Fallout: Equestria - No Mercy

I woke to the sound of gunshots. Then, random objects crashing violently against the house. I leapt out of bed and took off to find him. To find daddy. I realized that, in my sleep, a raid must've happened and we were caught in the middle. The living room was a mess of disjointed furniture, broken electronics and spent casings. I followed where my intuition pointed, feeling agony in my heart.

I saw visions of him being torn to pieces. Dead on the floor. Bleeding out. Anything. I couldn't block them out and the fear shook me deep down. I stumbled onto a trail of blood, cooling liquid all over the floorboards. I tried not to cry. A wave of warm, rushing water fell down my cheeks and I watched him crawl over, crippled, broken down and telling me he was okay.

"Sweetie... come here... give papa a hug."

I couldn't stop shaking. What else could I do but cling to him and tell him I was sorry. I was so stupid. I wished for a knife when I could've wished for a happy life.

"Daddy... daddy, please..."

"No, no no sweetie daddy- daddy's okay- s-see?"

He gave me a smile, lips cut from ear to ear. And I sobbed against him, whimpering, curling into a ball against his red-soaked coat. I couldn't see anything. My eyes were too blurry. Even when he wiped my eyes dry, I could only see him suffering... his bones jutting out at weird angles, and his smile, the only thing I had left of him.

"Daddy... I'm sorry- I'm so stupid- I'm sorry-!"

He held me close and rest his chin on my scalp. And then, he kissed my forehead all better, wrapping his forelegs over my shoulders.

"Daddy might not make it, sweetie. But you will. I know you can... Don't lose hope."

I felt my heart stop as he said his last words, thick with the scent of cigarette smoke and old irish whiskey.

"I love you. Be good, okay...?"

Closed eyes. Stopped moving.

Beside him was my birthday present. That knife. I unwrapped the stained gift paper and found an old, sacrifical knife. Triangular blade. Dull metal. I saw myself in its reflection, blurred away by the vague cloudiness of the alloy. I watched my eyes, glowing red with something I'd never felt till daddy passed away.

Uncle Tesla shambled in through the splintered front door. He was holding a plasma caster when I felt him enter the room. Same smell. Same air. Cheap cologne and essence of lilac from generic soap. He always stepped quietly. That's why you could hear him from a mile away.

"Who's there...?!" He barked, his glasses smashed in and the sockets, bloody.

I turned around, blood on my chest, muzzle and neck. And don't forget the hooves.

"It's me, Hope."

I took Daddy's Collar and put it on myself. While Uncle Tesla asked me if I was hurt, I stayed quiet and fixed the locket piece on my collar ring. It felt nice. Cold. Just like everything else. When he started pestering me with questions, I told him 'I'm fine' and trotted off to investigate daddy's corpse.

Daddy's corpse had several singed regions of fur. On his back and on his flank, severe third degree burns and several lacerations running down the sides of his neck. One long slit stretched across the underside of his neck. I felt water coming down my cheeks, but I didn't know why. The urge to cry. The urge to remember. It all blurred when I heard his voice disappear.

That grief. The essence of existence, crept out of my chest and into my eyes. Nothing inside me told me to move. The coldness told me to stay and listen to Bruise and Tesla. They bickered about near the front door.

"Clean as a fucking whistle. Those Hunters might've taken my eyes out. But... at least Hope is still alive."

"Luna... is that Glass? Oh Luna- shit I can't- I can't see this..."

Didn't care who cried. I had my leads. I'd ask around for information on Hunters.

Bright smile.