Fallout: the Return

Chapter 5: Chaos

“Momma! Momma! Get up, get up!”

I opened my eyes slowly to look at the teal eyes of Leo. He blushed and grinned, giggling happily as he practically bounced at the edge of my bed.“What is it?” I asked nicely before yawning widely. I savored the warmth of the covers over me as I let sleep slowly wash away to clarity.“Daddy make breakfast,” He replied, whispering through a goofy smile and blush.Three and a half years old… where did the time go? It seemed like only yesterday I dropped Angel’s plate of food when Leo first said ‘Ma ma’.With a wide smile, I scooted forward on the bed and kissed Leo on the forehead. He rewarded me with giggles.“Get up, momma. Get up! Daddy make breakfast,” then, as if it would encourage me to get out of bed, he took off running out of the bedroom.I really didn’t want to leave the warm bed, but I guess I had no choice.

<~-~>

My husband’s cooking over the last few years had improved tremendously. Even though ponies are vegetarian, we had fresh eggs from my chickens, with toast and grits - basically ground up corn mixed with butter, salt, and pepper. Applejack taught Jason how to cook them just right so that they practically melted in your mouth with buttery flavor.Sitting in his high chair next to me, Leo was stringing together simple sentences too fast for me to keep up. The pediatrician remarked that he was developing fast.I looked at Leo, grits clung to the fur around his mouth in sticky globs. With my wing, I tried to use a napkin to clean his face, but Leo gently slapped it away with one of his wings.“Mommy no! I do it,” he protested as he grabbed the napkin in his hooves and wiped his nose, completely missing the food.As Leo began to chow down on more eggs, I rolled my eyes, and smiled. Then I looked over to Jason at the head of the table, “So, how’s work at the mail office?”Jason shrugged, “Meh, the usual. Derpy’s totaled yet another wagon that I had to haul to Raul’s, and Nolan’s still complaining about his wing.”“Does he ever stop?” I asked with a sarcastic smile.He laughed, “Only when his wife threatens to give him another broken wing. I tried to tell him not to accept that race, but did he listen?”Yep, Rainbow Dash and Nolan Triplett, married not even three months ago. She told me at the spa that she would prefer dodging Legion bullets than stand on the alter again. I didn’t share the same opinion, standing at the alter with Jason was the best moment in my life. Actually, no it wasn’t. Leo makes every day of my life better than the last.Jason sighed as he looked past me at the clock on the far wall. “Guess I have to get to work. See you later, honey,” Jason said as he got up from his seat, quickly washed his dishes, and gave me a blush inducing smooch. Leo giggled at us as we did.With Jason having left for work, I smiled and looked at Leo, “So, what do you want to do today?”“Angel, play!” He said loudly. It was cute when he spoke, his voice like gold to my ears.I saw Angel Bunny looking out the window above the sink, his grey ears drooped down. I felt a pang of sadness, he was getting along in his years. He just recently turned eleven, he probably had one more year in him before...The corner of my eyes filled with tears. “Not today. Angel’s tired,” I said softlyLeo looked down, “Aww, I wants to play.”I tried to smile, “Well, maybe we can play with the other animals. I haven't fed them yet.”Leo gave a shout that resembled a ‘Yes’, then ran for the door, leaving his plate of food behind.I got up from my seat, and collected the dishes to put in the sink. Angel turned and looked at me, a milky white film covering both eyes. He let out a few squeaks that I only could understand.I sighed, “He’s too young to know you’re getting old.”The old bunny rolled his blind eyes, then pawed at the air. I stretched out over the sink so he could touch my face. His paws felt around my eyes, and upon feeling the tears, Angel gave a frown, making a few more squeaks.I nodded at his question, his paws feeling my head move.He shook his head, making a few more squeaks and turning his head towards the window.That made me let out a small sob. Going blind had been the hardest for the both of us. Him having to re-learn how to move about the house, and me, powerless to help his failing eyes. Angel then turned his body completely towards the window, feeling the sunshine rather than seeing it.And to think, almost four years ago he wouldn’t speak to me because he felt ‘replaced’ by Leo.Sometimes my special gift is a curse, being able to hold conversations with cute animals with shorter lifespans than myself.Sighing, I trotted towards the back door, leading out into the yard where Leo was harassing the chickens. It took him a while to stop calling chickens cats, because to him, every other animal was either a cat or a dog.Next to the door, I kept a large wooden box with assorted animal food. Opening the top, I reached into the open bag of chicken feed, retrieving the scoop I usually left in there with my right hoof.Turning around, Leo was staring at me, a large smile on his face as he tried to imitate a squawk, “Look mommy, I’m a chicken!”I smiled widely, my heart melting with love as I made my way over to the pen and hugged Leo with a wing.It lasted about four seconds before Leo pulled away, distracted by a butterfly landing his nose. “Wow,” he said slow and quietly as the blue butterfly opened it’s pink wings widely.Wait… blue body, pink wings?The butterfly disappeared in a flash of bright light and dark grey smoke, and Discord appeared in his true, serpentine form a few hooves distance away. Leo just looked confused, then slowly backed closer to me.His voice was low, as if Discord was going to gobble him up if he raised his voice, “Mommy… what’s that?”Discord’s jaw dropped like it was weighed down by an anvil, and his eyes bulged so much the fell out of his skull to shatter on the ground like glass.The instant his eyes popped back in his skull, Discord mouthed, “Mommy?”I nodded, pushing Leo forward with a wing, “Leo, meet your uncle, Discord.”Both Discord and Leo looked at me confused. “Uncle?” Discord said like it was a question.“Yes, uncle.” My face then twisted into one of slight anger, “Where have you been the past four years Discord?” I was pretty sure Discord would have found a way to get us back from the human world.Discord sighed, “I sent a letter explaining that I would be asleep. Draconique like myself have erratic hybernations. Sometimes it’s only a month, other times years on end. I guess my letter never arrived.”Discord then gave a heavy sigh, “When I woke up, I teleported to your cottage to find it abandoned… I thought I outlived you.”“So how did you find me?”Discord smiled a wide, toothy grin, “Well, I kinda flew up to a cloud to see if I could spot somepony, then I saw that you moved closer to town. It never occurred to me the foal’s nose I was landing on was your son’s. How long has it been?”I shook my head, “It’s been four years,” I said again, “I’m married now, and this is my son, Leo.”Discord snapped his talons and shrunk down to Leo’s size. The Draconequus receiving wary looks from Leo, who tried to bury himself in my wing.“Why, he’s a handsome young stallion. Who’s the father?” “Jason Brody,” I replied simply.Discord disappeared in a flash and reappeared as a grey unicorn with a silver-blue horn. He hummed a few times as he stroked his white goatee, before saying, “Jason Brody. Strange name.”I shrugged, “I don’t know, Mrs. Brody has grown on me over the years.” It was the truth. I can’t really remember when I started liking my new last name and the title of Mrs. but by golly I’m no longer embarrassed by it.Discord looked his mismatched red eyes into my teal, confusion etched on his face. “You’ve changed Fluttershy… a lot. What happened?”I shook my head slowly, quickly trying to change the subject by saying, “I still haven’t fed my animals.”Discord’s unicorn horn flared with magic, and all the bowels of water and food were filled with the exact amount of feed and water.With that excuse blown, I gave a sigh, “That’s cheating, Discord.”Discord shrugged, “All’s fair in love and war,” he said with a sarcastic smirk, before his face became serious, “But really Shy, I have four years of catching up to do, as well as four years of being an uncle to catch up to as well.”I nodded. Discord was a friend, I could tell him. Looking to Leo, I nudged him with a wing to catch his attention, “You want to go play with your sister?”Leo began jumping up and down, “Yes, yes, yes, yes, I get to play with sissy today!”I caught Discords confused expression. He didn’t even have to ask before I said, “Half-sister.”He nodded, “Well then, let’s take a walk and catch up on old times.” With a flare of his horn, we were on the road, pointed towards town. Discord gave a chuckle, “Can we go through town first. This Disguise should keep me incognito.”I nodded and smiled at Leo, “Okay, Leo, we’re going to go to town for a few minutes.”“But sissy play now,” He complained. With the pouty face he was giving me, I could swear the Stare was genetically passed down and mixed with cuteness.“Sorry, Leo, your uncle has been gone for a while. He wants to talk with me, so we’re going to town.”Leo gave a disappointed ‘aww’. With Leo in the front, Discord beside me, the three of us began to walk towards town. Out of the blue, Leo decided to ask, “Why uncle weird?”I shook my head, raising my voice a little I said, “Leo, it’s impolite to call others weird.”Discord let out a whistle, “Wow, Fluttershy as a proper mother. What next, Rainbow Dash in a wedding dress.”He looked like he was preparing to charge his disguise’s horn before I laughed, “Too late. You slept through the wedding.”And his jaw dropped once more, actually stretching and trailing behind him as we continued to walk forward.“Yep, it was around three months ago,” I stated nonchalantly, “And we both go to the spa every third wednesday of the month.”Discord’s jaw slapped back in place like a rubber band as he slapped a hoof to his face, “And here I thought Rarity was the spa lover.”Just to tease him to want more information out of me, I said, “She hasn’t been to the spa since her accident.”Discord looked at me, concerned, “What accident was so bad that she no longer goes to the spa?”“It’s hard to explain, and it would be easier to show you all my friends and how we changed than try and tell you myself.”I was going to say something else, but a flash of brown and grey tackled Discord.“First Recon, you’re under arrest, Discord!” Sweetie Belle shouted through the helmet she wore. She must have been ‘sniping’ me - again - and saw Discord. I really need to discuss her behaviour with Rarity, she’s starting to act too much like her older sister.Discord, who didn’t recognize her, hit her with a bolt of magic that sent her flying through the air, landing in front of Leo and making him jump in surprise.The young mare just got up, shook with a few audible pops, and looked Discord dead in the eyes with the red lenses of her helmet, before disappearing in a green flash. Hmm… since when could Sweetie teleport?Discord just looked at me flabbergasted and panting in shock, “What was that?”I rolled my eyes and said sarcastically, “First Recon Ranger Belle.” I then chuckled and smiled as I helped him to his hooves, “Ever since Rarity made her and her friends those costumes, she’s been a bit more rough and tough than the other girls.”“And that surprise attack didn’t even scare you?” He asked. “I demand you tell me what happened to the shy mare from four years ago.”“As I said before, I believe it would be easier to show instead of tell.”Discord gave a nod and asked, “Which of your friends are you going to show me first?”I tapped a hoof to my chin, which one should I go to right away. In an instant, I made my decision, “Twilight. She’s the closest and can explain everything ten times better than me.”

<~-~>

As usual for the library, Spike answered the door when I knocked. In the last three and a half years, he had grown to the height of an average pony, and his maturity matched a full grown stallion. His allowance had turned into a paycheck, and I even overheard a little rumor he was already tired of the room Twilight gave him in the library, and was looking for his own place to stay.“Hey Fluttershy,” Spike’s deep, mature voice said as he ushered me into the library from the open door.“Hello, Spike,” I replied gently, getting a quick look past Spike before turning my attention to him, “is Twilight available?”He rolled his eyes, “She’s in the basement lab, being a mad scientist.”“So, may we come in?” I gave Spike a wide smile.“Sure, she needs to get out that workshop more. You brought Leo with you right?” He looked past me, first spotting Discord.Leo didn’t let Spike spot him before squealing, “Spike!” and charging past me to jump-tackle Spike at the mention of his name.From the ground, Spike gave a laugh, “That answers that. Who’s the stallion?”Discord either used magic to disguise his voice as well, or he does a real good impression of an average Canterlotian, “My good sir, I am Hinge, Stone Hinge. I’m a proprietor of unique and chaotic statues.”Spike got up from the floor and gave Discord a hoof/handshake as I rolled my eyes. Ego much, Discord?With Leo around, Spike had no trouble regressing to child-like behavior to play hide and go seek in the library. As Discord and I neared the basement door, I called out to Spike, “You wouldn’t mind entertaining Leo for a while, will you?”Leo jumped on Spike’s back, tackling him once again. Spike gave me a wide grin, “Sure.”So Leo wouldn’t try and follow us, I swiftly entered through the basement door. I wanted Twilight to be able to give Discord the ‘uncensored’ version of our time in the Mojave, and an almost four year old foal shouldn’t overhear what truly happened there.As we walked down the steps, Discord gave a chuckle, “Fluttershy, a mother with a husband and a house close to town. I would have never guessed.”I gave my own chuckle back, “The sheer normality my life has become is frustrating. I remember back when every other week some wannabe villain was giving us a monologue.”I caught whiffs of smoke, oil, and earth as we neared the bottom of the steps. When we did, what greeted us was so chaotic, Discord did a double take.In the circular basement, chalkboards had formulas and ideas about how to save the Wasteland written out, crossed out, wrote over, or all three. Papers littered the floor as scrap metal and junk electronic pieces were scattered like somepony had let a tornado lose inside. I gasped at what I saw against the far wall, a reloading bench with several different bullets. Beside it was a workbench, and beside that was a shelf with a half-dozen laser rifles - some complete, some not - with a seventh in a glass case above the rest. But what caught my attention even more, was the nine sets of complete power armor, and an unfinished tenth beside an alicorn mare sleeping on her hooves.“Twilight?” I called out concerned. She jerked awake, her head whipping around in slight panic. When her eyes landed on me, she gave a sleepy smile.“Oh, hey, Fluttershy,” she greeted with a stifled yawn, “just catching some sleep before I finish up this suit.”Discord walked past me, inspecting the power armor. “Holy Sheogorath in a cheese factory,” Discord muttered as he put a hoof against the first set of armor, the same one Twilight wore on our first Nightmare Night since returning.When I looked at each individual set more closely, I noticed that each one was slightly different. The first looked bulky and unwieldy; the last finished one looked a lot slimmer and was painted a brighter color; more silver than dull-grey.“Hey, Discord,” Twilight said as she yawned again.Discord groaned, and slapped a hoof to his face, “How did you know it was me?”“The expression you used,” She then smiled widely, “Seriously why are you disguised in the first place? Everypony doesn't seem to care that you once were evil.” Twilight chuckled and blushed, obviously sorry about how she acted towards him before I managed to reform him. “So what brings you two here to my humble workshop? I haven’t forgotten to eat again, have I?”I shrugged, “Most likely you have, but Discord was in hibernation the whole time we were gone, and I was hoping you could give him the real truth. I may be less meek, but I can’t go into as much detail as you can.”Twilight shrugged, “Fair enough. We disappeared for months, Discord. None of us really remember what happened on the day we left Equestria, but I either botched a spell, or Pinkie’s telling the truth about some crazy storm in the fabric of time itself.” She gave a scoff. “I think it was just an overdose on that whole tin of Mentats messing with her Pinkie Sense.”“So, you disappeared? Where too? What happened? Fluttershy won’t tell me and it’s actually scaring me,” Discord then blinked a few times, “Wait, does it have anything to do with the scar on your forehead?” He was referring to the very visible scar working its way from over her left eye towards the right one.Twilight nodded, “It has to do with a lot actually. We were transported to a world wrought by destruction of an apocalyptic scale and all turned into humans. Once I woke up, I was captured by skeletons in spacesuits, and put into some sort of weird sugery machine. They tried to remove my brain while I was still conscious. The head trauma induced amnesia, and I forgot who I was for a while.”Discord nodded, “Wow,”“I won’t bore you with details. Jamie – a human who rescued me – helped me meet up with Applejack and Fluttershy running a Caravan with a woman named Cass. We also had Rarity with us at the time, who was too afraid to reveal her true identity to us because of what happened to her, and I’ll let her explain all of that. While traveling, we bumped into Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, along with another human.”After taking a breather, Twilight continued, “There was a group called Caesar’s Legion. They attacked us right outside an abandoned New California Republic Ranger station, the NCR being the military opposing the Legion.”Discord just stared. There was some sort of surrealism with seeing an immortal being awestruck.“Veronica, the human with RD and Pinkie, as well as Cass, were wounded badly. Cass was hit in the neck, bleeding everywhere, while Veronica was hit in the stomach. We had to drag them both to the Ranger station to get away, but in our panic we left Fluttershy behind, but Applejack stayed with her.”Now Discord was a mix of emotions, confused, concerned, and… angry?“We tried to save the both of them, but there were too many Legion soldiers and not enough time. Both of them were dragged off by the Legion.”Discord winced and I could hear teeth grinding. He looked to me, the fire burning in his eyes scaring me as he asked, “Did they hurt you?”I wanted to tell them that they did hurt me. Over, and over, and over, but I just simply nodded, looking down to the ground.Twilight placed a hoof on my shoulder, “Should I tell him?”Discord was a friend, maybe he could help me or Applejack, so, I nodded before saying, “I’m going to sit on the steps and catch my breath.” Four years and I still wasn’t over it. I was never over what my father had done to me either.Moving over to the staircase, I sat on the steps, catching my breath as I tried to push the horrid memories of slaves crucified on crosses, and Orion to the back of my mind. Twilight wasn’t that far away, so I could hear her as clearly as if I was standing right next to her.“Fluttershy and Applejack… the Legion took them as slaves, and… well you see… one of the soldiers raped-”“Stop,” Discord demanded in a firm tone, his voice sizzling with anger, “Why would they allow that?”Twilight answered with her own anger, “Because they were evil, and he was less than a villain. Scum deserving a plasma grenade up his ass.”Okay, that got both Discord’s and my attention, “What?” We both asked.Twilight blushed, “Sorry, it’s just… what he did to you and Applejack, it just makes me so… uggh!” I could practically see steam coming out of her ears. “Also I may have modified a few Microfusion cells to explode like plasma grenades. Darn things are a bit finicky when it comes to direct manipulation with magic. I was lucky I was wearing power armor and Spike can belly-flop into lava.”Discord let out a long sigh, “And I was sleeping the whole time I could have just magicked you back…” Discord let out a dejected sigh, “Some friend I am.”I shrugged, “Then I wouldn’t have met Jason, or wouldn’t have had Leo. In some messed up way, the whole thing worked out for the best for me.”Twilight gave a hum and tapped a hoof to her chin, “Plus, I don’t think you could have brought us back Discord. Celestia herself couldn’t find me after I disappeared, and even if she could locate me, how could she have brought me back? It was just sheer luck I knew a spell that could.”Discord looked like he was lost in thought for a second before asking, “So Princess Twilight, how have you been over the years?”“I work so long in a room with no windows, I often lose track if it’s day or night, I rarely eat, and when I do sleep, I often have nightmares involving plasma shooting skeletons.”Twilight then proceeded to teeter on her hooves for a few seconds, before passing out.I didn’t panic, I’d seen that coming. I just calmly looked at Discord and smiled as he looked shocked. “Would you mind teleporting her to Ponyville General? She passed out from lack of sleep.” I groaned as I added, “Again.”

<~-~>

Two teleports later, Discord, Leo, and I walked out of the library and towards Carousel Boutique.We all walked into the shop together, Discord saw Rarity, and once again his jaw was agape.Although it was a lot less than from finding out I was a mother.“Darling, you look like a stallion who knows it’s impolite to gawk,” Rarity rasped out in her ghoulish hiss.Sweetie chuckled. Her custom built Ranger helmet was off of her head, revealing the small, off colored patches of fur where her coat and skin had grown back. “It’s Discord, sis. He also shot me with a magical bolt.”Rarity rolled her eyes, “So that’s why your armor was smoking when you got back. I’ve told you time and time again it’s impolite to attack ponies.”“I was just playing, and he shot first,” Sweetie huffed as she sat down and crossed her forelegs.Rarity sighed and shook her head, “You’re getting too old to pout like that Sweetie, plus we have guests. Tea anyone?”We nodded our heads - Leo so fast his mane was a blur - and Rarity ushered us into the kitchen where a kettle was already boiling.“So Discord, what finally brought you around here?” Rarity rasped as she pulled three chairs out for each of us to sit. The fourth, Leo had already pulled out in anticipation of Rarity’s tea. I may have spoon fed him a few times when I wasn’t really supposed too.Discord took a seat, conjuring up a menu like he was at a restaurant, making Leo giggle. “I woke up after a long, four year hibernation. I guess I missed quite a lot.” He then chuckled, “Twilight shared a lot of her story before passing out from exhaustion. What’s your story?”Rarity tisked as she stood by the stove, waiting for the kettle. “Twilight is going to run herself to the ground if she doesn’t stop obsessing with trying to find ways to help the Wasteland.” Rarity let out a long sigh, “As for my story, my flesh was torn asunder by the sands of the Divide, and my muscle tempered with the invisible fires of radiation. I’m unsure what exactly I am. Am I a ghoul who just looks like they’re still living, or a Marked Man with a bit more skin and somewhat sane?”“Ghoul? As in the living dead kind?” Discord asked, shocked.Rarity shrugged, “I wouldn’t call my kind ‘dead’ exactly, but we sure as-” Rarity had to stop herself at my glare, “-heck, are not living either. Ghouls, in a sense, are stuck in a perpetual irradiated limbo between life and death.”Discord stared at Rarity. I guess his attention was captured by Rarity’s flair for storytelling, “Since when did you become so philosophical, Rarity?”“After I died, came back as something else, killed something, went crazy, killed even more stuff, teetered on insanity, and finally tried to kill myself playing what the humans called Russian Roulette.”I hid my face in my hooves half out of embarrassment, and half out of anger at myself, “And I was none the wiser since I was resting in a tent, my belly way out to here with Leo.” I stretched a foreleg as far away from my stomach as I could before I burst into giggles, “Well, not that far.”“I was in your belly, mommy?” Leo asked, tilting his head to the side with the cutest confused expression on his face.I blushed bright crimson from all the laughs, shrinking behind my hair as far into my chair as I could lower myself.

<~-~>

The talk with Rarity went well. After the chamomile tea was finished, Sweetie Belle – no longer imitating her sister – kept Leo busy and out of earshot as Rarity gave Discord a, “Riveting tale of heroism and hardship.”After her tale of disemboweling skinless monsters with a knife, and shooting people in the head, Discord looked pale. “And you’ve stayed sane after doing all of that?” he asked as his paleness turned to shades of green. She could have been less descriptive of every headshot she made. I definitely won’t be sleeping soundly tonight.Rarity let out a near evil chuckle, “Who says I have stayed sane?” She paused, looking down and sighing heavily, “I’m on lithium to keep my mood swings under control, otherwise I may do something… messy.” Rarity shivered heavily.Discord flashed back to his normal body and placed his talons on Rarity’s shoulder. “I wish I could help, but I’m not good with heads, unless I’m turning them into cabbages,” He joked, trying to lighten the heavy and depressing mood that befell us.We all shared a small, disheartened laugh at that one.As Rarity was filling in Discord on the last four years of gossip, Leo grew tired of playing around with Sweetie, and began to rush Discord and I to hurry up. I gave in to Leo and we left around two o’clock.When we were on the way to Applejack’s, I was walking beside Discord, Leo behind us. I turned my head to check on Leo. I gasped as my heart skipped a few beats before almost stopping……where was my son?