"The map is callin' us WHERE?!"

In the Map Room of the Castle of Friendship, Applejack and Fluttershy looked on in disbelief and discomfort to see their cutie-marks, along with Midnight's, encircling the image of Las Pegasus aka Equestria's Playground, the City of Flights, the Arcade Capital of the World, and other such ludicrous epithets.

"Las Pegasus?!" Fluttershy was equally dismayed.
"But Las Pegasus is a wild vacation spot!" protested Applejack as she looked upon the mere image of it with disapproval, "It's jus' one big party!"
"All those lights and sounds, not to mention the crowds!" agreed Fluttershy with a severe shudder of discomfort from the very idea, and they hadn't even left yet. "Oh! Just the thought of it is overwhelming...!"

"I know Las Pegasus isn't either of your cups of tea," spoke Twilight as she approached the Map, standing beside her husband. "But I have total faith that you wouldn't have been called if you weren't the ponies for the job!"

"I love you, babe, but there are times when that blind faith you have in this thing," Midnight gave the Map a kick with his front hoof, much to his wife's appall, "it worries me, and coming from me, of all ponies, that's saying something."

"Midnight! How can you say something like that?!" Twilight gave the sapphire stallion a piercing look, "Do you doubt our friends and yourself being the right ponies for tackling this friendship problem?"

"Not at all," Midnight assured before flatly saying, "I doubt you putting your unconditional trust into a magical object with nary a doubt of it being flawless is a good idea. Faith is good to have, but not when it's blinding."

"Mmph..." Twilight grumbled to herself, hating it when Midnight made a good point like that.

"And besides, if the Map has taught us anything," Midnight ran his hoof through the 3-Dimensional image of Las Pegasus to zoom in on it a bit for better detail, "it's that friendship problems and other issues can happen anywhere at any time and affect anyone!

"AJ, Flutters, I understand Las Pegasus isn't your kind of place, but as members of the Council of Friendship, we owe it to whoever is having a problem with their friendships and to help them. So whattya say?" Midnight gave them an encouraging smile before he conjured some clothes and stuff onto himself to look like the cliché of a tacky tourist, complete with silly sunglasses that had palm trees on the frames, "Up for a trip to the City of Sin?"

The two mares shared a doubtful look before Applejack cracked, "Well, it's... prob'ly not as bad as we think. It can't jus' be a loud, obnoxious party all th' time... right?"

Fluttershy mirrored Applejack's uncomfortable smile while Midnight said, "Alrighty then! I'll go prep the Slipstream! May as well travel in style and luxury, right?"

Sighing, Fluttershy said, "I'd better go tell Macintosh that we'll be going out of town for a few days or so."

"Uh, Applejack, it isn't as bad as we thought," said Fluttershy before she, Applejack and Midnight avoided a stampede of galloping crowd of whooping tourists, as they took in the Las Pegasus Strip!

There was the Glamour Hotel, replicas of various famous landmarks, such as the Eifilly Tower and Lady Li-Bray-ty, the Bananazon Gift Shop, the Stalladin Hotel with its exclusive golf club and course, the Amusemedrome amusement park, the Luxan, Planet Applewood, the Savannah Resort, Trots-A-Fun, Cosmarepolitan, Tropicanter, and so much more, all built upon and supported by the second-largest Olympumice-based skyward metropolis in all of Equestria, outdone only by the pegasus capital of Cloudsdale.

"Yer right! It's worse!" concurred Applejack as she felt her ears already beginning to hurt from the hustle and bustle and shouts and whoops and cheers of the thousands of tourists and visitors present.

"Yep, this place hasn't changed much," Midnight was glad he'd had the foresight to wear his tacky tourist outfit. He wasn't in the mood to be mobbed by his subjects here of all places.
"Fun place to visit, but only in small doses."

"Still baffles me how anypony can have fun or vacay here," Applejack grumbled as somepony bumped into her but didn't say excuse me or anything. "Overpriced souvenirs? Expensive restaurants and hotels? All these flashy lights and loud noises?!"

"Oh my, I already wish I was home, holding my foals..." Fluttershy sighed woefully. "Where do we even begin to look for a friendship problem in all this- This...?"

"Hubbub?" offered Midnight helpfully.

"Uh-huh..." Fluttershy nodded as the three walked along, not even sure of where they were going.

"Well..." Midnight looked to their right and saw a hotel resort that seemed to be quite popular, given how many ponies were going in. "When in Roam!"

"Huh? Roam? Midnight, where are you...Ergh!" Applejack followed her brother, as did Fluttershy, and they ventured through a giant golden pair of doors and all gasped to see the interior!

Inside was an indoor amusement park, with a mini marris-wheel, a roller-coaster, a swing ride, and there was a large passage to a fully stocked and packed arcade and other passages, leading to the check-in desk, the restaurant, the hotel rooms, and so on. And of course the place was packed with guests, all having a blast and enjoying themselves! The majority were ponies, but here and there they saw guests who were other creatures, like a family of Sirian Dogs, a Zebra stallion, and a couple of senior griffons.

"Do you think the Map could be on the fritz again?" asked a doubtful Fluttershy. "I mean, this place seems a lot more suited to the Party Ponies, or even Rainbow Dash!"

"True, but it was our marks floating over the Map," Midnight pointed out.

Taking a deep breath and focusing, Applejack said, "If Twilight trusts th' Map, then so do Ah! All we haff ta do is solve our friendship problem an' get back home."

"Excuse me..." Midnight tore of his tourist getup while also casting a mild distracter spell on himself but worked it to not affect Applejack and Fluttershy. He spread his wings, sighing with content before saying, "Was getting a little uncomfortable. Now then, let's have a look around, see if we can find that problem..."

All around, they saw tourists, guests, some flashing cameras for the memories, chattering, swapping stories as to why they needed to "get away from it all", the usual loud and obnoxious behavior of ponies and other creatures on vacation. Speaking of "loud and obnoxious"...

"...and make sure to experience our signature show: Poné Fantastique!" The three friends looked towards a showboaty announcer as he spoke to a crowd of guests with some posters behind him.
"Trust me when I say, you've never seen anything like it! Unparalleled acrobatics, unique animal antics! Your only regret will be that you didn't see it sooner! And like everything at this amazing, incredible 'I can't believe it even exists' hotel, Poné Fantastique is brought to you by the Chairpony of Kindness, Gladmane himself!"

All eyes turned to gaze upon the golden statue that served as the lobby centerpiece, of an earth pony rearing up, looking bold and magnificent, and the crowd swooned and cheered as they all rushed in to experience all that Gladmane's hotel had to offer.

"Wow! This Gladmane sure seems impressive," commented Fluttershy.

"Well, it is a li'l embarressin'," said a voice behind them with an accent similar to Applejack's.

They all turned to see it was the Mane himself, a middle-aged earth pony, somewhat portly with a grayish Persian blue coat, his silver mane done up in a big swept-back pompadour-ish style and a brilliant sheen, below which were a relaxed pair of soft green eyes. He wore a royal blue blazer with a flashy lapel and collar, an orange bowtie, and though it was hidden under his snazzy cape, his cutie-mark was a trio of sparkling gold bits.

"But th' crowd seems t' like it, uh-huh-huh," Gladmane chuckled with the charm of a southern gentlecolt.

"Mister Gladmane?" Applejack uttered as she, Fluttershy and Midnight approached the older stallion.

"Jus' Gladmane'll do," Gladmane assured before taking their hooves to give them a friendly (if a tad overly enthusiastic) shake while saying, "an' maht Ah say, it is an honor t' meet th' Prince o' Harmony an' his friends! Thank you fer comin', thank ya very much."

"How did you notice me?!" Midnight was baffled. "I have a distracter spell active to avoid unwanted attention!"

"Well, Yer Highness, let's jus' say, Ah've gots me a keen eye," Gladmane said before changing the subject, "Ah'm wha' you'd call a... friendship connoisseur , so nat'rally Ah'm familiar wit' y'all n' yor lovely wife, Princess Twilight, an' even yer fine friends, Applejack an' Fluttershy! It's an honor t' have y'all here, uh-huh-huh!"

"Ah haff t' admit, yer not th' type o' pony Ah expected t' find in Las Pegasus," replied Applejack, finding Gladmane to be quite likable.

"Well, mah guests might be lookin' for lights, music n' parties," laughed Gladmane, "but workin' hard an' makin' friends is how Ah turned this hotel into wha' it is today! And how Ah plan t' make it even bigger, uh-huh-huh. Uh, excuse me one second."

Gladmane stepped away from them before raising his hoof, and a microphone lowered itself into his grasp and he spoke into it, his voice ringing out throughout the hotel via the PA system, "Wise ponies may say th' folks tha' come here are customers, but Ah can't help but thinkin' o' each an' every one o' you as friends. Tha's why there's a three-fer-one special on apple fritters in th' cafe fer th' next hour. Enjoy! Uh-huh-huh."

No sooner did Gladmane stop and his microphone rose back up to wherever it had come from, at least a dozen of guests ran past them, cheering and whooping happily as they rushed for the hotel cafe while Gladmane offered, "Would y'all like t' take a tour o' th' place? Ah'm jus' about t' do mah rounds an' check on mah friends who work here."

"Well, I suppose we can-" Midnight started to say.

"Prince Midnight!! As I live and breathe!"

"Oh fantastic..." Midnight sulked and they all turned around to see a unicorn pony about Gladmane's age and figure, wearing a suit and tie and glasses and what was obviously a toupee, attended by a secretary mare and a police officer.

"Why, Mister Mayor! An' Chief Coppa Brass, a pleasure as always, uh-huh-huh," Gladmane welcomed as he took notice of them. "Wha' brings y'all t' mah humble hotel?"

"Actually, Gladmane," the Chief, Coppa Brass, said, "we're here to speak with the Prince, if you're not too busy, Your Majesty."

Midnight looked to Applejack and fluttershy, who both shrugged, and he sighed softly before putting on his "Regal Smile" and replied, "Why not at all, Chief, Mayor. How can I be of help?"

"Uh, if you wouldn't mind, Sire," the Mayor said with a shifty look and hesitant smile, "A private word?"

Midnight nodded and followed the Mayor and Chief over to a spot out of earshot and they started talking with discrete tones. Applejack and Fluttershy were so concerned they looked over to Gladmane and Applejack asked, "Is there somethin' goin' on, Gladmane?"

"Oh, it's nothin' fer y'all t' worry about," Gladmane assured, "It's just our esteemed Mayor tends t' make problems sound bigger than they are, uh-huh-huh."

"But he does have the Chief of Police here..." pointed out Fluttershy.

"Well... Ah'm not sure if'n Ah should tell y'all `bout this," Gladmane stymied before shrugging, "But fer th' last few weeks, there's been trouble `round th' Strip."

"Trouble?!" both mares echoed and then Applejack asked, "Wha' kind o' trouble?"

"It's not all tha' bad, just some hoodlums makin' a ruckus here an' there," Gladmane waved it off. "Li'l vandalism an' such, but th' Mayor don't want it gettin' out so tourists an' ponies on vacation won' be scared off from Las Pegasus. Bad fer business."

Applejack and Fluttershy shared a look before the latter asked, "Do you think...?"

"Mm, Ah dunno, don't sound liek a friendship problem," Applejack debated when they heard hoofsteps and saw Midnight coming back.

"AJ, Flutters, I'm sorry," Midnight sighed, "But the Mayor and Chief need my help. You think you can handle this yourselves?"

"Is it bad?" Fluttershy asked.

"That's a big question," Midnight shrugged, "but they're really concerned that this problem they're having might be bigger than it seems."

"Welp, Ah'm sure we can handle this, Midnight," Applejack assured, "We understand if'n it's real important."

"Well, all the same," Midnight lit up his horn and conjured a pair of disc-shaped devices, "I want you to take one of my Echoms so we can contact each other, just in case."

"Oh, I remember these," Fluttershy accepted one of the Echoms while Midnight kept the other.

"Ah'm mighty sorry ya can't join us, Prince Midnight," Gladmane said like it was a crying shame.

"Oh, no worries, Gladmane," Midnight replied with a similar attitude, "Perhaps once things are taken care of, I can come back and give your hotel a once-over. I might be up for a vacation in the future."

"Sounds like a plan, uh-huh-huh! Shall we, ladies?" Gladmane smirked to them before trotting off with his head high.

Midnight discretely whispered to his friends, "Gladmane seems like a nice guy, but... keep your eyes and ears peeled for that friendship problem."

Before Applejack and Fluttershy could ask Midnight what he meant, he vanished in a Flash!

As it turned out, various hotels and resorts around the Las Pegasus Strip had been victims of vandalism and petty crimes, with the most severe being a break-in at the Stalladin and Bananazon, and a few aggravated assaults at Savannah, Glamour and Tropicanter. Even Gladmane's hotel got vandalized last week! No arrests had been made and for some reason there were no witnesses to these crimes. Recalling his dossiers of infamous criminals who operated in Las Pegasus, Midnight realized, his dossiers were now out of date ever since Buck Cheap and his criminal empire and associates were taken down.

He recalled his cousin and lieutenant in the Brotherhood, Shadow Lock, reporting how all major organized crime in every major city in Equestria had been surgically taken down and the key players arrested and imprisoned. The lesser criminals who'd been affiliated with those syndicates had either been imprisoned as well or they'd slipped away and gone into hiding.

All of Las Pegasus' most infamous criminals have been imprisoned, thought Midnight as he lurked through an alleyway. So who could be behind this petty crime wave...?

When he thought about it, Midnight sighed, figuring whoever was behind this was likely someone new looking to fill the power vacuum, I suppose it was only a matter of time...

Empty thrones could be tolerated only for so long before someone, tempted and greedy, sought to fill those thrones. Since the foiled Coup of Avarice, organized crime had been all but eradicated in Equestria. That didn't mean the criminal element was entirely purged however.

Taking the folder Chief Coppa Brass had lent him, Midnight reviewed the crime scenes again, looking for a pattern, a common element.

All of these are major tourist attractions along the Strip, Midnight considered, and the crimes are relatively petty and minor... but each one has suffered a decline in business!

That had to be it.

"Huh? Oh," Midnight held up his Echom and answered the incoming call. From the jewel in the center, an image was projected, revealing Fluttershy and Applejack. "Fluttershy, AJ, is everything alright?"

"Boy-howdy, Midnight, this echom doohickey's really sumpin'," responded Applejack.

"Hello, Midnight," Fluttershy spoke up, "after Gladmane gave us a tour, you'll never believe who else we found here at his hotel!"

Applejack sighed irritably and answered before Midnight could ask, "Th' FlimFlam brothers...

"You don't say..." Midnight was suddenly intrigued.

"But the thing is, Flim and Flam aren't getting along!" Fluttershy explained, "Apparently, Gladmane hired them to help promote the Poné Fantastique show but they're trying to outdo one another and they keep arguing!"

"Huh, never would have thought the map would send us to help those two," Midnight rolled his eyes.

"Hold on there!" Applejack interjected, "Jus' because they're here at th' place wer' lookin' for a friendship problem don't mean they are th' problem we gotta solve. So Ah had another look around th' hotel an' it turns out there are some more ponies arguin' in th' Ponè Fantastique: th' acrobat an' show director, an' th' two magicians who do th' animal act!"

"Huh... so, if we include Flim and Flam, that's three friendship problems in the same place," Midnight pointed out with a curious look.

"Well, Ah don' count Flim n' Flam since those two not bein' friends isn't a problem," Applejack asserted with a sore tone.

"Well, it certainly isn't for Gladmane," Fluttershy brought up, "It seems like he's better off with them fighting."

"Come again?" asked Midnight.

"Oh, well, Gladmane said because Flim's an excellent showpony and Flam has a real head for business, that they could run his hotel quite easily," explained Fluttershy.

"Actually... th' other ponies' problems seem t' be good fer Gladmane too!" Applejack brought up. "Both th' trapeze show an' th' animal act would be better off if they left, but everypony's so busy arguin' tha' they can't!"

"Do you think he knows?" asked Fluttershy.

"Oh, I have a feeling he knows full well..." Midnight's tone grabbed AJ and Fluttershy's attention as the sapphire stallion went on, "Earlier, when we met him, Gladmane made such a big deal about friendship an' all, then he announced that special over in his café while calling his customers his friends. As pleasant and charming as he sounded, I didn't buy Gladmane's words for a moment!"

"Whattya mean? So he's a friendly an' welcomin' businesspony who treats his customers kindly," Applejack pointed out, "It ain't a crime."

"No, but think about it, girls," Midnight clarified, "Hotels and resorts are the most competitive businesses here on the Strip. The more customers they get, the more money they make, and because business is always tight here in Las Pegasus, if a hotel doesn't make a consistent amount of profits it won't stay in business for very long. That's why hotel owners, like Gladmane, do anything and everything to attract potential customers.

"Gladmane calling his customers friends while announcing a special in the same announcement is just a way for him to appeal to his customers, butter them up, and encourage them to spend more money in his resort! It's actually a common business strategy - Treat customers like friends and family and that will appeal to them so much they'll want to spend more money at your business."

"So then all o' his talk about friendship is just a load of applesauce?!" Applejack was appalled.

"Now, now, before we jump to conclusions," Fluttershy interjected, "we should be certain before we start pointing hooves."

"Darn tootin'!" Applejack agreed before asking, "An' wha' about you, Midnight? Wha's th' problem th' mayor an' chief asked you t' look at?"

"Apparently, there's been a wave of petty crime all over the Strip for the past few weeks," answered Midnight. "All the hotels and other tourist attractions have been victims of petty and minor crimes, such as vandalism, break-ins, there's been a few physical assaults, but no arrests have been made and no witnesses have come forward. Even Gladmane's hotel was vandalized last week."

"Oh my! Do you think there's a reason he didn't bring it up?" asked Fluttershy.

"I would say, he's trying to keep it under wraps because it could discourage ponies from coming to his hotel," shrugged Midnight when something crossed his mind. "But... come to think of it, all the other hotels have been vandalized, broken in, or had disputes more than once but Gladmane's hotel only got that one incident of vandalism! Why would these criminals only target Gladmane once but target the other hotel businesses multiple times?"

"Do... ya want us t' come help you, Midnight?" asked Applejack.

"No, stay there, see what more you can figure out," Midnight politely declined, "but keep an eye on Gladmane, and the FlimFlam brothers too. I'll contact you soon."

Midnight ended the communication, and the hologram of Applejack and Fluttershy winked out before Midnight returned the Echom into the folds of his cloak. He raised his hood as he considered the facts: The wave of petty crimes, the hotels and other attractions targeted multiple times while Gladmane's hotel was only targeted once, no arrests, no witnesses, no one seriously hurt.

It reeked of conspiracy, but by and against who were the bigger questions. Questions for which he had no clues, no suspects, and no leads. This didn't dissuade the sapphire stallion however. He'd done far better with less, and when there was no evidence to go on or theories to try, that left only one place to go.

The scummiest watering hole in the dark, sleazy underbelly of this seedy city of sin.

"A bar," Midnight nodded to himself.

Granted, there were hundreds of bars in Las Pegasus. Most of which did better along the Strip since they were so close to the various hotels, resorts and other attractions. But then there were the bars spread further out around the city. Dive bars, beer halls, cider houses, cigar bars, gay bars, nightclubs, saloons, pubs, frequented by all sorts of different flavors of locals.

Recalling his history in Las Pegasus, Midnight knew there was only one place he could go where he might find a lead, rumor or suspect that might provide the clue he needed to bust this case wide open.

The Bangover.

It was the kind of joint no decent citizen would ever be caught dead in... unless they weren't decent citizens or had had the worst luck as of late. Thanks to his cloak and a Distracter Spell, Midnight had walked right in and made himself comfortable at a booth with nary an eye or ear taking notice of his presence.

He looked around and saw the Bangover was somewhat busy today. He saw a couple business ponies drowning their sorrows in beer, a few stallions who looked like they were frequent patrons shooting the breeze with each other, a few guys were watching a hoofball game playing, apparently betting on plays and such, and of course several shady characters that kept to themselves or their conversations barely above a whisper.

Having done this before, Midnight kept to himself, relaxed, and opened his senses as he cast the Eavesdropping Spell.

This was a method he used to listen in on these sorts of crowds to listen for anything that might be a lead. No matter the criminal, they always went somewhere to brag or talk or whisper or share either something they were involved in or had some knowledge of. It didn't matter how tight-lipped or careful they were. Eventually, the devil's nectar lowered their guards, unclenched their puckers and loosened their lips.

That wasn't to say, Midnight found something right away. This was very much like fishing, as he listened to whines and grumbles and the tipsy chit and chat and blah-blah-blah. It was a waiting game, where patience was the only advantage he had. Patience and vigilance. He had to listen, no matter how boring, no matter how aggravating, no matter how crude or nasty or just plain disgusting some of the patrons were whenever they belched or farted or went on drunken rants after having a beer too many.

He'd heard it all before.

The office is wearing down on my ass. I think my wife is cheating on me. I should have gotten that promotion. My bills are piling up. Go to hell. I'd like to screw Celestia silly. My kid's giving me lip. The neighbors are inconsiderate assholes. I wanna be a movie star! Hey, the waitress is cute...! Is he looking at me? Another beer over here! I could totally kick Shining Armor's ass. Eh, damn yaks... Those griffons are monsters. Stupid mudponies! Who'd you vote for? I don't care what my folks think, I'm gay and proud of it! So I'm seeing this mare who's got these nice mammaries... Did you catch that show last night on the tube? I've had this itch in a very uncomfortable place for the past couple of weeks... Where are we gonna strike next? The Amusemedrome, make a big thing of it, scare the customers off.

What?! Midnight's eyes snapped open and he concentrated his focus onto those last couple voices.

"Look, I know it's only been a few days since our last... jaunt," said one of the voices, "but we can't go too long without an incident making a muck of things or else business picks up on the Strip again."

Midnight heard them. There were four of them, sitting together in a booth in the corner. One of them was a unicorn, who'd raised a barrier to ward off eavesdropping. The attempt made Midnight chuckle to himself at how cute it was because his spell was working regardless of it. Sometimes spells worked but if they were made to work against one whose magical power was superior to the one who cast the spell it then the weaker power would be countered. Midnight guessed this unicorn was around the Beta range, because his spell was strong, but as an alicorn Midnight's power was superior.

"How long do we gotta keep doing all this?!" griped one of them. "We're risking our asses out here, trying to ruin the businesses around the Strip and he's basking in the glow of his customers!"

"It'll all be worth it once he's bought out the other hotels and resorts," insisted the voice that was apparently in charge. "With our cut of the profits he'll make, we'll finally be able to build ourselves up and become the new power of organized crime in Las Pegasus! Aren't you guys tired of being the small fish?! Well, the big fish are gone and out of the way! It's our time to become the big fish around here but to do that we need money! We have to seize this opportunity while we still can or else we're just gonna be petty crooks for the rest of our lives!

"Is that what you want?!"

The responding grumbles indicated their discontent and their agreement with this guy's words.

"All right then, so let's plan our next move and we'll strike while the iron's hot," said the head honcho. "Do we have the map of the amusement park?"

"Yeah, but..." said the voice of the unicorn, "what guarantees do we have that he'll honor our deal? We could be giving him the entire Strip on a silver platter and wind up with nothing to show for it."

"Oh, he'll honor our deal..." said the boss with a grim confidence. "That blowhard fatass is so smug he never considered I had a camera all nice and poised to film our entire conversation. Once everything is in place, I'll show him the tape so that he'll see he's so deep in our pocket he'll beg for a seat at our table."

His boys all murmured and even chuckled in approval and agreement before he said, "Alrighty then! Now that we're on the same page, unless someone else has a question, whattya say we get started?"

"Just one..."

The gang of petty crooks all gasped and jumped in their seats to see the Hooded Pony, suddenly seated at their table as if he'd been there the whole time yet none of them had even noticed his presence up until he spoke up.

He leaned forward as he asked with a fanged smirk, "Who's... he?"

Busting those two-bit crooks was easy, especially since he'd had the foresight to turn on a recorder whilst he'd listened to their boss blather on. Afterwards, he'd made them take him to any hole they'd been comfortable in and found enough evidence to link them to the wave of petty crime they'd inflicted upon the Strip and all its hotels and attractions.

However, Midnight wasn't entirely sure if he'd gotten them all despite their insisting otherwise. Not that it mattered. This gang and their little plot to become a force of organized crime was all but foiled, and all that was left was to take care of this mysterious partner of theirs.

But first, Midnight decided to check in on Fluttershy and Applejack after delivering the gang into police custody.

Walking back into the main lobby of Gladmane's hotel, Midnight was about to turn on his Echom to call the girls when...

"...spose Ah should be impressed. Yer th' only ponies t' ever figure out th' secret t' mah success. It takes a lotta work keepin' everypony fightin', but as long as Ah keep`em convinced tha' Ah'm their only friend, all o' Las Pegasus will be mine! Oh, you cain't trick a confession out of a pony like me! Ah'm always one step ahead."

"Welp, ya better check yer hooves. Becuz... you jus' stepped inna confession."

"Oh no...! Oh no- Wait, wait!"

Midnight looked up towards the windows of Gladmane's office, and sure enough there he was, looking in a panic as he gazed down and Midnight followed his line of sight... where he saw several ponies, including Flim and Flam, all of them glaring up reproachfully at Gladmane.

"Did that sound okay?" asked the voice of Fluttershy over the PA system.

"Never better!" responded the giddy FlimFlam brothers.

"Flim n' Flam told us you'd see right through th' fake rich pony bit. An' tha' once ya did, ya wouldn' be able t' resist gloatin' about it. This was all part o' th' plan!"

"Oh, n-now, friends! Listen, I-I can explain everythang!" Gladmane spoke up, nervous and sweating.

"I think you've done enough of that!" responded the bitter and former director of the Ponè Fantastique before he offered his foreleg to his dear friend and acrobat, "Darling?"

The acrobat took her mentor's foreleg and harrumphed, not wasting her breath on the pony she'd trusted and misled them, and they took their leave.

"Oh!" Midnight looked towards two unicorns dressed flashy and with some prairie dogs in kennels, "I cannot believe we let him almost ruin our friendship!"
"And our act..." responded his friend and partner before he shouted to Gladmane, "GOOD LUCK FINDING ANOTHER ONE!!!"

They left as well, taking their critters with them while Gladmane began to panic.

"WAIT!! No! Y'all come back! C'mon now, I-I-I'm gon' be ruined! THIS IS GLADMANE, Y'ALL! C'mon, ya can't do thi-hi-his...!" cried Gladmane, his voice fading as he apparently ran out of the office.

"Gladmane has left th' building!" declared Applejack.

As the girls came back down to the ground floor, Gladmane's statue was pulled down from its pedestal in recognition of his disgrace. Nopony knew where the blowhard had run off to yet, but they didn't really care. Including Fluttershy and Applejack as they stepepd back into the lobby.

"I guess the map wasn't on the fritz after all," commented Fluttershy as she and her sister-in-law noticed their marks glowing, meaning their task was done. "If it weren't for your history with Flim and Flam, you never would have been so determined to find somepony else to help, and we never would have found out what Gladmane was doing."

"An' if it weren' fer you wantin' t' show even those two con ponies kindness," Applejack conceded, "we never woulda been able t' trick th' trickster."

Speaking of, they approached Flim and Flam, who were just about to clean up the mess of Gladmane's broken statue when Applejack said, "It musta felt pretty nice t' fin'ly put all yer connivin' an' cheatin' skills t' good use."

"In fact..." Flam responded, "we like to think of it as a... one-in-a-lifetime opportunity."
"Emphasis on the 'once'," Flim added before winking to his brother-

"Well, that's a pity."

"Huh?!"

All eyes looked to see Midnight coming their way, his own mark glowing before he said, "Which just means this is going to be all the more satisfying."

Out of nowhere, two rings zoomed around Flim and Flam, moving so fast they got dizzy. but not dizzy enough they didn't feel the rings slip onto their horns!

"Hey!"
"What's going on here?!" Flim and Flam began to focus their mana to their horns, only for it to get snuffed out with a very audible raspberry sound. "Our magic!!"

"I've been looking forward to saying this for quite some time," said Midnight before he declared, "Flim and Flam, you are under arrest."

"Arrest?!"
"For what?!"

Midnight put on a flat look as he conjured a pair of glasses (which he didn't need) along with a list and read it off, "Let's see... Trespassing, damage to private property, multiple counts of fraud, jaywalking, disturbing the peace, public nuisance, multiple misdemeanors, reckless endangerment, gross negligence, selling a so-called tonic without a license to sell medicine, conduct unbecoming, associating with known criminals, felony tax evasion, oh! And littering...!"

Flim and Flam both gulped as they realized the long arm of justice had finally caught up with them.

"Littering?! For shame," Fluttershy scolded like only a mother could.
"Well, how about that?" Applejack felt just a tad guilty for feeling good about this, but still!

Flim and Flam suddenly threw themselves at Midnight's hooves as they began to make with crocodile tears and blubbered pleas and excuses, when Midnight vanished the glasses and list away and made them stand back up on their hooves and said, "Oh, relax, boys! I'm not gonna lock you up and throw away the key!"

"Yer not?!" Applejack flabbergasted.
"You're not?!" Flim and Flam were equally stunned.

"Nah, I've got a... much better idea of how to deal with you two," Midnight gave them an evil smile, which made them suddenly fearful and wonder if jail was a better fate after all.

Community service.

That was the sentence Flim and Flam had been passed by Midnight, who informed them they were going to spend a LONG time working their tails off and not getting paid a cent for it! Their bank accounts were frozen, their magic was severely limited, and they were allowed room and board at a halfway house, where they'd get limited privileges and be rewarded for good behavior by their supervisors, and any attempts to escape would be invariably thwarted and only prolong their sentence and make things harder on themselves.

As the three friends rode the Slipstream out of Las Pegasus that evening, they couldn't help but agree that despite all the madness of that city, it was truly a sight at night when all its lights glistened and shined and glimmered with so many colors.

"Ah guess Las Pegasus ain't too bad," Applejack shrugged as she relaxed in her seat.

"It is beautiful at night..." Fluttershy smiled at the sight of it before looking to Midnight, "But I'm glad you gave Flim and Flam a chance to work towards being better ponies instead of just locking them away."

"Eh, I wouldn't hold my breath on those two, but I figured working for nothing as opposed to languishing behind bars would be a far more painful punishment for them," chuckled Midnight as he kept the wheel steady.

"Say, Ah wonder whatever happened t' Gladmane," Applejack brought up.

"Dunno," Midnight shrugged, "It turns out Gladmane was in on a scheme with a gang of criminals to take over the Strip. They would ruin business for the other hotels and attractions so that once their money ran out they'd go out of business, allowing Gladmane to buy them off cheap. He'd basically own the Strip and share a cut of the profits to the gang, so they could have enough money to build their own force of organized crime."

"How awful!" Fluttershy was appalled. "I knew he was mean, but to go that far?"

"Gladmane just wanted to get rich, no matter who he messed with, Fluttershy," Midnight clarified, "but now everypony knows what a pony-baloney he is, and the Las Pegasus Police is looking for him. If Gladmane's lucky, the cops will find him first, before whatever criminals that didn't get arrested get their hooves on him..."

Gladmane was not lucky.

The few members of the gang that managed to avoid getting arrested caught up with him, took him to a dark alley, and brutalized him. Once he was beaten black and bloody, Gladmane groaned and spat out a tooth as he pitifully pleaded, "N-now, friends, Ah... this is just a... minor setback-"

"SHUT UP!!" said the gangster who was in charge of what was left. "My big bro and uncle are in jail because of your stupid plan and now our gang's less then a fourth of its strength! I warned my brother we shouldn't work with you, fatass... and now I'm gonna correct his mistake!"

He reached to his right and another gangster hooved him a crossbow pistol, loaded and ready, and the gangster grimly aimed it at Gladmane, who broke into a cold sweat and felt his heart jump into his throat!

"Four our friends! For my brother..." the gangster said vengefully as he prepared to fire.

Gladmane clenched his eyes shut, his whole body tense and had gone cold as he waited for his imminent demise-

*Shhk, shhk, shhk*

-only to hear the sound of bodies dropping a moment later.

Whimpering, Gladmane dared to open his eyes, and he was horrified to see the gangsters lying dead before him. Their throats slit and blood pooling around them. But there was somepony standing before him. A tall and mighty unicorn clad fully in armor, his helmed face glaring down at Gladmane, who saw only his own expression of terror in the reflecting visor concealing his... rescuer.

"Wha- who.... who are you?" Gladmane managed to utter.

He flinched as the unicorn's visor lit up with an intense light and then Gladmane could barely make out a pair of glowing green eyes with narrow pupils no pony could have.

"Good evening, Mister Gladmane..." spoke a purring voice. "Please excuse our first meeting being this informal. I'm a very busy woman, so my associate is standing in for me while I have this word with you from afar."

"Wh- you... you know me?" Gladmane spoke softly, afraid of saying the wrong thing.

"Mm, not personally, though i am aware of your recent scheming," said the voice. It purred, was distinctively female, and though she sounded polite and pleasant, Gladmane couldn't help but feel his mane starting to stand on end.
"You dealt with petty criminals in a quaint plot to take over the Las Pegasus Strip. And how did that work out for you? It didn't.

"Mister Gladmane..." the voice turned hard and cold as she said, in a most contemptuous tone, "you are a disappointing, greedy stallion."

"Wh-what're ya gonna do t' me?" whimpered Gladmane, still in pain from being used as a punching bag.

"Why, Mister Gladmane!" the voice purred pleasantly, "I'm going to offer you a job!"

Gladmane hadn't been expecting that, and as much as this voice put the fear of the Pale One in him, he had a fearful feeling that it would be hazardous to his health to decline.

So, he nodded with a nervous gulp, just praying to the Goddess he wasn't making the biggest mistake of his life.

I finally gave Flim & Flam exactly what they deserve... and Gladmane will eventually make an encore appearance.

I like Gladmane, but don't get me wrong; he's absolutely a sleazy scumbag and i bet his mane's a wig, but i sorta wish we'd seen him again after his one and only appearance

The idea of Gladmane being connected to crime came from the part in the episode where he shared his plans with Flam to take over every hotel along the Strip, which would have allowed him to basically own Las Pegasus. I found it intriguing and truly an ambitious plan and felt it was the perfect angle to work with, thus allow me to paint Gladmane even worse than he was in the episode