Mental Wellness Pony

— "The Faniac; Injustice Rising"

Image by @tentavamp.

The Mental Wellness Pony is a mass-dream side effect of the drugs used in the Merger Conspiracy, created by the minds of those who are affected badly by amnestics. She appears in the dreams of people who appear to need help with their mental health. She has a tendency to 'target' extremely lonely individuals with no other outlet for their emotions.

## Personality

The Pony appears to be a generally well-meaning individual who encourages people to feel better about themselves, their situations, and things that're happening around them. She is a yes-man, in some sense, and though it can be very reassuring for some to have someone who always agrees with them, she also can end up being a detriment.

With her eagerness to reassure people and keep them company, no matter who they are or what they've done or what they specifically might require from her, she unmeaningly paints broad strokes over the concept of 'mental health'. However, as she is not a real person, this cannot be properly held against her, and is more a reflection of the person who dreamt of her than of her as a 'person'.

All in all, she tries to be a singular source of comfort amongst a person's broadly horrible life, for better or for worse. Her kind nature and unjudgemental behavior usually gets particularly lonely individuals hyper-attached to her presence within their dreams, as she allows them to be vulnerable without any snide or sass.

## Iterations

Iterations of the Pony change depending on the person, although her coat color changes between them, her mane, attitude, and purpose all remain the same.

### Phantom

Phantom's pony is the dark blue one described in various pictures and art. She was picked up by Phantom shortly after they were captured by the government and stuck in a compound. This pony manifested in their dreams a repeating scenario; either the pony was talking to them or they were talking to the pony. They would usually talk about something deeply meaningful and something enough to make Phantom consistently stuck in emotions. If either of the two stopped, Phantom would get shot and the dream would end.

The dream represents various things, perhaps too many. They represent Phantom's lack of friendship, subconscious want to be vulnerable (as themself) with someone they trust, the way they want to be accepted as worthy of love despite not having a 'self', the way they want reassurance that their life isn't over, the way they want someone to save them from themselves and their predicament, the way they want to be humanized enough to be referred to by someone else with genuine concern, the way they feel like such a notion is fantastical one (as it's represented by a fantasy creature), the way that they feel all good things are ripped from them without anything they can do about it, the way they feel like they're helpless to stop things from happening to people they care about (or, subsequently, to themselves), and possibly the loss of childhood innocence / optimism (as she is a cartoon pony).

### Atmey

Luke Atmey gained his pony while he was in prison. She began appearing in his dreams to offer him support during the isolation and powerlessness he felt, though his mind eventually warped this interaction. Atmey began dreaming of a Silent Hill-esque town covered in fog and crawling with monsters. During his time in this town, he was forced to fight for his life alongside her, trying to make sense of the town and his experience within it. These dreams were incredibly traumatic to Atmey, even with the pony's presence. Atmey began to suspect that the pony was the reason he was having the dreams to begin with, and feared what she might do to him if he let his guard down.

In spite of himself, he did allow cracks of vulnerability to shine through because of his need to be comforted in his grim (both in real life and in dreamed) situation. Eventually, he got too scared of her and murdered her. She never reappeared to him afterwards. He found himself regretting this decision, as he became fully isolated in his unending nightmares. He finds himself missing her constantly within his dreams, although he feels disgusted at how vulnerable it makes him feel.

## Gallery

The Phantom mourning the Pony.Ghost Bobby (who we originally thought was causing the pony dreams) hovering next to Athena who is trying to figure out what the dreams mean.