Chronalmin Flux

by The Psychopath

Calming thoughts

The hundred-floor skyscraper was noisy. Very noisy. More than usual, and Minted Wrap didn't mind it at all. There was something to be said about a mute janitor working day in and day out to keep the place clean. Sure, he wasn't alone in cleaning it, but because he was always at the highest floors, he could always hear the sound of hooves slamming against typewriters, ponies walking around, and mistakes occurring.

"OH NO!" a mare screeched. The stallion walked around the corner to the office room to see that a mare had dropped a bottle of ink she was meant to pour in the ribbon hold of her typewriter all over the floor. She facehoofed. "I didn't want to make a mess today!" she scolded herself.

Her colleague sitting in front of her did not remove his eyes from the colored folders he was fumbling through. "Don't worry. Minted Wrap will appear any second now," he muttered almost inaudibly.

The stallion rounded the corner with high-powered carpet cleaning machinery in hand. He put a crystal into a small compartment in its back, held onto the t-shaped handle, then pushed the gray body against the floor. It made a loud noise and created a hot, humid air around it, but the gray carpet was cleaned without a stain in barely a few seconds.

"Thanks, Minted," the mare said. "I would've been killed if that was seen by my boss."

Her colleague filed away another folder between one of the twenty-story piles towering precariously next to him. "That's what he's here for. No need to thank him," he stated dismissively.

The mare frowned. "Yeah, well without him, our whole floor would be a mess!" She turned to Minted, smiled, then sat back down on her seat.

The janitor shrugged and pulled his carpet cleaner back to his closet. Or, he was going to, but everything in the office he had just cleaned became briefly hazy as though it were underwater. It lasted but a few seconds, and Minted Wrap wiped his eyes, dismissing it as just a brief irritation of them.

During his trek across the large hall, the stallion tripped over and fell onto his face. His cleaner flew a bit and hit against the wall, causing some curious stares. Minted looked to his hind leg to see some kind of vine fluctuating like a bad tv channel before disappearing and leaving his hoof to plop back down softly.

"Are you okay?" a scrawny unicorn asked. He used his magic to put Minted back onto his hooves. "What did you even trip on?"

Minted looked to the ground and saw the object had vanished, but without leaving any kind of trace behind. He did his best to imitate the form of a tree root on the floor, but the unicorn did not understand. The janitor dropped his forelegs in defeat and frowned. The unicorn tapped him on the back in response.

"Sorry, but I don't understand what you're trying to say, and I don't know any spells for mind reading or anything like that." He let go and moved away. "I have much work to do, though, and so do you."

The janitor rolled his eyes, picked up his machine, and put it back in the closet. He was going to take a vacation after this, but for now, he had many things he needed to do.

The day was almost over, and the sun outside was setting, creating a vibrant tapestry of oranges and purples. Minted Wrap could see the painting from a window in the hallway he was cleaning. It was much easier to see such a thing from the seventy-seventh floor. The carpet was filled with crumbs and soil residue from the potted plants placed in the corners of the hall and the large opening leading to a room of offices at its end. Minted Wrap was exhausted. His usual deepmint fur was darkened by his sweat, his deep blue eyes were bloodshot with fatigue, and his bright green mane and tail, usually straightened out and with a vertically wavy pattern of white, was now a jumbled mess. At least his paper hat cutie mark wasn't affected by the working conditions.

This vacuuming was just the final bit of work he had needed to do before leaving for home, and he couldn't deal with it anymore. Could he talk, he would voice his frustration, but he really wanted to finish his work instead of thinking about what he couldn't say. Perhaps a raise would be in order? He could ask his boss. Solar Plant Industries was a very lucrative agricultural industry. Maybe they had a few bits they could add to his pay.

Wiping his forehead for a second time, the stallion took a drink of water from one of the bottles hanging from the brown belt around his waist. Fifteen minutes later -give-or-take-, the stallion noticed the lights above flickering and buzzing with with effort just so they wouldn't turn off. Minted frowned at the event. He had just changed the fuses to the main fuse boxes a week ago on account of similar issues with lighting. Somepony walking across the carpet attracted his attention to the offices forward. A brown and red pegasus stallion had just left the elevator and was walking through the offices, seemingly looking for something and carefully pushing away chairs and desks with moderate difficulty.

It's possible that the pony was from the lower levels since Minted never cleaned anything but the higher ones, or that they chose the wrong floor and became briefly disoriented without realizing. It wasn't uncommon, but it wasn't something he knew how to fully deal with since he couldn't speak.

"Greetings, pony," the new stallion said. "I seem to be a bit...lost..." he sighed. "Do you know where I am?"

Minted tapped a symbol on his vacuum: A green raindrop surrounded by two white circles, the outer one being grayer than the inner.

The new pony scratched the back of his head. "I...see? I know where I am specifically. I just don't know how I got here. I was trying to go down to the ground floor."

Minted shrugged in response.

"Well, it could just be the system malfunctioning...and I DON'T want to take the stairs."

The janitor scrunched his lips into his mouth and bobbed his head gradually to the side with a sentiment of agreement.

The lost stallion rubbed his chin and frowned. "What's the matter? Can't speak?"

Minted tapped his throat then shook his head. He then gestured to carpet cleaner and the clock, to which the lost stallion heaved a long sigh of annoyance and stepped back.

"S'not like I just got here..." he mumbled to himself.

Minted looked up towards him, but the stallion was innocently pretending he hadn't said anything. The janitor paid it no further heed and went on to finish their work. The janitor was usually fully concentrated when working, but they felt something strange approaching his back, ready to strangle him. He turned off his machine and spun around. The lost stallion stopped fiddling with his hooves and the two exchanged looks silently.

Wrap was panting more through fear than hard work, and he could feel his heart trying to get out from behind his ribcage. He gradually returned to his work and sighed in relief that it didn't occur again. He grabbed his broom and placed it against a desk while he looked underneath every desk for anything that was forgotten by the employees. Unfortunately, checking around for any left-over trash or spills left uncleaned didn't prevent the sensation from reappearing. In fact, Minted genuinely felt something wrap around his neck and tighten. Instinctively, he attempted to cry out whilst he struggled, but all that came out was air.

"You okay there?" the lost stallion asked. He grabbed the janitor and lifted him back onto his hooves. "You looked like you were choking there." He chuckled. "Swallowed your spit the wrong way."

The janitor grabbed the lost stallion and tugged on his neck to follow him, to which said stallion protested. Minted rushed to the stairs.

"Woah woah!" the lost stallion shouted. "You tug on me then rush to the stairs? Calm down, pal"

He smiled, but when he opened his eyes, Minted thought he caught a glimpse of something swimming in them. The stallion didn't hesitate to run away, quickly chased after by the lost stallion.

"Where are you going? A way out?" the stallion asked whilst chasing after Minted.

The janitor opened the door to the next floor and found that he was back where he started, and the lost stallion was leaning against a desk and fiddling with his hooves.

"Already back?"

Minted blinked a few times. He turned around to see that the stairs were like they were before he left as well. The black stains from small fire a while back weren't on the wall anymore.

"Looks like you're also lost." He rubbed his chin. "Might be because you don't want to talk. I could help you with that, then we can both leave this place. This..." he looked around. "One." The janitor backed away slowly and eyed the door again. "Ha. There's no point. You'll just end up back here. Let me HELP you."

The stallion's hooves split open into a mass of tendrils that attempted to wrap around Minted. A quick grabbing of his broom and a strike against the creature's limbs caused it to yelp and pull back in return.

"Ow!" it complained. "That really hurts! All I'm trying to do is release your voice!" Its body shivered and convulsed. "Ungrateful!"

It jumped in the air to pounce on the janitor, but Minted Wrap -perhaps through sheer dumb luck- somehow managed to dodge the mass of tentacles by standing on his hind legs and sucking in his gut. He stabbed the creature in its eye with the broom. It pulled back and grabbed at the object whilst howling in pain. Minted noticed that there was no resistance when the broom handle entered the creature's skull, although he didn't have much to think about since the monster started flailing about and smashing masses of its limbs against the ground.

Weakened, it gave way under the weight of Minted, and just before he fell, the monster broke the broom off and the upper portion of its head broke off, revealing a glint that Minted could barely catch a glimpse of.