Azil

She didn't move, didn't wince, didn't show any kind of emotion. All her pain was inside, the flaming burning that was eating her from within as she felt tender hooves press at her in some places. She heard her voice gently floating through her ear, the sound like a soothing river calming her nerves and cradling her tormented soul within its loving embrace. It was she who had always been there for her, in the most desperate and vulnerable of times. So shocked was she that the mare had stood up against her oppressor, delivering an unforgettable performance that would shake even the most sturdy and formidable of foes to their deepest, rotten core.

Her ears suddenly twitched as the adrenaline finally died down, a shuddering breath from her tired lungs bringing an involuntary shiver through her beaten, broken form. The mare's voice suddenly became crystal clear, her heart thumping hotly as she listened:

"There...that should be it. I would mind your hooves for a few days, but after that, you ought to be right as rain again." Twilight said nothing, her eyes centering and locking upon one of the thin cracks that lined the beauty's floor. She nodded her head once, briefly, enough to signify that she had acknowledged her words. A tightness built up within the broken unicorn's chest, and she felt a pressure build in her head and behind her eyes as her savior drew ever closer to her, whispering gently near her neck "Shall I brew you some tea...? I know it will ease your mind...perhaps detach you from the suffering." To this, Twilight could do nothing except feel the pressure within her release, a choked out sob croaking from her dry throat. All that was left of her barriers, her defensive wards placed against her attacker's onslaught, had shattered. Hooves wrapped around her swiftly, pulling her tightly into a loving embrace as the unicorn whimpered quietly, just two words:

"K...Kill me..."

"Oh darling.....dearest flower....no....not you my little Lavender..."

Twilight looked up at her, tears streaming down her face as she tried to form the words, her eyes searching hers desperately, looking for the reason, the answer as to why she wouldn't snap her neck upon the spot. Why wouldn't she bring down the sweet, silencing blade of the guillotine, detach her from the misery...why?

As if she read her mind...the mare breathed quietly "Because Equestria needs you...the others need you...." She paused, drawing her lips slowly before hers, hovering them only an inch away as she sighed "I....need you." Twilight let out a small cry, throwing her hooves around her rescuer and beginning their very first of many embraces to be had between the two lovers. She wanted to tell the feathered goddess in her trembling hooves that she was wrong....Equestria didn't need Twilight Sparkle, no one did....

It was Twilight....that needed HER."

~~~

"Would you have some SENSE in you for at least ONE TIME in your stupid, wretched life!?"

"WHERE IS SHE!? I KNOW YOU'RE KEEPING HER IN THERE!"

"Raindrops call the Pega-Police, you do it right no-!"

Twilight gasped, curling into a tight ball as a loud thudding was heard, several voices crying out as pots and pans hit the floor. Loud swearing reached her ears as the sounds of a scuffle continued. It was after several long moments that a mare's voice called out, the one Twilight presumed had been cleaning the dishes in the kitchen from before. "Wait, stop!" She shouted, a pausing in the violence now evident. "She's in there...in the living room...just please, leave us in peace!"

"Raindrops...n..no!" Thunderlane groaned, a loud, hacking cough echoing from is pained body.

Raindrops voice floated through the door as a set of hoofsteps advanced in Twilight's direction "We did all we could dearest...may the Goddess have mercy on her soul...."

"But Twiligh-" Thunderlane groaned, quickly becoming cut off by Raindrops.

"We'll save her....we will." There was a slight pause as Raindrops voice grew quieter "Ai încredere dragostea mea ..."

Twilight looked up slowly as the hoofsteps stopped, the mare shakily breathing in a half-state of panic. Standing before her...was a disheveled, alcohol-reeking, bloodshot-eyed, and not to mention absolutely furious looking Rainbow Dash. She wore a blue hoodie around her faded cyan body, her breath coming out in heaves as she looked down upon the trembling mare. Twilight chanced a look down at Rainbow's hooves, her eyes widening and her irises shrinking as she beheld the mare's red-stained hooves. Whatever she did to Thunderlane...it could not have been pleasant.

"So..." Rainbow growled, sneering down at Twilight "You really think that I wasn't going to find you? You think that I don't KNOW you by now?!" Twilight opened her mouth to say something, her words garbled in her mouth as fear tore into her throat. She let out a sudden cry as Rainbow's hoof punched her across the muzzle, shutting up any attempts she could have made to speak. Twilight whimpered as she was pulled from the cloud-couch roughly, the unicorn being slung across Rainbow's back. She started to whine in protest but was quickly silenced as the cyan Pegasus looked over her shoulder, a wide-eyed glare piercing through Twilight's watered gaze. "Make one sound..." she hissed "And I'll make you really sorry that you pulled this idiotic stunt, you fucking hear me?" The unicorn could do nothing but nod, burying her face within Rainbow's fur and falling silent.

A flurry of emotions were tearing through Twilight at that moment. What was she DOING?! Why was she just letting Rainbow Dash just steamroll such abuse right over her? Why did she feel so...so afraid? It had only been maybe six or so hours since she was willing to die saving Ditzy Doo...and now she could barely even meet her friend's gaze.

Friend...? No...Rainbow Dash was no friend to her. She could tell the second she laid eyes upon the cyan-feathered Pegasus that there was something else there. It was a peculiar feeling...one of remorse and sadness, not for her but for Rainbow Dash.

....was it pity?

...sorrow?

Twilight felt the harsh wind upon her in an instant as Rainbow fanned her powerful wings outwards, taking flight into the icy, bitter sky. She could hear Rainbow's slurred mumbling, her flight path horribly erratic. She lurched to and fro, sometimes nearly throwing Twilight off into oblivion as she banked much more than could be deemed necessary. It was clear to the unicorn now that Rainbow had definitely been drinking, the stench of whisky and cider combined with her flight pattern making it painstakingly obvious. 'Just like always...' Twilight thought, a sudden trigger clicking off an her mind.

Just like always? How did she....how did she know this was always how Rainbow was? She knew...she knew something...was it that-

It snapped to her brain immediately, her eyes widening despite the abuse the wind was throwing upon them. A terrified shake rumbled through her as her memories suddenly became crystal clear....the months before her mysterious appearance in Azil, at least from the point she was in now, suddenly coming together before her eyes. This was it....this was the beginning...

This was the start of her journey towards Azil. She didn't know exactly how...but deep down, within the very bowels of her soul...she knew this was the turning point. She remembered when they first talked...more intimately than friends. They had gone on a date at the 'Cloudberry Coffee Emporium' in Cloudsdale...the sweet words Rainbow at whispered to her making Twilight shiver and blush with a heat she had never experienced before. Oh the times she remembered them sharing, from blissful walks by Lake Everfree, to more tender, intimate, even heated moments by the fireplace within her own Library.

She...had fallen in love with Rainbow Dash. The memory triggered a heavy pain in her heart as she struggled to repress a sob, fearful that Rainbow Dash would drop her to her death out of bitter spite. There was no denying it, Twilight's heart belonged to Rainbow Dash long before she ever woke up in her padded, watery tomb. But what happened? It was this that Twilight struggled to remember, even as some of the memories fell into place, there were still pieces here and there that were muddled with agonizing fog.

Something about the factory...the weather factory. Was it about bits? Surely it couldn't have been about money, as Twilight was well off on her own, with more than enough to support her and Rainbow. The drinking started after...what had she read about in the paper? Was it an explosion...? Twilight was snapped out of the digging into her own mind as Rainbow pulled her wings back, landing roughly upon the porch of a beat-up, battered looking cloud-home. The cloud's making up the structure were distorted and bent at odd angles, making it look like it hadn't been properly maintained in quite some time. The mailbox that had been placed in the front 'lawn' was bent and dented roughly, the number '142' nearly rusted off of its side.

Twilight looked over the structure for only a brief moment before she felt Rainbow Dash walk forward underneath her, staggering here and there as she struggled to move through her drunken stupor. The unicorn started very hastily to try and prepare herself mentally...and physically, for what was about to happen. She had to be as strong as possible...she needed to be an unmovable rock in a deadly embrace of rapids, to try to slow the erosion of her sanity as long as possible. Though a few of her memories as to what had actually happened between them were a little hazy...she could still remember how she felt during the whole ordeal.

Twilight closed her eyes, taking many calm, even breaths as Rainbow shoved the door open, reaching over her and grabbing Twilight roughly by her mane. The unicorn yelped as Rainbow yanked her roughly off of her back, throwing her forward onto the floor and kicking the door closed behind her. "So who's idea was it that you try and hide at Thunderlane's, huh?" Rainbow spat, walking over towards a cowering Twilight, the shivering mare trying her best not to let the Pegasus get the best of her emotions. Needless to say...she was doing a very poor job at succeeding. Rainbow delivered a nasty right hook into Twilight's cheek, a grunt escaping the mare as she recoiled backwards, falling upon her spine across the living room floor. Twilight's eyes flicked about in a panic, taking in her surroundings as Rainbow approached her once more. Haphazardly strewn about furniture...a broken T.V., a few shredded magazines, and a staircase in one corner of the room leading upwards to the second story.

Rainbow grasped Twilight's cheeks, pulling her up onto her hooves and bringing her face very close to her own. The unicorn nearly retched as Rainbow breathed upon her, the overwhelming smell of rank booze choking up her senses with filth. The Pegasus had tears forming in her eyes as she whispered "Why did you run away from me...? Don't you know I love you...?" She leaned forward, pulling Twilight into a firm, rough kiss. The lavender mare wanted to do nothing more than struggle, to pull away from her abusive lover. Deep down though, she knew if she resisted it would only turn out worse for her. The sloppy, alcohol tasting kiss lasted only for a few seconds before Rainbow suddenly pulled away, smacking Twilight heavily upon her cheek. The mare went down with a yelp as Rainbow was over her in an instant, screaming and flailing her hooves down upon her. She kicked, stomped, and pummeled Twilight into the floor of the cloud house as she roared "All I do is WORK, work to provide for your stupid, ungrateful ass! I PROVIDE for you, I CARE for you, I give you a place in my heart and home and you TRY AND BETRAY ME AT EVERY TURN!"

Twilight grunted as she felt Rainbow's hoof connect with her eye, a loud ringing echoing off in her skull as her vision became blurry, her punched eye shutting firmly and leaving her other to roll about lazily in its socket. "What am I going to have to do, huh?!" Rainbow shouted, kicking Twilight in her stomach and making the unicorn let out a serious of retching, hacking coughs "What do I have to do to prove you mean the WORLD to me, huh?!"

A sudden alarm bell rung devastatingly loud in Twilight's mind, a screaming of "RUN, RUN AWAY! GET AWAY!" making her wince. "Oh...I know what you need," Rainbow said with a chuckle, stepping over Twilight and looking down upon her. her smile grew wide as she licked her lips, a hot, sultry tone overcoming the crazed mare's words "You just need a little loving...that's all. I must not be keeping your needs fulfilled...but that's alright, I can take care of THAT EASILY!" Twilight had barely any time to react as Rainbow tried to lower herself down upon her, the unicorn blushing out of habit and heave out of panic. She looked around wildly with her good eye, trying to spot anything she could use to help her fend off her vicious oppressor. As she felt a familiar heat start to build in her loins, the unicorn gasped. She reached out desperately with a hoof, a potted plant with a dead, wilted flower coming into reach from the nearby coffee table.

With a weak cry, Twilight whipped the pot to her left, smashing it across Rainbow's face. The reaction was instantaneous, Rainbow barreling off of the unicorn with a startled, pained screech. Twilight wasted no time in scrambling upwards, racing for the staircase. She had to escape, or at least delay Rainbow long enough to devise some kind of way to put her out of commission. She couldn't fight Rainbow Dash hoof to hoof...there'd be no chance of success...or maybe even survival. Maybe she could outsmart her? Brains wasn't something Rainbow was entirely noted or famous for. As she struggled to come up with some sort of solid plan, having already made it half way up the stairs, a sudden grip on one of her rear hooves brought her back down to reality. She gasped and cried out as her legs were pulled out from beneath her, her face hitting the surprisingly firm clouds. She looked over her shoulder in despair as she was pulled back down, underneath a very enraged-looking Rainbow Dash.

Her face was bleeding out of the corner of her left eye, a monstrous growl escaping her as she slammed a firm hoof right into the middle of Twilight's belly after she had thrown her once more upon her back. All the air within Twilight's lungs escaped her as she twitched, retching and coughing for air. "You fucking bitch, always gotta play hard to get huh?!" Rainbow screamed as she delivered another punch against Twilight's already bad eye, and another to her side. Twilight lay almost limp, her breath labored and her good eye drooped and weary. She found herself trying to sob as she felt Rainbow lower herself upon her battered body, but no sound came from her. Tears gently leaked from Twilight's open eye, moisture collecting behind the swollen blackness that was her other abused one as she felt a burning, searing heat push up between her thighs. A dark, blistering moan wrenched its way into Twilight's ears as Rainbow put her hooves on either side of Twilight's head, and roughly shoved herself against her.

Twilight could do nothing but stare upwards at the ceiling as Rainbow had her way with the broken mare, robbing her of any innocence and purity she had left. The sweltering heat that she felt building between them only causing more agony to pour from her soul. 'Just let her be finished...' Twilight begged to no one in her thoughts 'Just let her leave me alone once she's done...please...'. An eternity passed, or at least that's what it seemed like to Twilight. Her body ached, her loins ached, her most precious sanctuary ached. Her torture appeared as if it would be going on for another age, and there was nothing she could do to stop it, to stop Rainbow's sexual and mental assault over her.

A sudden crash, however, snapped her out of her defeated, dizzying haze. A few shouts echoed in Twilight's ears, causing Rainbow to end her overpowering defiling of her unicorn prisoner prematurely. Rainbow raised herself up in a hurry, looking over her shoulder and shouting random curses down the stairs. To Twilight, it was a chance, perhaps maybe even a blessing that the assault had stopped. She looked slowly to her right, down towards the doorway that had been blown open by some unseen force. She could see shapes standing in the doorway, rough voices barking towards her as Rainbow roared back.

It was a chance...one she HAD to take! It could have been her only shot left at salvation!

With a mustering of all her strength that she could gather, Twilight bent her rear legs under Rainbow Dash, and with a furious screech, kicked upwards into the mare's stomach. Rainbow let out a surprised grunt as she was sent careening down the stairs, the shouts around her intensifying as Twilight scrambled to get up. She turned, panting hoarsely as she flew up the stairs, her body screaming in agony and out of protest due to her wounds. She didn't care, she couldn't now. Escape was her only goal, rest a distant second. She tore through the second story in a mindless panic, looking for the only exit she knew she had. Her memory kept itself together just long enough to vaguely recall the layout of Rainbow's old house, her hooves guiding her quickly through one of the cloud doors and through what she knew was the guest bedroom. It was there that she saw it before her...a window. A piece of enchanted glass had been fitted through the square-shaped hole, keeping it suspended firmly in midair and making it hug its frame.

It was this window that Twilight dove for with every ounce of her being, every scrap of desperation she could find within herself to hold onto. She saw a figure out of the corner of her eye, she swore it. She didn't dare look, didn't chance a glance as she kept her eyes firmly on the prize: Freedom.

With a shrieking cry of fury, Twilight dove through the window with a thunderous 'SMASH!', the wind coming down upon her with a fury unlike anything she had ever experienced. Cold was the mare who cackled like a mad horse, her tears flowing freely as she fell through the sky. She laughed...oh how she laughed, her mad roars of hilarity echoing through the darkening sky. As she fell towards the earth at terminal velocity, there was only one sound that could be heard over her maniacal laughter: the wind.

As the world around her grew icy and cold, and the first few walls of snow hit Twilight Sparkle for all they were worth, only her laughter could be heard over the furious, hysterical laughter of the wind. They held each other tightly as they roared with noise, and through the blistering, murderous sky, they danced.