Sounds were muffled. There was a ringing grinding against her skull. The mare opened her eyes, her muzzle still kissing the pavement.
Her temple buzzed with blunt pain as she slowly lifted her head from the concrete, it felt like gravity shifted as she did so. The ringing was still there but it was gradually fading away, her hearing growing better by the second.
She scanned her surroundings, carefully not wanting to irritate the ache in her head. The sun was nearly over the border, it was getting darker. She turned behind her, wondering what happened and suddenly she had caught up.
The mare saw Nate's busted truck, it had collided with an abandoned green busted up jeep that idly sat on the left lane where they were driving.
The hood of Nate's truck had been completely damaged, dark smoke flowing out of it. A hissing noise was coming from it.
Something must've been damaged, the mare's temple didn't feel right. Of course, that was to be expected. She had just been in an accident and was ejected from the car. It seemed like every time the mare moved her head, gravity changed. Unbalanced, as if one side of her head was light and the other was heavy.
She felt the scrapes all over her body. Some of it had dried up, turning into newly fledged scabs. She was extremely lucky that no walkers had stumbled upon her while she was passed out. Maybe the world was on her side for once...
Speaking of which, where were Nate and Clementine?
She went to slowly push herself up when she yelped, feeling a sharp pain shoot up in her left arm followed by sudden nausea. She stopped for a moment before applying more weight to her right arm and began pushing herself up again. She stumbled around a bit before regaining her balance.
The mare jogged (attempted to) over to the truck. She looked around the interior and her heart plummeted into her gut.
They weren't there...
The seats were empty, the windshield had a large shattered hole in it where she flew out of. She began to panic, dread filling the pit of her stomach. Her eyes widened as she then began to frantically search the surrounding area.
She checked the nearby trees, the road ahead and behind; not that they would be there anyway but she was desperate. She couldn't lose her, she couldn't, she won't. She made a promise to Lee, she promised to look after her.
She was gone... Clementine was gone.
The mare stood there, a glazed look in her eye and mouth hanging slightly hanging open. She was alone... she lost Clementine.
Nate must've taken her. She concluded. There was no other explanation. He must've taken her while she was unconscious. This was a nightmare, this couldn't be happening. He took her. He took her and left her to die...
The mare then felt a wave of nausea hit her as regret found it's way to her heart. She never should've trusted him, she never should've... what the hay was she thinking!?
No!
Wait...
She never trusted him. She was just using him for the vehicle! This wasn't her fault, she shouldn't be surprised because she saw this coming. A man like Nate, a complete psycho? Of course, she didn't trust him! Her blood began to boil as her thoughts played in her mind. She should've stayed more attention. She should've killed him the minute he pulled up to them!
That no good, filthy ne'er do well was going to get exactly what he deserved the next time she sees him. He better hope she did not catch him-no! She had to catch him! He had Clementine! She had to go after him! She made a promise! A promise to look after her. There was no "if she caught him", she was going to find him.
Once this was over and she finds Clem... there will be no more chances. Any stranger they come across will either be killed or robbed. There ain't no more chances. Not anymore. Not after this. Nobody could be trusted, you had to look for yourself in this world. Everyone who can't deal with that will be the ones who die first.
No one was innocent...
Everyone was guilty of something...
The mare wasn't going to stop searching for them. Her head still ached like it was getting pounded by a hammer. She never should've continued with this charade. Should've just dropped him, looted him and left.
But now, Clementine was gone due to her mistake. Nate had took her while she was unconscious, just left her there completely unguarded, free for any walker that would stumble across her.
She trekked through the woods, passing by the trees. She didn't know if Nate had gone through the woods and ditched the road. As she looked around the area of the crash, she decided to take a look around the woods for any indication of where he might have headed.
Sure enough, there were leaves, plants and brushes that were looked like to have been trampled on as a scuffle had took place. They were faint but Rarity took notice of the boot marks in dirt and ever since then, she had been following them.
This man was going to die, morals be damned. You try taking somebody or something that wasn't yours, you're going to die. If Rarity had to become a bandit in order to ensure her and Clementine's survival then to hell with it, she'll become one. She'll do anything if it meant Clementine's safety. Nate made the mistake of not putting her down when he had the chance.
The mare came across the a few walkers, all who had bullet holes in their heads. Nate must've gone through here. She thought. She continued on down the path until she came upon a clearing, leading out of the woods.
Up ahead was large brick wall which she soon came to realize that it was a building. There were others all next to each other, she made her way through the alley and found herself in a town. There was a black car that was flipped over on the road.
At this time, the sun had bit the dust and was late in the evening. She was going to have to travel blind. The boot marks had led her here.
Panting and frustrated, the mare ditched the last walker to the pavement, it's skull exploding on impact.
After she entered the city, she started running through the streets; her temple was a mess but she pushed through the pain. Searching for Clementine, searching for any sign that may have indicated where they have gone.
All that running had led her to take a turn into an intersection, right into a herd. She was drenched in walker blood, gunk, pieces of rotten flesh all over her fur and mane.
Welp, this was who she was now. A perfect representation of what she needed to be in order to survive.
A killer...
Looking around the mutilated corpses. All sliced up or ripped apart, she didn't even gag at the sight of it. She wondered how she would've reacted if someone had told her a year ago that she would become this. A ravager.
A series of bangs rang out in the town, snapping her head toward them. Gunshots. It came from her left maybe a buildings over. It sounded far but it echoed, maybe four or five blocks away from where she was.
She immediately started sprinting toward them, the nausea was hitting her like a brick but she refused to acknowledge it. This could've been Nate and he just gave himself up. She wasn't going to let him get away.
She took a turn, leading into an alleyway. A few walkers were in it but she made quick work of them. She left it, continued turning right and followed the road.
The gunshots stopped for a moment before another rang out. She turned left and ran past a few more blocks.
After a few minutes, she turned left once more and her eyes widened instantly when she recognized him. She found him, the blood in her veins began to boil as she watched him aim his pistol and shot the walker dead.
She saw the shock flash through his features once his eyes met her's. The ringing came back but something about it was different, She saw Nate's lips moving but nothing came out. Her magic already found it's grip wrapped around his wrist. A loud crack came from his wrist, bone popping from it's socket; protruding through the skin.
He let out a wail, dropping his pistol. She held his wrist in midair, keeping him from falling to his knees in agony. He was already clutching at his arm with his good one.
She noticed that Clementine was nowhere in sight and her frown deepened. She proceeded to walk toward the man, no sympathy for him. "Hello Nate," she greeted casually. The man didn't respond, he was still clutching to his arm with wailing. She was almost positive that he had tears in his eyes, ready to spill over. Blood poured from his mutilated wrist. "I hope you know where Clementine is... for your sake."
She released the aura's grip around his wrist and he fell to the ground almost in a fetal position. She watched in squirm for a few moments. She sighed before walking closer to him, feigning a look of sympathy. "I can help relive your pain but you have to tell me where Clementine is."
"P-P-PLEASE! P-P-PLEASE!!! MAKITSTOP! MAKEITSTOOOOOP!" He screamed and begged.
"I will, ju-"
"PLEASE! JUST MAKE IT STOP! PLEASE!"
She sighed, rolling her eyes. "Tell me where Clementine is." He held his broken wrist to his chest like a cradle, his cries then began to quieten down after a few moments.
From the amount of blood he was losing by the second, Rarity chopped it up as him dying from blood loss. Maybe I had been too harsh to snap break his wrist like that. "Hey... hey, Nate?"
He hummed in response as he slowly played his head against the pavement.
"Where is Clementine? Where is she!?" Rarity exclaimed, feeling frustrated.
"Sh...s-she ran... off." Came his weak reply.
"What do you mean? Where did she go!?"
"She... left... s-shot at me..."
She groaned, rubbing at her face. As the man bled out in front of her, she walked over to the pistol that he dropped and held it up in her magical grasp.
"Rarity?" She turned and saw the child. She was standing there, gun in hand with a little blood splatter on her dress.
The mare's heart dropped and she trotted over to the child. "Clementine! Darling, are you okay!?" She soon realized that the blood splatter wasn't her's as she got a better look at it.
"It's okay, I'm fine Rarity. J-just a bit scared, Nate left you behind."
The mare felt a surge in her anger. She tried to brush it off, for Clementine's sake. "I know, darling. I know but I'm alright now. There's no need to worry."
"I-I thought you were dead. L-like when we crashed, you flew out of the window a-and you weren't moving."
Rarity laughed at the child. "Well, it's okay now. I'm here, no one is gonna hurt you." She was about to put her hoof on her when she remembered the state she was in and she quickly withdrew it.
"W-what happened to you?" The child inquired, noticing the how horrible and grimy the mare looked.
She quickly shrugged it off. "Just a few walkers that I had to deal with." The mare turned back at the man who beginning to lose consciousness and she slowly trotted over. She pulled the knife from her holster and lodged into his head, putting an end to his worthless life.
"T-that's Nate..."
"Yes, yes it is." She pulled the knife, flicking it a few times and sliding it back into her holster. The mare sighed before she ushered the child to follow her.
"W-where are we gonna go now?"
The mare didn't answer for a moment. She was still thinking about how foolish she was to go along with Nate who, she knew was a complete carefree maniac. It was bound to happen with the type of person that he was? Of course, he was going to try something sooner or later.
But what she was utterly confused with was why didn't he bother to kill her when she fell asleep in the car? They were driving all the way to Virginia, Clementine was already sleeping. The mare was forcing herself to stay awake, simply for the fact that she didn't trust Nate and yet when she did, he didn't try anything.
He could've killed her then and there while she was unconscious but he didn't. Could've easily pulled out his pistol and shot her in the head. Celestia forbid what would've happened if that was the case...
But he didn't and the mare couldn't be more confused. Why did it take a car crash for him to take Clementine and haul?
Perhaps, he thought she was dead? Still didn't make any sense.
They continued walking along the sidewalk, sticking closely to the buildings. "Rarity?"
"What?" The mare snapped, carelessly ignoring the child's flinch.
"N-nothing... nevermind." The child tried brushing it off but the mare wanted her to continue.
She stopped and turned at the girl. "No no, what you were going to say?" They both stood there, the mare waited for the child to answer who was appeared troubled. A few moments past and the mare piped up. "Clementine, what were you gonna say?"
"I-I just wanted to know where we were gonna go next..." she reluctantly answered.
Rarity rolled her eyes, turned and proceeded down the lane. "To Wellington, like we always were."
"We don't have a car anymore though."
The mare ignored her and continued through the town's streets. Clementine had kept her silence as she let the mare lead the way, taking care of the walkers or more accurately, slaughtering the walkers that were in their way.
Clementine hated to admit it but Rarity was terrifying to be around. She wasn't the same pony she met back at the motor-inn. The way she moved, talked and felt about certain things put her on edge.
They were close to leaving the town. It was still dark out, they were following the road leading out of the town. "Nate said that you shot at him."
Clementine frowned. "Y-yeah, but I didn't want to..."
"Well, honestly that is too bad. You have to hurt people in order to survive in this world."
"I don't want to hurt anyone."
"Well, you're gonna have to get used to it." Rarity simply answered, they were now leaving the town onto the road once more.
"Is that what happened with that old couple back at the diner? Did you just kill them?"
Rarity stopped and stared directly into the child's eyes. "Yes. That is exactly what happened. If you can't handle making difficult decisions then you will not survive in this world."
Clementine felt herself growing more anxious by the second. The mare was scaring her. The way she talked about killing, making difficult decisions, frightened her. She understood having to make difficult decisions and being cautious about surviving but Rarity seemed... too unstable?
She didn't look like she cared at all about hurting people. Yes, some people have tried to hurt them but she always felt guilty about having to take them out. Even if their sole intention was to kill, she still felt remorse but with Rarity? She acted like she never cared at all.
"You will have to kill people in order to survive. Just like with Nate, you nearly died."
Clementine frowned. "B-but wasn't it your idea to go with him in the first place?"
Some of the fire in Rarity's died down and sighed through her nose. "Yes, I did and that is a mistake that won't be happening. Ever. Again. From now on if we come across anybody we rob them blind."
"What!? Why!?" Surely, she was kidding... she had to be, right?
"As I said, difficult decisions."
"B-but-but why do we have to rob people though? Why can't we just-you know... ignore 'em or something? O-or just walk past them!?"
"Because we need supplies. Whatever they have, will be our's." The mare answered without hesitation.
"...And what if I don't wanna do it?"
"You don't have a choice Clementine, I made a promise to Lee that I would look after you and that is exactly what I'm doing." Rarity turned and proceeded forward. "Come on, we need to find somewhere to camp down at."
The child reluctantly followed after her, unnerved by the mare's hostility and her new "ideals". She sincerely hoped that they wouldn't cross paths with anyone, it wasn't going to turn out well for anyone. A part of her just also hoped that the mare was just mad or stressed and didn't mean any of the things she was saying.
It could just be the adrenaline. Freaked out about what just happened. Nate kidnapping the child and taking her into the woods, it could've been just that. Once Rarity calmed down, perhaps she would talk things over with her and apologize for acting so... barbaric. Clementine hoped she would, at least; other wise the Rarity she knew was already gone.