Fallout Equestria: Wasteland Economics Reviews: Prologue and Chapter 1 · 11:50pm Jan 29th, 2017
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Well, I honestly don't know what to say for this introduction since I've never read this fic.
This week we have a somewhat popular side fic starring a Unicorn Blacksmith living in the Bayou of the southern wasteland. I'm really not sure what else to say, but I'm really interested to see how this goes.
This week we have Wasteland Economics by Doctor Ham.
Sorry for the lackluster introduction, but I'm never very good at introducing fics I haven't read.
---Prologue: Business Model---
"Buying or selling? I've got the finest armor and blades for a hundred miles. Or if you've got some good enough metal, I'll take it off your hooves, melt it down into something useful. I do repairs too, but it’ll cost you if you don’t have any spare parts.”
Well that's definitely a good way to introduce a character, while it doesn't give much on their backstory, it tells us what their skills are. She's saying this to a customer that was examining the weapons and asked if she had made them all herself, much to our hero's annoyance.
One of my ears twitched in annoyance as I put a curved sword back on its shelf next to a pair of earrings. “That is what a blacksmith does.”
Apparently the visiting mare had never actually met a blacksmith before, fair enough, our hero even admits that she hasn't really met any other blacksmiths since its not as common as other professions. We also learn the name of the town is Four Shoes, which because of how many shops there are with armed ponies, they don't need an official guard. We also get a mention of our character's name Alloy Shaper, makes sense for a blacksmith I suppose.
The mare asks about the designs on some armor, but decides not to get anything as she's called away by someone. Alloy mentions that because she's pretty small sized she isn't exactly intimidating despite being surrounded by weapons. Is there ever going to be an FoE fic where the protagonist is taller than average?
A pony finished buying a hunting knife from Alloy when she hears a voice calling to her. Its Grit, a local pony that had gained a reputation for helping keep the roads clear for traders. Also we learn that Four Shoes is on the border of New Oreins, and there are more than a few things out there that plague the roads and caravans. Apparently Alloy also used to live in New Appleloosa, so we get a bit more of her backstory through that.
I examined the trigger with a frown and a furrowed brow, willing it to divulge the secret to its malfunction. While I loved my smithing, there was something almost as enjoyable as taking things apart and putting them back together. It was like a puzzle, and figuring out how to make things tick kept my mind sharp. “Looks like the recoil spring is wearing out. I’ll have to replace it, but it’s a quick swap. Got a spare-” Pre-empting my question, another 10 mm pistol hovered onto the counter in a cushion of blue magic, and I couldn’t help but crack a small smile at how Grit knew my business model, something I appreciated in a repeat customer. “That should do it.” I nodded at the gun and wrapped it in my own emerald-green levitation field, the same shade as my eyes, as I took it apart. Soon the parts were swapped and I set Grit’s re-assembled gun down on the counter, the slide snapping into place much more fluidly than it had before.
This is then followed by some haggling between Alloy and Grit over the other pistol over its price. They finally settle on 30 caps for the second gun, though Grit decided to pay an extra 5 caps, though she doesn't have much of a choice and she'd probably wind up spending it at his shop anyway.
Alloy sets about making a pair of wing blades for a Griffon that had commissioned them from her, and she heads into her house where we get a brief look at where she lives and works. She has a bit of an improvised forge where she starts to work on the wing blades themselves. She doesn't go into a lot of detail for the forging process, but she had managed to make one of them perfectly, though had messed up on the second one.
This particular spell was exhausting, and I felt my entire body protest as I flowed heat through my horn and into the metal, softening it just enough to use my telekinesis to bend it into place.
Yeah, that kind of magic would be handy if you're a blacksmith.
You also get a bit more of a feeling about Alloy because its clear that she takes pride in her work, its a good thing to see in a main character like this. She then eats a quick snack before moving on to work on some jewelry even though she doesn't sell it very much. After she finishes she goes out into the market to get some food, finding some sort of unidentified meat. While she eats she sees Grit having returned and after he tells some stories he takes a seat.
She finishes eating and gets some new metal and creates a sign for her shop:
“SOLD HERE:
-Best Armor and Blades in New Oreins
-Repairs
-Tools, Jewelry, and Accessories
I BUY SCRAP METAL
COMMISSION WORK AVAILABLE”
---Chapter 1:---
It starts out with Alloy talking with a buck (possibly the one she was talking to at the end of the prologue) who, apparently wants her to make him a pair of hoofcuffs but she refuses. When he asks why, she says that she doesn't do work for slavers, an understandable decision but the stallion isn't exactly thrilled about it. When he starts to become violent, she tells him to leave, only to have him draw out his gun as somepony shouted to him.
This is a good moment because it shows how the ponies in Four Shoes will take care of their own because the other shopkeepers take out their guns.
“You’re just lucky you’ve got numbers, blue. Won’t always have other ponies t’ hide behind. C’mon, Bean, let’s get outta here.”
As Alloy tries to calm down, the pony in charge of Four Shoes Gumbo comes to check on her. There also is something mentioned about the harbor, while they don't go into detail, that's probably ominous. Gumbo leaves Alloy to her work and she puts on her armor and gear to get ready for a trip.
She mentions another settlement called Shipper where a group of Zebras live and have access to a stockpile of coal, which is where Alloy is heading now.
Though I always hoped for a safe journey, “safe” was an entirely subjective concept in the Bayou, so I strapped my sheathed sword to one side. For good measure, I also took the beaten-up 10 mm pistol I had bought from Grit the previous day and attached the holster to my barding as well.
Well, it is the Wasteland, I don't know if there's many safe places in general.
Anyway, we get more of a description of this part of Equestria now:
The landscape was a chaotic jumble of bombed-out suburban ruins and swampy waterways, as if one had been accidentally upended into the other. Which, I suppose, wasn’t entirely inaccurate. A straight path from one point to another was impossible, even without the ruins to pick through. The air around me was thick and humid, mist still lingering in ravines and craters along the broken roads. More oppressively, it was quiet. The silence unnerved me more than anything else about this journey, being used to the scuffle of hooves and mutter of voices around me almost all the time. Every slight jangling and rustling of my saddlebags felt like I was drawing the attention of hundreds of hidden eyes as I passed.
She keeps walking past the first landmark on the path a house, and she's worried that there might be something inside it that would attack her if she wasn't careful. And of course while she's trying to be careful, she accidentally kicks a metal bar that hits a section of wall with a loud clang. Thankfully nothing comes out to eat her or whatever, but she does grab the bar for scrap and to remind her to be more careful in the future and she continues down the path.
As she nears the end of the trail, she finds herself near a deep ravine where a Ministry of Morale building had collapsed. As she made her way through the building she kept a close eye out for anything of course, but she thinks she hears something. She manages to make it into a more open area, only to be attacked by Bloodsprites, some sort of mutant bugs.
She tries to shoot them but in her panic she misses all her shots, but she manages to take out at least one of them with her sword and runs for the staircase. She managed to cut the wings off of one of them and ran away with them still hot on her trail. She managed to take the rest of them out by forcing them into a confined space and washed off her sword with what was left of clothes on a skeleton before continuing on her way to Shipper.
When she finally reaches Shipper its actually an interesting settlement since its an old warehouse and the homes are made up of shipping containers, so at least the name makes sense. She is approached by Nikale, one of the Zebras that call Shipper home, Nikale had been the one she was bringing the equipment to so she left them with him. She goes to eat and after awhile Nikale approaches and looks concerned about something.
It seems that one of the other Zebras' weapons had been damaged and they want her to repair them, but she'd have to take it back with her to Four Shoes and make a second trip. They offer to pay her extra for it, and she says that it would cost 225 caps given all the resources she'd have to use as well as travel expenses, obviously she's not thrilled with the idea of going back. She offers to knock the price down to 200 since she wouldn't be able to work on it that night, which they agree to as long as she'd be there the day after tomorrow.
Thankfully her trip back to Four Shoes is uneventful, so she sets up her shop once more in the settlement. She closes up after awhile and looks at the barding she had worn to Shipper, thinking about it:
In the privacy of my home, I took up the barding that I’d used that day and tilted my head, staring thoughtfully at the unadorned metal plating guarding the shoulders. It was scorched black, barring a few scratches and scrapes that exposed the metal underneath. Though I used this particular barding every time I made the journey to Shipper, I’d never thought of it as mine. But I could just wear it around Four Shoes, on colder days. Or really, I could wear it all the time. It wasn’t uncomfortable, and the voice of the businessmare in my head chimed in that modelling my own merchandise might attract sales. But that voice was drowned out by the more pleasing idea that I could make it mine. The way my sword was mine.
Yes. Yes, this armor would become my own, an indulgence perhaps, but one that I was more than willing to take. Ideas for decorations started flowing through my head at breakneck speeds, and I opened up my footlocker to yank out an old magazine, a propaganda piece from the war. The words and colors were faded, but all I really cared about was the iconography. Obviously, one shoulder I would have to adorn with something personal to me, maybe my cutie mark since the armor did cover my flank, but the other shoulder… I flipped page after page with my magic, sweeping my eyes over every emblem I saw and rejecting them after a moments’ visualization. I was almost to the end when my eyes fell upon an apple.
It was a picture promoting the Ministry of Wartime Technology, with an orange-coated mare standing over a design table with a proud stance and determination in her eyes, pointing to something while a ring of attentive younger ponies studied whatever mystery lay before them. The entire gathering was staged beneath a giant emblem that looked like three gears inside an apple, bisected by a sword. “Equestria Needs Bright Minds!” the blocky text declared. “Will YOU Build the Weapon to Wipe the Stripes? Apply to the Ministry of Wartime Technology TODAY!”
There is a definite sense of connection between Alloy and Applejack, at least to her, so she starts working on a design inspired by her. She designs it with her anvil cutie mark and the apples of Applejack's cutie mark, its a nice mix of customization and tribute.
On the day that she is to take the weapon back to Shipper she feels a lot more confident because of the suit. When she reaches the building however, things aren't going quite as well because part of the ceiling has collapsed, but that's not the real problem, it seems that the slavers from before had gone after the Zebras in Shipper and had at least four of them.
There is a moment of tension as she watches the slavers, not noticing as somepony approaches from behind.
---Character Analysis: Alloy Shaper---
Finally another OC with a picture.
This is certainly an interesting approach to a protagonist, she's not a fish out of water type of character like you normally see, but that actually lends itself well to the fic. The idea of her being a Blacksmith is certainly something that you don't normally see in this kind of story, so points for originality.
We don't know a lot about her backstory yet, but what we do know is interesting. I also like her design, probably because she has my favorite hairstyle, but not the only reason, the coloring is an interesting choice and nicely done.
I look forward to seeing more of her in the future.
---Final Thoughts---
This is a really good start to the fic, its a unique take on the universe, and it does a good job of establishing the Bayou as a location through worldbuilding. It really grips you and makes you want to learn more about the world of the fic.
The only real flaw is the lack of characterization for the main character, but that's fine since its only the first two chapters. They do have a lot of good qualities, but we don't know a lot about who she is as a pony.
Ultimately its a good read and I recommend it.
I give the prologue a score of 4/5.
I give chapter 1 a score of 4/5.
Fallout: Equestria belongs to KKat.
Fallout Equestria: Wasteland Economics belongs to Doctor Ham.
Next week, we delve deep into the darkness and shadow of Equestria, what will happen? We'll see.
Video made by me
I concur, and can only recommend it!
Thanks for your review! Sorry I'm so late in responding to it, but I enjoyed reading it and appreciate your feedback. I suppose regarding the characterization in the early chapters, I found myself more compelled to show who she was at the start of the story, rather than her backstory of how she came to be there. People don't often find themselves reflecting on their own history without cause, so I just let the reader see how Alloy is and guess at what made her that way. The scene with her at her forge is probably what I consider the most important moment of characterization for her in the Prologue.
Either way, I'm glad you enjoyed the introduction to my little story, and the design of Alloy, and again I sincerely thank you for taking the time to read and review it!
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