Twilight stirred from her slumber with a shiver. She felt stiff in her bed hard and lumpy. The damp chill in the air coaxes her from her deep dreamless sleep. Her groggy mind chooses the ignore the discomfort and rather fixate on the little ball of warmth pressed into her chest. Her legs wrap around the plush warmth as she pulls it closer snuggling it with a sigh. She just wanted a few more moments of sleep before she started her day. The odd discomfort of her bed not stopping her.
She remembered the odd dreams she had last night, of the cave and that city. Oh what a silly story they would make. She would have to tell spike all about it over breakfast. She hoped that Spike had made pancakes. She opens her eyes to see the the dirty red-brick wall of her bedroom... no, wait. That's not right.
Twilight partly sits up; her eyes widening with fear. 'W-Where...' she starts to think to herself, 'N-No... I'm... It wasn't a dream.' Worry fills her mind as she holds the only bit of soft warmth she has closer to her like a security blanket. 'It wasn't a dream.' She could feel fresh tears forming at the corners of her eyes. 'It wasn't a dream.' She repeats to herself in her own mind. The weight of her situation slowly growing in her chest.
The little warm ball she is holding shifts in her grasp causing her to look down at it. The largest rat she has ever seen looks up at her with beady red eyes. It's coarse brown fur rubbing against hers as she holds it. She had been cuddling a rat.
Twilight screams and shoves the rat away from her. The creature lands on its feet and quickly scurries off, sparing one glance back at Twilight. It makes a gesture with one of its little claws before slipping into a hole in the wall. Twilight rests her back against the brick walls and breathes heavily. The shock of finding a rat cuddling with her had fully woken her up.
She shivers in the cold gloom of the filthy back ally that she had slept in. Her ear twitches occasionally at some distant voices that she could not make out. She runs her hoof though her filthy and knotted mane moving it out of her eyes. The rest of her body isn't much cleaner. The mud from her arrival on the riverbank had dried overnight leaving her fur itchy and uncomfortable. The fur under her eyes was stained with dried tears, and her hooves were caked with dirt and grime.
She scrapes and brushes what she can from her fur while wondering to herself. 'How long was I out? It's still so dark. The sun should be up by now, shouldn't it? Maybe I wasn't out that long. Yah that's it. Sunrise should be soon.'
A bottle smashes to the ground near by causing her to cry in fright. She presses herself into the wall. Looking up into the shadows and darkness above, she can just barely make out some figure up above; but it quickly disappears from sight. Twilight stands on shaky legs. Whether it was from fear or weariness, even she is unsure. Whichever it was, she knows could not stay there forever... the grumble of her stomach attested to that.
She looks around the pile of old rotting crates that had been her cover from the sight of the open street beyond the ally. She had to find something to eat, but those creatures were out there in the city... Those strange, tall creatures who wanted to foalnap her and sell her like property.
She thought maybe she could search the trash for something she could eat, but she quickly dismissed that idea. She was not desperate enough for that... not yet. No, if she wanted to eat she'd have to brave the strange dark city. 'Hopefully,' she thought, 'when the sun comes up it'll be less scary.'
With a single shaky step she moves out from behind the boxes and looks out into the street. The occasional figure of one of those beings that populated the city walked past, dimly lit by the lamp light of the city streets. Twilight gulps down her fear and slowly steps towards the street. Keeping her body low and hugging the wall, she hopes that the shadows of the ally would protect her from whatever lurks out there.
The street was sparse. A few tall beings milled about going about their business. Most dressed in more raggedy clothing like the two that had tried to capture her the previous night. The buildings were dirty and run down. Broken windows and cracked stones were the norm. One of those creatures currently stooped against the wall coughed and stirred a little. Based on the bottles around him, Twilight deduced that he was some kind of drunk.
She breaks for it. Running as fast as her hooves could carry her to the next ally. Throwing herself into the shadows. 'D-Did anyone see me?' She waits a few moments. No heard sound of voices or steps coming towards her. 'Okay. I wasn't spotted... good... Now I just need to do... something.'
Twilight cuts down the alleyway to the next street over. More of those creatures mill about. Twilight watches them. 'They seem civilized... M-Maybe they're not bad. Maybe those ones down by the river were just an exception?' She thinks to herself watching the tall creatures from her shadowy haven. She spots one moving closer to another. With a quick and skillful hand he pulls something out of the other's pocket and moves on like nothing happened. 'H-He just stole something!? H-How could somepony just steal like it's nothing... Then again... how could somepony want to sell another into slavery...'
Twilight spots another alleyway on the other side of the street. There is no way she can reach it without being spotted. '...it's not that far and it looks clear. Simple.' She lights her horn and tries to call upon her magic. The sickly and dark aura of the world around her chokes her spells and makes her feel cold. Down at the river she had felt this same magic, but she was panicked and fought though it. But now though, now she can feel how thick and foreboding the ambient magic of this place is. It's like trying to cast a spell though a thick sludge.
She scratches an odd itch on her horn, her mind filling with theories and wonder at the magic of this place. 'How could the magic of this place be like this? Why is casting spells harder here? OH the research I could do!' She turns to call out for Spike, stopping the moment she realizes what she was doing. 'S-Spikes not here... W-What was I thinking, this is not the time for this. M-Maybe when I get home I can find a way to come back here later safely. Yah. As soon as I get home I can do what ever research I want.'
She lights her horn again, pushing though the oppressing weight of the world around her. She quietly hoped that no one would spot the light of her spell. With a crack of magic and a flash of Light she appears in the next ally. She began running on the off chance that one of the things in the street spotted her. A door slams open a short distances in-front of her and she skids to a halt as a figure is thrown from it.
With a thud and cry of pain he lands, followed by another one. Twilight recognizes them, they are the same things from down by the river. The short ugly one, Cram, had been thrown out first. The taller lanky one, Nettles, was thrown out second and landed on top of Cram. Five other beings followed them out the door.
Twilight throws herself behind a pile of discarded crates praying that they didn't see her. The two look much worse for ware then the last time she saw them. Their clothing was even more torn, and the two had a few noticeable cuts and bruises.
“L-Look, Mr. Ames-” Cram stuttered out while trying to push Nettles off of him. “We'll get yer money! We's just need a little more time s'all.” The most well dressed of the four other creatures chuckled darkly. He wore a worn black overcoat and silver rimmed glasses which were partially obscured by his long black hair hanging down over his face.
“Time?” He asked in a raspy voice. “Is that all you need? A little more time?! What about all the time I already gave you fine gents. A week. A second week! A third! So far I've given you a whole MONTH of MY time to get me MY money. No, no, no. You get no more time. Time is what I'm out of right now. I apologize. I want my Echos and I want them now.”
“We gave ya every last penny he had! P-Please we ain't got no more!” Nettles half cried his voice quivering with fear.
“Please spare me your begging. It isn't worth anything to me.” He snaps his fingers. “Grab them. They'll pay their debt one way or another... I know a decent Spirifer-”
“Wait! Please! W-We know something interesting that we could make your echoes on! We just need some time to get it done!” Crom pleaded.
He grumbles "Fine... what is it?.” Mr. Ames says with a gesture of his hand.
“We saw someth'n that if we catch we would be rolling in Echos!”
“I'm listening.” Ames says as he raises an eyebrow.
“An honest t'god unicorn!”
“Y-Yah a purple one!” Nettles added. Mr. Ames just stares at Cram and nettles for a few seconds before bursting into laughter that would make even Pinkie Pie cringe.
“That's got to be the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard! A purple Unicorn?!” Mr. Ames manages to get out after choking on his own rough laughter. Twilight knew that she could not stay here any longer. She began to back away from the group as quietly as she could.
The clatter of a glass bottle rolling made everyone look over at her. She looks down at the truly evil empty wine bottle that her back hoof had just bumped and slowly back up to the group looking at her. No one moved or blinked; Twilight was unsure if anyone was even still breathing.
Twilight did the only sensible thing she could think to do, at least as sensible as she could muster in this situation. She give the biggest, most fake smile she could before she turned and ran as fast as her four hooves could carry her. Behind her she could hear shouting and soon the sound of the tall two legs chasing her. She spared one glance back and saw three of the creatures who worked for Mr. Ames chasing after her. The ones known Cram and Nettles running the other way being chased by Mr. Ames and his last lackey.
She ran faster then they could. Ahead, the light of the street lamps illuminate the exit to the alleyway. She burst out into the street and immediately regretted it as she collided with someone and went down hard in a tangle of limbs. Her tumble sent her head over hooves which smacked her horn against the ground sending a painful shock down her spine.
Ignoring the pain, she scrambled away from the poor sod she had dragged down with her in the crash. She frantically looks around for any escape route. The creatures on the street all looking at her with a mix of shock or confusion. The three who were chasing her stop for just a moment at the edge of the ally way before before they spot her and resume their chase.
Twilight runs though the streets dodging past confused onlookers or shoving them out of the way. She turns to try to fire off a spell at her pursuers causing stabbing pain to lance down her horn from where the hit it against the ground. She only manages to fire off a spark before the pain becomes too much, though it does slow them down a little when they hesitate at the sight of her horn sparking at them.
Twilight rushes down the nearest alleyway, kicking up dirt and trash in her wake. She makes a corner before sliding to a stop mere inches away from a brick wall. A dead end. 'No, no... Please.' Twilight frantically looks for any other path, door, window, anything. Nothing. She is trapped. A dark chuckle from behind her makes her turn to face her chasers. They grin at her as they make their approach. Twilight pushes herself against the wall quivering in fear.
“P-Please,” She stutters out, “d-don't hurt me.”
“Sorry lass, but Mr. Ames wants ye; and we don't make it a habit if disappointing him.” One says as they close in. Twilight was scared. She couldn't use her magic, was trapped in a corner, and was about to be taken by these monsters to probably be sold off like some slave. She did the only thing she could think to do: she screamed.
She sat there cowering, waiting for them to grab her and drag her away. But they never came. She moved her hooves from her face and looked up at her attackers. The two she could see were turned the other way standing defensively. Looking past them, she saw why. Another had joined the group.
It was a tall somewhat stocky male by Twilight's guess. His wild bright red hair was a stark contrast to the dark shadows of the alleyway and stood out like a sore hoof. He wore a dirty faded blue uniform, torn and covered in various stains. In is left hand he held a billy club. In the other, a glass bottle with amber liquid which he was currently drinking the last off. At his feet was the last of her attackers, on his hands and knees holding the back of his head groaning in pain.
He finishes off his bottle before looking disappointed into the now empty bottle. Before shrugging and bringing it down hard on the head of the man at his feet shattering it. The bottle knocking him out fully before the stocky male looks up and grins at the other two.
“Bloody 'ell! It's the constables!” the one closest to Twilight says.
“Nah. It's just the one...” The second one saysbefore taking out his knife, which the first follows by bringing out his own. “And about about to be a dead one.” Twilight covers her eyes again just as the two charge the blue clad constable with their knives.