Exiles

Exile.

By definition, it is the state or action of being barred from one's native country (typically for political or punitive reasons) while either being explicitly refused permission to return and/or being threatened with imprisonment or death upon return. Whether it is a form of punishment and solitude is completely irrelevant...for the most part, anyway.

Twilight Sparkle stood before her disappointed mentor, her mentor's younger sister, her friends and family, and the primary perpetrator who was the furthest off to the side with a smug look on her face. Good thing, too, seeing as she would've gladly smacked it off her and for her. Seeing as she was knew that there was something wrong and no one was taking her seriously, her thinking-over actions and flustered emotions were completely justified. The unicorn mage had attempted to take her brother aside and warn him about the unknown threat, but unfortunately for her, telling him his wife was a mischievous bug worked about as well as she imagined. Hell, even the Princess and her friends all blew her off and fell for the imposter's wounded gazelle act. It was as if the years of friendship lessons were carelessly tossed aside in favor of a superficial master of disguise, and her devastated nature could attest to that.

As Twilight was read her rights, a flurry of emotions swam around her head and sometimes leaked out of it. The most common were closely associated with anger, fury, irascibility, rage, and wrath. In spite of being completely out of line with her mostly kindhearted and idealistic character, she couldn't help but resent the smug snake that was the fake Cadance standing a few feet away from her with an equally smug smirk on her face, which remained virtually unknown to anypony but her and her only. However, she knew better than to attack her right there and right now, lest she extend her banishment sentence to all eternity.

It didn't matter anyway, for this was just the beginning for a start of darkness for her...

"Twilight Sparkle, you have been found guilty of attacking a member of the royal family with no evidence backing up your claims of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza being a threat to Canterlot or all of Equestria." Princess Celestia was cold and distant in her reading of her reading of Twilight's rights. "You are only alive because you have done many a great service to the kingdom. For your crimes against the crown you are hereby exiled from Equestria, all of our territories and any of our allied lands for 20 years. Should you ever step hoof on our lands ever again...and you leave us no choice but to permanently take care of you. All of your assets are to be seized by the state the moment tomorrow begins. Do you have any last words before we carry out your sentence?"

The now disgraced unicorn found it funny. With her head hung, she faced only the ground but she can clearly see the looks of disdain and dismay adorned on the faces of loved ones and innocent citizens alike. They were blissfully unaware of the fate that awaited them...and they didn't care. So... What is there left to say, Princess? With that, Twilight merely shook her head and raised her head to face her mentor with a vacant expression. Indeed, despite her being undoubtedly unnerved by it, Princess Celestia nonetheless continued on as her horn glowed with a golden light.

"I see... Then may Tartarus have mercy on your soul."

Within mere moments, Twilight was engulfed in said golden light...and transported to her promised land.

The tumbledown to the ground was...a lot softer than Twilight expected. She crashed to the sand and rolled to a stop before getting up rather quickly. Doing this was a response to her also expecting a suitcase or two ending up shooting through the portal and promptly smacking her in the head. With none seemingly coming after her, though, it seemed all for naught. Her baggage debacle out of the way, she now had to decipher where she was at the present moment. A vast desert with no nature in sight meant she had be transported to somewhere south of the Badlands. Not knowing what to do, she started to walk.

To where, she did not know.

She could only walk so far without collapsing in the warm sand. Dropping dead or into unconsciousness, she did not know or could not decide. It had been a long day, which left her with a long line of thoughts in turn. Many of them concerned over the fake Cadance, the real Cadance, and their current whereabouts, but she had additional concerns that did not concern them.

What would happen to the kingdom? What would happen to Canterlot? What would happen to my parents? What would happen to my friends?

My old friends? The ones who cared?

They would have to care about my wellbeing, right? I knew my new friends could care any less. I knew a mistake had been made the very moment I stepped inside the border of Ponyville.

I knew their excitement for the wedding would overshadow their concerns about Canterlot's security. I knew something was wrong when Cadance's behavior was unraveling in the spotlight. I knew...and they didn't.

And I was punished for it...but she wasn't.

The very thought left a bitter taste in her mouth. For trying to do the right thing, she was wrongfully punished.

The wrong action for the right reason.

All I wanted to do was save my brother and loved ones. I could care less about a wedding that I was invited and uninvited to. I just wanted the ponies I care about safe and sound. And what do I get for doing the right thing?

A wrongful exile.

Now I'm just a traveling vagabond without a road or path to take.

Then again, there was a road. A road that, upon closer inspection, lead to a nearby town a few miles from where she stood.

Sighing to herself, Twilight began her long walk to her destination point. As she got closer, she remained careful of her upcoming surroundings while examining from head to hoof. Dull-colored slums seemed to be the main households for the civilians living in this poverty-stricken settlement, while a watchtower was set up nearby next to a fairly-functioning waterwheel mill. A tirade of repeated screeches caused her to look up and find a green bird soaring across the sky while doing so...before promptly being snatched and slammed into a cage by a greyish pig. Flinching at the sudden nature of it all, she kept going in order to avoid being captured herself. Grabbing one of the many dusty hooded cloaks from a sleeping fish hobo, she traveled to the heart of the town, all the while laying low.

Even so, Twilight could not help but notice the stares beginning to pile upon her. She somehow got the impression that these folks were suddenly coming up with the bright idea to sell her for bits, but deciding whether or not to go through it. If they were leaning towards yes, then she would make them lean towards no. Of course, they were wasting their time by bickering with themselves, no attempt made at hiding their desires. She fought back the urge to sneer at them as she strode on past.

The former apprentice of Princess Celestia eventually stumbled upon a rather distasteful establishment. It was a brothel, a place where the nastiest of Equestria's natives coalesce to see female (and occasionally male) performers strut their stuff for the amusement and pleasure of their customers. Once former upholding citizens of the Equestrian system, they were soon relegated to disavowed stragglers with nothing to lose except their own lives.

Much like her...

It disgusted her, who knew they were better than this.

Better than her...

What has the world come to...?

Worse to her...?

The front entrance opened and a young dragon was tossed out. Her main color palette was brilliant gamboge with a hint of light gold, moderate cyan eyes and moderate orchid spines complementing it. Another form of complementation (though not in a good way) was given to her disheveled appearance, the main indicators being her watery eyes and torn-up dress that revealed wine-colored lingerie beneath. The horrifying sight before Twilight undoubtedly unnerved her just as her emotionless face did to Princess Celestia not long ago, and for very good reason.

She watched as the dragon silently walked away from the ghastly business place (or walked towards her?) before slumping down to a nearby front staircase and burying her paws into her face, letting the tears flow out. As she sat there sobbing her sorrows away, Twilight somehow found it within herself to comfort and help (if she could) the poor child. Taking a spot next to her as she hugged her knees, she looked on for a few more moments (She reminds me so much of Spike...) before slowly raising a hoof and patting her shoulder. The sniffling began to soften, but confusion began to cloud her.

"Are...are you okay?"

Still confused, the dragon sniffled and answered, "I've been worse. This is just another day."

Now, it was Twilight's turn to be as such. "Just another day of what...?"

The dragon frowned, still not facing Twilight. "Well, if you had known, another day of pain and suffering for the amusement and pleasure of my master. Even he isn't satisfied."

"And who might your master be?"

The dragon turned to face Twilight now, only to be taken aback by her appearance. Scanning her up and down, she could only sputter out, "You're...you're a pony, aren't you?"

Regardless of her growing confusion, Twilight responded, "Umm... Yes? Why?"

The dragon sat up straight and faced her directly. "Well... It's just that...nobody has seen a pony here in years."

"When was the last time?" Twilight scooched in a little closer now, intrigued by this turn of events.

"I heard it was about 20 years ago, though I could be wrong." The dragon leaned in closer as well, "I guess Princess Celestia was going through a phase and basically raided Klugetown before it truly become Klugetown. Before that, a couple of tourist ponies were passing by because they took the wrong directions to Saddle Arabia. Nobody ever saw them again. I thought I let you know. Oh, and going back to your earlier question, his name is Verko. He...kinda runs the place around here..."

Twilight listened to the dragon's tale quite carefully, which confirmed why exactly the residents were shooting quite the famished looks at her. She almost missed her master's name as well. Verko... Ugh. He sure sounds like a scumbag. Noticing the dragon's saddened expression, she continued patting her on the shoulder and made sure to ask the question with sincere tact.

"Well, forgive me for asking, but...what did Verko do to you?"

"No, it's okay." The dragon sniffled and wiped away her incoming tears before continuing, "I guess...it was just a really bad week for me that I refused to do my job properly. When he commented on this, I just couldn't help it anymore. I sorta blew up in his face and told him I could do it better than him any day. He agreed with me, and... He punched me. He then beat me up in front of the costumers and patrons before spitting in my face. They did nothing but stand there and watched. The worst part? He said to me: You should be lucky that I found you when your parents abandoned you to begin with..."

Her breathing hitched and she began crying again, prompting Twilight to hug her again. A hug that, although she found reluctant to return, did so out of pure fatigue. She was too tired and weary to resist the gesture, but the unicorn knew that she needed it when taking consideration the torture she was put through. They let the minutes pass before they broke apart and another word was spoken.

"What does he look like?"

"He's a naked mole rat."

"When did it happen?"

"Just now."

"Is he still inside?"

"If he isn't, he's working out deals with Capper."

"I see." Twilight stood up and faced the brothel before walking towards it, "Wait here."

Realizing what she was about to do, the dragon wanted to say anything to deter her, but she couldn't. She could only watch as Twilight entered the egregious establishment and listen on to what would inevitably occur.

When she entered inside, she was immediately greeted by a puff of smoke and a stench of whiskey. Her nose wrinkled in repugnance and she fanned away the smell, but it immediately got worse when she reached the center stage. Dragons and cats among other creatures danced around their stripper poles donning nothing but thinly-veiled lingerie; for others, it was their good old-fashioned birthday suits. Looking away in revulsion, she huffed and scanned the crowd for the crime boss. She finally located him after a moment, but in full honesty, she wished she hadn't. Examining him from head to toe, he was a filthy-looking fellow who really scraped the bottom of the barrel and left nothing but crumbs for the needy people. He was a sharp-dressed mole, but instead of the finest fabrics in Equestria, it was basically garbage chic for dummies. The top hat, red suit jacket, and brown bowtie were arguably the worst offenders in this regard. Judging by the way he leered at the female performers with risqué insults, his personality was definitely not evocative of a Prince Charming. In her right mind, he was the epitome of a self-satisfied slob.

Her eyes glancing towards backstage now, Twilight's mind began racing with an idea. A crazy, stupid, yet amazing idea. Making her way to it, she picked up a paring knife on the way there. She then scanned through the racks of endless lingerie and picked a set. When their turn ended, her and a few others' began.
. . .

. . .

. . .

Spoiler alert. Verko gets what's coming to him in the most satisfyingly brutal fashion possible.

"AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"

Resting outside, the young dragon's head quickly shot up from the palm of her hand and turned toward the dreaded establishment, which found itself being vacated as fast as possible. Standing up from her spot, she slowly approached the brothel as the occupants screamed in horror, only stopping when she spotted Twilight exiting with a face that literally screamed bloody murder.

It certainly didn't help that her face was actually drenched in blood.

"You know... I was told ponies were pacifists. Was I told wrong?"

Twilight bitterly chuckled under her breath before she used her horn to levitate the decapitated head of a former crime boss into her view, "No. Ponies are pacifists...just not this one."

She then promptly dropped it to the ground and kicked away from them...towards a group of kids, who proceeded to play a game of soccer with it. The young dragon let out a chuckle of her own in amusement as she turned to face her savior. "Thank you."

"You don't have to thank me."

"Then why did you do it? Why did you waste Verko?"

"I just wanted to help you. Do something right for once. And now, well..."

Twilight then turned tail to leave before the dragon called out to her. "Wait! Where are you going now?"

"I don't know," Twilight stated the obvious as she turned around again to face her, "No place to stay, no place to hide. I might as well keep running."

"You don't have to...for the time being, anyway. You just got here, right?"

"... Yeah...?"

"So why not make a name for yourself like Verko did before you?"

Twilight opened her mouth to counteract that statement, but stopped herself when she realized that she was still out in the open. Glancing around to find everypony distracted by the game of headless hoofball, she speed-walked back to the young dragon and pulled her into a nearby alleyway. She then pulled off her hood and revealed herself.

"I already have, though I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't."

Judging by her surprised gasp and wide-eyed gleeful expression, however, it seemed that the young dragon indeed did. "Oh my Faust. Twilight Sparkle? The Twilight Sparkle? Apprentice of Princess Celestia herself?"

"Huh. I guess you do. And It's former apprentice, actually." Twilight winced at the dragon's fallen expression before it transitioned into that of curiosity.

"What do you mean by former?"

"It's a long story."

"I got time."

"I still need a place to stay."

"I have my apartment."

"Somepony's gonna find me here."

"I'll figure something out."

"Let's hope."

As much as Twilight wanted to deter the dragon from using her residence as a hideout, she refused to let her sleep on the streets, stating that it was the least she could do for quite unintentionally freeing her from the iron fist of the deceased Verko. It wasn't as unpleasant as she previously believed it to be too, so her decision of accepting her offer wasn't entirely a bad one. She straightened out her bed covers just as the dragon flew down and sat crisscross applesauce on her own bed, attempting to fully process the details of the tale regaled to her.

"So, lemme get this straight: A shapeshifter was trying to impersonate your about-to-be sister-in-law in order to take over Canterlot and eventually Equestria, but you were able to see through the ruse initially based on a childhood song you both used to sing together. Then, when you tried to warn the Princesses about this, they brushed it off as pre-wedding jitters and banned you from said wedding. And then, when you tried to defend yourself from the imposter, the Royal Guard was at the wrong place at the wrong time. And finally…when the Royal Family caught wind of this, they exiled you from the kingdom with the threat of murder?" The dragon cringed as she visualized the amount of turmoil Twilight was put through. "Wow. I can forget about that autograph now..."

"I have to admit it was foolish on my part to confront the imposter with a lack of evidence," Twilight smiled as she fluffed her pillow, "but that's just another lesson to learn. Speaking of which, we need to get some rest for tomorrow."

"Got it. Good night, Miss Twilight."

"Good night...umm, I never got your name."

"OH! That's right, it's Smolder. Pleased to meet you, ma'am." Smolder held out a paw for Twilight to shake, which she gladly did.

"Pleased to meet you, Smolder. And, uh...good night. Again."

"Good night, Miss Twilight...again." Smolder gave Twilight one more hug before she put out the light and tucked herself underneath the covers. The unicorn, despite her best interests, planted a goodnight kiss on her forehead before she did the same. She couldn't drift to soothing slumber just yet, so she merely mused about her uncertain future in Klugetown...assuming she even had one to look forward to.

One could only imagine...and hope... Twilight gently smiled.

10 Years Later. . .