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...

Author's Note

Yes, yes, I know, this was a much shorter chapter than usual. Like I mentioned in the last chapter, this part was supposed to be included in the previous chapter, but I didn't want to delay it for too long and published what I had.

As for why this chapter took slightly longer to upload than the last one despite being shorter, that's because of work. I had asked to shorten my hours at work, not only to have more time for writing, but because I've been getting blisters on a daily basis (I have really bad flat feet). I was very glad when they said they would shorten my hours.

They then proceeded to schedule me for even more hours than before. I had to talk to someone about it. Luckily, it's back to normal now, so hopefully it doesn't happen again. On top of that, it's the holiday season, so things have been pretty busy.

As for the story, a lot of stuff has been revealed about the martyrs. Don't expect that to stop anytime soon. There's going to be even more shocking revelations real soon.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter despite its short length. As always, thanks for reading, and happy holidays!