Fallout: Equestria - Pushing Daisies

Chapter 10: A New Day

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Business at the Dodge saloon was a little slow today, just a couple patrons lounging around while I scrubbed tables. The owner had gone away to visit family in New Appleloosa, leaving me to run the place until he got back. Upon me asking, he agreed to check on Moonlight and his wife and see how they were doing. An occasional sip of Sparkle Cola mixed with Aqua Pura did a little to alleviate my boredom.

I didn’t really need the radioactive water, like ghouls do, but it does put a pep in my step. After that cure-all mega spell got set off by the Elements, I got really sick until I drank a gallon of the stuff. That got me hooked. It was an expensive habit, though, so I was trying to kick it. Besides, like I said, ghouls need it more.

To remove the temptation, I gave the rest of the bottle to the rotting stallion half-dozing in a booth. He gave me a toothless smile and thanked me before his corroded horn floated the beverage to his perpetually chapped lips.

Just as I returned to the bar, a trio of tired NCR guards meandered through the swinging doors. Finally, something to do.

“Just wrap up watch duty?” I smiled. “What’ll you have, troopers? Usual?”

The eldest of the griffons yawned and nodded. Three hard ciders, coming up. I counted bits as a fourth joined, leaned over the bar, and pecked my cheek.

The familiar face wearing simple farm clothes ordered a whiskey. “Slow day?”

Masque smiled as I returned the kiss. “Yeah, but I managed.” I noticed the letters tucked into his shirt. “Something came in the mail?”

He nodded and gave them to me. “One’s from a Sunburn address, no name, and the other’s from Chancer.” Sunburn? I don’t know anypony there.

I read the one from Chancer first, eager to hear from her. She only stayed in Dodge a few months before signing up with a group called the Gun Runners, to build and fix up firearms for a living.

Her letter had nothing out of the ordinary, just talking about work, friends, and her son. I enjoyed hearing about it, nonetheless, and would write back soon.

“Does ‘Lita’ still give her shit?” Masque asked.

A snort escaped me. “You must not read these yourself very often. ‘Lita’ gives everyone shit.”

Chancer’s first letter to us almost eight years ago did have us worried, since it revealed a few of the Gun Runners were former Fillydelphian Talons. However, by all accounts, they worked out their differences. No bad blood.

Next, the mystery letter. A few words in, and I knew who it was from. Soldier Daisy. I hadn’t heard anything from her since 108, didn’t even know if she was alive or not. She apparently joined the NCR, and had just finished her second tour with them before settling down in Sunburn. Now she’s a manager at their solar plant.

The letter went on to complain a little about the locals, like how the town doctor was a complete klutz. It wasn’t all bad though. An old mule mare was apparently a combination shrink/mechanic who was a treat to talk to. She also praised one of the solar plant employees for having an exceptional work ethic despite having a bad leg.

After I gave the letters back to my husband, he fluttered his gimp wings a little. “How long until Spiked Cider gets back, anyway? The kids miss you.”

“A few days, at most.” I rolled my eyes. “The orphanage is just a few buildings down, it’s not like I’m on another planet. I’ve been checking on them before and after every shift. Besides, the Followers do most of the work these days.”

He chuckled. “Well, they don’t call any of the Followers mom. That title is reserved for you.”

Masque nuzzled me as I blushed. The war with the Enclave destroyed a lot of families, left a lot of foals and griffawns with no place to go. I did what I could.

As odd as it was, my cutie mark is what inspired me. I decided to look at it as something other than a symbol of death. Instead, I saw the flowers in front of a tombstone as something beautiful blossoming from tragedy.

In a way, that applied to the whole wasteland. There’d been a lot of hard knocks over the last two centuries, and I had personally gotten hit by quite a few of them, but things were really turning around. It’s probably been said already, and it was cheesy, but…

It was a new day in Equestria.

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Author's Note

And, we're done! Hope you all enjoyed this short fic.

If you're wondering if certain names and places are nods to something else, they are. Read Longtalons by Telgin. It is fantastic.