Episode 2 Chapter 4: Punks with Bows and Arrows
Written by: bobby ray
Proofread/Edited by: KJay

They continued to run until the front gate was in their sights. Doug did his best to keep up with the rest, but he couldn't stand up straight and his shoulder hurt like hell. From inside the fence Andy was first to spot them, and to notice something was very off. Danny saw this from the dining room window and made his way to the front door before Brenda could ask what was happening. Lee and Mark rushed through the fence, followed closely by Applejack and Doug. They tried to catch their breath, finally considering themselves momentarily safe. Andy reached them before they could fully calm down, "Guys, what's wrong?"

Applejack spoke up, "The fence came on, then some men in the woods attacked us while we were stuck outside. I think it was those bandits from earlier."

Lee summed it up for Andy, "It was a goddamn ambush out there!"

"Holy shit!" Danny reached the group and immediately noticed Doug's injury, "Are you ok?!"

"Bandits?! Here?!" Andy couldn't believe it, "On our property?!"

Brenda made her way outside, onto the porch while Andy was speaking. It took her seconds to see the arrow, "Oh, my Lord! What happened to you sweetheart?!"

Andy turned towards his mother, "It was those bastards in the woods, mama."

"Yeah..." Doug joined in, "I'll... be alright. It could have been worse."

Just as Doug tried to reassure them, a large group of people came down the drive. The rest of Lee's group, excluding Carley and Ben, made their way up the drive. Kenny waved at Lee and the others when they neared while giving his most formal greeting, "Hey, ya'll!"

Twilight was first to notice that something was wrong. Without warning she teleported near her friend to find him hurt. Although Applejack had told the St. John boys about Unicorns, this sudden appearance shocked them greatly. Twilight began to grow a mixture of worried, scared and hysterical as she looked at the piece of wood in Doug's shoulder, "Doug! Are you... what happened?!"

The others noticed what had Twilight so upset before they could question why she teleported. They ran towards their friends as Mark answered the mare, "He got shot with an arrow!"

Lilly was shocked, "Christ! Are you going to be ok?!"

"I'm fine, really." Doug tried again to reassure everyone.

This only worked to make Twilight more worried, and a tad bit more hysterical, "You're not fine, you're hurt! How did this even happen?!"

"Please calm down," Doug pleaded, "I'll be fine once we pull it out..."

Brenda came down and stopped him, "Oh no, honey, c'mon. Brenda's got you." She began to lead Doug towards the house, "C'mon inside now. We'll have you all sorted out." Katjaa followed them inside, walking next to Brenda. Twilight followed as well, wanting to make sure Doug was alright. The Dairy farmer began talking to them as they went up the hill and towards the house.

Larry approached Lee, Mark and Applejack. He did not look as angry as usual, although this would surely change, "What kind of shit is this?"

"We ran into some people on the way here," Lee began, "bandits, it seems. I think it was them who attacked us."

Mark nodded "Yeah, and thank god we were able to get away."

Rainbow went to Applejack, who looked in worse shape than when she left, "AJ, are you alright? You're not hurt are you?"

She put on the best act she could, "I'm fine, just wishin' I could say the same 'bout Doug."

"I can't believe these people attacked you." Rainbow said.

"They gave us a lot of problems back in the beginning," Andy informed her, as well as everyone else, "killed a bunch of our farmhand. We were able to get 'em to stop by making a deal with them."

Kenny was pissed, "You KNEW about these people?!"

Danny continued for his brother, ignoring Kenny for the moment, "Food for protection. Not like we had much of a choice, but they did stop hasslin' us."

"Goddamn it!" Larry let out in anger, "Carley said this place was locked down tight!"

Lee turned towards the brothers, "So much for your 'deal'.

"Those shitheads broke the agreement!" Andy told him, "I'm sorry, Lee. If we had any inklin' they were going to cause you guys trouble, we would have gone out there with you!" He turned towards everyone in Lee's group, "Listen, we may have had an agreement with those people, but we will NOT stand for this shit."

Danny agreed with him, "Ain't no way we're going to let those sons o' bitches get away with this."

"You know where these assholes are?" Kenny asked, this time receiving a proper answer.

Danny was the one to reply, "They're hard to pin down, but I think I know where at least ONE of their camps are." He turned towards Lee, "When you're ready to go scope out that bandit camp, come find us." Danny and Andy made their way off to the side to have their own private discussion.

"Bandits?" Lilly couldn't believe it, "Are you serious? This place isn't safe, we can't stay here."

"Not safe?!" Kenny asked her in moderate disbelief, "This place is a hell of a lot safer than that motor inn! I think all of us and our guns can handle a couple of punks with bows and arrows!" He made the inference that this was all they had due to Doug only being hit with an arrow. Kenny spoke to everyone now, "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."

Rainbow openly disagreed with this, "Whoa! We are not moving here and we are NOT taking anything over."

"The flying rat is right." Larry couldn't even agree with Rainbow without throwing in an insult, "These are nice people. Let's not do anything to get us thrown out, at least until we've eaten."

Lee stopped Rainbow before she could talk back to the rusty forklift, "Easy, we don't need to cause trouble here. I'm going to go out and help Dan deal with these bandits. You gu..."

"Can I go with you?" Rainbow asked, cutting him off.

"No, you can't." Lee answered plainly before turning back towards the whole group, "You guys should try to make friends with Andy and Brenda while I'm gone."

Larry commented immediately, "Well that should be easy. I got charm coming out of my ass."

Lilly, Mark and Rainbow all gave him the same disturbed look, "Yeah, that's... real charming, dad."

Lee took a quick head count while Larry had made his most fancy statement this month, something was off, "Where's Ben and Carley?"

"Since Carley and Ben ate some of the food on the way to get us, they volunteered to watch the motor inn until we get back." Lee was happy to hear this from Lilly. If Carley had seen Doug with that arrow in his shoulder...

Andy finished a conversation with Danny, one regarding Doug and his wound. He turned and noticed the two children with the new group, Andy made one finally announcement , "Hey kids, look what Lee got working for ya!" He pointed out the recently repaired swing.

Clementine grew exited, "A swing! I love swings! Just like at my tree house! Come on, Duck!" They both ran towards the new means of fun. Clementine stopped and spoke to her friend, "Thanks Lee! You're the best!" Lee and Rainbow both smiled as she followed Duck.

"Yeah!" Duck agreed as he got on the swing. After this everyone dispersed. Kenny and Applejack went over to Duck as the child sat himself down. Rainbow flew over and landed herself next to Clem, who watched as Duck had his turn. Andy and Danny made their way up the hill, on the porch, and inside the house. Lilly and Larry went towards a gazebo on the other edge of the yard.

Mark approached Lee, he seemed a bit worried, "Do you think it's a good idea to go looking for these bandits?"

"We haven't got much choice. Either we find them or they come back in force."

Though he was not so certain, Mark agreed, "Alright, then. Want me to go with you?"

"The more of us go, the more likely less will come back. Stay here and keep an eye out here."

He nodded his head, "If you say so." Mark went over towards the barn area and decided to stay around there for now.

Before he left, Lee decided it was best to talk with everyone. He went towards Kenny, who was pushing Duck on the swing as Applejack watched, "Hey guys." Lee greeted as he approached.

"Hey, Lee." Kenny greeted, "How you two doing? Ya didn't get hurt out there, did ya?" This question was directed towards both Lee and Applejack.

"We're fine, luckily." Applejack told him, "Coulda been a lot worse."

"How about you, Kenny?" Lee asked, "Did you all make get here easily?"

Kenny shook his head, "Yeah, barely. On the way here I was getting dizzy. My hands were shaking and I got cold sweats. I'm surprised that I didn't pass out. And Duck, well, let's just say he needs a proper meal soon and leave it at that."

"I'm sorry you're all so hungry." Applejack told him.

"Don't be. As long as these Dairy farmers are good on their word, then it shouldn't be an issue much longer."

Applejack could hear the gate to the picket fence open. She looked and saw Twilight going towards the barn, her head lower than normal. While Lee and Kenny began their own conversation, something involving Lilly, she quickly moved to intercept the Unicorn. Twilight stopped when Applejack caught up to her, "Everythin' alright?"

Twilight looked at her friend, she obviously was not sad or upset, "Yeah, I'm just worried about Doug."

"How's he doin'? He didn't look too bad." Applejack wasn't completely sure how bad his wound was. She'd only seen injuries that bad on a walker, and they didn't feel pain as far as she knew.

"I don't know. That woman Brenda, took him to a room on the second floor. He kept trying to tell me 'It's alright, it's not so bad.' And then those other two came into the house and asked me to leave, said that Doug needed to rest without anyone other than 'Mama' seeing him."

Applejack glanced at the house, Twilight was the only one who had left it so far, "Then why is Katjaa still inside?" She looked back at Twilight.

"I heard Brenda talking to her as I left. She was telling her about their cow... or... something." Twilight closely examined Applejack as she wrapped up her statement. She was a mess compared to the way she looked back at the motel. Their was nothing in particular, it was just her overall appearance that looked off. She hadn't even noticed since Doug had been the one actually hurt, "Are you alright Applejack? You don't..."

"I'm fine." Her voice held a little hint of anger, "Everybody needs ta just stop askin'."

Twilight got closer to her, "If people are asking about your well being the least you can do is tell them the truth."

Applejack just pushed farther away, "The truth is I was fine 'til ya brought this up." She was clearly irritated, "Nobody here has any right ta ask questions just 'cause I'm actin' different."

"AJ, if anyone has a right to ask it's those who take the time to ask. If something is wrong then please tell me."

She stayed back for some time longer. Twilight kept a calm, welcoming look on her face as Applejack thought. Eventually she caved, "There was a... problem on the way here."

Twilight smiled, happy that Applejack was willing to talk, "What happened?"

"We came across two of those bandits, one of 'em murdered the other." She said plainly, no hesitation.

"O-oh." Twilight immediately felt like a jackass for the smile she had glued on her face, which quickly went away.

"He didn't even think twice." She continued, "He had a gun, like the one Hershel had, and he just..." She trailed off. Applejack had no fondness for the bandits, especially after what they did to Doug. However, murder was wrong in her eyes no matter who is on the pointy end of the dagger. The only killer she forgave was Lee: that is because he's a good man, is very protective of those he cared about, and Applejack knew he felt horrible about it.

See began to look worse, "I'm sorry you saw that Applejack. I promise I'll get us home as soon as possible." Twilight tried to get closer, Applejack didn't budge from her receded state. She continued to say whatever she could to try and comfort her.

"How are you both doing?" Lee finished his conversation with Kenny and decided to talk with Clementine and Rainbow.

"Good." Clem answered.

"We're fine. How about you guys, is anybody else hurt?"

Lee told her what he believed to be the full truth, "Don't worry, we're fine. Doug should be well soon enough." He turned to Clementine, "So how do you like the swing, Clem?"

"I haven't gotten to use it yet. Could you push me on it?"

Lee nodded his head, "Sure, happy to push you on the swing." He looked at Kenny, who was still pushing Duck, "Mind if Clementine takes a turn?"

Kenny had no problem with that. He looked down at Duck, ceasing to push on the ropes, "Alright, Duck. Let Clementine have a try for a bit."

Duck reluctantly responded, "...Okay." He jumped off the swing, the way he did it made it look like he had jumped from a much greater height. Duck sat himself down on a nearby tree stump while Kenny stood next to him.

Clementine sat on the swing and waited for Lee, Rainbow laid herself next to her. Lee got behind the swing and began to push it. He didn't make it go as high as Kenny was, since this was Clementine on the seat and not a walking truck's worth of sugar. As he continued Lee decided to make conversation with Clementine, "So how are you holding up?"

"I'm ok I guess. Are you ok?" She was fully aware that Rainbow already asked this, but she still felt it was only right to make sure.

"Yeah, I'm just worried about Doug is all."

"Are you sure Doug is going to be alright?" Rainbow asked, "He didn't look good."

"Trust me, he got lucky. Doug may not seem it, but I think he's tough enough to get through this."

Clem asked another question as Lee pushed, "Are you going to find the people who hurt Doug?"

"We have to make sure they don't hurt anyone else."

"Be careful, I want you to stay lucky, too."

"Ever since I met you I've had good luck, so don't worry."

Rainbow looked at him, "Why don't you want me to go with you to find these people?"

"Because I don't want you out there. Me and Danny are only scouting them out, so the less people go the easier it'll be." Before she could attempt an argument over it, Lee changed the subject, "So what do you both think of the dairy?"

"It's pretty," Clementine answered, "It reminds me of how things used to look before."

Rainbow just let it be for now, "Yeah, it looks really nice here."

Clementine began to think more about how things used to be. Her parents taking time away from their work to play a game with her, the friends she had at school, all of the nice people who lived in their part of town. She asked her two friends another question, "Do you think things will ever get back to how they were?"

"Yes." Rainbow answered instantly, "Just because things are bad now doesn't mean they'll stay this way. It may be tomorrow, it may be many months from now, but sooner or later things are bound to get better." She was firm in her belief that this wasn't going to last forever, ever since Kenny told her what was going on.

Lee gave her an approving look, "It's good to know a lot of us have been able to keep hope."

"Why shouldn't we? Today we found other people who have enough food to feed all of you! I think that is a good sign that things will turn out better than we expect."

"I hope it does." Clem said as the swing went forward.

"Me, too."

"It will." Dash assured them, "And as for now, we're safe."

"As long as those bad people don't get me too," Clem gave them another question, "right?"

Rainbow looked at her, a protective glare on her face, "As long as I'm around, none of them will get the chance."

"We won't let what happened to Doug happen to you." Lee added.

Clementine looked at them, "Promise?"

"I promise." Lee answered for them both. He soon stopped pushing the ropes, "Alright, Clem, that's enough for now."

"Okay," She said as she got down, "thanks for pushing me."

"Of course." Lee turned towards Kenny and Duck, who still waited at the tree stump, "It's all yours!"

Duck jumped off the stump and ran towards the swing, "Yeah!!"

Kenny smiled as he walked, "Okay, Duck, don't pop a gasket." Clementine and Rainbow went back to the spot they were at before, Lee decided to go talk to Lilly before he left. Rainbow followed the swing with her eyes as Kenny began to push Duck forward, and as the swing came back, and so on with that pattern.

Twilight came over and was greeted by Clem, "Hi Twilight!"

"Hello, Clementine." Twilight smiled at the young girl. Clementine was friends with Rainbow Dash, and spent most of her time with her and Lee when they were around. However, Clementine loved all three of the ponies overall and they three enjoyed her company. Sadly for Twilight she wasn't able to talk with Clem right now, she had come over here for a reason, "Hey, Dash."

Rainbow had already noticed Twilight approach, "Hey Twi, you happy to finally get some time away from that machine?"

"I work on that machine all the time so that we can get home as soon as possible, Rainbow Dash." She kept herself from getting too wound up, "The only reason I left the Motor Inn is because I was afraid that something had happened, and something did."

"Twilight, I know. But you work on that thing every waking hour and I think that you deserve a break, that's all." She approached the Unicorn, "Anyway, what's up?"

"I need your help with Applejack for a moment. She isn't doing so well."

Rainbow looked past Twilight, where Applejack was just sitting down and looking at nothing in particular. She soon gave Twilight her attention again, "What's wrong?"

Twilight looked at Clementine briefly. She motioned for Rainbow to follow her, and lead her a few feet away from the young girl. They both stopped and Twilight whispered to her, "You know about the bandits, right?" Rainbow nodded, "They ran into two of them on the way here. They were arguing or something and didn't notice them. While AJ was watching one of them..." It was hard for her to say the word alone, "...killed the other, and it was nothing like when Lee or Kenny deal with a walker."

Dash refused to believe that Applejack, of all three of them, was the one to let something such as this get to her. She looked at the orange mare again, who now had her eyes on a few blades of grass. All three of them had already experienced more than they should have in their time here. Sadly, however, Applejack had gotten the worst of it. Rainbow turned back to Twi, "Seriously?" She couldn't decide what else to say.

Twi nodded her head in place of a yes, "Would you mind talking with her, I can't seem to get through."

"Yeah, no problem." She turned towards Clem briefly, "I'll see you later. Got something to take care of." Clementine said her momentary goodbye as Rainbow and Twilight approached Applejack. Dash greeted her friend as she got close, "Hey there, AJ."

She kept looking at whatever she could focus on for a second, "Hey Dash." No attempt at pushing emotion into her voice was made. Applejack was worse now than before because she had come to focus solely on the image in her head. The whole scene acted out, AJ couldn't help but focus on the heartless brutality the bandit showed to his fellow human. He went so far as to desecrate the mans corpse by filling it with more buck shots.

Rainbow got closer to her, "Listen, Applej..."

"You're sorry I saw what I did, you wish I hadn't, not everything in this world is like that and we'll be home soon." She pulled away from the replaying slide show in her mind to look at her cyan friend, "Twi already said those, just so ya know."

Applejack looked at the ground, her two friends shared a concerned look. Twilight decided to take another crack at it, "It's really nice here, AJ. Doesn't it remind you of home?"

"I'm tryin' not ta think of Sweet Apple Acres too much."

"Well it's still really nice here," Rainbow rejoined, "and unless I'm mistaken there's some hay near the barn. Bet if we ask they'd let us have some."

"Not hungry." Twi was really beginning to worry.

"If you want I could take you back to the Motor Inn," Twilight offered "maybe you'll feel better being there."

"That wont change a thing." Dash was thrown off by this. She was confused not at what she said but the way she said it, for some reason it worried her.

Rainbow decided to ask about something said previous that also peaked her curiosity, "Why don't you want to think about home?"

"'Cause I'm startin' ta doubt that we'll get home, and even if we do there's no way ta reverse all the horrible things that'll continue ta destroy everything here.

Twilight was shocked at Applejack's words, while Rainbow responded with conviction, "Hey! We're going to get home and everything here will end out alright for everyone!"

"Rainbow..." Twilight knew this was the worst time to get angry at AJ, but wasn't able to stop her friend from continuing.

"No, Twi! She needs to hear this!" Dash turned back towards Applejack, who still didn't give them a second glance, "What you saw was horrible; and I do, with all my heart, wish you hadn't seen it. I would rather have had myself see it with my own two eyes instead of you. But no matter what you see, it gives you NO reason to think like that!" Rainbow's own feelings and bull-headed behavior had hold of her. It was truly amazing that she didn't yell, "Nobody should ever talk that way! How do you think Applebloom would take it, WHEN we get home, if you were acting like that? Huh?!" Applejack looked at the ground opposite of Rainbow, her head drooping down.

Twilight tried again, "Rainbow, please..."

Dash continued, ignoring her completely this time, "I know that this isn't all that's got you, isn't it?! I don't know what exactly happened with that woman, but you shouldn't beat yourself up over it! And these bandits may be harming themselves, but if they've done what these people say they did then they don't deserve your sympathy! Now I know you too well, AJ! Why would you let something make you act like this?!"

Applejack had let go of the image and allowed herself to hear all of what Dash had said. She turned towards Dash, her eyes watering and her voice breaking, "Because if that's what they do ta each other, then what's ta stop 'em from doin' worse to everyone here I care 'bout, and Larry?" Applejack gripped Rainbow in a hug and let a few tears roll down, "I'm sorry, Rainbow, I know that this is no way ta act. But sometimes this all gets ta be too much fer me ta handle, and I can't let it all out 'cause everything is already bad fer everyone else. Why should I complain when this isn't my home going through this mess, when I haven't lost any of my friends, and I'm not the one starving? I just..." She couldn't finish.

Rainbow felt terrible for getting mad at Applejack, but it was the best thing anyone could have done to help her. This was the first time she had been able to get that all off her chest. If Rainbow hadn't have pushed her about it then she would have just allowed it to build up, flourish and slowly eat her up. Rainbow slowly returned the hug and let Applejack know she was still sorry for what she'd said to her. Twilight let what had been said slide as she watched her best friends get their problems far behind them.

"Think our little arrangement with them was a good idea?" Lee asked Lilly, nearing the end of their conversation.

"Little late to be asking that now," Larry, again, welcomed himself into the discussion, "don't ya think?"

Lilly nodded, "Dad's right. Let's just wait for dinner and if Doug is feeling well afterward, we leave." Lilly was one of the few people here, at this moment, who didn't fully trust the farmers, "I don't want to push our luck here." If food wasn't the issue she probably would have never sent Lee and the others here in the first place.

Larry protested, "Now, now, let's not be hasty."

"I'm going to go check things out." Lee said, deciding there was nothing else to discuss.

"Just don't get too nosey." Lilly warned him, "These kinds of back woods people are usually pretty protective of their privacy."

"Yeah," Larry butted in once more, "and we don't need you poking your nose where it don't belong and getting us thrown out on our asses."

Lee went to leave, then something else came across his mind. He fought with himself for some seconds about whether or not he should bring it up, "Actually Lilly, I need to talk with you in private for a second."

Lilly gave him a questioning look, "Alright?" She followed Lee off of the gazebo, they didn't stop until a distance away from her father,

He turned towards Lilly. She had a growing hunch about what Lee wanted to speak of, "It's been three months, your dad still treats me like I'm some kind of asshole."

"It seems to me like he has more of a problem with Rainbow Dash than you." Lilly pointed out, "She's the one he's always fighting with."

"That's only because Larry keeps pushing her around. And it's not just me and Dash, it's like he hates almost everyone he meets."

"Yeah, well, don't expect that to change." She told Lee, giving to him the honest truth, "That's just how he is."

Though it was not his place to ask, Lee wanted to know, "Does he treat you like that too?"

Lilly actually didn't blame Lee for asking about that. Still, she had to set him straight, "Look. My dad can be an ass sometimes, I know that. But he's not a bad guy. He just..." Lilly trailed off for a moment, thrown off by the subject, "He's got a lot of pain. He's been through so much. And lost... Pretty much everything." This was a first for Lee. It wasn't at all a shock that Larry had lost everything, Lee did too and so did many other people. Lilly continued, "And it's hardened him, you know? Yeah he's bitter and hateful but that's all just to protect himself, and me."

"All he's got left in the world is me. And that goes both ways." She started getting emotional, nowhere near being fully noticeable, "So yeah, he's probably going to keep treating most people like crap, but that's because he still has one thing left to care about. So don't judge him. And don't judge me for sticking by him. He's my dad, and I love him." She went back to the spot she was standing at before. Lee took some time to think about what had been said before he made his way to the house. Lilly stood their, leaning on the wooden frame of the gazebo and over looking the corn field outside the fence. She gazed over at her father, sitting just a few feet away. He was doing pretty much nothing besides looking around, observing the peaceful landscape. After thinking over her own words Lilly decided to say four more, "I love you, dad."

Larry, caught off guard, looked over at his daughter. Her voice was more noticeably breaking and she was repressing a small tear. Larry knew well enough that he still had the love of his daughter. But she hadn't said in a long time, longer ago than this mess. Larry used the first response that came to him, "I love you too, pumpkin."

Lee opened the side gate and entered the front yard. He would have gone straight up to the house had the ponies no caught his eye. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were hugging each other, by the looks of it one of them had been crying. He watched for a few seconds before the ponies realized they weren't alone and ended their moment. Lee immediately felt awkward, "I'm really sorry, girls. I was just..."

"Don't worry Lee." Applejack reassured him, "We were kinda keepin' that goin' a little too long." She turned towards Rainbow, a smile formed before any words did, "Thank you, Rainbow. I really needed that."

Rainbow still felt bad for getting mad, but decided it was better than whatever may have happened otherwise. Dash returned the smile, "You're welcome." They gave each other a quick, final hug and went off to do their thing.

After they left Lee approached Twilight. She was on the opposite side of her friends moment from him, "I'm guessing Rainbow made Applejack feel better."

She nodded, "Yeah, thank Celestia she did. I was really getting worried." She looked up at Lee, "So what are you up to?"

"Just about to talk with Danny. We're going to check out this bandit camp and see..."

Twilight stopped him, "What? You are actually going to LOOK for these people? Why? It'd be safer to just avoid them."

"They know where we are, Twilight. At the very least we should know the same about them. Allow us a better chance to fend them off next time."

"Well, just don't do anything stupid."

Lee smiled as he went towards the picket fence, "I'll try." He went up towards the house. Andy and Danny, taking a break from their work on dinner, were outside on the porch. They ended their discussion as Lee stopped near the porch, "Fellas."

Andy turned towards him, "How are ya feelin', Lee? I'm really sorry you almost got killed out there. We should have told you how dangerous it was."

Lee glared at him, "No shit."

"You saw what they did to your buddy." Danny said, "Nobody's safe here until we start to fight back."

He looked at the younger sibling, "How?"

"The two of us are going to go out and do some recon," Dan told him, "then we'll all mount up for some revenge."

Andy agreed, "Hell, yeah."

"Who the fuck are these people in the woods?" Lee had to ask.

"We don't know." Andy told him, "We think some of 'em used to work at the big box up the way."

"Save-Lots." Danny corrected him.

Andy recalled that to be right, "Yeah. Anyway, they're nutty as all hell. And get mad when they're hungry."

Dan looked at Lee, "So, are ya ready to head out there and find their camp?"

He nodded, "Yeah. It'll be a good opportunity to find out a bit more about what we're up against. Let's do it."

"I'll stay here and hold down the..." Andy stopped and looked past Lee, as did Danny.

Lee turned around, behind himself he discovered Rainbow, she was floating up at Lee's level. Before Lee could say anything she spoke, "I want to go, too."

"Rainbow, we already..." He tried to tell her again.

"I know you don't want me in danger, but I don't just want to sit here while you're out there with only him to watch you." She looked at Danny, "No offense."

"None taken."

Lee shook his head, "It's already too dangerous when we're just out hunting. These men are armed and won't think twice about using their weapons on you."

"I won't let them see me, and if they do you know how fast I am. They couldn't hit me even if they tried." She put her front hooves together, "Please, Lee, I want to help."

Danny spoke again, "We're only doing some reconnaissance for now, Lee. She wouldn't be in any more danger than usual."

Lee let himself think about it. Rainbow had proven how quiet and stealthy she can be multiple times, both around walkers and with pranks. He glanced at the Pegasus, who kept her pleading position and threw in enlarged eyes. Lee sighed in defeat, "Fine. But while we're out there you listen to what I tell you. Alright?"

"Got it!" Danny entered the house as Lee and Dash waited. He returned with two rifles, one he gave to Lee. Andy went back inside the house as the trio went down the hill. Rainbow flew over and waited by the main gate while Lee and Danny opened the picket fence.

Twilight, Clementine and Applejack all noticed as Lee opened the main gate. Twilight was the first to reach them, "Are you going with them, Rainbow?"

"Yeah, I'm just going to..."

"You never said anything about her coming with you." Twilight told Lee. Clementine and Applejack reached them by this point.

"I just told her she could a minute..."

Twilight went back to Rainbow, "You shouldn't go with them, Dash. Don't you know where they're going?"

"I'll be fine, Twilight. They're not going to let anything happen to me and I think I can handle myself."

She wanted to say more. Before she could an orange hoof rested itself on her shoulder, "Now Twi, ya can't keep her on a leash 'cause you want her safe. Rainbow can look after herself."

Twilight looked from Dash to her, then back to Dash. She didn't agree with her going and decided not to complain about it, "Please just be careful."

Rainbow snickered, "When have I ever not been careful?" Both Twilight and Applejack gave her a blank stare, "Okay don't answer that."

Clementine looked at her friends, who were both about to look for the bad people, "Please be lucky."

Lee turned to her, "We will." They left through the gate, Rainbow hovering next to Lee as they walked down the drive. Applejack and Clementine went back to their own thing once they were out of sight, but Twilight watched for a bit longer. She begged that Rainbow would be brought back safely, there was nobody for her to beg so she just begged in her head over and over. It was another five minutes before she closed the gate and went back into the yard.

"Pinkie?" Rarity persisted, "Darling, are you alright? Could you please answer me?" She was outside Sugarcube Corner, and has been for the last eight or so minutes. With all her work at the Boutique, Rarity has not been able to spend much time with her friends lately. Or, at least, those who weren't missing. After some time Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Spike and all their other friends started dealing with the situation in their own way. At least that's what Rarity hoped had happened. She was still very much worried about Twilight, Rainbow Dash and Applejack, but knew their was nothing she could do until Princess Celestia told her otherwise.

She brought her left hoof to the door again multiple times, "Listen, dear, I know you're probably upset but ponies have been saying they haven't seen you for days. Please come out, there's no need for you to be in there by yourself." The cakes were in Canterlot. Some kind of big food competition or something, Rarity didn't remember. They'd left almost a week ago and aren't expected back for a while.

No response, not a peep from inside. She went to knock again, "Nobody's home." Rarity knew the voice instantly. It was Pinkie, or almost Pinkie. She couldn't tell what it was but her friends voice was different. It was undoubtedly Pinkie, but she sounded... less hyperactive than usual.

Rarity got closer to the door, "Pinkie? It's me, Rarity. Would you please come out? I'd like to speak with you."

The response wasn't immediate, "I'm happy inside, thank you."

"How could you possibly be happy inside that dark building all by yourself?"

"I'm not."

Rarity was thrown off, "Darling, all the lights are off and the shop is closed. Who could you have in there with you?"

A silent pause, "Nobody, nobody's here." Rarity tried to speak up, "Fluttershy came by, I think she was looking for you. Find her, she'd love to see you right now. Not that I don't want to see you, I do, just not right now."

"Please, Pinkie. I just want to ask you something." Nothing, "Darling?" Silence, "Oh, fine." Rarity turned and left Sugarcube Corner. Pinkie watched from the window until she was gone, then went back upstairs.

Lee lead the way through the woods. Rainbow flew next to him and Danny followed close behind. It had been between about an hour since they had gone out. Danny told Lee the general area he believed the camp to be in, they were close now. As they continued on Danny kept glancing to the sides for any small sign, "Either of you see anything?"

Rainbow flew just a little higher to get a better look. Lee said for her not to go too high so she can't be seen. She came back down, "Nothing yet."

"I know it's around here." Danny told them, "It's gotta be close." They soon stopped. On the ground laid a red and white can, opened and empty. Lee bent down and nudged the can with his rifle, causing it to roll. He caught a glimpse of the words 'Alphabet soup' on the can.

He got up and they began to spread out, knowing the camp must be very near. Lee went less then ten steps when he caught sight of something. It was red, thick and didn't belong. After getting closer he saw it was a tent, and when he got even closer a whole camp came into view, "Here!"

Rainbow and Danny gathered to Lee, they both saw what he did. Danny got excited, "Oh shit! You found it?!" Lee shushed him, then motioned for both of them to approach the camp. Lee and Rainbow stopped by one tree while Danny did the same by another. Lee looked through his rifles scope, brought it from left to right, nobody in sight. They crouched down and began sneaking up on the camp, even Rainbow kept her hooves on the ground. They all stopped behind different trees right outside the small clearing the camp was in. Lee looked around, getting a much better look at the entire spot. Danny turned to him, "You see anybody?"

Lee kept looking over the entire camp, which was extremely small with one tent. He didn't see anyone for sure. Still, better to stay vigilant, "Can't tell."

Danny was first to enter the camp. He turned towards the others, "Watch my back. I'm gonna check out the tent." Lee and Rainbow hung back as Dan neared the tent. It was the only one in the camp; besides it there were some tables with junk on them, a small fireplace with a kettle, and other random garbage lying around. Danny used his rifle to move the flap and poke his head inside, finding nobody. Disappointed, he pulled himself out, "Clear." Danny looked at Rainbow and Lee, "This camp's too small. It can't be their main base."

"Yeah," Rainbow agreed, "I was expecting to see a bunch of guys here."

"We'd better take a look around anyway." Danny told them, "There's probably some shit around here they stole from us." He began checking around himself. Rainbow flew over to one of the tables, it held mostly items you would normally find in a kitchen.

Lee moved to a different table, one which had many brown boxes lying on it. He started shuffling the brown cubes around, "What's it you got, Lee?" Rainbow turned to ask.

"Empty boxes. Their all from Save-Lots."

"The first few days," Danny started, "they told folks to gather to the Save-Lots down by the interstate. Anything at all worth taking?"

Something caught Lee's eye before he could answer. He moved a Save-Lots box to discover several more from elsewhere, "Boxes from the Dairy here."

This grabbed Danny's attention, "Prob'ly the food we've been given' 'em. Fuckers crossed the line." Lee continued to check the table. All he found was more empty boxes behind others.

They checked the entire camp, turning up little more of interest. Eventually Dash made her way around to the third table. All this had was two wooden boxes, along with an odd assortment of useless stuff. As she searched the table Lee opened up the kennel: nothing inside but water. Dash soon found something, "What is this?"

Lee moved over to her. She had a small, silver, rectangle shaped object in her mouth. He grabbed the silver device and held it in his hands, "It's a video camera."

Danny began to move over to them as Lee started pressing the buttons, "Lemme see that."

"Battery's dead, though." Lee told her, "So it won't work."

"Oh." Dan stopped, "Good." He turned and went towards the table Lee had first searched, "What else they got over here? Let's see if we can find anything useful and then get a move on." Lee looked at the camera another second, then put it in his back pocket. Dash went to check the contents of the tent as Lee did another sweep, "I see you handle that gun I lent ya pretty well." Danny complimented Lee from the other side of his table, "You a hunter?"

"No, but Lilly keeps us all on a regular training schedule."

"Lilly, huh?" Danny thought back to what Lee had said a while ago, "It seems like SHE'S running this 'democracy' of yours."

Lee began to regret saying that as he continued, "Hey Lee." Rainbow called from the tent, "There's some stuff in here you may want to see." He went to the tent. Dash moved so Lee could kneel down next to her in the tents opening, he laid the rifle down. Inside there were two sleeping bags, one smaller than the others, a bloody stuffed bunny and a photograph.

He shook his head, "Jesus... there's a kid mixed up in this?"

Danny looked over at them, after remembering what he'd seen inside that tent, "WAS, more like."

Rainbow couldn't think of a child in this mess, especially since the first child which came to mind was Clementine. Lee picked up the picture to examine it. It was of two people, a woman and a young girl. The girl looked to be between seven and eleven. Dash caught a glance at the picture too, and shuddered at what the inside of this tent signaled. Lee set the photo down slowly and respectfully. The adult sized sleeping bag caught both of their eyes, at the end something was underneath causing a nice lump to form. Lee moved the cover of the bag to see what it was. Rainbow and Lee were both puzzled by the hat just laying there, she grabbed it up and turned it around to see the front. Both of their eyes grew wide as they stared at Clementine's hat, "... The hell?"

"Don't either of you fucking move!" A voice from behind ordered them. They turned to discover a woman, the same woman from the photo, was six feet away from them with a crossbow in her hands.

Dan raised his rifle, "Shit!"

"PUT YOUR DAMN GUNS DOWN!" she ordered, aiming her weapon at them. Lee grabbed his gun and aimed it at the woman as she went to speak again. Rainbow stayed to the ground, moving only so many inches out of the tent as she kept her eye on the woman, "I ain't going back. You tell 'em Jolene ain't goin' back!"

"Hey! We had a deal! No shooting as long as we gave you food!" Danny told Jolene, "What the fuck happened?"

"You had a deal with THEM." She told him, "I ain't THEM." Jolene looked at the Dairy farmer, "Oh..." a small laugh escaped, "I know you. I know what you are," Danny tensed up as she spoke, "and I know what you do."

"You don't know me!"

She continued, "Steal my shit! Steal EVERYTHING from me!"

"We had a deal!" Danny continued, "You people broke it first!"

Rainbow looked at Jolene, "Why are you alone? What happened to the little girl?"

"That's a hell of a question, missy." With her state of mind, the pony wasn't a shock at all, "They told me I'd be safe with them... Men who lived here." Her voice slided from crazy to emotional, "But it weren't safe. Not for me, and not for my girl. They didn't treat her nice. Not at all. They took her away, into the woods. Wouldn't tell me where." The further Jolene went into her story, the more Rainbow felt bad for the crazed woman, "And I begged 'em. Every way I could think. They just laughed..." She let a laugh out herself, her tone dramatically reversing back to what it was, "So I killed 'em. And I'm staying here 'til she comes back to me. One way or another... She'll come back."

"Now maybe you didn't hear me last time..." She went back to the previous topic, "When I asked you sweet... Put your damn guns down!" Lee and Danny kept their fingers close to the triggers, "You think I won't kill you? I'm gonna take this here crossbow, and put a nice sharp arrow right through your eyeball." She kept the bow trained on Lee for the most part, "And into your goddamn brain."

Rainbow tensed up, not willing to let anyone hurt Lee. He saw this, "Don't, Dash..."

Jolene looked at him, "Don't pretend you don't want her to hurt me, you two probably'd do much worse. You're not men... You're monsters. All men are monsters. Take what they want and then destroy it all! Take a can of beans, take a little girl... It's all the fucking same to you!"

Lee motioned towards the cap on Rainbow's hoof, "Where did you get this hat?"

"The little girl." She said plainly.

Dash practically snarled, "You STOLE this hat from Clem!"

Jolene shrugged, "So what if I did? You two stole her from ME!!!"

Danny looked at them questioningly, they were more puzzled than him. Lee turned back to her, "What the hell are you talking about?"

"You know what?" Jolene asked, "I changed my mind... I'm putting this arrow right through your BALLS. Yeah! Right through. String 'em up on that tree." She motioned to a tree to her left. Dash and Lee were fairly disgusted by this threat, "Then I'm a head down to that farm, and shoot every goddamn person I see."

Rainbow shared a threat of her own, "If you fire that thing, you won't get a chance to do it again."

"You think you could take me down? Like any of you could kill me. They couldn't kill me. They tried. Killin' everywhere. Take all the dead folks you want, we'll make more!" She aimed the crossbow at Lee, not yet ready to fire. She spoke next to Danny, "Go on, tell 'em, boy! Tell them what you got in mind for--" A rifle went off and Jolene stumbled. Danny had the scope to his eye as his finger eased back off of the trigger. Jolene died from the bullet in her skull and fell, face first, to the ground.

Lee and Rainbow were shocked. They turned to Danny, who lowered his gun, "God dammit!"

Rainbow looked back to Jolene, "You just... killed her!"

"Well what else do you expect me to do? She had a crossbow pointed at us!" Lee looked at the dead woman. She was crazy, yes, but they could have avoided that. Especially in front of Rainbow. He sighed. Danny looked at her as well, "It's a clean shot though... right through the forehead. That's good shootin' right there. Still, what a waste."

Dash kept herself as cool as she could, trying to avoid looking at Danny or the woman right now. Lee turned again to Dan, "So that's it? We head back?"

"If they ain't here, I don't know where they are. And it ain't a good idea to go tromping through the woods looking for them. So, yeah, we head back." He came out from behind the table and kept walking, "Once they see this... they'll get the message." Dan stopped next to Jolene. He reached down and grabbed her crossbow, taking a moment to examine it. He looked to the others, "C'mon." He took his weapon in one hand and carried Jolene's in the other. Lee and Rainbow followed him out of the camp, Dash flew up to get away from the dead woman. Lee took one look back at Jolene before continuing on back to the Dairy.

Twilight kept thinking about Doug. She sat next to the picket gate and glanced at the house repeatedly. It just didn't feel right, waiting out here while he was injured. Brenda said he was in good hands, and had little reason to doubt that, but Twilight knew some magic that could help much more. After taking deep consideration, Twilight teleported herself up to the porch and made her way inside. Her friends safety was more important than honoring these peoples minor requests. 'Besides, it's not like they're hiding something.' she thought to herself.

Author's Note

bobby and I would like to apologize if any part of the story may feel rushed, we're simply excited, much like everyone, to get to "that part" and see what happens differently!

And as always, support, and of course criticism, is openly welcome.
Thank you all, and hope you are enjoying so far!

(Oh yeah, and who out there has gotten the privilege to try out "The Wolf Among Us"?
Let me tell you, Telltale sure knows their shit when it comes to this genre.)