Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion

[Meleagridis]

Yes... I have significant (though not by Somber's standards) quantities written on the subject. However the process of shifting this material from deranged ramblings to a narrative I'm willing to post for the public is long, and possibly futile. And I always have so very much to do...

If you pull something together, do let us know. In the meantime, how about just passing around the speculation you've got? It couldn't hurt to pass it through the PHC machine and see what comes out the other side.

Actually, on the topic of changelings, I've got a question for anyone who thinks about them... do you think of changelings as individuals? I saw them as characters without any lines, like a guard or background pony. But more than half of the speculation I've seen really seems fond of the idea that the 'lings we saw were all mindless drones.

I vaguely recall some debate about changelings from a while back... but I think that was changelings vs. diamond dogs in terms of efficiency, not changeling-centric?

[RandomBlank]

I'm not completely sure it works so instantly in the story universe. Fast, yes. And I guess after some time of using it, there can be an addiction-like effect, you suffer from radiation, you drink rad-away, instant relief, strong placebo effect.

[Quotidian]

Yes that doesn't make for such an interesting tale like you guys are trying to work out; but why does it need to be complex when we can just say; 'it's magic'?

@ Changelings: I miiiiiight have something planned to that effect. Maybe. >_> All I'm saying is that if I did, I'd treat the vast majority of changelings like I would, say, very smart ants. Intelligent, in the sense that they can follow orders and have a degree of independence and character, but not smart enough to talk or anything like that. Sort of like Boo. The exception would be for "high ranking" changelings. Queen Chrysalis, for instance.

@ Birthdays: Hey, happy belated birthday Kat! Sorry I missed it earlier. Did you get any good non-gecko related swag?

@ Hiatus: This probably goes without saying, but Somber, take all the time you need. Really.

...So, there. Anyone have advice for what to
do in that situation, or was I more or less right in staying silent and
just treating both participants really nicely afterwards?

Eesh. Well, I've got a lot of experience there, but no real solutions. Without knowing more about the situation I can't really give you any advice, but generally, staying out of arguments like that seems to be the best way to go. Unless your safety, health, or livelihood depends on the outcome, it's best not to stress yourself out too much.

Everybody fights with their friends/partners. Sometimes, it's a sign that the relationship is healthy, that it can take a little strain, and that they aren't afraid to express dissatisfaction to each other. Other times, it's a red flag. Especially fights as bad as the one you're describing. But without knowing more, I can't say.

[Kattlarv]

Aight, finally took some time to read.

Spoiler:

And now off to comments. Honestly, had been expecting like, 20+ pages to go through. Was pleasantly surprised.

Also, somewhat related to the rad-away thing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?src_vid=htZPdQhemLo&annotation_id=annotation_625319&v=djIWyRrEAkM&feature=iv
https://www.youtube.com/watch?src_vid=zzVthJ70dWs&v=VlOORjs_RVw&annotation_id=annotation_326560&feature=iv
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLu4dXqkCT8&feature=player_detailpage#t=17s

@Silent(and C:O, about the Celstia one) I've already pointed that out and how it's not a problem in the least for the ponies. Nor why Twi even would have a reason to be upset over it. A missile ambush they'd only have ~30-90 seconds to detect would indeed fuck them up, but they'd never have time to get all the unicorns needed there anyhow.
-> @Random (This) Yeah, I pointed this out already. They're ponies, they have no need to have a cloudy day over that tower at all. And the sun can be risen in just a few seconds.

@Swicked: (BJ's talismans) I'd guess that it doesn't push them out, rather absorb them.

@Quo: (Eye for eye) Personally never understood some of the extra damage perks. Or Fo3's system overall. I shoot harder and my explosives explode more the better I am at using them? And since this person here doesn't have anything in gun skill, them shooting me point blank with a shotgun in the face does barely any damage as they are bad at pulling the trigger.

@Sindri: (BJ+Glory+Bullets) Glory likes to put things inside of BJ... that's already been inside of BJ xP
... wait, fff- curse my damn female ejaculation fetish! xD

@Everypony: ("Warcries") Oh yeah... I have to make "warchanter" talent tree in the pony RPG :P
(Pony singing) ... I am having so much random mental trailing off's now xP "No easy task to dig the ditch, plant our gattling guns."
(baking soda) Where did she find the baking soda? xD
(balefire eggs) On the theory of them being dragon eggs: they sound like they are very small, and dragon eggs are shown to be rather big. Like, foal size... I guess they could be shrunk though.

@Swicked: (Zebra lands) It's not uncontrollable, it just takes care of itself. Doesn't mean it can't be tinkered with.

@Mr: Thanks. And it was on monday. And that was mainly for the FoE RPG I'm making. I'm the one doing the large, "proper" one. Including social parts as well. Or well, trying to xP And changelings were a wished for race, so made a thing for them.

@Robo: (Vash) Glad you liked. I really want to finish my RPG so I can show them that event. I hope one of them will get it at least.

@Cala: Heh, thanks :3 I try my best to distract myself with humour. And just to crack a bad joke on the "taste" part: Two goats were eating stuff in a junkyard. One of them found a VHS copy of "Lord of the rings" and started to eat it. A few minutes later the other goat asked "So, what did you think of the movie?" - "Eh, I preferred the book/Thought the book was better.".

@Mele: Thanks. And you abuse that clip xD

@Quo: (Changelings) Mine are definitely different from that ;P
(b-day) Thanks. And kind of. I sorta got the only thing I silently wished for: Hugs. No "proper" ones, but "friend ones", and that was enough to cheer me up.

[SilentCarto]

I'm not completely sure it works so instantly in the story universe. Fast, yes. And I guess after some time of using it, there can be an addiction-like effect, you suffer from radiation, you drink rad-away, instant relief, strong placebo effect.

The radiation meter on a PipBuck is not subject to the placebo effect.

...after fiddling with the straw for a moment, I slurped it down. Ooh, orangey! On my PipBuck rad meter dropped a bit closer towards yellow. By the time all three doses were inside me, the needle hovered around the middle of the yellow band.

That's pretty close to instant.

[SilentCarto]

I don't know about everyone else, but I have four reasons:
1. I don't always know what is important and if what Somber has presented could explain how other problems could be solved.
2. Somber introduced/elaborated on three critical substances in this fic. CoS starmetal, which can broadcast (what I think is) a necromantic field if connected to a spark battery; flux, which is used as part of a process to clean rads, which is another form of necromantic energy; and moonstone. These substances each have a lot of other properties associated with them and how they work alone or together seems to be central to the fic, so its important to understand them and how they can be used.
3. It actually isn't always important how Somber thinks something could work. In many ways I am discussing how I think it could work, or am just wondering how others might describe the process if they were were in charge of defining how to do what's being done given the elements of the process that Somber has laid out. This is fun for me, much like a lot of speculation is :)
4. I just like asking questions. I'm a curious sort.

This. I'll add to that the trope Magic A is Magic A. As readers, we like to feel that the universe works in a consistent way, and that magic has immutable underlying laws.

[Theta]

2. Somber introduced/elaborated on three critical substances in this fic. CoS starmetal, which can broadcast (what I think is) a necromantic field if connected to a spark battery; flux, which is used as part of a process to clean rads, which is another form of necromantic energy; and moonstone. These substances each have a lot of other properties associated with them and how they work alone or together seems to be central to the fic, so its important to understand them and how they can be used.

What does the CoS stand for?

[RoboRed]

This. I'll add to that the trope Magic A is Magic A. As readers, we like to feel that the universe works in a consistent way, and that magic has immutable underlying laws.

Must not click link...must not click link...

*half an hour and several Tropes pages later*

DAMNIT!!

[Ketchup]

Must not click link...must not click link...

*half an hour and several Tropes pages later*

DAMNIT!!

I know exactly what you mean.

[SilentCarto]

Must not click link...must not click link...
*half an hour and several Tropes pages later*
DAMNIT!!

I would have posted that reply about 20 minutes sooner, but...

[Snipehamster]

Yes that doesn't make for such an interesting tale like you guys are trying to work out; but why does it need to be complex when we can just say; 'it's magic'?

2. Somber introduced/elaborated on three critical substances in this fic. CoS starmetal, which can broadcast (what I think is) a necromantic field if connected to a spark battery; flux, which is used as part of a process to clean rads, which is another form of necromantic energy; and moonstone. These substances each have a lot of other properties associated with them and how they work alone or together seems to be central to the fic, so its important to understand them and how they can be used.

Thought I'd chip in here with some ramblings on this point.

EoS starmetal seems to be responsible for the Enervation effect; notably, this strength of this effect seems to scale with the amount of power fed into the starmetal in question (via spark batteries or what have you), but also the amount of death that has taken place in its proximity. This would explain the harmful levels of Enervation present in areas like the outskirts of Flank, Hightower and the Core. By this logic, the flesh-melting E-field that BJ and co. passed through in the tunnels may have been given off by something in the Core above, or perhaps -- given the ancient (probably zebra) ruins -- the EoS itself.

Flux seems fairly straightforward to me; it's Discord's essence contained in a fairly manageable liquid form. Flim and Flam pitched it as a powerful and versatile magical reagent in Hippocratic, and given that it was shipped all over Equestria to help fund the OIA that's probably exactly what it was used for. I see Flux as an industrial-strength magical catalyst or reagent. The Flux that Doctor Rampage used to filter the Rad-Away was only one part of a small makeshift lab, so I doubt that the Flux itself was doing all the work.

Moonstone is more enigmatic and interesting; the only thing we know about it for certain is that it seems fundamentally antithetical to EoS starmetal. Goldenblood got his hooves on a lot of the stuff, and Trottenheimer used its mutually destructive relationship with starmetal to create Folly. We'd need more information to really judge what role it plays.

[Quotidian]

Moonstone is more enigmatic and interesting; the only thing we know about it for certain is that it seems fundamentally antithetical to EoS starmetal. Goldenblood got his hooves on a lot of the stuff, and Trottenheimer used its mutually destructive relationship with starmetal to create Folly. We'd need more information to really judge what role it plays.

I'm guessing that the best way to kill the Eater would be by hitting it with a lot of moonstone. Of course, finding that much moonstone in the wasteland will no doubt be difficult...

Unless the Horizons-as-Moon-Colony-Ship theory turns out to be true. What better way to get rid of the Eater than by throwing it at the fucking moon!? IT JUST MIGHT BE CRAZY ENOUGH TO WORK!

[Theta]

Moonstone doesn't just seem to be the antithesis of starmetal, it was practically confirmed. In ch 34, it was mentioned that the moon was used to cleanse Luna of the EoS's influence.

On the subject of starmetal, Horse mentioned that it would act differently depending on the frequency of the magical spark battery energy fed into it, e.g a hammer or a saw. The Enervation is likely only one of the possible actions the starmetal can perform.

[Caoimhe]

Hello, everyone! Oh, do I have a story to tell!

I'm a writer for an alternative newspaper in Boston, Massachusetts and was recently assigned to write about My Little Pony fandom. I was put in contact with someone who is a member of a brony meet-up group to sit in with them and do a few interviews. So I could better "understand" the extent of this fandom, my contact said I should read Fallout Equestria and by extent, Project Horizons.

Needless to say, having no previous experience with fan-fiction, the ponies or the video game, I was a little worried I'd be able to understand and appreciate the stories. However I jumped into both stories and was simply in awe at the world presented to me, Project Horizons especially.

While the original work was very good and well written, I found the themes and storytelling of PH to be much more engrossing and I find Blackjack to be quite an interesting and complex character (she also has the same multi-colored hair that I do!).

I honestly had no idea coming into this assignment that I would expect something like this, so bravo to Mr(?). Somber!

Can anyone also tell me if this is the de facto thread/resource to find the latest updates to the story? Even after my article is done and published I want to be sure I don't miss any more. :)

[Cptadder]

I'm guessing that the best way to kill the Eater would be by hitting it with a lot of moonstone. Of course, finding that much moonstone in the wasteland will no doubt be difficult...

Unless the Horizons-as-Moon-Colony-Ship theory turns out to be true. What better way to get rid of the Eater than by throwing it at the fucking moon!? IT JUST MIGHT BE CRAZY ENOUGH TO WORK!

You seem to forget the other thing that happens when you introduce Moonstone to the shards of the Eater namely a pseudo Anti-matter/Matter reaction. Sure it's not full AM/M reaction so for example when Blackjack conducted her experiment in Goldenblood's house she and half a mile of scenery were not converted directly into vapor but we did see a pretty large explosive. The bolt that Folly puts out is from something that fits inside something not much bigger than a 13mm shell. And I'll add that Blackjack's little experiment was not a full reaction but a partial reaction then slow burn off so we still don't have any idea of the raw explosive force of a pure measurable full reaction between one gram of Eater and one gram of Moonstone.

*Edit
Either way, slamming the Eater into the moon would likely destroy Equestria. You don't set off what could be something in the giga to tera ton range via AM/M style reaction to your planets only moon and not have massive damage as a result, minus the simple blast waves your also tossing tons of debries at high speed in all direction, being a moon most of that direction will be directly into the planet at ten plus kilometers per second

[Ketchup]

Yep, you've found the discussion thread. Welcome!
Interesting story, I might add. It is quite an appropriate example of the extent and depth of the fandom.

[SilentCarto]

Unless the Horizons-as-Moon-Colony-Ship theory turns out to be true. What better way to get rid of the Eater than by throwing it at the fucking moon!? IT JUST MIGHT BE CRAZY ENOUGH TO WORK!

Aw, man, you said it wrong.
By throwing it... AT THE MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON! BEEEEEEEE-YETCH!

But seriously, regarding Moonstone's antithesis for the EoS, some thinking out loud:
BJ's spirit dream described the sun and moon gathering the dinosaur souls that were killed by the First Impact. Goldenblood's theory also suggested that the magic in Equestrian gemstones came from the same source. But earthly gems don't react the same way with Star Metal. I wonder what the difference is.

Perhaps the Moonstone was formed from the souls of a nascent intelligent species, while the gems were just the sloughed-off life force of the animals and plants. BJ refers to the First Impact killing "fragile motes" with "infant songs", and though life returns, the singing doesn't show up again until "insects and fish began to populate the world once more, then larger and more complex animals. [...] And then those motes of life began to sing their own simple melodies."

But that doesn't explain why those souls can hurt the EoS, when those it harvests just sit around being motes in the Necropolis.

Hinds:
A teeny error in BJ's spirit dream in Ch. 34:
"Those fragile motes and their infant songs snuffed out in an instant."
Should be "were snuffed out".

[SilentCarto]

Can anyone also tell me if this is the de facto thread/resource to find the latest updates to the story? Even after my article is done and published I want to be sure I don't miss any more. :)

Yup, this is pretty much the place to be. Like Swicked said, we tend to be noisy and off-topic, but the only other place to get notified of new chapters is on EqD's story posts.

Still, the story's hub page won't let you actually miss any chapters, even if you don't notice them being posted.

[Caoimhe]

Cool, thanks for the info! Time for me to go back and browse all this interesting off topic nonsense. :)

[Cptadder]

Cool, thanks for the info! Time for me to go back and browse all this interesting off topic nonsense. :)

Welcome Caiomhe, I can tell you if you want to read reactions you've got a lot of skimming to do, when we celebrated the one year anniversary a few days ago there were over 20,000 comments posting on the three EQ daily threads plus the dead 4th thread. Here we are up to(Checks) five locked threads plus this thread meaning we should be passing 21,000 comments soon (563+351 ish).

I spent the month of May pretty much reading all of the things and let me tell you there was a lot of off topic discussion so if your skimming you only have about... four thousand comments to read not twenty thousand.

Of the 4,000 direct on story comments we have sixteen thousand posts left. Of that are about eight thousand crazy conspiracy posts, three thousand world building relating posts, and the rest was off topic with everything from side conversations about... well everything.

[Somber]

Hee. Welcome to the story. I'm glad you like it. I hope that you continue to do so. At the moment I'm 12p in to 48 and got her to the Armory. So I might actually have hightower finished by the end of the chapter! Squeeee!

[Cptadder]

Hee. Welcome to the story. I'm glad you like it. I hope that you continue to do so. At the moment I'm 12p in to 48 and got her to the Armory. So I might actually have hightower finished by the end of the chapter! Squeeee!

And once we are out of hightower the faster we can see the Goddess and Blackjack have that head to head conversation.
I'd say Heart to Heart but one of them is a pile of goo in a tube and the other is a cyborg.

[222222]

I'm really hoping that they will attach one of Cerberuses removed legs to Blackjacks stump.

[O. Hinds]

Hello, everyone! Oh, do I have a story to tell!

I'm a writer for an alternative newspaper in Boston, Massachusetts and was recently assigned to write about My Little Pony fandom. I was put in contact with someone who is a member of a brony meet-up group to sit in with them and do a few interviews. So I could better "understand" the extent of this fandom, my contact said I should read Fallout Equestria and by extent, Project Horizons.

Needless to say, having no previous experience with fan-fiction, the ponies or the video game, I was a little worried I'd be able to understand and appreciate the stories. However I jumped into both stories and was simply in awe at the world presented to me, Project Horizons especially.

While the original work was very good and well written, I found the themes and storytelling of PH to be much more engrossing and I find Blackjack to be quite an interesting and complex character (she also has the same multi-colored hair that I do!).

I honestly had no idea coming into this assignment that I would expect something like this, so bravo to Mr(?). Somber!

Can anyone also tell me if this is the de facto thread/resource to find the latest updates to the story? Even after my article is done and published I want to be sure I don't miss any more. :)

I say, a member of the (relatively) mainstream media! Welcome, and thank you for your compliments to Somber and the story.

New chapters get announced here and in the IRC at roughly the same time, and EQD usually follows a few hours to a day later. You could also follow the hub page directly, but please try not to crowd it while waiting for a chapter to be released; if there are too many people in there and we've not reserved a spot, we can't edit the link in.

...we chat here waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much for you to really use it just for story updates.
I don't think there is any dedicated source of just story updates.
In any case the story, I believe, is on hiatus right now due to some major changes going on in somber's life.
But when everything settles you'll have an easier time just checking the main story hub page from time to time.

It's not on hiatus quite yet; Somber wants to get Blackjack out of Hightower first.

Hinds:
A teeny error in BJ's spirit dream in Ch. 34:
"Those fragile motes and their infant songs snuffed out in an instant."
Should be "were snuffed out".

Ah, thank you.

[tylertoon2]

Hello, everyone! Oh, do I have a story to tell!

I'm a writer for an alternative newspaper in Boston, Massachusetts and was recently

Which paper? Cause I want to get a hold of it and the article as soon as I can.

[Caoimhe]

That would be the Boston Phoenix! I'll be sure to check back here when it's complete. I've a few more interviews to do but it won't be long.

I honestly had no idea what I was getting into taking this assignment. I thought I was given the subject matter simply because I'm a girl and therefore would be writing about girly things, but nope!

[Rafafidi]

That would be the Boston Phoenix! I'll be sure to check back here when it's complete. I've a few more interviews to do but it won't be long.

I honestly had no idea what I was getting into taking this assignment. I thought I was given the subject matter simply because I'm a girl and therefore would be writing about girly things, but nope!

Will it be availabe online? Because I would love to read it.

[Caoimhe]

I'm fairly sure it will be. If not I'll just scan it and spread it around.

[Sindri]

Flux can be used to remove rads.
Flux unassociated with the Goddess' pool can cause tumors that can tune into her, described as "alicorn tumors". This might have to require tenpony taint cleansing to cause this effect, though.
Alicorns absorb rads to heal and gain more magical power.

I really think there may be a connection between Discord and death here. Some form of consistant result when flux interacts with necromancy, as opposed to the utter randomness it causes in most everything else.

I think that the most information we can get about what Flux "wants" is to look at the long term effects of exposure if nothing goes wrong.


Alicorns feed on radiation. They heal and become stronger when exposed to the necromantic energy that is completely inimical to nearly all other forms of life. Alicorns are produced by exposure to IMP, which is primarily made from Flux. They're also immortal unless killed, immune to aging... they don't even need to eat. An alicorn is the ultimate slap in the face to death.

Then we see other uses of Flux: Littlepip's regeneration, Blackjack's radiation cleaning, bringing Blanks to life... even when things go horribly wrong the result is usually a form of cancer, fundamentally and excess of life. In every instance Flux appears to fight death. If radiation is the essence of death, flux is the essence of life; in D&D terms negative and positive energy. In excess, one is as bad as the other, but if used properly Discord's blood will keep you from ever becoming a boring old corpse.

Can anyone also tell me if this is the de facto thread/resource to find the latest updates to the story? Even after my article is done and published I want to be sure I don't miss any more. :)

Welcome to the Herd!

For updates to this story, the index page linking to all chapters is at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1D6PJA5lrE0OzzS-ZC2kbf-4piyyuUdF-zniVqUs79uM/edit#bookmark=id.t799ssffrheu (stay off when you aren't immediately using it, because if 50 or more people are logged in the writing team can't add the new chapter link); updates on the story will almost certainly be posted here first given that the author and most editors are active in this forum, but we also use it for all manner of discussion. If you want to stick around we'd love to have you, otherwise you can either glance at the index page periodically (chapters are generally released every 1-3 weeks these days) or follow the fanfic updates on Equestria Daily (which will almost certainly include new PH chapters within a few hours of completion, but there have been mishaps in the past).

But that doesn't explain why those souls can hurt the EoS, when those it harvests just sit around being motes in the Necropolis.

My impression was that the moon didn't hurt tEoS because of the souls it had accumulated, but because it was the remains of a diametrically opposed star which sacrificed itself attempting to destroy the Eater. The moon first appeared while the Starkaterri (probably misspelled but I'm lazy) were destroyed, the Princesses were born, and Hoofington was knocked back from 'about to rise and conquer the multiverse' to 'slumbering beneath this cursed valley and feeding on the inhabitants.'

Hee. Welcome to the story. I'm glad you like it. I hope that you continue to do so. At the moment I'm 12p in to 48 and got her to the Armory. So I might actually have hightower finished by the end of the chapter! Squeeee!

Slightly hating myself for saying this but... if you don't manage to finish Hightower this chapter, you should take your break and sort out housing before you finish. IIRC the deadline for that was the start of August, so you might not have time to write two chapters between now and then.

[Vergil]

All I can say in response to that is happy Somber is best Somber.

I also don't think I ever stated this, but if the original FoE got my attention and persuaded me to keep reading just it, PH grabbed me by the collar and threw me into this world headfirst. Pretty sure I'm stuck in here now, yet I don't seem to have any problem with that.

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