This is the new Fallout Equestria Comment post. The old one capped out. Continue discussion below, but keep star ratings and such on the main post!
Warning: Comments contain spoilers. In fact, the author strongly encourages spoilers in the comments.
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This is the new Fallout Equestria Comment post. The old one capped out. Continue discussion below, but keep star ratings and such on the main post!
Warning: Comments contain spoilers. In fact, the author strongly encourages spoilers in the comments.
Labels: Adventure, Author: Kkat, Crossover, Fanfiction, Grimdark, Incomplete, OC Ponies, Star-6, StoryShare This!
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3,901 comments:
So! How's the next chapter coming? No rush, just want to know when I might need to clear my schedule for a few hours.
ReplyDelete@silentcarto
ReplyDeleteWell, I've been pronouncing it the "french" way in my head and now in the audiobook.
Frankly, the "proper" English pronunciation is painful to my ear. It is for the very same reason I pronounce "Octavia" with the the long form of the first "a" sound, instead of the more common short "a" sound. "Ock-tah-via" instead of "Ock-tay-via", as it were.
Both are acceptable pronunciations, by the way.
@silentcarto
ReplyDeleteMakes sense, and you're right.
That reminds me, I'm still having some issues placing Trottingham for my own story, the best placement I have so far is, going by your (silentcarto's) map, at least 5-8 days south of ponyville to the northernmost section. Which is where I plan on having one of my major towns. In hindsight, no matter where I place it, I feel like it's going to contradict something, now or later.
and, to be somewhat relevant to something that is vaguely not from my own pet project, how do ghouls get made? Is it straight up radiation overdose in general? A mix of taint and radiation? a giant flaring of radiation all at once? (In hindsight, this is part of my "pet project" actually, someone was going to get turned into a ghoul at one point.)
@Colm/Rippedshadow
ReplyDelete(Don't worry; this isn't a PH spoiler.)
If it helps you at all, Hoofington is roughly off to the northeast somewhere (we've been working with Silentcarto on a map, but the exact location hasn't quite been decided yet).
@Colm/Rippedshadow
ReplyDeleteI don't think Trottingham is that big a city... something on the scale of Ponyville was my impression, and relatively nearby. Like a little north of where the railroad tracks split for Old Olneigh.
But, hey, it's your fic, you can do whatever you want. Anything south of Delamare Bay is uncharted territory as far as we're concerned, and I really doubt the rest of FOE is going to stray south of Filly. I wouldn't worry about canon contradictions.
As for ghouls, as Ditzy shows, it's purely based on radiation. (The Maripony bomb had not been detonated yet, so she had no chance to be exposed to IMP before her irradiation.) As in Fallout, ghouls are victims of acute radiation poisoning who, due to an unknown genetic factor, fail to die from it. It seems to be triggered by a barely-sub-fatal dose received in a short time.
The transformation isn't instantaneous, unlike Canterlot ghouls. The victim appears to suffer from severe radiation poisoning for a few weeks, but then the symptoms fade and their skin starts to peel and crack. After months or years of this decay, they look like the ghouls we're familiar with.
As for what makes one ghoul go feral and another not, that's up to you. Maybe it's the psychological stress of turning into a monster, and maybe it's another genetic factor. I think we've established that "Glowing Ones" don't exist in FOE except as normal ghouls that have absorbed extreme amounts of radiation.
@silentcarto
ReplyDeleteTo my knowledge, there isn't a canon map of Equestria. I know Lauren Faust has given her idea of what directions things lie in, but I've made my mental map based on guesswork and visuals from the show. (Which is difficult since the show has not been consistent -- the aerial view in the opening song doesn't match other views of the town, for instance.)
Fluttershy's cottage is between Ponyville and the Everfree Forest, but there is nothing to suggest that either Fluttershy's cottage or the Everfree Forest are on the same side of Ponyville as Sweet Apple Acres.
In Fall Weather Friends, the last leg of the Running of the Leaves passes through Whitetail Wood. Presuming a circular track that begins and ends in Ponyville (as opposed to a race that ends with the racers in another town), this would place one end of Whitetail Woods near Ponyville. Since Sweet Apple Acres doesn't seem to abut the Everfree Forest, it would make sense for it to share a border with Whitetail Wood.
Using the first glimpse we see of Ponyville, I make the following assumptions about how areas radiate out from Ponyville:
West: mountains (and beyond those mountains, desert and New Appleloosa).
Northwest: Fluttershy's cottage (and eventually Canterlot)
North: Everfree Forest
Northeast: hills (and eventually the
East: Sweet Apple Acres
Southeast: Whitetail Wood
South: Splendid Valley
Southwest: rock farms (and eventually Mainhattan)
However, I have been very careful to avoid any mention of directions in this fanfic just in case my headcanon doesn't match up with canon regarding geological layout. That way, Fallout: Equestria can be appropriate even if my headcanon is wrong.
@O. Hinds
ReplyDeleteI recalled the hoof being in that general direction, but didn't consider it due to how I had planned on placing trottingham far south of ponyville, and thus off silentcarto's map.
Since I'm on the topic anyway, I'm going to probably wind up needing at least 10 new locations for the early portion of my story, totaling 12 locations unused/mentioned in Kkat's story. (Vault 36 and a town in the northern section of my mental map known as "Trott") I should go stop being lazy and see what areas from the original fallout series haven't been, oh, what's the word... "Parodied"?
@silentcarto
ReplyDeleteHm, makes sense.
About ghouls: figured as much.
@Kkat
After reading through your post, I realized something.
I'm probably overthinking this. Way too much. I could easily go back and change town names, locations, and directions, so as long as I had the character interactions down, where everything happens can be built and rearranged as your and the FiM canon requires. What's important is getting characters and motives, along with timeline, down and arranged.
Which means I'm going to be doing lots of rereading if I want to keep event dates synced. Or pray someone edits the timeline on the wiki.
*places thinking cap on my head*
@Sindri
ReplyDeleteSuccess! weird why my computer did not put the script before
@Kkat
ReplyDeleteAurebesh created an amazing map of the Ponyville environs based on screenshots from the show. That was the basis for my Ponyville mini-map.
http://aurebesh.deviantart.com/gallery/31093498
The Running of the Leaves starts and ends in the eastern park, which is across the river, north of the Carousel Boutique. Points south, though, are clear farmland in this period, according to several aerial shots. (see the Eastern Outskirts map for reference pics.) The one error is that he locates Canterlot WAY too close to Ponyville, but it's in the correct direction.
This map is a little bit like TVTropes -- once you read it, you can't stop going, "Okay, now they're crossing the southern bridge into the plaza..." The animation isn't perfectly, 100% self-consistent, but this is the most accurate map possible.
But anyway, like I said before -- the forest easily could have changed since FiM.
@silentcarto
ReplyDeleteim looking for a map that essentially looks like a screen shot of the fallout 3 map, except have it be the FO:E map... topographical information included... i have a basic idea where everything is located... do you have a sketch? I have yet to see a map and im curious so see how it compares to my basic sketch...
never mind.. i just found a map... its similar to mine but not the same
ReplyDelete@Sindri
ReplyDeleteWell, the line of thought that brought it up is, I kinda like Spike for the Generosity element. He's basically given up his entire life to protect the GoE device and search for the bearers...
@Kkat
ReplyDeleteI'm currently replying fallout 3, do you reccomend any mods?
*replaying
ReplyDelete@Colm/Rippedshadow
ReplyDeleteI believe that the standard Fallout canon is that a small but unknown percentage of humans have a genetic quirk that causes them to, when exposed to lethal doses of radiation, lose their skin and hair and then become immortal instead of dying of rad poisoning. I've never liked this explanation, since it sets off all my "radiation does not work that way" alerts, and most of the rest of the series is pretty good about things like that.
There are a number of alternate theories as to how ghouls work; one I kinda like that was mentioned earlier in these comments is that they're infected with some manner of symbiotic fungus that feeds off the radiation and as a side effect stops or retards the aging process, so the person inside stays alive and is mostly unharmed by the radiation exposure; this also explains why there are some locations (Underworld, Vault 12, etc.) where nearly everyone seems to have turned into a ghoul, and others where everyone just died.
What makes them turn feral is also a mystery; there seem to be a lot more feral ghouls than smart ones in all the games, so most of them probably turn at some point. There are a lot of people who believe that every ghoul will turn feral eventually, but I can't remember a single instance of a smart ghoul becoming feral in any of the games. Whether it's pure insanity over their transformation, brain damage by whatever makes them a ghoul in the first place, or something entirely different is unknown.
As for the time taken and conditions which produce ghoulification, it varies widely. The majority of the ghouls whose stories we get to hear seem to have been either not quite far enough from the bombs or in an incompletely shielded location, and noticed the physiological changes gradually over the course of about two months, with complete skin decay and such occasionally taking years. However there are some cases, like Moire (if the player of F3 is an evil bastard), who becomes completely ghoulified pretty much instantly when given a single massive dose of radiation.
Anyway, from a storytelling perspective all you need to know is that it happens to a small portion of the population for reasons which should probably remain unknown, and while it usually takes long exposure to moderate radiation levels the only real requirement is that the dose be enough to kill a normal person.
Also, I don't know if anyone has mentioned this yet. But I feel that a good crossover from fallout 3 to FO:E would be to incorporate the DLC Operation: Anchorage. (Make it Operation: ShatteredHoof or something similar) This could bring back Applesnack for a short while. Causing a lot of feeling to be brought back. Then maybe the place comes under attack and the machine is wiped out, removing the last interaction with him?
ReplyDeleteJust a though that has probably been said before.
@Sindri
ReplyDeleteAnd of course in Fo:E, IIRC there's a necromantic component to balefire and most other radiation sources, so you can play even looser with the rules under the "it's magic, I don't gotta explain shit" clause. So far at least the non-Canterlot ghouls seem to operate pretty much identically to those in the video games though.
This right here is how I picture the sky in FO:E.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.reddit.com/tb/lgntz
@wrinkles
ReplyDeleteYeah, that's not gonna happen. :) I have neither the patience nor the skill.
@Arcane Scroll
Mammatus clouds! Cool looking, though the sky of FOE would probably be closer to a typical stratus pattern.
@Escher
ReplyDelete"Huh, I always thought the line was "media men". Weird. What does that mean, then? Is it an idiosyncratic way to say "meteorologists"?"
Probably, but I'm not a member of Smash Mouth, so I can't say for certain.
@boomerang503
"Some where in a game studio in Equestria, LittlePip is in a motion capture suit being constantly pelted with paintballs to simulate the many ways her character keeps getting shot."
I still wouldn't want to be Littlepip during the motion capture of the groin kick. Owwie!
@Tosxychor
"Quick question for Kkat: what's the cutiemark on your alicorn avatar? The image is too small to discern in Blogspot (plus wings :p)"
I can answer that one! It's a hermit thrush. I know this because I'm the one that did that avatar for her.
(^.^)
@Sindri
That bit about Littlepip in the mirror - beautifully said, Sindri. I couldn't have put it better myself. :3
Regarding Xenith and her suitability for an Element, let me point out that she was the last to join the group, even arriving after Pyrelight, and while she has had her loyalty arc completed, she has not yet had her emotional healing arc completed. Calamity and Velvet only recently completed (or are wrapping up) their emotional healing arcs, and they were Pip's first two companions, so the time is ripe for Pip to make some headway with Xenith. We've already seen step one with Pip's revelation about Xenith's suitability as a teacher, and I can think of few other roles that require one to give so much time for so little reward.
@silentcarto
"Yes you will. You TOTALLY will. Constantly."
Heee! Oh, now that is funny!
@Sindri
ReplyDelete"radiation does not work that way"
"the rest of the series is pretty good about things like that"
Really? Fallout is pretty rife with 1950s Magic Radiation that can do anything from turn ants huge to reverse the aging process...
Also, on ghouls going feral, if it's due to brain damage, it's a pretty darned consistent and repeatable kind of brain damage. That's not normal; usually brain damage shows up in dozens of ways from severe to minor. Even very similar injuries can cause vastly different levels of impairment in different people.
ReplyDeleteIf it were brain damage, one would expect to see many other symptoms in the ghoul population, but these guys seem to be either (mostly) sane or totally feral with very little between.
@Colm/Rippedshadow
ReplyDeletexD I'm already using Stable 36 in my fic. Here's a link to a stables currently being used, or being planned for in other fics so you can make sure that your story doesn't conflict with others.
http://forum.fallout-equestria.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=10
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete@Escher
ReplyDeleteIIRC the giant ants are because of FEV, not pure radiation, and I don't remember any mention of age-reversal. A lot of people in-game believe in the magic radiation, typically because they never hear about the real cause of all the weird things they see and they don't know much science anyway, but if you look closer the series is surprisingly realistic about radiation aside from ghouls and the ease with which it can be removed. And radway is a perfectly acceptable sufficiently-advanced-technology handwave for storytelling purposes (the game would be rather short and unpleasant if radiation did nothing but build up and make you constantly sicker until you died), which makes the ghouls irk me so much more.
I think Ditzy is Generosity and Silver Bell is Laughter
ReplyDelete@Jandalf
ReplyDeleteThat...
works.
@Sindri
ReplyDeleteNot to my knowledge. The scientist in "Those!" refers to the giant size as a mutation caused by long term radiation exposure. One presumes radroaches are the same deal.
@Jandalf
ReplyDeleteI said kinda the same thing, but with more words. Please use more words.
@DiceArt
ReplyDeleteDoshgarnit, there goes my explanation for two character's backstory. I even checked the known stables list in the wiki, but I guess I should've checked for that too.
Might I get a link to your story?
@Escher
ReplyDelete1950s Magic Brain Damage?
@DiceArt
ReplyDeleteActually, scrap that, I can just change the number and some details. 6 is now 5, contradictions go out the window.
Now I just have to hope the premise of my story hasn't already been done. That would be very awkward.
@Colm/Rippedshadow
ReplyDeleteSure you can get a link. I'm still editing it, and I want to make it longer. I might fuse the first and second chapters together to get the length I want.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ieumSC86UjFnnENt_4c1m73Xk-xsAXonyJQiMyfFIAE/edit?hl=en_US
@Kkat
ReplyDeleteBecause you are secretly a published well known author... DUN DUN DUN!
@DiceArt
ReplyDeleteActually, depending on how you handle the stable, we could share it. My story starts about two-three weeks after he left/was thrown out, and I was planning on writing the prologue after finishing chapter 7 or so. So just going by that, we could mention characters in passing, as a nod to eachother's story. Or not, whatever works.
I will also sign up for that site when I get a chance. Looks neat, and maybe I could find a prereader. The tabletop RPG project looked really cool as well.
@DiceArt
ReplyDeleteAlright, after having read through that, I'm sure now I'm just going to change stable numbers.
@Takon
ReplyDeleteYou know, there are computer programs that can analyze statistical subtleties of word use and sentence structure to determine whether or not a sample matches the style of a given author's body of work... :)
(According to I Write Like, Kkat writes like Neil Gaiman. Go figure, right?)
@silentcarto
ReplyDeleteKkat yells, "Shit, I'm found out!" and throws down a smoke bomb and runs like Trixie. XD
@silentcarto
ReplyDelete...
I see the stylistic similarities, to some extent, but I doubt they're the same person. Subtle as it is, you can see the author's learning curve over the course of the story; a professional published author would have gone through that years ago, especially if they'd been doing this as long as Mr. Gaiman.
@silentcarto
ReplyDeleteTo be fair: according to that website, I write like J.R.R. Tolkien, and I'm pretty sure that its a stretch. Not that I'm trying to compare my amateur prose with Kkat's work, but it seems likely that their list of possible writers isn't that diverse.
Given that Hinds got three 'Lovecrafts' and one 'Douglas Adams' from eight submissions, I'm guessing that this site isn't terribly precise. I really can't see the same author getting both of those without gaining a major psychological disorder halfway through writing.
ReplyDelete@Sindri
ReplyDeleteGood goddesses, of course it's not precise! It's the next step up from those "Which house do you belong in at Hogwarts" quizzes.
Perhaps I should have clarified that "I Write Like" operates on the same principles as a real stylometric analysis, but it's using some very small samples and reporting whichever of its selections has the highest rating, even if that's only a 20% match.
ReplyDeleteIn real stylometry, they can do things like compare each of Shakespeare's plays to the entire body of work known to be written by Sir Francis Bacon, and determine that it's 99.5% probable that Bacon did not ghostwrite anything attributed to Shakespeare. Doing that takes an enormous database of work to compare to, and more processing time than you're likely to get out of a webserver.
"Men, women and children... None were spared the master's wrath. Your death will be no different." -Falric
ReplyDelete"Choke on your suffering!" - Marwyn
Ok.... why did I just quote those two for no reason?
This is just a little chat I had about chapter 17 I thought I would share with everyone.
ReplyDeleteme: AAAAHHHH
Anonymous User 121: ?
me: I don't know
Anonymous User 121: ..
me: I just felt like typing AAAHHH
Anonymous User 121: lol
me: I like that there are still ponies reading these chapters
Anonymous User 121: yeah the older ones dosnt have viewers
me: I finished but this is one of my favorites and I'm bored so its nice to reread my favorites
Anonymous User 121: i think its starting to be one of mine too
me: I love how kkat can express emotion in her characters
Anonymous User 5887 has left.
Anonymous User 121: you mean make them horny?
me: what
That wasn't what I meant but...
Anonymous User 121: naah just joking dont worry
me: oh that was
close
Anonymous User 121: jaja
me: So I'm just going to keep reading now bye
Anonymous User 121: ok see ya
@Nightmare Luna
ReplyDeleteThat sounds wonderful. I'm not sure of the legalities considering the IPs involved; but if you are donating the money to charity, then I would hope that wouldn't be a problem.
I plopped some of my own writing into that site (I write like).
ReplyDeleteI got stephan king.
Come on, I haven't even gotten close to breaking my character yet! He still has at least 8 chapters of bravado to be in!
Anyway, for details, I think I'll avoid using statuettes like Kkat or Somber, simply because I doubt I'll keep in line with how many there are, and other stories with more sane lead characters are probably going to need them.
@masterkee
ReplyDeleteI actually have a huge list of mods that I recommend. Here are the ones I can suggest without reservation:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zbCM-ug8D9JmOZ195iK3PjqUx5lFiZOLuasNPgiQ5DA/edit?hl=en_US
I use those, plus FOOK 2 (which is a massive overhaul mod that has some serious pros and cons to using) and a hoof-full of little things, clothing and whatnot, that are just personal taste.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete@silentcarto
ReplyDeleteReally?
Interesting. (If probably not very meaningful.) Not someone on the list of storytellers whom I consider most influential on my writing.
Kkat believe it or not but your story is what got me in to fanfics.Honestly Fallout Equestria was my first fanfic ever. And now I have a lot of catching up to do. I also follow Sombers Project Horizons and many more. For a while now I wanted to try my hand at writing and since I'm a Fallout fan I thought I'd try a Fallout Equestria one.But I need your permission first.I already asked Somber if it's alright to mention his character,locations... and got the OK.But I still need yours, because I'll essentially be using a world you created?So I would be very grateful if you could give me the green light to go ahead.
ReplyDelete@Kkat
ReplyDeleteI cannot see their being a problem, as other people have sold pony thing's on ebay before.
Anyway, now I know your cool with this (Had a feeling you would) I'm going to be contacting a company about ordering 6 of the trophy pedestal's they sell this weekend and maybe get the inscriptions on them if I can. So will try my best to keep you updated.
Well, thanks for everything everybody/pony. I'll drop by again, hopefully having gotten a chapter or two made public, and gotten a pre-reader. I will still watch this place like a hawk, and ask questions and such whenever stuff pops up.
ReplyDeleteBut, anyway, so far I've reached trottingham a little quicker then I anticipated in my story, maybe I should do a prologue? Show what life in the stable is like? So far I just plopped the story right at "here is your psychopath main character, you don't get an explanation because he doesn't want to talk about it. In the meantime, watch him dance on raider corpses."
*shrug*
I guess I should just write and see what comes out of it.
I put a few of my poems through "I Write Like" and got one Shakespeare, 3 Lovecrafts, and 4 Bram Stokers.
ReplyDeleteAnyways... keep up the good work Kkat!! I love reading this series. :D
I got one HP Lovecraft and one Chuck Palahniuk (author of Fight Club) o_O
ReplyDeleteI can sort of see the resemblance in Kkat's writing to Neil Gaiman actually. It comes out a bit more in the audio readings that Scorch_Mechanic is putting out. I dunno, hard to explain. Gaiman is one hip pony though.
@Kkat: how much experience do you have doing this? The level of writing here is not something I have seen in fanfiction before. If you told me you were a professional writer I would believe you.
@anonycus
ReplyDeleteI am not a professional writer nor a published one. I have written a few short stories before this, most of which were never finished and none of which are particularly good.
Writing and storytelling are hobbies for me. I took creative writing elective courses in college because I enjoy writing.
My most significant background is about twenty years of running tabletop RPGs.
@Kkat
ReplyDelete20 years? Oh my, I've only gone for about 8, and only 5 of those I were any efficient. I hope my RPG module of FoE isn't to bad. I've trailed off into way to many side things as it is already.
@Kkat
ReplyDeleteKkat you should be given the equivalent of a Ranger Sequoia in tabletop RPG's for all those years you put into it, 20 years.... now that's some dedication.
___________________________________
"I wish to give, to take, to make, to check, I wanna see it happen
I want to see, to be, the one that plays the game without no fears and regrets
I want to know you, better than I know myself
I want to feel the end, and to enjoy the consequence
I'm playing the game
the one that will take me to my end
I'm waiting for the rain...
to wash who I am."
(x2)
"I want to move, to loose, to take the grooves, and to give it all back
I want to take the time rewind, and to kick it right from the start
to be unknown and all alone, lose the kind that are behind
to start a new play by myself and to give the best I have
I'm playing the game
the one that will take me to my end
I'm waiting for the rain
to wash up who I am."
(x4)
Infected Mushroom - I Wish
@Kkat
ReplyDelete[Applebloom]
Likely story!
[/Applebloom]
@Kkat
ReplyDeleteWhen you finish this can I print it into a book? I won't sell it or anything. Just a nice addition to my own personal (Twilight Sparkle?) library instead of staring at a computer screen for a few hours a day. I thought it'd be nice to ask before you finish it so I can get caught up.
Sorry for bothering you Kkat I just read an older post where you stated that you don't mind if someone were to write a spinoff of Fallout Equestria so I'm going to go ahead and post mine. If for any reason you change your mind let me know and I'll stop. That said thanks for an awesome story and thanks for the inspiration!
ReplyDelete@s0medud3
ReplyDeleteIIRC the reason Kkat doesn't want these reposted anywhere else is that she's going to do some editing to some parts, and needs the google doc here to be the only version so that there aren't different copies floating around at different stages of editing. So you might want to hold off on binding a hardcopy until it's declared finished in a couple of months, to make sure that the version that you've got is the final official typo-free version.
Question time... one this time.
ReplyDeleteSprite-bot: It is basically a normal Eye-bot from Fallout but it has four mechanical wings?
20 years? I assume you'll get this reference, then:
ReplyDeleteWith how good FoE has been, I would kill to play in a Paranoia game with you as The Computer, not gonna lie.
@s0medud3
ReplyDeleteIf you would like to, you can certainly print the story out and put it in a book for your own personal use, so long as you aren't selling it. If you do so, I would ask you create a cover page for it with the following information:
Fallout: Equestria
by Kkat
"My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" and "Fallout" are the properties of Hasbro and Bethesda respectively. No commercial use is being made and no copyright infringement is intend. This story is to be viewed as 'satire' for purposes of law. All other borrowed and referenced characters are the property of their various copyright holders. Original characters belong to Kkat.
@s0medud3
ReplyDeleteAs mentioned by Sindri, please be sure to wait until the story is finished before doing so. I would suggest waiting at least two weeks after it has been marked as "completed" on Equestria Daily, giving me time to fix any little things I have to. Thanks
@~Aerondight~
You're welcome! Happy writing! ^.^
Well, it took a month, but I finally finished my picture as tribute to SteelHooves.
ReplyDeleteVersion one and two.
May he rest in peace.
@WavemasterRyx
ReplyDeleteBoth drawings were great, but I personally like version 2 better just because I love armored things I think armored things look better, and his armor reminds me the most about him tbh, but version 1 was awesome as well don't get me wrong, since its what's on the inside that counts yes?. But I have one question. Where are they?
(On a cliff side in pony heaven overlooking the lands there once was and will be.)
(Or looking at a sunset from the cliff side in the years near the end of the war.)
@Mint Julep
ReplyDeleteI would agree with you, but that sounds like the sort of thing a mutant commie traitor would say...
(Ponynoia?)
@Alchat
ReplyDeleteThank you; and I agree with you, I identify SteelHooves most with his armor, so the second version was the one I wanted to do most - but at the same time, I wanted Applejack to be able to touch him without the armor being in the way of the feeling. So I felt doing the two versions would be the best way to handle that conflict.
And they're on an outcropping near Manehattan, watching Ditzy's sonic rainboom - or at least that's what it's supposed to be.
@silentcarto
ReplyDeleteAll lies! You Applejack's Rangers have always had it out for me! Just wait 'till the Overmare sees this holotag -- proof you're a secret society member!
CH.41 :
ReplyDelete>“Upshot is, Ah reckon we got a few days before the Wonderbolts are hot on our tails.”
-I would almost bet that they are gonna waste time, and wait at the very last moment to decide and go retrieve the ''Little-Pip's codes'' thingy in the terminal before the Wonderbolts...
>I nearly shot a balloon.
-Hey, balloons ARE evil ! ...or at least have a tendency for chaos and discord.
>“Do you like it?” Silver Bell asked anxiously. “It’s a party!” The filly seemed nervous.
-It's like the very first party made by Pinky Pie... which is kinda clever, considering that Silver Bell 'impersonated(pony)' Pinky Pie in the past, and that Ditzy is 'kinda' like her mother now.
>Ghosts don’t exist. >Just landmines.
-Ghosts and mines, all those near a farm/town... I bet that/those ghost(s) will end up behind a sniper(s).
>It had a peculiar and delicious berry flavor
-A ''punch'' with a ''berry'' flavor (and alcohol involved)... A reference to 'Berry Punch', maybe ?
>I wondered if Gilgamesh ever slept.
-Heh, Gilgamesh... will there be a 'battle on the bridge', in a possible future ? ;)
>“The Wasteland Crusaders!”
-Heh... the CMC of the Wasteland.
>I took a plate of cake and nibbled at it. Yep. Muffin-flavored.
-A cake... muffin-flavored ? ...Mmh, I'm curious of how that work, or what ''muffin'' defines as a flavor (or rather what flavor IS 'muffin') ?
Many muffin-scientists researched the mysteries of the fabled 'muffin-flavor', yet none ever pierced its secrets, except for an ''unknown'' mailmare 200years ago...
>“Oh, an’ just so you know, wherever you’re goin’ next, Kage an’ I are goin’ with you.”
-2 new party members ? .........I wonder how long they will last... or if more members are gonna horribly die of a horribly horrible death... or maybe something not involving death for once...
>“I’m not worthy to follow Fluttershy. Or to be your friend.”
-Considering that they are in the Wasteland, in a post-apocalyptic era... well... I'm quite sure the standards (for that sort of stuff) aren't as high as 200years ago.
>“Velvet!” Calamity cheered, nuzzling the exceptionally muddy mare.
>“Oops,” he said, blushing. “Let me help ya.”
-Heh, now a RD moment. This part is definitely full of 'micro-references'.
>Was there ever any doubt?
-Trixie reference, maybe ?
>“So… you’re a follower of the apocalypse?”
-Isn't there a faction named (similar) like that in 'New Vegas' ? ...haven't played in a long time.
@Nova25
ReplyDelete>hellhound-claw knives
>I’d seen them slice the head off a pony. But I worried that they would be ineffective against pegasi in magically-powered armor.
-...I will just suppose that she already forgot about that previous 'pony in magical armor' that got *COUGH* beheaded, in a recent past... yeah, forgot...
>The griffin fell back, smoke rising from a gaping wound in his breast. I stared in horror as the light went out of his eyes.
-Well, that was rather fast... Alas, 'red shirt #1' will be missed; we knew ye so well.
No, really, those 2 griffins were somewhat interesting.
>I’d just seen them turn Horseshoe Tower into a mound of rubble and slag.
>I couldn’t let that happen.
-Personally, I bet and hope for : Blowing the reactor of the Flying Fortress, causing a catastrophic failure (and explosion) inside the Fortress ( ' engine room), which would result in a spectacular scene of ''The *Big-Bird* is falling from the sky''.
>“There’s a memory spell, one created by Twilight Sparkle herself, which will allow me to cram all those memories into their heads in minutes.
-Was this part made before or after S2.EP2 ? I suppose it was taken from there.
>Reggie looked at the ponies (and zebra) around her.
-And griffins, oh wait, ''griffin'' I mean.
...the only thing missing in their group is a donkey or a pacific hellhound(if it's even possible).
>“Ayep,” Calamity said with conviction. “An’ Ah got the perfect place...”
>“…Everfree Forest.”
-Hell was actually their first choice, but since it's underground, they took Everfree Forest.
>Beyond the stone bunny, the grassy knoll rose up to where a massive weeping willow
>The rough bark of the tree was a strange, buttery yellow.
-Will something or anything be done with 'Fluttershy-tree' ? Or will it be another disappointing ''Oh there it is... and now it's gone in flames'' ? ...we will see.
SteelHooves's death reminded me of the way John Travolta's character was killed in Pulp Fiction. Unexpectedly and quickly. You rearly go out in a blaze of glory. Even though I'm sad he's gone, becaouse of the way he died Fallout Equestria went up another notch in the awesome department.
ReplyDelete@WavemasterRyx
ReplyDeleteOk, not gonna lie. Have to admit with combining reading about the latest (almost soon at the chapter of his death) part of the zebra village, the selfless sacrifice by Rarity (even if it proves she's thinking more with her heart then her brain, which is technically very sweet and precious. But it also got her killed) and the part with what I assumed was the remains Lyra and BonBon's corpses embraced in a final snuggle. The drawing managed to water my eyes. Althou, I have to admit I would have liked (possibly) if they were more insubstantial, (I just have a nostalgia of the whole "spirits" thing) and if their foal had been there to. (and yes, I know it like would be grown up, unless it died prematurely, which is unlikely. But it's still their foal, no matter what) That would just have been the limit "Hnnnngg" to it all.
@ Sgt. Muffin: Basically: Pretty much. It is described quite well in the first few chapters.
@WavemasterRyx
ReplyDeleteI actually prefer the first one, seeing Applesnack without his armor, vulnerable, makes for a much more emotional image.
@WavemasterRyx
ReplyDeleteI like the first, but love the second.
In the first picture we see Applesnack, an idealistic young stallion about to go to war. In the second we see Steelhooves, a hardened, tortured, flawed, and absolutely loyal soldier giving everything he has to help ponies and rebuild the wasteland two centuries after the war that killed him. In the first, he holds his Applejack's hoof and looks hopefully toward the future. In the second, he continues to fight for her ideals and her memory hundreds of years after they were forcibly separated.
@Kkat
ReplyDeleteWill do. 07
@Alchat
ReplyDeleteI agree with you
@Kkat
ReplyDeleteFeel free to quote me, everything I've said is the honest truth! /Applejack
I'm hoping that the next chapter doesnt show up in the middle of my shift...
ReplyDeleteChapter Update:
ReplyDeleteChapter Forty-Two is about two-thirds done, and I have the day off. I expect to have it written by early evening. My hope is still to have the new chapter up by midnight PST, but I'm asking a lot of my proofreaders to work on Fallout: Equestria on Halloween night, so there may be a delay. Barring unforseen disasters, tomorrow at the lastest, and hopefully tonight.
@Kkat
ReplyDeleteNo! Not tomorrow! I have a test to study for! How can I focus if I have a new chapter of Fallout Equestria dangling in front of my face!
Yay tomorrow <3
ReplyDeleteI should have time to read it before I go to work.
Kkat you rock.
woohoo!
ReplyDeleteI guess that means I'll be reading it tomorrow then! Or later, whatevs, this makes me happy ^.^
inb4 hitchhikers guide to the galaxy references
@BeatleBrony
ReplyDeleteThe answer is clear, you must disconnect your internet connection until you are done studying. ((Seriously though, I knew someone who'd get his friend to change his passwords on his computer so that he couldn't play games until after a test was over. Not having to worry about the temptation at all is a helpful thing.))
@icekatze
ReplyDeleteEither that or read the entire chapter during my hour break between classes tomorrow.
And with this fic, I don't think I can finish a chapter in an hour.
Anywho, Kkat there are two things that I came across while listening to the audio version of the first few chapters. There are two instances of extreme foreshadowing that I wanted to comment on and see if they were intentional.
1. The first is in Chapter 2
"In reality, I knew that the chances that I would ever come across the companion terminal, much less that it would be functional, were overwhelmingly against me. Nor did I have any reason to believe a message centuries old would be of any significance."
Of course, we now know that these left behind messages and memory orbs have been crucial to helping Littlepip discover what she needs to do.
2. The next one is in chapter 6
"“Oh, I smell roasted pony for dinner,” snarled the slaver with a flamethrower battle saddle. “How about a little barbecue!?” I was seriously hoping he was just being awful, that these ponies weren’t so depraved as to actually eat other ponies!"
The instant I heard this I thought of Arbu.
So where these two segments intentional foreshadowing? or do they just happen to match up with what the story ended up becoming?
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete@Kkat
ReplyDeleteBy which we can conclude that the next chapter won't actually be creepy. If it was creepy, then you would have finished it so it would come out tonight, during Nightmare Night. Luckily Somber's latest chapter was at least six times as creepy as usual, so you don't have to worry about trying to be creepy. Pay no attention to the reverse psychology pony that's telling you to crank the horror up past eleven.
hey guys I'm working on my own fallout story too. I'm not expecting much because its more of a test run. That dosn't mean I won't try my best at it or not finish it. It isn't my first story but it is the first i decided to share with more then just friends and family. I know how that works though. they'll say good things about it regaurdless if it was good or not. I've been writing for 3 years now and improved alot especially within the past few months. I started getting better after my attempt at making a sequal to creeping darkness. I started setting goals for myself with that one. With that I tought myself how to write better discriptions and making chapters longer. Then I started my first fallout fanfic. I could definatly see my improvments as i wrote that and after 60 pages and 2 and a half chapters i decided to redo it. I completly redid the plot, time period, and some charecters. After a little while on that I decided to redo it again and bring back one of my favorite charecters from the first one. Right now the charecters are Ruby(main charecter) who is not shy but very quiet. She mostly deals with problems internally. Popcorn(based on Suprise)who is very happy despite her bad family and is Ruby's best friend. And lastly Wanderer. He is an experienced wastelander who is obsessed with anything to do with Stables. His armor is even an armored Stable 101 jumpsuit.
ReplyDeleteSo the premise is Ruby and Popcorn leaving Stable 18 to find Ruby's father. I'm not going to go to into detail with the plot but I just wanted to see if anyone would be interested. I know the who Stable Dweller leaving the Stable is overused but it still beat my many other ideas not involving the Stable situation. I want critisism on this to improve my writing so when I release my story in a day are two i ask you read and tell me what you think. Thanks for reading :)
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ReplyDelete@Derpmind
ReplyDeleteCorrect, I'm afraid. Not creepy at all, really. In fact, it's actually rather pleasant. A good breather chapter.
I particularly like where they sit down and have a conversation over tea. That was nice.
@BeatleBrony
Yes.
@Kkat
ReplyDeletecant tell if sarcastic...
Anyhoof, if it isn't, it's an excellent use of forshadowing.
I encourage everypony to go back and listen to the Audiobooks as they come out. Just as a refresher and to see how Kkat's writing has evolved.
Kkat, I'm currently writing a side story of my own and I'm wondering about the alicorns. Would it had been possible for there to be alicorns with a brain defect that prevented them from making a psychic link? Also if there was a pre-war alicorn, would he or she be affected like the post war alicorns?
ReplyDeleteI couldn't resist any longer, I decided to give it a read and it... is... AMAZING. I enjoy it more than actually playing FO3 or FNV. The concept/gameplay of Fallout is awesome, but the storyline is horrendous. Bethesda needs to take some notes, because this is how a story is written.
ReplyDelete@BeatleBrony
ReplyDeleteMore precisely, one of those was intentional foreshadowing and one of those was a happy coincidence.
Me literally just a second ago - "I hate being caught up in FoE. Now I have to wait to get my fallout fix. He should've update on Halloween. It would've been fitting."
ReplyDeleteThanks for the update!
By the way, this + F#A#(infinity) + Halloween = happy Aspen.
ReplyDeleteHalloween? Check.
ReplyDeleteFallout:Equestria update? Check.
Best damn Halloween ever.
OH MY GOD YES! IT UPDATED! Just got back from a really badass party, and now I get to indulge in PONIES PONIES PONIES PONIES!
ReplyDeleteBest. Halloween. EVER!!!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAA FUCK CLIFFHANGERS!
ReplyDeleteBBOTh the Follout: Equestria stories ended the newest chapter on cliffhangers. FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
Damn these cliffhanger chapters! ARGH, they make me want MOAR.
ReplyDeleteI fully support making Reggie the Snarky Gryphon a full-time party member and was pleased she didn't die!
Also, the Killing Joke seems like the worst torture ever. Too bad Pip got her cutie mark damaged.
And Fluttertree is awesome, just saying,
Another great chapter, Kkat.
GODDAMMIT KKAT IF YOU DO SOMETHING TERRIBLE TO FLUTTERSHY I'LL HATE YOU FOREVER!
ReplyDeleteYou did it! You got it out before midnight!
ReplyDeleteNow I can read it and still have time to study tomorrow!
*reads*
Dat cliffhanger...
On a positive note, It's good to see that Calamity's plan is working, somewhat...
Poor pip, I nearly cried when she lost her cuite mark. The wasteland just doesn't want to give her a break.
Remember pip, "Be Awesome!"
Keep up the good work Kkat!
Aww shit, I'm guessing the Everfree Forest is the equivalent of Vault 22, based on the opening quote.
ReplyDeleteI won't be able to read tonight, but tomorrow I may be able to do my first commentary :D
Chapter 42:
ReplyDeleteWell here we go, at least it's not 2am for me this time.
Heh, Xenith meets doombunny.
Well those plants are a tad more malevolent than they used to be. Nice call back to Jokeblue.
She did say she'd like to be a tree so it made her a tree. Where'd it get the extra powe- ah right, the elements were removed.
Hmm, Xenith going to end up red stripped now?
Dear God they've got like four things trying to kill them right now, I'm hoping you don't bring more in, it'll get too confusing I think.
Ahaha, that hellhound said something about being a pony once? Aww, they're going to kill her now.
Heh, I very much agree agree with "Look, I know we both decided to do this thing in the Everfree Forest -- hoping we could use the environment against each other and all that -- but we were clearly stupid. "
Wait the enclave have Hellhound mind control now?
Oooh, Life Bloom's done his part, moderately concerned he's going to die. To be honest as soon as Kage went on the mission I thought 'red shirt'.
'Be Awesome' should be Plan A for everyone, always.
Littlepip is becoming a connoisseur of healing potions, this is not something to aspire to Missy.
Oh? Red eye's got a few of the alicorns to ally with him then, or kept a few of them I should say. Ahh, Red Eye, what unicorn would give the alicorn-you the power to move the sun and moon but one with Celestia tier telepathy?
Hmm, I'm interested to see what you do with Fluttershy.
Was kinda hoping you'd get out of the forest at the end of this chapter. It was a lot of almost dying with not a lot of plot progression I felt. That being said I enjoyed it.
FLUTTERSHY'S ALIVE!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteYEEEEEEEEEEEEES!
She's a tree, but its better than nothing.
God, the things I would do to make sure she was brought back to her former self in all her glory.
Just imagining a reunion with Spike.
It won't happen. But GAAAAAAH.
Careful what you wish for. after 200 years of continuous torture seeing Equestria dissolve around her, not to mention those killed in front of her, fluttershy might not be the same pony we all know and love
ReplyDeleteYeah, she could come back all horrific and in shambles. Or she could just crumble into dust. Who knows.
ReplyDeleteBut I can hope for some happiness in all the darkness. A perfectly sane and healthy Fluttershy would do me some good while reading this amazing story.
I can wholeheartedly agree with you on that, I must say.
ReplyDeleteMy very first reading commentary! Lets see how THIS goes.
ReplyDeleteChapter 42
-Fluttertree confirmed. And Stoned Angel. The fake of Doombunny is so sad. Though I have to wonder what caused it. My guess is the star that fell.
-bunny falling over has to be a 'Stare Master' reference.
-Holy shit Posion Joke is not funny anymore! I hope she survived. Killing joke. Like the comic book. It's be funny if it wasn't sad.
-No wonder red eyes tried to burn the place down!
-killing joke made her into a tree? Then the metorite must have already been changing everfree before the bombs fell.
-Holy shit mutated coatrices. LIke Gorgon from OH but many and worse. Everypony is fucked.
-Pheonix 1 - Coatrice 0
-Wtf? Hellhounds from no where.
-turned a hellhound into a pony. Hahahaha. Thats amazingly evil. Oh Killing joke
-"weaponized the Buckaneer Blaze" Ahahaha. Oh god I shouldn't be laughing.
-Well that explains the hell hounds. Tricksy wonderbolts. I have to wonder how they even knew about hellhounds though, and how they figured out how to weaponize them.
-Its hard to understand just how tramautizing losing a cutiemark would be. For humans it seems sillies but to a pony its like their whole lives. Everything they are. So while it seems like littlepip overreacted a bit with her cutiemark, it makes a tone of sense
-Twilight sparkle is invading Littlepips mind! WHAT DOES THIS MEAN! (in nregards to smarty pants reference)
-Like a sonic rainboom? Impressive
-Poor Life Bloom. I am getting Mauve Shirt vibes from him.
-Skydive is going to kill some pony like that.
-"Goddesses, at this rate, we were going to kill her!" Foreshadowing? I hope not.
-Fucking moss monsters. Oh god I am going to have nightmares.
-Red eyes! OH HOW I MISSED YOU!
-Red Eyes chanelling discord! Ahahaha.
-They work for Red Eyes now. That is good for nopony no matter how much I love Red Eyes.
-Ahahaha. The Alicorns just wanna get laid.
-DO NOT KILL THE UNICORN! Gawd it's Brotherhood all over again.
-Good girl. Dont kill the unicorn.
-can hellhounds speak english (equestrian? whatever the laanguage is)
-omg it can speak,. its like internet bad grammar speak.
-Oooooh. Zecora's house. I suppose it had to come up.
-“Cuz ponies ur stoopid.” Well, he's convinced me!
-Something plot relavaent in that there box. I am gussing maybe a rainbow dash thingy?
-Nopee. Elements of harmony reference. my plot sense is tingling.
-DUMB ROCK
-Was her having Supernaturals reference before? It sounds like it was. Cause if it was kudos. Thats an amazing gun.
-Xenith is going to get better then. Flootershy maybe not so much.
-"uh, folks. Ya better take a look at this…” DAMN YOU CLIFFHANGERWHY
-Thoughts of everything:
Kinda wished more things got resolved. Lots was brought up but nothing is really getting resolved. Thats just me being impatient though.
Kinda wish the Regina had been around sooner. I get the feeling she;s gunna die, but she so awesome.
Needs more talking Hellhounds. They're great.
Shame we didn't get to see the awesome arial battle. Littlepip needs to grown some Alicorn wings already.
So much foreshadowing, so little time.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteAlright. It's 2am. Let's get started.
ReplyDelete“You.” Yes, me! How have you been?
"Stay away!" Understandable, seeing as how the forest is being burned. She doesn't know if they work for Red Eye. Fluttertree may be powerful, but she isn't all knowing.
"She reached out a tentative hoof and touched it, her hoof pulling back instantly as if she had reached out to touch molten lava." This would've been a great time to scare the hell out of Xenith. But after all she has been through, I doubt this would phase her much. Then again, zebras are a bit zealous...
"It was as if the entire forest was hostile." Oh boy, time for Vault 22. I'ma need some mental preparation if I'm going back into that hell hole.
"The one who stoned Fluttershy’s pet had surely died, if only of old age, lifetimes ago." Daw, now I'm sad. I liked Angel.
“Doombunny, forever Fluttershy’s protector.” As it always shall be. Here's to you, Doombunneh.
"Velvet Remedy took a step closer." God dammit VR. Listen to the scared and angry forest controlling super tree please.
"Suddenly there was so much blood." Whelp, it's been a while since you've beaten the hell outta Xenith. So it's time for her turn in the barrel.
"It was as if each of her stripes had been flensed off her body, leaving gaping wounds of blood and meat." Oh my fucking god. Everytime you do something horrible, I don't think you can top it. You've done it again. I wish you wouldn't. Body horror is my weak spot.
"If I could form a blade, I could form a cast. I spun the blood about her, hardening it into a full-body cast, leaving only her flayed muzzle exposed so that she could breathe." I never would have thought of that. Pip can really think on her hooves.
“…killing joke…” she moaned weakly, “…stay away…” Now I'm gonna be thinking about The Joker. Well, a plant that can do that seems like a vile cross between him and Poison Ivy.
"Her mother was hit by killing joke while pregnant. Lucky either of them lived." Fucking Chekhov's gun. What the hell. How many is that now? I lost track around Arbu.
"The vines struck at the shield, unable to penetrate, then burrowed into the ground again." Pip, you might want to run. Like, now.
"After Arbu, I though of myself as a monster. Did I ever say that aloud? Does it matter to killing joke if I did? Oh Celestia, did I ever call myself heartless?" Don't let it touch you. I don't want to find out what it'll do. I repeat. DON'T LET IT TOUCH YOU.
"I told him as Velvet Remedy wasted no time in mummifying Xenith with healing bandages." Are you going this route? Is Xenith turing into The Burned Man? I hope not, shit stings.
Alright. It's 2am. Let's get started.
“You.” Yes, me! How have you been?
"Stay away!" Understandable, seeing as how the forest is being burned. She doesn't know if they work for Red Eye. Fluttertree may be powerful, but she isn't all knowing.
"She reached out a tentative hoof and touched it, her hoof pulling back instantly as if she had reached out to touch molten lava." This would've been a great time to scare the hell out of Xenith. But after all she has been through, I doubt this would phase her much. Then again, zebras are a bit zealous...
"It was as if the entire forest was hostile." Oh boy, time for Vault 22. I'ma need some mental preparation if I'm going back into that hell hole.
"The one who stoned Fluttershy’s pet had surely died, if only of old age, lifetimes ago." Daw, now I'm sad. I liked Angel.
“Doombunny, forever Fluttershy’s protector.” As it always shall be. Here's to you, Doombunneh.
"Velvet Remedy took a step closer." God dammit VR. Listen to the scared and angry forest controlling super tree please.
ReplyDelete"Suddenly there was so much blood." Whelp, it's been a while since you've beaten the hell outta Xenith. So it's time for her turn in the barrel.
"It was as if each of her stripes had been flensed off her body, leaving gaping wounds of blood and meat." Oh my fucking god. Everytime you do something horrible, I don't think you can top it. You've done it again. I wish you wouldn't. Body horror is my weak spot.
"If I could form a blade, I could form a cast. I spun the blood about her, hardening it into a full-body cast, leaving only her flayed muzzle exposed so that she could breathe." I never would have thought of that. Pip can really think on her hooves.
“…killing joke…” she moaned weakly, “…stay away…” Now I'm gonna be thinking about The Joker. Well, a plant that can do that seems like a vile cross between him and Poison Ivy.
"Her mother was hit by killing joke while pregnant. Lucky either of them lived." Fucking Chekhov's gun. What the hell. How many is that now? I lost track around Arbu.
"The vines struck at the shield, unable to penetrate, then burrowed into the ground again." Pip, you might want to run. Like, now.
"After Arbu, I though of myself as a monster. Did I ever say that aloud? Does it matter to killing joke if I did? Oh Celestia, did I ever call myself heartless?" Don't let it touch you. I don't want to find out what it'll do. I repeat. DON'T LET IT TOUCH YOU.
"I told him as Velvet Remedy wasted no time in mummifying Xenith with healing bandages." Are you going this route? Is Xenith turing into The Burned Man? I hope not, shit stings.
"There were dead strands of it in Fluttershy’s bedroom." Why would she have this? To keep it away from hurting ponies? Or was she cultivating it for a darker purpose? I don't think it was number two, Fluttershy would never do anything like that.
"Did Fluttershy ever say something about being tree-like?" THAT is how she became a tree?! I don't... Man, Fluttershy really got fucked up.
"Fuck, maybe she just said she wanted to leave." Ha.
"Least stealthy assassins ever." Only way it could be worse is if their suits spoke to them.
"Stealth was not the Enclave’s way." Shock and Awe seems more like it, honestly. The Wonderbolts are a hit squad at best.
"Everything we had witnessed pointed to the Enclave operating under a single, over-riding military philosophy: shock and awe." Oh. I need to stop being so predictable.
"And the forest wasn’t done. Not by a long shot." Well, you aren't out of the forest. You are in it's personal space, and it just wants you to leave it alone. That pun just got a level deeper.
"They were reptilian, like miniature dragons, with leathery wings and wicked claws and strange, beaked heads with red eyes that glinted in malice." Oh great, cockatrices. As if things couldn't get any worse.
"And he would have made short work of the killing joke." How would he have done that? He didn't have a flamethrower. Explosives would have been near useless on it, since they are more based around concussive force than fire and heat. It's still there but not enough to be too useful. It wouldn't be able to touch him, yes. But that's all I can see.
“We need to go back,” Velvet Remedy announced." What? Fluttershy is beyond help at this point. 200 years as a tree is hard to fix. Especially when that tree is trying to kill you. Or is it? Maybe the vines are just acting on their own. Man, vines are dickheads.
“We have to save her!” Goddammit. I hate being right about VR.
"Fortunately for the Wonderbolt, Calamity didn’t want to kill her." Grrrr. This is all very frusturating. We have one who is a pacifist, we have one who won't kill those trying to kill him since they are his own, one is out and maybe dead and one who doesn't seem to be doing too much at the moment. Then there is the gryphon and the white mage. It's probably because they aren't doing what I think they should be doing. But what I think they should be doing would be out of character and bad for the narative. So I'll hush.
ReplyDelete"Horrifying, pain-soaked memories of SteelHooves’ death flashed through my mind as the hellhound erupted from the ground beneath Life Bloom." WHAT. Ahhgh. Kkat, I think you take the idea of beating the shit out of your characters too far. Any more and they just might explode from the strain. I'm surprised they haven't already!
"Ground might tremble a bit; that’s all the warnin’ y’all will get before they rend ya apart. My heart stopped. There was a hellhound right beneath me!" Don't think, move!
"Ghosts don’t exist. Just landmines." What next? Is Mothership Zeta coming to get them? I hope not, that would be such a sudden shift.
"I’d never loved my cutie mark, but the idea that I might have just lost it, even on just one of my flanks, was an excruciating cut to my soul." Alright, that I can understand. The cutie mark is a physical manifestation of what makes somepony special. To lose the mark doesn't mean you lose the talent, but it can still be jarring.
"A rust-colored heap with an orange tail plunged into a nearby tree, trailing smoke." Are ya sure it's Calamity? Wasn't the one Wonderbolt rust colored as well? How would they get the suit off that fast? Okay, it's probably Calamity.
"The balefire phoenix jerked around to see her attacker and immediately turned to stone. The stoned phoenix dropped." Everyone is fucking dying. Why does everyone's fate seem to end in death? Or massive pain?
"It lost control of its body, smacking into a tree branch. The limp body slid from the branch, dropping into a purple fern." Alright, one thing taken care of. Now for the 17 other problems.
"The earth pony let out a wide-eyed meep." This is the greatest thing I have ever read. Oh cruel fate, you bitch.
"Almost comical, yet still fucking sick." Sounds like a sadist's open mic night.
"I realized I hated those plants." Huh, when you put it like that, with the death during childbirth thing, I can't help but hate them too!
"“You! Will! Fix! Her!” Velvet Remedy growled, threatening to strangle the barely-conscious cockatrice wrapped in her magic as she thrust it towards a Pyrelight-shaped stone half-imbedded in the forest floor." Animal friend has many uses, no?
"“Fucker… weaponized the Buckaneer Blaze…”" God, that just sound bad. If it sets you on FIRE, then... *sigh* at this point, what else can you have happen to them?
"We needed the break, even if it was going to be very short-lived." Hell yeah you do. Assuming the killing joke doesn't come back. Then this'll be a really short break.
"Fuck." This whole first section can pretty much be summed up in that one word.
"Even working against the wind, they’d make Flutter… tree by nightfall." Alright, I've flipped on my opinion. We need to save the Fluttertree. VR's plea to go back was at a very bad time and quite frusturating. However, thinking of Fluttershy getting slowly burned to death is far more than I can handle. Especially in this canon.
“Pip, they made her watch!” In any other context, I would have made a dirty joke. I can't do it. Not with Fluttershy. This is cruelty to the highest degree. They made her watch, and now they were going to let her burn.
"Instead, she stood guard over the bound and blindfolded cockatrice. Velvet’s prisoner." Why would you keep a cockatrice prisioner? The wonderbolt was probably frozen by a different one. It seems like too difficult a creature to carry around, especially in a hostile forest that is on fire.
ReplyDelete“We’ll… do whatever we can,” I promised her, leaving quiet the caveat of not being able to do anything." I suppose that's the most you can ask for. I mean, what CAN you do anyway?
“I may have to use it to relieve the pressure in her skull… by dissolving part of it.” Almost unnecessarily, he added, “And that is risky.” That's an understatement. You could dissolve anything on accident. Like her humanity(for lack of a better term, ponyity doesn't sound as good) her motor skills, memory, pieces of her personality... Actually, getting rid of her memory might be the best route. If you have to, that is.
“Ah thinph Canforloph erf thaf,” Calamity mumbled." I agree with Mumble's diagnosis. Canterlot was fucked beyond anything else.
"Slipping in my earbloom, I switched to the new frequency. My ear was met with a strange, pulsing hum (throbbing in time to the sound from the helmet)." Enclave mind control. Well, kinda. Isn't everypony who was involved with that dead?
"Lensflare." The tool of choice for amateur filmakers?
“Or, y’know, jus’ take their helmets off.” How exactly would you do that in the heat of combat? Oh wait, telekinesis. I kinda forgot how versatile it is.
“Yes, because then they will be free-willed, hyper-aggressive creatures who have just suffered mind-control at the hooves of ponies,” Life Bloom pointed out serenely. “Far less dangerous.” Oh yeah, good point. Shit.
I just remembered something. Kkat said this was a goddamn CALM RELAXING chapter. Where they drink tea. Okay, maybe that was obvious sarcasm that I didn't pick up on. Maybe? It's like the most obvious sarcasm I think I've ever read. FUCK I'm stupid.
"My coat had burned, my flesh had warped and bubbled, twisting like a corkscrew." Ugh. Hey wait. You said the wasteland had darkened and twisted your soul. Maybe this is cruel fate adjusting your cutie mark to reflect that. Damn fate, your a bitch.
"Calamity stepped towards me. “Li’lpip…” he began, wanting to say whatever the fuck he thought would help." Probably something like "Cutie marks don't matter."
“Don’t you dare tell me how cutie marks don’t matter!” I hissed." Ya see?
"The taint had twisted me up inside, changed me. I re-grew a leg!" I personally see that as a bonus more than anything. Gives you less to worry about. Lost yer leg? Just go take a bath in some radioactive waste and bam, new leg. Makes that sound effect to. Just pop's right on out with a BAM. Can't get better than that!
"The Wasteland couldn’t steal from me what made me special, no matter how insignificant that specialness often seemed -- and an attack on my cutie mark felt like exactly that." Honestly it is. The only way it could get more personal is if it broke your Pipbuck. Then you have a leg with a fancy broken flashlight.
"But it was as if all the pain and hollowness had shifted, filtered through the lens of her refusal, becoming rage." Piprage? Last time we saw that, she launched about a hundred hellhounds into low earth orbit. I hope VR is ready to visit the moon.
"Now I wanted to buck even more of them. In the face. (With radishes, my little pony suggested bizarrely.)" I MUST be missing something here. Oh the pains of only watching the series through once. Regardless, where did MiniPip get that idea?
"Yes, my cutie mark was gone. Well, gone-ish." And it's only one. You have another. Kinda.
"Jet, they had called her." Oh, that was her name? I figured they said that to eachother to as a warning. Like, "Gotta jet!"
"There was a sparkling red flash. The Wonderbolt’s eyes widened as Calamity’s memories flooded into her." One down, four to go. Let's hope Jet has some speaking skills.
ReplyDelete“uh, Pipsqueak?” Nice call out. Or forward. Back? Fuck if I know.
“And Twilight Sparkle could do that at least five times in one day?” he asked weakly." Helps when your special talent is magic. And I don't mean just any special magic talent. I'm talking about being the physical embodiment of magic itself. Kefka's got nothing on Twilight.
"If I lose both my cutie marks, the pony in my head mused worthlessly, will my magic change color?" I don't think so. A cutie mark is a symbol. It's of your soul, but a symbol nonetheless. Unless there was something that truely changed who you are I.E. brain injuries I think your magic would be the same color.
"(the sort that would come with its own notepad and quill, a little voice told me)." MiniPip is starting to aquire Pikie level cognitive abilities. How would she know about that? And for that matter, was Big Mac buried with Smartypants? Doubt it, but it does make you wonder what ended up happening to that doll.
"He was on his back, hood down and cloak bunched up around his neck, kicking his legs in the air in an embarrassing and almost perverse position." Ponies are like turtles almost. Hilarious and kinda sad looking when stuck on their backs.
"Flashing blades of solid magic sliced past me. One struck through Velvet’s mane, sending tufts of white flying, but blind luck and the forest shielded us." Energy weapons are volitile. Too bad they don't show this often in FO:3/NV. Seeing a tesla cannon explode and wipe out everyone around you would not be misplaced.
"Something blue shot down out of the sky. The forest exploded." Again. It exploded twice. At least.
"A ring of crackling, electrified black smoke followed the shockwave, as did the roar emanating from the mushroom-like cloud that rose up behind us." The rainbow nuke. Amazing. Maybe it'll regrow Pip's cutie mark!
“Not good.” If we are going by tropes then you are probably already dead. Blood from the mouth does that. Bit part of your tounge is best case. Worst case is internal bleeding. Either way, shit sucks.
"…be awesome. Yes. That worked." Seems like everypony could do with being a bit more awesome.
"A familiar blast of sparkling red energy struck out of the forest, enveloping the gunmetal grey Wonderbolt, turning him instantly from a graceful aerial fighter to a pony-shaped sack of fail." A pony shaped sack of fail. I'll be using that. Also, if the rainbow nuke was powerful enough to cause internal bleeding from that range, shouldn't it have put out some of the fire? I'll be the first to admit I have no idea what I'm talking about though.
"She was fighting to save the life of the albino hellhound with the zebra cloak. Of course she was." At this point, are you really surprised? Kindness extends to all things. Can't explain that.
"But unlike Skydive, he was so fixated on gettin’ the best o’ me with a bullet, he all but defeated ‘imself.”" Reminds me of several CoD players I know. It's their undoing. Flashy but impractical and inefficent.
"Calamity had me in his hooves, racing between the trees with strands of gauze flapping in the wind behind him. A moment later, the world behind us exploded in a fiery mushroom cloud." And now they can summon fire at will. Fuck, man. It's 4AM. I'll continue this in the morning. Which at this rate is going to be 1PM.
I can just imagine it now.
ReplyDeleteFluttershy is brought back to her former self, clean, serene, and pristine.
And she sees what has become of Equestria due to her creations.
God. Damn.
“Stay away!”
ReplyDeleteMust. Hug. Fluttertree.
“My eyes fell to the compass, which was glowing entirely red”
That cannot be good.
The rustling through the leaves was a haunting sound. It made the weeping willow sound like it was sobbing.
Xenith… how dare you make Flutershy cry.
““Doombunny,” she said finally. “Turned to stone by a cockatrice. A worthy end for a worthy opponent.””
Called it.
“The zebra’s body seemed to explode in sick gouts of hot crimson. It was as if each of her stripes had been flensed off her body, leaving gaping wounds of blood and meat.”
… Did Fluttershy just kill Xenith?
“I acted instinctively, in desperation drawing on the darkest strings of power. Xenith’s blood pulled itself”
Oooh she still knows blood magic. And here she has just proven that no magic is inherently evil. It all depends on how you use it.
“Everfree Forest was home to a mobile, aggressive, sadistic plant filled with transformation magic.”
While I hate agree with Redeye… PURGE IT WITH FIRE!
“After Arbu, I though of myself as a monster. Did I ever say that aloud? Does it matter to killing joke if I did? Oh Celestia, did I ever call myself heartless?”
Wow… that is twisted. By the by I think you meant thought.
“I had seen killing joke before. There were dead strands of it in Fluttershy’s bedroom. This stuff was everywhere in the forest.”
I am confused. Why would Fluttershy be cultivating killing joke? The only reason I could think of would be as a biological weapon to use against the Zebras, but that is not Flutershy at all.
“And, more hellishly, its victim. Did Fluttershy ever say something about being tree-like?”
Poor Fluttershy, that is just fucked up.
“Least stealthy assassins ever.”
ReplyDeleteProbably a coincidence, but it just tickles me that I used the exact same wording in my last review.
“They were reptilian, like miniature dragons, with leathery wings and wicked claws and strange, beaked heads with red eyes that glinted in malice.”
Cockatrices. Daym. I’ve had runs like this in New Vegas. Run from the death claw… into a nest of rad scorpions. Of course it is just then that the Legion assassins chose to spawn and wreck my power armor. No sooner do I take the centurion’s armor to survive the death claw that is still chasing me than I take a NCR 50 cal to the face. And to top it all off they all target me exclusively.
“The hellhound’s timing was a fraction off, his helmet slamming into Life Bloom’s underbelly, thrusting the unicorn upwards as the hellhound’s huge claws slashed at empty air.”
Okay, let’s see if I have all the participants of this fight clear. Pip team, killing joke, wonderbolts, cockatrices, hellhounds and The Unity waiting in the wings? Seems a bit excessive.
The hellhound was gone, his helmet and rifle dropping into the underbrush. In his place stood a stunned, blinking earth pony mare, her flowing purple mane cascading over her pristine, pearl-white coat. She has no cutie mark, my little pony fixated on.
Wow… killing joke isn’t just dangerous it’s a jerk. That would actually make a very interesting character to have in a party though; I hope she lives.
“Even working against the wind, they’d make Flutter… tree by nightfall.”
I just had a thought. Since Fluttershy’s condition was caused by killing joke she can be saved. Up root her and take her back to the Ponyvill spa, it should still have the anti joke bath mix.
““Yes, because then they will be free-willed, hyper-aggressive creatures who have just suffered mind-control at the hooves of ponies,” Life Bloom pointed out serenely. “Far less dangerous.””
Not to mention having had their home nuked… by Pip.
“Regina crashed back into a treetop.”
Gawd is going to be pissed.
“(the sort that would come with its own notepad and quill, a little voice told me)”
Well now, someone must make a SmartyPip doll now.
“The plant stalks’ bulbs, each the size of a stallion’s head, languidly swiveled down towards us.”
Oh come on. Like the Wonderbolts weren’t enough.
“At first, I hoped it was just fleeing the fire. But out of the corner of my eye, I saw more dark, misshapen forms pulling themselves from the trees.”
Yeah, this place needs to burn. Cockatrices and death plants and star spawn oh my.
““First rule, no flying.””
ReplyDeleteSo that’s where Discord went. He fused with Redeye.
“a dark green alicorn who slammed her into the ground hard enough to knock her unconscious and nearly kill her.”
There are alicorns that are still loyal to him… to the Flankorage notes.
“Males, the voices responded, reading my thoughts. Continuation. Survival. Mates!”
I wonder how an alicorn/pony hybrid would work… back to the notes.
“Tell Red Eye she passed.”
To quote Pickard in first contact “You’re not looking for another mindless drone. You’re looking for an equal, a counterpart.”
“phantasmal flowers ur deadly tu killeen joke.”
Begin the wrapping the Fluttertree in flowers immediately
““What part of deaf und senile you don’t git?””
I am liking this hellhound… oh crap. Party melee fighter is mo and now we have a melee centric potential companion. Xenith is going to die.
““uh, folks. Ya better take a look at this…”
Footnote: Maximum Level”
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffrack. Cliff hanger of doom. Very well done
Overall the only complaints I have would be the sheer number of diforent things trying to kill the party at all times was excessive and that the pacing felt a bit jumpy.
Well done. An excellent way to end a Halloween/Nightmare Night.
GYFYTVRYJBNHNMJKHKX NJKSMA{XHKMSK S HA HJKA AJH K HSKJ. Sorry too much awesome cannot handle my laptop. Talking albino helldog fucking awesome.Know all I need is a bizarre storm and all will be complete. Bwahahahahahahahahahaha!
ReplyDelete@SubjectSigma
ReplyDeleteYou'll probably get more feedback if you post your concept here.
http://forum.fallout-equestria.com/viewforum.php?f=20
Even if you don't join we still have helpful tools.
Used Stable numbers.
http://forum.fallout-equestria.com/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=10
Compiled FOE locations.
http://forum.fallout-equestria.com/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=38
And writer's tools.
http://forum.fallout-equestria.com/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=55
*becomes zombie pony* Join ussss. Join ussss.
Xenith's in coma. Wat. *Takes a while to comprehend it*
ReplyDeleteOH DISASTER! HOWL!! CRY HAVOC AND LET SLIP THE DOGS OF WAR!!!
No. Heroine can die for all I care, but awesome melee fighter succumbing to a joke plant? That's just [i]low[/i]. Going out in glorious battle is the way.
And more stupidity from our beloved party. The whole idea of fighting airborne enemies in forest is great and all, but you don't have to do it next to F**** firestorm. Especially then your enemy has rebreathers.
Also, hellhounds finally struck a conversation. This was highlight of the chapter.
Oh my god its Goris. I love you kkat.
ReplyDeleteXenith creeping up on the Doombunny, great tension relief and perfectly in character :)
ReplyDeleteOk, killing joke is f’n scary stuff!
I had not considered any other use for that spell, Littlepip is a very clever pony.
And that’s how Fluttertree was made.
Cockatrices? Flying cockatrices? Yeah, they’re screwed.
I always seem to forget just how fierce a fighter Pyrelight is!
Ok, lets add Hellhounds, just to totally kill off any hope.
A shot to the cutie mark? That has got to hurt, especially if they are an erogenous zone like in some fanon. Actually, that brings me to ask a question. Kkat, are they in Fallout: Equestria?
Calamity and Pyrelight just seconds apart! Oh hell, screwed does not even begin to describe things.
Ok, the earth pony appearing took me a re-read to get, I was totally confused for a minute, awesome!
I can’t remember, was Jokeblue’s birth defect ever described?
I can just picture Velvet shaking the cockatrice at Pyrelight with each word :)
Ok, rest time, but the amount of damage done is staggering!
Dissolve part of her skull? On the battlefield? Oh, this can’t be good!
Everfucked Forest, ok, that got a laugh :)
I was wondering when the Hellhound control would appear again.
No, not her cutie mark, I love her cutie mark!
“With radishes” Ok, I lost it there XD
Was that the same cockatrice?
Didn’t Calamity just strap one of those weapons to his battle saddle? And they explode that bad? He might want to re-think that idea.
Dammit Velvet, knock that shit off LOL. Oh well, she wouldn’t be Velvet Remedy if she didn’t (and it would leave a bad taste in my mouth like Splinter of the Mind’s Eye has, even after all these decades).
Why am I not believing Life Bloom?
“Muh mare’s got skills,” That she does Calamity... that she does.
“This ain’t supervillain-y at all.” XD My thoughts exactly.
Been getting Discord vibes from Red Eye for a while now, but now it’s concrete. John de Lancie’s voice is how I seem to be hearing Red Eye’s voice in my head :)
Red Eye isn’t stupid, he got himself a powerful army with just a promise of breeding. That was a good idea.
Ok, these alicorns, in groups, are some scary ponies!
Could that be Zecora’s home? I really hope so, they could use some potions right about now.
Friendly Hellhounds? One could only hope, I do love them :)
“To bad there isn’t an Element of Snarkiness,” Oh, if only there was :)
Oh, so much stuff waiting for the next chapter! I can’t wait! This chapter was great, the story flowed perfectly and it had me guessing the entire way.
BTW, check out The Fallout: Equestria Resource for a central hub of all things Fallout: Equestria including an artwork index and message forum.
ReplyDelete@Arcane Scroll
ReplyDeleteBeep boop son, beep boop.
Oh and I wanted to tell the people here what I did in my class room during school on Halloween which made my day, but my phone was taken away (I got it back at the end of the day).
ReplyDeleteWe were watching a video and at a point in time during it, when it was quiet I played the Horseman's Guffaw (from WoW) or if you don't know it sound click this It was so loud I scared everyone and got stares across the classroom. It still made my day. (But not as much as a new FO:E chapter =D)
42. Well, what do you know.... Discord made it in(kind of). And I smell a another companion coming into the group(maybe). And holy freaking crap, the Everfree Forest is no joke.
ReplyDeleteGreat new chapter. The killing Joke was brilliant and the way the stakes kept getting raised at every phase of the battle was awesome. The cliffhanger at the end was just evil.
ReplyDeleteI did spot one likely mistake: 'We had managed to pull off Calamity’s plan with three of the Wonderbolts: Jet, Skydive and Strafewise, their heavy gunner. None of them had joined up with us, although Strafewise at least admitted it was “a lot to take in and a lot to think about” before she and Skywise left us.'
Some name confusion there at the end, should be 'Skydive' not 'Skywise'.
I do hope that somepony somewhere is still making healing potions, or Littlepip's crew might be at risk of using up Equestria's entire supply. At least taking twenty of them over the course of the battle seems more sensible than the twenty stimpacks one would sometimes take in a given Fallout game.
Kkat, you have become one of my greatest inspirations as a writer. Once this is done, you should really consider writing an original work and getting it published.
And I have a feeling that at this rate you'll have a another comments thread by the time FoE is done.
@JeremyRush
ReplyDelete"I MUST be missing something here. Oh the pains of only watching the series through once. Regardless, where did MiniPip get that idea?"
Advertisement Littlepip had seen for the Nuka~Cola Quantum expy:
Sparkle~Cola RAD!
With an invigorating touch of radiation and a blast of radish flavoring!
(It’s like a buck to the face! With radishes!)
An Update on Halloween?! You, my good internet friend, are truly amazing and thank you.
ReplyDeleteThat's probably the cruelest thing that could of been done to Velvet. You gave her hope, slim though it is and with so many failure points too.
ReplyDeleteI read this nonstop for three days and, just when I think I'll have just a moment for me to breath, there it goes Ch. 42.
ReplyDeleteI've read it. Why is this fic so great it made me read it like I was addicted to it?! Not even real books hooked me like this fic does, it's just so great and awesome and dark that, damn, this is the best fic I've ever read and one of the best works of literature I've ever saw.
Ok, it helps that this fic mashes up two of my greatest loves: Fallout and Friendship is Magic. Throw in Mass Effect and I'd give you all my money. Hell, if this was even released as a book I'd buy it without a second thought.
On to Ch. 42, now: Am I the only one that thinks Littlepip is getting closer and closer to the "Dark Side"? C'mon, she's using too much of the Black Book magic, it can't be healthy... At least it's with good intentions, but, you know, the road to hell is full of 'em.
The battle was so frantic that I'm impressed you've pulled it through, the whole trifecta Littlepip/Wonderbolts/Everfree Forest was simply amazing to read. As said earlier, this is the best fic I've ever read and, by every chapter, you surpass yourself at awesomeness.
Great job, KKat, you've got yourself another one of thousands of fans.
"Stay out! The plants kill!"
ReplyDeleteYou know, going through Vault 22, I grabbed a flamer in spite of my lack of Energy Weapons skill and just fired a burst into each clump of plants I came to while yelling, "Spy check!"
Best. HALLOWEEN. EVAR!!!! Thank you kkat! Ahhhhhhhhhhh... Now Trevor can face the rest of the week, no matter what may come!
ReplyDelete@silentcarto
ReplyDeleteAmusingly, not that dissimilar to what Red Eye is doing. Of course, the Everfree Forest has a lot of plants. Miles and miles and miles of them.
After days of rain, cold and dark clouds the skies have at last parted to let the sun shine through. For lo and behold chapter 42 is here and ponies everywhere shall rejoice!
ReplyDeleteHnnn, wanna read chapter 42 already but I gotta WAAAIT!!! CURSE YOU REAL LIFE!! YOU HINDER MY ENJOYMENT OF GRIMDARK PONIES DEFYING DEATH AND MUTILATING DEATHS!!! Why must you keep me from one of the few stories I've read in my lifetime that's guaranteed to make me feeeel for the characters? ALL of them!!! *flees before she breaks her vow to wait till tonight*
ReplyDeleteI woke up early to get some last minute studying in before an exam today. Sadly I have the self-control of Littlepip and immediately used the study time to read Ch 42. I regret nothing!
ReplyDeleteFluttershy.... T_T
ReplyDelete"I got five pieces of candy!"
ReplyDelete"I got a chocolate bar!"
"I GOT A NEW CHAPTER OF FALLOUT EQUESTRIA, BITCHES! WOOOOO!"
"My eyes fell to the compass, which was glowing entirely red."
Oh fuck.
"Get away!" Xenith yelled, charging at Velvet Remedy and striking her with a forehoof hard enough to send her tumbling several yards down the sloped clearing."
Geez, Xenith, you didn't have to--
"Blue vines erupted from the ground in a shower of dirt and grass."
Shit shit shit I take it back shit shit!
"Suddenly there was so much blood."
SHIT SHIT SHIT! Where the hell is Life Bloom?!
"Xenith’s blood pulled itself from the grass, dripping upwards, swirling. If I could form a blade, I could form a cast."
--woah. Okay. Nice going, Pip! Creepy, but nice! Using dark magic created to end lifes to save a life. Interesting…
"The plant had somehow taken some random thing Xenith had said and turned it against her."
Okay, therefore Fluttertree. No further explanations needed. That also suggests that Killing Joke existed at the time of the apocalypse, or very very shortly thereafter. I'm not sure what to make of that. Is it a stellar mutation, like the Star Spawn, rather than one created by radiation? On the up side, I guess once you've been joked you can't be hurt by it again, so Xenith should be safe from it for the time being. As long as the blood cast holds, anyway…
"Blood poured from the zebra’s muzzle."
Okay, so she's not out of the woods yet. No pun intended.
"Three plumes of black cloud shot past us overhead, lightning crackling across the smoky contrails."
Oh. Right. Them. Sheeeeyit. Did they drop the Bandit in that clearing on purpose? They must have. It couldn't just be coincidence.
"three? Weren’t there five?"
Clevah girl.
"But at the last moment, instead of the two colliding, the thunder cloud contrail stopped, the Wonderbolt falling out of the sky as the creature flew past. Turned to stone."
One down. At least the forest is an equal-opportunity threat. --er, crap, we're supposed to be saving the 'bolts. We're gonna need that cockatrice.
"Pyrelight dug her talons into her scaly, dangerous prey and breathed balefire."
Woo, go Pyrelight! Good girl!
"The Enclave’s premier sniper was one of the two Wonderbolts hanging back, out of sight but still very much in the action."
I assume the other one is acting as spotter. I can't imagine where in Equestria they ARE, though. Standing on the smoke?
"We have to save her!"
Quest Added: I THINK THAT I SHALL NEVER SEE
One thing at a time, please, Velvet. Fluttershy's waited two centuries already, she'll keep until tomorrow.
"Pyrelight let out a blast of balefire, melting the creature’s eyes away and boiling its brain."
That's how we do down on the farm! Balefire beats paper AND rock.
"The ground exploded underneath Life Bloom."
Fucking FUCK! This day keeps getting better!
"Littlepip, don’t!" Reggie squawked. "If you move, you’ll set ‘em off!" Purple light speared my reinforced Canterlot barding, knifing into my flank."
At this point my commentary pretty much just degenerates into "Oh crap oh crap oh crap".
"A rust-colored heap with an orange tail plunged into a nearby tree, trailing smoke."
Oh crap!
"The balefire phoenix jerked around to see her attacker and immediately turned to stone."
OH CRAP!
"As it came into sight, the monster was struck by a blast of magic--"
NO!
"--from Velvet Remedy’s horn."
Oh thank god. For a second I thought it was going to disintegrate.
This may be the most intense battle yet in this fic…
"The ground squirmed beneath them. A tendril of bright blue wormed out of the forest floor, wrapping itself around the ankle of the last hellhound…"
ReplyDeleteEqual-opportunity.
"The hellhound was gone, his helmet and rifle dropping into the underbrush. In his place stood a stunned, blinking earth pony mare, her flowing purple mane cascading over her pristine, pearl-white coat."
wat.
"Seeming to grasp at least some part of her situation, the pony spun around and galloped into the forest, crying. The two hellhounds picked themselves up and gave chase."
Helpful, yet horrible…
"I realized I hated those plants. Not just feared them. Loathed them with spectacular intensity."
Right there with ya, kid. Fluttershy excepted, maybe burning this place down isn't a bad idea after all.
"You! Will! Fix! Her!" Velvet Remedy growled, threatening to strangle the barely-conscious cockatrice wrapped in her magic as she thrust it towards a Pyrelight-shaped stone half-imbedded in the forest floor."
Much like Killing Joke, this is terrifying but also kind of comical at the same time.
"Fucker… weaponized the Buckaneer Blaze…"
…and performed it offscreen… I can't decide whether to be amused or annoyed.
"But the fire line’s less than a hundred yards ahead… the Wonderdolts are regroupin’. Forest took out one o’ their own… givin’ their plan a re-think…”
Okay, this gives me a crazy idea. Use your brand-new petrification gun to stone everybody while the fire sweeps past, then un-stone them on the other side. Or just petrify Pip so the tag vanishes and you can break contact until you're ready to try this again. (I'm assuming possessions get petrified along with the wearer, or at least that the PipBuck counts as part of her now. (Not that Pip really needs more missing time, at this point, but she'd probably end up unconscious anyway.)
"The ground shimmered beneath us. Velvet Remedy had spread her shield spell over the patch of ground beneath all of us, creating a barrier to protect us from the killing joke."
Neat trick... keep that one in mind for the next minefield.
"they’d make Flutter… tree by nightfall."
Okay, so maybe not TOMORROW tomorrow. Still -- Wonderbolts now, then maybe they can help out with saving Fluttershy. Luna knows a few pegasi would be useful for avoiding the Joke.
"But she’s in a coma."
And you've got the means to put her in stasis until she can get proper medical care!
"Teaching them medicines and survival skills and…"
And how to make Dash? And flying talismans? What??
"…the Everfucked Forest."
I like that. I'm keeping that.
"Now I wanted to buck even more of them. In the face. (With radishes, my little pony suggested bizarrely.)"
Pffthahaha! Pip has the best internal monologue ever.
"Great. Somebody grab your mastermind an’ your zebra, and let’s get outta here."
And your wasteland savior.
"The rust-maned Wonderbolt cartwheeled in the air as she flew past Regina, firing a spray of pinkish light that bombarded Regina, the light seeming to explode on contact with the griffin."
This would be a good time for that anti-disintegration spell.
"the sort that would come with its own notepad and quill, a little voice told me"
Be Smart!
"The figure rose up, the hood of the cloak falling back to reveal the helmeted head of a white-furred hellhound."
LEGENDARYYYYY!
"Life Bloom rolled over, struggling to get to his hooves, getting tripped up by the cloak."
Shit no shit no shit no we need him!
"Something blue shot down out of the sky. The forest exploded."
ReplyDeleteAtomic Rainboom?!
"…a pony-shaped sack of fail."
Excuse me while I laugh my fool head off. Also, you go, Lifebloom!
"I found Velvet Remedy. She was fighting to save the life of the albino hellhound with the zebra cloak. Of course she was."
Well, hey. In her defense, it's probably a named character with a dialogue tree and everything. (Is he named Goris? Just asking.)
"Dove into the hole that hellhound came out of."
Intelligence 10, everypony!
"The moss-creature fell to all fours, looking even more pony-like. But the way it moved, twisted and boneless, was like something from a nightmare."
Vault 22. I HATE THIS PLACE!
"First rule, no flying."
What. The. Fuck.
"AIM AT THE UNICORN."
FUCK YOU RED EYE! You will never be the Element of Generosity! NEVER!
"The mountain of little alicorns filling my head blew apart, their influences scattering as my little mental pony gave them all a mighty buck."
FUCK YES!
"Tell Red Eye she passed."
Are you FUCKING kidding me?! NO. MERCY.
"A gaping pit opened in the black moss where the manticore’s mouth should be, and it screamed silently, green fire burning up through the hole to consume its mockery of a head."
...damn, Pyrelight. Damn.
"A bulb-headed stalk rose up out of the ferns as he reached them, spraying its cloud of spores directly into the unicorn’s face."
MOTHERFUCKER!
"He had cast a purging spell on himself, trying to get rid of all the spores before they could settle in and begin to slowly kill him."
Well, that's SOMETHING anyway. Breathing room. Hopefully Doc Helpinghoof can do something about that... if they can even reach Manehattan from here. It's a long, long way on foot. Where's the Great Whale when you need it?
"That’s cuz… phantasmal flowers ur deadly tu killeen joke."
Well, that sounds promising. Which means the wasteland has a big ole FUCK YOU still waiting in store.
"…we discovered a hollowed-out tree…"
So awesome! Too bad Xenith has to be asleep for this.
"…refrigerator… terminal…"
Man, Zecora was set up! Best hut ever!
"But I think the recipe is the starting point for creating a cure."
That still leaves (heh) the problem of transplanting Fluttershy to R-7, or somewhere that's not about to get burned.
"Uh, folks. Ya better take a look at this…"
Oh, fer fuck's sake, what now?
"Footnote: Maximum Level"
What? WHAT?! No, no, you can't do this now, I need more! Dammit, I need more!
Khat you have no idea how much seeing this update cheered me up.
ReplyDeleteLET US BEGIN.
No intro? So we zoom straight into fluttertree.
No no no no no. Not Xenith. She still has to. Please no.
Good. Or very bad. Not sure witch yet.
Three? Good. Maybe the Killing Joke took down a couple.
Oh my god flying Cockatrices.
Killing Joke. Wonderbolts. Cockatrices and Now Hellhounds too?
Wow this was so intense. But as always our little troop will pull itself back together.
I don't think I've seen Lilpip that angry since Arbu.
I think Jet just dropped a chekoves gun as he left.
They have to get out of the forest soon.
Red. Eye. Channeling Discord. You know what I hate him SLIGHTLY Less now.
(I Love to hate him. Such an awsome character)
You know this seemed more wrong than so much else in the story.
No! Fight it lilpip fight it!
YESYESYES KICK ALICORN ASS!!!
Oh fuck you red eye. Fuck you in every orifice you have with a bloodied Hellhound claw.
Semi Friendly Hellhound.
Wait I just realized. The sayings (Be awesome, Be smart ect) All correspond to skill checks.
We are going back to junction R7 If so AWESOME!
CURSE YOU AND YOUR CLIFF HANGERS
This chapter was actually way more intense for me than most. I actually had to stop and take a break from reading a few times because I was so overwhelmed. Mind you, this is a good thing. Kkat, thank you for this awesome fic. I might post more later if I have time, but I'm on my phone right now, which makes it hard. ~.~
ReplyDelete@LordOfTheWrongs
ReplyDeleteHave I ever mentioned that I read all of LordOfTheWrongs' posts in Rainbow Dash's voice? It's like having one of the Mane Six reading my story. Squee! ^.^
That pockmarked rock in Zecora's chest is interesting. Is that a meteorite?...
ReplyDeleteI hope that joked Hellhound manages to get away and hook up with Pip's group. It would be nice to have a test subject before trying the cure on Fluttershy.
@No One
Supernaturals is indeed a long-dormant Chekov's Gun. She found it in the wreck of Ditzy's wagon along with the Fluttershy orb, way back before Silver Bell's farm.
@JeremyRush
"MiniPip is starting to aquire Pikie level cognitive abilities. How would she know about that?"
Be Smart!
@Meganerdbomb
ReplyDeleteSomething terrible to Fluttershy? Like not only being trapped on a hill overlooking the whole of Equestria as her little mistake kills everything and everyone she's known, but then being made immortal to contemplate that forever, and as an added bonus having everypony to enter the Everfree forest for the last two hundred years lured to her and then tortured to death?
@Pyrite:
Skywise? Fo:E/Elfquest crossover fanfic in 3...2...
@silentcarto:
I carried a thermic lance for the same reason. Sure it's heavy, but it's worth it to gib whatever gets within about three meters in front of you. Poking things with a stick: still an acceptable strategy two hundred years after the apocalypse.
@Red Eye:
On the one hoof, that was a decently stylish interception of the combat; bonus points for the Discord quote and the clever takeover of the green alicorns. On the other hoof, Fuck you and everything you stand for.
No longer hoping for a redemption arc for him; I'm thinking Xenith gets Element of Generosity. Oh hey, the killing joke just made her an earth pony, didn't it? Actually an earth pony, and her stripes are open wounds. That's one puzzlement gone...
Oh god I feel stupid. What was Homage's last known location?
ReplyDeleteShattered Hoof.
What is really close to that, where Homage would have a reasonable expectation of Pip returning to sooner or later?
Junction R-7!
I think Pip is going to have a surprise waiting in her bed when she gets home. ^_^
@Kkat
Thanks? O///O;
@LordOfTheWrongs
ReplyDeleteI'm writing that dialog in my head And I LOVE IT. \
PLEASE LET THIS HAPPEN. Lilpip needs a little break and some homage time.
@Sindri
ReplyDelete"Oh hey, the killing joke just made her an earth pony, didn't it?"
Oh my GAWD! You're right! I was so busy freaking out about the wounds that I forgot the other half of the sentence.
Holy crap, that's awesome! Careful, don't get any cure on you.
(This is all assuming, of course, that the curse didn't make those stripe-wounds incurable.)
@LordOfTheWrongs
ReplyDelete"three? Weren’t there five?"
Clevah girl.
The funny thing is, I made the same comment to Kkat directed at her for an entirely different reason. Is it just being in the local forest of doom that's got everyone thinking of that Jurassic Park quote?
"Quest Added: I THINK THAT I SHALL NEVER SEE"
Heeee! Okay, my hat is off to you on that one.
For anyone that doesn't get the reference, click here.
I loved reading this Chapter reaction.
(^.^)
Kkat and Somber: the dastardly duo of cliffhangers. XD
ReplyDeleteHeh. Well, since my last comment, Velvet rejoined the group, some more people did, some almost died, some did die... Still, the fact that Velvet is there again helped a lot.
ReplyDeleteBut man... Fluttershy. That is just insanely brutal. Seriously, I am sure that there are people who could come up with a more cruel fate for her, but I sure as hay can't.
Awesome they found Zecora's house though. And even though things seem even bleaker then when I made the comment about getting tired of all the misery and death and such, I find myself being engrossed by this chapter again. The constant fear as to who is next though, and what will happen when the end of Fo:E finally comes is still there.
Okay, I'm back. Where did we leave off?
ReplyDelete"A moment later, the world behind us exploded in a fiery mushroom cloud." Oh right, the fire nuke.
"Spores. I turned to see Velvet Remedy charging towards us, her horn glowing, her shield having saved us from Goddesses-knew what horror." Probably saved you from becoming spore ponies. Or simply dying a slow death while the spores sucked the life out of you.
"It wasn’t a dive-bombing Wonderbolt. It was more like some sort of missile -- a mechanical device sheathed in red-painted metal that embedded itself in the ground with a mighty WHUMP." The bloody hell are they doing now?
"A plate on the missile slid open, a strange-looking turret with a diamond embedded in the barrel slid out. It turned, aiming up at a sky thick with smoke." Eh? A missile turret thingamajig? Might've just been easier to blow them up.
"The moss-creature fell to all fours, looking even more pony-like. But the way it moved, twisted and boneless, was like something from a nightmare." Spore carriers! Oh jesus christ help me.
“Red Eye to the rescue?” Calamity whispered to me as a burning leaf drifted past us." I hope so. Anything to get them out of this forest. Even if it means Red Eye.
"As if we were sharing tales over tea and apple slices." -_- Actually, that sounds pretty good.
“Unfortunately, too good." Damn.
“Oh, I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Red Eye said calmly, the Wonderbolts stopping as if something had them by the tails. “First rule, no flying.” Is Red Eye pulling a Discord? How's he gonna do that? Is he working with the wonderbolts in a "The enemy of my enemy is my friend" kinda way?
"The Wonderbolt’s leading mare plunged back down through the smoke, driven downward by a dark green alicorn who slammed her into the ground hard enough to knock her unconscious and nearly kill her." God damn Red Eye is resourceful. How did he manage this one?
“Ah’m not sensin’ a whole lot o’ rescue in this rescue,” And I'm not seeing a whole lot of plan going on in this plan.
"Males, the voices responded, reading my thoughts. Continuation. Survival. Mates!" As far as I remember, they are sterile. So, he either doesn't know about that or is simply lying. Lying seems more of Red Eye's style, methinks.
"Okay… What? Wait. Velvet? No!" The fuck? Mental suggestion, but with scores of voices. This... this is just evil. The fuck are you doing.
“Littlepip?” Velvet Remedy asked timidly, finally seeing the gun floating in a sheath of my magic, shrinking back from Little Macintosh. “Why are you…?” I don't even have a suggestion. Anything she does will possibly end in them all dying. This is a no win situation. How the hell are they getting out of this one?
"Red Eye’s projector went dead, his eye disappearing from the sky. At the same moment, my Eyes-Forward Sparkle collapsed, my PipLeg’s spell matrix crashing." Great. EMP. EMFUCKINGP. Never ends. Ever.
"The mountain of little alicorns filling my head blew apart, their influences scattering as my little mental pony gave them all a mighty buck." Yes. YES! Woo!
"Turns out, if you pour enough bullets into a creature’s brain, it really is almost like decapitation." Science.
"Tell Red Eye she passed." Huh? Wait. Waitwaitwait. What? Passed what? A test? That was a test? For what purpose? What is he up to?
“I carry plenty of healing potions. I’m not an idiot!” Yeah. What kind of morons would wander the Wasteland without each having their own load of them?" Nopony. It's just that you all guzzle them down like water.
"A bulb-headed stalk rose up out of the ferns as he reached them, spraying its cloud of spores directly into the unicorn’s face." *sigh* And let's begin the slow process of suffocation by spores. Joy.
"He had cast a purging spell on himself, trying to get rid of all the spores before they could settle in and begin to slowly kill him." Oh good. I didn't think I could read about him slowly suffocating.
ReplyDelete"“Yes,” Velvet chuckled to the balefire phoenix as Pyrelight swooped back to her, one of the flowers tucked into her feathers by the stem. “It does go nicely with your plumage.” Pyrelight gets to feel pretty. That is adorable.
“Ponies don’t heal,” the hellhound countered. “Ponies kill, destroy, take.” I blame Twilight for this one. Took them from their home, exposed them to a transformative agent, (not on purpose though) then nuked them. And then Pip nuked them again. No wonder they are pissed.
"Wait... (be smart!) …I’d seen this before. Places like this. In a dream." Zecora's Hut? If anything it'll have remedies.
"The bottled brew had come from the refrigerator. Most of what was in the fridge had succumbed to mold, although not of the black and ambulatory kind." Zecora had a fridge? Where did she get the power for it? Gems most likely.
"Well, better than having them shoot at us." Very few things are worse. And I don't think hellhounds can mind rape.
"Took out a mess of you ponies with his sniper rifle already. Bet he’s still back at the farm, shooteen anything pony-shaped that pokes its head out.” Hellhound Arkansas. Great, as if that old bastard could get any more annoying.
"A stone plate with a carved inscription, an old audio recording, and an oddly-hued hunk of pock-marked rock." Rocks. Yeah, that'll save your asses.
“Pfft,” Reggie pffted, “What would I want with a dumb rock?” Could throw it at people. It'd hurt.
“Not as it is. But I think the recipe is the starting point for creating a cure.” Pip, I don't think you have time to fabricate a cure. The fire is still approaching Fluttertree and even if it isn't, Red Eye wants it gone.
"His expression slowly hardened. “uh, folks. Ya better take a look at this…” First off, you missed a capitalization there. Secondly, damn it's over. I hate cliffhangers.
Just finished reading the most recent PH chapter, didn't think that today could get any better in terms of awesomeness. Now I noticed that FOE has been updated.
ReplyDelete*tears of joy*
That was really good, but now i must have 43 NOW!
ReplyDeleteKeep up the awesome work! Your doing great! :)
@Sindri
ReplyDelete@LordOfTheWrongs
MFW you're both completely right
Heh. Happy Nightmare Night, again!
ReplyDeleteVery intense tea party there. Probably the most intense tea party that Pit's gone through. It's raining exploding Pegasi, the guests are all extremely lethal, and all the tea is both malicious and delicious.
So, Looking forward to the inevitable fanfic about that ex-diamond dog. Unless Kkat does it first.
About Xenith being turned into a Pony: How will she react after she's healed? Will she have a Pony-style cutie mark instead of a Zebra glyph mark? What would Xenith's cutie mark be? I can see this going many different ways, including Xenith deciding to remain a pony.
@Kree
ReplyDeleteLOL, maybe? I just expected the other two to sneak up from the ground while their attention was held by the three big, flashy, visible guys in the air. I know stealth isn't really the Enclave way, but I get nervous when the badguys start making a big production of it. Makes me think they want me to watch them.
And thank you very, very much. Seriously.
@JeremyRush
ReplyDelete"As far as I remember, they are sterile. So, he either doesn't know about that or is simply lying. Lying seems more of Red Eye's style, methinks."
Not sterile. Merely all female. Trixie acknowledged that issue with the transformation process a long time ago, and wanted the Black Book to fix them. Er... un-fix them. You know what I meant.
@Derpmind
What if she's a blank flank?
HEY! That might be their ticket into Little Lamplight!
awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww shit
ReplyDeleteAnd I had plans today too.
*drops everything, breaks out spoon & syringe, immediately starts searching for vein*
ARRRGH! It didn't post my comments! Stupid brick computer! ::Rewrites furiously.::
ReplyDeleteThat's why I've taken to CTRL-A CTRL-C-ing any really long comments before posting.
ReplyDeleteYeah, the comments system is rather sad. Make sure you press the "Post Comment" button three times to get it to post.
ReplyDeleteHnnng.
ReplyDeleteI wish I had something better to say, but all I can manage are guttural grunts. This chapter was awesome.
I have to admit, when I read that something blue came down, I was thinking " Oh great, manticores and Cockatraces and Ursas oh !@*#."
ReplyDeleteAt least I know that they don’t have to deal with some sort of freaking giant flying bear thing. Because, you know, that may be the only thing that could make that forest deadlier.
Oh, the FLYING Cockatrices where a nasty surprise. Pyrelight was epic.
Wait... cockatrices are usually described as male. Pyrelight is most defiantly female.
Fillies and colts, do not allow these two to breed! There children will rule the world!
Oh, and at this rate, we will find that Pip will know a friendly (or at least not murder-happy) member of every sentient race on that continent. At this rate, they will have a Dracoeqines tagging along.
Hey, Kkat, a actual question that most likely has been done to death: where are the Buffalo? I think they where in a flashback a few dozen chapters ago, but there seems to be no evidence of there existence anywhere else.
Did they all die out, or are they still alive somewhere near appaloosa? It seems that if any race survives the end of the world, it would be the tank like creatures living in large, wide open grassland!
I've been a bad pony... Reading as soon as I got home...
ReplyDeleteBut now I want mooooore!! .... I'll be patient. ;^; Cause I want it to be good~
HOORAY for finally getting a Hellhound to be civilized to them.
I laughed at the other hellhound being turned into a pony. That was cute, and I strangely want to draw it. XD Despite the fact that it was a murderous act indeed...
Why couldn't there be a recipe written down somewhere for the poison joke?! Apple Bloom helped with it after all! Shouldn't she have had a record somewhere? ;w;
At least they found something...
Oh... And something tells me that there might not really be any unicorns to be eaten by Red Eye. I think he's forcing Pip to enhance her power further, so that he can just consume her. Just because she only has 1 spell (and a half I guess) doesn't mean she still doesn't have a vast amount of power. D:
So, it seems things are starting to fall back into what I was originally thinking. Zecora... Velvet... Homage... Calamity... Ditzy.. *happy rolls*
Now to just see how the Fluttertree predicament will play out. Though I wasn't expecting the killing joke...
Maybe Lilpip... If you get touched, you'll just get reset as a truly one trick pony. Back at the power level when you first started out. O.o
...... It's almost like the vines had babies with Discord and started trollin the forest. O.o Kinda like I.R. Baboon and the thistle. Or was it I.AM. Weasel with the thistle? @__@
Damn my vivid minds eye, I could picture her stripes just curling up away from her flesh flinging blood and and exposing muscles.
ReplyDeleteEeee! Another chapter!
ReplyDelete"Stay out!! The plants kill!!"
Well, as one of those plants is Fluttershy...
SO Velvet heard one of the rumours about Fluttershy. She must have been asking everypony she could about her, once she'd heard about the megaspells.
Xenith give respect to the fallen combat masters. So... is he not concious, or trapped there unable to do anything but watch as RedEye's forces get closer?
Holy crap! Killing joke... does not mess around like poison joke. I'm thinking getting shot in the spine might be better than that.
Wow, Reggie's not all that smart, is she? Let's just charge into arms reach of the intelligent plant that has already shown it can lay traps. Great idea.
So the killing joke got Fluttershy? And possibly Angel - if it can turn a pony to a tree, a bunny to stone isn't that big a stretch.
Okay, Littlepip, taking the fight to the forest may have be taking out the enemy quickly, but it's not much good for your side. Cockatrices are not tour friends.
HELLHOUNDS?
Time to bug out. I'd say there are officially too many enemies to handle - let them kill each other!
So hellhounds are fast enough to plant mines underground and then draw in enemies?
!
Both Calamity and Pyrelight down in two paragraphs? Damn! This is going south awfully quickly.
And now there's an extra pony on the field, that'll distract the hellhounds, but seriously, that's just sick. I'm really hoping the hellhound pony survives. She has no cutie mark.
I wonder if someone can be affected by Killing Joke twice?
So now they're trapped between the forest, the Wonderbolts and RedEye's forces. And despite working for RedEye, I doubt he's going to let them survive again.
Well, FO2&3 Enclave controlled deathclaws, not too much of a surprise to see pegasus controlled Hellhounds. Would at least deprive them of a weapon if they freed the Hellhounds, but it's not as if that's easy to do.
...And now Littlepip's down, too. Great move! Now what happens when, I don't know, the hellhounds come back?
Velvet's mastered the Stare! Just in time, too.
! Pipsqueak reference! Is he an ancestor of Littlepip's? Probably not, nopony's mentioned her having an Trottingham accent.
ReplyDeleteThe memory works! At least she didn't open fire on you instantly, Calamity.
Legendary Hellhound! Just when thing's couldn't get worse, you meet a tougher version of your worst nightmare - with a Tesla cannon.
Rainbow Dash taught them the Banrstormer. Shock and awe indeed!
Littlepip, you're bleeding internally, alone and half numbed by a spell. Finding one gun does not turn everything around. Now to move to the next page to see what else could go wrong!
Who is shooting missiles now? RedEye?
RedEye to the rescue! He's still got plans for Littlepip? Presumably, he'll ask her to take down to Enclave. But that was her plan anyway. So what else does he want that she'll agree to do?
Channelling Discord there. He persuaded the Alicorn to work for him - much like Elijah did with Dog, I suppose. I like RedEye as a villain; he's got the charisma of Ceaser, the know how of Elijah, and the plan of Asher.
He's testing her for mental strength? Whatever he's sending her up against is going to be nasty. Perhaps it's using massive mental powers to keep itself hidden. But what? Definitely nothing from MLP, but the only thing I can thing of with serious mental powers if Fallout was that brain in a jar from Point Lookout, controlling the cultists. I now wish I knew more of the Fallout lore.
So the spores grow inside creatures, turning them to moss. Including Life Bloom! Hopefully he's got some serious cures.
The hellhound wakes! And is... reasonable? I've never played Fallout 2 all the way through, I don't know what the intelligent deathclaws were like.
Zecora's hut! Hopefully she'll have left some medical supplies, I think they must have exhausted their own.
Oh damn, the best hope of peaceful hellhounds is a looney up a tower.
Also from the comments Volume 5: Chapter 39 - Afterwords
...AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!
This chapter was all action. We have had a few theories confirmed, the hellhound mind control, and Fluttertree, but not a huge amount of new exposition. Calamities plan half works - at least it takes the Wonderbolts off their tails. But they only survived due to RedEye's intervention, which worries me even more - they are not allies by any stretch of the imagination, and anything to do with him can only end badly. I'm worried about Xenith, too - I wouldn't put it past Kkat to kill her off, even after making them work so hard to save her (again, the use of the blood swords to help not hurt). But Yay! to possible hellhound companion. Just let him know you'll help take out the transmitter, as long as they let you leave.
1/5
ReplyDelete"Into Fire and Darkness"
Oh woah, that sounds like a pretty harsh chapter. Into fire could refer to the forest, but into darkness? Hmm...
"Say out!! The plants kill!"
Ooh! I know this one, it's on a sign outside that Vault with the plants in New Vegas :D Rite?
"You."
That came out in sort of an angry tone in my head o.0 I doubt that is exactly it, but really I can't imagine what Velvet is feeling right now...
A new transmission? Interesting!
>Her eyes widened and she leapt back defensively.
Hahaha! I had to stop and think there for a moment, but of course! Doombunny! :D
>“How… how can this… be you?”
Fluttertree hasn't shown any sign of life yet, I hope she does :o Except for maybe the "Stay away!", but let's see how it goes :D About how close to the FO3 version she is~
>“Turned to stone by a cockatrice. A worthy end for a worthy opponent.”
*salute*
In the last chapter I somehow made the mistake of thinking that Fluttershy had turned Angel into stone. I realized I was wrong soon after, but I feel stupid when I look at my post for 41 :D
And I wonder what happened to that cockatrice? Fluttershy has dealt with a cockatrice before, has she not?
>Get away!
Ah, so this does seem to be her way of communication~ Nice. And.. Little blue vines? So I'm guessing this has to do with the Poison Joke.
>Suddenly there was so much blood.
Oh god, what. That was pretty unexpected, so kind of shocking in my head~
...
And then I read the next paragraph. Oh my. So much blood O_O
>bleeding to death in a growing pool of dark red.
No way! There's no way that can happen! I'm suspecting this is a kind of Poison Joke trick rather than them actually being able to explode ponies just by brushing them. That, or the entire crew is fucked.
>If I could form a blade, I could form a cast.
Another example of a great use of this new magic. If there's things Littlepip's lack of spells has taught her, one of them would be to be creative with what she has :3
>...killing joke...
Eeyup.
>more vines tore up from the ground, seeking to touch.
First thought, enemies coming up from the ground, bad memories
Second thought, you're fucked
Third thought, I've seen enough hentai to know where this is going.
>I could hear gunshots.
Yeah, this certainly is excellent timing. Well if it's the Wonderbolts, wasn't there something about them wanting a good hunt? Then surely they wont go hunting for ponies that are exploding into bloodfests seemingly at random.
>Jokeblue’s a funny name. How’d she get that?
Yes! I've been wanting to know about this ^.^
Wait, really? The killing joke was actually mentioned before? Still gotta reread.
>The plant had somehow taken some random thing Xenith had said and turned it against her.
Holy shit the implications are scary as fuck. Indeed, I didn't think the Killing Joke would just be able to rip ponies apart as their ability. Like before, it plays a "joke" specifically for the pony on the recieving end. What could this mean for the other ponies? What would happen to Littlepip? Oh god ;_;
Littlepip's internal dialogue about that... Oh no, oh no D: Whatever it does, I'm sure it'll be really terrifying.
2/5
ReplyDeleteLevitation chase scene, pretty wicked in my head, and these vines are a damn intimidating enemy. So, that's all we got from Fluttertree? I wonder what this meet will mean for Velvet, they actually saw Fluttershy, and she was still able to communicate, albeit nowhere near as much as a normal pony... Won't they want to, err, mercy kill her? I mean not only has she lived life in misery for 200 years, but she's also going to die in a horrible fire soon enough ;_;
>Did Fluttershy ever say something about being tree-like?
Oh god she did. Aaaaaaaah! I think everyone knew it would be fitting because of Herbert and that comment in Over a Barrel, but it's not just a reference now, that comment made it happen!
This Killing Joke is such an interesting enemy, I almost want it to hit everyone, just to see what it does to them ...
>I watched as the Wonderbolts flew past us, then split apart and started back.
Oh, there you are. Hi.
That description of the Enclave. Sounds like Trixie o.O
And the Wonderbolt's armor sounds cool! Golden filigree on a deep blue carapace~
>They were reptilian, like miniature dragons,
This is like a jolly little wicked monster bad-guy get together.
>Cockatrices.
Oh shit. Well that's one Wonderbolt out of the picture, but still...
>The Enclave’s premier sniper was one of the two Wonderbolts hanging back,
Oh cool, but... This Wonderbolt is helping our crew? That seems pretty strange. Maybe they just dont want them turned to stone...
>“We need to go back,”
Indeed... Of course we can't just leave Fluttershy like that.
>twisting about to turn its petrifying stare into Pyrelight’s face.
No way! Pyrelight can't go! I wonder what would happen to a phoenix if they got turned to stone?
Nice comeback!
>The ground exploded underneath Life Bloom.
Fucking stop doing that, Wasteland! It's not nice!
Wait, what, it's ACTUALLY a god damned Hellhound? Oh fuck no.
>One of the plants slapped me across the eyes.
Not a blue vine, right? o.o
Reggie is a damn cool gunslinger. No Hellhounds allowed!
>Three more helmeted hellhounds tore themselves up from the ground
Get out!!
>I felt the earth tremble beneath me.
HOLY SHIT
Oh jeez, there's...There's a hellhound right beneath Littlepip, just waiting to attack, but hindered only by mines? Mines... There's so much bullshit in this forest!
>Physical hurt gave way to something deeper as I realized the shot had struck my cutie mark,
Cutie Marks don't matter :3
>A rust-colored heap with an orange tail plunged into a nearby tree, trailing smoke.
Oh fuck, at this point I'm not expecting anypony to die. It would hurt right now, and if it's Calamity... Good god, that ain't possible. No, I don't think he's dead, no way.
3/5
ReplyDelete>The stoned phoenix dropped.
Oh okay, that's just fine too, assholes... Pyrelight, oh no... There won't be a way to burn from here, so that means no reincarnation. Someone get that damn cockatrice and make it undo that!
>She has no cutie mark, my little pony fixated on.
(S)he turned into a Rarity with no cutie mark? What could that possibly mean? o.O
>the pony spun around and galloped into the forest, crying.
Awww :( Wait, so, the hellhound has already been attacked by the Killing Joke, does that mean he's now immune? :V I suppose it does, only one joke per person.
>I realized I hated those plants.
Mmyeah. Before they were killing joke, one could sort of see them as bullies too, mean spirited. Although I'd rather see them as a fun loving Peeves-like chaotic prankster. Which it could seem they still are, except gone completely batshit insane psycho.
>Pyrelight’s body slowly became flesh and feathers again,
<3 that's good, that's good. And Calamity is back! Yaaay!!
>“Are you…” I stopped before asking Equestria’s dumbest question.
Hahaha, oh Littlepip n.n
Aahahaha, the bit with Littlepip's scenario about negotiating with the Wonderbolts, that's great 8D
And then she was actually called Fluttertree!
>How could plants be so vile?
That is indeed... So horrible... I just can't imagine how Fluttershy must be feeling... She must be completely and utterly broken.
>"… by dissolving part of it.”
Damn... I like that Littlepip's "last resort" is explicitly said by Life Bloom to have saved her. I like to think that might tell Littlepip that it's not so bad to use that spell if used for the right reasons.
>trying to grasp the fragment of the past that had just shaken loose.
Damnit, what was that memory?... Now I'm so curious! Medicines, Survival and... ?
The Everfucked Forest. Haha!
Gah! Remember it please!
>“If worph sumechinn.”
I'm having quite a hard time reading what he's saying here~ am I right that he's saying "It's worth something."? :P
>They knew we were expecting them to attack from above, not below.
Holy shit, that's terrifying. And didn't they actually do this in FO3 too? Was that the Brotherhood of Steel that were controlling deathclaws at some point maybe in a DLC?
>“Far less dangerous.”
I love this pony~ The snark right here is delicious.
>“Don’t you dare tell me how cutie marks don’t matter!”
;_; B-but... Littlepip~ She seems like a lot of things like this gets a strong reaction from her. Like when she regrew her leg and her PipLeg... It's sad because it is indeed not very rational to be so devastated by that... I hope she'll be able to let it go. Actually, I find that a PipBuck with a giant scorchmark on it to be a sort of more appropriate cutie mark...
And wow she snapped this time... There doesn't seem to be anything to cure it here, she just needs to rage~
>registering my collapse only as a drop in perspective.
Anaesthetic spell? Awkward if Velvet actually had to stun her... LittlePip needs a room full of too many possessions to destroy, to get all that rage out :(
4/5
ReplyDelete>Everyone stared at me.
Damn, that... Ugh, this situation is death.
>(With radishes, my little pony suggested bizarrely.)
Ahahhahaha, what?! XD
And then she cries. That was a pretty emotional scene..
>Jet, they had called her.
Ooh, and they have a cockatrice! This should be interesting!
>There was a sparkling red flash.
Daymn. Can't wait to see what effect this has...
Squee, she called her Pipsqueak! Oh wait.. Uh, what? How am I supposed to react to this?
"Pipsqueak the Pirate is now canon!" ?
>Oh fuck.
Yeah, that certainly sounds bad. Something which might make the Wonderbolts act immediately...
And it's complete, surely this changes something in a significant way.
>(a sure sign of albinism -- be smart!),
Hmm, an albino hellhound? That sounds a bit too special to just be a random enemy. And why was he cloaked? That's interesting.
Oh wow, three shots from Little Macintosh and no effect...
>He aimed the cannon at Velvet Remedy, pulling the trigger.
Daymn! Who hasn't been hurt a lot today? Reggie was just shot down, Pyrelight was turned to stone, Calamity was shot out of the sky and Xenith was turned to a blob of blood. You're really making everyone vulnerable right now. The suspense.. Not sure if I want to scroll down to see the next paragraph x___x
>but blind luck and the forest shielded us.
*Phew!*
>The forest exploded.
Sooo much shit going on, now what is this? A pony? A magical energy shot from a pretty big gun?
>mushroom-like cloud that rose up behind us.
Oh, a Fat Man, Enclave edition.. That's scary.
An aerial maneuver?! Oh my my. Already two cool maneuvers we've seen; looping back and hitting your own trial of black cloud to create a lightning was a damn cool move too.
>…be awesome. Yes. That worked.
Ahaha, that's so great, and it's so fitting when it's from Rainbow Dash!
>pony-shaped sack of fail.
HAH! That wording is hilarious, I lol'd.
>Of course she was.
Of course indeed; it's an albino hellhound, so there's something special about that one!
>It was a virtue, her virtue… even if it was occasionally damn frustrating.
Occasionally a vice ^.^ Just like your curiosity.
Xenith is being destroyed severely, more plants...
Hmm, where exactly are they right now? I mean, they're still inside the forest, close to the fire, myes? So where did the killing joke sneak off to? They seemed to drag themselves back to Fluttershy... But now, a new clan of surely malicious plants!
>The three remaining Wonderbolts flew up, staring down at the strange intruder into our battle.
Oh, whut, the missile thing wasn't from the Wonderbolts? Interesting.
>one of those patches, roughly the size and vaguely the shape of a pony,
Oh, it is you, Vault 22!
This chapter has just been a flurry of different enemies thrown at our crew constantly, it's sooo full of action and relentless murder. Quite a miracle that everyone has made it through, although almost everyone has gotten maaajorly injured anyways.
>projecting the image of a huge, cybernetic red eye against the smoke.
Oh shit ! That, I must say was unexpected. Well there he is, this is going to change this situation a lot.
5/5
ReplyDelete>Fuck me.
Bwhaahahaa, somehow, after the countless times Littlepip has used her impressive repetoir of creative swears, the simplicity of this was hilarious. But I suppose she has done this before. For some reason I found it funnier this time.
>“First rule, no flying.”
That. Is just awesome. Weaving some S2 in there, and Red Eye is now Discord. Awesome on many levels.
A dark green alicorn. Not sure if good...
>Males
I'M EXPECTING SOME MALE
>FLOAT OUT YOUR GUN,
Oh god, this is scary...
WHAT!
THE FUCK IS THIS ABOUT?
>In my head, my little pony was fighting a losing battle
That's pretty cool. That little pony has always seemed like almost a character in and of itself, this seems to be the only time it actually got involved in some action :D Go, little pony!
>KILL THE UNICORN.
OH GOD PLEASE, NO, NO. NOOOOOO.
>Be awesome!
Hmm? Why was this here? Gave me that kind of power-up feeling, like LittlePip just switched her nanosuit into a new mode. Maximum, awesome. But why right there? Right after her PipLeg crashes, right before she gets the command again? She's gonna break the spell and be awesome!
>Be strong! Be unwavering! Be smart!
POWER UP POWER UP POWER UP, This is like a dramatic scene in an anime! I'm thinking Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann! Listen up, LittlePip! Don't believe in yourself! Believe in us! Believe in us, who believe in you!!
>my little mental pony gave them all a mighty buck.
Fuck yeah, Matrix pony.
nope.avi
*BLAM*
That was.. So awesome. Woosh. Very dramatic~ Ending with a primal scream, it's.. Electric with action.
This hellhound they have with them now, he seems cool ^.^ Velvet's retort is awesome, it should make the hellhound think. It wasn't insulting, it's a good way to say that both sides are wrong :3
>The phantasmal flowers spread out from the tree like ripples from a stone dropped in a lake.
That looks really beautiful in my head... But... why like ripples? Oh well, I only just realized that this is Zecora's hut!
>Used tu make powders tu conjure up frightful illusions,”
You realize it's creepy when you do this right? :D Makes me wonder what this scene would have been like without the S2 episodes?
>"If I’m going to use my trepanation spell, I should do it now.”
Eep... This would be such a harsh death, since she was alive for a long time after the attack...
That chest. Actually, that does indeed seem nostalgic. How long has it been since LittlePip last opened a chest and found an audio recording?
>The memory that had slipped from my mental grasp earlier returned to dance in front of me.
Oh thank goodness!
>And if it could? Was this really a good idea?
Indeed... Does she even want to live by now? ._ .
Welp, Velvet seems to have made up her mind about that, that's great.
>“uh, folks. Ya better take a look at this…”
Oh no, what now? Such a mysterious cliffhanger. Judging by the amount of enemies that have been running around this whole chapter, ANYONE could be standing outside. Anything could be happening. Gah! And the audio recording! From Zecora? Hnnnng!
Another great chapter Kkat. I was kind of worried that the whole Fluttertree thing would come across as a forced joke version of Harold, but you handeled it amazingly well. Props to that. Also Im really looking forward to what you do with "Goris".
ReplyDelete- Wheee, right into the action! Fuck a Retrospective~!
ReplyDelete- Killing Joke? fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu-IMPLICIT ALAN MOORE/MONTY PYTHON REFERENCE, RUN!!!!!!!
- FUCK that cutie mark. You didn't like it, and we can't even agree what looks- sorry - looked like.
- *Team Venture Action Man during Spider Skull Island flashback voice* ACCCCCCTION!!!! ACTION ACTION ACTION ACTION ACTION!!!!!!
- So the transformed Hellhound's death is delayed by....how long again lol? Except now, he'll have time to properly comprehend the horror of his situation. Way to go, CORRUPTED KINDNESS!
- Woo hoo, Red Eye saves the day! Wait. "less than a hundred yards away"...? Um, that's a Vick pass away, careful now. HOW BOUT DEM COWBOYS!
- Wow, that's a way worse deal than Harold got. Killing Joke is fucking sick and hardcore. The Joker would approve! (and probably manipulate Poison Ivy into growing some for him somehow)
- Pipsqueak XD 'TIS FUCKING CANON, TROTTINGHAM REPRESENT
- WELL SOMEONE LIKED LESSON ZERO, DIDN'T THEY? :D (srsly, how did this chapter even work before Dash did that?)
- YEEEEAAAAH LILPIP BE AWESOME, BALLS +5
- Mein gott, the fucking horrors in Kkat's universe. Seriously, it just makes me look at The Walking Dead's cast and be like "....you guys are pussies"
- Red Eye. THE RULER'S BACK. Cool effect btw. Sovereign of The Guild of Calamitous Intent style on you foals! Swag. WELL HOLD ON, BECAUSE THE DRIVER OF THE MISSION IS A PRO.......
- Ha ha ha. I told you fuckers what it is w/ Red Eye. The Coldest Motherfucker in the Equestrian Wasteland.™ *Red* alicorn shield? Is that what I read? Oh yeah, he's already leveled up and- what? RED EYE is EVOLVING! Congratulations! Your RED EYE evolved into FINAL BOSS! Get the Kefka music ready, my niggas. The Ruler's Back.
Some sound allright, but then they act illy
Try conquering my crown and that's really very silly
Now I'm not the type that gets upset
Try to disrespect folks just to earn respect
But learn this fact, whether white or black
I can't be conquered in my style of rap
For jealousy and envy are dumb ones tools
So Ricky says nothing, he keeps his cool
Revenge is not a mission that the Ruler's on
Just forgiveness required for the wrong that's done
So off we go, let the trumpets blow
And hold on, because the driver of the mission is a pro
The Ruler's Back!
- Whoa! Mind Gang Rape!
- *crosses fingers* C'mon Albino Hellhound party member.....
- .....OH KKAT, YOU FUCKIN DICKTEASE ^_^
While I've said and still think that you're an excellent writer Kkat, I think you just one-upped yourself with Fluttertree. You took one of the strangest, small dumb comical things this fandom has come up and turned it into a serious, grimdark tortured fate, without making it seem forced or put in 'for the lolz', and you made poison joke into one heck of a credible threat without really changing the way it works. That's damn well done if you ask me.
ReplyDeleteThat and you also brought Red Eye back into action and the on-going war. It'll be interesting to see how the three-way war goes (four-way if Everfree Forest is counted). Excellent chapter to the best fic ever, all in all.
This chapter's playlist -
ReplyDeleteBadass uptempo ominious Madvillainy for the getaway chase!
1. Madvillain - Strange Ways
2. Madvillain - Do Not Fire! [Instrumental]
3. Madvillain - All Caps
4. Madvillain - Raid
5. Madvillain - Supervillain Theme [Instrumental]
6. Madvillain - Sickfit [Instrumental]
A moment of soulful introspection during the lull in the battle as we pour out a 40oz for one of LilPip's Cutie Marks...
7. Gnarls Barkley - St. Elsewhere
8. Ghostface Killah - Stay True [Instrumental]
OK, timeout over, BACK TO WANTON VIOLENCE ERRYPONY-
9. Ol' Dirty Bastard ft. GZA - Damage
10. Big Pun - The Dream Shatterer
"…be awesome. Yes. That worked." AHHHHHHHH CUE THE BADASS ANTHEM.
11. Eric B. & Rakim - Follow the Leader
RED EYE TIME BABY
12. Slick Rick - The Ruler's Back
OH SNAP, DON'T DO IT LILPIP FIGHT BACK!!!! EPIC STRUGGLE SOUNDTRACK NEEDED:
13. Big Sean - Final Hour [Instrumental]
...and we finally limp our way to The Hut of Zecora. Calm down, cool off, lick wounds.
14. Mobb Deep - The Realest [Instrumental]
BLIND CLIFFHANGER, DAMN YOU KKAT
15. Dramatic Chipmunk lulz http://youtu.be/a1Y73sPHKxw
@mycutiemarkisagun
ReplyDeletesrsly, Littlepip portal hops to Walking Dead universe for vacation time. Rest and Relaxation. Ahhhh, fresh sunlight. Get a beach house out that muhfucka.
@Hertzila
ReplyDelete...and when Steelhooves died, the haters said Kkat was fallin' off.....
HA!
Kkat, I just feel compelled to say...
ReplyDeleteThat I absolutely love this story.
What a lovely surprise to find a day after PH updates! Brilliant stuff, especially as this was one I was hoping to see soon. Darn cliffhangers. :p
ReplyDeleteWell, let's not mess about, shall we? Time for the breakdown!
------------
High Points!
------------
-The Horror of the Everfree-
This is a general setting high point, rather than a specific point. Pip sums up my words on why it is so effective. One of the deadliest parties in the wastes against the most lethal team the Enclave has...and the forest is winning.
High point of the...well...high points, it the mere mechanic of the Killing Joke (is that a Batman graphic novel reference?) itself. This is what I love about your world design Kkat, things just make wonderfuly messed up sense. Poison Joke, of course it'd change things still like that in dark humour. That is Fallout after all. I sense you've had its concept on the burner for a while until you could properly use it, so I'll say it was worth the unknowing wait!
It's quite terrifying though, makes you think of everything you've ever said...how it'd affect you. How it'd do its weird ways. Kinda makes me think of the "deal with the devil" concepts, taking things way out of context or to an overly literal extent. Very potent and horrifying environmental hazard, right up there on the "horrifying" chart next to Broadcasters and Taint.
You know when I next re-read FO:E I'm going to be watching for any lines Killing Joke could take out of context, of course. :p That'll make a pretty grim humoured read from now on. Thanks, Kkat, for making even past chapters more horrifying thanks to this one. XD
But of course, there is way more to Everfree. The "moss trogs" as I sort of call them, due to the trog animations on the Vault 22 (apparent) equivilents for these abominations, have severely creeped me out. I HATED trogs in the Pitt. Well, love to hate, because they freaked me to high heaven the times I was around them. Seeing them again in Vault 22 (kinda) was almost as bad. But now having them come off trees, warp around them and include beasts other than ponies? I'm beginning to agree with Reggie. Everfucked Forest indeed, it'll fuck with you forever.
Throw in some spore plants and well...I don't wanna go there anymore.
You know, when writing this I honestly thought there were more than those three main things, but on rechecking...yeah, that's them. Add in Fluttertree (to an extent part of it) and the glowing areas...it makes me realise how you pulled off a very oppressive "everything is going to kill you here" concept with only three primary threats actually doing the attacking.
-The Wonderbolt Engagement-
ReplyDeleteThe moment I heard they'd be attacking the party my first thought was for an intensely dynamic and agile battle. I was both wrong and right in my guess. Wrong in that it was not the agile and "deadly dance" I had anticipated and right in that it was dynamic to the point of absolute chaos. If there's one thing that has improved about your battle scenes in the last...hm...10 chapters or so? It's your sense of creating a swirling gunfight/melee/battle around the reader's perspective without losing clear cut denotions of what is happening. It's very effective, whatever you're doing and fitted in perfectly with the whole 'shock and awe' concept running here. I wasn't getting much of it, until the Sonic Boom Blasts! I guess I mirror Pip in that way. Can't believe I forgot about those things.
However I am getting too specific. What I enjoyed about this battle was the chaotic nature. Wonderbolts. Our beloved party. Wounded characters. Hellhound tricks. The Everfree's tenacity. Red Eye's involvement, Cockatrices and of course, Alicorns. Every time one problem was dealt with, another two would emerge. As the battle begun to wind down and each problem left piece by piece...interesting feeling of it not ending with a single big bang. Just a lingering drop off that left me, as a reader, wondering if it was going to suddenly kick off any second. Especially as it sort of did briefly once Reggie brought the shield down. Great use of tension.
More specifics I enjoyed were the capabilities of the Wonderbolts, they are a genuinelly intimidating foe, loved to see them being resourceful to beat Red Eye as well. Helps build them up in our views. Seeing Calamity brought low highlights that the most however, as much as I love the guy, seeing him shot down was a steller move for writing. He is no longer our top dog in the air. Not against a few of em anyway. That sets a lovely precedent for how to fear these Bolts in the future.
Hellhounds being in the area, as you may imagine, makes any reader nervous these days. Especially as Life Bloom is around. Sorry to say it, but secondary characters in these sorts of stories always have "death waiting to happen" lying above their heads. You bet I was biting my nails in worry when they attacked him the same way as Steelhooves. If you wanted that reaction, be glad. You got it.
What I believe made it all come together though was just Littlepip being as helpless for so much of it as she was. It gave the reader a simple centre to watch from. Look at all this chaos without having to worry about what their own perspective is doing. Dunno if that was intentional or not, but it came to my mind anyway.
A very fluid, chaotic and tense battle. Definitely the most mad one we've seen yet.
-The Return of Red Eye-
Well, he never truly left, but we've all wanted to get some more presence from FO:E's resident magnificent bastard. He didn't disappoint, even showing us a slightly more playful and unpredictable side of his previously cool, calm and collected personality. But then the last few days have hardly been easy for him.
Loved the Old World Blues shout out with the crashed item projecting an eye. Fits Red Eye like a glove. Again, what I love when you expy stuff, it always fits like it should be there anyway, like the expy part of it is nothing but a coincidence. I applaud that sense of originality and world design.
His somewhat more casual tone fills me with dread as to his current mindset on Equestria, actually. I was expecting a more serious and directed Red Eye to counter intimidate the Enclave. But here we have him almost toying with them. Whatever he has going on right now must be reassuring to him. Factor in his arrogant genius to know Littlepip would satisfy his little "test" and we have Red Eye fully reestablished as one hell of an impactful player in the Wasteland. That test was nerve wracking. Velvet shot Littlepip once. I was expecting her to actually do it...to have the favour forcibly returned in a sick way. I didn't expect Velvet to die...but really, who ever likes seeing harm come to Velvet? Crazy people, that's who. Velvet rocks. She tells off Cockatrices and doesn't afraid of anything. :p
ReplyDelete...slight topic derailment there...
The fact that Red Eye has the Alicorns back in any way is somewhat worrying. I honestly thought that the death of the Goddess would act as a blow against him. I should have been tipped off by Littlepip's comment that Red Eye would know loss "soon." Hints that he didn't suffer anything, ie - No alicorn losses. Their new ability to "mind crush" is horrifying in its potential. Makes me glad the "Ministry Six" are constantly seeing to watch over Littlepip. Red Eye is such a bastard. I absolutely love him. XD
Speaking of those six ponies...
----------------
Things I Enjoyed
----------------
You be crazy, Kkat. Utterly crazy, to take a throwaway daft joke and twist it through the Killing Joke into the worst fate any of the Ministry Six have endured yet. Sorry Twi, you have been knocked from the top spot. Flutter...tree...is a pretty gruesome concept. Not one I entirely didn't expect since the moment you hinted at it long ago (and knowing of the one in Fallout 3, of course) but the twist you gave it to be a curse and torturous existence is very brutal and reignites any fires of emotion that the inevitable concept dimmed through being what we expected in the first place.
I so dearly hope they save her. If they can save just one. Just one of them. It'd make up for so much. I guess Twi was kinda saved...if she even was still Twilight in any recognisable form. The chapter end fills me with hope for Fluttershy, Velvet won't give up on this. And I know of Littlepip's determined heroism, Calamity's staunch and fearless loyalty and even harking back to Steelhooves' impassive sense of justice...none of it compares to how deeply passionate Velvet could possibly get in pursuit of something she believes in with every atom of her being. I cannot imagine that the plaque found at the end won't have a reasoning in future. Now I just wonder what it would do, what it would act for. A visit to Red Eye's cathedral is almost inevitable, what will link this and the Elements in the castle? (Or at least where they used to be) I sense approaching epic.
A brief mention from Fluttertree. Sort of an aversion going on here, I expected way more dialogue from her, given how you left off just in front of her. However I do not begrudge it not being there. After all, her presence is as a goal now, not a character. Even if she were capable of conversation anyway. Perhaps saves some impact of her speech for later. Nice to see Xenith making a little peace with Doombunny, by the way. Good show, Angel.
ReplyDeleteLittlepip using blood magic reeeeally scares me, y'know? I dread to think of the long term consequences this may bring to her over time. People mentioned the Black Book "disappearing." I disbelieve that criticism. The Black Book's true threat is not in its physical presence, but in the power it grants. It lives through that power, I'll bet. Not in those pages.
On the subject of Littlepip...I had been wondering when luck would catch up to her again. And by that, I mean horrible luck. Poor girl...she's suffered so much, and now even more. First being made to watch as the battle rages without her...then suffering an injury any pony would give their right front leg to avoid. The thought of cutie mark injury entered my head a long time ago and the potential mental changes it might bring to them. I guess we'll find out your take on it.
Her reaction is pretty damn realistically well done. I can imagine we'de be like that with say, an eyeball or a finger in real life. Helps reinforce what those marks mean to them.
Oh Calamity, my little Klepto. I did have a little giggle. Good use of humour to break the serious. On the subject of laughs, I freaking CALLED IT (in my head anyway...) that you'de throw a Pipsqueak joke in somewhere. XD
Further humour was found in a little chuckle at the "pony shaped sack of fail." Not a very...eloquent...line, but very funny for the exact same reason.
The hellhounds show a more compassionate side. Not entirely unexpected but very welcome to see at last. The hellhounds being abused was one of the lesser but very intuned stories of the past I picked up on and enjoyed. I do hope that Velvet may help prove to be an ambassador to them, Brokering peace may save the wasteland in so many ways. However the Enclave's motivations to control them I sense are going to provide a large sticking point or even a potential side quest to earn the trust of the hellhounds in future. Perhaps even Pip having to face up to her past "crimes" against them after realising they are not soulless monsters.
...oh boy...I can't imagine she'll take that well.
Deadshot for number 1...seems only fitting that Gutshot scores second. Although it does leave many wonderings of the exact nature of how he kills to be best left unspoken. Gutshots are not particularly fun things... >.>
ReplyDeleteGlad to see Velvet continuing to grow stronger as time goes on. She is often, I feel, the forgotten strength of the party. Her shields, paralyzing spells, wards and even her shotgunning has been such a staunch and reliable part of the group that I feel her prowess is often overlooked due to her "midline" role. Very glad to see the story actually highlight how powerful and varied she is truly becoming. Calamity is one lucky buck with a right to be proud of her.
Quite glad to see the Wonderbolts escape partially really. It leaves us with less an instant conclusion so much as an unsure future. FO:E has always worked best with them, where we don't know what lies around the next bend. I do wonder how the "reformed" ones will react, although I presume a confrontation of all three sides of this will resume sometime very soon.
Finally, it is lovely to see Zecora's Hut and in a sense, Everfree itself. We're 42 chapters in and yet we are only now seeing something within walking distance of Stable 2. I applaud your restraint on using known locations of Equestria here to further the drip of unique locales this long. Very impressive.
I've only got one "thing I noticed" here so I won't bother making a separate catagory.
I feel there may have been too much "Season 2 additions" all at once. The Wonderbolt Sonic Boom Blasts were awesome and fitted, as did the memory spell shout out last chapter. However I feel the addition of lines like about Smartypants shifted things a little heavily in a useage direction, once you factor in Red Eye's Discord shout out too. Don't get me wrong, I loved them all. Just perhaps too many too quick. I mentioned something similar to Somber on PH fairly recently when lots of season 2 calls turned up there and also added a disclaimer I'll repeat here. I may just be reading in and spotting them too much, so don't pay singular heed to that as a criticism. Instead, just see me as being open with my thoughts. I feel you'de prefer I did that than stay quiet. :)
An excellent chapter and an unexpected treat today. Very thankful for it and your continued effort, Kkat.
@Somber
ReplyDeleteDidn't you once prod me about using notepad for writing these things when I lost my feedback to you? :p
@Fuzzy
ReplyDelete...but nothing bad ever comes of Blood Magic!
*coughdragonagecough*
@Fuzzy
ReplyDeleteWoe, WOE to the internet poster that type long thoughtful comments without Notepad'n or at least Ctrl+C'n. They be one errant Backspace or Back mouse button away from oblivion.
I mean, I'm pretty sure I learned that lesson while Clinton was President.
@mycutiemarkisagun
ReplyDeleteBackspaceMeansBackspace for Chrome. Use it. Love it.
Did anyone else even remember Homage's Killing Joke mention? Hey LilPip, next time you hear an offhoof mention of some ungodly biological horror that would make Umbrella Corporation cream itself, do yourself a favor and ask some follow-up questions, k? Maybe jot down a few notes.
ReplyDeleteYes 1000...
ReplyDeleteDamn
Oh well let's see... They go into forest... Wonder bolts arrive... DANG their good. Poor Xenith, she was so innocent! And Poor Fluttershy!! Even with friends hurt Velvet helps the others. I was wondering about the fire stuff, Great job not pulling the trigger! Red Eye to the rescue... sorta. I liked this Chapter, definitely worth the pain I had in class today.
This chapter... Wow. Just when you think things couldn't get any more dangerous, they go ahead and prove that they've actually just been taking it easy thus far.
ReplyDeleteI must admit, I read Fluttertree's stay away in Fluttershy's whisper voice. I don't have any idea what is going to happen to Fluttertree now, but I'd like to think that if Luna can come back from being imprisoned in the moon for a thousand years, that maybe Fluttershy could come back from being a tree for two hundred years and possibly lead a normal life. In fact, this actually helps me better appreciate what it must have been like for Luna too.
Xenith's poking and prodding of Angel: Thank you for that, it made me laugh... It felt almost like Xenith had recaptured some piece of her youth again, even if just for a moment. That little bit was like a life preserver for me as I went further along into the chapter.
Killing Joke vs Xenith: I can't describe how gruesome that image was in my mind. I've got an apple peeler at home that you turn with a hand crank, it twists the apple around in circles and detaches the skin in one big long ribbon. Thats about halfway to what I imagined.
I'm not sure why everyone is saying that Xenith is an Earth Pony now. Earth Ponies have their own kind of magic, they're not just "plain." And besides, a Zebra is more than just its stripes anyway.
Killing Joke in General: This is literary genius. Taking everyone's own words and turning it against them is like some kind of cruel poetic punishment.
Blood Bandages: This didn't actually seem that bad for me. I mean, from what Lilpip said earlier (or was it thought?) The blood swords weren't that different from telekinesis when she realized how to use them.
I was wondering what the Everfree Forest would be like for such a long time, and now I know that it is far more relentless and brutal than even my wildest dreams, and thats even without the wonderbolts being there. Its almost fitting then that the forest should score the first hit, turning Jet into stone.
Hellhounds: I thought Life Bloom was a goner the moment read "The ground exploded underneath..." I wasn't sure why a hellhound's timing would possibly be off at the beginning of the fight, but once they realized the hellhounds were being controlled by the enclave transmitter, I think it made a bit of sense. In fact, that might be why the Hellhounds were only mostly super deadly and not entirely killing the whole team deadly. Perhaps some of them were trying to resist the enclave's control? Or maybe their usually less aggressive temperament made them not as adept at combat.
Hellhound Pony: This made me chuckle a little in that it wasn't a completely and instantly deadly joke. I hope the hellhound pony survives too, maybe she'll come out of this with a better appreciation of what its like being a terribly vulnerable earth pony trying to survive against creatures that can rip her apart with barely a second thought. ((Though I have to wonder, if she does happen to discover her special talent while a pony and got a cutie mark, would that transfer over if she was ever turned back into a hellhound again?))