[GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion

Most memerable moments?
As for serious ones that have stuck with me:
Play...freakin' Play. That word will forever be scarred in my mind. Same with 'Hush Now Quiet Now'.

As you said, Lancer killing the zebras. When I first read that chapter, I thought we were about to get a badass zebra-sniper companion. Nope, instead we got a badass-murderous-nemesis. I think I just sat there with my mouth hanging open for a few minutes after that scene ended...

For moments that I still laugh at whenever I think of them:
The first time Rampage is turned back to a filly and tries to put her hoofclaws on...my god I d'aww'd.

Blackjack drinking with the Captain and hanging a whiskey bottle on her horn...best. scene. ever.

ketchup504 wrote:Okay, I'm going to get something going if no one else will.

What are a few of your most memorable moments of PH?

One I've been thinking of all day is when Lancer killed the zebras after they were freed, and shot Blackjack.

Mainly the fight scenes, when Blackjack got her cybernetics, and the one scene where BJ talks about seeing a moving building. I don't recall if they ever elaborated on that.

Right so anyways back to PH. Have we speculated on how Dawn will react to Glory being polymorphed into Rainbow Dash, and how Glory will react to her mother's sudden reappearance?

I believe that Glory idolized her mother, but she is probably angry that her mother abandoned her. There is also the matter of how Dawn was actually tracking Glory since it is too suspicious that Dawn just show up now.

I don't think Dawn will react negatively to Glory's transformation other than the shock you would expect when your child has radical changes. She exiled herself from the Enclave willingly, from what I remember, so I don't think she would hate Glory just for looking like Rainbow Dash even if RD was the scapegoat for all of the Pegasai's problems.

Still I'm sure things are going to get violent between Glory and Dawn. In light relationship problems with Blackjack I'm willing to bet Glory is more than a little edgy right now.

*Edit*

For memorable moments I have two that spring to mind. First would be the Fluttershy medical center from CH 6, and the scene where Blackjack takes a bath in full combat armor while toting a shotgun and drinking whiskey. If anything highlights the overall mood of PH, I think it would be those two.

ketchup504 wrote:Okay, I'm going to get something going if no one else will.

What are a few of your most memorable moments of PH?

One I've been thinking of all day is when Lancer killed the zebras after they were freed, and shot Blackjack.

I'm rereading it for an hour before bedtime so I can retain more for discussion (since I marathoned the entire thing in 2 days initially).

Everything in Flank was fucking amazing. Some of the best writing and pacing there.

However, what really got me - what told me that this wasn't just going to be a darker, edgier FoE, was the last couple pages of Chapter ten, ending with this line:

The mining cart passed the weathered bones of a pony stretched out along the side of the tracks. Its frozen grin said quietly: Ante up.

Then I knew this was something special. That imagery after everything before it is fuckin' beautiful and dismal as hell.

Katarn wrote:Once this forum was calm and happy place...then Project Horizons happened.

It never asked for this.

What are a few of your most memorable moments of PH?

You mean, beside the fact that almost every moment is at least somewhat memorable?
Well, the first serious one would be Play, naturally. It's the part that really separated PH from 'vanilla' FoE. And also a quality spike (well, not as much a spike as the beginning of a big mountain that only got taller... and screw this analogy).
Any moment that adds to the ever-growing stack of things that Blackjack regrets doing is going to be very memorable. And there's so many that you can build a fortress from them.

I guess I'm one of the only ones who didn't see a huge significance with the whole "Play" thing. I would have done the same thing, honestly.

Oh, and this bit of dialogue at the end of chapter 16, out of context, pretty much sums up the whole story. It just jumped out at me.

“Is it worth it?” I asked as the cold water dripped into my eyes.

She didn’t answer right away. “Not really, but it’s better than being alone,” she said as she gazed out at the rain with a distant, sad expression.

I'm also continually amazed that although Somber doesn't drink, he writes about inebriation pretty well... maybe not in the ability of ponies able to down several 750s of whiskey in a sitting like bottles of beer but that can be explained as a ponyverse biology thing.

The inner monologue transition of Blackjack on Dash is really well done, too. Cripes I love dat Flank arc.

The Flank arc was definitely my favorite arc of the story. Not that the others were bad, quite the opposite, Flank was just so damn amazing. Especially the way it ended, that fight was long coming, and I could have clapped for it if I wasn't reading it at midnight.
And yes, he does capture inebriation very well. I couldn't tell he doesn't drink with his descriptions, it's very well done.

ketchup504 wrote:Okay, I'm going to get something going if no one else will.

What are a few of your most memorable moments of PH?

One I've been thinking of all day is when Lancer killed the zebras after they were freed, and shot Blackjack.

Uh... Honestly, the most immediately memorable for me so far is probably that dual-language signage in Yellow River that told us that the primary writing system for Roaman Zebra was ideogrammatic. This isn't meant to disparage any of the rest of the story, but the very first thing that comes to mind... Yeah, I have some odd tastes.

CamoBadger wrote:As you said, Lancer killing the zebras. When I first read that chapter, I thought we were about to get a badass zebra-sniper companion. Nope, instead we got a badass-murderous-nemesis. I think I just sat there with my mouth hanging open for a few minutes after that scene ended...

I had that too! Actually, I also misread P-21's suspicion of him and thought...well.

O. Hinds wrote:

CamoBadger wrote:As you said, Lancer killing the zebras. When I first read that chapter, I thought we were about to get a badass zebra-sniper companion. Nope, instead we got a badass-murderous-nemesis. I think I just sat there with my mouth hanging open for a few minutes after that scene ended...

I had that too! Actually, I also misread P-21's suspicion of him and thought...well.

You thought P21xLancer didn't you?

Sheesh, is it safe to rejoin the thread? I was busy in the morning, and then so much randomness happened... And then Kip happened apparently with a bunch of posts that I skipped. I'll just have to check what the hubub was about.

Anyways... Memorable moments? Everytime Blackjack drinks, hilarity ensues, except for that part with P-21 drinking. Happyhorn stuck with me though.

CamoBadger wrote:

O. Hinds wrote:

CamoBadger wrote:As you said, Lancer killing the zebras. When I first read that chapter, I thought we were about to get a badass zebra-sniper companion. Nope, instead we got a badass-murderous-nemesis. I think I just sat there with my mouth hanging open for a few minutes after that scene ended...

I had that too! Actually, I also misread P-21's suspicion of him and thought...well.

You thought P21xLancer didn't you?

Not that far at the time, but I considered it a possibility. I certainly got the (mistaken) impression that P-21 was appreciating how fit a zebra warrior stallion Lancer was.

How common do you all think tanks are?

CamoBadger wrote:

O. Hinds wrote:

CamoBadger wrote:As you said, Lancer killing the zebras. When I first read that chapter, I thought we were about to get a badass zebra-sniper companion. Nope, instead we got a badass-murderous-nemesis. I think I just sat there with my mouth hanging open for a few minutes after that scene ended...

I had that too! Actually, I also misread P-21's suspicion of him and thought...well.

You thought P21xLancer didn't you?

It's cannon now.
Make it happen.

O. Hinds wrote:Not that far at the time, but I considered it a possibility. I certainly got the (mistaken) impression that P-21 was appreciating how fit a zebra warrior stallion Lancer was.

I actually got the same vibe from how he reacted to Lancer both times I read through that part...why I still thought that the second time, I'll never know. Probably because of how similar his reaction was to that pony from the Society back at the Fluttershy Medical Center.

Ironmonger wrote:How common do you all think tanks are?

I'm not sure...definitely not as common as they were during the war, but I think you could find one or two laying around, especially around a place which saw as many attacks as the Hoof.

OneMoreDaySK wrote:Sheesh, is it safe to rejoin the thread?.

Is it ever?

CamoBadger wrote:I'm not sure...definitely not as common as they were during the war, but I think you could find one or two laying around, especially around a place which saw as many attacks as the Hoof.

Thanks, I'm trying to gather some tid bits of information to develop a decent artillery/vehicle doctrine for an army set in FoE. Everything needs to be just so.

Play was about where I felt PH began to develop its own feel; prior to that it seemed--to me--to be very similar to FoE.

Clearly, the depiction of drunkenness stands out as very good. On a different note, the way Blackjack pictures things in her mind is pretty memorable to me. Beyond the Dealer, you've got her imaginings of the Goddess (popcorn!) and the Stable Dweller (400kg of solid muscle, and BFGs up the wazoo!), among others.

For discrete events, I'd point to the suicide attempts and fallout therefrom as particularly impacting to me, on the positive side, and the appearance and use of Stronghoof, on the negative side. I guess that the use of such a clear expy for unrelated IP just didn't sit well with me...though I did like some of what Discord did when he was released (Superdraconequus? Sweet! Hilarious! But in that case, it's something that I felt made sense for the character that already existed.).

Oh yes, Superdraconequus, I laughed my ass off.

I also loved the Pinkie and the Brain thing with Scotch and P-21. So. Damn. Funny.

Sleep for four hours
come back to five new pages
Alright, what have we been talking about...
Soviet bastard jokes everywhere
Typical array of failed derail macros
Kipper posting decently written but boring clopfic
Typical array of failed re-railing posts


Most memorable moments? Well, I still get feels when I hear "Hush now, quiet now..."
Other than that the moments that leap most immediately to mind would conveniently bracket the PH experience: on one side Blackjack riding an explosion down the stairs in a broken tub and subsequently drinking in it in full armor yelling about her very valuable head, and on the other extreme... Black.

Memory orbs really are the most dangerous and terrifying weapon in the wasteland (well, for a unicorn). Just to be completely unconscious and unaware of your current situation is scary as hell.

It'd be interesting see what would happen if a pony got put under by one and others used magic to try to pull 'em out of it. Like, what would the effect be in the real world? Or the memory?

What happens if you die in a memory?

Actually it seems like Blackjack should have put Gem/Mini (forget which was trapped in the wall) under with a memory before shooting her. Sure that lessons the emotional impact of the suicide, but an interesting idea for a 'humane' way to put somepony down.




Also gotta mention the mental hospital for another favourite scene. That shit was intense. Confusing at first but once I figured out what was going on, I was in awe. Pretty damn important to the story and quite enjoyable.

Nah, I mean if you're viewing a memory and your body dies.

Hmm...

Wonder what would happen if someone's in a memory and they get hit with some anti arcane... thing. Go into a coma?

You can't apply conventional logic to figure out things related to memory orbs - these are things that has to be decided upon since most alternatives makes equally sense. As for dying, I don't imagine anything unusual would happen, even soul-wise.
I couldn't decide on a favourite scene, but if I had to, it'd probably involve P-21 snapping at Blackjack.
Which reminds me, my mind was blown ever since I noticed that the heroine is called Blackjack and her companion P-21, but I guess that's not a moment in the story. Nevertheless, that's so smart it literally brought me to tears.

What happens if you try to create a memory of yourself going into a memory?



?

Caoimhe wrote:What happens if you try to create a memory of yourself going into a memory?



?

AAAAAAAAAAAND IT'S BROKE!

swicked wrote:

ketchup504 wrote:What are a few of your most memorable moments of PH?

At the end of that hospital, when Blackjack was on the table and was cut open, seeing her friends in danger around her before crawling to the power conduit and saving them from the killer foals and waking up after the super heal spell was used on her.
Just that entire scene, from table to table, was amazing.

This. I seriously considered not continuing to read PH at that point, because that scene got to me in a bad way. But I pressed on and loved the story, and no other scene gave me that level of empathetic bad feeling. And I'm impressed that it managed to affect me like that, no fiction I've consumed managed to get as far into the make-it-stop portions of my head as the vivisection/walking trailing intestines did. I didn't sympathize with Blackjack's regret for killing the foals at all.

Other scenes that stand out: Discord, Littlepip, dragonslaying, the everafter, mutant hydra fight, story of the blanks, taking down the 99 raiders (the reveal of what they were doing with Rampage was a fantastic oh shit moment), the Goddess messing with Blackjack's head, the Goddess revealing her plans for Gardens of Equestria and Spike, Blackjack coming back to find what Sanguine had been doing, Blackjack firing Trottenheimer's Folly for the first time...

Has anyone made a timeline of the events in Fallout: Equestria and/or Project Horizons?

...just now realized I never noticed the thing between Blackjack and P-21

I'm so super...

swicked wrote:Uh, really? I caught that at the first chapter o_O

I occasionally slip by some things others might find obvious - I wasn't even aware that P-21 was to become a lead character so I didn't ponder too much. The effect was all the greater when I realised it later on, though.
CamoBadger feels me! See why I've been all crazy about the story?

nebulous wrote:Has anyone made a timeline of the events in Fallout: Equestria and/or Project Horizons?

Well, there is something on the Fallout Equestria Wiki for the original. I assume it's just a stub. Nothing on PH I know of.
http://falloutequestria.wikia.com/wiki/Timeline