art by Sinrar

I want to share something that is more than a little personal: the inspiration behind the Grand Pegasus Enclave.

I don’t think I have ever talked about that. No interview has ever brought it up. But right now, there is a discussion going on right now about the social commentary in Fallout: Equestria, and much of the discussion has focused on the Enclave. So this seems like a good time to broach the topic.

However, I do so with some trepidation. I do not wish the comments section of the blog to turn into a political argument. So I have something else I would like the comments to focus on instead:

Saturday we will be getting the last episode before the mid-season hiatus of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. I hope everyone has been enjoying my Afterthoughts blogs for the episodes. I intend to continue them when the show returns.

I do not plan to continue Angel’s Pip-Boy Diary. I have posted all 135 pages that I wrote of it, the last post being over a month ago. At this point, I have played so far ahead of what I have written that even with my notes, I doubt I can properly recapture Angel’s mindset for events that I played months ago. I am happy that APBD got the positive response that it did, and I hope that canceling it is not too much of a disappointment.

However, with the end of APBD and the break in new episodes, I’m not sure what will follow my next Afterthoughts. So I am interested in hearing your suggestions for my blog. I absolute want to continue to provide new content. You’re kind enough to follow me. I want to give you something to follow.

Now, about the Enclave…

art by turbopower1000

Did you know that when your immune system is completely compromised, any severe upset, even an emotional one, can be devastating to your health?

My father served in the U.S. Air Force for many years. After he left the service, he worked in the Forest Service and as a volunteer fire fighter until his cancer and the chemotherapy rendered him physically unable to continue. Still, he had considerable time left when he was stuck by an emotional blow that sent his health into an irrevocable downward spiral.

That blow came on September 11, 2001. He died two days later.

I scattered my father's ashes, then watched the road my country went down as our citizens and our leaders reacted to the same event.

When I created the Enclave of Fallout: Equestria, I made them a society that was wrapped up in self-interest. Who turned a blind eye to the suffering of others, and whose citizenry were completely ignorant of the affects of their military's decisions on those beyond their borders.

I created an Enclave that reacted to a terrorist attack with jingoism and misplaced aggression, using the attack as an excuse to wage war on the wrong people.

But I needed to go a step beyond that. Because the Enclave was not just a faceless analogy of post-9/11 America. Nor was it a monolithic, one-dimensional Big Bad. This was a society made up on individual ponies. The soldiers were not mindless automatons. And everyone had the ability to strive for virtue. To be better.

I created a military where many individual members saw that what they were doing was wrong and stood up, refusing to follow immoral orders. The soldiers in my Enclave had to choose between doing what was right and doing what they were supposed to do; they faced a crisis of conscience where the virtue of loyalty seemed to be pitted against justice and compassion.

My father was a man of great honesty and integrity. Had he been a pegasus, he would have been amongst those to take a stand.