Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion

[Vinylshadow]

...

Charity saves the Wasteland from Horizons, doesn't she

Makes a giant wall of Bottlecaps that stops Horizons' projectile

[JadedPony]

Re: Taint vs Flux. 

Before the last few chapters of this book, no one in all of the world knew that Taint was caused by Flux. When Lifebloom purged "Taint" from lilpip he used the word taint because the knowledge of Flux was not available yet. When he said he could purge the taint, but not all of it's effects, he was really saying he could flush out the Flux but not the mutations caused by the flux. He was using the wrong wording because he lacked the required information to be correct. 

Also remember that flux was put into a lot of products since it could be magically shaped. That buzz you get from Sparkle Cola? That's the taste of a warm, frothy, gush of Discord splashing down your throat. For Flux itself to be truly dangerous I think it either needs to be in substantial quantities or mixed with other chemicals/magical effects which destabilize it. Notice how all the times when Flux caused horrible mutations it was somewhere there was IMP or in hoofington where there are low level fields of innervation? The singing room for example, full of innervation if memory serves. I think the flux reacted to the presence of the IMP waste products and the innervation making that nightmarish room. 

I theorize that if you took Flux and put it in a neutral environment it would just sit there and do nothing. It is a reactive material. The whole point of "Flux" is it being pure magical potential. That's what the word means, continues change or changeability. Flux was harvested because it could be made into anything. Sparkle Cola for example is an example of Flux being used in a positive, helpful way. Rainbow-death-slime is an example of it being processed into something detrimental, but flux in and of itself, is just liquid potential. 

Anyway, I'll stop rambling now.

[Rayndalf]

Re: Taint vs Flux. 

Before the last few chapters of this book, no one in all of the world knew that Taint was caused by Flux. When Lifebloom purged "Taint" from lilpip he used the word taint because the knowledge of Flux was not available yet. When he said he could purge the taint, but not all of it's effects, he was really saying he could flush out the Flux but not the mutations caused by the flux. He was using the wrong wording because he lacked the required information to be correct. 

Also remember that flux was put into a lot of products since it could be magically shaped. That buzz you get from Sparkle Cola? That's the taste of a warm, frothy, gush of Discord splashing down your throat. For Flux itself to be truly dangerous I think it either needs to be in substantial quantities or mixed with other chemicals/magical effects which destabilize it. Notice how all the times when Flux caused horrible mutations it was somewhere there was IMP or in hoofington where there are low level fields of innervation? The singing room for example, full of innervation if memory serves. I think the flux reacted to the presence of the IMP waste products and the innervation making that nightmarish room. 

I theorize that if you took Flux and put it in a neutral environment it would just sit there and do nothing. It is a reactive material. The whole point of "Flux" is it being pure magical potential. That's what the word means, continues change or changeability. Flux was harvested because it could be made into anything. Sparkle Cola for example is an example of Flux being used in a positive, helpful way. Rainbow-death-slime is an example of it being processed into something detrimental, but flux in and of itself, is just liquid potential. 

Anyway, I'll stop rambling now.

What, when was Sparkle Cola's buzz attributed to flux? For a time, in the real world, Coca Cola had cocaine in it but I thought that Sparkle Cola's zing was just the radiation and phosphoric acid...

[Vinylshadow]

And carrots!

Everypony keeps forgetting the carrots...

*chugs RAD Cola* Mmm...

[Rayndalf]

And carrots!

Everypony keeps forgetting the carrots...

*chugs RAD Cola* Mmm...

Its like a buck to face with radishes...

[Vinylshadow]

What's the hardest part of a vegetable to eat?

The Wheelchair


Radishes and carrots

yummy *slurps as tentacles grow from my eye sockets*

....coooool

[JadedPony]

When Twilight confronted the Brothers about the creation process of Flux she said... 

“And the more I’ve worked with this stuff, the more I’ve come to 
realize how dangerous it is. Do you have any idea what happens to ponies 
exposed to it? The mutations? Do you know what it did to Sunny Days? I 
had to waste time and resources devising a spell just to try and negate its 
effects. And it’s used everywhere, Goldenblood! Manufacturing. Energy 
production. Medicine. Food.” She paused and fixed the twins with her 
glare. “Sparkle-Cola.”

If you think about it, The Brothers might have been the only hope for Equestria back then. With Luna's totalitarian control, Pinkie's addiction, Twilight's obsession, and the unquestioning, unthinking loyalty of the guards, many of the voices of dissent among the population might have only had the will to speak out against the oppressing rulership because of sparkle cola. The Zebra nation had almost no dissenters because they fell into herd behavior. They didn't have a daily dose of Discord to loosen their brains like the citizens of Equestria did. The Brother's might have, unknowingly, been the reason Rarity had to work so hard keeping the truth quiet. They might have almost saved the world by accident.

[Vinylshadow]

So close, yet so far

[Icy Shake]

Re: Taint vs Flux. 

Before the last few chapters of this book, no one in all of the world knew that Taint was caused by Flux. When Lifebloom purged "Taint" from lilpip he used the word taint because the knowledge of Flux was not available yet. When he said he could purge the taint, but not all of it's effects, he was really saying he could flush out the Flux but not the mutations caused by the flux. He was using the wrong wording because he lacked the required information to be correct.

Or, "taint" just meant Flux and Flux-derived mutagenic substances. Which, given that's how everyone appeared to be using the word, is probably what the word meant. And they were no more "wrong" in calling Flux and Flux-derived substances "taint" than we are wrong in calling the ambient gaseous mixture primarily composed of nitrogen and oxygen but also containing, among other elements and compounds, argon, water vapor, methane, and carbon dioxide—"air." "Taint" is a word the ponies of the Wasteland made up to describe an element of their environment, and from the context of both dialogue and narration from both FoE and PH, it definitely was a synonym for Flux and Flux-derived mutagenic substances, and at a stretch may have, in some cases, also meant biological changes caused by same. But I haven't found a case of the latter that doesn't make as much or more sense as Flux and Flux-derived mutagens.
Leaving that aside, you're implying that there was a sequence that involved first the knowledge of Flux's existence and the fact it is the same thing as taint becoming common knowledge—something I don't think has happened on screen—leading to everyone agreeing that taint no longer meant what it always had before. Which makes a lot less sense than them just going "Oh, that's interesting" and continuing to call Flux and Flux-derived mutagenic substances "taint." Synonyms happen, and the force of habit would imply that there being no change is more likely than unnecessarily adopting a new (old) word.

What, when was Sparkle Cola's buzz attributed to flux? For a time, in the real world, Coca Cola had cocaine in it but I thought that Sparkle Cola's zing was just the radiation and phosphoric acid...

The buzz was nowhere attributed to Flux; he's extrapolating from the fact that Flux is an ingredient in or in some way involved in the manufacture of Sparkle-Cola.

Chapter 38:

[Vinylshadow]

I'd laugh if Flux was harmless, but the fallout (harhar) from the Balefire bombs changed it somehow

[SilentCarto]

Considering Blackjack's blank body is immune (heh) to taint, she can now fire Folly with impunity.

Oh. Oh my. I hadn't even thought of that!

[Vinylshadow]

So now she's going to have to find the ruin of the HMS Celestia on the way to the Luna Space Center and find her gun again...

[JadedPony]

Wasn't Folly out of bullets?

[SilentCarto]

So now she's going to have to find the ruin of the HMS Celestia on the way to the Luna Space Center and find her gun again...

You say that like Capricon and Pisces didn't recover it weeks ago. They're probably still picking over that treasure trove.

Wasn't Folly out of bullets?

Practically every time she fired it, yes. They kept finding more.

[Silver136]

I feel like Blackjack is going to lose her blank body as well of she gets Folly back. It taints the user with every shot, and blanks exposed to too much taint become huge. I think the story may come full circle (like when BJ first got Folly and was warned about its taint effect, but was still forced to use it to save people), and have Blackjack either die or become a cyborg again.

[Guest]

Does anyone see the baby living? A day and a half... Two days (That's about right, right? Charm and Snips had to put BJ back in her new body, BJ had to find the nightmare place whatever it was called, she freed goldenblood, got knocked out, waited for Glory and then had three hours of sex with P-21.) It was easy for anyone to see what BJ had given up on her journey. But now not so much, she still lost her CM and her ability to have children. And of course the mental and emotional trauma she suffered.

But, BJ honestly doesn't seem that shooken up about her CM and losing her ability to have kids doesn't matter so much as long as she has her baby. Which she still might. Keep in mind the community she comes from she could have only ever hoped to have one baby. Had BJ never left 99 she'd still essentially be in the same shape minus the emotional and mental scars.  

I can see BJ losing one more time. Probably more. Personally though if anyone has to die I'd prefer it be the baby.

[Vinylshadow]

Then she'll shoot the Starmetal Moonsword from Folly, which destroys the gun in the process

[Rayndalf]

Then she'll shoot the Starmetal Moonsword from Folly, which destroys the gun in the process

In hopes of... blowing herself up?
That being said its been a while since we had an hero, and I'm sure we're due for another 

[JadedPony]

Does anyone see the baby living?

Oh...SNAP!!!  
I see a plot twist! I see a plot twist! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Discord is so the man!
Wow, yeah, I can see this working out really well now... Daaaym. Hahahahaha! Sneaky, sneaky, Somber!

[Borsuq]

Does anyone see the baby living?

Oh...SNAP!!!  
I see a plot twist! I see a plot twist! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Discord is so the man!
Wow, yeah, I can see this working out really well now... Daaaym. Hahahahaha! Sneaky, sneaky, Somber!

Do you mean that when Boo said about Discord doing a "swapsie", it meant that Discord had swapped the baby?

[JadedPony]

I'll PM you, as not to spoil.

[Vinylshadow]

My curiosity is aroused

Still, after all that's happened, a Discord Ex Machina wouldn't really be all that surprising, since he's alive and well in Boo

[Guest]

I'll PM you, as not to spoil.

Theories aren't spoilers.

[Vinylshadow]

The Day The Bombs Fell:

http://moonlitbrush.deviantart.com/art/Derpy-Deliveries-part-7-475433168

Unless he knows how it all ends because he's from the future

[JadedPony]

If I was a pony I would have an open book for a cutie mark because I see the endings of things before anyone else does. It comes in handy at work. I can deduce what projects will turn out best with that people, I can tell what people are having drama in their lives, I can think about the future and conclude things that most other people haven't even considered. 

Like think about this: We invented machines to replace horses, because horses were slow and inefficient for transporting materials over long distance. We invented machines to do labor like the cotton gin because human labor was slow and inefficient. The machines are more cost effective. Now we are writing software to replace lawyers. We have code that can read through case files, notes, laws, and time logs at a rate which dwarfs humans looking for patterns that humans would have only a slight chance of catching. 

We have learning robots that can do our factory jobs at 1/100th the price of a human. They are slower, but even if your robot is only 20% as fast as a human, at 100th the price, you still come out ahead by having more robots and they never rest or need insurance. Our cars can drive themselves in cities, soon we'll have dedicated truck driving software that lets one human do the work of 30 or 40 truck drivers, we'll have networks of doctor software talking around the globe reading the latest research, monitoring your every bio-sign from your wrist watch or cellphone, your toilet will run tests on your urine and feces to test for cancer indicators. Get sick and need medicine? Drones can deliver it to your house in a few minutes and never, ever mess up a perscription. You'll only need to see a doctor if you need surgery. 

Oh, and people are planning a fully automated prison already. How do they get the prisoners to obey if there are no guards? Punishment collars. Yes, that's a thing and they are trying to get it made legal so they can build it. 

People think this is the far flung future but in 20 years, most of this is going to be true. Humanity is quickly approaching a new industrial revolution, only instead of horses and slave labor being replaced by machines, it will be all jobs but the very, very specialized few. 

What will we do when the dystopian future everyone worries about turns out to be a world where we just have nothing to do?

Answer:

[Guest]

Did you happen to watch that CGP grey video? Also that's pretty off topic for the thread.

[Borsuq]

Out of curiosity, what about archeologists and writers?

[JadedPony]

Did you happen to watch that CGP grey video? Also that's pretty off topic for the thread.

Yeah, I watch all kinds of stuff like that, especially Ted Talks. I love those. Also, off topic, yes. Though Cogjack is a program of logic. I wonder if she could be defeated by reasoning that ponies without purpose would be a loss, not a victory for her. To rule over organic machines is not a victory at all. She would have failed to be the ruler Celestia was by quantum leaps if she has to enslave her people and turn them into machines to control them. 

Can you imagine if BJ stopped Cogjack by being smart? Entire armies would collapse in shock. 

Out of curiosity, what about archeologists and writers?

Archeology should be safe but writers are already being replaced. Many news articles you read every day are written by a program. We'll always need more Real Daring Do's though. ;)

[Vinylshadow]

A world without Somber or Kkat?

Perish the thought

An open book, you say?:

[SilentCarto]

I feel like Blackjack is going to lose her blank body as well of she gets Folly back. It taints the user with every shot, and blanks exposed to too much taint become huge. I think the story may come full circle (like when BJ first got Folly and was warned about its taint effect, but was still forced to use it to save people), and have Blackjack either die or become a cyborg again.

The amount of Flux in a Silver Bullet is smaller than the bottle she already drank.

People think this is the far flung future but in 20 years, most of this is going to be true.

There's a quote I heard once that I really liked, but I'm afraid I can't attribute it at this time. "Any given technology is always 15 years away until it's less than 5 years away." People are really bad at identifying how long it will take to implement long-term plans, especially if not everyone is excited to adopt it. It's a long road from "I have a design for..." to "We're commercially implementing...", fraught with enormous amounts of required capital and consumer wariness. We could implement an all-electric vehicle system in a few years... if money was no object and everyone would cheerfully replace their personal vehicles and corporate fleets.

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