Fallout Equestria/Headscratchers

• Where did Velvet Remedy get the door access code to leave Stable 2? It's shown to be on her PipBuck and encrypted, but how did it get on there and how did she read in the first place?
  • It was Rarity who made that recording, and Velvet is a direct descendant of Sweetie Bell. So probably a family heirloom or something.
  • Actually it was one of the CMC's that made the recording of the access code, but yeah, they sent it to Sweetie Belle who was the Overmare at the time. Then she must of either forgot about it or just left it there. Does seem kinda weird that they'd pass the same Pipbuck down that many generations though.
    • This all seems very unlikely. There's no reason to think PipBucks are handed down. Seems like they're issued by the Stable. Maybe the file itself was passed down, instead of the hardware, but then what would make Velvet Remedy sit on the code for years before she finally left? Audio recordings can exist separate from PipBucks, and I think can be downloaded onto them, so maybe the recording... I don't know... fell behind a table in the family's quarters or something.
    • Re-reading chapter 14 I realize it was Apple Bloom who made the access code "CMC3BFF"
  • The latest chapter reveals that the Overmare of Stable 2 gave Velvet all of Sweetie Belle's old stuff, which apparently contained Applebloom's file containing the access code. Apparently the Overmare didn't think Velvet would use it.
• Why in Luna's name is there so much angst and character conflict centered around the destruction of Arbu? The bastards deserved to die, just like Andale did.
  • Before, things were pretty black and white for LittlePip. Arbu however showed that not everything is as clear cut as it seemed, and that sometimes actions done in the name of good can backfire greatly.
  • The citizens were murderers and Equestria was better off with them dead. This was not established with certainty until after they were killed. Also, they were killed in front of the children, which was not necessary.
• Could somepony explain to me what the big deal is about Littlepip being in the SPP? If I recall the situation well enough, the special cloud cover rearrangment only needs to last a year. And she needs to get out to activate the Gardens of Equestria spell anyway. Yeah, she promised to stay with Celestia, but surely there's a way to make proper arrangments.
  • Actually the plan was to keep the clouds clear permantly, and they estimated that the pegasi would have only a year before their food supply runs out; which is why the Gardens of Equestria needs to be cast within that timeframe. LittlePip doesn't have to be the one to cast it, and once hooked up to the SPP she can't leave.
    • But the whole thing about the cloud cover in the first place was because the Pegusi left the factories on. Can't they just turn them off, or barring that blow a few up? And what do you mean LittlePip doesn't have to help cast the GoE? Isn't she the Twilight of the group? The galvanizing Spark of Friendship?
    • That would still allow the pegasi to maintain the clouds themselves. The SPP allows LittlePip to remove massive amounts of clouds at once, preventing the Enclave from fixing the clouds before any pegasi muggles see the surface. And Spike mentioned that she was a spark, not the spark. Anything that gets the Element Bearers to realize their purpose/friendship would suffice as a spark. Once all 6 are found even Spike can activate the Gardens machine.
    • This fanfic postulates that "the Spark" and the Element of Magic are not the same. "The Spark" is the thing which reveals who the Elements are. Twilight Sparkle was the bearer of the Element of Magic, her epiphany about her friends was The Spark, revealing to her that her friends were the proper Bearers and that the spirits of those virtues rested inside them. Remember how Nightmare Moon said "The spark didn't work!"? She was as confused as Twilight. But Celestia and Luna found the Elements of Harmony and used them before. If the spark had always been an epiphany about friendship, or even always been connected to the Element of Magic, then Nightmare Moon should have known better. To explain this apparent inconsistency, Fallout: Equestria explains that The Spark always changes, manifesting differently each time. (As Twilight told Nightmare Moon, her epiphany was "a different kind of spark" than what had happened before.) As such, this time around, Littlepip was the new "Spark", revealing four of the Elements and initiating the call to action which would help identify the other two. But she wasn't actually a Bearer of one of the Elements, and thus she wasn't needed to actually activate them.
  • A slightly different version: Why couldn't LittlePip leave and visit Homage from time to time, or take shifts with somepony else? Why couldn't she reconnect the computer, so Celestia could control it? She wouldn't think of that because she's a Martyr Without a Cause, but that doesn't explain why nopony else talks some sense into her.
• Souls. They make anything invulnerable, except for ponies, where it would actually be useful. It's assumed that possessing a computer with an upload running on it would have the same effect on the computer as it would on a flesh-and-blood pony, rather than doing nothing, or crashing it completely, the almost-certain result of any change whatsoever. Why are souls associated with consciousness?
• Why are the uploads assumed to be imperfect? There doesn't seem to be any given examples of them testing it. It may have been obvious to the ponies designing it, which would explain how Rainbow Dash knew, but not the later ponies. Also, they're assumed to not be the same as the pony being uploaded, which is a deep philosophical question.