Hell, I remember how I waited for new chapters to come, and man, I'm sad that it ended. T'was a good ride. Just wanted to tell ya that you're awesome, and that I await for the next creation of yours with baited breath!

“Yeah. Unless you’re some long lost descendant of Twilight Sparkle, it’s not much good to you,”

I didn't expect my re-read to come with this much dramatic irony. Then again, I read this so long ago that I'm re-acquainting myself with forgotten details as much I am stumbling upon the foreshadowing I completely missed. I'd completely forgotten about Applebot, for instance.

And while those scenes were depressing and horrifying alike, I can't help but find Thorn calling her Wampage as anything but sickeningly adorable. Which does nothing but make me feel bad.

Well... wasn't expecting that, in the slightest, shit this story is full of depressing stuff...
Sadly, I enjoy it, nice job once more dude...

Ugh I don't know what to say to any of this, but I loved it... loved it...
//sobs//

Fuck me RUNNING that was brutal...

Oh my goodness. this is just deep. just deep. wow. ok. wow. I am at a loss of words here. this is nuts!

6451043

I didn't expect my re-read to come with this much dramatic irony.

Especially at Pinkie's party.

6451773

that's why I take breaks when reading FOE.
It is NOT. HAPPY.

6452672 I know it ain;t happy, this universe takes depressing to a whole new level...
but its so damn gooooood

6451797

Hahahaha. You think that was bad? It gets so much worse. The next twenty-ish chapters are like a descent to the eleventh circle of hell. Yes, eleventh.

6452679
Yup.
Same here XD It's so well written and engrossing, but so frickin DARK.
Then again, that's why I'm writting a spin off. Not canon, but a happier-alternate reality.

Wait...
So the avatar I've been using...was this 'Blackjack'?
Damn, I'm SO out of everything...

When will I ever read these stories..?

Who else listened to Adagio for Strings when reading this?

6452693 I'm a fan of such darkness...
I love it and I hate it... to me, its the one ring and I'm Gollum.
I';m writing a story to, but its going slowly~

Happy sad Happy sad <--
God damn you making me go on a rollercoaster like that!!
I want more

Damn, Rampage... you killed an innocent to spare her from the possibility of becoming like you...

I… maybe. I’d need more of Twisty’s candy.

Beginning of Mint-als?

Yeah. Unless you’re some long lost descendant of Twilight Sparkle, it’s not much good to you

I feel like I just got smashed with an irony shovel.

you might fight some answers about what’s going on and who’s really after it.

ERROR: "find"

“It’s okay,” Rampage said softly to the bloody mass, a bony equine skull grinning at me from her flank. “It’s okay. You’ll never hurt again…”

Well... shit. Goodbye Thorn, can't trust all the personalities in a pony.

6452069
What is special about Pinkie's Party? Goldenblood doing bad things to good ponies?

6454492
Stuff that if you've read the fic before, you catch details and you're like "holy crap, I know what that means/signifies later how did I not catch that earlier!?"

The foreshadowing... it's real...

I have this distinct feeling that sanguine is blueblood's son and the crazy reapers are all members of the marauders (including murder-happy Rampage).

We'll see if I'm right.

Why did I not see that ending coming? Jack, you are not a smart pony...

6455778 Not even close.

Here's a funny thought... is Lacunae Psalm? Cause seeing as how the Marauders have a habit of showing up two hundred ears after the War so far it could make sense. Meh I'm sure I'll find out soon enough. Also that ending!
T

Holy shit. This one actually made me cry, and I NEVER cry. Good show, jolly good show.
Especially the part when BlackJack played Adagio for Strings during the funeral. Also when Rampage decided to be an ass an kill Thorn...

“but after you have a cybermonster pony screaming ‘cunt’ at you while hunting you clear across the Wasteland, it’s sort of hard to raise the bar on that.”

Sorry, still too funny.

6569227
Ever read Pink Eyes?

Friend:"Hey what are you going to do today?"
Me:"Oh read chapter 19 because i feel like getting slapped in the face!"

Wait, wtf just happened. <.<

Uh, anyway, ignoring that, this was the best chapter ever, and everything is obviously going to go downhill from here, like everyone told me it would. :V But I mean, the plot finally reared its ugly head! That was not what I expected EC-1101 to be, I like it. Project Horizons (we have a title!) is almost assuredly related to that space program, which I knew the moment somepony mentioned a rocket back in chapter, like, two or three. Twist invented Mintals? Fifth party member, not that I have any particular feelings on her (though she's already more interesting than Starlight). Charity is amazing. Gorgon's backstory was interesting. I like the way you built toward that meeting with Apple-kinda-Bloom, not to mention that's a good way to get a show character in this without making yet another ghoul. And the funeral was actually a very well-written scene. For all that I wasn't particularly invested in Roses as a character, the whole setting was put together well and evoked emotion without crushing it.

But the best part.

Ohh, sweet child.

They finally kissed. :D I don't even care if they fuck or get together or anything, that was some sweet, sweet vindication right there, and that's why this is best chapter. :3

Downsides include Rampage's ridiculous cutie mark (though I suspect it's some kind of side-effect of whatever caused her to become what she is), that "twenty percent cooler", and

just a way for the program leaders to wash their hands

Here's to the inevitable downward plunge!

6753924
That's a depressing statement about Starlight . . . granted, I became pretty invested in Lacunae, but probably not after—what, several hundred, a few thousand? words. If you hadn't already convinced me to take it off my RiL, that might have done it. Everyone seems to like Charity more than I do. Not completely sure why. But I think that one of my favorite two or three parts with her comes in the next chapter. The Stonewing/Jetstream orb is a reminder that here, happiness is a lie that's always just out of reach, or ready to be plucked away the moment you think you've caught it. I love it. Also comes back to what I was saying about many of the Marauders not handling romantic setbacks well. The funeral was good, but I think there were at least two others that affected me more. One of them has shaped how I think and feel about the story ever since.

Yeah, gotta agree with you on the kissing. This one scene tops the entire Littlepip/Homage "romance" arc for me. Don't know if you're invested in the GloryJack ship long-term (Though it's not hard to imagine you, if you had toys of them or something, mushing their faces together waiting for this for sixteen chapters. :V But yeah, it was a long, long wait and a slow, slow build.), but suffice to say there's more. Wonder how you'll feel about the rest.

Odd that there was a "20%" in the body . . . but despite a bump up of 20% in some stat or another in the endnote, the reference was eschewed there.

“I’m just trying to figure out… if this is for her, why are youthe one doing the talking?”

Missing a space between "you" and "the".

6756701
Charity is great because she's a snot-nosed little kid who takes delight in tormenting Blackjack. :3 Not to mention she's pretty mature for her age. I didn't get a good sense of her until they came back to Chapel, but every scene since then, I've only come to love her more. I can't remember how she was described, so I envision her as Marker Pony. :P

And yes, I have been mooshing my Blackjack and Glory figurines together for the last sixteen chapters, how did you guess? :V As for the long-term, I can take it or leave it. I mean, if this is the most they ever get to, I'm satisfied, and if they do more? I'll be happy. Most likely. :V You're right about Littlepip's romance, though! Such crap. V:

As for Lacunae v. Starlight, well, Starlight was pretty much the definition of a bad alicorn OC. I liked her best when she was angsting over Unity, but that didn't happen enough. Lacunae, for all that she's got zero character so far, is interesting because I didn't think you could do an alicorn character prior to Gardens happening. All we saw of them in FoE was pallette-swapped enemies, certainly with no individuality, so the fact that she seems to have a tenuous grasp on Unity is intriguing by itself.

6756916 Because I know your kind . . . because it's also my kind. :V Though I probably went through the chapters too fast on the first run to have quite the same degree of anticipation.

On Lacunae, well, it's the power of fanfiction: if something is impossible, that just means it's a challenge for the author to come up with a reason why it isn't. (See, for example, "nuh-uh, it's totally possible for these characters from two completely different worlds and time periods, to say nothing of their separate franchises and incompatible sexual orientations, to bone, and beyond that, they were absolutely meant for each other.")

6759374
ha ha it sounds like you've been peeking at my Gravity Falls/Adventure Time crossover ideas but that's impossible ha ha c.c;

Again, that long silence. It was almost as if she were considering options. “Lacunae.”

let's see... let's google that...

la·cu·na
ləˈk(y)o͞onə/
noun
plural noun: lacunae

noun, plural lacunae
[luh-kyoo-nee] (Show IPA), lacunas.
1.
a gap or missing part, as in a manuscript, series, or logical argument; hiatus.
2.
Anatomy. one of the numerous minute cavities in the substance of bone, supposed to contain nucleate cells.
3.
Botany. an air space in the cellular tissue of plants.
.

And so it begins.

“You’re hopeless,” Rampage said with a shake of her head. “Fine. I’ll play nice.” She swayed her glittery razor-wire-wrapped tail. “Oh… and chessmaster Blackjack? You have snot on your butt.”
I glanced back behind me, ears flattening as I glared at her. “It’s only because I’m plotting! Plotting the plots of… plotness!” I said as she walked towards the cottage. “Just you wait! Nopony’s gonna see this plot coming!”

I just freaking died! XD

HOLY BUCKING CELESTIA!!
What in the whole wide wasteland!!
At first I thought Thorn was just going to walk "the walk" like the pilgrims. But this was so much worse!!
I didn't even get what "Wampage" was until the bridge.
I have a theory:
Is Rampage a schizophrenic or something!? That would explain how she didn't remember killing the foal when she was younger. It would also explain how her cutie mark is a huge mess. It's actually several cutie marks from several ponies. And how the b*** is Blackjack suppose to defeat Rampage. She's indestructible! Blueblood cut her head off!! What if Rampage just killed Thorn so that Blackjack would kill her!?
WHYYYY???

Uh hwat just happened

7631406 You sure you're thinking of Schizophrenia? Isn't that when you have a lot of hallucinations and your perception of reality is distorted? Your description sounds more like DID/MPD/ Multiple Personality Disorder where you harbor many "personalities", usually caused by childhood trauma.

who else teared up a bit at the end when Thorn was with Rampage on the brigde and said Wampage? or was shocked when they found out Gorgon and Stonewing were the same person? or even actually felt bad for Deus when it was revealed he was in agony basically 24/7?

I actually laughed when Blackjack narrated Rampage's cutie mark.

I kinda wish we got more of Lacunae in her introduction chapter, though. I feel like I barely understand her character at all right now.

I blinked and then looked back at him. “You know what’s weird… barding always fits. I have to wonder if there’s some kind of ‘one size fits all’ spell made into these things.”

I love it when you make jabs at the games mechanics. especially the pipbuck.

I stamped my hooves loudly on the floor. “Well. Good news, everypony...” Rampage peeked out at me. “You’re pregnant.”

Goddamnit Rampage
And why did she kill Thorn? The fuck man. And HOLY SHIT THEY KISSED, (Plz fuck) More backround story of the alicorn pls

So what was the meaning of a cutie mark of a teddy bear having its rotting guts torn out by barbs of rusting metal sprouting from candy while the bear itself ripped at a distorted a zebra glyph of a skull while fleshy tendrils pulled and shredded at the normally smooth lines and black lightning struck and shattered wineglasses while in the background swirled a spiral like a whirlpool? Yes, it actually moved. As I watched, the barbs of rust melted into chains while the teddy bear pulled its guts back in and screaming pony faces bubbled to the surface.

scarest cutie mark ever

“Just you wait! Nopony’s gonna see this plot coming!”

not unless it gets blown off trying!

Wow. I knew Rampage was messed up, but I didn't know she was this messed up.

I'm starting to get the distinct feeling that she is the result of O.I.A., and that her moshposh of a Cutie Mark is far more then meets the eye.

It is true that each one symbolizes an identity. But what if one that shifts?

MPD

... I just looked up what Lacunae means.

la·cu·na
ləˈk(y)o͞onə/
noun
plural noun: lacunae
an unfilled space or interval; a gap.
"the journal has filled a lacuna in Middle Eastern studies"
a missing portion in a book or manuscript.
ANATOMY
a cavity or depression, especially in bone.

Sadly, it's quite fitting.

“Maybe,” I replied, and he sighed as he facehoofed. “What? It could work. Bad ponies could see us coming and go, ‘Oh Goddesses, no way I want to mess with them because then she’ll start crying, she’ll be suicidal, and then he’ll blow us all to the moon!’ I know I wouldn’t want to tangle with that.”

This...yes!

Goldblood...I'm on to you.

And the end went from sad to...worse...

Great. Guilt trip me with that. “I just wish I could find some offspring of Applejack or Pinkie Pie and shove it in their lap.” And then what? I started fiddling with the new PipBuck, checking some of its features. Huh. The E.F.S. was blue instead of amber. That was at least twenty percent cooler.

(Remembers Stable 2's heritage) Piiiiiiip! Or Melody even!

Also, that 20% cooler joke was totally uneeded, but it still made me chuckle.

That ending was horrifying. Nothing more.

Welp.......I'm not sleeping tonight because of that ending......and now I'm sad......you had to kill thorn man...really!?!?! You couldn't have killed capmonger!?!.. uhg.....now I need a drink....ever clear here I come😖

Our eyes met, red on pink, and she gave a little smile and shrug. “Ha. Beat that for a cutie mark. Mine moves.”

wow. i've only read one other story with a moving Cutie Mark: "Triptych" by Estee.

Adagio for Strings

“Oh? And how are you going to going to do that?” she asked with a little smirk.

“Oh? And how are you going to do that?”

“Stable ponies is so easy.”

are so easy." (intended informal speech?)

“I’m just trying to figure out… if this is for her, why are youthe one doing the talking?”

why are you the one doing the talking?” (still not fixed as IcyShake pointed out first)

If you can get it to where it was going, you might fight some answers about what’s going on and who’s really after it.”

you might find some answers about what’s going on (still not fixed as Fourpony pointed out first)

My horn was faster and with a pop ejected the clip.

ejected the magazine. (I mean it is 10mm automatic, how would you magically pop out the clip which is inside the exterior magazine first?)

Struggling to my feet, I snatched up her clip in my teeth and kept my head low as I limped as fast as I could,

snatched up her magazine (unless a gun expert proves me wrong and it is clip)

I screamed around the clip in my jaws as I strafed the pair.

around the magazine (unless a gun expert proves me wrong)

I ejected the spent clip and slammed the one in my mouth home,

the spent magazine (unless a gun expert proves me wrong)

cutie mark of a teddy bear having its rotting guts torn out by barbs of rusting metal sprouting from candy while the bear itself ripped at a distorted a zebra glyph

while the bear itself ripped at a distorted zebra glyph

but when the last note died, we were left with only with the hissing rain,

with only the hissing rain,

Why did Glory have black leather armor that Blackjack thought was for sex work? Heh. Or looked like raider wear to her? Why would P-21 buy that when they exchanged it later for the awesome sounding Skyguard armor? Yessss the kiss from Glory to Blackjack scene again. I ship it so very much.

Gorgon was Stonewing of the Marauders. Damn. He was killed in the first chapter introduced as Gorgon back in Ch. 9. By a rock crusher no less.

RIP Applebot, it didn't seem to have ill intentions..

We finally learn about what EC-1101 is exactly. A contingency program every pony wants their hooves on for one reason or another.

RIP Thorn, dammit Rampage turned 'Nurse' Angel