https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdCCebg8gtE

Life was a hot tub of relaxation for Fear right now. The throne room felt like a jacuzzi melting away all of his stressors and keeping things calm and bubbly, formless and slack. The colt hardly felt any urgency to get anywhere, and while he stood amidst a new friend and his sister, he hardly wanted to move on, but he knew that despite his exhaustion he had to. His soul was yearning for another adventure, and his healed body was spurring him onward. Luna stood next to him with an appraising stare, still trying to come to terms with this new source of inspiration, with having seen Fear perform a deed beyond her imagining, coming to grips with every single facet of himself and moving on from his actions instead of dwelling on them. Instead of breaking and killing himself, instead of hurting himself or letting his murderlust consume him, instead of letting his guilt break him, and instead of letting his connections destroy him; he had alternatively endured, accepted, moved on, and let go in such deft motions Luna was left reeling.

As for Amelio? She was immensely proud of her brother. She had believed in him, and that belief had not been in vain. Her ego flared. The honor she felt toward her brother and herself was incredible. She delighted in Fear's victory to the point her face was scrunched up, eyes lidded, and she was about ready to pounce on her brother with every ounce of strength remaining in her. Giddy and vibrating with excitement. Inwardly at least. On the outside she was as peaceful as a leaf on a lake. Still and serene.

Fear looked around at the two, his eyes falling to half mast as he suddenly felt really woozy, swaying on his hooves a little, eyes revolving asynchronously. Things were becoming muddy, vague, and heavy; too prominent – everything blurring out – it was a pulsating sensation of his mind coming back online fully. He was waking up. “Look,” he just about wheezed out. “Princess. You don't have to succeed at helping ponies all the time, you just have to try.” Fear stomped a hoof as he forced himself to remain stable. “I got it!” His face lit up like a celebration for all that was right in the world. “If you're ever afraid... just say: fuck it, it doesn't have to be perfect but I need to get something done.” Fear gave a shake of his head, feeling all fuzzy and out of it.

Luna frowned, looking at Fear with a judgmental expression. “That is... vulgar.” She pounded a hoof into the floor as well, bobbing her head once. “Still, I will try.” The alicorn was clearly afraid of making more mistakes like she'd done so many times in the past. Even with Starswirl it felt like she'd always been the weaker sister. But here Fear was, weak and still pushing onward. “You're a little too wise to be a colt, Fear.”

Fear waved it off with a hoof, glancing to the side and closing his eyes. “Nah. Just coming up with shit off the top of my head. I'm always on the edge of my hooves, pressure's my friend.”

Amelio finally sidled up to Fear affectionately, draping a foreleg over the colt's shoulders and pulling him in close, nuzzling into his neck. “And you do it well, I always believed in you. I just hope my time will come soon too.”

“Pfft!” Fear spat derisively. “You do a ton!” The amount of support in the colt's voice could hold up a planet. “Though if you could, could one of you please look for Angel Swaddle, Compressed Crate, and Dim Nova in the dream world?” His voice was shy and concerned, as if afraid somepony would lash out at him for asking such a thing.

“The liminal space, you mean.” Amelio, ever quick to correct her younger brother.

Fear rolled his eyes. “Yeah. That. I just want to know how the first two are, but could you please comfort Dim? Check on her? Be there for her? Give her good dreams but not like... too good that she wants to stay asleep all the time? I... I killed her husband and son and I just...” Fear cowered away from the two, his mind feeling as if it had been severed in two, and one side was existing on a higher plane than the other. It was all sorts of disorienting. “Want her to be happy. I want her to be able to overcome like I did, you know? I don't want her to...”

Amelio's face was soured with a look of pity, head tilted slightly, a frown caressing her muzzle as she broke Fear out of his rambling. “We will find and take care of them, brother, you just focus on taking care of everypony you are familiar with, yes?”

Fear looked from Amelio to Luna, a strained frown on his face, eyes tearing up. “Thank you, both.” Then he glomped his sister, wrapping her up in a tight hug. “I miss you so much.” The world was growing distant, like he was receding away from them through a tunnel, his consciousness leaving everything and funneling away from existence.

==========================================================================================

The colt woke up in bed with a languid, agonizing groan. His tongue was hanging out and his body rested in an awkward position with his legs bent at odd angles and head twisted to the side, laying in a way only children could. His plushie was pressed against his chest with one hoof. Sim was sitting in a corner waiting for him, reading an old war time novel that had been on the room's bookshelf.

“So. You're awake. Where'd you get the necklace from?”

Fear's horn lit up as he lifted the necklace he felt resting on his chest up to eye level, eyes opening and contracting to stare at it. It had an ethereal, psychic navy blue sheen to it that sort of pulsated when Fear looked close enough.

Sim then looked up from his novel and gasped for air when he saw his son's eyes. He had an expression of curiosity and shock, his jaw dangling open.

“Mmh... whuh? Fuck it... uhh...” As Fear laid there with squinted eyes memories came back to him in bits and pieces. Not so many specifics, but he was remembering... some things because of the necklace. He recalled his trials, Amelio, Luna, and Saway, but not the entirety of his conversations with them. It felt so separate from him, like it was a whole other pony that he was only half connected to. Like some kind of siamese twin. “Hmm... I had a dream. About Meels and Princess Luna. And this mare named Saway. They put me through these diff... easy trials and I overcame them. Became a better a pony, let go of so many negative things that were clouding me, and accepted others for what they were.” Fear's voice was grasping nebulously as he tried to remember details, unable to quite figure things out on his own. The dreams had been so vivid.

“Well, if I hadn't seen Amelio in my dreams recently too, and that necklace, I'd say it's too impossible to be true. Yet the wasteland is full of crazy things, I've seen some.”

“Hmh? Like what?” Fear slowly sat up, rubbing his eyes empty of sleepy crust. It felt like Heaven to be squeezing his eyes balls around like this, like doing a drug for the first time. It was invigorating, giving him a physical high that slowly wore off.

“Well I mean... when Amelio was young I found a sword used by Luna's old guard in a manor in Pugallop. It was the dirtiest thing I'd ever seen, but I gave it to Amelio because I thought it was pretty neat and it'd give her something to dote on, as it wasn't like I could give her a doll. Amelio took care of it, wiping it down and showing it more love and care than she'd shown anything to that point aside from me. One day, she started pumping the emotions she was feeling into it, and it hummed in response as if resonating with her. The more she cared for it by infusing it with positive emotions, the newer it appeared, and eventually it looked more polished than anything else in the wasteland.”

Fear had a nagging inkling that the information was important for some reason. It drove him nuts. He knew he'd heard of a sword, the lunar guard, and Pugallop before. But it was so far away he couldn't grasp it. Too... too difficult, especially this early in the morning. “What happened to it?”

Sim tapped his chin with a hoof, setting the novel he was levitating off to the side on an end table. “She decided to leave it at my parents' place as a decoration. She didn't want to use it for battle because she already had our knife.” Sim shook his head in disbelief. “I mean it's not the most surprising thing that there would be a weapon based on emotions, but still. It's neat the kinds of things you happen to find, the way things just happen to line up.”

Fear's eyes spun in an arch. “Tell me about it.” Fear was determined to remember why this all sounded so important to him, why it struck a cord that reverberated deep within him. “Well, maybe I can check it out when we get to Dryfield?”

“Certainly Fear, I'd be happy to show you that old thing. In the meantime...” Sim reached out with telekinetic force to his saddlebags and pulled out a couple heart cherries from them, floating one over to Fear and popping the other into his mouth.

The colt's magic reached out to the heart cherry, Fear's and Sim's etheric auras mixing together into a beautiful chroma of pale turquoise. They could feel each other's minds, their nerves, in that moment. It was a strange sensation of touching that had no comparison.

Fear levitated it over to his mouth, slipped it between his lips, and nommed. His eyes rolled into the back of his head as he moaned and drooled all over the paste coursing into his maw. Fear's body shook a little from sensational ecstasy. When he was done and calmed down, he spoke. “By the way... I uh, I think I made a new friend that might be joining us on our journey.”

“Oh?” Sim looked up suspiciously, his eyes narrowed.

“Yeah, her name's Faithdriver but, uh, you can call her Faith.”

Sim gazed skeptically at his son. “You didn't tell her about our... secret, did you?” Sim had a distrustful tone, having known Fear was impulsive.

“I mean I've been thinking about it. She seems super trustworthy and she's kind of... blinded? By these notions of friendship and harmony. It's really...” Fear was searching for the right word.

Based on the colt's tone, Sim knew what he was trying to say. “Endearing?”

“Yeah! I think. And I'm sure she's open-minded enough to not be...”

“Xenophobic?” Sim had a hoof against his chin, staring at Fear unamusedly.

“If that word means hates other species then yeah, sure, that.”

Sim sighed, closing his eyes. “Fine, Fear. If you want to tell her I'm not going to stop you. You need to learn these lessons on your own, I know you're not the type of pony to listen all the time. Besides, if you really trust her then I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. But, huge but, if she attacks us it's on you to protect us by whatever means necessary.”

Fear's face screwed up at his father from how dark that statement was. Then he sighed. “Alright Dad.”

The two of them got up, gathering their stuff together including Amelio's old saddlebags, which felt awfully alone all of a sudden. Fear was carrying his garand slung over his back and his mother plushie hanging out of one of his saddlebags. They left the house swiftly enough.

Faith was outside waiting for them, yelling something about how friendship, virtues, and harmony would ultimately be what destroyed radiation and taint in the wasteland to anypony who passed by, though nopony believed her. On her back were her weapon and saddlebags. The bags, interestingly enough, had a tourist logo of Friendship Statue emblazoned on both sides like a cutie mark. They looked more like souvenirs than actual bags, and were a little frayed from overuse. She heard the door open behind her, ears giving a little flick, and turned around to greet the two with a simple smile on her face. “Hello. You must be Fear's... father?”

Sim gave an affirmative grunt and a nod of his head, not knowing what to think of Faith. She smelled faintly, though it was neither a good nor bad scent. It was almost like overripe fruit, but soft on the senses, and thus tolerable and maybe even a little pleasant. Almost. “So you're Faith?”

“That's righ-” Faith was cut off when she saw Fear slip out behind his father, her face going dumbstruck. Jaw falling slack, eyes widening, pupils dilating, ears flopping against her skull. Faith moved up to Fear with the quickness of a predator, brushing past Sim and sitting on her haunches. The mare reached out to Fear's face and grabbed it in her forehooves, surprising Fear as she twisted it this way and that, staring into his eyes.

“Ah, hey! What are you doing!?” Fear tried to pull away half-heartedly, secretly enjoying the manhandling, barely able to budge in Faith's earth pony grip, his cheeks getting squished.

“Your eyes! What happened!?” Faith was clearly in awe.

Fear glanced off to the side, his head staying in place, not sure how to respond to that question. How do I tell her it was something beyond belief?

Faith was exuding wonder at the sight. “They're the most beautiful, innocent thing I've ever seen. So... so smolderingly expressive and untainted. Your eyes were pretty, albeit disturbing before but now...? Now they're just gorgeous and unusual.”

Fear grunted a little, rolling his eyes and trying to pull away again. Faith finally released him, letting Fear shake his head clear, still feeling the lingering touch of her hooves smooshing his face. “I suppose I could tell you. I have a lot to tell you actually.”

“Oh? Is that so?” Faith was clearly intrigued, ready for a story in return for hers, something to add to her collection of tales.

Sim pressed a hoof against his forehead and groaned inwardly, unable to believe Fear was actually going to do it.

“Yeah, but let's get out of town first,” Fear elaborated.

==========================================================================================

“So, I'm curious, what exactly happened? And where'd you get that necklace? I'd imagine you'd wear something as weird as that all the time.” The excitement in Faith's voice was palpable, yet subdued.

Fear considered it heavily, before explaining the story of his trials in as much detail as possible, explaining seeing his dead sister, whose saddlebags Sim was now wearing, and Princess Luna in glorious high definition.

Sim considered his son heavily, quietly impressed with him.

Faith whistled by the end of the story. “That's a lot to take in, Fear! So... the revered Princess Luna is back? Gosh! I wish I could meet her. You're a lucky colt, Fear.” Faith was clearly at a loss for words for the most part, just trying to comprehend all of it. “I knew something was curious and strange about you when I met you, but I never would have imagined anything like this. The idea that Princess Luna will be watching over us once more...?” She couldn't help but whistle again, impressed. “I just... I can't believe it. It's too much! The fact that she was always there, not dead. I'm so... so happy.” She turned to Fear, nudging him in the shoulder. “Fear, thank you for bringing one of our princesses back to the wastes. To Equestria.”

The colt was visibly uncomfortable as he shrugged, looking off to the side. “No problem? All in a day's work?”

“I mean it Fear, you fought your issues and won, and you have the evidence to show for it. A lot of ponies drown in their problems, or they drown their problems with drugs, sex, and violence.”

Sim nodded a few times. “I'm proud of you too, Fear. You're well on your way to making up for the past, I'm sure.”

Fear smiled softly at that, despite the discomfort. “So, changing subjects, what about you Faith? What's your past like? I've already told you a little about me.”

Faith regarded Fear for a few moments before beginning to explain. “Well, I never knew my parents for one thing. Don't know if they were good, bad, or morally ambiguous. All I remember is growing up as an orphan in Friendship City. I was beloved by my peers, often solving disputes, though eventually I became a scavver because I couldn't sit still. I knew there was something out there, a glorious destiny waiting for me. Eventually I found a book of the two sisters during an excavation. I read through it during my time off and became so inspired I decided to travel from place to place spreading the good word. That's why Princess Luna's return is so... such a powerful event. Even if most ponies don't clearly remember their dreams, the fact that Princess Luna would return to us is more than I can possibly imagine. We've gone without for so long.”

Silence reigned for far too long as Fear processed that information. “Hey Faith?”

“Yes Fear?”

“What do you think of changelings?”

Sim held his breath.

Faith hummed. “Well, to be honest I never really thought about it. I don't know much about them, just rumors. I always wanted to befriend one, prove that harmony extends beyond ponies. Like I said in Our Town, friendship is stability, and we're all searching for the alicorn inside all of us.”

Sim's ears gave a little flick at that information.

The colt grinned. “Well I suppose you're in luck then,” he said amicably.

“Huh? Why's that?” Faith's gaze turned suspicious immediately, but not afraid. “You're not a changeling are you?”

Fear shrugged. “Well, I mean, kind of. A quarter changeling. Dad's half.”

Faith tapped her chin, thinking on it, eyes gazing to the cloud cover above. “Well I'd say that explains a lot, but it really doesn't! Because I honestly don't know you that well. Still, that's cool. You should keep that information under wraps though, I won't fool myself into believing everypony's as brave as I am. So is it true changelings eat love?”

“Well yeah, I've also been able to eat other emotions actually.”

Sim grunted. “I am too. Love is the most filling however. We turn that abstract energy into pure life force.”

Faith was clearly impressed, her brows risen on her face. “In all fairness I'm sure love and other emotions never go away forever. If they did they wouldn't be constantly in flux and other changelings or ponies would have died out long ago from the feeding process.”

Sim grinned from ear to ear. “You're a smart cookie, Faith.”

Faith did a little bow, sweeping one foreleg over the other. “Thank you, Sim. I like to think I have a level head on my shoulders, even if I like to joke away my problems. After all, impulsivity will get you killed.” The mare spared a glance to Fear, whose cheeks flushed crimson under his coat. Sim guffawed bitonally. Faith then gave Fear a little wink. “Anyways, I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship, thank you for trusting me.”

Sim glimpsed behind him at Fear. “Hey, while we're traveling you want to learn another changeling trick?”

Fear's tail lashed to the side like a whip, then to the other as his mouth hung open, suddenly very excited. “Sure!” Ever greedy for new tricks, though he still had to practice.

Sim thought about it for a few moments. “I'm going to teach you how to form carapace armor on parts of your body. It takes a lot of focus. It's similar to camouflaging yourself, but it's all transformation, no illusion to it.”

Fear nodded emphatically, staring at Sim as he spoke.

“In order to do it you need to hyperproduce transformation magic on a part of your body, and slowly layer it on itself repeatedly; dig deep into your primal instincts, everything that makes you who you are inside, and with pure will pull it to the forefront. Your genetics will do the rest. It'll create a hard shell where you gathered the magical force.”

And so, Fear was on his way to developing a new trick, switching his efforts between them all. Interestingly, it didn't take him long to plunge inside of himself and pull out the key to his genetics so he could create the armor, it just took awhile to stack the magic.

==========================================================================================

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxyrNfjUFdY

It had been a few nights and a couple nightmares but Fear, oddly, once more found himself back in the castle courtyard. His movements were listless and near comatose, yet all the sensations around him were vivid and close to seizure-inducing. The colors spoke to Fear on a congenital level, like something he should have seen before but hadn't. That was how all the shapes were too. It all felt like home away from home, like he'd traveled a great journey and staked his claim in this castle. Fear made his way up to the door, able to hear nightingales chirping and owls hooting despite never experiencing those animals and their sounds before. It gave an ambiguous sense of presence to everything. Fear knew he wasn't alone, even if he couldn't feel anything more than himself at the moment.

Upon entry, he found Saway on the other side, greeting him in the throne room like before. She carried herself with pride and that familiar viciousness she had come to be known for. However, there was newfound respect in her eyes as they fell upon Fear's small form. She gave him a violent, ego-stroking smile as she walked over to him, nudging him in the chest with a hoof. “Good to see you, Colt.”

Fear was in a daze the entire time, his mouth hanging open in a frown, like he was supposed to remember something.

After a moment of the mare staring at Fear expectantly, Saway's voice broke the silence. “Hey colt, you wanna learn something neat from my time alive?”

Fear finally spoke up, cocking his head to the side, perking up and standing a little taller, a smile emerging on his face. “S-sure.”

Saway's horn dipped down to be level with the top of Fear's head, and soon enough tendrils of shadowy energy were creeping out of the base, slithering along her cusp nerve, and reaching out like fingers toward the air between the mare and colt. They conglomerated into an orb of swirling shadows that coalesced in the air in front of Fear. “Now you clench down on my magic with yours.”

Fear nodded once and reached out with his magic, his horn lighting up with a warm white aura and clasping down around the orb, forming a glistening sphere around it that smelled a bit of vanilla extract on contact, while Saway's smelt like battery acid. Fear felt a little of Saway flake off onto him, causing him to giggle and roll his shoulders, leaning to one side and smiling even brighter. He shook his head, feeling all sorts of awkward at the intimate touching.

Saway then pulled away and brought a hoof up to her forehead, performing a rigid Equestrian military salute.

Fear hesitated for a moment, staring at her with an 'oh' on his face, before doing the same, going stiff as he held a hoof against his forehead.

“There you go colt. A magical hoofshake followed by a salute.”

Fear had heard of salutes before. That's when he remembered the sword, Pugallop, and everything. His eyes went wide as he vibrated in place, his jaw going slack. “Oh oh oh oh! Did you, uh, used to wield a sword that worked with emotions?”

Saway's gaze narrowed at the colt. “Mh, yes, I did. How'd you know?” She eyed Fear warily, with a hint of skepticism.

“Apparently my Dad and Ame found one years ago. She kept it at my grandparents' house in Neighvada. You don't mind, do you?”

A look of sullen irritation crossed Saway's tense features, her face twisting slightly, clearly annoyed. “Eh, it's not like I can use it anymore. I don't like the fact that ponies went scavenging around in my home, let alone the fact that they found it.” She shuddered. “But I'm not gonna stop you from keeping it. Besides, if somepony's taking care of it... I suppose I can grant my permission.”

Fear's tail swayed back and forth as he beamed up at her. “Thanks Saway! I appreciate it!”

Saway slid past Fear, jabbing him in the flank. “Anyways, you should get going. My Princess of Death wishes to see you.” She twisted around and gestured with a hoof for Fear to head to the lunar door.

The colt gave a nod and trotted toward it at an active pace. “Take care of yourself Saway,” he called back.

“Hah, what else am I going to do around here?”

Fear just threw back a smile at her as he got along his way.

==========================================================================================

Luna, upon seeing her guest, called out to him. “Fearei Shatter, it is a pleasure to see you again. I see my little spell has worked well to bring you back here.”

Fear halted in place, eyes spinning from the statement, head leaning to the side in curiosity. “I'm sorry, what?”

Luna gently trot toward Fear. “I cast a spell on you before you left my dreambubble. I keyed you to it, so from now on you will appear here when you go to sleep. After Amelioreit told me about your nightmares, I figured you'd appreciate a little more stability. I am sorry it took so long to go into effect, I had to get all the threads and coordinates right. Takes time, you understand.”

The colt thought about it. It's a little annoying she didn't ask first, but it's definitely better to be able to see all my friends when I go to sleep from now on instead of dealing with nightmares. Fear then realized that he had no desire to bring his mother back into his dreams. Huh, I've really let go haven't I? Sure it'd be nice to see her... but the temptation was no longer there. It wasn't a prominent wish in his mind. “Why are you here anyway? Why aren't you out there in the dreambubbles?”

“Do not worry, Fear. I have been holding up my end of the deal, sending weakened mirror images of myself from bubble to bubble checking on my little ponies. I have discovered a lot for myself by reading them and learning about them. I found that this... Enclave has not only separated themselves from the wasteland, but a couple hypnomancers in their midst have made their own Flow solely for pegasi. It is a shame, really, that they would be so desperate to distance themselves that they would use my own spells against the rest of Equestria.”

“You know, I'd feel worse about it if you hadn't done the same exact thing.”

Luna's eyes narrowed, a grin forming on her face. “Touche, Fear. You are right. Still, it is a shame that they have done the same as me.” Her voice had a mournful tone to it.

“So what else did you discover? You've been helping ponies. Anything interesting?”

“Hmm... I would have to say the most interesting ponies I have discovered within the primary Flow are the ghouls. According to them, they hardly ever sleep, and there are so few non-feral ones. One was a Steel Ranger dreaming about Applejack. I think I know who it was. He was so sure Applejack had died, but I... swooped in and rescued her from her fate in his dream, then brought them together so he'd find peace, even if only for a little while. I then spent a bit of time interviewing him. I do not think he remembered upon waking.”

Luna continued. “I also managed to find a pegasus who dreamed about the wastes, though his bubble was still separate from the other races. Next to his I found one who was dreaming about the previous pony, that he'd been exiled from the clouds and ended up dying. I assuaged his fears by showing him a vision of his... what I assumed to be a brother, living beneath the clouds with other ponies.”

Fear smiled brightly like a little lighthouse. “That's pretty neat. You find any really horrendous things too?”

“Yes, but not quite as horrible as I had imagined. The enslaved ones and the raiders are the worst though. The reapers make me shudder absolutely. It is such a shame the problems I have caused for everypony.”

Fear shrugged. “Sure you caused a lot of problems, but there's no point in beating ourselves up for our mistakes. All we can do is try to move on and make amends for them. And so far, I'd say you're doing a bang up job by being there for ponies in their dreams and gathering information about the wasteland.”

Luna put a hoof against her chest. “Thank you for that, Fear. Amelio has also been keeping me in check, making sure I do not produce a Tantabus to torment me for my sins.” She shook her head a little.

“You better fucking not!” Fear squeaked. “We're suffering enough already, it's time for the suffering to stop.”

“Certainly. You have changed Fear. You are a far cry from the colt that came to me a little while ago. It is... incredible the change you have undergone. And I am glad you still wear that necklace.” She pointed to the screw with a hoof.

“Are you serious? It's only been a few days!” He then looked down around his neck. “Oh yeah, I got a compliment on it and stuff, it's really neat! What's it supposed to do anyway?”

Luna blinked once, slowly. “Nothing really, Fear. It is just evidence of what you have endured, and what I now believe you capable of. It will follow you in dreams and waking as long as you wear it, and even when you lose it, it is bound to you. You will come across it once more soon enough.”

The colt grinned like an idiot. “Sounds pretty cool. Thanks for the present, Princess!”

“You are more than welcome, Fearei Shatter.”

Fear swept his head to the side. “Anyways, speaking of information gathering... I'm going to Dryfield, Neighvada soon. You got any idea of what I should expect over there? No reapers, right?”

Luna tilted her head to the side and smiled bemusedly. “It doesn't really work like that, Fear. But from what my reflections have explained to me on our bond, there have indeed been some dreams taking place around Neighvada regarding a mysterious pony that goes by many names. Provisional Cure, Contingent Vision, and other such pseudonyms. He's apparently collecting a bunch of raiders together for his own ends, yet I could not find his dream bubble no matter how hard I searched. There are many things going on in the wasteland at once, so I cannot give more information than: he appears to be building some type of empire. Some of the ponies who dreamed about him also dreamt about the families they had to support.”

Fear considered it heavily, dazzled by how much information she'd managed to collect. “Sounds like there's more going on than meets the eye.”

A twinkle appeared in Luna's eye. “Yes, that is the feeling I get as well. It is nice to know as impulsive as you are you can see those things.”

“I mean Mom always admired me for being able to see things not a lot of other ponies could so... yeah.”

“Your mother must have been very intelligent, Fear.” Luna had a gentle, parental smile on her face.

“You have no fucking idea.” Fear laughed a little to himself.

“As for those ponies you mentioned: Dim Nova, Angel Swaddle, and Compressed Crate, I am still looking for the former. She might be dead, Fear.”

Fear's heart seized up, eyes quivering, staring at Luna. “You don't... you don't think?”

Luna shook her head, her smile placating. “No Fear, I do not think she did anything rash. But we will find out soon enough. If I can't find her then I will find somepony who knew her, but then again you have to keep in mind that I can't check on everypony every night and some things are beyond my reach. I am only one mare.”

“One mare with a ton of reflections!” Fear exclaimed with fresh hope.

“Indeed. But you should go find your sister now. I think she is busy meditating in the treasure room.” Luna stepped off to the side, motioning to the vault behind her. “She is in there often.”

Fear grimaced. “By the way, what about Crate and Angel?”

“Judging by their dreams, they have an adopted foal who's taking up most of their time and energy. That or they're dreaming of the same pony together.”

Stress alleviated from Fear's face like evaporating water, becoming a look of exhaustion instead, like an anvil had been lifted off his shoulders. “Thanks Princess. I'll see you later.” And with that he galloped toward the vault, opening the door the rest of the way and stepping into an alabaster room bereft of all luxuries and necessities, including distinguishable floor. All it had were some arched panel mirrors like you'd see in a mansion.

Amelio looked up from her spot in the... middle? Of the room, sitting on her haunches. “Oh, Fearei, it is you. I am happy to see you! How are you?” Her voice sounded tired, disoriented, and isolated.

Fear had a solemn expression on his face, brows leaning outward, a sorrowful smile on his lips, a little wateriness to his eyes. “It's good to see you too, Meels. I'm doing really well to be honest. I feel like I've beaten back most of my depression. I can focus more easily on the present, and I don't feel like I'm as guilty anymore. I'm just... stable. Aside from the nightmares before now.” He grinned and shrugged, eyes arching in their sockets.

Amelio smiled back and nodded once, standing up and making her way over to Fear, pulling him into a loving embrace.

“Oh! I also met a new pony recently by the way! Her name's Faithdriver.”

“Oh? What is she like? Tell me all about the ponies you meet, Fear.”

Fear focused, his face twisting up, tongue hanging out, forehead scrunched as he focused on the room and summoned a dream construct of the mare he'd met, who was by far taller than him, and a little more bulky due to being an earth pony. The construct was carrying her saddlebags, weapon, and everything!

“Ooh! She is very interesting, Fear. You certainly meet the strangest ponies.”

Fear giggled and snorted nervously, looking off to the side. “Yeah uh, she's a preacher and... uh. Really believes in friendship and stability. She's a good friend. She knows about my changelingness and all that good stuff.”

Amelio looked back to Fear with a sly look in her eyes and a teasing grin. “Oh? Is that so? And just how did she find out?”

“I uh. Told her?” Fear's eyes darted from side to side.

“Mhm, as I would expect. Fear you have to be more careful.” Amelio had a chiding, motherly tone to her voice.

“Hey! I was really careful. I knew she'd understand, stop teasing me.” Fear blushed a little, batting a hoof at her.

“Yes, I bet you were,” she stated with a sardonic inflection. “Anyways, Fear, I wanted to tell you. I do not know when my time will be up. I am sure as the decades pass I will need to spend more time in here until eventually I just... fade away.”

Fear shifted uncomfortably from hoof to hoof. “Fade away?” His voice sounded like a chastised colt.

“Yes. You might forget me, you might not. My impression on you may diminish over time. I do not know what will happen. Eventually my presence in the dream world will fade and I will be able to do close to nothing. But you have our father, and hopefully you will have him for a long time to come. As well as your new friends. Keep making new relationships, Fear.”

Fear's face scrunched up like an accordion, ever troublesome. “I will fight destiny itself to remember you, Meels! I won't let you be taken from me.”

Amelio just gave a knowing, lidded smile, a sparkle in her eyes. “You need to work hard on becoming incredible, Fear.”

==========================================================================================

The town the trio found themselves in was derelict and gray, like the rest of the wasteland. They had been moving from house to house, doing cursory examinations of the insides for anything useful or unique and moving on to the next. It was a good way to pass the time, and it wasn't like they were in any particular hurry. Fear seemed the most excited about the exercise. It reminded him of time with his mother scavenging in cities, and it also kept his morale up. For him it was a like gambling, you never knew when you were going to finally strike it rich.

After all, Faith had already found her canned food for the night, and a little something else to make it worthwhile with Fear's help.

They were in another such building, with Sim advising Fear to keep his voice down in case of raiders, in which Fear reminded Sim that he'd feel the raiders coming a mile away so it wasn't that big a deal, all as they searched a new house, this one looking plain and more than abandoned, yet well kept. There was also an old sleeping bag in the kitchen where somepony had probably been staying at one point before being ambushed by raiders.

Faith and Fear were busy scouring over old bookshelves, of which there were many in this little abode, clearly the home of a scholar. Faith was the first to find something interesting, using a couple hooves to part some books out of the way and using her teeth to yank out a manilla folder that was packed to bursting with pages. Thankfully for her, when she pulled it out, set it on a nearby table, and opened it up, the papers were all stapled together. She didn't quite understand what it was at first as Fear continued looking over the bookshelf.

“What'd you find, Faith?” In the background the two could hear the opening and closing of cupboards, drawers, and cabinets. Sim was fishing around for something to call his own, but was mostly finding junk that they couldn't take with them or risk oversaddling themselves.

Faith hummed in thought, leafing through the pages. “I think it's... I think somepony was intending to write a book?”

Sim called out from another room. “A manuscript perhaps?”

Faith nodded once, though nopony could see her. “I think so. It's called Friendship is Discord.” She paused for a moment, putting it all away and slipping it into her saddlebags. “Strange, and not usually something I'd go for, but it looks well-researched and convincing enough. I'll have to give it a read. It appears finished but unedited.”

Fear 'huh'ed and gasped when he came across a rather fat tome, pulling it out and scanning over its cover. It had three different faces on it in a triangle pattern. Each was cross cut down the middle, with one side being an equine and the other side being some kind of psionic alien. The cover said Shadow Paladin Saga with the bottom reading out Three in One novel by Christened Gold. Fear twisted it over to read the back while floating it in his magic, quickly scanning the words. Apparently it was about a unicorn archaeologist who was on site when an alien entered his brain, then he had to go on a journey to save the alien's race and himself. It was touted as a novel for young adults that would bring them into a world of sci-fi adventure. Fear nodded appreciatively and stuck the book in his saddlebags. He'd come across a lot of books,but many of them were generic romance novels that had been 'fixed' by the Ministry of Image. There were also some action Daring Do novels, but Fear wasn't too keen on those. He'd read a couple inside one of the bunkers Storm and him had stayed at, but they never held his interest like some of the others. “That's neat, Faith.” Then he called out to Sim. “You find anything Dad?”

Sim murmured something before speaking. “Ah! Here we go!” Under a pile of blankets and other stuff near the sleeping bag... “I found a black cup and a bunch of dice. We could probably play some games with it.”

The colt was officially satisfied with their haul. “I think we got enough to last us awhile then.” Fear gave his saddlebags a pat with telekinesis and headed for the door.

Sim called after him. “Hang on Fear, still gotta check the bathroom. Maybe there'll be some medicine.”

Fear rolled his eyes. “We don't really need medicine remember?”

Faith opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted by Sim. “Remember Faith is traveling with us now, so it's best to be prepared.”

Fear huffed. “Yeah, you're right.”

Faith just smiled pleasantly. “You're kind, Sim. Thank you for thinking of me.”

Sim accepted the gratitude gracefully. “Any time, Faith.” After some rooting and rummaging around, the stallion came back out with a smile. “I found some antibiotics and WTSD pills. Could go for a high price, who knows?”

Faith clapped her hooves together. “Thanks Sim. This place was really worth it.”

Fear rolled his eyes. “Yeah, the other houses barely had anything of value.”

Sim laughed. “Nothing you thought was valuable at least. Faith found some food through it.”

Fear smiled lopsidedly. “Yeah, yeah. True.”

“Well, let's get going then,” Faith offered while shifting her saddlebags on her back and heading out.

After a few moments Fear broke the reticence. “So, Faith. What's Friendship City like? I was told once I should go there and join the Wasteland Crusaders.”

Faith hummed, as she was wont to do. “Well, Friendship City isn't nearly as wealthy and protected as Tenpony Tower, but it has a lot of shops and things to do. Even has a movie theater that plays films once every week, with a little donation booth to help keep things up and running. There's a library and a spa, and overall it's just a really swell place. The Wasteland Crusaders are rather kind, and while the orphanage is gone now, it's still teeming with life. It's such a misfortune that the ghouls were kicked out though.” She murmured to herself, thinking about it. “While I did learn some carpentry while I was there from books and the Crusaders, the upper levels are unusable because of how volatile they are. But that's also why your new necklace really appeals to me. I used to like fixing things in my off time. Stabilizing and repairing things. I did the same thing with laughter when I was younger, and still sometimes do.”

Sim waited for Faith to finish before speaking up. “Friendship City is kind of a quiet place. Very nice and pleasant. There are some good ponies there. I've done my business around it before, and thankfully they don't charge me taxes because I don't live there. I've met some very kind ponies, and some ponies you'd never expect had a history out in the wasteland.”

Fear took in all the information and thought on it, imagining what Friendship City must be like.

==========================================================================================

Some time later, within Luna's dreambubble, Amelio, Fear, and the host were spending time together, enjoying each other's company while Luna catered to her little ponies in their dreams. It felt good to have somepony other than just Nyx and Saway to talk to for once.

“Amelio, I'm really excited to see that sword you found.”

“Sword?” Luna prodded curiously.

After remembering, Amelio laughed gaily. “You know, I had forgotten about that thing.”

Luna nudged Amelio. “What sword?”

Amelio turned to Luna and nodded a little. “Yes, Princess. I found a sword awhile back that belonged to your old guard.”

“It belonged to Saway apparently,” Fear interrupted.

Amelio looked at Fear with a startled expression, clearly taken aback as Luna leaned forward in interest, like a pony who'd just caught a juicy piece of gossip. “Interesting. I never would have imagined those would be found. Hm.”

“What are they exactly, Princess?” Fear asked, putting his forelegs on the ground in front of him.

“They are exceptional swords made from quartz and a special metal, so that it absorbs the energy around it.”

“Oh! Oh! Can it absorb magical attacks?!” Fear was suddenly swept up into a fervor.

“Not quite, Fearei,” Luna began. “It doesn't have the right technology for that. However, it does allow it to absorb emotive and raw magical energies in order to have a mind of its own. Each of my sister's and my swords were imbued with our essence so that they would be able to... I suppose you could say keep their wielders company when they were alone.”

“Huh, okay then. Is there anything else about it I should know?” Fear was still curious just not as fervent.

“Well,” Amelio stated, “negative emotions cause it to wither and rust but positive emotions help upkeep it.”

Luna gazed at Amelio admiringly. “Indeed, and further, positive emotions will cause it to surge to its wielders defense. Taking care of it encourages it to take care of you. With negative emotions it will lash out accurately at others, but may ultimately lash out at you as well. It requires a keen balance.” Her gaze fell on Fear next. “Do you intend to use it, Fearei?”

Fear stammered. “I mean... I don't know. Do I really want to? It seems like a huge responsibility, and I don't know how I feel about using Saway's sword for trivial things. And to be honest I don't think I'd want to pump it full of negative emotions at all, I don't want to hurt it.”

Luna and Amelio smiled toward Fear as Saway walked in. “If we're all being honest here, I will too: I don't mind you using it.” Her voice was as raspy and violent as ever, with a condescending subtext. “I just want it to be taken care of. It was incredibly important to me.” Saway gave a curt, affirmative nod. “Princess Luna is my existence, both in life and death. To be completely honest? You would have had a hard time wielding it before your trials anyway. All full of pent up, tumultuous emotions that you were, they would have seeped into the sword and confused it. But now that your mind is at peace, it will listen.”

Fear hesitated. “Still... I dunno,” He dragged out.

Luna put a hoof against her chest. “Fear, I would be honored if you used one of my swords to help protect you and others. I am sure you would have made a great knight or bodyguard during the war, probably for my sister.”

Fear rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, smiling like a doof. “Aw fuck, you're jus' sayin' that Princess.” Fear bat a hoof at her, cheeks flushing ruby as he looked away.

“Well, maybe a little,” Luna admitted with a teasing tone. “Also you should really watch your language Fear, it is improper around a Princess.”

Amelio got a sly smirk across her face. “Right, like I do not hear you constantly using antiquated swear words while I am in the treasure room.”

Luna huffed and stuttered, grimacing and narrowing her eyes, blushing intensely. “I! Mh! I never! Sard! I am just doing that because I see so many terrible things in the dreambubbles!” She tried to excuse herself, giving a little grunt and sticking her nose into the air.

Saway, Fear, and Amelio began laughing pretty loudly at that.

Author's Notes:

Faith's Theme