Ascentia stormed into Twilight's cell and snapped her fingers at Sunrise and Twilight.

"Get your things, Twilight," she said briskly.

"W-What?" Twilight looked at her blearily.

"I'm taking you home," Ascentia said firmly, "I'm not letting you stay here another night."

"Mama?" Sunrise said, confused.

"But why?" Twilight stood up from her bed, proceeding to do just that.

"Because if the security here is so lax, that your mother can come in, scream at you and then rape you, I'm not trusting this hospital to take care of my wife," Ascentia said, raising her voice in anger, "You're coming home with me."

Twilight wasn't sure how to respond. All she could do was gather her belongings into a few bags, while Sunrise observed with excitement and confusion.

"But if I escape, we'll get into more trouble," Twilight said feebly.

"I had you discharged," Ascentia said briskly as she scooped Sunrise up into her arms, "I'm your wife, I have final say in everything here."

"Oh... okay," Twilight said in relief, hoisting her bags over her shoulder, "Yes, let's get out of-wait. Wife? Ascentia... we were divorced. How in the world did you manage this?"

Ascentia paused at the door, switching Sunrise to her other hip, "I changed my mind and threw out the divorce papers."

"...Why?" Twilight gaped, "You had every reason to leave me. I-I know I begged you not to, but...why?"

"For the same reason I just killed your mother," Ascentia said, wheeling around, "Nobody hurts my Twiley like that..." she shook slightly as her lip quivered, a mixture of holding back a scream and holding back tears.

Twilight trembled, completely shocked, but unable to even try to express the extent of it. She shook a bit, feeling a mix of relief and a stab of dread. Taking a deep breath, wiping her eyes, Twilight approached her, "...L-Let's go home..."

Ascentia kissed Twilight's forehead and took her by the hand, leading her out of the hospital.

"FLUTTERSHY!" Rainbow yelled from upstairs, "WHY THE HELL IS TWILIGHT HERE?!"

"What?!" Fluttershy all but dropped the wooden cooking spoon in her hand. She hurried out of the kitchen and went upstairs, "Rainbow, what are you talking about?!"

Rainbow came out of Ascentia's bedroom, "Twilight's asleep in Ascentia's bed. Looks like she's been dragged through a hedge backwards."

Wide-eyed, Fluttershy peered around her into the room, seeing Twilight asleep there on Ascentia's bed. She bit her lip, feeling conflicted, "This is... I... I don't know... I haven't even seen Ascentia all day."

Ascentia, as if on cue, came out of the bathroom, wiping her hands with a paper towel, "I brought her home."

"Why...?" Fluttershy asked, turning to her, "What happened?"

"Velvet visited her," Ascentia explained, "And raped her."

"WHAT?!" Rainbow and Fluttershy exclaimed in unison.

"That's horrible!" Fluttershy cried.

"What the fuck?! How is the security so bad that she got away with that?!" Rainbow raged.

"The guard was bribed," Ascentia spat, "The guard let it happen. And don't worry. She didn't get away with it," she added darkly.

"What do you mean?" Fluttershy uttered.

"She's dead," Ascentia said bluntly, returning to the bathroom to gather the pieces of her gun that she'd been cleaning.

"Dead? How the hell did she-" Rainbow stopped in horror, "...Did... you kill her?"

"Yes," Ascentia said emotionlessly as she reassembled her gun.

Exchanging glances, Rainbow and Fluttershy remained silent. Aside from it being absolutely shocking news, what was there to say? They remained this way for a few moments, holding each other's hands for comfort.

"...What are you going to do now?" Fluttershy asked softly.

"I dunno..." Ascentia sighed, "Twilight's in no shape to go back to work, and the library was bulldozed last year..."

"You guys can still stay here," Rainbow managed to say, "Least till you figure out what you guys wanna do or whatever."

Ascentia nodded and slumped down onto the toilet seat, burying her face in her hands as she sighed, "I'm not cut out to be the head of a household, guys... I'm a housewife. Not a breadwinner..."

"We're not telling you to do anything, don't worry," Fluttershy coaxed, "For now, we just have to make sure Twilight will be stable. We'll cross the other bridges when we get to them."

Ascentia nodded, "Is she still sleeping?" she asked softly.

Rainbow peeked into the bedroom, then closed the door, "Yeah, she is."

Ascentia stood up and kissed both their cheeks and hugged them, "I'm going to sleep on the couch tonight. Let Twilight have some space..."

"That's a good idea," Fluttershy agreed, "You girls take it easy tonight."

Ascentia bade the two of them goodnight and descended to the living room, curling up under a thin, decorative blanket and sighing, "Looks like you're in charge now, Asy..."

"It's okay, sweetheart," Ascentia said softly as she walked Twilight home, who was still shaking from her ordeal last week, "She's gone. She can't hurt you anymore."

"I... I know..." Twilight let out a deep breath, "I just... it all happened so fast and I... I still don't feel safe at night... Like she could come barreling in at any time, not being dead..."

"She's dead, I made sure of that," Ascentia whispered softly, leading her up the front steps, "I'll make sure you're safe, sweetheart."

Twilight sniffled, leaning against her, "I just want this to be over... I want to be me again... Who I was before I went crazy and stupid..."

Ascentia kissed her cheek and opened the door, finding Rainbow and Fluttershy cuddled together on the sofa, "You will be, Lilac."

"Hi, girls..." Twilight said weakly.

Fluttershy looked up slightly as she smiled, "Hello, Twilight. How are you?"

"Shaken up... but I'm okay," Twilight murmured.

Ascentia squeezed her gently, guiding her over to a chair and into her lap, snuggling her close, "She's been through so much..."

Sniffling  a little, Twilight snuggled into her and buried her face in her neck.  In any other situation, the fact that Ascentia was holding Twilight in  her lap instead of the other way around would've been cute. Ascentia stroked her hair and cradled her, rocking her gently in her lap.

"It'll be okay, sweetheart," she whispered softly as Sunrise crawled up onto the arm of the chair, "Kitten's here..."

"Mommy?" Sunrise said softly, "Mommy, are you a baby today?"

Twilight sniffled, angling her head a little bit to look down at her, "...Yes. Yes, Mommy is a baby today."

Sunrise giggled, "Okay. Then I'll be a Mommy for Mommy!"

Ascentia wrapped her other arm around Sunrise and pulled her into her other lap, holding the two of them as tightly as she could, "Mama loves the both of you so much," she whispered.

"Awww," Rainbow cooed softly.

"That's so sweet," Fluttershy giggled.

"Is there anything you want, sweetheart?" Ascentia whispered softly, "Some tea? Some supper?"

"I'm okay right now," Twilight murmured, "I just need to be near you, Kitten..."

Ascentia smiled and nuzzled her hair while Sunrise crawled into the small space in Twilight's lap, nuzzling her stomach.

Relaxing a little more, Twilight eased her muscles and managed to calm herself. She nuzzled Ascentia's neck, managing to bring an arm around Sunrise, "I-I don't deserve any of this, Kitten... not after what I did. I'm sorry..."

"Shhhhhh," Ascentia whispered, "I don't wanna hear any of that from you."

As quietly as possible, Rainbow and Fluttershy headed upstairs to their room to give the little family some privacy.

"Okay," Twilight sniffled, "I love you, Kitten... and I love you, Sunny..."

"I love you too, sweetheart."

"I love you, Mommy!"

"How's she doing?" Fluttershy asked.

"She's been very on edge, but I think she'll be okay," Ascentia smiled, sipping her coffee.

"Did she take her meds?" Rainbow asked, letting out a sigh of relief.

"Yeah, I made her take them," Ascentia replied, "They make her drowsy, though."

Fluttershy nodded, "Okay. At least she's going to be all right. We'll just have to support her any way that we can."

Ascentia nodded, "I'm looking into a doctor here in Ponyville. Someone close, that I can keep an eye on. Not after what happened in Canterlot..."

She slammed her fist on the table.

"That horrible... foul... twisted old gargoyle!" she shouted, "Who does that to their own daughter?! And laughs about it?!"

Despite cringing, Fluttershy went over to her and gently rubbed her shoulders.

"Believe me, I'm asking that, too," Rainbow groaned, "And I thought I was messed up..."

"And you know eventually some therapist is going to have to make Twilight relive all of that, like they did with the two of you," Ascentia smacked her forehead down onto the table and groaned, "What kind of mother..."

"I was watching the news coverage about this," Fluttershy said, "Apparently... Twilight wasn't the only child she molested."

Ascentia lifted her head up, "What?!"

"It's true, I saw it also," Rainbow said bitterly, "It's not like a huge laundry list... but she has done this to other kids. From what the reports and some past victims were saying... She lured children to secluded areas at the park, or anywhere else. Usually younger kids who had no idea what was going on."

"It was horrible," Fluttershy sniffled, "They interviewed one of the victims, who was a little boy. He'd been so traumatized, he was even scared of his own mother for a while."

Ascentia pulled her laptop out of her bag and immediately began searching. She found a live news network that was still broadcasting.

"...Velvet was murdered at gunpoint by a currently unidentified assailant. While Canterlot Royal Guard are still looking for the killer, many of Twilight Velvet's former victims have been declaring this person their hero."

"Aw," Ascentia smiled softly.

"Princess Celestia has called for a country-wide search, claiming that no amount of public affection is going to override the law."

"Oh..." Ascentia frowned.

"As much as I hate to say it... you did still murder an unarmed woman in the first degree," Rainbow sighed, shaking her head, "What are you gonna do?"

"Pull rank," Ascentia grinned, "I'm married to a Princess of Equestria."

"They'd let you go?" Fluttershy asked.

"Royalty, be it by marriage or pronouncement, are actually exempt from most laws," Ascentia explained, "Unless someone actively wants to press charges on them. You ever seen Judge Dredd?"

"Which one?" Rainbow snorted.

"The good one," Ascentia frowned, "Princesses can pretty much do that."

"Ohhh... and considering what this is about..." Rainbow gave a little smirk, "You'd be off the hook."

"I don't imagine anyone pressing charges," Fluttershy agreed.

"Mmhmm," Ascentia nodded, "Maybe Night Light and Shining Armor, but once this gets out..." she pointed to the news story on her computer.

"According to the news, they said that Twilight's father had no idea about all of this," Fluttershy bit her lip, "It's been a week... I wonder if he knows by now?"

"Well I'm not calling him," Ascentia shook her head, "Imagine how that'd go. Hey Night Light! Did you hear your wife was a filthy pedophile-no offense Rainbow-and that I was the one who shot her?"

"None taken," Rainbow waved it off, "Anyone who calls me that can suck my dick. Seriously though, you don't have to do that. We're just gonna have to see what happens."

Ascentia leaned back in her chair, "Yeah. I guess so... uh-oh."

She sat back up and looked at the screen.

"This is not the first case of child molestation in Equestria's core. Five years ago, Rainbow Dash, of Ponyville, was hospitalized after the molestation of her step-daughter, Scootaloo Dash. Ms Dash is currently living a free life."

"...Rainbow's arrest was covered up, wasn't it?" Ascentia asked grimly.

"It was," Fluttershy recalled, "I don't know how it got out. Twilight wanted to cover it up to protect everyone."

"Well it looks like it did get out," Ascentia grimmaced, "Oh, I have a bad feeling about this..."

"Why?" Rainbow asked, looking at her, "I mean, I'm not exactly thrilled that it got out, but still. What could happen?"

As if Rainbow had tempted the all powerful god of pettiness, a rock came bursting through the window, nearly missing Spectrum by a hair and clunked to the floor.

"...That?" Ascentia suggested.

"...They...almost... hit... our... son..." Fluttershy snarled in anger. She grabbed the rock, tossing it back out the window, where a yelp of pain was heard.

Two more burst through the windows, one hitting a painting on the back wall, and the other landing in Ascentia's outstretched palm before it was able to collide with Spectrum's head.

"Take him upstairs," she said coolly.

Fluttershy grabbed Spectrum, who was shaking with fear and confusion, and picked him up. "Rainbow, come on!"

"Don't worry about me. You two get upstairs," Rainbow said firmly, "Make sure Twilight and Sunny are safe."

Hesitating, Fluttershy then nodded and hurried upstairs, holding Spectrum tightly.

Ascentia drew her gun and approached the window, jerking her head back as another rock came flying through. Aiming out the broken window, she pulled the trigger, nailing one of the rioters in the leg, and making the others scatter. Ascentia took aim again and shot four more in the shoulders and hips, and lethally shot another who was carrying a shotgun. After her clip was empty, the remaining rioters had long since fled.

"That should be it," Ascentia said, peering out the window, "One of 'em's dead, so they're not likely to be coming back anytime-"

She was cut off when another rock burst through the window, slamming into the side of her head and knocking her off balance and onto the floor.

"Ah!" she hissed, clutching her skull, which was bleeding profusely.

"Hang on, I'm calling the cops and an ambulance!" Rainbow yelled, dashing for the kitchen phone.

"I think I'll be..." Ascentia wobbled on the spot and fell over, unconcious.

Quickly dialing 911, Rainbow hastily made the call, shaking and sweating profusely. She closed her eyes, hoping against all hope that Ascentia would be all right, that her family would be safe. Taking some deep breaths, falling to her knees, she hung up the phone.

"Rainbow!" Fluttershy came into view, wide-eyed, "Rainbow, come on, you have to help me get her up!"

"I told you to stay upstairs..." Rainbow shakily got up.

"Never mind that...!" Fluttershy cried, grabbing Ascentia's arms and lifting her up, "Come on, we have to help her!"

Rainbow shook her head and stood up, hoisting Ascentia's arm over her shoulder and helping Fluttershy carry her upstairs as six more rocks came hurlting through the windows.

As quick and able as they could, they locked themselves in the bedroom. Making sure to barricade the window with a dresser to avoid anymore blows. A drowsy but waking up Twilight held Sunrise while sitting in a corner of the room, while Ascentia was laid on the bed, with a few towels to her head.

"Are they still out there?" Fluttershy asked, tending to Spectrum and snuggling him.

Rainbow peeked through the crack in the curtain, "Yeah... they're circling around."

"Oh no..." Fluttershy murmured.

"Mommy..." Spectrum whimpered.

There was a rumble from downstairs and the sound of more windows shattering. From the sounds of it, the rocks were getting bigger and theey were trying to break down the door.

Sunrise whimpered softly, "Mama... get up... make the bad people go away..."

"I called the cops, they should be here soon," Rainbow bit her lip.

Twilight blinked a few more times, "Why are they here? What happenened?"

"They were doing a news piece on your mother, and I was mentioned because... you know," Rainbow muttered, "Now there's an angry mob outside."

"What? But that's impossible!" Twilight's eyes went wide, "I made sure the story was covered up!"

"Someone must have leaked it," Fluttershy whispered, "Especially in light of what happened."

Twilight's eyes darted over to Ascentia, "What's wrong with my Kitten?"

"She took one to the head when she was shooting at the mob," Rainbow explained.

"...They.... they hurt... my Kitten?!" Twilight's eyes seemed to flash red for an instant.

"Whoa there, sit down," Rainbow said, laying a hand on Twilight's chest before she could even think about getting up.

"No! I am going down there and pulling rank on them!" Twilight squirmed, "They're vandalizing your home and attacking my wife! They are not going to get away with it!"

"Twi, you might be a Princess, but you're not a god," Rainbow said firmly, "You go down there, you're as good as dead!"

There was a thunk and a crash as the front door burst open, and footsteps as a dozen people stormed into the house.

"Wait a minute," Rainbow counted the heads in the room, "One, two, three, four, five, six... where's Cielle?"

"I don't know, I haven't seen her all day," Fluttershy said fearfully, "Oh no... I hope she isn't out there or on her way home!"

There was the sound of their belongings breaking and the mob below trashing the house, as a bunch of footsteps came thundering up the stairs.

"Where the hell are the police?!" Rainbow shouted in frustration.

"Barricade the door!" Twiliight threw herself against the door, pressing against it just as the mob tried to shove it open. Fluttershy and Rainbow pressed against the door, until the heard a very familiar clicking sound.

The wood shattered at one portion of the door as it was subjected to shotgun fire and grazed Fluttershy's side, peppering the back wall. Lettting out a pained shriek, Fluttershy collapsed to the floor in pain, holding her bleeding side.

"Jesus!" Rainbow screamed, hoisting a chair up against the doorknob.

Sunrise and Spectrum started bawling and huddled together behind Ascentia's still form.

"Go away, you ingrates!" Twilight shouted through the door.

"Rainbow..." Fluttershy managed, panting a little as she rose up to her knees, "Put the kids in the closet... don't let them see all of this..."

Rainbow scooped the kids up and hurried them into the closet, shutting the door and making shushing noises to keep them quiet as Ascentia started to come to.

"Ugh... Rainbow..." she groaned, trying to sit up, "What happened..."

"Kitten!" Twilight rushed to her side, gently helping her sit up, "Oh, Kitten, are you okay?"

"We came upstairs to hide after you got knocked out," Rainbow said, hurrying to Fluttershy's side to soothe her, "And they're in the house! They just shot Fluttershy! I called the cops but they're taking their sweet ass time!"

The door burst apart higher up this time, nearly striking Ascentia's head as Twilight dove for the floor.

"For fuck's sake!" Ascentia hissed, trying to stand, but her concussion made it difficult to keep steady, "...Where's Sunny?"

"Closet," Twilight whispered, helping her wife up, "Where's the phone?! Does anyone have a phone?"

The door burst at the top, one of the hinges creaking.

"No, my phone was downstairs!" Ascentia hissed, grabbing a pager out of her bedside drawer and hitting the button on the bottom, "C'mon AJ, please answer your pages..."

"Why are they doing this..." Twilight uttered, holding the chair against the doorknob tighter.

"I have no fucking idea!" Ascentia muttered as the door blew off one hinge.

"What are we going to do?! We're trapped and two of you need medical attention!" Rainbow yelled.

Fluttershy choked a little, "I don't know what else we can do..."

"The three of you, get in the closet," Ascentia muttered, reaching under her bed and pulling out another gun case, drawing a rifle from it.

Rainbow nodded, helping Fluttershy to the closet and getting them inside. The kids whimpered with worry, but she shushed them soothingly before closing the door.

"I'm not leaving you out here alone, Kitten!" Twilight cried, "You're injured!"

"Closet, now!" Ascentia said firmly as the door rattled against its barricades, now missing both hinges and holding on by only its lock.

Had this been a better circumstance, Twilight might have been amazed at her display of dominance. She whimpered lightly, but then went to join the others in the closet Just as the door burst open and Ascentia sat up with her rifle at the ready.

"Where's the kid toucher and her whore?" came an unsettlingly familiar voice.

"They're not here," Ascentia said firmly, holding her gun steady, "Now leave."

"We ain't goin' anywhere 'till the three of 'em are dead!" a man snarled.

"Three?"

"The pedo, the whore, and that brat kid of their's!"

There were three shots and three slumps that the five in the closet could hear.

"Don't talk about my nephew that way," Ascentia said coldly.

Twilight shook, looking to the closet door and holding Sunrise close against her. What now? Was it safe? She didn't dare move nor utter a sound.

"Hey! That's the bitch that killed Roseluck outside!" came one voice, "Kill her too!"

Ascentia shot four more times and there were four more shrieks of pain, along with more thundering footsteps.

"It's like they're running into a meat grinder," Ascentia muttered to herself as a few more ran into the room, only to be shot in the legs, arms and hips.

Was Ascentia had to reload, however, one more came bursting in and shot her in the shoulder, making her drop her gun just as the sound of the Apple Family car horn outside rang through the house.

"C'mon Big Mac, let's rustle up some cattle!" Applejack cheered as her and Big Macintosh came barreling into the house.

"Eeeyup," Big Macintosh agreed, spitting out the piece of wheat he had between his teeth and cocking his shotgun.

After ten minutes of After ten minutes of shots being fired and the sounds of a struggle, Applejack and Big Macintosh could be heard outside the closet.

"Oh my lord... Big Mac, call an ambulance!" Applejack said firmly, "Asy's got six bullets in her chest. And find th' others!"

At this, Twilight opened the door, panting a little, "Applejack! We're here! Hurry!"

Rainbow came out after her, supporting Fluttershy, "She's hurt too!"

"I'll be okay..." Fluttershy said, taking her son's hand with her free one.

"Mama!" Sunrise rushed to Ascentia's side.

Ascentia was barely concious and bleeding severely, unable to respond.

"Sunny, do me a favor," Applejack said calmly, "Take this cloth here and press real hard on where your Mama's bleedin', okay?"

Nodding, Sunrise took the cloth and applied pressure onto one of Ascentia's wounds.

"Twi, git downstairs and find out what's takin' that ambulance so long," Applejack ordered, "Rainbow, you get doin' the same thing with the police!"

Twilight and Rainbow both nodded and hurried downstairs. Sunrise whimpered to her mother, but did all she could to keep pressure on the wounds. Spectrum grabbed another cloth and came to help her along, whispering to her.

"Thank you both," Fluttershy hobbled over to the two of them, holding her side, "We seriously can't thank you enough..."

"Don't  mention it," Applejack said, looking at Fluttershy's side and wrapping a bandage around it, "You lot might wanna consider movin'."

"I think we will..." Fluttershy murmured in agreement, "For now I think we'll go out of town...to my family's cabin, just until the dust settles."

"Mama!" Sunrise whimpered as Ascentia slipped back into unconciousness.

"Jesus," Applejack whispered as she knelt down beside Ascentia, checking her wounds, "Sunny... I don't think your Mama's gonna make it..."

Before long, the sirens of police squad cars and an ambulance were heard, along with the roar of a car that sounded very familiar to Twilight. Within minutes, the paramedics were lifting Ascentia away on a stretcher and the police were apprehending any of the mob that Ascentia hadn't killed. As well as...

"Twilight!" came the voice of Princess Celestia as she was swept into her mentor's arms as the frighteningly tall woman hugged her, "Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine... but they tried to kill my friends and my Kitten!" Twilight wailed, holding against her tightly, sobbing, "They broke in... they tried to break down the bedroom door... We hid in the closet, she protected us!"

"Shhh," Celestia said softly as she stroked her hair, "Ascentia will be just fine. She's going to be airlifted to Fillydelphia, where the best doctors in Equestria are."

Sniffling, Twilight nodded, "Okay... Sunny and I will go there immediately. So we can be with her when she wakes up..."

Celestia looked to Rainbow Dash, "Do you all have somewhere safe to go while this is investigated?" she asked.

Rainbow nodded, "Yeah, we do. We're gonna go to Fluttershy's cabin for a while, till we can figure this thing out."

Celestia nodded, "What about the kids, are they alright?"

On the couch, Spectrum and Sunrise snuggled together, a little shaken up. But were otherwise okay.

"They'll be fine," Rainbow assured, "And they weren't hurt, thank freaking... well, you. Still, if it weren't for Applejack and Big Mac, we'd probably be dead."

"Aw shucks, sugarcube, think nuthin' of it," Applejack smiled, "I know y'all would do the same for us."

"In a heartbeat," Rainbow grinned, giving her a big hug, "You're the best, AJ! We'll definitely be doing something awesome for you, just to say thanks."

Applejack hugged her back and nuzzled her hair, "I'll hold ya to that." Next Chapter: She Hurt My Twiley Estimated time remaining: 7 Hours, 42 Minutes