Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons



"Loyalty, love... and secrets."

Project Horizons is a Recursive Fanfiction for Fallout Equestria by Somber, and is currently a work in progress.

Stable 99 is an okay place to live. Sure, the place has seen better days, but the poor mares down in maintenance can't be blamed for the lack of upkeep. After all, the stable's been running on recycled parts for two hundred years, and a lot of important stuff got broken in the Incident. And the bucks might complain about the lack of freedom compared to the mares, but why bother? All they have to do is get laid all day. Until they get retired, that is, but don't think about that. And yeah, the mares might not have much freedom either, but you can't take any chances, especially after what happened last time...

Okay, maybe it's not the best place to live, but at least it's better than being outside. After all, with the door broken, there's no chance that somepony might get in and cause problems. It would take somepony with knowledge of how the stable works to get that thing open. Even then, how would they know it's safe? There was a war, remember? Better to just wait for the Overmare to say it's okay than take chances, even if she does have an ego problem. Just don't think about it, okay?

Of course, it pretty much goes without saying that things go horribly wrong. The door gets opened and a band of murderous, cannibalistic raiders immediately swarms in. Before the death count can get too high though, Blackjack, worst security mare in the stable, lures them out with a mysterious data file stashed on her PipBuck. With a cybernetic monster on her heels and a reluctant companion at her side, she sets out into the Equestrian Wasteland, determined to discover exactly what those raiders wanted so badly. After some hard lessons, it isn't long before the troubled mare finds herself delving through the dark secrets of wartime Equestria, and engulfed in a plot that threatens far more than just Stable 99...

Character sheet is here.

Project Horizons contains the following tropes
"P-21: Hey, Scotch. Are you pondering what I'm pondering? Scotch: I think so, P-21, but where are we going to find a dozen rockets out here?"
 * Abandoned Hospital: The Fluttershy Medical Center - location of one of the most iconic scenes in the story.
 * Action Bomb: Fury, who can even regenerate from it thanks to being part phoenix.
 * Actually, I Am Him: A variation: Watcher bursts out laughing when Blackjack refers to "Littlepip" and "The Stable Dweller" as separate ponies. She doesn't catch on.
 * This gag gets carried to extreme lengths, including . Several characters have tried to spell it out for her, but every time they're either interrupted, or she writes it off as ridiculous.
 * Adult Child:
 * Played for Laughs. Blackjack picks up the Foal At Heart perk at the end of Chapter 6, and occasionally lapses into childish behavior.
 * Rampage in reverse whenever she regenerates from being disintegrated.
 * A Form You Are Comfortable With: Zig Zagged by
 * After the End
 * AI Is a Crapshoot: There are friendly A.I., but the CRUSHKILLDESTROY type are more common. Guess which type BJ meets more often?
 * Averted by Applebot, who is genuinely helpful, and Ol' Hank, who is friendly and talkative. At first.
 * The A Is running the  really do want to help. They just can't stop until she's "better."
 * Exclusively Evil: Played straight with raiders, but typically averted otherwise.
 * Ancestral Weapon: Vigilance, a 12mm pistol handed down to each Stable 99 head of security.
 * And I Must Scream:
 * Played with.
 * Played straight in the case of.
 * Played straight once again with the ponies . They literally feel compelled to scream, and are incapable of doing much else.
 * How Blackjack describes viewing memory orb.
 * Apparently  fate, trapped at the heart of.
 * Apocalyptic Log: All over the place, naturally.
 * Are You Pondering What I'm Pondering?:

"Blackjack: But right now, I got my gun, my beer, a fire in my belly, and a grin on my face and there’s not a mother-fucking pony in the Wasteland who can stop me!"
 * Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: According to Lacunae, Blackjack doesn't qualify for Unity because she's unpredictable, unstable, irrational, self-destructive, and whiny.
 * Artistic License Linguistics: The author refers to male ponies as bucks. 'Buck' is the term for a male deer or goat, but serves as a neater 'man' analogue than 'stallion'.
 * Artistic License Music: When delivering a letter to Octavia's home, Blackjack finds a contrabass and learns to play it with some sheet music from Roses. The contrabass is not typically a solo instrument and few songs are suited to be played with the contrabass alone. When Roses provides the sheet music for songs like Winter Wrap Up, Hush Now, Quiet Now and Art of the Dress, the music played probably wouldn't have been recognizable without another instrument like a violin or a piano to round it out.
 * Well... this is only true if you assume she only plays the bass part.
 * There's also the strong possibility that.
 * Ascended Meme:  in Chapter 34.
 * Ascended to Carnivorism: Played differently from the main story: Among Hoofington's many dangers is a virus that induces this in anypony infected with it. The compulsion is strong enough that, if there's nothing else to eat, the victims will eat themselves.
 * Ass Shove: P-21 occasionally conceals items 'under his tail'. First a screwdriver, then later a grenade.
 * Badass: A nescessary trait for Reapers, such as Deus and Rampage.
 * Badass Boast: Blackjack becomes increasingly fond of these.

"Blackjack: Well, fuck."
 * Badass Crew/The Squad: Macintosh's Marauders.
 * Bad Dreams/Nightmare Sequence: Blackjack suffers from these frequently.
 * Bad Future: What Blackjack sees in a nightmare after  It's not a pretty sight.
 * Bad with the Bone:
 * During the solo fight in the museum, Blackjack finds a dragon claw. It replaces the police baton as her go-to melee weapon until it gets destroyed.
 * During the mansion adventure, she improvises with diamond dog claws glued to the end of a thighbone.
 * In Chapter 42, Blackjack kills an Enclave pegasus by
 * Beware My Stinger Tail: As in the main story, the power armor of Enclave soldiers is equipped with a bladed tail for melee combat. Radscorpions and manticores, naturally, have poisoned variants.
 * BFG:
 * Deus has a pair of 120mm artillery cannons built into him. Steel Rain also has a pair, mounted on his Power Armor.
 * Megamart is protected by an enormous Sentry Gun aptly named "Gun". Blackjack jokingly wonders if it fires I-beams, and the answer is uncomfortably close to "yes."
 * Big No: Blackjack is not happy when  in Chapter 22.
 * Big Red Button: Whenever Blackjack encounters one, she wants to push it. It rarely ends well.
 * Blessed with Suck:
 * Deus' cybernetic implants make him nigh-invulnerable and extremely powerful.
 * Rampage is practically impossible to kill. Pity that she's a Tortured Abomination who wants to die.
 * Blood From the Mouth: Occasionally. Blackjack literally vomits blood at one point due to Enervation exposure, and an unfortunate prospector in Tenpony Tower does this
 * Body Horror:
 * Turns out when you're exposed to too much Enervation, you vomit blood and your appendages drop off; eventually, you melt. Harshly illustrated at the end of Chapter 26..
 * Blackjack experiences 's transformation into Gorgon 'first-hand' through a memory orb.
 * Professor Zodiac, heavily injured by Enervation, is kept alive by machines in a state much like Mr. House. The sight of her 'true form' is enough to traumatise Scotch Tape.
 * In chapter 30, Blackjack discovers a horrific tumor . It is never described.
 * Horizon Labs. The cryogenics lab is a mass of taint-dribbling, pulsating flesh with many mouths 'singing' in a choir of screams. '' Meanwhile, Rampage is being monstrously mutated by the taint saturating the room.
 * 'Future' Glory, as seen in one of Blackjack's nightmares, is described as a 'hulk of flesh and feathers', with eyes down the side of her neck and at least five wings.
 * Booby Trap: True to the source material, these are common.
 * The Sand Dog Lair in Chapter 21 is packed with traps specifically designed to attract scavenging ponies.
 * Break the Cutie: Happens to Morning Glory frequently, most notably when  And again later, when
 * And yet again when.
 * Breather Episode:
 * The subsequent chapter continues the breather with some more serious introspection while the next plot arc gets set up.
 * Broken Tears:
 * Cain and Abel:
 * Call Back:
 * Blackjack's response to  in Chapter 27 is exactly the same as her response to   in Chapter 4.
 * Call Back:
 * Blackjack's response to  in Chapter 27 is exactly the same as her response to   in Chapter 4.

"Blackjack: I have a very very valuable head."
 * When  in Chapter 30, she jokes about , in a call back to Chapter 15.
 * In Chapter 33, Blackjack's line,  calls back to.
 * Call Forward: In Chapter 30, Watcher compliments Blackjack on her . Yeah, about that...
 * The Cameo: appear in Chapters 34 and 35.
 * Can't Bathe Without a Weapon: While in Flank, Blackjack takes a bath in full armor with her weapons in easy reach. She isn't attacked, but she mentions she's ready for it.

"Blackjack: Finally! I finally have an enemy to fight that I don’t have to feel sorry for! [...] Do you eat foals? Tell me you eat foals and rape helpless little ponies. That’ll be the icing on the cake!"
 * Cast Calculus: The cast undergoes a series of transformations as new members are added.
 * Red Oni, Blue Oni: When they first leave Stable 99, Blackjack acts as Red Oni against P-21's Blue.
 * Beauty, Brains, and Brawn: The addition of Glory shifts the group to a Freudian Trio. With Glory providing an emotional center to the group, P-21 is free to increasingly hint at his suppressed aggression while Blackjack is cooled by reminders that her actions have consequences. She finds herself as the Ego that must balance P-21's vengeful, self-serving Id and Glory's naively over-civilized (for the Wasteland) Superego. Lancer briefly features as a Sixth Ranger Traitor, and the party is scattered after Brimstone's Fall.
 * Five-Man Band: Blackjack quickly finds Glory at Miramare, then picks up Rampage as a Sixth Ranger shortly before recovering P-21. The Power Trio defeats Deus without Rampage's direct assistance, but the adventures between Flank and Chapel serve to show off Rampage's capabilities and personality, and help cement her to the group. On return to Chapel, they finally pick up the fifth team member: Lacunae. The Power Trio is augmented not by a Red Oni, Blue Oni pair, but by two color-coded individuals who embody the monstrous extremes of savagery and transcendence.
 * The Hero: Blackjack.
 * The Lancer: P-21.
 * The Smart Guy: Lacunae serves this role with her wisdom and magical skill rather than technical expertise, since the stoic, intellectual P-21 is playing foil to Blackjack's Idiot Hero.
 * The Big Guy: Rampage.
 * The Chick/The Medic: Glory.
 * Tagalong Kid: Scotch Tape.
 * Sixth Ranger:
 * Team Pet: Boo.
 * Cast From Hit Points:
 * Chekhov's Gun:
 * Trottenheimer's Folly is a literal example.
 * The slave collar that in Chapter 15 is used to   a chapter later.
 * In Chapter 23, Lacunae attempts to calm Blackjack down by linking minds and sharing her memories. Later,.
 * The hymn sung by the ponies of Chapel during Blackjack's first visit
 * Circling Birdies: "Little Glories" circle Blackjack's head after Big Daddy throws her at a wall.
 * Cluster F-Bomb: Blackjack drops a few.
 * Coitus Uninterruptus: In Chapter 22, when
 * Collapsing Lair: The Flash Industries building.
 * Complete Monster: Brass, the manticore-hybrid pony, much to Blackjack's glee.
 * Complete Monster: Brass, the manticore-hybrid pony, much to Blackjack's glee.

"Glory: Blackjack! You don’t do therapy with bullets! Blackjack: You do when you’re dealing with a regenerating mare who thinks she’s a crazy zebra."
 * Continuity Nod:
 * Project Horizons takes place at the same time as Fallout Equestria, so there are frequent references to events in the main story, and many minor characters such as Watcher, Ditzy Doo and  make appearances.
 * During a memory orb sequence, the Marauders are playing a tabletop RPG. Applesnack rolls two critical failures in a row, and grumbles about the possibility of his character  becoming undead and trapped in his armor.
 * Cool Big Sis: Blackjack and Rampage to Scotch Tape. When Rampage leaves the party for a while, Lacunae takes on this role as well.
 * Cosmic Horror Story:
 * Could Have Been Messy: Constantly Averted.
 * Country Matters: Deus' favorite word.
 * Crapsack World
 * Cruel and Unusual Death: The Wasteland likes handing these out. When she's really upset, so does Blackjack.
 * Cruel to Be Kind: Rampage occasionally gets out of control, to the point where Blackjack responds by shooting her in the head until she calms down. Rampage even thanks her for it. Lampshaded:

"P-21: Blackjack, are you trying to turn us into the deadliest band of angsty whiny ponies to wander the Wasteland?"
 * Cult: The Harbingers towards whatever's inside Hoofington's Core.
 * Curb Stomp Battle:
 * , despite being a crazed ghoul, practically wipes the floor with Blackjack and co. Only some quick thinking from P-21 turns things around.
 * Blackjack
 * Cyborg: Several characters. The purpose of Project Steelpony is to create these.
 * Darker and Edgier: Compared to Fallout Equestria. Project Horizons is a lot bleaker in tone, and tackles subjects that KKat only briefly touches on (ie. suicide, rape, and child mortality).
 * Dark and Troubled Past: Almost everyone to some extent, but P-21 and Rampage in particular.
 * Deadly Gas:  with chlorine gas. Later,   Pink cloud also makes an appearance in the lower levels of Hippocratic Research, and as Sanguine's Breath Weapon.
 * Deadly Hug:  Blackjack disapproves.
 * Death Trap:
 * Hoofington itself was designed as one for the zebra army, and apparently served its purpose right up until the megaspell exchange.
 * Silverstar Sporting Supplies.
 * The tainted forest surrounding Hippocratic Research.
 * Decapitation Presentation: The head of  is impaled on a spike
 * Despair Event Horizon:
 * Died in Your Arms Tonight:.
 * Dirty Business
 * : Although she tries to make things better, Blackjack
 * Doorstopper: As of Chapter 35, Project Horizons' word count has surpassed that of Fallout Equestria. Chapter 42 puts the total word count at around 780,000 words.
 * According to Word of Somber, Chapter 33 is the halfway point, putting the final word count somewhere in the region of a million words.
 * Double Standard Rape (Female on Male): Deconstructed Trope. This trope is the status quo in Stable 99, due to males being viewed as little more than breeding equipment. Much of Blackjack and P-21's early Character Development stems from their attempts to get over it. Blackjack has a minor epiphany when she realises that, and they eventually reconcile after
 * Dressing as the Enemy:
 * Blackjack, frequently.
 * P-21 disguises himself as a maintenance mare and, to his intense embarassment, a (female) Flash Fillies gang member.
 * Driven to Suicide:
 * Rampage is mentioned to have attempted suicide multiple times.
 * in Chapter 22, . The only reason  is still alive at the end of Chapter 23 is because
 * in Chapter 25.
 * Drowning My Sorrows:
 * Blackjack with vodka, after.
 * Rampage in Chapter 45. Her regeneration makes it hard for her to get drunk normally, so she alternates bottles of booze with mouthfuls of laundry detergent.
 * Drugs Are Bad:
 * Played with. Chems help Blackjack survive horrific injuries and perform incredible feats, and she seems to lack Littlepip's weakness to addiction, but overdoses and side effects wreak havoc on her long-term health.
 * Drunken Master: Blackjack with whiskey. Hilarity Ensues.
 * Due to the Dead:
 * Typically averted, but  recieves a formal burial in Chapel and   is later buried with.
 * Blackjack and P-21 bury Hoss with  shortly after they stumble upon his farm.
 * Following a battle, Lacunae cremates the corpses left behind by levitating them towards the Core's defense lasers.
 * in Chapter 36.
 * Notably averted with.
 * Dysfunction Junction: BJ and her band start out this way and get worse with each new member.
 * Blackjack and P-21 bury Hoss with  shortly after they stumble upon his farm.
 * Following a battle, Lacunae cremates the corpses left behind by levitating them towards the Core's defense lasers.
 * in Chapter 36.
 * Notably averted with.
 * Dysfunction Junction: BJ and her band start out this way and get worse with each new member.

""Her liver's back!""
 * Easily Forgiven:
 * Her forgiveness pays off in Chapter, but she doesn't realise it at the time.
 * Eaten Alive:  Raiders temporarily manage to restrain and butcher Rampage. She regenerates as usual. Blackjack speculates that the raiders could use her as an endless food source.


 * Elaborate Underground Base: Hoofington's underground is an enormous warren of pre-war train tunnels and underground facilities, including at least one partly-functional megaspell center.
 * Enemies with Death: Blackjack argues with a hallucination of ponified Death.
 * Enemy Mine: Lancer apparently considers his brief period of cooperation with Blackjack and co. to be an example of this.
 * Engineered Public Confession:
 * Epic Fail: Blackjack's "attack" against four Zodiacs at the beginning of Chapter 28.
 * Everything Trying to Kill You: As standard for the setting.
 * Deus puts an enormous bounty on Blackjack's head early on, resulting in her being hounded by dozens of bounty hunters and desperate wastelanders.
 * Expy:
 * Gem and Mini - albino twins that fight as a pair, becoming intangible at will.
 * Psychoshy - essentially Discorded!Fluttershy taken Up to Eleven.
 * Paladin Sugar Apple Bombs Stronghoof, Champion of the Steel Rangers, is a very faithful expy of Major Armstrong from Fullmetal Alchemist, complete with requisite Bishie Sparkle, Large Ham and Testosterone Poisoning.
 * Explosive Leash: Slave collars.
 * Eye Scream: Occasionally occurs in combat scenes.
 * Blackjack takes down a mutated dragon by blasting its eye out with a grenade, climbing into the socket and unloading poisoned shotgun rounds into its optic nerve.
 * has a mine go off in  face in Chapter 21.
 * loses an eye at some point between Chapters 26 and 27.
 * Eyes Do Not Belong There: During one of Blackjack's nightmares, the monstrous 'future' version of Glory has a fully expressive row of eyes down the side of her neck.
 * Face Heel Turn:
 * Fantastic Drug: As in Fallout and Fallout Equestria, there several varieties of these. Of particular note is Hydra, which shares its New Vegas counterpart's limb-restoring properties.
 * Fire-Forged Friends: P-21 and Blackjack, although the strength of their friendship fluctuates.
 * Footnote Fever: Following the trend set by Fallout Equestria, each chapter ends with a footnote detailing Blackjack's perk and skill advancements.
 * Played for Drama at the end of Chapter 32, where the footnote text is inexplicably corrupted.
 * Played even more so at the end of Chapter 33,
 * Returns to normal in a triumphant fashion in Chapter 34.
 * Forbidden Zone: The Hoofington Core.
 * Forced to Watch:
 * A variation. An unfortunate quirk of memory orbs is that you can't leave the memory until it's finished. Blackjack finds herself experiencing some deeply unpleasant things, most notably . Fortunately, the reader is spared the fine details.
 * A second variation occurs in Chapter 33. Scotch Tape, who is hiding nearby, can only listen as
 * Foreshadowing:
 * The revised Chapter 1 is laced with foreshadowing, particularly of.
 * During her Journey to the Center of the Mind, Blackjack encounters a mirror that shows her various reflections of herself. The final reflection is
 * Blackjack frequently notes that her heart beats irregularly.
 * Frickin' Laser Beams: Standard for robots, turret defenses and Enclave pegasi. The Flash Fillies gang specialises in these.
 * Friend or Foe: The E.F.S system on the PipBuck somehow determines the status of all living beings and marks them as either hostile or friendly. Blackjack keeps wondering how it knows, and somewhat distrusts the system, especially after nearly killing a frightened scavenger who got marked as 'hostile' for using the basic Crapsack World survival rule of 'shoot first, ask questions later'.
 * Genuine Pony Hide: The official uniform of low-ranking Reapers.
 * Get a Hold of Yourself, Mare!: P-21 successfully beats the mope out of Blackjack in Chapter 36. To be fair, he warned her.
 * Gondor Calls for Aid:
 * Gone Horribly Right:
 * The Fluttershy Medical Center contains an experimental system for keeping  in a state of medical stasis. It's still mostly operational - the occupants have been conscious and alone for over two hundred years.
 * Good Is Not Nice: Played dead straight for most of the protagonists. Glory is a possible exception, but even she has her moments.
 * Goomba Stomp: Rampage performs one on a pair of Mooks.
 * Gorn: Invoked In-Universe by raiders, who take a perverse glee in mutilating their victims.
 * Grey and Gray Morality: The conflicts between most Hoofington gangs, as Blackjack later learns.
 * The stated goal of the Reapers is to
 * Groin Attack:
 * Blackjack delivers a few - mostly to mooks, but also.
 * Psychoshy inflicts one on Blackjack during their cage fight in Chapter 25.
 * Guns Akimbo:
 * Taken Up to Eleven by Vanity of the Marauders; he simultaneously wields dual assault rifles on a battle saddle and a pair of levitated revolvers. On one occasion, he levitates enough weapons to single-handedly hold a hallway against an attacking mob.
 * Blackjack attempts to dual-wield on occasion, but her accuracy suffers as a result.
 * Taken to a ridiculous level by Lacunae in Chapter 31, where she wields a levitated grenade machinegun and a fully-armed and armored Steel Ranger.
 * Half-Pony Hybrid: A regular freakshow of these, thanks to Project Chimera.
 * As the child of a pony and a zebra, Silver Stripe/Professor Zodiac is a mundane variant.
 * Half The Mare She Used To Be:
 * Scoodle is torn in half by ghouls.
 * Deus does this to Blackjack during one of her nightmares.
 * in Chapter 29.
 * would have suffered this fate in Chapter 36 if Sanguine didn't have an even worse one in store.
 * Rampage threatens  with this, but Blackjack stops her.
 * Hannibal Lecture:  delivers one to Blackjack, along with an unhealthy dose of Not So Different.
 * Head-Tiltingly Kinky: In the revised version of Chapter 1, Blackjack does this when she walks into Midnight's room and comes across her being...busy.
 * Heel Face Turn:
 * Heroic BSOD:
 * Chapter 13 ends with beginning a long series of these.
 * Blackjack has several, usually triggered by My God, What Have I Done?.
 * Heroic RROD:
 * Upon first arriving in Flank, Blackjack is suffering from heavy injuries and the side effects of several chems. She's forced to take Dash and gallop through an enervation field to reach the town, and ends up having a heart attack. Fortunately, help is at hand.
 * At the end of Chapter 42, Blackjack
 * Heroic Sacrifice:
 * Subverted and then Averted when
 * Played straight when
 * He Who Fights Monsters: Blackjack's greatest fear is being corrupted into a Complete Monster by the wasteland.
 * Hidden Depths: Sekashi.
 * How Do I Shot Web?: Blackjack has a serious case of this after  Fortunately it's mostly Played for Laughs, and she's fine after she gets some alcohol in her system.
 * I Am a Humanitarian: Stable 99 ponies by nescessity. Raiders by compulsion.
 * I Cannot Self-Terminate:
 * Subverted..
 * Averted in Chapter 33.
 * ask Blackjack and Rampage to burn them.
 * . P-21 gives  a Med-X overdose.
 * Idiot Hero: Blackjack. Known for nebulous "plans" and battlefield drunkenness.
 * Deconstructed - it takes BJ a long time to work out why P-21 doesn't trust himself with guns near her.
 * If You're So Evil Eat This Kitten: Almost literally, but due to the lack of kittens,  is substituted.
 * Subverted - Blackjack goes through with it,
 * I Have a Family:
 * Roses begs Blackjack to spare her life for the sake of her daughter. It works.
 * Eventually revealed to be 's core motivation.
 * I Love the Dead: Psychoshy wants to be the lover of Sanguine, a Canterlot ghoul.
 * I'm Melting: Type A is the end result of enervation exposure. Partially invoked in Chapter 26 when.
 * If You're So Evil Eat This Kitten: Almost literally, but due to the lack of kittens,  is substituted.
 * Subverted - Blackjack goes through with it,
 * I Have a Family:
 * Roses begs Blackjack to spare her life for the sake of her daughter. It works.
 * Eventually revealed to be 's core motivation.
 * I Love the Dead: Psychoshy wants to be the lover of Sanguine, a Canterlot ghoul.
 * I'm Melting: Type A is the end result of enervation exposure. Partially invoked in Chapter 26 when.

"Scotch Tape: Blackjack’s been naughty!"
 * The results are... exactly what you'd expect.
 * Immortality: Rampage; ageless, unkillable Regenerative type.
 * She does age, but only up to about the late 30s. And if her body is destroyed (for example, by disintegration) she reconstitutes herself as a small filly who then grows rapidly to adulthood if fed enough protein. Nopony knows why either age is special.
 * Immortal Assassin: Rampage, though she sides with the protagonists.
 * Immortality Hurts: Rampage has suffered horrifically in her long life, and apparently feels pain despite her Healing Factor..
 * Immortal Life Is Cheap: Rampage has been beheaded, chewed on and then thrown out of a window by a hydra, shot to pieces, blown up, vaporized, poisoned, carved up and eaten, shot in the head repeatedly, burned alive, stabbed through the eye with a sword, blasted into giblets by artillery and has had her throat crushed. And that's only listing "on-screen" examples.
 * Immune to Bullets:
 * Gorgon effortlessly shrugs off bullets, lasers and explosives.
 * Bullets pass straight through Gem and Mini when they turn intangible.
 * Immune to Drugs: Rampage, thanks to her healing factor, is blasé about addictions and side effects. She eats Mint-als like candy, and in one memorable incident encounters a drug selling robot and orders a dose of "everything".
 * Implacable Mare: Rampage. To a lesser extent, Deus and Gorgon.
 * Infant Immortality: Utterly and repeatedly averted throughout.
 * Instant Drama Just Add Tracheotomy: Glory performs one on  after Sanguine breathes pink cloud in his face, melting his eyes and sealing his mouth and nose shut. It's not as helpful as most Hollywood trachs.
 * Instrument of Murder: Vanity uses Octavia's contrabass as both a bludgeon and a shield against an angry mob.
 * Intangible Mare: The Gemini sisters.
 * Interrupted Suicide:
 * in Chapter 22.
 * in Chapter 23.
 * in Chapter 25.
 * Ironic Nursery Tune: "Hush now, quiet now."
 * It Always Rains At Funerals: It did at
 * Justified since it almost constantly rains around Hoofington.
 * It Got Worse: This trope is in play almost constantly.
 * It's All About Me: Blackjack, to the point where she assumes this is why ponies around her are upset. She realizes she's wrong in Chapter 25,, but still forgets at times.
 * It's All My Fault: Various characters, particularly Blackjack, have moments of this.
 * Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique: Blackjack uses this on
 * Mutilation Interrogation: Via caged cannibal.
 * Jizzed in My Pants: Blackjack, thanks to an unexpectedly saucy memory orb.

"Blackjack: You! Can't! Kill! Me!"
 * Journey to the Center of the Mind:
 * Blackjack performs one of these to
 * In Chapter 43, Blackjack
 * Karma Houdini: Invoked with Director Mephitis, the pony in charge of the Yellow River Internment Camp. He overloaded the camp with zebra POWs in order to request additional supplies from the Ministry of Peace, fenced said supplies for his own profit, and refused to set the prisoners free when the bombs fell, backstabbing a subordinate in the process. He then took his ill-gotten profits with him and fled to Thunderhead, and apparently never answered for his crimes.
 * Kill It with Fire: The Burner Boys gang specialises in flamethrowers and incendiary bombs.
 * Klingon Promotion: The fastest way to become a reaper is to kill a reaper and take their place. Rampage earned her position and armor this way, and, Blackjack is offered a position as well.
 * You Kill It, You Bought It: Zig Zagged. Initally downplayed when Blackjack earns the right to become a Reaper. She's annoyed at her newly-increased notoriety but offically taking the role, while encouraged, is voluntary. Her refusal causes her to once again become a target for gangs, which were being held off by the presence of a Reaper in her group and the protection of Big Daddy Reaper. After, BJ is granted an honorary place in the Reapers whether she wants it or not.
 * Large Ham: THE GODDESS WISHES TO REMIND YOU THAT THIS TROPE IS IN FULL EFFECT.
 * Laser-Guided Amnesia: A function of memory orbs.
 * This ends up backfiring, as
 * Literal Cliff Hanger: Chapter 29 ends with one of these, where.
 * Loads and Loads of Characters
 * Ludicrous Gibs: While we don't see it happen, Blackjack's drug-assisted Unstoppable Rage  results in this. Apparently she tore several   limb from limb with her hooves and teeth.
 * Luke, I Am Your Father: Inverted. P-21 is Scotch Tape's father, but doesn't want her to find out. Blackjack winds up blurting it out during a strategy discussion.
 * MacGuffin: EC-1101
 * Magic Missile: Blackjack learns to fire bursts of energy from her horn. This ability develops over the course of the story, eventually gaining shotgun-grade power and extreme range.
 * Magitek
 * Meaningful Name:
 * Mechanical Monster:
 * The cyberdogs that attack BJ and co. in Chapter 26, which come equipped with cloaking devices and lightning guns.
 * The enormous mechanical abomination that attacks near the end of the same chapter. Blackjack blasts it with Trottenheimer's Folly,.
 * Mercy Kill:
 * Blackjack performs a series of these at the end of . She suffers frequent flashbacks to the event, and often worries it was her Start of Darkness.
 * Averted in Chapter 16 when, as Blackjack can't bring herself to pull the trigger.
 * Chapter 19 reveals that  has a different problem.
 * In Chapter 21, Blackjack describes killing raiders as this, then immediately suffers another flashback to the first entry.
 * Chapter 22.
 * Mind Screw: Chapter 43.
 * Mood Whiplash:
 * Blackjack finds herself admiring Scoodle's fighting skills,
 * At the end of Chapter 9, Blackjack and co. have  and freed an entire mine full of pony and zebra slaves.
 * Blackjack wakes up  and gets forced into a memory orb from a Grand Galloping Gala.
 * Motive Rant:
 * The Overmare gives one to Blackjack, throwing in a Freudian Excuse for good measure. Blackjack's sympathy is dulled by the fact that.
 * Sanguine rants at length during his confrontation with Blackjack at Hippocratic Research.
 * My God, What Have I Done?: Blackjack asks this a lot. Especially in Chapter 23 following.
 * Mystical Plague: Enervation. It's everywhere, it reduces the effectiveness of healing potions, and it does all kinds of unhealthy things to ponies.
 * Mysterious Backer: The Dealer. He'll appear time and time again to help point Blackjack in the right direction, even as he emotionally beats her down just as often (much to Blackjack's confusion).
 * Myth Arc: Since being broken down into volumes, the overarching plot is this.
 * Named Weapons: Trottenheimer's Folly, Persuasion, Vigilance, Duty and Sacrifice.
 * Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Blackjack is often guilty of this.
 * Nobody Poops: Averted.
 * No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
 * No Party Like a Donner Party: Most of the food in Stable 99 comes from the recycled remains of deceased (or "retired") ponies.
 * Only Known by Their Nickname:
 * Blackjack is actually a nickname chosen to hide her Embarrassing First Name.
 * Rampage took her name from the reaper she killed to earn her position. Her real name is unknown. The closest she has to one is "Arloste," which Scalpel gave her.
 * Operation Blank: Several. Specifically the various secret research and development projects undertaken by Goldenblood's OIA during the war, including Project Chimera, Project Steelpony, Project Eternity, Project Redoubt and the titular Project Horizons.
 * Pass the Popcorn: Glory and a group of Crusaders when P-21 first calls Blackjack his friend. Complete with actual (200 year old stale) popcorn!
 * Phlebotinum Rebel: Gorgon's first action upon being given the powers of a cockatrice by a shady OIA (Office of Interministry Affairs) lab is to petrify and shatter a nurse.
 * Playing with Syringes: Project Chimera.
 * Potty Failure: Taken seriously. Blackjack suffered this as a result of radiation poisoning, and again in . Scotch Tape and various other characters occasionally wet themselves out of fear.
 * Power Shoe/Armed Legs: Psychoshy's weapon of choice. Rampage uses a bladed variant.
 * Properly Paranoid: Blackjack, especially after the  in Chapter 16.
 * Punch Clock Villain: Roses, a slaver who simply wants to provide for her daughter.
 * Punctuated! For! Emphasis!:
 * In Chapter 27, after Blackjack gets shot up by.
 * Punctuated! For! Emphasis!:
 * In Chapter 27, after Blackjack gets shot up by.

"Triage: You! Are! Not! Bulletproof!"
 * Followed shortly by:

""You! Sick! Fucker!" I yelled, bringing the batton down with each word."
 * Punctuated Pounding:
 * When Blackjack kills her first cannibal.

"Blackjack: Do! Not! Shoot! The! Nice! Security! Pony!"
 * Played for Laughs in Chapter 19, when Blackjack spanks Aquarius Zodiac.

"Of course it exploded! Everything spontaneously explodes around me! Pipes! Vertibucks! Mares!"
 * Rage Breaking Point:
 * Blackjack is not happy when
 * BJ completely loses it  Discovering   drives her over the edge.
 * Ragtag Band of Misfits: The protagonists.
 * Rape as Backstory: Rampage, the males from Stable 99, and many of the Flash Fillies.
 * Rape as Drama: A recurring theme.
 * Read the Freaking Manual: Blackjack aquires the Wasteland Survival Guide early on, but despite considering it a good idea she rarely consults it. Scotch Tape however does, and occasionally points out chapters relevant to the current matter on hand.
 * Red Baron: Blackjack, AKA 'The Security Mare'.
 * Red Herring: Up until Chapter 32, all evidence seems to point to . During the encounter in Horizon Labs, she learns that it's actually.
 * Rule of Symbolism: Some readers have drawn parallels between the crucifixion of Jesus and the scene where
 * Running Gag:
 * Everypony shoots Blackjack. Carried over from Fallout Equestria.
 * Blackjack's horn is not small, it's compact.
 * Dropping boats on ponies.
 * "Then [...] exploded."

"Anonymous: For today's episode of snoziroH tcejorP, BJ and crew are happy, and Hoofington is a great place to live!"
 * Blackjack being clueless about the identity of The Stable Dweller.
 * Blackjack's whining.
 * Scars Are Forever: Burner Boys.
 * Shot in the Ass: Blackjack, by P-21.
 * Shout-Out:
 * The 'recycled' food in Stable 99 is typically green. Whaaaat? It's made from algae!
 * A large steel cube with hearts painted on it is found in the Abandoned Hospital.
 * One of the tainted trees in the forest surrounding Hippocratic Research lures victims to their deaths with fruit that look like slices of cake.
 * A fight carries over into a dance club with two helmeted ponies who provide a soundtrack for the fight.
 * Among a collection of Stable-Tec plans is one for a 'Rapture Hydrostable'.
 * Lacunae wields a minigun and has a noted affinity for sandwiches.
 * temporarily enslaves P-21, who later strangles  to death with his chains.
 * The blueprints for the Hoofington tunnels mention a samophlange housing.
 * The party stumbles upon the remains of The Crop, the lingerie shop featured in the Ask Velvet tumblr.
 * Velvet herself appears later as a ghoul, and takes the opportunity to dress Lacunae in lacy lingerie.
 * When Operative Lighthooves, his dialogue is almost directly quoted from The Princess Bride.
 * One of the ponies  is apparently named Doctor Octopus.
 * Mr. Horse has a Sweetie Bot, and makes innuendos about his hammer.
 * When another character expresses concern about her finding her way in the dark,  points out that her vision is augmented.
 * Shut UP, Hannibal: Blackjack shuts up The Goddess mid-rant by shoving her gun in Lacunae's mouth.
 * Sickening Crunch: When Rampage, the sound is described as a "crunchy pop".
 * Spider Sense: Blackjack's mane goes itchy at the strangest times.
 * Spinoff Babies: Yup. D'awwww.
 * Spinoff Babies: Yup. D'awwww.


 * Strapped to An Operating Table: Blackjack, more than once.
 * Cruel to Be Kind: In at least one case, Blackjack really needs surgery, but is too out of it to realise until afterwards.
 * Stuff Blowing Up: P-21 specialises in explosives.
 * Sympathy for the Devil:
 * leaves a memory orb for Blackjack. The contents make her feel for him, just a little bit.
 * Blackjack also finds a.
 * Take My Hoof: . The roles are reversed in the next chapter, where.
 * Taken for Granite: Gorgon's preferred method of dealing with his enemies.
 * Taking You with Me:
 * Talking to Themself:
 * Blackjack, when stressed or hallucinating.
 * Lacunae, though Justified Trope because she's communicating with the Goddess.
 * A Taste of the Lash: Not shown, but mentioned as an official form of punishment in Stable 99.
 * Tears of Blood: A result of Enervation exposure.
 * Tele Frag:  suffers this, and doesn't even get to die from it.
 * Tempting Fate: Blackjack has an unfortunate habit of doing this. In Chapter 20:
 * Tears of Blood: A result of Enervation exposure.
 * Tele Frag:  suffers this, and doesn't even get to die from it.
 * Tempting Fate: Blackjack has an unfortunate habit of doing this. In Chapter 20:

"Ponibooru comment: ALL ABOARD THE PSYCHOLOGICAL DETERIORATION TRAIN, NOW DEPARTING BLACKJACK STATION. AGAIN."
 * Theme Naming:
 * Blackjack and a long line of her ancestors have names related to playing cards and card games.
 * Morning Glory's family.
 * The Zodiac bounty hunters are all named after the zodiac star signs, though these are assumed names.
 * There Are No Therapists: Surprisingly subverted with Rampage being an almost literal version of Warrior Therapist. Apart from this, the trope is played straight due to the setting.
 * This Is Gonna Suck: Narrated word for word by Blackjack, just before
 * Title Drop: Almost. In chapter 5, we have a log from Dr. Trottenheimer writing about his extremely controversial project named "P.H.", which seems to make pretty clear what "Project Horizons" is about...
 * Although Chapter 39 mentions that weaponized megaspells were handled by "Project Starfall." Apparently, "Project Horizons" was something much worse. Even Blackjack finds that a little hard to believe.
 * And in Chapter 45,
 * Tortured Abomination:.
 * Training the Peaceful Villagers: Following a battle, Blackjack and co. decide to help the ponies of Flank by reinforcing the town's defenses..
 * It pays off in Chapter.
 * Tranquil Fury: Blackjack drops into one upon finding . It takes   to snap her out of it.
 * Also in Chapter 42, sort of. After being hit by an explosion (not a spoiler with how often that happens), her Pip Buck gets temporarily messed up, so all she can hear is Octavia's contrabass.
 * Trauma Conga Line: Blackjack suffers an excessive number of injuries, ailments and psychological traumas over the course of the story, many of which come very close to killing her. Glory suffers awfully as well.

"Goldenblood: Do you know what the three most precious things in Equestria are, Dewdrop? Dewdrop: Family, sir? Friends? Um… money? Goldenblood: Family is a dime a dozen. Friends are articles of convenience. And money is trash. No, the three most precious things are loyalty, love... and secrets."
 * Truth in Television: That virus that ravages the wasteland through cannibalism is more or less a pony version of vCJD.
 * The Virus: See Ascended to Carnivorism.
 * Voice with an Internet Connection: Watcher makes a number of appearances, but plays only a minor role..
 * Unskilled but Strong: The Harbingers. They possess pristine top grade weaponry, but nary a pony knows how to use it effectively.
 * Unstoppable Rage:
 * Blackjack, when  She deliberately helps this trope along by injecting herself with a cocktail of chems.
 * Other characters have been seen to use chems for the same purpose. Notably, the Burner Boys' suicide bomber raiders in Chapter 31 and Flank's militia in Chapter 36.
 * In chapter 42 Blackjack falls into this against a squad of
 * This appears to be the whole point of the chem appropriately named Rage and its derivative, Stampede.
 * Was Once A Pony:
 * Deus, aka..
 * Rampage is strongly implied to be.
 * Lacunae is implied to have originally been.
 * All the monsterponies created by Project Chimera, including...
 * Gorgon, a.k.a., fused with a cockatrice.
 * Cora, the manticore pony, who was once.
 * Fury, who was fused with a phoenix.
 * Precious, a foal fused with a baby dragon.
 * Wham! Episode:
 * Chapter 22..
 * Chapter 33.
 * Chapter 36.
 * What Have I Become?:
 * admits to these thoughts, though it's not enough to stop  from doing the unspeakable.
 * What the Hell, Hero?: Blackjack receives these frequently, though more often out of concern than outrage. However, her  and   are genuine examples. Rampage calls her out on.
 * Who Wants to Live Forever?: Rampage doesn't. Apparently, several other Reapers have this problem.
 * Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?:
 * Due to her Stable upbringing, Blackjack is terrified of air travel. When she has to do it, she prefers to spend the trip in a memory orb. Just looking up at the sky makes her nauseous.
 * Various events make Scotch Tape afraid of machines.
 * Won the War, Lost the Peace:.
 * Wretched Hive: Flank is a town built on prostitution and drug abuse.
 * You Know Too Much: Goldenblood invokes this, dropping an unfortunate eavesdropper down an elevator shaft.
 * Won the War, Lost the Peace:.
 * Wretched Hive: Flank is a town built on prostitution and drug abuse.
 * You Know Too Much: Goldenblood invokes this, dropping an unfortunate eavesdropper down an elevator shaft.


 * You Monster!: Subverted when.


 * Your Head Asplode: Several slaves in Chapter 29, and many victims of Blackjack's magic bullet spell.
 * You Shall Not Pass: Vanity, word for word, while protecting Harpica and some foals from an angry mob.