A Stranger to the World

by Perceptive Key

New Plans

Chapter Thirteen
New Plans

Alex opened his eyes slowly. His head throbbed and the wrist of his right arm was a bit sore, though he didn't understand why the latter of the two was in pain. Then, he saw some multicolored blurs within his visual, but couldn't place what they were. There was some purple... some white... some blue... some grey...

"He's coming to!" a female voice called out.

"Coming to where?" Alex mumbled. He was feeling rather lucid, at the moment, and said the first thing that popped into his head. "Did I win the spelling bee, mother?"

"He's confused," another female voice remarked.

"What happened to the frogurt?" Alex asked, dreamily, "Did I drop it?" He began to blink away the mishmash of colors from his sight, and the blurs began to take on more recognizable shapes. Ponies. He was seeing ponies. Right.

"Alex?" the white one, a female, spoke. "Are you alright, Alex?"

"The chemicals a confusing him, slightly. Give it a moment, the grey one, a male, replied.

"Shouldn't we check on, Witt?" he heard the purple one question.

"He's fine," the grey one quickly insisted.

'Witt, eh?' Alex felt himself chuckle, though the sound he heard was distorted and muted. "What... happened to that bastard, anyway? Did he fall off of his... high horse?" His chuckle suddenly escalated into a rowdy burst of drunken laughter. "High horse!" he repeated, partially realizing what he was saying, now. Out the corner of his translucent vision, the blue blur move, slightly.

"Should I slap him into sensibility?"

"Absolutely not."

The shapes in front of him gradually sharpened, and defining features came into view. The purple blur was actually Twilight, the grey one was Hart, the white one Celestia, and the blue one being Luna. 'What was she doing here?' Alex thought. Depending on their discussion last night, Alex figured that she would want to stay as far away from him as possible.

"Alex? Alex, can you hear me?" Hart questioned him.

A strange feeling of what Alex guessed was "sobering up" began to shock his system. His vision cleared further, but the light from wherever he was was agitating to his eyes, adding to a growing headache.

"Alex?!"

"Stop shouting, Hart," he replied, curtly.

WHAP!

Alex was rewarded by a hoof being rudely slapped across his face. "OW!" he cried out, sitting up -though he wasn't aware that he was lying down, in the first place- and lifting his hand up to rub his cheek. "What the fuck was that for?!" he glared at the stallion.

"That wasn't me," Hart replied defensively, hooves in front of him for emphasis.

Alex turned his gaze to the three mares, and he noticed that Celestia was shooting an angry glare at a suddenly distracted Luna. The smaller alicorn looked around the room, focusing on different objects at intermittent moments. She turned back to the group and noticed their staring. "What?" she asked.

Alex glared at her. "You hit me!" he shouted.

Luna shook her head slightly. "I was simply reviving you from your slumber," she replied.

"Well you could have just shaken my shoulder, or something," Alex shot back.

"I found brute force to be much more effective."

"Can both of you just SHUT UP!!!"

The sound of Witt's enraged and accented voice came from the left. Everyone turned to see the brown equine sitting atop a hospital bed, an IV drip slid into his foreleg. He hastily tore the tube out from his leg and jumped to the floor, though a bit unsteadily. "I would like it if you stopped arguing for a while," he addressed Alex and Luna, "as your voices are terribly annoying. Not to mention, the fluids that have just been flowing through my system have put me on edge in an unbelievable way!" Alex could sense that he was glaring through his goggles.

Twilight stepped away from the cluster around Alex and slowly approached him. "I think that you should calm down, Witt."

"Calm down?" he sputtered. "I was in a drinking contest with Discord, last night. The bastard used chocolate milk instead of alcohol, so I lost the competition," he added quietly. "The amount of liquor in my system combined with whatever the hell is in that IV is stirring them up! I'm going to either lose consciousness, again, or my lunch in a few minutes!"

"Twilight is correct," Celestia said, stepping forward, "you need to calm down."

Witt looked over at her, a frown present on his face. He grumbled, "Fine. Twilight!" he called, looking around.

"I'm next to you," the mare replied with an exasperated sigh.

Witt turned to her, "I need to speak with you. Not here, though."

She rolled her eyes, an annoyed, "Alright," her response. The pair walked out through the doors to the infirmary, speaking as they left.

Witt spoke to her. "When did you get back, and why in the bloody hell did it take so-?" was all that could be heard before the doors closed behind them, cutting them off.

There was brief silence in the ward. "Remind me why you had me sleep in his room?" Alex asked Celestia.

Celestia sighed. "It was the only option that was available, aside from leaving you strapped to a hospital bed."

"And that's the better option because...?"

"If you can be within twenty paces of him for over two hours, then you're not dangerous," she explained.

"Is that why Twilight can stand him?" he asked, pulling an IV out of his own arm. "From what I've heard them say to each other, it appears that she's perfectly fine with it."

Celestia shook her head, "They know each other. She is one of the very few who understands what he lets out of his mouth."

"So, the fact that I've been with him for a few hours is good, or not?"

"Partially," Hart answered.

"'Partially' what?" Alex asked. "Good or bad?"

"I don't know. Though, if you can be in the same room for a few days..." he trailed off.

"I'd either be mad or dead, huh?" Alex finished with his own idea.

"Well..."

"Enough of that, Hart," Celestia interrupted, "we need to discuss some things with Alex."

The stallion nodded. "Should I step outside?" Hart asked, gesturing to the doors.

"Actually, you may want to stick around," Luna said. "Some matters concern you, as well."

Alex swung his legs over the edge of the bed, planting them firmly on the floor. "What do you need to discuss?"

"We have found the need to arrange new accommodations for you," Celestia stated. "Your recent outburst has informed us that you possess a bit magic, and a quite unstable batch, at that. Albeit, it is very weak."

Alex shook his head in disbelief. "What I did was weak?!" He scoffed. "I'd hate to see the strongest."

"I apologize. Your magical release was much larger than most," Celestia restated, "but it was, basically, just built up energy. Like a tide of water against a small plug hole. All of that power had been building up without you naturally excreting energy, so it was all forced out at that moment. The Rectangle was another factor, amplifying your magic to about ten times the natural capacities."

"I get it. Small explosion, long fuse," Alex said.

"For lack of a better phrase, yes," Luna spoke up.

Alex looked at the blue alicorn out of the corner of his eye. "So, you took a sudden interest in that, now?"

"No," Luna replied flatly. "My sister saw the explosion from her tower and investigated. I was only coming here to speak with Witt."

"Quaint," Alex stated, duly.

"How so?" Luna asked, eying him back.

"Everyone's complaining that he's insane, but, apparently, more of you can stand him than you let on."

"That's a problem?"

"I don't know," Alex sighed. "I think the drugs in the IV are getting to me. I'm having a hard time thinking, now."

There was a brief silence that lingered in the atmosphere of the ward, broken by the occasional beep or whirr of a machine. Hart coughed into his foreleg, disturbing the quiet, further.

"Why aren't we speaking?" Alex asked. Everypony gave him a blank look in return.

"Why aren't we speaking?" Hart turned to Celestia.

Celestia blinked in response. "I'm... not entirely sure."

"That was an awkward moment," Alex quipped. He suddenly thought back at something he heard Celestia mention, earlier. "Wait... you said 'new accomodations,' right?"

"Oh!" Celestia's expression brightened, "That's right. We're moving you out of the castle in favor of a more isolated area," she began. "Your incident has brought to light a serious health hazard, as the untempered magic that you possess could be harmful in the wrong instances."

"'Isolated,'" Alex air quoted, "being..."

"We're having a home built on the outskirts of Ponyville, close to the Everfree Forest," she explained. "It will be surrounded by a Rectangle at all times, containing any spontaneous explosions that might occur."

Alex nodded, taking in the information. "Two questions, though. One, what the heck is the Everfree Forest, and two, I thought you said that my 'release' was just clogged power, meaning that I was apparently 'weak' in the magic department."

"You are weak," Celestia continued, "but you are unstable, as I mentioned earlier. Your magic could be unpredictable, and... aftershocks... might occur. We don't want any major problems to fall upon the town's inhabitants, so you'll need to control that power. Both Witt and Hart will be accompanying you."

"I can't guarantee that the booze hound and I will get along, though," Hart added gruffly. The stallion scoffed at the prospect of being near, what he would later report as 'an insufferable, alcoholic pain in the flank.'

"Your distaste with Witt must be set aside for the time being, doctor," Luna said to him. "As much as you two despise each other, you will have to get along. For Alex's sake."

"I don't need anyone doing anything for my sake, or whatever," Alex interrupted.

Celestia shook her head, apologizing. "I'm sorry, but... I don't quite understand."

"I'll take the house offer and," Alex leaned forward and massaged his temples with his fingers, "-I can't believe I'm saying this- magic lessons... hell, maybe I could float some coffee over while I'm in bed. I'm all for the isolation bit, too, but I'm not having anything done for me because you feel like you have to do it."

Celestia pursed her lips, and she slowly nodded. "Alright then. Luna?" The night blue alicorn turned to her. "Go find Twilight and the other Bearers and inform them of this development."

"Yes, sister." Luna inclined her head slightly at her sister's order. Celestia watched her part through the double doors, Luna's blue aura swinging them open before promptly closing when she was clear. Celestia frowned, but the downward curve of her mouth vanished quickly.

"Any problems?" Alex asked.

"It's nothing," she replied.

"It looked like something."

"You need not worry about it," Celestia said, her small smile returning. "Hart will return you to your chambers. I suggest you think of things to pack while you're there. I assume that you'll be departing tomorrow afternoon.

Alex nodded, "Not a problem. The sooner I get out of your hair, the better. I think I've overstayed my welcome, as it is."

Celestia was perplexed by his answer. "What do you mean, this time?"

"I'm sorry for taking up you're time," he clarified. Alex slid off the bed and walked over to the doors, Hart right beside him. They both exited wordlessly, returning to the tower.

Celestia stood behind for several more moments, thinking to herself. 'Why is he sorry for the attention we've given him?' she wondered. Celestia looked back at the doors for another moment before leaving the room, herself, her thoughts lingering on Alex's comment.

Author's Note:

Alex's half-drunken anesthetic bits were just some random things I took from my friend's tumblr blogs. I don't understand that site's appeal. How does it even work?!
Also, I'm SUPER SORRY for the wait, and for such a short chapter; not even my best work, either. My Writers' Block was being a bitch and refused to leave. It wasn't until I played Bioshock that it all went away. Best!!! Game!!!!!! Ever!!!!!!!!! 8P
The next chapter shouldn't take as long, so expect it in two weeks or so.
I would really appreciate some constructive criticism in regards to this chapter. Did it feel rushed? Confusing? Do you want to see more of Witt, because I may leave him out for a couple chapters?
Future chapters may be edited with the help of NightmareKnight.
I'm even looking for more people that are offering to pre-read and edit the future chapters. I could use all the help I could get.

Comments

[Perceptive Key]

3484076
His name is spelled W-I-T-T!!! There is no "H!!!" Sorry, it just needs to be right.

[Perceptive Key]

3617370
WITT is going to have a chapter that goes into his backstory, but he was meant to appear vague and odd. Don't expect the chapter for a while, though, since I have to establish other character stories and develop them. Each character that I introduce will have their own backstory chapter(s) when the time comes. Hart will be first on the list, with other bits for different characters every so often. I know where I'm going with the fic. but you'll just have to enjoy the ride.

[Hichigo]

UPDATE!??!??!?!?!!?!??!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!??!?!?!??!?!????????

[Perceptive Key]

5146344
I am aware that my hiatus has been quite extensive, but that's Writer's Block for you.