//------------------------------// // Chapter 8 The Return of Dr. Arachnid // Story: Super Stallion // by PioneerofImagination //------------------------------// Sapphire Shores was in her dressing room getting ready for yet another concert and as usual, tried to make it so everything was perfect. As she was putting on the last of her make up there was a knock on the door. "Come in!"   "Um Sapphire, somepony came to see you." "Excuse me?" Sapphire said, turning to face the stage manager that entered her room.  "Somepony wants to talk to you."  "Who in their right mind thinks they can just show up right when I'm about due to go on stage to talk with me?" "The one that stopped your last concert from being a complete disaster." "Let him in,” Sapphire said after a pause. Super Stallion entered the room and the stage manager then closed the door despite other ponies wishing to talk to Super Stallion as well. When they were alone, Sapphire Shores kissed Super Stallion right on the lips to his surprise.  "What was that for?" Super Stallion asked shocked about getting kissed but still rather enjoyed it. However like the last time he still wished it was the lips of another mare. "I can't thank you enough for saving me from that crazy pony." "It's funny you mentioned that, because I want to talk to you about Dr. Arachnid." "What do you mean?" Suddenly the pony of pop's face went from excited and happy to worried and afraid. "Do you think it's a good idea to put on another concert as well as starting a tour with him still on the loose?" "Oh that, well you don't need to worry about that, I've beefed up security ever since last time. Besides, even if he does show up you can stop him."  "Yes I probably could, but I can't be here every time."  "I know that. Listen I really appreciate you checking up on me but I can take care of myself. Last time he caught me but if he shows up again, I'll show him a thing or 2." Sapphire Shores then punched the air several times with her front hooves to look tough in front of her super crush. "All right if you think you'll be okay."   "Though if you really want to make sure I'm alright, you could always stick around." Sapphire Shores started to rub the tip of her hoof on Super Stallion's chest. She tried to kiss him again but this time, Super Stallion gently pushed her back to stop her. "Is something wrong?" "I'm flattered really, but I'm interested in somepony else."  "Oh, really?" Sapphire asked, disappointed.  "Yes, I hope you aren't too upset." "No I'm all right, if it's okay to ask who is the lucky mare?" "Princess Celestia." Hearing that Sapphire laughed nearly so loud ponies from outside the room could hear her. "I should have figured, just about every stallion in Canterlot heck all of Equestria has a crush on Princess Celestia." "Ms. Shores 2 minute warning!" The stage manager yelled after knocking on the door.  "OKAY BE RIGHT THERE HONEY! I have to get ready so I can't really talk any more." Super Stallion then quickly made his way out as Sapphire Shores made her way to the mirror to put the last few touches on her makeup. "I honestly expected him to show up at this point. I'm glad nothing's happened to ruin my tour but it's only a matter of time before he shows up again."   *** Super Stallion after failing yet again to find the 3 abnormal trouble makers headed for the castle for another day of cleaning. Squeaky headed for a room that got rather messy at the end of his last shift. But when he got there, the room was near spotless. "What happened? This place looks spotless?" "Thank you," a voice right behind Squeaky that he didn't recognize said. "Who are you? And what happened to that broom?" "I'm Swift Sweep, nice to meet you. And I have no idea. I think a student for Celestia's school for Gifted Unicorns did that or something." "Well Swift Sweep I see you've already met Squeaky Clean and vice versa," Stone Wall who recently entered the room said.  "Um Stone Wall, who exactly is this pony?" "I already told you, I'm Swift Sweep, nice to meet you." Swift Sweep then offered his hoof and Squeaky shook it. "He's our new janitor." "Huh?"  "A while back I had a talk with Princess Celestia about you. I explained to her that all these long hours were screwing with your head." "Screwing with my head?!" Squeaky replied, almost offended. Stone Wall gave Squeaky, a somewhat light tap on his head. "Don't interrupt. Princess Celestia and I noticed it and I figured it would help if you had a few shorter working hours. She was thinking about hiring another janitor anyway so here he is." Stone Wall then turned his head to Swift Sweep and Squeaky did as well. "Hi I'm Swift Sweep." Swift Sweep then offered his hoof again to Squeaky Clean. "You already said that," Squeaky replied confused as to why he was repeating himself.  "Yeah but you forgot my name earlier so I figured it would help if I said it again. Hi I'm Swift Sweep." Swift Sweep then stretched out his hoof a little more. "Just shake it already Squeaky." Squeaky did as Stone Wall said and then Swift Sweep got back on all 4 hooves. "Well see you 2 later I'm off to do more sweeping." Swift Sweep then flew down the hallway a few feet in the air but still low enough for the broom that he's holding to sweep the floor.  "He's gonna help out with the cleaning but don't think that means you get to slack off." Stone Wall then ordered Squeaky to clean a different part of the castle.  "So I have a little trouble balancing my regular life with being a superhero, everypony would. But that doesn't mean Stone Wall had to get another janitor. We already have enough.” Squeaky then made his way to Princess Celestia’s chambers to clean their as well. However when he got there, he found that Swift Sweep had beaten him there and was chatting it up with the princess.  "Oh hello Squeaky have you met Swift Sweep?"  "Yeah we've met," Squeaky answered rather bluntly.  "Here to clean?" The princess asked. "Yes I'll get right on it."  "Oh no it's alright Swift Sweep took care of it, so if you don't have anything else to clean why not go on your break early?" "Can I go on my break too princess?" "Of course you can Swift Sweep, you did an excellent job." Princess Celestia then patted Swift Sweep on the head a little. Seeing that made Squeaky hold his mop a bit more tighter.  She never patted my head. Swift Sweep and Squeaky Clean then made their way out of the royal chambers when the princess said she was going to take a nap. "Have you been working here for long?" Swift Sweep asked. "Yeah a while, why?"  "When you first met Princess Celestia did you think it was just wind at first too?" "Excuse me?" "That thing with her hair. What's the deal it's like it's alive, is it?" "I…don't know. I never really asked her about that. I just kind of figured it was alicorn magic or something."  "Oh, I guess that makes sense, since she's an alicorn. Wanna take our breaks together?” "Maybe next time," Squeaky answered rather coldly.  "Oh, alright then. Oh wait,” Swift Sweep said as he stopped out of nowhere. “I forgot to clean the outside of the castle as well,” Swift Sweep then flew out the window to do just that. Squeaky then made his way to the break room. "That is a strange pony. There's no way I'm letting that weirdo do a better job than me. When my break is over I'm cleaning this whole castle from top to bottom." When his break was finished Squeaky went straight to work determined not to be outshined. "So you finished already," Stone Wall said looking after the floor Squeaky finished in record time. Squeaky was actually really proud to have cleaned it so quickly until Stone Wall said. "not your best work." "Huh?" Squeaky then saw several spots that weren't quite as clean as they usually were when he finished cleaning a room. But since he was going so fast he didn't notice and the pride he was feeling before all but vanished. "Oh, I'll get those spots right now."  "No it's fine, I'll have Swift Sweep get it, he said he finished early so he's not really doing anything at the moment. You have other places that need cleaning." Squeaky still wanted to clean but knew enough not to argue with Stone Wall and left. Soon his shift came to an end and so with nothing else to do he decided to become Super Stallion and look for any problem that requires his attention.   "This hasn't been my best day. I really hope one of the troublemakers finally shows up again with something that needs smashing." Super Stallion looked around and spotted Sapphire Shores in the shopping area of Canterlot and saw several bodyguards to stop her fans from crowding her as he flew past her.  "Those outfits Rarity made for me and my backup dancers were just perfect. I just have to find something for her to show my gratitude." Sapphire Shores rapidly looked through a line of clothes trying to find something to give to Rarity. "Wait, maybe I'm thinking this all wrong. Why send a fashion designer clothing? Maybe I can thank her by giving her more things to make for me. That should also help her get more attention in the fashion community, it’s a win win."  "Well isn't that kind hearted of you." Sapphire Shores quickly turned around and to her fear, saw none other than Dr. Arachnid. Her bodyguards quickly tried to rush the villain but one of his metallic legs opened its tip, releasing knockout gas. He then used the same gas to cause Sapphire Shores to pass out. "I think it's time that the 2 of us finally got some alone time don't you?" Dr. Arachnid then picked up the unconscious pop singer and carried her to the top of the building she was in. "OH MY GOSH WHAT IS THAT A PONY SPIDER HYBRID?!?" A pony part of the small crowd outside said when they saw Dr. Arachnid climbing up with his metal legs. "WHATEVER IT WAS, IT TOKE SAPPHIRE SHORES!" "WE HAVE TO HELP HER SOMEHOW." "Now that I have you all to myself I can finally get my long postponed revenge!" "I don't think so." Dr. Arachnid quickly turned around and to his fear, saw none other than Super Stallion. "Super Stallion, but how could you have found me so quickly after just putting my plan into action?" "WHY DID THAT HYBRID THING TAKE SAPPHIRE SHORES TO THE TOP OF THE BUILDING THAT'S IN THE CENTER OF THE SHOPPING AREA OF CANTERLOT?"  "ARE THEY STILL UP THERE WE NEED TO CALL SOMEPONY." "SOMEPONY DO SOMETHING!" "Never mind," Dr. Arachnid said.  "You know doc if you want her autograph so badly I think she'd give it if you just ask nicely."  "ME!? BE NICE!? TO HER!? If you only knew!" Dr. Arachnid then gave Super Stallion one of the angriest stares he ever saw. "If I only knew what?" Super Stallion asked as he flew a little closer to try and talk to the mad scientist. However, seeing the super pony get closer caused him to panic and so he dropped Sapphire but still held on to her head as he got out a small bottle.  "Not so fast, take 1 step closer and she gets a taste of this. This is a special concentrated drink I made just for her, 1 slip and she'll have laryngitis for a month." Super Stallion stopped in his tracks. "You were gonna give that to her anyway weren't you?" "Yeah I was. And you know what I did go through all the trouble of making it I might as well let her have it." Dr. Arachnid then bit off the cork on the bottle and was about to force it down Sapphire's throat when suddenly, Super Stallion fired a spell from his horn that blasted the bottle off of Dr. Arachnid's hoof. Super Stallion then charged at Dr. Arachnid and gave him an uppercut so hard that it sent him straight to another building roof 3 buildings away. Dr. Arachnid used his metal legs to land safely without getting hurt, seeing that Super Stallion charged right at him to get him. "Time to finally squash this spider!"  "Wow, that was actually a really clever line. OH MY GOSH!" Dr. Arachnid jumped away using the extra legs to boost his jump to dodge Super Stallion's attack. As a result Super Stallion's attack missed and his punch broke a hole in the roof. Super Stallion then saw the hole he made and the shock of the ponies inside.       "Aw geez, I'm sorry don't worry I can fix this." Super Stallion then quickly used his magic to put the pieces of the roof quickly back together. However in the few seconds he took, Dr. Arachnid was nowhere in sight. "Where'd he go?" Super Stallion flew around in a desperate attempt to find the mad scientist, but he was gone. "How could he have gotten away so quickly?" Super Stallion then flew over to the still unconscious Sapphire Shores.  "Well at least you're still here." Super Stallion then picked her up to take her back to the ground. Super Stallion then flew up and brought down a small cloud then made it rain right on top of her and before long she woke up. Sapphire Shores and her bodyguards who had also been woken up by Super Stallion then got away from the crowd. "This makes it twice that you saved me from that psychotic pony." "Yeah about that, Dr. Arachnid seriously has a grudge against you. What did you do, break his favorite beaker or something?" "What do you mean?" Sapphire asked, starting to get a little nervous. "What I mean is that he clearly doesn't like you. I know this may be a little personal but do you 2 have history?" "No!" Sapphire answered bluntly with a little panic in her tone. Before he could say anything, Sapphire headed off and her bodyguards quickly followed. "Well I need to get going, thanks for the 2nd rescue your the best bye!" Sapphire said quickly leaving Super Stallion by himself.  Or at least he would be if he wasn’t surrounded by numerous ponies with pens and notepads. *** I hope Dr. Arachnid doesn't hide as long as he did last time, Squeaky thought to himself while he was back at the castle cleaning. Sapphire Shores knows something about him for sure but I don't want to force her to tell me. But if she doesn't tell me I won't understand just how much he wants to ruin her life. So should I try to get her to tell me or not? I need to really think about this, I need to put all my focus into this. "Good morning Squeaky." "Good morning Princess Celestia!" Squeaky immediately perked up and forgot about what he was just thinking when he heard the princess's voice. He was so perked up in fact that the princess was rather surprised. "My, you're certainly in a good mood this morning."  "I'm always in a good mood when I'm with you." Did I actually say that?  "Well it's certainly nice to see you too." Princess Celestia patted Squeaky's head. "Be sure you have a good day Squeaky."  "I will!" Princess Celestia then made her way down the hall. Suddenly a scroll appeared in front of the princess and she was quick to read it. "Oh my." Hearing that made Squeaky who was still within hearing distance  turn around and ran up to the princess to see what was the matter. "What's wrong princess?"  "Well, have you met my student Twilight Sparkle?" "Yes I even foal sat for her once." "You did?" "Apparently."  "...Well she has an assistant, a baby dragon named Spike. He just sent me a letter saying that last night he accidentally burnt Twilight's Astronomical astronomer's almanac to all things astronomy."  "Wow, try saying that 5 times fast." "His note says that too, anyway he says he was still able to find the complete name because he didn't burn the cover and he's asking for a spare so Twilight won't be mad. Actually I do have a spare I could give him. It's in one of the castle archives though I can't quite remember where it was. Plus I have a few important issues that I need to fix." "I could get for you princess." "Oh you don't have to do that."  "It's no problem I can find it in no time." Squeaky then ran off to find that book even asking a couple of the guards which archive would have it and where said archive was. It took longer than he thought but he finally found that book and Princess Celestia was just outside the archive. "Princess, great timing here you go." "Thank you Squeaky but I already got a copy of the book." "Huh?" "After you left I ran into Swift Sweep and he managed to find it right away and gave it to me as I was wrapping up those issues from before." "What?" "Yes it was quite a strange coincidence but fortunate.” "I see." That was all Squeaky could say after hearing that as he started holding the book much tighter. I spent all this time looking for this stupid book to help Princess Celestia and Swift Sweep thinks he can just swoop in just like that? "Um Squeaky-"  "Squeaky!" Princess Celestia and Squeaky Clean turned around when they heard Stone Wall calling out and from the tone he was rather upset. "You called,” Squeaky said.  "Come with me." Squeaky then followed the captain "Look at this." Squeaky looked at a hallway he had recently cleaned as he made his way to the archives and upon looking at it again noticed quite a lot of spots he missed.  "It's a hallway I cleaned earlier Stone Wall." "You call this clean? I want this entire hallway and the others around here cleaned again." "But there are other places I'm supposed to clean." Namely Princess Celestia's royal chamber that she's usually in while I'm cleaning. "Well Swift Sweep finished ahead of time. I think he could clean for you. I doubt he'll mind."  "But- "  "No buts! I said to clean again and I mean now." "But Stone Wall- " "Now!" Squeaky then got straight to cleaning. Stone Wall soon made his way to another part of the castle leaving Squeaky alone. "Swift Sweep this Swift Sweep that Swift Sweep Swift Sweep Swift Sweep! I'm sick of that guy and I'm sick of him muscling in on my job! I was here first and I've been doing a fine, good job at cleaning around here!"  SNAP "Aw geez not again." Squeaky Clean then used his magic to repair his mop again. "I gotta be more careful, otherwise I'm gonna break this thing for good." After a while Squeaky finished cleaning the hallways again. "Uh, my legs are starting to get sore."  "Hello my fellow cleaning pony." Squeaky turned around and saw that it was Swift Sweep.  Uh of all ponies right now.   "You know what's amazing?" "What?" "No matter how many times we clean this place it still gets dirty again, but no matter how many times it gets dirty we can always clean it right back up again." "Okay," Squeaky replied rather coldly, not really wanting to pay Swift Sweep any attention.  "It's just something I realized a long time ago when I came upon my talent for cleaning."  "All right then." "So you're more of a mop guy than a broom guy. Why is that if I may ask?" "I beg your pardon?" "Why do you like cleaning with a mop?" "I-I don't know." "I have this theory that the things ponies use or wear say a lot about them. Except I don't have any experiments behind it, or anything really I really need to get to working on that theory of mine."  I need to get away from this guy before he drives me crazy. Squeaky slowly made his way away from Swift Sweep as he continued talking. "Actually I did have this idea that ponies that wear hats are more likely to become successful. Or that ponies that wear shoes or boots or whatever will probably travel more than the ones that don't. And there was this one about….where'd you go? Why do ponies never listen to this theory of mine?" After sneaking away Squeaky quickly found Stone Wall.  "I finished cleaning those hallways again, captain."  "I'll be the judge of that. But in the meantime, I suppose you've earned a break."   "Okay I'll see you later then." Squeaky then went on his break and before long, his shift came to an end. He was just about to go out the door when suddenly.  "Hold up Squeaky," Stone Wall said. "The princess is having a rather large get together in an hour or so and I'll need you along with the other janitors for clean up duty. "Will Swift Sweep be there?" "Excuse me?" Stone Wall asked, confused.  "Never mind, I'll be there or rather here or rather here but later. Bye." Squeaky then quickly made his way out of the door. "What the heck is going on with that stallion? Is something else screwing with his head now?" Now outside the castle Squeaky Clean quickly changed into Super Stallion to search and see if Dr. Arachnid was still lurking about Canterlot trying to ponynap the pony of pop.  "At least this is one thing Swift Sweep can't steal my thunder on. What's his problem anyway, always getting in my way. But anyway, If I was a vengeance crazed pony, where would I be right now?" Super Stallion then started searching but along the way thought more about Swift Sweep. “Maybe I've been hard on him for no reason. He hasn't really done anything mean spirited towards me or anything. He wasn't trying to out show me by finding that book for the princess he was just trying to- "  "HELP!" Sapphire Shores screamed as Dr. Arachnid tied up and carried her into what was most likely, a stolen helicopter.  "Just as planned, a clean getaway."  "Spoke too soon Arachnid." Dr. Arachnid looked up and saw Super Stallion hovering in the air. "You again!" "Me again."  "Don't get in my way this time! This is between me and her."  "No, I’m between you and her."  "No you aren't." Dr. Arachnid then quickly threw a smoke bomb on the ground and before he knew it Super Stallion couldn't see past his own muzzle. "That's not going to work this time." Super Stallion quickly removed the smoke with a powerful gust spell and saw the helicopter that had already taken off. "Sorry doc, your flight has been canceled." Super Stallion caught in no time and forced one of the doors to open. “This is your stop." "I don't think so." Dr. Arachnid then hit Super Stallion right on the chest with a taser that came out of one of his metal limbs. Super Stallion fell but he quickly regained himself. "You never know what's going to come out of those metal legs." Super Stallion caught up with the helicopter which was making its way to Ponyville of all places and was just upon the Everfree Forest. "You're landing this thing whether you want to or not!" Super Stallion said  as he caught up and used an ice spell on the blades causing them to stop. "No, nothing's working!" The helicopter then started to fall but Super Stallion quickly flew below it and grabbed it.  "Now let's find a safe place for us to land." As Super Stallion searched, he saw of all things a dragon seemingly going crazy. On top of that he heard screaming in the Everfree Forest. "Who in their right mind would be in that crazy forest in the middle of the night?" Super Stallion quickly flew to the forest following the voices and before long found Spike and Twilight running away from a dragon. "These 2 again?!"  "Don't ignore me, Super Stallion!" Dr. Arachnid then opened the door and made several weapons come out of the metal legs including the taser. "I don't care how strong you are, I'm sick of you always getting in the middle of my revenge. I'm going all out against you- " Suddenly Dr. Arachnid was bound by magic rings Super Stallion conjured and flung back into the helicopter.  "Will you shut up!" Super Stallion then flew down and stomped on the dragon's head stunning him. He then quickly placed the helicopter on the ground and turned to Spike and Twilight. "Hurry, get in!" The 2 of them along with an owl did just that and Super Stallion flew them all out of the Everfree Forest.  "Oh my gosh Sapphire Shores the pony of pop!" Spike said excited after getting away from the other dragon while untying up.   "What were you 2 doing in that crazy forest in the middle of the night?"  "I was looking for Spike, I was so worried about you, why did you run away?" "What do you care, you don't need me anymore you have Owlowiscious now."  "Oh Spike, sure I was disappointed but you're my number 1 assistant and friend and you always will be."  "R-Really?" Spike asked with hope replacing anger in his voice.  "Of course it's just sometimes I need help at night and I can't ask you to stay up late you're a baby dragon and you need sleep. Owls are nocturnal." "Yeah and they're the natural predator of bats," Sapphire said. Twilight and Spike stared at the pony of pop rather strangely. "Just a fun fact about owls, sorry."  "So, yeah he can help me at night but he's not going to replace you, no one can ever replace you Spike even if you are acting like a jealous numbskull." Spike then hugged Twilight who enjoyed it very much.  "I'm sorry Twilight I never should have been so jealous."  Jealous, Super Stallion thought to himself. "I'm sorry too Spike, I should have been more sensitive." As they were making up, Super Stallion noticed Dr. Arachnid tried to sneak away like a worm but he quickly pulled him back with magic.  "You may have stopped me again but no matter how many times you interfere, I'll keep going after her for my revenge." "But no matter how many times you go after her for revenge I'll interfere." "W-What, that doesn't make any sense, you just rearranged what I said."  "Goodnight."  "What?" Super Stallion then decked Dr. Arachnid in the face knocking him out cold. "All right let's get you home." Super Stallion then put Arachnid in the helicopter and lifted it up after Sapphire Shores jumped in. Twilight and Spike then returned to the library and Twilight saw a copy of the book Spike burnt.  "What, but how? You burnt this?" "I sent a letter to the princess asking for a new copy. I was going to show you and then explain what happened."  "What? You didn't tell me that, Spike."  "Of course not! You didn't let me explain."  "Oh Spike I'm so sorry," Twilight said feeling very guilty. "I guess I messed up more than I thought." Twilight then pulled the baby dragon into a hug. “Tell you what, I'll get you the biggest sapphire I can find tomorrow.” "Well, that’s a start.”  *** After dropping off Dr. Arachnid and the helicopter to the guard, Super Stallion dropped Sapphire Shores by one of the places soon to be the host of her next concert. "With that mad scientist soon to be behind bars, he won't be bugging you for a while." "Thanks again honey." Sapphire then reached into her pocket and gave Super Stallion 2 concert tickets. "Here, for you and a friend."  "Do you always carry extra concert tickets?"  "Sometimes." "One other thing you and Arachnid differently have history." Hearing that Sapphire Shores got nervous and looked like she was trying to think of a way to change the subject. "But I don’t want to force you to say anything you don’t want to. You can tell me when you're ready." And with that he flew off as he needed to get to the castle for late night cleaning. "Thank you," Sapphire said with a smile as she looked out into the night sky.  "Spike was jealous of that owl to a point where he tried to run away. And Arachnid, perhaps jealousy is his thing too. In either case jealousy can be dangerous, the next time I see Swift Sweep I should apologize to him for the way I've been treating him. Maybe even give him something as a peace offering." Super Stallion made it to the castle and quickly returned to being Squeaky Clean and reported back to Stone Wall who sent him to a large dining hall and there Squeaky saw possibly the biggest mess he ever saw. "What the heck happened here?"  "I know right." Squeaky turned and saw Swift Sweep. "Hey." "Hey." The 2 janitors then quickly started cleaning the huge mess and then to start a conversation Swift Sweep grabbed a bowl and wore it like a hat. "Look at me, I'm a bowl head." "What's a bowl head?"  "...It's what I am." Squeaky couldn't help but laugh at that and soon the 2 started chatting it up. They talked about all kinds of things and it seemed like they were done in no time. "Well looks like we're all done." "No, not quite."  "Huh?" "You missed a few spots." Swift Sweep then looked around and saw the few spots he missed. Squeaky then helped Swift Sweep get those spots he missed.  "How could I have missed those?" "Well this happened to me recently. Sometimes when you go so fast you miss these little spots and when you make a habit of that, these spots you miss can get dirtier and dirtier. Just remember when you're cleaning you want it done right, not fast." "Thanks, good advice."  "Listen Swift Sweep thanks for being my pal considering." "Considering what?" "Well you know, for the way I’ve been treating you.” "Huh?"  "I'm talking about the way I've been acting towards you. Coldly and distantly." "I have no idea what you're talking about." He doesn't? Is he playing a joke or did he really not notice? I wanted to apologize to him but he probably wouldn't get why? But I still want to make it up to him. Squeaky then reached into his pockets and offered Swift Sweep the tickets. "Do you like Sapphire Shores?" "Yes!"  "Well here are 2 tickets to her next concert." Swift Sweep then grabbed them and was beyond excited. "Really? But why?"  "No reason I guess." Swift Sweep then pulled Squeaky Clean into a hug. "Thanks Squeaky, you're my best friend." Just then Princess Celestia and Stone Wall came in and were impressed by how spotless the room was. Stone Wall then gave the 2 janitors their paychecks. "There's a little something extra in there for the both of you for working so hard," Princess Celestia said.  "Well if there's nothing else to clean I guess I'll be going."  "Not just yet Squeaky," Stone Wall said. "Would you be fine with just cleaning during the day shifts?" "What do you mean?" "Swift Sweep said he might want to only work during the night shifts,” Stone Wall answered. “I have this idea that if I clean a lot during the night, you won’t have to clean that much during the day, and vice versa,” Swift Sweep said. "Sure I'd like to clean during the day." Mostly because I doubt I'd run into Princess Celestia that much at night.     "All right then, Swift Sweep will be working at night for a while to see if he likes it," Stone Wall said.   “I guess that means we won’t be seeing each other for a bit,” Squeaky said. “Or a while if you decide to work nights.” “No, I guess not, and just when we got so close.” "We can still hang out on days off right?" "Sure!" Swift Sweep said as he hugged Squeaky and flew out the door. “Speaking of hanging out,” Stone Wall added. “We haven’t really done that since you started working here. How about we head to the donut store when our shifts are over, my treat.” “Sure, I’d love to,” Squeaky Clean answered. Stone Wall then made his way out of the room leaving Squeaky alone with the princess. "Well I see you and Swift Sweep aren't having any trouble, and here I was all ready to ask you about it."  "I beg your pardon princess."  "You were jealous of Swift Sweep weren't you?"  "What? No I was- okay yeah, maybe a little.” "Out of curiosity how did you get over it?"        "Well I have this new hobby that has a bit of quiet time to it. That can help me think clearer, it made me realize that I was being unfair to him. I also recently realized that jealousy can make us do stupid things.” "Well Squeaky, that's very mature of you,” Princess Celestia said. If only I was more mature about Luna’s jealousy 1000 years ago. “I'm glad you were able to deal with your emotions but if you feel you can't, I'm always here.” “Wow, thank you Princess Celestia.” “You're welcome. I'll be seeing you at the Gala soon, Squeaky." Princess Celestia then made her way out the door.  The following night after hanging out and eating donuts with Squeaky, Stone Wall made his way back to the castle. “Those donuts were delicious, too bad they don’t have much protein or I’d go there more often.” As Stone Wall continued walking, he came across Swift Sweep who was flying while cleaning at a rather fast rate. “Hello Swift Sweep, how are you?" "I'm in Heaven because I fell in love with an angel!" "What?" Swift Sweep didn't answer as he continued to fly and clean across the hall. "Is every pony around here losing their minds?!"