Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion

[WavemasterRyx]

Alright, initial comments time! Except, I'm really not sure what to say right now... There's so much to say about this chapter and I want to say it all in my full review I can't decide what to say here this time!
Okay... I'll settle for two things for my initial review. First, as one could probably guess, I was incredibly overjoyed to see Silver Spoon again (even though it turned out to be so horribly sad...), and secondly, sweet Lunar butter that room full of soul jars was terrifying. Not as terrifying as the screaming room at the start of 32, of course, but still pretty damn terrifying.

Once again, thank you very much Somber, Hinds, Snipe, and Bronode for all the hard work you guys put in on this. *hugs you all*

I will, as always, endeavor to finish my full commentary as soon as possible.

The Soul Sword which I'm referring to from now on as a Zanpakuto is not only a weapon against pretty much everything it's also slices and dices soul cloth and soul armor.

Adder, don't appeal so much to my love of Bleach and make me start trying to figure out how a serious crossover/sidestory would work out!

[Aonee]

Looking at the story updates on EqD, I came up with a new drinking game:
Whenever PH updates, you scroll through the comments section of the fanfic update in which the update was announced. Every time Somber says sorry, take a drink. See if you can get through the whole thing.

[hawkeye92]

I know I'm chiming in really late, but the last two chapters were awesome.

Pretty much everything Velvet related made me smile, same with Lacunae dress up. Lots of really good stuff in both chapters with character exploration in the downtimes and excellent action. I really thought someone was going to die to the smooze or possessed junk.

[Cptadder]

Quick question: Why does Tulip bleed blood? Don’t ghouls ooze ichors or something?

No two Ghouls are identical so it could be ichor, blood or cherry cola. It's maaagical radiation after all.

[Admiral Stoic Rum]

Spoiler:

[tylertoon2]

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

[Admiral Stoic Rum]

But it just does not fit with the changes brought by magical mutation..
But every pony has their own head cannon so no point in broadsiding you with it all... ha a couple of days on the lake was great but I did not get smashed on the crappy beer...

[NoodleNugget]

Ghouls still have blood. Even though they are considered undead they aren't really the same as WoW undead.

[tylertoon2]

But it just does not fit with the changes brought by magical mutation..
But every pony has their own head cannon so no point in broadsiding you with it all... ha a couple of days on the lake was great but I did not get smashed on the crappy beer...

Oh I know it's just when I heard warden that was the first thing that popped into my head.

[SilentCarto]

So... If you were to assign the ponies in Blackjack's party to the 7 virtues and the 7 sins - how would you arrange them? Yes, I wanted to ask this simply for people to discuss, and not for any other reason.

Interesting, interesting... who are we using for #7, though?

Blackjack - charity, lust
BJ could fit many of the virtues, but I feel that generosity and self-sacrifice fit her best. She could fit many vices, too, but I think lust is the one that she doesn't even feel guilty about, thanks to coming from a society that encourages it.

P-21 - chastity, wrath
I vacillated between using P-21 or Rampage for wrath, but in the end, Rampage doesn't let her anger control her. She uses it, certainly, but it doesn't define her life the way it does for P-21. His comment that everyone is a red bar to him really made an impression on me -- this is a stallion who is angry at the entire world. Picking a virtue was tough, and I ended up with chastity mostly by default. He doesn't really practice it as a virtue so much as a function of his vice.

Glory - kindness, pride
Glory is almost a shoo-in for kindness, but I think she also has the abiding sense that she's better than your typical wastelander thanks to her education, morals, and society. She wants to be this angel of grace, descending from on high to dispense aid to those in need. She doesn't express this as much as she used to, but I sort of have the sense that she's just been running to keep up ever since she lost her wing.

Rampage - patience, gluttony
Gluttony doesn't necessarily refer only to food, but also to intoxicants and the like, which fits Rampage to a T. As for patience, I feel that she's learned that well, being that she has no other choice.

Lacunae - humility, sloth
It was hard to pick both of these for Lac. She seems so passive, just following BJ's lead, that it's hard to get a sense of her own drives -- thus, sloth. Humility doesn't mean having a low opinion of yourself, though Lac does, but rather selflessness and the bravery to take on tasks that are tedious and unglamorous -- which is precisely why she's in the Hoof.

Scotch - diligence, envy
Scotch Tape complains a lot about her place in life. When she gets the crappy (heh) maintenance jobs because she's the newest one on the shift, she complains. She worries about getting a cutie mark that she won't like because of the jobs she's skilled at. She worries about being left behind by the group because of her age. She is defined by her desire for what everyone else has; thus, envy. On the other hoof, when she gets a crappy job, it damn well gets done, doesn't it? She does her job and does it well, and she doesn't give up when it gets unpleasant.

That leaves temperence and greed unassigned. I don't see either one really fitting Styg or Psychoshy, though.
Or Boo.

Edit: *GASP!* What am I doing thinking about this when there's a chapter up? TO THE READMOBILE!

[Kippershy]

Spoiler:

[Kippershy]

Spoiler:

The Zebra Stealth suit! I'm guessing we found the suit of the Zebra infiltrator who tried to killed Rarity for the book in FoE main story flashbacks.

That was explicitly a cloak, IIRC; I'm not sure where the infiltrator suit came from.

If you mean it's inspiration - it's the sneaky suit from Old World Blues.
If you mean how it got to hightower (which I'm sure you don't) - Zebra spy, as mentioned.

edit: "Sneaky suit" from OWB

[Kattlarv]

@Kipper: (Surgery)

Spoiler:

@Sindri: (Littlehorn) Is that so? My memory must be worse than I recall... from what I remember, zebra refugees(?) came towards it, looking for help(?) and the automated defence activated, starting to kill them, one of the zebras in the pile fired the pink cloud and stuff happened, everyone died. That's the patches I recall.

@Jermy: (What to do) Well, unlike my previous suggestion, have a actual one: Start playing DDO :P

@Everypony: (Trigun) Oh, oh, speaking of Trigun, since you won't play my FoE campaign, nor I'm sure if I can manage to finish it, I can go ahead

@Noodle: (Magic) White/green destroy deck (with 3 liquidmetal coatings, and LOTS of disenchants in it) and a white/green moth/lizard tactical strike deck.

@O.Hinds: (Crack ship) Like I mentioned before, P-21 seems to be more ... well, pansexual in my mind for lack of a better word. Unlike Blackjack, he seems to be less "Dat plot..." and actually care (more) for the individual. And tbh, I think he'd be rather reluctant to go near anything that's been stuck inside BJ, since it wouldn't give him happy memories. Plus it'd be a "Oh right, you're done with him now, giving me the leftovers eh?" plus, Styg might be solely straight as said.

@Jule: (P-21) Going with Swicked's comment, I'd not recommend you to read my P-21 side fic... or would I recommend? I'm actually not sure, but it should work to point out P-21 likely has for from "BJ like" thinking, especially about that.

@Scyto and Robo: (Spoiler)

Spoiler:

@Night: (Behaving) ... *gigglesnorts and falls over laughing*

@Swicked: (Somber) No, no, no, you're all lucky Somber is not like me xD ... oh goddess, even my own mind got a mindfuck from that ^^'
@Everypony: Derp, it took me 2 pages before I understood a new chapter was out...dammit, now I need to get dressed so I can read the latest chapter... or do I? ...
Skinny reading! ... wait is this even a thing? (and for those wondering: I took a shower, then trailed off, then forgot about it)
Will reply to rest once I'm done with the chapter.

[Kippershy]

Kim, you really do make me smile, you know that?

By the way - I have been meaning to reply to your last message, I was just busy last night in the RP thread (LOLOLOL) and staying up longer then I'd have preferred to finish that off.
As for today - this chapter as soon as I got home really and now I'm just feeling tired again.

Eugh.
Doesn't help that I'm not sure when I'm working tomorrow, as there's two sets of next week in schedules.

[juleppony]

@Jule: (P-21) Going with Swicked's comment, I'd not recommend you to read my P-21 side fic... or would I recommend? I'm actually not sure, but it should work to point out P-21 likely has for from "BJ like" thinking, especially about that.

*pipshrug*

As Swicked noted, I was joking. I don't see any P-21/Styggie on the horizon. And since I'm not someone who goes absolutely batshit at something not syching with my headcanon (or any canon in general), I doubt there's much in your sidefic that would bother me.

Except BJ-21. Screw BJ-21.

Spoiler:

[Cptadder]

Because the only pony who knows how to make them isn't interested in selling, I expect.

Everyone has a price, if not in caps then in lives or ideals and a enervation protection talisman is right up there with bullets of dragon slaying as a high valued item.

That was explicitly a cloak, IIRC; I'm not sure where the infiltrator suit came from.

Drat so it was a cloak, so the question comes where the suit came from and my instant thought is some of the Red Stripe Zebra's or a captured storehouse.

Looking at the story updates on EqD, I came up with a new drinking game:
Whenever PH updates, you scroll through the comments section of the fanfic update in which the update was announced. Every time Somber says sorry, take a drink. See if you can get through the whole thing.

In an unrelated news over two hundred people died of severe alcohol poisoning last Saturday, estimates range the amount of booze consumed by the average memeber was between nine to eleven galleons.

If you mean how it got to hightower (which I'm sure you don't) - Zebra spy, as mentioned.

The big note for me is that it requires proper tools to take off much like the Pipbuck and what are the chances of them being in Hightower.
But then again what are the chances of unholy eldritch armor being stored in Hightower one of the supposedly most secure prisons in Equestria.

[Kippershy]

That was explicitly a cloak, IIRC; I'm not sure where the infiltrator suit came from.

Drat so it was a cloak, so the question comes where the suit came from and my instant thought is some of the Red Stripe Zebra's or a captured storehouse.

If you mean how it got to hightower (which I'm sure you don't) - Zebra spy, as mentioned.

The big note for me is that it requires proper tools to take off much like the Pipbuck and what are the chances of them being in Hightower.
But then again what are the chances of unholy eldritch armor being stored in Hightower one of the supposedly most secure prisons in Equestria.

This issue is resolved within the chapter itself -.-

“Is
that a...” Xanthe began, then glanced at me nervously before looking at
the strange barding. “I think it’s a zebra infiltration suit.” Then
she looked up at me. “But... they’re supposed to self-destruct if
they’re ever removed from the wearer without the proper tools and
procedures!” Then the zebra drew back and muttered, “And why is it
speaking in pony?” The suit shook its... collar.
“We didn’t remove her from it.” He glanced at the infiltration suit, and it shrank back

edit: so after some speaking with Katarn, a plothole revolving around the disposing of the zebra body came into question.
My personal theory is that once the soul was within the suit, it was possible that it could be removed without exploding, as the soul would be able to stop it.

Even if it did still explode, I reckon the suit would still be fine because of the soul-jar capabilities.

Another theory of mine is that the spy died from the process - her soul went into the suit and her body decomposed and simply fell out of the suit.

[MrMagma]

edit: so after some speaking with Katarn, a plothole revolving around the disposing of the zebra body came into question.
My personal theory is that once the soul was within the suit, it was possible that it could be removed without exploding, as the soul would be able to stop it.

Even if it did still explode, I reckon the suit would still be fine because of the soul-jar capabilities.

Another theory of mine is that the spy died from the process - her soul went into the suit and her body decomposed and simply fell out of the suit.

The suits explode when the wearer is 'removed'. I assume this is a safety mechanism such that if said wearer was ever discovered (it is an infiltration suit after all), that the wearer could could simply ditch the suit in a sort of suicide bomber attempt. This would probably function the same if the wearer died whilst wearing the suit, in a sort of 'dead man's hand' style. However, having the soul remain in the suit seems to prevent it from detonating, as the wearer would still be considered 'alive' by the suit.

[WavemasterRyx]

Interesting, interesting... who are we using for #7, though?
Edit: *GASP!* What am I doing thinking about this when there's a chapter up? TO THE READMOBILE!

Oh Silent, you should know me better than that by now to think I actually thought this through all the way, heh.
I do say, you've got fairly sound reasoning for your choices, which is excellent. And will make this monumentally more difficult for me, heh.
Indeed, what are ya doin' man! GET TO DA CHAPTAH!

I doubt there's much in your sidefic that would bother me.
Except BJ-21. Screw BJ-21.

Spoiler:

"There's only two things I can't stand in this world. People who are intolerant of other people's cultures; and the Dutch."


Hah... oh man... I probably shouldn't have stayed up so late when I needed to be awake for D&D in a few hours... but taking time to read PH is always worth it.
My party will be fine, it isn't like I'll get them all horribly killed... probably.

[Kippershy]

edit: so after some speaking with Katarn, a plothole revolving around the disposing of the zebra body came into question.
My personal theory is that once the soul was within the suit, it was possible that it could be removed without exploding, as the soul would be able to stop it.

Even if it did still explode, I reckon the suit would still be fine because of the soul-jar capabilities.

Another theory of mine is that the spy died from the process - her soul went into the suit and her body decomposed and simply fell out of the suit.

The suits explode when the wearer is 'removed'. I assume this is a safety mechanism such that if said wearer was ever discovered (it is an infiltration suit after all), that the wearer could could simply ditch the suit in a sort of suicide bomber attempt. This would probably function the same if the wearer died whilst wearing the suit, in a sort of 'dead man's hand' style. However, having the soul remain in the suit seems to prevent it from detonating, as the wearer would still be considered 'alive' by the suit.

Hence my first theory - the soul keeps the suit from exploding because it then controls the explosives and doesn't want to blow itself up.

[RoboRed]

(agh..I forgot I had some stuff written down in wordpad to post...)

@Robo: Why do so many seem unnerved by me? ... is this because I am
sitting naked, giggling as I play DDO with a gecko on my head? It is,
isn't it?

Oh that may very well have something to do with it...

what about bobobo-bo bo-bobo...

YES.

M so happyGuys I've just learned my younger brother has joined the herd.

SUCCESS!!
Now if I could just convince my sister...(fat chance... )

[Kippershy]

GET TO DA CHAPTAH!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9-Te-DPbSE (original) oor... my favourite
L4D version

[RoboRed]

Chapter soundtrack is up here.

[Jeremyrush]

Spoiler:

Tons of fun!

[Cptadder]

I am a bad person because I laughed at Jermeyrush very horrible joke about Zebra tribes.

OAN, the Steath suit, the reason why it's not self destructing is simple, it's a soul jar... by definition it's invulnerable to conventional attack, unless the explosives were balefire I'm guessing they did explode but the suit was a soul jar and laughed it off. And I don't think the explosives were equivalent to a two hundred kilo bomb. If you want a self destructing suit you put in a few ounces of a mixable burn agent at the corners and when you mess up removing the suit it goes woosh, either that or it has a magical power source that goes woosh and possibly kaboom when tampered with.

[Somber]

Thanks Jermy, I was starting to get really low since there was more talk about the suit than the chapter. Just need to learn to be more patient. In any case...

Putting the zebra soul in the stealth suit basically tricked the self destruct system into believing it hadn't been removed. Then Rarity tried to alter it and make it more user friendly, with minimal success.

[Cptadder]

Thanks Jermy, I was starting to get really low since there was more talk about the suit than the chapter. Just need to learn to be more patient. In any case...

Oy Somber should not the other... 44 chapters have taught you don't expect well reasoned and insightful commentary until at least twenty four hours have passed?

[Admiral Stoic Rum]

I raise you this

now it has lost context

[Derpmind]

Spoiler:

[O. Hinds]

Because the only pony who knows how to make them isn't interested in selling, I expect.

Everyone has a price, if not in caps then in lives or ideals and a enervation protection talisman is right up there with bullets of dragon slaying as a high valued item.

Yes, but I imagine that Snips's price is quite high. Sure, he could have made a fortune, Blackjack found him in the Mortuary; for one reason or another, he didn't want to, it seems. And, while he may have sold a few others over the decades, I'd imagine that their owners aren't talking about them. Would you tell the Wasteland "I have with me an incredibly rare talisman that allows me to pretty much ignore Enervation and thus get with little opposition some of the best salvage out there"? Snips might also not want it known so that powerful individuals don't seek him out for his knowledge.

...going back a second - the fact they have S.S means they must've used Lacunae to teleport (duuh!) and that would explain why/how BJ managed to travel across Equestria with ease and speed.
Plus, if it was only Lacunae and BJ, makes it a whole lot easier on her.
I understand now!

And they were going specifically to collect a Glowing One, so getting enough radiation to head back, even with an extra passenger, would be no trouble.

If you mean it's inspiration - it's the sneaky suit from Old World Blues.

Aye. I love that suit; my first NV character blew Lanius's head off while wearing it. It goes really well with the Hazmat Darklight Cowl, too. Sadly, it's fallen a bit behind; my characters since then have used either light armor with the perks that allows or the Elite Riot Gear.

Hah... oh man... I probably shouldn't have stayed up so late when I needed to be awake for D&D in a few hours... but taking time to read PH is always worth it.
My party will be fine, it isn't like I'll get them all horribly killed... probably.

If you're the GM, it might not end that badly for the players. One time, the GM of a game I'm in was rather tired and out of it… and we were able to convince an NPC to give us, for free, three prototype military stealth attack/transport ornithopters.

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