Moonshine had an eye for value and an eye for seeing- Or so he joked, often raising his bang with a hoof to reveal her golden right eye with an over the top wink for whoever he was talking to.

He wasn't being metaphorical however, not fully. He did have a good sense of what was valuable to people and what was not. A good skill to have as a salesman, in her opinion.

And so, Looking at the pony who had introduced themselves as "Cast Iron", Moonshine couldn't help but feel absolutely and profoundly baffled by her.

Unlike most ponies, she didn't value her name in the slightest. Not even negative value, the name she had handed him was one she was entirely apathetic towards. It was clearly not one she made up on the spot- She'd introduced himself with "...Some know me as...", a statement that rung true in Moonshine's ears. Some knew her indeed.

That wasn't the only oddity either. They were also huge, taller than he had ever seen a unicorn, with the muscle of someone very used to physical labor and the visible bones of someone who didn't eat well very often. Their green coat was mottled with scars- a slash across their muzzle, a tear in her ear. Scratches and bites were overlaid with burns, wounds that had been cauterized rather than stitched. On their right flank, scarring almost completely obscured their cutiemark- A cast iron pan with a pair of crossbones.
Their horn was strangely sharp and curved slightly, Mane and tail tangled loose curls of purple and yellow that looked very clearly like they had been recently hacked short with a blade.

If it wasn't for the soft blue and pink scarf wrapped around their neck several times over, she would've been the perfect picture of a ghost story slasher. In Moonshine's opinion, at least.

"...Pay attention."
He was snapped out of her thoughts by the raspy voice of her guide. The pair had gone down into a shallow canyon at some point while walking, with Cast Iron stopping at what was once a walled up cave, the entrance now blocked by stone bricks with a door roughly installed.

Near the entrance was an empty fire pit, a rough mat of woven grass, and a large flat stone that didn't seem to serve any immediate purpose. Moonshine glanced around it curiously as Cast Iron idly lit the fire pit with her horn, the light jumping from her horn to the dry logs and embers within.

"Right, Well! Nice little place you've got. Cozy fire, shallow canyon, door cave..." Moonshine trailed off as Cast Iron walked into the cave, closing the door behind them. "...Alright. Bit rude."

He sat by the fire. Cozy as it was, she couldn't deny that this place carried the same imposing feeling as the pony who lived there. The canyon was shallow, but even still the walls were just a bit too tall to climb on ones own. Concave, steep, and smooth- the only entrance or exit was the ramp.

It was like a gash in the earth, an open mouth that he had walked directly into.

Hah. How amusing.

Author's Note

Hello! Me again (of course)
Your lore note for this chapter- Unicorn horns!

Your typical unicorn in Everfae has the usual straight, round-tip horn you see in canon. Curved or Pointed horns are typically a side effect of prolonged or extensive powerful magic use! In some circles it's got a reputation as a sign of 'Dark magic' use, but that's mostly due to most things categorized as 'dark magic' being long term or incredibly powerful magic.