Wee… I’m flying!

Whoopsie. Never mind. Gravity works.

Another chapter I find quite fun~<3 I definitely remember scenes from this one, though it's not a chapter I remember by name or number.

Erm, the bottom half of the piece is in italics =P

Hmmm... Her Luck is obviously 10 and I bet her Endurance is at least an 8. Her reflexes are pretty good so I'm betting a 6 or a 7 for Agility. With her choice of armour and all the stuff she hauls around I think her Strength is probably a 6 at the least. Considering her usage of the Pipbuck my bet is her Perception is a plain Jane 5. With how easily she is making friends and gaining followers I bet her Charisma is at least a 7. While not nearly as stupid as she thinks she is her Intelligence was her apparent "dump stat" so I'm gone have to give it a 4.

On another note. She has no clue! The Stable Dweller is probably shooting even faster and for less reason than she is. Well assuming of course that the Stable Dweller is anything like your standard player. Tramping through a desert of brown, wading through a sea of red, and climbing mountains of dirty crayons. All to find the next quest, a better gun or armor or just to kill the next thing that crosses their path.

EDIT: I had no clue. At the time of the original posting of this note I didn't know that this story wasn't self contained and that it was referring to another story. Heheh.

Somber, you fuxxed up your closing italics tag somewhere...

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FoE: Heroes
FoE: Wasteland Economics
FoE: Pink Eyes
And FoE: Memories
Most of the main characters of those fics either grew up in the wasteland or are ignorant of killing. No angst here.

I would recommend Murky No. 7, but from what I've heard it's mainly depressing.

6403918 and that is why I wish there was an errata for stuff like this.

When I red in the TVtropes page that Blackjack being drunk can lead to hilarious moments, I won't lie when I say that was damn hilarious despite the situation she was in... Anyway, finished reading the original 3 days ago, and now I'm onto this fic

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The authors notes here on fimfic are the same as the authors notes on the gdocs. The editing the first two chapters received happened a long time ago, and I'm surprised that there isn't any clarification made that these authors notes are old. (Didn't even notice till just now really.)

No, seriously: Somber, the authors notes are confusing because they're from forever ago, but to new readers it would seem like you're putting them in right now with the publishing on Fimfic. Please put down somewhere that they're old.

Hahahahaha, Oh Blackjack, you silly pony you xD this chapter was actually pretty funny, I enjoyed it, so nice job man XD
I like drunk BBJ, she's awesome.

Security! Dem pones.
Nicely done, and nce again, I am loving how this is going.
Is her Mane Itching actually some kind of weird sensing ability? XD
I seem to notcie anytime it itches, shit goes down.

Nice job again!

The Enclave for reconnecting the maneframe to the maintenance robots? Redheart? Fluttershy? Should I just blame ponies who fucked up two centuries before I was even born? Celestia? Zebras? Who was to blame? Who had to pay for what I’d done?

The whole "the road to hell is paved with good intentions". Fallout: Equestria was rife with it, now to see if this follows the same vein.

With a purple sparkle and a spray of blood the lavender spire shattered

Twiliclone is kill.

“Blackjack,” P-21 said in worry as I lifted the SMG, ejected the clip, and loaded it with explosive rounds.

Didn't know she had a magazine loaded for the SMG.

I lifted my head. “I wouldn’t know the right thing from a hole in the head,” I said as I curled up on the rock. “I wanted to put every round into her, reload, and do it again.”

Random non-indented line appears!
>Run >Backpack
>Indent >Fuck this commenter

Highly volatile. Reacts poorly to bullets.

Like many things on Red October. Anyone else get that reference?

Glory got her second head and looked decidedly happy about the fact.

Glory has lost her freakin' mind.

I froze dead in my tracks as my voice, slightly strained and tinny, played out from my PipBuck.

I wonder what camera installation Blackjack was close to.

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I froze dead in my tracks as my voice, slightly strained and tinny, played out from my PipBuck.
I wonder what camera installation Blackjack was close to.

Or maybe the Watcher is actually using her Pipbuck...

Achievement Unlocked!

You're a Wanted Mare

Obtain a bounty of fifty thousand caps.

6409264 Didn't she say that right next to one of the towers that Homage uses to monitor the wasteland?

VisualPony's reading has a "full party" piece of artwork for the background.

I've only just now figured out which one of them is Morning Glory. D: Because you initially described her as a "filly", I thought she was a foal, but no, that's Scotch Tape! (lol spollers)

Most people cite "Play" as the chapter that really gets the ball rolling, so to speak. But I personally love the first half of this chapter more than every other scene previous to it (and there were a lot of good ones). It's the first time we get a really good glimpse of the Blackjack we grow used to seeing in the later chapters/volumes. Moreover, while everyone can see what's so fucked up about the events in the hospital, the first half of this chapter is where it really sinks in how devastating pulling the plug was for Blackjack.

6676265 In a sense, I look at the two as closely related, since "Play" is what provided the impetus for the change in tone coming from Blackjack herself that then got carried on. Without something prompting it, it would feel strange that she's been relatively okay for a few chapters. Without the saturated and extreme awfulness and surrealism/fucked-upness providing a sufficient break from assumptions about even the world she'd started to adapt to, the operatic levels of Blackjack's emotional states would seem less grounded or understandable. And even with the setting and events working in support of that, it seems that it is a problem for a meaningful subset of readers.

Also, can't forget the introduction of the winning combination of Blackjack and alcohol.

“It feels like a lie. Like he’s playing up all the best parts and overlooking what really happens. Sure, I got the Society ponies to work with the Eggheads, but what about all the other stuff that happened? Would DJ Pon3 give me such high praise if he’d known what I did back in the hospital? Even playing that recording… like I’m going to take out every slaver I come across…”

“Are you saying that, if you did come across a band of slavers and your PipBuck labeled them yellow, you’d let them past?” P-21 asked skeptically.

“No. Of course not. But…”

“And… how did DJ Pon3 put it? Ponies selling ponies to ponies that work ponies to death need to be stopped?” Damn it. They were both smiling. I felt my heart start to pound.

“Yeah… but…”

“Then what’s the big deal? Let him call you a hero,” P-21 said with his sure little smile, “and just be a hero.”

Sometimes the only difference between the hero and the villain is what they're fighting for.

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Actually I think they were at the baser of an 'Ministry of Arcane Science Emergency Broadcasting System' (MASEBS) tower. The same ones that were used by Dash for the SPP Single Pegasus Project and the same ones that Homage uses to spy on the goings on around Equestria.

Then, of course, there was the whiskey. I had to admit that I’d never really drunk before.

I hate to be a grammar nazi... But I think this is a misspelled sentence.

6672184 Spollers? I don't really get what spollers is, of course it might be that you meant spoilers. Now I have to say thanks, another member of the "party" is revealed to me. No problem though.

I'm curious about something. Why do you keep referring to DJ-Pon3 as a he? Everyone who's read Fallout Equestria knows it's a she. And DJ-Pon3 mentions the Stable Dweller so we know that it's the same DJ-Pon3. Is there a specific reason that will be explained further in the story?

7622716 Very few people in-universe knew (especially outside of Tenpony Tower, especially before the Enclave invasion) that DJ-Pon3 was actually a mare, not a male to match the voice. Blackjack certainly doesn't. From FoE chapter 16:

“Impressive, isn’t it?” Homage asked.
I nodded, noticing that while most screens had clear, sharp images, several flickered and suffered odd distortions, and one large set of screens was dead black. “You’ve been in here before?”
“Oh, a few times.” She walked over to a bank of buttons and lights, raising a hoof to press one. She turned and trotted back towards the center of the room where a microphone was raising from the floor. Homage’s horn glowed and her voice changed by magic.
“Good morning, wastelanders!” Homage cried into the mike, her voice now male and very familiar. “How is everypony doing? This is your pal, DJ Pon3 and, well, it’s that time again… that’s right, time for some news!”

Arguably, DJ-Pon3 could even be thought of as a male character performed by Homage (and others before her) but separate from her (and the others who had played it before), especially since it seemed like nobody noticed when she took over for her predecessor.

One that he called the ‘Stable Dweller’

FUCK YESSSSSSSSS
For the love of God please Crossover... (Even if it isn't canon from Kkat's story)

The gray pony with a bow tie cutie mark was the last to go

Octavia's great,great,great,great,great,great, grand son?

I like the lowkey pinkie sense

I remember his white and red striped mane, like a candy cane. I remember his laugh. How sad his eyes looked as he walked beside me

.

Oh shit! Was that her dad?!

I doubted the Stable Dweller would ever kill a room full of helpless ponies.

Think again, Jack of trades.

“

He’s a Reaper. If he’s not killing somepony, he’s probably at the Arena, killing somepony

is how this should have been phrased

Finally: dang. Blackjack goes full Jack(ass) of Spades when drunk!
I mean, really! But, whew, can Deus take some punches!

I mean, getting clipped by Gun? Then getting hit by a grenade?
The guy must be made out of Adamantium or Vibranium!

Maybe it's the jokes covering the pain. Maybe it's the intense internal conflict. Or maybe it's the anti-hero vibe she gives off. Whatever the reason, while I can respect Pip more, I find myself ENJOYING Blackjack more.

Oh shit i just realized that the U-21 that Blackjack took to be retired at the beginning of this chapter might be her biological father. Damn.

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Yeah, I always have a curious interest into knowing about the protagonist's parents, like the show continues to tell us about for the Mane 6. For Littlepip and Blackjack this is not simply explained early on with regards to Littlepip's mother or father or Blackjack's father. Was that unicorn 'retired' with white and red related to her or another character at all? I get a Wampage sense from the candy cane description.

2+ hours later, and no errors far as I can read into with this chapter. Splendid!

Blackjack is told about what other ponies would do with the stasis pods, but she will still be hard on herself for it. Quite unfortunate, no one group could possibly help the already dying and centuries old mentally ill young.

There is some terribly foreboding and grave foreshadowing regarding the price paid for companions who follow.

Good thing the comments here mentioned the tower at the slavers' camp, with dishes in every direction. That definitely explains how Dj Pon3 got a recording of Blackjack's merciful dialogue with the broken horned slaver unicorn. Without Watcher being around or any PipBuck or broadcaster modified.

Funny how Bottlecap ropes in Blackjack to indirect sabotage against her sister. Must suck to encourage slavers, rightly.

Deus appears, making a mess early in the morning? And then he gets to declare a terribly huge, Goddesses damned bounty before leaving. What a Deuce trying to delay Blackjack like that. Not only that, Deus is a proclaimed Horseman/pony of the Apocalpyse. That reminds me.. The below quote applies to the intertwining of Blackjack and Deus.

And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts
And I looked and behold, a pale horse
And his name that sat on him was Death
And Hell followed with him.

After a while of being out in the Wasteland, you can't help but just want to try talking to enemies like raiders. You wish you could spare them for the life of them, but when that pacify attempt either fails outright or doesn't last, you have no choice but to keep fighting. Like the Wasteland gives you any choice, anyways.

7749412
here's an interesting video that sort of qualifies:

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anyone who read the original knows that dj pon3 has access to all the spp towers and their cameras. whose to say that pony doesn't have access to other cameras. someone tell me how to spoiler block words.

Never can get enough of drunk blackjack, and i'd forgotten the airbase was so soon. Sorry glory.

“Um… I doubt Bottlecap will be okay with us bringing in heads,” I pointed out as she wrapped up the intact noggin. “Besides. What are the chances we’ll run into raiders between here and Megamart?”

I had to ask.

The fight with the raiders proved terribly short. Nine. Almost disappointing. Ten. There were only four of them and they didn’t have a gun between them. Eleven. Glory got her second head and looked decidedly happy about the fact. Twelve. Walking back, P-21 asked about the radio. I hadn’t turned it on since that broadcast by DJ Pon3, but it’d be hours to reach the Finders. Nothing hostile on my E.F.S. No excuse to not turn it on.

Took me a moment, but I realized that was a scene transition. Needs a horizontal rule.

It was crazy time in Megamart. I could make out the long, drawn-out noise of ‘Cunnnnnt!’ being shouted by Deus.

Any other readers read 'Cunnnnnt!' in the voice of William Shatner?

Fuck them if eight wasn’t enough. My death count was one less than it could have been. I looked to P-21, saying in a shaky voice, “Unlock them… please…” I walked away from the slaver camp. I found a rock, pressed my face to it, wrapping my forehooves around it, and I wept, choked, and sobbed. Then I felt a hoof stroking along my mane. I peeked up at Morning Glory as she gave me a soft smile.

Hug the rock the rock is your best friend it will never betray you it will never hurt you and it will never ever let you down

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Yes

Drunk BJ is probably best BJ. So much cute quirkyness.

Horseapples. I killed him because I never once asked the question: is this right or wrong? I killed four other males in exactly the same way. I would have killed P-21, too, if the Overmare hadn’t let Deus in first

Yes you were a cog in a despotic system and probably had sex with several stallions without wasting a thought about whether or not they actually liked it. Yes, that was horrible. However, you eventually realized how wrong this was, which shows that you have a conscience. Do you think Daisy would’ve come to the same conclusion if she had been the one who left for the surface? She would’ve left P-21 behind or tried to rape him on the first night. And she defiantly wouldn’t have spared U-21.

You try to do the right thing and you try not to be cruel or evil, Blackjack. And that’s something I can admire.

Then I’d spared one, for the simple reason that the PipBuck had gone from red to yellow. Suddenly, she wasn’t a raider anymore. Suddenly, she was free to go. I even laughed while she fled.

You could’ve put a load of shotung pellets in her face as soon as she turned around the corner. Instead you gave her a chance to sureender and let her go. Stupid? Maybe. But I doubt that you would’ve simply blasted her brain out if she had dropped her weapons and the marker on the Pipbuck, for some reason, had stayed red.

And then I smashed his head in with a baton. I’d thought he’d yell or attack or something. Red is dead. Execution by PipBuck.

Hey was a Raider who had butchered and eaten Glory’s comrades. He wasn’t responding when you told him to stop and instead tried to pick up the shovel while spotting acrazy grin. I doubt he planned on handing the shovel over to you as a gift .What you did was justified! Especially since you could’ve simply shoot him from the distance and ignore Glory’s pleas. Instead you gave him a chance to surrender.

“If somepony comes needing medical help, you try and help them. You’ve got a whole hospital to scavenge; I know you’ll find enough. Charge caps if you want, but help. Do better,”

You brokered a deal between the Society and the Colligate, making them both happy. You also told them to help other ponies who are in need of medical aid. That’s exactly the do better, you’re supposed to do.

You not always win and sometimes you can only choose a lesser evil . But you still have to try. Don’t just look at the times you screwed up. Also look at the times you succeeded.

Oh who I’m a kidding! She’s Blackjack! She will always think of herself in the worst possible way. There’s a reason why the Followers failed to fix her even after they threw almost every single available Heartmender at her.

Should I just blame ponies who fucked up two centuries before I was even born? Celestia? Zebras? Who was to blame? Who had to pay for what I’d done?

Sometimes bad things happen and nopony is at fault.

My horn glowed as I plucked a foot-long shard with my magic, seized her shoulders with my hooves, and drove every inch into her eye socket. One.

Blackjack is counting, too? That certainly makes it easier to keep track.

His head lifted, tongue working to remove the pin that was already gone. I just stared into his eyes as his gaze widened in horror. Then his head exploded. Four.

Blackjack proves again that she’s scarily good at killing. The way this battle is written, really hammers in how effortlessly and methodically Blackjack dispatches them. No more worries or fears. Just a mare whose sole focus is taking them down one after another.

Also Unicorn’s are OP.

“Granite, you dumb fucker! It’s Security!”

For Slavers they’re pretty horrible at their job. You see three ponies, two which are heavily armed, and decided to attack them heads one. Probably tried to kill Blackjack and Glory quickly to capture the unarmed P-21. But still, that’s a bad plan. You are rushing into a fight, risk getting yourself killed and to gain one single slave.

Not very smart. You look for soft targets, you can subdue easily. Not heavily armed Wastelanders.

“I just… gotta survive,” she whimpered as tears ran down her cheeks. “I have a kid…”

Cry me a river.

You know what I really hate? People who tell you they are sorry, when they are on the other end of a gun. No you’re not really sorry lady! You just don’t want to die! Did you ever lost sleep about the children of your victims? Unless someone forced you to become a slaver you have no excuse.

“Get the fuck out of here. Find another line of work. Tell every slaver you know to find another line of work. I see you doing this shit again and I will turn you into paint! Do you understand me?” I shouted into her face.

She got off pretty easy all things considered. Let’s hope she will not throw away this chance at redemption.

Still a good thing that Blackjack spared her. She’s already in a pretty bad place and not killing here was better for her health and soul.

“So you chose to spare her. Not your PipBuck,” Glory said with a little cock of her head that made me smile. “You’re a killer, Blackjack, but you’re not a raider. You can choose. You care enough to choose.”

Exactly Glory! Let’s hope Blackjack takes this to heart and…

She was right. I could choose. I chose to kill forty colts and fillies. No pep talk or show of mercy would change that. There was a price to be paid for being a killer. I was going to pay for it.

Oh god-dammit Blackjack!

So I was thinking that if I could examine a raider’s brain compared to a non-raider’s brain I might be able to detect something.

Never expected sweet, innocent Glory to be the one who would cut off pony heads without even blinking.

I didn’t kill those slavers because they were evil and wrong! I shot them because they shot first and my PipBuck was red.” Thirteen… “If I hadn’t chased after that sniper I wouldn’t have had a clue there were slaves up there at all!”

Killing ponies because they attack you is hardly evil. Chasing after the feeling attacker was questionable. Still Blackjack only seems to be able to see the worst in herself.

I couldn’t catch my breath as I covered my face with my hooves. Thirteen. I felt my magic tighten more and more on the automatic’s handle. Every part of me was shaking as my breathing became louder and louder, faster and faster. I saw the snapped-off tip of a knife rammed into a neck. One. I saw a teal foal torn in two. Twenty. My body felt like it was burning up as I felt P-21 shaking me… or killing me… whichever he decided. I saw a skinned pegasus pop out of a box on a spring. Everything started to spin as I felt like I was falling off the world.

And here it is. The moment the Wasteland broke her.

Bottlecap said as she sat, looking at me with a warm smile. “I think you are an individual and judge you accordingly, instead of holding you to some romantic ideal of how I think you should act.”

I like her a lot. She smart and has a realistic perspective.

“Is that so shocking? Trade requires rules, understanding, and agreements. It demands a certain level of respect and acknowledgement for others. I suppose I could have pushed my profit margins a little more aggressively, but that would strain trade even more. This way I help contribute to the peace and order of the Wasteland,”

Out of the three, she’s the one with principles. The one who wants to make moneys with honest trading instead of sucking ponies dry. So of course, her businesses is in trouble while her sisters who sell drugs and slaves make a neat profit.

Sometimes trying to be good really sucks.

“You’ve seen the bounties posted. I’m not naïve enough to believe they’re all guilty and deserving of death, but I connect bounty hunters to bounties. I sell the ammunition and weapons that kill them. In my own way I’ve facilitated the death of thousands of ponies. But I have to hope that in the end I’ve helped more than I’ve hurt.” She looked at me, saying levelly, “If I lose that, then I’m no better than my sister Usury in Paradise.”

Can we get a spinoff about Bottlecap trying to run Mega,art? She’s such an interesting character and she knows that the weapon she’s selling will kill innocents but still strife to be a good pony, refusing to deal in drugs or slaves.

She also seems to get through to Blackjack and manages to improve her mood. That alone is a small miracle.!Looks like she was excatly the person Blackjack needed right now.

“Usury?”

With a name like this she obviously wasn’t her father’s favorite.

“I just want to ask you a few questions about Mr. Deus and Sanguine. I’m not gonna hurt’cha.”

Now you want to ask him questions? You really should’ve done that in the farm house, when he was alone and helpless.

Future more, we now know that the Overmare sent out U-21 to establish contact with “Stable-Tec”. A smart move, since he was being secluded for retirement, so everypony would simply assume he was death. Of course, this also means P-21 should've had a much stronger reaction to him still being alive.

Now, he looked huge. Even ignoring the metal plates fused to his hide and the pistons supporting his weight, he stood a whole head higher than me.

I’ve finally realized of whom Deus reminds me. Appearance-wise he’s a basically Raider-version of Frank Horrigan.

vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/fallout/images/1/1a/FO02_NPC_Frank_Horrigan.png/revision/latest?cb=20100811232531

Wee… I’m flying!
Whoopsie. Never mind. Gravity works.

Shit-faced drunk Blackjack is even better at fighting than sober Blackjack. Normally Blackjack would be afraid of the hug Metal murder pony and try to run for her life. But right now she’s far too drunk to be afraid and dumb enough to try crazy stuff, which turns out to be surprisingly effective.

Bounty on Security. Fifty thousand caps. You want to collect, bring her head and her PipBuck -- intact -- to the Arena! If she’s alive, one hundred thousand bottlecaps! Usury will back me up on payment.

Smart move for guy who spent years of mastering the ability to yell Cunt. Now Megamart is no longer a safe haven for Blackjack. In fact there could be bounty hunters in every settlement and even ponies who normally would’ be indifferent to her, may try to cash in the huge bounty. Things certainly got harder for her. Not to mention that she now has to find another way to decrypt the EC-1101.

Blackjack’s On-screen Body Count: 77*

*According to Blackjack she was at 67 seven when she shut down the life support for the foals in the hospital, while I only counted 65 kills. She inculded Scoodle in the count, which I didn’t. But even then, it's still one more than I counted.

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This chapter makes it pretty obvious what, in my humble opinion, is one of Blackjack’s biggest flaws: Her self-loathing. No matter what Blackjack does, it will never be good enough for Blackjack. And every time something goes wrong its Blackjack's fault because she wasn’t smarter, stronger or braver.

She managed to overpower Daisy and Marmalade in a fight, saved Midnight during the Raider attack and killed several more Raider despite never been in actually combat before. Yet she still refers to herself as the worst Security Guard in the Stable.

In the last chapter she was forced to make a hard choice and again, believes she failed. Because if the Stable dweller (or literally anypony else) had been in the same situation, she or he would’ve somehow found the perfect solution to solve the dilemma.

Normally I would say, that this could led to some great character development for BJ. Having her learn over the course of the story that she’s not a failure, shouldn’t hold herself to some ridicously high standard and accept that not everything that goes wrong is her fault.

Alas I’ve read Speak, so I know that’s nothing going to happen. Guess I’ve to settle with Blackjack not feeling completely miserable right now and see how long it’s going to last.

It took about an hour to get the captive slaves freed and distribute the slavers’ weapons. I’d thought the dozen freed ponies would travel together. Instead they began to bleed off in ones and twos. Many shot me nervous glances; apparently my little display proved just as unnerving as the slavers themselves. The gray colt in the lead got the SMG, though I’d replaced the bullets. The explosive rounds would probably detonate if fired on full auto. I probably could have sold it for enough to replace my shotgun, but at the moment I felt so damned numb that I couldn’t care less about caps. They headed off to the north, perhaps because I’d already wandered around it and cleared most of the raiders.

Kind desicion. Even if they make it somewhere safely, they'll have something to sell.

Quest Perk: The Stare (Level 1) - You can intimidate non-hostile contacts through eye contact.

Ooooo, nice, she's started down the road of The Stare

I love drunk Blackjack, but I guess this is where her alcohol problem starts