Chapter 1: a new assignment
"Ah Twister Slash, we bid you welcome." Princess Luna boomed as the light grey stallion entered the throne room.
I was the dead of night, and the only guards that stood in the hall were Luna's elite bat eared ponies of the night. Whatever mission she had for him must be secretive and important if she were to call him this late.
He didn't mind though, he loved the night it was his favorite time of day.
He bowed low, his black and red stripped mane falling in front of his eyes.
"Does thou knoweth of Tireks defeat at the hooves of Twilight Sparkle?" She asked him softer then she normally spoke.
"Yes, your highness." He replied, looking up to meet her eye.
"Then you are aware of the creation of the castle of friendship?"
"Ofc." He replied, standing up at attention.
"Very good. Then, you will know that since this development, many of our enemies have placed a price on our friend Twilight." She said gravely. "And as you know, her loss could very well mean the destruction of Equestria itself."
"So you want me to protect her?" He asked, glancing at the hilt of the sword that hung at his side.
"Quite. But I do not wish for her to know as she may give away your presence to any would be assassins." She nodded pleased that her faithful Warrior knew her whims so well. "That is why I've had you assigned as her castles janitor."
"Very well, your highness. I will be discreet and cautious."
"Thank you, dear friend." She bowed her head pleased with his response. "Prepare yourself and be on the earliest train to ponyville."
Twister nodded solemnly , turned, and walked back into the hall.
****
Twilight walked out of the castles' front doors and out into the early morning light.
Ponyville was always so quiet and quaint in the morning.
"What a beautiful morning," she said, almost singing it out.
Spike groaned as he followed her. "Yeah, yeah, I don't see why I had to meet the royal janitor, too." He grumbled half to himself. "You could have let me sleep in."
"But then you would have missed the beautiful sunrise." She pointed out, patting head as they walked.
"That's exactly what I wanted to do....." He shot back under his breath.
Twilight rolled her eyes and giggled. They walked down the quiet dirt road to the small train station. The ponyville express' whistle sounding as it pulled into the station.
They watched at the train doors opened, and a few early travelers walked out.
She looked around, expecting a snobby looking unicorn to step out and announce him or herself.
She was surprised to see a grey earthpony step out of the door. His mane was black with red stripes scattered across it, it was tied back in a small bun as was his tail, which seemed long for a stallion. His attire was an unassuming green jumpsuit stained in what looked like mud and cleaning supplies.
His face was chiseled, and firm a frowning expression made him look hard and unapproachable. But, his expression changed when he saw her his face breaking into a friendly smile that showed he wasn't as surly as he first looked.
"Hello, you must be princess Twilight. " He said, reaching to, she assumed shake her hoof. Extending it, he reached down and kissed it. "My name is Twister Sweep night shift janitor to canterlot castle."
Twilight was a bit shocked as nopony had greeted her in such an old-fashioned way before. "Oh, um, nice to meet you." She said a slight flush rushing to her cheeks.
"Princess Luna said that since my services were so fine that you would need my assistance keeping the castle of friendship up to standards." He said, mixing in a bit of truth with the story Luna at given him.
"Well, it definitely will be a relief. Spike can hardly keep up with the mess." She said, motioning to her number 1 assistant, who was currently eyeing Twister suspiciously.
"Nice to meet you." He said to the purple dragon, who held a claw out to the newcomer.
"Likewise." Spike pulled Twister in close and whispered. "Don't try anything funny. I'm watching you, pretty boy." He almost hissed the last word.
"I can assure you, my friend, I'm only here to help." He replied to the protective dragon.
"Spike, be nice; he was only being polite." Twilight said, giving her friend a look, clearly annoyed at his threat to their new janitor.
Spike rolled his eyes and turned to head to the castle.
******
Twister picked his suitcase up, placing it on the desk across the room from his bed, opening it. he pulled a few different jumpsuits out of it. A black one mixed into the stack poked out. He placed them in a drawer, closing it. You reached into the suit case, pulling a short sword out from it. He slid it between the bed and the wall hidden from view but where it could be grabbed at a moments notice.
"Hey, Mr Sweep!" Spikes voice echoed down the hallway.
Twister calmly placed his suitcase into the closet. Then, opened the door and walked to meet him.
"Yes, Spike?" He asked.
"Pinkie, let her party cannon off in the foyer again." Spike said calmly. "Could you clean up the confetti?"
"Ofc, I'll get right on it." He replied, reaching for the broom closet, which was conveniently across from his room, grabbing a broom and dust pan he rushed off to clean up the mess Pinkie had made.
Spike watched him run off, smiling evilly as he snug into the janitors room.
The room was mostly empty as he had barely had time to unpack. A picture frame sat on the dresser of an older mare and Stallion, his parents most likely.
Spike opened the dresser drawer, looking at the green jumpsuits stacked and folded neatly. "Ofc he wears the same thing every day." Spike said unimpressed. If this big city janitor thought himself worthy of Twilight's attention, it was Spike's job to determine if he could be trusted.
He pulled the jumpsuits up to see if anything was hidden under them but was disappointed to see the bottom of the drawer, not even noticing the black suit placed between the green ones.
Placing them back, he left the drawer and checked the closet, noticing the suitcase sitting unassumingly in it. Knowing his time was limited, he opened it quickly.
Nothing. Disappointed spike closed it and left the room after checking under the bed. Maybe the new janitor was just that a janitor.
******
Twilight sat in the library reading a book on the mysterious mating rituals of wendigos.
The library door creaked open, causing her to look up as Twister walked into the large room, an extendable duster on his belt and a broom in his hoof.
"Good evening, your highness." He said politely. "Don't mind me, I'm just here to dust."
"Call me Twilight, please." She replied, smiling sweetly. "We're friends, after all."
"Humility suits you, Twilight." He replied, matching her smile.
Turning, he pulled the duster out, spraying it with some cleaner before extending it and running it across each self of the bookshelves that lined the walls of the library.
"Soooo, how long have you been a janitor for?" Twilight asked as she watched him over the brim of her book.
"10 or so years." He replied. "It's nice, quiet work when everyone is asleep." He thought back to one long night just waiting for the right moment to strike his target, a posh upperclassmen who had enslaved ponies in his diamond mine. Celestia herself had ordered the hit. He still remembered the quiet, calm of the night as he waited.
"Do the royal libraries get as dusty, too?" Twilight asked, smiling as she watched him stare off.
"Oh, yes definitely!" He said abruptly snapped out of the memory. "I remember when I went on vacation, and there was a inch of dust in there because my replacement thought it wasn't important to dust old books."
"Disgusting......" Twilight growled quietly. "Do you read, Twister?"
"Yes, I love reading; it's the best way to relax." He nodded, recalling his favorite tale. "My favorites are Edgar Allen Pone's poems, just love the dark enthralling feeling of them."
"OH! I have just the book for you then!" She hopped up from her armchair, walking to one of the bookshelves next to the one Twister was dusting. Her magic cocconed a single volume and pulled it from the shelf she offered it to him.
Placing the duster down, he took it from her before being teleported to a nearby couch, Twilight sitting next to him. "Yikes, warn me first." He said, shocked at the suddenness of the teleportation.
"Here." She said, flipping to the first chapter. "It's really good. It's about a soldier questioning if the war he's waging is right or if his king is a tyrant."
"I take it you like this one if you're this excited to share it." He said, giving her a knowing smirk.
"I liked it so much. I read it twice!" She chirped back, grinning ear to ear. She curled up next to him as she started to read the first page.
He adjusted himself and began to read along with her. If someone had seen them, they'd have said that this was a commonplace occurrence for the two of them.
Chapter 2: Castle Life and Invisible Threats
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Chapter 2: Castle Life and Invisible Threats
"Ya know, Twilight, your castle's never been cleaner!" Applejack stated as she ran her hoof across the top of the Map Of Friendship. Amazed at the lack of dust on it. "Ya'll must be working Spike's tail right off 'im!"
"Actually the Princesses sent a royal janitor to take over the everyday chores," Twilight replied, giggling as her friend checked the head of her chair for dust. "Impressive isn't it?"
"I reckon, they must be a hard worker." She nodded, knowingly.
"Can we get on with the meeting?" Rainbow Dash interrupted, "Cause I've got to get to wonderbolts HQ after this and I'm not showing up late again!"
"Daaarrlling, if you were half as fast as you claim then I don't see how you're ever late?" Rarity said, intentionally sarcastically lilting her voice to Irritate her friend.
Rainbow, used to her jabs, ignored her. "So can we please continue?"
The door opened as Twister popped his head in. "Twilight there's a blue unicorn in the kitchen, turning everything into teacups, should I be worried?"
All the girl's heads turned at the new janitor's masculine voice.
"Oh, my word darling you didn't tell me it was a male janitor!" Rarity said, eyeing the stallion with an obvious hunger in her eyes.
Twister stepped into the room walking over to Twilight, before she could answer his question her friends swarmed him.
"Goodness look at the muscles on him!" Applejack declared, loudly.
"Bet ya, you might be able to keep up with even me~," Rainbow Dash said, nudging him with a knowing wink.
"Do you think you could help me lift an oven to my room? Big Mac already turned me down." Pinkie Pie said, giving him puppy dog eyes.
"Maybe when you're done dusting Twilight's books you could come to clean my cobwebs out....." Rarity said, flashing her eyelashes at him.
"But Rarity your house is cleaner than Canterlot Castle's Throne room!" Pinkie said, giving her a look.
"Shut up!" Rarity hissed back.
"Oh my, girls please you're crowding him!" Fluttershy said a bit upset by all the noise trying desperately to pull them away.
Twilight irked by all the excitement ignited her horn placing her friends back in their crystal seats. "Quiet!" She stated firmly. As the mares relaxed she took a breath. "Girls this is Twister Sweep, former Royal Janitor of Canterlot, he's in charge of maintaining the Castles upkeep and helping Spike."
"Hmmm Darling the way you're guarding him I'd say he's probably in charge of maintaining your upkeep too~" Rarity said, giving Twilight a knowing wink.
Twilight's face turned pink enough to shine. "What! I! Huh!"
Twister a bit amused winked at Rarity and replied; "Let's just say she's more than welcome to come in for a tune-up......"
"TWISTER!" Twilight gasped, shocked at his flirtatious comment, her face red as an apple.
"Hah! Why didn't you tell us the Princesses hooked you up with a live-in booty call, Twilight?" Rainbow asked enjoying her friend's embarrassment.
"Rainbow! That's inappropriate!" Fluttershy scolded, her giggling friend trying to hold back giggles herself to spare Twilight's feelings.
"Not have as inappropriate as what you and Discord were doing last we-!" Pinkie's thought was abruptly cut short by Fluttershy stuffing a cupcake into her mouth.
"Heh, bet Twilight's new favorite book is fifty shades of grey," Rainbow said, referring to Twister's coat, causing the five mares to giggle.
"That's it! OUT!" Twilight said, throwing the 5 giggling mares out the doors into Ponyville, having had enough teasing for one day.
*******
"I'm so sorry about them they don't know when to quit," Twilight said, apologetically as the two ponies walked to the kitchen.
"It's ok I've been teased for less." He replied opening the door for her.
"Starlight I did it!!" A light blue-maned pony exclaimed as she held up a full tea set.
"Very good, Trixe now try turning it back into a blender," Starlight said, smiling at her bestie's delighted expression.
"Here we go!" Trixie's horn ignited and with a flash a teacup appeared. "Not again....."
Twilight chuckled walking over as she turned the pile of teacups back into her kitchen supplies. "Well done, At this rate, you'll be able to conjure the tea too!"
"Oh hey, Twilight, who's your friend?" She replied, "and is he single?" She added in a whisper.
"This is Twister." She answered Rolling her eyes, why did every pony act like he was Big Mac's sexy cousin? "He's the new janitor, he thought you were a threat to the kitchenware."
Starlight shook his hoof. "Nice to meet you, I'm Starlight Glimmer, resident apprentice of friendship."
"And I'm the Great and Powerful Trixie!" Trixie cried lighting fireworks around her head. "Twilight's far superior rival and bestie of her apprentice."
"Trixie we talked about the showboating," her friend whispered, "it does not impress."
"Oh I mean, Trixie is pleased to meet you." She corrected herself quickly.
"It's a pleasure to meet you both." He said, smiling with a nod and a firm hoof shake. "Let me know if there's any mess I can clear up for you."
The two mares nodded happily to meet the newest addition to the castle. "Well, I guess I'll get to work then let me know if you need me Twilight." He said, before walking back into the hallway.
When he was well out of earshot Trixie nudged Twilight; "You have a crush on him don't you?!" Her face was giddy with excitement.
"Oh no not you, too!" Twilight gasped in frustration.
"Don't bullshit, Trixie, it's clear as the nose on your face!" She shot back.
"It was pretty obvious, Twilight," Starlight adds, "haven't seen you that lovesick since Flash Sentry...."
"Please don't remind me of that," Twilight said glaring at her friends.
"Trixie thinks you should ask him out!" She hopped up and down, "you could go to the fanciest place to eat and dance all night!"
"That's not exactly Twilight's dream date but I do agree with Trixie you should ask him out," Starlight said placing a hoof on Twilight's shoulder. "He's probably too nervous to ask you seeing as you're his boss technically."
"Eep! I hadn't thought of that!" Twilight gasped in horror her mind racing; "what if he thinks I'm harassing him?! What if he doesn't like me back and goes back to canterlot!"
"Oh is this the 'Twilighting' that Pinkie Pie told us about?" Trixie said as her friend collapsed into a blubbering mess of exaggerated overthinking.
"Me and my big mouth......"
*********
"So tell me why we're unaliving the new princess?" A huge minotaur asked his boss, a small but scrappy diamond dog.
"Because she's gonna inherit the Throne from Celestia right?" He replied to his brutish muscle. "And if she's not around to inherit the Throne that means there will be chaos trying to find a new ruler, then we can steal all sorts of things as the ponies' economy collapses."
"Oh, yeah that makes sense...." He scratched his head thinking. "But what's an economy?"
"Uuugh don't worry about it, Just get in here." The two of them scrambled up the rope they had thrown in one of the castle's windows.
"Oh boy oh boy I'm so excited." The minotaur said as the two of them snuck through the hallways of the castle.
"Yeah yeah just shut up or they'll catch us." They were too focused on their goal to notice that a shadow was silently following them. "Once we reach the kitchen I'll pour this poison into her food and make our escape." The diamond dog pulled it out of his pocket as he peeked into the kitchen.
Twister had heard enough and leaped forward knocking the 2 thugs off their feet. "Oi! What gives!" Was the last thing the minotaur could say before a whirlwind engulfed them and rush them down the hallway.
Twister was suddenly in front of them as they were flung down the hallway, he was dressed in a black uniform that cover him head to toe, only his Auburn eyes were visible as he pulled his ninjato blade from a sheath on his back, swinging it he killed both intruders instantly and painlessly.
He flattened his body and a burst of wind shot him past the two flying bodies, he landed against the wall above a door, his hooves almost denting it, he flung the door open suddenly as the two dead Miscreants were shot through it he dropped down and leaped through it.
He landed next to a tree and reached into its branches pulling out a shovel he quickly dug a hole and buried the two. "That's why Luna sent me." He said quickly sneaking back inside. "Twilight didn't enough notice....." an idea tickled his brain and he trotted off to find the resident alicorn bookworm.
_______________________
"__So you see I thought an early warning spell would help us know when your friends were here," Twister said, proposing his idea to her. "And if one of your enemies showed up it would alert us to them."
"That's true I'll have to look through my books.... or just ask Starlight if she knows of one." Twilight shook her head; "I swear she's a walking spellbook some days. Oh what if Pinkie Pie wants to surprise me with a party would that ruin it?"
"From what I've seen of her I think she'd enjoy the challenge....." He replied chuckling at the memory of her horrified expression when she realized he had cleaned up his surprise party, right before she had exploded another out of her single cannon, he wondered if being prepared for anything was a normal thing for her.
"True she does enjoy a challenge." She paused her face growing a bit red; "also I was wondering... if... well you'd like to maybe go see more of ponyville.. maybe get to know each other better?" She shyly pawed the ground waiting for his answer.
He sat there his mind racing, 'I guess there's no harm in it It will let me stay close to her to protect her....' he thought gulping at the thought of the two of them on a date, he'd considered the idea but he normally put aside romantic feeling and his duty to the Throne was first and foremost, but then again, Twilight was a princess accepting a date with her was both his duty and his pleasure. Nothing wrong with enjoying his job.
"I'd love to." He stated a smile on his normally grim face.
Twilight lost her composure squealed and hugged him overcome by excitement. He squeezed her close thinking she smelled of paper and coffee, it was pleasant.
Author's Note
Trying to really focus on characterization in this and hone my writing skills.
Please forgive any Mistakes this is the first thing I've written in years.
Also trying to not make my oc's Mary Su types. I want their flaws to show cause flaws are what drive a story.
Thanks for any support and for reading.
Hope you enjoy my story