Limits

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Rarity groaned in exasperation as the thumping on the front door continued. Opening the door, she saw a distraught and teary Ascentia standing there.

"Darling? Whatever is the matter?" she said softly.

"Twilight's cheating on me," Ascentia said, her voice quivering from her crying.

"WHAT?!" Rarity exclaimed loudly in shock. She brought a hand to her mouth, unable to believe what she had just heard. But if there was one thing Ascentia wasn't, even in her toughest moment, she was not a liar, "Oh, darling... That's terrible... I am so sorry..." She brought her arms around her in a comforting hug.

Ascentia sobbed into Rarity's shoulder, holding her tightly and shaking in her arms.

"Rarity?" Sweetie Belle said, coming downstairs, "What's going on?"

"Oh, Sweetie Belle," Rarity said, strangely just remembering that she was visiting, "There's been a problem. It seems that Twilight is cheating on Ascentia..."

"What?!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed, outraged, "With who?!"

"Spike..." Ascentia whimpered, clutching tightly to Rarity's shoulders.

"Spike..." Rarity repeated in shock, "Wait. She is honestly cheating with a friend, but also a man? While happily married? Unbelievable... what in the world is she thinking?! I cannot believe she would stoop that low!"

"What a bitch!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed, remembering how much it had hurt Scootaloo and Apple Bloom when she cheated on them.

"Now now, let's not use crude language... But yes, what she did was horrible. I cannot believe it..." Rarity held Ascentia closer, stroking her hair, "I am so, so sorry darling... Don't you worry, it's all right. We're here for you."

Ascentia broke down and fell against Rarity, holding herself up just enough to keep the smaller woman from falling over, tears streaming down her face as Sweetie Belle came up and hugged her as well.

Carefully, Rarity moved them into the living room, where she sat Ascentia down to make sure she was comfortable, as both women snuggled her.

"Now, when you're ready, tell us what happened," Rarity said gently, gently kissing the top of her head.

Ascentia wiped her eyes and managed to speak through the shivering sobs, "Spike came over to visit, and he and the rest of us were just chatting for a bit. Then Twilight took him into the other room for a while. I went to check on them and she was in his lap, kissing him. I broke them apart, but before I left they were having s-s-sex in the basement..."

Both Rarity and Sweetie Belle stared with shock, before shaking their heads.

"And in your own home, no less. Unbelievable!" Rarity said with disgust, "What were they thinking?! What in the world could have possibly justified this for her...!"

Ascentia shrugged and buried her face back into Rarity's shoulder, crying hard against her shirt while Sweetie Belle rubbed her back.

Rarity stroked her hair gently, nuzzling her, "It's all right, dear. You just let yourself cry, take all the time you need for it. It's okay. You're not alone, darling. Never."

Sweetie Belle pulled away from them and picked up the phone, dialing it with an angry look on her face, "I'm calling the girls."

"Sweetie Belle-" Rarity reached to her, biting her lip, "All right. But don't do anything rash."

She paued for a minute, then the phone picked up, "Hey, Apple Bloom? We've got a problem... Twilight's cheating on Ascentia."

There was a loud 'WHAT?!' from the other side of the phone, to which Sweetie Belle had to hold the phone away from her ear.

"Yeah. Can you call Scootaloo and come over? Thanks!"

As Rarity continued comforting Ascentia however she could, she remained silent for some time. The entire situation almost felt like major deja-vu to their high school days, when she'd been there for Ascentia upon the painful breakup. Much like now, she'd sat there, holding her and lending a shoulder to cry on. It was unbelievable, not to mention far worse.

"Darling, if you'd like to stay here for a while, you know you're welcome to," Rarity said softly, kissing her head, "If there's anything you need, you can let us know."

Ascentia sniffled and hugged her tighter, "Th-Thanks, Rarity."

"The girls are coming over," Sweetie Belle said, "I can't believe that woman. When is it gonna stop with her?"

Sighing, Rarity shook her head, though knowing it was a rhetorical question, "Even I can't say for sure. To think that she's been, for lack of a better term, clean and sober for the past sixteen years... I cannot believe she's come to stoop this low."

Sweetie Belle huffed in anger and sat back down, hugging Ascentia around the waist, "Poor girl..."

A little later, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo arrived, both of them looking a mixture of angry and concerned.

"We came as soon as ya called," Apple Bloom said, biting her lip, "Boy she's lucky not to be in front o' me right now..."

Normally Sweetie Belle would have reprimanded her for threats, but this time she just nodded, "Same here. Look at her. She's a wreck because of her!"

"I almost told my Moms," Scootaloo admitted, "But I'm not gonna do that yet."

"So what are we going to do now?" Sweetie Belle asked, looking up at Rarity.

Rarity looked at them all, "For now, we're going to do what we can to help Ascentia here. I think that is the most important thing. However, if Twilight comes around, we are not to let them see each other. Not yet. Let's first make sure Ascentia can feel better here. Sweetie Belle, prepare the guest room, if you please. Apple Bloom, bring me a glass of water."

Sweetie Belle rushed upstairs to get the guest room ready while Apple Bloom went into the kitchen. Scootaloo sat down next to them, looking at them curiously.

"I've never seen her like this before..." she said softly, "I've heard about it, but I've never seen it."

Smiling grimly, Rarity sighed, "I have. You can say I've been a bit of a confidant to her since high school."

Scootaloo whistled a little, "So... what do I do?"

"Come sit here with her, dear," Rarity said, and looked up to see Apple Bloom coming back with the water. She took the glass, giving it to Ascentia to drink, "Here, darling. Drink some of this."

Ascentia sat up and took the glass, gulping down it's contents in one swift movement, setting the glass aside, "I'm s-sorry I'm such a w-wreck, you guys..."

"Hey, come on, don't say that!" Scootaloo said, "I think you got every reason to be upset!"

"She's right, dear. You have nothing to apologize for," Rarity said firmly, gently wiping her face with a handkerchief, "We're here for you, don't you worry."

Ascentia wrapped her arms tighter around Rarity's midsection and cried harder as her and Scootaloo ran their fingers through her hair.

"Ugh... I'm coming, keep your shirt on," Rainbow groaned as the doorbell rang over and over again. Pulling it open, she was surprised to see a nervous looking Twilight standing on her doorstep, "Twilight? I thought you were spending the day with your family?"

"No, I'm not anymore. I need to talk to Fluttershy," Twilight said, wiping her eyes, "She'll understand where I'm coming from. It's really important."

"...Oh god, what did you do this time?" Rainbow said flatly as she waved to Fluttershy, "Fluttershy, Twilight fucked something up and needs you."

Twilight nodded, "Yes, I did."

Fluttershy's eyes went wide as she approached, "Gosh, no reprimand on laying it on thick? Oh dear. What happened?"

Gathering her words, not even crossing the threshold, Twilight sighed, "I didn't just screw up bad. I ended up... cheating. I cheated on Ascentia."

A dead silence fell, no one saying a word or any sounds reaching them.

"...Why?" Cielle asked from the sofa.

"Really?" Rainbow glared, "That's your first question?"

"You seen that woman? On a good day she's more adorable than Flutters here," Cielle remarked, "Why on earth would you cheat on her?"

"First of all, I disagree," Twilight said, "But it's nothing she did. She didn't do anything wrong. I couldn't even try to explain it rationally if I wanted to. It's that-"

"What were you thinking?" Fluttershy uttered in absolute disbelief, "You just up and cheated on her like that?! How could you do that?!"

"What are you talking about? You cheated, so why are you saying that-"

"NO!" Fluttershy screeched in anger, cutting her off, "Don't you dare. This is not about what I did. That was sixteen years ago. This is now! What in the right mind possessed you to do that to her?! After everything she's ever done for you, after all she stuck by you through, this is how you end up repaying her?! You can't explain it rationally, then explain it anyway because I don't think either of us are hearing anything except excuses!"

Gulping, a bit put off by her sudden display in anger, Twilight took a step back, "I cheated because I was carried away. Spike visited us, and we were talking in the living room. The next thing I knew... it happened. It just... it just happened."

"It just happened?!" Rainbow balked, "Just. Fucking. Happened?! It was that easy for Spike to get a married gay woman in bed?! What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"Punch her," Cielle called, not looking up from her newspaper.

"Actually yes, punch me, I-"

"No one's punching anybody!" Fluttershy barked, "Twilight, sit down. Now!"

Gulping, she did so with no word of protest.

"Now, explain to us, why. Why did you do that? With a man, and in your own home? Tell us right now," Fluttershy crossed her arms over her chest.

"....I don't know! It just happened! You see, he's also Sunrise's biological father. He was the sperm donor I selected," she said, "And it was part of why I suddenly gave in to what I did."

"You... you told all of us it was a random guy you didn't even know," Fluttershy gaped, "You... You actually bore the child of your own friend and didn't even tell him? How in the world could you do that?"

"It seemed like a good idea at the time! It wasn't until I was pregnant that I realized I couldn't just tell him!" Twilight exclaimed.

"Today on the Bold and the Beautiful," Cielle said dryly, setting her newspaper down and watching the spectacle in front of her, "So why did you come here?"

Rainbow turned around and glared at Cielle again, "Can it," she snapped before turning back to Twilight, "Actually she has a point. Why did you come here anyway?"

"I needed to tell someone," Twilight said, not quite looking at either of them, "And to gain an understanding of a cheater's perspective. I still have no idea why I did it."

"So you think I can shed a little light on the subject?" Fluttershy said, her tone containing an edge, "I'm not an expert on this. I did it once. Do you think I'm proud of it? Do you think I like thinking about it? It's a mistake I made, but it's irrelevant now. I didn't even come close to doing it for the same reasons you apparently did. Look at you. You were happily married, you have a wonderful daughter, you were on a great track to keeping yourself healthy and keeping your family safe. You were even doing so much better in your duties! Now while I'm not going to sit here and justify my own reasons, I can at least tell you why. I felt my relationship with Mac was stagnant and not as fulfilling as it had been at first. It wasn't justified, but it was a reason. What's your excuse? Ascentia's not good enough for you anymore? Were you trying to tell her something with the fertility angle?"

"NO! That's not it at all!"

"Then what is it?!"

"I said I DON'T KNOW!" Twilight screeched, with the next thing happening being an absolute blur. She'd swung back her fist and ended up punching Fluttershy in the jawline.

Staggering back, Fluttershy yelled in pain and held her jaw, shaking.

Rainbow rushed forward and caught her before she fell over, holding her steady and looking between her and Twilight, looking incredulous.

"Fluttershy, are you alright?" she asked, looking worried.

Panting in pain, Fluttershy nodded, "I-It hurts, I'll be fine.. Ow... someone get me some ice, please..."

"Oh my god.. .Fluttershy! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to! I'm sorry!" Twilight cried, her stomach sinking to the pit of her being, "I didn't mean to hit you, I'm so sorry! I just got angry and... oh no, I'm sorry!"

"Shut up, Twilight!" Rainbow snapped as Cielle went to look for the ice pack, "Enough with the crocodile tears. You're talking to the masters of them."

"Hey..." Fluttershy said weakly.

"I'll explain later," Rainbow said hurridely, "I don't buy that shit for one goddamn second. If you didn't mean to hit her, THEN WHY DID YOU FUCKING DO IT?! Don't answer that, I'll tell you why. For the same reason you hit Ascentia so much, for the same reason you raped her for years, and for the same reason you cheated on her. For no other reason than because you felt like it, and just because you could. Because you knew you could get away with it, and that she'd just smile and take it."

"That's not true!" Twilight said, shrinking back a little, "You had your own problems, Rainbow-"

"And if I could have gotten away with it, I would have taken the chance," Rainbow said with a glare, "Don't play confused psychotic with me, Twilight. You're not lost from your actions. You're a sociopath. Get the fuck out of my house!"

No one spoke a word, though Twilight slowly moved toward the door, trying to get her feet to move faster. She looked back at them, seeing Fluttershy glaring with anger at her, not a speck of tears in her eyes despite the pain.

"Go," she said, "Get out."

Not protesting, she did so and left, keeping her head hanging toward the ground.

"Wait!" Cielle called before the door could close. Twilight turned around, as did Rainbow and Fluttershy.

"If you're here, and Sunrise is upstairs with Spectrum," Cielle said, "Who's with Ascentia?"

"Why does someone need to be with Ascentia?" Rainbow asked.

"Psychotic woman? Creepily devoted to her abusive wife? Probably knows that her wife is cheating on her?" Cielle remarked, putting her fingers to her temple, "You do the math."

"...Does she know?" Fluttershy demanded, pressing the ice pack against her jaw.

"...Yes, she does..." Twilight turned, "And I-oh no...!" She broke into a run toward town.

"You guys still love Ascentia, right?" Cielle asked the two of them.

"Of course. She's our friend," Fluttershy said, "And I'm guessing she went to see Rarity. Ascentia was always the closest to her."

"Still, maybe you should go check," Cielle said firmly.

"Let's go, then. Rainbow, you drive."

"Gotcha," Rainbow said, helping her over to the car.

"And what was that about masters of crocodile tears?" Fluttershy asked.

"I'm talking about how you'll cry to get your way."

"Oh that was ONE time!"

"That bananna split was delicious!"

"I know," Fluttershy grinned evilly.