Sister forum[GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
by Stringtheory Tue Aug 14, 2012 3:56 pm
@the green dot
personally I think it's Spike for these reasons: the OIA was called 'Spike's ministry' for a reason, despite us seeing very little of him so far in our trips back to the 'old world', maybe he was just in charge of the nice, not secret, or that Goldenblood was working behind his back, or, huge plot twist, that he knew about all the secret projects and went along with them for whatever reason, whether because he knew he couldn't do anything about them, because Goldenblood was so powerful, or that he agreed with them, that they needed to be done in order to win the war, maybe?
@littlehorn
maybe Luna convinced Goldenblood that a different martyr would work therefore Big Mac was the best candidate who was also expendable, maybe? and that killing Big Mac, Psalm's squad leader and friend, would be the trigger that make her go soulles, thereby allowing her to be the perfect tool for Project Partypooper, maybe Big Mac was secretly informed that there would be a sniper, possibly right before, thereby making sure he would be the one to take the shot and not Celestia...
just some speculation on my part
personally I think it's Spike for these reasons: the OIA was called 'Spike's ministry' for a reason, despite us seeing very little of him so far in our trips back to the 'old world', maybe he was just in charge of the nice, not secret, or that Goldenblood was working behind his back, or, huge plot twist, that he knew about all the secret projects and went along with them for whatever reason, whether because he knew he couldn't do anything about them, because Goldenblood was so powerful, or that he agreed with them, that they needed to be done in order to win the war, maybe?
@littlehorn
maybe Luna convinced Goldenblood that a different martyr would work therefore Big Mac was the best candidate who was also expendable, maybe? and that killing Big Mac, Psalm's squad leader and friend, would be the trigger that make her go soulles, thereby allowing her to be the perfect tool for Project Partypooper, maybe Big Mac was secretly informed that there would be a sniper, possibly right before, thereby making sure he would be the one to take the shot and not Celestia...
just some speculation on my part
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
by Ketchup Tue Aug 14, 2012 4:04 pm
I looked at it briefly once. Kinda disturbing, meh.Valikdu wrote:You made me start reading that blog.swicked wrote:
-It's creepy.
-It's CREEPY.
-It's FUCKING CREEPY.
-I can't stop.
![[GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion - Page 18 Happy2](https://dl.dropbox.com/u/57571524/rarity_reactions/happy2.png)
Speaking of strange/creepy but strangely addictive, I rather like listening to the Rainbow Factory song over and over again.
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
by Caoimhe Tue Aug 14, 2012 4:14 pm
Okay I just googled what that was and...well... yeah I'm a bit creeped out by it. The people who ask the questions moreso. The facial expressions are pretty neat but overall it looks like pony heads on human bodies in my opinion.
There's a lot of stuff in this fandom I don't understand and some I don't really want to understand, haha.
Oh, I submitted my article to my editor today. Hopefully will be published at the end of the month if everyone else has their work done for the heading we're putting this all under. I can't post it yet, though, sorry. :(
There's a lot of stuff in this fandom I don't understand and some I don't really want to understand, haha.
Oh, I submitted my article to my editor today. Hopefully will be published at the end of the month if everyone else has their work done for the heading we're putting this all under. I can't post it yet, though, sorry. :(
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
by Valikdu Tue Aug 14, 2012 4:44 pm
ketchup504 wrote:Speaking of strange/creepy but strangely addictive, I rather like listening to the Rainbow Factory song over and over again.
...Did I mention that there's a building called Spectra Extractor in my DF mod?
Caoimhe wrote:Okay I just googled what that was and...well... yeah
I'm a bit creeped out by it. The people who ask the questions moreso.
The facial expressions are pretty neat but overall it looks like pony
heads on human bodies in my opinion.
There's a lot of stuff in this fandom I don't understand and some I don't really want to understand, haha.
Why so serious?
![[GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion - Page 18 2113965524](https://2img.net/u/2516/12/35/12/smiles/2113965524.png)
- Spoiler:
![[GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion - Page 18 I_did_what_had_to_be_done____by_princessluna77-d56qywv](https://2img.net/h/i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh235/Valikdu/i_did_what_had_to_be_done____by_princessluna77-d56qywv.jpg)
Last edited by Valikdu on Tue Aug 14, 2012 4:47 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
by Caoimhe Tue Aug 14, 2012 4:50 pm
Oh neat, so it's intentional? Makes sense.
I guess there's a line I draw but to each his own!
I guess there's a line I draw but to each his own!
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
by OneMoreDaySK Tue Aug 14, 2012 5:19 pm
Wow, I go offline to form my own thoughts and you guys go like five pages already. Didn't want to be influenced by y'alls ideas, yet.
Anyways, here's my first try at a review:
Anyways, here's my first try at a review:
- Chapter 49:
Enervation’s piercing
scream surrounded me on all sides, and every few seconds I passed through a
shimmering, more-loudly-shrieking silver ring that sucked me in and spat me out
ever faster.
> So she’s getting
yanked into the core along with anyone who dies in Hoofington?
For a moment I soared
upward and had a glimpse of an immense disk like a circular saw blade, the
motes of light being pulled through gaps in a colossal, jagged tire-like wall of
silver that surrounded that glowing donut.
> Um, a giant stockpile
of souls stuck in orbit around the EOS?
Then, green lightning
flashed from that immense wall and tore through the sea of motes. Even I
screamed as an agony I’d never known flashed across me. It wasn’t a
physical pain so much as a sense of profound violation. It felt like
being nailed back in the Seahorse again. The green lightning flashed
again and again into the center of the sea, and the scream peaked once more.
> The lightning trying
to mash the souls up or something? Making them go to that one note?
Only mostly dead? I was
pretty sure this was the point where you turned me upside down and looked for
loose bottle caps.
> How appropriate. Her
answer either way “True love” (Glory) or “To blave”(Cards) stands true either way. Pft.
“Without the soul, you have no motivation or
direction. The most fortunate are like animals. They have intellect
but no will to use it and no personality or sense of self. But as long as
your body is still alive, you have a chance that Snails will be able to summon
your soul and put it back in your body.”
>Hm . Interesting. What does that
say about Boo then. Either she has developed one, or some fragment snagged onto
her?
Or maybe I just have two
copies of my soul frozen in that statue and inside my friend, forever trapped
at the moment they were severed. Who can say?
> Okay, what statue?
And will the fragment in Snails show up?
“I could probably write a
manual when I get back. ‘101 ways to die’.”
>Rampage could help
with that. Possibly add another zero between those ones.
“I think it’s more that
it’s hoarding them, like a dragon hoards gems.”
> Now why would… Maybe
just store them until needed, otherwise, no need to gourge yourself and become
a giant target yet unless you’re strong enough to resist a PK Starstorm.
It
couldn’t be!
A dozen bolts of lightning struck the center, and for the first
time I realized that the scream Lacunae had been hearing hadn’t been a what.
It was a who.
> Curse you Somber and your making us guess! Hmm. Now let’s
see, who could it possibly be? Well, Not Celestia, since she’s stuck elsewhere.
Luna died in Canterlot, so that’s out of the equation, unless more sneaky secrets resulted in her being anchored there. I don’t believe she
knows about Chrysalis. Throwing out the silly answers of the minor cast/bg
ponies, and factor in that Blackjack recognizes, you get… nowhere close to the
answer. It still could be anyone plot relevant. Maybe the initial star that
crashed into the EOS. I dunno at this point.
It didn’t help that every hour I had another spontaneous crying
fit that I was powerless to stop. Sometimes they lasted only for a few
seconds, but others went on and off for almost half an hour.
...Okay, maybe I should stay in bed for the time being after all.
>Take your own advice Blackjack, crying is good for the soul.
You just had some more traumatic experiences, and stopping to think of it makes
you cry to deal with it.
“No thanks to me means
just that. I’m not repairing that hole in you. The cybernetic
gadgetry in your body is doing that,” he said as he looked over to the far side
of the ICU at a bed with some curly pink mane sticking out from beneath the
sheets.
> Time to deal with
Boing. Now how to go about doing that? Sorry ain’t worth much to someone
hardened by the wasteland. Speaking of which where are the rest of her crusader
group? Either she left them or they… probably died.
Anchors. He used an
anchoring spell,” Lacunae said from my bedside.
> Hm, Now I’m wondering
that if she’s anchored, she can start yanking others away from the EOS. Like a
massive breakout chain. Probably not strong enough yet to do so, but maybe a
future idea.
She glanced at Snails and gave a little smile. “Well.
I’m still around. And so were Snips and Snails. And Twist is
kinda around, so we thought we were going to, like, look around and see if
Diamond Tiara’s still around too! Not… crazy looking around. Really
looking.” The unicorn stallion rolled his eyes a little, but then she
looked up at him with a sympathetic smile, and said, “Snails wants to find some
unicorn mare he knew back before the war.”
“Mmhmm! The Great and Powerful Trixie!” There was a
sudden tense silence inside me, as if the Goddess were suddenly holding her
breath. It was as if I could feel her peering right over my shoulder at
Snails. “She was the most amazing, most talented, most awesome unicorn in
all of Equestria… even if she couldn’t banish the Ursa Minor.”
> Yeah this won’t end well for either of them, since one is
dead and the other is forgone to die soon.
I couldn’t even try.
“You… might check… Maripony. Out west…” I muttered. The
Goddess gave a pleased, throaty little sound, and I felt a ghostly pat on my
head.
> Now here’s to hoping
that balefire bomb goes off sooner than later.
I felt sick again.
“No,” I said, not sure, but it felt like a lie. As dirty as lying
to Silver Spoon about being Diamond Tiara. “No, but I’m sure he’s okay,
wherever he is.” Please go. Please.
> Well at least this
time it ain’t your fault for not remembering.
I wept against her as she held me. “Can you take it from me?
Whatever… whatever I’m thinking… or feeling… or whatever?” I shook
as I pressed my face against her shoulder. “Please?” I begged, desperate
for her to make it all better. “Please...”.
“I wish I could, Blackjack. I really wish I could,” she
murmured. “I wish I could make it all go away, but whatever happened to
you happened at a level I can’t touch. This pain is yours. I wish
we could understand it better, make it easier for you to bear,” Lacunae said
softly into my mind. “I’m sorry.”
> Wait, didn’t we see this already? At least she’s getting some
sleep this time ‘round.
“Well, that’s good to
know. By the way, Stygius, do you think that I’ve been putting on
weight?”
> Only metalloids for
you from now on Blackjack. Now make way for the SS Polyethylene.
Rampage blushed and batted her eyes at Lacunae. “Well, you
heard her. Will you be my very special somepony, Lacunae?” The
stunned mental babble coincided perfectly with the confused ‘what?’ from the
Goddess. And just like that, I was back to laughing… no, crying… no…
Okay… maybe I still needed a little more time before leaving the
ICU…
> Nice job Rampage. Also good for you Blackjack, not running
off to do things at the drop of a hat.
“Wait…mater futūtor…”
Well, that didn’t sound good. “I think… Blackjack, your eyes and
ears have been recording days of information in your brain. And they
haven’t just been saving them; they’ve been broadcasting them somewhere as
well.”
> Well, it’s either
going to Redoubt, which I believe is sending countermands, whoever’s giving the
commands, or the Cybermonster. Also hurray for knowing Latin. XD
Xanthe
was silent for a time as she worked, but then she said in a quiet murmur,
almost to herself than to me, “The Remnant have one more.” I looked at
her as she sat, keeping her eyes down. “You’re right… I do know a lot
about balefire bombs. There was one silo that didn’t fire. The missile
malfunctioned… so we had to keep the bomb safe and secure. When the
Remnant came, they discovered it and took both the bomb and the zebras who
maintained it.”
> Whelp, time to go find Jetstream
and stop that last bomb.
What if the zebras had won the war? The Remnant had
continued waging war for two hundred years to destroy the Hoof. If
Equestria had surrendered, would they have just stopped there? While
Sekashi and Xanthe proved that not all zebras were bad, I had seen Lancer
coldly shooting a dozen of his own kind. Would there have been death
squads of Lancers hunting down ponies? Countless balefire bombs
annihilating Equestria entirely? I just didn’t know…
What if Equestria had won? I’d like to have thought that everything
would have returned to normal, but honestly, I’d never really thought about
what postwar Equestria would have been like. Luna’s Equestria… I
felt a shiver run through my entire body and shook my head. It didn’t
matter… and I didn’t want to think of Equestria after a thousand years of Luna,
the ministries, and the O.I.A.
> Either way, if one side had “won” there still would be a lot
of horrible things done to the losers. The sentiments developed would still
remain. Even negotiating peace would leave a lot of angry people still armed.
“There. There
shouldn’t be any more foreign data stored in your brain. I’ve transferred
all of it to this PipBuck; I don’t know if it’s useful, important, or just
plain garbage.” She handed Marmalade’s PipBuck back to me. “I tried
taking the spy programs out of your system, but it looks like that’d have some
unpleasant side effects… like permanent blindness and deafness. It’s
really integrated in your systems.”
> So now it’ll stop autoplaying like Murky’s.
At least you should look at the data Blackjack. Or does it only work in
specific locations?
“Yup. Claimed he was investigating a
noise, found them, and got lucky. Surprise, it was right after Cerberus came
floating up blasted all to hell. Both were shot dead center in the back of the
head, so now he’s a Goddess damned hero to half the town.”
> Cleaning up after himself, eh? Hope
that Blackjack buys Carrion’s contract like in the game.
“You said that the ghouls
wouldn’t care if it came from Xanthe’s mouth.” The green ghoul frowned at me in
confusion as I smiled. “What if it’s from somepony else’s mouth?”
> Oh this is going to
be good. *excited*
the sight of the pre-war
money seemed to arouse him. Okay, not something I needed to see.
> Ew. Money fetish
much?
“If you take one step,
I’ll have to sell you to the Remnant as ground pony.”
> The Legate would
probably torture you for killstealing.
“What? You don’t seriously
think I’d believe you want to do business with me? You’re the saint of the
Wasteland. I’m sure you’re just here to chat up some evidence to take back to
those morons.” He nodded to my mangled leg. “Probably got that PipBuck
recording this whole conversation, don’t you?”
> Can’t it autotransmit
via bro-
“It’s a broadcaster.”
> Bwahahaha
“Ahuizotl, for conspiring
against the residents of Hoofington Memorial, we sentence you to exile. Your
bar and its contents are to be seized and sold to fund the community.”
> Wait what? Y’do know
that he’s gonna find a way to make your life or Blackjack’s more miserable
right?
“No. I’m trading it to you
for Carrion’s Contract,”
> Let’s see if he’s
greedy enough to be stupid.
“No… that’s exactly what
it is,” Carrion said, and then smiled. “Excuse me.”
> : D
“But… I…” I stared at the
heap of green slime as a huge bubble rose in the middle and popped. “Couldn’t
you have made him put down the gold first?”
> Eh just dig through
it Blackjack. The bits on him should be still there. Somewhere. Never
understood that in the game.
I’d tried to give him his
Contract back, and clearly I’d insulted him badly by the way he told me bluntly
‘no’. Apparently, someone else holding their contract was the point of being a
griffin… and with that, they eclipsed zebras as weirdest species in the
wasteland.
> So do all fliers have
a strong sense of loyalty or something? Either loyalty to a cause, or to a
contract.
Silver Spoon and Snails
wanting to look for their friends. Xanthe looking for a future. Carrion needing
somepony to hold his Contract. I had ideas churning around in my freshly
cleaned out head. A part of me was still thinking about running off to Dawn Bay
and dumping that balefire bomb into the ocean. Another part of me felt the
siren’s call of EC-1101 luring me off into the sky.
Really, what I wanted more
than anything was to see Glory again. And P-21. And Scotch Tape. I wanted to go
home to Star House.
> Time to split the
party.
“And that’s where you done
fucked up. There ain’t no such thing as good ponies. Not a one in the world. I
ain’t a good pony. You ain’t neither. We’re all just ponies,” she said as she
sighed and closed her eye again, shaking her head. “You just want ta feel
better than the rest of us by playing the big hero. Well, ya ain’t. So if you
feel like scum, congratulations. You are. And someday you’ll accept that. Then
you won’t give a fuck about forgiveness.”
> Oh no. She’s pretty
much chosen the other path of Blackjacks at Happyhorn. She dun care no more,
though she can’t exactly go on a killing spree. If Blackjack wants to help her,
it’s probably going to take a long time before that happens. She’s broken now.
I staggered away from her
bed. Somehow, some part of me had thought that I’d be pardoned. That all I had
to do was tell her I was trying to do better. I tried to be kind, strong,
awesome, enduring, and remember that it was under E. But to hear that being
good was just some sort of self-delusion... Worse, a form of
self-aggrandizement... Look at me… I’m Blackjack. The goodiest good pony. The
saint of the Wasteland.
> Please don’t whine
some more. There are just some that you can’t save. Accept it and move on, no
matter how badly it hurts.
I thought about how so
many ghouls got stuck in the past, locked in one moment that made sense.
> One common theme in
Fallout was to let go of the past. Wonder what would happen to the ghouls if
they tried that.
“Shattered Hoof Ridge
Correctional. That was where Tiara was last,” Silver Spoon said. “I know she
probably didn’t get out, but I have to hope.” And if nothing else, it was a way
to keep from going feral.
> Oh boy. Hope she
stays sane once she finds Diamond Tiara’s corpse and last message.
> New side story, with
Xanthe as the narrator. Fallout Equestria: Specator Amicorum (sorry for poor
Latin. Been years since I had to do this stuff)
“Yes,” he said darkly,
those predatory eyes locking onto mine. Then he suddenly gripped my shoulders
and pulled me in, pressing his hard beak to my lips and slipping something the
texture and flavor of boot leather into my mouth. I think my scorched mane stood
upright as he kissed me, and I fell over retching as he said with a straight
face, “Goodbye, Blackjack.” He turned solemnly away and returned to the table
as half of Afterlife erupted in laughter at me sitting there, scrubbing my
tongue with my twisted fingers.
Sweet Celestia, I couldn’t
get the taste off!
> Ok, we need to make a
count of how many Blackjack kissed already. Caprice, Glory, Crumpets, Discord,
and now Carrion. Did I miss anyone?
the ruin had been doubled.
...Or was it squared? Bleh, too many fancy mathematics to keep track of.
> Compact shout-outs
hooray!
(Canterlock)
> Pft Wish Lacunae was here
“THOU HAST BEGUILDED HIM WITH THY
FLANKS OF STEEL AND FOUL UNICORN SORCERY! WHY ELSE WOULDST HE FOLLOW THEE LIKE
A LUSTFUL MOONCALF!?” Flanks of steel? How do you beguile with flanks of steel?
Who was I going to seduce, the tank?
> Laughing. Too. Much. Someone.
Draw it…. Calming down now. Ok, when did
Blackjacks butt get metalized? I thought it was only her legs. Also,
Swicked!Murky would probably be the one to seduce the tank.
In my mind, the Goddess was
contemplating adding a batpony or two to Unity if it meant that she could get
her hooves on that kind of magic!
> Oh no Trixie. You don’t get
access to shadowmancy. Hurry up, Littlepip.
“STOP THOU C*** THOU!”
> Something about this like makes
me laugh. I dunno what.
“I have in but three days lived such that three lifetimes could not compare!”
> That’s what happens when you
stick around with Blackjack.
“I left with Blackjack for base
intentions, I confess. Yet in her company and that of her friends, I have seen
an example our own kind would be wise to adopt.”
> Don’t tell me he’s some kind of –
“our father the King”
> prince…
“Prince of a people who hide beneath
the ground and who dwindle away generation by generation in fear and seclusion.”
> Wait, isn’t this just the stable
problem applied to bat-ponies? Inbreeding much?
“I am unforgivably tardy.”
> Tardy for what? Tea in the
underground? Bat ponies don’t seem to be doing much.
“Take me with you.”
> Here comes another split. -2
party members.
Yes... I would much... much rather not
marry you, dear sister.
> Yeah, inbreeding.
Go on, you crazy kids. I’m happy for
you both. There’s nothing better than finding that very special somepony.” Her
jaw strained to maintain her grin.
> Poor Rampage. Having identity
problems complicated by multiple personalities in her head, specifically AoD.
Then she shook her head with a smile.
“Not Psychoshy. Whisper. If I’m going to start a new life, I may as well start
a with a new name as well.” And with her eyes clear and confident she flew to
the pair of batponies, and with one look back and a smile, they took to the air
together, flying northeast around the crater.
> Fallout Equestria: Wind Whisper
Then Lacunae dropped from the sky and
landed beside us, throbbing with a full charge of magical energy to take us
home. “Hello, girls. Did I miss anything?”
> ARGLEBLARGLE! At least we know where Lacunae was during
this event.
Shadow magic was apparently making the
Twilight in the Goddess so uppity that she was dumping every bit into Lacunae.
> Wait, so Trixie’s dumping stuff
other than angst into Lacunae now. Good for her. Maybe enough of Twilight to show up and jump elsewhere?
I supposed that Whisper wasn’t the
only mare who wanted a fresh start with somepony who loved them.
> Really need to find a way to
extract AoD and other malevolent souls.
“from here to Manehattan to Dise!”
> Wonder what Silver Storm is up to
at this point. Now all you have to do is get Scotch to get Filly Luck and you'll get Puppy into the story.
His eyes settled on my legs and the
smile faded, an old wistful look crossing his features; after a moment, I
realized that maybe he was recognizing my limbs from their previous owner.
> Wonder why he never dropped by
the Collegiate. Well, at least he could visit Tenpony Tower, right?
“I think that old bastard is thinking
of adopting you or something. The Flashers are practically ready to become your
own personal gang. The Collegiate’s probably gonna name you an honorary doctor
or something.”
“Great,” I said with a roll of my
eyes. “Doctor Blackjack.” I’d probably kill whoever I tried to heal. Gunshot
wound? Amputation! Broken leg? Gunshot! I sighed, shaking my head. “I just want
to get home. I should have never been crazy enough to leave Glory.”
> Well, both have glowy eyes,
Flashers need someone new to root for since Whisper is gone, and Pft. Really?
Going to invoke the Tezuka Sta-. Ah! The references! They burn! Stars and Blood
people.
“But me… I want to know who Celestia
was at one in the morning when everything was dark and she was
all alone. Was she really so good? Was she really so perfect?” He shrugged.
“Guess that’s one of them glasses half filled deals.”
Now I was more confused than ever. “So
are you saying I’m not as good as they think I am?” Gee… surprise surprise.
> Ain’t this just a rehash of what
the Dealer talked about concerning the ministry mares?
“Anypony you should be worried about
isn’t taking them seriously.”
> What about Steel Rain and his
army?
“I guess.” He bowed his head a little.
“Not like I’m good at this sort of thing, Blackjack. Being stuck in a stable
maneframe for two centuries doesn’t do much for one’s people skills.”
> So he is bound to a Crusader
Maneframe. Could he be the one issuing countermands?
“He was scared to death. He insisted
that we’d all been played, and that he was the biggest fool of them all. That
something had to be done to save Equestria.”
> So he got played by his own
ministry? Garnet and co?
“To make sure that no matter what,
EC-1101 reached Celestia at all costs.”
I shifted on my seat. “Celestia?” I
remember how coldly he’d dismissed her, cutting her off from the kingdom
entirely. “Why?”
“He didn’t say. He said that EC-1101
would have to get to her.”
> What? She’s the only one capable
of blasting the core to the moon?
Said Trottenheimer’d made something
for him to deal with something bad.
> So Folly was made to try and kill
the core? That's why it was shouting "YOU DARE?!"
“Wait. Luna put you into
EC-1101? But…why… how did she know how to do it?”
> Wait, what!? How did she get her
hooves on Zebra Necromancy Magic? Or did she remember something from the
Nightmare Moon incident?
“So far, you’re the best candidate
I’ve found.” I didn’t know if I should be flattered or horrified. I was
settling on baffled.
> Queen Whiskey, ruler of the Hoof
My striped friend seemed more down
than usual; I hoped that Lacunae would be able to help her.
> That doesn’t sound good.
“Other dogs not learn. Rather
scavenge. Mate. Let Rover fix dogs. Rover hopes some dog learn soon. Rover is
old dog. Too tired to learn new tricks.”
> Aw, how sad. Better not kill him
off Somber. Fifi could be a disciple.
I closed my eyes and tried to relax. I
couldn’t move… but really that didn’t bother me as much as I thought it would.
In its own way, it felt sort of nice. If he’d tried immobilizing me like this
before Happyhorn, I’d probably have been clawing the walls of my mind, but
now... I focused on control, like I had with Stygius. I am not freaking now. I
am not reacting. I am calm... calm... I watched the lines of data that scrolled
in the margins of my vision and slowly drifted away.
> Blackjack has learned “Sleeping”
“Lionheart,”
> Yay
“Oh stuff it, Nightracer,” Lionheart
said with a snort. “That’s fine for formal occasions, but honestly. Nopony
talks like that anymore. You’d have to be half crazy to talk all the time in
the royal voice. Even the Princess doesn’t talk that way. Save it for the
tourists.”
> Poor Lionheart. Locked into
Canterlock as a Canterlot ghoul.
“Mmm… Psalm… meeting with Eclipse.
Well, it looks about right. Still gonna need to confirm, though. Procedure. May
I see your hoof, please?”
> Well that’s new. It doesn’t sound
like this new character is part of Garnet’s group. Maybe…
“I don’t know why I’m here at all.
I’ve never met this Eclipse. Do they work for the Princess?”
> Single to plural? Or is they a
general he/she catchall. It always bugged me.
Floating against the surface of the
map were eight icons of light: bright orange, cyan, pink, purple, violet,
yellow, green, and gold. Half were clustered over Canterlot, but I watched in
amazement as the purple dot flashed and disappeared from Manehattan to reappear
in Maripony.
> AJ, RD, Pinkie, Twilight, Rarity,
Fluttershy, ???, Goldenblood?
“attempted assassination of Legate
Fortis.”
> What do you guys want to bet that
he’s still alive and Zebra Modded?
“I’m damned… damned…” I whimpered.
“No.” Eclipse frowned in thought. “You
acted on the orders of the Princess. I’m sure that your... soul... can be
absolved in service to the Princess. I know she’ll forgive you.”
“She… she will?” I sniffed, rubbing my
eyes.
> This really sounds like something
that Garnet’s company would be doing. Ugh. Hate these characters, and hope
they’re on the Redoubt so Blackjack can deal with them.
“Not again. Honestly, why can’t she
simply go stay with Cadence?”
> Cadence? How is she going to fit
in the story? O.o Well, you’ll do something with her.
“Ahem. Sorry to cut this short, but
sometimes there’s just no reasoning with my… with Princess Celestia. I’ll get
somepony to show you out, my dear.”
> My +sister+? O.o Luna Eclipse. Oh ok.
Theories going off in my head.
“The Caesar hasn’t made any serious
moves towards opening a dialogue with Her Majesty. Quite the reverse; he’s
using their mythology as a rallying cry to unite more tribes against her and
us.”
> Well you should know about any
moves the Caesar makes, seeing as you have back channels. And the Caesar might
be using the myths, but are the true?
“Damn it, Tia,” Luna muttered. “Why
can’t she just… let me do this? Why is she always trying to force things? I
didn’t want to be in charge of Equestria. She asked me! And ever since then,
she’s been constantly meddling and criticizing. Why can’t she just go to her
school and leave Equestria to me?” Luna sighed. “I don’t suppose I can just
lock her up, can I?”
> If ya didn’t want ta do it, why
didntcha just say no?
“Captured, she’d be a lever against
you and, by extension, Equestria. Killed, she’d be a martyr for the war effort.
Recruitment would probably double, if not more. There’d be no more interference
to your rule, and the aristocrats would fall in line behind you. Better,
several tribes of zebras revere Celestia as an embodiment of the sun. Killing
her would turn them against the Caesar. We might even sway portions of the
Propoli to break ranks. That could completely cripple their war effort.” He
paused and then added, “Of course, the cost would be unthinkable.”
> Dafuq Goldenblood. Now I really
want you dead. Nah I hope you’re in the Core so Blackjack can get you.
“I know, and I still believe it. But
if we have peace, real peace… well… you won’t be responsible for Equestria
anymore.”
> Then do it foo!
“No. No! I’m not going to just… just
give up! I don’t care if she is older and wiser and nicer and… and… I’m going
to do it right. I’m going to do whatever it takes and show her and everypony
that I am every bit the ruler that she was! I have to show them I can do it.
That I’m more than Nightmare Moon and the young mare that fools around on
Nightmare Night.”
> *sighs* by trying to prove
yourself better through these means, you’re just cementing you position to the
zebras as Nightmare Moon.
Goldenblood let out a long sigh. “Then
we’ll just have to disrupt the meeting. I’ll pull together a guard detachment
that will pull her out at the first sign of trouble. See what I can arrange in
the interim.”
“And if they do capture her, somehow?
Or try?”
“Better a dead princess than a
captured one…”
> Dangit Goldenblood, stop
flip-flopping. And seriously, why
haven’t we heard about Eclipse until now. There’s probably a ton of more
secrets that Luna has, doesn’t she? Then it could be that she got backstabbed and
is now stuck in the core. Nuts. So they get Psalm to do it? And she somehow
hits Big Mac instead?
“La la la la la la… not listening to
Blackjack talking about things in her hiney.” I couldn’t open my mouth, but I
still chuckled in my throat. Even the Goddess seemed to be tuning me out.
> Now just keep mentally
distracting her until the bomb goes off.
“Gnarr is hellhound and guest of Sand
Dogs.”
> Nice first impression Blackjack.
“Little mare is tough, that is for
sure,” Gnarr growled as he picked at his fangs with a claw. “I take it you’ve
never seen us before… or maybe you’ve seen too many of us and know better?” The
hellhound chucked as he tapped his claws against the blasted wall.
> Well at least you showed him you
could fight. That seems to impress him.
“Enslaving us. I know of at least half
a dozen dens that have gone silent all across Equestria.” He pointed off to the
southeast. “Our den lived in the old pony army base. More and more were taken,
and then one day they returned all at once and with pegasi and controlled
hounds and took over the base.”
>Ok so not Maripony, right? I hope
it’s not Maripony, otherwise this will put Blackjack at odds with Littlepip.
Naw, it can’t be, since the Hounds weren’t controlled, otherwise the enclave
would have tried to use the hounds to get out.
“The only thing that remained were the
bunkers filled with old stuff from the space center.”
> Rocket Town?
Gnarr rubbed his chin and chuckled.
“Heh. Busy pony. Well, Rover can keep working. And if you get down that way,
maybe you can stop them. Or I will, if Rover can figure something out.” I had
to admit, someone solving their problems without my help was refreshing! Why,
if this kept up, then I’d be out of a job and could retire!
> Side Story? Fallout Equestria:
Freeing Paradise
Gnarr whimpered and covered his ears
but Rover just grinned. “Whine all you want, Pony.” And he tapped the side of
his ear. “Dog ears cut out feedback.”
> Anti-Rarity countermeasures.
Smart Rover.
Rover muttered behind me, “Dog bet
Hound half a brahmin Pony is back in two days.”
> Probably.Wait, I bet less.
“Sure,” Gnarr replied, and I glanced
back to spot him shaking hands with Rover as I trotted for the entrance. “Just
one question, though, Rover: Why do you keep talking like that?!”
> Reminds me of Super Mutant speech.
“La la la la la la… not listening to
thoughts…” she began to say in my mind, so I thought exactly how things had felt.
Lacunae went even redder and finally blurted aloud, “Sweet Celestia, stop
thinking, Blackjack!” Rampage and I shared a laugh as the alicorn gave a
dignified toss of her head. “You keep thinking that and you will be walking to
Chapel!”
> Trixie probably having great
amusement watching this. All she needs is some popcorn.
More than that, though, the eyes that
looked back at me were those of a stranger: calm, serene, and no longer looking
at the world like it was his enemy. “P-21?” Even seeing his cutie mark, I
wasn’t entirely sure it was him.
> Yay! He’s better-ish! Probably shouldn’t do anymore
adventuring though.
“Can you believe it, Daddy? That guy’s
building his house right by that septic trench they call a toi-”
> Chapel reminds me of some
horrible Sim Cities that I’ve seen at this point.
“For the town. Since I was sick and
couldn’t do anything,” Scotch said, then gestured around. “I mean have you seen
this place, Blackjack? Everypony’s working and throwing up whatever they want.
Half of it’s gonna be falling down in weeks, if not days. They’ve got a ditch
filled with poo running through the middle of town! And the money from the
manor won’t last forever.”
> SCOTCH ENGINEER IS CREDIT TO
TEAM! Seriously, was Priest the only sensible one? Where da heck is Charity.
She can’t possibly set shop in this area as it is.
“Scotch, you know more about building
and fixing things than anypony here. You’ve been training to do maintenance
work since you could play. Heck, I bet you had a steam assembly for your first
toy. If this place is going to be a real town, it’s going to need ponies like
you.”
> If you need some Persuasion, then
why not ask Blackjack or your dad, Scotch? Make them force the town to rebuild,
like in Flank, but better.
Did I owe her money? I thought I
was all paid up, but... wait? Had I paid for that Wild Pegasus she sent me on
my birthday yet?
> Probably, and nope. But she'll probably forgive the debt 'cuz you saved her life.
“Be careful. With Glory. I mean... I
tried to explain it but... she’s really upset with you right now.”
> Well, at least you tried P-21.
She’s probably going to beat you up as RD. Maybe throw a boat on you.
“Blackjack!” she snapped, and with
more power than I knew any pegasus could muster, threw me clear across the room
and smashed me into the far wall. I dropped to the floor with a crash, the five
little ponies in my head equally rattled. Somewhere, for some reason, I
imagined the Goddess looking on, munching on popcorn.
> Got some popcorn ready as well
for the next chapter.
OVERALL IMPRESSIONS:
This is a solid chapter. It (partially)
resolves the party size amicably, and sets up the chance for a bunch of
different side stories to be written. The way it’s set up, methinks the next
chapter or two’s gonna be a breather. Goodness knows Blackjack really needs
that. Chapel also needs rebuilding, so she’s probably going to stick around, at
least until someone like Steel Rain shows up. P-21’s still alive, and a lot
more calmer, just need to make him smile some more. Scotch needs a hardhat and
I hope some kind of engineer cutie mark. T-square? Or maybe something akin to
her dad’s like http://www.funnychutkule.com/chutkule/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Engineer-Symbol.jpg
On the potential spoilers: Hades?!
That’s awesome.
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
by WavemasterRyx Tue Aug 14, 2012 5:47 pm
You know, Aristotle said that the mark of a good tragedy was in representing ponies (men) as better than they are in real life.
After everything they've accomplished, Somber doesn't deserve 2 full pages of being accused of being a bad writer...
Always love for Boo.
Well after I finish lunch I'll get back to working on my commentary, I think it's half done after spending all last night on it... so maybe I can get it done before 5am... I doubt it.
After everything they've accomplished, Somber doesn't deserve 2 full pages of being accused of being a bad writer...
I'm honored, sir, thank you, again.O. Hinds wrote:Thank you. Also, to your credit, it was your art that came to mind when Boo was frowning.
Always love for Boo.
Well after I finish lunch I'll get back to working on my commentary, I think it's half done after spending all last night on it... so maybe I can get it done before 5am... I doubt it.
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
by O. Hinds Tue Aug 14, 2012 5:59 pm
Welcome!Formis_Fluttergod wrote:There comes time in one's life when he decides to post something into PH thread.I think it was more around 973 000 but what's 3000 words in (almost) 1M-word long novel.Sindri wrote:Nope. 969590.Aonee wrote:Ya know guys, with 49 out I'm pretty certain PH has broke the 1,000,000 word mark.
Next chapter.
As for the last chapter, it certainly wasn't something I was expecting to see at 2AM while preparing to go to bed. Didn't get much sleep but it was worth it.
- Chapter 49 Impressions:
I'm not entirely sure who who is in the "enervation hell" to call it somehow. I saw people theorizing about Luna but, though I don't remember all the details that already were mentioned about enervation and the Eater of souls, as far as I remember the enervation is (major) problem only around Hoofington That goes for both enervation killing the living and souls being sucked into its effect by the Eater and even that goes only for the areas directly bearing the signs of enervation since the first time BJ died she wasn't sucked into anything, the second time it was because of the curse or the close vicinity of Hightower I presume.
Well, and Luna died in Canterlot, hell all history figures from original FO:E died far enough from the Hoof to not be affected at all, some hasn't even died. So I have to consider some PH figures like Goldenblood, eventhough I was imagining some other important (unspecified) role for him. Or the Eater himself being tortured by his struggle to stay alive. Since I tend to forget characters I don't have many other ideas.
Not much to say about Meatlocker except for Ahuizotl finally getting what he deserved. It's nice to see some bad guy going down without BJ suffering life-threatening injuries or something else going wrong in the process, just nice and clean work.
Alo Carrion kissing BJ... Hilarious but no comment.
Was kinda sad to see Xanthe and Carrion go, as well as Psychoshy and Stygius, was interested in seeing more (not literally), but like Somber said, it can be pain to write so meny characters at once and sometimes it can be pain to read as well.
Stygius sure has a cool sis. Flanks of steel, yeah.
At least Psycho got some (hopefully) good ending, that's kinda rare in PH.
Horse being the last one left on the list, looks like EC-1101 is heading towards dead end which isn't entirely unexpected. So, what if Project Horizons was created to deal with this dead end situation? I'm just gasping at straws here, thanks to my terrible memory I have no idea of possible timeline relation between EC-1101 and Project Horizons. Though the name would be kinda fitting for that kind of situation.
Looks like everything's big on Hellhounds, at least BJ and Rampage had a good laugh. Then Lacunae leaving BJ in the Riverside, priceless. :D
Boo was adorable as always, no question there, but we need moar.
Well, nearing the end I almost accepted the the one thing I was looking forward to, the confrontation BJxGlory, will be "cliffhangered" to the next chapter which it kinda was, but we got at least a glimpse. At least I hope it was only a glimpse, there needs to be much moar of this. Though Glory surprised me at first after all what P-21 said, but didn' disappointed in the end.
Glory already mentioned the "champion in bed" thing to Blackjack, though.Theta wrote:
- Thoughts after reading:
As many others have already speculated, it seems as though Eclipse was definitely Luna in disguise. Goldenblood's comment that it was better to kill Celestia than let her be captured seems to suggest that he was responsible for Big Mac's death. In the Lake Macintosh memory orb, Big Mac told Maripony that he was going to the Shattered Hoof peace talks because Goldenblood said that the zebras respected him. It seems likely that Goldenblood found out that Big Mac was going to leave the Marauders and decided that it would be bad for morale.
In regards to Glory, I get the feeling that Blackjack is going to think she's made for completely different reasons, specifically, the fact that she nearly killed Dusk
Dare I ask what it does?Valikdu wrote:ketchup504 wrote:Speaking of strange/creepy but strangely addictive, I rather like listening to the Rainbow Factory song over and over again.
...Did I mention that there's a building called Spectra Extractor in my DF mod?
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
by Valikdu Tue Aug 14, 2012 6:18 pm
O. Hinds wrote:Dare I ask what it does?Valikdu wrote:ketchup504 wrote:Speaking of strange/creepy but strangely addictive, I rather like listening to the Rainbow Factory song over and over again.
...Did I mention that there's a building called Spectra Extractor in my DF mod?
It consumes pony spinal tissue and produces spectra, then mixes spectra into rainbows.
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
by Caoimhe Tue Aug 14, 2012 6:40 pm
Well that's one case for stem cell research, more purty rainbows!!!!
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
by Ketchup Tue Aug 14, 2012 6:52 pm
What is rainbow used for? Weather control?Valikdu wrote:O. Hinds wrote:Dare I ask what it does?Valikdu wrote:ketchup504 wrote:Speaking of strange/creepy but strangely addictive, I rather like listening to the Rainbow Factory song over and over again.
...Did I mention that there's a building called Spectra Extractor in my DF mod?
It consumes pony spinal tissue and produces spectra, then mixes spectra into rainbows.
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
by FeatherDust Tue Aug 14, 2012 7:11 pm
Rainbow Factory is a fanfic that seems to be an attempt to recreate the Cupcakes effect. It involves Rainbow Dash running the secret factory where they shred living pegasus foals (the ones who fail their flight test, anyway) in a machine to create the colors that go into rainbow juice. I only skimmed it once I figured out what it was about, but I don't think they ever really explained why rainbows were so critically important that they're worth murdering children. I found it tiresome in its awfulness -- Cupcakes was shocking because nobody expected it, and once you get past that, it and fics in the same vein are just pointless brutality with no redeeming features (unless you get off on that sort of thing).ketchup504 wrote:What is rainbow used for? Weather control?Valikdu wrote:It consumes pony spinal tissue and produces spectra, then mixes spectra into rainbows.O. Hinds wrote:
Dare I ask what it does?
Obviously, given where I'm posting this, I don't have a problem with rather brutal stories -- but FoE and PH do that with a heroic theme and context that those stories lack.
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
by SilentCarto Tue Aug 14, 2012 7:51 pm
We don't really know anyone of particular importance who would be reasonably noted as green. I mean, there's Vanity, and I'd been assuming the green and gold were Vanity and Blueblood, but if we're looking for someone Luna would want to keep tabs on as closely as she does the Mane Six, that doesn't fly. Emerald is possible, but if her, why not the rest of the OIA liasons? Their whole schtick is to be allegedly-unimportant mid-level bureaucrats. Applesnack presents a similar problem -- he's important to AJ and to the story, but not to the war or government in general. Spike... could be a possibility, but he was usually hanging around with Twilight.swicked wrote:Does that mean we might not have met this green yet, but it could be someone really important to Goldenblood?
From the color, I'd guess... Emerald? Was that one of the OIA liaisons?
I'm really grasping at straws, here.
Maybe it's Gummy.
Well, it's entirely possible that Snips and BJ retain stronger links to their former memories than the typical soul. BJ was comatose-but-not-quite-dead the first time, and had an anchor spell on her the second (plus the whole not-quite-dead thing, via cyborg life support), while Snips still has chunks of soul in Snails and the statue. The other souls do retain some sense of self, given that BJ could pick up a general idea of who they were, but I doubt they're as self-aware as BJ and Snips.Cptadder wrote:RE: Soul memory and Body memory
This sounds like a case for SCIENCE to solve. Get me a team of myth-busting ponies, a hundred pounds of Comb-B and five pounds of detcord and we will see what kind of SCIENCE can determine exactly how well and how quickly Souls can retain memories.
On the other hoof, Gin Rummy certainly retained enough to appear to BJ as herself, and she knew who she was and what BJ was to her. Perhaps it just takes some amount of time for a soul to 'forget' itself. I find myself wondering if it's no coincidence that the Mane Six are all roughly the same age -- perhaps their souls deliberately entered the world together, and now they're waiting for the other two (three?) before they move on again.
The EoS itself is definitely a possibility. Someone already mentioned the "sawblade" sounds a lot like Tia's cutie mark, so maybe that IS the experimental generator set up under the Core, zapping the EoS itself for power. And that would fit with the whole "sympathetic monster" theme. Ponies seem rather good at capturing and exploiting beings they really have no business defeating -- cf. Discord.Sindri wrote:Smells like confirmation bias to me. She does seem likely, but is by no means the only option. It could be the remains of the star that died preventing the Eater from rising thousands of years ago and wiped out the zebra city in the process. It could be the Eater caught in something more powerful; the hum of the Harbingers matched up with the screams of the Enervation IIRC. It could be the zebra shamans and alchemists who botched things back then. It could be Horse, or the engineer who turned on the reactor on his orders, caught here when they tried to exploit the fallen star for power. Luna's in the three most likely, but there are countless possibilities.
I had kind of the same experience. I didn't bat an eye at the "our father, the king" line, and it didn't really quite register until the others expressed surprise. Then I was like, "Oh, he is? 'kay..."FeatherDust wrote:Not for the same reasons, but it wasn't for me either. I don't know why, but it just seemed obvious when that fact came out.
Yeah, I'm sure he's never, ever, ever going to show up again backed by a surprise batpony army to save BJ's bacon at a critical moment. :pCptadder wrote:Oh hey you guys are hearing my voice for the first time and I'm a really nice guy but I'm totally taking off now to the Batcave with Whisper to go make Batbabys and we can totally never return because... the writer said so and by the way I'm a Prince
And what's wrong with saying, "I have a duty to my people, and it's not out here in the wasteland"? He's got priorities, and a couple of mares he's known for less than two days don't outweigh them.
It's probably a sign of good writing that the party is fraying to the point that there's four different characters that are TOTALLY OBVIOUS as the one that's going to leave. XDFeatherDust wrote:Um.... wow. Am I the only one who just assumed the missing member will be Scotch, who has post-op pneumonia, plans for the town, and DOES NOT NEED to be in any more life threatening situations for a while?
The fact that you can seriously use that word in a sentence with a straight face makes my brain explode.Somber wrote:I want it to be a psychosexual story of exploration. It's not. And it probably never will be... sigh...
Getting Psalm to shoot at either Celestia or Macintosh would be one hell of a trick.Theta wrote:It seems likely that Goldenblood found out that Big Mac was going to leave the Marauders and decided that it would be bad for morale.
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
by Cptadder Tue Aug 14, 2012 8:37 pm
I'll buy that, But I'll note this is OOC explanation you can see how how a standard reader not reading the forums might look at that and go what okay what now? Or they might just ignore it, I'm a world building guy so anytime I see a club where I expect a spade I ask.Somber wrote:
The reason why they have a King and a Queen is they've latched their identity on that of Tartarus, which is ruled by a King and Queen. They don't actually live in the underworld, but that would be a spoiler.
I'm guessing the is also pre-explanation for the now inevitable goes Back to the Batcave!
The problem is that we don't get that info dumb. What I know as a reader before your explanation is the followingSomber wrote:
Here is stygius' character: he's a wastrel prince who meets a surfacer and goes 'Yeah, I can hit on that. Better than being expected to marry my sister.' And then goes with her into a world he's only seen occasionally. He beds her, sure, but she is so much more than his kind back home that when she is attacked he tries to help her. He follows her to glimpse a world both terrifying but also frighteningly real. Most batponies never reach their home and they are rapidly dwindling their gene pool. After travelling with BJ, he knows he has to go back, but he doesn't want to. He knows his father will come if he doesn't, and that would be ugly, so he returns knowing now how much more needs to be done for Luna's guards. If I'd given him the ability to talk, hopefully that would have been clearer.
The rest gets kinda info dumped on us in one chapter, considering the long term buildup it seems a quick info dump and something along these lines of I have to go now... my planet needs me.Somber as CptAdder the Reader wrote:
Here is stygius' character: he's a wastrel who meets a surfacer and goes 'Yeah, I can hit on that. Better than my sister.' And then goes with her into a world he's only seen occasionally. He beds her, sure, but she is so much more than his kind back home that when she is attacked he tries to help her. He follows her to glimpse a world both terrifying but also frighteningly real. .
When Somber does good I say so, when Somber is okay I don't say much and when Somber does something I feel is off I also say something. There's a reason why I spoiler my dislikes so people can ignore that and see only happy fun time comments if they so wish.WavemasterRyx wrote:
After everything they've accomplished, Somber doesn't deserve 2 full pages of being accused of being a bad writer...
At that point we get to metaphysical to have any kind of serious discussion because your very much in the personal belief and cultural bias wheelhouse where depending on your upbringing your just as likely to argue one way as another.SilentCarto wrote:Well, it's entirely possible that Snips and BJ retain stronger links to their former memories than the typical soul. BJ was comatose-but-not-quite-dead the first time, and had an anchor spell on her the second (plus the whole not-quite-dead thing, via cyborg life support), while Snips still has chunks of soul in Snails and the statue. The other souls do retain some sense of self, given that BJ could pick up a general idea of who they were, but I doubt they're as self-aware as BJ and Snips.Cptadder wrote:RE: Soul memory and Body memory
This sounds like a case for SCIENCE to solve. Get me a team of myth-busting ponies, a hundred pounds of Comb-B and five pounds of detcord and we will see what kind of SCIENCE can determine exactly how well and how quickly Souls can retain memories.
On the other hoof, Gin Rummy certainly retained enough to appear to BJ as herself, and she knew who she was and what BJ was to her. Perhaps it just takes some amount of time for a soul to 'forget' itself. I find myself wondering if it's no coincidence that the Mane Six are all roughly the same age -- perhaps their souls deliberately entered the world together, and now they're waiting for the other two (three?) before they move on again.
Myself as a lapsed catholic (Polite way of saying raised Catholic turned Atheist) who grew up playing lots of Planescape I'm trying to frame it in those terms so I know better than to get involved in any kind of discussion about souls, the afterlife and the like. My history makes me disbelieve in it, and were I to believe it existed I'd be plotting how to invade it.
I prefer Blackjack visit Wayne Manor first to talk things over with the Bat King, get involved in whacky hijinks and secure a (off screen) alliance so the surprise Batpony army is built up rather than simply a plot gun to be fired when hope seems lost.SilentCarto wrote:Yeah, I'm sure he's never, ever, ever going to show up again backed by a surprise batpony army to save BJ's bacon at a critical moment. :pCptadder wrote:Oh hey you guys are hearing my voice for the first time and I'm a really nice guy but I'm totally taking off now to the Batcave with Whisper to go make Batbabys and we can totally never return because... the writer said so and by the way I'm a Prince
Besides with two deaths under her belt I've lost all fear that something bad is going to happen to Blackjack before it happens to her companions
That in and of itself is perfectly fine. Great charterer trait. I've known you people for less than a week, my people need me. I just wish we had gotten some build up before we get that trait defined and lose Stiggy. Some time to get to know him when he can talk or at least is more communicative. Aside from Blackjack taking his virginity and High tower he only got to almost die like seven times. That's nothing when your spending time with Blackjack.SilentCarto wrote:
And what's wrong with saying, "I have a duty to my people, and it's not out here in the wasteland"? He's got priorities, and a couple of mares he's known for less than two days don't outweigh them.
Also the last is pure word choice "Can never return" vs "if you come with me it might be some time before I can convince my father to let you come and go as you wish". Anytime anyone says "And you can never return" I start calling Vegas to get odds on how soon someone will be coming back to life/returning to where they came/getting back their super powers because that shit... never... ever... sticks. If you have to say you can never return, unless the person dies or totally gives up there's always a way. If you can get in you can get out again, if you can get out you can get back in. Need is the key.
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
by FeatherDust Tue Aug 14, 2012 8:51 pm
Wow. I guess I have to ask what "bad" means in your language, since apparently mutation, mutilation, rape, death, crippling, and death don't count as "something bad".Cptadder wrote:Besides with two deaths under her belt I've lost all fear that something bad is going to happen to Blackjack before it happens to her companions
Did you mean something irreversibly bad, that can't be fixed with technology or magic? Something that removes her from the story? 'cause, y'know... you knew going in that the hero wasn't gonna die at the end of book 3 of 5 (or more).
Heh, true that.Anytime anyone says "And you can never return" I start calling Vegas to get odds on how soon someone will be coming back to life/returning to where they came/getting back their super powers because that shit... never... ever... sticks.
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
by Ketchup Tue Aug 14, 2012 8:55 pm
I know, I've read it.FeatherDust wrote:Rainbow Factory is a fanfic that seems to be an attempt to recreate the Cupcakes effect. It involves Rainbow Dash running the secret factory where they shred living pegasus foals (the ones who fail their flight test, anyway) in a machine to create the colors that go into rainbow juice. I only skimmed it once I figured out what it was about, but I don't think they ever really explained why rainbows were so critically important that they're worth murdering children. I found it tiresome in its awfulness -- Cupcakes was shocking because nobody expected it, and once you get past that, it and fics in the same vein are just pointless brutality with no redeeming features (unless you get off on that sort of thing).ketchup504 wrote:What is rainbow used for? Weather control?Valikdu wrote:It consumes pony spinal tissue and produces spectra, then mixes spectra into rainbows.O. Hinds wrote:
Dare I ask what it does?
Obviously, given where I'm posting this, I don't have a problem with rather brutal stories -- but FoE and PH do that with a heroic theme and context that those stories lack.
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
by FeatherDust Tue Aug 14, 2012 8:57 pm
They're so great.swicked wrote:For those that are interested, here is the story in video form, mentally enhanced for your entertainment.
FiMFlamFilosophy deserves so much more attention than he gets...
Note that this in no way reflects the original story, as it goes almost completely off the rails within like 90 seconds.
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
by Ketchup Tue Aug 14, 2012 9:04 pm
From what I've watched of it so far, it does just that.FeatherDust wrote:They're so great.swicked wrote:For those that are interested, here is the story in video form, mentally enhanced for your entertainment.
FiMFlamFilosophy deserves so much more attention than he gets...
Note that this in no way reflects the original story, as it goes almost completely off the rails within like 90 seconds.
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
by Caoimhe Tue Aug 14, 2012 9:09 pm
swicked wrote:For those that are interested, here is the story in video form, mentally enhanced for your entertainment.
FiMFlamFilosophy deserves so much more attention than he gets...
This is freaking fantastic. This fuckin' community, I swear.
The super violent shocking stories, in my opinion as someone still new to all this, seem to do harm to the fandom. They seem to be mostly written for shock value and and seem to have very little literary qualities to them. Of course, they seem to get the most attention and taint the perception of fan-works. I mean, Cupcakes/Rainbow Factory fall under the same 'grimdark' tag as FoE fics do in general, right?
Again, to each his own but ehhhhhhhhhhhhh.
I also learned the term 'gluefic' today while looking this stuff up that I have to say made me laugh a little.
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
by Cptadder Tue Aug 14, 2012 9:09 pm
Bad is in permanent, in a world without cybernetics and magic she'd already have bad stuff happen to her. But considering how suicidally she throws herself in danger nothing short Glory abandoning her or P-21's internal bits sprayed across her face like the Raider back in Chapter 3 would count as a "bad thing". She's already suffered so much physically and mentally she's kinda jaded at this point, now the hurt must come from the outside. You can hurt her body but you can't hurt HER just the meat her brain is riding around in. I suppose if you sat down with various sharp metal objects and buckets of acid you could find something that hurting her would hurt here but we are in torture porn territory there.FeatherDust wrote:
Wow. I guess I have to ask what "bad" means in your language, since apparently mutation, mutilation, rape, death, crippling, and death don't count as "something bad".
Did you mean something irreversibly bad, that can't be fixed with technology or magic? Something that removes her from the story? 'cause, y'know... you knew going in that the hero wasn't gonna die at the end of book 3 of 5 (or more).
There's only so times one can be shot or set on fire before it becomes the equivalent of a runny nose. Inconvenient but it will pass, hell even radiation and ennervation fall into this grouping because again Blackjack was less worried about her cybernetic cyborg pony self than her compatriots.
Never does which is why I'm offering 14 to 1 odds, a bet of one dollar wins your thirteen if we never see Whisper again.FeatherDust wrote:Heh, true that.Anytime anyone says "And you can never return" I start calling Vegas to get odds on how soon someone will be coming back to life/returning to where they came/getting back their super powers because that shit... never... ever... sticks.
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
by Icy Shake Tue Aug 14, 2012 9:18 pm
swicked wrote:For those that are interested, here is the story in video form, mentally enhanced for your entertainment.
FiMFlamFilosophy deserves so much more attention than he gets...
Agree there. I only started reading Rainbow Factory after seeing this, and stopped not because the content was unpleasant, but because it was boring. I've become increasingly impressed at how well he turns dull stories into quality comedy (and some ongoing stories of his own).
Shorter Cptadder wrote:We need to judge things, in this case Stygius' departure, on what's presented in-text. Also, we all know he'll show up later--there's always a way out if you try hard enough.
Agreed on first point, and I do see how that leads to some issues with translation in character development from the author's mind to the reader's mind. In this case, though, I actually appreciated that we were reaching the (potential) end of a character arc without knowing everything about him, or having a full idea of how he will react to everything. I thought it was a bit of a shake-up from the general feel of PH where BJ--and thus we--tends to learn about the characters in great detail before their departure, or soon after. But that's just a matter of taste.
I'd just like to add this to the return issue: or they could wait for the king to die and Stygius or one of his siblings to ascend to the throne. Sure, the time frame is longer, but it's not never.
Oh, and on the largely unrelated "king in land without" or "shouldn't he be a viceroy to Luna" or "why does the Society have a king" issue, my way of thinking of it is that we just sort of see a quirk of translation. So perhaps "princess" is simply ranked higher than "king" in the hierarchy of nobility in Equestria. It's not like it was uncommon for kings to be subservient to emperors, and there were even times when princes or dukes were more powerful than nearby kings. (I had also always thought to myself that the reason Blueblood was a "prince" was because English doesn't differentiate as it should; would that the show were in German so he could be a prinz to the Sisters' Fürstinnen!) Or perhaps the more circuitous explanation that in MLP a ruling prince has the station and dignity of an emperor, as an anglicization of the title of the early Roman Emperors, which incidentally fits nicely with the show's more...egalitarian[?]...feel, as at least at the time the formalities of the Republic were maintained.
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
by Ketchup Tue Aug 14, 2012 9:20 pm
It was certainly a lot more entertaining.Icy Shake wrote:swicked wrote:For those that are interested, here is the story in video form, mentally enhanced for your entertainment.
FiMFlamFilosophy deserves so much more attention than he gets...
Agree there. I only started reading Rainbow Factory after seeing this, and stopped not because the content was unpleasant, but because it was boring. I've become increasingly impressed at how well he turns dull stories into quality comedy (and some ongoing stories of his own).
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
by Cptadder Tue Aug 14, 2012 9:43 pm
There was a quality explanation for Princesses and Queens another fanfic writer ventured. In that case if you became King or Queen it meant you were retiring. Kings and Queen having only ceremonial powers while the prince and princesses actually ran the kingdom. It was a neat little inversion that came about because the old King wanted to leave the throne and put his daughter in charge but by law this could not happen as long as he was still alive so he simply transferred power to her and live his days attending balls, feats and tournaments (The fun part of being King) while his children got around with ruling the land. And this became the tradition.
As an explanation method on why the Princess is not the queen (I'm looking at you Disney!) it's better than "my parents are off somewhere offscreen, but they are still alive we swear"
As an explanation method on why the Princess is not the queen (I'm looking at you Disney!) it's better than "my parents are off somewhere offscreen, but they are still alive we swear"
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
by Sindri Tue Aug 14, 2012 9:54 pm
I think we need to come up with more excuses for Somber to say these words.SilentCarto wrote:The fact that you can seriously use that word in a sentence with a straight face makes my brain explode.Somber wrote:...a psychosexual story of exploration.
Yeah. Kinda like getting her to infiltrate a zebra base, miss her target, and kill an innocent foal.Getting Psalm to shoot at either Celestia or Macintosh would be one hell of a trick.Theta wrote:It seems likely that Goldenblood found out that Big Mac was going to leave the Marauders and decided that it would be bad for morale.
It sounds like your main complaint about Stygius's exit is that it wasn't sufficiently foreshadowed. But I kinda thought it was... maybe I was thinking more about the scene with his sister at the start than most people, maybe I was reading too much into his actions and what little he did say before today, but I was not at all surprised by his status, the rules of his society, or the exit they mandated. There are a lot of things in Somber's writing that are foreshadowed in a very subtle way, so it's obvious in retrospect but we only catch a few of them in advance; this was a step further than that, to where I was going on vague impressions and several people seem to have missed it entirely even with hindsight, but I'm pretty sure the clues were still there.Cptadder wrote:[snop]
I think that there should just be a 'trollfic' tag for things like Cupcakes, Spiderses, My Immortal, etc. where they were clearly never intended to be an actual story. That way you can host them for the people who insist on it, but you don't need to bother digging through for other tags and they're kept separate from things that can be taken seriously.Caoimhe wrote:The super violent shocking stories, in my opinion as someone still new to all this, seem to do harm to the fandom. They seem to be mostly written for shock value and and seem to have very little literary qualities to them. Of course, they seem to get the most attention and taint the perception of fan-works. I mean, Cupcakes/Rainbow Factory fall under the same 'grimdark' tag as FoE fics do in general, right?
Again, to each his own but ehhhhhhhhhhhhh.
I also learned the term 'gluefic' today while looking this stuff up that I have to say made me laugh a little.
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
by Stringtheory Tue Aug 14, 2012 10:28 pm
plug for FO:E New Roam over on FiMfiction, this is the first FO:E fic I've seen which goes into the Zebra side of the war and it does so very well, there's a lot less raiders in Zebra territory, but the extremely dangerous wildlife and organized Legion, who might as well be pre-apocalypse for the level of stuff they have (they need it to battle the wildlife), make up for the low amount of raiders
the character's are awesome, with the main character having a strong sense of 'duty' and taking the danger away from others because it was his plan and no one else should get hurt, while the companions are all awesome, and I'm looking forwards to the future interaction between them
it's already almost 180,000 words long with only 11 chapters, which is very impressive
the character's are awesome, with the main character having a strong sense of 'duty' and taking the danger away from others because it was his plan and no one else should get hurt, while the companions are all awesome, and I'm looking forwards to the future interaction between them
it's already almost 180,000 words long with only 11 chapters, which is very impressive
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
by Sindri Tue Aug 14, 2012 11:14 pm
I'll second this recommendation. Personally I found the first couple episodes to range from moderately amusing to irritating, but the later ones tend to be brilliant and you need to sit through the beginning to get all the jokes.swicked wrote:Just out of curiosity, since you're new to FiM and all, have you seen Friendship is Witchcraft?Caoimhe wrote:swicked wrote:For those that are interested, here is the story in video form, mentally enhanced for your entertainment.
FiMFlamFilosophy deserves so much more attention than he gets...
This is freaking fantastic. This fuckin' community, I swear.
If not I recommend you look into it; the first few episodes are so funny they're nearly lethal.
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
by Caoimhe Tue Aug 14, 2012 11:47 pm
Re: FiW
Oh, I went through all of those. Those folks behind it are really damn amazing. I love the clever quick witted dialogue and how everything syncs really well. It's pretty neat how they basically just take the actual characters and just make them incredibly selfish, yet they retain their core "traits."
Oh, I went through all of those. Those folks behind it are really damn amazing. I love the clever quick witted dialogue and how everything syncs really well. It's pretty neat how they basically just take the actual characters and just make them incredibly selfish, yet they retain their core "traits."
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
by IncoherentOrange Tue Aug 14, 2012 11:50 pm
Valikdu wrote:O. Hinds wrote:Dare I ask what it does?Valikdu wrote:ketchup504 wrote:Speaking of strange/creepy but strangely addictive, I rather like listening to the Rainbow Factory song over and over again.
...Did I mention that there's a building called Spectra Extractor in my DF mod?
It consumes pony spinal tissue and produces spectra, then mixes spectra into rainbows.
![[GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion - Page 18 Rainbows](https://2img.net/h/i367.photobucket.com/albums/oo111/emmylou1516/rainbows.gif)
Are you sure you can't just use a lumbar puncture to aquire spinal fluid to make rainbows with? Because ponies' spinal fluid probably makes rainbows if refined... right?
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
by Sindri Wed Aug 15, 2012 1:30 am
Likewise. I tend to be ambivalent toward her when she's on the side of somepony else's story, but every episode centered on Rarity I've loved.swicked wrote:Just realized Rarity-heavy episodes are my favorite not just in the show, but in parodies, too XD
As for FiW, I didn't really like #1 or #6 (The Perfect Swarm, Lunar Slander) and 3, 4, and 5 have been my favorites (Dragone Baby Gone, Cute From The Hip, Neigh Soul Sister). The first three were definitely a steady improvement in my opinion as they got their team together and figured out what they were doing, and now 3-7 seem to be like any normal show with good episodes and bad. Or in this case, excellent episodes and merely decent ones.
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
by IncoherentOrange Wed Aug 15, 2012 2:37 am
This. Few things have me excited nowadays, but that is one of them, and I am excited.
I am also considering listening to Fo:E when I have the time. That sounds like fun too.
As for Friendship is Witchcraft? I didn't really watch it, but I should. I've seen bits and pieces and it was rather much hilarious.
I am also considering listening to Fo:E when I have the time. That sounds like fun too.
As for Friendship is Witchcraft? I didn't really watch it, but I should. I've seen bits and pieces and it was rather much hilarious.
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