Chapter added couple seconds ago : great chapter :D

And this is when I first caught up to the story, way back in January 2012. Damn, it's been a while...What a hell of a place to catch up to, too.

Fitting song for the battle on the Celestia up to when BJ fires Folly:

And immediately thereafter until the end:

Next up is 33.

Oh.

Well, fasten your seat belts. It's gonna get loud in these comments...

Goddamn it Blackjack, you fucking idiot! Dx Only you would have the fucking luck have have a battleship dropped on you.
Oh lordy... I've heard... things about 33, god just saying the numbers gives me chills...
Ol 33... lordy, will I get through it!

I SHALL ACCEPT THIS CHALLENGE!
Fucking brilliant work Somber, legit saucy!

I didn’t want to spook them and start off the shooty.

the shooty look ?

Of course Folly shot straight down!
Fuck. Is this where things fall to pieces..? Hmm only one way to find out.

Up next Ch. 33

And. Here. We. Go.
i.imgur.com/GgZ1c1x.gif?noredirect

Blackjack!! I can only imagine how hard Glory screamed when the Celestia sank with Blackjack on it.

Had Trottenheimer been exceptionally poorly endowed or something?

Well... that's one hypothesis.

What the hell is this stuff? Wingdings?

F̴͠͡ó̵̕͜͝ớ͘͜t̵͞n̶̡͘͜ó̧͜͡͝t́͜e̕͠:͏̨ ̧́́L̴̀͢͞e҉͞͏̴͜v̴̛͟ę̷̶̴͞l͟͞͡ ̛҉̨u͏̧̕p̨̢͜͡.
̷̵̡͢͠Ę̸̛Ŗ̛͝R̛͠O̴̢͝͏̷Ŗ̢́:̸̵̡͟͡ ̴̷́͘O̡̡U҉̕͡͏T̸̢̧̛̕ ̨̢͠O̡̨͏F̛͝͠ ̶̕͜͢͢B̛̛̀͢͜O̢̨͟͞U̡͏N̡͜D̶̶̸͜S̷̷͝҉̵ ̵̵È̵̢̀͞X̴̧́̕͝C̢̨̢E̴̡̕Ṕ̸T̴͟I̸̛͘͜O̵̡͢͏N̢͟;̶ ҉҉̛Ę̡͜͡Ŕ̸͢Ŗ̛͟͏Ơ̴͝R͢͜҉͏:͞ ̴̀͏̷E̶͜͟S̸҉O̕҉T̸͟E̛̛҉R̴̢̀Į̛̀͏Ç̶̡̕ ̷͜͝L̕͢I̧̛͝͝͡M̸̶̧̛͝I͜҉̷̨͜T̵̡́͜ ̷̛C͘҉̵̢R̴̀I̶̡̧Ţ̕͠Ì̕C̷̷̢̕͘Ą̧̀L̵̛̀

Looks like a bunch of errors and exceptions.

“You’re here for when this chief acolyte commits his sudden and inevitable betrayal,” I replied.

Man, of all the fucked-up monsters Blackjack has encountered thus far, I think the Choir (or whatever that room of living warped pony flesh is supposed to be called) is one of the fucked-uppiest.

Only Rampage could bathe in fire.

Yep, don't mind her. She's just walking out of the explosions like its nothing. XD

Wait? I stared at the rad readout as I watched the needle visibly rise! Lacunae groaned, her eyes closed with an expression of bliss and a blush on her cheeks.

Radgasm

Stronghoof and Lacunae. An Alicorn and a Steel Ranger. What a love interest XD

Yes! Captain Thrush and the Seahorse crew return! And I hope Capri and Pisces are alright...

Bad luck Blackjack there at the end. Only she could fire Folly straight down.

I finished this chapter directly before going to work yesterday and didn't have time to say anything about it. I'm trying to power through chapter 33 today, since I won't have any more time for another week.

The Choir hits new levels of perfect, tragic body horror. It's the kind of thing I want to rip off and turn into an SCP.

Stronghoof x Lacunae 4eva

I'm glad Scotch isn't taking well the revelation of what they did to her. I'm also pretty glad that Blackjack took responsibility for it.

P-21 is still tsundere as fuck.

It was good seeing the Seahorse crew again, even if the circumstances weren't the best. I couldn't help thinking that breaking out of the brig wasn't the best way to ingratiate themselves to the Elder. That said, I liked Crunchy Carrots immediately, even if she did nothing but possibly die. You're doing a good job keeping the imagery non-visual after she loses her eye, and that carries over into next chapter.

My big horrible thought is where did the shell hit? I mean, I'd assume they were aiming at where the battle was taking place, but I'm not willing to trust that assumption. I just hope it's not Chapel. :(

6831024

I was mostly just finger-wagging over it anyway. :V

You mean, like with humor and levity and frivolity? What makes you think that kind of thinking is appropriate to apply to this story? >:V
Is it things like everything involving Stronghoof, or Suddenly, BDSM, or how funny or silly things happen regularly? Because if so, you'd be right to think that. :D

6837238
I liked the Choir. There's even a bit of decent fan art of it, but unfortunately I think it's one of those cases where actually showing it isn't going to do the idea justice. Like horror movies, whatever you imagine and its mutability in your mind is probably going to be worse. If you ever do the SCP thing, I'd be interested to see it.

Stronghoof x Lacunae 4eva

+1. Actually, that probably played a role in my gradual warming to the guy.

I couldn't help thinking that breaking out of the brig wasn't the best way to ingratiate themselves to the Elder.

Yeah, but if I remember things correctly they were playing by a variant of the "you made Fluttershy cry" rules due to the state of the seaponies. There's not much coming back from that.

120mm? that is tiny compare to many of our WWII era battleships or even battlecruisers.

6945850 To them, and their smaller size, 120mm is big...

6945850 That's them talking about the howitzers Steelrain had on his armor the first time, not the Celestia's cannons.

Did she just fall out of bounds... Buck bethseda Fix your games

Okay, I'll be damned if that choir scene isn't stripped from 40K.

Okay, this was an epic chapter. Folley is... amazing. I just wish she wasn't blinded beforehand, because I really want a good visual description on what in the blue hell just happened. Oh well, you sunk my battleship!

~SolidFire

Blackjack used Folly. It was very effective.

‘STLBCKACC’? ‘PRTENGNAV’? ‘RVTEXTBST’?
WHTTHFCK?

This was just perfect.

7795050 I don't get it...
7739861 dude. She just sunk something akin to the Titanic...

Too bad it cost her her last Silver Bullet. I really, really likes those things.

8085216
I think it might have cost her more than that...

“Then they’re smarter ponies than me,” I replied with a smile and kissed her brow. “You know we care about you, right?”

Your exiting 'older sister' territory and entering 'suragate mother' Blackjack. Better be careful!

“You’re here for when this chief acolyte commits his sudden and inevitable betrayal,” I replied.

Curse him!

‘STLBCKACC’? ‘PRTENGNAV’? ‘RVTEXTBST’? WHTTHFCK

What the hell....?

I just wish I could have seen the look on Steel Rain's face when she fired Folly. Better still would be if she'd held onto it. Even without bullets she could have made him wet his armor just by flashing that gun at him. Yeah, fuck your 120mm cannons, that little gun can punch through mountains.

Why in Celestia’s name would any country need so many bullets?

Because, in mass combat, most shots are fired to intimidate or suppress, rather than to hit -- and this is probably even more true among Ponies than among Humans. Security, who is imperfectly educated and one of the purest examples of a "natural fighter" in fiction, wouldn't realize this.

8309184
"WTF" indeed.

6837238
The Choir kinda reminds me of John Carpenter's The Thing. From what I can tell, it's like a bio-mechanical version of the Thing specimen.

When they said it was "the ultimate in science horror", they fucking MEANT it.

Healthy weight for an average size pony is approximately six hundred sixty pounds. Rampage, being a Large Frame muscular thing, would probably be closer to 750-800, not 200.
8309184
Something back access, port engine navigation, something exterior something.

stupid little dysfunctional band of emotional retards

I just realised these talismans are completely ridiculous, especially the ones that make a physical substance like the chlorine one in stable 99, or the ethanol one used in this chapter. Seriously, where are these things coming from, is there a fusion reactor fusing things like oxygen or nitrogen with other elements up into chlorine. And rampage is even worse, literally regenerating her entire body from nothingness. E=mc^2. Creating the mass of rampage from scratch would require the energy of a few dozen nukes. Whatever, It’s just a story, I can deal with it.

Also, a battleship is a ship, not a boat. So technically she still has had only 1 boat dropped on her.

8910014
Talismans=MAGIC
*snort snort

8910014
You're reading a story about magical talking ponies, and you're worried about physics?

8910014
Different world. Different physics.
They literally use magic.

8910014
You literally just read blackjack using a pistol strong enough to blast that massive hole in a battleship and she held that in her hand. But you're worried about the earth's physics? What are you on mate?

“You’re here for when this chief acolyte commits his sudden and inevitable betrayal,”

His will be an evil laugh.

Limbs, legs, head, fangs, hooves, stingers… the arrangement might be odd, but in their own way, they made sense.
This… this didn’t make sense.

I finally figured it out. This isn’t a Fallout/My Little Pony Crossover. It’s a My Little Pony / Call of Cthulhu crossover. Blackjack is just your usual investigator going slowly insane. Suddenly everything makes a lot more sense! Here almost killing P-21 was a side effect of the sanity lose because she's almost at zero.

“Stop it, please!” I begged. Then things got worse.
It stopped.

How polite of it. This is the point where I would suggest to run, but that would be smart. So it’s not want Blackjack is going to do.

Now I watched in fascination as the blade cut the silvery metal with ease. Unicorn magic pulled it apart. “Blackjack, we have to go. This is fucked up. We need to go now.”

Rampage, find something heavy, hit her over the head and then drag her out.

Scalpel had detected the taint in me days after I’d fired Folly at Miramare. After firing it in the factory, I’d been told by Triage that my taint exposure had jumped once again… I’d been killing myself with every shot of the superweapon.

This also sounds awfully familiar to what happened to a certain grey Unicorn from another story....

Still, no complaints from me. That’s a really good twist and there was some very subtle foreshadowing right from the beginning. Sp it's like like it came out of nowhere.

“She is not a child of the other choir. Imitation. False. Forgery. Manufactured. She babbles her own tune and will be undone. She is not a true choir. Nor is your friend there. Isolated. Separated. She cannot join us.”

Interesting. Another “Goddess” . Created in a similar way, but different. Explain why it knows about Trixie and the Unity. They can feel each others presences.

I felt like I was going to… give birth to something. It was going to claw its way out of me; turn me inside out. I wanted to take her ripper and tear myself open. Get it out! Get it out now!

This is getting real gross.

“That’s it. Panic never helped anypony,” the Dealer said softly as he trotted out in front of me to stand beside Rampage. “Now. I know you can’t speak, but you can think. So think about this thing. What is it? What does it want? What is its weak spot? Everything has at least one.”

Early Dealer is weird. Giving actual useful advices all the time instead of trying to be cryptic with his cards.

I felt my insides spasm in response, but the song of dozens of ponies in a little chapel filled that pit… and I could almost see Priest as I listened to his majestic music.

First thing that came to my mind when reading the title was the choir in Chapel, but I didn’t expect it to play a role in this part of the story.

The horrible scream faltered, with some voices babbling curses or hissing in pain. My PipBuck continued to play the swelling music made by Priest, Medley, and all the other ponies in that little knot of hope.

The power of Celestia compels you!

Not peace from violence, but peace from this horror. I slowly stepped towards the wall. “I’m sorry,” I murmured as I looked at those bright and pained eyes. “I don’t know how to help you…”
“You have,” a mare said quietly as the rest hummed the melody. “You have, so much. You reminded us of what we were… what we should be.”

This began as another horrifying encounter with one of the many, many, many abominations lurking in the dark corners of Hoofington. It’s a very horrific scene with Blackjack being close to become one with the choir.

Then suddenly it turns from horror to sadness, when the music plays and the ponies trapped in this living hell have a moment of lucidity. Suddenly it’s not longer a monster to be slain but suffering souls that need to put to rest. Within a few sentences the mood of the whole scene changed in an unexpected way.

Only in PH.

“It was being cleaned up.” I stopped and looked at her. “Like somepony had come along and was putting everything back, fixing all the stuff you blasted.”

The mystery of the respawning items continues. *X-files music plays*

For the first time in a long time, I was glad to see that it was raining.

And I’m glad we’re back on track after almost 4,000 words of Blackjack begin a colossal idiot. It’s was not a bad scene. On the contrary. I just wish it would’ve happened in a more natural way, without reducing Blackjack’s Intelligence Stat to 3.

“Anyway… Trottenheimer made these bullets… why, I have NO idea. Apparently, it was right before the bombs fell. They cut one open down in the lab and sprayed everything with taint juice. So… not going to use it again. Bad bad bullets.”

Just like you wanted to never use Hydra again? It’s only going to be a matter of time before you're forced to use it again.

One that killed its wielder? I could see Folly on a tank or as some power armor gun, but it was a pistol! Had Trottenheimer been exceptionally poorly endowed or something?

It’s an extremely powerful weapon than can be wielded by a single pony. You can kill a dragon or a whole army with one shoot. Put it into the hooves of a trooper willing to sacrifice his live (or one who doesn’t know about the side effects) and you get a weapon than can win a battle with a single shoot.

My hide had been white before, but now my legs were piss yellow and there were ugly purple bruises at the ends of my hooves. I saw a little growth poking out the side of my fetlock.

This story leaves nothing to the readers imagination when describing all the grotesque cancer tumors inside and outside of Blackjack. Probably shouldn’t have read this three minutes before lunch.

Sweet Celestia, somepony shoot me if I ever did that again.

A bit to late for regrets now.

I was going to die. But… if I was, then I wanted my life to mean something. Something to make up for all the ponies I’d hurt and killed. It wouldn’t be enough. It would never be enough. Something to atone for the pain I’d caused all my friends.

She already did a lot of good in the short time she was on the surface. More than most ponies could do in their whole live.

“Well, lookie here, Crumpets. Reaper spies, if ever I saw some!” a mare said, her voice amplified by the speakers of her power armor and echoing down the side street she was trotting up.

Wow a lot of assholes among the Rangers. I know the Brotherhood of Steel aren’t nice people, but usually they don’t go around executing random peoples.

You don’t kill ponies to save ponies. Security saves ponies. And I was still Security.
I suppose that also meant that I was a damned idiot too.

They are also trying to end this conflict peacefully and the Rangers are more likely to listen to her, if she doesn’t start killing them. Even when they are assholes.

“…but either way, you’re fucking dead!” she shouted, and I sighed. Sorry, Fluttershy. I wanted to do better. I tried...

Not your fault. The only alternative would’ve been to let Ms. War Crimes slaughter a bunch of innocents.

“Shooting her?” she whirled on Shrapnel. “Are you daft? She’s the heroine of Hoofington! She’s fought things I can hardly imagine! Why, half of us agreed to come to your aid because of her! And you want to shoot her?”

Okay, I really want to hear the story behind this. Why would so many Steel Ranger travel to Hoofington just because of Blackjack?

Paladin Sugar Apple Bombs Stronghoof picked Shrapnel up, armor and all, and pointed her to the south. “I am immediately assigning you to accompany us to the battlefield to help defend our order! I am pleased that you will fulfill this commission to the best of your ability!”

I really like this guy. He certainly knows how to assert his authority.

Give yourself up to him and request to see the elder. While he shares some of Steel Rain’s sentiments about technology, he is an honorable stallion.

Sounds like the first Ranger who’s actually acting like a member of the faction that inspired them.

Overall I'm not a fan of how the Steel Rangers are portrayed. Almost all of them seem to fall into one of two extremes: Goody-Two-Shoes (Stronghoof) or outright Villains (Steel Rain). Was hoping for a more neutral faction like the BoS who inspired them. But to be fair, I don’t know much about the Steel Rangers in the original story. Maybe they already had been acting like this in Kkat’s work.

Still, when the Enclave out of all factions, comes across as more nuanced than the Rangers, then there’s something really wrong.

Doubt there will even be any Fillies or Burners after this fight is over.

Oh no! How terrible!

Looked like we’d have to go down… and that was never a good direction in Hoofington.

At least this time there’s a good reason for it.

“By messing with my mind?” she yelled, glaring at me. “Were you planning on taking away that battle just now too? Or how about destroying my home? How about killing everypony I ever knew!” she shouted in rage. “How about Mom dying! Why didn’t you take that memory away, Blackjack?!”

Ouch! But she has a point!

It wasn’t Blackjack’s decision to be made. Only Scotch had the right to decide whether or not she wanted to keep these memories. But nobody even bothered to ask her and instead they did what they thought would be the right choice.

Then my sword went through her eye, and I looked up to see the handle gripped by P-21. He shoved it deep and twisted hard, the tip digging into her brain and making her spasm and jerk.

At some point I want P-21 to actually pick up and gun shot somepony or creature that is attacking Blackjack. Just to show how far he has come since the beginning of the story.

“Well, that’s what you are,” P-21 snapped crossly as he rose to his hooves. “If you were in 99, you would have been best friends with Daisy. I bet you would have hit the breeding queue every second you could.”

Who did piss in his cereals to make him this super-bitchy?

And you! Why don’t you just accept facts? It’s over, Blackjack. You’re dying. She’s crazy. Scotch is helpless. Glory is hopeless. The sanest damn one of us is the damned alicorn! Rampage wants to go? She should go! We should all go! Do you really think we’re going to hang on together once you die? Carry on your great quest? It’s time to face the fact that we’re done.
And nopony is willing to admit it that this… this… stupid little dysfunctional band of emotional retards is doomed! I’m sick of it!” he said as he hissed his breath through his teeth and looked at me miserably. “Why can’t we just go home? It’s better there. I didn’t have to see… everything in the Goddesses-damned Wasteland hurting you.”

Well he’s not wrong. They are all messed up and Blackjack is dying while all he can do is helplessly watch it happening. God, I want to give him a hug.

It’s sad that the group is still a bunch of strangers only hold together by Blackjack. We’ve followed them for 32 Chapters and there’s still no friendship or close bound between them. It’s a shame because it would be interesting to see, for example, Glory and P-21 becoming friends who care about each other.

A person a lot better than I am once told me how to make up for getting Scoodle killed.

In hindsight this has been a really bad idea. All it did, was put the fix idea in her head, that she has to sacrifices herself for the sins of the whole Wasteland.

And I’ve made mistakes, P-21, and they’ve hurt ponies who never deserved it.
Scoodle.

Yeah that’s 100% your fault.

Those foals.

Not a mistake. Just two bad options. Kill them or keep them trapped inside theses pods forever.

Clover.

Who was Clover again? I really can’t remember. Some many people did in this story.

Those zebras.

Again, how could you’ve known that Lancer was going to kill them? You only got vague mentions from the Crusaders how the Remnants are bad.

99.

That was one Rivet, who was more focused on being the next Overmare and preserving a corrupt system than listing to your warnings.

Hoofington Rises.
It was painted on the wall in bright red letters. The author lay in a pile of bones beside the message, paint can between its forehooves.

If I was a character in the story and had witnessed everything they did, I would turn around, run back the way I came from and not stop until I’m back at the surface. Because at this point I know this is the first and only warning sign before the real fucked up shit happens.

I opened it just in time to see a crackling green fireball being flung right at us!

Okay, what’s it going to be this time? My money is one three ponies stitched together by a mad scientist, fused with a flamethrower to serve as living weapon, who constantly screams about having to kill the Zebras.

“Invaders!” roared the undead unicorn. “Die, you striped bastards! You won’t take us without a fight!” The ghoul’s voice barely reached me over the sounds of battle.

Hey, I got the Zebra part right.

EC-1101 Routing information> Fluttershy Medical Center, Hoofington.

It will be interesting to see how that place turned out after Blackjack solved the standoff between the Colligate and the Society.

I told her my plan, and she found a way to make it work...well, up to a point. “Still, this is crazy, Blackjack. What if they just shoot you?”

I have no idea what this plan could be or why Scotch would be the only one able to end this war if Blackjack fails, but I’m intrigued. It may have something to do with a Pipbuck or the EC-1101.

He chuckled dryly. “Oh, so you know that pirate? No surprise. She’s guilty of numerous counts of technology smuggling and other assorted crimes.”

Looks like Blackjack isn’t the only one who had a bad week.

“Catch me on a day when I’m not walking on screwed-up legs, and I’ll show you Security…”

Or just ask Doctor Triage how dangerous an weak and injured Security can be. Best to stay out of her grab range.

There was an uncomfortable pause and then Oilcan said quietly, “The sea ponies. They’re... in a bad way too.”
Seaponies? Oh, shit! “Pisces? Capri?” Somepony had thrown them in here without any water?
“Blackjack…” came Pisces’s whimper. “Please… help…”

Okay now the Rangers are being jerks just for the sake of it. At least it get trigger happily executing defenseless ponies for thinking they are spies. There’s a reason for it, even if it’s fucked-up. But throwing the Sea Ponies into a cell without water to led them slowly dry out is just cruel.

“Eyes Forward Sparkle,” he finished in a grave tone. Then there was a heavy choom as the grenade machinegun blasted the doorway we sheltered in.

Ironically if it had ben any other Paladin the EFS wouldn’t have given Blackjack away. She just had to happen to come across the one she genuinely wanted to kill.

Good thing Steel Rain loves hearing his voice. If he just started blasting instead of talking, Rampage may not have had enough time to react.

“Did you hear that?” Steel Rain’s voice boomed from his armor as he stepped out into the rain. “That was the roar of technology. Of power! It is a sound that will be repeated all across Equestria as we finally take our proper place!”

Something tells me Steel Rain is he’s having a huge boner right now.

As I finished buckling everything into place, I looked around. Then I frowned. This wasn’t going like it should. Now everypony wasn’t just facing the star paladin. Now there were more and more Rangers turning to face the elder. Oh… shit. Why did I suddenly get the sensation that everything was about to blow up?

Usually after the bad guy has been tricked into accidentally making a public confession, everyone turns on him. Great way of playing with the readers expectations and a lot more realistic, considering that he purposely tried to put every Ranger disagreeing with him on the front line.

I was surprised to see Napalm Strike fighting alongside the elder, the other orange unicorn conjuring up sheets of flame and exploding blasts of fire.

Color me surprised! I thought he would be siding with Steel Rain, after their little conversation below deck.

That blood was my eye.

Ouch! Now she has gone blind. Good thing it has been established earlier than Hydra make eyes grow back.

“You finally brought it to the fore. Now we can have a new beginning. A proper future.”

Man this guy sure loves giving speeches about technology. Also so much for every villain in PH having a tragic or symphatic backstory. Steel Rain is a 100 % asshole.

I cracked open the breech and slammed the silver bullet home. I heard the weapon latch and hum as the systems interacted with my PipBuck.

Not even a day and she’s using it again. Not that there are any other options left.

“Something... yeah,” I replied, slipping into S.A.T.S. with practiced ease. I mentally hit ‘yes’ over and over again. Then the tingle of the magic fields wrapping around me. The feeling of immobility.

Hey Steel Rain, you like technology, right? Then you’re going to love this!

F̴͠͡ó̵̕͜͝ớ͘͜t̵͞n̶̡͘͜ó̧͜͡͝t́͜e̕͠:͏̨ ̧́́L̴̀͢͞e҉͞͏̴͜v̴̛͟ę̷̶̴͞l͟͞͡ ̛҉̨u͏̧̕p̨̢͜͡.
̷̵̡͢͠Ę̸̛Ŗ̛͝R̛͠O̴̢͝͏̷Ŗ̢́:̸̵̡͟͡ ̴̷́͘O̡̡U҉̕͡͏T̸̢̧̛̕ ̨̢͠O̡̨͏F̛͝͠ ̶̕͜͢͢B̛̛̀͢͜O̢̨͟͞U̡͏N̡͜D̶̶̸͜S̷̷͝҉̵ ̵̵È̵̢̀͞X̴̧́̕͝C̢̨̢E̴̡̕Ṕ̸T̴͟I̸̛͘͜O̵̡͢͏N̢͟;̶ ҉҉̛Ę̡͜͡Ŕ̸͢Ŗ̛͟͏Ơ̴͝R͢͜҉͏:͞ ̴̀͏̷E̶͜͟S̸҉O̕҉T̸͟E̛̛҉R̴̢̀Į̛̀͏Ç̶̡̕ ̷͜͝L̕͢I̧̛͝͝͡M̸̶̧̛͝I͜҉̷̨͜T̵̡́͜ ̷̛C͘҉̵̢R̴̀I̶̡̧Ţ̕͠Ì̕C̷̷̢̕͘Ą̧̀L̵̛̀

Blackjack? Blackjack! Blackjaaaaaaack!

Blackjack’s On-screen Body Count: 155 (+1)

(General Shimmerstar was insane, but he could still talk and form coherent sentences. So, he gets added to the count. Even if it was a shared killed between Blackjack, Glory and P-21.)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I’m going to talk a bit about Scotch Tape.

She’s the most useless member of the team. She’s not a powerful, minigun-wielding Alicorn. She’s not an immortal warrior with Deadpool’s regeneration powers . She’s not the worst security pony of Stable 99, who can effortlessly dispatch dozens of Raiders and go toe to toe with Rad Dragons . She’s not good at picking locks, hacking terminals and blowing up things. She’s not good with energy weapons and can’t use her medical knowledge to save Blackjack’s life. All she can do is repair stuff. It’s like having Sulik, Vic and Cassidy in your party and then chose Myron out of all available people for the last spot. *

And I’am really happy that she’s in this story. Among all this powerful, highly-skilled individuals Scotch is refreshingly normal. Having someone in the group who can’t contribute much in a battle and needs to be protected by the rest of the team is something new.

There's also to recurring theme of her being upset that she’s threatens like a child instead of an adult. Despite still being a child. A smart, competent child, but a child nonetheless.

Totally unrelated to this story, but I think it would be interesting to see a reverse of this situation in Homelands: Scotch, now at the same age as Blackjack, is temporarily accompanied by a young Zebra foal. Then at some point she has to tell the Zebra foal to stay behind, while she goes somewhere really dangerous, despite the foal’s protests. Basically, allowing her to see things from the perspective of the adult and makes her understand why Blackjack tried to protect her so much.

*I wonder how many people will understand this comparison.

There was a spark of wires coincident with the beep of the computer, and both declared simultaneously ‘Done!’ before glaring at one another. I smiled, closing my eye and shaking my head as I stepped to the door.

Hehe father daughter bonding time! 😁🤣

At this point how much more can Blackjack fuck up her body. Jesus, she has cancer, lost one eye, and had to wear braces to even wall. Not to mention everything exploding around her

Sweet Celestia, full of grace. Dearest Luna, our song embrace.

This hymn was beautiful.

Then it exploded. Of course it exploded! I couldn’t take a dump without it… okay, I could. But still, this was ridiculous! At least it wasn’t a full-on blow-off-my-hooves explosion. Really, it was just a flash and pop that sent the silver bullet one way and the stone the other. Me, I was flat on my back in the middle listening to my PipBuck screech.

Wait? I stared at the rad readout as I watched the needle visibly rise! Lacunae groaned, her eyes closed with an expression of bliss and a blush on her cheeks. I was getting almost twenty rads a second; the amount was dropping fast, but… holy shit! “RadAway, gimme!” I shouted as I dug through my saddlebags. “Everypony, drink some if we have enough.”

Oh, so while balefire is a magical nuke analogue, this is a literal nuke. Well, more literal.

Stronghoof straightened and put his helmet back in place. “Once, long ago, we served at the behest of Applejack, not to wage bloody war but to defend this land and its people. We’ve strayed from that noble origin and allowed ourselves to grow petty and covetous.” Shrapnel gave a sour snort, though, with a half dozen others watching raptly, I couldn’t see her trying something. But then Paladin Stronghoof turned to face her. “Yes, Shrapnel. There is more to being a Ranger than power armor and oaths to follow orders! Behind both there is an ideal, a calling to not simply be stronger than our enemies but better as well! A standard for others to look up to. Can you say that you hold to such a standard, Shrapnel?”

I hope he survives long enough to found the Hoofington contingent of the Applejack's Rangers.

Pisces and Capricorn lay on the floor. Their scales were cracked and flaking, their skin split and bleeding. Their fins had dried out and stuck to the floor. Capri was unconscious, maybe dead. The pink seapony was partially glued to her sister. They needed water, badly, and whatever pony had thrown them in here like this needed to die.

SHOO BEE DOO! SHOO SHOO BEE DOO! But who do the sea ponies call upon when they are in distress? Blackjack 'n Friends, of course! I love that these two were not just a one and done cameo.

Funny, Glory … went my very last thought as I was pushed deeper and deeper into the frigid waters… only a pony with my luck could have a boat dropped on them… twice…

How terrifying it must be to be blinded in the middle of a fight for your life like that. It would be so easy for her to just give up and die then. But she doesn't. She just doesn't quit.