The following afternoon, Flim and Flam were at the Sky Resort while Discord stayed behind in the city. Currently, he was searching the hotel for his employees, trying to round them up for some overtime, but he couldn’t find them anywhere. Rarity was not at the front desk, Rainbow Dash wasn’t cleaning any of the bedrooms or bathrooms, Sunset, Pinkie, Starlight and Fluttershy weren’t serving tables in the restaurants or bussing drinks on the casino floor, and according to the cameras in the surveillance room (which head of security, Applejack, usually watched) none of them were in any of the hallways, either. Discord finally checked the staff locker room and saw their uniforms strewn about, this way and that. He had just missed them.

“Oh, no, you don’t!” he declared.

Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash led Soarin, Zephyr Breeze, Sunset Shimmer, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and the Dazzlings through the casino to the swimming pool with Discord hot on their trail.

“Hurry up!” she shouted.

“Out of my way!” Discord commanded as he barreled through groups of guests. “You’re mine now punks!”

The group reached the pool... as did Discord.

“Stop!” Discord ordered. “Do not enter the water!”

“Soooooo busted,” Pinkie groaned.

“I have a job for you,” he panted. “Get dressed and meet me in the lobby.”

The gang dragged their feet as they returned to the staff locker room.

“Discord caught you too?” Rarity asked Applejack.

“Eeyup,” she replied.

“I was going to work on my tan today,” Sunset said. “It is pathetic!”

“You think that’s bad?” Soarin complained. “I haven’t had a good gambling session in three days!”

“Do you guys ever stop and wonder, I mean really wonder, if things could get any worse?” Zephyr asked.

“Seriously, it’s not like we came out here to just work,” Dash commented. “We need a day off! We deserve a day off!”

A light bulb went off in Zephyr Breeze’s head.

“I’ve got it!” he exclaimed.

“Got what?” Dash asked.

“Discord may own our days, but we own our nights. And tonight, we’re getting our gamble on. Eight thirty, the casino floor -- be there!” Zephyr told them.

“Great,” Dash replied. “Except for one thing -- what are we gonna do about Discord? He never leaves. This resort is like his life.”

“The dude needs a vacation,” Pinkie said, “or a girlfriend.”

“Or maybe just a date,” Soarin replied. “Adagio, how are your sweet-talking skills?”

“I don’t know,” she said as she strode up to him. “But your hair is looking sooo good today, handsome,” she added huskily as she ran her hand through it and stroked his chin.

“Whoa...” Soarin mumbled weakly.

“She’s good,” Zeph complimented. “She is very, very good.”

“I have a mission for you,” Soarin told her.

Later that day, Adagio and her sisters approached Discord at the front desk.

“Wow, you look stressed,” Sonata observed.

“Don’t remind me,” he replied. “The Hooffields don’t want to be on the same floor as the McColts, and the Prince of Yakyakistan doesn’t want anyone near him...”

“Maybe this isn’t a good time,” Adagio told her sisters.

“Come on,” Sonata said, “we promised her!”

“Wait -- Promised who what?” Discord inquired.

“Well, there’s this woman and she’s really pretty and super sweet and she has a major crush on you,” Adagio said.

“What? Fo-fo-for real?” Discord stuttered.

“Oh, yeah,” Aria replied. “She can’t stop talking about you!”

“But we said you were way too busy to go on a date,” Adagio added.

“Aww... She’s going to be so crushed,” Sonata went on.

“Well, maybe I could squeeze her in,” Discord replied half-heartedly.

“Great! Tonight, eight o’clock, at The Hive Casino and Grill,” Adagio told him. “She’ll be holding a red rose.”

“And so will you,” Sonata added as she handed him one. “Have fun!”

“Thanks,” he said. “So... someone’s digging on the Discord? Nice.”

The Dazzlings smiled as they walked away. Adagio pulled out her cell phone and dialed Soarin once Discord was out of earshot.

“He bought it!” she said triumphantly. “He actually bought it!”

“Roger that,” Soarin replied. “Target is in my sight. Hey, Fluttershy, what are you doing tonight?”

Soarin approached the driver’s window of the shuttle bus as Fluttershy boarded it that evening. Discord was already onboard, in the far back, but he didn’t see her get on. It hadn’t taken much for Soarin to convince Fluttershy to go on a blind date, even though she told him she already had her heart set on Spike. He told her it was just for the evening and that the man in question was just as nervous as she was... all without telling her it was Discord.

“So remember, keep Discord and Fluttershy out as late as you can,” Soarin told Cheese Sandwich.

“You got it, man!”

Soarin watched the shuttle until it was out of sight, headed down the street. Once it was gone he mass-texted Rainbow Dash, Zephyr Breeze, Starlight Glimmer, Pinkie Pie, Rarity and the Dazzlings, and they quickly spread the word.

“The fish is in the net. Repeat, the fish is in the net!”

“Discord has left the building!” Zephyr Breeze declared. “Let’s get this par-tay started! Wooo-hoo!”

Night fell and Soarin popped a Champagne cork as Zephyr Breeze picked up a martini. Dripping in diamonds, Rarity picked a raspberry out of her Champagne glass as Zephyr took another martini and handed it to Starlight. Plates of delicious food came thick and fast, along with lots of cake, chocolates and other sweets, all washed down with endless glasses of Champagne.

The Dazzlings crowded around Zephyr Breeze at the Roulette wheel as more Champagne was poured. Zephyr was up a thousand dollars when Rarity knocked her glass of Champagne over, but the game went on. She wasn’t quite drunk, but certainly a little tipsy; her cheeks were red and she was throwing chips out recklessly when she raised her bets.

The atmosphere of the casino didn’t distract them; instead, the crush of people and the ambient noise bolstered their energy. So many smiling, laughing faces, so much gambling adrenaline flowing... they found it hard to catch their breath. Soarin won three hands of two thousand dollars, followed by two hands of twenty-five hundred at blackjack, as the blinking lights and spinning wheels wreaked havoc on their senses and the Champagne flowed.

“I won again!” Zeph shouted.

Soarin upended one of the Champagne bottles and it fell in a foamy waterfall into Pinkie’s open mouth. She made frantic slurping sounds, and some of the women applauded while the men whistled, and everyone screamed with laughter.

Applejack wove her way out of the eating, drinking throng, talking to herself while she inspected her uniform. She almost never wore a skirt and she was wondering if Spike would like seeing her in it.

“Howdy, Spike! Do you like--? No! Hey, Spike! No, that’s all wrong. Hi, Spike, I thought you might want to--that’s so lame...”

She sighed as the elevator doors opened and she heard Spike’s handsome voice call out, “Hold the elevator!”

“Oh, my gosh!” she thought. “He’s coming my way!”

“Thanks,” he said.

Applejack pushed the button for the 26th floor—Spike’s floor—as he stepped inside, smiling at her as the doors shut. Applejack smiled back, her eyes drinking in the sight of him clad in his purple board shorts with a towel over his shoulders. He had just come from the pool and he looked handsomer than ever.

“EEEE!! This isn’t happening!” she continued to think. “Spike and I are alone in the elevator and he has no shirt on!!”

Spike shook his head and tiny drops of water flew from his hair and onto her chest. “Oops! Sorry about that.”

“He shook on me. That has to be a sign. He wouldn’t just shake on me if he didn’t like me,” she thought. “Okay, say something. Don’t just stand there!”

She tried to, but when she opened her mouth, the elevator doors opened. They had stopped at the third floor—the staff’s floor—and Sunset Shimmer got on with them.

“Hi, Spike,” she smiled at him.

Spike opened his own mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

Back in the casino, the rest of the crew raised their drinks in a toast.

“That. Was epic,” Dash began.

“Legendary,” Zeph added.

“Sick!” added Soarin.

“We are the kings and queens of night gambling!” Pinkie declared.

They clinked their glasses together and, at that exact moment, the lights went out all over Las Pegasus.

Meanwhile, Spike listened to the sounds of the elevator, finding the hum of its motor and the cables somewhat comforting. Suddenly, the humming ceased, followed by a loud clank, a rattling bang, and a thump. Then there was a grating, screeching sound as the elevator came to an instant halt and its lights went off.

“What was that?” Sunset asked.

“I think we’ve stopped,” Applejack replied.

“Oh, no,” Spike said as he pressed the emergency call button.

“This is an emergency suspension due to a blackout,” a recording said over the speaker. “There is an official on the way, so please wait momentarily.”

“A blackout,” Sunset purred. “How romantic.”

“This is not good,” Spike and Applejack both thought. “Not good at all.”

A blackout in Las Pegasus was literally (and not just in Rarity’s words) the worst possible thing: it was the perfect time to steal anything from a kiss to a bunch of casino chips.

In the casino, Miss Pommel turned on a flashlight. Lit from below, her face glowed like a menacing ghost.

“Whoa!” Zephyr Breeze exclaimed.

“Uh-oh...” Dash breathed.

“Wow. Did not see that coming,” Pinkie said.

“Pinkie!” Twilight shouted. “You -- the entire resort -- all dark, all dark! Can’t breathe... Can’t breathe!”

“Twilight, it’s going to be okay,” Adagio said.

“Yeah, we can fix this,” Sonata added.

“Fix this?!” Twilight screamed. “You-- I-- what-- Oh, my-- I’m so-- this-- I’m getting fired! I’m a dead woman! You’re dead, too! We’re all dead!”

“Stop panicking!” Aria told her.

“What else is there to do?” Twilight shouted.

“She’s hyperventilating!” Coco cried.

“Deep breaths, Twilight, that’s it,” Starlight said as she handed her friend and roommate a brown paper bag to breathe into. “No one’s getting fired tonight.” She turned on the rest of the group and added, “If we don’t fix this, I’ll be stuck in the staff quarters until I’m thirty!!”

“It’s cool,” Soarin said. “I used to work for an electrician.”

“You can fix a circuit breaker?” Twilight asked, finally calmed down.

“Piece of cake,” he reassured her.

“You know what your problem is, Twilight?” Zephyr Breeze put in. “You worry too much. You keep it up and you’ll have a stroke.”

“Discord will be back soon, and he can kill a man at ten paces with one blow of his tongue!” Twilight replied. “How am I supposed to not worry?”

“By reminding yourself that there’s always someone worse off than you,” Zephyr told her.

“Is there?” she spat. “Well, I would love to meet them!”

Just then, the lights flickered back on, only to flicker off again. Soarin looked out to the street and saw that the lights had come on in the rest of the city, but they were still without power.

“If everyone will just stay where they are,” he told the groaning guests, “I’ll go check the circuit breaker.”

“It’s in the basement,” Adagio said. “We’ll go with you.”

“No, Starlight and I will go with him,” Rainbow Dash told her.

“Me too,” said Zeph.

“I’ll get more flashlights,” Miss Pommel promised.

“And some candles!” added Pinkie.

“Adagio, you and your sisters keep the guests calm,” Soarin said to them. “And Coco if your cell’s getting a reception, use it to call Cheese Sandwich. Tell him we need as much time as we can get.”

“Yes, sir,” she said agreeably.

Soarin moved slowly through the lobby, waving his hands in front of him until he found the door to the basement. He twisted the doorknob hard. Only then did he remember that doorknobs are hard, not soft. He also remembered that doorknobs aren’t at almost chest level. And they aren’t covered in fabric.

“What are you doing?” Rarity screamed. “Let go of my breast!”

“Sorry,” he said as he let go. “I can’t see a thing!”

“Don’t worry. I’ll stay right by your side,” Starlight promised.

“That’s reassuring,” Soarin said sarcastically.

“You don’t need to be nasty,” said she. “I’m only trying to be helpful.”

She tried to run her fingers through his hair but, because of the darkness, she missed and poked him in the eye.

“Ow!” he exclaimed.

“I’m sorry,” she apologized.

Starlight linked her arm through his. Soarin started toward the door leading to the basement. He found the doorway and went through.

“Oof!”

Starlight, still by his side, had walked straight into the wall.

“Sorry about that,” he said, helping her back to her feet.

And they headed downward.

Discord entered The Hive at eight o’clock on the dot. He was wearing his best brown suit coat, his pressed black slacks, an off-white collared shirt, red vest with a steel gray tie, and he was breathing hard. It was the first time he’d done anything like this, he was so nervous. He also witnessed the city-wide blackout and instantly thought that something was wrong. He reached for his cell phone and was about to dial Rarity when the lights came back on. He looked at the phone in his hand. Then he thought of his date, and placed his cell back in his coat pocket.

“You’re getting yourself worked up,” Discord told himself. “If there’s an emergency, they will call you.”

There were about two dozen people in The Hive that night, most of them Changelings. Pharynx was directing the wait staff while Thorax walked around, close to the bar, and mingled with the guests. That’s when Discord saw her—his blind date—sitting at the end of the bar with a cup of tea, the single red rose right next to the saucer. She was wearing a pretty yellow sundress, which complimented her fantastic body (especially her breasts); black open-toed sandals, and she had a pink butterfly barrette in her hair.

“Oh, no, she’s been waiting!” he cursed himself in thought. “I hope she hasn’t been waiting too long! Maybe she hasn’t noticed... Just breathe, Discord. You can do this. Okay, it’s showtime!”

She turned her head and Discord realized who she was. They both gasped.

“Fluttershy?” he asked. “You’re my date?”

“John de Prancie?” she addressed him by his real name.

Meanwhile, back at the resort, Coco dialed Cheese Sandwich on her cell.

“Come on, Cheese Sandwich, pick up. Pick up, pick up!”

Cheese Sandwich, who was sitting at the other end of the bar (far from Discord and Fluttershy) answered, “Big Cheese Sandwich here.”

“Mr. Sandwich, we have a Code Red!” Coco said. “The blackout blew out the power. Soarin’s working to fix it, but we need you to keep Discord and Fluttershy out for as long as you can.”

“No problemo! Operation Stall the Chaos Man is in effect,” he replied.

And then he hung up.

He turned to face the room and announced, “Just a reminder, the shuttle bus is parked for the next two hours. I’m double booked tonight: got a bar mitzvah going on next door and a bat mitzvah right after. Anyone who wants to check ‘em out is more than welcome. We got a karaoke machine and kosher hotdogs.”

“I’d rather tear my eyeballs out of my skull,” Discord replied. “And then eat the one eye while I watch myself eat it with the other eye.”

“Your loss, dude,” Cheese said casually.

“Now what?” Discord asked.

“Well, you could join me for dinner,” Fluttershy suggested.

“Fine, but this is sooo not a date,” Discord told her. “Wait, aren’t you a vegetarian?”

“Yeah, but I can make it work,”

“No. No, no. I am not going to make you compromise your principles for me,” he said strongly. “Let’s... go get... vegan food.”

“Are you sure?” Fluttershy asked sincerely.

“The Hive has a vegan menu,” Thorax informed them.

“Sounds like a love letter to my colon,” Discord replied.

Pharynx turned to Ocellus and said, “A table for two.”

“Right this way,” she told Fluttershy and Discord, and led them to a secluded table close to the stage.

Discord pulled Fluttershy’s chair out for her before taking his seat and Ocellus handed them the menus. Then she asked if she could start them off with something to drink. Fluttershy asked for a peppermint tea and Discord had the sauerkraut juice on the rocks.

A silence fell between them as Ocellus left, saying that she would be back to take their orders. The vegetarian menu had quite the selection: prime ribs of celery, spinach loaf, soy bean sherbet, daffodil and daisy sandwiches, dandelion salad with mineral oil dressing, and 27 flavors of yogurt.

Ocellus came back with Discord’s drink, which he quickly downed, and a pot of hot water and a teabag for Fluttershy. She poured the water from the kettle as Fluttershy looked at her menu.

“Oh. I don’t really like soy beans,” she said. “This is hard for me.”

“It’s hard for all of us,” Discord whispered to Ocellus.

“I’ll come back,” Ocellus replied. “Can I get you another?”

“Never stop getting me another,” he said, handing her his empty glass.

He and Fluttershy fell into another awkward silence.

“You weren’t who I was expecting,” Fluttershy said quietly.

She didn’t look at Discord when she spoke; she was staring at the table.

“Me neither,” he admitted. “So, what sort of company were you expecting?”

“Honestly, I didn’t know what to expect,” she confessed, finally looking into his eyes. “They didn’t tell me it was you.”

“Same here,”

Ocellus returned five minutes later, much to Fluttershy and Discord’s relief.

“Have you made your decision?” she asked.

“I’ll have the fruit salad with the vanilla yogurt on the side, please,” Fluttershy said politely.

“The soy bean hamburger with French fried soybeans,” said Discord.

“It also comes with a kale shake,” Ocellus told him.

“Perfect,” Discord replied.

Ocellus smiled as she took their menus and dashed off to the kitchen. As they sat in silence, Discord came to the decision to give Fluttershy the night of her life. She was going to have a good evening, a nice meal, and he was not going to ruin it for her. That included no flirting. He was not going to flirt with her!

“You know, you’re a lot friendlier when you’re not on duty,” she told him.

“Well, I’m a lot more able to fire someone when I’m on duty,” he replied. He sighed. “I’m sorry, Fluttershy. I believe you don’t like me, and frankly, I don’t care. I manage over a hundred employees; and I know that many of them don’t like me. I also know that most of them think I’m a troll. I have to be to run the resort in the manner the owners expect.”

“That’s not true,” Fluttershy said. “Well, maybe, but I don’t hate you.”

“They’re a bunch of clowns,” he said. “I like clowns, but they should be funny. It’s a clown’s business being funny. I ask you: and be frank with me... what have I done to earn contempt? Why should I be treated like I am stupid and they are smart? There isn’t a man in all of Equestria with my reputation. So why don’t they respect me?”

“Discord, I get the feeling that you’re not upset about my friends disrespecting you,” Fluttershy said as she placed a hand over his. “What’s really bothering you?”

She was visibly concerned. Her sincerity almost made him break down and cry, right there in front of everybody. The truth was that his job had gotten so stressful that he had been changing everything from his diet to his cleaning habits.

“I even started sleeping on the other side of the bed,” he told her.

“I sort of lie down wherever,” Fluttershy shared.

“What are you, a farm animal?” Discord shouted. “Even I have a side of the bed I always sleep on! Please, walk me through this. You get ready for bed. You put on your pajamas, whatever...”

“Actually, I sleep naked,” Fluttershy said.

“I’m sorry, what?” he asked.

“Totally naked,” she repeated.

“So there’s no barrier between your business and your bed?” he inquired. “Basically, your sheets become a giant pair of panties? No sides, no clothes, no rules. Normally, I would say you’re a woman after my own heart, but I draw the line at filthy, naked hippies!”

Fluttershy gave Discord a rather admiring glance.

That was one of the things she liked about him, those bizarre things he said every once in a while. Call him a dope in so many things, a screwball that flipped on the hour every hour over the least little go-wrong, a patsy for the oldest gag, but he sure could handle the language when he wanted to.

Ocellus exited the kitchen a minute later, balancing a bowl in one hand and a plate on the other.

“Soy bean hamburger with French fried soy beans for the gentleman, and for the lady, fruit salad with the yogurt on the side,” she said.

“Took long enough,” Discord complained.

Fluttershy started to peel an orange as he tore into his burger... and immediately wanted to spit it back out. But he put on a smile and kept chewing as Fluttershy gave him a concerned look.

“Mmm... Mm-hmm...” he hummed.

Then he swallowed and almost vomited as Fluttershy picked up a banana (that was still in one piece), peeled it, and started licking the tip... rather erotically.

Ocellus came back with another sauerkraut juice for Discord and asked if everything tasted okay. Fluttershy nodded happily while Discord smiled.

“How was your meal?” he asked Fluttershy a few minutes later.

“Oh, that was so good,” she replied. “How was yours?”

“Nothing better than mung beans, a kale shake and a shamburger,”

“Really? Because it looks like you barely touched it,”

“I’m saving room for dessert,”

Ocellus returned again and asked, “Is there anything else I can get for you?”

“Yes, we will have the chocolate soufflé for dessert,” Fluttershy told her.

“Just a reminder, it’ll take 45 minutes to prepare,”

“No, no,” Discord protested. “We need something that’s ready right now.”

“Don’t listen to him. He’s just being silly,” Fluttershy said as she shot a smile to Discord across the table.

“One soufflé coming up,” Ocellus replied.

And she disappeared once more.

“While we’re waiting, why don’t we have some fun?” Fluttershy asked him.

“Fun?” Discord replied, like the word was new to him.

“Why don’t you go up there with me?” she asked as she nodded to the stage. “I love karaoke.”

“Sounds spontaneous,” he said. “I like spontaneous!”

Fluttershy waved Thorax over, whispered something into his ear, and he smiled as me led her and Discord up to the stage.

“Ladies and gentlemen please help me in welcoming back Fluttershy!” he announced.

The crowd clapped as she sang “Somebody to Love” and Discord’s eyes bulged to the size of tea cups. They sang a few more songs; Fluttershy had them eating out of her hand.

“Thank you,” Fluttershy said after she finished. “And now, for your listening pleasure, a little something called ‘I’m Cute’.”

Fluttershy’s bangs fell over her left eye as she held the microphone and started singing again while Discord, Thorax and Pharynx provided the backup.

After a few verses, Discord was starting to get bored but he kept singing. When Fluttershy finally caught on to what he was doing, she got right in his face.

“You’ve ruined my entire cute song!” she shouted. “I am angry! I am furious! I am enraged! I! Have! HAD IT!!”

She started breathing heavily and Discord smiled.

“You’re awfully cute when you’re angry,” he said.

Fluttershy blushed and asked, “You really think so?”

Discord’s grin widened as he finished the song with one final, “She’s cute!”

The crowd burst with applause as they returned to their seats and the chocolate soufflé came out.

“I’ve never felt so alive!” Discord said. “I should have cut loose years ago. That was awesome! Keep the change,” he told Ocellus as he paid the bill.

“Oh, Pharynx doesn’t permit tipping,” she replied. “But if you like, I can put it in the building’s renovation fund.”

“You do that,” he smiled.

Spike, Sunset and Applejack sat on the floor of the elevator, wiping the sweat from their faces with Spike’s towel. The girls had taken off their jackets and their shoes, but they were still perspiring. Spike never thought that this would happen to him. And yet, here he was; stuck in an elevator between floors with two beautiful women. Not only were they trapped in there, it was getting hot; so hot that Sunset started clinging to Spike for support.

“We’ll be all right,” he thought. “Someone will come.”

Sunset had pushed the emergency call buttons two more times, hoping that someone would answer, but all they got was the same recording from before. Spike tried to keep calm, but it was difficult. He had hummed most of the songs he knew, partially to entertain the girls but mostly to take their minds off their current situation. Unfortunately, that just made him even tenser.

Applejack started looking Spike over. Her mind registered every detail, starting at his toes, his long, muscular legs, his broad shoulders, and finally his handsome face. His eyes were closed, features relaxed. AJ couldn’t help but smile at the sight of him sitting there, clad in only a pair of swim trunks, looking calmer than an undisturbed pond.

Just as Applejack finished admiring the Adonis before of her, she saw that Spike was now looking at her. AJ blushed as she realized that she had been caught staring like an idiot. Spike couldn’t help but smile as AJ’s face got redder and redder by the second. She tried to say something, but she couldn’t find the words.

“Oh, no, he saw me!” she thought. “Quick! Pretend to be interested in something else! Damn, it’s hot!”

“They’re not coming,” Applejack said as she loosened her tie and undid the first two buttons on her shirt, exposing ample amounts of cleavage.

Spike caught sight of her black lace bra and his face almost flushed. He felt so weak that he didn’t remember if what happened next was a fantasy or reality, but Sunset saw him struggling to stay awake and she placed his head against her breasts. They were going to pass out before help even arrived.

“It’s so hot!” they all thought.

“I can’t take it anymore!” Applejack exclaimed as she got to her feet and her hands fell to her waist.

She blushed again and she looked at Spike over her shoulder and said softly, “Please look the other way.”

“Sure,” he said.

Applejack unzipped her skirt and it fell to her ankles, revealing a pair of black lace panties. She sat down next to Spike again, and her eyes fell to his shorts.

“You don’t have to bear it,” she said to him. “Just take it off.”

“I’m fine,” he replied.

“You’re sweating too much to be ‘fine,’” she observed.

Spike was fading in and out as Sunset pulled her shirt over her head, unclasped her bra, and threw them both aside. One of Spike’s hands found the firm weight of Applejack’s left breast and he began to stroke it through her shirt. He continued to stroke it, rubbing the ball of his thumb gently over the nipple. His strong hand on her breast felt soothing. Applejack let out a soft sound—in reaction to his gentle pressure on her breast. He raised his hand slightly and undid the third button of her shirt. Applejack shifted her legs slightly. Suddenly, her panties seemed too tight, slightly irritating in a pleasant sort of way.

Spike’s hand dropped to the fourth button, slipped it, and more of her cleavage was exposed. He unbuttoned the next two buttons and he slipped her breasts into the wide V of the open shirt, pulled down her bra, bent, and molded his lips around the stem of a nipple. He slipped his tongue slowly back and forth across it in a way he didn’t know she liked. Applejack moaned a little and arched her back. Spike raised his head slightly and then settled against the other nipple.

She was totally excited now, leaning over him, her breasts tumbling out of her shirt as Sunset pulled off her jeans and her panties. Sunset pulled Spike away from Applejack and told him to lick her nipples, giving AJ a chance to fully undress. Spike tried to stop, but he couldn’t.

One part of him was arguing that getting all hot and bothered while it was already hot in the elevator was just going to increase their collective body heat and accelerate their chances of collapsing from heat stroke, while the other half countered that if they were going to die in the elevator it would be nice to make out with someone one last time.

Applejack licked her lips as her bass player hands slipped over the front of his crotch and felt the bulge beneath.

“Looks like I should bring down the heat here, too,” she said.

Sunset helped raise Spike gently off the floor so that Applejack could pull down his board shorts. She slowly slipped them off and her mouth watered.

“I knew it was big, but I never imagined it was this big,” AJ thought.

“S-Spike... You’re so hard...” she said.

“AJ...” he said weakly.

“Just lay back and leave all the work to us,” Sunset told him.

Applejack wrapped her fingers around the shaft and immediately took the tip into her mouth.

“Taste good?” Sunset asked.

“Mmmm!” AJ moaned in reply and she started bobbing her head furiously.

“I want a taste, too!” Sunset pouted.

Applejack pulled back and let Sunset take her turn.

“Mmm-mm!” Sunset moaned. “That was delicious, but I think we should take this to the next level.” She wrapped her breasts around Spike’s cock. “I’m not trying to keep him to myself!” she said to Applejack. “Join in!”

AJ crawled up alongside Sunset and they each placed a single breast on either side of his cock, sandwiching it between them.

“Oooh! It’s too good!” he thought.

Sunset closed her mouth over the top and Spike moaned at what he knew was sure to come. Then she started bobbing her head up and down his shaft, sucking hard, bringing him closer to climax. He finally came in her mouth and she gratefully swallowed every drop of the steaming hot liquid.

Applejack climbed atop Spike and started nibbling his shoulder as he cupped her ass in his hands. Then Sunset got up and positioned herself between them, placing her bum in front of Spike’s face. Giving each thigh a quick slap, Spike began to push Sunset’s legs open a bit further. He leaned in close, ran his tongue up the inside of her thighs, and found the object of his desire.

AJ kept gnawing at Spike’s collarbone while Spike licked Sunset’s honey, and Sunset moaned, sighed, whined and whimpered until both women fell on top of him, panting.

While all that—Spike’s time in the elevator with Applejack and Sunset, and Discord’s blind date with Fluttershy—was going on, Soarin led Starlight, Rainbow Dash and Zephyr Breeze down to the basement.

“Follow me!” he told them.

“Boy, it’s dark,” Zephyr said. “Wow, it’s really dark. Seriously - it’s dark.”

“Yeah, we get it. It’s dark,” Dash replied. “Wait... Are you scared?”

“The Zephster does not get scared,” he answered.

“Oh, you are scared! Awww! Zeph’s scared of the dark!”

“That’s actually funny,” Soarin added.

“I am not scared of the dark,” Zephyr replied.

Zeph took a few steps down the corridor before Rainbow Dash grabbed him around his waist and said, “Gotcha!”

“AAAAAHHH! You can’t get me, vampire!” he cried and he jumped into Soarin’s arms.

They all laughed at him until they heard a metallic creaking.

“What was that?” Starlight asked.

Soarin dropped Zephyr and shouted, “Every man for himself!”

And they all ran off screaming. They ran for a whole minute before Rainbow Dash shouted for them to stop.

“What are we running from?” she asked.

“I don’t know!” Starlight exclaimed.

“Bet you ladies are glad I’m here to protect you,” Zephyr said.

Rainbow Dash groaned in reply.

“Where’s Soarin?” Starlight asked.

“The vampires got him!” Zephyr shrieked.

“There’s no such thing as vampires,” Starlight told him. “Come on! I think it’s this way.”

For the next ten minutes Starlight opened doors, looking for the circuit breaker. The first was the walk-in freezer where the cooks kept all of the meat. There were 15 rib roasts, 12 whole turkeys and 40 whole chickens, 50 sirloin steaks, two dozen pork roasts, and below them were racks and legs of lamb (20 each)... all hanging from rows of hooks along the walls. Hamburger in 30 ten-pound plastic bags, 12 packages of sausage, the same number of bacon, a dozen canned hams stacked up like poker chips, five pounds of rainbow trout, ten of turbot, and fifteen cans of tuna. A long wallboard, covering one whole wall, hung with cutting instruments all the way from knives to two-handed cleavers hung beside a four-basin sink.

The next bin was the bread—thirty loves of white, twenty of wheat, and twenty pounds of butter. Real butter.

“You know I was just kidding about that vampire stuff,” Zephyr told them. “I’m not scared.”

Suddenly, they heard a disgusting slurping sound coming from behind them.

“I’m too pretty to die!” he cried.

They ran again until they hit a dead end. The slurping approached and Zephyr put Rainbow Dash in front of him as a shield as a dark shadow came around the corner.

It was Soarin. And he was holding a tub of chocolate ice cream.

“Yo, you guys find the breaker yet?” he asked.

“Dude! You’re alive! Oh, dude!” Zephyr cried happily. “Where’d you get the ice cream?”

“AHHHHHHHHHH!” Soarin exclaimed as he fell to his knees.

“Oh, my gosh! Soarin!” Starlight cried.

“Ah, brain freeze!” he said. “That’s better. Come on, let’s move!”

And they followed him further into the basement.

Meanwhile, the bat mitzvah had ended in the building next to The Hive, and Cheese Sandwich started up the shuttle bus as Discord and Fluttershy got on.

“Okay, both coming-of-age parties are over,” Discord told him. “And we’re going back now.”

“Sure thing, boss man,” Cheese Sandwich replied. “But I have some bad news and some good news. The bad news is that the bus is stuck in first gear.”

“What’s the good news?” Discord asked.

“I just got a wicked new party mix CD for us to listen to on the way back,”

Discord sat in the very back next to Fluttershy, and he closed his eyes saying, “Serenity now. Serenity now. Serenity now.”

Starlight led Soarin, Zephyr Breeze and Rainbow Dash through the storeroom where all the dried and canned goods were kept. Fruits (everything from peaches and apricots to raisins and prunes) and vegetables (potatoes, onions, tomatoes, turnips, squashes, and cabbages), fish and meats, rice, macaroni, spaghetti, a bushel of fresh apples, hot and cold cereals, a dozen gallon jugs of molasses, a hundred boxes of dried milk, and thirty 12-pound bags of sugar. Zephyr found a roll of aluminum foil, and not only did he make himself a hat out of it, but he actually wore it. Dash asked him about it.

“It’s so the aliens can’t hear my thoughts,” he said.

“Oh, they’d have to listen really hard to find one of those,” she replied.

Starlight stifled a giggle.

“Does it protect against brain-eating zombies?” Soarin inquired.

“Darn. I didn’t think of that,” Zeph said.

“Okay, it has to be this way,” Starlight told them.

“You don’t know where it is, do you?” Dash asked her.

“No clue,” she confessed.

“I knew it!” Zephyr cried. “We’re all gonna die! And then we’re going to die at the hands of vampires and aliens and brain-eating zombies and then we’re gonna get fired! And then we’re gonna die all over again! HEEEEELLLLP!!!!”

Soarin slapped Zephyr across the face.

“Dude, what’d you do that for?” he asked.

“You were wigging out,” Soarin replied. “And Dash gave me fifty bucks.”

“Guys!” Dash shouted. “I think I found something!”

It was a big metal door with a lightning bolt in the center.

“That’s it!” Starlight exclaimed.

“Okay, Soarin, you’re up!” Dash said as she pushed the door open.

Soarin stepped into the room and his eyes panned across a panorama of over 50 different levers, buttons and knobs.

“Where’s the ‘on’ switch?” he asked.

“SOARIN!!!!” they shouted.

Starlight pulled out her cell phone and dialed Cheese Sandwich.

“Great Cheese Sandwich here,” he answered.

“Cheese, it’s Starlight Glimmer. We need your help! We’re at the breaker switch but we don’t know what to do!”

Cheese glanced in the mirror over his head and saw Discord nodding off in the back seat of the bus.

“Okay, listen very carefully,” he whispered so that Discord couldn’t hear him. “One false move and the whole system will go down for good.”

“As if we weren’t under enough pressure!!” Dash exclaimed.

“Oh, and I’m almost back,” Cheese added.

“Oh, that’s just great!” Zephyr shouted. “This is everyone else’s fault! If the vampires don’t get us, Discord will! We are so dead! We are beyond de--”

This time, Rainbow Dash slapped Zeph across the face.

“Yeah, I deserved that one,” he admitted, rubbing his cheek.

“Okay, Cheese,” Starlight told him, “I’ve got you on speaker.”

“First, power up the pump,” he began.

“Got it!” Zephyr said. “What’s next?”

“Flip the switches in this order,” Cheese instructed. “Orange, yellow, pink, blue, then...”

“Cheese?” Starlight asked. “Cheese can you hear me?”

“Hold on -- incoming Discord,” he whispered in reply.

“Who was that you were talking to?” Discord asked.

“Who, me?” Cheese answered. “I wasn’t talking.”

“I heard you talking to someone on your cell phone,”

“This cell phone? Naw man, the battery’s dead,”

Cheese showed Discord his phone—the battery had indeed died.

“See? Dead,”

“Who. Hired. You?!” Discord asked. “And where is the hotel? We should be able to see it by now.”

“You got me, bro,” Cheese Sandwich replied.

“All right, that’s it! Something’s up! Move over!”

Cheese Sandwich pulled the bus over and Discord took control. With a punch of the clutch and a jerk, he dropped the bus’s stick shift into second gear, then back up into third.

“Ha! I thought you said only first gear was working!”

“It’s a mechanical miracle!” Cheese Sandwich replied.

“Then what?” Starlight shouted into her phone. “Cheese, then which one?”

She waited for a reply, but she heard nothing.

“He’s gone,” she breathed.

“Okay, two choices,” Rainbow Dash said. “Red or purple?”

“I can’t work with this kind of pressure!” Soarin exclaimed.

“There’s only one way to solve this,” Zephyr Breeze said. “Eenie-meenie-minie-mo.”

“Seriously?” Dash asked.

“You got any better ideas?!” Zeph shouted.

“All right, just pick one!” Dash yelled. “Quick!”

Zephyr flicked the red switch up... and the lights came on all over the resort.

“They did it... They did it!” Coco cried. “We have light!”

In the elevator, the silence was finally broken by a hard, clanking, metallic rattle. Then there was heavy grinding and a mechanical humming. The elevator started moving again and Spike, Sunset and Applejack cheered.

Starlight, Soarin, Zephyr Breeze and Rainbow Dash all exchanged hugs and high fives (including one really awkward, and uncomfortable, hug between Dash and Zephyr) before making their way back upstairs, just in time to see Discord and Fluttershy enter the lobby.

“Anything happen while I was gone?” he asked Rarity.

“Nothing I can think of,” she slurred.

“Something seems off,” Discord said.

“It’s been really quiet,” Rarity answered.

“Well, I’m going to bed,” Discord yawned. “Oh, and Rarity...”

“Yes, sir?” she asked.

“Don’t forget to turn off the lights in the lobby bathrooms. Thanks,”

“You got it, boss,” she hiccupped.

Once Discord was out of earshot Zephyr let out a big, “Woo-hoo!”

“Okay, double or nothing one of ‘em gets fired by tomorrow night,” Tex told the other guests. “Any takers? Anyone? No?” They all walked off. “Crap!”

Three seconds later, the elevator on the far side of the lobby sighed opened and Spike, Applejack and Sunset stepped out of the car, fully clothed, and glistening with sweat.

“We’re free!” Sunset exclaimed. “Free at last!”

“Spike, I’m sorry,” Applejack apologized. “I bit you in the shoulder.”

Spike looked down and he saw that she had given him a hickey.

“It was so hot I couldn’t even think,” she said. “My mind was so clouded I was about to--”

Spike placed his hands on her shoulders and smiled at her. He spoke not a word, but the look in his eyes told her that she was forgiven. The elevator doors sighed shut as he walked to the stairwell and she smiled as she watched him go.

“Man, I really hope I remember this in the morning,” Spike thought.

“So... Did you enjoy your evening?” Fluttershy asked as she followed Discord to his office.

“I did, actually,” he replied.

She chuckled. “If you’re free tomorrow, perhaps you’d consider going out with me again?”

“This wasn’t a date!” he re-reminded her.

“It’s okay, John,” she told him. “Everybody needs a little fun sometimes -- even you.”

“You’re right,” Discord admitted. “I could use a little more fun in my life.”

She raised herself on tiptoe to brush her lips against his cheek. She smiled at him as his cheeks went red and she skipped merrily away.

Next time: Rainbow Dash’s gross roommate habits get her kicked out of her room by Rarity and Fluttershy... and into Spike’s. But when they realize how much they miss Dash, they beg her to return.

Meanwhile, Starlight and Pinkie (afraid that Twilight received a bad evaluation, which would lead to her third strike) try to track down the paperwork before it reaches Discord.