Not Guilty
Chapter 4 - Survivor
As Twilight flashed back into reality, she noticed that both the iron ring that was the anti-magic device and the rope were gone. Her breathing had returned, her thoughts were able to be pieced together again...
And she was in mid-air.
Gravity, the bane of many non-pegasi, began it's work as Twilight fell screaming to earth. Twilight though she was lucky enough to have not teleported into a wall, but this wasn't that much better. Her limbs flailed trying to grab purchase on something, her magic failing to instinctively teleport her. Finally, she hit something; a tree.
As her whole world shook and spun she felt branch after branch smack into her. One branch had such an impact her leg felt on fire, another slapped her across the face, and a third snapped off as it stuck into her tail. After what felt like an eternity of being savagely beaten by evil trees (which she knew weren't real), she finally left the foliage and fell a little more before landing on her burning limb, the pain so immense she lost all form of consciousness.
She stirred awake, lying in the same spot she had landed in. She had landed in a clearing of sorts, but fortunately through the treetops (if she had teleported a little to the right, she'd have been a pony pancake). She could hear and feel the rain barely penetrating the treetops, a small drizzle of water on her nose. She had no idea what time it was, but by the orange light filtering through the trees she knew it was around late afternoon. She tried to move, but as she shifted her wounded leg a flame erupted inside of it and she screamed in agony, and she collapsed.
Broken leg. She wasn't going to be able to move with that. Struggling to think of a solution, she remembered she had one spell in her arsenal which might have been able to help, but it was a long shot. Focusing what little energy she had left, she leant to her leg and filled it with the minor healing spell she had. She felt the bones shift into place and snap together. The pain so intense she screamed, the spell dropping.
As she lay there writhing (but trying not to move too much), her ears picked up a low growl, sounding like a...
Manticore!!!
As she lay still, in fear of being seen as food, one of the massive beasts pondered out into the clearing, sniffing the air. Manticores, according to a book she had read about them, tracked their prey by a combination of movement and smell. She moved her eyes to her body to see that she had been cut by the trees, her dried blood pooled slighty around her. The beast lumbered closer, stopped, sniffed, and moved again, his erratic path following the unicorn's scent. She mee
It stopped right next to her, sniffing. She could smell the carrion in its breath and she wanted to puke. It looked at her and prodded her with a paw. She felt herself being rolled over, her leg burning again. She stiffled a scream. The beast leant down and sniffed again, then roared, flinging tiny globs of foul-smelling saliva onto her. It raised it's paw as it's claws unsheathed.
Twilight felt her blood pump harder through her body and adrenaline kick in. She rolled over to narrowly avoid the gutting strike, receiving three bloody gashes across her back. She scrambled to her hooves and, ignoring the pain in her leg and back, bolted away. The manticore made a sound that was reminiscient to her of a laugh and heard the great leathery wings of the beast catapult it to her.
It slammed to earth in front of her, roaring. Twlight's limbs flailed as she turned around, only for the beast to jump in front of her again. Turn, jump. Turn, jump. Turn, jump.
Eventually, the gradually increasing pain in her leg spiked hard enough, and she collapsed to the ground, tears in her eyes. She wondered if it would have been better to be executed than to be poisoned and eaten by a manticore.
It raised it's tail to her face. She saw the poison dripping out of the tiny spike on the end. She closed her eyes, expecting death.
Instead she got Zebran words shouted at the manticore, the whoosh of swinging fire overhead. She opened her eyes and saw the manticore fleeing, a cloaked but all-too-familiar striped figure standing over her, dimly illuminated by the torch she bore in her mouth.
"Zecora!" She cried, barely even knowing if she said anything or not. "You saved my life!"
The zebra's reply, if there was one, was completely lost after her grip on consciousness once again loosened.
She smelt the alchemical work of Zecora long before she opened her eyes. She was lying on a bed in her zebra friend's hut, the tribal masks hanging from the walls, saying 'Welcome' and 'Hello' despite their horrifying appearances. Zecora didn't turn to face, but happily chimed "Twilight Sparkle, a most friendly mare; I was surprised to see you there."
"I'll explain later." She mumbled and coughed. "How'd you find me?"
"Ingredients for my elixrs I was looking for, but instead I found you on the forest floor." She finished stirring her couldron, and walked up to Twilight. "Manticore poison was the key, to the painkilling potion I gave you, you see."
No wonder she felt like her guts were twisting in a knot. The zebra pointed out a bucket and Twilight heaved into it. Lifting her foul-tasting mouth out of it, she noticed her legs were wrapped in damp cloth with green leaves interwoven in it. "And this?" She asked weakly, pointing at her mummified leg.
"Cloth soaked in my special brew. And the leaves of a unique type of yew." She smiled. "The leaves will help relieve the pain, the brew will make you leg right as rain."
Twilight let her head fall back onto the pillow and smiled. "And that one you're cooking now?"
"Your magic has taken quite a blow; it will take a while for it to regrow." The zebra mare said somewhat cryptically as she returned to stirring the couldron's contents.
Nopony (or nozebra) spoke for the longest of times, the bubbling of the strange broth providing a somewhat soothing ambience. Zecora finally spoke again. "I am afraid I must take my leave. I am missing some seeds, if I believe. I will return within the hour." She trotted up to Twilight and rubbed the unicorn's forehead. "Please do not look so sour."
And with that, the striped equine left her hut, shutting the door quietly. Twilight spent some time looking around from her makeshift bed, not wanting to risk standing on her injured leg, before falling into a dreamless sleep for what seemed like the upteenth time this day.
"...Ah think she's wakin' up." A familiar, accented voice said as her eyes started opening.
"What's going on?" Twilight tried to say, but all that came out was "Whuh...?"
"Oh thank goodness." Fluttershy sighed quietly, barely audiable even in the silence.
"Yay!" Pinkie squealed, shocking Twilight into full awareness. "She's alive! She's alive! Whoo hoo!"
"Pinkie!" Twilight yelled, the rush of adrenaline starting to wane. "Don't do that!" Before she could say another word, the pink, pony-shaped ball of energy gleefully wrapped her forehooves around her. Applejack and two other ponies joined into the group hug, and while it was so very very comforting to know that her friends were here, it was also very constricting. Pain started to worm its way into her leg again and she had to force everyone off with her free legs.
"Twilight, darling!" Rarity exclaimed, her eyes as poofy and red as they were when she was in the jail. Twilight felt her mane being tugged on telekinetically, as her fashionista friend used her magic to try and make her look some way decent. "I knew you were a mess in that dreadful dungeon, but now..."
Rainbow sighed in frustration, then smiled at Twilight, not needing any words. Pinkie was busy bouncing around, proclaiming her joy and managing to not knock over any of Zecora's potions. Applejack set down her hat.
"We all knew this wasn't gunna end all badly." She said. She closed her eyes. "Ah guess y'all gunna come back soon, right?"
Twilight simply looked at Applejack as the farmpony opened her eyes. "No."
"No?!" Rainbow screamed, her smile dropping. "But you're alive! We can't leave you here!"
Twilight sat up, clutching her stomach as it twisted like a gymnast. "I can't leave. As far as I know, I'm an escaped prisoner. I can't be found or this will all happen again." She ulped, grabbed the bucket and heaved her stomach's contents out. Damn, she was going to have to drink another one of those horrible potions. Zecora dutifully brought another serving to her. When she finished throwing up, she looked up at her friends.
"I have to stay here."
Applejack stomped. "Horseapples! That... that just ain't right! We all miss you, need you, and y'all decide to not come back?"
"We're your friends!" Rainbow exlaimed. "You can't just leave us!"
"I'm sorry, but I don't want to be executed for real." Twilight muttered, drank some of the foul elixr and lay back down on her bed.
Pinkie stopped bouncing midair. "Wait, I just got an idea!"
"Oh no." Dash drawled.
The pink earth pony dropped down. "If Celestia was behind saving you, maybe she could make everyone realise you weren't a meany mean pony!"
Silence.
"That's a stupid idea." Dash groaned.
"Actually, no." Twilight murmured. "But it would help if somepony could try to find out who the evidence used to frame me belonged to..."
"That's quite a hard task..." Rarity added, also thinking about the possibility.
Twilight sat there, pondering. She hoped it would work. But, knowing her, her plans didn't often fail.
"Ok, here's the plan. Rarity, Pinkie Pie, try to grab some of the evidence and bring it back here. Rarity negotiates for it, and Pinkie can sneak in, if the talk fails-"
"Ain't stealing illegal?" Applejack muttered.
"-so that's why it's a last resort." Twilight sharply retorted. "Rainbow Dash, Applejack, bring me as many books on forensics as you can. Fluttershy-"
Her mind drew a blank as she looked at her butter-coated friend.
"Um... yes?" Fluttershy timidly replied.
"I... I need you to... um... never mind, just help Applejack and Rainbow Dash."
"Oh... ok." Fluttershy said, weakly saluting (much to Rainbow's chagrin).
"You need to stay here and rest a while," Zecora said, urging Twilight to finish her drink. "I am sorry your cure tastes vile."
Twilight forced herself to consume more of her cure. Yep, still horrible. "If I'm right about this, somepony framed me and I'm going to find out who."
Everyone (excluding the preoccupied zebra) cheered, not just because Twilight was alive. It was because she was still Twilight Sparkle.
After her friends departed for their missions, for the first time in what felt like a long time, Twiligh gradually fell asleep, happy and unfettered by the troubles that had plagued her in recent days.
She had a plan. And it was going to work, she was sure of it.