Fallout Equestria: Dawnbreakers

It started with a war. Well, our story anyway. For many, that same war was the end. The end of peace. The end of happiness. The end of civilization as they had known it their whole lives.

There was darkness. The world itself became toxic to those it was once inhabited by. The world they had loved, and taken for granted. The world that poisoned their lungs, deformed their infants, and tortured their souls.

And it wasn't done with them yet.

I've heard the stories of what happened after that war. Some big, steel vaults they called stables kept the luckier ponies alive. As soon as the air wasn't too dangerous to breathe, some of them opened up, some waited much later.

The ponies that walked into their new world did what they could to survive, we were told. Setting up encampments, scavenging, stealing, killing.

And so the new ways of Equestria were established. A new age of Equestria had begun as dark as ever.

But it is here, we should note, that there is always reason to hold on to hope.

It is here, that me and the other children my age at the time, were taught of the Light Bringer.

A stable dweller by the name of Littlepip, it was she who dared to imagine that she could save the wastes. The one who stood up to, and defeated, the multi-faced monster that was the wasteland, the merciless racial purification efforts of the Pegasus Enclave, and the brutal leader of the slave city of Fillydelphia, Red Eye.

But, as we are taught by our daily lives in this world, every story has to end. Littlepip was kind enough to end her story for the sake of others, and sacrificed herself for the future and betterment of the Equestrian wasteland.

At least, that was the plan.

I'm not going to say that things are as bad as they were before my time, but I can't really look around at the current situation of my fellow ponies and think that this is what Littlepip wanted for us.

Littlepip......I like calling her that. A lot more than calling her "The Light Bringer".

I like thinking of her as more pony than legend. Especially since she's still with us.

Well, I don't know if I'd say "with us".....but she's definitely still among the living. She's still regulating the weather in the Single Pony Project tower, and we occasionally get messages from her, printed out in the government building in the capital. Sometimes mere weeks go by between messages, sometimes it's longer. Much longer. No one really knows what determines when messages can be sent through, not even Littlepip.

But, back to the NCR. That's the New Canterlot Republic. The fruits of of the labors of the main mare herself, the republic was what happened when the greatest minds and heroes of the wastes sat down and came up with the best solution to the problem of bringing civilization back to Equestria.

And, like I said before, that was the plan.

The NCR is a hell of a lot better than having to live in fear of raiders and slavers every day of your life, I won't argue with that, but every supposed solution comes with its own set of problems. For the NCR, those included integration, civilian relations, and most of all, maintaining control of its territories.

Who knows? Maybe they got overly ambitious, but the first pony they elected president, a scribe with Applejack's Rangers named Candi, decided that the first priority at the start of it all, was to spread the efforts of the NCR as far and wide as possible. Volunteers of the NCR army were sent out into the wastes to set up what were to become the first towns and cities in the saving grace of the wasteland that the NCR promised to be.

And…….well, you should know by now.

The original  expansions seemed to show positive progress in the operation. Abandoned towns were established as merchant centers, isolated settlements were eager to be a part of the newly established and promising government. All expansion efforts after that though, were, well…...a failure. Troops were spread too thin to deal with the remaining violent tribes and raider parties, and soon entire towns were falling back into the hands of the wasteland. New lines were drawn in the rubble, and the republic soldiers had no choice but to pull back to what they could defend, and protect the ever increasing caravan routes out of NCR territory.

So now, NCR expansion is at a stalemate. Either we can’t defend against raider parties, or existing settlements don’t have enough confidence in our efforts to side with us. The outlook was far from bleak, but still short of the goal. But…..there’s always reason to hold on to hope.

I figure this is as best a time as any to kick things off. That is, the story of my squad; my brothers and sisters in combat. This is the beginning of the tale of squad 31-CX of the New Canterlot Republic Army. My name is Dusk Holder, and this is how the world moves forward.

FALLOUT EQUESTRIA

Dawnbreakers

By Greyds