//------------------------------//
// Part IV, Chapter 13 - Kindness, Part 2 (TRIGGER WARNING!) 
// Story: Fitting In Is Hard To Do 
// by origami 
//------------------------------//






TRIGGER WARNING!


The following chapter features the attempted rape of a character.  I advise readers who are sensitive to this topic not read this chapter.








Thorax stood at the end of the alley, shaking at the sight before him.  Fluttershy, a pegasus mare that had only today started treating him as a true friend and not just an acquaintance, was cowering behind a dumpster, cornered there by a stallion who had no good intentions towards her.

While he couldn't see the stallion's face, Thorax was certain they were staring at his new friend with a predatory smile, and the lights from the other end of the alley illuminating a shadow underneath the pony's barrel had pretty much confirmed what he intended to do with the mare once he laid his hooves on her.

"Now, what's a pretty little thing like yourself doing all alone in this big city?" he asked in a taunting way.

Fluttershy was shivering in fear.  "I-I w-was going to m-meet a fr-fr-friend."

The stallion's smile grew larger and more evil.  "Well, wouldn't you know it?  I'm that friend you've been looking for."

Fluttershy went pale and her fight-or-flight response kicked in.  Unfortunately, it kept her on the ground in an effort to run as fast as she could.  The stallion simply stuck out a hoof and tripped her to the ground, the pegasus grunting as she impacted.

Before she could react, he was on top of her, already trying to maneuver his hips so he would be in an optimal position to violate her.

The timid mare began flailing and attempted to let out a scream, but the pony struck her in the back of the head.

"Make a peep and this goes so much worse for you!" he spat at her, still prodding at her rear in an effort to line himself up.

As this was going on, Thorax watched in horror.  The scene playing out before him was like a living nightmare, and he could only imagine how much worse it was for the pegasus pinned down by the stallion.

As he heard the pony's threats and heard Fluttershy's whimpering, Thorax's vision went red, and deep inside him, a pit of pure rage erupted.

"HEY!"

The stallion stopped what he was doing and looked in Thorax's direction.  After a moment, he let out a snort and went back to attempting to thrust inside the sobbing mare.

"LEAVE HER ALONE!"

Thorax finally moved, barreling down the alley towards the stallion, intent on tackling him to the ground.

The pony, however, turned around and clocked him hard in the face, knocking him back and to the ground and opening a gash in his cheek.

"Beat it, pipsqueak!" the stallion spat at Thorax.  "Can't you see me and this filly here are trying to have a good time?"

He turned back to Fluttershy and renewed his efforts in violating the pegasus beneath him.  This would turn out to be a mistake for the stallion, as Thorax recovered and got back on his hooves, preparing to run him over like a freight train over a tin can.

"I SAID LEAVE HER ALONE!"

The stallion turned to spit another insult Thorax's way, but was met with a pony body slamming into him at high speed.  He was knocked onto his back and quickly pinned down by a very angry-looking crystal pony.

"What the?  How did you get-"

The stallion was cut off as he looked up at the cut on Thorax's cheek.  He didn't know what he was looking at, but it almost looked like the flesh underneath the cut was black..

"You think it's right to just attack others like that?!" Thorax stared down at the stallion, the scowl on his face almost comically large.

"What the hay is wrong with your skin?!" the stallion asked, struggling against Thorax's grip and completely ignoring the question asked him.  "And how come you're so damn strong all of a sudden?!"

"You really wanna know?!" Thorax spat back in response.  "Well then, let me show you!"

Thorax let his disguise vanish in a wash of green fire, letting his normal changeling form be exposed to the stallion.  As soon as he realized what was happening, the stallion's lust immediately vanished, and was replaced with panic.

"HELP!" he began shouting, struggling hard against Thorax's hooves.  "SOMEPONY HELP!"

Thorax hissed at the pony in anger, immediately silencing him.  "AFTER WHAT YOU TRIED TO DO TO MY FRIEND, YOU THINK YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO BE CALLING FOR HELP?!"

The stallion ignored Thorax, continuing to struggle against him.

"You think it's right to just force yourself on some poor, scared filly, taking her innocence just because you can?" Thorax said, his volume much more quiet and his horn lighting up.  "Well, let's see how you like it when somepony takes something from you!"

The stallion screamed even louder as he was enveloped in green magic.  Thorax opened his maw and prepared to suck all the love out of the stallion had in him.

"THORAX!"

Immediately, the changeling stopped what he was doing and looked over to where he heard the voice come from.

Fluttershy had resumed her position behind the dumpster, now looking on at Thorax in horror.  Her head was moving side to side, and she mouthed a single word to him: no.

Thorax, still feeling all of the anger caused by the stallion's horrible actions, looked at her with a snarl...

...but it quickly died in his throat as he looked past her.

Propped against the wall behind Fluttershy was a large vanity mirror, its surface broken into a spiderweb of cracks.  Thorax's attention was called to the mirror, and as soon as he saw his reflection, the anger in him fizzled out.

Through the spiderweb of cracks, Thorax saw a horrible truth.

The reflection he saw was not his own.  In the reflection, he saw a changeling; a love-sucking monster that ponies feared with good reason.  The bared fangs threatened to cause physical harm to any creature that dared cross it, and the sickly green aura of its magic warned of the malevolence it almost certainly contained in its heart.

And then, Thorax saw the changeling's eyes, and realized in that moment, they were his own.

In those few moments, Thorax realized how close he had come to violating the very morals he had established upon leaving the hive and living in the Crystal Empire, and promised to follow in his pursuit of a better life for himself and the rest of his kind, and all because of how angry he had gotten.

Suddenly feeling guilty, Thorax allowed the spell he was using to hold the stallion in place fizzle out.  The stallion, recognizing the opportunity to escape, freed his hooves and jammed them into Thorax's chest, knocking the changeling off of him.  Quickly flipping over to stand, he made for the street nearest him with haste.

Being snapped from his thoughts by the sudden force applied to his chest, Thorax's anger returned, but this time, he had better control of it.  He took to the air and dived down onto the stallion's back, pinning him to the ground and knocking the wind out of him.

"I'm not gonna steal your love," he told the pony in a calmer, but still very angry voice, "and not because my friend asked me not to.  It's because if I did what I was going to do, it would make me no better than you!"

The stallion attempted to let out a cry for help, but was silenced quickly, Thorax produced a glob of resin and began wrapping the pony up like one of the hive's prey hunters, stopping only when he had clamped the stallion's muzzle shut.  The stallion's cries for help were now significantly muted, and any fight he had left in him disappeared when he realized his situation at the moment was hopeless, and he wasn't getting free anytime soon.

Once sure the pony wouldn't break free and escape, Thorax returned his attention to Fluttershy.  The pegasus was pushed back against the dumpster, watching Thorax with the same horror as before.  Hanging his head, the changeling sat down in front of her, doing everything he could to appear as non-threatening as possible.

"I'm sorry, Fluttershy," he told her, a tear rolling down his cheek.  "I'm sorry."

"DON'T MOVE, CHANGELING!"

Thorax flinched as he heard the sudden shout.  Looking at the end of the alleyway, he saw two police ponies quickly approaching him, the one unicorn of the pair having their horn charged with a spell ready to incapacitate him if he dared so much as move.

As they neared him, Thorax suddenly realized the situation he was in.  He was undisguised, in the middle of the city, and he didn't have his letter or passports with him.

In short, he was in big trouble.

"DOWN FLAT ON THE GROUND, NOW!"

He complied, not wanting the situation to get any worse than it already was.  Once he was flat against the pavement, the unicorn produced bindings and restraints and began securing him.

The other pony, a mare, approached Fluttershy and began trying to help her.

"It's okay," the mare said to her.  "Nopony's gonna hurt you."

Fluttershy, her eyes going from Thorax to the police pony, eventually wrapped her hooves around the mare in a hug, crying into the mare's withers.

"I have the changeling secure," the unicorn told the mare.  "I'll have to get somepony with a cart to haul him in."

"I'll be fine with these two," she answered back.  "We'll free the stallion from that goop once we have the perp on the way back to the station."

"Perp?" Fluttershy finally spoke, her voice shaky.

"Yeah, that changeling," the mare replied.  "You're lucky we got here when we did.  You could've been drained and left for dead before anypony knew what was going on."

Fluttershy listened to what the pony told her.  Her mind, a jumble of thoughts and feelings from the attack against her by the stallion and from seeing Thorax's rather violent response to it, finally registered what was happening.  Then, in a rare showing from the pegasus, she spoke as confidently as she could.

"Thorax isn't the pony you need to arrest!"

The police pony was caught off guard by the response.  "Ma'am, that changeling-"

"-came to my rescue!" she cut off the mare.  "He saved me from that stallion!  That pony... He..."

The confidence was leaving Fluttershy, her jumbled feelings and thoughts getting to her again.

Sensing something more was wrong than just a pony full of fear caused by an encounter with a monster, the mare got Fluttershy's attention and spoke to her as calmly as she could.  "Why would a changeling want to save you from a stallion?"

Fluttershy whimpered under the mare's gaze.  Despite her attempts to appear gentle, the police pony still looked rather authoritative to the pegasus.  Mustering what little courage she had left, she forced out what she needed to force out.

"He... He tried to... r... ra... rape..."

The mare finished the sentence with a deep look of concern on her face.

"Ma'am, are you trying to say that that stallion tried to rape you?"

A simple nod was all Fluttershy could offer before she broke down into a fit, sobbing loudly in the alleyway.

The unicorn returned with another police pony pulling a cart behind them.  After putting Thorax into the cart, he turned to the mare with Fluttershy.  "I'll get this stallion cut loose and we'll take his story," he told her while preparing a spell.

"Just load him into the cart too," she told him.  "This situation just became more complicated."

"More complicated?  How?"

The mare leaned in closer and whispered into the stallion's ear, "She said the stallion in the cocoon tried to rape her."

The unicorn turned to look his partner in the eyes.  "She did?"

She nodded.

"Damn," he said with a head shake.  "Well, that does make this whole thing more complicated.  Should we get a second cart, or maybe commandeer a carriage to take the mare to the station?"

"I'll see what she wants to do-"

"I want to go with Thorax."

The two police ponies turn to see Fluttershy jump up and open her wings, fluttering down to land on the cart beside the bound changeling.

"Are you sure, ma'am?" the mare asked her.  "It won't be a problem for us to get another cart to escort you to the station."

Fluttershy, her eyes red and puffy from all the crying she just finished doing, looked at the ponies with as much conviction as she could muster.  "I want to go with Thorax."

The two ponies look at each other and decide to acquiesce.  "Okay.  Just, please let us know if you need us to stop or anything."

Fluttershy gave no response.  Instead, she laid down on the cart, her head resting against the bound Thorax.

As the police ponies prepared to head back to the police station, the unicorn stallion stopped the mare.

“Doesn't that seem a bit strange to you?” the unicorn asked his partner.

“This whole night's been unusual.  We come across a changeling with a bound pony, and the second pony he tries to go after claims the pony that's been given a gift wrapping from Tartarus tried to rape her.”

"You don't think that changeling put her under a spell, do you?"

"Maybe, but I honestly have no idea.  We'll figure it out at the station.  For now, load up the stallion in the slime swaddle and head for the station.  I'm gonna start marking this area off so we can begin evidence gathering."

The stallion nodded and did as instructed, loading up the bound pony and making his way for the station, the pony pulling the cart following behind him.






A few hours later at the VHPF police station...






Thorax was sitting in a holding cell, bound in restraints and a suppression ring on his horn.  He looked dejected, realizing the mistake he had made by shedding his disguise and even assaulting a pony.  Once the guard captain learned of his actions, he would likely be kicked out of Equestria, escorted back to the Crystal Empire, and told never to return.

However, he would face the consequences with his chin up.  Even though his actions went against the rules that had been put in place to allow him to visit Equestria in the first place, he had a good reason to do what he did.  While Fluttershy wasn't the closest friend he had, he still cared about the mare, and would do all he could to make sure she stayed safe.

To that extent, he had lashed out at the stallion, pinning him to the ground in an effort to stop him.  Thinking back with a clearer mind, he should've simply kept the stallion pinned until the police had showed up; surely somepony had told them that a mare was screaming her head off for help.

In the heat of the moment, however, Thorax had almost submitted to instinct and drained the stallion, thereby turning him into an apathetic shell that would no longer have the will or desire to commit such a heinous act as what he had attempted to do to Fluttershy a little bit earlier.

As much as he didn't want to admit it, Thorax felt that it would've been deserved.  He had stopped the stallion from hurting Fluttershy, but had he done that to mares before?  Had he succeeded in commiting such a despicable act against them?

Unfortunately, he would likely never find out the answers to those questions.  With a defeated sigh, Thorax resigned himself to fate, taking solace in the fact he was able to protect his animal-loving friend.





Fluttershy was sitting in a chair in private office of the VHPF station.  She had been brought here and told to wait, as a pony would be in to get her story about what had happened in that alleyway earlier in the night.  The butter-yellow pegasus shuddered and fought back the urge to cry as the memory replayed in her mind.

Before she could think too deeply, the door to the office opened and the police mare who brought her in entered with a second pony behind her.  They were a stallion, a bit on the younger side, and with a cutie mark similar to Twilight's brother Shining, except instead of a star, there were a set of balances.

"Miss Fluttershy, my name is Blind Justice," he introduced himself,"and I am here with Officer Paisley, who brought you here earlier, to get your side of the story in regards to the happenings earlier tonight."

Fluttershy quivered in her seat a bit, but nodded her acknowledgment.

Blind Justice looked at Officer Paisley with an uneasy look, but turned his attention back to the pegasus.  "Now, I understand that this will not be easy for you, but I must ask you to recall all of the events that happened this evening.  I want you to give us as much detail as you can.  Please remember, the more you can tell us, the better we can understand what exactly happened, and the better we'll be able to make sure those who committed crimes tonight will answer for them."

"We're only here to help you and see that you get justice," Officer Paisley added.  "If you feel that you can't tell us anything right now, that's perfectly fine.  Nopony is going to force you to do anything you don't want to."

Again, Fluttershy nodded, taking a bit of comfort in knowing she could stop if it became too much for her.

"Good," Blind continued.  "Now, would you please tell us what happened from the beginning?"

Fluttershy took a few breaths to calm herself as much as possible.  Once she felt she was as calm as she could get, she started to tell her story.

"I was going to get my friend Crystal Hoof so we could attend a seminar at the pet expo."

"Okay," Blind responded as he wrote the info down.  "Can you tell me about Crystal Hoof?"

"He's a pony from the Crystal Empire.  A little shorter than me.  He's colored all kinds of grayish-blues, and he has a ceramic jug for his cutie mark."

"And he was with you earlier today?"

"He was."

"So you went to get him?  Where was he?"

"He was in his hotel room.  He felt tired and I suggested he go take a nap."

"So he goes to his hotel room for a nap, and you were on your way to get him for this seminar?"

"Yes."

"So you're on your way to get him.  What happened next?"

Fluttershy fidgets a little before calming down and answering.

"I... felt like I was being watched or followed.  After I was a few blocks away from the hotel Crystal Hoof is staying at, I noticed a stallion following me closely."

"What did the stallion look like?"

"He... had a beige coat, and black mane... and..."

Fluttershy began whimpering as the image of the stallion tackling her came back to mind.  Seeing this, Officer Paisley stepped in.

"If you're too uncomfortable with the interview, please let us know, and we'll discontinue it here and now."

Fluttershy took a few moments to regain her composure before she continued.

"I never saw his cutie mark, but his eyes were royal blue."

"Okay," Blind said as he wrote the description down.  "I know that was difficult, but we very much appreciate your cooperation.  Now, you said he was following you?"

Fluttershy nodded.  "He was getting closer, and I was getting scared, so I tried to lose him."

"Did you try flying away?"

"N-No."

"How come?"

"I-I'm not a very strong flyer, a-and I... don't always think so clearly when I'm scared."

Blind nodded as he wrote the info down.  "That's okay.  Our emotions can cloud our judgments.  No reason to be ashamed of that.  So, you tried losing him?  How did you attempt that?"

"I... saw an alleyway, and I darted down into it."

Blind was going to make a comment about that not being the smartest thing, but kept it to himself; this mare had a hard enough night without him making her feel bad about her choices in the heat of the moment.

"What happened after you went into the alley?"

"I kept going until I came out the other side.  There was a group of ponies, and I stayed close with them for a little bit until I thought I had lost him, or he lost interest in me."

"And I'm guessing that, when you finally felt safe again, you started heading back towards your friend's hotel?"

"I did, but I wasn't safe."

"He found a way to corner you?"

"I went down another alley, and he caught me hiding behind a dumpster."

"What happened when he caught you?"

"I told him to leave me alone, but he ignored what I said, and then he started taunting me."

"Taunting you?"

"He asked me what I was doing alone, and he said he was the friend I was looking for."

"Ahh, I understand.  Then what happened?"

"I tried to run, but he tackled me, and then he..."

Fluttershy began trembling and whimpering.

"You don't need to go into details about that now," Officer Paisley assured Fluttershy.  "We can skip past this, or we can stop the interview altogether."

Fluttershy calmed down a bit but was still whimpering.  "I-I'd like to skip this part."

Blind gave a nod.  "That's fine.  What happened to you was horrible, and we don't want to cause you any more distress if we can avoid it."

"Now, what we'd like to know is when the changeling came into play.  Do you remember when that happened?"

Fluttershy was trembling again.  Of course, she knew exactly when Thorax came into the story, but she also remembered what he had told her about keeping his real identity secret.  On the other hoof, however, she would have to commit perjury in order to protect him, and she didn't want to break a law, especially one that would have her in jail and away from her friends, animal or otherwise.

"He knocked the stallion off of me before he could..."

"That's fine.  You don't have to say anything further.  Did the changeling do anything?"

"He was gonna drain the stallion, but then he stopped and wrapped him up in a cocoon."

"He didn't try to take any love from him?"

"No, he didn't."

"That's a bit unusual, but it checks out with the examination we did of the stallion.  Now, when the officers came to the scene, the changeling was in front of you.  Did he try to do anything to you at that point?"

"No, he didn't.  He never tried to attack me."

"Really?"

"Mhm."

Blind looked at Officer Paisley with a concerned look, and then back to Fluttershy.

"Miss Fluttershy, we'd like to conduct a clearing spell on you to make sure you haven't been affected by any kind of mind control magic.  Would you be willing to consent to that?"

"I will."

"That's good.  I'll have the papers sent in so you can read and sign them.  Now, this next part is... a bit uncomfortable.  Since you have made a claim that the stallion in our custody tried to assault you in a sexual manner, we would like your consent to conduct a rape kit on you.  You are free to refuse having this procedure done, but I must make it a point that doing it and having it done as soon as possible will give us the best chance to make sure the stallion is put away and isn't able to hurt any more mares or fillies.  Would you be willing to have a rape kit performed on you?"

Fluttershy was shaking.  It was bad enough that that stallion had been prodding at her flanks with his... arousal, but now these police ponies wanted to rub swabs and whatever else back there.  The thought of strange ponies touching her most intimate place made her a great deal uncomfortable...

...but then she thought about how that stallion had made her feel, and the image of a filly like Apple Bloom or Sweetie Bell in the same position popped into her mind, and she suddenly found herself becoming rather upset.

"...I'll do it."

Blind smiled.  "Thank you very much for consenting, Miss Fluttershy.  I have everything that I need.  As per regulations, I, as a stallion, am not allowed to be present during the collection of a rape kit, so I must take my leave now.  A nurse from Van Hoover General will be coming in to conduct the kit on you.  Officer Paisley will remain here in order to make sure everything is done properly and the evidence collected is processed immediately."

Blind stood up and moved to the door.  Before he stepped out, he looked back at Fluttershy.

"I am sorry for what has happened to you tonight, but I promise you, we will do everything we can to make sure the ponies responsible pay for what they've done to you."

With Blind Justice now gone, Fluttershy sat with Officer Paisley alone in the small office.  The two didn't exchange any words for some time.  After a bit, Officer Paisley spoke up.

"I know you're feeling really scared right now, but I think you're being really brave for doing this."

Fluttershy didn't respond.  She simply did her best to stay calm for as scared as she was.

"There's something I wanted to ask you," Paisley says after a moment, getting Fluttershy's attention.  "In the report we were given, they claimed you referred to the changeling by the name Thorax.  Can you explain why you did that?"

Fluttershy looked a bit nervous.  "I'm, uh, not really sure why I did that."

Paisley looked at her skeptically, but decided not to press the issue; she may decline the rape kit if she felt more stressed than she already was.

After a few more minutes, a nurse pony walked into the room.  With the mare was a box that had the words "SAMPLE COLLECTION" written on the side.

"Hello, Miss Fluttershy," the mare greeted.  "My name is Gentle Hearts, and I'm here to collect samples from you regarding something that happened to you earlier this evening.  Now, I know that you're feeling scared right now, but I'm going to do my best to make sure this goes as smoothly and with as little discomfort as possible, okay?"

Fluttershy gave a simple nod.

"That's good.  Now, to begin, Officer Paisley, would you please lock the door so that we may have as much privacy as possible?"

Paisley nodded and locked the door.  Gentle Hearts gave her a smile and turned back to Fluttershy.

"Now that we have the privacy, Miss Fluttershy, I'm going to perform a brief physical examination; not intrusive, just observational.  Then, I would like for you to outline for me what areas of your body the stallion touched.  I know that asking this is making you uncomfortable, and I do apologize for that, but I need to know where he made contact so that I can collect the necessary samples.  You can be vague if you choose, but the more specific you are, the better samples I'll be able to collect and the better the evidence will be to convict your attacker and put them behind bars."

Fluttershy listened to what the mare told her and mustered up what courage she had in her.

"O-Okay."

"Good.  Now, there will be some parts that will require me to touch you briefly, but I will let you know when I'll be doing that, okay?"

"...Okay."

"Good.  I'm going to begin now, and remember, if you feel too uncomfortable at any point in this procedure, we can discontinue it at any time you wish."

With that, Nurse Gentle Hearts began her exam, looking over Fluttershy's whole body and examining places such as her back, barrel, hooves and flanks.  As she did, she would occasionally use her hooves to separate the fur on the pegasus's coat in order to see the skin underneath, and a few times, she would write something down on the paper.

The procedure took a few minutes, but for Fluttershy, it felt like hours.  Once she was done, Gentle Hearts looked at Fluttershy with a sad smile.

"I've completed the physical exam, but now I need to ask you about where you were touched this evening.  Again, if you wish, we can discontinue the exam here."

Fluttershy was trembling a good bit, but again, she resolved herself to see this through.

"He... pinned me down on my withers."

"That's good," Gentle Hearts said encouragingly, writing the information down.  "What else?"

"He kept pushing his pelvis against my flanks."

"Very good.  Did he touch anywhere else?"

"He..."

Fluttershy hesitated before finally mustering the last bit of courage to say what she needed to.

"He... touched my... private place... with his..."

Fluttershy started to trail off, but Gentle Hearts stopped her.

"You don't have to say anymore.  I believe I have enough information that I can begin collecting samples.  Now, I'd like for you to stand up and move over to the middle of the room and stand in place.  I'm going to be using some cotton swabs to collect the samples from you.  I'm only going to be touching the places where you told me that your attacker touched you, and I will only take as long as necessary."

Fluttershy nodded in acknowledgment and stood up, moving towards the middle of the room.  Gentle Hearts opened the box and produced a bag of long cotton swabs, as well as several tubes with screw caps on them as opposed to corks.

"I'm going to start with the less private areas and move on to the more private ones.  I'll only be taking as long as necessary, so please bear with me."

Fluttershy gave a simple "Mhm" as a reply, and did her best to put the bad situation out of her mind.

Gentle Hearts prepared the first swab and approached Fluttershy.  "I'm starting with your withers now.  Please remain as still as possible until I've finished collecting the sample."

Again, Fluttershy hummed her agreement, and Gentle Hearts began rubbing the swab across her withers.  Once finished, she inserted the swab into one of the glass vials and screwed its top back on.

"Okay, there's the first one," Gentle Hearts told Fluttershy.  "Now I'm going to be moving on to your flanks.  Again, I'm only going to be doing as much as is necessary."

Fluttershy gave a nod as Gentle Hearts took the swab and rubbed it over top of her flanks, taking care not to get too close to her more sensitive areas; they would be getting their own swab in just a moment.

The pegasus stood there and did her best to block out the discomfort she was experiencing, telling herself repeatedly that this was to protect some other mare or filly from being attacked by that horrible stallion.

"You're doing great so far," Gentle Hearts reassured her,"but this next one is the toughest.  I promise that I'm only going to be doing this for long enough to get a sample.  Please hang in there for me a moment longer.  You're almost done."

Fluttershy gave a small whimper and nodded her head.  Gentle Hearts put the second swab into another vial and grabbed a third swab.

"Okay, I'm going to start now," she told Fluttershy.  "It'll be over soon."

Carefully, she placed the swab against the pegasus' most intimate place and carefully swabbed over it to ensure she collected a viable sample.  All the while, she could see the mare shaking.

"And we're done!" she said as she removed the swab and placed it into the last vial.  "Now, we'll get this to the lab."

Gentle Hearts placed the vials into an envelope, along with the notes she'd taken, and set it on a desk in the office.  She closed up the box and placed it onto her back.

"I'll make sure this gets processed as quickly as possible," Gentle told Paisley.  "In the meantime, I would get samples from the stallion to compare against."

"We'll have one of our officers collect it and send it over.  We often collect urine samples when we suspect drug use, so a normal specimen cup should suffice, right?"

Gentle nodded.  "Just make sure it gets sent over immediately after it's collected and marked 'Expedite Testing'.  That will tell our lab tech ponies to do it immediately and not sit on it for a few days."

"I'll make sure the officer is aware."

"Good.  I'll be leaving now, but before I leave..."

Gentle produced a card and gave it to Fluttershy.

"This is for a pony that deals with victims of crimes such as what happened to you earlier tonight.  You don't have to go visit them, but I would recommend doing so.  She's a great listener, and can offer some good advice in dealing with any issues you may experience, but you don't have to talk to her if you don't wish to.  Just consider it is all I am asking you."

Fluttershy looked over the card for a moment before looking back at Gentle Hearts.  "I'll... think about it.  No promises."

Gentle offered a soft smile.  "I wouldn't expect you to make one.  Please try to have a good rest of your evening."

With that, the nurse left with the kit and envelope full of evidence.

"I have some paperwork that I need to file," Paisley told Fluttershy.  "If you'd like, we can have another officer keep you company until I'm finished, or we can arrange an escort to take you to a pony to stay with here in the city.  You could also head back to your hotel on your own if you wish, but I think it would be best if you weren't by yourself right now."

Fluttershy thought over what the police pony had told her before she made her decision.

"I think I'd like to stay here for now."

"That's fine.  I'll go grab another officer.  You can wait here for now.  If you want, you can lock the door after I leave if it'll make you feel safer."

"O-Okay."

Paisley gave a nod and stepped out, leaving Fluttershy alone.  The pegasus took a seat in a chair next to one of the desks.  Left alone with her thoughts, the pegasus did what she could to put the memories of what happened to her earlier out of her mind.  Reliving this night was not something she was keen on doing at the moment, but aside from that, she had another matter raging in her mind.

"What's going to happen to Thorax?"