Equestria Girls: Left For Dead

"I can't wait to see the rest of our friends." Twilight said as she and Sunset walked down the hallway. "Its been so long since I last seen them."

"I'm sure they'll be happy when they see you." Sunset replied before stopping to open a door leading into a large open room. Twilight peeked inside to find several dozens of foldable cots. "This is our bunk room." Sunset said as she motioned inside with her hand. "This is where we all sleep or just relax. I'm sure that we can find a bed in here for you to sleep on." As she said this, Twilight kept looking around the room. Soon, her eyes caught sight of Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rarity as they all were laying down on their cots. Keeping what Bull had told her in mind, she didn't think Applejack would be in here. But that still left one of her friends missing.

"Where's Rainbow Dash?"

"We sent her, Spitfire, and Soarin out a little while ago to gather some food that will replenish our pantry." Sunset replied. "All part of what the scavenger teams do. They're Scavenger One. Bulls Eye and Adagio are Scavenger Two." This made Twilight remember what Bull said he was doing before coming to her aid. "If it wasn't for them, this entire base would run out of food and supplies really quickly."

"Do you force them to go out?"

"Of course not!" Sunset replied. "I would never do something like that. If someone didn't want to go, I wouldn't make them. Each one of them volunteered to do it." She then looked over at the three girls on their cots. "Come on." She said before stepping inside. Twilight nodded her head before following her in.

Once inside, Twilight saw many other people that she knew. Vinyl Scratch and Octavia were over in a corner of the room, providing music that sounded beautiful. Vice Principal Luna was asleep in her cot. Lyra and Bon Bon were standing over by a window. Trixie was sitting with the other Twilight, talking about something. She even found the human versions of the cutie mark crusaders talking with Big Mac.

"So many of our friends are here." Twilight said. "I'm glad to see lots of familiar faces."

"Yeah." Sunset replied. "It is nice." She then sighed a bit, a bit softly, but loud enough to where Twilight could still hear it. "But so many others didn't make it."

"Like who?"

"Granny Smith, Bulk Biceps, Mr. and Mrs. Cake along with their children, Snips, Snails, and Flash Sentry just to name a few."

"Flash didn't make it?" Twilight asked before feeling Sunset put a hand on her shoulder. She just shook her head.

"I'm sorry, Twi." She said. "But if it makes you feel any better, he sacrificed himself so that your human counterpart was able to make it here."

This did make Twilight feel a little bit better, but it still didn't stop a tear from streaking down her cheek. Sunset saw this and soon gave her a comforting hug. They stayed like this for a little bit before Sunset pulled away and took hold of her hand. "Come on." She said. "Lets give the girls something they'll be happy about."

Twilight just nodded as Sunset quietly led her over toward the three girls. Each of them were facing away from both of them, making the humanized alicorn think that they were sleeping.

"Hey girls." Sunset said. "Look who decided to drop by."

Slowly, all three of them rolled over to face her only for each of their faces to show their own unique expressions of joy when they saw who was with her.

"Twilight!" They all said in unison before each of them got up and instantly pulled her in for a group hug. The combined strength of all three of them against her made it hard to breathe, but she didn't mind. She was just happy to be reunited with her friends.

"Its been so long, dear." Rarity said as they all let her go. "How have you been?"

"Pretty good." Twilight replied. "Still trying to wrap my mind around what happened here."

"To be honest, it all still feels like a horrible nightmare." Fluttershy said. "But it isn't. And now there are so many cats, dogs, and birds that no longer have anyone to care for them other than me."

"I know, Fluttershy." Sunset replied before putting a hand on her shoulder. "But at least they have you. That's better than nothing."

"I guess so." She replied.

"I can't believe you made it here, Twilight!" Pinkie exclaimed. "If I had the ingredients, I'd bake you a 'Welcome back' cake."

Twilight chuckled at what she said. "Thanks Pinkie. But you don't have to."

"What's going on?" A voice asked from behind. Twilight turned around only to find herself face to face with her human counterpart. "Oh!" She said before giving her pony counterpart a sheepish smile."Uh.... hey there, other me. How's it going?"

"I've been pretty good." Twilight replied after getting over the shock of seeing her. "And you?"

"More or less the same, I suppose." She said. "So uh.... how long have you been in town for?"

"I just got here a couple of hours ago."

"So you must have been the survivor that Bull was talking about over the walkie."

"Yep. That was me."

"How exactly did you find him?"

"Well...." Twilight said. "It was more of him finding me rather than me finding him. I was being chased by Ms. Cheerilee before I found myself trapped in an alley between Sugarcube Corner and some other building with her blocking the only way out. Then Bull came along and rescued me."

"Aww." Rarity said. "Darn. If I wasn't so sure he had a crush on Adagio, I'd give him a kiss for saving you." This made all the girls around her look at her before she soon realized what she had said. Her cheeks instantly turned red as they all started giggling.

"Speaking of Adagio and Bull." Twilight said before looking around. "Where are they?"

"In the recovery room." Sunset replied. "Come on. I'll show it to you."

"I'll stay here and keep an eye on things." The human Twilight said. Sunset just nodded as she, Twilight, and the rest of their friends left the room.

"I'm still not used to seeing another me." Twilight said as the group walked. "It just feels so strange."

"I'm sure the feeling is mutual for her." Sunset replied.

"So where is Applejack?"

"In the garage, working on a few vehicles." She replied. "It's on the way to where Bull and Adagio are so we can stop and let you talk for a bit."

"Sounds good." Twilight replied. As the group walked, they passed by a few large windows. Twilight stopped walking for a bit to look out of one. Upon doing so, she found a few people up on a metal walkway attached to the upper portion of the concrete wall surrounding the factory. Her eyes widened when they caught sight of one of the people up there. "Is that Principal Celestia?" She asked, making Sunset look out as well.

"Yep." Sunset replied. "She's in charge of the daytime watch that keeps an eye out for any infected that gets too close to us."

"And I take it Vice Principal Luna does the same, but at night. Right?" Sunset just nodded as a response.

"In a way, it's kinda like what Princess Celestia and Princess Luna do back in Equestria." She said before they all started walking again. "So far, we have yet to have any infected breach that wall."

"That's good to hear." Twilight replied. After several minutes of walking, the group stopped outside a metal door with a small window built into it. Looking inside, Twilight could see Applejack, or at least her legs, as she was working underneath a truck that was bigger than any she had seen before. "What is she working on in there?"

"Looks like she's working on Ol' Betsy." Sunset replied before pushing on the door to open it.

"Ol' Betsy?"

"That's the name she gave for this truck." She said as the group entered the large room. "Once done, that truck could basically clear a path through anything. Damaged cars, hordes of infected, it could probably even smash through a concrete wall if it had to."

"Woah."

"Applejack!" Sunset called out.

"Ow!" Applejack cried out as the sound of something metal dropping to the concrete floor echoed throughout the room. "Dag nabbit!"

"Are you alright, dear?" Rarity asked.

"Yeah." She replied. "I'm fine. What're ya'll doin' in here?"

"Well we wanted you to see who decided to pay us a visit." Sunset replied before Applejack slowly scooted herself out from underneath the truck.

"Well I'll be." She said as her eyes focused on Twilight. "Good to see you again, Twilight."

"It's great to see you too, Applejack." She replied before Applejack got up and promptly gave her a hug. But when she let go, there were oil stains left on Twilight's shirt where her hands were.

"Whoops." She said. "Sorry bout that."

"It's alright." She replied. "I'm sure it can come out."

"Yes." Rarity said. "I'll be sure to get that out for you later on."

"So what brings you here, Twi?" Applejack asked before walking over to a sink mounted on the wall to wash her hands.

"Well I originally was going to come here for a visit, but when I opened the portal, an infected came through and tried to attack me."

"Did you kill it?"

"No." She said, making everyone around her gasp. "I just put a sleeping spell on it and sent it back through the portal before coming here myself." Once she said that, she could hear multiple sighs of relief.

"I see." Applejack said as she dried her hands off.

"Then she got chased by Ms. Cheerilee until she got cornered in an alley. But Bullseye came in and rescued her before bringing her here." Pinkie explained.

"Well, at least you're safe here, Twilight." Applejack said before walking back over and placing her hand on Twilight's shoulder. "And when you're ready to go back to Equestria, just give me the word and Ol' Betsy and I can take you to the portal."

"Thanks Applejack." Twilight replied. "But I don't think I'll be going back to Equestria for a while yet."

"How come?"

"Well I can't just leave you guys now that I know about all of this." She said. "What if I leave and you guys become infected?"

"As long as we stay safe and avoid the infected, that won't happen." Sunset replied.

"Well..... maybe you guys could come back with me."

"I'm not so sure that that's a good idea, Twilight. Think about the possible effects there could be of having multiple doubles of most of the ponies."

"But what about me being here along with the other Twilight?"

"That's just one case." Sunset replied as she held up a finger. "What you're suggesting would result in at least several dozens of duplicates, including duplicates of the Princesses. That alone may cause confusion and chaos back in Equestria."

Twilight sighed when she heard that. She knew Sunset had a point. "Well at least let me send you supplies through the portal. It would lessen the stress on the Scavenger teams to find things you need." Sunset opened her mouth to talk again, but immediately closed it before she started rubbing her chin as she thought about what her friend said. She then smacked herself in the forehead and groaned.

"I suppose that would make things easier for us. Especially since I still have the journal."

"Why didn't you think about that sooner, Sunset?" Applejack asked. Sunset turned her gaze toward her friend after hearing that. This question clearly struck a nerve inside her as her hands started to clench themselves into fists while her whole body began to shake due to the anger toward herself.

"I don't know!" She snapped before throwing her hands up in the air. "I guess it just didn't come to mind when all of this first started! It's not like I was prepared for something like this to happen!" Applejack and the others stepped back slightly after hearing this. Sunset saw this and looked around before she sighed heavily. "I'm sorry." She said. "I didn't mean to snap at you."

"No." Applejack said. "I should be the one saying sorry. I shouldn't have said that."

"No. You're right." She said. "I should've thought about asking for help sooner, but I didn't." She then sighed again. "Maybe it was wrong for me to be the one in charge."

"Don't say that, Sunset." Applejack said before placing a hand on her shoulder. "You've done a great job as our leader. So you made a mistake. Big deal. We all make mistakes." Sunset then felt the rest of her friends place a hand on her. As she looked, they all nodded their heads in agreement with Applejack.

"But my mistake cost the life of one of our Scavengers." She said before a few tears started to streak down her face. "That's something I'll have to carry for the rest of my life now."

"Don't blame yourself, Sunset." A voice said from behind. Turning around, she saw Bull standing in the doorway leading into the garage. "Steel volunteered to be a Scavenger. He knew the risk just as much as the rest of us do, but he still did it so we could survive."

"But he didn't have to." Sunset replied, the tears now streaming down her cheeks. "None of you would have had to risk your lives if I had thought about asking for help." She then felt him place his hand on her shoulder.

"At least he died for a purpose, rather than getting killed randomly in the street by an infected." He said before he gave her a hug. "Even though I wasn't there when it happened, I know he went down fighting with everything he had. Honestly, he wouldn't have wanted it any other way. But all of that is in the past now. There's nothing we can do about it. We just have to move on and continue to survive."

"He's right, Sunset." Twilight said as he let her out of the hug. "Even I make mistakes from time to time. But when I do, I learn from it and make sure that it never happens again."

Sunset sighed again before looking at her friends. Each of them were giving her a reassuring smile that made her feel a little bit better.

"Okay Twilight." She said. "When you go back, I'll be sure to write to you with everything that we need." Twilight nodded her head as Sunset looked over at Bull. "Guess you and the rest of the Scavengers will have less to worry about now."

Bull just nodded his head before a faint voice could be heard coming from his walkie. To hear it better, he turned up the volume to where the voice could be heard clearly.

"Scavenger One to Base!" Rainbow's voice said. "Come in, Base!" Hearing this, Bull unhooked the walkie from his belt before handing it to Sunset.

"This is Phoenix." She said. "What do you need, Rainbow?"

"We got ambushed by a horde of infected!" She replied. "We managed to barricade ourselves in a safe room, but I don't know how long we can hold out for!"

"Where are you?!"

"Canterlot Grocery!" She replied. "We need help! Get here as soon a-" The voice suddenly cut out, making everyone gasp.

"Rainbow?" Sunset asked. "Rainbow Dash! Come in!" There was no response. "Spitfire! Soarin! Anyone!" Her hands started trembling as no one replied to her call. "No...." She said. "Not them....."

"I'm going." Bull said before turning away to leave.

"Not by yourself!" Sunset replied before grabbing him by the arm. "I'm going with you. I'm not letting anyone else die because of my mistake if I can help it."

"Me too, pardner." Applejack said. "I can't stand by and let those infected take my friends. They already took Granny from me! I ain't lettin' them take anyone else without a fight!"

"I'll come as well." Twilight added. "What kind of friend would I be if I just stayed here while she was in trouble."

"Alright." Bull said. "But two of ya'll will have to ride in the bed. The truck can only seat two."

"That's fine." Sunset replied before looking at Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy. "You guys are in charge until we get back. Keep everyone calm. We don't need people panicking."

"Yes ma'am." Pinkie replied before saluting.

"Be careful." Fluttershy said. "And be safe."

"Bring them all back safely if you can." Rarity said before everyone gathered together for a group hug. Once done, Twilight, Sunset, Bull, and Applejack all started running toward the main doors of the factory.

"Grab and go, ladies!" Bull called out. "Get your weapons and meet me at the truck!"

"On it!" Sunset yelled back before she and Applejack raced down a different hall, leaving him and Twilight as they continued on.

"What about me?" Twilight asked. "I don't have anything!" Bulls Eye looked back at her as the two ran before he slowed down and undid one of the straps around his body.

"Here." He said before handing Twilight his sword. "I'd give you a gun but considering you've never even seen one before today, that would be a really bad idea."

"But that's your friend's sword."

"Ain't like he'll be needing it." Bull replied before Twilight took hold of the blade in its sheath. "Plus its better than nothing. The rest of us will do our best to cover you though." Once they reached the doors, Bull kicked them open and rushed out to the truck as Twilight chose to wait for her friends. A minute or so passed before Sunset and Applejack appeared, dressed in clothing that covered all of their skin while also wearing biker helmets to cover their heads. Sunset also had a set of clothes and helmet for Twilight to wear as well.

As the two girls helped Twilight get suited up, Bull brought the truck around and pulled up in front of them. Twilight then got inside the cab while Sunset and Applejack climbed into the bed. With everyone on, Bull then brought the truck up to the gate and waited for it to open before flooring the gas pedal, making the truck race out of the lot before getting out onto the highway.

"Please let them be alright!" Twilight thought to herself as the truck raced on down the road. "And Princess Celestia. Please forgive me for what I might have to do."