Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion

[Stringtheory]

That doesn't make sense. The core would have had to travel at light speed to crash at the same time that the light from its own explosion hit Equestria.

It would be kind of interesting if the EoS's original death produced a sort of Enervation gamma ray burst, but that doesn't seem to be what's being explained here.

I could try going around the traditional way of eliminating all the other possibilities, but the original destruction of the EoS being such a large explosion as to throw pieces around at FTL speeds (through whatever-space) is sufficiently awesome that I think it's a perfectly viable explanation.

So this is just a random thought, but what if the EoS has been dying all these thousands of years? Not just being the last big shard of itself in existence, but also sorta doomed to never be able to pull itself together? Maybe the reason it makes avatars like that zebra and Luna is that it isn't just trying to make the intelligent life on the planet work for it, but that it also needs to resonate with souls that aren't completely subsumed to keep itself alive? Like, from that vision of the stars that BJ had we know that the stars kinda resonate with each other, and while the EoS tried to make absolutely everything resonate with it nowadays it needs to find a few souls to resonate with (like it used to before it went crazy) so it can stay alive in its present wrecked state.

Tragic backstory for EVERYONE!

[SilentCarto]

I want to see him… but I don’t deserve to see him… but I… I…”
I'M NOT SUPPOSED TO BE HAPPY! It's like the fall-off in guilt from Blackjack the last few chapters got dumped into her.

Umm... well, yes. That's precisely what happened.

“No no no.  She… I… we… if she’d been there, then we wouldn’t have let her die.  She… I…”
"Congratulations, Psalm, you're the new Blackjack! Now let's go!"

That gave me a giggle.  

A knot of zebras calling themselves ‘Achu’ were talking with ‘Doombunny Deathbringers’, zebras from some place called Glyphmark.
I wonder if they get shit about their names.

Only once.

“Robot processors miss things.  Empty food tins.  Missing gemstones.  Turds in the corner.  A trail of drained Wild Pegasus bottles.
Question is, miscarriage, or Blackjack ignorance, or is she counting on the poison-management to be just that good?

...what?

“She thinks she needs Blackjack for her plans, not just EC-1101.  That’s why I need to find her myself.  I have to be the one to stop her.  To give my goddess the key to her freedom.
Well, depending on the circumstances, she may feel she needs the Maiden. And frankly, you just don't fit the bill as well as she.

So, are you calling Dawn the Mother or the Crone?   

...actually, if you think about it, BJ, Dawn, and Cogs might fill those roles pretty well, in a twisted sort of way...

Well, I'd already come to terms with Lacunae's death, and the fact that Psalm is still around was something I had considered.  It's still a shame nothing of Lacunae really remained.  I hope eventually they'll be able to help Psalm find at least a little peace.

Well... Lac's memories remain, and that's not nothing.

One thing that I immediately noticed was P-21 specifically referring to Razorblade as a "raider" kid.  If that wasn't just a slip of the tongue, then it implies that Glory was actually successful in curing the raider plague, which is really quite incredible.  It also means she didn't have to sacrifice herself while singing about being a "scientist salarian", which I was quite honestly extremely concerned about the moment she suggested working on a cure...

I don't think that was the implication. There are plenty of raiders across the Wasteland who aren't infected, like the eyeball guy from New Appleoosa. I assumed this was someone new to Hoofington, much like the pegasus kids.

It's nice to go from crying to the second of my favorite scenes in the chapter.  Sekashi and Majina are simply priceless, and for it being her first appearance, Adama has a lot of appeal as well.

Only trouble is, my brain keeps wanting to have Adama played by either Lorne Greene or Edward James Olmos.

The Brood are extremely dangerous, and who knows what the Legate is planning to do with all the magical waste...

At a guess... fuel a cloning tree?

[SilentCarto]

Well, since you asked:

I'm 90% sure of it, so read at your own risk:

...

In case you're wondering "... what?!:

Oh, ok. Sorry to not be shocked, but that's my going theory at this point, too.

(though damned if I know how Mint got it when Twist was dead in a tank a million miles away).

She wasn't. As I understand it, Twist and Shujaa were living in on-base housing at Miramare. It probably wasn't more than a mile from the house to the crater where Twist died. (The location of the memory in Chapter 50 isn't specifcied, but since there's an airstrip within sight of their front door, I assume that's Miramare.)

But even if Pepper is Rampage (still a big if) it still doesn't answer the question, just replace it:

"What is Peppermint?"

From Peppermint's behavior in the flashback of Shujaa's last mission, and the way Twist and Shujaa spoke about her, I suspect Peppermint was a chimera of Twist and Shujaa's DNA that was left Blank, but grew out of it -- just like Boo. How those two managed to get two clones plus a fusion megaspell is beyond me -- though maybe that's just what happens when you provide a cloning tree with a mixed blood sample.

[FeatherDust]

"What is Peppermint?"

From Peppermint's behavior in the flashback of Shujaa's last mission, and the way Twist and Shujaa spoke about her, I suspect Peppermint was a chimera of Twist and Shujaa's DNA that was left Blank, but grew out of it -- just like Boo. How those two managed to get two clones plus a fusion megaspell is beyond me -- though maybe that's just what happens when you provide a cloning tree with a mixed blood sample.

That's a good idea! Could be somebody thought they were submitting a sample from Twist, but she mixed in some of Shujaa's blood so they could have a magical lesbian spawn.

[Scienza]

“Robot processors miss things.  Empty food tins.  Missing gemstones.  Turds in the corner.  A trail of drained Wild Pegasus bottles.
Question is, miscarriage, or Blackjack ignorance, or is she counting on the poison-management to be just that good?

...what?

Alcohol + Developing Fetus == Bad.

[Moodyman90]

Of course nobody knows Blackjack is pregnant so it's probably less of him listing off things he's actually found and more of just listing off things the robots could have missed, one of which being Blackjack's liquor of choice.

Course wouldn't put it past Blackjack to still be drinking from the fact I don't know how complete her health education was. Since the stills in 99 where illegal that either means alcohol either was completely illegal, outside of medical use, or tightly regulated and nobody ever mentioned to Blackjack that alcohol + fetus = bad.

I certainly hope somebody did or that she simply knows better, but it's one of those cases Somber is probably gonna have to say so since we don't know. Unless there was a mention of it somewhere in the middle of a chapter that I just can't remember.

[Technowolf]

"What is Peppermint?"

From Peppermint's behavior in the flashback of Shujaa's last mission, and the way Twist and Shujaa spoke about her, I suspect Peppermint was a chimera of Twist and Shujaa's DNA that was left Blank, but grew out of it -- just like Boo. How those two managed to get two clones plus a fusion megaspell is beyond me -- though maybe that's just what happens when you provide a cloning tree with a mixed blood sample.

That's a good idea!  Could be somebody thought they were submitting a sample from Twist, but she mixed in some of Shujaa's blood so they could have a magical lesbian spawn.

Or maybe it's a MoP project to help two mares (or two stallions, if you're into that) have children together.  I could see Fluttershy doing that after the "loss" of her daughter.

[Meleagridis]

She wasn't. As I understand it, Twist and Shujaa were living in on-base housing at Miramare. It probably wasn't more than a mile from the house to the crater where Twist died. (The location of the memory in Chapter 50 isn't specifcied, but since there's an airstrip within sight of their front door, I assume that's Miramare.)

  
My bad

From Peppermint's behavior in the flashback of Shujaa's last mission, and the way Twist and Shujaa spoke about her, I suspect Peppermint was a chimera of Twist and Shujaa's DNA that was left Blank, but grew out of it -- just like Boo. How those two managed to get two clones plus a fusion megaspell is beyond me -- though maybe that's just what happens when you provide a cloning tree with a mixed blood sample.

That's a good idea!  Could be somebody thought they were submitting a sample from Twist, but she mixed in some of Shujaa's blood so they could have a magical lesbian spawn.

Or maybe it's a MoP project to help two mares (or two stallions, if you're into that) have children together.  I could see Fluttershy doing that after the "loss" of her daughter.

They're taking from Chimera, though. I guess it's not like they had a shortage of blanks, but the thing was Trueblood's baby inside of Flim and Flam's building. You'd think either of them wouldn't want something for nothing. Maybe it would be a great way to pacify the Ministry of Peace, who benefits least from their unethical operations? Or as leverage, in case they went snooping?

[Guest]

Trueblood? Is that another of Vanity's and Blueblood's relatives?

[Moodyman90]

It's a possibility, but I'm 90% sure that Trueblood was Sanguine's real name.

Only 90% because I have a bad memory. I remember that his real name was revealed, just can't fully remember.

[Guest]

It's a possibility, but I'm 90% sure that Trueblood was Sanguine's real name.

Only 90% because I have a bad memory. I remember that his real name was revealed, just can't fully remember.

Ah, that sounds right to me. Why does everyone have to have two names? I can't remember names for anything without aliases being thrown in there. Stupid memory.

[Guest]

Also Glory should get in contact with Snails. He's probably immune to Ennervation. He's got the whole white eye thing that BJ was implied to have if she had real eyes.

[Guest]

I was tinking what if Boo's immunity comes from a different place than BJ's? Clearly it's tied to the stars which are tied to death. I remember a teacher telling me about a story, I've never read the story so I don't know where it's from just an excerpt a teacher told me of. (Watch me be incredibly dumb once again because it'll turn out to be a well known story.) Anyway it was about a man that was told he could not be killed by any man that was born, but it turned out his friend was a c-section or something similar so his friend was technically never born. What if vunerability to ennervation comes from being born, I have to ask was Boo born?

[SilentCarto]

I'm also surprised to learn that Cogs has an actual body- maybe. Maybe has an actual body.

Huh? What body? The thing that opened the door was one of the Ultra Sentinels that Steel had walked past at the door, with her ASSUMING DIRECT CONTROL.

Okay, just saying -- do not blow that thing up before Glory gets a chance. Or at least shove a wing or two in your saddlebags. Then you can ask her to marry you and give her an engagement wing!

I have nothing to say, I just love the pun.

Thank you!

I thought this was a great chapter and just shows how many unique characters Somber has created. I LOVE the idea of throwing a time-skip in since it frees up anything regarding parallels to the original story's timeline, adds more motivation and growth for the other characters, etc. I'm also very dumb this time around as I didn't quite get that were were looking through the Perciptron until the end and was looking for tie-in clues to what was going on throughout, like the explicit mention of Pipbucks in every scene. You'd think I'd catch on to that (AND THE FREAKIN TITLE) but nope, even though I knew it would end with a Blackjack scene.

Yeah, pretty much ditto on all counts...

Exchange of fluids transfers the raider virus, yeah?
What if there's a swapping of mouth weapons? Could an earth pony get infected by using raider weaponry?

I had similar misgivings throughout the 99 Raiders section, but it seems that it's not body fluids that transfer the prion so much as direct consumption of nerve tissue.

[Icy Shake]

“No no no.  She… I… we… if she’d been there, then we wouldn’t have let her die.  She… I…”
"Congratulations, Psalm, you're the new Blackjack! Now let's go!"

That gave me a giggle.

Happy to have been of service!

I want to see him… but I don’t deserve to see him… but I… I…”
I'M NOT SUPPOSED TO BE HAPPY! It's like the fall-off in guilt from Blackjack the last few chapters got dumped into her.

Umm... well, yes. That's precisely what happened.

In which sense do you mean? In a conservation of x sense, where this story can't handle going very long without someone having guilt issues, or that Psalm is taking on Blackjack's guilt, either because Blackjack is in some way sending it her way or because she can pull it in? Because, let's be honest here, either of them—or, indeed, both—is entirely plausible in this story. If it were the latter, of course, if Blackjack ever found out it would lead to a positive feedback loop of ever-increasing guilt as she felt bad about the transfer, which would be sent over to Psalm, etc. Granted, I'd feel disappointed and saddened if that were the case (the reason, not the comedic feedback loop), since it would take much away from Blackjack's improvement.

I was tinking what if Boo's immunity comes from a different place than BJ's? Clearly it's tied to the stars which are tied to death. I remember a teacher telling me about a story, I've never read the story so I don't know where it's from just an excerpt a teacher told me of. (Watch me be incredibly dumb once again because it'll turn out to be a well known story.) Anyway it was about a man that was told he could not be killed by any man that was born, but it turned out his friend was a c-section or something similar so his friend was technically never born. What if vunerability to ennervation comes from being born, I have to ask was Boo born?

Yes, Macbeth is a pretty well known story. The same also showed up in The Return of the King, with a twist.
Maybe this will be more memorable than the conversation with your teacher:

[Guest]

Sorry, the video didn't show up for me. My Xbox hates embedding whether it's pictures or video, if it's not too much trouble mind just posting the link?

[Icy Shake]

Sorry, the video didn't show up for me. My Xbox hates embedding whether it's pictures or video, if it's not too much trouble mind just posting the link?

Here you go.

[Guest]

Sorry, the video didn't show up for me. My Xbox hates embedding whether it's pictures or video, if it's not too much trouble mind just posting the link?

Here you go.

Thanks, that was entertaining and educational. I'm assuming that part I guess. Not something I knew about prior to watching it. Still short and interesting.

[FeatherDust]

Anyway it was about a man that was told he could not be killed by any man that was born, but it turned out his friend was a c-section or something similar so his friend was technically never born.

Yeah, MacBeth had a prophecy that "no man from woman born" could harm him. MacDuff was "from [his] mother's womb untimely ripp'd" -- that is, c-sectioned, rather than born naturally.

Tolkien thought that was a total ripoff of a twist, because seriously, nobody would call a c-section not being born. So in Return of the King, he set up the Witch King with the same sort of prophecy, and gave it a twist two different ways. No man can harm the witch-king, so he gets killed by a combo attack by a woman (not a male) and a hobbit (not of the race of Men).

[Guest]

And I thought I was being clever with that theory. Minus the complete and total ignorance part at least.

[SilentCarto]

“Robot processors miss things.  Empty food tins.  Missing gemstones.  Turds in the corner.  A trail of drained Wild Pegasus bottles.
Question is, miscarriage, or Blackjack ignorance, or is she counting on the poison-management to be just that good?

...what?

Alcohol + Developing Fetus == Bad.

Oh, so you're assuming this is a list of things Steel Rain actually found, rather than examples of things that an intelligent searcher would notice as evidence of an intruder that a robot would miss.

I want to see him… but I don’t deserve to see him… but I… I…”
I'M NOT SUPPOSED TO BE HAPPY! It's like the fall-off in guilt from Blackjack the last few chapters got dumped into her.

Umm... well, yes. That's precisely what happened.

In which sense do you mean? In a conservation of x sense, where this story can't handle going very long without someone having guilt issues, or that Psalm is taking on Blackjack's guilt, either because Blackjack is in some way sending it her way or because she can pull it in? Because, let's be honest here, either of them—or, indeed, both—is entirely plausible in this story. If it were the latter, of course, if Blackjack ever found out it would lead to a positive feedback loop of ever-increasing guilt as she felt bad about the transfer, which would be sent over to Psalm, etc. Granted, I'd feel disappointed and saddened if that were the case (the reason, not the comedic feedback loop), since it would take much away from Blackjack's improvement.

Back at Maripony, Lacunae took back Psalm's guilt and self-loathing that she had previously shoved into BJ's head, which was what kept giving BJ dreams of Psalm's memories. That did reduce her suicidal tendencies, though I'll note that BJ's near-suicide at Star Point (Ch. 23) was before she received Psalm's issues on top of her own (Ch. 27).

[Silver136]

I want to see him… but I don’t deserve to see him… but I… I…”
I'M NOT SUPPOSED TO BE HAPPY! It's like the fall-off in guilt from Blackjack the last few chapters got dumped into her.

Umm... well, yes. That's precisely what happened.

In which sense do you mean? In a conservation of x sense, where this story can't handle going very long without someone having guilt issues, or that Psalm is taking on Blackjack's guilt, either because Blackjack is in some way sending it her way or because she can pull it in? Because, let's be honest here, either of them—or, indeed, both—is entirely plausible in this story. If it were the latter, of course, if Blackjack ever found out it would lead to a positive feedback loop of ever-increasing guilt as she felt bad about the transfer, which would be sent over to Psalm, etc. Granted, I'd feel disappointed and saddened if that were the case (the reason, not the comedic feedback loop), since it would take much away from Blackjack's improvement.

Back at Maripony, Lacunae took back Psalm's guilt and self-loathing that she had previously shoved into BJ's head, which was what kept giving BJ dreams of Psalm's memories. That did reduce her suicidal tendencies, though I'll note that BJ's near-suicide at Star Point (Ch. 23) was before she received Psalm's issues on top of her own (Ch. 27).

That actually got me thinking...what if Blackjack's guilt issues (some of them at least) got transferred into Lacunae along with Psalms guilt? So much guilt packed in one pony, maybe Lacunae took out some of Blackjack:s angst on purpose because she knew what it felt like to have so much guilt.

[Downloaded Skill]

Little did we know that one of the prevailing laws of the PH universe was conservation of angst.

[Tytan]

Spoiler:

[Stringtheory]

Spoiler:

Um, think this is the wrong thread...  

[Tytan]

Yes and no.

Yes in that I probably meant to post it in the other thread.

No in that I bet that is the exact face Blackjack makes.

[Icy Shake]

“Robot processors miss things.  Empty food tins.  Missing gemstones.  Turds in the corner.  A trail of drained Wild Pegasus bottles.
Question is, miscarriage, or Blackjack ignorance, or is she counting on the poison-management to be just that good?

...what?

Alcohol + Developing Fetus == Bad.

Oh, so you're assuming this is a list of things Steel Rain actually found, rather than examples of things that an intelligent searcher would notice as evidence of an intruder that a robot would miss.

Yes. Looking back, I don't recall any strong reason to believe either way, but based on the tone of Steel Rain's dialog that's the interpretation I made while reading.

I want to see him… but I don’t deserve to see him… but I… I…”
I'M NOT SUPPOSED TO BE HAPPY! It's like the fall-off in guilt from Blackjack the last few chapters got dumped into her.

Umm... well, yes. That's precisely what happened.

In which sense do you mean? In a conservation of x sense, where this story can't handle going very long without someone having guilt issues, or that Psalm is taking on Blackjack's guilt, either because Blackjack is in some way sending it her way or because she can pull it in? Because, let's be honest here, either of them—or, indeed, both—is entirely plausible in this story. If it were the latter, of course, if Blackjack ever found out it would lead to a positive feedback loop of ever-increasing guilt as she felt bad about the transfer, which would be sent over to Psalm, etc. Granted, I'd feel disappointed and saddened if that were the case (the reason, not the comedic feedback loop), since it would take much away from Blackjack's improvement.

Back at Maripony, Lacunae took back Psalm's guilt and self-loathing that she had previously shoved into BJ's head, which was what kept giving BJ dreams of Psalm's memories. That did reduce her suicidal tendencies, though I'll note that BJ's near-suicide at Star Point (Ch. 23) was before she received Psalm's issues on top of her own (Ch. 27).

Oh, of course. But that leaves me feeling better than I might have with a more expansive explanation, since the continuous "selfish desire to die" that I was so excited and happy to hear was gone long predated the Psalm transfer, and indeed Star Point.

That actually got me thinking...what if Blackjack's guilt issues (some of them at least) got transferred into Lacunae along with Psalms guilt? So much guilt packed in one pony, maybe Lacunae took out some of Blackjack:s angst on purpose because she knew what it felt like to have so much guilt.

While I couldn't fault that as something which Psalm might have an impulse to do, I think it unlikely on the basis that Lacunae remembered both Scotch Tape's reaction to mind alteration and the fact that Blackjack on multiple occasions said she wouldn't want the same. I don't see Lacunae going against that, and the timing does not lend itself, I think, to Blackjack believing that she might need to make that trade-off (like her most recent round of cyberization) in order to achieve some larger goal and therefore asking Lacunae to take them from her along with the memory of that happening.
Beyond which, I'm not sure what the mechanics would be, since Blackjack clearly still remembers her sources of guilt and I don't think that fine tuning of emotions was something that either the Ministry of Morale or Unity was capable of.

[SilentCarto]

That actually got me thinking...what if Blackjack's guilt issues (some of them at least) got transferred into Lacunae along with Psalms guilt? So much guilt packed in one pony, maybe Lacunae took out some of Blackjack:s angst on purpose because she knew what it felt like to have so much guilt.

I kind of doubt it. Lacunae released all the bits of personality that made her herself, and I don't think she could have held on to some specific bit of BJ as she disintegrated and left only Psalm behind. It would be like trying to drop a handful of sand while holding on to one particular grain, except the sand is also your hand. And that also supposes that Psalm would be willing (and able) to retain that pain within herself on top of her own problems.

[RoboRed]

Finally got off my lazy ass and caught up with all the posts in this thread. Not much to say except great chapter, I had a couple laughs at some "aha" moments.

I do have to reply to this though:

Spoiler:

I say it should be "differently". "Different" is being used do describe how the halls smelled. Therefore, it is an adverb and should be "differently". If it was used as an adjective, it would be something more like "The smell of the halls was different from what I remembered".

[Icy Shake]

Finally got off my lazy ass and caught up with all the posts in this thread. Not much to say except great chapter, I had a couple laughs at some "aha" moments.

I do have to reply to this though:

Spoiler:

I say it should be "differently". "Different" is being used do describe how the halls smelled. Therefore, it is an adverb and should be "differently". If it was used as an adjective, it would be something more like "The smell of the halls was different from what I remembered".

No, FeatherDust is correct here. In this case, "smelled" is a linking verb, and linking verbs are followed not by adverbs but adjectives. To say the hall smelled "differently" would mean that the hall used its sense of smell in a different way, for instance because its chemical detectors were upgraded.

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