Episode 2 Chapter 3: Missing Supplies
Written by: bobby ray
Proofread/Edited by: KJay

Celestia continued to work, refusing to rest or request assistance. Luna, as well as Shining Armor and Spike, were in Twilight's basement with the sun goddess. They watched as she worked on adjusting Twilight's machine to an exact point. Ever since her nightmare a few weeks back: Celestia has put all of her time into this contraption. Previously, all she was able to do was study the device and learn as much as she could about it. She had come to the possibility that, thanks to this machine's function, Twilight had teleported herself, Rainbow Dash and Applejack beyond Equestria's borders. But now that she knew where her student was, and she knew how to get there, Celestia put forth every available second of her time towards adjusting the device to take her general location. She has only stopped to eat or sleep when it was required; she even lent Luna enough power so she could raise and set the sun along with the moon.

"Tia, perhaps you should take a moment to relax and eat?" Luna asked her sister this ever two minutes. Celestia wasn't obsessed with completing the adjustments but sometimes worked for too long, until she was too tired to work and would nearly collapse.

"I'm okay, sister, thank you." This was her response every time.

Shining Armor paced back and forth as he waited. He had been informed of Celestia's plan less than a day after it was formed; and since then he's been waiting for the machine to be ready. He was the only one Celestia had said she would bring with her when she leaves. Every day he waited felt like a year on its own, and no matter how many times he asked, Celestia would not allow him to help her on Twilight's device. This did not stop him from asking, "Is there anything I can do to help? Anything at all?"

"There is nothing you can do right now, Shining Armor. I should be finished some time tomorrow if I keep on schedule. Until then; please be patient." Her answer did little to satisfy him. He mumbled to himself about his mistake of not waiting in Canterlot with Cadence. He'd already said his goodbyes and came here immediately, he would have waited with his wife had he known the adjustments would take this long. It was too late to return since Celestia was nearly done.

"Perhaps I could help, then?" Luna began, "Maybe you could take a break while I work...?"

Celestia shook her head, "Thank you again, Luna. But I am in the middle of delicate adjustments here and can't risk anything to get moved out of place. Just one mistake and the next pony to use a spell might blow away the roof to this library."

Luna sighed, she wished her sister would just take a moment to ease herself. She knew how much this meant to Celestia, it was greatly important to her as well, but Luna knew that even Tia was overworking herself here. She was spending to much time on this project and needed to rest. Either way, she knew Celestia wouldn't listen to her pleas, "Very well."

A minute or so passed with nopony speaking a word. It wasn't until the basement door was pushed open that anything else was said. A light blue aura engulfed the door handle, Spike was the first one to notice her enter. The short, pudgy baby dragon watched as the elegant Unicorn trotted down the stairs to where he stood. Spike lost track of what he had been recently doing as he watched her decent; he waved slightly as she neared the bottom, "H-hi, Rarity..."

She smiled at the gawking dragon, though whether she noticed his love-struck stare was hard to tell, "Hello there, Spike." She went past him and stopped before looking back, "I don't mean to be rude but I came here to have a word with the Princess." Spike only continued to stare.

Rarity trotted past Shining Armor and Luna, they both noticed the Unicorn pass but didn't say a word. Celestia heard Rarity approach and slowed down her work. She inhaled before addressing the mare's presence, "Hello Rarity. It is nice to see you again." Celestia was always happy to see one of Twilight's friends: it helped ease her mind in a way. But Rarity was here for a reason, and Celestia knew what that reason was.

"It's wonderful to see you again too, Princess." Rarity let a moment pass before she continued, "So... have you decided?" Celestia sighed when the question came out. There was a reason none of Twilight's friends, other than Spike, had been informed of her plan. From what Celestia has seen of the Human world in her nightmares; it is far too dangerous to bring anypony else along. She refused to bring any of her guards with her, other than Shining Armor: and he's only coming because his sister, Twilight, is in danger. Through reasons Celestia has been too busy to delve into, Rarity has discovered the plan and wishes to come with them on this rescue mission. Though Celestia has been able to avoid giving her an answer for this long, she knew that she'd have to give one sooner or later.

Celestia turned to her, "I have..." Rarity let her hopes rise too quickly, allowing a smile to emerge as Celestia spoke. This only made it even harder for her to say no, "And I'm sorry... but you may not come with us, Rarity."

"What?" Rarity had been expecting a different answer, "Why not?"

"Because it is far too dangerous for me to bring you along. Again, I am sorry."

She glanced over at Shining Armor, who continued his impatient pace, "If it's so dangerous, Princess, then why is Shining Armor going with you?" Rarity wanted to use any argument that she could think of.

"You already know the answer to that, Rarity. He is Twilight's older brother and it would be wrong of me to deny his assistance. If he were anything less I wouldn't risk his safety."

"But I..." Rarity had a thousand complaints to address. She wouldn't be able to bring a single one up yet, however.

Luna turned her around, "Please listen, Rarity, when I say that my sister is only thinking of your safety. There is no doubt in my mind, nor hers, that you would be a tremendous help in finding young Twilight and the others. But neither of us want anypony else put in harms way. If it were any different I'd order a contingent of guards to accompany Tia and Captain Armor, and you would be more than welcome as well."

"Bu-"

"Now, please, try to ease your mind while I continue to beg for the same from my sister." Luna approached Celestia, who had returned to her work, before Rarity could put in another word.

Shining approached Rarity from behind. He could tell she was upset by Celestia's answer, "Don't worry, I'll make sure they all
come back safely." He chose a spot to sit down and let some thoughts roll around in his head.

Luna and Shining Armor's words didn't seem to reach her. Rarity didn't like the idea of not being allowed to go with Celestia; and she wasn't going to give up this easily either. She returned to the base of the stairs, where a paralyzed Spike continued to stare at her, "Come along, Spike, we're going."

He shook himself out of the trance he was trapped in and looked up at Rarity, who was already going up the stairs, "Going where?"

Rarity turned back to where he stood, "You and I are going to see a couple of our friends. We all need to have an important discussion." she went up the rest of the steps; finding no reason to say 'no', Spike followed her. The blue aura reappeared and gently closed the door behind him. Celestia failed to notice them leave.

Lee and Carley took the front while Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Mark stayed back. The Motor Inn was in sight, it would just be another minute of walking before they were safely inside the wall. They hadn't talked since they left Macon: they were tired, shaken and didn't have much to say. All of them had something on their minds to keep the quiet from unnerving them further, though not all of their thoughts were pleasant.

Mark was thinking about that woman back in Macon. He kept asking himself why he just froze up, even though he already knew the answer. It was just something he couldn't bring himself to do. Lee, trying to keep himself focused, couldn't help but think about the woman in Macon. Rainbow Dash and Applejack had finally put the girl out of their minds, though the fact they were able to do it so quickly made them nervous. They were thinking about Twilight, the electronic scrap Dash grabbed would be their pass into Twilight's room. They needed an excuse to be able to talk with her, she'd almost completely separated herself off from everyone else inside her room: AJ and Dash were worried. Carley was the only one not dwelling on anything.

They were soon walking alongside their wall, the one they spent months putting together and fortifying. The bandits did a number on the whole thing: it was weakened at some points, arrow shafts were sticking out and most of it was peppered with bullet holes. It was better now than it was a few days back. When Mark wasn't out on a run or taking watch, which he started doing since he was getting better with a rifle, he was usually working on the wall. Applejack would work on it from time to time as well, though not as much as she used to. Lee would help out if he wasn't doing anything else. Until now, none of them had realized how much Larry had done to help out with this wooden barricade.

Applejack glanced at the RV. Kenny wasn't nearly done fixing it, like Mark said, he had finished late this morning before they set out. He could take his family and move them out of here any time he wanted to, no worries. The only reason he didn't take off the second he could was, hopefully, because he was waiting on a reply. Ever since he got the idea that he, and, more importantly, his family, have a chance to go with Applejack and her friends to someplace safer, he'd asked AJ multiple times if they could go with them once Twilight was done. The cowpony wanted nothing more than to say yes, to guarantee Kenny, Katjaa and Duck all a chance at a better life. Unfortunately; that would be a lie if she said yes before talking it over with Twi. So, until he got a yes, the RV was Kenny's backup plan.

As she looked further up, AJ noticed Kenny was on watch. Since he was good with a rifle, he began taking watch when the scavengers were out. It was painfully boring for him, sitting like that for hours at a time when nothing ever actually happened. But, with Lilly in a bad state, only he and Ben were available for watch while everyone else was gone. Ben was a good enough kid but Kenny wasn't about to let him be the one keeping watch while his family was here.

It was quiet, just like the last time they came back. It only ever got loud when Ken and Lilly were having one of their spats. Lee could see that everyone, except for Lilly and Twilight, were outside at the moment. Clementine was sitting at a wooden pallet near the stairs with a piece of paper and a pencil. Katjaa was watching over Duck, who was playing a game by himself. Ben, who had nothing else but his thoughts, was reading the small Bible he found in his room. He wasn't really that religious, it was just something to keep him preoccupied.

Mark, rather than going with the others to see Lilly, handed Carley his backpack once they were safely inside. He looked at Lee once she had it, "I'm going to check the wall. Make sure it's still holding up." He left before any of them could reply.

Dash turned to Lee before they could start moving, "Hey, Lee, you don't mind if me and AJ go ahead and bail as well? We have something we need to do." Applejack removed her saddlebag and took Dash's scrap out as she spoke.

Lee glanced at Twilight's door after he noticed what AJ was doing. He returned the gaze to Dash, "Sure, go ahead. Just be careful about what you say to her."

AJ gave the bag to Lee, "Will do..." she and Dash watched as him and Carley left them to go see Lilly.

The farmpony picked the scrap up again. Dash began talking once she looked back up, "Wait for me by her room, AJ." She raised her knifed hoof for a moment, "I've gotta put this away first."

Dash began galloping towards the stairs once AJ nodded in understanding. Her room was put on the second floor since she used to be able to just fly up there with no problem. Now, along with having to walk everywhere she needed to go, she also had to go up and down these stairs at least twice a day. It was torture on her wings to not be able to use them to their full potential, and that went double for the one she couldn't use at all. Every now and then it would send a little shock wave of pain down her back. It wasn't hurting nearly as often as it did after they got back from that Dairy, or a badly as it did, but it could still make her stop what she was doing until it passed.

Clementine, who was still scribbling on her piece of paper, looked up when she heard Dash approaching, "Rainbow! You're back!"

Dash stopped when she was next to Clementine as the excited girl got up, "Hey there, Clem!" she was embraced in a tight hug, or as tight as Clementine could make it. Dash made sure to keep her knife, still fastened to her hoof, as far from Clem as she could, "How are you doing?" She asked once Clem released her.

"I'm good. I have something I want to show you!" Clem returned to her pallet, Dash moved next to her. Moving aside her pencil, Clementine picked up her paper and the orange leaf that was hidden underneath. Dash examined the paper being presented to her: an unfinished image of a leaf, exactly like the one in Clem's other hand, was shaded onto the paper. It was exactly the same with almost no exceptions, "It's called a leaf rubbing." she explained to the intrigued Pegasus, "See how they're the same?"

"Yeah, I do." A smile spread before Dash exclaimed, "That's pretty awesome!"

Clem smiled back, "I'll make one for you and Lee if you want." she paused and pulled her paper back to look at it, "Do you think Lee would want one?"

Dash reached over, with her free hoof, and playfully messed up Clem's baseball cap, "I'm sure he'd love anything you want to give him; especially something this cool." She laughed as Clem fixed her hat. Rainbow Dash, despite all that has happened to them up to this point, was glad that they came here. It may have been a huge mistake with obvious consequences, but if they hadn't come here then Dash would never have met Lee or Clementine. Plus Carley, who has become friends with Dash over time. Not to mention Kenny and his family, to whom Applejack has become a very close and very protective friend. Twilight, out of all three of them, was the only one who had honestly lost more than they gained from this accident.

Speaking of Twilight, "Listen, I've got some things I need to take care of." Dash told Clementine, remembering the urgency she was just in the middle of, "I'll see you in a little bit." Clem said bye to the Pegasus before returning to her project. Rainbow, still having to move on three hooves while the other was raised, stopped for a short moment at the base of the stairs and looked at the top. She glanced back to her right wing as she flapped it, then to her left wing as it remained still under her rope, then back to the steps before her. Dash could only sigh as she moved slowly up the stairs, 'This stinks' she thought to herself.

Lee knocked on the wooded frame of the door twice before stopping again, he and Carley waited for Lilly to answer the door. Almost a minute passed before the door opened from the other side. Lilly, who stood looking at them from the doorway, was in bad shape. She was too stressed to have any ability to do anything. She'd been stressed out for a while now, but something new seemed to be added to the mix. She looked from Lee to Carley and back again a few times, "Is everyone back or just you two?" Her voice gave it away that she wasn't worried or concerned, she just wanted to know.

"Yeah." Lee responded after a second, "We're all okay."

Carley handed over the backpack, "We got as much as we could find, it was all that was left." Lilly took the backpack and the saddlebag from them. She put them on her bed before returning to the door; she didn't even stop to see how much was in the bags.

Lilly looked at both of them for a moment without saying anything, like she was expecting something only there wasn't anything else to give. She soon turned her gaze solely to Carley, "Would you please leave? I'd like to speak with Lee alone for a few minutes." Lilly, again, spoke with a tone so perfectly concealed that it was hard to tell what she was thinking or what mood she was in.

Neither Lee nor Carley could think of a single reason why Lilly could want to speak with only Lee, at least not anything good. Carley was suspicious, however she decided to go ahead and leave like Lilly asked, "Alright..."

Carley closed the door behind herself after she left. Lilly moved past Lee and locked the door, forcing him to ask, "What is it you wanted to talk about?" Lilly turned to Lee, gazing at him for a moment. With Carley gone she allowed her current emotion to surface: worry. She walked past Lee again before stopping at the edge of her bed.

After another few seconds she spoke, "Please sit down." Lee was beginning to worry a bit himself. He sat down at the small table lying next to the window, watching Lilly carefully after he was still. Lilly took back her rifle from him, she took it across the room and laid it on her dresser where it belonged. Lilly stood for a little while, both hands almost resting on her firearm. She didn't look away from it or begin to move the gun from its spot: she just stood there as if she were a machine that had run out of power.

Lee broke the silence, "Is something wrong...? Lilly...?"

Lilly soon came back to life, "Yes." She began moving again, "Yes, Lee, something is wrong." Lilly sat down on her bed, sitting directly in front of where Lee sat in his chair. After another few moments of staring down she finally looked straight at him, "I need your help."

"What do you need my help for?" He asked, "What's wrong, anyway?"

She took a deep breath before answering, "We have a traitor on our hands. Whoever they are, they've been taking from out supplies." She didn't give Lee a chance to reply, "I checked our medicine stock yesterday and a large chunk of it was gone. Whoever is doing this needs to be caught as soon as possible."

"Whoa, whoa, wait up!" Lee interrupted her, "How can you be sure it's one of us taking this stuff?"

"Who else can it be?" She retorted, "There is no way somebody can be sneaking in and out of this place without one of us noticing. It has to be a traitor."

Lee wasn't convinced, "And how can you be sure someone is actually taking from the supplies? Maybe you're just being paranoid and you miscounted or forgot..."

He trailed off as Lilly reached under her bed, she presented something to Lee a moment later. It was a basic, yet reliable, old combination lock. It looked like a hammer had relentlessly smashed it until it was nothing but a useless piece of junk, "I put this on the medicine cabinet." Lilly explained, "Just yesterday, after I found out some of it was missing, I put this lock on the medicine cabinet. I go to check the count again today, after you left, and find this lying on the floor with more supplies missing. Still think I miscounted?" She dropped the ruined piece of garbage on the floor and buried her head in her hands. Lee stared at the lock for a minute, trying to think of some other excuse that eliminated the possibility that someone was actually stealing: he came up with nothing. Lilly eventually looked back up, "You're the only one here I can trust, Lee. I need your help."

Lee slowly nodded his head, "Okay, I'll help." He looked back at Lilly, "Is there any evidence that can tell us who might be behind it?"

She shook her head, "No, nothing but the lock. The only thing we can do is catch them in the act."

"What do you need me to do?"

"I need you to keep an eye out tonight, after everyone else has gone to sleep. If you see anyone acting suspicious, or you actually catch them in the act, I want you to bring them to me right away." Lilly was trying to keep her emotions in check the entire time she spoke, which was growing harder and harder for her to do, "I don't care who it is, they will NOT get away with this! And if they think otherwise: then they've got another thing coming!" Lilly stopped to take a breath, easing her split nerves a little. She glanced over at Lee after she calmed herself down, "So, are you going to help me?"

He nodded again, "Yeah, I'll keep an eye out tonight and let you know if I find anything. You can count on me."

"Good." Lee got up to leave, having something else he already had to deal with before tonight. He put his hand on the door knob, "Lee..." Lilly called after him before he could leave.

His hand still on the door, he turned back around to her one more time, "Yeah?"

She sighed, working up the courage to bring the subject up, "Thank you for saving my dad."

Lee let go of the door, turning fully towards Lilly, "I didn't save him, Lilly. I mean I tried but..."

"No, Lee, you saved him. I didn't want to admit it at the time, but if you hadn't helped me, well, he would have been dead anyway." She was losing control of her emotions again as a few tears found there way down her cheek. She didn't seem to care, "No matter what you did he always treated you like dirt, and yet you were willing to help me when he needed it. He was always fighting with your friends, making your lives just that much worse, and even went so far as to nearly kill you. And you saved him, in spite of all of that. He died as my father, if it weren't for you he would have become one of those things and..." she took a deep, excessive breath before releasing it slowly. Lee stood there quietly waiting for her to calm herself. Lilly was soon able to look back up, "Even if he was taken away from me in the end, I can die now knowing you were willing to save him after all he'd done to you." She gave a weak, but not forced, smile, "Thank you."

Lee smiled back, though his was forced. He felt horrible for Lilly after having lost her dad. He never blamed Twilight for what happened, but he sometimes wondered if there was any way he could have prevented it. Either way, nothing could be done now to change what happened. Lee left the room, making sure the door was shut before he walked away. He quickly scanned over the Motor Inn after clearing his thoughts, deciding what he should do next.

Dash placed her knife on the table near her bed. She made sure the door wasn't closed all the way, since it was easier than twisting the knob with her mouth over and over again. Her room was right between Carley's and Ben's. Wasting no time, she galloped down the stairs and across the motel to the orange mare waiting for her. She glanced through Lilly's window as she went by when she caught sight of Lee in her room. Dash didn't have time to question what they could be talking about as she slowed down to a trot only two feet from Applejack. The cowpony sat with her bum on the gravel of the Motor Inn's parking lot, the scrap Rainbow Dash had grabbed in Macon was on the ground next to her. She got up when she saw the Pegasus approaching, "Ya ready?" she asked, eager to talk with her distant friend inside.

Rainbow nodded her head, "Yeah, I'm ready." She picked up the scrap before AJ could. Both mares closed the small distance between them and the door. When they were close enough, the sounds coming from a machine in progress could be faintly heard.

Applejack released some built up air that had manifested in her chest. She quickly glanced at Rainbow, who seemed only slightly less nervous than she was, "Well, here we go." She raised front hoof to the door and knocked on it a few times. Both mares waited for Twilight to answer the door, after about twelve seconds of waiting AJ knocked again. Still no response.

Dash placed the scrap on the ground so she could speak, "She isn't answering."

"Really? I hadn't noticed." Her sarcasm went almost completely unnoticed. She knocked on the door again, this time calling speaking through the door, "Twilight? It's us, yer friends. Can we come in?" There was silence following the farmpony's words, no response was made. AJ finally shrugged, "Maybe she can't hear us."

Rainbow wasn't convinced that was the truth. She got right next to the door and called inside, "Hey, Twilight, we have a part for the machine." Another few seconds of silence passed. A small amount of purple light escaped through the door's keyhole as it unlocked from the other side. The door slowly opened, allowing more light to fill the room. Dash picked up the scrap before following Applejack inside.

AJ and Dash stopped in the doorway, examining the inside of Twilight's room for the first time in weeks. Her two windows, the one on the front wall and the other opposite of it, blocked out any possibility of seeing inside with the aid of a thick layer of curtains. The only light coming from inside the room was being emitted by Twilight's horn. Papers, both completely flat and crumpled up, littered over the floor in uneven piles or in spread out mismatched groups. Twilight's bed was bare, no covers or pillows anywhere to be found. Her table of tools was still in its previous organized fashion, though it wasn't nearly as neat as it was. The machine was huge and looked exactly like the original, they might have even assumed it was already complete if Twilight wasn't still working on it at that moment. They couldn't see Twilight's face as it was hidden inside the device as she continued to work on it.

The two mares shared worried expressions before they fully entered the room. Applejack, who didn't have anything in her mouth, was the first one to speak, "Uh, hello Twi. We brought you a--"

A purple aura surrounded the scrap before it was forced from Dash's grasp. It levitated its way over to were Twilight worked. The purple mare pulled her head out of the hole in the machine's shell. Rainbow Dash and Applejack only grew more worried as they caught sight of their friends current state. Her mane was uneven, no care was taken to keep it in order. It looked similar to the way it was that time she'd forgotten to send a letter to Princess Celestia. Her eyes had bags under them, noticeable from four to five feet away. She looked worse than Lilly did.

Twilight overlooked the scrap for a moment. Another piece of scrap, similar to the one they brought but in bad shape, came out of the hole as the aura consumed it. The newer part went into the machine to replace it, "Thank you for bringing this back." AJ and Dash were taken a bit by surprise when Twilight actually spoke, mostly since she hadn't said much at all the last few weeks. Twilight set the older scrap aside before she continued on with her work; almost as if she had forgotten who was in her room.

Rainbow didn't wait: she had come to make sure her friend was alright and she needed to know now. Dash began approaching her, "Hey, Twilight, we wanted to talk with you about--"

Applejack pulled her back, "Hang on, Rainbow, there's somethin' else I want to talk with her 'bout first: BEFORE we bring anything else up."

"We need to make sure she's doing alright, though! That's the whole reason I bothered getting that one piece of junk in the first place is so we could talk with her!" There voices were kept low so that their occupied friend could not overhear them, "And I know you want to make sure Kenny and everyone else is able to come with us, I want that too. But--"

"But nothing! We have all the rest of our lives ta make sure she's fine, IF that's how long it takes. We have less than a day ta give everyone here a chance at a better life, so we have to do it now!"

Dash didn't argue, considering that AJ made a good point and that she wanted all of her friends here out of harms way. The cowpony stepped forward with Dash to her left, both stopping little over a foot away from Twilight. AJ inhaled a bit before proceeding, "So, Twi, we've been wantin' ta talk with ya..."

"What about?" She asked, keeping her head inside the machine.

"It's, well, it's about everyone here... We wanted ta make sure that it was alright with you if they came with us."

The mare sighed before she pulled her head back out, "To be honest, AJ, I really don't know. I mean, they've been really helpful by letting us stay here. All the things lying out there in this world, beyond that wall... I don't think we would have made it this far, let alone be this close to returning home. We owe them more than we could ever repay. But bringing them into our world? It's hard to tell how that would work out. They don't belong in Equestria, I don't think life would ever be easy for them."

"Life isn't easy for them here anymore, either!" Dash argued, "At least in Equestria they won't have to worry about walkers! Plus we've been able to live here for months and we've done fine, how hard could it be for them to get used to our home?"

"A--"

"Please, Twilight..." AJ interrupted her before she could speak, "At least think about it. If not for them, then for us."

"Bu--"

"Please..."

Twilight had another reason to be hesitant about allowing the humans to come with them. She wanted to say yes, but when it came down to that fact she knew that it wouldn't be wise, "I don't know... give me more time to think about it, okay?" Twi knew she'd have to tell them no before they left. She felt it would be easier if she could take the time to explain why, and she couldn't afford to take that time until the device was done.

AJ and Dash were willing to accept the answer for now, though Applejack was noticeably worried since she didn't get the answer immediately. Twilight, believing that this was all they wanted, opened the door up with her magic, "If that's all you needed, girls, then I should get back to work. If I work fast enough I could have this done in--"

"Actually, Twilight, there was something else." Dash informed her.

She let go of the door, "... yes?"

AJ straightened herself out, "Well, we just wanted to see how you were doin' is all."

"I'm fine, now--"

"Are you sure about that?" Dash asked.

"Yes, Dash, I'm sure. How could I not be?"

"Don't lie to us, Twi. Ya haven't been the same since we left the St. Jo--"

"DON'T BRING UP THAT PLACE!!!" Twilight's friends backed away from her outburst, "Or what happened there!! Alright?!" She calmed herself down as much as she could, allowing AJ and Dash to ease up. Twilight sighed, "I just don't want to think about it. Let's just leave it where it is."

Dash got closer to her, "We just want to make sure you're alright."

"I am!" She was only getting frustrated, "I don't want you to ask me again, I'm fine. I'm over it."

"B--"

"I'M FINE!!" Twilight's horn lit up, and before her friends could push anymore they were surrounded by her wavy magic, "And I want to be left alone so I can work," Twilight levitated them towards the door, "so good-bye!" They dropped to the ground once they were outside, the door was closed and locked before they could react.

Dash ran to the door, placing her front hooves on it as she knocked and yelled, "Twilight! Please, all we want--"

"Just let it go, Dash," AJ went up next to the concerned Pegasus, "she ain't in no mood ta talk about it." Dash quit knocking as the farmpony continued, "All we can do is give her some breathin' space for now and wait until she's ready."

Rainbow sighed in defeat as she backed away from Twilight's door. She gazed at her friend, a depressed look dominating her, "I'm really worried about her."

"So am I, and 'most everyone here. But nothing we can do will help now."

Dash nodded her head slowly, "Yeah, nothing we can do right now." she began walking towards the front of the RV, more than likely on her way to talk with Carley who was now on watch, while Applejack made her way to where Kenny's family was.

Twilight stared at them for a few moments through the small hole in her window barricade. She felt regret for the way she had treated her friends just moments ago. Right now she was still in pain over what she'd gone through at that Dairy: killing Larry, effectively scarring herself for possibly the rest of her natural life. If that was hard enough on her, she had to live knowing that a woman she'd known and respected greatly for some time had nothing left to live for because of her. And Doug: watching what they did to him, being completely powerless to do anything to save her friend from the worst fate she could imagine.

Twilight, having lost a friend and gained blood on her hooves, now only wanted to ensure the safety of her friends. Though she liked everyone here, however, her only true friends here were Rainbow Dash and Applejack, and they were all she cared about in this collapsing world. The only way she could guarantee their safety was to get them back home, and the only way to do that was to finish the machine she never should have designed in the first place. She left the curtains, returning to her work.

Clementine continued working on her leaf rubbing, now determined to make one for both Lee and Rainbow Dash. Footsteps, however, grew closer and closer until she finally stopped to look up. She smiled when she saw Lee approaching, who smiled back at her, "Hi Lee." Clem said as she sat up.

Lee knelt down when he was in front of her, "Hey Clementine. How are you doing?"

"Good." Lee glanced at the paper Clem was working on after she had answered. Wanting to give it to him later, she moved to take it off the pallet and out of his sight, "It's a surprise." She explained as the paper and the leaf were placed on the ground next to her.

"A surprise, huh? Well, better not spoil it for myself then."

"Yeah." She agreed, accompanying it with a quick nod.

Rainbow Dash, just moments ago been kicked out of Twilight's room, walked across the Inn to where Clementine was a few minutes ago. She smiled when she came upon both Clem and Lee who were already in a conversation. As she got close enough Dash called to them, "Hey, Lee. Clem."

"Hey Dash." Clem looked past Lee for a moment to welcome Rainbow.

Lee looked at her as she sat herself on another side of the pallet, "How'd things go with Twilight?"

She gave him a little shrug, "Coulda been better."

"She's still upset?"

"I'd say so, yes. She doesn't want to talk about it yet."

"Is Twilight going to be alright?" Clem asked them, curious.

Dash wasn't sure, she couldn't answer that yet. Lee got Clem's attention, "I'm sure she'll be fine, she's going through some heavy stuff right now. We just need to give her more time until she's ready to talk about it." He turned back to Rainbow, "Right, Dash?"

She smiled again after Lee's reassuring words, "Right."

All three of them had a few minutes to spend together, enjoying a simple talk, before someone else came over to there little group. Mark had a look of confusion on his face which all of them picked up on when they realized he was there, "I found something you may want to check out, Lee."

"What is it?"

"I... don't know."

Dash looked at him, "You don't know?"

Mark shook his head, "No, I-I know what it is, I'm just not sure what to make of it."

Lee got to his feet, "Let's check it out, then."

"Should I come too?" Clem asked.

Dash got up, "Yeah, do you want us to check it out too?"

"It's not a big deal." Mark told them, "I just need Lee to come and see it."

Lee looked down at them, "Yeah, you two go ahead and stay here. I'll be back in a minute." He followed Mark towards the wall. Dash sat back down and said something to Clementine, the two continued their conversation.

Applejack made her way towards her room, which was right next door to Kenny and his family's. Katjaa and Duck would have enjoyed sharing their room with AJ, and Kenny wouldn't have minded a bit, if the rooms couldn't hold more than three people at night. AJ didn't mind as long as she still got to see them the next day. Everyone at the Motor Inn got along with Applejack; she was on friendly terms with everyone here, even with Lilly despite never backing her up in arguments over leadership. The majority of her time, though, was spent with Kenny, Katjaa and Duck. Since their time at the drugstore, Applejack had grown attached to Kenny and his family.

Kenny was glad to have Applejack as a friend: she always had his back, she was protective of his son, and she spent a good fraction of her own time making sure that Katjaa and Duck were in good spirits. On top of that Kenny and AJ were similar in multiple ways, like their stubbornness and shared ideas about what's best for the group. Katjaa, much like Applejack, was easy to get along with and was on good terms with everyone; even Larry never had trouble tolerating her. Kat and AJ were great friends, she could always pry the farmpony away from whatever she was doing to talk with her or ask her something whenever she needed to. They also shared a strong belief that the future will be better, just like Clementine and Rainbow Dash.

Duck liked AJ a lot since she found time to play games with him almost every other day; plus she didn't get annoyed that time he asked to ride her over twenty times in a row. That was another reason they got along so well: Duck was absolutely in love with Applejack since the moment they met on Hershel's farm, whether it was because she could talk or just the fact that they got along was hard to tell. Applejack enjoyed the kid's undying enthusiasm and childish nature, he reminded her a lot of Pinkie Pie in more ways than one. She cared greatly about Kenny's whole family, and the farmpony was going to personally ensure their safety no matter what.

"Hi Applejack!" Duck ran up to AJ as soon as he saw her, as always he was his usual happy self.

The farmpony stopped when she saw Duck approaching, happy to see him, "Howdy Duck! How are ya?"

"I'm good!"

Katjaa walked around the side of the RV into Applejack's view as she followed her hyper son, "Hi there, Applejack." Kat called over to the farmpony, she seemed exhausted.

AJ looked at her for a moment, watching as she tried to catch a little bit of breath, "You alright, Katjaa?"

She breathed in quickly, "I'm fine. I've just been trying to keep up with him all day." She took a few more seconds to breath, "Do you remember those candy bars that Rainbow Dash last week?" AJ nodded, "Duck found where I had hid them."

"Ah, that explains it." Duck had done a lap around the RV as Katjaa spoke and began another one soon after. Applejack, still holding on to some energy from the day, decided that Katjaa had earned a break, "How's about I look after Duck for a little bit, you can go ahead 'n rest?"

Katjaa gave the cowpony a gracious smile, "Thank you Applejack, I'd appreciate that." She walked over to Kenny's couch, still outside so the man could quickly rest after working on the RV, and sat down. In a few moments she was completely relaxed.

Duck finished his second trip, stopping a few feet away from AJ. The cowpony caught his attention, "Do ya feel like runnin' right now, Duck?"

"Yeah!" He ran over to the farmpony as she spoke.

"Then why don't we have a little race?" She asked, a competitive look on her face like the one she gave Dash every now and then. He got even more excited as she continued, "First one ta make it around the entire inside of the motel wins, sound good?"

His nodded furiously, "Yeah!!"

Applejack giggled at his now energized enthusiasm, "Alright then, get ready. On your--" Duck was already running before she realized it. She quickly gave chase, "Oh you little cheater! You're not getting away with that!" They spent the next few minutes running around along the walls. At first they only did one lap, then they decided to keep on going. Kenny watched from his spot on watch, a heartfelt smile on his face as he watched his son and one of his best friends enjoy themselves without a worry in the world.

"Weird." It was all Lee could say when he initially saw it.

"Isn't it?" Mark asked, just as confused as Lee was about the marking.

Before them, on the side of the motel's wall, was an "x". A pink "x" which was placed so out of the way it was hard to notice if you weren't specifically looking for it. Mark wouldn't have found it if he hadn't been inspecting the barricade. It looked sloppy, like it had been hastily written. Lee took two fingers and ran them across one of the upper legs of the x, smearing it. He looked down at his fingertips as he fiddled with the pink substance, "It's just chalk." He stated before wiping it away. Normally Lee would have passed it off as nothing. After all, Duck had been known to draw on the walls from time to time. There was something about it, though, that gave him an uneasy feeling. He turned to Mark, "Do you know who put it here?"

He shook his head, "No, I just found it. It wasn't here yesterday when me and Applejack were working on the wall."

Lee starred at the marking for a few moments longer before turning back to Mark, "It's probably nothing to worry about. Just let me know if you find anything else, I've got something to take care of."

"Alright man," Mark replied, "take care."

Lee took only a few steps before he came across some of Clementine's drawings on the ground. Like the x on the wall they were all made out of chalk. It wasn't anything to get worried over, it at least it didn't seem that way, but Lee felt he should try to find out who was responsible for the x. The only place he could start would be with the only person who had any chalk: Clementine. As he crossed the Motor Inn to get to her, Lee noticed Duck and Applejack running along the interior of the motel. It was obvious she wasn't going as fast as she could be.

Dash saw Lee approaching first and greeted him, "Hey Lee, how's everything?"

"Just fine, thanks." He said as he got down to his knee, "Mark found something on the wall but it's nothing to get worried about."

"Are you sure?" Clementine asked

"Yeah, I'm sure." He turned Clem after she finished hiding her paper once again, "Clementine, you wouldn't happen to have any pink chalk would you?"

"I do." Clementine answered instantly, "It's in the dresser next to my bed if you want to borrow it."

"No thanks, Clem, I'm good. Do you know anyone else who might know where it is besides us here?"

"Not really. It did go missing for a few days, though."

"Missing?"

"Yeah, but Rainbow found it yesterday morning."

Lee turned to the winged mare, "Dash, where did you find it?"

She pointed her hoof out past Lee, "Over by the gate, there was a scuff of it over there too. I'm not really sure how it got over there."

Lee got up to his feet, telling Clem and Dash he'd be back in a minute. He walked over the gate and soon discovered the scuff. He moved the gate to find even more leading outside. Deciding it was worth checking out; Lee moved the gate enough to get past and went outside the wall.

Carley leaned on the banister, deep in thought. Every once in a while she found it helpful to just let her mind do its thing. She used to spend this time thinking about Doug, his nerdy charms and his eagerness to help out in any way he could. Many people thought she was over him by now, which wasn't true. Carley barely got to know him and they rarely had the courage to talk with one another, which only made his death worse on her. Lee had told her that Doug felt the same way, which helped, but she still wanted to have been able to hear that from him.

She came back to life when Ben came up behind her, "How are you doing?"

Standing up a bit straighter, Carley looked at Ben to answer, "Just fine, Ben."

"That's good. I, uh, just saw you up here and wanted to make sure everything was alright."

"Everything's good, I was just... thinking."

"About Doug?" Ben pried.

She let out a sigh, "Yeah."

Whether it had been intentional or not; Ben had helped Carley a lot since the day they met. That night, after the Dairy, he saw the state she was in and tried to help her out as much as he could. She eventually opened up and let it all out: she even cried; which left Ben awkwardly sitting in her room for a few minutes since he had no idea how to react to that, and a little frightful afterward since she threatened him into never telling anyone. When she was done Ben told her that Doug sounded like a great guy, told her she'd be good, sat there awkwardly for a minute trying to think of something else, and finally telling her that he'd be there if she wanted to talk again. Though, to be honest, he was glad that he didn't have to deal with an emotional moment like that since.

Carley and Ben's relationship had grown into a close friendship since then, him helping her get over Doug, and sometimes her helping him by teaching him a little bit about guns and making him at least somewhat more confident.

Ben, doing what he believed to be the most appropriate thing, leaned on the banister next to her, "Do you... want to talk about it, or something?"

She let off a smile as she turned back to him, "Yeah, I'd like that."

Lee searched for a little while before finding an open grate. He leaned down and saw a brown paper bag inside. He reached in and pulled the suspicious object out, standing back up before he opened it. He stared down into the bag in disbelief; inside were all sorts of antibiotics, medications, etc. He shook his head as he closed the bag, "Son of a bitch."

A few steps were taken towards the gate before Lee stopped dead in his tracks. Slowly, Lee looked back, "Don't fucking turn around, asshole." He looked straight forward as whoever stood behind him spoke. Lee could feel a gun against his back, the footsteps of three or four other people grew closer. The bag was taken from Lee's hands, a few seconds later the same voice spoke again, "What's this? Tryin' ta break up our little deal, are we? Well..." He chuckled, "Let's see what we should do about that."

Author's Note

So I'm sure for a lot of you, you've already had the pleasure of playing Episode 2 yesterday. However, if you have an Xbox, like myself, and have slightly rustled jimmies due to the extra-day wait, like myself, now you've got a double dose of Dead; The Walking Dead.
Hope you enjoyed.