Fallout: Equestria - Memories

by TheBobulator

Chapter 7: Anything new on the insanity front?

A liquid dripping sensation pattering down onto my face dragged me out of my impromptu nap. I lazily reached up and wiped them off before attempting to go back to sleep. “Hey! She’s waking up!” somepony cried. He shook me gently, which I tried to pointedly ignore. “We have to go! Come on!”

Somepony unceremoniously dragged me to my hooves and forced me to follow them via the socially-accepted method of pushing. “Huh? Whererewe goin?” I mumbled drowsily. I couldn’t really focus on anything; everything just looked like a hazy blur. As we raced closer to a blue wall blocking our path, I asked the armored pony that had galloped into my field of view, “Wha’z goin’ on?”

The pony dragging me stopped and turned around. “We’re not out of the fire just yet! Doc, drop the back of the shield!” The blue wall in front of us disappeared and we continued forward.

A sudden and tremendously loud explosion erupted from behind us, and I jerked my head towards it. “Gah! Crap!” I watched a lab-coated unicorn drop to his knees and focus harder on his magic. “I can’t hold the spell much longer!” he screamed as magic started sparking from his horn. Another similarly armored pony dashed over, draped the doctor-looking one over his back, and followed us out.

“Doc’s ‘bout to do drop it!” the armored pony yelled. “Move!” The unicorn draped over his back dropped his head and the blue glow from his horn faded away. The dome around us shattered in a ear-deafening crash. “Dammit! Run for it!”

About to do drop. What amazing wording. “Wait, what’s going on? Who are you again?” I asked the one dragging me.

“Oh Celestia’s mercy, not again…” he groaned. “We can figure this out later!” He roughly tossed me into a shallow trench. “Can you shoot?” I shakily nodded. “Here!” He tossed me my anti-material rifle and turned back to the slavers chasing us. “It should still be loaded! Keep those launchers off of us!” He limped forward and opened fire with his grenade launcher.

I started to panic when he gave me the rifle. What do I do? What did he actually expect me to do with this, especially against the number of slavers advancing on us? It took a harrowing moment for me to figure out how the scope worked on this again. Bipod, bipod. Deploy it, Frosty!

Calm yourself. Breathe. Remember your training.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Calm. Yeah, just relax. Imagine yourself in a spa. A battlefield in a spa, maybe. Inhale, exhale. Inhale. Exhale. I opened my eyes, feeling slightly less stressed. Reflexively, I ejected the clip and checked my ammo. Four rounds left. I slammed it back in and racked the bolt. “Call ’em!” I shouted back. “I’ve got four rounds!”

“Sniper at your two! Third floor!” a gas masked pony yelled from my right.

His instructions prompted me to shift my aim. My talon twitched, and I turned the sniper into a fine red mist. “Got him.” I racked the bolt again and peered down the sight. “Three left.” A large tube appeared in the corner of my vision and I immediately put a bullet in it. A fraction of a second later I was rewarded with a large fiery explosion and a lot of flying limbs. “Two,” I informed the rest of the group as I cycled the next bullet into the chamber.

“Rocket teams at your eleven!” somepony yelled. “Get them!”

I swung my rifle again and caught sight of three slavers wielding rocket launchers slowly advancing on our position. “I see them.” I placed another bullet into the middle slaver’s rocket launcher and watched it explode in a violent cloud of blood and fire. “One left,” I reminded them. “Make it count.”

The gas mask pony yanked me out of the trench the moment before an explosion blasted a crater in the trench I was hiding in. “Tunnel vision, newb. We. Are. Leaving!” he shouted into my ear. “Get up and move!” I staggered to my hooves and stumbled after him. “Through the hatch!” I wordlessly jumped down the hatch and landed at the bottom.

I was quickly joined by the armored stallions, the unicorn, and the gas mask pony. “How’s Doc doing?” the unhelmeted armored stallion asked the pony carrying the unicorn, presumably carrying the one named Doc. “He up and about yet?”

“I’ll be fine,” Doc grumbled and slid off the armored pony’s back. “What’s wrong with Frosty?” I was very confused about what was going on, and I was probably giving all of them my best I-have-no-idea look. Or at least I thought I was- my normal expression might have looked exactly the same.

“We were hoping you could enlighten us,” the unhelmeted Ranger said.

Uh, what’s going on up there, brain?

I don’t even—

“Well, I guess being that full of painkillers is probably leaning toward lethally comical levels,” Doc remarked, walking over to me. “Okay, what’s going on in there, Frosty?” He pulled a small light out of his lab coat and shined it into my eyes. “I need symptoms.”

“I don’t know. I can’t brain to this right now.” I groaned and rubbed my head. “Not a whole lot is making sense right now; I can’t remember a bunch of stuff either.”

“Crap. Well, that’s probably partly my fault.” Doc sighed and put away his light. “As far as I can tell, basic functions are working just fine. I think you have a little brain damage to go with your earlier brain damage.” Fortunately, I knew that multiple debuffs didn’t stack so I would hopefully be fine. “Judging by your confusion, you don’t remember your amnesia from before. Wow, that sounded smarter before I said it.”

“Basically what happened is you got a little brain damaged before we met you, then during the battle your heart stopped and you died for a little bit,” Rumcake told me. Aha! That was his name! Okay, at least I was making progress. Wait… what? “Turns out death is a side effect of Doc’s amazing battle drug.”

Doc held up his hooves defensively. “Hey! She’s a pegasus! I kinda thought her heart could take it. At least we now know that combining that much adrenaline and Stampede and Hydra and all the other things I tossed in there apparently only works in theory!”

“Wait, you pumped me full of what?” I screamed at him. “How did you not know about the side effects? Death is not an acceptable side effect!”

Doc sighed and sat down. “Tabber, cover our escape. They won’t be following us down here and I think Frosty deserves an explanation.” The gas masked pony pressed a button as the hammering on the hatch got louder. “At the time, it seemed like a good idea. Stampede for firepower, Hydra for healing, cranberry juice, healing potions imbued with a detection spell to speed up the Hydra, Med-X to keep you going, and a whole lot of other stuff to keep you alive.”

“Speaking of which, that reminds me,” I growled as I stomped over to him. “My ribcage does not also function as a cupholder!” I roared as I punched his muzzle as hard as I could. “Oh that felt good,” A decision immediately regretted, as I shook the uncomfortable tingles out of my hoof. Doc was lying on the ground with a hoof-shaped bruise slowly forming on the side of his muzzle.

“Okay, I deserved that,” he mumbled while rubbing his muzzle. An explosion on the surface shook the entire tunnel and dust fell from the ceiling.

“And now they’re gone.” Tabber laughed quietly while he put away the detonator. “Well, it’s been a blast working with you, but I’ve got to get to my extraction point. I’ll accompany you back to the Hills to restock, then I’m out.”

We sat there in an awkward silence, just breathing heavily and completely spent from the combat we’d just been in. Rumcake fiddled with his grenade launcher. Baked had his chestplate off attempting to scrape dried blood and gore off his armor. Tabber was just sitting there, staring off into the distance. “So… what happens now?” I asked my gathered group.

“Well, they’re all dead. Time to go shopping!” Doc happily exclaimed. “Back to town, then!” All of us got up and trudged off in the direction of Happy Hills, completely exhausted and ready to collapse at a moment’s notice.

After the hectic mess we had just gone through, none of us really felt like talking. I was too busy trying not to inhale too deeply, since doing so hurt quite a lot. The rest of me probably wouldn’t start hurting until later. Maybe I could take some time off to be angsty and brooding while I did absolutely nothing productive. Hm. That was an idea, I suppose.

“—yway, finally some good news for my little ponies living north of Manehattan. Turns out some Steel Ranger spec ops an’ a plucky little pegasus have completely leveled the Rad Lads Slaver’s stronghold a few miles from Happy Hills.”

I wasn’t expecting the calm silence I was marinating in to be broken by Rumcake’s radio. Good to know that wastelanders had some sort of tilted propaganda to listen to in the spare time. Hold on, “plucky little pegasus”? Did I look plucky? Hopefully if I remembered, I’d see if the Rangers had saved a dictionary so I could look up the word.

“Now, some of you might be askin’: What kind of Steel Rangers actually help ponies? My answer: I have no idea. Maybe they finally figured out that the wasteland needs their help? I like to think so, but most likely those slavers got their filthy hooves on some good prewar tech. Steel Rangers love that prewar tech. If you kind folks down at Happy Hills see them, go ahead and give em’ a wave. Well that’s the news, children! This has been DJ Pon3, bringing you the news. No matter how bad it hurts.”

“Eh, I guess any publicity is better than no publicity,” Rumcake muttered.

“Steel Ranger special operative, eh? I like it.” Doc grinned at the Steel Rangers walking in front of him.

“I think the DJ was talking about them, idiot,” Tabber grunted, whacking Doc in the back of his head.

“I don’t know. DJ Pon3 sees everything, right? It sounds like he was talking about our group and Frosty,” Doc replied, rubbing the back of his head. “Otherwise… I don’t know. I just want to eat a ton of apple chips and take a nap. I’m tired.”

“Ugh. Same. Feels like all the bones in me body’s broke,” Baked groaned.

“Don’t lie. You didn’t do much anyway,” Rumcake replied. “I, on the other hoof, don’t want to move anymore.” He continued limping along silently.

We continued along in silence until we reached the exposed service tunnel which was our way back. Unfortunately, it was several meters out of reach from my groundborne companions. My chest ached and burned, reminding me that I might not have the ability to get up there either.

“Well, maybe we should have thought of that,” Tabber muttered, staring at the sheer wall in front of us. “Seapony Energy tunnels are up there. How do we—?” He turned to look at me. “Hey, can you still fly up there?”

I slowly flapped my wings and weakly grinned. “Sure.” I grunted with effort as I cumbersomely flew up to the hole in the wall. I climbed the last few feet using the exposed rebar and collapsed at the top. I inched my way back over to the edge and asked the rest of them, “So, how are you four going to get up here?”

Tabber pointed his hoof up at me and a tiny little hook sprang out of a wrist-mounted device that wasn’t there a moment ago. The hook buried itself into the concrete ceiling and then he began to be pulled up by his bucking grappling hook. “Yeah, how are the three of you going to get up here?” he gloated as he stood next to me at the top.

Doc sighed and closed his eyes. His horn weakly glowed with magic and eventually enveloped Rumcake in his blue magical field. “Hold onto your lunch.” He strained with effort and suddenly flung Rumcake at the opening.

“What the buuuu—” he squealed, before colliding with the wall next to me with a crash. “A little warning would have been nice,” he growled as he comically slid to the ground.

Doc sat there, panting and sweating from exertion. “Okay, you next!” He grabbed a protesting Baked in his magic field and flung him at the opening. Unfortunately, Baked bounced off the wall next to the hole and hit the ground with a crash. “Crap. Okay, let’s try that again…” Doc picked up Baked again and flung him one more time, this time missing the tunnel entirely.

“Stop! I think I can—” Baked started. He was cut off by Doc picking him up again. “No! NONONONO—”

“Hold on. Third time’s the charm.” Doc was struggling but he still managed a weak laugh. He flung Baked again, and finally managed to smash him into the same space Rumcake was occupying a moment ago on the wall. “There you go!” He collapsed and groaned “I’m completely spent. Somepony help me.”

I rolled my eyes and glided down to the bottom. “I got you. Hold on.” I wrapped my forelegs around his torso and painfully flew him over to the tunnel we were all standing around in. “Okay… we’re finally here…” I panted. So tired. Celestia, I need a break. Suddenly pain gripped my chest and I collapsed. What was happening? I couldn’t breathe!

“Hey! What’s wrong?” Rumcake asked urgently. I mewled in pain as the tightening in my chest became unbearable. “Doc! I need some help here!” He gently pushed me onto my back and held me in his forelegs. I gasped for breath as the grip on my chest continued to tighten.

Doc rushed over while I spasmodically writhed around in pain. “Crap. All that movement must have caused another attack.” He unzipped the trauma kit and took out a syringe. “Now, I knew I kept this stuff around for a good reason.” He injected me with it and the pain faded away. I let out a relaxed sigh and coughed. “Feel better?”

“Yeah,” I breathed. Doc offered a Med-X and I gratefully accepted it. A sudden realization struck me after the mind numbing happiness of Med-X washed through my system. “Wait. How much Med-X and crap have I taken today?” I asked as I clambered to my hooves.

Doc shrugged and slung the trauma kit back onto his back. “How would I know?”

“What?” I screamed. “How do you not know?” I lunged forward at him, but Rumcake grabbed me in an immobilizing bear hug. “Dammit, let me go!” Disregarding the potential health hazard to myself, I struggled to break Rumcake’s grip on me. “I have a doctor to kill!” I managed to wiggle my claw free and I swatted at Doc hopefully.

“Ah, ah, ah. None of that,” Doc chided. I growled and stretched just long enough to barely scratch the tip of his nose. “Ow! Hey!” He jumped back and held his snout in his hooves.

“C’mere, you,” Rumcake huffed. I flailed at Doc some more, until he grabbed my claw and pinned it to my body with his iron grip. “Play nice.”

I hissed and squirmed around. “Fine,” I muttered once I realized I couldn’t escape.

“What was that?”

“I’ll play nice,” I muttered louder. Sheesh. “Now let me go.”

Rumcake carefully released me and backed up. “Let’s just get back to town without killing each other.” I glared at Doc angrily. Rumcake stepped between us and steered me toward the edge of the group. “Enough with the angry glaring and more of the walking, okay?”

Convinced, I snorted and turned away from them. “If you keep that face up, it’ll stick like that.” Rumcake teasingly added.

Trying not to scowl at him was bothersome as I responded, “I’m not making a face.”

Doc gasped in mock horror. “We’re too late. It’s happened!”

The first thing I did when we got back to town was immediately collapse in the rafters of Rusty’s home, as opposed to seeking further medical attention since there was a very good chance I’d also get attention I wasn’t seeking in the first place.

Nothing like a nice long nap after a day of combat and heart failure.

Thanks for that, brain. Now that I thought of it, I’d noticed my chest twinged every now and then, but I hadn’t had another attack since the tunnels. Without specifically grabbing at anything in my pile of random soft things that I called my nest, I bundled myself up like a burrito of aches and pains and attempted to get some rest. Being surrounded by soft grubby cloth wasn’t anywhere as comfortable as a cloud mattress, but it still felt like it in my condition. I rustled my wings to get some softness under them as well. Soft Frosty, warm Frosty, purr, purr, purr.

Poke.

Dammit, not now.

Poke.

Stop it, I’m monologuing.

Poke. Poke. Poke.

“Dammit, why does everypony wake me with poking?” I whined, looking up to see who my current assailant was.

Lo and behold, I already had a visitor to keep me from getting any rest.

“Oh, hey, Broken Parts, what’s up?” Ugh, everything hurt so much… I weakly rolled into a sitting position and grudgingly stretched, sending small lances of pain through my body.

Broken Parts grinned at me and pulled out a small vial of Med-X. “Doc says you’ll probably need this,” she said, dropping it onto my pillow. I gratefully took the vial and injected it into my foreleg. “Feeling better?” I nodded with a small sigh. “That’s probably Med-X addiction kicking in.” I froze. What? “Don’t look so surprised. You’ve been using those for the past week or so, right? And being from the Enclave, I would assume you’ve used painkillers before.”

I groaned. She was right, and I couldn’t argue with the science. I’d probably built up a resistance to painkillers over the years, and recent heavy use was probably creating a dependency on the drug.

And whatever Doc had in that crap he injected us with.

Exactly, brain.

“Well, I guess it was bound to happen at some point.” I sighed and kicked the vial in disgust. “Where’s Rusty?” I asked.

“He’s working with Doc. Funny thing is, big bro’s got a thing for medicine.” She hopped back down to the floor and rummaged through a cabinet. “Who knew, right? Hopefully he doesn’t start taking everypony apart.” She pulled out her keycard and looped it around her neck. “You coming back to work anytime soon?” she asked hopefully.

I shook my head. “Ironically, I want to get a clean bill of health from Doc. Those are words that should not be in the same sentence.” She raised her eyebrow but didn’t say anything about it. “I’ll see you later, I guess.”

“Wait, where are you going?”

“Things and stuff. Don’t worry about it.” Broken Parts waved and left, off to do her own business.

“Well, time to see the Doc then. Wow, and now I’m talking to myself.” I shook my head and facehoofed. “Great job, brain,” I breathed to myself.

Shut up.

I sat back down and spread out my wings for a good preening. Let’s see… that primary’s broken. Yank. Loose tertials gotta go. Yank. Yank. Ya—“OW!” I spat out a few feathers that needed removing, along with the two next to them which should have stayed right where they were.

“Yo! What’s going on up there?” Rusty called. Eh? I peeked over the edge and gave him a friendly smile. “You feeling alright?”

I sighed again and ruffled my feathers a bit. “Just catching up on some grooming.” I flicked some feathers down at him and adjusted my wings. “When’d you get here?”

“Ran out of things to do and clean, so I just got back a moment ago,” He pointed at the space underneath my sleeping area. “There’s more down here, you know that? I sleep here.” Oh. Right. Wow, he could be really quiet. “Heading to Doc’s?”

I nodded and hopped down to the floor. “Yeah. Apparently he wants to talk to me and I gotta get some stuff figured out anyway. You got work?”

“Nah. Not really. Doc’s pretty much hired me as his assistant.” He smiled and pushed open the door. “Ladies first?” I rolled my eyes and grinned. Aww. He followed me outside and shut the door. “Anyway, a bunch of things changed in the day and a half you were gone.” Wait, what? Was our trip really that long? He didn’t catch my perplexion and continued, “Those Rangers you know brought back some of their friends and boy, are they happy.”

“What?” I asked, right as I caught the sight of a gigantic banner with the familiar winged sword and whatnot of the Steel Rangers. “Oh. I’m going to assume they moved in?” Rusty nodded vigorously and hopped in place.

“Isn’t it great?”

“I dunno…” Where they really here to help? Or were they here for the Seapony Energy ruins under the town? “They gave back your water talisman, then?”

Rusty nodded again. “Oh yeah! They also helped upgrade our defenses, but they did disband the militia. At least we’ll have more scrappers working the tunnels.” Okay, that was totally not suspicious at all. I filed that tidbit away for later.

We arrived at Doc’s clinic and I followed Rusty through to the back room, not before I idly greeted a familiar yellow mane on the way there. “Hey, Instant Noodles,” I automatically called out.

“Greetings,” she absentmindedly replied.

We pushed through the back doors and once again, Rumcake was out of his armor and propped up in a bed. “This is all your fault,” he huffed at me, pointing his cast-covered right foreleg. Baked was still standing in the corner from last time.

I attempted to sneak up on Baked and tip him over like last time, but before I could buck his armored flank, he growled. “Ye best not do that, lass.” His helmet slowly turned to face me. “Do I make meself clear?”

“Yeah, totally.” I sheepishly grinned and backed off. “So, what happened to you this time?” I asked Rumcake. “Fall down some stairs?”

He scoffed and replied, “I got shot up really badly while trying to get you to safety.” Ouch. Way to make me feel guilty for what happened at the slaver stronghold. “Honestly, this is worse than that time one somepony filled our bunker’s water with seahorses. Seahorses. Do you know how painfully those things thrash around in your stomach? And, did you know that seahorses live for months in your stomach? Because—and there’s the thing—they don’t. They were demon seahorses, I think. By the Goddesses, they bred in there! I had seahorses fucking in my stomach!” He sighed hard, rubbing his jaw. “Goddesses, why would somepony do that to our water?”

Baked Potato coughed. “Well, where else was I supposed to try out that ‘My Littlest Seahorse Creation and Raising’ kit?”

Slowly, oh so slowly, Rumcake turned his head to Baked Potato. “That… that was you?”

“Aye. I got that kit from some guy up in command who wanted to… I think they were trying to weaponize radioactive seahorses for… whatever reason, d’ya kenn?” He shrugged. “After they bred a whole family in your stomach and ye shat ’em out, command called the test a success. I got a raise from the whole thing for keeping me mouth shut, say true.” Baked Potato rubbed his chin. “I shudder to think of where my littlest seahorses are now.”

“I…” Rummy’s eye twitched. “You fished them out?”

“Aye, so I did,” Potato, tilting his head. “Why d’ya ask?”

“I… I…” He twitched ever harder. “I think I’m going to murder you for that. Right here. Right now. With my hooves.”

“You know,” I said, “I’m still here.”

“Good,” Rumcake growled. “You get to watch me murder our friend, Knight Baked Potato, on the grounds that he made me drink and then shit live seahorses.”

I sighed. “Hey, did you know that I now have an addiction to Med-X?” I yawned and scratched at my tangled mane. Wow, I needed a good brushing.

“And we can deal with that problem,” Rumcake said, fidgeting with his blanket, “after I murder him.”

Potato scoffed. “I’d like to see ya try.”

“Do you know just how damn much I outrank you?” Rumcake hissed, adjusting his bed pillow.

“Not nearly as much as that shadowy agent from an unknown but nevertheless menacing part of the Steel Rangers.”

I rolled my eyes. “I’m tired and I feel totally out of it right now. I’ll leave you two lovebirds alone, but, uh, where’d our secret agent pony go?” I asked.

“He’s resting up in the Smashed Spritebot Inn,” Doc said while holding a clipboard in his magical field. “He’ll be here for a few days before he leaves for whatever he needs to do. As for the rest of the Rangers that showed up, I believe they took over the militia barracks.” He levitated one of his bonesaws out. “Now, let’s get that cast off, shall we?”

“No! Get that away from me!” Rumcake screamed. “I can do it myself! I can’t kill Baked Potato if I’m dead!”

I watched the two of them scuffle and wrestle with each other, and I lamented not having a recording device to record Rumcake’s sheer look of terror.

Wait… who was that in the front?

Eh? What?

Seriously. Go back in the other room.

“Hold on, I gotta check something,” I told everypony else. I let Rumcake struggle with Doc and his multitude of bonesaws floating around. I pushed through the double doors and double checked who was there.

What’d I tell you?

Shut up, brain, this is your fault.

“Wait, Instant Noodles? What are you doing here?” I hopped over to her and gave her a big hug right as she turned around in response. “How ya doing?”

“I’m great.” She hugged me back and bopped my nose. “How’s the noggin doing?”

“Not good.” I sighed and sat down. “Good news is, I’m not hallucinating.”

“That’s good.”

“Apparently I’ve developed a few split personalities.”

“That isn’t as good.” Instant levitated out a notepad and pencil and started quickly writing things down.

“I know. So far, they just live in my head.”

“Can I… uh… talk to them?”

I rubbed my forehead. “I don’t know. I think they just talk to me when I’m stressed or something. Maybe they come out when I start being more like them.”

“What do you mean?”

I frowned shamefully. “You know how I get when I’m hopped up on combat drugs?” She raised an eyebrow and gave me a strange look that prompted me to try and elaborate further. “There’s a side of me that… uh…” I cringed inwardly. “I don’t want her coming out anytime soon.”

“I assume you created a personality that thrives on violence and combat?”

I nodded. “She’s a bit on the unstable side, and I really don’t want to find out whether or not I can regain control if she gets out.” I was starting to get uncomfortable, so I decided to change the subject. “I need a favor.”

Thankfully, she understood my discomfort. “What do you need?” she asked.

“I need you to do that mind dive thing again.” Ever since Tabber mentioned the place he was extracted from, it was poking at my mind like something that was important. “Ever heard of this place called Old Olneigh?”

“It’s an old ruin that’s full of nothing but danger. Most ponies avoid the place like it’s tainted. Heck, it’s probably radioactive too. Why?”

“I… I don’t know. It just feels important.” I idly tugged at my mane with my claw. “I think I was there, judging from my last memory.”

Instant flipped through her notes attached to the clipboard. “I’d say you’re probably right. I’ve been near the outskirts once and your memory sequence appears to confirm that. So you want to go back?”

“Yeah. I want to know what happened.” My ears perked up to some screaming and swearing coming from the back room, followed by maniacal laughter. “Sounds like somepony’s getting their cast removed.”

“Well, let’s get started, I guess. You have a timeframe?” I shook my head. Instant shrugged and started charging her horn with magical energy. “I’ll just eyeball it. Get comfortable.” I laid down on the scuffed tiling and imagined that it was a plush couch instead. She rested her horn against my head and everything just melted away.

The noise of wind thundering around me caused me to snap into focus. I looked around the dimly lit area and it became familiar as the troop bay of a Vertibuck. “Well, you were close,” I whispered to Instant, who was sitting in a crash harness next to me. “Though I think we’re not close enough.” I looked myself over and noticed I still had all my hooves, and it somehow made me feel at ease.

“Why?” she asked.

“This is a Vertibuck, and by the looks of the spooks in coats—” I nodded at the three expressionless pegasi dressed in lab coats sitting across from me “—this is the penultimate ride to my demise.” I automatically patted myself down and tugged on the straps of my scout armor. I sighed. “You know, I was really hoping today would turn out better.”

“You said it. I was going to sleep today,” a similarly suited buck complained next to me. “Why’d command have to send us, of all ponies?” I awkwardly reached over through my crash harness and hoofbumped him. “That feel.”

“Cram it, dickwad,” one of the scientists yelled. “This is important.”

I ignored his outburst, but my companion felt like he needed to add something. “What? I can’t hear you over the sound of wind and bullshit!” he shouted. I giggled and hoofbumped him again. “Can it. You’re paid to read, not to lead.”

The scientist scowled at us and turned back to his colleagues in quiet discussion. “What do you think they’re talking about?” I asked my squadmate.

“Your guess is as good as mine. I can’t hear them from over here… how are you?” he half-yelled over the clamor and wind.

“I could be better. How’s your mom doing?”

“Eh. The doctors says she’ll live.”

A speaker in the wall blared to life. “Good afternoon, this is your captain speaking. You may notice we are slowing down and the small arms fire is no longer scratching my paint. If you look out the nonexistent windows on the port side, you’ll see we are approaching your landing zone. On the starboard side, you can wave at the rest of your squad in Vulture One-One.”

“Weapons check,” I muttered to my squadmate. I patted myself down and made sure all my gear was all in place.

“All crew, prepare for drop,” the speaker squaked. “Prepare to unload equipment from Vulture One-One. Thank you for flying Team Vulture. Have a nice day.”

My squadmate and I unhooked ourselves from the crash harnesses and I assisted Instant Noodles out of hers. The back door opened up and we jumped down onto the cracked rooftop. I was back on the familiar setting from my last memory trip, but this time everything was still intact. “Let’s just get this over with,” I shouted over the noise of the rotors.

The rest of the squad was piling out of the other Vertibuck that landed nearby on the other side of the roof. “Move it, pegasi! I want this science crap outta this Vertibuck five minutes ago!” my father roared at the rest of my squad. I trotted over to help out when he pointed behind us. “You too! Get those analytical flanks in gear! I want you three moving your crap too!”

We sniggered as the three scientists dashed past us and immediately started unloading crates. My squadmate nudged me. “Ashtray really loves pushing around the squints, eh?”

“Hey! I’m the only one that gets to stand around! Get. Moving!” my dad yelled at us. Oh Dad, you so funny. Dad… I wiped a tear from my eye. I’d never see him again after this. We immediately jumped into action, moving more random crates and tables.

The scientists started setting up their equipment as we finally finished moving the last of the crates off. “So, why are you here?” Instant asked me. “What is your squad here for?”

I gently lowered a crate onto another crate. When in doubt, look busy and wait to be told what to do. “We just happened to be scheduled for a training run, but the Council decided that we should go into the field and defend these damn scientists.”

Speaking of which, the scientists finally finished setting up whatever their device was. “And what might that be?” my dad demanded at one of the scientists. “I wanna know what I’m risking my squad here for!”

“It’s out of your pay grade, oldie,” one of the scientists shot back. “You’re here for defense. That’s all you need to know.”

Dad growled and paced off, muttering about bureaucratic jargon and red tape. He always did hate the Enclave’s unnecessarily complex governmental system.

“Hey! This is a restricted zone. How did you even get in here?” a voice from behind me shouted. Eh? I whipped around and nearly ended up muzzle-to-muzzle with a very angry Enclave officer. “Airpony, how did you get in here? This. Is. Restricted. Territory.”

“Uh… magic?” I tentatively answered. I looked to Instant Noodles for help. “This definitely isn’t part of the memory,” I whispered to her.

“You will address me as SIR!” the officer shouted. “Atten-shun! Now, how did you get in here?”

“Magic, sir!” I shouted back, snapping into attention against my will. Crap! What was going on? “Awaiting orders, sir!” I couldn’t move! I struggled to even turn my head, but nothing was working. Help!

“So, who are you?” Instant Noodles asked him. “Not part of the memory, are you?” Out of the corner of my eye, I could tell the memory had stopped entirely. “Release her.”

“Missy, you have no idea who you’re dealing with,” the officer shouted. “I suggest you back away.”

Instant blasted him with some kind of magical beam, but it only bounced off him. “Dammit. Well, it was worth a try.”

“Your magic will not work on me! I do not believe in your magic!” He charged at Instant and backhoofed her across the roof. “Back. Off. Atten-shun!” he barked.

Instant squeaked and suddenly she snapped back to attention. “What th- Orders, sir!”

“Good, another soldier. Now, you will tell me how you got in here.” The officer smiled.

“Up your ass and around the corner, sir!” I shouted back. Oh good, at least I could still snark at him. “Is there another way, sir?”

“Shut it, scout.” He grimaced and turned around. “Off to the brig with you two.” The memory dissolved into a multitude of shifting lines and fog. “I’ll deal with you later.”

I think we were forced out of my memory by that officer. Next thing I knew, I was waking up on the clinic floor underneath Instant Noodles. “Ugh… thunderclouds, what happened? Did I just get kicked out of my brain?” Who was that in there?

“Why wasn’t I invited?” Rumcake whined when he saw us.

“Hey! Nothing happened!” I knew I was turning red. Instant Noodles started waking up above me. I nudged her urgently. “Wake up!”

“Wha’?” Instant muttered. “Woah! Sorry!” she clambered off of me and I stood up. “Wow, you have a really messed up mind.”

“So. You’re into those kind of things?” Rumcake smugly added. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

I turned even redder and hid my face behind my forelegs. “Why do these things happen to me?” I moaned. “Why?” Something in my chest fluttered and I winced.

“Wait, wha—?” Instant started, then she covered her muzzle with a hoof when she caught Rumcake’s grin. “Oh Celestia, I’m so sorry! I didn’t even—”

I sighed. “It’s fine. I’m getting used to it, I think.”

“So… what are you two doing?” Rumcake asked.

Instant and I shared a glance and simultaneously blurted out, “Girl stuff.”

“Right…” Rumcake nodded, pretending to understand. “While I’m here, what are you up to, Frosty? Feeling better yet?”

“Eh. I don’t know. I gotta get Doc to check out my health. You?” I replied. I was still shaking off the creepy feeling that somepony in my head just removed me from my own brain.

“Not much. I need to go check what’s going on with the Ranger outpost thing happening in town. Apparently we moved in, permanently.”

Instant pushed past us and mentioned, “I’m just hanging out in the clinic helping out Doc Galactic. Drop by if you’ve got anything else you’d like to share.” She smiled and started walking into the back room.

“Wait, where’s Doc?” I called after her. She pointed her clipboard back at Doc’s combination brewing/science experiment that had expanded slightly more since I’d seen it last. “What?” I trotted over to the other side of the table and faceclawed. “Seriously, Doc? It’s been, like, five minutes,” I groaned.

It’s been, like, an hour.

Doc was lying facedown in a large pile of alcohol bottles, soda bottles, assorted chip bags, and several boxes of snack cakes. I reached over him and helped myself to a box of cherry snack cakes and a Sparkle-Cola.

“Bwuh? Wha’?” Doc slurred, shifting around on his pile of trash. “Someone call for a Doc?” He flipped over and feebly waved his hooves in the air. “Help me up.” I grudgingly grabbed one of his hooves and pulled him up. “What can I do you for?”

“On a scale of one to five, how drunk are you?” I asked in exasperation.

“Floor. Definitely floor. Or hungover.” He stumbled over to the table and picked up a vial. “But really, what can I do for you?”

“I need to figure a few things out. And I’d like you sober,” I told him. Doc nodded and reached over to his contraption for a mysterious brown colored liquid in a beaker. He downed the contents in one large gulp. “Uh… better?”

Apparently not, as he asymmetrically blinked and continued to stand there. “Mn’mnt,” He drowsily grunted.

“I, uh, didn’t catch that.”

He yawned and flicked his tail. “Moment.”

So then I awkwardly stood there and watched Doc alternate between idle stretching and yawns that threatened to pass on to me. He chugged the rest of the liquid down and instantly perked up, looking much less bedraggled.

“Yeah. So! Whaddya need?” he asked, also sounding much less hungover.

“First things first. Why do I feel so tired? And sluggish?” I asked.

“That’s because your body is slowly becoming dependent on a whole multitude of chems. I’m going to assume you were in a lot of pain when you woke up?”

“Yeah. Broken gave me a Med-X to make it go away. Why?”

“Congrats, you’re addicted. Now, it’s partially my fault and I do apologize. Which also probably brings us to our next question. Turns out all the chems I used to make my super combat formula is not safe for your heart or liver.” He scratched his chin and fiddled around with a few tubes on his chemistry set.

“No, really.” I sarcastically snarked back. “So that explains the passing out bits, but why?”

“So, a select few chems, when used in conjunction, will cause your heart rate to skyrocket dramatically to a ludicrous degree. That’s also how I planned to circulate the chems through your system faster. However, I forgot to actually find out whether it was survivable. Or perform clinical trials.” Both of us facehoofed. “Sorry about that.”

“Dammit, Doc.” I punched my chest as the fluttering became more annoying. “What the hell is going on in there?” I growled, staring at my chest.

“That’s probably arrhythmia or something kicking in,” he answered, still fiddling with his pipes. He looked over and caught my blank expression and he continued, “Basically, your heart rate is unstable because I had to jump-start you with magic and a spark battery. I’m hoping your body fixes it on its own, but try not to exert yourself, just in case.”

“Fine,” I grumbled. Well, I guess that meant no more flying for a while. “So, besides Med-X, what else am I addicted to?”

“Let’s say you want to lay off the Med-X, Dash, Stampede, Rage, Buck, Hydra, motherly love, the screams of a mare in pain, flashbacks to wars you weren't in, chewing gum, sock puppets, the letter Q, and gypsies. Just in case. You know what? No more chems for you, and you’ll probably be fine.” My jaw dropped. Was that all the chems in existence? ”Anything else?” he added.

I nervously pawed at the ground. Did Doc really need to know about them? “Well…”

“What’s on your mind?”

“That’s the thing. What do you know about mental health?”

“Look at me. Does it look like I know about mental health?” Doc grinned, motioning to himself. “But I know enough, as a doctor. Why?”

“How do split personalities work?” I asked, staring at the ground. Goddesses, this was embarrassing. Oh the irony, being just as crazy as Doc.

“Well, you might want to talk to the Ranger lady. As far as I know, split personalities just kinda take up space in your brain due to stress or something.” Doc finished tweaking the pipes and pushed a button, causing some more brown liquid to flow around in his contraption. “Here, try some of this,” he said, levitating the beaker toward me.

“What is it?” I cautiously asked, taking the beaker in my claw. I sniffed it and took a tiny sip. I scrunched up my muzzle and pushed the beaker back at him. “Ugh! That’s really bitter! What the hell is it?”

Doc rolled his eyes. “Take a larger drink. It’s really good.” I sighed and downed a larger gulp. Bitter, kind of earthy, and sort of… sweet? “Like it?”

“I… don’t know. I think I like it.” I took another small gulp. “It tastes kinda good and weird at the same time.” A little tingle washed through me and I suddenly stopped. I felt less inclined to sleep and more inclined to question reality. “Wait… what did you do to me?” I peered into the beaker. “What’s in this?”

“Nothing. It’s called coffee. Somepony delivered some powdered mix to me that they found in a storage bin.” He pulled out a small packet from behind some other bottles, flasks, and jars. “Here!” He gave me the packet. ‘Instant Coffee with a Hint of Chocolate! Free Sample from M.O.M. Courtesy Desk.’

“Coffee, eh? Only the officers get that,” I mused. “I kinda thought it would be more… sweet.” Back when I could still remember things, only officers were allowed access to the Officer’s Mess Hall where they had much more interesting food there. Wait. Brain, why don’t you remember more useful things?

Shut up. All this brain damage isn’t helping.

“What are your plans for today?” Doc asked, brewing another batch of coffee. Part of me wanted another beaker, but I didn’t think I needed another.

“I don’t know. Since I need to take it easy, I’m not going exploring or anything.” I mulled over the options in my mind. Rumcake and Baked were hanging out somewhere, Tabber was in the Smashed Spritebot Inn, Doc and Instant were in here. What to do? “You know what, I gotta get my brain sorted out. I’ll be in the back room if you need me.”

He nodded and went back to brewing another batch of coffee. I went into the back room and waved at Instant Noodles. “I assume you woke up Doc, then?” she asked.

“Yeah. He’s got coffee.” I grinned and motioned outside. “Turns out he knows what he’s doing with that contraption of his.” I hopped up onto one of the comfy clinic beds and laid down on it. “In more serious news, you wanna go clean out my brain?”

She took a look at her clipboard and nodded. “Sure. As long as this doesn’t last for six hours, I’ve got time.” She tucked her clipboard and pencil away somewhere in her robes. “Alright. You ready?” Instant asked as she charged her horn with magic.

“Let’s do this. I’m going to give this idiot a piece of my mind. Wait.” Damn you brain for making one-liners that don’t make sense. She touched her horn to my head and I dozed off again, ready for a fight.

“Welcome back, dirtbags,” the officer taunted. “Welcome to the brig. You get to stay here any time you drop in.” I examined my surroundings with slight disinterest. I had appeared in a small dark room made of steel with a tiny steel-barred doorway in a wall. “I’ll be back later. Have fun in there.”

I resisted the urge to re-enact a scene from a bad movie I arbitrarily recalled with an equally bad rendition of a song that sort of went, “Nopony knows the troubles I’ve seen…” or something like that. Since my knowledge of the lyrics didn’t extend past that singular line, I chose against a chance at an imaginary academy award.

The sound of his hoofsteps faded away into the distance. “Well, now what?” Instant asked from the cell next to me. “I’m trapped here with you.” From the sounds of clip-clopping hooves on metal, she was probably either pacing or performing a river dance.

“Uh… I got nada. I was really hoping my mental security wasn’t this good.” I tapped the bars. Very solid and secure. “You have anything?”

“Well… I’m going to try something stupid. I’m going to assume your cell looks almost exactly like mine?” she asked. “Boring steel walls, one tiny door?”

“Yep. What are you—” I started. I heard the sounds of hooves on steel, following by a loud high-pitched bang. Moments later, Instant suddenly appeared in midair accompanied by a shower of sparks and light. “Woah!”

“Hey! It worked!” she cried. Then she looked around and gravity caught up with her. She dropped to the floor with a squeak and grinned at me. “Duh nuh nuh nuuuuhh nah nah nah nah-naah! Yay, I can teleport!” she singsonged.

“Good work! Now you’re trapped in here with me!” I congratulated her. “Now what?”

“Oh…” She paused and looked crestfallen. “Well, my plan didn’t go that far.”

“Hmm…” What could we do? Sure, there were two of us. But we still couldn’t escape this little cell! “Can you teleport to that side and open the door?”

“Nah. The only reason I teleported in here was because I had enough space to do so. That hallway is too dark and narrow. I don’t want to find out whether dying in here kills me in real life as well,” she replied. “Wait, this is your mind… why don’t you just imagine your way out?”

I thought about that, which was itself a scary thought. That’d I actually trying thinking that, not that other part. “Worth a try, I guess.” I closed my eyes and imagined the door swinging open. “Anything?” I asked with my eyes still closed.

“No. Try harder.”

I focused harder. Door. Open. Break. Key. “Anything?”

“Nope.”

Come on, what can I do? How about a lockpick?

Wait! “Oh, dear Luna, I’m an idiot.” I dug around my messy mane and pulled out a bobby pin. “Durr.” I took a closer look at the door and swore. “The lock’s on the other side.”

Instant playfully punched me and snatched the pin out of my claw with her magic. “A unicorn brought you here, remember?” She patted down her robe and grunted in dissatisfaction. “Dammit, I don’t have any of my stuff with me. Do you have a screwdriver?” she asked me.

“Nah.” I waggled my talons at her. “I just use these.”

“You don’t have a screwdriver?”

“Nope. Never had one,” I replied. Excluding that one very lonely night when I ran out of candles, but I’d rather not get into that. Although now I wondered if my talons could... hmm… No, I’d rather not risk lacerating myself during me time.

“Huh. Everypony carries around a screwdriver…” She trailed off, mumbling something about ‘adventurers these days’ and ‘standard issue’.

“Anyway, what do I do?”

“Okay… uh… can you reach around to the lock?” she asked.

Was that the sound of a sexual innuendo calling to me? “You want me to do a reach around.” I couldn’t keep the silly grin off my face.

“Yes.” Instant insisted.

“That means you need to be in front of me, now doesn’t it?” I broke down into hysterics.

A hoof, one most likely belonging to the irritated mare behind me, conked me over the head. “You’re more mature than this. Stop.”

Wheezing and chuckling, I nodded and leaned against the door. I reached through the bars and eventually slotted a talon into the keyhole. “Good. Now, when I tell you, turn your claw slowly to the right.

After several confusing minutes and three pins, we finally managed to open the door. “Woohoo! Time to go!” I yelled. We shoved the door open and charged toward the door at the end of the hallway.

“Not so fast!” the officer yelled the moment we barged through the door. Turns out the door to the brig was located next to the square in Cloudsdale. “Stop right there, traitorous scum!”

“Run!” I yelled. “Find cover!” Hopefully this didn’t count as strenuous activity or else my heart was going to give out.

“Airponies!” His voice boomed across the square.

We dived behind a large rainbow fountain. “Hey! I think I have an idea,” Instant hastily whispered behind me. “Just keep him busy, alright?”

“I can probably do that,” I whispered back.

“I have an idea who he is, but I need to find out. Keep him distracted!” She darted away into an alley.

“Dammit,” I groaned. I poked my head out from behind the fountain and spied the officer pacing around behind a fruit stand. If only I could get that fruit stand to move or something…

The fruit stand shifted and the officer immediately dashed around to the other side, hoping to find me.

How… Oh, I get it! He controls the steel, but Cloudsdale is my territory. Fruit stand, attack!

The fruit stand rose into the air slightly and then crashed down onto the officer. “Oof! Did you think that would hurt me?” he shouted. I giggled and mentally threw a table at him. “Come out here and fight me like a stallion, you coward!” Scenes from “Attack of the Flying Furniture Again”, directed by Hayvid Cage, suddenly sprung to mind.

“I’m a mare, you blind idiot!” I yelled back and threw several chairs at him. “I have an excuse!” I commanded the fountain to cover him in rainbow when he stomped closer to my voice.

“Gah!” The officer snarled as he wiped rainbow out of his eyes. “Get out here!” He saw me dart out from behind the fountain and yelled, “Atten—”

Thundercloud. A thundercloud materialized out of nowhere and zapped him in mid-order. “Don’t know what went wrong?” I laughed and dove for the safety of a large crate. So far, I was distracting him just fine. But what was Instant doing?

The officer smoothed down his uniform and patted off the soot. “Now that’s just impolite. Come out here and maybe I won’t beat the everloving sh—” Hail. Another dark cloud formed over his head and rapidly discharged small balls of ice on him. “Ow! Ow! Dammit! Ow!” he yelled. He started running, and I commanded the cloud to follow.

I confidently strode out into the open. “You cannot defeat me. Not on my turf. Now, get out of here or I’ll have to beat you out!”

The officer strode to the opposite side of the square, little pieces of ice and soot trailing from him. The hailcloud had run out of ice and it just floated over him happily. “No. I will defeat you. Now, att—” I commanded a nearby crate to smash into him. “Stop! Atten—” The floor under him lurched upward and he stopped to regain his balance.

He spread his wings and flew down to the ground. “No wings! That’s cheating!” A section of wall suddenly extended and slammed into him, knocking him across the square. “Now, why don’t you just give up while you still can?” I taunted. “Is that too much for you?”

“Never! I will never give up to the likes of—” he started, then I dropped a flower stand on him. He slowly stood up and adjusted his cap. “Now, atten-shun!” he suddenly shouted. Crap! I wasn’t ready! I involuntarily snapped to attention and froze. “Now that we’ve gotten you out of the way…” Uh… cone! Save me! A sky cone flew across the square and hit him in the back of the head.

“There’s a cone on your head, sir!” I shouted at him. That meant he was special, and that it was unbecoming for me to continue whaling on him. He rolled his eyes and pulled it off his head. “Anything you need, sir?”

“Yes. I order you to st—” he started again, but suddenly a clipboard smashed into the back of his head. “You hit me… in… the same exact… spot…” he groaned and fell over.

Instant Noodles bounced over and waved her clipboard at me. “I found it! Turns out you just need to leave his control zone and all your stuff just kinda comes back. Hey, are you okay?”

I was still frozen at attention. She poked me repeatedly trying to make me move. I threw a bundle of hay at her head to try to signal her.

“Hey! Oh wait, you still can’t move?” she asked. I grunted in response. “Uh… how do I fix that?”

“Dismissed,” I told her through clenched teeth. I still couldn’t move or say anything until I was dismissed, if I was correct. “Help.”

“DIIIIS-MISSED!” she yelled in her best parade ground voice. My body finally started responding to me again and I immediately dropped my salute. “Better?”

“Yes. Thank you!” I rubbed my right foreleg and grimaced. “I was starting to get tired from holding that position. Luna, I’m out of practice. Wow.” I sorted the square back to what it used to look like as best I could. “So, what else did you find out?”

“He’s some kind of planted memory or something. I can’t do anything about it, but maybe you can figure out something later down the road,” she replied. “He’s pretty much built into your mind, like it or not.”

“Crap. Well, I guess I’ll figure out how to get rid of this idiot later.”

“How do we get out of here?” Oh right, Instant had never been part of one my insanity trips before.

“Easy. We go to my cloudhouse—” we were suddenly teleported to the front of my cloudhouse “—and sleep.” I pushed the door open. “Oh yeah, if you want to talk to my other ponysonas, go right on ahead.” I pointed at the steel door. “Just don’t open that. Insane ponysona is insane.”

She nodded and followed me inside. “Wow… it’s nice in here.” Wait till she meets the rest of me… “Uh… who’s that on the ceiling?”

I looked up and groaned. “Instant Noodles, meet Drunky.”

Drunk Frosty waved at us from her spot on the ceiling. “Greeeeetings!” She stood up and saluted. “My mane allows me to defy gravity!” She giggled and fell off the ceiling. “Wha’z goin’ on?”

“Where’s the rest of us?” I asked me. Drunk Frosty pointed into the living room. “Thanks.”

“How many of you are there?” Instant whispered. “If there’s one of y—oh dear Celestia, you are adorable.”

Filly Frosty dashed straight past me and right into the waiting hooves of Instant. “Yay! Visitors!” Filly Frosty squealed energetically.

“Who did you bring?” Gala Frosty got off the couch and gave me a friendly hug.

“She’s a friend from outside. Instant Noodles, meet mini-me. Mini-me, Instant Noodles,” I told them. “So, anything new on the insanity front?” I asked Gala Frosty. Instant was too busy playing with Filly Frosty to pay attention to me anymore. That little ball of fur and feathers could use a new playmate.

Gala Frosty shook her head. “The raider’s been sleeping for a while. She wasn’t happy about being rejected like that, but we eventually got her to calm down.” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “Get more cherry snack cakes. She likes those.” Funny, I like those too. Mmm… artificial cherry flavorings and preservatives…

“You look like you’re ready for the Grand Galloping Gala,” Instant panted, pulling Filly Frost off her hind leg.

“Indeed I am. You could say I’m the leader of all these idiots,” Gala Frosty replied. Hey! “C’mon squirt. Get off her and hop up here.” Filly Frosty grudgingly slid off Instant’s leg and flopped onto the couch. “Anyway, you’re the one opening up memories?”

“Uh… yeah?” Instant hesitantly answered. “Why?”

“Thank you. Keep up the good work.” Gala Frosty tapped my head with a hoof. “The faster we fill in the holes, the faster life will go on as normal.” Well, as normal as life gets with split personalities. She turned her attention to the both of us. “Now, I assume you two are here for the escape rope?”

I nodded and followed her to the bedroom. “Give that cutie pie Rummy a kiss for me!” Drunk Frosty shouted from her spot on the floor.

“Shut it!” Gala Frosty yelled. She turned back to us and bashfully shrugged. “The ponies I live with, you know? Anyway, there’s only one bed so you two are going to want to squeeze in!”

Instant and I awkwardly got into the bed and managed to somehow squeeze on. “This could not get any more awkward,” I muttered to her. There was barely any space for the both of us, so we were pretty much pressed together side to side. My wings threatened to spring to attention from the close contact, which I was desperately trying to prevent. Both of us were blushing a little and trying to ignore the other in all the embarrassment.

“Now kiss,” Gala Frosty whispered. What? We looked at each other and then glared at Gala Frosty. “Okay, okay, it was worth a try.” As she turned out the light and closed the door, she helpfully mentioned with a grin, “We like being the big spoon.” I buried my face in the pillow and tried to block out Instant’s suppressed giggling. Damn you, brain.

Footnote: Level up!
New Perk: Psychological Warfare – It’s a real battle of the minds, folks. You gain +5 to Speech and Barter. You also gain 5% damage resistance when in Cloudsdale.
Current Sub-perk: Diplomacy – Remember thy Charlamane. You gain +3 to speech.
New Status: Addicted to Med-X – It isn’t your fault. When withdrawn, your Agility and Intelligence is penalized by -1.