Wasteland Equestria

When Octavia woke up, she was lying on a bedspread by the Canterlot railroad. Dinky was standing over her, right in front of her face.

"Rejī!" Dinky yelled, turning from Octavia. "Kanojo wa me o samashite yo!"

Reggie came rushing to Octavia, a look of relief on his face. "Oh, thank Celestia," he said. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Octavia said. "Probably just fatigue. Thanks for saving me."

"Well, to be fair, Vinyl took out the first one. And Dinky warned us about you."

"Thank you, Dinky," Octavia said, looking at the little filly.

"You're welcome," Dinky replied.

"Octie!" Vinyl said, trotting in. "You're okay! We thought you were dead!"

"Thank you both for your concern," Octavia said. She turned to Reggie. "Regal, can I talk to you in private?"

Reggie nodded. "Vinyl, Dinky, if you'll excuse us," he said.

"Of course," Vinyl said. "Come on, Dinky."

When Vinyl and Dinky were out of earshot, Octavia got up from the bed. "I'm sorry about how I've been treating you," she said. "I kind of overreacted."

"You mean about the slaver?" Reggie asked. "Don't mention it."

"I think I reacted the way I did because that wasn't the Regal I grew up with. If I hadn't know you, I wouldn't have freaked out."

"Let's face it," Reggie said, smiling weakily. "You probably would've freak out, just a little less than you did."

Octavia began to chuckle, and Reggie joined her. Their chuckles slowly built up until they were laughing out loud. For a second, they were just two friends, laughing. There was no apocalypse, no Canterlot railway, no timberwolves.

Then, they stopped, and the world came back to them. "Well, tell me when you're ready to go," Reggie said. "I'll be with Dinky."

"Right," Octavia said. "I think I'm ready."

"Alright," he replied. "Let's go."

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The next few days passed by without event. Octavia and Vinyl had basically mastered Japonese. Vinyl had decided to teach Octavia some combat maneuvers (don't ask me where she learned them) and Reggie gave her a gun, in case any raiders attacked.

It was the fourth day of travel, in the middle of the afternoon, when Reggie stopped suddenly on the railway.

"What is it?" Octavia asked.

"We're here," Reggie said. "Canterlot."

Vinyl and Octavia walked up beside Reggie and looked at the town. It was lined with rich, luxurious houses, all of them falling apart in some way.  There were also multiple small fires and blood throughout the streets.

The most striking feature was the castle where Princess Celestia had lived. It had fallen off of its mountain-side perch and destroyed multiple houses. The impact of the fall had driven almost half of the building into the ground.

"Let's rest up here on the mountain," Octavia said. "We only have tomorrow to get supplies, and we should be fully rested."

"Alright," Reggie said. "We'll move in at midnight."

When the camp was set up, Reggie woke Dinky up. "Dinky," he said, "we're at Canterlot."

"Where the bad ponies are?" Dinky asked.

"Yeah," he said. "We'll leave for the town at midnight, and be out by nighttime tomorrow."

"Okay."

Reggie nodded and walked over to Octavia. "Hey, Octavia," he said. "You know, if we come into contact with raiders tomorrow..."

"I know," Octavia said. "That's why Vinyl taught me all those combat maneuvers. I'll be fine."

"Alright," Reggie said. He reached over and kissed Octavia's cheek. "Let's get some rest."

When Reggie turned around, Octavia allowed her jaw to drop. Why had he kissed her? How long had he wanted to?

And why did she like it so much?