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"?

"On today's episode of 'How fucked up is fucked up?'" Points at this chapter. "That's fucked up."

Honestly, if I wanted to give a third party a migraine, I'd attempt to explain this chapter to them. PH has it archives of bizarre scenes, but this one takes the cake by a mile.

I really like Steel Rain for some reason. This final fight is so fun to watch, cheering Blackjack on with her new body. And that last chuckle he does after failing to push Blackjack off the platform is... chef's kiss.

I wonder how his own pedant wasn't reacting with his armor. I imagine it'd be close enough to make the starmetal on his neck glow. I can imagine him bypassing that issue by not reinforcing his belly with starmetal and keeping the pedant there.

Once upon a time, there had been a Princess born in a castle.

I like this section. It’s different. It’s clever. It’s fun. That said, it’s almost painfully contrived. It just raises so many questions. How the hay did Blackjack’s body survive that fall??? Cognitum really assembled a menagerie of villains from throughout the book, and kept them all around??? And these villains all just happened to have a “come to Celestia moment” simultaneously, in Blackjack’s time of greatest need??? The only ones here who seem to be indisputably in character are the most mindless ones, Sanguine and Sweetie Bot. Snips and Charm I can see I guess , even if it’s a bit of a stretch. But Dawn? Literally five minutes ago she was still obsessed with being better than Blackjack. And the problem with Horse is less that he chose the path of redemption and more that he was capable of making that choice. I find it really hard to believe that he’d be any better off than Sanguine. But not only is he still sane, he’s lucid enough to provide tech support???

You could make convincing arguments for why any of these characters, individually, would choose to help. What makes this hard to swallow is that all of them are needed. If anyone rejects redemption, or falters, Blackjack is screwed. So can I accept this? Can I believe? In the end, I guess I can. Because there’s something in the air here. Can you smell it? I can. It smells like…

HARMONY

It’s just SWEET and CHARMING to watch these characters, none of whom even have any history with each other (except Horse and Sweetie Bot), come together as a team and sacrifice themselves for just a chance at saving Equestria. Maybe, after all the dark and horrible shit in this story I DO just want to believe in something sappy and cheesy like this, ok?

And if the Sorceress was in a bad mood because the Barbarian had gotten herself killed in the sky, or because a bad thing called Horizons was going to go off, she’d entertain herself by making the Princess experience all the horrible things that the Princess had once wanted for the Barbarian to suffer… and things the Princess had never imagined before… and things the Princess rather wished she didn’t know.

So just in case there was any remaining doubt or confusion, I think we can put that to rest. Cognitum is most definitely a very evil cunt.

“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?”

But I wasn’t there. I’d teleported directly behind him, panting hard, feeling the adrenaline surging inside me. Without my steel augmentation, that teleport had been almost… easy. My eyes focused on his guns, and my magic reached out and began to field strip the firing pins from both of them. I might not have been able to hurt him, but I could at least take away his favorite toys.

Ok, I’m willing to overlook everything else, but this is bothering me. When Steel Rain kicked Blackjack’s body over the edge, it still had the unicorn filly timeout ring over its horn. But now it’s gone. How? Did I miss something here?

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

Damn

11868051

You could make convincing arguments for why any of these characters, individually, would choose to help. What makes this hard to swallow is that all of them are needed. If anyone rejects redemption, or falters, Blackjack is screwed. So can I accept this? Can I believe? In the end, I guess I can. Because there’s something in the air here. Can you smell it? I can. It smells like…

HARMONY

As for what it sounds like though, it sounds to me like a classic case of:

The hall beyond was just like the room behind. Tapestries showing the moon eclipsing the sun were everywhere. Windows depicted a dark alicorn banishing a white alicorn to the sun. Stars and star sapphires decorated every door and wall. In its own way, it reminded me of a far grander, and colder, Star House. I carefully stayed on the carpets so my hooves didn’t click on the ebon floor.

Ahh, this is the perfect destination for a mid-chapter cooldown. A brief vacation to the Hidden Underground Extradimensional Batpony Kingdom. We’ll have an opportunity to catch up with those rascals Stygius and Whisper. I wonder what shenanigans those two have been up to. Whatever it is, I’m sure it’s all a bunch of wholesome and innocent fun…

I 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.

…Oh.

Tenebra flushed. “I admit, it is a relief to know that I won’t have to... bed him. Still. All this... sex... well... it just doesn’t seem all that appropriate.” Ah. Thankfully, after Glory, I could better understand her madness. ...About general prudishness. Whisper was still a bit...

“Speak for yourself,” said mare replied. “The breeding program’s been a huge hit with most of the younger batponies here. Stygius wasn’t the only one who wanted to get out and sow his oats.”

I can just imagine all the intricate planning that Whisper put into this breeding program.

Step 1 -> Gather as many outside ponies as possible.
Step 2 -> Orgies.
Step 3 -> More Orgies.
Steps 4-X -> Let’s keep the orgies going.
Step X+1 -> Fuck if I know, I’m still stuck on orgies!

I sputtered as I stared at him. “What about everypony else? There’re thousands, maybe millions, who will die when Horizons goes off. And if Cognitum manages to catch that damned stone, she’ll control weapons that will dominate Equestria for a thousand years or more.”

“Darling, perhaps this is one time we should let her go. It sounds quite serious,” Persephone said quietly.

“I will not make an exception for a mare who should not be here.” He rolled his eyes as he turned and limped back to his throne. “She will dominate your Equestria, not ours,” he said scornfully. “Your world is not our affair. Your problems are not mine.” He gave a dismissive wave of his hoof. “Be gone from my presence. Breed a batpony or three, and perhaps I will send you back.” And he settled back onto his throne and stared silently at me.

Well, I sure am glad that I’m still hyped up on HARMONY and SHENANIGANS from earlier in the chapter. Because this next part makes me feel like Littlepip in Canterlot…

I felt my body jolted alive as the overdose of healing magic flooded through me. I was alive to the point I was burning up. My nerves were on fire.

Literally five seconds later…

Already, I was beginning to weaken, the Cloud clawing at me… I tried to focus, but my brain felt like it was being beaten with a sledgehammer. I screamed with the effort. My lungs were hot coals in my breast.

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“Princess, this is messy business. It’s best if you aren’t involved directly. Anything you do that is taken badly by your subjects will come back on you. When this war is finished, you’ll clean house. Unleash the courts on the Ministry Mares, replace them with your own loyalists. Push any unsatisfied generals to retire and promote faithful majors to positions of control. The pivot from war to peace will be the mechanism to convert you from puppet to benign monarch for the next thousand years.”

So, Goldenblood was planning this from the very beginning. To use the Ministry Mares to fight the war. To use them to perform every foul, unspeakable deed that he deemed necessary to win. And then to throw them under the bus the second the war was over to secure Luna’s rule. And he was the one who pushed them to those extremes in the first place! We saw how immediately after the Ministries were established, he wasted no time in manipulating each Ministry Mare to take their ministries in the direction he wanted. And even as he did that, he was already planning to sacrifice them! All for the sake of Luna!

“Officially, you’d be a virtual figurehead. Unofficially, you’d be pulling the strings and running the country. When the time is right, we’d end the war, clean house, and put you fully and openly at the top.”

This is the worst part. From the very beginning, Luna knew everything that was happening. Every dark secret, every atrocity, she knew and approved of. And the plan was to pin this all on everypony else to clear Luna of all culpability. Goldenblood was behind the whole plan! One that was engineered to place Equestria under the sole control of a monster that was probably worse than the original Nightmare Moon! He knew this could happen. He confessed as much to Psalm in one of the recordings in his house…

“I can see it now, Psalm. She will be loved… but unlike her sister, she will be feared as well. She’ll have all the power of Celestia in her hooves, but she’ll not need to use it. Misdirection… doubt… ambiguity… these will reign, and there will be none to stop them. Not for centuries, at least.” He sighed as he closed his eyes. A strange calmness seemed to spill over him, and his words became stronger. “It’s like I can look ahead the entire span of a millennium, great and terrible and bloody. There will be murder… slaughter… betrayal. History assures it, a tale wrought again and again all across the world. It will be a nightmare, Psalm. I can see it clearly… as if it’s already happened and old history. Past. Dry. Dead.”

He went ahead with this in spite of his fears because he was afraid that if he didn’t some other pony would guide her, a pony with worse intentions. It seems his greatest mistake was underestimating her. He thought her naive and incapable of ruling on her own. What she had successfully kept secret from him, from everypony, was her own cunning and talent for manipulation. She WANTED Goldenblood’s help to establish her government, but she didn’t NEED him. If he refused, she would, as he feared, go to somepony else. But no matter what Goldenblood or anypony else thought, it would have been Luna truly holding the reins of power regardless. I am reminded of a question I posed quite a while back…

If the bombs hadn’t fallen… if Equestria had won the war… what would have happened afterwards?

Is it weird that in spite of all the in your face horrors presented in all their gory detail in this story, this vague hypothetical scenario is one of the most chilling of all? Could Equestria Ascendent have become something worse than wartime Equestria? Worse than the Wasteland???

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“Princess!” He lifted his head in anguish, and she just looked on calmly, arching a brow. Slowly, he crumpled under her teal gaze. “I don’t want to do this anymore.”

She stared on. “Very well. If that’s what you want. We’ll process your retirement.” She turned and stepped away from him. “Of course, we’re going to have to redact your memories for the last five years. You know enough to make you an incalculably valuable asset if you were ever captured. For safety’s sake, we’d have to take everything. There’s no telling what might be of use to the zebras.”

Goldenblood gaped at her. “Everything? But... I...”

“Everything,” Luna replied, her voice softer as she glanced back at him over her shoulder. “Wouldn’t that be easier, Goldie? No more painful memories of her leaving you? No more dreams of dead, bloody foals? You could go on to whatever life you wish, never knowing what you did. It’s a gift, really.”

Goldenblood stared at her. “And when it comes time to clean house?”

Luna didn’t answer for several seconds, then turned to face him. “Well, I imagine that that won’t be your concern. As you said, I can manage without you now. But some of the Ministry Mares are going to have to answer for the things they’ve done.” The threat was lightly spoken, but it hung in the air like a sword.

“Very well,” Goldenblood said as he averted his eyes. “I’ll stay.”

“Good,” Luna said as she trotted over, putting a hoof on his shoulder. “I’d rather do this with you than without you.” Then she turned and trotted away, leaving him sitting alone with a horrified look on his face.

This is just vile. But even the best manipulators have a weakness. They start to believe their own hype. They start to believe they are infallible. Luna really should have known that Goldenblood would betray her after this.

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Luna’s soul thinks that Cognitum is Luna. I…

…I don’t think she’s wrong. At first I agreed with Blackjack. OF COURSE she couldn’t be! After all, Horse’s “Crusader” is a cobbled together piece of horse apples. Maybe it messed up copying Luna’s mind. Or maybe her mind degraded later. Actually, no, I’m CERTAIN her mind degraded to reach the state Cognitum is in. But I now think that degradation wasn’t the fault of the Crusader’s hardware. I think it actually did make a “true copy” of Luna’s mind as it existed at the time. We now know that under a sweet and civil facade, Luna was hiding a great capacity for evil. Now subject her to several years of enslavement and abuse by Horse. Then her country is destroyed as she watches helplessly, followed by a couple more centuries waiting in the center of the most nightmarish hellhole in the Wasteland, still helpless to fix anything. I can’t say that Cognitum isn’t the natural evolution of Luna’s psyche, given the circumstances.

Luna’s soul thinks that Cognitum is Luna. Who am I to question her?