It’s 1916, right in the middle of World
War One, and a British soldier is huddled in a trench, occasionally peeking over the
top. He’s supposed to be on watch, but there’s
little to see in the darkness that hangs over no man’s land. But then he spots something. Something big. It’s a shadowy figure, only about twenty
feet away, and it looks like it’s digging in the mud. It’s too dark to make out what he’s looking
at, so the soldier shoots a flare into the sky, lighting up the battlefield with a dull
red light. Now he can see it clearly and it’s like
nothing he’s ever seen before. A huge, terrifying monster, picking up bodies
out of the mud. The soldier can only stare, petrified by what
he’s seeing in front of him, when the creature suddenly turns to stare back at him. And smiles. Hi! I’m Dr. Bob, and THIS is SCP-3456, also
known as... The Orcadian Horsemen. SCP-3456 is the designation given to a group
of quadrupeds, of which the exact number that exists is unknown. These entities resemble horses, though with
some marked differences. SCP-3456s lack any hair and their thick skin
is translucent revealing the fat and muscle underneath. They have three toed hooves, and strangest
of all, they have one or more human shaped torsos fused to their backs. Each torso has a pair of arms and a head,
but no legs, the torso seeming to meld directly into the back of the creature’s horse-like
body. The arms are much longer than those of a human,
with a total wingspan that is double the anomaly’s height. The arms are so long they typically drag along
the ground when the creature moves. At the end of each arm are five sharpened
bones that protrude from where fingers would normally be. Instead of a nose, most instances of SCP-3456
have a hole in the middle of the face, which is capable of producing a high-pitched scream
that is as loud as a jet engine. SCP-3456 instances vary in size, with the
largest recorded manifestation standing 30 meters tall and 15 meters long. Their bodies have also shown to be quite resilient,
and are completely impervious to conventional weaponry. The anomalous creatures have displayed a high
level of adaptive intelligence, using complex tactics like setting up ambushes through the
use of property destruction and psychological manipulation to lure targets into traps. This high level of intelligence has led many
at the Foundation to believe that SCP-3456 is sapient. Any direct observation of an SCP-3456 instance
will cause the entity to become aware of its observer, at which point it will display this
awareness by turning in the exact direction of the observer. Once an instance of SCP-3456 has spotted its
observer, it will engage in predatory behavior, stalking its witness and pursuing them far
beyond the initial site of manifestation, all the while concealing itself and using
camouflage as it chases them. SCP-3456 will repeat this behavior over and
over, intentionally letting itself be seen by observers over and over as it hunts down
and takes each one, until it has captured a large number of individuals and suddenly
dematerializes. It’s currently unknown where SCP-3456 takes
its victims or what happens to them once it dematerializes, nor is it known how many victims
3456 needs to capture before it is satisfied and dematerializes for good, as the number
taken has varied between instances. It’s not currently understood why, but SCP-3456
is either unwilling, or unable to cross bodies of freshwater, and making it to the other
side of a freshwater source like a river, lake, or even a stream is the only currently
known way to escape the anomaly once it begins its pursuit. Instances of SCP-3456 typically appear near
sites of mass human suffering, such as battlefields and natural or manmade disasters, and there
have been numerous reports and sightings of 3456s at historical events throughout the
19th, 20th, and 21st centuries, with multiple manifestations often appearing at the same
event. One Foundation report contains an account
of an SCP-3456 instance appearing during the first World War at the Battle of the Somme. Rumors spread through the British troops in
their trenches of the appearance of a mythical creature many believe to be the Nuckelavee,
a horse-like demon with origins in Orcadian mythology. Like many SCPs, this ancient folktale turned
out to have very real origins. British Infantryman Dave Harkand kept a journal
which described giant hoof prints appearing in the battlefield mud, and soldiers disappearing
under mysterious circumstances, appearing to be killed by forces even more terrifying
than what the war could produce. Harkand describes one soldier who was firing
on advancing Germans when the mud beneath his feet started boiling. Before anyone could react, mud went flying
everywhere, and everyone was knocked to their feet. The soldier was gone, not even a bodypart
remained, and Harkand was sure he saw bony protrusions reaching up out of the mud underneath
the soldier just before he disappeared. No long after, Harkand spotted the Orkadian
Horseman on the battlefield, and the horseman spotted Harkand. He watched as the instance of SCP-3456 picked
bodies out of the mud and carried them off into the darkness. He took several shots at the entity with his
rifle but the bullets had no effect. As days passed, the half-man, half-horse continued
to appear night after night, always doing the same thing - picking up injured soldiers
off the battlefield and taking them into the darkness. It would always look back at Harkand, seemingly
taunting him, or inviting him to try following it. Soon more instances of SCP-3456 appeared,
many with more than one torso on their back. And then they began laying traps, burying
themselves in the mud and waiting for the soldiers to rush over them. Dave Harkand was declared missing in action
at the Battle of the Somme and it’s presumed he was taken by the same instance of SCP-3456
that he first observed. Another firsthand account of an encounter
with SCP-3456 occurred following the 2011 earthquake and subsequent nuclear disaster
in Fukushima, Japan. With over 2,500 missing persons, several manifestations
of SCP-3456 were reported in the areas affected by the quake and SCP Foundation reconnaissance
teams were sent to investigate, two of which were quickly wiped out during encounters with
3456s. One squad, after exploring the evacuated city
and not finding anything, spotted an instance of SCP-3456 standing motionless in the middle
of an intersection. As they laid eyes on the Orkadian Horseman,
the human torso that was hanging limp off the motionless horse’s body stood upright
and began swinging its arms, damaging and destroying the buildings and structures around
it. It then turned towards the team and emitted
an ear shatteringly loud shriek from the hole where its nose should be, before beginning
its pursuit. The team immediately began evacuation procedures,
even ordering a drone strike in an attempt to slow down the chasing anomaly. The team took shelter in an abandoned high-rise
building, but knew their only chance of escape was if they could make it over the nearest
body of freshwater, which would mean crossing a bridge over the Arakawa River which was
a kilometer away. The team was 50 yards away from the bridge
with no further signs of SCP-3456 when one emerged from a side street right next to them. Small arms fire was used against the creature
and two rocket propelled grenades were fired at it, but all had no effect. A flash bang detonated in the anomalies face
bought enough time for some of the squad to make it across the bridge and escape, but
two members or the team were carried away by SCP-3456, with the last image captured
by one of the squad’s helmet mounted cam being a shot of the Orkadian Horseman smiling
just before it demanifested. SCP-3456 is currently uncontained and due
to its extremely dangerous nature, and the lack of any containment procedures, it has
been designated Keter class. Any personnel who observe the entity are to
be treated with Class G amnestics and their assigned treatment facility must be located
within one kilometer of a body of freshwater. The Foundation has an ongoing project to attribute
any historical references to SCP-3456 to myth, shell shock, hysteria, or PTSD and any reports
of loss of life or property damage involving the anomaly are to be replaced with explanations
that attribute the cause to other natural or manmade events. Regions where SCP-3456 is more likely to appear
are to be closely monitored with personnel ready to assist in evacuation efforts. But above all else, direct observation of
SCP-3456 MUST be avoided, since once that has happened, there’s very little even the
SCP Foundation can do to protect you. Now go and watch another entry from the files
of Dr. Bob, and be sure to subscribe as we delve further and further into the SCP Foundation’s
classified archives.
Articles mentioned in this submission
SCP-3456 - The Orcadian Horsemen (+380) by DrBleep