Stealing Harmony: Kindness in Murder

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…’