Pale moonlight filtered through a small window, the soft white rays falling upon equally pale shut eyelids. Slowly, a green emerald flitted open, resting it’s gaze on the large white pearl staring back at it.

A venomous thought played behind those green eyes. Any minute now.

As if on cue, the sound of heavy hoofsteps came down the hall. Pulling herself upright in the tiny two by two closet, she groaned as the cramps set in.

Instantly, Caretaker’s butch voice pierced the silence. “’Moaning just ‘cause of my approach? You really are a slut.”

Melody smiled sickly to herself. Right on time.

The door creaked open. Melody couldn’t see into the dark hall, the closet still illuminated by moonlight. She whimpered as Caretaker’s teeth wrapped around her mane, throwing her out into the hall.

“You need to be taught to respect others.”

Melody quickly climbed to all fours. She didn’t want this flank-hole getting a single hoof up on her. She had to resist gagging as the brown pony pulled himself onto his hind legs, exposing his sheath and already erect member.

“So I’m going to teach you respect, slut.”

Melody grit her teeth. She watched his approach, standing much to close for her comfort. The same thought repeated itself over and over again in her mind. Not again.

Unable to stand watching this sick, twisted pony, Melody slammed her eyes shut in a feeble attempt to deny what was happening. The stallion’s musk still molested her senses, disabling her ability to block it out.

“Hurry up and do your job, whorse.”

Something deep inside Melody clicked. Her right eyebrow twitched, and her head flinched to the right. A foalish and brutal plan began forming in her mind. A long shot, definitely, but anything was better than this… life.

“Not again.”

The grin vanished from Caretaker’s face, immediately replaced with a look of concern, and what Melody hoped was fear. “What?”

The next move came quickly. Faster than Melody had moved in her entire life. She launched a hoof outward, connecting with the only target she had. Caretaker doubled over and hit the floor, holding his now extremely sore testicles. Melody’s hoof darted into the pocket in his vest, withdrawing her quarry. She pushed the knife towards Caretaker’s neck, drawing it to the side quickly.

Melody watched the terrorizing stallion start to choke and drown on his own blood. She watched as he stopped twitching and finally became still. It took until the smell of blood and viscera filled her nostrils that she realized what she had done.

“Oh… Oh, Celestia!”

Melody quickly glanced about, looking for somepony who might have witnessed her criminal deed. Not spotting anypony, she quickly dropped to the dead stallion’s side.

What did I do?

A single, rational thought came to the forefront of her mind. 'You defended yourself.'

'I killed somepony!'

'It was self defence.'

'He’s dead!'

'He asked for it.'

Melody drew a blank at how to respond. Slowly, she started to calm, though the criminality of her actions still held firm in her mind.

'Deal with the hoof you’re dealt, Mel.'

Melody quickly (and somewhat awkwardly) frisked the dead pony, grabbing the key-ring Caretaker always had inside his vest. She pushed herself away from the carcass, eager to get away from the metallic smell of death.

She made her way through the halls by memory, finding the bedroom quite quickly. In the back of her mind, she noticed the hole was almost completely repaired, already. But Melody couldn’t spare time for idle thoughts. She fumbled through the multitude of keys, quickly finding the small, round silver key she had seen Caretaker use the day before.

Fitting the key into the doorknob, she silently prayed to Luna as she turned it counter-clockwise. She didn’t have time to be wrong: the janitor could be out any second, now. A very satisfying click emanated from the door as the tumblers fell into place, sliding the latch out of the lock. Melody slowly pushed the door open, not allowing any noise, not even a creak to break the fragile silence.

Melody cautiously entered the room, silently stalking along the rows of sleeping fillies. She approached the only empty bed which she instantly knew was hers, and turned to the right to find her sisters’ bed. She quickly approached the sleeping lump.

Melody finally broke the silence in a hushed whisper. “Symphony! Wake up!”

Symphony let out a low groan as she rolled over onto her side. “What..? Mel…? What are you doing here? Did Caretaker let you out already?”

Melody audibly ground her teeth. The last thing she wanted on her mind was that plot-hole. “I’ll explain later. Let’s go.”

Though she couldn’t tell in the dark, Melody was sure that Symphony was giving her a questioning look. “‘Go’? Go where? How are we supposed to leave?”

Melody shook her head. “I don’t have time to explain, Symph. Just hurry!”

Symphony became quiet for a while, making Melody strain to not pull out her mane. Finally, she spoke, though her tone was very quiet. “Alright. But you have to tell me what’s going on.”

Melody nodded hurriedly. “Alright. Fine. Just not now. Later.”

Symphony finally rose from her bed, approaching the door. Melody hesitated, thoughts of the red mare from earlier popping into her head. Melody crept up beside her sister. “Do you know which bed is that red filly’s?”

Raising a pointing hoof, Symphony nodded. “Oh, yes. She’s in that one, right there. She was ever so nice. She even tried to protect me from Li-“

Melody’s eyebrow twitched again. She had a pretty good idea how that sentence was going to end. “What do you mean, ‘protected’?”

Symphony let out a low whimper. “N-Nothing.”

Grinding her teeth again, Melody turned on her sister, only just managing to haul back her anger. “Don’t lie to me, Symphony.”

Symphony’s only response was a very high-pitched whimper. Something Melody knew she always did when she was too frightened. Letting out a poorly suffocated growl, Melody approached Hearth Claw’s bedside.

Melody let some of her anger into her voice, her tone sounding harsher than she meant. “Hearth! Get up!”

The red pony’s eye cracked open, the gold orb seeming to glow in the dark. “Ugh…What is it?”

Melody quickly muffled her with a suppressive hoof. “Shh. Not so loud. We’re leaving. Me and Symphony. Do you want to come with?”

Hearth Claw nodded, unable to speak around a large, cream hoof. “Mhff, mrrg.”

Pulling a now soggy hoof away, Melody sighed. “What?”

Hearth responded with a timid smile. “Sorry. I said ‘Yes, please.’”

Melody raised her hoof again. “One condition.”

Hearth nodded, her eyes fixed comically on the hoof. “Anything.”

“Tell me why you had to protect my sister from Lightning.”

Hearth nodded again, locking eyes with her. “Oh, yeah. No prob. Apparently, Caretaker ordered her to attack your sister. To show you punishment or something.”

Melody let out a low growl. “Did she succeed?”

Hearth winced, scratching the back of her neck anxiously. “Well… I tried my hardest. But there was like, four of them! How am I supposed to fight those od-”

“Hearth Claw! Did she succeed?”

The red pony slowly nodded. “Yeah. Sorry.”

Melody gestured a hoof to the door. “Out.”

Hearth leapt out of her bed, heading towards the hall. She had made it to the doorframe before she hesitated. “So… Does this mean I can come with?”

Melody let out an impatient sigh. “Yes. Out.”

She watched the red pony grin and leave the room before calling Symphony to her side. “Where did she get you?”

Melody watched her sister move towards a small window slit, allowing Melody to get a good look at her once the moonlight washed bathed her in a pale light.

What Melody saw appalled her. There were multiple scars running up her hooves. Melody assumed they were from mending the door. Her sister’s face was blotchy and swollen, bruises that definitely came from Lightning. But the worst came as her sister slowly turned, revealing her horribly scarred back. It appeared that Caretaker had gotten to break his whips in, after all.

A slow, murderous thought came into focus in her mind. 'You’ve killed once already. Now, you have good reason.'

Melody responded to the thought with her own malice. 'Nopony dares to touch Symphony.'

Melody’s eyes slowly lost focus on her sister, instead focussing on the large silver and yellow lump behind her. “Go wait with Hearth.”

The long, bloodied steel knife still held in Melody’s hooves glinted in the moonlight, catching Symphony’s eye. She daringly placed herself between Melody and Lightning, her large, pleading, purple eyes searching her narrower green orbs. “Please, Mel. Don’t do this. It’s murder! You can’t kill somepony!”

Melody gazed back mercilessly, her tone acidic. “I already have. Go wait with Hearth.”

Symphony's shoulders slumped, searching her sisters’ eyes once more before breaking contact, staring at her hooves and quickly trotting out of the room.

Melody stole across the blackened room, crossing to Lightning’s bedside. She slowly unfurled her wings, using them to lighten herself as she climbed on top of the silver pony. Melody brought her hoof down on the cursed pony’s neck before calling out softly.

“Lightning? Wake up.”

As soon as the she saw the pale blue orbs cracking open slightly, Melody folded her wings, letting most of her body weight go to Lightning’s neck. The silver mare let out a peculiar muffled gagging noise.

Melody smiled patronizingly. “I told you, Light. I said; ‘Buck with Symph, and I’ll buck you up.’ Now… Now, you die. And nopony, not even Caretaker can save you. I slit his throat first, see. So he can’t help you. And now, you can’t talk. So you definitely can’t scream.”

Melody lost interest in her prey, instead beginning to ramble. “Y’know, I think it was the knife. The knife was his downfall. Although, he definitely started to break me: I couldn’t bare it if Symphony died. But the knife was still my greatest asset. Because he was bigger than me. Stronger, too. He could’ve snapped me like a twig. But I slit his throat first. So he can’t rape me anymore.”

Melody glanced back down at the mare who was now attempting to claw at Melody’s suffocating hoof. “It’s nice to have somepony to talk to, y’know. I never had a conversation with you for very long. Unless I was insulting you.” Melody let out a small laugh. “Let’s face facts here; if I sat and threw all my insults at you, I’d be here all day.

“Then again, I’ve never had anything to talk to you about. The only thing that we have in common is that Caretaker raped us. Y’know, I haven’t thought about it ‘till now, but ‘rape’ is such a vulgar word. It’s obtrusive. I think it fits perfectly with its definition. But he didn’t really ‘rape’ you, did he? No… You did it willingly, didn’t you, you fucking whorse?”

Melody spat at Lightning’s terrified face. “I hate hypocrites. And I really hate ponies who hurt my sister. But y’know who I hate more than that?”

A playful grin crossed Melody’s face as Lightning shook her head. Melody brought her muzzle towards the silver pony’s ear, stopping with her teeth only a hairsbreadth away. “Cowards and blondies.”

Melody drew her new knife backward, drawing a mental line between the tip and Lightning’s neck. “Two pegasi, one bolt, as they say. Or in this case, four pegasi.” She pulled the knife across the line, a soft singing filling the room as the one and half hoof long piece of metal cleaved the air in two. Melody forced her eyes closed as Lightning’s neck started spraying blood everywhere. Melody quickly grabbed a pillow, pushing it onto the wound. Sticking out her tongue, she pulled a wry face. “Ick.”

Melody rose from the bed and headed towards the door, pausing only to wipe some of the blood off on a bed sheet. Entering the hall, Melody quickly gestured to the two ponies in the hall and set off in search for the exit.

Hearth Claw trotted up beside Melody, attempting to ignore the rather intimidating coat of blood on her fur. “So... Where are we going?”

Melody shook her head. “No idea.”

Hearth let out a low snort. “Great.”

Melody rounded on the red mare, the large dagger still clutched threateningly in her hoof. “I’m so sorry, ok? All I’ve planned out so far was getting away from Caretaker, and even that didn’t go according to plan. If you want to stay here, fine. You go right ahead and leave. I won’t stop you.”

Hearth raised her hooves defensively. “Whoa, I’m not saying anything like that! I just thought you might have a plan!”

Melody hesitated, and a single tear fell from her eye. “Yeah, well… I don’t. Not really.”

Symphony’s timid voice broke into the conversation. “Umm… Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea, after all?”

Melody shook her head bitterly, swallowing her emotions. “It doesn’t matter. I killed Caretaker. And Lightning, so I can’t go back. You two can, if you want. Like I said, I won’t stop you.”

Hearth shook her head instantly. “No way, pon-ay. I’m not letting one of my friends down.”

Symphony simply responded by looking aghast. “I’m not leaving my own sister alone! How could you even think that of me?”

Melody smiled, ignoring the blood still dripping off her muzzle. “Thanks, fillies. Well, before we worry about what we’re going to do, we’d best find our way out of here.”

Symphony’s voice came in again. “Well, I think that before we head onto a potentially crowded street, we’d best get you washed up.”

Melody let out a small laugh. “Alright. First, I shower. Then, we figure out what to do.”

Author's Note

Here's another chapter for you guys. Thanks for reading, thus far. Thumbs up if you enjoyed, or, if you didn't, leave a comment explaining why, so I know what to improve on.