Fallout: Equestria - Pushing Daisies

Fallout: Equestria - Pushing Daisies

Chapter 5: Mortal

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Masque eventually gave up trying to get an explanation out of me, and I eventually gave up trying to convince him to go home. I really must have been the first good thing in his life in a while, considering how tightly he was clinging on. For better or worse, we were going to Maripony together.

A thought struck me. The Goddess said all of us had to go back. That was probably impossible for some of us, like those stuck in Fillydelphia as slaves. That also meant my friend would be in for a lot more confusion when we start encountering other Daisies. Something serious must be going on.

The griffon became increasingly concerned when he realized which way we were headed, especially when we started following the river of Taint.

“You’re going into Splendid Valley? Are you insane?” Wow. Is it just now sinking in, you twitterpated dumbass?

“Yeah.” I grunted. “It’s not too late for you to head back.”

Masque shook his head. “I’m invested now. I’ve got to know what’s going on.”

I sighed. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Part of me really wished he’d knock me unconscious and drag me back to Dodge. Unfortunately, I was psychically blocked from asking him to.

*****

As predicted, the griffon froze when we saw another Daisy. She had on combat armor, a battle saddle adorned with assault carbines, and an assortment of scars. I did not envy whatever life she just came from.

Soldier Daisy’s gaze darted between Masque and I. “You’re not supposed to bring friends.”

“I couldn’t get him to stay home,” I explained honestly.

“What… What the fuck…” Masque slowly backed away from us both.

My eyes pleaded with him. “Please go back to Dodge.”

He took a deep breath and steadied himself. “No.”

I let out an agitated growl and stomped. “Why not!?”

“You saved me.” He whimpered. “I owe you, and I’m staying by your side.”

Both I and Soldier Daisy winced in pain. We had to keep moving. “Fine.”

*****

The closer we got, the more Daisies joined us. They all gave Masque suspicious looks. He stayed right at my side, probably so he didn’t lose track of me.

“That’s a weird looking Daisy,” one of us joked, trying to break the tension. It got some chuckles and a few eye rolls.

He had nothing to fear from any of us. It was the alicorns we were worried about. They took intruders deadly seriously. Thankfully, by the time we started seeing some in the air, Masque was well hidden in a sea of nearly one hundred Daisies. We’d never been gathered up like this before, and it made us all pretty nervous.

What we saw descend from the clouds above Maripony made half of us piss ourselves.

Allow me to introduce you to your future masters. The Grand Pegasus Enclave. Project Phoenix will make a fine gift to honor our new alliance.

“The Enclave!?” One of us shouted. “She’s giving us to the Enclave!?”

We started to panic in place, unable to flee. I turned to Masque. “You sure you don’t want to leave now?”

His beak was agape, and his eyes were as wide as the moon as he watched the massive airships. “What… Did you know about this!?”

I found myself suddenly able to explain. “No! The Goddess called us all here, but didn’t explain why.” My hooves were flung above me in rage. “Guess we know now! Fuck!”

We all expressed similar sentiments… Then the mood started to turn. We quietened as we started seeing alicorns, a lot of alicorns, fleeing Maripony in terror. A magical shield formed around the facility. The Enclave ships started to retreat. Something really bad was about to happen.

“Hey!” A Daisy at the edge of the crowd jumped up onto a boulder and tried to flag down a green alicorn. “What the fuck is happening!?”

Balefire bomb. Under Maripony.

*****

Those words silenced us as they rippled through our minds. I looked at the Goddess’s shield… She was going to try to contain the blast. She was not strong enough for that. We were all going to die.

Permanently.

A wail of terror from one of us broke the silence. Some began shouting every expletive they could imagine. More than a few just… laid down and accepted their fate.

I wanted to live. I wanted as many of us to live as possible. Stable 108.

“Stable 108!” I shouted over the commotion as best as I could. “Stable 108 is our only chance!”

After giving Masque a hard yank, I broke into a gallop. A lot of us followed me. I had no idea how much time we had. It could already be too late…

When I saw some purple alicorns, I began shouting at them, pleading for them to teleport us to the shelter. They ignored us.

They can’t do this. They can’t let us die. “You can’t let us die!”

One by one, they flew or blinked away.

Except one. She turned to us, her eyes filled with an emotion I’d never seen from these creatures. Mercy.

She swooped down to me. A dozen of us, including the griffon, huddled around her. In a surge of magic, we were saved.

*****

The instant we had our bearings, a couple of us rushed to the door controls to make sure it was sealed. The alicorn continued to make trips, bringing more of us to the Stable.

She had saved a little over fifty of us when we felt the world shake. That was it. Maripony, and Project Phoenix, were gone. The Goddess was gone. Our immortality was gone. This life was our last. For any Daisy still outside, it was already over.

The purple alicorn looked around at us with such grief in her eyes. “I’m so sorry.” She looked directly at me. “I couldn’t keep my promise.”

My gaze fell to her flank. She had a cutie mark. It was a pink and purple star, the one adorned on every Ministry of Arcane Science building.

“Twilight…” The word had barely escaped me when she blinked away for the last time.

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