A light knock rapped at the door, Timothy entering shortly after without waiting for a reply. "Oh, hey." he began, spotting the girl standing by the window, "So you're finally awake, Twi. C'mon, I made breakfast for us and the other volunteers today..."
He paused for a moment, mentally gagging at the gelatinous sludge they and the citizens had been served before. "...hopefully," he continued thoughtfully, "It'll taste better this time."
Lisa remained silent, completely lost in thought as she mentally replayed the strange dream she had encountered the night prior.
"Twi-light," Timothy teased, "We've got books for you to read after breakfast..."
The girl smiled at her assistant's words. "Alrighty then." She began as she turned to face Timothy, "You lead the way."
Timothy nodded in response, exiting the run-down storeroom in a rush as Lisa followed closely behind. However, even with the enticing thought of fresh reading material, her mind still latched onto Pinkie's words from before.
That's because I'm not your thoughts, Twilight... but rather, I'm in your thoughts.
Good things come to those who wait, don't they?
Lisa's gentle smile slowly faded back into a thoughtful frown. How could she be in my thoughts? She wondered, slowing her pace of walking unconsciously as she processed Pinkie's words. After all, the mare had been disconnected just like herself, so how was it that she was able to communicate in such a way? The girl froze, shaking the thoughts from her mind. The real-life counterpart to the strange mare had said that today would be the day the answers came, anyway. So what was the use dwelling on little tidbits of a dream?
She continued walking, very much aware that she'd since been left behind by Timothy. Just as it was from the dirty window of the storeroom, Lisa could visibly see the impact that she and the other volunteers had made on the city of Mountain View. The citizens were hard at work, eagerly accepting the toiling labor of seeding the freshly-plowed fields as a refreshing pastime while they waited for their reconnection.
"Ay. Come on, Twilight." Timothy grumbled, gesturing towards the girl, "Do you wanna eat or what? I made pancakes for everyone using some old flour I found in the storeroom."
"Fine, fine." Lisa chided jokingly in return, "I'll go eat your crusty pancakes, Chef Spike."
Timothy rolled his eyes with a goofy grin, tugging at the sleeve of Lisa's shirt. "You know, Twi, you won't be getting any of my crusty pancakes if you don't show up. Come on, let's go."
Lisa breathed a deep sigh of relief as she was hit with the familiar musty smell of papers and books. It wasn't quite as nice as it had been in Equestria, nor would it ever really serve as a replacement. Nevertheless, it was a comforting reminder of who she was, and what she did.
Breakfast was soon served, a delightful aroma of Timothy's self-named "Crustcakes" stacking high on a central platter, accompanied with dried fruits and rehydrated juice rations shipped recently into the city of Mountain View. Timothy raised a foggy glass of orange juice for a toast.
"To the future." He and Lisa nodded at once, quickly joined by the light clinking of glass as the two other Societal Management Officers-- Chad, and the other girl, took part in the toast.
"To the hope of return," Lisa followed, playfully spearing a piece of her Crustcake on a fork, "and the well-being of all."
The rest of the meal, for the most part, took place in silence, save for the occasional ding of utensils on the cheap porcelain plates. In short time, the four officers finished their meal, hurriedly tidying the room before returning to their respectively assigned duties.
Lisa hummed to herself cheerily as she strolled through the empty streets of Mountain View. Timothy had told her that he was going to take a look at what else there was in the recent inbound shipment, slinking off shortly after to wherever it was that the supposed imports had arrived. Much of the populace continued to plow and seed the fields in an upbeat, yet frighteningly frantic fashion. There was little doubt in the minds of the civilians of what was to come if they didn't.
A flash of motion caught Lisa's eyes. "Hey!" she heard Samantha... Pinkie, whoever the cryptic girl happened to be at the moment, call. "What's up?!"
Staring off into the direction she heard the voice emanating from, Lisa watched as who she assumed to currently be Pinkie chuck another pebble. It has to be Pinkie, right? Lisa thought, continuing to stare as the other girl sprinted towards her, pebbles flying from her hands. Surely somebody such as Samantha wouldn't be doing something like that...
"Uh, hel-lo?" Pinkie knocked on Lisa's head playfully, spilling pebbles as she did so to the annoyance of the latter. "Anybody home?"
The girl shook the pebbles from her hair in bemusement. "Yeah," she responded, "By the way, about yesterday, Pinkie. You said you were gonna tell me something about what was going on with you, right?"
Pinkie shook her head furiously. "Nope!" She proclaimed with a nervous squeak, scattering the remaining pebbles as she threw her arms in the air, "I don't remember saying anything about that!"
Lisa frowned. "But... then... wha--who was talking then when you were talking about these... these powers of yours?"
"I... I don't know." Pinkie abruptly replied with a solemn voice, turning her back towards Lisa. "Just... I don't want to talk about it right now."
"Pinkie, wait!" Lisa called as the strange girl took off running. "I just want to know..."