Sand scattered around our hooves as Moon Shine and I walked into the town of Broken Pillar. I stayed at her flank, deferring to her relevant experience. She walked us down the main road, staying close to the middle of the dusty path. Hard eyes peered at us, or rather me, from weathered faces.

I leaned in closer to my companion. We seem to be attracting attention. I looked to our left at a pre-war convenience store, now converted into ‘Primer’s Equipment Emporium’. An earth pony stood in the doorway, polishing a shotgun. He stared at me flatly, and I shied away. My confidence was being sapped rather drastically by our lack of numbers. Moon Shine nudged me, bringing my attention back to her.

“Don’t stare, Alicorn. They’ll stare back.” Her voice was lower, softer than usual. “Don’t worry. Keep to yourself, and you’ll be fine.” She nodded her head towards a building larger than the others, one made with more pre-war concrete than post-war lumber. The door, while mouldy, was intricately carved with sculpted dancing ponies. “It’ll be easier if you go wait in there. Talk to the barpony, he’s a nice buck.” She thought for a moment. “Use your mouth to do it, yeah?”

I stared at ‘Barr’s Bar’. Only one of the building’s windows was boarded up, and what I could see of the interior was dark and smokey. Inside was the subtle movement of ponies going about their business. Moon Shine, we… I turned, and Moon Shine wasn’t there. I spun around, checking everything I could, but there was no sign of her. She…

No matter! I was a child of the great and powerful Goddess, I had nothing to fear in this backwater pisshole! I glared back at the trio of large earth ponies eyeing me from an alley. They may have been large, and battle-scarred, and armed… I decided that it would be better for all if I were to wait in the bar. There was no point in causing unnecessary bloodshed, after all. I felt their stares pierce my hide as I trotted into the old building.

In an instant, the heat of the wasteland was replaced by the heat of an enclosed space filled with ponies. The smell of alcohol and narcotics assaulted my nostrils as I struggled to adjust to the wooden interior. The floorboards were plain, creaky and had more patches than original timber in them. The large single room was lit by one pre-war chandelier, a rare sight indeed, and three light bulbs screwed directly into the ceiling. On one side of the room there were tables, in various shapes and sizes, a large shredded game table of some kind and a silent jukebox with some rather suspicious looking stains. On the other side sat the bar, with sparsely occupied shelves and a grey earth pony in a waistcoat behind it. The barpony was washing a mug, and the handful of ponies around were silent save for the occasional bit of polite conversation.

“You look a bit lost there, love.” The bartender spoke, his voice gravelly and hinting at hidden authority. He smiled at me, and he looked every bit the ‘professional-but-friendly’ stallion, with his slicked back black mane and half-moon spectacles. “Come in, come in, first drink’s on the house.” He motioned me towards the bar, and I nervously stepped forward, aware of the dress I was wearing. “What’s your poison?”

M… Wait! Concentrate. “My poison?” My throat felt odd after such disuse. The bartender didn’t miss a beat.

“What would you like to drink, I meant. No harm.” He placed the mug down and waved a hoof, displaying the various beverages on offer. “We’ve got anything you might desire, although the quantities may not be what you’re used to.” I searched through the bottles, the different colours and names meaning nothing to me. “Or, if you’re not the boozing type, I could get you a Sparkle-Cola. No pressuring goes on in this establishment.” He reached under the counter and brought out a glass bottle of…

Oh my. Whatever this black liquid was, it was radioactive! I nodded my yes and he popped the cap off in a single motion. I took the bottle in my magic and raised it to my lips. It smelled rather… carroty. I didn’t have the time to ponder where I’d learned the smell of carrots as I lifted the bottle and drank. Oh, the sweetness, the tang, that little hint of radioactive nectar! I had never had anything quite this great pass my lips before. All too soon, the bottle was empty and I was thirsty for more.

“I,” I struggled to work my lips, “may we have another?” I looked hopefully at the barpony as he appraised me. He began to shake his head, and I felt my ears droop at once.

“Well, alright.” I perked back up, “But just the one!” slightly. “Can’t have folk thinking I give my wares away for free to anypony with puppy eyes.” I had puppy eyes? I was about to contest the point but he hoofed me another cola and my complaints were silenced. He took the cap and placed it in a cash register as I took to drinking my treat, slower this time. I looked back around the bar, and I noticed some more details. The green felt on the gametable, the faded red carpet around the tables.

“That’s perked you right up.” he chuckled, smiling. “Bit of kindness goes a long way. Remember that.” He got back to his mug, continuing to wipe the insides with his rag. How much cleaning could a drinking utensil possibly need? “Now that you’re bit more settled, how’s about your story?”

Oh no. “You need to know what I’m doing?” Was there something I’d forgotten?

“What? Oh no, no, don’t need to know. You want to keep yourself to yourself, that’s up to you.” He held his hooves out to emphasise the calm. “I was just curious as to what a mare of your, let’s say, stature, was doing alone and in such a pretty dress.” He quickly added, “hope you don’t mind me saying.”

He thought I was pretty? I… as he should! “We are not alone. We travelled here with our…” What word should I use? I was going to say ‘sister’, but that would not be right. “We came here with our companion, Moon Shine.” Upon saying her name, I saw a slight flicker of the barpony’s ear.

“Moon, you say?” I nodded. “You close?” I wasn’t sure how to answer. We were clearly not as close as I was used to. She was practically a stranger. I’d known her for mere hours. Our minds were separate! And yet I found myself wishing she were here. “I’m gonna take that as a ‘maybe’.” Thank you Barpony. “Be careful. She means well, but she has a habit of, shall we say, picking the wrong friends. Present company excluded.”

“What do you mean?” I leaned closer, resting my foreleg on the bar. “Should we not trust her?”

Something shifted in the stallion’s eyes, and he relaxed. “I’ve said too much. Pay me no mind. You’re a big girl, I’m sure you can handle Moon Shine.” I heard heavy steps behind me, and turned to see a large orange unicorn stallion walking up to the bar. “Excuse me, customer.” He walked away to serve the buck, and I turned back to my consumption. I looked into the depths of my black, carroty drink. Why had he warned me about Moon Shine? Was she not to be trusted? Did she have a bad reputation?

No. Reputation meant nothing to me. After all, the Unity had a bad reputation among the common ponies, and it wasn’t possible to be more righteous! Still…

As I finished my second Sparkle-Cola, lamenting its expedient departure, the barpony came back clutching a third! I was about to express my confusion when he explained. “Those ponies over there,” he pointed to a group of three stallions sitting at a table, “sent you this. Seems they like you.” The group was chatting, while the orange unicorn kept looking up at me. Something about the way he grinned made me distinctly uncomfortable. “Remember, no pressuring goes on in this establishment.” He gave me a reassuring nod, while I pondered the meaning of it all.

I thanked him for the drink and started on it, savouring the not inconsiderable dose of radiation I was consuming. Who needs healing potions? I felt my body grow stronger, my magic become more solid. It wasn’t much, but it gave me back some of the confidence that was lost against those raider ponies.

A familiar presence approached. Moon Shine was walking through the door, her bright yellow mane lighting the air around her. She quickly trotted up to me and flopped her flanks onto a bar stool. “Double Wild P., Walker!” I saw the bartender, with swiftness that impressed even me, pour a generous helping of a golden liquid into a tiny glass. Moon Shine paid and downed the drink in one, shuddering as she did. “Needed that!” She turned to me, looking me over. “Settling in alright?”

“Yes, it is rather pleasant in here.” She looked at me funny as I took another sip from my bottle. I would have to acquire some of this for future journeys.

“Right, well, there’s been a bit of a snag in our little plan.” Her words were laced with hesitation.

What?

She cleared her throat and whispered, “mouth speak.”

“What?” I tried to put the same force into my spoken word as my sent thought.

“Slight problem. You see, there was a cultist here a few days ago,” she was keeping her voice lowered, and I noticed the barpony was close enough to hear us, “but he caused some trouble with the locals, like I said they do. He’s in jail, and nopony can talk to him unless they pay his bail. Unless you happen to be carrying 5,000 caps in that skirt of yours, we’re out of luck.”

This should not be a problem. “Is there anywhere in town from where one might be able to look into this jail?” All I needed to do was look at him. Telepathy is a wonderful ability.

“I don’t think so,” damn it, “and if there was, a guard would at least ask you what you were doing there.” She motioned for another drink, and the barpony went through the same motions. “But, there is something we can do.” She looked me in the eyes. “You ever heard of Lake Fancy?” I shook my head. “Old rich pony getaway, up north. Would have been picked clean years ago, but nopony wants to swim through freezing, irradiated water.”

Radiation would not faze me, and how could cold water stand up to me? “That should not be a problem. What is there?”

“Nopony knows the specifics, but it’s a rich place that’s not been touched by scavengers. Bound to be something good. We go there, loot the place, sell the goods in town and buy freedom for your friend. We’ll need a few supplies to get there and back; I can handle them. Not sold the loot from those raiders yet.” She downed her drink and spasmed slightly less violently than before. “So, you up for it?”

I could stay in town to figure out a way to talk to the cultist without paying his bail, or I could go with Moon Shine and scavenge for the caps required. Oh, the Goddess would squirm if she could see the decision her daughter was making now.

“Yes. If you think this is the best way to help me, then I trust your judgement.” Why did it feel like I’d just signed something?

“Alright!” The pink mare clapped her hooves together and jumped off her stool. “I’ll go grab the supplies, food, Rad-X, that kind of thing. You wait here. I’ll be back before you know it!” I heard her saddlebag jingle with the sound of bottlecaps as she left. A thought occurred to me.

“Barpony! How much for a sealed Sparkle-Cola?”

I felt far more confident leaving Broken Pillar than I had arriving. Moon Shine had given me enough caps for five Sparkle-Colas, and even a saddle bag to fit them all in! I would have to remove it to fly, but that wouldn’t be an option for some time. I held my head high as we walked back through the south gate. Ponies stared and I let them.

My companion had sold the raiders’ arms, as well as the scrap she’d collected before finding me. In return, she’d acquired healing potions, anti-radiation drugs, (which I assured her would not be necessary for me) and food. We shared a light lunch as we travelled; the sugar in my Sparkle-Colas had given me quite the energy rush.

According to Moon Shine’s map, it would take seven hours to get to Lake Fancy. Given that it was already early afternoon when we left, the plan was to camp outside the resort and enter it the next morning. The detour was lamentable, I was eager to return to my sisters, but there was no other way. I needed to speak with the cultist, and to do that I needed caps. I heard the clanking of glass on glass in my bag and smiled to myself. That’s five.

After three hours, we came across a different section of the highway we’d passed earlier. There were fewer wagons here, they weren’t gridlocked like the ones further up. After our previous run in, neither of us wanted to rush through it. Moon Shine went ahead to quickly scout the area; her small size and keen eyes were better suited for such a purpose than my regal stature. I found myself worrying when she left my sight, but I had to remind myself that she was capable of looking after herself. When she came back, she had what looked suspiciously like radroach innards over her left forehoof. We said nothing of it and continued.

As the sun started to dip below the horizon, the only time it could be seen without being blocked by the cloud cover, I pulled out my first Sparkle-Cola to have a quick break. Walking had been tiring to one so used to flight. We stopped, and Moon Shine pulled her map out of her pack.

“Still got a good hour of walking to go. Should be able to see it soon.” She looked around, scavenger’s eyes surveying the landscape.

What should we be looking for?

“Big building in the middle of nowhere surrounded by a toxic moat. Can’t really miss it.” She tucked the map back in her pack and nodded her head to the south. “Ready to go?”

Allow me a moment. I wanted to finish my cola before walking again. Moon Shine found a soft spot in the dirt and lay down while I ambled about, observing the world. Flying may have been more expedient, but there were so many details that were missed. The way the ground cracked in dry patches, the floating dust blown about by the wind. I watched a tumbleweed go past as I took a sip. Life everywhere.

Suddenly, everything turned upside down! Where I’d thought there was solid ground, my hoof fell through open air and I tumbled over, falling into the gorge. In a blind panic, I bit into the nearest thing I could find. With luck, it was a tree root. Strange, I hadn’t seen any trees around. Moon Shine! I called out telepathically. If I’d tried to move my mouth, I would have fallen. Above me, just a meter up, was solid ground. Beneath me, a drop I couldn’t see the bottom of.

“I’m here!” A pair of blue eyes appeared above me, and in that moment they were beautiful. “Shit, hold on!”

She left, and I felt panic rising. If only my damned wings were working. I would need to work on recovering them if I got out of here. When I got out of here. I would not be defeated by a hole in the ground! I looked around, trying to find something to put my hooves on. There was nothing, just the strong wooden root that I clenched my teeth on.

I heard gunfire, and voices. Moon Shine! Wait, not voices, a voice. Whatever she was fighting wasn’t speaking. BANG! The noise from her gun echoed through my little chasm. BANG! I heard rapid hoofsteps, and the groaning of something too large to move quickly. BANG!

Silence.

Then, hoofsteps back towards me. Moon Shine?

A few dreadful seconds passed, then a glorious pink pony appeared above me holding a tree branch in her mouth. I locked my hooves around my root, issued a silent prayer to the Goddess for luck, and leapt for it. I hit home as my teeth clamped on Moon Shine’s branch. She struggled slightly with my weight, sweat rolling down her forehead, but through effort managed to pull me away from certain doom.

I scrambled away from the chasm while Moon Shine flopped onto the ground, chest heaving. You… you saved our life.

“Don’t, think, nothing, of it.” She managed to gasp out between breaths. I found myself chuckling slightly, then pain erupted in the back of my head!

I scrambled forwards, raised my shield and turned to face my attacker. In front of me was a small, heavily damaged tree with a missing branch. It was full of bullet holes and, somehow, looked decidedly angry.

A killer tree.

No.

I focused my magic along the length of my horn, building a current. As the tree ambled closer for a second swipe, I let loose a bolt of lightning straight into its center. The arc remained for an instant, but it was enough to cause a spark. The tree caught fire, emitting a terrible wail of pain. It scrambled about, heading straight for Moon Shine! Before I could issue a warning, the agile pony swung to the side and let the monstrosity fall into the chasm. Its shriek descended for several seconds, then finally stopped.

After sweeping around to make sure there were no more to jump out at us, I lowered my shield. I noticed to my dismay that the cola I’d been drinking had dropped down the chasm when I fell. I levitated out another, letting the radiation recover my strength.

“Phew.” Moon Shine trotted up to me. “What did I tell you? Killer trees.” She looked back at the chasm. “Terribly embarrassing way to go.”

We would not allow a plant to get the better of us. I still felt the sting from where it had struck me, but she did not need to know that.

“Clearly. Where’d you learn that spell? You fired a freaking lightning bolt from your horn!” she exclaimed with admiration in her voice. I did not find it displeasing.

The Unity provides many things, including the spells necessary to perform our tasks. If only I’d been holding a healing spell when I’d been disconnected. Is there a unicorn doctor in Broken Pillar?

She looked disoriented momentarily before responding. “Yeah, old Doc Kindhoof. I know, I know, typical name for a doctor, right? Why, you hurt?” She looked concerned.

Of course not. I lied. We would simply like to take the opportunity to learn healing magic, should the need arise.

She scratched her chin with a hoof. “That would be valuable…”

No matter. I am keen to be away from this place. Let us reach Lake Fancy before night falls proper! I finished my cola and stored the cap in my bag.

“Alright, let’s go!” Moon Shine trotted up beside me and we continued on our journey, leaving the ghastly tree behind.

Moon Shine…

“Yeah?”

Thank you.

Footnote: Level up!

New Perk: Brick Wall

You’re a big lass, and it’ll take something equally big to knock you down! You have a 50% chance to ignore knockdown effects.