Chapter I: The First Word is Often The Hardest
Twilight arose from her first slumber after several restless nights, she was still not acclimated to sleeping in harsh environments, compared to the trashbags she had to sleep amongst she much preferred her comfy and especially dry bed.
She knew that every moment that she is not alert is a moment that she is vulnerable in this strange world.
'Mental Journal, day 15, morning: I was successful in resting, my mind is clearer than it was before but still nowhere near to where it would be after a proper night's rest. I am not confident in my current capabilities in decision making.' Twilight has started keeping a mental journal around day 3 of arriving in this new place, she would write her thoughts down on paper but there seems to be none at all, not even cardboard.
Twilight steps out of the uncomfortable and frankly rancid smelling rubbish pile to see the back alley she chose to sleep in for the night, it was narrow and very tall, the walls are metallic; Twilight wasn't sure what alloy it was but it had a similar colour to copper, high above her head was many pipes all of them in different states of wear and tear while they travel in all different directions with seemingly no organization, from the hissing of some of the pipes she guessed they contained some sort of gas, it was safe to breathe but it definitely was not oxygen, the smell alone made that clear. The alley was also very dim which was good, it made it easier for her to hide, if the habitants of this world knew less of her existence the better.
'I don't have a great deal of choice in the matter on how well-rested I am, the sooner I find my friends and everypony else, the sooner we can all go home.' Twilight knew the longer she was in this world the more in danger she will become, the same can be said about the rest that was transported. She kept as close to the walls and debris so she could use them as hiding spots just in case of the low likelihood of someone being in the alleyway.
As she crept closer to the end of the alley, towards her was a slightly better lit and more populated street, it was in better condition than the alley she was in, the street was free from garbage and was kept cleaner and better maintained compared to the back alley, the pipes were still there although hissing a lot more quietly. There were vendors selling random knick-knacks all along the street with a whole different variety of stalls, it was clear for anyone to see that it was a marketplace, if you were to ask her what they were selling she wouldn't be able to answer you as everything on display was strange and alien to her, what was even more alien to her were the vendors themselves, they were really unique to any other living thing she saw before; they had small patches of hair on the top of their heads and some have hair on their faces lining their jaws, they were tall and while they still had different colours of skin going from beige to a very dark brown, comparatively their variety of colour was far lower than what ponies had. Twilight didn't know what they called themselves so she stuck with calling them, Creatures.
Twilight snuck down a side alley just before the entrance of the marketplace, it was more of a residential area full of tightly packed housing, she needs to be extra careful as she is now in a more populated zone to where she slept. She ducks below the windows and speeds past the open doorways making sure to keep to the walls.
Soon enough she reaches a spot she frequents daily, it was a small roof that was out of site surrounded by many taller buildings, unlike Ponyville the roofs here are flat. on the roof were a couple of metal boxes, trash randomly laying about, and a locked door. She would sleep up there but due to some close calls with the Creatures in the past, she chose to sleep in the deeper alleys. What Twilight focused on was an elevator that had a heavily guarded gateway, this area was majorly different compared to the rest of the settlement from what she could see the ground and walls were stone and the ceiling which is a lot lower and not obscured by any pipes was also stone.
'He should be coming back any day now.' The task Twilight is about to try and pull off would basically be impossible for her to do it alone, even if her friends were with her it would still be very hard due to the fact they had no idea where they are, or what dangers roamed the place, Twilight knew this and decided to go with a risky tactic of trying to enlist the help of one of this worlds residents but she couldn't just pick anyone, she needed someone that was willing to help others without expecting anything in return and were knowledgable about the world they inhabit.
The most promising candidate right now is a man that goes by the name Lock, not Twilight's first pick when it comes to a guide but considering she found her top pick dead, disposed of in a dumpster after being a part of a bar fight, she didn't have any other option, despite his cold exterior, he has still shown the required qualities through his actions alone.
From Twilight's observation, he is what the Creatures call a Landwalker, she wasn't quite sure what kind of occupation a Landwalker is but she could guess it had to do with exploring the surface.
After spending a couple of hours watching the elevator, luckily Lock arrived back into the settlement, Twilight could easily distinguish that was him due to his full helmet respirator that obscured his face, the large beige cloak that covered the majority of his body, and the massive backpack he wore, the guards greet Lock as they have seen each other frequently due to Locks constant outings. Lock doesn't answer, he only shows them what Twilight assumes to be a Landwalker Id.
He is let in by the guards then enters the underground city, following him while staying out of sight is something that Twilight learned in her time here, keep in mind she isn't perfect at it as she was nearly caught by him a couple of times but after a couple of days, she had less and less of those close calls.
Lock starts to head towards the market to restock on supplies, as he enters the highly populated area Twilight needed to be extra careful to not be found, shouldn't be too hard.
Twilight finds herself slightly more noticeable than what she would consider comfortable, she is nearly out in the open having only the back of the stalls and the odd metal crates to hide behind. She would usually stick to the rooftops and back alleys when following Lock but today she wanted to make first contact, she had no idea where her friends and the others are, not only that but she had no idea if they are safe. Thinking about it made her sick to the stomach.
She didn't have time to dawdle, the quicker she gets assistance meant the quicker she could find everyone and go home. She could see Lock was buying from what looked like a food stall, they didn't have much variety in produce seeing as they only sold a paste that was similar to mashed potatoes.
After about an hour or so, Lock can be seen walking into what looked like a bar; he does this every time he comes back from the surface, only to walk out a couple of minutes later. Twilight has no clue what he does inside as she doesn't have a clear view from the outside.
Since Twilight knows Lock's routine from careful observation she can safely assume he will head off into the direction of the residential area to find a hotel to sleep in for the night, lo and behold she had the correct assumption. Along the way to where the hotels were, Lock had slowed his pace periodically in which Twilight reacted by hastily hiding behind from where she was peeking from hoping that she wasn't noticed.
It wasn't until Lock has reached his allocated room that she could finally take a breather. She walked up beside the doorway, this was it, now is the time for her to introduce herself. Her nerves are set ablaze, adrenaline pumping, if this goes wrong she could wind up getting experimented on if not worse. She spent the next couple of minutes standing beside the doorway thinking about what to say.
"Show yourself! I know you are behind that door." She was startled by the loud demanding voice that was followed by a soft whirring noise. He knew she was there, Twilight was frozen by fear, unable to move a muscle.
"Better start moving otherwise you'll find yourself with a couple of new holes." being threatened she had no choice but to comply, as she starts heading into the light of the doorway he starts speaking again.
"Who the hell do you wor- ... What the hell is that?" he corrects himself after seeing Twilight walk into view, Lock is visibly surprised by what he was looking at.
"Uhm, Hello..." Twilight replies meekly, this clearly shocks him even more.
"And it talks..." As his initial shock wears off confusion starts to set in, only to quickly put his guard back up.
"What are you and why the fuck have you been tailing me?" Lock points his weapon which is now whirring back to life at Twilight.
"I'm a pony, I don't mean any harm! I just wanted your help!" Twilight quickly answers not wanting to find out what that thing Lock is holding does.
"Help?"
"Yes, I need your help!" Twilight prostrates herself.
"My friends along with the entire population of Ponyville has been transported from our world into yours, I need your help to find everypony and bring them back home." Twilight explains to a now calmer Lock.
"So a search and rescue, that I can do... But I do have some more questions. Why ask me specifically, You could have gone to anyone else for help and how are you sure you can go back?" his voice is deep and metallic, due to him still wearing his helmet.
"You were one of the only creatures that have met the criteria that I have set, you are willing to help others without anything in return and are quite knowledgeable about this world. For the second question, there is a portal hidden deep within this city; I don't know how stable it is so I don't want to risk going through it to get help only to have it collapse with everypony on this side." Twilight reveals.
"Heh, How do you know what I'm like? I could be a complete monster y'know?" He asks with a deeper tone as if he was trying to accentuate something.
"I saw you help a young one evade punishment for stealing food a couple of days ago." Twilight replies.
"So it was you who was following me for the past week." Lock moves across the room and sits down in one of the chairs.
"You knew?" Twilight was nearly caught a couple of times but she didn't think he knew she was there.
"For a brightly coloured horse thing, you did pretty well but you are still an amateur." Lock says as he starts to remove his helmet, air hisses out as he unlocks it. Lifting it over his head and placing it down on a table. His face was dirty and starting to wrinkle, his hair was grey, very close to being a dirty white. He looked like he was in his 50's, Twilight didn't think he would be that old. He takes a deep breath in then exhales.
"What is your world like? Is it safe?" Lock asks, his voice is no longer metallic and deep, instead, it is weathered and course.
"Well, we live on the surface of the planet instead of underground. It is relatively safe with only some exceptions when the wildlife ends up in populated areas." Twilight answers, Lock leans back in his chair looking like he is thinking over the answer.
"Fine, I will help you... But in return, I need you to do something for me." He stands back up and walks over to his massive cloak. Twilight does not really understand what she is able to do that can be of use to Lock, she looks at him in confusion.
"In return, I will need you to take this child with you." Lock says as he turns around holding a small sleeping baby in his arms.