that shotgun is fucking orgasmic i love shotguns give a one any day

She jerked upright, scattering bottles every which way as her head turned wildly with her captain’s hat still covering her face as it dangled from her horn. “I fully reject the false equivocation of that statement!” she bawled out. “That’s unfair profiling of the nautically challenged, and I am offended, sir! Offended!”

I love Thrush... I dare say, I'm in love She's so damn funny and awesome I've uyet to see fanart of her... hmm...

Damn good chapter~
Lemme see if I can get through the other chaps.

She thrust a hoof at a large, half-filled jar of caps on the counter; the label read ‘Blackjack’s Stupid People’s Comments Fee’.

Now that is funny. And far as I know in line with Velvet's character on this scene.

I said as teleported over in front of the inebriated green mare.

I said as I teleported over in front of the inebriated green mare.

Calamity shot Blackjack. Wow, he shot the protogantist of a FoE story with mistaking their identity, yet again. Nice.

Wow, finally some back story on Rampage. Peppermint huh? That was heart wrenching! Pun not purposely intended. And Captain Nails being the better pony to do better despite the past. Good on him, even though he has a long way to go for forgiveness exactly.

Good on Blackjack helping Psalm overcome her self hatred.
Well if that's how break up therapy works.. Glory and Tenebra.

How fitting. I said to myself one chapter to read tonight. Tomorrow is going to be hell of a read. Lot of foreshadowing, way to get the reader worried for these characters. Always calm before the coming storm. Reminds me to live life to the fullest ever day. Do more and do better at that. And when I have the moment to stop and pause after this quarter, remember my old friends and strive to make new friends to treasure and last but not least.. thrive. Towards tomorrow.

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I think this was the chapter where, on it coming out, I said it seemed like the portrayal of Velvet was really negative. I was asked if there was any particular way she seemed not to be in-character. I couldn't think of one.

Ugh.. no matter what i do it still stings my heart to see what happened to Glory and BlackJack

I think we can all agree that Thrush is best pony. Any nay sayers will be hunted and killed by the Whisky Inquisition of Queen Blackjack.

7639489 I know that feel bro. #RemeberGloryjack

7639489 #RememberGloryjack! THE SHIP WILL SAIL ON!!!

This was a fun chapter. Hell, the last few chapters have been really good. Nice to see BJ and Glory moving on after the pretty heartwrenching talk, though. Gah, I don't know what more to say here in the comment. The time of reckoning draws near, and it looks like both sides are ready for all of the shit to hit all of the fans. I'm looking forward to it happening, though, even though I'm dreading what might come of it.

~SolidFire

7401858 It's like the Pancor Jackhammer - a joke. Real shotguns have pumps.

8080626 Tell that to an AA-12. Only old people need phallic gestures to get their guns shootin

8101475 This is how you waste rounds.

“What setting was that?”

“Awesome, I think. Or is that Cool?” I asked as I pointed a hoof at a little dial on the side, looking at the various settings.

Only Rainbow Dash could make a gun like that. Lol.

“Peppermint? Peppermint!” she shouted, looking around the room.

So Rampage's real name...not Arloste...not Twist or Angel or Octopus...her name is Peppermint.

I'm sure she is going to be ecstatic.

Not only is she real, she has a father too.
A full family and name, just waiting for her to claim it.

Ooh, what a life. What a world.

Promise me you’ll live. That you’ll have a house and a family and a life. Please...”

“I promise Mommy. I promise. But you need a doctor, Mommy!” she begged, sniffling.

And THAT, right there, is exactly what she needed to turn Rampage back!
Yeah, let's get that black crown-looking-thingy and give her back her memories!

“Good girl,” she said, reaching into her pocket for a tin of Mint-als. She popped two into her mouth and chewed furiously. 

So that's where Rampage got that from.

I find it incredibly sad that Glory and BJ are just friends now.
After all they have been through, and all Blackjack has sacrificed...it just ain't right.

Peppermint hugged her as she wept, and then the hoof stroking her mane stilled. “Mommy?” She pulled away, looking at her still form. At the other hoof holding photographs to her chest. “Mommy!” A smile lingered on the corner of her mouth. Then there was a colossal roar and a terrible pain in her head, and everything returned to black.

So Twist knows that she's inside Pepermint/Rampages body? Then why doesn't she just tell Rampage that she isn't just a clusterfuck of other people's memories.

Okay, so: now Rampage's origins make sense, I was saddened to see Scalpel's heel-face turn, and Glory moves up a few more notches on the list because she's legitimately grown as a person.

I really, really hope Baby Blue shows up in Homelands. Because she showed up and I was like, "Does Scotch Tape have to smack a filly?" and then she did and it was great. XD Speaking of great fillies, Charity is almost being charitable these days. It must hurt. :V

I was very glad to see Thrush again, Pisces too. The sequence with the Harbingers felt like a severe diversion, though at least one or two things came of it. (Oh god, that scene with Peppermint and her mom. ;_;) There are an awful lot of these "go around and talk to everyone" scenes in this story, and especially in this book; I'm glad it sounds like things will actually start happening next chapter, because the story's felt on hold since BJ got back to her friends.

Oh yeah, and I wish I could remember anything about Apple Bot. <.<

8227572 Chapter 20. She was the robot that told Scotch Tape about EC-1101 and to follow the navigation tags that ultimately lead Blackjack to Cognitum.

Thrush levitated a bottle over and stuck it on the end of my horn. She then gestured to me with both her hooves and an arched brow.

Picturing... laughing.

I realized when reading this that they haven't told Scotch she's getting a little sibling soon. That will be fun.

I know that I shouldn't be bothered, it's your story, but... why does it feel like 80% of the cast, main and supporting, and dead, is gay? It's like straight relationships are taboo or something. How did Equestria survive wartime casualties with so many stable doors swinging the other way?

Charity slapped the board down flat on the table. “Look! There’re fifteen hundred refugees out that way. I didn’t ask them to come here, but here they are. So we’re taking care of them. Do you know what happens when you say the word ‘free’ to somepony scared and helpless? They get stupid. They get greedy. They load up on as much as they can carry, nevermind most of it will spoil before they can eat it, and then they get killed by the equally stupid, greedy pony who figures out that there’s not going to be enough for them, so better kill them and take what they can. And since everypony who happens to be a merchant knows this, the ones that really are out for the profit will be sure to cash in on the one giving away shit.

reminds me of that exposition in "the last centurion" by John Ringo: when a crisis occurs, many people will become, well, refugees, gathering at shelters. about 10% of them will then volunteer to help, and another 10% will become parasites who have to be forcibly removed after the crisis is over.

“Do you even have a port for his ship?” Thrush taunted with a grin.
Pisces went from pink to scarlet. “Yes! I do. Not that it’s any of your business!”

oh, that made me think of a line in a silly book: "she had an admirable hull design, but very good defenses, preventing even a direct sensor scan, much less tractors and boarding."
from a very silly book called "how much for just the planet?"

“Diamond Tiara…” the alicorn murmured softly. “That filly had serious flank issues.”

Who's this Alicorn supposed to be?

8608887
Babs Seeds? Maybe someone else equally insignificant. Tiara was just all around quite unpleasant.

This was a sweet chapter. I really enjoyed it, and it ended before I knew it -- I was halfway through, when suddenly, it ended.

The whole story with Rampage has been very interesting to read through; same with the other characters.

The ending was also sweet, Glory and Tenebra, Blackjack and Goldie, and all that other fun stuff. A party is truly the way to go.

Add in all the moments with jokes, and this quickly became a fun chapter as a whole. I'm excited and hyped about the confrontation with Cog, and getting to see how Tom will be resolved -- assuming it gets resolved?

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You know how when you're on a roller coaster and it lifts you all the way up to the very top... That's where you are now.
Have fun!

Thrush
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thewrap.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/JackSparrow.jpg

It took until now for the connection to happen in my head

Brutus, Stronghoof, and Pain Train engaged in a flex off.

Urrrrrsome!

“So...” The white blank grinned eagerly, then leapt up in the air and yelled, “Leeeeet’s... party!”

I don't know why, I expected her to say orgy

“Ha… bu…gah… wa?” the mare – Scalpel! That was the name! From Flank! – blustered. “Are you insane? She just said she killed him! Shoot now!” Her magic glowed around the gun of the pony next to her.

Wasnt she the doctor in flank That helped blackjack?

Calamity, Chicanery, Mare Do Well, and Storm Chaser talked about the future of the Enclave and Thunderhead. Homage and Velvet chatted with Grace and Splendid; what did you call a collective of unicorns?

Bookworms

10782510
I'd've said Multicorns

Oh wow so more cannon Homage lore. I really hope Palsm and Steonghoof get together they're amazing.
I wonder if you're planning on killing off anyone. I hope they all live happily ever after but with a set up like this there's no way all of them will survive

“Why?” she asked, glaring at the little yellow earth pony.

Are you referring to Charity, because if so why shouldn't it be "the little unicorn pony"?

“A gun. Folly. I killed a battleship with it,” I said absently. “I need to find the jackass that asked for the damned thing to be built in the first place.”

Said jackass shows up a minute later; he even explains what it was built for! Blackjack got so used to not having answers that she didn't even realize.

I'm imagining a scene whee Blackjack stumbles upon another screwed-up secret of the O.I.A. "Celestia damn you Goldenblood and your secret projects!" she yells to the havens, then blinks and opens up her broadcaster. "What the fuck, Goldenblood!?"

“It’s okay. Sometimes mommies get hurt to save the lives of their babies.”

I can easily imagine this being a recurring line throughout the story. Rose and Thorn. Maybe somehow Gin Runny and Blackjack. Blackjack and her babies. Dawn and Glory. There could be a lot more too, all culminating with Twist and Peppermint.

Maybe I am not expressing this well, but I am having a blast going through these chapters. I don't feel like quoting the text and then adding my reaction under adds anything, even if there are really funny moments, so I avoid those.

“You don’t understand,” he shook his head. “When I say act, I don’t mean against your enemy. I mean against the Hoof. They’ll fire up Celestia One and burn anything that looks hostile to slag. The Core. The Brood. Your forces. With how complicated things are here, telling friends from enemies is too much trouble and too much of a risk compared to shooting everything that moves. We won against Red Eye and the Enclave, and now they’re... concerned... about the events out here and losing them everything they’ve gained.”

The Twilight Society has a really big stick, but they should be careful how they use it. Littlepip can hard counter them just by cranking up the cloud cover. If they continue to threaten people with a literal weapon of mass destruction, no matter how noble they think their intentions are, eventually the entire Wasteland will unite against them. Littlepip could disable them temporarily while a strike team on the ground raids Tenpony to destroy the megaspell chamber and end the threat once and for all. The more I think about it, the more it seems like this must have inevitably happened at some point.

“So that’s how you want to write your epitaph? ‘We ran away and hid in a hole while others who needed us fought and died’?”

Ouch.

“She might do it if Big Daddy asked her for help,” she said slowly, as if the big blue mare was unsure. “But he’d have ta ask her real nice.”

This has potential for some good laughs to come.

I took one long look back at the hole and then teleported up to the wagon. Time would tell if they would come or not.

Between the Highlanders and the Hellhounds, they could definitely turn the tide of the battle.

Snorting, Velvet Remedy stalked off into the crowd. I watched her go, marveling. Sometimes you met your fillyhood nemesis a little late.

Several snappy retorts died as I stepped towards her and gave her a hug around her neck. “Psalm,” I murmured as she stiffened beneath me. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

“Okay… is relative. You know that better than anypony,” she said hesitantly, constantly looking around. “How’s the barding fit?”

It’s funny how well these two know each other, and how casual they can be, when technically they are just now meeting for the first time!

“We need to get going,” Crumpets broke in. “Some nut with the Harbingers keeps insisting we give him 99 due to eminent domain, and we need to make sure we get the ammo we need. Trading chems and healing potions for it.” At my shocked and baffled expression, she quirked a grin. “What, did you think your stable just recycled organic waste into food? It recycles nearly anything you put into it.”

I wonder….is it possible…

…nah

I cracked open the case and was immediately struck by the smell of gun oil. The twelve gauge barrel was thicker than a riot gun, and about four inches shorter than usual. The full automatic action had a select fire for single, burst, or fully automatic fire. On the lid of the case rested the magazines, two double drums, each capable of holding fifty twelve gauge rounds and fitted with selector switches allowing different types of ammo to be used. There was also a feeder chain connected to a two-hundred-round ammo drum. The latter could only have been intended for use with a battle saddle.

Inscribed on the barrel was a simple word: ‘Ayup’.

“Nails, you know Security. You’ll know the real deal. I put you in charge of the Harbingers. If you meet her and she’s killed me, I want you… well… fuck… to be honest, I want you to nail her to the floor and fuck her ass a dozen times. Set up a conga line. I want you to chop her head off. And if her friends are there, kill them first.” The recording laughed. “Then kill that cybermare. The Legate. The whole damn Hoof. Kill ‘em all!

“And Blackjack, if you’re listening to this, I’ll be waiting for you!” the stallion on the recording said cheerfully. Then it clicked off.

There’s quite the contrast between that message and the one that Deus recorded for Blackjack just before the showdown in Flank. It really shows the difference between a pony who was “forced” into evil and one who chose it gleefully.

“Is not here! This mare is!” he snapped back. “Cognitum gave her orders for us to fight to the last. Well, I will fight to the last, but only for a mare who deserves it.”

Ponies don’t quit bad jobs. They quit bad bosses.

“Shh…” Twist said quietly. “It’s okay. Sometimes mommies get hurt to save the lives of their babies.”

Peppermint hugged her as she wept, and then the hoof stroking her mane stilled. “Mommy?” She pulled away, looking at her still form. At the other hoof holding photographs to her chest. “Mommy!” A smile lingered on the corner of her mouth. Then there was a colossal roar and a terrible pain in her head, and everything returned to black.

It is so Projects Horizons that this is simultaneously the most horrible thing and the most wonderful thing. An utterly horrible memory, but a wonderful chance to save Rampage from herself.

“So...” The white blank grinned eagerly, then leapt up in the air and yelled, “Leeeeet’s... party!”

“I... will think about what you have said,” Psalm murmured, barely audible above the noise. Then she turned and walked away, floating the case beside her. I hoped she came to terms with it. Hating and denying yourself happiness because of past mistakes didn’t do anything to help overcome pain like that.

If only Big Macintosh was her biggest mistake. But, we all know her sins run much, much deeper than that. The Refugee Camp…Fluttershy Medical…. so many senseless, unprovoked killings. Blackjack has done things she will never forgive herself for, but her worst is a fucking joke compared to what Psalm did. I don’t know how Blackjack thinks she can ever make peace with that. I just can’t imagine the path forward for Psalm here. Whatever she can manage, I don’t think it’s going to be anything resembling a normal, happy life with Stronghoof. I’m sorry, but that seriously sounds like a fucking pipe dream. I can only think of something Snips said before he passed…

“No,” the bones replied with a papery sigh. “I’m old and I’m tired. I’ve done so much, and too much of it’s been bad for me to ever be able to even attempt to live happily.”

…yeah

He stared at it for a long moment, then reached out and took it. Life was messy. A tangled perplexity that kept you constantly wondering what came next. Even in a moment where people weren’t shooting at each other, you couldn’t escape the rushing, twisting, churning, chaos of it all. Boo’d been right. A party was exactly what we needed right now. Life was a party, and while you may not always have fun, it was still preferable to the alternative. So together, Goldenblood and I rejoined the mess, as the celebration pressed on towards oblivion.

And so this ends what I suspect is the last breather chapter. All gas no brakes from here!

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I noticed this, and my guess is that Charity got retconned to be an earth pony to be more in line with her sisters, Finder Keeper's daughters with the Finders.