The chronicles of Project Horizons : chapter 17 & 18

Yep, that's right folks, today is a double chapter simply because I read the two mostly in a row and I didn't want to to split them in two. So, chapter 17 is essentially a big pile of nothing happening unfortunately and chapter 18 is... well, it's something alright.

Let us start.

Chapter 17 should be called the edgy chapter but in a fiction that tries so hard to be dark, gritty and angsty at every turn, it wouldn't make much sense. Let us just say that while I do like to learn a bit more about Glory's family, her restating what we already know about the Enclave's treatment of family is really starting to get redundant but what I find to be extremely... tacky, for lack of a better word is simply that she changes her name from Morning Glory to Fallen Glory. This name is ridiculous in how "Woe is me" it sounds. Why not just saying her name is simply "Glory" now ? Dropping half of her name would send a similar message without having the subtlety of a battering ram. Side note : Glory mentions Calamity by name but her intervention about how stupid he is to have acted how he did is the first of I fear will be a series of "bad manners" related to FO:E.

This chapter shows also one of the most important change regarding FO:E : the start of the War with the zebras and the geopolitical situation at the time. While I appreciate to finally have something to give some proper context to this war, I am not a fan of a fanfiction actively changing something that was stated in the original. You see, Project Horizons is having a bit of a dishonest approach : it tries to mostly do its own thing with FO:E but it also wants to take place at the same time than FO:E which implies that PH needs to keep what was stated in the original true if it doesn't want to alter and denature the core aspects of the story.

Here, PH says that the pirates were in zebra territory and that the rescue was seen as an insult to the Caesar in place when in FO:E, Caesar actively tried to deny responsibility and mentionned that the pirates were in international water. Yes, PH change is not a bad thing if it was to work with its own universe, but it isn't. There's a gap between "filling the void left by the original" and directly altering the facts of the fiction and I don't like this road despite my lack of love for FO:E. It's a question of principle.

So, we learn that tensions are high and we are given a clear picture of the situation regarding coal and gemstiones : Equestria is on the brink of going dark due to the lack of coal and zebras need gemstones to power the weapons that protect them against the frequent attack of monsters that constantly swarm their town. Here, it's a precision that makes sense and actually respects FO:E's lore or at least doesn't directly contradicts it. However, I hardly undersand how those two nations survived 9 years without getting any coal or gem if it was such and life and death scenario. I expect precisions to be given later. As for Goldenblood ? He seems unusually smart and is framed as being important. We'll see where this goes.

In chapter 17, we also learn that Rampage is essentially unkillable and wants to die. She explains she doesn't know who or what she is and that she was so badass she killed the previous Rampage and become a super soldier. With Somber's obsession with gore, having an unkillable character will surely give way to some torture porn and gorefest. Actually, the scene in this chapter was already quite eloquent. PH is actually making me miss Steelhooves. Why ? Because he had a strong morale code, that he had lost more or less in part. Glory is the only one to have a morale code that makes sense... Rampage is just another poor victim/badass to add to the pile, P-21 is so emotionally everywhere that I can't for the life of me get what makes him tick (since visibly beating his lover to death wasn't enough to warrant anything but a passing line when BJ confronted him about it.) and BJ is just a walking hypocrite and not on purpose.

At least she's mysterious ? Well... P-21 was mysterious too and we know what it gave us.

To talk about something more general, the whole "Let's help Flank get some security" bit is just pointless padding that barely hides that it wants to give us some more lore and bits of info on characters. Padding things so obviously by making your character make... uninteresting thing really isn't a good way of using narration. Especially when your chapter is 24K and ends in "Caprice you tried to sell me out, you bitch. Let's leave"

As for the second memory orb, it's making clearer and clearer that Twilight is Maripony but I am still not convinced of how that works in the great scheme of things. As for the conspiracy clearly taking place, I have nothing to say. I'm just curious to see where this new mystery will lead and I'm not quite sure what to expect.

The whole scene in the Sugarcube corner was a bit... strange to say the least. Blackjack found a rapist that raped a former slaver and perhaps her kid, it's not very clear. Essentially, there's this whole bit about BJ saying that she's not an executioner, as in she's not one to kill in cold blood. However... this statement is in direct contradiction with what we saw of the fiction. BJ already killed ponies without being attacked by them before : the drug dealers she killed ? She sought them and killed them for Caprice without even being asked to. She also killed some slavers and guards in Brimstone's Fall that didn't attack her. What was that but an execution ? They were obstacles in her quest for justice or some other bullshit and she decided she could kill them.

She is an executioner and this is a direct fault of the fiction. The fiction says she's not an executioner only when it wants to focus on a scene but when it comes to killing nameless goons, then it's okay, it doesn't count ? Consistency is key, especially when trying to build drama. Without it, it feels... instrumentalized, fake, contrived and an obvious disconnect appear between the reader and the story. I'll try to not repeat myself in chapter 18 but there is a sentence which is quite telling of the ineptitude of Somber regarding that particular point of BJ's development.

One last note on Chapter 17 : P-21 is really giving me some heavy Calamity vibes, especially with the "It's not murder" line when talking about killing a rapist. I think Somber doesn't realize how much similitudes there is between P-21 and Calamity and Glory and Velvet. There are still enough differences to tell them apart but it is undeniable that they are variations on the same character type.

******

Chapter 18 is far more interesting to talk about because, well... It has some of the most forced scenes in the fiction so far but I need to get through it bit by bit. First let me say that I like that BJ actually learn to lockpick from P-21 instead of just getting great at it by virtue of doing it a lot on her own. It actually shows that she tries to learn and there are some validity to this perk evolution even if it'll be insanely fast. However...

“Everything. Oh, sure, there’s a lot of it that pisses me off, too, but I’m alive, Blackjack! I’ve spent every year of my life knowing that, when I got that twenty-first dot, I was dead. I spent a year trying to think of a plan to escape and now… I’m out. Thanks to you,” he said with a smile as he looked down at me. “I’m pretty sure that someday the Wasteland might take that from me, make me bitter and disappointed, but right now I couldn’t be happier.”

Then he chuckled softly and corrected himself, “Actually, I would be happier knowing that 99 had ended its reproductive policy.”

I really feel that this quote is jarring. P-21 only talks about himself here : what about that lover you had ? Sure, you're free now and in the Wasteland but are you really going to keep this cornerstone of your life something not even worthy of being mentionned ? I really hate the fact that he seems to have got over the brutal murder of his one and only lover and support in Stable 99 at the hooves of Blackjack. Yes, be happy P-21 all you want but the fact that this element of his life seems anecdotal at best really irks me, especially since it was at most a year ago. I suppose he deals with grief quite easily (even though we know he doesn't since he's constantly shown contempt for BJ in the early days, so this attitude of his should not let him forgive her so easily. I know that he said "he couldn't forgive her" but really, do you see the difference ? Because I don't)

Also, why is he talking about "reproductive policy" ? Sure, that's important but isn't the fact that you were treated like furnitures cause you more hardship than just being forced to have sex at a moment's notice ? Whatever, P-21. You do you.

I sighed softly. “I don’t know. I realize that the only way to really stop a pony is to kill them, but I think that if I start killing ponies… even if they deserve it… I won’t be able to stop.”

If you start killing ponies, Blackjack ? I suppose you mean in cold blood but even then, it's hilarious to see that line. It couldn't be more comical even if the author tried. Doesn't he realize that BJ killed both in self defense and in cold blood ? Doesn't he realize BJ has the stupidest killcount ? This line is stupid no matter how you slice it. You're not Batman, BJ, you'll never will.

Speaking of things that can't be : Deus knowing he was going to die prepared a memory orb. Deus, the number 2 of the Reapers, a terror for more than 20 years, a former Marauder, enhanced by machinery and known for believing so much in his invincibility he doesn't even dodge... acknowledged Blackjack, a security mare who, for some god damn reason, was able to go toe to toe with him after wandering for two weeks or so in the Wasteland. I'm not saying it's Out of Character for Deus since, as I said, he wasn't a character. Somber could have told me that he wrote poetry that it would have been as believable for me. What I am saying is that Deus thought he was going to die and I just can't wrap my head around that. I'm already trying to give some slack to BJ for being an überbadass like Pip after a few weeks in the Wasteland but that's pushing it.

At least, Deus Ex Machina (this pun is made on purpose) was kind enough to actually give some informations allowing for the plot to advance and finally go somewhere since now we know that Sanguine makes some enhanced drug and makes some experiment near Paradise. Thanks Deus, your sudden... helpfulness at least allowed for that.

Now let's talk about the contrabass (also Octavia played the cello. Contrabass and cello are two different instruments in both size and notes they can reach and the former isn't usually played alone). First, it's utterly stupid for Blackjack to carry arround something so heavy and so large around as Glory do mention. Second... Blackjack is naturally talented at the contrabass and can play any number of songs with ease, sure she's not perfect at it but a string instrument isn't easy to play at all ! A friend of mine told me that there's a reason for it but with the information I have right now ? I don't care. Blackjack doesn't need to be exceptionnally gifted in another domain ! She can shoot better than anyone, beat foes ten times her size, can use melee weapons as efficiently as ranged ones to kill dozens of ponies that either outnumber her and/or have better equipement and more experience than her with close to no real field experience and now she has a natural talent to play an instrument just to give us a nice and edgy scene where she tries to kill herself/make herself hurt because she killed the poor little foals...

It was contrived as fuck and I really didn't care for this self-harming session after everyone just stares in awe of BJ. She sure didn't need it.

The scene with Watcher is full of bad manners. Bad manners as in either trying to one up FO:E directly or actively trying to be behind the events of the original. Watcher mentions that “Wow. And I thought LittlePip had it rough.” which can easily be read as "my character has more exciting adventures and suffer more, I win !". And then, this whole discussion will lead to Spike accepting to listen to BJ's advice to let Pip meet him when in the original, Pip DEMANDED to see Spike.

I don't like this scene in the original but it changes a moment of "badassery" where Pip is having no shit from Spike to a "BJ already made sure he would agree so there was no need to push him." and I heard it was only the start of a long series of "I was behind it all, I made the original happen !" scenes and I am vehemently against it. This is not a clever way to complement the original, it's directly making the original looks tiny and less impressive as a result. Besides, Spike is taking an advice from someone he met three times ? Sure.

Finally, the whole scene in the mansion is forgettable. I should have been thrilled to see BJ dealing with monsters without her Pipbuck, it could have really played out interestingly but it was more of the same with just BJ using her crafting skills to win... again. We did learn some interesting stuff like Blueblood being obsessed with Rarity and dealing with something called Project Rebound in the past and that Rampage couldn't be killed by having her head cut off but aside from that... It's a long part where even without armor, Pipbuck and basically just recovering from having been struck by LIGHTNING, BJ is still a badass that can deal with any and all threat to the point of going toe to toe with an expert fencer with just her determination and a rusty cleaver. Yes, she was losing but she resisted far too long for someone going head first into danger.

Yes, she sings... again while killing ghouls in a stupid remake of the first song of Pinkie Pie (which goes hand in hand with my main point : having a character that both angst after every kill she makes and happily decapitate and maim ponies while singing and laughing is really hard to take seriously.) but it's nothing we didn't see before. Yes she gets hurt but she'll be back on her feet in a matter of hours or days. Why ? Because if she lose too much time, Pip is going to make the scenario advance for her.

Closing thoughts : I have to at least give credits to the fact that the banter and discussion between the characters are always a nice touch that gives them life and it's actually enjoyable to see them discuss when it's not about how bleak their lives are. Let us hope mysteries are interesting and the story advance and perhaps my main complaints will change or disappear.