That night, Twilight’s nightmare changed. It began the same way, but then it changed. Spike was coming toward her; tall, towering, and muscular. It was Spike, but then it was not, and she was afraid. He caught her by the ankles and wrenched her down, brutally parting her legs. She tried to scream, but nothing came out.

Spike dissolved into mist and Twilight found herself walking toward a line of body bags. She didn’t want to open them, but she felt she had to. She started to scream again. There were corpses indeed, a line of them. First, Spoiled Rich’s body, a dagger protruding from her belly; and then Impossibly Rich, riddled with worm holes. Beside her lay Twilight herself, wide-eyed and covered in third-degree burns, the remains of a charred object in her arms.

She bolted up, trembling, drenched in sweat, shaking convulsively. Her heart beat hard, but it began to subside. The light from the moon bathed the room in a soft glow, and she was leaving behind the shadowy world of her terror. She didn’t even notice Spike stepping out of the Resort and onto the sidewalk just a few stories below her window... with Chrysalis, naked and on a leash, beside him!

Spike gazed at the choker around her neck. It was black leather, with the words “SPIKE’S BITCH” engraved into the silver tag—her birthday gift to him.

“Come along, now,” he said, a big smile on his face.

“Yes, Master,” Chrysalis replied.

Spike pulled on her leash and they walked slowly down the street. Chrysalis strutted alongside him with her head up high, her hands at her sides, her long hair flowing behind her, her breasts bouncing and hips swaying with each graceful step, and her nipples rock hard in the cool night air.

A drunken man’s jaw dropped as he stumbled out of a nearby alley. They ignored him as young kids, boys and girls, pulled out their cell phones and started to film Spike and Chrysalis. She sneered at the children, causing them to drop their phones and run away. Meanwhile, a group of elderly people across the street stopped dead in their tracks. They gasped and stared in shocking disbelief until Spike and Chrysalis rounded the corner.

“Don’t even think about it,” Chrysalis said to a guy as she sauntered past.

The punk reached out to grab her, but she threw him against the wall and he fell to the ground, face down. Chrysalis remained close to Spike as they continued to down the block. When they returned to the resort, Spike took her up to his suite.

“Thank you for taking me out for a stroll, Master,” she said.

Spike smiled as he began to unbuckle his belt. Since his return to Las Pegasus, he’d had more sex than any man deserved, and he was very grateful for getting so much tail.

Chrysalis got down on her knees in front of Spike, pointed to her collar, and said (in her most husky, not-so-innocent Fluttershy voice), “Fuck my throat until it breaks.”

Spike didn’t have to be told twice. But instead of shoving his cock into her mouth, he grabbed her by her hair, hauled her to her feet, forced his tongue down her throat, and the leather collar snapped like a twig. He broke her choker... now he was going to break her ass.

Chrysalis assumed her position on the bed, getting down on all fours, sticking her ass up as she arched her back and lowered her head onto the pillows. She bit her bottom lip as she nervously spread her legs for him. It was still a little difficult for Spike to believe that a woman so dominant in life was so submissive in the bedroom. Then she let out a light moan as he mounted and penetrated her.

“Anh! Y-Yes! Oooh s-so goood! I love your cock in my ass,” she squealed.

Just thinking about his hard cock up her uptight ass got her soaking wet now.

Her legs trembled a bit but she kept herself steady, grinning like an idiot as he rammed her anus, stretching it out.

“Mmmmh, slam your bitch’s butthole!”

Chrysalis was screaming Spike’s name as he ravaged her. She started to play with herself as he pounded her, only for him to grab her wrists and twist her arms behind her back.

“Did I say you could rub your clit?” he shouted. “Did I?!”

He hammered Chrysalis until her legs gave out and she slumped forward in a stupor. Her mouth hung open and she panted like a bitch in heat, drool running down her chin and onto the bed, as Spike’s load dripped out of her and she slowly started to come back to her senses.

“Mmmmn... It’s sore, but oh sooo amazing,” she admitted as she finally found the strength to stand. “You can use me as your personal cum dumpster anytime. My only wish is to please you.”

“You know, despite your humiliation, you could win ‘Best in Show’,”

“You spoil your slave, Master,” she said as she walked to the door.

“Until next time, my pet,” he replied.

The resort was bustling over with life as Twilight took a shortcut to the staff locker room that morning. She didn’t want to chance meeting anyone she knew, and most certainly didn’t wish to make conversation, especially not on this day. But as soon as she exited the staff locker room, Discord pulled her into his office.

“Sorry I’m late,” she said.

“Miss Sparkle, can you call the manufacturer of my watch and report a problem?” he asked her.

“What problem is that?”

“Well, it says it’s eight o’clock, but that can’t be right because I know you’re supposed to be here, at work, no later than 7:45,” he said.

“I already apologized for being late,” she replied. “Perhaps you could have snacked on your self-satisfaction.”

“So what happened? Was there a long line at the ladies’ showers again this morning or did you take some sort of detour?”

“No, you got it right the first time, long line at the showers,”

“So you didn’t stop anywhere? Not even that nerdy bookstore with the antique titles you like, the one that smells like ancient leather?”

“You know, now that you mention it, I did pop in--But how did you know?”

“Lucky guess,” Discord answered. “Twilight, how about, in the future, no more lies? You’re already standing on thin ice.”

Twilight knew that tardiness was one of the help’s greatest problems to her manager. She guessed it wasn’t so much that Discord cared about her being late, but that he would have to dismiss her for negligence. More than once had she complained about being forced to perform tedious tasks, but she was being paid more than adequate for her services. In that respect, Twilight reluctantly credited Discord. But there were days she wanted to strangle him. Some days she wished she had Discord’s neck between her hands. She’d delight in choking the lift out of him. However, Spike was the one who’d caused her most recent humiliation, and if he was there, she’d have gladly twisted his neck also.

Her brother, Shining Armor, had always told her she was a fighter. That when the deck was stacked against her she’d somehow turn out a winner. Twilight had endeavored to please her father and her mother when she was young. To her youthful eyes her father was the most intelligent and kindly man, her mother was astonishingly beautiful. She remembered how they’d tuck her in at night when she was a child and plant a loving kiss on her forehead, tell her what a big girl she was and how much they loved her.

Loved her! Her father’s love had turned out to be as thin as gossamer. A woman claiming to be an old friend had come to Canterlot to visit and he had fallen in love with her. Never mind that he and the woman were both married to other people. Their lust to each other became the driving force in their lives.

Twilight recalled that until the day she’d left home her father had been a different sort of man, for she had known him to be a faithful, loving husband. As Twilight grew older she wondered who that woman was. However, her parents appeared happy with things as they were. Though they never divorced, Twilight wondered why her mother and father never fought, and why they docilely allowed Shining Armor to leave home and didn’t protest his job with the Secret Service. Had her father been a basically weak, cuckolded man, a man who pretended to adore his wife and only for the sake of their children? Twilight hated to think so.

But when she got through her shift, none of that mattered. All she wanted to do for the afternoon was sit down to a game of blackjack, and be thankful that Spike Drake wasn’t playing with her or the one dealing the cards to her.

“Twenty-One, that’s the name of the game, ladies and gents,” Midnight Radiance said as he shuffled the cards.

Twilight stood on a pair of tens, which she refused to split. Then he showed the King of Clubs and the Ace of Hearts—Twenty-One.

“Care for another go?” he asked her.

“What do you think?” she replied. “Do you think I am a sucker? You think I just got off the bus? I bet two hundred and fifty bucks!”

“Sorry, Twi, you’ve already had three thousand on credit,” he said. “You’ll have to get the okay from... Sassy Saddles!”

The pit boss came over when Midnight Radiance called her name.

“What’s the problem, Midnight?” she asked.

“Our friend here wants more credit, but she’s already into us for quite a bit,” he explained.

“I see,” Sassy replied. “Well, Twilight, you owe us money and obviously you can’t pay, so what are you going to do about it?”

“I’m going to make a comeback,” she said.

Spike arrived at Countess Coloratura’s house outside the city and reached for the doorbell. He paused, his palm damp, his heart beating too hard and too quickly. It was too good to be true, yet, after pinching himself several times on his walk up to the door, he realized it was truly happening to him. Then he reminded himself that Coloratura was just a normal woman like all the others in his life. He did not need to tremble like a little kid in the principal’s office. He rang the bell and she answered the door herself, wearing tight black yoga pants, a gray tank top and blue tennis shoes. Her eyes twinkled and her hair was in a ponytail, which made her look five years younger.

“Spike, welcome,” she greeted him warmly.

“Um, did I come at a bad time?” he asked. “Because... I could just...”

“Oh, no, a singer’s body is her instrument and I believe in keeping my instrument finely tuned,” she replied. “Come on in, you can join me.”

She pulled the door open and he stepped into her home. She closed the door behind him and their feet echoed across the marble floor as she led him into her living room. There began one of the most thrilling days of his life.

“This is a nice place, Coloratura,”

“Please, call me Rara,” she said.

She brought in a second yoga mat and he stood on it, right next to her. They started with the Dancer Pose, transitioned to Cat Pose, then Coiled Snake, Trained Llama, Inverse Badger, Stranded Turtle, Eagle, Peacock, Warrior, Rabbit, Tree, Fish, Locust, and of course, Downward Dog. Spike sighed as he and Rara finally knelt into sitting position. He stretched his neck to the right and then to the left, marveling how loose every muscle in his body felt.

When they had finished, and were warm and rather sweaty, they relaxed into the final stretches. And even though Coloratura was very flexible, it was difficult for her to get the full benefit of certain stretches without assistance. So, when she asked Spike to help her, he was more than happy to. They ended up very close to one another, with Coloratura’s leg over his shoulder, his arms around her, and looking straight into one another’s eyes. Spike tried to look away, to avoid the exchange of that look that conveys the inevitability of sleeping with one another, that mutual feeling of shared sexual purpose.

After yoga, they spent most of the afternoon reenacting the choreography from her famous “Poker Face” music video: everything from her emerging from her swimming pool to the Poker game itself.

“What do you think, Spike?” Coloratura asked mid-pose. “Should I stick my butt out a bit further? Or maybe that’s too much for the opening of the show.”

“It’s really up to you, Rara,” Spike said. “You’re the artist.”

“That I am,” she replied.

Meanwhile, back at the resort, Applejack and Sunset Shimmer were stopped by Twilight when they passed through the casino. Of all the people that Sunset and AJ did not want to see, Twilight topped their lists.

“What do you want?” Applejack asked her.

“I just thought you’d be interested to learn what Spike is up to,” she said.

“That’s funny,” AJ replied. “I always thought that creatures like you rattled before they struck. And I didn’t hear a thing.”

“I thought I was doing you a favor,” Twilight said. She seemed to purr those words. “Sorry I bothered you.”

Applejack and Sunset both fought back the temptation to slap Twilight’s face. They both knew exactly where Spike was, and what he was doing... and they both had had enough of Twilight’s childish little schemes.

“No, malicious, we’re not bothered,” Sunset replied before she and AJ walked off. “When we learn Spike has an enemy as venomous as you it just makes us love him even more. Feel free to come to us any time; I’d love for you to waste your breath.”

As they left Twilight, Sunset began to wonder if there was something more to Spike’s relationship with Countess Coloratura other than friendship. She felt a bit of surprise at the stab of jealousy coursing through her at the thought that Coloratura might be Spike’s newest mistress.

Applejack, on the other hand, hadn’t thought about Spike with Rara since the evening they had drinks, but it haunted her nightly. Rara had her faults, but she was a trusted friend. And Spike... He had never lied to her. And he had never given AJ reason to believe that he would betray her. It was her temper, she thought, her damn temper, and the jealousy that soared from her heart—and between her legs—when she saw the light in his eyes when he spoke to another woman.

That evening, Coloratura changed into a blue silk nightie gaping at the bosom with white veiling that did very little to cover her breasts. She watched Spike in awe as he helped himself to a third bowl of her pasta. This exquisite creature, who casually lounged on her sofa, filled Rara with love. And she hadn’t felt love in some time.

“Dinner was wonderful, Rara,” he said when he’d finished. “Thank you.”

“Well, I hope you enjoyed the company half as well as the food,” she replied. “You know, Spike, I’ve always felt very blessed by all the gifts that I’ve been given. But after meeting you I realize how truly alone I am.”

“But, Rara, you have millions of fans,”

“You mean that cult? Please. They just love me for my talent. I feel so many things right now. I wish I could spend the rest of my life with you,”

For the first time in a long time, Spike was at a loss for words.

He didn’t know what to say.

There had been a time when Countess Coloratura had listened to everything that Svengallop told her and had done what he said she had to do, even when it made her sick on occasion. But that was before she met Spike Drake. After Spike looked at her, smiled at her, and touched her, Rara knew he would be more than just another fan, a stranger passing through town.

“Spike, there’s something I have to tell you. I’ve always been a moral woman... a moral woman living in an immoral world. But my resolve is melting in the blinding light of your handsome smile,” Rara said as she handed him a little blue velvet box. “I have something for you.”

“It’s not a lock of your hair, is it?” he asked nervously.

“Oh, no,” she assured him.

Spike timidly opened the lid, half expecting it to blow up in his face. That’s when he saw half of a small, custom made silver locket.

“It’s a piece of my heart,” she said.

Rara got up and Spike heard the whisper of her slippers crossing the carpeted floor as he watched her walk toward him.

“Please, Faust, don’t let her touch me,” he prayed. “Don’t let her trust me like a lover right now.”

But she had touched him, and soon she was climbing on top of him. Her eyes huge, her lips parted, the closeness, the intimacy, her vulnerability, it was overwhelming. She wanted him so bad she could scream, and when he noticed the beautiful parts of her body; the white of her legs and thighs as her nightgown rode up, he found himself trembling.

“Rara, please,” he said breathlessly.

She was just about to kiss him when a pair of women, a hot blonde and a smokin’ redhead, burst through the door to the living room.

“I can’t believe it!” the blonde exclaimed. “Twilight was right!”

“Get off of him!” the redhead shouted.

“Sunset, Applejack, it’s not the way it looks!” Spike said quickly.

“I’m sorry, AJ,” Rara told her childhood friend, “but I’m in love with him.”

“Rara—” Spike attempted.

“Spike, you’re more romantic than any love song, you’re a loyal friend, and an amazing kisser! On a scale of one to ten with ten being the best, you’re a twenty-two! You are the first decent, honorable man I have met and I am unbelievably turned on by your kind heart,” Rara went on. “The worst thing anyone can ever do in life is deny their true feelings.”

“You really believe that?” Sunset asked. “In that case, we’ll just be stealing Spike back right now. We’re gonna fuck you right here, right now, right in front of her. We are going to show this pop star what it really looks like when a couple of young people are in love.”

Rara gasped.

“That’s enough, all of you!” Spike shouted. “If this is how you’re going to behave, then we should all fuck!”

The three women stared at him with the same wide-eyed expression.

“We should all fuck?” they asked.

Spike wasn’t exactly sure what happened next, or how it happened, but within minute, the three women were undressed and all over him. They took their time undressing him; their hands rubbing all over his body, plenty of kisses too, as they took off his clothes one piece at a time. As Sunset and Applejack removed Spike’s shirt, Coloratura got on her knees to unbuckle his pants. She pulled his boxers down with her teeth, his erection making it a struggle.

A mob of fingers feverishly danced over Spike’s chest and abs as Rara’s hands gently brushed over his cock as if she were playing a harp before she licked the tip. She started slowly and softly, then hard and fast. Spike’s gentle moans were incentive for her to continue.

Applejack pushed Spike back onto the sofa and Rara knelt before him on all fours, her snow white derrière angled up to meet him. Like the rest of her, it exuded a cheeky defiance that Spike felt he needed to conquer.

“Push me into her,” he said to Applejack.

AJ’s eyes gleamed as her hand took hold of his cock and pushed it down into Rara’s little puckered hole. Rara moaned, her head thrown back. His cock glistened in the dim light with their juices.

“You’re... so...”

“I know,” Spike said as he stroked Rara’s hair. “I know.”

Rara could hardly speak, as her face was buried between Applejack’s legs, which she licked while Spike fucked her and Sunset went between licking Spike’s balls and Rara’s clit. The whole foursome lasted little more than an hour, even after they changed positions four times, but when it was all said and done, the three women were spent.

A few minutes later, Twilight stormed into Discord’s office.

“For the past few days, you seem to know my every move,” she said. “The bookstore, my tailor, how many times I’ve used the restroom. Fess up. Did you install something in my phone so that you could track my movements?”

“In your phone, no,” he confessed. “Remember when we had that infestation of bats last year and the Brothers made all the employees get mandatory rabies shots? Well, you were the only one that actually got them.”

“Why would you bring in a nurse to give only me a rabies shot?”

“Well, she wasn’t actually a nurse; she was a veterinarian,”

“No. Did... Did you implant a tracking chip in me? You actually inserted a microchip into my body to track me? Unbelievable!!”

Discord nodded. Under the guise of a rabies shot, he had a GPS tracking chip implanted into Twilight’s ass.

Twilight marched out of Discord’s office in a rage, only to run into Spike... and the bulk of his harem. They formed a wall in front of him; they didn’t like the way Twilight was looking at him, like she hated him. As if she knew him, or knew something about him, deep inside, and hated him for it. But what?

And why should he care?

“Are you even a little bit curious about my problem, which you created?” she asked him.

“Your insanity?” Spike replied. “In my defense, I did not do that to you. You did that yourself.”

Twilight was about to speak again when Applejack ordered her to shut up.

“You’ve been top cat for a long time, but you’ve been acting like a brat!” AJ shouted. “You’ve been treating Spike like he’s the plague, and the only time we ever hang out is when you’re on your way in or out of the casino!”

“I’ve invited you!”

“You know, I find it almost amusing how you’ve had a hate-on for Spike all summer even before he started bedding us one-by-one,” Fluttershy put in.

“He’s overcompensating for feelings of inadequacy with an ostentatious display of hormonal activity!” Twilight replied.

“It’s unlimited sex!” Rainbow Dash shouted. “The adult male’s version of owning a candy store!”

“Even if he did show any interest in you at all, I wouldn’t have to try to impress him and I would still kick your butt in the better girlfriend department!” Rarity told Twilight. “I mean, why would he want second-hand discount mall when he can have the very best in designer couture?”

Then Sunset glared at Twilight with burning eyes.

“You find the Twilight Sparkle we became friends with and tell her we are with Spike ‘the Lucky Prince’ Drake!” she yelled. “Come on, girls.”

She took Spike’s hand, eager to be gone from Twilight and to put the whole sordid mess from their minds.

“Don’t worry about me!” Twilight hollered after them. “I got plenty I can do on my own in Las Pegasus!”

The following morning, the first thing she did—after having the tracking chip removed—was turn in her letter of resignation to Flim and Flam.

“I quit. I don’t belong in Las Pegasus and there’s no point in arguing about it,” she said. “As of now, I no longer work under you, with you, or for you.”

“If this is the part where you’re supposed to wait for an apology, and I’m supposed to give one, you should know by now that you’re never going to get it,” Discord told her.

“I know. It will be a cold day in Tartarus before that ever happens!” Twilight shouted. “If I end up getting there first, I’ll tell Cerberus to keep your reserved spot extra hot for you when you get there, you bastard!”

“You will be contacted at a later date in regards to how we intend to collect the debt you still owe,” Flim said.

“You may escort this loser outside,” Flam told Caramel and Lucky Clover. “We’re done with her.”

As Pinkie Pie made her way through the ninety-nine cent buffet at the Montage later that night, she piled her plate high with Crab Rangoon, chicken fingers, the Jackpot Burger, and the Tropical Banana Torte.

“Thanks for buying me dinner, Pinkie,” Twilight said.

As Twilight stared at her plate of spaghetti Bolognese, macaroni, and extra runny bread pudding, she couldn’t help feeling a little sad about leaving the Resort. It was like a bad relationship ending. For Twilight, the agony of the final parting with her coworkers tore her to shreds. However, the bitterness for Spike Drake rose within her. All her pent-up anger and frustration was still transferring to him. For his treatment of her, she vowed to make him sorry.

“Pinkie... when you look at me, what do you see?” Twilight asked.

Pinkie, who sat across from her at their table, stared at Twilight for a whole seven seconds, trying to come up with an answer... and couldn’t.

“I’ll tell you what you see,” Twilight answered for her. “You see a stubborn, opinionated, smug woman who used to be the best card dealer in Las Pegasus, who used to have friends, who doesn’t belong in this city, who’s not even worthy of this lousy food. I’m not a sister, I’m not a daughter, I’m not a friend, and I’m not even a washout... I’m nothing! Look at all these happy friends and families. Where did I go wrong? Without my friends and family, there is no Twilight Sparkle. Pinkie... I’ve gambled away more than you’ll ever understand.”

“Try me,” the party girl replied.

Twilight leaned across the table and whispered, “Twenty billion dollars.”

“Oh, Faust! Oh, Faust! Oh, Faust! Oh, my Faust! Oh, Faust!” Pinkie swore up and down.

“I don’t know what I’m going to tell the other girls,” Twilight said. “If I could just get a little money, I could turn it all around.”

“Twi, you’ve been good to me through all these years. I hate to see you down like this. I’ve got some... money stashed away and... it would be my honor to help you in your time of need,”

“You mean it?”

“There’s just one little problem,” Pinkie said. “We have to meet with the Brothers. They’ve extended an invitation for me to join them at the fight.”

Twilight had never been to a professional boxing match, but she knew that the tickets for a Las Pegasus fight were almost impossible to get. But not only was Pinkie hooked up, she walked around with ten thousand dollars hidden in her hair and tucked between her breasts. What else did she have left to lose?

Pinkie handed Twilight the ticket.

“It’s a good seat,”

Fight night in Las Pegasus was a night like no other.

The night sky was black as sackcloth, and that weekend was packed even worse than usual because of the fight. It was the high-profile pay-per-view event: Octavia Melody vs. Cherry Blossom, the fight of the season. Octavia was the reigning champion in female mud, oil, and jello wrestling.

Twilight knew that the whole city would be jumping by Saturday night. Fights (boxing, wrestling, or cage fighting) made for the perfect conditions; crowds of drunk people filling the pits, high-rolling celebrities drawing everyone’s attention, mammoth sport stars throwing huge money down on foolish bets—and whenever the crowds came out, the card counters followed in droves. From the moment the doors opened, Twilight was swept up in the sea of frenetic energy. A mob of drunken revelers packed together, all dressed in colorful, sometimes bizarre fashion, everyone shouting and pointing and rushing in random directions, buzzers and bells and bright lights and flesh, so much flesh, women in leather skirts and saran wrap tops, men with their shirts open to the navel and too much jewelry, mobsters in pinstripes, middle-aged tourists, cowboys and wannabe hipsters...

Pinkie and Twilight walked down the center aisle of the arena, weaving through the crowd, their eyes dazzled by the bright lights, pay-per-view cameras, and shouting fans. Twilight kept checking and rechecking the seat number on her ticket; the ring was getting closer, and there was still no sign of her row.

They approached the Flimflam Brothers’ box—right up by the ropes.

“More credit? No!” Flim answered Twilight’s request. “No! No way, no how! Do you have any idea how much you owe already?”

“Twenty-two billion six hundred million exactly,” Flam added.

“Of course, we could erase your debt,” Flim went on. “But you would have to disappear... out of Las Pegasus, out of Equestria, and never see or speak to Spike Drake ever again. Well?”

“Or I could just tell Spike about your plan to sell your resort in order to pay off your debt to Impossibly Rich and keep whatever was left over for yourselves,” Twilight answered.

“That sort of claim could send a man like Spike into quite a rage,” said Flim.

“Especially if the messenger had no proof,” added Flam.

“Spike and I are friends, he’ll believe me,”

“People believe what they want to believe, Miss Sparkle,” Flam replied. “And my brother and I both want to believe that you’re a smart woman who doesn’t go around spreading dangerous rumors.”

“You know what? I don’t care anymore! I don’t care if I ever get my money back! And I don’t care what happens to me!” Twilight said. “But I am not going to let you two weasels worm your way out of your own debts! As soon as I find Spike, I am going to tell him exactly what’s been going on! Then we’ll see how well your plan worked.”

As soon as Twilight turned her back on the Brothers, one of them sent a message to one of the bouncers’ pagers, ordering him to pull the burglar alarm.

“What the--?” Twilight exclaimed.

“There has been a robbery! All guests to the lobby!”

The crowd vacated their seats and marched towards the lobby of the hotel, with Twilight and the Flimflam Brothers bringing up the rear. Twilight was so stunned by the sound of the alarm going off that she didn’t even notice as one of them slipped something into her pocket.

Spike was with his harem when Twilight came in, but he did not look at her because he was bothered by her presence. When the last of the guests had finally assembled in the lobby, the Flimflam Brothers stood at the base of the gold statues of themselves.

“Ladies and gentlemen, my brother and I regret to inform you that there is a criminal in our midst,” Flim announced.

“But before we expose them to the public, we would like to give them the chance to step forward and admit their wrongdoing,” added Flam.

When no one moved, Flam said, “Very well. A very valuable necklace has been stolen from one of the V.I.P. suites.”

“A necklace belonging to our dear, dear friend, Spike Drake,” Flim added.

“My Fire Ruby?” Spike breathed.

“All right, who did it?” Rarity shouted. “So help me, if you don’t step forward right now, I will personally--”

“I don’t think violence will be necessary,” Flim told her, “because we already know exactly who stole the Fire Ruby: a desperate individual, drowning in gambling debt.”

“Gentlemen, turn out your pockets. Ladies, empty your purses,” Flam instructed. “Whoever has the Fire Ruby is the culprit.”

Each of the men quickly did as he was told while the women did the same. The security guards searched every single one of them, beginning with Applejack and ending with Twilight Sparkle.

And the Fire Ruby was found in Twilight’s pocket.

Fluttershy and Rarity gasped.

“I didn’t take it!” Twilight cried.

“Do you deny that you owe this casino over a billion dollars in gold with no way to pay it back?” Flim asked.

Then the entire crowd gasped.

“Is that true?” Rarity asked Twilight.

Before Twilight could even say another word, Spike tore the ruby necklace from her hands, slicing his fingernails across her palms so quickly and so hard that he cut into them.

“Security, take this woman to jail!” Flam shouted.

Caramel and Lucky Clover grabbed Twilight by her arms and dragged her across the lobby, despite her frantic struggling.

“And to think, I had notions of grooming you for higher office -- assistant manager, even,” Discord said to her. “What a disappointment.”

Twilight turned her head to look at Moon Dancer; another person that had double-crossed her. It had always been that Moon Dancer could bring Twilight luck whenever she needed it, but now, when she needed Moon Dancer the most, she had loused out on her.

It was all Spike’s fault, damn him. If he had chose her, if he’d just picked her, everything would have gone perfectly and she wouldn’t be on her way to jail. But he had given up on her, and not only had he given up on her, he took all of her luck, all Twilight Sparkle’s fabulous luck.

To Tartarus with them all, she thought. Spike, Applejack, Sunset Shimmer, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Starlight Glimmer, Moon Dancer, Trixie, Celestia, all of them—they could all go to Tartarus. From now on, she’d look out for her only friend, Twilight Sparkle.

As she was forced into the back of a police squad car, Twilight smiled a secretive smile, a sudden malicious light coming into her eyes.

“I’m going to make him pay, make him rue the day he met me and ruined me. Before I’m finished, he’ll be on his knees, begging me to end him.”

Spike was apprehensive when he rode the elevator up to his suite that night. He was full of mixed emotion. Anger with Twilight for stealing his most prized possession—assuming she had stolen it at all—he did have at least some doubts about that. Although he had to admit to himself that it gave him a certain degree of pleasure to see the shoe switched to the other foot... and with such unexpected speed. Sorrow for his mother, and also joy—a counteractive joy that seemed to wash any and all thoughts of Twilight away. When he entered his suite, Spike closed the door behind him and saw someone standing before the window that led out onto the balcony.

“Shining Armor?” he asked.

“Come on in,” Twilight’s brother said. “It is your suite, after all.”

Spike was reluctant to do so. This was the third time (fifth if you counted Spike’s birthday and the Ragamuffin Case reopening) in the same number of months that Shining Armor had dropped in on Spike, and every time he had he’d done so it with a certain tenderness and love as if the two men were brothers. But now, as he looked at Shining Armor, Spike knew that he had something very important to tell him, something that would change his life.

“My sister’s evilness has finally caught up with her,” he said solemnly. “She’s always been evil. Smart, obsessive, realistic—but evil. I know what Twilight really was but I loved her in spite of it. So now, here we are.”

“You didn’t come here just to say that,” Spike stated.

Shining Armor looked at Spike, who had crossed the room to where Shining was standing, and his voiced dropped to a whisper.

“What I’m about to tell you can’t leave this room,” he went on. “I found out my sister’s been working as a mole for Impossibly Rich; she has for a while now.”

“Do you have proof or did you just hear about it?” Spike asked.

“I’ve been following her myself for the past two weeks,” Shining replied. “I tracked her to a back alley, and I saw her and a couple of Rich’s employees enter the sewers. I followed them down, where two sketchy guys were waiting for them. They were Dragons. I couldn’t hear everything, but I heard the Dragons say that they were the ones who bombed that gambling den the other day.”

Shining turned his head from one side to the other, and his eyes shifted around the room, as if to make sure that they were completely alone.

“The men who were killed in that bombing were not working for Impossibly Rich; they were undercover EBI agents trying to break a counterfeiting ring,”

“But somebody found them out and that’s why they were killed,” Spike assumed, rather passively. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Impossibly Rich’s back is to the wall, Spike. She is having trouble getting financing from the city’s banks. She’s missed her last two payrolls and is losing employees as well as customers. Her only hope is the Dragon Mafia,” Shining said. “I want you to help me. I know about you, about Dragon Lord Torch, and your connection to him.”

“He and I are not working with Impossibly Rich,” Spike stated.

“I know you’re not, and I know he’s not. That’s why I’m leaving him out there as bait. This is a lot bigger than Torch and the Dragons,” Shining exhaled before going on. “I know he’s throwing a party at the Hard Rock Hotel next Friday night. I want you to go there and find out what you can.”

Spike shifted his gaze from Shining Armor for a moment. Then he met eyes with him once more and slowly nodded his head.

“I’ll do it,” he said.

Shining Armor placed his hands on Spike’s shoulders and thanked him.

Next time: things get complicated when Spike and his friends attend the party at the recently reopened Hard Rock Hotel, and Spike confronts his godfather.