A Sea More Sunless

by Phenoix12

Welcome. Delicious Friend.

Twilight floats in a sea of her dark dreamless sleep. It is warm. She is comfortable here. Here she does not have to worry about the waking world. Oh, what it would be to stay like this forever, but her blissful unawareness is shattered by her body's pitiful need to breath.

She cannot breathe at all. Her body is cold and wet. Panic is her first instinct as she struggles against whatever is holding her down. She quickly wretches her head free of the mud that her body has sunk into and gasps for breath only exasperating her predicament. Twilight coughs out the muck that had invaded her mouth with an unsettling gurgle. Greedily sucking down air, she spits out what's left of the gritty mud from her mouth and wipes off the dirt covering her eyes and muzzle. She blinks away the sting of the muck in her eyes and blurriness of unconsciousness.

She is partially submerged on the muddy banks of a wide river and, just a few moments ago, was face down in the cold sludge. She shivers feeling the water of the river lap up against her lower half. Like the risen dead, she drags herself from the muck and up the river's edge. Her coat and mane felt sticky and heavy with mud.

“W-Where am I?” Twilight whispers to herself while shivering in the cold mud.

Twilight looks around in what dim light there is, ahead the muddy river bank met a brick and mortar retaining wall. Above that, she could see the source of the light, a tall gas street light flickering down at her. Down each direction of the river's banks more street lamps at were posted at regular intervals with some taller building being just beyond the wall.

Slowly, Twilight turns her head around, taking in more and more of the world around her. All around her was a city under a dark sky with almost unnatural looking stars hanging in the moonless sky. The city stretched out on both sides of the river; hundreds of lamps all around gave it a warm almost welcoming appearance. Quietly she takes it all in, mouth slightly agape. Suddenly a voice calls out to Twilight's right.

“'Ey, Cram! Ya find anything yet?!” Twilight whips her head to the voice and down the river bank not that far from her she spots a figure in the shadows under a bridge. The figure lifts, what Twilight assumes to be, its head and calls to another figure a little further down.

“Shut it Nettles! I told yah to be quiet!” The first, apparently named Cram, calls in a masculine voice laced with gravely undertones back to the other figure in the shadows of a bridge.

“Well excuse me! I'm just wonder'n when we can go home. Me boots are full of mud!” The second figure, identified as Nettles, replies, as it walks towards first. Its voice sounding younger then the first's.

“Ah fine! Let's just check a another few yards, then can call it a day. I thought Mudlark'n be a easy way to make some Echos.”

“Well all I found was a dead body... at least I think 'e was dead.” Nettles says as the other figure stands. The latter being a head shorter then the former.

“Any'ting on 'em?”

“Nahhh, not ev'n a pair of boots”

'What are these things?' Twilight thinks to herself. 'They're not ponies, as they walk on two legs, nor do they have horns like a Minotaur- or the build. Are they friendly? Can they help me? What if they want to hurt me!?' Twilight's mind floods with questions; should she stay or should she run and hide? The strange creatures grow closer, and soon they would notice her in the muck. She carefully weighed over her options in her head, the positives and negatives of each choic-

“Ey Nettles...” Cram says.

“Yah Cram?” Nettles replies.

“Am I seeing a purple unicorn in the mud?”

“Yah, I can see it.”

“Good, for a second there I thought I was goin' mad.”

In the light of the street lamp above Twilight can finally fully make out the two beings. The first thing thought of them is on how much taller then her they are. The second thing is how they look; tall bipedal creature with a smushed in muzzles... almost like monkeys, though hairless and with clothes. Well, almost hairless. The one known as Nettles has a short dirty brown mane framing his wide green eyes and pudgy nose. But his most striking feature is how tall he, at least she assumes it is a he, is. Princess Celestia would have to tilt her head up slightly to look at his face.

The other one, Nettles, was shorter. His chin just coming up to the tip of Twilight's horn. His head completely bare of any hair. His deep brown eyes stared into Twilight own in a way that gave Twilight the willies. Like the eyes of a predetor or just someone you didn't want to have sit next to you at a bar. He was ugly as Tartarus; his face looking like he got into a fight with a very angry cat and lost horribly.

She managed to take all of this in within the few seconds between their conversation before Nettles spoke again.

“Do ya think we can sell it?”

“I'm sure somebody at the Bazaar would pay good money for a bloodeh unicorn~”

'Sell me?!' Twilight yells in her own head. 'Why would they want to sell me?! Oh! Maybe they don't know I'm sapient? Yes, that must be it. They've never met a unicorn before and don't know I'm not just an animal. But... they knew what a unicorn was? Well I'm sure if I just explain that I'm not an animal that they won't sell me.' Fully assured that it was just a misunderstanding, she put on the friendliest smile she could considering she still had some mud stuck in her teeth. She hoped she could coax them out of their silly idea and cleared her throat. “Uh... Umm... H-Hello there good... sirs?” Both creatures just stare at her; their mouths slightly agape. 'Nailed it.'

“D-Did it just talk?!” Nettles manages to stutter out after a few seconds.

“Oh we are going to be rich! Not only a unicorn, but a talking unicorn!” Cram says with a glint of greed entering his deep brown eyes as images of wealth and fortune dance in his mind.

“Uh, m-my name is Twilight Sparkle. It's a pleasure to meet you.” Twilight says shakily.

“Yah~” Cram purrs as he makes one muddy step towards her. His boot sinking into the mud with a squelch. His arms looked ready to grab her as soon as he was close enough. “It's really a pleasure to met ya, lass.”

“C-Could you not get any closer, please?” Twilight says fearful of the creature drawing closer to her. She pushes herself up from the sticky mud to her hooves and backs away from him a step.

“Awww, I just want to be your friend.” He says with a friendly smile on his scared face. Twilight really doubted the sincerity of it. Especially when he lunged at her.

With a cry of fright Twilight let loose a quick burst of magic at Cram which hit him in the shoulder knocking him off course and face first into the mud with a loud squishing noise! She quickly turned and ran in the opposite direction before he could get back up.

“What th' 'ell!” Nettles cries after seeing the purple bolt fly from Twilight's horn and striking his friend.

“What are y' waiting for!” Cram shouted at Nettles as he pulls his face from the mud. He ignores the tingling sensation in his shoulder as he pushes himself back to his feet. “Grab 'er!!”

Twilight galloped as fast as she could. Her hooves pound into the mud kicking up mud and grime with every step. Each step was a battle against the suction of the muddy riverbank. Her pursuers, not having to worry about extra legs getting stuck in the mud with every step were gaining, would catch her at the rate she was going. She had one hope. Looking up to the ledge above her, she concentrated on the point just above it. Charging her horn she called upon her magic and the magic of the world around her to charge her spell. The magic here felt strange and alien compared to Equestria… It was cold, dark, and unwelcoming.

“I got-!” Nettles says while lunging forward before Twilight released the spell cutting him off with a burst of light and a pop as the air rushed to fill the void where she once was. Another pop and burst of light marked where Twilight appeared only a few yards above her target point. With a yell of surprise as the world dropped out from under her, she fell along with the batch of mud she brought along with her.

With a groan of pain and annoyance at her fall, she pushes herself to her hooves again. She was safe from those two... things. Catching her breath she looks around at the somewhat well kept brick buildings with their Victorian facades which ran parallel to the river behind her. Only an alleyway breaking up two of the buildings' strings of townhouses. Most of the townhouses on the street had darkened windows and drawn blinds which Twilight expected as it was late at night.

The flicking orange gas lamps cast shadows down the dark street. Another one of those creatures from below walked into Twilight's vision though this one was dressed in something that Twilight thought Rarity would call 'dapper.' Though he was standing oddly as if he was walking and froze mid-step. Caught halfway between steps, he just stares at her like she had grown a second head; or, alternatively, like she was a purple unicorn that had just appeared out of nowhere.

“There you are!” came a voice from behind. Twilight rapidly turns her head seeing Cram pulling himself up from the river bank. “Thought you could get away, eh?!”

Twilight bursts into a gallop breaking for the ally way. Right past the dapper gentleman, whose only movement was his head turning to follow her. She did not want to deal with those two anymore. No longer burdened by mud, she could run much faster. She was gone before they even finished pulling themselves up onto the street, yet Twilight kept running though the dark alleyways of the city. She had to make sure she lost them. She did NOT want to be sold like some pet or livestock or whatever they were going to sell her as!

She ran and ran though the alleys cutting though side streets and dodging past what few of those strange beings she had encountered just minutes before only leaving startled shouts of confusion in her wake. She ran until she couldn't run any more. She slowed down, dragging her hooves, as her lungs burned and her body ached with exhaustion. She was cold and covered in mud; but most of all, she was frightened. Frightened and wishing she could wake up from this nightmare that just had to be in her head. She wanted to wake up smelling Spike making breakfast back home.

She squeezed herself behind a create hoping it would hide her before collapsing next to a pile of trash. It smelled awful but she didn't care; she was too tired to care. Twilight curled up and closed her eyes. Wishing that when she woke up she would be home again. That she would be safe in her warm bed. That all her friends would be there and she would not have to be afraid of strange tall monsters chasing her who wanted to sell her for money.

That night, cold and alone amongst the garbage of the city, Twilight cried herself to sleep.

Comments

[Oliver]

This is quite promising. Please continue. :)

[myluna]

I love the game and I am relay liking this story. pleas continue.

[Phenoix12]

7023880
I'm glad your enjoying the story thus far.

7104102
Oh I will continue

The next chapter is written and is currently out for edits. Expect release sometime within the next few days! (Make that a little longer, my editor is busy with life.) Hopefully it's up to par with the rest... I don't aim to disappoint.

[Katamariguy]

with their Victorian facades

Now how would she somehow bloody know the Traitor Empress' name, eh?

Also, you're spot on with the Londoners' talk. Needs more exclamations of "blimey," I'd suggest.

[Phenoix12]

7867209

To be fair Twilight doesn't know the name. And using the Victorian descriptor was just the easiest way to describe the look of the buildings without going into extreme detail on the design of the buildings. (I could have called it Neigh-torian but that pun is to tortured.)

But yes I admit that outright saying 'Victorian' might have been a little bit wrong since I am writing the story in such a fashion that the narration only shows as much as Twilight knows...

Also hello new reader!