.

Twilight stepped over to the control panel. She glanced at Spike, who gave a double thumbs up.

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and searched.

---

Site-120 was bustling, not least of which was because three different items had breached.

Robert Scranton, being in much greater condition than several weeks before, rolled his one good eye. The three anomalies weren't really dangerous to human life, but they were highly annoying to keep contained, one even being a Keter.

He spun in his chair, glad he wasn't on the unfortunate Containment Teams. All he had to do was make things to contain SCPs; it was up to the Foundation to use them properly.

He held a cup of espresso in his one hand, and looked at a photo of him and Anna on his desk. It showed them at Niagra Falls, both soaking wet but happy.

He put an elbow to his chin, sighing. He was amazed that Anna hadn't looked for another man; he wouldn't have blamed her. Despite the fact he was almost assuredly dead to the Foundation's knowledge, she was still waiting for him on the other side. Just as she was all that kept him going in that hell, his memory had been fresh in her mind long after the accident.

The Site Director had eventually decided, with O5 approval obviously, to call the mysterious dimension 'SCP-3001'. They had rejected Scranton's name idea, sadly. They'd offered him executive control over any research or investigation into the dead end dimension, and at first, he's seriously thought about rejecting it. Why would he want to be anywhere near 3001 considering what happened?

But the more he deliberated, the more he realized that being in charge was for the best. He knew how the LSS worked, so he could work to make sure nothing like the incident occurred again, and he could prevent any trainees or foolish researchers from doing something stupid.

Before even that, they'd offered him a generous retirement, which he almost instantly rejected. Accidents like 3001 were simply a fact of life in the Foundation, and he didn't blame them. Besides, he had a responsibility to ensure nobody else would end up in 3001 or anywhere like it. He was half of the LSS's parentage, so he had to be a good dad.

He swung back around, setting his feet on his desk, the breach alarms still blaring.

His thoughts kept returning to that alicorn, Twilight Sparkle. Without her, he would've still been in 3001, slowly drifting into nothing more than a memory, and eventually not even that. She had his help, but he still marveled at how quickly she picked up technology and knowledge she had no base for. If she was part of the Foundation, she would be a crucial asset- assuming O5 didn't just try to lock her up like any other object, of course.

He decided to head to his personal lab, for no real reason besides boredom. Despite what one may think, even breaches eventually became tiresome and routine, especially when there was a Keter at Site-120. He might as well tinker with the LSS. He'd been very certain to make sure a stray earthquake or the like couldn't cause another accident, but there was always room for improvement.

On the way, Anna stumbled into view. She'd... not been particularly happy that he shot down retirement, but eventually accepted his reasoning, and worked with him harder than ever to ensure the LSS and other anchor tech wouldn't malfunction so horrifically. They were really like two halves of a brain: Scranton was fantastic with the mechanical and functional side (despite what earlier events might suggest), while she was an expert in creativity and thinking outside the box.

Granted, the whole 'two sides of the brain' thing wasn't really up to date, but whatever.

She hugged him when they met in the hall, though Scranton noted her gaze lingered on his missing eye.

He'd quickly learned she considered herself to blame for 3001, and just as quickly bulldozed that delusion. She had nothing to do with the accident, he made sure she knew that.

She tagged along to his lab, not having much better to do even during a breach, and they took apart a new prototype reality device- this one specifically designed for nullifying active reality warping, like a sort of 'reality gun'. Flipping a part of it over, he grinned. It said 'Sparkle Blaster' on the side, in honor of the one who'd gotten him back to his life.

It was a shame that he would likely never see her again. She was brilliant and funny and-

At that exact moment, a tear in spacetime popped into their lab. Very literally.

Anna and Scranton, having a good amount of PTSD, immediately readied to flee from the scene, but something stopped Scranton. The energy from it felt... familiar. Almost like-

Out stepped a being, and despite the circumstances, Robert couldn't help but laugh.

Emerging from the portal was a purple horse with wings and a horn, looking curiously around her new surroundings.

Comments

[Whirl Hoof]

10940007

10940197

10940624

10944569

Ight mates, you got a bonus chapter, though it could also be considered the actual ending or an epilogue or something.

I'll be working on something else now, though I'm hoping it'll be just as entertaining as Red Little Reality. Thank y'all for the support!

[fanreader999999]

SCP stuff is weird

[Whirl Hoof]

10945232

That's why it's fun!

[Maudika]

would Twilight be considered an SCP in this context?

[Whirl Hoof]

10945289

Probably. And considering all her magic and her intellect, I imagine "Keter" would be a fitting object class.

Good luck to the Foundation for containing her, though.

[Maudika]

10945297
Yeeeaaa i'm not gonna hold my breath on that one

[Crowborn]

10945297
yeah, unfortunately, i'd actually have to give to the Foundation on that one. While she has magic on her side and teleportation, The SCP Foundation has access to many anomalies that they can use to assist in containment. Twilight in the initial few encounters will absolutely have the advantage, and her intellect is nothing to scoff at, however, the SCP Foundation has lots of resources at their desposal, and many SCPs that can do considerable harm to the likes of Twilight. The SCP Foundation, despite it's cold and unforgiving nature, does have very cunning agents and researchers of its own. And when it really comes down to it, i don't think Twilight is prepared for the SCP foundation has to offer, both physically and mentally.

[Armyidiot]

10945317
That's if they decide to actually contain her. Considering her nature as being from another universe/dimension/what have you, as well as her help in rescuing Scranton, they're more likely to attempt sharing knowledge and peace rather than immediately jumping to SCP mode. They're not the GOC after all.

[Lack of Tact]

hurrhurr I'm definitely not enjoying the fuck out of this.

Let's me toy with the idea that despite all of the amiability at the end, we all know the Foundation loves to secure anomalies

👀

[Whirl Hoof]

10945375

Makes me wish I had the creativity and/or motivation for a longer series of this.

[ppg1998]

Would Twilight really be considered the SCP or would her entire dimension technically be considered the SCP? Actually I know the SCP foundation can be cold at times, but their are instances of them being on good terms with Certain SCP’s, and really trying to capture twilight would be more trouble then it would be worth unless they want to invite conflict with equestria.

[Alyarin9000]

10945297
At least she's basically self-containing, as a friend to a researcher
Probably anyway

[Nate5700]

Really enjoyed this, you are correct to be proud of your work on this one. Nice job!

[Whirl Hoof]

HEY BROS

TONE SHIFT MADE AN AUDIO READING

LISTEN TO IT NOW

[Josiador]

I really hope the SCP foundation doesn't try to contain or attack Twilight just because she's not human. If she's planning on just going back to her own dimension, then there should be no reason for the Foundation to keep her from doing so.

[GoldenHeartofMorioh]

Personally, from one scp fan to another i just wanna say fantastic story. Personally i would love to see it continue, perhaps you could do a sequel where the 05 council agrees to set up a foundation site in equestria to not only to help better their understanding and to protect equestria from some of its larger threats. Personally it would just be enough to see what would happen if you put discord, pinkie, and dr bright in the same room and see what happens.

[Whirl Hoof]

10955441

I suppose it depends on which canon and which writer how the Foundation acts specifically, but I would guess they wouldn't attack just for not being human. They can and have formed alliances with anomalies before, and they know when it's just not worth the trouble. Even Twi alone would be quite the handful to deal with, and then you have the Elements, the other alicorns, Discord, Starlight- better not to even try.

One thing to fight off a few anomalies, even dangerous ones like 106 or 682- much bigger problem trying to fight/contain an entire planet.

[Whirl Hoof]

10956194
Thank you!

Honestly, I think it's better left as is. There are enough "Foundation meets Equestria" fics that I wouldn't be contributing anything new, and it's more fun to use your imagination.

Personally it would just be enough to see what would happen if you put discord, pinkie, and dr bright in the same room and see what happens.

1.bp.blogspot.com/-ykbnyjsjVoY/TvbKAty_tMI/AAAAAAAAAH4/iZ_FpX7UlqQ/s1600/Apocalypse2012.jpg

[Josiador]

10956201

One thing to fight off a few anomalies, even dangerous ones like 106 or 682- much bigger problem trying to fight/contain an entire planet.

Fun fact: they've done that a couple of times. There's this one SCP in Germany that's just a portal to an SCP facility in an alternate universe where the Nazis won. The evil Nazi SCP Foundation routinely tries to invade through it. The normal SCP Foundation just keeps a bunch of MTFs, a detachment of the German military, heavy weapons, and a tank company on-site.

But yeah, I doubt even reality anchors could stop Discord.

[GoldenHeartofMorioh]

10956204
Oh i wouldn't think that. One of the best parts about the scp foundation is that is cannon (if any) isn't set in stone. Their are plenty of alternative cannons writters can choose from. Personally one of my favs is the broken maskerade where the whole world knows about the anomolis and the foundation has to go public. If you want you can set the sequel in that continuity, besides i wasn't thinking of having the foundation contain all of equis, just help them deal with some of more dangerous stuff they got running around on theor planet. The site could even be set up in tartaris.

[Miskr]

Fantastic

[Demonic Lemon]

Do you plan on doing an SCP-5000: WHY or an SCP-001 entry: WHEN DAY BREAKS?

[Demonic Lemon]

10945317
Very much true

[Whirl Hoof]

11142332

No clue what SCP 5000 is, so might need to research that beforehand.

When Day Breaks is really freaky and a neat idea, and could definitely intersect in cool ways with Celestia and possible Discord, so I could take a crack at it. I have other plans for the moment, but perhaps in the future.

[Demonic Lemon]

11142358
SCP-5000 is a story where the SCP Foundation decide to kill off humanity rather than save it by an order of the O-5 council & an SCP researcher try to get SCP-055 or the anti-meme to another SCP to restart the timeline. It makes the Global Occult Coalition & Chaos Insurgency do the Mega Mind meme
"Well maybe I don't want to be the bad guy anymore."

[RTK]

I really enjoyed this!

[SCPEquis]

I thought this story was about SCP-001-SDL: When Day Breaks.

[Green-Venom]

Emerging from the portal was a purple horse with wings and a horn, looking curiously around her new surroundings.

Perfect! Just perfect that ending!

PS: Now I’m curious how the SCP would react to Twilight‘s appearance…

[ScarletMarineCorps]

This needs a sequel.