Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion

[SilentCarto]

Hinds and/or Somber:
Possible error way the hell back in Ch. 34, in BJ's star dream.
I turned to see that glowing lavender unicorn with a striped pink mane, and she smiled. ‘Security saves ponies’, she seemed to say.

Unless you meant a different lavender unicorn, Gin Rummy's mane was purple and red, no pink.

There's also a detail that might or might not be incorrect, given how vague it all is. BJ is welcomed into the afterlife by "A tiny pinprick of lavender light far off in the distance", which is joined by "a second light, a soft orange point", "a cheery pink", "another, majestic purple", and "teal."
Now, I'm not making any assumptions (okay, yes I am), but Twilight's not dead. Unless that lavender star was supposed to be the same one that kissed her at the end...

(Also, teal is a rather greener color than Rainbow Dash, if indeed that's who that is supposed to be.)

[SilentCarto]

For everyone else, I'm wondering once again if we're supposed to know these folks. After the dead Bearers, BJ sees:

A pair, green and gold - Well, Blueblood is dead now, so maybe this is him and Vanity? Any alternate thoughts? Lyra and Bonbon, possibly, depending on the shade of green and gold...

A pair of pink motes pranced and tumbled around each other with a tinkling like laughter while a purple and lavender pair hovered attentively nearby - I got nothing. Obviously a family with two kids, so I thought it could signify the Cakes, but the colors are all wrong.

[SilentCarto]

The universe also wasn't being made in realtime. I always assumed the afterlife blackjack was experiencing was atemporal.

I don't think so. She was seeing the spiritual universe of the moment when she first arrived. Then,
What the hell had happened? The hooves holding me tightened, and off to the side I heard another note rise. It accompanied a star glowing with a fierce blue-white corona.
She asked a question, and got an answer.

[Meleagridis]

I've got a simpler and more hopeful interpretation on the expanded crew going into Hightower. So far I've heard a lot of people worry about a high body count (which is certainly likely, yes) but there are other reasons to assemble an improvised team of would-be experts. I've mentioned before how fond I am of Capers and Cons in fiction, and the team is as important to the genre as bread to a sandwich.

For you tropers out there, the relevant ones would be the impossible mission, the caper, and the caper crew.

It's not like they're walking into a doughnut shop, but it ain't like she's just gathering up more names for the headstones, either. She just needs a proper crew. She needs experts and muscle and traitors and unexpected loyalties and secrets and blatants. She needs a fair bit more than her own meagre assortment could bring on their own.

[Guest]

I forgot some things I wanted to say about 46!

-I love how you do ghouls, Somber. They've got exactly the right blend of normal-pony characteristics and this constant sense of loss of some form or another. They can't move on, or they've got stuff they're trying to make up for... heck, I guess both of those are pretty common for a lot of characters in the story, but it works great on ghouls, what with themes and metaphors and stuff.

-I also like how Rarity, despite clearly being depicted as often disturbingly uncaring or amoral, stays true to both her character in the show and how she's portrayed in FOE. The redemption she finds right before her demise seems to always be something she's just barely missing, again and again, in PH, if that makes sense. She seems always on the cusp of doing better.

-Didn't mention enough how weirdly adorable the Stygius and Psychoshy moments were. They seemed to highlight Psychoshy's immaturity, which is something that I enjoy seeing explored (she's not as cynical as Rampage, she's lost without Golden, she's unsure what to do around Stygius... she's sort of also reinventing herself at the moment, I think).

[OneMoreDaySK]

Hm. Rereading through the chapters, did we ever figure out who the white pony with red mane was, or what the giant roaring moving building was? It was somewhere around the time Blackjack and Co. left Silver Stripe without Rampage.

[Kippershy]

Hey - is anyone aware of any artists capable of doing FOE stuff?
I've got something interesting I want drawn but I don't want to give Waves another spoiler for my story, even if it isn't of my main character or some big bad foe type character.

I mean - if you do want to do it waves, you're still welcome to message and ask about it - like I say, it's not he main character or even an enemy, but something I like to think I excel at.

[Kippershy]

Hm. Rereading through the chapters, did we ever figure out who the white pony with red mane was, or what the giant roaring moving building was? It was somewhere around the time Blackjack and Co. left Silver Stripe without Rampage.

I'm going to take a gander that the 'building' was actually the back of the tank or something.
Though I could be utterly utterly wrong and it could've been an actual building that's been possessed by EoS -- It just doesn't seem to me that an entire building would be able to get up and walk around though.

Still, if a factory floor set-out can turn into a gigantic super evil pony-shaped cyber-daemon.. then I suppose it's possible.

[Kippershy]

Mech is pretty much never is open for commission is the trouble.
Though fuck me, the thought of him doing it... I cannot begin to tell you how awesome that would be.

[SilentCarto]

Hm. Rereading through the chapters, did we ever figure out who the white pony with red mane was, or what the giant roaring moving building was? It was somewhere around the time Blackjack and Co. left Silver Stripe without Rampage.

It was a Reaper.



No, not THOSE Reapers, the OTHER Reapers. Yeah, like Harbinger.
...
No, not THAT Harbinger, the OTHER Harbinger.

Seriously, though, it was almost certainly the "starspawn" that lives near Black Pony Mountain, which may or may not be the same as the Cyberdaemon. I certainly got the impression that the growling and squealing it made as it moved were mechanical.

Regarding the white pony, that was Rampage tailing her, right? Can you give a more specific reference?


By the way, a quick-fix error in Ch. 29:
"I kept seeing Clover exploding before my eye, seeing Glory’s wing peel away, seeing P-21 raped by the Overmare, me ramming vigilance into Lacunae’s mouth… images coming again and again."
"Vigilance" should be capitalized.

[Quotidian]

Christ. I wander off for a bit and the entire thread catches on fire, burns down, and is gloriously reborn from the ashes, just in time for the dev team to explode, then put itself back together. Good thing you can't explode twice, right?


So! Stuff! Since I've only skimmed the last four hundred pages of posts, if I say something someone else has already pointed out like it's a profound discovery, it's because I'm lazy, not because I'm dumb. Any other mistakes are because I'm dumb.

RE Julep: Yaaaaay! Mint's back! The gang's all here!

RE Enervation: My skullgun headcanon is that enervation and radiation are different sides of the same coin. They're both the products of fission, only radiation comes from splitting atoms, and enervation comes from splitting souls. The Eater is surrounded by it for obvious reasons, but Hightower is as well, because that's where a ton of experiments with soul jars were carried out. The rings that seem to cause it? Soul batteries, or some such. I think it also rather nicely fits with PH's whole theme of duality.

(I mostly like this theory because it gives me an excuse to point out that the Eater is soular powered. Hey, anything for clean energy, right? Hyuk Hyuk Hyuk.)

That still might be the case. If you imagine the EoS as a sort of 'gravity well' for souls...

I really like this theory. Physics metaphors ahoy!

RE Chapter 45: Because I never commented on that one either. Firefights are awesome. Firefights in the fire are awesomer.Teleporting bat-stallions are awesome. Horizons auto-activates if EC1101 gets broken? Not sure if want. Rampage and Co. are back, and that is awesome. Death from above? Do I detect a Dominic Deegan reference, Somber? D:

Blackjack is a total dumbass and announces that she's been boning Styggie to Glory and the entire team via radio broadcast? Yeah. That's about right. Also, Rampage... confuses me. I understand why she'd be absolutely furious about Boing, and I understand why she'd (reluctantly) give BJ another second chance, but I don't understand how a mare who ran with the Reapers and gets her kicks by doing shots of dish soap and squashing ponies flat would actually care that BJ cheated on Glory. Am I missing something here?

Psychoshy is strangely adorable and almost... endearing. I kind of want to see more of her character development. Of course, this means she's going to get her face melted off sometime in the next few chapters. Probably along with Styggie and Lacunae. Because I'm a pessimist.

The prison. Sweet crispy Jesus the prison. Looking back now, from after 46, it's as awesome inside as it was foreshadowed to be, but damn if I didn't spend the days in between 45 and 46 bouncing around in anticipation. I think I described it as "Shalebridge Cradle if it were stuck in The Zone."

I've already given my opinion on Velvet to Somber, but I think it bears repeating. I am a twenty three year old man. I made a noise that should only come out of the mouth of a twelve year old girl.

Of course, the rest of the chapter is pure mood whiplash. Velvet! Oh, Strap is dead. Lacunae in lingerie! (Speaking of which. Mech! We need moar!) Oh, who's this Ahuizotl guy? Her vision is augmented! Oh, Stonewing's memorial. Oh hey, catchy in-line music links! (The comments on Youtube are hilarious now, as well.) And Cerberus! Oh, and the prison is even scarier than I thought. And Nurse Graves' story is depressing. And you've somehow made being a ghoul even more horrible than before. Good job.

Basically the rest of the chapter is like that. There were a couple of parts where I didn't know whether to laugh, cry, or back slowly away in horror. (Rampage snorting laundry detergent, for example.)

I can't stop picturing Carrion as a grouchy buzzard in power armor. Not sure if he's going to be trouble or not, but it'll probably be awesome. And is it just me or is he the only ghoulified griffin we've seen so far?

Oh, and Tulip's dead. SOMBER. WHY U PLAY WITH EMOTIONS.

I've been staring at this page for about five minutes now, trying to write. Alas, the part of my brain that's normally full of words has run dry. Comments on 46 are forthcoming, I guess.

RE Happy Somber: Yaaaaaay!

[RoboRed]

Hey - is anyone aware of any artists capable of doing FOE stuff?
I've got something interesting I want drawn but I don't want to give Waves another spoiler for my story, even if it isn't of my main character or some big bad foe type character.

I mean - if you do want to do it waves, you're still welcome to message and ask about it - like I say, it's not he main character or even an enemy, but something I like to think I excel at.

Mech.
Maybe DotRook. Or the guy who did the cover for PH, FoE and PE.
Otherwise I dunno.

How about Fore-Trekker? He did that really badass picture of Blackjack that is still totally my favorite.

[Vergil]

Greetings...long time lurker in the comment thread, but I have to share that I just got one of these myself...



Somber & the editing team - you guys continue to rock. Thank you for sharing this story with us. That goes double for everyone in the thread here; discussion (and awesome artwork!) always adds a lot to the best stories like this. Keep it up!

[Kippershy]

Greetings...long time lurker in the comment thread, but I have to share that I just got one of these myself...



Somber & the editing team - you guys continue to rock. Thank you for sharing this story with us. That goes double for everyone in the thread here; discussion (and awesome artwork!) always adds a lot to the best stories like this. Keep it up!

Too damn tempted to get a BJ to go along with my Glory & Derpy.

Hey - is anyone aware of any artists capable of doing FOE stuff?
I've
got something interesting I want drawn but I don't want to give Waves
another spoiler for my story, even if it isn't of my main character or
some big bad foe type character.

I mean - if you do want to do
it waves, you're still welcome to message and ask about it - like I say,
it's not he main character or even an enemy, but something I like to
think I excel at.

Mech.
Maybe DotRook. Or the guy who did the cover for PH, FoE and PE.
Otherwise I dunno.

How about Fore-Trekker? He did that really badass picture of Blackjack that is still totally my favorite.

Much appreciated. Messaged them asking if they do commissions.

[O. Hinds]

Hinds and/or Somber:
Possible error way the hell back in Ch. 34, in BJ's star dream.
I turned to see that glowing lavender unicorn with a striped pink mane, and she smiled. ‘Security saves ponies’, she seemed to say.

Unless you meant a different lavender unicorn, Gin Rummy's mane was purple and red, no pink.

Always something we've missed… Thanks.

There's also a detail that might or might not be incorrect, given how vague it all is. BJ is welcomed into the afterlife by "A tiny pinprick of lavender light far off in the distance", which is joined by "a second light, a soft orange point", "a cheery pink", "another, majestic purple", and "teal."
Now, I'm not making any assumptions (okay, yes I am), but Twilight's not dead. Unless that lavender star was supposed to be the same one that kissed her at the end...

(Also, teal is a rather greener color than Rainbow Dash, if indeed that's who that is supposed to be.)

This part I've relayed to Somber.

By the way, a quick-fix error in Ch. 29:
"I kept seeing Clover exploding before my eye, seeing Glory’s wing peel away, seeing P-21 raped by the Overmare, me ramming vigilance into Lacunae’s mouth… images coming again and again."
"Vigilance" should be capitalized.

Odd… it already is in the live copy I've got, and that's apparently not been modified for twenty-one days. Are you working off an older, static copy?

Also, Rampage... confuses me. I understand why she'd be absolutely furious about Boing, and I understand why she'd (reluctantly) give BJ another second chance, but I don't understand how a mare who ran with the Reapers and gets her kicks by doing shots of dish soap and squashing ponies flat would actually care that BJ cheated on Glory. Am I missing something here?

One: Rampage looks up to Blackjack to be a better pony, as the Silver Spoon thing demonstrates; it's not quite as pronounced as the Steelhooves/LittlePip thing, because Blackjack is Blackjack, but it's still there. Two, just because she's all of that doesn't mean that she wants to see two of her friends have a romantic falling out like this… until it becomes clear that this is just Blackjack being stupid and oblivious again, at which point Rampage decides that the two of them will be able to sort it out, throws her hooves up, and goes looking for some ragnarok-proofed popcorn.

[WavemasterRyx]

For everyone else, I'm wondering once again if we're supposed to know these folks. After the dead Bearers, BJ sees:

A pair, green and gold - Well, Blueblood is dead now, so maybe this is him and Vanity? Any alternate thoughts? Lyra and Bonbon, possibly, depending on the shade of green and gold...

A pair of pink motes pranced and tumbled around each other with a tinkling like laughter while a purple and lavender pair hovered attentively nearby - I got nothing. Obviously a family with two kids, so I thought it could signify the Cakes, but the colors are all wrong.

I'm definitely going to guess it's Lyra and Bonbon. I see no reason for Blueblood to be going to that afterlife.
The Purple and Lavender... yeah definitely the wrong colors for the cakes... it seems very familiar though, like I should know who they are.

-I also like how Rarity,
despite clearly being depicted as often disturbingly uncaring or amoral,
stays true to both her character in the show and how she's portrayed in
FOE. The redemption she finds right before her demise seems to always
be something she's just barely missing, again and again, in PH, if that
makes sense. She seems always on the cusp of doing
better.

Somber has always had a really good grasp of Rarity, that's why Simply Rarity still works, even though it is "against canon".

Hey - is anyone aware of any artists capable of doing FOE stuff?

I've got
something interesting I want drawn but I don't want to give Waves
another spoiler for my story, even if it isn't of my main character or
some big bad foe type character.

I mean - if you do want to do it waves, you're still welcome to message
and ask about it - like I say, it's not he main character or even an
enemy, but something I like to think I excel at.

Ah sorry Kipper... I probably shouldn't agree to draw any more at the moment, I still have your other drawing to work on now, it's 5th on my list right now, hopefully that means I'll be able to get to it in less than a week...
Hopefully you can get Mech or Fore to draw this new idea for you. *hugs*
Though either of them could also probably do way better on the other drawing you asked me to do too, so if you want to ask them about that too I won't be offended.

Greetings...long time lurker in the comment
thread, but I have to share that I just got one of these myself...

Somber & the editing team - you guys continue to rock. Thank you for
sharing this story with us. That goes double for everyone in the thread
here; discussion (and awesome artwork!) always adds a lot to the best
stories like this. Keep it up!

Welcome to the PH community, sir. I hope you have a pleasant stay, and congratulations on your purchase.

[FeatherDust]

I just had a thought that I wanted to share.

We now know that soul-jars can be damaged by soul-metal.

And that got me thinking.

If Rarity had ever succeeded in making soul-jar armor, how long would it have taken to get the military to buy into that plan? And if they'd done that, how long before somebody works out that soul-metal bullets can punch through soul-jarmor? And then you have a war being fought with not just lives but with souls themselves... and that sounds like exactly what the Eater wants.

[Quotidian]

1. "Soul-Jarmor" is the funniest thing I've heard today.

2. That is downright terrifying.

[SilentCarto]

Odd… it already is in the live copy I've got, and that's apparently not been modified for twenty-one days. Are you working off an older, static copy?

Well, yes, I was, but I thought I double-checked it with the Google Doc before reporting. Sorry about that...

[SilentCarto]

soul-jarmor

Soul Jarmor! Does that make the guy wearing it... a souldier?

And yeah, that does sound like something that would happen... though I also have to wonder what would happen if you made soul jar bullets. And as we see, even soul jarmor doesn't protect against everything. Break out the flame throwers and soul swords, it's gonna get brutal.

[Jeremyrush]

Soul Jarmor! Does that make the guy wearing it... a souldier?

I think I remember why I don't post very often, other than forgetting the thread exists for several days and coming back to 20 pages of reading. It's the puns. Dear god the puns.

Baltimare was bad enough.

[Icy Shake]

Soul Jarmor! Does that make the guy wearing it... a souldier?

I think I remember why I don't post very often, other than forgetting the thread exists for several days and coming back to 20 pages of reading. It's the puns. Dear god the puns.

Baltimare was bad enough.

C'mon, I always thought that affinity, or at least tolerance, for puns was a necessary condition for being a brony. Though here I'd go for jarhead.

[Cptadder]

C'mon, I always thought that affinity, or at least tolerance, for puns was a necessary condition for being a brony. Though here I'd go for jarhead.

Come on now, that's a pretty low blow to the ballast.

As for Soul bullets VS Soul armor, the simple fact is that that Soul Armor is just uneconomical from a battlefield prospective. Even without stuff like the Littlehorn agent you already have things like flamers or simple anti-machine rifles. See the fun part about armor is even if your wearing armor that can't be penetrated because it's reinforced by the souls of pones you still have to wear the stuff. So when a 12.7mm bullet hits your soul silk at 928 m/s that's 17k Joules of energy going somewhere. And unless Soul armor also negates kinetic energy (It's unbreakable not inflexible) that means your pony inside the armor while immune to the giant holes a 127.7mm round would put in him or her, they are still going to have to deal with the equivalent kinetic force transferring through which will be strong enough to break bones at the least.

And that's without stepping up to the still pony portable 20mm caliber where simple blunt force trauma since at 20mm your talking 55k Joules not just 17k which in physical terms is a compact car hitting you at 40 km/h except it's not spread over your entire body but localized.

In the race between armor and gun, it's been true that sometimes armor wins from time to time, but always bet on gun, there's just always more gun to go around.

[Quotidian]

One...

Ah, that makes sense. Re-reading the chapter, I noticed Lacunae pointed that out as well, so just file that particular question under "Quote has a perception score of three".

As
for Soul bullets VS Soul armor...

Hmm. The economics of soul armor (and flamers/explosions/bypass spells) notwithstanding, I have to wonder how exactly a solid steel plate enchanted as a soul jar would work. Obviously the soul-silk could deform and bend, and things enchanted as soul jars seem to work more-or-less as they were originally designed to (IE: Octavia's contracellobass), so they aren't just fused into one solid piece, but if they're indestructible, then it stands to reason that a solid steel plate turned into a soul jar wouldn't be deformed by any level of impact that wouldn't also vaporize the landscape for a mile in every direction. So why not just make a tank into a soul jar and drive it straight into Roam?

EDIT: Also, how are folks doing tonight? (I ask because I'm feeling pretty crappy and I didn't just want to just straight up ask for people to cheer me up.)

EDIT 2: Also also: I feel a desperate need to write something pointless and moderately dirty. How do people feel about PH slash or clopfics? Like chapter 20.5 from the original FoE? I've had a P-21/Priest one kicking around for a while, but given how that turned out, I think it would be more sad than titillating. Other ideas include a Rampage/Psychoshy hateslash, Stygius/Psychoshy, and probably something with Glory and BJ. Because bondage is hot. Suggestions welcome!

[Moodyman90]

To throw my two cents in with the soul armor vs bullets of any kind, I have to agree that even if the armor prevents the bullet from penetrating, the force of impact is still going to cause internal damage.

Reminds me of the conundrum of Paladins. Not allowed to draw blood but can smash things with a big hammer. Cause it's "holier" to shatter bones and cause internal bleeding.

[Derpmind]

Actually, there's definitely evidence that Soul Jars can absorb kinetic force. Rarity used the Black Book to smother a bomb, remember? The real problem is that Rarity wanted a way to completely guarantee the safety of her friends and Equestria's soldiers. Even if Steel Ranger armor was Soul-Jarred, there are still vulnerabilities that could lead to the occupant's death (or incapacitation.) Some way to make Ponies themselves immune to harm, such as the Rampage's gem-device, is a much more promising route than trying to create impossibly perfect armor.

So why not just make a tank into a soul jar and drive it straight into Roam?

If one can even create a completely invincible and unstoppable tank that is capable of ending the war, then the Zebras would just respond by breaking C.A.R.E. That's basically a weaponized megaspell level weapon, only super overcomplicated for not much more destructive capability.

[Cptadder]

Hmm. The economics of soul armor (and flamers/explosions/bypass spells) notwithstanding, I have to wonder how exactly a solid steel plate enchanted as a soul jar would work. Obviously the soul-silk could deform and bend, and things enchanted as soul jars seem to work more-or-less as they were originally designed to (IE: Octavia's contracellobass), so they aren't just fused into one solid piece, but if they're indestructible, then it stands to reason that a solid steel plate turned into a soul jar wouldn't be deformed by any level of impact that wouldn't also vaporize the landscape for a mile in every direction. So why not just make a tank into a soul jar and drive it straight into Roam?

There you get into the problem of souls fusing to only specific items. So you might take twenty to thirty souls to fully cover a tank because lets face it tanks are full of filly bits. And again Littlehorn agent, the pink stuff is one of the more pervasive chemical/magical weapons in Equestria even if the real stuff has them beat in most other areas.

Actually, there's definitely evidence that Soul Jars can absorb kinetic force. Rarity used the Black Book to smother a bomb, remember?

Actually the opposite here's the passage in question

My host looked down, scanning the floor, her actions seeming unbearably slow. I mentally shouted for her to duck for cover, but she seemed transfixed. Her eyes fell on the metal apple not two yards from her desk. The dark bulk of a large, open book fell down over it, and four white hooves jumped on top.

The Book!

In an instant:

A flash of fire and swirling magical energy underneath the book,
A cracking sound that left a buzzing silence in its wake,
A rippling of explosive force that threw Rarity back.

My host stumbled, disoriented, a ringing in her ears. Everypony was shouting, but their voices seemed muffled and far away.

I spotted The Black Book. It had landed next to Rarity, smoking but undamaged.

Grenades don't have a lot of kinetic force they are designed to blow up and throw bits of metal very fast in various directions. In fact one could read that the book did nothing to stop the Kinetic force but passed it directly onto Rarity considered she got tossed across the room while standing on the book which was covering the grenade.

[FeatherDust]

soul-jarmor

Soul Jarmor! Does that make the guy wearing it... a souldier?

No, it makes him a soul-jar boy.

[Quotidian]

Seriously guys. It's time to put a lid on all these jar puns.

[Guest]

EDIT: Also, how are folks doing tonight? (I ask because I'm feeling pretty crappy and I didn't just want to just straight up ask for people to cheer me up.)

Well, personally, I've just remembered that, ugly as I may be, my face looks pretty damn good with blood on it. On a related note, I just finished shaving. So I'm good! =P In all seriousness, though, what's got you down?

(And re: slashfics, I'm pretty sure they've been done before. Mostly like humorous little skits and stuff... I'm not qualified to really give a proper answer, though.)

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