Fallout Equestria: Clean Slate

"I've always believed that we have the power to control our futures."

Crystal Empire - Precious Stone Heights - Crystalline Arcanum Institute - thirty years prior to the Last Day

The vision shard bathed the darkened lecture hall in a soft glow as images from history played out within the projection shimmering before the podium. From King Sombra's rise to power, to the invasion of the Royal Sisters, to the Empire's disappearance and return. The sheen of her glasses shining in the gloom, Clear Shine's heart thudded in her chest, but, with conscious effort, she continued with her presentation.

"-and so the Crystal Heart was recovered, the Tyrant's shadow was at last lifted, and the Age of Subjugation came to an end in a wave of magic that rippled throughout the Empire." She focused her thoughts on the shard, and, with an audible click, the vision of the Crystal Heart hung suspended before the podium, radiating comfort and the promise of better days to come. "And we experience this same magic wave each year during the Crystal Faire reflecting our love and hope across the land. A tradition dating all the way back to the time of the first queen."

She paused for a moment, fidgeting with her que cards. She hadn't looked at them once throughout her speech but their presence gave her confidence to proceed to the crux of her speech.

Now or never, she thought to herself, focusing again.

"But how often do we think about just what that wave actually is?" With another click came an animation of the Crystal Heart absorbing energy represented by wavey lines and sparkles being generated by three cartoon ponies. "What most ponies don't know is that the Crystal Heart is actually a mystic conduit that absorbs the ambient thaumaturgic forces of the surrounding environment and the empathic fields naturally produced by the emotions of living beings, most notably ponies." Click. The scene changed to the Heart glowing brighter and brighter until it unleashed a burst of power that rippled across a map of Equestria. "And over the course of its annual cycle, that energy builds up until it's released in a single thaumaturgic burst." Click. An image of a city illuminated with thousands upon thousands of lights. "This energy, if harnessed, could, plausibly, provide power to a city the size of Manehattan for decades, centuries even."

Click. Headlines of major newspapers materialized.

EQUESTRIA COAL MINES RUN DRY

NO DEAL! ZEBRAS REJECT GEM TRADE REFORMS

TRAGEDY AT LITTLEHORN!

PEACE TALKS BREAK DOWN! WAR ON THE HORIZON!

"The runaway coal industry has resulted in an unprecedented energy crisis, not to mention the devastating impact on the environment. Our southern neighbors are at each other's throats, and it's only a matter of time before their war spills into our borders. Solutions are needed and they are needed now, which brings me to my proposal..." Click. The image of the Heart flickered and vanished to be replaced by a detailed three dimensional model of a bizzare device resembling a large capsul surrounded by six crystals connected by tubing to the central structure containing the Crystal Heart suspended over a cooling chamber. Scrawled notations and equations flowed from top to bottom as though it were raining numbers and figures within the projection. "This thaumaturgic reactor can harness the amplified magic of the Crystal Faire..."

"Thank you, Miss Shine," a curt voice cut in. "That will be quite enough."

Abruptly the vision shard flickered and died taking the projection with it and the glowstones illuminated the lecture hall eliciting a startled "eep!" from Clear as she dropped her cards and her glasses slid down her muzzle. The shard clattered unceremoniously to the floor, it's glow extinguished it returned to its dull iridescent color.

Clear Shine resisted the impulse to squat down and recover her fallen cards. Best preserve some shred of dignity. The Institute Board of Regents had already left their seats, muttering amongst themselves as they filed toward the exit. The term "crackpot" was used with some regularity.

Clear Shine knew that if she let them leave without saying a word, it was all over. She glanced at her cards. She had gone over her presentation ad nauseam last night and every night leading up to last night for the past month in anticipation for this day. There was nothing in her cards that would help this situation. Clear Shine sucked in a breath and adjusted her glasses. She was going to have to go off script.

"Esteemed Regents, please consider what your walking away from," the crystal pony implored plaintively. The Regents, in turn, regarded Clear Shine in stony silence and she held each of their gazes.

Okay, thought the crystal pony to herself. I've regained their attention. Now what? Oh sweet Cadence! This was easier when the room was dark and I couldn't see them. Now I can see them seeing me! Okay, don't panic! Relax Clear. We don't want a repeat of the Unseen-and-Untold-Show-and-Tell. I know! I'll try picturing them naked. Wait. They're already naked! Why did I think this would work?! Shale!

"And what, pray tell," inquired the curt voice that had cut off Clear Shine's presentation. "Are we walking away from?"

"Arch Chancellor Feldspar, with all due respect," the crystal mare spoke quickly. "This device could provide the world with a clean, efficient, energy source. Not to mention the impact it could have on magic and technology for years to come. And...and..."

Clear shrank beneath the whithering glare the Arch Chancellor of the Crystalline Arcanum Institute. All at once, her carefully considered and well-worded arguments died on her tongue.

Feldspar sighed and removed his spectacles. He was an elderly crystal stallion with a white opal coat, whose luster had faded with age, a receding smoky quartz mane, and a cutie mark of a scroll wrapped in a red ribbon. His hard, craggy features were set in a permanent frown, and at that moment, it was fixed squarely on the young mare at the podium. He had been Arch Chancellor of the Institute since before the reign of Sombra and had continued his tenure after the Empire's return. He was a conservative academic of the old school and had dim views of ideas he considered fanciful. And, of course, he was the one pony above all the Regents that Clear needed to persuade in order for her project to move forward.

"Miss Shine," the Arch Chancellor spoke, putting an extra emphasis on the word "miss" that rankled the crystal mare. Not a good start. "This Institute was built to uphold the ideals of higher learning and bettering ponykind through science and knowledge and has done so from its founding through the Age of Subjugation. Not only is what you propose dangerous, it boarders on blasphemy." Clear Shine's ears involuntarily flattened, though the older pony never raised his voice.

"I..." Clear wavered before finding her voice. "I respectfully disagree, Sir."

"Oh? My apologies then. I must have misheard you when you mentioned your intent to use the Empire's most powerful and sacred artifact as a glorified battery for your...passion project. Even drew us a little picture. The Marble Sculpture School of Fine Arts is just down the road. I'm sure they will be more amenable to your active imagination."

"I didn't just dream these finding up, Arch Chancellor," protested Clear Shine, trying to keep the indignant heat from her voice. "The blueprints I've shown you are the result of years of exhaustive study and observation of the Heart. All that's needed now is for the Board to appeal to the Crown for practical application in a controlled environment, and..."

"I shall spare you the burden of uncertainty, young lady," interrupted Feldspar. "The Board of Regents denies your proposal. The Crystal Heart is invaluable to the Empire's survival, and the ensured safety and happiness of its populace. Not for indulging a graduate student's flights of fancy. I shall inform the Crystal Guard to bar your access to the Atrium until further notice."

"You can't do that!" the crystal pony shrieked. "This project could help us finally join the modern world on equal footing, but you're all keeping us trapped in the past as sure as Sombra did!"

"Furthermore," Feldspar growled, his old eyes flashing dangerously at the mention of the Tyrant's name. "Were you not your mother's daughter, I would have your lab privileges revoked, your credentials suspended, and you dragged bodily before an inquiry to determine whether you are in fact fit for this Institute. Fortunately for your career in academia, my hooves are tied in that regard."

"B-but, but..."

"'Work hard, learn, and use your skills to better Equestria'," intoned the Arch Chancellor. "A worthy goal for any pony to pursue. You however seem content to waste your considerable intellect in pursuit of these fanciful notions. Your theories are the worst of popular tripe, your methods are highly questionable, and your findings are laughable at best, heretical at worst. In short, you, Clear Shine, are a poor scientist."

Stricken mute, Clear could only watch in stunned silence as Feldspar swept out of the lecture hall, the Regents following behind in short order, leaving her alone at the lectern. Hot tears formed at the edges of her vision as Clear Shine began to breathe heavily.

Huh, she thought absently to herself. Didn't throw up. Weird. Well, score one for the ol' win column... All at once, her stomach somersaulted as she felt her gorge rise. Oh, there we go.

Holding a hoof over her mouth, Clear dashed out of the lecture hall, threw open the double doors, narrowly avoided colliding with and subsequently barfing upon a yellow pegasus, who let out a startled squeak as the crystal pony careened past, before mercifully finding the restroom.

The ol' win column was to remain vacant it seemed.

-oOo-

Several erupting moments later, Clear washed the acid taste of sick from her mouth in the bathroom sink, and splashed cold water into her face. After toweling off, wiping the fog from her glasses' lenses, she caught sight of her reflection in the mirror as she struggled to catch her breath. She couldn't tell if her light rose eyes were bloodshot from the sleepless nights spent in anticipation for this day or from the fresh tears of disappointment and anxious nausea from its ultimate result. A glistening sheen of nervous sweat covered her light emerald coat, her cutie mark, the image of a magnifying loupe emblazoned on her flank, glinting beneath the glowstone lights. She ran her hooves through her Capri blue mane - painstakingly arranged into a now disheveled Gibson Mare fashion - in frustration.

Years of research. Months of preparation. Hours of building up mental fortitude for this presentation. All of it down the proverbial drain because the Regents still wanted to pretend the crystal ponies haven't spent the last millennium in cursed chrono-stasis. The crystal mare calmly placed her frames on her nose. Then she let loose.

"Bucking fossils!" Clear Shine cried, her voice echoing off the tiles. "'Dedicated to the betterment of ponykind through science and knowledge' my left flank! Is it any wonder the Empire is still in the dark ages?! And all because those...those...clods are afraid of possibility!"

From behind her fluttered a whimper like a dove's coo, so soft it almost didn't register. Clear whirled around to come muzzle-to-muzzle with the yellow pegasus she had almost bowled over in her frantic haste to void the contents of her stomach. At least she would be muzzle-to-muzzle if the trembling mare weren't cowering on the bathroom floor, attempting to hide behind her hooves. All at once, Clear Shine's frustration with the Board, and her anger with the Arch Chancellor in particular, dissolved and were replaced by a deep sense of shame and an overwhelming desire to give this poor pony a comforting hug.

"Miss?" the crystal pony ventured tenatively, trying not to startle the pegasus any more than she already had. "Are you alright?" A large blue eye peered up at Clarity between buttercream hooves. "I'm sorry," came a whisper so imperceptible the crystal pony thought she might have imagined it.

"No, no," Clear said softy, attempting a smile. "I'm sorry. I didn't know anypony else was in here. Not that I make a habit of raging at the heavens in public restrooms, mind you. It's just been a rough day...week...month. Rough month."

Seemingly heartened by the crystal mare's assurance she had done nothing wrong, the pegasus mare straightened to a standing position, though there remained a somewhat cringing quality to her posture, as though she thought she would be attacked at a moment's notice. She also carried a pair of saddle bags emblazoned with the symbol of Equestria's Ministry of Peace, a pink butterfly super-imposed upon a scarlet cross. No doubt she was a medic in their employ. Now that she could see her properly, Clarity noticed that her large blue eyes had bags underneath them, a clear sign of physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion. Her long flowing pink mane, styled In a way that left her bangs covering half of her face, providing yet another barrier between herself and rest of the world, had strands of premature grey in it that a less perceptive pony might have missed but over time might bloom into streaks of age. This pegasus wasn't just timid, she was overwroght.

"I'm sorry," repeated the pony a bit more audibly this time. Her voice was so soft it was as though she were physically incapable of speaking above a murmur.

Clear Shine's glasses once again slid down the bridge of her muzzle as her face heated. For all the pegasus' shyness, or perhaps because of it, she was a very attractive mare. Crystal sweet corn! She could've been a model!. Blushing, she waved a hoof dismissively. "R-really, it was my fault. I-I shouldn't vent my spleen in a public restroom."

The yellow pegasus flushed adorably at the other mare's colorful terminology, but maintained her composure.

"Oh no," her pink bangs swishing side to side as the pony shook her head. "I meant, I'm sorry that you're having such difficulty. When you came out of the lecture hall, you seemed so distraught."

"Upset stomach is all," the crystal pony shrugged. The yellow pegasus smiled gently, regarding Clear with her large eyes overflowing with compassion and, all at once, she felt the overwhelming urge to open up to her. Instead she changed the subject. "Besides you seem to be having a hard time yourself. Lots of sleepless nights eh?"

The pegasus brushed at a lock of her mane self-consciously. "Is it that bad?"

The crystal pony immediately kicked herself. Stop insulting the nice mare! "Oh no! I'm sorry! Most ponies likely don't notice. It's just my special talent." She turned aside to display her cutie mark. "Apparently I'm 'very perceptive' and can pick up on little details other ponies might miss. At least, that's what my parents said at my Cute-ceanera."

The medical mare nodded. "That sounds like it could come in handy."

Clear snorted. "Less so than you'd think. As it turns out, ponies aren't all that interested in the truth. And pointing it out all the time doesn't win you many friends."

"Is that why you were so upset?"

Curses, thought the crystal pony. Cornered again. Finally she hung her head and let out a defeated sigh. "You're from Equestria right?"

"Why yes," the pegasus smiled brightly. "Ponyville originally, but now I spend most of my time in Canterlot."

Canterlot, huh? Clarity mused. Odd, she doesn't seem nearly snooty enough to rub elbows with Equestria's elite. Maybe that's why she's so stressed. Big city life doesn't agree with her.. "Are you familiar with the Empire's history?" she inquired.

The other mare studied her hooves uncertainly. "Well, I know it was one of the most advanced civilizations in the world before it...um..."

"The word your searching for is 'disappeared'," the crystal pony supplied drily

The pegasus blushed, "Err, right."

"It's true, we were the leaders in science, the arts, and the arcane. But that was over a thousand years ago. When the Tyrant cursed us, he put the Empire in a sort of hazy limbo, and according to survivor accounts, they couldn't remember any of what they experienced. And while we were gone, the rest of the world moved on. New discoveries were made. Innovations of science, medicine, and magic have reshaped Equestria into something we couldn't even recognize anymore. Meanwhile the Empire is stagnating. Do you know most doctors here still insist on using medical ice-leeches for blood-born illnesses, even though the rest of the world uses transfusions?"

"Oh my!" The delicate little pegasus looked as though she might faint.

"Yeah," agreed Clear Shine bitterly. "We may rock the appearance of a peaceful utopia, what with the sparkling crystal spires and shiny clean floors, but the truth is, we're so backwards that the average crystal pony still considers tin foil and indoor plumbing big news!"

"That must be very frustrating."

"You have no idea," the crystal pony muttered. "The worst part is, this Institute, which is supposed to promote new discoveries and ideas, is among the the most scientifically reactionary groups in the Empire. It's as though they believe everything worth discovering was discovered a millennium ago. Small minded pedants sit on the Board of Regents while true researchers and thinkers are forced to run in place. That, or they get sent to Madame Carnelian's Home for Troubled Minds."

The buttercream pony raised an eyebrow. "You're joking."

"Poor Professor Tanzanite," Clear shook her head sadly. "Really thought he was on to something with his elevator-shoes idea, but he couldn't get them off the ground."

The pegasus shuffled her hooves uncomfortably.

"Anyway, my proposal for my own project was denied and that's why I'm shouting at the ceiling tiles like a madpony. I didn't even make it to the end, before that dusty old relic Feldspar butted in."

"This project sounded really important to you."

"It was going to be a game-changer."

"Would you like to show your presentation to me?"

Clear Shine blinked and studied the yellow pegasus. There was no mirth or malice in her smile. Her big, tired eyes held nothing but compassion and, perhaps, even a faint sparkle of interest. She was being genuine.

"Here? Now? I couldn't...I mean, I'm sure I've wasted enough of your time on my sob story."

"Actually, I was on my way to meet a few friends at the Crystal FairExpo," explained the gentle mare. "But they'll understand if I'm a bit late."

"I-I just don't," Clear floundered for words but kept getting lost in that kind gaze. Those eyes! the crystal pony screamed internally. They're like irresistible vortices of love and tolerance! I can't look away!

"Please?" the yellow pegasus entreated one last time and Clear Shine knew she was lost.

"Alright, let's begin with the Tyrant's Reign..."

Within minutes Clear Shine was breezing through all the bullet points of her speech. Her cards had been left on the floor of the lecture hall, but she didn't notice their absence as she explained the mechanics of the Heart Reactor while the mare listened with a polite smile nodding her head every paragraph or so.

"-thus, safely and cleanly powering the Empire and no doubt paving the way to a brighter tomorrow!"

She grinned at her singular audience expectantly. The pegasus mare blinked before clopping her hooves together in quiet applause.

"Yay!" she cheered softly.

"You liked it?" asked Clear. "Really?"

"Of course," the other pony replied.

"What did you like best?" demanded the scientist excitedly. "The part about using the coils to redirect the excess energy? Or-or the bit about utilizing the arcanum arrays to enable free-flowing power?"

The yellow mare's eyes darted about like a cornered mouse's before she breathed, "Um...both?"

After a beat, Clear Shine stated in a flat tone, "You didn't understand any of that did you?"

"Well, some of it, but most of it just went over my head." The pegasus appeared to droop like a wilting flower. "I'm sorry. I'm not a very technical pony."

"It's fine," the crystal pony smiled, trying to hide her annoyance. "I'm just glad to have somepony actually listen to my ramblings and not threaten my career."

"Happy to help," the buttercream pony returned the smile. "Everypony needs a sympathetic ear every once in a while."

"Anyway I should go," Clear Shine said, recovering her book bag and moving towards the bathroom door. "The Crystal Faire's about to begin and I promised my dad I'd meet him at his panel at the Expo. Besides, I wouldn't want to hold your friends up any longer."

She opened the door and paused before stepping through. She looked over her shoulder considering the kind pegasus, so overworked, so bone weary, and yet she took the time out of her busy day to listen to the problems of a total stranger.

"If you don't mind my asking," said Clear. "The Crystal Faire is in the center of town. The Institute is a bit of a detour if you're on your way to meet your friends there."

The medical pony giggled softly. "Actually I was hoping for some help in my own research in healing spells. I know which herbs can dull pain or which poultice can fight infection, but when it comes to truly grievous injuries, I need the help of a unicorn. Even then they're only able to help one patient at a time, and out in the field the best they can do are patch jobs before sending troops back into battle. We need stronger magic, and we have too few medical ponies. I was hoping somepony in the Institute could help me."

The crystal mare thought for a moment. "You might find something in the archives, but most of the spell books were destroyed during the Age of Subjugation. Besides, crystal magic works differently from Equestrian magic. I'm not sure how much help it would be." Clear Shine's shoulders slumped. "Sorry, I wish I could do more for you."

"Actually," smiled the yellow mare. "You may have been more help than you think."

"How so?"

"Your presentation," the pegasus explained. "What I found most interesting was how the Heart gathered the innate magic from every crystal pony in the Empire and released it in a single mystic wave. All that magic focused into a single spell."

Understanding dawned upon Clear. "You're thinking the same principle can be applied to unicorn magic?"

"Could it work?"

Clear Shine ran mental calculations. "Theoretically," she said at length. "At least according to Haycart's Principles of Prestidigitation, Clover the Clever's Thaumaturgic Convergence, and Starswirl the Bearded's Tome of Comprehension. There are speculations of spell casters working in tandem to augment the power of their magic. But what you're hoping to accomplish has never been put into practice before and would require untold power, beyond even what Starswirl dreamed up in his lesser known work, Sloshed Spells or Some Ramblings I Wrote Down on this Napkin I Found at the Pub. Hundreds, if not thousands, of unicorns would be required, focusing on a single spell. Not exactly practical in a combat situation, even if you could accomplish such a thing."

"No," sighed the buttercream pony. "I suppose not."

"Although," the scientist rubbed her chin in thought. "The arcanum crest arrays might help."

"You mentioned 'arrays' before," said the medical pony. "Just what are they?"

"In a laypony's terms, they're magic circles," explained Clear. "We mostly use them to imprint images on vision shards or synthesize glow stones but in a pinch, arcanum arrays can be used as focusing devices to amplify magic."

The yellow mare furrowed her brow as she processed this information. "So...it's like a magnifying lens for magic?"

Clear Shine hesitated. "You're on the right track. Here let me show you."

The crystal pony rummaged through her book bag and produced a paper and pen. Pen in mouth, she drew an intricate, stylized double spiral symbol bisected by a line of three circles, the center, larger than its fellows, resembling a staring eye, all encompassed within a larger circle. She then went to a sink, filled it with water and dropped her strange design into the fluid. Then she took one of the medic's hooves in her own. Their eyes met briefly and Clear's cheeks practically steamed. Stay on task, Clear Shine, she reminded herself as she swallowed nervously. "N-now place your hooves on either side of the sink like so, and think warm fluffy thoughts. Imagine you're floating through the air, think of the smell of grass after a summer morning shower, remember the feeling you get whenever the sun is hidden." The pink-maned mare raised a skeptical eyebrow but did as she was bidden, closing her eyes in concentration. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, before the medical mare's eyes, a soft white light flashed from the sink and the water steamed into the air and tightened and coalesced into a tiny, fluffy white cloud. The buttercream pony opened her eyes and saw the cloud bobbing merrily before her. Then she glanced at Clear Shine, smirking knowingly. Then back at the cloud.

She serenely took a breath through her nose and released it out her mouth, sending the cloud drifting lazily around the washroom.

"Hubba-zuh-WHAAAAAAA?!" the pegasus shrieked, falling backwards on her haunches in shock. She stared agape at the floating fluff ball and Clear had to stifle a giggle at her over the top response. Guess she can manage volumes above murmurs after all. As it turns out the quiet mare is quite the screamer. The crystal pony blinked in alarm and mentally face hoofed. Well, I just thought that.

"Did-did I do that?" the medical mare inquired tentatively, resuming her more subdued tone.

"We both did."

"But...how? I'm not a cloud technician. I had the worst marks in weather class back in the academy."

"Like I said," the scientist provided cheerfully. "Crystal magic works differently, but it's not mutually exclusive from unicorn magic. All ponies possess an innate magic; pegasi can stride the heavens and command the weather and earth ponies' connection to the...well...earth make them ideal farmers and stonemasons. But unicorns can manifest and control raw magical power through their horns which projects and controls their own innate magic. Crystal magic is tied to emotion rather than study and ability, which makes utilizing it for practical purposes...frustrating. That's where arcanum arrays come in. They're kind of an amplification charm. We Crystal ponies don't have much in the way of innate magic but we can give other ponies a mystical leg up. I drew the crest symbol for 'air', placed it in water for moisture and had you imprint your emotional stimuli for 'cloudy thoughts' into the crest while it was submerged, drawing on your natural affinity for the sky to create a cloud and viola! Out popped this little guy!"

By the time she had finished her speech, the tiny cloud had already dissolved. Clear Shine blinked and rubbed her foreleg sheepishly. "It's not very impressive, I know. I'm not much of a mage, and crystal magic isn't an exact science. You and I won't be calling down any tempests any time soon, but in the hooves of an experienced unicorn magic-user it'd be able to draw upon the moisture of the air around us to create a cold snap in the bathroom. And perhaps, if a framework of crests were spread out among your mages, you might just cast..."

"A megaspell?" offered the other mare, a hopeful smile spreading across her features.

Clear snorted in amusement. "Well, theoretically."

The pegasus' blue eyes welled up and she made a joyful squee noise as she fluttered a solid foot off the floor. "My friend knows more about magic than anypony I know! If anypony could make this work, it's her!" All at once, Clear Shine found herself enveloped in a yellow, feathery hug. "Thank you! Oh, thank you so much! This is going to save so many lives!"

The crystal pony flushed, "Only if it works. Like I said, this is all very, very theoretical." Clear protested weakly, desperately trying not to think of how warm and soft and beautiful mare pressing against her was. "You'd need the right symbols for the spell you're trying to cast and while you could conceivably achieve the desired result with dozens of unicorns as opposed to the thousands you would otherwise need, you'd still have to sync up their emotions with the correct stimuli in order to..."

"This is a huggy moment," whispered the happy mare as her gentle eyes took on an almost dangerous sheen. "Don't ruin it."

"Yes, ma'am," Clear immediately shut her trap. Evidently, this timid little pony has more steel in her than she lets on. Maybe she liked to get dominant every once in a while. Think clean thoughts, brain!

After several awkward moments, Clear, her glasses fogging, was released, and the pegasus scrubbed a hoof over her eyes drying her happy tears. "Thank you again. If there's anything you need, anything at all..."

"Ah-ah," interjected the blushing crystal pony with a raised hoof. "Everypony needs a sympathetic ear right?"

The medical pony waved goodbye as Clear Shine hastily exited the bathroom before she embarrassed herself further. The Mare of the Ministry of Peace stood still for several moments, processing the possibilities of what she had just learned until there came a rustling in her saddle bags. The clasp came undone and out popped a little white rabbit with a perpetually sour expression on his face. He hopped in front of his owner/servant waving a small crystal shard of dull iridescence before her eyes. The pegasus picked it up in her hoof and examined it before realization dawned upon her.

"Oh dear," said Fluttershy. "I forgot to return this to her."
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
Level up! Level 2
You've gained the Good Listener perk!
Your increased charisma enables you to convince Wastelanders to share information they might otherwise keep to themselves, but be warned, nosey ponies tend to lose a nose!
Achievement! Invocation of Good Intentions

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