> Fallout Equestria: San Palomino Blues
>  by GeekMaster101
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1: Hiding From The Past
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


12 Years Ago

I was only eight years old at the time, if I remember correctly. Me and my dad lived in an old house somewhere in the San Palomino. Actually, it would be more accurate to say he lived in the house while I lived in the basement, chained to a wall. I was pretty much his punching bag that he would regularly beat with a lead pipe. He hadn't even given me a name. Well, not unless 'Little shit' counts as a name.

I should clarify that my dad was a sociopath, in every sense of the word. Whenever he was in a bad mood, he'd beat me. Whenever he was in a good mood, he'd beat me. Whenever he was bored, he'd beat me. If he ever caught me having fun, he'd beat me, then punish me. One time, a stray cat managed to find its way into the basement and took a liking to me. For a while, he kept me company in that dark, dreary basement. When my dad found out about it, he killed the cat, then beat me like he always does. Later, he cooked up the cat and forced me to eat it. Trust me, this wasn't even the worst thing he'd done.

It wasn't all bad, though. Due to not having anything better to do, I taught myself how to pick locks. There was a screwdriver and some other junk I could use lying around the basement. Thanks to a bunch of trial and error, I managed to pick the padlock on the chain holding me to the wall, as well as the lock on the basement door.

Now, I know what you're thinking; If I had the ability to run away, why didn't I? Well, the answer is simple. If I left, my chances of survival would be extremely low. While I was practically tortured on a daily basis, I was still fed, and I had shelter. Out in the wasteland, it would be a struggle to find either of those, plus I would have to deal with raiders, slavers, and irradiated wildlife. I had no way of knowing those things existed until my dad showed me himself, dangling me in front of a radscorpion like bait. So yeah, it may not be the best life, but I wouldn't be any better off out there.

Lockpicking wasn't the only thing I taught myself. My dad had a large shelf in the living room fully stocked with books. Late at night, after dad went to sleep, I would pick the two locks, sneak into the living room and attempt to learn what the symbols on the paper meant while staying as quiet as possible. I wasn't able to learn much. I had no idea what each word meant or what sound each letter was supposed to make, so I still had no Idea how to convert the text into speech. At the very least, I was able to tell the different letters apart. Overall, I was able to find some silver linings in my shitty life.

Then one day, dad came home absolutely furious.

He barged into the basement, his amber yellow eyes glaring straight at me. He was a pale grey pony with a long, stringy, dark grey mane. He was also a Unicorn, like me. He was a bit on the skinny side, but I knew he was a lot stronger than he looked.

he began yelling about something, half talking to himself, half talking to me. At the time, because I didn't know how to talk, I had no idea what any of what he said meant. Still, I remembered the sounds coming out of his mouth clear as day. Looking back on it, I was able to piece together what he was saying. Basically, some mare had somehow found out about me and how my dad had been treating me. Even today, I don't know who the mare was, but if I had to guess, it was probably a caravan trader that my dad regularly bought supplies from. She had confronted him, telling him that he had no right to be my father. Naturally, he was infuriated. By some twisted logic, my dad believed he was an amazing parent.

Although, I do have to admit, as ironic as it is, he did teach me lessons all parents should teach their kids. Through the constant beatings, he taught me that life is going to be painful, and that I'll have to endure it. By feeding me crappy food (and sometimes just literal crap), he taught me to never be picky about what I eat. By giving me terrible living conditions, keeping me locked in the basement, he taught me to appreciate the little things, like the fact that I have a roof over my head. Taking everything into account, he taught me that no matter how bad things may be, they can always be worse.

It was like some cruel joke, but it was true. He did teach me some valuable life lessons. Either way, I'm pretty sure he didn't let that mare live.

"That bitch thought she could question my parenting!? Fuck her! I'm a great parent! You agree, right?" He said, turning to face me. I didn't respond, not understanding him and not physically knowing how to do so. "She had the gall to say that I had no right to be your father! NEWS FLASH!! It's the apocalypse! Rights aren't a thing anymore!"

He paused to take a breath, then seemed to get an idea. He crouched down in front of me and continued his one-sided speech. "I'm your father, and your my son... I just need a way to prove that. That way, people won't question it anymore!" He whispered into my ear. Thinking back, I don't think he actually felt the need to prove his ownership of me. He just wanted an excuse to make me suffer more.

"STAIN! GET THE WHATEVER THE FUCK IT'S CALLED READY!!!" He yelled up the stairs as he left. I then heard more yelling from what sounded like dad. He was most likely angry that 'Stain' didn't know what a 'Whatever the fuck it's called' is.

I never met Stain for myself, but I had heard his voice before when he and dad would talk. I wasn't sure if he was a friend of my dad's or if he was some thug he hired. All I knew was that he followed my dad around a lot. Considering my dad would yell at him a lot, I assume he wasn't very bright. In fact, he might have been why that mare knew about me, possibly having let it slip in a conversation.

After a while, my dad came back down Levitating something. It was a long, black, metal rod. One end of the rod was shaped like a "B" and glowed hot yellow and red, clearly having been heated in a fire.

It was a branding iron.

I had never seen one before, but seeing the way it glowed, along with the wide, menacing smile on my dad's face, I could tell that whatever it was, it was going to be painful. Very Painful.

"Don't worry..." He said, trotting over to me and pinning my face against the wall, "... This will only hurt a lot!" He lifted the branding iron up to my face and towards my left eye, cackling the entire time. I tried to struggle but it was no use. I felt the heated metal press against my eye, and the pain I felt was unimaginable. He just continued to laugh hysterically over my screams of agony.




Present Day


I jolted awake from my nightmare in a cold sweat-

*CLANG!*

-And immediately smacked my head into the bunk above me.

"Ow~" I moaned, rubbing the newly sore spot on my forehead. I decided to take in my surroundings while the pain subsided. I let out a sigh of relief when I saw I was in my room and not in that damn basement. There wasn't a whole lot in my room, to be honest. Just a wall safe and a couple lockers with my stuff in them, along with a reloading bench I added in the corner of the room. Other than that, it's just the bunk beds me and my roommate, Astral Spark, sleep in.

Speaking of, are we ever going to trade these things out for normal beds?

The top bunk was pretty low, so every time you wake up on the bottom bunk, you would have to be careful not to sit up, or you'd slam your head into the top bunk. Y’know, like what I just did. Astral had been living here first, so when I moved in, I automatically got the bottom bunk. Across from the beds is the door to the rest of the metal shack we call home.

I got out of my bed and dragged my hooves over to one of the lockers and opened it up, grabbing both my canteen and the glass shard I use as a mirror. I stared at the pony in the reflection. A honey orange unicorn with a brown, shaggy mane and one good, amber yellow eye stared back. The other eye was completely burned, the eyelids fused together, and a scar in the shape of a 'B' visible in the center. I unscrewed the cap of my canteen and splashed a bit of water in my face to wake myself up.

I've gotta do something about these nightmares.

I angled the mirror to look at my cutie mark, a wrench and a rifle crossed like an X. I found I had a natural talent when it comes to repairs, especially with weapons. Tinkering with different weapons and crafting ammo was pretty much a hobby for me. I could even make bullets out of scrap metal and tin cans, which the wasteland has no shortage of. That's why I set up the reloading bench in my room.

Which reminds me, I need to go shopping for more-

The sound of a crash coming from the other room drew my attention. Sounded like Astral was having some trouble with... whatever he was doing. I went out into the hallway and entered through a door on my right, into Astral's laboratory. There were bits, bobs, trinkets, tools and machines everywhere. The place was far from organized, but Astral didn't need it to be. He somehow knew where everything was amongst the clutter, almost never losing track of where something was.

... Wait, where the heck is-?

I noticed some rustling coming from a pile of scrap metal and turned my attention to it.

Found him.

I started digging through the pieces of scrap to help Astral find his way out. Eventually, a small bit of bright yellow hair peaked out from under the metal, and I wrapped my levitation around him and pulled him out. Soon, Astral was on his hooves. He adjusted his glasses and took in his surroundings before laying his eyes on me.

"Oh! Good morning, Bunny!" Astral greeted as if he wasn't just buried under a mound of scrap.

Astral was a light brown pegasus with green eyes and a bright yellow mane. His mane was styled similarly to that of the Stable Colt, Stable-Tec's mascot. He was draped in his trusty lab coat, showing signs of being worn and mended repeatedly. I remember asking him why not just get a new one, and he said it had sentimental value. Guess some people are more willing to hold on to the past than I am.

"So, how'd you end up buried alive?" I asked.

"Well, I wanted to take a step back and marvel at the progress I've made on my latest creation! Unfortunately, I took one to many steps back and knocked the pile of scrap over." He gestured to a device on a workbench that I assumed was his 'latest creation'. "I call it the A.W.M.D! What do you think?"

The device in question was rather small, no bigger than my head. As for what it did, I had no clue. It was a metal sphere with several wires and tubes jutting out of the sides. There were a couple plugs that looked like they were supposed to connect to something, but given their shape, I couldn't tell what.

"Is this really big enough to warrant taking a step back?" I questioned.

"Bunny, all inventions deserve taking a step back! They're wonders of science and technology! Signs of evolution! As such, they should be given the proper attention!" He replied passionately. He turned around and walked further into the lab, probably going to get more tools or something. As he turned around, I couldn't help but notice the Dashite brand on his flank.

Astral had originally been a scientist working for the Enclave. At the time, he had been proud to provide his talents to aid the pegasi, but he soon found out about how the Enclave had pretty much left the rest of Equestria to die. That's what he told me, anyway. So he left, hoping to use his inventive and scientific prowess to aid the people of the wasteland that needed it. Plus, his craving for knowledge demanded he study the surface and see what things were like down here.

I remember the first time we met 2 years ago. I had just been wandering from place to place when I ran into him by the river near New Appleloosa. He had been collecting water with some weird machine he built so that he could perform tests on it later. Usually, when you encounter a stranger in the wasteland, it would be smart to be wary of them and keep your distance on the off chance they might try to rob you. Astral, however, was very welcoming, even asking for my assistance holding the machine in place while he took some notes. Apparently, he thought an assistant would come in handy, so he asked if I needed a place to stay. In return, I would assist him with whatever he needed as well as occasionally be his lab rat. We've lived together ever since.

It took me a while to get used to his... 'eccentric' personality. He was incredibly devoted to his studies, even willing to give his own life for science. If I had to describe him, he was a textbook mad scientist. With how energetic and passionate he was, it was hard to believe he was almost twice my age.

"Well, I just wanted to let you know I'm headed out. I'm running low on ammo and repair kits, so I was gonna go buy some more." I informed him.

"Oh! Hold on a second!" He called out, grabbing a piece of paper then trotting back to me. "I need you to also buy the items on this list for me. I need them to help finish the A.W.M.D. Here, this should cover the cost for the parts." He explained, giving me the list and some extra caps.

I exited the lab and went back to my room to retrieve my saddlebags from my locker. Before I left the room, I found myself staring at the wall safe. Inside it was an incredibly helpful device that I've had by my side for years. It could keep even the most brain dead of wastelanders alive. For me personally, it carried a lot of memories. Bad memories. I contemplated opening the safe and bringing it with me.

"... Nah." I decided against it. It was just a shopping trip, I'd be fine without it. With a final wave goodbye to Astral, I left, making my way to Appleloosa.



Our shack wasn't too far from New Appleloosa, so the trip only took about 40 minutes. I ran into a few radroaches and bloatsprites on my way there and figured I could sell their meat. Other than that, the trip was pretty uneventful. When I arrived, it looked like a caravan had also just arrived in town. I groaned, knowing what this meant.

Calamity was most likely in town.

Don't get me wrong, I didn't have anything against the rust colored pony. Actually, I had a lot of respect for him. He, like Astral, was a Dashite. If I remember correctly, he was a soldier in the Enclave before learning about what was going on down below. He was incredibly loyal and was willing to put his life on the line to protect others. In fact, he'd been keeping watch over the caravans for a little over a year now. The first time we met, however, I left quite a bad impression.

I was in the Turnpike Tavern one night, drinking my sorrows away when I overheard some asshole talking shit about Ditzy Doo, the resident ghoul and owner of the town's general store. Having been piss drunk and ready to make stupid decisions, I smashed a bottle into his face, pointed the broken glass at his throat, and dared him to insult her again. Before things could escalate further, Calamity stepped between us and tried to break it up. I may or may not have responded by headbutting him and starting a bar brawl with me against everypony else.

Obviously, I lost the fight, having been outnumbered. I did manage to beat the crap out of at least half the other patrons, though. Unfortunately, I'm not allowed anywhere near Turnpike Tavern anymore. I’m not a heavy alcoholic, though, so I’m not to beat up about it.

That hadn't been the first time I caused trouble, and it certainly wasn't the last. I wasn't a fan of most of the town's residents due to the fact that they trade with slavers. They shouldn't expect me to play nice when they support themselves by aiding the worst of the worst. There wasn't anything else I could do about it, unfortunately, other than being a nuisance. What was I supposed to do? Storm Old Appleloosa, kill every last slaver there, and free all the captives? Only an inexperienced, suicidal moron would do something that stupid.

I began making my way to Ditzy's store, Absolutely Everything. While it would've been easier to get my shopping done if Calamity was away, I still would have had to keep an eye out for somepony else. Railright, the Sheriff/Mayor/Mr. "I'm The Boss So Do What I Say". Considering my many misdemeanors, it was obvious why he didn't like me. While I still respected Calamity, Railright, on the other hoof, was a different story. The biggest reason I didn't like him was because he made the decision to deal with slavers. I didn't care that he had a town to watch over, there were better ways to do it than helping Luna damned slavers!

Having to avoid both him and Calamity at the same time was a pain in the ass, but I would just have to make do.

I had made it halfway to Absolutely Everything when Lady Luck threw a big ol' "fuck you" in my direction. I spotted both Calamity and Railright talking with each other, standing right where I needed to go. I tried to avoid their line of sight as I walked by. It seemed like I had succeeded as I managed to walk past them without a word.

"Bunny. Hope ya ain't plannin' on causin' trouble again." I winced as I heard Railright call out to me.

Shit.

I turned to see both of them looking at me. Calamity just gave me a stern look while Railright, was full on glaring at me.

Oh well, might as well go all in.

"Hey, fellas. Good to see you again. Especially you, Railright. Always a pleasure." I said, an obviously fake smile on my face. He walked up to me and got in my face.

"This 'game' yer playin', it needs t' stop. Now. Ya keep harassin' the people of this town, soon ya might find yerself no longer welcome. Understood?" He warned. He was clearly sick of my shit after having to put up with it for almost 2 years now. Good.

"Well, Railright, as soon as you stop being an absolute prick, I'd be glad to do so. Unless, of course, you want to stop me by force?" I baited him. "C'mon, big man, why don't you dish out some good old fashioned 'Wasteland Justice'?" I pretended to be cocky to lower his guard, but I was prepared for the slightest hint of an attack. Railright traded with slavers. He gave them what they needed to keep hurting innocent ponies, to keep tearing loved ones away from their families, to keep killing the ponies they don't need. He supports the kind of people that ruin lives just to make some easy money. The same kind of people that killed-

...

Railright was no better than the slavers he traded with. He wanted to fight? I'd kick his fucking ass and then some.

I was about to do so, too, until Calamity stepped in between us.

"Calm down, both of ya!" He ordered, and the two of us took a step back. If there was one thing we had in common, it was our respect for Calamity. He turned to face me. "Bunny, ah think it'd be best if ya got what ya need and left for today. Don't go doin' somethin' that'll get ya thrown in a cell."

I looked back and forth between him and Railright, deciding whether or not I should comply. I didn't have a clue where that sudden burst of rage came from, to be honest. After a few seconds, I released the tension in my body. He was right. All it would do is get me in trouble, no matter how satisfying it would be.

"... I just came to pick up some stuff for Astral. I'll leave as soon as I'm done." I told them, a little upset I didn't get to beat Railright's face in. I gave one last glare towards Railright before turning back around and continuing on my way.

I really hated that guy.



Absolutely Everything was one of the best places to shop for several reasons. First, while it didn't literally have 'absolutely everything', it still had a lot to offer. Weapons, armor, food, ammo, and even junk. Second, The prices were great. Everything was affordable, no matter how valuable looking. The third and final reason, however, was the best one.

The owner was one of the nicest mares in the entire wasteland.

I entered the store and immediately spotted Ditzy Doo. One of her eyes looked in my direction and she beamed with joy. She happily waved to me and began writing on some note paper with a pencil. She held up the paper which read "Hi Bunny! Welcome!" It was a mystery to me how anyone could say anything bad about this pony. She's absolutely adorable! Who cares if her flesh is melted off?

Ditzy's aura of positivity quickly washed away all the anger I felt after my exchange with Railright.

"Hey, Ditzy! I just came to restock on ammo and repair kits, and to get some things for Astral." I said as I approached the counter. I then levitated the list of parts out of my saddlebag and showed them to Ditzy. She looked over the list then nodded, grabbing the requested items while I looked over what ammunition was available. Right now, all I was carrying was a 10mm pistol. In my locker back home, I had a Hunting Rifle that used .308 rounds, as well as a cleaver for close quarters and even a couple molotovs.

As I looked over the many different bullets, I thought about what Railright had said. If I didn't stop, I would be kicked out of town. Permanently. Considering I got most of my stuff from here, that would be a problem. Not just for me, but for Astral as well. While he was extremely smart, he wasn't that great in a combat situation. He wouldn't be able to go hunting for food like I can. If he got cut off from town, he would be cut off from his main source of food. I needed to do something about that.

After grabbing the amount I wanted, I returned to the counter to find Ditzy had already gathered the parts. She wrote down the total price on the note paper, which I gladly paid, throwing in the bloatsprite and radroach meat I gathered.

I packed everything into my saddlebags and was about to say goodbye when my ears perked at the sound of the front door opening. I turned to see who had just come in and, to my surprise, I saw that it was Calamity of all ponies who had entered. Considering I just told him I'd be in here, I'd have thought he would wait until I was done if he needed to buy something. I doubted he wanted to talk to me. He gave Ditzy a smile before looking at me.

"Bunny," He nodded.

"Calamity." I nodded, before walking past him.

He stopped me with his wing.

"We need t' talk."

... Okay, I guess he does want to talk to me.

"... What about?" I ask, slightly irritated. I just wanted to get back to the lab now.

He let out a sigh. "Do ya really need t' act that way 'round everypony? Especially Railright?" he asked, unnecessarily reminding me of our small bout a few minutes ago.

"You are aware most of the ponies in this town trade with slavers, right?"

"Trust me, ah'm aware, but that ain't no excuse t' go treatin' these people like dirt. Ah don't agree with what they're doin', but they're still ponies. Ditzy Doo ain't bad, ya at least know that. There are other ponies like her in town."

"Calamity, they're slavers. Y'know, the monsters who kidnap innocent ponies and kill the rest? Force said ponies to do back-breaking work until they die? The same monsters who cut out Ditzy Doo's tongue? Ringing any bells?"

"These folk ain't the same as slavers!"

"They give them what they need to survive! To keep hurting others! How are they any better than slavers!?"

I let out a sigh. I really didn't want to have this conversation right now.

"Look, I just wanna go home, so could you please move?" I ask. He looks reluctant to at first, but eventually stepped aside.

"Thank you." I began walking towards the exit before turning to look at Ditzy. She seemed a little upset, most likely because she just watched two of her friends argue with each other. I suddenly felt a little guilty.

"Thanks for the stuff, Ditzy." I say, throwing her a smile before finally leaving the store.

To my displeasure, Calamity followed me. It seemed the only reason he let me pass was so that we didn't have to have this conversation in front of Ditzy.

"Look, ah just want t' know why ya keep treatin' everypony like this."

"Didn't I already make it obvious?"

"Ya clearly have somethin' against slavers in general. Why's that?"

"Is 'they're really bad people' not a good enough reason?"

"The way ya talk about it, ya make it sound personal."

A memory flashes in my mind.

A memory of them.

A memory of her.

"... Don't worry about it." I finally answered. He gave me a look, I couldn't tell if it was one of questioning or concern. Either way, he finally stopped asking questions.

Eventually, we reached the gate and Calamity stopped me to tell me one last thing.

"Just think on it for me, will ya?" He said. I gave him a nod and left the town. I had barely done anything today, yet I was ready to go back to bed already.

Why do people have to be so complicated?



I arrived back at home, dropped off the parts with Astral, and climbed into my bunk. I don't know why I was suddenly so exhausted, maybe it was because of Railright being an asshole. Maybe it was because I had to listen to Calamity give me a lecture. Maybe it was because of the nightmare I had earlier. Or maybe it's because the walk back from New Appleloosa just felt longer than usual.

I don't know.

I took another look around the room before my eyes fell on the wall safe once again. It felt like it was taunting me. Telling me to open it and take the device inside. I wanted to get rid of it, but considering how valuable, useful, and rare it is, it would be stupid to do so.

It was also a grim reminder of my past, having been with me for the majority of it.

I turned away, closing my eyes and letting sleep take a hold of me.

I didn't need my dad's Pip-Buck.
> Chapter 2: Facing The Past
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


10 Years Ago

After the day I lost my left eye, I thought back to my dad's ramblings. The fact that I didn't understand a word he was saying gave me an idea. I would constantly hear him talking with other ponies upstairs and decided to try matching the sounds they made with the words in the books I attempted to read. Eventually, I was able to figure out words like "and", "it", and "the". There were other words they would say often that I was able to figure out, like "kill", "rape", and "enslave". Had I known what those words meant, they would have raised some red flags.

All of that wasn't enough to fully teach me, of course. But I soon found something that would do the trick. Eventually, I found a box in the closet filled with audio tapes as well as a stack of textbooks. I didn't know what the tapes were, how they worked, and had no method of listening to them. Not until I found the Pip-Buck, that is.

Dad usually left it sitting in a drawer in the kitchen. I'm not sure whether he stole it or not, but it helped me in the long run, that's for sure. Something about the device intrigued me when I found it. The screen was red, and there were a few different buttons and dials that I didn't understand. Written on it was "Pip-Buck 3000". I only figured out that you could wear it on your hoof because I remembered seeing dad wear it before.

Thanks to the usual trial and error, I eventually thought to try placing the audio tapes in a slot I accidentally opened while examining the peculiar device. By some miracle, those tapes were recorded preschool lessons from back before the megaspells were cast. I would later find out that apparently, the house we lived in used to belong to a school teacher before the war, which was extremely convenient for me. I was able to learn a lot more from the tapes, listening to them and following along with the textbooks. I kept the volume turned down late at night so dad wouldn't wake up.

It took a while, but I eventually learned how to read and talk, albeit only a little bit.

Eventually, two years had passed since my eye was branded. It was then the day arrived when I made an extremely stupid decision that may have saved my life.

I had wondered if there were any other books in the house. I enjoyed learning how to read, and wanted to find out more. This lead to me coming to a realization; What if there were more books in my dad's room? I wouldn't be able to explore his room during the day. I would have no way of knowing whether or not he'd left the house, and some days he would stay home all day.

So I decided to sneak in at night.

While he was sleeping.

In the same exact room.



Lightning flashed outside, followed by a crack of thunder. Rain poured down from the sky, pattering against the windows. It was rare for it to rain in the San Palomino, much less pour. I'd seen it occasionally, so I was aware rain existed. I was lucky that it hadn't been a thunderstorm the first time I saw rain, or else I'd have grown a fear of it.

This was the first time I had gone up to the second floor. I opened the door to his room only a crack and peeked inside. He was, thankfully, sound asleep, and snoring pretty loudly. I surveyed the room, trying to find out where he could be hiding any form of text. the only places they could be were the wardrobe, a trunk in the far corner of the room, and his dresser. Considering the dresser was right next to his bed, I decided to save it for last, not daring to wake the beast.

I quietly slipped inside and searched the wardrobe first, which held nothing. Next up was the trunk. Inside I found some weird cloak, a few bottlecaps, some uncooked meat, and the branding iron. I stared at the branding iron for a few seconds, thinking back to that day, before gaining the strength to look away. None of the other items meant anything to me, so I ignored them and closed the trunk.

I silently gulped as I turned to look at the dresser, sitting right next to the Stallion of the House. I was going to have to be very quiet. If he saw that I was no longer in the basement, I couldn't imagine what he would do. I slowly inched towards the dresser as I began to sweat. I held my breath once I reached the dresser, seeing that it had three drawers. I opened the top drawer as quietly as I could and looked inside.

There was a weirdly shaped metal object inside. I honestly had no clue what it was. it was shaped like an "L", but there was more to it than that. I didn't want to waste time looking at it, though, so I shut the drawer and moved on to the middle one.

Inside this drawer was something I did recognize, though its design was different. It looked like an object I found in the kitchen that was metal, sharp, and had a handle on the bottom. I remember almost cutting myself on the one in the kitchen while exploring one night. The one in the drawer seemed to have a different handle and jagged teeth carved into it. Once again not seeing any literature, I moved on to the final drawer.

Finally, after having searching the whole room, the final drawer contained something I could use. It wasn't a book, but it looked like a bunch of audio tapes. I assumed these ones belonged to dad. It hadn't been what I was looking for, but I didn't care. It was something, and I was just happy that this wasn't all for nothing. I grabbed one and almost slammed the drawer shut out of excitement before stopping myself and closing it quietly. A loud crack of thunder echoed from outside. I looked over at my dad, praying that hadn't woken him up.

He stirred a bit, but soon resumed his normal snoring. It took every fiber of my being not to sigh in relief. I quietly made my way out of the room, slowly closing the door behind me.



I went downstairs, grabbed the Pip-Buck, entered the living room, climbed onto the old couch, and examined the tape. The words "Broken Hope's Journal #32" were scribbled on it. I didn't know what those words meant, but I placed it into the Pip-buck and played it anyway.

What played was not one of the educational recordings I'd been listening to. It wasn't an audio recording at all. Instead, some text appeared on the screen. It seemed I had found something to read after all.

Journal Entry #32
9 months of waiting just for the final result to be failure. I didn't bother remembering her name, but that one mare I had Stain bring me finally popped a baby out. To think It's been so long since I showed her a good time. Obviously, she'd been crying her eyes out and begging to go home ever since, but that's to be expected. Still, the noise was pretty annoying, so I slit her throat as soon as the baby was out. I couldn't tell you how happy I was after so long to finally get that baby! At least I was, until I found out it was a colt.

9 months! 9 months we've been waiting for a girl and all we get is disappointment!? FUCK! We can't achieve are goal with a male! Now we've gotta wait at least 15 more years! Then after that, we gotta find a new young virgin all over again! Those aren't exactly common in the San Palomino! Especially since this is where New Pegasus is! Nothing but dirty hookers and bachelors here! This is gonna be so boring!!! Blood is gonna be pissed too, but nowhere near as pissed as I am right now! Anyways, I'll just chuck the kid into the ocean and be done with it.

Actually, scratch that. I've got a better idea. I think I'll keep the kid as a play thing for when I'm bored. It should make waiting more interesting.

I didn't really understand any of it at the time, and I still don't understand some of it now. I would understand the meaning and implications of one part when I got older, though. My dad raped my mother, kept her prisoner for 9 months, and as soon as she had me, he killed her. He considered killing me as well, but decided he could have some fun with me. As if he wasn't bad enough already.

There were still many questions though. Why did he have to wait 15 years? Why does it have to be a young virgin? Why did the baby have to be female? Who the hell is Blood? These questions would remain a mystery to me for several years.

My blood ran cold when I heard the sound of somepony coming downstairs, and it didn't take a genius to guess who it was. I leapt behind the couch and hid from view. My dad passed through the living room and headed into the kitchen, probably grabbing a late night snack. After a bit, he came back and stopped in the doorway, staring at something. I followed his gaze and my heart dropped when I saw what he was looking at.

I forgot to close the basement door.

He knew I had escaped.

"Well shit, kid! Looks like you finally grew a pair! And here I was thinking you didn't have it in you!" He called out to me as he stalked around, searching for me. He had a creepy smile on his face. This was a game to him. I knew I wouldn't be able to hide behind the couch forever. I just had to wait until I got a chance.

It was then I noticed a red dot in my vision. I'd realized whenever I put on the Pip-Buck, a bunch of things would pop up in front of me. There were two bars, one labeled "HP" and the other labeled "AP". Below the HP bar was a line that had the letters N,S,W, or E on it depending on what direction you face. It was on that line I saw the red dot. It seemed to be following my dad, but I didn't know what it meant.

"Gotta say, I'm proud of ya, kid! You finally stood up for yourself! Unfortunately, it isn't gonna do you any good." He continued, making his way back into the kitchen. He opened the drawer he normally kept the Pip-Buck in and froze when he saw it was empty. He checked a couple other drawers before he realized something and a smile crept back onto his face. He burst out into uncontrollable laughter.

"Ha ha HA! Ho-lee-shit! Kid, you are either secretly clever or getting by on dumb luck, and I love it! I actually have to try now! Ha! Thanks for making this fun!" He yelled out. He came back into the living room and went straight for the stairs, heading up to his room. I took the chance to move behind an armchair that was closer to the stairs but kept me more out of sight.

Dad came back down, levitating the sharp, metal thing with jagged teeth.

"Don't worry, kid, I didn't leave you alone. Just had to grab my knife!" He said casually before resuming his search. I watched as he crept over to the couch and peeked behind it, a little disappointed when he found nothing. I waited until his back was turned before sneaking into the kitchen and crawled into one of the cupboards to hide. I looked around the inside of the cupboard and found a frying pan, which I held in my mouth, ready to swing. I shut the cupboard door and was greeted with darkness.

I wasn't able to tell where he was from inside the cupboard, I couldn't even hear him. All I could hear was the roaring of the thunder from outside. My hooves were shaking and sweat rolled down my forehead as I waited for something, anything to happen.

...

"BOO!!!"

Dad threw the cupboard door open and I screamed, swinging the frying pan into his face and knocking him back. I booked it, trying to get as much distance as I could while running on pure adrenaline. I was stopped in my tracks, however, when a sharp pain surged through my hind leg and I let out a painful scream. Tears began to form and I turned to see dad's knife sticking out of my leg, blood leaking from the wound. Although he was still stunned on the floor, he had managed to throw the knife straight into my hind leg.

I pulled the knife out with my magic, screaming in agony as I did so. Tears ran down my face, but I pushed through the pain and limped over to the stairs. I didn't know where I was planning to go. I just knew I had to find something better than a frying pan to defend myself.

"Damn! Heh, I'm certainly gonna feel that one tomorrow! I think you left a nasty bruise!" I could hear him recovering downstairs. I wasn't sure if he saw me go upstairs, but I wasn't going to wait and find out. I looked around and realized that in my blind panic, I had run into dad's room. I immediately began searching for a weapon. I thought about the branding iron, but knew it wouldn't be good enough to stop him. I then recalled the weirdly shaped metal thing in the top drawer of the dresser and ran to it. If there was a chance I could use that against him, I'd take it.

I held it with my magic and got a better look at it, feeling just how heavy it was. I noticed it had a couple of small levers on it, as well as a small hole on one end of the object. while looking at it from what I believed was the side, I pulled one of the levers.

*BANG!*

The sound was loud enough to make my ears ring. I ended up dropping the object and pressing my hooves against my ears. I looked to see that after I triggered the object, it had broken one of the windows in the room. I took note that the hole in the object had been pointed in the direction of the window when I pulled the lever. The ringing quickly cleared from my hearing and I could hear dad's voice again.

"-reful not to shoot yourself! I wouldn't want you to die without getting the chance to kill you myself!" His voice came from right outside, and I could hear his hoofsteps approaching the door. I scrambled under the bed, pulling the metal object with me. The door slammed open and I watched him enter the room. I could only see his hooves, but I could tell he had a grin plastered on his face. He took his time looking around the room. He seemed to be searching halfheartedly before slowly turning towards the bed. Then I noticed the trail of blood I left behind from the wound in my leg.

He knew where I was the whole time.

He just wanted to mess with me.

He inched towards the bed and I readied the object. He stopped at the bed and just stood there for a few seconds before crouching down.

"Peek-a-boo!"

*BANG!*



His body lay on the floor, motionless.

I didn't know what to do. I didn't know what to think. I didn't even know if he was truly dead.

Only one thought raced through my mind.

Run.

With the Pip-Buck still on my hoof, I grabbed the metal object with my magic and did just that. I ran downstairs and out the front door, out into the pouring rain. I was letting fear drive me. I had no idea what direction I ran and for how long I was running. I just kept going, hoping he wasn't after me.

After a while, I ran out of breath and had to stop. I was completely out of energy. I flopped onto the ground and looked down at the wound in my hind leg. A lot of blood had poured out of it now, and my vision was starting to get blurry. I laid on the ground, too tired to get up. I just wanted to sleep. My one good eyelid began to feel heavy.

I could barely see a radhog crawling towards me. I wanted to run, to scream, to do something, but I was too exhausted to do anything. Before it reached me, I heard a loud bang, similar to the one the metal object made, and the radhog's head exploded. A blurry silhouette came into view and kneeled down next to me. The stranger pressed the back of their hoof against my head as I struggled to keep my eye open.

"Shit, you're burnin' up. Don't you worry, I'll getcha somewhere safe." That was the last thing I heard before I finally passed out.




Present Day

"EUREKA!!"

*CLANG!*

Astral's ecstatic yelling from the other room woke me from my slumber, causing me to hit my head on the top bunk once again. I lay back down and sigh. For some reason, my mind thought back to what Calamity had said to me yesterday.

"These folk ain't the same as slavers!"

I knew he was right. That's why I didn't want to listen to him. I just didn't want to be wrong. I thought that if the ponies of New Appleloosa were truly better than slavers, they would stand up to them rather than trade with them. That's just what I kept telling myself, though. They don't trade with slavers out of greed or selfishness. They only trade with them because they don't have any other choice. They weren't like me and Calamity. They couldn't defend themselves from slavers like we could. In fact, the protection they got from the slavers was one of the only things keeping the town from being raided.

Was it immoral? Yes. But they weren't strong enough to do the right thing. Railright was just looking after his town. He wasn't asked to protect the entire wasteland. They were just as helpless as the ponies I claimed they were hurting by helping the slavers.

And here I was, taking dumps on their doorstep on a regular basis.

Nice job, me. You still managed to hold on to the title of "Biggest Asshole".

I stared up at the ceiling, and by that I mean the bunk only 10 inches away from my face. I couldn't keep doing this. I couldn't keep starting a new life, screwing everything up, then running away and doing it all over again. I needed to find a place, settle down, and forget everything. New Appleloosa could be that place if I just learn to grow up and stop being such a douche.

I climbed out of bed, now dead set on cleaning up my act. My heart dropped, however, when I realized I would have to start with apologizing.

I wasn't great when it came to people, or socializing in general for that matter. Sure, there were exceptions like Astral, Ditzy, and Calamity, but I've known them for a while now. I honestly had no clue how I was going to put my thoughts into words when I talked to Railright. Where would I start? Would he even be willing to listen?

My thoughts were halted when I heard more noises coming from Astral's lab. It came back to me that the reason I woke up was because he had been yelling about something. Curiosity got the better of me and I decided to put my apology on hold while I figured out what Astral was up to now. I entered the lab to find him working on something, as usual.

"... And... there!" Astral was hunched over a table, tinkering with that sphere he showed me yesterday. He quickly noticed my appearance.

"Ah, Bunny! Good to see you again! Take a look! I've just about finished it!" He wrapped a wing around me and pulled me towards the device. It looked the same as it did yesterday, except now there were a couple of pilot lights and a small satellite dish sticking out of it.

"What did you call this thing again? The A.M.W.D? What does it do?"

"Well, that's a secret, of course!"

"... Can you at least tell me what it stands for?"

"That would give away what it does!"

"..."

I couldn't help but chuckle. Astral's inventions ranged from mind-blowingly advanced to simply mundane, yet he always had the same amount of enthusiasm no matter what. One time, he was super invested in a project, claiming it was going to be big. It ended up being a radio that doubled as a coffee machine. It was impressive, but not exactly revolutionary. Unfortunately, we didn't have anything to make coffee, so it was pretty much just an oversized radio. Still, he was really proud of it, and I felt proud of him for it too.

For all I knew, this latest project could just be a really complex toaster.

"... Wait, you said you 'just about finished it'. Is it not done?" I ask.

"Unfortunately, no. There is one piece that I'm missing." He pointed to a small slot on the side of the machine. "What I need is an incredibly valuable, military-grade computer chip with an advanced AI targeting system that will help guide the satellite." He explained, and I understood... most of what he said. I didn't know what an "AI" was.

"'Now Astral,' I here you asking, 'How could something so small be as amazing as that?' Well, I'm glad you asked, Bunny! This great computer chip happens to be none other than... The McGuffin!" He finished dramatically. I waited for him to start laughing and tell me he was joking. There was no way somepony decided to name a high tech computer chip something as ridiculous as The McGuffin.

He didn't laugh.

I stared at him in disbelief.

"... Wait... You're serious? Somepony actually gave it a name like that!?" I asked, barely able to contain my laughter.

"It's true! Trust me, The McGuffin is something to marvel at! So much data packed into such a small thing! Isn't it amazing!?"

"I'll *snrk* take your word for it." I chuckled.

"Oh, you don't have to! You can see it for yourself! I actually need you to collect it for me. I'm afraid it's located a bit of a distance from here. I'm not sure exactly where, unfortunately. All I know is that it's somewhere in the San Palomino Desert."

Any laughter I felt inside me died away as soon as I heard that name.

The San Palomino Desert.

Why'd it have to be there of all places?

"Astral... are you absolutely sure it's there?" I asked, praying that he made a mistake.

"I'm... afraid it is." He said, his tone much more serious, which was abnormal for him.

"Now I know you hoped to never have to go back there, but..." He sighed before continuing. "This creation could help all of Equestria. While I am keeping the A.W.M.D's function a secret, I wouldn't be asking you to do this if it wasn't important."

I was deep in thought. I wanted nothing more than to avoid that place. But if what Astral said was true...

"Trust me, Bunny. This is my biggest project yet. I promise you it will be worth it."

... Fuck it.

All I'd have to do is find the chip and leave. Nothing else. Like Astral said, whatever this is could help people. He could just be saying that so I'd go without fuss, but I've known him long enough to trust that he wouldn't.

How hard could it be?

"... ok. I'll do it." I finally gave my answer. He placed a hoof on my shoulder.

"Thank you. You won't regret this, I promise." He reassured me.



Coming up with a way to apologize to Railright took a bit, but I eventually came up with something. A few hours later, I was strolling into New Appleloosa carrying a large sack on my back. Since I was going to be gone for a bit, I figured I should just get it out of the way. It wasn't long before I ran into Calamity again.

"What's that ya got there?" He pointed to the sack.

"It's for Railright." I stated simply. He raised an eyebrow.

"Look, I thought about it, and I decided to take your advice." I explained. I couldn't blame him for being skeptical, though. The local delinquent and troublemaker comes into town carrying a mystery sack and wants to see the town's leader? That's raising some red flags. Thankfully he smirked, believing me.

"Follow me, ah'll take ya to 'im." He said, taking the lead. Eventually we ended up at the train they would use to deliver stuff to the slavers in Old Appleloosa. I saw Railright talking with a pony wearing a conductor's hat. The two of them noticed us approaching and grew tense when they saw me.

"Afternoon, Bunny. What's in the sack?" Railright asked with caution, probably expecting me to open the bag and release a bunch of bloatsprites on the town. If he was, he was only partially right.

"Peace offering." I said, then opened the sack to reveal a bunch of meat. I'd spent the past few hours hunting whatever I could find and came up with a good haul. There was bloatsprite meat in there somewhere, but I didn't know which was which. I just kept shoving whatever meat I gathered into the sack.

"You can use this however you want." I gave him the sack, both him and the conductor staring at it with wide eyes. They must've been shocked that I of all ponies was willing to just hoof over so much food for free. I was just as shocked as them, to be honest.

"... I'm gonna go now." I said, turning to leave and glad that this was over before Calamity stopped me.

"Ya call that an apology?" He chuckled. I sighed and turned around. I needed to do this.

"I did some thinking and... I guess I'll stop being such a dick to everypony. If you'd be willing to forgive me, that is." I saw Calamity give me a look from beside me. I know that was half-assed, but it was the best apology I could come up with.

"... What brought about this sudden change o' heart?" Railright asked, the tension beginning to leave him, but not completely. 

"Calamity talked to me about it, so I figured I should take his advice." I explained.

"... Well, it might be a while 'fore ponies start tryin' t' welcome you, but if you're serious 'bout this... I'm willing t' give ya a second chance, so long as ya behave." Railright said.

"You won't have to worry about me for a while, at least. I'll be headed for the San Palomino soon. Astral needs me to find something for him there." I reassured him.

"The San Palomino?" I nodded and Railright seemed to think about something. "The caravans are headed up that way tomorrow. They could use an extra guard, if your willin'. I'd say it's a good first step into earnin' back some trust." He suggested.

"That... would be pretty helpful, actually. Thanks." We gave each other one final nod and parted ways. That went better than I expected.

"See? That wasn't so hard." Calamity smiled at me. I rolled my eyes as he flew away to take care of his own business. I left the town and headed straight home. Looks like I wouldn't be traveling alone now.

All that was left was to pack.



I double checked everything I had put into my saddlebags. My 10mm pistol, hunting rifle, cleaver, molotovs, canteen, a few healing potions, Rad-away, some food, a couple books, and 73 bottlecaps. I'd used most of my money at Absolutely Everything, so now I was gonna need to find some work when I got to the desert. I was also going to need better weapons... and to find some armor. The more I thought about it, the more I realized I was really underequipped for this.

My eye drifted to the wall safe again. I didn't even want to look at it, but I couldn't deny it would be incredibly useful. With a bit of hesitation, I opened the wall safe and grimaced as I looked at the Pip-Buck inside. I levitated it out, placed it on my left hoof, and turned it on, the screen glowing red. The device began booting up as my E.F.S (Eyes Forward Sparkle) popped up in front of me, showing my health, stamina, and compass.

I flipped through the many tabs, refamiliarizing myself with the device's functions. It kept track of my current status, organized my inventory, had a map of my current location, and detected some familiar radio signals. DJ Pon3's station was one of them, and the other played the music you usually here coming from the sprite bots. No one ever listens to the latter.

The one tab that stuck out to me, however, was one labeled "Quests". This was a function that seemed to be unique to my Pip-Buck. I remember it would keep track of whatever job, favor, chore, or other tasks I was doing. If the task was something small, it was listed under "Miscellaneous". For quests that were much bigger, longer, and more important, the Pip-Buck came up with a name for them. It would always be a snappy title or song name that related to the quest. A good example would be the quest it said I was currently in the middle of.

The Great and Powerful Plot Device
- Find clues to track down The McGuffin

I never knew how it managed to create the quests without me manually adding it in, yet it still did. There was also the fact that while wearing it, I could carry more stuff than my saddlebags could hold, though it did still have a certain weight limit. The Pip-Buck just seemed to defy reality. If it was a spell that they used, I'd never heard of any kind that was capable of doing something like this. I realized trying to figure out how Stable-Tec built it would just drive you insane, so I learned to just accept it for what it is.

For most quests, it would put a marker on my compass to tell me where I needed to go, so I would blindly follow wherever it pointed, do what I needed to do, then follow the next marker. Sometimes though, what I had to do was pretty vague and it wouldn't tell me where to go. In these cases, I would have to search and figure out the next step myself. The quest I currently had did not have a marker, which was annoying. The San Palomino was a pretty big place. Who knows how long it would take for me to find a single clue?

I sighed as I turned off the device. Just staring at it made me think of that night. Still, I knew I was going to need it, whether I wanted it or not. I looked back into the safe, one more item still inside it. A text log with the words "Broken Hope's Journal #32" written on it. I closed the wall safe, ignoring it. I'd read it enough times to have the contents memorized.

With nothing better to do until tomorrow, I grabbed a book from my saddlebag, crawled into bed, and read until I fell asleep.

Why do I get the feeling I'm not going to enjoy this trip?
> Chapter 3: Friends, New and Old
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


9 Years Ago

The pony that saved me was an earth pony named Crimson Rock. As the name implied, he was a crimson red pony, and a very strong one at that. He was slightly taller than your average buck and had plenty of muscle. His mane was an even darker shade of red and tied back into a man bun. He was in his early thirties when we first met.

He had taken me to a ranch he said he worked at. The ranch itself was no different from any other ranch, other than being 200 years old. There was a two story house, a large barn, and a couple pens with plenty of space for its occupants. One pen held Brahmin while the other held radhogs. Unlike the one that tried to eat me, these radhogs appeared to be domesticated. This had been my first time seeing a ranch, so I was pretty mesmerized when I saw it in its entirety.

Crimson took me to the owner of the ranch, Haybale. He was a bluish grey earth pony in his mid forties. His mane was a jet black comb over and he had a short, boxed beard. While not as burly looking as Crimson, Haybale still had some muscle on him. He was also very kind and generous, giving everyone on the ranch a home when they had nowhere else to go. Because of this, he was the most respected pony on the ranch.

Haybale found the journal entry I had in my Pip-Buck and soon realized I could barely read or speak. He figured out what my situation was and let me stay at the ranch. Not only did he teach me how to read better and speak fluent sentences, but he even taught me the basic history of the Great War and why Equestria was the way it was now. He was a better father than my actual one.

During my stay, I got to know the different residents of the ranch.

First up is the pony who saved me, Crimson Rock. He came to the San Palomino specifically for gambling in New Pegasus, hoping to earn some easy money. He ended up losing every last cap he had and left the city broke and washed up. He stumbled upon Haybale's ranch while just wandering and Haybale offered him a place to stay. Crimson saw it as fate giving him a second chance at life and gladly took his offer. He's been helping around the ranch ever since.

Crimson had been out hunting when he found me. He figured it was a good way to earn some extra money for the ranch, so he'd been doing it for a while by that point. He taught me what a gun is and how to use it. In fact, it was thanks to him that I eventually found my cutie mark!

Next is Crutch. I don't think that was his real name, but it's what he went by. He was a ghoul pony that lived before the war. Some ghoul haters busted up his right hoof pretty badly, so now he has to wear a metal brace around it in order to walk, hence his name. Crutch wasn't able to do much around the ranch due to his busted leg, but Haybale let him stay as long as he wanted, even if he didn't work at all. Crutch was surprised by Haybale's kindness and felt he owed a debt to him. Because of that, he still tries to pitch in and do what he can as thanks.

I remember seeing Crutch for the first time. I hadn't seen a ghoul before, so I'm ashamed to admit I was a little scared by his presence at first. I quickly learned he was friendly, though. Apparently, he'd been a doctor before the war, so he patched my leg up with ease. He also taught me some things about basic first aid.

After Crutch is Nazira. Believe it or not, she was a zebra, which was pretty rare in Equestria. She was covered in the usual black and white stripes that all zebras have. She told me she was from a zebra town called Glyphmark, though from how she described it, it was generous to even call it a town.

Glyphmark was founded by the children of a zebra tribe after the adults had been taken away by slavers. Nazira had to leave because she had become to old to stay. Since adults were the reason their tribe had been attacked, they banish any zebras once they've reached adulthood. She ended up traveling a long way before ending up at Haybale's ranch. Just like everyone else, he let her stay, free of charge.

I didn't even know she was a different species the first time I saw her. Sure, she had stripes and a different tail, but other than that, she looked like any other pony. When I met her, she was in her mid twenties. She taught me how to cook.

Finally, there was Raindrop. She was a unicorn like myself, and was even the same age as me. She had a sky blue coat and beautiful green eyes. Her midnight blue mane was styled into a wavy bob. She had a blue flame for her cutie mark, specializing in fire-based magic. It was quite a unique talent, and pretty ironic, given her name. She was proud of it, nonetheless.

Raindrop was the first to end up at Haybale's ranch. Her mother left her with Haybale when she was just a baby. Apparently, she knew Haybale and trusted him enough to take care of her. He raised her as if she was his own, and soon she began seeing him as her father.

Raindrop and I became best friends. Fun fact, she's the one who gave me my name. It happened about a month after I arrived.



We were in the dining room of the house. Haybale was helping me get better with my reading skills as we read a passage from a book together. Raindrop had dropped in partway through, having finished her chores, and was looking for something to do. She was the adventurous type, always exploring and going places she shouldn't. Her itch for adventure would only grow the older she got, and a lot of it would rub off on me.

"You know, kid, you're a pretty swift learner!" Haybale said, impressed at how well I was doing. I gave him a smile to show I appreciated it. I may have been learning quick, but I still had a long way to go.

"Hey, don't you think we should call him something else other than 'kid'?" Raindrop chimed in.

"Hmm... you've got a point. We will need to give you a name." He agreed, turning to me. "What do you want your name to be?" He phrased it as simply as he could so that I could understand. I didn't really know any names, so I couldn't really pick one.

"How about Bunny?" Raindrop suggested.

"... Bunny?" Haybale looked at her like she just said something crazy. to be fair, she did.

"Yeah! I've only seen pictures and paintings and stuff, but I think they're pretty cute!" She pointed at me. "Plus, it matches that 'B' on your eye!" Most ponies would have thought she was taking a jab at my scar, but I could tell she didn't mean it that way. I thought about the name for a few seconds.

"Bunny..." I repeated the name out loud. I liked it. I gave them a smile and nodded, confirming my approval. Haybale chuckled.

"Alright then... Bunny it is." He said with a smile. I could barely contain my excitement.

I finally had a name.



Soon, a full year had passed since I had been brought to the ranch. I could finally understand others clearly, minus a few of the more advanced or adult words. Remember what I said about Raindrop being adventurous? Well, one day, she wanted to take me with her somewhere away from the ranch. She said I didn't have to worry and that she had Haybale's permission, so I followed. She hadn't specified that only she had permission to go there, not me.

She brought me to a large, room-sized cave that was a fifteen minute walk from the ranch. The entrance was blocked by a couple of large rocks, but there was enough space to crawl under them. Apparently, she had turned it into her own little hideout. She even brought her own stuff to make it more homey.

Near the entrance was a sign that read "The Cave of Awesomeness!". Towards the back, there was a makeshift shooting range with tin cans for targets. She would use it to practice her magic, and later on, I would use it to practice my shooting. There was a stack of books and magazines off to the side as well as a mattress she got from... somewhere. Next to that was a trunk I would later find out contained toy swords and paper helmets, among other props she would play with. Finally, a lantern sat in the center, illuminating the cave. She plopped herself down on the mattress and showed off her little hideaway with a wave of her hoof.

"Make yourself at home!" She welcomed me. I looked around, astonished. It may not have been much, but I thought it was impressive. I then spotted a few big splotches of paint on one side of the cave. I gave Raindrop a questioning look.

"Oh, that. I thought if I gave it some color, it would spruce the place up a bit. Then I got bored. Plus, the walls aren't smooth enough to paint on. Instead, I got that!" She pointed to a painting leaning up against the wall on the opposite side. The painting was of a bunny. "That's what gave me the idea for your name a while back!"

I looked at the painting closely. So this is what a bunny looked like. I had never heard of one before Raindrop gave me my name. I had just assumed it was a normal name. That didn't make me like it any less, though.

"If you want, you can come here to relax. I figured since we're friends, and we've known each other for a while now, I could share this place with you!" She smiled at me.

"Really?" I asked, full of hope. She stood in front of me and cleared her throat.

"I, Princess Raindrop, hereby grant you, Sir Bunny, free passage into the Cave of Awesomeness!" She said, trying to make her voice sound more epic. I didn't understand a word she said, but the way she talked sounded funny, so I giggled.

"Raindrop? Are you in there?" We heard the voice of Nazira coming from outside the cave.

"Yeah, I'm in here!" Raindrop called out to her.

"We are looking for Bunny. Have you seen him?"

"He's right here with me!" We could hear Nazira let out a sigh. I was probably going to get a lecture when we got back.

"Come, children. Supper is ready." She said.

"Be right there! Come on, let's go eat! Don't worry, if dad gets upset, I'll cover for you!" Raindrop told me before crawling back out of the cave. I smiled and crawled through after her.

It felt nice having friends.




Present Day

"Hey, time to wake up."

I stirred from my slumber.

"... h-huh?" I mumbled.

"Your hour's up. time to get off." The brahmin said.

It had been a few days since I started travelling to New Pegasus with the caravan. The group was made up of the trader in charge of it, two guards, one a mare, the other a stallion, and a single brahmin carrying the trader's goods. Only one of the brahmin's heads was sentient. The other was pretty much brain dead.

I managed to convince the brahmin to let me take a nap on its back for an hour. It was a lot harder to do than you would expect, but I pulled it off.

"Five more minutes? Please?" I moaned.

"You asked that five minutes ago." It answered. Thinking about it, I realized I did indeed ask for an extra five minutes already. With a yawn, I rolled off its back. As soon as I was back on my hooves, I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and kept up with the caravan.

"Oh, better watch out, you two! This guy's so good at bein' a guard, he might jus' take your jobs!" The trader joked, getting some chuckles from the guards and the brahmin. I couldn't help but chuckle myself. I was fine with being the butt of a joke as long as it wasn't too insulting. I wasn't exactly priding myself on my skills as a caravan guard.

I looked down at my Pip-Buck, checking the clock to see it was almost late morning. I checked the map to see how much farther we had to go, and we were actually pretty close to crossing the border into the desert. There was supposed to be a rest stop sitting just inside the border. Should be less than an hour before we arrived, then the caravan and I would part ways. Having finished checking the map, I inspected the new feature that Astral had added to my Pip-Buck.

I had been on my way out the door when Astral noticed the Pip-Buck on my hoof. The joy and excitement he felt thinking about the opportunities for improvement was immeasurable. He practically begged me to let him make some modifications to it. To prevent him from ripping the Pip-Buck and my hoof off, I let him do what he wanted. After he was done, my Pip-Buck had a brand new microphone, speaker, and extendable antenna attached to it.

According to Astral, he basically added a walkie-talkie function. With it, I should be able to contact him. I could also contact others, if I came across any other communication frequencies. I doubted I would though, since I planned on finding The McGuffin and leaving as soon as possible. No getting sidetracked.

"So, you said you were headed to the San Palomino to find something, right? For that scientist pony?" The mare guard decided to make some conversation.

"Yup." Unfortunately, I was terrible at small talk.

"What was his name again? Asteroid something?"

"Astral Spark."

"That's the one! It's quite rare to see somepony as smart as that in the wasteland. There are even ponies out here who still don't know how to read! It's a miracle he learned how to invent stuff at the drop of a hat!"

"Yup." While Astral was well known for being the hermit mad scientist, no one actually knew he was a Dashite or that he learned everything he knew above the clouds, with me being the exception. He wanted to keep it secret, saying that it would draw unwanted attention. I wasn't sure why he thought that, since everyone knew Calamity was a Dashite, and he was fine.

The conversation dwindled after that and we walked in silence for about a minute before she asked another question.

"Hope you don't mind me asking, but... how exactly did... that happen?" She pointed a hoof at my scar, wincing as if she could tell how painful it must have been. "I mean, you don't have to say, if you aren't comfortable, but I couldn't help but be curious."

Now, in case it wasn't obvious already, I definitely did not want to talk about it. Still, not saying anything would just make her more curious or even concerned. Luckily, I had planned for just such an occasion. Instead of staying quiet, I concocted a brilliant, well constructed and highly detailed lie that would most certainly convince anyone who heard it that it was the truth.

"Tripped and fell on a branding iron." I said plainly. Everyone was silent.

...

"... Really?" The other guard spoke up, actually sounding like he believed it.

"Of course that's not what happened!" The mare said to him. She then apologized to me for bringing it up and I told her it was fine. I checked my map again.

Soon, we would be in my old stomping grounds.



My Pip-Buck marked it as "The Caravanner's Rest Stop". It had a few tents set up along the road, each one belonging to a different vendor. One vendor sold weapons, another sold barding, so on and so forth. There was even one that sold nothing but junk. The caravan I traveled with wasn't the only caravan there, either. It seemed like this rest stop had rightly earned its name. I didn't really have the money to buy anything right now, so I just said my goodbyes to the caravan and went on my way.

I trotted along the road, the asphalt having cracked and faded long ago. Looking out across the desert, I felt a sense of familiarity, which was no surprise. I'd lived here almost my whole life. I couldn't say I was happy about it, though. I didn't want it to feel familiar. I wanted to forget that this place had ever held a part of me. I needed to find The McGuffin asap, then get the hell out of here.

I will find The McGuffin posthaste! I shall let nothing stand in my way! I shall be victorious in my quest! It is time for Sir Bunny's journey to begin!

...

... Where the hell do I begin?

I had zero leads. I wasn't even sure where to start looking for leads. I looked down at my Pip-Buck and flipped over to the Quests tab, hoping maybe something changed now that I arrived in the San Palomino.

The Great and Powerful Plot Device
- Find clues to track down The McGuffin

Still no marker.

"Oh come on! You can't even give me a little hint!? Give me something, dammit!" I yelled at the Pip-Buck as if it were alive. I sigh as I begin to try and think of places I could go to start looking for clues.

... Okay, maybe I could try New Pegasus? It's a whole city, I'm bound to find something there. It's pretty far from where I'm at, though. It might take me a while to-

"Are you lost?"

"AAH!!!"

Someone let out a rather girly scream, definitely wasn't me, and I instinctively drew my pistol and aimed it in the direction of the voice. I was expecting to turn around and see a pony, a ghoul, or maybe even a griffon. I was not expecting to turn around and see a sprite bot of all things. Last time I checked, those things don't talk. Normally I would have ignored it and assumed the stranger behind the voice was hiding somewhere else, but there wasn't really anywhere to hide. Well, there was a rock a few feet away, but it was in the opposite direction of the voice.

"... W-... Was that you?" I asked the sprite bot, thinking I'd finally gone crazy. No response.

"Great. Now I'm hearing voices in my head. Guess I've finally gone off the deep end."

"Oh! N-No that was me! Sorry, it's just when I saw you from behind, I didn't expect the..." He fell silent again.

"... The eye?" I pointed to my bad eye.

"Yeah, that. It's a pretty nasty scar you've got there."

"Yeah, it sure is. Now, if you don't mind... HOW THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING TO ME!? SINCE WHEN DID SPRITE BOTS BECOME SCENTIENT!?" I yelled, demanding answers. Now I know it might seem like I'm overreacting a bit, but if robots were finally becoming self aware and were planning to take over the world, I needed to know. The sprite bot just laughed.

"Oh, no, I'm not the sprite bot. I'm just controlling it from somewhere else. I learned how to hack into these things."

"Oh... that makes more sense... but I still have questions!"

The biggest question being who the hell is spying on me?

"Who are you?" I rephrased the question on my mind.

"You can call me Watcher. I noticed you have a Pip-Buck. Are you from a Stable by chance?" 'Watcher' asked.

"Huh? Oh, no. I got this this from my father. He might have come from a Stable, but knowing him, it's more likely he stole it or killed someone for it."

"Sounds like you don't like him very much."

Shit. Why did I let that slip?

"Don't worry about it. What do you want, anyway? I doubt you stopped to talk to me just for the hell of it."

"Well, you looked like you could use a bit of advice."

Well, he's not wrong. I suppose I do need to start somewhere, and this is as good a place as any.

"Yeah, actually. Does The McGuffin mean anything to you? I'm looking for it. It's supposed to be some kind of military computer chip, or so I was told." Watcher was silent, so I guessed he was thinking about it.

"... That name does sound familiar. I'm afraid I wouldn't know where to look, though. Sorry."

Yeah, figured I wouldn't be that lucky right out of the gate.

"That's not the kind of advice I was talking about, though." He said, regaining my attention. "You're off to a good start. You already have a weapon. You're going to need more than that to survive, though."

"...Hold on, are you giving me wasteland survival tips? Buddy, I've been doing this for a long time. I've got more weapons than just one pistol. Trust me, I know what I'm doing." I cut him off.

"... Is that so? It looks to me like you're missing a few things."

"Oh really? Then please, enlighten me." I said with a cocky smirk I would quickly regret making.

"You don't have any armor or barding-"

"I was planning to get some." I interjected.

"... You have no guidance, wandering around without a clear objective-"

"Well that's not my fault." I interjected again.

"... And you have no friends."

"Hey, I have friends!" I corrected him.

"Where are they, then?"

"Back home. I'm just on a job, that's all." I said matter of factly. Watcher just sighed.

"When I said friends, I meant you need someone to watch your back." He clarified.

... An extra pair of eyes would be nice-

I shook the thought out of my head. I didn't have time for distractions. Besides, people were complicated. They'd just slow me down. So what if I was short a couple of fundamental things? I'd been through worse.

"Look, I appreciate you trying to help me, but I'm busy. Why don't you go bug someone else?" I said as I turned to leave.

"Wait! You need to find that McGuffin thing, right? I know where you can start looking." He called out to me.

I stopped in my tracks.

"... You just said you didn't know where to look."

"That's right, I don't. But I do know where you could find some clues to help get you started." He specified.

I thought about it for a second. For some reason, my instincts told me he was up to something, but I couldn't tell what.

"... I'm listening." I said, turning back around. Instincts or no, I was desperate for something to go on.

"You said it was military, right? Not far from here, there's an old Ironshod Firearms factory. It might be worth taking a look."

"Ironshod Firearms? Didn't they used to make guns or something? What would they have to do with a computer chip?" I asked.

"They had connections to the Ministry of Technology. You never know, you might just find something."

I'd heard of the different ministries before. It was pretty hard to travel the wasteland and not run into some of their propaganda. I didn't know much about them though, other than they had been important and supported the war effort. Assuming the Ministry of Technology was actually involved with technology as advertised, they most likely would have something to do with The McGuffin.

"Here, I'll mark it on your map." I checked my map and sure enough, Watcher somehow placed a custom marker on my Pip-Buck's map. I didn't bother questioning how. The device was weird enough as it was. Unfortunately, according to the marker, the factory was in the opposite direction of New Pegasus. If I didn't find anything in the factory, the city was going to be my next stop. If I turned up empty, I would be doing a lot more walking than necessary.

"Ok, I'll check it out." I decided to take the risk. Like I said, I was desperate.

"Alright then... Oh! Time's almost up. Good luck with your search." After he said that, the sound of static came from the sprite bot before it began playing that awful music you normally hear coming from them. It flew away in a random direction, mindlessly drifting. Guess that meant our conversation was over. I began trotting down the road in the direction of the marker.

I couldn't shake the feeling that Watcher was hiding something from me.



A few minutes of walking later, a thought occurred to me. I was going to need to know more about the Ministry of Technology. If they had some involvement with The McGuffin, then learning what role they played could help lead me to it.

Astral had lived above the clouds, so he might have been taught about the different ministries. I decided to contact him on the Pip-Buck. He did want me to test out the new function at some point, anyway. I extended the antenna and spoke into the microphone.

"Astral, you there? Astral?"

"Bunny? Is that you?" Astral's voice came from the speaker.

"Yeah, it's me. I need to-"

"YES! I KNEW IT WOULD WORK! MY INTELLECT KNOWS NO BOUNDS!!!" He boomed.

"...Uh, Astral-?"

"NONE CAN SURPASS ME! ALL FALL BEFORE THE MIGHTY GENIUS OF-!"

"Astral, I need your help." I interrupted his rant. It actually wasn't uncommon for Astral to go off the rails like that whenever success was achieved. Like I said, mad scientist.

"Oh!" He cleared his throat. "Yes, how can I help you?"

"Does the Ministry of Technology have anything to do with The McGuffin?" I asked.

"Why, yes, of course! They were responsible for developing it!"

That certainly narrows it down.

"What can you tell me about them?" I pressed further.

"Oh, plenty! The Ministry of Wartime Technology, or MWT for short, were in charge of overseeing and manufacturing all weapons and technology that would be used in the fight against the zebras. In fact, they were the ones who invented Power Armor and established the Steel Rangers!"

"Wait, seriously!? They're the reason we have to deal with those tin can assholes!?" I was actually pretty shocked to hear that.

"The Steel Rangers were originally supposed to protect ponies, but after seeing what they're like now, they seemed to have lost their way at some point."

I thought about what Astral told me. Knowing the MWT created The McGuffin made my search way easier. All I would have to do now is search every MWT related facility until I found The McGuffin. Should be simple, right?

"Come to think of it, you don't know anything about the other ministries either, do you? Want a quick history lesson?" He offered. It would be nice to know about them. Even if I never use it, the more intel I had, the better. Besides, it would keep me occupied.

"Suppose it couldn't hurt." I answer.



Astral spent the next while explaining the different ministries to me. Basically, the Ministry of Arcane Sciences studied modern magic, the Ministry of Image controlled propaganda and public information, the Ministry of Morale kept the public's spirits high, the Ministry of Peace created and practiced medicine, and the Ministry of Awesome... existed. They didn't really do much, according to Astral.

After he finished his explanation, Astral and I cut the connection. It was about then I came across a three-way intersection. Straight ahead of me was the direction I needed to keep going to reach the factory. On the right, however, was a dirt road that lead to what looked like a small settlement. It looked like a neighborhood, with several single story houses lining the street, all leading to one big house at the end of the road. There was a sign next to the dirt road that read "Sunny Sunset Estates", which was also what my Pip-Buck marked it as.

It also looked like it had recently been attacked.

A couple houses had burned down, embers still glowed on the blackened wood. The houses that were still standing were riddled with bullet holes. Bodies lay in the streets, unmoving. I galloped in the direction of the small town. I had told myself no distractions, but if somepony was alive and needed help, I couldn't just walk away. Besides, I might find some useful stuff.

As I got closer, I got a better look at the bodies. A couple bodies wore raider armor and had been carrying single barrel shotguns. The shotguns were in pretty bad condition. I took them anyway, as well as any extra shells the raiders had on them.

A few of the other bodies looked like settlers that tried to defend their home. They had improvised weapons that were in worse condition than the shotguns. The settlers didn't stand a chance.

There was one more body laying face down on the ground, however, that stood out to me. He was very different than the others. He was draped in a dark red cloak that had black accents. He had been carrying a semi-automatic 5.56mm assault rifle. After examining it, I was surprised to find it in great condition, unlike the other weapons. I stuffed it in my saddlebag and looked back at the body.

For some reason, the cloak he'd been wearing looked very familiar. I wracked my brain, trying to remember where I had seen it before.

Then it hit me.

10 years ago, when I had searched my dad's room for something to read, I saw the exact same cloak in his trunk.

What the fuck?

A chill ran down my spine. I quickly finished searching him, finding a healing potion, some 5.56mm rounds, and a few caps. As soon as I was done, I moved away. I took the shotguns out of my bag and examined them. By themselves, they were pretty terrible. By using the parts in one, however, I could repair the other shotgun so that it would at least be pretty decent.

I sat down and got to work on the repairs. While I was working, I took another look at the town. Two houses had been converted into a general store and a clinic. The rest looked like normal homes. I noticed a rather unsettling design that had been painted on each of the houses. A black, horned skull with glowing red eyes and black tendrils emanating from behind it.

Raiders are getting pretty creative with their graffiti nowadays.

I finished the repairs and stood up, putting the shotgun away. Counting the weapons I'd brought with me, it seemed I had amassed quite the arsenal already.

See? I know what I'm doing. Take that, Watcher!

I was about to start checking the houses when my gaze landed back on the cloak-wearing corpse. I had to do a double take to make sure I wasn't seeing things. He had a tattoo on his neck. It was the same design as the creepy skull on all the houses.

I was becoming very curious as to who this mystery pony was. He was throwing up red flag after red flag. Because he was face down, I hadn't even seen his face yet. I decided it was time for a peek, so I cautiously made my way over to him. I turned his head and immediately recoiled. His eyes were wide and lifeless, which is expected of a corpse, but that wasn't what freaked me out. They weren't normal eyes.

His eyes were a primal yellow with no white in them. Red veins seeped in from under his sockets. The pupils were shaped like vertical slits, similar to a predator's.

These were the eyes of a monster.

Ok, I am officially creeped out. Who the fuck is this guy!?

I took out my 10mm pistol, ready for danger. There most likely wasn't anything hostile around, but I was on edge now. I moved towards the first house and prepared to search it.

I had a bad feeling about this.



I eventually reached the fifth house. I found some extra food and caps in the other houses, as well as a bit of junk I could sell. I also found a pair of binoculars that I thought might come in handy. The general store and clinic had been ransacked of anything useful.

As soon as I entered the house, I could here something making a racket in one of the rooms. I moved through the hallway until I found the room the sound was coming from. I slowly pushed open the door, gun at the ready.

I had entered into what looked like a child's bedroom. There were toys scattered everywhere, a bunch of furniture knocked over, and the bed had been completely flipped. I found the source of the noise pretty quickly, underneath a large wardrobe that had been knocked over.

It was a dog, a German Shepherd to be specific. It seemed to have gotten trapped underneath the wardrobe. I holstered my gun and lifted it with my magic, freeing the dog. It growled at me and kept its distance.

"Easy boy, I'm not a threat. Not unless you are, anyway." I reassured it and it seemed to calm down, at least a little bit. "Actually, I don't really know if you're a boy, do I? Uh... mind if I take a peek?" I managed to get behind the dog and checked to see what gender it was.

...Yup, it's a boy.

I took another look at the dog and noticed something. His left eye had a scar across it, as if it had been slashed with a knife. Going by the milkiness in the eye, it seemed he was blind on his left side. He seemed to notice the scar on my left eye as well.

"Guess we have something in common." I told him. I began to search the room more thoroughly when I found a bowl for pet food. The word "Cat" was written on the side.

Huh? Shouldn't there be a dog bowl here too? I didn't see any cats, either...

"Where's the cat supposed to be?"

*BARK!*

I looked at the dog. He seemed to respond to what I said.

...No way.

"Cat."

*BARK!*

"Cat, sit."

The dog sat.

"Roll over, Cat."

The dog rolled over.

I couldn't believe it.

I'd just met a dog named Cat.

"Huh... how about that." I watched as the dog sniffed around the room until he found what he was looking for. He picked it up in his mouth then passed it to me. It was a photo of Cat and a filly, most likely his owner. The filly had a bright smile on her face and was hugging Cat closely. On the back, it said "Me and Cat", confirming the dog's name.

I didn't find a filly that looked like this among the bodies. Maybe that means-

A low grinding sound came from my Pip-Buck, taking me out of my thoughts. That was the sound that plays when I'd gotten a new quest. I quickly switched over to the quests tab to see what it was.

Cat's Out of The Bag
- Find Cat's Owner

Unlike the other quest, this one actually had a marker. I checked the map and was surprised by what I saw. The marker was in the same place as Watcher's custom marker. A part of me felt like that wasn't a coincidence.

"Alright then, I guess we should stick together. What do you say?" Cat simply barked in response. I started to make my way out when Cat ran and grabbed something else. He came back with a stuffed toy cat in his mouth. He looked up at me, his tail wagging. I think he wanted to take it with us.

For a filly who owns a dog, she sure does like cats. Either that or it's the dog that likes cats, which is still just as ironic.

"Sorry, we can't take that. I need to save room for stuff that will help us." I levitated the toy cat onto the floor and turned around to leave. Cat growled, then he bit down and pulled on my saddlebags, keeping me from going anywhere.

"Ok! Ok! Alright! We'll bring it! Jeez!" I gave in after a bit of struggling. I levitated the toy into my bag and Cat let go. He then made his way out of the room before me, taking the lead.

Guess he's in charge, then.



The factory was crawling with raiders.

I was sitting behind a rock a small distance away from the factory, observing the raiders patrolling the outside through the binoculars I found. It quickly became obvious that this was what Watcher had been keeping from me. But then, that left another question. Why did he feel the need to not tell me about this? Watcher may have been keeping secrets, but my gut told me he really did want to help. It still felt like I was missing a piece of the puzzle.

It also wasn't hard to figure out that there were probably innocent ponies locked up in there, including Cat's owner. The marker was telling me to go inside, but I couldn't just go in guns blazing. I needed a plan. I turned to Cat, who was sitting next to me.

"Soooooo... any ideas?" I asked. He just cocked his head. "Didn't think so." I looked through the binoculars again. If I wanted to search for info on The McGuffin, I would need to go through these guys. If I managed to save lives along the way, then that would be a bonus.

I had been watching their patrols for a while, now. There weren't too many on the outside, only about four in total. I wouldn't know how many there were inside until I actually went in. Two raiders stood guard in front of the entrance. The other two would go around the perimeter of the building in opposite directions, occasionally passing by each other.

I could probably take out the two circling the building quietly when they're out of sight. Once I killed the first raider, I would have to take care of the other one quickly before they see their friend's corpse. Once they were dead, Cat and I could take out the guards by the entrance at the same time.

Yeah, that should work.

"Ok, boy. You ready?" I turned back to Cat. He wagged his tail and began panting happily. I took that as a yes.

It was time to get to work.
> Chapter 4: The Ironshod Factory
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


9 Years Ago

A few weeks had passed since Raindrop showed me her Cave of Awesomeness. I crawled into the hideout and found Raindrop playing with a wooden sword she got from her trunk. I always saw her playing with it, but never knew what it was for. She spotted me out of the corner of her eye and waved.

"Hey! Ever used a sword before?" She asked me and I shook my head. She ran over to the trunk and pulled out another sword, levitating it over to me. I took it with my magic and examined it. "These aren't real swords, so it won't hurt if you get hit by one. Well, it'll still hurt, but not as much." She explained.

We spent the next half hour practicing with the swords, Raindrop giving me pointers as we did. Eventually, we decided to take a break. We sat down on the mattress and just read magazines from the pile. We continued like that in silence for a few minutes until Raindrop spoke up.

"Hey, Bunny... can I... tell you something?" I looked at her, wondering why she seemed hesitant before nodding. "I already told you how my mom left me with dad, right?" I gave another nod. "Well, I had always wondered what happened to her, so I asked him about it. He said she told him she was going to the Frozen North." I cocked my head, having never heard of the Frozen North. She noticed my confusion and chuckled.

"Right, you don't know it. The Frozen North is a place really far away from here. Apparently it's supposed to be really cold there." I nodded in understanding. "I-... I want to go meet her." It took me a few seconds to process what she just said.

"You want to leave the ranch!? What about the others!?" I expressed my shock.

"I don't mean now! I'm still young, and I'd never make the trip on my own! Someday, though... I want to see her in person." She clarified. "And it's not like I'm gonna leave everyone behind, either. I'd come back!"

"...Why do you want to see her?" I asked after a few seconds. She thought about it before answering.

"Well... she's family. You should always care about family, right?" I wasn't sure how to respond to that. I considered everyone on the ranch my family. My only actual relative had been my father and neither of us had cared about each other at all. So instead of answering, I just shrugged.

"I didn't tell dad about this. Can you please keep it a secret? I'm planning on telling him before I leave, just not now." She begged, and I nodded. She smiled and went back to reading. I turned back to my magazine, but all I could think about was what she had said. Raindrop was my best friend. What would happen if she left? Would she really come back? What if she changed her mind? Would I ever see her again? Would I lose my best friend?

I shook the thoughts out of my head. I shouldn't be so possessive of Raindrop. I didn't want to lose her, but I also wanted her to be happy. I can't force her to stay if she doesn't want to. Besides, she won't be leaving for a while, right? I didn't need to worry about it right now.

I turned back to the magazine and read in silence. The rest of the day was uneventful.




Present Day

I had already taken care of the two raiders patrolling around the building. I watched the two guarding the entrance from behind cover, waiting for Cat to get into position. I planned for us to attack from the sides so that they wouldn't notice us until it was too late. I would charge them from the left side while Cat would charge in from the right. While I waited, I took another look at the factory.

It was a rather large brick building, though going by its height, I'd say it only had three floors. A couple smokestacks poked out of the roof, no smoke coming out of them. There were a few windows on the top floor, a couple of them smashed. The rest of the building was covered in decay. Above the entrance was a rusted sign that said "IRONSHOD FIREARMS: SAN PALOMINO BRANCH".

Soon, I saw Cat poking his head out from around the corner and readied my cleaver. As soon as I charged, Cat did the same. As soon as I got close, the raider noticed me in the corner of her vision.

"Wh-!" That was the last thing she said before I buried the cleaver in her brain, life quickly draining from her. "WHAT THE FU-!" The other raider shouted before Cat sank his teeth into his neck. The raider struggled in Cat's grip and I quickly swung the cleaver into his head, finishing him off.

"Nicely done." I gave Cat a nod. After searching the bodies and finding nothing worth taking, we moved to the entrance. "Now, let's go find your owner." I said confidently, and he let out a happy bark. We had the element of surprise, which gave us an advantage. I pushed open the double doors and looked into the room before me.

What greeted us was a sort of reception lobby. There was a front desk on the side with a broken terminal sitting on top of it. There was also a doorway that led into another part of the factory. On the back wall was an elevator that seemed to be out of order. A couple of couches had been pushed to the side of the room opposite to the front desk.

In the center of the room sat a table, with four raiders sitting around it playing poker. They all turned to look at me and Cat.

"Uh... hi?"

"KILL 'EM!!!"

The raiders all drew their weapons and the two of us dove back outside, narrowly avoiding the hail of gunfire. I took out my pistol and slipped into S.A.T.S, targeting the head of one raider. My first shot missed, but the second one hit him square in the face and he dropped dead. One of the raiders, a unicorn, moved one of the couches with her magic in front of them, giving them some cover. If they thought that would save them, they were wrong.

I pulled out a molotov and my lighter from my bag, lit the cloth, and chucked it behind the couch. I could hear the raiders' screams as the fire burned through their flesh, signifying that I had hit my target.

So much for the element of surprise.

We moved back into the lobby and ducked behind the front desk. After waiting a bit, a couple more raiders burst into the room and observed the carnage.

"Oh, looks like some fresh meat came out to play! This'll be fun!" I heard one of them say before cackling like a maniac. They ran outside to search for me, and I took the opportunity to search the corpses. A bit more ammo and a grenade, but nothing else of note.

I heard hoofsteps from outside getting closer and dove back behind the desk just before the two raiders returned. I activated S.A.T.S and targeted both of their heads. Two shots were fired, and both of them hit their marks. The first raider dropped dead, and the second raider's head exploded into bits of gore, leaving a bloody mess. After finding nothing good on them, I moved to the door that led into the factory.

Instead of just stupidly barging in like before, I only opened the door a crack and peeked inside. Inside were conveyor belts, workbenches, and weapon parts that were too old and rusted to be useable. Above, I could see walkways for observing the floor below. There was a door towards the back that, going by the sign next to it, lead to the stairs, and my way up.

A bunch of raiders were arming themselves, preparing to deal with their latest intruder. It looked like there were a few ponies being held in cages in the back, but not enough to be all of the settlers. The rest must be somewhere else. I would have to deal with the raiders if I wanted to search the rest of the building.

I burst through the door, blindly firing in the direction of the raiders as I ran to cover behind a conveyor belt. I don't think I managed to kill any of them, but I heard a couple of them yell in pain, so it was good to know I at least hit something. I loaded in a fresh clip as soon as I was behind the conveyor belt. Peeking out from behind cover, I could see at least five of them, but there were definitely more I couldn't see. A bullet whizzed by my head and I ducked back down. I pulled out my hunting rifle, thinking I needed something with a bit more kick.

Just as I was about to take aim, one raider was dumb enough to leave cover and move closer to me, intent on finishing me. I was about to shoot him when Cat ran in and bit into the raider's throat, ripping it out. Another raider poked her head out from behind a column to try and shoot Cat, but I took her out before she could pull the trigger, the bullet hitting her right in the eye and coming out the back of her skull.

Cat ran to cover beside me, and I fired another round into a raider's chest. I noticed there were two more raiders in the room, leaving five raiders left. Four if the raider I shot in the chest didn't get back up. A raider tried to run to better cover just as S.A.T.S replenished, and I targeted her legs. The first shot missed, but the second shot knocked her off her hooves, and I fired another round into her to finish her off, this time without S.A.T.S.

"RAAARGH!!!" As I reloaded, two of the raiders had managed to sneak their way around the side and came charging at me, one with a pistol and the other a machete. Cat was on the one with a pistol in a second, but Mr. Machete managed to tackle me before I could whip my rifle around to shoot him. I grabbed the machete with my magic mid-swing, trying to stop it from making contact with my face. The raider had the advantage, though, and kept pressing it closer to my face.

While he was focused on trying to kill me, I levitated out my cleaver and swung it into the side of his head. His body slumped over me as his brain shut down and I pushed him off. The final raider had seen an opportunity with us being distracted and ran over. I barely managed to aim my rifle at him in time, and we both pulled our triggers.

I got very lucky.

My shot hit him in the head while his grazed my right cheek. If his aim had been just a bit more on point, I would've been dead. I got up and examined the remains of the fight. The one I shot in the chest remained unmoving, clearly dead. The bullet must have hit his heart. I let out a sigh of relief and the adrenaline seeped out of me.

That was too close.

It didn't sound like anymore raiders were on their way, but that didn't mean the building was clear. "Good boy." I gave Cat a pat on the head and went to retrieve my cleaver from the raider's head. It was pretty deep in, so I tried to tug it out. The handle snapped off the cleaver and the blade remained in his skull. I was gonna need a new melee weapon.

I looked at the machete the raider had been wielding. It looked rather sturdy and well maintained, and the blade was even serrated. It was a major improvement over the cleaver. I tossed the handle and slipped the machete into my saddlebag. I also grabbed the other raider's pistol. I could use it to repair my own. I also felt my cheek, specifically where the bullet had grazed it. It would scar, but it was very little and barely noticeable.

Cat and I ran to the ponies in cages, about four in total, and freed them. They were all covered in cuts and bruises, clear signs of torture. Unfortunately, it seemed one of them was already dead.

"Y-You're... freeing us?" One of the ponies asked. I gave her a nod and she began crying.

"Thank you! Thank you so much!" She quickly wrapped her hooves around me in a tight hug.

"Uh... no problem?" I wasn't sure how to respond to this. Was I supposed to hug her back or something? I settled on a quick head pat. She released her grip on me and smiled. It was then that they all noticed Cat, clear recognition on their faces.

"Do you know this dog?" I asked them and one of them, an older stallion, spoke up.

"Yes, the little filly that owns him was taken as well. She might be upstairs with everyone else." He said, and Cat let out a happy bark.

"Please, you have to help them!" The mare pleaded.

"Don't worry, I'll free them. Do you need help getting to safety?" I asked.

"No, we should be fine. We'll make our way back to Sunset Estates. Thank you! We owe you so much!" The mare gave a final thanks and the group made their way to the exit, taking some of the weapons off the raider corpses for protection. Smart.

I decided to search the other bodies, since no pony else seemed to be coming. Not yet at least. As I did, I found myself thinking about how our infiltration had gone so far. I quickly came to a realization.

None of this would have been possible without Cat.

I probably could have taken the two guards by the entrance myself, but it wouldn't have gone so smoothly. As soon as I had attacked the first guard, the other would have had a chance to shoot me. I probably would have survived the bullet and killed him after, but it still would have hurt, and it would have meant using up valuable medical supplies. Plus, the gunshot would have alerted the rest of the building.

Yeah, I know we alerted them ten seconds later anyway, but it's the thought that counts.

If Cat hadn't provided backup during that fight, I would have been screwed. The two that ambushed us would have finished me off if he hadn't taken care of one. He really was a big help. I remembered what Watcher had said about needing friends.

...Wait, did Watcher know-?

*BANG!*

A shot rang out from above and just missed me, knocking me out of my thoughts. I looked up to see a raider on the walkway taking potshots at me with a rifle. I rolled out of the way of another shot, leveled my pistol at her, and fired, hitting her in the throat. I'd say that was a good shot, but I had been aiming for her head. Still, it did the job.

She had been leaning over the walkway's railing, so her body slumped over and fell to the ground with a thud. I used her hunting rifle to repair mine, and took some ammo.

I did a quick body count in my head. So far, we had killed eighteen raiders. I wasn't sure how many there were, but that had to be a large chunk of them dead. This place was big, but not that big. I moved to the door leading to the stairs, and Cat followed.



The stairwell wasn't anything special, just your average stairwell. Like I had suspected, there were three floors.

I cautiously made my way to the second floor and told Cat to stay while I checked to see if it was safe. I entered and found myself in a hallway filled with the usual raider decor. Lewd graffiti was sprayed across the walls and body parts hung like decorations. There was even a piss stain in the corner. A couple bear traps lay in the hallway, which I disarmed easily.

There were four doors in the hall, one leading to the walkway above the room I was in earlier. Another door led to the mare's restroom, while the one next to it led to the stallion's. Behind the final door was a janitor's closet. There was also an elevator door which I assumed was connected to the one in the lobby downstairs.

I decided to search the stallion's restroom first. as soon as I opened the door, a raider with a spear sprang out at me. I narrowly dodged her attack and took out the machete, keeping my distance. I avoided a couple more thrusts from her spear before swinging the machete and taking her head clean off. Her headless corpse fell over as blood poured from her neck. The machete was already proving to be very useful.

The grimy restroom had nothing of note, other than a pony skeleton in one of the stalls. It was pretty much the same for the mare's room, except for when I searched the final stall. I opened the stall door and heard a familiar beeping sound. I immediately spotted the land mine sitting in the toilet. Instinct took over and I bolted out of the room. I slammed the door behind me just as the mine exploded.

Cat burst into the hall, most likely having heard the explosion. After scanning the area and seeing no threats present, he looked to me with concern in his eyes.

"I'm alright, Cat. I just got caught off guard." I reassured him. I had to take a few breaths so my heart would stop racing. I opened the door and looked into the restroom. The stall was completely destroyed.

Raiders and their damn traps.



There wasn't anything else on the second floor, so we moved up to the third and final floor. I peeked inside with my one good eye and saw what looked like an office space. At least it used to be, before the raiders moved in.

Several cubicles had been torn down and terminals that were either smashed or out of power sat on the desks. More graffiti and body parts decorated the place. I could see what looked like a smaller room in the back, which I assumed was a private office. In one corner, I could see more ponies in cages. There were also a few more raiders left, as well. They were all huddled around each other, discussing something.

"You go check." One of the raiders said.

"No, you go check! If he isn't dead, I'm not gonna be the one who gets jumped!" Another raider argued. They must have thought the land mine might have killed me. I counted the raiders, seeing there were seven left. There might be one or two more in the private office, but if there was, I couldn't see them.

I took out my last molotov, lit it, and chucked it towards the group. Only two of them saw it in time to get out of the way. The other five burned. I ran to one of the desks for cover as the remaining raiders opened fire on me. Pulling out my pistol, I fired in their direction. One of the raiders dropped after four shots to the chest. The other raider took cover behind another desk, so I waited for him to poke his head out. Instead, he threw a grenade in my direction. I grabbed the grenade with my magic midair and threw it back.

"OH FU-!"

*BOOM!!!*

Limbs flew out from behind the desk. I waited for the slight ringing in my ears to stop before exiting cover. Not seeing any other threats, I called Cat into the room. I moved to the private office to check if there was anypony else hiding in there. Before I could open the door, it swung open, smacking me in the face. A large, muscular earth pony wearing a leather spaulder and wielding a sledgehammer had burst through.

Before I could react, he swung the hammer straight into my back, forcing me to my knees. I could feel the bone crack as the hammer impacted.

"You think you can just barge into my place and shoot up my gang!? You're gonna pay for this, motherfucker!" He was about to bring the hammer down on my head when Cat ran in and dug his teeth into the raider's leg. The raider let out a scream, dropping the hammer. I took the opportunity to stand back up and grab it with my magic. Just as the raider managed to kick Cat away, I swung the hammer straight into his other foreleg.

A loud crunch echoed as his leg broke and he dropped to the floor, screaming in pain. I didn't stop there, though. I swung the hammer down onto his head. I kept doing so, over and over, until his head was nothing but a gory paste. After it was done, I dropped the hammer and caught my breath. Another close call. I wiped some of the blood off my face and gave Cat another head pat.

I examined the leather spaulder the large raider had been wearing. It would need a little bit of patching up, but I could take care of that. I slipped it onto my foreleg, getting a feel for it. It fit rather well, actually. It was much better than any of the regular raider armor.

After checking the office one final time, we rushed to the cages. Unfortunately, I could see that some of them were already dead. We started setting ponies free, each of them thanking us and hugging loved ones. I checked each of them one by one, looking for Cat's owner. None of them looked like the filly from the picture.

I then noticed Cat sitting at one of the cages. He was hunched over one of the dead settlers, whimpering. I felt a pit in my stomach and went to get a closer look at the body. The body was small, clearly that of a child. I looked at the child's face, recognizing the filly from the photo instantly. Cat kept nudging her, desperately hoping she would get up. I sat next to him and wrapped my hooves around him, embracing him in a hug.

We were too late.



I sat with Cat for a bit longer before making sure the settlers could get back to their town safely. They said they would take the bodies of the dead and bury them there, including the filly. After that, I began searching for info on the McGuffin. I found what I was looking for in the private office. The office had apparently been for the pony who ran the factory. The terminal on their desk still worked, but it was protected by a password.

I wasn't great when it came to hacking terminals. I could do it if the encryption wasn't too difficult to bypass, but if it was more advanced, I wouldn't have a chance. Luckily, this terminal happened to be easy to access. As I worked, I downed a healing potion to fix the damage done to my back.

The password was "Guns". Really creative password for a gun factory.

There were several files on the terminal, but only one stood out to me. It was a personal log written by the pony in charge.

We just got word from the higher-ups about a big project that the Ministry of Wartime Technology is working on. They are calling it The McGuffin. Apparently, even the Ministry of Arcane Sciences is involved in its development. They are also requesting the aid of several weapon manufacturing companies, Ironshod Firearms included. While we aren't going to be directly involved in the production, we will be providing any resources they need.

I have no idea what this thing is for, but if they need so many ponies working on it, it really must be huge. The reason they contacted us specifically is because we were closest. The project is being created in an underground lab way out here in the desert, so anything we provide goes straight to there. They said the location is top secret, so instead of us delivering the resources, they'll be coming to pick them up. Either way, I can tell this is going to keep us very busy.

Ok, this made my search a bit more complicated. Instead of just searching other factories or warehouses, I had to track down a secret lab. Plus, it turns out there was another ministry involved in The McGuffin's creation. What in Equestria were they making this chip for?

I checked the quests on my Pip-Buck to see if there was an update.

Quest Completed: Cat's Out of The Bag
- COMPLETED: Find Cat's owner

It feels more like I failed that quest than completed it.

I switched over to the other quest.

The Great and Powerful Plot Device
- COMPLETED: Find clues to track down The McGuffin
- Find clues for the location of the secret lab

Once again, I had no marker. Great.

Guess I'm headed to New Pegasus.

I'd actually never been to New Pegasus, even back when I still lived here. It was pretty much the main reason anypony comes to the San Palomino. Still, I never found a reason to go. I left the office and found Cat, still clearly depressed about his owner. I wished I could do more for him.

"Hey, boy." I got his attention. "I think you should have this." I took out the toy cat he gave me and levitated it to him. I figured he would want it to remember her by.

"I can take you back to Sunset Estates, if you want. I'm not gonna force you to leave your home." After I said that, he picked the toy up in his mouth and lifted it up to me.

"...You wanna come with me?" I said, taking the toy back. He barked in response. "Ok then, guess it's you and me." I stuffed the toy back into my saddlebags and we left the factory together.

It felt nice having friends.



We were halfway back to the town when some terrible yet familiar music filled my ears. I turned in the direction of the sound to see a sprite bot. I figured I should give Watcher an update. I had some questions for him anyway.

"Yo, Watcher. You there?" I spoke to the sprite bot. Cat gave me a curious look, probably thinking I was crazy. I didn't blame him. "Helloooo~? Watcher? You there, buddy?" I waved a hoof in front of the sprite bot. Static noises came from it and it stopped playing the music.

"Oh, hello, Bunny." He spoke. "Did you find anything in the factory?"

"You could say that." I answered.

"I see you took my advice." He said, noticing my armor and Cat. "You don't seem like the social type, so having a pet instead of a pony is a good fit for you." Cat let out a bark, still trying to make heads or tails of this mysterious talking sprite bot. I decided it was time to stop beating around the bush and ask what I wanted to ask.

"Watcher, did you know there were raiders at the factory? And that they had prisoners?" Watcher remained silent. I took that as a yes. "You could have just told me, y'know. I still would've helped them." He remained silent for a bit longer before replying.

"...To be honest, Bunny, you didn't strike me as the heroic type when we first met." He rebutted.

"Well, I at least would have liked to know about the raiders."

"Either way, you found what you were looking for, right?"

"Eh, sort of." I began to explain. "I know the MAS had something to do with The McGuffin, and that it was made in a lab. Other than that, still no leads."

"Oh... well, do you at least have a destination?" He asked.

"I was gonna hit up New Pegasus next. It's big, so I'm sure to find something."

"Good to know you have your head on your shoulders. It seemed you meant it when you said you had experience." He continued. "Anyways, my time's almost up, so good luck with your search."

"Wait! There's one more thing I wanted to ask." Watcher remained and I took a breath.

"In the town the raiders attacked, I found a body. It was... well... not normal."

"...What do you mean?" Watcher asked, now curious.

"He had eyes like an animal. He wore this red and black cloak, and he also had a creepy skull tattoo on his neck. The stuff he had on him was way better than any of the raiders. Do you know anything about it?" I left out the part about seeing the same cloak years ago. Watcher seemed to think about what I said.

"The skull tattoo... did it have horns and glowing red eyes?"

"Yeah, it did." He went silent again.

"That pony was most likely with the Martyrs of Despair. You should stay away from them. Trust me, they're bad news."

Gee, that doesn't sound ominous at all.

"What's their deal?" I ask.

"They're a cult of ponies who are willing to do anything to bring pain and despair to others, especially if they're innocent or defenseless." He said with all the disgust a robotic voice could muster.

"What makes them any different than raiders?"

"They do it in the name of somepony they call their 'Mistress'. They also seem to be better trained than raiders, and even have better equipment, as you mentioned earlier. I don't know much more than that I'm afraid." He said. "Anyways, I'm out of time. Remember, stay away from them, ok? They're dangerous."

"Yeah, I'll do that. Thanks." After I said that, the sprite bot made more static noises and resumed playing the crappy music. I looked at Cat, who had a look of curiosity.

"Guess we'll have to keep an eye out for them." He barked in response. We continued on our way towards Sunny Sunset Estates, and I couldn't stop thinking about the Martyrs of Despair. Did a group like that really exist? If so, why did my dad have one of their cloaks? Was he one of them? It would certainly explain his treatment. None of that explained the eyes on that corpse. Why did he look like that? Was he born like that, or did something do that to him?

I wasn't going to get answers by just dwelling on it. Hell, I didn't want answers. I just wanted to find The McGuffin and go home.

I just wanted to forget.
> Chapter 5: Joyful Morale
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


8 Years Ago

It was early in the evening. Raindrop and I were sitting at a table in the barn with Crutch, who was teaching us how to play poker. Haybale and Nazira were in the house making dinner, so Crutch thought it was a good way to pass the time.

We were using bales of hay as seats, since we didn't have anything else. Raindrop kept shifting around, trying to get comfortable. I, on the other hoof, didn't mind. I spent the majority of my life sitting on a cold, cement floor in a basement, so I was used to it.

The cards currently on the table from left to right were a six, a four, a queen, an ace, and an eight. I had already folded, having a two and a three. Yeah, it was a pathetic hand.

"Ha! Pair of queens!" Raindrop said proudly as she showed her cards, a queen and a seven.

"Not bad, not bad. Unfortunately, it's not good enough." Crutch said with his gravely voice before showing his hand. He had an ace and a six. Two pairs.

"Aw, c'mon!" Raindrop scrunched up her face, trying to look mad but just ended up looking cute.

"Heh, better luck next time." Crutch chuckled before turning to look at my hand, wincing as soon as he saw it. "Yeesh, not a great hand. Smart of you to fold, that shows you're learning." I smiled at that. At least there was a silver lining.

Our attention was drawn to the barn door when we heard it open. Crimson Rock stepped in from the light drizzle outside, carrying something. It looked like a gun, but I wasn't sure what kind. I was still trying to learn and memorize the different types.

"Is that a... shotgun?" I asked.

"Rifle, actually, but close. At least ya didn't say pistol." He corrected before showing it to me. "This is a BB gun. It shoots pellets instead o' bullets. It'd still hurt gettin' hit by one, but it wouldn't be lethal. I reckoned it would help ya get some practice with shootin'."

"It looks broken." Raindrop chimed in.

"Yeah, it is, unfortunately." He said as he placed it down. He discussed with the other two that he didn't know what was wrong and that he would need to take it apart to find out. He then began listing off the possible problems and how to fix them. I didn't know what he was talking about, so I turned away and looked over the weapon.

I toyed around with it, quickly figuring out how to take it apart and put it back together again. The others still hadn't noticed. I could see a few things that looked like they needed to be adjusted. I don't know how I knew, I just seemed to figure it out by looking. I could just tell when something looked out of place. After making the adjustments, I reassembled it and snapped everything back into place.

"I think I fixed it." I said, cutting off whatever Crimson was about to say next. He looked at me and the BB gun, surprised, before examining it himself. He grabbed a pellet from his saddlebag and loaded it into the gun. He then aimed it at a bale of hay on the other side of the barn and fired. The noise it made wasn't nearly as loud as any other gun I'd heard, so for a second I was worried I had made it worse.

"It works like a charm! How did ya-?" Crimson didn't finish his question. Instead, his eyes went wide when he saw something behind me. Crutch also seemed shocked at whatever they were looking at. Raindrop had a look of pure joy and excitement on her face.

"Your cutie mark!" She exclaimed.

My what?

I followed their gaze and saw that a strange image had appeared on my flank. A wrench and a rifle, similar to the BB gun, were crossed like an X. I had seen images like this on the flanks of Haybale, Crimson, and Raindrop, but I didn't know what they were for.

"What does it mean?" I turned to ask them.

"It represents your talent, or what you're good at. In your case, it seems your good at fixing up weapons. Getting your cutie mark is something to be proud of." Crutch answered. I looked back at my cutie mark again and smiled.

I was, indeed, feeling very proud of my cutie mark.




Present Day

It was around dusk by the time we got back to Sunny Sunset Estates. I assume the sun was setting around now, but it was impossible to see through the clouds.

I had returned all the stuff I looted as soon as we got back. When I had taken it, I hadn't really considered that the settlers could still be alive. They needed it more than I did. They insisted that I take some of it as payment for helping them, so I had to do some convincing to lower my payment to the bare minimum. In the end, I had to accept fifteen caps and a small bit of food.

I'm afraid that when it came to talking my way through situations, whether it be convincing or lying, I wasn't very good. It was possible for me to talk my way out of some situations, sure, but I was far from a silver tongued smooth talker. The brand on my eye didn't help make me anymore charismatic either. It did help when I needed to give off a terrifying presence, though.

Heh, Raindrop probably could have convinced them to keep everything.

...

It's in the past. Just forget about them.

I shook the thoughts away and got off the bench I had been sitting on. Cat came to my side once he saw me moving, and I gave him a scratch behind the ears. He was clearly still upset about the death of his owner, and I wished I could've done more for him. I turned my head to see a mare approaching me. She had told me earlier that she had been the town deputy, but since the sheriff had been killed by the raiders, she was now in charge.

"I wanted to thank you again for saving us. Are you sure you don't want anything else? I know we don't have a whole lot to offer anymore, but-" She began but I quickly cut her off.

"It's fine, really. You all need it more than I do." I insisted. "Are you guys gonna be okay?"

"It might take a bit before we're fully back on our hooves, and some ponies still need to recover mentally, but I think we can pull through." As she spoke, I could see her struggling not to stare at my bad eye, trying not to be rude. "Just remember, you'll always be welcome here."

"That's good to hear." I said, even though I doubted I would come back, since I didn't plan on staying in this desert. We said our goodbyes as me and Cat left and began our long trek towards New Pegasus. Seeing as how it was getting dark, though, we wouldn't be walking for long. I would've stayed at the estates, but they were already struggling. They didn't need an extra pony to take care of.

My map already had a few locations marked from when I used to live here, so I checked to see if there was anywhere we could stay, or at least set up camp. There were locations, but none of them were close enough for the night. I sighed, hoping we would find something along the way. The desert could be dangerous at night, so I wanted to avoid camping on the side of the road.

Looks like we'll be walking for a bit longer. Let's just hope we don't get ambushed.



Night had finally approached, and darkness surrounded us on all sides. We had passed the Caravanner's Rest Stop a few minutes ago and finally found a place we could stay the night. It was an old, abandoned convenience store. The sign that used to hang above the store had fallen off and was now buried in the sand, so I didn't know the store's name.

Pistol at the ready, I pushed open the door and peeked inside. The store was dark and dusty. Empty shelves lined the walls, and a few shelves sat in the middle, separating the isles. In the back was a counter with a register on it. The place looked untouched, but I didn't let my guard down just yet. I stepped in, still remaining cautious. The wooden floorboards creaked underneath me.

I checked the shelves, but the place seemed to already have been picked clean a long time ago. I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw a radroach corpse in one of the isles. While it was indeed dead, it still looked fresh. I then noticed hoofprints in the dust on the floor.

Somepony's here.

"NOW!"

I didn't even get time to react as somepony leapt from behind the counter, tackled me, and pinned me to the ground. The stranger pushed my face into the ground, preventing me from seeing who it was that just tackled me.

Another pony came from behind the counter, but Cat was on them in an instant. The second ambusher barely managed to stop Cat from biting into their face as they were knocked to the ground. Cat got on top of the ambusher, keeping them at a disadvantage, and tried to sink his teeth into them. The ambusher held Cat back with their hooves, but it was a losing battle.

"Help!" The ambusher, who's voice was clearly that of a stallion's, called out to the one holding me down. I felt the grip of the pony pinning me loosen a bit as they turned their attention to their friend. I took the opportunity to make a move and turned myself to face my assailant, about to throw a punch to knock them off.

Unfortunately, the assailant felt me moving from under them and was quick to react. With the reflexes of a professional, the assailant, who I could now see was a unicorn mare, blocked my punch and drove her hoof into my throat. I coughed as my windpipe was blocked off, struggling to gasp for air.

"Call him off!" The mare ordered me as she pushed the barrel of a 9mm pistol into my face. It was then that I noticed the jacket she was wearing. It was a hooded military jacket with a design on the right sleeve that I recognized. It was the Equestrian flag, but where the sun and moon would normally be, there was instead a .50 cal bullet.

"Cat, stand down! They're ok!" I managed to cough out. Cat stopped trying to bite the stallion and and did as told. The stallion got up and as he did, I noticed he was wearing the same jacket, along with an army helmet, confirming my suspicions. I also noticed that he appeared to be injured, though not from Cat. The mare removed her hoof from my throat while keeping her gun trained on me as I stood back up. Cat growled, still not trusting them.

"State your name and busine-"

"Lance Corporal Bunny, serial number 054792." I cut off the mare before she could finish her order. Both her and the stallion looked at me, surprised. I would be too, if I were them.

They just ambushed a fellow soldier.

I should probably explain before we continue. These ponies were part of the Equestrian Restoration Corps, or the ERC for short. When the ERC was originally established a few decades ago, their goal was to try and rebuild Equestria, or at least make it closer to the way it used to be. This didn't last long, though. They ended up spreading themselves too thin, trying to spread their forces to every part of Equestria, despite not having enough soldiers to actually make a difference. This lead to them being almost completely wiped out by raiders, slavers, pretty much everything that tries to kill you in the wasteland.

That wasn't the only problem with the ERC, though. Their was barely any discipline among the soldiers. They would slack off, party, or sneak out during curfew. A lot of those that were here in the San Palomino would visit New Pegasus to gamble and get drunk. As for the ponies that run the ERC, they were greedy and power hungry, especially nowadays. They care less about helping others and more about helping themselves.

The majority of what remains of the ERC operates here in the San Palomino. There are a few here and there around the rest of the wasteland, but not many. They've pretty much been reduced to almost nothing. They do help who they can, but they aren't able to offer much if they want to stay alive themselves.

As for why I gave these ponies a rank and serial number, that's because I used to be in the ERC, if only for about three years. I resigned, though, just before I left the San Palomino for good. Still, my serial number was burned into my brain, so I still remembered it to this day. A part of me wishes I didn't.

"Wha-? But... huh?" The mare in front of me sputtered, clearly confused. Looking at the insignia on her left sleeve, it seemed she was a Private Second Class, the second lowest rank. She had to have been serving for at least six months, but less than a year.

"If that's so, then where's your uniform, Lance Corporal?" The stallion spoke up, still remaining suspicious. He was a dark gray pony, standing about an inch taller than me. I looked at the insignia on his jacket and saw that he was a Corporal, which was the rank above Lance Corporal. Guess he's in charge.

"Well, I'm not with the ERC anymore. I resigned a bit more than a couple years ago." I clarified. By this point, Cat had calmed down, though he remained wary. The Corporal looks me over, scrutinizing me, before his gaze lands on my brand and he seems to recall something.

"Ah, I remember you. Hard to forget somepony with a scar like that." He says, beginning to relax.

"Wait, he's telling the truth!?" The mare asked, shocked. The Corporal nodded.

"Yup. Him and his friend were quite the troublemakers back then." I prayed that neither of them would press further on the topic of my 'friend'. The mare turned to face me again, straightening her posture. "I'm truly sorry for the ambush, Lance Corporal! We thought you might have been with the Martyrs of Despair!"

Oh, not those assholes again.

"Don't worry about it, and don't call me Lance Corporal. Like I said, I'm not with the ERC anymore. Anyways, mind introducing yourselves?" I ask, changing the subject.

"The name's Corporal Clean Barrel. This is Private Morale." He nods to the mare and she salutes.

"Private Second Class Joyful Morale, serial number 146-!"

"Ah, don't bother with the serial number. I'll just forget it in a few seconds anyway." I cut her off and she slumped back. The only reason I stated my own serial number was so they would realize I used to be among their ranks. I didn't need to hear theirs.

After hearing her full name, I finally take a good look at the mare in front of me. She was a mint green pony with bright, lemon yellow eyes. She had a long and wavy jet black mane. Now, when I said her mane was long, I meant it was long. It reached all the way down, almost touching the floor! Even her bangs were slightly long, hiding her right eye a bit. I could see her cutie mark was an image of a pencil doodling something on a sketch pad.

Now that I think about it, the name Morale sounds familiar, but I can't put my hoof on it. Eh, I'd probably forgotten it on purpose, anyway.

"Gotta say, Corporal, this is a helluva team you got here! I don't think anypony would dare to mess with all two of you." I said sarcastically, pointing out his lack of said team. He should definitely have more soldiers than this.

"There were more of us, but we were attacked." He began, a little irritated by my sarcasm. "We were on patrol when we were ambushed by a large group of martyrs. Unfortunately, we're all that's left."

"We came into this building to hide and, if we had to, stay the night." Joyful chimed in.

If those martyrs are nearby, this place might not be as safe to sleep in as I thought. Still, it would be a bad idea to keep walking while it's dark out. Guess we'll have to take our chances with these ponies.

"Got room for two more?" Clean Barrel thought about it before giving his response.

"...I don't see why not." He finally decided. After placing my bags off to the side and getting settled in, the two soldiers pull a couple dirty mattresses out from behind the counter.

"There aren't enough mattresses for all of us..." Joyful speaks up.

"I'm fine with sleeping on the floor." I offered." I didn't actually think there would be mattresses in this place when I first saw it, so I already planned to sleep on the floor."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, you two found this place first, anyway. You alright with that, Cat?" I turned to face the dog, who replied with a bark. I assumed it was a yes.

"Guess that settles it." Barrel said before placing down his mattress. Soon after, a thought occurred to me. What if the ERC had intel on The McGuffin?

It was a long shot, but it wouldn't hurt to ask. I doubted Corporal Barrel or Private Joyful knew anything, so I would have to ask somepony else who was a bit higher up the ladder. Cat and I could go with the other two to the ERC's home base. Having been there before, it was already marked on my Pip-Buck, and I could see that it wasn't too out of the way from New Pegasus.

Then again, going back there might dig up some memories I'd rather forget. The last time I saw... her... was at that base. Just thinking about it made some memories resurface. I shook them away. If their was a chance they could help me find The McGuffin, I needed to take it.

With this new plan in mind, I laid down on the floor and closed my eyes as sleep overcame me.



"AH!!!"

I awoke from another nightmare with a scream.

Sweat rolled down my forehead as I frantically took in my surroundings. After remembering where I was, I sighed and laid my head back down. The nightmare had been worse than usual. This time, my father had the same animalistic eyes as the martyr corpse. I needed to do something about these nightmares, but I had no idea what.

"Are you ok?"

I looked in the direction of the voice. Joyful was cooking something on a hot plate, supposedly breakfast. She was looking at me, her eyes filled with concern.

"Yeah, I'm alright. Just a bad dream." I reply as I stood up. Light seeped into the store through the boarded up windows. I noticed that Corporal Barrel and Cat were still asleep. "Where'd you get the hot plate?"

"We brought it with us when we went on patrol, just in case." She said as she continued to prepare the meal. We sat in silence for about half a minute before I spoke up.

"Hey, Private Joyful..."

"Oh, you can just call me Joy. Everypony else does." She says with a smile.

"Alright then, I've got a question for you, Joy." She turns her attention towards me. "You two are heading back to base, right?"

"Well, we can't continue patrolling when it's just us left, so I assume so." She answers.

"I was wondering if I could join you."

"W-What!? Uh, I-I'm not sure... It's up to the Corporal, not me. Why do you want to?" She stammers.

"I'm looking for something. I thought that maybe the ERC might be able to help."

"I don't know, we're spread pretty thin as it is."

"I just need some intel, that's all. I'll be out of your manes right after." I assured her. She thought about it for a second.

"If you say so. It's still not for me to decide." After that, she went back to her cooking. I noticed she seemed a bit dejected.

"Something wrong?" I ask a bit later.

"Huh? Oh, it's just... I can't stop thinking about the rest of our team."

"Were you close?"

"No, but they were still ponies. It's not uncommon for soldiers to be killed, especially nowadays. I just wish things could be different." I didn't respond, not knowing what to say. Instead, we just sat in silence again. Soon, Joy had finished making breakfast. It appeared she had made omelettes of some sort. I gotta say, they looked and smelled amazing.

"I don't normally cook, so I wouldn't expect it to be anything special if I were you." She said.

"Are you kidding? It smells delicious!" I took another waft of it.

"Really!? Here, try some!" She said with excitement, handing me a plate. She had a bright smile on her face that could warm even the coldest of hearts. Something about that smile felt so innocent and cheerful. It made me feel as though I had a moral obligation to make her smile. I happily took the plate, ready to enjoy it. I took a bite of the food...

...and it took every fiber of my being not to vomit.

Dear Celestia, this is the worst thing I've ever put in my mouth! And I've eaten literal shit!

"That bad, huh?" She asked, noticing the look of pain on my face.

"N-No, it's- *hurk!* it's g-great! I-It's *cough!* *hack!* absolutely delicious!" I struggled not to collapse on the spot. It felt like the food was slowly killing me. What the hell did she put in this!? "Yep! *hurp!* Some of the best cooking I've ever had!"

"You don't have to lie. I know I'm not great at cooking." She said with a deadpan expression.

Not great is an understatement.

"I'm trying to practice and get better, but it's a lot harder than I thought it would be." Once she said that, memories of Nazira teaching me how to cook flashed in my mind. I shook them away.

"Well... how about this..." I panted as I slowly regained my strength. "I'll teach you how to cook. In exchange, you put in a good word for me at your base so I can get the intel I need."

"Really!?" She beamed.

"Yup. Is it a deal?"

"Yes! It's a deal!"

We shook hooves, and I looked over at the other two. Cat was beginning to stir from all the noise we were making. Barrel, however, remained asleep, snoring rather loudly.

He's quite the heavy sleeper.



A little over an hour later, we were all on our way to the ERC's home base. The Corporal had accepted my tagging along, saying that having an extra gun would be useful.

Cat, Joy and I followed Clean Barrel as he lead. As we walked, I gave Joy some cooking tips. I would need to actually show her what to do at some point, but this would do for now. She also told me what she used to make the omelette and, to be frank, it was atrocious.

"Why the hell would you put glowing fungus in an omelette!?" I blanched.

"I thought it would give it more flavor! I read somewhere that you should try to make the flavors stand out, and I figured it would!" She tried to defend herself. I couldn't believe anypony was this inept at cooking.

"About halfway there, now. Don't let your guard down." Barrel called back to us.

"Yes, sir!" Joy saluted. We continued walking for a bit longer before I noticed a glint in the distance. I recognized it as a sniper scope immediately.

"GET DOWN!!!" I yelled, tackling Joy to the ground as I heard the gunshot ring out. I heard a cry of pain come from Barrel and turned to see he had been hit, but not killed. He needed serious medical attention, though. Blood began pouring out from under him.

I ran over to him and lifted him up onto my back, returning fire in the direction of the sniper, though I doubted I would hit anything. I just needed to keep him from blowing my brains out while I was busy. Joy and Cat had already taken cover behind a rock, and I joined them just as the sniper fired again, this time hitting the rock.

"Corporal!" Joy cried. I took him off my back and examined him. He had a pulse, but he was losing blood fast. The bullet must have hit an artery. Joy had already started taking out medical supplies from her bag.

"I've got him! Just take care of the sniper!" I nodded in response. I took a peek from behind cover, only to duck back down as another bullet struck the rock. I was able to see that the sniper wasn't in cover, but he was too far for S.A.T.S. I needed to get closer somehow.

"FOR OUR MISTRESS!!!" I heard another voice yell. I looked and saw a pony charging at us from the same direction of the sniper. He was wearing the same cloak as the martyr corpse, and even had the same creepy eyes. He was carrying a rather sharp looking machete. It didn't take a genius to guess who our attackers were.

Something I noticed was that the martyr was running faster than anypony else I'd ever seen. His speed was almost unnatural. Was he on Dash or something?

He quickly closed the gap between us and ran behind the rock, swinging his machete. I ducked under his swing, getting behind him. Normally, I'd have just shot him, but I saw an opportunity. I instead grabbed him from behind and held him in front of me, pointing my gun at his head.

"What are you doing!?" Joy called out to me.

"Don't worry, I've got this!"

I started moving towards the sniper, using the struggling martyr as a shield. As I planned, the sniper didn't open fire. He wouldn't want to hit his friend, after all. You can call me cold-hearted or cowardly for using a tactic like this, but from what I've heard, these guys deserved it anyway. I thought my plan was fool-proof, until the martyr spoke up.

"Heh, you underestimate our devotion, non-believer. See you in hell!" The martyr pulled out a small, makeshift blade from his pocket. I was ready to disarm him, and could do so easily. I figured he would've known that as well, which is why it surprised me he would even try attacking me.

I realized he wasn't attacking me when he slit his own throat.

I stared in shock as he choked on his blood and his corpse fell limp in my hooves. I was still trying to process what just happened when the sniper shot through the corpse and hit me. I yelled in pain, dropping the body and running for cover behind another rock as another shot barely missed me.

"You will pay for our brother's life with your blood, non-believer!!!" I heard the sniper shout. Once I was safe, I took the chance to examine my wound.

The corpse had acted as a meat shield and slowed down the bullet, so it didn't actually pierce my body. Instead, I could see the bullet jutting out of the wound. The damage was only equivalent to a deep cut, but it still hurt. If the bullet hadn't been as strong, it may not have even pierced the corpse. I pulled the bullet out with my magic, grabbed a bandage from my saddlebag, and placed it over the wound.

Once I was patched up, I took out the hunting rifle and peeked out from behind cover. The rock I was behind was much closer to the sniper, just close enough for S.A.T.S. I targeted the sniper's head and fired, his brains splattering everywhere.

I ran back to the others and found that Joy had patched up the Corporal. He was still unconscious, but he would live, for now. We still needed to get him to a real doctor, which meant getting to the base ASAP.

"Here, I'll carry him." I lifted him onto my back gently and we were once again on the road, this time with a quicker pace. I would have looted the bodies, but I didn't want to waste time when Barrel didn't have much left. As we trotted, I could see Joy was still worried about Barrel, going by her expression. I decided to take her mind off it with some conversation. I also wanted her to answer a question for me.

"What the hell was that!? Why the fuck did that guy kill himself!?" I asked. She stared at me for a few seconds, seemingly confused before coming to a conclusion.

"Was that your first time fighting martyrs?" She asked.

"Yeah, it was... Wait, are you saying they kill themselves regularly!?"

"They care more about winning than their own lives. You heard him say it was for their 'mistress', right? They're willing to do anything for... whoever she is." It was after hearing that did the martyr's words echo in my head.

"You underestimate our devotion, non-believer."

He was willing to kill himself just so I wouldn't have cover. Just so that the sniper could take the shot. He didn't care about his own life whatsoever. He cared more about killing me.

"...What the fuck is wrong with these ponies?" I mutter.

"Tell me about it." Joy added. Cat agreed with a bark. I turned my head to look at Barrel. He was sweating, and looked like he might already be getting a fever.

Don't worry Corporal, we'll be there soon. Even if it's the last place I want to be.
> Chapter 6: The ERC Base
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


8 Years Ago

I was in the farmhouse's kitchen with Nazira, who had just finished teaching me how to make bloatsprite sliders. She placed two servings on a plate each and passed one to me. We each took a bite to see the results of my cooking. It was better than when I started, but it was still mediocre.

"It is good to see you are making progress." Nazira complimented me with her exotic accent.

"...but it could be better." I said, my shoulders slumped.

"Patience, little one. You will get the hang of it eventually." She said with a smile. We continued to dig in to the meal, and I asked Nazira about where she was from. She told me about Glyphmark, how she had to leave, and how she eventually ended up at the ranch.

"...Do you miss it?"

"Hm?"

"Do you miss Glyphmark?" I asked her.

"...Occasionally. I did have friends there," She says, "But it was here at the ranch that I found my family."

"You mean Haybale, Raindrop, Crimson, and Crutch, right?"

"Yes, but not just them. I consider you family as well, Bunny." I was already happy enough to have ponies that I could call family, but to know that they consider me family as well? The joy I felt was immeasurable.

"Hey, guys! What're you eating?" I turned to see Raindrop approaching us. Judging by the look on her face, I'd say she was bored again.

"Nazira helped me make bloatsprite sliders. They're nothing special, though." I told her as she served herself. She took a bite and immediately brightened up.

"Nothing special!? This is delicious!" She continued to scarf down the food and Nazira couldn't help but chuckle.

Well, I'm glad somepony loved my cooking.




Present Day

We finally reached the cave the ERC base was located in. I could feel Barrel's blood soaking through his bandages and onto my back. As we entered the cave, we passed several floodlight tripods that had been set up to illuminate the dark cavern. Eventually, we arrived at a giant, metal door shaped like a gear with the number 54 on it.

We had arrived at Stable 54.

The ponies who founded the ERC had set up shop here after they found the stable abandoned. I'd heard rumors that many of the stables had been used for social experiments back when they were built, but if Stable 54 had an experiment, I have no clue what it is, nor does anypony else.

Joy pressed the button on the intercom just beside the door and spoke into it.

"This is Private Joyful Morale! Corporal Clean Barrel is wounded and needs serious medical attention!"

"Understood, Private. We're opening the door now, so stand back." A voice crackled from the intercom.

Wasn't she supposed to give them her serial number? Huh, weird.

A second later, the door began to move and light poured out from within. We quickly made our way in and were greeted with the sight of a few ERC soldiers, all armed with rifles.

"Private, who is this?" One of the soldiers spoke up, pointing to me.

"Don't worry, he's okay. He's with us." She tried to reassure him.

"Where's the rest of your team?"

"Look, we've got more important things to worry about." I said, gesturing to the stallion bleeding out on my back.

The soldiers all glanced at each other before letting us through. One of them spoke through a radio, ordering the medics to bring a stretcher. They arrived pretty quickly and rushed Barrel off to the medbay. After that, they questioned me about who I was and why I was here, while Joy reported what happened to their team.

Cat didn't like being kept on a leash and bit the poor sap who was ordered to do so. Fortunately, it wasn't a serious injury, but they still had to go to the medbay as well. I just told them Cat would be calm if they left him alone.

It was a while before they finished questioning me, and told me to wait in the atrium while they went to fetch the General. If anyone knew about The McGuffin, it would probably be him. He would also be able to verify if I really used to be with the ERC. So here we were, sitting on a cold, metal bench on the second floor of the atrium while anypony that walked by kept paying me and Cat curious glances. The bench I didn't mind. It was everypony else that bothered me.

Just looking around the place gave me deja vu, and I hated it. I knew this place like the back of my hoof. I had hoped I could just be in and out quickly, though the more I thought about it, the more I realized how naive that was of me. The ERC may not have much in terms of discipline, but they weren't stupid. Well, most of them weren't, anyway.

Oh, I also realized why the name Morale sounded familiar to me, and why Joy didn't have to tell them her serial number at the intercom.

The General's name was Strict Morale.

He was Joy's father.

Maybe if I'm lucky, I'll have earned brownie points for helping get his daughter back safely. If I'm unlucky, he'll have remembered the time I snuck a whoopee cushion under his pillow. Let's hope it's the former.

I decided to tune into DJ Pon3 while I waited. I was hoping to listen to some music, but it seemed as though DJ Pon3 had some news to share.

"Welcome back, everypony! This is DJ Pon3 with an update on the news! Here's a shout-out to everypony listening over in the San Palomino! My heart goes out to the ponies in Sunny Sunset Estates, who took a big hit from raiders yesterday. Most of the ponies living there had been taken prisoner, and the rest were killed. Thankfully, those that survived were rescued by a wanderer and his dog who happened to be passing by. That's not all he's done, though. Just this morning, he was helping a couple ERC soldiers fight off some of those Martyrs of Despair that've been popping up lately.

"Now, there's something special about this mystery stallion that makes him stand out, ladies and gentlecolts, and that's the nasty brand mark he's got on his eye! Can't imagine how he got that! Seems the San Palomino has a new Branded Ranger to help keep things safe. If you see a pony with the letter B on his left eye wandering around with a dog, give him a pat on the back and tell him DJ Pon3 said thank you."

"That's all for now, folks. Next up, here's-"

I switched off the radio before DJ Pon3 announced the next song. I was more interested in what he just said than listening to music now. This was probably going to bring a lot of unwanted attention. Also, what was with that name? Branded Ranger? Seriously?

I leaned back against the wall and closed my eye. Maybe I could catch some Z's before the General shows up. He was certainly taking his time, anyway.

"Hey mister." I opened my eye back up to see a couple of kids standing in front of me, a filly and a colt. Now, I'm sure it seems weird to see children in a military base, but a lot of soldiers were actually born into the ERC, and grew up training for it. I assumed that was the case for these kids.

"Are you that Branded Ranger DJ Pon3 was talking about?" The colt asked.

"Uh... yeah, I suppose I am." I answered, still a little surprised by their sudden appearance. Being the curious children that they were, the pair continued to ask me a barrage of questions. I kept my answers short, simple, and vague.

"How many weapons do you have?"

"A few."

"How many raiders have you killed?"

"A lot."

"Can I pet your dog?"

"That's up to him."

"How'd you get that scar?"

"Tripped and fell on a branding iron."

"Really?"

"Of course he didn't, stupid!"

"I'm not stupid! You're stupid!"

"Hey, kids!" A new voice approached, one that was deep, masculine, and very familiar. I went bug eyed when I saw the owner of the voice was the buck in charge of training new recruits, and the same buck who trained me, Brisk Bronco. I prayed to Celestia and Luna that he wouldn't recognize me.

"You gotta stop sneaking off from training like that. I'm sure you don't want me telling your parents." He spoke.

"Y-Yes, sir!" The children stammered before running off to the gym.

Bronco was a dark grey earth pony with a buzz cut mane. He wore dark sunglasses over his eyes and a couple dog tags around his neck. He was also buff as hell, and good looking too, despite being in his middle ages. Back when I was still in training, a lot of the mares and some stallions had a crush on him. He was, and probably still is, quite the role model.

Please don't recognize me, please don't recognize me, please don't-

"Oh, hey Bunny. Never thought I'd see you again."

FUCK!

"Hey." I muttered, hoping he wouldn't stay for conversation. I hoped wrong.

"So, how've you been? What're you doing here?"

"I've been better. I'm just getting some info and then I'll be on my way."

"Ah, I see." After that, we both sat in awkward silence.

Why do conversations with me always have to be awkward?

"...Well, I should go make sure those kids actually went back to the gym instead of running off again. See ya later." He waved.

"Yup." I was once again alone with Cat. We sat there for about another minute before the pony we had been waiting for finally showed up, being flanked by two other soldiers.

"It's been a while, Bunny." There was the General in all his glory. A pale green unicorn with a grey, swept back mane and small beard. He was a bit wrinkly in the face, but it wasn't too noticeable. He wore his General's cap on his head to hide his bald spot.

"I'm not here for a reunion. Do you have the info I need?" I asked, standing up off the bench.

"Straight to the point, huh? Alright then." He spoke like someone who demanded respect. "We don't really know anything about this McGuffin, except for the fact that the Martyrs are looking for it."

Wait, WHAT!?

"They're looking for it too!?" I could scarcely believe it. If that was true, things just got way harder. Not only was I still lacking in leads on the computer chip, but now I had to race for it against some crazy death cult!? For fuck's sake, why can't finding one computer chip be simple!?

"I can have my men look into it... on one condition."

Oh, here we go.

"Help us fight off the martyrs, and I'll get you the information you need." He offered. I just scoffed.

"You want me to fight your war? In case you forgot, I'm not one of your soldiers anymore." One of the soldiers standing behind the general gave me a glare, probably for speaking to the all mighty General with such slander like that.

"If you're looking for the McGuffin, then you'll be butting heads with them anyway. They're more than we can handle, and we could use all the help we can get. I think it works out for both of us." He countered.

Great. If I want to find the McGuffin, I had to help fight a war I wanted no part in. I thought about it for a bit longer before I letting out a sigh. I didn't really have a choice if I wanted to leave as soon as possible.

"...Fine, but you better find something." I finally decided.

"Good. If you'll follow me then." He walked further into the stable and I reluctantly followed, Cat trailing behind me.

Well, crap. This isn't going as planned.



We followed the General and his lackeys all the way to the stable's residential area, which were now called the barracks. After passing several rooms, we stopped outside a specific one. Above the door was a nameplate labeled 'Joyful Morale', along with her serial number. Soldiers normally bunked with one another, so I thought it was odd that there wasn't a second nameplate. I then noticed there was, in fact, space for a second one, but it looked like it had been recently removed. This meant that the pony who used to be staying here had either left, or been killed.

Before I could ask why we were here of all places, the General gave me an answer.

"You'll be working alongside Private Morale. She'll be keeping an eye on you to make sure you're actually helping us fight the martyrs."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on, I didn't agree to a partner!" I didn't want to travel around with anypony else! Having Cat with me was good enough! I know I'd agreed to help Joy out with her cooking, and I had planned to keep good on that promise! Just... not while traveling out on the road together.

"You two already know each other, so I thought she would be the best fit." He explained.

I had to admit, I was a little shocked he trusted me with his own daughter. For all he knew, I might try to hold her hostage in exchange for the information. I wouldn't even think about doing that of course, but he didn't know that. The two guards waited outside, and we entered Joy's room.

Every soldier liked to personalize their room, and Joy was no exception. There were a couple stuffed animals lying on her bed, A Sparkle-Cola themed clock on the wall, a desk littered with paper and colored pencils, and a punching bag off to the side, which Joy was currently using. She turned to face us as soon as we entered.

"Hey Bun- Oh! S-Sir!" Joy immediately straightened herself and saluted to her father.

"At ease, soldier." He ordered and she relaxed. "You'll be traveling with Bunny here for a while. He's going to be helping us fight off the martyrs."

"He is?"

"Apparently." I mumbled.

"He'll be doing so while we look into the computer chip he's searching for. I figured since you've already been acquainted, you'd get along fine." I noticed the way the General was addressing Joy. It didn't sound like he was talking to his daughter, it sounded more like he was talking to just another soldier. He turned to face me.

"Private Morale here is just below average when it comes to firearms, but she's an expert in hoof to hoof. She can also hack any terminals you come across. Other than that, she's received the same level of training you have." He now addressed both of us. "The guards by the entrance will give you your orders. You'll be heading out first thing tomorrow morning. Understood?" He asked.

"Yes, sir!" Joy replied. I just grunted.

"I said, understood?" He asked me again, this time with more force.

"Yes, sir." I replied, giving a mock salute.

"Good. I'll leave you to prepare, then." He then left the three of us alone, the two guards once again following him. We stood there in awkward silence before Joy spoke up.

"Well, uh... I'm glad to be working with you again!" She smiled awkwardly.

"Meet me in the cafeteria at dinner time. We'll go over the plan for tomorrow." I grunted before I turned around and left.

With Cat alongside me, we made our way to the entrance. He gave me a look as we walked. I think it was because of the way I talked to Joy just now.

"Look, I'm sorry, okay? I'm just in a pissy mood. I'm sure I'll have cooled down once we meet up again." He looked at me like he didn't believe me. "We don't need anyone else. We're fine with just the two of us. In my experience, getting close with other ponies is a bad idea. In the end, they'll either die or leave you behind."

I stopped in my tracks when I'd realized what I just said. I hadn't opened up that much with anypony before. I looked back at Cat, who was giving me another look.

"Listen, don't tell anypony what I just said, okay? Just keep that between us. I don't want people prodding into my history."

He looked at me like I was an idiot. It took me a second to realize why.

"...Right... you're a dog... you couldn't tell anypony even if you wanted to." I mentally face hoofed and we continued on our way. As we walked, we passed many different soldiers slacking off in their own way.

One was off in a corner, thinking he was sneaky enough to hide the chems he was about to take. Another pony stumbled out of their room alongside their roommate, both clearly drunk. Passing by the bathrooms, I could hear the familiar sound of a spray can coming from within. Somepony was most likely spraying graffiti on the walls. Passing by another room, I could hear the rhythmic squeaking of a bed on the other side, two ponies most likely going at it.

If this were the actual military, I'm sure this all of this behavior would be utterly disgraceful.

For the ERC, this was perfectly normal.

We arrived at the entrance and a soldier, who I noticed was stuffing a pack of cigarettes in his pockets, approached us with a folder containing some documents.

"This is all the information you need for tomorrow." He hoofed over the folder and I slipped it into my saddlebag. The soldier gave us a salute as we left. "Good luck!"

Since we had time to kill before dinner, I decided to look over the assignment we were given. According to the file, they had reason to believe a martyr spy was hiding out in a town a small distance from here called Alleyville. I didn't even know the martyrs had spies. Apparently, they would blend in and kidnap people when nopony was looking. Where they take them and what they do with them is unknown. Our job was to hunt down and eliminate the spy.

Okay, this seems simple enough. It's just one pony, right? What could possibly go wrong?

I heard a grinding noise come from my Pip-Buck and swiftly flipped to the Quests tab. I didn't need to look to know my newest quest was about hunting down the spy, but I checked it anyway.

I Spy With My Only Eye
- Go to Alleyville and look for the spy

Oh, good. Now this thing is making fun of my eye.

While I was at it, I figured I should check to see if my main quest updated at all.

The Great and Powerful Plot Device
- Find clues for the location of the secret lab

Nope. Still nothing. Guess that meant I had to wait for General Asshat and his boys to find something. Speaking of waiting, I still had a lot of time to wait until dinner, which left me with nothing to do.

I really hate waiting.



The cafeteria was much more crowded than I was comfortable with. It was hard to find a table that was secluded from everypony else. I eventually found one, though, and I made myself comfortable, Cat taking a seat next to me.

Ok, nopony should bother us here-

Somepony quickly sat down across from us, slamming their tray of food onto the table.

Never mind.

I shouldn't have been surprised to see that it was Joy who sat down. She had plenty of food on her tray.

"Ok! Let's go over the plan, sir!" The mint green unicorn spoke with enthusiasm, that cute, innocent smile present on her face. Clearly, she hadn't been dissuaded by my obvious annoyance about us being partners. Her smile soon disappeared, however, when she noticed a lack of food in front of me.

"You're not eating?"

"I'm not hungry."

As if on queue, my stomach decided that was the perfect time to start growling.

"...I'll eat later."

"Why not just go up and get some food?" She gestured to the line of soldiers currently serving themselves. I stared at the large mass of ponies, a feeling of anxiety welling up within me. A look of understanding spread across Joy's face.

"Not great with crowds, huh?"

"Not great with people in general." I clarified.

"Here, have some of mine." She levitated some of her radhog meat over to me. I eyed it with suspicion, and she gave me a deadpan look.

"No, I didn't cook it."

Oh, thank the goddesses.

I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding and took the meat. I pulled out the file as I ate and showed it to Joy. Thankfully, the food was prepared by somepony who knew how to cook. It wasn't anything special, but at least it wasn't painful to eat.

"The first places we'll hit up will be the bars, taverns, and saloons. They've always got the local scoop. If that doesn't turn up anything then we split up and ask around." I suggested as she read over the file.

"Sounds good! Anything else, sir?"

"That's... pretty much it, actually. I didn't think we would be doing something so simple."

"What, did you think we would be storming a fortress or something? Just the three of us?"

"Yeah, actually, something like that."

She just stared at me like I had a screw loose.

"What? I think the three of us could pull it off. Well, then again, I don't really have a clear picture of how good you are in a fight yet."

"Sir, I don't know how strong you think we are, but if we tried to storm a fort by ourselves, we'd be slaughtered!"

"Yeah, you're right. You probably aren't that good of a fighter." I said, recalling what the General said about her being a bad shot.

"Hey, I can handle myself!" She crossed her hooves and scrunched up her face in an attempt to glare at me. She just made herself look even cuter. I couldn't help but chuckle. It was then that we both noticed Cat had snuck around to the other side of the table and was now stealing a piece of meat off Joy's tray.

"Hey! That's mine! Bad dog! Sir, can please do something!?" She pleaded.

Oh yeah, I forgot to feed him. He just seemed like he could take care of himself so well that I didn't even think about it.

"Why do you keep calling me that?" I asked.

"Calling you what?"

"You keep calling me 'sir'."

"Well, the General placed you in charge, and you have way more experience than me. Plus, if you were still with the ERC, you would outrank me anyway. As far as I'm concerned, you're my superior officer!"

"Well, you can stop. I'm not in the ERC anymore. This is temporary."

"Either way, can you please tell him to stop trying to steal my food!?" She pointed to Cat as she tried to hold her plate away from him.

"I'd get some food for himself, but..." I looked back at the long line of ponies. "Think you can share with him too?"

"...Ugh, fine." She sighed before handing another piece to him.

"Well, don't you three seem thick as thieves already!"

We all turned to see Bronco approaching us.

"Oh! Hey, Mr. Bronco! Nice to see you!" Joy greeted him.

"Hey there, squirt. So, I hear Bunny's staying with us a little longer?"

Seems word still spreads fast around here.

"Yup! He and I are headed over to Alleyville tomorrow to track down a spy."

"Yeesh, another spy? Those bastards are showing up more and more. Anyways, I've got an offer for you, Bunny." Bronco said, turning to me.

"Me?"

"Yeah, I was thinking, since you're gonna be around, why not stop by the gym and pay the latest trainees a visit?"

"Why me of all ponies?"

"You have a bit more freedom than everypony else here, being freelance. Plus, while you may not have been the best soldier in your class, you were certainly up there. I figured you could show them a thing or two. Maybe some new tricks you picked up in the Wasteland."

I thought about his offer. If I ever need to, it could be a good chance to blow off some steam. Plus, I might get a little training in myself while doing it.

"... Sure, I don't see why not. I'll stop by when I'm free."

"Great! Just come in whenever you get the chance." He said before waving goodbye. As he left, the familiar grinding noise came from my Pip-Buck.

Miscellaneous
- Stop by Brisk Bronco's gym

"What's that?" Joy spoke up.

"Huh? You mean my Pip-Buck?"

"No, I know what a Pip-Buck is. I mean the noise it made."

"Oh. It basically lets me know when I've gotten a new quest."

"Quest?" She cocked her head.

"Basically anytime I've been given a job or task, this thing marks it as a 'quest'. I don't know how it creates the quests without my input, but it does."

"You make it sound like it's alive." She scoffed.

"For all I know, it might be. It seems to have a mind of it's own most of the time." This made Joy stare at the strange device with much more curiosity. Even Cat was looking at it, seeming to understand our conversation.

"I've never seen any Pip-Bucks do something like that before." She mentioned.

"I think it's unique to my Pip-Buck. Either way, I'm not complaining. This is probably one of the most useful tools in the wasteland."

"...You should probably stay away from Steel Rangers while wearing that." She warned.

"Trust me, I'm aware."



After dinner, we returned to Joy's room. Since we'd be traveling together, I would be rooming with her. Cat went over to one corner of the room and laid down, claiming that as his place to sleep.

"Normally, they have two soldiers share one room, right? What happened to the pony that used to sleep here with you?" I decided to ask her.

"She... she was one of the ponies on our team that got killed." She explained in a somber tone.

"Oh... sorry."

"She had just moved in, so I didn't know her very well, but... y'know." She looked down at the ground, before looking back at me, determination replacing the sadness in her eyes. "I'll just have to keep fighting for her. I won't let her sacrifice be in vain."

Honestly, it was impressive how quickly she bounced back from that. She seemed to have a knack for staying positive. Still, I could tell the atmosphere was still somber, so I wracked my brain for a way to lighten the mood before coming up with one.

"Hey, wanna see something cool?" She perked up at that before nodding her head. I got into a stance and summoned every ounce of energy in my body to make this work. This, of course, lead to me making some weird faces and grunts as I tried to focus all my effort into my horn.

"...Are you trying to force out a fart or something?"

"Just...hrrrgghhh... gimme a sec ...hrrrrrrrggghhh!"

*Pop!*

After plenty of effort, I managed to summon a flame on the tip of my horn. While it was indeed small, the size of the flame was at least slightly bigger than what a lighter would make. Joy stared at the flame in complete awe and wonder.

"H-How... How did you do that!?" She beamed.

Ah, there's that award-winning smile.

"A friend... taught me... how to do it." I managed to say. It was still taking a lot of concentration to keep the flame going, so it was hard to focus on talking, but I was doing it.

Raindrop would be proud.

...

"...Bunny?"

I stirred from my thoughts when Joy spoke up. I realized I'd lost focus and the flame had died out.

"Are you okay? You had this... look on your face-"

"I'm fine." I quickly answer. "So, uh... should we turn in?"

"Uh... yeah, sure." She looked at me with concern before trotting over to her bed. I climbed into the other bed and got under the covers. It felt nice to be sleeping in an actual bed for once. Perks of sleeping in a stable.

"...Was it about that nightmare you had this morning?" Joy asked, still concerned about me.

"... Something like that." I finally answer. "Sorry, it's just... personal."

"I understand. We all have our demons. If you ever feel like you need to talk about it, just remember I'm here for you, ok?"

"Yeah, thanks."

As I laid there, I thought more about Joy. I could understand why Strict Morale gave her that name. There was just something about her that made you feel happy. A sort of child-like innocence. She wasn't completely innocent, of course. She knew about death and killing, and has probably had to kill ponies herself. But despite all the sadness and pain, she keeps trying to find a way to be positive, and that positivity spreads to others. It was a good trait to have. I felt a little guilty for acting like a jerk to her when the General made us partners. She was a nice pony, and didn't deserve that. Either way, I think I was starting to feel better about having her with us.

I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.

I had a feeling I would sleep well tonight.
> Chapter 7: Going All In
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


7 Years Ago

Raindrop and I were officially teenagers. It was around then that... things started to happen. I kept getting a weird, warm feeling inside me whenever I was around Raindrop, and my voice started to get deeper. I asked Raindrop if she was experiencing anything similar, and she said that her crotch started bleeding randomly. We both agreed to ask the others about it at dinner. Their reactions weren't what we expected.

Crutch had frozen in place mid-chew, Crimson spit out his drink, Nazira's face turned red, and Haybale nearly choked on his food. The two of us were very confused, to say the least.

It was then that Haybale decided to give us... the talk.

As in the "Birds and the Bees" talk.

It was a very educational Tuesday, I'll tell you that much.

A couple days later, we were in the Cave of Awesomeness, taking turns using the makeshift shooting range. I was using my BB gun while Raindrop shot fireballs from her horn. I watched in awe as the blue flames effortlessly sprouted from her horn and incinerated the cans we used as targets. When she finished, she gave a satisfied smirk.

"Looks like I beat your record, Sir Bunny. You'll need to do better than that if you wish to keep your title as a knight." She taunted, and I feigned a gasp.

"You dare challenge my good name!? You shall regret your words, Princess Raindrop, for you underestimate the pride and determination of a noble and honorable knight such as myself!"

If you're wondering why we're talking like this, it's because of the stories Haybale had read to Raindrop when she was a kid. The stories would always have knights, wizards, warriors, and heroes going on adventures to defeat evil. She fell in love with those stories pretty quickly, and always dreamed of going on an adventure herself. It's why she likes to explore a lot and find new things to do. It kind of rubbed off onto me. Even though we might've been a bit old for it, we still found it fun.

I stepped up and took aim at the cans, knocking them down one by one. I was feeling confident that I could beat the new record she set.

I did not manage to do so.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Raindrop struggling not to laugh, and failing spectacularly.

"... Not. A. Word." Despite me saying that, she ignored me.

"PFFFFTT! All that big talk, and you still lost! HA HA HA HA!!!" The sky blue pony laughed.

"Hey, it's not my fault I've only got one eye! Plus, your magic is way overpowered!" I continued to make excuses.

"Oh c'mon, don't be a sore loser!" She smiled at me. A beat passed, then she got that look on her face when she gets an idea.

"You think my magic is overpowered?" She asked.

"Uh, you can literally set stuff on fire! Of course it's overpowered!"

"Hmm... okay then. How about I teach you how to do it?"

"Uh, pardon?" I looked at her, thinking I'd misheard her.

"I don't think you could do it as well as me, especially not right off the bat, but you could try to at create a small flame."

I didn't see a reason as to why I shouldn't try it. I thought it would be really cool if I could make fire like she could. Giving her a nod, she began to teach me how to create fire.



"You look like your trying to force out a fart!" Raindrop snickered. Since it was taking my full concentration to try and cast the spell to summon the flame, I resisted the urge to say something snarky in response.

I'd been trying for about half an hour now, and I still had yet to ignite a flame on my horn. My face twisted and contorted as I tried to focus everything I had.

"Come on, you can do it! Just a little more!" She cheered me on.

I was beginning to lose hope when suddenly, I felt it. A sudden warmth on my head. I looked up at my horn to see that I had finally managed to summon a flame, though it was pretty tiny. A smile graced both our faces.

"You did it! You did it!" Raindrop exclaimed, practically jumping with joy. The light from the flame, though small, still managed to illuminate her. Her gorgeous green eyes sparkled as she stared into the light, and she had the most beautiful smile on her face. The warm feeling I usually got when I was around her returned.

I may not have understood the feeling yet, but I would eventually.

I was in love with Raindrop.




Present Day

"Cat, stop moving around so much!"

It was the next morning. We had already started making our way towards Alleyville, and had stopped to take a quick break after a couple hours of walking. Once we did, Joy took out a sketch pad and pencil and started drawing a picture of Cat. Unfortunately, the canine wouldn't sit still long enough for her to finish.

I had asked earlier what her cutie mark meant, and apparently she's really good when it comes to sketching. She even showed me a few drawings, and they were pretty damn good. Not the most useful skill in the wasteland, but it's a nice hobby. It also explained the papers and colored pencils on her desk back at the stable.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, I did not sleep well last night. I had a nightmare where I saw Raindrop summoning a flame from her horn. The flame ended up growing too big and spreading to her whole body, burning her alive. I knew it wasn't possible for that to happen, but the sight still horrified me and caused me to wake up screaming.

"Come on! Please? Just for a little bit!" Joy pleaded with Cat to stay still. He was having none of it. I couldn't help but chuckle at the sight as I watched from the sidelines, taking a sip from my canteen.

"Forget it. I'll just try again later." She sighed in defeat after a few more failed attempts at convincing.

"Ready to get back to it?" I asked as I put my canteen away.

"Yeah, sure." She slipped the sketch pad and pencil into her saddlebag, and we were quickly on the road again.

"I've never actually been to Alleyville. Have you, sir?" The mint green mare asked, trotting beside me. I'd given up on asking her to not call me sir.

"Once, a long time ago." I answered.

"What's it like?"

"Well, it's not called Alleyville for nothing." I began to explain. "The town was built by settlers entirely from scratch a few decades ago. Unfortunately, they weren't exactly stellar architects, so they ended up building all the buildings too close to one another. Because of that, all the streets are about as narrow as a normal alleyway. As for the actual alleyways, you'd need to be flat as paper to squeeze through 'em."

"That sounds like it could get crowded easily." She commented.

"Yeah, but it's actually not that crowded, at least it wasn't when I went there.  There was a crowd, but it was rather sparse. If I remember correctly, it was also a pretty lawless and seedy place. Plenty of thugs, brutes, drug dealers, prostitutes, shady types, and danger around every corner. I doubt it's changed since then, so we'll probably have a better chance of finding our spy when night comes."

"We have to wait until night!? Why'd we leave so early then!?" She whined.

"Um, aren't you in the military? Waking up early is pretty normal for you, so I don't think you should be complaining about it." In response, she made that cute pouty face. I laughed, which made her pout even more.

"Just because I said we'd have a better chance at night doesn't mean we can't still look for information while it's light out. It's just that the shadier stuff happens around that time. Besides, if we do have to wait, I'm sure Alleyville will have enough entertainment to kill time." I reassured her.

"What do mean 'entertainment'? Didn't you say this place was dangerous?"

"Exactly."



Alleyville was surrounded by a tall fence made of metal sheets that were hammered and welded together. Instead of a gate for an entrance, the town had a regular sized door with a sign above it that said "Alleyville". We walked up to the door and I gave it a knock. A small window on the door slid open and a pair of eyes peered through.

"Whaddya want?" A gruff voice came from the other side.

"Oh, y'know, we just thought it'd be fun to knock on the entrance for no reason." I responded sarcastically.

"Tch. Entry fee is 10 caps each."

I reached into my saddlebag for the caps, seeing the couple hundred caps that had been given to me. On my way out of Stable 54, the General had sent a soldier to give me some extra caps that we might need for the mission. Adding that to the caps I already had, I now had 288 caps in total. Well, 268 now that I have to pay the entry fee. A small slot below the window opened up and I passed the caps through.

"The dog, too."

I sighed and forked over another 10 caps, bringing my total down to 258. After a few seconds, the sound of metal latches being removed came from behind the door before it opened.

Just as I had said earlier, the streets were all as narrow as alleyways. The buildings lining the streets were all close together, practically touching each other if they weren't already. Like the fence surrounding the town, the buildings were all made of any metal they could find. Most of the buildings were homes and apartments, with the occasional small bar and a couple of whore houses, neon signs hanging above each. Most of the shops could be found in the center of town, where the streets were a bit more spacious, but not by much.

Ponies walked the streets, as well as a few griffons. Everypony was tense and alert, expecting a stranger to rob them or stick a knife into their chest. Given the close proximity, it wouldn't be hard to do.

"Ok, so, where do we start, sir?" Joy looked to me for guidance.

"I dunno." I simply shrugged.

"You don't know? I thought you said you'd been here before!"

"Yeah, when I was a kid. I wasn't even allowed in most of these places. I'm just as lost as you are." Thinking about it, I probably should have mentioned that earlier. "Welp, let's get exploring, shall we?"

"Ok, this is fine. We're just... wandering around a lawless town filled with thieves, killers, and rapists and have absolutely no direction. We'll be fine! Totally fine..." The mare with the long mane tried to stay positive. She then realized that while she was doing so, Cat and I had already started walking. She quickly sprinted after us.

"HEY, WAIT FOR ME!!!"



Unfortunately, we found no information about the spy. To pass the time, we browsed the shops around town. I sold most of the junk I collected while I travelled, all except for some tin cans and scrap metal. I used those to craft more ammo at a reloading bench that was free to use. I made back the 30 caps I paid to enter and then some, bringing my total up to 306 caps.

I found a weapons shop that I had been interested in checking out, but we had to leave after Cat peed on the owner's leg. I spared a glance back at the weapons for sale as we left, and saw that they were actually in terrible condition, but those with the untrained eye wouldn't be able to notice. I wonder if Cat had intentionally saved us from getting scammed.

We passed by a recruiter for one of the brothels, and he thought Joy looked pretty cute, so he asked if she was looking for work. He kept nagging her despite her protests, so I had to step in. He said he'd leave us alone if we paid him a few caps. I made a counter offer by decking him in the face, knocking him out cold.

Next, we stopped by a clothing store. I wasn't interested in buying any clothes, but there was one thing I wanted. Unfortunately, they didn't have it.

Seriously, how hard is it to find an eyepatch!?

As night finally approached, we stopped outside of a bar called the Ace of Hearts. A red neon sign with the bar's name sat above the saloon style door. A buck wearing a fedora stood next to it, acting as a bouncer. Peering inside, I could see plenty of tough and scruffy looking ponies. Some of them had scars, and some of them wore armor. They were all drinking, chatting, hoof wrestling, and some were playing darts in the back. Their were a couple lewdly-dressed mares serving drinks to the ponies sat at tables. The air was filled with smoke from the many cigars and cigarettes the patrons were smoking. I stepped back as a pair of stallions that had been brawling tumbled out through the door, continuing to pummel each other in the street.

This is exactly the kind of place we were looking for.

I gestured for Cat and Joy to follow me and opened the double swinging doors. As soon as I did the whole bar quieted down as they all turned to look at me. Everypony in the bar seemed to be sizing us up, seeing just how tough we were. Some of them seemed to recognize me, or at least my brand, probably having heard DJ Pon3's broadcast. Being in the spotlight made me a little uncomfortable, but I kept a neutral expression on my face the entire time. After a bit, the patrons all went back to what they were doing as sound returned to the bar.

"Well, you must be the Branded Ranger. Pleasure to meet you." I turned to face the voice and-

Holy balls, she's hot!

In front of me was a sexy, cream colored unicorn with a dark brown mane styled in a sleek and glamorous updo. She looked at us with lilac eyes, her long eyelashes fluttering when she blinked. A playful smile was spread across her face and she chuckled.

"Like what you see, you two?" She spoke in a sultry voice.

I blinked when I realized I had been staring. To my right, Joy had also been staring, a blush present on her face.

"The view's free, but if you want a little extra, you'll have to pay for it." She said, getting a bit closer to us. I was starting to feel very warm all of a sudden. I could her Joy on my right, sputtering and struggling to find the words to speak.

"Oh, where are my manners? I'm Vanilla Heart. I help the owner run this fine establishment. How can I help you?" The mare finally introduced herself. I coughed and regained my composure.

"Some information would be nice. Know where we can get that?"

"You'll want to speak to Pokerface about that. He's the owner. Just ask the bartender about it and he'll fetch him for you." With that, she turned and sashayed away.

Damn, what a mare.

I turned to Joy and saw that her mouth was agape and her face beet red. Her eyes continued to follow Vanilla. In order to re-establish my own confidence, I decided to be a jerk and tease her.

"She's pretty cute, huh?" I whispered in her ear.

"W-WHAT!? I- uh, I wasn't staring!" She stammered.

"Uh huh, sure you weren't. How about you two wait here while I go get the info?"

She nodded, eyeing the thuggish looking patrons. I told Cat to keep an eye on her and made my way to the bar. From what Vanilla had said, it seemed that this bar dealt in information pretty regularly. That meant we had a good chance of finding what we needed.

I found a free stool and sat down. I ordered a whiskey and asked the bartender about the owner. He went into the back to fetch him while I enjoyed my drink. After a bit, he came back with a stallion, who I assumed was Pokerface. He was a pale yellow pony with a long orange mane tied back into a small ponytail, and a small goatee for facial hair.

"Well, would you look at that! The San Palomino's latest good samaritan strolled into my bar requiring my services! How can ol' Pokerface help you today?" He said, resting his hooves on the bar.

"I'm looking for somepony. Rumor has it there's a spy from the Martyrs of Despair around town. Know where I can find them?"

He stroked his beard in thought before answering. "Yeah, I've got some idea where you might find them. Of course, we don't provide that kind of info for free. You want it, it's gonna cost you. I'd say that particular bit of gossip is worth about 1,000 caps."

I choked on my drink.

1,000 caps!? Is he nuts!? I've only got about 300!!!

"Now, I understand if you don't have that kind of money right now..." Pokerface continued, leaning closer to me. "So I might have a few ways for you to earn those caps."

"...I'm listening." I leaned in, having recovered from choking.

Before he could tell me, our attention, as well as the rest of the bar's, was drawn to the sound of two ponies, one of which was Joy.

The other was a stallion getting closer to her than he should be.

"Leave me alone!" She yelled at him.

"Aw, c'mon babe, don't be like that." The deadbeat slurred, clearly drunk. "You know you want me."

"No, I don't. Now back off!"

The drunk ignored her and placed a hoof on her shoulder. Cat growled at him, and I was about to step in, only to see I didn't need to. The second he laid his hoof on her, Joy grabbed it, twisted it, then tossed the stallion (who was much larger than her, by the way), right over her shoulder, then pinned him to the ground.

Holy shit!

"Agh! Y-You little bitch!" He cursed at her.

"Alright, alright, break it up." Vanilla emerged from the crowd to intervene. "Rusty, how many times have we told you to keep your hooves to yourself?" The gorgeous mare asked, leaning down to the stallion's level.

"W-What, I'm not allowed to have a little fun!?" He winced from the pain of having his hoof wrenched behind his back.

"Now Rusty..." Vanilla's horn glowed and a magical aura wrapped around the stallion's junk. The stallion's face grew pale as she squeezed. "You know that's not what I wanted to hear."

"A-Alright! Alright! I get the message!" He cried before Vanilla released her magical grip.

"Now was that so hard?" Vanilla gave Joy a nod and the mint green mare released him. The stallion limped out of the bar and soon the chatter amongst the patrons resumed.

"...Mares can be pretty scary sometimes, huh?" Pokerface spoke up.

"Y-Yeah, they sure can." I responded, still a little surprised by Joy's sudden display of strength. Then again, her dad said she was an expert in hoof to hoof, and she did get the jump on me when we first met. "So, uh, where were we?"

"Ah, right. So, there's a few... 'chores' I need done. A few debt collections, maybe beat up a guy or two, and you'll eventually have earned enough to afford the tip."

I wasn't a fan of doing dirty work, to be honest, but it wasn't like I hadn't done it before. I could handle those 'chores' of his easily.

"Or, if you'd rather not get your hooves dirty, you have a second option. We occasionally hold a poker game in the back after midnight. If you're willing, you could join in. Of course, you might lose the money you already have, but that's the risk that comes with gambling."

Joining in on his poker game sounded much more interesting, but it would be far easier and less risky to just do the job he offered. I sat there and thought about it for longer than I should have. It should've been an easy choice, right?

Come on, me, don't be stupid. Just do the work and earn the pay. Don't risk all your money for a little entertainme-

"Sure, I'll join your poker game."

"Alright! I'll make the necessary arrangements. Just hang out here until it's time. I'll send someone to get you." He said before he turned and left. I took another swig from my drink and made myself comfortable. My brain had only one thing to say to me.

I really hate you, me.



I told Joy about my plan and, understandably, she thought I was crazy. Unfortunately, I was the one holding the money, so there wasn't anything she could do about it. While we waited, we played some darts until it was time for the game. Since it was already late, and the game would probably last a while, I rented a couple rooms for me, Joy, and Cat to stay in. A muscular guy in a fedora lead me into the back along with three other ponies, two mares and a stallion. One of the mares wore a cowpony hat, and the other was a ghoul. The stallion had a cocky grin on his face. I'm guessing these three were my competition.

We were lead into a small room with a single poker table in the center, Pokerface already sitting at it. Vanilla stood off to the side next to a much smaller table with 4 different bottles of wine sitting on it. Another thug in a fedora stood by the door, acting as a bouncer. A single light hanging from the ceiling shone down on the poker table. The rest of the room was pretty dark. Pokerface waved for us to take a seat, and so we did. I sat across from our host, the mare sat on my right, the stallion sat on my left, and the ghoul on his left.

"Alright, let's go over the rules real quick." Pokerface began. "We each get dealt two cards. If somepony bets, you have to either match it or fold. If you don't have enough to match their bet, you can go all in or fold. Small blind is 10 caps, big blind is 20. Standard hand and chip values, Aces high, no wild cards. No whining if you lose, or you'll be kicked out. Need me to repeat something, or does everypony got it?"

We all gave a round of nods.

"Alright, then. I'll deal first, then we go clockwise from where I'm sitting. Without further ado, let's ante up."

The two grunts in fedoras stood by the door while Vanilla stood by with her drinks, ensuring no pony was cheating. The mare was given the small blind and I was given the big blind, leaving 30 caps in the pot. Pokerface dealt the cards out to everypony, and I looked at my hand. A Jack of clubs and a five of hearts. Not a terrible hand to start off with.

Pokerface dealt the Flop, a seven of diamonds, a five of diamonds, and a two of clubs. I had a pair now, so my chances were looking okay so far. Not worth raising just yet, though. I checked, and so did everypony else. Pokerface dealt the Turn, which was a Jack of spades.

"Call." I said once it was my turn. I tossed two blue poker chips into the pot, keeping a stoic expression on my face. Behind me, I could hear Vanilla gulping down her drink. The stallion on my left eyed me before smirking. He called, adding two more blue chips to the pot. The ghoul thought for a second before folding. Pokerface and the mare did the same. Pokerface dealt the River, a nine of hearts. The stallion and I both checked, and we revealed our cards. He had a seven of clubs and a Queen of hearts. I didn't blame him for not folding, but he still lost. I pulled the pot of 70 caps towards me as his smirk faded.

Alright, doing good so far.

"I'll be winning that back, so don't get to comfy." He said. I didn't respond and just focused on the game. We kept playing like normal for about a dozen more rounds. Vanilla finished one of the bottles she'd been drinking, and had one of the bouncers fetch another one. I didn't know why she didn't just finish off the other three bottles before getting a new one, but I was too focused on the game to care. Counting the caps I earned in the first round, I'd profited about 180 caps, and my total was now 483. Slowly but surely, I was making progress.

As we played, it became clear that the stallion was incredibly cocky and not thinking at all. Because I was winning the most out of everypony here, he was starting to not like me. The stallion slammed his hooves on the table after losing another round to me.

"This guy's gotta be cheating! How can he be winning so much!?" He growled.

"Whoa, buddy, relax. It's not like I've been doing nothing but winning. I lost a few rounds, too." I tried to calm him down. He wasn't listening.

"You've gotta have some sort of trick! What is it!? Tell me!" He started yelling.

"Look kid, no one's cheating." The ghoul chimed in. "You just got unlucky, that's all."

"EXCUSE ME!?" He raised his hoof to strike the ghoul. I was ready to leap out of my seat to stop him before he could, but one of the bouncers stopped him first. They ended up having to drag him out of the room and throw him out of the bar.

"Huh... well that was exciting. Anyhoo, Who's dealing next?" Pokerface's focus quickly returned to the game, as if it had never happened.

The ghoul, the mare and I all looked at each other before resuming the game.

One down, three left.



Three hours had passed since we started playing. The minimum bet had eventually raised from 20 caps to 50. The ghoul and the mare had to drop out before they lost too much money, leaving only me and Pokerface at the table. I was now at 902 caps. Pokerface was at 2,137. I'm sure that wasn't his entire life savings, but this was the money he was using for gambling. Vanilla had gone through several bottles of alcohol at this point. I'm surprised she didn't die of alcohol poisoning already.

I had no idea how Pokerface was so damn good at poker. Well, other than his name, of course. He always seemed to know when I was bluffing, and always folded at the right times when I wasn't. Thinking about it, I realized Pokerface hadn't bluffed the entire game. I thought back to every time he folded or raised a bet. It was as if he knew whether I had a good hand or not, like he knew exactly what cards I had. It was almost as if-

...

...Oh, you motherfuckers.

I slowly turned around in my seat to face Vanilla, who was standing behind me, and gave her a deadpan look.

"Something wrong?" She said sweetly, flashing an innocent smile.

"...No. Nothing at all." I said before turning back to the game. I had a hunch, and I had a good feeling that it was right.

I was next to deal, so I dealt two cards to Pokerface, then myself. I quickly looked my cards over, a six of clubs and a four of spades, then listened closely to Vanilla while keeping my eyes on the cards. I heard her take six gulps before there was a pause, which I assumed was her switching bottles, then four more gulps.

I knew it.

They were cheating.

The entire game, Vanilla had a clear view of my cards. She would signal Pokerface by using the bottles of alcohol. She had four bottles at a time, one for each suit. Hearts, Diamonds, Spades, and Clubs. The number of gulps she took from a bottle was the number on the card. I don't know why they targeted me specifically instead of everypony else. Maybe Pokerface invited them because he knew they were bad at poker. Either way, I was in trouble.

I couldn't just call him out on it. Everypony in this room was probably in on it and they would just throw me out. No, I knew tattling was a stupid idea.

So instead, I went with a very stupid idea.

I folded and waited for Pokerface to deal us new hands. He lifted his cards and looked them over.

I, however, did not, and left them face down on the table.

"Uh... you gonna look at your cards, kid?" He asked.

"Nope. Figured I'd let Lady Luck decide this one." I said, leaning back into my seat. If Pokerface didn't realize I was onto him before, he sure as hell did now. He had a look in his eye, but I couldn't tell what it was. Anger? Skepticism? Curiosity? All of the above? Who knows.

"...Call." He spoke hesitantly before placing two green chips into the pot.

Okay, me, this is a huge gamble you're making, but we don't have a choice. Don't make it riskier than it already is. Just raise the bet to 100 caps, that's all you need. Don't do something stupid like-

"All in." I pushed all my chips into the pot, raising the bet to 902.

YOU FUCKING MORON!!!

Pokerface stared at me, questioning my sanity. I could feel the stares from Vanilla and the bouncers doing the same. I was questioning it right alongside them.

"... Alright, kid. I'll play along." He added the chips, matching my bet. Guess he was curious to see if my insanity would pay off. He dealt the community cards, laying them out on the table. A Queen of hearts, an Ace of diamonds, a Queen of spades, a six of hearts, and an Ace of clubs. Pokerface laid his cards on the table, a Queen of clubs and a Queen of diamonds. Four of a kind.

"Moment of truth, kid. Let's see what you got." He gestured for me to show my cards. Slowly and nervously, I flipped the cards over.

I couldn't believe my remaining eye.

An Ace of hearts and an Ace of spades.

I just barely beat his four of a kind with my own.

I had won.

"...Holy shit, that worked." I didn't mean to say that out loud, but it didn't make a difference. Pokerface went bug eyed. We all stared in shock and silence at the winning hand for about 10 seconds.

...

I have no idea why, but being the idiot I am, I decided to rub it in their faces. Without taking my eyes off Pokerface, I grabbed a bit of the money from the pot.

"For the first purchase with my recent winnings," I passed the money to Vanilla while keeping my eyes on Pokerface. "I'd like whatever she's having. Sounds like she's enjoying it."

They all stared at me in shock. I didn't blame them. Pokerface seemed like the kind of pony with connections. Connections that he could have make me disappear if I pissed him off. Yet here I was, not only screwing him over at his own game, but also rubbing it in his face.

"...Heh..."

Pokerface started chuckling. His chuckling soon devolved into immense laughter.

"HA HA HA HA HA!!! Holy shit, kid! You are fuckin' ballsy! I knew I had a good feeling about you!"

Huh?

"You're really growing on me, you know that? You said you wanted a drink? Consider it on the house!"

"...You're not mad?" I asked hesitantly.

"Eh, I'm a little peeved, sure, but I was doing this for excitement, not money, and that was pretty damn exciting!" He grinned. "How about you wait at the bar. I'll have Vanilla get you something."

I did as he said, still not sure if this was just an act, and left the back room. I made my way back to the bar and sat on a stool. There weren't any other patrons around since the bar had closed by now. Vanilla soon came from the back with a glass and a bottle of wine.

"You sure that's not poisoned?" I asked as she poured it into the glass.

"Relax, he already said he likes you." She passed me the glass and I stared at it, wondering just how truthful she was being.

...Ah fuck it, I'm thirsty.

I downed the glass in one and licked my lips. It was pretty good, not gonna lie. I took another look at Vanilla and saw she wasn't even slightly tipsy, which was a miracle, considering she'd been chugging booze for the past 3 hours.

"By the way, how the hell do you not seem the least bit drunk?" I questioned her. She showed me her cutie mark, which was two bottles, one wine and the other whiskey.

"I have a very high tolerance for alcohol." She left me alone after that. I stared into the empty glass. It was late, so I'd talk to Pokerface about the information in the morning. For now though, I seemed to have amassed quite a few caps.

Lucky me.
> Chapter 8: A Scar That Won't Heal
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


7 Years Ago

"Is something wrong?" I asked Raindrop.

"Huh? Oh, no, it's nothing." She said, though going by her voice, it clearly wasn't nothing.

I had been reading in the barn when Raindrop came in. I said hello to her, and she just looked at me, her eyes filled with sadness and what I think might have been sympathy.

"You know you can talk to me, right?" I placed the book I was reading down. She stared at the ground, thinking about what to say before the words finally came to her.

"Dad... thought I was old enough to know the truth... about where you came from. He showed me that journal entry you had with you when you first came here."

Oh... that.

"Is that why you have... that?" She pointed to my brand. After a few seconds, I nodded.

"Bunny, I... I'm so sorry." I could see tears starting to well up in her eyes.

"Hey, hey, don't worry about it. It's in the past." I got up from the bale of hay I was sitting on and approached her. "You don't have to worry about me. I'm okay now."

She wiped away her tears, her eyes still red and puffy. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. I just... I just want to forget it happened and move on."

She gave me a weak smile before hugging me. "I'll always be here if you need me. I promise."

"Thank you." I hugged her back.

"Hey, what are friends for, right?" She chuckled.

"...Right."

Friends.

That's what we were.

That's all we ever will be.

Nothing more, nothing less.




6 Years Ago

Another year passed on the ranch, and Raindrop came up with a proposal that I thought was completely insane.

"YOU WANT US TO LEAVE THE RANCH!?" My words echoed off the walls of the Cave of Awesomeness.

"Hey, it's not like we're leaving forever, just for a bit. And we're not going alone, we'll have Crimson with us. C'mon, it'll be fun! It'll be like we're on an adventure!"

Crimson was planning to head to a nearby town called Alleyville to sell some meat and do a bit of shopping, so Raindrop jumped at the chance to do something exciting. Apparently, she wanted to drag me along as well. I'd never even considered setting hoof outside the ranch, not counting the Cave of Awesomeness. This would be a first for me. The thought of doing so always seemed scary to me, since the only other place outside of the ranch I'd been to was my old home.

"Please? This'll be your first time going somewhere outside the ranch! We'll have fun, I promise!" She got closer to me. Very close.

"...Okay, fine." I finally gave in.

"YES! This is so exciting! Come on, let's go!" She grabbed me by the hoof and pulled me towards the exit.

Guess we're going on a field trip.



"Now this place ain't exactly for ponies as young as yourselves, so ya gotta stay close to me, ya hear?" Crimson said as we walked through the town's entrance. Raindrop and I both nodded, taking his words seriously. Considering he was armed and ready with his battle saddle carrying two hunting rifles, we could tell he wasn't joking around.

I didn't see anything wrong with the streets of Alleyville being so cramped since I didn't have anything to compare it to. Like Raindrop said, this was the first town I'd ever visited. Plenty of people gave us weird looks as we passed by. Raindrop kept looking around in awe while I was a little on edge. I had never seen so many ponies in one place before. It was making me really uncomfortable and I didn't know why.

We saw a building with a neon sign above it that said Ace of Hearts. Crimson said it was called a "bar", and ponies would go there to get drinks. A tough looking stallion in a fedora told us kids weren't allowed, so we had to move on.

We passed by a pony who was recruiting other ponies to work at what Crimson called a "brothel". He didn't elaborate further. The pony asked Raindrop if she wanted to join, and also said she was quite easy on the eyes. He got close to her, too close. Then he licked his lips.

He ran off screaming when she set his ass on fire.

We made our way to the center of town, where most of the shops were. We waited outside one of the stores while Crimson did some bartering inside. I watched the crowds nervously. I still had no idea why it was making me so uncomfortable.

"Is everything okay? You seem tense." Raindrop's voice made me jump. I didn't even realize just how on edge I was. She was giving me a look of concern.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine. Just not used to seeing so many ponies in one place." I flashed her a smile that was obviously fake.

"...I'm sorry, I shouldn't have pushed you to come along."

"N-No, it's fine! Really, I'm fine."

She put a hoof on her chin before getting an idea. "How about we play a game?"

"Huh?" I looked at her, confused.

"I'll point to somepony in the crowd, and we come up with a backstory for them. For example..." She pointed to a single pony in the crowd, a tan stallion decked out in leather armor. He was currently bartering at a stand that sold weapons.

"He is a... bounty hunter." She decided before continuing with her made-up story. "He's been hunting for a specific pony for a while now, and they've had several encounters, but his target manages to slip away each time. He's looking for his target here in Alleyville, and he believes that this will be the one where he finally catches them."

"...And one of those encounters resulted in him getting shot in the butt?" I added, and she threw up an eyebrow. I pointed to a scar I noticed on the supposed bounty hunter's rump, an old bullet wound smack dab in the middle of his left cheek. Raindrop burst out laughing.

"Yeah, I guess so!" After recovering from her laughter, she scanned the crowd for another pony. Soon, her eyes fell on a mare wearing a straw hat. She seemed to be looking at each of the building's signs closely, probably searching for one in particular.

"Okay, she is... looking for her long lost special somepony. They were living a happy life together before tragedy struck, and they were forced to separate. Now, years later, she's finally tracked them down. She knows they're somewhere in town, running one of the stores, and now she's looking for it, hoping to finally reunite with her loved one."

"Okay then, what was the tragedy that separated them?" I asked.

"I dunno." She shrugged.

"..."

We came up with stories for a few more faces in the crowd. The chances of these stories being true were very slim, but for all we knew, they could be. Everypony has a story to tell.

"Well, lookie what we have here. You kids lost?"

A rather large and buff looking pony approached us. He was a mahogany colored pony with a small mohawk on his head and a soul patch on his chin. The scar of a claw mark ran across his eye. He had a predatory smile on his face.

"No, we're fine, thanks." Raindrop told him, clearly skeptical. I was too, this guy clearly screamed suspicious.

"Aw, come on, no need to be hostile. You never know what kind of... unsavory ponies might be lurking about. I'm just looking out for a couple of poor, defenseless children. Especially one as pretty as you." He directed his gaze towards Raindrop. For some reason, seeing the way he eyed her took away any fear I had. Now I was just angry.

"Oh yeah?" She said before her horn was engulfed in a flame. "How's this for defenseless?" It wasn't the biggest flame I'd seen her make, but it was enough to intimidate someone. Not the pony in front of us, apparently, since the smirk had yet to leave his face.

"Ooh, neat trick! Any other party tricks you want to share?" He said sarcastically. Raindrop grew angrier and the flame increased in size.

"Hmm, you're quite the dangerous little flamethrower, aren't you?" He studied her like he was appraising a gem. I'd officially had enough. I don't know where it came from, but I felt a sudden surge of rage build up inside me.

"Back off, Jackass. Go back to whatever shithole you crawled out of." I growled. He got up in my face, glaring at me.

"You'd better watch your tongue, kid, or you might find it cut out." He snarled.

"Is that supposed to be intimidating? Buddy, I know a pony who had a smile that was scarier than the look you're giving me. All your doing is pissing me off."

"You little-!"

He didn't finish his sentence when the barrel of a gun was pressed against the back of his skull.

"Ah'm only gonna say this once." Crimson said from behind him. "Leave. Now."

The creep slowly backed away from me, still glaring as I flashed him my own cocky grin.

"Haywire!" Another voice from the crowd caught all of our attention. We turned to see a mare stomping over, looking furious.

She was a smoky grey earth pony with a navy blue mane tied back into a long, messy ponytail. She seemed to be an Irish Cob, given the feathering around her hooves. An olive green fiddler cap sat on top of her head. She looked like she was only a couple years older than Raindrop and I.

"Wha' the hell are ye doin', causin' a scene!?" She also seemed to have an Irish accent. "Let's go, 'fore ye make even more of an arse out o' yerself."

'Haywire' looked between me and the mare. He gave one final grunt before he followed her back into the crowd. Anypony that had stopped to watch had resumed whatever they were doing.

"You two awright?" Crimson asked.

"Yeah, we're good. Bunny was rather brave just now. Quite unusual for him." Raindrop wrapped a hoof around me and smirked. I couldn't help but blush.

"I-I was just standing up for you, that's all." I replied.

"Aww, my hero." She chuckled.

"Awright, I reckon it's time we head back. Ah've finished what ah needed t' do." With that, Crimson began to lead us back to the entrance. I couldn't help but look back in the direction of where the two strangers had gone.

There was a feeling in me that I couldn't shake away.




Present Day

My head hurt.

It was the next morning, and I had woken up in one of the rooms I rented. Cat had already taken the bed, snuggled up next to his toy cat, so I ended up sleeping on the floor. I honestly didn't mind. Joy had her own room, so she wasn't in here. I remember stripping off my spaulder and saddlebags, surprisingly exhausted. I saw Cat asleep in the bed, so I crawled onto the floor then passed out almost immediately. As for why I woke up with a pounding headache, I had no idea. I didn't have that much to drink last night, just the two drinks before and after the poker game. Not nearly enough for a hangover.

I noticed a note had been left on the floor next to me. I levitated it over to me and saw that it was from Pokerface, so I began reading.

Hey kid, I just wanted to thank you for joining us last night. Having you really spiced things up! You probably woke up feeling like shit, and I just wanted to say that was my doing. I know I said I didn't mind losing, and I really didn't mind all that much, but I was just a tiny bit peeved about losing a shit ton of money like that, so I had Vanilla slip a roofie into your drink. Consider it my payback.

Well, that explained the headache. Thankfully, he was acting like he was getting back at me for a prank rather than for screwing him out of almost a thousand caps, so I probably won't end up dead in a ditch somewhere.

I'd like to play another game sometime, though next time their won't be any cheating. I wanna see how well you play when it's fair and square. Just remember, you're always welcome in my bar. As for the info you wanted, I wrote it down on another note that I gave to Vanilla. I've got some other business to take care of, so I won't be there. Just give her the payment and she'll pass it on.

-Pokerface

I left the note on the dresser next to the bed and slowly stood up, still feeling groggy. The floorboards creaked underneath my hooves and stirred Cat from his sleep.

"Morning, boy." I greeted him and he barked in response. I put on my spaulder, then levitated my weapons out of my saddlebags and onto the bed, double checking my arsenal. My 10mm pistol, hunting rifle, single barrel shotgun, 5.56 assault rifle, and serrated machete. Everything seemed to be in good condition.

Remember how my cutie mark was for fixing weapons? Well, I had eventually learned a spell that let's me see the inner workings of any gun, kind of like an x-ray. If there was a problem with a gun, I wouldn't have to disassemble the whole thing just to see what was wrong. Just cast the spell, and I'd know instantly. If it was just a part being slightly out of place, I could just push it back to where it was with levitation without having to take it apart. The spell made weapon repairs quick and easy for me.

It was especially convenient when I had a headache and didn't feel like taking forever to check my weapons.

Once I was finished, I slipped everything back into my saddlebags and put it on. Cat carried over his toy and I placed it in the bag as well. He followed me as I exited the room and made my way downstairs, clinging to my head. I saw Joy and Vanilla chatting and sharing jokes by the bar. The only other patrons were two other ponies sitting at tables eating breakfast.

Doesn't surprise me that this place is only lively at night.

Vanilla was the first to notice me approaching. "Oh, good morning, sleepyhead. How are you feeling?" She said, a playful smile spread across her face. I merely grunted in response, taking a seat on a stool next to them. I rested my head down onto the bar, hoping it would ease the pain. It didn't.

"Wow, you weren't kidding about the roofie." Joy told her. Guess she'd already been filled in on last night's events. I pulled out the necessary amount of caps and slid them over to Vanilla.

"Pokerface said you had the info we need?" I groaned. She smirked and slid the note over to me. According to it, his sources spotted a suspicious pony in a cloak roaming around the far Southeast side of town. The cloak they're wearing is a normal one, not the kind the martyrs usually wear. Most noticeably, their eyes looked like that of an animal's. It seemed like this was our guy.

"Okay, Cat and I will go check it out." I looked at Joy when I said it.

"What about me?" She asked.

"You two seemed to be getting along. I don't want to ruin that for you." I told her, causing her to blush.

"N-No, it's fine, I-I can come!" she stammered.

"Relax, it'll be fine. It's just the one guy, so you can enjoy yourself." I reassured her. She looked at me for a bit before bowing her head.

"T-Thank you, sir."

"No problem. We'll be back soon." With that, Cat and I exited the Ace of Hearts and made our way to the Southeast part of town.

Time to find this bastard.



The more we walked, the more the pain in my head began to subside. The entire time, Cat gave me looks of concern.

"Relax, I'm fine." I reassured him. It seemed to work, and eventually his looks of concern turned into those of annoyance. I had a feeling I knew why. He knew the reason I let Joy stay behind wasn't because I was being nice. I just wanted an excuse for it to be just the two of us, me and Cat.

"Look, it's not what you think, okay?" He continued to give me that damned look. A few ponies gave weird looks to the guy talking to a dog as they passed by.

"...Okay, maybe it is what you think, but so what? Like I said the other day, you and I are enough. We don't need anypony else. I don't have anything personal against Joy, I think she's really nice, in fact! I just don't want to wait for the inevitable to happen." I tried to make him see it from my point of view without giving too much about myself away.

If Cat could talk, the look he gave me told me his response would have been, "I get that you've had it rough, but you shouldn't think that just because something happened once doesn't mean it'll happen again."

If only he knew that it did, in fact, happen to me more than once.

After finally arriving at the Southeast end, I consulted with Cat about our game plan.

"Ok, you and I are going to split up and look for the spy. If you see him, you come get me, okay?" He gave a bark that I interpreted as a 'yes'. We went our separate ways and I began scanning the small crowd. It wasn't long before I spotted a pony wearing a cloak with the hood covering their face.

Gotcha.

I made my way over to them slowly while remaining inconspicuous. Blending in with the crowd, not directly looking at my target, things like that. Eventually, I got close enough to them and pulled the hood down, revealing their face.

It wasn't a martyr, though. It was just a normal mare.

"Hey! What the hell!?" She yelled at me.

"O-Oh, sorry! I thought you were somepony else!" I tried to apologize, but she just huffed and stormed off. Not off to a great start. I went back to blending in with the crowd, pretending to browse some vendors. After about twenty minutes, I eventually spotted another pony wearing a cloak. This time, I caught a glimpse of the eyes. They were definitely a martyr. I continued to feign browsing the stands while keeping them in the corner of my vision. Nothing I did should have tipped him off that I was watching him.

That's why I was surprised to see him bolt the second he laid eyes on me.

Damnit!

I galloped after him, dodging and weaving through the crowd. As I ran, I tried to figure out what had caused him to run from me. I hadn't done anything to give myself away. Was it my brand? Did he recognize it? Either way, I needed to catch up to him. I would have just shot him, but I didn't want to risk hitting somepony in the crowd.

The spy was fast. Very fast. The only pony I'd seen run that fast was the martyr I'd seen kill himself. I was having trouble catching up to him already without the crowd slowing me down. He rounded a corner, knocking over a stack of boxes to try and slow me down even more. I leapt over them and continued chasing, but I knew at this rate, I wasn't going to catch him. He rounded another corner and I quickly checked the map on my Pip-Buck to see if there was a route I could take to cut him off.

To my surprise and relief, the map said that he had just turned onto a dead end. Fully intent on tackling the spy and smashing his face in, I rounded the corner...

...and ran straight into the business end of a sledgehammer.

The spy had hit me right in the face and I fell to the ground. My vision was blurry, and I started to see double. I looked up at the spy when he started to speak. Thankfully, I could still understand him despite most likely having a mild concussion at best.

"The only reason you still breathe is because the Acting Supreme Chancellor wishes to see you, non-believer. You should be thankful." Just before he stomped on my face and knocked me out, two words echoed in my head.

Well, shit.



Everything was hazy, but I was beginning to regain consciousness. I had no idea where I was, but I was being dragged by two ponies, one on each side of me. They were holding me by my forehooves, my hind legs dragging in the dirt. My saddlebags had been taken away, along with everything in them. Thankfully, they weren't able to remove my Pip-Buck, so I still had it on me. Looking around, I could see we were in some sort of cavern or underground mine. The damp corridor they were carrying me through was dimly lit by torches and the occasional oil lantern.

I tried to struggle out of their grasp, only for the one on the right to hit me over the head with his hoof, and let me tell ya, he hit hard. I could feel my ears ringing from the impact, and I thought I was gonna black out again. It was enough to convince me to stop struggling. Their grip on me was pretty tight to begin with, so I don't think I had a chance of escaping either way.

Soon, we arrived at a pair of metal doors. Painted on the doors was the same creepy skull I saw graffitied all over Sunset Estates. One of the martyrs let go of me and went to open the doors. I figured I might have a better chance of getting free now that there was only one guard holding me. I was wrong, and received another hard punch to the back of the head for my trouble.

They lead me through the doors and into a larger space. There were candles strewn about, giving the room a dim lighting. A black, slimy substance stretched across the cavern walls and ceiling like webbing. I had no idea what it was or where it came from, but it looked absolutely disgusting. At the far end of the room was what looked like an altar and a throne made of bones. Martyrs knelt around the altar, and a stallion with a stern gaze sat in the throne.

Honestly, I was feeling pretty creeped out, so to make myself feel better, I chose to crack wise.

"Gotta say, I am loving the decor. Really adds to the whole 'Creepy Death Cult' thing you've got going on." I called to the pony in the throne as his goons dragged me towards him.

He was a wine red colored unicorn with a black, slicked back mane that was slightly graying. He was on the older side, but still looked fit and muscular. Other than being bloodshot, his bright red eyes were normal, unlike all the other martyrs. Even so, they felt even more ominous with the way he gazed at me. A scar ran down his cheek, most likely from a knife by the look of it. He stood up from the throne and approached me. He lifted my head up and got a good look at my face.

"So, you are Broken Hope's bastard son." His voice was deep and he spoke coldly, barely a hint of emotion in his voice. Time seemed to stop once I'd processed what he just said. The thing I had feared most was true. My father had been a part of the Martyrs of Despair.

"Ah, where are my manners?" He released my head. "My name is Bloody Scar. I'm the Acting Supreme Chancellor of the Martyrs of Despair." He introduced himself.

"Acting, huh? If that's the case, where's the real Supreme Chancellor?" I asked, becoming more serious.

"Well, that would be your father, of course."

HE WAS THERE FUCKING LEADER!?

Some things started to click in my brain. No wonder they wanted to see me personally. I put a bullet in their leader 10 years ago. They probably took that personally. I also remembered that in my dad's journal entry, he mentioned somepony named Blood. Had he been talking about this pony?

"I can't say it's a pleasure to meet you, but at least you will finally be joining us after so long." He said to me.

"...I can't tell if you're joking or not. You don't seriously think I want to join your little freak show, right?"

"Oh, I never said it would be voluntary. You will understand soon enough." He gestured for the lackeys carrying me to follow him, and they began dragging me through another corridor.

"If I'm not mistaken, you don't know much about your father, do you?" He spoke to me as he lead us.

"No, and I'd be fine if it stayed that way." I spat, but he ignored me.

"We were close friends, he and I. Of the two of us, he was definitely the more... chaotic one. He was quite talented in making ponies suffer to their full extent. In fact, he made a hobby out of it." We came to a pair of old, wooden doors. Scar undid the latch on the doors and pushed them open to reveal a cavern that was even larger than the throne room. There were many words to describe what I saw in that room, but I'm just going to stick with one.

Horrifying.

Several pony corpses had been nailed to the walls of the cavern like decorations. They had been completely torn open, stripped of all their bones, and stretched out as far as their flesh could reach. More corpses hung from nooses on the ceiling, their eyes gouged out, ears sliced off, and tongues removed. All around the room were the remains of other victims. Heads on stakes, stacks of bodies burned to a crisp, even just piles of unrecognizable guts and gore. There had to be at least a hundred bodies, maybe more, all killed in various ways.

It was set up like an art gallery.

"Beautiful, isn't it? He truly did take pride in his work." Scar looked about the room.

I knew my father was twisted, but to this extent? He did all this to so many ponies... as a hobby!?

"Bring him this way." He gestured for the martyrs to drag me further into the room.

"Why... what makes you sick fucks want to do something like this!?" I demanded an answer, and he looked at me before giving a cold smile.

"Because we can. That's all there is to it."

Passing the many "exhibits", we soon arrived in front of one in particular that was different from the rest. Sitting on a wooden stool was a jar containing several small, worm-like creatures. They all wriggled and squirmed in the jar, violently moving around.

"I'm sure you've noticed already, the martyrs you've encountered thus far were quite athletic, almost to an unnatural degree." He was right. I remembered both the martyr that killed himself, as well as the one I chased in Alleyville. Both ran at speeds that seemed almost impossible, especially given their lack of muscle. The guards dragging me were also good examples. They clearly weren't anything special, yet they hit harder than anypony I'd ever met. Scar continued to speak.

"These enhanced abilities are thanks to these." He gestured towards the worms. "They are also the reason you will be joining us. Hold him down."

The thugs did as he ordered, forcing me down onto my back. I struggled, but to no avail. He opened the jar and levitated out a worm. A light screeching noise could be heard coming from it. I struggled much more desperately as he got closer to me with it. Before I could do anything, he pinned my head down and shoved the worm down my throat. I coughed and choked as I tried to spit it out, but Scar kept forcing it deeper and deeper down until I was forced to swallow. Finally, he released me.

"And now, we wait."

That was the last thing he said before one of the guards hit me on the head again, only this time it was hard enough to knock me out.



When I woke up, I found myself in a small cage. I also felt really sick, like I was going to throw up. Whatever that worm was, I doubt it was having a good effect on my body. The room I was in was much smaller than the throne room and their twisted art museum, only about the size of a bedroom. The only source of light was a single oil lantern that hung from the ceiling. There were a few cages next to mine, some empty and others with skeletons in them. The only exit to the room was an old wooden door.

Ok, how the hell am I getting out of here?

The cage I was in was locked with a normal padlock. I could pick it if I had the right tools. I scanned the other cages and spotted a bobby pin sitting in one of them. I levitated it through the bars and into my cage.

Now I just need a screwdriver, or something to replace it...

After a bit of thinking, an idea popped into my head. I levitated one of the bones from the other cages through the bars and into mine. It took some effort, but I managed to snap off part of the bone, creating a jagged edge.

This'll work nicely.

It didn't take me long to get past the lock and push open the cage door. As I crawled out of the cage, I realized just how weak my legs felt, as it took a lot of effort just to stand up straight. In fact, every part of my body felt drained. What the hell did that worm do to me? I made a mental note to try and avoid fighting, if possible. I wouldn't stand much chance in my current state.

Not seeing my saddlebags anywhere in the room, I crept over to the wooden door and opened it just a crack, peeking outside. It didn't look like anyone was there, so I slipped out into the damp corridor. Just like before, it was illuminated by dim lighting. I had two choices, either go right or left. After a quick "eenie meenie minie mo", I ended up going left. After walking for a bit, I spotted another door on the side wall, only this one was locked. Taking out the broken bone and bobby pin, I got to work on the lock, which was a bit more difficult than the one on the cage. Still, I managed to bypass it.

Just as the lock clicked open, I heard hoofsteps approaching from further down the corridor. Before they could spot me, I slipped into the room. Luckily, there weren't any martyrs waiting for me inside. It seemed to be some kind of storage room. A quick glimpse around and I spotted my saddlebags hanging on a hook. Guess this was where they left the stuff that belonged to the dead ponies in the cages. I slipped the bags on and began looting the room for anything else useful.

I found some ammo for both my pistol and the assault rifle. I also found a couple of healing and Rad-Away potions. Other than some junk and a few caps, there was nothing else to take.

Just as I was about to leave, I felt a huge lump in my throat and couldn't resist the urge to cough up whatever it was. You can imagine my surprise when I saw that I had coughed up some sort of black ichor, similar to the black substance that covered the throne room. I was pretty sure that wasn't healthy.

Getting a really bad feeling, I pulled out the glass shard I used as a mirror from my saddlebag. In my reflection, I could see myself, only I looked worse than usual. My eye was bloodshot, similar to Scar's. My face was slightly pale and the veins around my mouth were completely black. Whatever that worm did, I needed to find a cure, and fast.

I put the glass shard away and peeked back into the hall. Seeing that the coast was clear, I continued on my way. Unfortunately, not having a map meant I was flying blind. This place was already like a maze, so my chances of finding the exit soon were pretty dismal. Still, I had to try.

Into the lion's den we go, then.
> Chapter 9: The Queen
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


6 Years Ago

It was the night after we visited Alleyville. Raindrop and I were on our way back from the Cave of Awesomeness when we heard it.

Gunfire.

We started running towards the ranch and saw that a fire had started in the barn. The doors burst open as we got close, and Crutch stumbled through, a knife in his back.

"Kids... run-" That was the last thing he said before a bullet went through the back of his head. Time seemed to slow down as his body fell to the ground. Raindrop screamed next to me, but I could barely hear her. I was still trying to process it.

Crutch was dead.

I had never seen somepony I cared about die before. I wasn't sure what emotion I was feeling as I watched his corpse fall. Was it anger? Sadness? Shock? Confusion? It felt like it was all of them combined. One question kept repeating over and over in my head.

Why?

Why did he have to die?

The shooter stepped out of the barn into full view. It was the mahogany-colored stallion we had seen in the marketplace yesterday, Haywire. He had on a battle saddle armed with shotguns.

"Ah, there you kids are. We've been lookin' all over for you!" He said with a snide grin on his face.

"YOU BASTARD!!!" Raindrop screamed in anger as her horn flared.

"Hey, it's not my fault he resisted. Now if you two just come quietly, I won't have to hurt- AGH!" He was cut off as Raindrop shot a fireball in his direction, hitting him in the face. I hadn't recovered from the shock of watching Crutch die, so she grabbed me by the hoof and we started running towards the house.

"We have to find the others! We need to make sure they're ok!" She was trying to keep a level head, but I could see the tears welling up in her eyes.

"ARGH! YOU LITTLE SHITS!!!" Haywire yelled after us. Just as we got close to the house, another pony burst out of the front door. As soon as he saw us, he raised his rifle, only for a bullet to go clean through his head. We looked to where the shot came from and saw Crimson running towards us with his battle saddle on.

"Crimson! What's going on!? Who are they!?" She cried.

"It's slavers! They attacked the ranch out o' nowhere! Do ya know where Crutch is?" He asked.

"He's... He..." Raindrop could barely get the words out through sobs, but judging by the look on his face, he understood.

"Damnit... DAMNIT!" He yelled. "You two need t' run and hide! Ah'll hold 'em off as much as ah can!"

"Wait, where's Dad!?" She begged him to tell her. As soon as she asked, the look on his face became even more somber.

"Ah'm not sure, but the two of ya need t-" He didn't get to finish as Raindrop sprinted into the house, calling out for Haybale.

"Raindrop! Shit! Bunny, go after her! I'll hold off as many of 'em as Ah can!" I snapped out of my stupor at those words and nodded to him before following Raindrop into the house. It was then that I realized I had been crying the whole time as I finally noticed the tears in my eye. I quickly wiped them and entered the house.




Present Day

Sneaking through the martyrs' lair without being able to fight was easier said than done. The lair was mostly made up of narrow tunnels, so there weren't many places to hide. I even had to quietly take out a couple martyrs that I couldn't sneak by. As if it wasn't hard enough, this place was like a damn maze. I'd been searching for almost 40 minutes now and was no closer to finding the exit.

I had found a path with some minecart tracks and decided to follow them. They led to a large room with three different tunnels, the tracks splitting into each. The same black slime that had covered the throne room was protruding out of the left most tunnel.

Great, now which way do I go?

Before I could come to a decision, my ears perked up at the sound of voices and screeching metal coming from the right tunnel. By the sound of it, they were getting closer. I spotted an empty minecart and hid behind it. Taking a peek, I saw a couple martyrs pushing a minecart out of the tunnel. I assumed that was the metal noise I heard. The cart itself was full of dead bodies, some of which were wearing the ERC uniforms. The two began pushing it into the tunnel with the black slime before one of them spoke up.

"Alright, let's take a quick break." He said before they stopped pushing.

"Wish we could have had more time with this lot. Their screams were absolutely delectable." The other one said.

"I agree, but the Queen is hungry, and our mistress always comes first." The first martyr responded. Before either of them could say anything else, some movement from the cart of bodies drew their attention. A pony with half their face peeled off weakly stuck a hoof out towards them. I couldn't even tell if they were a mare or a stallion.

"P-Please..." They spoke shakily.

"Ah, it seems we missed one." The second martyr complained as he pulled out a machete.

"Please... s-spare m-" Those were the pony's last words before the martyr decapitated them in one swing, their head falling to the ground. The martyr tossed the head back into the minecart and I could feel my blood boiling. Under different circumstances, I would've killed those martyrs right there and then. Unfortunately, I knew I was too weak to do anything because of that worm inside me and whatever it was doing to me.

"Alright, let's get back to it." The first martyr said, getting into position behind the cart. They were about to resume pushing when a third martyr came running from the path I had come from.

"Brothers, come quick! We found the body of one of our own! The non-believer must have escaped!" She told them.

Crap.

The first two looked at each other then back to the third martyr, giving her a nod. The three of them took off down the path to look for me. Once they were gone, I stepped out from behind the empty minecart.

Yeah, that's right fellas. You go search over there while I stroll on out of here.

I turned to face the three tunnels.

...as soon as I find out which tunnel leads to the exit.

I found myself staring at the tunnel on the left, the one with the black ooze. Those two had mentioned a 'Queen', who seemed to be that Mistress these psychopaths keep mentioning. They also said she was hungry. Were they gonna feed her the corpses?

I had failed to kill the martyr spy, and I knew it would be bad to go back to Strict Morale empty hooved, so I figured I might as well do some intel gathering before I left.

Time to meet this so called 'Queen'.

I followed the tracks into the tunnel and eventually came across a metal door with a valve for a handle, the black ooze seeping through the cracks. I turned the valve and pushed the door open and entered into a large, open space with a pit in the center. Next to the pit was a pulley system, most likely meant for lifting something out of the pit. A few torches also ringed the pit, keeping it illuminated. Coming from within the pit was more of the black goo. I inched towards the pit and gazed down into it.

Inside, I saw a horrifying monstrosity.

Inside the pit was a giant, grey, sludge-like worm the size of a house. The creature's body was spotted with pulsating veins and pores. The black substance I had seen was leaking out from the pores. Long, spindly tentacles protruded from underneath the beast. At the head of it was a circular mouth that let out bloodcurdling howls and screeches, whether they were cries of agony, anger, or something else, I did not know.

Is this... thing supposed to be the Queen!?

The monster moved around a bit, then one of the pores grew out into a long limb and hovered over a large box that was connected to the pulley system. It made some noises before something spurted out of the pore and into the box. Looking closer, I could see that it had spurted out the same worms that I'd seen in the jar. This thing birthed them.

I felt my blood running cold. What the fuck did those nutjobs force down my throat!?

With my Creep-o-Meter being maxed out, I decided it was time to get the hell out of there and raced back the way I came from. I arrived back at the crossroads just as I felt more bile rising in my throat. I choked it up and coughed out more black ichor, a lot more than I had the first time. I was starting to feel very warm, most likely a fever. I needed to get out of here, ASAP.

I looked between the three tunnels and reviewed my options. Obviously, the left tunnel was a no go, no way in hell was I going back there. The martyrs had brought the minecart filled with corpses from the right tunnel, so that most likely didn't lead to an exit. That just left the middle tunnel. Before I could start heading that way though, a gust of wind blew out the torches that lit up the cavern, quickly drenching the area in darkness. I turned on my Pip-Buck's light, casting a red glow that cut through the dark.

My attention was quickly drawn to a strange noise coming from where the minecart with the bodies had been. The noise sounded crunchy and squishy, almost fleshy. It sounded like something was being eaten. Considering the only fleshy thing over there were corpses, I didn't have to guess what was being chewed on. What made my blood cold was the fact that the noise meant something was lurking in the darkness.

I slowly aimed the light in the direction of the noise. I was once again met with a terrifying sight.

The thing was shaped like a pony, but slightly larger than normal. Instead of being covered in fur, dark grey scales covered every inch of its body. Sharp claws were jutting out of its hooves. A long scorpion tail twitched back and forth while it munched on a body. I started to back away but ended up accidentally kicking a stray pebble. The creature stopped enjoying its meal and slowly turned to face me. It had the same eyes as the other martyrs, only somehow creepier. A wide smile spread across its face once it laid eyes on me, revealing razor sharp teeth and a forked tongue. The red light from my Pip-Buck just made it look even scarier.

The final nail in the coffin was when it spoke.

"You look tasty." A deep, gravelly voice came from its mouth. It started getting closer to me as I backed away.

"Your scent is familiar, too." I would've wondered what it- no, what he was talking about, had the memories not come flooding back to me the second I laid my eye on him.

I'd seen him before, years ago.

The Trials of Despair...

I shook the dark memory out of my head. Now wasn't the time to dwell on that.

I could see the beast licking his lips as drool and blood dripped from his mouth. He let out a monstrous screech as he lunged at me, and I just barely managed to leap out of the way. I wasn't able to land on my hooves though, and my body was so weak that getting back up had been a struggle. I knew I wasn't going to be able to take this monster on in my current condition. My only option was to run, so I did just that, taking off into the middle tunnel.

I could hear the beast getting closer, probably getting ready to pounce again. I levitated out the grenade I got from the Ironshod Factory and pulled the pin. I let it cook for a couple seconds before chucking it back at the thing. An explosion went off behind me, followed by a loud screech that hurt my ears. Despite that, I had a feeling he was still kicking, so I didn't stop running.

I wouldn't be able to outrun it, so I needed a hiding place. I spotted a small alcove on the left wall of the tunnel and ducked into it, hiding myself. I watched as the creature sped by, leaping off the walls. I waited a few minutes before leaving my hiding spot and warily continued through the tunnel, hoping I wouldn't run into it again. I eventually reached a split in the path. I could feel just the slightest draft coming from the left path, meaning that might lead to the way out. The right path had a trail of drool and blood going into it.

Like anypony with common sense, I went left.

Seriously, screw this place.



I spotted the exit to the cave after a few minutes of walking and trying not to vomit more of the black stuff. There wasn't any light shining through the entrance, so I assumed it was around nighttime by now. At this point, I didn't even feel strong enough to run, not even at a light trot. Still, I felt a sliver of hope knowing that I was finally getting out of this hellhole.

That hope faded, however, when I saw the two martyrs guarding the entrance.

They also happened to spot me.

I was too weak to fight. I knew I wouldn't be able to levitate a gun out of my saddlebags fast enough. Even if I could, I was too shaky to get a steady enough aim. All I could do was brace myself for death as they pointed their rifles at me.

Except death never came.

Before they could shoot, a lone dog ran in from the entrance, pounced onto one of the guards, and sank its teeth into their neck. This drew the other guard's attention, pure shock on his face. Before he could raise his rifle at the dog, a sudden boost of adrenaline gave me the strength I needed to run at the guard and bum rush him. I fell flat on my face after doing so, and the martyr tried to get up. The dog was on him in an instant, biting into his throat.

Still lying on the ground, I looked up at Cat, our eyes meeting. Never before had I been so happy to see the mutt. He whimpered upon seeing the shape I was currently in. You didn't need to be a doctor to tell that I wasn't doing so hot. He helped me stand up as best he could.

"H-How the hell... did you find me?" I managed to ask my loyal companion. He barked and began sniffing at my saddlebag. I quickly figured out what he wanted and levitated out the object he was looking for.

I could see the magic surrounding it flickering as I struggled to hold it up, but I managed to keep the stuffed toy cat from falling to the ground.

He followed the toy's scent. Clever dog.

My knees began to shake as I put away the toy. The worm was killing me, I could tell that much. I knew what I had to do if I wanted to live. We needed to go someplace safer to do it, though. I opened my Pip-Buck's map and checked the time. According to the clock, it was a little after 7 p.m. Scanning the map for somewhere we could take shelter, I only found one place that was close enough. I could scarcely believe my eye when I read the name of the location.

The closest place for shelter was my father's old house. The same place where I spent 10 years locked in a basement, constantly being tortured.

Thinking about it, I shouldn't have been that surprised. My father had been the martyrs' leader, so it wasn't a stretch for his house to have been nearby. Still, it was one of the last places in all of Equestria that I wanted to be. Unfortunantely, it was either that or death, so I didn't have much of a choice.

"C'mon, Cat. Let's go." I gestured for the canine to follow, and it did so.

Of all the fucking places in the wasteland...
> Chapter 10: Pain
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


6 Years Ago

I found Raindrop crying in the kitchen.

She was hugging Nazira's corpse.

Her throat had been slit, and a look of shock was frozen on her face.

My hooves were feeling weak. I could barely bring myself to stand anymore. Everything was happening so fast that I didn't even know how to process it all. First Crutch, now Nazira. Who would be next? Haybale? Crimson?

...Raindrop?

The thought of losing Raindrop left an even deeper pit in my stomach than I already had. I didn't want to lose her. I couldn't. Crutch and Nazira were bad enough, but if I lost her...

...I wasn't sure if I could keep living without her.

Raindrop turned to look at me, having heard me approach.

"Bunny..." She wiped away her tears the best she could. She looked back down at Nazira, deep in thought. When she turned back to me, she had a look of determination. "Come on, we need to find dad." She stood up and gently grasped my hoof.

"I won't let anything happen to you. I promise." She seemed to think the fear in my eyes was for myself. If only she knew I was more worried about her.

The two of us were interrupted by the sound of the front door being kicked open.

"Where are you, you little shits!?" Haywire yelled from the entrance. Raindrop and I quickly glanced at each other, then looked around the kitchen for a hiding place. The only place we could think of on short notice was under the table in the middle of the room. Just as we managed to scramble under the table, Haywire stormed in. He probably would've seen us, but the chairs around the table blocked us from sight well enough.

I peeked out slightly to get a better look at him. He had a burn mark on his eye from where Raindrop had shot him. It hadn't blinded him, but it left a nasty scar to go with the claw mark on his other eye.

"Boss!" Another slaver came running in. This one wasn't as big as Haywire, but he still had some muscle. Haywire turned to face him.

"Did you kill the Earth pony yet!?" He angrily yelled.

"N-No, not yet, but back up just got here. We've got him pinned down, so it's only a matter of time." The slaver reported.

"For fuck's sake, it's just one buck! How hard is it to kill just one guy!?" Haywire seethed. Before either of them could say anything else, another pony entered the room. This time, it was the other pony we saw in Alleyville, the smoky grey mare in the fiddler cap that had chewed out Haywire.

"Haywire, wha' the fock!? Have ye gone off the deep end!?" She yelled as she approached him.

"Jeez, what's got you all riled up?" Haywire replied casually.

"What's got me-!? Are you fockin' insane!? Ye agreed no killing!" The mare was clearly pissed.

"Well, plans change, sweetheart. Now if you don't mind, I've got a score to settle with a brat." Haywire smirked, then turned to the other slaver. "Keep an eye out for the colt. I'm gonna make good on my promise to cut his tongue out. Maybe his freaky eye, too."

"His eye?" The other slaver questioned.

"Yeah, well... you probably won't believe me if I told you." Haywire shrugged it off. However, the slaver persisted.

"C'mon, now I'm curious." He pushed. Haywire thought about it for a second before letting out a sigh.

"While he was looking at me, the kid's eye sorta... changed. It looked a lot like an animal's. Y'know, like how the pupil's shaped like a slit, veins all around it. It was freaky." After Haywire finished, both the slaver and the mare looked at him funny. Raindrop turned to me with a questioning glance. I was just as confused as she was. What the hell was he talking about?

"...Yeah, you were right. I don't believe you." The slaver chuckled.

"Whatever, just find the kids and bring them to me." As he left, Haywire side-eyed the mare. "If you wanna make yourself useful, you can help deal with that earth pony outside." The mare just glared at him.

"Oh, that's right." He chuckled. "You don't wanna break your promise to widdle ol' Kettle." He made a mock pouty face when he said it, then walked out. The other slaver followed him.

The mare stood there with a scowl on her face until she was sure they had left. Then, she let out an angry roar and suddenly bucked one of the chairs by the table. Raindrop had managed to keep her shock contained, but I couldn't stop myself from letting out a small gasp before covering my mouth.

Unfortunately, the mare had heard it and crouched down to look under the table. Her dark green eyes widened when they locked on to my amber eye.

"Don't move!" Raindrop quickly ordered from beside me. Both the mare and I turned to see Raindrop's horn flaring, and pointed straight at the mare. She complied and stayed still, though she seemed to be more relaxed than somepony being held at gun- er, hornpoint, normally would be.

Raindrop slowly crawled out from under the table, keeping her eyes on the mare the entire time. I could see her putting on a brave face, but I'm sure she was just as scared as I was. She gestured for me to come out from under the table and get behind her, so I did.

"...Well then, genius, wha' next?" She asked Raindrop sarcastically. While Raindrop remained stoic, she didn't seem to have a response. The mare looked at her, then at me, then at both of us. She seemed to be thinking hard about something.

After what felt like an eternity, the mare let out a frustrated sigh. "...I never saw ye. Got it?"

Raindrop and I exchanged shocked and confused glances. Raindrop spoke up first. "W-Why?"

"None o' yer business. Now get the hell out of here." She gestured to the entrance.

"Wait. We're looking for somepony. A middle-aged stallion with bluish grey fur. Do you know where he is?" Raindrop asked.

"Ye mean the stallion Haywire took upstairs? I wouldn't bet on him still bein' alive, kid." Horror and fear spread across Raindrop's face in an instant. She quickly ran out of the room, and I followed close behind. We sprinted down the hall, checking each room and finding nothing until we reached Haybale's office.

It was there that we found him.

He was laying in the middle of the floor, covered in blood. He had been beaten within an inch of his life. I wasn't sure if he was conscious, or even alive.

"DAD!!!" Raindrop cried out and the two of us ran to his side in an instant. Raindrop shook him and he stirred, coughing blood.

"Raindrop... Bunny..." He looked between the two of us.

"Just hold on! You're gonna be okay! We'll get you help!" Raindrop cried, but Haybale just coughed more blood.

"I'm... so proud... of you two." He wiped a tear off of Raindrop's cheek before his eyes closed and his hoof went limp.

Haybale had been the third to die at the ranch.

"...Dad?" Raindrop shook him a bit. "Dad... please don't do this..." She buried her face in his chest as more tears ran down her cheeks, hoping by some miracle he would wake up. My legs finally gave out as I fell to the ground. I began to cry alongside Raindrop. The ponies that had saved me, the family that had raised me, were all dying one by one. I couldn't take it anymore.

I felt sick.

Bile rose up in my throat and I found myself throwing up in the middle of the room.

Please... no more.

I don't want to lose anyone else.




Present Day

I fell to my knees and threw up more of the black ichor. It was getting worse.

We had been walking for almost 20 minutes and had almost reached the house. In fact, I could even see it in the distance. Unfortunately, I didn't have much time left. I had downed a healing potion to see if it would help, or at least buy me more time, but I don't think it had any affect. Cat did his best to support me, but he couldn't do much being a dog. I appreciated the effort, though.

C'mon, you're almost there. Just a little farther...

"Bunny?"

I heard a familiar voice I honestly didn't think I would hear again. I turned to see a sprite bot hovering over to us. Both Cat and I recognized Watcher instantly. Cat let out a happy bark, probably thinking Watcher might be able to help me. I turned back towards the house and continued onward.

"What in Equestria happened to you!? Why do you look like that!?" He asked, clearly shocked by my current condition. I just ignored him and pressed on. I didn't have time to chat, I needed to focus. His words did give me an idea, though. As I walked, I pulled out the glass shard I used as a mirror and looked at my reflection.

I looked a lot worse than I did before.

My good eye was still bloodshot, but now I had heavy bags under both of them. My face had also gotten even more pale. Those weren't the most notable things about me, though. Remember the black veins around my mouth? Well, they've spread across my entire face. They were even starting to seep down my neck.

In summary, I looked like shit.

"Bunny, can you hear me!? What's going on!?" Watcher tried to press me for answers.

"Not now." I grunted before coughing up more ichor. My voice was getting hoarse.

Finally, having reached the house, I made my way up the three steps to the front porch and stood in front of the door. A sudden hesitation washed over me. I hadn't set hoof in this house in years. How long had it been now? A decade? It honestly felt longer than that. Was his body still there? No, that's stupid. The martyrs have probably taken it already. I really don't want to go in there. Maybe if I just-

Hey, genius, not sure if you noticed but... YOU'RE DYING!!! NOW IS NOT THE TIME FOR BROODING!!! Just suck it up and go inside already! You're on a time limit, remember dumbass!?

Listening to the rather rude voice in my head, I took a deep breath and pushed the door open. The hinges creaked loudly, the only noise that filled the house. The place was covered in dust. Everything looked exactly the same. The living room, the kitchen, the stairs leading to the upper floor, even the door that led to the basement I used to call my room.

It's only been a few seconds and I already want to leave.

The survival instinct in me was the only thing keeping me from doing just that. I stepped inside and looked around, mentally going over the list of things I needed. I had a plan to take care of the worm, and I was going to need some tools to do it. I knew for certain that what I needed could be found here. Well, what I actually needed was a doctor, but I didn't have that, so I had to improvise.

"Bunny, can you please tell me what happened!?" Watcher followed me inside, Cat coming in after him.

Oh yeah, I forgot Watcher was here. Well, if he isn't gonna shut up and let me focus, I might as well put him to use.

"I need a knife. There should be some in the kitchen. Can you get that for me?" I asked him.

"W-What? Why do you need-?"

"Watcher, I swear I will explain everything later, but right now, I have minutes left to live! So please, just trust me!" I raised my voice as much as I could with my sore throat. Watcher was silent, probably trying to process everything.

"Watcher!" I snapped him out of it.

"A-Alright, Alright! I'll go look!" He finally said before the bot floated into the kitchen. I then turned to Cat. I started to have a coughing fit as I gave him instructions.

"I n-need you to get me a m-metal rod of s-some sort, and something to h-heat it, like a lighter or b-blowtorch. There should be some stuff u-upstairs. Think you can do that for me, b-boy?" Cat barked, understanding me despite my endless coughing, and ran upstairs to search. I started making my way towards one of the windows, only for my hooves to give out under me.

Shit! C'mon, hang in there for just a bit longer, you sonuvabitch. Your gonna need your strength for what comes next.

Though my hooves were wobbly, I managed to stand back up and approach the window. I grabbed one of the curtains with my teeth and yanked on it, pulling it down. I was going to need it later. Just as I finished, Watcher called my name.

"Bunny! Here, I found this!" The sprite bot opened a compartment and revealed a kitchen knife. Not exactly made for what I was planning, but I didn't have many options. Cat came running back down the stairs, holding an old-fashioned blowtorch in his mouth by the handle. After passing it to me, Cat went back up to find a metal rod.

"How did you know this stuff was here-?"

"Later." I growled. Soon, Cat came back down with the final item. I remember one time, when I still lived here, I found a lighter among the junk that littered the basement. I would be mesmerized by the little flame it made. My dad found out and decided to teach me another lesson. You see, it's important to teach your kids that fire is bad and can hurt you, which is what he did. I could have found out myself by getting burned while playing with it, but he wanted to try a different method.

So instead, he beat me with a heated fire poker in exchange for the usual lead pipe. While I didn't understand them at the time, I believe his words were 'This is what happens when you play with fire'. Anyway, that was how I guessed the blowtorch was upstairs. Also, that fire poker was the metal rod I had hoped Cat would bring down.

The metal rod he brought down was not the fire poker.

Instead, he brought down the one metal rod I had hoped he wouldn't bring down.

A branding iron with the letter 'B' on it.

Damnit. Well, I suppose it was a 50/50 chance he would grab either this or the poker. I don't have time to be picky.

"Wait... is that...?" I could hear Watcher behind me. Considering the B-shaped brand mark on my eye, I assumed he was putting two and two together.

"It'll do." I said, taking the branding iron. I continued towards the basement before more bile rose in my throat. I started vomiting black ooze, a lot of it. I continued to do so for about 30 seconds. Once I was finally done, a large puddle of the substance sat on the floor. I said nothing as I pushed open the door to the basement and wearily stumbled down the steps, trying not to fall.

It was just like I left it, only dustier. I tried to ignore the rush of memories I felt upon seeing it. I started to move some of the junk aside to make space in the center of the room.

"We need to clear some space." I told the others and they started helping. We pushed the clutter to the edges of the room, leaving space in the center. I placed the knife, blowtorch, curtain, and branding iron on the floor next to me as I laid down on my back. There was only one way that worm was coming out of me.

I was going to have to cut it out.

This of course meant I needed to perform some impromptu surgery on myself. First, I would have to make an incision using the kitchen knife. Already, we have a couple problems with that. One, a kitchen knife is not meant for surgery. Two, I should not be conscious for this and should be letting a medical professional handle it. Unfortunately, I didn't have the proper surgical tools on hoof, and any doctor I might find is miles away from here. So, whether I like it or not, this was going to be very painful.

If this plan sounds crazy already, I've only explained the first step. There are still two more steps that come after.

Next, I have to remove the worm. I didn't have any forceps to actually grab it, nor did I have an x-ray to know where it was. This meant I was going to have to dig around my organs with my bare hoof until I found the damn thing, pray to Celestia and Luna I don't bleed out while doing so, then rip the worm out. I shouldn't need to explain that this would also be excruciatingly painful.

Finally, I would need to close the incision. Once again, I was lacking the proper tool to do so. This time, I was missing a needle and sutures. Thinking about it, that's probably for the best. After I dig through my organs, I'll probably be in too much pain to keep the needle steady and would just make things worse. Even if I could keep it steady, I doubt I could stay conscious long enough to sew up the entire cut due to blood loss. I needed an alternative, which is where the branding iron and blowtorch would come in.

I was going to have to cauterize it shut.

After heating up the branding iron with the blowtorch, I would press it against every inch of the incision, hold it long enough for the flesh to fuse together. By now, you can tell just how much pain I'm about to go through. This is why I chose to do this in the basement of the house. I would be completely vulnerable during this, so if there was any wasteland wildlife nearby looking for dinner, they wouldn't be able to hear my screams from down here.

Before getting started, I prepared by ripping up the curtains enough so that they could be used as bandages. After that, I heated up the branding iron preemptively, since I wouldn't have the time to do so mid-surgery. My magic was still weak, but I managed to muster up enough strength to levitate the knife above my stomach. I needed to be careful doing this. I didn't need to stab it too deep, just deep enough to pierce the skin. Any deeper, and I would cut an organ.

"Bunny, what are you doing!?" I turned to look at Watcher.

"Watcher, when I pull it out... you need to be ready to kill it." I ordered him.

"...Ok." I'm sure he wanted to ask what 'it' was, but finally learned that I wasn't going to give an answer. I set my focus back on the knife. I could feel sweat starting to form on my forehead. It was about now that the realization of just how stupid and crazy this whole plan was started to sink in. I was starting to hesitate, but I knew I didn't have any other choice. I had to do this.

...Fuck, here goes nothing.

I pushed the knife in, wincing at the sharp sting. The stinging only got worse as I continued to cut, drawing a straight line in my stomach. There was plenty of resistance, since I wasn't using a proper knife. That made it very difficult to keep it from cutting too deep. I just gritted my teeth, pushing through the pain. Soon, I managed to make a big enough incision to dig through and removed the knife.

That was the easy part.

Next was the "fun" part.

I began pulling the incision open, growling in pain as I did. I lifted my hoof and did my best to brace myself for what was about to happen.

Y'know, just a hunch, but I have a feeling this might sting a bit.

I plunged my hoof straight in, and a huge surge of pain ran through my entire body.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!"

It didn't take long for the screaming to start. It only got worse as I started moving my hoof, feeling around for the worm. I could feel my organs being pushed around as I searched. Blood began seeping out. My body writhed around in pain, begging for it to end. It was insufferable.

"FUUUUUU-AAAAHHH!!!" I tried cursing, but I couldn't even manage that as it devolved into more screaming. I could feel tears running down my cheeks. I had no idea how either Watcher or Cat were reacting right now. If Watcher was saying anything, or if Cat was barking, I couldn't hear them. I couldn't focus on anything else other than the severe agony I was feeling at that moment.

DEAR CELESTIA PLEASE MAKE IT STOP!

"AAAARRRHAAAAHH!!!" I eventually felt something moving around on its own. I couldn't begin to describe how happy I was having finally found the worm. Well, as happy as I could be while my intestines were being put through the wringer, anyway.

I got a firm grip on the worm and ripped it out. It had grown a lot bigger than it had been when I'd been forced to swallow it. What used to be a tiny worm no bigger than a pebble had grown to the size of a pistol. It wriggled around in my grip, letting out an ear-piercing screech. With as much strength as I could muster, I chucked it away. Its screeching was cut short by the sound of a magical energy beam, confirming Watcher had done his part.

I let my body go limp and started breathing heavily, something I'm pretty sure I shouldn't be doing while my stomach is cut open. I was also starting to get tunnel vision, which meant I didn't have much time left before I pass out.

It was time for step three.

I wrapped my magic around the branding iron and silently thanked Celestia and Luna when I did. Now that the worm was out of my body, my magic seemed to be partially restored. It would most likely be a while before it would be fully restored, but it was better than it was a couple minutes ago.

I pulled the incision shut as much as I could and held it like that. Readying the branding iron, I braced myself once again for more suffering. I didn't have time to hesitate and quickly pressed the brand into my flesh. I could feel it burning the second the hot metal made contact with the cut. The screaming quickly resumed as I reluctantly held it there. After a bit, I removed the brand, seeing the burned flesh had fused shut by the letter B.

Unfortunately, it was only for that one part. I would need to repeat this for every inch of the incision until the whole thing was closed.

So that's what I did.

I went down the rest of the cut, cauterizing it until it was securely fused shut, crying out in agony for most of it. At some point, my throat had gone sore, and I could no longer scream. The second I had finished, I tossed the branding iron to the side and lay there, gasping for air. The tunnel vision returned, and I started seeing triple.

I fumbled around until I grabbed my makeshift bandages and tied them around my torso, covering up the wound. Before I could process where in the room Watcher and Cat were, my brain finally gave up and I quickly lost consciousness.

Yeah, it stung a bit.
> Chapter 11: The Ranch
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


6 years ago

We had been sitting in that room for a few minutes, crying over the family we had lost. I continued to lay on the ground in a puddle of my own vomit, silently sobbing as both tears and snot ran down my face. I kept hoping this was all just a bad dream, that I just fell asleep on the couch downstairs and Haybale would be shaking me awake, telling me Nazira had finished making dinner.

I felt somepony shake me, and I turned to see Raindrop, tears still in her eyes. "C-Come on... we can't stay here..." She continued to be strong for both of us. Looking back, I wish I hadn't been so weak. I wish I could've been strong like her. She shouldn't have had to bear the burden alone.

She helped me stand up and even had to act as a crutch for me. We steadily made our way over to the door...

Only for it to burst open, Haywire stepping into the room.

"Ah, there you kids are! Like what I did to your daddy?" He jeered. Before either of us could react, he charged us, knocking me to the side and tackling Raindrop to the ground. "Don't go thinking I'm gonna give you a chance to use that fire bullshit again!" He snarled.

"YOU FUCKING MONSTER!!!" Raindrop screamed at him before her horn flared up again. before she could do anything, though, he smashed his hoof into her face and knocked her out.

"Nighty night, you little bitch." He snarled. I got up to my hooves, ran at him, and bucked him in the side. Unfortunately, it didn't do much, and he stood up to tower over me. He grabbed me by the throat and chucked me through the doorway. "Oh, I haven't forgotten about you. I need to teach you some manners!"

I quickly got back to my hooves and glared at him. I spared Raindrop's unconscious body a glance. Haywire seemed more focused on me than her, so I assumed she would be ok for now. I ran downstairs, leading the bastard away from her. He wasn't fast enough to keep up with me, and I managed to find a hiding place behind the couch in the living room. I peered out to see him reach the bottom of the stairs, looking around for me.

This was giving me some Deja vu that I wasn't a fan of.

When I saw an opportunity, I snuck into the kitchen to look for something to use as a weapon. Sadly, it seemed the slavers had already taken the knives and forks to either sell or keep as weapons. I continued searching drawer after drawer and cabinet after cabinet until I found a metal box that read 'first aid' on it. Guess they must have been stupid enough to leave it behind. I heard hoofsteps coming towards the kitchen, so I took the first aid kit and slid under the table.

I didn't dare to open the kit while Haywire was in the room at the risk of making noise. I had to wait a couple minutes, even holding my breath at one point. After what felt like an eternity, he left the kitchen to check elsewhere. I undid the latches holding the kit shut and opened it up to reveal its contents.

Bandages, healing potions, a small glass bottle of disinfectant alcohol, and other medical stuff I didn't know the names of. I had no idea how any of this was going to help me fight Haywire. It took me a few seconds, but an idea pooped into my head. I grabbed the healing potions, never knowing when I might need them, then I grabbed the alcohol. I took note of the warning label that said it was flammable.

I was going to need Raindrop's help.

Thinking the coast was clear, I crawled out from under the table and snuck out of the kitchen...

Only I was stopped when I bumped into Haywire's chest.

"There you are." He grabbed me and smashed his head into my muzzle before tossing me once again. I gripped my snout in pain, blood beginning to seep out of my nostrils. Before I could get back up, he got on top of me and started beating my face in. I tried my best to block his hits, but he was holding nothing back as he pummeled me. I managed to kick my hind legs into his gut and crawl out from under him.

I could taste blood in my mouth, and it became difficult to see now that my only good eye was swollen. My vision was so blurry, I could barely make out Haywire, only seeing a blur of mahogany. I started panicking, unsure of what to do now. That is until I saw a blur that was a familiar shade of sky-blue quietly making its way downstairs. It seemed Raindrop had regained consciousness. Haywire had his back to her, so he didn't even know she was there.

Haywire started stomping over to me, so I took out the bottle of alcohol and blindly threw it at him. He raised a hoof to shield his eyes and the glass shattered on impact, soaking him in alcohol. "Really? Now you're just throwing shit at me? That's all you've got?" He laughed and pulled out what I assumed was a knife, eyeing me intently. "Want to get out some last words while you've still got a tongue?" He snarked.

"...Yeah. You like barbecue?" I growled.

"The hell're you talking abo-" On cue, Raindrop cut him off by shooting a flame straight at him.

The fucker lit up like a match.

He began screaming and flailing around almost immediately. His flesh began to melt and char as the flames danced across his body. After some stumbling, his legs gave out and he fell to the ground, then began crawling towards me, trying to curse at me through his cries of agony. I scrambled away as much as I could, keeping my distance. The look he gave me mixed with the flesh melting off his face made for a horrifying sight.

I didn't know why, and I hated myself for feeling this way...

But a part of me enjoyed watching him suffer.

Eventually, he stopped moving, lying face down on the ground, not a speck of life remaining. I let out a breath I didn't realize I'd been holding. At the same time, the adrenaline that had kept me going seeped out of my body. In its place, an immense pain surfaced across my entire face. I fell to my knees, clutching it, and I heard Raindrop run over to me.

"I... I can't see much." I told her, and she wrapped her hooves around me.

"It's okay. I'm here now. I've got you." She cradled me in her embrace, and I didn't bother trying to pull away. I wanted to be near her. Silence fell over us as we continued to sit there before Raindrop spoke up again. "We...we killed him."

"Eh... piece of shit had it coming." I scoffed. While I couldn't see Raindrop's face clearly, I could imagine she was looking pretty shocked by what I said. I... was a little surprised myself. That was a rather dark of me to think, taking killing so lightly. Still, I didn't change my mind about it.

We sat there for another minute before finally standing. Raindrop had to help carry me again, and we started making our way to the back door. If they were out there fighting Crimson, then we needed to help him, but going out the front door would draw their attention straight to us. We needed to be smart, use the element of surprise, and come up with a plan. We reached the back door and pushed it open, stepping outside.

We only took one step before the butt of a rifle was smashed into my face.

At this point, I was barely able to stay conscious. I could scarcely tell what was happening in front of me. It looked like Raindrop was struggling with multiple assailants, and I noticed one of them slip something on her horn. Whatever it was, it kept her from using her fire spells, or any magic at all, for that matter. She thrashed around in their grip, bucking at them and trying to bite them, but they held strong. They pulled out some rope and began tying her hooves together.

I tried standing up, even though I knew it was futile. One of the slavers came over and kicked me back down, causing me to cough up blood.

"Hey, hey, easy on the merchandise!" One of the slavers said to the jackass that kicked me. I recognized his voice as the stallion that Haywire and the Irish cob had talked to in the kitchen. "Go check on Haywire, then grab that earth pony."

He did as he was ordered and entered the house. Soon after, I heard him call out, "Haywire's dead! The little shits burned him to a crisp!"

"Shit, he wasn't kidding about you being dangerous." He told Raindrop, then turned to me. "I'm guessing you're the one who got under Haywire's skin?"

I stared at him, trying to focus my sight, but I couldn't see a thing. The slavers all looked like blurry smudges. I don't know if it was the head trauma, or if I had just gone insane, but at that moment, I did something incredibly stupid.

I laughed.

"...What's so funny?" He asked me.

"You... heh... you look fuggin' stupid... heh heh..." I managed to wheeze out. I hadn't mentioned it before, but this stallion's coat was a shade of brown. Now that he looked like a blurry smudge... "Y-You look like a... giant shit stain! Ha Ha!"

Yeah, I know it was childish, but I wasn't in a lucid state of mind thanks to all the blows to the head. On the bright side, it got their attention off of Raindrop.

"Oh? do I?" He let go of Raindrop, came over to me, and bucked me in the ribs. I groaned before resuming my chuckling. "All these bruises and you still haven't learned your lesson, huh? ...You know what? Screw going easy on you."

It was hard to tell, but I think he gestured to the other slavers, and they all came over to help him kick in my ribcage. I could hear Raindrop yelling at them to stop and leave me alone, but they ignored her. While the beating did hurt, I didn't mind it too much. I was just glad I could get their attention away from Raindrop, be helpful to her for once.

Besides, I'd spent 10 years enduring much worse.

They stopped kicking me when the other slaver came over with Crimson, his hooves bound as well. The slaver that brought him threw Crimson to the ground and addressed the guy who seemed to be in charge now. "We bringin' him too?"

"Nah, he's not worth the trouble. He'll just cause problems." The slaver pulled out a gun, but I couldn't tell what kind. "Any last words?"

"Go fuck yerself." Those were the last words of Crimson Rock before his head was blown off by the gun, which I now identified as a shotgun. Raindrop screamed in protest, and the slaver in charge ordered the others that it was time to go. One of them delivered a final buck to my face, and I was out cold.

I could only fear what would happen to us now.




Present Day

I was awoken by a crack of thunder.

Slowly, I sat up and looked around the room, wincing at the pain from my recent surgery. At least, I assumed it was recent. I had no idea how much time had passed. One of the first things I saw was Cat sitting next to me. Seeing that I was awake, he let out a happy bark and began licking my face.

"Yeah, yeah, good to see you too." I gave him a scratch behind the ears. My ears finally noticed a light thunking sound, as well as some annoying orchestral music. I turned to see an idle sprite bot bumping into the door over and over again, attempting to leave the room. Guess Watcher wasn't able to stick around. I promised I'd explain everything to him, so I made a note to try and get his attention once I was ready.

Another roar of thunder from outside reached my ears. I guess it was one of those rare times when the San Palomino actually gets rain, let alone a thunderstorm.

I looked down to see the brand-new burn scar that ran down my stomach. The "B's" that were burned into me were so close together that you would have to look closely to be able to tell it was the letter B. If you didn't, then it would just look like a really long and thin burn scar.

As if the eye wasn't bad enough, now ponies are gonna be asking about this.

I opened my saddlebags and pulled out my canteen and guzzled down some water. I hadn't had anything to eat or drink for a while and it was finally starting to catch up. After that I kinda just sat there, petting Cat as I collected my thoughts. The biggest question on my mind being...

What the fuck was that thing?

I shouldn't have to explain that it wasn't just an ordinary worm. That chancellor guy, Bloody Scar, he mentioned it was the reason the martyrs are the way they are. Plus, they seemed to have been... birthed by that abomination they called a queen. Just thinking about it made me shudder. So, were these worms supposed to be some kind of parasite? That seemed to make the most sense.

As I'd seen firsthoof, these parasites give an immense boost to the physical capabilities of their host. I already wasn't surprised the ERC was losing their war against the martyrs, they aren't the most reliable army. The fact that they were pretty much going up against super soldiers guaranteed that they weren't just going to lose, but get absolutely decimated.

Now, I know I wasn't on board with joining the ERC in their fight against these psychopaths, but after what I saw in that cave, everything I learned...

This just became personal.

I got up onto my hooves once I felt like my energy was back and strode over to the sprite bot. I knocked on it a couple times and called Watcher's name. A fizzle and a pop from the sprite bot later, and Watcher was with us again.

"Bunny!? What in Equestria was that!? where did it come fro-"

"My father was the leader of the Martyrs of Despair."

Watcher was silent for a good ten seconds before responding with, "...What?"

"Let's go upstairs. I'd rather not stay down here." I told him before strolling up the stairs and into the living room. I plopped myself down on the couch and began telling both Watcher and Cat everything that happened in the martyrs' lair.



Lightning continued to flash outside as another rare storm drenched the San Palomino. I not only told them about what happened in the lair, but I had to tell them about the first ten years of my life in this house to provide context. After I finished, Watcher didn't respond for a full minute, most likely gathering his thoughts.

"That's... a lot to take in." He finally said, and I shared his sentiment. The revelation of the cult being controlled by parasites, as well as the identity of their queen, it still had me in shock. The whole time, ponies thought they were just a bunch of crazed nut jobs, but it was much worse than that. It also made sense why they were kidnapping ponies in Alleyville. They weren't just picking victims to torture, they were recruiting.

"Are... are you ok?" Watcher asked hesitantly.

"Hm? You mean this?" I looked down at the scar on my stomach. "Yeah, I'm fine. It still stings a bit, but I can just walk it off-"

"No, not that. I mean, how are you mentally?" He clarified. It took me a second to realize he was asking how I was holding up after my childhood.

"Oh! Right, well... uh... I wouldn't say I'm ok, but I've been trying to move on. I just try not to think about it." I did my best to reassure him.

"I imagine that's difficult when you have a constant reminder." While he couldn't point with the sprite bot, I could tell he was talking about my eye. He also wasn't wrong. I spent half my life in that basement, it's not something you just forget. We sat in silence for a bit longer before Watcher seemed to realize something. "Hey, Bunny..."

"What's up?"

"You said that stallion, Bloody Scar, was the Acting Supreme Chancellor, right?" He asked for clarification.

"Yeah, my dad was the leader, but I accidentally put one between his eyes." I confirmed.

"If that's the case... then why is he still just the 'Acting' Chancellor?" I tensed up as soon as Watcher said that. I didn't like where this train of thought was going.

"...What do you mean?"

The sprite bot explained, "Well, if your father died, wouldn't the title of Supreme Chancellor just be passed on to Bloody Scar permanently? If he's the Acting Chancellor, then he's just filling in for somepony else temporarily. If so, then who?"

It did raise some questions. The gears in my brain began turning as I tried to figure out what this meant. Then a very dark thought crept into my mind.

...What if my father is still alive-?

I buried that thought, doused it in mental kerosene, and set it ablaze. No way was that possible. The night I escaped, I shot him square in the face. I killed him.

He's dead.

He has to be.

Deciding to take my mind off of it, I turned my gaze towards the window, staring out at the downpour. Seeing the darkness outside, I remembered I had no idea what time it was. I flipped on my Pip-Buck, the red glow of the screen illuminating my face. According to the clock, it was almost three in the morning. I imagine by the time I get back to Alleyville, Joy's gonna be either super worried or super pissed. Maybe both.

"Well, my time's almost up, so good luck finding The McGuffin. If you ever need anything, just let me know." With a fizzle and a pop, the sprite bot returned to normal. I opened the front door to the house and let it fly out so I wouldn't have to listen to the terrible music. Once it was gone, I looked back at my Pip-Buck and switched over to the quests tab and found a couple updates.

Quest Failed: I Spy With My Only Eye
- COMPLETED: Go to Alleyville and look for the spy
- FAILED: Capture or kill the spy
- Report back to General Morale

Well, at least I'm not going back empty hoofed. I can tell them about what I found in the lair. Then again, it's not exactly good news.

I called to Cat then set a custom marker for Alleyville. We exited the house and began our trek through the storm. It probably would have been smarter to stay the night there, but I didn't want to stay another second in that house, even if we did have quite a hike ahead of us. Walking through a storm sounds much more preferable.

It wouldn't be until later that I would regret not checking the map to see what was on the way to our destination.



About half an hour later, we had come across a slaver camp on our way to Alleyville, and I scoped it out from a distance through my binoculars.

It wasn't just any slaver camp, though.

It was the ranch.

The place where I met the ponies that I called family.

It had already been marked on the map from when I first went there. I mentally cursed myself for not seeing it. First my father's old house and now this!? It made sense when I thought about it, Crimson had found me shortly after I escaped, so he had to have been close by. Still though, reliving one of my past lives was enough. I wasn't doing it a second time.

"C'mon, let's just go around. Should be easy enough to avoid getting spotted." I was about to do just that when Cat tugged on my saddlebags, holding me in place. "Agh! Hey! What the hell are you doing!?" I turned to him and saw the anger on his face. While he couldn't talk, I can tell what he wanted to say.

There could be ponies in there that need our help, just like the Ironshod Factory.

I looked back at the ranch, hesitant to go anywhere near it. The slaver camp itself was small, nowhere near as big as the one in Old Appleloosa, so we could probably pull it off if we're careful. Still, I wasn't sure if it was worth it... But was I really going to leave defenseless ponies to fend for themselves simply because I didn't want to bring up bad memories?

...Oh, fuck me.

"...Fine. We'll go." Cat released my saddlebags and we started creeping towards the ranch. We found a rock that was big enough to take cover behind and scanned the ranch. Our recon was cut short, however, by the sound of screaming. We spotted a disheveled mare running from the camp, being chased by two gruff ponies in armor. It wasn't hard to tell which was the slave and which were the slavers. One of the slavers caught up to the slave and tackled them.

"Finally! Got ya now, you bitch!" He turned the mare over so that she was lying on her stomach. "Can't let behavior like this go unpunished, now can we? How 'bout I teach you a lesson you won't forget?" The mare screamed even louder and tried to struggle out of the slaver's grip.

I didn't need to be a genius to know that he was going to rape her.

Let me tell you, that pissed me off.

I felt my blood boiling, and a fire seemed to light inside me. I was getting just as pissed as I was when I got angry at Railright the other day. These fuckers think they can do whatever the hell they want to anyone, no matter the consequences. They needed to be stopped. They needed to be punished.

They needed to die.

My breathing became much more intense as I began to seethe through grit teeth. My vision started to take on a red hue, and I could see black veins starting to creep into the corners of my sight. I didn't care though. I was too pissed off. I felt a sudden urge to hurt, to kill. I craved bloodshed, and these guys were on my shitlist.

"You..." I leapt out from behind the rock and charged the slavers at full force. "YOU BASTAAAAAAAARDS!!!"

The slavers turned in the direction of my voice, surprise evident on their faces.

It was the last thing I saw before I blacked out again.



My eyes opened once again, and I examined my surroundings.

I was... back in the cage in the martyrs' lair?

What the fuck?

I tried to move, or even speak, but I quickly found that I was incapable of both. In fact, I seemed to barely be cognizant of my surroundings. My head was mindlessly swaying back and forth as I stared off into space, as if in a trance of some sort. Not having any control over my body reminded me of what it was like when using a memory orb. I'd used a couple in the past, and they had been pretty weird experiences.

The hell is going on? Is this a dream or something?

Just then, the door to the room creaked open, and in walked none other than Bloody Scar. "I see you haven't woken up yet, but the parasite does seem to be taking effect. I must say, you're looking rather sickly."

The parasite!? I thought I already removed it!?

Bloody Scar slowly paced back and forth in front of my cage, not even looking at me. "Now, you may not remember having this conversation, but I can assure you that is completely normal. If you are remembering it now, then that means the parasite has taken over your body. Either that, or you've awoken to the genes in your blood."

Wait...what?

The temporary cult leader continued. "Now, I want you to think carefully, boy. Think back on any time in your life where you may have felt angry about something, almost too angry. Maybe you felt a sudden burst of rage inside of you, like you just wanted to hurt the nearest living object."

While I hated the sound of that freak's voice, I still listened to what he said. Several memories came to mind when he mentioned sudden anger. The time I got mad at Haywire in Alleyville and started shit-talking him, when I felt the sudden urge to beat Railright's face in the other day, as well as many other times in my life. I know I can be a hothead at times, but what does that have to do with the parasite?

"This, my boy, is no coincidence. It is the result of something we like to call Parasitic Rage. As you have already seen, the parasite makes us stronger, faster, and more flexible. This is enhanced even further when the host of the parasite is angered in some way. It triggers an insatiable bloodlust from within us that makes us much more prone to violence." He stopped pacing and looked me in the eye. "Your father was given a much stronger version of this ability by our queen, and so it has been passed down to you as well. With it, you can become an unstoppable killing machine."

He turned away once again before continuing. "This ability is rather difficult to control, but that is of no concern. Our goal is to make as many ponies suffer as we can, so there is no need to keep your power on a leash. Our mistress shall guide you well enough. Until then, I bid you well."

With that, he strode out of the room, closing the door behind him. I was now left alone with my thoughts.

...Passed down to me? What did he mean by that?

Before I could think about it further, I felt my eyelids getting heavy. It seemed my 'memory' was ending.

My eyelids shut, and darkness consumed my vision once more.



I woke up with a jolt. I took the time to process where in Equestria I was now. When I felt something wet from underneath me, I looked down to see what it was.

I was lying in a large puddle of blood.

It was a lot of blood, so in a panic, I stood up and checked myself for any injuries that could be fatal. Finding nothing, I let out a relieved sigh. It must not have been my blood, then. I tried wiping some of the blood off, only to find more of it on my hooves, as well as a few bits of gore. My whole body was pretty much caked in blood. Personally, I didn't mind it much, but I'm fairly certain other ponies wouldn't be okay with me walking around like this, so I was gonna need a bath later.

I took another look around to see where I was.

I was in the old barn.

A lot of it had clearly been damaged from the fire years ago, but I could see a makeshift patch job had been done on the place. There were plenty of holes that were boarded up or had tarps nailed down over them. I could see several cages spread out amongst the barn, most likely where they had been keeping the slaves.

The thing is, all the cages were unlocked and empty. Well, unlocked isn't really the right word. It would be more accurate to say the locks had been ripped off. There wasn't a slave in sight. I also realized that Cat was nowhere to be found. I wondered if he was with the slaves...wherever they are.

While neither Cat nor the slaves were in the barn, there was one thing that stuck out to me.

A mangled corpse in the corner of the room.

The body was lying in a pool of blood, several bones broken and jutting out of the skin. I couldn't even tell if it was a mare or a stallion. Their face had been beaten to a pulp. The only reason I could tell it was a slaver was because they had been wearing armor, and a gun sat next to them. They had definitely seen better days.

Another look around the barn, and memories of my past life quickly started flooding back. I shook them out of my head and turned to the exit. First thing's first, find out what the hell happened after I blacked out. I pushed the doors open...

...And I was greeted with a massacre.

Bodies in similar condition to the one in the barn were strewn about the ranch. There was blood everywhere. A couple of the bodies had large holes in their chests, a few were dismembered, and I even saw one that was ripped clean in half.

What the hell did all this?

It was still raining, and I could feel it washing off the blood as I made my way to the house, looking over the carnage. The front door of the house had a body pinned to it by a spear, which had been stabbed directly through the slaver's eye. His intestines were hanging out of his torso, just barely managing not to fall out completely. I removed the spear, letting the body fall, then pushed open the door.

The blood bath had clearly not been limited to outside, as I found more bodies scattered throughout the house. One of the bodies looked like its head had been cut off, but upon closer inspection, I realized it hadn't been cut, but ripped off, like the killer had done it with their bare hooves. Even more disturbingly, one of the bodies looked like it had a giant bite mark on its throat, and a chunk of its neck missing.

Cat had ripped throats out with his teeth before, but I didn't think he had done this. Whenever he ripped out a throat, he never swallowed it. Besides, the shape of the bite mark wasn't even close to that of a dog's. It actually looked like the body had been chewed on by a pony. Once again, their attire helped me identify the victims as slavers. At the very least, I was relieved not to find any corpses of the slaves.

I kept my pistol at the ready in case I needed it and began searching the first floor. Other than the bodies, the place was completely empty. The last room I checked was the bathroom, where I found a slaver's corpse face first in the toilet. It seemed he'd been drowned to death by the 200-year-old toilet water. Not a great way to go. I was about to turn and leave, but just as I did, I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror.

More specifically, my eyes.

I blinked when I saw it, and it had disappeared. Even so, I know what I saw. My eyes had been a primal yellow, with no white in them, with red veins seeping in from under the sockets. My pupils had been shaped like vertical slits, similar to a predator's.

They were the eyes of a monster.

They were the eyes of a martyr.

...I must be seeing things.

I shook my head to clear it, and my gaze fell back on the body that had been drowned. For some reason, I couldn't help but stare at it, feeling a sense of... familiarity.

I clutched my head as a sharp pain ran through it, and I saw a vision.



As I forced him face first into the water, he struggled and flailed around, desperately trying to free himself. In the end, I knew it would be a fruitless effort. I was stronger than him, and he was going to die. He deserved to die.

I could only imagine how terrified he was as he came to the slow realization that these were his final moments. I wished I could see it for myself, to watch the fear in his eyes, to hear him beg for mercy. Alas, his face was hidden underneath the murky water, and any screams he may have had were blocked off as the liquid seeped into his lungs.

Still, just knowing he was in such agony filled me with joy.

"GET THE FUCK OFF HIM!!!" One of the few remaining slavers ran into the bathroom, carrying a shotgun. I paid him no mind; his turn would come next. He clearly seemed to insist on dying first when he fired his gun into my side.

I barely even flinched at the impact.

Normally, a shot like that would have blown a hole in my side, but it just left a few bits of shrapnel sticking out of my skin. It didn't even hurt, to be honest. I slowly turned my head to glare at the slaver, and he looked like he was about to shit himself. The coward ran, completely forgetting about his dying friend. I returned my focus to my victim, seeing that his squirming had lessened now that he was growing weaker. Soon, he stopped moving, and his body went limp. I released him and exited the bathroom.

There were still insects that needed squashing.



The vision ended as quickly as it had begun.

W-...What the fuck was that!?

The headache I was getting still lingered, so I left the bathroom clutching my head. I returned to the living room, where the decapitated body and the chewed corpse lay.

Seeing them caused another surge of pain to shoot through my brain, and I was shown another vision.



The slaver wailed in pain as I pinned him down and tugged on his head. Another slaver nearby kept shooting me with his pistol over and over again, but I felt nothing. The skin on the pinned slaver's neck began to tear, causing blood to start leaking through. I could hear the crunch of the bone snapping off as I tore his head from his body, and a geyser of blood spurted from where it once was.

I turned to the other slaver, angered by his annoying pea shooter. He stared at me, frozen in horror as he continued to pull trigger despite having run out of ammo. I leapt at him, knocking him to the ground. He tried to push me off and screamed for help, but nopony was coming. All of his scumbag friends were dead.

Before he could do anything else, I sunk my teeth into his throat and pulled. Blood gushed from the wound, and he tried to cry out in pain, only to gurgle up more blood. I swallowed the fresh meat as the slaver's eyes rolled into the back of his head, and the life drained from his body. Examining my handiwork, I licked the blood off my lips.

Tasty.

"Wh-...Wha-...?" I turned to see another slaver in the doorway of the entrance, staring at all the carnage with wide eyes before his gaze fell on me. "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU!?!"

He pulled out an assault rifle, as if it would protect him, and unloaded on me. The bullets pierced my chest, turning it into Swiss cheese, yet I continued to stalk towards him like he was merely throwing pebbles at me. He soon realized it wasn't stopping my approach and he ran back outside, calling to the other slavers that remained.

I could have sworn I'd dealt with all the slavers outside. It seemed there were still a few stragglers left. No matter...

They would fall just like the rest.



Once again, the vision ended, I found myself stumbling. A pit in my stomach was starting to form, but I felt like I needed to keep following the breadcrumb trail. According to the vision, the killer had gone back outside, so I did too.

I pushed the front door open again and looked out at the bloody remains of a one-sided battle. The pain in my head became insufferable as I was overwhelmed by vision after vision.

One had the killer ripping off a slaver's hooves.

Another showed a slaver getting stabbed through the eye with a spear and pinned to the front door like a decoration.

Many others showed the assailant breaking several limbs and necks, even ripping the broken bones out completely, then stabbing the slavers with it.

Finally, I saw the killer rip one of the slavers clean in half with his bare fucking hooves.

No... not his hooves.

My hooves.

The realization slowly dawned on me. I had done this. I had slaughtered the slavers and gotten some sort of sick pleasure from it. Those weren't visions, they were memories.

...Wait... that means I ate that guy's...oh...oh dear Celestia...

I felt the bile quickly rising up in my throat and I vomited all over the ground. I didn't try to stop it from happening. That dream I had, what Bloody Scar had said... was that real? Is this what he meant? What happened to me? Why did I do this? They were slavers, sure, but this was a bit extreme. Did I not get the parasite out of me in time?

"...Either that, or you've awoken to the genes in your blood."

His words echoed in my head.

"Your father was given a much stronger version of this ability by our queen, and so it has been passed down to you as well."

The horrifying truth of what his words meant slowly dawned on me. This wasn't because of the parasite they had forced down my throat. This had been in my body much longer than that. It explained a lot really, why I always got angry so easily, why I always wanted to hurt somepony when I was angry, why I was never bothered by killing others.

It was genetic.

My father must have been infected with the parasite already, so whatever strength or rage that the parasite gives its host had been passed down to me as well. It's been a part of me my entire life.

I looked down at my hooves, only one question on my mind.

...What the fuck am I?
> Chapter 12: Clover
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


6 Years Ago

I groggily opened my eyes as I felt somepony shaking me awake. I still felt the pain from the slaver's beatings, though it wasn't as bad as it had been.

"Bunny! Bunny, please wake up! Come on!" Raindrop kept shaking me desperately. I blinked as I began to take in my surroundings. We were in a dark cave of some sort, dimly lit by a single lantern hanging from the ceiling. At the far end was a metal door that served as the entrance. Several other children were with us, some the same age, some even younger. Some were scared and calling out for help while others were simply crying. Others tried pushing the door open, but to no avail. Counting Raindrop and myself, there were about twenty children in total.

"W-What... happened?" I muttered as I started to wake up. My vision seemed to be back to normal as well.

"Oh thank Celestia! Don't ever do something like that again, you hear me!?" Raindrop chastised me as she embraced me in a hug. As she did, I took the time to regain my thoughts, and remembered seeing the ponies I called family be killed. Tears started to well up as the reality of the situation started to dawn on me. They were gone, and they were never coming back.

When Raindrop noticed I was crying, she hugged me tighter, crying alongside me. We sat there for a couple minutes before I wiped the tears away. "Where are we?"

"I'm not sure, all I know is they sold us off already. I overheard some of the slavers talking, and apparently they'd been hired to round up kids. I don't know what they want with us, though." She gestured to the other children in the room. "We just need to stick together, ok? We'll find a way out. Maybe the other kids will help!" While she was saying it to reassure me, it sounded like she was trying to reassure herself as well.

"Oh, he's awake! Is he feeling ok?" We both turned to see one of the children, a mare that looked about the same age as us, had come over.

"I think he's fine. How are you? Does it hurt anywhere?" Raindrop answered the filly before confirming with me.

"It hurts a little, but I'll be fine. Who's this?" I asked.

"This is Healing Touch. She helped me tend to your wounds while you were out." Healing Touch herself was a dirt yellow unicorn with a purple mane tied back in a braid, and she had a roll of bandages for a cutie mark. A pair of glasses sat on her muzzle, showing clear signs of having been repaired multiple times.

"You can just call me Healing. It's nice to meet you, though I wish it were under better circumstances." She stuck a hoof out and I shook it, giving her a nod.

"So... all of these kids were taken like us?" I looked over the other ponies in the cave with us.

"Well... most of them were. Some of them had actually been sold by their families for caps." Healing stayed silent for a moment before continuing. "...I'm one of them."

I was shocked to say the least. Why would her family have sold her to slavers? They were her family right? Isn't family supposed to take care of each other? I wanted to say something, maybe to try and console her, but our conversation was interrupted when we heard a commotion coming from some of the younger kids. Two colts that looked to be around 9 or 10 years old were standing over a crying filly, yelling at her and kicking her. The filly herself seemed to be no younger than 6 years old.

"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!!!" One of the colts yelled, kicking the filly in her ribs. "WE WOULDN'T BE HERE IF IT WASN'T FOR YOU!!!"

Raindrop and Healing ran over to them immediately to break them up. My body still ached, so it took me a bit of effort to stand up, and I ended up trailing behind them because of it.

"Whoa, whoa, what's going on here!?" Healing demanded an answer as Raindrop pushed the colts off the filly.

"She's one of the slavers! She's the reason we're down here!" One of the colts pointed at the filly.

"No I'm not! I'm not a slaver!" The filly protested, tears streaming down her face.

"Why in Equestria would you think that!? She's trapped down here with us!" Raindrop made her anger evident.

"She said her sister is one of the slavers! Ask her, she'll tell you!" He stomped his hoof in anger. We turned to the filly, and she looked at all of us fearfully. Now that I got a better look at the filly, I could see that she was a light gray earth pony with a dark blue mane. Unlike the others, she didn't have a cutie mark.

"Y-Yes...S-She is... but she didn't want to do it! She's a really good pony, I promise!" Needless to say, I was confused. If her sister was a slaver, why was she down here with us? I voiced my question, and the filly explained. "S-She got caught letting two kids get away. I heard the kids still got caught later, but the others were very angry. They put us in cages and split us up. I-I don't know where she is..." The filly began to cry even more. It didn't take long for me and Raindrop to realize who her sister was.

"See!? She's with them! This is all her fault!" Raindrop had to hold back the colt that spoke to keep him from beating the poor filly even more.

"Hey, that's enough!" We all turned when we heard a new voice approaching. The pony that stepped up was another colt, only this one was around the same age as Raindrop, Healing, and myself. He was a juniper green pegasus with silver hair. I didn't see a dashite brand on his cutie mark, which probably meant he wasn't born above the clouds. Instead, his cutie mark was of a socket wrench. "Listen, we're all in the same boat here. You heard what she said, her sister tried to help some of us. Doesn't that prove she's on our side?"

The colts that had been bullying the filly looked back and forth between the pegasus, the filly, and the rest of us, seeing they were outnumbered. Eventually, one of them huffed. "Whatever. Don't come crying to us when she stabs you in the back." The two brats wandered off to another corner of the small cave, getting as far away from us as possible. The pegasus stepped closer to us as Healing and I helped the filly off the ground.

"Here, let me take a look at it." Healing examined where the bullies had kicked her. "Those two got you good. It might start to bruise in a little bit. Unfortunately, I don't have anything to treat it with down here."

"T-That's ok..." The filly sniffled. "M-My big sister always said that when you're hurt, you should be strong and... e-endure it." She sounded out the word endure, like it was a big word for her. Poor thing probably only had a basic vocabulary. "That way, you can show everypony else that you're not weak."

Healing gave the filly a warm smile. "She sounds like a very brave mare. Can you tell me your name?"

"...It's Kettle... Kettle Corn." She wiped away the tears in her eyes.

"Nice to meet you, Kettle Corn. My name is Healing Touch, this is Raindrop and Bunny." She gestured to the two of us. Guess Raindrop told her my name while I was unconscious. "As for our pegasus friend here, I believe he has yet to introduce himself." She turned to the pegasus, her smile never wavering.

"Ah, right, sorry. I'm Rusty Wrench, but you can just call me Rusty. So, anypony got any ideas on how to get outta here? I've come up with squat." We all shook our heads. "Damn. If I had some scrap, I could probably build something to break that door open."

"Don't worry. I'm sure we'll find a way out as long as we stick together." While Healing had intended to give us hope with her words, they made me think; what happens after we escape? Raindrop and I didn't have anywhere to go. We didn't have anypony to return to. Would we just be wandering the wasteland? The only places I'd ever been were the ranch, Alleyville, and my old home. Obviously, we couldn't go to any of those places. I wouldn't have the knowledge to survive out there, though. Raindrop might, but then she would be forced to take care of me on top of herself.

Would Raindrop think I'm useless?

No, of course she wouldn't. We were family, right?

...But didn't Healing's family sell her into slavery?

No, no, she wouldn't do that. She cares about me like I care about her.

But what if you're wrong?

I'm not wrong.

How do you know that?

I just do, that's all there is to it.

What makes you think she won't abandon you?

Shut up.

She'll just leave you behind.

I said shut up.

You're nothing but dead weight.

I SAID SHUT UP!!!

"Bunny?"

I was jolted out of my thoughts by Raindrop's voice.

"Are you okay? You were starting to hyperventilate." She asked, a clear look of concern on her face.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine. Just... wondering what'll happen if we get out of here." I made a weak attempt at reassuring her.

"Hey, it's when we get out of here. We're going to be fine, I promise." She put a hoof on my shoulder. I immediately hated myself for ever doubting her. Why the hell did I think she would ever abandon me? We had a bond, and there wasn't anything in Equestria that could break it.

"Is he gonna be okay?" Rusty asked from behind Raindrop.

"Yeah, he's just... been through a lot." She said as she turned to face him. Rusty stared at me from over her shoulder, not really convinced that I was okay. It took me a second to realize he was specifically looking at my brand.

"...It wasn't the slavers that did that, was it?" While he phrased it like a question, Rusty said it as more of a statement. Healing looked at me with the same sympathetic expression as him, while Kettle was confused, not sure what the pegasus meant. I started to shrink back, not liking the attention.

"I'd rather not talk about it." I muttered, and they seemed to ease off. It was about then that the door to our little prison burst open and in walked a pony wearing a red and black cloak. The cloak's hood was pulled over their face, preventing us from seeing their eyes. Two more ponies that looked exactly the same as the first followed behind, only these two carried assault rifles.

"Why hello, children. I hope you all feel grateful to be partaking in our game. Now come with us..." The hooded pony spoke with a voice creepy enough to send chills down everypony's spines.

"It's time for the Trials of Despair to begin."




Present Day

I don't know exactly how long I sat there, staring at my hooves. I think it had been at least an hour. I was still struggling to process the new revelation. I was part parasite. I'd been part parasite my entire life and never knew. I just came to the San Palomino to find some computer chip and now here I am having an existential crisis. How did things spiral so drastically?

I took a deep breath, trying to steady my nerves. I just needed to calm down and get back on track. First things first, find out where Cat and the slaves are. I needed to make sure they were safe. Standing up, I made my way over to the barn where the cages had been, hoping to find a clue of some sort.

After entering the barn, I paid a quick glance to the pool of blood I had woken up in. At first, I had assumed it wasn't mine since I wasn't injured. Thinking back to those creepy flashbacks, however, I clearly had been shot many times, more than I should have survived.

Did my wounds heal while I was unconscious? I wonder if that's a side effect of... what did Scar call it again? Parasitic Rage?

Starting my search, I checked the cages first. Seeing the locks that had been ripped off triggered another memory, and I could see myself ripping the locks off with my bare teeth. The slavers that had been in the cages flinched back, staring at me with fear in their eyes. Recalling the mangled corpse sitting in the barn, I imagine they were scared because they'd just watched me tear the slaver apart with just my hooves.

Coming back to reality, I took another look around the barn. A more thorough search revealed some hoofprints leading out of the back entrance. I gripped my head in pain as another memory surfaced.



After freeing the slaves, they all cowered in the corner, terrified of me. I didn't care what they thought of me. One exception however was a mare, who looked at me with surprise and... recognition?

I shrugged it off, not bothering to get a good look at her. I could here the slavers on their way, gearing up to take down the intruder.

"Cat, there's a cave not far from here. Take the slaves their and keep them safe. I'll meet up with you there later." I ordered the dog. Instead of listening, Cat began to whimper and started approaching me, wondering where this sudden change in personality came from. I didn't have time for this. "I SAID GO!!!"

Cat recoiled, but did as I demanded. The slaves, having heard my command, followed the dog out through the back entrance. I turned to face the front. This was going to be a bloodbath, and I was going to enjoy every second of it.



I shook my head as the vision faded.

Great, guess this 'Parasitic Rage' also turns me into an asshole. Poor Cat, I'm gonna have to apologize when I find him.

In the memory, I'd told them to go to a cave. I may not be the smartest pony in Equestria, but I didn't need to be a genius to know what cave I was talking about.

The Cave of Awesomeness.

Dreading the memories this would bring up, I groaned as I followed the hoofprints out through the back entrance.

...I wonder if our comic books are still there.



Looking at the cave from the outside, it didn't look like it had changed much. The large rock in front of it was still there, a small crack between it and the entrance with just enough room to squeeze through. I had stood outside the cave for about ten minutes, trying to gather the courage to actually go in. I was getting the same pit in my stomach that I got before entering my dad's old house.

Deep breaths. Just take a few deep breaths. You got this.

I did indeed take a deep breath, but it was rather shaky. "Hey! If you guys are in there and can hear me, I'm coming in! I'd appreciate it if you didn't blow my head off!" I called out. If the slaves were in there, I didn't want them to panic and confuse me for one of the slavers. Then again, they might not actually have any guns since they'd only just been freed. Still, better to be cautious.

I started to squeeze through the crack only for something from inside the cave to hop through and tackle me. I immediately recognized Cat the second he started licking my face. Thankfully, it seemed there were no hard feelings for my sudden change in attitude back at the barn. "Hey, hey, easy! It's good to see you, too."

He barked and wagged his tail, though the look he was giving me made it clear he had some questions. Sorry for yelling at you back in the barn. I promise, I'll explain what that was later. For now, let's head inside." He got off of me and we both squeezed through the crack. As I'd suspected, all of the slaves were hiding out here.

They all stared at me, some relieved that I wasn't a slaver, others scared of me for what I did back in the barn. As usual, I didn't like having so much attention, but it wasn't a big group so it didn't bother me as much. Some of them appeared to still be on edge while others had made themselves at home, glad to be free of their imprisonment. There were a couple kids among the slaves who I saw were reading the comic books that used to belong to me and Raindrop.

Obviously, these ponies can't stay here in this cave, so I should think of a safe place to take them. Alleyville is out of the question, they're likely to get kidnapped by slavers again if they aren't shanked by some mugger. Maybe one of the slaves knows a good place to-

My thought process was halted when I heard a click off to my left, the sound of a gun's hammer being cocked. "Don't you fockin' move." A female voice with an oddly familiar accent ordered, most likely holding a gun to my head. I did as she said, not even daring to flinch. Cat growled and barked angrily from beside me, but made no moves in case the mare next to us was feeling trigger happy.

"C-Clover!? What are you doing!?" One of the slaves, another mare, yelled. The commotion had drawn the attention of everypony else in the cave. "That guy saved us!"

"Did you forget what he did in the barn!?" Another slave argued, this one a stallion. "You saw what his eye looked like! You saw how much he enjoyed slaughtering that pony! He's just like those Martyr freaks! He should be put down!"

Gee, no need to thank me for saving you, dick.

This back and forth seemed to continue amongst all the slaves. Some defended me while others thought I was a monster. While I'd prefer to avoid a bullet to the brain, I had to admit that what I did was pretty fucked up. At the same time, though, it had been slavers that I killed. Did they really deserve any sympathy? I doubt anypony was gonna miss them, I know I sure won't. Surprisingly, the one pony I expected to chime in the most, the one holding me at gunpoint, stayed silent through it all. If she wasn't threatening to shoot me because of my little 'episode' in the barn, then what was her motive?

"We would've been worked to death if it wasn't for him!"

"We should kill him before he kills us!"

"He saved my life! He saved all of us! How bad can he really be!?"

"Mommy, why is everypony mad?"

"Everyone calm down!" The whole cave went silent when an authoritative voice spoke up. I glanced over to see an indigo colored mare had been the one to silence everyone. Seeing as how they listened to her, I assumed she was the leader of the group, or at least somepony they look up to. "No pony is killing anypony, not yet at least. Yes, what he did was brutal, but we don't want to jump to conclusions. Let's assess the situation before we do anything. We don't want to murder an innocent pony."

Well, I wouldn't exactly call myself "innocent"...

"Clover, you've been rather quiet this entire time despite being the one with the gun. Can you please explain why you felt the need to threaten the stallion who saved us?" The leader addressed the mare aiming the gun at me. She stayed silent for a few seconds before answering.

"...He's the reason Kettle's gone." She answered, and I tensed up.

Kettle.

I knew that name.

"Kettle? Wait, so this stallion is...?" The leader trailed off.

"Yeah, I'd recognize that damned scar anywhere." The mare next to me confirmed. Now recognizing where I'd heard her voice from, I spared a glance in her direction and couldn't believe my eyes.

No fucking way.

The mare was a smoky grey earth pony with a navy blue mane tied back into a long, messy ponytail. An olive green fiddler cap sat on top of her head, and her hooves had a layer of feathering on them.

It was the same mare that I'd seen with Haywire in Alleyville 6 years ago.

The same mare who had pretended not to see us the night the ranch had fallen.

"Remember me?" She snarled. I didn't respond, too busy trying to figure out how in Equestria she was here. The odds of us running into each other again had already seemed pretty slim. The fact that it happened at the ranch of all places made it even more outrageous. I noted the 9mm pistol she held in her mouth. Despite that, she was speaking clearly and fluently. Guess she's had some practice speaking with a gun in her mouth.

"H-...How...?" I didn't even get the words out before she continued to speak.

"I'm only gonna ask this once. Where. Is. Kettle?" She interrogated me through clenched teeth. Hearing her question made me feel two emotions.

The first emotion was guilt.

This mare, who used to be a slaver herself, had tried doing the right thing for once by letting Raindrop and I go. In return for her kind deed, she was enslaved and separated from her sister for several years. Several years most likely spent worrying for her sister's safety, having no idea whether she was healthy, hurt, or even alive. All because she let us go free. To make it even worse, her good deed had been in vain, as the two of us ended up getting caught anyway. That's why I felt guilty.

The second emotion was panic. Why was I panicking, you may ask?

Because I was frantically trying to think of a way to tell her Kettle was dead without her wanting to shoot me.

The fact her sister wasn't alive only added to my guilt, because no matter what I said, I was going to end up breaking this poor mare's spirits. I just hoped I wouldn't end up having hot lead inserted into my brain at over 800 miles per hour after the fact.

"...I'll tell you, but can you please put the gun down first?"

"Yer in no position to be makin' demands. Tell me now!" She snarled.

"...I promise I will, trust me. You deserve to know. I just don't wanna get shot afterwards." I kept my cool, not wanting to agitate her. While it had only been a little over ten seconds, it felt like hours passed before she sighed and lowered the gun, placing it on the ground. I opened my mouth to say something... only to find myself hesitating. Did I really have to be the one to tell her that her sister was dead? That she had been clinging on to hope for nothing? What would she do afterwards? Would she still try to kill me? Blame me for her sister's death? Or worse, would she kill herself, not having any reason to keep living?

Fucking catch-22's.

"...She's dead, isn't she?"

In the end, I didn't have to say anything. My hesitance told her all she needed to know. I gave her a solemn nod to confirm. In response, she seemed to just freeze up. She wasn't tense, she just kinda... stopped moving. I couldn't tell what she was feeling at all. She stayed like that for a bit, and some of the ex-slaves watching started to worry, murmuring amongst each other.

After a bit the mare, 'Clover', sucked in a breath, a very shaky one at that. I could tell she was holding back tears. She shouldn't be, it was okay to cry after losing a loved one. Celestia knows I've done it plenty of times. Still, I could understand not wanting to do it in front of all these ponies. I was starting to think she may have calmed down and might not want to shoot me anymore.

At least I did, until she glared directly at me. If looks could kill, I would've been dead ten times over.

She seemed to be wrestling with something in her mind, most likely deciding if she should kill me or not. Well, unless she already decided to kill me, and was just wondering if it should be quick and merciful or slow and painful. She kept casting furtive glances at the gun on the ground, so hopefully she was at least considering the merciful option. A full minute passed, neither one of us saying a word.

"...Outside. Now." After breaking the silence, she squeezed through the crack leading outside, most likely wanting me to follow her. She didn't bother taking the gun.

"...Welp, guess she decided on slow and painful. Might as well face my death like a man. If I'm going out, I ain't gonna be a bitch about it." I joked, though Cat didn't seem to find it funny, given the look he had on his face. "Hey, I'm kidding. She's... probably not gonna kill me. I'll be right back."

I slipped through the crack, joining Clover outside. As expected, she still had the scowl that could probably scare even a hellhound. I gave it a 50/50 chance she wasn't planning to beat me to death.

"...Six years ago, ye were with the kids we rounded up to be sold. Do ye know who the client was?" She asked me, not even looking me in the eye.

"At the time, no. But after... recent events, I think I have a feeling."

"...The Martyrs of Despair." She confirmed my suspicions. Figures it was them. They seem to be the source of all my problems lately. "They're the ones that killed her, right?"

After I nodded, she looked me dead in the eye. "Then yer goin' to help me kill 'em all."

Understandably, it took me a second to process what she said. "I-I'm sorry... you want me to do what!?"

"Ye got a problem with that?"

I took a deep breath. "...Look, I'm sorry about your sister, but-"

"NO! You don't have any right t' walk away from this! Her death is on yer hooves too! You need t' take responsibility!" She shoved me the second I tried to object. I know I sounded like a heartless bastard, but after my 'trip' to the Martyr's lair, after everything I learned, I wanted absolutely nothing to do with them. I had honestly been wondering if the McGuffin was even worth all this hassle. I had actually been considering just calling it quits and going straight back to Astral empty hooved. I'm sure he would've understood, right?

Yet at the same time... I did feel guilty not helping her. I did partially blame myself, if only a little bit. Still, after what I saw down there...

She has no idea what she would be up against.

"...Why me, then? Besides being semi-responsible, that is."

"Because yer clearly connected to them." I was about to lie and say otherwise, but she cut me off. "And don't even try tellin' me otherwise. I saw yer eye back there, everypony did. There's no way you don't have some sort o' connection with them." I clammed up after those words.

...Damnit, there isn't any weaseling out of this, is there?

"...Fuck... alright, fine. I'll help, not like I have much choice." I sighed. I suppose I was already in the Martyr's sights, so I was pretty much at the point of no return anyway. "But we aren't going to just charge in headfirst like a pair of idiots. If you really want to fight them, we're gonna do it my way, got it?"

"And how exactly would 'your' way help?"

"Do you want to have an entire army to help us take them down?"

"...Your way it is."

Actually, calling the ERC an army is giving them too much credit, but they're still better than nothing.

If she really wanted to take down the Martyrs, it was clear that it was going to take a tremendous amount of planning and preparation. The parasites basically turned every Martyr into a super soldier, there was that freaky lizard-scorpion thing that chased me (who I remember all too well from the Trials of Despair), I didn't even know what Bloody Scar was capable of doing yet, and that monster they called a queen was the icing on the cake. We weren't dealing with a regular ol' cult, this was a much larger threat than anypony knew.

Despite all that, though, there was one silver lining.

I had the parasitic rage... whatever the hell it was, exactly.

I still had a lot of questions about it, obviously, but I did know that whatever it was, it let me shrug off an insane amount of bullets. That, and it gave me enough strength to rip a pony in half with my bare hooves. I don't know how to control it, but that didn't mean I couldn't learn. In my dream, Bloody Scar said my father was given a stronger version of the parasite, and that it was passed down to me through his genes. That explained why any martyrs I previously killed weren't tanking bullets like I had, they were given weaker versions. This might not be much compared to what we were going up against, but it was something, and that's all I could ask for.

I was stirred from my thoughts when Clover spit into her hoof then stuck it out for me to shake. I stared at the hoof, thinking over everything that's happened since I showed up in the San Palomino. It's just been one thing after another ever since I arrived in this damn desert. Things just kept getting worse and worse and I kept being forced to dig myself deeper. I should have just told Astral no. I should have just stayed home. I shouldn't have ever even considered coming back here in the first place, but I did, and now I'm paying for it.

I spit into my own hoof and grasped hers in a firm hoofshake.

"...Well, at least you don't wanna kill me." I sighed.

"Oh, that's still on the table, trust me."

Gee, what a comforting thought.
> Chapter 13: Return to Alleyville
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


6 Years Ago

The ponies in cloaks lead us out of the room we had been held in and through some caverns. Those that resisted were beaten. Eventually, they lead us through another metal door and into a new room. The room itself had a couple benches on both sides, a metal bucket in the corner with a few flies hovering around it, and a heavy gate at the far back. Peering through the bars of the gate, I could see a large open space on the other side.

The cloaked ponies told us to wait here for the first trial to begin, and if we ever got hungry, there was food in the bucket. They then slammed the door shut. An audible click from the other side was our indication that they locked it.

"W-What's gonna happen to us?" Kettle asked nervously, huddling as close to Healing as she could.

"I'm not sure... Just stay close to me." Healing did her best to calm the poor filly down.

"That goes for you too. Stick to me as best you can, ok?" Raindrop said to me, and I gave her a firm nod.

"AAAAAAAAHHH!!!" A high-pitched scream drew the attention of everypony present. One of the fillies had decided to examine the bucket, and whatever was inside had horrified them. They stumbled backwards, trying to get as far away from the bucket as possible. "I-It's...! T-There's a...!" She stuttered, unable to bring herself to say what it was.

Rusty took the initiative and stepped forward, checking the bucket for himself. As soon as he looked in, he looked like he was going to throw up. "Oh... oh dear Celestia, that's just wrong..."

Curiosity got the better of Raindrop, Healing, and myself, and the three of us joined him. Just in case, Healing told Kettle to stay back and not look. When the three of us saw what was in the bucket, we shared similar emotions to Rusty.

Inside the bucket was a rotting decapitated head, and a good chunk of its brain was exposed. The head's lower jaw had been ripped off. One of its eyes was hanging from the socket, while the other was missing entirely. A few maggots nibbled on what remained.

"H-Hey, what's in it?" One of the children, a colt, asked. "Those guys said there's food in there, right? What is it?"

The reminder that our captors intended for us to eat the head was the last straw for Healing, and she ran over to a different corner to puke. Raindrop pushed the bucket further back into the corner with her magic, not even daring to touch it herself.

"Trust me kids, you do not want to eat that." Rusty answered them. After he did, Raindrop addressed the whole group.

"Ok, from this point on, that bucket is off limits. If you're really that curious and want to know what's inside..." Raindrop turned her gaze towards Healing, who was still throwing up. "... Just go in that corner if the sight makes you sick."

"Definitely don't throw up in the bucket. It's gross enough as it is." Rusty added. The other children in the group looked at them, some worried, some confused, and others skeptical. They turned to the filly who first looked in the bucket, and she furiously nodded in agreement.

"You don't want to know what's in there." She warned them, her face completely pale.

After that, no pony else had been brave enough to look in the bucket. All twenty of us sat in that room for what felt like an eternity. After about half an hour, the large gate started to move. We all looked amongst each other in hesitation as the gate was slowly raised upwards, granting us access into the large open space. One by one, we cautiously exited the room and stepped into the large area.

Now that I had a better look, I could see the space was circular in shape, and that there was another gate on the opposite side. Above us, the area was ringed by balconies with seats filled with other ponies in cloaks, all yelling and cheering. The whole area was illuminated by several torches hanging from the walls.

"It's an arena..." I heard Raindrop murmur from beside me.

"More like a gladiator pit." Rusty scoffed. I didn't say anything, not knowing what either of those things were.

"WELCOME, MY FELLOW BRETHREN! WELCOME, ONE AND ALL TO THE TRIALS OF DESPAIR!" A cloaked stallion stood on one of the balconies with a microphone. "WE HAVE SEVERAL LITTLE LAMBS HERE THAT ARE READY TO BE TESTED! THEIR FIRST TRIAL WILL PUT THEIR COMBAT CAPABILITIES TO THE TEST! BRING OUT THE WEAPONS!"

The gate on the other side opened up, and three of the cloaked ponies walked through. The leader held a bag that most likely contained the 'weapons' while the other two flanked him, each armed with assault rifles. The two with the rifles ordered us to line up single file or be shot, so we complied. Four of the kids stood on my right, including the kids that had bullied Kettle, while Raindrop stood on my left. Next to her was Healing, then after her was Kettle. Rusty stood on Kettle's left, and the remaining eleven kids came after him.

The cloaked pony with the bag started to speak. "You'll take one weapon each. Once the trials begin, you are free to trade weapons, or pick up any potential weapons you find, once the trial begins. If you try to trade weapons before the trial starts, you will be punished. There will be no complaining. Understood?"

We all nodded fearfully, not wanting to know what would be in store for us if we didn't listen. He started with the pony on the far left of our line and held the bag open, not letting the child peek inside. The kid reached inside and pulled out whatever weapon he grabbed, which turned out to be a tire iron.

The pony with the bag did the same with the other kids, each of them getting their own weapon. Each weapon seemed to vary in terms of how useful or effective it would be. For example, some kids got weapons like a bowie knife and a police baton, while others got weapons like a rolling pin and a straight razor. I watched as my friends all received their own weapons as well. Rusty pulled out a hatchet, Kettle pulled out a ball peen hammer, Healing pulled out a switchblade, and Raindrop pulled out a monkey wrench.

Eventually my turn came. I reached into the bag, hoping I would at least get something decent. When I pulled out my weapon, my hopes were immediately shattered.

My weapon was a rock no bigger than a baseball.

"Heh, that kid is screwed." I heard one of the guards snicker as he eyed me. Comparing my weapon to what everyone else had gotten, I kinda agreed with him. The last of the kids claimed their weapons, and the cloaked ponies left through the way they came from, the gate closing behind them.

It was then that I heard a low grinding sound coming from my hoof. I looked down to see that the noise had come from my Pip-Buck. I had honestly forgotten I was wearing this thing. I'd just grown so used to it being on my hoof that I never thought about it.

I flipped through the tabs and noticed one in particular had changed, a tab called "Quests". The tab used to be empty with nothing on it, but now there was a brand-new line of text on it. I had no idea how it got there, but I didn't dwell on it and decided to read the text itself.

The Trials of Despair
- Survive the first trial

I've got a bad feeling about this...

"THE FIRST TRIAL WILL CONSIST OF THREE ROUNDS!" The pony with the microphone continued to speak. "THE ONLY WAY FOR OUR LAMBS TO WIN IS TO SLAY THEIR OPPONENTS AND SURVIVE BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY! THERE WILL BE NO BREAKS IN BETWEEN ROUNDS! ARE YOU ALL READY!?"

The audience roared with cheers, stamping their hooves down in applause.

"THEN WITHOUT FURTHER ADO... LET! THERE! BE! BLOOD!"

The gate on the opposite side opened up once more as the crowd's cheers got louder and louder. I couldn't see what was behind the gate, but I did notice some movement. Eventually, a couple feral dogs stepped out from the darkness, followed by several more. I counted five of them, all growling at us with a scary look in their eyes.

Everyone was too frozen with fear to react, and one of the dogs came charging at us. It leapt at one of the children on my right, who didn't look any older than 9 or 10 years old, and sank its teeth into their throat. The kid's screams of pain were cut short as the life slipped away from his eyes. The rest of us screamed in terror and scattered as the other four dogs started attacking us as well.

Several of the kids chose to try running away instead of fighting, either because they didn't know how or were too scared to do so. I could see Healing staying close to the walls of the arena, doing her best to keep Kettle as far away from the dogs as possible. One of the kids, a filly armed with a kitchen knife, tried to take one of the dogs on. Unfortunately for her, the canine managed to get the better of her. The dog avoided a stab from the filly, then bit into her leg, causing her to fall to the ground crying. The dog took the opportunity to bite into the filly's throat and ripped it out, killing her.

One of the dogs cornered Rusty, so he tried attacking it with his hatchet, only for the dog to duck under his swing and bite down on his wing. He howled in pain as the dog kept pulling and tugging on the wing. He pushed through the pain and brought his hatchet down onto the dog's head, killing it instantly. He pulled the dog off of himself before seeing me gawking at the sight. His eyes widened as he noticed something behind me. "WATCH OUT!"

I turned around just in time to see the dog leaping straight at me. It tackled me to the ground and was about to sink its fangs into my face. Thinking quickly, I shoved my rock into the dog's throat just as it opened its maw. It coughed and hacked in attempt to dislodge the rock, but was unable to before Rusty bucked the canine off me. before the dog could get back up, Rusty swung the hatchet into the dog's head to finish it off. He then offered me a hoof up, which I accepted.

I was about to thank him, only to notice Raindrop in the corner of my eye. Another dog had her pinned down and kept snapping its jaws in an attempt to bite her. She tried pushing it off her, but the dog's teeth got closer and closer to her. Seeing her in danger triggered something in me, and any panic I had was gone. I didn't hesitate as I charge forward and rammed my whole body straight into the dog, knocking it off of her. The dog recovered quickly and lunged straight at me.

I thought for sure it was going to kill me right then and there, but Raindrop had reacted quick enough and swung her monkey wrench at the dog's face, hitting it in midair. She didn't stop for a second and continued to beat the dog's head in with the wrench, bludgeoning it to death.

As Rusty ran over to join us, I looked around to see how everyone else was doing. Another one of the children had been killed by a dog, and their corpse was currently being feasted upon. Three of the kids managed to gang up on one of the dogs and kill it, leaving only one left. The remaining dog noticed it was alone, stopped chewing on the corpse, and came running straight at the three of us.

Despite no longer having a weapon, I prepared myself to fight it alongside Raindrop and Rusty, only to realize I didn't need to. Rusty threw his hatchet at the dog like a tomahawk. It spun threw the air before hitting the dog straight in the eye, killing it. The body landed at our hooves, and Rusty pulled the hatchet out of it. The audience around us shouted their approval over the battle. They enjoyed every second of it like the vultures they were.

"AND THERE YOU HAVE IT! THE LAMBS SURVIVED THE ONSLAUGHT OF THE BIG BAD WOLVES! WELL, MOST OF THEM, ANYWAY!" The announcer yelled into the mic.

"Nice throw!" Raindrop complimented him, wiping the sweat from her brow as the adrenaline wore off.

"Thanks. My dad taught me how to fight. He worked as a caravan guard, so he had some combat experience." He explained. Now that the dust had settled, everyone that was still standing gathered around. Healing, being the only one among us with medical expertise, examined the damage.

Three of us were dead, their bodies only a few feet away. A few of us had claw marks on us from the dogs. Some would heal, others would scar. The only serious injury among us was the giant bite mark on Rusty's wing.

"Oh my goodness, are you okay!? Here, let me see it." She carefully inspected the bloody wing. Rusty winced a bit as she did, but gave no protests. "It doesn't look like you'll be flying for a while. Let me see if I can-"

Before Healing could try to patch up Rusty's wing as best she could, she was cut off by the announcer. "MY FELLOW BRETHREN, PREPARE YOURSELVES FOR ROUND 2! THIS TIME, IT'S GOING TO BE A BIT MORE DIFFICULT THAN THE FIRST ROUND! LET'S SEE IF OUR LITTLE LAMBS CAN PULL THROUGH!"

"W-What!? Already!?" She blanched.

"They said there wouldn't be any breaks in between rounds, remember?" Rusty reminded her. "If we have any injuries, we'll just have to put up with them."

As the gate started to open again, I realized I was the only one without a weapon. I grabbed the kitchen knife from one of the fallen kids and readied myself next to Raindrop. Everypony prepared themselves for whatever challenge we had to face next. We were all surprised and horrified to see that our next opponent wasn't any wasteland wildlife like the first round. This time, it was something much more adept at combat.

"IF OUR NEXT OPPONENTS MANAGE TO SUCCESSFULLY SLAUGHTER ALL OF THE LITTLE LAMBS, THEY WILL RECEIVE A HEFTY REWARD! 1,000 CAPS EACH! WILL THEY BE SKILLED ENOUGH TO EARN IT!? OR WILL THE LAMBS PROVE THEIR WORTHINESS!? LET'S FIND OUT!"

Judging by their scars, their attire, and the crazed threats of rape and murder, we knew exactly who our opponents were.

Raiders.




Present Day

After Clover and I struck our 'deal', she explained to the indigo mare in the cave that she would be parting ways with them. She said her goodbyes to her fellow ex-slaves while I reconvened with Cat. The indigo mare had explained that she knew a place they could all go where they would be safe, so I didn't have to worry about them. After all was said and done, we parted ways with the slaves and began our trek back to Alleyville.

We hadn't even been walking for more than ten minutes when the inevitable question of "What the hell was up with my slaughter fest back at the barn?" was asked by Clover. At first I wasn't sure if I should tell her about my newfound... 'gift', but seeing as how she and all the other slaves had seen my eyes, there wasn't really any point in hiding it. The only question was whether or not she believed me. In all honesty, I was still having trouble believing it myself.

I explained to both her and Cat what happened in the Martyr's lair, as well as the fact that I was the bastard child of a Martyr and his rape victim. I omitted some details of course, like the fact that my father had been the leader of the cult, and that he kept me locked up in a basement for the first ten years of my life. I had already told Cat about that part, and I'd rather not tell Clover about my entire life story.

After I finished my explanation, Clover gave me a look of understandable skepticism. "So yer tellin' me that the martyrs are all infected by some sort o' parasite..."

"Yup."

"And this parasite also gives 'em all superpowers..."

"Superpowers is a bit of an exaggeration, but yeah."

"And ye just so happen to be the bastard son to one o' those cunts, meaning you have superpowers too?"

"Kinda sorta, yeah."

She continued to just stare at me with uncertainty, unsure of what to believe. A good ten seconds of silence passed before she just shrugged. "Alright then."

"...That's it? You believe me just like that?" This time, it was my turn to be skeptical.

"I know what I saw back on that ranch. Yer not normal, that's for certain. I'm also pretty good at knowin' when people are lyin' to me." She simply stated, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Besides, if the martyrs are really as strong as ye say they are, then you havin' powers gives us an edge."

"Huh... okay then." I shared a look with Cat before we continued on in silence.



We reached the walls of Alleyville a shortly after the break of dawn. Unfortunately, I had to pay the entrance fee again, much to my annoyance. After the guard took the payment and opened the door for us, Clover took in the sight of the town.

"Been quite a while since I set a hoof in here. Was kinda hopin' it would stay that way." She said to me.

"We'll be in and out soon enough, there's just someone I need to meet up with here. Hopefully she's not too pissed I didn't return as soon as I said I would." I grimaced, remembering the stallion from the bar the other night. Y'know, the one Joy had pinned to the ground after he hit on her? I prayed that I wouldn't receive similar treatment.

After a bit more walking through Alleyville's streets, and a close encounter with a desperate mugger, we reached the Ace of Hearts. I cautiously opened the saloon doors, hoping I wouldn't walk straight into the wrath of an angry Joy. Just like the last time I saw the place during the early morning, it was barren save for a couple patrons eating breakfast.

The only other pony I saw was Vanilla Heart, who was busy cleaning a shot glass. The second she laid eyes on me, she went slack jawed. "Bunny!? Where the hell have you been!? Joy's been looking for you everywhere!"

"Oh, I'm sorry. The next time I get captured by martyrs, I'll be sure to leave a note." I snarked as I stepped up to the bar counter, Cat and Clover trailing behind me.

"I take it your little mission wasn't successful, then? So much for it being 'just the one guy', as you put it." She finished drying the glass and put it away, then took notice of Clover. "Who's your new friend?"

Clover herself snorted. "Friend ain't the word I'd use. I'd say we're more like... temporary acquaintances."

"Yeah, what she said." I agreed. "So, where's Joy at? She upstairs in her room?"

"No, she's out looking for you. She's been at it since yesterday, and got up early today to keep looking." Vanilla explained accusingly. It was then that the door leading to the staff area opened up. I wasn't too surprised to see Pokerface walk through. I did notice a small smidge of blood on his cheek, but I had the common sense not to ask about it.

"Oh, hey Bunny! Heard you disappeared on us! Good to see ya safe and sound. Who's this lovely lady?" He gestured to Clover.

"Temporary acquaintance," She reiterated, "and the name's Clover."

"Uh, Poke? You've got a little somethin'..." Vanilla pointed at Pokerface's cheek. He wiped the blood off and looked at his hoof to see what it was.

"Oh! That's a little embarrassing. Don't mind that, I just had to take care of some business in the back." He reassured us. As if on cue, one of Pokerface's fedora-wearing goons came through the staff area door, dragging a stallion that looked like he'd been beaten within an inch of his life. I almost didn't recognize him through all the swollen bruises, but the stallion being dragged was the same one that had been thrown out of the poker game the other night.

"Now if you just remember to pay what you owe, we won't have to do this again. Sound like a plan, old chum?" Pokerface gave the stallion a pat on the back.

"Y-Yesh, sir..." The stallion slurred, his busted jaw making it difficult to talk normally. The bouncer released his grip on the stallion, and the poor bastard ran out of the bar as fast as he could, not daring to look back.

"...Sorry you two had to see that." He turned back to us once the stallion had left. "Tell you what, I'll let you each have something from the menu as compensation. On the house, of course."

"If yer offerin', I'll take a bottle o' whiskey." Clover took a seat at the counter next to me.

"Early drinker, eh? Alright, how 'bout you, kid?" Pokerface looked over to me.

"I'll just have some breakfast. Brahmin steak with a side of bacon." After giving my order, I heard Cat bark from behind me. "...And some extra bacon for Cat."

"Coming right up, honey." She gave me a wink and got to work on our orders. As she did, she decided to make some small talk with Clover. "So, what's your story? How'd the two of you meet?"

"My story is my business. Bunny got me out of a slaver camp, that's all ye need t' know." Mentally, I appreciated Clover for not mentioning how I basically butchered all the slavers. Though, to the surprise of both of us, Vanilla seemed to freeze when Clover said she came from a slaver camp.

"...You were a slave?" She held a sympathetic look on her face. "Did they, uh..." She started to ask a question, only for her gaze to shift between Pokerface, the bouncer, and myself. "Sorry boys, but could you give the two of us some privacy? We need to have a bit of a girl talk."

I shared confused glances with Pokerface and the bouncer. Eventually, Pokerface gave Vanilla the ok, and she asked Clover to follow her into the back. Once the door shut behind them, I briefly considered listening in on whatever they were talking about.

Pokerface seemed to know what I was thinking though and put a stop to that idea. "Trust me, kid, it ain't worth it. If Vanilla catches you listening, she'll rip your balls off. And no, I'm not exaggerating."

We waited for a few minutes until the two of them finally returned. Clover was clearly in deep contemplation about something, showing a mix of several emotions in her expression.

"Uh, is everything ok?" I asked her as she returned to her seat.

"...Yeah... Yeah, everything's fine." She replied, but the look on her face didn't go away. Vanilla got back to readying our orders, and I soon found a plate of brahmin steak and bacon in front of me.

What threw me off was that Clover also had a plate of steak and bacon in front of her. Even more surprising was that Clover didn't seem upset about not getting what she asked for.

"...What happened to the whiskey?" Pokerface voiced the question on my mind.

"I changed my mind." Clover simply stated, and began to dig in. We all watched her with a bit of skepticism. I looked over at Pokerface and he just shrugged, being just as confused as I was. After a bit, I started eating my own meal. I couldn't shake the feeling that whatever they discussed was something I should know about, though.

What the hell did they talk about back there?

Partway through our meals, the front doors to the bar burst open. A familiar mint green unicorn came rushing in, a frantic look on her face.

"Vanilla! I wasn't able to find anything, so I came back here to if you heard about any leads-!" Joy trailed off once her gaze landed on me. Her eyes had gone so wide that you could barely see her pupils.

"U-Uh...hi?" I gave a small awkward wave.

After standing there for a few seconds gaping at me, she closed the distance between us in an instant.

"YOU JERK I'VE BEEN LOOKING ALL OVER FOR YOU WHERE THE HECK DID YOU GO I GOT SO WORRIED AND I THOUGHT YOU MIGHT HAVE DIED AND-!!!"

"Woah, woah, easy there! I'm sorry for disappearing, just take a deep breath, ok?"

Joy clammed up before doing as I said. She sucked in a deep breath, held it for a couple seconds, then let it out. "Ok... I think I'm good now. Where were you!?"

"Well... the mission didn't go quite as planned, and I ended up getting captured, but-"

"YOU WERE CAPTURED!?" She yelled.

"But I still managed to learn some things about the martyrs. I'll give you and the General a recap of what I saw when we get back, okay?" I told her. Joy looked like she wanted to press further, but she eventually sighed and let it go. For now, anyway.

"Mind introducin' me to the lass here?" Clover got the attention of both Joy and myself.

"Oh, right. Clover, this is Joyful Morale. Joy, this is Clover. She'll be working with us to fight the martyrs." After I gave them their introductions, Joy reached out a hoof to shake.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, ma'am! You can just call me Joy! All my friends do!"

"Uh huh." Clover grunted and accepted the hoof shake. As they shook, Clover looked down at Joy's jacket and noticed the ERC patch on her right sleeve. "...You're with the ERC?"

"Yes ma'am! Proud to serve!" Joy gave a quick salute.

After she seemed to put two and two together, Clover turned to me. "Wait... don't tell me this 'army' ye promised is the ERC?"

"Uh...yes?" I gave a sheepish grin. It seemed she was aware of the ERC's reputation for being an absolute shit show. She let out a groan as she face-hoofed, probably reconsidering if I was really as useful as she thought.

"Well ain't this just fockin' swell? Why don'tcha go recruit the garbage down the street as well? They'll probably be just as useful!" Clover made her irritation evident.

"Oh c'mon, the ERC isn't terrible! ...W-Well, not that terrible..." Joy did her best to defend her group, but fell flat.

"Look, they're better than nothing, ok? They're already at war with the martyrs, so we don't have to bother convincing them. Just try and roll with it, ok?" Clover contemplated my words before letting out a sigh.

"...Fine, but I ain't takin' orders from them." She grumbled.

"That... I can't promise you. The General's kind of a-" I was about to come up with a creative insult, only to remember the General was Joy's father, and she was standing right next to us. "...He's hard to reason with."

Clover groaned, "By Celestia, I really need a drink..."

"Then why'd you turn down the whiskey-"

"None o' yer damn business." Clover cut me off, looking like she was ready to bite my head off for asking. She then went back to eating her breakfast.

"...Okie dokie then." I turned back to my own meal, and we continued to eat in awkward silence.

Seriously, what in Equestria did they talk about back there?