Fallout Equestria: Steel Chicken Edition

"Oh really? Maybe you can go stop him from getting himself killed for those damn tin cans while you're at it." Deadpanned Mayflower as she finished setting up the table and chairs. Clearly she was still more than a little bitter about whatever they were talking about earlier. As Dusty set the bowls on the table (and trying to ignore the situation while he was at it) one could see that some kind of boiled corn was the order of the day. Galli just became awkwardly quiet and just took a seat as his parents were too. Seemed this might become a different kind of awkward real quick.

Snowflake took a seat as well, looking between the others as the awkward tension rose. She quietly ate, passing a thanks to Mayflower for the food. She knew the tension was due to some sort of family issue(Celestia knows she’s had her share of those) but darn it she wanted to help somehow.

While Dusty was continuing to try and just ignore the situation Mayflower was staring daggers in Galli's direction. However under more than just casual observation it would seem that she was staring at the Steel Ranger patch on his sleeve rather than Galli himself. Judging by the way he was looking back at his mother it was clear that it was only a matter of time before one of them said something to break the silence and escalate things.

Snowflake idly tapped a hoof on the table in thought as she ate, trying to find a way to diffuse the dinner tension. Noticing the way Mayflower and Galli look at each other, an idea came to mind. It was a terrible idea, but better than nothing. “So Gallivanter, got any plans for tomorrow?”

Snowflake speaking up certainly seemed to diffuse things for the moment as both Gallivanter and Mayflower seemed a little taken by surprise. It took a couple of seconds for Galli to actually formulate an answer.
"Uhhh well, I'm headed off to New Appleloosa and from there I'll go--"

"On a damn suicide mission." Mayflower cut him off. Galli just rolled his eyes and sighed in response as Dusty facehoofed at the whole thing.

Snowy’s ears perked up at the response. “New Appleloosa? I don’t think I’ve been there. What’s it like?” She held off on asking about the suicide mission. That was an obvious sore spot for Mayflower. Maybe steering the conversation slightly to the side would help.

Gallivanter shrugged. "I wouldn't know, never been there myself. All I know is the direction I need to go in and that it was probably some kind of rail hub before the war."
Mayflower didn't have anything to say and just huffed in her seat, grumbling about something.

Another idea struck Snowflake, similar to her last idea, but maybe better. “Would you mind some company for that trip? Maybe I’m just being a little too hopeful, but I wanna see if I can find some better luck there.” There had to be somewhere she could go that ponies wouldn’t shoot her immediately, right? And if push came to shove, there was another idea.

At that Mayflower leant forward a little in her chair, Dusty stopped chowing down on his corn mid chew and Galli looked like he was thinking on it before replaying. "I... well as far as I know it would be highly irregular but I don't see why you couldn't come with me, I guess." He glanced at his parents, it wasn't hard to work out that they approved of this idea as Mayflower just leant forward more and Dusty was very unsubtly nodding along. Galli looked just a little embarrassed by their reaction.

Snowflake smiled, seeing her idea was a success. “Great! I’m looking forward to it.” She finished her corn and excused herself from the table, going over to check on her armor. “You wouldn’t happen to have anything to help with cleaning this stuff, would you?”

"Uhhh unless you need something special for that you can just grab a cloth from the kitchen." Said Dusty, smiling now. Judging by the fact both he and Mayflower seemed pretty satisfied with Snowflake's idea and Galli smacking his face on the table in embarrassment Snowflake's plan had definitely worked.

“Sweet, thanks.” She quickly went into the kitchen and grabbed a cloth rag, giggling over Galli’s reaction. Then she went back outside and tore off a small piece of her cloud. She squeezed the cloud over the rag, dripping some moisture onto it, then went back in to start cleaning her armor. For the uniform, she just used more cloud to get it nice and wet so she could somehow wash it with her crazy pegasus powers.

While at first Galli and his parents spent a little while cleaning up and/or curiously observing Snowflake and her cloud most of the time over the next few hours would be spent doing rather mundane things. Everyone taking turns bathing (which Galli took a downright excessively long time to do but maybe that's why he wasn't allowed in there until last), drying off and occasionally poking their head out the door to check for trouble once night fell. There was a bit of a fright when Dusty saw lights moving along the road but that turned out to just be a merchant caravan moving into Manehattan in spite of the darkness.

Once everyone was confident nothing was going to jump out in the night Mayflower dragged an old checkers board out from under Dusty's chair and offered to play with... well, anyone who wanted to do something other than try to strike up small talk. But everypony would have to sleep eventually as Dusty demonstrated by falling asleep on his chair in the middle of his third game with Mayflower. The look on her face when she noticed made her look simultaneously unimpressed and yet totally unsurprised. Meanwhile Galli finally came down from the bathroom, his mane and tail dripping all over the floor and a soaking wet towel hanging around his neck. Unlike his mother he seemed to be having a hard time suppressing the urge to laugh at the pair. Apparently he found it hilarious if the sniggering was anything to go by.
"So checkers is still that 'fun' huh, guys?" He said, grinning. Mayflower rolled her eyes and sighed as she started packing the checkers away and all while muttering to herself in annoyance.
"Not only am I stuck with this dumb hunk who never finishes a game but I also get a smartass of a son. perfect. Just perfect."

Once Snowflake finished her cleaning, she played a round or two of checkers with Mayflower. She lost them though, because unicorns are cheaters. Afterwards, she spent some time cleaning her pistol and making sure it was in good shape for when she next needed it. When the time came for her to get some sleep, she went and asked, “Mayflower, you got anything I can sleep on or am I gonna have to bring in a piece of cloud to use as a mattress?” Because while unicorns can cheat, pegasus magic makes clouds a miracle material.

"Well aside from that chair Dusty's sleeping on we don't really have anything since do you to use." Replied Mayflower. Gallivanter just kinda stood around in the background futilely trying to dry his mane with a soaked towel.

Snowflake nodded and went back outside to grab another piece of the cloud. “Huh, might have to get a new one soon.” Taking the cloud inside, she set it on the floor and laid on top of it. “Clouds make the best sleeping bags. They’re nice and soft.”

"Heh, right. Well I'm going to bed. I'll see you in the morning." Said Mayflower before she headed upstairs, leaving Dusty asleep on his chair. Galli would go to bed himself after (eventually) drying off, leaving the farmhouse silent as everyone slept.

As dawn broke Snowflake would be woken up by the feeling of Dusty lightly poking at her. "Hey, hey wake up."

As Snowy woke, the unfamiliar feeling of being poked sent a red flag through her tired mind. But before she could do anything stupid, she remembered she was spending the night with a nice family. It didn’t happen soon enough for her to not shoot up straight, smack into the ceiling, and fall back down, dispelling the cloud with a poof. She sat up and rubbed her head. “Ow… I’m not used to that.” At least it wasn’t an alarm clock. She would have shot that for sure.

There was a loud crack as Snowflake hit the ceiling and a few splintered bits of wood fell back down with her. Dusty moved closer and gently patted her on the head. "I see that. You alright?" He said. Looking around the room Snowflake would see that Gallivanter's armour wasn't in the corner anymore and she could hear him talking to Mayflower about something in the hallway while Dusty looked at the pegasus.

Snowflake nodded. “Yeah, I’m okay. Sorry about the ceiling though.” She picked herself off the floor and put her clothes on, followed by her armor. She left the helmet off for now, since she didn’t need it, and just hung it on her tail. When she was done, she went into the hallway to join the others. “Morning,” she greeted.

Snowflake would see Mayflower floating her holstered revolver in front of Galli, who was now fully armoured, upon entering the hallway with Dusty following her through. At the time they didn't really acknowledge Snowflake's presence.
"Mom, I don't need that thing. It's made of copper pipe and duct tape for Celestia's sake. Besides it's not like I'm gonna be able to use it without taking this helmet off." Said Galli, his voice sounding much deeper now he had his helmet on.
"Come on Galli. Just take it. That thing you got there doesn't have infinite fuel and besides, it'd make your mother happy. Please?" Replied Mayflower as she floated it a little closer to him. Galli didn't say anything for a moment and it was obviously impossible to see his face through solid steel so it was only a sigh that indicated his submission.
"Okay, fine. If you really want me to take it."
Mayflower smiled and proceeded to awkwardly hang the holster around Galli's neck as his power armour made him far too bulky to actually have it strapped onto him. It was at this point that they finally acknowledged Snowflake's existence as Mayflower turned her head in her direction.
"Morning, Snowflake. You sleep well?" She said as Galli looked past his mother and waved at Snowflake and Dusty while uttering an extremely deep "hi".

Snowy nodded. “Yeah, I slept fine. Rough awakening though.” Her eyes wandered to the pistol now around Galli’s neck. “I dunno how we’ll be able to use that in its current state, but alright.” She shrugged and gave him a wave. “Hey. We just about ready to go then?”

"Just about, yeah." Replied Galli. Just then Snowflake would feel a sudden weight on her back and if she looked she'd see that Mayflower had sneakily floated a pair of battered looking old saddlebags onto her.
"It's just full of things you'll need, dear." She said with a grin. Then she looked back at Galli. "And you..." She pulled him into a hug, "You just come back to us in one piece, okay?"
"I will."
"Promise?"
"I promise I'll come back in one piece." He said, gently patting her on the back. Dusty just smiled and waved at him. He did almost say something but seemed to decide against it at the last moment.

Snowflake shifted the bags on her back so they wouldn’t get in the way of her wings, then nodded. “Thanks. I’ll do my best to help.” She finally decided to put her helmet on, since it was time to go. Once it was secured, she went to the door. “Well the world waits for nopony, so we should get going while the day’s young.” In actuality she was just really excited she could have a traveling partner, even for a while.

Nodding, Gallivanter stepped away from Mayflower. "Yeah, time to head out." He turned and went for the door, looking back as he stepped out. "I'll be seeing you. Be back before you know it." And with that he continued on, trotting off in the direction of the road as Dustyt and Mayflower just watched on.