A Janitor's Duty

You came into eye contact with your inner conscience, staring at you within your slightly cracked mirror, alerting you to his presence with his loud, grizzled, drill sergeant voice. You knew that he would be back when you needed him, but you didn't think it would be so soon on the same day. You wondered why he was here again, for you didn't feel like you needed him right now. So you asked the reflection...

"Oh, it's you again. Didn't think I would be seeing you twice on the same day," you said with a casual voice as you were beginning to sit down on the edge of your mattress, cautiously putting your newly found tuxedo to the side.

"What, you thought an inner conscience only appears once a day, you lily-livered f*ck!?" the reflection aggressively asked.

"You know what? Yeah, I did. Is that a problem for you?" you were aggressive back. You wanted to feel like you were in control. Although in a real world sense, it would be very unwise to talk back to a drill sergeant. But this was your inner conscience in a reflection you're talking to. Basically you're talking to you. You felt that you at least should have a saying in all this commotion.

The reflection responded,"I WOULD like to make a death threat to you for talking back to your conscience, but at least I remember my place and purpose, unlike YOU!"

You were slightly puzzled by what your reflection said.

"What are you talking about?" you asked.

"Think, what would happen if you DIDN'T go through that portal?"

It took you a few seconds to think of an answer,"I don't know, guess I'd still be with my friends and fam--" your last word dropped.Your eyes started to widen and your jaw slightly dropped as you discovered the horrid realization.

You couldn't go back to your friends and family. *You couldn't go back to Earth.***

Those words hit you like a taser to the chest. You've been living in Equestria for a good four weeks and that never hit you before it was too late. Now you looked down to the cold, cracked floor, feeling as though you were going to cry. Then your reflection spoke again.

"Son, if I were there, I would've told you to turn back and walk away from that portal. I really would've," he said, trying to at least give you the confidence that dropped and shattered to the ground like a priceless vase.

"So why didn't you?" you nearly choked on those words, as the sides of your eyes began to emanate tears.

"Two things: 1. I'm only able to speak to you via reflections, which there wasn't any puddle or mirror where the portal was..."

The reflection had a point. The day you found it was in the woods you lived nearby, and it was a fairly dry day.

"...2. Even if I were to show up, you wouldn't listen. Your curiosity was at it's peak at that time. There was nothing I could do to stop you from entering that portal."

You started to wipe away the would-be tears from your face before they even began to roll down your cheeks and sniffled one time.

"But enough of that drama, it's time to get to the real matter at hand," the reflection said, as he pointed to something next to you."The real reason I appeared was to tell you about that monkey suit on your bed."

"What about it?" you asked.

"Do you even KNOW who sent it to you?"

You shrugged.

"Look at that card again and see who it's from."

You picked up the card from the empty box the tux came from and read aloud the last two lines of it.

Sincerely,

Your Secret Admirer

"Now who exactly would BE this 'secret admirer'?" the reflection asked you.

"I don't know. It could be anypony for all I know," you said in an honest response.

"Exactly," he said.

"Wait. I'm still confused..." you had no idea what he was getting at.

The reflection groaned at your oblivious face and clarified for you,"Listen with those flippers you call ears, son. What I'm trying to get at here is that there is somepony out there WATCHING you!"

Now that indeed was a scary thought. You never liked the thought of someone watching you from afar. It would always make you feel tense and frightened. One time on Earth, you felt like somebody was watching you as you were heading home. You were so paranoid, that when a friend of yours tapped you on the shoulder, you did not hesitate to land a fist on his face, knocking out some teeth and breaking his nose. You were like an unsuspecting horse when someone comes up behind you. You wondered if you and your friend were still square. But back to the important matter at hand. You responded to the reflection's claim...

"Well, I guess I'll have to watch my back then. So is that all you wanted to talk about, or is there more on your plate that needs to be served?" You wanted to get anything important taken care of so that the reflection won't have to pop up at random, giving you a near heart attack.

"There is one more thing, yes," the reflection admitted. He then pointed back to the tux on your bed."It's about that tux over there."

"What about the tux!?" you said in a slightly aggravated tone, for this was the second time he mentioned your fancy new tuxedo.

"Is that ALL you're going to have at the ball? How are you going to woo the mare of your dreams (no pun intended) with only that piece of cotton and silk!? You're going to need to present yourself a lot more if you want Luna to even notice you!"

"What do you mean?"

"Cologne, breath spray, hair gel, hair cut, nail clippers! Need I go on!?"

"I-I-I-I-I think you got your point across, thanks," you said as you were trying to silence the mild ringing in your ears from the yelling the reflection was giving you.

"But wait," you began to question."How am I supposed to get all this stuff in one day? Even with the pay I'm getting, I still can't afford the products within the Canterlot area."

"Oh really, is that so? Well, SOMEBODY better check their nightstand drawer!" the reflection said, pointing to it on the left side of your bed.

Without talking back, you went ahead and opened the drawer and was amazed to discover what was in it. It was a small bag of bits. However these weren't just any bits. Oh no, they were a higher form of currency known as blutes. These were sapphire gems that are equal to nearly a thousand bits! Very rare, and the only currency that is Canterlot-restricted, blutes are for the high paying kind of ponies that insists you keep the change. Only ever few ponies possessed these rare minerals, and yet here they were in a bag, in your nightstand drawer, in your small room. Speaking of which...

"Well, I certainly don't remember having this in my drawer. Wondered how they got here..." you began to ponder how this bag of rare gems just happened to end up in your room. You started to grow suspicious. It was then you saw a card on the end of the string attached to the bag. Maybe that would give you the answer. You carefully removed it and examined it. It was another note from your secret admirer, which read:

I knew that my previous gift wouldn't be enough to please whom you seek. Perhaps this will further aid your attempts to find 'the one.' I do not ask for anything in return. Just your appreciation.

Sincerely,

Your Secret Admirer

Now you really began to get curious as to who this secret admirer character might be, and how she managed to do all this for you. But the reflection came in and stopped your thinking process.

"Well, would you look at that!? Seems that you have enough to get the things you'll need to impress the princess of the night!"

"Yeah, I guess I do. But I'll have to do it Thursday after I'm done cleaning the throne room. Doing it today wouldn't be such a good choice on my part," you said.

"Fair enough, but there is ONE thing you'll need today..."

"What?" you wondered. The reflection then pointed to the shattered remains of what used to be your clock. You almost completely forgot about that. You still needed one to wake up in time for work, even though the ringing drives you up the wall. "Oh yeah..." you finally said.

So, grabbing a bit of bits from the top of the dresser and getting your shoes on, you began to head out so you could get yourself a new clock that hopefully will last more than a day. But before opening the door, you turned to the reflection and asked him a question.

"Hey, do you think I'll run into my secret admirer on the way to the shop?" you honestly said that to joke around, but you at least wanted an answer from him.

"I'm your inner conscience, son. I know as much as you know," he replied.

You shrugged as you headed out from your room and out to the 'great outdoors' to....the Canterlot Plaza.

Upon the door to your room closing, the reflection returned to the mirror with a smirk and ,with his voice changing, he said,"Actually, I tend to know a lot more than you know..." He then blinked, his eyes now yellow with red pupils. Perhaps your inner conscience isn't your inner conscience after all...