Kindness in the Wastelands

“So, Fluttershy…” I said slowly, the two of us walking down the southeastern road. The woman jumped with a little squeak, shocked at my words, before looking to me, finally finding me more interesting than the road. “that’s a strange name, if you don’t mind my saying. Is it…tribal?” I’d heard of some tribes, like the Great Kahn’s, who adopted strange names like that. I had stopped by the general store and bought a set of leather armor, and some ammunition. Sadly, I didn’t have very many caps, so I wound up with a pitiful amount of ammo.

“U-…Um…yes…” She said quietly, avoiding looking at me. “I’m from the….Canter tribe…” I raised an eyebrow, looking at her. Normally, I’d assume this woman was a terrible liar. But, honestly, I could barely remember anything past my own name, and besides that, this was the woman who could barely look me in the eye to tell me her name, so, I decided to let it go. This girl did seem to have an issue talking with people.

“Canter, huh?” I said, my mind working. “Your tribe big on horses?” A look of shock flitted across her face for the slightest moment before she quickly hid her face, looking away.

“S-Something like that…” She said, playing with her hands.

“Well, who leads your tribe? I mean, every tribe needs a leader, right?” Fluttershy’s eyes suddenly lit up, as though she’d been waiting to talk about this.

“Oh! That would be Pri-“ She stopped suddenly, as though correcting herself. “Priestess Celestia, who raises the sun, and Priestess Luna, who controls the moon. I can’t imagine where we’d be without their magic.” A chuckle slipped out of me before I could stop it. I didn’t want to hurt the poor girl, but the idea was just silly to me. “What?” She asked, sounding baffled at my chuckle.

“You honestly believe that.” It was more of a statement than I intended, I really need to learn how to keep my mouth shut, evidently.

“What do you mean?” She responded, now looking me directly in the eyes. She cocked her head, ever so slightly.

“Well, the Earth orbits the sun, and the moon orbits the Earth. No magic involved. Hell, they might even be leading you on!” The girl stopped dead in her tracks, prompting me to stop and look at her. Her eyes showed a look of horror and confusion, akin to finding out someone she loved just died.

“W-What? N-No! That can’t be right! Celestia and Luna, t-they would never-!”

“Easy!” I rose my hands, gently placing one on her shoulder. She flinched away from my touch, but didn’t remove my hand. “Easy, alright? Ok, maybe they’re not lying. But, the closest thing to magic there is are thinks like Psykers and their weird abilities.”

“Psykers?” She asked, the fear still in her eye, but replaced by more curiosity. “What’s a Psyker?” I shrugged, shaking my head. In truth, I was more confused how I knew that. As far as I could remember, I’d never heard of Psykers. The more I thought of it, the more my temples started to scream at me, so I let it go, and just accepted the fact that I knew.

“It’s…well, it’s someone with these psychic powers. Telekinesis, pyro-kinesis, electro-kinesis, telepathy, stuff like that. A lot of people think it’s magic though.” I heard her mumble something about twilight, but shrugged it off.

“What do you think?” She asked suddenly, watching me for my response.  The question took me off guard, causing me to really think for a minute. I put my chin in my fingers. What did I think? Honestly, I shouldn’t have an opinion, I lacked the experience to make one. And yet, a thought worked its way from the back of my mind.

“I think it could be magic. It’s not like there’s any better answer, after all. Why not magic? “

“But, if that could be magic, why not moving the sun and moon?” I stopped, having no answer for this. It wouldn’t be fair to just say ‘because’, but I honestly didn’t have any answer. After a moment of deliberating, I finally shrugged as I started walking.

“Got me there. All I know is any science book will tell you what I told you. Anyone that survived anyways.”

“Science..?”  She started quietly, more to herself, continuing along behind me.

“So, what else does your tribe believe?” I tried to continue. When I got no response, I looked back at her. She seemed to be in too much thought to have heard me. Realizing that I was looking at her, she jumped a little again.

“Oh! Sorry, I…was just wondering…do you have any powers?” I chuckled. She seemed really glued to that subject. Maybe her tribe had a high value on magic.

“I wish. Tell ya what. If I get some, you’ll be the first to know!” She nodded, smiling.

“Ok, thank you. N-Now, what were you asking me?”

“What your tribe believes?” She smiled wistfully, her eyes slightly glazing over.

“The power of Harmony…” Fluttershy said softly, as though lost in her own world of joy, back in her tribe, wherever it was. “The power of Magic, Honesty, Loyalty, Generosity, Laughter, and…Kindness.” She spoke the last one quietly, blushing ever so slightly. I have no idea why. “Through the power of Harmony, the unbelievable is possible…It’s just so wonderful…” The way she spoke of harmony made her glow even more. Her eyes lit up, her smile took on a nearly angelic tone. It was hard not to belive in what she said. That this harmony was the way to go, that it was a viable way of living, and even thriving. Hard, but not impossible.

“It sounds amazing, but I doubt it’ll ever happen.” Undeterred, Fluttershy smiled at me.

“Oh, I’m sure it will.” Her smile fell as she quickly backpedaled. “U-Um, N-not that I meant you’re wrong or anything, I jus-“

“Hey! Where the hell do you think you’re going!?” We heard a voice cut her apology off. Male, young, but angry. Trying to relax the armed man, I held my hands up, noticing that Fluttershy had ducked behind me. I guess she trusted where her money was going.

“What’s going on in Primm?” I asked. The man stared at me, before finally lowering his gun.

“Some convicts from the prison up the road have taken over the town. Everyone inside is dead or hiding, what’s more, there are two tribes of raiders causing trouble in this area. You’d be safer heading back to Goodsprings.” I bristled. The town was going through this trouble, and this clown, this pathetic excuse for a soldier, for a warrior, was standing here telling people not to go near? Biting my lip to avoid punching this idiot in the face, I focused on asking him.

“Shouldn’t you be protecting the town?”

“We’d love to, but they don’t fall under NCR jurisdiction. Even if they did, we’re in no shape to protect them.” I grit my teeth, resisting the urge to punch this man in the teeth.

“C’mon Fluttershy…” I started. “We’re going to Primm.”

“But…” I heard Fluttershy and the man start at the same time.

“But nothing.” I said calmly, so I didn’t spook Fluttershy. “You and I, Fluttershy, are going into Primm, and we’re helping those people.” Fluttershy looked between me and the angry man, seeming to debate between upsetting this armed guard and me. Finally, she nodded, moving closer.

“Do what you want.” The man snorted. “We won’t drag your bodies out.” Hearing this, Fluttershy bit her lip, looking back towards the man, then to me.

“U-Um…Lee? Are you sure? I mean, h-he said…”

“I know what he said Fluttershy, and it makes me sick. I know his type. They arm themselves to the teeth, and pretend they want to help, but just stand around and make excuses as to why they can’t help anyone. I won’t have it. If their strong, they should prove it, and wipe these bastards out! And that, dear Fluttershy…” I looked to the girl smirking. “is exactly what we’re going to do.”