Fallout: the Return

Chapter 8: Peace

“You know,” Jason said, pulling closer on the bed to give me a kiss on my cheek and stroke my mane, “It’s times like these where I almost forget I was a human once.”

We were both in bed, Leo sleeping by himself in his room with Rattles guarding him. It was the day after all the craziness of both Rattles and the new mare from someplace called the Sierra Madre arriving. Christine Royce is who she had called herself.Hopefully today would be uneventful, so for the moment, we were just savoring a little ‘normal’ time under the covers. I smiled, pulling him closer as well, “I know. You say that often.”“I do?” He asked with a small laugh, “I must be the most forgetful stallion ever.”I quickly rolled and bopped his nose with a hoof, “You are,” I dove for a quick lip kiss. Pulling away, I blushed as I said, “But you make me the luckiest mare ever.”Jason leaned in for a kiss, but our bedroom door flew open. Leo charged through, along with Rattles, his collar rattling with a brass name tag. Both of them pounced upon the bed in unison, Leo snuggling against me, Jason getting a faceful of Nightstalker tongue.“Mommy, mommy, get up, get up!” Leo shouted, making me wince at the noise. Rattles barked and went back to licking Jason, who had an un-amused expression on his face.“Seriously?” Jason murmured as he pushed the overeager Nightstalker off of him. Rattles hopped off the bed, and then found his own tail more interesting than Jason. The big puppy ran in circles trying to catch up with the rattling appendage.Leo started pushing me out of bed, through struggling quite a bit. “Mommy, you promised,” he said disappointedly, before renewing his efforts, “Get up!”“And what was it you promised him?” Jason asked, arching an eyebrow.“Mommy promised to help me fly,” Leo answered with a large smile, his overeager energy not allowing me to get a word in edgewise.Jason smiled, “Oh, that was today? Guess it’s a mother’s responsibility to train their foals how to fly.”“Yes,” I nodded, “Leo does well on his own, but I need to start teaching him.” I motioned my hoof over to him, then I smiled at Jason, “You being an earth pony makes it hard for you to teach him.” I looked to Leo, “Are you ready?”“Yay,” Leo giggled, but stopped suddenly, rubbing his belly, “But breakfast first!”I rolled my eyes. He sure is his father’s child, the two mouths can eat one out of house-and-home.

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Jason and I made breakfast, asparagus with scrambled eggs and cheese, with a side of toast. The whole combination was a delicious dish that I had to try ever since Rarity lent me her cookbook. I had forgotten to return it so many times, that I probably had it for around a year.Once our breakfast was settled, Leo was bouncing off the walls with anticipation - quite literally since pegasi are capable of flight. He would run, jump, glide to a wall, then push himself back at high speed, while also getting air. A trick he taught himself, much to my horror.Gliding down from a wall jump he performed, I felt like I should at least see if he can manage indoor flight, before trying outside, which in hindsight was completely backwards. “Remember to flap your wings, Leo,” I shouted. Leo nodded mid flight and began flapping his wings. Unfortunately, they were off time with each other, and he spun out in the air, crashing into the living room couch and on top of Rattles, who was sleeping like a house dog would.The Nightstalker took his head and used it to nudge Leo off the couch. After landing on the floor, Leo sat on his haunches and crossed his forelegs. “That was mean,” Leo complained in a loud whine.Rattles let out a few barks and hisses.“That is not your couch, that’s mommy’s couch,” Leo complained with a small pout. The Nightstalker rolled his eyes, before rolling over to face the couch cushions.“Come on, Leo,” I said as I shook my head from side to side at the two’s antics. It was cute, my son and his first pet playing together. Luckily for me, Twilight was able to defang Rattles, as well as remove his venom glands. Now Rattles is just an above average on the dangerous list, not topping it off.Leo gave a nod, spun away from the couch, and lost his hoofwork. Only my son would be able to trip on nothing but air. To his credit though, he recovered and quickly sprinted over to me, grinning. “Can we fly now?” He asked innocently, but his eyes betrayed his dizziness.I laughed and led him out the door and onto the wooden porch with a wing, “Sure Leo, we’re going to fly far and fly fast.” Where on Equus did I hear that saying before? No, wait; it was a poster in the Mojave.“Is Daddy gonna watch?” Leo asked with an innocent smile as he practically pranced in place with enthusiasm, his little hooves clopping on the wood. His teal eyes were so full of wonder and excitement; I hated to give him the answer.“Sorry, but Daddy has to work.” My son’s smile disappeared as he frowned, leaving the comfort of my wing to mope on the grass.I walked off the porch and onto the green turf, hearing my son let out a sniffle. “But… Daddy promised,” Leo said as he looked up; a disappointed tremor in his voice. I could see tears in those eyes, and it was heartbreaking. Hugging him with my forelegs, I sighed.“Leo, I’m sorry Daddy has to work. But think of it this way, when Daddy comes home today, you can surprise him by flying.” I folded my back legs under me so I could crouch to eye level with my son.“Okay,” Leo said, nodding as his smile returned, but halfheartedly. I could tell it didn’t eliminate his disappointment, but managed to relieve some of it.“Now Leo, let’s start with the basics.”

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The two of us practiced for over an hour. After helping him get his wing flaps in sync with each other, Leo learned quickly the basics of how to take off, fly, and turn.I felt my heart soar when Leo jumped in the air own his own, flapped both of his wings in unison to gain height, then glided in a circle around me, laughing for the entirety of the trick. When he landed – a little roughly - I wrapped him in a hug, proud of him.“You can fly Leo!” I announced loudly with excitement.Leo broke away from my hug, singing loudly, “I can fly I can fly,” Before jumping in the air, flapping quickly to gain altitude. “I can fly, I can fly,” He continued to sing, but as fate would have it, he lost his wing work and crashed into the nearby dirt road. Sliding hard, I could only watch in horror. Leo quickly picked himself back up off the dirt, and scrunched his face in pain.Flying over to him, I nearly panicked when I saw the bleeding cut on his foreleg. He may have crimson fur, but any injury somehow stands out. “I have a boo-boo,” Leo said, tears of pain forming in his eyes as he sat on his haunches, showing me the small bleeding cut above his left forehoof. I could tell the cut stung as I wiped the dirt off as best as I could, and I gently kissed above the injury.“There,” I said softly, taking my son under a wing, “Mommy will make it all better.”He choked out a heart wrenching sob of pain, but tried to smile nonetheless. “Can Rattles kiss my boo-boo too?”“No,” I said with a laugh, “But Rattles can come to town with us to show off your new flying skills.”“Yay!” Leo shouted, my heart thudding with love as he punctuated his excitement with a jump into the air, and a flutter of his wings. I didn’t even have to teach him much, just work on his wing technique. He had watched enough of the other pegasi to figure out how to hover in the air.“But first, let’s get a bandage on that cut.”

<>~Leo’s PoV~<>

Inside our big house, Mommy wrapped one of my favorite smiley-face bandages on my boo-boo. It was after Mommy put this cold stuff on it, though. Ant-tie-something, Mommy called it. It was one of those words that made my tongue dance in my mouth and made me giggle when I tried to copy her.Mr. Rattles was still on the couch. The silly doggy was lazy, and could be a little mean – he pushed me off the couch - but I knew he was my best friend forever. He made my mark appear after all… butt tat-yous, Daddy called them. Mommy didn’t like when I called them that, but Daddy laughed whenever I did. I liked Daddy’s laugh, it made me feel like laughing as well.Since Mommy taught me how to fly, I spread my wings and jumped into the air; Mommy’s voice reminding me, “One, two, flap; one, two, flap.” Every time I thought ‘flap’ I was supposed to make both my wings move together, but it was hard to do. Still, I did it, and landed in front of the couch and my best friend.“Mr. Rattles,” I called out slowly, reaching a hoof out to touch him. I poked him once and backed away quickly. I wasn’t scared of my best friend, but Daddy didn’t seem to like him that much, and that made me worried. Did my best friend do something wrong? Should I not poke him when he is sleeping?Was it that he knew the bug lady? I shivered… why did the bug lady take me away from Mommy? I didn’t need to worry; my best friend would protect me with his sharp teeth.Trying to forget the bug lady, I poked my best friend’s side again. He rolled to face me and licked my face, causing me to giggle, and Mommy laughed. See Daddy, Mr. Rattles is my best friend.Daddy? I looked around, feeling sad now that I remembered he was at work… stupid work. Why does Daddy have to go there?“Mommy?” I asked, looking her in the eyes. Mommy said it was polite to look other ponies in the eyes when they spoke with you, and I didn’t want to make Mommy mad.“Yes, Leo?” She asked with a gentle smile.“Can we go to Work? Daddy’s there almost every day. I miss Daddy, and I want to show him I can fly now.” I said, only mixing up a few words. Mrs. Redheart says I can speak better than most other colts my age. I could tell; it was sometimes hard to understand Sissy when she talks… Mommy says it’s her act-scent.“If Daddy’s at the post-office, Leo,” Mommy told me, making me forget to ask her something about Sissy.“Yes!” I shouted, making Mommy wrap me in a warm hug when I flied again.

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The town was busy today, and I made sure to walk with Mommy instead of flying. Mr. Rattles was in front of us, keeping watch out for the bug lady amongst all the ponies. I didn’t want to get taken away again; it was scary in the dark cave. Mommy had to buy me a nightlight after I came back… I kept seeing bug lady in the shadows with her one, scary white eye. I didn’t tell Mommy bug lady bothered me though, it made Mommy sad.Feeling like bug lady was watching me, I shivered and stepped even closer to Mommy, bumping into her legs. “Sorry, Mommy,” I apologized after I made her stumble… it was an accident; I didn’t want her to be mad with me.“It’s okay, Leo,” Mommy said kindly as she put her soft wing over me, “Are you alright?”I shook my head, “No Mommy. Bug lady keeps scaring me.”Mommy stopped walking, and I heard her cry. Did I do that? I didn’t mean to make Mommy cry. “I’m sorry, Mommy,” I apologized.“No, don’t be,” Mommy said, hugging me harder with her wing, “I should have been watching you. Can you forgive me?”“Yes,” I said, though I didn’t know why. Why would I need to forgive Mommy? She wasn’t bug lady. I saw the bug lady hiding as Mommy, but I didn’t know it was bug lady. I just wanted to ask how she could look like my Mommy so well, even matching her hair and cutie marks.Bug lady magic, that’s how. Green as Mrs. Rarity’s magic… wait, does that mean she’s a bug lady too?“Thank you, Leo. Now let’s go see Pinkie for some treats.”“Yes!” I shouted, hoping I could get a cupcake with green and blue and red and white and yellow sprinkles. Wait…what was I thinking about before?Not important; I’m hungry.

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I had a cupcake; it was vanilla with chocolate frosting. I ate it while Mommy talked to Mr. and Mrs. Cake, along with Auntie Pinkie and Mr. Tejada. I was disappointed to find out Pound and Pumpkin were on a camping trip, so I sat quietly and listened to the grown-ups talk.“And you’re okay with this?” Mommy asked Mrs. Cake as I licked my cupcake paper clean of crumbs. She was talking about Auntie Pinkie and Mr. Tejada, but I didn’t know what it was about.“He may be an older stallion, but Pinkie’s old enough to make her own choices,” Mrs. Cake said.I had no idea what they were talking about, and I sighed. I was alone since Mr. Rattles and Chrome were busy chasing each other. The old grey dog could still keep up with Auntie Pinkie. He had to; Auntie was always acting silly and moving around really, really fast.“It’s strange,” Raul said, “But she feeds me cake. I’m not complaining.”All the adults laughed at Mr. Tejada’s joke, but I didn’t get it. Cake tastes good, why would you ever complain about it. Even though he was a little strange, I liked Mr. Tejada. He was nice, but looked funny, and sometimes spoke really fast backwards with Pinkie.Hole-ah, cola s-tah; Like that… but super-duper fast.Mr. Cake was the one who spoke next, “Raul, you’re a good stallion. Been here four years and my wife and I haven’t heard no ill about you. Isn’t that right, honey-bunny?”“Yes,” I heard Mrs. Cake say as she smiled, “You’re well mannered, respectable, and though you may be older than all of us combined, we know you’re a good stallion for our Pinkie Pie.”“Wow,” Mr. Tejada chuckled, “Is this washed up old man really that good of a stallion?” How old was Mr. Tejada? He told me once when I asked, but I couldn’t count that high, and I can count to a million-billion-zillion. Oh, a bug.“Hey there,” I whispered as the little beetle crawled over my cupcake paper, “You hungry?” I asked.The little bug stopped, and nodded. Mommy said animals understood me, that’s why Mr. Rattles and I are able to be bestest friends. At first I only thought Mr. Rattles could understand me, but then I was able to talk to Chrome.When we walked in, Chrome growled at Mr. Rattles, which was strange since Mr. Rattles is my friend. I told Chrome to calm down, and he said something about Nightstalkers to me, but Mr. Rattles was a dog.I’m getting distracted, my little bug friend is hungry. Looking back down, I let out a disappointed ‘aww’. My bug friend was gone. But then I felt better when I thought about him returning to his own Mommy.Wait… what if his Mommy is the mean bug lady?I really wanted Mr. Rattles close to me right now. He could protect me.“Leo, time to go,” Mommy called out; distracting me from the dark cave and bug lady.“Mr. Rattles,” I called, “Let’s go!” I hopped out of the booth I sat at. My best friend tackled me and gave me a lick. Then he sat on his haunches, wagging his rattle tail, letting me get back on my hooves. I patted his head as he panted his long fork-tongue, “Silly, doggy.”“We’re going to see Applejack and Tigris next; they both should be at their stall.”I nodded and hopped on Mr. Rattles back. He was a lot bigger than me, but that meant I could ride him when my hooves got tired. “Giddy up,” I said.Mr. Rattles said something about me being a silly hue-mane. I didn’t know what type of pony a hue-mane was, but Mommy tells me I’m a pegasus, and Mommy’s always right.

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“Sissy,” I called out as I jumped off Mr. Rattles and walked beside Mommy, keeping close until we reached the stand. I was taken by the mean bug lady disguised as Mommy when I tried to find the apple stand and Sissy on my own.Mommy says were half-siblings, and that Applejack is Sissy’s Mommy, but why if we’re brother and sister? How can my Daddy, be Sissy’s daddy, yet our Mommies be different?“Mommy,” I asked as we walked together towards the apple stand, “Where do babies come from?”Mommy stopped walking and her face turned red. She looked like that a lot when somepony asked her something. I didn’t know why. Though, Daddy likes to ask her things that made her turn red a lot.

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My face burned red with embarrassment. I could feel other ponies looking at me as Leo waited patiently for my answer. Why did he have to ask that question now?“Um,” I muttered, “I’ll tell you when you’re older.” I was going to tell him. But not right now.“Okay,” Leo muttered, but he instantly perked back up when ‘Sissy’ called his name.“Hey, Shy,” Applejack said, “What brings ya by my stand?”“I’m actually here to ask if you can watch Leo tomorrow.”“Why?” Applejack asked, leaning closer curiously.“Surprise Cutie Mark Party for Leo,” I whispered, “Pinkie already had it planned out, she just needed the where and when.” Our stop at Sugarcube Corner wasn’t just for treats. I most likely would never stop just to get treats; Leo gets a little wound up after a load of sugar.The kamikaze pegasus colt I had to duck out of the way from only proved my point. Said colt landed in a patch of flowers belonging to Lily, one of the town’s florists.“By gosh, he’s flying now ain’t he?” Applejack asked with a small chuckle.I nodded, “Just taught him how to beat his wings in time, and he literally took off on his own.” I gasped when I saw an angry florist, “I have to go, Lily doesn’t look to happy to have Leo in her garden.”Running over to the patch of lilies Leo landed in, my son was acting like he was sleeping, letting out fake snores as Lily glared at him menacingly.“Leo, what are you doing?” I asked, Lily still glaring at us both.Leo sprang to his hooves, “Look mommy, I’m Rainbow Dash!” Leo announced loudly as he jumped into the air once more. Looking at me, Leo smiled, “Catch me if you can, Mommy.”“Sorry, Lily,” I said quickly as I took off after my son, the florist laughing as Rattles chased us on the ground.All that the chase through town needed was some fitting music.

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I feel old. I’m only twenty five, and my three and a half year old son can outfly me. I was currently panting for air as I landed, Leo prancing around me, laughing in the middle of the street. At least he seemed to have forgotten about Chrysalis, for now. Unfortunately, Leo accidentally knocked into Christine, sending her to the ground, before I was able to catch up.“I am so sorry Leo ran into you, Christine,” I apologized to the light blue unicorn mare as she got back to her hooves, albeit shakily. It took me a while to readjust back to walking on four legs after my time as a human, and I guessed it took her a while to learn how to walk.She just stayed silent, only giving me a nod in response.“So, Christine,” I said, trying for small talk, “How is it at Twilight’s?” Twilight had offered Christine a place to stay in the library after her arrival. Rainbow Dash, the others, and I didn’t stay to talk with her long after we brought her to the library. Twilight wanted to give her some time to adjust, away from others.I could guess she was adjusting well, already foregoing clothes, which revealed a cutie mark in the shape of a pony outline. I could guess her special talent was being invisible, or silent, since she hadn’t spoken a word to me yet.Christine shrugged, smiling. I guess it is silence that she was good at.“Read any good books?”Christine shook her head no.“And why not?” I asked, arching my brow, “It is a library after all.”She sighed, shaking her head, “Because I can’t read,” she said in her soft, beautiful voice. I let out a sharp gasp, “I try to, but all the letters and words get jumbled up. Twilight says it’s my head trauma.”“I’m so, so, sorry. I didn’t know,” I apologized. I didn’t want to offend her, because if I offended her then we would never be friends, and I wanted her as a friend.“It’s alright,” She said in a forgiving tone, much to my relief, “You couldn’t have known. Twilight’s already set up an appointment with a…” she paused for a brief second, “Nurse Redheart.” She said, speaking slowly.I smiled widely, “She can be a bit grouchy, but don’t let that spoil the first time you meet her. She’s the best nurse around, having more experience than most of the doctors, and the long hours she works wear on her nerves. She’s a really nice mare after you get to know her.”“I’ll keep that in mind,” Christine said with a nod, before turning to walk away.“Hey,” I called, catching her attention. Leo was a good distance away, riding Rattles like a pack Brahmin so he wouldn’t overhear, “Leo, my son, is having his cutie mark party soon. Maybe you should come? Twilight will most likely be there.”She shook her head, “I don’t like crowds. Or noise.”“Please,” I said, smiling, “It will be a good way for you to adjust to Equestria. Get to know everypony who will be there.”Christine rolled her eyes, “Fine,” she said chuckling, “How can I resist attending the party of a kid? Just don’t let that Pinkie Pie get ahold of me, I nearly had a heart attack from her attacking me with party supplies,” she chuckled, rubbing the back of her head and knocking some confetti out of her mane, “She’s worse than the Ghost People on a Tuesday… never knew why that day always had them riled up.”“Have you asked Twilight about going back… to the Madre?” I asked at her mentioning of the Ghost People. From what little time the others and I were with her, she mentioned a horrible, horrible, scary place called the Sierra Madre. It was filled with poison gas, zombies in suits, killer holograms, and radios that only played static.Christine nodded, “Yes, but since that Nightstalker your son keeps as a pet and I appeared randomly, she doesn’t want to compound the problem by sending me back. Plus she doesn’t know where the Madre is. I probably couldn’t find it again on my own, so I may never see it again,” she sounded… sad that she was away from the Madre.“Do you want to go back? From what you said yesterday, the Sierra Madre is super scary.”Christine shrugged and sighed while shaking her head, “I’m not actually sure. I do, then I don’t. The Sierra Madre is a lonely place, but after all I’ve been through and done, and having Vera Keyes’ voice, I feel like I belong there, silently watching as I have for the past four years. But this town, I’m starting to feel welcomed. No one here knows my past, or what I’ve done, and they don’t ask. Even with these horrid scars, they treat me like family. I walked into the Café, and the owner didn’t even give me a second glance.”I gave a chuckle, “This is Ponyville, strange and unusual seems to happen on a near weekly basis. My three and a half year old owns a Nightstalker, and nopony cares. The local princess builds armor in her basement, and the Everfree sends us the occasional monster. You’ll find that we’re quite jaded to the unusual.”Leo jumped on my back, “What’s a Nightstalker?”“Mr. Rattles is a Nightstalker. As a matter of fact, where is he?” I asked as I didn’t see him anywhere.“He’s right between us, sitting,” Christine said with a small chuckle.Looking down, I saw the shimmering air, just before Rattles reappeared out of thin air, “Wha-?” I mumbled out, more confused than shocked.“Nightstalkers sometimes can turn invisible.” Christine told me.Oh, lucky me. My son owns a coyote-snake dog that can also turn invisible. I do not need Rainbow Dash or Pinkie Pie teaching Leo how to prank.