Yay! Another's chapter already?! I'm so spoiled. Thank you somber. I needed something interesting to read while I'm stuck at work. You saved me from utter boredom.

7328966 Welcome

A few things spotted from the changes:

“Why isn’t she awake yes?” Hissed the skinned stallion.

"yet"

Then the princess smiled.

"Princess"

“You’re not saving shit, you crazy, dumb turkey,” The false knight growled.

"The" shouldn't be capitalized. Unless there's something different between "Knight" from the whole chapter and "false knight" here, "knight" and maybe "false" should be capitalized.

O.I.A. ‘s office rivalled all the

" O.I.A.’s office rivaled "

7329267 What? changes? There were no changes! ::coughs and points to the left:: Squirrel! ::runs off to the right.::

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Who am I going to believe, you or my lying eyes and online diff tool?

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And now my lying eyes are telling me that "Hissed" in the first one shouldn't be capitalized. They tell me such strange and contradictory things . . .

OH MY GOD ARE WE FINALLY GETTING SOME ANSWERS?
T

7330290 It only takes 1.5 million words to finally get some answers.

What an awesome surprise! Nicely done Somber, and really? Closing in on the end?
Wow... maaaaaaan, its been awhile since I started this... so wierd otb e closing in on the end after so long...
I need to work on my story dang it! DX

Awesome job regardless man!

One of my favorites chapters. :)

7330409 Very true.
T

Jesus, I finally caught up.

Well what do you know. Psy-Whisper makes a reappearance and of course Stygius as well. What awkward timing of re-entry. Is this sub-plot conflict really going to end in sex to leave? Sigh, it's 4 AM and my brain.exe has stopped working. I am simply glad I am caught up again. Worth it.

Following up after the 4 AM post:
Another bastard bites the dust, Steel Rain. Good riddance. He had a chance, and he blew it the second he cooperated. Was a really bad idea to reinforce his power armor with starmetal. His one flaw! Some ponies refuse to be saved. Rules of nature, and his was of arrogance and betrayal. So, you can't win them all against opposition, with Cognitum forcefully using her connections to swap bodes. I still do not believe Cognitum is indeed Princess Luna herself. Shit, if Cogs wanted Blackjack's cutie mark of apparent 'Victory', did she lose her cutie mark then with her pristine equine body? Blank flank again is it? Just without any equal sign to replace the cutie mark. BJ nearly got Starlight Glimmered. Also, while I am at this, how did her 'old' body remain after Hippocratic? Rampage's many personas would eventually betray Blackjack's 'plan', but it is still a bit of a surprise as she was a main character of her company. And seriously, did the side places like Riverside actually get annihilated? Let's see how Charm goes along with 'do better'. I still felt pity for the supposed deaths of former antagonists: Dawn, Sanguine, Horse and even Sweetie Bot. If Dawn is truly dead, then Morning Glory can finally receive the bad news.. That is if Cognitum does not have sinister plans to manipulate Blackjack's friends. Ugh this is gonna turn into a real vs fake encounter of Blackjacks, isn't it? Since the real Blackjack has a somehow pristine and not currently cyber augmented body, Cognitum will probably try to persuade Blackjack's friends that the cyber alicorn (who is really Cognitum after the body snatch) is the real Blackjack. As the last time BJ's friends saw Blackjack, she was a super augmented cyberpony with new wings. In before a "I'm the real me" scene. I can only hope that does not need to happen. On top of this body switch, Cogs has BJ's baby. Oh dear. But if Cognitum uses BJ's friends as simple pawns and ends up killing any one of them. Man, I will be mad as hell at her much more than I am already with her methods. If she has been so observant following Blackjack's path for a long time, it would be a perceived mistake to destroy Chapel. Blackjack's friends are very useful and have a crucial set of skills to survive and thrive. As that's the name of the game. But just threatening to destroy Chapel and the rest of her friends she knows the longest, and oh yes the intimidation on Blackjack for Cogs to receive what she wants works shockingly well. She gets what she wants, and then not a moment later of departure her subordinates already scheme behind her back. How typical. Of course Goldenblood is alive somehow, as soon as it mentioned a dragon and execution it was just a teleportation to somewhere safe. And towards the end of this chapter Blackjack talks with Princess Luna somehow (albeit convenient timing), at wherever that Batpony castle is located, is BJ still stranded in that place then? Meanwhile in other parts of this shattered but built world universe, Lacunae may be gone? But Psalm remains somehow, but with Lacunae's alicorn body instead along with Psalm's cutie mark. Okay, I am done, sorry for the spoiler block wall of text, if that's an eyesore. But holy cow, I like to type a lot for an hour and recall what I read.

Congratulations on your interview, Somber!

HEY HEY HEY!!!! Guess what day it is today? (Unless it turns out I'm terribly wrong, then oh bummer) It's PH's birthday! *Throws confetti in the air* July 2nd, huzzah! (Oh god, I hope I'm not wrong...) Either way though, even if it's not its birthday, this story is one of my most favorites! It has made me go on a major rollercoaster of an adventure! I'll never forget about drunk Blackjack and her awesome friends

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According to my notes this is correct. i almost missed it too... Happy birthday, Project Horizons.

*blows a tiny party horn*

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Happy birthday indeed to this riverting story.

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Oh, thanks, Bookworm Dazzle, Ryx; glad I happened to check in with the comments here (something I don't do that frequently) just now.

7357947 Thank you for remembering. I'd hoped to have it all up by now, but... things happen. You read things and you want to change them. Make fixes and alterations here or there. Every little change you make, though, creates ripples that propogate through the story, causing more messes.

“Murdering, betraying, fucking cunt!” I beat him back with every blast.

It's there, it's really there. Early on you said that Blackjack could feel a tiny piece of herself screaming 'cunt'. She really has a tiny piece of Deus in her.
m.popkey.co/2e2598/3GkMk.gif

To quote a certain cyberpony/tank, after reading this chapter, I have only one way to call Luna:
CUNT!!!

7360046 I have to say, I like how you handle the show's canon and story; this isn't a crossover, it's an alternate universe. WHAT A TWIST!

Security might save ponies, but some ponies just refuse to be saved.

sad but true and i saw what you did there with the whole Persephone and Hades thing

This Pink Cloud is killing me,” Goldenblood said weakly.

now it makes sense why healing potions weren't working on goldenblood

pushed the door open and beheld the glistening, undulating mass of pony flesh that was an orgy. Over two beds, a half dozen mares and a half dozen stallions were vigorously engaging in coital relations. Half of them were batponies like Stygius. The other half were unicorns, pegasi, and an earth pony. I stood in the wash of sweat and semen that rolled out the open door in a sweet, salty pong.

Okay. That was it. My brain was officially out of order. I couldn’t process this anymore…

Dang. Sounds like a good time.

Anyone else feel impending answers and an spec closure to a great tale?
I know I do.

Anyone else feel that place is the Twilight Zone?

But still...dang. is anypony not dead?
Luna is still around.
Celestia is now a computer.
and all the murauders are still around but Stone own and Jetstream.

Literally everypony else is still around!
or dead.
but they were still around before that!

So one thing I was wondering earlier and forgot to give voice to, is whether Cognitum or actual Luna was really Nightmare Moon. From this chapter, it sounds like that's unknown and/or not important, so okay.

The intro, Charm's POV, was great. Watching all those enemies and not-quite-friends sacrificing themselves to save Blackjack was great. Steel Rain's death was not quite as great, but only because it means I have no more lines. D: (Okay, but seriously, "Nopony likes you." "I like me." XD)

I was bitching earlier that I was going to be mad if Horse redeemed himself, but I think 200 years spent conscious, in a jar, with no skin is enough of a punishment that I didn't mind. Plus, he's fucking dead now, 'bout time. Plus, that fight with Steel Rain, throwing the pendant at him, was awesome.

And then BJ goes through the Nightmare portal (what was with that inscription?) and it's like a whole new chapter. I'm having less of an enjoy, could be because batponies and Psychoshy, I dunno. I do appreciate the stodginess of the king, but the whole thing seemed like a pointless diversion until Luna showed up. And then I just do not know what to make of anything, so we'll see where this goes. :B

Security might save ponies, but some ponies just refuse to be saved.

This was quite fun. Getting to read that awesome fight, learning more about Luna and Goldenblood, and seeing the end of that dastard Horse.

The ending of Steel Rain was quite forseeable, but in a good way? Yes. A good way. Somberjack did it in her usual way -- leaving an emotional weight on her shoulders. Either way, I'm glad that the selfish, funny one-liner pony is gone.

That Dragon-thing with GB was completely foreshadowed earlier in the story! I remember a line about a Dragon executing GB with its flames, and knowing how the flames work makes it easy to see.

I can hardly wait to read the somber conversation between BJ and GB, yes!

“You… no!” Steel Rain shouted as I set her on my back. “What is the deal? You were beaten. What does it take to kill you?”

Imagine betting desperate Like steel rain this moment

“Each of those arms carries one point twenty-one gigasparks, at least. It’d vaporize you,” Dawn said immediately.

1.21 GIGAWATTS!!!

No more cyborg Blackjack? Great, she's stupid and now is in a body that dies after being shot in a right place, weaker and can't bare foals... this could have been near the end. Yeah the whole reason I read this far into the fic was for a badass cybernetic protagonist. Now there isn't.

“Each of those arms carries one point twenty-one gigasparks, at least. It’d vaporize you,” Dawn said immediately.

Obligatory "ONE POINT TWENTY-ONE GIGAWATTS!!"

Poor Charm. Even if she was an evil little Filly you can't really blame her. Glad she redeemed herself at the end.
Also I can't believe Goldenblood is still alive. Hope he fills in the rest of the gaps of OIA lore. Also Blackrock mountain or whatever it was called has to be where all the bat ponies are, right?

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Bro. She's always been stupid. Did you not read the hundred other times she's said "I'm not a smart pony"?