The chronicles of Project Horizons : Chapter 31 · 3:36pm Nov 22nd, 2018
I am embarrassed to talk about this chapter. Not because it is worse than the others but because Somber simply went too far with his reference. There's winking at the camera and there's throwing a satellite into it. This chapter is mostly empty since it is mainly a battle and nothing really happens in it. There are such things as too much senseless fighting.
Let's go !
The whole scene with Stronghoof is too long, the joke is too obvious and Stronghoof is only the poor man Armstrong. I don't have any long thing to say about it. The combat is too over the top, BJ somehow successfully handles herself against a power armor when she wears braces and takes a block of the road on her hooves. This fight simply seals the deal about me talking about a silly Wasteland and a serious Wasteland. Somber also pushed the silliness of a barely recovering crippled BJ too far. I don't even know what the point of making her legs rubbery was if it was to basically say that it's just her wearing braces. It changes nothing, neither how she fights or how she acts.
I'll skip this whole thing since even the stubborness of BJ is played for laugh when she could have died if she didn't meet Armstronghoof.
Then they are attacked by Burners, and somehow BJ is a swordsmaster now. Yes, she gets hurt but the way she uses it is far too precise and controlled for someone who only fought with a sword for like a couple of weeks. Then things explode, we have to restart the matrix of the armor with a Pipbuck (who are now impervious to EMP. Good to know) and the Goddess is literally helping Blackjack through Lacunae.
Let me repeat that : The Goddess, one of the main antagonist of Fallout: Equestria, that send alicorns to kill people on sight and that thinks she's better than the rest is helping Blackjack. Let that sink in for a bit. Lacunae is supposed to be the receptacle of all the Angst of all the alicorns, something the Goddess put aside. Lacunae is literally a trash can she barely wants to deal with and she is personally intervening in the fight. It's not the first time either but it's the most blatant case. Why is it an issue ? Because the Goddess never did this for ANY of his alicorns in the original and that she has barely a reason to do it here. Hm ? What ? Someone's telling me that there's something later in the chapter that'll piss me off more ?
Damn.
We get a cool little scene with Scotch Tape and BJ during the fight, making me sure that the best character in the cast if Scotch Tape for now. Basically having to deal with conflicting emotions, crippling fear and the likes. I know I tend to dwell on the bads in these blogposts but here, it's a genuinely cool moment that there should be more of. Hell even the Enervation grenade is a cool idea, if poorly handled because if those metal rings are well-known enough in the hoof to be used as grenades, why didn't Glory or the Enclave know about it ? In any case, it's a cool idea.
Steel Rain isn't though. He monologues like a James Bond villain and couldn't be less interesting if he tried. And we have this scene that I find extremely jarring :
Everything had gotten lost. “Stop it!” I shouted as I tried to fight my way out of the hole on my broken braces. I could barely stand, let alone walk, but I had to end this. I had to end this right the fuck now. “Stop! Stop killing each other!” I screamed from the lip of the hole as I began firing, ignoring my friends around me. “Stop it! Stop it!” I didn’t know who I was attacking any more. With the smoke and the flame and beams I didn’t care. If it was red, I shot it. Shoot me, not each other. Shoot a pony who’s dead meat anyway! Just fucking stop! I was shooting and crying and screaming as I whirled from one to the next to the next. Bullets bit into my blasted barding; it wasn’t going to last much longer at this rate, not without some serious repair. That was okay, though. If ponies were shooting me, then they weren’t shooting each other.
“Stop it! Stop it! Stop!” I screamed till my throat was raw, my legs were staggering and flopping around as they slipped out of my broken braces, and my barding was slick with blood. Most of it wasn’t mine, at least. I’d shoot till nopony else was shooting! I didn’t want to see another Radishes. I didn’t want another Mallet. I didn’t care if they were enemies! I was sick to death of ponies dying to stupidity.
It's supposed to represent BJ facing the horror and senselessness of war but a few things. First, her reaction is utterly childish : "Shoot at me to kill me because like that you won't be shooting each other." is one of the dumbest comment I've ever seen and shows how much of an idiot she is and no the "not a smart pony" thing isn't relevant. This sentence is a fucking cope out by Somber because when BJ wants to be smart, she damn fucking is. So our idiot is doing something idiotic. Second, why didn't she react like that when she saw the Marauders gunning down the zebras. Wasn't it horrible in the same manner ? Senseless killings ? No, she was just in awe of her beautiful heroes killing and killing. This reaction comes too late and please not of this "but she knew Fruit Salad" or any other Reaper/Steel Ranger, they barely were acquaintances and it changes nothing to the horror of war.
Third, why do her friends let her lead them when she is obviously such an emotional wreck, she was slug away from beheading P-21 ? Is there a competition for who will be the most irresponsible ? Also, Rampage came back.
Also, BJ went full maniacal when Brass said that she was a villain. I suppose it was supposed to be a funny moment because "Lol, finally someone I can kill without remorse" but I only found it over the top silly. In any case, it's interesting to see more creatures born from Chimera and I can't fault him for creativity. We have pony-manticor, a pony-boom and pony-dragon. I expect a lot of fun from them. As for BJ, she survives a lot of things that she shouldn't but does it need to be mentionned ? It's become regular.
Skipping to the scene in the bar, we get to a scene that confirms that Twist is part of Rampage and we have an interesting conflict of emotions from Rampage but that doesn't go beyond what I expected it to be. I suppose we'll have to wait until we know how many souls she has in her since she has at least six (yes, six. Doctor Octopus comes to join the band later). With a bit of luck, she can become more than just a victim in the future.
“Why do you say that?” Lacunae asked with the ghost of a smile. “You are… in many ways… the most fascinating pony the Goddess has ever encountered. Tenacious. Foolish. Brave and cowardly. Painfully devoted to those in need. Had ponies like you lived two centuries ago, perhaps things might have been different. At the very least, you have inspired the Goddess to a radical plan.”
“Radical?”
“Yes. The Goddess knows a dire enemy is coming to us. We will… treat with her. Seek to use her rather than destroy her outright. Allow her to achieve mutual goals in the hopes that our great biological problem can be addressed.”
Hahahahahahaha.
Hahahaha
Haha
Ha.
Fuck you.
We really needed another "BJ caused this thing in FO:E", it was indispensable. I'm not going to explain why it pisses me off, it's obvious enough.
Aside from that we have an interesting conflict between Rampage and P-21 and for now, I am still on the side of P-21 even if I know that he's supposed to be the bad guy here because he makes the little filly sad. His whole arc will be to accept that his daughter is his daughter and yada yada. I don't look forward to it.
Finally, the last scene is BJ discovering Horizon lab and how everything is spooky and melted together and it seems like it was one of Trottenheimer's project. It's a well done scene but I will wait the next chapter to know about the substance of this scene. What will we learn and see in that place full of secrets which I'm sure has nothing to do with Goldenblood at all.
Closing thoughts : Spectacle without substance but at least it was pretty to look at ?
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It's simple : it's another scene where Somber makes his fiction say "Remember that part in the original ? Yeah, it's all thanks to me." Lacunae is directly stating that BJ being the hero that she is, is directly responsible for the change of heart of the Goddess that'll make her not kill LittlePip in chapter 29/30. Essentially, PH is saying that without Blackjack, Pip would have been killed by the alicorns (because at that time they'd been captured pretty easily.)
It's a general thing but the whole fiction is disrespectful to the original story because it constantly tries to one-up it. It doesn't seek cooperation with the fiction (like for example, saying that Stronghoof nobility was inspired by Steelhooves and that's why he felt he needed to rebel.), it seeks to minimize the original in its scope and effects. (Here, Stronghoof is already noble, already against Steel Rain, he already has reached the understanding that they have been led astray but he doesn't want a civil war. Sounds familiar ? Yes, Stronghoof is Steelhooves but better you know !)
I don't like FO:E. I really don't. But if you base your story so close to the original to the point of wanting to make FO:E's story canon to your own, there are things you need to respect a little bit if you don't want to damage the original story. While PH is a fanfic of fanfic, I feel that it wanted to make FO:E, the subordinate story to its own retelling of the actual Wastelands.
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It doesn't matter what he wanted to do. It's clear in the entire fiction that he's trying to be the superior version and making BJ behind every reason in FO:E diminishes the original story. Fixing something doesn't imply making your hero being the one to affect the original story and in that case, saving Pip's life.