Stealing Harmony: Kindness in Murder

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.”