Bad? BAD? Of course it's bad! I'm supposed to send Princess Celestia a letter every week, telling her about a lesson I've learned about friendship! Not every other week, not every 10 days, every single week!

Pain.

Everypony feels pain.  It’s natural of course.  Pain is something we all share underneath it all.  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 be derived from all of these things.

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?  Trying to tell the story ahead of its time is a problem I’ve always had.  I suppose I should start with a little information to bring you up to speed on things.

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 had to do with 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 regaining their memories and personalities of the ponies they were before the Goddess turned them into monsters.

Then she came.  The Light and 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 the concept of bringing light to those in need.  She called it the “Followers of the Apocalypse.”  Catchy, isn’t it?

At least I thought so…

“Come on Star!” exclaimed Violet Iris.  “You’re going to be late again!”  The pale green colored unicorn had practically pounced on me 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 gave a whinny.

“I’m not going to be late, Violet.  I’m going to be fashionably late,” I said with an air of grandiose 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 be a full-fledged member of the Followers of the Apocalypse.  You see, not everypony just gets to go out and teach the world about all the good things that we can do together.  No, you have to work and work at it, and then there comes a day where the leadership of the Followers decides that you are good enough to go on your own.  Most Followers are sent to larger cities where their message can be given to a greater number of ponies.  I had no real clue where I was going to go; I just knew I wanted to delay the inevitable as long as possible.

Still, I couldn’t really complain too much.  I got to hang out with Violet Iris at least.  Violet is a few years younger than me, and is already a Priestess of the Followers.  While you would think that this means that Violet has a lot of responsibilities and that she is a business-first type of mare, you’d be quite wrong.  Violet always has had a bit of a rebellious streak, and I always know 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, in the midst of confusion over where to go, and how to survive in a Wasteland I barely knew through my own eyes.  Violet had been part of a trading caravan that had been destroyed by raiders, leaving her for dead.  I found her, and cared for her until she was able to take care of herself.  Violet and I found a nice little place outside of Fillydelphia eventually and hunkered down.  A few months later, a group of alicorns and unicorns appeared outside of our hiding place, 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 make procrastination into an art form.  It’s always been Violet’s responsibility that ensures I ever even made it to today.

Ahh Violet.  Such a sweet mare she is to me.  She was there for me when I felt like the world was going to end… you know again and I really meant figuratively ending not literally so yeah…. shut up.

I stared on 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's never told me how she got her cutie mark, or even what it really means 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 really helped at least that she has a really nice flank to stare at ---

“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 now for months.  Now get your rear in gear and let’s go already!” Violet cried.  “Are you even listening to me?  Star?  Star!”

I snapped away from my daydream and looked at Violet flatly.  A small bit of drool edged its way off my lips.  I slurped it back quickly and as quietly as I can.

“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 by now 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 then.  Lead the way I guess.”  Damn sexy mares and their flanks.  Always getting my mind off track.  I looked at the temple as I walked behind Violet into it.  The temple 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 several alicorns and the unicorns that made of the membership of the Followers.

Our town was known as Fort Knowledge, and from what I understand of the history, used to be a fortified area where a certain purple Ministry Mare stored books and other various 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 here merely tolerate the Followers, since we helped them with problems such as water and food, and they supplied us with books and other items in order to learn, grow, and help others.

I heard muttering as I entered the main hall of the temple.  The second I entered, I could feel the eyes of the Elders upon me.

“Radiant Star, thou art late to thy 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.

“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 stated.  “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 into 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.  You see, when a Follower is initiated into a full member, the Elder at the time locks horns with the Initiate.  This allows the two to intermingle their magic and minds to share the full knowledge of the Followers with the Initiate.  Think of it as like a simple information transfer, like you would transfer a log from a terminal to a PipBuck.  This is necessary so that even unicorns who become members are privy to the knowledge handed down to us by the Savior herself.

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 my eyes drooped closed as I could see Violet rushing towards me.

The darkness overwhelmed me and suddenly I was nowhere.  A long, wide hallway, lined with wooden doors extended as far as I could see.  The only light belonged to a series of small torches above each door.

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

What happened to me?  I was in the temple and then… I thought, trying to understand my situation.  I mean, I was used to some weird shit, having been in Unity with the others, but this took the cake.

One of the torches above the door to my left suddenly doused and I heard a creaking noise as the door began to open.  I jumped back away from the door in anticipation of any danger.

What happened next I almost never expected.  Behind the door was a meadow set under a starlit sky.  A rippling lake was set in the middle of the meadow.  I cautiously entered the doorway and out into this place.  I had never seen real grass before.  Everything in our town was always muddy wasteland.  I reached down and sniffed the grass, letting its fresh smell waft over my nostrils.  It smelled really good.  Almost like its real.

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.  My eyes adjusting to the dark once more, I could make out a shape sitting by the lake.

“Who are you?  Where are we?” I asked, forgetting the sweet, sweet grass beneath my feet 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.  I’m a bit of a drama queen if you haven’t noticed.  The voice laughs again.

“That’s a pretty name,” it said through the giggles.  I smiled and blushed, turning aside.  I started making my way towards the lake and the shape sitting by it coalesced into that of a filly.  The 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.  Her eyes went wide at my approach.

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

“No dear, I am most definitely not a Princess.  There hasn’t been one of those in over two hundred years,” I replied.  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.  Okay so sue me, I’m good with kids.  What can I say?  It’s sort of a prerequisite for being a Follower.  The filly’s tears stop flowing and she begins to 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.  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.

Just 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, being that you're an alicorn and they’re not totally sure about your physiology.”

“What happened?” I asked.

“Once you touched horns with the Elder, you cried out in immense pain.  After that, you fell to the ground, and refused to 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 blushed profusely 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 before, there was dark blue coat there was a dark lavender color all over my body.  Even my wings were purple.  My mane, once majestic navy and flowing, was rather 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 is gone.  Where there was before a picture of a beautiful night star, there is now a large white six-pointed star surrounded by six pink smaller six-pointed stars.

My screams could be heard all through the town I was later told.

“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 into this,” 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.  Violet was holding her hoof up to my face at this point.

“Now you listen to me missy,” she started, 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 did this 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 figure out what the old crone’s riddles mean.

“When we locked horns, I very clearly sensed another individual’s spirit within you.  I fear that my probing allowed this individual to take some measure of control over you,” she replied.

“Another 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 no answers 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!  I want 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.  With their capabilities, they could potentially figure out how 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 as the Elder puts up a hoof.

"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 could kill 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 I know I mean so much to you.

“I feel that it is better if Miss Star is accompanied by a higher ranking Priestess of the Followers.  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 will 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 ponies head off (how these kinds of cutie marks exist, I will never know), took aim at me and fired again, thankfully missing as I danced around, levitating the small pistol provided to me before we left.

Not a few hours after we left Fort Knowledge, Violet and I came across a travelling caravan of traders.  There was some initial shock to get over (alicorns are still rather rare and still feared by most Wastelanders) but after that 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 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 surrounding me and Violet:  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 can 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 same, 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 in 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) as I did.  I had only one shot to make this work at all.  I wasn’t exactly sure why I was able to work this damn thing, but everything about it felt natural.  Time slowed down as the spell illuminated my legal targets and the chances showing above each critical body part.  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 crosses 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 have lost an eye and are on the ground screaming in pain.  The shot headed toward the buck’s leg goes 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.  Four of the red blips on my E.F.S. went out.

“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’m experiencing.  It’s was like nothing I had ever felt before.

“You bitch,” the unicorn buck started to say.  “Look at what you’ve done.  Now it’s my turn to end you.”  He started forward with the rifle and brought it up point-blank right 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 silly filly, a voice echoes 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 being 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 I could not ever expect.  Instead of turning myself 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 spell 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 cleared, I felt the holes and patches of my coat that were grazed by gunfire reknit themselves back together.  My wings were dull from the pain as they began to heal as well.

I stood back up and 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 caravan 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 yet 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 been 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 returning 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 answer’s 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 pusheed 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 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 can.  “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 paper 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 somewhat rang a bell to me.  He was a war hero before the end, who died valiantly in service by taking a bullet for Princess Celestia.  Looking back now, at the end of the world his sacrifice seems 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 several six-pointed white stars.  My eyes widened as I recognized the unicorn.

“T-twilight Sparkle?” I stammered aloud, not thinking.  The Ministry Mare 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 lavender mare's horn glowed, 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, tossing papers everywhere and anywhere she could.  "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 the sound and pain of hooves beating on my side and 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’s 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 smiled.  "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.

“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 buck 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.  Yum.

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Footnote:

Radiant Star

Strength: 8

Perception: 4

Endurance: 6

Charisma: 6

Intelligence: 5

Agility: 7

Luck: 8

Trait: Blessing of the Six – You have been touched by the powers of harmony, granting you additional abilities and options in combat but also making you easier to hit in combat.  You may spend 1 Action Point as if it were 2 Action Points in combat.  Action Points spent this way may only be spent on weapons and attacks.  However, your DR is 0 regardless of whether you have armor on or not.

Trait: Absent-Minded – Sometimes you find yourself forgetting simple things such as what end of the gun goes into the pony you’re trying to kill or what that big shiny thing the bad guy is pointing at your flank is.  Your Perception is permanently reduced by 2, but you gain a +10% hit chance on all attacks on targets you can actively see.

Special Trait: Touched by a Star – Your body has undergone strange changes due to its second spirit, causing new abilities and new skills to appear.  Your Luck is permanently increased by 3.  Also, during combat you have a random chance to increase one of your skills by 30% permanently or to learn a new spell / spell rank.  After combat however, you must rest for at least one full day or risk permanent damage to your mind and body.

Origin: Follower of the Apocalypse – You are a member of the Followers of the Apocalypse as an Initiate member.  Being an Alicorn, you have all standard Alicorn traits.

Spell: Teleport (Rank 2): You have an understanding of Teleportation magic, even though you aren’t sure exactly how you got this spell.  At Rank 2, you can teleport yourself or teleport one target to a new location.  You can only teleport the target to a location you can either see or have been to before.

Spell: Unicorn Telekinesis – I really really hope for your sake you know what this does already.

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!!!