1.4 Condemned

The guards finally brought Twilight a meal of hay. It was very plain, but there was certainly enough of it to make up for a few meals. She really needed the energy, needless to say, after her little tryst. The guards then left her to contemplate her situation more.

She gave Rainbow several hours, at least she was fairly sure she had, still having no idea what time it really was. She pulled the horn brace the rest of the way off of her head. Leaving it there on the floor beside her bedroll, she fumbled around blindly for a few moments before she remembered where she had tossed the keys.

Twilight shivered as she excitedly tried the first key in the lock, twisting hard and grunting when it didn't turn. She removed it and pushed in the other key, meeting similar results. In desperation, she tried the key that went to her horn cuff as well, but it wasn't even the right shape for the cell door.

No! She couldn't still be stuck here after all the trouble Rainbow went through for her! She began to consider using an unlocking spell on her cell door, but realized that such a door likely had an enchantment on it. If she tried to open it with anything but a key, alarms would be set off.

For what seemed like the longest time, she just stared at the lock in frustration, but the sudden creek of the outer door opening brought her attention back. She quickly tossed the keys to the other side of her cell, and backed into the darker corner, watching to see who it was.

It was the same guard as before. He came in, shutting the outer door behind him, and locking it securely with his own key. He then casually walked to her cell, a grin on his face.

"Not too tired after your girlfriend are you?" asked the guard, then pushed another key to her cell door, twisting and unlocking it, "Got time for me?"

"What." Twilight dead panned, but carefully watched as he opened her cell door, "Get away from me." She knew he wouldn't.

"Oh no," said the guard as he pulled her inner cell door open, "I'm gonna fuck you just like I did Rainbow Dyke, and there isn't a thing you can do without your... magic?"

He trailed off as Twilight's horn glowed, then his entire body rose from the ground in the grasp of her telekinesis. He started to cry out, but his muzzle was clamped tightly shut by the same magic. His eyes grew wide, watching the freed unicorn glare at him with fuming anger.

Twilight pinned him against her cell wall with her magic, the flat of his back against the wall as his legs hung freely in front of him. She turned around, putting all her weight on her front hooves as she kicked back at him. The first kick hit his stomach making him attempt to curl up, though the second got a bit more personal. Bruising his ball sack with several solid kicks, she then allowed him to crumple to the floor. Turning about again, she slammed her hooves down onto his head until his eyes rolled back in unconsciousness. She was sorely, sorely tempted to finish him off, but left him to lie instead.

Sure enough, the guard's key unlatched the outer door for her. Twilight couldn't believe her luck. She pulled it open slowly, then peered outside. There was a stone hallway with about six cells on each side, a dead end at one end, and a glowing light at a room at the other end. She tried not to breath too loudly, creeping down the hallway towards the light.

There were two guards in the room, but both were facing away from her; it was not as if they expected her to waltz out of her cell after all. There was a table and desk where the two guards were practically snoozing, and across the room what was clearly the exit, a stone staircase leading upwards. She took another step into the room...

... and almost jumped out of her skin at the sound of the sudden alarm, triggered by her moving from the hall into the guard area. She tensed up, eyes wide as both the guards turned to look at her.

"H-hey you... you can't be here!" screamed one.

Twilight panicked, not sure what to do now. She hadn't really given it much thought after all. In her hysteria, she added two more charges of assault to her growing rap sheet. She grabbed both of the guards by the head, dragging them to the nearest stone wall and slamming their heads into it three or four times each before letting them drop. They slumped, groaning out as they tried fruitlessly to get back up, holding their heads and clenching their teeth in pain.

Twilight didn't waste time, but ran across to the staircase upward. At the top was another set of bars, but she easily teleported through them, finding herself in a much larger room. And a much fuller room. It appeared to be the front desk, which wasn't much more than a counter with chairs arranged on the other side... and the exit there across the room from here. She was lucky that this dungeon found so little use that it was relatively small. and there were no less than a dozen guards there.

The guards were already headed in her direction due to the alarm, but she concentrated hard, teleporting to the other side of the entrance door to find herself outside. From there, she bounced from point to point, using no less than two dozen waypoints lest she be easy to track. Once outside of the city, she concentrated hard on home, and with a loud bang, she arrived in Ponyville.

She landed about a hundred meters from her library home. It was approaching evening and still barely light out, so she headed towards the library on hoof. Approaching it slowly, she looked for any signs of activity.

The whole thing was taped off as if it were some kind of a crime scene, a sign on the front door reading, "Closed until Further Notice". Yet, there were no longer any guards or investigators around that she could see. There was no light on as she approached it carefully, moving up to one of the front windows and peering inside.

The inside was somewhat out of sorts. It looked as if everything in the library had been gone through time and again searching for evidence, and there was no sign of Spike there. However, she noticed another sign now that she was closer to the tree house. It read "Spike is staying at Carousel Boutique".

Perfect. She could talk to Spike and Rarity as well, to see what was going on. She paused. She was sure that Spike would be on her side, but what if Rarity was afraid of her? Rainbow seemed to indicate that the others were... No. That was nonsense, her best friends wouldn't abandon her. She concentrated hard once again, and flashed out of existence to reform a distance from the boutique.

Though she knew it would be closed at this hour, there was a light on inside. Twilight looked over her shoulder a bit more, then slowly pulled herself up above the window rim to peek inside. She wanted to make sure no one was there that might freak out upon seeing her.

She was surprised by what she saw. Spike was leaned back in a seat, eyes closed and back arched, with Rarity's bobbing head in his lap, both claws gripping into her mane as she moved. Twilight took a moment to realize that yes, Rarity was giving her assistant head, and from the noises he was making, he was right on the edge.

Spike groaned out in a high pitched moan, and Twilight watched as Rarity swallowed hard around his little dragon shaft, which fit easily inside her muzzle. She licked and slurped several more times loudly, then pulled her head back, licking her lips.

"There you go," said Rarity, "Did that help relax you?"

Spike nodded his head, panting and breathing heavily still.

Twilight ducked her head back down, and moved slowly around to the front door. Blushing furiously, she gave them another ten to fifteen minutes to finish with their afterglow before finally creeping into a standing position and knocking lightly at the door.

"Coming!" said Rarity's voice from inside. The door glowed with Rarity's magic, knob turning and opening half-way... then immediately trying to close.

"Wait!" Twilight yelled, "I need to talk to you!" She grabbed the door with her own magic, which was easily stronger than Rarity's, pushing it all the way open and stepping inside, "Please..."

She was met with two wide-eyed friends, both of them taking slow paces backward. But that couldn't be, surely they weren't afraid of her!

"I'm not the one that told on you! I swear!" blurted out Spike.

"I didn't even talk to the enforcers!" Rarity added, pulling Spike behind her with her magic, bravely standing in front of him, "How did you escape?"

"How I escaped isn't important I... Spike? Rarity?" Twilight shook her head, "I'm not after you, don't worry. I'm ... I just need some friends right now. Surely you don't believe what they said about me. Surely you're not thinking..."

"Of course not!" stammered Spike, "We didn't believe any of it, right Rarity?"

"Exactly!" Rarity quivered, "We are both on your side!"

They were both scared out of their wits. How could this be?

"I see," said Twilight, her head lowering down. She took a deep breath, "Rarity, please keep taking care of Spike for me. Spike... you be good to Rarity."

"O-of course," Rarity seemed to calm down somewhat, her breathing slowing down once again, "I... I'm sorry it came to this Twilight but... I don't know how I could help you."

"I promise," Spike stepped out just a bit from behind Rarity, holding his hands together, which still quivered.

Twilight took another deep breath, then backed out of the door. She took one last look at her nervous friends, then slowly closed the door behind her. Looking at the ground for a few moments, she watched the world go blurry as several tears fell at her feet. Her horn glowed one last time, and she disappeared with a bang.

Packing wasn't easy, and not packing any books was probably the hardest thing Twilight had ever done, but she was very limited with what she herself could carry. Not to mention, Rarity and Spike might very well have called for help as soon as she left. She packed a light mat to sleep on with a blanket, simple tools and essentials, a small planner with quill and ink, and enough food for a week or more if she rationed. The good news was that there were a lot of things she wouldn't need due to her magic, like torches or defensive weapons.

She left a note on the table in the middle of the library to be found:

Friends,

I know you must hate me for what you think I've done, but I am innocent. I hope one day you will come to know that and that I can return when that day comes. While I don't completely blame you for not believing me, you all know that if I wanted to kill some pony, I would not go about it in that way. If anything, the sheer amount of evidence left behind should make it obvious I didn't do it, since I would never leave that much.

By the time you read this, I'll be long on my way. I have passage across the sea and a friend that owes me a favor, so I will not be in your manes any longer. Please just let exile be enough of a punishment and leave me in peace.

Always with love,
Twilight Sparkle

There. They would be searching every outgoing ship from Yanhoover to Baltimare for her, and she would be on none of them. Yet, she also knew she couldn't hide within the borders of Equestria. No, she had to go far away. She would give them time to realize their mistake, and then return. She hoped she wasn't being overly optimistic. Again.

She went south from Ponyville, through the Rambling Rock Ridge, where Rarity had met the Diamond Dogs, rather than going through the Everfree. They'd be more likely to check the Everfree first, after all. She continued down the road, staying off the beaten path and hiding whenever a cart passed by her. Traveling thus, she went south past Dodge Junction, and towards the Badlands.

She couldn't expect much help there, but it was the one place on this continent that they'd never think to look.