//------------------------------// // Growth // Story: Fallout Equestria: Brass Sentinel // by Chemtest //------------------------------// —(1 week later)— I punch a nail into a wall. Repairs and building has been hard on us, but preferable to getting shot or stabbed. Rattle raises his sledgehammer, and smashes in another nail, “Things’ve been quite lately.” I shake my head, “Why the hell did you have to say that, Rattle?” Rattle looks back on his previous words, “Oh shit.” I hear Hunter cry out, “The fucking army’s arrived boys!” I sigh, “Don’t do that again, Rattle.” I rush out to the main gates, and climb up the ladder to the watchtower. Hail rushes out his house, making a racket of armor and minigun. Fuse and Beam run towards the gates. Sure Shot climbs up another watch tower, and Shield covers the main gate. I climb myself into the tower with Hunter, “Why are you not opening fire?” He nods out, “Well, just because it’s an army don’t mean it’s bad. Our army has arrived!” I look out, and see what he is talking about. Ponies. Doctors, farmers, builders, caravaners, families, children, loners, elderly, injured, earth, pegasus, and unicorn alike. Normal ponies, as normal as you can get in this time. Leading in the front is what appears to be a priest. Must be two hundred or more! I look over at Hunter, “Keep guard just in case, but don’t look too intimidating. And alert Shot not to shoot.” He nods, and I jump down to the ground. I see Fuse and Beam ready to prepare some turrets we’ve set up, “No need for the turrets, follow me.” They nod, and set down the controls before following me. Hail and Sure Sheild stand side-by-side at the main gate. Hail sees me approaching, “Let me guess. Hunter made an over exaggeration?” I nod, “Open up the gates, and let’s greet our new citizens.” Shield flips the switch next to him, and the gates open up. I move through them with the others following behind me. We walk outside the walls, and we eventually meet the crowd. The priest leading them stops right in front of us, leaving a good gap of two feet, “This is New Life, right?” I nod, “I am Sentinel, and you, brother?” He smiles, “I am Father Shepherd, brother.” I motion to the crowd around him, “I imagine you have come to live in this town?” He nods, “If the Creators allow, yes.” I smile, and hold out a hoof to him, “I’m sure the Creators would love to allow it.” He takes my hoof in a shake, careful not to hit the dusters, “Thank you, Brother Sentinel.” I smile at the crowd, and wave my hoof towards the town, “Well, I would be glad to welcome all of you! Welcome to the city of New Life! Follow me in, I can show you around!” I turn around, and walk through the gates again, the crowd and my friends following behind me. I point to the gates, “These are the gates, obviously. You can expect to be assigned up to the watchtowers above with Hunter of you’re good with a gun!” I walk through, “There’s the storehouse, ready to be filled with food. There the storeroom, ready to be filled with guns and scrap. Over there are the houses, be prepared to help build some to live in comfort. Those are the turrets, here to make sure the inner city is safe! And right here in the center is the city hall. If you have any questions or anything you wanna talk about, me or my friends are ready to help you in there.” One pony raises their hoof, “I heard that Enclave and Legion might attack. How do we defend ourselves?” I smile, “Good question, you just reminded me of something. Me and my friends might go on scavenging missions every once and a while, I need you all to vote on somepony to lead in our absence. Now, about the guns. We will organize groups to hunt raiders, and that will be a source of weapons. Along with that will be the market and scavenging. We have enough weapons to arm fifty ponies to patrol the walls. But, for now, say whoever you want to lead.” A collective sound rings from the crowd, “Shepherd!” I look over at Shepherd, “Do you accept the position to lead as we’re gone?” He thinks for a second, before nodding, “If that’s what the ponies want.” I smile, “Then Shepherd shall lead in our absence! Now, let’s start assigning all of you to homes and jobs.” —(???)— ”H̜̹̱̦e̤͎̼̤̼͓̹ ̱iͅs̵ ҉̙̼̱̯ͅg҉̩̦̬͇͎͎a̩̤͚̱i͈̬͖̤̞n҉͕̝i̗n̺͙͖̗̮g̙̠̺̳͚̤ ̦͖̪̬̬p̯͖̜̪͚ó̹͇w̳e͏͖̫̤ŕ̫͇ ̞̼̰b͚̬̣̭̲̠y̙͕̟͝ ͔͍̬t̼h̘̱̭͉̱e̼͖͍̳̪̖ ͕͔d̜͚́a̶̫͓̻̳̣̠̬y̪̖̙̭̖͠ͅ,̯ ͔̖̰̩͉̺͠w̹͇͓͍e̥͈͠ ̸̮̖̳n͖̖̜͓eȩ̯̺ḑ̪ ͔̮̘͞t̰̲̤̦̝ͅo̫ ͡ac̠t̡͈̥ͅ ͈͖̯͜ͅq̰͚̺̯̼̙͇͘u͖̱̟i̗͕͍͚̠̻c̴̪͎͓̺̩̺̩k͙̼̤̗͙͎̼.̙” I hear one of my followers from my side, “Well, I may just be the God of Blood and all, but I might be able to do something. With a bit of manipulation of the mind, I could set events in motion.” ”T̙̜̭̠̳͇ͅh̹̞̺e̙̭̺̗̤̝ṉ͖ ̛͈̤̖̰̪̟d͢o͓͓͓͕͞ ̡͙t̝̙̯ͅh̷͇̘̗̱̤̬͖a̻t̡̬,̱͖ ̱̺̮̦̟K̴̭͖̯͓h̵o͏͕̜r̸̼͖̙n̯̺e̡̳̩͕̤,̻̺͕ ͅb̲̙̘̘̱̱̀e̤̙̭̞̩͕̝͘f̩̥̹͝ǫr͡e̯͓͉ ̬̩͕ͅͅtị͈m̩̭͚̼̜̝̭e͢ ̢̟̮͈ͅh͍̭̬̗a͉͚̭̰͖s ̳͈̟p̖͉͈̦a͙͓͍̘̻ͅs҉̥͉s̙̫̘̘͠e̦̪͓d͔̦͈̭̮̞̲.̛̥̻̪” He smugly smiles, “As you wish, Nezperdian.” I hear the steps of hooves up to me, “And what about me, Lord?” ”Ỳ̩̦o͇͇̯̯̖̹ͅu̥̼̙̗͕͈͚͟,͙̙̳̼̩̝͓͘ B̟͡l̻u̷̖̹e̵̠̻̺͕͇͇bl̹͘o͎̝̗͈͓͕͡o͖̺̻̘d͎̤̘̬̯͈͜,̥̭̠̼̫̭ͅ ͜s̛h̩͉̬͇͙̱̰a̺̻͕̞̞̤ͅl̯̲͓͙̯̩̫ḽ̩̱̳̗̪̮ ̪̺p̯̥̰̣͉͈̞r̫̯͉o͎͓̬v͈͔̯e̮͇̗ ̻̪͖y̝̫̪͙̤̦͓ou̞̞͔͝r͔̳̘̰̲̯̩s̨̬͚̗̘e͇͖̝l͜f̘͉͚͇̭̖ ̠͙̫̼o͙̼̝͓ͅr͍̥̮͘ ̮̘̮d̶̦ị̯̪͕ę̘̖͕͙͈ͅ.̠̥̭͚̠́ͅ ̴͈͚̱̗̰̣͉A͇̥̦̳c̥̤̯̝̳͙̰͘c̥͓̳͓̙ę͖̲̣̩̭l̙͔̖͇̰̘͔͘è͚r̢̯̭͖̙a̵ṭe̩ ҉͓t̛h̼̠̠̰̭̦͞e҉̠̳̫̥̦͖ ̮̜̙̩͚͚e͚͙̣̤̻n͖̦e͙͔̝̥̦̹͞m̩̞͇͇̰̫i͈͍͓͞e͎͍̟̮s̞͙͇͘ ͕̯m̱̩͖̞̯o̹̙͍̼͙̖v͡e̤͉̪̤s̠̪̜, ҉͔w͖̠͎̲̖̭͕͘h̜͍̰́a̪̱͇̣̳͙t̢̘̝̺e̛̟̺v̝ḛr̦̮̣̬ ̴̘͚̙͍͎̬w̲͔̘a̰͕̣̗̠y̯̯̼̪͉ ͖͙̗͇͙̞y͔̤o͓u̪̗̹̲̣ ͏͎̦śh̴̪̳̺͇̫a̝̰͎̼l͔͍̝̠̞l͜.̖͙̞̱̳͜ͅ” He laughs, “I shall simply go to them in their dreams.” ”W̳̪͞e̺̫̩̻ ͚do͇̥͉̺̥̝n̞̰̯͈͠’͙͉̹̣̬t̸̝̲̜̙ͅ ͈b̰è̳̰̖̪̗͈̻l̺̹i̯͈̬̪̳͙ev̗̺̠͞e̩̺̬͚ ̛͔̟̙̲̱W͖̳͙̣̣̩͜e̯ a҉̱s̗̦̣̠͙͍͟ͅk͙͉̥͈e̹͍̱d̷͓̞ ̼̻͍̻͈͖͜f͚͓͕͠o҉̯̪͇̟̗̺r͏̳͇ ̷̟͚͚a̴̝̤n̶̺͈̖̪ ̟̗̝̹ͅe̮̤̖x̳̯̝p͚̩̘̫la͖n͖̥͙̘̙̰ͅa͙t҉į̭̻͕o͘n͎̯͙̗,̱͈̱̩̖ ̙̩̖̭̻w̶͔̫̱̺o͖̥̼͕͙͓rm̝̲̩̤͘.͕̯̞” The follower than disappears in a flash. I look over Sentinel. ——— “Come on, no scavengers have gotten there!” Sure Shot shouts to her brother, Sure Shield. “You sure there ain’t a reason nopony gone there? I’ve heard it’s haunted.” It’s currently time for them to chose where to scavenge next, as they survive off selling that scrap and junk they collect. “Psh, there’s no such things as ghosts, it’s just a story! I’ve heard that the most powerful gun in existence is there, ‘Ravens Talons’! Imagine how powerful that is! And nopony has scavenged it, plenty of junk!” They are currently arguing weather to go to Lord Ravens military base. Sure Shield sighs, “Fine, we’ll give it a try. You best hope it ain’t infested with Deathclaws or Manticores.” They ready their equipment, “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Sure Shot loads her sniper as Sure Shield loads his shotgun. “Let’s just go, don’t want to get hit by any raiders.” Sentinel nods from his position on the wall, “I’ll get the others.” ——— Footnote: Level Up. New Perk Added: New Life — Your town has grown by 200. You grow 200 HP.