"Why are you doing this?" she whispered. The stallion smiled as he took off his trousers.

"I'm just giving you what you really, really want. Sluts always want a good fucking." He then went to grab her, but she backed away.

"Please. Not again. I can't do this!" she said in a quiet voice, so as not to wake her sister or her friends.

HIs face was the picture of rage. "You can and you will!" he urgently whispered back. "Remember what I said before about your sister and your parents!" He then turned away from her and started for the stairs. "Maybe I won't bother with you, and just go do what I must with her."

Sweetie's eyes grew wide. "No! Please don't hurt her! I'll do it...just...leave her alone..."

He made as if he hadn't heard and reached the bottom stair. Then, he turned back to her and smiled. "Alright. Just this once, I'll leave her be. But," and here he glowered at her, "if you try to refuse me again, I won't be so nice."

Sweetie stared at the floor and sighed. Then, she turned around and presented herself to him. "Get it over with."

After her first restful night, Sweetie was her old self again. She greeted her friends with a smile, but they both looked confused. "Sweetie? Are you alright? What happened now?" asked Apple Bloom.

"Oh, I'm better than alright!" She skipped along as they made their way into the classroom. Both her friends exchanged worried looks. The little unicorn had been completely miserable for over a week, and now she was acting as if she'd been set free.

Scootaloo took her place behind her and whispered, "Sweetie, we need to talk." But Sweetie couldn't stop smiling.

"Yeah, sure, whatever!" She then faced forward as Miss Cherilee cleared her throat.

"Good morning, class! Everypony, open your math books to page twelve. Let's get started." She then turned to the blackboard and began writing out equations. "Now then, who can do the first one?"

Sweetie's hoof shot up into the air. "Me!"

After school, Sweetie's friends took her aside.

"What's going on with you, Sweetie? First, you yell at us for trying to be nice to you, and now you're happy again! What happened?" asked Scootaloo. Sweetie shuffled her hooves.

"I'm...sorry about that. I just wasn't myself."

"But now, you're better?" asked Apple Bloom. Sweetie smiled and vigorously nodded.

"Much better!"

Apple Bloom frowned, then said, "So, you wouldn't mind it if we all had a sleepover?"

She could hear the suspicion in her voice but was feeling too good to care. "That's a great idea! I'm sure Rarity wouldn't mind."

"Okay, it's settled then. We'll meet at your house after sundown." They then separated to go get ready. As for Sweetie, she was feeling so lighthearted she almost forgot she still had to see her tutor one last time. As she got in view of her sister's house, the memory came crashing down on her, and she was filled once again with fear. She stopped and stared at the place, thinking. After a few moments, she squared her shoulders and marched in, telling herself to be brave...this was the last time she'd need to see him. She could get through this.

"I'm home-" she started to call out, but stopped dead in her tracks. There, sitting at the dining room table with Rarity, was him. They both turned to her, Rarity with a smile, Rule with a neutral expression.

"Good, you're home!" She gestured to the stallion. "As you can see, your tutor came early, which gave me a chance to talk to him."

Sweetie hadn't moved from her place by the door, so deep was her revulsion at seeing him again. After a moment, she found her voice and said, "What...what did you tell him?"

"Sweetie! That's not polite, talking about him like he's not here!"

Rule smiled and waved a hoof. "It's quite alright, Miss Rarity. I understand." He looked at the filly. "To answer your question, young lady, she told me you won't be needing me anymore, and that you've made sufficient progress." There was a glint in his eye unnoticed by her sister as he added, "Is that true?"

Sweetie's stomach did a roll, and she tore her eyes away from him as she whispered, "Umm...yes?" She startled and looked up when he clapped his hooves.

"Splendid! Alright then, I'm to give you one more lesson, then I'll be on my way." He turned back to Rarity. "If that's fine with you, of course."

"Certainly!" She got to her hooves and said, "I'll be in the next room if you need me, dear." She smiled at Sweetie and went into the kitchen. But still, Sweetie didn't move. Slide Rule smiled at her and gestured to the opposite seat.

"Come, come...make yourself comfortable. This won't take long." Slowly, reluctantly, she approached the table and sat down. Rule's smile never wavered as he got out pencils and paper. "Let's test your skills with one more set of problems," he said as he began writing. He then used his magic to pass her the paper. When Sweetie saw what was written on it, she almost screamed.

You think you're clever, don't you? I'll have you know I'm far from finished with you, slut.
I'll be back at midnight. Have the door unlocked and meet me downstairs, or you know what I'll do.
Oh, and make sure that damn cat is locked away.

He used his magic to take back the note and said, "I think you do indeed understand. Let's see how you do on these." This time he wrote out some actual equations and gave them to her, but her mind was too shattered to focus. After waiting and watching her patiently for several minutes, he sighed and said, "I think we're done." He raised his voice and said, "Miss Rarity? We're finished in here." He got to his hooves as Rarity came back into the room.

"So soon? I thought it would have taken longer?"

He returned his materials to his saddlebags and said, "I thought so as well. But," and here he indicated the frightened filly, "Your sister doesn't seem to be able to concentrate today."

Rarity immediately went to her and said, "You poor dear!" She gave her a hug and whispered, "Go on upstairs; I'll be there in a few minutes, okay?" All Sweetie could do was nod as she got stiffly to her hooves. With one last look at the smiling stallion, she slowly left the room.

Once Sweetie was fully gone, Rule said to Rarity, "Is she going to be alright?"

Rarity looked up the stairs and said, "I sincerely hope so." Turning to the tutor, she said, "I believe I owe you for the next lessons you won't be able to give." Stopping his protest, she added, "That's kind of you, but we had an arrangement. It's not your fault we had to change it."

"Very well, Miss Rarity. If you insist."

As she went to get the bits, he watched her rump, but without interest.

Too old.

Several hours had passed since Sweetie had gone to her room. Her sister had come in and tried to comfort her, but the little filly was too devastated to even reply. She then tried to implore her to eat, but this was unsuccessful as well. Once her sister finally left, she thought about suicide again, and that option was looking better and better. There was no telling how long he would keep...doing that...to her, now that he didn't need to pretend he was tutoring.

As she sunk deeper and deeper into despair, there was a knock on her door. "Sweetie? Your friends are here."

Sweetie sat bolt upright when Apple Bloom and Scootaloo trotted into the room with their sleeping bags and overnight things. She'd completely forgotten they were coming. She met her sister's eyes and shook her head, but Rarity said, "I think you need some company, dearest." She turned to the Crusaders. "You fillies have a good time." She smiled at them all, then left.

They let their things fall to the floor as they approached Sweetie Belle. "You don't look so good," said Scootaloo.

Sweetie's lip trembled as she stared at them, then she burst into tears. "I'm not alright!" They closed the distance, got up on the bed with her and hugged her close.

"What is it, Sweetie Belle?! Please tell us!" said Apple Bloom.

"I can't! I can't!"

"Why? What is so bad it's got you like this, but you cain't tell us? We're your friends, Sweetie Belle!" cried Apple Bloom.

But she remained silent, except for her sobbing.

They held and rocked her, then Scootaloo quietly said, "Look at me, Sweetie Belle." She slowly did so. "We are the Cutie Mark Crusaders. We don't run from a fight, we don't surrender, and we never leave a friend hangin'." She grabbed her friend by her cheeks and finished with, "We'll get through this together." She then hugged her again.

So for the next few hours, the Crusaders did everything they could think of to engage their friend. They played games, they ate snacks (with Sweetie hardly eating anything), they tried to talk about mundane subjects. But all the while, the little unicorn kept glancing at the clock. When ten o'clock arrived, she said, "I'm pretty tired. I think we should go to bed."

Apple Bloom smiled. "That's probably a good idea. You go on up, Sweetie; we'll be there in a minute." Sweetie smiled sadly at them, then left. Once she was gone, Apple Bloom whispered to Scootaloo. "Alright, here's the plan: we watch her all night. The way she kept lookin' at the clock tells me somethin's happening tonight. We shouldn't let her be alone too long."

"Got it!" said Scootaloo. With that, they both climbed the stairs and went to Sweetie's bedroom. The lights were out. She was already in her bed, facing away from them. They each climbed into their sleeping bags, said 'good night' to Sweetie (she didn't answer) and lay down, their eyes never closing. Sweetie, however, kept moving about on her bed, so they knew she was awake as well.

When Sweetie's clock showed 11:45, she slowly got up. They both closed their eyes and waited for several minutes. They then heard her get up from her bed, tiptoe around them, and leave her bedroom. Once she'd gone, they both sat up.

"What do you think she's doing?" whispered Scootaloo. Apple Bloom frowned.

"Let's give her a few minutes, then follow her."

They both went to the door and pressed their ears against it. Hearing nothing, Apple Bloom placed her hoof against her lips and said, "shh" while she opened the door a crack. Peering through it, they could see the dimly lit hallway, but no sign of their friend. As quietly as they could, they opened the door and ventured out. As they slowly made their way down the hall and towards the stairs, they both froze. They could hear Sweetie talking to what sounded like a stallion.

"What's a stallion doing here this late at night?!" Scootaloo urgently whispered.

"I dunno, maybe it's her Dad?" Bloom whispered back. "Let's go see." They dropped down on their bellies and crept up to the top of the stairs. Then they both looked down.

From there, they could clearly hear it wasn't Hondo, but they didn't recognize the voice. They did, however, see him come to the bottom of the stairs and begin to climb. They both shuffled back, out of his sight. They then heard him say, " Alright. Just this once, I'll leave her be. But if you try to refuse me again, I won't be so nice." They heard him turn back from the stairs, and then heard Sweetie say, "Get it over with." Get what over with?

Slowly, they crept up to the stairs again and looked down. They couldn't see anyone from their vantage point, but they heard what sounded like...grunting. The hackles rose on the backs of their necks. They didn't know what was going on, but they knew it was something bad. Then they heard their friend cry out. It wasn't a cry of pain, but they knew it wasn't a sound they'd ever heard her make. They then heard the stallion say, "That's it, slut! I knew you'd like it!" Their hearts started beating rapidly and their legs began shaking, but they slowly made their way down the stairs. When they made it halfway down them, they could clearly see what was happening, and they froze again.

But only for a moment.

"Get off her!! Get off her!!" screamed Scootlaoo as she rushed forward.

The stallion whipped his head around and yelled, "What is this?! Who are you?!" But the little pegasus didn't answer, so great was her rage. She savagely latched onto his leg and bit down, driving her teeth in as deep as she could. "Let me go!!" he screamed, as he released Sweetie Belle and tried to get the pegasus off his leg. But she only held on tighter and bit harder. He began to strike her, and his yell turned into a screech of pain as the blood coursed down his leg.

Meanwhile, Apple Bloom had not been idle. She'd immediately turned and rushed to Rarity's room. Flinging the door open, she screamed, "Rarity! Rarity! Wake up! Some stallion is hurting Sweetie Belle!" Once the door was open, Opalescence tore out of the room.

Rarity sat up, ripped off her sleeping mask and said, "What? What's happening?!"

"Some stallion's got Sweetie! Hurry!" She then turned and rushed back, with Rarity close behind. They could hear the stallion scream "let me go!" as they ran towards the stairs, then they were down them in a flash. Apple Bloom ran forward, got behind him and kicked with all her might. Her aim was true, and she landed a solid shot to his balls, which made him screech even louder and double over in further pain. But Rarity stood frozen on the stair bottom.

"Mr...Rule? What are you doing here?" she whispered.

"Get them off me!" he shouted in a hoarse voice as he tried to fend off both fillies and a furious cat who was screeching and yowling, fighting him for all she was worth as she clawed at his eyes.

Rarity stared, then a white-hot rage overtook her as all the pieces fell into place.

Once the police had taken the barely conscious stallion away, the medic ponies attended to both Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. The brave little pegasus had sustained a head injury in the fight, as well as a blackened eye, but she didn't seem to notice, so focused was she on her friend. Apple Bloom came over to her and hugged her, as they both watched the medics treat Sweetie.

Rarity sat unmoving, and only answered questions from the police in a subdued voice, never taking her eyes off her sister. There was blood on her hooves and horn, and her left eyelid kept flickering. After a few moments, the policepony waved one of the medics over. As the medic approached, she came to herself and yelled, "No! Don't worry about me! Take care of my sister!"

"It's alright, miss, she's in good hooves," said the medic as he flashed a light in her eyes and checked her pulse. After some more examination, he said, "You've got a case of mild shock, but you're going to be alright."

"I...tried to kill him," she whispered.

"You came close," said the policepony. "I heard the medics say he has a fractured skull, three broken ribs, and a broken leg." He smiled at her. "From what I can tell, it sounds like he got off light." But Rarity didn't hear him. All she could do was watch her sister, and realize how horribly she'd failed her.