It was warm, a comfortable feeling. One of love from someone who really cared. She basked in the warmth, praying that it'd never go away. Her eyes slowly opened to light of a new day shining through the curtains of her shaggy, almost rundown apartment. Yet, she smiled, snuggling up closer to the Stallion that was holding her so lovingly.

She loved waking up to this, to her dearest friend, Mars Miner, holding her in his arms as they laid together. His embrace seemed to make all her pains and aches fade away, and all of her troubles distant memories.

"You awack, Venus?" Mars asked quietly with his slightly broken English.

Venus sighed, holding his hand that held her so softly. "Yeah... But, can we stay like this for a little while longer?" She asked, barely turning her head towards him, still too tired to want to get out of bed.

She could feel Miner nod behind her, holding her even closer. He rested his head on top of hers, while hers fit perfectly against him. Like to pieces of a puzzle, a perfect match.

It was a long time before the silence was broken. "I... I don'th wanth you tu leafve, Venus."

His words were so unexpected, they hit her like a truck. She turned to face him, breaking their warm embrace. "W-what do you mean Miner?" The worry that she saw in his eyes seemed to overflow into her heart.

"Tu your joab. I don'th wanth you tu leafve." He said again, this time, he couldn't look into her eyes.

Venus felt her heart swell. She could feel the tears forming in her eyes, so she wrapped her arms around him, and pressed her head against his chest. "I... I have to Miner." She said softly.

He holds her closer, his voice beginning to rise, "Buth... You're stho unhappy!" There's a moment of absolute silence. "I... I justh wanth you tu be happy..."

Miner was never very good with words, but those few simple words, were what made the damn burst. Her tears streamed down her face onto Miner's chest and the bed below. She held him tighter, never wanting to let go as she began to sob into Miner's chest.

She could feel Miner looking down at her, his voice filled with worry. "Are you cying?"

When she didn't respond, she could feel his hand gently rise, caressing the back of her head as he held her close. She didn't know how long she was crying for, the only comforting fact that Miner had never let her go. It felt as though there was no force in Equestria that could pull them a part.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

That's when her alarm went off. Her retched alarm. The work bell beckoning for the start of her horrible day. Though, this time, it didn't sound quite right. Different somehow. When she reached around to shut it off, Miner grabbed ahold of her hand.

"Pwease. Don'th." He begged.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Venus unwrapped herself from Miner, wiping away the tears. "I... I'm sorry Miner. But I have to go." She went to turn it off again, this time hitting the button.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

When she hit the button, the alarm didn't stop. Exactly the opposite, the alarm got louder, filling the room, coming from all directions. "W-what?"

Miner wrapped his arms around her from behind and held her tightly, almost suffocating. "No! Pwease! Venus! Don'th go!" He begged.

She could feel his tears running down her shoulder, but when she looked down, they were red. Blood red. She couldn't scream, she couldn't get away from Miner. And the beeping only seemed to get louder and louder, thumping inside her head.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

The light outside turned blood red, and blood poured in from over crack and every crevice, filling the room. Up to her ankles, knees, hips, above the bed. It rose so fast, she couldn't get away! She finally screamed out, reaching for the ceiling to grab something, ANYTHING to help her get away, but Miner still holding on, dragged her back down into the blood.

Red...

Darkness...

Beep... Beep... Beep...

There was a dull pain in her head as she slowly came too. Her eyes slowly opening to the harsh industrial lights above where she lay. It was soft, almost comfortable, compared to the bed she normally sleeps in.

Beep... Beep... Beep...

'W-what?' Venus mind slowly coming out of it's haze, she looked to the side of her bed and found a heart rate monitor next to what looks like a bag drip she'd seen in hospitals. Following the tubes and wires, she found that they lead right back to her bandaged arm. She tried to move, but she quickly realized that she couldn't, cause her arms were strapped down to the bed she was in. "Unnnggh..." She let out a long groan as the throbbing just seemed to get worse.

"Venus?" The familiar voice came from further down the bed. There she saw a sleepy eyed Mars Miner, looking back up at her.

"M-Miner? Ugh... W-what's going on? Where am I?" She asked, looking more around the room.

Miner just stared up at her for a moment, unable to really find the words he wanted to say. She finally looked back down at him, giving him a worried look. "Miner? What's wrong?"

He swallowed hard, getting to his feet. He looked down at her, fists clenched and shaking. "Why, Venus? Why wuld you hurth yourthelth?"

Her eyes went small, and ears fell flat. That's when it all hit her. All the memories of the previous night flooding back to her, like a river of pain. Venus couldn't speak, couldn't find any words to say as she stared up at her only friend, who was crying right before her. And now that she had a better look, she could see that he'd been crying all night as well.

She had to look away. She couldn't bare the sight of her friend like this. The pain in her heart, a constricting grip of pain and guilt.

He took her silence to heart, quickly leaving the room, leaving her alone... She didn't want to be alone. Not here. Not now. But she deserved it, to bare her pain and guilt alone.

It didn't take long for the doctor to come and see her. They must have noticed Miner was no longer in the room and thought Venus must be awake.

"Miss Spring! My name is Doctor Patches. I'm glad to see you're awake. You gave us quite the scare you know."

Venus only nodded in reply not bothering to look at the doctor.

The doctor sighed trying to sound sympathetic. "Miss Spring, you do realize that you almost died, correct?" She nodded again. "Then you know that we can't let you go just yet. In fact, hospital policy states that you're to undergo a psychiatric analysis before we're even able to remove those bindings.

She looked down at her arm and sighed, laying her head back. "I understand."

"You're lucky you were found so quickly. You're friend was very quick to get you here."

She perked up at that. "W-wait... How? Miner brought me in?" She asked, finally looking up at the doctor for the first time, noticing that the brown earth pony was sporting a died blue mane and mustache, though his tail was left blonde.

He tilted his head to the side, "Hmm, the rust colored stallion? No, it was mare. A thestral I believe. Violet fur with a purple mane. She said her name was... Huh... Actually, she never did give me her name. But she did say she was a friend of yours."

After shaking off the bazar sight of the doctor, she looked back down at her lap, trying to think of anypony that matches that description. "But I don't know any thestrals..." She murmured to herself.

"In fact," Doctor Patches piped up again, pulling her attention back to him. "she payed for your admittance and treatment here at the hospital. It was a sizable sum that covered medical screening and treatment for you and your friend Mr. Miner."

She just stared at him aghast, unable to comprehend exactly what he was saying. 'Someone claiming to be my friend, a complete STRANGER, not only brings me to the hospital and saves my life, but also pays for it all and then some? W-who... Who is she?' Venus' mind was a blur with questions, but that's when the pain from her headache returned with a vengeance. She clenched her eyes shut and reeled back from the pain.

Doctor Patches quickly moves to her bedside. "Miss Spring! Are you alright? What's the matter?"

"N-nothing!" It slowly subsides as she breathes deeply, trying to come herself down. "J-j-just a headache..."

The doctor checks her eyes then stands back up. "Alright, might be a side-effect from the blood loss. If it doesn't go away, you let us know immediately. Understood."

Venus nods, taking slow deep breaths. "Understood."

"Good." He nods with a smile. "Now, I'm going to go get the psychiatrist, and see to your friend, Mr. Miner. He refused to be seen until you woke up, so maybe he'll be more cooperative now."

He walks out of the room and Venus let's out a sigh, and a small chuckle. 'That's Miner for you...' But her smile quickly evaporates, 'And I almost threw it all away. He almost lost me, and now... Because I couldn't handle it anymore, I may have lost him...'

It didn't take long for the psychiatrist to come visit. It was a mare, asking Venus a few questions, taking a few tests, and over all nothing to difficult to answer. But then she started to ask about what happened in the restroom... It was hard, but Venus was able to tell her, every detail...

But something in Venus compelled her to continue. So she told the psychiatrist about the week before. And two weeks before then. And before that, and before that! Tears streamed from Venus eyes as she told her everything! Each and every time for as long as she could remember. After about the 20th rape, she looked up to see the her in tears, not even bothering to write down on the pad of paper anymore. Her eyes were misty as she listened, feeling the pain in Venus voice.

The doctor leaned over and hugged Venus, the both of them crying into each other's shoulders, letting it all out. Venus could feel a weight lift off of her shoulders as she sobbed...

After the psychiatrist had left, Venus was again left alone with her thoughts. She honestly felt better, telling the doctor everything. She never realized how much she had built up, how much she was holding onto. How much she couldn't tell Miner...

She heard the door creek open and shut. Looking up, Venus had expected to see a nurse, but instead, Miner was standing there, holding a try in his hands. He didn't look at her as he walked in, presenting it to her. "I-I goth you lunth..." It was a standard hospital meal; primarily a salad, some orange juice, and Jell-O.

He stood there, his eyes slowly making their way back to Venus, like a child who's trying to make up for something he'd done.

Venus' heart skipped a beat, but put on her most friendly smile she could muster, tears swelling up in the corner of her eyes. She wasn't sure how she had anymore tears left with everything she'd been through these past two days.

She finally cleared her throat, trying not to choke. "T-thank you Miner. It looks great!"

And there it was; Miner's smile. The mere sight of it almost sent Venus back into a crying mess, but she held strong. He sat down next to her, getting everything situated. "Tha nithe Docther thaid I could feed you, cauthe you're nod aloud tu uthe your armth." He stops for a moment, holding the food in front of him. "A-and... I'm thorry. Docther thaid it wath wrong of me to be mad a you."

The tears wouldn't be held back anymore. The streamed down her face as she tried to smile for him. "D-don't be silly Miner! You don't need to apologize! I... I'm the one..." Miner looks up at her and wipes away the tears with a tissue. "I did something so stupid Miner! And... I was so afraid that I would have lost you because of it. Please forgive me Miner!" She was now quietly sobbing, pressing her face against his hand.

He held caressed her face, wiping up all of her tears. "I forgive you." His voice was quiet, but his words meant the world to Venus. He pressed his forehead against hers, and just held both of there like that for a long minute. When he finally pulled away, he had a smile on his face, which brought one to Venus' face.

He slowly pulled away and started to feed her the salad , which she graciously accepted. It was a simple gesture, from a simple pony. A pony whom Venus loved with all her heart...

Author's Note

Whoa... Sweet Celestia this chapter... I'm not gonna lie, the first part had my heart racing as I was writing it! And then near the end... Whoa. I really hope this has the same effect on you guys that it did me. I tried making the chapter longer, though I suppose this is still a work in progress.

Again, leave any comments, concerns, critics down bellow. It's always appreciated.