https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkN2mAhtTRc

The ground was an orange-ish beige and it extended far beyond any reasonable length, covered in a variety of litho chunks, all shapes and sizes. The squad tread through his expanse, beyond the rims of a rainforest, exotic trees hanging over the vibrant mossy and loamy soil behind them until it seeped into what could be misconstrued as sand. Hanging high above the clear sky was vivid starlight, little twinkling lights of varying colors speckled like holes in a canister, some bigger than others. Constellations ran rampant, some more detailed than others, interspersed between other celestial phenomenon. The moon itself was invisible. Fear had explained to his squad why, and the fact that Nightmares had consumed the lunar rock was distressing to all of them, even if it was merely to protect nightly bodies from the Dormien. There were no birds, no owls hooting. No vibrations echoed in the air except for greaves traipsing across dusty dirt and hooves cantering along the dithered soil. They were more than five miles out from the rock farm they needed to locate, and Fear knew what to expect. He may not have infiltrated anything superior like a base before, but he knew to be on the lookout for snipers.

There was a reason he'd learned how to use the Raidho rune during their travels.

Fear pulled his sword out from the sheathe, bearing it before him. His family stopped behind him and waited. They couldn't see the base on the horizon but that would soon change.

After a moment, as Fear's eyes fell shut, he summoned the power of the Raidho and let his spirit funnel outward from the sword, his magic filling his body. It and the power of Shaybna kept his body stiff and firm except for the dead leg which was pinned against the ground behind him like a cane.

Everything became vivid and intense, colors seeming more real, clarity paramount. He surged along the dirt, moving space around him via thought alone. It was a magical experience akin to dreaming, only he felt more alive than ever. If anything he felt free of his body, completely and wholly, not even feeling its flaws.

Energy mines dotted the ground below him, most insufficiently covered. At the base proper, a fortress wall surrounded the rock farm with standard parapet rim, and a pair of towers protected the entrance to the interior. The entrance was a large slab of metal that could only be hoisted by a switch on the towers, not that they needed the door opened to get inside. There were spotlights on the four corners that cast out in every direction, onto the floor below and onto the interior.

The walls zoomed in further, and as Fear's spirit rose up into the sky, spiraling around the fortress, he saw a rather simple scene laid out before him. Snipers were indeed placed in the towers. Pretty standard equipment on them. The armored satyrs were being lazy, not quite snoozing but not paying attention to their post either. They'd be able to see them pretty easily if something alerted them. He wasn't sure if there was a way to get his illusions to stretch that far, so it'd be difficult to approach if the enemy managed to catch wind of them. No one was supposed to know the satyrs were here, so it didn’t matter. Not even the Abyssinians knew they were here. The only ones who'd be coming were the zebras, and they weren't scheduled for another week. The minefield would make for the worst obstacle, but Fear was sure he could handle that so long as he didn't drop to the ground holding his limp leg. His keen sense took in more. He could hear the buzzing of the intense lighting rimming the corners, and he could see more guards patrolling the walls up above. They carried what looked to be repeater rifles with thick, triangular barrels and a blocky cartridge slot that one could confuse for a magazine holder.

Fear's soul looked closer at the interior. There were rocks everywhere, mostly huge ones. A lot of them split open. Some satyrs were busy using plasma tools to cut into them and carve out chunks of lustrous gems to carry off to some complex machinery further back. Zaya had explained that they were a key material to the weapons they used, and a component of the soul engine the satyrs had created. They contained the yanked out soul energy of plants, animals, and most valuable, sentient creatures. After compilation they'd be dumped into what amounted to a fusion core in order to separate it all and churn it into fuel. Acrid had told Fear of a story that used a similar mechanic of the planet's life force acting as fuel for a major corporation.

Inside the rock farm was also a huge pit that led deep underground. Zaya had explained they were not only mining for gems, but also fossils for the residual soul smearing in it. Souls always left behind some level of energy taint and the satyr's technology had grown strong enough to utilize it.

Spanning across the far side of the compound were hastily made train tracks, shoddily made, but that wasn't what caught Fear's attention. It was, as Zaya had called it, the Untergäng. A train made for the downfall of an entire species and anyone who rose up against their overlords. Fear's soul cringed at the sight. It was intense, sleek, with potent armor plating that put what the satyrs were wearing to shame. On its back was the engine, with the top of it having a pair of jet thrusters. The front of the train was angular, sharp. Built for aerodynamics. Fear knew why. There was a train bridge leading to Equestria from here, but it had been destroyed in the middle long ago by the Enclave to keep creatures in. The thing was... the soul engine would make it so regular tracks weren't needed, but it would take up a lot of energy.

The satyrs themselves were made up of blues, blacks, and whites. Long, shaggy fur, bulky figures, terrible curved horns, covered by a helmet and armor that could take a beating and keep on kicking. But Fear didn't see Seele anywhere, or at least no one matching Seele's description, nor did he see Zetta the umbran, and obviously neither did he sense its presence.

Fear's soul headed back to his body once he was done examining the interior, already planning their next move. He shumpfed back into his body, his eyes blinking a few times blearily like he'd just woken up from a nap. His head felt thick and heavy for a few moments before everything reintegrated fully and he stood up tall, having been slumped over before.

Acrid was the first to speak. “So? Find any solutions on how to get in?”

Fear just smiled keenly, puffing out his chest. “Yeah. Hey Faith,” She looked at him with rapt attention. “You remember when you asked during your guys' lessons if you could keep yourself half in, half out of the shadows?”

Faith tilted her head to the side, before her eyes lit up. “You really think we can keep that maintained?”

Fear nodded. “We don't have a choice.” He cast his gaze to each of them. “We're all going to have to do our best to keep partway in, partway out because there's a scattered minefield up ahead and I don't know exactly how many there are. This is just the first phase of the infiltration, so we can't get cold hooves right now.” He wiped a hoof across his snout and stomped. “You guys ready for this? We don't have any second chances so failure this time means we're dead meat.”

Gentler lifted a claw and grinned. “I think we got this Fear.”

Fear smiled simply, pulling his forelegs together and cocking his head to the side, smile seeping into his closed eyes. “Then let's get to work. If we're careful and we don't make a sound, the snipers there hopefully won't notice us. This is going to be partly luck, partly skill.” He spun around, and prepared himself, hoping to Fate and Minuette that his leg wouldn't start hurting during this. His heart hammered in his chest. “Follow my lead, squad.” And with that Fear let himself sink a few inches, his hooves merging into the shadows under the starlit ground, dimmer given the moon was hidden. The others did the same, with some degree of success and difficulty. Gentler had it perfect. Faith, who wasn't used to using magic, ended up going a little overboard and putting herself down against her barrel just about, while Acrid took a few moments to rise and fall before getting the dip just right. All four subsumed their gear in shadows, attaching them to their bodies so, even if it took up a bit of effort, it'd keep them near weightless.

And with that the squad zoomed across the ground like melting ice being drained down a slope. A silent, careful movement.

As they went, Fear went about pumping illusions out of himself in order to give his squad the idea of their plan of attack. Detailed illustrations with visual hallucinations. It was over as soon as it started, and they all had a pretty good idea about their roles.

The fact that neither of the four slipped up during their minutes long glide was a testament to their skill, as well as Fear's natural teaching prowess and cleverness that he'd inherited from his mother. It helped that all four of them had experience meditating and controlling their bodies or magic to an extreme degree.

It felt like an eternity getting to the walls. One of the four dispersed from the group – it was Fear. The other three popped completely out of the ground and tread silently toward the entrance, hugging up against the wall. All while Fear merely slipped completely into the shadows and stretched out his body, finagling it to glide between the cracks of the spotlights, and then race swiftly up one of the towers, the one on his right.

Scaling the wall was easy. There was a sense of vertigo as his shadow slid across concrete, or whatever this was. He flipped over the railing, surged up the satyr's body, and wrapped the enemy in a choke hold. Fear had four options. He could snap the neck with telekinesis and strength, he could throw them off the side and let their death come from a plummet, he could bring them to dream land with a choke hold, or he could bring his sword out of the shadows and knock him out. The problem was, a choke hold knock out had more opportunity to fuck up, but would keep him out of it for longer. The sword would be shorter, risk them getting caught. Whereas dropping him off the side would be a sure kill from the weight of his armor, but it would be louder, and the snapping of a neck would be permanent, but this satyr probably had a family.

Fear made his decision in the blink of an eye. He tightened his grip around the veins leading to the neck, grasping the larynx firmly, and used telekinesis to pull himself down toward the ground, increasing his weight.

The satyr gasped, then choked. His arms came up to grab at the hooves to pry them off but was surprised to feel nothing there but shadows. He clawed at his neck, sniper rifle having clattered to the ground long ago.

Fear could bring him over to the edge, it'd be a simple matter to throw him off and do away with his enemy for good. It was tempting. But he refused, holding down the points on the satyr's neck he'd been taught.

His enemy pushed and pulled, ramming backwards to try and knock the equine loose, knowing something was choking him but not what. It wasn't long before his knees buckled under him, head going light, vision dimming, and he collapsed to the ground in a heap. Fear kept the hold for a long moment, risking a little brain damage, but making sure he wouldn't be getting back up for awhile. It had been a long ten seconds.

Fear released his grip and stood at the edge of the tower facing the other, and let his tulpa surge out of him across the gap. When it was completely across Fear initiated the spell, switching places with Omega Storm and silently appearing on the other side. Fear dove into the shadows again and raced over to the next satyr, doing the same as the last, pulling him in a choke hold and yanking him to the ground with oxygen deprivation.

Afterward Fear reached the edge of the tower and slid down it among the shadows, appearing next to his family braced against the door. He gave a quick salute and they went into the shadows again together, slipping through the cracks of the door. Gentler and Faith went in first, followed by Acrid, then Fear.

Gentler leaped out of the shadows at one of the guards at the other side, wrapping an arm around his neck and yanking him down and back against the wall, wrenching against it and pinching the larynx and veins. “Gck! Hckk!” It was a silent take down that took seconds.

The second, who glanced to the side and caught Gentler in the act, was nabbed in Faith's grip. She came out of the ground and wrapped her forelegs around the satyr's stomach, pulling him up and then down behind her in a suplex. Bridging her back and giving him a concussion hard enough to send him reeling into unconsciousness.

Acrid followed up by taking the third ahead of them and burying him under the ground. He planted his hooves against the dirt and caved it in, before swallowing him up, not even regretting the fact that he'd probably killed them. He had a heel style to live by after all.

The four took a moment to catch their breaths, with Fear coming up out of the shadows afterward. He looked at their handiwork and gave a simple, appraising nod. He output a hallucination of patting them all on the back and then directed them toward their next goal, slowly pushing through the compound. Fear cast himself in illusion and invisibility, obscuring himself entirely so that he could help his family by scouting ahead, trying to put as little pressure on his body as possible to prevent his leg from hurting before it was time to go all out.

During the infiltration Fear couldn't help but think back on a few years ago, maybe four, when he'd been busy learning from Emulae on just how to mask himself like this.

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

Fear needed food. He was incredibly on edge and he'd been starved for the past couple days. Sim had been forcing a fight between each other and making him learn how to siphon love while he was battling in order to help him improve. They'd been merciless, and it hadn't been the first time over the three month period he'd considered giving up. He was up in the guest room, hiding out, biding his time late in the day, trying to figure out the complexities needed to scour himself completely invisible.

The problem was, Fear knew he couldn't do that yet. He'd learned how to shed his fur and hair and mask himself in the ensuing storm in order to make it more difficult for others to hit him, though it rarely helped because Gentler had proven a knack for finding him purely through sound.

Which had forced Fear to learn how to mask his sounds with illusions as well. It was all a really hard waltz between his family and him. Fear's lips pulled back into a nervous snarl, his eyes full of concern as his heart thundered in his chest. It was hard to calm down. If he didn't calm down he wouldn't even be able to change his colors to fit the household.

Fear took a deep breath through his snout, closing his eyes. Casting an illusion over himself that deprived him of his six senses. A small charm in changeling terms. It was harder using it on others. As the world filtered out from him and he was left in complete emptiness, he let only the sensation of his breathing fill through, focusing on his meditations. Meditation was not about calming the mind and emptying it of thought, but taking the thoughts that did come and carefully parrying them away by reminding yourself of your primary focus. He'd become adept at it, casually pushing away thought after thought, anxiety after anxiety, even though it took full concentration just to do so.

Eventually, his body calmed down. His heart rate stilled. A gentle thump th-thump thump thump th-thump thump thump. Fear opened his eyes and took the world in anew. Things felt crisper, cleaner. It was a sensation he'd grow accustomed to as he matured and aged. He let his muscles go limp, just looking around at the world with a different perspective. A calm one. A gentle smile flit onto his face. His ears buzzed a bit.

It was time to try his hoof at sneaking some cookies.

Fear opened the door. It didn't squeak because he'd long ago taken the initiative to lubricate it. Not that it'd been easy. It'd required changing himself to secrete specific oils from his hoof, on Emulae's instruction. He knew he'd need it eventually.

Carefully slipping out, Fear closed it silently behind him and cast out illusory wavelengths. They were imperfect, easy to spot. He hadn't become accustomed to using it solely on instinct yet. His intention was clear in the spells. But it was functional for a colt like him. Fear cushioned his hooves with pillowy horseshoes made from changeling magic, and concealed his body by camouflaging himself with colors matching the inside of the wooden building.

Fear was headed for the stairwell when he felt the intent hammer against his brain of someone coming out to go to the bathroom. He froze as Sim opened up his door and swiftly flit past him none the wiser. He would have alerted everyone if he'd noticed. Fear was pretty sure he hadn't noticed? He hadn't sensed a disturbance in his emotions. Or he was faking really well. The stairwell creaked as Sim descended.

It was the same step every time, and as Fear began his descent as well, he made sure to avoid that one.

The living room was being occupied by Mirage, who was busy playing jacks, a training exercise for unicorn foals but a fun game for anyone else.

As Fear tried to slip past her Mirage lifted her snout in the air and sniffed.

Shit! Fear thought. I forgot! Fear immediately tried to hide his scent with the smell of the wood around him. Mirage focused for a second, her eyes contracting. There was a sense that something was off, but she eventually shrugged her shoulders.

“Must've been my imagination.” Still her eyes slid over where Fear was, his stiff body in midstep.

Fear couldn't tell if she was throwing him a bone or genuinely stumped. But he didn't let it bother him. When Mirage was looking away he hurried along to the kitchen, stepping over one of the creaky floorboards with dainty steps. Nowadays he didn't need to cushion his hooves unless he was going somewhere with mechanical turrets because his illusory skill did the work for them.

Entering the kitchen, where Emulae and him had many of their mental hallucinatory battles, that Fear always lost but would eventually win near constantly, he let himself calm down a bit.

Fear knew Emulae could hear his heartbeat if he didn't mask it. She wasn't in the room though, he was sure. She only hid her soul signature when she was aware of his presence.

And he was pretty sure she didn't know he was there.

Looking up at the cookie jar on top of the old style refrigerator Fear realized he could use his magic to pull it down, but he wasn't skilled enough yet to hide the aura from his horn while also using telekinesis. He had to learn better! And eventually he would. But right now wasn't about testing his limits, it was about getting that food.

The cookies were chunky pumpkin chocolate chip biscuits. They were made from mostly preserved ingredients so while they were delicious and semi-fresh, they weren't as good as Abyssinian cuisine, as he'd learn someday. But right now that food was worth its weight in thousands of caps.

Fear licked his lips. He hadn't thought this far ahead. He needed some way to grab the jar and pull it down without being seen. Glancing from side to side he made sure no one was watching. Fear could maybe extend his hair or... or... Fear was at a loss for what to do! Okay. Fear took a few steps in place and made use of his mother's old motto. When all seems lost take stock and do a brainstorming session. He grimaced tightly and looked back at the cookie jar. He had magic, he had transformation to some degree, he had illusions... he couldn't make an illusion concrete could he? No that was silly. He also had the burgeoning ability to shadow walk. Could he do that? It would be a risk. He also had hair, hooves, eyes, and a tail. He had a lot, he realized! But what could he use?

Glancing behind him, Fear took stock of his tail, narrowing his eyes. Hmm... could he? He could try to slither up there with shadows. Or... use the shadows to pull the jar down? No. That might cause it to crash into the floor. Maybe when he was better he could grab it in his magic and subsume into the shadows and control it from there.

Fear could only dream.

But, there was one other idea. He was already influencing his body with changeling magics while remaining inconspicuous. Maybe he could lengthen his tail and use it as a prehensile appendage? Fear realized he was so far from being able to do so much, but eventually he would get there. It inspired him to keep trying. Fear pumped formative magics into his tail, lengthening, stretching out that little dock bit by bit until it was writhing around like a controlled snake, hanging in the air. The extra vertebra were the most difficult, and alongside that forming the tiny discs.

Thank you, Grandma Emulae, Fear thought to himself, grinning victoriously as he eventually got it built up enough to have some control over it. He gave it a little flick, looked up at the cookie jar, lashed it around it, and lifted it up, and slowly brought it down.

Should he bring it back to the room with him or keep it here? He couldn't just stay here and eat it all in one shot. Someone could come in any second. Even if he was hiding it in his illusory magics... Fear considered it. Maybe he could... melt this into the shadow beneath him? It was worth a try. It was a small object, full of many objects. All he had to do was... alter the wavelength of all of them, mix it with the shade.

Fear's mouth opened in a silent gasp, his tail returning to normal, as the jar mashed against his chest, melting into him, sticking to him like a singe mark. There was a lingering moment of hesitation as Fear's jaw opened and closed a dozen times, surprised at the nature of how he'd finally gotten it right. He knew it was draining his magic actively, and he'd need to get better at it over the course of a few years before he could say he'd effectively mastered it, but it was done. He'd done it! Fear immediately looked around, finally sensing the rest of his family now that his focus was redistributed. Emulae was out in the backyard. She would be coming in soon, could feel the intent growing. Grandpa Jack was with her. Two of the three kids were in their rooms. Fear breathed in deep and carefully walked through the house, bypassing the creaky steps, and focusing on multiple things at once just like Rose had taught him in order to maintain illusion, transformation, and shadow walking. It was hard, harder than anything else he had done, and it caused him to waddle a bit as his padded hooves pressed into wood.

But... he'd done it.

And getting back to his room proved to be less of a task than coming out from it. He was going to eat like a king today. Emulae would make more of the fluffy treats for sure, when she could.

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

Fear had successfully guided his family into pounding the enemy into submission. Anyone who was still around were down in the mines. The ones on the walls had been succinctly subdued, and the ground around the compound was littered with unconscious bodies, some buried under the earth. Gentler took one of the soul weapons with him on Fear's suggestion. It grossed them all out to consider what they were capable of, but Fear wanted one on the squad in case it became necessary. Gentler had considered arguing but Fear's tone brooked no room for questioning. He sounded more experienced than he was. Maybe he was drawing on lives beyond him? Maybe he was just more confident than Gentler by this point. But the Abyssinian listened either way as they approached the Untergäng's open doors.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-6192-EkEg

The train was giant, the doors meant for creatures a little less than twice Gentler's size. It was intimidating and clearly made from magic and energy resistant plating. The insides were sterile and looked like cramped tanks, and the outside resembled it even more with their attached artillery and high powered auto guns that were built with computing to home in on a target and shoot it out of the air.

The Enclave were the most dangerous enemy in the wasteland after all. They could fly, they were agile and fast. Compared to the Steel Rangers who'd die in one hit to the soul weapons it was them and their Raptors that would cause the most damage.

All the train needed was a good hit with the artillery up front and a raptor would be going down though.

It was powerful, dangerous. Fear was about to enter the first train car but jumped back when he saw something coming down the hallway out of the corner of his eye with a pneumatic 'shmpff' 'shmpff' 'shmpff' of footsteps.

Fear pushed his family back, with a forehoof, his limp leg dangling under him uselessly. It had been a long time since he'd felt this vulnerable. Fear grit his teeth and bowed his head, putting his hoof down as Seele came out from the door, following the backing up team, having caught sight of him.

Seele was a top of the line robot after all. High definition cameras, battle hardy AI combined with his battle hardened soul. Top notch audio receptors, and... well. He didn't really need scent and taste in his life anymore. He'd long ago given that up. And it wasn't like those processors could be added in hindsight because souljars could not be modified.

Fear stiffened. Watching the bulbous body stand in front of them. It was made up of multiple sphere-like joints and a core about the same. It was a little taller than Gentler, with agility on the mind with how lubricated its body was, the soul snapshotting it in time, at its peak performance. On its back was a levitating metal ring that hovered, spinning incessantly like an engine. The whole thing was big, bulky, and had thrusters on its hands and feet, and back that looked strong enough to propel it through the air or increase its speed if necessary. Fear got low to the ground.

A deep, tinny voice sounded from its helmeted face, a helmet that looked more like a girthy scorpion mask, mandibles on the front, than a bulky rebreather mask like the Steel Rangers wore. “Fearei Shatter. What a pleasant surprise.”

Like Fear had expected, he could not sense its intent. The robot and soul were one. It was a machine, not an organic form, guided and strengthened by soul. The body did not have a magical source to it, necessarily.

If anything, Fear could tell it was resistant to magic just by how everything about him seemed to ping off it. Fear couldn't 'see' it very well, but he suspected the umbran that Zaya had told him about, Zetta, was hiding in Seele's shadow. Zaya had also told him that interstellar spells might work, due to the idea of souls being Startouched potentially, manipulated by them in old Zebran lore. That was a last resort, and Fear had tried to look for other ways to beat it in order to not have to rely on it.

Just in case it turned out to be a false theory.

Fear pulled his sword out of his shadows and motioned for the others to get back.

“I suppose surprise doesn't really do it justice, though. Hmm...” Seele's voice grumbled like an earthquake, with a mechanical edge to it. “I did expect you after all. If you killed Exa then it stands to reason you'd come for me eventually. The only surprise is that I expected you to take some time off first. After all, a wastelander being in Abyssinia for the first time...” A pause.

“Must be pleasant.” Seele cooed.

Fear shook his head wildly. “Seele! Whatever you're planning ends here and now! You're not taking over the wasteland nor Abyssinia! We're here to stop you!”

“If you or your friends can even hurt me I'll commend you for your efforts.” Seele twisted slightly, holding his arms out in a battle ready stance, getting ready to fight.

Fear launched off the ground on one leg, using telekinetic hoof pads to charge forward into the air, trying to get up to his chest, bringing to bear the sealing spell he'd used on Zaya.

Seele stepped forward to greet Fear, throwing a hand for his face.

It was a fast move, almost too fast. But Fear was prepared. He'd spent time learning to predict from his various fights and read the slightest movements. He pulsed himself downward slightly, onto a telekinetic pad and brought the sword sweeping around.

The mechanical beast's hand whirred over Fear's body, the overreach in his thrust causing him to come in direct contact with the blade. It had been a failure of a move, but Seele wasn't concerned.

As the magic poured into his metal, it was immediately dispersed and rendered impotent. The spell was ineffective on the body's capabilities.

Fear pushed himself to the right as Seele tried to collapse his body on top of Fear.

The thruster on Seele's other hand turned on, and sent him careening into a spin.

Fear was caught as the hand came around and slammed into his body, latching onto him, fingers clenching down as Seele fell to the ground.

Acrid stomped his hooves on the earth as Fear dipped into the shadows against the claws, the ground dilating and lifting to swallow Seele up.

Seele's boosters ignited, roaring him up off the ground before it could gulp him down, the disc on his back spinning even faster as if it were the mechanical reflection of adrenaline pumping through an organic body. A loud tinny war cry emitted from Seele's voice box as he rose further... further, and continued his spin, aiming his arm at Acrid and firing the detachable limb off, hovering in the air and moving backwards.

Acrid brought the earth up to try and defend himself but the fist rocketed right through and slammed into the older stallion point blank in the face, nearly crushing his snout and sending him sprawling onto the ground with a concussion, earthly debris scattering everywhere.

Gentler had been weaving around Seele's movements, drawing in close and throwing a magic nullification palm thrust at him, slamming home.

Nothing happened.

Fear popped off the robotic body and spun in place, bringing the sword around to block a fist sent straight at him, pushing if off and to the side with a screech of sharp quartz on metal. He ducked to the side as he pushed out an illusion, and Gentler responded in kind by throwing him the soul rifle he'd been carrying.

Seele reattached his limb and made to lunge at Gentler.

Gentler fell into the shadows.

It was a feint.

Seele twisted around and aimed his booster at the ground where Gentler was waiting to pop back out.

Fear screamed in alarm and fired the weapon.

There was a jerk as Seele's robotic body took the brunt of the force, a moaning grunt escaping the voice box and he twisted around in order to send a fist at Fear.

Fear knew it was fake and jumped back out of reach.

Faith fired her weapon, the power of the Alicannon punching through the air and blasting into the stunned souljar. There was an explosion, splinters of metal went flying.

Gentler came up out of the ground and used a repulsion palm, against Seele's core with a loud, echoing 'hyah!' His palm connected and caused Seele to stumble to the side, a gentle divot appearing in the metal where he'd been struck.

Faith charged up her weapon again.

Gentler fell into a series of repulsion swings, having felt the depression from his strike, phasing pieces of his body in and out of the shadows as Seele tried to fight back, raining down blows on him.

The damage was not lost on Fear as he stood back, analyzing the scene, feeling the eruption of pain beginning in his hindleg, but he ignored it, powered through it. Fear fired the soul rifle at Seele, puncturing his defenses.

Seele jerked to punch Gentler in the side of the head, expecting him to duck. The movement complete, he rocketed to the side just as Faith's weapon fired, on a crash course with the Abyssinian. Seele's AI whirred, working overtime to handle the three foes, crying out in aroused pleasure with every damaging blow, his soul able to feel the penetration, disturbing his enemies.

Nearly hit, Gentler barely managed to completely melt away, breathing heavily, coming back up for air.

Seele came down on Gentler hard, smashing a fist into his head and knocking him to the ground like a sack of bricks, out for the count.

Faith let out a war cry and leapt into the fray, bringing the horn of her alicannon around in a slamming motion.

Seele read it and took the brunt of the blow, earth pony might, equine and satyr technology clashing. Faith tried to duck as she saw a hand lashing out to latch onto her, the booster hastening its approach. The hand whooshed over her form, and she lunged to the side, Alicannon charged. “Fear!” Faith cried out.

Fear nodded once and shot the rifle again. Seele staggered backwards and the light around his body warped slightly.

Faith brought the weapon around and fired, aiming at Seele's head.

Seele ducked, activating his thrusters, and tore through the air at Faith.

Fear pushed Faith's body to the side with telekinesis, out of the way, and called out in his mind. Starlight Shredder! His magic cascaded from his horn in a blinding display, matching his wavelength with the stars, arcing a hoof through the air, bringing to bear the light of multiple sources, letting shadows coalesce around them.

He twisted around as specks of plasma energy appeared around him, coming down onto him. Seele screamed in pleasure as concentrated light hammered into his body, burning up metal and then exploding on contact as magic pumped into the spell. The magic was almost enough to damage his resistant body.

Fear put his all into the combination of spells, standing on one hindleg and using his increasingly agonized lame leg, wrapped in splint, as a staff rather than a limb. Balancing carefully as he held his forelegs up, calling upon interstellar magic, putting his all into the ability.

There was a scream, two screams. One was Fear's, full of determination as he summoned the wrath of space itself, and the second was Seele's, an erotic scream of shuddering pleasure. Pieces of his body flaked off from the explosive contact, but overall there were no cracks, just chips.

Seele's shadow bulged and writhed, before latching onto the shadows surrounding his host and scattering them before the magic could do anymore damage.

Fear fell to his forelegs as the spell ended, huffing, puffing, his eyes exhausted, jaw hanging open. His legs buckled under him. Zaya had theorized interstellar spells would work to chip away his body, maybe completely override the soul based on old Zebra beliefs.

Zaya had been wrong.

Fear dodged a telegraphed swing from Seele, watching as the robot portrayed his moves ahead of time with an overabundance of signs like a bad poker player. He dodged, weaved, and ducked, dancing across, bringing the soul gun to bear and firing at Seele, distorting his appearance, making him stumble.

Faith came up from behind and took the opportunity to blast the back of Seele's core and do more damage, creating small cracks in the metal that spider webbed outward. Not quite enough.

I could use the Raidho to mimic the powers of the soul rifle, Fear thought to himself. But I'm running out of strength quickly. I could also probably use the sword's spells on the soul itself, instead of on the resistant metal body, but I'd need to use the right kind of spell. Fear's eyes were lidded as he kept spinning and leaning around Seele's hits. His legs were trembling from strain, his mind preternaturally calm in the face of adversity and certain defeat. Something about the adrenaline kept him at peace even though he knew he was about to lose. They had come at this from the wrong standpoint. He hadn't done enough reconnaissance. Fear's face formed a tight grimace. His hindleg roaring with pain, making goosebumps trail up his spine like ice water. I don't have the fine dexterous control right now, my leg hurts too much. We're about to lose. Fear felt at peace, yet his stomach dropped from him. The panic had induced an emotional override. His exhaustion from the travels kept him serene.

I've fucked up again. Fear thought. Maybe my final fuck up. His life wasn't flashing before his eyes though so... that was a good sign. Everything faded in and out, exertion causing Fear's breath to come out raggedly, his back cringing from the phantom pain. Everything felt like it was closing in.

Fear prayed, with every thought in his body, as he continued to occasionally fire the soul rifle that he'd live to see another day. He didn't think it'd actually work, and he didn't know why it'd happen... but as he careened out of the way of another strike, reading every feint and every actual attack Seele followed through with, he could feel his body slowly giving out on him. Only this time, unlike with Chrono Corona he couldn't think of a method to win, right now. His body was slacking. He was dimming. He heard a war cry.

It was Faith's.

Faith dove in the way of Fear as he was about to get bashed in the face, bringing the alicannon to bear and nearly firing it, only for Seele to bat her to the side with a simple flick, sending her careening across the way and slamming into the metal train cars with a crunch. Faith's body crumpled and fell limply to the ground, Alicannon thudding in the dirt.

Fear's eyes dilated as his legs failed on him, giving out under him, watching his end coming to him as life fell into slow motion.

As the arm thrust out to punch Fear in the face, a metal-clad Acrid crashed home into it, sending it off to the side and making Seele whip around.

Acrid brought the earth to his command, letting it rise up under Seele, using the same manipulation to slide around, sloping the earth under him to give him constant momentum, spiraling around the battlefield and peppering Seele with stones that broke apart on contact.

It was a hailstorm of rock, pelting him from every side, hovering in the air and constantly screaming through and slamming home. Crumbling apart. Making little knicks in the armor.

Fear's eyes rolled into the back of his skull and he collapsed onto his side, the gear attached to his shadow bursting forth and thudding on the ground. Garand, saddlebags, sword. Everything scattered about.

Acrid was roaring, coughing up blood that coated his broken snout, sliding and weaving around Seele's attacks, seeping bits of metal off of his makeshift armor and letting it absorb the blows from the robotic menace. Sweeping the rifle up off the ground with advanced metal manipulation and holding it at the ready in a foreleg, firing constantly whenever it finished charging, stunning Seele time and again. “Just die you motherfucker!” Acrid screamed, making a crater in the earth that was incessantly replaced with the dust from broken rocks, only to take those pebbles and throw them at extreme velocities against the metal armor.

Seele's body was banged up, dinged, scratched, scraped, and scarred. There were nicks and cracks, like rocks embedded into windshields, and he was held down on one knee, holding an arm up to try and defend himself from the onslaught, the moans having tapered off from exhaustion. The body could barely move, not because it was incapable but because it was having difficulty keeping up with where Acrid was.

Zetta's voice sounded over the din. “Surrender, enemy of umbrans or face the consequences!” There was a twinge of terror in the umbran's deep, scarlet voice. He had emerged from the shadows and stood over Fear's body, a multitude of intents running through him that the only empath in the group couldn't sense. Unconscious.

Acrid slowed down and grimaced as he saw what was going on to the one he loved, one he considered family if not more. He growled out and surged forth to attack Zetta, remembering something from the threat.

The power to seal.

As Acrid's emotions got the better of him and he charged at Zetta to lay hooves on him, Seele spurred into action, rising as his body screeched from grinding together, some rocks stuck in little crannies. He uppercut Acrid in the stomach as he passed by, lifting him up into the air, bringing another arm down on the older stallion's spine, sending spittle flying from his mouth, and then bringing the previous arm around and bashing into his bloody face, arcing downward and slamming him into the crater.

Knocked out.

Zetta was quiet for awhile, looking at the damage to his host and the world around them. His vision cast from end to end. “Seele, order your men to imprison our guests in our security chambers. They won't be bothering us anymore.” Zetta shuddered slightly after seeing what could have been, and picked up Fear's sword, casually examining it, sensing the power lying in it. He'd do well to destroy it here and now, but the quartz would make for good fuel. It would be used later. Zetta looked down at Fear with an angry grimace, considering destroying the rest of his gear or leaving it behind. He didn't know the emotional significance of most of it, but the garand had obviously gone under severe repairs. Fear would not have gone to the trouble unless it had emotional value. Zetta held a hoof in front of Fear's snout, hastening the rotting process and generating a sharp smelling ammonia scent.

Fear's snout wrinkled up, the sensation of fire sparks flooding across his nasal cavity and into his lungs. His diaphragm spasmed, causing him to inhale hard. His eyes popped open and he jerked tiredly, his eyes rolling into the back of his head as he grunted, before flopping against the ground.

Zetta grabbed the garand in his necromantic aura, holding it at eye level with Fear. “Pay close attention Fear, because this is exactly what's going to happen to you and your family. Everyone you care about will fall to us, and it will start with these things you care about so much.”

Fear groaned, his head throbbing in his skull, eyes bloodshot, huffing and puffing to try and catch his breath, looking at his garand with tired, lazy eyes. Consciousness ebbed and flowed.

Gradually, over the course of minutes the metal corroded, rusting away and breaking apart like peanut brittle, the wood rotting and splintering. The weapon cracked and wrenched, warping, before falling apart into components and being dropped onto the ground.

The young stallion barely knew what'd happened, but when it finally occurred to him he seethed with a need for vengeance.

Zetta grabbed Fear by the back of his mane and lifted his head up, before slamming it into the dirt multiple times. “You mean nothing to me you gross insect. You are nothing more than a source of despair. Consider yourself lucky I'm keeping you alive for now.”

Fear was having a difficult time breathing right, his nasal passage completely messed up, breathing through his mouth like a snorer. It came in sharp, labored gasps. One of his eyes was squinting, the other was lazily drifting away. “F... fuck you...” it was all he had the strength left to speak, blood draining down his lips. Fear's eyes were tearing up. The salty liquid burned, or was that his fury?

Zetta snapped the rifle's barrel in half, then into pieces. “This will be staying here. Unlike you.”

The young stallion's eyes fell shut as the umbran grinned victoriously. “For someone who's given us so much difficulty you lost very easily here Fearei Shatter. How does it feel knowing you're not good enough to overcome a soul jar?”

Fear spat, but it only came out as drool dribbling down his chin, mixing with the crimson reality running across his face. “N... next time...” he panted out. “There... will...” his voice was determined, huffy, and raspy.

The umbran smiled sadistically. “But Fear. How can there be a next time if you're incapable of escaping your prison? I won't be letting you out, ever. I'm going to kill everyone you care about in front of you. Destroy all your gear. Eliminate your will until you're a suffering, blubbering mess and you have nothing more to live for. And then I'm going to take your life while you're busy coming at me in a rage. You're nothing without your equipment after all, and even less without your magic.” Zetta's voice was a low purr. “You may have learned to fight without your empathy, but everything else about you depends on one single facet of the world. Your connection to magic. Without it. You. Are. Nothing.” Zetta hissed into Fear's ear. “Your family is going to be used as slaves, and the ones who deign fit to struggle and resist will be used as batteries. For my kind, and for the satyrs.” It started as a low rumble, before turning into a full maniacal cackle.

Fear grunted and grumbled, gritting his teeth, lips pulled back into a snarl. He could taste iron on his lips and tongue.

“I want you to hurt, Fear,” Zetta proclaimed. “After what you've done to us you deserve no less. Killing our comrades, oppressing us, forcing us to remain inside the seal. We knew you'd be coming, you horrible little cretin. And it's time you got what's coming to you.”

Fear's eyes fluttered, eyes rolling back. A desperate whimper escaped him as unconsciousness reclaimed him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3t5GDAHVkA

By the way, in case it's not clear, the reason Acrid didn't use his metal manipulation on Seele was because it was made of magic resistant metals. Which is primarily why despite being such a destructive force, the starlight shredder didn't do much damage.

BR asks: What's your ideal Hearth's Warming Eve gift?

Fear: You might be expecting me to say 'world peace' or 'the wasteland to go away' but I've learned that I want to accomplish that myself instead of getting it as a gift. Further, I'm not naive enough anymore to ask for something like that. I'd rather get something concrete from my family. I think the best gift I could get is something from those shops in Abyssinia. I saw a lot of cool stuff there, but I think the best thing would be a Mega Mare hoodie.

Hm? Why yes I do know a version of me got one of those. If I ever head to Tenpony Tower I'm going to check the shop alternate me got it in and see if it's still there. Should be near the bottom of the pile.

One of me got a Mega Mare bobblehead figurine from Minuette once. According to her there were a total of 12: eight robot masters, Mega Mare, Alpha Mare, Wiz Caesar, and Dr. Applebloom. I've really earned her affection over my many variations' interactions with her. I've taken her out to breakfast before and done a couple unspeakable things. She tells me she was “alive” before the war and during the war, and also in realities where the war did not exist. Which has taught me she enjoys being able to act mortal sometimes even if she's not mortal.

Faith: I don't know... Fear's always trying to get me something neat from the traveling traders because he wants to show me how much he cares about and appreciates me, but I really don't need anything like that. To be honest the best gift he ever gave me was finding a book of Hearth's Warming carols and offering to bring me around singing the standard hymns and the traditional songs. I just need more of that.

Gentler: Ugh. I think what I'd like the most is for some way to use a larger variety of magic. I envy Fear a lot. But if I couldn't have that... I suppose I'd ask for a nice quilt from Abyssinia that I could wrap myself up in on the colder days. I'd take good care of it.

Acrid: I always wanted a Limit Breaker figurine or all the comics when I was growing up. Limit was this cool comic book character who always managed to surpass expectations and do the right thing even though he started out with nothing.

Sim: An offer to play a part in a Hearth's Warming Eve play hosted by none other than Mister Alistair Tenpony. I'd give anything for an opportunity like that. I've heard stories about Tenpony's theater and the plays he sometimes puts on in the wasteland. It's a dying art, and I really want to strut my stuff. Especially if it involves the use of transformation in order to show a symbolic change of character. Preferably I'd play the lead, but... I'd be willing to play a different role. In acting there is no lesser part, just different parts.

Storm: ...Back again? Ideal Hearth's Warming gift? Hmm... I'd say I'd like to see everyone one more time but I already got that wish so... maybe just for my next life, whatever it is, to be in some different reality. With different laws, different constraints. Different mental aspects, different physical aspects. And maybe some tertiary set of aspects that are new and interesting. Just a new multiverse that is far beyond anything anyone in our multiverse could have imagined. I want to have new experiences that are so far beyond the definition of those I left behind that they'd be greedy to hear more.

Amelio: I would like to be untainted by Fate for a little while so I could go back to being just Amelio for a bit. I want to be able to achieve the dreams I originally aspired to when I was alive purely and fully, when i was still a mortal with a mortal mindset. It is not... bad being who I am now. Just different. I do not regret my choices, nor do I wish for anything different. I just wish my mortal half could have lived a far more fulfilling life. There is a saying beyond the veil that life is far more satisfying when it is lived to fruition, instead of ending early.

Technically my life did not end that early, because I died of natural causes. But you know what I mean.

I hope that makes sense.

Drax: A ribbon to decorate the Alicorsair and a huge haul of fresh fish of different kinds. I used to hear about how good fish tasted, and I know a lot of pegasi and Abyssinians used to eat fish way back when. I'm sure all of them around Equestria are dead by now. That or I want a hoard of my own, maybe just something small I can indulge in for a few months. Various gems with various tastes.

Alicorsair: I just want to be useful to Drax and maybe see any enemies of my master fall before me. Maybe get some revenge on Fear for blasting me apart for a little while. But no harm no foul. Uguuu I look so cute in a ribbon though!

Shaybna: I wish to see my brothers and sisters in arms once more. To be in their presence, to be wielded in battle alongside them. I also wish I could... maybe find a different AI that has also grown and learned from those that have wielded it so that I may be able to get to know them and end up forming a relationship, however deep.