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.

Author's Note

There it is, chapter 10 finally done. Took me a bit to write this one since I had to do a bit of research for the surgery scene. Unfortunately, it wasn't as simple as looking up "Can you close an incision by cauterizing it". I'm not sure if it was 100% medically accurate or if Bunny could actually survive that, but I did my best.

So, we've officially passed 100 views on this story. Hallelujah! Not sure how many of those 100 people actually continued reading, but I hope they enjoyed what they read all the same! Thank you for giving this story so much attention!

Quick update, I'm not sure if I'll be able to keep a consistent upload schedule for new chapters, but like I said, you don't have to worry about this story getting dropped. In fact, I actually had a possible sequel in mind. It would follow a different protagonist and only be loosely connected to this one, but I have a good feeling about it.

That's all for now. As always, thanks for reading!