Return to the Factory

by witegrlninja

Horrible revelations

"I've gotta hand it to ya... I never knew you had this much brutality, such callousness, such sheer... chaos in ya."

"Well thanks, I guess? I- Hey, please don't touch that, it's very sensitive to vibrations."

"Aww... so, how far along are you?"

...

"Whoa..."

"Close, my friend. Close. Just a few more reagents and research."

...

"Ohhh... she... she's... beautiful..."

"Please don't touch the glass, or do... that. They must be sterile."

"D'oh, but I can be sterile! ...Wait, that didn't come out right..."

...

"Do you really think it'll work?"

"Of course. It worked with her until that freak accident, didn't it? Even you couldn't tell."

"True... she really was just like the real thing."

"And so will she. And the next one. And the next... you'll have her, as many of her as you like, alive and perfect... forever."

~

"Ah... ah-ku-say...? I'm saying it right, I hope."

The fire in the old metal bowl was roaring now. Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Applebloom sat around it on some piles of cloth after hanging the contents of their saddlebags out to dry. The mysterious mare that had brought them here sat on the opposite side, whether out of caution for them or awareness of her appearance. Now that she had dried out a bit, it was clear to Scootaloo that she had lived in these sewers for months, maybe even years. Her mane and tail were matted dreadlocks with bits of moss and thin, sharpened bones sticking out of it, her fur was oily and odorous, and her hooves were chipped and a little too long, like they hadn't been worn down or trimmed in ages. Her voice bore the telltale signs of constant infection from the sewer's damp air and cloying mold.

"Oui, Sweetie Belle," Accoucheuse nodded. "I understand it's not a conventional name for most Equestrians... I was born and lived in Prance before coming here."

"Here? You mean you wanted to live in a sewer?" asked Scootaloo. Accoucheuse covered her mouth and turned her head as a giggle turned into a coughing fit.

"Oh, goodness, no... no... I would give anything to see my native Prance, or even the daylight again," she sighed mournfully.

"Well, why dontcha leave, then? You some kinda hermit or somethin'?" asked Applebloom. Accoucheuse's head bowed low and she was silent for many moments. The Crusaders shared worried glances and leaned forward.

"...A fugitive, perhaps," she finally spoke. "No... a deserter."

"Deserter...?"

"Why are you here?" Accoucheuse suddenly asked, ignoring Sweetie. "There are no good reasons anypony would ever come to this place. Nopony has ever returned from the mountain... alive."

The three were silent at this statement for a moment, until Scootaloo dared to speak. "Um... I-I came here to find... somepony very special to me. I-"

"They're probably long dead by now, I'm afraid," Accoucheuse cut in. Scootaloo gulped before continuing.

"Well... I got... somepony gave me this book a while back." She retrieved the mysterious book from her belongings, a little damp but not badly damaged. Accoucheuse's eyes lit up at the sight of it, coaxing Scootaloo to give it to her. "The things it said... I can't help but think she's here. So... my friends and I came to find her."

Accoucheuse ran a hoof over the book's emblem before flipping it open. She only spent a few moments glancing over the pages before reaching the back, with its map and secret note. Her eyes widened, then darted between the two final pages before closing with a sigh, while she also closed the book and handed it back to Scootaloo.

"...You should have heeded the warning," she advised, her eyes opening. "This pony your book speaks of... I've seen her."

Scootaloo's heart tried to leap out of her throat as Applebloom and Sweetie Belle gasped. "She's here?!" she shouted. But Accoucheuse quickly held up her hoof to silence her.

"You cannot save her. If you have any hope of seeing your loved ones again, you must turn around and leave at once!"

"But... But I promised..." Her words trailed off as Accoucheuse stood up and began pacing back and forth behind the fire, face fraught with fear. Her mouth contorted into an endless number of barely-uttered words.

^{"You... why did you... you knew this would happen... why did you... how could you..."}

"...Um... Miss?" Sweetie timidly cocked her head to one side. Accoucheuse stopped pacing, but violently shook her head as if trying to get a horrible image out of her mind, continuing to mutter all the while. After ten, maybe fifteen seconds of this she finally threw her head back and snarled loudly in frustration, sending chills down the Crusader's spines. Her voice died in her throat, and she breathed slowly and deeply, almost gagging and heaving as she exhaled.

"Uh... you okay?" Applebloom spoke after a few uneasy moments.

"...Ignorance..."

"Huh?"

Accoucheuse turned towards them. "These sewers... have you any idea the facility they are attached to?" The three ponies shook their heads slowly. "In Prance I was a caregiver, to mothers and their foals. One day, disease spread throughout the town, and the youngest among them lost their lives. It was traced back to my business, and I was forced to close. I thought my career was over, but then... she called for me.

"I accepted her offer, and I was brought to the facility. A highly-classified place for medical research, I was told. A place where ponies worked together to find cures for rare illnesses and new therapies for mental conditions. I was hired on to help care for the patients: colts, fillies, even little foals."

Sweetie Belle's eyes softened and she smiled. "Aww... well, that doesn't sound too bad-"

"But the things... the things those doctors did to them... the treatments, the screaming, the pain... I watched as pony after pony perished under their care, afflicted with the most horrible of conditions that did not exist before. They were treated much worse than mere test subjects... so much worse..."

Accoucheuse began to shiver, harder and harder until she appeared to be having a seizure. Scootaloo and her friends watched in silent terror.

"I couldn't take it anymore... I had to escape. But who could I trust? Nopony! I searched, I schemed, I hoarded; I waited and waited for the right moment, and I grabbed my last ward and escaped into these sewers. We ran, we ate nothing but moss when our rations ran out, we searched for the sewer's exit... NOOO! No, don't make me! Don't make me see it again...!" Her chin slammed on the floor and her wings unfurled as she covered her eyes with her hooves. Applebloom slowly walked over to her, attempting to lay her hoof on her back when she suddenly reared up. "We saw an opening... the sky! He was out of my hooves faster than I could react, and the second he had left the pipes, entered the sunlight... he... HE..."

Applebloom finally managed to put a sympathetic hoof on her back as Accoucheuse finally broke down, sobbing and wailing uncontrollably. Scootaloo couldn't help but wonder what had happened to the foal, but the crude explosion of hysterical noise coming from her muzzle only made her imagine terrible things. Sweetie Belle uncomfortably sipped from a cup of water and grimaced - it was safe to drink, but was discolored and had an off taste. None of the three knew quite what to make of the mare's horrifying tale, nor did they know exactly how to comfort her.

Finally, after a long, unpleasant silence, Accoucheuse quieted down, breathing slowly between sniffles.

"I have been trapped here ever since," she whimpered. "What happened to... my ward... they've done the same to me, I am certain of it. I will never leave this mountain... I will die on this mountain. And... I've made my peace with that. But I will never, ever go back to them... NEVER!"

"Sounds real nasty... can't say ah blame ya," Applebloom soothed.

"There's gotta be some way to get you out of here!" Sweetie reasoned. "We're the Cutie Mark Crusaders! Helping ponies is what we do!"

"Yea, but... if whut she's sayin' is true... this sounds more like a job fer Twilight n' friends, or maybe even the Princesses." At Applebloom's suggestion, Accoucheuse suddenly reeled back, as if in mortal agony, stumbling backwards until hitting a wall. The others were alarmed, but still not quite sure how to help her.

"No... no, no, no, no, no..." was all she could say between rapid, shallow breaths, her eyes darting frantically around the room.

"...See whut ah mean?" she gestured.

"Two for two ponies we've met today sure have been crazy..." Scootaloo agreed quietly. She and Sweetie Belle huddled together as Applebloom joined them. "But do you think it's true? The facility up above... or-"

"Or is she just a crazy sewer pony?" Applebloom finished. "Ah dunno, but ah don't like any of this one bit."

"What should we do?" asked Sweetie. Scootaloo stared at the floor as she weighed her convictions. Between the mysterious book, the crazy mountain pony, the lake of rotting blood and now this crazy sewer pony, she would be a fool to not realize something strange was going on. Mysteries and horrors befitting The Place Where the Dead Are Given New Life were unearthing themselves at a brisk pace, but the higher, deeper and further she dug, the more Scootaloo questioned whether or not she could handle it all.

But the mysterious book and the urn hidden within her saddlebags were now indelible stains on her mind. Despite the dangers, somepony wanted her to come here. Accoucheuse had seen Rainbow Dash, implied that she was not only here, but imprisoned and... still alive? Could it all be true? Years of living in the sewers had taken quite the toll on her mind, after all.

But if Rainbow truly was still alive... then whose remains was she carrying around?

She is still alive...

...is she still alive?

Scootaloo closed her eyes in resolve. She had to know the truth. And she was so close to finding it.

"You two should go back. Tell Twilight and our sisters and everypony else what's here," she finally spoke. Sweetie gasped.

"Uh... come again?" Applebloom's eyebrow raised so high it could've flown off above her head.

"I need to find Rainbow," Scootaloo said, plainly and boldly. "After everything we've seen and heard, I need to know the truth. And if she's really still alive and in trouble, then I need to save her!"

"Will you listen to yourself?!" Sweetie protested. "We walked past a literal lake of blood and guts! We were attacked by a crazy mountain pony, and Accoucheuse here has gone mad from whatever went on up above! Th-This is... way beyond what we can handle!"

"Ah... ah don't believe her," Applebloom lowered her voice. "Rainbow's dead, Scoots... nothin's gonna bring her back."

"Well I do," Scootaloo retorted. "And I'm going to find her, and I'm going to get her out of here and bring her home!"

Accoucheuse suddenly snorted, breaking up their argument. The Crusaders looked over to her as she slowly approached them, the crackling fire and smoke disguising a miasma of sewer-washed stench.

"You truly are foals if you wish to find the facility... you would do well to escape while you still can. But, if you truly wish to save Rainbow... maybe I can at least try to atone for my sins."

"You'll help me look for her?" Scootaloo asked hopefully.

"I will take you there, and nothing more," Accoucheuse glared. "Only because I am in desperate need of supplies. I refuse to set hoof in that accursed place ever again."

"Ah! Thank you!" Scootaloo ran over to Accoucheuse and gave her a big hug, quickly regretting her decision as she realized just how filthy she was after all this time in a sewer. Before she could let go, however, Accoucheuse moved to pull her away, but seemed to change her mind and held her tightly. Her chest heaved as she struggled not to cry.

"Ma chère... I have not felt such warmth in ages..." she sighed wistfully, a thousand-yard stare glazing over her eyes. Meanwhile, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle turned to each other.

"Dear Celestia... Scootaloo's finally losing it," Sweetie mumbled.

"'Finally'? She's been losing her mind ever since she got that weird book," Applebloom hissed. "We need to get out of here before we all end up as nuts as her!"

"Although... if she really is right... if Rainbow is actually here-"

"Ugh, what do you mean?! She's dead, we watched her die!"

"But what if she is? Then just whose funeral did we go to?"

"Rainbow's, clearly... don't tell me yer startin' to believe this nonsense!"

"I..." Sweetie's voice trailed off as she looked over to Accoucheuse and Scootaloo, the former having ended her embrace and the latter gasping for fresher air.

"...Sweetie...?!"

"You go back," Sweetie instructed. "Nothing we do or say will make Scootaloo change her mind until she sees this through. I'll stay with her and make sure she doesn't do anything stupid. You've got enough Bits for the way back, right?"

"You... You gotta be kiddin' me!" Applebloom was incredulous. "Ah... no, ah ain't goin' back! Not if both'a you two aren't! Somepony's gotta make sure neither'a you two do anythin' stupid!"

"Very well," Accoucheuse spoke, although more directed towards Scootaloo than anypony else. "We shall set off in ten minutes' time. You will not need food nor water, for there is plenty; nor will you need provisions for camping or warmth. But you will need a way to defend yourself. Pray you do not come across anypony within the facility, however... it will not be enough."

Scootaloo stoically nodded and moved towards her saddlebag's contents, while Applebloom and Sweetie Belle gulped nervously before doing the same. They made sure to only pack what could be useful: a first aid kit, a flashlight, a snack or two. Scootaloo carefully placed her provisions around the black-lacquer box, now shifting and jostling a little from the lack of supplies to keep it secure, and sealed it shut.

Accoucheuse, saddlebags secured around her own barrel, then walked over to the sole well-like tunnel that led out of the oubliette. "The waters have receded," she spoke after peering down. "Come, follow and stay close... there are a few other traps and tricks I've set up along the way that you'll need to avoid."

She grabbed at a ramshackle ladder laid against the tunnel's walls, turned around and descended. The Cutie Mark Crusaders took a few deep breaths, then began their descent and followed Accoucheuse into the darkness.

Comments

[RDgamer321]

As a reader who read the predecessor to this story, I think you three might want to rethink who you are going back to asking for help.

[Teraunce]

I don't know whether I want another chapter in this story or not after the images it has put in my head. You've done a Great Terrible job writing this.