Alienation

by Longtooth

Easy Access

The door-pony was a brute of a stallion. His muscles bulged and his jaw was thick and he had practically no neck. I’d seen a few ponies like this around Ponyville, looking like they’d eaten two other ponies and stuffed them into their forelegs. They tended to be the loud, brash type that would try to impress others with their strength and sheer size. I actually kind of liked them. They were simple, easy to figure out, easy to ignore. They wouldn’t bother you unless you put yourself in their line of fire. Or, of course, if their business was to bother you.

This one’s business was clearly to stop other ponies from getting into the building. He was going to bother me. Something about the drug I’d taken had convinced me in its late hours of activity that I was a brilliant conversationalist who could talk my way past any obstacle. You can see where this is going.

“Hey,” I said as I walked up to the door.

He moved into my way, a rolling motion that showed off more of his muscles flexing than was strictly necessary. “You don’t got no invite,” he growled.

“Don’t need one,” I said, imitating his gruff speech. “I just want to talk to a friend. She came through about half a minute ago?”

He narrowed his eyes at me. “You look familiar…”

“Yes!” I said, latching on to that. “Because I’ve been here before. You should let me by.”

“I ain’t never seen you come through here,” he replied. “Go away.”

“No,” I stomped my hoof. “I want to go in, you should let me by.”

He took a threatening step forward, but I held my ground. “I told you to go away, girly. You ain’t got no invite, and I never seen you here before. You ain’t getting in.”

“Stop saying ‘ain’t’!” I snapped. “Let me in!”

“Alright, girly. You asked for it,” he snarled, then reached for me.

I slammed him into the wall hard enough to rattle the windows. He strained against my telekinetic hold but… well, in her first year in Ponyville Twilight was capable of magically carrying a twenty ton bear, an upended and nearly full water-tower and doing a dozen other things besides all at once. She has only gotten stronger since. I have that power as well, so even this brute of an earth pony was not going anywhere I didn’t want him to.

“I asked to be let in,” I said. I admit that I sounded like a petulant filly. I don’t know if this is more indicative of a childish mindset at the time or just a consequence of the hard-headedness of my actions. Either way, the stallion reacted with fear. His eyes bulged and he struggled to say something.

I eased off on the pressure enough to let him talk. “I know you!” he gasped out. “You’re… you’re Twilight Sparkle!”

I stomped my hoof again. “Be quiet!” I hissed at him.

He shrank back as much as he was able. “Okay, okay. I won’t tell no one you’re here, alright? I won’t tell no one, just let me go.”

“What?” I didn’t know what he was talking about. The implications of it all hadn’t sunk in for obvious reasons. I just stared dumbly at him and tried to parse why he would think I wanted him to not tell anyone.

“I ain’t gonna talk, I swear!”

“I told you not to say ‘ain’t’!” I snapped, and teleported him away. Across the city, actually. I dumped him in the castle’s gardens. Can’t imagine the look of the groundskeeper when this enormous ox of a pony suddenly flashes into existence in the middle of the rose bed. It was probably priceless. Funny thing? That teleport likely saved him from getting arrested. Funnier thing: he would probably have preferred that outcome.

The door now free, I made my way up and tried the handle. It was locked, of course. I knocked politely, and an eye-slot opened up, a red-eyed pony staring back at me from the other side. “Where’s Meat?” he asked.

“Stopping to smell the roses,” I replied. “I’m looking for a mare who just came through. Can you let me in?”

The pony frowned. “No. Go away.”

I teleported inside. The interior was darker than I had expected, barely lit by a red lamp that threw everything into stark, harsh shadows with difficult-to distinguish highlights. The flare from my teleport stunned the two other ponies who had been waiting in the entrance hall, sending them reeling back. The one who had been at the door was similarly blinded by the flash from outside, but kept his wits. He wheeled on me, and I picked up all three ponies. I set them rotating around me, the residual hallucinations of the bubble still in my system making the motion fascinating.

“Where can I find her?” I asked. “The one who came through before I did?”

The red-eyed pony looked at me with fear. One of the others was a unicorn, and he began casting a spell, but I shut his magic down. Which is a nifty trick, if you know how to do it. Twilight did, but she had to put way more effort into it than I did. Which, actually, should have told me something about the nasty surprise waiting for me later. At the time it didn’t seem important. The third pony was struggling against my hold, not getting anywhere, but not giving up either.

“Come on,” I urged. “I’ve got to be at a friend’s place soon. She’s expecting me.” Silently, the red-eyed pony pointed a hoof down the hall. “Okay, but more specificity would be appreciated.”

“Up the stairs,” he said. “Third floor. Room 14.”

“Thanks!” I chirped, dropping all three of them.
The one who had been struggling tried to leap at me, but the other two grabbed him. “Are you insane?" the red-eyed pony hissed. “Don’t you recognize who that is?”

I frowned at them. I was getting recognized far too often tonight when I wanted to remain anonymous. Yet I didn’t dwell on it then. The tantalizing sensation of dark magic was thick in the air. I turned away from the three guards and started up the stairs, completely oblivious. Not that awareness would have changed what happened next. Not at that point. I’d gone too far.

Author's Note:

True word count: 25,600. Days 1-17 covered. Days missed: 2. I'm at CANterlot convention. I'm very tired. I've got some catching up to do to build a comfortable margin again.

Comments

[Nammi-namm]

Sweet story.