Chapter 11

• Poor Diamond Tiara. I wonder what terrible thing happened to you?

• Calling bullshit on "traveling light". You're still carrying a goddamned Hyperspace Arsenal.

• I know why you're listening to the logs, Pip! Exposition!

• Politics in the wasteland? Who knew?

• How many days has it been since they slept now? Three? Four? We've seen sleep deprived ponies before, and they get loopy. I don't know how these guys hold a coherent thought, much less plan thefts and break-ins.

• More politics! As if anyone with the name "Deadeyes" could be trusted, anyway.

• Goddess? Anyone who declares themselves a god can't be good news.

• This Goddess vs Red Eye business in interesting. I love a good Enemy Civil War.

• Boy, I sure do love unnecessarily cruel deaths for canon characters that in no way advance the plot or exposit useful information in any way shape or form, and only exist to gut punch the reader!

Thoughts on Chapter 11:

With characterization issues behind us, we move on to the plot, which boils down to politics. Lots and lots of politics. It would have been nice to hint at more of this stuff before dumping it all on the reader this chapter, but otherwise I'm liking where this is going. You have the smooth-talking dictator versus the self-professed goddess versus the mysterious "Mister Topaz", and Pip is right in the middle trying to figure out what's going on. I do have one major problem with this chapter, though. As suggested by my statement above, Diamond Tiara's bit this chapter was both needlessly cruel and completely unnecessary. This was exactly why I didn't want to read this fic in the first place, and I simply can't justify its existence.

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Chapter 12

• Something random of note is that this fic doesn't even bat an eye at ponies eating meat, as if they had always done that. It doesn't even try to justify it with "they needed to eat it to survive on the wasteland" or anything like that. Pip just comes out of the stable, and immediately has no problems eating meat. Kinda stupid, but minor.

• ...And then Pip is immediately called out on it. Stop reading my damn mind, Velvet!

• Velvet still needs to get a grip, though. You can't exactly think twice about killing a pony for the greater good in the Wasteland. Not if you value that freedom you left the Stable to find, that is.

• Poor Big Mac, what a waste. I doubt a simple bullet could have killed Celestia.

• Oh man, talk about a web of backstabs.

• Once again I must question how a whole dress would even fit into empty saddlebags, much less ones stuffed with gear.

• I wonder how exactly Deadeyes rigged those explosives. Is there somepony just watching with a detonator, or is it a dead-pony's switch?

• Honestly, telekinetic mastery beats most spells in usefulness through sheer utility. Except for the instant booze spell. You can't beat that.

• Mr. Topaz was a dragon? Mad props for picking the one option I hadn't even thought of.

• Badly burned, drugged up, in a hurry, and you still manage to loot random bodies on your way to the vault? Damn, you really are a video game protagonist.

• God damn it Pinkie Pie. You're making it very hard not break into another rant.

• Gotta love Pegasus Magic for turning yourself into a flying artillery platform.

Thoughts on Chapter 12

Really not much to say on this chapter, as after the opening it was all one big fight scene, and not much happened in the opening. Mr. Topaz's identity was a nice twist, though I wish he had been a more mysterious, big player. I liked the three way war that was being set up, but oh well.