//------------------------------//
// 1 - Another Day 
// Story: One in a Million 
// by Podrick Equus 
//------------------------------//

"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."