The mane six is mysteriously transported to an unknown planet. Where rotting, decaying corpses now rule the world. The mane six stray further and further away from their elements as they are forced to face the unrelenting horrors of the cruel world.
This is a Telltale: Walking Dead + MLP crossover. Game is owned by Telltale. MLP is owned by Hasbro.
Earth, the homeworld of the human race is plagued by an unknown virus which causes the dead to reanimate and eat living organisms without any sense of consciousness, emotion or hesitation.
Before the virus, there was a man named Lee Everett who comes from Georgia. His Father, Mother and Brother worked in a pharmacy, which they owned. Lee was a history teacher who worked in the University Of Georgia. He had a wife, who has a job which causes her to travel around a lot. Lee wished to have a family with her but her occupation prevented them from having that.
One day, Lee left work due to feeling sick and found his wife having an intimate moment with a state senator. This sends Lee into a state of blind rage and he kills him in a fight.
Coincidentally, at the start of the outbreak. Lee is being transported by a sheriff to prison. They were on their way out of the city and the sheriff engages in a conversation about a prisoner he dealt with in the past. The sheriff does not pay attention to the road which later proves to be fatal for him. He does not see the person on the road, Lee yells from the back of the car to watch the road but is too late.
They collided with the unknown individual and sends the car out of control. The car busts through the rail of the road. They fall deeper into the forest and Lee is knocked unconscious.
“Ben, hurry up!” Travis frantically yelled. Ben and Travis awoke to a ear-piercing scream that echoed through their camp that they were sharing with their fellow classmates. They both found their camp being raided by numerous amounts of people in masks.
When the outbreak first started, Ben along with many other classmates seeked shelter in the school gym. When everything settled down, it was decided that the gym was an appropriate decision to stay in. Long story short, one of the female students became too stressed and overdosed on sleeping pills. A day later, someone went into the girl’s room to check on them...
Ben, Travis and a few others were forced to flee due to the amount of Walkers in the gym.
“What about everyone else!?” Ben frantically yelled back.
“Ben! We need to think about ourselves right now! We need to run while we have the chance!”
“What!? We won’t be able to survive on our own!”
“Yes, we will! Ben listen, how about this... When we’re safe we’ll go... Look around for them but right now, can we please just go!?”
Ben lowered his head in contemplation. A moment passed and he decides to leave with Travis...
“Alright, fine. Let’s... Wait” Ben gasped.
“Whoa, WHAT!? What is it!?” Travis says on the edge of panic.
Ben points over Travis’s shoulder. Travis looks over to where he was pointing and saw their teacher, Mr. Parker. “There’s Mr. Parker! Let’s go!”
Ben and Travis run after their teacher. They caught up to him pretty quickly since Mr. Parker was in his mid 40s.
“Mr. Parker! Wait!” Ben yells after him. Their teacher glances over his shoulder while he’s still running and he slows down once he sees who it is.
“Ben! Travis! Are you okay!? I couldn’t find anyone. So, I assumed that everyone was either taken or killed.” He gets a sad expression on his face.
“Yeah, we’re okay... Just... Scared.” Travis told their teacher.
“I wanted to go back and help but, TRAVIS insisted that we should leave everyone behind!”
“Hey! You were going to say we should go as well! Don’t try to act innocent!”
“I was going to come back! Unlike you!”
“I-”
“BOYS!” The sound of their teacher’s loud yell made them both quiet. Ben and Travis looked at their teacher.
“We can talk about this later! Right now, let’s just get somewhere safe, Understand!?” Ben and Travis nodded in agreement.
The group of three ran further into the forest leaving their camp behind.
"Why exactly are we wondering about in the everfree forest? Especially at night," Applejack curiously asks.
"Oh come on Applejack! It's obvious that Twilight discovered some weird mysterious portal that will send us to Earth, where it's infested by zombie humans," Pinkie cheerfully says.
"Umm Pinkie? What are you talking about?" Rarity is confused by Pinkies abnormal prediction.
"Oh yeah, Pinkie's right. Everytime she says something weird, it always ends up being true," Rainbow Dash says with boredom.
"I'm pretty sure she's just being Pinkie but she is right about one thing. I did discover an orb that was floating around." Twilight rubs her head in thought.
"Twilight! Can we please just go back home? We've been in here for twenty minutes and we still haven't found anything!" Rainbow exclaims.
"Actually" - Pinkie checks her clock and points to the long hand on the clock - "it's only been twelve minutes."
"WHAT!" Rainbow jumps in the air with bewilderment. "Where did you even find that thing?"
"Over" - Pinkie points over to a set of bushes - "there. It was just layed up against the bushes!"
"So... you found a random clock in the bushes?" Rainbow Dash asks bluntly.
"Yup!"
"Okay..."
Fluttershy walks a little bit faster to catch up to Twilight. "Umm, Twilight? What did the orb look like?"
"Uhhh it look black with an bright outline," Twilight wistfully says.
"Is-is it the one I'm looking at right now?"
"What? Oh!" Twilight sees what Fluttershy was talking about and sure enough. It was the same orb she saw earlier.
The four other mares see the orb as well. The six ponies stare at the orb in curiosity. It looks like an eclipse, when the moon hovers over the sun.
"Uhhh... w-what do we do now Twilight?" Rarity anxiously asks.
Twilight takes a step forward.
"Twilight, what do you think you're doing?" Rainbow Dash asks.
"Examining it." Twilight gives a simple answer, which happens to be too complicated for Rainbow Dash.
"Exam-what? Twilight, I don't speak egghead," Rainbow Dash bluntly says.
"It means that she's checking it... to see what it is," Rarity explains.
"Right... wait, IS THAT EVEN A GOOD IDEA? what if it's dangerous!" Rainbow Dash yells.
"I have ta agree with Rainbow, Twilight! That orb could be dangerous," Applejack says cautiously.
"If it is, I'm sure we can handle it." Twilight looks back and smiles. "We are the elements of harmony after all! Aren't we?"
Applejack gives Twilight half a smile. "Yes, we are still... be careful."
Twilight nods and turns back around to the ominous orb. She steps closer to it and stares at it. She inspects it from numerous angles, nothing bad has happened. Until she decides to use her magic to move it. She uses a simple gravitational spell on the strange orb which, in return diverts the spell back to Twilight in a loud boom and sends her flying back into a tree.
"TWILIGHT!" The five mares rush to their friends side to see if she was okay. Fortunately, she was fine.
Twilight lets out a groan "urgh... ow"- Twilight sits up -"I'm okay, just a bit of pain."
"Yeah, getting thrown into a tree will do that to you and also... I thought I told you to be careful!" Rainbow Dash yells.
"I wa-" Twilight gasps "-look!" The five mares turn around and look straight to the orb. It seemed to be... rotating now. The ominous orb started to rotate faster by the second and it also looks as if it's getting bigger.
"Oh look! It's turning into a portal!" Pinkie yells.
"Okay, lets go now!" Rainbow Dash yells. Applejack and Rainbow assist Twilight getting back up. Soon after all six try to start running but were being pulled back instead.
"WHAT'S GOING ON?" Rainbow yells frantically.
"I C-CAN'T MOVE FOWARD!" Applejack struggles to run.
"WHAT IS HAPPENING!"
Fluttershy screams at the top of her lungs while Pinkie Pie is laughing.
"Woohooooo!!! THIS IS FUN!"
"YOU CALL THIS FUN? WE ARE BEING SUCKED INTO. A .PORTAL!" Rainbow Dash yells.
The six mares are lift off the ground and are pulled into the gateway. Before they were able to get dragged into the portal, they all latched onto separate trees. Twilight looks back to the orb and sees that it has grown into a dark vortex.
Teleportation! Twilight thought. "EVERYPONY LISTEN! I'M GON-" the vortex did not let her finish, instead the force became much more stronger and the ponies (unfortunately) were not able to hold on any longer. They all let their graps slip and they were all sucked through the vortex before Twilight could teleport them out of the Everfree Forest.
Ben, Travis and their teacher David Parker finds a small cabin in the woods however; they did not enter it straight away. Mr. Parker wants to make sure there wasn't anything dangerous inside.
"Ben, Travis? Stay here, alright? I need to make sure there's no one inside that may try to harm us," David cautiously says. His students complied and waited.
The cabin looks very rusty and it also does look empty but David needs to be sure. For his students, well his only students now. The rest are probably dead or maybe worse.
David puts his head against the door to hear for any movement that might come from the inside. Fortunately, he just hears silence. He gets a sense of relief but he still needs to get inside. David pulls back his head and he grasps the door knob. He was not surprised (seeing as the cabin looks like it was built a century ago) when he felt that it was loose. He turned the knob and he pushed the door open just by an inch to peek through.
Curse this door! it has now earned the title of the most squeaky door in history! David thought. The door was by all means squeaky, it was beyond loud.
No point now! He thought. He swings the door open ready to take on any danger that will come. "COME ON! FIGHT ME!"
...Nothing came, he looks around and he sees that the cabin only had one room. He glances over to a stove which has a kettle. It is dirty... too dirty. The window behind the stove provides just enough light to see what is on the stove.
I could have just looked through the window... doesn't matter now, David thought. It occupies some type of weird brown and red subsubstance.
"There's no way... no. way. Am I touching that," David mutters to himself. He speed walks back outside.
"Guys, it's empty. Let's go," he tells his students. He walks back inside followed by his two students.
"Uhhh, w-what is that?" Travis points to the stove. He then gags.
"I don't know and I don't think I want to know, Travis." David walks over to a wall and takes a sit with his back up against it. "Oh Ben! Close the door, please and lock it if it has one."
Ben nods and closes the door. He glances around for a lock but does not found anything. "There isn't a lock."
"Alright, just leave it then," David says.
No one says anything for while. Until Ben speaks up. "So... what do we do now?"
David closes his eyes and sighs. "I don't know... wait? We wait for others, I guess." He looks at Ben with a sad expression. "If they're still alive, that is..." David goes into deep thought.
Ben nods and sits down against a wall. Travis sits down next him.
46 minutes later...
Mr. Parker wakes up from his nap decided to take. He finds Travis looking out the window.
"Travis? What's wrong?" David asks.
"Oh! Mr. Parker, I thought I heard something," Travis cautiously says.
David immediately stands up and walks over to the window where Travis was. He does not see anything.
I have no idea where those... bandits came from or where they are. But if they live in the woods... we need to leave now... we've waited long enough, David thought.
"Alright, Travis get away from the window." Travis complies. David looks over to Ben who is having a nap. He walks over to him and starts tapping on his shoulder.
Ben wakes up and sits up. "Mr. Parker? W-what's wrong? Is everyone safe?"
Sadly, David shakes his head slowly. "No, but we need to leave now."
"Why? Is someone here? Is it those biters?"
"I don't know, but we've waited long enough. Those bandits might find us again, and we should leave just in case. They might live in the woods as well," David convinces Ben.
David walks over to Travis. "Travis, we should leave now," David calmly says.
"Yeah-yeah sure, I agree. Lets just go," Travis seems like he's on the edge of panicking, David notices.
"Travis? Travis listen, we're gonna go now, okay? We'r-"
"Maybe we can find other people that we can rely on," Ben suggests.
David looks at Ben "That might be a good idea!"- David looks back at Travis -"Travis, come on now."
Travis nods eagerly and they all left the cabin.
They've walked a great distance from the cabin but they're not out of woods yet... literally. They have been walking and no one has said anything. All three of them are impatient, wondering when there'll be a clearing.
"Okay, seriously. How far do these trees GO?"
David was about to reply to the question Travis asked when he feels sharp, what feels like claws plunge into his right shin. He lets out a blood curdling scream...
46 minutes earlier...
Twilight Sparkle groans and her eyes open. She gasps and stands up swiftly. She quickly takes note of her surroundings.
She looks around and all she sees is grass... grass, dead leaves and trees. Every direction was looks like they lead into the woods. She looks down and sees her friends all passed out. She glances around again.
"Are... are we still in the Everfree Forest? It seems more... bright." Twilight looks back to her friends and goes to wake them up. "Girls? Girls! Wake Up!" She doesn't receive a response. "EVERYPONY, WAKE UP!"
All at once, the five mares awake.
"Wha? Huh?"
"Huh?"
"Sweetie Beeeeeelleee, please be keep quiet for a little longer?" Rarity sleepily asks... then her eyes. "Oh, now I remember."
Applejack yawns. "Gee,"- Applejack looks around and frowns. -"Umm, where are we?"
"I don't know, maybe we never left the Everfree," Twilight says.
"You sure? It looks... different. Oh! By the way, what was that orb thing?"
"Well... I don't know. A portal? Where did it transported us to though?"
"Lets just find a way out of this... forest and we'll figure out where we are," Applejack optimistically says.
Twilight smiles and gathers the rest of her friends. "Alright, girls. We may have been transported somewhere-"
"MAY? seriously, Twilight? Look around. Does this look like the Everfree Forest to you?" Rainbow Dash exclaims.
"No, but"- Twilight pauses for a moment then continues. -"but, we may still be in Equestria."
"That... yeah, good point," Rainbow Dash backs down.
"Yes anyway, since we're in a forest... we'll just look for a way out, Rainbow Dash can fly up out of the forest to see where we are?"
"On it!" Rainbow flies up and she looks around. In the distance she sees a structure. With a large sign. It was too far to see what it says so, she flies back down.
"Alright, I took a look and I saw a building or something with a sign and hold on!"- Rainbow Dash flies back up and back down again. -"It's in that direction!" She pointed to the south.
"Great! Thanks Rainbow," Twilight thanked her.
Rainbow Dash stands straight and tilts her head upwards with a smile. "Yeah, I know I'm awesome."
"Alright girls, lets go." Twilight walks in the direction to where the structure was. Her friends followed...
45 minutes later...
The six mares have been walking for a while, with little conversations here and there.
"Should I fly up again? To see how close we are now," Rainbow asks.
"That would be great, Dash," Twilight says with a smile.
Rainbow does the same thing she did before and she decides to look deeper into the woods. She spotted a small cabin. She lands on a pile of leaves and inspects it further to detail. After she was done she flew back to her friends.
"Okay! I saw how far that building is and we're almost there! Also, I found a cabin up ahead. Probably like, I don't know five minutes?" Rainbow Dash tells Twilight.
"Alright, thanks Rainbow!" Twilight Sparkle says.
"No problem!"
After a few minutes, they see a cabin come into view.
"There it is!" Rainbow Dash flies ahead. The others run to catch up to her.
"This thing looks like it's ready to fall apart." Applejack walks over to the entrance and sees the door is already open.
"This is just horrid! Who builds a house in the middle of a forest?" Rarity exclaims.
"Umm, Zecora?" Fluttershy answers Rarity.
"That was a rhetorical question, Fluttershy," Rarity bluntly says.
"Oh."
"Come on girls, Rainbow Dash said we're almost out of here, lets keep going." All of them listen and start walking away. As soon as they left the premises they heard an ear-piercing scream.
All of the mares hearts jump out of their chests. They stood there in paralysed in fear.
"W-w-wha? What was that?" Rarity timidly asks.
"Uh uh-I-I don't know!" Applejack answers.
"S-should we see if he or she or IT is okay?" Fluttershy suggests.
Twilight looks at Fluttershy "You're right, somepony could be in danger. Come on, Girls!"
They all ran to the source of the shrieking scream. It takes them a couple of minutes until they find the source.
There they stood, staring at two tall figures and it looks like there's one on the ground. It was screaming. Then the tall one notices them and starts frantically tapping the other one next to it on the shoulder.
"TRAVIS! TRAVIS! LOOK!" the creature yells frightened.
"What is-" The creature known as Travis started screaming.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!?" Travis yelled.
"I-I DON'T KNOW!" The two creatures stare at the six mares in fear.
"Holy shit..." they all hear a new voice and they look over to the source. The mares see the two new creatures. They notice that one of them has a darker tone and is holding an axe. The other was holding a... large object.
"Lee, tell me you see this as well," the lighter one said.
"Yeah...yeah, I'm seeing it." Lee looks bewildered.
"Umm, excuse me but where are we?" Twilight asks in reluctance.
"W-what, i-it can talk?"
Lee speaks up, "L-lets just deal with this later. Right now we need to save this mans life!"
"Lee!"- Another comes running into the scene -"You guys ok- What the fuck is that!?" It looks at the mares.
"Kenny, we'll deal with it later!" Lee says.
"oh no, BITERS!" Travis yells.
Lee looks over to the herd of walkers that were coming their way. "Kenny, keep them off of me! Mark, get the boys back. Umm, you"- Lee points to the mares. -"get behind us. Do. Not. Go near those walkers!"
The mares follow his order. "Umm, why?" Twilight asks.
"Because they're dangerous! They'll kill you!" Lees response scare them but they listen.
Fluttershy was cowering behind Rarity, Pinkie Pie seems fine(as usual), Applejack, Twilight and Rainbow Dash were ready to fight.
BANG!
The loud bang scare the mares. Twilight looks over to the large object in Kennys hands. Interesting... Twilight thought.
BANG!
BANG!
"I'm gonna have to cut you out..." Lee sadly says.
"NO! wait! Try-try the trap again! Anything but that!" David pleads. The bear trap was embedded into his shin with no release latch.
"I'm sorry, there's no other way..." Lee says.
David starts sobbing loudly. Lee lifts up his axe ready to chop off the teachers leg.
"WAIT!" Lee stops and lowers his axe. He looks over to Twilight who is walking over to them.
"I can help! I can get him out!" Lee looks at Twilight in disbelief but he lets her. The one with glasses, Mark disagrees.
"Lee, what are you doing!? Seriously!?"
"Mark! Be quiet!"- Lee kneels down to Twilights level. -"What do you mean?" He says calmly.
"I can release the... trap." Lee waits for her to continue. But she doesn't, instead a purple aura surrounds the bear trap and it starts vibrating which causes the teacher to scream. Lee watches in pure shock.
"I'm just wasting bullets now!" Kenny lowers his gun. He looks over to Lee. "What the hell?"
TWANG!
Twilight forces the claws open in a flash. The teacher finally stops screaming but obviously still in pain. David looks at Twilight "Thank you! Thank you so much!"
Twilight smiles.
Mark walks over to assist David getting up.
"Come on! We gotta move!" Lee yells. Kenny, the mane six and everyone runs except for Travis.
"TRAVIS!" Ben yells frantically.
Travis turns around and sees two walkers inches away from him. He screams in terror, he tries backing up but trips and falls instead.
The two walkers were about to start chomping on him until Applejack came just in time to kick them both down.
She immediately turn to Travis "WELL? GET YOUR FLANK MOVING!" Travis stands up and runs towards Lee along with Applejack.
"Alright, come on! We can't stay here any longer!" Lee says and they all flee the area.
The motel is peaceful. Larry is upgrading the motels fence, Lilly is on watch duty, she's sitting on top of an RV. Duck is drawing, Doug and Carely are engaged in a conversation about... technology.
Clementine is kicking a soccer ball against a few barrels lazily. All seems to be going we-
*RUSTLING*
Lilly looks over to the bushes and trees that is across the road, over the fence. She picks up her bolt action rifle and points it over to the bushes, ready to fire. Clementine continues kicking the ball.
The rustling continues and the occupants of the motel start to notice. Clementine kicks the ball towards the barrels once more.
Lilly looks towards her "Clementine!" She whispers and she looks back towards the bushes. Carely pulls out her Glock 19 handgun and turns off the safety lock.
Then Lee emerges from them. "Get the gates open! We've got wounded!"
"Shit, what the hell are they doing?" Lilly puts down her gun and goes to climb down the RV.
Lee and Kenny push aside a dumpster that was blocking the entrance to the motel. Commotion erupts within the motel.
"Lee, we are not responsible for every struggling survivor we come across! We. Don't. Have. Enough. FOOD! We need to focus OUR group. Right here, right NOW!" Lilly says.
"Well, hang on! We haven't even talked to these people yet maybe they can be helpful!" Carley points out.
Lee immediately remembers Twilight releasing the trap to free David. "W-waityeah, Carley's right! That purple unicorn over there"- Lee gestures to Twilight. -"Saved that mans life without even touching him!" It wasn't until after he said that sentence, he realizes how incredibly ridiculous that sounds.
"Are you fucking deluded, Lee?" Lilly exasperatedly says.
"Umm, Lee are you okay?" Doug says concerned.
"Hey! I was there alright and I saw it with my own goddamn eyes! That guy was locked. In a bear trap. With no release latch! And then she"- Kenny points at Twilight. -"Comes along and uses some weird fucking magic shit and busted the thing open!"
Lilly shakes her head in irritation. "You two must think I'm some kind of a fucking moron!"
Carley looks at Twilight then thinks about Lee and Kennys story. She starts walking over to the mane six, specifically Twilight.
"Hey... uhh, what was your name?"
"Oh, my name is Twilight." Twilight points to herself.
Carley is still feels shocked at the fact that they can talk. "Twilight, Is... their story true? I mean... did... you really save that guy?" Carley looks over to David who is getting his leg bandaged.
"Well. Yes." Twilight tilts her head to the side. "Why do you ask?"
"Do you think you could show them? So, that they can, you know, stop yelling at each other,"
"Are your friends always like this? Just yelling at each other all day," Applejack agitatedly asks.
"You have no idea and they aren't my friends... well some of them are at least,"
"Do you have anything to pick up?" Twilight asks.
Carley frowns in confusion. "Huh?"
"An object? Book, stick anything?"
Carley looks off to the side as if she was thinking about something. She pulls out her handgun. "I have this. Why?"
"So, I can show you what I did." Twilight steps forward.
"You aren't gonna snap it in half are you?"
"W-what, NO!"
Carley nods and pulls out the clip. She offers it to Twilight.
"How are you gonna..." Carley trails off, she stares at the now floating gun that is engulfed in purple aura in bewilderment.
She stops breathing for a second. "W-w-wow, h-how is that... possible?"
"I'm a unicorn! In equestria, there are three types of ponies. There's Unicorns"- Twilight gestures to herself then Rarity. -"We possess the ability to use magic. Then there are Earth ponies"- She gestures towards Applejack and Pinkie Pie -"They have more strength then Pegasi and Unicorns. And the pegasus-"
"Guys! Come here! Take a look at this!" Carley interrupts her. The entire group, excluding Travis, Ben and David comes over to see what she wanted.
"WHAT is it? Car-oh my god..." Lilly stops mid sentence.
"Told you! She has magic!" Kenny exclaims.
"I don't think I'll ever get used to seeing this." Lee scratches the back of his head.
"D-dad, why don't you go back to working on the wall?" Lilly says to Larry.
Larry glares at the six ponies then walks off.
Lilly frowns at Lee. "I need you to do me a favour." She walks over to a vanity case that is leaned up against the RV. She crouches and zips open the case then pulls out a several types of consumables.
She stands back up, walks over to Lee and holds out the food items to him. "This is todays food rations, there isn't enough for everyone." Lee takes the items from her.
Lilly looks over to the mane six in thought. She shakes her head and walks off. "I can't believe this," she mutters to herself.
"Here you go." Twilight floats the gun back into Carleys hand.
Carley looks down to the gun in her hand then back to Twilight. "Listen... I'm sorry for interrupting you earlier. I just really wanted to get them stop fighting."
"Oh, it's fine. It isn't that big of a deal,"
"Uhhh Twilight? What do we do now?" Rainbow Dash asks.
Twilight looks over to Rainbow Dash. "What was that, Rainb-" Twilight gasps "-Oh yes! Right! I can't believe I forgot!"
"Forget what?" Carley asks.
"Carley? That's your name, yes?"
Carley nods.
"Okay. What- I mean where are we?"
"Well, assuming that you came from a different planet... you're on Earth."
"Earth? Earth... is a... planet... right?" Twilight asks nervously.
"Yeah, it's our planet." Carley shrugs.
Raritys eyes widen in shock. "We were sent... to a different planet," she says in disbelief.
"There's- How did- there's no way," Rainbow Dash says in denial.
"I wonder why we were sent here." Pinkie puts a hoof under her chin.
"How did we get... here?" Applejack curiously asks.
"Umm, we went t-through a portal," Fluttershy timidly says.
Applejack stares at her blankly. "Fluttershy, that was a rhetorical question."
"Oh okay."
"If you don't mind me asking, but where do you... ponies come from?" Carley asks.
"Well, we come from Equestria," Twilight answers Carley.
Carley nods. "Oh right..." she trails off.
"H-hey, excuse me?" Applejack turns and sees Travis.
"Yeah? What'cha need?"
"I never thanked you, for saving my life. Back in the woods. So... thank you, if it wasn't for you, I might've been dead."
Applejack glances back at the other five mares. They are more engaged in a conversation with Carley. Applejack turns back to Travis.
Applejack smiled. She felt proud of herself for saving the high school boy. He probably would've gotten outta there anyway... right? She thought to herself.
"Pleasure was all mine! You probably would've been fine anyway and... just be more careful next time." Applejack reassures Travis.
"Yeah, well, I'll try to remember that next time." Travis says while nodding. He then walks off to sit with Ben and his teacher.
Applejack looks up to the sky in thought. She closes her eyes and inhales deeply; then she exhales. She frowns to herself, she recalls everything that happened to her and her friends. A portal, that sent them to a different planet. This is all just... unbelievable! She sighs and then walks over to Clementine who is talking to Lee.
"Sure, when did you lose it?" Lee asks. Applejack wonders what the two were talking about.
"I had it a couple of days ago." Clementine says with her arms folded over when another.
"I promise, If I find it I'll let you know," Lee says sincerely.
"Thank you." Clementine now sees Applejack approaching them. Clementine smiles and waves to her. Applejack waves back and Lee turns around.
"Oh hey, uhh." Lee struggles to remember to orange ponies name.
"It's Applejack, and your name is Lee, right?" Applejack assumed.
"Yeah, do you need something, Applejack?"
"Well, not really. I just... thought I'd get to know y'all, try to settle down after all that's happened."
"Right, I still can't get over the fact that there talking ponies in our world now." Lee sighs. "I guess if the dead are getting up and eating people, I suppose anything could happen."
"The dead?"
Lee nods and looks over to Clementine. "Listen, Clementine I have a few things I need to take care of." Lee looks at Applejack then back at Clementine. "Why don't you try and talk to, Applejack while I'm gone."
"Okay." Lee smiles at Clementine before heading off towards Mark and Larry who are working on the fence.
Applejack walks up to Clementine. "Howdy, Clementine," Applejack says. She figures that they might not be getting back to Equestria anytime soon. I should probably get on everyponys good side for the mean time, she thought to herself.
"Hi. Do you want to see what I drew?" Clementine smiles before pointing to a board that is layed down on the ground which occupied by coloured pencils, paper and a little boy that Applejack hasn't met yet.
"Sure!" Applejack says enthusiastically.
Clementine turns around and walks over to the board, with Applejack by her side.
"So... you happy Twilight? We saw the "orb" you wanted us to see and now look where we are!" Rainbow Dash was getting more angry as they spoke with Carley, mainly telling Carley about how they got there.
Twilight is feeling guilty at the fact that she doomed all her friends, and probably Equestria too! I should've just left it alone, now we're all doomed, and Equestria! What if some unknown enemy finds out that we're gone and decides to take over!? Who would be there to defend it? The Elements Of Harmony are gone! I'm hope princess Celestia and Princess Luna will be able to take care of any potential threats. Twilight is too deep in thought to notice Rarity defending her.
"Now, Rainbow Dash, it isn't Twilights fault. How was she able to know that a tiny spec would turn into a portal?"
"I wanted to go back home and sleep! Not wonder through the Everfree Forest looking for an orb, through the night!" Rainbow says angrily.
"Rainbow please, you would've gladly gone with Twilight if it were any other time of the day," Rarity says while frowning.
"Yeah! But it was in the middle of the night!" Rainbows right hoof shoots up in the air as she was saying this.
"Well, why are you blaming her then? Besides that reason, there is no re-"
"She's right, Rarity. I am to blame," Twilight speaks up, her head slightly lowered. Raritys brow furrows. "If I had just ignored that orb, we wouldn't be here right now," Twilight sadly clarifies.
Rarity tilts her head out of sympathy. "Don't blame yourself, Twilight. Your curiosity... just got the better of you. If I was in your position, I would have done the same thing. You'll f-find a way to get us back home."
Twilight looks up at Rarity. "That's just it, Rarity. I... don't know how "to" get us back." Twilight walks past Rarity and up to Carley. "You don't suppose there is a book or some sort of spell that can get us back?"
Carely sighs sadly. "We don't have magic here on Earth, I don't even think magic even exists here... just witches and warlocks, but they're just myths." Twilights head falls. "But... we do have technology," Twilights ears flutter and she looks up at Carley.
"Technology?"
"Well, you'll need to talk to Doug"- Carley gestures over to Doug who is on the left side of the fence. -"about that. I'm not very good with technology... just don't get your hopes up, with the way the world is now. It's going to be hard getting back to your world... even impossible.
The five mares feel a sense of helplessness. Never returning to Equestria? Twilight isn't going to give up yet, she still has to speak to Doug, every chance that might help them get back, she's going to take; No matter how small. I need to get them back, I have to, I at least have to try, Twilight dreadfully thought.
"Thanks, Carley!"
Carley smiles and nods to her. Twilight leaves her friends behind to talk to Doug. Fluttershy takes the opportunity to go to Rarity.
"Rarity, we-we are gonna get back h-home, right?" She timidly asks.
Rarity sighs before turning to look at her. "I... I don't know, Fluttershy. But, I'm gonna stay optimistic. Twilight, will figure something out sooner or later."
Twilight heads up to Doug, who seems to be tinkering with something. "Uhh, excuse me?"
Doug gasps in fear. "Oh god! Don't do that!"
Twilight leans back for a moment. "So sorry, I-I didn't mean to scare you!"
"It's..."- Doug sighs. -"It's fine, you're new here. So, you probably don't know what's going on."
"I can assume what's happening. I wanted to talk to you... about technology?"
"Oh really? What about technology? Do you want to talk about computers? Television?"
Twilight had no idea what those items were. "Uhh, teleportation? Is there some sort of device that is able to teleport certain organisms?"
"Oh, you trying to get back to your world, huh?" Twilight nods.
"Ohhh, listen I hate to break it to you but... even if we knew how to build a teleporter, I very much doubt that we would be able to get the parts to build it. We wouldn't even have any electricity to power the device. Our "kind" hasn't even gotten to the point of teleportation yet, but I don't think we will get there now though," Doug explains sadly.
So, that's it... we are really stranded here. Twilight hopelessly thought to herself. She subconsciously lets her head hang and she starts to tear up.
Doug looks at her sympathetically. Oh crap, what do I do, Doug thought to himself.
"Uhh, at least, you aren't alone right? You have friends with you." Doug points to over to her friends. "I'm sure, at some point you guys will just... vanish- I mean! That's not what I meant, I mean, I'm sure you'll go back to where you guys were before."
"Hopefully."
"Yes, hopefully... Oh hold on, you want to see what I made?"
Might as well, we could be stuck here forever, Twilight thought. "Sure, what is it?"
Lee was given food rations by Lilly when he and Kenny first got back. He gave three food items away. Clementine was given half an apple which was her favourite fruit. Mark was still working on the wall with Larry.
He was given a piece of jerky and Lee asked if they needed any help with the wall in which, Larry immediately refused. Mark and Larry asked for Lees axe. Lee gave Larry the axe.
Lee chose to give Ben some food, Ben and also his teacher thanked him.
Lee pulls out the last food item which was in his pocket, it is Cheese and Crackers. He decides to give it away. He puts it back into his pocket. "Some of these people have gone longer than me without food, they're the ones who need it."
Lee looks at the ponies who are all doing their own thing. Applejack is still sitting with Clementine and they seem to be getting along well. Twilight is over where Doug is, seems like he's done with his project, Lee thought. The other four seem to be sticking together, I have no idea how long they're gonna be staying here for but I should probably get to know them just in case, he thought.
Lee chooses to walk over to the four mares. Before he reaches them, he can hear them speaking amongst themselves.
"I hope Angel is okay... oh no, who's going to feed him while I'm gone?" Fluttershy exclaims.
"There is no need to worry, Fluttershy. I'm sure somepony will find him at some point... or maybe he will find a way to feed himself," Rarity tries calming Fluttershy down.
Pinkie sees Lee and she decides to hop over and greet him. "Hi!"
"Hey, uhh..."
"Ohhh riiiiight, you don't know my name, do you?"
"No... I don't,"
"Ooh ooh! Let's play guess-that-ponies-or-persons-name game!"
Lee just looks at her in return and Pinkie stares back. A long moment passes and no one has yet said anything.
"Oh! Silly me! You're waiting for me to start, duh!"
"What?" Lee says faintly.
"Don't worry about her, she's just being, Pinkie." Lee looks over to the white unicorn.
"I'm Rarity, she is Pinkie Pie," Rarity introduces herself and Pinkie who gasps.
"Rarity! You're not supposed to help him!" Seems like Pinkie was still playing the game.
"Oh dear, Pinkie Pie, he was never going to get your name," Rarity says.
That pink horse is just... weird. This entire situation is weird. Lee thought.
"If you don't mind me asking but what is your name, sir?" Rarity asks.
"It's Lee,"
"Oh, it is a pleasure to meet you Lee! Is there something you need?" Rarity happily asks.
"Nothing much, just wanted to get know you and your friends, just in case if you're gonna be staying. Our group's gonna wanna know about you,"
"Oh, well, I'm a fashion designer. I construct all types of clothing!"
"Really!?" Lee asks bewildered. Lee was intrigued and wanted to know more about Raritys occupation.
"Uh huh! I own a dress making shop called "The Carousel Boutique" it is a very successful shop. I am also the element of Generosity,"
"The element of Generosity?" Lee asked confused.
"Yes! We're elements of harmony! Twilight is the element of magic, Rainbow Dash, over there, is the element of Loyalty. Pinkie Pie is the element of Laughter. Fluttershy is kindness and Applejack is honesty. My friends are... I guess you can say guardians of Equestria. Equestria is where we come from by the way,"
"How IS Equestria?
"It's definitely better than being here," Rarity immediately says.
"I guess I have to agree."- Lee looks away for a second. "Hey, uhh, you aren't hungry are you?"
"No, not really. Why do you ask?"
"Well, you see; our group is running low on food, which means we have to keep our rations reserved. Lilly gave me foo-"
"Oh then, don't waste your time asking me! I sincerely do appreciate you offering but your friends need it more then we do," Rarity happily says.
"You sure?" Lee asks.
"I in-sist," Rarity says sternly.
"Okay, then..." Lee pulls out the cheese and crackers. Maybe, I should have the last ration. Lee puts it back into his pocket.
Lee walks over to the RV to speak to Lilly who is on top of it. He reaches the RV, he looks up at her and nods; indicating that he was finished with the food ration.
"Not such an easy job, is it?" Lilly says with her eyebrows raised.
Lee looks away in thought then looks back at her. "I don't envy you, I don't know how you have the strength to do this everyday."
"I don't have a choice,"
All of a sudden there is a high-pitched ringing sound that catches the attention from the whole group. It is coming from the fence.
Lee and Lilly look over to find Doug crouching by the fence with Twilight.
Lee runs over to him to ask what was wrong. By the time he got there, he didn't need to ask anything instead he heard two faint voices coming from over the fence.
Carley and the rest of the group come over to where he is.
"What do we do?" Carley whispers. There was a little gap between the boards of the fence that she was able to peek through.
She sees two men who were heading towards the motel, one of them appears to be carrying a gasoline can.
"They don't look armed, should we ambush them?" Kenny whispers.
"No! We have a routine, we don't confront them if we don't have to," Lilly exclaims while whispering.
Carley is still peeking through the boards and the two strangers were coming closer. Her instincts kick in, she pulls out her handgun and points it the men.
"Back off!" She cautiously yells.
The men look at her with frightened expressions. One of them speaks up. "Woah! Lady relax... m-me and my brother w-were just wondering if y'all could help us ou-"
"I said back off!" She states again.
"Carley!" Lilly exasperates.
"We don't want any trouble!" Lee yells at the men.
"Yeah! Neither do we. I'm Andy St. John and this here's my brother, Dan. We're just out looking for gasoline," Andy explains.
Rarity walks up to Lee. "Lee, must we be so... hostile?" She whispers to him.
"We don't know who they are, they could be dangerous for all we know," Lee whispers back.
Rarity looks through the gap since she wasn't high enough. "They look friendly."
"We can't be sure,"
Andy speaks up again. "Looks like you folks got the Motel locked down, w-which is fine b-but uhh if you could spare any gas, we'd be much obliged,"
"Why do you need gas?" Carley cautiously asks.
"Our place is protected by an electric fence, generators provide the electricity," Andys brother Dan spoke that time.
"Our generators run on gas. Look, we own a dairy farm a few miles up the road, if y'all be willing to lower your guns, we can talk about some sort of trade," Andy proposes. Dan chooses to speak up next.
"How y'all doin on food? W-we got plenty at the dairy."
A pause riddles through out the motel. The occupants of the motel were an internal debate.
Lilly looks to Lee. "Lee, why don't you and, Mark check the place out. See, if it's legit."
Carley holsters her gun before turning to Lee. "I'm going with you. I got your back if anything seems fishy."
Rarity frowns to herself, internally debating if she should risk her neck for a bunch of strangers; who weren't even of the same species.
"So, uhh what're y'all thinkin?" Andy says.
"You've got a deal... we'll bring SOME gas to your dairy. In exchange, you give us some food to bring back," Lee accepted the trade.
Andy smiles. "Sounds fair. A coupla gallons should power one of our generators for a while."
"Alright! Give us a minute," Lee asks.
"Sure! Take ya time,"
Lee turns around to look at the group. "Well, it seems like we're headed to the dairy then." He glances around the group. "Is... there anyone that wants to come along?"
Rarity eventually chooses to go along with him. "I'll go, as well!"
"What!?" Rarity looks at Twilight.
"What is wrong, Twilight?" She asks curiously.
"I-uh-nothing, I just... no, I wanna go as well. Just in case if anything bad happens,"
Rarity smiles then nods.
"Umm, me and Travis will go along too. In return for saving us," Ben says to Lee.
"Alright, that's enough. This is our group. We can't all go over there in one big group," Lee explains.
Twilight and Rarity go to their friends to reassure them that they are going to be fine. Rainbow Dash was extremely hesitant and so was Applejack. Fluttershy didn't want them to leave but Rarity convinced her that they would come back unharmed and Pinkie Pie...
she just said "Have Fun!"
After they were done, Rarity and Twilight walk back to Lee.
Lee kneels down to their height. "Are you sure you want to come along?" He gently asks.
"I in-sist." Rarity looks over to Twilight who seems unsure.
"Yes... I'm sure."
Lee slightly nods and stands back up. "Alright, everyone! Lets head out!"
"Do you guys really have food at the dairy?" Mark asks.
Lees group left the motel a little while ago, to go to the Dairy. Lilly wanted it to be safe in case if the brothers were lying about having food.
Lees group and the St. John brothers are strolling through the woods to get to the Dairy.
"Yup! Sure do. We've lost most of the cattle, but we still have lots of milk, butter and cheese stocked up," Andy tells mark who is walking right beside him.
"And with the vegetables we grow, we've got plenty of food!" Dan adds.
Ben, Travis, Mark and the brothers were pretty far ahead of Lee, Carley and the two ponies. The entire group are walking along a path, with trees all around.
"It's nice to get away from that motel far a while," Carley says.
"Uhhh exactly, how long HAVE you been at that "motel?"" Rarity curiously asks. She and Twilight were sticking with Lee and Carley. The two mares trusted them because of how they welcomed them, they didn't really know any of the other "people" at the motel and obviously, Larry made a great first impression.
"Two months... I think." Carley looks back at Rarity. "I think it's been two months."
"Where were you guys before you found the motel?" Twilight walks up next to Carley.
"We were hold up at a drugstore, in Macon." Carley looks at Lee. "It's where Lee's from."
"What is Macon?" Rarity wants to know more about the new world that she is in. This time, it was Lee that replies.
"It's where I used to live, In Georgia. That's where we are now."
"Ohh! Interesting..." Twilight trails off.
"You know, this Lilly and Kenny thing is starting to get ridiculous. Personally, I'd be happier if you started to take charge more." Carley looks at Lee.
"Kenny, is the one with the moustache, and... Lilly, has the maniac for a father, is that correct?" Rarity asks.
"That is correct." Carley says between chuckling.
"You think they'd want me as a leader?" Lee asks.
"Well... who wouldn't?" Lee turns to look at Twilight, who is smiling.
"I think you would be great as a leader!"
Lee smiles appreciatevly. "I-uh, thank you, Twilight!"
"I agree with her. Everybody looks up to you," Carley says.
Lee frowns. "Well, not everyone thinks I'm so trustworthy."
"Why is that?" Rarity curiously asks.
"He... he-uh... did something bad before all of this started," Carley hesitantly says. Rarity and Twilight look at each other with concerned expressions.
"Might... I ask what happened?" Rarity glances at Lee before turning towards Carley.
Carley looks at Lee who looks to be a bit worried. "You-uh, want to tell... them?"
Lee turns his head to look at the two mares then looks at Carley. "I want them to trust us... I ki-"
"Yeah! Why don't you tell us a little more about yourself, Lee?" Andy proposes.
"Where ya from?" The brothers slow down to Lees pace.
Twilight, Rarity and Carley fall behind them.
"I grew up in Macon," Lee tells Dan.
"Right here in the heart of Georgia, that's what I like to hear!" Andy enthusiastically says. "Y'all seem pretty settled in at that motor inn... uh-who's running things over there?"
From behind them, Twilight overhears and frowns suspiciously. Rarity notices this "Twilight, is everything alright?"
"I... I don't know. What do you think of the-uhh brothers?" Twilight whispers to her friend.
Rarity looks forward where Lee and the brothers are. "They seem okay, why do you ask?"
Twilight shakes her head. "I don't know, they... just... give me an "off" feeling. I'm probably overthinking it."
Rarity frowns while she glances at the brothers then back at Twilight. "Well, if they do anything we'll just... take care of them."
"I still can't believe there are now talking ponies," Dan looks back at Rarity. "First, there's dead corpses risin from their graves... now there's colourful talking ponies. I wouldn't be surprised if god presents himself."
"Well, it's a wonder in my opinion." Andy looks at the ponies. "What are your names?"
"Rarity, and this is Twilight!" Rarity answers gladily. Twilight still feels a bit uneasy towards them but shakes it off and replaces her suspicion with a smile.
"Well! We'd love to get you all out to the Dairy. Like I said, we've got plenty of food, and quite frankly, we could always use an extra helping hand!"
"In the summers, I used to help out on a goat farm," Ben says.
"Yeah! That's great, everything helps," Dan says.
"Momma's been running the dairy for... as long as I can remember but now it's gettin-"
"YOU THINK YOU GOIN CUT ME OUT OF THIS?" Andy is interrupted by an infuriated voice.
"Shit, get down," Andy whispers.
Andy quietly heads off to the left side of the path with the group following behind. He soon sees two masked men who appear to be having a heated debate over something. The group uses the trees and bushes to hide behind.
"Alright, mate! Listen, no one is trying to cut you out of anything!"
"Fuckin' Bandits," Dan whispers.
"Huh?" Twilight says.
"Hey! These look like the people who raided our camp," Travis whispers.
Lee was going to ask who they were when Rarity beat him to it. "Who are they?"
Andy immediately shushed her. "Fuckin' assholes is what they are."
"There's only two of them." Carley pulls out her handgun.
"Oh no, there's more..." Dan says.
"You know what, Frank? We ate it all! The fuck are you gonna do about it?" The group hears one of the bandits say.
"Don't worry, Danny and I got you covered if something happens. But, let's just wait this out and hope they move on," Andy tells the group.
What happened next made Twilights heart stop beating. Rarity was paralyzed in fear and was physically unable to move an inch.
"FUCK YOU!" Frank, kicks his associate and points the barrel of the object that he has in his hands at his associate.
*BANG!*
Ben gasps in fear. Blood spurts out everywhere from the mans chest. The mares jump in horror as they witness the morbid fate of ones life.
The man falls to the ground, presumably dead. His blood gushes out from his chest, it was exposed, opened. Huge chuncks of flesh can be seen all over the ground from the mares point of view and what looks to be the ribcage is shattered beyond repair... unfortunately, for the two mares there was more to come.
Frank walks to his associates corpse and points the lethal object towards it.
*BANG!* "FUCK YOU!"
*BANG!* "FUCK YOU!"
Carley doesn't even realize that she's lowering her gun. "Jesus Christ!" She whispers.
The loud bangs stop, Frank starts walking away, leaving the area. "Fucking asshole!"
"The world out here is gone to shit." Andy sighs. "Come on, let's get to the Dairy, where it's safe."
The group then continues back onto the trail. Lee stops and looks back to find that the mares have yet to move. Lee walks over to them and he sees that they were staring at the lifeless corpse that lays just a few meters away.
Lee kneels to their level with a sympathetic expression. He sighs. "Are... are you girls okay?" He asks as gently as he can manage.
Rarity looks at Lee then the corpse. She closes her eyes. "No... I'm really... not okay,"
Lees furrowed and he puts his hand on the back of Raritys neck to help soothe her. Lee turns to Twilight who looks like she's going to break down and start sobbing.
"C-can w-we just go?" Twilight doesn't wait for an answer, she just walks away in a devastating manner to follow the group.
Rarity turns around and slowly starts walking back with her head low, leaving Lee behind.
Lee sighs sadly. Maybe it was a bad idea bringing them out here. He sadly thought. He takes one more look at the now dead bandit before heading off with the group.
It's been an hour since the group witnessed the bloody death of a bandit. Even though the man was a bandit, it was still horrid to watch.
Lees group, including the St. John brothers emerge out of the woods and continue onto the path that leads up to a farmhouse.
Twilight and Rarity are still endeavouring to get their minds off of the scene they both saw.
Rarity is still overflowing with disbelief and distress. She was still trying to understand how one could do that to one of their own. I need to calm down, try a little breathing... maybe some meditation.
Twilight is trying to calm her stress level down. She could not believe that this is the world that she brought her friends to. He killed him, just like that. He just killed him... over food.
"Here it is! St. Johns family Dairy," Andy stops and turns around. He gestures to the electrical fence that is surrounding the farm. "Y'all can see how we've kept this place so safe." He continues on the path.
"The fence keeps them out?" Mark asks.
"You betcha, they fry like bugs in a zapper. We're pushing four-thousand volts through that thing, with generators and amps," Andy is enthusiastic about the fence.
"I'm just gonna assume, that that is a lot," Carley says in bewilderment.
They all stop at a gate that has a sign that says "St. Johns Dairy".
"This is a really brilliant set up," Lee is impressed on how the farm looks so blissful.
Andy opens the gate. "Suits us just fine!"
Twilight and Rarity are glad that they were finally at the farm, after seeing what happened. They both have a strong longing to be out of the woods as soon as possible after witnessing such a gruesome scene.
"This place looks untouched! You'd never know the rest of the world is in ruins," Carley acclaims.
"It's worth protecting, hence all the juice," Andy says.
Twilight sees a woman holding a basket walking over in their direction.
"I thought I saw y'all with company, comin' down the drive!" The woman cheerfully says.
"Guys, this is our momma." Andy introduces with a smile.
Andys mother walks up to the group with a smile. "I'm Brenda St. John and welcome to the St. John Dairy!"
Mark glances at the basket in Brenda's holding.
"This here's Lee, he's from Macon." Andy gestures to Lee.
"Oh really? A couple of our old farm hands were from Macon,"
Danny looks at his mother. "They've got a few more friends staying at the old motel."
"Oh my goodness, that place is pretty vulnerable. Have you got someone with survival experience to lead your group?" Brenda asks with concern.
"We all work together. Plus, we've got plenty of people with military experience," Lee says.
"Well, that's good to-" Brenda abruptly stops. Her attention was directed at the two multicoloured ponies. "Those are... some unusual coloured ponies ya have there."
"What do ponies usually look like over... here? If you don't mind me asking," Rarity casually asks, as if Brenda already knew she could speak.
"Oh lord! It can speak!?" Brenda yells with great astonishment.
Dan chuckles. "Yeah, me and Andy're still trying to wrap our heads around this!"
"This is extremely unusual!"
Brendas bewilderment makes Twilight and Rarity almost forget about the incident in the woods and their moods brighten as they smile.
"Yeah! Well, this is unusual for us too!" Twilight says as she chuckles.
"This is very... weird-in a good way though!" Brenda quickly clarifies. "Where did y'all come from?"
"Uhhh, something... transported us here. We don't know what it was though,"
"Oh dear... well, now that you're here, we'll make sure that you're safe and comfortable," Brenda says gently.
Brenda looks at everyone else. "Same goes for y'all as well!"
"Does that offer apply to the rest of us?" Lee refers back to the group at the motel.
"We're all incredibly hungry," Carley says slightly desperate.
Brenda holds out her basket that revealed to biscuits. "These are for y'all, baked fresh this morning," she generously offers in which, Rarity smiles at.
"A-mazing," Carley hungrily says.
"Can't get stuff like that anymore, not without a cow for milk and butter, that's for sure," Dan says with a thin smile on his face.
"That's right! Hopefully, Maybelle will make it through this bout of whatever she's got and be with us for a good long while," Brenda says.
"Your cow is sick? What's she-"
"We have a vet! W-we can bring her here, we can help you folks out!" Mark interrupted Lee during his sentence.
"A vet? Oh mama! Our prayers have been answered!" Brenda says appreciatevly.
"Maybe our whole GROUP can come... for the day?"
"Well how about this. Y'all go get your veterinary friend and I'll prepare some dinner. A big feast for all you hungry souls. It'll be nice to have some folks help out around here again. Danny"- Dan looks at his mother. -"Why don't you come help me out in the kitchen."
Brenda and her son Dan turn away from the group to walk back up to their farmhouse.
"Why don't I head back with the food and round up everyone for the trip back here," Carley says.
"You might wanna take someone with ya. Remember those roads can be dangerous," Andy suggests.
"I can handle myself,"
Mark unholsters his hunting rifle around his back and offers it to Carley.
"Here, take this"- Carley takes the rifle from Mark. -"Why don't you go ahead and take Ben along anyway."
"You wanna go back with your friend?" Lee asks Travis.
Travis glances at Ben before turning back at Lee. "A-actually, I'll stay with you guys." Lee nods.
"Take care of yourselves guys, see you in a while." Carley waves at them before heading back to the motel with Ben.
"Why don't ya guys take a look around? Once your all familiar with the place, I could use some help securin' the perimeter," Andy says.
Lees brow furrows. "Is there a problem?"
"Sometimes, the dead get tangled up in the fence before they fry and they end up knockin' over a post. It'd be a big help if y'all could walk the perimeter," Andy explains.
The dead... frying? I-I'm sure it isn't as bad as you think it is... I hope not. Rarity desperately did not want to deal with "The dead" especially while they were burnt. She hasn't even had her first encounter with one, well actually she did but not up close.
"You could learn a lil somethin' about our fence. I'm gonna go top off the generators before they run dry. Come and get me when you're ready." Andy turns and goes over to the generator with the gas cans.
"You betcha." Marks turns to the others. "This place is incredible! And that fence? Oh man! That fence. If we play our cards right, this may turn out to be a place we can stay. So, how do you wanna play this?"
"C-can we at least make sure this place is... safe? I mean every aspect of this farm, just in case," Twilight suggests.
Lee nods in agreement. "She's right. We need make sure that this place is as safe as they let on."
"Right. Obviously THEY think it's safe, but is it safe enough for the kids? I noticed the broken swing over there." Mark points over to a swing which hanged on a bulky trunk of a tree. "Not a big deal, but maybe there's other things that we just can't see yet."
"Checking the fence perimeter is a perfect strategic way of examining their defenses!" Twilight excitedly says.
"Alright, well I'll keep my eyes open, Lee will see what he can find out from Andy and... I guess you three can survey the area for anything... out of place." Mark says then walks further onto the yard.
Rarity and Twilight look to each other. "So, what're you thinking?" Rarity asks.
"I'm wondering what's gonna be in that barn,"
"Hmm? What barn?"
"The one behind you,"
Rarity turns around and sees the barn, Twilight's looking at. "Oh, that... Maybe, Applejack should've came as well."
Twilight starts walking towards it.
"Where are you going?" Rarity frowns before asking. Why did I even ask, you know where she's going. It's so obvious! she thought to herself.
"Uhh, to see what's in the barn?"
"Privacy? Twilight? Ever heard of such a thing? You might not like what you find!"
"All the more reason to. If there is something in there that may come to harm us, we need to tell Lee and the others. And besides! Andy said we were free to explore."
She is right, Andy told them to get familiar with the farm. Why would the barn be excluded? "Y-your right, Twilight. I just have a feeling that I can't explain. I can't tell if it's a good or a bad feeling..." Rarity trails off.
Twilight remembers the feeling she got from the brothers when they were strolling throughout the woods.
"I think I had the same feeling a while back, when we were in the woods. You remember?"
"Yes... y-you didn't seem to trust the brothers."
"It's not that I don't trust them. They seem good... I just can't explain it."
"Well, that's exactly what I'm feeling at the moment. I can't explain it."
Twilight sighs before taking a short glance at the barn. "I'm gonna check it out to be sure."
"Alright, tell me what you find." Twilight nods then goes over to the barn.
Twilight walks past Andy who is doing something with a large metallic box which is making lots of noise. She comes across a gate. She looks at Andy before turning back to the fence. Maybe I shouldn't use my magic. If they are bad, I could use that to my advantage. She thought to herself. She goes to push the gate open-
"Hey... uhh-what're you fixin to do round the barn?" Andy interrupts her.
Twilight frowns but quickly shrugs it off before turning to Andy. "Oh! I'm just gonna explore the barn! I'm quite curious."
"Ha, well I appreciate that you are! But I'm afraid there isn't much to see in there. Just a cow and plenty of hay,"
"But I've never been in a barn before. Believe it or not," Twilight blurts out. That was a lie, the best lie of all time.
"Really? Ah well, I'll find you somethin' to do over there after y'all get back from securing the perimeter," Andy offers.
After? Why after? Why not now? The barn is right there. All I want to do is look around. How long could that possibly take? Twilight thought with suspicion. She already had an abnormal feeling from them before but that just sells it... or she's just being paranoid. "Oh great! I would love to help, I'll be back later."
"Alright, see ya!" Andy goes back to working on the metallic box.
Twilight looks at it in curiosity. "If you don't mind me asking but what is that?"
"Huh? Oh this! This here's a generator. It produces power for our fence."
"Hmm, interesting..." Twilight stands there for a moment or two in thought before choosing to walk off but she bumps into Lee as soon as she turns around. "Oh sorry!"
"There's no need to apologize, it was an honest mistake," Lee politely says, He smiles to reassure her.
"Really? My horn didn't hit you, did it?" She asks unsure with slight concern.
"I'm really am fine Twilight, listen we're gonna go out to take care of the perimeter now. I just gotta let Andy know first, Okay?"
"Okay!"
Lee nods before he continues walking over to Andy who is still tinkering with the generator.
Andy looks up at Lee. "Hi!"
"Hi! We can all go check that perimeter now," Lee says.
"Oh good. The fence will stop a walker in about three or more seconds but it gets overloaded if we leave the husks out there," Andy explains.
"You know we can clear the fence ourselves if you want to stay here and finish up with the generators."
"That'd be great! I'll turn off the Northwest section and uh, y'all can strip em' off and look for any weak points, well that'd be a big help!"
"Sounds easy enough."
"Y'all stay attentive, you never know," Andy says sternly.
Lee nods before heading out with the group.
"So how's the place lookin'? Is it safe enough for us to stay... if we can?" Mark asks.
They're all huddled near each other, Mark and Lee are in front with Twilight, Rarity and Travis are behind them.
"Yeah, it's pretty amazing what they've done with this dairy,"- Lee says, looking at Mark. -"But lets see what it takes to secure this fence before drawing any conclusions."
"I can't wait till Mr. Parker gets out here. Hopefully, his leg's okay," Travis says.
"Katjaa's taking good care of him, there's no need to worry," Lee reassures the teen.
"I can't wait till everyone else comes out here, e-everyone besides Larry," Mark says.
"He wouldn't be such a pain in the ass if you weren't going and telling him we were behind his back the hold time!" Lee says, clearly irritated.
"I-I'm sorry, alright?" Mark apologizes.
Lee sighs. "We'll work it out somehow."
"Well, hopefully he'll calm down once he's out here."
"What is that old buffon's problem anyway? Has he even heard of the term "civilised""? Rarity abruptly asks. Rarity was never intimidated by the old man, if anything, she was just infuriated with the man's carelessness towards others.
"To be honest... no I don't think so," Mark answers her.
"Lee? Do you mind if I ask a question?" Twilight asks.
Lee glances at her for a second before turning back to see in front of him. "Sure, what is it?"
"What does "fuck" mean?"
Mark bursts into laughter while Lee's eyes widen and Travis just looks away pretending he didn't hear what the Purple unicorn just said. Rarity is just as curious as Twilight.
"I-it's a curse word, nothing more to it," Lee says as he looks back at her.
"You-wait hold on, what type of... species are you?"
"We're humans,"
"Humans? Hmm,"
The group comes into contact with a burnt corpse tangled on the fence. Rarity immediately gags. "Oh my Celestia! That stench is HORRIBLE!"
"I'm never gonna get used to the smell," Mark says while he covers his nose.
Lee kicks the leg of the corpse, making sure it was actually dead.
"What... is that?" Twilight nervously asks.
"A walker."- Lee turns to Twilight. "You'll get used to seeing them."
"I don't think I want to," Twilight mutters, mainly to herself but Lee hears but decides not to comment on it.
Lee further examines the corpse and notices the arrow that's plunged through it's neck, pinning it against the fence post.
"Why's there an arrow in it's neck?" Twilight asks.
"I don't know... you know what an arrow is?" Lee replies.
"Yes, we have them back in Equestria!"
Lee nods before he leans over to pull the arrow out of the corpse. "Disgusting..."
"Do you *COUGH* need help?" Rarity asks whilst gagging.
"Nah, I can take care of it," Lee lifts up his axe and uses to push the corpse off the fence.
"Come on, I'm sure there's still more." The group continues the patrol.
"Once this fence is patched up this place will be a fortress! God, can you guys imagine not having to worry about the walkers anymore?" Mark says.
"Well, we've never dealt with one up close, so..." Twilight says.
"This place isn't safe without gas," Travis says.
"Not many drivers these days, guys,"- Mark reminds them. -"We could scavenge a years worth of gas, easily. What do you guys think of the brothers?"
"I can't tell if I trust them or don't trust them," Twilight blurts out.
"Why's that?" Lee curiously asks.
"I don't know why, I just have this feeling that I can't explain,"
Lee frowns in thought before speaking again. "Well, if anything happens we'll take care of you."
"And we'll take care of you as well!" Rarity happily says.
Lee smiles. "Thank you, Rarity!"
"Thank you, too!"
A few moments later, the group falls silent as they approach another burnt tangled corpse.
"Oh Celestia..." Rarity covers her muzzle, hoping it will block out the smell.
Lee lifts his axe again and pushes the corpse off the fence. The corpse falls but due to trying to climb over the fence, the electricity melted it's skin leaving the corpse hanging on the wires of the fence.
Lee chops both of the wrists off of the corpse.
"Ya never gonna get used to the smell, will ya?" Mark smiles as he asks Rarity.
"It would probably take a few millennias," Rarity impassively says.
The group continues their patrol.
"Geez, I cannot stop thinking about dinner,"- Mark looks at Lee. -"Thanks for the rations by the way. It's probably all that's keeping me on my feet right now."
"Maybe we can ask for more when this is finished?" Rarity suggests.
"Uhh, no offense or anything but can't you just eat grass or something?" Mark politely says.
Rarity stares straight at him. "Yes... but it's quite dull on it's own."
Mark doesn't care. "Then you're set for life. There's grass all around you, eat that. Let us eat our human food."
Lee chuckles.
Moments later another corpse comes into view but this one seems to have the entire fence post down.
"Please tell me this is the last one," Rarity desperately asks.
"Maybe, we'll see," Lee between while chuckling.
Mark looks at the corpse. "He's tangled up in there pretty good."
"I think we'd get a better grip from the other side," Lee suggests as Mark goes over the other side. Lee does also soon after.
With little effort, they both manage to get the posts standing again.
The sound of electricity and the light bulb startles them.
"What the hell? What's going on?" Mark asks frightened.
"I think the fence turned on!" Twilight yells.
"Why would, Andy turn the fence on? Doesn't he-" Travis doesn't get to finish his sentence due to an arrow that flies straight into his neck causing him to fall to the ground.
Rarity screams in terror and Twilight just stands there as she tries to process what just happened. The sounds of Mark's yelp knocks her out of it. She quickly turns to him and she immediately spots the arrow lodged into the back of his shoulder.
"What's GOING ON?" Twilight doesn't get a response, instead Lee and Mark try running over to a fence that's a few metres away but their attempt is interrupted when a couple of arrows land a few inches away from their feet.
Lee turns around and spots a idle tractor. Lee grabs Mark and they bolt towards it for cover.
Meanwhile, Twilight notices multiple arrows that nearly hits her and Rarity. By natural instinct, she uses her magic to reflect as much arrows as she can.
Rarity barely manages to keep herself from shaking as she looks over at Travis who now lays motionless on the ground. It soon hits her as she realizes Travis was no longer alive. Rarity glances at Lee and Mark who are behind the tractor. It did not take for her to notice that Lee is going to poke his head out. Oh no, not a chance. There's no way I'll lose another friend. fearing for her new friend's life, she uses her magic and pushes him down before he could have the chance to peek over the tractor.
"Stay down!" Rarity yells over at him.
"Do you see who they are?!" Lee yells.
Thanks to Twilight, she's able to look at the culprits who are hiding in the woods. She notices some of them wearing masks. "I think they're bandits!"
"Fuck..." Lee mutters under his breath. "With the fence on, that gate is our only way out!"
"Rarity!" Twilight yells.
"Yes? WHAT IS IT?" Rarity yells as she runs over to her friend.
"I have a plan to get them out but I need your help!" Twilight quickly explains.
"Okay, tell me!" Rarity urges her to continue.
"The both of us are gonna have to use our magic. As they run for the gate, we'll reflect any arrow that comes their way!"
Rarity immediately despises the idea. "WHAT? Twilight, I don't trust my magic enough for that! What if I miss!?"
"Well, we don't have a whole lot of choices at the moment and like I said both of us we'll be protecting them!"
Rarity doesn't have didn't want to waste any time debating on how they were gonna save Lee and Mark. "Okay! Alright, let's do it!"
Twilight nods before turning to Lee and she explains their plan.
"Just trust us on this! We'll get you out, just don't stop running!"
"Argh! This is so fucked!" Mark exclaims while clutching his shoulder.
"I'm gonna count down from three!" Rarity yells.
Twilight and Rarity don't seem to hear the growling noises emanating from behind them due to all the mayhem that's happening.
"Three!"
The growls grow louder but neither of the ponies, including Lee and Mark don't seem to notice.
"Two!"
Lee and Mark's eyes lock on to the fence gate.
"One!"
Mark gulps...
"GO!"
Lee and Mark bolt for the gate as if the Grim Reaper himself was after them. Rarity and Twilight reflecting any arrows that came their way.
All was going well until Rarity felt a very strong force on her that causes for her to fall to the ground. Rarity quickly turns around and sees Travis... as a walker.
Out of her peripheral vision, Twilight turned and saw Rarity being pounced on by Travis. Before the walker was able to take a chunk out of her, Rarity holds out her hooves to stop him. Twilight notices Rarity struggling to hold him back but sees Lee and Mark almost near the gate.
Twilight is lost in thought, unsure of what to do. What do I do? She hopelessly thought. She's going to lose one of them... but which one would it be.
She gasps. "Magic... Rarity! Use your magic!"
Soon after a light blue aura engulfs the arrow in Travis's neck and it's ripped out. A second after it's out it, Rarity jams it into the side of the walker's temple, killing it permanently. Rarity doesn't care about what she just did, she'll worry about it later. She pushes Travis's corpse off of her.
Lee kicks open the gate. "Let's get out of here!"
The group flees to safety while a bandit taunts them.
"YOU LUCKY SONS O' BITCHES! GO AHEAD N' RUN! WE AIN'T GOIN' NOWHERE!"
Andy is patrolling the farm. In the distance, he sees multiple figures running towards the farm. He soon realizes that it is Lee and the group. He comes to the conclusion that they encountered the bandits. He chooses to run over to them.
Rarity rams the fence gate open as the others follow suit. Lee bends over to catch his breath, his adrenaline didn't stop until now, whereas Twilight and Rarity didn't have the need to.
Andy reaches them with concern written on his face. "Lee! What's wrong?"
Lee isn't going to reply anyway when Rarity speaks beforehand. "I thought this place was safe!" She fiercely stares at the farmer.
The group never notices Danny coming up to them. "HOLY SHIT! A-are you okay?" His voice, laced with concern as he looks at Mark who is still clutching his shoulder.
"Of course not! An arrow is jammed in his back!" Twilight immediately replies.
"Fucking Bandits! They have no right being out here!" Andy comments.
"O' mah lord! What happened to you, sweetheart?" Brenda came out of the house a few seconds after Danny and immediately saw Mark.
"It was those bastards in the woods mama!" Andy explains as he looks over at her.
"I'll... I'll be alright once-it's o-out. Ugh-this hurts," Mark groans as severe pain ached on his shoulder.
"Hey, guys!" Doug yells out to them.
Lee's group and the St. John family see the rest of the motel's occupants coming into the farm with the rest of the mane six.
Fluttershy spots Mark who is leaned forward for whatever reason. It only took her a few seconds to realize that he was injured. As soon as she did, she flies straight to him with mere concern. She saw the arrow lodged in the man's back before she even gets to him. "OH MY! Are you okay? Does it hurt? Don't worry I'll get it out as soon as I can!"
Mark immediately replies. "N-no, t-there's no need, I'll... I'll be fine." Fluttershy doesn't believe that, an idiot wouldn't believe that.
"Oh no, honey, c'mon. Brenda's got you. C'mon inside now, we'll have you all patched up!" Brenda and Katjaa help Mark get to the house. Brenda looks over her shoulder at Fluttershy who is following them. "It's okay, honey! We'll take good care of him."
Fluttershy wants to make sure he's okay but he seems like he's in good hooves, so she decides to smile and nod before walking away.
Applejack runs over to Rarity and Twilight. "What the hay-was that?"
"We were fixing fences, way out there!"- Rarity points to where they ran from. -"And for some reason! The fence turned on!" She gives Andy a glare again.
"Was Mark shot by a bandit?" Pinkie Pie startles them both.
Lee looks at her with confusion. "Yeah, we ran into them on our way up here... how did you know?"
Pinkie shrugs. "Just a hunch."
Lee looks at Twilight, waiting for an explanation. "I don't know... she's just being, Pinkie..." Twilight trails off.
"They gave us a lotta' problems in the beginning, killed a' bunch of our farmhands. We were able to get em' to stop by makin' a deal," As Andy finishes, Kenny immediately retorts.
"You KNEW about these people?"
"Food for protection, not like we had much of a choice but they did stop hasslin' us," Danny answers.
"Goddammit! Carley said this place was safe," Larry speaks through whil gritting his teeth.
"I-it was just a fluke thing... we shouldn't stop assuming there aren't bad people roaming around out there," Lee speaks in an attempt to calm the situation down.
"What do you mean a "fluke""? Lilly abruptly asks.
"I mean, it could've happened anywhere. It could've happened to us back at the motel," Lee reasons.
"Listen, we may-have had an agreement with these people but we will not stand for this shit!" Andy says and Danny immediately speaks after Andy was finished.
"Ain't no way, we're gonna let those sons o' bitches getaway with this."
"You know where these assholes are?" Kenny demands.
"They're hard tah pin down, but I think I know where one of their campsites are." Danny looks at Lee. "When you're ready tah scope out that bandit camp, come find us." Danny and Andy start walking back to their farmhouse.
"Bandits? Really? Alright, this place isn't safe. Once we're done here, we should leave," Lilly suggests... actually it's more of a commandment.
"Leave?"- Kenny abruptly says. -"Lilly, this place is a hella' of'alot safer then that motor inn! I think all of us and our guns can handle a coupl'a punk with bows n' arrows. What we need to do is find a way to get our whole group out here to stay... take this place over if we have to."
Applejack immediately interjects. "Whoa-hold on now, these're nice..." struggles to search for the correct word.
"People," Lee helps her out.
"Right, these're nice people. We shouldn't be takin' over anythin."
"The talking horse is right," Larry says, smugly but Applejack doesn't pay it any attention.
"I'm gonna go head out and help, Danny find this bandit camp. You guys should try to make friends with the St. Johns," Lee suggests.
"Uhh-excuse me? But, where is Travis?" David asks, concerned for his student.
Rarity's heart crashes and her eyes widen as she remembers what she did to him. She can't even describe the amount of distress she was just induced with. He was trying to kill me... he tried to kill me. I-I had to, I d-d-didn't want to... it was self-defense... that's all it was and it wasn't him... it wasn't. Rarity is too focused on dreading about what happened.
Fortunately, she isn't alone. Lee and Twilight also remembered what happened.
As Lee ran to the fence gate, out of his peripheral vision, he saw Rarity being pounced on by a walker. It only made him ran faster then he was before.
Lee glances at Rarity before turning to David. He sighs sadly. "He's... gone. I'm sorry."
David slowly hangs his head as he furrows his brow. "No way..." he mutters to himself.
"I hate to ask but was Travis... bitten?" Lee asks.
David looks at him and shakes his head. "No, why? Does it matter now, he's gone?"
"Because he turned... a few minutes after he... died. He almost hurt Rarity."
David looks apologetically at Rarity before frowning as he comes to an conclusion. "Don't you guys know?" He glances around the group.
"Know what?" Lee curiously asks.
His conclusion was correct, they didn't know.
"I-it's not the bite that... kills you."- David looks around the group and sees confused expressions and clarifies. -"We will all turn, regardless of how we'll die, the only way to stop it is to destroy the brain... it's gonna happen to all of us."
"We're all infected... everyone," Lee asks.
David glances at the ponies before speaking. "I don't know about... them, but I would presume so. When I first experienced it, we were all hiding in the school gymnasium and I thought we were finally safe... but I was wrong. One of the girls named "Jenny Pitcher" she was too frightened and she couldn't sleep, so... she took sleeping pills... a whole lot of them. Someone went to go check on the girl's room the next morning... and..." David trails off.
"Hey!"- the entire group is startled by the abrupt yell. They all turned at Pinkie Pie. "Look at what I did!"
Pinkie points at the new and improved swing that Pinkie (apparently) fixed. The mane five weren't as surprised as the humans.
"You didn't do that!" Larry accuses.
"Sure I did! All I did was walk off, found rope over at that large box by the house! Cut a large wooden plank with a saw that I didn't ask permission to use but I assumed it was okay because I was helping. Then I ran over to the tree and-"
"ALRIGHT! I GET IT! YOU FIXED IT. Just, shut up." Larry harshly says.
"Well, you don't have to be rude about it!" Pinkie retorts.
Duck runs towards the swing. Before Clementine follows him, she turns to Pinkie and smiles. "Thanks, Pinkie Pie,"
"Aww, it was nothing!" Pinkie cheerily says.
"How'd you manage to get up there?" Lee asks.
"I climbed!"
Lee stares at her for a moment before heading off, not even bothering to wonder. The rest of the group goes their separate ways. Kenny follows his son, Duck. Larry goes with his Daughter, Lilly. Doug and David go off to look at the fence, leaving the mane six to talk amongst themselves.
The mane six stand in silence for a few moments until Applejack speaks up. "A'hm thinkin about goin' with Lee and Danny."
"I want to go as well!" Pinkie says.
The rest (except, Pinkie Pie) of her friends seem unsure of Applejack's decision.
"You sure... you want to d-do that, Applejack? You... may be forced to do something... you'll regret later," Rarity says with shame.
Applejack and the others (excluding, Twilight) give her a confused look. "What... do you mean?" Applejack asks for clarification.
"W...when, Travis turned into a... walker... I..." Rarity trails off as she struggles to tell them what happened. She is afraid of what they'll think of her.
Luckily, Twilight is there to take care of her. "When, Travis was on her... if she hadn't have done what she did... she may have been fatally injured."
"I pulled the arrow out of his neck... and I shoved it... into his head." Rarity's voice breaks as she finishes the sentence. She soon breaks down sobbing and whimpering. Pinkie Pie's the first one to comfort her, she goes and hugs her and Rarity sobs into Pinkie's chest.
"Shhh, shhh, it's okay, Rarity. It... wasn't your fault." Pinkie says while softly stroking Rarity's mane to soothe her sorrow.
"B- *SOB* but, I *SOB* killed him! Don't you *SOB* understand? I killed HIM!" Rarity squeaks out.
Fluttershy kneels down to pat her friend's back.
"Rarity, think of it this way, you weren't the one who killed, Travis. You didn't kill him, those bandits did, not you. You aren't responsible for him not being here... if it wasn't for the bandits, he would still be here. So, you don't need to blame yourself." Rainbow Dash's statement actually helps Rarity calm down a bit although, she is still sobbing but not as hard as she was before.
Applejack feels nothing but utter sympathy for her friend unfortunately, it doesn't change her mind about going with Lee and Danny. "A'hm mighty sorry ya had ta go through that, Rare but a'hm... still going with Lee. Just stay here, so you can settle down, alright?"
"Are you SERIOUS?" Applejack looks at Rainbow Dash who is in disbelief.
Pinkie looks up at Applejack with sad eyes. "Applejack... I... I think I'll stay here with, Rarity."
"You're still gonna go out there? Even after, Rarity told you what happened... REALLY? Why do you want to go out there, anyway?" Rainbow demands.
"Well, for one: I don't want to just sit around and do nothin' all day! And two: Nopony knows how long we're gonna be stuck here for-"
"We've only been here a few hours!" Rainbow interrupts.
"I don't give a flying feather! I'd still rather be helpin'!"
Rainbow closes her eyes as she grits her teeth. She opens her eyes but continues to grit her teeth. "Fffffine! If you're so thrilled on "helping" you aren't going alone... I'm coming along with you."
"Oh really?" Applejack sarcastically remarks.
"Yes! Whether you like it or not, I'm going to make sure that don't do anything stupid," Rainbow harshly says.
"Ah think it-"
"WOULD YOU TWO JUST SHUT UP, ALREADY!"- Everypony becomes silent as they stare at Fluttershy. -"You two are going, who cares! What you two should be worrying about is, RARITY! She isn't doing too well and here you two are arguing over who goes on a... a... walk through the woods!" As soon as Fluttershy finishes her rant she starts panting when Lee comes over to them.
"Is... everything alright here, girls?" He asks concerned, glancing over the six ponies.
"Yeah, me and Applejack were just... having a stupid argument." Rainbow looks at Applejack who looks back at her for a moment before walking up to Lee.
"We'd like to go with you and Danny."
Lee frowns before he decides to reply. "You sure? After what happened today, it may not be such a good idea."
"We're sure," Rainbow says.
Lee sighs. "If you really want to, then you can. I was actually gonna go head out now. C'mon."
Before Applejack follows Rainbow and Lee, she feels a soft hoof touch her shoulder. She looks back and sees Rarity.
"Please... be careful," Rarity she desperately says.
Applejack sadly but kindly looks at her as she holds her friend's hoof. "We will be. don't worry about us alright?"
Rarity pulls her hoof away and nods.
"We'll be back soon," Applejack says before joining Rainbow Dash and Lee who are speaking to the St. Johns Brothers.
She walks past the picket fence as she starts to hear the conversation.
"My friend is sobbing because you wanted them to check your stupid fence! Did you even THINK to tell them that it was DANGEROUS?" Rainbow accuses.
"Like I said, a'hm mighty sorry about that, I shoulda' told em'" Andy tries apologizing.
"Obviously," Applejack comments as she reached them.
"Ah assume, you're also going along." Danny asks Applejack.
"Yup,"
"Alright then. We saw what they did to your friend, Mark. Nobody's safe here until we start ta' fight back." Danny says.
"But, how?" Lee asks.
"We should go out and do some recon, then we'll all mount up for some revenge."
"Hell yea," Andy comments.
"Who're these... people in the woods?" Applejack demands.
"Don't know, but ah think some of them use to work up at the big box up the way," Andy answers her.
"Big box?" Applejack asks confused.
"It's a store, people work at," Danny explains.
"Anyway, they're nutty as all hell and they get mad when they're hungry," Andy explains further.
"Y'all ready to head out there and find their camp?" Danny asks. "You gals sure, you want to come along?"
"Yeah, we're sure," Applejack sternly says.
"Alright, then, just makin' sure."
"It's a good opportunity to find out more about what we're up against. Let's do it." Lee says.
"I'll stay here, hold down the fort," Andy says.
"Y'all remember, we're just doin' reconnaissance for now. It's no use gettin' ourselves killed."
Danny, Lee, Rainbow and Applejack make their way over to the front gate when Clementine runs over to them.
"Are you going now?" Clementine sadly says.
"Yeah, we'll be back soon, Clementine," Lee reassures her.
"Please be careful,"
"We will, Clementine," Applejack says.
The group leaves the farm to seek out the bandit camp.
The group walk in silence as they trail through the woods, searching for the bandit camp, Danny spoke about.
"Y'all see anythin'?" Danny whispers from behind the group.
"Not yet," Lee whispers from the front of the group.
"I know it's 'round here somewhere, it's gotta be close."
"How DO you know where their camp is?" Rainbow Dash whispers.
"I-I used to scout out alone searchin' for em'. Mama didn't like it so ah stopped,"
Applejack hears the stutter in his voice but shrugs it off.
Lee stops, making everyone else stop. He kneels down to a rusty can. Ehh... not important. Lee thought.
He gets back up and continues on further.
The group wonders through the woods for a few moments.
Applejack glances around the trees and a large object catches her eye. She looks at it more intently and realizes that it's a tent. "Look!" She whispers.
Everyone quietly walks over to her and sees the tent among other furniture.
"Oh shit! You found it," Danny whispers loudly.
The group glance at one another when Lee holds up his index finger to his mouth telling everyone to be quiet before they move up.
Lee and the others move closer to the camp which is only a few metres away now. He takes cover behind a tree before poking his head out to scout the camp for anyone within the area.
Fortunately, he doesn't see anyone.
The group moves a bit more closer to the camp to get a better angle. Danny and Lee take cover behind separate trees whereas Rainbow Dash and Applejack hid behind the same tree, the camp is right there now.
"Y'all see anybody?" Danny quietly says while pointing his hunting rifle at the camp.
"Looks empty," Lee says.
"Ah agree but we should keep our guard up just in case," Applejack suggests.
Danny nods before making his way into the camp, The others soon follow after.
"Watch mah' back y'all, I'm gonna go check out the tent." Danny moves closer to the tent that's in the camp, which is the only tent IN the campsite.
As Danny gets closer, Applejack and Rainbow Dash turn around to make sure that no one is coming, while Lee points his hunting rifle towards the tent.
Danny's within arm's reach of the tent. He notes that the tent's zipper isn't closed the whole way. He flings open the tent's entrance and sees no one just two empty mattress with blankets.
Danny looks over his shoulder to Lee. "Clear."
"So, there's only a few bandits... I'm sure we can handle them when they get back," Rainbow says as she walks up next to Lee.
Danny seems to understand what Rainbow Dash is thinking. "Nah, there's more... much more. This camp's too small, it isn't their main base."
"Thought so," Lee says.
"Let's take a look around anyway, there might be some shit around here they stole from us," Danny says.
The group starts scavenging around the camp.
Applejack walks over to a table that's occupied with boxes and other empty food items. It also, had an empty water bottle. On the left side of the table there is a box and a small gasoline can next to it.
Applejack puts her hooves on the table to push herself up to see inside the box. Nothing... Applejack thought. She frowns before using her right hoof to push the box aside to make sure she doesn't miss anything, but she still doesn't find anything. She exhales through before turning away from the table.
Lee comes over to Applejack. "Hey, Applejack What were you girls yelling about back at the farm? It got pretty loud."
Her neck starts to heat up with embarrassment and from behind it, starts to become itchy. "Ohhh... did anypony hear?"
"Well, when I was pushing, Clementine on the swing. Kenny asked what was you guys are arguing about, so I decided to see what was wrong." Lee's brow furrows.
Applejack shakes her head as she facehooves. "Oh boy... ah didn't mean to get that loud. Ah wanted to go along but, Rainbow didn't want me to go. Long-story-short, she didn't want me to go but Ah didn't want sit around all day, ah wanted ta help... ah don't wanna feel like we're invadin'."
"You're not. If you want to, you can stay with our group however long you need," Lee offers with a smile.
"Ah don't know where ta go if we left, but thank you, Lee... really," Applejack sincerely thanks him.
"So... you girls gonna be alright now?"
"Yeah, for now... but, Rarity... ah don't know."
"I saw what she had to do. Listen, Applejack just understand, Travis was already dead. If, Rarity never done what she did... I don't you would ever see her again," Lee sadly says.
The thought of never seeing Rarity again sends fear and sadness into her heart. The thought of Rarity being so close to dying makes her feel ill. A touch on her shoulder brings her out of her chain of thought. She looks at Lee who is kneeling.
"You will be fine, don't think about it too much. Just be grateful that you still have them here... with you and alive, okay?"
Applejack nods. "Your right..."
Lee smiles. "Alright."- he looks over at the tent then back at Applejack. -"I'll be back in a bit, I'm gonna go check in the tent."
Lee stands up to head over to the tent. He steps inside it, he glances at the two empty mattresses, one of them having a framed picture of two women. He picks it up to inspect it further, he immediately spots the age difference in the picture. Lee presumes that it's a picture of a mother and her daughter.
"What'cha looking at?" Lee gasps in fear as he turns to the source of the voice.
Rainbow Dash chuckles. "Sorry! Didn't mean to scare ya!"
"Rainbow Bash, don't do that. I could've hurt you," Lee politely says.
"It's Dash, not Rainbow Bash," she says bluntly. "Anyway, what are you looking at?" She takes a step into the tent to get a better look at the picture.
"It's a picture of-"
"Obviously! But what of?"
"I was just getting to that before you cut me off."
"Oh right, continue."
Lee sighs before holds up the picture for her to see.
"Oh... do you think they're still around?"
Lee puts the frame back onto the mattress. "I don't think so."
Rainbow Dash exhales sharply. "Well, there's no point just standing around. What else is in here." She goes further into the tent and spots a bulge under the blanket. She frowns for a moment before taking off the blanket with her mouth.
Lee eyes widen as he picks up the hat. "What the fuck?"
"What? What is-"
"DON'T YOU FUCKING MOVE!" A loud feminine yell cuts Rainbow Dash off.
"SHIT!" Danny says as he points the barrel of his gun at her. Lee quickly leaves the tent soon after.
"Put. Your. Guns. Down." Lee gets up and raises his weapon at the woman, he immediately realises that it's the woman from the picture.
The woman continues. "I ain't goin' back you tell em', Jolene ain't goin' back!" She hisses out with a maniacal grin.
"Hey! We had a deal! No shootin' as long as we gave you food, remember?" Danny says to the woman.
"You had a deal with them! I ain't them! Oh yes! I know you! I know what you are and ah know what you do!" The deranged woman says to Danny.
Applejack who is standing closest to the woman looks over to her right suspiciously at Danny.
"You don't know me!"
"Steal mah' shit! Steal everything from me!" The woman viciously accuses.
"We had a deal! You're the ones who broke it first!"
Applejack looks over to the deranged woman who is looking back and fourth at Lee and Danny. She recognizes the crossbow in the woman's hands. The woman doesn't seem to care about the colourful pony that's standing by her table. "W-who are you?" Applejack politely asks. She did not want to anger the woman any more than she already is, so she tried speaking in a gentle tone.
"Oh mah! I-it can talk!" The woman just chuckles. "Ain't that surprisin'!" The woman's chuckles morphs into psychotic laughter which sends chills down Applejack spine.
Rainbow Dash is in deep distress for her friend. She's going to get herself hurt! Rainbow looks at the woman. I can take her, I'm fast enough... she won't see-
"DON'T EVEN TRY IT MISSY!"- The crossbow in the woman's grasp aims directly at her. "Yeah! Ah know what you're thinking! Thinking you can take me before ah can kill ya! Well ya CAN'T NOW! Ah got mah' eye on you! Now maybe y'all didn't hear me last time, when ah asked you sweet! PUT YA DAMN GUNS DOWN! You think ah won't kill you? I'm gonna take this here crossbow and put a nice sharp arrow right through your eyeballs... and into your goddamn brain!"
"Where did you get this hat?" Lee demands.
The woman grins maniacally. "The little girl..."
"You stole it from her!"
"So, what if I did? You stole her from ME!"
"Is this woman insane?" Rainbow whispers.
"Obviously," Lee whispers back.
"You know what... ah change mah' mind. I'm putting this arrow right through your balls! Yeah! Right through! String em' up on that tree!" The woman gestures towards a tree to her right.
"Just... put down the crossbow. We ain't gonna do nothin'," Applejack calmly says.
The woman chuckles. "No no, ah need this to kill y'all, sorry!" Then the woman stares directly at Danny. "Hey, Danny! maybe, you can ea-"
*BANG*
Rainbow Dash and Applejack gasp in shock as the woman falls to the ground, dead. Applejack soon realizes that Danny's the one that shot her as she surveys the dead woman. Blood immediately starts pouring out of the woman's head and onto the floor around her with huge chunks of flesh and a bit of skull fragments lay.
Applejack doesn't care right now. She turns around and Danny. "WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?"
"Because she was goin' to kill ya," Danny casually says.
"Y-yeah! But, did you had to kill her though? Maybe shot her in the leg, I could've knocked her out!" Applejack explains.
Danny rolls his eyes. "Well, ah didn't think of that."
Rainbow walks up next to Applejack. "Why are you even torn up about this? Danny just saved your life!"
Applejack looks right at her in bewilderment. "WHAT? Why am ah torn up about this? Because somepony just DIED!"
"Yes! Somepony who WAS going to kill us! What if she did? How would, Rarity feel?"
The question that Rainbow Dash asked about Rarity, got to her. Applejack is speechless, she has nothing to say. She remembers what Rarity asking her to be careful before they left. What if that woman DID kill her? Rarity's already feeling guilty over Travis's death but what if she lost Applejack. How would Rarity even feel if she or Rainbow Dash never returned.
"Alright, just settle down, girls. There's nothing we can do about it now, let's just go back now." Lee gently says as he walks over to them.
Lee turns towards Danny. "We should head back now."
"Well, if they aren't here, then ah don't know where they are. So yeah, we had back." Danny walks over to the woman's corpse.
He picks up the crossbow the woman had, he looks at it before grinning. He starts walking out of the camp.
Rainbow Dash sighs. "Come on, let's go." Rainbow follows after Danny.
Lee starts walking out before looking back at Applejack who is still staring at the woman's motionless body. He walks over to her and puts his hand on her shoulder. "Come on, Applejack. We should go." He gently says.
"Yeah... yeah," Applejack mutters mainly to herself.
She and Lee walk out of the camp to go back to the Dairy.
The sun has already started setting and the group enter the farm past the main front gate. Danny stops at the picket fence that's around the house, he turns around to look at the rest of the group.
"Man, that was a hell of a ride, huh?" He says with a grin.
Applejack's more angry at Danny, how he's able to make a comment after what he did, baffles her. She knows he only killed that woman out of defense but still, couldn't he have just crippled her? She bites the bottom part of her lips furiously before walking off towards the swing.
Rainbow Dash rolls her eyes while shaking her head before walking off towards the barn.
Lee sees them but chooses not to comment, he hands the rifle to Danny. He agrees with Applejack, he doesn't think that Danny should've shot her, the woman seemed so broken, maybe they could've helped her.
"Jesus, Danny," He says.
"What? You ain't gettin' soft on em' are ya?" Danny asks. "Not after what they did to your friends..." He adds.
"Your back! What happened?" Brenda says as she stands up from the front steps to the St. Johns house.
"Handle it, mama," Danny answers before walking over to a stump to sit on. Brenda sits back down on the stairs.
Lee pushes open the picket gate to go up the hill towards the St. Johns house.
"This isn't what, Terry would've wanted," Brenda sadly says.
"Who's, Terry?" Lee curiously asks.
"Mah' husband, miss everyday..."
"THEN SCREW IT UP FOR EVERYONE THEN, WHY DON'T YOU!"
While Lee went to go speak with Brenda, Applejack sat on the swing, that Pinkie fixed. She grabs hold of the ropes that are tied around the plank and she starts calming herself down. She takes a deep breath in then breathes out, before looking up towards the dark sky.
She starts replaying the scenario over and over again. The image of that woman falling to the ground, replays on a cycle. She breathes in deeply then breathes out. Ah wanted to come along, it was mah' fault. I'll get over it... something was bound to happen at some point.
"What the hay sent us HERE?" Applejack yells under her breath. She notices Danny over by a stump looking at her while stroking his rifle that's in his grasp. He grins at her then looks back down to his feet. What are you lookin' at, ya nutcase!
"THEN SCREW IT UP FOR EVERYONE THEN, WHY DON'T YOU!" Applejack looks down towards the barn and sees a man wearing a hat and a woman arguing.
"Oh calm down, Princess! I'll do it myself," The man replies.
Applejack ignores them and decides to replay the scenario one more time, she sees Lee going over to the barn but doesn't think much of it. She remembers something quite important from the scene that surprises her.
That woman said Danny's name. Applejack bolts off the swing and starts pacing. That woman SAID HIS NAME? How did she know him? The brothers did SAY they made a deal with them but that woman said she wasn't apart of them, if she was telling the truth then how the hay did she know his name?
Applejack starts walking over to the barn to talk to Lee, she needs to tell him what she thought and also needs to see Rarity. She passes Danny and on her way there, spots Larry with his daughter, she can't remember the woman's name. After she speaks with Lee, she would go over to them to check if they heard about what happened.
She passes the metal fence gate and starts walking towards the barn.
Applejack enters the barn, she finds Lee offering a hat to Clementine.
"My hat! You found it!" Clementine puts the hat on her head. "I knew you'd find it! You said you would!"
The scene makes Applejack smile before looking at Rarity and the others. Rarity catches sight of Applejack and immediately flings herself towards her in a tight grasp. Applejack hugs her bag. "Ah did tell ya we'd be okay."
Rarity lets go of her friend. "Rainbow Dash, told me what happened. It must have been... horrible, are you okay?"
Applejack sighs before answering her friend. "No... a'hm not but, a'hm certain ah'll be fine in a coupl'a days."
Rarity hugs her friend again. "We'll both get through this, together." She gently says.
"What's there to get through?" Rainbow abruptly says, beside Rarity.
Applejack lets go of her friend before turning to Rainbow Dash. "Well, looks like you're fine already so, there's no point tryin' to talk to you about it." She roughly says.
Rainbow Dash shakes her head. "You really should just get over that woman... seriously."
Applejack completey forgets what she is suppose to tell Lee, due to Rainbow Dash. She turns towards him. "Lee? Do you know that lady, the one with the crazy father?"
"Lilly?"
"Yeah... Lilly, did ya tell her about what happened?"
"No-"
"Alright, ah'll go tell her then." Applejack walks out of the barn before Lee could even reply. She left the barn then makes her way to the gazebo that they're in, which also has a porch. She walks up the porch, and towards the woman.
"Uhh... did, Lee tell you about what happened?" Applejack asks.
The woman raises an eyebrow. "You went with him?"
"Yeah... is there a problem?" Applejack politely asks, not wanting to start anything with the woman.
"No, there isn't... but anyway, what'd you guys find?"
"Well, while we were wonderin' through the woods, we did find a camp and we also found a woman..." Applejack trails off, she sees Lilly start to frown. "She sounded pretty crazy and she knew, Danny! And ah think she was tryin' to tell us somethin' but before she could, Danny killed her!"
"Holy shit! Was she one of those bandits?" Lilly grimaces as she asks.
"Ah... don't... know, she said she wasn't but she also said she knew, Danny but he denied it."
"I don't like this... what do you think of the motor inn?"
"It's the only place ah know of... but ah felt safe while ah was there."
Lilly sighs. "I'm glad that some...one actually agrees with me. I say we should head back to the motor inn, at least there we'll know what to expect."
She said "we"? Does that mean she's alright with us staying with them. Applejack was a bit afraid to hear the answer, so she forgets it.
"Ah hope ya don't mind if ah ask but, what were you and that guy arguin' about?" Applejack asks.
"Oh, Kenny? He came over and starts talking about searching the barn, that these people are hiding something."
"But you told him to go mind his own goddamn business, right? We are guests here, we don't need to be overstaying our welcome, more than we're already are," Larry abruptly says.
"The way I see it, we just need to skip the dinner and get our food to go. I'm starting to think that, Kenny has a different agenda," Lilly says.
"Ah have ta agree with ya, and ah do agree with, Kenny on some level. After what happened with that woman, ah can't help but feel that they ARE hidin' somethin' but a'hm not gonna start pokin' around on somebody else's property," Applejack says.
"Good, you and your "friends" should keep it that way!" Larry interrupts but Applejack remains stoic about it.
"What about you? What do you think's happenin' around here?" Applejack politely asks Larry, although she already knows that it may not go well.
"I don't know and I don't care, and I would appreciate it, if you would stop fuckin' talkin' to me!" Larry yells at her. Geez! What is wrong with this COLT?
"Dad, there's no need for that," Lilly gently says to calm her father down.
Larry just sighs but doesn't say anything.
Applejack looks at Lilly. "W-what about you? Do you think somethin's happenin' around here?"
"Just... tell me exactly what happened at that camp?"
Applejack tells her everything that happened while they were searching for the camp. Everything from finding the camp to Danny killing that woman.
"Shit..." Lilly mutters to herself before she sighs. "We should just get our food to go, these people obviously have unfinished business. We shouldn't get in the middle of it."
"Ah hope we haven't gotten in the middle of it," Applejack says.
"I know what you mean..." Lilly trails off.
Rainbow Dash watched Applejack walk out of the barn. She sighs frustratedly before looking to the back of the barn a spotted two large doors which were closed. Out of curiosity, she goes closer towards the doors and notices the padlock.
"You found it too, huh?" A voice startles her, she turns around to find a man with a moustache, walking towards her.
"Man, there hidin' somethin' behind this door," the man says.
"Uhh, who are you again?" Rainbow asks.
"It's, Kenny but whatever. I got a quick look, they got boxes of stuff. And somethin' metal and sharp." Kenny keeps his voice low so, Andy is unable to hear.
Lee comes over to them. "What's going on?"
"Lee, they're hidin' somethin'," Kenny says.
"Don't get paranoid," Lee says.
"It's my job to be paranoid, Lee. I've got mah whole family on this farm, right now. How about you? What about, Clementine?"
"I'll protect her, no matter what," Lee answers.
"Ah know you will." Kenny looks over at Danny, who's assisting Katjaa with the cow. "Look, that guy with, Katjaa... what's his name? He locked it up real TIGHT the second we came in."
"W-wait... really?" Rainbow Dash interjects.
"Yeah... ah definitely heard a noise back there, guys," Kenny's voice, laced with suspicion.
"Okay, then we should open it. Just to be safe," Rainbow Dash says, now also feeling a bit suspicious of the St. John family.
"Glad we agree! Crash, go find me somethin' and I'll have this thing off in a second!" Kenny suggests.
"it's DASH, not CRASH," Rainbow corrects, quietly.
"Whoa-whoa, wait hold on a second, think this through." Lee turns to look at Kenny. "You smash the lock, then what if it turns out you're wrong? You just fucked your chance to get a good meal in those kids you're trying to protect. Use your heads, guys." Lee says, looking between Rainbow Dash and Kenny.
"All right, PROFESSOR... What'd yo-"
"What's happening?" Twilight startles the group.
"Yeah! Let's just invite our entire group over here!" Kenny sarcastically says.
"Kenny and Rainbow Dash think the St. Johns are hiding something behind here." Lee explains. He looks behind him, luckily Andy's still with the cow.
Darn it, the inkling that Twilight has about the St. Johns was just starting to fade away until now.
"W-why do you think that?" She was hoping that they just felt the same about the farm. Lee already knows how she feels.
"The door's locked..." Kenny's lame answer just makes Twilight look at him blankly.
"I mean... why else would they lock this up, so tight? And we don't know these people! They could be dangerous!" Kenny clarifies.
"Let me see what we're dealing with here," Lee says as he examines the lock.
"You think you can unlock this thing?" Kenny abruptly asks Twilight while Lee inspects the lock.
"I'm pretty sure, I can. I can unlock it, peak inside then lock it back up again. I don't think they know I have magic, so we can use that to our advantage if anything goes wrong."
"Can ah help y'all find somethin'? Andy's voice startles the group as they all turn towards him.
"No, we just heard a noise and thought we should check it out." Twilight somehow makes the excuse sound very believable which surprises Rainbow Dash.
"So, you're all a bit jumpy then, huh? That's understandable, after what happened today," Twilight sees Andy frown for a second. "Hey, uhh... do me a favour, don't fuck around with this door. Just, you know, Mama gets nervous."
"Andrew! I need your help, again," Katjaa yells over by the cow.
"No problem! Right away, Doc!" Andy says before walking away from the group.
Does he seriously think we're fools or something? Why would your mother get nervous!? Twilight thought, confused as to how Andy actually thinks that lie would actually work! That definitely confirms it, they're hiding something!
"I don't trust him, I'm gonna unlock this door, somepony go distract him." Twilight says as she turned to focus on the padlock.
"Twilight, hold o-" A loud bell sound cuts Lee off mid-sentence.
"Mom! Dad! It's dinner time! It's dinner time!" Duck excitedly yells as he gets up.
Katjaa smiles. "Okay, honey, let's get dad."
Duck runs over to the back of the barn where his father, Kenny is. "Dad! Come on, let's eat!"
"Kenny! Come on, honey!" Katjaa yells over to her husband as she gets up from her chair. "Ken! Come on, don't make the children wait,"
Before Kenny starts walking away he turns towards Lee, Rainbow Dash and Twilight. "I'll make an excuse for y'all... get that thing off!"
Fluttershy, Rarity and Pinkie decide to stay in the barn but Katjaa convinces them to come along leaving just, Lee, Rainbow Dash and Twilight in the barn.
Twilight's aura starts to engulf around the padlock, it takes a few moments before the lock unlocks. Even though, Lee's already seen Twilight use her magic, it still baffles him how a unicorn is able to use magic. He takes the lock off the doors and he slowly pulls them open.
The first thing the group sees is blood, plenty of blood. All over the floors, all over the walls. A giant saw is seen structured onto a bench that's also drenched in dried blood. The group stands there, shocked, frozen unable to move due to the ghastly room that stands before them.
"Didn't y'all hear the bell?" A calm voice emanates from behind them. They all turn and see Andy, standing there casually with a amile spread across his face. "Dinner. Time." His strangely calm voice creeps Rainbow Dash out a little.
Twilight was going to confront him but Lee beats her to it. "What the HELL do you got in that back room!?"
"Look, we have food here but, Danny and ah do a lot a huntin' to keep everyone fed. When we catch somethin' in the woods, we skin it and dress it back there." Andy gestures towards the room. "Mama, doesn't like us to make a mess in the houses-s-so you see? Nothin' to worry about."
Neither of them are convinced but they shrug it off, since Twilight and Rarity have magic, if anything happens, Lee is sure he can rely on them for support.
Andy leaves the barn, the group follows behind him to go have dinner.
Andy goes into the house with the group following in after him.
"Excuse the mess, w-we had to block the back door after a walker got upstairs," Andy says.
Lee, Rainbow Dash and Twilight side-eyed each other.
"Don't worry, that was a while ago. And they ain't been back inside since."
As they walk into the dining room, Lee sees a gun on Andy.
The dining table is completely set up with a candle in the middle of the table. Everyone has their plates, ready for their supper but Mark isn't there.
"Everyone sit down and I'll go get the meal! This sure is a delight!" Brenda says.
"Ah could eat a horse!" The mane six stare at Kenny.
"Not... you guys,"
"Where's, Mark?" Lee asks.
"Now, don't you worry 'bout him. Ah already brought some food up, you just let him rest," Brenda says.
Lee doesn't think these people can get anymore suspicious, he wants to make sure that Mark is actually okay before taking someone else's word over it, he could be in trouble.
"You mind if I wash my hands first?" He asks.
"Bathroom's right outside in the hall and be sure to get under your nails! You've been muckin' around in the dirt all day."
Lee nods at her before exiting the dining room.
"He's going to check on, Mark," Pinkie Pie whispers to Twilight who's to her left.
"I hope so," Twilight whispers.
"No hope, he's going to check on him now. In fact, he's quiiiiiiietly sneaking up the stairs... I mean you can hear the stairs creaking, right now."
After Pinkie points that out, Twilight can actually hear the stairs slowly creaking over the chattering in the house. If Lee is going up the stairs then it's probably best, that no one can hear.
"Dinner is served!" Brenda comes to the table with a silver platter tray with numerous meat slices on it. Next, Brenda brings in a large bowl of bread biscuits to the table. The cups and cutlery are set next to everyone's plates.
Brenda brings in a large pot that's filled with soup and multiple vegetables in it. She takes her seat at the table. "Alright, dig in!"
Everyone at the table takes their slices of meat. The mane six never took any seeing as they had hay and bread. Then after, they take some vegetables and one or more biscuits.
David takes more meat slices than he should and starts gouging it down. "Oh my lord! This is so. Fucking. Good!"
"You said it!" Doug says while eating his bread biscuits.
Nearly everyone has started eating their meals and everything seems to be perfectly fine! There's chatter around the table, everyone is smiling even Larry is smiling! Lilly and Kenny seem to actually be getting along.
"Lee! Did you fall in?" Brenda chuckles. "Dinner's on the table and everyone's havin' at!"
Suddenly, everyone hears loud and rapid stomps getting closer to the dining room which makes everyone start laughing under the impression that Lee is just very hungry.
Lee stumbles over the doorway as he leans on it. He looks at Clementine who's going to take a bite out of her meat slice. "DON'T EAT THAT!"
Clementine jumps in her seat before putting down her fork as everyone starts murmuring around the table.
David frowns in confusion, he swallows the food in his mouth before speaking. "Lee! Come on, sit down, this stuff is great!"
"Yeah! Sit your ass down, Lee! This lady made you a meal!" Larry interjects with a glare.
"YOU'RE EATING. HUMAN. MEAT!" Lee shouts at them.
Loud chatter erupts among the table with only the St. Johns remaining quiet. David and Doug look at each other wide eyed. Rarity believed it straight away as she silently thanks Celestia she never took one of the slices of meat. Rainbow Dash and Applejack weren't too phazed by the news since they weren't human but they were empathetic so, they stopped eating.
Fluttershy sits there frozen, although she never had any of it. Pinkie Pie is just staring wide eyed at Lee.
"You're scarin' the kids, Lee!" Kenny sternly says.
"Lee, what the hell is wrong with you?" Lilly shouts at him.
"Don't indu-"
"QUIET!" Twilight yells as she turns to Lee. "Lee, what's going on?"
Before Lee speaks, Katjaa snatches her son's plate away from him. "Mom! I was eating that!"
"THEY'RE PICKING US OFF TO TRADE AS MEAT!" Lee tries to convince them.
"OH! You're outta your skull!" Larry accuses.
"Mark is up stairs, right now WITH NO FUCKING LEGS!" Lee looks at Brenda with a horrified expression. "Brenda! Tell me he's not being eaten right now."
The whole table grows silent as they desperately wait for Brenda to say it wasn't true.
Brenda sighs, defeatedly. "It's true..."
"Everything coulda turned out okay, for you folks," Danny calmly but menacingly says.
"He would've died anyways! We gotta think about LIVIN'!" Andy yells.
David slowly looks down at the slices of meat, which he now knows that they are from the man that helped saved him. "What. The. Fuck..."
"He would've died anyways! We gotta think about LIVIN'!" Andy yells at Lee.
"Settle down, honey." Brenda says to her son. "Growin' up in rural Georgia, you're taught not to waste! It's how ah was raised and how ah raised mah boys! Now, ya got monsters roaming around that do nothin' but eat PEOPLE and for WHAT! To continue to ROT til' they eat som'ore... we thought we could put that meat to better use." Brenda calmly finishes.
"Just let us go," Lee pleads with them.
"Andy's right! We go after folks who're gonna die anyways... one way or another." Brenda adds.
Danny finishes his plate before turning towards them. "Like y'all."
Without any hesitation, Twilight stands up to attempt to take out the St. Johns with her magic until she's hit from the back of the head, knocking her unconscious.
"TWILIGHT!" Rainbow Dash frantically yells. She was going to knock the air out of Andy until he yanks Clementine by the hair.
"I'LL FUCKING MURDER YOU!" Lee goes to kill Andy when a barrel of a gun is shoved in his line of sight. Lee looks venomously at Danny, internally planning how he's going to kill him.
"No one... MOVES! OR I'LL KILL HER!" Andy puts his revoler against Clementine's temple.
Suddenly, they all hear banging coming from outside the dining room which silents the entire group.
They start hear to hear groans of agony. "Please... uhhhh-s-someone-help!" Mark comes crawling around the corner with blood all over him and his legs amputated. He crawls into the doorway, which causes everyone to gasp in horror.
Lee turns towards Clementine who has tears in her eyes. "Clement-" Danny knocks Lee out.
"IN, NOW!" Andy demands.
Duck, Katjaa and Twilight who is still unconscious were the only ones they kept outside. Kenny is the last one who enters, unwillingly before shutting the door to the meat locker which occupies in the back of the barn.
"Ma! Take those two"- Andy points at Duck and Katjaa. -"in the house."
Brenda points her revolver at the mother and son. "Move! Now!"
They exit the barn, leaving Danny and Andy in the barn alone with Twilight.
"You... you sure?" Danny asks, disbelievingly.
"A'hm not sure! I know! She has magic! I saw it when ah peaked around the corner and saw her BUSTIN' open the goddamn doors with her HORN!"
Danny stares down at the purple unicorn. He looks back up to his older brother. "You... suggestin'..."
"We cut off her horn? YEAH! If she wakes we'll just knock her out again." Andy roughly says.
Danny is unsure, whether to just kill her now or save her for later. The unicorn had magic! She could probably zap them to death if she wanted to. If they were going to do this, Danny would need to be extra attentive.
"Well? Help me pick her up, so we can put her on the table!" Andy's voice brings Danny out of his internal debate and he goes over to the unicorn's hind legs to pick her up while Andy picked her up by the mane.
They drop her on the metal bench that's structured with the saw.
"We need to tie her down," Danny says.
Andy grunts. "Fine! Get some rope then!"
Danny runs out of the room to find rope or something that will keep the unicorn from squirming as she wakes.
Andy only waited for a minute before Danny returns with thick rope. They roll her onto her stomach, so Andy can tie her fore legs behind her back and Danny ties her hind legs.
"This is BITCH to tie!" Andy struggles for a moment before successfully tying the unicorn.
The brothers flip Twilight onto her side, Andy holds down her head while Danny turns on the saw...
Andy starts lowering the saw down onto Twilight's horn. As soon as it made contact, it makes a spark and Twilight's eyes shoots open and she feels a very sharp pain in her horn almost unbearable pain.
Twilight quickly registers that she's tied up and spots Andy holding her down. On instinct, Twilight teleports from the table out of the room and onto the floor, surprising the St. John brothers. She groans, she tries moving but due to the rope restraining her, she is unable to. Andy starts running towards her, Twilight sees him and tries teleporting again; from the barn to the outside.
She groans again, she lifts her head up to see where Andy is. She spots him only a few feet away, instead of teleporting again; she looks at the ropes that are tied around her hooves. Using her magic, she slices through the ropes, setting her free.
She stumbles slightly before getting up into a fighting stance and prepares herself for the brothers.
Andy and Danny exits the barn, Danny holding his hunting rifle and Andy holding his revolver; they spot Twilight, scowling at them.
"Where. Are. My. Friends?" Twilight's voice filled with hatred, as she stares into the eyes of the brothers, not daring to look away. She then notices the weapons in their grasp but she ignores it with apathy, she could easily decimate them if she wants to but she decided to give them a chance.
Danny has his hunting rifle lowered, while his older brother has his raised at the purple unicorn. To tell the truth, Danny is afraid of her. He saw her teleport a few moments ago, she managed to free herself from the ropes that were tied around her, what else CAN she do? He doesn't want to find out, but he doesn't move. He's physically unable to move, he soon finds himself slowly being lifted up along with brother.
Soon after both of their guns disappear from their hands and with a spark, reappears onto the ground beside Twilight.
Slowly and callously, with a cold-blooded stare, Twilight starts walking towards them. Her eyes move towards Andy but her head stays still. "I'm going to ask you a question, Andy... if you refuse to answer the question: Your brother will face a very. Very. harsh punishment. Understood?"
Andy just glares at her, not saying anything.
Twilight closes her eyes as she sighs. "Where are my friends?"
Danny is petrified, he looks at his brother and hopes that he will say anything.
But he doesn't, Andy only stares at the unicorn with the same glare. Danny loses his nerve and he opens his mouth to tell the unicorn where they are.
"They're in'there! The meatlocker, in the barn!"
Twilight now turns her head towards Danny and sees genuine fear in his eyes. She considers to spare them for a moment but then again, what if they come up behind her and knock her out again. She dreads on the thought of killing them, so she just flings them towards their farmhouse, landing on the hill.
Twilight picks up their weapons off the ground and she starts running into the barn, unbeknownst that Duck and Katjaa are not in the meatlocker.
As she makes her way into the slaughter room and sets down the weapons on the metal bench she was on when she awoke. She ignores the blood that is dried in the room, her only goal is to save her friends, no matter what.
She walks over to the large metal door that led into the meatlocker as she does, that's when she notices the yelling and screaming along with a few thuds that emanates from inside the room.
"Ah... ah'-nrg! NOT gonna let ya kill HIM!"
"It's... *THUD* THE-ONLY WAY!"
Twilight wastes no time opening the metal door. As soon as she gets the door open...
*SPLURT*
Bits of liquid fly onto Twilight's eyes and face. She brings a hoof over to her face to clear her vision, after she does she scans the room. She finds Rainbow Dash holding down Applejack, Fluttershy cowering in the right side of the corner in the room along with Rarity and Clementine while Pinkie tries comforting them. Doug and David on the opposite side, seemingly distraught. Her line of sight falls onto Larry... actually Larry's corpse.
Half of his face is splattered with a salt lick, leaving only his jaw. His blood plagues the room, the floor around him, his daughter along with Lee is covered in it.
"NOOOOOOO!!!" Lilly screams out.
"Kenny! What the fuck!" Lee says as Kenny slowly backs away.
"I'm sorry... i-it had to be done!" He says.
"You don't know that!" Lee retorts.
"Yes, ah do and so do you! I was counting on you, man..." Kenny trails off as he sees Twilight standing by the door and He walks over to her. "Hey! What-happened? D-did you see my family?" Twilight ignores him, she's more focused on the room before her.
"NOOOO!!!!" The yell of Katjaa's frantic voice, makes Kenny gasp before running past Twilight and leaving the group in the meatlocker.
After Kenny leaves, Lee walks up to Twilight to check if she is okay. He sees the small chip in her horn. "Hey, Twilight, are... you okay?"
Twilight glances at him for a second before looking at Lilly, who is sobbing over her father. "Y-yes, I'm fine. But, what about, Larry? What in EQUESTRIA HAPPENED IN HERE?"
Lee shakes his head as he sighs. "I'll... explain that later. Let's just focus on getting out of here, okay?"
Twilight nods, still staring at Larry's corpse.
"Get... off me, Rainbow." Applejack calmly but menacingly says.
Rainbow obeys and Applejack gets up off the floor, not even turning to look at her friend as she does so.
Before Applejack could walk away, Rainbow speaks up. "Applejack... you need to understand-"
"AH DON'T NEED TA UNDERSTAND ANYTHIN', DASH!" The outburst from Applejack, sends everyone's attention towards them, everyone except Lilly. "Tell me somethin', Dash! How do ya know for CERTAIN that, LARRY was really dead?"
"W-we-I... couldn't take the chance. I... I wanted everypony to be safe." Rainbow sadly says as she leans away from Applejack.
"He still could've been alive!"
"Y-you were right next to him! W-w-what if he turned? H-he would've gone for you!" Rainbow's voice sounds more desperate than angry. She didn't want Larry to die but at the same time, she didn't want her ANY of her friends getting injured.
"AH WOULD'VE BEEN FINE, WE ALL WOULD HAVE!!!"
Before Applejack could get more livid, Twilight walks up behind her. "Applejack, we'll deal with this later. Let's just focus on getting out of here."
Applejack stares angrily at Rainbow for a few seconds before walking away without another word.
"T-Twilight, I-I-"
"Hey, worry about it later. Okay?" Twilight gently says as she puts her hoof on Rainbow Dash's shoulder.
After Lee and Twilight made sure that everyone was okay. They both, along with the group leave the barn.
The sound of heavy rain, it is all the group hears and the moon shines upon the farm.
Twilight looks around for Andy and Danny. She spots a silhouette, seemingly dragging itself towards the St. John house.
"Carley!" Lee quietly exclaims, bringing the group's attention to a cornfield a few feet away, which is fenced.
"Lee?" Carley says as Ben comes up behind her. He lets out a yelp, as the stalks from the cornfield cut him; Carley sushes him before looking back at Lee. "Is everyone okay? You guys have been gone WAY too long."
"We need help."
"Yeah, I figured. When you guys didn't come back, I thought something was up."
"Larry is DEAD and those monsters cut off Mark's legs and fed them to us!" Rarity exclaims before Lee could respond.
Carley grimaces. "Shit, is everyone else okay?"
"They've still got, Duck and, Katjaa in the house and I don't know where the fuck, Kenny is," Lee says.
"Alright, we'll come in to help!"
"The main gate is too dangerous! Go around the fence and see if there's a way in. I'll keep looking for, Kenny."
"You won't be searching on your own." Twilight says as she walks up to Lee.
Lee looks at her, unsure if he should let her help. Twilight sees his uncertainty and chooses to make it clear, that she's not gonna be persuaded to change her mind. "Lee, you'll need the help. I'll be able to assist you if things get too heated."
Lee remembers how the purple unicorn was able to protect him, during the bandit ambush and he decides to let her go along with him.
Lee and Twilight start making their way towards the house, Lee told the rest of the group to stay in the barn in case if it got too dangerous. Twilight's friends were a bit hesitant, especially Rainbow Dash but Twilight managed to convince them that she would be fine.
As the two get closer towards the house, they see Danny laying on his back staring at them. Lee and Twilight glances down to his legs to find that they are broken, bent in a way that's not supposed to be bent.
Twilight almost feels sympathetic for him, almost. She thinks back to when she woke up and found the brothers nearly cutting off her horn. If it wasn't for them, Rainbow Dash and Applejack wouldn't be fighting. If it wasn't for them bringing them to the farm, Travis would still be alive and Rarity wouldn't have to put him down. If it wasn't for them, LARRY WOULD STILL BE ALIVE! Twilight is only getting more infuriated as she remembers everything the St. Johns have done to them.
"Y'all understand now, don't you? You can have me," Danny's strangely calm voice, confuses Twilight and Lee. "It's how the world works, now. Give part of-ya' self, so others can live."
"Did, Mark ever volunteered to be food?" Twilight menacingly asks.
"H-he... uhh, oh... it doesn't matter now. Y-ya' need ta' keep me alive. If ya' kill me, the meat gets tainted, ya' can't eat it."
"You're already tainted," Lee says, angrily.
From her peripheral vision, Twilight spots a saw on a table that lays along with a tool box and she contemplates on whever to execute Danny or spare his life. Luckily for her, Lee speaks before she makes the decision.
"This is NOT how the world works now!" Twilight is glad that Lee made the decision and not her.
After dealing with Danny, Twilight and Lee continue to the farmhouse.
They both hear Katjaa's loud pleas as they get closer. They both stop at the hill and they take one look at each other before going up the hill.
"Something's up. Imma' take the boy and check around-"
"NO, PLEASE, DON'T TAKE MY BOY!-"
"Let go, woman!"
As Twilight and Lee get further up the hill, they hear a faint door close. Suddenly a silhouette appears by the front door, through the fly screen.
"Danny? That you? What's goin' on out there?" The voice reveals it to be Brenda.
"Danny IS out here, but I'm afraid he is now incapable of walking!" Twilight says, loud enough for Brenda to hear her.
Brenda mutters something but it is too faint for Lee or Twilight to hear and her silhouette leaves the door.
"Come here!"
"Let. Me. Go!"
Twilight and Lee get to the door.
"Lee!-"
"Get back, don't come in here!" Brenda yells immediately after Katjaa. "Y'all just HAD to go snoopin' around didn't ya'!"
"Let her go, Brenda." Lee calmly says before opening the door to the house.
"Lee, don't you take another step!" Brenda threatens him while pointing a revolver at him.
Lee stops as he steps into the house, blocking Twilight from coming in. "Brenda, come on now. You know you don't wanna do this!"
Brenda brings the gun back to Katjaa's temple as they begin backing up the stairs to the second floor of the house. "Just go away and leave us be!"
Lee cautiously starts going into the house, letting Twilight in.
"Stop right ther-YOU!" Brenda caught sight of Twilight and she becomes enraged at what she presumably done to her son, Danny.
In one swift motion, she points the gun at her and...
*BANG*
The bullet comes into contact, with... well Brenda isn't sure what the bullet collided with. It's like there is an invisible wall that is protecting them.
*BANG*
*BANG*
Brenda pulls the trigger two more times, but Twilight still is unharmed.
"Didn't, Andy tell you, Brenda? I have magic." Twilight doesn't let her respond. Brenda's gun disappears with a purple spark and it reappears by Lee's feet. Brenda suddenly feels a force on her arm that's keeping Katjaa hostage and she notices a faint aura engulfing it. Brenda's arm is yanked away from Katjaa's neck, releasing her from Brenda's grasp and a strong shove sends her tumbling backwards.
A pair of arms grapples Brenda from behind the shoulder and she immediately feels the bite sink into her right cheek, tearing it open and she lets out a scream of agony.
Katjaa runs towards Twilight and Lee. "They took, Duck! Where's, Kenny?" She worryingly asks.
Immediately after she asks, they hear Andy yelling from outside the house, along with Kenny.
They all run outside, leaving the gun on the floor behind. Twilight stops to take a look back at Brenda who's screams have now come to a halt. Twilight frowns and she feels a bit of regret but she ignores it and she follows after Lee and Katjaa.
Twilight leaves the house and she finds Kenny running towards Andy who's holding Duck as hostage.
*BANG*
A loud bang goes off and Kenny falls to the ground, tightly clutching his stomach.
Twilight gasps and her instincts kick in straight away. Using her magic, she pushes Andy away from Duck. Andy loses his balance and he falls, rolling down the hill of his farmhouse.
Twilight teleports to Andy as he struggles to get back to his feet. With all her might, she throws a heavy punch to his abdomen, winding him in the process. He falls to his knees, desperately grasping at air. Twilight spots a 2x4 leaning against the fence, near the generator. She picks it up, using her magic and she looks back at Andy who's trying to get back on his feet; Twilight doesn't let him, she brings the blunt plank to his face with incredible speed and he falls to the ground, barely conscious.
Twilight goes to finish him off but she notices something. The group, including her friends are gathered around by the main gate, watching the whole thing unfold. All of the humans, contain an expression of bewilderment while her friends, have a look of... sadness? No no, it looks more like they want her to... stop?
But, why wouldn't they say anything? Why don't they tell her to stop? Are they still shell-shocked? That's when she realizes...
Twilight's sight falls to Andy, who's no longer making an effort to get up. What... am I doing? This... this isn't me, Twilight thought to herself.
She drops the 2x4 into a puddle and she hesitantly trots over to Andy. "Andy, I-I shouldn't h-have."
Suddenly it all dawns on her, everything that has happened to her and her friends. From Travis being killed to Larry being killed and nearly losing her horn. She comes to full realization about the situation she's in and all of her hatred for the St. Johns dissipates and she loses her nerve.
Guilt and regret is all she feels now, Brenda getting bitten and killed to Danny's legs being broken. It was all caused by her.
"Oh, Celestia," she whispers. "What have I done. I... shouldn't... this never should've happened!"
Rarity steps forward, concerned for her friend. "Twilight? Twilight, let's just go, okay? We can leave now."
"Rarity! This never should've happened! This isn't what we do! We... we don't KILL PONIES!"
Rarity slightly jumps at her friend's outburst but she still continues walking towards her friends. "I-it's okay, Twilight. Let's just leave, okay, darling?"
"But-but, what about, Andy? WHAT DO WE DO? I DON'T WANT TO KILL HIM! WE CAN'T!"
Rarity very gently puts a hoof on her friend's shoulder in attempt to calm her down. "Darling, listen to me. Let's leave now, this place is too dangerous, please let's leave now."
Twilight merely nods and she walks back to the group with Rarity.
"It's over, let's go," Lee says before turning around and leaving the barn.
The rest of the group follows after him. Lilly takes a look back at Andy who's still on the ground, she notices a now reanimated Brenda stumbling down the hill. She contemplates killing him herself to avenge her father for bringing them here but overall, decides against it and she follows after the group.
Lee wonders through the woods, with the group following close behind. While he continues walking, he thinks back to the dairy farm, more specifically Twilight.
How she suddenly started freaking out, she seemed fine before she faced Andy. What was it that made her crack? Was it her friends? She said they don't kill from where they're from, so what do they exactly do to the ones that cause harm in their world?
"Lee?" Lee was so deep in thought that he didn't even notice Carley coming up to him. "I'd say I'm sorry for leaving the motel unattended but, you know..."
"There's no need to apologize, Carley. It's understandable," Lee says.
"Were they... really killing people? For food?" Carley says, unsure if she wants to know.
"Yeah and, Clementine almost ate some."
"You said "almost" so... you stopped her."
Lee nods. "I can't leave her alone, Carley. This world now, it just hides... unspeakable shit at every turn."
Carley looks back at Twilight, who's walking beside Rarity before looking back at Lee. "I don't think, Twilight is doing so well."
"I'm... sure she'll be okay, we were in a desperate situation and it's also their first day here. They're experiencing bad things, I don't know how it is back in their world but it's obviously better than ours."
Rarity watches as Carley pulls something out of her back pocket and she hands it to Lee.
"Twilight? Are you okay?" The timid voice makes Rarity look to her left to find Fluttershy, beside Twilight.
"I don't wanna talk about it. I don't ever. Want. To talk about it. Let's just leave it at that," Twilight calmly says but Rarity detects a hint of distress in her voice.
"I... alright, darling."
The group continues through the woods until they hear a noise.
"Dad, what's that noise?" Duck asks, a bit scared.
"Sounds like a car," Kenny says as he listens intently.
"Oh god, not more strangers," Ben says.
Lee and Kenny share a look of suspicion before continuing forward. They soon come across the source of the sound and the group catches sight of the car with the lights and engine on.
Lee crouches behind a bush. "Don't shoot! We're here to help!" He shouts to anyone that may be occupying the vehicle.
He then cautiously starts walking over to the car while still crouching. Half way there, and he hasn't seen anyone around the car; he sees that the front door is open. He looks into the car, he leans over to the keys to turn off the ignition and in the process of doing so, he sees that the fuel meter is on empty. "Figures." He pulls the keys from the slot.
"Oh crap!" Kenny says. "Baby, you gotta see this! There's a shit load of food and supplies, back here!"
The trunk of the station wagon is filled with a variety of resources, food, supplies and boxes that contains more resources.
The rest of the group goes over to the car.
"This food can save all of us!" Katjaa says, with hope.
"Not. All of us," Kenny looks over at Lilly as she says so. After, he lets out a long sigh.
"We don't if these people are dead," Ben says.
"He's right. For all we know, they could've just left to... look for shelter. What if they come back?"
"If they do, then we're just monsters who came out of the woods and ruined their lives," Lilly says, answering David.
"This stuff isn't ours."
"Dad, whose car is it?" Duck asks.
"Don't worry about that, Duck. It's ours now." Kenny says finishing with a smile.
"It's abandoned, Ducky. Don't worry." Katjaa says as she walks over to her son.
"But, what if it's not!" Clementine says her voice raised, slightly which draws the attention of the whole group. "What if it's not abandoned? What if it is someone's?"
"Ah know we ain't... you know "humans" but ya' can't just take things that ain't yours," Applejack says. She knows she doesn't have a say of what happens since, her and her friends can just eat grass.
"This ain't your business, you can literally eat grass. So, keep out of it," Kenny sternly says.
"We shouldn't take this," Lee abruptly.
"What!" Kenny says as he starts walking over to Lee. "Did you get some meal, back there that the some of us missed out-on? We have to take this stuff."
"What if it was yours?"
"If it was mine, it wouldn't be out here in the first place." Kenny says immediately after Rainbow finished.
"We'll survive, without it," Lee says.
"The hell we will! The rest of us're takin' this stuff." Kenny holds out his palm for the keys Lee took from the car.
Lee takes the keys out of his pocket and he gives it to Kenny.
As Kenny unlocks the trunk of the car, the grim atmosphere is replaced with gratitude. Almost everyone's mood has lifted while Kenny continues handing over boxes of supplies to people to take back to the motel.
Lee along with the mane six and David wait for the rest of the group to finish with the station wagon.
Katjaa sees a red hoodie in the vehicle, she tells Lee about giving it to Clementine but politely declines.
After a few moments of waiting, Carley walks over to Lee while pulling out a pair of batteries. "Hey, there were some batteries in one of those boxes. I thought they'd might work on your camcorder."
Lee takes them as Carley gives some to Clementine.
Rainbow glances at Applejack who is just watching the group take supplies out of the vehicle. Rainbow hesitantly walks up to her friend. "Uhh, Applejack?"
Applejack hears her but she chooses to ignore her as if she is just a ghost.
Rainbow sighs before hesitantly trying again. "Applej-"
Rainbow Dash lets out a sharp gasp, feeling like she just got punched in the heart. Like rope that's tied around it, strangling the life out of it.
Applejack pauses and she lets her head hang slightly. She looks back up at her friend before turning her whole body to face her and she gives her a grimly look. "Ah know ya' did it to protect us... but ya' still got someone killed. A'hm sorry, Rainbow but ah don't want to speak with ya'." After Applejack finishes, she goes over to Lee who's finishing putting new batteries in his device; leaving Rainbow Dash alone.
As Applejack reaches Lee, from her angle; she notices that he has a look of concern and worry as he is seemingly watching the device. "What's tha' matter?"
Lee gasps before immediately turning to her.
"Whoa, sorry! Didn't mean ta' scare ya'," Applejack apologizes.
Lee sighs in relief.
Applejack frowns in confusion. "Uhh, what's wrong? What were you... lookin' at?"
Lee raises his hand to look at the camcorder before glancing at Applejack. "I was just watching the footage on this camera and..." he trails off.
"And?" Applejack says, now feeling a little anxious over Lee's unusual behaviour.
"... it was a video of us. That woman, that we met back in the woods with, Danny? She'd been filming us... back at the motel."
Applejack now understands why Lee looked so worried over the device. Before she knows it, Lee kneels down to her height. He holds out the camcorder for the both of them.
The first few seconds of the film are of Lee and his group back at the motel before Applejack and her friends had arrived. They were moving a couple of cars to block off entry to the motel. It abruptly cuts to the woman dropping the camcorder in her tent while she is yelling frantically at whoever.
It cuts back to the motel again, but this time Applejack and her friends were there. As the film goes on, Applejack found herself growing more and more dismayed by it.
Suddenly, the woman pointes the camcorder at her as she starts her rant. "-the people ah used ta' call friends... the people who took... don't worry, little girl. Bandits got their eye on that Dairy. As long, as they keep gettin' food from them; you'll be safe, ah promise."
The video ends, leaving Applejack in a state of utter concern. She can't help but feel vulnerable even though she is with her friends. "The... bandits... they don't know where y'all are... right?"
"If they were watching the Dairy... then they would've seen us." Lee says as he looks at Kenny, who's carrying a box of food.
"Alright, y'all. We've got everythin', let's head back now." Kenny starts walking through the woods with the group.
As Applejack trots besides her friend, Fluttershy. She gets a faint feeling, mainly over her left side of her shoulder. She can't explain it, it feels like they're being observed. Applejack doesn't want to turn to her left, in fear of finding a black silhouette over by a set of bushes.
Against her better judgment, she slowly turns to her left...
Only to find nothing, only trees and bushes that are barely visible since it's quite dark.
Applejack doesn't even notice, that she had got closer to Fluttershy until she said something. "Applejack, are you... okay?"
Applejack looks at Fluttershy and she takes a moment to answer. "N-no, this place is... creepin' me out."
Fluttershy frowns, sympathetically. "Oh, at least you're not on your own. We're here."
Applejack merely nods at her. Thank Celestia, a'hm not out here on mah own!
It has been a week since the events that unfolded at the St. John Dairy and the group continues to stay at the motel for safe haven.
They have even upgraded the barricade with a few boards with the help from Rarity, Twilight and Applejack.
When the group first got back from the dairy, Twilight didn't cope well for the first few days. She still gets nightmares of the brothers tying her down and cutting off her horn. Occasionally, she wakes up drenched in sweat from the fear she endures during her nightmares. Sometimes, one of her friends would comfort her; most of the time, it would be Rarity.
Rainbow's relationship with her friend, Applejack isn't doing much better. Applejack only grows more and more distant as the days go by. Rainbow Dash would often try speaking with her but she would either ignore her or just say "Sorry, a'hm busy."
Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy are doing quite well for the most part. Pinkie is still spreading her laughter around the motel, even has spotted useful things around the Motel that others haven't seen.
Fluttershy is spreading her kindness throughout the Motel, managing to keep everyone's optimism the same. A few days after getting back from the Dairy, David thought back to his student, Travis. The thought of his being killed made him realize that he failed him and he became guilt-ridden, even made him loathe himself. When Fluttershy noticed the lack of appearance of him, she became worried for him.
After she looked through multiple rooms, she found him just laying on the bed just blankly staring at the roof of the room. Fluttershy spoke with him for a few minutes, making sure he was okay.
Rarity keeps everyone's motivation high, she's become great friends with Ben since most of the time she's been volunteering to keep watch with him.
One time, the entire motel group awoke to frustrated yelling and faint thuds coming from outside the barricade. They came to a quick realization that they were being attacked by bandits and the group eliminated the ones that were right up against the barricade.
Two days later, the bandits suddenly stopped the morning attacks for reasons that have yet been discovered.
Lee and Twilight continue to run through Macon in search for more supplies. Before Lee goes around the corner, he cautiously scans the area for any threats. Fortunately for them both, the entire town is deserted. They both come around corner of the wall and out in the open.
"There's no one here, perfect!" Twilight excitedly says.
"This might actually go smoothly," Lee says with a smile.
The two of them continues forward.
As they pass the debris by a store, Twilight looks up at Lee who's beside her. "Hey, Lee what do you think about Kenny? I mean do you think we should leave or stay? Kenny has been trying to convince everyone to leave."
"Yeah, I know. We could split up."
Twilight frowns at the idea, she doesn't want any of them to split up. She's gotten to known most of the survivors there and most of them have their uses for different things. "I don't think that's a good idea, Lee. Everyone at the motel has their specialty in different things, Kenny is good at fixing the-umm vehicles, Carley is good at shooting and Doug is great at making things. We should stick together and soon enough we'll be stronger than any threat that's out there."
"I think we're already are, considering we have you and your friends." Lee finishes with a smile.
The two of them continue towards a pharmacy that has the tail of a helicopter sticking out of the roof.
Twilight stares at the entry which is covered in debris before turning back to Lee. "Is... this where we're going?"
"Yeah." Lee says as he walks over to a cargo truck that's blocking the entire road. He turns to Twilight. "Do you think you can teleport us up there?" He promptly points at the top of the truck.
"It's gonna feel a little weird... I could just levitate you up there," Twilight says with uncertainty.
"It'll be faster."
Twilight sighs. "Alright... hang on."
"For-" Both of them disappear with a spark before Lee could finish his sentence.
Not a second later, they reappear on top of the truck with Lee slightly stumbling. He becomes lightheaded and kneels down to settle himself better.
"I did say, it was gonna be weird." Twilight says, coming up beside him.
Suddenly, a loud scratching scream makes them both jump and they both look out to the street they were just on.
"NO! GO AWAY!"
Suddenly, a woman comes running out of one of the stores with walkers following close behind.
"I-is that a woman?" Twilight anxiously says.
"I-i think so." Lee raises the rifle he brang with him, to get a better look of the woman.
As he finds the screaming woman on the sight of his gun, she trips over an arm that grabbed her.
"We have to help her!" Twilight yells, getting ready to use her magic.
The woman gets her ankle bitten by a walker, that's stuck under a rusty car.
"Fuck. We gotta shoot her, put her out of this misery." Lee says while he quickly lowers his gun to look at Twilight.
"WHAT! WHY? We can still save her!" Twilight declines the idea. She isn't going to leave somepony to die out here when she has the chance to save her.
"Twilight, she's been bitten. We can't bring her to the motel, she's dangerous." Lee tries to convince her.
"W-well, w-we-c-can't," Twilight isn't able to say anything due to her stuttering.
"Twilight, we can't just let her suffer anymore."
Twilight sighs defeatedly before she lets her head hang slightly.
Lee raises his gun at the woman and with moderate hesitation; he pulls the trigger.
*BANG*
The loud bang makes Twilight jump and the woman falls to the ground, lifeless.
Twilight jumps down from the truck before Lee does and they swiftly make their way towards the back of the pharmacy with a herd of walkers following behind.
Twilight opens the door with her magic and she runs inside. Lee closes the door behind them.
"Lee, what are we looking for!" Twilight yells.
"Here!" Lee rushes across the office and pass the door leading that leads behind the counter with Twilight following behind. Lee shuts the door behind them. "It's stable, but it's not gonna last long. Take whatever you can from the shelves."
Twilight uses her magic to stabilize a shelf that was leaning up against another.
One after another, Twilight takes everything that looks valuable and shoves them in her leather pouch that she brought along.
Suddenly, Twilight and Lee hear creaking from the door they came in from. They quickly see the walkers leaning up against the door from the glass panel in the door.
"Fuck, alright come on, over the counter!" Lee says as Twilight jumps over the counter.
Immediately after Lee gets over the counter, the door gives in which falls onto him. As he struggles to lift the door off of him, Twilight levitates the door off him and she pushes back into the doorway along with all the other walkers.
Lee quickly gets up and he goes to a fridge right by the door and he pushes it over, blocking the door before it falls in again.
"Lee, come on, let's go!" Twilight yells at him.
Lee runs over to her but a walker blocks his path to her. From the walker's outfit, Lee presumes he was a pilot before he died. He uses the stock of his hunting rifle to wack the walker, it stumbles backwards but regains it's balance and it starts walking towards him again.
Lee whacks the walker again, the walker stumbles but as it regains it's balance; it manages to grab hold of Lee.
Fortunately, Lee was quick enough to block the grapple with his rifle. With one forceful push, causes the walker to let go and it impales itself on a metallic pole that was stuck in a pile of rubble.
Lee looks at the walker in sympathy as it tries to grab him but to no avail.
Lee goes over to Twilight and they both escape through the gap in the wall and out to the streets of Macon.
Twilight and lee walk along the barricade of the Motel. Twilight didn't blame Lee for killing the woman, she saw her get bit back at the pharmacy. Even if they did manage to save her, she would only just die later; except she would pass away peacefully, around other people.
Lee looks up at Ben and Rarity who are on top of the R.V. keeping watch. Lee is glad that the ponies manage to help out around the motel, while they wait. For what exactly? A vortex to transport them back to their world?
A day before Lee and Twilight went to the pharmacy, he got more detail on how they were transported to Earth. A random orb floating around a forest with no specific direction? That doesn't make any sense, why was it there in the first place? Did someone or "somepony" (as they say in their world) use some type of spell that was meant for them specifically?
Lee halts his train of thought, walking into the barricade. He sees Clementine who looks to be pretending to speak through her broken walkie talkie.
Clementine looks up from her walkie and spots Lee and she runs over to him. "Your back! Ben, found some stickers in the drawer and I put them on my walkie!" Clementine holds out her walkie talkie to show him.
"Hey sweet pea, that's neat. I'll find you in a minute." Lee says with a smile and Clementine nods before walking away.
Lee and Twilight stop at Lilly's door. Lee knocks, seconds pass before the door opens and reveals Lilly.
"What'd you get?" She poorly says.
Lee lends over the rifle, Lilly takes it and she sets it down on the top of the drawer.
"So, what'd you get?" Lilly says while walking back over to them.
"A lot of stuff." Lee hands over the bag and leather pouch and Lilly takes them.
She brings them over to the bed to examine the supplies.
Yes, we're fine, Lilly. Thank you so much for showing concern for our well being! Twilight sarcastically thought.
"Nice work, this'll keep us going." Lilly says after finishing looking over the supplies. "If we carry on like this we'll get through the winter here." She says, walking back over to them.
"The winter"- The loud and abrupt voice makes Twilight jump before turning her head around to find Kenny."- we'll freeze our asses off 're!"
"Because piling into an R.V. with you and Rainbow Dash after what you two did to my dad is soooo appealing," Lilly deadpans.
"Why wouldn't it be? You-know ah'll do whatever it takes to keep everyone safe!"
"We're already safe."
"We'll do whatever's best for the kids, doesn't that make sense?" Lee interjects.
"Lilly is correct. Leaving the motel in hopes that we'll find a better place? That's too risky! What if we don't find a better place? What if everywhere has been looted? What if we run out of fuel in the middle of the road? It's too much of a risk too leave," Twilight says, agreeing to stay in the motel.
"Thank you, Twilight. That's exactly what I mean," Lilly poorly says.
"Umm, have you two forgotten about the bandits that have been attacking us?" Kenny says.
"We'll do what we have to, like we've always been doing. Everyone else is still here, alive and fully functional," Twilight says.
"Oh yeah? For how long?" Kenny asks.
"Well, judging from today... I'd say for a pretty long period of time."
"It's suicide out there!" Lilly interjects, her voice a bit more louder this time.
"We'll die in here!" Kenny retorts.
"At it again, are we?" Carley says, coming up to the group.
"Can it, Carley," Kenny sternly says.
"Don't boss people around." Lilly folds her arms and frowns at him.
"A'hm sorry, but somebody needs to make executive decisions for the group though and ah don't think you're... capable anymore."
Lilly starts to glare at him. "And don't start with me either."
"Ken, we're all losing it from the attacks a-and the lack of food," Katjaa suddenly says from behind her husband.
"We're strongest together. I know you think we're on her side but there are no sides, dammit!" Lee says who is clearly annoyed.
"Exactly! If we all pulled together and stopped arguing with each other, we could accomplish things much more quicker!" Twilight says.
"What about the food situation? What about protection? What about when this place falls? Somebody's gotta be thinkin' about this shit."
"Then we'll take care of the problem."
"We can't always just take care of the problem!"
"How has this not been working? We have everything we need."
"Cause of them, Lilly." Kenny gestures at Lee and Twilight.
"No, because they know how to take care of people. Not just things... everything that happens to us is just another excuse for you to pull this crap about leaving. All I want is a week of peace; of not hearing it." Lilly's voice raises, getting irritated by Kenny's shenanigans.
"Look, Macon and it's people aren't savable. It's not a town, it's fulla' walkers and the people who WERE left are dyin' and wonderin' out onto the streets... it's hell on Earth and it's comin' this way."
Lilly's patience with the man wears out and she snaps. "IT'S NOT GONNA BE EASIER OUT ON THE ROAD!" She yells, turning her back on the group.
Lilly's outburst made the group jump.
"How would you know?"
"WHAT I KNOW?" Lilly turns and she venomously stares at Kenny. "I know you're not above murder! I know somebody's been stealing our supplies! That's right, STEALING! And I know the list of people I trust here gets smaller everyday." Lilly turns around again. "Now, everybody get. Out!"
Twilight, wanting to give Lilly some space, is the first one who leaves the room. Then Lee and Kenny.
"I hope she'll calm down," Twilight says, nervous over Lilly's behaviour.
"She'll get over it," Lee says, sure that she will.
"She's rilin' everybody up otherwise."
"You understand, Ken," Katjaa says.
"All ah know is, whenever this shit happens I'm the fuckin' bad guy. Ah'd like a thank you for once, FOR ONCE!" Kenny says as he's walking away from the group.
Katjaa takes a glance back at Lee before following her husband.
Carley sighs beside Lee. "Things are coming to a head."
"You can say that." Lee says walking away with Carley, leaving Twilight alone.
Twilight watches Lee and Carley walk away before sighing. "What now?" She mutters to herself.
"Is, Lilly okay?"
Twilight turns around to find Fluttershy. "Oh umm well, Lee says she'll get over it. I just hope he's right."
"I could hear her shouting all over the motel." Fluttershy pauses before continuing. "I... I also heard something about... supplies?"
"Yeah, she said somebody's been stealing them." Twilight says, frowning in bemusement.
Immediately after Twilight says that, Fluttershy becomes anxious. The thought of someone sneaking into the camp and stealing their supplies, frightens her. What if they decide to harm her or her friends? She starts to think if it is safe to walk around the motel alone.
"I'm gonna go talk to her." Twilight says, walking towards Lilly's room. She takes a brief glance at Fluttershy before reluctantly pushing the door open.
She finds Lilly sitting on her bed, hunched over with her head resting in the palm of her hands. Twilight closes the door and she ambles towards her.
Lilly lifts her head up from her palms and she looks at Twilight with a guilty expression. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay, it's beneficial to let out your emotions," After what happened to her father, it's perfectly understandable as to why she's been acting this way.
Lilly sighs. "Is there something you need?"
"I actually came in here because you said something about "somebody stealing supplies"."
The door opens and they both turn and see Lee by the doorframe. "I... wanted to follow up about stolen supplies." He says entering the room and closing the door behind him.
Lilly nods. "Yeah, Twilight was just doing that. Do you guys know what's going on?"
"I didn't even noticed that supplies were being stolen until you pointed it out." Twilight says, frowning.
"I have to agree with, Twilight. I only heard you mention it," Lee adds.
"Things are missing and I need both of your help." Lilly pauses before adding. "There's a traitor, somebody, one of us, out there." She gestures towards outside. "He or she or they have been taking things."
"How do you know?" Twilight curiously and also nervously asks.
"I just do."
Twilight frowns at Lilly's answer. She wants to support her, considering on her mental state but that answer doesn't convince her; maybe she is just paranoid.
"Lilly..." Lee says, sympathetically.
"The count's off and it's the good stuff. Antibiotics, oxy, anything with opium in it."
"I've seen the count and it's fine."
"I keep my own, THAT one is getting messed with."
Twilight doesn't worry about the supplies since she and her friends can just eat grass but if supplies run empty; the humans won't have anything to keep their strength up.
"I'm a fucking mess right now but I'm not stupid. I know what happens if I start a witch hunt."
"So, you want us to start one?" Lee interjects.
"I want you to poke around."
Twilight gives Lee a look before asking Lilly. "What's there to go on?"
Lilly leans down to pick something up from under the bed. She brings out a large flashlight and hands it over to Lee. "I found this, tossed into the garbage."
Twilight gazes at the torch and sees that the lens is shattered.
"We don't toss out equipment, we fix it. You only try to get rid of a flashlight when you were using it when you shouldn't."
"I'll... look around," Twilight says.
"Yeah, I'll poke around a little bit." Lee says, nodding.
"...thank you."
Twilight and Lee leave Lilly's room, starting their investigation around the motel.
"Suspicious!"
The sudden voice startles Twilight and Lee. They quickly turn around and they find Pinkie Pie standing beside Duck who's widely grinning.
"Sweet, Celestia. Don't do that, Pinkie." Twilight frowns at her.
"Oh sorry, Twilight! It was just that me and, Duck heard you guys talking and we decided to listen."
Twilight gets an idea, a great idea. She thinks back to when Pinkie Pie and her investigated the chefs in the dessert contest on the Friendship Express.
"Pinkie Pie... do you remember when we did an investigation on the chefs, on the friendship express?"
Pinkie stares blankly at Twilight for a few seconds before gasping. "Oh yeah! I remember that!"
"Well, can you help me with something?"
"Of course! What is it? Looking for stolen supplies! Oh! Can, Duck help?"
Twilight looks at Duck who's smiling at her hoping she'll say yes.
"Uhh..." Twilight glances at Lee who just chuckles and folds his arms. "Umm, yeah! Duck, go speak to, Lee he'll tell you what to do."
Lee stops chuckling and Twilight walks away with Pinkie before he could say anything.
After Twilight was done explaining the situation to Pinkie and she starts berating Twilight with questions.
"What were the supplies? Who did it? Is it the bandits?" Pinkie gasps before continuing. "Do you-"
"Pinkie, enough!" Twilight says, irritated.
"No, I have a theory! What if the bandits stopped attacking because someone is giving them the missing supplies?"
"That is-wait... oh, that's actually a good theory," Twilight admits.
"I know! So, what are we looking for?"
"First of all, we need to ask around. Who broke the flashlight?"
They both start ambling towards Kenny and Katjaa. Twilight learned not to question Pinkie Pie and her "Pinkie Sense" a while ago and that she should just go along with whatever her pink friend says.
Twilight sees Kenny and Katjaa over by a couch and they seem to be having a heated debate.
As Twilight and Pinkie Pie get closer, they realize that the conversation the couple is talking about is about guns and Katjaa not wanting to carry one around all the time.
Twilight doesn't understand why Katjaa doesn't want to, even after what's been happening. The dairy, the bandits attacking the motel; they need them for protection. A safety precaution, if bandits suddenly decide to start attacking again, they'll be ready.
Twilight and Pinkie Pie walk in front of the couple. "Hi, Kenny, Katjaa. What's going on?"
Twilight sees Kenny glance at Katjaa before answering. "Just... havin' a little spat."
Then Katjaa speaks next. "We all carry guns and well, I don't like it."
Kenny frowns at her. "It's the way it's gotta be."
"I know but I'm not getting used to it."
Well, at least she understands. Twilight thought.
"Anyway, what is it that you need, girls?"
"I just wanted to ask you guys about the flashlights, we have."
Right as Twilight says that, Pinkie holds up a flashlight seemingly out of nowhere. It is the same flashlight Lilly showed her and Lee back at her room.
"Pinkie... when did... you know what? Nevermind." Twilight snatches the shattered flashlight out of Pinkie's hooves and Pinkie gives her a hey-I-was-using-that look. "Do you know what happened to this flashlight?" Twilight holds out the flashlight with her magic in which, Kenny and Katjaa aren't so surprised about anymore.
"I saw some glass over by the ice machine, I meant to clean it up before the kids hurt themselves," Katjaa says.
Twilight thanks her and she and Pinkie Pie starts to make their way over to the other side of the motel, near the ice machine. They come into contact with the glass Katjaa was talking about.
Twilight examines the glass carefully, putting a shard of glass into the frame of the flashlight to check if it fits with it. As she expected, it does.
When Twilight inspected the shattered glass among the concrete ground of the motel, Pinkie started to wonder to herself. Thinking about if they'll ever get home, will they ever get home?
Pinkie isn't so sure, that they will. They've been here for how long now? A week? Two weeks? She hasn't exactly been keeping count with all that's been happening.
After what happened with Larry, back at the Dairy. When he got his head smashed in, Pinkie Pie couldn't move nor blink. She just sat there, gazing at the gorey sight and she felt a large lump in her throat.
She just kept gazing, she didn't even notice Twilight coming into the room. It wasn't until Applejack said something-
"Pinkie!"
"Huh-wha?"
Twilight has tried two attempts to grab Pinkie's attention but neither was successful. She noticed that her friend was just pointlessly staring at the ground. "Come on, I found something." Twilight says, walking around the corner of the wall.
Pinkie curiously follows her friend, wondering if she found any supplies.
"Look!" Twilight points at the orange plastered wall, which has a cross drawn onto it; the cross appears to be drawn with pink chalk.
Pinkie gasps, having a theory. "A cross!" She yells, excited. "It must have a subliminal message!"
"I was uhh sent to prison... before the plague," Lee reluctantly says to Rainbow Dash and Clementine.
He sees Rainbow Dash frown, which makes Lee fidget slightly, hoping she doesn't notice. He feels a sense of relief when she averts her eyes down a few seconds after.
Clementine appears to be in the same position, looking away seemingly in thought.
"What was it... for?" Rainbow suddenly says, sounding a bit hesitant.
Lee hoped she wouldn't have asked that, out of concern for Clementine. He doesn't want to tell them, so he just says. "It... doesn't matter, I just want you girls to know from me before you hear it from anybody else."
Clementine merely nods, whereas Rainbow Dash says. "Oh alright, l-listen I just want you to know that... nothing has changed, we're still good."
Lee feels all the nervousness he first felt fade away and gratitude and full-fledged-relief take over. "Thanks, Dash."
"You got it." Rainbow says, smiling with sincerity before going back to what she was doing with Clementine.
After nervously confessing to Rainbow Dash and Clementine about Lee's past, Rainbow's acceptance made it easier for him to tell everyone else.
Throughout the motel, almost everyone didn't care about Lee's past, mainly telling him it doesn't matter what happened in the past.
Lee feels a gush of happiness. Everyone and everypony looking past and knowing that Lee isn't a bad person; his actions and morals prove it.
Ben was too nervous, stuttering word after word but in the end, he thanked Lee for trusting him.
Katjaa was surprised, which later morphed into devastation; when Lee told her what truly happened in the meatlocker, how Kenny killed Larry.
The only ones who he didn't tell are Twilight and Pinkie Pie, who are over by the ice machine.
He begins making his way over to the ponies, without any hesitation, confident that they won't really make a big deal out of it.
"-It must be a subliminal message!" He hears Pinkie say and he starts to smile while shaking his head. Pinkie, just being Pinkie, I guess. Lee thought.
He comes up behind them and he notices the cross. "Hey, girls! What'd you find?"
"A sign!" Pinkie blurts out.
Twilight rolls her eyes. "It's a cross, it looks like it's chalk."
Suddenly, Duck appears out of nowhere. "Pink, hmm..."
"Duck!" Lee says through gritted teeth.
"A clue!"
"...maybe," Lee says after a long pause.
"What do you think it is?"
Feigning concentration, Lee looks at the cross before looking back at Duck. "I don't think it's anything."
"Maybe, it's a sign."
"Could be. It's pink chalk, which is... weird."
Pinkie takes great offence to Lee's comment and she frowns. "Hey! What's wrong with pink!"
Lee looks at her, confused. He doesn't understand why the pink pony is angry with him until he thought about it. "Oh, no offense to you... obviously."
"Ohhhhhh, I see what it is... you have something against pink ponies, don't you?"
"Wha-I-what?" Lee stutters.
"I'll get back to investigating." Duck runs off from the group.
"Ignore her, did you find anything?" Twilight walks past Pinkie, ignoring her herself.
"Umm, nothing. I actually wanted to talk to you about something."
"Oh okay, just me or...?"
"Both of you."
Sensing that Lee is going to tell them something serious, Pinkie frowns, being worried.
Lee waits for a moment. Surely they won't be conflicted, their friends weren't troubled about his past, why would they be? "I was... sent to prison before the plague."
Twilight eyes widen, she wasn't expecting that... she definitely did not expect that. Lee seems so gentle and kind, what could he possibly have done? That question has her stumped and she asks. "W-why? What did you do?"
Lee waits for a moment and Twilight sees the look on his face, clearly he is debating whether or not to tell them.
Finally, he says. "It doesn't matter... I ju-"
"I want to know," Twilight blurts out.
Lee sighs, deeply. "I was sent to prison... for murder."
Sharply, Twilight gasps. MURDER? He committed murder! she thought. "Oh... why though?"
"There was a man... he and my wife were..."
Oh no... adultery. Twilight is completely abhorrent of those who commit such an abomination of a deed. It's the most wicked thing somepony can do, in her eyes. Twilight was never one for relationships, constantly claiming that they were a "waste of time" and unimportant. But hypothetically, if she were ever to have an unfaithful partner (which she highly doubts), mare or stallion, she would probably get them banished to the moon... or maybe even the sun.
Her bewilderment is replaced with anger. "Oh, well he deserved it." She just blurts out, without any rational thinking.
Lee and Pinkie eyes widen, clearly not expecting for those words to come out of the unicorn's mouth.
Twilight continues. "Lee, I don't care about that. That was before the outbreak, you've probably done many other-"
"Guys!" The sudden voice comes from Duck as they found him running over to them. He reaches them and he holds out a pink chalk. "I found this piece of pink chalk in a scuff over by the gate."
Lee, forgetting about the former conversation; becomes suddenly, interested, mainly about the gate. "Really?"
"Totally." Duck puts the chalk in his pocket for some reason. "I was combing the scene for clues and-"
"Yeah, Duck I got! Good job!" Lee cuts him off, walking over to the barricade of the motel. Twilight follows him and before they know it, they reach the dumpster that is being used as a blockade.
Lee kneels down, wondering why chalk would be here out of all places.
And again, Duck appears right beside them holding up his hand, waiting for a high five.
After giving him a high five, Lee moves the dumpster slightly and he discovers more of pink dust of chalk under it.
He tells Duck to stay behind the barricade, sternly.
Lee and Twilight cautiously step out of the barricade, knowing that there is nothing protecting them from the bandits only sets them on edge.
The two come across a grate on the brick wall. Using her magic, Twilight tears the screws off the grate that's keeping them in place.
They both see a paper lunch bag, Twilight coming to a conclusion that someone is giving away supplies.
"You haven't come up with anything, have you?" Lilly says, hoping that they didn't.
"We came up with this." Lee gives the bag of medicine to Lilly. "It's got a bunch of meds in it, it was in a grate in the outside wall and there's a sign on the other one."
"Holy fuck." Lilly says after checking the bag.
Lee folds his arms, he didn't think there was actually someone stealing supplies from the group. He thought Lilly was just being paranoid.
"What do we do about it?" Twilight asks.
"We line everybody. Everybody," Lilly emphasizes everybody.
Twilight doesn't believe that her friends would do that, there's no way that they would.
"Somebody is killing us. Stealing our supplies is the same thing as slipping into your room at night and cutting your throat in your sleep. You die what's the difference. What if, Clementine gets sick and we don't have what we need?" As Lilly finishes, she notices something.
Through her window, past the slight gap in her blinds, she sees Carley on her knees with her hands behind her head.
"Who the fuck is that!" Lee exclaims before adding. "They've got our people out there!" He says, getting up and peeking through the tiny gap in the blinds.
It looks like the bandits have decided to attack again, somehow they managed to get everyone on their knees. The leader of the bandits is barking out orders to his henchmen, four of them in total.
Lee carelessly backs away from the blinds and he goes over to Lilly.
Twilight then peaks through the blinds, unbearable tension in her chest. Looking out to the motel, she sees everyone on their knees with their hands behind their heads.
Twilight feels like her heart has just been stabbed as she caught sight of a bandit, holding Flutttershy as hostage with a barrel of a gun planted on the left side of her temple. How did they even get to her? Twilight is so focused on Fluttershy that she doesn't even hear Lilly exiting out the room through the bathroom with a rifle in her grasp.
Without warning, Twilight goes to leave the room completely oblivious to Lee's voice sternly calling out to her; her main priority is her friends and no one is going to stop her, not even Lee.
As Twilight walks out the door, she remembers what happened at the St. John dairy, how she went on a merciless warpath to gain back her friends, completely apathetic about her actions; completely ignoring her morals and beliefs. How she fully let her emotions determine her actions, how she felt after it was over. Feeling overly responsible for the destruction of an entire family, she doesn't want to kill anyone or anyTHING else.
Nearing the bandits, she promises herself to never lose control of her actions.
"ENOUGH OF THIS BULLSHIT!" The head bandit sees Twilight detdeterminedly walking towards them, a few feet away. He already knew the ponies can talk, from observing them for the whole week. He raises his gun at her with his finger on the trigger. "Hold it, bitch!" He yells at her to stop, which she does so.
The insult makes Twilight flinch. She doesn't understand why they're so hostile, they didn't do anything to cause this. "H-hold on! Why are we fighting each other? Why can't we all just work together!"
""Why are we fighting each other? Why can't we just work together?" Because we don't want to fucking work together, that's why!!!" The leader angrily replies.
Twilight manages to maintain her calm posture but she is still afraid that the gun pointed at her was gonna go off at any moment. She looks to the bandit holding Fluttershy as hostage, finding her crying; which gives Twilight an urge to go and comfort her but she strongly ignores it and she looks back at the bandit leader. "B-but if we worked together, we would get even more supplies!"- The head bandit slowly starts lowering his gun as he listens to the purple mare. -"Isn't that what you want? More supplies, more food?"
No one says anything for a moment. Twilight intently studies the head bandit's eyes through his mask, he isn't frowning anymore. Twilight takes it as a good sign.
"Well, ah supposed we oughta' hash out some terms then," He says, in a much more calmer tone.
Twilight is glad she managed to convince the bandit to listen to her but she is still worried for her friends, what will happen to them? She wonders.
A loud bang rings out through the motel and Twilight sees the leader fall to the floor, lifeless. Before Twilight registers what's going on, she promptly pushes the bandit with Fluttershy; using her magic, catching her before she falls to the ground.
Two more gunshots ring out. Twilight turns around, finding Carley firing a gun at two other bandits.
Soon after, tons more bandits emerge from the trees and they start firing their weapons at the motel.
Mayhem breaks out between the two groups, with both sides attacking each other. Twilight notices the dumpster being pushed open from the other side.
Grabbing Fluttershy, both of them run towards the R.V., seeing Lee behind the vehicle.
Twilight and Fluttershy manage to get to the R.V. unharmed. Twilight tells Fluttershy to stay in the vehicle, warning her not to come out, no matter what.
As Fluttershy reluctantly enters the vehicle, Twilight notices that her heart is beating way too fast, for her. She's not even able to think clearly, with all the gunshots and yelling that's happening. Twilight found herself stuck, unable to move. She is too stressed to even do anything and she aimlessly stares at the ground. Everything starts to fall apart, her vision becomes blurry and sounds start to muffle. Twilight becomes unbearably light-headed and before she knows it, everything turns black.
"Twilight!" Rainbow Dash yells, completely distressed about her friend. She feels a gnawing on her chest, she would've already flew towards her if it wasn't for the bandits shooting at them.
She's hiding in one of the motel rooms, fortunately it gives her a clear view of the R.V. Lee is too busy laying cover fire for Ben, Rarity and Carley to notice Twilight passing out, behind him
Quickly peaking out the doorframe for any bandits, Rainbow makes a split second decision and she bolts for the R.V.
In less than a second, she flies over to her purple friend laying on the ground. Rainbow's breathing is erratic and she is viciously shaking. Rainbow couldn't afford to be afraid now, Twilight needs to be taken care of. Rainbow ignores the anxiety welling up in her chest and she swoops her up.
Rainbow brings her inside the R.V., Fluttershy immediately sees Twilight's dangling figure.
Tears flood her eye sockets and she speeds towards Rainbow Dash, in fear of the worst. "NO! Twilight, please... n-n-o."
Knowing what Fluttershy is thinking, Rainbow immediately speaks up. "Fluttershy, she's okay, she isn't dead. She's just unconscious," she gently says to her.
Tears are still trailing down her face but she looks up at Rainbow Dash. "S-s-she's okay? S-she's n-not h-hurt?" Fluttershy struggles to say, the large lump in her throat.
"No, Fluttershy. She's okay, she just passed out. Here, take her." Rainbow carefully places Twilight into Fluttershy's hooves. "I'm gonna go and get the others, I'll be right back."
Fluttershy stops her before she can leave. "Rainbow Dash, please! Be safe. I don't want you to get hurt."
Rainbow puts one hoof on Fluttershy's shoulder and she smiles. "I'll be okay, Fluttershy. Now, I need to go, okay?" Not waiting for her response, Rainbow leaves the R.V.
Lee continued shooting at the offending bandits. Rarity's anxiety faded when she remembered that Carley and Ben were with her.
Lee fired one more shot from his rifle before yelling for them run over to the R.V.
With no injuries, they all make it the large vehicle. That is when Rarity sees Rainbow exiting the vehicle and Ben moves past her to get into the R.V.
Carley chooses to stay outside the R.V. to help Lee defend against the bandits.
"Help!" Katjaa's voice grabs the attention of Lee and he runs over to the other side of the vehicle while Carley takes care of the other side.
Lee focuses on the bandits that are attempting to attack. One bandit hiding behind cover, doesn't see the walker sneaking up on him until it's too late.
Walkers start flooding the area and the group tries their best to hold them off.
Lee stops firing his gun. "Now! Hurry!"
Clementine runs over to him and she gives him a hug. Applejack, Pinkie, Doug and David are the next ones to enter the R.V.
Out of Rainbow's peripheral vision, she sees Katjaa and Duck getting pounced on by a walker. She turns and her instincts kick in. In the blink of an eye, Rainbow flies to them and with all her strength, she kicks the walker off of them. "Go! Now!"
Rainbow Dash is going to fly back to the vehicle with them when suddenly her right wing stopped working and a wave of severe throbbing pain hammers her wing.
She falls to ground, grunting and her teeth clenching, harshly. Eyes shut tightly. The bone in her right wing feels crooked and uneven. The pain is too great that is renders her from moving.
Before she knows it, she's being lifted up off the ground by... Applejack?
Fluttershy's heart comes to a complete stop as she sees Applejack bringing Rainbow Dash into the vehicle. There is no doubt that she is dealing with unbearable pain. As Applejack sets her down on the seat at the back of the vehicle, guilt rains on Fluttershy's chest.
"Celestia! What happened!" Rarity exclaims, looking at Rainbow Dash in concern.
"A-ah don't know, I think someone got 'er wing." As gently as she possibly can, Applejack turns Rainbow Dash to get a better angle on her wing. Once carefully turning her friend, she sees blood trailing down from the small puncture wound on the top part of the wing. "Ah need to find a bandage..."
Suddenly, the vehicle makes a loud sound and it starts vibrating. Soon after, Carley enters into the vehicle.
"Lilly! Last chance, get down here!" Lee yells from outside the vehicle before quickly coming in.
Just before the vehicle leaves the motel, Lilly makes it just in time. The vehicle accelerates and it rides past the barricade and onto the road.
Everyone is terrified. All of the ponies chose to sit by the table at the back of the vehicle with Clementine, while all the humans went up front. Kenny sat up front, driving the R.V. with his wife, Katjaa in the passenger seat holding Duck in her arms.
Ben, Carley, Doug and David were on the seats by the window; that came with the vehicle, while Lee stood with his back leaned up against the sink.
It is astonishing how everyone at the motel got away successfully without any casualties.
Except for Rainbow Dash. Even though the pain in her wing has settled down, all the supplies were left back at the motel, leaving them nothing to use to take care of it. The bullet is allegedly still in there. All Rainbow Dash can do is sit there, as her bullet wound soaks up whatever bacteria there is around her.
"We just lost, everything..." Applejack hears Lilly say, Applejack doesn't want to be bothered right now; her main concern being Rainbow Dash.
Earlier in the drive, Applejack offered to let Rainbow Dash rest her head in her lap; in which Rainbow Dash didn't decline.
Back at the motel when Applejack saw Rainbow Dash falling to the ground, she felt a monstrous wave of fear impact her. She thought she had just lost her friend and they weren't even talking to each other, well Applejack wasn't at least. When she saw her moving, she didn't care if there were still bullets flying out in the open; she just ran after her, without any thought for herself.
If Rainbow Dash had actually died, it would've haunted Applejack for the rest of her life. Shes been ignoring her ever since they got back from the dairy and to have to watch Rainbow Dash go through such painful measures, makes her want to tell her she's sorry.
Applejack brings a hoof to her friend's rainbow coloured mane and she gently strokes it. Rainbow Dash is too busy napping on her lap to even notice. "You're gonna be okay, sugarcube. You'll be perfectly fine," she whispers to her. She's not so sure about her wing though. At the moment, Dash isn't gonna be flying any time soon. It'll probably take more than a few months to heal, will it even heal?
Rarity frowns at Twilight, who's stirring in her sleep. She considers maybe waking her up to bring her out of her alleged nightmare but decides against it and she lets her rest. Rarity starts to wonder what happened to her back at the motel.
Was she injured? She didn't have any wounds on her, none that Rarity can see otherwise. Rarity chooses to ask her friends what happened, maybe they know? "Does anyone know what happened to, Twilight back at the motel?"
"Rainbow Dash, only told me that she passed out," Fluttershy says. She still feels guilty over Rainbow Dash getting hurt, if she had just been assertive and told her to stay in the vehicle; she'd be unharmed. "This is my fault..." she quietly blurts out.
It catches the attention of Everyone there at the table, except Twilight and Rainbow Dash for obvious reasons.
Applejack looks at her, unsure of what she meant. "Uhh... what? What do you mean, sugarcube?"
"It's my f-fault that, Rainbow Dash got hurt." Overflowing with guilt, Fluttershy starts to cry and she buries her face in her hooves.
Applejack frowns. That doesn't make sense, she saw Rainbow Dash outside. She doesn't remember seeing Fluttershy out there. Unless she somehow caused her to get hurt.
Pinkie Pie just stares at her friend, sympathetically. To be honest, Pinkie's starting to become exhausted trying to keep her cheerful attitude together. Fortunately, she is sitting right next to her yellow friend and she brings her into a hug; letting her sob into her chest. Pinkie can't help but feel like she's losing touch of her hapiness, seeing her friends cry, isn't something she enjoys.
"D-darling, what do you mean it's your fault?" Rarity gently says, Wanting her clarify. Rarity already has a sense that Fluttershy isn't the one at fault but she needs to know the full story in order to console her friend.
Fluttershy pulls away from Pinkie, wiping her tears with her hoof as she turns to look at Rarity. "W-when we were a-at the m-motel, Rainbow Dash brought in, Twilight." Pausing to take a glance down at Rainbow Dash before looking back at her friends. "She said she was gonna t-try and find you, girls... and I let her go. I knew it was a bad idea but I let her go anyway."
She is taking the blame. Rarity can't help but feel slightly irritated at her. Why would she possibly think that it's her fault! If she wants to blame anyone, she should blame the bandits! If it wasn't for those cowardly-mask-wearing-rat-bags they wouldn't even be there in the first place. "Now, Fluttershy you listen here," she sternly says.
Thinking that Rarity is mad at her, Fluttershy reluctantly looks towards her elegant friend.
Rarity looks her dead in the eye. "Darling... you are not at fault."
Fluttershy thought everypony would be mad at her, her judgment has clearly been misplaced.
Rarity ignores the puzzled expression on Fluttershy's face and she continues. "You need to stop blaming yourself for matters you didn't commit."
Fluttershy opens her mouth to say something, but Rarity already knows that she's going to try and make excuses; she cuts her off. "Darling, don't even try it. This is not your fault and that's final. Rainbow Dash made the decision, not you."
Applejack isn't paying any attention towards her friend's conversation, she is more concerned with what Lilly and the others are talking about. She clearly hears what they're talking about and she does not like it, Lilly's throwing the blame onto Carley.
Turns out, Applejack isn't the only one that's eavesdropping into their conversation. She finds Pinkie Pie with a frown on her face, looking intently towards Lilly and the others.
"Look me in the eye, and tell me you didn't have anything to do with it." From where they're sitting, they see Lilly leaning closer and closer towards Ben as if she is about to break him.
"I-"
He is gonna answer but the R.V. jolts, abruptly
The slight collision ends up waking Rainbow Dash in the process.
"What's going on up there?" Lilly concernedly asks.
"I hit something. We gotta stop," Kenny replies from the driver's seat.
Rainbow Dash slowly lifts up her head from Applejack's lap, making her notice.
The van comes to a slow stop after it slightly turns.
"Everybody out!" Lilly sternly says.
Everyone gets out of their seats, not wanting to anger her any further. Lilly is the first one to exit the R.V. and everyone else follows after; leaving Applejack, Rainbow and Katjaa with Duck.
Rainbow's throat suddenly feels scaly, as she starts to regain all her consciousness back.
"How're you feelin', sugarcube?" Applejack suddenly says in her gentle voice.
"I'm-" Her voice is hoarse, Rainbow Dash stops herself to clear her throat before continuing. "My back hurts..." she says, her voice now clear.
"Your wing, you mean?" Applejack corrects.
"Uhh... yeah." Rainbow Dash fully lifts herself up from Applejack's lap and she takes a seat beside her.
Silence rains over the two ponies with loud voices coming from outside the large vehicle, which Rainbow Dash is oblivious to what they're talking about. She turns her head to the right finding her purple unicorn friend still passed out on the seat next to her.
"A'hm sorry," Applejack suddenly says.
Right after Applejack says that, Rainbow Dash frowns and she turns to look at her friend in confusion. "For what?"
"Whaddya mean "for what", for the way a'have been treatin' you!" Applejack snaps, which not at all phases Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow lets out an "oh" before going back to idly staring down at the table while pain aches over her shoulder.
Rainbow's lack of enthusiasm in her apology catches her off guard and she stares worriedly at her friend. She studies her friend, intently. Applejack didn't expect that her friend would act so disinterested. After all, isn't she the one thats been trying to mend fences with her? Instead, she just shook it off like it was no big deal. "You... okay, sugarcube?"
"Huh?" Rainbow Dash pulls away from her stare and she looks at her friend. "Umm, yeah? Why wouldn't I be?"
"It's... just that... you're not actin' yourself."
Rainbow wants to say something but her mind couldn't conjure up anything. It is just blank. It leaves her sitting in silence, debating whether or not she should change the subject.
The sudden sound of a gunshot is heard throughout the area, startling Applejack and Rainbow Dash. Promptly jumping out of her seat, nerves off the charts and running over to the doorway; Applejack finds Doug lying on the ground with blood oozing out of the back of his temple. Lilly, with her gun pointed in his direction, her face full of shock. Carley's just staring down at him, her mouth agape and her skin pale.
In a fit of rage, Lee grabs Lilly's wrist, specifically the one with the gun and he pins her to the R.V. "Drop it."
Lilly drops the gun, likes she's given up.
"Holy fuck..." Kenny mutters to himself.
Ben kneels down to survey Doug's lifeless body.
"Kenny! What's happening!" Katjaa frantically yells from inside the R.V.
Kenny immediately replies after. "Keep, Duck away from the windows! Jesus Christ!"
While Kenny angrily suggests to leave Lilly behind, Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Fluttershy can only helplessly watch all the humans work out the dilemma. Neither of the ponies wanted to leave Lilly behind, they all know what she went through, being there themselves but at the same time, they don't feel safe around Lilly anymore.
Fluttershy can't take it anymore and she runs back inside the R.V., pushing past Applejack. Rarity follows shortly after in an act of traipse with her head hanging and full of hopelessness.
"What are we gonna do with her?" David asks.
"Leave her for the walkers!" Kenny snaps, glaring at Lilly.
Lee finally lets go of Lilly and he gives her a merciful look. "Get in, we'll figure out what to do with you."
"It's a bad idea, Lee! She's a murder for shit's-sake!" Kenny throws his hand at her, accusingly
"I'm a murderer? You've had, Lee with you this whole-"
"I don't give a shit about what he did before!" Kenny cuts her off, already knowing that Lee was a convicted murderer before the outbreak.
"I was trying to protect all of us!" Lilly's voice breaks causing Pinkie to sympathetically look at her.
"I don't have-"
"Ah don't wanna hear it! Just get in!" Kenny yells before Lilly can finish her sentence.
Lilly was put at the back of the R.V. with her wrists tied behind her back by Lee. After he did so, he slides the glock across the brown wooden table towards Ben.
With his elbows still on the table, Ben reluctantly picks up the gun and he partly aims it towards Lilly.
Hearing about what happened to Doug, made Applejack wary of Lilly and she observantly eyed her beside to Ben's left.
There is barely any room left in the R.V. and since Twilight, by some miracle is still sleeping, she was left in the same spot. Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Fluttershy were left to lay on the floor near Lee.
"Lee, a word please?" Lee takes a glance towards the driver's seat before heading there himself, frowning in thought of what Katjaa needs.
Pinkie Pie watches as Lee strolls towards the front of the large vehicle before looking back down at the floor. She is still trying to process the entire scenario, Doug is dead! It all happened so fast before she was even able to react! First, the motel is gone and now when they all managed to get away, Lilly went and killed Doug... By mistake!
Lilly wasn't even going to kill Doug, she was going to kill Carley but Doug dragged her out of the way.
It isn't possible, there is no possible way that this can get any worse! Pinkie Pie thought. She already felt her heart break multiple times since they've first arrived to this disease-ridden planet.
Pinkie Pie notices Lee coming back to sit down next to Clementine who leans her head against him. He has... some sort of expression on his face, like he just gotten some unpleasant news. "Duck, is bitten," he finally lets out.
Pinkie's mane deflates. She looks away to face the wall and she silently cries to herself, hoping no one not even her friends would notice. All the ponies know exactly what happens when someone gets bit. Pinkies gotten close to Duck, shes even become good friends with him. She would play hide and seek with him throughout the motel and at other times she would tell him stories about her and her friends saving Equestria from various creatures.
Remembering all the fun they had, only makes her cry harder making it apparent to everyone. She still tries to be quiet about it even though everyone already knows she's crying.
Besides Duck's parents, the news devastated Pinkie Pie much worse than everyone else. She suddenly feels someone gently touch her shoulder and she slowly turns around to find Rarity with sympathetic eyes.
Rarity engulfs Pinkie into a hug and the pink pony tightly clings to her as she lets out all the tears onto her friend's chest and muttering out incoherent words.
As Rarity continues to soothe her friend's pain, Carley begins to tear up, thinking about Doug. She was a fond of him and she is sure that the feeling was mutual.
Pinkie Pie suddenly lifts her head out of Rarity's chest to look at her. "R-r-rarity, I *SOB* don't want to stay here *SOB* -nymore. I wa- *SOB* want to go home!"
Not knowing what to say and nearly crying herself. Rarity closes her eyes and she inhales before stuttering out. "W-we will... darling, w-w-we will get home."
Still sobbing, Pinkie Pie leans the side of her head back onto Rarity's shoulder. "W-w-when *SOB* we get home... *SOB* c-can we bring *SOB* everyone?"
"Of cour-"
Pinkie Pie abruptly lifts her head up from Rarity's chest again. "No! I m-mean everyone. Lee, Clementine, Carley... *SOB* even, L-lilly."
Lilly eyes widen and she continues to stare at the brown wooden table. She thought she would've been left behind by Lee and the fact that Pinkie Pie is still looking out for her after what she did, is incomprehensible to her.
Rarity nods her head in understanding. "Yes, of course, darling. Of course they can."
Twilight's eyelids fly open, her head still laying on the seat she is on. While rubbing her eyes with her hoof, she lifts herself up into a seating position, finding everyone to be asleep and to her right she sees Lilly with her hands tied and she appears to be fast asleep.
She frowns at the sight of her, wondering why she's tied up. She takes quick glances around the place she is in, finding almost everyone sleeping. Seeing no other explanation, she comes to the conclusion that someone must've brought her into the R.V. while she was unconscious. How long have I been out for? She thought to herself.
Her attention flies towards the windows, seeing bright sun rays seeping through the cracks of the dusty beige curtains, indicating to her that the sun is up.
Taking another look through the antique interior, she finds her friends sleeping soundly on the wooden floor. Applejack is leaning against the cushions of the seat beside her. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy lay against the cupboard of the sink. Pinkie Pie and Rarity lay close to each other.
Instant relief flows through her, grateful that she didn't lose any of her friends in the attack. Thinking back on it, the relief is short-lived as it gets replaced with partial guilt. She can't help but degrade herself, wishing she'd stay strong for her friends. But everything was just too much for her to handle, she managed to get the presumed leader of the bandits to actually work with them and then out of nowhere he gets shot in the head!
Twilight didn't want to kill anyone, which is why she didn't use her magic in the first place. She attempted to solve the matter peacefully, but unfortunately the universe didn't work with her. She promises to never let her weakness to take over her again.
A gasp brings her out of her absorbing thoughts and she looks over to Lee who has a distressed expression written on his face.
She watches him get up from his seat, carefully trying not to wake up Clementine in the process.
After he does, he gently lays her down and he finally catches the gaze of Twilight. He smiles at her. "Hey, Twilight." Even though she's awake, he still has that sort of feeling of concern for her, the attack must have taken a major effect on her.
"Hello, Lee," Twilight quietly replies.
Trying to be as silent as he can, Lee walks over to her, carefully stepping over the ponies the lay sleeping before him.
After he manages to fully get to the back of the vehicle, his line of sight flows over to Lilly and he suddenly gets the feeling of pity.
Twilight follows his line of sight and she blurts out. "Why is, Lilly tied up?"
Lee is reluctant to tell her why and after a few moments of thinking it over. He decides to tell her why, he gives her sorrowful look before telling her. "We were having a debate about who stole the supplies-"
As Lee goes on about what happened while she was out, Twilight starts to feel uneasy and her shoulders grow cold.
"-and she... killed, Doug," Lee finishes.
Twilight lets out a quiet gasp. She looks right at Lilly then back at Lee. "She killed..." she trails off.
The R.V. starts to slow down, catching the attention of Lee and Twilight. While Lee makes his way over to Kenny, the R.V. comes to a complete halt and Lee sees why.
Kenny sighs before saying. "Now we gotta deal with this."
Lee steps out of the R.V. taking in the scenery around him, seeing nothing but never-ending trees on either side of the road. He walks toward the large obstruction that is blocking the road, which is an abandoned locomotive. Ben and Kenny come up beside him.
"Is there anyway to get around it?" Ben asks.
"Doesn't look like it. On foot, maybe. Can't really afford to do that now," Kenny replies.
Lee takes another glance at the trees and bushes. "This seems like a safe area. All this brush will stop anything from creeping up on us."
"And ah'd like everyone out of the R.V. except her. Ah don't want folks trapped in there with her," Kenny says, just loud enough for everyone in the R.V. to hear him.
Soon after, everyone leaves the R.V. The last ones to leave are Katjaa and Duck. Concerned, Twilight watches Duck as he clutches to his mother. Why does he look so... ill?
Secondly, she sees Rainbow Dash who isn't looking so well either. She is sitting by a log, seemingly breathing erratically. She goes over towards her. "Rainbow."
"Hey-" Rainbow Dash harshly clears her throat, which makes Twilight frown, making her wonder if she's actually okay. "Sup, Twilight?" Rainbow says, slightly weak.
""Sup", Rainbow are you okay?" Looking over her, Twilight finds the cause of why her friend is acting so odd, the bullet wound on her wing. She finds herself unblinkingly staring at the wound. "What is this?" She says, after a certain amount of time.
"What? Oh, that? I was shot."
"And you haven't even treated it yet!" Twilight immediately says, catching the attention of Rarity.
"Twilight, we couldn't use anything TO take care of it. We barely had enough time to escape the motel," Rarity says, in attempt to calm her down.
Twilight feels the guilt flooding back and she quickly shrugs it off. She isn't going to start wallowing in guilt.
She leans down, putting her hoof on Rainbow Dash's forehead. "... just as I suspected, you have a fever."
"I'm... fine, Twilight."
"No, you're not!" Twilight snaps, startling Rarity and Rainbow Dash. "You have an infection! and you need treatment!" Twilight storms off, not even giving Rainbow Dash a second to reply.
"Why don't you and I have a look around?" Ben suggests to Lee.
"I'm coming, Rainbow Dash needs to get her wing bandaged. Right now, or it's going to get worse." Twilight interjects, walking over to them.
"Are you su-"
"I'm fine. I'm not the one you should be worrying about," Twilight irritatingly says, cutting Lee off.
"... alright, everyone else relax." Lee kneels down to say something to Clementine but Twilight becomes too impatient and she groans, way too loudly before walking off towards the locomotive on her own.
Along with everyone else, Rarity watches as Twilight marches off towards the locomotive.
"Is she okay?" Applejack concernedly asks as she walks up beside Rarity.
Before replying to her, Rarity continues to watch as Twilight leavitates her way up onto the train. "I... don't know."
"Should ah go see what's wrong?"
"N-no, just stay here. I'll go speak to her." Rarity sighs before setting off towards Twilight. On her way, she sees Lee opening one of the large container doors that are attatched on the locomotive. She continues until she comes across a steps that lead up on the train.
It takes Rarity some strength, but she manages to lift herself onto the train. Seeing that the door to the control room is already open, she assumes that Twilight is in there.
She enters the room, spotting a decaying corpse in a seat along with various buttons and levers that Rarity presumes that they were used to operate the locomotive.
Rarity grimaces and she covers her muzzle at the sight of the corpse, feeling her stomach turn. Looking it over, she finds that half of the corpse's head is pushed inwards. "Oh dear, Celestia... this is... too repulsive."
"Rarity..."
The sudden sound of a voice, brings her out of her little inspection and she promptly turns around to find Twilight with a stern yet concerned look on her face.
"Twilight? Oh right, uh-I need to speak with y-"
"Do you know how stupid you are?"
Rarity stops in her tracks, becoming utterly puzzled at Twilight's random insult. "Uhhhh... sorry?"
"First off all, you saw a dead person then you decided to get closer to it then you decided to look at it while being way too close to it! Do you not know how stupid that is?"
Finally knowing what Twilight is getting at, she realizes how stupid that actually was, she's lucky the person is already dead and not a walker. Rarity knows that Twilight is right but she can't help but feel hurt at her bluntness. "Y-you're right, I should've been more careful."
"Obviously..." Twilight turns around and she goes to leave the room but Rarity stops her by tapping her shoulder with her hoof. Twilight turns around to Rarity, looking puzzled. "Is... there something you need?"
Rarity sighs before answering. "Twilight, are you okay?"
Twilight is the one that sighs this time but it is more of a frustrated sigh, as if she is trying to keep herself from shouting at her. "Yes... I am."
Rarity isn't convinced by that. "You're not acting like you are,"
"As I said before, Rarity I'm not the one that you should be worrying about right now." Twilight storms out of the control room before Rarity can reply, slamming the door on her way out causing Rarity to jump at the loud bang.
Instead of walking along the railing on the locomotive, Twilight just jumps over it, landing on the ground. She has yet to find any medical equipment to treat Rainbow Dash's wound and it's starting to not only affect Rainbow but Twilight as well. In Twilight's case, it's more mentally than physically.
It's almost been a day since they escaped the motor inn and Rainbow Dash is in desperate need for antibiotics. If she doesn't get any soon, her condition may become fatal.
Twilight decides to go into the R.V. in hopes that there will be some sort of bandage. If Lilly attacks her while she's looking through the vehicle, she'll just put her down. She's no longer giving chances, not while her friend's life is in danger.
Rarity exits the control room coming across Lee and Ben.
"Rarity? When did... nevermind, is everything okay?" Lee asks, concerned.
Rarity thought about Twilight before answering. "Yeah... for now, at least."
Lee frowns, wanting to ask what's wrong before ultimately letting it go. He looks past her, catching the corpse in the seat. "Have you been through here?"
"Yes and there's no need to worry. It's... dead." Rarity says.
Lee nods before moving past her and into the control room with Ben.
Deciding that it would be best to let them do their thing, Rarity exits the locomotive. As soon as she steps off the large vehicle, it makes a loud hissing sound. She takes a glance back, thinking it is moving only for it the prove her wrong.
She walks back over to the log, where everyone else is. Catching a glimpse of a lonely Carley sitting furthest away from the group, she goes to check up on her.
As Rarity gets closer towards her, see finds that Carley's staring at the R.V. as if she is contemplating something majorly serious. "Carley?"
Carley swiftly brings her head towards Rarity. "Oh hey, Rarity," she says somewhat monotonously.
"Are you... okay?" Rarity doesn't receive an answer right away, Carley continues staring at the R.V. After a while of not getting an answer, Rarity decides it would be best to just leave her alone.
She was in the act of turning when Carley suddenly blurts out. "I'm thinking about killing her."
Shocked and bewildered. Rarity keeps her body in the same position but her head is facing directly towards Carley with her eyes wide open. Rarity already knows who she's talking about and she sits herself down next to her.
Rarity understands why she desires so, I mean Rarity could tell that there was some romance going on between Carley and Doug, anypony could've seen that. She didn't know what to say to her so, she just sits there next to her.
"I'm not going to but..." Carley trails off.
Rarity is at a loss for words, the longer she sits there, the more awkward she feels sitting there. She really wants to comfort her but she can't think of anything to say.
Carley turns her head towards her, occupying a slight frown on her face. "What would you do?"
Unblinkingly, Rarity stares at her, trying to conjure up what she would do in this situation. She'd be, obviously with no doubt devastated over the death of her special somepony but she doesn't think she would herself to take a life away from someone. She would, if it meant her or any of her friend's safety but in circumstances like these; where the culprit is tied up, she doesn't believe that she would be able to.
She sighs. "I honestly, do not know darling. If it were any of my friends that were... offed by, Lilly... I would never forgive her but I wouldn't be able to... kill... her. I wouldn't be able to, it's not who I am."
Carley keeps her stare a little longer until she sighs through her nose and she rests her head on the palm of her hand.
Lilly didn't do much talking when Twilight came into the R.V. searching for any type of bandage she could use for Rainbow's wound.
Sadly, Twilight didn't find any first aid kits or bandages.
Deciding to go back to the locomotive, she thought it would be a good idea to check the last cart that Lee and Ben opened. She hoped that, Lee and Ben missed some items.
She makes her way over, climbs into the train car and she starts glancing around.
The interior of the train car makes Twilight confused. Is someone living here?She thought. See sees a moldy bed accompanied by a couple of wooden planks and a chair. She goes closer to further exam-
"You touch any 'mah stuff?"
Twilight feels her heart instantly stop and she immediately turns around finding a man. She doesn't reply right away as she's takes in the appearance of him. His outfit is dirty... very dirty. It reminds her of some of the homeless ponies she would sometimes see in the cities back in Equestria.
Then, it hits her. Why is he talking to her? If this world doesn't have talking ponies, then why would he expect an answer... unless he's insane.
The man starts taking slow, tentative steps towards her. Twilight's horn soon began to lit up with her crimson aura, ready to put him down if necessary.
"Settle down, now. Didn't mean 'ta frighten' ya." The man says holding up one of his hands, gesturing that he means no harm.
To her surprise, the man doesn't seem to worried about her magic. "Who... are you?"
"The guy who owns that stuff." He gestures with a nod. He takes a glance towards his pile of "stuff". "Ah guess it's no worse for wear." He turns towards her with a smile. "Name's Chuck, Carles... if ya' fancy."
Twilight keeps her stare on him for a little longer.
"They're your friends outside?" Chuck suddenly says.
"...yeah, did... you know I could-"
"Talk? No," Chuck says cutting her sentence off. "Saw y'all walkin' through 'ere then heard ya'll talkin'. Guess it's nothin' to be surprised 'bout, the dead are walkin'."
Twilight remembers what she came here for. "Umm, Chuck listen. Do you have any medical supplies that you'd be willing lend me? You see, my friend was shot and we don't have anything to treat her wound," she asks, slightly desperate.
Chuck lets out a "hmm" sound before walking over to his stuff and he brings out a backpack. He unzips it, he pulls out a white medical gauze tape and he hands it over to Twilight.
She lets out a sigh of relief and gratitude. "Oh Celestia, thank you sir! I really appreciate this!" She takes the gauze tape out of Chuck's hand.
"'s fine."
After Twilight took the roll of bandage from the new acquaintance, she eagerly makes her way over to Rainbow who's seems like she's struggling to keep awake. "Rainbow?"
Rainbow's eyes open and she looks at Twilight. She doesn't bother to respond. She just looks at her expectingly as if she is waiting for her to start speaking.
"I found something to treat your wing"- Twilight leans over to place her hoof on her friend's forehead to inspect her temperature. -"your fever is the same, so that's good. Can you spread your wing for me, so I can properly dress it?"
Her eyes widen, not wanting to show fear in front of her friend, she quickly replaces her expression. Rainbow doesn't want to, she was afraid of the pain, it hurt too much to move. The aching in her wing has numbed and she doesn't want it to start hurting again. When the pain was still aching in her wing, she tried moving it but the pain was quite great and it made her yelp before just letting the pain pass. "Twilight... I-I would rather not." She hesitantly says.
It leaves Twilight giving her friend a blank look, much like Rainbow gave her when she approached her. Twilight rolls her eyes, sighing while doing so. "Rainbow, this isn't about whether you'd want to or not. It's about preventing your infection, so it doesn't become severe." She goes to hold out her friend's wing but she flinches away from her, making Twilight impulsively scowl at her.
The expression on the lavender unicorn makes Rainbow slightly fearful. "I-it hurts when I move my wing."
Twilight scoffs at her, giving her an incredulous look. "Well, like it or not, I'm gonna fix you're wing."
Rainbow Dash was about to protest once more when she felt a strong, sudden force push her closer to Twilight. I guess she couldn't prevent the inevitable. A wave of anxiety reigns over her as she realizes that she is unable to move her hooves. All at once, she feels her wing get pulled out to the side and in an instant it feels like a bag of hammers just dropped onto her wing. She lets out a agonising yelp before tightly gritting her teeth.
Twilight starts wrapping layers of the gauze tape onto Rainbow's wounded wing despite the fact that she is causing great pain to her while doing so. She knows she's being too rough on her, but it doesn't matter to her. Rainbow Dash was injured almost a day ago and she wasn't going to wait another second for it to gather more bacteria. She applies one more layer before she goes to lift up her wing to see if it's fully covered.
Twilight goes to lift up her friend's wing but she hadn't even made it halfway before she was startled by the sudden yell from Rainbow Dash. "Stop! That... r-really... hurts, Twi," Rainbow says between painful pants.
Seeing the tears that are forming around the pegasus's eyes, makes Twilight let go of her wing.
Immediately after Twilight lets go of her wing, it flies back to Rainbow's side.
The pain still aches over Rainbow's shoulder albeit being more intolerable. Rainbow slows down her movements, anxiously trying not to irritate her pain further.
"What is goin' on here?"
Twilight turns around seeing Applejack and Rarity with troublesome expressions written on their faces. "I was dressing her wound," she matter-of-factly says.
Rarity gives her a look of disbelief. "Oh really, darling? Because, it did not sound like you were being too kind to her while doing so."
Applejack left the two to solve their argument to check on Rainbow Dash who is throbbing with pain. She kneels down to her level. "You alright, sugarcube?"
Applejack does the only thing she can do and she takes a sit beside her friend. She gently places her hoof around Rainbow's neck, bringing her closer.
"Have you lost your sense of rationale? I understand that we have to but you shouldn't have been so relentless." After finding out how Twilight had treated Rainbow's wound, Rarity became worried for both of her friend's well being. Twilight being uncharacteristically ruthless and Rainbow Dash's delirium state.
"It doesn't matter whether I was gentle or not!" Twilight snaps at her, having being fed up with petty issues. "Do you even know how long her wing has been exposed for! Who knows what kind of bacteria was floating around in that vehicle, Dash already has a fever! The longer we would've waited, the higher the chance of her wing getting infected!"
Twilight has a point, it's almost been a day and they couldn't do anything. I mean, Rainbow Dash has a fever but Twilight didn't need to be so rough. Being forced to escape the motel, being forced to leave without any supplies. Rarity sums it up as being plain bad luck, it could've happened anytime. What Rarity wants to find out is why Twilight has been acting so ruthless? It couldn't have been just Rainbow Dash, can it? "Twilight, is there a reason why you've been so... harsh lately?"
"Do I really need remind you?" Twilight grunts at her.
She is referring to Rainbow Dash, Rarity knows this. "Is it just, Rainbow Dash or... is there something else bothering you?" She notices Twilight furrowing for a split second before she shrugs it off.
"No, there isn't."
"So, it's just, Rainbow Dash on your mind?" Rarity sternly asks, watching Twilight's expressions intently.
There is a long pause and silence reigns over them. Unfortunately for Rarity, Twilight hasn't displayed any emotions.
After a few more seconds of silence, Twilight decides to end it. "Yes, my only concern was to patch, Rainbow's wound up. I'm only irritated because of your concern for me. When really you should've been concerned for, Rainbow Dash." Her voice doesn't contain any hostility, so that's a good sign.
Rarity isn't convinced though but she lets her lavender friend go anyway. As she watches her friend leave, she internally promises that when the train starts working she is going to continue this conversation.
Despite the awful circumstances, Chuck's guitar echoes throughout the vicinity, calming everyone's moods.
The others wait patiently while Lee and Kenny try to get the locomotive moving again to keep from traveling on foot.
Duck hasn't been getting any better, but I suppose that's what happens after you get bitten. The child's complexion was already losing it's colour, his temperature is abnormally high and his eyes have already begun to grow dark faint rings around them.
Fluttershy's been doing all she can for him but unfortunately, none of it has made a difference. She wants to take the boy's pain away from him, she wants to make it stop. This isn't the average flu she comes across with her animals that can easily be solved with a bit of antibiotics and some rest, no. She barely knows anything about this virus and it irks her. It is within her nature tell help and sitting there not being able to do anything kills her. She wants to stop the Child's pain but she can't, this world isn't letting her; all she can offer is her kindness and a few comforting words.
Although it hurts to think about, Fluttershy doesn't want to stick around once he passes away. She knows that he isn't going to make it and there is nothing she can do to prevent it.
"Alright y'all, train's on 'n ready t' go. We don't have much left, so jus' gather whatever you have," Kenny says to the group.
While Kenny wanted to leave Lilly behind on her own, Rarity and Lee were the ones to protest. Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were too focused on Duck to pay Lilly any attention. Applejack was more focused on taking care of Rainbow Dash.
And Twilight, well... if she wanted to leave Lilly behind, she didn't say anything about it. She was one of the last few who entered the train.
It was easy to convince Kenny to bring Lilly along, considering Kenny trusted Lee; however he told him and Rarity that they were responsible for Lilly and that he wasn't going to be looking out for her.
Lee and Rarity didn't like that but they let it go. Rarity hopped onto the train while Lee went to retrieve Lilly from the R.V.
She walked in reluctance with Lee beside her. Fortunately, no one protested or asked why she was coming along as she got on the locomotive. She chose to sit by the left corner, away from everyone else.
Duck's condition is becoming more apparent to others around him. Everyone already knew the boy is gravely ill.
Fluttershy is still by Duck's side with Pinkie Pie.
Katjaa is eternally grateful to know that Duck is able to have such great friends around him before he passes on. After several weeks, she still couldn't believe that there are talking ponies by her side, right now in this present moment.
Duck starts coughing up blood, this is it. Katjaa can no longer be in denial, her son is going to pass away, "Lee! I need you right now,"
Lee immediately rushes over after he sees the blood flowing out of Duck's mouth. He kneels down, capturing the blood with a white silk cloth that was laying by Katjaa.
"He's out of time, we need to stop this train," Katjaa desperately says.
"...okay," Lee says, nodding sympathetically to her.
Before Lee leaves, she adds a sorrowful "please". Lee leaves the cart to get Kenny to stop the train.
Fluttershy looks up from Duck pale figure to Katjaa who looks emotionless. She can't even imagine the amount of distress Katjaa is in right now. She lays a hoof on Katjaa's forearm to try and ease her grief.
Katjaa looks down at the gesture, she gives her a small smile. It's not too long now, once the train stops, she'll say goodbye to her son.
Just after Lee exits the train cart, Rarity takes a quick glance towards Twilight who is sitting by the exit door. She can see that Twilight is blankly staring at the wooden floor. She has yet to portray any emotion, none that Rarity can see anyway.
Deciding that now is an acceptable to speak to her, Rarity gets up from her seated position and walks over to her.
While making her way over to Twilight, she hopes that her lavender friend won't still be frustrated since Duck is not doing well. The last thing that Rarity wants for Duck is for him to witness Twilight's aggressive demeanor before he... dies.
Rarity is so glad that Sweetie Belle isn't here, she's practically Duck's age. A horrific image of Sweetie Belle's decaying body pops into Rarity's head. Sweetie Belle's fur rapidly losing colour, her mane tangled among atrocious waves.
Rarity cringes inwardly and she shakes her head at an attempt to be rid of such a horrible thought, she wouldn't know what she would do if Sweetie Belle was in Duck's position.
Rarity nearly makes it over to Twilight when she sees that her lavender friend hasn't noticed her yet, "Twilight?" Rarity says, now in front of her.
Twilight's head snaps up at Rarity, her face holding a startled look, "Yes, Rarity?"
"Do you mind if I took a seat?"
Twilight quickly takes a glance next to her before looking back up at Rarity, "N-no, go ahead." Rarity takes a seat beside her.
A pause occurs between the two. Rarity takes another look at Duck before deciding to speak, "Today... hasn't been a good day, has it?"
Twilight sighs before she answers, "No, it hasn't."
A short pause between them before Rarity decides to ask, "Where do you think we're going?"
"I don't know, Rarity. I just hope that we find a safe place to stay, at least for a while." Twilight says, gazing between Rainbow Dash and Duck.
"I hope so too, Darling. If we're lucky, we may find a bed to sleep in. Wooden floors aren't exactly a luxury."
Twilight nods but doesn't say anything.
The train suddenly starts slowing down with a hissing noise.
Chuck, Ben, David and Rarity exit the train cart while a few others stay on board. Rarity glances at Lee and Kenny who are trailing towards them.
Kenny goes over to Katjaa and Duck. Duck is laying on his side near the edge of the train cart, he's barely breathing and his face has lost all of it's colour. His condition couldn't get any worse, the dark rings around his eyes have become more visible.
Katjaa has her hand on the side of Duck's head and his temperature is hot to the touch, "Ken, I... I think it's time."
Kenny clenches his eyes shut in an attempt to keep himself from breaking down. He sighs before turning to look at everyone else, "the boys been bit, 'case you haven't figured that out." He turns back toward his family.
Everyone all have pity written on their faces. Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie are clutching tightly to each other while sobbing. Pinkie is sobbing much more harder than Fluttershy is, her face is buried into Fluttershy's chest as she sobs.
"What do you need?" Lee softly asks.
Kenny and Katjaa exchange sorrowful looks. There's a short pause before Katjaa looks back at her son, "We can't allow him to become one of those things."
"B-but what if... what if he doesn't," Kenny asks in denial.
"Kenny, I love you very much. I love our son more than life itself." Katjaa's voice breaks. "What you're saying, that he may not turn... is foolish."
"But-"
"No!" Katjaa turns directly to her husband.
Rarity can see the pain in Kenny's eyes and she can feel it herself. Tears are welling up in her eyes and she tries to keep herself from breaking down. Losing a child doesn't even come close to devastating. Images of Sweetie Belle flash in her mind but she immediately closes her eyes and she involuntarily shakes her head.
"There's... c'mon, Kat."
"If you think of one, you let me know."
"Isn't there some sort of pill or... something we could just give him?" Kenny desperately asks.
"Stop it..." Katjaa whispers, devastatingly.
Kenny turns towards Twilight, who is sitting close by them with a pitiful look on her face. "T-Twilight, you have magic, right? Y-you can cure him?"
Twilight slowly shakes her head, furrowing, "I can't, I'm truly sorry, Kenny."
Kenny turns to Rarity, "Rarity? Y-you... can help him right?"
Her eyes fill with pity as she looks at him, "I'm sorry, darling, but I can't."
Kenny immediately turns back to his wife, he can't believe his son is dying. "Kat, come on! This is our son!"
"I know!"
"Just-" Kenny drags both of his hands across his face. -"Who then... you want to?"
"No. You don't have to."
"Fuck... I... I can do it."
"No... you don't have to."
"I'll do it," Lee interjects.
"No, it should be a parent," Katjaa says.
"Parents should not have to do anything like this," Twilight softly adds.
Kenny shakes his head before he speaks, "they're right, Kat. We should say our goodbyes and... let that be it."
Katjaa is still unsure but they're right, she doesn't want to do this. "I don't know, Lee... you'd be doing this family a great service." Katjaa turns back around to Duck. "Why don't we take him into the forest? So, Clementine doesn't have to see."
While the family tries to get through the hard ordeal, Applejack just watches feeling nothing but empathy for them. It's impossible for her to imagine the pain that they're feeling.
Katjaa picks up Duck and Kenny starts following her into the woods. Duck is barely holding onto his mother.
David walks over to Rarity, he had noticed that she was barely keeping it together during the exchange. "How you doing?" He quietly asks.
It takes a moment for Rarity to answer, she keeps her gaze locked onto the path that leads into the woods, where Kenny and Katjaa entered a moment ago. "Not-" her voice breaks but she quickly manages to regain her composure. "-not well... what about you?"
David remains impassive while Rarity awaits his answer. He huffs, "Well... I have one student. I guess that's something."
He pauses for a moment before continuing, "When the bandits first raided my camp, they would either take or kill. It was mainly the females who were taken and the others... well."
Rarity listens, feeling anxious as she visualizes what happened. It fears her to think about what would happen to the ones who were taken alive. How David is managing to keep himself together, confuses and amazes her.
"Eventually, I was able to escape and I ran until Ben and... Travis found me."
"Do you... feel any guilt over what happened?" Rarity asks, being careful not to make him feel at fault.
He sighs, "Sometimes... until I-"
*BANG*
A sudden gunshot rings throughout the area, startling everyone. The sound of Kenny's frantic "NO!" alerts everyone.
"Ben, take, Clementine onto the train. I'll be back as soon as I can." With that, Lee springs off onto the trail that leads into the forest.
Ben does exactly what Lee told him to and he gets Clementine onto the train.
Carley pulls out her pistol, which only has a few bullets left in them and she uses the train cart's wall for cover.
Twilight, Rarity, David, Chuck and Carley all get prepared just in case if they needed to start fighting again. Applejack stays with Rainbow Dash since she isn't going to be able to defend herself very well due to her injured wing.
Both Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, being the less capable combatants of the group, stay in the train cart.
They all hope that it wasn't anyone or a group of people who are dangerous, they may not survive another firefight.
They all wait for Lee to come back out of the woods with Kenny. No, they are all waiting for someone to come out of the woods to start attacking them. They wouldn't be surprised after what happened yesterday.
The anticipation is killing them. As seconds pass, all of them grow more and more anxious. They all keep expecting that some random maniac would jump out of the woods and charge at them. Rarity jumps at the sudden gush of wind.
Twilight and Chuck keep their gazes locked on the forest, ready to defend the group if necessary. In a sense, their courage and determination manages to make everyone feel slightly better although it still isn't enough.
*BANG*
Another abrupt gunshot has been fired, startling everyone yet again.
"This is preposterous! What on Equestria is happening out there?" Rarity exasperatedly asks. Her patience is wearing thin and she does not like waiting around near the forest, especially after what had happened at the motel.
"We're just gonna have to wait a little longer, they'll be back," David tries de-escalating the situation.
"We'll see..." Carley quietly mutters to herself.
Not even a minute later, Twilight sees two figures that are starting to appear from the forest and she realizes it's Kenny and Lee... but where is Katjaa?
They all calm down once they see Kenny and Lee leave the forest. They are all quick to notice, Kenny's tear streaked face as he completely ignores them and walks back to the control room.
Twilight and Rarity look to Lee for an explanation. They both don't know what to think, why had Katjaa chosen to stay in the woods? Everything is dead silent. Lee doesn't answer them instead he motions for everyone to get back into the train.
The train cart was silent, no one had said a word since the train started moving again. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy hadn't even stopped sobbing. Even though they only knew Duck for a few weeks it still felt like they just lost a little brother. Like a hole been scorned into their hearts.
A part of Fluttershy felt like she was at fault, even though logically she wouldn't have been able to help him. It was just one of those things where she can't help but feel guilt.
Pinkie felt utterly useless. She felt like she didn't matter, it led to her questioning what she was good for. She couldn't comfort Duck in his time of need, it was too hard. Whenever she looked at him, a lump would form in her throat. The memories of Duck only made her sob harder.
Applejack turned her attention to Rainbow Dash who was beside her, struggling to stay awake, "You know, sugarcube, you don't need to stay awake. Besides, you need the rest."
Rainbow Dash widened her eyes, trying to fool Applejack into believing she wasn't tired and failed miserably, "I-I'm not tired... you know, I'm just gonna... rest my eyes." And with that, she voluntarily closed her eyes. Within a few seconds, she fell against Applejack with her head on her shoulder.
Applejack stifled her laughter and whispered, "Yeah, you just rest." Feeling tired herself, the country pony yawned. Since she felt tired, she thought it'd be a good idea to retire. She closed her eyes and unexpectedly with a few minutes, she fell into a deep sleep.
A gunshot was fired, pulling Applejack out of her slumber, her heart beating rapidly. She nerves immediately started to settle down when she saw Clementine aiming a gun at a bottle set on top of a large crate. Lee was behind her, covering her ears with his hands.
She didn't oppose to the idea of teaching Clementine how to use a gun, if anything she thought it was a good idea. But out of all the times that Lee could've picked to train Clementine, he decided that now was a good time? Not at the motor inn, not when they stopped but now, now was the perfect time.
She turned to find that Rainbow Dash was still sleeping. She yawned before she got up from her seat. She stretched, letting out another yawn before trotting over to Lee and Clementine. She made sure to stay clear of the weapon, after witnessing Rainbow Dash get shot back at the motel she definitely did not want to go through that experience. She felt vulnerable not being able to use a weapon, although attacking head on with her hooves is doing well for her but what about Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie? They're the two most timid ponies out of all of them, they wouldn't be able to attack walkers even if they had to to defend themselves. Most likely, they would just run in the other direction.
"Close... now keep it steady." Lee said, still covering Clementine's ears. She fired another shot, startling Applejack in the process. It was the anticipation that got her, not the gunshot. "Out of all the chances you had to train her, you decided now was the pinnacle of opportunities?"
Lee looked at her with a puzzled look. "Applejack? Did... we wake you up?"
"Yeah, you did."
"Oh uhhh, sorry. Since the train is so loud, I thought it would muffle the gunshot." He glanced toward Rainbow Dash seeing she was still asleep before gesturing towards her. "She's still sleeping."
"Well, thank you for tellin' me 'cause ah didn't know that." Her voice dripped with sarcasm. She started to wonder where Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were when the door to the train cart opened, immediately answering her question. As she watched the two ponies walk in, she sensed something was wrong. It wasn't hard to distinguish, Pinkie Pie had a infuriating look on her face as if she was going to tear this train apart herself and Fluttershy she looked... disappointed?
If she were correct, then she would really be concerned. Did they have an argument or somethin'? She thought, trotting toward the two ponies.
"Are y'all okay? Y'girls seem troubled." Applejack asked as the two ponies sat down.
"Hmm." Pinkie lifted her chin, bringing a hoof to it as she tilted her head. "I don't know, why don't you ask, Ben?"
"Pinkie," Fluttershy said, as if she were warning her to keep her mouth shut. "What she means to say is... that... w-we're fine."
Yeah, y'all seem fine alright. Applejack thought sarcastically, even a foal would be able to tell she was lying. She looked at her incredulously, "Really?"
The pink pony huffed at her friend's question, which earned her a glare from Fluttershy but she didn't acknowledge it.
"Applejack, I'm glad you're asking but... we're fine, really. Me and, Pinkie just had a little... argument."
"So where does, Ben come into this?"
"Why don't you go ask him yourself?" Pinkie Pie said, with that scowling look on her face. She wasn't sure if it was directed at her or if she was just scowling at the thought of Ben.
She took one last look at them before she left to go talk with Ben. She never had any quarrel with him but she never relied on him to get things done. He seemed like the type to mess things up rather than fix them.
Applejack found him leaning over the railing that was only a few steps away from the door. His head hanged in his arms, "Ben?"
He lifted his head up to look at her, his face was riddled with sorrow. If Pinkie Pie hadn't been so aggressive talking about him, she would think nothing of it and she would ask if he was okay, "Yeah?"
"What were you and, Fluttershy and, Pinkie Pie talkin' about?" She asked as she saw Ben's eyes widen. He stood up to face her directly, it was no doubt that he was nervous but of course this is Ben... he was always nervous. But what caught her off guard, was that he was even more nervous than usual, some would even say that he looked guilty.
"Uhh-we j-just had a-a little debate," He practically stuttered over every word he said.
"What about?"
"I-it was nothing... just uhh a-a stupid argument."
She narrowed her eyes at him, incredulously. "What was it about?"
He opened his mouth but no words came out, "I... I can't tell you."
"Why not?" Her voice raised slightly.
"I-I just can't tell you."
She furrowed in confusion, trying to figure out why he couldn't tell her. "Ben... it's a simple question, what... was it... about?" When he didn't say anything, she continued, "Surely, it can't be that bad."
Ben just continued to stare at her with that sad look on his face, he tried being subtle about it but failed. She could tell he was contemplating telling her, whatever the problem was, she needed to know what it was considering both of her friends were involved.
In all honesty, his silence was beginning to irk her. What could he possibly be doing on this train, what did he even say to her friends? With a sigh, she shook her head when he still hadn't said anything, "Ben, what... is... wrong?" He looked away from her. "I ain't gonna leave until you tell me."
He looked back at her, "...I was the one giving the bandits supplies."
She paused, staring at him. She found herself shaking her head, Rainbow Dash getting shot back at the motel, seeing her laying on the ground in agony. The image made her furious, and she suddenly found the courage to speak, "Why?" She blurted out.
"They said they had my friend that he was with them-"
"So you decided to put everyone else at risk for one person?" She yelled at his face, making him shrink back. When he didn't say anything she continued, "You-so what... is your friend fine? Is he okay? Was it worth three people, huh?"
"He wasn't with them," he muttered quietly but she still heard him.
Her mouth widened as she looked away from him, in absolute shock. She blew a puff of air, letting out a fake chuckle. "Wow! So... what? Three people was it? Oh yeah, that's wonderful 'cause you certainly helped them out!"
He remained silent, shame and guilt flowing through his veins.
She stopped and sighed, shaking her head. Silence dawned between, neither of them knew what to say. "Rainbow Dash is hurt... because of you." She paused to look back to the train car before turning back to Ben, "Is there anythin' else, that maybe on your mind?"
It took a moment for him to answer her when he did, she swore she saw fear in his eyes, "Pinkie said she was... she was gonna..."
"She was gonna what? Harm you?" He nodded his head. She huffed, rolling her eyes finding that to be really ridiculous. "She's not gonna do anythin', Ben."
"You didn't hear what she said," He muttered.
"Ah shit! Hold on, everybody!"
The train was pulled to a hard stop, causing a loud hissing sound and making everyone aboard to slightly tumble around.
The train had finally stopped. It was nearing the afternoon and the scenery still hadn't changed, the group was still surrounded by the forest on both sides of the track.
Kenny was the first to leave the train then everyone else followed, all except Lilly who was left on her own while everyone else was too busy exiting the locomotive to pay her any attention. In all honesty, she preferred to stay. She wasn't going to go out there, while everyone stared at her, shunning her for what she did. It was better if she stayed behind.
Her chain of thought stopped when a pair of white hooves appeared in front of her, she tilted her head upward to find Rarity staring down at her as if she found a lost kitten. "Do you want to come out?" She said.
Lilly shook her head lifelessly, "There's no point, they're all gonna start shouting as soon as I leave." She looked away from her, vividly picturing it in her mind. She could easily see Kenny yelling at her, spraying all kinds of vulgarity, demanding why she's out. He would basically attract the attention of the entire group and that was something she did not want.
"Well no one told you to stay here," The pony said, bringing up a good point. She was right, no one demanded that for her to stay in the train. There was a long pause, Lilly hadn't said anything she was mentally debating whether or not she should go out. Did she want to go out? Did she want to stay here all alone? "If you want to be alone, I understand," The pony continued.
Once more, she looked back up at her confused, "Why are you being so kind to me?"
If the situation wasn't so dire, Rarity would've chuckled, kindness being Fluttershy's thing and all. "Because I didn't bring you here just so I can leave you tied up."
"I mean, after what I did to, Doug. You're so quick to forgive me... why?"
"You're in a bad place," Rarity said after a short pause. "But that doesn't excuse you for what you did."
"I was going to kill a traitor."
"You don't know for certain that it was, Carley," The pony quickly replied. "Even if it was, you still wouldn't know her reason for doing so. She could've been doing it for the safety of all of us." She sighed, not wanting to continue the conversation any longer. "Look, I'm giving you a chance and... it is up to you whether you want it or not."
There was a long pause. The brunette pushed all thoughts aside and she nodded. Soon after, the ropes that were holding her wrists together fell to the ground with a soft thud. Her wrists had red marks from where the rope had been.
As Lilly and Rarity both hopped down from the train cart, they were greeted by anguish yells from Kenny but it wasn't aimed at Lilly.
They both looked up, finding a highway overpass, just a few feet in front of the train. But that wasn't the concern. There just so happened to be a fuel tanker with the end attachment hanging off the overpass, inconveniently in front of the train.
"Maybe w-we could walk," Rarity grinned amusingly at Ben's suggestion.
"That's fuckin' stupid, Ben." Kenny shook his head.
"I-I'm just sayin'."
"I ain't got much experience with y'all fortitude but we could probably deal with that." Chuck said walking toward the tanker. "We got a goddamn train."
"That thing's not full of milk, Charles. That's gas or diesel, somethin' that's gonna explode," Kenny said.
"You gotta get a hold of yourself, this is a crew here." Chuck looked back at him.
Kenny frowned as he walked up to him. "This ain't shit."
"This-"
"Yo! You keep screamin' like that, you're gonna get your face chewed off!" An unfamiliar voice, suddenly ringed out through the area making everyone tense up. Then another voice, this time it belonged to a female spoke next, "Are you guys gonna be trouble? Because we could just keep walking!"
Two figures appeared on the edge of the overpass next to the fuel tanker. Although they were quite far, the group could still distinguish a man and a woman, the woman being taller.
"No! We're friendly," Lee shouted up to them.
"That's what everyone says," the woman said, her voice giving away distrust.
"We know." He said with a smile, knowing the feeling all too well himself.
There was a short pause before the man spoke again, "Those are some weird looking horses, you guys got!"
"We're not HORSES!" Rarity yelled out, startling everyone.
There was a short pause when the man spoke up again, "That did not just happened!"
The woman's eyes widened shocked and startled by the talking pony, "That thing can talk?" She shouted down to them.
Although she already knew that ponies in this world couldn't speak, Rarity still felt surprised by that fact.
"That's not all they can do." Lee smiled at them, finding the duo's confusion to be humorous.
"What do you mean by that?" The woman accusingly said.
Lee didn't respond to her instead he looked at Twilight beside him, "You think you can teleport us up there?"
Kenny glared at him, finding his recklessness to be stupid. "Hold on, we don't even know these people, Lee."
He sighs, agreeing with his point, "Yeah well, they look like decent folks and they seem pretty distrustful of us too."
"So? What's that supposed to mean?"
"I'm saying that we could use some good people."
They all took a chance trusting the St. John brothers and look what happened. But they also took in Ben and David. They didn't turn out to be blood-thirsty maniacs, just ordinary people struggling to survive in a bad world.
Kenny shaked his head at him in dismay, "Fine, let's just get this over with so we can keep movin'."
Twilight turned to Lee, "Hope you're ready." Not even giving him time to prepare himself, she initiated the teleportation spell making them both vanish in a spark.
Both of them reappeared on the overpass near the two survivors, their faces were riddled with bewilderment.
"I-I-uhh-wait, what!" The man yelled, trying to process what had just happened.
"What the hell was that?" The woman shouted but Lee wasn't listening.
He tumbled over, feeling lightheaded and dizzy, nausea filling his stomach. "I don't feel so good..."
"Yeah well like I said, it's gonna take a while to get used to," Twilight said.
"I hate how you don't give me any time to prepare." Lee regained his composure, the nausea fading away.
A slight pause occurred before the man spoke up again, "I'm dreaming, there's no way that this is happening." He said, refusing to believe that a unicorn can teleport.
"I don't think you are, hon'." She said, never taking her eyes off the lavender unicorn.
'Hon', Twilight took notice at that, perhaps they were lovers. She decided that now would be a good time to introduce herself and get it out of the way so that they can move on, "My name is, Twilight Sparkle and this is, Lee."
The man's gaze flew between her and Lee. His perplexed expression never changed, "That's weird." Twilight frowned at him but didn't say anything which the man noticed quickly, "Oh I... didn't mean to be rude. It's just... talking teleporting ponies are a rare occurrence in our world." He went to extend his arm in greeting but quickly pulled it back when he realized ponies don't have hands. "I'm, Omid."
"Where and how did you even come across these things?" The woman inquired from Lee.
"It's a... long story
"We're driving it," Lee said, nonchalantly.
"Sweet!" Omid smiled in excitement.
Once everyone introduced themselves, everyone went back down to the train along with the young couple, who had agreed to help.
The group watched with caution as Twilight, Lee and Clementine walked towards them with the newcomers.
Lee went ahead to introduce the young couple, "Guys, this is, Omid and, Christa. They said they're willing to help us out." He then noticed that Lilly was standing beside Rarity a bit further behind the group. He started to wonder if Rarity let her out. Did the others know about it? Not wanting to create another argument, he decided to leave her be for now.
After a pause with no one saying anything, David went ahead to introduce himself, "Well, we appreciate that! My name's, David. It's a pleasure to meet you two."
"Likewise, man." Omid gave a small wave and he shot him a smile before everything went silent again. Nothing but the sound of nature was heard, wind blowing and trees rustling. Wanting to rid the feeling of awkwardness, he spoke again, "We... want to help out!"
Christa gave him an impassive look, "They know that already."
"Oh, I know. I just wanted to say that because... the silence is getting awkward."
"Okay, the plan is to get rid of that tanker so we can be on our way." Kenny said. Before walking back to the train, he looked at Omid, "Let me show you how this thing works, 'case somethin' happens." And with that, Omid followed him into the control room.
Christa wanting to know more about Clementine and how she ended up with Lee, asked if it was okay to get to know her in which he said "of course". And with that everyone was left do their own thing.
Ever since the train had stopped, Applejack had been thinking long and hard about the confrontation with Ben to the point where it became the only thing that was occupying her mind. She got herself stuck in an unfortunate situation.
She knew the truth, she knew why the bandits attacked the motor inn. One part of her wanted to tell the truth, she was the element of honesty after all but the other part of her wanted to keep it a secret for Ben's sake. It's not likely Kenny would just forgive him like that. He'd be lucky if Kenny didn't hurt him and Lilly?
She remembered how she was acting back in the R.V., back when Doug was still alive. She didn't know what happened since she stayed in the R.V. with Dash but she saw the aftermath. Lilly was standing over him with a gun.
Her chain of thought stopped when something caught her attention. A small building, probably thirty metres away from the train. Feeling the need to go check it out and maybe find some medical supplies for Rainbow Dash, she went to Lee in hopes that she would go with him.
She found him speaking to Clementine and... Christine? Due to being overwhelmed by thoughts about the confrontation, she barely payed any attention to Lee when he introduced them.
She began walking towards them and she was able to hear what they were speaking about. Christine said something about "civil war history" none of it really intrigued Applejack anyway. "Hey y'all."
The three of them turned to Applejack. "Hey, Applejack, something wrong?"
"Applejack?" Christine suddenly said, sounding like she has never heard a name like that before.
Applejack gave her smile, "Yeah, that's me. Pleasure to meet ya', Christine!"
"I-it's, Christa." She looked at her, frowning as if she were contemplating asking a question, "If you don't mind me asking, how did you get here?"
"How we got 'ere? That's a long story."
"That's what everyone tells me." Christa looked at Lee.
"Lee? After your done 'ere ah need your help with that buildin' over there." She gestured in the direction of the building. Lee told her that he would holler at her once he's done speaking with Christa and Clementine.
After idly standing around for a few minutes, Lee eventually came over to her. They both made their way to the building, barely passing the overpass before they were stopped by Clementine. "Can I follow you guys over there?"
"Why? The new girl annoyin' ya?" Applejack jokingly asked.
The little girl eyes widen and she quickly replied, "No! She's nice, it's just"- She turned toward Lee. -"It's what you said, that we were a team?"
"Yeah, okay." Lee shouted to the group, telling everyone that they were going to check out the small building before leaving.
The three walked in a comfortable silence, Applejack was mostly admiring the serenity of the landscape. The scenery was able to calm her down, thinking about the whole Ben ordeal. The afternoon sun, the light wind that was blowing against her face, how peaceful everything was at the moment. It gave her a happy-like-nostalgic feeling, she would love to stop there just to relax in the sun for a bit but unfortunately she had more important matters to attend to. Maybe she would get lucky once the group finds a safe place and she would be able to sit back and relax in the sun.
They neared the building and she was able to make out what it was for. It was a station, it was similar to the one they had back in Ponyville. The trio passed the walkway and the front door to the ticket booth. Next to it, slightly further back was another.
Eagerly, Clementine jogged towards it. Thinking it would be unlocked, she turned the door knob, which she quickly discovered that it was locked. Lee walked up to her and warned her about running off by herself, to which she apologized.
They spent a few minutes to figure out a way in to no avail, before Applejack came up with the idea of bucking the door open.
"Wouldn't that make a lotta noise?" Lee spoke uncertainty, not wanting to deal with any walkers.
"Yeah, but ah don't think there's walkers in the area and we're practically in the middle of nowhere."
"Good point."
With nothing else to discuss, Applejack trotted over to the door. She turned and she gave it a swift kick. The door flew right off it's hinges into the building, sending a loud bang no louder than a gunshot throughout the area.
Applejack went to go get a quick look inside the station most of the windows were boarded up, preventing any sunlight from seeping through, making the room dark but she was still able to see due to the now empty doorway. There was a section of the room that was completely barred with metal bars. Not spotting any walkers, she presumed the station was empty. She turned back to the two, "Ah don't see any walkers."
They all entered the station, she turned to Lee, "What exactly are we lookin' for?"
"Anything that might help us take care of that tanker."
Applejack's gaze quickly landed upon the barred section before walking over looking in between the bars. She spotted a blow torch all by it's lonesome, besides the keys that was hanging on the wall it was practically the only thing that was in there. She didn't know what it was but she assumed that it could be useful, "Lee?" She called. "Do you think this would help?"
He came over looking inbetween the bars, a sense of accomplishment flowing through him as he spotted the blowtorch, "Yeah, that would help. Good job."
She shrugged, "Wasn't hard to find."
He turned back to Clementine, asking if she was okay with going over the gaps in the bars, they were separated wide enough for her to fit through. She was actually quite eager to do so.
He lifted her up onto his shoulders, letting her climb through the metal bars and smoothly landing on the floor. "Alright, go get the keys so I can unlock the door."
She was in the act of nodding when she suddenly stopped looking at them, her gaze trailing elsewhere. Fear was evident across her face.
"It's right behind you, Clem," Applejack pointed out but Clementine still hadn't moved. "Clementine, what is it?"
"Behind you!" She yelled.
They turned, their eyes immediately focusing on the walker that came appearing out of the darkness. It's monstrous growls filling the room. Applejack felt a strong force push her towards the metal bars. She quickly swirved out of the way to her left before she crashed into a pile of crates shattering them on impact, sending a loud crash throughout the room.
Blunt pain occupied all over the left side of her body, her ribs beared the brunt of the impact. She looked up and suddenly it was all gone. Replaced with adrenaline, she could no longer feel it. Another walker came charging at her, she moved out of the way just in time before it fell into the pile that she was just laying on. Hurriedly, she scanned the room for Lee. She found him instantly with his pistol aimed at the walker that was after her and he fired a shot.
The pain in Applejack's ribs came flooding back like acid beginning to boil as the adrenaline that was once keeping her occupied began to decease. She shortened her breath, finding it difficult to breathe deeply.
Lee came up beside her, she could tell that he was worried, "Are you okay?" He layed his palm on her back.
"A-a-ah don't... t-think so. It hurts to breathe," She struggled out, panting inbetween words with a grimace.
"You landed pretty hard back there. Well, as soon as we get back you can rest." Lee stood up walking over to Clementine. "Did you get the keys?"
"Yeah, will, Applejack be okay?" He could already tell Clementine was worried when he was over to her.
"Yeah, she will be once we're back at the train."
Clementine stuck her hand through the metal bars to give him the keys. He unlocked it the door, letting her out when something caught his eye. A figure standing in the darkness, suddenly emerged revealing yet another walker. He was getting fed up with dealing with them, he pulled out his pistol again and shot it in the head immediately. "Jesus, these things can get really annoying sometimes."
"I know but they're still scary."
"Yeah, I know. Alright, let's get the blowtorch so we can-"
"What was that!" A strong feminine voice cut off Lee as it continued, "I thought I heard a gunshot!"
"We're fine!" He called out.
The door opened revealing Christa with Twilight following close behind her. The pony's eyes skimmed across the room, pass the walkers before they layed upon Applejack who was hunched over. A flick of worry passed through her as she noticed her set of breathing. "Applejack? Are you okay?"
"No... no not really, Twi."
"Well... what happened?" She said, taking another look around the room.
"W-walkers happened."
"You, an eight year old and a pony versus the three of them huh?" Christa came trailing over to them with a scolding look on her face.
"We handled it," Lee replied.
"Doesn't look like it to me." She said, glancing down at Applejack who responded with a glare.
"Ah'm still alive, aren't I?"
"That you are." She turned back to Lee. "Once you're done here, Twilight should teleport us back to the train."
After a few moments of exchanging between words, Lee walked over to the blowtorch leaning against the wall. He picked it up and walked back to the group.
"Alright, everybody stay close." With a spark they all reappeared by the train.
Lee and Omid climbed up the ladder to the highway overpass to take care of the tanker while everyone else was left to take care of their own thing.
Twilight was escorting a limping Applejack back to the train cart. Rarity rushed over to them with Lilly following close behind, not wanting to stay out in the open by herself. The pony did let her out after all, she wasn't going to start hanging around anyone else - not that anyone would let her anyway. "Applejack! What happened to you?" The fashionista asked, distressed.
"Uhh... j-just a coupl'a walkers. That's all," It was agonizing enough just trying to breathe, talking on the other hoof was a whole different story. The country pony's ribs felt like they were being crushed over and over again as she inhaled, it barely made a difference when she started to take small intakes of breath.
"That's all?" The fashionista exclaimed with wide eyes as she stared at the cowpony in front of her. The first thing that caught her attention was that her friend was struggling to breathe, taking in shallow breaths and trying to pretend as if she wasn't in pain. But the fashionista knew she was, anyone could see through that mask of nonchalance. "You're barely breathing!"
"Rarity, what is she doing here?" She glanced at Twilight to find her looking back at her seemingly impatient, waiting for an answer.
"What?" In the moment of asking, she realized who she was talking about. "Are you talking about, Lilly?" The fashionista blew a puff of air before quickly resuming, she couldn't believe that her friend was asking about this now. "I let her out, Twilight and I don't see how this contributes to, Applejack's wellbeing."
The purple unicorn sighed, shaking her head with the look of disappointment on her face. "Fine, we'll talk about this later."
Rarity frowned. She felt like she was being treated like a foal, Twilight's passive aggressive behaviour was really beginning to irk her, "There's nothing to talk about."
"Actually... yes there is." The purple pony kept her expression composed, the disappointment on her face was permanent.
"No, there is not!"
Twilight stopped walking. She sighed before turning directly towards the fashionista, her disappointed expression was replaced with annoyance. "I don't see how this contributes to, Applejack's well being." She spat.
By instinct, the fashionista was going to say something back to her but she held back the urge. Words spoken by her only mere moments ago, were thrown right back at her. She sighed defeatedly, swaying her hoof to let them continue.
She followed until they were only a few feet away from the cart. Twilight quickly teleported Applejack along with herself onto the cart.
The fashionista and the brunette waited for them to be done. "You regret bringing me out here?" The brunette suddenly spoke, catching the fashionista off guard.
"S-sorry?"
"Regret. Do you regret bringing me out here?"
Rarity frowned, she knew why she asked that question. "No, I don't. Twilight is ju-"
Twilight suddenly abruptly appeared back in front of them, startling them in the process. "Now that I am done, we can continue our conversation." She looked at the brunette for a moment before looking back at the fashionista. "Would you like to finish what you were saying?" She added.
There was a paused. The fashionista rattled through her mind, trying to remember what she was saying.
"No?"
"I am trying to-"
"Why did you untie her?" The purple unicorn abruptly said. She nodded in Lilly's direction in such a smug manner which irritated the brunette.
"I'm right here."
"Yes... you are and I don't care. What I do care about though, is you inter-"
"Twilight." Rarity warned.
"What, Rarity?" The purple unicorn snapped. "Are you going to answer the question or not? Why did you untie her?"
"Because I wasn't just gonna leave her in there like a caged animal!"
"You should have! After what happened with, Doug!"
Lilly visibly froze, it didn't go unnoticed by Rarity or Twilight. She suddenly found herself wanting to go back into the cart again. Away from Twilight, away from them - the group. "I-uh..." The brunette inhaled a shuttering breath. "...I-I'm gonna go wait in the train." Without uttering anything else, the brunette walked past the two ponies back into the cart.
Rarity scowled at Twilight who looked as if she had done something good. "Do you have no shame, Twilight?"
"I don't know what you think this is, Rarity but I'm not just going to act as if she didn't kill anyone!"
"She already feels guilty for it, that was completely unnecessary!"
"Be that as it may, but what if she actually killed, Carley? Would she feel guilty about that?"
"She..." Rarity trailed off. Lilly said it herself, she was going to kill a 'traitor'. She would probably be glad about it, satisfied that she wouldn't have to deal with the so-called-traitor.
"Guys! There's something coming!" She turned, spotting rows upon rows of walkers over the horizon of which they came and she instantly went on full alert.
"Oh my... there is so many of them," The fashionista said, her eyes locked on the horizon filled with walkers.
"We gotta go!" Ben shouted, running across the roof of the train.
Rarity and Twilight sprinted directly toward the train with everyone following close behind. Once everyone was aboard, there was a loud grinding sound that echoed throughout the area. Rarity and Twilight turned to find the tanker finally falling off the highway, destroying the ladder on its way down. It made a rumble into the earth making the duo stumble around.
Shortly after, the train started moving and the herd suddenly seemed closer.
The train was slow but it increased by the second. It had just passed under the overpass when the group heard two loud thuds coming from up top, which was immediately followed by an agonizing cry of Omid as he hit the ground.
Christa ran out frantically to him, she lifted him up and began running towards the train with Omid limping behind her. Suddenly with a flash, Twilight was between and not a second later, teleported back onto the train.
"Holy shiiiit!"- Omid plopped down hard onto the floor of the cart. -"My damned leg!" He sat up against the wall, clutching to his injured leg.
"Where did you learn to do that?" Christa said, laying beside him with a bewildered look.
"All unicorns have magic." Twilight swayed a hoof.
Omid suddenly let out a grunt. Lee kneeled down to examine his injured leg, noticing a wet blood patch right in the middle of the shin area, soaking that area.
"Dude! T-this hurts... so please do not touch it!" Omid had hands out in front of him, stopping Lee from rolling up the sleeve on his bloodied leg.
"You think that's bad? Try getting shot." Rainbow said, appearing out of nowhere right beside him. She gestured to her bandaged wing, wincing at the slight pain that occurred when she moved it.
"You lose a coupl'a feathers?" The persian man said with half a grin.
"No, but it hurt... worse than what you have." The speedster had a proud grin on her face, as if being shot was a pleasant and fun experience.
"I wouldn't have guessed..."
Rarity stood beside Clementine who was sleeping peacefully in a chair in the control room, her arm propped up against the wall. Lee sat on the other side of Rarity by the controls. It had been a long two hours since they left the station, since the fallout with Twilight. They barely spared a glance at each other since the train left the station. Twilight had gone to check on Rainbow's wing while Rarity thought it'd be best to stay in the control room.
The fashionista watched as the city grew larger and larger over the horizon. In better circumstances, she would've been thrilled to visit the city. Admiring all the elegant decor, visiting fancy boutiques, seeing all the dresses on display windows. It made her smile, picturing herself walking along the streets of Savannah, people passing by her. She looked at Lee solemnly, "This is... Savannah?"
"Yup... it sure is, what's left of it." Lee glanced at the city before turning back to the fashionista, "How are you doing... adjusting to everything?"
A moment of silence past with Rarity mulling over numerous things in her head. Events, the deaths she has witnessed. An image of Larry's butchered head flashed through her mind, making her grimace and her stomach turn - she held back a gulp. "I... I suppose I'm okay? All things considered. My friends are okay which I am grateful for. I just dread-" She stopped mid-sentence, not wanting to even say that there is still a possibility that one of her friends may die. The thought made her superstitiously afraid of the possibility.
Lee seemed to know what she was going to say and he sighed. "You girls seem to be doing okay so far," He said, optimistic.
"...So far," The fashionista muttered, looking away from Lee.
The door opened, drawing her attention away and she turned to see Kenny entering the control room, flashing a weak smile to her to which she returned.
Lee got up from his seat, walked past Rarity to Clementine. He knelt down to grab something from her bag but the fashionista couldn't care to know what he was doing, instead she went back to watching the city.
"Next stop, The Atlantic."
Rarity frowned, confused as to what the plan was. She turned, glancing between Lee and Kenny, "What exactly are we going to do once we're there?"
"The plan is to find a boat." Lee replied.
"...And... where do we go from there?"
"We go someplace better... someplace safe." Kenny abruptly interjected with a slight hint of stubbornness in his voice.
At this point, Rarity couldn't care less about where the group decided to go. Her faith in getting home was waring, they've been here for over a week. She hadn't even thought about that in a while, too many things have happened for her to pay attention. Rainbow Dash being shot, Applejack getting injured and then getting into an argument with Twilight.
And yet they still managed to keep on going, she hoped that it wasn't luck that was keeping them alive. That can only last for so long.
She wanted to ask Kenny if he was alright, dealing with his family's passing. She decided against it, not wanting to bring anymore grief to the man.
A static like sound as if some device was being turned on suddenly made itself aware in the room, drawing the attention of Lee, Kenny and Rarity.
The unicorn frowned, her head facing in the direction of the sound which seemed to be emanating from Clementine's bag.
Lee kneeled down, dug his hand inside the bag and pulled out an object. An object that was quite foreign to Rarity's eyes. The object was rectangular shaped with the colour black and it had something poking out on top of it. A moment of static continued to play from it until a man's voice suddenly came through. "I can't wait for you to get to Savannah, Clementine. I got your parents right here and you be sure to find me, whether Lee wants you to or not. Now, what I need-" Lee turned off the device, going silent with the same type of static as before.
"Who was that?" Rarity inquired, feeling anxiety swell up in her chest at the thought of someone waiting for them in the city.
Lee didn't respond right away. He glanced toward Kenny who had a confused frown on his face, then toward Rarity who looked worried. "I... don't know."
"Didn't you say that thing was broken?" Kenny asked immediately after.
"Y-yeah, it... was."
"Well, it seems to be workin' just fine to me!"
"H-how long has this... 'man' been talking to, Clementine?" Rarity interjected. She suddenly found herself thinking that entering the city was a bad idea. Someone knew they were coming, Clementine had told them. Walkers alone already frightened her enough. With Omid and Christa being the exception, she found that meeting other humans made her paranoid. Not knowing who they are or what they're capable of terrified her and this man that was speaking on the device was a prime example.
"I don't know, I just found out now that the walkie talkie still works." Rarity noted the device's name.
"Whoever it is, I doubt we're gonna be happy when we found out." Kenny said, with a promising look.
"...Should we tell the others?" The fashionista inquired.
Lee and Kenny shared a glance, "'S your call, man."
He looked back down at the walkie talkie before lifting his head back up to look at the other two. "No... not yet."
Rarity would've felt better if they decided to tell everyone else, at least that way she wouldn't be the only one who was on edge. She knew it was selfish, Lee and Kenny were most likely in the same boat as her but she didn't care.
She wanted everyone to know about the man, to feel what she was feeling. It would've provided a great deal of comfort for her if the whole group knew. She threw one last glance at the city, stress was increasing as the train neared. If I ever come across anyone, do not trust them. Rarity promised.
The large group trailed through the deserted city on full alert. The streets were empty, the roads were littered with trash and debris with soda cans you'd see every now and then. Wind guided specs of paper along from one street to another.
The group hadn't encountered any walkers since entering the city, it was if the city was truly deserted; nothing but the silence keeping it company. Some of the buildings were boarded up, some weren't boarded up; their windows would be smashed and the doors would be off their hinges.
The group continued through the city without uttering a single word. All on alert, expecting a horde to appear around a corner.
Rarity was eyeing the walkie talkie that was attached to Lee's pocket. After hearing the man on the radio, she found that her stress had never left. She was constantly asking questions in her head. Who was that man? How long has he been talking to Clementine? How much does he know?
She kept glancing back and forth between buildings, expecting to find someone looking at them. Watching them. Observing, learning their every move, their routine, their names. Does the stranger know her name? That wasn't the problem, the problem was that Clementine had been feeding information to this 'man' for who knows how long.
She just hoped that the little girl didn't tell him anything about her. If she did though, the mere thought of that outcome only added more fuel to her anxiety.
"How far are these boats?" David asked.
Kenny, the one who came up with the idea to get a boat didn't respond. He continued walking whilst David was eagerly waiting for a response, that eagerness soon turned into impatience as time passed. "Yo! Earth to Kenny?"
"Just a little further." Kenny called back to him.
Ha! A little further he says. David thought to himself. "Feels like we've been walking for hours." He muttered to himself.
"Ah wouldn't say hours, more like uh-twenty minutes." Applejack commented, feeling slightly bored herself.
David hadn't noticed her walking behind him. "I refuse to believe that." He deadpanned. It felt like hours had gone by in his head. Just walking through the city and not having anything to do. Keeping an eye out for walkers wasn't an issue to him, the issue was that nothing was happening. He was expecting the city to be full of walkers and yet; not a single walker has been sighted.
"Believe it or not... we've been walkin' for a long time."
A loud bang, like a sledgehammer coming into contact with thick steel had suddenly echoed throughout the street, eliminating the silence that was coating the city.
It went on rhythmically and the group was quick to establish that it was a bell.
"Is someone ringing the bell?" Twilight asked.
"No! It's automatic. Let's just keep movin'," Kenny said after turning around to look at the group.
An automatic bell? That could be useful. Back in Equestria, you needed to manually operate a bell. She remembered how Pinkie was asked to ring the Ponyville school bell all week but then ended up only having to do it for five minutes.
A scratch of noise suddenly became audible and a voice, seemingly out of nowhere started speaking. "If I were you, I'd get out of the street now." The voice spoke in a ominous and intimidating manner.
Lee pulled a device that was attached to his pocket and held it up in front of him. "Who the hell is this? Are you the one ringing those bells?"
No response came. The group was in a mix state of confusion and unbeknownst fear.
"What the hell was that?" David spurted out.
Rarity shrieked, startling the whole group.
"Rarity, what is your-" Twilight stopped mid-sentence upon when she caught sight of a large horde of walkers that were headed directly towards them.
By then, the bell had stopped ringing and the city that was once deserted became a city that belonged to the dead.
Fucking jinx, you goddamn asshole! David angrily thought.
"Everybody run! Go!"
"Where?! Directly towards them?!" Twilight yelled. She spotted a mansion, over in the distance. Walkers were starting to close in. She made a split-second decision and she teleported the group on the other side of the horde, closer to the mansion.
There was a series of shouting and questions demanding to know what had just happened amongst the group. "Everybody there's a mansion over there! Come on!" Not wasting any time, Twilight took off in the direction of the mansion with the group following somewhat off-balance from the effects of the teleportation spell.
She followed a path that led into the backyard of the mansion where a shed was structured over by the left corner and dog house on the opposite end. The backyard was secured with a brick wall that had black gothic gates embedded into them. In the middle of the yard, layed an old moldy fountain that was completely devoid of water. Nothing but dust and dead leaves.
The rest of the group flooded in, desperately trying to flee from the threat that was the dead. Applejack, who was the last one in the backyard slammed the gate behind them.
"Dude..." David leaned against the brick wall. "That teleportation thing... wow that was weird."
"Well it got us outta there, so quit complainin'!" Kenny said.
"W-wait I wasn't complaining, I was just saying it felt a bit weird. That's all."
Kenny ignored him and went on to the door of the house.
"Hey, Twilight?" Lee said, looking curious.
"Yeah?"
"You can teleport, why can't you just teleport us to where the boats are?" That got Kenny's attention but he didn't say anything.
"Well one, I've never been here before so I don't know what this place looks like and two the vicinity of my teleportation can only stretch so far."
Lee nodded his head, the group was intrigued by the information the lavender pony was giving them.
"I can hear the walkers going away." Clementine said, listening to the walker's moans and growls growing more and more distant.
"Dude, can you hurry up? My leg is hurtin' like hell." Omid said, gripping his bloodied leg.
"The door's locked, gon' have to find another way in." Kenny said, as he turned to face the group.
"Or I can take a look at the door?" Twilight said.
"Knock yourself out." Kenny stepped aside so the unicorn could work on the door. Mere seconds past, and the door handle was forced off it's socket and the door slowly opened.
The house was empty. It had a vintage wallpaper pasted with flowers and most of the windows were boarded up; all except the ones on the second floor and the one in the living room.
Fluttershy escorted Applejack to a forest green sofa in the living room whilst Christa helped Omid to a couch.
Lee, Kenny and Twilight were left in the kitchen. The rest of the group wondered around the first floor, mainly in the living room.
"What is that device you have?" Twilight asked, looking at the walkie-talkie attached to Lee's pocket.
"Oh this?" Lee grabbed the radio from his pocket. "It's a walkie-talkie, you can use it to communicate with someone."
Someone? "Was that where the voice came from?" She demanded. She couldn't believe she forgotten about what happened on the street. A voice suddenly springs out of nowhere, warning them and telling them to get out of the street. As soon as she saw the walkers; she completely ignored it and started looking for ways to escape.
"Yeah..." Lee hesitated which the unicorn noticed. His hesitation only sparked suspicion in her.
"How long has this been going on?"
"Who gives a shit about the damn radio?! A'hm more worried about whoever's ringin' those goddamn bells!" Kenny was quick to interrupt.
Twilight was slightly startled by the man's sudden outburst but she agreed with his statement.
"What we need to do is get to the docks, get a boat and bam! We're set. We don't have to deal with this bullshit!"
"Well the others need some rest. Especially, Applejack and, Omid," Lee said.
"We also need supplies and m-medicine. What if they get worse?" Twilight pointed out and Lee nodded in agreement.
"Then we leave 'em." Lee and Twilight went wide eyed at Kenny's suggestion.
"We. Are not doing that." Twilight glared at the man who merely shrugged it off.
"Why the hell can't we just rest for a few minutes anyway?" Lee folded his arms, waiting for an answer.
"Why the hell do I gotta explain?! This city is filled with walkers, got some creepy backseat motherfucker toyin' with us on the radio! And to top it off; we got a sociopath ringin' bells all over the goddamn city and tryna' get us all killed!"
"Even so, we are not leaving anyone behind!" Twilight rebutted.
Rarity walked over to the trio. She had been listening in on their debate from the dining room. The trio didn't notice her coming into the kitchen, they were too busy arguing with each other; mainly Lee and Twilight against Kenny. "Everyone please! Can we just... simmer down a bit?" She looked at Kenny with the most gentle eyes she could muster, she didn't want to make the man any more angrier. Or angry at her for that matter. "Kenny, surely we could just... rest... rest for thirty minutes? Just thirty minutes. Once that's up, we'll leave, go to the docks and get a boat."
The man still had that frustrated look on his face but he wasn't saying anything. It almost looked like he was considering the idea. Rarity saw him take a quick glance at Lee and Twilight before he shook his head in defeat. "Fuckin-fine! Thirty minutes, that's all! Then we're leavin' no exceptions, 's that clear?" He still had that look on his face, Rarity just hoped that the other two wouldn't start up another argument.
Lee offered a "sure" and Twilight merely nodded.
"Good!" Kenny turned and walked off into the living room.
Lee and Rarity both sighed at the same time, relieved. "We should search the house for supplies. See what we can find that would help, Omid and Applejack."
"We need to make sure it's empty too," Twilight added.
"Right, I'll check the second floor." Rarity made her way to the stairs. She spotted Lilly in the living room, she was seated and leaned up against the window looking out of place. Like she wasn't a part of the group. Rarity couldn't help but feel sorry for her, she would never tell her that though. Judging by her personality, the woman wouldn't want anyone pitying her.
A few of the others were talking amongst each other. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Kenny just sat quietly.
From the way Kenny was tapping his finger on the armrest of the couch, he was obviously just waiting for the thirty minutes to be over.
After checking the study room on the second floor, Rarity made her way to the entrance of a hallway where a cord hanged from the ceiling. At the end of the hallway was a window, a ray of sunshine coming through, barely lighting up the hallway.
The attic. The unicorn walked over and stood in front of the hanging cord. She used her magic to pull the attic down, gently laying it onto the floor not wanting to create a loud bang. She looked up into the attic, wood being the first thing she saw. Judging by how lit the room was, she presumed that there must've been a window up there. Before opening the attic, she assumed that she would have to go trotting around in the darkness using nothing but the aura of her horn to generate some kind of light source. Even though her aura would've been perfectly fine to use in the dark, she still preferred the sunlight.
I'm sure there's nothing up there. The unicorn walked up the stairs, wary at the thought that there could've been walkers up there. She never heard anything going up the attic so the thought only became a possibility. Besides, how does a walker get up an attic?
Once she climbed up the ladder, the first thing she noticed was the putrid odor. Like something was rotting, gathering up all types of bacteria and fusing them all together. Then she heard the soft growls of a walker. Her guard was up ready, for it.
But when she saw the walker, she gasped in a mix of horror and sadness. There it was, the husk of what was once a child boy. Nothing but a walking corpse of decaying meat and flesh. It's skin hanged from it's bones, legs and arms. The only clothing the walker had was a pair of crusty socks and a pair of white underwear.
Rarity spotted pieces of miniature clothing over by a mattress, it was obvious that that was where the child slept.
The walker had taken notice of the unicorn. It attempted turn but the legs were too weak to hold the upper frame of the body and it fell to the floor, pitifully.
As much of a threat walkers usually were, this one posed no threat. It barely turned before it fell to the ground. The scene was heartbreaking to the unicorn. She thought of how terrified the child must've been, how hopeless it must've felt to be so alone in a world like this, to be a child and to try and survive on your own with no one looking out for you.
What would Sweetie Belle do? She found herself tearing up at the thought of her little sister, wondering what she would have done if she was in this little boy's position. Would she wait for her big sister? Would someone else come along and take care of her like Lee did with Clementine or would she simply just... starve?
The image of seeing her little sister in this world, all frightened and alone. Hiding up in an attic, waiting for someone - somepony to come along and rescue her. Her heart was lodged into her throat as a few tears streaked her furry white face.
She swallowed, taking a deep breath. "...Okay." She started walking toward the downed walker. She didn't know what she was doing, what she was going to do. She tried to shake off the thought of it suffering. Trying to look at it as if it was nothing but a walker because it was. If it was given the chance, it would bite into her.
She stepped in front of the walker who was now desperately trying to reach up to her. She made sure she was a few inches away from it. She glanced at her hooves, debating whether or not she should use one of them to put the walker down. I could just use my...
"Okay... okay..." A slab of transparent light blue aura was suddenly on one side of the walker's temple pushing it down onto the wooden floor but not killing it. "I-I'm... sorry." More pressure was applied to the slab of aura before it immediately squished the walker's head in, killing it.
Rarity walked down the stairs, slightly red eyed. She overheard Lee speaking to Clementine about the man on the radio. He was in the kitchen, away from everyone else who were still in the living room. Probably didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable around the others - she presumed.
She didn't want to intrude on their conversation so she waited until she could no longer hear their voices. Few moments later, she heard footsteps coming closer to her, growing louder and louder.
She stepped into the kitchen, nearly bumping into Clementine who was just in front of the door way, arms-length apart. They both exchanged polite smiles, Rarity quickly followed up with a "sorry" before walking over to Lee who was leaning his elbows on the counter in the middle of the kitchen.
As she walked over to the counter, he frowned at her - almost concerned. "Are you okay? What's the matter?"
"Hmm?" He must've noticed her slightly bloodshot eyes. She wasn't going to leave the corspe of a child in the house to decay - rotting away even more. "Oh uh... no. Not really."
Lee brung his arms away from the counter and he knelt down to her level. "What's the matter?"
"I... there's something you need to see."
Rarity entered the attic once again but this time with Lee. She saw his shock - which turned into sadness upon seeing the body of the dead child. "Oh god..." he muttered.
"I... I put him down," She sadly admitted.
Lee's eyes went wide for a moment before they morphed into sympathy, sorrow. He gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "You okay?"
She stared at the body for mere seconds. "I-it just reminded me of my sister." She paused. "I don't know how old he is, he seemed so... young." She turned, looked up at the man. A new wave of tears was beginning to brim on the edge of her eyelids. "I don't know what my sister would do in this situation."
Lee stayed silent, listening to her talk.
"I want to bury it. It's not right leaving him up here."
The man finally nodded, eyebrows furrowed. "Don't worry about it, we'll take care of it." He walked over to the deceased child and picked him up.
Everything was misty outside and the streets were once again peaceful - maybe not peaceful, just suspenseful. Like the wind being the city's friend.
The two thought it'd be best if the boy was buried near the burial beside the dog house. Lee dug up a grave, picked up the boy and lowered him into the burial.
He started burying him and Rarity watched, completely silent and saddened by the whole scene. She thought about everypony back at home, if anypony was looking for them. She couldn't help but ask herself. Was anypony looking for them?
A next thought occured to her. Was this a dream? She knew it wasn't but she still found herself hoping that it was. Maybe she got hit back in the forest, causing her to slip into a coma and she's in the hospital resting with all her friends - maybe at least one or two was standing around her; wishing that she would wake up.
But that wasn't the case, no matter how badly she wanted it to be. She was here, this was happening and she had to accept that and hold out as long as she can... or at least until somepony or something happens that would get them all home.
Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, a silhouette of what appeared to be a man was standing outside the gate. She slowly turned, as the fear of being watched and observed started to come true.
And there he was, ever so silently standing there, motionless was a man staring at her. Eyes piercing into her soul. His face portrayed no emotion. He just stood there looking at her, not doing anything. It was terrifying.
All Rarity could do was stare back, she couldn't do anything. The fashionista found herself unable to move, frightened and paralyzed. She didn't know how long they were staring for, it felt like forever to her.
She failed to register the man taking off into a full sprint and Lee running to the gate. "You come back here and I'll kill you! You understand?! I will kill you!"
Lilly felt relaxed at how quiet the city was. Despite being in a room filled with other people who were chatting away. She hadn't been able to properly relax ever sinced her father died, always thinking about the group and how much resources they had, it was never about herself, all the decisions she made; it's always been about the group.
When she decided she was going to kill Carley, it was for the sake of the group. She couldn't be trusted, the group barely knew anything about her; all they knew was that she was a reporter, what else? She's a good shot? A decent person?
Pretty much all they know is that she was a reporter, that was it. Even if she was right, she'd be powerless to do anything about it. She wouldn't even try anyway. Without the weight of being the leader on her shoulders, she was able to think more clearly; ever since she'd been given a second chance to be with the group, but not as the leader, she noticed that she hadn't been as stressed as when she was the leader.
The brunette thought more about it and was beginning to realize that maybe she was wrong about Carley. If she was a bandit, wouldn't she have killed her by now? The brunette missed her because of Doug, dragging her out of the way and getting himself... killed.
She tensed at the memory. It wasn't supposed to be... it wasn't supposed... them. But she messed up. She tried not to make any excuses and felt a pang of guilt struck her chest.
The brunette looked over to the reporter who was leaning against the wall near the stairs by the case opening.
Fuck it... She stood up, shoved all thoughts aside and walked over to her - albeit hesitantly.
Carley noticed her coming. She stopped leaning against the wall and judging by her expression and her left hand grasping the pistol grip; she was expecting that Lilly was going to try and finish the job.
The brunette quickly threw up her right hand, showing the her she meant no harm. The reporter slowly unclenched her grip on the pistol and she folded her arms. "What do you want?" She harshly said.
Shoulda saw that one coming. The brunette took a moment to answer before she sighed. "Look, Carley I'm-"
"You come back here and I'll kill you! You understand?! I will kill you!"
A shout came from outside, cutting the brunette off. The two women exchanged a look before they both ran outside to find Lee yelling out into the streets. "Lee, what the hell are you doing? You're gonna draw walkers." Carley exclaimed.
"Sorry, I just..." He turned to face them. "I saw someone over by the fence, watching us." He gestured to himself and Rarity who was just starting to recover from the fright.
"So they were just standing there, watching you guys?" Carley asked incredulously.
"What did he look like?" Lilly asked.
"Dunno, he was too quick."
Lilly looked towards the gates. Maybe leaving as soon as possible wasn't such a bad idea. First the bandits, now they've got some guy stalking them now? She looked towards Rarity who was still shook up by the ordeal.
It was concerning for the brunette to see. She felt an... urge to protect her, an urge to keep her safe. After all, she - and Lee were the only ones who were willing to give her a second chance. Besides Pinkie Pie. She didn't have anyone else to care for, no one else to look after - with her father being gone. She was going to stick by their side, no matter what and assist them in their time of need.
The brunette walked over to the frightened unicorn. "Are you okay?"
"J-just... j-just a little spooked, is all. I'm okay and... unharmed." Rarity said with half a smile.
Lilly nodded. "Have any idea who that guy is?"
"I-I don't know... maybe that man on the radio? He said..." The unicorn trailed off.
"Yeah?" Lilly urged her to continue.
Rarity wasn't sure if she should tell her about the walkie-talkie situation. Everyone else knew that the device was working, they found that out on the street, back when the bell suddenly rang. As for everything else, for the whole Clementine-has-been-talking-to-a-stranger-for-who-knows-how-long situation? Only she, Kenny and Lee knew about that.
She swallowed down any doubts she would have and decided to go with the "oh, to hell with it" approach, as Kenny liked to say. "Apparently... apparently, he was expecting us."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that the man was expecting us to be here. He said that he had Clementine's parents with him."
"He told you that?" A look of disbelief was on the brunette's face.
"No! It happened on the train. I was talking with, Lee and suddenly out of nowhere the walkie-talkie came on and there was this man saying he had Clementine's parents."
"Did he say anything else?"
"No. All he said was that he knew where Clementine's parents were."
Lilly recalled one of the moments back at the motor inn where she would see Clementine talking to her walkie-talkie. Which was odd to her at the time - considering the device was "broken". That was until Lee explained to her that the child used it to pretend like she was talking to her parents.
Rarity was already expecting to find someone watching them; she just didn't think it'd be so close to their so called "rest area". So coincidentally, she didn't see anyone going into the city and right when her guard was down; someone was watching her.
"Lee was there. Did he do anything about it? Did he speak to, Clementine at all?" Lilly asked.
"Uhh... y-yes? I'm certain he did."
"Well, good. I wouldn't have want to do that myself..." The brunette trailed off.
"I... doubt anyone would let you near her."
Lilly stared at the unicorn. "...Obviously."
"That's it! We've been here too fucking long! 'S about time we start movin'," Kenny's usual loud voice suddenly took up the whole backyard.
The two looked over from the left corner of the yard to find that Twilight and Kenny had come outside.
"The other two still aren't feeling well enough to move yet." Twilight argued.
"Well, ready or not; we need to leave!"
"Applejack, can barely breathe properly!"
"She seemed to be breathin' fine last time ah saw her!"
"It doesn't matter, we still don't have any supplies with us. Even if we do get a boat, what then? We won't have anything that'll keep us fed!"
Lilly and Rarity stood afar watching the two go back-and-forth with their points. Anyone with common knowledge would agree with both sides, although Lilly agreed more with Kenny; seeing as how someone knew of their location, they needed to leave as soon as possible.
But the others - Applejack and Omid, they still needed rest. The pony's ribs and Omid's leg. They both needed antibiotics to fight away infection, Rainbow Dash seemed to be getting better with her wing. If only she wasn't injured, she could fly to a pharmacy, chemist, a grocery store; anywhere that has any sort of resource really and bring it back here, no problem.
Lilly decided to speak up whether the group was going to like or not. "Guys!"
"What!?" Kenny and Twilight said in unison.
"Why... don't we try both? While, Kenny is out there looking for a boat, the group can stay here and rest." She looked at Kenny. "While you're out there, I'll scrounge up any supplies I can find."
Twilight and Kenny both exchanged a look of distaste before Kenny looked back at the brunette. "Fine... I can deal with that."
"You're not going out there alone, are you?" Rarity said.
"I'll be fine."
There was a pause throughout the yard. "...Alright, that settles it."
Lee handed over the wrench he found back at the train over to Lilly. She needed a way to defend herself somehow. She then made her way over to the front door but was stopped by a shout. "Wait!"
She saw Rarity and David approaching her from the living room, "We're coming with you!" The former teacher said.
Lilly couldn't help but feel slightly awkward with the presence of David being there, when they never really communicated in the past and the only time they ever really interacted with each other was when she murdered Doug. "I-I think it's better if I went alone."
"No really, I'm coming with you - both of us, actually!" He gestured to himself and Rarity.
"The more the merrier, darling." Rarity added.
"Do any of you even have anything to protect yourselves with?"
"I do." Just then, Lilly turned back to the living room and saw Carley walking over to them with her pistol in hand.
This couldn't possibly get any more awkward...
The group of four trailed through the dead streets of Savannah. Just like it was when they arrived, dead while the only thing that was keeping them company was the wind.
"This is stupid." David said, breaking the silence.
"Then why'd you even bother coming!?" Lilly snapped, irritated by his stupid comment.
"No-no-no! I meant how empty the streets were."
"...Sure."
"No, seriously like... it's so empty! I mean I know that there's someone ringing bells all over the place but like... it's a city! There's supposed to be walkers everywhere."
"Your complaining that there's not enough walkers in the city?" Carley deadpanned.
"I think we should be grateful, David." The reporter nodded in agreement at Rarity.
"Just sayin', it's a bit weird how a city that use to be so full of people; is suddenly so empty."
There was a pause before Lilly decided to speak up. "David?"
"Yeah?" He looked at her and she turned back with a stern look on her face.
It had been a good twenty minutes since the group left the mansion in search of supplies. Lilly didn't know what to feel about the others that came with her. She felt uncomfortable, sure, especially with Carley being there. She hadn't finish what she was going to say when Lee abruptly but unknowingly cut her off, yelling at whoever was outside watching him. Now, she couldn't even look at the woman, southeast of her. She sometimes felt her eyes on her but she never turned back to look.
Instead, she ignored it and carried on - there'll be another time. Hopefully.
As for David, well, she had no clue what was on his mind. Didn't he feel some sort of resentment towards her? Why would he, of all people go with her? She would've understood if Lee went with her, she would've felt more comfortable in the presence of Carley. The brunette knew nothing about David. Other than him being a teacher, she really didn't know anything about him. "Have any of you ever been here before?" She called out.
A moment passed before David spoke up, "I did. like... years ago."
She looked back at him, he was walking beside Carley, "Is there a store or... warehouse around here? A pharmacy?"
"I don't know," he simply said.
Silence fell upon them as they all strolled through the street.
"You just said, you've been here before?" Rarity finally said.
"Yeah but I've never been to this part of, Savannah."
"Who knew?" Carley said with a fake grin, which she lost mere seconds later.
"I actually have been to, Savannah, you know?"
"Yeah, you probably drove to, Savannah just for the sake of saying; you've been to, Savannah."
"That's... surprisingly accurate." David laughed.
"Wait, you drove? Just for the sake of getting to be here?" Rarity asked, confused.
"He's just joking, Rarity." Carley said but then wondered. David seemed like the type of person to do that... "You are joking, right?"
"Of course I am!" He replied, almost immediately. "Such a waste of valuable gas and essential... stuff."
"Dear, Celestia... I was about to say-"
"Who is this, Celestia you keep talking about?" Lilly abruptly said, looking back at the unicorn.
"Yeah, you always say 'oh my, Celestia' or 'Dear, Celestia' or something, who is that?" David added, clearly intrigued.
Carley was listening to the conversation, just as interested as Lilly and David. She already knew what Equestria was. It was their home, country to be exact. But as for Celestia? She had no clue who that was. Probably some pony god or something.
"She's the ruler of Equestria-" Rarity delved deep into a monologue about Equestria and Celestia. Explaining who she was, what the elements of harmony were, the creatures that they've faced.
"Wow, what a wonderful world to live in. To know that the fate of an entire continent depends on six ponies." David said, with sarcasm.
"Why isn't your Princess here to get you guys? I mean, you've been here what, how long? Two, three weeks? If she's as powerful as you say she is, wouldn't she have found a way to get here, by now?" Carley asked, incredulously.
"You heard her, Carley. In times of need, you can always depend on Celestia to do absolutely nothing."
Rarity shot the man a harsh glare.
"What? You just told us, that you guys are always the one saving, Equestria. Elements of friendship and all."
"So, without you or your friends... Equestria would be screwed?" Lilly asked, looking back at the unicorn.
"To put it simply... yes," the unicorn replied.
Half an hour later, the group was coming across another bell tower. One that almost looked identical to the first one they saw, back when they entered the city. Made out of white aspen wood, bell at the top - easily noticeable and a fairly large clock under it with roman numerals.
The parking lot was the size of a school soccer field with a couple of rusty cars sitting in it. All of which were completely busted. The humans expected that, having enough experience in this world. A few cracks in the concrete with weeds growing out of it.
Rarity eyed the tower, wondering if anyone was in there. After what had happened on the street in the morning, this was the last place she'd want to be. Putting her thoughts aside, she faced forward and continued on when a bell suddenly rang.
The group stopped. They all glanced at one another, all wide eyed. The unicorn quickly turned back to the tower and she caught a glimpse of someone moving across the roof before going down onto the otherside. "I saw someone!" She shouted.
"Where?" Lilly asked, looking back at her and readying her wrench.
"Up in the tower! I saw someone running across the roof!"
"Wow, so the bell isn't automatic? Glad we establish that cause we now know that there's someone up there, screwing with us!" David yelled, angrily as he began looking around for any walkers.
"We're gonna have to move, this place is gonna be crawling with walkers any second." Carley added, taking the safety off her gun.
"You know, this is wonderful! This is a city and we have yet to come across a damn pharmacy! Churches! But no pharmacy!"
Multiple walkers appeared around the right corner in front of them. They were moving toward the ringing bell before setting their sights on something else. They began moving toward the group, like a predator that had just found it's new prey. Growling, their rotting mangled hands held out at them.
"Shit! Alright, everyone to the church, now!" Lilly barked an order before she took off in direction of the church. The rest of the group followed. Running past the vehicles that were no longer in service with the herd on their tail. Rarity threw a look back, the herd was already a quarter of the way through the parking lot.
They made it to the doors of the church. Lilly yanked on them, and then groaned loudly finding out they were locked.
"What the hell do we do now!?" David yelled. He turned, the herd was halfway through the lot and he pulled out a cleaver he found back at the mansion. A dread began to fill his stomach as he watched the rotting corpses approach. The lot seemed to look much smaller now.
Rarity watched as the herd, ravaged their way through the parking lot. Half of the lot, complete with guttural growls and an awful smelling odor filling the air. The unicorn felt a spasm run through her body, her heart rate increasing and a small suffocating feeling forming in her chest.
"Go around the back! Come on!" Lilly shouted once more, running around to the side as fast as she could with the others following behind.
Upon turning the corner, they came across two white doors, both having handlebars with an emergency exit sign above them. Wasting no time, the brunette shoved the right door open. She hastily slammed the door once everyone was in.
The room they were in was quite small. A fire extinguisher hanging on the left side of the room. Doors with glass panels from left to right and two brown, shiny and unreasonably clean benches against the north side of the room. Given the way the world was, every piece of furniture they had came across was either completely covered in dust, had blood stained on them or be completely demolished.
"Rarity, move those up against the doors." Lilly pointed at the benches.
Using her magic, the unicorn effortlessly stacked the two benches up against the exit doors. The group took the moment to gather their stamina. Calm down a bit. The horde could still be heard from outside, their idle growling, searching for their meal. They merely saw the group disappear round back.
"Ok, so... this church? Very clean for the end of the world, huh?" David said, panting and leaning his left arm against the wall.
"It certainly is, isn't it?" Came the low unknown gravelly voice from behind them. They all snapped toward it, readying their weapons.
There in the left doorway, stood a man who looked to be in his mid fifties wearing a khaki trench coat. He posessed navy blue faded slacks with dirty brown dress shoes and a white torn button up shirt that had a deep red dried splatter in the corner.
The shotgun in the man's hands directed at them, immediately getting everyone's undivided attention. "It's impolite to break into people's homes, you know?"
It had been a while since Rarity and Lee left. Rarity searching for antibiotics, medicine, bandages, pretty much anything that would assist Applejack in her condition. It wasn't improving but it wasn't getting any worse either. So, it wasn't all bad.
Rainbow Dash's wing was healing exceptionally well, not even needing any antibiotics to help her. There weren't no sharp piercing pain to torment her every time she maneuvered it, still hurt to fly but all in all; she was well.
Ben along with Chuck and Twilight, had helped Christa a while ago with Omid. Bringing him upstairs to rest on a bed rather than a small couch that made his back and neck ache after a while of laying on it. Shouldn't have been laying in such a terrible position. Clementine had told Applejack she'd wanted to go explore the second floor to which the pony said it was alright to do so. The pony had briefly wondered why the child asked her and nopony else.
Fluttershy, Applejack and Rainbow Dash sat on the same couch, chatting amongst themselves about various things albeit solemnly. The subject of Rarity came up, with Fluttershy being the most anxious and concerned. She would ask usual questions like, how long she would be. Why she went out in the first place. If they could trust Lilly.
Applejack didn't nor did Rainbow Dash. After what she did to Doug, they didn't trusted her at all. Even going as far as resenting her. If it were up to them, they would've left her on the side of the road. To fend for herself. They couldn't care less about what would've happened to her, out there. She was too dangerous. Doug didn't deserve to die like that. No one in their group deserved to die like that. It was so sudden. That he was just gone, like that. No goodbye or anything. Just a shot to the head and that was it, he was gone. All because someone had been giving out supplies to the bandits.
All because of one person, Ben. Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were the only ones who knew. Applejack wondered for a moment, why would he tell the other two? Did he brang them aside and confessed or did Fluttershy thought something was wrong and found out for herself? Suppose, it didn't matter. The outcome was the same.
Pinkie Pie was in the dining room sitting by the table on one of the fancy looking chairs with red fabric cushions and a pattern stitched into them. Alone and away from her friends. Her head resting on the cold, solid brown table. Her mane ever so straight, covering the left half of her face flowing down onto the table. She hadn't been the same since Duck... passed away. She'd been feeling miserable and hopeless, completed with the lack of faith of ever getting home.
She believed they were stuck there, forever. She wasn't stupid, her child-like behavior may have made her look like it. But she wasn't. She knew how it was, Twilight didn't have a plan to get them home. They were never getting home. It was simple and plain as grey to see. Nopony was looking for them, nopony knew where they were. They were just gone. Gone forever. Vanished without a trace all because of...
Twilight.
The pony immediately shook her head and began to scold herself with what little civility she'd been holding onto. It wasn't her fault... it wasn't her fault. It's nopony fault.
"It's not her-it's not her fault- it's not. Her. Fault. Not Twilight's fault, dont blame your friends. Don't blame your friends, Pinkie." She tried convincing herself.
She eyed the alcohol bottle, idly sitting on the middle of the table all by it's lonesome like she was.
She wondered what was in the bottle. She hopped off the chair and trotted over to the middle of the table, moving the bottle closer with her left hoof. "Jack Daniel's... Te-ne-seeee whiskey?" She read the faded out text on the bottle to herself, a confused look on her face. "Dis-tilled and bottled by, Jack Daniel."
She brought the bottle closer to her and twisted the lid off using her mouth. She took a seat in one of the chairs. She brang the bottle to her lips, taking a sip and nearly spat out the bittery taste. "That... is terrible!" The awful taste still lingering on her tongue. "Cider, cider what is this?" Why would anypony drink this stuff. It's not even good.
She glanced at the bottle again and subconsciously felt the urge to take another sip.
"Fuck this world!" Pinkie Pie shouted, standing in front of the furnace, in the middle of the living room.
Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Applejack stared at her. Fluttershy eyes were wide, Rainbow Dash and Applejack just stared their friend, concerned.
"W-wait, what did you just say?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Fuck. This. World!" Pinkie repeated.
"Pinkie... a-are you okay?" Fluttershy asked as she slowly got off the couch whilst staring at her friend. She was rather stunned, that her friend was speaking in such a crude manner. Occasionally, she would hear the humans in their group talk like that, most of it coming from Kenny.
"Okay? No, I'm not okay! I'm fucking-fucking angry!" She barked, making her friend shrink back.
Rainbow Dash jumped off the couch and walked over to the intimidated pegasus.
"This fucking world! It's-it's... it's stupid! I hate it!"
"Pinkie, what is goin' on with you?" Applejack got off the couch and walked over to her friend. Having no clue of where her explosive attitude came from. She instantly thought back to the moment on the train. Pinkie was angry, she knew that. It wasn't hard to tell but she didn't think she was that angry.
"I just told youuuuu!" She said, stuffing her face into Applejack's before stepping back and began pacing around the living room. "I. Hate. This. World!" She repeated.
"Ah think we all do, Pinkie. You ain't the only one, so just y'know settle down a bit."
Pinkie stopped just at the corner of the couch, nearest to the window and turned to her friend. "Settle down? Huh, settle down she says. Have you forgotten about, Duck?" Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy looked at her sympathetically as they walked over to her, stopping on the other side of the couch.
She started walking toward Applejack. "I am not going to settle down. Not after what happened, not after what Ben did!"
Both Applejack and Fluttershy's eyes widened at the same time, a cold air filled their lungs.
Rainbow Dash frowned. "Wait, what did Ben do?" She asked, looking between all three of them.
"Ah-she, uh-we don't-w-we don't-" Applejack sputtered, unable to come up with an answer. She didn't want to lie, after all.
"What is going on here?" Oh thank Celestia. The pressure was instantly lifted and a wave of relief washed over her as a frowning Twilight entered the room.
"Pinkie's a bit... peeved," Rainbow replied, giving her an unsure look.
"I could hear all the shouting from upstairs." She gestured toward the second floor. "What is she mad about?"
The pegasus threw glance back at the seething pony's direction before turning back at the unicorn. "...Everything." Came Rainbow's grim response. Both ponies looked toward their friend and found her pacing around again. Her body hunched over and head hanging low. Staring at the wooden floor with a scowl on her face.
The unicorn gave a little sigh before walking over to her. "Pinkie, what is-OOF!" A harsh shove came at her, throwing her at the living room table, hitting her back against the sharp edge. Not enough to pierce through her skin but still teeth-grittingly painful. She let out a yelp before collapsing to the floor.
"Twilight!" Fluttershy rushed over to her and knelt down to her groaning friend.
"What in the hay did ya do that for!?" Applejack shouted in utter disbelief, Rainbow approached the duo with the same shocked look on her face.
"She's the whole reason why we're in this mess! She's the whole reason why we're here!" Pinkie fired back.
Rainbow shot up in the air, hovering above the pink pony, not caring about the pain that ached in her wing. "But that's no excuse to start hurting your friends!"
"We're all in the same boat here, Pinkie Pie! Don't act like-"
"What!? Don't act like what?" Pinkie snapped, her voiced laced with anger and cutting off Applejack.
"Like you're the only one who's dealin' with this! We're all sufferin' here!"
"Some more than others."
"I wanna get home too, Pinkie but you don't see me hitting my friends and flipping out all over the place!" When Pinkie stayed quiet, she continued. "And besides, we all made the decision to follow her out there! She didn't know what was gonna happen! We could've said no, but we didn't. We have no one to blame but ourselves!"
"You were just as mad as I am right now, back at the motor inn. Remember? When we first got here?"
"Yeah, I was but after I thought about it; we only have ourselves to blame. She wanted us to see that "orb", she didn't force us to go with her. We went, that was our choice! Not hers!" Rainbow panted. It was a wonder why the others hadn't come down to check on them but now the room was finally silent.
Rainbow half-expected for her to come back with another rebuttal, instead the earth pony threw a look in Twilight's direction who was looking at her with hurt eyes. She glanced at Rainbow once more before slowly turning and began walking out of the living room. Toward the set of stairs.
"W-what? You're just done talking now? All that and you're gonna walk away with no apology, huh?"
"Let it go, Rainbow." Applejack layed a hoof on her back, trying to calm the pegasus down. Everypony watched in silence as the one who once brang cheerful laughter and big smiles to their faces; walk up the stairs to the second floor with an etched glare.
The living room was silent, nopony had said a word since the argument. Or at least, gone into a discussion about Pinkie's sudden burst of explosive anger. Fluttershy had asked if Twilight was alright, to which the unicorn replied with an "I'm fine."
Everypony sat on the couches, all thinking about the same thing but not talking about it.
Pinkie Pie.
Twilight was sat beside Fluttershy who had a wing draped over her, comfortingly. Pinkie was right, it was her fault. If she hadn't let curiosity get the better of her, as well as her selfishness to bring everypony along; they would still be back in Ponyville. How it was supposed to be.
They'd wake up to bright celestial sunshines and get ready for the day. Rarity would be running her carousel, stitching and making brand-new dresses of elegance. Rainbow would be flying with the wonderbolts, ever so fast. Fluttershy would tend to her animals with love and compassion. Applejack bucking trees and Pinkie...
Well, most likely she would be looking for the smallest excuse to throw a party. Spreading laughter and joy. Bringing happiness to everypony's lives and turning frowns upside down.
...And maybe you feel sad but Pinkie will be there to show you that it isn't that bad.
But yet here she was, the complete opposite where she took smiles away rather than give them. Deep down in the depths of Twilight's heart, was a new form of anger that began to grow. Frustration. Hatred, not for her friend but for herself.
It was the very first time she acted like that. That wasn't like her at all. Obviously, she would flip out about the little things she cared about but never like that. Rainbow Dash recalled back to when her and her friends decided to plan a surprise party for her. When they finally got everything organized, she went to go get her only to come across an almost insane-like Pinkie; talking to various objects. A walk in the park compared to her meltdown that happened a mere twenty minutes ago.
And then she remembered Ben. The rainbow pegasus was suddenly strucked with the realization as she remembered that Pinkie had brought him up during the argument. "Hey!" She hollered, startling everypony and catching their attention. She glanced between everypony. "What did she mean when she said 'after what, Ben did'?"
She noticed how Fluttershy and Applejack stilled for a moment. The yellow pegasus pulled her wing away from Twilight who wasn't paying attention to anypony. "Do you guys know what she was talking about?"
"No, I-I-uh don't know what she was talking about," Fluttershy stuttered.
Rainbow frowned at her stutter. "Really? I find that very hard to believe, Fluttershy."
"B-but I-I really don't!"
Not wanting to intimidate her shy friend, she turned toward Twilight who had a thousand yard stare on her face. "Twilight, what do you think?" The unicorn didn't respond, her stare never straying from the hard floors. "Hellooooo? Twilight? Twilight!"
The unicorn suddenly looked up from the floor then to the pegasus that had been calling her. "Yeah?"
"Do you know what, Pinkie was talking about? You know, about Ben?"
The unicorn gave a quiet sigh. "I don't know, Rainbow. I'm not exactly thinking about that at the moment," She spoke in a soft tone. The sadness in the unicorn's eyes didn't go unnoticed by the pegasus.
"It's not your fault, you know? I don't blame you, Twi." The pegasus replied, almost telepathically as if she knew what she was thinking.
"But it is." Twilight got up from the couch and slowly walked over to the door leading to the backyard.
"W-where are you going?" Fluttershy asked.
"Outside. I just wanna be alone." The unicorn made her way to the door and left without saying another word.
Rainbow suddenly felt the urge to confront Pinkie flare up but instantly ignored it, deciding it was better to let it go. She didn't want to waste her time getting into another shouting match with her when there were other important matters to attend to.
Applejack, who had been quiet throughout the conversation locked eyes with a certain pegasus the second she turned to look at her. "Do you know what she meant?" The pegasus sternly asked.
She took a moment to respond. Her eyes met Fluttershy's for a second, catching the shy pegasus shaking her head; silently asking her to lie. Her element was gnawing at her, begging her to tell the truth. It was the first instinct, she got. Even if it meant, Ben's life. Others were bound to find out sooner or later. Ah ain't gonna lie, Fluttershy. She returned her gaze back to Rainbow. "Yes." She simply answered.
A moment passed. "Well? Are you gonna tell me or what?" The pegasus impatiently asked.
"Go ask him yourself."
Rainbow Dash frowned at her. "W-what? Why can't you just tell me yourself? Quit making this harder and just tell me already!"
"He was the one giving the bandits supplies!"
Rainbow stopped. The stern glare was gone, replaced with a blank expression and a slightly opened mouth. "What?"
"Back at the motor inn? Y'know how Lilly was goin' on about stolen supplies?"
"...Yes?"
"Well..." Applejack looked around the room, making sure no one else was there but them. Lowering her voice, she continued. "It turns out, Ben was the one stealin' supplies and handin' them out to the bandits. H-he said that they had his friend that he... threatened him or somethin'. That was why he did it. To help a friend." She'd thought if she could appeal to her loyalty, Rainbow wouldn't do anything stupid to the kid.
The earth pony watched her friend's movements. The pegasus silently looked toward the set of stairs then toward the roof. To the second floor. Her expression, containing a slight frown. She then looked back down at her. "He did all that? Katjaa... a-and Duck?"
"...yeah," Applejack confessed as she continued to watch her friend's expressions. She swore, she saw Rainbow's jaw clench and her eyes remained still, unmoving as if they were looking straight through her. The pegasus's catatonic state quite honestly made the earth pony tremble a bit.
And then suddenly, Rainbow's eyes closed shut and her breathing became the only audible souce of sound in the room as if she was trying to keep herself under control. "So, the two-no-three, the three... of you decided to keep this a secret?" She spoke, her eyes still shut.
Applejack glanced toward Fluttershy, an anticipating fearful expression on the pegasus's face as if she was preparing for Rainbow Dash to errupt with anger. From her peripherals, saw Rainbow's eyes snapped open and was locked back onto hers. "Yeah, yes we did. For his sake, who knows what Kenny would do if he found out?" Applejack finally responded.
"As if he doesn't have a good reason to." Rainbow furiously muttered. Her voice filled with disdain as she was now really staring daggers into her friend's eyes. The pegasus shook her head before she turned to leave the room. Toward upstairs, leaving Applejack and Fluttershy alone.
The earth turned to the pegasus, "W-well, it could've been worse." The pegasus said.
"Who the hay are you!?" Applejack shouted as she stared at the woman that had just walked through the front doors as if she owned the place. The woman had an orange jacket with a hoodie, and short blonde hair.
Twilight, who had came back in the house a little while ago, stood behind the woman near the kitchen. Her horn at the ready.
"I guess you weren't kiddin'," The woman said, turning back at Kenny who had just entered through the door with a small figure following close behind.
"Clementine!?" The earth pony exclaimed, confused.
Kenny slammed the door shut, sending a deafening boom throughout the mansion.
"Way to draw attention to yourself." The woman walked off in direction of the kitchen, past Twilight.
"Hey! Where you goin'?"
"It's fine, AJ. She's with us," Kenny said, not sounding too happy about it.
"A bit rude don't you think," the unicorn commented, walking over to them.
"Yeah, well guess what? More bad-fucking news comin' your way, she's one who was ringin' the bells!"
"And why exactly, are we lettin' her in here?" Applejack asked.
"It's how she gets around, she sounds bells all over the goddamn place to keep the walkers movin'."
"-But it works!" The woman shouted from the kitchen.
"Fucking-whatever!"
Applejack then noticed that one of them was missing. "Hey where's, Lee?"
"We were surrounded by walkers. He had to crawl down into the sewers to escape, he'll be fine." The man spoke with such certainty. "Anyway, how's everything back here?"
Just then, Dash, Ben and Christa emerged from upstairs. Their cautious expressions gone the second they found Kenny and Clementine.
"You're back!" The pegasus said, enthusiastically.
"So, did you guys find a boat?" Christa asked, walking down the stairs.
Kenny's face turned sour. "No, Molly said they are no boats in Savannah. So, basically we're all fucked!" Clementine flinched at the man's bark.
"Wait, Molly?" Rainbow asked, confused.
"She's the one ringin' bells all over the city."
"Oh for love of god, would it kill you to not be so damn vague?" The woman who was named Molly, came walking back toward the group with an annoyed look on her face. "Yeah, I use bells to get around. Whoop-de-friggin' do, it ain't my fault that you guys were dumb enough to walk right next to one."
"How are things goin' back here!? The others back yet?" Kenny interrupted, not paying attention to the woman.
Applejack and Rainbow exchanged a glance at one another. "No, they aren't."
"Well."- Kenny began walking over to the living room. -"They shouldn't wait up 'cause we ain't goin' nowhere." He took a seat on the couch.
"To answer your other question, we had a little argument." Rainbow walked over taking a seat on the couch next to him.
Christa and Ben went back upstairs to tend to Omid. Twilight and Applejack stood where they were. Conversing with Clementine. Everyone and everypony went their separate ways.
Kenny came across an open whiskey bottle sitting on the kitchen table, half-empty. "Y'all drink back in your world?" He showed the bottle to Rainbow Dash who read out the text.
"Who's... Jack Daniels?"
"A guy who made whiskey."
"Whiskey?"
Suddenly, Kenny brang the bottle to his lips. Drinking it.
"Uhh, what are you doing? Do you even know where that's been?"
"Dunno and ah don't care." He drank from the bottle once more before offering it to her.
"I. Am not drinking that."
"Suit yourself." The man walked off into the living room, whiskey bottle in hands.
Rainbow gave an empty sigh. Looked around the room but not really looking at anything. She smacked her lips. "What do I do now?"
A few hours had gone by. A few of hours of idle chat. Twilight and her friends were beginning to worry about their friend Rarity. She'd been gone for a few hours, they knew she was going to be out for a while but they didn't think she'd be gone that long.
Rainbow Dash had suggested to go out and look for her but Applejack suggested to give it more time. Kenny was no longer as impatient as he was when entering the city. Ever since finding out that the whole of Savannah was completely empty of boats, he'd been dunking down that bottle of Jack Daniel's. Unbeknownst to the everyone, it was what Pinkie drank before she flew off the handle.
Speaking of Pinkie Pie. The pony hadn't been seen ever since she disappeared up in the second floor. The ponies rarely mentioned her, it had been on their minds. Yeah, but they hadn't spoken about the argument at all. Fluttershy thought about going up there to see her but ultimately decided against it, thinking it would be best if she was left alone for that moment. She'll come down when she is ready, she thought.
With very limited choices, the four of them; Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Fluttershy were forced to wait. All they could do in the meantime was chat and assure each other - well, mostly Fluttershy - that Rarity was okay.
A door opening, caught everyone's attention. Thinking that Rarity had come back, Fluttershy trotted toward the back entrance. She stopped in the kitchen when she saw Lee walk in, a man following close behind.
"Hey, Fluttershy." Lee waved at her, a warm smile on his face.
Although the smile was comforting, there was still the lingering feeling of stress that was clouding around her. "Hello, Lee."
Twilight and the other two came shortly after. "Rarity's not back yet?" The unicorn asked.
Fluttershy shook her head, walking back over to the couch.
Twilight suddenly heard footsteps coming from behind her. She turned to find Christa, passing her and walking over to Lee. She caught a pair of eyes, an old man standing next to Lee. He seemed to awestrucked, glancing between all three of them.
"Twilight." Rainbow waved a hoof in front of her, stopping once she got her attention. "Can we talk about what we're gonna do, you know about Rarity?"
Twilight walked into the living room, Rainbow and Applejack following her. "I-I'm sure she's fine, Rainbow." She turned, looking at both ponies. "Besides, she has David and Carley with her. I'm sure she'll be fine."
"And Lilly." Applejack pointed out.
"What if she isn't back by sundown?" Rainbow asked.
"Then, I-I'll go out and look for her."
"If you're gonna go out and look for 'em then ah'm comin' with you," Applejack said with Rainbow nodding in agreement.
"You're all here... because of me. I-I don't want you getting hurt."
"Do you think we would want you getting hurt? Twilight, come on!"
"It's better if I go alone. Applejack, your ribs are still recovering and you need the rest." The unicorn looked at Rainbow. "And I need you here just in case... j-just in case, Pinkie decides to go off again."
Applejack layed a comforting hoof on the unicorn's shoulder. "Listen, sugarcube Pinkie Pie didn't mean what she said-"
"B-but it is true though, I led all of you here and now... you're paying the price for it." Twilight's eyes began to brim with tears. All the emotions piling up against her, threatening to break through her walls.
"Oh sugarcube, we don't blame you for that." Upon seeing her tearful gaze, Applejack engulfed the unicorn into a hug.
Rainbow walked up to the hugging ponies. "Yeah! I mean, trust me. If I blamed you, we wouldn't even be talking right now."
The earth pony released the unicorn from her hug, still keeping a hoof on her shoulder. "Alright? We don't blame you for any a' that. Okay?"
Twilight nodded, a tearful smile. "Yeah, yeah alright. Thanks, girls." The unicorn pacing back n' forth. "But it still doesn't change what's gonna happen. I need both of you to stay here, I'm more than capable of handling myself. Do you girls agree with that?"
Applejack and Rainbow both exchanged a look of reluctance before ultimately agreeing with the unicorn.
The sun was beginning to set, evening had arrived a while ago. A cloudy sky, filled with an orange haze and a reddish sun over the horizon. Twilight and her friends were already long worried before then.
Truth was, the unicorn had been procrastinating. Hesitant about going out. Where she promised she would go out and look for Rarity. She'd been convincing herself - and her friends, mostly Rainbow Dash - that Rarity would come back. That if she just waited a little longer, they would hear the door opening and they would see the fashionista appear around the corner and they'd have a mini happy reunion. All the pressure, anticipation and ill-thoughts would be put to rest.
Against her hopes, that outcome never happened. They were aimlessly waiting for something that they all knew wasn't going to happen and Twilight could no longer prevent the inevitable.
Lee had discovered a boat that was practically hidden in plain sight, in the shed. Right next to them, in the mansion's backyard and the mood naturally lifted. It definitely lifted Kenny's. He'd found hope again, and he was now examining the aquatic vehicle.
But despite that, the ponies couldn't find it in themselves to be as enthusiastic as the others. As far as they were concerned, Rarity was their main priority. Not even the people she'd went with, David, Carley or Lilly had returned yet.
And there they all were. The entire group, placed in the living room. Lee paced around, a clear expression of boredom on his face. Many of the others were either standing idly somewhere in the room or seated on one of the couches. After the boat had been discovered, Twilight thought it'd be best to leave once Kenny was finished examining the boat.
She was standing by the windows, looking between the gaps in the boards that were nailed up against it. "Are you sure, you wanna go out there alone Twilight? I-it's dangerous," the unmistakable soft voice of Fluttershy came from behind her.
Without turning to look back at her, she responded. "I know, Fluttershy but Rarity is still out there and who knows what's happening. She could be in trouble for all we know."
"B-but do you have to go out there alone, though?" The pegasus paused. "M-maybe... maybe, I could-"
"No, Fluttershy." She really didn't need to explain why she didn't want the pegasus to go with her.
"Oh, alright. I just want you to stay safe."
Twilight turned to look at her. "And I will." She layed a hoof on the pegasus's shoulder with reassuring eyes. "I'll be fine, Fluttershy."
The door opened and Ben and Kenny walked into the room. The older man wearing an annoyed expression. "Good news or bad news?"
"Let's get the bad news outta the way first," Lee said.
Kenny went on about how the boat was lacking two essential components in order to actually power up the vehicle. Gas and a new battery, to which he stated as good news.
"Yeah, good luck with that," Molly commented sarcastically. "Everything in Savannah has been stripped bare. The only place you'll be able to find those is at Crawford."
"Crawford?" Applejack gave her a unsure look.
"It's the worst place y'all are gonna come across. They're the type of people to use you all-" she gestured to all the ponies. -"As food."
The four ponies all shared a look of anguish. Fluttershy audibly gasped, Rainbow and Applejack felt their blood run cold and Twilight's stomach turned.
"Be glad y'all didn't stumble across them first," the old man, introduced as Vernon threw in his input.
"Since you said this place was 'stripped bare'. We don't exactly have much choice, do we?" Christa asked, looking at Molly who had her arms folded.
"No, I suppose not."
The group began to discuss where they should acquire the supplies. Lee suggested going to Crawford to Vernon's dismay. Everyone in the group was starting to agree with his decision, Molly's input on the city being stripped of supplies had majorly helped.
"Everyone, before you can continue I just wanted to say that I won't be coming along," Twilight said.
"But we'll need you," Kenny said, a frown on his face.
"If we get into trouble, your magic will give us an advantage." Christa walked over to her.
"And if they capture her, she'll be dead."
Twilight flinched at Molly's statement. As much as it pained her to do, she still needed to get Rarity back to them. "I'm sorry, really but Rarity's still out there and I'm gonna go out and try to find her."
"They could've just taken shelter somewhere," Chuck suggested.
"Well, we don't know that. For all we know, they could be in trouble, I mean why would they do that? Unless if they had no other choice?"
"You gonna go out there alone?" Lee asked.
Fluttershy, Applejack and Rainbow Dash all exchanged a knowing look between themselves.
"Y'sure you won't need any help?" Chuck asked.
"I'm more than capable of handling myself. Besides, if you're gonna do this, you're gonna need all the help you can get but I won't be going," Twilight reasonably explained.
Kenny gave a low sigh. "Alright, fine. If that's what you wanna do."
After Twilight had told the group what she was going to do, she had decided that it was a good time to go. The sun was still glaring over the horizon, the sky still filled with an orange haze. It was better to leave as soon as possible, considering the unicorn didn't want to go searching through the city at night in complete darkness.
Twilight stood at the front entrance where Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Applejack were. The fact that she was going out onto the streets had become a catalyst for tightness that was forming in her chest. The last thing she wanted was to go out into the city alone with no one watching her back. She would have to be extra cautious.
"Don't go doin' anythin' stupid. Okay, sugarcube?" Applejack said as she brang the unicorn in for a hug.
"I won't, Applejack." Twilight returned the hug which shortly lasted and she was released only to be engulfed into another hug.
"Please be safe." Fluttershy said, squeezing the air out of the unicorn.
"I-I F-flutters, I-I can't..."
"Oh!" The yellow pegasus quickly released her from the lung-crushing hug. "Sorry." An embarrassed smile on her face.
Rainbow walked up to the unicorn and gave her hug. "You stay safe, okay?"
"I will, don't worry."
Rainbow pulled back from the hug and looked at her with a stern look. "If you're in trouble, you get back here as soon as possible. Okay?"
"Don't worry, Rainbow. I'll be fine, I-I'll just teleport away if anything happens." Twilight gave her a reassuring smile.
"Good." Rainbow smiled back.
The unicorn glanced back at the front door. "Well..." She trailed off, another pony coming into her head.
Pinkie.
The unicorn suddenly found it hard to leave without getting any sort of closure with her. Even though she had taken the brunt of the pony's anger, she still didn't want to leave without saying goodbye.
It wasn't like she was going on a suicide mission. It was the "what if" scenarios that were stopping her. Twilight was certain that she would get back in one piece but that fact alone, didn't stop the thoughts that were playing in her head.
What if she never made it back? What if she got critically hurt? Twilight couldn't leave unless they were on good terms. The unicorn turned and glanced toward the staircase. "Hold on for a sec, I'm gonna go talk to Pinkie."
"You sure that's a good idea?" Applejack gave her an unsure look.
"Good idea or not. I wanna go talk to her."
Applejack gave a sigh. "Alright."
Twilight stood at the top of the stairs. To her right was a white four-paneled door, in front of her was a hallway where the attic was and to the north-west of her was two glass paneled doors.
The glass doors were fairly clean. She could faintly see a ball of pink fluff laying by a window seat on the left side of the room. The unicorn walked closer to the room and stopped right in front of the doors when she saw that the pony inside the room, was asleep.
Pinkie's eyes were closed, her back moving up and down slowly in rhythm with her breathing. She looked so peaceful, which was the most the unicorn had seen her in and suddenly she didn't have the courage to wake her up. If Pinkie was in a state full of bliss where she didn't have to deal with this world for at least a few hours, the last thing she wanted to do was bring her out of it.
"H-how'd it go?" Fluttershy asked, a nervous look on her face as if she was expecting it to go badly.
"We didn't talk, she was asleep. I-I didn't wanna wake her up." Twilight walked past the three ponies and over to the front doors.
"Maybe you can talk to her when you get back," Applejack suggested.
"Maybe." Using her magic, Twilight pulled open the right door. There was a brick fence with an opening in the middle. Beyond that was the street, bathing in the orange haze.
She turned back to her friends. "I'll try to be back as quick as possible."
"Alright, good luck 'Twi." And with that, Applejack hesitantly closed the door.
The unicorn let out a sigh. "Okay, okay. First things first." She teleported herself on top of the mansion, nearly falling off before she regained her balance. Her first plan was to make sure she knew where she was. Some type of landmark that would tell her where she was in the city. If she were ever to get lost, she'd use a landmark that would her figure out where she was. It may not be accurate but it was better than nothing.
Then she spotted her landmark. In front of her in the distance, to her north-east was a large bridge that stretched across the river to the otherside of the city. "Perfect," she muttered to herself and she began her search.
"Y'all don't let anyone in, all right?" Kenny said, standing by the gate in the backyard. In had been a couple of hours since Twilight left in search of Rarity and now the others were getting ready to leave.
By now, the sun was already gone and the moon's aura shined across the landscape. The backyard was coated in a deep haze of blue.
"Got it," Applejack replied to the man.
"Good." Kenny then turned to look at the rest of the group. "Are y'all ready?"
"Just a minute." Lee knelt down to Clementine. "You ready?"
"I-it's just... you know, don't you think i-it's a bit dangerous?"
"She's right." Vernon interrupted, who was standing near the gate. "If you take her with us and they find her..." he trailed off, not really needing to explain what would happen.
Applejack walked over to Lee. "Sorry but ah have to agree with 'em on this one. Ah think it's too dangerous for her to go to a place like that."
They had a point. Lee couldn't help but agree with them. Based on what they were told, Crawford wasn't a good place and if they were caught, it wouldn't end well for each of them. If he was to leave her alone in the house with no one but Omid, he would have disagreed by default and not to mention the man on the radio but with the ponies were there.
They could look after her for the time being. Even though they had little experience dealing with walkers, it was better leaving Clementine with them then bringing her to a place filled with dangerous people where she could potentially get hurt... or worse. The kid wanted to find her parents and he very much doubted they would be there.
Clementine saw the conflicting look on his face and tugged on his arm. "Lee, my parents could be there."
The man sighed. "I'm sorry, sweet pea but they're right."
"B-but, you said we were a team."
"We are." He gently layed a hand on her shoulder. "It's just this place, it's too dangerous for you Clementine."
"My parents could be there," Clementine practically begged.
"Hey kid, don't worry. If your parents are there, Lee will bring them back here. Right, Lee?" Rainbow looked at the man with a confident grin.
"Yeah, if they're there I'll bring them back." Lee gave the child a reassuring smile, even though he knew he wasn't going to find them there.
"Okay," Clementine said, defeatedly.
After a few more minutes of going over the plan to infiltrate Crawford, the group finally left and Clementine stayed back at the house with the ponies.
Fluttershy closed the gate shut. The backyard was riddled with sounds of chirping crickets.
"Let's go back inside, y'all," Applejack said. She walked back into the house with the others following her.
Twilight groaned frustratedly, collapsing against the air duct on the rooftop. Below, she could hear the streets flooded with walkers. Snarling and growling as one.
She had searched for hours and hours, she left when the sun was still ablaze over on the sky. Now, it was gone and the fact that she was alone in the city at night with nobody but the dead keeping her company was more than enough to get her on edge.
It made everything harder to see, the moon wasn't exactly a good light source.
She felt like she scouted every inch of the city. If she had been on hooves during it, she probably would've searched only a quarter of it but she had teleported herself from rooftop to rooftop and even then still found no sign of Rarity. Not even the humans that she went with were found. No sign of Lilly, Carley or even David.
Then she couldn't help but feel the bottle of emotions beginning to break again. She felt a lump forming in her throat. She quickly shook her head and began focusing on her breathing. Deep breaths, in and out. When her emotions started to die down, she got back up off the air duct and walked over to the ledge.
Below, she watched as the walkers bumped into each other. Just roaming around with no purpose. No sense of direction. They migrate-no, actually not even that. They're just there, they don't do anything. They're completely mindless until something or someone comes along and suddenly they found a new purpose.
She decided to get one more good look around, giving herself twenty minutes until she would ultimately give up the search.
Twilight scanned the church in front of her, to her left. She was on another rooftop, it was better being on the ground. She glanced at the giant clock in the middle of it, it's numbers in roman numerals. The church looked to be made out of white wood and it had a parking lot with a whole herd inside it.
The building was completely surrounded. The front doors were busted open, walkers either trailing in or out. The unicorn sighed, she had promised herself that she'd give it twenty more minutes but in truth; she had searched longer than that.
With no choice but to go back, Twilight took one last glance at the church before she teleported to another rooftop further away and began making her way back to the mansion.
She didn't know that it was the same church that Rarity and her group had sought shelter in away from the herd.
The past few hours had been nothing but uneventful. The ponies along with Clementine stayed back at the house, waiting for Twilight to bring Rarity back.
The house was quite dark, as it was dusk. Rays of the moonlight seeped through the gaps in the boards that were nailed up against the windows, lightning up a small portion of the first floor room.
Fluttershy was getting tired but she had forced herself to stay awake which didn't go unnoticed by Applejack. The country pony insisted that the pegasus should get some rest but she refused, saying "if anypony needed rest, it was you". The pegasus had been referring to her ribs. It wasn't much of a hassle dealing with it, it didn't ache as long as she didn't put too much pressure on her side.
Shortly after, the pegasus had taken Clementine upstairs after the child complained about being tired. After Fluttershy had brought her into one of the rooms, the child asked her to stay by her side until she fell asleep. The child explained that she was afraid of the dark and didn't want to be left alone. The pegasus sat on the end of the bed and waited until the child fell asleep but ended up falling asleep herself.
Rainbow Dash and Applejack were the only ones in the house who wasn't asleep. Both of them had to stay awake, in case someone or something tried to get in.
Applejack's stubbornness foolishly outweighed her injury. She knew, she wouldn't have a good chance if something did break in but by natural instinct, she ignored it. Even Fluttershy had pointed that out but to her, she'd rather be the one protecting the place than Fluttershy. She highly doubted that the pegasus would actually... protect the place, at most she would probably scream.
Rainbow Dash was the most reliable candidate in the mansion. Her wing was beginning to recover but it didn't render her from doing anything else. She'd do anything to protect her friends, even if that meant putting herself in danger to save them.
It felt like hours had gone by, nothing but filler chat between the two ponies. They both eventually agreed that they were going to catch some sleep.
The sound of a door opening caused Applejack to sprang from her layed position on the couch. She quickly caught a glance from Rainbow Dash, having the same alerted look on her face.
Applejack quickly casted a glance over to the windows, seeing it was still dark out. She looked back at the pegasus who hid against the couch. "Rainbow!"
"What?" She whispered back.
"Who is that?"
"How would I know!?"
"Well, we gotta do somethin'!"
They both heard a door closed and the footsteps grew louder and louder. "Girls?" An abrupt voice called out and relief fell upon the two cautious ponies.
Applejack got up from her position with Rainbow following. They walked over to Twilight, standing outside the living room by the stairs. Her horn lit up and suddenly, a small area around them illuminated with a dull purple light. "Twilight! You're back!"
"Did you find, Rarity?" Rainbow asked, walking up to the two with an expecting look on her face.
"No." Twilight's head hanged slightly and she shook her head. A moment later, she looked up but not at them. As if she were lost in her thoughts. "I couldn't find her anywhere. I searched and searched and searched and still nothing came up. I couldn't even find David, Carley or even Lilly."
"So, they're just... gone?"
"They're not gone!" Rainbow quietly shouted, a stern look on her face. "They're probably just... in one of the buildings, or something."
"I've checked through the buildings, Dash," Twilight said. "I've checked through buildings, I've checked the roofs, I've checked the sewers. I've checked everywhere and still nothing. Rarity's missing and I have no idea where she is," her voice cracked and she turned to look away from them. Staring hard at the floor to keep herself from breaking down.
"Twilight?" Applejack went to rub the pony's shoulder but the unicorn flinched away, backing up closer to the stairs.
A moment later, the unicorn spoke again in a fragile voice. "I think I'm just gonna... catch some rest, girls." Twilight turned away from them and began walking upstairs.
"Do you have any suggestion of where she might be?" Rainbow asked, walking into the dining room. It few more hours had passed since Twilight arrived back from her search. The sun was rising once more, providing somewhat better lighting.
The two ponies, Applejack and Rainbow both agreed on staying up for the rest of the night to keep a look out.
During the time of waiting for Lee and the group to get back with medicine and other essential items, the two ponies grew more worried as time went by. Twilight had told them that she searched everywhere and still nothing came up of Rarity.
Rainbow Dash had tried to convince herself that the unicorn hadn't looked hard enough. That she didn't look in the right place. Maybe she missed something, a place, a building and it completely flew past the unicorn's mind. She refused to accept that Rarity, her best friend, was lost in a city filled with mindless cannibal husks.
On the other hoof, Applejack didn't know what to think. She took Twilight's word at face value. That she did look everywhere for the fashionista. If she still found nothing in that time of searching, not even a strip of lavender mane then what happened to Rarity?
There was one answer that was at the back of her mind. An answer that would put an end to the search. Something that the country pony had been dreading and shoving it at the back of her mind ever since the neocortex conjured up the solution.
If Rarity was nowhere to be found and Twilight did search everywhere for her; then was she...
"Ah don't know, Rainbow. Can ya' please stop askin', ah said we'll talk about it when the others get back," Applejack replied, annoyed. The pegasus had been going on about what they should do with Rarity ever since dawn had begun to arrive.
"Why don't we just go out there and look for her?" Rainbow jumped off the couch.
"'Cause, like Twilight said: my ribs 're still recoverin'. Ah can't even run let alone, fight walkers."
"Oh, right." The pegasus sat back down on the couch. "I just wish the others would get back so we could figure out what we're gonna do."
"Yeah... ah know."
"Speaking of which, how do think they're going?"
"Honestly? Ah don't know. From what we've heard about that place, ah just hope they make it out okay."
"Yeah, they're probably gonna have a few injured."
"Ah hope not..." Applejack trailed off. The others coming back with injuries? That's the last thing they need right now. She and Rainbow were already recovering, but the possibility seemed inevitable to her. A place ran by selfish poni-people? Injuries were inevitable but she could hope.
"And what are we gonna do about, Pinkie?"
"What do you mean?" Applejack asked, confused.
"What do I-" Rainbow scoffed. "-Did you see how she was acting towards us?"
"Yeah but-y'know it's the next day. She's probably calm down since then." That argument they had with Pinkie was still at the back of her mind. The pony quite honestly, frightened her a bit and she hoped that she wouldn't have to deal with her attitude again.
"Yeah, but what if she hasn't? What if she's still angry at Twilight? I'll tell you now, if she hurts her again I'll-"
"Don't talk like that, Rainbow."
"Why not? She seemed perfectly fine with pushing Twilight around, I don't care if she was mad." The pegasus had an angry look on her face.
Applejack could understand why the pegasus was defensive around Twilight. She just didn't like how she was implying that if Pinkie were to hurt Twilight again, the pegasus would hurt her. Rainbow didn't need to say what she would do in order for her to get the memo. "She's still your friend, though."
Rainbow blew a puff of air. "Yeah, she was veeeeery friendly with Twilight."
Applejack sighed. Trailing off with a newfound sadness that clenched around her heart. Hating the situation they were in.
"Are you okay, Omid?" Fluttershy asked, entering the room and closing the door behind her.
The man layed on his back on the blanketless bed. It had a large dark brown wooden headboard with a plain mattress. There were two windows on the left side and the room was coated in a fading cobalt.
The man looked up and instantly found Fluttershy. "Hey, uh-Fluttershy."
"How's your leg?" The pegasus walked over to the left side of the bed, looking at the bandage wrapped around the man's leg.
"I-well it's fine, I think. Still hurts, though." Omid flashed her a smile. "Hey, are the others back yet?" He looked at the windows, seeing the rising sun.
"No, not yet."
"Oh, hope they're back soon right?"
"Yeah."
"Hey-uh, I've been meaning to ask this but what's it like back in your world?" Omid asked, an eager-to-know look on his face.
Fluttershy brightened at his question. "Oh, it's very beautiful! There's a town called, Ponyville. Where I'm from." She gestured to herself. "And it's where my animals and cottage is."
"Wait, you live in a cottage?"
"Oh, yes. I've been living there for a long time. Applejack owns a farm and Rari-"
"Whoa-wait-what!?" Omid exclaimed, mind boggled. "Applejack, that-that orange pony, the one with the hat. She owns a farm!?"
Fluttershy giggled at the man's bewilderment. "Yes, and Rarity runs a boutique."
"A boutique? Wait so... Rarity that white pony, the one with purple hair, she designs... clothes?"
"Yup!"
"And...ponies wear clothes?"
"Uh huh and, Rarity makes the best dresses." Fluttershy began telling Omid about the creatures they've battled against. She explained what Equestria was like, the places she had gone to with her friends.
"Wait, so you guys go on quests? To save your world, just the six of you?"
"Yeah. Sometimes it gets really difficult but in the end friendship always wins!"
Omid was in a state of bewilderment. He couldn't believe what he was being told. The magic of friendship? Elements of harmony? Ponies wearing clothes? How!? But he couldn't argue with the fact that the world they lived in was better than the world he was living in.
Corpses were up and eating the living. Some realities were far worse than others but where they came from? It was the complete opposite. "Equestria sounds... nice."
"Yeah." The demeanor in Fluttershy changed and Omid could sense the sadness beginning to brew in the pegasus. "I just hope I can return soon."
"Yeah. Well, all you can do is take one step at a time. You can't tell the future. I mean, hey maybe your princess Celestia will find a way to bring you guys back home, you never know," Omid said in hopeful at an attempt to prevent the pegasus from getting sad.
"Hmm oh, and maybe you could come too!" The pegasus said, a huge smile on her face.
"Yeah, hopefully 'cause I don't want to stay in this world."
Lee and his group all walked into the mansion, into the kitchen though the back door. Rainbow Dash walked over, a look of relief on her face. "Oh gee, about time you guys got back!"
Applejack came into the room. "Y'all alright?"
"Yeah, we're fine but... we lost, Chuck though," Lee sadly said.
"Oh... h-how did he-"
"Dumbass gave his life for this-" Kenny harshly shoved Ben. "-Fucking shitbird! He was the fucker that was givin' supplies to the bandits!" The man was scowling daggers into the frightened teen. He finally found out. Applejack could only feel a weight lift off her shoulders, she no longer had to keep it a secret.
Christa and Vernon both walked past the group and upstairs. Presumably, to help Omid.
"What!?" Rainbow Dash said, feigning ignorance. "He was the one doing it?"
Applejack glared, knowingly at the pegasus. She was actually acting like she didn't know.
"Yeah, and we should've let his ass behind when we had the chance." Kenny side eyed Lee before he walked back out into the yard.
After a moment, Lee dug into his pocket and pulled out a bottle of pills. "We found you guys some antibiotics but-uh I don't know if you take 'em."
"Well, it's better than nothin'."
"How are things going back here?" Lee asked, entering into the living room.
"'S been quiet. Not much has gone on since y'all left." Applejack took a seat on the couch.
"Rarity's not back yet?"
Applejack shook her head, a slight frown on her face. "No. Twilight couldn't find her anywhere."
The man sighed. "Okay. Well once Kenny's done fixing up the boat, we'll look for her on the way, okay?"
"Alright."
Lee glanced upstairs. "Listen, I gotta take care of something. You know where Clementine is?"
"Oh, she's just upstairs in that, uh study room."
"I appreciate you taking care of her, Applejack." He offered a smile.
"Oh, it's nothin'. We take care of each other." Applejack returned his smile. She watched him walk back upstairs and she saw a disheveled Pinkie Pie pass him on the way down. The mare's mane was a mess filled with tangled knots and looked strangely pale.
She made it at the bottom of the stairs and continued her way to the living room; Rainbow Dash and Applejack watching her with caution.
"Hey, Applejack. Hey, Rainbow Dash," Pinkie Pie apathetically greeted, taking a seat on the couch next to a glaring Rainbow Dash.
"Hey... Pinkie?" Applejack greeted back. A moment passed. "H-how'd you... sleep?"
Rainbow Dash scoffed shortly after. "I slept well." The pink pony simply said.
"That's... good?" Applejack replied feeling an awkward tension in the room.
"Yeah, real good Pinkie. A real accomplishment," Rainbow sarcastically remarked.
"Thanks," came the pony's apathetic reply.
"Have you apologized to Twilight?"
"No, why would I do that?" Pinkie simply said. Rainbow could feel her anger start to flare up again. The nerve of this pony, she was completely acting like she did nothing wrong.
"Because she's your friend?" Applejack incredulously said.
"No. not no more." The orange mare couldn't believe what she was hearing, was she being serious? Was this some sick joke?
"You don't... y-you don't mean that... right?" She asked softly, losing the base in her voice.
Pinkie Pie raised an eyebrow at her. "Of course I do."
Applejack, one of the strongest ponies out of the six of them, could feel her heart start to break. Surely, she's still just mad... she don't mean it. "B-but after everythin' you've been through? You can't just... j-just end off your friendship like-like i-it's nothin'!"
"I thought I made it clear yesterday."
"That's... that's just ridiculous! Just like that!?" Applejack's voice raised.
"Yes, Applejack. Just like that," Pinkie said, irritated.
"You're gonna do that to her? Seriously?" Rainbow abruptly asked in a hushed tone as if she were holding herself back.
"Yeah, yeah I am." Pinkie looked at the silently fuming pegasus. She saw the pegasus clench her jaw, she narrowed her eyes and smiled. "Good 'ole element of loyalty. You wanna do something, do you?"
Applejack could practically see the burning inferno raging inside the pegasus and Pinkie was taunting her. She was actually taunting her best friend.
"Element of loyalty? you wanna see loyalty!?"
It all went by in a flash. Rainbow suddenly tackled Pinkie straight off the couch, her hoof making the first contact with her lip. The pegasus pinned her down against the floor but it didn't last long. The strength of the earth pony was quick to overpower the pegasus's grip and using her hind legs, kicked the pegasus off of her.
Rainbow's back collided hard against the wall. Consumed by anger, she dived forward for the pony who was baiting her. She flew out of the room, into the entryway near the stairs at an amazing speed, taking Pinkie Pie with her. They rolled over and Rainbow Dash grimly found herself pinned against the floor. She struggled against the earth pony's iron grip as a hoof came into contact with the left side of her face, drawing blood from her lip.
The two ponies struggled against each other until Pinkie was suddenly pulled off of her, allowing Rainbow the opportunity to strike back. She flew off the floor only to have her tail be yanked back down.
She casted a quick glance over her left shoulder and saw Twilight halfway down the stairs and a purple aura locking around her tail.
Rainbow grunted. "Let go of me, Twilight!" She began trying to break free of the grip on her tail, having no luck.
"Not until the both of you calm down!" Twilight made her way downstairs and stood near the two ponies, keeping them both secured with her magic.
"We don't need you butting into our business, Twilight," Pinkie belligerently interjected.
The unicorn flinched at the hostility in her tone but kept the two ponies in place.
"And we don't need you dragging all of us down!" Rainbow Dash yelled back at her.
Pinkie scoffed and threw her a humorless smile. Something the old Pinkie would never do. "Please, I'm not dragging you down. I'm just being logical! Twilight-" she pointed at the unicorn. "-Doesn't deserve an apology!"
"Since when were you so logical, Pinkie? Do you even know what that means!?"
"Yeah, I do and through logic; Twilight is the cause of all this! If it wasn't for her, we wouldn't be here. If it wasn't for her, we wouldn't be fighting now!"
Rainbow was at a loss for words. She didn't have anything that would rebuttal her. To her dismay, the pony in front of her still didn't understand. She thought she solved this dispute yesterday and now she's suddenly back on the wagon?
No matter how right Pinkie was, she was never ever going to admit it. Twilight was her friend, she wasn't going to rub in her mistake. The unicorn knew it was her fault, she didn't need to be reminded of it. No matter how bad the situation was, she was stick by her no matter what.
"Isn't that right, Twilight? Am i right?" Pinkie turned to the unicorn, to her right. A glare etched onto her face. "It is your fault, you know that right?"
"Be quiet," Rainbow warned, gritting her teeth. A new flame lit up inside of her.
"You brought us here, you brought all of us here and now we're all paying the price for your mistake," Pinkie continued, still being held in place by the unicorn's magic.
"Pinkie!" She barked before her voice becamed laced with venom. "I'm telling you..."
By this time, Fluttershy had heard the exchange and came out to see what was happening. She stood halfway down the stairs, watching two of her friends belittling each other with Twilight being the brunt of Pinkie's anger. All she could do was helplessly watch as both her friends went back n' forth for one another.
Applejack threw an uneasy glance toward Twilight who seemed to be on the verge of snapping. Her eyes were closed and her chest expanded in and out in a slow rhythm. As if she were trying to keep herself together.
"You just couldn't let things go could you?" Pinkie continued. "You just had to found out what that orb was. It didn't matter what was gonna happen, it didn't matter who you took with you, just as long as you found out what it was, right?"
"Pinkie, please stop," came Twilight's weak voice.
Pinkie ignored her and continued to heartlessly belittle her. "Well, I hope it was worth it Twi. Now, Rarity's missing." Twilight tensed. Her eyes now wide open and staring aimlessly at the floor.
"Pinkie, enough!" Applejack snapped. The pink mare finally stopped, although her glare didn't let up.
The room fell prey to a deafening silence. Rainbow and Pinkie still giving each other the stink eye. Fluttershy and Applejack threw uneasy glances.
Twilight finally released her magical grip on the two ponies.
Pinkie stared at Rainbow for a moment before she finally walked past Fluttershy upstairs.
Fluttershy hesitantly began making her way to Twilight. She couldn't believe what was going on in front of her. Her friends fighting with one another, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie actually physically hurting each other. She really didn't want to believe that that was where they were at. Where they were now fighting amongst each other, they were supposed to be sticking together. They're supposed to be friends. What happened? She desperately thought. "T-Twilight-"
"Don't." Fluttershy felt a shiver coarse through her body at the bitterness in Twilight's voice. "Just don't... Fluttershy." The timid pegasus watched as her friend walked over to the front door and used her magic to open it.
"Where are you goin', sugarcube?" Applejack furrowed, walking over to the unicorn who was standing in the doorway.
"I'm going to tear this city apart looking for, Rarity." The unicorn slightly turned, her menacing right eye locking onto Applejack's.
"H-hold on now, you don't need to ware yourself out. As soon as Kenny's done with the boat, we can go out and look for her together. That's what Lee said."
Twilight turned around to fully face her. "And the longer we wait, the less chance we'll have at finding Rarity." She began walking toward the mare. "She could be in trouble for all we know, she could be hurt for all we know." Applejack started backing up as the unicorn continued to stalk toward her, her heart increasing with every step.
"And if she were to die-" the impact of the morbid concept caused Applejack to flinch. "-That would be on me. Her death would be on me because I was too foolish enough to wait around for a boat to be fixed."
"Ah just want you to be safe, Twilight. Ah don't want you goin' out there on your own again and ah told you before nothin' that happened is your fault," Applejack pleaded.
"Don't even try to convince me that it isn't, AJ. That's not gonna work! A simple talk isn't gonna make this all go away. Just because you forgive me, doesn't mean that I don't deserve to be punished!"
"What!?" Rainbow exclaimed. "Twilight, t-that-that's ridiculous! Why would you even say something like that!?"
Twilight's eyes snapped at the pegasus. "Why? You want know why!? Because I deserve it!" She finally cracked. "I deserve to be hated! I doomed you all-" She gestured to all three ponies. "-To a place of just-just... evil! Nothing good comes from this place." Tears began to trail down her face as her uncontrollable sobbing broke through her speech.
"I-I d-don't deserve your k-kindness." Fluttershy who had been silent throughout the whole conversation, felt her heart break in half at the sight of her friend's meltdown and tears of her own began to trail down her face.
"O-or y-your loyalty." Rainbow could feel a lump form in her throat, tears brimming on the edge of her eyelids.
"I-I don't deserve anything! I-I deserve nothing, I deserve to be alone! You will never see your families again because of me. Rarity's gone and I don't where she is and it's all my fault!" The unicorn snapped around. Without saying another word, the unicorn vanished in a spark.
"Twilight? Twilight!?" Rainbow ran outside, glancing in every direction and finding no sign of her. The pegasus ran back inside, back to Fluttershy and Applejack. "We need to find her!"
Applejack layed a hoof on Fluttershy's shoulder, comforting the tearful pegasus. "No."
"Whatdoyamean 'no'? Why not!?"
"Because we can't split from the group!"
"W-well... oh who cares!? We have to help Twilight! You saw what happened!"
"And what if we need help? What happens if we come across a herd!?"
"Then we'll take another direction then!"
"If we do get into trouble, we ain't gonna be able to help Twilight. Now would we?"
"So, your suggestion is that we leave her on her own?"
"That's not what ah'm suggestin'!" Applejack frustratedly yelled.
"It practically is!"
Applejack let a humorless laugh. "Oh Rainbow, have you forgotten about my ribs!? They're broken, Dash! Ah can't run!"
Rainbow groaned loudly. "Fine! I'll go!"
"No, you're-" Applejack bit onto her friend's tail and yanked her back. "-Not!"
Rainbow turned, shoving her face into Applejack's with a deadly glare. "Touch me again and I'll-"
"OH PLEASE, SHUT UP!!!" Rainbow Dash and Applejack, the two strongest and most stubborn ponies of the group jumped at the bellowing cry of the usually timid pegasus standing beside them.
When the two stubborn ponies kept silent, Fluttershy closed her eyes and took a deep breath in before opening them back up again. "Haven't we argued enough for one day?" She looked between the two ponies, scoldingly. "Rarity's gone. Pinkie Pie is mad at Twilight and now you two are arguing!?"
A moment passed. Rainbow Dash and Applejack both silently looking apologetic. "Listen, sugarcube we ain't arguin'. We're just tryna' make the best out of a bad situation," Applejack said in a more gentle manner to which Fluttershy raised an eyebrow at her. She looked at Rainbow and calmly explained. "Dash ah know you wanna go help Twilight, but please," she pleaded. "You have to think rationally. If we get into danger or if we come across someone bad, ah won't be able to outrun 'em and your wing." She gestured toward Rainbow's recovering wing. "It's just startin' to heal up. What if you get hurt and it gets worse?"
Rainbow sighed. "It's a risk I'm willing to take. You don't have to come with me, if you don't want to."
"But Rainbow Dash, you have to stay here. What if you went missing?" Fluttershy practically begged, her head slightly hanging.
"You don't need to worry, Flutters." The rainbow mare layed a hoof on her friend's shoulder. "I'll be flying the whole time."
"But doesn't it still hurt?"
She was right. For the majority of the time, her wing had been painless up until she began flying around the room, arguing with Pinkie. It wasn't too painful. she was able to bare it. What worried her was how long it would take to find Twilight before she'd eventually lose her energy. If she wasn't injured, she'd be able to blaze through the entire city without breaking a sweat. She'd be able to track down Twilight and Rarity in no time.
"Look Rainbow, ah wanna help Twilight just as much as you do but we also need the others to help us too. One of us is already missin', ah don't wanna lose another." The orange mare walked up to her.
A moment passed. Rainbow glanced between Applejack and Fluttershy before sighing in defeat. "Alright, alright, I'll stay-" she was cut off when Fluttershy suddenly wrapped both arms around her, constricting her in a tight hug. She let out a chuckle and returned the hug. "Just until Kenny finishes up with the boat."
Over the yellow pegasus's shoulder, she could see Applejack's heartwarming smile.
Twilight ran through the city. She wasn't going anywhere, she wasn't running from anything... she was just running. To get away from that house, that mansion, away from... Pinkie. She had hurt her, trashed her heart like she was a sworn enemy. The way she looked at her, those hate-filled eyes gawking at her very being. Despising her. That wasn't the Pinkie she knew, not anymore.
She was but a stranger now, Pinkie hated her. The way she was belittled? She never did that before even when she was really furious, Pinkie never abused her like that before.
She never meant for this to happen. Sorry wasn't going to fix anything, no matter how much guilt she had. The world didn't care... Pinkie didn't. She endlessly blamed and taunted her for the mistake she made. Twilight knew exactly what she did, she knew it was her fault. She just wished that Pinkie hadn't of been so cruel to her.
The unicorn came to a halt. Seeing the same church she'd came across when searching for Rarity. It's parking lot, that same roman numeral clock tower in the middle. Compared to last time, there were less walkers but it was still enough to make a herd.
The lot was pretty far from her to the left, none of the walkers had noticed. She trotted closer toward it. There she stood, just outside the lot staring at the mindless husks of what used to be people.
You just had to find out what that orb was...
Thoughts of Pinkie's belittlement came flooding back into her mind. Twilight found herself staring at nothing, too absorbed into her thoughts to even pay attention to the herd that was right in front of her.
It is your fault, you know that right?
Of course, she knew. She knew it perfectly well and she was suffering. For them. For her. She could see the herd drawing closer... she payed it no mind, though.
You just couldn't let things go, could you?
No, no she couldn't. She clenched her jaw. A hotness began to brew inside her chest, an urge to wrench the closest thing she could find. Thoughts continuously strolled through her mind like a record player on a loop.
...we're paying the price for your mistake!
The hotness was burning through her chest, it was getting harder to keep herself intact. She was sorry, what more could she offer? The herd was getting closer...
You brought us here, you brought all of us here!
She did, she knew.
...hope it was worth it, Twilight! Now, Rarity's gone!
She snapped at the closest walker which was mere inches away from grabbing her. She slammed it straight into the ground using her magic, turning it's head to mince.
She turned to the rest and began her massacre. One by one, husks fell dead around her. Blood spurted and splattered everywhere. Rotten organs began filling the lot. Crimson quickly pooled around the unicorn. All the while, it wasn't satisfying her rage, her bloodlust. Slaying a few mindless husks was too easy for her.
She was seeing red, she wasn't thinking and right now she was on a rampage. One after the other, the walkers marched to their gruesome fate. Some were torn limb from limb. Some were disemboweled. She hated them, she hated them all and they all equally deserved the same fate. They all got their fair share of torture. The unicorn couldn't help but feel a sense of excitement. Walkers were slaughtered from left to right.
She crushed a walker underneath a barrier of magic, she snapped around, ready to gut more.
The lot. It was... empty. The unicorn panted, her rage was still in control. Desperate, she rapidly glanced around, her eyes landing on a weak walker. It's legs were shredded, butchered meat with bones poking out of them. It was crawling toward her.
How pathetic.
It was only a few steps away from her. The unicorn stared at it, observing it's slow movements. She began to wonder if they felt pain, if it was suffering. If so... good.
She used her magic to lift it off the ground and began bending the walker backwards. Her teeth gritted, she continued to bend the walker until a pop was heard in the spinal cord. She finally released the walker, letting fall to the ground with a thud. It was still alive, growling and now unable to reach up at her.
The enraged unicorn pounced onto the walker and began hammering it with her hooves. Mercilessly and relentlessly. A few punches and it was over. The walker was dead but she didn't stop. She continued her wave of punches without the intention of stopping. Shortly they turned from quick rage-filled punches to slow rage-filled pounding.
One punch. "Why."
Another punch. "Won't."
Another one. "You."
Last punch. "DIE!!?? JUST DIE!!!"
She got up from the walker only to collapse onto ground, her back hit the ground with a hard thud. She panted, feeling all the energy drain from her body. She felt light, the hotness that burned was gone and a cool welcomed breeze fell upon her. Her mane laying flat in a pool of crimson.
After gathering herself, she got up from the ground and found herself doused in blood and organs. Bits of gunk and flesh littered all over her. She looked down at her gunk-covered hooves and stared at them for a moment. She gulped and glanced at the brutal sight in front of her. The brutally dismembered corpses layed out. Arms, legs, heads and even torsos were layed out all around her.
She did this. She took one last glance at the bloodbath around her and she began to wonder why she wasn't disgusted. If this was her a few days ago, she would've vomited out her insides but strangely she wasn't even remotely effected. Not one ounce of her was disgusted, she was just... indifferent.
The unicorn took pleasure in this massacre, she remembered. It wasn't just fury, it wasn't just anger that was committing these gruesome acts. Sadism was also apart of this. She recalled how she was maiming the husks and how little she cared about what she was doing to them. Or more fittingly, she didn't care at all. They were all dead, it didn't matter but regardless she still took pleasure in it.
Growls of approaching walkers caught her attention and she turned to see three heading toward her. She readied her magic and walked over, tripping when something grabbed onto her right hind leg. She yelped, feeling a sharp piercing pain. She yanked her leg free, got back up and turned to see a walker on the ground. Missing it's lower half of it's body.
She smashed it's head against the concrete with a barrier of magic. She turned and dealt with the others immediately after. It didn't take much effort, she easily disposed of all three of them. She was pumped with adrenaline when she was tripped but now it began to ware off and the pain in her leg quickly came back. This was unlike anything she ever felt before.
Curious, she took a glance down at her leg and her heart stopped. Everything around her suddenly went silent. Not even the wind, blowing through the trees, rustling the leaves was heard. The sound of her heart pumping blood through her body was the only thing she heard. Her breath hitched, watching the blood trickle down from her wound and onto the ground joining the crimson around her. The mare was as still as a catatonic patient...
Twilight stood in the lot. Staring down at the bite on her leg, teeth marks deeply embedded into her flesh. Thick crimson liquid trickled out of the deathly wound, down her leg and onto the concrete of where she stood.
She felt the cool breeze flew past her mane, her eyes and muzzle. Small specs of her fur fluttered at the soft pressure of the wind. This couldn't be happening, it couldn't be. Not after everything she'd been through, from the villains they've faced. The battles she had endured. Chrysalis, Sombra, Tirek, only to be taken out by a threat that never even existed in her world.
She would have to face her friends. Tell them what had happened. She couldn't do that, she couldn't do it. They would be devastated! She could picture them in her mind. Fluttershy sobbing uncontrollably, Rainbow and Applejack holding her tightly while they all cried and Pinkie... She would blame herself for what happened to her. Twilight remembered exactly how she belittled her but once she realizes what's going to happen...
As cruel as Pinkie'd been to her, she didn't want her to feel that type of guilt, that type of pain. To leave her behind to deal with her grief all on her own. She'd be crushed. She wouldn't be able to handle it, she'd blame herself for everything that would go wrong. Merely thinking about it, broke her heart.
What about Rarity? She was still gone and Twilight was bit. It was only a matter of time now, what if Rarity was still missing by the time she... passes? What if she didn't get to say-
No! That can't be! The unicorn's heart began to race as she looked away from her wound. Her breathing became erratic, her body begun to shake as she started pacing. This couldn't be happening-this can't be happening! Please! Not like this! She still needed to find her. She had to! Who knew how long it took for someone to turn!? Duck only lasted a day before he lost his strength. No-no-no-no-no. This can't be happening!
The mare was now wheezing, her shaking was out of control. Pressure had built up in her chest so much to the point of where it was too much to bare. She began to lose her balance. She held out her hooves as she slowly tumbled to the concrete ground. This was all becoming to overwhelming for her to deal with. Getting bitten. Now she was going to have to tell her friends and she knew how it would go. The possibility of Pinkie being guilt-ridden for as she lived and no Rarity.
Twilight felt her chest erupt and she screamed. A loud emotional outcry, she wailed and sobbed letting out all of her pain. She had endured a weeks worth of internal pain and guilt. Guilt for sending all of her friends to this wretched place, grief for not being able to track down Rarity in time. She wished for all this to be some nightmare. Just a sick twisted nightmare.
"So, the boat's fixed?" Applejack asked standing beside Kenny. She noticed his oily hands, presumably from repairing the boat. The rest of the ponies stood outside with rest of the group. Pinkie was one of the last one's to come out along with Fluttershy, the pegasus being the one to get her. She and Pinkie stood further away from Rainbow Dash and Applejack understandably so.
"Yeah! All we gotta do now is actually getting this fucker out to the docks." Kenny replied, a look of thought on his face.
The backyard door opened and Christa walked out. "I couldn't find Lee," She said.
"Not even Clementine?" Fluttershy walked up to the dark-skinned woman.
"No." She shook her head before walking over to her boyfriend, Omid.
"Well, ah'm sure they're around here somewhere," Applejack assured. The mare turned to the woman. "You sure you checked every room?"
The woman slightly frowned for a second. "Yeah, I did and I checked the attic too and still nothing. Not even Vernon was in the house."
"I wonder where they could be." Fluttershy furrowed, glancing at Pinkie beside her who looked disinterested.
Suddenly, they all heard a strained voice coming from over the fence. It was Lee, everyone was quick to assume but something felt wrong. He voice sounded distressed, worried. Everyone was cautious and an idea manifested in Fluttershy's head to fly over. To see what was going on, and more specifically where Lee was.
Without a thought, the pegasus flew off the ground and over the fence. She heard Rainbow calling out her name. She stopped just above the black rusted sharp spears of the gate and to her right was Lee. He was hunched over, he seemed to be grasping his left arm. She gasped, sensing that he was in pain. "He's here!" She called before flying over to the man.
The pegasus landed just a few feet away from him, he was already facing her. A sorrow look on his face, like something dreadful had just happened to him. She saw Clementine's signature hat in one of his hands. "Are you okay, Lee?" She noticed a small blood splatter on the hat and her heart suddenly stopped. "I-Is... I-Is she?"
Lee shook his head. "No." A moment's relief fell upon her but it soon ended when he held out his left palm, exposing his wrist. The pegasus practically felt her heart being ripped from it's veins and blood vessels as her eyes landed on his wrist or more specifically the bite. Small teeth marks from where the blood leaked.
"O-oh, oh no." She slowly brought her hooves to her face in disbelief. She stared at the bite on the man's wrist for a moment longer. Thoughts came flooding back to her in an instant. The pegasus hoped to never deal with this situation again. After what happened to Duck, the ordeal was heartbreaking to go through especially when he was still a child. Now, she was going to have to deal with the same situation and this time it was Lee.
"What are you crazy!? What're you doin' out here? It ain't safe!" Kenny called out. Fluttershy threw a quick glance at them, her eyes landing on Applejack and her friends before looking back at Lee.
"Lee, where's Clementine-"
Lee looked at his wrist for a second as the others came closer.
"Vernon ain't in the house either. What the hell's goin' on!?"
"Who's blood is that?" Christa asked, looking at the splatter on the hat.
"It's mine." Lee held out his wrist, exposing the bite mark to them.
The guilt went silent for a moment as they all looked at the bite in disbelief. Their expressions conveying disbelief and sympathy for the man. Someone who had been with them since the beginning of the outbreak.
"You're... you're bitten?" Applejack furrowed, her eyes expressing deep emotional empathy.
"Does that mean..." Rainbow trailed off beside her, equally as emotional.
Lee nodded, wordlessly.
"You've gotta be fuckin' kidding me!" Kenny exclaimed.
"There's no time to worry about me, Clementine's gone." Lee replied with a stern look.
"Wait, we thought she was with you!" Rainbow gestured at him.
"No, she wasn't. Vernon came to me and offered to take her with him. Said she'd be better off."
"That sonuvabitch! Ah knew we couldn't trust that fucker!" Kenny cursed.
"Wherever she is, I have to find her. Clem may not have that much time. We'll have a better change at finding her if we all go together, who's with me?" Lee glanced toward one another. After a moment's discussion between Omid and Christa, they both agreed on helping him look for Clementine.
Pinkie frowned, her head slightly dangling. Now, Clementine was missing. It seemed like at every given opportunity, someone or somepony ended up missing. Rarity, gone entirely; Twilight said that she wasn't able to found her.
Rainbow glanced at Pinkie who had a conflicting look on her face. "I'm going with you," The pink mare suddenly said.
Rainbow turned to look at her friends, discovering that they all had the same surprised look on their faces. "Whoa, wait-wait-wait. You are going?"
"Yeah, I am." Pinkie looked back at her.
"And what's with this sudden change of heart?"
"I figure that maybe if I go with him, I'll Rarity... or maybe even Twilight; who knows?" Pinkie shrugged.
It was a strange occurrence. The fact that Pinkie was going with Lee to try and find Clementine and Twilight. The three ponies couldn't help but wonder, why she was doing this? They all threw unsure glances at one another.
Fluttershy gave a small smile. "Well, try to be careful."
That was a promise, she couldn't keep. This world was hiding threats around every corner. A herd could box them in or they could vanish like Rarity's group did. Either way, Pinkie Pie found herself simply nodding at the pegasus.
Kenny wasn't very pleasant about finding Clementine. He had gone off at the man for not being by his side when he needed him. Complaining about scores and such. Need I remind you, Lee had taken care of his son when he couldn't. He had taken care of him when his wife offed herself in front of her. Applejack and Rainbow could only scoff in annoyance at the man's pettiness.
And lastly was Ben. The teen was apprehensive, unsure if he wanted to go or not and leaving it up to Lee to make a choice. Fluttershy furrowed at him, understanding his dilemma. Almost everything he did or tried to do, it would always end up putting the group in jeopardy. He had gotten almost an entire family killed for a lie. Despite that, he was still a good person and Fluttershy welcomed him for it. He felt awfully guilty about what he did and that was more than enough for her to forgive him.
Lee convinced Ben to go with him. Clementine had stood up for him when Kenny and Christa wanted him gone. It would've added to the list of cowardly things he had done.
"We'll get the boat out to the docks, then we'll..." Kenny casted a quick glance at Lee's wrist, at the bite before looking back up at him. "Well, we'll figure out what to do from there."
Lee took one last look at everyone. "All right, let's go." The man turned and began walking away with Pinkie, Ben, Omid and Christa following behind. The others watched from a distance as the five figures disappeared beyond the street in search of Clementine.
Fluttershy felt the urge to go with them. When Rarity volunteered to go with Lilly in search of medical supplies, it was the last thing her and her friend had heard from her. It still scared her to wonder where she might be, after all this time. A day had passed, nothing from Rarity. She had dreaded the thought of her being alone in the city, especially at night. What if she was? Where did she sleep and what about Twilight?
She had practically ran off in search of her. Twilight needed comforting, she had been pushing herself too hard. Ever since the incident, being transported here, she had been blaming herself and had been doing whatever she can to make up for it. Fluttershy felt a gnawing guilt for not being there when her friend needed her the most. Maybe if she had just spent more time with the unicorn, it might've taken some of the guilt off her. When Pinkie brings her back, Fluttershy promised herself to do whatever she could to help.
Twilight sat against cold wooden doors of the church. A deep pool of grief in her chest, the heat building up in her leg from whatever virus that coarsed through her bloodstream as she forced to accept that this was it. This was the end. She gave herself until the end of tomorrow at most, until she would finally... well, until she would finally pass away.
The tears hadn't stopped ever since she had been bitten. Dying wasn't the worst part, it was the fact that her friends would have to find a way to live without her that hurt so bad. To come to terms with what was going to happen.
Twilight couldn't bring herself to get up. Not because of the infection but because of the lack of courage in doing so. To have to tell her friends that she had been bitten, that they would have to live on without her.
Her thoughts were interrupted as another wave of sadness mixed with grief washed over her. The tearful faces, the cries of her friends begging her not to go, flashing through her mind. Her eyes clutched tightly as if a pair of weights were piling on them, her teeth gritted as a pack of sobs ripped their way through her.
As Lee called out to Vernon, Pinkie took the time to observe her surroundings. Her eyes landing on a set of peculiar things. The group had just passed through a sewer that not only wreaked of a foul smelling odor but also was infested with walkers they dealt with.
The room was completely vacant of Vernon and his group. A set of small windows that embodied a rectangular shape was on the top left side of the room, where sun rays seeped through them.
On the same side, were large trays of some kind that seemed to be able to go in the wall. Pinkie walked over to them, getting a closer look.
"Lee?" A soft feminine voice brought the mare out of her little inspection and she looked at the walkie-talkie attached to the hem of Lee's pants.
The man snatched the walkie-talkie. "Clementine! A-are you alright? Where are you?" He paused, a moment later his tone turned bitter. "Vernon you son of a bitch!"
"Hello, Lee," came the ominous voice on the other side. Pinkie frowned then glanced at the others who looked troubled.
"Who is this?"
"This isn't Vernon and you should really watch your tone. Clementine's fine but if I were you, I'd choose my next words very carefully."
Pinkie growled inwardly. He wouldn't be saying that if she and him were face to face. She wasn't as afraid or worried as she would've been back in Equestria, when her and her friends were forced to deal with a pony or creature who had villainous intent.
But then again, Clementine's life was in danger.
Growls from walkers brought the mare out of her thoughts. She glanced behind her from where they came in, to the hole in the wall that had been covered prior the them coming in.
"Please don't hurt her," Lee begged.
There was a pause. "Hurt her? I'm not the one who hurts people."
I'm not the one who hurts people. Yes, because going around abducting little foals isn't "hurting anyone". Pinkie shook her head with a scowl before her eyes aimlessly fell to the floor. A moment later, she heard Lee mutter something and she lifted her head up to look at him.
The group was met with silence and Pinkie spoke up a few moments after. "Okay, what are we gonna do now? How are we gonna catch this filthy-foalnapper?" Lee glanced toward the others who all had solemn looks on their faces. "Seriously, no idea? Nothing? Na-da?"
"Well, what do you suggest?" Omid asked.
"Uhh demand!? Threaten him!?" Pinkie ran over to Lee, snatched the device out of his hands and began yelling into the speaker. Demanding to know where Clementine was, while simultaneously screaming insults.
"Pinkie!" Lee snatched the device out of her hooves.
"What?" Pinkie shrugged. "I'm just tryna figure out where Clementine is."
"He probably wasn't gonna tell us anyway," Ben said.
"Oh, shut up Ben! What would you know, you aren't doing anything!"
Christa's eyes trailed toward the bite on Lee's wrist, noticing the faint redness that was building up around it. "How's that feel?"
It took a second to realize what the woman was referring to until Pinkie's eyes landed on the bite. As morbid as it sounded, she wanted to know what it felt like, not being bitten obviously but what it felt like after. The sickness, other symptoms.
"It doesn't matter-"
"Wha-what!? Whatdoyamean it doesn't matter!? But it does! What happens if you turn?" Everybody fell silent at her grim statement. Christa glared at the pony, Omid and Ben merely stood awkwardly.
"Then you continue to search for her," Lee simply replied.
The guttural snarls came from the entrance to the morgue. Past the hole, the group could see multiple walkers rapidly and hungrily making their way toward them. One of the walkers had began crawling it's way through the hole.
With a slight ounce of worry, a thought passed through Pinkie's mind, wondering how the herd was able to track down where they were.
Omid ran over to the door and slammed it shut. "We'll hold 'em off as long as we can. Try and look for a way outta here!" He, Christa and Ben all pulled out their weapons. They all individually took cover behind different barriers as they waited for Lee to find a way out. That was if the walkers don't bust down the door beforehand.
Lee got to work, searched around the morgue for any type access point, a hatch, a door that led to the sewers - anything that would be able to get them out of there. Upon further searching, he came across a set of two large iron doors with a worn out color of red. To the left of it was the number eight encased in a square. An elevator! Lee thought.
"You found a way out?" Pinkie came up beside the man, glancing at the doors.
"Yeah. We just need to get these doors open," Lee replied.
"Any idea on how we do that?" The mare took a quick look around and at the doors. Noticing a set of small buttons organised in a column with the top button having an arrow pointing upward. "What's that?" She walked toward it.
"It's an elevator, do you have those back in your world?"
"If they do, I've never heard of it." Pinkie pushed the top button, frowning when nothing happened. "Is something supposed to happen?"
"The power's out." Lee began walking back into the main area with Pinkie following behind. "We're gonna have to find something to open those doors."
"How are we gonna open that!?" Pinkie glanced toward the doors again. "Why don't I try bucking it open?" She ran off before Lee could even respond. Gathering up all her strength, she delivered one brute kick toward the two doors sending a loud boom echoing through and beyond the room. The pony took a quick look at the now heavily dented door and saw a small gap in the shape of a stretched oval in the middle of it. A victorious grin stretched across her features. A thud came from behind her, causing her to look back and the sight of Lee laying on the floor, unconscious and slowly breathing made her lose that grin. Lucky, she wasn't the only that noticed. Everyone else had saw him faint and was already walking over toward him.
"Oh fuck! I-is he... is he-"
"It's the bite," Christa grimly said, cutting off Omid.
Pinkie swiftly made her way over to them. Ben was off to the side, watching. Omid was kneeling down beside Lee and Christa was standing over him on the other side. "What do we do!? Is he gonna turn?"
"I don't know." Christa paused, her eyes landed on something before she knelt down to Lee. "Omid, help me get him on that table over there." She nodded in direction of what appeared to be a table of sorts. Like one of the counters back at the mansion except this one had no cabinets on it. Just a dirty, silver tiled top. Both of them lifted the man up onto the counter. Thoughts became endless, running through her mind all at the same time. Was he okay? Is he turning? He's gonna die here! Who's going to take care of Clementine!?
Omid stressed. "What the hell do we do!?"
"Calm down, would you? He's still breathing." A small weight lifted off Pinkie's chest when she heard Christa say that. Okay, he's still alive. Nothing to worry about! "We still need to do something about this bite."
"B-but, what can we do? We can't exactly take it off," Ben timidly said.
There was a pause. Christa looked at him for a moment before taking a quick glance around the room. Her eyes landed on a surgical saw, laying on top of a counter behind them. Omid followed her line of vision, his eyes widened as soon as he saw the morbid tool. "Oh. My god! You aren't serious... right?"
"If it means saving his life," she replied.
Pinkie frowned at what they were saying, "Uhh, hello? What are you two talking about?"
"We're gonna have to cut off his arm," Christa said.
"WHAT!" Pinkie snapped. "Have you lost it!?"
"If it's going to save his life, what does he have to lose?"
"His arm." Ben interjected.
"Besides that. I'm saying that he's already bitten, why don't we try what we can?"
"It'll kill him quicker! Won't he lose-like a lot of blood!?" Pinkie exclaimed.
"Obviously but we have to try!"
Pinkie laughed mockingly. "We are not doing anything! I mean, do you see"-She gestured to the entire room. -"Any bandages around here?"
"Well, what do you think we should do then!?" Christa snapped at the pony.
"How 'bout not cut off his arm? That's a brilliant idea!"
"Oh, screw you."
"Screw you!" When Pinkie snapped back harder at the woman, Omid decided to intervene.
"Okay, guys! Let's just... relax, okay? Let's just-y'know calm down, please?" He held out his hands at both of them. "Alright? We shouldn't be yelling at each other. How 'bout this, how about we wait? We wait for him to wake up and then he can decide what to do. Is that better?"
"Yeah, exactly. I agree with that plan!" Pinkie smiled triumphantly.
Christa shook her head. "Alright, fine. We'll wait."
Pinkie threw her one last smugly smile before she looked over at Lee who was peacefully resting on the table, albeit with the bite on his wrist; hoping he would pull through because without him, she and all her friends would've never been able to survive in this world. Well, maybe they would have, if not for Lee. If he never came along when he did, who knows what she and her friends would've done in order to survive.
Applejack, Rainbow, Fluttershy and Kenny were all waiting at the mansion. Fluttershy and Applejack sat patiently on one of the couches in the lounge whilst Rainbow was getting anxious about the others that had gone.
Too many people were either leaving, splitting up or being taken. They never should've decided to split up in the first place. Rarity should have never volunteered to go scavenge for supplies and Pinkie had left to help Lee look for Clementine. How could she be sure that they would come back? It's been a whole day since Rarity left, Twilight had searched endlessly for her and she said she hadn't found a single trace of her anywhere. Where could she have possibly gone? Did she leave the city? Was she forced to?
Thinking about the possibilities only brought more stress to the rainbow pegasus. She wasn't able to force herself to stop thinking about it, considering the only thing that they were doing was waiting for the others to get back. So, to stop thinking about it; was close to impossible.
It seemed as though, Fluttershy and Applejack were the only mentally stable ones left; after everyone that had transpired over the past few days, it was a wonder to think how they were both still managing to keep themselves together.
Ever since they arrived, their magic was slowly draining from them. Back at the st. Johns the first human encounters that tried to attack them, Twilight had threatened their lives in order to get her friends back; something she had never done back in Equestria.
Pinkie had continuously ridiculed her friends, letting her anger on them. Tired of being stuck in the world. Truth was, she was hoping for an adventure and it seemed like one the first time they arrived but the more things she witnessed, experienced; that excitement soon turned into disdain. After losing Duck, she fell into a depressive state and that was when she began to lose touch with her element.
Rainbow Dash had attacked her friend simply out of anger. She had gotten into confrontations before but she'd never attack them. She even threatened Applejack for stopping her when she wanted to go after Twilight. It was strange, they had been in bad situations before and not once did Rainbow threaten her friends but in this world?
The only ones who were managing was Fluttershy and Applejack. With Rarity gone, it was just them two. You had to wonder how long it would take before they would start to lose touch with their elements... that's if they haven't already.
"What are we gonna do?" Rainbow Dash suddenly asked.
Applejack and Fluttershy both looked at her with slight frowns. "What do ya mean? What? About Rarity?" The country pony asked.
"No, about the boat. I saw how small the it is, it might not be able to hold all of us." Rainbow came over, standing in front of both ponies.
"The boat did look a bit small," Fluttershy added.
The country pony paused, adding up the amount of people and ponies in the group. Assuming that they'd make it back, That would be way too many people for the boat. "Well... ah dunno. We'll figure it out, when everybody gets 'ere."
"I wish we were home," Fluttershy softly muttered.
Aj sighed. "Ah do too, Fluttershy. Ah do too."
"I wonder what's going on back there," Rainbow added. "Does anypony even know where we are?"
"Of course, they do Dash. It ain't like we just vanished in the middle of tha' night." Aj sarcastically remarked. "But seriously, ah'm pretty sure nopony knows where we are."
"So... t-this is our new home now?" Fluttershy muttered.
A few moments past, Aj exchanged a look of uneasiness with RD. "Ah... a-ah guess so Flutters."
"Do you think we'll find Rarity today?"
"Ah don't know but maybe Pinkie'll bring'er back."
"That was just weird," RD interjected.
"What do you mean?" Fluttershy curiously asked.
"Like... why did she want to help? She was bullying us yesterday and now suddenly she's like, oh I wanna help now?"
"Maybe she felt guilty?" The yellow pegasus offered.
"Yeah well, whatever it may be, she-"
"What the fuck 're you doin' 'ere!?" Applejack was cut off by Kenny, he shouted from the backyard.
The three ponies all glanced at one another before sprinting over to the backdoor and into the backyard. Upon exiting, a gunshot was suddenly fired; echoing throughout the yard and onto the streets.
Lee gingerly sat up and rubbed his eyes. "W-what... what happened?"
"You... fainted," Christa answered. She waited for a moment. "We were waiting for you to wake up so we can talk about what we're gonna do about the bite."
Lee gave her a confused look. "Do about it?"
"They were talking about cutting off your arm," Pinkie clarified. Lee stilled before looking around the group. "They"- the mare gestured to the three other humans. -"Were talking about cutting off your arm. I wasn't, I stopped them." A slight grin came to the mare's face.
"It might save your life," Christa reasoned.
"Don't listen to them, Lee. They're being silly."
"It could save his life!" Christa snapped.
"He already fainted so I'm guessing the walker-virus-infection-whatever it is, has already spread to-like further than just his arm."
"We're leaving it on," Lee calmly interrupted, silencing everyone. The tension was quickly diffused by his answer.
Walkers were still outside the room but were no longer pounding on the door. Everyone stood silent, mulling over in sympathy for their friend as they were forced to come to terms with his decision.
"Are... are you sure?" Christa softly asked.
"Yes," Lee answered, making sure that his word was final.
Christa sighed. "Alright. Are you good to walk? We still have to find a way outta here."
"Yeah, I'll be fine." Pinkie watched as the man climbed off the autopsy table.
"Hey! Guess what, you know that door me and Lee found? I almost got it open." She walked off in the direction with the others following behind her.
She stood to the side while the others looked through the gap in the door. "Did you do this?" Lee asked.
Pinkie nodded. The man walked past her, he gripped both of the slide doors and pushed them open. The room revealed was dark, and had an echo to it. The elevator hatch was empty aside from the scraps of junk on the dirty floor. To the right was a ladder that led all the way up to the top floor of the building.
After climbing up the ladder, the group continued down a short narrow hallway with a door at the end of it. Lee opened the door, stepping through. Pinkie was behind him and she discovered quickly that they were on top of a roof.
The pink mare quickly glanced around, noticing a few things. On the wall behind her, there was word painted in white that read "No Help". A near empty paint can that consisted of the color white, sat near the wall next to a ladder. There were also white vents that came from the exit and ended in the middle of the roof.
Pinkie walked over to the edge of the building. The hospital provided quite a view, as they were able to see the Crawford tower in the distance. The streets below was infested with walkers, every direction, every exit was filled.
The sight of the walkers, brought a shudder to Pinkie's chest. How in Celestia's name were they going to get through all those hordes? If no diversion presented itself, it was going to be extremely hard - if not, impossible to get through them without a scratch. Not to mention, trying to stick together.
Hopefully Rarity was fairing decently. One day they've been separated for, was the group still alive? Was Lilly alive? Pinkie couldn't care less if she was alive or not, which was strange but then again; she didn't care for much at all in her time being in that world.
"Those Crawford bastards did one thing right, I guess," Christa's voice interrupted.
"Did they follow us here?" Ben asked, coming up on the ledge leaning over to take a look. A thought had crossed Pinkie's mind. Maybe I should kick him off. She chuckled lightly to herself. Just imagining him "accidentally" falling over the edge was funny to her.
"No, that would be crazy." The woman turned, facing the teen. "They don't track, they just roam."
"Yeah, but if you make noise that's when they'll follow you." Pinkie stepped away from the ledge and stood next to Lee. "What do we do now? We're pretty much trapped up here, actually."
"We need get off this roof as fast as we can,"
"That's... great thinking Lee!" Pinkie's voice was laced with sarcasm.
"Thanks, Pinkie Pie. Actually, do you have any suggestions?"
"Yeah, let's jump off the roof. That way, we don't have to run through the streets." Pinkie gave a cheeky smile.
"Well, that's... morbid," Omid replied to which Pinkie merely shrugged.
"O...kay then. Why don't we look around? Maybe there could be something that might help us get off this roof." Lee suggested.
"Good idea," Ben praised.
The group went off in separate directions. Christa and Omid went to the east of the roof. Lee and Ben, to the west; leaving Pinkie to wondering wherever the wind blew.
After a few minutes of chit chat and idle wondering, Lee had suggested getting over to the bell tower over on Omid and Christa's side. The gap between the hospital and the bell tower wasn't that wide, fortunately.
Pinkie looked over to the ladder, an idea popping into her head. "Hey! Think we can use this?" The mare glanced around the group. Lee came up and stood beside her.
"Yeah, we could use it to get over to the tower." The man picked it up, walked over to the edge of the building and carefully layed the ladder down. The end of it, touching the tower. "We could use that bell tower to attract the walkers."
"Attracting walkers? Great... so who goes first?" Omid bit the inside of his cheek.
"I-I think I should go." Ben reluctantly volunteered.
"Hey yeah, I think Ben should go. Come on, Ben let's go." Pinkie began nudging the teen closer to the edge.
"Now, hold on now." Lee stepped toward them. "If we're deciding who should go, it should be the guy who's got the least to lose."
"Aaaaand Ben is the perfect candidate!" The mare smiled, turning to Christa and Omid. "Christa has Omid and Omid has Christa." Pinkie then turned to Lee. "You have Clementine and I have my friends so there for Ben-"
"Ben is too young," Christa interrupted, as always. This was becoming a constant occurrence for her.
"So?"
"So, I don't think he's the one that should be going!"
Pinkie scoffed with a fake smile. "Christa, stay out of it. Okay? You're being silly again."
"At least I'm not the one treating her friends like dirt."
The mare stilled as she stared the woman with an unreadable expression. She didn't look angry nor did she look irritated by that statement.
"Alright, enough." Lee intervened. "I'm going that's that. Any more questions?" When he was met silence, he nodded and turned toward the ladder. He began climbing up the unstable ladder. Whether it was stable or not, this was the only way to get down from the hospital roof.
He tried to keep his gaze on the ledge of the bell tower and not death sentence down below. Suddenly, he heard a light ting and the ladder shook vibrantly. Immediately after, it began to descend and Lee quickly climbed up the rest of the ladder just narrowly avoiding death. The ladder had fallen down the crevice, landing on a walker head.
"Holy shit! That was close!" Omid exclaimed.
"Are you alright!?" Christa shouted.
"I'm fine! J-just...no, I'm not fine." Lee slowly peered over the edge, of what could've been his tomb. "Shit." He muttered.
"Are you gonna ring the bell!?" Pinkie asked.
"Yeah, yeah just-needed to relax for a bit."
"Oh okay, take your time! It's not like Clementine is missing or anything."
Once Lee had gathered his composure, he approached the large rope going from the roof to the floor. He pulled on it and the bell began to rang. They could faintly hear the growls of the walkers growing louder as more approached the building.
"So, what happens now?" Pinkie asked.
There was a pause. "I guess I'm gonna have to jump it!" Lee replied.
"Good luck!"
Lee let out a shuddering sigh before he backed up to the other side of the edge, getting a better run up. He started running, just before reaching the edge, using every single morsel in his legs, jumped off the building. On the brink of death, he managed to grab the ledge of the hospital building, pulling himself out of danger. He bent over. "That was close."
"I'll say but I knew you had it in you!" Pinkie offered a cheeky smile.
Once Lee was ready, the group made their way over to the hospital stairs and down onto the street below where it was now empty just as it was when they first arrived.
After passing a few blocks, the group slowed down to walk. They checked through multiple, various buildings throughout the city for Twilight and Rarity but it all had been futile. It must've been in the afternoon, well Pinkie felt like it was at least. Christa had suggested that the two ponies could've made it back to the mansion while they were gone.
As they were passing a another church, Pinkie couldn't help but notice a purple figure hunched over by a set of stairs, leading into the church. The parking lot of the church was nothing short of a messy, gut-wrenching bloodbath. Dead walkers scattered all over the blood coated, concrete ground. Limbs, arms, legs, decapitated heads were a common factor. It was like stumbling into a serial killer's playground.
As she got closer to the figure, being careful to not step into any splat of blood or any piece of a rotting limb that was decaying on the ground, she realized that the purple hunched over figure was her friend.
"Twilight!" Pinkie shouted and ran to her but began to slow down once she saw the horrifying state the unicorn was in. Blood, gunk, disheveled mane. Strands of hair poking out. Blood trails all over the mare's fur. It was like approaching a lion that had just got done devouring it's meal.
Pinkie could see that the mare was still breathing but she was still hunched over. Her head hanged, her disheveled mane covering her face. She slowly got closer to her friend who didn't acknowledge her presence. "T-twilight?"
The unicorn stopped, her breath hitched, the rhythm of inhaling and exhaling came to a halt as she slowly tilted her head toward the source of a familiar and comforting voice of her friend. Her eyes in a haze of red as if she had been crying. "Pinkie?" She softly whispered.
Seeing her friend in such a fragile state, made Pinkie feel like the worst pony alive. With memories that had occurred not too long ago, came rushing back to her. With how she had been treating her, constantly taunting her and saying it was her fault. To attacking her friends, not just verbally but physically too.
She couldn't handle her grief so she took it out on her friends, now she was witnessing first hoof of what she had caused. "T-Twilight, are... are you okay? A-are you hurt?" She worriedly asked, taking another look at the mare's grotesque figure.
The unicorn didn't respond right away. Her eyes trailed down to nothing. "I-I'm okay... f-for now." She admitted with such defeat.
Pinkie turned, sparing a glance at the others who were all patiently waiting a few feet away. She turned back to her friend. "Okay... so, a-are you able to walk? Do you need any help?"
"N-no," the unicorn simply answered.
After a moment, Pinkie solemnly nodded and backed up for Twilight to move. The unicorn finally arose and walked over to the group, silently with her head slightly hanging.
Something was wrong with her, obviously Pinkie had shrugged it off as the unicorn being in shock. It was clear that the unicorn had slaughtered all the walkers in the parking lot, so it was to be expected but what she couldn't ignore was the fact that she was responsible for this.
Pinkie had caused this, if she hadn't of gone off on Twilight the way she did, she wouldn't of ended up here. She wouldn't have had to kill all of these walkers. Thank Celestia that nothing bad happened to her, she could've been bitten or at worst killed! But right now, Pinkie couldn't see any injuries aside from being completely drenched in, not only walker blood but organs too.
Hopefully, when they get back to the mansion the shock would wear off. Pinkie hated seeing her friend in such a hopeless state and knowing she was the cause of it? She'll do whatever she needed to help her get better.
The walker roamed aimlessly outside of the mansion gate. The group was walking over to the shed of the gate, Lee who was ahead of the group pulled out his pistol and simply killed it, not caring if there were any walkers or hordes nearby.
"You. SONSABITCHES!" They heard Kenny shout as they were coming around the corner, to the shed. The handles of the were being blocked by a shovel that was wedged in between them, keeping them from opening.
"They're probably already gone!" They heard Applejack, on the other side reply back.
"I don't give a fuck! When I find them, I'll tear their heads off!"
Lee pulled the shovel from the handles and pulled the shed doors open. They were greeted by a furious looking Kenny with his arms folded, the ponies, Fluttershy and Rainbow were standing off to the side and Applejack stood just behind Kenny looking just as mad as him.
"Twilight!" Rainbow and Fluttershy perked up, hearing Applejack but they both gasped once they saw the gruesome state of their friend.
She barely reacted to their reactions, there was a more important matter that was on her mind.
"What the-"
"They fucked us!" Kenny exclaimed, cutting Lee off.
"The radio guy?" Pinkie frowned.
"No, Vernon and his lapdogs! They didn't have Clem. So, where the fuck is she?"
"They ambushed us once y'all were gone 'nd almost shot one of us!" Applejack angrily added.
"They're lucky they didn't! Otherwise, I would've mauled them," Fluttershy flinched at Rainbow's blunt threat.
"They're thieves the whole lot of 'em!"
"And we would've gone after 'em if Applejack would've just bust down the door!" Kenny gave the pony a pointed look.
"How was ah able to do that!?"
"Uh kick the door down with yer fuckin' legs!"
"Yeah and then we would've gotten shot genius!"
"C-can we please stop fighting?" Fluttershy timidly said. It wasn't enough for the two to calm down but they held their tongue, the scowls on their faces told the group that they must've gotten into a heated argument prior to them showing up.
There was a pause before Kenny glances at Twilight, finally noticing her state. "What the hell happened with you!?" The ponies all looked at Twilight, just as eager as he was to know what happened.
Twilight had kept silent the whole way back to the mansion, only saying one-worded answers whenever she was asked a question by the group. Pinkie became increasingly worried when time passed. To her, it seemed like there was more on her mind than just her but she couldn't figure out what.
She had asked about it, albeit reluctantly considering, to which she replied with; "I'll tell you once we get back to the mansion," and that was it.
"Umm, she-uh-got into a fight with a coupla walkers," Pinkie answered for her. The unicorn didn't seem like he was going to answer his question, it looked like she was in another world; like she wasn't paying any attention to her surroundings. Barely acknowledging anything.
"...I'm bitten,"
Everyone stopped. They all glanced at the unicorn, wide eyed, shocked.
"What?"
"You're bitten, when?"
"How? W-where 're you bitten!?"
The questions all came at once but Twilight chose to remain quiet even after the group went quiet.
Fluttershy took a step forward, toward her friend. "T-Twilight?" Her voice shook.
A few seconds go by. Both Applejack and Rainbow Dash were silent. She was lying, right? Surely, she was overreacting. Maybe she hurt herself by accident and mistook it for a bite. She had to be... She had to.
The unicorn looked down at her leg, at the bite. Once Applejack and Rainbow saw the bite, they both felt the air in their lungs leave them. Fluttershy had fully broke down into a wail and she threw herself at the unicorn, burying her face into her friend's chest, her cries muffled. The unicorn stayed still, never reciprocating the gesture.
"No... no no..." Applejack aimlessly muttered to herself. This wasn't happening. There was no way this was happening. She couldn't be bit, this was Twilight. Her friend, her best friend... was bitten. She couldn't grasp the concept of this situation. She couldn't, there was no way. Twilight was the element of magic, she can't die! "M-maybe... maybe it don't affect ponies?"
Twilight closed her eyes, solemnly shaking her head. "I can... f-feel it. L-like there's something... different."
Rainbow Dash was doing everything she could in order to keep herself from breaking down, Twilight needed her and she needed to be strong.
"O-Omid? Can you go over the fence and let us into the backyard?" Christa sympathetically said.
"This can't be happening," Kenny suddenly spoke. "Everything is so fucked! First, Clementine goes missing. Then you"- he gestured to Lee -"get bit. The boat gets stolen and now Twilight is gonna die... FUCK!"
"Clementine is still out there."
"And Rarity's still missing," Lee added.
"Rarity's been gone a whole day! How the hell're we gon' find her!"
"We bust down every door in this city! That's how!" Rainbow exclaimed.
"You gon' do that on yer own?"
"I'll do whatever I have to, to find her. I'm not leaving her behind." Rainbow's voice was laced with venom.
"Relax, he never said-"
"Relax? Relax!? How in Celestia's name do you relax after finding out that your best friend is gonna die!?" Rainbow snapped at Christa.
"We should all relax, lets not turn on each other. We stick together, like always," Lee intervened.
The doors to the shed, leading out into the backyard opened, revealing Omid. "We should do this in the yard, it's not safe being out in the open." Christa suggested, thankfully she understood what the pegasus was going through and didn't bother to start arguing with her. Another shouting match was the last thing they needed right now.
They all entered the backyard. Twilight and her friends all took the opportunity to go inside while the others worked out their plan.
The first to enter was Applejack who held the door open for the others. They were all thinking the same thing but nopony said anything about it. The five of them all made their way to the living room, to the couches, not muttering a single word.
The first to sit down was Twilight, she sat on the couch closest to the window and her friends sat on the couch in front of her, with exception of Pinkie who just stood behind them further aways.
Applejack broke the silence. "When did it happen?" She stared intently into the mare's eyes across from her, giving her full attention.
"What?" Twilight replied in a hushed tone.
"When... did it happen?"
She sighed. "Maybe... maybe a few hours ago. I-I don't know, I wasn't paying attention to the time."
"W-what were you doin', Twi?" There was a crack in the mare's voice. "Why'd ya had to run off like that? Why did ya let yerself get bitten!?" The unicorn's breath hitched. "Huh!? What the fuck were you doing!?" The room grew cold. Fluttershy, too scared to speak up and Rainbow Dash, merely stared at the floor, a deep frown on her face as if she was thinking about something.
Applejack stopped, stared at the unicorn in front of her and realized what she was saying. What was she doing? This was her friend and she was bitten. She was supposed to be comforting her, not getting angry at her. Twilight was the one who was bitten, not her and here she was, swearing at her. Blaming her. Guilt began eating at her. "Oh Celestia, T-twi ah'm s-sorry. Ah didn't mean it."
Twilight sighed. "It's okay, I understand." The unicorn spoke so defeatedly. It was heartbreaking to see her like this and they were powerless to do anything about it. They could only offer so much comfort but that wasn't going to change the outcome.
There was a pause. "W-what... what d-do you want us to do?" Fluttershy timidly asked. She sniffed, still crying but not as intense as it was outside.
"What do you mean?" She asked, confused.
"W-when you... y-you..."
She didn't need to say it, Twilight knew what she was talking about. Honestly, she didn't know herself. With her being gone, the only plan was to stick with the group until... well, as long as possible. She didn't have a plan, this whole time of her being here, she never had a plan. They only stuck with the humans just until some kind of portal or magic spell would show up and whisk them away again but it never happened.
No resources to work with, no materials. She was to just sit out and hope, merely hope that a portal to Equestria would open again but it didn't matter now.
"Stay with the group, like we always did."
"Without you," Rainbow quietly said, although everypony still heard it.
Pinkie had said nothing this entire time. She merely stood by and watch her... well she didn't deserve to be to be their friend, not after this. They were her friends, they were but after Twilight was bitten, she no longer deserved that title. Her resentment towards her had gotten her bitten. This was her fault, Twilight was bit... because of her. She had gotten mad, drunk and snapped at her and she ran away and now here she was. Sitting on the couch with a bite on her leg and that... was because of her.
Twilight was going to die because of her.
Suddenly, they hear the back door open flew open. They turn and see everyone rushing back into the house, Lee slammed the door shut behind them. "They shouldn't be able to get into the backyard right?" Kenny asked, they heard the muffled growls of walkers outside. "Maybe not."
"What's goin' on?" Applejack hurried over to them with the girls following behind.
"There's a herd of walkers outside!"
"Oh shit..."
"Great! That's just great!"
"What're we gon' do then?"
"We'll fortify this place!" Christa answered.
"Fluttershy, Pinkie, you go with Christa upstairs. Check for any exits!" Lee ordered to which they immediately complied. "Rainbow, Twilight go with Kenny. Look for any weapons in the house, anything that we can use! Applejack, Ben move anything you can up against the windows!"
"Got it!" Applejack ran off into the living room with Ben, over to the couches. "Y'think this'll be enough!?"
"I don't know, maybe-" the pony pushed the couch, turning it over up against the windows before he even got a chance to respond. It hadn't covered the whole window and there was still two more they had to cover.
"EVERYONE HELP OMID, NOW!" Applejack frowned, glancing at Ben before she ran out of the living room to see the man trying to keep the front doors closed. Walkers were banging on the door, trying to get in. She ran over and pressed her weight up against it, between the small gap of the doors were fingers and arms of the walkers, keeping the doors from shutting all the way.
That was when Ben and the rest of the group came over to help. Twilight stood behind them, using her magic and slicing off the limbs of the walkers finally letting the door shut all the way.
"Man, that was close!" Omid said.
"Okay, so we're fine now. Walkers are outside and we're inside. Perfect." Rainbow Dash added. "What do we do now?"
"Everybody, be quiet. Maybe we can wait them out." Lee said, coming over to the group, a chef knife in his hand. Walkers were still growling right outside the mansion.
"Ah dunno, ah think we should go upstairs just 'n case," Applejack whispered, edging over to the stairs. The sound of a window multiple windows shattering and a door being busted down followed by walkers proved her suggestion to be valid. "Exactly, saw that comin'! Everypony, upstairs, quickly!"
Rainbow and Twilight were the first ones upstairs. "Isn't there some type of spell that can get us outta here!?" The pegasus exclaimed.
"I-I don't know, I'm f-feeling a-a bit... sick." The spell that she used to hack off the limbs of the walkers, had brought a wave of exhaustion upon her. Usually, it would've been no problem but this time, it was different. She felt tired, a pang of nausea in her stomach. It was the bite, it was making her feel ill. Any spell she would use would make exhausted.
"Woah, Twilight? Are you okay!?" Rainbow saw the unicorn stumbling, losing her balance and was instantly by her side, keeping her stable. She noticed the weariness in the unicorn's eyes. "Okay, okay," Rainbow muttered to herself.
Then a loud bang was heard, a gunshot. A few more followed and the group had made it up to the second floor. Applejack glanced at Twilight. "Is she alright?" Concern showing across her face.
Rainbow shook her head. "No, she said she was feeling sick."
"Everybody get to the end of the hallway!" Kenny abruptly shouted, bringing the mares out of their conversation.
Everyone ran to the hallway with Rainbow helping Twilight. At the entrance, they saw Lee and Kenny pushing up a large, seemingly heavy cupboard blocking the hallway. "Everybody, take a fuckin' stand!" They hopped over, pulling out their weapons and the rest followed suit.
The group started counting their bullets and once they were all done, they aimed their weapons over at the entrance of the hallway, ready for walkers.
The first walker that peered around the corner, Lee took the first shot which caused Fluttershy to flinch. Then a couple more began to appear, the group started firing their pistols.
As the walkers turnt the corner to their death, the group began to start running out of bullets.
"I'm out!"
"Me too!"
"Okay, what the hay do we do now!?" Rainbow exclaimed, watching the walkers get closer.
"There's no way out!"
Fluttershy quickly glanced around, to find a cord leading up to the ceiling. "There!" She pointed.
Lee quickly pulled it down and everyone ran up. As he went up, he dropped his pistol and after waiting for Ben to climb up into the attic, he closed the attic back up again.
Rainbow let out a sigh of relief. They could hear the walker's growls and footsteps under the attic floor. It seemed like they could never catch a break, around every corner there was always something lurking, waiting for them to come around so "it" can catch them off guard.
A loud thud came from behind her. She turned to see Twilight, on the floor, unconscious. Her eyes widened. She flew over to the unicorn. "Twilight!? Twilight!" She shook her. She noticed that she was still breathing, slightly calming the pegasus's nerves.
Fluttershy then came over, kneeling down to them. "I-is... is she-"
"No!" Rainbow shouted, causing the mare to wince. "She's not dead!"
"W-what happened!?" Applejack frantically asked, coming over to them.
"I-I dunno! S-she said she was feeling sick! I think it's the bite!"
"What the hell do we do 'bout her then?" Kenny interjected.
"Ah dunno, we'll just have ta wait 'n see!"
"Wait and see!? That's your plan!?"
"Well, do ya got a better idea?" Applejack turned, facing the man with a stern look. When he didn't answer, she continued. "Exactly, so be quiet."
There was a pause. Fluttershy noticed something out of her peripherals. She turned to see one of Twilight's ears flickering. She gasped shortly. She knelt down. "T-Twilight?"
Rainbow heard her, glancing toward the pegasus then down at the unicorn, frowning.
Twilight slowly opened her eyes, Fluttershy and Rainbow immediately clouding her vision. She let out a quiet, weak groan, rubbing at her eyes. "W-what... what happened?"
"You passed out." Christa said before anyone else could.
Fluttershy slowly brought her hoof to the unicorn's forehead. Nearly retracting it out of shock at how high her friend's temperature was. "You... You have a very bad fever, Twilight."
Pinkie watched, furthest away from the group near the window. She wanted to go over to comfort her friend but seeing as how she caused her to be in this situation to begin with, she didn't deserve it. Even though she wanted to go over and apologize, she still didn't deserve that. What she did deserve though, was the bite on Twilight's leg.
"How do you feel?" Fluttershy asked.
"Not too well." Twilight cleared her throat. She looked around the attic. "What are we gonna do now?"
Suddenly, as if her question was being answered by fate, the group heard static coming from Lee's radio. "...L-...ee? L-lee? I'm okay...'m where my parents... oh no." The man snatched the radio from his pants.
"Was that Clementine?" Applejack asked, frowning.
"Yeah, and she's at the hotel. Where her parents were staying." Lee smiled, a feeling of slight relief.
"Then that's perfect! We know where she is now!"
"Yeah, but how're we gon' get to 'er?" Kenny added. "We're still stuck up 'ere y'know?"
"I dunno we'll... figure it out or sumthin'. Huh... what about this?" Applejack walked over to the window and she looked through it, finding nothing... well nothing that would help them get out of the mansion anyway. A couple of trees and a few houses that led down the block and most importantly; no ladder. Just a nauseating straight drop down onto the concrete below. She sighed. "Nevermind, there ain't no ladder for us to climb down on."
"It could be worse, we could be down there." Rainbow said, gesturing to the walkers under the floor.
"And the man on the radio hasn't moved Clementine," Fluttershy added.
"Yet." Kenny frowned, folding his arms.
"Umm, yeah... yet."
"Well, whether y'all like it or not, we gon' have to talk 'bout what happens if Twilight takes another spill." Kenny sternly said. "Or Lee." He threw a look over at the man who was frowning back at him. "Ah mean, we could be lookin' at a Larry situation 'ere."
"Who's Larry?" Christa inquired.
"Don't matter."
Applejack remembered that night at the dairy. The people who they thought were good people but turned out to be cannibals feeding them their friend, Mark's legs. She felt herself grow slightly nauseous at the memory. Rainbow preventing her from stopping Kenny from killing Larry. It strained their relationship for a whole week after that. She silently gulped. "Why do we gotta talk about it?"
"Because what if Twilight takes another spill? Or even Lee!? What do we do then!?" The man's voice went louder got louder.
"Then we'll deal with it later but right now they're perfectly fine! See!?" Applejack gestured at Lee and Twilight.
"Of course ah can see that but we ain't gonna do anythin' if we're dead, now are we!?"
"Quit talkin' like they're some kind of threat! They're aren't going to attack us!" Applejack felt herself getting worked up again. This same situation was happening in the shed, where her and Kenny had gotten into a shouting match.
"How do you know?"
"Ah don't but why the fuck should we turn on our friends!?" Applejack sneered.
"Who said anythin' about turnin' on 'em!?"
"Uhh, you did! When you decided to bring up this worthless conversation!" The two of them were now shouting at eachother, filling the room with their angered voices.
Rainbow came up behind Applejack, placing a gentle hoof on her shoulder. "AJ, come on relax alright?"
She harshly shrugged her off, quickly turning at the rainbow pegasus. "Don't touch me Rainbow." She sternly said before turning back at Kenny.
"Guys, relax..." Christa tried interjecting.
"Applejack, I ain't advocating anything here but how is this not a thing? We're all so worked up about Clementine 'n Rarity that we're forgettin' about what the fuck happened to them!" Kenny gestured, using a nod.
"As I fuckin' said before...they're fine! They ain't attackin' nobody so there ain't no use to start talkin' about anything! We should be worryin' about Clementine and Rarity because we don't know if they're dead or alive or what!"
"I did not give up everything just to die! Ah did not lose everything and fought all the way up to this point just to die in the most insignificant fuckin' way just because we. We. Were. Stupid!"
Everyone watched the two shout back and fourth with each other, not knowing what to do. Both of them were stubborn and everyone knew that if they tried calming them down, it would only make them madder than what they're already were. Applejack looked about ready to strike the man in the face and Kenny practically looked the same.
"You ain't layin' a hoof on them and ah ain't lettin' you kill them like ya killed Larry!" Applejack then snapped at Rainbow. "And ah am sure as hay ain't gonna let you stop me this time!"
"AJ, I'm not-"
"We're gonna have to sooner or later!" Kenny shouted, cutting off the rainbow pegasus.
The country pony then scoffed. "No wonder why Vernon stole the boat, 'cause you rather scream at your problems rather than deal with 'em!"
Kenny quickly snatched a sculpture of a man that was sitting idly on top of a pushed over cupboard and held it up as if he were ready to bash her over the skull with it. Applejack immediately went into a defensive stance, ready to duck the blow but frowned in confusion when she saw the man turn and ditch it at the wall.
The pony then noticed Rainbow Dash in the air who looked like she was ready to strike the man out cold.
"You ruined that dudes face," Omid simply said, earning a glare from Rainbow Dash.
"Shut up sweetie. Look." His girlfriend pointed at the wall, where the sculpture had hit. It had broken a small circular shape into the wooden wall.
Kenny walked over to it, examining it. He then snapped of a piece of plank, that didn't take much effort. "It's corroded to hell."
"So, what? We getting outta here?" Rainbow walked over to the wall, glancing at it.
"Seems like it."
"Plus, this mansion butts up against the on next door. So we're good!" Omid happily added.
"Alright then! Let's bust this wall open!" Eagerly, Rainbow started bucking the wall with her hind legs. "Y'know, Pinkie I could use a little help?"
The pony was standing by the window when she startled at her name, "Huh?" She glanced over at Rainbow Dash.
"Could I have some help?" The pegasus stopped for a moment to talk to Pinkie.
"What do you need?" She was still thinking about Twilight and the bite wound. Still feeling hideously guilty for it. Pinkie walked over to the pegasus, masterfully hiding her deep thoughts, as if nothing was wrong. "What do ya need help with?"
"Can you help me buck this wall?" Rainbow nodded behind her.
The pony looked at the wall then at the pegasus. "Alright."
While Pinkie and Rainbow endlessly worked on the wall, the others went to sit down and rest on the couches along with the rest of the other ponies.
Fluttershy stayed beside Twilight over by the wooden columns that led up to the roof.
Applejack kept side-glancing at Kenny, the man drinking and talking with Lee and the others. It was awkward staying in the same room as him, but not awkward enough for her eyesight to stray from him. He was really starting to get on her nerves. They way he constantly demanded, the way he did things impulsively. He endlessly nagged at her, trying to get her to break down the shed door when they were ambushed by Vernon's group.
Even if she wanted to, Vernon and his gang of thieves threatened them, that if they were to come after them; they would kill them and no one would be spared. Besides that, the farm pony's ribs weren't acting up, she walked, breathed and jogged without pain but certain acts such as, using her strength to break down the doors of a shed, would've definitely provoked it.
"A-are you okay, Twilight?" Fluttershy shook AJ out of her thoughts and she looked at her friends beside her.
"I'm okay, I guess... just a little hot." Twilight sighed.
"Oh, you're fever's still there?"
Twilight nodded.
The pegasus paused for a moment. "M-maybe we can get you some medicine?"
Applejack doubted that. Nothing was going to help her. The bite was infecting her and she's already weak. Antibiotics weren't going to do anything, it ain't no use.
"No... it wouldn't matter anyway," the unicorn muttered.
Fluttershy and AJ both shared a sad look with each other. "So... this is really happenin'... isn't it?"
"Yeah..." Twilight trailed off. At least the hard part was over, having to reveal the bite to her friends. It didn't exactly play out the way she thought, it could've been worse but it wasn't.
"So... w-we just... go on? Without you? Just go on livin'?"
Twilight solemnly nodded, feeling the tears well up in her eyes again. She looked off to the side, at Pinkie who was still bucking the wall along with Rainbow Dash. She must be so devastated right now... .The amount of guilt she must be feeling. Twilight turned back to her two friends. "You need to look after her."
AJ frowned, unknowingly. "What do ya mean, sugarcube?"
"Pinkie. You need to take care of her." She continued when the two ponies didn't say anything. "You need to make sure that she'll be okay. She hasn't been doing so well, lately... she's probably blaming herself what happened."
Applejack scoffed then offered a small smile. "Even when yer bit, yer still worryin' about other ponies."
"You girls can't keep fighting, not after I'm..." Twilight didn't need to finish, they knew what she meant. "You have to look out for each other, take care of each other, like we always did..."
"What happens if we... somehow get back to Equestria? What do we tell Spike, or Celestia? Or yer brother?"
"... Just tell them what happened." Twilight simply answered. "I need to you two to promise me something."
Applejack and Fluttershy were now giving her their full attention. "W-what is it, Twilight?" The pegasus asked.
The unicorn took a moment to answer. "I need you both to promise me, that you will be there for each other... no matter what."
It was sort of a strange promise to make. Of course they would, they were friends weren't they? Applejack nodded without hesitation. "Of course, ah would Twi. Ain't no petty argument's gonna get between me 'n mah friends." Fluttershy agreed with that.
Twilight shook her head. "Don't you remember? The fight that Rainbow and Pinkie got into?"
"Oh... right." Applejack remembered Pinkie saying that she "ended" her friendship with Twilight just before she was attacked by Rainbow. The country pony couldn't believe what she heard so she didn't.
Twilight nodded. "Exactly... that's why I need you two to promise that you'll look after each other. No. Matter. What... okay?"
"Alright, yeah. Ah promise Twilight."
"Thank you. Fluttershy?" She turned to the pegasus who was already nodding.
"Of course, I promise Twilight."
It pained her to talk about this. To make them promise that they will be okay after she was gone. She didn't want to think about it, didn't even want to look down her leg in fear of seeing that bite again. Every second that passed, the more scared and anxious she got but even with that, she still wouldn't show it. She was not ready to go, there was still show much to be done. Not only here but back in Equestria too. What will happen without her? Will the elements of harmony still work?
"Okay, everybody! We're through!" Rainbow's loud voice snapped the unicorn out of her thoughts. She turned to see her walking over to the group. Behind her, there was a large hole in the wall where Pinkie stood by herself.
Twilight still needed to talk to her. She needed to otherwise she'll go knowing she did nothing to ease her friend's grief. She had spoken to everyponyelse so far. The only one she hadn't spoken to was Pinkie, it seemed like she had been avoiding her.
"Hell yes! 'Bout time we got some good luck! Alright y'all, let's move out!" Kenny was the first to move from the couch, over to the wall then the rest of the group followed.
Applejack was the last to exit through the hole. She dropped down with a soft thump onto the wooden floors.
"This place seems pretty safe," she heard Christa say.
She looked around the room stopping immediately when her eyes spotted a dreadful site. There was a bed in the middle of the room. Queen sized. It wasn't the bed that shocked her, it's what was on it that did. Two corpses, a couple. A man and a woman, their hands entwined with a gaping hole on the sides of their heads.
They must've been there for a while, their bodies were already decaying, lost color and the room was filled with a strong unappealing scent. The man had a gun in his hand. He must've been the one to do it. The room had been silent, aside from the faint growls of the walkers but everybody had stayed silent. Staring at the dead couple.
"Alright y'all. Let's just... t-try to work on gettin' outta here," Applejack said, hoping to wake everybody out of their daze.
If she had seen this type of thing back in Equestria, back before she had experienced all the horrors she had in this world, she wouldn't have been able to sleep for days. It's strange and slightly unnerving to think that she was... kind of use to this by now. Seeing dead corpses and stuff like this. She had already seen so many of them, it's like second nature to her now.
"Yeah... yeah, you're right. It's just sad," Christa replied.
"What's worse is that they didn't even give themselves a chance," Kenny suddenly said. Applejack looked at him, frowning. "It's what Katjaa did."
"Oh my..." Fluttershy muttered, a sad look on her face.
"She left me... my son... people that cared about us. Ah forgive her but it don't make it any less wrong. You don't just end it cuz it's hard, you stick it out as long as you can! So let's figure out a way outta here and our friends back." Kenny finished off with a smile.
Applejack smiled, a sense of respect. Finally something that she agreed with. Just because it hard don't mean you gotta take the easy way out. For those that are still here, you keep fighting for. "We just gotta find a way outta here."
Kenny picked up the gun. "One shot left."
"Welp, we aren't gonna be able to use this door." Rainbow gestured to the bedroom door, in the right hand corner of the room.
"Why not?" Lee asked.
"Walkers... and it's locked. So, unless if you wanna go looking for the key be my guest."
"I'd rather not. Guess we're gonna have to look for another way out."
"Again. Why don't we try that?" Applejack walked over to another door in the room. Sunlight shined through it's window panels. She frowned, before pulling it opened.
The rest of the group came over. Kenny brushed past Applejack, looking out the door. There was a small gap between their building and the one on the other side. Slightly higher but it wouldn't take too much effort to reach it. He turned back to the others. "We can travel along the rooftops, that way we don't gotta run through the streets."
"This will be too easy." Rainbow popped out a cocky grin.
"Yeah, fer you." Applejack deadpanned.
Rainbow scoffed. "You guys will be fine." Not waiting for her to respond, the pegasus took off and she was already on top of the other building. "Okay, your turn!"
Applejack rolled her eyes while Lee walked over to the metallic balcony, climbed onto the railing and jumped to the other side; grappling on to the ledge.
Next up was Omid who threw a cheeky smile at his girlfriend before he did the same. Christa and Kenny were the next ones to go, Fluttershy took the easy way and flew over once they were done. Now it was just, Applejack, Pinkie, Twilight and Ben who had to cross. The teen looked anxious at the idea but it was Ben, when was he never anxious?
When he walked out onto the railing, Applejack turned behind her, at Twilight. "You think you'll alright crossing sugarcube?"
"Yeah, I'll fine."
"Alri-"
Then there was a loud metal clang, cutting her off followed by the sound of a teenager's screams ending with a loud thump that echoed throughout the block.
Applejack turned to look at Ben but found nothing, not even the metal balcony and her heart plummeted into her stomach. She and her two other friends, Pinkie and Twilight rushed over to the edge, carefully peering over.
Her eyes widened and the breath left her lungs as she saw Ben on the ground, laying under a pile of rubble. "D-did-did he just die!?" The heavy thumping in her chest made it difficult for her to talk.
Her inquiry went unanswered. She wasn't really looking for an answer but the sheer shock of what happened was clouding her thoughts.
Not a moment later, Fluttershy was the first to fly down. The group merely watched from the roofs as the pegasus flew down into the alleyway and landed next to the teen. Soon after the pegasus landed, Kenny suddenly took off and began climbing down a set of ladders that led down to the ground.
"Christa, Omid can you stay up here? Keep an eye out for trouble." Lee then turned to the rainbow pegasus. "Dash, do you think you can help the others get over?"
"Yeah, I can do that! Just go save Ben!" Without another word, she flew back over to the other side to help Applejack and the others over.
Lee climbed down the ladder and was greeted by a black metallic gate. Before leaving, he warily checked the right side in case of any walkers, finding nothing. He then continued over to Fluttershy and Kenny. "Guys, what's going on?" He said, walking over to them, seeing Ben.
The pile of rubble had been removed from atop of the teen. It wasn't that Ben's legs were broken but the large pole that he was impaled on, through his abdomen that stemmed the thought; he wasn't going to make it. "Oh fuck."
Hearing Lee's sorrowful voice, Ben's eyes widened. "W-what is it? I'm okay, I'm okay..." he trailed off.
Fluttershy then looked at the two men behind her with fear in her eyes. "W-what d-do we do?"
"We can-uh..." Kenny hesitated for a second before he lent down and began to pull the teen off the rebar that he was impaled on and stopped when he heard a loud grunt come from him.
"Just yank him off!"
"W-what!?" Ben exclaimed.
"Fast, like a bandaid." Lee suggested.
"B-but... If we lift him off, he'll start bleeding! He'll lose too much blood!" Fluttershy worriedly commented. Even if they did manage to get him off the rebar, he would still have a large hole in his abdomen with no supplies to treat it.
A growl came from out of the alleyway which seem to make everything stop. Fluttershy's heart stopped as she slowly looked up to see a herd of walkers vastly approaching just outside of the alley. Her breath quickened as she bent down to try and pull Ben up once more.
The teen let out a wail causing her to shakily lay him back down onto the metallic bar.
Ben looked to his right seeing the approaching corpses and his eyes widened and breath hitched. He looked up at the pegasus. "O-oh god, don't let them get to me!"
Fluttershy wasn't listening, too engrossed into the growing fear of the approaching walkers. Without warning, she began backing away.
"You got any bullets left!? This one's only got one left in it!" Kenny asked, shoving the magazine clip back into the pistol.
"I'm out!" Lee replied.
"Shit." Kenny then turned at the pegasus behind him. "Fluttershy get outta here!"
"B-b-but Ben-"
"Ah'll take care of him, you just get the hell outta here!"
Fluttershy glanced at the man, then at the walkers and then Ben, unsure of what to do. She shook her head, ignoring all second thoughts and flew back up onto the rooftop.
"Fluttershy!" Rainbow ran over. "Where's Lee and Kenny?"
"T-t-they're still down there." The timid pegasus gestured down the alley. Then a sudden gunshot rang out, startling the group.
"Jesus! What the hell's going on down there!?" Omid looked over the edge. Seeing nothing but a row of walkers filling the alley.
"Oh Celestia..." Applejack trailed off as she saw the walker-filled alley, countless thoughts running through her mind.
The sound of metallic steps caught her attention and she turned to see Lee climbing back up the ladder. She felt her blood go cold once she realized he was the only one coming. She rushed over to him. "Lee!? W-where's... Kenny a-and Ben!?"
He didn't respond, the man walked past her, a sorrowful look on his face.
The others silently waited for him break the news. The more seconds that went by, the more they could've guessed what happened and everyone started to feel the grief that the man was experiencing.
"They're... gone."
"W-what?" Fluttershy's voice broke, feeling the wave of shock pass through her. She was just talking to them a moment ago and now here she was; listening to Lee tell them they had died.
"W-wha-what... what happened!?" Applejack exclaimed.
"When Ben fell he... he was impaled on something and we couldn't get him out..." Everybody fell quiet once more.
"They're both just... g-gone? Just like that?" Rainbow breathlessly said. "No goodbye? No nothing!?" She felt tears well up in her eyes. The pegasus remembered the first time they met the man back in those woods. Back when they first got this world, one of the first humans they ever came across... gone. Applejack may have never gotten along with him but the pegasus was okay with him. Even though they had just had an argument a few minutes ago, she never wished for him to... die.
"B-ben and Kenny are... gone?" Twilight suddenly asked, her voice broken and tears trailing down her face. Rainbow brought the unicorn closer to her and Lee merely nodded his answer.
"You saw them die?" Christa asked as she walked over to Lee.
"Of course he saw them die! He was down there with 'em!" Pinkie exclaimed.
"Sorry I-"
"That's such a stupid question to ask! He was down there with them!" The pony's lip was quivering, eyes were watering but she kept herself together and sighed. "Let's just go! Clementine and Rarity are still out there, and we're standing around here doing nothing! let's go!" She set off, walking across the rooftop leaving the others behind.
This was where they were at. Down to three humans and four ponies. Soon, they would be down to five if they don't find Rarity or Clementine soon. Both Twilight and Lee were running out of time and so far; they lost two of their friends. The child was kidnapped and the unicorn was missing, no trace, no leads. They were having more bad luck with this whole situation. They were robbed by Vernon, forced up to the attic by the horde and now they lost two of their friends.
Would they even be able to make it out of that city alive? Unharmed? With everything that happened so far, they would be lucky to even have Twilight and Lee with them when they leave... that's if they make it. The group followed the pink pony shortly after she had walked away from the group.
Rainbow stopped to take one more look over the edge of the building, down the alley, staring at the walkers for a few seconds. She sighed and shook her head, feeling tears leak from her eyes. "I hope you find your family Kenny. I-I'm... I'm sorry." She turned around, rubbing her eyes before she flew to catch up with the group.
The group trailed along the surface of the rooftops, all torn from the recent loss of their two friends. Kenny and Ben.
The sun was setting, halfway over the horizon, a pinkish grey sky. Everyone was sore over what had happened a few hours ago, losing their friends. It was truly devastating to them, they barely spoke a word to one another. They were all meddling with their thoughts while they traveled through the city, using the roofs to stay out of the streets, away from the walkers that filled them.
They all stopped at the ledge of a building that had a makeshift bridge, wood and planks, going over to the other building. Christa suddenly spoke up. "Alright listen, there's only a few of us left so... we need to be careful."
"Obviously..." Pinkie said, under her breath.
"Alright, so... do we just walk across this bridge 'ere?" Applejack said, peering over the edge of the building down at the walkers.
Nobody said anything at first. The bridge that was made from planks and wood looked like it was just propped onto the ledges of the buildings. If one of the ends were to slip... .
Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy flew over to the other side whilst everyone else warily crossed the bridge. The rainbow pegasus didn't say anything that time. There was a cocky remark she made about being able to fly or anything like that. She just kept silent as she flew over to the other building, a frown on her face like she was deep in thought.
Honestly, she felt slightly guilty about being overconfident at that moment. It was the thought of Ben falling, taking the small black iron balcony with him that made her feel bad after she had reassured them that they will be "fine".
Once the others traveled over safely, they continued only to stop when there was a square piece missing from the roof that showed the inside of the building and, not surprisingly, it was filled with walkers. Even before they reached it, they could tell from the growing sound of the growls that there was a herd nearby.
"Even the buildings are full," Christa said.
"Well, it is a city after all," Applejack replied.
"Yeah I know but when we first got here this place seemed empty but now suddenly we can't stop running into every horde we come across."
"Yeah, we keep ringin' the dinner bell." The atmosphere inbetween the group felt like it just got more grim, after what happened to Ben and Kenny. Suddenly, Applejack realized what she just said and felt a pang in her chest. "A-ah'm sorry,"
"It's fine, let's just keep moving." Lee said and continued across the roof with everyone following behind.
The country pony sighed, bringing a hoof her face before catching up with the others.
One after the other, the group plopped down from the small ledge. This time, there was no gap between the buildings, or bridges for them to cross. Luckily, the two buildings were stacked up against eachother.
It was the last building on the block, they could see the river in front of them, just a few feet away. It also held a large sign that stretched over to the building on the other side of the road.
"Great, dead end," Applejack said, breaking the silence.
"Where do we go now?" Fluttershy glanced around the block, seeing nothing of value. Broken down cars, boats by the river that presumably weren't working anymore.
"The Marsh House is just around the corner, so we'll have to cross here." Lee gestured to the sign.
Rainbow rolled her eyes and sighed. "Crossing rooftops is all we ever do now..."
"Y-yeah but it's-" Twilight was interrupted by an extreme itch in her throat and was sent into a coughing fit. The alicorn was looking worse as the hours flew by. Her fur was beginning to wither, sweat built up around her forehead and bags formed around her eyes. Her friends crowded around her, not knowing what to do. Fluttershy placed her hoof on her back as she continued coughing.
Soon after the harsh wave of hacking stopped, the alicorn had a strange iron-like taste in her mouth. It felt cold but yet warm at the same time, thick like... like... . Twilight's eyes widened and she spat out the substance onto the surface of the rooftop and much to her fear, she was correct.
A splatter of dark crimson painted the floor. It was her blood, she had hacked up her own blood. Twilight looked around, catching the expressions she was receiving. One half was horrified and the other was grim. If they weren't sure before they definitely were now, whatever time she had left was vastly running out.
"Oh dear Celestia..." Applejack trailed off.
"T-Twilight." Fluttershy engulfed her friend into a tight hug, the alicorn could already feel the pegasus's tears on her chest. She was really going to die... she was coughing up blood and she still couldn't bring herself to believe it. She couldn't die like this... there was still so much to be done.
"We should hurry. We... p-probably don't have much time," Christa softly muttered.
Lee walked over to the two ponies. Once they pulled apart, he layed a hand on the alicorn's shoulder. He wasn't looking too well either. He was getting paler, losing the color of his skin. His eyes were starting to brew a slightly yellow-ish color and bags had formed around them. "We'll find her, I promise okay?"
Twilight nodded before rubbing her eyes, getting rid of a few tears. "Yeah, I just hope that I'll..." she trailed off, letting the others presume the last piece of the sentence.
Lee nodded. "You will be." He lifted his hand off the mare and turned back to the large sign on the building.
"Now we just need to decide who's going first..." Omid said.
"You're the lightest," Christa said.
Rainbow Dash didn't bother flying over nor did Fluttershy flew over to the other building this time. She waited for everyone to decide who was going to cross the large sign. Everything that had unfolded a couple of hours ago had sent most of her ego out the window and was replaced with shame.
"Well, whatever we decide to do; we should do it quickly." Applejack added.
Lee paused for a moment before he turned to Rainbow and Fluttershy. "You two can fly over like you did last time." The rainbow pegasus solemnly nodded before taking off over to the other building without saying anything and Fluttershy followed suit.
The two pegasus flew silently, tears still welling up in Fluttershy's eyes. Rainbow could hear her timidly friend sniffing, to her left but said nothing. They both softly landed on the other building and turned back at the others.
They could faintly hear them conversating with one another then Omid walked over to the edge by the sign and carefully lowered himself onto it and began making his way across.
Rainbow and Fluttershy both watched him as he slowly made his way over to them. Once he made it, Christa lowered herself onto the sign.
The rainbow pegasus found herself watching the alicorn over on the other building. Would she even be able to climb across? She had just coughed up her own blood. Rainbow turned to Omid. "I'm gonna go make sure Twilight is okay to cross." She left without a response.
She flew over to the other building, landing in front of the alicorn. "Hey Twi..."
The alicorn cleared her throat. "Hey."
She was getting worse and worse. Rainbow's concern for her friend increased every time she looked at her. She was still covered in all gunk, leftovers from the walkers. "Do... need some help getting over?" The rainbow maned pegasus gestured with her head over to the other building.
"Uh..." Twilight trailed off, sighing. "Yeah... y-yeah. I would like some." She finished with a weak smile.
The pegasus nodded. "Okay, we'll just wait fo-" A loud clang coming from the sign cut her off. Quickly, she turned around and saw the sign beginning to snap off from it's hinges. Christa was already over on the other side which allowed Omid and Fluttershy to help her.
Rainbow ran over when the large sign finally gave way and broke off, falling to the ground making the earth rumble. Walkers that were below was gathering at the scene. The pegasus shook her head. "Well, what do you need me to do now?" She turned, looking over at Lee.
He didn't respond. He walked over to the ledge beside her, glancing at the walkers beneath them on the streets. The man sighed. "I'm gonna have to go for it."
Rainbow frowned. "Uhh-what?"
"I'm going for it." He repeated, stepping back from the ledge and turning to the pegasus. "I need you to fly everyone over. I'm going down there. I'll work my way around."
"What!?" Rainbow exclaimed.
"Woah-woah-woah-woah, wait! Whatdoyamean you'll 'work yer way around'?" Applejack interjected, coming over to the two.
"It means I'm already bitten. I just have to... push my way through."
Applejack exchanged a frown with her friend. "You cannot be serious. You ain't actually gonna..."
He didn't say anything instead he merely responded with a solemn nod.
"W-w-what... what then? Like, what're you gonna do when you get down there? What are we supposed to do!? I thought we were in this together!" Rainbow exclaimed.
"Just get to the train, remember where we came in?" He asked but Rainbow wasn't listening. "We'll meet you guys there."
"Uhh-no, we won't because we're coming with you."
"You guys need to be safe, I can't have you risking your lives for me." The man gestured at Twilight frail figure. "She doesn't have a lotta time left." He pointed at the two ponies in front of him. "And you two need to be there for her, she may not be able to make a couple more blocks."
Upon hearing about Twilight's condition, Rainbow's willingness to stay with Lee and help him continue searching for Clementine and Rarity soon began blur. On one hoof, Rarity and Clementine was still lost in the city somewhere and Twilight was getting weaker by the second.
As Lee put it, she didn't have a whole time left. So many things had happened today that she didn't have time to fully process the situation and as much as she hated to admit it; and she really despised herself to admit this... but he was right. Twilight was...
dying.
For all she knew, Rarity could be perfectly fine held up in one of the stores that they haven't checked yet.
She turned at Applejack who looked to be thinking the same thing. The pegasus sighed and nodded. "Fine... fine, alright?"
Lee layed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "I'll try to look for Rarity if I can, okay?"
"Well!?" A voice caught their attention. They turned and saw Omid waving his arms at them. "What the fuck are we gonna do now!?" He yelled, distressed.
Lee and Rainbow exchanged a knowing look before before he started filling the others in on the situation. Once he was done, he gave one last nod at the ponies behind him.
"You be careful, okay?" Applejack said, walking over to him. "Don't get yerself hurt or nothin'."
"Lee?" The man saw Twilight walking over to him and before he knew it, the alicorn wrapped herself around him, bringing him into a hug. "T-thank you... f-for everything." She muttered. The man returned it and they stayed like that for a few moments.
After they were done, he turned back to the ledge and began climbing down.
Applejack watched as he made his way down. The pony didn't want to leave but Twilight was getting weaker and they needed to find a somewhat safe place for when... the time came. She hadn't that feeling. She felt like she was never going to see him again, That that was his goodbye.
She turned at Twilight, sighing. "Alright y'all, let's... let's get goin'."
Time was running out. Twilight wasn't getting any better and they barely made any progress across this walker infestation of a city. Rainbow and Fluttershy could just fly out of there, the thought definitely crossed Rainbow's mind.
The sky was getting darker and soon enough, the only light source they would have would have would be coming from the moon. Fluttershy stayed by Twilight's side, making sure she would be okay. The pegasus hated this, she hated knowing her friend was going to die and she was powerless to stop it. All she could merely do was offer her her comfort and just be ready... for when the time came.
They crossed multiple structures across the city over the course of a couple hours but by then the sun was gone. Twilight had nearly fainted numerous times during the trip. It was difficult but she managed to keep herself afloat to keep going, much to her friend's dismay. They insisted that she rest for a few minutes but she would always ignore them and carry on. Time was precious and they needed to get out of the city... she needed to see that before she left.
To know that her friends were safe and getting to the train was the perfect solution of guaranteeing that. Besides, she did not want to die in a city with walkers being the last thing she will ever hear.
She had never felt so tired and weak in her life. The fever was an aggressive killer, her whole body felt hot. Like a sort tingling burning sensation and the nausea wasn't helping either. She was constantly dizzy, gravity shifting in her head... it was strange as to how she managed to keep going all this time.
They could see the country side in the distance, the silhouette hills, dead wilted grass and trees. They saw the small black object... the train. They were so close. Twilight's went into another coughing fit but lost the balance in her legs and she stumbled to the floor, hacking and wheezing.
Fluttershy was already by her side, gently patting her friend on the back. She noticed the blood coming out. Applejack and RD came offering their support. Nopony knew what to do, they couldn't stop it. All they could merely do was keep her comfortable, hoping that it would stop soon.
Once the wheezing finally stopped, Twilight went to get back up but struggled... immensely. Her legs wobbled, attempting to keep her balance but after a few seconds, she fell back onto the floor. "I-I-I... I can't k-keep... going." She breathlessly muttered, even talking took too much energy from her. This was really happening now... was it?
She couldn't get up, no matter how hard she tried. It was like carrying a body that wasn't her's. All her strength, her energy, it felt like it was slipping away every time she tried to get back up. This wasn't happening now was it? Not now. They were nearly there. They're nearly out of the city, it was there! It was right there!
"Alright-alright, sugarcube. L-let's just rest for a few minutes, okay? Don't push yerself too hard." Applejack softly said.
"N-no... n-no." Twilight turned to look up at her friend. "AJ... I-I can't... I-I can't move." She said, weakly panting in between.
Applejack felt her heart pierce when she heard that, she turned to Rainbow who looked just as distraught as she did. She glanced back down at her friend. "O-okay... m-maybe we could..." She trailed off, scanning around the roof and her eyes flew over to a large vent situated by the right corner of the roof.
"She doesn't have that much time left." Christa quietly said, walking over Applejack. "At this rate... she won't make it out in time." They both looked at Twilight who was laying on the floor, she had stopped on trying to get up.
"Ah know..." The country pony quietly replied replied.
After a few moments, the woman spoke again. "We'll... give you guys some privacy. Just... let us know when it happens."
"Yeah, thanks." She knew what she meant, the thought of having to put down Twilight was a punch to gut. Just the thought alone disgusted her, it was a no win situation. She couldn't let her turn but she didn't want to put her down either and quite frankly, nopony knew if they were able to turn. Twilight was... dying but would she turn when she finally passed away?
Christa nodded and ushered Omid further away from the group, leaving them alone.
Rainbow Dash came over to the country pony. "What can we do?" She muttered, furrowing.
AJ sighed, shaking her head. "There ain't nothin' we can do Dash." She looked over at Twilight, letting out another sigh. "C'mon."
The alicorn layed out on the floor barely moving. Her torso moved up and down in a slow rhythm.
"Hey Twi." Applejack softly greeted as she sat down beside her. "How're ya darlin'?"
"A-as... good as I can be," she answered, so weakly that AJ almost didn't hear it.
"Alright, well that's good."
"It's not." Rainbow interjected, they all heard her but chose not to comment. "I-I... I can't believe this. I can't believe this h-happening." Her voice cracked. The sight of her friend, the situation they were in, it was all too much. This was too hard for her to keep in and as much as she tried, she couldn't stop the tears from falling. Applejack wrapped her arm around, bringing her close. She felt the same pain she was feeling, the bond they both shared over Twilight. Rainbow's head hanged as she quietly sobbed.
"Girls?" Twilight muttered, gathering everypony's attention. Pinkie hadn't said a word but she was there with her.
"Yeah, sugarcube?"
"C-can you... w-when you find Rarity make sure she's okay?"
Applejack gave her an incredulous look. "Well, of course Twi. O'course I'll will." The rest of the girls agreed to do so. They all stayed huddled around the dying alicorn, talking about past events, sharing stories with one another. Things that had happened back in Equestria, the times they spent together. Everypony was devastated for their alicorn friend, the one who brought them all together in the first place was soon to pass on. They all held her close, sobbing in embrace as she took her last breath.
"Clem... don't..." he trailed off and suddenly he found himself falling to the ground, everything going black.
Clementine gasped as she saw her guardian toppled over. The child bent down next to him. "L-Lee?" She whispered trying to get his attention. She glanced around at the walkers roaming around them, too close for her comfort. They had covered themselves in walker guts to get through the herd and fortunately, it was working.
She shook him, attempting to wake him up. "Lee? Lee?" She scanned around, looking for a way to escape and her eyes landed upon a store with it's shutters halfway closed.
She was in the most dangerous situation. Her guardian has fainted, possibly died right in front of her and here she was stuck in the middle of a herd at night.
She quietly walked over to Lee's head, grabbing both of his shoulders. She attempted to drag him over to the store. It was difficult, very difficult. He was ten times her weight and his clothes had been smothered in walker guts. It was hard even trying to get a stable grip.
Once she finally got it, she began dragging him over to the store. It was the only place she could go to for safety, more so Lee's safety. Without him, she didn't know what to do. If it wasn't for him finding her that day, she would most likely be dead.
Suddenly, Lee's body felt extremely light, Like carrying a bag that was empty. He was lifted off the ground, hovering inches just above it.
The child watched, shaking as Lee's body was slowly maneuvered over to the store. It was almost like... magic was moving him! She quickly took a glance around her area, finding nothing. There was only one explanation to what had just happened. This was unicorn magic, it was Twilight or Rarity that did this but she couldn't see them anywhere.
She turned around to get Lee into the store but gasped as she came face to face with a certain purple-maned unicorn. She shushed the little girl immediately. The unicorn looked around them, keeping her eyes locked onto the herd around them.
Clementine noticed the state the unicorn was in. She looked horrible, fur drenched with presumably walker blood. Guts, bits and pieces of rotten flesh inked her body. Who knows what type of trouble she's been through. They went a whole day without the mare, no leads of where she was or where she went. It was obvious just by the look of her that she struggled to survive out there and it seemed like she was the only one. Lilly, Carley, not even David was with her.
"Clementine get inside, I'll get Lee." Rarity whispered as she quietly walked pass the child. She what the unicorn asked and crawled under the shutters. Soon after, she saw Lee being moved into the store, a faint aura surrounding him. When he was in, Rarity came in and finally closed the shutter door.
A groan came from behind her. The unicorn turned around to see Lee beginning to wake up. She knelt down beside him.
"Lee? Lee?" Clem shook the man, trying to get his attention.
The unicorn couldn't help but notice how sick the man appeared to be. Aside from being smeared in dark crimson, he did not look well.
Once the man finally opened his eyes, he caught the two pairs of concerned eyes looking down at him. "L-Lee? I-I... I thought y-you died." The child cried.
"N-no..." the man gulped before looking at the unicorn. "Rarity?"
"Yes, yes it's me." She nodded down at him with a small smile.
The man let out a painful sigh. "W-what... what happened?"
The mare paused for a moment. "I... got into a bit of a bind but let's not worry about that right now."
"B-but-"
"No buts." The mare stood back up. "We have to make sure this place is safe before we do anything." She took a quick scan around the place. It was regular jewelry store with a counter to her right and further to the back was an office. There was a window that allowed her to see through it and she took note of the walker inside it.
She left Clem and Lee alone and walked over to the office, passing the counter. When she reached it, she came across a door but it was locked. She sighed, shaking her head. She heard the walker growling inside of the room but ignored it. She used her magic to pick up a chair sitting to her right, in the corner and she slammed it into the window in the door, shattering it.
Once she got the door open, the mare walked over to the monster. The walker was stuck in a display case, it's arms flailing about, trying to grab at her. She's killed a few of them already, plenty actually. Most of them was from the church after that stranger had cornered her there.
Biting the inside of her lip, she yanked the walker from the case to the floor. She brought it's head up and slammed it into the tile floor beneath it. After it was killed, she went to go back to Lee and Clem but found them struggling to walk along the counter. Well, mainly Lee... something was wrong with him.
She came out of the office and over to them. "Lee? A-are you alright?"
"He was bitten," Clem blurted out.
Rarity froze, feeling her heart fall to the depths of her stomach. "W-what?"
The man slowly lifted his head up. "Yeah... I-I was bit." He said as he struggled to keep his balance.
She furrowed as she went to go help him. The unicorn found herself speechless, he was bit? She couldn't believe it, that would explain why he looked so... ill.
Once they passed the counter, the man lost his balance and he fell against the wall, sliding down it.
"Get up Lee! The door is right here." Clem begged.
Rarity came over, a lump forming in her throat. "Lee?
The man tried getting up but was unfortunately unable to. After another try, he stopped. He ushered the girls over to him. The conversation was difficult to be had, to say the least. Lee was dying and unfortunately there was no more time left, he was too weak to go on.
He made Rarity promise to take care of Clementine, the mare was his only choice, the only guarantee for Clementine being safe. She accepted it, gracefully. Rarity would look after her from now on until they met up with the others by the train. Lee kept the fact of Twilight being bitten, he thought that it was best if she heard it from her friends rather than him.
When he finished telling the two how to survive, the advice he could gave, he adamantly suggested that he be killed.
Rarity tearfully rejected the offer, not wanting to shoot him but after some convincing, she accepted. By the end of it, they all said their goodbyes. While Clementine stood back and sobbed, Rarity held up the gun to his head. She held it there for a moment, struggling to pull the trigger but when the man slowly closed his eyes, she finally pulled it; ending his life.
They left the city a couple of hours ago, crossing over into the countryside. The both of them mainly traveled in silence. It was daunting having to go through the city at night but Rarity had already experienced that. They needed to leave in order to meet up with the others, she was hopeful but also filled with sorrow over losing her friend, Lee.
It was still hard to believe, she just found him. She thought everything was fine now but once she saw the state he was in, she knew something was wrong. When he broke the news to her that he was bitten, everything seemed to be crashing down all at once and she didn't even know about Twilight's condition.
The two walked across the field of grass, Rarity never found the train that they arrived in. She didn't know or remember the way they came in, the city was like a maze. She didn't know if the direction she was going in was right or not. As they walked across the field, it was obvious that she had chosen the wrong path out of it. It had been hours since they left the city.
"Rarity?" Clementine called.
"Hm? What is it, darling?"
"D-do... you think we'll find the others?"
The mare sighed inwardly. After they left the city, she suggested walking across the edge of it. She thought if maybe they just stayed on the outside and traveled that way, eventually they would meet up with the others. Unfortunately, there was too many potential dangers that would've occurred. If she were alone, she... probably would've risked it but she had Clementine to look after. She couldn't take any risks, it would've put the child in danger if she did.
If Rarity were to die, Clementine would be alone.
"I-I don't... know. We might see them soon though," She answered, not believing herself.
"I hope so. I just hope they're okay."
"Yeah... me too darling."
The two of them continued across the field, Rarity was desperate to find her friends. She didn't know how she was going to do this, she couldn't take care of this child alone. They seem to be doing fine so far but how long would that last without the others? As if taking care of herself wasn't hard enough but now she had to look after Clementine too.
After what felt like half an hour, they came across a tree stump. A little resting point for the both of them.
Clementine went to go sat on a log. A few feet away from them was an abandoned broken down car. It's doors off their hinges and windows destroyed.
"Rarity?"
The mare sighed. "Y-yes Clementine?"
"Are you... okay?"
The mare looked at her with a frown. "Y-yes? Why are you asking?"
"Because you haven't found your friends yet."
Rarity shut her eyes for a few moments before sighing through her nose and opening them again. "Well, I'm fine Clementine. Please do not ask me that again."
"Oh, sorry."
Rarity didn't respond. She stood further away from the child, staring off into the distance. She wondered how her friends were doing. If they were okay, Lee said that Omid and Christa were with them which offered her some form of relief.
The mare didn't know what she was doing. She didn't where she was going, she didn't have a plan, the only thing she did know was that she had to get out of the city but now that she done that; everything from then on was blank.
She could go back and search harder for her friends, it was morning, she had plenty of time but she also didn't want to bring the child back into a city infested with walkers. It was too dangerous, too many things could go wrong and it had! Ever since they arrived at that cesspool of horror, nothing but bad things have happened to them.
Rarity had lost her entire group when she decided to go on that supply run. It filled her with grief as she remembered the events that went on in the church and the things she was forced to do. There was no way she was going to bring Clementine back there.
At this point, Clementine was the only one she had left. Her friends were missing, they were probably wondering where she was, just like her. She knew Rainbow Dash wouldn't leave her behind, being the element of loyalty. Besides that, the others wouldn't abandon her either.
But she still couldn't go back, not when she had Clementine to protect.
The two of them stayed silent as they rested. After the way Rarity had responded to her when she expressed her concern, Clementine decided not to push it. She knew the mare was hurting and obviously she didn't want Clementine to be worried about her.
Rarity's eyes trailed along the hills, they were entirely alone. Just her and Clem but no one else. She was grateful but at the same time, she wasn't. There was no walkers around that she needed to deal with and neither was any of her friends.
The mare sighed. "Alright, let's go Clementine."
The child looked up from her seated position. "Where are we going?"
"I... do not know. Somewhere safe, hopefully." She offered a small reassuring smile.
"Shouldn't we go look for your friends though?"
"I... want to but I can not. It's too dangerous, we are not going back to Savannah." Rarity started walking, leaving no room for argument.
Clementine quickly hopped off the log and ran over to her. "Well... w-what do we do now then?"
"I'll... figure it out eventually, darling. Don't worry, we'll be fine." Rarity and Clementine continued across the field on their own. She might not have a plan but to be honest, no one else really did either. When Kenny suggested to get to Savannah to find a boat, what happens then? Were they just going to live on the water from then on? They weren't going to be able to live on there very long, supplies would run short as it always did and Lilly's plan to stay at the motel?
It was a terrible idea, there were bandits attacking them every other night. Shooting arrows at their barricade, it was insane to think that the woman thought that staying there was a good idea.
Rarity was doing fine so far, she would figure it out eventually. She had to and if she didn't... Well the others hadn't either.
