Woowee, things are getting intense already. So I finally found out who Shujaa is, and it looks like Blackjack now has a title for the zebras... Maiden of the Stars huh? Also fuck that doctor for literally causing a genocide with zebras!

Demoman: Boo!

Yep what he said. I wonder how things will go from here on out now?

Whheeeeeeew lordy lordy BJ... mmm mm mmm... nothing like insanity to make the day better 8'D
HAHAHAHAHA
I'm so sorry.

Nice job!

One of my favorite chapters. Blackjack going berserk is a sight to behold. Incidentally, it was what inspired me to come up with this:

The lavender Flash Filly unicorn levitated a beam rifle at me as she backed away warily.

Twily clone.

I gave a careful shake; oh, ow. Bad movement with a skull fracture.

Would it fracture or bend, being metal and all?

Funny, you’d think a pony would notice a great, big, black plug of stone.

My mind added "butt" somewhere in here.

That Rampage would he here with a snide comment

You mean hilarious

I was sick to death of getting ponies killed.

And she punched Blackjack, hasn't shot her. So we don't know how long Bluebelle will live.

She will be flesh and steel, touched by the stars and chosen as their champion. Where she travels, chaos and strife will follow

Except the stars are good, least according to dead Blackjack's narration.

“Damn…” Bluebelle snickered and leered at the zebra. “I’m getting moist right now just hearing all this.”

No Bluebelle, you are not Rampage's replacement.

“Right. So why are you following us again?” I asked as I started down the stairs.

SHE CAUGHT THE CRAZY!

I rolled down to land on my back in the first floor offices.

Didn't they fall into a basement of corpses?

The clear fluid solidified seconds after it left my throat, freezing to her horrified face in a mask.

Ok, that is pretty funny.

Because your alternative is to join the Harbingers, and they really piss me off!

Too bad Blackjack doesn't remember the death dream. Would make everything so much more clear.

Well, Blackjack is going insane... more insane and becoming more deadly as a result. Though still enough of her is left to let a pony she recognizes live. Listening to a Two Steps from Hell playlist was fun with this chapter.

Blackjack...
What r u doing...
BLACKJACK.
STAHP.

That Rampage would he here with a snide comment, or Scotch would say something that made Glory stammer so cutely.

"would be here with" (spotted from Fourpony's comment)

I really didn’t four others against me, too.

I really didn’t need four others against me, too.

I pressed my head against the cool metal rail, letting a stream of water patter down on my it.

it? / my head?

(Not falling for the abbreviation quotation mark thing again if I can damn well help it moving forward.)

Then, after I did so, I stomped the terminal into electric scrap and threw the mess at to the obnoxious portrait.

at the

No, I wanted the blow the whole camp to the moon.

No, I wanted to blow the whole camp to the moon.

Freckn' hell I am well immersed in the story but the noticed typos and errors here and there drag me right back out to point them out that I spot.

So Blackjack is the Star Maiden huh? A whole lot of foreshadowing going on that I cannot discern from. All those flashbacks and memories resurfacing must be painful. Especially the no touchie one.

BLOODY HALL Blackjack :{

Blackjack at her most violent.
orig13.deviantart.net/7706/f/2012/112/1/1/blackjack__s_rampage_pt_1_by_mistermech-d4x5kx2.jpg

Somber, I've read the story from start to finish on Google Docs, and I love it all the way. Amazing fic!

However, I have this sillyish question that's been bugging me for a while now, related to the Reapers, and I need to ask you. We know that the Top 1 is Big Daddy, while others such as Psycho, Deus, Rampage, Gorgon, etc, are in the Top 10. But, what I wonder is...what are their exact rankings? Which is Number 2? Number 3? Fourth place? And so on.

Thank you for all the work you've done with Horizons. It was quite a ride, and I wish you luck on all your future works! ^^

On the plus side, Blackjack didn't have alcohol with her this time. I'm pretty sure the Hoof would have exploded if she had.

Slowly I made my way to the door back into medical, then up the stairs. Behind me I could hear the soft hoofsteps of the living and the dead. We were leaving. Celestia help anypony who got in my way. I stepped into the night rain; the lightning blasted overhead and the thunder rolled through my blood as if the elements themselves had finally seen this blight, this sin… and roared against it.

Yes blackjack let the rage consume you.

and as for the other ponies i know candle wick didn't have power armor but did anyone else imagine him with flame painted t-60 armor and bluebelle as a big mac sized mad muckin

Phoof. o.o What a chapter this was. a ride from start to finish, probably the best one yet. Which means it's time for disembodied unicorn head rape!

So yeah, this "blame vs. responsibility" conversation is one of the better ones that've been in this story. It's honestly not a concept I've seen explored before. I don't know how much sense it makes on the outside, but internally, seeing BJ start applying it, it works.

I was just thinking that having her friends go off and recuperate was actually a really good idea. One unkillable pony is enough per story, kthx. She's really going nuts, though, and it seems like being mostly inorganic is taking a toll on her state of mind besides.

It's also great because we get tons of new characters. :D I liked all the gangers she teams up with, and the fact that she teams up with them at all. I like how Dazzle gets what she went through in that scene where she's trying to kill Candlewick. I liked Busted Heart's heroic sacrifice and the fact that they'll be singing songs about him, for lack of a better phrase. I really like Bluebell. (BoomBell OTP you'd better not kill them off you fucker) And getting to learn more about Rampage was good, too. Nothing I didn't like here. :)

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Getting and keeping her shit together isn't her strong suit, no doubt about that. But what did she learn wrong from Arbu, and what should she have learned instead?

Re Psychoshy, it might be that it's been a while since the heavy referencing/show quoting with her. More character, and a more serious tone. Granted, it's not exactly hard to empathize with not seeing much point in one long term when they're pretty lost themselves. Maybe she just instinctively knows she belongs in "Blackjack's deadly Wasteland therapy group." :V

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Blame vs. responsibility is a fine follow-up to thinking about Arbu.

You really sure there's only one of those in this story? :V

One of the side effects of having set up all the different themed gangs (and having visited at least the Flashers already) is that it shortcuts the process with new characters: the Flasher, the Halfheart, the Burner Boy, those mean something and setting up someone as one of them gets you a not-insignificant amount of background right there. Gotta say, BoomBell was never something I was looking out for; still though, found this chapter had characters where ships got built.

7170318
I take her reaction to Arbu as "Littlepip is killin' dudes, so I should too! :D" Of course she has no way to know what actually happened there, but I think a sobering reflection that even heroes like LP can fall might have been a more reasonable response. Not that BJ's one for sobering reflection. :B

6645679 sorry for the late comment. The third mark is there as an abbrevation ("Of course -> "'Course) and as such is not an error !

i was already wondering when BJ would spit her bit and go bat-shit crazy.. her sanity held on longer than i imagined

Blackjack has lost any semblance of sanity that she may have had. On the other hand though, she's beyond terrifying in a fight if she gets like that. Overall damned good chapter, with the Harbingers attacking and BJ learning a bit about the gangs in the Hoof. Very nice. That's not even mentioning the expanding backstory on good ol' Rampage. Shujaa's past is more known, so that's awesome.

~SolidFire

Maiden of the Stars and a Reaper. you know, that discription actually fits Blackjack quite well. and i dont doubt she's a reaper. her mom shoulda just named her Grim. cuz dang she one deadly pony

CELERY!

Anyone else getting the distinct feeling that that sword corrupts its weilder?
And dang...what a beat down. I've never seen her go so off the hinge.
And to think its all Lighthooves' fault.
It's not, however, his fault that she almost killed Glory's sister.

Holy Shit, when Blackjack gets pissed off, i doubt anypony (even Littlepip) could stop her.

8094245
90% that sword is singing the song of death.
I actually ran a game with a similar theme to the stars. Wishing on a star often gives you what you request, but rarely what you want.

Slowly, I made my way along the stone span, which had clearly been molded with unicorn magic; the whole thing was virtually seamless.

Rereading again. It couldn't be solid. Bridges have expansion points so they don't break in changing weather conditions.

A little late to the party, but so far I am in love with this story, and can't stop reading it. One little line that a lot of people may not get the reference to I had to chuckle at. Blackjack was entering the Highlands, where the Highlanders live... and there was an even that caused the Quickening.... Obvious Highlander film reference!

One of blackjack most brutal moments, and once again a chapter that did a bit of everything and all of it well.

At first I was like 'Whoooooa look out or you'll cut someone with all that edge', then I was like 'oh shit -I'm- getting cut now gad damn!'

The stallion with the missiles growled, “You think we’re stupid ‘nuff ta think yer stupid ‘nuff ta just trot down here ‘cause yer curious? Ain’t nopony that dumb anywhere!”

Well yes. Her curiosity hasn't killed her yet

I live for these moments in fimfics... rip and tear Blackjack, rip and tear.

Rip and tear til the deed is done, Blackjack.

“If we run into a… ah… mob… anytime soon, I’ll be sure to send them towards Withers. Maybe the Boneyard ghouls can eat them,” the blue stallion said as he packed away the armor. Certainly a major score for him.

Major score, Indeed. They have no stake in this matter, yet are willing to lie to a bunch of armed cultists to help a stranger.

I had… and beyond, I could see the bow of the Celestia poking from the water. The Ironmare Naval Base was a scorched ruin; the Reapers hadn’t held back in administering a punishment befitting the crime. I’d been responsible for that, too. And over there, past the refineries and industrial buildings, I could see the Flash Industries building where I’d almost lost Glory.

Blackjack really left an impact on the Hoof. She’s been out of her stable for maybe two or three weeks and already changed the place. For better or worse.

“Responsibility isn’t ‘not screwing up’. It’s answering for the consequences of the actions you commit. Accepting the punishment for them.”

Aren’t you supposed to help her Dealer? Because right now you are doing the opposite of it. Blackjack is already a lovely bundle of self-loathing, repressions and inferior complex. Last thing, she needs right now is someone telling her that she should be punished. What do you propose? That she kills herself? That she lets someone else kill herself? How’s punishing her supposed to make anything better?

“Not everything, Blackjack. The corpse remains. And if it remains, it can be held responsible,” he said.

You have a pretty unhealthy obsession with revenge Dealer.

I don’t think she realized that she should stop shooting when her guns were pointed at her allies... friends... heck, did Harbingers even like each other?

They are a bunch of strangers who recently joined together to be part of the “Let’s-try-kill-Security” club with a fancy name. That said, if you spent long enough with a group you eventually going to make some friends. Or leave/end up death.

“I don’t want to kill you idiots!” I yelled at the still-alive ponies lying and groaning on the bridge as the thunder growled overhead. “Leave me alone and stay out of my way!” I doubted that they’d listen... but maybe one would. Maybe that would be a pony I wouldn’t leave dead on the bloody road.

Blackjack’s On-screen Body Count: 166 (+ 1 Harbinger. Only the mare she shot with her revolvers is confirmed death.)

Again, I like how Blackjack tries to avoid killing unless it’s absolutely necessary. Hopefully some of them actually do listen. Almost dying can make one reevaluate your life choices.

Time for an interrogation. Blackjack has ways of making you talk… Of course, mostly they involved me crying and begging, but still… ways.

Remember Minty Fresh, Blackjack? Sure, there was crying and begging, but not from you.

“These are Dazzle and Busted Heart.”
“Flash Fillies and Halfhearts?” I guessed.

These gangs are petty chill towards each other. I would assume there was more fighting between them for territory. Especially after the common threat of the Steel Rangers is gone.

“You’re a Highlander, right?” I asked.

Good thing Rampage told Blackjack about them just a day ago.

“I don’t wanna fight you… good one, Security,” she said as she sat up. “Ya got me with that one.” My head was tumbling like a punted top.

Impressive! Bluebelle fought Blackjack to a draw . Blackjack has cybernetic upgrades while Bluebelle is just a regular pony. If all the Highlanders are like that, they are truly a force to be reckon with.

“Aw, come on, Security. Let me light your fire! You got a swee--” And then he patted my butt again. That was as far as he got before I whirled and leaped upon him, powering him back into the wall.

Clearly, he’s not the brightest candle.

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Okay he didn’t deserve to be almost choked to death, but he put his hoof on her flank and made lewd comments after she told him not to. And he knows she’s a badass responsible for the death of two Top Ten Reapers. What did he expect would happen? I’m sure every other Reaper not into rotten flesh would’ve responded violently, too.

A part of me didn’t care. A part of me wanted him dead. He’d touched me back there. He’d made me remember it! Made me feel it again! I should rip off his undead head and…

While probably a realistic reaction from Blackjack, I still don’t like the fact that we have multiple rape victims whose trauma made them more violent.

I’m also glad that Blackjack isn’t going to shot any male who looks at her funny and still has enough self-restrain to not try to murder anyone flirting with her.

They weren’t fighters; they looked like Flank refugees given guns and shoved through the door. Some fucker had given them all brand new nine millimeter pistols and not the slightest bit of armor.

Either they are a distraction or the Harbingers are firm believers in the Blood Legion strategy of throwing bodies at an enemy force until they are overrun.

“Hold your fire,” I shouted over the drizzle, then stepped out. I had no idea which red bars were real threats and which were these wretched and weak things. I jumped up onto a pipe where they could see me and looked down at them all as I brandished my sword and pistol. “I don’t want to fight you,” I said calmly.
“We… we have to kill you. We have to… or we won’t get into the city,” a unicorn said, then peeked over her shoulder. “And… I don’t think they’ll let us out of here alive if you are.”
“Sucks to be you,” Candlewick said with a grin from behind me.
“Throw down your weapons and find a way out of the other side of the building.” I tried to do all I could to will them to give up. The dirty brown unicorn mare met my gaze and tossed her gun away. A few seconds later, the rest did as well.

Alright Blackjack, I started to hate you during the Tenpony Chapter. But with this scene you really redeemed yourself in my eyes. I don’t agree with all your decisions but I admire you for sparing the lives of these ponies and allowing them to walk away. You are a good pony!

It also shows that the Harbingers leadership truly doesn’t give a crap about their people. They are just more or less useful tools.

The explosion blew out a ten foot hole in the wall, and before the dust settled, a half dozen ponies in combat armor stormed through. Unlike before, these ponies seemed to know what they were doing as they rushed in intent on blowing my head off.

Okay they other were a distraction. Too bad Blackjack did the one thing they didn’t expect: Not killing indiscriminately.
Our enemy was vastly better armed than us and had the numbers, but their imposed uniformity wasn’t enough.
We had harmony... and they didn’t.

The Magic of Friendship: Giving you the power to kill others more efficiently.

“What? We ain’t the Halfhearts. We accept any pony that’s maimed, burned, or just butt-ass ugly and looking to give back some hurt. That’s what burns inside us. Doesn’t hurt we got whole tankers of flamer fuel in the refineries around here. So that’s our thing.”

Raiders attacked his family and burned them all alive. He survived heavily scared and became a Raider who burns others alive. Basically, becoming what he hated the most. Ironic.

“They’re using anti-machine rifles. They’re designed to shoot at dragons and war robots, not ponies. They’re not even using their scopes,” he said in obvious contempt. “They have no discipline. Just big guns.”

With every battle the Harbingers become less and less intimidating. They may have fancy toys but lack the skills to use them properly.

“Then they kill me, and I’ve lost nothing. If I kill them, they lose everything.”
I popped up and, using S.A.T.S., put four more of the massive bullets into one of the unicorns. “Except that if they kill you, you’re dead!”
He didn’t blink or look away. “In the fullness of time, we are all dead.”

The Half-Hearts are truly a gang of emos. I bet they spend their free time writing angsty poetry.

“But… what about the whole ‘you keeping male slaves for breeding’? How is that any different?” I asked with a little frown, and she snorted.
“Why do people keep spreading those stupid sex slave stories? Honestly!” Dazzle huffed. “We don’t. We keep a few males around that we know won’t hurt us. A few others we take for a fling and let them go.

I was going to ask the same thing. That revelation was unexpected but it helps make the part with the captured Steel Ranger feels a lot less uncomfortable.

but the rest of what I’d seen and heard at Flash Industries made me think that Dazzle’s description might be a bit more rosy than the truth.

Good point. We they “caught” P-21 they made their intentions for him pretty clear. I guess they do rape some stallion but are in denial about it. Like “it’s not rape if they enjoy it afterwards” or “they deserved it”. Which would make them hypocrites but that’s not unexpected.

Two weeks ago, the Fillies had been trying to kill me. Now she was laughing about the time I attacked her base.

Wow these are the most chill raiders every. She isn’t angry that Blackjack killed their leader and several of her fellow gang members? Or that Blackjack’s attack severely weakened their gang? The gang who gave her a home and shared her pain after she was raped? No friends or comrades in arms among the dead? I doubt any RL gang member would react that way.

Just image it would be revealed that these three were part of the group that attacked Stable 99. Would Blackjack just shrug it off: “Oh well, lots of ponies I knew died, but water under the bridge, right?” Probably not. So, Dazzles behavior here feels very unrealistic. She should still be angry at Blackjack for what she did.

Burner Boys taking in the ugly and disfigured? Flash Fillies as a refuge for mares who’d been victims? Halfhearters dealing with the pain of loss to stave off suicide? Things had been so much simpler when they’d all just been Bad Ponies. But they weren’t bad. And they weren’t good, either. They were just trying to get by in the deadliest city in the Wasteland. I could respect that.

The Nazis were pretty big on animal welfare but that doesn’t make everything else they did good. These Gangs can care about their members and help them deal with their traumas and still brutally murder someone for an old rifle and twenty bottle caps.

Dazzle, Candlewick and Busted Heart may be pretty cool with Blackjack but that’s because she’s an honorary Reaper and they don’t like the Harbinger. Maybe one day ago they murdered a bunch of people. Maybe a few weeks ago they killed some Mares in Stable 99?

Are they bad ponies? I don’t know, but since they are Raiders I wouldn’t say they are just trying to get by. Brahmin farmers and caravan guards trying to get by. Raiders made the decision to harm others to get stuff they want.

My ears crackled, and the music disappeared. I could hear the groan of steel and the chatter of bullets and the fwooosh of a flamer somewhere. “I give up…” the unicorn murmured in my ear. I turned to her, watching the blood flowing out her mouth.

Nope, not feeling bad for her. Sucks that Blackjack couldn’t hear her, but she brought that onto herself when she decided to be part of Team Kill Blackjack. Not even blaming Blackjack for this, because she couldn’t hear and in the heat of the battle you don’t really have time to wait and see what your opponent does next. Although Blackjack will defiantly blame herself for this for a while.

He reclined amidst a pile of wreckage, eyes closed and lips pressed together in pain as a ton of pipes and metal crushed his hind legs. I scrambled over and started trying to pull the rubble around his limbs away; it was wedged tightly.

Of course, wouldn’t be PH without a tragic death scene to make sure Blackjack doesn’t feel victorious after defeating a small battalion of Reapers with only four other ponies while also saving a few ponies form being used as canon fodder. 😉

He and the tank fired as one, and two new flowers of fire bloomed. The base of the right cannon exploded out in a fan of fire and metal. The tank engine squealed as half its turret was peeled open and gushed flame. The massive mechanical monster peeled back through the wall, and I saw a few red bars wink out as it tore into the open.

That was the most badass death in the whole story so far. Well done Lemongrass. You really went out with a bang.

Blackjack’s On-screen Body Count: 176 (+ 10 Harbinger. Just when I said that there’s a lot less killing, Blackjack starts killing ponies left and right. XD)

“Ponies and zebra alike. Scum that looks at anything with four hooves as a meal trotting around. Hydras and hoppers and giant leeches, too. Radiation and taint and worse… the Quickening.”
Of course. Something worse. Wouldn’t be the Wasteland without something worse. “Quickening?”

I was expecting a reference to the Highlander franchise sooner or later. I was not disappointed.

“It’s never just a rock with you, is it?” P-21 said behind me.
Wait, P-21? I whirled, starting to smile. How had he gotten here? Was he really over the Med-X? Maybe the Goddess had magicked…
Nothing. I stared at the empty yellow grass behind me.

Okay your may have gone fully insane but look out the bright side: You’ll never been alone again. Your imaginary friends will always be with you.

“Checkin’ in on mah brother. He’d been a Reaper once, but I figger he’s dead now,” she said matter-of-factly.
“How do you know?”
“On account y’all are carryin’ his gun,”

What are the odds?

If the Enclave want to blow that building up, it’s because there’s something there worth hiding. If the Zebras want to blow that building up, it’s because there’s something worth hiding. Either way I want to know what it is.

You know Blackjack, your live would be a lot easier if you didn’t decided to check out old, potential dangerous places “just because”.

“You don’t have to come with me. Honestly, I’m probably going to get shot by one side or the other. Maybe both, actually.”

Considering Security’s reputation, both sides are going to form a truce the moment she shows up and focusing on Blackjack killing.

Suddenly, the glass slipped around my mouth and compressed. I got to the internal mesh and there was a momentary pause before that too softened and I was able to chew and swallow. There was some kind of plastic film inside the glass that didn’t agree with my ‘stomach’ at all.

Blackjack utilizing her new ability to digest minerals to get out of a room by eating the glass window. If someone had told me this would happened at the start of Chapter 1… I probably believed it while being confused nonetheless.

I stopped there. I knew the rest of the entries would probably involve audio entries of Swiftwing getting trapped in the room and left to starve before yanking off his collar. I had enough issues without having to hear that.

Smart choice Blackjack. Maybe there’s still some hope for you.

She groaned and shook her head. “You’re nuttier than barrel of acorns…”

If the Mountain Pony who was raised as part of a Clan who thinks beating each other up is a good way to make friends tells you, that you’re nuts you know something is seriously wrong with you.

Hey, Shifty. The Ministry of Peace is giving me three hundred more units of healing potions and two thousand pounds of basic food stock. Should turn a mighty profit, huh? Now that Goldenblood’s gone, all those surprise inspections and little impromptu investigations are a thing of the past. Morale couldn’t find their own asshole with a case of diarrhea these days.

Wouldn’t be a war if there weren’t people trying to make a profit out of others suffering. I agree with Blackjack about locking up whoever ran this place.

Still not a fan of the implication that Goldenblood – again- wasthe only competent one toprevented the camp from turning from bad to horrible. It’s not like he hasn’t already been involved with so much other stuff. We don’t need to hear again how Goldenblood was so much better at his job than everypony else.

“If you don’t, I promise that everypony in Thunderhead will know you left thousands to die! Not even zebras deserve this!”
There was a pause and the stallion sighed. “Fine. You care so much? Set a timer to shut everything down. You can use my terminal.”
“Thank you, Director. I’ll get it set up right awa--”

Poor mare. Her heart was in the right place, If only she was smart enough to realize that threatening a guy who is willing to murder hundreds for a quick profit s isn’t going to end well. Should’ve either shoot the guy when his back was turned or waited from him to leave and try to find another way to free the Zebras.

“The Star Maiden is she who is born from the cursed soil of the damned city. She will be flesh and steel, touched by the stars and chosen as their champion. Where she travels, chaos and strife will follow,” Xanthe said as she trotted in our wake. Why, I couldn’t imagine. “It is she who shall bear evil from the ground, usher in the final days of the world, snuff out the sun forever and call down the moon. She shall summon storms, unleash plague, command unholy fire, destroy all in her path and all who follow in her wake. Female shall desire female, male shall desire male, and unholy coupling between the species will commence where she travels.”

Don’t forget dogs and cats living together!

At least the part about chaos and strife is accurate. And people who tend to meet Blackjack or stay around her seem to have a 50% of dying or having something horrible happening to them.

“No. Do not fight her. We are all doomed! She has cursed us all!” Xanthe wailed from the stairs, then started jabbering in Zebra.

Let me guess, Xanthe is the extremely superstitious type who always thinks they are cursed and doomed. Pretty much like your average G5 Unicorn.

There was nothing I could do as I puked liquefied glass and metal in her face. The clear fluid solidified seconds after it left my throat, freezing to her horrified face in a mask. She fell back, flopping and flailing wildly as I spat aside gobs of glass, struggling to keep upright. That blow had done some major damage to my internals, and every bit of watery glass was brought up.

That is probably the most bizarre death in this whole story so far. I mean… wow… Getting killed by hitting Blackjack so hard into her stomach that she’s puking liquefied glass onto you and getting suffocated by it when it gets solid. Probably worth at least a few free drinks in the bar in the afterlife.

And yes, I’m adding that to Blackjack’s body count. An unintentional death directly caused by Blackjack is still a dead directly caused by Blackjack.

Blackjack’s On-screen Body Count: 177 (+1 Zebra Remnant)

“I can’t tell you that! You’re the Maiden!” she gasped, and I groaned as we moved through the ground floor processing offices looking for a door or stairs down. “The champion of the stars! The bringer of all things evil! With your left hoof you will bring down the fires of the sun, and with your right you will call down the moon!”

I think there must’ve been at least once Zencori in her family lineage. She has a flair for dramatics.

“The honor of your death falls to the Legate himself. He yearns to smash your unnatural body with his own hooves,” Lancer said as he stood, keeping his rifle aimed right at my head.

How ironic. If he had just pulled the trigger right then and there he may have ensured his Legate’s victory. Also I really want Blackjack to punch him into the face really hard.

I looked down at the decapitated zebra in front of me. Saw another torn open along her side. A sniper lay there with her face a concave hole. Another was dying from three meaty chunks taken out of his chest. I’d killed them and I hadn’t even realized it.
I shook as I dropped the sword. In Xanthe’s eyes, I was evil incarnate. And Bluebelle stared at me as if realizing just how deadly I could be when so inclined. I wasn’t the mare she’d dropped on her head back in the refinery.

Blackjack’s On-screen Body Count: 180 (+3 Zebra Remnants)

I feel really bad for Bluebell. Up until they entered the detention center Blackjack was fun mare who put up a good fight and gave her back her brother’s rifle without wanting anything in return. Now she is seeing a Blackjack close to another breakout, slashing enemies to pieces in a fit of rage and it’s frightening.

“There was a mighty warrior during the war who could not be felled. A magical artifact preserved her on the battlefield. Somehow she was laid low in a battle in the badlands outside the city. Her body was brought here. We learned from a ghoul who had been alive back then that the talisman had never been removed from the body. So we came here to get it for Legate Vitiosus.”

Sounds like Rampage. It was either her or someone cut the talisman out of the mighty warrior and put it into Rampage.

“Twister?” I asked, then peeked around the corner at three power-armored pegasi. They’d made an impromptu barricade that would have lasted all of three seconds against a concentrated attack. “What are you doing here?” I asked the Neighvarro pegasus I’d met and ridden from Spike’s cave.

Didn’t expect to see these three again. One the one hand it’s great so see familiar faces. One the other hand recurring characters Blackjack met before have a tendency to die horrible. And except for Blackjack’s breakdown there has been not really much horrible stuff happened in this chapter. So I’m excepting at least one of the people accompanying Blackjack to kick the bucket sooner or later.

“I reckon we can. Command didn’t take kindly to us abandonin’ our posts. They were lookin’ ta make an example o’ all three o’ us. I nearly ended up assigned to the wrong side of a firin’ squad. But then I told ‘em what you told me, that Operative Lighthooves made a plague. That got the leadership mighty curious. Turns out we’ve got records of a disease like that.”

Kinda funny how the Neighvarro Pegasi are the good guys in this story. Or at least the reasonable ones.

The disease is not like others. It must be ingested. Only in the stomach does it start to spread. But if some of the disease gets on your hoof and transferred to your meal, you can infect yourself or others. One strip of contaminated flesh in a cookpot, and an entire village can be lost.

Finally, an explanation how this works! So, intercourse and getting bitten doesn’t spread the disease. The only way to get infected is eating contaminated food. At least that makes it easy to contain the infection. And a very useful biological weapon, A bio weapon Lightinghooves will no doubt use to future his own agenda.

Even more disturbing, the ponies had been carved. Great chunks of flesh had been removed, not wildly, but with care. Only their heads were more or less untouched, though their lips were chewed off in permanent rictus grins.

Someone is wanting to infect other Pegasi and my money is on a certain Operative.

“Wut?” he asked with a frown. Suddenly she lunged, grabbed his neck in her hooves, and with a heave flipped him over on to his back, power armor and all. She pressed her lips to his in a long, hard kiss that made his hooves kick helplessly in the air. Then, just as swiftly as she grabbed him, she turned him so he was upright once more with a dreamy look on his face. A moment later, his wings stuck straight out on both sides.

That was kinda cute.

I looked at the door and then at the clipboard. Only one thing caught my eye. The name: Shujaa.
Shit. The talisman he was after was inside one of my best friends. I looked at the clipboard.

Hah, knew it!

I could feel the warmth of the magic on my hide. Fingers of my other hoof drove the broken end of the rib through the hole of the severed wing. It didn’t kill her. That was okay. I had another.
And another. And another.

Kudos, for making me actually feel uneasy reading about Blackjack slaughtering these Enclave troopers. She has killed plenty of ponies before, and often in very messy ways but this is chilling. This isn’t just killing this is making someone suffer. It’s an execution.

Not Glory… Dusk.
I was about to kill Glory’s sister.

Good thing that was actually Dusk because otherwise Blackjack wouldn’t have snapped out of it, resulting in another dead corpse.

Come down here, I thought at him. Come down here and let me finish with you what I started with Dusk.
Soon, I imagined his reply. Soon. And then, with that, the armored pegasus launched himself into the dark sky. Alone, I turned as well, walking out into black rain.

I’m 100% that wasn’t the real Lightning Hooves. No way he’s just going to stand around watching Blackjack massacring the troops. He probably would’ve tried to put as much height between him and Blackjack the moment he realized that they couldn’t win this battle.

Blackjack’s On-screen Body Count: 184 (+4 Enclave Troopers)

Not counting the Foals in Fluttershy’s Medical, this is probably the chapter with the highest on-screen body count. I counted a total of 19 kills by Blackjack. Just when I thought about retiring the kill count Blackjack steps up her game.

----------

Speaking of killing, the last scene was brutal. We’ve seen glimpse of this before. Minty Fresh comes to mind or the one time she almost killed P-21 during the battle between Reapers and Rangers. But this is a new kind of horrifying. All the horrors she witnessed in combination with her sleep deprivation made her snap completely. This is especially notable since earlier in this chapter we saw Blackjack at her best. Only killing when necessary and even managing to convince a bunch of Harbinger canon fodder to just walk away. It’s easy to imagine that a sane Blackjack would have tried to talk with the Enclavers first and considering that Dusk was part of the group it may have worked. Instead it became a one-side slaughter. Killing ponies trying to flee and slowly torturing one of them to death.

That said I’m genuinely surprised that the only causality on Blackjack’s side was the half-heart ganger. I was sure Bluebelle would be a goner. Or the Zebra. Or even one member of the Enclave trio from the earlier chapter. But they all survived – at least for now.

Don’t like the way the Raiders/Gangers are portrayed in this story. They are basically gangs-in-name-only. We never actually see them doing anything bad. Like harassing settlements, attacking caravans or killing ponies. They are just kind of there and fighting with each other. The only time some of them did something “evil” was when they attacked Stable 99. But even then, the worst crimes were always committed by the infected Raiders. Even in the conflict with the Steel Rangers, the Gangs came across as the good faction because it was the Rangers who executed civilians and not the Raiders. I don’t mind giving Raiders more personalities and not turning them into one-dimensional bad guys. It’s one of the very few things Fallout 4 did right. But at this point it feels like they shouldn't have been gangers at all.

Last but not least, I feel this chapter should’ve been split into two. There was a lot of stuff happening. Having one chapter focus on the battle with the Harbingers and the others be about the detention center would’ve helped make this feel less packed.

…Wow it has been over a year since I started with the first chapter. Time flies bye.

I had to reread when she suddenly pounced the 5 Enclave ponies. I guess she's really losing it huh?

Busted Heart simply shrugged. “Alive or dead, no difference to me.”

Bro, you can’t just go around saying shit like that in the Wasteland

While their attention was on her, I popped around the corner, carefully sighted, and sent two rounds into the throat of a stallion trying to strafe Dazzle. And as we fought, I began to feel it. We were five very different ponies. I really didn’t think we even liked each other that well, and we all had dramatically different styles of combat. But despite all that, we were truly working together. Our enemy was vastly better armed than us and had the numbers, but their imposed uniformity wasn’t enough.

We had harmony... and they didn’t.

Twilight Sparkle was right. There is more to the Magic of Friendship than just rainbow lasers. There’s also bullets, and flamers, and creepy magic death swords, and the good old buck to the face. The Arsenal of Friendship is vast indeed.

”Then they kill me, and I’ve lost nothing.

Bro…

“In the fullness of time, we are all dead.”

STOP TALKING!

He and the tank fired as one, and two new flowers of fire bloomed. The base of the right cannon exploded out in a fan of fire and metal. The tank engine squealed as half its turret was peeled open and gushed flame. The massive mechanical monster peeled back through the wall, and I saw a few red bars wink out as it tore into the open. Slowly, finally, I reached where the pipes bridged the gap to the next factory over, then looked back.

Nothing remained but a gold broken-heart charm flickering in the fire’s fading glow.

I guess this was inevitable. But Gamble will be proud.

Most of the corpses either wore collars and had bullet holes in the temple or back of the head or were missing necks and head entirely. The bodies looked... chewed. Most of them were ponies, one or two zebras; scavengers, from the looks of it. The concrete walls were pitted and chewed with bullet holes. Somepony had written on the walls, in depressingly familiar black paint, ‘No way out’ and ‘Save me, Luna.’ More disturbingly, somepony had mutilated the bodies and made a little hut, big enough for one pony to get inside, from assorted body parts. I had a disturbing hunch that some of these carcasses were plagued.

Wow. She gets really, scarily close here to paying for her impulsiveness and having “make it up as I go along” as her go to game plan with a truly horrific Game Over. And imagine if she had damned Bluebelle to the same fate. She would then definitely have been stuck here as an emo ghost for a really long time. This feels a LOT like LittlePip’s ‘oopsie’ in the Red Racer factory. A situation where, despite you still rooting for the hero to get out of the dumb situation they got themselves into, it still feels like they got let off a little too easy.

“Me too, but I do my best to avoid it.” She looked me in the eye. “So do ya like it or something? ‘Cause I can’t figger why anypony’d go through that.”

Did I? I did tend to get shot up a lot. And cut… and smashed… I bit my lip as I felt some other very disturbing sensations crawling around beneath the ache in my body. Being injured should be a bad thing. Especially the kinds of injuries I dealt with. Instead, I felt... odd. “I… I… um… I…” I felt myself going bright red as I sat and lifted my forehooves and held them an inch apart. “Maybe just a tiny bit?” I said with a sheepish grin.

Well this is an interesting revelation. I’m not sure what to make of this though. Does she actually enjoy it, or is this just the radroach talking?

“Get down, on the ground n--” bellowed the pegasus in the sleeker, fancier-looking Thunderhead armor. Five of them, four on the ground and one in the air. Only five? Then I was on him, racing the short distance separating us as if I were in S.A.T.S. and I grabbed the respirator tubes running to his muzzle. My twisting hands flipped him over as he started firing wildly. The sword flashed in the lightning, glistening in the light. It entered his crotch, and moved till it reached his throat in one terrific slash. Then I heaved him, his bloody viscera erupting from the split armor over the face of the second pegasus.

Oh. Shit. It looks like it’s time for a bit of the old ultra-violence. Blackjack style.

Alone, I turned as well, walking out into black rain.

This ‘alone’ thing isn’t working for you, Blackjack. You need some sleep, and you need your friends.

I couldn’t slow down and stop, or my demons would get me.

I'm going to guess that these 30k words are pure madness, Pinkie pie dipped in mint-al madness

Why was everything targeting my poor head today? Stop rattling up the radroach, people!

What plot twist would it be if there really is one of those in there?

“The Star Maiden is she who is born from the cursed soil of the damned city. She will be flesh and steel, touched by the stars and chosen as their champion. Where she travels, chaos and strife will follow,” Xanthe said as she trotted in our wake. Why, I couldn’t imagine. “It is she who shall bear evil from the ground, usher in the final days of the world, snuff out the sun forever and call down the moon. She shall summon storms, unleash plague, command unholy fire, destroy all in her path and all who follow in her wake. Female shall desire female, male shall desire male, and unholy coupling between the species will commence where she travels.”

If I take off my glasses and squint, this prophecy seems very true