Awesome chapter as always.
Things seem to have a bit more of a positive tone; still FOE universe, but a glimmer of home.
(rooting for rampage to hook up with that crazy Zebra from last chapter! Not like she's been through the wringer or anything!)
....the crapstorm that will happen when Glory finds out about Blackjacks escapades.....oh dear

Hahaha! I saw what you did there, Tourists! :D heehee! Nice one Somber.
And that ending... whew... this won't end well at all.

BLOOD HAS BEEN SPILLED! HAHA!
Let's rock, keep it up!

Two new chapters? Excellent, now to read these when I can this week.

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6684791
I forgot to respond to your previous comment, but very good points all around. Regarding "Play" and the subsequent chapter, my point is that I have seen people recommending Horizons suggesting that prospective readers should read up to Chapter 6 to determine if it's a good "fit" for the reader, which, now having reread that part, seems to be a chapter too early for me.
Your point about the lack of in-universe reasons to make the coal plot a major reveal also holds merit. I guess I'm just projecting the feelings I had when I first read Fo:E onto this story. I always thought it was an ingenious way to bridge the gap between S1 Equestria and the Wasteland and so I consequently (possibly over-)emphasize its importance.

New note: You might also notice a change. Hopefully it won't cause ripples down the line. At the time I wrote it, I felt very strongly about it. Now, three years later, I'm a little more weathered and I took it out. If you know what it is, hopefully its for the better. If you don't, you're not missing anything.

Didn't you originally have it written that Psalm shot Pinkie before the bomb went off?

6685016 yeah. I had a personal experience that influenced me. Now, three years later, I realize that it's better if it's not there.

6670860 "We shall call this land... This Land."
"I think it should be called Your Grave!"
"Aahh! Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!"

(I am quoting something from one of the "Pony the Anthology" videos)

6687297 No. This is called "Somber doesn't know firearms that well." I don't even play call of duty or other shooters of that nature.

My dad did knew guns. My brothers do. I don't. I don't own guns, nor want to own guns, because every time I see my brother's gloc in its holster I fantasize blowing by brains out with it. And since firearms are the number one cause of suicide, I don't stay around guns. It's way too easy to check out.

BUT. I am writing a story that deals heavily with guns. Thus, I need to do things with guns in said story. And seriously, you're mad about that? Deus is carrying two guns that would turn him into a projectile himself if he fired them. And you haven't even gotten to Steel rain yet.

So, chock it up to "artistic licence" and "rule of cool" and move on, or if my occasional fudging knowledge of firearms offends so deeply, don't. But do keep a civil tongue in my comments. I don't mind criticism and I love feedback, but insults will get you deleted.

I stared for a second longer, looking Pinkie Pie in the eyes. I’d never looked in the eyes of my target and seen into their heart. It would be simple. I’d take a breath, let it out, and pull the trigger. The gun was precisely engineered, enchanted to be completely silent, and accelerated the bullet even more than the explosive inside the shell.

Should the "accelerated" be "would accelerate" to match the new version's tense of the previous sentence, and bridge to the next paragraph?

Garnet, her voice edged with malice

Is Garnet the machine or at least part of the machine in the Core?

I shuddered. “And then Luna will forgive me?”
“Sure. Whatever.

Poor Psalm, so desperate she can't even recognize she is being used.

The thing was, I had no idea why I would have a Marauder in my dreams.

I thought BJ already figured out Lacunae was Psalm at one time.

Luna forbade us from investigating what her guards could do.

Twilight?

6686974
The quote is actually from the tv series Firefly, I believe it's one of the first lines of the show too. Check it out, it's great :D

Lacunae make a little ‘meep’

made

and he licked is charcoal lips

his

actually still fly

stil is italicized and the last 'l' is not

Stygius are in still in Afterlife.

extra 'in'

Ah that humorous banter to lighten the mood, love it.
Gee I wondered why it was called Meatlocker.. well.. shit..
I was so pleasantly surprised to find the music, good thing it sticks out like a green thumb

“Dealer,” I said under my breath. “Hey, Dealer! I need to talk to you. Dealer! Please… Come on… you’ve been bouncing in and out of my consciousness for a month now. This time I need to talk to you!” Stygius gave me a worried look, clearly alarmed by this new crazy.

Trust me Stygius, you are going to have to deal with this for a long time...

The Dealer’s legs were fading from view. “Your friend’s ultrasonic voice should foul the crystals in the generator.” Suddenly he paused and looked at Stygius, then arched a brow at me; funny how he managed to pull off looking parental. “And Blackjack, was that really necessary?”

I flushed bright red; I could have died right there and then. Ugh, he’d been... while he... and I... UGH! And he wanted to discuss my sex life now? “Yes,” I said flatly, fighting the urge to shudder. Celestia, how did he do Mom’s ‘Look’? It was like finding out Mom had caught me fooling around on my shift. And Duct Tape had been so embarrassed too when she’d given a critique...

Even in the situation they are in, Dealer just had to do that didn't he?!

Oh, this was going to suck!

Doesn't your whole life suck Blackjack? I'd say this is minimal comparing to other things

I backflipped away like a zebra -- and how in Equestria did my body pull that off?! -- just before the floor erupted in a burst of small explosions. I twisted in the air and landed on my hooves on the burning desk. A second jump took me to the only cover I could count on in the room: the back of Flamers. Grenades halted his fire as my fingers came out and grabbed the air hoses running alongside Flamers’s neck. He began to buck and kick wildly, spraying plumes of fire, but I was high enough on his back and metal enough to not cook… yet.

You know one never knows how you did that feat there... and I feel like I'm watching a Matrix scene from reading this scene...

“Only ‘cause I called in a favor with Hammersmith. Honestly, Rampage, how you blow up metal armor is beyond--” The mare swooped into the air in preparation for another dive and suddenly found herself face to face with the dusky Stygius. She froze hovering there as she stared into his eyes. “…me?”

Stygius blinked and then gave a small smile. I stared up at the two through the hazy, smoky air as the yellow pegasus actually blushed. She was fidgeting! Right now in the middle of a battle. “Um… hi,” she said as she looked at him. “I’m… ah…” and then she muttered something.

“She does this now?” Lacunae asked in my mind. She carefully aimed another shot at Grenades, who took cover inside the house. I got to my hooves, my whole body numb.

OH! Psycho's gone stuttery like her mother would be! Oh, and Lacunae, not forgetting her timing of that line...

Missile seemed to feel the same way as she began to fire her grenade machinegun up at the two. They darted away, the yellow mare glaring down at the Ranger. “Hey!” Psychoshy’s wings snapped her into a dive that she pulled up from just in time to streak a foot above the ground. “I’m talking…” she screamed as she swooped up in an uppercut. “…to a really…” she continued as she rose up and smashed her rear hooves into Missile’s face. “…hot guy here!” The pegasus pirouetted in the air and brought her front hooves down on top of his head. “So piss off!” she finished as the Ranger collapsed in a heap. Then she darted back up to the stunned Stygius and said shyly, “So… ah… um… What’s your name?”

What in the world!? Weirdest shift in attitude there!

I never imagined that me getting laid would be a subject of such drama.

Your life is always dramatic BJ

So… now I was entertainment to the Goddess? I had an image of a great big alicorn beast in a fuzzy pink robe and hoofslippers sitting on a couch with a huge tub of popcorn, watching a terminal of me getting shot up on a daily basis. ...Okay, I supposed that would be pretty entertaining. Lacunae continued in a smug tone, “The Goddess awaits the success or failure of the Stable Dweller and her friends in Canterlot. Until then, the Goddess will take her satisfaction in watching your struggles.”

“Well, in the meantime, I need to chat with Lacunae, so if you could please put her back at the controls, I’d appreciate it,” I replied. Maybe LittlePip and the Stable Dweller were teaming up? I really wished I’d known what Homage had tried to tell me… was it really just yesterday? “Or we can throw around a few more threats about you annihilating me.”

Uh Blackjack did you not hear Lacunae said she instead of he?

She snorted sullenly, and then her sneer vanished. You know, I think I was starting to grow on the Goddess. She’d stopped bellowing at me; that was progress. Right? Lacunae drew a deep breath. “Must you antagonize her, Blackjack?”

I nodded primly and said with a smile, “Yes. Yes I must. I figure, if I’m the butt of some higher power’s amusement, every jab I can get in on her is me balancing the scales a little bit more.” I relaxed my grin and nudged her shoulder. “So how are you, Lacunae?”

Well that was fun there...

It wasn’t always about me. Hoofington didn’t just suck for me. It sucked for everypony. Sanguine had watched his family die before his eyes. Psychoshy’d lost everypony that she’d believed cared about her. “I found out some things, Psychoshy. About you. Your mom and dad. I know... I know it probably doesn’t matter, but they loved you very much. When they thought you were lost, it nearly broke both of them. They were going to name you Whisper.”

She lifted her head and looked at me with a teary eye and gave a little hiccup and sniff. Finally she muttered thickly, “That’s a fucking horrible name.”

“Better than Go Fish,” I replied. That actually got a smile out of her.

Ha, what a way to make this happy if only a little bit!

She sniffed and rubbed her eyes. “Fuck... I can’t believe you actually made me cry. Badasses aren’t supposed to cry. You never cry,” she muttered.

“I sob my eyes out every other day, it feels like. You should have seen me after Priest and Scoodle... and Boing.” That drew a questioning look from my friends, and a dark glare from Rampage, but there’d be a time for that later. “Crying is the soul dealing with pain. Otherwise you keep it all inside and it drives you crazy.”

Rampage muttered something about me playing therapist and being doomed. At least Lacunae’s nod let me pretend I’d said something profound.

Psychoshy sat a moment and sniffed. “I’m sorry about that. Priest, I mean.” I sighed; late but sincere was better than never offered at all. She stood and pushed back her mane. “Psychoshy’s a stupid name, too... and calling myself Fluttershy. I just... everypony loved her. I just wanted that.” She looked at her flank. “Stupid cutie mark. Who wants to like a mare with that on her flank...”

Aw Psycho, now I want to hug her... although I know how bad it might go if I tried that...

And I was wondering if Velvet had another suit like it in my size. I was really really wondering that. I cleared my throat. “I’m sure Stronghoof will adore it,” I said delicately. Oh my, I had no idea an alicorn could turn that shade of red. Was she actually glowing? I was sure the Goddess was just loving this. Velvet’s horn glowed as she removed the lacy apparel; Lacunae flushed and squirmed in embarrassment.

“Well... maybe...” the alicorn murmured with a small smile.

Velvet looked up at her with a cheeky grin. “Go ahead and take it. I doubt I’ll ever have another client in your size. I’d just ruin the garment if I tried to take it in. Go on. I hope your Stronghoof likes it.” Lacunae made a little ‘meep’ and if possible, her blush deepened even further. Yup; she was glowing. The gray ghoul looked over her racks of clothes. “Mmmm... maybe something in red? Lilac? No... ah! Gold!”

“Well... I’m going to go find that mayor now,” I said as I stood. “Have fun!”

“Wait... Blackjack! Don’t leave me like this!” Lacunae called out as I trotted for the exit. “Blackjack!”

The video of Rainbow laughing would pretty much sum up my reaction to this

That sure made his day! He put the money away; I could only hope he’d actually follow through rather than keep it for himself, but he seemed the honest sort. “Still, an Equestrian Skyguard jacket. That’s... amazing. I think that’s genuine dragonhide!” he said.

“No shooting me to find out!” I said quickly as we continued on our way. I glanced back at the grinning memorial statue and smiled in return.

Blackjack my dear, you are jinxing the moment today

6701016 You're about to hit the first Rubicon. I hope you continue to enjoy it. 16 and 33 are the biggest ones.

Man, I cannot wait till the entire story is up and posted. I'm holding off reading it here because I don't want to have to stop for anything like loading a page or clicking a link to continue.

I want it all in one neat little txt file to enjoy uninterrupted.

6701948 there is another site were its completed and jus fine to read and i loved it ... ending coulda been better

6704909 Is it all one file or broken up by chapter?

6708352 You can get it broken up by chapter here at the GDocs hub page, or as one file in a few different formats at http://nallar.me/fics.

6708352 chapter but works just fine is google doc

6710145 I know what files you're talking about. I've already read them all. I just want it all as one file.

6718784 If you can't keep a civil tongue, you don't get to reply.

Oh boy, here we go again...

6726934 He probably can, but I'm not going to put up with adolescent rants. He can express himself maturely or he can move on.

6727007

The use of cussing doesn't mean I'm adolescent, besides it shouldn't matter, if you're at all interested in improving yourself as a writer than you should listen to all criticism. Regardless of any use of cussing, dismissing a genuine point simply because of the use of swear words is not only counter-productive but also as immature as you seem to think I am.

So I repeat: Guns don't work that way, no you don't have creative licence, in the future do your research.

6727832 Not all criticism is equal. Expletive tirades are worthless. It doesn't matter if you give me solid gold if all I see is something wrapped in shit soaked burlap. Packaging matters. (Conversely, the politest criticism is equally worthless if it lacks actionable substance, but you didn't have that problem). If you want your criticism taken seriously, you must do so seriously, with brevity, and focused on the story. The second you start doing a critique of ME, I better be paying you for therapy time because you're not qualifed to make those judgement of me.

Now, first point. This story is done, so complaining about things in story isn't worth your time. If you'd like to do so on Homelands, you'd have a better shot.

Second point. Given the widespread portrayal of firearms in fiction, I think I'm safe in using and depicting them how I have. The largest complaint I've had thus far is using the word clip for magazine, something I am trying to fix in the fimfic version. Given this is a story with magical colored ponies and advanced cybernetics... yeah. The whole damned thing is made on artistic license.

Third point. In spite of that, I do research. For example, I wanted to see what happens when a board is shot by a 50cal and how thick does a board have to be to stop one and what kind of holes would be left behind. I looked at numerous you tube videos trying to find clips of ww1 and ww2 50 cal machine gun fire at wood and sheet metal to see what would stop or slow non AP rounds. A 3 inches seemed to be ideal for slowing, but not outright stopping bullets and wet wood left more holes rather than gaping spaces. I put all of that into my newest chapter of homelands.

Welp... here we are, on another Fallout Equestria story. Let's see here...

... Wow, this is... horrible. A bleak, horrendous depiction of a future that could be... and all in the first chapter,...

I love it

Blackjack is a real piece of work... Nice contrast to our mintat munching mousey mare mascot

“Ugh, what does a mare have to do to get a little service in this place?!”

... Not being horrible is a plus, my dear. Of course that's just some dopey male talking, what do I know?

Could this night get any worse?

Kinda sounds to me that for those in your vault, every day is a holiday... in Auschwitz in its prime. But come on! I'm sure with a positive attitude and being the cuddly dope of a pervert you are, you can make the evening a little more darker and someones life a little bit worse!

“Um… sorry about your mom. Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll get the hang of it.”

That's my girl!

Okay… murderous? I got that. Crazy I could deal with, too. But how the fuck did these ponies get into the habit of eating other ponies?

Comes from a distinct lack of food stuffs and pony syphilis.

... AND that was the first chapter... Am I supposed to feel bad for vault 99? I feel like I should, yet... nope. No inklings of "poor ponies" for any of them. They mostly stood aside and allowed the murder of their own to maintain the status quo, so.. Nope, no sympathy. About the only one worth buck diddly is Blackjack, and from what I've seen of her so far, that's not saying much.

Feel bad for P-21 though

Hello Somber! Yeah was reading through the whole thing again and am still hyped... but back on topic, is it just me or does this song from Globus seem to match Blackjack's character? Now this is just me voicing my opinion, but I want yours as well, does this song seemingly match her character or is that just me?

Suddenly, I'd like an SFM video with this song and Blackjack as the leading pony... huh...

Hmm... lets take a closer look at this vault, if we may..

It appears that ponies may have had a bit of foresight with 99, or at least lucked upon a solution. The flaw with both Vaults and Stables is ingrained and ultimately that of their inevitable downfall. That of the gene pool.

In both cases, both variant of shelter would possess only enough viable dna for a few generations before inbreeding and all the fun grab bag of throw backs that little joy in nature brings the world began to set in ,but with 99 the problem is forestalled, for a time. Of course, not for long. It appears that the vault was already beginning to succumb to mental degradation, and physical deformities weren't far behind.

6732581 There are 77 chapters (two of which are split chapters) and an epilogue. The whole story can be accessed from the Project Horizons GDocs hub page or http://nallar.me/fics, where it should be the first listed.

6737965 One of my favorite chapters too. Love how it explains more about Blackjacks psychology.

6742763
Yeah, I hadn't expected me coming back this quickly either, but I got antsy. :B Given I can only read about one hour of audiobook a day, and I'm heading into the 2+ hours-per-chapter range, you'll probably catch up.

6743080 It's possible, but I think the last time I've done more than one chapter in a day (apart from 77 + epilogue when released) was chapters 3 and 4 almost two years ago, and figure I won't be focusing on this every day, so . . . well, we'll see.

6743948
Well, you can always comment on my comments regardless! :B

Now I'm starting to wonder if I shouldn't end my review of book two at chapter 33. <.< I've had two people suggest this. Help me, Somber! D:

6744516 Go as far as you want. Some people don't like it after 33. Some love it. You've reviewed a lot and I'd love your opinion of the whole thing. Unfortunately, the audiobooks only go so far. It's a big honkin story. So it you go to 33, great! If you go to 34? Even better! If you go to the epilogue? Best!

6744516 I'd suggest just sticking to your original plan: if nothing from the story has made you really want to stop reading by the end of book 2, keep going! There's a good chance you'll like it. If something has, then better to stop in any case.

6744723
6744798
Nono, I mean is it better to end book two at chapter 32 or 33. c.c

6745812 Your avatar complements that comment beautifully.
Anyway, that's a tricky question, and I'd be interested in Somber's viewpoint as well. That said, I'll toss in my two cents. It probably depends in part on if you'd be going on to volume three. In my opinion, "Black" (33) makes a much better end to volume two than start to volume three. But if you're not continuing, I guess something to consider is if you want a denouement for volume two, or a harder stop. Ending with 32 gives that harder stop, ending the story along with the plot, but doesn't offer the same kind of closure from a character/relationships standpoint that going through 33 does.

Ouch. Ow ow ow ow, ow, ouch.

So, I'm not sure when I picked up Horizons, but it was certainly when it was in full swing. Maybe sometime close to the beginning, I can't really be sure. Kept up with it consistently throughout all that time through all the hardships and pain and suffering. Then, I stopped reading (I got it from the google docs page or whatever it is) while waiting for.... chapter 75a to come out, I think. Or maybe 75b. Life just sort of stepped in the way, you know? And the fandom turned me away from MLP for a good long while. I still watched as each update came until it was all wrapped up.... that was sometime in August, if I remember correctly. At that point I just couldn't bring myself to continue it yet, knowing that things were about to climax explosively.

And so, over the last couple hours, I just binge-read everything from 75a to the Epilogue, and that was all so much more painful than I ever could have imagined. And that's saying a lot considering the shit Blackjack has been through.

I can't argue with the Epilogue at all, it was pretty great actually, but everything leading up to it and even the epilogue itself was just so... hard. Especially since Glory reminds me somewhat more than a little bit of my best friend (in real life that is) Losing her was bad. Then losing P-21 and Rampage was horrible. And then we lost Glory again. It was almost too much, I actually stopped reading for about a half hour when she was gone for good. But I'll be damned if that wasn't a fantastic story. And I don't mean to downplay everything else that was suffered at the hands of fate in those last few chapters; it was all beautifully constructed, even if it tore my soul apart with sadness. Even the Epilogue was, in its own way, difficult to read for various reasons. I have problems losing characters, I guess, and knowing that LittlePip and Blackjack were so disconnected from the Wasteland they knew... it was for the best but it wasn't easy. Y'all built some fantastic characters for this, that's for sure.

And now that this is on FimFiction, I actually have somewhere I can comment about all of this.

All in all, total masterpiece, and a worthy part of the Fallout: Equestria universe, if you ask me.

6745812 33. 32 is no ending.

6748187
loool, I dunno who Harpica is :V

I kind of missed why Vanity is such a big deal. I think I blanked through a lot of the Marauder orbs; at the very least, I don't remember his name being mentioned the way Jetstream and others were, so I more or less just have BJ's gushing to go on that he really was all that great.

6748846 Harpica is the pegasus nursemaid you were talking about.

It's hard to say that Vanity ever became particularly important, but part of it is just the contrast he makes with his brother Blueblood. I liked that there was a representative of the nobility that was basically, you know, noble. Also his different (if still not ideal) handling of romantic frustration than most of the rest of the Marauders. And though, as his letter here indicated, he wasn't perfect in terms of never staining his hooves later in life, I think he might come through looking better than anyone but Twist, especially if you limit to those among them who stayed functional.

6749139
I wondered if I hadn't missed her name. :B

6744723 do you know if anyone is going to do a full audio book? One guy got to "Waterfall" and stopped (even though he was making like $300 a chapter from his Paetreon) and the Microsoft robot voice playlist is just terrible.

6750642 Every few months I get contacted by people saying they want to do an audiobook. What many of them don't realize is that Horizons is like the Everest of stories to do an audiobook for. Not the hardest, but just huge! They start at the begining, get into the 20's and 30's, and are just exhausted. I think a better idea would be if 5 fans got together and each one did a section. That way no one is exhausted, and it gets finished five times as fast. But yeah, you can certainly try.

6750642
6751151
Yes! This is very true, and important. Currently, there's a reader (Visual Pony) who has done volumes one through three, though the last couple chapters haven't yet been released to non-patrons. He should be continuing later on.
The best plan for anyone wishing to do a PH audiobook, in my opinion (getting a group of five together of course negates the point), would be to start with volume four and go from there, maybe even start from volume five. Then, if they finish five and the epilogue and feel like doing more, go back and finish the earlier volumes. For fans the biggest value to be offered is that something exists , and that means that if a new reader starts from chapter one, they'd need to do 48 chapters (twenty-some if you can't do Visual, as I've heard once or twice, and count from the end of Crazed Rambling's) before hitting the point where they're doing the most good.

6752598 I'd forgotten about Visual Pony. Personally I can't stand the accent. I appreciate his work but I keep mishearing what he says. (He said Damned at one point and I heard Death.)

I'm only looking for one cause my girlfriend doesn't sit down and actually read much. I can lay down and go catatonic reading for an entire day but she prefers audio books.

I've even considered doing one myself for some of my favorite fics but I personally hate my voice, I have no experience with voice recording or editing, and I suck at reading out loud to her the few times I find a great scene in a story.

6760520 I'll get on that.

Thrush and Sparrow. As in Captain Jack.

6774716
*shrug* Hey, different strokes for different folks. Some people enjoy that and find it adds to the substance of the story. Some want nothing to do with it, and that's fine too.