[GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion

Kattlarv wrote:Again: Gee, thanks guys for spewing out spoilers, assuming everyone sat and could see the episode the direct second it aired, and also did this, thus making it totally legit to start talking all about the episode openly the first thing you do once you finished watching. Since hey! Who'd go to the forum before they watched the latest episode?

... also: *blinks a few times* I have no idea what just happened comment wise in this thread. But I might have a head-ache...

Metaphysics happened, AFAIK. And sorry! I think we forgot that not everyone watches the episode like the second it gets put onto YouTube... :( In any case, we should have spoilered the spoilery stuff.

Okay, so here's my thoughts on Dawn's disposition.

Pre-battle, I think Dawn was either totally on-board with Coggie (disillusioned by the Enclave and bamboozled by Cognitum's lies/misrepresentations), or More Than Mind Controlled -- that is, there's an element of mind control involved but the victim has to allow it, ask for it, or otherwise open the door first. (An example of the latter is Discord getting to Applejack -- while he certainly did do something to her, he first convinced her that she WANTED to lie and conceal the vision she'd seen.) Dawn's explanation of Cognitum's goals doesn't seem to jibe very well with Cog's behavior and statements to this point, so either Dawn has been very effectively lied to, or is lying to herself to avoid facing the truth of what her ally stands for (possibly with some cybernetic "assistance").

During the battle I see these as the important events:
1) Dawn's resolve wavers.
2) Monsterpony transformation
3) Furious scream as she attacks Sky Striker
4) "Enough! No more weakness!"
5) Fleeting expression of horror; scream; flee

So here's my interpretation of what's going on inside:
#1 is kinda the issue really. BJ says she thought Dawn was giving in. I... didn't. What she was saying about a fairy tale and all that sounded like there was a "...but..." coming up next. However, #3 is where I go the other way -- that scream doesn't fit with her emotional state. I could see her shooting him coldly, or stabbing him while tears roll down her face. But the attack is enraged, and it doesn't make sense. I mean, assuming she's not just pants-on-head crazy, but if she's that nuts then she need not act in any rational fashion and the whole discussion is moot.

Rather, to me, the scream and the "Enough!" thing seem like Cogs speaking through Dawn, rather than Dawn acting on her own. This is strengthened, to me, by the look of horror and fleeing from the battle afterward -- if Cogs took her over long enough to flip on the monstrous cybernetics and attack Striker, but then allowed Dawn to have control back again, that would explain her expression and running away. If that were Dawn's choice, I'm not sure how to interpret it.

Also I would note that Dawn may not have known all the monsterpony cybernetics were inside her. She had to know she'd been modified, but she could easily have been unaware of just how much cyber the was under her skin. When Cogs pulled the Go Monstrous switch, that may be the first time Dawn found out about her claws and blades and all -- and that would also explain her panicked flight. She just murdered her husband, without being able to stop herself, and she's turned into some kind of horror.

Yeah it would be horrifying to Dawn to not know she's now mostly machine and all of a sudden surprise you're a brain in a tin can.

swicked wrote:Agreed. While it would have been nice if it was Dawn's choice to kill her husband, we'd then have to ask why she was screaming "No more weakness!"

It might actually make sense. Put yourself in Dawn's horseshoes and pretend she's the hero of her own story. She gave up her quest, the very meaning of her cutie mark (as she saw it) to run off with Striker and go live this fairy-tale dream in the Enclave. Oh, sure, she told herself she could convince the Enclave to help, but it must have become clear pretty quickly that they were disinclined to do so. But by then she was pregnant, maybe a mother already, so she put her quest on indefinite hold. How many times during that period did she berate herself for not being strong enough to turn her back on a beautiful dream and go do what she felt she was meant to do? Finally, the Enclave had enough of her, and it was all the excuse she needed. She left.

But that's not where it ends. Dawn wandered the wasteland for a while, trying to find the one thing that could possibly justify abandoning her love and her family. She searched long and hard, and she didn't find it. But did she persevere? No, she crawled into the Hoofington tunnels to die. Weakness.

And then Cogs gave her a second chance. In the midst of her despair, she stumbled into exactly what she was looking for. But that doesn't change the fact that she was committing suicide at the time. So, freshly recommitted to her cause, she headed out to spread the word.

And then, when Striker showed up again, she cames this close to starting it all over again. To giving up and running off to live a fantasy. But this time, she didn't. She'd been through death and back to find this place. "No more weakness!" she screamed.

swicked wrote:I just realized something.

In the latest chapter, Somber reveals that P-21 keeps his screwdriver in his tail, as opposed to "under" it.

I've had it headcanoned as being up his butt since the first chapter. Why did Somber wait this long to correct us? XD

Goddesses have a sense of humor too!

Well, given the abuse his rectum has seen at the... "hooves" of the overmare, you'd think putting a screwdriver up, or rather down his poop-chute wouldn't be much by comparison, but still...

Think of the fact he's still operating it with his mouth, dang !

@OAC: It's fine, I get a bit overly snappy... not sure why. But yeah, spoilers next time please.

swicked wrote:I just realized something.

In the latest chapter, Somber reveals that P-21 keeps his screwdriver in his tail, as opposed to "under" it.

I've had it headcanoned as being up his butt since the first chapter. Why did Somber wait this long to correct us? XD

Cause it's funny.
Also I just realized P-21's backside is technically a bag of holding.

swicked wrote:

Harmony Ltd. wrote:Well, given the abuse his rectum has seen at the... "hooves" of the overmare, you'd think putting a screwdriver up, or rather down his poop-chute wouldn't be much by comparison, but still...

Think of the fact he's still operating it with his mouth, dang !

I know, I wrote stuff based on that assumption (heh)!
I could swear I remember him cleaning it off one time after retrieving it. Maybe he occassionally keeps it in his butt, but wasn't that time?

Well, remember that back in 99 he had to actually hide it, whereas now he just needs to store it.

Quest Perk

"Rectum of Steel"

The amount of damage your back end has had to suffer on a regular basis has made it quite able to endure things that would otherwise result in severe injuries for other ponies.
You can store up to three pounds and a half liter of volume inside your rectal cavity without penalties.

"He who fights monsters should see to it that he himself does not become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you."
— Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil

Pretty much the original source of what Harvey said in The Dark Knight. That lovely fine line that anti-heros walk and in today's cynical mindset what every hero needs to be careful of.

As for P-21, I'd gone with he just store things around that area. Up his butt, inside his tail, magic pocket dimension he's learned to tap into just like Pinkie Pie does. Usually don't think about it till attention is brought upon it.

Moodyman90 wrote:As for P-21, I'd gone with he just store things around that area. Up his butt, inside his tail, magic pocket dimension he's learned to tap into just like Pinkie Pie does. Usually don't think about it till attention is brought upon it.

Thank you SO much, I totally needed to think of him storing a party cannon there.

And my revenge was to inflict the thought on you.

You're very welcome. I feel sorry for the others though.

SilentCarto wrote:

Moodyman90 wrote:As for P-21, I'd gone with he just store things around that area. Up his butt, inside his tail, magic pocket dimension he's learned to tap into just like Pinkie Pie does. Usually don't think about it till attention is brought upon it.

Thank you SO much, I totally needed to think of him storing a party cannon there.

And my revenge was to inflict the thought on you.

I guess you could say-
(puts on gunglasses)
It's quite the party up there.

CannonFodder wrote:I guess you could say-
(puts on gunglasses)
It's quite the party up there.

You just lost your glasses privileges for a week, buster.

There's a party in her pants, and everypony's invited!

Also hi everyone. Finals week is slowly but surely draining the life from me. Anyone else still stuck in school?

Speaking of school, has anyone heard from Somber? Or do we need to launch a rescue expedition to dig a small gray pony out of a large pile of ungraded tests?

Quotidian wrote:There's a party in her pants, and everypony's invited!

Also hi everyone. Finals week is slowly but surely draining the life from me. Anyone else still stuck in school?

Speaking of school, has anyone heard from Somber? Or do we need to launch a rescue expedition to dig a small gray pony out of a large pile of ungraded tests?

oh my, that was a hilarious mental image

swicked wrote:

Quotidian wrote:Also hi everyone. Finals week is slowly but surely draining the life from me. Anyone else still stuck in school?

Yes -_-

I live at the country club...

thread has been officially derailed

Quotidian wrote:There's a party in her pants, and everypony's invited!

Also hi everyone. Finals week is slowly but surely draining the life from me. Anyone else still stuck in school?

Speaking of school, has anyone heard from Somber? Or do we need to launch a rescue expedition to dig a small gray pony out of a large pile of ungraded tests?

Somber's a professor? I didn't know that.

High school English teacher.

Quotidian wrote:Also hi everyone. Finals week is slowly but surely draining the life from me. Anyone else still stuck in school?

I've a final in about twelve minutes, actually. I'm not too worried about this one, though.

Quotidian wrote:There's a party in her pants, and everypony's invited!

Also hi everyone. Finals week is slowly but surely draining the life from me. Anyone else still stuck in school?

Speaking of school, has anyone heard from Somber? Or do we need to launch a rescue expedition to dig a small gray pony out of a large pile of ungraded tests?

He was around on Sunday and said he had some more work done on the next chapter, so progress is progressing progressively!

SilentCarto wrote:
Thank you SO much, I totally needed to think of him storing a party cannon there.

And my revenge was to inflict the thought on you.

Pinkie did start sneezing confetti that one time...

Quotidian wrote:Finals week is slowly but surely draining the life from me. Anyone else still stuck in school?

I haven't had to think about school in ten full years, as of next week.

While it's probably nothing compared to secondary education final or anything of a sort, but I've got to write a 500-word thesis on something relating to racial discrimination in the US. The class got a bunch of topics relating to To Kill a Mockingbird, but I couldn't decide between them because any of them would drop my marks like a rock if I did them due to lack of proficiency in creative or artistic works.
I have no idea how to write a thesis paper.

Okay, we get it BJ, you're fucking hardcore.

Geez...


lol

swicked wrote:Something just occurred to me.

Blackjack: Gezz, Littlepip, you look like crap! What happened?
Littlepip: Ugh... Well, you know that balefire bomb that went off?
Blackjack: ...you mean the one I set off last week? Yeah, gezz, that thing was scary. I'd of been afraid for my life if I hadn't already been dead at the time.
Littlepip: ...okay, what the serious fuck.

Hah!

swicked wrote:Something just occurred to me.

Blackjack: Gezz, Littlepip, you look like crap! What happened?
Littlepip: Ugh... Well, you know that balefire bomb that went off?
Blackjack: ...you mean the one I set off last week? Yeah, gezz, that thing was scary. I'd of been afraid for my life if I hadn't already been dead at the time.
Littlepip: ...okay, what the serious fuck.

Every single one of the conversation between Blackjack and Littlepip would end with either "what the fuck or "please stop my brain is melting" from Littlepip.

Remember this from Mister Mech?

Every single conversation

The funny thing is that BJ would seriously be seeing this as some sort of competition with the Stable Dweller to see who get into the most messed-up situation, trying to keep scores ; while Littlepip would just be in a perpetual state of oscillating between WTF/TMI.


Edit : as Mech's drawing sums up.

swicked wrote:Something just occurred to me.

Blackjack: Gezz, Littlepip, you look like crap! What happened?
Littlepip: Ugh... Well, you know that balefire bomb that went off?
Blackjack: ...you mean the one I set off last week? Yeah, gezz, that thing was scary. I'd of been afraid for my life if I hadn't already been dead at the time.
Littlepip: ...okay, what the serious fuck.

Someone should do a non-canon bar scene with blackjack and littlepip XD
And death just casually passes blackjack giving her a brohoof saying, "see you again in two weeks and three weeks and four weeks and five weeks"

So, since the beginning of December, I've been doing a "25 Days of Pony" challenge, drawing one of my favorite ponies every day, and today's was Rampage.

Spoiler:

http://wavemasterryx.tumblr.com/post/37734533559

swicked wrote:Something just occurred to me.

Blackjack: Gezz, Littlepip, you look like crap! What happened?
Littlepip: Ugh... Well, you know that balefire bomb that went off?
Blackjack: ...you mean the one I set off last week? Yeah, gezz, that thing was scary. I'd of been afraid for my life if I hadn't already been dead at the time.
Littlepip: ...okay, what the serious fuck.

A very amusing thought, sir.