Run or Die

by Buckseed

Bloom and the Crew

“Apple Bloom!” AJ exclaimed as she saw the same little girl she remembered from before the plague floating in one of the machines. Her eyes were closed and wires were attached to various parts of her body, most likely monitoring her heart rate and other vitals. AJ walked up to the machine and reached her hand out.

“Wait!” Dash hissed at her, quickly running to AJs side and grabbing the outstretched arm. “Don’t touch it, there might be some kind of sensor on it or something.” she said, giving the room a quick once over. “Look, there’s a terminal over there, let me take a look at it and see what I can do.”

Dash released AJ and walked away, leaving the larger woman to blankly stare at the young girl floating in the chemical solution. In the corner, attached to the row of machines, was a large computer terminal. Dash pressed the spacebar and heard the computer buzz to life, the screen flashing on and revealing a text menu.

‘No password protection? These guys must’ve been pretty confident nobody would find them here’ Dash thought to herself as she skimmed through the options on the menu.

“But, how? How is this possible?” AJ said, finally breaking her stare and looking towards Dash.

“What d’you mean? You said it yourself, that you were sure those asshats took your sister. Consider yourself lucky that she happened to be here, and in good condition.” Dash replied as she went back to the menu, looking for an option to open the machines in the room.

“No, not that.” AJ said, her voice quivering ever so slightly. “It’s been so long, but she still looks the same age. How? What did they do to my baby sister?”

Dash could hear the worry and inevitable panic in her partner's voice.

“Calm down for a second and catch your breath AJ, give me a second and I’ll find out.” Dash responded, gesturing to the wall opposite the machines so AJ can sit down.

She watched the farmer walk over to the wall and sit, staring unblinkingly at the young girl. Dash turned back the computer, using the keypad to go back up to an option she saw before. Patient details.

“I...I think I might have something here AJ.” Dash said. “Do you see any letter or numbers on the machine? I need to find her on this list, there’s only four patients but I want to make sure it’s the right one.”

“AX913-Z.” AJ said, still staring at the machine.

“Ok, she’s the last one on the list then.” Dash says as she goes past patients W, X, and Y. She presses the enter key at patient Z and the screen flashes to a new text page. Dash begins to read and feels a hand on her shoulder. Looking up, she sees that it’s AJ, reading the information as well.

“I can’t make out what any of this stuff says.” AJ complains, a hint of desperation in her voice.

Dash sighed. “I’m no scientist, but I’ve definitely picked some stuff up over the years.” she said, skimming through the details bit by bit. “From what I can tell, whatever the hell they did to her has stopped her from aging, and that looks like it’s exactly what they wanted. There’s something here about how a child's body is better suited for...oh...oh no.” Dash trailed off.

“What? What is it?” AJ panicked.

“The Institute aren’t just kidnapping people and experimenting on them so they can stop the zombies, they’re doing it because they created them!”

They both stood in stunned silence momentarily, gawking at the screen before them. Sure, everyone that knew about the Institute was sure that they were not the people you wanted to mess with, and sure, there had been the rumor here and there that said everything was their fault, but to have solid physical evidence right there in front of them, it was definitely a game changer.

“Doc needs to see this.” Dash said, grabbing her bag and ruffling through it for a moment before pulling out a small object. “I’ll just copy this to this usb really quick and…” she stuck the usb into the computer as she spoke and hit a few keys “now the Doc has what he needs.”

“That’s all fine and dandy, but how's about finally letting my sister outta this darn machine here?” AJ asked, getting impatiently frustrated.

“Yea, yea I got it. Let’s just hope this doesn’t trip any alarms.” Dash replied, skimming through the menu once more until she got to the final option, which simply read “RELEASE”.

The lights in the room flickered briefly and the machines all whirred to life suddenly. The two girls stepped back from the computer terminal and watched as the liquid that Applebloom had been floating in slowly drained away, and her body slumped against the glass. Applejack rushed to the machine just as the glass lifted and young Applebloom fell forward, right into her older sister's arms.

“Applebloom? Applebloom! Can you hear me?” AJ asked frantically as she held the girl tenderly, almost as if she held her too hard then she’d break. The younger girl did not stir though. “She’s not waking up. Dash! She’s not waking up!” AJ looked up at Dash who was now standing beside her, eyes brimming with raw emotion.

Dash knelt down next to the pair and placed two fingers on the younger Apples neck, waiting a brief moment before letting out a sigh of relief.

“Relax, she’s fine, just sleeping. Chances are, they drugged her to keep her asleep while in that machine. She’ll be awake soon enough, now that she isn’t connected to it anymore.” Dash said as she stood back up. She paused for a moment before leaning back down and tugging at the flannel AJ was wearing. “You might want to use this to cover her up though. If she’s coming out of this place with us, let her do it with dignity.”

AJ nodded, before taking the shirt off and proceeding to cover her sister up with it. It was then that the two heard soft footsteps coming from up ahead in the next room. Dash hid beside the door while AJ brought Applebloom to cover behind the pillar they were resting at previously. Moments later, the door was pushed open and a girl with pale skin and purple hair walked in, she looked to be around the same age as they were, but, she was accompanied by a smaller girl with the same pale skin and hair that was a mix of pink and purple.

“Hello? Is anybody here?” the older girl asked aloud. She seemed nervous. “I know we aren’t allowed to leave our rooms, but our stasis pods opened and nobody was around. Hell-mph!” she was cut off as Dash covered her mouth from behind.

“Shh, don’t freak out. I’m not going to hurt you.” Dash said to the girl, who had tensed up at her touch. “I just need you to be quiet, or else we’ll all be in deep shit. Got it?” she asked. The girl nodded her head.

Dash let go and the girl turned around to face her, clasping the younger girl's hand within her own and taking a step back.

“My name is Rarity, and who might you be?” she asked.

“Dash.” Dash said as she held her hands up to show she wasn’t a threat. “And that one over there is AJ.” she nodded to where AJ was hiding as the farmer stood up, still cradling Apple Bloom in her arms. “We’re here to help. We’re gonna get you out of here.”

The smaller girl seemed to brighten up a bit. “Really?” she asked, taking a half step forward.

Dash smiled at the young girl. “Yes, and who might you be?” she asked. She didn’t like playing the part of kind-babysitter, but if it meant their cooperation, it would be worth it.

“I’m Belle.” the younger one said before pausing for a moment. “B-but my friends call me Sweetie.”

“Hmm, Sweetie Belle then, how’s that?” AJ said as she walked up to the pair and smiled at the girl.

Sweetie Belle's eyes brightened. “Yes!” she exclaimed, before taking notice of the other small girl in AJ's arms. “What’re you doing with Apple Bloom?” she asked, her earlier shyness creeping back into her voice.

“You know my sister?” AJ asked.

Sweeties smile grew once more. “You’re her sister? Rarity is my sister!” she said happily, before looking up and giving the older girl a big smile.

Rarity, however, seemed less enthusiastic. “How do we know you’re telling the truth? How do we know this isn’t some elaborate trick to test us?” she asked, frowning as she pulled her younger sister closer to her.

“Look, believe what you want.” Dash said as she looked through the door the two came from. “The fact is, we let you out of these machines, and we plan on getting out of this place alive. If you want to come with us, be our guest, but, to be honest, you were never really part of the plan.”

Rarity huffed. “Well, glad to know you at least have some decency.”

AJ frowned at Dash and turned to face Rarity once more. “Look, it’s true that we didn’t plan to find anyone here, so a rescue wasn’t part of the plan, but we did, and I can’t say it’s anything short of a miracle. We really are here to help, you just hav’ta trust us.”

Rarity stared at the blonde for a moment, searching her eyes for any semblance of a lie. “Well, you seem like an honest person at least.” she said, releasing her hold on Sweetie Belle. “Very well, we shall accompany you out of this horrendous place.”

“Do you really think you can get us all the way out?” Sweetie Belle asked.

AJ smiled. “Well o’course we can! We got all the way in here, didn’t we? We just hafta leave the same way we came.” she said, pointing to the other end of the room where she and Dash had originally entered from.

Sweetie Belle smiled, before pausing for a moment then suddenly looking panicked. “Wait, we can’t leave!” she exclaimed.

Everyone turned to look her. “And why is that?” Dash asked, placing her hands on her hips.

“We have to get Scootaloo! We can’t just leave her!” Sweetie said.

“Scoota who?” Dash asked.

“Scootaloo. She was another child that was being kept down here.” Rarity explained. “She’s the last of us, and she has her own room where they would keep her. Do you think it’s possible to stage a rescue for her as well?”

AJ looked to Dash, who let out a heavy sigh. “Sure, we’re already in the deep end, why not.” she said.

“I know where she is, follow me!” Sweetie said as she began walking towards the door she and Rarity had came in through.

Beyond that door was an almost identical room as the one they were just in, machines lining the walls, all empty and open now. Some tools were scattered here and there, but the only real difference was that this room had no terminal within it, but did have two doors on the left and right respectively. Sweetie led them to the door on the right, which then led them down a long hallway. However, this hallway was different from the rest, this one was dark and poorly lit, and the smell of copper filled the air.

“Blood.” Dash said, a shiver going up her back. It was uncomforting how much this area looked like where she had been kept before.

“This is it.” Sweetie said as she stopped in front of a door. She turned to Dash and frowned. “Be careful, they took me here once. They told me I’d have to stay here if I misbehaved, if I acted like she did.”

Dash felt her blood run cold, and her hand shook as she reached for the door. She stopped, scared of what she would see beyond this point, afraid of having to relive those moments again.

She felt a hand on her shoulder. “It’s ok.” AJ said. “Take a deep breath. We can’t let what happened to you happen to someone else. You have to do this.”

Dash nodded, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, steadying herself for what came next. She pushed the door open slowly, air drifting and letting of the scent of more blood. The room was small, and padded, much like hers was. This one seemed much older and far more lived in though. Chunks were missing from the walls, revealing the hard concrete and steel beneath, and blood had stained multiple large blotches on all six sides. But there, laying right in the middle, slept a small girl with pink hair. Her clothes were dirty, and she had visible marking on her legs and arms, but she was breathing, so she was alive. Sweetie Belle moved towards her, kneeling down next to the girl.

“Scootaloo. Scoots, it’s me, Sweetie. Come on, you’ve got to get up.” she said, gently nudging the girl, but there was no response. “Come on Scootaloo! We have to go!” she said, nudging a bit more firmly this time.

“I...I don’t think it’s going to work dear.” Rarity said, waving Sweetie over to her side. She then turned to Dash. “Is...is she…” she couldn’t get the words out.

“No.” Dash said as she then walked to the girl. “She’s breathing, so she’s obviously alive. Either she’s a heavy sleeper, or they’ve done something to her.” she said. “Either way, I’m getting her out of here.”

And with that, she lifted the shockingly thin girl up, and turned to the door, walking out of the room without a word.

Author's Note:

Enjoy the chapter, and forgive my absence! No computer and a full-time job took its tolls.