Now there I was in front of that damn rock. I don’t know where it came from- someone in New Appoloosa, I guess. I didn’t care enough to ask, nor did I care enough to wonder who had taken so much time to painstakingly engrave it with Velvet Remedy’s name and cutie mark.
Some nice ponies came to the spot to mourn her death, having heard her sweet, sweet music over the radio. One of them brought a shovel, and I just watched as they put her lifeless, bullet-hole-filled body into the ground deep enough so no raider might disturb her eternal slumber.
Calamity stuck by my side the entire time. He asked me once if I was alright, if I wanted to talk. I just yelled at him, and he didn’t ask again. I thought he would leave, but he didn’t, not even once.
Everypony had long since left; it was just the two of us now. In my magical grasp, I had a single flower, completely untouched by the horrors of the wasteland. According to books I’ve read, flowers were usually placed on the graves of beloved fallen ponies, so it felt right when I placed it onto the dirt. If Velvet was here, I think she’d approve.
Velvet… Oh Luna, fuck me hard… I was crying now. Well, close to crying. It’s like that feeling you get when you’re about to start crying. Your throat tightens, your eyes burn. I didn’t even try to hold it together any longer. I choked out a sob, and not a single soul in the wasteland cared.
“It ain’t your fault, Pip.” Calamity said from behind me. I felt his hoof on my shoulder. I didn’t move. “Y’all didn’t know the raiders were around.”
If only she had gotten into the habit of carrying a damn weapon, if only I had kept my big fat mouth shut, we wouldn’t be here right now.
It was all my fault. I was the one who argued with her; I was the one who made her storm off in a rage, right out into the band of raiders waiting. If I wasn’t such a fucking idiot, Velvet would still be here right now.
I could almost feel them. The sadness of every good pony out there who knew her, who would miss her. I was the one who sent her out to her death; it wasn’t those raiders who killed her- I did. Her blood is on my hooves, and now…
Calamity was still there behind me. I hugged him tight, and he did the same, his body still as he let me cry into his shoulder. “Calamity, I miss her so much…”
Im glad that the Wasteland while can be cruel there are still heros