https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZUln73KN-I

Dim Nova was nowhere to be found; no place did her dreams exist within the Flow. Amelio had even helped the alicorn seek out any presences in the farthest reaches using her sixth sense, but nothing was found. It was as if the mare had just completely disappeared, a theory furthered by those who'd known her up until her vanishing. But beside that, Fear had at least gotten to see Crate and Angel again. They were joyful upon seeing him, having never expected they'd see each other in their dreams.

Luna had collected the colt and two lovers, bringing them together in one dreambubble.

“So yeah, after I beat that bitch Solanum I left for home again. Sorry the story took so long.” Fear rubbed his left foreleg with the right, glancing down and to the side.

Crate's gruff voice sounded out gaily. “No worries Fear, we're just happy you've been doing better! Isn't that right sweetie?”

Angel nodded softly, a gentle smile spread across her face. “Indeed. It's a pleasure to see you again, even if only in our dreams. You'll have to come visit sometime so we can play cards again.”

Something about the whole thing didn't feel... authentic. There was a mentality to it all, Fear could tell it was all in his head but at the same time it wasn't, the others around him weren't products of his imagination. It felt as if everything was at his beck and call, and all he had to do was imagine it in order to make it a reality. But whenever he woke up, things felt even more fake than ever before, like life was made up of dolls and the only thing that set it apart were the souls. Despite all the actual physical sensations that weren't a product of the mind there was something... off about it. All the time. It left the colt unsure about the state of things more often than not, but Amelio assured him that it was natural for nothing to feel absolute as you got used to sifting between sleep and waking.

Fear looked up with a brilliant smile splitting his maw open, his legs rigid and tail whipping from side to side. “I'd really love that! So I heard you two have an adopted foal now?”

The two lovers gazed at each other for a moment, with Crate speaking first. “Huh, you really find out everything in this place?”

Fear shook his head wildly. “Nah! Not even slightly. There's so much that can't be found out. It's all about what creatures dream of and stuff, ya know?”

Angel 'hmm'ed. “Well, it would have been nice if we could have told you about him ourselves. Crate found him on his route awhile back. He was a little feral, recently escaped from some slavers, and we took him in. He's a real hoofful sometimes.”

“Oh? What's his name?” Fear was ever the curious colt.

Crate took a step forward. “We call him Bidden, but his full name is Glory Bidden. His parents had high hopes for him.”

Fear's ears twitched, his lips creeping a little higher. “That's pretty cool.” It reminded him of his mother. “I'm sure he'll manage to do a lot.”

Angel shrugged. “I don't know if we can expect that much out of him, but it'd be nice if he just became a functioning member of the wasteland. We might try to move to Friendship City at some point in order to have a little more protection. We'll have to live in the Slums but we might be able to get some work around there.”

Fear hopped up, beaming like a sun. “That'd be super cool!” He squeaked. “I'd have to make sure to visit you three!”

Crate rubbed his chin with a hoof. “Provided we remember all this when we wake up we'll have a lot to tell him about the little colt who killed our murderer.”

Fear's brows lifted slightly. “Oh, by the way, did you two get my note and stuff? Did you all leave town?”

Angel shook her head. “We got your note, yes. We were concerned, and saddened. But we figured you had a good reason for leaving.” The mare's voice was solemn and downtrodden. “We took our things and left for a day, but we couldn't get anypony to join us. I trusted your mother, so I trusted you knew what you were talking about. I'm just glad it turned out to be nothing. We didn't know what to make of it when we got back. Other ponies made fun of us for it, but we knew... you'd probably done something to stop it.”

Crate nodded. “It's good to finally have the full story of what happened.”

“I'm just glad I finally got to tell you. I was so worried you guys would think I was crazy, or think I abandoned you, or, or... a whole host of other things!” Fear bounced up, stomping both forehooves against the ground. “Like I said, I just didn't feel like I deserved to stay. It reminded me of all these.. emotions. All these things I'd done. But I'm doing better now, and I found... something akin to peace.”

Angel moved up to Fear's front and wrapped a foreleg around his neck, pulling him into her bosom. “It's fine, Fear. We're just glad you're well. It's good to have closure.”

Crate sidled up next to the colt and draped a hoof over his flanks, yanking him in close. “Indeed. You'll always be welcome around us, little savior.”

Fear sighed, closing his eyes. “I'm just glad you believe me and this is all real.”

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

“Got a special broadcast for all you colts and fillies out there!” The DJ's deep voice spouted from Fear's mother's radio, blaring at full volume in the fields of crops. “I recently got news from the Neighvada Desert that a pony killed off King Solanum in his own home, and the hive is now under new management. I don't know quite what to expect of Spearmint Wing but I hope all you children out there will treat him with respect and, who knows? Maybe he'll return the favor! We could always use more loyalty in the wasteland. Either way, the roads should be safer now! Less likely to be abducted and used as a slave. Whoever the little pony is that removed a constant threat from life in the desert, we thank you!”

Fear was busy training with Gentler all over again as he listened to the broadcast, a smile seeping onto his face as was becoming constant at this rate. He felt more full of himself than ever before, like he could take on anything. He'd been told to watch for the repeating broadcast, never thinking he'd be talked about by his favorite hero aside from Mega Mare.

The colt only came up to Gentler's thigh as they fought, with the Abyssinian flowing through a variety of punches and kicks, which Fear all dodged or deflected with pulses of telekinesis or the swat of a hoof depending on which spell was contained within the cat's weapons, his newfound, faintly sinuous muscles rippling under the surface of his tiny body with each little motion. He could use transformation magic to give him even more strength by this point, but it seemed redundant and useless.

Fear swerved to the side as a kick sailed over his head, then jumped into the air as Gentler's other leg sweeped out for his limbs. During the Abyssinian's spin he lashed out with a fist for the colt's head, as a powerful shock zapped in the gauntlet. Fear responded simply by twisting his head to the side as he hung in the air, his horn lighting up, a telekinetic field wrapping around the hand and forcing it down and back as he landed on the ground again. The unicorn let out a valiant war cry as he yanked with all his power on Gentler, trying to bring him crashing into the ground.

Gentler countered by leaping forward, doing a flip in the air and pulsing a magic nullifying spell through his gauntlet, unlatching him from the magical grip and landing on his feet, spinning around with a leg out to roundhouse Fear's hindlegs.

The colt reared up onto his forelegs and somersaulted, his spine bending at a weird angle thanks to his calisthenics with Chirp, and landed back on his hindlegs. Though as he did he took a deep breath, held it, and slipped into the ground like it was water.

Due to the cloud cover above the entire wasteland was covered in shadows, fortunately for the hybrid, allowing Fear to swim within like a shark, the only sign of his presence being a darker shade where he laid.

Fear darted under Gentler's greaves before he could pump nullification into them and send the colt sprawling into the air from the force, raising up out of the surface behind him and gasping air as Gentler spun around again, bringing a heel to bare against the colt.

But it was a feint. Fear's head popped out of the ground before he dove back in and bolted behind the Abyssinian. Fear came up from the rear just as Gentler's leg was finishing its sweep, Fear's foreleg jutting up in a punch and striking the cat in the knee, causing his leg to wither away, pulling back against his body.

Fear dipped back into the ground as Gentler flew forward at him, intending to clip him in the jaw with a static shock punch before he could disappear.

The colt was too swift however and immediately launched out of the ground from behind Gentler, hopping up and landing on his back, wrapping a foreleg around his neck. Fear thought about manipulating the shadows to try and strangle the cat but his magic nullifying spell would have quickly put a stop to that, so he decided against it. Fear wrapped Gentler's throat in a choke hold, holding his foreleg against the two blood vessels that brought oxygen to his brain.

Gentler responded by flipping over onto his spine and using the back of his head to butt Fear's skull into the ground, his gauntlets coming up to Fear's tightened foreleg with electricity crackling along them, intending to touch the harassing limb and make it numb.

Fear felt it coming with his empathy even as his head reeled from the bang against the ground, roughhousing with the cat as his foreleg turned into shadows, collapsing around the Abyssinian's throat just as the hand came up, touching his throat and sending a powerful shock flowing through Gentler's system and making it difficult to breathe.

The colt huffed, one eye lidded and the other twitching from the soreness in his skull. “Surrender!?” Fear was frantic, hoping that was the end of the fight.

Gentler coughed and hacked. “M-mercy!” That was the end of their daily spars. “Well...” the Abyssinian wheezed. “Well done again, Fear.”

Fear's grin reached untold lengths as he let go of the cat and slipped into the shadows before appearing on all fours a few inches away, panting for air, still wincing from the blow to his head.

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

Gentler and Fear stared intently at each other across the table at Scavver's Tavern, with the colt sitting on his haunches in one chair and the Abyssinian sitting across with his feet planted firmly on the floor. The cat had a large, condescending smirk on his face, leaning forward, vision needling into the unicorn. Fear on the other hoof was determined, his face set in a heavy scowl and eyes penetrating deep into Gentler's soul. He would not lose, slamming his hoof on the table, the shot glasses between them jostling from the force. “Your start,” Fear coaxed.

Gentler smirked, his whiskers shivered as his snout wrinkled up. “A tom got hit in the head with a can of sparkle cola. At least it was a soft drink.”

Fear kept a straight face, leaning on an elbow and holding his chin with a hoof. “The shovel was a groundbreaking invention.”

Gentler merely shrugged and grinned. “Want to hear a joke about construction? I'm still working on it.”

Fear's lips turned upward, jerking slightly. “So what if I don't know what armageddon means? It's not the end of the world.”

Gentler sighed, eyes rolling in their sockets. “If I had fifty caps for every time I failed a math exam I'd have five hundred twenty caps.”

The colt took a moment to think about that. When he finally got it his jaw hinged open and his eyes widened, a little snrrk escaping his lips, snout scrunching. Fear stomped a hoof and took a shot, his whole body cringing from the taste. After wiping his mouth with a hoof, he continued. “What do you call a fish with no eye? A fsh.”

Gentler's brow lifted an inch at that one. No other reaction. “My brother,” he began simply, “and I often laughed about how competitive I am.” The cat leaned forward. “I laughed more.” He had a sinister expression.

Fear's tail whipped to the side under him, trying to keep a straight face. “I still remember what my Mom said before she kicked the bucket.”

The cat nearly whistled at the gall.

“How far do you think I can kick this bucket?”

It was such a dark joke Gentler couldn't help but laugh, batting a paw and taking a swig from one of the shots, slamming it back down against the table. “My girlfriend's dad told me he wanted her home before midnight. I told him he already owned her home.”

Fear couldn't help but giggle at that, cursing to himself under his breath as he struck another shot down his throat. It burned like Tartarus. “What's the difference between roast bloatwing and pea soup?”

“What?”

“You can rrr... rrroast a bloatwing but no one can p... pee ssssoup.”

Despite himself, Gentler chuckled at the dumb joke, knocking back a shot with the experience of a heavy drinker. “I didn't want to believe Mom was stealing stuff from her job as a road worker, but when I got home all the signs were there.”

Fear wasn't able to resist laughing, tapping a hoof on the table and shaking his head wildly before using telekinesis to drink down another glass. His breath smelled like alcohol already, and his eyes were becoming glassy. “Wha... whuh's brown and has... hassss wheels? Sssss.”

“Fucking lightweight,” Gentler teased. “A wagon?”

“N... nnno. Dirt. I l-lied about the wh... wheels.” Fear's mouth moved like he was trying to chew on something that wasn't there.

Gentler guffawed out loud, nearly busting a gut as he slumped over, holding his abdomen. The cat downed another bit of alcohol.

Fear's sixth sense was blurring beyond comprehension, all the souls in the area starting to mix together and everyone's intent becoming a fierce amalgamation of emotions that he couldn't keep up with. He was left so far behind in the dust, with everything spinning around him he was becoming dizzy.

“Fine.” Gentler conceded. “What's the difference between a cat and a complex sentence?”

The hybrid's face was sagging to one side as he tried to understand the question, one eye lidded and his lips tugging downward. “Huh?” When he finally regained cognizance he shook his head and queried, “what?”

“A cat has claws on the end of its paws, a complex sentence has a pause at the end of its clause.”

Fear's face was expressionless for moments as he tried to comprehend the punchline, squinting suspiciously at the cat. After a few moments it clicked, recalling his time with his mother, getting it by context only (which was how he understood most things), and stutter-giggled to himself tipsily. “Eheheh hee hee heh... haha.” Fear reached out with his magic, nearly knocking some shot glasses over, before successfully gripping one and lifting it to his lips, cocking back the drink and wincing as it drained into his stomach. “I'm... mmm I'mmmmm sssscared of ele... elevators. So I'mmmm going to start taking... taking steps to avoi... avoid them.”

Gentler laughed a little at that, partly at how drunk Fear already was and partly at the joke itself, pouring a shot into his mouth. “What do you call a pile of cats?”

Fear gazed at Gentler vacantly.

“A meowtain.” There was a giant smile lingering on the Abyssinian's face as he said it.

Fear's entire face screwed up in euphoric laughter, his shoulders rocking and eyes squeezed shut, bellowing out laugh after laugh until one laugh too many caused him to throw up all over the floor next to him with a loud, heaving 'blooooorf!'

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

Faith had invited Fear into one of her street sermons. A new one for a new age about Princess Luna and her role in their dreams. That peace would be kept within the dream world one way or another, and that those with WTSD would be able to rest easier nowadays that a princess had been brought back. Fear helped with it, supporting her like the colt he was and shouting at everypony just as she did.

Unfortunately nopony believed them. Everypony just kept walking on by without a single care in the world for the two crazies on the side of the road shouting at them.

“Karma doesn't exist! We all get many moments to change our ways and become better! Every time we face another pony,” Fear yelled, “we get the opportunity to stand down or keep going. We get the choice to question our actions and think critically. We often face those who are similar to us, those that show us what we could be, or what we can be! I've met so many ponies that've shown me what I could become if I'm not cautious, and what I could be if I work hard and listen to others!”

Faith took a step forward, holding the weapon she normally carried with her for self defense under her hind hoof. “There is order in communication. There is harmony and discord in friendship. Positive change is all around us, just waiting to bring us to our higher selves. To reveal the alicorn inside all of us!”

“Friendship is stability!” Fear cried. “Everypony should take a deep look inside themselves and analyze everything that makes them what they are! Get help from others! Be good! Everypony has it in them! There is not a single creature that is handicapped – that doesn't have it!”

“Evil is simply born from misunderstandings and boredom, we can do better!” Faith was insistent as ponies just passed them by.

“The wasteland tests our mettle, and we have a choice of either drowning our problems in sex, drugs, and violence,” as Fear'd learned from Faith, “or we can walk straight and true with the help of others and recover! We can heal! The wasteland can heal! Just by devoting ourselves to each other and our higher ideals!”

“All creatures,” Faith proceeded, “may live in peace! All races! There is no one superior race nor species, we all have something to contribute to the restoration of the wasteland! The discord generated by friendship will ripple outward and change the world!”

And it continued like that for at least a few hours. Fear did this with Faith at least once a day, helping her with her preaching. Often repeating. Sometimes discovering more lines of reasoning. Occasionally Faith proclaimed stories to those who'd listen, and Fear joined in with the tales of self.

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

Fear stared at Emulae for a time, his tail whipping back and forth as he sat at the dining room table, surrounded by cowboy kitsch. Old creaky wood, wallpaper, antiquated paintings of scenery (had it once belonged to a painter? Fear had to ask Jack) and a number of homely, miscellaneous crafted trinkets. Overall the whole room emanated a feeling of hygge that crept into the flesh like acid, corroding stress and the chill of discomfort. The colt was always impressed with it all, but right now he was focused on the female changeling across from him. She had a sincere, affectionate, and gentle smile on her face that eased the energy right out of Fear's reserves. It was like there was a crack in the dam that held back his world's worth of determination, leaving him lax. Ever since he'd met her he'd been trying to come to terms with the unusual, wild sensation that nibbled at him like being stroked along the spine. He looked from her to the middle of the table, rather casually. His eyes hooked on the vacant napkin holder that looked like the jaws of some craggy wild animal, and the scant few knicknacks piled next to it – they all looked friendly with each other. In particular, his gaze was caught on an antique clay frog that was polished to a shine, with poisonous colors coating it in an oddly realistic fashion. His expression was contemplative. “Alright I'm ready.” Fear calmed his breathing, falling into a meditative trance, and focused on the reliable, substantial frog bauble.

Emulae's eyes slimmed, blinking once at the hint of nonchalance in Fear's tone. Given his usual failures at these exercises, it was strange, almost as if he'd gained a dollop of confidence. She focused on Fear's mind, expelling illusory wavelengths from her body. They caressed the unassuming amphibian sculpture, molding and warping it. It transformed right before Fear's eyes, becoming something that every rowdy sensory input told him was real and dangerous. But he kept his cool, using the newfound integrity of his mind's eye to endure. His head twisted to the side slightly, but he kept his eyes on the frog, which was now snarling at him like a wild dog, having opened its mouth to reveal rows and rows of serrated teeth. It looked ready to lunge at him.

Fear pushed out illusory currents of his own, filling it up. Right before Emulae's eyes the frog began to change even more, morphing into a beast with tentacle whiskers that lashed out at the changeling, wrapping around her throat and constricting.

Emulae's eyes widened, feeling the sensation of having her airway cut off. “Hee hee, you've gotten so much better at this game little Fear.”

Fear kept quiet as he tried to put all his power into making the mirage as real as possible.

Emulae hardly moved, with one hoof in reality and one hoof in the dream. She then twisted it back around on Fear in a way he'd come to expect, bringing the table between them to life, slowly transforming from a four-legged slab of wood into a towering timberwolf, the napkin holder forming a ridge of spines, and the trinkets piled on top becoming sickly warts that looked like if they popped, they'd splash gross, vomit-inducing ichor everywhere.

Which is why Fear saw it coming.

The bubbles on the skin of the newfound, drooling creature that roared in his face popped, vile gunk splattering everywhere and oozing all over the ground, droplets plastering on Fear's face and body. At least that's how it felt. It was oily and summoned up every ounce of disgust within him, making his stomach flop once, then twice, then convulse and nearly heave up his lunch. Fear's throat constricted and he held his breath, cheeks puffing out, saliva filling his mouth at the sensation of approaching discharge. He held himself back though, but because he was so intent on braving the responses gurgling and brimming inside of him, he wasn't prepared for what came next.

Emulae's illusion proceeded, the giant maw of the ex-table chomping down on Fear's skull, the teeth digging into his neck and causing blood to blossom. Fear could feel the release of life-giving fluids seeping from him. He couldn't breathe, as if something had severed his larynx, and everything had suddenly gone dark. All he could see was shadowed brown hues, the interior of the creature's wooden mouth.

Still, Fear endured. He was used to visions like this from her. He would not give in, he would not break. He would not shatter. Even now he pumped delusions outward from him.

The timberwolf shifted and cavorted in front of Emulae.

Fear pulled on something deep inside of his memory. The timberwolf began to melt, turning into a behemoth of sludge before easily taking on a new shape, becoming something so giant the house around them began to break apart. Fear let out a war cry deep within himself as he put everything he could into the illusion. Growing larger, and larger, more and more massive, borrowing on the changeling's memories of what was around them, until all that was left was debris of the house, Emulae, and the farmland around them. It became something far more sinister and bestial, something with a lack of sentience, as well as an abstract moral compass all in one. Something that Emulae could sense was far beyond her. It was bigger in every way Emulae could imagine. The head of it, which was now facing the changeling, became more flowery with blossoming petals, a fractaling, worm-like mouth that funneled deep inside, with sequential rings of teeth surrounding the insides and a hearty, durable shell made of rigid, spikey plates that jutted outward like a giant dragon's scales. They rippled actively, the mouth of the creature collapsing, teeth ramming together, the petals folding closed around Emulae's body, pulling her in. Fear kept going with the illusion as Emulae was thrown for a loop.

Emulae could smell the creature's breath, something otherworldly and ephemeral, a toxic drug leaving her delirious and nauseated like diethyl ether. There was something frightening about it that struck her to the core, as if her very soul, her consciousness was about to be ingested. She saw herself approaching the teeth.

The terror Fear felt when he'd first encountered the Dirge within the exoverse came rampaging over Emulae's awareness, trampling her into the ground, and leaving her ragged and panicked.

“Stop!” Emulae shouted. Her breathing was heavy, her heart hammering in her chest.

Fear ceased the illusion, everything returning to normal, reality yanking into place with a jerk and a flash. A huge smile spread across his face. “I win. Finally.”

Emulae smiled, holding a leg against her chest and trying to calm herself, panting heavily. “In... indeed you d... do. Good... good job, little Fear.”

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

“So where are you from, originally?” Fear glanced to his grandfather who was trotting by him, side closest to the crops they were passing. Jack had his eyes on every single piece of vegetation sticking up here and there, and seemed to be feeling out for the slightest disturbances in his yield with narrowed vision, focused on things Fear could neither see nor feel. It was a kind of congenital instinct, a natural talent that had been cultivated over time like the very plants Jack took care of, and it was something Fear wasn't sure he possibly had in him even if the point of this was to teach him the basic idea behind it.

“Haha, you have a hard time focusing don't you?” The stallion's voice was bemused, a sly smile creeping on his face that couldn't be wiped off no matter how hard anypony tried. “Well, I suppose I can tell you that story. If you really wanna hear it.”

Fear stomped a foreleg against the ground. “Yes! Definitely! I like to learn!” Fear's smile was equally bright and infallible, for now at least.

“Hehe, well.” Jack thought about it, as if it'd been a long time, his vision casting to the quilty, sinuous cloud cover above before returning his gaze to the fields. “I grew up in Maneami with my parents. Before the war it was a city of eternal partying, which is why it was often visited by Ministy Mare Pinkie Pie herself.” Jack halted and 'hmm'ed. His eyes caught sight of a small patch of withered, shriveling pumpkins a little further in. They looked to be browning and growing mushy. Strips of skin were peeling from them, looking an unhealthy orange underneath. They seemed to be struggling, though it didn't help most of them were covered in a thin layer of dust and needed to be rinsed off. Jack wove through the clumps of vine-leashed pumpkins, almost as if dancing, with Fear following along behind him, toward the patch. “Stick a pin in that thought for now, Fear, this is what I wanted to show you.” Jack's lips were firmly pursed as he stood over the pumpkins, watching the small bunch of them with an analyzing gaze.

“O-okay.” Fear sounded uncertain, sitting back on his haunches next to him, before his vision cast to the pumpkins.

As time passed, the colt felt something brimming in the air, wafting off of his grandfather. It was... unusual. It tickled his brain. Suddenly he could feel every crystalline nerve inside of his brain resonating with the emotional output. His mind was teeming with sensory, nearly overload. Fear's jaw dipped, his eyes widening, pupils dilating slightly at the sensation. With a flick of his ears, he spoke. “How are you doing that?”

Jack shushed Fear and knelt down to the plants, breathing on them. The carbon dioxide flowing from his maw and swirling around in the air, lovingly caressing the coiling, winding stems and the tough gourds themselves. He was speaking sweet nothings. Fear leaned forward to listen, his ears twitching again. It was encouragement, words about how they were doing so well, and soon enough they'd be fulfilling their purpose, their destiny. They would be cared for until the end, and the end would be glorious, it would be an amazing destination. It was... riveting. Words alone couldn't do it justice. Fear wondered if the inspirational speech could ever be directed at him. The colt watched as Jack went from pumpkin to pumpkin, affectionately whispering to each and every one of them, time passing at a shimmy, even going so far as stroking his hooves along the plump pumps and holding them against his body, sharing warmth.

Fear's eyes aimed at Jack, concentrating on him, pupils contracting as he tried to figure out what he was doing. His lids fell shut as he tried to find the source of those emotions. It was clear where it was coming from but... it was originating specifically from his horn.

Waiting until he was done, Fear finally spoke again. “How'd you... how'd you do that?”

Jack smiled, standing tall and stepping up to Fear. “Well you know how unicorn magic is powered by emotions?” Fear nodded dumbly, his mouth a gentle frown, eyes boring holes into the stallion as if he held all the answers of life, the universe, and everything. “Anypony can do it, radiating emotions, but unicorns have the easiest time of it because they're familiar with forming magical energies with their emotive power. All you have to do is sort of... direct the emotions into that part of your body, overriding the thaumic gland. It's a little difficult – it requires meditation to figure out. But eventually you can.”

Fear glanced to the pumpkins, gnawing his lower lip, clearly intrigued. “Huh, okay. Thanks.” A smile broke across his face and he jerked his tail to the side, having something new to work on alongside all his other practices.

“It might actually be similar to that nightmare pressure your little dream friend taught you.”

Fear's head bolted into place, staring at Jack dumbstruck. “Really? Wow.” Fear pushed a hoof against his jaw and stared at the earth, eyes lidding. “Thanks.”

Jack beamed, putting a hoof on Fear's shoulder and guiding him back to the pathway as the colt contemplated his options.

The trot was calm and sedated, the roiling clouds above as still as ever, like cottony gray dirt encompassing the whole of the sky. It'd be depressing for most, but sometimes if you looked close enough you could make out shapes within the divots and chunks. Eventually Jack prodded Fear and questioned him. “So, you want to hear about my life?”

Fear was yanked out of his reverie and looked up like he'd been in a daze, a little disoriented. “Oh, yeah, uh, sure.” His mouth curled upward once more as he glanced between Jack and the road.

“Well, as I was saying, Maneami was a ride, even when I was young. Lots of drugs, et cetera. If you scavenged long enough eventually you'd salvage some old thing or two. I did a lot of experimenting growing up, and on one of my...” Jack coughed into his hoof, “acid trips. I discovered the wonders of meditation and how to pump emotions from my horn. It just sort of... opened up to me. Back then I could've sworn I'd even been able to feel things nopony else could!” A gay laugh escaped his lips. “But yeah, I started doing it all the time, making everypony feel good, and one day I found a packet of seeds and old, desiccated soil. I decided to try and grow something because, hey, you never know right? With dormant seeds and all that, you might find something.”

“So I was desperate, y'see? I was trying my absolute best with what I had, trying to find as much water as I could to keep it up, and took care of it every day. Even when I left Maneami to seek out my own destiny I looked after it. And one day... it sprouted!” Jack stood up on his hindlegs, throwing his forelegs outward like an explosion, his face lit up like a blazing inferno of happiness. “I was so, so excited that I just kept it up! And eventually it grew into a nice flower, albeit unhealthy. And I tried my best to get it to blossom like those ancient pictures, and I got my cutiemark. It was a struggle, I tell ya. Meanwhile I was avoiding raiders like the plague, making a little money by hunting down various items for other ponies, I always had a knack for finding just the right object. I made friends and relationships, occasionally offered my services as a comfort horse.”

That explained how Sim learned some of what he knew, Fear thought.

“And after a long time taking care of that little flower, it finally bloomed. I was so ecstatic, there are no words.” The stallion sighed wistfully. “I kept it with me for a long time, I still keep it in my little gumdrop's and my room to this day.”

Fear 'huh'ed. “So when'd you find this farm? And when'd you meet Emulae?”

“Well, I met Emulae shortly after the flower blossomed for its second time!” Jack's eyebrows were raised, as if they couldn't stand to be held down. “We hit it off immediately. I didn't find out til later, when I'd earned her trust and proven myself, that she was a changeling and that the primary reason she'd taken a liking to me so fast was because I'd been able to grow a flower, a viola no less. But I was more enticed than ever. We'd already had sex multiple times and, really? It was neat to hear just how she felt about me, and I realized that learning what she really was didn't change at all how she'd treated me previously, and if anything it showed she was making herself more vulnerable than ever by actually revealing it to me. After that, unless we were around other ponies, I had her be her true self all the time.” The stallion was vibrant, yet calm like a lava lamp. “As for the farm.” Jack looked back the way they came with appreciation and gratitude etched all over him. “My little gumdrop and I came here at some point for shelter, and the previous farmer, who wasn't doing so well in his old age, offered to tutor me on how to take care of the crops if I promised to stay and help the town nearby. Of course I promised. I believed it was my destiny for one, and second of all that's just the kind of pony I am!”

Fear had a weary smile. After dealing with the Seer's Eye he wasn't sure there was such a thing as destiny. Or at least one true destiny. There were many destinies, and by seeing what you might do you could always change it and carve a new one. That's how it seemed at least to him. “Wow, that's a pretty cool story! So you eventually had my Dad?”

“Yeah, after we finally settled down we figured it'd be for the best to have a foal. Over time I brought prosperity, far more than it ever had in the past, to this little farm. Eventually the Steel Rangers also took an interest in it, and... the rest is history.”

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

Before Fear and Rose was a box. A simple box with marred, faded top. It had a picture of a flowery valley overlooking the Everfree Forest and Canterlot during the night sky and flitting fireflies. It was a glorious little puzzle, like something you'd see in a dream, but not something you'd see in paradise. It was surreal, but not high contrast. It felt authentic. The only reason it was strange was because most creatures hadn't seen such views in a long time. Still, the similar shades here and there would make it difficult to put together. It said on the front it was a thousand piece, edgeless puzzle for added difficulty.

“So you really think we can get this done in a few days?”

“Well, seeing as I've put it together before, I'd consider myself a failure if we didn't. We just have to work hard,” Rose responded easily enough.

“Where'd you get this anyway?”

“Dad says it came with the house. Maybe it was scavenged a long time ago? Who knows. But this place is full of little things like that.” The filly had a tight smile spread across her face. She reached out with her telekinesis, a violet chromatic ether surrounding the box and popping off the lid, upending it with a smooth movement, and puddling the pieces all together on the dining room table. Immediately the filly got to work, using her hooves and magic to scatter the pieces around, revealing this and that, her eyes already catching little details as she set the top of the box in the corner before them so they could look at it for reference. Each segment looked as good as the day it'd been bought. Despite its overuse none of the paper was peeling off the cardboard, which made Fear's heart rise in his chest from happiness, lips twisting upward.

“You know, my mother was really good at puzzles like these.”

“Oh? Really?” The filly reached out, pulling piece after piece from the pile and setting them off to the side, knowing exactly where they went.

“Ye'h. There were some jigsaw puzzles in the stable she came from and she'd occasionally put them together. It was how she cultured her talent.”

“Talent?” Sliding some more chunks around and snapping some together with Fear's help.

“Uh-huh. She could speed up her perception of time to have longer to focus and think.”

“What, like S.A.T.S?”

Fear gave an agreeable nod. “Something like that. I don't know if it was a natural talent to her or if she just figured out how to reverse engineer the spell. But yeah, she was super good at putting these things together.” Fear gasped, catching Rose's attention, as he pulled out a number of pieces that looked like they belonged near each other, occasionally glancing at the reference image, and pooling them next to him.

“Do you ever wish you could have done something like this with her?”

“Oh yeah, sure.” Fear nodded emphatically, shrugging his shoulders as if to say 'wouldn't you?' “Definitely. It's a little bit of a sore spot that I won't ever get to do those little things with her, but I also got to do a bunch of traveling games with her that we thought up together, some revolving around scavenging and stuff. She taught me a lot.”

Rose bobbed her head as she pulled out a few more segments from the main pile and organized them for later recombination. “You ever thought about, you know... looking through that Seer's Eye thing you told us about in order to spend more time with her in some way?”

Fear hummed. “Well... yes.”

“Why didn't you?”

“I was scared to be honest. Mom was already unwilling to let it go, she was always so protective of it. You'd almost think she'd call it precious. But she wasn't... controlled by it you know? Or was she? I can't tell. She kept it close to her heart always. I didn't want to end up like her. Part of me didn't care if I did or not, but I ended up deciding I should abuse it for entertainment as little as possible. I'm sure some me made the opposite choice.”

Rose cocked her head to the side. “Huh, okay. I never would have thought you the kind of pony to refrain from doing something just because you're scared.”

“Well... less scared, more cautious.” As Fear locked a couple pieces into place something flashed across his vision, his forelegs falling limp as he was pulled faraway. A vision coming to him, as if the remnants of something connected to him. A portrait of his mother and some strange, lavender mare working together on a puzzle. Fear's face screwed up in confusion as the vision dissipated.

“Everything okay?”

“Y-yeah... just had some kind of daydream.”

“Weeeird. What was it about?”

“My mother and some strange pony I've never met before putting together a puzzle. Both of them were using their talents to try and speed through it.”

“I assume you've never experienced anything like that in the past?”

“Nah. I mean, I've had a bunch of daydreams. Sometimes I still have random daydreams I don't understand when I see something associated with the vision.”

“What do you think it is?” Rose queried curiously.

“I don't know. It reminds me of when I wore the Seer's Eye.”

Rose snagged a few pieces from the pile and latched them together like a pro. “Maybe it's leftover taint, is that possible?”

“I don't... don't know. Grandma Freiya never mentioned if it was possible.”

“Then who knows?” Rose asked with an ominous tone as they continued configuring the jigsaw.

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

“Yo! I'm glad I finally got to have some time to play with you Fear!” Chirp called out in a brazen voice to the one next to him. A few yards away was a metal stake in the ground, and at the sides of both hybrids were a bunch of horseshoes overlaid one another in a heap. They were old, some rusty, some chipped, nicked, and scraped. One was slightly bent out of shape, warped from time. Everypony knew that was the one saved for last – a true demonstration of skill. “Remember, no telekinesis!”

Fear shook his head ruefully, frowning deeply. “Yeah, yeah... fine.” Fear threw Chirp a sly look. “Wouldn't even dream of cheating.”

“Well given how not excited you are I don't know!” Chirp's words caused Fear to wince.

Fear was starting to think he knew where he got his openness from, his Dad's side. “You go first. Show me how it's done.”

“Sure thing boss!” Chirp exclaimed with a salute, getting into position and picking up a horse shoe with a hoof, swiping it up off the ground and spinning it around in lazy arcs around his forehoof. Twisting around and around in loose revolutions. The orange-maned hybrid lined up his vision and his arc, slowing down ever so subtly, rearing back his leg and snapping it forward just as the back of the contoured metal reached the front.

Without a flourish it whipped through the air, continuing to whirl as it soared straight for the stake and slamming it so hard it reverberated a little with a ping, spiraling around the jutting metal until it fell limp against the ground.

Fear's eyes were wide. “I mean, is this even fair without telekinesis?”

“Do you want me to hold back against you?” Chirp was asking the hard questions with an innocent tone.

“Um, I don't know actually. But it's gonna take me at least a few months of constant, and I mean constant, practice to get anywhere near that good.”

Chirp's smug smile infuriated Fear, but he let it go with a sigh and a turn inward. “Eh, at least you'll get it eventually.”

“It's not very fun being constantly curb stomped in a game.”

Chirp clicked his tongue. “Fine, after this I'll help you get up to speed. But first let's see how you do!”

Fear rubbed his mane with a hoof, thinking about it. “Al-alright. If you insist.” He then picked up a horseshoe in his hoof, holding it up by the curve. His hoof was a little too small to hold the entirety of this one. He didn't dare twirl it around or make a show of it, for fear of accidentally powing Chirp in the face if it got out of his control. This just wasn't the kind of dexterity he was used to.

Using a lame swing of his forearm, the horseshoe tentatively flew through the air, arcing up, and landing a foot away from the stake with a dull 'thud.'

“See? I'm just no good!” Fear flushed fiercely and twisted his head to the side.

Chirp whistled. “Well... to be honest it's better than I expected!”

Fear felt the sincerity seeping off the statement, so it couldn't be a lie. Right? His anxiety told him it was anyway, but his sense was hardly ever wrong in this case. He knew the difference between imagination and feeling. “Well... fine. Your turn.”

It continued like that for awhile, with Fear never getting very close to the stake, but always trying his best. Chirp missed only once or twice, his horseshoe skidding across the ground a few inches from it, showing he wasn't perfect yet either.

On Fear's final throw he was tempted, sorely tempted to aid his throw with telekinesis. The string of past defeats gnawed on his integrity like rabbits tearing at crops. It hurt deep inside to know he was such a failure.

As if reading his mind, or perhaps like Jack knowing just what to say, Chirp spoke up with a... chirp. “Don't worry Fear, it's not like you're proving anything, and besides? We're hardly ever naturally talented at the things we do. It's fine! I wasn't talented at it either. Dad floored me with his skill the first time we played. So relax.”

Fear nodded once, rather graciously, and tried to ease the tension out of his muscles with a few deep breaths through his snout. He adjusted his positioning with nuance, trying to replicate most of Chirp's posture, and threw the horseshoe high.

It crescented through the air and pounded against the floor, kicking up a little dust, landing a couple inches from the stake. The close call was, despite being a failure, an elation for Fear that caused the corners of his lips to curl upward. He couldn't help it, his chest puffing out. “You see that!? I can do it!”

Chirp laughed. “Of course you can, it just takes practice! Everything does! Even talents need to be cultivated!”

Fear just grinned from ear to ear, his cheeks rising up over his eyes which shimmered brilliantly like jewels.

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

"Are you really sure this is a good idea?” Fear's uncertainty rang true and essential.

“O-oh c-come on, d-don't be a f-foal.” Mirage had a lively smile that, while uncommon, fit her well. She wiggled her body from side to side, getting herself completely jived up and loose. Flicking her legs this way and that, shaking them out. Before moving over to the bookshelf and pulling out one of her vinyl sleeves. It had a faded picture of a mare in a trench coat posing dynamically on the cover. The name of the album was “Femme Fatale” by... the cover was too scarred to recall who it was made by. Too bad that they'd died to obscurity, only their art in its purest form, without branding survived. Mirage walked over to the living room's spark battery operated gramophone and pulled up the needle, sliding out the disc, and setting it in place. She started the machine and put the needle down on the groove. There was a scratch, and soon enough wispy jazz tunes were wafting from the brass speaker with only a slight distortion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-0cgHsPIv0

Fear's stomach knotted up into a pretzel leaving him queasy and his legs shaking under him.

“C-come on... relax.” Mirage took a deep breath through her snout and held it in her lungs before slowly releasing it in waves, her entire form going still. “Dancing's not so bad.” As the music surrounded them and latched onto their souls, driving them to tapping their hooves on the floorboards, Mirage seemed more in her element than ever. “Now, follow me.” Mirage stood up on her hindlegs, holding her forehooves parallel to the floor. She swung them from side to side as she took a step forward, then clicked the other hindhoof in front of that one in a dexterous display Fear was sure only earth ponies were capable of. Then Mirage stepped back, back again, and clicked the other hindleg behind that one. Left, right, left, right, left, right, exposing her 'heels' the entire time, rocking around as if she was on ice but had complete control. A fanciful Charleston.

Fear lifted an eyebrow, and considered it. He stood up on his hindlegs and tried to repeat her movements. Slowly at first, feeling unsure of himself.

“Th-think of it like this. The dancing will help you in combat.”

The colt was very plussed after that statement. Still, he was uncertain. His hindlegs dipped around each other, but on the sweep backwards he accidentally lost his balance, teetering back and forth. “Wh-whoa!” And without much effort he fell forward onto his face with a thud. Again, he was blushing fervently as he tried to push himself up and get on all fours where he belonged.

“Shh shhh...” Mirage stated, wrapping her forelegs around Fear's and holding them up, coaxing him onto his hindlegs again rather smoothly. Both of them were standing and holding each other. “We'll try something different. Follow my lead.”

The filly was a little smaller than Fear, by barely anything at all. She stepped to the side, and Fear followed her, Returned, then stepped back, then Mirage moved Fear away from her and with a risky movement of her hooves, reached up and twirled him around.

Fear was a little dizzy, his eyes rolling around in their sockets as he tried to reorient himself, staggering back and into Mirage's embrace. The filly giggled and got him back onto his hindlegs, her earth pony strength easily keeping them up. They repeated the movements from before, but it got a little more complex, with dips and bends, crossing hooves over each other. Mirage ordered Fear to deviate from her, to step away from her every time she waltzed to the side, then they came back together like a pair of magnets. Mirage spun Fear again and stepped back and to the side once more, causing Fear to fall forward. Mirage's leg cupped the colt, who fell into her embrace once more. She then shoved him up and leaned back. They held onto each other as both nearly fell backwards, then they sprung back toward each other like a rubber band, twirling around with one another before Mirage finished with a flourish, bending over Fear and giving him a smooch on the cheek.

“How was that?” Her breathing was calm and quiet, while Fear's was ragged and panting.

“Haah... haah... haah... That was... that was fun!” He stated, sweating a little, mostly from all the close calls of nearly falling. “I definitely need more practice though! That was like a fight.”

Mirage brought a hoof up and swept back her mane as the next song began. “W-we'll keep going then.”

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

Fear was still getting used to remembering everything while asleep, be it recalling bits and pieces from being awake, or remembering everything that happened while he was asleep when he awoke. It was troublesome, like two different lives that hardly crossed over each other, mixing between dimensions constantly, seeping between one and the other with a little effort. Sometimes he even couldn't help but wake up in the middle of his sleep in order to use the bathroom. Those were always the most frustrating parts, being cut off during conversation with one of his friends because he needed to switch spaces once more. The physical body was a horrid piece of art sometimes. And trying to satisfy his waking desires within sleep was always futile.

The worst one was when he had an itch while asleep and no matter how much he scratched it, it wouldn't go away until he realized that if he was going to achieve relief he'd have to wake up.

All in all, not that Fear could understand the comparison, but dreams felt a lot like experiencing first hand a corruption of your favorite game. Not because it was spastic and nonsensical, but because it was wild, crazy, and surreal, with a hint of hidden logic that could only be understood through context, and you could hardly remember the experience after it was over.

Dreaming and waking were two sides to a coin that Fear found frustrating even on the best of days. Transitioning between waking and sleeping was also terrible, because he always ended up disoriented and unsure of what was real and what wasn't. Even if his dreams were 'real.' It left him drowsy sometimes, and completely unmotivated. Troublesome to the highest degree. Yet at the same time? He kind of loved it. It was interesting exploring two different worlds, occasionally getting to inhabit the dreams of others when he joined Luna or Amelio on a mission to another bubble.

Right now he was informing Princess Luna about Faithdriver's newfound manuscript, recently finished.

“So yeah, friendship and chaos are apparently so intertwined that even the force you knew as Discord could viably learn how to accept friendship if reasoned with, while still being himself.”

“Hm, that is interesting, little Fear.” Luna glanced away, narrowing her vision. “I really wish I had not had Rarity remove so much from Equestria's literature.”

Without warning a new voice arrived, sounding playful and amused. Luna recognized him immediately as Discord, her gaze whipping about wildly. “It's nice to see some regret for your actions, Luna. But what's done is done, that is the nature of chaos. I learned my lesson, and all of you have too. Change is exciting, is it not?”

Luna and Fear were left speechless, staring into nothingness in the vault room. Fear immediately felt the presence disappear from his radar, a presence that felt powerful and constantly shifting, like a rubik's cube that never properly aligned but was constantly twisting about. He could tell it was still seeking peace, that the cubes making up the larger model were broken, the stickers peeling and fading, getting scratched off. They'd been through a lot, and its movements were slow. It had been drained, but it was doing its best to keep going, clearly.

Luna charged forward, calling into empty air. “Discord! Come back! I'm sorry!”

Amelio stepped in from the treasure room, blinking blearily, having been busy meditating. “What is all the ruckus about?” She sounded slightly annoyed.

“Just the spirit of chaos saying 'hello' I guess??” Fear sounded as if he was asking a question of a question, clearly thrown for a loop, yet still content. He hoped Discord, whoever he was, would find the peace he was seeking.

Luna appeared solemn, yet stood as tall and strict as ever. A hint of royalty even in her damaged body.

Fear grinned lopsidedly, reaching out to rest a hoof against her foreleg. “Cheer up, Luna, he'll be back I'm sure. At least that's confirmation he's doing something out there.” Then he turned around to talk to Amelio who was standing between rooms, looking baffled. “By the way, Amelio, I never told you how Shadow Paladin Saga ends.”

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

Canterlot Garden was a beautiful place, with a fence on the border that was designed to be like spiraling branches and roots of a tree, the arch gateways coated in coiling flower-ridden vines, all of them blossoming and looking as gorgeous and potent as ever, like they gave off the most pollen. They looked as if they belonged in the rainforest. The rest of the garden was littered with bushes, shrubbery, trees, and plants of all different kinds in a sort of disorderly way, with monstrous statues randomly placed which snarled at passerby, as if they were creatures spared being locked in Tartarus, only to be locked in stone instead. Some were turned into fountains, and Fear was impressed that there were many dream constructs of various colored birds scattered here and there, perched around in different places. Some owls hooted sorrowfully, wailing about a time long past based on the pony's consciousness, while other avians tweeted and sung about newfound hope. Or were they making music in order to seduce other birds?

It was unclear.

All Fear knew was, as he looked around, holding a pail of water styled in the shape of an adorable little elephant – trunk and all – in his telekinesis, that he was enjoying the 'new' area of the castle grounds that he'd never gotten to see before. He was following Saway around, right on her heels, trickling refreshing liquids onto the plants surrounding him. It wasn't strictly necessary, but it was a calming ritual that the mare had introduced him to.

“I used to come here many times to learn how to meditate when I was under Princess Luna's service, and would sometimes aid the gardener with his rounds,” Saway rasped out.

“Huh, really?” Fear asked, glancing over to the mare that had brought him here. “It must've been really calming for you.”

“You have no idea, colt. I honestly miss it. I miss all of Equestria back even before the war, when we were all at peace and things were thriving.”

“Well I mean, didn't prosperity come from the war too?”

“Sort of, colt.” Saway paused for a moment, collecting her thoughts as she poured a stream of water onto a plot of soil. “It's true that the war enabled industrial revolution, for technological upheaval, and miraculous innovations. But over time we lost something integral to who we were as a species during it, and maybe even because of it.”

Fear shook his head. “I don'know. I mean do you really think we needed such a big threat in order to have all those things? I mean we could have learned things anyway.”

Saway sighed, a resigned tone to her usually combative voice. “I don't honestly think so. Everything we built was originally for war, we just happened to find other uses for them. In life there is nothing quite as progressive as battle.”

The colt tightened his lips into a scowl, trying to come up with something to say against that. “I think you can have peace without... the word for when you're so content it's dangerous.”

“Complacency?”

“Yeah, that. I think.”

“You're young, colt. You...”

Fear cut her off. “I may be young, but you're not that old either, you've spent most of your 'life' trapped in this dream. Besides, war doesn't always lead to innovation as you said. The wasteland is an eroding place, and a lot of us are trying to come up with ways to help the wasteland, not to hurt others, but in an effort to heal and return it to what it once was. And even now there are those who cause war who are doing nothing more than scavenging what's left behind, not creating something new. War just leads to creatures being stuck in limbo.”

Saway stared at Fear for a time, a fresh respect for him welling in her eyes. “If you say so, colt,” she said with a tired inflection.

“I do say so. I may be young but I sometimes know what I'm talking about.”

Saway just laughed at that.

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjGvBpgrwb8

Amelio lovingly fondled Fear's cheek as they stood in the treasure room, the filly gazing deep into Fear's pooling eyes. Her violet irises brimmed with intelligence and wisdom, a certain energy and will to live burning within that set Fear's heart alight, teasing his soul and making him wriggle and squirm the longer he was beset by her assault. His throat closed up, and he pursed his lips, his heart twisting around and wringing out blood like a sponge, his body feeling cold all of a sudden. Or at least that's how it would feel if he was awake. Right now he was just experiencing lame, faint simulacrums of the process.

“You know, Fearei, I missed you a lot. Being half dead and half asleep is very detrimental to my joy.” Amelio's hoof curled around his chin, pulling him in close with a stumble. Fear could feel some vague replica of her breath on his skin, or at least something so similar to it, it might as well have been real. Fear's eyes lidded and he stepped in place a few times as if he couldn't get comfortable.

“I, uhh...” Their rendezvous had become far and few between lately, and he knew the filly had been planning something. He could feel it leaking off of her like a toxic ooze. It was obsession in its purest form. A kind of scheming that left him breathless and incapable of real speech. Or at least close enough. “I uhh...” He repeated, his eyes darting to the side.

Amelio simpered, raising a shoulder and cocking her head to the side as she pulled Fear in for a firm kiss, then another, their lips pecking against each other repeatedly. Affectionately. Endlessly. Fear was lost in a wash of emotions that made his hooves tingle, eyelashes fluttering.

“A-Amelio...” Fear squeaked out.

“Shh...” She cooed, nuzzling their muzzles together risquely. Her head tilted to one side and she admired his form, slowly walking around him like a predator, eyeing up the succulent piece of meat she'd been long deprived.

“Amelio...” Fear continued, trying to say something, his voice hitching in his throat.

“You are very naughty, Fearei Shatter. Little Nightlight.” The combination of names left Fear nearly collapsing. He could feel the heat radiating off of her, needling into his form, into his consciousness. It was hard to remain standing, hard to remain afloat in her overwhelming presence, as if she was using everything to try and drown him and turn him into the drone he was always meant to be. “Such a sad excuse for a stallion, constantly struggling like the little bug that you are, no more than a drone.” The abuse was affectionate, and stirred something in his hammering heart he couldn't explain. She was behind him, breathing on his tail, giving the dock little nips and making him yelp quietly.

“I, uhh...” Fear couldn't bring to bare any of his arsenal of words, feeling inundated by her. It was smothering.

Amelio sidled up next to Fear, brushing against his side and kissing his cheek. Her body was larger than his, and it helped encourage the feeling of being dwarfed, emotionally, mentally, and physically. It was like she towered over him in every way possible. Like she was going to dominate him. It was salacious and scandalous. Being abused and sexed up by your sister. He glanced to the floor, off to the side, unable to hold her gaze. “You are going to be mine for eternity, little Nightlight.” Her telekinesis reached out, and she felt him up, grasping his nethers and caressing his jewels with the pressurized air. It felt alarming and violating, yet so erotic, his rear rising into the air, tail hiking up. Her magic then clasped down on his jaw, squeezing into his cheeks, caving them in. Holding his maw open.

They'd done this little dance before, and it usually ended in a violent, rampant romp, with Fear being struck, clawed, and laid. Their souls would mingle and intertwine like their tongues during a french kiss, a supernatural tessellation of consciousness, threatening to spill into each other and become one another. Twirling and cavorting in a samba of passion and intimacy that had no comparison.

So it always would, but this time with a little bondage and immobilization using dream constructs.

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

The moon looked like snow in a way, or was it cheese? Some kind of cream. Fear didn't know what to compare it to, because in all honesty he'd never seen anything like it before. It was solid and firm, packed densely. White, faded ground with craters sprinkled around, varying depressions in the soil, with earth bundled up around the rims of each from where meteors had stricken. The light from the sun was blaring and almost blinding. It was just another star, but this one so much brighter – he couldn't look directly at it.

Nyx was sharing with Fear what it looked like to be on the moon looking down at everything else. He got the distinct sensation that if he jumped he'd end up sailing off into the great unknown, which is basically what would happen. There was little to no atmosphere, and definitely no such thing as cloud cover. It just went... on... forever. It caused Fear's eyes to dilate despite all the light surrounding him. He was effectively disoriented, to the point it felt like his brain was rattling around inside his head.

But it was all a dream. Part of a dream at least.

Still, something about it all was more peaceful than anything he'd ever experienced. Part of the dream sensation that Nyx included was that there were no souls for as far as Fear could feel or hear. No single emotion aside from the old stallion that sat right next to him. Fear looked down onto the planet Equus. He could see the cloud cover, what looked like a seal of gray, and other white clouds distributed elsewhere. He could see the vibrant blue seas, the radioactively untouched lands that were covered in different hues of green and brown. Everything. It caught his interest and held it. He pawed at the white earth beneath him, told by Nyx that it had once been part of Equus before being launched into space by a comet impact. Fear wanted to explore the stable built on the moon, but Nyx was insistent that he see only the moon as a memory, of when it remained untouched.

“So is this... all there really is?” Fear asked.

Nyx guffawed. “Yes. It's pleasant isn't it?”

Fear nodded, lifting a hoof to press it against his chest. “Very. It stills my heart. It's so silent. My ears are ringing.”

Nyx 'hmm'ed. “You know I've only ever shown Amelio this view. Soon after she recovered some of her strength. Saway never wanted to look at it, telling me that being stranded on a desolate rock was no longer her wish ever since she'd discovered her true purpose.”

Changing the subject, Fear asked, “you mentioned something about obsidian-ish rocks? What are those?”

“Oh,” Nyx stated, shaking his head clear and glancing to Fear. “It's a special mineral only found on the moon. You can usually find it by digging around inside the craters. It's basically star material. Some of it was found on Equus and built into weapons.” The stallion shook his head. “It's a shame that innovation was primed for war. That material could have gone to better uses.”

Fear hummed sadly. “Yeah.” His voice was solemn, almost a whisper. “I was talking to Saway about it some time ago, how we don't need war in order to innovate.”

Nyx chuckled. “No, you don't. You just need a purpose. Any purpose. Necessity is the mother of invention, as Princess Luna used to say.”

“Really? She said that?” Fear queried.

“Mhm,” Nyx responded. “It wasn't her phrase but she certainly liked to say it. She ever tell you about how, before she became Nightmare Moon, she would create golems out of earth in order to have friends who would stay up and appreciate her night with her?”

Fear didn't know what to make of that. It was heartbreaking, dismal, and still somehow funny. It was his inexperience that made it seem absurd, and therefore hilarious. “No, she didn't.” Fear's gaze settled back on Equus. “She was really suffering a lot huh?”

“She always has been,” Nyx confirmed. “She's been through a lot. I could feel her pain when she came to the moon with me. She was susceptible to the corruptive influence of the nightmares because of it. It was a shame. I tried to bring her back but... there's only so much you can do to pacify someone until the real elements of harmony can work their magic.”

Fear couldn't tell if Nyx was talking about the artifacts Luna had mentioned, or something more obscure and abstract.

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

“Fear, this is Fireheart, Fire, this is my son Fearei Shatter.” Sim gestured from one pony to the other. The three ponies were currently standing outside one of the many caravans inhabiting Dryfield. Fireheart was a simple unicorn, with bacon-like red hair and pink coat. His cutiemark was an equally simple spark lighter, his eyes a captivating crimson. He gave off an aura of warmth and trustworthiness, like you could rely on him for anything and everything. “He knows everything.”

Before Fear could react, the much larger however feminine stallion wrapped Fear up in a hug, holding him against his chest. “Whoa!” Fear exclaimed with wide eyes, letting out a squeak like a squeeze toy when enough pressure was put on his chest.

“Pleasure ta meet ya Fear!” Fire warmly shouted. “Sim's an old friend of mine! We grew up together, we were always getting into trouble scavenging in ah few of the old hidden labs and factories in the area.”

Fear was let go, gasping for air. “I uh, huh? There are places like that around here?”

“Sure as ahm standin' here before you right now!” Fire grinned from ear to ear. “There are ah lot of areas in those old places that still haven't been accessed yet because they need passwords. Maybe someday you can check it out and give it your all!”

Sim spoke up, holding his foreleg in the air. “Well like I told you I do have a pipbuck now so maybe we can get in.” The stallion's grin was also off the charts, his dazzling indigo eyes taking in his old friend. “Anyways I just wanted to introduce you to my son. It might seem a little weird but he might be taking up my comfort horse duties at some point.”

“Well is that right?” Fire nudged Fear in the shoulder with a hoof. “Ahm sure you'll make ah fine comfort horse, Fear. The apple don't fall far from the tree and all that, after all!”

Sim had been taking Fear around the entirety of Dryfield, introducing him to each of the ponies he knew by heart in order to get him well-known. This was the first pony who'd had such an egregious reaction however. It was oddly encouraging. “Thanks, sir. I'm gonna try my best. I'm learning his tricks and everything!” Fear was as kind as his father and grandfather.

Fire bobbed his head once and lifted a hoof like he was doffing a hat. “Ahm sure ya will, Fear. Come find me if ya ever need anything okay? Ya scratch mah back ah scratch yours.”

Fear was as uncomfortable as ever when it came to meeting so many new ponies at once, communicating with those he didn't go up to of his own volition. He never knew what to say in those situations! But he decided to fall back on the tried and true. “Thank you very much, I'll make sure to do it. You take care of yourself.”

Fire smiled brightly. “Sure thang Fear, you too.” The stallion reached up and ruffled Fear's mane, driving him a little nuts, before walking back into his caravan and closing the door, making sure to turn around and wave at them once beforehand.

Sim waved back. “See you later Fire!” With that the father and son began heading home. “You did really well Fear.”

“You think? Thanks Dad.” He was showing a lot of gratitude recently! “I'm trying my best.”

“You're doing super well. By the way, I was recently gifted a playbook about a peace riot in war-time Equestria. I'm intending to perform it at Scavver's Tavern. You want to help me prepare?”

Fear's eyebrow rose. “Uh, sure thing. That'd be cool. It'd be neat to see you in action finally.”

“Sounds like a plan then!” A couple minutes of silence later and Sim's pipbuck began beeping incessantly. It was an annoying sound, sure to get the attention of any and all ponies around. Sim and Fear halted, while the hybrid lifted his pipbuck to his eyes to check on the message. “Huh? That's strange.”

“What is it Dad?”

“It's a message from Stable 47. They're calling everypony to hurry back to the stable.”

“Is it an emergency?”

Sim gave Fear a flat look. “Well it is an emergency broadcast so I imagine as much.”

“We should go! We need to check on them!”

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“So, Faith, Gentler, will you please come with us in case it's something dangerous? The more the merrier and all that!”

Gentler tsked and rubbed his chin with a gauntlet, twisting his head from side to side. “I mean we coooould. But then you'd owe us.”

Faith glared daggers at Gentler. “Well, I for one will come with you Fear. It might be neat to see the inside of a Stable for once. I'd like to know what they do for fun, and who knows? Maybe they'll have some interesting reading material!”

Fear turned to Gentler and brightened. “Yeah, sure thing. If you guys ever need help with something in your lives I'll be there lickety split! I want to help you guys as much as possible!” The colt squeaked out.

Faith grinned. “That's kind of you, little Nightlight. We'll definitely come with you, right Gentler?”

Gentler wasn't certain. This seemed hardly along the lines of helping the wasteland. But helping Fear out would probably be beneficial for later. “Fine, you got yourself a deal kid.”

Fear bounced, his legs quivering from how rigid they were as he landed. “I'll do everything in my power to help you guys out when the time comes, thank you!” He bowed his head to both of them. “Dad's at the house telling everyone that we're heading out. Come on!” And with that he beckoned them to follow.

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

Luna was reluctant – it showed in every feature on her face. “I can not tell you what could be going on, Fearei. Freiya Song and the other ponies have not been dreaming in days.”

Fear twisted his head to the side, rubbing his mane as he looked between the three.

“You will need to be careful, Fear,” Amelio warned. “It may have something to do with the Seer's Eye.”

“How do you know that, Amelio?” Fear was curious as ever, readjusting his positioning.

“Just a hunch. I do not suspect they are dead.”

Saway huffed. “Sounds like you're being too hopeful, Ame. They probably got ambushed by the Steel Rangers or something.”

Fear squealed. “No way! I hope not!”

Luna shook her head. “Before you get into a tizzy, you should prepare yourself for the trip by practicing a little more.” She set a hoof on Fear's shoulder. “I will summon you to the dream realm if I discover anything of true import. And in case you are worried, I have not seen any Steel Rangers dreaming of a raid on a stable, so it should be safe.”

Fear looked at Luna incredulously. I don't know how comfortable I feel with her having that much control over my dreaming and waking. Still, I trust her. “I trust you, Princess.” Many ponies probably wouldn't, there were probably ponies who didn't feel comfortable with the princess invading their dreams anyway.

As if reading his mind, Amelio interrupted. “I was actually the one to suggest it. I knew you would rather be prepared than risk losing out on something.”

Fear was both amazed, and annoyed with his sister. Still, it was time to get down to business. Who knew what he was going to find? He needed to be in tip top shape.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__UmzLJF7Ho