I was numb. The blade hung in my silver aura, the knife that the masked pony had used when they... They...

Let's not dwell on things. I wasn't sure which was colder, me, or the blanket of darkness I remembered faintly as the night sky. There were no stars, nor a moon. The wasteland was cold around me.

This was the result of the megaspells? Those evil and horrible magic spells that ruined lives? I kept walking. A weird robot thing kept fluttering around my head, speaking. "Hey, hey, are you even listening to me!?"

I didn't speak. If I did, I think I'd cry or fall apart at the seams. "Ugh! I saw you leave the stable, why don't you have a PipBuck? Why aren't you talking to me? Your Cutie Mark has an apple, are you related to the Apples?"

I didn't answer, only nodded faintly. "So... You can hear me then, just choose not to speak. What's up with you? That knife looks like you've used it, did you encounter any monsters out here?"

That was the final straw. I slashed at the bot with my knife and buckled down, weeping. "W-Woah, sorry.. Watch where you're swinging that thing! Hey, are you okay? Hello...?"

I cried. I mourned my parents. I mourned the Stable I had just abandoned. I mourned the fact I was doomed. I mourned until my heart was empty of anything to cry about. "Ya feel better, bud?"

"N....No..." I rasped quietly.

"Ah, so you can talk. Well, what's your name?"

I looked at the knife, stained, still held weakly in my magical grasp. "Bl.... Blade.. Call me Blade..."

The bot seemed to sigh. "Well, nice to meet you, Blade."

I raised my eyes to it. "And you?"

"Just call me Watcher." It responded. "And, in case you're wondering, I'm a sprite bot."

"K...." I answered quietly. I began my long trek along the Hell hole where I was, not knowing what would happen or where I was going, Watcher quietly buzzing behind me.

A voice shattered the peaceful quiet. "AH! Let me go..! Stop!" My blood ran cold.

"No.... No....! NO!" I ran faster than I ever had before, like lightning. I didn't care that Watcher had turned into a music buzzing piece of machinery as soon as the pony called. I didn't care that I was exhausted, physically and mentally.

No matter how much I disliked her, she still managed to sneakily worm her way into my heart. "Peanut Butter!"

I stopped on a hill. She was in the back of a caravan, looking miserable, a black eye adorning her face. Ponies that looked like they'd rolled in blood and mud pulled it, cackling like witches. They wore strange armor looking clothes. I looked down on them with a cold expression. Before I raised my knife and charged.

I crossed the hill in moments, fueled by my rage, and practically flew at the ponies. They turned towards me and started aiming guns at me. Guns! And firing, of course. I gasped in pain as one seared my side, but I jumped over the next volley and landed next to them, slitting the first one's throat in a second. The other one, a mare, fired a shot at me.

It scraped my leg and I winced. I limped as fast as I could to cover the five inches and stabbed her in the chest. I was panting. I limped to the back of the caravan. "C-Crimson!?" Peanut Butter whispered in fear backing up.

I opened the caravan. A few mares and a stallion ran out. I was left with four things. Two dead ponies, a caravan full of who-knows-what, and a filly with a higher IQ than me. "P.B." P.B. was her nickname.

"A-Are you okay!? You don't look good...!" She asked, edging nearer.

I gazed at her, in shock, and for some reason, anger. "Seriously!? That's the question you're asking me!? After what I did!? Why did you follow me!?"

The soft brown filly averted her diamond gaze down. "I.... I know my brother was mean to you... I know everypony was mean to you.... I w-wanted to know... Why...?"

I couldn't say no to that filly. She was so innocent and kind-hearted. "Things happen, P.B." I growled. "I found my parents in a pool of their own blood with their attacker standing over them. I snapped. The end."

She looked at me with tearful eyes. "Look through the caravan for anything worthwhile, P.B. I'll be right back, shout if you need help." I walked around to the front and looked at the dead ponies. I shivered at the blood, pictures of my parents flashing in my mind. It was night, so hopefully we had a lower risk of being spotted by more of these bad guys.

I peeled off their armor. One of theirs, luckily, just barely fit on me. I analyzed the other set and realized with some extra time and a sharper blade, I might be able to adjust it to fit Peanut Butter. "You... You killed those two ponies, Crimson...?"

Crap. "Yes. I had to, or they would've killed me." I gave her one of the guns. "Put this in your saddlebags. I'll tell you if you need to use it." I noticed we had both grabbed a set of saddlebags when we left the Stable.

I had given her the one I noticed had caused less recoil on the ponies driving the caravan, knowing she was still a filly, even if she was mature and a Unicorn. Her black-colored magic carefully lifted it and placed it in her own. I sighed to myself. What is wrong with me? I'm giving a gun to a 15 year old!

She was shivering, but handed me some bottles with strange looking liquids. "Don't worry, my PipBuck told me they're safe." Of course she'd have a PipBuck. Should've realized it. I drank it and felt my wounds magically heal.

"Thanks." I continued trudging along, silent.

"Those ponies called themselves 'raiders," P.B. said quietly. "I don't think they're nice ponies."

When I looked back her head was so low that her bread-colored mane nearly touched the ground. "Chin up. If something attacks us you don't want to have no visual. As soon as we see a place we can hide I'm going to repair this extra set of armor into something your size. C'mon, let's go."

We were quiet for a long time. "Tell me the truth, Butter, why did you really follow me?"

She looked away in shame, avoiding my gaze. "Everypony was.... Gone... I couldn't stay there even if I wanted to, I'd go mad from loneliness...."

I shook my head. "And you're best idea was to go outside, follow me of all ponies, and get yourself captured by raiders, you called them?"

"The raiders part wasn't voluntary..." She spat grouchily.

Inside my mind was racing. We had no food, I was having a mini panic attack, we had no water, and we had no idea what was in the Wasteland. I had to do my best not to let that show though. This filly could never survive the wasteland on her own, and I certainly wasn't gonna becoming a sniveling mess in the face of danger.

So, we walked through the wasteland.

Footnote: Level up!
Skill: Flirty-Gay: Interacting with other male characters gives you certain dialogue options.
P.B. Inventory:
PipBuck
Pistol
25 Shots
3 Healing Potions
2 Rad Away
Crimson Inventory:
Stained Knife
Raider Armor
Extra Raider Armor