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.

Author's Note

Sorry this chapter took so long. It was originally meant to be longer than this, but I wanted to get a new chapter up as soon as possible, so I ended it a bit earlier than planned. Don't worry though, what was supposed to happen next will continue on into the next chapter.

Thanks for Reading!