FO:E Let's Read: Chapter 5: Calamity

So, when last we left Littlepip she was being turned into Swiss Cheese trying to alert a caravan to a potential airborne bandit. Only to find out the pony shooting her was with the ponies she thought she was saving. Luckily, this story is way to long to end here so we knew she's not quite dead yet. Still, with how warm a reception she's been getting since leaving the Stables, seems we got us a Lone Trotter, cuase let's face it, like she'd make dedicated, life long friends out here in this mess......

So we open with Lil'pip waking up, (like anyone was fooled she would, she still needs to tel us her story after all,) amazed she's still alive and even more, surrounded by ponies, including the one that shot her. Not to surprisingly her first thought is to wonder if she's a prisoner. As she looks around we get (uncommented on by her for now) more hints at the Ministries. A poster for the Ministry of Peace, along side medical boxes with Fluttershy's cutie mark on them. We also get our first hints of the Steel Rangers from the posters.

We also get a few lines of Lil'pip checking out the nurse, admiring how nice she looks, which sets up a long series of such things, as Lil'pip can't help but check out every mare, or female of any species for that matter, in sight unless they are trying to kill her (even then probably). Some people take issue with this, I don't. Yes she checks out every mare in sight, but it always feels in character for her. It's just part of who she is. She's not perfect, and even when she is checking them out it's just a quite appreciation of how they look, not full on ogling or objectifying them. She's just a Covert Pervert, who really sucks at the covert part. Now yes this is simply a YMMV issue, personally I like it, and like a lot of the humor of when she gets embarrassed for being caught.

We also find out that she's currently a bit tipsy, she'd been saying how she felt a bit weird all chapter so far, the cause apparently being that this nurse feels all medicine should have an alcohol base. Gotta say, I kind of like her like this, she's just groggy enough to be rather funny while still being more or less under her own control.

He shot me....a lot

Once she's discharged we get a bit of wandering around the new town, giving a good feel for just how glad Lil'pip is to meet other ponies that aren't trying to kill her on sight, as well proof that there still are civilized ponies in the Wastes. She also comes across the zombie-pony from the library, immediately getting a warm, if squishy, hug while we learn this is in fact THE Ditzy Doo, who owns a delivery service and general store in town. I have to admit, while I love almost all the characters, Ditzy has to be my favorite in this story. She just so warm, so friendly, so happy, so positive, serving as a reminder to the Wastes of what ponies were once like, and what they could be again. She offers to fix up Lil'pip Stable barding into armor that is better, and less blood-soaked and friendly fire drawing, then the raider armor that almost got her killed. This leading to Lil'pip finding out something any Fallout player would have been facepalming at her about, that all those stores of bottle caps she's been leaving behind as useless are in fact the Wastelands version of money. (Okay one thing there that really puzzles me, it says pre-war money is still useful, if only to get soda out of the still functional machines, but why? Why not just bust the damn thing open? I guess maybe it keeps them cold. But should be someway to deal with that.)

We learn a bit about ghoul-ponies, that most of them eventually go feral, but just like in Fallout, while it's always a possibility it's not a guarantee by any means. Plus, unlike some of the towns folk, learning this doesn't make Lil'pip scared of Ditzy, simply worried for her.

We then meet Crane and get our first little snippet on unicorn magic for the story.

Unicorn ponies generally have a small collection of magical spells, usually related t’ what he or she is destined t’ be best at. (‘Cept for the ones who are destined t’ be good at spells, o’ course, cuz then they get a whole heap of ‘em.) Me fer instance, Ah can make all manner of repairs t’ the rails an’ trains just by focusin’ at ‘em.

The important bit there is generally we'll get more into the later. We also learn that Lil'pip doesn't have the ability, for some reason, to do any magic other then TK. Though we're never really given a reason why, there are definitely some spells that would be associated with her special talent. Do like the story waited this long before making that clear. Giving us a chance to simply see her not doing anything else, but at the same time, nothing that outright said she couldn't. Just another way the story sets things up quietly right from the start.

In return for the promise of training her in how to use the one thing she's got, she gets her next quest, which much to her disappointment isn't simply fetching him a soda. Instead she is heading to a nearby Stable that's been abandoned and is now the breeding ground of some sort of deadly animal. Though unlike what one would assume, it's not to kill em all. Simply to seal the door and lock them away, not that that'll stop her though if she needs to.

Much to her puzzlement Calamity insists on accompanying her, apologizing endlessly for shooting her, and thanking her for saving those ponies from the library. We get a bit more War time info, and another kick to the gut for the readers, Cloudsdale was completely destroyed by the megaspells.

During the trip, we learn that we can now add fear of thunder to her other Wasteland phobia's, I find the image of her dashing under Calamity and cowering like a filly to be just to damn hilarious

The sky exploded! It was like the sound of a gunshot, if the gun was wielded by Celestia Herself and was made out of pure awesome.

So much win there.

In the midst of the storm, during a single flash of lighting Lil'pip thinks she sees a figure on a hilltop, a figure with both horn and wings. Cliched, yeah, effective, also yeah, and will come to be paid off soon. They reach the Stable and Lil'pip shows she is not a total idiot by making sure she can open the door again before sealing her and Calamity in the Stable to keep the water out. The Stable that is full of deadly, venomous creatures.... Great job Littlepip.

So queue the exploration of the dark, deserted Stable full of pony killing beasts. Which serves to help set up and show us yet another one of Lil'pip's flaws and virtues. Her curiosity and how she almost always lets it get the better of her. Yet that is also leads her to uncover so many important things. But this is after some exposition about battle saddles, which thanks to the Season 3 premier are even closer to being canon, since it's the same basic idea as the set up the crystal ponies used for their lances in the jousting.

And yet more humor that I find just plain funny in the "ask a stupid question way" "Ah found a box o dynamite." "What was in it" "Dynamite ah reckon."

During the exploration,the story shows us Lil'pip's feeling for the Stable, something else the people have tried to call her a hypocrite, or use against her for some reason. I don't get it. Okay yes I can see how being fine with stealing from any dead pony or body in the wastes is fine but from a Stable that's empty is wrong is a bit hypocritical. But she realizes this, and she doesn't stop Calamity, it just hurts her a bit to see, and that is totally understandable. Her whole life had been turned upside down the last few days, she'd been banished from the only home she ever knew, shot at, captured, shot, killed ponies, seen them die in front of her, had their blood splattered on her, almost killed, and now she's back in a place that reminds her of home, but is just, off, wrong, unsettling. How is her having reservations about stripping it bare, defiling it even more then it already has been, wrong? Especially when she knows, logically, that this isn't HER Stable, and that there really is no reason not to take advantage of it. She simply doesn't like it, and for good reason. This is something so many seem to never grasp, nuance, subtlety, that character can have multiple layers. That they can be wrong, without being horrible. That they can have reactions other then the 100% full hindsight, omniscient viewpoint, perfect one because of these nuances, feelings, emotions. It makes them fleshed out, real ponies and is one of the greatest strengths of the story, just how much effort has gone into the characters. As well as keeping them acting IN character. Limited to what they know, and how they interpret it through their own perspectives.

But moving on, some conversation with Calamity leads to more information that just makes the reader go, "What the hell happened to Equestria!?" The sun and moon no longer being guided by the Princesses, a sarcastic quip from Calamity about them being in pony heaven, pegasi no longer running the weather?

Overall I really like the way the stuff in the Stable is handled, feels very much like exploring one in Fallout, the creepiness, the occasional flashes that maybe you aren't alone, slowly piecing together just what happened in this Stable from logs and records, very very well done set up here.

Okay and another little bit of controversy in this bit, about Lil'pip being casually sexist over the whole overstallion thing. And yeah, I see the argument, but I don't think it applies to her. She didn't think mares made better leader because they were mares, or that there was something about stallions that made them not able to be leaders, it simply wasn't done. Likely simply because pre-war Equestria (which the control Stables culture and society were based on) was always ruled by mares, not because anypony thought they were better, but simply because the two demigoddesses that ruled it happened to be mares. Then came the Ministries, all run by mares. It wasn't that anypony (okay maybe a few) thought mares were better at the job, it just was a job that was always done by mares and no-pony thought twice about it. Same with Lil'pip. It wasn't the fact it was a male in charge, it was the fact that it was different from how she knew, what she thought Stables were and should be. It was the fact that it was any change, not that particular change. Even Calamity eventually agreeing that the degree to which this Stable was male dominated was absurd, though he does get a few quips on Lil'pip making her realize how bad her own position sounded.

Okay the Stable 24 adventure, like i said, i LOVE the set up, and once you learn just what did happen, the horror shoots up exponentially, just like most Vaults. A few good scenes during the fighting, Lil'pip realizing the Calamity really truly felt sorry for shooting him, the two of them bickering in a manner making clear they're becoming good friends. And the Chimer....... are just creepy as hell. Thanks Kkat you managed to take the already annoying and deadly nightstalkers, and turn them into pure Nightmare Fuel. A few lines I found worth a chuckle,

Calamity had woke up, and wondered why he was packaged as high explosives

not ROFLMAO material, but gave me a laugh. Plus it's quite fitting given just how destructive his plans tend to be.

Lil'pip and Calamity have a little talk afterwards, Lil'pip realizing how she let her emotions cloud her judgement regarding the Stable, letting the homesickness take control. The two pretty much seal their friendship, each showing they care about the other, and setting up a strong lasting friendship between the two of them.

Perk time, and a directly combat related one this time, increasing SATS accuracy Which given how all but useless she is without it, is a damn good idea. Plus a generally a decent one in game if you relay on VATS. And a double perk, story line on for increased TK thanks to training with Crane. (I'll get into the whole goddess-teir TK thing later.)

Okay final thoughts. Good chapter, we get Ditzy Doo, nod to Derpy, learn about Ghoul-ponies, tipsy Pip was rather cute. Ditzy, well I covered already, love her. The Stable was overall really well done and creepy, and her solution quite inventive, wish he could have seen it. I do have one criticism for it, it jumped around way to much in the Stable. Once they started exploring the stable it just jumped from scene to scene way to much, in the office getting attacked; *boom* in the hallway mid fight; *Boom*in medical, *Boom* sneaking into the admin office etc... there was no transition, it just jump cut to everything and felt rather jarring. what we saw I liked, but just felt rushed and incomplete, without leaving out anything vital. Calamity and Lil'pip's friendship felt rather natural and likely. Title, is self explanatory, this is the chapter the introduces Calamity.