"You can't touch me! You'll get punished by the guards!" cried Rule. He limped back further and wedged himself into a corner of the cell. The burly earth pony smiled.

"You think I care what some guard can do to me? I'm in here for life." He stepped closer and drew back his hoof.

Rule ducked and covered his head with his hooves. "No! Help! Somebody help me!"

His cellmate smiled again. "No help for you."

And then he began.

The doctor pulled Rarity and her parents aside. "She has some vaginal tearing, but it's not too severe. She should be healing in a couple of weeks." Hondo hugged his wife as she broke into fresh tears, but these words only produced a wave of cold anger in Rarity. She'd cried herself sick the night before, and while she knew there were many more tears to come, they were buried deep inside her. All she could think about was that bastard, and how she wished she'd killed him.

She turned back and looked at her sister. She was sleeping, and her face was...troubled. Rarity wondered what she was dreaming, but then shuddered as she realized. She went to her place by her bedside and sat herself down, determined to watch over her until she woke up. Her parents sat on the opposite side, seeming just as determined. But all was not well with them.

Over the course of several minutes, Rarity noticed both parents give her an unreadable expression, especially from her Dad. Rarity tried to ignore it as being part of her imagination, but it happened too frequently for her to do so. Finally, she spoke. "Mother? Father? Is there something you want to say to me?"

Her mother blushed, shook her head and said, "No, dear. It can wait." But her father scowled.

"No, it can't." He drew himself up and said, "Why don't you tell us how your sister ended up in the hooves of that pervert!"

Rarity's mouth fell open, but no words came out. The guilt and blame she'd been feeling since last night came crashing down upon her as her heart hammered in her chest.

"Well? We're waiting!"

Rarity stared at her sleeping sister and slowly began. "I...trusted him. He had excellent references, he was clean-cut and handsome, I just didn't know he was a monster." The tears broke free as she looked up at her parents. "Can you...please...ever forgive me?" Her mother came around to her side and hugged her.

"Of course we forgive you!" She cast a scathing glance at her husband. "Right, dear?" But Hondo just scowled. For most of their marriage, that look his wife was giving him settled most arguments he'd had with her, but not today. He looked at his precious child and his stomach churned. But then he remembered that Rarity was his child as well. Deep inside him, he knew she would never have deliberately placed their youngest in danger, but he was too angry yet to see reason.

"Let's just wait until she's awake, and get the whole story." Rarity broke into fresh tears at his frosty response, and Cookie glowered at him over her daughter's shoulder, but he remained unmoved. Anyone and everyone responsible for this atrocity was going to pay, even if that meant hurting his loved one.

A few hours later Sweetie awoke. The first thing she saw was her parents looking down at her, with tears in their eyes. She looked to her right and saw her sister, crying as well. "H...hi."

"Sweetie! Please...please forgive me," whispered Rarity.

The little filly looked puzzled. "Forgive you for what?" She winced as she moved herself to a sitting position. The lubricant had helped immensely, but she was still in a bit of pain.

"Just rest, dearest," said her mother. "We can all talk about this later."

"No," said Sweetie. "I wanna talk about this now." She looked back at her sister. She was a mess. She hadn't put on any makeup, the mascara she'd had on had streaked down her face, she'd done nothing to her mane. To see her normally pristine and perfect sister reduced to...this...moved her more than she'd thought it ever would. "There's nothing to forgive you for, sis. Why would you think that?" But these words, probably meant to ease, had the opposite effect on Rarity.

The tears came gushing out as she said, "Because it was my fault he was in our home in the first place. I hired him, I left you alone with him, I trusted him. It's my fault this happened to you."

"You left her alone with him?!" growled Hondo. But Sweetie held up a hoof.

"Dad. Please. It's not her fault." She looked down at her blankets and bunched them up in her hooves, as she started the story from the beginning.

"...and then he said he'd kill you all if I told." Her father ground his teeth, hard enough to crack a tooth.

"That fucking, cowardly, disgusting bastard!" He then blushed. "Sorry for my language, sweetheart." His gaze shifted to his eldest daughter, and his expression was one of reluctant gratitude. "I hear you almost killed him?" Rarity nodded.

"I tried my best. Once I realized what he'd done, and how wrong I was about her feelings towards him, I just saw red."

He grimly smiled. "Then, you did my job." Cookie was not one to waste an opportunity.

"So you forgive her, right?"

Hondo had the good grace to be embarrassed. "I...I'm sorry, pumpkin. I was just so angry. I lashed out at somepony that didn't deserve it." Rarity smiled.

"It's alright, Dad. I understand." Then she sighed. "So now all that's left is seeing justice done upon that creep."

Just then they heard a knock on the hospital door, and they all turned towards it. The door opened a crack, and Scootaloo timidly ventured inside. "Is it okay if we come in?" They all smiled.

"Of course you can come in, sweethearts!" said Rarity. "We've been waiting to see you!" Scootaloo and Apple Bloom came in, followed by Applejack and Rainbow Dash. Scootaloo had a bandage around her head, and one eye was swollen, but she still looked cheerful.

Hondo spoke up. "I hear you're the brave girl that took that creep on first! Can I just say 'thank you?'"

Scootlaoo blushed and stammered, "I...I just did what I had to do. He was hurting my friend!" Dash drew her in for a tight hug.

"What did you expect from this awesome filly?" Scootaloo's blush became even more pronounced as she stared at her hooves. Hondo smiled at them both and turned to Apple Bloom.

"I'm told you were just as heroic. You saved my daughter. For that, I...we...are eternally grateful." Now it was her turn to blush.

"Yer welcome, Mr. Hondo." She looked at Sweetie Belle. "How you doin'?" Everypony in the room looked at the little unicorn.

She sighed. "I've been better." She mustered up a smile for her audience. "I'll get through this."

Her mother frowned. "You never should have had this happen. We'll do everything we can to help you, sweetheart." They all voiced their agreement. Then, Applejack cleared her throat.

"If'n it helps, you ain't the only one what's had that happen to her." She blushed as they all turned to her. "It happened to me once, when ah was only a little older than you are now."

Apple Bloom gasped, and said, "Sis? Why didn't you ever tell me?"

"Cause it weren't appropriate. Ah didn't think you should know."

Bloom still stared at her, as did all in the room. "And now?"

"And now your friend needs to know she ain't alone." Applejack looked up at Sweetie Belle. "Anythin' ah can do to help, ah will." Sweetie Belle was silent for a few moments, then she looked up at Applejack.

"I'd like to talk to you alone if I could."

Applejack seated herself down next to the bed and took off her hat. The scent of flowers filled the room, as the little unicorn had already received bouquets and baskets of fruit from well-wishers. Applejack closed her eyes, took a moment and breathed in the fragrances, then opened them and said, "The nightmares givin' you too much trouble?"

Sweetie nodded. "It's the same one all the time: I see his face, and then he does what he does to me. I try to run, but I can't get away. Sometimes I wake up just before he grabs me, sometimes I don't." Applejack nodded.

"They'll taper off after a while, but they won't ever stop." She stared off into the distance. "They haven't with me."

Sweetie frowned, then said, "Why did he do it? Why me?" Applejack kept staring out the window as she answered.

"For power. He did it because he could. Sex was only part of it." She sighed, then added, "As for 'why you?' You were available. He's probably done this before."

"Applejack? There's something I have to ask you. That...last time he did that to me...I felt...funny? It made me...moan, I think?"

Applejack looked at her. "You mean, it felt good?"

Sweetie immediately flushed with anger and said, "Yes! Why would I feel that way? Am I a...slut?"

"No, sugarcube, you ain't a slut. That was just yer body's natural response. It ain't yer fault."

Sweetie frowned again and looked down at her covers. After a moment, she whispered, "I don't think I'll ever let a stallion touch me again."

Applejack smiled. "That's what ah thought. And maybe that will be true for you. But I gotta tell ya, stallions ain't so bad. The good ones, anyway." She placed a hoof on the bed. "Don't let the things he did change your life. Be you."

Tears started to form in Sweetie's eyes. "But, what can I do? I can't live like this, knowing he's still out there."

Applejack gave her a level stare, and her eyes held no pity. "Yes, you can. Ah don't ever wanta hear you talkin' like that. You will get through it, and you'll be a stronger person because of it."

Sweetie stared at her. "How...how do you know?"

Applejack stared back. "Because ah did."

Three months later

Once news of the trial hit the newspapers, three other fillies went to their parents or guardians and confessed that tutor had done the same thing to them. Rule's court-appointed lawyer tried to keep them from testifying but was overruled. All the fillies, one now in her teens, took the stand, but none did so more bravely than Sweetie Belle. She kept her eyes on him the entire time she was in the stand and left out no details. He couldn't meet her eyes and kept his gaze fastened to the hoofcuffs around his front legs, with one widened to accommodate the cast on his right. He still wore a bandage around his head, and he now had a permanent limp thanks to Scootaloo's attack.

When the other victims took the stand, it was the same with every testimony: he couldn't look at them. In the end, the evidence was so damning, all his attorney could do was ask the court for leniency. He pointed out his client is a family pony and has a loving wife and two beautiful children.

It was at that point his wife, a very short mare, stood up in the gallery and said, "No. He doesn't." She then turned and left. He never saw her or his children again.

In the end, Rule was convicted of several counts of statutory rape, and given a sentence of thirty years. He was also required to register as a sexual predator. For life.

But this isn't the end of his story.

This is

Three weeks later, Rarity got a letter. It was from the prison, and a copy had been sent to all the victims.

Dear Miss Rarity and Sweetie Belle,

I hope this letter finds you both well. It is my duty to inform you that the prisoner known as Slide Rule was found beaten to death in his cell a few days ago. Given the pain he caused to yours and other families, I am not sure how you will take this news. It is my sincerest wish that this will give you closure.

Sincerely,

Warden Chains

Rarity watched her sister as she read the letter. Sweetie's expression was unreadable, and Rarity worried for her.

"Sweetie? How do you feel?"

She put down the letter and sighed. "I don't know how to feel. I'm glad that I don't have to worry about him anymore, but I'm sad a pony is dead. But," and here she sighed again, "I'm glad it was him, and not one of you." She looked up at her sister. "Does that make me a bad pony?"

Rarity rushed to her side and held her. "No, Sweetie, it doesn't make you a bad pony. What he did was unforgivable, and you weren't the only victim." She looked her in the eyes. "Has this made a difference?"

Sweetie shook her head as she was wrapped in her sister's arms. "I don't know if I'll ever feel safe again." She met her sister's gaze.

"But I can try."

Author's Notes:

Rape victims suffer trauma similar to PTSD, in that they never completely get over the crime. In the case of my loved one, she had to quit therapy because the therapist kept trying to get her to relive the moments. It brought up memories she'd had hidden for years, so she had to stop. Other than that, you'd never know she'd been victimized, many times over two years. For the purposes of this tale, I've simplified the actual events, for her trauma lasted longer and was carried out by two perverts, one of them female. While she still has nightmares, she's very bright and vivacious, always trying new things as she completes college.

As for the actual perpetrators, I can only hope they've been punished, for as far as we both know they've never been caught. Which is true of a great many predators. Some, however, do get caught, and suffer the same fate as Slide Rule. Here's one example and here's another.

If you know someone who has been molested, or if, God forbid, you have been yourself, remember it wasn't your fault. Talk to someone, let them know what happened, and bring these creeps to justice.