Run or Die

by Buckseed

Rating: teen
Tags: Main 6, Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Cutie Mark Crusaders, Other, Thriller, Tragedy, Horror, Alternate Universe, Human
Length: 11233

In a world ravaged by a zombie outbreak, runners are the last hope for the dwindling numbers of humanity.

In a world ravaged by a zombie outbreak, runners are the last hope for the dwindling numbers of humanity. Rainbow Dash, a self-named legend of the current age, is the best runner they know, but she has secrets nobody must ever know of.

Published 2016-01-14 05:20:01 UTC
Last updated 2017-02-26 09:10:47 UTC

Run

My name is Rainbow Dash, or just Dash for short, and I am in some deep shit right now. My heart is pounding in my chest like never before and I can hear them clawing at the door. Their ungodly screeches and bloody gurgles, the sound of nails gouging out shards of wood, and the smell of rotten flesh and disaster are the only things around me right now.

I sorta knew it would end up like this though, it always does, no matter how awesome you are. Hell, I can still remember hearing stories about the runners that didn’t make it. I’d be the first one to claim that if it had been me out there, I wouldn’t have any problems getting what I needed and making it back safely. But I was only trying to boost my own confidence to hide my nerves. Each and every time a new number was added to the death toll, I knew I could be next.

Look at me now, trapped in the room of some kid that probably died during the outbreak. I never thought my death would include a room with pink bunnies on the wall. What would the younger me have said about this? What would he say?

Run.

The word echoed in my mind, as if my memories were yelling at me. I had to run, it was the only way to survive, it was all I knew, all I was good for anymore.

My eyes rapidly darted around the room, other thoughts began to cloud my head but the loudest was my instinct to run to safety.

A closet, I could hide! No, I have to run!

A bat, I could try to fight my way out! No, I need to run!

Run, run, run. It’s the only way. Don’t do anything else, don’t think about anything else, and don’t look back.

Just. Run.

I didn’t even realize what I was doing. One second I have my back against the wall and the next I’m swinging a bat at a window and climbing down the side of a house. My hand went to my side, where a shard of glass nicked me and caused some bleeding. I didn’t even feel it, so much adrenaline was rushing through my body, I barely had control over where I was going. It was all muscle memory and fear at this point.

Before I knew it, the gates of the compound were in view. Almost automatically, I reached down and grabbed a walkie-talkie that I kept on my belt. Pressing the talk button I said my message.

“Open the gates, I’m back! I made it!” I blurted out with haggard breath.

For a moment, where fear and doubt clouded my mind, I thought the gate wouldn’t open. But relief struck when it slowly began to slide upwards, just enough to let me through if I took off my bookbag and crouched.

Relief fell over me once I was on the other side of the gate, and with that relief came my crash. Exhaustion took over, and I could feel my legs turn to jelly. I refused to go down though, not in front of all these people.

My eyes scanned the crowd that had gathered at the entrance. Everyone was saying something different, and it all became garbled trash to my ears, not that I could hear anything beyond the frantic thumping of my own chest.

“She’s bleeding! Look at her side!” I heard those words loud and clear of course.

The tiniest scratch was a big deal these days, I had to explain to everyone what happened before a riot breaks out over nothing.

“I can ex-” I tried to talk, but pain rocketed through my brain. I should have expected this to happen, nobody is willing to take chances anymore.

It felt like time had slowed down for a moment. As my vision began to darken, I realized I was falling. Looks like I ended up going down in front of all these people anyway.

Fuck.

Author's Note

I hope everybody enjoys this first chapter, there's more to come.

As a side note, only this first chapter will include this first-person style of narration.

Mutual Trust

Dash awoke with a startling jolt, her head was pounding and felt as if it had been split open and sewn together again. She put a hand to her head and felt the gross sticky feeling that she had regrettably come to recognize as drying blood. Maybe she wasn’t wrong about being sewn up.

She looked around, or at least made the attempt. She wasn’t sure if it was her vision or if the room itself was dark, but she was only able to make out vague figures around her. There was a chair directly to her left, and what seemed to be a curtain hanging from the ceiling.

“This looks like a hospi…” Dash began to whisper to herself before a wave of fear and anxiety washed over her. “No! No no no!” she began to panic, doing her damnedest to pull her weakened body out of the bed she was in. “Not here, anywhere but here!” she exclaimed, standing up and taking her first step forward.

Nausea hit Dash like a truck and, as she dropped to her knees and vomited on the floor, a burning pain erupted through her head and she could hear nothing beyond a sharp ringing for a few moments.

“...sh! Miss Dash!” a voice finally made its way to her, and Dash looked up.

Her vision was wavering a bit, but she could see the familiar face of Doctor Horse. Her first thought was of how awful his name was, it was almost like a bad pun. But, this was the only person she would allow to check up on her, aside from nurse Redheart, and seeing him put her at ease.

“H-hey doc.” she said, voice trembling as she felt what little strength she had left disappear.

Darkness was like an old friend to Dash at this point, she wasn’t even surprised to feel her vision fade once more before she lost consciousness again.

She wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but, when Dash awoke, light was filtering through the window in the room she occupied. She placed her hand against her head again, her skin felt clean and devoid of dry blood. That was a good sign. There was still some pain though, mostly in her side and head. It was nothing she couldn’t handle though, or at least that’s what she decided as she stepped out of the bed.

Looking around, she finally recognized this room as one of the makeshift clinics in the compound. To her left was the bed she had just occupied, and further than that was the bag she had been carrying with her on her run. She noted that it looked considerably more empty than she remembered it.

Pulling the curtain aside, she saw the small desk with a few hypodermic needles and vials neatly sorted on it. A notepad was left open as well, and she read what was on it after noticing her name was placed front and center with multiple exclamation points, obviously to catch her attention.

Dash!!!

I’ve gone to get you something to eat. If you wake before I return, please await my return.

It was a short note, but it got the point across. Sit your ass down and wait for the doctor to come back, and that’s just what she did, sitting on the bed after grabbing her bag from the chair. A runner is never separated from their bag, they feel naked without it.

It didn’t take long for the good doctor to return, and that was a good thing because not only was Dash not a patient woman, but she was also super hungry.

“Finally!” she said, taking the instant cup soup Horse handed her when he walked in.

“Glad to see you’re finally awake Ms. Dash.” Horse said as he sat at his desk, facing the young runner who was in his care.

Dash slurped down some of the noodles with vigor before speaking. “How long was I out doc?” she asked.

“A little over a day. About 30 hours or so. Not counting your little panic attack last night.” the doctor replied.

Dash stopped eating her soup and stared at the doctor for a moment. “What. The. Fuck.”

Horse rubbed the back of his head and thought for a moment. It was always hard to explain things to people as hotheaded as Dash was.

“You see, when you came back from your run, you were bleeding. We had lost contact with your for a while and the spotters said things didn’t look so good. When you came in, bleeding profusely and looking pale, some of the people panicked and acted out of fear.”

“So they bash my fucking head in?” Dash asked through gritted teeth. “I was running as fast as I can after escaping from a horde of goddamn zombies! That’s why I looked so fucking pale, because I was so tired that I was about to faint!” Anger was the very definition of Dash at this point. “And I was bleeding? Yea, no shit! I dived through a fucking window just so I can bring back a few bottles of water and some cans of food back to those useless pricks!” she held the empty bag up. “And look! It seems they got it! But do I get a thanks? No! I got a fucking pipe to the back of my head! So much for the town of Ponyville being one of the friendliest places to live!”

Horse didn’t say anything while Dash spoke, he knew she was right but what could he do? Chances are, the people would never trust her.

“I know, Ms.Dash. But, and I know this probably doesn’t amount to much, I appreciate it all.” he said, leaning backwards into his chair and relaxing his body. “If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have the necessary medicine and tools needed to help in the way I do.”

Dash sighed, picking her soup up again and mixing the noodles around with her plastic fork.

“I know. Thanks doc, it does mean a lot. It’s just...I wish they would trust me a little bit more. Its been two years since I came here, and the only bond I’ve really formed is with you, Redheart, and Fluttershy, and we both know why that is.” she let a sarcastic laugh out. “Hell, even that took a while.”

Horse nodded his head. He had to personally work with Fluttershy when they first arrived to the Ponyville compound. “We share a common history, but Griffonstone Institute is behind us and we have moved on. The others will come in time.” He stood up and rubbed his eyes. “Now I ask you Ms. Dash, do you trust me?” he asked, his tone suddenly much more serious than it had been before.

Dash gulped down the last of her soup and threw the cup into the trashcan. “Of course doc, why?” she asked.

Doctor Horse didn’t give her an immediate answer, he seemed to be contemplating something. After a moment, he seemed to come to a decision and, turning towards the door, he spoke once more.

“Meet me on the roof in an hour. The usual place. I have a job for you.” he said before walking out of the room.

It was odd for the doctor to ask her to do anything, and when he did it was just a run for medicine or supplies, so why the sudden urgent secrecy? She stared at the empty doorway for a moment before standing up and walking out.

“I trust you doc.”

Author's Note

Hope you're all enjoying the story so far! :pinkiehappy:

And yes, the Horse Doctor that appears in MLP is literally named Doctor Horse, this is him:

Any questions or concerns? Put them in the comments and I absolutely will give you a reply, plus it shows me there's an interest in this story.

A Shared Past

Waiting wasn’t one of Dash's strong points, so when she realized she had to do it for an hour until her meetup with the doctor, she immediately made plans to help waste time. Once she left the room, she made a left and made her way down the hall. She passed doors left and right, most were cleared out and used for storage and housing, but there were a few rooms that had hardly been touched since the compound was established as a safe zone. Small desks lined the room with a larger one in the front, obviously a classroom. What caught Dash’s attention wasn’t the fact that there was an untouched classroom in the compound, but rather, the fact that there was someone sitting in the front row watching the blackboard intently as if a lesson was currently in session.

Light pink hair, eyes with bags and dark circles around them, a yellow dress and a stuffed rabbit plush by her side, it was definitely Fluttershy. No denying that one. Dash always had a soft spot for the girl, they had been through alot together, stuff that she’d rather not remember, and it had tolled on the other girls mental stability. Dash took a step into the room.

“Shy? You alright in here?” she asked the girl.

Fluttershy turned her head to face Dash and, holding a finger to her lips, shushed her.

“Shh, Miss Cheerilee is teaching right now.” Fluttershy said, before turning to the front of the room once more, writing notes with her non-existent pen and paper.

Dash felt a pain in her chest as she watched the other girl, lost in her own world. She took the seat behind her, staring into the pink hair of her oldest friend. They had grown up together, but they ended up so different.

“It’s all because of the Institute.” Dash said out loud, lowering her gaze so she now focused on her hands that were resting on the desk.

“Shhh, there’s a test.” was all Fluttershy said in response.

Dash could feel a multitude of feeling at that very moment, but guilt was the most prominent.

“It’s all my fault!” she suddenly exclaimed, clenching her fists as tight as she could. “I was the one who wanted to explore that day, and I dragged you with me! It’s because of me that we got grabbed by them! If it wasn’t for me, you could have been with your family when they...when they…” Dash trailed off, her emotions getting the better of her as she felt the warm tears drip down her face. “I’m so sorry Fluttershy.” she said, eyes and mouth closed as tight as she could get them.

The room was silent for a moment, before Fluttershy pushed her chair back and got up from her seat. She turned to face Dash, her face was covered by her hair, but Dash was still able to see the tears streaming down her friend's cheeks.

“It’s time for the next class.” was all Fluttershy said before turning and walking out of the room and away from Dash.

Dash sat alone in the classroom, eyes facing the blackboard as she recalled Fluttershy the way she used to be, the way she was before everything happened. Back when all they had to worry about was Miss Cheerilee giving them a pop quiz.

There was a time when they lived next door to each other, and they would do homework together every day before being allowed to go to the park to play. Even though Fluttershy was a few months older, Dash was always the one in charge because she was stronger and better suited to protect them, especially since the only dangers their parents worried about in their small town was the possibility of school bullies.

But then that day came around. Dash had read a Daring Do book for a report, and she had gotten into an adventurous mood, which wasn’t exactly odd for her, to say the least. Against Fluttershy's better judgement, she dragged the girl away to the forest the bordered their hometown. For years, the girl's parents had told them over and over again to never enter the forest alone, and Dash wanted to know why.

It had been dark and cold in the forest. It felt like they were walking for hours but Dash was determined to find something cool to keep in her room. Fluttershy was nearly petrified with fear, gripping onto the back of Dash’s shirt as tight as she could, just so she could feel some semblance of safety.

Eventually they found a large clearing full of tents and tables that had some stuff they recognized from science class on them, and a bunch of other things that they didn’t recognize as well.

Dash shook her head to free her mind of these memories. She placed a hand onto her neck, remembering the feeling of a needle being jabbed into her before everything went black all those years ago. That was the day that the Institute got their first subjects, that was the day they ruined her life and she, in turned, ruined the life of her best friend.

She used her sleeved arm to dry her eyes and stood up from the small desk she currently occupied. She had wasted enough time sitting here and reminiscing on her childhood. She had to go meet the doc soon. Exiting the room, she turned around and gave it one last look before she closed the door behind her.

Author's Note

A short chapter to introduce a new character and give a little insight into the past. All will be revealed in time.

Meetup

Patience was something Dash did not have a lot of. Even when she was a kid, before everything went to shit, she was a ticking time-bomb of energy. It wasn’t that she wanted to run around, she needed to or else she felt constricted and upset. She needed to feel the air pushing against her body, blowing her hair out behind her and making her feel alive.

‘If the fucking apocalypse didn’t happen, I probably would have joined a track team or something.’ she thought to herself as she walked up a flight of steps to the roof.

She still had about fifteen minutes before she needed to be there, but she had nothing else to do so she figured she’d just wait. The compound wasn’t the tallest building she’d ever saw, standing at fifteen stories high. About two of those were solely for storage purposes. Beds, bags, clothing, and various other appliances and utilities. It seemed like a lot, but considering they had nine floors full of survivors that were always hungry, thirsty, or sick, it wasn’t the most reliable supply. That’s where runners like Dash came in though. They were sent out almost every day, usually alone but groups were assembled for bigger jobs. The two supply floors were situated above the nine floors full of civilians.

Aside from the two floors of supplies and the nine full of people, there was one floor used for offices, like the medical room she previously occupied. There was a small medical hub on the fifth floor, where people could go for checkups and mostly anything else, but the main medical office was used for emergencies. It goes without saying that Dash and the other runners saw that room a lot, since they were always being pushed out into the heart of danger. They were bound to get pretty roughed up. Usually the only time anyone else was taken to the main medical room was when they hurt themselves doing something really stupid, like breaking a leg trying to do something they saw a runner do.

Above this twelfth floor, though, was where Dash spent most of her time. Everything from floor thirteen to twenty was empty and in ruin. Walls had been stripped bare almost immediately after the compound had been established as a safe zone. They used every available resource they had to make weapons and tools for survival. She could respect that though, plus it gave her a place where she could be alone with her thought and do whatever she wanted. Kind of like how a kid always wants to have their own room.

Dash paused at that idea. She thought back to her room back when she was younger. Posters of various sports and famous athletes were scattered across her walls. Her bed was almost always a mess, and the cleanest thing in the room was her bike. The only thing she loved more than running was riding her bike, and she always claimed she would own a motorcycle one day. The closest she ever came was vaulting over a ruined one while running from a horde.

She shook her head to escape her nostalgia and continued with the task at hand. Putting a gloved hand forward, Dash pushed the red door that was situated at the top of the stairs open and walked through it.

“The town always looks so much different from up here.” she said to herself as she gazed at the skyline before her.

Her eyes scanned the neighboring buildings, most of which were small houses and shops. From up here, she couldn’t tell that windows were broken and doors were smashed in. It almost looked like the town was peaceful, and everyone was just away on vacation. But then she’d see the lone walker, slowly shuffling down the street as it instinctively searched for its next meal. It was a grim reminder that things have changed and might not ever go back to the way they were before.

Dash felt her ears perk slightly as she heard the door behind her being pushed open. She turned and saw the person she was waiting on, Doc Horse, walking up to her with a bag in one hand and some papers in the other.

“About time you showed up doc, I’ve been bored outta my mind for the last half hour!” she said with an annoyed scowl on her face.

The Doctor paid her no mind though, walked right up to the edge of the roof and peered out at the skyline before him. Slowly, and with a heavy sigh, he handed the papers he was holding to Dash. She grabbed the papers and looked to him for some sort of direction or information, but he just blankly stared forward.

Dash looked at the papers in her hand, they were handwritten reports from a runner she didn’t know, A.J was their name apparently. Sounded like a name some meat-headed dude would have. Probably stood for Ajax, or Francis.She skimmed through the words, reading and writing was another set of things she wasn’t very fond of. She usually gave her reports orally, as did most runners, but what made this report important?

That was when she saw it, the name that triggered the worst in her. The Institute.

“What is this?” she quickly asked Doctor Horse.

He shook his head before speaking. “Just read it first.”

Dash followed the order and started reading the report from the beginning once again, carefully this time. It stated that, upon a regular scouting run, AJ saw a civilian who seemed a bit suspicious. They stopped and watched the civilian for a moment, and saw them pull out a weapon and attack a zombie.

The report goes on to say that the civilian dismembered the zombie and placed its severed arm into their bag before taking off. AJ followed the person at a distance, unsure of what was happening, before reaching the edge of the town where the forest was. They radioed in their position, just in case, and then continued their chase. It’s stated that the tracks were pretty easy to follow, the civilian must not have been aware they were being followed and didn’t exercise much caution.

The forest had been dense, AJ said that they could hear the sounds of zombies moving all around, and sounds that they weren’t familiar with as well. Soon enough, the tracks led to a bunker. The door had been locked but AJ didn’t risk trying to break in for one reason, which was, in their own words, “It was labeled as ‘Institute 3987-B’, I know what that means and I ain’t going in alone.”

Dash felt a pain in her chest as she looked up from the paper and out to the sunset. Her mind was filled with images from her past. Needles, straps, tables, cages, and the fire. The fire was the most prominent memory she had right now.

“I thought it was gone, what is this?” she asked, anger and worry clear in her voice.

“I should have known, they must have other labs scattered around. I always suspected as much, but I was never sure.” Doctor Horse said, gripping at the bag in his hand.

“I’m going.” Dash said, fist clenched tightly.

“I know.” the Doctor said as he turned to her and held the bag up. “I want you to take this with you instead of your normal pack. It’s already full of bandages and other essentials, but it can hold anything else you might need. There’s also something in there for you.”

Dash took the bag and opened it up. Sure enough, there were bandages, gauze, alcohol and some type of ointment in a tube. She reached in and searched around until her hand hit something hard and cold. She grasped it and pulled it out of the bag.

“A gun?” she asked as she eyed the pistol in her hand. “Guns attract them.”

“I know that.” he said “But we both know that you’ll need some type of advantage down there, and this is perfect for that. Whether you use it or not is entirely up to you.”

Dash nodded. “Thanks Doc.”

Doctor Horse nodded. “AJ will be waiting by the gate to escort you to the forest and show you the entrance.”

Dash put her arms through the straps of the bag and adjusted it so it rested comfortably on her back.

“I got it. Wish me luck Doc.” she said before she turned and began walking to the door that would lead her downstairs.

“Best of luck Dash. And...I’m sorry.” Doctor Horse said as he watched her walk away, before turning and looking at the setting sun once more.

Dash stopped in her tracks for a moment. “Yea, me too.”

Author's Note

Another chapter down! Hope you all enjoyed it, let me know in the comments! :pinkiehappy:

Enter The Institute

Dash sat down near the gate, she watched people walk by, waiting for this A.J person to come and lead her to the Institute hub entrance. It didn’t help that she had no idea who this person was, and therefor couldn’t tell if they were around. Good thing everybody in the compound knew who Dash was. They didn’t always have the best impression of her, but they knew who she was, and that’s all that mattered for her.

It seemed like all she was doing lately was wait on other people. Wake up in the Docs office? Wait. Doc says he wants to talk to you? Wait. Need an escort to the entrance of an evil organization so you can fuck shit up? Wait. It was infuriating.

“You Rainbow?” a voice rang out from in front of her. She had been so lost in thought that she hadn’t even noticed anyone approach her. She looked up and saw a young woman, probably around the same age as her, wearing jeans and a faded orange shirt.

“It’s Dash, nobody calls me Rainbow,” she replied, then nodded her head at the girl. “You AJ?” she asked.

The woman leaned against the wall and crossed her arms. “Fair enough. The name’s Applejack, but nobody calls me that, so just stick to AJ.”

Dash nodded. “I can respect that,” she said as she stood up and resecured her bag on her back. “So are we getting out of here now?”

A.J stepped away from the wall and nodded once. “Yea, ain’t no use sitting here talking about it. Let’s go.” she said, walking up the gate that separated the compound from the rest of the world and scaling it with the ease that only an experienced runner would have.

Dash followed and, not being one to let anybody overshadow her, dismounted the top of the gate with a flip, landing crouched on the ground below.

A.J crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. “Was all that really necessary?” she asked.

“Hey, you do things your way, and I’ll do them my way,” Dash said with a shrug “Lead the way.”

A.J shook her head but pushed it behind her and turned around. “Alright, it’s this way. About a half-hour from here. Keep up.” she said before she took off at a steady jog, steadily picking up the pace.

It didn’t take long for Dash to catch up though, she was regarded as the fastest runner for a reason, though this girl wasn’t so bad herself.

“So,” Dash began as she ran next to her guide “you new to the compound? Can’t say I’ve ever seen you around before.”

“You think you could get your head out of your ass long enough to notice someone other than yourself?” A.J bit back.

Dash reeled back a little from that. “Woah, what’s all that about? What’d I ever do to you?”

A.J rolled her eyes and slowed to a jog, facing the girl running alongside her and giving her her full attention. “Don’t think that just because you don’t know me, that means I don’t know you.” she said with venom in her voice. “Us runners, we’re like a family. We look out for each other out there and do our damndest to make sure we all get back in one piece. But not you. Everyone knows that being chosen to go on a run with Rainbow Dash is a death sentence!”

Dash couldn’t hide the shock on her face and stopped running altogether. “W-what do you mean?” she asked in sincere wonder, not having heard about any of this before.

“What I mean is that you only look out for yourself. Like I said, we runners treat each other like family. Back before the virus hit, family was the most important thing in the world to me, and that ain’t changing now,” A.J continued to rant “But, if you’re out with a runner and get caught with a horde of zombies, the first thing you do is duck out and try to save your own ass. We’ve seen the reports and heard it first-hand from the few runners that survived an outing with you. Rainbow Dash is bad news, and I’m prepared for it.”

Dash clenched her fists. “Listen here you fucking hick, first thing’s first, the name is just Dash. Not Rainbow Dash, and definitely not just Rainbow. Second of all, it’s nice that you have a family with the others, but what I do is my own damned business. They wouldn’t hesitate to leave me behind in those same situations, so why should I try to help them? All they see is the Institute girl, that’s all they’ll ever see.” She grit her teeth and clenched her fists even harder, her nails began to dig into her palm and the pain did little to calm her rush of anger, she hated talking about this stuff. “Do you have any ideas how many solo missions I go on?” she asked, her eyes intensely staring into A.J’s own. “I do so much for that miserable place and what do I get in return? Absolutely nothing! The runs just keep getting longer and more dangerous. I get selected for the suicide runs that even the most veteran of runners turn down. I showed up with supplies the other day, after escaping a horde of zombies, and do you know what was the first thing I got when I came back? A concussion! So don’t stand here and lecture me about how I might treat others, when nobody has ever shown me even the smallest shred of decency.”

There was a brief moment of silence shared between the two girls, they stared each other in the eyes and let their animosity die down little by little. It didn’t last long though, as the smell of death began to fill the air and the sound of movement nearby alerted them to some unwanted guests.

Dash sucked her teeth. “C’mon, let’s get out of here.” she said, and A.J nodded in confirmation before she began to lead again.

****

The rest of the run had been quiet, the only noises being made by either girl were their respective footsteps. Soon enough though, they had entered the forest. This was new territory to Dash, she avoided this place like the plague, as did most runners. You never knew if there was a zombie just around the trunk of a tree, and all the vines made running that much harder. She decided to stick closer to A.J than she previously was, this was not a place she wanted to get lost in.

After a few more minutes, A.J stopped and looked around. “This is the place,” she said as she looked around, grabbing a mass of vines hanging from a tree and pulling on them, revealing the door to the bunker labeled with the name Institute.

Dash felt her skin crawl and her blood boil within her. It wasn’t the same place she had been kept, but it was unmistakeable. This was proof that the Institute had labs scattered all over, and who knows what they could be doing in them.

“Well, this here’s the place I saw that guy run into with his bag of zombie arm.” A.J said, gesturing to the door, pointing at the electronic lock that was on it. “Don’t suppose you have a way to get by this thing, do ya?” she asked.

Dash sighed. “I don’t want to talk about it, but yes.” she said, walking up the device and placing her hand on it. It whirred to life, and a light flashed from underneath her hand before she heard the door click open. “Guess they can’t be bothered to update the system.”

A.J stared at Dash, an inquisitive look on her face.

“I really don’t wanna talk about it.” Dash said, and A.J shrugged.

“Whatever, c’mon, let’s go.” A.J said as she began to walk into the bunker, but Dash grabbed by the shoulder and pulled her back.

“And where are you going?” Dash asked, a frown on her face. “This is my mission, you were supposed to show me where to go, and that’s it. I never agreed to let you come down there with me.”

A.J didn’t say anything for a moment, before she looked Dash in the eyes and spoke up. “Listen, remember how earlier I said I used to have a family, before all this zombie stuff went down?” she asked, not waiting for an answer before continuing. “Well, I saw my granny get bit, saw it happen to my brother too. They were all around us, and I was protecting my little sis the whole time. But, before they got to me, a group of people came in and started taking the zombies down like they were nothing.I thought they were military, all dressed in the same uniform with a buncha big guns. But then they took my sister, they took Applebloom right from my hands and left me to die. I didn’t live too far from here and, if it was the Institute that did it, they must have brought her to this lab.” She didn’t break eye contact the whole time she told her story. “I need to find my sister. She’s all I have left.”

Dash froze, and suddenly she was back home, at the park with Fluttershy. It was her fault that they had been captured by the Institute all those years ago, she couldn’t do anything then, but she sure as hell could do her best now.

Dash spoke. “And you’re not afraid of being abandoned by me if something goes wrong down there? Not afraid that I’ll choose to save my own ass?”

A.J shook her head. “I ain’t afraid of nothing”

Dash nodded, “Then let’s do this.” she said before walking ahead of A.J and into the bunker.

The two looked around. It was a small room, the walls lined with shelves full of hazmat suites and papers. There was one box in a corner that was full of glass bottles of alcohol.

“We could use some of these back at the compound.” Dash said, putting a few into her bag and giving the rest to A.J once she couldn’t fit any more.

Other than that, the room was empty, save for the small carpet right in the center of it.

“You don’t think they would, do you?” A.J asked as she looked down at the carpet.

“Only one way to find out.” replied Dash before they both kicked it out of the way.

Sure enough, the carpet hid a manhole. Together, they were able to lift the hunk of metal and move it aside, revealing a ladder that led down further than they could see.

“You ready?” Dash asked.

“Yea, but here, take this.” A.J replied, pulling a lighter from her pocket.

“You smoke, and you’re a runner?” Dash asked disapprovingly.

“No, ‘course not. It’s just, sometimes you need light and you don’t always have time to rummage through your bag for it. That there lighter has saved my hide a few times.” A.J replied as she handed the lighter to Dash.

“Alright, here goes nothing.” Dash said, and began her descent into the dark tunnel.

It was a long way down through the pitch darkness, but as soon as Dash felt her foot hit solid ground, she spun around and knelt against a wall. Flicking the flashlight on, she saw that they were in a circular room, with a single door right ahead of them. She waited until AJ was next to her, and then slowly reached out and opened the door.

Light flooded the small room and Dash paused for a moment, putting the lighter into her pocket and letting her eyes adjust to the new light coming from what she could only assume was the lab. There was no sounds that she could hear, aside from the telltale buzzing of lightbulbs, so she figured it was safe enough to walk out.

Easing herself out of the room was both the easiest and most nerve racking thing she had done in a while. She wanted almost nothing more than to never have to see an Institute lab again, the only thing she craved more than that was to see them all burned to the ground at her own hands.

“What do we do now?” AJ whispered from behind her, making Dash jump slightly.

“Now?” Dash repeated. “Now we do some hunting.”

Author's Note

Hope you enjoy the chapter, more to come soon!

Institutionalized

Institutionalized

Needles poking and prodding. The feeling of being sick to my stomach all day, everyday. This was the life I resigned myself to. I wasn’t sure what was in the needles they always injected me with, but I knew it wasn’t good. Not that any of them cared of course. If I complained, or tried to fight them off, I was pushed into the solitary room with no food, two days minimum each time. It had become more of a home to me than the rest of this fucking place, that’s for sure.

A knock rang out against my door. “A-1, ready to continue?” came the voice of one of the doctors. He had a writing pad and a pen in hand, a white mask covered most of his face, leaving only his piercing gray eyes left to haunt me.

“No, fuck off.” I said. I’m sick of this life, sick of always being the test subject for their dumb little experiments. I always felt like shit afterwards and, if I didn’t already lose my appetite, my food would end up on the floor and walls anyway.

“Very well, have it your way.” the doctor said as he wrote something down on his note pad.

Usually that was where they would leave me alone, only to come back the next day and repeat the routine. This would go on until I couldn’t stand the hunger anymore and let them do whatever they wanted to me. Usually.

This time was different. A few moments later I heard rushed footsteps at the door, before the sound of the lock turning clicked through the silence. There stood the same doctor, his gray eyes fierce and fiery, as if he was filled with excitement. Next to him were two other men, much larger than he was, with black uniforms.

“I refuse to have you think you can continue to be a thorn in my side for much longer.” the doctor said, a shiver ran down my spine. “Should you ever refuse me again, this will be your punishment from now on.”

He signaled to the two men, who stepped into the room and watched me closely. Before I knew it, the door was closed and locked once more, trapping me with these two men who towered over me.

“So what, are you guys gonna tell me I’m being disrespectful or-” I started, but didn’t finish as the man on my left swung his fist into my cheek.

The pain wasn’t immediate, the shock came first, followed by a moment of confusion and then pain. I could feel tears stinging my eyes already, but they weren’t done yet. This was a punishment after all. The second man kicked me in the stomach, sending me skidding to the wall behind me. My only sanctuary at that moment was the fact that the walls were padded to avoid self harm from us ‘patients’.

The first man was on me again, pulling me up from the floor by my hair. He brought me face to face with him, smiling at me before slamming my face against the wall. I’d never been so happy for padding before, not that it did much in the long run as he kept bashing my face into the wall. What once was a pristine white now looked like somebody smashed a tomato onto it, and I didn’t look much better.

Blood ran from my nose and mouth freely, and tears streamed from my eyes like two waterfalls of lost innocence. The man held me up once again, this time facing away from him so his partner could have a go. The two treated me like their own personal punching bag, taking turns every few minutes. I think they had two go’s each before finally dropping me and banging on the door for their release. It’s all a blur of pain really.

Sure enough, the door opened and there stood the gray eyed doctor once more, his mask now gone as he gave me a sneering smile, a large scar on his upper lip only adding to his visage as a villain.

“Now, unless you want that to become your usual treatment, Ms. Rainbow Dash, I recommend you do as I say, when I say it.” He said as the two large men left the room. “Am I understood?”

I couldn’t respond at the time, but if I could, I’d probably spit out a vicious ‘fuck you’ to him. As it stands, as my body throbbed with pain and I lay in a small pool of my own blood, I stood silent. My eyes felt heavy, and my vision wavered for a moment before I succumbed to the deep blackness of unconsciousness.

“Ms. Rainbow Dash!” I heard his angry voice once more, before my mind completely cut off everything.

Dash

Dash

“Dash!”

Dash jumped, startled from her daydream. She looked over to see AJ staring at her, a worried expression on her face.

“You ok there Dash? You spaced out on me for a bit there.” AJ said.

Dash nodded. “Yea, I’m fine. It’s just…” she trailed off for a moment, looking around at the room they had found a few minutes ago. It was a solitary confinement room, much cleaner than the one she had, especially after what she had just remembered. “I was kept in a room just like this. It brings back some bad memories.”

AJ stared for a moment longer before nodding. “Right, I get it. Say no more, let’s move on.”

Dash nodded. “Yea, sure. Thanks.” she said as they left the room and continued exploring. Room after room, hall after hall, it all began to blend together.

“This place is so...clean.” AJ said as they passed by another room that looked like all the others.

“More like creepy.” Dash rebutted, fighting the shiver that was beginning to crawl up her spine. Some things couldn’t be fought though, especially such a natural reaction from one's body, and AJ took notice.

“Hey, Dash, you sure you’re ok? D’ya need a break or something?” she asked, knowing how hard it must be for the other girl to see a place like this. She had heard from her great uncle once that when somebody goes through something so distressing in their life, it sticks with them forever.

Dash stopped walking for a second and turned to look at AJ, she could see the hint of worry in her eyes. “Yea,” she said “let me just take a moment here.”

AJ watched as Dash took her bag off of her back and sat against a wall. Now that she was given a good look at the smaller girl, she noticed the beads of sweat accumulating on her forehead and face, as well as the shallow breaths she was taking. They weren’t running, and it was plenty cool down here, so there was only one explanation left.

“Hey, d’ya wanna talk about the time you spent down here?” AJ bravely asked.

Dash looked up from where she was sitting, locking eyes with AJ. “Why?” she asked. A simple yet firm question.

AJ sighed and sat down next to Dash. “‘Cause I can tell it’s eatin’ you up inside just being here. I figure it’d just help if you let it out a bit.”

Dash turned her head, looking straight ahead at nothing for a moment before she gave a deep sigh and leaned her head back against the cool wall behind her. She grabbed her bag from where it sat on the floor and unzipped it. Reaching in, she pulled out a bottle of water and took a sip before passing it over to AJ.

“Sure,” she said “what do you wanna know?”

AJ grabbed the water bottle and raised an eyebrow at the question. “Uhm, I’m not sure. What was life like down here?”

Dash closed her eyes, as if doing so would help her remember the memories she tried so hard to repress.

“Well first off,” she began “this isn’t the same place that I was kept. My hell hole was literally that, a hell hole. It wasn’t this clean or well taken care of. And it was way more…” she paused for a moment, searching her brain for the appropriate word. “It was more occupied. There were dozens of us, trapped like caged animals and experimented on.”

“Experimented on? Do you know what they did to you?” AJ asked. She knew they were doing something to the people they kept down there, hell, everybody knew that. But nobody knew what it was, and the only people that knew were Fluttershy and Dash, and neither one of them had said a word about it yet.

Dash sighed again. She didn’t think anybody could sigh as much as she had done recently. “It’s not like they told us what they were putting in us when they did it. It was either we let them do it or we were punished.” She held her arms out in front of her, there were no marks or scars but she could still tell exactly where she had been pricked and cut for every experiment. “I don’t know what they did to us, but I hated every moment of it. It would literally make me sick to my stomach. I’d throw up and black out, only to wake up in a pool of bile and blood. Then I’d have to go through it all again the next day. If I refused, they’d beat the shit out of me and then do their experiments anyway. What made it worse was that, for some reason, I became their favorite. They took me out more than any of the others.”

“Fuck.” was all AJ said as Dash finished talking.

Dash chuckled. “I’d have taken you to be too much of a momma’s girl to drop the F-bomb like that.”

AJ shrugged. “Yea, well, momma ain’t exactly around anymore.” she said with a smile, before standing up and stretching a bit. “Now c’mon, we still have things to do so I hope you worked out whatever kinks you had.”

“I’ll show you a kink.” Dash said under her breath as she got up and grabbed her bag, putting the water bottle back into it before putting the bag on her back. “Alright, we pretty much covered everything here. If we keep going this way, we should find the entrance to the next wing. If it’s anything like where I was kept, there should be three wings.”

“Alright,” AJ said, gesturing down the hall “lead the way.”

The two continued walking down the deserted halls, passing more empty rooms along the way. The more time they spent there, the more Dash realized that it looked less like an abandoned lab, and more like a lab that hadn’t been put to use yet. Either way, it didn’t feel right.

Soon enough, they reached a pair of double doors, just as Dash said they would. Dash pressed a hand against the doors and they opened effortlessly. The two stepped through and entered a small room with another set of double doors ahead of them. Behind them, the doors closed tightly and a gas began to fill the small room they were now trapped in.

AJ tensed up, but Dash placed a hand on her shoulder. “Chill, it’s just a decontamination spray. The scientist set it up in case of a virus outbreak or something.”

Soon enough, the spray ended and the doors in front of them opened outwards, leading them into a new section of the institute. The first thing either of them had noticed was that this place looked a lot more lived in than the last section. There were scuff marks on the floor, and hazmat suits hanging along the wall.

The two of them continued walking, the familiar beeps of machinery could be heard, but now the various rooms that they passed were locked. That is, until they came across a large metal door that read “Test Chamber 1” above it. Dash grabbed the handle and pulled it down, hearing the door click open, the two of them gave each other a quick look and a nod before Dash pulled the door open all the way.

A blue light filled the room and a much louder beeping could be heard. Large machines lined the walls, all filled with some sort of strange liquid. There was something else floating in the water, but AJ couldn’t quite make it out. She stepped further into the room, separating herself from Dash’s side.

“Bodies.” Dash said, as she walked over to a computer that was placed on the wall to the far right of the room.

“What?” AJ asked, walking even closer to the machines now, slightly hesitant to look directly into any of them.

Dash sat down in front of the computer and began messing with it, pulling something from her back and connecting it. “They’re bodies. Those are people in there. Don’t touch anything, you might trip an alarm or something. I’ll see what I can do from here, but let me do some searching first. The Doc wants any information we can get from this place.”

AJ swallowed hard and nodded her head. “Right, you never know what we might find here.” she said, walking through the room and looking at the machines. Each one seemed to monitor the vitals of the person within. The worst thing was the size. They clearly weren’t adults. Every single one of these machines held a small child. AJ could make out the features of them if she looked close enough. A small boy with brown hair, a girl with pigtails, and…

“Applebloom!”

Author's Note

Enjoy the chapter, leave a review please!

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.