In which Pip embarks on a quest
Chapter 17
- I feel for ya, Pip. We'd all like answers.
- Wait, does Rarity not have control of her own Ministry? She' knows that book-burning is a bad thing. She's made that much clear when she asked Twilight if she wanted to save the books. Why didn't she stop them?
- Denial doesn't help anything, Pip.
- Awkward dancing? Oddly appropriate for Twilight's personal library.
- Science exposition time!
- Now you just sound like a child, Pip.
- Committing suicide isn't a virtue, Jack. Especially when it flies in the face of everything you wanted to protect in the first place.
- Why is everypony all caught up in this virtue junk? Is simply doing the right thing not enough anymore?
- How exactly is Pip convincing herself she's not addicted to that junk again?
- The Pegasus Enclave, eh? Nope, nothing evil about that armor, nothing evil at all...
- "They wouldn't understand." Now Pip's going straight into whiny addict mode. Great.
- Robo owls. I'm just as baffled as Pip here.
- Velvet really needs to start putting some points into INT. Your CHA is high enough already.
- Ugh, more creepy Pinkie Pie. Whatever happened to making ponies smile?
- Hmmm... I blame Velvet's stupidity for egging Pip on, but Pip's still stupid for flipping out like that. Everypony gets to be stupid!
- Not the best strategist, are you, Pinkie?
- You know, Pinkie, you put so much effort into making the drugs more powerful, why didn't you put any effort into not making them dangerous?
- Vertigo really does suck. I guess in this game it's a status condition?
- Mad scientists? As if the Manticores weren't enough.
- Magical toxins so dangerous you can't even stare at them? Dang.
- You had better hope that the doctor doesn't bump into you while you're looking at that orb, Pip.
- Why would the Ministry of Morale want to spy on the CMC?
- Scootaloo shares my rage.
- Scootaloo shares all of my rage.
- Yep, totally called using the orb being stupid.
- More shipping!
Thoughts on Chapter 17:
While the past decided to anger me just a little more before taking a turn straight into crushing depression, Scootaloo's scene was incredibly cathartic. Unfortunately, like every single other pony in the past, I get the feeling that Scootaloo is going to be pretty heavily in the wrong as well, rendering all of her anger and justification completely moot. Lots of character bits this chapter too, though the addiction subplot is starting to get painful. The romance is getting a bit awkward, and it's making the characters act all goofy.
Chapter 18
- Looks like it's time for incredibly awkward shipping scenes! Yay!
- "Do the thing at the place." Smooth.
- Velvet's not the brightest bulb in the shed. How much do you wanna bet she blabs?
- Who's a silly pony?
- And now Velvet is a Shipper on Deck. Perfect.
- Shipping and drugs. The perfect combo!
- Well, that relationship lasted all of a day. Now time to go and get yourself kicked out of yet another settlement.
- Getting to be pretty obvious that SteelHooves is a ghoul. It's pretty hard to live 200 years otherwise.
- So, he's loyal to Applejack, not the Ministry. Good for him.
- Calamity doesn't have a Bag of Holding, forcing him to rely on his pegasus abilities to carry exorbitant amounts of junk.
- How does a glowing letters spell relate to singing or medical skills? You've already lucked out with your doubling up on talents, Velvet. You don't need more utility spells.
- Giant wings aren't too helpful in tight spaces.
- Pip, I don't know if you've noticed yet, but Velvet is not smarter than you.
- Desensitization to gore is not losing yourself. It's being practical. Don't start angsting on me, Pip.
- Oh, so they're a hive mind. That explains the first person plural. If that's the case, then why didn't the second two immediately know what was going on when the first died earlier?
- Why take the griffins captive?
- Rarity had a book on necromancy? Oh no... She is not that stupid, is she? But of course, in the grim darkness of the future, everypony does stupid things that kill them in the worst ways possible. Odds of her having actually used it? 95%.
- Setting off small nukes right next to you would certainly hurt, yes.
Thoughts on Chapter 18:
While interesting from a character perspective, the opening bit with Pip and Homage just isn't my favorite type of story, especially when the characters get all awkward and goofy because of it. The rest, though, was pretty nice action. The introduction of the Black Book and only mean bad things, though. Very, very, bad things...
Comments
Sereg
Since: Dec, 1969
May 15th 2012 at 2:41:24 AM
"But of course, in the grim darkness of the future, everypony does stupid things that kill them in the worst ways possible."
This is rather accurate. Kkat's explanation is that ponies don't know anything about war (admittedly season 2 debunks this) and therefore made every mistake it is possible to make out of lack of experience.
Seraphem
Since: Dec, 1969
May 15th 2012 at 12:15:02 PM
That's pretty much what causes all the major issues for the past ponies, they are just not physiologically capable of handling a long drawn out war. The MOM was spying on ALL ponies. And as admitted, the addiction subplot gets annoying, but your at the end of it. And the part that saves it is that it is feels just like a REAL addiction problem, not the Hollywood version of one.
as to the book burning, way I saw it Rarity went along with most of it just because it was part of her ministry's job, but made sure that anything that could be valuable or wasn't actually needing to be burned had at least a few copies saved and transferred to Twilight for safe keeping.
PerpetualLurker
Since: Dec, 1969
May 15th 2012 at 12:59:43 PM
Which once again brings us to my original point of the ministries being bad ideas in the first place because the ponies in charge were absolutely not capable of performing the jobs required.
As for Rarity, I'm fairly sure that as head of the Ministry, she chooses what her ministry's job is. She doesn't have to "go along with" anything, especially something she knows is wrong. Not to mention that she bears the Element of Generosity, but her ministry is revolving around taking away "undesirable" information.
All in all, it's a bunch of nearly character-breaking bad decisions. You can say "war changed them" all you want, but it's been quite clear thanks to the memory orbs that the fundamental cores of their characters remained unchanged. It just paints their decisions as plot contrivances in order to create the worst, cruelest, most depressing ending possible to set up the Fallout setting.
