Fallout Equestria: Black Dawn

Prologue

        My story starts pretty much the same as anypony else’s.  War.  Death.  Destruction.  All of that.  I’m going to assume that you know all about how Equestria got this way considering you live here too and skip over that part.  Here’s the short version:

        Well for starters, I’m Crackshot (by name and title).  I’ll be honest, I don’t remember much about where I was born exactly.  My mother had been a traveling merchant who ran a caravan throughout a good part of the Equestrian wasteland.  I never knew my father.  Ma was dedicated to her work and knew that ponies relied on the supplies she brought with her, so she never once thought of putting business on hold until I was born.  According to her though, I was born somewhere between The Republic and Manehattan.

        Growing up with a caravan, I was constantly on the trail moving from one town to another.  We traveled with a lot of different ponies from different caravans.  We even traveled with a griffon for a while, but she was real quiet and kept to herself mostly.  Ma had a real talent for fixing all sorts of things, sometimes even with the strangest items that she just happened to have with her.  I learned a lot from her.

        But one day, when I was just a colt, the caravan was ambushed by raiders outside Ponyville.  There was so much confusion, so much noise.  Ma pushed me into a drain pipe and told me to stay put, no matter what.  That was the last I ever saw of my Ma…

        I cried for days, but eventually had to leave to find food.  I wandered out of Ponyville and was picked up by another caravan outside of a place called Hope.  It’s actually a bit cliché, isn’t it?   Being rescued at Hope.  Anyway, I told them what happened and that it wasn’t safe to pass through Ponyville anymore.  They offered me food and brought me along with them.

        Now being so young, not many of the ponies had much to say to me, but having learned from Ma, I quickly got a reputation as the go-to colt for repairs on the trail.  In exchange for my services, the leader of the caravan taught me how to hunt Radhogs.  Oooh, I can’t begin to explain the feeling the first time I shot a rifle.  It just felt right!  And that was with my mouth too, since my magic was still too weak to hold it steady.  I was just meant to hold a rifle, even got the cutie mark to prove it.  Crosshairs.

        After traveling with those nice folk for a few years, I was finally old enough to set out on my own.  I wandered all over, from New Appleloosa to the deserts far past Jackpot taking whatever work I could.  Oftentimes I’d hunt the local wildlife and sell the meat to make a living.  Believe it or not, I’ve remained a vegetarian.  Never did like what the meat does to me.

         As I got older, I got back out with the caravans, but this time I was contracted.  The Equestrian wasteland it a dangerous place after all, and ponies need protection.  Finally, I was getting paid to do what I lusted after for so long: killing raiders.  And I was damn good at my job.

        Eventually, my contract ran out and the caravan was obligated to cut me loose at the next town so I could join another.  That town just so happened to be Jackpot.  I got comfortable enough here that I decided to take a job in town.  Technically it was the same job, but with much less walking involved.  My mission stayed the same: protect ponies.

        Up until now life has been pretty mundane; nothing to write home about (assuming that I actually hada home).  I settled into my simple life here and made the best of it.  Little did I know that the Goddesses had something else in store…