The next morning, Spike awoke with Fleur naked in his bed. Her panties slipped off the lamp on his nightstand as he turned to look at the sleeping beauty.

“Oh, man... Look at her... Wait! What is she even doing here? Damn, I drank way too much...”

Spike was so wrapped up in thought that he didn’t notice Fleur stir.

“What’s wrong, Spike?” she asked. “Are you angry with me?”

“No, just surprised,” he replied.

“I couldn’t keep myself away,” she said. “Last night was... amazing... It was the first time I’ve ever done anything like... that.”

Fleur seemed almost embarrassed.

“Wait. What did we do?” Spike asked.

“You’re going to make me say it? You’re so kinky!”

Fleur told him about the events of the previous night. After Spike ran out of the ballroom, trying to avoid his screaming fans, she followed him upstairs (after stopping at her suite to change into her nightgown and bathrobe). Then she regaled him with how she practically forced her way in when he opened the door to her. She even delighted in the fact of how bold he was to slip a finger up her rear (Spike still couldn’t believe he even did that).

Finally, Fleur told Spike how he said that he wanted her out on the balcony. So, she led him out onto the terrace naked. They were very high up and the night air was gusting as he bent her over the ledge and slammed into her from behind. The desert night was so cold Spike grew harder and Fleur became even tighter, but it made their lovemaking that much better. Then Fleur told him that they noticed a young couple watching them from one of the nearby high rises.

“Great...” Spike sarcastically groaned in thought. “We had an audience, so we could perform.”

And perform they did, adding much more movement and exaggerated expressions than they would have had they been alone. That’s why Spike wanted to step out onto the balcony in the first place. It was his way of saying, “Look, everybody! Look at the sexy, beautiful French babe I got! Watch me fuck her!!”

Fleur saw the frown on Spike’s face when she finished her tale, and she stroked his arm with her hand.

“Listen, I don’t want you to get the wrong idea,” she said soothingly. “I don’t just sleep around. I gave myself to you because I love you.”

“You mean... I was your first?”

Fleur nodded happily.

“But what about Fancy Pants?”

“Fancy’s just a good friend,” she said.

“But why?” he asked. “I mean, why me?”

“Spike, you’ve been so good to me, but you seemed to respect me too much to really do anything,” she admitted. “And, well, I got a little impatient waiting for you to make the next move. You’re too much of a gentleman.”

Spike grimaced again and this time Fleur stoked his cheek.

“But that’s what I love the most about you! I’m a little jealous of you,” she added. “You seem to live however you want. Your life is such an adventure.”

He finally smiled. “Yeah, it is pretty cool, isn’t it?”

Fleur dotted his cheek with little kisses before making her way to his lips. He didn’t resist, nor did he attempt to move away. He wished he could lie with her a little longer, and she wanted to stay with him forever. But she knew he had a job to do, and she had other engagements to keep, so she gave Spike one more kiss before she thrust her butt back to him, asking him to spank her, and he did. Then they got dressed and went their separate ways, promising each other that their little rendezvous was far from over.

As Spike rode the elevator down to the lobby that morning, he was joined by another young couple that had checked in a few days ago. And even though Spike had been up most of the night with Fleur, he felt incredibly refreshed.

The young woman gasped and then whispered to her boyfriend, “Hey, hey! Do you think he’s the one?”

“Yeah, there’s no doubt about it,” he whispered back.

Spike smiled as the elevator doors opened and he told them, “Have a lucky day.”

While this was happening, Twilight Sparkle cursed as she rolled out of bed.

“I can’t believe I overslept!” she screamed.

She was already late for her meeting with the Flimflam Brothers; she swore up and down that she set her alarm, but she never heard it go off. She went to get dressed, but couldn’t find anything to wear.

“Where’s my uniform?” she asked herself. “It’s still at the cleaners!”

She dug through her closet and her dresser until she eventually came across a blue strapless corset teddy with cat ears and a long cat tail. When she finally arrived at Flim and Flam’s office, Flim was on the phone while Flam was talking to Starlight and Rarity.

“Good grief, Twilight!” Starlight exclaimed. “You seriously had nothing else to wear?”

“I was in a hurry, so I grabbed the first thing I saw!” Twilight replied.

“Why do you have that lying around at all?” Rarity asked.

“Yes, that’s everything,” Flim said as he got off the phone. “Keep up the good work. Sorry to keep you ladies waiting,” he told them. “Now, I hope my brother and I don’t need to remind you that the Sky Resort is having its grand re-opening later today.”

“You mean that structure at the base of the mountain?” Starlight inquired.

“That’s right,” Flam confirmed. “That is our newest entertainment facility. We intend to promote it as the premiere tourist destination: the highest casino in the world.”

“This may seem sudden, but you three are being transferred there for the day to help with the grand reopening,” Flim told them. “It’s only right to aim for sky-high ratings, so make us proud.”

“Yes, sirs!” Rarity, Starlight and Twilight replied.

“We open at noon,” Flim said. “We’ve set up private rooms for you, so please move your belongings and get acquainted with the new place. We’ll be there as soon as we finish up here.”

“How do they expect me to get all my things moved in less than an hour?” Rarity asked as they got into the elevator.

“Come on! You don’t have that much stuff!” Starlight exclaimed.

As Starlight drove Rarity and Twilight down the highway in her jeep, Twilight was feeling very hesitant about the idea of Flim and Flam reopening another casino. Since the incident with Nightmare Moon, the Brothers had cancelled their plan to reopen her castle casino, so Twilight was certain that they would want to avoid another occurrence like that. The desert felt like it went on forever. After half an hour of driving, they came upon a brightly colored complex consisting of a twenty-five-floor hotel attached to a casino with almost thirty thousand square feet of gaming space.

“Flying fortress” would have been the perfect words to use in describing Mowed “Bugsy” Green’s original vision for the city of Las Pegasus. This place was supposed to be the test run of that big plan, but it never came to bear fruit. It was designed to levitate through a system of giant blimps, hot air balloons, reactors and propellers, hence its longer title “The Casino in the Sky.”

The Sky Resort, as it had been known, was an impressive structure with a festive atmosphere. It had drawn young, mostly suburbanite crowds back in the day. The key man in the multimillion dollar dream was a stand-up comedian who had unfortunately once regarded himself as indispensable. Upon the comic’s untimely demise, Green used his connections in the Equestrian government to have them build the floating resort. A smart man didn’t replace rented furniture out of his own pocket, so the décor of the Sky Resort remained a nightmarish mélange that resembled little more than a movie set on a studio lot.

It mattered little to the Flimflam Brothers that the decorators who had originally outfitted the place had prostituted their art by succumbing to the departed comic’s hideous tastes. Most of the furniture was comfortable despite their weird designs. When Rarity, Starlight and Twilight pulled up, people had already arrived and were lining up to get inside.

They went in through the staff entrance in the rear and were greeted by a trio of eighteen-year-old women: a redhead, one with long mulberry hair and pale skin, and one with extra short hair. Rarity instantly recognized the second girl as her little sister, Sweetie Belle, and the redhead as Apple Bloom, Applejack’s younger sister. Suddenly, a second Sweetie Belle stepped out from behind the first.

“Welcome!” the first one said. “We’ve been expecting you.”

“Sweetie Belle,” Rarity said sternly, “what have you done?”

“She’s quite the likeness, isn’t she?” the second Sweetie Belle asked.

Upon closer inspection, Rarity saw that the first Sweetie Belle’s skin wasn’t skin at all. It was metal!

“You built a robot of yourself?” Rarity asked.

“I am Sweetie Bot, the Sky Resort’s main computer terminal,” the robot said. “And my interface lets me move wherever I please.”

The third girl stepped forward and said, “My name’s Scootaloo. We’re the dealers here at the Sky Resort.”

“Flim and Flam instructed us to give ya’ll the grand tour of the place,” Apple Bloom told them.

“Right this way, and feel free to ask me anything about the Sky Resort,” Sweetie Bot added.

Their first stop was the Sky Resort’s casino. It was wide and roomy, with high ceilings, plenty of easy access to the exits, and everything from the tables to the slot machines was extra shiny. Sweetie Bot snapped her fingers and the lights immediately turned on. After that, they checked out the Hologram Theater. It was a big, spacious white hall that stretched for almost a mile.

“You can travel anywhere imaginable in no time,” Sweetie Bot said.

She snapped her fingers again and a tropical jungle seemed to take form right before their eyes. Another snap of the fingers, and they were on the top of a snowy mountain peak. They could explore all kinds of worlds from right there!

“Let’s keep moving,” Sweetie Bot said as she snapped her fingers, deactivating the holographic program.

“Wait, there’s more?!” Starlight exclaimed.

“All of that was an illusion?” Twilight asked.

“It looked so real,” Rarity said.

“Anything is real if you believe,” Sweetie Bot told them.

“What would have happened if we fell?” Twilight asked.

“It would hurt. A lot,” Sweetie Bot replied. “But there are safety measures in place, so you won’t die.”

“How reassuring,” Twilight remarked.

“Behold the Extreme Slides!” Sweetie Bot proclaimed.

Another one of the Sky Resorts popular attractions, it was a complex series of tubes that could take people anywhere in the resort... and it was Equestria’s longest waterslide.

“The Sky Resort really has everything!” Starlight commented.

“A few of the other attractions aren’t fully functional yet,” Sweetie Bot admitted.

“Her design doesn’t really scream high-tech,” Twilight commented.

“Well, she seems nice, just like my sister,” Rarity said. “Speaking of which, Sweetie Belle, does she know who I am?”

“Well, yeah, we programmed her that way,” Sweetie Belle explained. “She has most of my memories.”

Suddenly, Twilight tripped over herself and she bumped into Sweetie Bot. And when she did, Sweetie Bot’s head fell off. Rarity, Starlight and Twilight recoiled in shock as Sweetie Bot’s body picked up her head.

“The lock on my neck is loose,” she told them as she pulled herself together, “so if I lose my balance I lose my head.”

“Well, we’d love to keep hanging, but we have to do some work in the main unit,” Scootaloo said. “See ya!”

Flim and Flam arrived within the hour with a TV crew in tow and they began to broadcast from the Sky Resort’s entrance.

“It is a profound honor to welcome the newest member of the Flimflam Brothers’ Resort family: the legendary Sky Resort!” Flim began. “A cutting-edge facility with top-of-the-line technology, this new-age resort is sure to lead the entire entertainment industry. I promise it is unlike any you’ve seen before. Stories of the experiences you’ll have will be told for generations! We promise, Sky Resort with both shock and move you! Here, the sky is the limit when it comes to your enjoyment!”

“Ladies and gentlemen, the future of entertainment awaits you!” said Flam. “Flimflam Brothers’ Infinite is open for business!! So, let loose and shoot for the stars!!!”

Sweetie Bot issued a few commands into the building’s main computer and the structure blasted off like a rocket into the sky!

Back in Las Pegasus, down on the ground, Impossibly Rich watched the whole broadcast (along with Abacus Cinch, Indigo Zap, Sugarcoat, Lemon Zest and Sour Sweet) on the TV in her office.

“They love to hear themselves talk,” she said.

Just then, Sunny Flare walked in.

“Diamond Tiara’s right outside, demanding to speak with Spoiled Rich,” she told them.

“Filthy’s old ball and chain obviously isn’t here right now,” Sour Sweet mumbled in reply, “but I guess we can handle it. Send her in.”

Sunny Flare nodded as she stepped back into the hallway and said, “You may come in.”

Diamond Tiara was just as pretty as the next bratty little daddy’s girl. Her wavy hair was a pale, light grayish violet with white streaks, her skin was just as pale, and her teeth were remarkably white. Her clothes were of the highest, most expensive name brands; even her jacket had diamond zippers.

She walked into the office with a form letter in her hand.

“You need something?” Sour Sweet asked. “We’re busy, so keep it short.”

“I received this from my Mother this morning,” Diamond Tiara said, showing them the letter. “Just what is the point of it?”

“It means what it says,” Sugarcoat answered. “Everything that it says is exactly what’s going to happen. I am not going to explain it to you and I am not going to repeat myself.”

Suddenly, Sour Sweet swiped the letter from Diamond Tiara’s hand.

“Well, look who scored! You get to marry the son of a politician!” she cried. “Well, Chip Rockefillyer’s an arrogant, conniving, money-grubbing pig, I wouldn’t want to marry him, but still it could be worse. He’s got plenty of cash and connections, so at least you’ll be taken care of, right?”

“Think of the kind of life he can buy you,” Impossibly Rich told her granddaughter. “And you’re guaranteed that nothing will happen!”

“What do you mean by that?” Diamond Tiara asked.

“She means the decision has already been made,” Abacus Cinch said.

“Even if any of that was true, I’m not marrying Chip Rockefillyer!” Diamond Tiara shouted. “No way in Tartarus! I don’t even like the guy!”

“It doesn’t matter what you think,” Cinch stated. “Your parents’ decision is final. And believe me when I say there are a lot of ways to force somebody to do what you want. You are not eighteen yet, so you have to agree to everything that your parents tell you... including an arranged marriage.”

The Rich Family had heavy connections in the financial and political worlds, and if Impossibly Rich said she was going to do something, she would.

Diamond Tiara could see it all too well. She would get to spend every day shopping, playing tennis, getting facials, browbeating her husband... She would be just like her mother!

Diamond Tiara hated her mother. When she was a child, she would try to run away from home, but she never got far. Her father, Filthy Rich, did his best to protect his daughter and keep her from being sent to year-round boarding schools... but at a price. She couldn’t refuse her mother or grandmother anything else. They just wanted to use her abilities as a gambler for their own selfish ambitions.

“But, if you win against Spike, you’ll be free,” Impossibly Rich promised Diamond Tiara. “Free to live your life the way you want to. That’s if, and only if you win.”

“I won’t let you down, Grandmother,” Diamond Tiara said.

The Lucky Prince—that’s what people were starting to call Spike, the Flimflam Brothers’ newest rising star dealer. Ever since he and Trixie brought down Obscurity and he and Applejack crushed Garble and Suri in the staff ballroom dance contest, Spike Drake was quickly becoming a household name. Men and women would crowd around him just for a chance to shake his hand in the hopes that some of his good luck would rub off on them. Some even started asking him for photos, autographs, and autographed photos.

“Just another day in the life of a lucky man,” Spike thought. “Me.”

Feather Bangs ordered a cola from the casino’s bar as he, Applejack and Sunset Shimmer watched Spike handle his adoring fans.

“Hey, Feather Bangs,” Chrysalis said as she sat on the stool beside him.

“There you are,” he greeted her. “You don’t look like yourself.”

Chrysalis was wearing a pristine white dress and she had lost a bit of her tan but her skin shined. She looked more beautiful than ever.

“That obvious?” she replied. “I was winning right up until the tables closed last night.”

“You, too, then, huh?” he asked.

Ever since they’d gambled with Spike, their good luck had increased astronomically. Feather Bangs’ drink arrived as Spike strode over to the bar.

“Well, if it isn’t my two favorite narcissistic divas,” he bantered.

“Good to see you again, Spike,” Feather Bangs replied.

“Hey, cutie,” Chrysalis added. “That was quite the performance last night.”

“Well, I wouldn’t have won without my partner and new theme song singer,” Spike replied, looking at Applejack and Sunset (earning a blush from both of them). “So, you two know Fleur de Lis?”

Chrysalis and Feather Bangs both nodded.

“Well, she came to my suite last night after the competition... and I crèmed her brûlée, so to speak,”

Feather Bangs sputtered into his cola while Applejack and Sunset’s eyes went wide and Chrysalis put on a little girl’s pout, and Spike wondered at the fact that such expressions were not ridiculous in a grown woman.

Chrysalis quickly dropped her pout when she, Sunset, Spike, Applejack and Feather Bangs heard a commotion coming from the casino floor. Several people had crowded around a teenage girl in a golden jacket who was accompanied by an elderly servant with thinning white hair, blue eyes, and bushy eyebrows.

“If you would be so kind as to keep your grubby claws off my good luck charm!” the girl exclaimed as she clutched a fist around her necklace.

“Who’s she, the granddaughter of John D. Rockefillyer?” Chrysalis asked.

“Nnnope,” Applejack replied. “That’s Filthy Rich’s daughter. Last year, Filthy tried to buy Flimflam Resort and give it to his wife as a birthday present.”

“I didn’t know the Resort was for sale,” Feather Bangs commented.

“It’s not,” Sunset and Applejack both said.

“Filthy Rich’s mother, Diamond Tiara’s grandmother, Impossibly Rich, owns the casino across the street. And she’s rapidly gaining influence in the gaming and entrepreneurial worlds,” Sunset went on. “She wants this Resort more than anything, but Flim and Flam refuse to sell. She has several powerful allies and Diamond Tiara’s a pretty good gambler herself. Rumor has it she’s completely undefeated at card games.”

“Oh, really?” Spike asked.

He raised a quizzical eyebrow as he studied the seventeen-year-old, who was smiling (seemingly rather anxiously, to Spike) as she walked up to him.

“Spike Drake, I’m Diamond Tiara, nice to meet you,” she introduced herself as she held her hand out. “I heard you mopped the floor with Twilight Sparkle on your first week. You’ve become the talk of the town.”

Spike accepted the handshake after a tiny hesitation.

“And I know all about you,” he replied. “I know about your family and their connections. A lot of loot and rough people to cross... But I still reserve the right to dislike you!”

Diamond Tiara placed her hands firmly on her hips.

“All right, big boy,” she said. “If that’s the way you want it, fine. Let’s see how big you get tangling with me.” She reached into her jacket and produced a pair of playing cards with the Sun on one side and sapphire numbers on the other—the first was a four, the other a Jack. “I challenge you to a Gate Battle!”

“She’s a Gate Holder?” Spike thought. “And she’s betting two Gates?”

“What’s your game?” he asked her.

“A personal favorite of mine: Blind Man’s Bluff,”

“All right,” Spike accepted. “But we’ll need two more players.”

“Do you have someone in mind?” Diamond Tiara asked.

Spike turned with an outstretched arm and hand and motioned to Chrysalis and Feather Bangs.

“All right,” Diamond Tiara said, “but why?”

“We want the opportunity to play against Spike again,” Feather Bangs said.

“Do you accept our counter-challenge, cutie?” Chrysalis asked.

“I do,” Diamond Tiara stated.

The news of the Gate Battle quickly spread throughout the resort. It traveled the fastest to the High Rollers’ Lounge via Bushel.

“Filthy Rich’s daughter just challenged one of the employees to a Gate Battle!” he proclaimed.

“For real?” Silver Waves asked. “Which one?”

“Guess,” Bushel said.

“Spike Drake?” Haakim asked.

“None other!” Bushel replied.

“Where?” Amira inquired.

Everyone exited the High Rollers’ Lounge and clamored to the casino floor, where a table had been set up in the center of the colossal room.

An unconventional game, Blind Man’s Bluff was a two-card version of poker in that each person saw the cards of all the players except their own.

The rules were pretty straightforward: they would be using a 40-card deck with all the Joker and Face Cards removed. The standard version was simply high card wins. Each player was dealt two cards, one of which they displayed to all other players (traditionally by holding it to their foreheads while it faced outwards). This was followed by a round of betting. Players attempted to guess if they had the highest cards based on the distribution of visible cards and how the other players betted. The strongest hand was if the numbers on both cards matched, a pair; the second strongest hand was a suit, which was self-explanatory; and the weakest hand was called a “pig”, where neither the suit nor number matched. If multiple players had the same hand, then the largest number won.

Sunset passed out the first cards (the ones they could look at) to Spike, Diamond Tiara, Chrysalis and Feather Bangs; and then their second cards (the ones they could not look at)—one visible card and one hidden card—they would be their tools for the game. Then they decided on how much they wanted to wager.

“Thank you, Randolph,” Diamond Tiara said to her butler as he pushed her chair in for her. “Let’s not bet too little,” she told them. “That would be boring.”

“Okay, how about my two Gate cards, plus $40 million in cash, against your two Gates?” Spike asked. “If I lose, I’ll give you my Gates and the money, but if I win you give me yours. How does that sound?”

“Excellent,” she agreed.

“I should warn you, I’m not a very patient man,” he told her.

“For your sake, I hope that doesn’t come back to bite you,” Diamond Tiara smiled in reply.

“Spike, I can’t watch this,” Applejack said. “It’s stupid to gamble with such a massive amount of money.”

“Relax, you have no reason to worry, so stop,” he said to her. “Money is nothing to me.”

Sunset gave Spike, Feather Bangs, Chrysalis and Diamond Tiara 10 golden chips apiece, each worth $1 million. Normally, the number of chips wasn’t important in Blind Man’s Bluff, it was their sum. The player with the highest value of chips in their possession by the end of the game was the winner.

The game would take place over ten turns—which meant Spike had that many rounds to rake in as many chips as possible and win those Gate cards—and all four players were required to pay one chip to participate. And they could only bet up to five chips at once.

Diamond Tiara would be worried if she wasn’t a three-time champion at Blind Man’s Bluff. To her, it was like picking money off the ground.

“I’m not going to lose to you,” she thought while looking at Spike.

“Be careful, Lucky Prince,” she said out loud. “Do not underestimate my luck!”

The first round of betting began. They all had to pay their fee of one chip, and then they looked at their first cards and placed them face down in front of themselves. But they couldn’t look at their second cards. Instead, they placed them on their foreheads.

“You have the honors,” Sunset told Diamond Tiara.

“It would be boring to fold on the first round,” she said as she bet one chip.

Feather Bangs called with one of his own, as did Spike.

“You can’t play a game if you don’t play at the start,” he agreed.

Chrysalis folded and the calls were completed. Then they showed their hands. Spike had the Seven of Clubs and the Eight of Hearts, a pig. Feather Bangs had the Three of Spades and the Six of Diamonds, another pig. Diamond Tiara showed the Three and Nine of Clubs, a suit.

“I win,” she said.

She collected her winnings and they moved on to the second round. Feather Bangs started by betting a single chip while Spike and Chrysalis folded. Then Diamond Tiara raised four chips, causing Feather Bangs to fold.

“These guys aren’t even worth my time,” Diamond Tiara thought.

The third round began and Spike bet a single chip. Chrysalis folded and Diamond Tiara raised Spike two.

“After wagering four chips last round, isn’t that a little cowardly?” he asked.

“I prefer to call it strategy,” she replied.

Feather Bangs folded and Spike raised her three.

“All right, I’ll call,” Diamond Tiara said. “Two chips.”

She showed the Two and the Five of Diamonds, another suit; and Spike showed the Four and the Ten of Hearts, a higher suit.

“How did he--?” she thought.

They moved on to turn four; Chrysalis had the deal.

“Spike’s right,” she thought. “At some point, you have to play the game.”

“I’ll wager one chip,” she said.

Diamond Tiara called with one chip, Feather Bangs folded, and Spike called with one of the chips he had collected from Diamond Tiara.

“You know, Diamond Tiara, you should be embarrassed by the way you play,” Spike told her.

“What did you say?” she asked.

“I will repeat myself. You play terribly and you ought to be mortified. You’re the one who originally suggested this game, right? Giving Chrysalis and Feather Bangs a whisper of hope when they’re so desperate to beat me and then plunging them even deeper back down the hole, you’re no different than your loan shark grandmother. I don’t know how good a gambler you are, and frankly I don’t care, but you’re the worst kind of human being... Your whole family’s shit, and you know it!”

“Well I’ll be, you really are an intriguing son of a bitch,” she replied.

“Stop, you’re making me all warm and fuzzy inside!” he laughed.

Diamond Tiara glared at him. She was definitely pissed.

“Raise!” Chrysalis exclaimed. “Three chips!”

“Are you stupid?” Diamond Tiara asked. “What, did you think that once Spike won, I’d get scared and fold? Even I’m not that dumb!”

Chrysalis smiled.

“You think I don’t know what you’re doing?” Diamond Tiara went on. “It’s obvious that you three are working together! The whole point of this game is that you can only ever see one of your cards. But no matter how big the number is, you’ll always lose to a suit, and the odds of that occurring are one in four. There’s no way you could know that! And there’s even less chance that you’d bet that kind of money on something so uncertain. You only took that risk because you knew for sure that you’d have a suit. It’s obvious you’re cheating! I will fold!”

“I’ll fold as well,” Spike said.

“You’re sharp,” Chrysalis told Diamond Tiara. “I guess when you’re on the wrong side of life, you get good at figuring out when someone’s out to get you. Anyway, I’m glad I went big on this round. It gives me a bullet to fire.”

Spike grinned and Chrysalis laughed as she showed her cards: the Ace of Clubs and the Eight of Spades.

“My hand was a pig the whole time, you brat!!”

Diamond Tiara’s mouth hung open.

“Spike’s win in turn three was so obvious I’m surprised you didn’t catch on,” Chrysalis smiled. “Don’t feel bad, it was painful for me too.”

“What makes you think you’ve got me beat?” Diamond Tiara asked. “You’ve only won one round.”

“Keep your panties on. As long as I’ve got something to bet with, I’ll never worry about losing to a child,” Chrysalis provoked her.

“What did you call me?” Diamond Tiara shouted.

“Spike, Chrysalis, stop provoking her,” Sunset said, “now, on to round five.”

“I’m betting one chip,” Diamond Tiara said.

Feather Bangs folded while Spike raised the bet with four of the chips he’d collected from Diamond Tiara.

“No way, he’s just bluffing!” Diamond Tiara thought.

She called with one of her chips plus two she’d collected from Feather Bangs. Then they revealed their hands. Diamond Tiara had a pig—the Seven of Clubs and the Nine of Diamonds.

“If Spike was bluffing, I should win,” she thought.

Spike won with a suit—the Two of Diamonds and the Five of Diamonds.

“If you were offended by what I said before, I truly apologize,” Spike said to Diamond Tiara. “I had to stretch the truth a bit in order to up the ante. Please forgive me.”

“Why?” she asked.

“Why?” he echoed. “I’ll tell you why, because it’s painfully obvious YOU are the one who’s cheating here.”

Diamond Tiara gasped.

“Are you sure?” Sunset asked.

“Dead sure,” Spike stated.

Turn six began and Chrysalis bet the three of the chips she got from Diamond Tiara—another high-stakes wager.

“I’ve got a pig,” Diamond Tiara thought. “I can’t risk it.”

She folded and Chrysalis showed the Six of Diamonds and the Three of Hearts.

“Lucky me!” she said. “I had a pig and I still won!”

Spike and Chrysalis’s gameplay went way beyond being good at reading tells and being able to bluff.

“I have to say, you’re dumber than you look,” Chrysalis told Diamond Tiara.

“Randolph,” Spike addressed her butler, “we all know that you’re signaling to her, so you can stop.”

“You might think that the position of your hands is subtle enough to tell her she has a suit, but I can tell you it’s a dead giveaway,” Feather Bangs added.

“From what we’ve seen you do so far, both hands at your sides means spade,” Spike said.

“And rubbing the back of your neck with your right hand clearly means that it’s a club,” Chrysalis went on.

“Tugging your left ear means a diamond,” Feather Bangs continued.

“And if you fold your arms in front of your chest, it’s a heart,” Spike finished. “It’s pretty handy having a servant faithful and loyal enough to do whatever you tell them to, no matter what... especially if they’ve been doing it for years,” he admitted to Diamond Tiara. “I knew you wouldn’t play fair, so I thought it wouldn’t hurt to have a pair of spotters on my side.”

That’s why Spike had asked for Chrysalis and Feather Bangs to play with them... and Chrysalis provoked Diamond Tiara just to make sure that she cheated.

Randolph was sweating when Sunset said, “It seems that you were right about the cheating.”

“But that’s no other reason to stop the game, is it?” Spike asked.

“So, you’re just fine with playing a game compromised by cheating?” Sunset inquired.

“Isn’t that the point of any card game; to be able to outbluff your opponent?” Spike replied. “But Diamond Tiara basically told us what was in her hand. And besides, I’m just getting warmed up.”

“Fine, you got me,” Diamond Tiara confessed. “Let’s just finish this.”

“Very well,” Sunset said. “Then the game will resume—moving on to round seven!”

Diamond Tiara continued to lose as Spike, Chrysalis, and Feather Bangs bluffed their way through the game. Spike was in the lead, but only the best liar among them would emerge victorious.

“I can’t lose this!” Diamond Tiara thought.

On turn eight, she called with one of the chips she’d got from Chrysalis, and Chrysalis threw down the Two of Diamonds and the Two of Hearts.

“Too bad, so sad!” she said.

“A pair?” thought Diamond Tiara. “What the Tartarus is going on here? How can this be happening to me?”

Turn nine began and Feather Bangs put down his last chip. Spike called with one of Diamond Tiara’s chips, and Chrysalis folded.

“Spike must have a good hand,” Diamond Tiara continued to think. “But I’m not done yet! There’s no more bluffing here! This is just a pure bet of the actual cards!”

Diamond Tiara showed a Seven, Five suit in Clubs. And Spike had a Six, Two suit in Spades.

Diamond Tiara started laughing.

“This game is mine!” she cried. “Starting tomorrow, I’m making your life Tartarus!”

“It’s easy for you to look down on other people, isn’t it?” Spike asked. “You’ve had everything you’ve ever wanted since you were a baby. You ever make a buck yourself?”

“No, but I have plans,” she answered.

“You know what I had when I was a kid? Nothing! A lot of nothing. Now, I’ve got a little of everything. You wouldn’t believe it, looking at me now, but my birthmother was so poor I used to walk Manehattan barefoot in the winter and summer. One day, I was swimming in the East River. When I came out, I saw a row of shoes on the wharf, one pair brand-new. I put them on, they fit. Then some kid yells, ‘Hey, them’s my shoes!’ So we fought. I won!”

Sunset started wondering how badly Spike had beaten the other kid for him to go home without his brand-new shoes.

“It’s been that way ever since: fight, fight, all the time... but you? Your family owns half of this city, so you’ve always had plenty of money to play around with. A few million dollars is nothing to you. Even if you have a 100% win ratio, I can tell that you don’t win as much as you’d like. Over hundreds, even thousands of games, you can keep winning stable amounts at a slow compounding rate. But, clearly, that isn’t enough for you, is it? You didn’t need to win every time, just a little more than your opponents so that nobody would get suspicious. That’s why nobody could ever catch you in the act. Cheating is no guarantee!”

Diamond Tiara was speechless.

“Not only have you been rigging games in your favor, your family is stockpiling Las Pegasus’s wealth... but for what?” Spike went on. “We should both feel the same pain. My total wager was forty million, but those cards are priceless.”

Diamond Tiara was sweating bullets now.

“Even though I’m rich, I can’t afford to lose the Gates!” she thought. “If I-If I lose this, I lose everything. I’ll be ruined! I-I have to talk him down.”

“Let’s finish this,” Spike stated.

Turn ten began and Spoiled Rich entered the casino.

“You mind if I watch?” she asked.

Diamond Tiara’s face went pale, her mouth ajar, and her eyes aghast.

“Mother!” she exclaimed.

“This looks like more fun than you should be having,” Spoiled Rich said. “I see you’re betting two Gate cards. At times like this, trouble is bound to occur. So we’ll be supervising from here on out.”

“There’s no need for you to bother! I can handle this myself,” Diamond Tiara said. “I’m sure you have better things to do.”

Spoiled Rich leaned in close to her daughter and Diamond Tiara went whiter than a sheet.

“That’s enough,” Spoiled Rich stated. “Just shut up and play.”

“I’m getting tired,” Spike yawned.

“Let’s finish this up already,” Chrysalis added.

“Why are they acting so casual?” Diamond Tiara thought.

She was going to fold, so she would win for sure. But if she was wrong, one of them could easily win. Chrysalis could bet all four of the chips she’d won from Spike, or Spike could bet the two he’d got from Chrysalis.

“You can scheme all you want,” Diamond Tiara thought, “but bet or no bet, you’re not going to win!”

She gasped when Spike called with one chip.

“Did he just do what I think he just did?” Applejack whispered.

“What are they doing?” Diamond Tiara thought.

Then Chrysalis raised three chips.

“I find easy wins to be quite irritating,” Spike said.

Then they revealed their cards.

Diamond Tiara had a pair of nines, Hearts and Diamonds... and Spike had a pair of tens, Spades and Clubs. He couldn’t have asked for a better last round hand.

“Spike is the winner!” Sunset declared.

Diamond Tiara lost. And not only did she lose, she fell for their bluffs hook, line, and sinker. They still couldn’t believe it.

“I didn’t think you’d have a snowball’s chance in Tartarus at winning,” Spoiled Rich told Spike. “Lady Luck was on your side this time. I’m impressed. As for you, young lady,” she said to Diamond Tiara, “I am incredibly disappointed.”

Chrysalis put a hand to her mouth.

“Don’t laugh,” Spike told her. “It’s rude. Especially since Diamond Tiara is so sensitive.”

“I never thought it would have ended so well,” Chrysalis said.

“Part of it was just luck, but a lot of it was thanks to your acting,” he replied.

“Oh, thanks,”

“Game... Set... Match,” Feather Bangs smiled.

Spoiled Rich started to leave, and then waited for Diamond Tiara to join her.

“Are you really okay with her abusing you like that?” Spike asked. “Or are you just telling yourself you have to suck it up until graduation, when you finally get your freedom?”

“Shut up!” Diamond Tiara snapped. “You don’t know anything about me!”

“I can tell that you’re a good person and you have no choice but to play by other people’s rules,” he told her calmly. “If you can’t find the strength to stand up for yourself and the courage to fight back against your abusers, then nothing will change. You have a chance to get even, and if you don’t take it then you’re just a puppy who cowers when someone opens the kennel door, proving that you are nothing but someone else’s punching bag. Is that how you want to live? You’d rather suck up to your mother and grandmother so that they might be a little nicer to you? Do you really want to live your entire life with your head down forever? A life lived in fear is no life at all!”

Diamond Tiara stared at Spike with an open mouth. He was speaking the truth. And every word he said was like a breath of fresh air.

“Think about what I’ve told you,” he advised. “And remember, the world doesn’t run on one person’s standards. Everyone chooses to do things in their own way. There are some things they can forgive and some things they can’t. But no one will ever obey someone 100 percent of the time. That’s the beauty of free will. And it’s what makes life great.”

Spoiled Rich called for her daughter and Diamond Tiara finally followed.

She had lost, but she wasn’t angry about it because Spike saw something in her that nobody else did.

Spike watched them leave, keeping his eyes on Diamond Tiara until the last.

“I’m amazed you won after taking a really big gamble like that,” Applejack said. “Congratulations, all of you.”

“It’s almost hilarious how honest she is,” Chrysalis thought.

“Well, I’ll see you later, I guess,” she told them.

Suddenly, Spike hugged Chrysalis from behind, his hands on her breasts.

“Hey! What are you--?” she began.

“I want to thank you,” Spike said. “The game was more fun with you there, and I feel so much closer to you because of it.”

“I guess I could say the same thing about you,” Chrysalis admitted shyly.

“Well, friends are supposed to stick together, right?” he asked.

Chrysalis was surprised by that.

“We’re friends?” she asked.

“Of course,” Spike said. “And since we are, would it be all right if I called you Chrissy?”

“Sure. Now get off me! Do you realize where your hands are?”

“Oops. Sorry, accident!” he laughed.

Upstairs, Impossibly Rich, Flim and Flam had watched the entire game from the security monitors in the Brothers’ office.

“Outstanding,” Impossibly Rich said. “He’s an extremely gifted player... but, of course, you already knew that. That’s why you hired him, right?”

“I have no idea what you mean,” Flim replied.

“You must be doing quite well for yourself, to have so many skilled and talented dealers working for you, Lady Rich,” Flam added, changing the subject. “We would very much like to meet them.”

“Oh, you will, in due time,” she replied, almost darkly. “And please, don’t call me that. I can’t imagine it’s anything but sarcastic coming from you.”

“If you say so,” Flam answered. “Come now, full disclosure, how many Gates do you have? And who gave you them, anyway?”

“We are both curious how you suddenly acquired so many,” said Flim. “It must have been tough.”

Impossibly Rich didn’t answer.

She finished her drink and left their office saying, “Thank you for the entertaining game, gentlemen.”

“No Impossibly Rich, the pleasure was all ours,” they replied.

The Brothers breathed a sigh of relief. The game ended just the way they had expected it would. But it didn’t matter. Either way, the outcome would have been acceptable. Diamond Tiara was the youngest member of one of Equestria’s oldest families, and Spike Drake was now on their list of people to keep an eye on.

All they wanted was for one of them to beat the other—either way, it would have been a win. And, of course, it was a success. But was it the right thing to do?

It was obvious that Spike wasn’t driven by money. It was the simplest way to control people, and he was unaffected by it.

“I hope we were right about letting him roam so freely,” Flim said.

“Or have we unleashed another monster?” asked Flam.

The Brothers hoped, for Spike’s sake (as well as their own), that this would be the last Gate Battle... at least for a while. They knew that Impossibly Rich was ruthless and she would do whatever it took to win.

“She isn’t just after our Resort,” they thought. “She must want more... but what?”

Impossibly Rich was awfully interested in Spike. Did she want his Gates? Or did she want Spike himself? Either way, the Brothers were about to find out what kind of monster was hiding under that heavy makeup.

Next time, the gang makes plans for a little late-night gambling only for the electricity for the entire city to go out, leaving Spike stuck in the elevator with Sunset and Applejack... and Discord goes on a blind date!