The Project Emphenom Standalone Chapter List

Project Emphenom is the foundational tier of my overarching Fractures project, serving as a staging ground for ideas to test the waters and gather feedback from you, the readers.

Above the Project Emphenom anthology is the version of Fractures posted here on Fimfiction, and above even that is the (hopefully) eventual original fiction rendition of Fractures.

1. Project Emphenom ◈ The first chapter of the Project Emphenom anthology. Here, backstory regarding what eventually leads into the "Fracturing Event" is laid out. It is this very chapter that the project itself draws its name from.
2. Crumble ◈ An experimental chapter that originally led to an earlier, scrapped version of Fractures that I had posted to Fimfiction before unpublishing shortly after. Focuses entirely on Twilight, and tried to shoehorn in the complete replacement of Equestria's magic system.
3. Slime Study ◈ This chapter toys around with the idea of slime creatures (NOT the Smooze) that are for the most part docile.
4. "Magic" Study ◈ The very first chapter to reintroduce Gadget/Zoey to the project! Here, it's established that Gadget has very little magic knowledge but is technically skilled. So how does she make up for the lack of magic despite being a unicorn? By building a freakin' flamethrower, of course.
5. What If... a Storm Kingdom operative actually comes and takes Spike away? ◈ Probably the first "full" chapter of Project Emphenom where the chapter itself can stand on its own if it weren't part of the project. This was initially just a normal chapter of What If, but it quickly morphed into a brief exploration of how, using a special tool she calls a "sky knife" (or otherwise some variant of the name), Gadget is able to clip herself and others in and out of reality.
6. What is Gadget invented Gadget named Gadgets after Gadget? ◈ A rather existential chapter, where the layers of Gadget are peeled back to reveal her deepest insecurities, and the notion that her very identity is one not her own.
7. What If... Gadget didn't know who her mother was, because her mother was a secret agent off on a prolonged mission abroad? ◈ Very vaguely inspired by Spy x Family. This chapter explores a plot thread that was left wide open in previous chapters, and even Lab Horse before that, where focus was previously placed entirely on Gadget's father, who was imprisoned for banishing her to a different plane of existence. This chapter instead revolves around who is assumed to be her mother, who may or may not be a spy for the nation.
8. What If... Equestria's magic system was fundamentally altered? ◈ Even more exploration of an alternate magic system.
9. What If... magic now drew energy from a newly-discovered energy field? ◈ Builds upon a couple of previous Project Emphenom chapters in a practice of lore integration, where for the first time, the notion that mana can be extracted from these magical slime creatures and consumed is brought up.
10. What If... post-mortem existential dread leading to 4th wall-shattering ramifications?/PE#10.1 ◈ More existential dread! This time, rather than focusing on Zoey/Gadget as she dwells on her false identity and the life she's living, the chapter instead focuses on "Void Gadget", a version of Gadget/Zoey that passed away in a freak accident and has since become trapped within a space outside of any reality.
11. Void Horse ◈ See below
12. Void Horse ◈ PE#11 and #12 in a standalone story! Void Horse lays out Void Gadget's backstory in full for the very first time, picking up from the end of Lab Horse and ending with the realization that she is nothing more than a ghost now outside of this void that she now calls home.
13. What If... Gadget got a hug? ◈ A fluff chapter. Gadget finally gets a long-deserved hug.
14. What If... Gadget went on her villain arc? ◈ An experimental chapter exploring a scenario where Void Gadget increasingly goes off-the-rails.
15. What If... Twilight and Gadget went out for ice cream? ◈ Effectively a prototype version of what would become PE#16 and PE#17.
16. What If... Twilight, Gadget, and Spike were displaced into an alternate universe?/PE#16.1 ◈ The first of two full-on story pitches. Rehashes both the "magic study" chapter and the previous PE chapter, while also laying out the groundwork for a possible beginning to a full Fractures story here on Fimfiction. 16.1 is an alternate beginning for the previous chapter. I didn't quite like how this happened so I rewrote it from the ground up to create PE#16.
17. What If... Lisa, Zoey, and Caleb were displaced into an alternate universe? ◈ Just like PE#16, this lays out the groundwork for a full-on Fractures fic here on Fimfic. Biggest difference here is that the pony characters are directly mapped to their closest human (OC) equivalents, and so while the scenario itself remains the same, the underlying environment and setup to the chapter is fundamentally different. This chapter is most likely going to serve as the basis for Fractures.
18. What If... Twilight and Gadget stole Trixie's wagon? ◈ A chapter laying out some groundwork in establishing the Fractures universe as a very heavily AU Equestria. Also (potentially) a nod to an off-site shitpost.