Pain.

Everypony feels pain. It’s natural of course. Pain is something we all share, whether pony or zebra. Pain is the great unifier. It brings us together in a way no other raw energy can. Pain leads to a slew of many other emotions, including anger, regret, compassion, and love. Pain can also be the result of any of these.

The truth of it is, the only real constant in this Celestia-forsaken Wasteland is pain. I suppose it’s the only thing that reminds us that we’re still alive, that we’re still going. Pain is a powerful thing. And as of lately, I’ve been feeling quite a bit of that particular emotion. The only problem is, it’s not my pain that I’m feeling. It’s hers.

But, I’m getting ahead of myself aren’t I? I’m rambling off on a tangent, as usual. I suppose I should start at the beginning.

My name is Radiant Star, and I am what is known as an alicorn. A few years ago, being an alicorn in the Wasteland was met with fear, hatred, and of course… pain. That was because of the Goddess, you see. The Goddess created us, nurtured us, and gave us Unity. That is, until she died. The Destroyer saw fit to blow up our beloved Goddess in a blaze of balefire. In the aftermath of her death, alicorns ceased being mindless beings of hate and evil and began to regain their memories. It didn’t help though, we were still feared and reviled almost everywhere we went.

Then she came. A different kind of Light, our Hope. Velvet Remedy. She promised the alicorns that she would help them survive in the harsh Wasteland that shunned our kind so. She created an entire society around bringing the light of hope to those in need. She called it the “Followers of the Apocalypse.” Catchy, isn’t it?

I thought so, at least...

“Come on, Star!” Violet Iris exclaimed. “You’re going to be late again!” The pale green colored unicorn had practically pounced on me as soon as I left my small library home. The sun was high in the sky and it appeared to be around noon. I rolled my eyes and blew her a rasberry.

“I’m not going to be late, Violet. I’m going to be fashionably late,” I said with an air of grandiosity as I waved my hoof about. “Besides, they can’t start without me anyways. I’m the guest of honor after all.”

This was true. After all, it was my initiation ritual. It was the day I was going to become a full-fledged member of the Followers of the Apocalypse. You see, not everypony just got to go out and teach the world about all the good things that we could do together. No, it requires training and dedication. Eventually, there comes a day when the Followers decide that you are good enough to go out on your own. Most Followers were sent to larger cities where their message can reach a greater number of ponies. I had no real clue where I was going to go. I just knew I didn’t want to.

Still, I couldn’t really complain too much. I got to hang out with Violet Iris, at least. Violet was a few years younger than me, and had already been made a full Member of the Followers. While you might think that would mean that Violet had a lot of responsibilities and that she was a business-first type of mare, you’d be quite wrong. Violet always had a bit of a rebellious streak, and I knew just how to get her to do something silly or downright stupid.

Violet and I met after the downfall of the Goddess, just outside of Maripony. I was circling the final resting place of my former life, trying to work out how to survive in a Wasteland I barely knew through my own eyes. Violet had been part of a trading caravan that was destroyed by raiders, leaving her for dead. I found her and cared for her until she was able to take care of herself, and she gave me a point of stability in a confusing world. I was one of the exceptions. When most alicorns lost Unity, they began to recover memories of their former life. Some had scatterings or larger pieces of their time within Unity.

I didn’t. I had nothing but occasional flashes of memories that didn’t belong to me. Some were even pre-war! My connection with Violet was something I came to depend on more and more as time went on. In the nice little place we hunkered down in outside of the ruins of Fillydelphia, Violet taught me how to be a pony again. It was a wonderfully peaceful time.

A few months later, a group of alicorns and unicorns appeared outside our hidey hole, preaching the word of the Apocalypse.

Violet jumped at the chance to join the Followers. I, on the other hoof, well, let’s just say that, in my past life, I believe I was a slacker of the utmost professionalism. Really, I made procrastination into an art form. It’d always been Violet’s responsibility to keep me on the straight and narrow. She’s the reason I made it to where I was today.

Ah, Violet. Such a sweet mare she was to me. She was there for me when I felt like the world was going to end… you know, again. Figuratively ending... Again. Not literally.

Yeah.

I pondered on our history as I followed Violet through the town, not really paying attention to where I was going. My eyes drifted down to Violet’s flank and her lovely cutie mark of a dark purple dragon’s eye wreathed in green flame. She'd never told me how she got her cutie mark, or even what it really meant for her special talent, other than that it wasn't a very nice memory and that someday she would tell me the story. At that moment though, I really wasn't considering her cutie mark so much as her flank. It was really a lovely flank indeed, round and soft, with just the right amount of muscle to firm --

“Star, you know as well as I do that this is important. I’ve been trying to get them to accept that you’re ready for months, now! And here you are woolgathering when it’s finally time to be initiated. Let’s go already!” Violet cried. “Are you even listening to me? Star? Star!”

I snapped out of my daydream and looked dully at Violet. A small bit of drool edged its way off my lips. I slurped it back quickly and as quietly as I could.

“You interrupted a highly productive daydream, I hope you know that,” I said without a hint of emotion in my voice.

Violet just chuckled. “Well, silly filly, if you weren’t daydreaming, you’d know that we’re here,” she replied.

I looked up and saw the familiar sign outside the Temple of the Followers.

“Oh,” I said. “Well… okay. Lead the way, I guess.” Damn sexy mares and their flanks. They were always getting my mind off track. I looked at the fort as I walked into it behind Violet. It was built from a roughly-hewn stone house at the outskirts of town. It was the only place in the surrounding area that could house all the ponies who made up the membership of the Followers.

Our town was known as Fort Knowledge, which used to be a fortified storehouse where a certain purple Ministry Mare kept books and tidbits of lore and knowledge. As such, there were several libraries around the once-fortified now-makeshift town, which made the area attractive and popular for the Followers of the Apocalypse. Most of the townsfolk who lived there merely tolerated the Followers, since we helped them with problems such as water and food, and they supplied us with books and other items we used to learn, grow, and help others.

I heard muttering as I entered the main hall of the fort. The second I entered, I could feel the eyes of the collected ponies upon me.

“Radiant Star, thou art late to thine initiation,” the head Elder, a stately pale green alicorn mare, stated from above the crowd gathered in the hall. She was standing behind a stone dais that was used for addressing the congregation. She was only known as the Elder because that’s what the others called her. I didn’t know if she actually had another name or not. She also had a knack for speaking in older Equestrian.

“Umm, yeah about that… sorry. I guess I lost track of time,” I said sheepishly, giving a slight grin and hoping they wouldn’t know I just slept in that morning.

“Yes, well. In the future thou wouldst do well to remember to be on time for a change,” the Elder intoned. “However, there are more important things to discuss. Radiant Star, thou art charged with the duty and honor of becoming a full member of the Followers of the Apocalypse. With this duty, comes great responsibility to us, and to the ponies of the Wasteland. Dost thou accept this duty?”

I grimaced as I knelt before the Elder, presenting myself in a low bow.

“Yes Elder, I accept,” I said.

The Elder smiled, and stepped down from the dais towards me.

“Excellent,” she said, smiling widely. “Let us begin the initiation then. Rise my dear. We shall lock horns and then all will be known to you.”

Right, the horn locking. I suppose I should explain that too. Whenever an alicorn or unicorn was initiated as a full member of the Followers, the presiding Elder locks horns with the new pony. This created a magical link, which allowed the Elder to share the full knowledge of the Followers. It has a lot in common with a simple information transfer, like from a terminal to a PipBuck. This was kind of odd, given the structure of the rest of the Followers, but the branch in Fort Knowledge was a bit removed from the rest of the organization, meaning that the original Elders just kind of made it up as they went along as best as they could.

I picked myself up from a very compromising position and presented my horn to the Elder. The Elder lowered her own horn and brought her tip to mine.

Hello?

Is anyone there…?

I’m scared… what’s going on?

Who are you? Who am I? Where am I?

A cavalcade of emotion and strange thoughts hit me like a ton of bricks as I pulled away from the Elder. Gasps could be heard from the congregation. My brain felt strained as I slumped to the floor. My mind went black and the last thing I saw was Violet rushing towards me.

The darkness parted, and suddenly I was somewhere. A long, wide hallway, lined with wooden doors extended as far as I could see. The only light came from small torches above each door.

“Hello?” I called out. I heard my own echo call back to me, as if I was in a large cave. “Is anypony there?”

What happened to me? I was in the temple and then… I thought, trying to understand my situation. After surviving the end of Unity and the aftermath of Maripony, I was accustomed to weird. This was beyond even me, though.

One of the torches above the door to my left suddenly went out with a sizzle, and a creaking noise heralded the opening of one of the doors. I jumped away from the wooden slab, readying myself for danger.

What happened next was completed unexpected. Beyond the open door was a meadow set under a starlit sky. A rippling lake gleamed in the near distance. I cautiously entered the doorway and strode into the grass. I had never seen real grass before. Everything in our town was always muddy wasteland or scrubby mutated growth. I reached down and sniffed the grass, letting its fresh smell waft over my nostrils. It smelled really good. The indefinable healthy GREEN of the smell made me drool.

I opened my mouth and began to graze hungrily on the fresh grass. It was sweet, and a little wet. A small chuckle ahead of me forced my head immediately back into the air.

“Silly, you shouldn’t eat too much, you’ll get fat,” a tiny voice said.

In the dim starlight, I could just make out a ponyshape sitting by the lake.

“Who are you? Where are we?” I asked, forgetting the sweet, sweet grass beneath my hooves for a moment and remembering my current predicament.

“We are here. As for who I am… I don’t know,” the voice said. “I only recently awoke here, so I’m not sure where ‘here’ really is either.”

“I see. Well, my name is Radiant Star,” I beamed proudly, thumping my hoof to my chest.

The voice laughed again, and I noticed that I could hear it clearly. Like the pony was sitting next to me, not across a meadow.

“That’s a pretty name,” she said through her giggles.

I smiled and blushed, turning aside. I started making my way towards the lake and the shape sitting by it turned out to be a filly. A young lavender unicorn was sitting by the lake, looking at her reflection upon the rippling waters.

“Are you lost, little one?” I asked as I came up beside her.

She turned away from the lake, her eyes going wide as she took in my appearance.

“Wow, are you a Princess?” she asked in awe, completely ignoring my question.

“No dear, I am most definitely not a Princess. There hasn’t been one of those in over two hundred years,” I replied, chuckling slightly.

The filly looked down at the water again as her expression changed from awe to sadness. Tears began to fill her eyes.

“Oh. I just thought maybe… you look a lot like her,” the filly squeaked out through her tears.

“Her?” I asked softly.

“Princess Luna,” the filly replied, still sniffling at the air.

I expected her to break out into full cry mode at any moment. Quickly, I extended my wing over the young mare. I can see why she would think I would look like one of the Goddesses. There aren’t many dark blue alicorns around.

“Shh… it’s okay little one. I’m not Luna, but I am a friend. Is that okay?” I cooed softly, holding the filly close. Kids have always been one of my favorite things, even when they’re sad.

The filly’s tears stopped flowing and she managed a little smile.

“There we are,” I said as the filly looked up at me.

Her eyes widened as a grin crept along her mouth. Suddenly, I began to feel unnerved by this appearance.

“Excellent,” she said, grinning profusely. “I was looking for a friend. You’re not perfect, but I guess you’ll have to do.” She opened her mouth again and the world went black.

I awoke to darkness outside, in what appeared to be our town’s hospital. From what I could tell, it was night time.

What... what happened? Did I pass out? And what was up with that creepy dream? I thought as I scanned the room for a sign of, well anything. My eyes finally rested on Violet Iris, who was sleeping peacefully on a makeshift couch at the other end of the room. I stirred in my bed, and her eyes slowly opened.

“Hey,” she said, smiling at me as she rose from the couch and made her way to my bed side. “Don’t move around too much. Doc isn’t totally sure what happened just yet, and he wants you to rest.”

“What happened?” I asked.

“Once you touched horns with the Elder, you cried out, then you fell over and didn’t respond to anything,” Violet said softly.

“I don’t remember crying out... how long have I been out?” I asked.

“Umm… two days?” Violet replied sheepishly.

“What?! Two days?” I cried out, as I brought my purple hoof to my face. Wait a second, I wasn’t purple before, I thought.

“Violet,” I said nonchalantly. “Why am I purple?”

Violet looked away with a blush and pointed to the mirror in the corner. I arose from the bed and strode over to it.

I was floored by what I saw. Where I had been proudly blue, my coat was a dark lavender. Even my wings were purple. My mane, once a crowning glory of navy waves, was straight and dark purple. A pink streak blazed its way through my mane and tail like wildfire. My eyes made their way down to my cutie mark and that is where I lost it completely.

My cutie mark was gone. Where my beautiful night star had shone against the darkness of my flank, an intricate design, a white six-pointed star surrounded by six smaller pink stars, now rested.

They later told me my screams could be heard throughout the town.

“What the fuck happened to me!?” I screamed as I was standing in front of the mirror in my room.

Violet softly stepped up beside me.

“Yeah… about that. That also happened during the horn lock. You just… suddenly changed. Aside from the wings, you’re the spitting image of Twilight Sparkle,” she said.

“But why? Why me? What did I do to deserve this?” I continued to wail, until a sharp blow to my face stopped me in my tracks. I focused on Violet, who was holding her hoof against the side of my muzzle.

“Now you listen to me missy,” she snapped, her nostrils flaring and eyes flashing. “You can either wallow over this, in whatever it is alicorns are supposed to wallow in, or we can try to find out what happened and why.”

“It is an omen,” a voice behind us said. I turned, and saw the Head Elder enter my room silently. “You have been blessed my dear Radiant Star, and you have been cursed.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, trying to wrap my mind around the old crone’s riddles.

“When we locked horns, I very clearly sensed another individual’s spirit within you. I fear that my probing broke a wall that had separated this other from you,” she replied.

“Other?! Other what!!? You mean I’ve got another pony inside of me?” I cried out, confused.

“It’s the only explanation I can provide to you my dear. Somehow this spirit has changed you,” the Elder said. “What it wants, I cannot say. I am afraid I have nothing more useful for you."

"But I don't want to be some other color or some other pony!" I exclaimed angrily. I really don't want to be somepony else! Even if I had only been me for a couple of years, I wanted to be me! Dammit!

"There is one group of ponies in the Wasteland who may be able to provide answers. They are known as the Twilight Society. They are a group dedicated to the late Ministry of Arcane Science. Most notably, to it's leader, the Ministry Mare Twilight Sparkle. It’s fairly obvious why they would be interested in you, dear child. And with their capabilities, they have the best chance of being able to change you... back to yourself," the Elder said.

"Well that's super," I cried out. "Where are they then? Let's get me back to being me!" I started to rush out the door, skidding to a stop at the outstretched hoof of the Elder.

"The Twilight Society is very elusive. I'm not even sure they will allow you in to see them. They are located in Tenpony Tower. We can arrange for you to leave in the morning," the Elder continued.

“By my-myself?” I stammered as I considered the weight of such an assignment. Tenpony Tower was pretty far away from Fort Knowledge and the trip alone would be dangerous to a solitary traveler.

“Of course not, my dear. Do you think me stupid? Your friend here, Miss Iris, will be joining you. And of course, we will be providing you with the necessary supplies to make the trip,” the Elder said as Violet’s eyes went wide.

“What? You mean I have to go with her? I thought I was – “ Violet began to argue. Gee, thanks Violet. Glad to know I mean so much to you.

“I feel that it is better if Miss Star is accompanied by a higher ranking Priestess. If anything, it will ensure that she will continue to keep to her studies instead of her usual laziness. Now if you will excuse me, I have business to attend to. You can pick up your equipment tomorrow morning and set out immediately,” the Elder said as she exited the hospital room.

I chuckled and playfully nudged Violet with my hoof.

“Oh come on Violet, it’ll be just like old times. Just you and me on the road,” I laughed. “What could possibly go wrong?”

Fuck me three ways from next Sunday with Luna’s horn, I thought as a bullet grazed my flank. What could go wrong indeed?

The one doing the shooting, a large black unicorn buck with a cutie mark of a rifle blowing a pony's head off (how these kinds of cutie marks exist, I will never know), took aim at me and fired again. Thankfully, he missed. I didn’t know whether to credit his bad aim or my dancing around. I cursed again as I levitated the small pistol provided by the Followers in front of me.

Towards the end of our first day away from Fort Knowledge, Violet and I came across a travelling caravan of traders. There was some initial shock to get over (even after the end of Unity, alicorns were still feared a lot by ponies). After some tense moments, the traders opened up their wares to us. That was when things got ugly. The traders were a front for a particularly nasty group of raiders. The idea was to act like traders and be friendly with others, and then turn around and slaughter their "customers". In the first few minutes of the firefight, Violet was hit by a particularly nasty looking mare wielding an SMG in the left leg and was lying on the ground unconscious. The mare, however, was not as lucky as I’d levitated my pistol to her eyes and gave her skull a new hole.

I glanced down at the PipBuck on my leg (another piece of equipment graciously given by our Elders for our journey) and then looked to my E.F.S. (or Eyes-Forward-Sparkle for all you technical jargon folks). Five red blips, all around us. The rifle-wielding unicorn buck, two earth pony bucks wielding semi-automatic pistols in their mouths, and two earth pony mares with custom battle saddles with combat shotguns. I glared at the unicorn buck, giving him as much of a death stare as I could possibly muster.

“Lookee here lads, this one’s got some fire in her,” he crowed triumphantly. I snorted violently. “Never thought I’d get the chance to take down one of you monsters.”

“You’re one to talk. You raiders are all the monsters here, killing just for the fun of it,” I managed to squeak out through the pain.

The leader of the raiders chuckled heavily.

“Oh that’s funny, considering not too long ago you lot were just Red Eye’s little bitches, enslaving ponies for your fucked up ‘Unity’,” he said vehemently. “Now you’re what, supposedly the saviors of the Wasteland? Bullshit I say. You’re just another monster in the Wastes that deserves death.”

That was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I growled and launched myself at the raider’s leader, slipping into S.A.T.S. (that's Stable-Tec Assisted Targeting System for the kiddies at home following along). I had only one shot to make this work. I had never been trained on S.A.T.S., but using it was natural and intuitive. Time slowed down as the spell illuminated valid targets and showed my chance to hit them. Methodically, I lined up a shot each to the two mares, aiming for each of their heads. A third shot was lined up to hopefully catch one of the buck’s legs so that he would tip into his friend. A smile crossed my lips as I opted to not line up a shot at the leader, like he expected me to. No, I had a special kind of fun set aside for this one. Time began to speed back up as I saw the recognition and fear in the leader’s eyes. Suddenly, both mares lost an eye and fell to the ground screaming in pain. The shot headed toward the buck’s leg went a little long and instead tore into the hoof of his buddy next to him causing him to scream in pain, forcing him to drop his weapon. The gun hit the ground and discharged into the back hoof of my original target, dropping him as well.

“You’re mine,” I said, as I grabbed the unicorn buck with my front hooves and prepared to lift him from the ground. At least that was the plan. Pain crossed my eyes as I felt another bullet pass through me. I cringed through the pain, settling for punching the buck in the face, forcing him back a few feet. He went to the ground, but pushed himself back up.

I, on the other hoof, was down on my front forelegs. I groaned from the pain I was experiencing. It was like nothing I had ever felt before.

“You bitch,” the unicorn buck started to say. “Look at what you’ve done. Now I’m gonna end you.” He started forward with the rifle and brought it up point-blank, thumping me roughly between my eyes. “Now you die. And afterwards, I’ll finish off your little friend too.”

Shit! I thought, trying to come up with a way out of this. What do I do? What do I do?

Use your damn magic, you silly filly! a voice echoed in the back of my mind.

Oh right! I forgot! Alicorn! We can use magic! Did I mention that I’m slightly absent-minded sometimes when I’m under stress? Most alicorns only know one or two spells, the most basic of which was telekinesis and the other being a special talent related to the part of the Goddess the alicorns existed in. I was well versed in using magic to turn myself invisible. I just wasn’t very good at it. Something that comes from being a chronic procrastinator I suppose. But, in the face of certain death, well I guess I’d have to give it a shot.

I grinned slightly as my horn discharged the spell. What happened next was completely unexpected. Instead of myself turning invisible, the raider leader in front of me simply disappeared in a flash of purple light. Seconds later I heard a scream above me. The black unicorn simply appeared from the sky and hit the ground seconds later in a terrifying splat. The fifth and final blip disappeared from my E.F.S.

Blinking, I simply stared at the body, wondering what the hell just happened. Then the pain hit me. Oh right, I’ve been shot. I groaned as I brought up my Inventory screen on my PipBuck. I floated out a healing potion and drank up, followed by a shot of Med-X to dull the pain. As the pain drained away, I felt the holes and raw pieces of my coat that were grazed by gunfire reknit themselves back together. My wings were limp from the pain as they began to heal as well.

I stood back up and shakily made my way over to Violet Iris, checking her breathing. She was still alive, but the wound was pretty nasty. I floated a healing potion to her lips and forced it down her throat. It was the best I could do at that point in time. My horn glowed, and I lifted Violet over to the side of the now abandoned wagon to rest. I picked my way through the raider’s belongings, taking the weapons and any medicine or chems they had on them. I scouted around the perimeter of the caravan and determined it was safe to rest there for the time being. I sat down next to Violet once I was finished and tried to process the events of the firefight.

I teleported him. I really did it. I didn’t even know I could do that, I thought to myself. Teleportation was never a spell I was capable of doing, but I had just done it without even blinking. I laid my head down next to Violet, knowing I had done all I could for her, and drifted off to sleep.

This was familiar. Here I was, enjoying a rather pleasant dream that involved Violet Iris and a lot of whipped cream, when suddenly I was back in the hallway. The same one from before, with the doors and stuff. Only this time, one of the doors had a torch that was off and it was closed. A padlock adorned the front of the door and a word has etched onto its face.

Loneliness.

What the buck is going on here? I thought as I looked up and down the unending hall. Why do I keep coming back to this place?

As I pondered my situation and what to do, a door in front of me to my right opened and the torch above it went out.

Guess that answers my question as to where to go next, I thought as I made my way towards the door. The room opened up into a… tree? No, wait. More like a tree house. There were windows looking out into a dreary thunderstorm across from me. In the center of the large room was a table, where a purple unicorn mare was sitting. She appeared to be lost in thought over a series of scrolls laid out over the table.

“Spike!” she suddenly cried out as I edged closer to the center of the room, surprising me.

“Spike, I need you to send this letter for me! Spike? Where is that little –“ the mare said as she pushed out from the seat and stared straight at me. “You’re not Spike. Who are you? How did you get in here?” She glared at me, anger flashing in her violet eyes.

“I’m sorry?” I responded. “This is technically my dream, you know. I should be asking you how you got here instead.”

The mare snorted angrily. “Please, if this were a dream, I’d know. Now who are you and what are you doing in my home? And why do you have wings and a horn? There aren’t any other alicorns besides the Princesses.” she said, gritting her teeth at me.

I rolled my eyes. This mare was clearly unhappy with me and unwilling to listen to… reason? I mean, this was a dream so I suppose that said something about my mental state as well. Might as well go along with the crazy then, see where it leads me.

“Fine, my name is Radiant Star. As for how I got here, I don’t rightly know. I opened a door, and I came here,” I said as sincerely as I could. “As for my being an alicorn, well… from where I come from there are many of them, ones just like me.”

At this, the mare’s eyes softened. “I’m sorry, I’ve just been so stressed lately. I’ve been trying so hard to come up with a solution for the Princesses that I haven’t been sleeping well,” she said as she looked to the papers on her table.

“The Princesses?” I asked with a confused look on my face. The only ones she could be referring to were… no. It can’t be. Why does this mare look so familiar to me? Why would she be talking about the Goddesses? This is all so confusing! I decided to chance a question. “Do you mean Princess Luna and Celestia?”

“Yes! I work closely with them,” the mare beamed proudly, before turning her face down again. “But right now though, things are… different. There’s a war, and everypony is worried. And Princess Luna wants us to find ways to end it. We’re all trying so hard, and nothing is working!” The mare growled and kicked the table, sending papers flying all over the floor.

“Every day good ponies are dying out there in a senseless war over what? Coal? Gemstones? It’s pointless! They even… they even took Big Macintosh away from us,” she said as she began sobbing into her hooves, letting her haunches drop to the floor.

Big Macintosh. That name was somewhat familiar to me. He was a war hero before the end, who died valiantly in service by taking a bullet for Princess Celestia. Looking back from the end of the world, his sacrifice seemed somewhat silly to me. In the end, everypony died anyways. I stepped over to the mare and put my wing around her. It was then that I noticed the mare’s cutie mark. A six-pointed pink star surrounded by six-pointed white stars. My eyes widened as I recognized the unicorn.

“You - you’re Twilight Sparkle!” I stammered aloud.

The Ministry Mare of Magic herself looked up at me with tears of rage in her eyes.

“That's right,” she snorted, clearing the tears from her eyes. "The Great and Powerful Twilight Sparkle. I run one of the most powerful organizations in all of Equestria." The mare's horn glowed brightly, sending the table flying against the wall, splintering into several pieces of broken wood. I shrank back away from the frightening unicorn.

"I just don't know what went wrong," she snarled, her magic flinging papers everywhere. "How did we get to this? Why can't we just end it? I want my old life back! I want him back! I want to go back to sending the Princess my reports on the magic of Friendship! But I can't do that now... I have to end this war, by any means possible... which means..." The Ministry Mare turned her head toward me, a grin forming on her face. To be fair, I almost relieved myself right there, that's how creepy it was.

"Yes... you see that's it! You said there were more of you. If there were more of you, then that means you came from somewhere," she began to chitter excitedly.

I began to turn back to the door to leave, visibly frightened as lightning blinded me. As I cleared my eyes, Twilight had managed to end up right in front of me, eye to eye.

"Yes, that's it that's it!" she cried out in a higher pitched voice. "All I have to do is make you! It's the perfect plan! If I make normal ponies into alicorns, then we can win this war using the magical might of our alicorn army!" She began to giggle and chuckle as I stepped back. Twilight stalked forward, still giggling.

"Now hold still, I need to find out what makes you tick," the mare said, her grin widening as she continued forward. My mind went black again as she leaped forward at me, eyes filled with rage and insanity.

I awoke to pain, and the sound of hooves beating on my chest. It felt like a thunderstorm was rumbling inside of me.

“Star, wake up dammit!” a voice called out. I blinked my eyes and stared right into Violet Iris’ beautiful eyes. “It’s about time missy!”

“Wha…?” I managed to say as I pushed myself up to my haunches. “What happened?” A quick scan of the area revealed that we were no longer anywhere near the raider’s caravan. It was also night time, the moon high in the sky.

“You tell me! I woke up after you healed me, to find you in a comatose state. I practically had to carry you away from that caravan!” Violet said, fuming. “You were out for a whole day! We’re lucky we haven’t run into any more problems.”

Well that was interesting. It seemed whenever I went to that nice little dream world or whatever it is, I was out for a long amount of time. I really hoped this didn’t become a regular thing for me.

Violet stood and pointed at the makeshift fire in the camp where a bucket of water rested next to it.

“I set up some irradiated water if you want some. It will make you feel better at least,” she said. "I already used a good bit of it to boil some stew earlier. Thank the Goddess that these scumbags at least had some spare RadAway on them."

“Thanks, Violet. You’re a saint,” I replied, grinning widely. “I really owe you one.”

“You’re welcome, although I suppose I should be thanking you for saving my life. Just what did you do to those raiders? That one looked like he’d been thrown in the air and dropped,” she replied.

“That would be because I uh… teleported him,” I said sheepishly.

Violet’s eyes widened. “Really? Teleportation? I wasn’t aware you could do something like that,” she said.

I shrugged as I took a mouthful of water, my PipBuck gleefully clicking along and counting up the rads.

“To be honest, I wasn’t either,” I said, continuing to drink my share. In fact, how had I done that? I wasn’t a teleportation specialist. That honor belonged to the purple alicorns. Well, I guess I was purple now, but not like the others. Where did this extreme bit of magic come from? “It just sort of happened. I focused on performing an invisibility spell, and I got teleportation instead.”

“Odd. It’s almost as if you’ve switched talents, but that doesn’t make any sense,” Violet mused to herself more than any other pony. “Maybe this other spirit inside of you is changing your special talents."

I groaned and laid my head down next to her, falling asleep again as Violet rolled her eyes. What? I'm still tired! I mean come on, spending time in a crazy dream world takes a lot out of a pony, even an alicorn such as myself.

I drifted back to sleep, trying not to dream of a certain purple mare, and trying more to dream about whipped cream and Violet.

Author's Notes:

Based in the world of Fallout: Equestria as created by the immensely talented Kkat. Thank you for creating such an immersive world to base these stories in! If you aren't familiar with the source material, please read it!

Revision 2.0 of Fallout Equestria: Starlight is in process of going live! Basically, what this means is that we are in the process of going through and fixing things like grammar and mechanical errors in the earlier chapters. If you are a new reader, or an older reader coming back and taking a second look, I’d like to take the first opportunity to say thank you. When I first started this, I never expected things to go as far as they have, but I am honestly happy. And so... it begins. The saga of Radiant Star and her search for friendship, answers, and the occasional jar of chocolate sauce.

Major thanks to Wirepony and Yetanotherpony for providing their amazing awesome skills to edit these chapters. I wouldn’t be able to do this by myself.