My Little Walking Dead

Leave

“I want to leave,” Fluttershy said, Rarity smiled widely, Applejack on the other hoof merely snorted and stormed from the room.

“I knew you would darling,” Rarity said placing a comforting hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder, “now come, help me pack this food.”

As they sorted through the food, Fluttershy waited until she was sure Rarity wasn’t looking and placed a few cans under the table out of sight, she wouldn’t leave Applejack with nothing.

Looking over her shoulder she saw Applejack standing in the doorway as Fluttershy had known, looking at her with awe. Fluttershy simply smiled before continuing to pack. Once all the supplies were dealt with, Rarity unaware of Fluttershy’s small act of charity, the four ponies approached the back gate, Angel hoping over and jumping on Fluttershy’s back, she guessed he had been paying some final respects to Granny Smith. Applejack followed them out, though Fluttershy guessed it was only to make sure the gate was locked this time.

“Well,” rarity said, breaking the uncomfortable silence, “I guess this is it.”

“Yeah ah guess so,” Applejack replied, not meeting her eye. Then after another moment of intense silence she spoke again, “ah hope y’all find what you’re lookin’ for.”

“Why thank you Applejack,” Rarity said sincerely, though looking a little taken aback, “and I wish you the very best as well.”

Fluttershy didn’t say anything, just stepped forward and pulled Applejack into a final hug. She accepted it graciously, but let go all too soon for Fluttershy’s liking.

With no further words spoken, the mare tipped her hat and turned back into the farm, closing the gate behind herself.

“Come on darling,” Rarity said, pulling Fluttershy away from staring at the closed gate. “It’s time to get moving.”

Nodding absent minded, Fluttershy turned and began following the others as they began walking north east, what Rarity hoped to find there, Fluttershy didn’t know. With Dodge behind them they were once again at the mercy of the scorching desert, but only for the briefest of times as it quickly changed into fields of lush grass.

It reminded Fluttershy of a time when they weren’t running from infected, when it was just her ad the girls relaxing and playing in Ponyville. She inwardly sighed wishing she could have those days back. all day Rarity issued instructions, voiced her thoughts about where they might go and what they might do, the most prominent idea which resurfaced repeatedly, was that they would make for Manehattan which Rarity was sure, being the industrious city it is, that it would have survived. it was convenient they were heading in the right direction since leaving Dodge, but of course Rarity wouldn’t have made any group decisions before consulting them.

Fluttershy shook her head, ridding herself of the treasonous thoughts. Everything Rarity was doing was in her sister’s best interests; it was only natural for her to be a bit controlling. Cheerilee interacted with Rarity as much as possible, seeming all too eager to prove her usefulness to the new unelected leader of the group; Fluttershy just nodded and went along with whatever was decided. She was barely aware that Rarity had called to stop and make camp until she felt a hoof tugging on her shoulder, bringing her to a grinding halt.

“I said darling, ‘we should stop here for the night’.” Rarity repeated, looking at Fluttershy concerned. “Are you alright dear?”

“Oh yes, I’m fine,” Fluttershy said quickly trying to change the subject. “Isn’t this spot a bit open for a camp?”

Indeed it was quite simple a large stretch f meadow with the occasional rock dotted about.

“Nonsense, why we haven’t seen a single one of those blasted creatures since we left the farm,” Rarity reminded her, “why I’d say we’re well on our way to finding a new home already.”

With that inspiring footnote, Rarity left to check on her sister, and Fluttershy sat down on her own, still lost in her thoughts. Angel looked up at her concerned and began conversing with her.

“I’m fine Angel, really I am… well, I may feel a little guilty about leaving Applejack behind… well of course I respect her decision… of course she’s one of the most capable mares I know, oh, I guess you’re right, I shouldn’t worry about her so much… good point, me being distracted won’t do anypony any good, I’ll keep more focused from now on.”

“Hey Fluttershy,” Cheerilee said approaching her and Angel, “you know you really should eat something.”

Fluttershy nodded and began rummaging through her pack.

“So Cheerilee, how long do you think it will take to get to Manehattan?” she said as she shuffled through her belongings.

“Well it took us roughly a day to travel between Ponyville and Dodge,” Cheerilee began thoughtfully, “Dodge to Manehattan is almost five times that distance, that would, in theory be almost a week.

“But,” she said much cheerier, “if the rest of the journey is as easy as today was we’ll be laughing.”

Fluttershy nodded re-latching her back and settling down with her evening rations, splitting them with Angel who gobbled them up greedily. Rarity stayed over by her sister, watching over her as she slept. Cheerilee lay down where she had sat near Fluttershy and drifted off quickly enough. Fluttershy lay back, but found sleep harder to come by. She couldn’t help but think about what Cheerilee said, ‘if the rest of the journey is as easy today’, why did Fluttershy have the bad feeling things were about to come crashing down on their heads?

Day 14

Fluttershy was awake earlier than any of the other the next morning; frankly she didn’t know how they could sleep so peacefully with the rising sun glaring light into their eyes. Separating herself from the group she began walking a few metres away, humming a distantly familiar tune to herself. today they would be continuing on their journey to Manehattan, they had been lucky yesterday to have encountered no infected, and the idea that they all slept through the night with nopony on lookout was insane in hindsight, they were lucky they hadn’t been killed.

No, from now on they would be far more cautious, Rarity and Cheerilee were content to believe everything was looking up, that just left it to Fluttershy to be the one who looked out for the others safety. With ideas in motion she walked back and rather unceremoniously woke the group, they all began to stir groggily from their slumbers looking like they wanted to lie in, but Fluttershy wasn’t having any of it.

“Alright everypony it’s time to get moving,” she ordered, “yesterday was easy but we can’t afford to get lazy now. From now on we make travelling our secondary priority, instead I want each of us to be on the lookout for anything that might do us harm.”

The three mares all stared at each other in shock and awe of Fluttershy’s new assertive attitude.

“Whenever we stop for rest, one of us must be designated to take watch,” she continued, “it was stupid of us not to have a lookout last night, we won’t make that mistake twice.”

“Fluttershy, I appreciate what you’re trying to do, but don’t you think you’re taking this a bit too seriously?” Rarity asked a little condescending.

“no I don’t, somepony here needs to, it might as well be me,” she replied curtly, “now let’s get moving, we have a lot of ground to cover.”

The three mares remained frozen for only a few seconds before beginning to gather their things. Fluttershy looked around Angel who was smirking at her, clearly impressed by her newfound attitude.

“Get used to it buster,” she said playfully inviting him onto her back. Once he was settled and the others were ready to go, they set off, Fluttershy now walking side by side with Rarity at the front of the pack. They could all feel the dynamic of the group shift; Fluttershy could tell Rarity didn’t like it.

Leaving the grassland behind they moved into scattered clumps of trees, to Rarity it was shade from the midday sun, to Fluttershy it was possible hiding spots for infected. Had Rarity really learned so little from their days in Dodge? Fluttershy ‘s gaze swept all around them, taking in every detail, this was one of the few occasions in her life she was glad to have been born a Pegasus, as they had evolved to have more precise vision to help them in picking out details while in flight. Rarity was saying something to Cheerilee, Fluttershy was barely paying attention, her eyes were focused on a large stretch of forest ahead of them, in particular, a narrow gap between two trees.

“Get down,” she ordered, dropping down to her haunches. The others followed suit curiously while Fluttershy continued to stare straight ahead, daring whatever it was to make another move.

“Fluttershy, what on earth are we hiding from now? I can’t see anything,” Rarity asked in an irritated tone.

“I saw something move among those trees,” she informed her, still not looking away.

“So,” Rarity replied dismissively, “it’s probably just a wild animal.”

Fluttershy didn’t answer; it hadn’t escaped her notice that ever since this began, animals had become a rare sight. No, this was something else.

“I think we should back track and move around the forest,” Fluttershy suggested. Rarity almost chocked on nothing at that suggestion.

“Are you mad?” she demanded, “that could take hours, we’d lose so much progress.”

“It’s not…” Fluttershy began but was cut off.

“Not what? Safe?” Rarity demanded, now thoroughly angry, “look Fluttershy, I appreciate what you’ve been trying to do, but this new attitude of yours is unbecoming and unnecessary. I’m putting my hoof down this instant.”

“But…” Fluttershy tried to reason before being cut off again.

“No buts! Now come on, I want to make as much progress before nightfall.” Rarity stomped forward, Sweetie Belle hurrying to keep up. Cheerilee followed after a brief moment of hesitation, leaving Fluttershy staring in disbelief after her friends. Angel sat beside her, glaring after them, at least someone agreed with her. Sighing she picked him up, deposited him on her back once more, and took chase after her party.

They entered the forest in single file, at the exact spot Fluttershy had seen movement. It was almost as if Rarity was trying to spite her. They walked ever deeper into the trees and undergrowth, Fluttershy keeping a constant lookout. There were admittedly no signs of life (or unlife) anywhere around them, but it did little to shake the uneasy feeling Fluttershy had in her gut. After a few more minutes of relentless walking Rarity finally came to a stop and turned to face them, specifically Fluttershy.

“What did I tell you?” she said her voice full of self-satisfaction, “there was nothing to be afraid of.”

Fluttershy gritted her teeth together, swallowing her retort, she couldn’t start fighting now or they would be doomed.

“I think,” Rarity continued, “that this incident proves beyond a doubt, that I sole leader of this…”

That was as far as she got before she was cut off by a high pitched whistling noise causing all their ears to prick up. Fluttershy having the keenest senses of the group, realised all too late what was happening, as the arrow sped through the trees, impaling itself in Cheerilee’s eye.

Sweetie Belle screamed as her teacher collapsed, blood spouting profusely from the wound. Rarity was frozen in horror, only Fluttershy managed to regain control of her body in time to dive forward and knock Rarity to the ground as another arrow buried itself in the tree trunk where her head had been seconds before. As they lay on the ground, they heard shouting coming from all directions, the sound of hooves rushing through grass and fallen leaves, their attackers were coming for them, and worse, they weren’t infected.

Fluttershy hadn’t considered that other ponies could pose a threat to them, but now it seemed glaringly obvious. With food becoming a rare commodity, it was only natural some would resort to violence to obtain it. They couldn’t stay here, shouting orders at the paralysed Rarity; Fluttershy dragged her behind her, staying low to the ground as they rushed further into the forest, Sweetie Belle running at her side. Fluttershy could hear her pursuers catching up, she was begging Rarity to come back to the present and start running on her own, but the unicorn was completely out of it.

It was only Sweetie’s scream that brought Rarity back, and both mares looked up to see the filly cowering before a heavy set stallion who had emerged before them. He looked as gruff as ponies came, a bandanna wrapped around his forehead, a knife in his mouth.

“Sweetie, run!” Fluttershy ordered, the filly didn’t need telling twice, jumping away from the stallion’s attack and dashing away into the forest. Fluttershy and Rarity made to chase after her but the stallion instead focused his attention on them.

Rarity stared terrified at the spot her sister had disappeared into, but Fluttershy knew they couldn’t risk trying to get around the knife wielder, and with his friends almost upon them they had to act. Dragging Rarity by the ear, Fluttershy turned tail and fled in the opposite direction of where Sweetie Belle had run. Rarity was screaming objections but Fluttershy didn’t let go. Their pursuers had taken chase once more and the pair were running out of places to flee to with the metaphorical net closing around them. At last Rarity returned to the present and began running without the aid of Fluttershy, the pair were easily faster than the stallions chasing them, even with the packs on their backs.

They quickly managed to put enough distance between them, Fluttershy was sure they had given them the slip for the time being, but they could afford to stop or else…

“Ahhhh!” Rarity gave an agonised scream, as Fluttershy heard a loud, metallic snap. she spun around and her heart sank as she saw Rarity collapsed on the forest floor, a bear trap closed around her leg. Fluttershy rushed over and dropped to her side where Rarity was breathing heavily and sobbing uncontrollably. The trap was an awful contraption, lined with sharp metal spikes so it digs into the flesh of the unfortunate creature who strays into it, Fluttershy loathed animal traps.

“Don’t worry Rarity, I’ll get you out,” Fluttershy assured her, any animosity accumulated over the last day forgotten as she was overwhelmed by the desire to help her friend. However her hopes were quickly crushed by two things: the first, the approaching sound of the hunters, clearly drawn by Rarity’s scream. The second, another scream in the distance, one clearly belonging to Sweetie Belle.

“F-F-Fluttershy,” Rarity stammered, she sounded to be in agony, “p-please, just go. Find Sweetie Belle…”

“I can get you out of this,” Fluttershy said trying to force the metal jaws apart, even Angel was pulling desperately at them.

“Please, just stop!” Rarity begged, “There’s no time.”

Indeed the hunters could find them any second.

“Just go and find Sweetie Belle,” she requested, tears streaming down her face. Fluttershy stared at her friend, the decision heavy on her heart. If she did as Rarity asked and left, the hunters would kill her, after witnessing their lack of mercy on Cheerilee, Fluttershy was sure of it. however if she tried to save Rarity there was no guarantee either of them would escape in time, let alone be able to find Sweetie Belle before something else did. But she needed to make a decision, and she needed to make it now.

“I’ll…”

Do you:

a) Get you free-

b) Save Sweetie Belle-