Five A.M.

In the ballroom, two figures, ballet dancers, glided across the dance floor—Fluttershy in a fluffy white skirt and stockings, Spike in a black unitard and ballet slippers. She held her hands in an arch over her head like Spike had taught her, as he flipped her into the air. He brought her back down, they came together and their arms came down around each other.

“Thanks for helping me with the tour jeté, Spike,” Fluttershy said after they were done. “Sorry it took me so long to get it.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself,” he replied. “That last attempt was beautiful, for a girl who used to be such a rookie.”

“I guess I am still a newb, huh?”

“Just a little,”

Fluttershy let out a yawn as Spike escorted her back to her room. It was early, but she was glad that he had agreed to help her with ballet. She was even gladder when he told her that he had outfits for them to practice in. She didn’t think that Spike would be wild about the idea, but he had surprised her and she gained a new respect for him, as well as a fascination.

They were so happy that they didn’t even notice several members of the senior staff (Rarity, Sunset Shimmer and the Dazzlings) hanging by one of the indoor pools as they walked by them. They really thought the worst was over, but they would soon discover that the aforementioned ladies had a surprise for them.

“Come on, girls,” Adagio told them. “It’s almost six; time to haze some fresh butts.”

“Right, the grand tradition of staff initiation,” Sunset replied.

They had been waiting all week for this.

Every year, the returning staff got one day to haze the new staff, and that meant being able to force them to do the worst conceivable things, from eating nasty food to cleaning up horrible messes.

“So, how many are we going to let through this year?” Sunset asked.

“For a chance to deal for the high rollers?” Aria asked. “I vote none.”

“I second,” Sonata added.

“We were new once, too,” Rarity reminded them. “And our seniors let us through.”

“Maybe,” Aria said. “But more of them means fewer chances to deal for the rest of us.”

“I don’t care either way,” Adagio admitted. “I just want to give them a hard time.”

“We still get to mess with them, right?” Sonata asked.

“Oh, by all means, humiliate away,” Rarity said.

Multiple alarm clocks blared throughout the staff quarters at 6:00 A.M.

Rainbow Dash screamed and rolled off the couch, hitting the floor with a loud thud; while Fluttershy bolted upright in bed, and Starlight groaned and pulled her blanket over her head to block out the noise.

Minutes later, they assembled in the sitting room off the elevator bank.

“Listen up, newbs!” Aria began. “You are about to embark on a journey that every new employee at the Flimflam Brothers’ Resort must face—staff initiation.”

“Until six o’clock tonight, you are ours,” Adagio added. “If you run, we’ll find you. If you resist, you’ll just make it worse. You will do anything any of us tells you to do today. We say jump, you say...”

“How high?” Fluttershy answered.

“If one of us tells you to bark,” Adagio went on, “you say...”

“Woof!” Pinkie replied.

“Good girl,” Sonata said, and she threw Pinkie a dog biscuit, which Pinkie caught in her mouth and ate.

“Not bad,” Pinkie said after she’d swallowed. “Not bad at all.”

“And what if we don’t do what you say?” Rainbow Dash challenged them. “You gonna fire us?”

“No,” Adagio replied.

“Give us a strike?” Dash asked.

“No,” Adagio repeated.

“Then that’s all I need to hear,” Dash replied. “I’m going back to bed.”

“But if you make it through, we’ll let you deal in the High Rollers’ Lounge,” Sunset added.

Fluttershy and Starlight both gasped.

“Did you just say the High Rollers’ Lounge?” Dash asked.

Spike recalled having seen the doors leading to the high-stakes room. It was in a raised section of the main casino, at least a dozen tables, most with minimum bets of one hundred and maximums of five thousand, separated from the main tables by a flight of steps and a velvet rope.

“Only those who pass initiation get to deal for the high rollers,” Aria said. “It won’t be easy, and it will be gross! If you want to back out, now is your first and only chance.”

“I’m in!” Fluttershy shrieked.

“I’ve got an older brother, bring it on!” Dash added excitedly.

“I’m up for a little torture,” Soarin said.

“Pass,” Spike stated.

He was the only one who said no while everyone else said yes... even Zephyr Breeze.

“Initiation starts now and runs until the end of the day,” Adagio said as she, Aria, Sonata, Sunset and Rarity disappeared into their rooms to get ready for work. “Consider yourselves warned.”

“I wonder what they’re going to do us,” Fluttershy said.

“I heard last year was pretty rough,” Zephyr told her. “Saw some guys running naked down the Strip.”

“Well, I’m not doing it,” Spike said.

“Did you not hear them?” Dash asked. “The High Rollers’ Lounge!”

“Yeah, and I am not going to degrade myself for something I don’t care about,” he replied as he entered the elevator. “If I do end up dealing cards for a bunch of stuck-up snobs, I’m going to earn it on my own terms, not theirs!”

Spike returned to his suite while the rest of them got dressed and went their separate ways.

The Resort’s head chef, Gustave le Grand, was a tall man with gray hair, golden eyes, a snooty accent, and a detestable personality. He was also quite thin for someone who spent their time in the kitchen. Other than that, he conformed to the arrogant hotel kitchen personage stereotype. Right down to the long, thin, pencil-line moustache of an old silent movie villain.

He kept the kitchen sparkling clean; every surface coaxed to a high gloss. And not only was it big, it was intimidating. There was a breadboard as big as a table, an array of stainless steel pots and pans hung from floor to ceiling, and three stoves, the smallest of which had a dozen burners, two ovens, a Dutch oven, a heated well on top in which one could simmer sauces and bake beans, a broiler, and a warmer—plus all the dials and temperature gauges to go with it.

He turned on one of the burners, red flames popped up, and he turned them down to a faint blue glow. He melted butter in a frying pan before he went to one of the refrigerators and got the eggs and cheese.

One of the deals the Brothers made with their employees was which shifts they wanted to work (mornings, afternoons, and nights). Some would work the morning and afternoon shifts so that they didn’t have to work at night, others took the afternoons off and served breakfast and dinner instead of lunch, and those who weren’t early risers could sleep in and work the afternoon and night shifts.

That morning, Fluttershy had volunteered to help Pinkie Pie and Sunset Shimmer serve breakfast before bussing drinks as a Bunny Girl in the casino that afternoon. She walked through the big, wide, portholed, swinging double doors that opened on to the Sweet Snacks Café, and Sunset deliberately spilled a plate of scrambled eggs on the front of Fluttershy’s waitress uniform.

“Okay, after you clean yourself up, you’ll be helping Pinkie serve Table One through Table Four,” Sunset told her. “They’re the Flimflam Brothers’ table, Celestia’s table, the Saddle Arabians’ table, and Fancy Pants’ table... in that order.”

“But it’s only my second day!” Fluttershy gasped. “And I’ve been egged!”

“I know,” Sunset replied. “Don’t screw up.”

Soarin and Zephyr Breeze sat at a table near the center of the Café, Soarin glancing at the menu while Zephyr flirted with Pinkie Pie.

“So, have you made up your mind?” she asked them.

“Yes, I have. You are the prettiest waitress here,” Zephyr told her. “And that’s a nice perfume. What is it?”

“It’s French fries and cheeseburgers,” she quipped.

“That’s hot. I wouldn’t mind taking that to go,”

Spike and Celestia entered the Café and saw Applejack, wearing a red one piece swimsuit with the word “lifeguard” written across the chest in white letters, matching red shorts and black flip-flops; seated alone at the table that had been reserved for them with a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon, another plate of hash browns, another with biscuits and gravy, another with a stack of four pancakes drowning in maple syrup, and a large bowl of grapes with sliced pears and apples.

“Hey,” Spike acknowledged her.

“Hey,” Applejack echoed.

“Oh, is somebody eating with you?” Celestia asked.

“No, just me,” Applejack answered.

“Sorry, it just seems like an obscene amount of food for one person,” Celestia said.

“It’s my metabolism,” Applejack replied.

“Mind if we join you?” Spike asked.

“It’s a free country,” Applejack said before she shoveled a forkful of eggs into her mouth.

As Spike and Celestia took their seats (Celestia next to Applejack and Spike across from Celestia), Applejack apologized for sitting at their table and explained that she was hoping to be done before they came down to eat. Celestia didn’t mind, and neither did Spike.

Pinkie Pie roller-skated over, notepad and pencil in hand.

“Good morning, Pinkie,” Spike said. “And I apologize for everything Zephyr Breeze has said to you so far.”

“No, he’s been sweet,” she replied. “So, can I get you something to drink?”

“Pineapple daiquiri, please,” Celestia said.

“Great choice,” Pinkie replied. “You should try that,” she told Spike.

“As much as I’d love to, I can’t,” he said to her. “I’m allergic to pineapple. My head swells up like a bounce house.”

That was all Spike shared about his “simple allergy”, but he and his mother knew that it was much more than that. It was severe. And not only was it severe, it was life-threatening.

Spike learned he was allergic to pineapple when he was eight-years-old and Celestia wanted a pineapple upside down cake for her birthday. Spike had a slice and (even though it was delicious) red, itchy rashes formed on his face and skin, and he went into anaphylaxis. Thankfully, Celestia was able to get Spike to the hospital before he stopped breathing.

Now, if Spike ate a bit of pineapple he would break out in hives. If he so much as licked a piece of pineapple, his tongue would swell up and he would be unable to speak.

“Well, in that case, we have tea--” Pinkie began.

“I don’t drink tea,” Spike replied.

“What do you drink?” Pinkie asked.

“Not tea,” Spike stated.

Pinkie skated away, her hips swaying nicely beneath the short skirt of her baby blue uniform. She returned with Celestia’s pineapple daiquiri and a glass of milk for Spike.

“There you go,” she said as she placed it in front of him.

Then she asked if they were ready to order.

“A cheese omelet with pancakes,” Celestia told her.

“A ham and cheese omelet, sausage links, waffles, pancakes, and a slice of apple pie,” Spike said.

“Apple pie for breakfast?” Applejack asked.

“Why, you wonder,” Spike stated the obvious, “because nobody would have said anything if I’d ordered the Danish, which is literally nothing but flat pie.”

“And waffles and pancakes?” Pinkie asked. “Can’t make up your mind?”

“No, I want to compare which is better so that I know what to get in the future. It’s not just a matter of taste. It’s the whole eating experience. On the one hand: waffles. There’s the fun of filling each little hole with an ‘equal amount’ of syrup like some failed attempt at socialism because they will never be exactly the same no matter how many times you try; and cut it the right way and you can practice Sudoku, thinking about the numbers while focusing on the grid.”

The three women stared at Spike as he spoke, like he was a sculptor gently carving a masterpiece (but with words instead of stone).

“On the other hand, pancakes are beautiful golden mini-sunshines covered in shimmering sweetness,” he continued, almost poetically. “But all the pancakes in the world would mean nothing without friends to share them with.”

Pinkie smiled as she said, “I had no idea you were so... deep.”

“Breakfast is a very serious thing,” he told her.

“I will get those in for you,” she said, and she roller-skated away.

“Damn, she’s hot in that uniform!” Spike thought as he watched her again. “Then again, so is Applejack. Like Storm Weatherly in Baewatch.”

“Wait, I didn’t even order!” Zephyr called after her. He turned to Spike and said, “What the Tartarus, dude?”

“What?” Spike replied indifferently.

“I had something going and you come in and stomp on me?”

“Can I help it if I have to talk to people?” Spike replied.

“You don’t even try!”

“Well, I didn’t earn the title of Flirtmaster General for nothing,”

Pinkie Pie returned to Soarin and Zephyr’s table after she gave Spike and Celestia’s orders to Chef le Grand.

“Those pies do look good,” Soarin admitted, still reading the menu.

“They taste even better!” Pinkie said. “And they’re made fresh daily.”

“Are they made by our own Chef le Grand?” he asked.

“Yes,” Pinkie replied. “Have you tried any of his desserts?”

“No, actually, I haven’t had the chance,” Soarin admitted.

“Well then, you’re in for a treat! I highly recommend the blueberry,”

“Then I’ll have a slice of that, please,” Soarin said.

“Coming right up,” Pinkie said as she wrote it on her notepad.

“Hey, Pinkie,” Zephyr interjected, “I’m thinking about getting some pie myself. What’s your favorite?”

“Feel free to lie to him,” Spike told her. “He loves that in women.”

“Oh, and what do you like in a woman?” Pinkie asked as she leaned over, offering Spike a generous view of her cleavage.

“Well, any woman who brings me pie is pretty much at the top of my list,”

“Well, I’ll get that pie then,”

And she winked and disappeared again.

Fluttershy helped serve coffee, never once taking her eyes off Spike. This caused several nasty spills, but none of the guests seemed to notice or mind. She just couldn’t get over how unbearably cute Spike was. No one had ever taken the time to work so closely with her, even if it was just dancing.

“He’s such a sweet guy,” she thought.

In the kitchen, Gustave grated a bowl of cheese from the block, added it to Spike’s omelet, and flipped it. Then he decorated Celestia’s pancakes with strawberries, blueberries, and whipped cream. When Spike’s omelet had puffed slightly, he slid it off onto one of the plates and covered it.

Spike asked Applejack about her bathing suit and she told him it was part of her job. On the days she wasn’t working security she had lifeguard duty, at both the indoor and outdoor pools, especially on the larger outside one where the waterslides ended.

“Lucky drowning victims,” he thought with a smile.

As they talked, Pinkie Pie balanced plates on her arms and hands as she skated around the restaurant while Fluttershy helped her.

“Here you go,” they said. “Enjoy.”

“That was fast,” Soarin thought.

“Oh. Oh, my. Oh!” Celestia moaned between bites.

“Mom, you’re doing it again,” Spike said.

Spike hated to admit this to anyone, but he didn’t always enjoy eating with his mother. The main reason was that, when she ate, she seemed to derive more than just culinary pleasure from the experience. For Celestia, food (good food) was orgasmically delicious. So much, in fact, that it sometimes overwhelmed her, and the sounds she let out bordered on blissful rapture.

“Can I help it if I have to verbally express myself through food?” she replied. “This is wonderful. Absolutely divine, my compliments to the chef!”

Spike stabbed one of his sausage links with his fork when someone asked, “May I join you?”

Spike looked up and saw Fleur standing by their table.

“I hate dining alone,” she added.

“No, please, sit,” Celestia offered.

“Oh, merci,” Fleur said. “Omelet, waffles, and pancakes?” She observed Spike’s food. “Hungry little man, aren’t you? May I have a bite of your... sausage?” she added huskily.

The link was still on the fork. Spike hadn’t even taken a bite out of it yet when Fleur started to run her tongue up and down the length of the meat before gently kissing the tip.

“Quel est le problème, ma chérie?” she asked him.

“Tu m’embarrasses,” he replied.

Shortly after, Firelight, Stellar Flare and Sunburst entered the Café and sat at a table for four. Sunset Shimmer and Starlight walked (and Pinkie roller-staked) over to greet them.

“Good morning, Mr. Glimmer. Mrs. Flare, Sunburst,” Sunset said warmly. “Where are the Flimflam Brothers?”

“In a conference call with Impossibly Rich,” Firelight answered. He looked up from the newspaper he was reading and gave Sunset a smile. “Ah, Miss Shimmer, Miss Pie, I see you’ve met your newest coworker,” he added, looking at his daughter.

“Yes, sir,” Sunset and Pinkie replied.

“If she gives you any trouble, here’s my private number,” Firelight said as he gave Sunset his business card. “And Miss Glimmer,” he addressed Starlight, “if I get so much as a text message from your manager, you can kiss your trip to the Crystal Empire goodbye.”

Starlight pulled her notepad and pen out of her apron and frigidly asked, “What can I get you?”

Sunburst went first.

“A Western omelet, a Belgian waffle, and a cup of coffee, please,” he said.

“And for you?” she asked Stellar Flare.

“I will have an egg-white omelet with coffee,” she replied. “And make it snappy! We’re leaving for Vanhoover today.”

Vanhoover—Starlight knew what that meant. Every time Stellar Flare wanted to go to Vanhoover it was to take Sunburst shopping with her. Starlight didn’t even ask her father what he wanted.

He just told her, “Coffee and keep it coming.”

“I should feel bad for you,” Sunset told Starlight as they and Pinkie returned to the kitchen, “but I don’t.”

“Dad’s just trying to make a point,” Starlight replied coolly. “He’s not even really mad. He just wants me to learn some responsibility. Now, if you’re not too busy minding other people’s business, Mrs. Flare wants an egg-white omelet with coffee, now.”

Gustave nodded and poured more beaten eggs into the pan.

“And while he’s cooking,” Sunset added, “you can clean the grease pans in the back. Then, when you’re done, serve your father his breakfast. It is going to be so much fun having you work for me.”

Sunset returned to the dining area, but not before speaking to Pinkie Pie.

“Keep at least one eye on her, especially when I can’t!” she said, pointing to Starlight.

Pinkie made a comically serious face.

“You can count on me, mon Capitaine!” she replied with a salute.

“If I somehow end up owning this place, I’m going to have you both fired!” Starlight said under her breath.

And she got to work, scraping the hard-to-get spots in the pots with a knife.

Sunset walked over to Spike and Celestia’s table just as Fluttershy was replacing Spike’s milk.

“Now, get down on one knee and ask Spike to marry you,” Sunset told her.

“What?!” she gasped.

“You don’t have to do that,” Spike said.

Fluttershy froze, rooted to the spot where she was standing. A part of her didn’t think she could do it while another part of her was reminding her that if she didn’t she would never see the High Rollers’ Lounge. But if she did, not only would she get a little respect, she would also be able to rub it in Sunset’s face.

“No,” Fluttershy stated. “I’ll do it!” She straightened the skirt of her uniform, dropped to one knee, and said, “Will you marry me?”

Celestia raised a hand to her mouth to cover up a chuckle and Spike kicked her leg under the table.

“Ask me again in about five to ten years,” he replied with a kind smile.

Then Fluttershy ran back to the kitchen.

“That was the most embarrassing moment of my life!” she thought.

“Well, I am going to wander a bit,” Spike told Celestia rather abruptly. “Why don’t you have another daiquiri on me?”

He paid for his meal (adding a generous tip for the girls) and headed off to the shopping wing, feeling rotten for kicking his mother.

After his swim the other day, Spike noticed that the color of his swimsuit was starting to fade, so he decided to look for a new one. He was trying on a pair of purple board shorts with green flames patterned across the legs, admiring himself in a mirror, when the Dazzlings (clad in bikinis and sunglasses) walked in.

Aria grabbed Spike by one arm while Sonata grabbed the other, like he was a perp being escorted by a couple of cops. Adagio paid for the shorts, and they hauled him to the parking lot behind the resort.

“Hey, what gives?” he demanded.

Once they were outside, Aria and Sonata threw him against the hood of a yellow Lamborghini Gallardo LP 570-4 Superleggera while Adagio threw him a sponge and a towel. Spike assumed that the car belonged to them (or at least one of them). Then he saw two similar Lamborghinis, a purple Aventador LP 700-4 and a bluish-white Murciélago LP640, parked on either side of it.

He was also quick to notice the buckets of soapy water by the driver side front wheels, as well as three pool chaises under big umbrellas and a cooler that had been set up a few yards away. They wanted him to wash their cars—by hand—and they were going to watch him do it. Plunging the sponge into the soapy water of the first bucket, Spike got to work on Adagio’s trunk.

The Dazzlings reclined on the chaises, adjusted their bikinis for maximum comfort, and started sipping fruity drinks while they enjoyed the view of Spike scrubbing Adagio’s doors.

Shaking his head as he finished cleaning the hubcaps, getting all the dirt out from between the angled chrome, Spike squeezed the water out of the sponge and dried Adagio’s wheels off with the towel. Adagio took a long drag through the straw of her drink, her eyes following Spike’s butt as he moved across her hood.

As he looked down at his wet, rippling pectorals, Spike decided to have a little fun with the Dazzlings. He rung the sponge out over his head and he let the water drip into his hair and down his chest.

The suds slid off his body as he started to climb onto the hood of Aria’s car, the purple Aventador. The three women never took their eyes off him. He winked at Aria, blew a kiss at Sonata, quickly getting them all hot and bothered. Adagio was practically drooling by the time Spike began soaping up Sonata’s Murciélago, and he started to get a little too into it. Sonata had left her key in the ignition and Spike turned it so that the engine was still off but the radio played music, and he started moving to it.

The Dazzlings watched Spike’s half-naked body as he took full advantage of every opportunity to splash himself with more water. His strong, muscled back, well-built legs and tight, firm buttocks filled their imaginations.

They didn’t even notice Applejack standing behind them.

“Hey, lover boy, put a shirt on!” she hollered. “Nobody’s paying you to flash your muscles!”

And she tossed him a plain white T-shirt, which he caught.

“You missed a spot on my hood!” Adagio shouted, shaken out of her trance by AJ’s interference. “Come on! It isn’t going to clean itself!”

“This is so not over,” Spike groaned through a smile.

“Damn, that was hot!” Applejack thought as she walked away, fighting off a blush.

While Spike was washing the Dazzlings’ Lamborghinis, Zephyr Breeze was at the front desk, bribing Twilight and Rarity.

“So, you don’t have to do any of the degrading things on this list and we get thirty percent off at your mom’s flower shop?” Rarity asked.

“Plus, she will make you her famous cucumber sandwiches and earl gray tea,” Zephyr added.

“Deal,” Twilight said. “Just... keep it quiet. If the other girls find out we cut you some slack, we’re toast.”

“Trust me -- I’ll keep it on the down low,” Zephyr replied.

He ducked into the men’s room when he saw Adagio coming their way.

“How’s it going?” Rarity asked.

“Your car is being washed and waxed as we speak,” Adagio said. “Where’s Zephyr Breeze?”

“Oh, he is not going to want to continue living after today,” Rarity replied.

“Nice,” Adagio said.

“So, what else do you have planned?” Twilight asked.

“We just came up with the perfect idea for Zeph: the suit,”

Adagio opened a closet door behind the front desk, pulled a large pink pony costume out from it, and slammed it onto the counter.

“Ugh! That thing reeks!” Rarity exclaimed.

“You know someone puked in there last week?” Twilight asked. “I don’t think anyone’s cleaned it out.”

“Exactly,” Adagio stated. “This is where we separate the men from the boys. I better go check on Spike.”

Zephyr had stood just inside the door to the men’s room, listening closely, and he heard every word that was said.

“No, no, I’m not wearing that!” he told them.

“We don’t have a choice,” Twilight replied. “We have to make you wear it.”

“Do it and I’ll tell Spike about your small but powerful crush on him,” he pointed a finger at her.

Twilight stuffed the costume back into the closet and forced the door shut.

“I suddenly can’t find the suit,” she said.

“That’s my girl!” Zeph grinned.

Upstairs, Rainbow Dash found a note pinned to the door of Room 804.

“Enjoy. -- The Dazzlings”

Dash unlocked the door with her master key and it slowly creaked open. When she turned on the light, she screamed.

The most she expected was half a dozen rolls of toilet paper scattered all over the floor and dirty clothes piled everywhere.

What she saw was toilet paper on the floor and in the bed, banana peels, apple cores and watermelon rinds in every corner, bags of potato chips and half-empty takeout containers strewn about everywhere else, and the TV screen was shattered. Not cracked, but shattered!

She almost threw up. And (as if that weren’t enough) there was a pig, three chickens, a raccoon, a snake and a full size grizzly bear in the room.

Dash quickly slammed the door shut and panted in fear.

“Even my brother’s not that messy!” she thought.

She didn’t even know how to get started.

That was when she got a text... from Adagio.

“How’s Room 804, Crash,” it said, “messy enough for you?”

Rainbow Dash scowled, pulled on a pair of yellow rubber gloves, donned a gas mask, and wielded a plunger in one hand and a can of air freshener in the other.

“I’m going in!” she stated.

By the time Spike had all three Lamborghinis (and Rarity’s snow white Chrystaller 200 SRT-8) washed, rinsed and towel dried, it was ten minutes past noon, but he decided to skip lunch and work right through the next thing the Dazzlings had in mind for him. And that was reorganizing the closets in their suites and the wardrobes in their dressing rooms.

“Wow. I don’t know how you find anything in here,” he told them. “Oh, before I go nuts, if there are any specific personal items, you may want to relocate them prior to...”

“Oh! Of course,” Sonata said.

She dug through one of the piles and took out a handful of unmentionables, including a pair of dental floss underwear. Spike rolled his eyes and started sorting. Each individual Dazzling had 16 purses, but he didn’t stop until after he counted 38 black shoes.

“Why do you have 19 pairs in the same color?” he asked.

“You stupid—” Aria said. “Those are strap-backs, Stilettos, Cobbie Cuddlers, espadrilles, flats, pumps, patent leathers, Spectators...”

“Wow. I might as well be listening to Rarity,” he thought.

“You wouldn’t understand, Spike,” Sonata told him absentmindedly. “It’s called style.”

He stopped listening to them talk and went back to work. By the time he was finished, he had taken off the T-shirt Applejack had “given” him and toweled himself off with it.

“And everything is in rainbow order,” he said proudly.

He stretched the ache out of his arms and legs, and left them with a smile.

“Nothing we do is stopping him!” Aria exclaimed.

“You’ve got to hand it to him,” Adagio said. “He’s pretty hardcore.”

Sonata quickly agreed.

“We have to think of something he will never, ever do!” Aria told them.

“I’ve got an idea,” Sonata put in.

“And I’m desperate enough to hear it!” Aria replied.

Starlight Glimmer, Pinkie Pie, Soarin, and Fluttershy returned to the staff lounge on the third floor at five o’clock that evening.

“I’ve got grease in my hair,” Starlight sobbed. “And Sunset’s just waiting for me to screw up! I’m not going to make it through the summer!”

“Don’t worry,” Pinkie told her. “I’ve got your back. If you stick with me, you’ll be okay.”

As Starlight looked at Pinkie, she couldn’t help but notice the sincerity in her voice and on her face.

“Thanks,” she said.

Pinkie smiled as Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Zephyr Breeze joined them.

“What is that smell?” Zephyr asked.

“They covered my hair with expired mayonnaise,” Starlight said.

“That’s nothing!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she plopped onto the couch. “After I finally got all the animals out of the room, I had to clean seaweed and jello out of the bathtub! Seaweed and jello! And there were shrimp in the air conditioner! That... was brutal.”

“Come on!” Soarin replied. “It could not have been that bad.”

Dash showed him pictures she had taken with her phone and he shrieked.

Fluttershy gasped, Applejack gagged, and Starlight asked, “Did they even bother to flush?”

“No,” Dash replied. “When I lifted the lid, I saw something wink at me.”

“Oh! Seriously?! That is so gross!!” Pinkie shouted. “Heinous and grody to the max!!! I mean, that is capital A-to-the-B-to-the-C-to-the-twiddle-dee-double-D-I-S-GUSTING!!!!”

“I had puke pickup duty,” Soarin told them. “I also had to clean out the hot tub filters... again. And I thought the crud in there was nasty.”

“What have they done to you?” Fluttershy asked her brother.

“You don’t want to know,” Zephyr said. “Twilight and Rarity are mean!”

“But... you’re not even dirty,” Dash observed.

The elevator dinged and the doors opened to reveal Spike, still clad in only his purple board shorts. He walked stiffly toward them and planted himself on the couch next to Rainbow Dash. He looked like he had been traumatized.

It wasn’t until after Dash gently poked his arm that he finally spoke.

“They made me give them full body massages!” he shouted. “I had to rub them up and down, from head to toe!”

Sonata’s idea (which her sisters were desperate enough to hear) was to make Spike massage them with oil. All three of the Dazzlings lay out on massage tables they had set up in the center of the ballroom (which they locked from all sides to prevent interruptions), completely naked. Their skin shined in the bright lights above their bodies.

Spike had never been part of a foursome, and as he gazed upon them he started to imagine what it would be like. The very concept of trying to please three women at the same time was challenge enough to wrap his mind around. And the more he thought about it, the more arousing it became.

He cracked his knuckles and started on Sonata. His hands slowly worked down her frame, beginning at a tight ache in her neck, to her shoulders; and she sighed happily at the relief his hands brought her.

“Oh yes...” she said.

He poured some of the massage oil onto her back and down her hips. Then he grazed her rear before he went to work on her legs. After he was done with her feet, she rolled over, onto her back. Then he started kneading her breasts.

“When I get a regular massage, they don’t rub my tatas like this,” she said.

Spike didn’t reply; he just kept rubbing her down.

Sonata couldn’t remember when she had received such treatment. This was the first time that she was the center of attention, instead of Adagio or Aria. She felt completely adored... and she loved it.

“That’s all really good, it feels great, but I really need more work done on my ass,” she said as she rolled over again. “I have a lot of tension in my glutes and my thighs. Don’t be afraid to really dig in there.”

Spike began to rub her buttocks, squeezing lightly yet thoroughly.

“Mmmm... Oh, yes, that’s nice,” she moaned. “Don’t stop.”

Sonata swung her legs open and Spike pulled his hands back and stared at her for a moment, trying to figure out whether she had done it on purpose or not.

“My inner thighs are really tense,” she breathed. “M-massage my pussy.”

She looked almost embarrassed to say it.

“She actually does seem to be carrying a lot of stress between her legs,” he thought as he carefully circled his hands around a bit. “This will take some work to relieve.”

“O-oh yes... That feels sooo good...” she continued to moan as he rubbed her. “Mmmnh...”

Then Spike’s thumb slipped into her anus.

“Oh!” she squeaked. “Mmmm...”

“Wow! A lot of tension here!” he thought as his thumb popped out.

“Y-yes, that needs to be worked on bad...” Sonata said, as if she had been reading his thoughts.

Spike rubbed her pussy again and her juices dripped onto the table. Sonata’s eyes rolled up and her mouth hung open as Spike’s fingers slipped into her.

“Oh Spikey!” she squealed. “Y-yes... Mmmnh...”

More spilled out as he continued to finger her.

“Unh! Unnh! Your touch feels so good, Spikey!” she exclaimed.

Her body started to tremble and Spike could feel her begin to tighten around his fingers.

“Really need to loosen this up,” he thought as he slipped in and out of her more quickly.

“Y-yes, that’s it... M-more! Please!” Sonata begged as drool started to run down the corner of her mouth and she stared off in bliss. “Just a bit... Mnh, I-I can’t take much more, Spike!”

Her legs shook but Spike didn’t let up. He felt her tighten even more.

“S-SPIKKEEE!” she cried out.

Spike pulled his fingers out of Sonata as she quivered and splashed onto the massage table.

“O-oh y-yeah...” she slurred. “Y-You’re done with me already?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll come back to you,” he whispered huskily.

He worked on Aria next. He started with her back, like he had with Sonata, but she didn’t enjoy it as much as her sister had.

“Is that all you got?” she asked. “Come on, dude.”

She didn’t roll onto her back, and Spike started groping her rear.

“She’s got a nice ass,” he thought, “very firm as well.”

“That’s better,” she told him.

He slowly raised a hand. Then he spanked her.

“Unh, I like that,” Aria bit her lip as she let out a moan.

Then he slipped his fingers into her pussy.

“Mmrrfph! Y-yes! T-that feels sooo...” Suddenly, Spike drove a finger into her anus. “Mmlah!”

He pulled his finger out and slipped it back into her pussy.

“O-oh... y-your touch is amazing...” she let out as Spike continued to pleasure her. “Mmmmm! I-I can’t take much more. It’s too good... U-unh!”

Spike felt Aria constrict around his fingers as he continued to drive them in and out of her. She squealed and she trembled.

“Oh yes!” she howled as she squirted all over Spike’s hand.

Finally, he massaged Adagio. Spike repeated the same sequence as before. He squeezed her buns (allowing himself a brief moment to toy with her), drawing them apart so he spied her tiny, clenched hole.

“Can you go any harder?” Adagio scolded him.

It was clear that she, like Aria, didn’t like Spike’s soft touches.

“All right,” he said.

He spanked her before pulling her by her legs, towards him, palmed the fullness of her backside, kneading the flesh like it was dough... and shoved his thumb into her tight asshole.

Adagio made a quick, high pitched sound that surprised even her. Her mouth opened in an attempt to speak, but it seemed to take effort. Spike had definitely discovered something.

“You think I’m afraid of you?” she asked. “You couldn’t handle that ass.”

She spread her legs wider and Spike took it as an acceptance of his exploration.

“Show me what you can really do,” she dared him.

And he rapidly alternated between spanking and fingering her.

“That’s more like it,” she said. “Oh!”

After a few more minutes, he started placing tiny kisses on both of her cheeks, which turned into long, slow licks up her smooth skin, then he started biting her ass.

“Oh, yes!” she moaned.

Spike eventually dropped his board shorts and stood in front of Adagio’s face. Every time he brought himself close to her mouth, he would pull away.

She started panting like a bitch in heat; he was going to make her beg for it.

“Bark little bitch!” Spike commanded. “Come on, bark for me!”

“Arf! Arf!” Adagio cried.

When she started whining like a puppy, Spike walked around the table again and mounted her backside. Unwilling to release her, Spike was forced to curl against Adagio and hold her down as she bucked and twisted beneath him. She was babbling incoherently now, a mixture of begging, cries of arousal, and professions of love.

“Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!” she cried.

Not wanting to be left out, Aria and Sonata joined them. Spike’s right hand fondled one of Aria’s breasts as his left hand trailed between Sonata’s legs. He groaned as Adagio freed herself, swapped positions, and engulfed the head of his shaft.

“He tastes so good!” she thought as she swirled her tongue over it.

While Adagio continued to suck him off, Spike took one nipple from both Aria and Sonata into his mouth and suckled them feverishly. Adagio took as much of Spike into her mouth as she could before he hit the back of her throat, and she still had half of him out of her. She bobbed her head up and down on what was in her mouth and Aria and Sonata stroked what couldn’t fit. Adagio slid her free hand down her belly and she began to finger herself.

The four of them were in total rapture. Feeling a combined climax fast approaching, Adagio took Spike’s entire length into her mouth. She knew that they needed just one more push to reach the feeling they all so craved. She swallowed, making her throat convulse around Spike’s cock.

The feeling of being in Adagio’s throat had Spike on the brink. Then he felt her quiver. The vibrations from his moan on Aria and Sonata’s nipples sent them over the edge and they came onto his fingers. Adagio pulled back and opened her mouth just as the first spurt came and landed in her waiting maw. She caught most of it in her mouth, but the rest splashed onto her breasts. She savored the taste and feeling of his nectar for a minute before making a show of swallowing it.

“You didn’t leave any for us!” Sonata pouted in disappointment.

Aria smiled deviously as she looked down at Adagio.

“I see some left,” she said as she crawled over to her sister and began to suck and lick her breasts.

Adagio moaned even louder when Sonata joined in. The sight of the three girls pleasuring each other got Spike hard again. He crawled behind Sonata, stuck out his tongue and began to lick between her legs while he used a hand to tease Aria, and they both moaned onto Adagio’s nipples.

It wasn’t long before Sonata cried out, and she came hard into Spike’s mouth while Aria came onto his hand, once again coating it in her juices. Adagio smiled wickedly as she forced Spike onto his back. She lined her wet pussy up with his shaft, her own juices dripped onto him, lubricating him. Then she plunged down hard, crying out in a mix of pain and pleasure. The feeling of him buried inside her did hurt, but also brought her great joy. Spike clenched his teeth to keep himself from crying out. He could smell that Adagio was untouched by any other man, but he had encountered little resistance when he entered her.

Adagio began to ferociously bounce on his shaft as Aria placed herself over his mouth, and Spike shoved his tongue into her folds. He felt even more pressure on his body as Sonata squeezed herself between her sisters and started making out with Adagio.

The ballroom became filled with sounds of ecstasy as Spike bucked his hips up and shot into Adagio. Her fluids poured out and onto his pelvis while Aria’s flowed into his mouth and Spike greedily drank them, and Sonata screamed as she spilled over Spike’s abs. One by one, the Dazzlings began to come back to their senses. They stood on wobbly legs.

“Mmmnh! You were amazing!” Sonata told Spike. “I feel so much more relaxed now.”

“I think we might need regular therapy,” Adagio said. “If you’re interested.”

“We’ll see,” Spike replied. “You’ll have to keep being good girls.”

“Oh, we’ll be good,” Adagio said.

“Very good,” Aria added.

“Very, very good!” Sonata finished.

“Excellent,” Spike thought.

“We’ll figure out some future sessions for you later,” he told them.

Adagio winked at Spike as she, Aria and Sonata collected their clothes and he watched them go. He eventually headed off to the staff quarters, fantasizing about them in every position from reverse cowgirl to doggy style.

Spike didn’t tell Soarin, Zephyr Breeze, or the other girls any of the details of the “massages”, and even if he had they wouldn’t have had the energy to listen. The only other thing he did share was the fact that he had worked through lunch. He had eaten an enormous breakfast, but that was hours ago, and now he was starving. And they told him that they were going to throw in the towel.

“You guys are quitting now?” Spike asked. “After everything we’ve been put through?”

“Yeah,” Soarin said.

“Yeah,” Fluttershy repeated.

“Yeah, I’m done,” Rainbow Dash stated.

“We have a chance to be treated like gods at legendary tables -- tables that have been played on by only a select few people ever. Quiet, sophisticated games in an uncrowded room, and we get to deal in it! Are you really going to let a few tramps get between you and the best bets in the country? Because I’m not!”

“Me neither!” Dash exclaimed.

“I’m in!” Soarin added.

“What the Tartarus,” Starlight said. “Anyone who loves winning that much deserves to see the High Rollers’ Lounge. Plus, it will totally tick them off when we pass initiation!”

Just then, Sunset and Rarity exited one of the elevators while the Dazzlings exited another. Sonata wheeled a food cart in, filled with covered dishes.

“Congratulations,” Sunset said. “I am pleased to report that you have all passed staff initiation. Hope you’re hungry.”

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Rainbow Dash whispered to Soarin.

Sunset and Sonata served while Adagio and Aria handed out silverware.

“Soarin and Starlight, you get the Lobster Tails for two,” Rarity began.

“A BLT on white for Zephyr Breeze,” Adagio continued.

“Fettucini Alfredo with chicken for Rainbow Dash,” Aria went on.

“For Fluttershy, a personal pineapple pizza,” said Sonata.

“You didn’t have to,” Fluttershy told her.

“Oh, it was nothing,” Sunset replied. “And for Mister Dragon Spice, a Manehattan strip, rare, with truffle butter. Enjoy.” She leaned in close to Spike and added in a whisper, “There’s an extra special ingredient just for you.”

“Well, I’m hungry,” Zephyr Breeze said, licking his chops. “Let’s dig in.”

Suddenly, Spike clamped a hand around one of Zephyr’s wrists in a vice-like grip, forcing Zeph to drop his sandwich.

“Wait!” Spike said quietly.

He looked at the clock on the wall. It was only 5:43 P.M.

“There’s still seventeen minutes left until the official end of initiation!” he added, still quiet. “That’s more than enough time for one last test.”

They all eyed their food warily.

“Is everything okay?” Sunset asked them.

Fluttershy was the first to get what Spike was saying.

“I’m not eating!” she stated.

“Me neither,” Rainbow Dash quickly added.

“If they don’t eat, I don’t eat,” Zephyr said.

“I’m not hungry,” Soarin lied, even though his stomach growled.

“I’m on a diet!” Starlight fibbed.

“I only eat steak that’s well done,” Spike concluded.

And they all pushed their plates away.

“At least try it,” Sonata told them, feeling a little hurt. “We went through a lot of trouble for you guys.”

“Have a bite,” Adagio added.

Spike didn’t remember exactly what happened next, but he knew this much: tempers were about to run hot, and he was not convinced that the initiation was over. And if it was, he wanted to be sure.

Looking at the food was giving him an idea.

If one is deathly allergic to something, it is best to not put that thing in their mouth, but Spike decided to take drastic action: he grabbed Fluttershy’s personal pineapple pizza and tore a big bite out of it. As soon as he swallowed it, he immediately broke out into hives and his tongue and head started to swell up. When Applejack saw this, her mouth fell open in terror.

She reached out and seized him in a vast embrace, and carried him bridal-style to the stairwell. Everything after was a blur to Spike, but he remembered Applejack sweeping him up into her arms and looking at him with her big green eyes, saying, “Don’t you die on me!”

When Spike awoke, he was lying in a hospital bed surrounded by multiple women and a man in a white coat. He knew he wasn’t dead, because he could vaguely recall the pain of his stomach being pumped. The same thing he felt the last time he ingested pineapple. Applejack, Sunset, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie, Adagio, Aria and Sonata were all standing by his bed, watching him, hoping he would wake up. Celestia soon joined them.

“Spike, are you all right?” she asked.

“Tell her what happened, Doc,” Applejack said.

“Your son had a major allergic reaction to the pineapple he ate,”

“I can’t believe you did that!” Applejack exclaimed.

“It was the only thing I could think of,” Spike replied.

“You could have died!”

“Worth it,” he stated.

“Well, we’re glad you’re all right,” said Sunset. “And since it is well past six, you have all officially passed initiation.”

“Thank you,” Spike replied. “Now, please, let me rest.”

The doctor shooed everyone out.

“Sunset, a moment,” Spike said.

She nodded and stayed behind.

“I’m sorry for deliberately triggering my allergy just to see if you were lying or not,” he apologized.

“I guess I owe you for that,” she said.

“I have a thought on how you might repay me,” he replied.

He beckoned her closer and she leaned over him. He asked her to hold out her hand and he gave her a small, cylindrical device with a needle inside.

“What’s this?” she asked.

“It’s a medicine autoinjector,” he said. “If this ever happens again, I want you to be the one to give it to me.”

Sunset was shocked.

“You’re asking me to--?”

“Be the one to save me from dying, yes,” he said.

She promised.

“Also, let the others deal in the High Rollers’ Lounge, and keep the Dazzlings away from me,”

“Spike, Rarity and I helped them get their job at the resort,” Sunset replied. “They consider me their best friend.”

“Well, congratulations, you beat out no less than one nation of horny teenage boys and a lifetime of Taco Tuesdays,” Spike retorted.

Sunset sighed. “No promises on that one, but I will try.”

“Thank you,” he said.

And then he fell asleep.

There were only a handful of players spread across the fifteen tables of the High Rollers’ Lounge the following night. They were all well-dressed, middle-aged men. There were leather couches and armchairs spread throughout the room. The air was filled with the faint, almost nonexistent, scents of alcohol and cigar smoke, and they melded with the smog from expensive perfume.

Soarin bartended while Sunset, Zephyr Breeze and Fluttershy served drinks and the Dazzlings dealt cards.

“Don’t worry about Spike,” Celestia told Sunset. “I just checked up on him. He’s doing all right.”

“Thank you,” Sunset replied.

“Well, I’m glad that initation’s over,” Fluttershy said.

“And it wasn’t even that bad,” Zephyr added.

“Oh, come on!” Dash exclaimed. “Twilight and Rarity went easy on you! Where are they, anyway?”

“Oh, they’re paying for letting Zephyr off,” Sonata said.

Just then, Twilight and Rarity entered the High Rollers’ Lounge. They had been forced to wear giant unicorn suits—Twilight in purple, Rarity in white.

Meanwhile, up in the Brothers’ office, Flam was having a difficult time letting Hoofer Steps go. She had turned in a letter of resignation, given them her two-weeks’ notice, and now she was about to leave them. But she couldn’t leave until they had found a worthy replacement.

“I can’t find anybody,” Flam said.

“Well, then just pick someone,” Flim replied.

“No, brother of mine, we can’t ‘just pick someone’,” Flam said. “We need someone real, someone pure.”

“Someone so good, they don’t care they’re good,” said Hoofer Steps, “someone who dances for the love of dancing and nothing else.”

“Exactly,” Flam replied. “Do you know anyone like that?”

“Well, what about Spike Drake?” she asked.

“Spike?” the Brothers replied.

“He’s perfect,” she told them. “He was my best student, and he can keep dancing fresh for the next generation.”

The Brothers leaned forward in interest.

Next time, Spike bonds with the girls and faces off against the infamous “King Killer” in a not-so-friendly game of Poker.