“Princess Twilight Sparkle, you’re under arrest. Not officially yet, of course, but we will work on that pretty soon.” The stallion smiled. “To be honest, I’m not really sure what is going to happen once I throw the Royal Guards on you, but I’d be lying if I said I am not very curious about the whole thing. Aren’t you?”

Twilight growled.

The stallion blinked. “So… Do I take that as a ‘yes’?”

“You won’t get away with this, Money Bags,” Twilight said, struggling unsuccessfully against the ropes that hold her hooves. “We won’t let you!”

“Uh-huh.” Money Bags nodded. “You know, that has to be the most cliché line you could have said in this kind of situation. I mean, wow. I was expecting something a little more original from the supposed genius and bookworm Princess Twilight Sparkle.” He licked his lips. “Like, I wouldn’t say this is disappointing, but…” He frowned. “Okay, I lied. This is absolutely disappointing. You’re disappointing.”

“And you’re a monster!”

“Why, yes. But at least I’m original.”

The room was small, with white walls, a single table on the center, and two chairs. Twilight had been brought there by three bulky guards—their necks were wider than watermelons—and then she had been tied to one of those chairs. Money Bags, one of the top ten richest ponies in Equestria, a young pegasus with a green coat wearing a suit and a black tie, was sitting in front of her.

And, of course, the three watermelonian guards were there too. Both them and seven other equally large ponies—Twilight was pretty sure that four of them were females, but to be honest, there was absolutely no way to know it—a mixed group of unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies..

“Interested in them?” Money Bags asked, following Twilight’s gaze. “My elite guard, as you can guess. I’m not too keen on leaving the casino with only the low-tier security, but then again, I don’t have an alicorn up there.” He raised an eyebrow. “You, on the other hand…”

Twilight smirked. “Scared?”

“Uh-huh. Super-duper scared,” Money Bags replied. “I mean, Celestia have mercy on me, I’m totally helpless here.” He turned around. “Right, guys? Am I helpless or what?!”

“YEAHH!” they replied, all at once. The floor trembled a little.

“…Yeah, that’s not the answer I was going for, but you go, guys.” Money Bags looked at Twilight again. “Princess, those seven ponies can break a tree in half with just one kick. On the other hoof, you have wings and a very cute horn.” He arched an eyebrow. “I’m not entirely sure which one would win in a fight, but my bits would probably be betted on the team that’s not tied to a chair.”

“YEAH!”

“And my guards agree with me! Well, ain’t that amazing.”

Twilight’s frown didn’t disappear, although she tried not to look at the guards too much. They were very big, after all. “Let me go!”

“I’m actually going to do that at some point, don’t worry.” Money Bags smiled. “After calling the Royal Guards so they… throw you in the dungeons?” He tapped his chin a couple times. “Can they even do that? You’re royalty.”

“YEAH!”

“Yes, yes. Thank you for your input, guys. But, um, try not to do that. You creep me out when you talk at once like that.”

“SORRY!”

“I’ll tell Princess Celestia what you did!” Twilight said, causing Money Bags to turn his attention back at her. “You will be the one going to jail!”

“Oh?” Money Bags nodded. “Oh, yeah, you caught that, didn’t you? Hmm.” He frowned. “Well, I think it’s a safe bet to say that Princess Celestia will listen to you… But then again, you will have no proof of what you say, so I shouldn’t worry that much.” He smiled. “And, well, I’m not the one who just got caught doing something completely illegal, am I?”

“You—”

“But yeah, let’s stop with the chitty chat.” Money Bags rested his elbows on the table between them and pressed his hooves together under his chin. “You know we have your friend too, right?”

Twilight blinked. “…You have her?”

“Yeah. Well, one of them. The white and sassy one.” Money Bags sighed. “I’m going to be honest: we tried interrogating her first. It… didn’t work out.”

“Hah.” Twilight smirked. “I can imagine why.”

“So we’re interrogating you instead, because I’m pretty sure you will tell me the whole story.” Money Bags squinted. “You are going to tell me why are you attacking my casino, how many of you are here, and what was your plan all along. Then, you and I are going to work together to stop your friends before they do any more damage, and then we’ll call the authorities.” His lips pursed up in a smile. “And even though your friend might be far braver than it seems, she might have not noticed that my guys here can, as I already said, break a tree in one kick.”

Silence.

“And I’m pretty sure that your friend is not as tough as a tree,” Money Bags added.

Twilight gulped.

Some of the guards flexed their muscles subtlety when they noticed that Twilight was looking at them. Money Bags’ smile got wider. The room suddenly felt way colder.

“…It’s a long story. It doesn’t even start with the casino, it starts with a bank, and—”

“Oh, don’t worry. We have time.”

Then Twilight sighed. “As almost everything weird that has happened to me since I moved to Ponyville,” she said, “it all started when, one morning, my friend Pinkie Pie kicked my door open…”

Next Chapter: Chapter One Estimated time remaining: 4 Hours, 13 Minutes