‘Hugs for Murky’? What’s a Murky?

Holy shit Murky needs hugs.
I want to hug Murky.
I want to hold him in my coat, for he is smol.
I wish to snuggle and squeeze him, but not to hard or he might break.

Not the channel I’d hoped for. “I… uh…” I stared at the bodies. “There was a… a weapons malfunction! Yes, slight weapons malfunction. But, uh, everything is perfectly alright now. I’m fine. We’re all fine here, thank you,” I said, and then added lamely, “How are you?”

OOoohoohoohooo... you sneaky goob, thought I didn't see the Star Wars reference you put in there Hahahaha! Glorious!
Awesome chapter! and BEST GHOUL... Next to DItzy~

Nice job!

No glaring grammar errors that break the flow or immersion of the story for one chapter. Nice job y'all.

That Star Wars (A New Hope) reference though with the Detention Block.. that was amazingly well timed. As soon as Detention Block was mentioned. All the way up to the we're gonna have company line.

“Detention Block AA-23? What’s your status?” an angry, official-sounding pony asked tensely. “You’re five minutes late for your check in.”
Not the channel I’d hoped for. “I… uh…” I stared at the bodies. “There was a… a weapons malfunction! Yes, slight weapons malfunction. But, uh, everything is perfectly alright now. I’m fine. We’re all fine here, thank you,” I said, and then added lamely, “How are you?”
“We’re sending a squad in,” the pony said peremptorily.
Oh crap. What’s something that’d keep me out in 99? “No no no, don’t do that. We had a… reactor leak up here! Yeah! Radiation everywhere! Give us a few minutes to lock it down. Large leak. Very dangerous,” I said desperately, willing them to believe it.
“Reactor? What are you talking about? Who is this? What’s your operating number?” the pony demanded.
I looked at the controls and finally just stomped them as hard as I could repeatedly, showering myself in sparks. Boo staggered back and hit a pair of large red buttons marked ‘fire’ and ‘emergency release’. “Boring conversation anyway.” I turned to the door. “Rampage! We’re going to have company!” An alarm began to sound and I saw the magical fields on the screen wink off one by one.

At 2:24-2:59 clever phrasing of this scene throughout is the reference's signal. Just be careful if you watch the beginning or end of this video. The pink flashes during the shootouts is just an eyesore. Warning: flashing lights.

Pinkie Pie's Pinkie Sense is downright surreal scary in this fanfic. A Party of One reference and I can just imagine the art of the scene in that room. Murky? Who's Murky? The OC Murky from Murky Number Seven? Which that story is still being updated to this day. Oh hey, it's Rainbow Dash! She's a ghoul, how fitting for the raspy voice. But hey, she's still alive in Project Horizons. Damn shame how Gilda was sent to kill her. Now where's that song that I didn't know was Fallout: Equestria related..with Rainbow Dash and Gilda.. I will find it..? Headcanon accepted. Holy shit, did the killing joke actually wear off on Glory finally?

Warning: even the song's image below can be a chapter 61 spoiler
Here it is, after searching and searching until I hit the match. A underrated song about Fallout: Equestria's Rainbow Dash (Project Horizons). Warning to readers that have not read this chapter yet: spoilers in the lyrics for one big reveal.

Lol killing joke is pretty funny.

Yay, best feather pony is back.

Did not see that one coming but I like it very much, yes indeed!
T

Pinkie sighed. “I know. I know! It doesn’t make sense, but it will. It’s all one big ball of… of… wibbly-wobbly… timey wimey… stuff!” She slumped and spread her hooves wide. “Please. Trust me. Believe me.”

m.popkey.co/746b99/y6k5j.gif

She began to rapidly tap the keys, and an instant later there was a ring. Then Lighthooves’s voice came over the connection, faintly buzzing and tinny. “Yes, Grandmother?”
I froze and panned from the blank terminal to Mare Do Well, feeling the shooty look establishing itself on my face. What... the... fuck?!

m.popkey.co/44bf38/zJDk7.gif

What's even funnier than poison joke? Having it go away at exactly the right moment!
The punch line has been doubled!

Cloudy rose eyes met mine. The right side of her face was marred by three gouges running from her brow down past her eye and alongside her muzzle to her throat. “Duh,” Rainbow Dash said. “It’s my ministry, after all.”

2.bp.blogspot.com/-_4kl5mCrbSk/VvSMDAPA1yI/AAAAAAAAnIM/QzKRfqoZqZ4mMDhncadkY9539SgGrNztw/w1200-h630-p-nu/fry%2Bhype%2Bdrool.gif

Been awhile, but I've kind of slowed to a crawl with this beast. I share blame for that with the story itself. What do I mean? Welp, let's get a couple gripes out of the way, move on to praises, and then the next chapter. Ah, quick warning: while I've spoiler tagged the major ones in this chapter, there's some stuff below that's not blotted out from a few chapters before this. Finding it all when very few other comments even bother (to the point that I can't read 'em, bleh) has become too much hassle, sorry. Ah, for those wanting to avoid negativity but still read this overwrought comment, skip to the capslocked spacer below! For those that want the full experience... here we go.

Okay... Where to start... Celestia the Traitor, Luna the Warmonger, or Pinkie the Apocalypse Herald?

Luna is easy, so we'll get her out of the way. Hell, I even called her that awhile back in an old comment. It's just a downer... one of so many that Somber throws at the reader concerning the show characters. Do any of them pay off from a literary standpoint? Does demonizing the canon accomplish jack or shit? This is far from over but... it's like he's so angry about the setting of Fo:E that he's turning every show character into a villain that can be blamed for it. I assume his ideal end scenario would have been the zebras winning via surrender. Equestria becomes a puppet state with Celestia as a figurehead of no real power, probably the concubine of the Caesar. Luna and the Ministry Mares would be executed for war crimes, possibly along with Goldenblood (hey, silver lining!). Meanwhile most of this fic's own 'villains' are so ambiguous that they're boring. Duped, desperate, forced, diseased, ...where's the conviction?! At least when Lancer was a cold blooded bastard I could respect him. Now he's like... demoted to guest party member, same as Deus (though I never did respect that guy...). I'm hoping Lighthooves doesn't cop out. There's a guy I can get behind... with a shotgun... Conviction to kill thousands in order to serve his fucked up world view. THANK YOU! That's a villain! Luna wasn't... she won't ever be. Somber cannot turn me against her... only against his pale imitation of her. I don't blame Pinkie for Cupcakes, either.

Celestia... damn that whole mess is just ridiculous. How stupid does a flying, teleporting, goddamn Alicorn have to be to need that sort of set up to defect? Oh, I grant you, we only have a zebra's word on this after witnessing the event via memory orb. Still, it's a Somber zebra, so there's probably more than a little truth to his words. But seriously... what the hell? What was the plan? Defect during a peace talk and make it look like an abduction? Not only was that 'dead ponies' level stupid, but it wouldn't even work if it had worked. Nopony would believe she had defected like that; they'd think political kidnapping into coercion. End the war? They'd fight even harder. Never mind that this would be Celestia abandoning her sister completely... then again I'm not sure I'd want to help Warmonger Luna either. Celestia does some dumb stuff in the show, but she sort of has to or there wouldn't be a show, so I forgive her. But this... this is just off, the whole thing stinks bad... what's missing...?

Pinkie... ugh, almost had me. SO CLOSE to feels. My eyes were itchy. Then... she lapsed back into author voice... 'we can't stop the bombs; we deserve them' ...Soooo yeah, there went that. It's a miracle, after a suicidal statement like that, that Rainbow didn't dismiss her rantings as those of a junkie suffering withdrawal, especially since that's perfectly accurate. Small wonder we get a Rainbow who acts like Loyalty is a set of shackles rather than a virtue she champions.

In general... we seem to be spending more time whining about the past than actually doing anything about fixing the present. In said present, all those ambiguous villains and unresolved conflicts are really unsatisfying to muddle through. Before someone says something brilliant like 'how like life, eh?', I'll point out that this is fantasy literature, escapism, the sort of thing you read to get a break from life's ambiguities and various grey moralities. This has been putting me to sleep half the time, and I've read Joyce. And yet...

----------------------------------------------------------------NAYS END HERE, LET YAYS BEGIN!---------------------------------------------------------

OKAY! That's enough bitching for now! You may well ask: Sun Sage, you whiny, masochistic jackass, why are you here if you hate it so much? Well, random stranger I just made up, I'll tell you. For one thing... after all that... we got detection block AA-23. Yep, I laughed through that entire reference, even read it twice. So, a story that annoys me this much but STIll makes me laugh? Absolutely worth sticking with, obviously.

Hey, speaking of Loyalty, Rainbow's alive...ish. This really came as no great shock after the Mare Do Well appearance... I mean who else would be Mare Do Well of the options we have? Cases could be made for some others... but come on; that costume requires a known character reveal and this was no great twist. It did make the chapter 20% cooler... I'll show myself out. Seriously though, having her as the one to save Blackjack this time around with the power armor hack really saved me from an eyeroll... Blackjack's hit a rough patch in terms of fights and such (the Warden, Deus the Tank, the Legate, the Goddess, Dawn, Lighthooves...), but being saved by Rainbow Dash? I can live with that. Also, Dash is the Mysterious Stranger! As buggy as that perk tends to be, this still got a good chuckle, well played. The Mare Lair... how wonderfully cringeworthy... very pony of you.

And then... after our Rainbow reveal... we get a Glorious Non Rainbow reveal! Lovely timing for that scientific bubble bath to finally kick in. I lament the loss of her wing again (I assume, while assuming she's going to live long enough for that to matter), but it's nice to see her back to being her.

Lastly, I come back to Lighthooves... I'm really hoping he stays who he is. Don't retract him the way you have practically every other villain. No stupid excuses, no 'I had no choice' shit, no diseases or madness driving him. May he keep his conviction to accomplish his goals by the horrible means at his disposal, and may he die spitting his last hateful breath at Blackjack. Because this conflict? The one we're looking at right now? This is some of the best stuff in this fic... by far. To this point, Dawn is a screechy letdown and Cognitum feels like the Goddess 2.0, but this? Good, good stuff. Half the reason I wrote such a long comment here was to savor my anticipation for the next chapter a bit more. Here's hoping for similarly satisfying conflicts now that I'm getting into the last quarter or so of this epic. ...Hope? Yeah... that's another reason I keep reading. See ya next time.

P.S. Calling Rampage as the traitor. Of course, if I'm right, there's no way to prove I didn't already know from reading ahead or some spoiler. I suppose I could screenshot my PH chapter page to show my unread 62, but that doesn't prove this is my only account. It is though. Further, the only spoilers I've stumbled over don't reference any betrayals. Of course if I'm wrong, no matter anyway. Reasoning? It'd explain her bitchiness of late. Folly had exactly plot number of bullets, and even if there was ammo to spare... everyone knows Blackjack wouldn't do that. Rampage isn't that dumb; so why bring it up unless she's thinking 'if you'd just killed me like I wanted, I couldn't have done this'. Further, she has divided loyalties to begin with: Big Daddy may have had other orders for her after all. Lastly, she's been in the Core, which is basically a C'thulu encounter from what we've seen so far. No telling what kind of crazy she brought out with her. Only other major group member with divided loyalties is Glory, but I dunno; I can't see her siding with her mom unless a lot happened between those two that we weren't privy to in between Dawn pointing tanks at Chapel. Plausible, but not my pick here. Looking forward to finding out.

Holy shit, what an epic chapter. Obligatory woot woot, Dash is alive and the Mare Do Well! Great to see that the joke wore off at the best of times though. Onward, woo!

~SolidFire

7684987 That is the joke. It's going to get someone killed, just not Glory.

Star Wars referance!!

Beneath, I gaped at the mottled grayish-blue hide and the thinning polychromatic mane. Cloudy rose eyes met mine. The right side of her face was marred by three gouges running from her brow down past her eye and alongside her muzzle to her throat. “Duh,” Rainbow Dash said. “It’s my ministry, after all.”

OH... MY... BUCKING... GOD!!!!!
GFDJFFJHDJKUDSZNLLGDWEBMKFDBKFF!!!!!!!!

RIP me. This just completely blew my mind!!!!!

I really hope that Mare Do Well survives this so that her and Fluttershy can meet up when it's all over. And with Spike.

Holy shit. No lie, this may just be my favorite chapter ever, because of the Mare-Do-Well reveal in the middle. I laughed for five minutes solid, I couldn't do anything, it was glorious. (And set up well, too! I had just been given reason to wonder what had happened to her after the war...) That scene was fucking awesome, and I hope she gets to hang out with Spike and Fluttershy after Gardens. :D

That said, I am agonizing over the dual question of which of friends betrayed her and who killed Stratus. I don't believe Lighthooves for a minute; Hoarfrost orchestrating it is too easy and fits into his narrative too well. I do at least like that his plan to gain power backfired on him, but the "captured and set up as political patsies" gambit always causes me stress. D: But who is officially in charge of Thunderhead, martial law aside?

Other things... Cognitum just seems like another Goddess, only one who talks all old-timey. All the Dr. Who references killed me, but the Star Wars joke was actually funny. (I think it's because that scene is legitimately funny in the original context.) I had to facepalm at all the fourth-wall breaking -- you definitely take it to ridiculous lengths -- but if LP gets a memory orb about her, BJ might as well have, too. And thank god we're done with Rainbow Glory. I will forgive most of that arc if only because the timing of her cure kicking in makes Afterburner look like a bitch, which is all she deserves. I mean, after all the fucking double-crossing and posturing, it's nice to finally see someone get a little comeuppance.

8058677
Think the council as a whole is in charge, not sure if there's an executive/leader of the council. Stratus big as head of security prior to being offed, Lightning Blaze big as head of Enclave Intelligence. But yeah, dunno if "this guy's in charge of the place" is a thing that applies.

Definitely get the Cognitum ~~ Goddess feeling. Similar agenda, MO isn't too far off, and it doesn't help that they pick up in importance around the same time.

Think that was the last of the big Star Wars references/parallels (or at least, that's how I saw them), one from each of the original trilogy as it turned out. Certainly the funniest out of them, but as you say, this one was comedy in the source too.

Peak fourth wall breaking doesn't come until Volume 5, in this one scene which I'm sure you'll know is the one when you see it (presuming of course you continue past 4).

8059770
I'm in too deep to quit now!

7188193
Is Doof influenced by a certain rapey character from The Things They Carried?

she didn't understand how men could do those things

“Don’t be ridiculous.  I’ll deal with my grandson myself,” Mare Do Well said grimly.  “I’ll get you to the park and then go to the Tower.”
“You can get in?” I asked in surprise.
She pulled off her hat, then reached under and unclipped something on her black and purple helmet.  The eyes darkened, and then the armor hissed.  An acrid stench escaped as the seal broke and the helmet detached.  Beneath, I gaped at the mottled grayish-blue hide and the thinning polychromatic mane.  Cloudy rose eyes met mine.  The right side of her face was marred by three gouges running from her brow down past her eye and alongside her muzzle to her throat.  “Duh,” Rainbow Dash said.  “It’s my ministry, after all.”

holy shit, you just blew my mind with a mega spell AND a balefire egg with that

Other predominant landmarks in the web of concepts were ‘four stars’, ‘Military Endgame’, ‘Enclave’, ‘Maripony’, ‘Goddess’, and ‘EoS’ in bold letters.  I felt my insides lurch as I read, ‘Littlepip’, ‘Blackjack’, ‘Zebra(?) filly(?)’ in that nest of connections.  ‘Hugs for Murky’?  What’s a Murky?  A large pile of rocks rested in a stack like a plinth, a monocle perched near the apex.  Somepony in the room made a noise that was a mix of the worst parts of a laugh and sob.

Holy shit. That's some scary stuff right there.

“Yes, he did, and no, you won’t,” Pinkie Pie said with a sniff as she rubbed her swollen eyes and looked away.  When Dash turned away for the door, Pinkie pulled her back.  “You can’t.”

Precognitive powers anypony?
No?
Just Pinkie?
Okay.

“Lock me up, you sons of mules?  I’ll kick all your asses!  Your horses and camels too!  Bring it on!

I don't think that's quite how the phrase works, Rampage dearie.

I looked over at her and saw in her eyes doubt and need.

I think I found our colepret

“Yes, Grandmother?”

Movie maker: "hey, wanna make action movies? I have a secret device."

Super evil apocalypse pony: "he's my brother"

Mare Do Well: "hey, wanna watch the death of the Enclave? I got popcorn."

Super evil apocalypse pony: " she's my grandma"

Random ground pony: "hey, I see apples"

Super evil apocalypse pony: "he's my fit cousin twice removed"

Who isn't related to this guy!?

Beneath, I gaped at the mottled grayish-blue hide and the thinning polychromatic mane.  Cloudy rose eyes met mine.  The right side of her face was marred by three gouges running from her brow down past her eye and alongside her muzzle to her throat.  “Duh,” Rainbow Dash said.  “It’s my ministry, after all.”

Super evil apocalypse pony: "oh, did I mention my grandma is Rainbow Dash? Hmm...could sworn I did."

What the heck!?
FoE gives us renewed virtues and the new elements of harmon,, along with a corrupted virtue villain pair.

Then we have Fallout Horizons and suddenly nobody is dead and everypony has a ministry mare relation!

BJ= Twi + Mac
Lighthooves= RD
Rampage= Twist
Psychoshy= Fluttershy + Goldenblood
LittlePip= AppleJack
I don't even know about Rarity
And Pinkie died with no heir.

Omigosh this is insane!!!

“Fact is, when I left the Enclave, they sent my childhood friend to bring me back, preferably not breathing.  Hell of a fight.  Best one I was ever in.

Huh. I don't remember Gilda ever telling Puppy-wait!
Wrong griffon.
Sorry.

“I gotta know... is that your natural mane color?”  Rainbow stared at her with those impassive purple eyepieces, then stepped past her.  “Oh, come on!

Rampage...that has literally gotta be both the oldest and most offensive question you could have ever asked her in your existance. What did you expect?

He needed some way to turn Thunderhead against Neighvarro.

"Oh shit" indeed, Blackjack.
I think we are in for a big ol' storm of Sky Raiders. Lol
I've been waiting to use that one for a while how.

Wow. That ending, man.
Talk about an epic twist.
Using your own Shia grade de-motivational speech to do the complete opposite of what you want and rally a mob

Dang, BJ, you've got some competition.

shittttt pinkie pie is op, welp you have to help her. Wait doesn't that mean that the message she sent to Twilight was fake? (like the one Littlepip kept in her pipbuck until she showed it to Alicorn Twilight). Since she knew that everyone was going to die, sooooooo

That's one hell of a pinkie sense.

Not the channel I’d hoped for. “I… uh…” I stared at the bodies. “There was a… a weapons malfunction! Yes, slight weapons malfunction. But, uh, everything is perfectly alright now. I’m fine. We’re all fine here, thank you,” I said, and then added lamely, “How are you?”

This is only the second time I have seen this on FIMfiction, but it was infinitely more satisfying. Ham Solo's glorious blunder.

Good work as always. It was great seeing BJ's notoriety work in her favor. For once. Never underestimate the power of the television!

Pinkie sighed. “I know. I know! It doesn’t make sense, but it will. It’s all one big ball of… of… wibbly-wobbly… timey wimey… stuff!” She slumped and spread her hooves wide. “Please. Trust me. Believe me.”

Another great chapter. The Star Wars reference was hilarious! While I did get over it rather quickly, that is more of force of habit at this point.

I'm incredibly glad that whole Morning Glory is a Rainbow look-a-like is done, and hopefully over with; as it had ran its' course a long while ago. I'd also like to point out that the politics of the place is almost irritating, at least subtly hint who is in charge! A direct mention would be better, but I'm up to just about anything now.

I have even got the feeling that I should side with the Enclave on my Fallout (any and all) play throughs, or make a new one to side with the Enclave. How dare you make me feel for the Enclave! (Note: the Enclave are not actually bad, nor do I hold them in that regard.)

Pinkie sighed. “I know. I know! It doesn’t make sense, but it will. It’s all one big ball of… of… wibbly-wobbly… timey wimey… stuff!” She slumped and spread her hooves wide. “Please. Trust me. Believe me.”

Rainbow Dash stopped walking and faced me. “When I came up with the Single Pegasus Project, it was going to be a way to help all of Equestria. We’d get more fighters to take the heat off the Earth Ponies, and we’d be able to help countless civilians. Do you know the first thing Princess Luna said when I proposed it to her?” I shook my head slowly and the ghoul grimaced. “She wanted to know how she could use the damned thing as a weapon! Throwing hurricanes and tornadoes at her enemies. She was glad for me to weaponize the frigging sky, and I had to grin and act like it was the awesomest thing since me.” She bared her teeth, her filmy eyes glowing in agitation. “Fuck. Luna.”

i think i remember someone thinking the S.P.P. was a weapon project...and thinking that...[dammit i forgot the name, that program Blackjack was that the Dealer is connected to]...could control it.

8346345
The Enclave in Fallout are unquestionably fucking evil and should be murdered on sight. If you don't know that you don't know anything about Fallout.

8650441
Um... I know plenty about Fallout. But that isn't what this is about, no, this is about the Fo:E Enclave and that has some differences. I mentioned it the comment you replied to "How dare you make me feel for the Enclave!"; like many things that feeling was short lived, besides... you can't exactly join the Enclave in a way that I'd approve.

The Enclave of Fallout are not unquestionably evil, to be killed on sight types. They are misguided (severely so) and have made many mistakes, and wrong actions; but they are doing what they believe is best, and they shouldn't be faulted for that. The Enclave is evil, but then again, to be in the Wasteland usually means to be perceived as evil (even the main characters of the games); because what is righteous and good to one group, is dread, robbery and pure evil to another. There are only a few cases I'd consider a person, idea, or group to be evil -- and the Enclave is not one of them. (Also, why are you replying to a comment from back in August of last year?)

8650506
Okay so walking backward in time for bad shit the Enclave has done.
Fallout 3: Kidnapped and experimented brutally on many many people as well as their own Operation Cauterize. Engineering the virus to be loaded into Project Purity that kills any non pure-strain / mutant that drinks or contacts the water. The only pure-strain non mutated humans that exist live in Vaults (which is why the Enclave wants to kidnap them and The Master needed them for more super mutants) or the Enclave. Eradicating all opposition with a plague isn't evil?
Fallout 2: Oh let me count the ways. Forceful FEV experimentation. Subjugation and possible destruction of the entire southwestern Wasteland. Indiscriminate on-sight murder. Again, seeking to eradicate the mutant and put the Enclave in charge of everything.

Oh, and they're behind the Vault Experiments, and quite possibly the strike that initiated the Great War.
And they're the Nazis of Fallout.

Somehow Pinkie shouldn't be dead. Maybe she is in hiding or something? It just seems improbable with all the stuff she pulls. It's like lurking top mid: you can't see that guy but you know he's there.

9054519
I swear LittlePip found pinkie’s skeleton when she was in manehatten. I think so anyway, it’s been a long time since I read FOE so I may be wrong.

Pinkie sighed. “I know. I know! It doesn’t make sense, but it will. It’s all one big ball of… of… wibbly-wobbly… timey wimey… stuff!” She slumped and spread her hooves wide. “Please. Trust me. Believe me.”

HA! The Doctor is involved now! BRILLIANT!!!!

Not the channel I’d hoped for. “I… uh…” I stared at the bodies. “There was a… a weapons malfunction! Yes, slight weapons malfunction. But, uh, everything is perfectly alright now. I’m fine. We’re all fine here, thank you,” I said, and then added lamely, “How are you?”

OH MY GOD!! THERES HAN SOLO TOO!!!

Detention Block AA-23? What’s your status?” an angry, official-sounding pony asked tensely. “You’re five minutes late for your check in.”

Not the channel I’d hoped for. “I… uh…” I stared at the bodies. “There was a… a weapons malfunction! Yes, slight weapons malfunction. But, uh, everything is perfectly alright now. I’m fine. We’re all fine here, thank you,” I said, and then added lamely, “How are you?”

“We’re sending a squad in,” the pony said peremptorily.

Oh crap. What’s something that’d keep me out in 99? “No no no, don’t do that. We had a… reactor leak up here! Yeah! Radiation everywhere! Give us a few minutes to lock it down. Large leak. Very dangerous,” I said desperately, willing them to believe it.

“Reactor? What are you talking about? Who is this? What’s your operating number?” the pony demanded.

I looked at the controls and finally just stomped them as hard as I could repeatedly, showering myself in sparks. Boo staggered back and hit a pair of large red buttons marked ‘fire’ and ‘emergency release’. “Boring conversation anyway.” I turned to the door. “Rampage! We’re going to have company!” An alarm began to sound and I saw the magical fields on the screen wink off one by one.

You magnificent bastard....

9148342

Well, somepony had a price put on their head by a rich and powerful crime lord that had them being chased all across the known world by bounty hunters. It was bound to happen, really.

“Detention Block AA-23? What’s your status?” an angry, official-sounding pony asked tensely. “You’re five minutes late for your check in.”

Not the channel I’d hoped for. “I… uh…” I stared at the bodies. “There was a… a weapons malfunction! Yes, slight weapons malfunction. But, uh, everything is perfectly alright now. I’m fine. We’re all fine here, thank you,” I said, and then added lamely, “How are you?”

“We’re sending a squad in,” the pony said peremptorily.

Nice Star Wars reference. Ahhh, good times....

200 hundred years of war and espionage, and rainbow is still total dork lol.

Timy wimy

Doctor whooves!

“My Goddess has plans for you, Blackjack. Plans you are unworthy of,” Dawn said with utter conviction. “She will realize I am right, in time. Especially when you are torn to pieces! I will save the Wasteland! Me!” Dawn screamed in my ears, then pulled out her other wing and started to ram it forward.

Hehe I cant wait to see her shocked face when lilpip frees the sky

Pinkie sighed. “I know. I know! It doesn’t make sense, but it will. It’s all one big ball of… of… wibbly-wobbly… timey wimey… stuff!” She slumped and spread her hooves wide. “Please. Trust me. Believe me.”

Reference!!!!😁

She sighed as she stopped and pushed her hoof against a wall of cloudcrete. “I was afraid you’d say that.” Then the wall swung open into a dim, cavernous space. “Welcome to the Mare Lair.”

Needs a better name

I wasnt expecting rainbowdash. Nice twist

Pinkie sighed. “I know. I know! It doesn’t make sense, but it will. It’s all one big ball of… of… wibbly-wobbly… timey wimey… stuff!” She slumped and spread her hooves wide. “Please. Trust me. Believe me.”

Now I wonder what happened to Doctor Whooves during the war effort

Pinkie sighed. “I know. I know! It doesn’t make sense, but it will. It’s all one big ball of… of… wibbly-wobbly… timey wimey… stuff!” She slumped and spread her hooves wide. “Please. Trust me. Believe me.”

AYYYYYYYY

Great timing to end a chapter. Love the Rainbow Dash reveal. Never thought it could be her. But I still have an issue with how she never contacted Spike. I mean for the element of Loyalty she didn't seem to be that loyal to Spike. Especially since Spike hacks into Sprite Bots and can effectively see most of the wasteland. I know she mentioned she felt like she let down all her friends and couldn't see Spike because of all the guilt she felt but it just feels like a lame excuse. Maybe its that shes no longer the element of loyalty? I mean that was the case for Fluttershy right. Not that I can think of anything better but it feels like trying to force Rainbow Dash into the story. Not that I'm against that. Rainbow Dash has always been my favorite out of the main six and seeing her reveal gave me goosebumps but it just feels like a small plot hole.
I hope she isn't brought up just to die

Even on reread this arc is giving me a headache. So many ponies with different goals, politics, setups and lies. Dawn, Rainbow Dash, Lighthooves, Stratus: everyone is playing the game their own way and I am having a hard time wrapping my head around it. It's too much.

Is Dawn being blackmailed by Cognitum with the lives of her daughters? Dawn yelled herself that she is doing this for them. But she doesn't care about Thunderhead. She harmed Sky Striker, declaring 'no more weakness'. I though that she was so devoted to saving the Wasteland, and by extension Cognitum, that there was no need for this blackmail. Or am I misunderstanding and there is no blackmail, but she still cares for her youngest daughters, but only them.

She is supposed to prove herself by killing Blackjack, but she didn't do it while she slept. Would that kill not count?

She killed Councilor Stargazer just because she wanted Neighvarro to strike? She schemed it up with Stratus. For him it was to put himself in better position. For her... chaos? War?

Hoarfrost went through all that setup in the prison (according to Lighthooves) just to kill Blackjack in the end. Why not kill her outright?

I now know why I don't remember what happened in this arc. Because there is just too much going on to keep track of. We still have Cognitum and the Brood as mysteries that may influence stuff here.

I'm feeling like I am reading this for the first time again and have no idea what's going on until Somber explains it. I even have some insight, at least for Cognitum, what her motivations are from the first read. Dawn, I am having the hardest time with.

Even the smaller questions still feel big. Like, last chapter where Lighthooves pulled the Perception off Blackjack. Why didn't he kill her, but then right after tried? Because he wanted her on his side, but she wasn't interested. Why risk her attacking him? Because he has some freaky speed and can handle hoof-to-hoof combat against her, omitting that she can blast his face off, because he doesn't know she can. It's all implied more or less. The reader need to work it out himself. That is what is considered to be well written.

It might be just me, but it's a lot, all at once, even on a reread.

But hey, Blackjack finally used her meatal eating powers in combat!

“Was he involved in this?” Rainbow Dash asked, pointing at the door with a wing.

“I…” Pound looked at his twin; she gave a small nod, and he continued. “We’re not sure. We don’t think so. He’s the one who called the paramedics, but some of the things she’s said since she woke up…”

Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth. “I’m going to kill him.”

A desperate gambit by Goldenblood to find answers after he failed to get them from the Black Book?

Pinkie Pie’s eyes moved left and right. “No, I can’t tell… achy hoof… flank flick… eye twitch…” Pinkie gave a sick smile that made her look as if she might vomit. “I can’t…” Again, she winced. She sat and hugged herself. “If I tell you… will you promise to hear me out and not think I’m crazy? Please?”

Rainbow Dash glanced to the door again, and Pinkie seemed on the verge of bawling. I felt Dash’s body start to shift, then stop. She shifted back. “I’ll try,” Rainbow said, her voice heavy with skepticism.

And now Pinkie was crying, punctuating it with occasional thank yous.

It’s been a long time…

I joked to myself after finishing FO:E that Pinkie was the pony Kwisatz Haderach. It looks like you might be going deeper here into how personally horrifying this was for Pinkie (the prescience itself, let alone all the fallout from it). I hope so!

…but it’s been worth the wait. This scene is quite the satisfying payoff.

“Because I’ve seen what happens if we try!” Pinkie Pie cried out in anguish. “We get arrested, and everything dies! Everything! Or we win, and everything dies! Or you try telling our friends, they don’t believe us, and then everything dies. I’ve had combos so clear and so…” She sobbed and slumped against Rainbow Dash, who suddenly had to hold the pink mare up.

Everywhen she looks, she sees Pony Arafel.

”Don’t you understand? The bombs falling are the best chance for us. In two hundred years, there will be another chance for other ponies to do better. To make this world right again! LittlePip will be the first. Then Blackjack. Then others! It’s the slimmest of slim chances, but it’s the only chance there is. But I can’t do what needs to be done because I’ll be dead in Manehattan!” And to my horror, she started laughing so broken heartedly that I wanted to hold her.

The only escape is Pinkie’s Golden Path. But the cost!

Rainbow Dash held her in her hooves and then closed her eyes. I wish I knew what she’d thought in that minute, before she opened them again. “Okay.”

Pinkie Pie gave a little hiccup before looking at her. For the first time, the mare’s eyes seemed to be returning to normal. “You’ll do it?”

Rainbow Dash nodded, then said, “I’d really like to talk to Twilight about this. Or any of our friends. But you’re right. Twilight probably wouldn’t hear me out once I mentioned your name. Even the others might have trouble believing it.” She rubbed the back of her head with a hoof. “I hate to admit, I have trouble wrapping my head around all this.”

“But you believe me, right?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“I believe you, Pinkie,” Rainbow Dash reassured her. “I may not understand you, but I believe you.”

Oh. And congratulations,”

?! Uhh….

“No. I’m not. But neither are you. But I will be. And so will you. And Twilight. And everypony. After all,” she said as the world started to blur away, “You’re my true, true friend.”