A Janitor's Duty

The castle's main steps. On any other day, they wouldn't be a problem. But today was a different scenario. You were on a time limit and the seconds were ticking away. You were standing in front of the steps, panting like a dog, and wiping sweat from your forehead. Your sight looked at the first step and began ascending all the way up to what you believed was the hundredth step. You always wondered the use for these stairs. Other than for guests attending weddings or royal balls and visitors getting themselves some higher levels of knowledge from the royal library, you felt like these steps weren't really needed, even if it was to make the castle look more fancy. The reason why you thought this was because the princesses have some pretty damn powerful magic that they can use to teleport themselves almost anywhere they want. Either that or fly to any place with a two-plus story window.

Looking back at the first step, you took in a deep breath and exhaled as you began running up the stairs. Each step was burning more and more of your energy as you were ascending to the castle's main doors. Then, on the sixtieth stair step, you took one misstep and fell on your face on the stairs.

It was a good thing you were going up the stairs instead of down, or you would've been in a lot more pain.

You were trying to get back up on your feet, but the lazy portion of your brain was beginning to take over your mind.

"You know what, buddy, maybe this clock isn't worth it. You can just get it tomorrow, y'know?" it said inside your head.

While you didn't want to give up on your quest, your lazy side did have, somewhat, a valid point. You began to wonder if this whole journey was even worth it anymore. You've already been through a small amount of hell today already, what with Celestia's request, the alarm clock epidemic, and accidentally running into Spike's little sex session. All of that...for a clock that looked like it would fall apart anyway.

You started to slowly get back up on your feet, covering the pain spot on your right side with your hand, and panting a little less now. You turned your head to the plaza, the castle's shadow almost covering the entire area, and saw the tiny clockwork shop across the many other stores next to it. It wasn't really hard to see it, for the shop itself had two large gears on top of the entrance outside, so that others could tell what products it sold. Looking at it from afar, you let out a disappointing sigh, signifying that you have given up on this quest, and that you'll go to the shop when you have even more free time. You turned back to the entrance of the castle and began to walk up the stairs with your head drooping. You were too tired to think about anything else. All you cared about now was to go to the mess hall and grab a nice, refreshing supper, then go to bed. You'll think about how you're gonna get up in the morning another time.

Five minutes later...

You were walking down the outside hallways towards the mess room, looking out the glass pane windows, barely seeing the sun as it was slowly descending behind the mountains. A few stars here and there were starting to appear in the denim-colored sky. You knew that in about an hour, the princess of the night will begin her work, painting more stars and changing the color and shape of Equestria's bright moon. Oh, what it would be like to see Luna's work, using her magic brush and making the night sky something for all ponies to see, to remember. Not a lot of ponies are allowed in her quarters without her compensation, except for her sister and Twilight. She's also not usually seen outside her room except for breakfast and supper, but that's when Celestia's waking up and going to sleep. No pony has seen her at any weddings or royal balls, but could understand how difficult it is to make something like the night sky memorable. It's not really as simple as taking a brush and putting little white dots on a piece of paper.

For Luna, it was all about patience, making sure every piece of her artwork had a deep meaning to them. She would not take anything less than that. Even if it was just a little white dot, she would give it purpose, a reason to exist. She treats the stars like they were her very own children, making sure they all had an equal amount of love put into them. But the one thing that has the most love given to it, was the moon.

What was once her prison, was now her masterpiece. When she paints it, when she sees it, she could feel it calling to her. She could hear its need to be presented elegantly, beautifully. Even after the whole Nightmare Moon incident, she still looks at her painting, seeing the moon not as a prison anymore, but like a second home. You overheard a conversation between Luna and her sister while you were cleaning the halls that she was planning to go back to the moon and return to the studies she had there. To think about the many scrolls, books, and star maps she had on those shelves is incredible. Then again, you figured she had to do something to keep herself occupied.

It was then you started thinking how she kept herself occupied. Being on the moon with no other life form for a thousand years means a lot of alone time for the princess of the night. Maybe after she got done with writing a scroll or labeling constellations, she would have her little private time; maybe carve out toys from the rocks and make them feel like a real colt. But then you realized how preposterous it was to think about someone like Luna to play with herself. You felt like she was way too good for that. You veered off that subject to see an armor-plated chest coming towards your fa-- oh boy. Not again.

Both you and the guard bumped into each other and took a couple of steps backwards from the impact. Seems that neither you nor the royal guard saw each other coming.

"Oh, jeez. Sorry. My bad. I didn't look where I was going," you apologized to the guard.

You were expecting a response like,"It's quite all right," or ,"You need to watch out next time," but instead you were given silence. You saw that the guard was just standing there, motionless, staring at you with those emerald eyes of hers. A bead of sweat was seen trickling down the side of her face. Then you noticed her helmet was on the floor. Probably dropped it when you two bumped into each other. You were waiting for her to pick it up and resume her walk, but she was still standing there like a statue. So, feeling like a nice guy, you walked over to her, picked up her helmet and tried to give it to her.

"You, umm, dropped your helmet," you said, confused about why the guard was showing no movement whatsoever. Then, slowly, she grabbed the helmet from your hands and put it on. She stared back at you, still as wide eyed as she was before, and then her lips started moving as to speak.

"T-t-t-thank you," she said in almost a whisper.

The guard began to walk in the opposite direction, until she stopped several meters past you to look at your face one last time before disembarking. You couldn't tell, but you could see her lips form a small smile before she resumed her duties. You were about to start resuming your walk to the mess hall, when all of a sudden you caught a glimpse of something at the corner of your eye. You did a one-eighty turn to see that guard's armor plated rump, and thank the pony gods that you did, for it was one hell of a keister. You almost felt sorry for that armor piece dealing with the pressure put on it from that posterior. What a shame your heart belonged to another, though.

You turned back around and began walking, and while doing so, you murmured under your breath,"Not bad."

Five more minutes later...

The mess hall...

A deep rumble can be felt from your stomach. You didn't really have much for lunch but half a PB&J and water, and what they serve here doesn't really help your cravings. In your world, you were given the nickname 'The Carnivore,' for your taste consisted of all kinds of beef, pork, chicken and fish. To you, vegetables was only an option that you rarely ever took. But of course, that was in your world. Equestria has a whole 'nother set of standards when it comes to what ponies eat. Literally every pony was a vegetarian, like it or not. It always made you wonder how the muscular colts are able to keep their figure if their diet consists of only salads and greens. Big Mac especially.

Anyway, the mess hall is usually packed with the royal guards switching shifts before and after supper. When one goes, another comes in. It was kinda like an ant work system going on here. Everything flowed smoothly without any bumps or obstacles hindering the path. This was a little unsettling to you since you're pretty much the odd one out of this place. You could be easily picked out of a crowd.

Your stomach started rumbling again, so you went in line to get yourself something decent to have for supper. The mess hall mare, as a lot of ponies like to call her, was a very nice pony to talk to when getting your food. Sometimes, the line will stop because of someone starting a conversation with her, which really isn't such a good idea, because of the "ant work system" flow of this place. As you got your tray and began sliding it along the counter to get your daily dose of greens and water, something else dropped on your tray. It wasn't greens, carrots, or even a single piece of kale. It was a large piece of what seemed to be.....steak.

You couldn't believe it. It was steak. A legitimate, fine cut piece of lean, seasoned, grilled beef, is on your tray. You wondered if you were dreaming, if you were having delusions. It has been too long since you had anything with meat on it, and to have it on this day after all the craziness that happened, you felt like this was a secret gift from the heavens. Your mouth was becoming a waterfall, unable to hold in the drool that the steak was giving you. It was then you were given a note from the mess hall mare, and before you were about to read it, the guard next to you bumped you a bit on your shoulder, signifying that you were holding up the line. Putting the note in your pocket, you continued down the line and grabbed a cup of fresh, sparkling water and proceeded to find a table to sit and eat this behemoth of meat on your tray. Of course, it didn't go unnoticed by any of the other guards in the mess hall, as they stopped eating their salads and drinking their water to stare at the piece of steak.

As you sat down, you knew that it was silent in the room, as all of the royal guards were still staring at that hunk of beef on your tray. A lot of them had their eyes wide open, some with their mouths agape, and even a couple were drooling. It didn't seem like they had seen something like what you had in forever. Remember when you were the odd one of the mess hall? Well, case and point.

It started to make you uncomfortable with the way people were looking at only you and your steak, so you decided to snap your fingers a couple of times to get them out of the hypnosis that every pony seemed to be in right now. It looked like it work, for most were going back to finishing their supper while others were still gawking at your dish. You grabbed your fork and knife, but before you started to cut into the meat of this beast, you remembered the note the mess hall mare gave to you. Taking it out of your pocket, you looked at it more closely and saw the seal of what appeared to be a sun.

Celestia.

Opening the envelope, you pulled out the letter inside and began reading it, word for word.

My Dearest Janitor,

I felt it be necessary that you have as much protein as you can store for tomorrow's job. While the bracelet may make your work easier to handle, I thought it would help more if the cleaner himself were to be full of energy by the time he begins his work. Oh, and please don't let this poor thing go to waste. This order was *not** an easy task to get validated. Eat up and best of luck to you tomorrow!*

Sincerely,

Princess Celestia

You stared at the note, then back to the steak, then back to the note, then back to the steak again.

Celestia must have pulled some *serious** strings to get this thing on my tray,* you thought.

You turned your head to the mess hall mare, who gave you a wink, knowing what that steak was really for. It sent a chill down your spine for some reason.

Probably because some pony might be missing a cow in their ranch.

Now you felt like you couldn't eat the large piece of steak because of that thought, but your stomach said otherwise. So, picking up your fork and knife again, you began carving into the piece of beef and knew from the juices leaking out of the piece you were holding, this one was cooked to perfection. Taking that one bite might have been too much for you, for you were practically dying, trying to hold in the sweet, succulent, juicy flavor inside your mouth and failing miserably. It tasted like heaven; no, better, it tasted like SUPER-heaven! You could hear the angelic choir singing into your ears. The preacher was praising His name and all the good that He has done. Indeed, you were in super-heaven.

After that one bite, you knew you had to go for more, so picking up your utensils once more, you started cutting another piece to savor until there was nothing but the T-bone when all's said and eaten. You didn't say anything because the deliciousness of the steak was making you swallow your words, but in your mind, you said...

Thank you, Celestia. Thank you very much. Consider that job finished.

In her room, the royal guard known by all as Lunamme was at her sink, staring down at the drain after washing her face, breathing heavily. Her heart was like a giant stomping in a forest, every thump louder than the last. She slowly looked up at her reflection in the mirror, seeing those same emerald eyes that looked at you, but the body was different. Her skin wasn't an ash gray color, but rather a charcoal black with holes in her arms. Her mane was blue green and drooping like she emerged from the water, and wings like an insect were fluttering a tad on her back. The reflection looked at her and said in an eerie whisper...

"This is who you truly are..."