Stealing Harmony: Kindness in Murder

Chapters

Chapter 1: A Black Heart is Better than No Heart At All
Chapter 2: Sometimes the Frying Pan is Hotter than the Fire
Chapter 3: When in Roam...
Chapter 4: Sanity Optional

Chapter 1: A Black Heart is Better than No Heart At All

Stealing Harmony: Kindness in MurderChapter 1: A Black Heart is Better than No Heart At All

(This story takes place during the events of RapeTrain-Express’s Stealing Harmony story. This takes place just before the anon rapes Dinky. Reading the source material is not required, but may help to make more sense. And yes, though the first few paragraphs happened in the story, I rewrote them in my own words, except for their speaking parts, for the most part.)

“Heyyyyy Derpyyyyy. It's almost time to begin...” The heartless bastard said into the baby monitor, a sadistic smile on his face.

In a small metal shed in the backyard of the big blue house, a grey mare covered in bandages listened to voice coming from the monitor. She began to fear what her captor was going to do to her daughter.

The monster walked back into his domicile, noticing that Dinky wasn’t at the big marble table anymore. He grinned wickedly

as he walked up the stairs, spotting the small grey unicorn sitting on the large, black bed in his room.

“Hey Dinky. Say hi to your mother.” He said, tossing the pink monitor on the foot of the bed.

“M-mom?” Dinky said, confused.

“No….” Derpy moaned.

“Mom? Why can’t I hear you?” The filly sounded scared and confused.

“No, no, no…” Derpy said, covering her ears as she tried to drown out the inevitable sounds.

“Why can’t I hear my mom?” Dinky asked the evil human.

“Maybe she’s not being loud enough…?” He said, the lie easily coming to his lips.

“Now…it’s time for my little game.” He stepped closer to the mattress, savoring the child he would soon ravage.

“:W-what is the game…?” Dinky asked nervously, her tiny heart beginning to pound in her chest.

“It’s simple. You’re going to lay on your back and do nothing…” He said, crawling onto the bed and pushing her over.

“Y-you’re not going to hurt me are you?” Dinky said, starting to shake.

“NO! PLEASE DON’T! PLEASE DON’T!” Ditzy screamed hopelessly into the monitor which caused the other two captured ponies to wake up.

“What’s wrong?” The yellow pegasus asked in a tiny voice.

“I wouldn’t hurt you Dinky.” A voice rang out from a small box like item Fluttershy saw not far from Ditzy’s hooves.

“Oh goddesses, tell me he isn’t doing what I think he’s doing!?” The cyan pegasus with the multi-colored mane said, her voice dripping with venom and disgust.

In the house, the predator watched as the small filly rolled onto her back, covering up her private parts, blushing in embarrassment. The sight of such a cute face made the man become hard.

“Look at you. You’re so cute. I bet you’ve got lots of boys interested in you back home.” He said quietly, rubbing her soft cheeks for a moment, before grabbing her hooves and gently moving them aside so as to see the tender young flower.

The filly struggled against his superior strength, trying in vain to cover herself. She eventually gave up, the human grinning in triumph, as Dinky averted her gaze.

“I can see why your mother tried to protect you so much. You’re going to be…worrrrrrrrthhhhhhhhhh it…” He drew the word out, rubbing his stubble-ridden face against the filly’s soft belly fur.

Dinky stiffened upon his loathsome touch, wishing desperately to be far away from here, and somewhere safe, with her mother. The human felt a small twinge where his heart should have been, but by now, after all the women he had raped and murdered, the twinge was easily ignored.

“Oh-oh my…” Fluttershy said, getting very uncomfortable hearing the monitor.

“Please, stop, I beg you….” Ditzy cried at the monitor, her voice growing weak as tears poured from her single eye.

“He’s the worst kind of scum! How could he!!?” Rainbow Dash said, feeling enraged.

“I know you’re a bit too young to know the joys of sex but I’m going to be generous and show you firsthand…” The rapist’s voice floated out of the cursed baby monitor, while in the house he eyed the filly’s mound greedily.

“Please don’t look at it…it feels…wrong” The filly whimpered.

“Calm down…you’ll love this…” The man slid his hand down the filly’s body, splaying his fingers as he gently rubbed her slit.

Dinky whimpered, string as hard as she could at the door, as if by wishing it she could leave. Technically, she could use her magic and try to run, but if she did, then her mommy would pay the price for her disobedience. A shadow flickered in the hall as the door opened slightly.

“Look at you. So perfect and unspoiled. Your small body is just begging to get played with…” The man whispered to the filly, oblivious to the danger creeping upon him. Dinky’s eyes widened slightly, but the rapist grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him. She saw the outline of the hulking individual standing beyond her attacker.

In the shed, the three ponies stared in horror at the monitor as the human prepared to screw the helpless foal. Ditzy Do screamed at the tiny machine, her wrath causing her to strain at the chains that bound her, despite her grievous wounds.

Rainbow Dash hurled curses at the man, her raspy voice almost loud enough to be heard from out of the soundproofed shed. Fluttershy merely wept, the utmost of her abilities to cope with the situation.

Suddenly, the monitor squawked as the broadcaster was knocked from the bed. Ditzy began to cry again, fearing the worst as a scuffle broke out. Then, to their surprise, the man’s voice shouted over the intercom. He sounded angry… and scared?

“Who the fuck are you? How’d you get in here?” There was no answer from the intruder. The ponies waited with baited breath, not knowing what to expect.

…

“Get away from me…” There was the sound of a smack, and to the ponies joy, the rapist gave a grunt of pain. Another scuffle broke out, followed by a short whooshing sound and the crash of pottery. There was a masculine grunt, although they didn’t recognize it.

“Gotcha!” Came the rapist’s chilling voice, and for a minute the ponies thought that he had made the whole thing up as a way to break their spirits even further. Then, the rapist’s chuckles turned to a snarl of rage as whoever was inside refused to fall. They heard an even louder scuffle, followed by a shrill scream from the filly.

“Dinky? DINKY! NO! YOU STAY AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER YOU BASTARD!” Ditzy tried once again to break the heavy steel chains, but they held true, a marvel of human steelworking. She collapsed in tears, her voice too hoarse to even scream, and fresh blood seeping out of her wounds.

Rainbow Dash growled, and suddenly the sounds moved away from the monitor. They became faint as the fight was carried out of the bedroom and down the stairs. And, coming from the house, was the sounds of the fight, growing steadily louder.

By straining her sensitive ears, RD could hear the rapist swearing, and the sounds of things being broken, followed by the oddly satisfying cry of agony from the man. The monster screamed again, this time with a note of triumph in his voice.

There was a terrific bang, loud enough for everypony to hear. It was alien sound to them, and nopony could figure it out. All Ditzy knew was that the sounds of fighting had stopped, which meant that any second now, her precious little muffin would be at the behest of that heartless man.

Suddenly, there was another loud bang, followed by two more. There was one more squeal of pain, then silence. The mares exchanged a glance of confusion and fear.

For the longest time, there were no sounds. Even the muffled birdsong had been silenced as the bangs scared the birds away. Then, a shadow fell across the door. A key turned in its socket, and the door swung ponderously open…

Ditzy drew herself back, ready to leap at the man, aiming for his neck, determined to end him. Imagine her surprise when the door was flung open and none other than Dinky ran in, tears streaming down her face as she flung herself into her mother’s arms.

Ditzy was dumbstruck at the sight of her muffin. She immediately began to look her over, and was thrilled to see that no harm had been done. She flung her arms around her filly, tears of joy running down her face as she snuggled her.

Rainbow’s threatening growl brought her swiftly back to the matter at hand. She looked up from her filly, and up, and up, at the single largest human she had ever seen (which wasn’t saying much).

He stood an easy six and a half feet tall, and wore a dirty brown coat over a black shirt and blue jeans. His feet were shod in huge black boots, and the man’s long, black hair flowed down his back like a scraggly ebony river.

Upon his face was a pair of mirrored skiing goggles, and his face was masked by a red bandana. His breath, deep and rough, sucked the cotton fabric in and out as he gasped. Ditzy’s eyes roamed his body, and she noticed several small hole in his shirt, from which flowed a steady stream of red blood.

Fluttershy squeaked in fear as the behemoth took a step inside, his weight making the concrete floor shudder slightly, although that may have been the pony’s imagination. He reached a huge, dirty hand down towards the timid pegasus, evoking a snarl from Rainbow. He stopped, his beefy fingers mere inches from her face. He looked at the cyan pegasus, and spoke.

“I won’t hurt you.” His voice was deep, like a rumble of thunder. Dinky looked up at the creature, noting that he actually looked a lot like a Diamond Dog. She looked from him to Rainbow, to her mom and back. Then, she smiled.

“He defeated the bad man, Mommy.” She said, beaming at the others’ dumbstruck faces. “He snuck in, and ‘POW’!” She accented her words with a small buck. “He hit him. The bad man threw a vase at him, but he didn’t even flinch. Then, the two started to fight, and they fell down the stairs, and then the man pointed this weird thing at him, and it went BANG! And it didn’t even affect him, and then he hit him again, and knocked him out, and locked him in the basement.” Dinky fell silent, breathing heavily as the others absorbed her words.

Ditzy pulled her daughter closer, allowing a tone of gratitude to enter her voice as she hoarsely spoke the only thing that anypony could say. “Thank you.”

Chapter 2: Sometimes the Frying Pan is Hotter than the Fire

Stealing Harmony: Kindness in Murder

Chapter 2: Sometimes the Frying Pan is Hotter than the Fire

After Ditzy thanked the giant, he started to move the mares out of that place. Of course, just because he had defeated the other man didn’t mean that the ponies trusted him. Rainbow never lowered her guard snarling at him as he reached for the chain that bound her. The man chose to ignore her this time, however, and he grabbed the chain in his meaty fist.

The only thing that Rainbow could think of was that this human had disposed of the other in order to take them for his own.

She reacted instinctively, and seeing as he was well within her reach, she bucked him as hard as she could in the chest.

The man hardly flinched, and Rainbow’s hooves started to ache as though she had kicked a mountain. He was terribly solid, and with a wave of despair, she realized that if he wanted to hurt her, she wouldn’t be able to stop him in the slightest.

However, the man didn’t react to the hit, just grasping the sturdy chain in his mammoth hands and beginning to pull. He groaned with effort, a bead of sweat popping into existence on his brow. His thick arms bulged under his jacket, and the veins in his neck popped out. Rainbow knew that without the key, the industrial-strength chains wouldn’t bend or break, no matter how hard you tugged on them. Therefore, it astonished everypony when the chains gave a groan of protest and shattered, tiny pieces of metal flying everywhere.

Rainbow stood there, stunned. She was free. Her eyes darted to the door, and for a moment she considered sprinting past the man and back out into the cool, breezy air. But then, she looked at poor, timid Fluttershy, and cycloptic Derpy and her daughter. She sighed before fixing the mammoth man with a fierce glare.

“Okay, I don’t know who you are, but you’re gonna help us.” She said forcibly, trying her best to conceal the tremor of relief, exhaustion, and despair in her voice. She had been close to the breaking point, and a part of her wasn’t willing to believe that this creature wouldn’t rape her too.

But the man just shrugged before turning to pull Fluttershy’s chain from the wall. It took him slightly longer to tug that one out, as the effects of his earlier fight and Rainbow’s chain began to appear. He was getting tired, no doubt about it. With a dull ping, the chain snapped, and the man dropped to one knee, gasping.

Fluttershy couldn’t stand seeing any creature in pain, so against her better judgment, she approached him cautiously. He looked up, his face barely an inch from hers. She froze, her heart thudding rapidly in her chest. Behind her, Rainbow was getting ready to dive in should he attack. Instead, after studying her for a moment, he looked away, rising back to his feet as he got his second wind, and tackled Ditzy’s lead.

As he pulled on the unyielding metal, the four mares crawled over to Ditzy and Dinky. Ditzy held her little muffin close, unwilling to allow anything to get between the two of them now that they were together at last. Rainbow moaned as she gingerly rubbed her sore limbs and broken bones. Fluttershy cried silently, overcome.

Finally, the chain snapped, and the massive man fell to his hands and knees. So overcome by physical exertion was he that he pulled the goggles and mask from his face, wiping the sweat from his eyes. Although he presented himself as a perfect target, ponies were by nature a non-violent race. Seeing as he had yet to make a move towards them, they let him be. He sucked in a lungful of air, and began to speak.

“Are you *gasp* are you alright?” He still looked out of breath, though his beady eyes seemed to genuinely shine with concern for the ponies.

“Y-yeah,” said Rainbow. “And, um, wh-who are you?” She was immediately cross with herself for letting that tremor flit into her voice for a millisecond.

“Ray,” the man simply answered.

“Well, uh, Ray. Wh-wh-what are y-you gonna d-d-do with us? If you don’t mind me asking, that is.” Fluttershy’s tiny voice asked the question that everypony wondered. For a second, it seemed that he hadn’t heard her, and Rainbow opened her mouth to voice it on the hearing spectrum.

“She sa−”

“As of now, nothing.” He cut her off, “I just came here to do what I do best, and as to who and what you are, I have no idea, but you seem hurt, so I guess it’s only natural that I want to help you. Unless you’d rather I left.” He left the question hanging, his eyes deadly serious.

Dinky looked up at her injured mother, and sighed. Right about now, she just wanted anything that could help her mom. She squeezed herself out of her mother’s overprotective clutches and approached the wheezing giant. Ditzy involuntarily drew a breath, but he just looked at the filly as she approached.

“Can you help my Mommy? She’s hurt, and she needs a doctor.” The big man looked at her for a second, then slowly nodded once. He stood up, a faint gleam of sweat still on his face. With a single fluid moment, he gently grasped the injured mare under her chest and belly, lifting her easily. She squirmed, the memories of the last time she had been touched flashing through her mind as her eyes went blank.

He carried the pegasus out of the shed, her daughter following them as the man brought her out of the cold and into the warm house. He set her down on the thick, marble table, and went back out for the others. Ditzy looked around, noticing that the place was a mess, with broken plates littering the room, and here and there a drop of blood from the previous fight.

Shortly, the man returned with Rainbow in his arms. She looked to be in pain, as her wings were too hurt to fold properly, and his chest put undue pressure on them. Fluttershy cowered behind him, as if worried that the rapist would still leap out from the shadows. He set the blue pegasus on the table next to Ditzy, and closed the door tightly against the chilly wind.

Fluttershy grabbed Dinky and gently flapped her wings, giving them just enough lift to carry the filly onto the table and place her next to Ditzy. Then she settled down herself on the side of Rainbow, and calmly turned her gaze towards Ray. He pulled a chair back and plopped down in it, exhausted.

“…”

The awkward silence stretched on for a long moment as Ray tried to catch his breath and the mares tried to come up with a topic of discussion. Rainbow was still keeping an untrusting eye on him, and Ditzy was trying to pull Dinky into her chest.

The man looked at them in the light of the kitchen. He noticed that the grey mare’s bandages had come loose, and from the reddish stain on them, her wounds had reopened in her stress. The blue one definitely had two broken wings, and she was malnourished and thin. The yellow one seemed to be in better shape, but her eyes were hollow and empty as she stared at a wall. The small one seemed to be the most stable of them, but he himself had just barely saved her from rape.

Without a word, he rose to his feet, stumbling slightly as the blood rushed to his head. The mares all watched him as he raided the fridge, coming back with a huge pile of vegetables, fruits and, oddly enough, pie. He dumped it on the table, and walked further into the house, seeking medical supplies.

Back in the kitchen, the mares were sniffing the food suspiciously. They didn’t know if they could trust Ray as of yet, but the fact that he hadn’t hurt them yet gave them a flicker of hope. Although her stomach rumbled and complained at the sight of the cold food, she realized that it was the food of the bad man, and could be poisoned for all they knew.

“We probably shouldn’t eat this stuff. Who knows what that freak did to it?” Her voice was rough and her mouth felt like sandpaper. More than food right now, she craved water. But, the only one able to reach the sink was Fluttershy, and she was far, far away in her mind.

They sat there in silence, trying to figure out if this was a nightmare or not. They jumped at the sound of footsteps, but relaxed as Ray returned with a handful of bandages. He dumped them next to the untouched food, and beckoned to Ditzy. She looked scared as she approached, her eyes flicking from his hands to his face to the bandages.

He noticed that. “Don’t worry, I’m just gonna rebandage your wounds.” She nodded, and he removed the old, soiled wrappings, cleansed her open wounds with a dab of Neosporin®, and tightly wrapped them. He repeated the process on Rainbow, who refused to look him in the eye.

Then, he sat back with a sigh, casually sweeping the rapist’s food from the table as he kicked back and placed his boots on the table.

“So, you know my name. What are your names? And what are you?”

The mares exchanged a look. Then, Rainbow Dash cleared her throat. “Ahem. We’re ponies from Equestria. My name’s Rainbow Dash, this is Fluttershy,” she indicated the cowering yellow mare, “Derpy,” she pointed to the battered Cyclops, “And, um…”

“I’m Dinky.”

Rainbow nodded. “So, yeah, that just about sums it up. So, what are you? I mean, I know you’re a human like him.” She put all of her hatred into her voice as she said that word like it was a curse word. “But, like, what are you doing here? What are you going to do with us?”

He sighed. “Well, to be blunt, I’m a serial killer.”

Eep! Fluttershy leapt backwards off of the table as Rainbow surged to her hooves, her teeth bared as she snarled protectively, ignoring her wounds and general weariness. Ditzy pulled her daughter closer as she turned white in fear.

“If you try anything, I’ll kill you!” Rainbow snarled in rage, hoping that he would buy her bluff.

He chuckled, confusing the ponies. “Oh, no. Don’t worry. I only kill humans. You four are safe with me. As for your other question, I can help fix your wings, but only if you girls will follow me to my home. It’s not far, and I have all of my tools there.”

Rainbow stopped snarling, but kept her threatening pose as long as she could before collapsing in pain. She was originally determined to get away as fast as possible, but considering her wounds, and Ditzy’s as well, she honestly couldn’t think of a better choice.

“Okay,” she said, exhaustion and finality in her voice as she gave up. She slumped down, Fluttershy returning to her side. “If you can help us, then by all means, take us away from here.”

Ray smiled a chilling, wolf-like grin. “Sure, why not? Follow me.”

Chapter 3: When in Roam...

Stealing Harmony: Kindness in Murder

Chapter 3: When in Roam…

The journey to Ray’s house was swift. The house itself was only a block away, and after lifting Rainbow and Ditzy over the back fence and crossing a yard and an empty street, they arrived at the doorstep of a plain, green house with white shutters and a brown door. The grass was in need of a cutting, and a tree growing beside the driveway was almost barren, a few stubborn red and orange leaves clinging to its bare branches.

Despite her wings being useless, Rainbow was still in rather good shape for a pony that has spent months in the hands of a sadistic human. She was able to walk most of the way, and made sure to keep an eye on the serial killer. Despite her realistic misgivings, she knew that Fluttershy was beginning to question her judgment, and would soon try to make friends with this guy. Even Rainbow herself could feel the lure of his voice. Despite being a self-proclaimed mass murderer, the few words that he had spoken so far had been quite charismatic, and positively radiated with real emotions, unlike the other one.

Ditzy, on the other hand, was quickly approaching the point of no return. Her legs trembled from the effort of walking the short distance, and her chest ached with every breath she took. She was sure that her ribs hadn’t set properly, and her wings positively drooped with exhaustion. Only the rush of adrenaline that she had received when Dinky rushed into the shed sustained her.

Dinky, however, somehow knew that they would be safe with the big man. There was something about him, a warmth in his eyes that spoke of safety and healing. Of course, it may have just been gratitude on her part for being saved from the beginning of rape. As it was, she stood close to her mother, supporting her with her shoulder as she gazed at the green house.

Ray let them stand there a few moments, to let them make the decision to enter themselves. He didn’t want to force them to do anything that they didn’t want to, and besides, the rainbow-colored one had the eyes of a fighter, and while he was too large for her attacks to make much of a difference, he knew that the others looked to her as a leader.

However, after a few moments her noticed the grey mare swaying, and decided to speed things up. He cleared his throat, attracting the attention of all except Ditzy, who continued to stare at the ground, her head oh so heavy on her neck.

“Ahem. We should probably get you guys into the house. Its kinda chilly out here, and I don’t think the neighbors will react as kindly as me if they see you. No offense, but you –er, ponies, was it?− stick out like a sore thumb.”

He got a strange look from them, and he looked between his thick digits and their flat, yet strangely soft-looking hooves. He realized that they may not know what a thumb is, and sighed. It could all be explained better later, and besides, he wasn’t much of a talker. For now, he would have to take it slow and coax them inside. The last thing he needed was a spectacle after today.

He crouched down until his face was almost level with the creatures’. Rainbow let out a small growl, crouching down into an instinctively threatening pose as he slowly stretched a hand out, palm up, like one would do to an animal. He directed his attentions not at Rainbow, but at Ditzy. She turned a bleary eye towards him for a second before dropping her gaze. She seemed too exhausted to even talk, and the force of the exertion was making the red stain on her bandaged face grow larger. However, she instinctively raised one wing and draped it over her filly protectively. Ray decided to take a chance, and gently curled a single finger under her chin.

The effect was instantaneous. Ditzy flinched violently at the touch, snapping her head up, her once vapid stare becoming a look of terror and repulse. Fluttershy squeaked and dove behind Rainbow, which turned out to be useless, as the cyan pegasus had already launched herself at Ray, screaming a war cry as she tackled his chest.

Ray was caught off balance, falling onto his back with the rainbow mare on top of him. He instinctively raised his arms to defend himself, but she bit down hard on the fingers of his left hand. Her strong teeth ground furiously at the offending digits, eliciting a gasp of pain from the human. His fingers were tough, and tasted of dirt and sweat, but she bit down even harder, striking him again and again with her forehooves, pounding at his barrel-like chest, his arms, even his face when she could.

Ray tried to push her off, but the pain in his hand hobbled him slightly, and he began to rapidly whip it back and forth, causing her to let go before her neck snapped. Before he could recover, she spun in place, gritting her teeth as pain lanced through her wings, and threw her back legs high into the air, slamming her hard hooves down on his face. She grunted in satisfaction as several things broke, this time making the human scream in agony.

Ray was confused and hurting badly. His hands flew to his shattered face, the pain in his bleeding fingers forgotten as he squashed his nose to stop the bleeding. His face was on fire, and Rainbow wasn’t finished. She was breathing heavily now, exhaustion quickly approaching. She realized that she would probably have time for only one more blow before he shrugged his injuries off.

She would need a good, clean shot. Something that would preferably knock him out, or at least make chasing them difficult.

It passed through her mind that he hadn’t yet fought back, even in self-defense, but she ignored that. He was probably either too strong to fight effectively, and didn’t want her to be broken when he raped her, or he was toying with her. It occurred to her that she could use this moment to kill him. One good blow to the throat would collapse his larynx, causing him to suffocate, but she shied away from it. The other one had definitely deserved it, but this one hadn’t hurt her (yet), and she was more of a fighter than a killer.

All of this passed in nanosecond of information, just an electrical impulse in the synapses of her mind. She heard him groan, and aimed one last buck, this time directed at his groin as she leapt off of him. She felt the disgusting orbs squish under her strong hooves, and she yelled to her friends as she galloped for the road.

“C’mon, girls! Let’s get out of here while he’s down!” She heard no answer, nor the sound of hooves, so she skidded to a stop a few feet away, looking back.

None of her companions had moved an inch. In reality, the fight had lasted all of ten seconds, and, truth be told, it was still sinking in what had happened. Dinky was the first to move, leaving her now alert mother’s side to take a tentative step towards the felled enemy, a look of concern evident on her face.

Rainbow groaned, gritting her teeth as she darted back. “Hey, guys! We need to get out of here, pronto!” She slowed as she realized that nopony was listening to her. In fact, much to her surprise, Fluttershy was giving her a look that spoke of something approaching anger. Rainbow had never been more confused in her life.

“Wha−? Fluttershy? What are you…” Her voice trailed away into nothingness as she heard a soft sobbing noise. Guilt flooded her as she realized that the big human was quietly crying. As she got closer, she noticed salty tears mixing with the red blood on his broken face, his eyes squeezed shut in pain and bruises. He was grasping his groin, sobbing in a surprisingly gentle and small voice.

Ray was in agony. He had always been a bit of a softy. In fact, he had only become what he was now in order to help people, in his own way. Now though, the ones he had saved had viciously attacked him, and as he laid there, he felt it all come to a boil, and, against his will, the tears started flowing.

Fluttershy moved forward slowly, stretching her neck out to sniff at the man. Having been a mother to Angel the bunny for years, she knew the difference between sadness and crocodile tears. She quickly deduced his feelings as genuine, and shot Rainbow a glance that said ‘How could you?’

Rainbow was torn. On one hoof, her brain was telling her that it was a trick to get her closer. Any second now he would jump to her feet and pin her down. Visions of the rapist snapping her wings like a stick came unbidden to her mind, making her shiver uncontrollably. However, on the other hoof, her heart told her that he had never meant any harm. She had attacked him before he could explain himself, her friends were fine, he had saved them back there, and he hadn’t hit her even once.

She had to make a decision, and sighed, knowing she would regret this.

She took a few steps forward, forcing her barred teeth into a look of concern. She gently nosed his arm, and his face slackened slightly, letting one eye open just enough to notice. Being this close, she realized that his eyes were a rich green, just like her friend Applejack, and she realized that they did not have an iota of dark intentions in them. For the first time, she let herself relax, and realized that he was not going to hurt him. She realized that she was truly safe, and it was all over. Tears of relief came to her eyes, and she sat down hard, throwing her head back as she silently wept in joy.

She felt fingers on her head, and looked down to see Ray stretching his hand to her mane. She hesitated, and then pushed her head into his hand as he gently ran his fingers through the rainbow-hued strands. Unlike when that monster had done it, she felt no evilness in it, and it came as no surprise to her that a few seconds later, she threw herself onto his chest, bawling.

He lay his arm lightly on her shoulders, his tears slowly stopping as he tried to comfort her. Soon, he felt a small hoof paw him, and he looked up into Dinky’s eyes, which pleaded silently with him. He cracked a painful grin, and drew her in with his other arm, the pain in his crotch already lessening. Of course, Fluttershy couldn’t keep herself away from a creature in pain, and she gladly jumped onto his wide chest, leaving Ditzy alone. She shrugged. As the saying went, ‘When in Roam…’

Chapter 4: Sanity Optional

Stealing Harmony: Kindness in Murder

Chapter 4: Sanity Optional

As the four mares lay on the man, letting weeks of suffering out, they were distracted by a slamming car door in the distance.

Suddenly, Rainbow realized that although Ray was a nice guy, the rest of the world had yet to prove itself. Sniffling, she backed off of the human, the others following suit. Then, she bit a corner of his sleeve, helping the sorely wounded man back to his feet.

Once his boots were under him, Ray smiled at Rainbow, although it came across as more of a lopsided grimace. He turned to his house and, after searching through his pockets for the key, unlocked the door and ushered the ponies into his abode. As he shut and locked the door, the ponies got a good look at his home.

They were standing in a short hallway. The wallpaper on the walls was a delicate shade of cream, and a fairly good painting of fruit was in a frame over a small table bedecked with a vase of plastic flowers. On the right, a set of carpeted stairs led to the second floor, and to the left was a wide opening that led to the living room. Directly ahead was a swinging door that probably led to the kitchen area.

From where she stood, Rainbow could make out a large, white sofa in the living room, with a matching loveseat and recliner. A big, flat box was attached to the wall, and it was covered with a shiny black pane of plastic. A few racks of narrow boxes flanked this massive box, and a shelf of books ran around the room. She could also make out the table and chairs of a dining room just beyond that one. From the second floor came a strange sound, similar to the bangs that they had heard earlier, but muffled and artificial. It was followed by a loud whoop.

Fluttershy and Ditzy jumped, startled at the loud sound. Rainbow dropped into a crouch, even though her limbs cried out in stress. Dinky, however, being the smart little filly she was, looked up at Ray’s broken face, noted his unconcerned look, and decided to ignore the whooping coming from upstairs. He would tell them if he needed to. Until then, she would wait and trust him.

Ray immediately herded the mares into his kitchen, the door swinging back behind him. The floor was tiled black and white like at Sugarcube Corner, and a black marble counter ran from the large, silver fridge, around the corner, and all the way to the door to the dining area to their immediate left. It was also a swinging one. An island counter stood in the middle of the room, a stovetop built right into it, with a smokestack located directly above it.

A few oak cupboards lined the walls above the counter, and a large pantry took up most of the right wall. Some cupboards underneath the counter completed the kitchen look, and the sink on the left was large and dripped slightly. A sliding glass door, looking like a huge window to the ponies, led into the small backyard, and a closed door presumably led to the basement. All in all, it was smaller than the monster’s house, but seemed much more cheerful, if a little too clean for Rainbow’s tastes.

Ray stumbled over to the pantry, opening it to reveal a stocked larder. He began pulling things at random, tossing a box of spaghetti, a half-empty carton of snack cakes, three cans of cheese ravioli, and a brown plastic package onto the island.

Next, he raided the fridge, slipping things like a bag of apples, a jug of orange juice and a jar of mayonnaise onto the steadily growing pile. He seemed so tired, and was obviously in pain, that the ponies forgave him for being distracted and took stock of the food.

Dinky took charge, separating the food into two piles: one for ponies, and the other for humans. Into the human pile immediately went the uncooked spaghetti, a bottle of beer, and the strange brown package. She looked it over and saw three letters, ‘MRE’ printed on it, with a smaller line stating ‘Tuna’ underneath, but since she couldn’t identify it, she decided to trust her gut and leave it alone.

The apples and ravioli, however, went into the pony pile, along with the snack cakes, the OJ, and a box of raisins. Fluttershy eeped when she saw a T-Bone steak in the pile, and refused to come out of the living room until it had been put away. After a moment or two, The food had been separated, and the ponies fairly fell onto it, and for the next few minutes, nothing was heard in the shiny kitchen except the sounds of three starving mares and one fill stuffing themselves silly on the rather delicious human food.

Ray disappeared while they ate, and returned with a medical box. As they finished up with tall glasses of orange juice, he emptied the box out, carefully setting on the table a roll of medical gauze, some disinfectant, a curved needle and some black thread, a small scalpel, a box of mediacl gloves, and some aspirin. He took a few pills with some water, and waited while Fluttershy collected the dirty plates and laid them in the sink.

Rainbow leaned back on the kitchen stool, rubbing her distended sromache with contentment. After starving for so long, a good meal refreshed her. It also made her just a little sleepy, but she ignored that. Now was the time for medicine, not sleep.

Ditzy was the first to go. She nervously settled in a high-backed wooden chair, her head back as she glanced worriedly at her daughter, wishing she would look away and not see her mother’s shameful body. Dinky however, walked up to Ditzy and placed her hoof on top of her mother’s. Ditsy smiled warmly at her and nuzzled her face for a second, before looking to Ray, who had gotten rid of the dirty jacket and put on a pair of sanitized gloves.

He reached out, same as before, and touched her face. She froze unintentionally, and realized that she would probably always freeze like this, or at least for a long time. However she didn’t flinch, and soon he had injected a shot of anesthesia into her neck, sending her into pleasant dreams of muffins while he cut away dead flesh under her soiled bandages, and reset broken ribs. He toiled for hours, finally sewing her back up and rewrapping her wounds.

Dinky hadn’t moved the whole time, determined to hold her mother’s hoof through the whole thing. Truth be told, she wasn’t that grossed out by the sight of a ponies insides, and a small part of her wondered if being a doctor would be her cutie mark. However, a familiar pressure built up in her abdomen, and she wished that she hadn’t chugged that juice. She squirmed, trying to hold it back, but she was still a filly, after all. She gave up and tugged on Ray’s sleeve.

“Where’s the bathroom?” she asked, her tiny legs crossed as she danced on the spot. Ray smiled, and pointed to the stairs. She took off like an arrow, scrambled up the stairs, and dove into the bathroom, shutting the door just in time. Fluttershy took a look at the unconscious mare before following Dinky up the stairs.

Ray picked up Ditzy and laid her on the couch before turning to Rainbow. Rainbow felt scared, though she was loath to admit it. Although she had been to the doctors plenty of times before (she had a permanent discount on services rendered on account of ‘Wonderbolt-related accidents’), she still felt anxious whenever anypony touched her sensitive wings. Not to mention breaking them again in order to fix them, and the doctor being a human.

She managed to back onto the chair before she froze up. Ray picked up a bottle and stuck a needle into it. She eyed the needle as it filled with clear liquid, praying that it would be over quick. She definitely didn’t want to wake up in the middle of it and go through all of that again. Ray approached her, getting closer and closer. Rainbow tensed up, and just before she lent danger to the wind and leapt out of the chair in fright, a scream came from upstairs.

Rainbow bolted, equal parts glad for the lucky break, and concerned. It had sounded like Fluttershy. She sprinted up the stairs, glad for all the times that Applejack had made her race, which made the upwards struggle as simple as flight. She turned into a blue-painted hallways with teal carpeting. To her immediate left was the empty bathroom, filled with a large tub and a toilet. Two more closed doors were on the left, and four lay on the right. The nearest was open, and she saw an empty bedroom. From the huge pair of pants lying on the floor, she gathered that this was Ray’s room. The hallway behind her ended in a window, and at the other end was another room.

This door was wide open, and those strange banging noises from earlier were originating from it. She galloped forward, but had barely taken a single step when Dinky, followed closely by a panic-stricken Fluttershy dashed out of the room and down the stairs. Rainbow breathed a sigh a relief, noticing in passing that although scared, they weren’t harmed. She steeled herself, and poked her head around the door, her magenta eyes spinning around the room.

Now, this was more like her room back home. Clothes and old pizza boxes lay strewn everywhere, hanging from the fan and stuffed into corners. Empty cans littered the floor, and an unmade bed sat in the middle of the deluge of messiness. It smelled quite ripe in there, a mixture of gym shorts and moldy bread, with the disgusting overtone of human male everywhere.

Posters covered so much of the walls and ceiling that she had trouble distinguishing the color of the wallpaper. An electric guitar was leaning on a bean bag, and seated in the bean bag was a human. He was skinny, with long, blonde hair, many rings in his ears, rings on his fingers and metal studs in his face. He was wearing a black sleeveless shirt with a large ‘A’ in a red circle on the front, and a polka-dot pair of that short underwear called boxers.

A white object was in his hands, and his fingers flew dexterously over the front of it, pressing colorful buttons. He whooped as he stared at a smaller version of that box from downstairs, except this one wasn’t black, but glowed slightly, and had a moving image on it. She tried to make sense of it, but it proved just as difficult of Pinkie Pie, and she soon gave up.

He didn’t seem to notice her, so she took a tentative step forward. Suddenly, the banging sound stopped, and the human jumped into the air, spilling a bag of chips from his lap.

“I AM THE KING OF THE WORLD!!” he yelled, punching the air with his fist. He caught a blue object in the corner of his eye and spun around. He saw a blue pegasus with multicolored hair looking at him uncertainly, and felt the world stop moving. The controller fell from his hand, conveniently pausing the game and plunging the room into silence. For a second or two, the human and the pony stared levelly at one another, and then he grinned.

“Holy. Fucking. Shit! It’s motherfucking Rainbow Dash!” he said with a squee. Rainbow nervously backed up, wondering how in Equestria he knew her name. Meanwhile, the human threw his arms into the air, a huge grin on his face. “Wonderbolt-wannabe! Used the Sonic Rainboom to save Rarity during the Young-Fliers Competition in Cloudsdale! Secret admirer of Daring Do! Owner of the cutest tortoise in the world…”

He went on and on, casually spouting things about her, things that nopony except her friends knew. Secrets and thoughts and other things that absolutely nopony knew about. He was beginning to frighten her, and as always, when she got scared, she also became angry.

“Who are you? How do you know this stuff?” She shouted, her blood pressure rising as her heart beat a mile a minute. But the man smiled, pointing to a smaller box behind her. She took her eyes off of him for a split second to look at it, then took a double take. It displayed a single picture, that of a familiar purple unicorn with a dweebish mane.

“Tw-twilight?” Rainbow stuttered, wondering if this meant that Twilight was here as well, maybe hidden in the basement. The man said one more thing.

“Friendship is Magic! I LOVE that show!”