6461890 honestly it wasn't my cup of tea overall but to say it was bad, definitely can't say that. Issue for myself was that the tone kinda got weird for me, like it had changed from fallout to metal gear.
Fortunately metal gear is something good overall so its not like it changed from being good to being bad, just really different.

Yay, I've done this. After tree month with Project Horizon as my main reading I've just finish it. Even if I'm maybe not enough good at English to be able to understand every hidden details I've enjoy this story a lot.
The thing that disturb me the most was the fact that Blackjack watched incredible events, discovered incredible event that make the original FoE story and other side story ridiculous .I've even think of stopping reading the story (at this moment it was the war between Reapers and Steel Rangers) because of this, but I don't do it, it was worth it. When I start to separate FoE and PH in my mind it was OK.
Except for that I really like the story, the character were interesting and touching (I don't remember the world to explain that I get attached to them) and I liked how this story was righted (for example the utilisation of unusual worlds comings from the Latin).
I want to thank you for giving me so goods (or deseperatings sometimes, but it was pleasant anyway) moments and I hope that this story of a character which try to do better and never give up will maybe help me to become a nicer person.
Thank you again.

P.S.: I'm not that good at English, I hope my comment wasn't too bad.

Hmmm...something I've noticed in the narrative...

<<MAJOR SPOILER>>
------------------------------
Compared to all of the other times I've seen the Dealer talk to Blackjack before this chapter, it's to berate her and mess with her further. In this chapter, though, there's a lack of that. The Dealer starts talking about previous times and speaks in a comparatively gentler tone. I think this is about the point when Echo started taking on the appearance of the Dealer to speak with Blackjack. Timing sort of makes sense, too. EC-1101 just got sort of a "refresh" of its original directive back in Stable 99.

I'm busy with work for three days then when I come back there's 100k worth of updates to read. Fucking damn it.

Maybe I am just a callus monster but I think Blackjack is looking at what she did in the stable from a skewed perspective. A rational one to be sure but still skewed. The way I see it is not that she did anything inherently wrong but that she simply didn't have any better options. Any damage she could have done to the controls and the opening mechanism before someone showed up would have been repaired and she would have died. She could essentially do what Littlepip did at Arbu and weed out the infected from the non but with hundreds of ponies to go through she would still have died. Anything else she could have feasibly done would have ended in her death and the vault opening anyway. She may not like what she did but she still made the best choice out of all the bad choices currently available to her.

Sheesh, and Littlepip thought she had it rough... And I get the feeling I am going to be thinking that a lot as I read more of her story.

Edit: Something I forgot to add the first time. It seems to me that after that insightful little view of "unity" that in truth Blackjack has only two important disqualifiers with one being a lot more relevant. First the amount of pain that she has gone through in the last (3?) weeks is absolutely ridiculous. The second? My bet the real reason she is unsuited for Unity is that her strength of personality might actually give Trixie/Goddess a run for her caps...

6464247

The amount of foreshadowing in PH really was insane. A bunch of details that seem trivial on the first read will pop right out in the second.

I just know, that once I'm done reading this... I will not be able to figure out what to do with my life.
It's like a game you get really invested in. Once you finish... what do you do afterwards? i can't help but feel for Blackjack, all of the hard decisions, her mind just slowly falling apart, jeebus.

Man oh man, I loved that Homage made an appearance, as well as Spike.
Blackjack is a sad character, but she is fucking determined... I approve.

Nicely done.

6465952 Such a depressing road ahead of us, jeebus.

He slowly stood once more and started towards the back of the cave. “Why don’t you come with me? You need to see something.”

“What?” I asked as I followed.

“The thing that may someday save Equestria.”

--

THE THING!
IT"S THE THING!

...
....anyhow. Well done in writing such a morbid and sick story....
........and curse you for writing it so darn well that it keeps sucking me back in. That's the mark of a true storyteller.

She’d lied. Lacunae, or the Goddess, had lied to save my tail.

Least is seems the truth about having to kill the stable was true. Just that there was a pre-planned exit strategy.

She dropped it in shock, and I fell back with my armor stinging from the impact.

It just had to happen, everyone shoots Blackjack.

I wept as I looked down at her bones.

Oh wow, found Marigold and that Trick adopted this dead mare's daughter. So some odd great-grandmother of Blackjack's. Funny how stories can have such amazing coincidence.

“The thing that may someday save Equestria.”

Hmmm, wonder how much Somber and Kkat talked about this story. Lot of crossing over.

6466209
Has Psalm been mentioned as being part of Unity yet? I don't think that's been mentioned yet...

Finally made an account here. For starters, to say thank you Kkat and Somber & company for making Fallout: Equestria main fanfics. Kkat made the original of Fo1-Fo3/F:NV inspired and Somber and team made the largest story building off the original, ever. I have read the original Fo:E and was ready for round two in anticipation of Fallout 4. When I was told about Project Horizons, I made it a promise I'll be reading it start to finish, back when PH was still in-progress to be completed on googledocs as published. It seemed forever, eventually to happen for the timing. Then it finally happened, eventually came about, the fanfic is complete and hell yes I eagerly dived into it. When PH was uploaded to fimfiction I was simply overjoyed, as google docs is different for reading. Now I am playing Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas in part because both Fo:E and Fo:E - PH made me want to play the games again so damn badly.

Who knows what will happen when Fallout 4 is released. And congratulations on working on the standalone game Somber!

I can see from Chapters 22-23 this is when Blackjack's actions become much more.. questionable by ten fold and up to debate. I can only imagine how much debate will spawn because of Ch. 33..

I await the next chapter very much, looking forward to it being uploaded but there is no rush. Typos..

I wanted a ride and got just that, this is gonna be a helluva ride and just the thing my crazy self needed. Just what I needed.

6461606 It's technically inaccurate. But it's a common thing for people to say, enough that the wiki page for magazines includes, above the contents, "The detachable magazine is often referred to as a clip, although this is technically inaccurate," and Blackjack is a pretty casual person.

Oh god the feels all over, and the burned patch on the cave floor where he roasted the Enclave Trooper...

Friggin continuity up the flanks man!

6472437 It's a common thing for gun-ignorant people to say, those of us who actually care about firearms and being knowledgeable, know the difference and do not mix up the two. If it's merely an IC thing, I could deal with it, but what I saw was the term being used in narration as well as IC speech. However, it seems that Somber cared to fix it - props!

It's too bad this story is over, or I'd say just to mess with people, you should include the Styr M1912 just for fun! Oh, clip-fed pistol, Y U so silly!?

I fell so bad for Doof he didn't deserve what happened to him he was manipulated!

Man, these chapters just get intense and stay that way. And I find myself wondering where FoE proper was when this was being written. I mean, Spike's reveal gives us the time frame, but my main reason for asking is that nagging feeling that Lacunae used to be Twilight Sparkle. (I keep telling myself she was that saboteur in the memory orb, but do I listen to myself? Nooo.) I'm not sure if that's a thing that can happen, to say nothing of "I've already seen it and don't care to again". <.<

But yeah, the memory orbs are really picking up. Who was Big Mac betrayed by? I was shocked that Twilight latched onto Project Chimera like that; and am I supposed to be taking that it's where the Goddess came from? Sanguine I'm going to assume is Doctor Trueblood, or at least someone who was part of the project. And Doof... goddamn, what a hell of an origin story. What a perfect tragedy. I hope we meet Brass sometime so Blackjack can kick her ass. :V

Lastly, I feel like the suicide scene was handled appropriately. Usually, bad authors have their characters wail that something bad has happened and now they must die, but BJ's been building to this for weeks now. And I thought the safety was going to be the sign; honestly, the fact that she's even looking for a sign tells me she doesn't really want to die. But I still think she could do it, given the opportunity. (Also, hot damn, that's like her great-great-great-great-great-great grandmother's bones there, isn't it?)

6778150 Perhaps it's just good luck, perhaps it's due to how I source stories I read, but I don't see suicide that much in ponyfic. Which is a good thing, because it's one of those things that doesn't seem to fit that well with the setting, tone, or themes, so it takes some thought and work to make it feel natural. Fortunately, I find Somber handles the build-up and related emotional states pretty well (thinking also of "Simply Rarity" and "What's Eating Rainbow Dash," if mostly less directly related), and in this case has the added benefit of working in a setting—which can still certainly be done, as I think Somber does it, with a very pony core, even if it's much further removed from the show than something like, say, Chris's "Even in Dreams"—more conducive to suicide generally. Even if you still need to recognize that even in the Wasteland, suicide as a satisfying narrative component takes considerable setup.

6779432
I've seen it a lot in ponyfic, and a lot more in other stuff, and it's hardly ever given the weight necessary to be the serious issue it is.

6779691 Eryap

I have to say I love the breakdown. The sheer weight of sin crawling on her back, earned or not, was portrayed very well and fun to read. Being an idiot, I accidentally spoiled the Doof reveal to myself. Man, so many feels. I've been powering through these chapters and It's been quite a fun ride. I'm still half way through Heroes and Pink Eyes as well. Hell, get started on Murky Number Seven and I'll have the whole set.

I'd say my biggest gripe with the story was the first book felt like a carbon copy of FO:E. It took a long time to become its own thing, for which I am grateful, but it took much longer than it should have. I'm glad the other companions don't follow Littlepip's quite so close; I am really enjoying Rampage, quite possibly my favorite character so far.

Well, I've got a lot of reading to do. Time to knuckle down.

“Unauthorized presence detected. Initiating removal protocols. Surrender immediately and be disintegrated!”

Sounds like something a Mr. Zurkon would say.

This is fantastic.

I'm laughing my ass off here.

Blackjack asked the stars to help her get through the pain.

They gave her a perk that helps her kill things easier.

Fucking brilliant. And no one has noticed this yet.

Started PH last week, and just love it.
I think I know who will be able to use EC-1101, who is Lacunae, though I can't figure exactly who was rampage (two possibilities), and have no idea on who is big daddy.
I still wonder what the PH is about, as we only have seen three of the projects as of now (Eternity, Steelpony and Chimera)
I also have a guess on who Sanguine is.

Can't wait to see how it unravels and if my guess is true or not.

This is great, and I BJ a more interesting hero than 'Pip !

What's this plot hole that your author's note refers to? I've always assumed that it had to do with Lacunae's role in hijacking Blackjack (Blackjacking her...?) before she can gas herself, but it's only just occurred to me to ask.

and with that, the part in Fo:E where Homage/DJ Pon3 says she was having "technical difficulties" is revealed to be really BlackJack accidentally hitting a button. i love it! it actually suddenly makes why Homage went on a quick break make sense. also YAY YA FINALLY MET HOMAGE AND SPIKE!!!

also, two Achievements unlocked:

Surprise Visit
Meet and talk to Spike/Watcher face to face

Learning Something New
Speak with Homage/DJ Pon3

It just occured to me that Blackjack's hallucination is probably Boo. They're both white, and the hallucination is starting to show some individuality. Of course, different gender, so I might be wrong.

Well, I guess I can excuse a shiny red button,” I said as I looked at the robots rolling around.

Yes the big red shiny button

I'm just waiting on what happens to Lacunae after Trixie dies.

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD PLEASE JUST LET BJ AND LITTLEPIP MEET.

You mnow, I too am wondering what happens to Lucenae after Trixie bites the bomb...poor girl. Bless her black soul.

Anywho, I'm more concerned over the...Gardens of Equestria thing.

I can make a guess that its probably another "Project" in the great list of O.I.A. things that Twi just so happened to have control over.

I can't help but wonder, since this story will clearly carry on long after Pips story concludes, if that baby will ever get up and running, and Spike will play a more personal and prominent role in her adventures.

I mean...heck, chapter 38 is the "half way" mark, and I heard chapter 34 is when our Ace of Spades meets the Toatser Repair pony, so I just gotta wonder...you know?

8078760
If i understood the original story the gardens of equestria was only worked on by twilight or atleast her main focus.
7780542
Who the hell is boo?

7893118
They're meeting in my story.

Few ponies can maintain the level of creativity and ruthlessness to keep ahead of us.” She looked away with a momentary scowl. “That one little mare and her friends, however…” Somehow, I didn’t think she meant to mutter that into my mind.

I couldn’t help but smile, wondering who she was referring to.

yep. Littlepip.

“But if you want to learn the hard way, we can have Rampage teach you though the stallion to the head system.”

we can have Rampage teach you through the stallion to the head system.”

We were moving again, trying not to let the robots get a decent bead on us as I did my best to take out the sentries engaged with Rampage.

We were moving again, trying to not let the robots get a decent lead on us as I did my best to take out the sentries engaged with Rampage.

Then I was being knocked do the ground by P-21.

Then I was being knocked to the ground by P-21.

Now I know who to blame Doof for his 'assault' scene, Brass.

The pain, that rolling pain though every fiber of his being, was barely held off as the needle was stabbed into this throat.

was barely held off as the needle was stabbed into his throat.

‘Equestria Military Command Hub: Hoofington. Ironmare Station.’

'Equestrian Military Command Hub: ?

Something that could made the murder of hundreds bearable.

Something that could make the murder of hundreds bearable.

Scotch Tape makes a fine addition to the party, Glory is occupied with the scavenger Blackjack blindly shot, Blackjack meets Homage, uses stealth to talk a stroll away from P-21, find Marigold's? bones, almost kills herself if the safety wasn't on, meets Watcher again, and finds out he is the dragon Spike, and about to see the Gardens of Equestria as to why she shouldn't kill herself and show her something worth fighting for. She took a walkabout for soul searching, and now the Stars help her somehow.

What a full circle getting closer. First comment was on this chapter.. and now I'm back at it finishing up this re-read thing for errors.

8402196

Now I know who to blame Doof for his 'assault' scene, Brass.

Cunt.

We were moving again, trying not to let the robots get a decent bead on us as I did my best to take out the sentries engaged with Rampage.

We were moving again, trying to not let the robots get a decent lead on us as I did my best to take out the sentries engaged with Rampage.

That one's actually right--the order of the "to" works either way, and "get/draw a bead on" means get something in your sights/aim at.

I wept as I looked down at her bones. She’d given her daughter away to save her. How many parents had made that same sacrifice? Who had something they loved so much that it was more important than their own life?

i knew it was Blackjack's ancestor. i blame both my precognition and the fact i have read enough stories that pretty much every plot twist in existence (especially new ones) have become cliches to me. good thing i like cliches.

In the original story Spike was pretty tight lipped about the Gardens of Equestria. Even going as far as not letting anyone but Pip see it out of the entire world of ponies he interacted with - even not allowing Pip to tell her friends about it.

I forget why specifically he showed Pip the Gardens, but it feels a little out of character that Spike would show Blackjack simply as a way to coax her away from the edge of suicide.

This is normally the stuff I expect to come from the Ministry of Wartime Technology, the Ministry of Arcane Science… heck, even Awesome would be up to it. But Image? It’s like a Ministry of Peace weapons program!

I know, right? I mean, if MoP had secretly invented the megaspells that eventually ended the world, that would be one thing. But an ex-clothing-designer turned Ministry Mare wouldn't have anything to do with something so uncouth as an armor design!

I pressed the cool metal barrel beneath my chin. Was this how Mini felt before she died? I took a deep breath and slowly let it out.
I was over. This was done.
I pulled the trigger.

And we begin the chapter with a suicide attempt. No surprise, after what Blackjack just did. She had a few breakdowns before, but managed to push on. Stable 99, however, was worse than anything that happened before. It’s a new low point.

Maybe, for once, I would catch a break, and the chlorine I’d inhaled would finish me off for good.

Oh silly Blackjack, the Wasteland isn’t done yet. It has so much more “fun” in store for you.

Now if she’d only pass by something shiny so I could get a good look at her.
You’re a fucking murderer, Blackjack.

I’m surprised Blackjack is even able to pay attention to anything that’s going on in her current state of mind.

“We fused ponies with cockatrices… ponies with diamond dogs… ponies with manticores and griffins and baby dragons. Baby dragons, Twilight!” he said, turning and pacing, his head still hanging low. “Every fusion was a mistake. It doesn’t matter the powers the test subjects gained; every time, something fundamental was lost.”
“But that just means the research was a failure, Goldenblood. You just missed out on that missing element. If you’d brought this to me sooner--“ she began, but he cut her off with hacking.

Twilight just learned about ponies committing questionable experiments that involved fusing ponies with other creatures, including children of sentient beings. One of them being a baby dragon like Spike. And instead of being outraged or disgusted she more concerned about the results of the research.

This story does a really good job at making me hate the Mane Six. Are we going to learn about the war crimes Applejack committed next? Or how Rainbow Dash was the one who blew up Cloudsdale because she wanted to delay winter and successfully blamed it on the zebras?

Couldn’t whatever malicious and depraved being that was in charge of the universe just let me die?

I’m afraid not. Somber is a cruel god.

The ponies of 99 were doomed; nothing I could have done would have changed that. But when it was my hoof activating the gas, I’d damned myself. It’s tragic for hundreds to die. It’s murder when it was my actions that caused their deaths.

As Blackjack herself pointed out, the alternative was to lock the door and let them kill each other while they lowly starved to death. Using the gas was probably the most merciful thing she could’ve done.

She’d lied. Lacunae, or the Goddess, had lied to save my tail.

Lacunae (or the Goddess) has done the worst thing she could’ve done by lying to them. Blackjack is suicidal. Her friends need to know that to keep a watchful eye on Blackjack to prevent her from doing something stupid.

“Why the hell do I need to learn all this stuff again?” I heard a filly grouse grumpily from the next room. “I mean… who cares if a ghoul is a zombie or not? They sound disgusting!”

Scotch Tape is awfully nonchalant about the fact that everypony she knew has been killed and she now has to live of the surface with a bunch of strangers, including the pony who’s responsible for their deaths. Yes Scotch wasn’t happy in Stable 99 but it was still the only home she knows. Complaining about Ghoul lesson is last thing she should be doing right now.

Maybe it’s her way of dealing with the grief. We’ve seen in Homelands how everypony in Stable basically told Scotch to stop crying about her dead mom and man-up.

“Go for the eyes, Tape. Go for the eyes.”

Someone is a fan of Baldur's Gate, I see.

He turned towards me a little and stretched out a hoof… paused… and then drew it back with a shameful look. “Because… Because I just had a stable full of ponies I honestly didn’t care that much for die, and I’m barely holding it together. Just… they’re gone. And they were pretty shitty to me, and I still feel bad they’re gone.”

I expected him to be sad about the stallions. But the mares? Many of whom only saw him as sex toy with legs? That was unexpected!

Also Kudos to him for getting Blackjack to talk about how she feels. He knows that she’s putting on a brave face and wants to make sure she’s really ok. Proving again why he’s Best Pony.

“No... I think she’s a little too old for that.” Okay... tiny bit reassuring, more than just a little creepy. “I’ll keep her safe. I promise. I won’t... slip... again.” She'd better not. I was already suicidal.

Glad that Blackjack was able to remember Rampage’s Blackouts. Still I wouldn’t trust her word alone. Even if she think’s Scotch is safe, the group doesn’t know what triggers her episodes. It’s best to not leave her alone with Scotch.

I did something terrible. I don’t remember what, or why, but I remember the shame. The horror. I know what you went through when you closed that door on your friends. And I know… how much it would hurt your friends if they realized just what you tried to do.

The most traumatized Alicorn of all joins Blackjack’s group. Why I’m not surprised? They really are a therapy group. A therapy group with no oversight who does self-medicate and has access to a full stocked weapons storage.

Whoever had turned on the power hadn’t anticipated turning on the security, because turrets were lighting up and more sentries were activating from their hidden nooks.

I’ve noticed that every chapter in this story has at least one fight scene. Most of the time it makes sense but sometimes it feels like they have been added just to have a mandatory action scene in each chapter.

“It was a shiny red button. How could we not push it?”

I’m glad Rampage wasn’t part of the group when they liberated the slaves at Brimstone’s Fall.

I sunk to my haunches, laughing, hugging the hot metal tube to my chest. Missile launchers. Loud, noisy, smelly, and fun!

Who knew that blowing up stuff could be so therapeutic? Or maybe she finally snapped completely, is going to add some spikes to her armor and starts her own Raider gang.

Scotch Tape sat next to me, staring in shock as I hugged the tube, unable to stand. I sobbed as I did all I could just to curl the ends of my lips up. “I’m sorry, Scotch Tape. I’m so sorry I killed our home.”

Well it was good for all the thirty seconds it lasted.

“We’ve been thinking about the cannibalism and the mindless loyalty the disease fosters…”

I feel the cannibal disease just does whatever works best for the plot. Sometimes it turns ponies overnight. Other times I takes days or weeks. Sometimes it makes them blindly loyal to whoever is in charge. Other times I doesn’t – like when Daisy had Blackjack kill the Overmare.

And speaking of the Overmare, how did she got infected in the first place? We can rule out bites and intercourse as ways of transmission, because otherwise P-21 would be turning into a Raider by now. And I doubt they shoved infected food down her throat.

Just a little family scavenging unit scared to death of being trapped in raider territory, and who’d shot first without the benefit of an E.F.S. to let them know I wasn’t hostile.

It’s his own fault that he got shot, so I don’t really feel bad for him. Especially since the story has established that Raiders are easy to recognizes. He really has no excuse for being so trigger happy and should call himself lucky that he did survive three headshots from Blackjack. Usually that results in me adding another one to her body count.

“I don’t know,” P-21 said quietly. “I just don’t know. Goddesses, I need her. Her and her stupid quest… it kept us going. Now that she’s falling apart, I don’t know. Try to find a life in Megamart or Chapel… or something.”

How ironic! In Stable 99 P-21 was a rebel. He refused to be a good breeder who accepted his fate and let them retire him once his time has come. Instead he spent a great amount of his time plotting his escape. Then he miraculously succeed and now he doesn’t know what to do with his live. So he’s sticking around with Blackjack because her quest gives him a purpose. Probably also the reason we he was so easily swayed by U-21 earlier and went along with his plan to capture Blackjack. He’s not leader but a follower and is somewhat scared of being one his own.

Perhaps Twist might have kicked his ass. She certainly seemed capable. Like she’d usually be capable. But she was drunk and tired. It wasn’t good. It wasn’t fun. It didn’t feel nice. And eventually, she simply stopped crying and fighting and everything but enduring.

That escalated quickly!

Not sure what to make of Doof. One the one hand it’s obvious that he’s a rather-simple minded pony who got tricked. On the other hand he REALLY should’ve know that what he did was wrong and stopped immediately. So I don’t really feel like he’s just a poor victim of bad circumstances.

“We’re experimenting on how to make a better, stronger pony,” a mare said softly. The black earth pony looked down at him in contempt. “As you might understand, it’s better to experiment on a worthless piece of scum like you before we give the Steelpony treatment to real soldiers.”

They decided to pick a convicted rapist for their experiments and turn him into angry cyborg with guns attached to his flanks? Did they also come up with a way to control him or were they hoping that the angry cyborg with guns attached to his flanks would just do what they want when asked nicely?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9ZOxyj1OUk

It’s also awfully nice of them, to let him keep his original penis for no reason whatsoever. Shouldn’t that be the first thing they would’ve removed just to spit him? Turning a rapist in angry cyborg and letting him keep his penis, sounds like a perfect receipt for disasters.

“Let’s simply say that, with that program, I will be able to create and explore new evolutionary paths otherwise unrealized. We tasted a sip of it during the heyday of Chimera. Just a sip of the possibilities. Twilight Sparkle succeeded, despite all odds, and the alicorns are just one possible path. I want to use the Wasteland as my canvas and explore the myriad possibilities of pony evolution!

Finally we got a glimpse at Sanguine. The next villain and pony behind Deus. Feels like this was long overdue, considering we know almost nothing about him and you couldn’t really feel his presence in the story.

“You’ve touched so many, Blackjack, in the things you’ve done. I know you don’t feel like it, but every time you keep fighting the good fight, you’re making Hoofington a little better. And if Hoofington can get better, I really think there’s hope for the Wasteland as a whole,” Homage said as she scrubbed her eyes.

Blackjack finally meets Pon3 and it was surprisingly well-done. Especially the part where she showed Blackjack all the good she has done so far. And it’s honestly a lot of good. Defiantly more good than bad.

He looked at me with a thin smile. “Well, there’s not much point to kicking a mare who’s beating herself down already. Where’s the fun in that?” he asked, then looked at his cards. “Don’t kill yourself… you know it’s wrong.”

Awwwe Dealer, you hid behind your cryptic card games but deep down you care. You just don’t want to admit it.

“Blackjack?” asked a tiny metallic voice behind me. “What are you doing?”
Slowly, ever so slowly, I turned to look at the bobbing spritebot. “Watcher?” I whispered, my voice cracking.

How awfully convenient for him to show up just when Blackjack was about to kill herself. I hope it’s not just a coincidence but Homage somehow being able to contact him and told him about Blackjack's state of mind.

He slowly stood once more and started towards the back of the cave. “Why don’t you come with me? You need to see something.”
“What?” I asked as I followed.
“The thing that may someday save Equestria.”

And we’re back at the part where somepony (or in this case somedragon) drags Blackjack out of her hole and helps her overcome her grief so she can push on. Until the next disaster happens and she’s going to be miserable again. It’s really a never-ending circle.

Blackjack’s On-screen Body Count: 142 (Second chspter in which Blackjack didn’t kill anything except robots.)

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Something that I completely forgot to mention:

How awfully convenient for him to show up just when Blackjack was about to kill herself. I hope it’s not just a coincidence but Homage somehow being able to contact him and told him about Blackjack's state of mind.

I pressed the gun to the side of my head, leaning back this time. I clenched my eyes shut, my magic increasing on the trigger. Then I opened my eyes for one last look at the poor, sick world before I left it.

Stars.

The hole in the cloud was no bigger than my hoof, and only a dozen or so stars twinkled softly in the night.

Only a fool would demand power of the stars.

“Please…” I said as I stared up at that gap in the heavens, at those tiny winking jewels in the sky as tears ran down my face. “Please… help me. I need something. Anything. Anything that can make me bear this.” My gun trembled as I begged the heavens for something to stop this. To give me a reason to go on, a reason that I could live with. Something that could made the murder of hundreds bearable.

Considering that you read Homelands* before this, I expected you to catch it.

*I have never read Homelands.

(Also, please release the next episode comment soon, I really want to read your reaction to the next chapter's first scene.)

Who is the dealer. What did he mean by the way things were before? I'm still trying to process Blackjack leaving her group. It just feels like she's completely lost even to the point where she wanted to kill herself. That's scary man

i think im missing a huge plotpoint here, how come BJ and the others havent been infected by the virus that turns ponies into raiders?
she's literally eaten a heart before, surely she would get infected and become a raider by now?

Good chapter but the doof being too stupid with Twist leading to the rape was a tad too silly.