Fallout: Equestria - Red, White and Blue

I was bedridden for... three days straight. I felt nothing after the initial crippling dislocations and femur fractures. I would always be scarred and my muscles were tender. I walked with a limp. And everything hurt. I was just ignored it. My resolve was stronger than smugglers and gentiles.

Oddly enough, I discovered something extra along my flank. I found it on the third day, risen from the coffin Tequila lay me in. She thought I'd died because my hearts gave out. She described to me her crippling grief and showed me tallies along her forelegs. They were carved. I kissed her coat and brushed our muzzles together. I held her close for an hour. But, eventually, she left to break the fast.

How did I get out, you may ask. I'd heard before that coffin lids were impossible to break from the inside. But I burned through it. And the rest followed. I found the nearest mirror. I needed to see if I was dirty. I felt clean but I never eliminated the possibility of residual bloodstains.

I was blessed with hair white as snow. My bangs were ruffled and grouped together in pleasing manners. They fell over my eyes. My eyes were red. Red and milky, like young pinoit noir. And I checked my ass for wounds because why wouldn't I. And there it was, the image of a cross on fire. Why was it on fire, I asked myself; why was it on fire, I asked Celestia, trotting over to my pack and searching for clues.

Nothing. I found nothing. The Celestian Bible didn't include anything on burning crosses or why I happened to be albino. All I found were ritual preparations for divination and channeling spirits. Nothing at all about burning crosses.

I flopped backwards and into bed. I skulked, biting my lip. I held my neck up to see if my stomach was injured. No stains. And no wounds. But something else was off. My crotch was still numb. I hadn't noticed before but there were two sheathes between my thighs. I splayed my legs to study my parts in the mirror, holding my legs in-place to keep them wide.

Tequila peaked in through the doorway and scrambled out just as quickly. I stayed there wondering if I should be embarrassed or flattered. I saw her cheeks flush right before her exit. It was puzzling, to say the least, to wonder if she'd been blushing about my marginal blessings, or the way I enthralled her. She was still a child, I assumed. I trotted after her and brought my newest lever-action. It was the same 10mm rifle I shot the blashphemer yesterday with. And it was good. I sought the fowl of the air to practice my marksmareship when I realized Point Lookin was devoid of much avian life. There were crows and ravens. But all of them were perched on Caviar Mansion.

I tracked her down the stairs and into the kitchen. Because Tequila had a prevailing, pungent scent about her. The best comparison I had for it was cigarettes and cherries. We met in the kitchen, locking eyes for a moment's notice. She covered her eyes and told me 'good morning.' I said it back with my tilted grin, trotting in to show my sin, just for tonight till morning light said goodnight.

"Will you be okay. Or should I bring you with? You're my mission just as much as I am yours."

I heard her throat clench. She gulped thrice to try and swallow her thoughts. I wanted to hear her. But she had other plans, and I'd never doubt one of Celestia's angels. So I watched her set the table and serve us cinnamon-spiced oatmeal with peanut butter jelly sandwiches. We sat together throughout breakfast. And we never broke away.

"I'm afraid to let go of you. What if you never come back...?" Tequila hushed, nuzzling close against my shoulder.

"Why wouldn't I come back. I'm hard to kill." I hushed as well, resting against her.

"Because you're strong and gorgeous and everyone would try to take you away." I heard her mumble, sniffling into my coat.

I heard her rasp and I perked my ears up. I could hear everything. The scratching in her throat. The whispered doubts cluttering Tequila's mind. She was wondering if I'd reject her. If I'd squander her affections because I meant that much to her. But I knew deep down, I'd never hurt her that way. So I lit a cigarette for two and shared it between us.

I took the first puff.

"I don't know what you see in me. But I'm yours. I'm here to keep you safe. And that means... I feel something for you. So don't worry. Celestia forbid, I'll get hurt. And when I'm done hurting, I'll come back to see you... don't worry about me."

She took the second puff.

"I know you're strong... but Im just- just worried about you. What if you disappear just like Him. Just like my d-daddy."

I had a feeling I reminded her of Mr. Caviar. Her father was bound to show in who I was. In who I happened to be, someone to keep her safe and scare her all at once. It was primitive psychology, even down to Apple and Cleave, who only loved the strongest. I closed my eyes and told her she'd done alright. And I kissed her till the dead of night. We locked lips missing gods and goddesses. In a sick way, we wanted. In an empty way, we found what we could never have: someone to take care of us. We were children in a world of darkness. And so I left my eden with my rifle and I never looked back.

I promised I'd be back. But the worst was yet to come.

I'd wander the emptiness till I could find her fruit. She told me, before I left, puncher fruit had the potential to cure radiation across Equestria. Things like hostile swampfolk and feral ghouls, or swamplurks would never happen again. And I'd find that cure. Just for her.

Just for her, my sweetest downfall.