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?

Author's Note

So, you remember what I said about not being able to keep a consistent upload schedule for chapters?

Apparently, that was I lie, and I didn't even realize it.

I had assumed things were going to keep getting busier and busier for me with my job, but I suddenly found myself with much more free time than usual. I even had time to start another story. I'm guessing it's because the holidays are over, so I'm not desperately needed at work anymore, and my schedule is becoming a bit more lax. Hopefully it will stay like that.

Also, I figured now that the Parasitic Rage has been introduced, I should list some of the unique perks that Bunny has. I hinted at them through the story, and you may have noticed them. Without further ado, here they are, with descriptions and all:

• Versatile Sleeper: Sleeping on a cold basement floor for 10 years may have been rough, but now you don't mind where you sleep! No longer do you require a bed or matress to sleep. Whether it be a dirty floor, out in the rain, on a bed of nails, it's all the same to you! If it exists, you can sleep on it!

• (Un)picky Eater: Eating terrible food (and sometimes stuff that isn't food at all) for 10 years had helped you learn to appreciate good meals a bit more. You can now heal 10% more health from eating food or drinks and receive 10% less Rads from dirty or irradiated food!

• Benefits of Pain: Thanks to all the pain and suffering you've had to endure over the course of your life, you've learned how to handle pain a lot better. You now receive 15% less damage when attacked!

• Parasitic Rage: The blood of the parasite runs through your genes! Whenever Parasitic Rage is active, you gain a tremendous boost to your stats! For your S.P.E.C.I.A.L, you temporarily receive +7 Strength, +5 Endurance, and +2 Agility. For skills, you temporarily receive +10 to Telekinesis, +40 to Melee Weapons, and +60 to unarmed. You even temporarily earn the "Cannibal" Perk! However, note that you'll also temporarily lose -10 to Firearms, -10 to Energy Weapons, -20 to sneak, -50 to Barter, and -50 to Speech. Unfortunately, you don't seem to have much control over this power yet.

Hope you enjoyed, and stay tuned for more! Thanks for reading!