A Janitor's Duty

Sweat was trickling down your cheeks. Your heart was beating at a rapid pace. Your eyes were wide open and darting back and forth. Your ears amplified the sound of close footsteps that are right behind you. You didn't know who it was, but you wanted him or her to back off or they'll get some of your karate that you learned from some old Luce Bree movies. Yet the footsteps were getting louder and louder, as was your heartbeat. It always that one feeling you hate happening to you. One that happened to you occasionally when you were back on Earth.

It was the feeling of being followed.

It was strange, because this feeling didn't really happen to you during the first weeks after your arrival to Equestria. Sure there was your secret admirer, but she or (hopefully not) he is in the file of people watching you, which you believed was slightly different from someone following you. But back to the matter at hand.

Your paranoia was skyrocketing. Your hands were shaking in your pockets. You felt like you were losing breath; like your were going to throw up. Then it was like everything stood still when you felt a tap-tap on your right shoulder. Without hesitation, you yanked out your right hand and then quickly spun 180 degrees to your follower, ready to chop his/her neck and render them unconscious. Your hand stopped only centimeters from the neck of a familiar face. Then your eyes gained focus on the person, realizing that it wasn't a person. You noticed the purple scales, the emerald eyes, the long tail, and the nervous voice.

"W-w-whoa man! Take it easy! It's me!" It took a few seconds to realize who it was. It was your best friend, your brother from another mother, the..well..only purple dragon to exist in Ponyville...

"Oh, Spike, it's just you," you said with a sigh of relief as you took your hand away from his neck.

You and him have been real good friends for a couple of weeks, mainly because of Twilight dragging him along to the Canterlot Plaza to gather some products for her assignments. You didn't want to admit it, but the teen years on Spike looked really good on him. Wasn't a few months ago that he was about two-thirds your height. You once peeked through a book whilst dusting the shelves in the Royal Library about dragons and how their age rate is faster than ponies. That bit of information was all you could understand from that book. The rest was how they mated and the birth rate and other things you didn't want to get into.

Spike's personality didn't change a bit, but his outward appearance sure did. He went from wearing a plain t-shirt and shorts to chains, overcoats and pants. You felt like it suited him well. It was nice to see him again, but then something came to mind.

"Wait. It's just you?"

Spike wiped the sweat from his forehead and answered your concerning question with a small sigh.

"Yeah, it's me. T-t-that's not weird or anything, is it?"

"Oh no, not at all. It's just that normally I see you here with Twilight running some errands. Speaking of which, where is she exactly?"

"She's been REALLY busy with all the assignments given to her by Princess Celestia, she doesn't have time to even have a simple breakfast in the morning. It's been really exhausting for her and the same for ME. Not a day goes by now that I get a break from having to burp out scroll after scro--"

It was then Spike started to look like he was choking on something. His stomach began to swell; tears building up on the side of his eyes; his cheeks becoming crimson in color. Then, with one loud (and rather impressive) belch, a small green flame erupted from his mouth, and then that flame emanated into a small scroll, wrapped in a crimson ribbon and sealed with a golden patch with a sun on it. No doubt it was from Celestia. The scroll then landed in his open palm. Spike set aside two small coughs into his left arm whilst putting away the scroll in his pocket.

"See what I mean, man? I don't know what Celestia's been making Twilight do with all these assignments, but I don't even think this is healthy for me to keep burping these scrolls out," he said wiping away the would-be tears from his eyes and letting out one more small cough. He wanted to continue on the conversation of what you and him were doing here in the Plaza.

"Anyway, what are you doing here at this hour? I thought your shift doesn't end till dusk," he wondered.

"Well, I managed to get everything cleaned up today, so I was able to get off early. All I know is that my work today will seem like child's play tomorrow because of the REAL task given to me by her highness."

"Really now? What's the princess of the sun have you doing now? Scrubbing the bathroom tiles with a toothbrush? Sanitizing the sauna? Removing every bit of lint from the carpet in the dining room?" Spike was throwing guesses left and right at you. You didn't know how to approach the job given to you, so you decided to say it straight-up.

"Cleaning the entire throne room from the floor to the ceiling," you said puffing your chest to pretend you were as manly as Big Mac (and failing). However, the response was what you expected from your purple-scaled friend.

"No. Way. Are you for real?" Spike said with his jaw slightly agape at what you have said, yet he continued to know about how it is even possible for a human like you to accomplish such a task. "B-b-but how will you even do something like that? Surely the princess can't assume you are capable of cleaning the entire throne room all by yourself!" He wanted to deny it, but the bells of truth still rang in his ears, and you were about to ring them again with what you said next.

"Oh, she assumed alright. But of course, she didn't want to make it near impossible for me to do this job. She gave me this, uhh..." your words trailed off as to what you were about to say could be dangerous to tell anyone. It now felt like a very dirty secret that you had to keep from telling anyone. Reminds you of your neighbor back on Earth who was paranoid that the government was watching his every move, and pretty much everything that existed was a trick.

You never really did get acquainted with that guy. Thank God you didn't.

However, you had to say something to Spike of how you were going to pull off cleaning the throne room all by your lonely self. You didn't know whether to tell him the truth or sugarcoat it with a small fib. He was your best friend after all, but you heard about Chrysalis and her ability to disguise. It was at this point you couldn't tell who you could trust anymore.

ARRRGH! Snap OUT of it, man! your mind yelled, arguing with itself, Spike's practically your brother. Besides, he'll think you made the whole thing up if you don't tell him *something*. Now think. Think. Think!

Your mind pondered for a moment to think of the right words to put together, and then you had an idea: blur the image. You were going to tell him what item you are given to use in order to clean the throne room from top to bottom, but you weren't going to go into detail about said item. So, gathering yourself after that moment of awkward silence, your lips finally began to move.

"She gave me this...special trinket. Hopefully it'll be of great help in my task to making the throne room spotless. For I need that place clean before the big ball," you managed to keep your sentences from falling apart, although there was a bit of sweat trickling down from your sideburns, but you didn't think Spike saw that. He then put his index finger on his lips and resting his left elbow on his right hand, taking the information given to him by you and checked to see if all what you said was the truth. The one thing bothering him though was the lack of detail given about the "special trinket" you said. So, stubborn as he was now, he asked you about it.

"Special trinket, huh? What KIND of trinket, might I ask? Sorry, curiosity is at its peak right now."

You didn't know what to make of that question. You couldn't tell him everything about the bracelet, for then he'll want to see it for himself. You had no choice but to hide the info from him by making sure the image stays blurred for him.

"Well, th-th-the thing is...I can't really tell you what it is. For that would break my promise to Celestia."

Spike's eyes widened a bit at what you had said. He knew that making any promise with either princess would mean any and all ponies alike should back off from the subject. For Lord knows what would happen if anypony found out about the promise you kept. Banishment from Equestria would come to mind for most, and it certainly did for Spike. Sweat began to trickle down from the side of his face.

"Oh, why didn't you say so? If I had known about your promise to the princess of the sun, I would've gotten off that subject minutes ago. Sorry if I was being nosy. Didn't think you made a promise on such a high level."

Yeah no...you didn't.

You knew what you said scared him off the subject, which means you're able to keep the know how about the bracelet between you and Celestia. You wanted to let out a huge sigh of relief, but you had to look like you were maintaining control of the conversation. So you held it in and said to your friend...

"Oh, it's fine. Nothing to worry about, really. You were just curious. That's all. There's no harm with being a little curious about something, excluding the promise to the princess, of course."

"Right, right," Spike said with a nervous chuckle, wiping away the small beads of sweat from his head.

You then realized that you two had spent a good while on what you yourself was going to do tomorrow. So now you wanted to hear your friends side of the conversation. You then popped the question, trying to avoid anything that would make the situation more awkward than it already was.

"A-A-Anyway...what brings you to the Plaza? Twilight got you doing errands while she works on the many assignments given to her?"

Spike quickly realized why he was here and responded just as fast,"Oh, right! I was supposed to go get some rubies and emeralds from a nearby jewelry store so she can practice focusing her magic or something. Luckily, I know the shop owner there, and she owes me a favor after what happened last Thursday. Gotta feel sorry for the husband."

"O-O-Okay then. Unnecessary information, but thanks anyway for the info," your eyes looked away from your friend for a moment.

Spike then blushed after realizing that last sentence that slipped out. "Hehe, sorry. Spoke my mind there. Happens sometimes.."

It was then you realized you actually still had somewhere to go. You were still on your quest to get another alarm clock. So you intervened on the subject.

"Speaking of stores, I actually need to get to the clockwork shop further down the Plaza. Think they're gonna close in an hour, so I should get going."

"Yeah, me too," Spike said, rubbing the back of his scaly mo-hawk.

"So...it was nice talking to ya."

"Likewise"

A whole minute passed by while the two of you were avoiding each other's eyes. Neither of you wanted to say another word, because it was going to get weirder and weirder if the conversation continued on any further. So you decided to make the first move and began to walk the other way. Spike followed your plan and started walking away as well. The two of you waved each other goodbye and you were heading off to the clockwork shop.

Fifteen minutes later...

Upon passing the two doors of the clockwork shop, one of the doors being open, a wealthy couple heard a loud yell coming from the front of the counter and began to speed off to avoid whatever's going on there. The only thing they heard from that ruckus was you screaming...

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T HAVE ANY MORE ALARM CLOCKS!?"