Sister forum[GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
by WavemasterRyx Sun Sep 07, 2014 8:17 pm
I'm very sorry you're all having so much trouble this weekend, Hinds, sir... I do hope things go better for next weekend, and please tell Somber to try not to worry about it being delayed because of something he can't help...
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
by O. Hinds Sun Sep 07, 2014 8:33 pm
Thank you, and I shall relay that message.
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
by SilentCarto Sun Sep 07, 2014 8:57 pm
I don't think Homage uses her name, no, any more than she refers to the Lightbringer as Littlepip. The name isn't what's important; it's the actions that matter.Vinylshadow wrote:Does Homage ever explicitly refer to Blackjack by name, or only as "The Security Mare" in her few broadcasts?
...granted, Blackjack DOES send a broadcast over a lot of airwaves giving her own name, doesn't she?
Am I a bad person because my first thought was, "Oh, thank Celestia! I wasn't ready to read a chapter this evening"?O. Hinds wrote:So, apparently the universe doesn't want us to get the chapter out this weekend. Heartshine's arrival was delayed, Somber's internet was hit by a storm, swicked had a lot of homework to do, and then, not ten minutes after we'd decided to just stop stop and continue next weekend, my building had a surprise fire drill. We don't expect significant difficulty next weekend, though.
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
by geekladd Mon Sep 08, 2014 12:08 am
yes.Am I a bad person because my first thought was, "Oh, thank Celestia! I wasn't ready to read a chapter this evening"?O. Hinds wrote:So, apparently the universe doesn't want us to get the chapter out this weekend. Heartshine's arrival was delayed, Somber's internet was hit by a storm, swicked had a lot of homework to do, and then, not ten minutes after we'd decided to just stop stop and continue next weekend, my building had a surprise fire drill. We don't expect significant difficulty next weekend, though.
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
by JadedPony Mon Sep 08, 2014 1:07 am
I have a hard day at work this week, lots of projects (that other people were suppose to do) have become my emergency workload. So I look forward to rewarding myself with the chapter once it's out. Take your time. I for one, will have plenty to do all week.
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
by Vinylshadow Mon Sep 08, 2014 10:31 am
That's good, I've got 195 chapters to read
Although since the fic only had 200,000 words, I think I'll be able to blaze through it in a night
heck, only took me three nights to read Fallout Equestria
Inversely, it's taken me months to read PH...mainly because I was reading about 50 other fanfics alongside it
Although since the fic only had 200,000 words, I think I'll be able to blaze through it in a night
heck, only took me three nights to read Fallout Equestria
Inversely, it's taken me months to read PH...mainly because I was reading about 50 other fanfics alongside it
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
by JadedPony Mon Sep 08, 2014 12:05 pm
195 chapters of what?! Goodness, child. That's a lot of reading.
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
by Vinylshadow Mon Sep 08, 2014 12:15 pm
Austraeoh, Eljunbyro, Innavedr, Odrsjot and Urohringr, by Imploding Colon
roughly 800-1000 chapters total, I believe
I am somewhat addicted to reading, although lately it's become harder for me to grasp what's going on in some fanfics, which saddens me
roughly 800-1000 chapters total, I believe
I am somewhat addicted to reading, although lately it's become harder for me to grasp what's going on in some fanfics, which saddens me
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
by Guest Mon Sep 08, 2014 5:23 pm
@Hinds
Yeah, I don't believe in karma or what-have-you, but sometimes you gotta read the writing on the wall, as it were.
Yeah, I don't believe in karma or what-have-you, but sometimes you gotta read the writing on the wall, as it were.
Guest- Guest
Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
by Evilgidgit Mon Sep 08, 2014 9:36 pm
That's quite a lot to read. The longest story I've ever read was the fanfic "Spider-Man Reborn" which was 130 chapters, though it was mostly chapters spread across ten smaller ones each.JadedPony wrote:195 chapters of what?! Goodness, child. That's a lot of reading.
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
by Icy Shake Mon Sep 08, 2014 10:37 pm
Well, the way I see it there are at least a few broad categories. Going from least-bad to most-bad, there are:SilentCarto wrote:Am I a bad person because my first thought was, "Oh, thank Celestia! I wasn't ready to read a chapter this evening"?O. Hinds wrote:So, apparently the universe doesn't want us to get the chapter out this weekend. Heartshine's arrival was delayed, Somber's internet was hit by a storm, swicked had a lot of homework to do, and then, not ten minutes after we'd decided to just stop stop and continue next weekend, my building had a surprise fire drill. We don't expect significant difficulty next weekend, though.
1. Being happy after the fact that something that probably would have made a lot more people happy than sad didn't happen.
2. Hoping in advance it doesn't happen.
3. Doing something to make it less likely to happen.
I probably fell between 1 and 2, basically picking up based on what Somber said here that it was unlikely 70 would be out yesterday, and thus took actions that left me in a position where I'd be happier if 70 didn't come out last weekend—spending a lot of yesterday reading an earlier chapter.
But the important thing isn't whether you (and I) are a good or a bad person; it's whether you're trying to do better. So tell me, are you trying to do better?
- Chapter Fifty Four Running Thoughts:
- “So,” Glory asked from the kitchen as she carefully stowed every bit of food we had left into bags, “is he safe?”
Well, "safe" is a relative term. First of all, he could be safe to you but not others, which is a decent description of, say, Lacunae—well, not all the time or not exactly, or for that matter P-21 (he's better now, though), Rampage, or Blackjack, in that she might get you killed, but won't kill you on purpose—you know what? Let's just say he fits in.
“Those are going to make you fat, Blackjack,” Scotch Tape opined with a snicker.
Gotta be careful with that kind of thing.
Some parts from some twelve millimeter pistols had done it good, and I’d tried, mostly in vain, to polish it to its original sheen. A markspony carbine would have to do for longer ranges. I’d all but given up on keeping a riot shotgun intact
She's on to you, Somber!
“Well… it’s stupid,” Rampage said with a flush. “It’s just that… well… I think he was scared of me. Don’t get me wrong, I know I’m one scary pony, but you remember Deus. There wasn’t a mare he wouldn’t try and fuck if she looked at him wrong.” After what Brass and Hightower had done to him, I could understand it. Forgive… no… but I could understand. “He barely said two words to me in two years.”
Ah yes. Building on that hesitance and attention from last chapter. Granted, this sort of thing, when left alone for a few hundred thousand words, can be easy to forget.
But given how Rampage resembled Twist with her coat and her mane, it wasn’t hard to imagine why.
And I like how this is indirectly building up towards the truth, while on the surface reinforcing the more apparent line which turns out to be the red herring.
“I usually just call it my turbine,” Scotch said as she rubbed her chin thoughtfully, then looked at me, “‘cause it makes me hum.” It seemed perfectly reasonable to me, but P-21’s mane seemed to twang a little like snapped wires. “What?” she asked, and the poor blue stallion looked so flustered that I decided not to chime in with my own personal nickname.
In all honesty, this seems a little strange coming from a 99 pony. Could be that it's related to mares, I guess, and at first it seemed like it could be more about its use as a derogatory term, but his reaction to everyone's euphamisms indicates that's not it. Anyway, too bad Blackjack didn't get to chime in.
“Don’t ask me. I spent my grade school being encouraged to prefer fillies. Boys for boys. Mare’s love. All kinds of slogans and stuff to keep us apart when we went into our fertile cycles.”
Not the first time it's come up, I think, with that being Doof's assault on Twist, but probably the most explicit so far.
Incidentally, just this morning I ran in to some discussion (John Perry, the Descendant, related to "Pegasus Mating Dance") of distaste for heat and the like in Pony, and I can see where that's coming from. That said, I thought that it tended to be handled well here, as an influence but not an overriding one.
“If any of y’all need that itch scratched, well, I’d be happy to help out. There’s a reason the ladies call me Boomer, after all.” I chuckled, remembering how close I’d come to gelding him. What a waste that would have been…
Well, at least she regrets what she almost did. Not so sure he'd be so friendly right now otherwise, too.
“You’ll start looking at stallions more and the idea will be on your mind a lot for a week or so. Just make sure you stay around other mares, and we’ll stop you from doing something with some moron just because he’s got a nice body. Make sure you never point your hind end at a stallion if you can help it. Really gives them the idea if they get a good whiff. Give yourself a good rubbing once or twice a day till the itch passes. You’ve got your implant, right?” The filly nodded. “Then you’ve got nothing to worry about if you do mess it up. It’s more an annoyance than anything.”
Yeah, that.
Maybe it was the sight of the black-and-white-striped tank with ‘MEGA DEUS’ hoofpainted by Scotch and Rampage in red across the front,
Sigh. Not one of the better ones. But I guess at least the "mega" makes sense in context, since he's at a lot bigger than he was before, and with a bigger set of cannons.
Maybe it was the sight of the black-and-white-striped tank with ‘MEGA DEUS’ hoofpainted by Scotch and Rampage in red across the front, or perhaps it was the three pegasi in ominous black Enclave power armor flying overhead along with a purple alicorn, but every pony, ghoul, and zebra watched us go with an odd expression I’d hadn’t ever really seen before. Not fear. Not joy.
Okay. Let's see if I remember. Admiration? Something about thinking she's a hero, right?
“Why are they looking at us like that?” I asked as I flushed.
Rampage looked at me. “Are you serious, Blackjack? You don’t know?”
I frowned at her. “Me not knowing is nothing new. They keep staring at us…”
“Not at us, Blackjack. Not even at Deus,” Rampage replied. “You. They’re staring at you.”
Now I was blushing everywhere that wasn’t metal. “Me? Why me? What did I do?”
Blackjack's self-esteem deficiency–induced obliviousness strikes again! And, as is often the case, it's cute and funny.
Glory sighed, smiled, and shook her head. P-21 leveled a sardonic look at me. Even Scotch Tape seemed to get it. Rampage’s grin lost some of its edge as we rolled out of the village, and she just looked at me with admiration and pity. “You gave them hope, Blackjack.”
Okay, I wasn't that close. Nuts.
“You’re pouting, Blackjack,” P-21 said as he stared out at the gloom.
“I am not,” I replied, pouting as I glared at the darkness.
Blackjack: still a petulant child.
She didn’t love me, and maybe I didn’t love her. Life was a tempest, and she clung to me as the one and only constant in her life. The collar she’d put on me was a hollow symbol. A lie.
But sometimes a lie was something to live for.
On the one hand, somewhat perceptive there. On the other, given Blackjack's later thoughts on love, there may be some friction. Granted, she's not arriving at what she thinks love is, and some of this is driven by the same issues preventing Blackjack from understanding how people at large see her, but she's trying.
Someday she’d find someone she did love. Someone who didn’t hurt her all the time. Someone better. We might be together for days, months, or even years, but eventually I’d do something to drive her awa--
Then P-21 smacked the back of my head. “Ow? What did you do that for?” I whined.
“You’re getting that look again,” P-21 said with a smirk as he tugged his hat lower on his face.
“What look?” I asked as I rubbed the spot where he’d hit me.
He shook his head. “That look like you’re trying to think and arriving at all the wrong conclusions.
Oddly enough, he's both right and wrong here. Perhaps in some sense, it didn't need to go that way, but that would require, I think, someone who isn't quite Blackjack.
“I don’t want to be all memory orb’ed if the Harbingers attack,” I said with a sigh as we rolled along.
I mean, what would three Enclave soldiers, a demo man, an alicorn, an immortal killing machine, someone in the body of the finest flyer in history, and a tank do without me in a fight?
Elder Thorn is only a few years ‘elder’ to I. She is of the Mendi tribe, who have always objected to the war, much like Ministry Mare Fluttershy. Mendi is as respected as the Ministry of Peace. If it were Elder Earthquaker of the Achu, or Elder Longsight of the Propoli, however, it would be far more promising.
Well, it always seemed like MoP was fairly respected, just not at all influencial on international policy. Which is what the point comes down to, I suppose.
“This is exactly what Celestia was afraid of. You people don’t understand. These ‘security’ arrangements are going to unravel everything before we can even have a chance to talk!” He looked at me, practically begging me to agree. “Don’t you understand? If we don’t show them at least a gesture of trust, we’ll never have a chance.”
Somehow I really don't think that that's how this normally works. Even without the benefit of hindsight, having all of four squads, so maybe three or four dozen soldiers, for a meeting with a representative from a hostile nation seems entirely reasonable. And it's not like they're in the tent with her; that's to secure a mile-wide valley!
His eyes hardened. “No. I guess I can’t. Try not to let the zebras see you with that thing, Psalm. Contrary to what most ponies think, zebras revere their elders as much as we do the princesses. Even if they’re not from a fighting tribe.”
Think about what you're saying, man. Of course she'd take up a position she wouldn't be seen in. Doing anything else would kind of defeat the purpose.
“We’ll need the Marauders more than simple prayers,” Goldenblood rasped wetly as he trotted up. “Big Macintosh will be present at the pavilion. We can only hope that things get mired in bickering.” He rubbed his face nervously. “I can’t imagine what Celestia is thinking. This is precisely why ambassadors were invented!”
Seriously!
“I hardly think it’s fair to call me that. I’ve never taught you much worthwhile. Rocks and gems and metals… hardly the education you deserved.”
“You taught me about devotion and conviction,” I said with a sincere smile. “Don’t worry, Teacher. I won’t let them take her.”
Somehow, I'm not sure he was especially happy to hear that. I kind of hope not.
It was an hour later that the winged chariot arrived. In that time, I’d used my magic scope to pick out three dozen zebras ranging from sniper pairs to hoof to hoof specialists.
Oh, hey, Cheddar, not only did the zebras bring security with them, giving this the generous reading, but the ones found specifically by Psalm number pretty close to the total brought by the ponies.
Still, from the security arrangements, they seemed to value the bead-bedecked zebra mare as more than just a throwaway.
Well, that's called putting effort into your con. It's pretty important, unless you've got really easy marks.
More and more was being asked of the tribes to fight the Maiden of the Stars. Soon it came to the sticking point: Luna’s rule was a non-starter.
And frankly I'd hope that the current Caesar's remaining in power would be at least presented as a non-starter for Equestria, given his far greater role in starting the goddamn war than Luna played. Oh, and playing up her as the Maiden. Etc. But given that, what would the zebras be pushing for? A return to Celestia? You know, the princess who ordered the raid that led to the war? But in all seriousness, this just isn't a demand you make unless you are in an asymmetrical position to crush those you are negotiating with.
So long as she remained in power, the Caesar could not entertain the topic of peace.
Again, Equestria shouldn't entertain the possibility of peace while this Caesar is in power, not unless things are going really badly for them.
From inside the tent came a pop, and suddenly a brilliant green cloud billowed up and filled the space. Everyone began shouting, screaming, and coughing as they struggled and milled about. The tent collapsed, and then, with a flare of magic, Celestia ripped the canvas and let the billowing smoke roll out. She swayed and collapsed as Big Macintosh staggered over her prone form.
Okay, now this suggests to me that Celestia was not in on the attack: if she were, it would make more sense to leave the tent filled with gas so that all inside were fully knocked out, leaving less confusion and casualties on each side, not to mention no room for resistence from Big Macintosh. The gas would be no hindrance for the zebras who show up, since naturally they'd be prepared with masks or talismans or whatever.
“No! Please! Peace! We want peace!” Cheddar shouted as the zebra attackers advanced.
I mean, I get the disbelieving reaction and all, but clearly that ship, to the extent it was ever at port, has sailed. Now, more seriously, the fact that you wanted peace never mattered, given that wasn't part of their agenda.
My round returned the favor a moment later, the enchanted bullet magically punching a hole the diameter of my hoof through his head. I’d fired before his blow fell, but the distance had prevented my friend’s salvation by a half second.
Did it really need the magical part? A .50 caliber bullet could probably do that much or more anyway. Or is it so that the bullet kills the target and then just stops? That would be a pretty useful mode in this context, where you want to avoid collateral damage.
If they hadn’t been trying to capture Celestia, they would have simply gunned him down.
Good point.
If I looked away… I couldn’t look away. My horn pulled my sidearm, pressed it to the batwinged zebra atop me, and started firing. I heard a mare scream, struggling to snap my neck as I maintained focus. Then the hooves around my throat grew weaker as blood soaked my cloak and hide.
I like this, it highlights the intensity Psalm's putting on her focus elsewhere, while also showing her as a cold, effective killer against opposition even outside of her normal mode of sniping.
I couldn’t let them take Celestia. Please… somepony… anypony… help. All I could do was shoot things. That’s all I could do.
Oh, what's that? A parallel to how Blackjack saw herself for most of the story, and is only at around this point starting to make strides in moving past?
I entertained the wild notion of somehow running the five hundred yards and carrying them both to safety… a mad idea.
Madness. There was only one thing to do. “We can’t let them capture her, Big Macintosh.” I slowly moved my aim down till it was pointed at her unconscious royal head.
Maybe it was the sound of my voice, but with a grunt of pain he rose and turned to face my firing position. “What are you thinking, Psalm?”
“Better Celestia a martyr than a prisoner,” I said in an almost fevered whisper. “If you can’t get her out of there... we’ll have to... to... remove her.” Luna would understand. She’d have to.
And we start watching Psalm pushed to the breaking point. That she of all people could be considering this regicide is hard to believe, but putting the needs of one against the other . . .
“Anope. I know you won’t, Psalm,” was all he said as he gazed back at me. Slowly, he smiled, trusting me to do what was right. “I know you’re a good pony.” He was the best of us. Honorable. True. A good pony with a noble and caring heart.
I put a bullet straight through it.
Aaaannnd she's gone forever. Really painful scene.
He wilted slowly as his face relaxed, fighting every second to protect Celestia. When he crumpled, I had a perfect shot at the alicorn’s head. I could barely aim through my tears. I just had to take two more lives, and then I’d be done. The Princess’s, then my own. There was no living with this. Not this. But at least Luna would still be able to save other, better ponies than myself and maybe, somehow, someday, she might...
“Forgive me, Luna, for I have taken the life of another,” I breathed, blinking away tears and staring at Celestia’s head in my crosshairs.
Kind of a Judas situation, only with a less self-oriented motivation and the guilt and suicide existing and planned ahead of time.
Also, is there a more depressing catch phrase than Psalm's?
Then the skies were split by a ripping boom as a dozen trails of crackling clouds coursed through the air, lead by a single rainbow vein. Like streaking missiles, the Shadowbolts broke formation and engaged the zebras with terrifying speed and force
And then . . . it's all for nothing.
And interesting point that Psalm doesn't kill herself over Big Macintosh. Is it that he's just one more, not one of her goddesses, or does she need to stay to deal with the fallout?
Nopony had yet figured that the direction was all wrong to be a zebra sniper, or that the bullet had been one of mine.
Or that it was inconsistent with the apparent goal of capturing Celestia, though there it could have been a fallback.
Only Goldenblood looked critically at me as I curled up, clutching Penance, praying for some salvation I didn’t deserve.
The scarred, exhausted stallion trotted next to me. “What happened?” was all he asked.
“I thought they were going to take her. Luna forgive me… I… I begged him to move…” I whispered. His golden eyes met mine, and I broke, sobbing hysterically. He wrapped his hooves around me, holding me close. One damned pony commiserating with another…
So many sacrifices made, for nothing. Well, not Big Macintosh's. But kind of a soul-crushing defeat, for all that they not only believed they were doing the right thing, but the only thing.
Which, well, as Blackjack tends to say now, there's always a choice.
“History… isn’t always what the books say,” I murmured as I looked away, then frowned. Deus revved his engines; was it just me, or did his motor sound... annoyed?
An interesting point here is how it would affect Deus in particular. Especially if he knew Psalm was the foundation for Lacunae. Now, I could see it also ending poorly for Lacunae if Blackjack got it out so Rampage heard.
Somehow, Celestia banished her sister to the moon instead and scattered Nightmare Moon’s batpony forces back to her hidden citadel.”
“How do you hide a whole castle?” Scotch Tape asked
I don't know the answer to that, but it certainly has nothing to do with Black Pony Mountain.
He eyed us both in wary confusion. “Um, Snide? Shouldn’t they have brahmin if they’re traders? I mean, she’s got a beamy gun, and her legs are metal. Maybe we should let them by.”
Genius, I tell you! This guy should get an endowed chair in banditry at the Collegiate.
“I don’t know, Snide. I mean, she does got them metal legs.” The big one rubbed his chin with a brass hoof. “I really think we should just let them by.”
“See? That’s where you messed up, Numbskull. You used the word think. The thinking is my job.”
He terrk err jerrrb!
Though, seems like Snide deserves to lose his job.
“Look. I understand that you’re just trying to get by. I do. And if you actually protected travelers as they crossed, I probably wouldn’t mind. But your friend is right. I am Security, and if you try and shake me down, it’s going to go very badly for you.”
Blackjack's come a long way from proposing raider hunting as a fun and rewarding pasttime.
But there was one in the back, a dirty brown stallion with a pair of hoofcuffs on his flank, who seemed to have second thoughts; a terrified, haunted look crossing his face. He didn’t just think I was Security. He knew me.
That's . . . one way of putting it.
“Quick! Use the failsafe!” Snide shouted as he whirled to run, and was struck in the face by a chunk of metal tossed by P-21.
Dumbass, you don't double down holding five against the dealer's ace.
Or:
Betting on sinking ships just turns your chips to trash.
In any case, it's looking ever more like Numbskull should have been calling the shots.
But the brown earth pony stallion was still acting quite skittish, and finally it got on my nerves. I looked right at him and snapped, “Is there a problem?”
He didn’t answer, but P-21 did. “You!” the earth pony shouted as he charged the wastelander. The others watched in astonished bafflement as the blue earth pony slammed the brown stallion against the rails.
“Get off me!” he spluttered in anger, but I saw the fear in his eyes… eyes that were on me.
“He’s from the Seahorse!” P-21 shouted. “He’s one of the stallions you spared!”
And that, Clink, is why you slink away and hide in this situation, rather than hang out in the back where you could get noticed.
My bullet flew with all the accuracy of S.A.T.S. right through the back of his rear right knee and he collapsed, screaming. I’d screamed like that once, recently. Slowly I advanced with sublime calm. Screaming obscenities, he flopped and writhed, and yet I had no problem blasting another knee cap.
“Please!” he begged as he tried to shield his face. “You said you weren’t an executioner! Please!” He cried out as I calmly advanced.
Be Kind!
No, Fluttershy. Not this time.
Do better!
It’s not for me to do better. It was him. Now I am going to do better…
I pointed the gun right at his head as he lay there in a spreading pool of filth. I was fairly certain he’d be crippled for life; perhaps he’d bleed out. But I looked down the barrel and stared right into his eye. I’d given him mercy and he’d squandered it. He’d hurt others. It was every bit my fault. If I’d killed him, he wouldn’t have hurt another pony…
All I had to do was become a killer.
I stared straight into his eye, everyone watching both of us, as I tried to summon up every iota of pain, shame, and humiliation I’d suffered that horrible time. I needed only a few pounds of pressure to kill him. The bullet would tear through his brain like a sledgehammer. Glory watched with a mix of sadness and concern; was she afraid I’d do it, or that I wouldn’t? P-21 just stared with quiet certainty. If I didn’t, he would. All the others left it up to me.
There's quite a shift starting at about the point Blackjack points the gun at his head. She's still calm, but it seems like the simple certainty has fallen away. Like she's shifted from it simply being a fact that she's going to do the right thing and kill him as though it wasn't even a decision she was making, through justifying it as the right and necessary choice, to needing to make an effort to follow through.
In one sense, it's remarkable that there's a second kill in one chapter comparably strong to Big Macintosh's. But they probably had to be in the same chapter; some of the parallels would otherwise be attenuated. For instance, each shot being fired just after the target indicating in some way the belief it wouldn't come. Having it be tied to the last thread of what Psalm and Blackjack believed; Psalm's final, overriding belief in the Princesses being put to the ultimate test, Blackjack's last tie to her pre-Wasteland self as not an executioner. The divorce of each from an immediate danger, and relation to diplomacy or credibility: Equestria's being forced to surrender or the possibility Blackjack could never be seen as capable of killing in cold blood just because it needed to be done. But even separated, there would be the incantation, "Forgive me Luna, for I have taken the life of another." But was that, in the second case, Psalm or Blackjack, imagining it out of a defence mechanism, desperate to hold on to that last bit of herself? If it was Blackjack, was it a choice she made on purpose, or a deadly post-traumatic action, similar those that prompted Stygius? There's clearly one side Lacunae wishes Blackjack to believe, but did she actually give her mercy at the time, or is she just offering it after the fact?
“Yeah. Softest heart in the Wasteland,” Rampage drawled. “Look, everypony has to bust their murder cherry eventually. Blackjack finally popped hers. She’ll get over it.”
I've always loved this little contribution from Rampage.
Don’t you understand? History isn’t truth. History is what everypony decides to settle on as what happened.
Oh, she does. Earlier this chapter she was saying how sometimes history isn't what was written down in the books.
Scotch Tape began to struggle with Boo, and the olive filly said as loudly as she dared, “Blackjack? What’s wrong with her? Settle down, Boo!”
Listen to the smart blank! She knows things!
Overhead, Lacunae carefully sighted down her scope, ignoring the hissing hellhound energy weapons as she sent armor piercing steel through their skulls like a smiting Goddess. There was a desperate edge to her telepathic voice that belied the cold expression on her face. “No more...” she repeated over and over again
Ah, tie-in to hellhound/Goddess problems in FoE? Though if she knew about that, wouldn't the experiments push her away from them? Oh wait, the Thunderhead/Enclave division puts Intelligence on the side she's not working with. Okay.
One of the emerging hellhounds started to strafe in my direction, and Lacunae actually shouted aloud, “Leave her alone!” before blowing his head apart in a shower of brain and skull.
Sadly, it seems that preserving all the hellhounds isn't going to be happening.
Rampage wasted no time, charging again right between the hellhound’s legs and running the serrated spine of her armor against something quite tender that tore a howl from the hound. The razorwire woven into her tail caught in the matted crotch of the beast, and with a yank pulled the hellhound to sit on the broken pavement.
So. Blackjack may not be the only one. But then . . .
Rampage then rose and brought down her hooves in a flashing storm of blows to the hellhound’s neck and skull till something cracked inside.
. . . I don't think this one's left alive to miss anything he or she lost.
“They must be being controlled by the Enclave through those helmets!” Glory shouted from above. “That’s what’s making them attack us!”
“I hate to disagree, but this is fairly typical behavior for their kind,” Lacunae pointed out as her shield flared under the barrage.
Each probably has a bit of a point. If they're all being targeted on the Enclave basis, it would still make sense to prefer the alicorn, as it's something they'd do anyway and there'd be less for the mind control to need to do.
She then flew to one of the rusted rooftop weapons, teleported above a trio of hellhounds with the lump of metal, and dropped it on the beasts.
The Goddess: stealing Littlepip's moves (with adaptation) since basically the first possible chance.
The hellhounds tried to dive aside, but it managed to crush one beneath its oxidized hulk.
I'm going to go ahead and say that's interference with the mind control: otherwhise why not try to dive down, given the speed even diamond dogs dig?
Red and green beams from the pegasi swiftly turned his two friends to dust before they could disappear into the earth.
Okay, so it was a "little of A, little of B" situation.
“Move, move, move!” I shouted as I ran.
P-21, panting, struggled to keep up. “Always with the running thing,” he muttered.
. . . Is that a Doctor Who reference?
Two hellhounds poked their snouts out from a blown-out door, taking a bead on Boo. Rampage, with swiftness that shocked even me, charged the pair. The armored mare rolled and body slammed them with her spikes, knocking them back. Their crackling, sizzling weapons fired wildly, and the two beasts amazingly dusted each other!
Maybe Boo has jinxed. Well, not really since she doesn't seem to fuck up the people on her side when she's nearby. It's more convenient chaos.
As Deus passed under them, a half-dozen of the armored beasts dropped down and began to rip into his armor with their claws. He tried to strafe them with the machine gun turrets, but the creatures wrecked the turrets with rending rakes from their talons before he was able to do any real damage.
Good that he's still got the same problem that let Blackjack do well for a while against him; it'd be pretty frustrating to have that gone now that he's on her side. Of course, this time he doesn't need to think up a way around it from scratch.
Deus’s engine gave a guttering laugh as the rips and tears slowly started to repair themselves. Scotch Tape shuddered and averted her eyes; I could understand why. The rent machine looked like a banged-up skull.
More continuity. :) On which note, Blackjack, congratulations on forgetting a very important thing in Scotch's life that led you to violate her mind and drive away Rampage. Plus side: Scotch is doing well enough with big machinery to hang around and ride on Deus, at least when he's intact.
“If they’re broadcasting a signal, you should be able to pick it up on your PipBuck, Blackjack. Just try to find a frequency in the P band and…” She met my flat gaze and adjusted. “Look for the strongest channel. It’ll probably be a lot of buzzing and screeching terminal talk.”
“Thank you,” I said as I looked behind us.
And . . . Blackjack predictably cockblocks Glory's attempted technobabble. Which, if there were more time for them right then, would have been too bad, since it turns out Glory does that really well.
“That must be it. Now…” She repeated the same process with her own PipBuck, then finally worked on Sunset’s armor. “Now, you stay here, Blackjack, and swing your hoof around till the noise is loudest. I’ll fly a hundred yards north, Sunset can fly a hundred yards south, and we’ll triangulate on the transmission source.”
Did I mention how much I loved ponies smarter than me?
Yay smart ponies.
Grimhoof had a completely different layout from Miramare or Ironmare.
No. Shit. Who would have thought an army base would be different from an airbase or naval base? Unpossible to predict.
In several places we were literally tiptoeing around radioactive holes dug in the earth.
They have done that in the show, right? Tiptoeing, not the radioactive part. And it wasn't just Pinkie? Spike, of course, need not apply.
All it would take was one perceptive hellhound or one EFS, and we’d be given away.
Given you're dealing with the Enclave, that could be a pretty big issue.
Still, the presence of the zebras baffled me; what were they doing here? Was this another thing like Yellow River, or something else?
I'll confess, I don't remember what they were doing there either. I think Lancer played a role in setting up the later fight, but that wouldn't have anything to do with the Remnant being there in the first place.
“Blackjack...” Glory said as she knelt by a severed zebra head. A hellhound claw had ripped the side of the face clean off... and revealed the metal beneath. Not a zebra... a cyberzebra.
Oh mans. We're already getting payoff from the Twist/Shujaa memory on the zebra front, in addition to the feral beast front.
“What the heck is happening?” Scotch Tape asked, standing on my back and shielding her eyes as if that would allow her to peer through the mist.
To be fair, I'm pretty sure I've squinted to try to see through mist before. It's just instinct to do something like that.
Oh, was Grimhoof one of the cyberzebra sources?
Boo hung back, looking scared.
Love the Boo. Heed the Boo. Trust the Boo.
Then I was shot in the back.
The bullet smashed hard against the base of my neck, sparking off the reinforcement along my spine. Funny, something about the gunshot seemed awfully familiar...
Oh, when you can say that . . . But hey, especially given her affinity for firearms, yet less surprising. Anyway, hi, Lancer!
Glory and Sunset immediately started spraying with their energy weapons while Scotch Tape rolled off my back to take cover next to Boo.
Yeah, she knows what's up.
Her cloak flew free, revealing a triumphantly grinning mare as she leapt into the air and launched a devastating kick at the white mare. For a moment, I was absolutely certain both were going to die, and then the zebra’s snapping cape suddenly whipped across her face, blinding her and causing her hoofstrike to miss by inches. To the astonishment of both the zebra and myself, her leg punched completely through the crumbly roof. The mare struggled to free herself until Scotch Tape rose above her and bashed her skull with a pipe wrench, knocking her out.
Oh, the lucky/unlucky goodness. And I'll point out that the head trauma inflicted by Scotch here, though it may well have more effects than just "knocking her out," was much more justified than the similar thing Littlepip did to two guards just doing their jobs before she'd even left Stable Two.
“You?!” Lancer swore. “How! What oath did I swear to be cursed enough to have you show up now?!”
Didn't know he was into the same stuff as Xanthe. :)
“The alternative is I die and take the cursed one with me,” he countered sharply, not taking his blue eyes off mine.
Not sure just how valid that threat is. As to how he should have killed her when he first met her at the school—yeah, sounds about right. Would have made his live much easier since. Granted, he tried.
“No. You’re a tempest in metal and pony flesh. I’ll not--” Lancer began.
A tempest you'll soon find yourself extremely attracted to. Don't worry. I understand that sort of thing happens to a lot of people.
What is your business here?”
I glanced at P-21, then said, “We’re here to free the hellhounds from the Enclave control.”
Lancer closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. “Of course. Only you could want that.”
"Hey! I do kind of want that, but I'm only getting to it now because someone else contracted the job!"
“We’ve been struggling to breach their defenses. Every hour they bring in those machines and fly out with more of our property.”
“I saw the cyberzebras,” I said with a nod of my head, and the stallion grimaced.
Okay, so confirmation of all that. And setting up for Thunderhead. On which note, that had to be one of the most deranged plans. I mean, really. Okay, not so much the cyberization part, but the raider bioweapon.
We have an underground passage secured, but we have been unable to breach the armored door or hack the terminal. You cursed my finest tech specialist,” he said sourly, a hoof stroking the trigger of his gun, “so we have been unable to proceed.”
Hey, that's all on her and you, not Blackjack. But along those lines, how is it Lancer isn't cursed?
“Fair enough. And you let us out of here,” I added. “Deal?”
He shuddered. “I should have killed you when we first met. You’ve been nothing but misfortune for me since.”
"Yeah, well it hasn't been a cakewalk for me, either."
“That’s way more than just focus,” Glory said with a frown. “I’d love to do a physical exam. Take one to Rover and compare their augmentation to yours. It’d be fascinating to see if there’s any commonality in designs.”
Ha ha ha! Sure, "commonality," we can go with that!
“I’m not the Maiden of anything! I’m not even a maiden! There’s certain criteria a mare has to meet in order to be considered a maiden, and I blew that when I was your age,” I snapped, making Boo shrink back. Sighing, I added in softer tones, “I don’t want to destroy anything, Scotch.”
“I didn’t say you did, Blackjack. It’s just... look at all the things you’ve done,”
"Look, I'm not saying you want to destroy anything, but wherever you go chaos and destruction and death find you. And if the prophesy happens to include anything about sexual practices frowned on by more restrictive cultures, you probably match that too."
Its thickness was more than the length of my foreleg.
Having this line come up right after that last thing I wrote . . . Snrk.
Okay, full context: “There it is. Constellation,” he said as the door slowly swung open. Its thickness was more than the length of my foreleg.
Beyond was a hallway with an icon of four stars on the wall over the acronym N.E.S.T.
Don't remember what the acronym meant, but the four stars stand out.
The fourth encounter, both Glory and Sunset placed exceptionally lucky shots that simultaneously vaporized two hellhound guards before either of them could get a roar off. Scotch Tape swept the dust into a nearby garbage bin.
Minus side: got by based on two crits at the same time. Plus side: that thing with the garbage can is pretty funny.
“Blackjack,” Glory said as she examined one of the many crates with a label: ‘Destination: Shadowbolt Tower. Contents: scrap metal 14/25 #32. *.’ “This is a Volunteer Corps label.”
“This sure isn’t a Volunteer Corps operation,” I said as I slid the silver sword along the top, cutting through the screws holding the lid in place. We pushed it up and revealed a large, carefully disassembled piece of machinery. “And that isn’t scrap metal.”
Glory thumped her hoof against the crate, gritting her teeth. “We always wondered why Intelligence stopped blocking the VC program. They’ve been using us to smuggle things to the tower.”
But that kind of directs to the point, why would Intelligence need to smuggle anything, at least like this? And thus, is it Intelligence doing the smuggling?
“None of them. Those are terminals. The maneframe is probably even more reinforced than this place,” Scotch Tape said as she peeked down, rubbing her chin.
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” P-21 whispered to his daughter.
“That if we can’t get to the maneframe or the broadcast equipment, we can blow the cables connecting the two?” Scotch replied, surprising the stallion.
“Actually, I was thinking of trying to find this place’s reactor and blowing it up,” he said with a sheepish grin.
“Overkill, Dad.”
Well, he's a very angry man, and blowing up buildings is a good way to let off steam.
>LNR PLC to NEST. Auth. 331-AJ762-RD997 Luna.
>EC-1101 activity detected.
> LNR PLC acknowledgement request 9,999,881 / 10,000,000.
> EC-1101 acknowledgement required.
> Project Horizons protocol pending.
I stared at the screen, but no matter what I typed, the same data scrolled. Dawn had said there was a fuse lit once EC-1101 was out of Stable 99. This ‘LNR PLC’ place was sending requests out to whoever could receive them, not realizing that Equestria had been destroyed. So what happened when it got to ten million? I suspected that whatever the LNR PLC was, that was where Horizons was too.
So, Lunar Palace, probably. But, "Lunar" in the sense of on the moon, or as in related to Luna?
“Another hint. Sometimes I think my life is just a string of hints I don’t qui--” Behind the pale mare was a row of five metal pipes with ‘Aux brdcast’ stenciled on them. “And really freaky coincidences, too...”
Boo blinked her pale eyes and cocked her head with a happy smile.
I'm watching you.
Just a shimmering magic field. The blue wall stretched across the entire hallway we’d started down. I tapped it with a hoof, but it was solid as rock. My eyes checked the walls for a terminal to deactivate it, but there was nothing there except for a stenciling of a rainbow lightning bolt on the wall...
“Let... let me try,” Glory said as she stepped up to the field and touched it with a wing. The feather passed right through like it was water. She passed right through, and once she was on the far side, the magic field dropped, leaving a ring of deactivated gems. “Wow... it worked. Let’s go.”
Which will surely have no repercussions related to the Enclave soldier right there, and that faction's interest in getting past the SPP shield.
The cavernous space held racks and racks filled with familiar, long, tapered shapes. Of course, these weren’t ablaze with blue fire.
Missiles. Zebra missiles. Dozens of them. Perhaps hundreds. In the center of the building, a sort of workshop had been set up where the large missiles were being disassembled, packed into the VC crates, and loaded into two Vertibucks. Suddenly, it all clicked into place. Lighthooves had his delivery system, targeting talismans to guide them, and plague to load them with. He really did have a weapon to kill thousands, potentially tens of thousands!
And given that his real limit is probably more based on the number of people to kill than the ordinance or delivery system, that's saying a lot.
I raced at the pegasus as she crouched to pick up Glory.
“No!” I screamed as I drew my gun and slipped into S.A.T.S., but Glory was now blocking my best targets. Instead, I aimed for Sunset’s wing, triggering the targeting spell as I charged. The shots bit into the armored covering but didn’t ground her. The power-armored pegasus launched herself into the air, carrying my love with her. “No! Glory!” I screamed at the skies, helpless to follow.
Then there was a flash in front of Sunset, and four alicorn hooves slammed into the her. She coiled her tail around Glory as they tumbled back to the rooftop. “You shall not pass!” Lacunae thundered, her eyes blazing.
Wow, this really has been a great chapter for Psalm and Lacunae, hasn't it?
“P-21! Fire!” I shouted. P-21’s hoof smacked the detonator in his tail. From the tall building with the dishes came the faint sound of a muffled explosion. The hellhounds stopped short of us, clutching their heads with screams. Then their claws curled in and crushed the helmets with a shrieking of metal. They tore the helmets off.
“No...” Sunset murmured as she released Glory and turned to leap off the building. Two hellhounds who had been about to tear me to pieces instead turned and leapt after her. Their claws sank through her armor, and Sunset screamed as she was borne to the ground, claws ripping her armor and flesh to pieces.
Wow. That was some pretty fast karmic justice. Besides being pants-shittingly terrified of Blackjack herself, Boomer and Twister probably have some sense that the universe is on her side.
“Rainbow Dash was Twilight’s loyalest friend. Twilight always knew that Rainbow Dash would do what was right, eventually.
She's rather like the Americans in Churchill's apocryphal quotation, "You can always count on Americans to do the right thing, after they've tried eveything else," in that respect.
Glory popped into the air. “Let me at ‘em! I’ll take them all down!”
Is Glory!Dash on Dash based on Scrappy Doo? Because this is getting annoying fast.
“Maiden, didn’t I tell you that your death wouldn’t be at my hooves? Your demise has been decreed to be carried out by Legate Vitiosus himself. I would not kill you, even if I had the opportunity,” Lancer said with a calm smile as he stood out in front of us. I didn’t point out how willing he’d been to threaten to kill me when he’d had guns pointed at him.
Yeah. That.
“You seek to save the people of this cursed land?” he asked, gesturing towards the Core with a sweep of his hoof.
“I do,” I replied.
“Why?” he asked in return.
“Legate, I beg you. Do not speak with--” Lancer began, but with one baleful look from the Legate he fell silent, chewing on his unspoken words.
I considered the question, not expecting it. “Because... because I can fight. Because others need me to fight for them. If I have the ability, then I should use it. Security protects ponies.”
Quite a bit better than her low point of the chapter, on the edge of, and possibly actually, executing a man against her principles.
“Maybe it’s not about being good and bad, Legate. Maybe it’s about trying harder to do better, to be better people. And so long as there are people here trying to do that, I’ll give them all the protection I can. Security saves ponies,” I finished simply.
Nice rejoinder, Pony Jesus.
“I can take em all on!” Glory said with a snap of her tail.
“I’d pay to see that,” Rampage laughed with a nod to Glory. “We need to dose her on Dash more often.”
“No,” I replied. Rampage arched a brow, and I amended, “No to the Dash. No to fighting all of them. I don’t want to risk all of you against him.”
Yeah, the Dash seems like a bad idea. But let's remember, it's been all of I think two chapters since P-21 gave her the orb in which he pointed out that her friends were stronger than she thinks, and want to help her carry some of her burden. Only one since Glory asked not to be left behind, to be included and a part of Blackjack's journeys. This, though maybe a reasonable line from the perspective of keeping them alive, is separating herself from them in a way that'll only hurt them in a different manner.
Glory, still muttering about how she could take them all on, gave me a firm hug and a promise that if I started losing, she’d be there in ten seconds flat.
The drug aside, this really is the kind of thing Glory was talking about in 69. Oh, and ten seconds would probably put her there too late. Just saying.
Nothing! It was like his striped body was coated in an oil that just slipped right out of my magic.
Now that's something interesting, along with the whole being fast enough to be moving while Blackjack's in S.A.T.S.
“You are hardly one to complain about unnatural abilities,” he countered, gesturing with a muddy hoof at my synthetic limbs. “You profaned your body with metal and machines to gain your strength, violating your very essence.”
Actually, it was my lover and your ally who profaned my body! I didn't have a choice in the matter! And what about your cyberzebra army, huh?
Still, he was giving me an opening and a breather... which was a little baffling, since he was supposed to be finishing me off.
Yes, almost as if he didn't want to finish you off, in very much the way he explicitly said that he didn't just before you started fighting.
“Whereas I have augmented my body with sanctified alchemy and sorcery that only the zebra possess. The fury of the spirits, the might of dragons. The ferocity of griffins. The power of things... beyond your grasp.”
Might those things be along the lines of horrorterrors?
Either he possessed scary confidence in his abilities, or something was going on here.
Why can't it be both?
“Pitiful,” he said in a voice of disappointment that only my mother was allowed to use, but he just kept circling as I struggled to rise. “Why are you not greater? Your destiny is for so much more. Power. Destruction. Yet you wallow in the muck like a sow. I am half inclined to let you crawl back to your friends until you are a fitting opponent.”
Lancer’s grin disappeared like a popped balloon. “Father, no! Finish the Maiden before her friends come and spirit her away!” Oddly, the Legate wasn’t smiling either. If anything, he now seemed frustrated.
Jesus, Lancer, take the fucking hint! He's just not that into your whole "kill her now" thing.
“No! You heard him. Lancer and a dozen other zebras will kill you the moment you appear!” I could see Lancer prepared for her arrival. Surely there’d be others as well, hidden out of sight. “I’ll beat him... no matter how he breaks me!” I could take it. I deserved it... I deserved this...
1. No, you don't deserve this beating, and the fact that you're thinking along these lines is unhealthy and one of the things you promised to work on.
2. You do, however, deserve the beating you should be getting from Glory related to how you've handled this.
3. Thinking that you deserve this should only increase #2. Only Glory gets to punish you.
“Damn it, Blackjack! You’re not Psalm!” Lacunae shouted within my mind.
The name struck across my thoughts, stunning me a moment. Psalm... I was acting like Psalm?
Spoiler: yes.
I had to win -- it was what I did best -- but I wanted to lose. That sick, insidious seed inside me liked this battering, wanted it. Hightower. Pinkie Pie. Chapel. Fluttershy Medical Center. Big Macintosh. The Seahorse.
Yeah, like that.
His grin suddenly widened. While continuing to rain down blows, he said in a tone of false kindliness, “Do not fear for your friends’ safety. Those that surrender will be taken back to our base as slaves. I will take the olive one for my harem as tribu--”
Mistake #1: slavery. Mistake #2: sex slavery. Mistake #3: child sex slavery.
Then I pulled him forward and rammed my horn into the left socket of that bony encasement.
Oh, so it's long enough to reach his eye past the socket? That's good.
If I’d possessed Lacunae’s spire, I might have finished him off there and then; as it was, only the vitreous jelly of his eye coated the end of my compact horn. His own supernatural toughness and speed allowed him to jerk back moments before magic bullets erupted from my horn.
Good that's being called out.
I raked his belly with the dull blunt ends of my hooves, forcing them into his flesh as he struggled and finally ripped his throat free from my mouth.
It wasn’t the first flesh I’d eaten.
Some from Rampage, right?
This time, I turned and ran as fast as my white hooves could carry me.
Nice inclusion.
An endless field of death punctuated by a rainbow mane, a bloody fedora, a broken purple wing, and an olive filly embracing a mare no longer pristine white.
I like fedoras, but I wouldn't have taken Dusty Trails to be a fedora-wearer. More of a cowboy hat of some sort.
“I got a head,” Rampage said. “It’s only got one eye, though.”
“Head?” I muttered, starting to get alarmed. “Eye?” I began to raise my head, but then P-21 pushed me back down.
“Don’t move. Not unless you want to break out your eyepatch again,” the blue pony said as something wet and fleshy thumped heavily onto the metal beside me. “Lacunae, make sure Scotch and Boo don’t see this, please.”
Hey, everyone busts their seeing unanesthetized eye surgery at some point. They might as well make it today. They'll get over it.
“I... was winning. I think I was winning. Then someone shot me in the head.” I muttered as I saw Glory’s head moving, her mouth holding a bloody scalpel. “Three guesses who.”
And the first two don't count.
“Guess you got lucky,” Rampage said casually. “They left you for dead.”
Luck? No. Not luck. Being forced to face the Legate hadn’t been luck. That fight... him drawing things out... that wasn’t luck. They wouldn’t have left me till I was certainly a corpse.
There were other, subtle hints, like the Legate loudly talking about how it hadn't been his intention to fight her then, it wasn't the right time, she wasn't yet worthy . . . and Lancer playing the Blackjack role of just not getting it.
“Hey. I don’t tell you how to stick eyes into skulls. Don’t tell me how to rip them out,” Rampage replied.
:D
Rampage. You're so great.
“I don’t think I lost. That wasn’t a fight. The Legate could have slaughtered me if he’d pressed the attack. But he kept talking and giving me time to recover before beating me down again. It wasn’t a fight...” I turned my head enough to glance over at Lacunae, and thought of the Goddess. “It was a... a show. A performance. Something he was putting on because Lancer forced him to.”
Yep.
“You gave me Med-X?” I asked, blinking.
“Rampage,” Glory said, but I waved her off.
Okay, I take back the unanesthetized part.
“It’s a perfect fit... it shouldn’t be a perfect fit,” Glory muttered.
“What? It’s not like zebra and pony eyes are different sizes,” Rampage drawled. “I should know. I’ve gouged out both before.”
“It’s not just the size. The muscle anchors. The power connections. The data ports. They’re all identical!” Glory said as she did something to the side of my face.
“So zebras stole the Steelpony technology,” I grumbled. “That’s not a surprise.”
“This isn’t stolen,” Glory replied flatly as I felt her moving the flesh on the right side of my face. I guess that scalpel had been working on me before I woke up. “Even if the design was stolen, they’d be manufactured with different tools and standards in the zebra lands. Everything, even the barcodes on the back of the eye... they’re identical to yours.” She looked down at me. “The Brood of Coyotl aren’t ripping off Project Steelpony. They’re from Project Steelpony. And I’m going to check the rest of this head and see if I can find any more parts.”
Dun dun dun! But then, how . . . ?
Right. And I needed to schedule my broadcaster for a conversation with Professor Zodiac....
Oh hey. Yeah, she might know.
Icy Shake- Alicorn
- Posts : 1209
Brohoof! : 308
Join date : 2012-06-05
Age : 35
Location : Boston, MA
Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
by Icy Shake Mon Sep 08, 2014 10:39 pm
Cont'd from previous post:
- Chapter Fifty Four Overall Thoughts:
- If the last chapter was one that focused heavily on setting up information needed for later plot lines, this was one that spent a lot of time on character moments, particularly in the first half. It might just be the strongest Psalm/Lacunae chapter since Blackjack's mind-delve into her back when they were first at the Collegiate.
This thread is focused on two key events: a Psalm dream showing the peace conference at Shattered Hoof Ridge and the subsequent battle, and a scene in the present which has Blackjack and company crossing a bridge. In the former, Psalm has a short reunion with Cheddar, her friend from the orphanage, who will be serving as an interpreter. It's not a happy meeting, as he sees her role there, as a hidden sniper, as indicative of distrust, and counterproductive to there being a real shot at a peaceful resolution coming out of the meeting. Psalm says that he wouldn't understand (he doesn't), while he remarks on how much she's changed—she agrees that she has, that she fights for Luna now. After Cheddar's left, Goldenblood made the point that if Celestia were to be captured, it would be a far greater disaster to the war effort than if she were killed; a hostage is a larger problem than a martyr. Now, the zebra delegation is headed by Elder Briarthorn of the Mendi, a tribe that's always opposed the war but been about as effective as Fluttershy and the MoP in getting the government to seek a peaceful end to hostilities. Shujaa sees this as a bad sign, since it means they sent someone without the authority or influence to carry anything successfully. In any case, the biggest sticking point for the zebras rapidly emerges: Luna cannot remain sovereign of Equestria. You'd think that would pretty much end discussions right there, since first of all that means Celestia shouldn't be seen by either side as a decent representative of the Equestrian Government, having a significant conflict of interest, but ignoring that, that's the kind of demand that you need someone specifically authorized to negotiate on that specific point, and I really doubt that Luna would have authorized any ambassador to agree to terms involving her abdication. Anyway, none of that matters because the zebras launch a surprise attack starting with gassing the tent the delegates are in. Celestia seems not to have anticipated this, and reacts by tearing open the tent before everyone inside, most notably Big Macintosh, was knocked out. This suggests that she wasn't in on the plan, or at least the details. The battle goes for a while, with the key point being this: Celestia is down, Big Macintosh can't move or meaningfully protect her, help won't arrive for minutes, and a zebra contingent is about to get to their location. Psalm and Mac have a direct line of communication, and Psalm says they can't let the zebras take the princess, and if they can't do anything else to stop it, better a martyr than a prisoner, prompting Mac to place himself between her and Celestia. She begs him to step aside, not to make her shoot him, but he says he knows she won't shoot, that she's a good pony. Psalm reflects on what Big Macintosh meant to her, that he was the best of the Marauders, noble and honorable and true, before putting a bullet through his heart. It's just as he's falling enough to give her a shot at Celestia that the Wonderbolts arrive, interrupting her intended plan of killing Celestia, then herself. Only Goldenblood asks what happened afterwards, and she tells how she asked Big Mac to move as he commiserates with her and the scene ends.
One of the aspects I find interesting about this event is that Psalm doesn't suicide, despite her original intention to. Perhaps the simplest explanation is that, despite its betrayal, killing Big Macintosh didn't mean as much to Psalm theologically as Celestia did; Luna could forgive her Big Macintosh, but not a deicide. It could have been the shock giving the others, particularly Goldenblood, a chance to get to her, and then offer enough in terms of comfort or—given it's Goldenblood—manipulation to keep her going.
The second vital character scene is on a bridge on the way to Grimhoof Army Base, to deal with the Enclave mind-controlling hellhounds on Grawp and Rover's behalf. Tearing it down to the basics, Blackjack is confronted with Clink, one of her four rapists (probably only three surviving) from the Seahorse. She asks if he's just been doing basic extortion banditry, or if he's raped anyone in the last few days. One of his comrades says he has, and Blackjack goes cold. As he flees, she takes out his rear knees, just about ready to kill him for going back. But after Fluttershy making a call she do better, and Blackjack's initial thought that it was for him to do better, but since he failed, she would—and how if she'd killed him before (actually, allowed her friends to do so), he wouldn't have hurt anybody else—she comes to the point that what she needs to do to "do better" is become a killer (murderer or executioner, actually, but this diction was better). And then, she wavers. She doesn't have much left of who she was a couple months before, when she was just a simple, lazy, innocent security mare in Stable 99; all she sees as remaining is that she's not an executioner, and she finds that as much as she aches to kill him, she can't bring herself to do what anyone else in her situation would. Then, Clink sees this, and he starts to smile, just before Blackjack's gun goes off. And Blackjack hear the familiar frame in her mind, "Forgive me Luna, for I have taken the life of another."
It's not completely clear at this point what happened, even after including Blackjack's subsequent conversation with Lacunae and some remarks Lacunae makes later in the chapter. Though Lacunae claims responsibility, using her magic to fire the gun so that Blackjack wouldn't become a laughingstock, completely lacking credibility and resulting in every bandit, raider, slaver, etc. to beg forgiveness and know they would be spared, only to go back to what they were doing once Blackjack was gone, Blackjack thinks she might just be saying that to comfort her, and that she really had killed Clink herself. This merges into a meditation on how comforting it would be to not be in control, to not be responsible for her actions, which ties in to a similar line of thought on fate at the end of the chapter.
I can think of three main ways that the execution of Clink could have occurred. Blackjack may have done it entirely independently, intentionally or as a symptom of her post-traumatic stress disorder. It may be confirmation bias talking, but I think that her hearing Psalm casts some doubt on this one. Next is that the presence of Psalm's memories and/or part of her soul exercised an influence similar to that of a soul jar. Lastly, Lacunae could have in fact pulled the trigger for her. However, I suspect that if this is the case, she was still lying about the motivation for having done so; given that P-21 or someone else would still have executed Clink, the signal sent wouldn't have been quite as strong as she worried, especially if Blackjack stuck to her decision to stick with her friends from then on. No, I think that it would have been to spare her the guilt of the execution, the kind of guilt Psalm felt over killing Big Macintosh in order to do what she thought was the right thing. Because I think that Lacunae, that Psalm, knew what that last bit of herself meant to Blackjack, and that she, who was already damned many times over, should instead bear the burden of sin instead. All the more so if Lacunae truly does believe that she doesn't exist at all.
Now, my focus on these two scenes doesn't mean that there wasn't plot action happening, too. They do get to Grimhoof, and plenty happens there. A terminal reveals EC-1101 and Project Horizons are in some way related to a "LNR PLC" and confirms that there is in fact some sort of fuse on Project Horizons, and it's 9,999,881/10,000,000 of the way to going off, by acknowledgement requests. Boo displays a stunning degree of awareness, including it seemed the ability to tell where hellhounds were about to emerge, and jinxing enemies around her, causing them to make, I think, at least three critical failures in this chapter alone. This is something that the others are already starting to notice, and which will continue for some time. Lancer shows up, and among other things remarks how he lost his best tech because Blackjack cursed her. This bothers me, because he seems to be taking it seriously, but I really don't understand how Xanthe could be cursed but not him. And nepotism isn't a good explanation, because we met Lancer originally while he was on a mission to kill his mother and sister. So I just don't get it, unless it wasn't the original "curse" but how Xanthe later tipped Blackjack off about the Remnant agents in Meatlocker or something. But even that is more of a betrayal than a curse. Whatever. Anyway, Blackjack ends up working with Lancer, who is likewise operating against Enclave Intelligence at the moment, because they are stealing things that belong to the Remnant. Those things are cybernetics equipment and cruise missiles; and so, Lighthooves's plan becomes clear: to use the cruise missiles as a delivery system for the raider disease. We also find that Glory, in her Rainbow Dash form, is a good enough match for Dash to be accepted by the bypass barrier tuned to her, letting them in to Dash's office at Grimhoof. This prompts Sunset to abduct Glory, but she's stopped by Lacunae and Blackjack, and ordered not to proceed once Twister shows up, as Blackjack appeals to her to remember how she saved Twister's life back at Yellow River, and asked where her loyalty lay. Sunset then disobeys, and is promptly killed by hellhounds as the crew sets off the charges to destroy the mind control transmitter.
Next up, Blackjack and the rest leave Grimhoof, but are stopped by Lancer, backed up by a lot of the Brood of Coyotl. He goes on about some things, including how he wouldn't kill her, as that was reserved for the Legate of the Remnant—this despite the fact that he'd threatened to do so earlier. Anyway, this leads to a duel with Legate Vitiosus, though he says repeatedly this wasn't how he wanted to have his battle with the Maiden, that it wasn't yet time, and so forth. Anyway, it's a duel on the basis that he says Blackjack's friends can help, if his can too. Getting down to business, he's really fast, magic-resistant, resistant to bullets, and regenerates. Blackjack's doing really poorly, until he makes an ill-advised comment about just enslaving her friends and taking Scotch for his harem, prompting a surge of activity that includes stabbing out his eye with her horn and pinning him and wailing on him for a while, about to deliver a coup de grace with the starmetal sword when she's shot in the face. Blackjack blacks out, and the fight ends.
An important thing to note about the battle, beyond the fact that, as Blackjack brings up, the Legate could have crushed her easily, even before she was shot, but for some reason just didn't, is how Blackjack was thinking and feeling during it. She wanted the pain he was inflicting on her, and felt that she deserved it. Lacunae even called on her to stop acting like Psalm, right as she was thinking that. And so, there's perhaps some of the answer to why Psalm didn't commit suicide: she still had to punish herself, perhaps even independently of any continuing hope for absolution. And this likely ties to the bridge scene as well, with that being Blackjack's latest Scoodle, and this time, one that she had wanted, even if it turned out someone else had pulled the trigger.
During the wrap-up of the chapter, after Blackjack awakens, Glory discovers that the Brood of Coyotl is Project Steelpony. The parts are identical, to the extent that they almost certainly weren't just copied from stolen plans, as they'd have been made with zebra factories and parts if that were the case. Blackjack undergoes another mini existential crisis, and asks P-21 what he thinks about fate, since that had been a big part of the Legate's dialogue with her. P-21, of course, thinks you make your own fate; after all, wasn't his fate supposed to just be as a walking sperm bank until his execution? And so, Blackjack decides which out of the three paths she saw open to them they should pursue: not going for Cogs, Dawn, and the Harbingers; not the Legate and the Remnant; but stopping Lighthooves and his planned genocide centered at Shadowbolt Tower. And she knows someone with a flying machine . . .
Now, this chapter had some interesting history. I'm sure there was plenty of backlash over the Shattered Hoof Ridge dream, as probably the single largest discrete retcon in PH. Personally, I liked it (could you tell?), and have long taken an expansive view of what can be done without really changing anything from FoE, due to the extremely limited perspective of Littlepip as narrator. Basically, she can get things wrong, as long as it fell in one of the gaps, and even something she was fairly confident about could be wrong if she only read reports or the like. But no, probably the biggest thing was the reaction to the Legate fight, which if I recall correctly originally had him against the whole team, including Deus, and at one point catching a shot from one of Deus's cannons. This was seen as too over the top and resulted in the largest and fastest editorial backtracking I can remember from this story. In any case, I think that the end result works well, and depending on what exactly was cut and how the changes were made, may have been a marked improvement. If indeed it had originally been a team battle, but was edited to the one-on-one, it probably gave more room for the emotional side I commented on from Blackjack, and Blackjack's choice to go it alone against him (where I think he had much less backup originally) should remind the reader of P-21's memory orb from Tenpenny, in which he told her that her friends could handle a lot and wanted to share her burden with her, and Glory's recent insistence that she not be excluded from Blackjack's hardships, which ties in to their ongoing relationship pretty significantly.
So, just a couple quick things relating to Rampage that didn't fit in earlier: near the start she remarks that Deus had always seemed afraid of her at the Arena, in marked contrast to his attitude towards other mares. Also, we still have the memory orb Blackjack extracted from Rampage (Twist) just before Deus arrived in 53, which hasn't been watched yet.
Anyway, this might be my favorite chapter since "Lucidity."
- Chapter Fifty Four Editing:
- Rampage turned and grinned at P-21, “What do you think?”
comma should be period, or speaking verb needed
‘fore I remove the head yer thinkin’ with!” Twister snapped.
should have only one space after period
“Stallions,” Twister muttered. Then the russet mare saw Sunset looking at her curiously and flushed.
Twister is lavender, not russet
She sighed and rolled her eyes, “Ugh… stupid biology
comma should be period, or needs speaking verb (also extra space after comma)
you can go into?” He asked with a small roll of his eyes.
"He" shouldn't be capitalized
Chedder looked away a moment, then nodded. The zebra mare
"Cheddar", only one space after period
Mendi is as respected as the Ministry of Peace.
"Mendi are"?
but they’ll question it. For all I know,
only one space after period
He snorted skeptically and shrugged as if peace was inconsequential.
"was" to "were"?
“Don’t worry, Teacher.” I said as I put my hoof
period to comma
Most snipers worked in pairs of shooters and spotters, but few unicorns had the talent to levitate a rifle and aim it steadily for hours without straining their eyes or their horn.
I'm not sure what the connection is between these two observations that causes the second to be a negation of the first. I gather that the implication is that Psalm is one of those unicorns, and that is why she doesn't have a spotter. If so, should it be "but a few unicorns"?
I watched as the elder zebra greeted the Princess
"zebra elder"?
hole in the earth. The zebra envoys
only one space after period
The elder tried to move in beside Cheddar, snapping in rapidfire zebra
"rapid fire" or "rapid-fire"
“Get behind me!” Big Macintosh thundered.
should have only one space after quotation
“Where is the Third Battalion?” I heard a shout over
"a shout" to "shouted", or should have second space after quotation
away and hit the dirt, laying prone on the ground
"lying"
“It’s hoof to hoof in these rocks,” shouted Twist, followed by a battlecry.
"battle cry"
than just a machine. The idea of something so
only one space after period
The idea of something so mindbogglingly powerful staggered me.
"mind-bogglingly"
“Lookie here! Two fine ladies wanting to use our bridge,” a unicorn stallion called out as a half dozen bandits trotted out from behind the cover of a rusty skywagon lying on its side in the middle of the road. A mustard yellow unicorn wearing patched-up spiked barding gave a cocky grin as he approached,
suggest cutting the first "unicorn" and changing the "A" starting the next sentence with "The"?
“Nonsense!” The unicorn said with a toss
"The" shouldn't be capitalized
“Oh do shut up, Numbskull,” the unicorn snapped.
comma after "Oh"
We only tell that story if we’re sure its Security!
"it's"
“He’s from the Seahorse!” P-21 shouted
should have only one space after quotation
My bullet flew with all the accuracy of S.A.T.S. right through the back of his rear right knee and he collapsed, screaming.
comma after S.A.T.S., knee?
That--“ I saw Glory
inverted quotation mark
Dealer just looked at me with a mix of patience and resignation, “Did you know it was
comma should be period, or there should be a speaking verb
“Who would I tell? Pinkie Pie? Rarity?” he snorted, “Everypony wanted to believe
I'm not sure "snorted" is a speech tag, so I think "he" should be capitalized and the comma should be a period
“Do you want to be a killer?” Lacunae snapped,
should have only one space after quotation
unicorn as the the first pony twirled
extra "the"
She leaped and smashed all four powerhooves against the first hellhound’s face.
"power hooves"
The razorwire woven into her tail caught in the matted crotch of the beast
"razor wire"
in a flashing storm of blows to the hellhound’s
extra space between "of" and "blows"
“Damnit! I am not breaking these legs!”
"Dammit" or "Damn it"
“Get clear!”.
extra period
he lead the way, Boo, Rampage, and myself following in his wake.
"led"
target to the hellhounds. Maybe they
only one space after period
Enclave through those helmets!” Glory shouted from a
should have only one space after quotation
pulled out an apple grenade, tugged the stem, and let if fly behind us
"let it fly"
“Or… that’ll work.” I admitted
period should be comma
You can--“ I started to say when
inverted quotation mark
“Can I see your broadcaster?” she asked
should have only one space after quotation
I laid there, sprawled on the ground,
"lay"
“Back off!” Glory shouted as she pointed
extra space after quotation
He rubbed the bridge of his nose, “We are here to take back
comma should be period, or there should be a speech tag
“If you can break the pegasi control over the beasts,
"pegasus control" or "pegasi's control"
“Northeast Equestria Satellite Tracking” was stenciled over the front.
single quotes?
while the other half wore powerhooves;
"power hooves"
We soon found the nerve center of operations,
should this just be "nerve center" or "center of operations"?
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” P-21 whispered to his daughter.
extra space after quotation
an armored central trunk. Which I think
only one space after period
Still, another dead end. I had no way of knowing
only one space after period
I trotted back to Scotch Tape with a grin, “Cut the backups.”
comma to period or add speaking verb
or you can clear out.” I paused,
only one space after period
certain that he had to be listening, “Lighthooves
comma to period or add speaking verb
do you think you’re doing?” Twister shouted
“Traitor!” Sunset screamed as she backed towards the edge.
“P-21! Fire!” I shouted.
extra space after quotation
“This is Security to all Enclave personel
"personnel"
I guess its up to you to decide who your
"it's"
Glory popped into the air. “Let me at ‘em! I’ll take them all down!”
only one space after period
ponies you protect?” He asked calmly,
extra space after quotation, "He" shouldn't be capitalized
Even the Reapers, the Flash Fillies, the Burner Boys, the Halfhearts... The Enclave.
"The" shouldn't be capitalized, or second space after ellipsis
those of my friends. I imagined Priest
only one space after period
and the ponies of Riverside and Megamart... And I smiled as I looked
second space after ellipsis, or "And" shouldn't be capitalized
Too bad for me, then.” I sighed and sat down on the turret top
only one space after period, or period to comma and comma after "sighed"
“Um...I got a tank on my side
space needed after ellipsis
“I can take em all on!” Glory said with a
extra space after quotation
“What if we want to fight anyway?” Rampage said with a scowl,
extra space after quotation
“We don’t have to just walk away cause you say so.”
apostrophe for "cause"
just... knows him!” She said with a frustrated
extra space after quotation, "She" shouldn't be capitalized
it should have been. Using the trapped limb
only one space after period
Whereas I have augmented my body with sanctified alchemy and sorcery that only the zebra possess. The fury of the spirits, the might
only one space after period, "zebras"?
Yours, however...” He trailed off as his smile widened.
should have second space after quotation or not capitalize "He"
“Pathetic,” he said as I laid there,
"lay"
“No!” I shouted, feeling the old,
extra space after quotation
The name struck across my thoughts, stunning me a moment.
extra space after comma
For the first time In our fight, the Legate truly screamed.
"In" shouldn't be capitalized
in a steel embrace. He struggled to pull free,
No you don’t. No more fancy
only one space after period
Finally... I’d see mother again...
"mother" should be capitalized
my body being consumed by a paralysing numbness from my
"paralyzing"
“Lacunae!” I shouted as I
extra space after quotation
Tall, cool, majestic and beautiful in her royal regalia,
Oxford comma after "majestic"
I stared down the barrel’s spiralling rifling and into her merciless grin
"spiraling"
Cold, wet metal on my back. The rumble,
only one space after period
Do you want a memory orb?” P-21 asked me.
extra space after quotation
I said as I laid there.
"lay"
what happened, Blackjack?” Rampage asked.
extra space after quotation
Then someone shot me in the head.” I muttered as I saw
period to comma
Rampage.” Glory said as the striped
period to comma, delete extra space
“Woah, freaky.”
"Whoa"
to finish cleaning it off.” Glory said tersely
period to comma delete extra space
“So... are you depressed?” P-21 asked
extra space after quotation
I huffed softly.
I thought and I thought,
Glory held up the eye.
P-21 coughed and looked away.
“What? It’s not like z
“It’s not just the size.
paragraph isn't properly indented
The muscle anchors. The power connections
only one space after period
And I needed to schedule my broadcaster for a conversation with Professor Zodiac....
should have only three dots in ellipsis
Was that really only a few weeks ago?
extra space between "only" and "a"
Guess what mom said was true.
"Mom"
then it’d be no different that me accepting the
"no different than"
I sat there a moment, looking down at the figurine and thinking, and then my lips curled in a small smile. “Now that you mention it...”
paragraph isn't indented
Powerhooves clicking, she trotted out after him.
"Power hooves"
- Other Editing:
- 35:
The Propoli are every bit as urban as the most sophisticated Canterlotian pony, placing great stock on lore and education.
"urbane"?
“Woah… that’s new.”
"Whoa"
36:
I sat there, hanging my head. “This was--
missing closing quotation mark
“If I’d--“ Again his hooves thumped down against my face. Hard. “I didn’t--“ Another thump. “I coulda--“ Thump. Finally we just lay there, him panting and me feeling blood trickle from my swelling lip and nostril.
inverted quotation marks
We just stared into each others’ eyes, angry tears dancing in his.
"each other's"
There were a flash and crack as her powerhooves discharged and smashed Glory clear off the seat.
"power hooves"
“I won’t let you hate yourself for this.” Damnit...
"Damn it" or "Dammit"
47:
When Rampage finally rammed her way thought a chainlink door with a melted lock,
"through", "chain-link"
half-melted chainlink fence on the other
"chain-link"
Metal hooves smashed down rolls of razorwire,
Psychoshy tossed all of us over the razorwire.
"razor wire"
which was a mess of twisted steel, chainlink fence, and tangled razorwire.
buried for a moment in the twisted chainlink and razorwire.
"chain-link", "razor wire"
“Woah. That was weird.”
"Whoa"
55:
She swapped her powerhoof to the right.
I think that should be "swept", also "power hoof"
Icy Shake- Alicorn
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
by O. Hinds Mon Sep 08, 2014 11:49 pm
@Icy Shake:
Ah, thank you very much as always.
Ah, thank you very much as always.
Oh, I'd say that they were very influential in international policy. Just not in a way they'd wanted.Icy Shake wrote:Well, it always seemed like MoP was fairly respected, just not at all influencial on international policy.
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
by SilentCarto Mon Sep 08, 2014 11:51 pm
S--sure I am...Icy Shake wrote:But the important thing isn't whether you (and I) are a good or a bad person; it's whether you're trying to do better. So tell me, are you trying to do better?
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
by Vinylshadow Tue Sep 09, 2014 10:06 am
"We need to do better"
Wonder if anyones ever written a FoE fic where the main character is someone that's trying to mess up everything
and silly me, it's a solid 200 chapters per story, FiMFic just shows the first three and last two chapters and hides the rest
Wonder if anyones ever written a FoE fic where the main character is someone that's trying to mess up everything
and silly me, it's a solid 200 chapters per story, FiMFic just shows the first three and last two chapters and hides the rest
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
by Silver136 Tue Sep 09, 2014 11:08 am
That was actually part of an idea I had...I wrote a story of this really broken pegasus who would do "mercy killings." Like when he saw raider prisoners or something, he was a sniper, so he'd put a round in them to save them the suffering. It was pretty dark and hit my depression too hard so I never finished it.
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
by Vinylshadow Tue Sep 09, 2014 11:24 am
Luna forgive me, for I have taken the life of an innocent
p-kow
p-kow
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
by Silver136 Tue Sep 09, 2014 11:35 am
More or less. Part of why I liked Psalm so much I suppose.
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
by Vinylshadow Tue Sep 09, 2014 11:43 am
All the heroic ponies in the wasteland can't save everyone
Plenty of innocents who die along the way ,whether we want them to or not
Kill the old and weak, the ones who are truly suffering, the ones who live every day in agony
Well...with that logic, I might as well go kill Murky Number Seven
...can't really decide if I'm for or against euthanasia, but that's whole other can of worms
Plenty of innocents who die along the way ,whether we want them to or not
Kill the old and weak, the ones who are truly suffering, the ones who live every day in agony
Well...with that logic, I might as well go kill Murky Number Seven
...can't really decide if I'm for or against euthanasia, but that's whole other can of worms
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
by Dekshuduph Tue Sep 09, 2014 6:28 pm
I'm reading that right now. It took me a week to read the first, which was 200k words, at around nine hours a day. I think, first, you should refer to fic length by the word count; these chapters are only ten minutes long. And second, you have a problem. If you're reading fics that fucking quickly, you're not getting anything from them, and it's just a waste of your time. Nobody would be able to read that much in a single night; you're just skimming over everything good.Vinylshadow wrote:That's good, I've got 195 chapters to read
Although since the fic only had 200,000 words, I think I'll be able to blaze through it in a night
heck, only took me three nights to read Fallout Equestria
Inversely, it's taken me months to read PH...mainly because I was reading about 50 other fanfics alongside it
Austraeoh, Eljunbyro, Innavedr, Odrsjot and Urohringr, by Imploding Colon
roughly 800-1000 chapters total, I believe
I am somewhat addicted to reading, although lately it's become harder for me to grasp what's going on in some fanfics, which saddens me
Eh, something like that.Vinylshadow wrote:Wonder if anyones ever written a FoE fic where the main character is someone that's trying to mess up everything
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
by Caoimhe Tue Sep 09, 2014 7:40 pm
Oh Lordy I hate that fic...
Duck and Cover (http://www.fimfiction.net/story/141568/fallout-equestria-duck-and-cover) was... kinda along those lines, with more or less a spastic anti-hero. I lost track of with it after a while but it was ridiculous, fun and VERY British (meh) and Irish (yay!) which I approve of. Greatly!
Duck and Cover (http://www.fimfiction.net/story/141568/fallout-equestria-duck-and-cover) was... kinda along those lines, with more or less a spastic anti-hero. I lost track of with it after a while but it was ridiculous, fun and VERY British (meh) and Irish (yay!) which I approve of. Greatly!
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
by OneMoreDaySK Tue Sep 09, 2014 8:44 pm
Hai Caoimhe! Haven't seen you in a while.
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
by Caoimhe Tue Sep 09, 2014 8:47 pm
Hai ^^ Busy travelin', still F5in for dem updates. (Someone should whup Hatshine into shape :D ).
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
by Vergil Wed Sep 10, 2014 7:36 pm
Caoimhe wrote:Hai ^^ Busy travelin', still F5in for dem updates. (Someone should whup Hatshine into shape :D ).
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
by Silver136 Wed Sep 10, 2014 8:57 pm
I want. 
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
by Vexd Wed Sep 10, 2014 10:41 pm
I need?
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
by Valikdu Wed Sep 10, 2014 11:58 pm
I really like mane.
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
by Zolaheuzis Thu Sep 11, 2014 4:42 am
So this is the place one discuss PH yes? Well might be a little late to discover this place now but eh. And daaw that plushie is adorable, I need one.
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
by SilentCarto Thu Sep 11, 2014 7:55 am
Welcome, welcome! I believe we're still offering the choice of unlimited sanity, all the whiskey you can drink, or infinite shotgun ammo. We still have those all in stock, right?Zolaheuzis wrote:So this is the place one discuss PH yes? Well might be a little late to discover this place now but eh. And daaw that plushie is adorable, I need one.
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
by Zolaheuzis Thu Sep 11, 2014 8:05 am
All of those things sounds awesome. But I do think we're missing the most important part, the cookies. But anyways I'm pretty sure I will enjoy it here regardless. But yeah me personally have been reading PH for about a year now and I have loved every second of it. I have just not have had anyone to talk about it too. Then today I found this place and I am in awe. You even got somber himself commenting here from time to time. That is amazing.SilentCarto wrote:Welcome, welcome! I believe we're still offering the choice of unlimited sanity, all the whiskey you can drink, or infinite shotgun ammo. We still have those all in stock, right?
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