Friendship Letters
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on January 5, 2024
(CONTENT WARNING: PSYCHOLOGICAL TORTURE, AND BODY HORROR)
It's been around a week since Nar and Ruby went into the Astral Highway System in search of Asuka. So far, they've followed a trail of blue torches that have lead them along the second layer of the AHS, but after reaching a highway that appeared to be a vast, snow covered plain, the trail went cold.
For around 2 days now, the pair has been wandering the snow plains, looking for any other door that might lead them out. Without any landmarks, and with the constant blizzard, it's been difficult to keep their bearings. If they don't find a door soon, there's a good chance they'll have to find a way out of the AHS entirely to re-supply. Not to mention, the cold is starting to get to the two. Their coats, sleeping bags, and blankets can only do so much to shield them from the snow. Without any proper shelter from the snow, they'll succumb to it before long.
It's a few hours into their current trek through the snow plains, and the pair has still been unable to find another door. At the moment, Ruby is in front, with Nar behind, still keeping an eye out for any figures like the one he saw the night before. While trudging through the snow, Ruby appears to trip on something, and shouts a curse as she shakes her left foot. "What's wrong?" Nar moves beside his friend to inquire. "I just kicked something solid under the snow! Must've been a rock or something." Ruby hisses in anger. "Yeah, that can happen when- Wait." Nar pauses, and the gears in his brain turn. "Ruby. Where did your foot hit that rock?" She responds by pointing to one of her prints in the snow. Within seconds, Nar is on his knees, shoveling snow away from the spot. It's not long before he spots a golden, metallic bulb sticking up out of the snow he'd just shoveled. More shoveling reveals what looks to be purple wood, featuring some sort of faded symbol. Nar recognizes the object immediately. This is an Astral Highway door.
A few moments later, the two fall through the threshold of the now open door, and land inside what looks to be some sort of study. The first thing the two note is that it's VERY warm inside the study. The second thing they note is the thousands of books lining the walls. The THIRD thing they notice is the attached living space on the west end of the study. A quick search reveals that the living area sports a fully stocked kitchen, a single bed, and bathroom. It's simple, but certainly works. The study on the other hand, is spacious, and features a large wooden desk, lush office chair, lounge space, and some sort of stereo for playing music.
Nar couldn't believe it. Somebody was actually living in the AHS? Well, at the very least, they knew to take care of their needs, which meant whoever it was had at least some experience with the place. Much less the fact that the study was located on the 4th layer of the AHS. Clearly, whoever was here did not want to be bothered. If Asuka wasn't missing, Nar may have just left, but for all he knows, there could be clues to help him find her in here.
The pair search the study, finding little of note. The books ranged from a wide variety of topics. There's a section for fictional works, but the majority of the books are nonfiction. Nar does note however, that the majority of the nonfiction books are about biology, and psychology. Particularly Equestrian biology. Weird. Was the person who lives here some sort of scholar hermit?
While searching the bookshelves, Ruby finds a book of particular interest. The spine reads "On Subspace, and it's Affects on the Mind." The writer's initials at the bottom appear to be "N.K." However, when she tries to pull the book from the bookshelf it's on, it seems to slam back into place. A second later, there's a loud "CHUNK" sound from behind the bookshelf, and it slowly begins to descend into the floor. Both Nar and Ruby watch as the bookshelf descends, revealing a metal, airlock style door accompanied by some sort of scanner. The two look at each other before Ruby decides to attempt to open the door.
At first, she tries to push on the scanner, but that doesn't work. Then she holds her hand there for a few seconds, but that has no affect either. She leans in to get a closer look, and something inside the scanner appears to flicker on. A light passes over her eyes before turning off. The scanner then flashes red, accompanied by a digital 'negative' tone. "Oh, weird. So this is some kind of retinal scanner or something." Ruby comments before backing away from the scanner. "I'm no tech genius, but I know some spells with electricity. Maybe I can short circuit it or something." Says Nar, as he approaches the scanner, and leans in. He begins to charge arcane energy into his horn. The light inside the scanner flashes again.
The scanner flashes green, and a digital 'positive' tone is sounded. Then, with a metallic hiss, the door opens, allowing the two inside. "Wow." Ruby slaps Nar's shoulder. "You barely even touched it!" Nar stands there, blinking in confusion. "I didn't even cast the spell." This, in turn, confuses Ruby. "Wait. So if you didn't actually do anything, why did it open?" "We can figure that out later. Let's see what's inside before whoever lives here gets back."
Once again, Ruby leads the pair. This time, they're walking down a hallway. The sides of the hallway appear to have hand-scribbled notes taped to them. The end of the hallway appears to open up into a much larger room. Nar stops to read the notes, but Ruby presses onward. When she exits the hallway, she finds the connected room is some sort of... laboratory. There's strange, arcane looking equipment lining the walls, a few tables with other pieces of equipment, more notes scattered across the tables, and two doors. One leads forward, and the other appears to lead into an adjacent room. Ruby elects to check out the adjacent room, and wait for Nar before continuing through the other door.
When Ruby opens the door, she's immediately met with a voice, calling out from inside. "Hello? Is someone there?" It's too dark to see anything from here. She feels around the walls for some sort of light switch, but can't find anything. She takes a step inside, and the lights cut on, revealing what looks to be an operating theater. More disturbing, is the live stallion strapped to the metal-slab table in the middle. The two meet eyes, and both are shocked into silence for a few moments before the ban begins to plead.
"Please, help me! Please! I shouldn't be here! I didn't do anything! Please let me go!"
Oh god. He looked so frail, and ghoulish. Ruby approaches the man slowly. He continues to plead. In a soft voice, she re-assures him. "It's going to be okay. My friend and I can help you. We'll get you out of here." She gently places a hand on the man's cheek as she inspects the shackles keeping him locked to the table. She doesn't have anything that could cut solid metal like this, and there doesn't seem to be any sort of controls around the room. She'll have to see if Nar might be able to help.
All these notes are barely legible. Nar can't read more than a few words on each note, and NONE of them make any sense. These have to be the ramblings of a madman. With no information to be gained from the notes, Nar heads down the hallway, and eventually heads into the room where Ruby is currently.
Ruby gently caresses the stallion's cheek as she continues to re-assure him that her friend can help. She looks over her shoulder as Nar walks in, and moves aside to show him the stallion on the table. However, before either of the two can speak, the stallion's eyes go wide. He begins to scream in bloody terror. The stallion twists, and thrashes violently in an attempt to break free of his bonds as his screams of visceral horror fill the room. Despite his violent thrashing, his eyes stay fixated on Nar. Ruby and Nar shocked glances. Nar moves to try and help calm the man, but he begins to violently convulse. His screams growing in intensity as his eyes roll back into his head. Ruby opens her mouth to speak, but Nar appears to know what she's about to say. He quickly exits the room, and heads towards the other door as Ruby tries to calm the stallion down.
Upon opening the other door, Nar is met with a sight straight out of a medieval dungeon. The room is made of stone, and features around 10 cells on each side. Each cell is little more than a small room, blocked by a metal gate. There are no furnishings in any of the cells, but all of them are filled with one or two occupants. A cursory glance at these prisoners tells Nar everything he needs to know. None of them are event remotely coherent. They likely aren't even aware of where they are at the moment. They've been here so long that the late stages of Astral Deficiency have set in. Someone has left them here to suffer in an endless phsycological torment that they will never be free from.
Bile rises up from Nar's stomach. He heaves forwards, and begins to vomit all over the floor. The incoherent babbles, and screams of the prisoners around him tear away at his own sanity as visions of friends long past flood into his mind. This is what happened to Amy, isn't it? She's suffering for eternity, and it's all his fault. He got to live a normal, happy life, while she wastes away in the AHS. Doomed to a hell she never deserved.
Nar can't control himself as he begins to violently sob in a puddle of his own vomit. He's a terrible person. He should be the one suffering in here. Not Amy. She didn't deserve this.
For a moment, Nar resigns himself to an eternity of torment.
He deserves this.
Then, a hand reaches out.
Nar looks up, and sees his sister, reaching out to him. He reaches out to take her hand, but his simply falls back to the floor after falling through hers.
Asuka.
She didn't deserve this either.
She can still be saved. Nar can't give up here. Asuka is here somewhere, and he needs to get to her before it's too late.
Nar begins to gather himself as he blocks out the babbling and screaming with thoughts of his sister.
He only fully composes when Ruby's voice comes from the other room.
"Nar!"
Nar throws a hand up to stop her from entering. "Don't come in here! It's not safe!"
Usually, Ruby thought Nar was too overprotective when it came to stuff like this, but considering HE of all people was currently on his hands and knees in a pool of his own vomit and tears, she decided that she should follow his order for now.
For a few moments, the only sounds Nar can hear are the voices of the prisoners around him. He manages to rise to his feet, but his legs are weak, and his stomach burns from the vomiting.
A visceral roar from the other room cuts through the babbling. Ruby turns back towards the other room, but can't see inside.
In unison, the prisoners all begin to scream. Nar looks to his left. The mare in the cell is convulsing. Her left arm appears to distend, and a piece of bone shoots out from her elbow, forming a long blade. He looks to the other prisoners to find each undergoing various horrible mutations. No time for shock this time.
"FUCK! RUN!" Nar shrieks to Ruby as he scrambles back towards the door. She's quite confused, but has no time to question as Nar grabs her arm, and pulls her along as he sprints back down the hallway. The screams grow distant, but far more intense. The pair exits back out into the study, and quickly exits through the door they came through.
Ruby is given no time to pose any questions as they clamber back up into the snow plain. Nar continues to pull her along, despite her open protests, and attempts to question him.
Only when Nar believes they're a safe distance from the door does he finally stop running.
Post in: Lore
Topics:
horror, exploration, ahs
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