Spike sat in the Café one day, talking with Soarin and Zephyr Breeze. He had been telling them how he had awoken that morning from the best sex dream he’d ever had up to that point. Now he was cheerfully showing them some of the new scars given to him by his harem. First, he tugged his collar down to show them the front side of his left shoulder. It was crusted with a little dried blood.

“Last night in bed, Fluttershy bit me,” he told them.

Then he turned around and pulled up his shirt to show them a bruise on his lower back.

“From the gearshift knob of the Mustang, courtesy of Rainbow Dash,”

Finally, he removed his shirt to reveal a series of scratches all across the backs of both shoulders.

“Who--?” Soarin began.

“Guess,” Spike told them.

“Chrysalis!” Zephyr answered.

“Good, but no,” he replied.

“Stellar Flare?” Soarin ventured.

“Try again,”

“Don’t tell me it was--” Zephyr began.

“It was Tempest,” Spike smiled.

The guys couldn’t help but congratulate Spike on his many conquests as he put his shirt back on and Sugar Belle appeared with his meal: steak and fries, with thick slabs of bread and two streaming cups of hot chocolate. She placed the food on the table in front of him, and as Spike smelled the hot, buttered bread and the cocoa, his stomach growled in appreciation.

After that, he spent most of the afternoon in his suite... playing Strip Poker with Applejack, Sunset, Fluttershy, Pinkie and Rainbow Dash. Each woman came wearing no more than five articles of clothing (jewelry and accessories didn’t count), and Spike laid down the rules. In a typical game of Poker, each player was given five cards, face down, and would try to make the best five-card hand. After each switch, each of them would have the opportunity to call, raise or fold. After the first round of calls, raises, and folds were done, all cards would be revealed, and the best five card hand at the end of the round won. But in this case, the winner got to choose what article of clothing the loser(s) had to take off. And when someone ran out of clothes, they were out of the game and had to retire to the Jacuzzi in the master bathroom.

They all thought for a moment and said, “Deal!”

Well, all of them except Rainbow Dash.

“Spike, I am not playing Strip Poker with you!” she shouted.

“Why not,” he asked with a sinister grin on his face, “afraid you’ll lose?”

“No!” she lied.

Fluttershy wasn’t much of a card player, so she was taken a little aback when Spike flipped the cards out of the pack and did a bridge shuffle. Cards had never been something she was very good at, but she knew how much he loved it.

“Remember, always look confident,” Sunset told her. “Act like it means nothing, even if it means everything.”

Fluttershy nodded.

“All right,” Rainbow Dash shrugged. “If Fluttershy’s in, then I’m in!”

“You sure you don’t want to hand over your clothes now?” Spike asked. “That way we don’t have to go through the formality of actually playing?”

“No, we’ll see who has the last garment at the end,” Fluttershy replied.

Spike dealt the cards and the girls all wiggled in discomfort as he did. Dash tried to keep a straight face; she already had a full house! Applejack had nothing, so she folded immediately. Sunset had a pair of aces, but she folded as well. And Pinkie had a pair of twos, but folded soon after Sunset did.

Fluttershy looked at her hand and desperately tried to hide a gasp. Spike and Dash put down their cards simultaneously; they both had a full house, but his was higher than hers. Fluttershy put her cards down and Spike’s eyes went wide for two seconds—she had a royal flush! Needless to say, he was shocked.

“Not bad... for a beginner,” he said.

Fluttershy gave him a smug smile and said, “Okay, take off your shirt.”

“Damn!” Applejack thought. “Why’d she have to go for the shirt?”

“Take it off,” Fluttershy stared at him, her cyan eyes looking into his warm emerald ones.

Without a word, Spike slowly started lifting his shirt above his head. He pulled it off, revealing a second, tighter shirt underneath. It may have been an undershirt, but it showed off his body perfectly, and the girls felt a quivering in their stomachs.

“My turn to deal,” said Sunset. “Cut,” she told Pinkie.

Pinkie cut the deck, folded immediately, and AJ and Sunset folded along with her and Fluttershy after trading in their cards. Rainbow Dash looked down at her hand, nervously biting on her bottom lip.

“Why did I agree to this?” she thought.

“Well?” Spike asked.

Dash looked up from her cards to meet Spike’s expectant gaze. His cards were spread out for her to see, an arrogant smirk playing on his face. He had the Jack of Spades, the Seven of Clubs, the King of Diamonds, the King of Hearts, and the King of Spades—Three of a Kind.

“Show me what ya got,” he told her.

Dash let out a sigh of defeat as she put her own cards down: the Two of Hearts, the Five of Spades, the Five of Diamonds, the Seven of Spades, and the Seven of Hearts—Two Pair.

“You win,” she said.

Spike’s smirk broke into a grin. “Take off your pants.”

“What are you, nuts?!” she shouted. “Fine,” she sighed again.

She stood up and began unbuttoning her pants.

“Why did I decide to wear my black lace combo?” she thought as she pushed her pants down her legs, revealing her panties.

Spike let out a wolf whistle when her pants dropped to her ankles.

“Nice legs,” he said.

“Shut up!” she snapped as she kicked her pants aside.

“It was a compliment,” he chuckled.

“Perv,” she scowled as she sat back down.

Her pants were gone, and round three began. Applejack dealt the cards this time and she and Pinkie folded while Sunset, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy stayed in. Dash shot Spike a dirty look, which only made his smile bigger.

“Pull yourself together!” she thought to herself. “You can’t lose this one! If you do, the shirt has to come off, and I’ll be damned if I let him leer at my boobs!”
Sunset revealed her hand first: a pair of Sevens with a King High. Fluttershy followed and turned over a Two Pair, Fours and Tens. Dash had a Full House. She hoped it was good enough to at least beat Spike. Spike snickered as he put down his cards: an Ace and Two Pair; Threes and Fours. As soon as Dash saw them, she couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.

“Ha! I win!” she shouted, pumping her fists into the air, thankful that she wouldn’t have to show them her goods. However, she paused in her small victory dance as her attention was drawn to Spike, who was sitting across from her.

He removed his undershirt and Dash’s mouth dropped open and she flushed. She felt like she was on fire seeing Spike shirtless. She couldn’t say anything.

“Like what you see?” he asked her.

Dash snapped out of her daze and glared.

“And what’s that?” he asked.

“What’s what?” she snapped.

“There, on the corner of your mouth! Is that... drool?”

Dash quickly wiped her hand over her mouth, only to find nothing there. Spike burst out laughing.

“Not funny!” she shouted.

“Admit it! We all saw how you looked at him when he was taking his shirt off,” Pinkie told her. “It’s my deal.”

The game was starting to get serious. Fluttershy quickly peeked at her cards; she had Four Kings, so she wasn’t worried.

“Remember, always look confident,” Sunset had told her before the game started. “Act like it means nothing, even if it means everything.”

Dash flipped her cards over, revealing Three Queens—Three of a Kind.

It was good, but not good enough. Sunset flipped her cards, revealing two Jacks and two Tens.

“Two Pair,” she stated.

Spike shook his head as he revealed his hand.

“Four aces,” he said simply.

The girls’ jaws dropped.

“So, what’ll it be?” he thought out loud as his gaze shifted down to Dash’s pelvis before moving back up to look her in the eye. “The shirt... or maybe something else?”

Dash frowned.

“Take off your shirt,” he said finally.

Dash hesitated. Her hands shook as she slowly took it off. Spike was slightly surprised when he caught sight of her bra. He was even more surprised with what filled them. It was hard to make out with the loose T-shirts she usually wore (when she wasn’t in uniform). There it was: a black lace bra on full display for them all to see. The smirk on Spike’s face grew as he dealt for round five. It was becoming a real game of cat and mouse between him and Dash.

Spike revealed a two pair of Kings and Tens. Fluttershy had a straight flush in diamonds; three to the seven.

“What should I take off?” Spike asked her, still smirking.

“Your pants,” Fluttershy stated.

Everyone was surprised to hear her say it, but she didn’t care.

“Demanding, aren’t we?” Spike’s smile broadened.

“Off with the pants,” she repeated.

He stood up and dropped them, making sure they all got a good look before he sat back down, and the women felt a certain wetness between their legs. Seeing Spike in nothing but his boxers... They all looked away, hoping that their hormones would calm down. But they couldn’t get the image out of their heads.

“Do you want to continue?” he asked them impishly.

“Of course,” Sunset said, trying to maintain her composure.

Fluttershy dealt for round six and once again, AJ was the first to fold, followed by Pinkie. Dash had a two pair of fives and Queens. Sunset looked down at her cards and tried to hide her smile. She had the Ten of Diamonds, Three of Clubs, Three of Diamonds, Three of Hearts, and Three of Spades—Four of a Kind. She couldn’t believe her luck. She returned her gaze to Spike.

“Ready?” she asked him.

Spike nodded and the both of them put down their cards.

He had a straight flush! And he told her to take her top off, which concealed a lacy red bra underneath. Applejack dealt for round seven, and she, Dash, Sunset and Pinkie all folded.

“Alright, let’s see ‘em,” Spike said to Fluttershy.

She showed him a pair of Jacks. He had four of a kind: twos. After losing, Fluttershy reached behind herself, lifting the back of her shirt and Spike watched in confusion as she fiddled with whatever she was doing behind her back.

“If you’re taking off your shirt, you’re not doing it right,” he said.

“Who said anything about my shirt?” she replied.

She took her left hand and reached up through her right sleeve, grabbed the strap of her bra, and pulled her arm through. Then she did the same with her other arm. After a couple more seconds, Fluttershy pulled her bra out from underneath her shirt, a smirk on her face, holding it out in front of her before tossing it aside.

Immediately, Spike thought back to the scene from Flashprance where Jennifer Bales took off her bra in a similar fashion. His eyes followed the bra before turning back to Fluttershy with a large grin.

“You clever little tease!”

Rainbow Dash felt her throat suddenly clench up. She didn’t have anything else to take off except the big stuff this time. She was only left in her bra and panties, and she knew that if she lost this round, something was going to be exposed. She looked to Spike with a pleading face, but he just gave her a large, lustful smirk in return. How lucky was he to still have on his boxers? Of course, given what they had seen over the past several weeks, nobody could call it anything but luck.

“Your turn to deal,” Spike said to her.

Dash let out a shaky breath, trying to grasp the deck in her hands. She tried to keep her eyes from prying back to Spike’s every five seconds, instead trying to focus on shuffling the cards and concentrating on her own fingers. That’s when it really hit her! Spike had only one article of clothing on: his boxers!

The thought almost made her drop the deck.

“If I win this, Spike’s gonna have to take off his underwear!” she thought. “No, he wouldn’t... Ohhh, yes he would! That’s the whole point of the game!”

She dealt each of them a hand and round eight begin. Applejack stayed in with a pair of Jacks while Sunset folded. Dash had a pair of tens, as did Pinkie, and Fluttershy had a pair of Kings, but she folded.

Spike showed two Queens.

“Looks like you owe me your bra,” he said to Dash.

Her bra unclamped in the front. She quickly undid it and threw it aside.

Almost none of them had a good hand the next round.

“I’m out,” Applejack said as she put her cards down.

“Me too,” Pinkie pouted.

“Ditto,” Dash added.

“S-same,” Fluttershy stuttered.

“I’m in,” Sunset announced.

She laid down her cards: three Queens and two Fives, a full house. Spike shook his head as he laid his cards across from hers: four of a kind. Sunset’s jaw dropped. She couldn’t believe it.

“I’ll be taking that skirt,” he said wryly.

Sunset sighed. She stood up, facing him in a businesslike manner, and removed her skirt, revealing her red lace thong. She handed him her skirt and sat back down, making no effort to make herself decent. At the next hand, Applejack lost. She quickly pulled off her shirt and sat down, only to lose again. She tugged at her belt, loosening it, pulled her denim skirt down and let it hit the floor. Even though Spike was only one hand away from defeat, he was determined to win.

He dealt again, and won with four Jacks against Fluttershy’s pair, which cost her skirt. Next round, Sunset had a full house: three fives and a pair of twos, AJ had a full house as well, but with three Kings and two sevens; Pinkie showed two nines and three fours, another full house; and Spike showed four aces and a five.

Applejack would be lying if she said that Spike didn’t have a poker face. She wondered how he had gotten so good at it. She also wondered how far she was going to let this go. Her whole body let out a sigh of relief as she won the next hand. Pinkie took off her top and sat back down, looking comfortable, as Spike tried hard to not stare. They all kept expelling cards and grabbing more to the point that the deck had to be collected again. As they continued, Spike started staring at Pinkie. He could see the small indents of her nipples through her bra as she bent over to exchange a card. They showed each other their cards.

She lost.

Pinkie sighed, taking off her skirt very quickly and crossing her legs so Spike couldn’t see her filly pink panties, much to his disappointment. Fluttershy had nothing—the Nine of Hearts, the Jack of Clubs, the Two of Spades, the Seven of Diamonds, and the Four of Clubs—and lost her shirt to Spike’s Ace High: the Three of Clubs, the Jack of Hearts, and the Ace, Six and Queen of Spades.

The next round, AJ folded on a pair of Sevens (Hearts and Diamonds); Spike got three Queens (Hearts, Spades, and Clubs), and exchanged all but one card. The rest of the girls, minus Pinkie, folded.

“All right,” Spike told her. “Show your hand.”

Pinkie let her cards fall one by one: the Nine of Hearts, the Nine of Spades, the Nine of Clubs, and the Nine and the Queen of Diamonds.

“Four of a kind,” she commented.

She felt good. Spike shook his head almost solemnly as he laid his cards down: the King, Queen, Jack, Ten, and the Ace of Hearts. A royal flush!

Before Pinkie removed her bra, Spike paused for a moment to take in the vision of his female playmates, all wearing only their lingerie.

“A delightful vision indeed!” he thought.

“Can we just finish this game now?” Dash asked impatiently.

“Why, you in a hurry to join them?” Spike quipped.

The girls were starting to get nervous, wondering which of them would be the first to end up completely nude, especially after Spike started to memorize the cards as he dealt them.

“You’ve got nothing, you have two pair, and I have a 17.4 percent chance of making a straight,” he told Applejack and Sunset.

And he did: his Straight—Three of Diamonds, Four of Clubs, Five of Hearts, Six of Hearts, and the Seven of Spades—beat Sunset’s Two Pair—Five of Hearts, Ten of Hearts, Ten of Spades, King of Spades and the King of Diamonds—causing her to forfeit her bra. Eventually every woman in the room was down to just her panties.

It was anyone’s game now.

“I’m in,” Spike stated.

“Dashie, are you in or out?” Pinkie asked.

“I hate this game!” Rainbow shouted, slapping her cards down. “I’m sorry,” she apologized after she’d folded, “but I just can’t lose anymore.”

“I’m out,” said Sunset.

“Me, too,” Fluttershy added.

“Out,” AJ joined them.

“I’m in,” Pinkie said, showing her hand. “Two pair: Kings and Eights.”

Spike had Four Sixes, and Pinkie took off her panties. The next hand, Sunset showed a Two, a Seven, an Eight, a Jack and a Queen, all Hearts—a Flush, which lost to his Four Aces. And after that, his Flush—Five of Spades, Nine of Spades, Ten of Spades, King of Spades, and the Ace of Spades—beat Rainbow Dash’s Three of a Kind—Six of Clubs, Eight of Spades, Eight of Hearts, Eight of Diamonds, and the Queen of Clubs.

One by one, Dash, Sunset and Applejack locked their fingers around their panties and slowly worked them down their legs. Trembling slightly, they all let out little gasps as they exposed themselves to Spike.

It was just him and Fluttershy.

“Last round,” she said after she dealt. “Whoever wins this is the winner. Five-card draw, Jacks or better, nothing wild.”

The five other girls watched as the two players exchanged cards once more.

“Full house,” Fluttershy said. “Well, show us your cards!” she snapped.

Spike shook his head one more time as he spread his cards in front of him: King, Queen, Jack, Ten, and Ace of Hearts.

“Royal. Flush,” he said.

And just like that, it was over. The girls had all lost, and even though Spike had repeatedly cheated—but only after losing almost all of his clothes—they got him back in the Jacuzzi after.

Spike, dressed in his best tuxedo, walked across the lobby with Applejack, Sunset, Fluttershy, Pinkie, Rainbow Dash, Apple Bloom Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Bot. The rest of the day passed without any major events, much to Spike’s amazement. In fact (aside from the Strip Poker match), it was as close to unremarkable as it could get... until that night when he strolled through the casino.

“Now, where can I do the most damage?” he asked himself in thought. “Poker? More Blackjack?”

Out of all the dealers that were working the floor that night, one stood out the most: Midnight Radiance.

“Point’s ten! A hard ten! Ten’s the number!” he shouted. “Twelve! Craps! A loser! Eight’s the point!”

“Craps it is,” Spike thought.

“If anyone needs me, I’ll be rolling the dice,” he told the girls.

Applejack, in the strapless green gown, pearl necklace and matching earrings she’d worn for the dance contest; and Sunset, in a scarlet and gold ensemble, joined him. And Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Sweetie Bot and Scootaloo followed.

Craps, a game in which players made wagers on the outcome of the roll, or a series of rolls, on a pair of dice. It was relatively simple if one betted with sequential consistency. The combinations totaling 7 or 11 on the dice had considerable value when achieved on the first attempt. With eight variations possible to create those totals, the likelihood of those totals occurring was not significant. It was all a question of probabilities.

The feeling of unimaginable amounts of money moving around with a single shake of a hand... if you tasted it once, you could quickly become addicted.

“Nine. Mark nine,” Midnight Radiance said.

Even though the odds were against the players, Midnight Radiance enjoyed the social aspects of the game, the stimulation of the crowd. Craps was a sort of symbol of his team’s aura. They didn’t mind sacrificing a little profit if it made the customers happy. Silver Waves and Bushel, the first two guests Spike had met the day he checked in, were at the table. Silver Waves was wearing the same beautiful red dress she had on that day, but Bushel was dressed impressively in a vested suit of sparkling white linen, his white-crowned Stetson hat, and his boots were highly polished cordovan leather.

Midnight Radiance passed the dice on to Bushel, who held them in his hand and offered them to a woman from Chicoltgo. She shook her head. Bushel shrugged, and then blew on them himself before he cast them.

“Craps, boxcars, a loser,” Midnight Radiance said. He passed the dice on to Silver Waves. “Coming out, coming out. Next shooter’s a lady. Ladies are lucky, ‘cause they’re ladies.”

“Mommy wants a seven!” Silver Waves cried. “Let’s go, seven!”

“Seven! A winner!” Midnight Radiance said.

“Good roll!” Bushel boomed, a pleased smile creasing his handsome face. “This table’s hot!”

“Place your bets,” Midnight Radiance told them. “Lucky roller coming out. Place your bets.”

Silver Waves threw the dice and got two ones.

“Snake Eyes,” Midnight Radiance said. “Loser, the lucky lady craps out... new roller coming out!”

“Your turn, Slick,” Applejack told Spike.

“Get in on this,” Bushel said. “Maybe this turkey will bring us some luck,” he whispered to Silver Waves.

“May I have five hundred thousand dollars in chips?” Spike asked. “No! Make it an even million, a large Dr. Pepper, and some boneless honey barbecue wings... Is there a problem?”

Midnight Radiance turned his head to the pit boss and said, “Gentleman wants a million dollar credit with a fifty thousand dollar limit.”

The pit boss looked up and stepped next to Midnight Radiance.

It was Sassy Saddles.

As she approached the table, Spike looked over at a group of six men and four women standing directly opposite of him at the other end of the table. He recognized them from his modeling days. While Spike was the spokesman for Dragon Spice body wash, they were the spokesmen (and women) for Buckweiser and the Cloudsdale Brewery. They were the L’Oranges, a branch of the Orange Family, Applejack’s cousins, from Manehattan. Their names were King, Queen, Duke, Lady, General, Major, and Sergeant; and their bodyguards were Belladonna, Mandarin, and Narinja. They were all dark haired, tan and built like Clydesdale horses. All but Narinja; she looked almost exactly like Applejack, except her eyes were brown and her raven hair fell free around her shoulders.

Kingsley “King” L’Orange was the obvious head of the group, Queen, aka “Queenie”, was his wife; Duke was King’s younger brother, he was married to Lady, who was Queen’s younger sister, and General, Major and Sergeant were all brothers. Belladonna, Mandarin and Narinja were brother and sisters, but they weren’t related to King and his clan (at least not closely).

“Why do they do this every time we get a hot table?” King L’Orange asked his cohorts. “Why do they do that? Hey, let the man roll the dice!” he told Sassy.

“Mister Drake’s credit is good,” Sassy said to Midnight Radiance. “Give him the chips. Good luck to you, Mister Drake.”

She winked at Spike as she walked away.

“Thank you,” he replied. “I’ll have two stacks now.”

Midnight Radiance gave Spike the million dollars in chips but he only put down five thousand dollars.

“Kid looks like a shooter,” King L’Orange said. “I’m going for it. I’m going for this. Go for this. Go for this,” he told his wife and friends.

“I’m ready,” Queen said.

Spike held the dice to Sunset and she blew on them.

“Come on!” the L’Oranges chanted. “Come on!”

Spike rolled two threes.

“Six,” Midnight Radiance said. “Six is your number.”

“Tartarus, my grandma could make a six!” Bushel said to Spike. “Come on, roll ‘em!”

“I thought only seven and eleven had value,” Sunset said.

“Actually, six is a valid point,” Spike explained. “My goal, now, is to roll a duplicate six before rolling seven.”

“But the probability of making a six is no greater than that of hitting a seven,” Sunset replied.

“There is a certain degree of random fortune involved,” Spike told her. “Why do you think they call it gambling?”

Spike rolled again, and the dice landed on a four and a three.

“Seven,” Midnight Radiance said. “Seven away. Next shooter.”

“Give him another chance,” Bushel said. “I’ve got a feeling about you,” he told Spike.

Up in the Eye in the Sky Room, Lucky Clover dialed the Brothers’ office.

“Flim speaking,” one of them answered.

“I think we have a problem,” he told them. “Turn on camera number two, Craps table number nine.”

The Brothers did and live footage of Spike shooting the dice appeared on the main monitor.

“What do we do?” Lucky Clover asked.

“Let him play,” Flam said. “Let him win some money and have some fun.”

“Yes, sirs,” Lucky Clover replied.

“And don’t bother us with this again,” Flim added.

“These cubes are unevenly balanced,” Spike said as he picked them up.

He gave them to Sweetie Bot and she held them in her hand. He was right.

“Can you repair them?” he asked her.

“I believe so,” Sweetie Bot said.

She squeezed them in her hand, hard enough that she rebalanced them, and gave them back to Spike.

With an arm angle of 260 degrees, a speed of 11.5 meters a second, a finger torque of 0.7 pounds per square inch, and a careful analysis of the odds, Spike was ready to try again.

He looked at Applejack and said, “Baby needs a new pair of shoes. And I’m not just saying that. I really need a new pair of shoes.”

Applejack and Sunset both blew on the dice and Spike threw them without even looking.

“Seven, eleven, now!” Sergeant L’Orange exclaimed as the dice rolled.

“Eleven! A winner,” Midnight Radiance said.

“Eleven!” Bushel exclaimed. “That a boy! Do that a few more times and we’re all gonna get rich!”

“Way to go, kid!” King L’Orange added.

“You want to press it?” Midnight Radiance asked Spike.

“Yeah, press it,” Spike replied.

“I want to press this up,” King L’Orange said. “Press it. Give him the dice,” he told Midnight Radiance. “He can do it again. Come on. Let’s go, come on, baby! Come on!”

The L’Oranges smiled across the table, and there was something pointed in the way they tried to duplicate Spike’s movements, placing their modest plaques exactly opposite of Spike’s larger ones.

Spike’s game quickly became the center of interest at the table. He could feel the crowd gathering behind him, and hear them whispering to one another “Who is this guy? Do you see how much he’s betting?” as he rolled again and got another seven.

“Seven, dice!” Sergeant L’Orange cried.

“Seven, winner,” Midnight Radiance said.

“Fantastic!” King L’Orange shouted. “This kid’s great!”

“I’ll take the full odds on the seven, two hundred on the hard way, the limit on all the numbers, and 250 on the eleven,” Spike told Midnight Radiance. “Thank you very much.”

“You’ve played this game before,” Silver Waves said.

“Just once,” Spike confessed.

“Come on, kid! Let’s go! Let’s do this!” King L’Orange said.

“Come on! Seven!” Queenie and Sarge exclaimed.

“Seven again! Seven again!” King L’Orange shouted. “I can’t believe it!”

“And another one!” Bushel added. “Keep going, Spike, we got ‘em hot now, let’s go, let’s go! Double ‘em up, here we go. Keep rolling.”

“Seven, a winner!” Midnight Radiance exclaimed.

“Oh, Spike, you’re incredible!” Dear Darling, Swoon Song, and Fond Feather swooned. “And handsome!”

“Hey, which one of you ladies put your hand on my butt?” Spike asked. “Do it again! And rub your tits on my back! All right, this seven I’m about to roll is for the eighteen years my mother Barbara has been gone. That’s why I’m not going to crap out! This one’s for you, Mama!”

Over the next hour, Spike led the L’Oranges in an impressive slaughter; against odds of 247,000 to one, he rolled 17 straight winners, smiling smugly as he rolled seven after seven after seven, earning applause from the crowd.

“I’m coming out,” he told them. “Ready?”

Spike blew on the dice, then he held them out to Silver Waves, and she blew on them too. He held the dice out to Sunset and Applejack and they blew on them together, and then he threw the cubes.

“Whoo! Big seven! Look at that!” Bushel shouted.

“Do it again!” King L’Orange told Spike. “Do it again!”

“Isn’t that enough?” Sweetie Bot asked.

“Are you kidding?” Spike replied. “To stop now would be like trying to stop a freight train! I will bet it all!”

“And I’m betting against you!”

Everyone turned to see who had spoken.

It was Twilight. And she was dressed to kill in a purple satin dress and heels.

“Are you nuts?” Silver Waves asked.

“That is not a prudent choice,” Sweetie Bot added.

“Eighteen passes!” Twilight exclaimed. “He’s been manipulating the dice!”

Midnight Radiance looked over at Sassy Saddles, who smiled and nodded. Midnight Radiance then nodded at Spike.

“Roll ‘em,” Bushel told Spike.

Spike kissed the dice, then he held them out to Silver Waves and she kissed them. He held them out to Sunset and Applejack, and they kissed the dice together. Then Spike threw the dice without looking... and rolled a six and a one.

“Seven! Lucky seven!” Midnight Radiance proclaimed. “A winner!”

“See?” Twilight told them. “I told you! He knew he was going to roll that seven! And he just let me go down the tubes.”

“We tried to caution you,” Sweetie Bot answered.

Twilight started to tear up. “What was it?” she asked. “Was it personal?”

“Beat it, bitch!” Narinja exclaimed. “The man’s got magic hands!”

“He has the touch,” Discord confirmed.

“What did I tell you?” Silver Waves asked. “Magic!”

“It’s not magic,” Duke L’Orange said. “It’s skill.”

“A little something for you,” Spike told Haakim and Amira, “a little something for every single cocktail waitress and Bunny Girl, and run this outside and give it to the parking attendants,” he told Scootaloo.

“You’re very kind,” Discord told Spike. “Almost as kind as Fluttershy.”

“Here you go, Silver Waves,” Spike said as he gave her a smile, “a little something for you, too.”

“Thank you,” she said gratefully.

Spike’s high gambling had already made him a favorite among the guests and any companion of his shared in the glory.

“When the train comes in, everybody rides!” he declared. “I wish to cash in,” he told Midnight Radiance. “Thank you for such a sterling service.”

Spike stepped back from the table, glancing at his watch, before coloring up his chips. That’s when the L’Orange Clan approached him.

“Kid, you made me a lot of money tonight. That was a great roll. Kingsley L’Orange of the Fillydelphia L’Oranges,” he introduced himself. “Call me ‘King’.”

“The name’s Drake. Spike Drake,”

“Well, Spike Drake, you like getting massaged?” King L’Orange asked.

“By who?”

“By who? By me! Meet us in the spa at 10:00 tomorrow morning. Applejack, this guy is with us. You take care of him,” King L’Orange said. “If there is anything, anything you need, don’t hesitate to call me,” he told Spike.

“Thank you,”

Spike felt like his head was spinning as he stepped away from the Craps table. That game had gone better than he had imagined. The L’Oranges had invited him to join them at the spa the next day, and nobody even gave Twilight a second look. She vanished into the crowd while Applejack and Sunset escorted Spike to the cashiers’ cages.

“That was an impressive game, Spike,” said Sunset.

He followed her to the cashier, stepped up to the window, and pushed the boxes of chips through. Normally, high rollers did not cash their own chips. Someone from the casino staff took care of it, trading markers for chips or vice versa. But this was his money.

The cashier, a woman with her sleeves rolled up, looked at all the chips, and then smiled at Spike.

“This might take a few minutes, Mister Drake,” she told him. “Would you kindly step to the side so I can service other customers while the boys in back cash you in?”

Spike nodded before he let the next person step up to the window.

“You handle those cubes like you handle my apples,” Applejack whispered. “So, what do you say, your room or mine?”

By the time the boys in the cashier cages had finished, Spike’s pockets were bulging with cash and he almost lost track of his winnings.

“Okay... Twenty, forty, sixty, eighty, ninety-five, six, seven, and fifty-five cents,” the cashier counted.

“That is a total of eight trillion, forty-two billion, one hundred million, twenty-three thousand, two hundred ninety-seven dollars and fifty-five cents,” Spike calculated.

Of course, he kept that information to himself.

As they rode upward, Spike glanced at the fishbowl camera in the corner of the elevator’s ceiling. Even with Applejack right there in the elevator with him, he knew that they were watching him. Sweat beaded across his brow and neck.

Applejack saw him sweating and placed a reassuring hand on his back.

“If I scared you with that talk about the Eye in the Sky room the day you checked in, I’m sorry,” she said soothingly. “You have nothing to worry about.”

They returned to his suite and Applejack ducked into the bathroom. She stood in the doorway, gazing across to Spike on the bed. She was naked except for a tight black silk brassière and matching panties. Her right arm was against the doorframe while her left hand rested firmly on her hip. Her soft, golden hair fell heavily to just above her rear, with her eyes wide and seductive upon him.

“Ya feelin’ lucky tonight, Sugah?” she asked in a low voice.

Spike felt the familiar throb below his belt.

“Oh, yeah,” he replied huskily.

She sauntered over and crawled on top of him, her legs parted. Pretty soon they were tangled together on the bed, his left hand curled around her, cupping her breast, and his right brushing against the silk and lace trim of her panties. She let that one stay for several minutes, then sat up, and slipped a hand up his thigh. When she reached the crotch of his slacks, she gently tugged on the zipper.

She ran her fingers through his hair, trying hard to not mess it up. Then very, very slowly, she lowered herself over him. She sat upon his loins, and her hair trailed over her chest as she pressed her lips against his, over and over.

“Take me, you barbarian!” she cried.

Desire burst upon Spike in a flood and she fell hard and swift, sweeping herself beneath him.

“Wow, AJ! You wanna go again?!” he asked. “Not that I don’t wanna... but don’t you gals get sore if you do it too much?”

“Aw, you’re so sweet,” she said. “Sometimes we do, but are far from close to ‘too much’!” She rolled over. “Now, why don’t you hop onboard this train and give my caboose its share of ‘too much’?”

Spike attacked her from behind, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her back to him. He brushed his engorged cock along the base of her spine, then along curve of her ass, before finally pushing himself up her tailpipe. She reached up and wrapped her arms around his head while he fondled her, nuzzling and kissing her neck, massaging her breasts; all while she shoved her ass down to the base of his cock.

As soon as Spike rolled onto his back, Applejack laid upon his chest, her legs entwined with his, her hand on his thigh. He looked down at her and smiled. As AJ looked up at him, she knew this was the end of it. The end of when she had been a homely little girl with braids, her freckles and her childish voice and walk and everything else about her all gone, she had dreamed of being loved by a prince. He wouldn’t be a sissy prince like the one of those fairy tales, but a Clark Stable kind of prince who would be harshly gentle and say nice things, like she was the prettiest girl in the world. Well, she had found her prince and he had let her love him... and she had let him love her. Her fears had receded, and to her amazement she quickly closed her eyes and quickly drifted into a sound and dreamless sleep.

P.S.: Midnight Radiance is the OC of Midnight Radiance/sixpathspony.