Fallout: Harmony and Steelby Chubbs44ChaptersA Long Walk NorthHave You Ever Seen... A Tree?Remnants of the Old WorldNew Town, New PeopleA Long Walk NorthChapter One: A Long Walk North May 29th, 2279 Journal of Knight Isaac Ward Another scouting mission, although I must say, I feel different about this one. I'm exploring new territory to the north and I have been given three months to do so by Elder Lyons. I will be going alone on this mission, as no one is available to accompany me. It seems everyone is either combatting the super mutants, mopping up whats left of the Enclave or even Citadel guard duty. I don't know what the Brotherhood expects me to find, hell, I don't know what I'm expecting to find. Maybe it'll be nothing but wasteland. The Capital Wastes has proven to be a nothing but a godforsaken hell-hole, so why should whatever lied north be any different? But still, something inside me told me that it is still the unknown and there was no way to find out what was there unless I found out for the Brotherhood. I personally feel that it is worth the look. Beep! Beep! Beep! I cracked my eyes open at the disturbance that had interrupted my sleep. My clock beeping signalled that it was six in the morning. Time to get up. Groaning, I jerked a hand towards to direction of my helmet. I fumbled around inside the rim of my helmet until I found the button that would turn off my alarm. I slowly rose from the rotting mattress that had been my bed for the night. My back cracked loudly in protest at the movement. I winced and remembered just how uncomfortable power armor is to sleep in. I took in my surroundings, making sure nothing had crept in to the ruined house I was taking shelter in. Satisfied I was safe, I reached for my laser rifle, which was propped up against a rotted table. Sinking into the daily routine which I had come accustomed to when I woke up, I began checking my weapons for any sort of breakage. I checked over my laser rifles scope, one of the many modifications on my rifle. I found it was calibrated and no damage was present so I moved on to the weapon itself. My laser rifle and pistol was in the same condition they had always been in. They were both fine. These weapons were reliable and effective when scavenged, but when modified and tinkered with by Brotherhood scribes, they could last another Great War if it came down to it. Still, this was a routine that was drilled into my head a long time ago. I finished off the old and crusty snack cakes that were serving as my breakfast and I clicked my helmet into place. I made for the front door of the ruined house and checked my ammunition pouch. 25 Microfusion cells, 30 Energy cells and six stimpaks. I did the math quickly in my head and counted I had six-hundred shots for my laser rifle and nine-hundred shots for my laser pistol. needless to say, I felt confident that I had enough ammo to last me until my mission was over in three months. I tuned my helmets internal radio to Galaxy News Radio and continued my long trek north. I have already been walking north for 3 days and I have only just made it to the outskirts of Old Olney, which I made sure to avoid completely. The last thing I needed was a Deathclaw chasing me down. I walked down the decayed driveway of the house and continued into the wasteland, leaving my shelter behind me. I continued to walk north for several hours. A lot of scouting missions that Elder Lyons gave me involve a lot of this. Walking. Thanks to a recent war with the Enclave, the Brotherhood had captured a number of Vertibirds, but apart from them, we had no methods for long range transportation. My role in the Brotherhood was to explore the wastes and recover any technology of value and report what I find back to the Elder. So most of my missions with the Brotherhood involved walking. Lot's and lot's of walking. It's not the most exciting job in the order but it beats going up against a Behemoth. With Elder Lyons' new crusade to save the people of this hell-hole from the horrors of super mutant infestation, I was one of the few brothers actually still looking for technology. I was one the only people still working on our original mission here. While I did think that the Brotherhood had lost sight of it's original goal, I trusted Elder Lyons and placed my faith in his decision. If it wasn't for Galaxy News Radio playing in my helmet, I would have succumbed to boredom a while ago. A shot of distant gunfire rang through the air, but I paid it little heed. It wasn't like gunshots were uncommon here. I gave a look over my shoulder, towards the gunfire and continued my long and seemingly endless walk. I thought over my orders as I walked. My orders were to explore the regions to the north and recover anything that can be of value to the Brotherhood. I was unsure what I was going to find north, Weapon Technology? Civilisation? Looking over pre war maps showed that there were other towns and even the ruins of New York lied to the north. I checked my geomapping device. This was a godsend for anyone scouting for the Brotherhood. It worked much like a digital map that marked any locations that are put into the map via coordinates. Though not as effective as the Pip-boy's mapping system, it was about the next best thing. I found I was only a few minutes west from the Republic of Dave and I was fast approaching the border of the Capital Wastes, I put the mapping device back into my ammo pouch on the back of my power armor. I continued north, listening to Three Dog spout on about the dangers of radiation for what had to be at least the fourth time, until I heard a distinctive beep come from my ammo pouch. I pulled out the mapping module and found that all of the marked locations on my map had vanished. I realised I was in completely new territory now and I had left the Capital Wastes. I swallowed any nervous thoughts about the unknown and pressed on, making my way over the many hills and overhangs that made up the wasteland. "Kick ass!" Boom! A blast tore me from my thoughts dazed me for a couple of seconds. When the ringing from the external speakers on my helmet stopped, I looked up and found the that the perpetrator was a raider and his recently thrown grenade. The grenade made no present damage to me or my armor, probably thrown off center completely. The raider was accompanied by two more of his comrades, both of them rushing my position. The raider that had thrown the grenade loudly cursed his sub-par accuracy and drew his sub-machine gun to bear. I assessed the other two raiders, one wielding a rusty pipe and the other had a pistol. All of the weapons present were dreadfully inadequate to combat power armor, so this encounter would not last very long. I drew my laser rifle and looked down its scope. I lined up the raiders head within the circle and fired. The high-powered beam burned right through the raiders head and he hit the ground without another word. "Fuck! You're mine asshole!" The raider swore at me. I felt three shots hopelessly impact on my chest plate from the raiders pistol. The shots barely even scratched my armor. I lined up my scope to the one with the pipe who was charging me and let loose another shot. The laser fried through the primitive armor that covered the raiders chest and tore right through him. He hit the ground with a thud. The other raider, now regretting his choice of target threw his now empty pistol at me. The pistol bounced harmlessly off me and the raider began to flee. "Fuck this! This is hopeless!" He said in despair. Feeling that the Wasteland could always do with one less raider, I shot him down and the raider fell to the ground in silence. I scanned the area for any more hostiles with my scope. Satisfied that I was indeed safe again, I checked over the recently deceased raiders bodies. The only thing I found useful among the stray bullets and chems that the raiders had on them, was one dirty stimpak. It wasn't like I was expecting to find much on them, raiders usually carried nothing that useful to a Brotherhood of Steel knight, but it never hurt to check. I checked over my HUD's mission clock. It was ten in the morning and I felt that I should move on before the now stirred predators of the Wasteland move in for the free meal. I took one last look at the raiders before moving on. I looked at the one that fled, his fresh corpse now pooling blood in the dirt. I couldn't help but feel a slight pang of remorse as I looked at him. 'Poor fools,' I thought, 'They never stood a chance.' I brushed away any feelings and continued, reminding myself that I still had a mission to do. My continuing walk still stretched on for hours, finding nothing but burnt out remains of houses and the crumbling ruins of highways and roads. These useless ruins made my mission seem more pointless every time I passed a new one. This unrewarding walk was common in my scouting tasks. More than often, I'll find nothing of any significant value, but the key to this job was patience and the will power to just keep on walking. I turned GNR back on to keep myself from boredom, only to find that all I was receiving was static. This took me aback and made me take out my mapping device. I noticed how far I really was from the Capital Wastes, I was a good five miles north of it. I felt my stomach rumble and I realised I had not eaten anything since breakfast. Not wanting to waste the precious MRE's that the Brotherhood had gave me, I looked towards a ruined house and decided I should check it out for food. I drew my laser rifle and folded the scope to the side of the rifle. No need for that indoors. I approached the house slowly and carefully, not wanting to disturb any would-be raiders or wild animals that might lurk with. The house itself was missing at least half of its structure and the walls were crumbling apart. I approached the door and looked through one of the many smashed windows and peeked in before I explored further. I found nothing but old, decaying furniture and old bones of the houses pre war occupants. I decided it was safe enough and I walked in without a second thought. As I entered the house, to my immediate right there was some stairs that were blocked off by rubble. To my left was what remained of the living room, which had an old couch and some other ruined furnishings inside. I walked past both rooms and made my way towards what remained of the kitchen. The kitchen was missing two of the walls completely, exposing it to the outside world. I noticed a rusty old refrigerator in the corner of the room, I made my way over and opened it. Any food that was in there was long scavenged and eaten. I frowned and looked over to some ruined cupboards. I opened them up, my rumbling stomach growing ever louder. I smiled as I saw a packet of unopened Sugar Bombs. 'Must be my lucky day' I mused to myself with a smile. I took off my helmet, putting it on the side and began eating the long staled cereal. While not the most nutritious meal, it would keep me going. After my meal, I checked the time. Three o'clock in the afternoon, still plenty of time to explore. Deciding that this place would be a good place to hunker down for the night if need be, I marked it on my map. Putting my helmet back on I turned back towards the exit and made my way out of the house. Continuing north of the house there was a large hill stood in my way. I ascended it at a light jog as it would give me a good vantage point of the surrounding area, maybe I could see a place worth checking out. What was over the other side took me completely by surprise. Trees. Hundreds and hundreds of trees. Have You Ever Seen... A Tree?Chapter Two: Have You Ever Seen... A Tree? May 29th, 2279 Journal of Knight Isaac Ward Trees... A whole forests worth of trees. I have never seen anything like this before and I've even been to Oasis. These trees were nothing like the burnt out husks that made up the Capital Wastelands trees or the mutated trees that made up Oasis. These trees looked healthy and organic. It looks like something straight out of a pre war children's book. Duty drove me to explore the forest deeper, something in my head told me that there would be something in there and I had every intention to find out what it was. I had only been in this forest for an hour and I felt completely out of place. I had never even seen a forest like this, frankly I thought in the irradiated wasteland, a place like this would be impossible. My external speakers were picking up many sounds of birds tweeting and branches swaying in the wind. My laser rifle was kept firm in my grip. I had no idea what to expect in a forest like this but I knew a forest like this would have predators and if they were anything like the ones back out in the wasteland, I was in for a hell of a fight if I encountered one. My walk through the woods mostly consisted of me over reacting to a sound or stepping over the logs of fallen trees, but mostly my walk though these strange woods was remaining quiet. For now. While this forest as a miracle in itself, it wasn't comforting in the slightest. The forest was dark and damp, any of the shadows could easily hide a predator. I kept an eye on my HUD's compass for any lifeforms that were detected. None so far apart from the occasional bird flying over my head. A snapping twig brought me out of my musings and I brought my rifle to bear. I checked my compass and noticed that a single mark had been added to the east. I spun around and aimed my rifle at the large log that faced east. My finger was over the trigger waiting for what ever horror this forest had in store for me. I nearly vaporised the small squirrel that turned out to be my unknown contact. I almost did a double take at the squirrel, who seemed to be eyeing me curiously. It was completely un-mutated. This surprised me greatly, as I thought any species of animal that somehow survived the Great War would be horribly mutated by now. But this squirrel looked like it had been taken straight from a pre war wildlife book. "Go one little guy," I said to it, "Get out of here." To my surprise the squirrel turned around and bolted back into the undergrowth. My musing that it had actually understood me was swept from under me as something picked me up by the side and threw me across the undergrowth. I tumbled into a bush and looked at my attacker, expecting a Yao Guai or something similar. To my surprise I was staring face to face with a huge wolf. But this wolf was very different. It seemed to be completely made of tree branches and loose foliage. Before I could even utter my surprise, it howled and charged me. Without a second thought I fired off two shots from my rifle, one of them connecting with the creatures leg. The laser burned straight through its leg, causing a few stray twigs to fall off. The beast howled in pain, but it did not hinder its charge. The wolf snapped its jaw onto my bracer, knocking my rifle to the side. I felt the pressure from the jaw even through my armor. What I did not feel however, was the wooden stakes it had for teeth, as they splintered and cracked as they made contact with my armor. The wolf howled in pain and reeled back and I took this opportunity to draw my laser pistol. I pointed the barrel straight into its mouth and fired off several shots. The laser easily pierced the wolfs wooden skull and it fell to the ground dead. It then completely broke down into loose twigs and branches as it died. I took a second to catch my breath and collect my thoughts. "What on earth was that?" I asked no one in particular. Looking over what was left of the wooden wolf, I couldn't spot any organs, blood or any other vital life essences amongst the pile of foliage. That shouldn't be possible. No creature made of wood could possibly exist. Yet here it lied in front of me. I even began to question if this forest had some unknown toxin that in the air that caused hallucinations. Deciding to think over it later, I continued into the forest, questions still buzzing around my head. I continued into the forest for another hour, my encounter with the wooden wolf still fresh in my head, until my external speakers finally picked up something familiar. Talking. I kept low and made my way to where it was coming from. I looked in-between the trees, safely hidden from any eyes, and looked down into the clearing below. It was a camp, with a good twenty people inhabiting it. I made to contact the people when I noticed the disemboweled or dismembered bodies strung up on the tree branches that overhung the camp. This was a raider camp. I kept quiet and drew my rifle to observed them down the scope. They didn't seem to be doing anything sinister, they were just eating and talking amongst themselves. Normally, an encounter with raiders is followed by firefight to preserve my own life, but it was different to see them actually talking and socialising normally. It made them seem actually human. The raiders seemed to be even more primitive than their wasteland counterparts, only three of them having guns and even those guns were in terrible condition. The others carried makeshift weapons that looked to be made from tree branches and the remains of animals. The clothes they wore were looked even more primitive, on top of the dirty rags they wore, they seemed to have adapted the tree bark into some sort of armor, even the one who I had assumed was the leader was wearing the top half of a wooden wolfs skull over his shoulder. I continued to observe them and I thought that I had better not waste the ammunition dealing with these people and I should move on. Just as I started to turn my gaze away, something caught my eye. A woman, locked inside a makeshift wooden cage, sobbing into her very long pink hair. I looked back through my scope at the woman. From her cuts and bruises, I could tell the raiders had beaten her. Aside from all the bruises and gashes on her face, she was rather pretty. Her long pink hair suggested to me that she was nothing more than a tribal, but her clothes told a different story. If I ignored the tears and dirt in the fabric, I could see that the pale yellow sweater she was wearing was recently sewn together. She was obviously a civilised person. This gave me pause on how I should proceed. My rational side told me I should leave her to her fate, preserve ammunition and continue my mission, however, the more passionate side of me told me that I was more than likely the only chance she had at freedom. I sighed to myself, knowing that if I left her, she would more than likely be killed or worse by the raiders. I had to help. I knew in my gut that Elder Lyons would have me help her. With my newfound charge of helping this woman, I drew my attention back to the raiders, my rifle pointed at the leaders head. Before I could fire I heard a scream. I drew my attention back to the girl. One of the nastier looking raiders had her by the hair and was dragging her into the middle of the camp. "You ready to have some fun, little girl?" He grinned evilly. My speakers couldn't even make out the whimper of mercy that the girl made. This only seemed to entertain him. "Look at this bitch, look at her snivel!" He cackled. Anger flared up inside me and I lined my scope up to his head. "It's go time, bitch!" He raised his hand to her and she cowered closer to the ground. Crack! The energetic sound of laser filled the air as my target flashed a bright crimson before disintegrating into nothing but a pile of ash. "What the fuck!?" Another shouted. Crack! Another fell, suffering the same fate as his comrade. "What the fuck is this!?" The leader shouted. Crack! The leader fell screaming, clutching his shoulder, the wooden armor proving useless against the laser as it burned through it and his body. "It's in the trees somewhere!" Another shouted, picking up his nasty looking club. I stayed safe in my unknown position and continued to pick them off one by one, all of them dropping like flies as the laser hit them. The woman seemed even more scared then before as she was now cowering back in her cage. The raiders were panicking now, being stricken down by an unknown weapon by an unknown adversary. Many had just fled into the woods. One remained, apparently too scared to even run, he clutched his tree branch in his shaking hands. I decided now was a good time to come down. As I emerged from the tree line I could see the raiders reaction, his features filled with dread as he first saw the outline of my power armor, as if he had just seen the reaper himself. I marched directly to him and he shook more and more with each step I took closer to him. We were a mere three feet apart when I finally stopped. I stared him down through my helmet, seething with rage. "Run." I said coldly. He didn't need to be told twice, as he dropped his club and bolted the moment I uttered that word. I turned my attention to the cowering girl, who seemed to be staring in awe at me. I holstered my weapon and made my way towards her, trying to appear as non threatening as possible. This did not work as she just crawled deeper into her prison. "It's alright," I said, a bit more forcefully than I had intended, "I'm not going to hurt you." This seemed to work in a way as she had now returned her gaze to the eye slits of my helmet. She was still visibly terrified and traumatised by the whole ordeal. This wasn't working. I took both my hands to my helmet and an audible click was heard as I began to remove it. My messy brown hair flowed freely as my helmet was removed. "My names Isaac." I smiled to her, my voice appearing less robotic now that my helmet was removed, "What's your name?" I extended my hand to her to help her up. She visibly flinched at the movement. I left my hand lingering to show I meant no harm. Her aqua coloured eyes looked to my hand and then to my face. I smiled again, trying to win her trust. She took my hand gingerly and rose to her feet slowly. She then mumbled something inaudibly. "I'm sorry, I didn't hear that." I said to her. She mumbled a bit louder but it was still inaudible. "I'm sorry, what was that? I asked again, with a smile. "M-my names F-Fluttershy." She said, not quite making eye contact with me. Remnants of the Old WorldChapter Three: Remnants of the Old World May 30th, 2279 Journal of Knight Isaac Ward I don't know what to think of the girl I saved. She told me her name is Fluttershy and she claims to be from a settlement called 'Ponyville'. I'm not sure what to believe about those names, as they both sound as ridiculous as each other. To her credit though, she could speak perfect English and looked like a perfectly normal girl. Almost too normal if you ask me. Her clothing reminded me of the residents of Tenpenny Tower or even a pre-war citizen, it looked that well made. I decided it was worth accompanying her back to her settlement, who knows, maybe they actually have something that is worth reporting back to the Citadel. I've been walking through these woods with my new-found companion for about an hour now. She was still bruised and shooken from her encounter with the raiders, but she was ok enough to travel. I had offered her one of my stimpaks for her wounds, but she visibly paled at the sight of it and politely declined. She remained very quiet, occasionally glancing my way and retreating her gaze back to her feet if it met mine. She almost seems to be scared of me, I couldn't say I blamed her for that. She had witnessed me kill at least seven of her captors and now I had told her I was coming with her back to her settlement. She was doubtfully comfortable with that. If any conversation was started, it was by me, asking her questions about the village she said she came from or about her captivity. She always answered me quietly and even with the enhanced external speakers of a T45-d, I struggled to hear her at times. She told me that the raiders had taken her from the forests edge when she was with her 'squirrel friends'. I felt this was getting stranger by the second. We continued our walk through the woods in silence but the quiet didn't really bother me. I needed to concentrate where we were going anyway, we weren't out of the woods yet. Surprisingly, she eventually broke the silence with a question. "E-excuse me, I-Isaac?" She spoke quietly. "Yes Fluttershy?" I turned my head to acknowledge her. "I-if you don't mind me asking, w-who exactly are you?" She asked, as if the question would offend me. I paused before answering. I had been travelling with her for about two hours now and I had not even told her anything beyond my name. "I am Knight Isaac Ward," I told her, "I'm with the Brotherhood of Steel." She dropped her scared look for the first time and swapped it for a one of confusion. "Who are they?" She asked in a confused tone. This did not surprise me much. The Brotherhood was known to most people back in California, but we weren't out west anymore. Most of the locals to the areas out east had never even heard of who we were. This definitely did not help with trying to establish ourselves with the locals, as they would panic, run and even shoot at the sight of a power armored knight. I decided I would tell her about the Brotherhood. What harm could it do? "The Brotherhood of Steel is an organisation dedicated to preserving the past and all its technology. I have lived my entire life within its ranks." I informed her. This apparently did not help as she still looked as if she had no clue what I was talking about. "Preserving the past? What do you mean by that?" She asked, clearly not understanding. Again, I had to pause before I answered as I wasn't entirely sure how to word the Brotherhoods mission correctly. After a brief moment of thinking I answered her. "Ultimately, I suppose we keep technology from destroying humanity again. I'm sure you've seen the world outside this forest, all of that is the direct consequence of misusing technology. We mostly collect pre-war military technology and keep it in the hands of people who know how to use it and keep them in working condition." I said, satisfied that I had given her a good enough answer. She fell quiet as she thought about my answer. After a moment of silence, she asked another question. "So, do you help people with the technology you collect?" She asked me curiously. This made me pause for a third time, but this time I actually had to think carefully about my answer. The Brotherhood I was from definitely used the technology to help people, however, the original Brotherhood out west considered Wastelanders to not even worth the ammunition used to defend them. I decided to leave the original Brotherhood out of my answer. They weren't going to be of concern for a long time, so why bother telling her about them. They disavowed and broke off contact with the Capital Wasteland Brotherhood anyway. After a moment of collecting my thoughts, I answered her. "Elder Lyons made it the mission of the Brotherhood to keep the citizens of the Capital Wasteland safe from harm. I trust my Elder and I will do my duty and follow his orders." I said with pride. This seemed to do the trick as she gave a small smile at this answer. "That's nice." She said, a small smile gracing her lips. I gave her a strange look from underneath my helmet. Just moments ago she was scared to half to death of me, now she was engaging in polite conversation. I just couldn't understand this girl. How could anyone in the Wasteland be so friendly? Was everyone in her town like her? These thoughts drove me to speed up my pace in the direction she told me, I was eager to see this 'Ponyville' and see just how different it was from the rest of the Wasteland. The walk through the remainder of the forest was long and tedious, Fluttershy would forget many times which way she came from and we would have to backtrack and retrace her steps until she remembered which way the raiders took her. We didn't encounter anymore of the raiders, but I couldn't shake the feeling that we were being watched. While my HUD and external speakers weren't picking up any activity, I knew they were out there somewhere. Perhaps they had found their courage and were observing me from the safety of the heavy foliage, plotting ways on how to deal with their new-found adversary. While I could easily deal with a band of ill equipped tribals, I couldn't guarantee Fluttershy's safety. We couldn't linger in this forest for any longer, it wasn't safe. I even considered giving her my laser pistol, but thought better of it. She looked like she hadn't even held a gun before, let alone something as advanced as a laser pistol and we didn't have time for any lessons on how to use one. After a long and tiresome journey through the forest, we had finally made it to the forests edge. A vast open field of grass awaited me but before I could take in the miracle that there was grass in the first place, I noticed what lied ahead in the field. What I saw beyond took my breath away. There were buildings. Not like the rubble that made up D.C's buildings, these ones were completely intact, colourful even. Each one of the houses was adorned with a solar panel on the roof, each house varying on where it was placed. Fluttershy spoke up as we both took in her home town. The whole place looked like a real pre-war American town, albeit a bit colourful. "Here we are, Ponyville." She said with a smile. She waited for me to respond and turned my way when she did not hear one. "Are you okay Isaac?" She asked me. I shook my head from my thoughts and turned my attention to her "I'm fine. I just didn't imagine this place to be so... Untouched." I told her, still somewhat in awe over what I was looking at. She smiled at me before responding. "Oh yes, I've lived here all my life, it's a lovely town and the people are even friendlier." She said cheerfully. That gave me pause. If this town was really the tranquil paradise she said it was, then how would they react to me? A power armored soldier. It is likely that they have never even seen anything like me or the other members of my order. For once, I told Fluttershy to take the lead into town. I felt that if they saw her first, they would assume I was with her and they hopefully wouldn't panic. Hopefully. Fluttershy took the lead with a gentle pace and I made to follow her. Before I did that, I marked Ponyville's location on my map. Apparently, being back home had brought Fluttershy out of her shell a little bit, as she was speaking about her friends. "I'm sure my friends would love to meet you, I hope they're not too worried about me." She said to me. I just hope it's only you they'll be worried about I thought. I took a deep breath and followed her into town. New Town, New PeopleChapter Four: New Town, New People May 30th, 2279 Journal of Knight Isaac Ward Turns out my initial thoughts of Ponyville were correct. This town was nothing anything I had seen before. This community appeared to have everything that the Wasteland lacked. It had a market, a schoolhouse, a town square, hell, it even had a spa. The residents (who looked even more garish in color than the town itself) eyed me warily. I suspect they did not outright question or even attack me due to Fluttershy's presence. Maybe finding her was a stoke of good fortune. If I had found this place by myself, the townsfolk would more than likely either panic or attack me. From what I saw, most of the town was female. This was odd to me at first but I concluded that all the men must be working, as it was still the middle of the day. Fluttershy is taking me to the local library to introduce me to her friends. I found myself eager to follow her and meet them. "Oh, that's the towns spa, me and my friend Rarity got there all the time" Fluttershy said as she pointed out the building in question. "I see" I responded, still perplexed by this towns very existence. The question of 'how is this place even possible?' still buzzed around my head. How had this place not been subjected to raiders, especially if they only lied within the forest? It made no sense whatsoever to me, but they must have managed it somehow, as the evidence was all around me. Fluttershy made sure to point out any landmarks in the town to me, a sort of improvised tour as we made our way to the library. The fact that the town had a library interested me. Who knows what sort of pre war knowledge was stored away there. We continued our walk through the town to our destination for about fifteen minutes. The townsfolk seemed edgy at my presence. I couldn't say I blamed them though, if the roles were reversed, I would have similar feelings towards my presence. I also noticed that no one in town seemed to be carrying any guns or any sort of weapon in fact. This was strange to me at first, as the people of the Wasteland always carried a weapon on them as the Wasteland was a dangerous place and safe havens were very rare. "Here we are," Fluttershy announced, breaking my chain of thought, "Golden Oaks library." I looked at the building in front of me. Only it wasn't a building at all. It was a large tree that seemed to have been made into a home. That impressed me. I would have to find out how making a tree a home was possible without killing the tree itself. Fluttershy made towards the door. I fell in behind her, if her friends were anything like she said they were, we wouldn't be having any problems. Still, it never hurt to be cautious and I felt that it should be her they saw first. We made our way to the heavy wooden door and Fluttershy gingerly knocked on it. "Coming!" I heard a voice behind the door say. The door opened and a teenage boy with emerald, spiky hair answered. His eyes lit up as he saw Fluttershy. "Oh my gosh, Fluttershy!" He exclaimed "We were so worried about you, we were just about to start searching for you. Where have you been? What happened to your face? Who di-" The boy cut his sentence short as his eyes fell on me. His eyes went wide and he looked like he was about pass out. Fluttershy saw this and quickly acted. "Don't worry Spike, this is my new friend Isaac," She said warmly, as she turned to me, "He saved my life in the forest." Friend? I thought She warmed up quickly Spike swallowed and turned his head indoors. "Hey Twilight! Fluttershy's back!" He shouted indoors. He then looked back at me before turning back inside. "And she bought a friend!" Spike beckoned us indoors and we made our way inside. As soon as i entered the building I felt multiple gazes fall upon me. They belonged to five other young women, all of about the same age, but each of them varying wildly in hair color and attire. The first one was a strangely well dressed woman, the strange part being her regal, purple hair which curled around her head. Her pristine clothing made me think she must be an important member of the town, I'd have to ask about her about it later. The one directly next to her looked the complete opposite with dirty blonde hair in a pony tail with a stetson hat on top of it. She wore a dirty flannel shirt and a pair of jeans with multiple holes in them. Another one really caught my eye with the explosion of colour on top of her head. Her hair was messy but it was coloured with all the colours of the rainbow in a striped pattern. I had never seen a rainbow in my life, I had seen pictures in pre war books but to see something that resembled it so well was jarring. The one next to her was an wild shade of pink. Every item of clothing she wore matched the colour of her messy, curly, hair. She also had an cheery grin on her face that frankly made me uneasy. The final one was dressed in a purple sweater vest with purple bangs that had streaks of pink and lilac in them. She studied me carefully over her glasses. It took me a moment to remember that we were all just staring at each other, uneasily. Fluttershy saved me by stepping out behind me and all concern regarding me was gone within an instant and replaced with all five of them crowding Fluttershy, asking questions or stating there concern. As Fluttershy spoke to them, I took a moment to observe the inside of the hollow tree and I was pleasantly surprised with what I saw. Books. Rows and rows of perfectly good books. Books that aren't burned are rare in the capital wasteland and the Brotherhood even offers rewards to scavengers that bring us any books with useful information. As most scavengers and wastelanders can't even read, I would call it a fair trade. To see this many books in one place was almost surreal. I was drawn out of my musings as I was approached by the group. The one with the hat spoke to me first. "So you're the fella who helped our Fluttershy out of that forest?" She said with a bright smile. Her country accent caught me off guard, but it was her eyes that had my attention. They seemed to be trying to stare through my helmet into my soul, trying to detect anything bad. Something inside me told me for some reason, that lying about anything would be a bad idea right now. "I am, I stumbled across her predicament while I was making my way through the forest." I said back to her. She seemed satisfied with the answer and spoke back to me. "Well it's a good thing that you did, who knows what them nasty fellas would have done to her if you didn't find her. Ah'm Applejack by the way." She said in her distinctively country accent. The rest of them stepped forward to introduce themselves. "I'm Rarity, and what on earth are you wearing, darling?" She questioned me in a refined accent. It took me a moment to think if the question was rhetorical or not, but she stared at me expectantly so I spoke up. "My armor is a T-45d model of power armor, de-" I was saying before she cut me off. "No, no darling, why do you wear it? I hope I'm not offending but it's simply hideous, so blocky." She said as she looked at me up and down analysing the design of my armor. Her rainbow haired one stepped forward. "Geez Rarity, the guys only just got here and you're all ready asking him about his clothes," she playfully chided her friend before turning to me, "I'm Rainbow Dash. That's Twilight and that's-" She was saying before a pink blur whizzed up to me and interrupted her. "Thank you for saving Fluttershy! I'm Pinkie Pie and it's awesome to have someone new in town! Even if they do look like a robot. Are you a robot? Because if you are then that's awesome! How do you work? Do you want us to take you to our leader? Are you looking for Sarah Conner? Because if you are-" She said at a million words a second before the one identified as Twilight stepped in. "Sorry about Pinkie, she gets excited about new people, I'm Twilight." She said, though she still eyed me warily. They all slightly flinched when they heard the mechanical voice come from my helmet. "Don't worry yourselves. Had it not been for Fluttershy, I would still be in those woods. I am Knight Isaac Ward of the Brotherhood of Steel." I said to them. They shared a confused look when I finished. "The Brotherhood of Steel? Who are they?" Twilight asked quizzically. I rolled my eyes beneath my helmet. I had a feeling I was going to have to explain this a lot. "They are the order I belong to. We safeguard technology so it cannot destroy us again." I said to her, hoping I wouldn't have to go into anymore detail than that. This did not really help the confused looks but Applejack changed the subject. "How did ya save Fluttershy?" She asked. "I despatched her captors and she lead me her." I said simply. Her eyes widened a tiny bit as she figured out what I meant by 'dispatched'. "What do you mean by her 'captors'?" Twilight questioned. "She was being held prisoner in a raider encampment inside the forest. I was able to eliminate them and Flutterdhy brought me here." I thought, trying to leave out the fact that I was only here because I was under orders to see how advanced this place was. Applejack looked at me briefly, as if analysing what I said, before speaking up. "Well that was mighty kind of ya to help her out like that, why Ah'm sure if it wasn't for, you we wouldn't see Fluttershy again." She said with a small smile. I was surprised that she thanked me. She must be very good at reading character or she's just naive. I glanced at the mission clock on my HUD. It would be sundown in a couple of hours so, and I would need time to get through the forest and back to the ruined house which I had dubbed my base of operations. "There is no need to thank me. I only did what I judged to be right. I am sorry to be brief but I have to leave. I have a long walk through the forest if I am to get back to my base." I said to them, hoping it sounded apologetic. "My word, you don't intend to go back through the forest do you? That would be no way to treat Fluttershy's saviour. I would rather give you my boutique before it came to that." Rarity said and the group murmured their agreement. I thought about this for a second. It wouldn't hurt and it would give me more time tomorrow to truly explore this place. Plus I hadn't slept in an actual bed for a good month now. "I appreciate your generosity, I assume I'll be staying with you then?" I asked Rarity. Rarity was about to respond when, surprisingly, Fluttershy cut in. "Y-you can stay at my house tonight, if you want to." She said with a small smile. "As you wish. Thank you for your kindness." I said, hoping I didn't sound too starchy. "That's no problem, I'll take you there now, it's getting late." She said to me, as she glanced outside. "Lead the way." I said, as I followed her as she made towards the door.
A Long Walk NorthChapter One: A Long Walk North May 29th, 2279 Journal of Knight Isaac Ward Another scouting mission, although I must say, I feel different about this one. I'm exploring new territory to the north and I have been given three months to do so by Elder Lyons. I will be going alone on this mission, as no one is available to accompany me. It seems everyone is either combatting the super mutants, mopping up whats left of the Enclave or even Citadel guard duty. I don't know what the Brotherhood expects me to find, hell, I don't know what I'm expecting to find. Maybe it'll be nothing but wasteland. The Capital Wastes has proven to be a nothing but a godforsaken hell-hole, so why should whatever lied north be any different? But still, something inside me told me that it is still the unknown and there was no way to find out what was there unless I found out for the Brotherhood. I personally feel that it is worth the look. Beep! Beep! Beep! I cracked my eyes open at the disturbance that had interrupted my sleep. My clock beeping signalled that it was six in the morning. Time to get up. Groaning, I jerked a hand towards to direction of my helmet. I fumbled around inside the rim of my helmet until I found the button that would turn off my alarm. I slowly rose from the rotting mattress that had been my bed for the night. My back cracked loudly in protest at the movement. I winced and remembered just how uncomfortable power armor is to sleep in. I took in my surroundings, making sure nothing had crept in to the ruined house I was taking shelter in. Satisfied I was safe, I reached for my laser rifle, which was propped up against a rotted table. Sinking into the daily routine which I had come accustomed to when I woke up, I began checking my weapons for any sort of breakage. I checked over my laser rifles scope, one of the many modifications on my rifle. I found it was calibrated and no damage was present so I moved on to the weapon itself. My laser rifle and pistol was in the same condition they had always been in. They were both fine. These weapons were reliable and effective when scavenged, but when modified and tinkered with by Brotherhood scribes, they could last another Great War if it came down to it. Still, this was a routine that was drilled into my head a long time ago. I finished off the old and crusty snack cakes that were serving as my breakfast and I clicked my helmet into place. I made for the front door of the ruined house and checked my ammunition pouch. 25 Microfusion cells, 30 Energy cells and six stimpaks. I did the math quickly in my head and counted I had six-hundred shots for my laser rifle and nine-hundred shots for my laser pistol. needless to say, I felt confident that I had enough ammo to last me until my mission was over in three months. I tuned my helmets internal radio to Galaxy News Radio and continued my long trek north. I have already been walking north for 3 days and I have only just made it to the outskirts of Old Olney, which I made sure to avoid completely. The last thing I needed was a Deathclaw chasing me down. I walked down the decayed driveway of the house and continued into the wasteland, leaving my shelter behind me. I continued to walk north for several hours. A lot of scouting missions that Elder Lyons gave me involve a lot of this. Walking. Thanks to a recent war with the Enclave, the Brotherhood had captured a number of Vertibirds, but apart from them, we had no methods for long range transportation. My role in the Brotherhood was to explore the wastes and recover any technology of value and report what I find back to the Elder. So most of my missions with the Brotherhood involved walking. Lot's and lot's of walking. It's not the most exciting job in the order but it beats going up against a Behemoth. With Elder Lyons' new crusade to save the people of this hell-hole from the horrors of super mutant infestation, I was one of the few brothers actually still looking for technology. I was one the only people still working on our original mission here. While I did think that the Brotherhood had lost sight of it's original goal, I trusted Elder Lyons and placed my faith in his decision. If it wasn't for Galaxy News Radio playing in my helmet, I would have succumbed to boredom a while ago. A shot of distant gunfire rang through the air, but I paid it little heed. It wasn't like gunshots were uncommon here. I gave a look over my shoulder, towards the gunfire and continued my long and seemingly endless walk. I thought over my orders as I walked. My orders were to explore the regions to the north and recover anything that can be of value to the Brotherhood. I was unsure what I was going to find north, Weapon Technology? Civilisation? Looking over pre war maps showed that there were other towns and even the ruins of New York lied to the north. I checked my geomapping device. This was a godsend for anyone scouting for the Brotherhood. It worked much like a digital map that marked any locations that are put into the map via coordinates. Though not as effective as the Pip-boy's mapping system, it was about the next best thing. I found I was only a few minutes west from the Republic of Dave and I was fast approaching the border of the Capital Wastes, I put the mapping device back into my ammo pouch on the back of my power armor. I continued north, listening to Three Dog spout on about the dangers of radiation for what had to be at least the fourth time, until I heard a distinctive beep come from my ammo pouch. I pulled out the mapping module and found that all of the marked locations on my map had vanished. I realised I was in completely new territory now and I had left the Capital Wastes. I swallowed any nervous thoughts about the unknown and pressed on, making my way over the many hills and overhangs that made up the wasteland. "Kick ass!" Boom! A blast tore me from my thoughts dazed me for a couple of seconds. When the ringing from the external speakers on my helmet stopped, I looked up and found the that the perpetrator was a raider and his recently thrown grenade. The grenade made no present damage to me or my armor, probably thrown off center completely. The raider was accompanied by two more of his comrades, both of them rushing my position. The raider that had thrown the grenade loudly cursed his sub-par accuracy and drew his sub-machine gun to bear. I assessed the other two raiders, one wielding a rusty pipe and the other had a pistol. All of the weapons present were dreadfully inadequate to combat power armor, so this encounter would not last very long. I drew my laser rifle and looked down its scope. I lined up the raiders head within the circle and fired. The high-powered beam burned right through the raiders head and he hit the ground without another word. "Fuck! You're mine asshole!" The raider swore at me. I felt three shots hopelessly impact on my chest plate from the raiders pistol. The shots barely even scratched my armor. I lined up my scope to the one with the pipe who was charging me and let loose another shot. The laser fried through the primitive armor that covered the raiders chest and tore right through him. He hit the ground with a thud. The other raider, now regretting his choice of target threw his now empty pistol at me. The pistol bounced harmlessly off me and the raider began to flee. "Fuck this! This is hopeless!" He said in despair. Feeling that the Wasteland could always do with one less raider, I shot him down and the raider fell to the ground in silence. I scanned the area for any more hostiles with my scope. Satisfied that I was indeed safe again, I checked over the recently deceased raiders bodies. The only thing I found useful among the stray bullets and chems that the raiders had on them, was one dirty stimpak. It wasn't like I was expecting to find much on them, raiders usually carried nothing that useful to a Brotherhood of Steel knight, but it never hurt to check. I checked over my HUD's mission clock. It was ten in the morning and I felt that I should move on before the now stirred predators of the Wasteland move in for the free meal. I took one last look at the raiders before moving on. I looked at the one that fled, his fresh corpse now pooling blood in the dirt. I couldn't help but feel a slight pang of remorse as I looked at him. 'Poor fools,' I thought, 'They never stood a chance.' I brushed away any feelings and continued, reminding myself that I still had a mission to do. My continuing walk still stretched on for hours, finding nothing but burnt out remains of houses and the crumbling ruins of highways and roads. These useless ruins made my mission seem more pointless every time I passed a new one. This unrewarding walk was common in my scouting tasks. More than often, I'll find nothing of any significant value, but the key to this job was patience and the will power to just keep on walking. I turned GNR back on to keep myself from boredom, only to find that all I was receiving was static. This took me aback and made me take out my mapping device. I noticed how far I really was from the Capital Wastes, I was a good five miles north of it. I felt my stomach rumble and I realised I had not eaten anything since breakfast. Not wanting to waste the precious MRE's that the Brotherhood had gave me, I looked towards a ruined house and decided I should check it out for food. I drew my laser rifle and folded the scope to the side of the rifle. No need for that indoors. I approached the house slowly and carefully, not wanting to disturb any would-be raiders or wild animals that might lurk with. The house itself was missing at least half of its structure and the walls were crumbling apart. I approached the door and looked through one of the many smashed windows and peeked in before I explored further. I found nothing but old, decaying furniture and old bones of the houses pre war occupants. I decided it was safe enough and I walked in without a second thought. As I entered the house, to my immediate right there was some stairs that were blocked off by rubble. To my left was what remained of the living room, which had an old couch and some other ruined furnishings inside. I walked past both rooms and made my way towards what remained of the kitchen. The kitchen was missing two of the walls completely, exposing it to the outside world. I noticed a rusty old refrigerator in the corner of the room, I made my way over and opened it. Any food that was in there was long scavenged and eaten. I frowned and looked over to some ruined cupboards. I opened them up, my rumbling stomach growing ever louder. I smiled as I saw a packet of unopened Sugar Bombs. 'Must be my lucky day' I mused to myself with a smile. I took off my helmet, putting it on the side and began eating the long staled cereal. While not the most nutritious meal, it would keep me going. After my meal, I checked the time. Three o'clock in the afternoon, still plenty of time to explore. Deciding that this place would be a good place to hunker down for the night if need be, I marked it on my map. Putting my helmet back on I turned back towards the exit and made my way out of the house. Continuing north of the house there was a large hill stood in my way. I ascended it at a light jog as it would give me a good vantage point of the surrounding area, maybe I could see a place worth checking out. What was over the other side took me completely by surprise. Trees. Hundreds and hundreds of trees.
Have You Ever Seen... A Tree?Chapter Two: Have You Ever Seen... A Tree? May 29th, 2279 Journal of Knight Isaac Ward Trees... A whole forests worth of trees. I have never seen anything like this before and I've even been to Oasis. These trees were nothing like the burnt out husks that made up the Capital Wastelands trees or the mutated trees that made up Oasis. These trees looked healthy and organic. It looks like something straight out of a pre war children's book. Duty drove me to explore the forest deeper, something in my head told me that there would be something in there and I had every intention to find out what it was. I had only been in this forest for an hour and I felt completely out of place. I had never even seen a forest like this, frankly I thought in the irradiated wasteland, a place like this would be impossible. My external speakers were picking up many sounds of birds tweeting and branches swaying in the wind. My laser rifle was kept firm in my grip. I had no idea what to expect in a forest like this but I knew a forest like this would have predators and if they were anything like the ones back out in the wasteland, I was in for a hell of a fight if I encountered one. My walk through the woods mostly consisted of me over reacting to a sound or stepping over the logs of fallen trees, but mostly my walk though these strange woods was remaining quiet. For now. While this forest as a miracle in itself, it wasn't comforting in the slightest. The forest was dark and damp, any of the shadows could easily hide a predator. I kept an eye on my HUD's compass for any lifeforms that were detected. None so far apart from the occasional bird flying over my head. A snapping twig brought me out of my musings and I brought my rifle to bear. I checked my compass and noticed that a single mark had been added to the east. I spun around and aimed my rifle at the large log that faced east. My finger was over the trigger waiting for what ever horror this forest had in store for me. I nearly vaporised the small squirrel that turned out to be my unknown contact. I almost did a double take at the squirrel, who seemed to be eyeing me curiously. It was completely un-mutated. This surprised me greatly, as I thought any species of animal that somehow survived the Great War would be horribly mutated by now. But this squirrel looked like it had been taken straight from a pre war wildlife book. "Go one little guy," I said to it, "Get out of here." To my surprise the squirrel turned around and bolted back into the undergrowth. My musing that it had actually understood me was swept from under me as something picked me up by the side and threw me across the undergrowth. I tumbled into a bush and looked at my attacker, expecting a Yao Guai or something similar. To my surprise I was staring face to face with a huge wolf. But this wolf was very different. It seemed to be completely made of tree branches and loose foliage. Before I could even utter my surprise, it howled and charged me. Without a second thought I fired off two shots from my rifle, one of them connecting with the creatures leg. The laser burned straight through its leg, causing a few stray twigs to fall off. The beast howled in pain, but it did not hinder its charge. The wolf snapped its jaw onto my bracer, knocking my rifle to the side. I felt the pressure from the jaw even through my armor. What I did not feel however, was the wooden stakes it had for teeth, as they splintered and cracked as they made contact with my armor. The wolf howled in pain and reeled back and I took this opportunity to draw my laser pistol. I pointed the barrel straight into its mouth and fired off several shots. The laser easily pierced the wolfs wooden skull and it fell to the ground dead. It then completely broke down into loose twigs and branches as it died. I took a second to catch my breath and collect my thoughts. "What on earth was that?" I asked no one in particular. Looking over what was left of the wooden wolf, I couldn't spot any organs, blood or any other vital life essences amongst the pile of foliage. That shouldn't be possible. No creature made of wood could possibly exist. Yet here it lied in front of me. I even began to question if this forest had some unknown toxin that in the air that caused hallucinations. Deciding to think over it later, I continued into the forest, questions still buzzing around my head. I continued into the forest for another hour, my encounter with the wooden wolf still fresh in my head, until my external speakers finally picked up something familiar. Talking. I kept low and made my way to where it was coming from. I looked in-between the trees, safely hidden from any eyes, and looked down into the clearing below. It was a camp, with a good twenty people inhabiting it. I made to contact the people when I noticed the disemboweled or dismembered bodies strung up on the tree branches that overhung the camp. This was a raider camp. I kept quiet and drew my rifle to observed them down the scope. They didn't seem to be doing anything sinister, they were just eating and talking amongst themselves. Normally, an encounter with raiders is followed by firefight to preserve my own life, but it was different to see them actually talking and socialising normally. It made them seem actually human. The raiders seemed to be even more primitive than their wasteland counterparts, only three of them having guns and even those guns were in terrible condition. The others carried makeshift weapons that looked to be made from tree branches and the remains of animals. The clothes they wore were looked even more primitive, on top of the dirty rags they wore, they seemed to have adapted the tree bark into some sort of armor, even the one who I had assumed was the leader was wearing the top half of a wooden wolfs skull over his shoulder. I continued to observe them and I thought that I had better not waste the ammunition dealing with these people and I should move on. Just as I started to turn my gaze away, something caught my eye. A woman, locked inside a makeshift wooden cage, sobbing into her very long pink hair. I looked back through my scope at the woman. From her cuts and bruises, I could tell the raiders had beaten her. Aside from all the bruises and gashes on her face, she was rather pretty. Her long pink hair suggested to me that she was nothing more than a tribal, but her clothes told a different story. If I ignored the tears and dirt in the fabric, I could see that the pale yellow sweater she was wearing was recently sewn together. She was obviously a civilised person. This gave me pause on how I should proceed. My rational side told me I should leave her to her fate, preserve ammunition and continue my mission, however, the more passionate side of me told me that I was more than likely the only chance she had at freedom. I sighed to myself, knowing that if I left her, she would more than likely be killed or worse by the raiders. I had to help. I knew in my gut that Elder Lyons would have me help her. With my newfound charge of helping this woman, I drew my attention back to the raiders, my rifle pointed at the leaders head. Before I could fire I heard a scream. I drew my attention back to the girl. One of the nastier looking raiders had her by the hair and was dragging her into the middle of the camp. "You ready to have some fun, little girl?" He grinned evilly. My speakers couldn't even make out the whimper of mercy that the girl made. This only seemed to entertain him. "Look at this bitch, look at her snivel!" He cackled. Anger flared up inside me and I lined my scope up to his head. "It's go time, bitch!" He raised his hand to her and she cowered closer to the ground. Crack! The energetic sound of laser filled the air as my target flashed a bright crimson before disintegrating into nothing but a pile of ash. "What the fuck!?" Another shouted. Crack! Another fell, suffering the same fate as his comrade. "What the fuck is this!?" The leader shouted. Crack! The leader fell screaming, clutching his shoulder, the wooden armor proving useless against the laser as it burned through it and his body. "It's in the trees somewhere!" Another shouted, picking up his nasty looking club. I stayed safe in my unknown position and continued to pick them off one by one, all of them dropping like flies as the laser hit them. The woman seemed even more scared then before as she was now cowering back in her cage. The raiders were panicking now, being stricken down by an unknown weapon by an unknown adversary. Many had just fled into the woods. One remained, apparently too scared to even run, he clutched his tree branch in his shaking hands. I decided now was a good time to come down. As I emerged from the tree line I could see the raiders reaction, his features filled with dread as he first saw the outline of my power armor, as if he had just seen the reaper himself. I marched directly to him and he shook more and more with each step I took closer to him. We were a mere three feet apart when I finally stopped. I stared him down through my helmet, seething with rage. "Run." I said coldly. He didn't need to be told twice, as he dropped his club and bolted the moment I uttered that word. I turned my attention to the cowering girl, who seemed to be staring in awe at me. I holstered my weapon and made my way towards her, trying to appear as non threatening as possible. This did not work as she just crawled deeper into her prison. "It's alright," I said, a bit more forcefully than I had intended, "I'm not going to hurt you." This seemed to work in a way as she had now returned her gaze to the eye slits of my helmet. She was still visibly terrified and traumatised by the whole ordeal. This wasn't working. I took both my hands to my helmet and an audible click was heard as I began to remove it. My messy brown hair flowed freely as my helmet was removed. "My names Isaac." I smiled to her, my voice appearing less robotic now that my helmet was removed, "What's your name?" I extended my hand to her to help her up. She visibly flinched at the movement. I left my hand lingering to show I meant no harm. Her aqua coloured eyes looked to my hand and then to my face. I smiled again, trying to win her trust. She took my hand gingerly and rose to her feet slowly. She then mumbled something inaudibly. "I'm sorry, I didn't hear that." I said to her. She mumbled a bit louder but it was still inaudible. "I'm sorry, what was that? I asked again, with a smile. "M-my names F-Fluttershy." She said, not quite making eye contact with me.
Remnants of the Old WorldChapter Three: Remnants of the Old World May 30th, 2279 Journal of Knight Isaac Ward I don't know what to think of the girl I saved. She told me her name is Fluttershy and she claims to be from a settlement called 'Ponyville'. I'm not sure what to believe about those names, as they both sound as ridiculous as each other. To her credit though, she could speak perfect English and looked like a perfectly normal girl. Almost too normal if you ask me. Her clothing reminded me of the residents of Tenpenny Tower or even a pre-war citizen, it looked that well made. I decided it was worth accompanying her back to her settlement, who knows, maybe they actually have something that is worth reporting back to the Citadel. I've been walking through these woods with my new-found companion for about an hour now. She was still bruised and shooken from her encounter with the raiders, but she was ok enough to travel. I had offered her one of my stimpaks for her wounds, but she visibly paled at the sight of it and politely declined. She remained very quiet, occasionally glancing my way and retreating her gaze back to her feet if it met mine. She almost seems to be scared of me, I couldn't say I blamed her for that. She had witnessed me kill at least seven of her captors and now I had told her I was coming with her back to her settlement. She was doubtfully comfortable with that. If any conversation was started, it was by me, asking her questions about the village she said she came from or about her captivity. She always answered me quietly and even with the enhanced external speakers of a T45-d, I struggled to hear her at times. She told me that the raiders had taken her from the forests edge when she was with her 'squirrel friends'. I felt this was getting stranger by the second. We continued our walk through the woods in silence but the quiet didn't really bother me. I needed to concentrate where we were going anyway, we weren't out of the woods yet. Surprisingly, she eventually broke the silence with a question. "E-excuse me, I-Isaac?" She spoke quietly. "Yes Fluttershy?" I turned my head to acknowledge her. "I-if you don't mind me asking, w-who exactly are you?" She asked, as if the question would offend me. I paused before answering. I had been travelling with her for about two hours now and I had not even told her anything beyond my name. "I am Knight Isaac Ward," I told her, "I'm with the Brotherhood of Steel." She dropped her scared look for the first time and swapped it for a one of confusion. "Who are they?" She asked in a confused tone. This did not surprise me much. The Brotherhood was known to most people back in California, but we weren't out west anymore. Most of the locals to the areas out east had never even heard of who we were. This definitely did not help with trying to establish ourselves with the locals, as they would panic, run and even shoot at the sight of a power armored knight. I decided I would tell her about the Brotherhood. What harm could it do? "The Brotherhood of Steel is an organisation dedicated to preserving the past and all its technology. I have lived my entire life within its ranks." I informed her. This apparently did not help as she still looked as if she had no clue what I was talking about. "Preserving the past? What do you mean by that?" She asked, clearly not understanding. Again, I had to pause before I answered as I wasn't entirely sure how to word the Brotherhoods mission correctly. After a brief moment of thinking I answered her. "Ultimately, I suppose we keep technology from destroying humanity again. I'm sure you've seen the world outside this forest, all of that is the direct consequence of misusing technology. We mostly collect pre-war military technology and keep it in the hands of people who know how to use it and keep them in working condition." I said, satisfied that I had given her a good enough answer. She fell quiet as she thought about my answer. After a moment of silence, she asked another question. "So, do you help people with the technology you collect?" She asked me curiously. This made me pause for a third time, but this time I actually had to think carefully about my answer. The Brotherhood I was from definitely used the technology to help people, however, the original Brotherhood out west considered Wastelanders to not even worth the ammunition used to defend them. I decided to leave the original Brotherhood out of my answer. They weren't going to be of concern for a long time, so why bother telling her about them. They disavowed and broke off contact with the Capital Wasteland Brotherhood anyway. After a moment of collecting my thoughts, I answered her. "Elder Lyons made it the mission of the Brotherhood to keep the citizens of the Capital Wasteland safe from harm. I trust my Elder and I will do my duty and follow his orders." I said with pride. This seemed to do the trick as she gave a small smile at this answer. "That's nice." She said, a small smile gracing her lips. I gave her a strange look from underneath my helmet. Just moments ago she was scared to half to death of me, now she was engaging in polite conversation. I just couldn't understand this girl. How could anyone in the Wasteland be so friendly? Was everyone in her town like her? These thoughts drove me to speed up my pace in the direction she told me, I was eager to see this 'Ponyville' and see just how different it was from the rest of the Wasteland. The walk through the remainder of the forest was long and tedious, Fluttershy would forget many times which way she came from and we would have to backtrack and retrace her steps until she remembered which way the raiders took her. We didn't encounter anymore of the raiders, but I couldn't shake the feeling that we were being watched. While my HUD and external speakers weren't picking up any activity, I knew they were out there somewhere. Perhaps they had found their courage and were observing me from the safety of the heavy foliage, plotting ways on how to deal with their new-found adversary. While I could easily deal with a band of ill equipped tribals, I couldn't guarantee Fluttershy's safety. We couldn't linger in this forest for any longer, it wasn't safe. I even considered giving her my laser pistol, but thought better of it. She looked like she hadn't even held a gun before, let alone something as advanced as a laser pistol and we didn't have time for any lessons on how to use one. After a long and tiresome journey through the forest, we had finally made it to the forests edge. A vast open field of grass awaited me but before I could take in the miracle that there was grass in the first place, I noticed what lied ahead in the field. What I saw beyond took my breath away. There were buildings. Not like the rubble that made up D.C's buildings, these ones were completely intact, colourful even. Each one of the houses was adorned with a solar panel on the roof, each house varying on where it was placed. Fluttershy spoke up as we both took in her home town. The whole place looked like a real pre-war American town, albeit a bit colourful. "Here we are, Ponyville." She said with a smile. She waited for me to respond and turned my way when she did not hear one. "Are you okay Isaac?" She asked me. I shook my head from my thoughts and turned my attention to her "I'm fine. I just didn't imagine this place to be so... Untouched." I told her, still somewhat in awe over what I was looking at. She smiled at me before responding. "Oh yes, I've lived here all my life, it's a lovely town and the people are even friendlier." She said cheerfully. That gave me pause. If this town was really the tranquil paradise she said it was, then how would they react to me? A power armored soldier. It is likely that they have never even seen anything like me or the other members of my order. For once, I told Fluttershy to take the lead into town. I felt that if they saw her first, they would assume I was with her and they hopefully wouldn't panic. Hopefully. Fluttershy took the lead with a gentle pace and I made to follow her. Before I did that, I marked Ponyville's location on my map. Apparently, being back home had brought Fluttershy out of her shell a little bit, as she was speaking about her friends. "I'm sure my friends would love to meet you, I hope they're not too worried about me." She said to me. I just hope it's only you they'll be worried about I thought. I took a deep breath and followed her into town.
New Town, New PeopleChapter Four: New Town, New People May 30th, 2279 Journal of Knight Isaac Ward Turns out my initial thoughts of Ponyville were correct. This town was nothing anything I had seen before. This community appeared to have everything that the Wasteland lacked. It had a market, a schoolhouse, a town square, hell, it even had a spa. The residents (who looked even more garish in color than the town itself) eyed me warily. I suspect they did not outright question or even attack me due to Fluttershy's presence. Maybe finding her was a stoke of good fortune. If I had found this place by myself, the townsfolk would more than likely either panic or attack me. From what I saw, most of the town was female. This was odd to me at first but I concluded that all the men must be working, as it was still the middle of the day. Fluttershy is taking me to the local library to introduce me to her friends. I found myself eager to follow her and meet them. "Oh, that's the towns spa, me and my friend Rarity got there all the time" Fluttershy said as she pointed out the building in question. "I see" I responded, still perplexed by this towns very existence. The question of 'how is this place even possible?' still buzzed around my head. How had this place not been subjected to raiders, especially if they only lied within the forest? It made no sense whatsoever to me, but they must have managed it somehow, as the evidence was all around me. Fluttershy made sure to point out any landmarks in the town to me, a sort of improvised tour as we made our way to the library. The fact that the town had a library interested me. Who knows what sort of pre war knowledge was stored away there. We continued our walk through the town to our destination for about fifteen minutes. The townsfolk seemed edgy at my presence. I couldn't say I blamed them though, if the roles were reversed, I would have similar feelings towards my presence. I also noticed that no one in town seemed to be carrying any guns or any sort of weapon in fact. This was strange to me at first, as the people of the Wasteland always carried a weapon on them as the Wasteland was a dangerous place and safe havens were very rare. "Here we are," Fluttershy announced, breaking my chain of thought, "Golden Oaks library." I looked at the building in front of me. Only it wasn't a building at all. It was a large tree that seemed to have been made into a home. That impressed me. I would have to find out how making a tree a home was possible without killing the tree itself. Fluttershy made towards the door. I fell in behind her, if her friends were anything like she said they were, we wouldn't be having any problems. Still, it never hurt to be cautious and I felt that it should be her they saw first. We made our way to the heavy wooden door and Fluttershy gingerly knocked on it. "Coming!" I heard a voice behind the door say. The door opened and a teenage boy with emerald, spiky hair answered. His eyes lit up as he saw Fluttershy. "Oh my gosh, Fluttershy!" He exclaimed "We were so worried about you, we were just about to start searching for you. Where have you been? What happened to your face? Who di-" The boy cut his sentence short as his eyes fell on me. His eyes went wide and he looked like he was about pass out. Fluttershy saw this and quickly acted. "Don't worry Spike, this is my new friend Isaac," She said warmly, as she turned to me, "He saved my life in the forest." Friend? I thought She warmed up quickly Spike swallowed and turned his head indoors. "Hey Twilight! Fluttershy's back!" He shouted indoors. He then looked back at me before turning back inside. "And she bought a friend!" Spike beckoned us indoors and we made our way inside. As soon as i entered the building I felt multiple gazes fall upon me. They belonged to five other young women, all of about the same age, but each of them varying wildly in hair color and attire. The first one was a strangely well dressed woman, the strange part being her regal, purple hair which curled around her head. Her pristine clothing made me think she must be an important member of the town, I'd have to ask about her about it later. The one directly next to her looked the complete opposite with dirty blonde hair in a pony tail with a stetson hat on top of it. She wore a dirty flannel shirt and a pair of jeans with multiple holes in them. Another one really caught my eye with the explosion of colour on top of her head. Her hair was messy but it was coloured with all the colours of the rainbow in a striped pattern. I had never seen a rainbow in my life, I had seen pictures in pre war books but to see something that resembled it so well was jarring. The one next to her was an wild shade of pink. Every item of clothing she wore matched the colour of her messy, curly, hair. She also had an cheery grin on her face that frankly made me uneasy. The final one was dressed in a purple sweater vest with purple bangs that had streaks of pink and lilac in them. She studied me carefully over her glasses. It took me a moment to remember that we were all just staring at each other, uneasily. Fluttershy saved me by stepping out behind me and all concern regarding me was gone within an instant and replaced with all five of them crowding Fluttershy, asking questions or stating there concern. As Fluttershy spoke to them, I took a moment to observe the inside of the hollow tree and I was pleasantly surprised with what I saw. Books. Rows and rows of perfectly good books. Books that aren't burned are rare in the capital wasteland and the Brotherhood even offers rewards to scavengers that bring us any books with useful information. As most scavengers and wastelanders can't even read, I would call it a fair trade. To see this many books in one place was almost surreal. I was drawn out of my musings as I was approached by the group. The one with the hat spoke to me first. "So you're the fella who helped our Fluttershy out of that forest?" She said with a bright smile. Her country accent caught me off guard, but it was her eyes that had my attention. They seemed to be trying to stare through my helmet into my soul, trying to detect anything bad. Something inside me told me for some reason, that lying about anything would be a bad idea right now. "I am, I stumbled across her predicament while I was making my way through the forest." I said back to her. She seemed satisfied with the answer and spoke back to me. "Well it's a good thing that you did, who knows what them nasty fellas would have done to her if you didn't find her. Ah'm Applejack by the way." She said in her distinctively country accent. The rest of them stepped forward to introduce themselves. "I'm Rarity, and what on earth are you wearing, darling?" She questioned me in a refined accent. It took me a moment to think if the question was rhetorical or not, but she stared at me expectantly so I spoke up. "My armor is a T-45d model of power armor, de-" I was saying before she cut me off. "No, no darling, why do you wear it? I hope I'm not offending but it's simply hideous, so blocky." She said as she looked at me up and down analysing the design of my armor. Her rainbow haired one stepped forward. "Geez Rarity, the guys only just got here and you're all ready asking him about his clothes," she playfully chided her friend before turning to me, "I'm Rainbow Dash. That's Twilight and that's-" She was saying before a pink blur whizzed up to me and interrupted her. "Thank you for saving Fluttershy! I'm Pinkie Pie and it's awesome to have someone new in town! Even if they do look like a robot. Are you a robot? Because if you are then that's awesome! How do you work? Do you want us to take you to our leader? Are you looking for Sarah Conner? Because if you are-" She said at a million words a second before the one identified as Twilight stepped in. "Sorry about Pinkie, she gets excited about new people, I'm Twilight." She said, though she still eyed me warily. They all slightly flinched when they heard the mechanical voice come from my helmet. "Don't worry yourselves. Had it not been for Fluttershy, I would still be in those woods. I am Knight Isaac Ward of the Brotherhood of Steel." I said to them. They shared a confused look when I finished. "The Brotherhood of Steel? Who are they?" Twilight asked quizzically. I rolled my eyes beneath my helmet. I had a feeling I was going to have to explain this a lot. "They are the order I belong to. We safeguard technology so it cannot destroy us again." I said to her, hoping I wouldn't have to go into anymore detail than that. This did not really help the confused looks but Applejack changed the subject. "How did ya save Fluttershy?" She asked. "I despatched her captors and she lead me her." I said simply. Her eyes widened a tiny bit as she figured out what I meant by 'dispatched'. "What do you mean by her 'captors'?" Twilight questioned. "She was being held prisoner in a raider encampment inside the forest. I was able to eliminate them and Flutterdhy brought me here." I thought, trying to leave out the fact that I was only here because I was under orders to see how advanced this place was. Applejack looked at me briefly, as if analysing what I said, before speaking up. "Well that was mighty kind of ya to help her out like that, why Ah'm sure if it wasn't for, you we wouldn't see Fluttershy again." She said with a small smile. I was surprised that she thanked me. She must be very good at reading character or she's just naive. I glanced at the mission clock on my HUD. It would be sundown in a couple of hours so, and I would need time to get through the forest and back to the ruined house which I had dubbed my base of operations. "There is no need to thank me. I only did what I judged to be right. I am sorry to be brief but I have to leave. I have a long walk through the forest if I am to get back to my base." I said to them, hoping it sounded apologetic. "My word, you don't intend to go back through the forest do you? That would be no way to treat Fluttershy's saviour. I would rather give you my boutique before it came to that." Rarity said and the group murmured their agreement. I thought about this for a second. It wouldn't hurt and it would give me more time tomorrow to truly explore this place. Plus I hadn't slept in an actual bed for a good month now. "I appreciate your generosity, I assume I'll be staying with you then?" I asked Rarity. Rarity was about to respond when, surprisingly, Fluttershy cut in. "Y-you can stay at my house tonight, if you want to." She said with a small smile. "As you wish. Thank you for your kindness." I said, hoping I didn't sound too starchy. "That's no problem, I'll take you there now, it's getting late." She said to me, as she glanced outside. "Lead the way." I said, as I followed her as she made towards the door.
