Mysterious Alicorn
Chapter 22
By Aponymous
Fear. I wasn't sure when I learned the word, but I knew what it meant, and right then I knew that I was feeling it. The voice had just ceased and I had take the position I'd been taught for as long as I could remember. It was uncomfortable and restricted movement, but I didn't have much of a choice. I'd refused a few times when I felt bold, it never ended well.
I heard the door behind me open, voices emanating from the doorway
"You may turn around Subject Three"
I complied and turned around, like clockwork. It was the same day in and day out. The Stallions would lead me wordlessly down the blank, white hallway, ending at a door. One stallion would swipe a card through a slot and the door would open, revealing the place that would prove to be a thing of nightmares for months to come. The room was identical to the one I'd been kept, save for one feature.
I didn't have a name for it, but the stallions called it the 'Conditioning Tank'. A hollow glass cylinder, not much to the eye but to me it was the devil. The stallions pushed me towards it, opening it with an audible decompression. My entire body had already tensed, struggling against the stern grasp of the Stallions.
Once I was inside and secured to the floor in leather straps well worn from my struggles one of them pulled a small clipboard and said in a slightly surprised tone
"If he makes it through this one he'll be three sessions past Subject Two and 4 past Subject One. This one's resilient."
The other stallion remained silent, giving the other a stern look and closing the door to the chamber, sealing off all sound. They spoke but I couldn't hear anything, nor did I care. I was shaking with tense anticipation, I knew what was coming and I knew what would follow.
One of the stallions approached a panel near the doorway, typing in some kind of command and a small rubber tube with a mouthpiece attached lowered down into my chamber. I hastily took it into my mouth and bit down, feeling it pump air into my lungs. The stallion at the control panel glanced at me to ensure I had the tube before nodding and pressing a few more buttons on the control panel. The sound of flowing liquid filled the chamber, small holes along the top of the tube opened, gel-like liquid flowing into the cylinder in globules. Once in contact with my skin, the liquid itched or burned, depending how sensitive my skin was where it was touching me.
In just a few moments the liquid had already gotten to my face, I could feel it coating my head. I closed my eyes a few seconds before the liquid engulfed them, desperately attempting to remain calm, keeping my breathing slow. My body tensed as I heard the all to familiar sound of something above me opening, a panel containing something, what it was I don't know, but what I did know was that whatever it was, it was unpleasant. The thing. as I had taken to referring to it as, lowered from whatever enclave was above me with an audible whirring sound before making a quiet splash as it contacted the liquid.
As usual, the sensations began at around this point, the best way to describe it would be escalating. It begins mildly enough, tingling sensation on my skin, not even enough to overtake the burning from the gel. After a few moments, it begins expanding, spreading beyond simply the skin, sinking further until I could feel it in the deepest recesses of my body. At this point my mind began to grow fuzzy, the sensations slowly changing as well, less of a tingle and slowly, gradually changing into a burn, as though somepony light a a match under me. A very, very large match. The burning grew until it was blinding, white hot, boiling out the rest of the world. My insides began churning, making me nauseous. Just when I felt as though I couldn't take any more I felt it fade, the darkness behind my eyelids replaced with that of unconsciousness.
I'm not sure how long it took me to wake up, but when I did I was still in that familiar room, laying on the ground with a bucket next to me. I suppose they realized how much easier it is for the cleaners after my 'sessions' because without fail, the moment I woke up, I would empty the contents of my stomach into that bucket and continue doing so until I ran out of 'ammo'. I'm sure I was passed out for a good long while, because no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get to sleep and I tried hard. I eventually resigned to laying in the corner, waiting for the world to stop spinning.
LINEBREAK
10 Months Later
"Good Day, Subject 3, your conditioning training will commence in exactly 10 minutes. Please prepare yourself and assume the protocall dictaed position. Any attempt at escape will be met with pain beyond imagine. Have a nice day."
The voice rang out again. At this point I barely had the will to be scared, I sighed and assumed the position like clockwork. The doors opened and those same stallions stepped into the room
"You can turn around"
I turned and they accompanied me down the hallway, stopping at the entrance to the room. They opened the door and I entered the chamber. One of the stallions checked their clipboard and said, in a mocking tone
"Hey! It's been three years since your first treatment. Congratulations, this is the closest thing to a birthday you'll ever have."
I ignored him, wanting to get this over with to return to my room. He shrugged and closed the chamber door. I stood there and took the pipe in my mouth. I readied myself for the liquid.
KABOOM
A/N
I am so sorry for not posting this chapter sooner, I'm doing really badly with my writing, mostly because I've started University and gotten a job recently.
I'm going to attempt to end this soon.
Also... Kaboom? I couldn't think of another explosion sound.
ENDINGS ARE HARD! I forgive all the people who've written endings I don't like.