Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion

[FeatherDust]

And of course the big question... If the Harbingers are led by a mare so sweet and pacifistic that she abandoned Red Eye’s glorious (and likely to actually succeed and accomplish things) cause because he caused suffering, and she’s working for a kind and benevolent goddess... why have the Harbingers been spending the last week or two murdering the hell out of people to drag Blackjack’s leg back? I’m sorry Dusk, but you are lying, negligent, or stupid.

Derp. So yes, Cognitum is the one in Flash. Meaning she’s crazy, obsessed, and does not give a fuck about the little ponies who get in her way. And Dawn is lying or stupid, because mere negligence doesn’t fit anymore.

Dawn was a good pony before she died in the tunnels. She wouldn't condone Redeye's methods and so on. She's been twisted since she came back cyber, though. Either Cognitum has been tweaking her thought patterns, or she's just been broken so thoroughly that her ideals are getting sloppy around the edges. She's trying to cling to a core ideal while her morals are disintegrating, and that puts her right in the same bucket with Redeye.

And that said, I'm sure Cognitum doesn't show her craziest side to Dawn. The fact that Dawn brought up Flash Industries so blithely means she's unaware of how Coggie acted after the threat was over -- trying to pull off BJ's leg and all. It reads like Dawn was told Cognitum's side of the story, edited to paint Cognitum as saving and protecting BJ and glossing over the whole attempted murder thing.

[Guest]

I'm too sleepy to make conspiracy theories, but take a look at this. Ironically enough, "cognitum" is latin for "known." Interesting question: why is this AI-thing named in zebra? Interesting note: the Professor has been noted to probably know more than she has said - perhaps she knows something about Cognitum; both are clearly well-versed in cyberpony tech, and the Professor also went into the Core/tunnels around the Core and came back, more or less alive.

[O. Hinds]

I'm too sleepy to make conspiracy theories, but take a look at this. Ironically enough, "cognitum" is latin for "known." Interesting question: why is this AI-thing named in zebra? Interesting note: the Professor has been noted to probably know more than she has said - perhaps she knows something about Cognitum; both are clearly well-versed in cyberpony tech, and the Professor also went into the Core/tunnels around the Core and came back, more or less alive.

...
You know, it's just occurred to me: when I asked Somber about this while we were working, he didn't answer. I assumed that the question had just gotten lost in the clutter, but...

Then again, Stygius's sister's name is Latin too, and apparently that doesn't mean anything. The batponies at least used Greek, though... The problem is that I have no idea why Cognitum would be related to the Zebras.

[FeatherDust]

But if Luna was deposed or killed… why blow everything up? Some sort of vengeance? It couldn’t have worked as a deterrent because nopony knew about it.

You know, Featherdust's theory that Horizons would create a new Nightmare Moon seems more likely than ev-- OH FUCK I think I just figured out BJ's final form.

Well, uh...I'm jumping on this bandwagon right now.

Yessss. Come, my minions!

But yes, implicit in the idea was that BJ would get into the middle of it.

[Harmony Ltd.]

I'm too sleepy to make conspiracy theories, but take a look at this. Ironically enough, "cognitum" is latin for "known." Interesting question: why is this AI-thing named in zebra? Interesting note: the Professor has been noted to probably know more than she has said - perhaps she knows something about Cognitum; both are clearly well-versed in cyberpony tech, and the Professor also went into the Core/tunnels around the Core and came back, more or less alive.

...
You know, it's just occurred to me: when I asked Somber about this while we were working, he didn't answer. I assumed that the question had just gotten lost in the clutter, but...

Then again, Stygius's sister's name is Latin too, and apparently that doesn't mean anything. The batponies at least used Greek, though... The problem is that I have no idea why Cognitum would be related to the Zebras.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Horizon

No comment.

[CannonFodder]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Horizon

No comment.

Well canonically in the mlp show there were going to be a failed moon colony, so it's possible there could be a military stable on their moon.


Also my money is on Cognitum not being a stable AI. If Cognitum was behaving rationally or such it wouldn't be having emotional attacks whenever she comes into contact with EC-1101 and blackjack. It may be behaving stable in front of the harbingers or be able to convince them to join her side, but as soon as it sees blackjack it goes out of it's mind level crazy.

[O. Hinds]

Well canonically in the mlp show there were going to be a failed moon colony

Wait, what?

[CannonFodder]

Well canonically in the mlp show there were going to be a failed moon colony

Wait, what?

It was supposed to be a episode in season 3 of mlp:fim. There was supposed to be a episode that they travelled to Luna's failed moon colony.

So it would only stand to reason if they can go to the moon that long ago then of course they would try to install a stable on the moon in project horizons in case their planet got utterly destroyed.

[Harmony Ltd.]

Well canonically in the mlp show there were going to be a failed moon colony

It was supposed to be a episode in season 3 of mlp:fim. There was supposed to be a episode that they travelled to Luna's failed moon colony.

[citation needed]

[FeatherDust]

Well canonically in the mlp show there were going to be a failed moon colony

Wait, what?

It was supposed to be a episode in season 3 of mlp:fim. There was supposed to be a episode that they travelled to Luna's failed moon colony.

I'm with Hinds here. Not that I disbelieve you per se, but where are you getting this? I keep up with the news pretty well and I've never heard of such a thing...

[CannonFodder]

Well canonically in the mlp show there were going to be a failed moon colony

Wait, what?

It was supposed to be a episode in season 3 of mlp:fim. There was supposed to be a episode that they travelled to Luna's failed moon colony.

I'm with Hinds here. Not that I disbelieve you per se, but where are you getting this? I keep up with the news pretty well and I've never heard of such a thing...

At new york comic con during the panel part of the discussion was about Jayson wanted a episode about a griffon kingdom, whereas Meghan wanted to see luna's failed moon colony. But unfortunately it didn't fly(joke intended)
http://www.mlponies.com/2012/10/11/new-york-comic-con-panel-details/
You can watch the panel video on youtube or such.

[Luminous Lead]

Getting into epileptic tree territory here, but what if pre-balefire actually succeeded in a moon base, and that's where Goldenblood got stuck? (I'm still not buying that he actually got executed) EC-1101 could be being routed to a transmission base that has the capacity to transmit to outer space.

[CannonFodder]

Getting into epileptic tree territory here, but what if pre-balefire actually succeeded in a moon base, and that's where Goldenblood got stuck? (I'm still not buying that he actually got executed) EC-1101 could be being routed to a transmission base that has the capacity to transmit to outer space.

Doubt it. Nuclear explosions don't work the same way in space. There'd be a flash and a flash of radiation and nothing else. It'd need for there to be air for there to be a kaboom.

[Harmony Ltd.]

I don't see the link between nuclear explosions in space and Equestria's eventual success at establishing a (secret ?) moon colony.

[Luminous Lead]

Getting into epileptic tree territory here, but what if pre-balefire actually succeeded in a moon base, and that's where Goldenblood got stuck? (I'm still not buying that he actually got executed) EC-1101 could be being routed to a transmission base that has the capacity to transmit to outer space.

Doubt it. Nuclear explosions don't work the same way in space. There'd be a flash and a flash of radiation and nothing else. It'd need for there to be air for there to be a kaboom.

Sorry, I meant "Pre-balefire equestria". As in, produced by equestria before all the shit hit the fan, rather than suggesting that construction of a sophisticated colony was enacted by explosions (that would be just silly). :D

[FeatherDust]

At new york comic con during the panel part of the discussion was about Jayson wanted a episode about a griffon kingdom, whereas Meghan wanted to see luna's failed moon colony. But unfortunately it didn't fly(joke intended)
http://www.mlponies.com/2012/10/11/new-york-comic-con-panel-details/
You can watch the panel video on youtube or such.

To my knowledge that was in no way canonical or "going to be". It wasn't even pitched. Meghan just said, spur if the moment, that she would like to see that, and it was said in a joking manner. It was a response to somebody asking where each if them would like to see the show go outside of Equestria.

[Sindri]

So, opinions:
Does Dawn still exist inside that cyber-monstrosity, or did the remainder of her brain get burned out along with the rest of her flesh? I'm thinking that last sad look that got consumed by the green light was Dawn dying...

Personally I'm guessing she's still inside, but her own will is mostly overridden. Cogs forced her to kill Sky Striker, her last connection to real people, so it's unlikely that the old Dawn will show through much in the future, but her flying off afterward instead of pushing her advantage implies that it wasn't a complete takeover yet.
Dramatic convention says she'll probably surface exactly once more, as she's dying, to give her last words to her daughter. The author being Somber says that any prediction I make without real evidence is probably wrong, so I'll make a better guess after she makes a few more appearances.

At new york comic con during the panel part of the discussion was about Jayson wanted a episode about a griffon kingdom, whereas Meghan wanted to see luna's failed moon colony. But unfortunately it didn't fly(joke intended)
http://www.mlponies.com/2012/10/11/new-york-comic-con-panel-details/
You can watch the panel video on youtube or such.

To my knowledge that was in no way canonical or "going to be". It wasn't even pitched. Meghan just said, spur if the moment, that she would like to see that, and it was said in a joking manner. It was a response to somebody asking where each if them would like to see the show go outside of Equestria.

Yeah... I don't see any way that could fit with what we've seen so far about the show's tech level, the nature of Luna's thousand years in the moon, or basically anything else. Pretty sure it was a joke based on insufficiently-thought-out fanarts and such.

IIRC, there was however a mention of a moon-base Stable (along with the undersea 'Rapture' Stable) a while ago... when Blackjack first met Applebot I think?

[FeatherDust]

IIRC, there was however a mention of a moon-base Stable (along with the undersea 'Rapture' Stable) a while ago... when Blackjack first met Applebot I think?

I don't recall a moon base, unless the Luna I Astrostable was supposed to be on the moon -- but I don't think so; it seems like it was supposed to be a space station.

Over the workstations were more stable designs flickering and rotating silently on their screens. ‘Rapture Hydrostable’ resembled dozens of bubbles. Was it supposed to go underwater? ‘Sea Star Hydrostable’ looked more like some sort of floating island. ‘Celestia I Astrostable’ had rotating wheels like a wagon and long sweeping wings while the ‘Luna I Astrostable’ didn’t appear much different from the big Stable Two. ‘Big Macintosh Megastable’ was positively huge, looking as if it’d been designed to hold thousands instead of hundreds. ‘Scootaloo Aerostable’ seemed more designed for cloud dwellers, while the ‘Pinkie Pie Aerostable’ hung from huge balloons! There were other designs that seemed even less concrete.

[CannonFodder]

IIRC, there was however a mention of a moon-base Stable (along with the undersea 'Rapture' Stable) a while ago... when Blackjack first met Applebot I think?

I don't recall a moon base, unless the Luna I Astrostable was supposed to be on the moon -- but I don't think so; it seems like it was supposed to be a space station.

Over the workstations were more stable designs flickering and rotating silently on their screens. ‘Rapture Hydrostable’ resembled dozens of bubbles. Was it supposed to go underwater? ‘Sea Star Hydrostable’ looked more like some sort of floating island. ‘Celestia I Astrostable’ had rotating wheels like a wagon and long sweeping wings while the ‘Luna I Astrostable’ didn’t appear much different from the big Stable Two. ‘Big Macintosh Megastable’ was positively huge, looking as if it’d been designed to hold thousands instead of hundreds. ‘Scootaloo Aerostable’ seemed more designed for cloud dwellers, while the ‘Pinkie Pie Aerostable’ hung from huge balloons! There were other designs that seemed even less concrete.

It would make sense a Luna stable would be sent bang zoom straight to the moon.

[SilentCarto]

I don't recall a moon base, unless the Luna I Astrostable was supposed to be on the moon -- but I don't think so; it seems like it was supposed to be a space station.

Over the workstations were more stable designs flickering and rotating silently on their screens. ‘Rapture Hydrostable’ resembled dozens of bubbles. Was it supposed to go underwater? ‘Sea Star Hydrostable’ looked more like some sort of floating island. ‘Celestia I Astrostable’ had rotating wheels like a wagon and long sweeping wings while the ‘Luna I Astrostable’ didn’t appear much different from the big Stable Two. ‘Big Macintosh Megastable’ was positively huge, looking as if it’d been designed to hold thousands instead of hundreds. ‘Scootaloo Aerostable’ seemed more designed for cloud dwellers, while the ‘Pinkie Pie Aerostable’ hung from huge balloons! There were other designs that seemed even less concrete.

I don't know, it sounds to me like the Luna I was intended as a subsurface lunar colony, complete with a greenhouse.

[CannonFodder]

I don't know, it sounds to me like the Luna I was intended as a subsurface lunar colony, complete with a greenhouse.

It would make sense why Luna was so angry with Goldenblood. Luna was obsessed that she could win the war and would have thrown the cmc in prison in a heartbeat for their work on stables if they were part of the government, the idea that Goldenblood actually thought she would lose the war would be downright blasphemy to her. Sure with gardens of equestria he could just walk it off as, "well the zebras are crazy and will probably try megaspells" and say it's just a counter to stop the zebras, but working on government funded stables would be outright saying, "NO I do not think we can win this war".

[Stringtheory]

I don't know, it sounds to me like the Luna I was intended as a subsurface lunar colony, complete with a greenhouse.

It would make sense why Luna was so angry with Goldenblood. Luna was obsessed that she could win the war and would have thrown the cmc in prison in a heartbeat for their work on stables if they were part of the government, the idea that Goldenblood actually thought she would lose the war would be downright blasphemy to her. Sure with gardens of equestria he could just walk it off as, "well the zebras are crazy and will probably try megaspells" and say it's just a counter to stop the zebras, but working on government funded stables would be outright saying, "NO I do not think we can win this war".

not even as a contingency plan?... jeez, we need more exposure to Luna, just to see how convinced in winning she was

[CannonFodder]

not even as a contingency plan?... jeez, we need more exposure to Luna, just to see how convinced in winning she was

Think about is as cold war usa during the redscare. Imagine what would have physically happened to you if you even so much as questioned the usa's ability to win a nuclear war.

[Stringtheory]

not even as a contingency plan?... jeez, we need more exposure to Luna, just to see how convinced in winning she was

Think about is as cold war usa during the redscare. Imagine what would have physically happened to you if you even so much as questioned the usa's ability to win a nuclear war.

good point, you would've been blacklisted as a communist sympathizer, thereby ruining your life. but really, at the highest levels of government? That's where you're supposed to look at things rationally...guess not

[CannonFodder]

good point, you would've been blacklisted as a communist sympathizer, thereby ruining your life. but really, at the highest levels of government? That's where you're supposed to look at things rationally...guess not

When was the last time a hegemony ever acted rationally?

[FeatherDust]

It would make sense why Luna was so angry with Goldenblood. Luna was obsessed that she could win the war and would have thrown the cmc in prison in a heartbeat for their work on stables if they were part of the government.

I disagree. She might not have liked it, but she wouldn't react like that. Whatever Horizons was, the reaction it caused was one of horror, not just anger. Not just "that's terrible and wrong and I don't like it", but "That is so wrong that I can't even let you live." That's why I think it's the Nightmare Moon protocol or something of that nature -- not just hideously dangerous, but personally horrific to Luna, in particular.

[Icy Shake]

not even as a contingency plan?... jeez, we need more exposure to Luna, just to see how convinced in winning she was

Think about is as cold war usa during the redscare. Imagine what would have physically happened to you if you even so much as questioned the usa's ability to win a nuclear war.

Recalling the "missile gap" scare, it would put you in great company, including a sitting US senator and future POTUS, or before that (during the "bomber gap" times) the USAF, which operated on the principle that air defense was a waste of resources because "the bomber will always get through"; in fact, you were more likely to be targeted for saying that things were fine, undermining support for further investment.

[CannonFodder]

Someone check my logic here:
1. Glory said said she thinks she may have "wet" (they were in the rain, so they were all wet to a degree) herself while fighting the harbingers.
2. She fought them by flying around above their heads, shooting while doing tricks to dodge their fire.
3. Ponies don't wear pants or underwear, and Glory is no exception.

Does this, or does this not, mean that she likely "wet" far more people than just herself? XP

"Wait. . . that's not rain!"

[WavemasterRyx]

Someone check my logic here:
1. Glory said said she thinks she may have "wet" (they were in the rain, so they were all wet to a degree) herself while fighting the harbingers.
2. She fought them by flying around above their heads, shooting while doing tricks to dodge their fire.
3. Ponies don't wear pants or underwear, and Glory is no exception.

Does this, or does this not, mean that she likely "wet" far more people than just herself? XP

Well, I believe some armor types do actually come with pants, they're just not very often described or depicted.

Seriousness aside... this made me laugh for the first time in a week, thank you swicked.

[Kippershy]

Just found this picture when searching <a href="http://calamityb31.deviantart.com/">this guy</a> so I could ask him for a commission. Haven't seen this picture posted before...

[Sponsored content]