Ah, the last chapter in the story to have a positive vibe!
Seriously, I can't recall a single "nice" chapter after this. It's all going to hell after this one.
Fitting, since this isn't in Hoofington. Hoofington is Hell.

She sighed as she let me go, then narrowed her eyes at me. “Now… what’s this I heard about you kissing my marefriend?”

I blinked. “You’re… you mean you and LittlePip are…?” Wait! That actually happened? I jumped back. “I… she… I mean she was… you know… she was looking and I was… you know… and she… we… I…” I waved my hooves before me. “I’d never… had I know… I mean she’s cute... and all… but… ah…”

Homage arched a brow coolly, then smiled. “We are and she did and she is. And I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to use that kiss for some fun tonight.” Then she looked over at Glory as she trotted towards us. “I’m just wondering if she knows about you kissing on my LittlePip?” Glory’s purple eyes suddenly turned cold as she looked at me.

Oh shit… “I… merp… jah shek…you… gah…” I struggled as the pair of mares just stared at me.

Then Glory looked at Homage. “There’s only one thing to do, isn’t there?”

Homage nodded gravely. “There is.” This was it. I was gonna die.

Glory and Homage stepped closer… their eyes locked on me… and then both smiled in immense satisfaction and lightly smooched each other on the lips. At which point something in my brain burst and I fell over in a heap, twitching. The pair laughed as they trotted away, talking about evening plans and how silly LittlePip and I were.

Hmmm… Maybe…

Then that thought was lost as Scotch Tape pulled away and I fell flat on my face… not because my brain didn’t know how to work my legs, but because one of my legs wasn’t there! The filly was trotting away with my right foreleg in her mouth; how the heck had she taken the thing off?! I scrambled back up on my three remaining limbs. “You bring that back!” I yelled as I staggered after her.

“Come and get it, Queen Stubby!”

Bwahahahahahahahaha! And the second quote even had a picture to go with it! That is hilarious!

I chuckled as I stepped closer, and instantly her ears perked in alarm. “It’s too bad though. I know I’ll never forget discovering such a wonderful kisser,” I said, giving her flank a nudge with my own as I trotted past and out the door, looking back at a little unicorn inventing whole new shades of red to blush.

Again with the kiss!?

I trotted around a bit more. I talked with Calamity about the finer points of Wasteland cuisine. My eyes were a little glazed over after listening to Glory and Velvet make medicine talk, and I made my way over towards Xenith. The zebra mare looked over at Glory. “So, you are with a mare as well?” When I nodded, she simply shook her head. “And you two, do you try for the record as well?”

“Record? What record?” I asked with a little frown of confusion. Calamity trotted up and Glory looked over, her ears twitching.

The zebra looked coolly over at the littlest unicorn present and said, “I believe the number is thirty-three?” LittlePip’s eyes went round and she immediately blushed.

“Thirty-three…?” I asked in confusion.

“In a single night,” Homage said with a smug smile. Thirty-three… Oh!

“One night?” Glory asked with a flush. “I’m not sure that that’s medically possible...”

“Hmmmm… that could be a challenge! Hey, we could turn it into a contest!” I said, and Homage grinned in delight. I looked at the gray pegasus. “What do you say, Glory? I’ve got an itch in my nethers, a non-stick hoof, and these things!” I said, popping out my fingers and wiggling them.

Glory and LittlePip stared at us, perfect copies of one another, jaws dropped and cheeks flaming.

“Sweet Celestia, there’s two of ‘em,” Calamity muttered, pointing his hoof at one and then the other as P-21 stared at us in disbelief, “Which one’s Lil’pip again?”

“It’s like looking in a mirror,” Velvet murmured.

The pair looked at each other, looked back at us with a scowl, and shouted in perfect unison. “S- Shut up!”

I am about to die of laughter! I am so thinking of writing this scene in my sidefic without complications!

“I can’t believe she survived being put through a wood chipper,” LittlePip murmured. “Is Hoofington like Freakytown Central or something?” But then she spotted Homage and started to look concerned. “Homage? Are you okay?”

“Sure. Absolutely,” I said with a wide grin.

Homage nodded and smiled. “Mhmm.”

“Hey LittlePip…” I gave my slyest grin. “I just couldn’t help but notice that Homage likes mares… and Glory likes mares… and you like mares… and me, well I think the three of you are the cutiest darn trio of fillies collected in the Wasteland. And, as I recall, Twilight once owned a book called the Zebra Sutra. Not suggesting anything. Just saying…” I grinned as lecherously as possible.

Xenith looked at the little unicorn and one-winged pegasus and observed curiously, “I did not know pony hooves could blush.”

I..I can't stop laughing! This chapter is full of laughing that I almost want to die by laughter!

“Well…” Homage said with a mysterious little smile as she pushed the button and the doors slid shut. “Best make it a night worth forgetting.”

And then the kinkiness just grew tenfold!

And this one black unicorn wanted me to say you were a horrible influence.

Ahhh bad influences, sorry Velve

I needed to learn how to get my body to work and focus of that.

on that ?

in Tenpony converted into a cheese shop

cheese shop, you say?

Not suggesting anything

A-huh

You gonna be able dip them into

to dip ?

See… the Blackjack express would arrive… eventually.

Eventually!

“Ponies worth fighting for,”

Cue the song! And reference to "A Mare Worth Fighting For"

Everything goes to hell after this? Goddesses dammit. Of course it does. And I need to actually stop reading to plan things so I can read some more tomorrow, super useful fimfiction says how long in total words a chapter it to estimate when I'll be done reading them.

Ooooohohoho, so we can think it was either Gloryjack or all four?
...
...
Personally, I like believe it was all four the image in my head is gloriously delicious~

Awesome chapter man, awesome chapter well done!
GAWD! Why four chapters?! D: why do this to me ;n;

nice job dough

For the record, Somber, I really liked the work you did with 34 and 35, despite that they were a bit controversial to some people.

with a note from Twilight to my own ancestor, even.

Least she knows Marigold is her ancestor now. Wonder if she will ever go back to visit that skeleton on the shore. I am not sure if the made the connection then. Would be a nice sentiment to bury her.

The Enervation rings weren’t just in Hoofington.

Ok, who would put this there 200 years ago? Was it part of Twilight's designs or something had gotten to Roseluck?

I wouldn’t have survived as a brain in a jar. Nopony could… not with their sanity intact.

Uh oh... I like the zony too...

Scratch my last. Blackjack and Homage are the true terrors of the Wasteland.
His has been added to my favorite chapters, probably the new #1.

This was a hilarious chapter, especially with the teasing and blushing.
Now things are going to go down hill, aren't they?

Why is it that emotional attachment makes dirty things so much more disturbing?

6637618 YES YES THEA ARE

I could kill them. I could kill them all. No court in the Wasteland would convict me…

img09.deviantart.net/fefa/i/2012/037/1/4/morning_after_by_mistermech-d4ouoco.jpg

Glory and Homage stepped closer… their eyes locked on me… and then both smiled in immense satisfaction and lightly smooched each other on the lips. At which point something in my brain burst and I fell over in a heap, twitching. The pair laughed as they trotted away, talking about evening plans and how silly LittlePip and I were.
Life Bloom trotted up. “She certainly is quite the odd mare, isn’t she?”
“Something like that,” I said with a sigh, shaking my head. Evil was more my thinking… both of them.

orig00.deviantart.net/8f39/f/2012/040/6/e/temptresses_by_mistermech-d4p5g52.jpg

Don’t you dare! You’ll make her all sticky!” Velvet protested.
“Oh, we do that just standing here,” Homage said as she trotted up and glanced back at where LittlePip was taking a drink of punch, her eyes locked on all our rumps. She gasped, choked, and fell over coughing and sputtering.
“You are evil,” I said in blind admiration, chuckling.

Lil' Pip is after dat booty! All she needed were a pair of Sunglasses and a certain look on her face. XD

And then everyone at the party was like...

I agree, everypony. I agree.

Goddammit, Somber. God fucking dammit. :B

7109482 7113005
Ah, the dangers and benefits of writing all over the place (also, I suppose, long chapters). More room to hit something bad, more room to recover. And you really do like kids tormenting Blackjack, don't you? :V What are the odds of that showing up in your crackfic? On which note, regarding Velvet's part in that, how is getting drunk off your ass when there aren't even any kids around, or even awake, being a worse influence than directly teaching a kid to enlist children's help in being a meddlesome/petty revenge-seeking asshole?

7116756
If you're referring to what I assume you are, handling it the way it was strikes me as a better move in the context of PH as an ongoing serial and as it existed at the time than as a part of the completed story. Well, that's fanfic for you.

7111280 7117017
Has Somber been replaced by a chatbot? The answer may surprise you!

7117914
The scene referred to in the author's note's Note from Hinds?

I truly enjoyed this chapter! For once there are happy and funny moments in a place where everything outside is horrible which is the typical wasteland.. only too bad LittlePip doesnt remember ANYTHING from it :(

you’d think 600,000 some odd words would be enough to tell one story.

1.1 million words later, he's done.

7555013 you know. that actually makes sense and would explain quite a bit.

That scroll room.
Than robo Owlysious?
"Mistress"!?

Yup, there's no discounting it, she is totally related to one.
Or maybe a princess?

Now I am satisfied in knowing what Memory Orb #8 really contains.

Well done Somber. Well done

7111280
Lawl.

...why do I suddenly feel like p21 and bj are related?

8621847
Well, I mean, they are from a community of 500 that's been closed off from the rest of the world for 10 generations, so... exactly how close is probably the operative question.

She might still be twilights kid.
You might have to touch the door with your flesh in order for it to recognize you, and if you remember, she only touched it with a METAL hoof.

“Well…” Homage said with a mysterious little smile as she pushed the button and the doors slid shut. “Best make it a night worth forgetting.”

Well, it appears that Orb 8 had a couple more participants than originally thought...

media.giphy.com/media/FoUHKTJhoQU6I/giphy.gif

8624595
She opened the door in the Athenaeum. Where Twilight's most treasured possessions are.

8624595
But she's not a smart pony sometimes. Also it might only respond to the magic of twilight mind, and blackjack couldn't use magic for the door.

And the twilight society pretty much doesn't expect it to work anyway.

8702336
Some body did something sneaky. Some sneaky blue pony.

This chapter is... bad. It's such a fanboy dream, that's actually embarrassing to watch.

No way I’d ever be heading to Thunderhead any time soon.

"Famous Last Words" activated.

Trouble in skypony-town in 3... 2... 1...

One of my favorite chapters in the whole story.

9972197
Is it like literally every other comment you did in every chapter

Very fun chaper, I've been hoping all chapter that it would not go out of character, and I was not disappointed. I wish there was even more interaction between the books, but I know what we got was already a lot (personally I expected them only to meet in that operation room or not interact at all with just BJ eavesdropping). The teasing jokes are always great. But I am a little comfused on when did glory stared teasing BJ. Overall it all worked out without any major plotholes, good job

8637720
I dont know what type of arcane magic is the fact that i can hear a gif

Didn't anybody notice Twilight's owl calling Blackjack mistress?

I remember reading this story back when it was still being published. But I never ended up reading the final chapter. I wasn't sure what was gonna happen, so I wanted to wait for a good time. Then time slipped away from me. So now I'm rereading it all, so I can remember everything. I'm excited to read how it all ends.
Love this story

I kinda feel like teasing about them realising they are actually meeting the stable dweller and security feels a bit awkward, especially in the prior chapter where some topics wete brought up, but never captured on. I feel, because of this, that they might have realised, and it was purposefully kept ambiguous, but the message of it is seriously lost to me.

Also, would I be wrong to believe that the door didn't open for her because she had used her metal limbs rather than a part of her body that could magically genetically read?

“Friendship City,” P-21 said. “She sort of fell under the same rule as Rampage. ‘Raider activities’.” And who knew how far away that was? The idea of being stuck here was starting to creep up on me. I hated waiting. I needed to do. To act. To get things done. Otherwise, I was going to start thinking.

Oh no!!! 😱

Then that thought was lost as Scotch Tape pulled away and I fell flat on my face… not because my brain didn’t know how to work my legs, but because one of my legs wasn’t there! The filly was trotting away with my right foreleg in her mouth; how the heck had she taken the thing off?! I scrambled back up on my three remaining limbs. “You bring that back!” I yelled as I staggered after her.

I didn't think they were even detachable

“So, Blackjack, are you hungover? Do you need me to talk louder? Hey, Blackjack! Can you hear me now? Blackjack!” she shrieked as she shook me hard

The Green One can be a real menace.

And this one black unicorn wanted me to say you were a horrible influence. That was mean, but she gave me a whole bag of candy to tell you really loud, and Glory thought it was a good idea too and she gave me three Sparkle-Colas and Blackjack!

derpicdn.net/img/2012/7/2/28144/thumb.gif
It’s great to have friends like these.

Homage made her apologies for the DJ being out at that moment.

At first, I was surprised by this line. Then I remembered that Blackjack is the only one who knows the true identity of PON3.

Lying would be saying I’m awesome and ignoring the fact that I’ve gotten ponies killed. That I’ve murdered… so many… who didn’t deserve it. If there were a guidebook for messing up, I’d be the author. And no matter how much I try to tell myself I’ve paid the price and I’m even, the honest truth is that I’ll always be a murderer.

While I’m happy that Blackjack isn’t shrugging off everything that happens to her, this attitude and her whining is slowly but surely getting on my nerves.

“Someday, you will know the truth. Someday, you’ll know what it’s like to live without hating yourself.”

If only.

“You’re… you mean you and LittlePip are…?” Wait! That actually happened? I jumped back. “I… she… I mean she was… you know… she was looking and I was… you know… and she… we… I…” I waved my hooves before me. “I’d never… had I know… I mean she’s cute... and all… but… ah…”

Considering what happens later in the story, Blackjack’s behavior in this scene makes no sense. She shouldn't understand why kissing Littlepip mare would be such a big deal for Homage. For BJ love and intimacy are two different things that have nothing to do with each other. If she knew that kissing somepony else's lover is bad, she wouldn't have done what she did later.

Although I now have this scene in my head where Blackjack is making out with the bat pony but has to tell him repeatedly not to kiss her to avoid upsetting Glory. Followed by her later trying to calm down Glory by telling her that they did kiss during their four hours sex marathon.

Glory and Homage stepped closer… their eyes locked on me… and then both smiled in immense satisfaction and lightly smooched each other on the lips.

When did this turn into Project Horizons – The Porn Parody?

“Shut up!” I said as I rose to my hooves. “Trying matters. Even if they failed, there’s something in making the effort. It’s better than giving up!” The six cards returned to his hooves.

Really Blackjack? Really?

I bet if Homage or Glory or Littlepip or anypony else has said that to you, you would still reply with: “Making an effort is not enough. I should be better. But I failed everypony because I’m not the Stable Dweller.”

I guess it finally happened. I no longer care about Blackjack.

Not because of her recklessness or her sometimes stupid behavior. That made me angry from time to time but I still could like her because of her other qualities.

No, what made me finally dislike her, is the constant self-loathing. It like some sort so masochistic narcissism. She has to the be the worst! Nopony else is as horrible as she is. Nothing she does matters.

There’s no progress or development. Every chapter seems to have at least one part where Blackjack is thinking about how terrible she is and how much she fails at everything. Then somepony tells here that isn’t true and that she did a lot of good. Which she completely ignores because she wants to be the worst.

Is it realistic? Sure! Is it fun to read? Not really. I’m not looking forward to the next 43 chapters of the Blackjack monologuing how horrible she is.

“That place is a deathtrap! Anypony that’s been there knows it.” I looked at one of the three. “Did she mention anything about Enervation fields sucking the life from you?” I looked at another. “How about a plague that turns you into a cannibal? Or the wars and fighting?”

My thoughts exactly! I got immediately suspicious of this pony when she told others how easy it is to make a fortune in Hoofington. This place is hell and every reader of the story knows it.

“They sent us out… Friendship City… New Appleloosa… here… told us to tell folks Hoofington was rich and safe and… and...” She jerked sharply, whimpering and holding her gut. “Said to tell everypony… Hoofington Rises…”

Someone is luring more ponies into this hellish city on purpose. Not sure what’s the plan but it can't be good.

Everypony backed away except for me as I looked her over. Her stomach was undulating under her hide. Then there was a pop and her insides burst in a red rain all over us.

Whoever is behind this even had installed a magical kill switch in his agents.

Still why not use ponies who are actually from Hoofington as your agents? I’m sure there are plenty of poor, desperate ponies willing to sell their own mother in exchange for riches beyond their dreams.

There, sitting quietly in its unsmashed case, was a silver ring about the size of my hoof. Just like in the back room of Silverstar Sporting Supplies and just like the ring that had been tossed at Lacunae during the battle. The Enervation rings weren’t just in Hoofington. Suddenly, I had the feeling they were in a whole lot more places than just Hoofington.

Wow, I certainly didn’t expect that.

Somepony is smuggling artifacts that are causing Enervation fields out of Hoofington. Probably the same one, who's trying to lure ponies into Hoofington. If Blackjack hadn’t discovered it, it may have been slowly contaminated Tenpony Tower, killing all the inhabitants.

“It can’t be generating Enervation,” Helpinghoof said as he stared at the silver ring on his desk. “Enervation is a phenomenon found only in Hoofington.” Life Bloom had arranged our release and now my friends and I had gathered in the office.

Not yet. But maybe it can be spread to other places. Would explain Blackjack’s apocalyptic vision of a future where Hoofington had “consumed” the rest of the Wasteland.

They were making sand art. Art… from colored sand…” Her tone left no confusion at all about how she felt regarding that little enterprise. “I told them the only sand I ever played with was in a high pressure nozzle stripping rust and old paint from parts.”

Poor Scotch. I can feel her pain. This sounds incredible boring.

Her thing is, that she had to grow up fast duo to her mother’s death and had to act like an adult, even if she’s still a child. So, I can see why she’s upset about everypony acting like she a child and sending her to school. Kinda reminds me of Threnody who also had to act like an adult at early age and wants to be threatened like one. I wonder if she and Scotch would get along.

I didn’t relish the idea of hoofing it clear across Equestria with a Reaper and a purple alicorn anyway.

Actually, it’s going to make travelling across Equestria a lot easier. Most ponies don’t want to mess with an Alicorn or a Reaper. Even less want to mess with both of them in the same group.

Somehow, Goldenblood stole staggering amounts of materials, equipment, and arcane supplies for an unknown and unapproved project. Several sub-projects were carried out right under Twilight’s nose, some in this very tower, under the pretext of purifying magical waste or nullifying magical radiation; she had no memory of approving their development.

I still don’t get why Goldenblood had to be so heavily involved into the creation of the GECK. He already had his hooves in some many other things. Why take that one away from Twilight, too? Instead of her laying the groundwork that could save Equestria’s future it now was all Goldenblood’s doing because without him it would’ve been impossible to create.

Apparently, it was designed to restore Equestria in the event of magical catastrophe. The mere implication of such a catastrophe was intolerable to Princess Luna. How dare her subject suggest imminent destruction would claim the kingdom?

This and her letter to Twilight make it really sound like Luna was one step away from turning into a full-blown tyrant.

Could it not be tasked with expanding and enriching the Wasteland with more radiation?” She asked it very matter-of-factly, but suddenly I realized why ponies dedicated themselves to fighting alicorns.

I like how Lacunae talks about committing genocide like it’s no big deal. Really underlines how horrifying the Goddesses’ plan truly is for everyone not part of the Unity.

Luna was standing in the middle, looking like she was struggling not to cry. The faculty flanked her, and a hundred or so unicorn foals smiled at the camera... save one who was levitating up the pigtails of the filly beside her and a pair of colts down in the front row poking each other with sticks.

This has become really funny in hindsight after the airing of "A Royal Problem". An episode which had Luna possing with a group of foals for a photo, but failing to keep up her smile.

Unicorns learning magic. Studying. Meeting in clubs. And in the middle of it all was Luna. Luna smiling. Luna teaching. Luna looking happy and useful and loved.

This really show that Luna would’ve rather remained a teacher instead of leading a whole country. The added pressure probably wasn’t good for her.

There were pictures of him with the Princess, the pair talking and laughing. A picture of him lecturing a filly with a mask cutie mark who was trying her hardest not to laugh as Luna made faces behind his back. A picture of the Princess drawing a mustache on his face in black marker as he slept. ‘I need you,’ she’d said to him as he lay dying in the hospital. He’d been more than just Luna’s political advisor… He was Princess Luna’s friend.

And just like Luna Goldenblood never really wanted to be put in charge of a ministry and was perfectly content with his life. But when Luna was appointed as new ruler, he followed her out of loyalty and friendship. Very similar to the Mane Six. Basically nopony – not Luna, not the Mane Six, not Goldenblood – wanted the responsibilities of leading the nation during the war. But they all kept going because they didn’t want to let others down.

I really like this part of Goldenblood’s story. It makes him a lot more relatable. Thinking about it, my real issue with him are Spike's speech about how great he was and his involvement with the GECK. Without these two scenes and I probably would like him a lot more. So, I hope we get to see more stuff like this over the course of the story.

Had it been Littlehorn that changed him?

The would be neat little parallel to Hoofington itself. A Zebra attack turned a peaceful city into a fortress whose sole purpose was to invent new ways to kill Zebras. Another Zebra attack turned a ordinary, happy teacher into the cold leader of the OIA who did some pretty shady things to help Eqeustria win the war.

While most zebra tribes are friendly, if odd, one must take care to avoid ‘star touched’ tribes. The term describes tribes that have dabbled in dark and forbidden magic or performed horrible crimes. The most infamous, of course, are the Starkatteri, or ‘Eaters of the Stars’, tribe, whose dark tales of ritual sacrifice, flaying the skin off still living prisoners, profane rituals, and other dark deeds have become the stuff of trashy adventure tales back home.

They also tend to be very grumpy and should be kept away from Zencori at all costs.

Interesting that this entry mentions star touched tribes in the plural. As if there was more than one, while according to Homelands the Starkatteri are the only one. This can probably explained as a mistake of Sundancer due her lack of knowledge.

Others, like the Carnilala, engage in disturbing sexual practices and self-mutilation.

They also make pretty good sitcoms.

The Carnilala as they appear in Homelands are defiantly not a aren’t star touched tribe. Maybe Somber originally planned to have more than one cursed tribe? Again this can be explained in-universe with Sundancer being foreigner who misunderstood certain things and assumed the Carnilala were also cursed.

Maybe she never met any Carnilala and only got second-hand information from another tribe like the Logos who hadn't a good opinion of them. And the self-mutilation could be explained with the symbionts we saw in Rice River.

Still, it’s funny to read about this stuff and compared it to Homelands.

“Well somepony’s got to have the big ideas,” she replied firmly. “Besides, I thought you were all about helping the surface.”
“Ah ahm,” he replied. “But sendin’ down some healin’ supplies and takin’ some food back ain’t helpin’. It’s flirtin’. There’s no way yer gonna do more than that.”
“It takes time. You can’t just do it all at once,” Glory protested.

Yes, Celestia be praised! It happened! I was really hoping these two would talk about this. Two Enclave ponies who both want the same (helping the surface) but pursued different paths to do so.

I spotted Scotch Tape seated next to a giant green flaming bird.

Everypony else has already a conversation partner, so Scotch is stuck with the bird.

Then there was a loud sizzling squawk, and the three of us turned back to see Scotch with a ripped open RadAway pouch in her mouth and a smoldering, not-quite-flaming bird dripping orange fluid.

I love how well Blackjack and Scotch get along. It’s almost like they’re siblings. With Blackjack being the irresponsible big sister that encourages her to be prankster.

“In a single night,” Homage said with a smug smile. Thirty-three… Oh!
“One night?” Glory asked with a flush. “I’m not sure that that’s medically possible...”

And people say Project Horizons has an unhealthy obsession with sex.

I know I tease her… sometimes I think I’m absolutely horrible to her. But it’s only because the alternative is crying and begging her not to leave. I know she has to. She’s just like you; she has to do things. Save Tenpony. Save the Wasteland. Save me. I’m just scared that I’m going to lose her.

I don’t know how in-character this is for Homage, but it’s written incredibly well. Showing a softer, vulnerable side to the happy-go-luck DJ who oozes lewdness.

I just couldn’t help but notice that Homage likes mares… and Glory likes mares… and you like mares… and me, well I think the three of you are the cutiest darn trio of fillies collected in the Wasteland.

Everyone knows that if you’re gay you are obliged by law to sleep with every other gay person you meet.

“Hello,” she said telepathically, making LittlePip’s mane stand on end.
“Well so nice to meet you! Goodbye!” she said as she turned, and I caught her.

derpicdn.net/img/2012/7/2/28144/thumb.gif

To be fair, Littlepip had plenty of bad experiences with Alicorns. Unlike Blackjack.

“Yes, others. It’s not like it’s just ponies out there! What about zebras?” Xenith looked at Lacunae with that steady, imperturbable gaze.
“They are… not us. We cannot... We do not know…” the purple alicorn started to stammer.
“And griffins?” suggested Calamity. Doubt flickered in Lacunae’s eyes. “You just gonna kill ‘em?”
“We would rather... it is not... you don’t understand...”
“And hellhounds?” Velvet Remedy asked as she joined in as well. I blinked at that and Calamity groaned softly. Weren’t hellhounds some kind of monster? But then, weren’t alicorns?
“And dragons?” asked Rampage. “I’m pretty sure there’s still a few of those around. You gonna be able to dip them into Unity as well?”

Thank god! When I read the first part I was really worried this was an attempt at making Littlepip feel guilty for all the poor, poor Alicorns she killed in self-defense. Nice to see them pointing out the huge flaws in the plan of The Goodness.

“And you have a plan to stop her?” Lacunae asked as I saw, for the first time, tears in my friend’s eyes. LittlePip stood there for the longest time and then gave a single jerky nod. Lacunae gave a small smile as she closed her eyes. “Good.”

Lacunae disagreeing with her Goddess. That’s some interesting character development here.

Glad that I’d met LittlePip and Homage. There were good ponies out here… ponies who wanted to help and be friends.

I knew I wasn’t going to like this part but at least it wasn’t as bad as I thought. Yet it still leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

“And then my OC meet the main characters of Fallout: Equestria and they had a hewt lesbian foursome.” is something I would expect to see in a really bad fanfic, not PH. Why was it necessary for them to have sex?

And why did Blackjack had a foursome with two strangers about two days after she was gangraped, mutilated and almost died? Sure, the story tries to explain it shortly afterwards, but I don’t buy it. I would’ve expected her to need some times before she’s okay with having sex again.

This all just feels cheap. Especially compared to all the previous sexual interactions in the story.

They didn’t beat me, Glory. If they had found Scotch… if they’d touched her… I would have been destroyed.

It has been implied plenty of times now, that if these stallions had found Scotch they would’ve raped her. With Blackjack you can “rationalize” the rape with them wanting revenge. Still fucked up and horrible but at least there’s a motive. But raping Scotch is even worse. Not only have they no history with her, she’s also a lot younger. Making them not only rapists but also pedophiles.

Which again, makes letting them go on the honor system a terrible idea. If we did that in RL, it would be a disaster.

“Because you won’t!” she said in my ear, muffling herself with her mane. “You matter to me, Blackjack. You matter… you matter to so many ponies and you… you died! You were hurt! You… sweet Celestia, why are you so convinced you deserve to suffer? You paid for 99, okay? You’ve paid for everything. So why can’t you accept that you matter and it’s as wrong for you to be hurt as it is for Scotch or me or anypony else to be?”

Because that would mean character development and why have that when we instead can get 40 more chapters of Blackjack’s hating herself for not being perfect?

“The professor said they had to let him retain his penis. Seems kinda stupid, given what he did…” I murmured softly. “But Glory… what we did together… it was the first thing I’ve really done that made me feel like… like a pony.

I’m sorry that I ever wondered why he still had a penis way back in Chapter 1. This question has now been answered more thoroughly than I ever expected.

Until I’d had sex, I hadn’t realized what a fundamental need it was for me. It was the last little bit of my flesh and blood equinity.

Being a Cyborg makes you horny. So that’s the explanation why she turned from a Pony with normal sex life into a sex addicted.

I looked at all my friends, new and old, and smiled. “Home.”

So Star Hous, I guess?

Blackjack’s On-screen Body Count: Still156

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This chapter was a mixed bag.

The interaction between the cast from PH and FO:E, including Littlepip having a “friendly” talk with an Alicorn and Homage admitting to Blackjack that she’s afraid that’s going to lose Littlepip was great. So was the glimpse into Goldenblood’s past. Always nice to see a more normal Goldenblood, who isn’t stealing the spotlight from everypony around him. The scene where Glory cried for Blackjack was also cute in a weird way.

On the other hand, we had stuff like the unnecessary sex between the main characters that felt out of place. And of course, Blackjack herself. I still like the story and I still want to continue. And hopefully I’ll be able to sympathize with Blackjack again. But right now, I can’t stand her and her constant whining about the same thing again and again.