I'll resist the urge to make this week's blog post about the awesomeness of Word Crimes* or the tragedy of ball pits.

*(Although I must say, I think the most brilliant part is taking a breath to differentiate between actually bad grammar and just using a controversial style.)

Be better.

You know is the core moral of Fallout: Equestria. And it is an important one-- one that we all need to embrace.

In writing Fallout: Equestria, I was speaking to myself as much or more than any of my possible readers. "Be better" is something I strive for every day -- to be a better person than I have been before. Sometimes I succeed. Too often, I fail. God knows, I've not been the best person in the past. I'm much better now than before, but I've got a whole lot of room for improvement. One of the most powerful forces helping me is friends.

Friendship is the bulwark that will help you when you face your own weaknesses, that will defend you and keep you strong in times of need. With friends, you can weather so much more than you could alone, and you have the hope of coming out of the storm with your head held high... even if only because they are propping you up. Friendship truly is magic.

art by Nightflyer22

Earlier tonight, I had the opportunity to, at the end of a heart-to-heart with a dear friend, tell him that I am better for knowing him and having a friend like him.

He is someone whom I met because of Fallout: Equestria, a friend of a local fan. And he is an example of the greatest thing that has come out of Fallout: Equestria and the fan community that has developed around it: a great many people have discovered new friends, some of whom have become very dear to them. I know that it has been this way for me, and I hope it has for you. I would not trade anything for the experience, and I doubt any future work could rival the true value of what I have gotten from this community.

It occurs to me, with over 2,400 followers, that there are a great many of you whom I have never told how much I cherish those friends I have made, as well as all the fans and members of this growing community. You are a blessing. More than I deserve, and I love each of you.

Never have I sought gain for Fallout: Equestria (and I have been extremely reserved in allowing others to make money from Fallout: Equestria related works). It was my gift to you, the fans of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and the fans of Fallout. But I cannot say I have not profited from it. There have been a few direct gifts (including an amazing life-size Littlepip plush and a free copy of the printed books); and furthermore, I consider every Fallout: Equestria artwork, video, song and story created by the fandom to be a gift. There has been the camaraderie of the community on the #FalloutEquestria IRC, and all the hours of Fo:E roleplaying I've gotten to enjoy each week. But the greatest gift of all that I have received is the friends that I have found -- how much they have come to mean to me, and how much they have helped me in my own efforts to do the most important thing we can strive to do: be better.

Thank you.