The whole world shook; it was almost like an earthquake with how violently everything moved and would not stop moving. With a groan, Kaylee opened her eyes, trying to figure out where she was or what was going on. As her eyes opened, though, the world stopped shaking and, as it came into view, the lingering memories of an odd dream floating through her mind were replaced with the sight of two pegasi, an orange one to the left and a yellow one to the right. Both of them stood at the foot of the bed, near where Kaylee's back legs were outstretched underneath the quilt. Kaylee shook her head to attention. "Wha...?"

"Oh, thank Argent you're awake," Flight said, leaning in a tad. "I thought for sure we were gonna have to get Mochi or Cotton to come back and wake you up."

"Meh, I knew we could do it," Scootaloo countered. "Physical force always works better than just shouting."

Flight shot a sidelong glance at Scootaloo, eyebrow raised, but turned back to Kaylee. "So! You probably didn't hear us 'cause you were asleep and all, but Later said that we need to get out of here ASAP."

"Apparently Doc Zed's in a heap of trouble and the faster we can get this dorky mission over with, the better. He's got my ship, so we can just fly off the planet." Scootaloo seemed oddly quiet compared to how she usually was, but then Kaylee noted the large bags under her eyes; out of the three of them, she was probably the one who had gotten the least amount of sleep. Not that Kaylee herself was feeling any more well-rested, but she had gotten enough so that she could keep on walking.

"That sounds... good?" Kaylee said, wincing slightly at her voice. It was always deeper than normal in the mornings, and she didn't like it. She shifted up her tone a tad, trying to make it more like how she liked it without raising eyebrows. "I mean, not good, but that seems doable."

"Yeah, exactly," Scootaloo said. "So, uh, let's go back down there and put on our saddlebags, I guess?" She turned to Flight. "You didn't bring or leave anything else here, right?"

"Nope," Flight replied, shaking her head. She took another look at Kaylee before turning to the ledge and leaping off, gliding down easily. It wasn't a moment later that Scootaloo followed suit, disappearing over the edge and then there was the sound of her hoofsteps clinking on the metal ground.

With a yawn, Kaylee reached up and threw the quilt off of herself. She grunted as she pulled her body up to a standing position and then, hooves bouncing on the mattress as she passed, she made her way over to the ladder and then started climbing her way slowly down.

It only took her a few minutes to get the few stray items back in her saddlebag, but by the time Kaylee was finished and had trotted out of the room, Scootaloo and Flight were already long gone. She could hear their voices somewhere far down the hallway, chatting about something he couldn't discern and sounding very much like they had been longtime friends. As she trotted down the hallway with hoofsteps much heavier than she would have preferred, she considered perhaps that she was feeling left out.

Regardless, it wasn't long until Kaylee reached the main tunnel and, following Scootaloo's and Flight's voices, turned back to the tunnel that led outside. This appeared to be the right way; the door was wide open and she could see the trunks of trees through the dim evening light that shone down from above. And, once she reached the end, Kaylee found herself in the company of Scootaloo, Flight, Mochi, Cotton Fluff, and Clove Hitch. All of them were standing around in a small group to the left of the entryway, having pushed away a few of the ferns that encroached upon the path.

"Good morn—er, evening, Kevin!" Mochi greeted once she saw Kaylee, grinning wildly.

It was all Kaylee could do not to frown as she felt a drop in the pit of her stomach. "Hey there, Mochi. How's it going?"

"Good!" the chipper pink pony replied. "We're just waiting on Later, 'cause she's doing some weird stuff with the computers or whatever."

"Did she ever end up sleeping?" Scootaloo asked, turning to Clove Hitch.

"Yes, I made her get a few hours this afternoon, right after I woke up," he replied. "Honestly, though, I don't know what keeps that pony running; she's got the strength of an ox. Must be all that earth pony magic."

Scootaloo blinked. "But she's a unicorn?"

Clove gave her an odd look. "I'll... let her tell you about it later. It's a bit of an odd story, that one."

"Uh, okay," Scootaloo said. Shrugging, she turned back to Flight and started saying something about using her scooter back home.

Kaylee, however, had tuned out; she was leaned up against the rock wall of the base, gazing out along its surface as it stretched out as far as the eye could see. Inside her mind, cogs were turning; she was starting to remember bits and pieces of her dream. Kevin had been there... or, at least, it was what she had always wished Kevin could be. Yet now... now he was gone. Not that he was ever real to begin with. And soon, very soon, she would have to tell everypony. But not now. Never now. Some other time.

"Kevin?" a voice said, breaking her from her thoughts. As Kaylee once more cringed, she turned her head to look at the voice that had spoken, which belonged to none other than Cotton Fluff. The mare had stepped around the group and up to her, giving her a concerned look. "Is everything alright?"

"Y-yeah," Kaylee lied. "Everything's fine. Just feeling kind of tired, I think."

"Ah, right. Me too," Cotton replied, nodding. "Been a while since I got a good night's sleep, what with flying that hovercraft and all."

Kaylee nodded, though she wasn't really listening. Cotton seemed to take note of this, as she didn't say anything more; her gaze merely softened as she looked at the filly.

"Alright, I'm here!" Later's voice called out, breaking Scootaloo and Flight's conversation and making everyone look towards the entrance as the green unicorn burst from the tunnel. "I've got all my stuff, so we can just take off now once Clove locks up."

"Dang it, why do I always have to lock up?" Clove grumbled as he stepped up, fiddling with the door.

"Uh... because I always refuse to learn how?" Later asked, shrugging. "I dunno. Whatever the reason, that doesn't matter! Let's go!" she proclaimed, stepping forward onto the ferns and into part of the forest that most certainly wasn't delineated by a path. With little other choice, the rest of the group followed behind her. Besides Clove who was still working on the door, Kaylee brought up the rear, thinking about her dream as she walked.