Limits

"Oh dear, who could that be?" Rarity looked up as the doorbell rang, "Sweetie Belle, could you answer the door?"

Sweetie Belle sighed and opened the door, her eyes widening when she saw Twilight standing on the doorstep, "Oh... hi Twilight."

"Is Ascentia here?" She asked, panting hard, "I know she usually comes to visit Rarity... I-I need to talk to her."

"...Just a second," Sweetie Belle grinned before slamming the door in her face, "RARITY!"

"It was Twilight, wasn't it," Rarity said, turning from the stove.

Sweetie Belle nodded, "She's asking if Ascentia's here. She wants to talk to her. What do I do?"

"Tell her she is not welcome," Rarity said firmly, "They can talk on their own time. But Ascentia is not ready to see her. She's napping and needs her rest."

Sweetie Belle returned to the door, looking nervous as she faced Twilight again.

"Uh... she's not here, we haven't seen her all week," Sweetie Belle said hastily.

"Yes she is, you're hiding something," Twilight said, shaking her head, "Look, I just want to talk to her."

"Uh... nope, sorry!" Sweetie Belle said, dancing a little on the balls of her feet, "She's not here."

"Yeah, she's not here," Apple Bloom said, glaring at Twilight as she came into view, "And even if she were, Ah wouldn't let ya in to see her."

"So get outta here! She's not in here! Even if she were, she doesn't want to-"

"Shh!" Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle hissed.

Letting out a frustrated groan, Twilight shook her head, "Look, if you're going to keep her in there and tell me not to see her, at least do that. Don't start lying to me. Fine, I'll go. I'm going to go home."

"Good! Then go! Go!" Scootaloo pointed.

"Girls, come away from the door," Rarity called from the kitchen, "You've told her she isn't here, now close it."

"What are all of you yelling about?" Ascentia groaned as she came down the stairs.

"Ascentia!" Twilight cried, "Ascentia, you're there! Thank goodness you're all right. We-We need to talk!"

Ascentia stepped back a bit, looking over to Rarity for help.

"It's all right, darling, you're safe here," Rarity approached the door, "Go home, Twilight. She doesn't want to see you. And I can't say I blame her. After what you did... I wouldn't be surprised if this was her limit."

"I-I know! I just... I just have to talk to her!"

Rarity glared and slammed the door, locking it.

Ascentia sat down on the sofa, shaking a little, "She... She looked really upset..."

"Of course she is, dear. But I think that you two are in no condition to speak to each other. Heightened emotional states do not help mend a situation," Rarity said firmly as she sat beside her, "Now, once you two have cooled down and have had time away from each other, you can talk to her if you wish to. But right now, you need to relax."

Ascentia leaned back on the sofa and breathed heavily, taking a glass of water from Sweetie Belle, "...I'm scared, Rarity... I'm scared of her..."

Bringing an arm around her, Rarity gave her a comforting nuzzle, "I know you are, darling. Don't you worry. You're safe here."

"What are ya scared of?" Apple Bloom asked, half laughing, "Everyone already knows the kinda stuff she used ta do to ya. Ya afraid she might kill you?"

Ascentia shuddered and nodded.

Apple Bloom's eyes widened, "...Oh."

"Too much, Apple Bloom," Sweetie Belle chided.

"Ah'm sorry," Apple Bloom said, sitting down.

"Whoa, you really think Twilight would do that?" Scootaloo asked.

"She threatened to so many times," Ascentia said shakily, "One time when she... you know... she held a knife to my neck to keep me still."

"WHAT?!" Everyone burst in shock.

Before Rarity could answer, there was a loud knocking at the door. Believing it to be Twilight again, she stood up and marched over, practically yanking the door open.

"Twilight, you have a lot of-Oh, goodness! Fluttershy! Whatever happened to you?" She exclaimed with worry.

"Twilight punched me," Fluttershy said, sighing, "She was here earlier?"

"Yeah, she was looking for Ascentia," Sweetie Belle said, "We wouldn't let her in."

"Okay, one thing at a time," Apple Bloom said, cutting across everyone else, "Fluttershy, come on in. What are you doin' here?"

"I'm here too," Rainbow came into view, holding an umbrella in her hand, "Twilight came by earlier, she told us what happened."

"We figured Ascentia came here," Fluttershy explained, "we wanted to make sure she was all right."

"Yeah, she's fine," Sweetie Belle said, before glancing at the half-crying, half shaking woman on the sofa, "Relatively speaking."

"You mind if we come see her?" Rainbow asked.

Rarity nodded and stood aside to let them in, "Sweetheart? Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy are here."

Ascentia looked up and waved, her breath shaking.

Going over into the living room, the two sat beside her, while Rarity joined them as well.

"Hey," Fluttershy said softly, "We heard what happened."

Ascentia took a deep breath and tried to steady herself, "Yeah... why'd she do it? Aren't I... aren't I good enough for her?"

"Believe me, I still don't get it either," Rainbow admitted, "As much as I tried. She tried saying so, but all that came out was 'I don't know' and 'It just happened'. But to be blunt, she did it 'cause she could. 'Cause she felt she could get away with it. Like it was perfectly okay."

"It was inexcusable," Fluttershy said, gently touching her shoulder, "But in the long run, she ended up punching me. She tried making excuses, but wouldn't admit the truth of the matter. But it's not your fault. She didn't do it to spite you or because she was mad. It was just as Rainbow said, she did it because she felt she could. Like it wouldn't be a problem."

"That's terrible," Rarity said, bringing a hand to her mouth, "I cannot believe she would have actually stooped so low. It's unbelievable. To think she truly just... oh, I can't even say it! She's scum!"

"Hey," Ascentia said, "That's still m-my wife you're talking about... I think..."

"You're kiddin' me, right?" Apple Bloom asked, "Ya were just tellin' us about how she'd threaten to kill ya before they got here, now you're tryin' ta stick up for her?"

"Darling... as much as I am not to speak against the fact you love her, there is still the matter at hand. You cannot keep enabling her," Rarity said softly, touching her shoulder as well, "Look, I am in no way about to place the blame onto you. You're not to blame. But you still can't keep letting her get away with her actions."

"Well then what do I do?" Ascentia asked, touching Rarity's hand and looking around at all of them.

"How do you feel about what she did right now?" Fluttershy asked, "Be honest. How did her cheating on you make you feel?"

Ascentia didn't say anything, and only looked down in her lap. Rarity, on the other hand, started to wince and wriggled her hand.

"Darling... you're crushing my hand," she winced.

"Sorry..." Ascentia mumbled, letting go, "...Angry. Like I want to... just... get revenge."

"Get revenge?" Rainbow asked, "Like... sleep with someone else?"

Ascentia shook her head, "No. I want to break every bone in her skinny little body one by one."

Everyone winced at this.

"A... little extreme, but that's good, dear. That's exactly what we're talking about," Rarity nursed her hand a little, "It's time you called her out on what she's done to you. The love is there, yes, no one is denying that. But that doesn't excuse what she's done to you all these years and today. If you even want to attempt at mending this, should you choose to, I think you need to stop letting her get away with this abuse. Stand up for yourself, darling. That's what we're saying."

Ascentia leaned back against the sofa and looked up at the six of them, "I don't know if I can. It's been so long since I ever felt safe at home... and... even with everything she did to me, I at least knew that she loved me. But this..." She started to tear up again, "...I don't know if she really does... or if I..."

"...If you were just free sex to her?" Fluttershy asked.

Ascentia nodded.

Rainbow turned to her, surprised, "How'd you know that?"

"It's best you don't know," Fluttershy said flatly.

"Regardless," Rarity said, waving it off, "it's understandable you would feel that way. This kind of thing doesn't change overnight. And as I said, you need some time away from her and to calm down yourself before you can confront her. What you will need to do is to be honest about how you feel."

Ascentia nodded and leaned against her, shivering. Sweetie Belle spoke up and sat down next to her.

"Ascentia... she didn't really threaten to kill you, did she?" she asked hopefully.

Ascentia nodded, "She did."

"I imagine it was a long time ago, when the abuse was... quite fresh?" Rarity queried.

Ascentia nodded, and tilted her neck to show a scar running across the side, "She did this one time when I wasn't keeping still enough for her..."

"My goodness..." Fluttershy brought her free hand to her mouth, "That's horrible."

"Guess it goes with my theory. Stroking your hair with one hand, stabbing you in the back with the other," Rainbow groaned, "Seriously though, that's just... jeez! She actually pulled a knife on you?!"

Rarity shook her head, "We cannot let this happen anymore, darling. There's no telling what she could do next."

Ascentia didn't respond for a few seconds, then she bolted upright in a panic, "Sunrise! Where's Sunrise?!"

"It's okay, she's at our place," Fluttershy assured her, "Cielle and Spectrum are still there, so she's safe."

She sighed and settled back down against Rarity, "...I can't..."

"Can't what?" Rarity asked.

"I can't do it anymore," she shivered, "I... I want... I want her out of my house."

They all exchanged glances, having never heard such a thing from Ascentia in all the time they'd known her. Biting their lips, no one spoke a word for a few seconds, at least until the silence was broken by Rarity.

"Ascentia darling, it's all right," Rarity gently rubbed her back, "I won't tell you what to do, but I also don't want you to make a hasty decision when you're like this. If only for your benefit. I know you don't find it easy to cope when you're without her. But if it is indeed what you want, we will support you, no matter what you choose to do."

"We will," Fluttershy promised, "You're our friend and we'll help any way we can."

"Definitely!" Scootaloo agreed, "Right girls?"

Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom both nodded with smiles on their faces. Ascentia smiled weakly and stood up, heading toward the door. Stopping for a minute, she turned her head back.

"Fluttershy... if... if anything happens... Sunrise can stay with you, right?" she asked.

Nodding, Fluttershy gently patted her shoulder, "Absolutely. We'll take care of her if you need us to."

"T-Thanks," Ascentia said, stepping outside and closing the door behind her.

"Should we really be letting her go?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"Probably not," Rarity bit her lip, "But I think she needs the time by herself. We've done all that we can do. Perhaps we can check on her later tonight, if nothing else."

Ascentia opened the front door to the Golden Oaks Library and strode inside, spotting Twilight at the table. Shivering for a minute, she tried her best to keep herself steady as she got a beer out of the fridge.

"Ascentia?" Twilight said softly, her voice cracking, "Is that you?"

"Who else would it be?" she said quietly, not looking at her.

Getting up from the table, Twilight exhaled, shaking a little, "Ascentia... listen. I'm not going to start apologizing, making promises I probably can't keep, and I'm not going to try justifying what I did. I just can't do all that anymore. There's no excuse for what I'd done. The more I thought about it, the more I realized I couldn't do or say anything. So... I won't. I just... want you to know I love you."

This pushed Ascentia over the edge and she slammed the bottle down on the counter, whipping around to glare at her, "You're a fucking liar!"

Surprised by this reaction, Twilight took a step back, yet felt a sense of relief to finally see her actually angry about it. She couldn't speak. What was there to say?

"If you loved me, you wouldn't be sleeping around behind my back!" Ascentia shouted, her voice cracking, "You wouldn't have done all of this to me! And you wouldn't have been trying to justify it to our friends! Why the fuck do you keep doing this to me? What did I ever do to you?! What do I have to do, Twilight, to get you to stop. Fucking. Hurting. Me?!"

It was a hard question, something Twilight tried to wrack into her mind, but found nothing. She only sighed, barely looking at her.

"Nothing. There's nothing you can do. It's not your fault. I'm just... a damn sociopath," Twilight admitted, "My friends were right. I did what I did because I knew I could get away with it. Because I knew there were no consequences."

Ascentia's face fell for a moment, then she was only angrier. Rushing forward, she grabbed Twilight by the shirt and lifted her off the ground.

"Then what the fuck am I to you, Twilight?!" Ascentia demanded, "Am I your wife, or am I just some free cunt you get to smack around?!"

Barely even struggling, Twilight barely managed to look her in the eye, "You are my wife and I do love you. You don't believe me now and I'm not surprised you don't. But it wasn't enough to protect you from me. The love we had... it wasn't enough."

"Then why the fuck did you do all of it?!" She yelled, tears starting to form in her eyes.

"Because I'm fucked up and I hate myself! I took it all out on you! Because I wanted power over you! Because you overtook me the first time we met and I didn't understand it!" Twilight yelled, not in anger, but pain, "Because I couldn't control myself and the way I acted... I thought it was right, the only way I could ever overcome them."

Ascentia let go of her and stepped back, tears starting to flow down her face freely. She sat down at the table and put her face in her hands, screaming at the top of her voice.

"GET OUT! GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!"

Standing there for a few moments, Twilight wiped her eyes and went to the door, grabbing hold of the knob, "...Thank you for not forgiving me this time."

Then she closed the door behind her and left.

Ascentia looked up in disbelief. What had Twilight just said to her? Was she really insane to have forgiven her before? And now she'd thrown it all back in her face. Screaming into her palm, she ran upstairs and threw herself down on her bed, sobbing into her arms.

She kept muttering "Please come back..."  under her breath as she curled up on her bed, hugging tightly to one of the pillows. The smell of Twilight's shampoo filled her nostrils and  she quickly threw it away. Crying softly against the sheets, she could  feel her heart pounding in her chest and a splitting headache overtaking her. Turning her back to the door, she pulled her knees up to her chest  and cried softly.

Then something strange happened. An almost weightless, thoughtless sensation overcame her. As if nothing she could do at this point would carry any consequences. Sitting up, she turned to her bedside table and pulled open the drawer.

She pulled out a small pistol and looked at it for a moment. Then, remembering Fluttershy's words, that Sunrise could always stay with them, she stuck the barrel in her mouth and squeezed the trigger.