Fallout: Equestria - My Mother the Heroine

Nova looked up to the sky - the rain had stopped, finally. His stable suit was drenched, dripping with water; his body was cold, shaking ever so slightly, yet he was happy ... kind of.

Sure enough, he had felt like jumping for joy when his mommy had told him that his other mommy would be back from her job soon. And it goes without saying that he had felt all the happier when she had invited him to go on a mission out into the wasteland together with her. Those times when his mother came home to visit him were rare, but a memorable experience every single time.

Truth be told, he probably wouldn't know his mother very good if it hadn't been for the other members of their family - his auntie Velvet, his uncle Calamity, and of course his mom ... well, his other mom.

He couldn't help but notice that many ponies seemed a little confused when he told them about his two moms. Some ponies even said that having two mommies wasn't physically possible; that a foal needed a mommy and a daddy to exist, and that anything else was against nature. Not only that, but there were a couple of ponies who pointed out that it was impossible that his moms were legitimately related to him, seeing as both of them were gray unicorns and he was a red earth pony.

But Nova didn't care about those neighsayers - what he knew was that he had the two best and most awesome moms in all of Equestria, and that he could be proud of.

His mommy was probably the coolest pony in all of Tenpony Tower - she was funny, always in a good mood, and seemed to do just about anything that came to the little colt's mind. Besides, she worked for a stallion called DJ Pon3; Nova had never actually met him, but his mom sometimes allowed him to play in his studio - something that caused him great fun since there was a lot to see, a lot of open space to play, and -most importantly- a lot of colorful buttons to press.

His mother ... well, Nova normally didn't get to spend too much time with her. His mommy and auntie had always told him that her work took up a lot of time, which was why she was hardly ever home to spend time with him.

They did, however, tell him a lot of stories during her absence - stories about her travelling the wasteland together with his auntie and uncle; about her fighting against dragons, hellhounds, zombies, and just about anything else the world would throw at her. His mom was, as he figured out from early on, a real hero.

And so it had happened that, despite her nearly constant absence, Nova had developed quite the admiration for his mother - with every story his mommy, auntie, or even uncle Calamity would tell him, he would be more impressed by his mom's heroic deeds. By the time he turned five, he had turned into a die-hard fan of his mother, and he still remembered the day he found out about Tenpony Tower's very own Littlepip-fanclub - an organization which he had gladly joined and -thanks to his, say, special relationship with the Stable Dweller herself- become the leader of after only a few weeks.

However, regardless of all that, Nova still wished his mother would be there to spend time with him more often. Sure, his mommy was great too, and he appreciated all the time his auntie and uncle spent with him -almost as much as the awesome stories they told him- but nothing compared to those days on which he would come home from school to find his mother standing in the doorway and asking if he wanted to go on an adventure with her - hearing stories was one thing, experiencing them firsthand a whole other.

And so it had happened that he had found himself giving a spontaneous jump of joy when he had found his mother in her usual spot this morning, dressed in her old stable suit which he knew she only wore on adventures, and with this kind of 'let's do this!'-look in her eyes that only she could have. In that moment he had known that the day would be awesome, no matter what.

Well, truth be told, it hadn't been as exciting as he thought it would be thus far. Surely, the pure anticipation of going on an adventure with his mom had managed to brighten up his day, and the short ride in uncle Calamity's sky wagon had -as always- been a really exciting event for the colt, but after Calamity had dropped him and his mother off practically in the middle of nowhere, the day had taken a rather ... boring turn.

He couldn't put a hoof on it, but his mom was ... different today. She didn't tell him any stories about her adventures in the wasteland like she normally did when they were on tour, neither did she ask him about school, his friends, or anything else. She was just walking next to him - silently, as if she wasn't there at all.

Not only that, but Nova could swear that she also looked different. Her mane looked unkempt, her eyes were glassy and had dark rings under them, and she wouldn't stop chewing on her under lip. If he wouldn't have known better, he would have said she was nervous about something.

"Mom?" Nova finally ended the long period of silence, "Is everything alright?"

"Huh?" his mother shook her head as if breaking loose from a trance, then looked at the colt. "Yeah, sure." she replied with a weak nod and a thin smile, "I'm happy to be with you again."

"Me too mom, but ... uhm ..." Nova hesitated, not sure if he should address her strange condition or instead ask the one question that had been preying in the back of his mind ever since his mom had told him about where they were going.

"What is it, Nova?" she asked; her voice had a certain edge to it that Nova couldn't help but to flinch at.

"I, uhm, I ... I ... w-what are we going to do about the raiders?" the colt finally forced out, "I-I don't think they'll just let us walk into their home and free their prisoner."

"Probably not, no." His mother admitted briefly.

"S-so are we just going to ... kindly ask them to let us in, or are we going to ... to..." he felt a shiver running through his body as he thought of 'the other way'.

He knew that, despite his mother's efforts, there still were a couple of places in Equestria that weren't as peaceful as Tenpony Tower - places where ponies weren't as kind and understanding as they were where he had grown up - places where ponies were mean to each other; where they would fight, harm and even kill each other for reasons he didn't understand.

His family had told him about those ponies - auntie Velvet always said that those ponies were just 'misled'; that they should be approached peacefully and led back into a civilized life; being 'reformed' - whatever she meant with that.

His uncle Calamity, however, had a slightly different opinion on these ponies. Raiders, he said, were nothing but remains of a dark past, and -just like anypony else who was acting harmful towards others- had to be fought - simple as that.

His aunt didn't seem to delighted about that point of view, saying something about modern times not having any place for such kinds of "barber-ism" - whatever that meant. It had happened several times that Nova had walked in on the two of them arguing about that topic, and he still remembered the day when his auntie had caught his uncle giving him lessons in combat techniques - what had ensued was a lecture neither of them would forget anytime soon.

Still, Nova didn't quite know what to make of all that - on the one hoof, he agreed with his auntie that violence didn't solve any problems - a lesson he had been taught in school from early on and found to be quite useful when it came to dealing with bullies in Tenpony Tower.

On the other hoof, hearing the stories from his mother and uncle -which admittedly were a little more graphic than those his auntie told him- just made him really, really angry at those raiders. He couldn't understand how somepony could do ... those kinds of things, but he knew from his mommy that those ponies had to be stopped, one way or another.

Littlepip sighed, turning her head away and looking at the approaching silhouette of the farm in front of them. "You know, Nova..." she said after a long pause, "There are some things that simply need to be done. We may not like them, but they serve a greater good, and that's all that counts."

Nova knew what that meant - he had heard enough stories to know what his mother was talking about when she was like that. He wanted to say something, yet all he could bring out was a sigh.

He didn't want to kill anypony. It didn't bring him any joy or satisfaction. The mere thought of it made him cringe.

He had killed before - every once in a while, his uncle would take him down to Tenpony Tower's basement for some shooting practice, mostly on radroaches or molerats that were unlucky enough to cross their way. He never liked it, and he would have quit, hadn't it been for his uncle's encouragement everytime he would actually manage to hit one of the critters with his uncle's rusty rifle.

His auntie and mommy were, to put it lightly, not amused by this whole thing. His mother, however, said it was a good thing and that a good shooting skill was one of the most important things for surviving out in the wasteland. Why he still needed to be good at shooting, even though he was in Tenpony Tower and not in the wasteland was beyond him, but he continued to practice since it seemed to make his mother proud.

Nevertheless, he couldn't help but feel bad for the animals he killed. Surely, they were far from innocent, seeing how it was them who attacked Nova on sight, but then again, it was him who had trespassed into their territory, so technically they were just defending their homes from invaders.

But since neither his mother nor his uncle seemed to understand his concerns, he had soon learned to simply do like he had been told. After all, he wanted to become a wasteland hero just like his mother one day, and if invading others' homes and shooting them for no apparent reason was part of being a hero ... well, then that simply was the case.

The two ponies continued to silently walk alongside each other, until Littlepip stopped abruptly, making the inattentive Nova almost bump into her rear. Startled, the colt looked around and spotted a hole in the ground in front of his mother. It seemed to be an entrance to something; some sort of cellar perhaps. An open door revealing a set of stairs that seemed to lead right into the ground itself; its lower end was shrouded by darkness.

Nova gulped, feeling his pulse rise as he realized that their real adventure was just about to begin. "Is that ... it?" he asked his mother, unable to look away from the open door.

The unicorn replied with a nod, a thin smile finding its way onto her face as she stepped to the side, facing her son with a look that made it seem like she knew something he didn't.

Nova looked at the entrance in front of him, then to his mother.

"What?" he couldn't help but to ask, "A-are you waiting for something?"

The smile on his mother's face turned into a smug grin as she said, "You know, actually, I was thinking..." her horn lit up, loosening something from her flank and levitating it in front of the colt's face, "How about you take the lead today?"

Nova's legs seemed to turn to butter as he stared at the revolver floating in front of him - it was big, very big. Nova didn't need to look twice to know just what weapon it was - the dominant scope on top of the barrel, as well as the three apples painted onto the weapon's ivory grip made it easy for him to know that he was looking at his mother's first and trustiest weapon - a revolver called 'Little Macintosh'.

The colt opened his mouth to say something, but all he could bring out was a breathless gasp.

His mother seemed slightly amused by Nova's disbelief. Letting out a weak chuckle, she then turned the weapon in front of the colt's face so that the grip pointed towards him. "Here," she said encouragingly, "see if you can hold it."

Hesitantly, reluctantly, Nova obeyed. His head leaned forward, his mouth reaching for the gun. The taste that spread across his tongue once his mouth made contact with the handle was retch-inducing. It tasted like ivory, with a touch of really, really old metal mixed to it - no real surprise, given the gun's nature and age.

Still, the taste made Nova want to spit the gun right out again, but he pulled himself together, not wanting to disappoint his mom.

However, what he noticed right after the weapon's horrid taste was its ridiculous weight - he had known that guns tended to be heavier than they looked, but this one just seemed to burst all limits. Since he was an earth pony and, while still quite young, had a rather bulky frame for his age, he had managed to lift and handle his uncle's rifle without any major problems. However, this absurdly obese abomination of a gun seemed far too heavy for anypony to properly carry in their mouth. For a second he wondered how his mom had fought so many battles with this forlorn thing, but then his look fell onto her horn and his thoughts came to a halt.

He let out a grunt as Little Macintosh's weight continuously pressed against his teeth - the muscles in his jaw were beginning to ache from having to bite down so fiercely, yet he tried to play it cool, wanting to show his mom that he was capable of carrying her gun just like her. ... Well not entirely like her since he didn't have a horn or levitation magic, but he was sure she would appreciate the effort.

And indeed, Littlepip seemed happy. Not only happy, she seemed proud - very proud. Wearing a smile that seemed to reach from ear to ear, she took a slow step back, admiring the little colt in the stable suit with the revolver in his muzzle. Struggling with his jaw muscles to not drop the weapon, Nova could hear a light sob coming from her direction as she lifted a hoof to wipe away a tear of joy from her eye.

"If everyfing awright mom?" Nova asked with noticeable difficulties due to the revolver in his mouth.

"Yes..." she replied weakly, her voice barely louder than a whisper as she wiped away another tear, "My little wasteland hero."

Nova cocked an eyebrow. He ... didn't really know what to say to that. Surely, he felt fluttered; happier than he had felt in a long time to see his mom being proud of him.

On the other hoof, he couldn't help but to wonder ... was it Little Macintosh? He had never seen her this proud, not even when he had presented her the custom-made and -thanks to a little help from his uncle Calamity- true to his mother's original stable suit he was still wearing right now.

He squinted, looking at the ancient piece of metal in his muzzle - was this what made him look like a hero? Carrying a gun with him? An instrument that seemed capable of easily killing a pony with just one shot? Was this what made heroes?

Nova didn't have time to answer that question. Finally freeing herself from the state of trance his mother had seemed to be in, she now shook her head and cocked her head into the direction of the gaping opening in front of them. "Come on, lead the way." she invited him, the beaming smile still on her face, yet a little weaker than before.

Nova gulped, feeling how the discomfort in his jaw was growing stronger. Holding back a whimper, he then looked from the cellar door over to his mother, and back to the door. He didn't like where this was going, but something told him that there was no turning back now.

Even if he would tell his mother about his discomfort, he was sure she would eventually convince him to ignore his worries and lead the way. After all, there was only one pony in Equestria more capable of convincing him to do things he didn’t like than his mother, and that was his auntie Velvet. One time she had even talked him into tidying up not only his room, but his mommy’s entire apartment. Though he had wondered if this was somehow related to the fact that some … mysterious intruder had played ‘the floor is lava’ in that very same apartment earlier that day – before getting caught by his auntie, that is.

But Nova quickly interrupted himself before his thoughts could drift too far off, the harsh reality overtaking him as he remembered the rather disappointing day so far, as well as the disturbing lack of knowledge of what lay ahead of him. But he knew that there was no way back; that he had to face whatever … interesting activity his mother had chosen for their mission today.

And so he found himself taking in a short breath –which was admittedly hard thanks to Little Macintosh still blocking most of his mouth- before taking a step forward and setting hoof onto the old wooden stairs that would soon take him down into the darkness of his mother’s old home.

Just as he was about to set his other hoof onto the stairs, he felt the re-assuring touch of his mother’s hoof on his fur as she gently tapped his back. “Time to make my son a hero.” She cooed, happily, and with a touch of excitement to her voice.

Nova didn’t reply – he didn't know what to say; he didn't know what lay ahead of him, and he didn't know what to make of his mother's strange behavior.

All he knew was that he didn’t want to do this.

He didn’t want to be here.

He wanted to go home; to snuggle up on the soft couch of his mommy’s apartment and listen to his auntie’s happy and light-hearted stories of old Equestria. Of how his mother had saved a poor stallion called Monterey Jack from losing his cheese shop in Tenpony Tower by clearing up a big misunderstanding with the policeponies, or how she had turned all the friendly ponies in a town called ‘Arbu’ into vegetarians by showing them how bad eating meat is for their health - not to think of the poor, innocent animals.

This was what he used to think a hero would do, but now … well, he was sure he would know how a real hero would act by the end of the day, at least concluding from the look of determined anticipation on his mother’s face.

Once again, Nova gulped – Little Macintosh was starting to pull his head down to a noticeable extent, and the feeling of discomfort in his jaw was slowly but steadily turning into an aching pain.

He could feel his skin creep as he walked down the long set of stairs and the dim but noticeable daylight more and more vanished from his field of vision.

What had he gotten himself into?