The Solaris Legacy Orb · 10:50am Oct 11th, 2013
I have had a few people wonder how stuff from my headcanon can be not-canon. Today, I'm going to offer up an example. A lot of my additional Fallout: Equestria headcanon centers around or incorporates elements of the world of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic revealed in episodes which aired after the story was written. In many cases, the headcanon was invented as I laid out plans for the two Fallout: Equestria PNP RPG campaigns that I have been running for the past year.
Much of my personal headcanon involves the analogues of various Fallout DLCs, which become playgrounds for player-character adventures in the campaigns. These have included my own Fo:E versions of Old World Blues (The Crystal Empire), Point Lookout (Froggy Bottom Bog) and Honest Hearts...
...that last being entirely new part of the world that I called Gaia Valley (as Gaia is from the same mythology as Tartarus), and is not based on any local from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. I will admit, I found Honest Hearts to be the most boring and pointless of all the DLCs. Joshua Graham was an amazing character, but shamefully under-utilized. He is easily the most quotable of the characters in New Vegas, if not the entire series... but I came away with little more out of Honest Hearts than great quotes to use in Fallout: Equestria. Zion was pretty, but Honest Heart's main mission was unremarkable, and the side quests were so forgettable that I've actually forgotten all but one of them. The result is that I had only a small kernel of Fallout's DLC that I wanted to grow Gaia Valley from -- the result being less recognizable as an expy than other DLC analogues.
Gaia Valley became a geographically isolated canyon valley where a dangerous rival to Stable-Tec tested its own solution to restoring Equestria in the wake of a megaspell apocalypse. The solution worked! Not without serious repercussions. Still, Gaia Valley was the one unpolluted and relatively safe little place in Equestria, populated by tribes of descendents of the company's "Research & Execution" complex employees who became trapped there -- tribes that traced back to the different departments that had existed within the facility.
I am very blessed to have Mimezinga amongst my players in the game that Gaia Valley was designed for. And I was pleased to be able to incorporate Solaris -- an element from his amazing story -- into my game world (and, as such, at least entertain it becoming part of my headcanon). Now, I should not need to reiterate that no Fallout: Equestria side story is canon to the original story.* So even if Solaris or some other element from a side story becomes integrated into my headcanon, by necessity it cannot be canon.
*As an aside, I actually do have to reiterate that with alarming frequency, usually because people are confused about that unfortunate "Kkat Approved" tag on Project Horizons. I say unfortunate because almost nobody understands what that tag was for or what it really means. (I haven't read Project Horizons, so I don't have any opinion on it save that I am greatly honored, as I am by all side stories. Especially as I admire Somber's writing skill, having read some of his short stories.) At the time, all FOE side story updates were being posted in a single megapost. Since comments for all of the side stories were lumped into the same comment section, this made it hard for fans to talk about Somber's story , and likewise exceptionally difficult for authors of other stories to find the feedback on their works in the flood of Project Horizons comments. Since some bronies objected to a side story being given it's own page, Seth asked me if it was all right for him to do so. I gave Seth my approval to separate out Project Horizons, giving the story its own page.
And, with that, I present to you the memory orb which started the Gaia Valley adventure:
<-=======ooO The Solaris Legacy Orb Ooo=======->
Freefall.
It’s like falling into a well. The world is stripped away, disappearing behind you as you plunge into an alien darkness. Downward you fall, deeper and deeper. And then, a shocking splash as you hit the water below. A splash of light, color, sound and sensation.
Sunlight pours in through large picture windows overlooking an intact cityscape. Pegasi fly about outside, moving clouds between skyscrapers. Your host is staring out the window; you can hear movement of ponies behind you, the sounds of crinkling paper and pulling tape, but the pony you are riding seems unconcerned.
His gaze drops downwards, watching the movement of an elevated rail train, a series of stars adorning the engine, as it glides around a turn.
Your host swivels an ear as he catches the sound of an opening door and hoofsteps. “Howdy, Twilight,” a voice calls out, hesitating only slightly before adding, “Hi, sis. Ah hate t’ interrupt, but Ah need to talk to Twi… what are y’all doing? Twilight, are you okay?”
Your host doesn’t turn. His eyes wander over the cityscape, picking out billboards…
[ Your family is our family with Good Pony. ]
[ Sparkle~Cola CLEAR – clearly the best Sparkle~Cola yet! ]
[ SOLARIS: We spend less time testing so you spend less time waiting! ]
[ Better WIPED than STRIPED. ]…But by the tilt of his ears, he’s paying full attention.
A moment later, the mature voice of a mare getting on in years answers with an accent almost identical to the first. “Oh, hello Apple Bloom. What brings you here?”
“Those are those statuettes Rarity gave ya, right?” the first voice asked. “Is there somethin’ wrong with those things?”
“What? No!” a third, and also older, voice replies. “I… Spike and I had a fight. So I’m sending him these as an apology. I want them to be the first thing he sees when he wakes up.”
Your host turns his head slightly, enough to see rows of books in bookshelf upon bookshelf. He turns back to the window. A family of bright red-and-gold phoenixes swoop across the sky, landing in a nest built into a crux in the architecture of a skyscraper across the rail line.
“Oh. Ah’m sorry t’ hear that.”
“What makes ya think there’s somethin’ wrong with them, Apple Bloom?” Applejack’s voice asks.
“Well, cuz everyone who she gave ‘em to is givin’ ‘em away.”
The third voice, Twilight, speaks up again, “No… it’s not like that. I don’t know how Rarity created these, but they are really wonderful. It’s like having our friends all together again, even when we can’t be.” She pauses. “It’s just that…”
“Each set has a statue of ourselves in it,” Apple Bloom’s sister explains. “An’ as wonderful as it is t’ feel like we have our friends with us, that statue of ourselves… well…” The mare seems at a loss for description.
“It’s like having a mirror in the room that’s a little too honest,” whispers Twilight.
From the sound in her voice, Applejack finds that metaphor unpleasant. “It’s just creepy,” she concludes.
“Anyway,” Twilight asks. “What brings you here?”
There’s a long pause. Your host shifts his gaze to watch the rooftop of a smaller factory building in the heart of the city. On the top, a giant red scooter slowly rotates. His gaze drifts further, looking at the bridges spanning the southern fork of the Ponytomic, catching the sunlight playing off the water and glints of traffic on the bridges.
“Spies Ah’m afraid, Twilight. Only not zebra spies. Industrial ones. Solaris has been…”
“Oh Celestia damn them!” Applejack spits. “Ah’ve had enough of those reckless, heartless ponies! They’ve already caused so much pain. This is why we need tighter regulations. Ah’m itchin’ for an excuse t’ throw the lot of them in jail.”
“Or the moon,” Twilight agrees grimly. “Equestria is already under enough stress and pain, and they’re making it worse. Something needs to be done.”
“um, Twilight? This is kinda…” Apple Bloom hesitates. “Y’all know that project that the Ministry of Arcane Sciences ordered up one of our Crusaders for? How important is that? Cuz I think Solaris might have learned about it.”
Now your host turns, taking in the view of the Athenaeum, watching Applejack and Twilight Sparkle exchanging deeply worried expressions as Apple Bloom watched apprehensively.
“Ah mean, they found out where the Crusaders were sent off to. An’ knowin’ Solaris, they’ll probably try t’ duplicate whatever y’all are doing. An’ badly. Or, barrin’ that, make sure y’all don’t get your product out either.”
“Oh hell…” Applejack grimaces. “Twi…”
Twilight Sparkle levitates a quill and ink towards her, floating up a sheet of paper. “I’m letting Spike know. From now on, his first priority is guarding the Gardens.”
“What gardens?” Apple Bloom queries ignorantly.
Applejack rounds on her sister. “How long ago was this? How long ‘ave they known?”
Apple Bloom snorts. “Ah don’t know. Ah don’t even know for sure that they know! Ah just know they had somepony inside Stable-Tec that sent ‘em all sorts of classified data. Including where those Crusaders went. And that was… almost a month ago.” Defensively, she adds, “We only caught the varmint this morning.”
Helpfully, she adds, “We’ve been interrogatin’ her, but the only thing we’ve got is that the information was sent to their R&E facility up north, usin’ a… well, a special encryption that means only the ponies at the computer it was sent to can uncode it.”
Applejack turns to you (well, your host) and orders, “Get some Rangers together. Have ‘em ready as soon as Ah give ‘em a target.”
Your host nods. Finally speaking, his voice low and gravelly, “Homeside, we’re spread a little thin. Pinkie Pie currently has two whole squads locked up for a raid on Four Stars.” He pauses briefly as Twilight Sparkle makes a disparaging sound in her throat. “May I pull a few ponies from that?”
“Do whatever ya have t’ do,” you hear Applejack insist as the memory-world tumbles away.
<-=======ooO Ooo=======->
I'll get around to reading the memory orb itself eventually, but I personally think that there's a few more exceptionally quotable characters in the fallout games, I just can't remember them because I lost the disc.
This sorta made me think, what with the talk of DLCs at the beginning there... I shudder to think of what the FoE equivalent of the Dead Money DLC would be. I can honestly say I've never had any experience in Fallout put me on edge as much as that particular bit did. Having all my weapons stripped away, constantly worrying about ambushes from the ghosts. The holograms....
While I realize that Canterlot can be compared quite closely to the locals of Dead Money, what with the cloud and all, I feel as if that's almost nothing when compared with everything that went on there... Though I will admit that the death of that one b**** who had Luna's skull was far more satisfying to me than knowing I'd sealed the damned Elder in a gilded tomb for all eternity. Luna is best princess after all XD
I'd agree with you about Joshua Graham. A repentant man who had literally burned for his sins, fighting his own nature even as he tries to use it to defend others. The DLC itself was just a fleeting blur, and I was left surprised at how little was done with him.
Haha. Solaris Inc. is hilarious...ly bad
Damn. Now I really really wish you could just turn your whole RP thing into a story and post it. Because this Orb is simply wonderful, what with the Solaris insight, and Peewee the Phoenix (I guess that was a nod to that) and the mentioning of the Gardens, and the beginning! This 'Freefall.' reminded me why I loved starting each new chapter of Fo:E. Because of those one-word introductory sentences that give the general idea of the chapter.
Kkat, never ever stop writing and never ever stop sharing your writing with us.
~Josh
I'm intrigued... It looks like you started your own FO:E roleplay group.
“Ah mean, they found out where the Crusaders were sent off to. An’ knowin’ Solaris, they’ll probably try t’ duplicate whatever y’all are doing. An’ badly. Or, barrin’ that, make sure y’all don’t get your product out either.”
Pointless speculation based on only reading the first book of FO:E, and this.
Could this possibly be why they dropped the first megaspell spell where Twilight was? The Garden project was obviously duplicated in some way, at least in this Gaia Valley DLC. So would they get rid of the source that can make them and keep, what they believe to be, the only Garden for themselves?
I love these little story-bits. They're such neat little insights into the world. I particularly like the little glimpses into the characters' thoughts about those figures and why they hadn't kept them all together.
Though ever since you mentioned having a head-canon for changelings in the FoE setting, I've been wondering what that might be. If the Equestrian wasteland is hard on ponies, I imagine it must be as bad or worse on creatures that feed on love.
1411264
Canterlot was definitely Dead Money. The cloud, broadcasters, Canterlot ghouls, it all matches. Personally, I found Canterlot far more dangerous and threatening than Dead Money. I'd read FoE before I played any of the New Vegas DLCs, and when I got to Dead Money... well, after what I read of Canterlot, I had expected it to be much deadlier than it was.
1411410
Played it on hardcore with the difficulty cranked as high as it would go... Lot harder and more tense then. Trust me on that one lol.
Fascinating. I especially love how none of the Mane Six can face their own bobbleheads. Not after what they've done. Not after what they've become.
I hope you collect these snippets into a story. I also hope you write some stories based on the DLC-inspired locales, but that seems much less likely, and is certainly asking for far more effort on your part. Still, it's an interesting thought. Noncanon recursive fanfiction written by the fanfic's original author. Weird.
Wow.... oka I REALLY want to know the rest of the story here. What happened, what exactly did Solaris do, how did it screw up, all of it... this really does sounf so damn interesting.
Also, agree, Honest Hearts was just meh. Good ideas, boring execution.
Two more points from here to find interesting, so Stable Tec created the Crusader mainframes... that actually makes a lot of sense. And, never thought about how facing their own figurine would feel for the Mane 6....
1411413
That's pretty much what I did, actually.
This makes me wonder, having not played New Vegas extensively, what exactly is your head canon for the crystal empire?
1411467 I don't think they were actually bobbleheads, just statuettes.
1411888
Oh yeah.
Still, it's much funnier to imagine the mirror of one's soul as a bobblehead.
Y'know, there's nothing I'd like more than to hear you give reviews of the Fallout DLCs. Especially Dead Money. That was, by far, the best DLC I've ever played.
I am enjoying these orbs immensely. Headcannon worldbuilding is best worldbuilding. Maybe one day I will get to writing my own FO:E spinoff...one day,
1411938 I'd hope Rarity had more taste than that =P
1412706
that would be interesting to read.
Oh, Kkat... small note: if you don't want the full length of the blog taking up your user page, you can use the [page_break] tag in your blog. This will cut it off with a "Read More" button (a link to the full page) in all places where it gets shown/listed except the actual full blog page
(The front page sadly ignores the tag, and just uses its own shortening system, though
)
1419185 Thank you!
(Front page?
)
1419243
Ah, sorry, I meant the feed page
Fo:E Pnp
Sweet dreams are made of this ;~;
Well, that makes what happened in Manehattan all the more depressing.
Great writing.
The Pitt was always my favorite. I always thought that the moral choice they gave you towards the end was one of the more interesting things about it. Because on one hand, you could save a baby who has not even began to live life. In return you're destroy a population. One the other hand, you can save the slaves, and kill an innocent baby destroying it's loving family. It never felt like one thing was completely just, and this decision was always the hardest because Fallout always made their karma seem black and white. There was always this way was good, and that way was bad. Sometimes a neutral(ish) choice, but for the most part it was left and right.
I remember sitting there for fifteen minutes trying to justify each one, and weigh which was the best path. I saved the baby, but I still felt upset because I couldn't help both sides. I really do like your opinion on the other DLCs though. I especially agree with you on how forgettable Honest Hearts was.