Somber uploading a chapter of this spurred me to start, then after I read the only chapter here (at the time) I wanted to read more. Found a link on equestria daily to the g docs/drive (can't remember which version) and are now on chapter 60. Worth it.

6461660 I'm glad. I hope it ends well for you. Lots of people don't like it past chapter 33.

6461593
Or it was the sprinklers, could have been that too. So many other systems somehow work after 200 years. There was nothing definite. I just feel Luna wouldn't be content with passing on knowing her sister was still around and/or there were ponies in need to assistance.

You know that log flume ride at Universal Studios? This is like that, only a tad more intense.

Holy fricking purple fluffballs of a purple panda.

6461890 Lots of people don't like it past chapter 33.

Challange accepted...

And oh hell, this chapter was full of awesome! Full of good and bad moments that made me smile and cringe, hehehe.
That Flotsam is... a scary place, hehehe eue

Nice job man, nice job!
And the HMS Celestia... good lordy lordy, I hope it gets fixed! And BJ take it for a spin...
then somehow crashes it, 8'D
Nice job!

I thought I could be patient. I thought I could pace myself. That the upload progress would whet my burgeoning appetite and I could be satisfied with timely, large updates.

Boy fucking howdy was I wrong.

I downloaded the whole story and am currently devouring the next chapter. I am glad I did. This was a breaking point; a homecoming that I feel will make or break our little fish.

Cut the deck, Dealer. Security ain't the only pony who's gonna ante up this time around. It's time I stride ahead and see what the Wasteland has in store for Blackjack and Company.

Seriously, half the fun of rereading all this is the dramatic irony from all the details caught after having read the story already. Muh gawd.

My magic released the gun at once, and it bounced off the deck and landed in the river with a little splash.

Son of a bitch, looks like that revolver ammo can be sold. Though I wonder why Glory moved to stand near BJ, seems like a bad idea.

I have to admit, there’s no sight like going through Fallen Towers.

It is a wild ride going down river through Fallen Towers, but I want to know how the fuck they get back upstream.

I think the Goddess desires friends more than anything else in the Wasteland. She simply can’t admit it.

The little part of Twilight buried in there that is showing through?

Ministry Mare Twilight Sparkle invoked eminent domain to appropriate the Pleasant Valley Mine Works

The wiki says it should be Splendid Valley and is incorrectly referred to in this story.

Twilight Sparkle had missed an appointment in Hoofington’s M.A.S. hub?

Banged by Big Mac?

Blackjack! I tried to concentrate. stallions and mares were different back then.

Capitalize.

“Who feels like being an accessory?!”
Apparently they all did.

Ok, I did laugh at that.

neither side is so short on ammo that they won’t take shots as us down here.

"at"

I stared at the severed head of a mare... rotting lavender hide hanging in slats, striped purple and red mane spattered with dark bits of gore.

Poor Gin Rummy... She tried to do good.

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I have to pace myself or I wouldn't have time for all the other stories I follow and I would never get anything done during the day.

I tried to concentrate. stallions and mares were different back then.

Capital 's'.

RIP Cupcake's revolver. We hardly knew ye.

"It must be so nice to not be a one trick unicorn." ~Blackjack

[youtube=http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JRx70YbJ1OY]

If link doesn't work go to YouTube and search "One Trick Pony." Or don't, your choice...

and if I feel guilty then I’ll whine! Please don’t make me whine!

Rarity 2.0?

A hiss crackled over the speaker, and I heard the Overmare’s voice. “Welcome home, Blackjack. We missed you.” Her mocking giggle rose higher and higher as I began to scream.

Wow, i don't think a story has ever legitimately made my head twitch before.

The raider army was Stable 99.

I'd say i'm surprised but i'm not your making this predictable if it went her way for once then i'd be surprised!

The raider army was Stable 99

In the name of the Holy Empress, I hereby declare Exterminatus upon the residents of Stable 99.
static.fjcdn.com/comments/Your+power+has+been+revoked+form+posting+heretical+items+on+_598f7875560d4672637d19d93c7f24b8.jpg

Yeah. The hype I had for this story is most definitely back.

Oh dear. D: And here I was thinking it was just going to be like when Littlepip went back to her Stable. Oh dear.

So this whole chapter was pretty great. I love Thrush, really wish Blackjack had fucked her, but I'll take friendship and a promise of seeing her again later instead. (Because c'mon, you don't establish characters like that to use once!) The whitewater trip through the fallen towers was a really great sequence; I mean, just having broken buildings in the river was by itself a really clever setpiece. The flashbacks to BJ's history with Daisy were very welcome. I really appreciate that you're not willing to let your villains just be villainous. "Trail of Broken Diamonds" is extremely unsubtle. <.< I like that Rampage got to bond with P-21 a little. And I'm betting one of her souls was a zebra; I mean, it's p. obvs. :B

I love Glory's "I hope nopony gets hurt". Y'know, after she just dropped a grenade into a raider encampment with the express intent to start a skirmish. She's adorable. :V This is why she's my waifu But ARGH YET ANOTHER ALICORN WITH A MINIGUN WHY D:

Their attack was foiled by a handful of troopers

6768745 Nope, coming back to find (another) army bent on conquest invading her stable would just be too cheery for her. You don't want her to get spoiled, do you. D:<

Don't worry, Thrush is coming back. With the flashbacks, one of my favorite parts is how they illustrate the constraints and atmosphere of 99; I'm pretty sure Gin Rummy knew Blackjack was right, but what was there she could do in a situation where not making waves is an important part of keeping everyone alive another few years, and you can't actually prove anything, and even the victim is denying everything? On the Trail, Somber operates on multiple levels of subtlety. Sometimes it's like the expression that tipped you off to Caprice. Sometimes it's Derpy dropping a grand piano on Twilight.

Glory is really sweet. And just because you're intentionally doing something that is probably going to cause something to happen doesn't mean you can't hope it doesn't. It just makes you look a little silly. : ) On the alicorns with miniguns, I think it's related to scale matching: they're big, miniguns are big. Rocket launchers probably have more overlap with the magic arrows, and thus giving one to one of these alicorns might be less of a change. And as far as I remember, the arrows weren't all that great (though this could have just been due to a combination of plot armor and the first person POV), so they need something else.

“Charity, I need spark batteries and magic cartridges! Now! Or gemstones! I need them right now. Please!”

Her eyes lit up and rolled thoughtfully, and with a flip of her head she spat out her pen and sent it spinning through the air to land neatly behind her ear. “Well, adding in processing costs and the Getting On My Nerves Tax… I figger I could sell ‘em for…”

“And we’re broke,” I added. Paying Ditzy and trading for what we’d needed had sapped most of our caps. I grinned as widely as I could and tried to ignore the feeling of sweat running down the back of my barding.

Her smile disappeared. “Get out,” she declared imperiously. She flicked the pen from behind her ear, caught it in her mouth, and resumed checking her list.

I fell to my knees. “Please, Charity! Please! Without the boat, we’ll have to walk, if we walk the monsterpony will find us, if she finds us then I’ll feel sorry for her before I kill her, and if I do that then I’ll feel guilty, and if I feel guilty then I’ll whine! Please don’t make me whine!” I begged as several Crusaders peeked over the counter to watch in amazement.

“I… you… what are ya…” she sputtered as I fell on my face and hugged her hoof.

“Please Charity! Please please pretty please pleasepleaseplease PLU… LEEEEZZZEEE!!!!” I wailed as I kicked my back hooves.

“All right!” she yelled down at me, yanking her hoof free of my embrace as she blushed. “I can spare one!” My eyes grew large. “Erm… two?” Tears ran down my cheeks as my lip trembled. She let out a grunt of disgust. “Oh, just take the whole box, Blackjack!” She walked over to a shelf, pulled out a wooden crate, and tossed it to me, six glowing spark batteries rattling within. I just gave a whimper, the whine growing higher and higher.

A bottle of Wild Pegasus plopped on top of them.

Humming in glee and floating the box in front of me, I made my way back towards the bridge, the humming faltering not a bit when, a few seconds after I got out of the shop, Charity screamed after me, “It’s going on yer tab, Blackjack! You hear me? With interest!”

Well played, Blackjack! well played!

Inside were stairs going down, lit by flickering emergency lighting. I tried the light switch, but there was nothing. Instead, I picked my way down into a workspace that was rather tight even to a pony who’d worked in a stable. Papers were piled high on standard issue desks amidst a few dead, dust-covered terminals. A few apathetic posters hung on the wall. ‘O.I.A.: We bridge the gaps.’ and ‘How can we help today?’ The only one that caught my attention at all was one that read ‘Do better.’ There weren’t any pictures of the Ministry Mares; in fact, the pony who did decorate the walls was Princess Luna. Her expressions varied from stern to mischievous to knowing.

Great. this place belonged to Bronies.

6667428 Exterminatus Now!

http://exterminatusnow.co.uk/2005-12-30/comic/facilitating-your-demise/its-always-better-live-than-recorded/

I wanted to cry; I’d tried to be good and stay put. I had! Was I really that predictable?"

Did you miss parenthesis

Wait... In a land where pure drinking water is worth killing to have, the Seahorse uses a pair of high-output water talismans for propulsion?? Mind-boggling.

7187414 Funny right? I always imagined in Equestria do not petroleum. as the machines as a cloud jackhammer we saw in (funny mention) cloudsdale work? or also we saw steam engines on the train ponyvile to Canterlot and crystal empire. They could invent fanfics with vehicles with engines but unlike using and enjoying gasoline could exchange for magic stones working as flammable product. not to mention the pedal Helicopter that almost runs over a twilight in ponivile in S04e21 Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3

Well, I've forgotten exactly what BJ's mom's colors were, but I'm pretty sure that was her. Shit is seriously about to go down.

~SolidFire

Then the ripper roared as she sawed her head clean off in a fountain of blood that seemed to make the remaining raider stare in awe

Reaper

Oh boy this next chapter is gonna be fun

Got the chills at the last sentence.

Woah

Achievements Unlocked

Tell Them all I'm Coming... Home...
Return Home

Surprising Turn of Events
Find the Raider Army "near" Stable 99

well there goes my dinner, fucking hell that was messed up

I guess there will be song and murder in the next chapter.

This is beginning to remind me of Stable 2...only without SteelRangers.

I was honestly hoping to find it still intact and everybody just fine, if not a little rattled.
But the Wasteland always delivers in the cruelest of ways.

Dang. I really wanted to get to know Gin Rummy better too

THE OVERMARE, I thought Deus and the raiders killed her, the mare just won't stay dead!

Oh...oh god no...

So it took me a few chapters to realize it but did anyone else notice that she totally had the option to disable the city wall turrets but either ignored or didn't notice it?

So the captain, he somehow gets a whole flock of rock crabs to carry the boat on their backs to the far side of the island!”

Ha, another PoTC reference if I recall. At World's End.

Don't lose your sanity, Blackjack. That scene with the Dealer, you nearly lose yourself. (Spoiler warning for early part of this chapter, but anyone should know that)
img09.deviantart.net/89a2/i/2012/170/0/2/you__re_a_good_pony__blackjack__by_serafin_vd-d544hcx.png
I will miss the revolver, but I would miss Glory even more.

Lacunae walked calmly behind me, her hooves avoiding stepping in the blood.

This sentence, is this grammatically correct?

I feel so glad to be alive till… something… anything… reminds of me that place and it feels like I’m back there

reminds me of that place

Metal teeth gleamed from within old graying gums as an acrid reek make my eyes roll.

as an acrid reek made my eyes roll.

In once clearing, we encountered two stallions completely torn to pieces, the remains thrown like garland over the dead trees and thorny bushes.

In one clearing,

Gin Rummy deserved better.

Apologies ahead of time that the rest of these are out of order, CTRL+F is a life saver.

7663604
I dunno, I can't tell if it was Rampage giving a roar, or if she somehow acquired a ripper chainsaw.

6950536
Seems like an extra quotation mark is at the end when it is not dialogue.

neither side is so short on ammo that they won’t take shots as us down here.

As Fourpony mentioned first, this is still not fixed.

I tried to concentrate. stallions and mares were different back then.

As previously mentioned, this is not fixed either.

Their attack was foiled by a handful of troopers

Shouldn't it be hoofful? As PresentPerfect pointed out.

Time to clean house. I think the Dealer can agree to that.

8400423

Lacunae walked calmly behind me, her hooves avoiding stepping in the blood.

This sentence, is this grammatically correct?

It's kinda awkward, but I believe so.

Their attack was foiled by a handful of troopers

Shouldn't it be hoofful? As PresentPerfect pointed out.

Handful is used repeatedly, and often "hoofful" wouldn't make sense. The show uses "hand" in expressions from time to time, too. PP likes to make fun of the one time (EQG?) when RD goes "What are hands?" despite everyone previously knowing what they were.

8294316
Wait, what?

“ Seahorse used to be an Equestrian Navy patrol boat,” Oilcan, the rust-coated engineer mare, explained as she trotted to a hatch in the stern deck, her horn glowing as she undid the dogs and secured a rag in her curly red mane. “Doubt there’s anything original on it besides the engine, though. I figger the last twenty years or so we’ve had to replace everything at least once.” She hopped nimbly up into the air and disappeared down through the hatch.

Is this a Ship of Theseus reference?

8507231
No. It's a Blackjack reference. :3

Ooooh FUCK. I did not see that coming!

I think i meant to say this a chapter ago, but...

Dang, Thrush's dad's name was Sparrow! I just now figured that out!

6465305

I think the Goddess desires friends more than anything else in the Wasteland. She simply can’t admit it.

The little part of Twilight buried in there that is showing through?

and maybe some Trixie. she always just wanted ponies to like and admire her. friends are best for that cause unlike audience members who go home at the end of the show and forget about you within a week, true friends go home at the end of the day and come back the next day just happy to see you.

That ending made me :(

“How in Hell are we supposed to get though that?” I shouted. Then I stared as the boat flew between a pair of street lights. We weren’t going down a river any more… this was a street! The impromptu dam had driven the river out of its banks, and now we were navigating racing currents running through the ruins of the shattered office buildings. Broken foundations and rusted streetlights flew past us as the water flew forwards faster and faster towards the source of that perpetual inhalation.

I found an error. It's not ''though'' but it should be ''through''.

There was only silence, then she stammered, “I… I don’t know. I don’t know what I’m talking about! I don’t know… any of that. But I can tell you Helpinghoof’s clinic’s terminal number. His receptionist is Carrot Cake. He tries to sing Sweetie Belle. I… I don’t know why I can or how I can… So why the hell did I just say it?” Now it sounded like Rampage was the pony falling apart, but it also seemed to be pulling him back together as well. She let out a shaky little sniff. “Do you think maybe Blackjack’s assembling the deadliest therapy group in the Wasteland?”

Why would he go from being a baker to that?
cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/156225392200515584/568442779408138250/20190417_205119.jpg

Taking a break in the chapter to comment on the OIA memory orb scene.
Did you plan so far ahead, Somber? Cause if you did it's brilliant.

In hindsight, those 2 paragraphs are perfect:

I had to agree, it did seem perfect. So why wasn’t Goldenblood smiling? He spoke softly, in a near dead rasp, “I suppose they would, Your Majesty.”

“I’m so sorry…”

I can imagine that giving that honest answer to Luna killed him inside:

- Fluttershy chose the worst moment to come visit him. He started to grow attached to Fluttershy as she was taking care of him, maybe he was already feeling love

- He knew that Luna choosing her and her friends would tear them apart, change their lives forever.

- He knew the Ministry Mares would act as fuses to cover Luna's image while they did the worst things necessary to win the war.

- He knew that even if Equestria were to win the war, the Ministry Mares would be universally hated, as the truth of what they had to do with their Ministries was revealed. They could even be executed for that.

- He knew (and said it to her face during that scene) that Luna wasn't Celestia.

- I'd bet that he was aware of the Zebra belief that Luna turned into NMM because she called upon the power of the stars (thanks to his childhood spent in the Zebra lands).

- But even worse than the Zebra theory, he realized that appointing the Mane 6 as Ministry heads would ultimately make them unable to use the Elements of Harmony, the only weapon that could stop Luna/NMM if need be.

- Thus, he knew he'd need to build a contingency (or rather a few...)

I would even go as far as wager that he suspected Luna would immediately think of the Mane 6 when told to choose Ministry heads and that's why he suggested capitulation before telling her she'd need a reorganization to rule the kingdom.