Holy Christ on crackers with cheese spread! Somber posts a chapter to PH and the whole of this sites perusers do not immediately cream their respective jeans in excitement and after a appropiate change of said pants immediately go apeshit and put this steaming pile of awesome grim dark to the top of the sites Popularity box.

FIMFICTION I AM DISAPPOINT AS CLEARLY INDICATED WITH AJ EMOTICON!

Wait what the fuck I thought this fic finished already

Edit: ignore me I'm not a smart pony.

Suddenly crimson flames erupted from the base of the rocket. The flames crawled through the twisted metal, spreading as the fuel leaked and ignited. Any chance at all of retreat the way we came was now ablaze in a lake of fire!
“Oh dear...” Xanthe whimpered as she looked down.
“Yeah. Pretty intense...” I replied.
“No. As the fire heats the rest of the fuel pods, they’ll breach and add even more fuel. When the warhead gets hot enough...” She didn’t have to finish.
We’d just lit the fuse on a balefire bomb.

I feel this is very fitting for what's to come:

WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO damn... what a chapter, man, this was long, and I got two more to read
TEHEHEHE, AWESOME work well done man, well done.

Nice going kiddies... you lit a bomb.

BLOODY HALL! RUN JUST RUN!!!

I'm kind of surprised that these three chapters came at the same time... aw well, anyway. Nice job breaking it all of you, you just lit up a balefire bomb!

Then the fire turned and looked at down at us.

looked down at us.

Once thing was for sure

One thing

Well Graves will find rest in the ever after now.. and Blackjack and expedition crew lit a freckn' balefire bomb. What else? Rampage being Rampage, Rampage having moments, Rampage finding about about her past again. Shears actually being *snip* didn't occur to me. The smooze is actually dangerous to the touch, recycled RadAway helping, and a whole heck of a lot of foreshadowing. I do not have great expectations for the attic of Hightower.

And that's all I can read for now. Up to 28,000 worded chapters now.

And then Blackjack was all like....

Okay, maybe she won't do that, but she's not a smart pony either.

Two songs:

1.) for the end of this chapter

2.) for the next chapter

:D

[youtube=Joo90ZWrUkU]

Poor Rampage. :C Well, this doesn't feel interminable or dragged out after all, and getting to find out a major portion of her backstory? Priceless. I'm very glad I was right about Snips. :3

It's pretty neat that you didn't give us this getting-together scene with the Marauders as the very first we see of them. Good writing! Also, I realize that I've never really seen Echo before, despite hearing his name mentioned. (Also that Doof is "food" backwards. I mean, that's not hard to realize, but now it's pertinent. XD)

So yeah, glad to see more about Rampage, a little Ponyville reunion, and Xanthe becoming part of the team. But I swear to god if Blackjack turns into an alicorn, I will flip this fucking story. >:B (no spollers plx)

7206701
Wait, you mean every new version of Superman doesn't need to start on Krypton or with a spaceship crash, every Batman doesn't need to show his parents' death at the get-go, and every Spider Man doesn't need to immediately recapitulate Uncle Ben's death and thoughts on responsibility and power, and it might even be preferable for them not to? And even in cases with characters everyone doesn't already know, it's okay to get the audience interested in them before going into backstory? Crazy talk. You're a mad man, Present, a dangerous loose cannon and a liability to the force! Hand over your badge and gun. :V

Well, i guess i should get to reading this....... it's just so long though......... Screw it, i love long stories!

Achievment Unlocked

Unified: Join Unity without having to be turned into a psuedo alicorn

First, what's with the name of the doctors? Spectre? Bones? Graves? What the heck.

Second, OF COURSE Graves and Cerberus were killed off. Graves was just "that character who's alway's depressed and is probably going to be killed off after getting the one last thing they've been wanting" and Cerberus was just the group's pet guard dog (haha I'm funny LAUGH) that didn't have enough personality for anyone to care about. That and Somber seems to love killing off robots, especially the ones with sentiene/sapience.

Oh, Cerberus survived? Wasn't expecting that. Wasn't expecting that at all.

hmm? where is dimond tiara? didn't she die in a prison in a bathroom? goddamnit, this was the perfect moment for another Fallout Equestria reference.

When I ran past the break room again, everypony with a gun unloaded all at once, but aside from Lacunae’s magic arrows, all of them were weakened by the ghoul’s fiery corona; bullets weren’t going to work. However, they did made the monster stop chasing me and turn and look back.

LOOKS LIKE SOMBER DID MADE A MISTAKE.

Grammatical error Happens to the best of us, especially when the best of us write so much.

Carrion leaned over towards Xanthe. “You understand that this is why you couldn’t beat them, right? You just couldn’t compete with pony combat folk music.”
Xanthe didn’t argue, though she did furrow her brow. “There was once a report that said pony battle effectiveness increased by almost seventy percent when they were singing. It recommended withdrawing immediately till the song was over.”

the power of the heart song compels you

 “Forgive me Luna, for I have taken the life of another,” I muttered absently, remembering Psalm’s grim refrain. 

Hey...Blackjack...I think you've got a little Psalm on you, or something. Might wanna wipe it off when you come across the next necromancer or something.

“Why Blackjack, who else would I be?” she replied sweetly. “Now take it easy. I wouldn’t want you to suffer any more than you do now.”

“Right.” I looked at Lacunae, Stygius, and Psychoshy. I stared at the alicorn and thought a warning at her as hard as I could. Could I set her off if I made the accusation? I grimaced back at her. “You’re such an angel, Rampage.” The striped mare just smiled a little bit more. It was the politest way she could bare her teeth at me.

Dang. I just love Angel.

Then I heard a voice break through that interference and speak low and grand and just a touch snotty. “It means that you are a part of that to which you have no right, Blackjack! You are a thief! A trespasser! A bit of mutant scum whose unworthy mind has tapped into a grand and glorious being!”

So...BJ's got some new...organs.
Wow. And here I thought it stopped at "radiation, generation pink cloud flux filled puss sack on legs."
Looks like I was wrong on all accounts, you can always get weirder.

And boy, if Trixie isn't the warmest welcome committee I have ever met.

The Goddess said, with utter vicious malice, “Welcome to Unity, Blackjack.”

Yay! Let's break out the balloons and rum!
Wait...there's no rum?
What do you mean there's no rum!?
Why is the rum always gone!?

Congradulations!
What have you won?
Why, a beuitifal sunny hot day in the Wasteland!
Courtesy of a balefire bomb igniting under your feet!
Have a nice 7 hours until visiting the glorious Everafter! Home of the one and only, Puppy Smiles!

947,712 words down! Eighthundred something thousand to go!

“Good jo--” I began to say as she turned towards me, trying to talk around the trigger. Any other praise I was going to give was lost in the roar of buckshot and the explosion of pain in my gut as the gun went off. She spat it out with a horrified look, kneeling beside me.

You have officially become one of Blackjack's friends!

Carrion leaned over towards Xanthe. “You understand that this is why you couldn’t beat them, right? You just couldn’t compete with pony combat folk music.”

Xanthe didn’t argue, though she did furrow her brow. “There was once a report that said pony battle effectiveness increased by almost seventy percent when they were singing. It recommended withdrawing immediately till the song was over.”

Thank you.

-

“We’ll not be doing that again, thank you,” Lacunae said primly as she looked at me, clutching my chest with a hoof as I struggled to breathe.

Lacunae has the best one liners. And she is so amazing in general! Just having here in a scene instantly makes it better, whether it's through her humor, her life lessons, her badassery, her floundering over people giving her attention...
... Oh jeez... I think I have a crush.

-

Then we got our first lesson in military life: hurry up and wait.

I know your pain sister, I know...

-

“So Rampage is run by a committee?” I muttered as I sat up. No Rampage... or Rampage as just a mix? No... there had to be a pony behind all those different personalities. There just had to be.

I believe the work you are looking for is 'consensus'

-

Then I heard a voice break through that interference and speak low and grand and just a touch snotty. “It means that you are a part of that to which you have no right, Blackjack! You are a thief! A trespasser! A bit of mutant scum whose unworthy mind has tapped into a grand and glorious being!”

I cackled madly at this. Ooh man, having Tricia stuck in your head, telling you to obey? Oh dear Lord, the horror for Blackjack, the hilarity for me!

-

“Wait. Wait. Lacunae... what are you trying to hide from me?” I asked, thinking hard at my friend. It was like looking at photographs underwater, and the harder I looked the deeper she pushed them.

THATS cool. Seeing through your friends eyes, hearing their voice, knowing their thoughts. Obviously invasive as we see here, but still awesome.

-

This chapter was a blast. And we finally know what the deal with Rampage is. Finally getting some progress on that front!

I nodded and pushed the door open. I had to admit, I had issues with hospitals and ‘medical’ places. I was half afraid I would find some super clean creepy town or some half mutated, half smooze screaming room situation.

hah! that made me think of Half-life 2 Ep. 1, where you have to fight your way through a Hospital crawling with Zombies. at one point Alyx Vance exclaims "what kind of hospital is this?" she also trades her usual pistol for a shotgun!

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Turns out this guard dog is tougher than the average dog.

According to this chapter: brain cancer gives you wings.

“She might banish you from Equestria. Or throw you in a dungeon. Or banish you and then throw you in a dungeon in the place that she banishes you to!”

I remember this episode.

I think the Balefire ghoul is one of my favorite enemies.

“Oh… oh… oh… I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Are you okay? Please don’t kill me with my own bones!” she begged, her hooves shaking as she fumbled to get a potion out of her hazmat suit’s pockets. I choked it down; it was watery and wouldn’t do anything for me anyway. “I’m sorry! I’ve only had basic firearms training and I failed that the last three times and really I shouldn’t but I had to do something and…” I silenced her, pressing a hoof to her lips.

Now your officially part of the group 🤣

I really hope she can regrow her leg back

“Warden Hobble!” Silver Spoon shouted up at the combined screens. Her own green luminescence began to flare from the radiation pouring down on us. “I’m Silver Spoon, with the M.o.M. I’m here to administer your annual inspection and evaluation. It’s, like, totally overdue!”

What an unexpected turn of events. Good thing Blackjack just dragged a Feral Ghoul along who just happened to be part of the M.o.M. and regained her sanity two rooms ago when she learnt that Blackjack lied to her and the whole world went kaboom.

This doesn’t feel like a believable chain of events and more like “Can’t kill the main characters before the end of the story. Need to come up with a way to safe them fast!” Why not had one of the Ghouls from Meatlocker be a former M.o.M. member and have him/her accompany Blackjack? That would make more sense and felt less contrived.

“He was totally corrupt, too, but anytime we’d come to inspect, the inspectors either found nothing wrong or else they had nasty accidents.” Her brow furrowed in concern.

And nobody got suspicious after the third inspector had an accident while visiting his prison? Unless he had protection from some very powerful ponies there’s no way he would get away with this. Killing imamates is one thing, but Ministery Members? If he’s luck he’s losing his job instead of having a tragic accident himself.

“He’ll totally try something bad.”

At least he’s not outright going to activate all the turrets to vaporize you the moment you set a foot inside the cell block again. He’s trying to make it look like an accident which means you have a better chance at surviving.

We got bonuses from Quartz if we looked the other way whenever Goldenblood’s name came up. Nobles were always glad to give a present or two to hush something up. I mean, I know it was wrong but what could we do? Go to Pinkie? She was totally letting drug dealers off right and left!”

I take back what I said earlier. The M.o.M. was a lot more corrupt and ineffective than I expected. Both Pinkie’s and Quartz’s actions probably created culture where looking the other way was encouraged.

“I mean… yeah, it was wrong… but what could we do?”

“Discover” some fake evidences that claim Warden Hobble was working for the Zebras and show it to Pinkie. Or try to make a deal with Quartz that you continue to look the other way if she does something about the warden. It may not work but it worth a try.

Or just secretly record footage about the prisons conditions during your next inspection and leak it to the public. Although that could cost you your career and your life. But nobody said that taking a stand is easy.

No place like this should have been allowed to exist. Not ever.

On that we can agree. Sadly – as the past 46 chapters have shown – there exist a lot such places all over the Wasteland.

I looked from to the other. Elevators would be quicker. “Let’s get to the kitchens. If we can avoid them,” I said with a wave at the courtyard, “then I’m all for it.”

Considering how Blackjack always ends up in the most horrible places the Wasteland has to offer, I suggest taking the route she didn’t suggests. I can already see them getting attacked by a group of living mold carpets that are covered in rotten food and remains of ponies.

“The prisoners! They’ve busted loose! Fire! For Luna’s sake, fire!” Shotguns, pistols, and assault carbines were lifted or levitated into the air from behind the barricade of lunch tables.

Okay just a bunch of crazy Ghoul. That’s pretty tame all things considered. But I would be genuinely surprised if that’s the worst they're going to encounter in this area.

“Good jo--” I began to say as she turned towards me, trying to talk around the trigger. Any other praise I was going to give was lost in the roar of buckshot and the explosion of pain in my gut as the gun went off. She spat it out with a horrified look, kneeling beside me.

Congrats Xanthe! You just performed the secret Blackjack Friendship ritual and now you and Security are best buddies. This also drastically increased your chances of surviving this chapter.

Since these Ghouls could talk and use firearms I going to add the one killed by Blackjack to the count.

Blackjack’s On-screen Body Count: 196 (+1 Ghoulfied Prison Guard)

She would do anything for her land and people. Anything… except quit.” He sighed and shook his head. “Sometimes, I don’t think anypony knew what Princess Luna really felt. She was always alone. I always felt sorry for her…” I sighed too, then looked at the Dealer again... but once more he was gone.

She never quit? Reminds me of a certain Security Mare. But hey, more Luna is great. Up until now Goldenblood was always front and center.

I got ready for…
Nothing. The kitchen was empty.

I don’t buy it! Something bad is going to happen at any moment.

And for good reason too. They were filling with blue slime. Glistening heads began to stretch up out of the tubs as the slimeponies climbed out. Their sludge immediately made the countertops hiss, the metal corroding as the slime ate its way through the tubs and splashed across the floor. The goop was already between us and the exit.

Hah, I knew it! This was to good to be true. Although I do wonder how the Smoozies knew that the group was inside the kitchen.

The acidic ooze sent pseudopods snaking into the crushed elevator, and I watched as the thrashing ghouls were slowly dissolved into more blue sludge.

Considering the state they were in, this is probably a merciful death.

Then the slimy head collapsed in a thick splash and started to drain away. The bulk of it poured down the elevator shaft, dissolving through the floor of the smashed elevator and pouring down below. I groaned, trying to hold on with my smoking digits.

Nothing can stop the Smooze! Except for high voltage.

If the Smooze could’ve crawled through the pipes into the kitchen the whole time, this begs the question why it hasn’t done so before.? Why wait 200 years and instead of grabbing yourself some tasty ghouls? I’ve two theories.

The first one is that it only has am animal-level intelligence and didn’t know about the ghouls in the elevator shaft or the cafeteria. It could only sense life-forms who entered the kitchen due to the pipes being contect to it's lair. Blackjack and her group where just unlucky enough to be the first ones who entered the place in ages.

The second theory is that it went after the group purposlly. Normally it would be content staying below ground and eating whatever enters its territory. But the prey got away and that hasn’t happened before. Now it’s vengeful and wants to catch them no matter the costs.

I closed my eyes a moment and took a long, low breath. “Okay. That’s it. I’m pulling the plug,” I said as I stood and closed the plate on my foreleg.

Huh, that’s probably one of the smartest things she’s said in a while.

“We go back to Meatlocker, heal up and come back another day. We didn’t know about the smooze, the soul jars, or the Warden. We need better supplies and weapons. I want to get Glory and P-21 in on this. His grenades and her beam rifle are just what we need. You can whip up more talismans, we can bring a tanker truck of RadAway, and we’ll do it right,” I said with a nod. “We can work our way in from the outside, take our time with the turrets, pick off the ghouls, and make sure this place is secure.”

And she continues to surprise me by making smart decisions. All in all that's a pretty reasonably plan. Leave, lick your wounds and come back better prepared now that you know what to expect.

Although I wouldn’t want to bring along Glory and P-21. They are pretty squishy. Hightower is no place for ordinary ponies. Best to stick with Ghouls, Robots, the immortal unkillable Reaper, the Alicorn and the Security Guard who survives things no pony should be able to survive.

“I’ve learned over two centuries that one does what one must. We are reaching the top of this tower, tonight! I don’t care if every single one of you dies in the process. I am getting what is mine and not waiting a moment longer,”

Wow, Shears turned into an asshole. Guess he’s the one I’ve should’ve been wary off and not Ahuizotl. I'm going to blame him for every single death that happens in Hightower and hope he meets a gruesome fate.

“You… you’re standing? You shouldn’t able to stand! The pain--” he muttered as he stared up at me.

Well you clearly underestimated her pain tolerance.

Some people say earth ponies are made out of mud.
Well this poor mare’s made of muscle and blood!
Muscle and blood, skin and bone,
A mind that’s weak but a back’s that strong!”

That’s a pretty catchy song.

“Load sixteen tons and whaddaya get?
Another day older and deeper in debt.
Princess Luna don’tcha call me, ‘cause I can’t go!
I owe my soul to the company store!”

Funny thing is that PH: Speak also used that song. Although instead of Luna it was St. Stairswirl.

Then they actually clapped hooves! This was crazy! Reckless! Stupid, even.
And also a lot of fun.

This part feels like a fight montage from an action flick where the heroes take out dozens of disposable henchmen with zero effort. So yeah, this feels great. Enjoy the fun while it lasts, a horrible mood swing is going to happen any moment.

PH has teached me that when the characters are really happy, something bad is about to happen.

Xanthe didn’t argue, though she did furrow her brow. “There was once a report that said pony battle effectiveness increased by almost seventy percent when they were singing. It recommended withdrawing immediately till the song was over.”

If only the Mane Six had known that. Instead of breaking into a song after the battle was over, they should’ve done so during it.

“Don’t kill him. He lifts the curse and I’ll call it fair. We all get out alive and get what we want.”

That’s not what I would call fair. But okay, if Blackjack is the only one suffering because of his actions, it’s her choice. However, the moment one of the others gets hurt it’s no longer her choice alone to make.

“I thought… I thought if there was any place where there might be a sane ghoul, it’d be here. Maybe I could get them out too.” Her face twisted in anguish as she looked at the charred skeleton. “I’d been so close to losing myself when I escaped that I thought that maybe I’d missed one…” She clenched her eyes shut. “It should have been one of them. Any of them.”

Wow that’s sad. But also, pretty brave. She went into Hightower, the place that almost drove her insane in hopes of finding at least one of her former colleagues still sane. That takes guts!

It was hard to make out through the distorted glass, but I thought I saw blue flame slowly walking along the crumbled balcony two floors up next to the missile. The bars had broken away. For a second I thought that maybe it was fire from the warhead that had dribbled off, but it was definitely moving sideways.

Oh look, another horrible monstrosity that was once a pony.

The levitation talisman went dark as Cerberus gave one last anemic crackle. “For the Glory of Equestriiiiiiiizzzzk--”

And the first team member is gone. Goodbye Cerberus, you died doing what you loved the most: Shooting at Ghouls.

That said, he’s just a robot with a very basic programming and I don’t think he’s actually sapient. Not to mention that his his only character trait was that he hated ghouls. That makes him a more fleshed out character than Stygius but that's not saying much.

He was the save choice. Nobody is going to be upset or sad that the robot died. Of course, I doubt he’s going to be the only one. I’ve a sneaking suspicion Graves isn’t going to make it out alive either. She just had her personal spotlight scene that makes us feel attached to her and so that her death will be really tragic and heart wrenching.

“Pussy!” Rampage roared as she charged, lowering her head and bringing her helmet spike to bear.

It’s easy to say that when you can recover from being burned to a pile of ash.

Shears leapt at Silver Spoon and knocked her out of the path of the fire. Caught in the inferno, his rags burst into flame as he rolled across the ground, screaming in pain.

Okay he’s slightly redeeming himself for being such a colossal asshole.

Purple light swept the orange packets up before we could trample them, but I barely paid any notice. Graves was gone, along with all the supplies we’d needed. Another good pony gone because she’d tried to keep my dumb ass safe.

Yep saw that one coming. Just didn't expect it to happen so soon. Farewell Graves. You were a good pony.

So why was I grinning so hard?

Because you really enjoy the adrenalin rush during combat when something tries to kill you? You’re a weirdo Blackjack. But that’s why we love you. Most of the time.

“Keep going, Blackjack. We need something more to destroy it in one blast so that it can’t regenerate,” Lacunae said in my mind as I passed the lounge the third time.

And suddenly this went from a tragic moment to a comedic chase scene where Blackjack runs in circles followed by an angry flaming pony who got shot in the butt.

With a fiery scream the ghoul fell, plunging to the ground fifty feet below. It crashed into the tangled steel, buried for a moment in the twisted chain-link and razor wire. Then its blazing head emerged... and let out one last roar of rage before exploding in a massive green fireball that obliterated not just the ghoul but the steel and ten feet of concrete. It wasn’t just vaporized. It was as if everything around the ghoul had been utterly disintegrated, including the possessed soul armor.

If that didn’t kill it, nothing can. Let’s just hope this was the only living-fire ghoul and the rest are just your run-of-the-mill ghouls with crazy regenerative powers.

Since Blackjack claimed that the Ghoul knew what it was doing he gets added to the body count.

Blackjack’s On-screen Body Count: 197 (+1 incredibly hard to kill motherfuckker)

“Faith,” I replied.
“Faith?” He sounded skeptical. “I’m sorry, but what is it you can do?”
“I… I have faith in Princess Luna to save us all. That’s my talent. Faith…” I finished lamely. “I don’t really have any magic…”

Unless you’re a Paladin or a Priest, that’s not really going to help you survive this war at all.

“Ithn’t thith thuper?” She lisped horribly as she grinned at me from behind her thick purple glasses. “They’re tho glad we’re thigning up!”
“They said I was big enough to face off an entire zebra brigade!” Doof said, the gray pony with the messy brown mane looking around. “I wonder when we’re getting lunch?” Given his cutie mark of a knife and fork, there was no question what his talent was. “I bet a soldier eats really well.”

And to think that these three would eventually become the founding members of a famous elite team.
“Ayep,” Big Macintosh said in his even, confident voice. “If y’all don’t mind my sayin’ so, Equestria’s a lot more than its soldiers. Every single one of us loves this country.

Pretty sure the same can be said about the Zebras, too. Usually the side with the better equipment and/or more troops wins. Not the one who loves their country the most.
Then again this was the early war. So a lot of volunteers probably had very naïve ideas about how bad it really was. Thinking they could beat the Zebra with a song on their lips.

I came to with my face on cold metal, feeling my body ache terribly; the boring sensation grinding away inside me.

Seems like the story uses memory orb less and less and instead gives Blackjack straight up visions from the past. Not a complaint or anything, just something I started noticing.

It’s somewhat disturbing. Fortunately, most of us want to help you, and those that don’t are keeping silent.”

I guess that’s because Hightower is the place where Rampage was created and all her personalities are former inmates/ test subjects.

Psychoshy asked from by the door, holding the blasted form of Cerberus steady as Xanthe worked on him. The robot crackled something about striped saboteurs as it waved its single remaining limb.

Oh, Cerberus is getting repaired. Thought he was gone for good. Being robot does have its advantages.

Redundant healing and repair talismans. If you can avoid catastrophic damage to your brain, you might be effectively immortal.

Not going to make the obvious joke about Blackjack and brain damage. But yeah, considering what happens to Blackjack every two days catastrophic brain damage isn’t as unlikely as it sounds.

“I suspect she had her own reasons,” Rampage replied as she dumped the contents of the bucket into the equipment. “I can only speculate at the moment what they might be. It could be she wanted to ensure your success and so gave you the redundant healing and repair capabilities. If so, she did indeed save your life.

You don’t need to be genius to realize that Blackjack gets injured a lot. Probably had more close calls than I’ve fingers on both hands. Putting an extra set of talismans inside her was a very smart move.

The Goddess said, with utter vicious malice, “Welcome to Unity, Blackjack.”

That’s horrible. Not even the worst scum deserves to constantly have Trixie inside his/her head.
Ok now she’s not only a cyborg but also a mutant. Guess it would’ve been only a matter of time before she grew wings on her own.

It was all... too much. Just too much. The enormity of how much I’d changed and what had happened to Graves came crashing down on me. I didn’t want to deal with it anymore. I just wanted to curl up with my head in Glory’s lap and have her stroke my mane until magically everything was better.

Hey kid guess what time it is? That’s right: Blackjack suffers another mental breakdown time. Place your bet what you think is going to happen.
Is she going to beat someone (who’s hopefully an enemy) to a pulp? Is she trying to kill herself? Or is she going cationic? So many funny options.

I had to take my mind off this. I simply had to. Now that I knew I was... intact... I tried to focus on our situation.

She’s keeping it together for now, but something tells me it’s not going to last very long.

“One day we found an injured zebra. He was a scout for the Remnant at Dawn Bay. The code of Caesar demands aid to any zebra requiring it, and so we healed him and beseeched that he not reveal us to the Remnant. A month after he left, their soldiers arrived and demanded a tithe of fighters, robots, weapons, and food.”

No good deed goes unpunished. That scout was kind of an asshole for ratting out the people who saved his live. But judging by Lancer’s behavior the Remnants are more like a cult who has run out of Kool-Aid because they drank it all.

They claim they work the will of the last Caesar. It does not matter if a village has no problems with ponies. The will of the one or of a small settlement matters nothing. Only the ‘Eternal War’.

Yes, just a bunch of fantastic who are fighting a pointless war because their doctrine demands it. They are probably the Zebra version of the Islamic State.

Yes. The Propoli. We were... are... builders.

“Yes, we’re just builder. Building beautiful cities. Nothing else. And anyzebra who says anything about slavery, war profiteering or a morally depraved leadership is just a filthy, filthy liar.”

“You are the Maiden of the Stars, destined to destroy us all. To hear you speak of us so is... unexpected.”

Or maybe you are just an extremely superstitious Zebra and Blackjack isn’t the actual Maiden of the Stars.

If I didn’t know any better I would assume Xanthe was going to become a main character and a permanent addition to Blackjack’s group. A Zebra would certainly add something new to the teams dynamic and she already accidentally shoot Blackjack, which is something all the members of her group have done so far. Okay in P-21's case, it was not so accidentally but it still counts.

“I still don’t know. Am I alive? Dead? Something else? Does it really matter?” He shook his head. “Two centuries ago, we played with magic we didn’t understand. What I am now... I guess that’s payment for it.”

If I had to classify Snipes, I would say he’s a lich. Someone who got immortality via powerful magic. He doesn’t seem to have a soul jar, but they don’t need one in every setting.
But wow, there are really a lot of ways to gain immortality in Fallout: Equestria.

“My only friend.” He looked upwards again. “I just know that he’s up there still. I can feel him. I’ve been feeling him for two centuries. He’s scared and lonely, wondering where I’ve gone. And he can feel me now and knows that I’m coming to save him. If we left... if he thought I gave up...” He shook his head and sniffed.

And you didn’t even attempt to explain this. Instead you started acting like a crazy person and threw around Starkatteri death curses.
First Sanguine, now him. Seriously what’s wrong with these ponies! Sometimes honesty is the best policy.

“I can fix it! I can fix it! I just need my notes. And Snails might know a thing or two...” he rambled as I gave him a shooty look.

Considering all the reckless things she does, all the battles and all the dangerous places she regularly visits it’s not like a death curse would really shorten her life expectation that much.

“Aw, what’s the matter? Tell him. Tell them all,” she said with a little leer. Suddenly she whirled around and snapped, “She doesn’t have to tell anypony! She has the right to remain silent.” Then her head whipped to the side. “Don’t give us that cop shit!” Tears streamed down her cheeks as she backed away even more before suddenly stopping in her tracks. “Full disclosure might be therapeutic,” she said reasonably, then bellowed, “Leave her alone, Doctor!”

Guys, you’re not helping right now. I know you want to help – well except you Voice 1, you’re a jerk – but five different ponies talking to her at once will just make her panic even more and then Blackjack has to shot you all in the head again.

Rarity needed a way for a pony to live through anything and she came up with the thought... how many souls could you place within a jar?

Yep, that doesn’t sound like a crazy unethical thing at all. Absolutely not!
There was a point at which you should’ve pulled the plug Rartiy and that point was long before this moment.

We guessed that the talisman just needed more soul power, so... we added more.

You didn’t really have any idea what you we’re doing, aren’t you? I’m just shaking my head in utter disbelieve at how stupid everyone involved in Project Eternity was.

But the very next day... she was ashamed of all our work. She cancelled all our plans for making more phoenix talismans; she insisted that all our records and findings on soul armor be erased immediately

Interesting. I wonder what lead to such a drastic change. Did something bad happened or did someone manage to talk some sense into her?

Inside their cells, a few other flaming ghouls howled. I really hoped they didn’t get free

Oh great, there’s more of them.

And yes, they will eventually get free. All at once. I’ve read/played/watched enough stuff to know that if there are dangerous creatures looked up in a cell, said creatures will break out at the most inconvenient time.

We’d just lit the fuse on a balefire bomb.

Another average day in the life of Blackjack.

----------
I really don’t know why it took me about three months to finish Chapter 46, but only a few days to read Chapter 47. Chapter 48 is most likely going to culminate in a confrontation with the warden, who hasn’t done much yet. He's must be pissed that Blackjack and Co. set his prison on fire.

As expected not every red shirt is going to make it out of this place alive and Graves was the first one to bite the dust. Here are my thoughts what's going to happen to the rest of the group and who's not going to make it.

Rampage, Lacunae and Notshy: They have main character plot armor.

Blackjack: Wouldn’t be PH if Blackjack isn’t more death than alive and missing a few body parts by the end of her trip to Hightower. But yeah, she’s going to survive.

Stygius: My favorite part in this chapter was when he looked really concerned. This is no doubt a very important moment in his on-going character arc that will result in a shocking but satisfying conclusion.

Okay still giving him a 50/50 chance because he’s basically a Mauve Shirt. Which makes him safer than the Red Shirts but also means his death would be more shocking to the readers.

Cerberus: I think he’ll will eventually be damaged beyond repair.

Carrion: He’s going to make it back to the bar and fulfill his contract with Ahuizotl. Then he’s going to shoot him in the face – unless Blackjack intervenes. Of course, there’s still a chance that he get’s a spotlight moment in the next chapter where we learn more about him and the contract he made with Ahuizotl which ironically will reduce his odds of survival.

Snips/Shears: He has written “heroic sacrifices to make amends” written all over him. Probably the last character to die in Hightower.

Xanthe: After this chapter, I feel she’s going to survive this endeavor. Her shooting Blackjack is a big hint that she’s important.

Diamond Tiara: Don’t think she’s going to make it. Probably another heroic sacrifice, trying to hold back a pack of Ghouls with her ability to control them while the place falls apparat.

If Snips is still alive I'm guessing he can help Rampage in dying right?

The Goddess said, with utter vicious malice, “Welcome to Unity, Blackjack.”

Uhhh, oh shit!

Snips stared in horror as I put three rounds in Rampage’s head, sending her down in a heap. His eyes flared, horn glowing as he brought his shears out. I caught the closing blades with my remaining hand, the edges cutting into the metal of my fingers. “Wait! She’ll be okay!” I yelled in alarm.

Bullet therapy started out as a solution to Rampage becoming uncontrollably violent. But through repeated use, Blackjack has become desensitized to it to the point that it’s become her go to whenever Rampage is merely being “difficult.” I wonder if she’s going to have an epiphany that maybe that’s not a good thing?

This was gonna be tougher than I thought. But, armored and empowered or not, nothing protected them from their heads exploding in sprays of rotten brain and broken steel as Lacunae carefully sighted with the AM rifle. “Forgive me Luna, for I have taken the life of another,” I muttered absently, remembering Psalm’s grim refrain. With the ghouls no longer focusing their fire, Carrion stood and poured on the bullets. Plenty deflected off the armor, but some found their way to vulnerable spots. Those vulnerable spots quickly liquefied, and one guard was decapitated by the barrage.

Fuck no, is she turning into another psalm? Incredibly good at killing, hates herself for it, but continues anyway

“Good jo--” I began to say as she turned towards me, trying to talk around the trigger. Any other praise I was going to give was lost in the roar of buckshot and the explosion of pain in my gut as the gun went off. She spat it out with a horrified look, kneeling beside me.

Well, it's official. Xanthe is now part of the team.

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