Spike's Big Case

Chapters

The Dark Night
The Investigation Begins
Odd Wake-Up
Tensions
Walk About Town
A Meeting of the Minds

The Dark Night

The slave laid within the darkness caused by the blindfold she wore around her head. The slave had no idea where she was, only that she was moving. She knew that her arms were tied up above her head, making it impossible for her to lower them. Not that she ever would since she had been ordered to keep them there and without the order to lower them the slave would dutifully continue to follow orders. The other order that the slave was still following was to keep her legs bent and spread apart so that her knees almost touched her ribs. Not a scrap of clothing adorned her fur as a lowly, nameless slave like her was not permitted to wear such things. No, the leather collar around her neck with a large O ring in the middle was all that she was allowed to wear. In fact, it had been deemed a privilege by her trainers/masters that she be allowed to receive the nipple and clit piercings she had.

The slave’s heart pounds a bit faster, perhaps faster than when she was servicing her two masters. Tonight, she had been told, she would be meeting her forever master. What he looked like or how he treated her mattered little to the slave for she had been taught that such thoughts were above her station. She existed to serve her master, to do what he said without question no matter what it was. Who she was before her masters found her no longer existed. This slave was the only thing that existed within this body. The perfect body and mind to serve her master.

Perhaps, the slave’s new master would even give her a name. Oh, but such dreams were too much for this slave. She knew she shouldn’t get her hopes up.

Instead of dreaming, the slave knew her focus should be on pleasing her master. It had been taught that a slave that failed to do that was worthless. Worthless slaves were not needed. Things that were not needed were thrown away. The last thing any slave would ever want, no matter how badly they were being treated, was to be thrown away. This was taught to her by her masters during her training.

Spike flicked on the light switch with his tail as he entered his apartment, the mail in his clawed hand being tossed over onto the nearby kitchen counter. Like all buildings located within Dragon Town Fillydelphia, everything looked like it had been chiseled out from a single large stone and carved to look more like the buildings surrounding the dragon settlement. A single table, counter space, a couch, and even the bed in his bedroom were all a part of the building’s whole, making it nearly impossible for him to truly make it his own. The only thing he had been able to do since moving here was add cushions for the couch, a mattress on the bed, and pillows here and there to make things more comfortable. At least back at the Castle of Friendship the furniture hadn’t been fused to the ground!

Sighing a little to himself, the eighteen year old opened the nearby closet door and began to unbutton his police uniform. There was a note of pride Spike held with his uniform, being the first dragon officer in the city. That was mainly due to the past treatment of dragons in the city. While they had been allowed to live within Equestria, the dragons of Dragon Town had been scapegoats for years. Usually they were the first suspects whenever a suspicious fire broke out or when a jewelry store was robbed. It was because of that sort of stuff going on that Spike had decided to move here when he was able, to help improve dragon rights and image while at the same time learning more about being a proper dragon. In the end, his path had brought him to this point, working side by side with the police as one of them.

As the buttons continued to be undone, Spike turned to look at the mirror attached to the door to see that it reflected him perfectly showing off his new form. Gone were the days when he was a pudgy, wingless dragon. Now he was at least a head’s height taller than most ponies around him, with large wings whose tips touched the back of his feet. His build was muscular but still somewhat slender, compacting all of his dragon might so that he could tear down a wall with zero effort using the back of his hand. The green scaly fin on the top of his head had become long and razor sharp making anypony foolish enough to get into a head butting contest with his a poor time. His scales had also become stronger, able to resist most blasts from common unicorns.

Perhaps it was because of these traits that made him a useful addition to the Fillydelphia police force. No other pony could fly, breath fire, was almost immune to all magic, and was super strong. Since joining the force, Spike had been on several assignments that had turned ugly with unicorns trying to zap every officer they could or pegasi using hand held thunder clouds to zap lightning at them. Everypony who was there at the time was willing to admit that if Spike hadn’t been there then there would have been more injuries. Even the chief had said to reporters how glad they were to have an officer like him. He had two awards to his credit, a remarkable feat for someone so young on the force, yet they had not been put up yet. Instead they laid there at the bottom of his closet in a small box. Still, there was a long way for him to go to improving the images of dragons everywhere. There were still times when the other officers said he was ‘one of the good ones’ or words of a similar effect.

Thinking about this caused Spike to pause for a moment as he turned to look at the mail. It was the briefest of glances, but he could tell that none of them was from Ponyville. Most of the news he got came from Scootaloo who was the only remaining member of the CMC still in Ponyville. It was from her that he had learned that Pip had turned the family bar into a strip club. When he had first heard this, his first reaction was to think it a joke. Well, until he saw the ads for the place in the papers. As for the talk that the small stallion had gotten married, that was still hard to believe. Rumble seemed to be doing better these days, or at least that’s what Scootaloo implied in her letters. A few times Scootaloo had mentioned that Diamond Tiara was still in Luna’s Academy, but other than that she had no idea what was going on with her. Her boss, Filthy Rich, didn’t talk about her as much anymore.

“Maybe I should go visit them for a while,” muttered Spike as he fumbled with the last button. It had been so long since he had been in the small town where everypony knew your name. A place with so little crime but so many disasters. It might be good for him to see all of his old friends again, even for a little bit. He’d love to see how Twilight was doing at least. From the mail he got from her, she was getting ready to officially start her own herd. Something that was long overdue in his humble opinion. Spike had known Twilight was in a relationship with Sunset Shimmer and Flash Sentry for a while now, but just how carnal it had become had been kept secret from the majority of the country. Well, until recently. Perhaps he could go and ask her-

Just as Spike was about to take his shirt off, a sudden noise from outside caught his attention. Frowning, the adult dragon crossed the room to look out the window. There he saw that the streets were now dark, most of the lights from the surrounding buildings had been turned off due to the lateness of the hour. Even the call drakes were off the street since there was no dragon to entice with the promise of sex.

For a moment, Spike began to believe that it hadn’t been anything serious. Maybe a cat knocking over a trashcan or perhaps it was just his imagination from working so much. As he pulled away, however, his eyes spotting something down the street past in apartment complex. It was a carriage pulled by two ponies. Narrowing his eyes a bit, Spike could almost make out some of the spiraling engraving on the carriage which were normally found on some of the more elite styles out there. This was very odd to say the least. Spike had lived in Dragon Town for years now and he knew that ponies very rarely if ever entered the area even during the day. Nor had he even seen a member of the elite enter their section of the city. The closest to the elite was the mayor and she didn’t have a carriage that even came close to what he was seeing now.

What started off as odd quickly became downright suspicious as the carriage made a sharp turn into a building not too far from him. A building he knew was vacant at the moment, having gone past it a few times. He remembered not too long ago Rarity had stopped by to get his opinion on the place since she had thought about starting up a store there to supply dragons with some of her designs. Spike had discouraged her from the idea since most dragons would think that she was just trying to steal the business of other dragons and thus they would avoid her. Not to mention the ‘condemned’ sign plastered on the wall. Spike had no idea what was wrong with the place, but he was sure that it would take a mountain of bits just to bring it up to code. So it was very surprising for the dragon to see one of the ponies pulling the carriage to unhook himself before opening a large doorway meant for larger dragons. Eyes widening, Spike watched the carriage enter the building.

Pulling himself away from the window, Spike wondered what he should do. He could contact the police himself and let those on duty handle it. But there was the chance that something might keep them from coming. If there was a robbery or something going on elsewhere, the police wouldn’t look into a minor case like trespassing no matter how odd it might seem. Plus, without the carriage license plate number there was no way to get an idea on how serious this might be.

Frowning, Spike began to button up his shirt again as he searched for a pen and paper. After locating the items, he quickly scribbled out a note for the station. He described what he had seen, where it was, and that he was going to keep an eye on the situation until the others got there. Without bothering to read it over Spike spat out enough green flame to envelop the paper while focusing on the police station. The paper turned to dust in his claws before flying out into the night, searching for the target destination. Satisfied with this, Spike left his apartment without bothering to turn off the light.

At the same time, a greenish grey coated unicorn stallion sat within his carriage while his magic held a handkerchief over his nose. Dressed like he had just returned from a country club, with a fine silk shirt and a sweater draped across his back with black pants, he spared a glance at the outside only to look away in revulsion. The meeting place this time was far below his normal standards. In the past those chosen locations were at least somewhat presentable with a tolerable smell to them. Yet the air that had entered his carriage was dank and would normally be found in places those earth pony mongrels would enjoy. All around him was hideously cracked and chipped stone, reminding him of caves, with pools of a green liquid sprinkled around the place. A hand reached to touch his carefully parted black mane, wishing he had brought a hat of some kind in order to protect it.

Slowly the carriage began to turn so that it was now side by side another one. No, that wasn’t quite right. While Jet Set had purchased his carriage from one of the finest, most respectable carriage dealerships in all of Canterlot the one besides him was more of a covered wagon. A wagon that looked like it had been put together at the dump, for there were large steel tubes coming out of it as well as metal containers at the top. The wheels looked like they had been patched together with both steel and wood. The owners of this wagon had tried to hide some of the more…repulsiveness of their ride with outlandish signs. However, nothing could distract from the fact that it was an eye sore from beginning to end. Why they choose to continue to use such a thing was beyond somepony like Jet Set since they were racking in the bits with this little endeavor. Surely they had enough to produce a better ride.

With the desire to get this over with, Jet Set exited his ride. When his hoof touched the stone floor he had to fight the desire to shutter in disgust. Turning his head, he noticed an opening at the opposite end of the building. Probably the way they came in. There was no time to ponder that thought as the doors to the back of the wagon opened, revealing his partners.

“Well, dear brother of mine, it seems like our friend has arrived,” said Flim in his usual fast paced speak as he walked towards Jet set with a grin on his face. Dressed in the same white and blue striped shirt as always with matching white pants, the red and white maned unicorn strode about with confidence that seemed above his station.

“How grand, how grand,” cried Flam who looked almost identical to Flim but with a mustache. “We were beginning to think you had gotten cold hooves, my dear stallion.”

“It took a considerable amount of effort for me to get here without being seen,” stated Jet Set coldly, not bothering to lower his handkerchief to talk to them. Such manners were not given to ponies like these. “We normally met at the docks for these exchanges. Why move it here, in a den of dragons?”

“Such a sad tale my dear friend,” said Flim as his face morphed into sadness. “It would appear that our fine pair of ruling sisters have found out about our operations. Or at the very least have become aware of it. A pity, I’m sure you’ll agree.”

“Thankfully the buyer who got caught has not been willing to point fingers just yet,” said Flam. “So, to be on the safe side my friend, we thought it would be better to move our operation away from prying eyes.”

Jet Set let out a sigh, well aware of the disaster at the Hanging City. Things had been going so well for the right kind of ponies for some time, in his humble opinion. Unicorns had been slowly taking back their rightful place as the rulers of all ponykind. The Mining Safety Committee was being run by true leaders: unicorns. What few nobles out there that were not of the proud tribe of spell casters were being slowly replaced. Beyond the prices of some metal going up for some reason, things looked like they were going smoothly. So why did Princess Celestia need to poke her nose into it and then remove three of the Dukes there? He could understand why Prince Blueblood supported this. The Prince had fallen from grace for some time now, going to strip clubs and lusting after non-unicorns. Now he was fawning after a bat winged whore, trying to impress her by giving her the title of Duchess in the hopes that she would return his misguided affection. More than once the two of them had been seen at government functions and fundraisers. Judging by the way she looked at him, it was clear to Jet that she planned to sleep her way to the top. Sickening really. As for the princess, he still had no idea what prompted her to look into things like that.

Whatever the reason, the results spoke for themselves. The three unicorn Dukes of the Hanging City had been arrested along with many others in various positions within the government. While he had no idea what the others had done, he did know that one of them had been an important customer of theirs. Most likely Princess Celestia had either found the dead bodies of the mares or had found them still alive because that fool couldn’t dispose of them fast enough. This was merely speculation on their part. Word had spread that the Dukes had been removed, but for what crimes still had not yet been made public. If Jet had to guess the crown might be trying to trick them, make them think that they weren’t on to them.

“I am aware,” stated Jet Set coldly. “A plan is already in motion to make sure that he never gets a chance to tell anypony about us. It will sadly cost me a mountain of bits to do this. However, given the circumstances, it’s for the best. We’ll just need to start increasing the production or raise the prices to cover our losses. Now, for the new product. Is it ready? I have a buyer in Canterlot who is expecting our best.”

Flim and Flam spared a looked at each other before turning to look at Jet Set, both stallions grinning with pride. They said not a word, only lighting their horns in unison so that the latch at the back of their wagon opened up. Slowly, a long black create with several holes in it was levitated out into the open where it then landed softly before the three. Jet stared at the box looking remarkable like many he had seen before, each one holding a slave that they had trained. Yet there was something in the air that was causing his heart to beat faster. Perhaps this was due to the additional flare the brothers were putting into this reveal. Normally the crates would have been pulled out already or they would have been taken out in a more mechanical manner. This time, they seemed to be reveling in this latest capture and conquest. As if this was their finest work. Excited to show what they had created.

With a flick of their horns, the locks on the side of the crates were undone followed by its top being removed. What Jet Set saw almost took his breath away. Like many of the other mares who had been transformed into top notch slaves; plumper, fuller breasts along with a figure that looked well toned while at the same time being neither too fat or too skinned. Her white coat looked pristine, lacking any visible marks as she laid there with her arms held up and tied together. Her thick nipples had been adorned with hoop style rings that he could easily put a finger through to pull it if he should so desire. As her blindfold was removed via magic the look she gave him held eyes that said she wanted him with her lips slightly parnted as if to silently beg. Looking downward, Jet saw that her cunt folds were slightly wet to invite his rod to take her at that very moment as well as another ring on her clit. Jet Set knew that just like all of the other slaves brought before him that her cunt would always remain nicely snug for him no matter how many times she had been used. He didn’t even need to get a good look at her ass to know that as well had been altered to perfection. The slave’s bonds were undone as Flim ordered the creature to greet him properly. Without missing a beat the nameless slave quickly got into position, getting onto her hooves but keeping her legs bent while still spread apart and leaning backwards a bit with both arms behind her back. Like this her breasts were in the air and her pussy was visible.

“Greeting my master,” she said in a melody like voice, causing Jet’s already hardened cock to twitch. “How may I serve you?” For a moment, Jet said nothing as he stared at her. She sounded ready to him but he desired to try her out a bit. So without any warning he stuck his hoof out so that it brushed up against her moist passage earning a slight gasp. A small smirk crossed his lips as he slowly began to grind the side of his hoof against her folds.

“What is your name slave?” he demanded as he watched her chest rise and fall due to her panting.

“Whatever you wish it to be, my master,” panted the slave, cheeks turning red but never taking her eyes off of him. Good.

“Your name is Cunt until told otherwise,” said Jet as he pulled his hoof away. “Do you understand?”

“Cunt understands,” replied Cunt. “Cunt wishes to please her master.”

“Get on your knees,” commanded Jet at once. As she did so, Jet undid the belt around his waist followed by unzipping his pants. Within a second, the material was around his legs as Cunt stared dreamily at his cockflesh. “You seem to know how to talk, but let us see what else you can do with that mouth. Suck it Cunt!” Cunt wasted no time in complying. One moment Jet’s cock was out in the open and the next it was surrounded by the warmth of her mouth. With her arms still behind her back Cunt began to move like crazy, bobbing her head back and forth so fast that her tits flung about. Loudly she sucked on his member as if she were dying of thirst, his cock being her only salvation.

“She,” began Jet only to be interrupted by his own moan. Cunt had just pressed her tongue at the bottom of his shaft to help with the stimulation. With each bob of her head, the stallion could feel it caress him perfectly. “Is skilled.”

“Naturally,” said Flim as he put both thumbs underneath his vest, pushing it out a bit as he spoke. “We put this one through the ringer. She’ll obey any command given without hesitation. Do you wish to fuck her ass? Why she’ll take it lubed or unlubed. Ever wanted your ass crack licked but your wife refuses? Well not to worry my friend for this little slave here will do it. She’ll play the part of a lover when ordered to. She’ll take any beating you give her and then treat her own wounds. Why, you can even knock her up and she’ll do with her foal whatever you want. Keep it and train it to be another slave or simply get rid of it. This slave here will do it all with a smile!”

Jet let out another groan as he felt his orgasm getting nearer. “Well, I’m tempted to keep this bitch for myself. Wish I knew the spell or potion you two used to break them.”

“A spell?” exclaimed Flam as he did a mock faint. “Surely you jest my dear fellow. Spells can ware off or be broken. While it is true that we inject certain potions into their bodies to mold them into what we wish, doing the same with the mind can have some less than pleasant long term results. No, in order to break them and remake them into the ideal sex slave they have to be broken to old fashioned way. Which is why we created the Slave Maker 4000!”

“A long and lengthy progress to be sure,” continued Flim as he moved behind Jet Set. “I will not be getting into the specifics of how we do it. Just know that in a month or two, most mares have completely forgotten who they were and exist just to serve their master. Even right now, as we are talking about it, Cunt here barely even registers it. It would take years to have any hope of undoing what we have done. A grueling process that no pony in their right mind would dare take for these pitiful creatures that we found.”

Jet Set grunted as he grabbed the back of Cunt’s head, holding her in place as his seed shot into her mouth. To the slave’s credit, she greedily lapped it down while imitating a purring noise of pleasure that vibrated along his member. Oh yes, this was a fine slave. Perhaps he would keep her after all. He had yet to get a slave for himself for his wife didn’t know about this part of his business. Then again, he could have her trained by these two while he enjoyed the pleasures this mare brought him.

As Cunt licked his dick clean, Jet began to image how wonderful it would be. Sending away that frigid ball and chain away so that she could become a horny, obedient minx in bed. If ponies asked where she was, he could tell them that she was undergoing plastic surgery. Nopony would doubt it after they saw the final results. He could then order her to go about her daily routine while in the public eye for a bit before having her tell people she was going to just stay home with their wealth. Then Jet could spend all his time with two sexually charged slaves, making them do whatever he wanted them to do. He could see it now, two mares taking turns sucking on his dick as they shook their flanks side to side. Doing a little mother/daughter play just for him before fucking their brains out. Then, when it looked like their age was finally catching up with them he could just knock them up until they produced fillies that would be raised as the next generation of slaves.

A sudden clang made Jet Set jump. Quickly he turned to look towards the doorway he had just came through, expecting a mountain of police officers. Thankfully there was nopony there. Still he trembled as he began to pull up his pants.

“LET ME OUT OF HERE!” screamed a voice from the wagon followed by a pinkish red light. “JUST WAIT TILL I GET MY CLAWS ON YOU!”

“What was that?” asked Jet as he zipped up the zipper. “Another unicorn? Doesn’t seem to be well trained.”

“Oh no,” chuckled Flam as he walked over to the wagon. With the utmost confidence, he leaned against it with his arms folded. While his mustache hid most of it, Jet could see the smirk he held. “Just something we picked up recently. A new venture for those who desire something more exotic.” With that said, Flam’s horn lit up. This time, there was no grace or build up as a creature was tossed out of the wagon where it rolled around in the dirt for a moment.

Seeing this creature caused Jet’s eyes to widen. Arms and legs bound by heavy chains which glowed green with runic magic, there laid a dragoness. Her blue scaled form was a more athletic build, slender with smaller breasts that would charitably be considered A-cup. On the side of her head were curved horns that pointed outwards. Furiously she struggled with her bounds, trying hard to flap her wings as she spat out flames wildly like the savage creature she was.

“You’re going to turn dragons into slaves?” asked Jet in amazement. As he spoke the dragon stopped struggling, looking around her as if for the first time.

“That indeed is the plan,” said Flim. “Caught this one not too long ago. A daring episode which-”

“Daring?” interrupted the dragoness. “Hardly. You cowards snuck up on me while I was bathing in a hot spring and hit me upside the fucking head! I bet you losers used your magic to do it so you didn’t have to get to close!”

As Flim’s cheeks turned scarlet, Flam stepped forward with a chuckle. “On to the business then. Yes, we believe we can break dragons using our methods. That as well as many other creatures that we can find. There is sure to be a market for this. If not here then Saddle Arabia were they will pay top gold. Already looking into a few other races at this moment like the zebra or the griffons.”

“Just think of it, brother of mine,” said Flim as he looked more in control of himself. “One of the reasons our production has been so slow is that we have to be sure of the material we use. Mares who are living alone, far from friends and family so that it will be some time before they are noticed. By leaving Equestria to find such material, we can save ourselves some of the headaches as we cross the border before they are aware we have taken anything! All we have to do is-”

At that moment, a slamming noise that nopony there could ignore caused all three of them to freeze in their place. Less than a heartbeat later, they heard a voice roar “POLICE” which echoed in every direction. Those there did not bother looking at each other or ask what to do. Instead they ran to their rides, escape and survival being their top priority. Jet Set didn’t even order Cunt to follow him or anything. He just left her there kneeling on the floor as well as the blue dragon bitch. He did not need their extra weight slowing them down nor did he need them in his carriage if he got caught. The same thoughts were probably running through the twin unicorn’s minds as they too boarded their wagon and made for the open escape with Jet Set following right behind.

Spike cursed under his breath as he made his way through the abandoned building while the two carriages sped away. This was not how he had wanted this all to go down, not in the slightest. He had managed to sneak in without any of the ponies inside becoming aware of his presence with the intent of acting as a witness to their dealings. Once the police showed up he could lead them to the criminals right away. He had also hoped that he could have gotten a better look at them or even heard some of their names. While the voices sounded eerily familiar, he couldn’t quite place them nor had he been able to see their faces from where he hid.

What he had been able to do was hear every word they said. Since the moment he got there, Spike had to stomach every word that was spoken as he clenched his claws to the point where he feared he might draw blood in order to prevent himself from charging in. Eventually, it just became too much for him. As his vision began to turn red, he roared a single word that caused his targets to run before his backup could hopefully get there. Maybe if he had been a more seasoned officer or had somepony there to help him keep his focus as to look at the bigger picture he might have been able to stand his ground and wait for the right moment. Then they would have been able to put these monsters away for good.

As Spike made his way to the place where they had been standing, he noticed that there were two figures still there. This perked up the dragon. Whoever had been here had left behind some of their victims. This meant that they would be able to get them to a hospital, get them help and reunite them with their families before questioning them on their captors. They might be able to shed some light on who had taken them and where they had been held. That-

“Greetings,” said one of the voices that was eerily familiar to the dragon. He stopped dead in his tracks, mouth hanging open in utter disbelief as Sweetie Belle remained in a kneeling position with a sultry smile on her face. It was as if she had not noticed what had been happening around her. “Are you the one to become Cunt’s new master? I promise to serve you until the day I die.”

Spike’s mouth open and closed several times, no sound coming out of it as he looked between the filly he used to know and the dragoness who lied on the ground staring back at him. His heart began to race as he saw what they had done to her. He knew he had to call this in, that it was his duty as a police officer. To grab the pen and paper he had brought with him, write a note, and send it to the station. But something in Spike caused him to freeze. Sweetie Belle was Rarity’s sister. As such, finding the ponies who had done this to her would be a top priority of the government given everything Rarity and the others had done for Equestria. But it would be spread across every paper. Everypony would know about what happened to her, it would be next to impossible to cover up. Even after all was said and done, she might not be able to handle this! No, he couldn’t think like that! That was stupid, idiotic thinking! He had to set aside his personal feelings and do the right thing.

“Hey,” said the dragoness suddenly, causing Spike’s head to jerk. It was hard for him not to think how attractive she was, even through he knew this wasn’t the time to be thinking of such things! “Don’t let them see me like this,” she said, her voice almost begging.

The Investigation Begins

The door slammed behind Spike after the three had entered his apartment. Quickly turning, the drake made sure to lock the door while keeping an eye on the peephole. He had hoped he had remained careful in his efforts to make sure none of them had been seen fleeing from the abandoned building. He hadn’t heard any shouting or heard any other sounds as he made his way through the alleyways. Nor had he seen any lights coming from the buildings when he had scanned the streets. They had been bare just like they had been when he had left to investigate, making crossing the street to his apartment a simple process. For all he knew, everydragon in the area was fast asleep. Still, one could never been too careful. Just because he didn’t see one didn’t mean he was right.

For several minutes he remained where he stood, feeling his heart slowly calm down. While dragons here were far less greedy than those who lived outside of Equestria, that did not mean there wouldn’t be those who would take advantage of the situation. Anydragon who had seen them would have tried contacting the police to tell that they had seen a group of streakers running around in the dead of night. Perhaps they would have followed Spike and company to find out where he lived to provide more information for some sort of reward. Yet, nothing seemed to be happening. He was safe and alone with the two naked-

Hands gently caressed his ass, catching him off guard. As his wings stood rigid from the sudden touch, he could feel something close to his tail. He could hear that person inhaling deeply as if to take in the scent of a delicious feast. Quickly, Spike spun around and pressed his back to the door. There, on her knees in front of him, was Sweetie Belle. But she wasn’t the Sweetie Belle he remembered. The last time he had seen her face to face was right before he left Ponyville. Back then he recalled she was wearing a yellow dress that Rarity had made, one of her sister’s more revealing pieces. Nothing too extreme, just something to help bring attention to the filly’s generous chest. He remembered that Snips and Snails had been drooling over her, thinking out loud to Spike if she would ever have a chest as large as her sister’s or if she would lose in that front to Apple Bloom. But what he remembered most was how embarrassed she was to be in it. How she didn’t like the fact that people were paying so much attention to her body. The filly had been relieved when Apple Bloom had given her a jacket to cover up.

That filly was no longer in front of him. This Sweetie Belle moved fluidly from her kneeling position to on her flank with her legs spread wide in front of her displaying both hooped nipple rings as well as the matching one on her clit. Before Spike could blink, one of her hands reached up to caress one of her mammoth mounds while the other reached down between her legs. With his eyes fixated on what was before him, Sweetie moaned as she gave her jug a squeeze with one hand while the other spread her wet pussy lips apart. The alluring scent of an aroused mare filled Spike’s nostrils as the mare’s eyes looked at him in a wanton fashion. She panted slightly while slowly licking her lips. It was as if she were doing everything in her power to convince him to take her right now. He would be lying to say he wasn’t hard. The Sweetie Belle before him was acting like a creature of lust far different than the pony he remembered.

“Master,” Sweetie Belle wantonly moaned. “Please use Cunt as you see fit. Cunt’s body is here to please Master and grant every wish Master desires. Fill whichever of Cunt’s holes you desire the most.” Just like that, Spike was suddenly thrusted back into reality. Slowly, his wings began to fold back onto his back as he looked at her with far less lust. Her words had reminded him that someone had done this to his friend, one he had known for years and the little sister of his first crush. They had turned this sweet and innocent soul into a mindless sex object. One that he, regrettably, might have taken advantage of. Disgust grew inside his chest, directed at whoever did this to her as well as himself for even thinking about taking advantage of her.

As Spike began to calm down, Sweetie began to look panicked. “Master does not want Cunt?” she asked in an almost shrill voice, tears threatening to roll out of her eyes. While she remained on the floor Spike could clearly see that she was trembling while doing her best to remain in her position. “D-Does Cunt not please you? Has Cunt done something wrong? Is…Is Cunt not needed? Please, let Cunt prove to you that she is a worthy slave!”

“No, no,” said Spike quickly as he held up his hands. He had no idea what he was doing. Nothing in his training even hinted at what to do in this exact situation. All he knew was he needed to calm her down. “That’s not it at all, you’re very, ah, pleasing, it’s just that I’m not in the mood right now.”

That seemed to do it. At once the trembling stopped and Sweetie’s eyes looked calmer. “Cunt sees. Please forgive Cunt for Cunt’s actions. It will not happen again.”

“Yeah, well, that’s great,” said a voice in the corner. Spike looked up to see his other house guest he had rescued. The blue dragoness stood there in a corner of the room using a curtain to hide her naked blue scaled body from sight.

“Oh right,” said Spike as he looked up, cheeks reddening when he saw her. “Sorry I forgot about you for a moment.” As he moved carefully around Sweetie Belle, he couldn’t help but admit that she was very attractive. There was something about her blue scales, perhaps the way they looked strong like sapphires. The fins on her head that went down her back, curving nicely without a sign of being jagged like some other dragons he had met. The curve of her horns on either side of her head. All those things seemed to enhance the beauty of her more slender frame. Yet despite being so slender, he could see definite muscle mass. Had it not been for the less than…normal way they met he would have been tempted to ask her out.

“Glad you could,” said the dragoness as she rolled her red eyes. “I mean, I just got kidnapped by some ponies who wanted to turn me into that eventually. But you can go back to staring at her and drooling. Don’t mind me at all. I’ll just continue to stand here, naked, in some stranger’s room.”

Spike couldn’t help scratching the back of his neck as he felt a bit sheepish. As he slowly looked away towards the ground he couldn’t help but think she had a point. Both of these girls were victims in a serious crime. He should have been acting at least a bit more professionally than this. His first duty should have been to make sure they were both alright before getting them some clothing, at the very least.

“Sorry,” said Spike as he looked up. “You’re right, I should have gotten you something to wear. Heck, I should have asked you for your name. It’s just…I know her. Haven’t seen her in years so this is…” Spike’s words trailed off as a lump appeared in his throat, choking off his air passage as the seriousness of the situation was finally getting to him. While unable to say anything else at the moment, he noticed that this new information to the dragoness had an effect on her. He could see in the barely lit room her eyes widening slightly while her claws gripped the curtain much tighter followed by a sudden intake of breath. Her tail moved into view, wrapping itself tightly around her leg and hugging the curtain to her body. The dragoness seemed to bite her lower lip while turning her head to look away.

“I didn’t know that,” she said. Her tone was softer than it had been, almost kind, but like she didn’t really know how she was supposed to sound at the moment. “Sorry they did that to her.”

“You couldn’t have known,” replied Spike in a choked tone. He paused to clear his throat before moving to the bedroom. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll see what I have for you to wear. I’m Spike by the way.”

“Ember,” called out the female as Spike entered the room. “Er, thanks for coming when you did. If you hadn’t, they would have tried doing whatever it was they did to her to me. I’ll pay you back when I can.”

“No problem,” replied Spike as he crossed his room in a hurry to get to the dresser. When he reached it Spike opened a drawer he knew had some of his more casual attire. Something that could do for the meantime so he didn’t have to stare at their beautiful naked bodies. The less temptation to do anything to them the better. Also, it might help keep his body from reacting in a way he really, really didn’t want them to see.

Of course, none of them would have been in this situation if he had just stuck to protocol. Sure, several stallions and mares would have seen them naked followed by reporters hounding them for a story, but they would have been given blankets shortly after the police had arrived to conceal their nudity before being given real clothing back at the station. They could have given their statements and, given the seriousness of it all, the entire city’s police force would have been called in to find them. Perhaps even the Princess’ forces would have gotten involved given who was involved. Sweetie would be taken to someplace that might be able to help her return to the mare that she had been. He didn’t even know how to help her given what he had seen! There was no telling how much trouble he was in right now or how this might affect the case. For all he knew, the case might not even reach it to court because he didn’t do what he was supposed to. Celestia, why had he been so utterly stupid?!

Spike’s shoulders hunched slightly. He knew why almost as soon as the question had been asked. Sweetie Belle. At the cost of his job and probably his own freedom, he had done this for her as well as Ember. But just because he was not going to the police with them didn’t mean he was just going to let whoever did this get away. The only way he could do that without telling anypony about what he had seen would be to launch his own personal investigation. It would be dicey to do, but it was possible. Also insane and dangerous if he got caught by ponies on either side, but it was the only thing he could think of to make things right. How he could help Sweetie Belle later would be a question for a later time.

“So, do you know anything about the ponies who kidnapped you?” Spike asked, purposefully loudly. Yes, that was probably the best place to start.

“Not really,” shouted Ember from the other room. Thankfully she could see Spike’s head hanging from disappointment. “There’s this area of hot springs I know about back home that nodragon ever really goes. Not a lot of dragons care about being clean, but the water there does something to my scales to help keep them strong. With everything going on in the Dragon Lands right now, I needed to be on my A-game, ya know? So there I was, soaking in the water and minding my own business when suddenly I’m lifted out of the water by freaky unicorn magic. Then I’m bound by these two annoying unicorns who then toss me into a wagon along with my armor. Then I’m told I’m going to become a sex slave and yadda yadda yadda. Those two really liked to hear themselves talk. Anyways, I was carted off until they unloaded me in front of another unicorn who looked more prissy than most ponies I’ve seen. Then, well, you know the rest.”

“Did you ever hear their names? What did they look like?” asked Spike as he held up a shirt that he knew was far too big for Ember. However, it might be good for Sweetie Belle given the size of her chest. As he put it to the side, Spike also made a mental note about something going on in the Dragon Lands that required her to be at her best. It might have something to do with all of this. Even if it didn’t, it would be information about his race’s culture that he was unaware of. In either case Spike was curious to find out when things calmed down a bit.

“Flick or Fizzle or something like that,” said Ember before grunting. “Sorry, but all pony names sound the same to us dragons. Frooey shit like Glitterdust Rainbowseed or Flowers Smileyhappy or Magickhooves Skyface. Not to mention all of them looking alike in one way or another. All I can say is that they called each other brother a lot.”

“Brothers…” Spike whispered, making another mental note as he picked up the clothing he had picked out. He needed his pad and pen. It wasn’t much, but he had more than what he started with. Perhaps he could look up some of the files they kept at the office to see how many worked with their brother and were unicorns. Off the top of his head, only one duo came to mind: Flim and Flam. However, it seemed out of character for them to do something this vile. They were con artists and swindlers by trade. The worst they had ever done was that one time they had helped take over the Crystal Empire along with Iron Will and Lightning Dust under the orders of Radiant Hope. Heck even Chrysalis had gotten involved in that scheme. Thankfully, the Empire was quickly reclaimed with no lasting damages.

Since then, Flim and Flam had managed to elude arrest. How they did so Spike wasn’t exactly sure since it had happened so long ago. What he did know was a few things that the two of them had been up to. They had been traveling all across Equestria staying out of Ponyville; probably because the ponies there had finally figured out not to trust the pair. Yet even that didn’t work out so well. Applejack had warned her kin in Appleloosa about the brothers, and when they came in with a spray they claimed would keep desert critters away from the apple orchards, nopony believed them. In Dodge Junction, they were caught by Applejack during a visit to Cherry Jubilee’s diverting a good portion of the river to help grow some magically altered cherries they had created, feeding their own crops while sabotaging the competition. Naturally, they had been run out from there as well. In Manehatten, they had opened up a pawn shop and were caught very quickly lying about their products. They tried selling watches they claimed were made of real gold when in fact they only looked that way. There were many other things they did as well, resulting in them needing to exit the city as fast as they could. After that, they pair had gone to try their luck in Griffonstone trying to start up their own retirement home there. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were up there visiting Gilda and her uncle when they discovered that the living conditions there were worse than if the elderly were living on the street. Heck, Spike had heard rumors that they had gone to a place called Hollow Shades to take advantage of the poor economy over there by buying up genuine silver and other high quality items for far less than they were really worth. While Spike wouldn’t put much by the brothers, he did think that this was something that even they wouldn’t touch; they seemed to draw the line at anything beyond financial harm.

Sighing, Spike headed back to the main room with the clothes he picked out. It wasn’t much, just a pair of shirts along with a pair of boxers. They might be loose on the girls but it would help cover them up until he could get them proper clothing. Perhaps he would take them out before his shift started to get them something proper. If he could be sure Sweetie wouldn’t make a scene that is. If not, he would just take Ember.

When Spike left his room, he saw Ember hadn’t moved from where he had left her. Her head was facing the door and she eyed the clothing he carried with a look of disgust. “What is that supposed to be?” she demanded as he drew closer.

“Just something to wear for now,” he said calmly if a little taken aback by this. “Best I can do for now. Probably beats being naked.” Spike then handed over the clothing meant for Ember, who took it somewhat reluctantly. Standing there for a moment, he watched as she held it up as if to examine it.

“It’s so…soft,” she said looking at it from front to back. “Probably weak as well. One fire blast and this thing is history. I can’t go back home wearing something like this. Don’t you have any armor or anything? I don’t care if it doesn’t fit me properly, just something that’ll offer me some protection!”

“…Dragons around here wear this stuff all the time; we don’t have to worry about getting set ablaze all the time,” said Spike as he raised an eyebrow. This caused Ember to let out an exasperated groan as she rolled her eyes. Lowering her arms, she kept her gaze on the material in her claws.

“Right, I forgot where I was,” she groaned again looking like she might rip the shirt in two. Spike was about to say something only to be stopped as she quickly put it on. “The place where dragons go to get all feely and crap. I need to find some armor before I can go home. If anydragon sees me wearing pony clothing, I’ll be a disgrace!”

“I’m a dragon.”

“Since I have nothing left to lose now!” Without another word, Ember put on the boxers right in front of Spike. As she raised one of her legs to do this, Spike caught a brief and unintentional glimpse of her slit. Cheeks burning, Spike looked away as Ember bent down a bit to pull the briefs fully on.

Now standing up and away from the curtain, Spike could see Ember more clearly with her arms crossed. In a way with that oversized shirt and boxers she looked like a mare who had just woken up at her coltfriend’s place, getting ready before going out. He had read stories about that sort of thing in magazines he would certainly never tell Twilight that he read. As he looked at her, Ember seemed to advert her gaze away from him towards the floor as she shifted on her feet.

Not wanting to stare at her any longer out of fear he would make her feel uncomfortable or eat a fist, Spike turned towards Sweetie Belle. She was still in that same pose she had been in, only turned around so that she was facing him. Calmly, he approached her while holding out the clothing he had picked out for her…only to be met with a shocking surprise. She looked at the clothing as if they had suddenly become a timber wolf ready to devour her. Her body went rigid for a moment before she began to crawl backwards. Stunned by this Spike froze as Sweetie continued to move backwards until her back was to the door with her palms bracing it for support. Her eyes seemed to twitch and shake as they tried to keep their focus on what Spike held.

“Please no Master,” she finally spoke as tears began to pour down her face uncontrollably. “Master said he wasn’t going to get rid of Cunt. Cunt has been good. Cunt can be useful, Cunt really can! Cunt will cut her own throat if Master wishes it so. Cunt is a good slave. Please master, don’t throw Cunt away!”

“Woah, woah,” said Spike as he tossed the clothing aside. Seeing this caused Sweetie to calm down a bit allowing Spike to approach her. He then got on one knee before placing a comforting claw on the mare’s shoulder. At once Sweetie looked at his before looking at him. Once their eyes met, Spike began to talk again in his best calming voice. “What’s wrong?”

Sweetie gulped loudly. “M-Master was going to give Cunt clothing,” she replied with a trembling lip. “Slaves are not allowed clothing, only free ponies wear them. Giving Cunt clothing means that Master no longer wants Cunt, that Cunt is unneeded. Cunt’s only purpose is to be a slave for her master. Better to be dead in the service of Cunt’s master than to be dismissed. So please master, do not dismiss Cunt. Order Cunt to slit Cunt’s throat instead.”

As Sweetie spoke Spike could feel the bile in his stomach rise. It took a thunderous effect for him not to puke at what he was seeing and hearing. Her mind had been twisted into thinking of herself to this level, to not even caring about her own life! What kind of monsters would do this to somepony like Sweetie? No, to any pony out there! Then a sickening thought came to Spike as he stared at her. One that caused his heart rate to quicken.

“Do…Do you know who I am?” Spike asked softly?

Sweetie blinked at that. “Master is Cunt’s master,” she answered.

“I mean, do you remember me before tonight?” asked Spike in a shaky voice. Sweetie seemed to look confused now, tilting her head to the side a bit. She looked lost, as if she were back in school and had been asked to solve a math problem that took up the entire blackboard. “Do you remember anything at all of your past? Your friends? Family? Your home?”

Sweetie, if possible, looked even more confused. Only, that confusion was directed at Spike. “Cunt has no family. Cunt has always been a slave. All she remembers is Cunt’s training to make Cunt a perfect slave for Master’s enjoyment.” The way she sounded, it was as if she were explaining the most obvious thing in the world to him. Something she had lived with her entire life and had no reason to question it. But how was that possible? Had whoever done this used magic or something to make her forget everything? To remove all curiosity over her own past. Helplessly, Spike turned to look at Ember who was looking back at Sweetie in horror. The look in her eyes was the same as someone who had narrowly escaped death. Perhaps it had more truth to it than either realized.

“Ok, ok,” said Spike as he turned to look at Sweetie again. He opened his mouth to say something, but paused. He wanted to tell her that he wasn’t going to toss her out, but wanted her to wear clothing, but it seemed like whoever had done this had integrated it into her mind that clothing was bad. No telling what might happen if he said that, and it didn’t feel right ordering her to wear it. Perhaps what he needed to do now was to slowly break down whatever training she had been through. Maybe splash some water on her to see if he could awaken the old Sweetie Belle. Or he could find the bastards who did this and threaten to rip out their guts if they didn’t undo this spell! Actually, he could just do both. Try to ‘wake up’ the real Sweetie by treating her like a pony and trying to remind her of who she once was while he searched for the ponies who did this to her.

“I’m going to call you Sweetie Belle from now on,” said Spike, hoping that starting with her real name might be a good start.

“Is that Cunt’s new name?” Sweetie asked. “Would Master like to change the name the last master gave Cunt?”

“Yes,” said Spike instantly. “And you can call me Spike. In the back is Ember.”

“Sweetie Belle understands, Master Spike,” said Sweetie with a nod. She seemed to calm down considerably now. She hadn’t moved from her spot, probably, because she hadn’t been ordered to.

“You can relax, Sweetie,” said Spike before pausing to see what happened. What he saw wasn’t what he had expected. When he had told her to relax, Spike believed that she would have gone into a sitting or kneeling position. Instead, Sweetie’s arms lowered so that her hands touched the ground followed by her spreading her legs wide as if to invite Spike to take her once more. Once more he could see what she was offering with a smile on her face. Gulping, Spike mentally reminded himself of how empty that offer was. It wasn’t because of what she wanted but what others had convinced her that she wanted it. They had done something to her, so he needed to not let himself take advantage of her, no matter how much she believed she believed she wanted him.

“Um,” began Spike as he tried to think of what to ask her next. Perhaps he could question her, find some details out. “Sweetie, I’m going to ask you a few questions and I want you to answer them to the best of your ability.”

“Of course, Master,” said Sweetie Belle as her smile reappeared. “All of Sweetie Belle’s services are open to Master Spike.”

Spike suddenly felt a bit hot under the collar. “Um, right,” he said as he cleared his throat. “Do you remember where you were before I found you?”

“Sweetie Belle was in her box being brought to meet her future Master. Sweetie Belle is happy to have such a powerful Master to serve.” At that, Ember let out a snort Spike ignored.

“What about before that? Do you remember who trained you? Do you remember where they trained you?”

“Sweetie Belle is forbidden by her trainers to ever speak their names,” said Sweetie, looking a little scared now. “Only Sweetie Belle’s Master may speak their name.” As Spike listened to his he wanted to shut his eyes and groan. Of course they would do something like that. If she were ever discovered by the police, they wouldn’t want her telling them anything. It would probably be pointless asking her to describe them as well. Pity that the good news kept on coming. “As for where they trained Sweetie Belle, Sweetie Belle does not know. Sweetie Belle’s eyes were covered most of the time during Sweetie Belle’s training. Whenever Sweetie Belle was given permission to see, Sweetie Belle was always in a room.”

“Great,” said Spike as he stood up. Turning around he began to think of where to start. All he knew was that whoever was behind this was a pair of brothers and somepony else. Trainers and a seller. All of them were unicorns. There might be more but that was all he had to go on so it would have to do for now. For now, all he could do was check the files at the station to see if he could find anything. Maybe check some of the local snitches, those who knew almost every going on the streets and back alleys, who would disclose that information for a price. Some of the force’s patsies could also know. Perhaps they might have heard something. If only there was-

“Ember!” Spike shouted suddenly, turning to look at the dragoness. The blue dragon looked shocked, wings extended as if ready to fly. No doubt surprised by the suddenness of his outburst. “You said that after you were captured, they took your armor.”

“Thanks for reminding me,” said Ember as she relaxed her wings and folded her arms again. “No doubt those ponies are hanging it up as a trophy or something. Maybe adding it to their hoard.”

“Something like that,” agreed Spike with a grin. “It’s possible that they already had a buyer for Sweetie or they were talking about finding one. I’m not sure but they no longer have either of you. To them they just lost their product and the police might be looking for them. Meaning they’ll be trying to get rid of the evidence as quickly as they can while trying to make a bit. They could have taken your armor to any of the pawn shops in the city.”

“THEY DID WHAT?!” shouted Ember. A moment later Spike heard a muffled voice coming from up above his apartment followed by a foot stomping on the stone above. “Do they have any idea how long it took me to make that armor?”

“Look, this could be a good thing,” began Spike only to stop when Ember crossed the room to grab him by the shirt. Spike grabbed her by the wrists and braced himself as she tried to turn him around; possibly to toss him on the kitchen counter or knock him on the ground. Regardless, neither happened as he held his ground. He could see her eyes widening in surprise having clearly not expecting this much resistance. Spike then quickly added pressure to her wrists to force her to let him go only to have her tail swing at his legs. That did it. With a thud, Spike was knocked to the ground with Ember on top, straddling him by the waist.

“That is MY armor, you dick! Without it, I can’t go home. If anydragon saw me wearing pony clothing, then I would be seen as weak and attacked on the spot! So tell me how my armor being sold to a pawn shop is a good thing!”

“Well, for one thing, it’ll mean we’ll have a better chance at getting it back,” said Spike as he did his best at keeping his cool. He had been attacked by ponies before and was used to defending himself while on duty. Yet, for some reason, this felt different. He could feel his heart beating much faster as well as a desire to strike back and not be defeated. There was this cocky, Rainbow Dash level of desire to prove that he could take her if this continued. Even though he knew she was going through a lot, even though he wanted to keep her calm there was a part of him that wanted her to continue to lash out. He was almost disappointed when she pulled back a little while giving him a questioning look. What kept him under control was remembering what was important: stopping these monsters. “There isn’t a lot of demand for armor unless you’re a member of the Royal Guard or a collector. So depending on which place they sold it at there, there is a chance that it might be there for a while; not many collectors out there, guard has regulation armors and shitty pay. Meaning I could buy it back.” At that, Ember released him but remained where she was.

“Well, when you put it like that, I guess that makes sense,” she said in that awkward tone again.

“Right,” said Spike as he took a calming breath. “If I can find it first, it might be able to help lead us to whoever sold it. Many of the pawn shops around here collect information on who sells them what just in case it was stolen. I’m hoping if I can find the armor I might be able to find the ponies that captured you.” He didn’t mention that there was also a chance that it could be scrapped. While most places that would do that sort of thing were required to contact the police if they were given anything suspicious, there was always the chance that whoever took it paid them off to be quiet or something like that. Not a very likely option since, they were trying to make money, but then again they might not care and just want to get rid of the evidence.

“Does Master Spike prefer Mistress Ember?” came Sweetie Belle’s voice. Both Spike and Ember turned to look at her at the same time who returned their look with the same lusty expression as before. “If Master wishes it, Sweetie Belle can help. Sweetie Belle is trained to service males and females.” For a moment, both of them stared at her not knowing what she was getting at. Then they turned to look at each other only to realize the situation they were in. Ember was still on top of him, straddling his waist. If someone were to come in right now and saw only them, they probably would have thought that they had been making out or about to have sex. This realization dawned on Spike and, by the deepening shade on Ember’s cheeks, the dragoness as well. Quickly she got off of him and backed as far away as she could, muttering to herself the entire way.

“I think,” began Spike as he got up, “that it’s time for bed.”

Author's Note

Thanks to Kalash93 and Koekelbag for their help

Odd Wake-Up

“Good morning.” That was the first thing Sweetie Belle heard as she opened her eyes. For some reason, her head was not on a pillow, but instead hanging limply with the only thing in front of her being endless darkness. The grogginess of sleep lasted only a moment when her head felt like it was being pulled up without her meaning to, causing adrenaline to pump through her system. She tried to turn her head but it refused to move at all. The young mare quickly realized that she was wearing a helmet of some kind, perhaps similar to the one Scootaloo wore when she was on her bike. But Scootaloo’s helmet didn’t have a hose in it that entered her mouth like this one did. Sweetie could feel it in her mouth now as it went down her throat, causing her to whimper in fear. She tried to raise her hands to remove the helmet only to find that was impossible.

Panic was building up inside her; she began to look back and forth in the darkness as she tried to take in what was going on. She was in some sort of chair that felt comfortable at first until she realized that her arms and legs bound to it in such a way that prevented her from even moving a finger. Sweetie could feel that her legs were spread apart just far enough for there to be no real discomfort physically. However, Sweetie could feel the cool air as it ran over her naked body meaning that her private area was exposed to anypony there. She tried with all her strength to close them but her efforts were in vain. Fearing the worst, she called upon her magic to do something, anything that might help gain her freedom. Yet as soon as she began to channel her magic, there was pain unlike anything she felt before. She had had headaches before, the kind that felt like your head was being split in half. The pain she felt now was nothing like that. It felt like her head was being set on fire, hit by lighting, in a metal press, and Celestia knew what else. She could feel sweat beginning to appear all over her body as she let out a muffled scream while the pain began to spread down her body. It only stopped when she could no longer channel her magic, leaving her panting in the chair.

“Tsk, tsk,” came another voice, one that was…familiar to Sweetie. She knew that she knew who it belonged to, even while she was in this state, but she couldn’t place it. What’s more, the voice sounded like it was coming from inside the helmet, for she could hear it clearly without a trace of being muffled. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you, my dear. We went through a lot of trouble to get our hands on you. Truly our finest prize to date. It would be such a shame if you damaged yourself before going to market.”

“Now, let’s finish getting you ready for the Slave Maker 4000,” said the first voice. Sweetie let out a muffled cry when she heard this, not even caring that this voice sounded familiar as well. Slave Maker? What sort of nightmare was she in? Frantically, she began to thrash in her seat in a desperate attempt to free herself. However, for all her efforts, her flank would not leave the seat and her body barely twisted. She assumed it had to be because of some sort of restraint magic or the like. More terror piled on as she realized just how helpless she truly was in this situation.

Soon, she felt hands touching her, causing tears to fall down her eyes as she cried out for help. She prayed to Celestia, Luna, and even Discord for some miracle as the hands felt her up. Those disgusting hands had some sort of cream which they rubbed onto her fur. Sweetie had no idea what it was, but it tingled enough for her to notice in the areas they had finished. But that was nothing compared to what they did to her breasts. Before reaching them, one pair of hands vanished while the other pair fondled her roughly. Then without any warning at all, she felt a needle pierce her nipple. Sweetie cried out even more and on instinct she tried to use her magic to shove whoever was doing this away. Instead. she felt the pain again, only ten times worse. By the time the needle was removed, Sweetie had canceled her magic while feeling like she could pass out at any moment. The feeling of the needle in her other breast barely registered to her. She did feel them smearing that cream or whatever it was on her breasts, followed by attaching some sort of suction cups to her nipples. From there the two moved down her body only pausing to apply more of the lotion to their hands until they reached her pussy. Once again they inserted a needle into her, right above her clit before placing another suction cup in that same area and smearing the cream on her nether lips. After that they continued down to her hooves.

After they had finished, Sweetie felt a new horror. Whatever that cream was, it wasn’t just making her body tingle. Her body was beginning to relax. She could still try to move her body but she could feel her muscles becoming less tense while also warming up a bit.

“There now, all done,” said one of the two. “We are ready to begin the first stage.”

“While you still have your mind, I want you to know that if there is anyone you should blame it would be the Apples,” said the second, his voice becoming somewhat darker. Sweetie tried to struggle again as she wondered what the Apple family had to do with any of this. She hadn’t seen any of them since she had left Ponyville. Last she had heard, Apple Bloom was learning from the zebras to improve her alchemy. Beyond that there had been nothing really going on. So why was she-

“Sweetie Belle is a slave,” came a mare’s cheerful voice. Like before, it seemed to be coming from inside her helmet, the only difference being that it seemed to vibrate within the mare’s skull, making it impossible to block it out as it talked. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Sweetie recognized the voice as her own! How they had been able to do that she had no idea. All she could do was sit there listening to the demeaning speech as if it were her own. “Sweetie Belle is a slave. Sweetie Belle loves being a slave. Sweetie Belle belongs to her Master. Sweetie Belle’s wishes are nothing. Sweetie Belle lives to be used by Master. Sweetie Belle is nothing without her Master. Sweetie Belle wants her Master to fuck her.” Over and over, the voice continued to speak without stopping or pausing. Sweetie Belle tried to ignore it, tried to block it out, but whatever this helmet was made it impossible no matter how hard she tried.

Then it got worse. The darkness in front of her was quickly replaced by an image of herself. She was naked except for a leather collar as she laid on a bed of straw. Around this image of her, Sweetie could see stone walls like that of a cellar or something similar. Her image looked like she was out of breath with a content smile on her face. The look in her eyes reminded Sweetie of how she looked at herself in the mirror after the first few dates with the one colt back when she was younger: the look of a mare who was in blissful love for the first time. She could see stains of semen on the mare’s mane as well as in the straw around her. Not wanting to look at such a perversion of herself, Sweetie tried to close her eyes…only to still see the image before her. It was like it was being sent directly to her mind with no way to block it out! To add to all of this, Sweetie was beginning to smell the scent of old straw around her as well as the scent of wet stone and the odor of sex. She could feel stimulation in her clit and nipples, enough to almost take her breath away. Not helped by the cream soaking her coat and the continuing voices. There was also a pleasant feeling running down her body, like contentment.

“Master, please use Sweetie Belle however you see fit. Sweetie Belle is nothing but a toy to be used. Please mark Sweetie Belle with your cum. Let Sweetie Belle lick it off the floor.”

The image then changed to another demeaning version of herself. Sweetie was now staring at herself, bent over with her flank sticking out towards her. The image of Sweetie was pulling her flank cheeks apart and her tail off to the side in order to give an unobstructed view of her pussy and ponut. Cum was flowing out of both holes and the image of herself was looking at her with utter bliss in her eyes. The scent of sex continued to fill her helmet while the stimulation to her body increased. Celestia help her! Had she not been bound to this chair, she was sure her hips would have bucked! What was worse, that feeling of contentment seemed to be growing stronger. How they were doing this to her, she had no idea.

“Sweetie Belle’s holes belong to Master. Sweetie Belle is nothing more than Master’s cum dumpster. Without Master’s cum, Sweetie Belle has no reason to live. Please, Master, fill Sweetie Belle’s holes with your cum. Let Sweetie Belle please Master with her mouth, ass, and pussy.”

Another image appeared before Sweetie, even more degrading. She now saw herself in a bathroom, hands bound behind a toilet and still very naked. Words hand been written all over her body. Things like ‘CUM LOVING WHORE’, ‘PUBLIC CUM TOILET’, ‘NEEDS MORE COCK’ and many more that were smeared with cum. Semen was running down her body and her holes while her tongue hung out from her mouth. The look on this mare’s face was that of pure bliss, far greater than the last image showed. Sweetie could smell the scent of an uncleaned bathroom all around her now along with an even stronger scent of sex. The stimulation to her body continued to grow powerful, causing her legs to shake uncontrollably while that content feeling grew more and more powerful.

“Sweetie Belle’s cutie mark was wrong. Sweetie Belle wishes she could change it. Sweetie Belle’s talent is being Master’s slave. Pleasuring Master and taking care of Master are the only talents Sweetie Belle needs.”

Sweetie was barely aware of what they were doing. They were controlling what she felt, what she saw, what she smelt. There was nothing she could do to stop that, but she had to try and fight back by protecting her mind. She would not let them have that. Summoning her strength, Sweetie began to focus on things that she knew were pleasant like being back home with her friends and family. She tried to think of having tea with Rarity, telling her about the city and that she might have a chance of getting a supporting role in- PAIN! Unbelievable pain was piercing through her body from her nipples and clit. Celestia, it hurt so much! At the same time, the image in front of her changed to that her herself covering up her body while looking like she was fleeing something. Sweetie couldn’t really tell where that Sweetie Belle was, perhaps on the street or something? All she could see was that her face no longer held that blissful, happy expression instead replaced with utter terror. While looking at it, that feeling of contentment was gone. In its place was a feeling of unnatural dread.

“Sweetie Belle can’t live without Master. Master is everything to Sweetie Belle. Sweetie Belle never wants to be apart from Master. If Sweetie Belle is not by her Master’s side, Sweetie Belle has no reason to live. Sweetie Belle will kill herself if she cannot please Master.”

The image changed and the pain vanished along with it. Panting, Sweetie Belle saw herself riding a stallion who had his arms behind his head. Pleasure was returning as was the feeling of contentment. Her own voice continued to talk about how much she loved being some stallion’s personal fuck toy. There she stayed.

Sweetie Belle opened her eyes as she awoke from her sleep. Her mind felt a little fuzzy from the dream she just had, the memory of which was already quickly fading. While the fleeting bits were familiar to her somehow, the sex slave did not try to hold onto them. She had not been ordered to remember her dreams nor would they help serve in her ability to please her master. Such personal things were not needed by a slave like herself.

Slowly, she rose from her spot curled up on the floor at the end of her master’s bed. Master Spike had offered his bed to both her and Mistress Ember while he slept on either the couch or on the floor. Mistress Ember had refused, saying that the bed was too soft for a dragon or something like that. Sweetie Belle remembered that Master Spike had seemed confused about that for some reason while Sweetie Belle paid it no mind. It was not her place to question her betters, only to serve them. As for Sweetie Belle, it was unthinkable for a slave to sleep in her Master’s bed without the Master present. She had offered to service the Master until he slept, but for some reason he refused her yet again. It was very odd. Master Spike seemed like such a kind Master but, he had not used her once. Was he afraid that her skills would not be enough to satisfy him?

Getting to her hooves, Sweetie looked at the bed where her Master laid. Master Spike laid on his back, a tent forming beneath the ruby red sheets. She stood there, staring at the area where she knew was an erect cock waiting as she tried to think about what she should do. Master Spike so far had refused all of Sweetie Belle’s attempts to please him. He might not want her to take care of his desires now. However, her training had told her that a good slave always wakes up her Master by tending to his needs. Needs that were very clear at this moment. Servicing those needs was something expected of a good sex slave. Sweetie Belle was a good sex slave. She had to service him before he grew angry with her. She needed him to know she really was here for his pleasure alone. If only Master knew how good her body felt.

Without another thought, Sweetie Belle touched the sheets to her Master’s bed with her hand before moving under them. Slowly, she made her way up moving across Master Spike’s body as she swayed her hips. Sweetie Belle knew no one could see it, but it was expected, just like how letting her nipples lightly touch her Master’s body was expected as she moved up until she reached her destination hidden underneath Master’s boxers. Using her hands and mouth, Sweetie pulled them down until Master’s cock was as free as it could be underneath the sheets. With her nose less than an inch away, she studied the meaty rod that belonged to her Master. Shape was different from those she had had before. Unlike a normal stallion’s, this one did not end with a flat head, but instead ended with a point, like a spear. Its color was a fleshy pink with barbs running along the sides. But the smell it gave off was no different than the other stallions she had serviced: masculine. A scent that was so familiar to her it caused her mouth to water instantly.

So gently she kissed the head before doing what she had been created for, her entire reason for being: pleasing her Master.

Normally, Spike would have awoken to the annoying sound of his alarm clock buzzing endlessly until he got up and turned it off. Instead it was the shifting of his mattress that awoke the drake. With eyes refusing to open at the moment, Spike laid there trying his best to return to dreamland where one of his fantasies was waiting for him. He couldn’t remember what it was other than he would rather be there than getting up. Perhaps one of dreams about Mina or Rarity, for he could almost feel a more feminine body as it glided over his. It could be that there was something important he needed to do today. Sometimes he woke up early when he knew he had a big test at the academy or there was something important going on that needed him to get up for. For that he blamed Twilight and her research projects that needed to be done before the sun rose. While his mind was still foggy from sleep, Spike was able to recall that he wasn’t in the academy anymore, nor was he still Twilight’s assistant. No shrill voices, neither instructor nor surrogate mother, hollering at him to get up. Was there something important going on? He couldn’t recall at the-

Spike’s eyes opened wide as he felt his boxers being pulled down as well as the feeling of a mare’s hands and muzzle. Staring at the ceiling, his brain seemed to fry as he tried to think about what was going on. Then he felt it, the soft lips of a mare kissing the tip of his morning wood before engulfing it in her muzzle. Spike could feel the warmth of a mouth encompassing his shaft while a tongue wrapped around it. Sweet Celestia, he hadn’t felt relief in days, a lover in months -- this was heavenly! He basked, letting the electrical, silken vinyl tingle up and down his cock. Oh that is it, suck it suck it suck it! What a lovely dream. His hand shifted down, and he felt something unmistakably solid. He wasn’t dreaming, was he? As he felt the vibrations of a low moan, Spike grabbed the sheets of his bed and quickly pulled it off. His eyes widened as he saw Sweetie Belle there, turning her eyes to look at him with a gaze of longing with her mouth full of his meat stick. He stayed like that for only a moment as her tongue slid around his dick to caress it with devotion before letting out a panicked scream. In mid scream, Spike began to back up quickly, his member free of Sweetie’s mouth before standing up. Sweetie looked confused for a moment as she looked at Spike, now standing on the bed with his body pressed against the wall.

Then she suddenly smiled. “Sweetie Belle understands. Master Spike would prefer it this way.” The mare then began to move closer to Spike, crawling on all fours while her flank swayed back and forth. Her tail also swished to fan the scent of her arousal. Sweetie’s mouth was partly open allowing her tongue to hang out slightly in order to give her a more animalistic appearance.

“What the fuck’s all the screaming about?” came a voice as the door to Spike room opened. A moment later Ember stood at the threshold as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes with one claw while the other was under her shirt scratching her belly. She looked at the scene before her first with sleep infused indifference before the shock of the situation took hold. Her mouth hung open while her wings extended.

“Mistress Ember,” said Sweetie as she paused and turned her head to look in the direction of the blue dragoness. “Would you like Sweetie Belle to pleasure you as well?”

“It’s not what it looks like,” blurted Spike as he held up both hands. However, he wasn’t sure she would believe that given the fact that his boxers were now hanging from his ankles with a nude mare just a few feet from him. He had been on a couple of cases where he had seen ponies in similar acts make the exact same statement: husbands caught in bed with their mistress during an investigation, teens too young to be doing this sort of thing caught halfway in the act or worse, and the list could go on. None of those times did Spike believe them nor did any of the ponies he worked with. So why should Ember believe him now?

Ember merely slapped her forehead so loudly that it made Spike wince. As her claw slid down her face she gave Spike a look of disgust. “You are a fucking dragon,” Ember growled as she marched to the bed and grabbed Sweetie Belle by the wrist. Sweetie barely made a sound as she was then yanked off the bed before being dragged across the room. “Next time this brainwashed pony tries something like this, remember that and do what a real dragon would do. And in case you don’t know what that is: KICK HER THE FUCK OUT OF THE BED! By the Bloodstone you’re stronger than her. Act like a dragon instead of a prissy pony!” With that, Ember exited the room before slamming the door behind her.

It took several minutes before Spike exited his bedroom fully dressed in his uniform. Normally it would have taken him a minute or two tops but the recent incident made things difficult causing Spike to stumble with each button. It disgusted him to admit it, but part of him wished Ember hadn’t entered. That Sweetie Belle would have continued since it had felt so good. Thoughts that caused Spike’s stomach to turn in more ways than one. The very idea that he would even consider using one of his old friends in such a way in this situation was not something he was proud of. Not to mention that he swore an oath to protect and serve, not take advantage of others in their time of need. Or the fact that this wasn’t of her own free will, that somepony had cast a spell or something on her to make Sweetie act like this. It may feel great now, but how would she react in the future?

When Spike finally left his bedroom it was to see Ember pacing around Sweetie on the other side of the main room. Sweetie had her head down with her ears flat against her head while sitting on her knees. As for his other new housemate, jets of smoke were coming out of Ember’s nostrils. As soon as they became aware of Spike’s presence, Ember offered him only a brief glare while Sweetie’s head lifted up and her expression became sultry again. Before either of them could say or do anything, Sweetie moved so she was on her back again with her legs spread wide.

“No you idiot!” snapped Ember as she glared at Sweetie while Spike moved to the kitchen area. “I told you you don’t have to do that!”

“Master Spike entered the room,” responded Sweetie Belle as she shifted her position so that her spread legs were in the direction of Spike. “Sweetie Belle is Master Spike’s slave. Good slaves always present themselves to their Masters. Good slaves hide nothing from their Masters. Sweetie Belle wishes to please her Master however Sweetie Belle can.”

As Ember began to look more irritated, folding her arms while glaring at the unicorn, Spike opened up the fridge. “How about I make us some breakfast before I eat out- head out!”

“Sounds alright I guess,” said Ember with a sigh. The male drake could hear her moving to the kitchen area, moving a chair as he rummaged through what he had. “Just toss me a pile of gems.”

“Actually I was thinking of making us all something nice,” replied Spike as he pulled out an assortment of items. “For Sweetie Belle, my world famous buttermilk pancakes.”

Ember snorted, not even trying to hide it as Spike raised an eyebrow. “World famous? Never heard of them before.”

“As for us dragons, buttermilk sapphire pancakes,” continued Spike as he set down a bowl of chilled sapphires in front of Ember. As the dragoness looked at them, mouth open as drool began to drip from her maw, Spike crossed his arms while smirking triumphantly. Nopony or dragon could ever resist a plate of his pancakes when he added sapphires. Well, when he served them to ponies they usually spat out the gems before pocketing them. But the point was that they were good! And judging by the way Ember’s stomach growled, they were just what the doctor ordered.

“Screw the pancakes or whatever the hell you call them. Just give me the gems!” With that, Ember tried to swipe the gems off the counter. While she was fast, Spike had read her intent and managed to reach them just in the nick of time to pull them away. That wasn’t the end of it as Ember nearly lunged across the counter trying to reach the pull. Spike had to stop her by placing a claw on her face and holding her back.

“Just give me ten minutes and we’ll have breakfast, ok?” Ember said nothing to that. She did stop struggling and sat back down looking more than a little irritated, something that Spike shrugged off. It wasn’t anything to get too mad or annoyed over, especially when he considered everything she had been through.

While not in the blink of an eye, Spike managed to make several stacks of pancakes in complete silence before setting them on the counter. The stacks meant he and Ember had small chips of sapphires in them along with slightly larger nuggets in a way that would make some think they might be blueberry pancakes with blue sprinkles mixed in. As for Sweetie’s plate, it was as plain as any plate of pancakes could be. Only he had remembered that Sweetie liked whip cream on hers as well as butter as long as it wasn’t on the top. Hopefully remembering these details would have some effect on Sweetie. If not, well, at least she would have pancakes the way she had liked them.

Why was he thinking about her almost as if she was dead?

When the first batch came out, Ember looked at it with some level of apprehension. “Why the fuck is this so soft?” she asked as she reached out to touch it with her claw. Spike said nothing at first as she slowly slid her finger across her food, frowning more and more as she did so. “Wait, is this fluffy pony food? What kind of dragon eats pony food?”

“It’s food,” muttered Spike. “Maybe you should try it before you complain.” Ember looked at him for a moment while Spike set down a fork and knife in front of her. Saying nothing, only narrowing her eyes a bit, Ember picked up the top pancake with her bare claw to bring it up to her mouth. As the pancake flopped about slightly Ember took a savage bite out of it, throwing back her head like she was a wild animal taking meat off a carcass. Slowly, she chewed her food with hostile eyes until they suddenly brightened. Spike nearly took a step backwards as her eyes seemed to sparkle with delight before cramming the rest of the pancake into her mouth. A sound of joy escaped her throat as she quickly swallowed the rest.

“Bloodstone,” she cried out before grabbing another one with her claw. “I never thought anything so soft and weak looking could taste so good!” Her eyes then widened after saying this while her cheeks turned a darker shade. Quickly she folded her arms while trying to look more composed. “I mean, it’s ok-ish for pony food mixed with gems, maybe… in a pinch...”

Spike merely rolled his eyes at this as he walked over to feed Sweetie who was still on the floor. Carefully, he set down the plate next to her before telling her that this was her breakfast. The white mare looked at it and, for a brief moment, Spike that he saw a bit of the old Sweetie Belle in her eyes. That look of excitement that Rarity would have when seeing something fabulous or desirable. Maybe it was there or maybe he was just seeing what he wanted to see. Regardless, what Spike saw next made his heart sink. Sweetie rolled over onto all four and bent over the plate so that her flank stuck up into the air. While a fork and knife had been presented to her, she instead ate her food without even the use of her hands like a dog or cat would. With every bite she took, both Spike and Ember could see her shaking her flank as if to ask them to take her even now.

“Well don’t you look like crap.” Spike blinked when he heard the voice of one of the city’s finest detectives, By-The-Books. A decorated officer of the department for many years, the aged brown unicorn’s mane and mustache had grayed considerably since the first time Spike had met him. Dressed in dark blue dress pants, a white short sleeved shirt and blue tie the stallion sat at his cluttered desk with the newspaper in his hands.

How he could tell that Spike looked like crap the dragon had no idea since his eyes never seemed to leave the newspaper. He felt like crap as well. For several hours Spike had been walking around the city to every pawn shop he knew about as well as stopping at a few he discovered along the way. While many didn’t have anything he was looking for, not even in the back, he had found six full sets of dragon armor in the city. How long they had been there and who had sold them was not the sort of information they were willing to give out for free, meaning he had to buy the armor as well as pay some additional interest. So if Spike wanted to continue with his case he would need to bring Ember along to see if she could spot which set of armor belonged to her. He felt anxiety when he thought about how he was going to cover next month’s rent.

Along with that, Spike had stopped to meet with this one dragon who was a contact of his named Shiv. Shiv was purple like him, but far thinner with a form that reminded Spike of a snake that had grown arms and legs with eyes that always seemed to look in every direction other than in front of him. As Spike asked him if he knew about any new players in town, the dragon had slid his body alongside Spike’s until his two inch fangs were right next to Spike’s ear.

“Always new players, copper,” Shiv had hissed into Spike’s ear. “Always somepony out there looking to make a dishonest bit. All I know is hearsay…for now. Come back to me in a couple of days and I might be able to get you a list.”

“Looking for unicorns in particular -- any news on those?”

“Ain’t met nobody new yet…” Spike had gotten tips and such from Shiv before, almost every time getting some good intel. So he knew that whatever he got would be helpful; either getting closer to whoever hurt Sweetie, or being able to rule them out. However, Spike was worried about Shiv. While he was always careful to keep his neck out of too much trouble, there would be the chance that he might end up attracting too much attention.

Trying his best to shake off these thought, Spike moved to Book’s desk. “How you’re able to know that I’ll never know,” he commented in as friendly a tone as he could.

“Experience,” replied the older stallion as he flipped the page of the paper. “Been doing this job long enough to read a pony like I’m reading this here paper. Wouldn’t be much good at my job if I couldn’t. I could tell by your footsteps; you’re tall, but not tall enough to have that big a gap between strides and a heavy landing, so either you’re stomping like a tantruming brat, or you’re plodding sad about something. You got closer than usual before saying hello, so you must be lower on energy than usual, and since it’s still early, gotta be in your mind, not your body. Policework’s all about the details, drake -- fine print, what’s said and sometimes even what’s not there. About your concern, you still need to find proof, but it does let me know when I’m on the right track.” Book then lowered the paper to give Spike a closer look. “So, anything you want to talk about?”

“Nothing really. Just some unexpected house guests with one of them being an old friend. We got to a rough start this morning, that’s all.” Spike knew from his time on the force, as well as a few times back when he was living with Twilight, that the problem with lying was keeping the lies straight. So often did a lie come back to bite a suspect in the flank that it had been drilled into his head. Because of this, he knew that if he wanted to keep Ember and Sweetie from being found he would just be honestly vague. And it seemed to work! Book simply shrugged as he went back to his paper.

“Heard you sent a note to station,” said the older stallion as his eyes scanned the paper. “Decided to take a look at the report the uniforms made and, well, sort of interesting. Looks like you might have stumbled onto a drug ring or something. There were two set of tracks found at the scene leading in and out of the building. While one of them was a standard model with thousands like it all over Equestria, the other looks custom made. Or at least that’s what I’m getting from the photos. Add that with the fact that they were meeting in an abandoned building that hasn’t been sold and we have a recipe for conspiracy.”

Spike’s ears perked at this as he moved closer. “Really? So the department is looking into this?”

“Thinking about it,” muttered Book as he pulled a pad of paper closer to him and began to write something down on it. Most likely making a note of something he saw in the paper. “The officers on the scene think that it might be a bunch of teens having some fun. Happens all the time. Find some vacant lot or building that’s no longer in use and they flock to it. Trouble I’m having with that theory is are the tracks. Each of those costume wheels cost more than you and me make in five years combined. So we’re talking about somepony in high society, maybe Manehatten or even Canterlot, heading out to Dragon Town to meet with somepony they would consider a commoner. Not the type of get together that usually happens unless something illegal is going on.” Book then stopped writing, jerking the pen to another detective on the force. “A few of my colleagues think this might be a case of star crossed lovers meeting in secret. Poor place for a lovers meeting when there are plenty of parks in and around the city. And if they were looking for sex, they both would have had to have passed that one motel not too far from where you live. Doesn’t make it impossible, just far more unlikely.”

“So you’re going to ask for the case?” asked Spike.

“Already did,” replied Book as he went back to reading the paper. “Just waiting for the chief to give me the all clear. Seeing if they can spare me for what might be a wild goose chase and all that. If I hear anything else going on in Dragon Town I’ll let you know. All the same, if you hear another going on in Dragon Town-”

“You’ll be the first to know,” finished Spike honestly. While Spike wanted to handle this on his own to keep Sweetie safe from as well as to honor Ember’s request, he wasn’t really a trained detective. By-The-Book was a seasoned detective for longer than Spike had been alive, solving more cases than he could count. While he doubted that that building would be used again by the criminals, it would be in everyone’s best interests to tell him. Plus if he kept in contact with Book, then there was a chance he might find out more about the case from his side. After all, weren’t two heads better than one?

This seemed to be enough for Book who then folded the paper in half as if to focus on one article in particular. A scowl appeared on his face as he leaned in closer to his desk. “Well now, isn’t this interesting.”

“What is it?” asked Spike as he moved around to get a better look. The article was small, having only a single picture of a unicorn stallion at a dig site. Foregoing reading the article title, Spike went straight to the body which was very small. All it said was that Jet Set of Jet Zeppelins Inc. was opening up a new factory outside of the city which promised many new jobs with the latest equipment on the market. To be honest, Spike was a bit disappointed by this. The way Book had spoken made Spike think that it was some big time politician pulling a fast one or something. It was just a boring article to fill space on a slow news day. “What’s the big deal?”

Book shook his head as he pulled over a paper to make another note. “You really have to pay more attention to the paper if you ever want to be a good detective. Several years ago, Jet Set held almost complete dominance in the zeppelin industry. Able to hang with the Canterlot elites every day, enjoying the good life, yadda-yadda... Then he ran into a bit of bad luck, made bad investments, and starting getting more competition with the Crystal Empire. That’s when they came out with those crystal engines: smaller and more energy efficient so that their zeppelins could fly faster. Cheaper too so you can see why ponies wanted them over Jet’s. A few months later, some of my friend down in Canterlot began to tell me some things off the record. That Jet Set was writing checks that bounced to both them fancy establishments in Canterlot as well as some of his business deals. While that was going on, the papers were talking about him laying off hundreds of employees and safety issues began popping up all over the place due to cutting corners. Last time he was in the paper was two years ago when an illegal cargo was found on one of his zeppelins.”

This caught Spike’s interest. “What was it?”

“A rare, exotic insect,” replied Book as he set down his pen. “A breed of locus that makes parraspites look like they’re fasting. Only they don’t eat food, instead they swarm over things with a lick of magic and devour that. Don’t care if it’s alive, they’ll eat it while its kicking up a storm and screaming for help. More magic they eat the harder they are to kill, too. Not hard to see why they’re illegal in Equestria. But there are those collectors who would pay millions just to have one despite the risks. From what I remember, Jet wasn’t prosecuted since there wasn’t enough evidence to prove he knew about the damn bug. All he got was a fine that, admittedly, left a black hole in his bank account.” Book then stood up and began to walk away towards the chief’s office. “Now I can’t help but wonder how he was able to open up this new factory.” He dropped the folded paper right at Spike’s feet, the image of a brand new building with smokestacks poised behind the named stallion.

Author's Note

Thanks to Kalash93 and Koekelbag for their help

Tensions

“Sweetie Belle is a fuck slave. Sweetie Belle loves having her master’s sperm inside of her. Sweetie Belle doesn’t care which hole her master uses. All of Sweetie Belle’s holes belong to her master. Sweetie Belle loves the flavor of cum on her tongue. Sweetie Belle loves the feel of her master’s gift filling her anus. Sweetie Belle begs her master to cum inside her cunt.”

Sweetie Belle panted as she sat within the Slave Maker 4000, eyes barely open as the voice echoing in her skull continued. She could clearly see an image of herself before her, naked as the day she was born, in between a stallion’s legs. This self image was licking the traces of cum that was still on her master’s, NO, the stallion’s member while the helmet added in its scent. The other Sweetie Belle looked so blissfully happy, almost to the point where her pupils where shaped like hearts. To add to it all off, Sweetie could see that this phony Sweetie Belle was dripping mare juices onto the floor. As she watched and listened, the Slave Maker 4000 continued to stimulate both her clit as well as both her nipples. Not to mention the constant feeling of contentment that flowed into her.

How long had she been like this? She honestly couldn’t say as her head felt so sluggish right now. She was aware that some time had passed, for she could still recall a few things with her tired mind. Sweetie Belle had fought this thing a few times, trying to focus on a memory or someplace more pleasant. Each time had been met with near instant punishment, forcing her to see herself in a horrific state while administering pain which only served to further crush her resistance The last time she had tried she suddenly saw herself being eaten alive by Timberwolves, the smell of blood filling her helmet for a moment while the pain caused her to tear up. Had she slept at all? How many days or weeks? No, she must have slept, even if just briefly, or she would have surely died by now. It was hard to tell because even when the closed her eyes the images she was forced to see where still there and the voice still continued to speak. She was also vaguely aware that several times she had felt the pick of a needle on various parts of her body. Where they had pricked, she was too tired to recall anything beyond the slight irritation they had caused. What they were for she had no idea.

She also knew that more than a few times she had been given food and water through humiliating means. From the tube in her mouth Sweetie Belle could feel something moving through it right before her stomach began to fill up. It could have been liquidious like a protein shake, a slush, or anything in-between. The only way this could have been more humiliating for her was if she had been forced to get down on all fours and eat food out of a dog bowl. Yet it was not surprising that they were not doing that for it would have given her a greater chance at escape. While it was bad, the way they gave her water was far worse. The first time it happened was well before her first meal, the tube in her mouth sliding out so suddenly that Sweetie Belle believed she was being let go. That hope was quickly dashed as she found that she was unable to close her mouth by some means before something else had slid into the hole were the feeding tube had been. The moment it touched her lips, Sweetie could tell that it was some sort of phallusreplica. It shape was identical to the one Rarity had given her for her eighteenth birthday and Sweetie could even feel the veins on the member against her tongue as well as a somewhat salty taste like sweat. It was then that the droning voice in her head would tell her that if she wanted something to drink, she would have to suck on it. Sweetie had naturally refused to do this, even as the machine began to torment her private areas while filling her with a sense of dread. She endured it all until finally it was removed allowing her the briefest moment of victory before the tube was once again forced down her throat. Such a victory, however, came at a heavy cost as the machine continued to work her body, her juices slowly dripping out in the process. Her mouth became dry and the need for water quickly became almost unbearable. It thrusted in and out of her mouth, rubbing the skin raw and peeling off layers. So much so that when replica was brought back she barely put up a fight, trying to open wide to avoid the pain. Tears had begun to run down her face as she complied to their demand, at first sucking lightly and getting nothing. It soon became clear that if she wanted something to drink she would have to put her all into this, sucking as hard as she could while bobbing her head as much as she was allowed. With her level of skill, Sweetie was only able to get a few small squirts of water followed by pleasure that was sent to her private areas before it was finally taken away.

What was clear, however, was that this demonic machine was working. With her mind this tired along with the amount of stimulation she was being exposed to, Sweetie Belle’s will was growing weaker and weaker. More than once she had realized that, in her head, she was repeating what the voice was saying! Somehow the machine recognized when she was doing this for it gave her additional pleasure in order to encourage this behavior. It was only through sheer force of will that she was able to stop, but each attempt took a little more out of her. When she wasn’t repeating those words in her head, Sweetie found herself thinking about who her master would be. If he would be kind and love her. The images she saw gradually bothered her less and less. Like the image of her slave cunt being filled by the great cock of her master, spreading her beyond anything she had ever had before as cum slowly escaped. The other Sweetie looked like she was in the middle of an orgasm, with her eyes rolled back and tongue hanging out like some animal. Or an image of her licking the ponut of another mare with a slutty smile on her face. Her body also seemed to be getting more responsive to what she was being subjected to. More than once her captorss had played with her breasts, teasing her nipples until she came.

The image before Sweetie Belle changed again. This time Sweetie saw that her double was not alone but in a room with dozens of other mares. All of them had nicely rounded and soft bodies the exemplified the female form without having them look fat or boney. She, along with all the others, had on leather collars with O rings dangling around the middle as well as piercings on their nipples and clits. Many of these mares were presenting themselves, exposing their hungry cunts and ponuts by spreading them with their fingers. A few were even pulling on their nipple rings. On all of the faces, there was a lust filled longing as well as a happiness that Sweetie Belle could strongly feel more now than ever before.

Her conscious mind remembered something from school. Two kinds of conditioning: classical and operant. Classical worked to modify existing behaviors, in her case sexual by creating a new factor that would modify the response. In this case, suppressing her disgust and exaggerating her sexuality so she would fuck anyone, anything, anytime without hesitation. Operant worked to teach her new behaviors. How to suck, how to ride, how to work her hips to maximize a master’s height of climax, how to eat pussy and ass. How to smile and wink even when she wanted to shout and sob. Her mind was being rewritten.

“Sweetie Belle wants to be the perfect slave,” said the familiar voice. “Sweetie Belle wants to belong to her master like all of his other slaves. Sweetie Belle wants to become master’s broad mare. Sweetie Belle longs to carry master’s foals.” The image shifted once again. She was laying at the hooves of a stallion, her belly buldged due to her clear pregnancy. All around her the other slaves looked at her with envy that she had been the one chosen by their master to carry. A few were even reaching out to touch her with reverence. Contentment no longer flowed into her but the purest joy Sweetie Belle had ever felt in her life. The pleasure being given to her tits and clit became so strong that she came on the spot all while the voice droned on, the other slaves assaulting her all the while with a kind of sexual worship “Sweetie Belle will do her duty as a perfect slave. If Sweetie Belle gives birth to a colt, Sweetie Belle will gladly give him up. Sweetie Belle is not worthy of raising a future master. If Sweetie Belle gives birth to a filly, Sweetie Belle shall teach her to be a slave for their master.” The images changed again, showing her an older Sweetie Belle next to a mare of eighteen who looked very much like herself. Pride was now flowing into her for the mare was about to be examined by their master, to see if she was worthy to please master. Making master happy was Sweetie Belle’s life goal, the only thing that mattered.

“But Sweetie Belle isn’t a perfect slave right now.”At that, Sweetie Belle’s eyes widened before the image shifted. Sweetie Belle was in with another group of slaves, but now there was a difference. All of the other slaves were on their flanks, legs spread with one hand being used to spread their pussy lips as far as they could. Their other hand was kneading their breasts in order to show off their pulpiness. Sweetie Belle was the only one who was different, using her hands to try and conceal herself from her master’s gaze. Sweetie Belle could feel an emptiness now that scared her. She wanted to return to that joyful bliss she had been feeling before.

“Sweetie Belle knows there is still much for her to learn,” the voice said. “Sweetie Belle wants to learn everything she needs to be a perfect slave. Sweetie Belle wants to forget everything that isn’t important. Sweetie Belle is not important. Sweetie Belle knows that until master says she is ready, another slave must take Sweetie Belle’s place. Another slave must carry master’s foal instead of Sweetie Belle. Sweetie Belle does not deserve to even clean master’s cock. Please master, help Sweetie Belle become the perfect slave.”

“Please, M aster, help Sweetie Belle become the perfect slave,” echoed Sweetie Belle in her own head.

Sweetie Belle slowly opened her eyes, the memories of the dream already fading from her mind. For some reason she felt moisture around her eyes. Had her dream been a bad one? It could have been. Perhaps it was a dream where Master Spike had abandoned Sweetie Belle. That would be a bad dream!

Slowly rising from her rightly place on the floor onto all fours, Sweetie Belle saw Mistress Ember pacing across the room. The lady of the house was still wearing Master Spike’s oversized shirt and boxes as she paced back and forth in front of the window. While such attire did nothing to show off her upper figure, it would allow Master Spike to see those wonderful slender legs of her! But, why was she pacing? Sweetie Belle noticed that her mistress was shooting a glance out the window every once in a while. Her wings also twitched in a way that reminded Sweetie Belle of her lessons on pegasi, how they would have to fight to keep their wings from extending when they were horny. Was Mistress Ember horny now and waiting for Master Spike to return?

“Mistress Ember,” said Sweetie Belle with a proud slave smile on her face. At once the blue dragoness turned to look at her, eyes widening as if she were surprised to see her. Like she had forgotten that Sweetie Belle was there. As for Sweetie Belle, the slave remained where she was but had gotten onto her knees. One of her hands was raised up next to her breast, her wrist pushing into it while at the same time bringing her other hand to her lips. “If you wish it, Sweetie Belle can pleasure you until Master Spike comes home.” Sweetie Belle licked her fingers slowly.

Lady Ember’s wings fully extended before her eyes had a chance to widen. Her scaly cheeks darkened considerable as her mouth dropped. “Wait, hold on!” she declared before shaking her head. “What in the name of the Bloodstone are you talking about?”

“Sweetie Belle believes that Mistress Ember is either agitated or simply horny,” replied Sweetie Belle as she gave the dragoness a sultry look before getting back on all fours. The dragoness stood there, watching Sweetie Belle as she moved closer on all fours, her large breasts almost touching the ground,her nipple rings being dragged, with wide eyes. As she crawled, Sweetie Belle made sure that her flank and tail sashayed from side to side so that the scent of her constant arousal filled the room before pausing at the Mistress’ clawed feet. They looked so different than a pony’s hooves yet so much like her Master’s. Sweetie Belle bent down, raising her ass high into the air while also flicking her tail to the side, before kissing them. Mistress Ember let out a noise of surprise as Sweetie Belle’s lips made contact followed by a gasp as the slave’s tongue pressed against the digits. The only noise Sweetie could make were moans of ecstasy, her pony cunt growing wet by this simple act.

Slowly, Sweetie Belle began to move her tongue up the dragoness’ leg while her moans grew louder and sluttier. Her body was close to her Mistress’ so that she could feel the softness of the slave’s fur and breasts. She reached up to grip the rim of the borrowed boxers and, as she moved her head away, pulled them down far enough so that Ember’s slit could be seen. Sweetie Belle smiled as she brought her face closer to it. In turns of shape, it was no different than a pony’s. The scales around it were smoother as well as a lighter shade of blue than the rest of her form. Sweetie Belle also noted that it was twitching slightly, not exactly winking like a mare’s cunt would but slightly moving all the same. There was also a wetness to it along with a scent that reminded Sweetie of sulfurous soil.

“Sweetie Belle can pleasure you, Mistress,” whispered Sweetie as she moved her head in a bit closer. So close now that she was sure that Mistress Ember could feel her breath against her clit that was starting to poke out. “Sweetie Belle shall do as Mistress Ember commands. Sweetie Belle will help Mistress Ember cum buckets or work her up until Master Spike comes home. Sweetie Belle has never pleasured a dragon before, but Sweetie Belle will try. Please, Mistress, let Sweetie Belle take care of you.” Slowly, Sweetie Belle stuck out her tongue and extended it towards her mistress’s clit.

“NO!” yelled Ember as her claws reached down to grab Sweetie Belle’s shoulders before suddenly pushing her away. As the slave mare landed on the ground, she felt something smack her flank hard enough for her to cry out. In a panic she turned her head around just in time to see Ember’s tail moving aware from her while the dragoness herself was panting. Her clawed hands were shaking and fumbling about as she tried to pull up the boxers that Master Spike had given her.

“Mistress, Sweetie Belle just wanted to-” began the slave mare but was interrupted when Ember’s tail slashed out again. This time it struck the ground next to Sweetie, bits of the stone floor flying up as a result.

“Don’t you ever do that again!” snapped Ember as she barred her fanged teeth. She was panting loudly, bits of flame coming out of her nostrils as she glared at Sweetie. “If I wanted something like that, I would either say it or take it myself. A dragon does not need the advances of a mewling slave for her gratification. So snivelling and pathetic! I’m not some…some thing that only thinks about sex!”

“Sweetie Belle made a mistake,” replied Sweetie Belle quickly. She then turned around so that her back was facing the angry dragon. “Sweetie Belle is a wicked and bad slave for failing to understand what Sweetie Belle’s Mistress desired. Sweetie Belle offers herself for punishment. Please whip the wickedness out of Sweetie Belle. Punish Sweetie Belle until Sweetie Belle is a good slave again.” With that, Sweetie Belle remained where she was. She did not turn around, move her head, or even her eyes. She just stared at the floor as she await the punishment that a slave like her deserves. After all, wasn’t it only natural that a slave who failed to meet the needs of her owners show that she was willing to pay any price in order to show that she had learned. For wasn’t it far worse to be abandoned into the streets, away from anypony who would be her master?

A tear fell from her eye as Sweetie Belle fought back a shiver. Life without a master was no life worth having for a slave such as herself. She existed solely to please her masters. That was her past, present, and future. If Sweetie Belle could not do that then what was the point of living? It would be far kinder for her master to order her to kill herself rather than to be set free on the street! So she would take any punishment that her Mistress granted her. Perhaps her Mistress would use that tail of her on her back in place of a whip. Yes, that would be far better than throwing her away. So much better.

Sweetie Belle could hear the sound of clawed feet moving behind her. The slave mare braced herself for the pain to come only to realize a moment later that her Mistress was moving in front of her. Sweetie Belle blinked at this in confusion only to realize in utter horror the mistake she had made. She had dared to presume to tell her Mistress where she could punish this wicked slave! Such a thing was not her place. Her trainers/former master had taught her that if a master or a mistress was displeased with her they could do whatever they wanted to her. For wasn’t it true that she was nothing more than a mere object? Something to be bought and used as her owners saw fit? She simply had no say in the matter. If they desired to whip her breasts or clit they were in there right. Should they desire to see her tied up before allowing a dog to mount her then so be it. Any torture, any punishment was theirs to give and for her to take. That was the life of a sex slave which was all Sweetie Belle ever was and ever would be.

“Bloodstone,” cursed her Mistress causing Sweetie to flinch. Sweetie Belle waited for a moment, holding her breath to find out what her punishment would be. “And here I gave Spike a hard time this morning. Look at me.” Slowly, Sweetie Belle raised her head to look at the dragoness. While her fists were at her side now, Mistress Ember’s eyes had softened. “I’m not going to punish you.”

Sweetie Belle tilted her head dumbly. “But Sweetie Belle made a mistake. Sweetie Belle needs to be punished.” Her words caused the Mistress to slap her own face so loudly that Sweetie Belle couldn’t help but wince. As Mistress Ember’s hand slowly slid down her face, she gave another annoyed look at the poor pitiful slave on the floor.

“They…really did a number on you,” she sighed before scratching the back of her head and looking away. “I don’t really do, ah, ‘feelings’ or other silly pony things really good. So please just…stop doing that. Besides you were half right. I am feeling a little pent up right now.”

Sweetie Belle fully raised her head, her eyes sparkling as she did so. “Really?” she cried in delight. “Then Sweetie Belle will take care of you Mistress. Sweetie Belle will-”

“Not that kind of pent up!” snapped Mistress Ember causing the slave pony to wince. Once more the dragoness sighed before turning around and plopping onto a nearby chair. “It has nothing to do with sex, alright. I’m just not used to being cooped up like this. Being told to sit tight. Real dragons don’t do that! We go where we want and take what we want when we want to! I should be out there busting heads and ripping the guts out of those bastards who tried to make me into, well, you! That or going home and getting ready for the Gauntlet of Fire. But I fucking can’t do either without my armor.”

“The Gauntlet of Fire?” echoed Sweetie Belle as she tilted her head again. “Mistress Ember, what is that? Some sort of orgy?”

Ember clenched her jaw, a low growl escaping her throat as she did so. As for Sweetie, her ears flattened against her skull and closed in eyes in preparation for a blow that did not come. She only opened her eyes when she heard Ember rising to her feet and walking towards the window. There her mistress stood, staring out the window while placing a hand on the glass. The blue dragoness’ wings slumped downwards as she looked into the distance.

“It’s…how we dragons choose our next leader,” explained Ember, swallowing hard as she did. “It might be happening right now and I’m missing it.”

“Sweetie Belle does not understand,” admitted Sweetie as she looked at her Mistress. “But Sweetie Belle can see that Mistress Ember is upset. Sweetie Belle wishes to help Mistress Ember however Sweetie Belle can. Would Mistress Ember like Sweetie Belle to help?”

Ember just turned to look at Sweetie Belle, raising an eyebrow as she did.

Spike returned to his apartment later that with a duffel bag held in one hand. The dragon’s head was held low, wings along dropping on his back from such a long and grueling day. Not that it had been hard or anything, in fact it had been the opposite. He had been sent to patrol the quietest section of the city, the place with the least likely chance of a break in, robbery, or any real crime that could be afforded within the city. Heck, he didn’t even see a single speeding wagon or carriage all day! How often did that happen? Never as far as he knew. And while it gave his partner for the day time to relax and shoot the shit, Spike had other things on his mind.

One of those things was the two women in his apartment, hoping that they would remain safe. As much as he liked to believe they would be safe within his apartment within Dragon Town, Spike knew that there was no guarantee that nothing would happen to them. Not when the ponies who had already shown a willingness to abduct Sweetie Belle, the sister of one of the nation’s heroines, were still out there. Yes, it was a big city and nopony or dragon knew exactly where they were. But Spike didn’t know who they were either. They could have walked past his apartment, pretending to be tourists or something, when all they would have to do would be to look up at just the right moment to see one of them by the window. While it was a long shot, perhaps one in a million or more, he knew that if it did happen then they would not waste a moment to recollect the two of them. Then Sweetie would be sold off to whoever while Ember would be sent to somewhere to be broken, both of them going far beyond his reach to help. That or simply get rid of them before trying to do the same to Spike, doing whatever it took to destroy all evidence of their crimes.

Then there was Detective Books. The elder stallion, as it turned out, had more than a full plate. The chief had been more than a little reluctant in deciding whether or not to give Book the case on top of everything else the stallion was working on it. Or at least that was how By-The-Books had explained it to him over lunch.

“He admitted that it looked suspicious,” Books had said during their shared lunch, eating a small salad as he explained it to Spike who nibbled on a ruby bar. “But no hard evidence to back up any theory we might have makes it harder to justify opening up a real case on this. Also felt like mentioning that my own case load is mighty heavy. Guess that’s a good reason as any to say no or to just give it to some rookie.”

Spike gave a short nod as he bit into his bar. “So, I guess you’re not on the case?”

Books shook his head before taking a bite out of his own meal. “A good guess, but you should really wait till you hear all the facts before coming to a conclusion Spike. See, there’s a bit of politics in this. The mayor got wind of this and, well, is hoping to get the dragon vote for the next election coming up. Don’t know if you know this, but ever since you joined the force her poll numbers on the dragon community have been looking up. Almost as much as when she got herself a dragon advisor, but you get a lot more attention in the papers. Got a few complainers about having a dragon on the force, but your good work has mostly silenced them. Now she feels that if there is a even a whiff of something fishy going on in Dragon Town and nopony does anything then this could turn into a PR nightmare.”

“How’s that?”

“Well, think about it lad,” Books had said while setting down his fork. “We get wind that something might have happened in Dragon Town and ignore it completely. Now if it is nothing, no harm done. But if it is something then the reporters will be all on this. They’ll want to know why we ignored it or if the decision was based on the fact that it was Dragon Town. Dragons will grumble about not getting the same amount of treatment and protection as ponies do. And you can bet that the mayor’s political opponents will be spinning their own yarn. That you are nothing more than a token dragon on the force, yadda, yadda, yadda, and crap. Those ponies would have a field day I tell you. But if the force did send somepony to look into it, say a seasoned detective on the force who has served for many years, well then that paints a very different narrative. If I look into this and find nothing, well we wasted a couple of days at most. Find something and stop it before whatever it is makes it to the presses, then I’m a ‘hero’. Makes it the presses before any headway is made then it all falls on me for not doing my job.”

“Hold on!” Spike had yelled while standing up, dropping his ruby bar in the process. “That’s all they care about?! Who gets the blame if things don’t work out? What if somepony or dragon is getting hurt? Shouldn’t that matter more than some bad PR?”

“Once upon a time it did,” Books had said, his tone surprising Spike so much that he had backed up. The older stallion suddenly looked far older than normal, the lines on his face becoming more noticeable. His tired eyes looked up to Spike looking like they were trying to apologize for something that Spike couldn’t understand. “Perhaps in certain circles of the government, there are still ponies who believe doing the right things matters most and damn the consequences. But in this town, most tend to believe that appearance and public opinion means more. The tale that is spun means so much more since that’s what helps them get elected; keeps them in a position of power. So that’s why we need to work harder.” Slowly, Books stood up before giving Spike the faintest of smiles. “I’m not so naïve to believe that everypony on the force is doing this for the right reasons. There are those who see this job as a simple power trip, the most power they’ll ever get in their miserable lives; they’ll be gone soon enough, but the damage they’ll do first will linger on, because when they do that, it reflects on us all. It just takes a few bad cops and a few incidents each to repeat the riots of thirty years ago. This department still has sins in the eyes of the public. F ar too many people think of them when they think of cops. But for those like you and me, Spike, it’s to serve and protect. To do what is right because its right. It’ll hurt if they throw me under the carriage, but it’ll hurt a lot less if I know I took down scum in the process. Even less when I know that I have somedragon I can rely on to finish the job I started.”

After that, Spike went on with the rest of his slow day with newfound guilt until he reached his apartment. But that guilt was also met with additional resolution to help By-The-Books in any way he could. To find whatever clues he could uncover and solve this case quickly. Perhaps that way he could make everypony and dragon happy.

After locking the door and stepping into his apartment, Spike found himself surprised by what he saw. Ember was on the ground, lying on her stomach with the shirt he had given her pulled all the way up to her neck. On top of her was Sweetie Belle looking like she had been through a marathon as sweat matted her fur while droplets fell from her chin, nose, ears, and nipple rings. Yet despite how tired her state looked, Sweetie Belle’s hands continued to move across Ember’s back side to apply pressure in various points causing the blue dragoness to let out throaty moans. The young mare just kept going as she put all her effort into this one task.

“Ah, I’m home,” said the surprised dragon, blinking slightly as he moved closer. As he did, he noticed that Ember’s tail was wagging from side to side. There were also the deep grooves in the floor caused by her back feet that had not been there when he left. Similar shallow marks could also be seen within her arm’s reach.

At the sound of his words Sweetie Belle looked up, her face showing muted excitement. “Master Spike!” Sweetie gasped as she stumbled to get off of Ember. As the blue dragoness let out a noise of protest at this interruption, Sweetie quickly got onto her back, spreading her legs as she did and pushing apart her nether lips for him to see. She was panting, tongue hanging out as she did this making her look more like some sort of domesticated animal. “Sweetie Belle is glad Master Spike had a safe trip home. Would Master Spike wish to use his Sweetie Belle?” At that, she slowly raised her hips which began to tremble from the effort before slightly swinging them back and forth. “Sweetie Belle would like the chance to show Master Spike her stamina. Please use your naughty Sweetie Belle, Master!”

“…Ah, no,” muttered Spike as Sweetie’s face sank a bit. “I’m not feeling, er, up to that right now. I would like it if you got some rest. Ok?”

“Yes, Master,” replied Sweetie right before her body collapsed into a heap on the floor.

“What happened?” asked Spike as he turned to look at Ember, setting the duffel bag on the floor as he did so. It was then that he noticed that Ember was up, shirt tucked back down and stretching. Several small pops were heard as she twisted her body, her face relaxing in pleasure with each series of noises.

“What did it look like?” asked Ember as she placed her claws on her hips before leaning back using her tail as support. There was a brief, blissful smile on her face as a loud ‘crack’ echoed in the room followed by her sighing. “She was giving me a massage.”

“I could see that. But why-”

“I didn’t have a lot of choices, alright!” snapped Ember, cutting Spike off as she straightened herself up and pointing a claw in Spike’s direction. Spike noticed Ember’s cheeks beginning to darken slightly as she took a step towards him. “I was feeling a little cooped up and she thought I wanted something else! So I yelled at her then I felt not so good about it and then she offered to give me a massage! Said her trainers told her that sometimes it helps the master relax more than sex and it would make me feel good! And it did once she applied enough pressure!” Ember then spared a glance at Sweetie, her clawed hand lowering a bit while her wings extended for a brief moment. The dragoness’ shoulders slowly slumped before she turned around so that she was no longer facing the mare on the floor and crossed her arms. “It’s not my fault she had to work so hard work so hard just so I would feel it. And if she was getting tired she should have said something. I would have let her stop to catch her breath.”

“Right,” said Spike as he saw through Ember’s posture as well as the attempts at backwards glances she was making to look at Sweetie. He also noted that she was biting her lower lip slightly but chose not to comment on it or make a big deal. Instead he reached down and unzipped the duffel bag. Inside was nothing major, only his old sweatpants from when he was in training. The pair he kept in his locker at the station in case he felt like taking a jog or something downtown. Calmly he picked it up before tossing it over at Ember.

“What the-” shouted Ember as she turned around just in time to see the cotton pants flying towards her. Spike watched as her eyes narrowed, her tail whizzing through the air to swat the sweatpants onto the ground. “What the heck are these?”

“Something to wear so we can go out,” said Spike as he eyed his sweatpants. “Then we can get you something else to wear other than my old clothing.”

Ember paused for a moment, looking at the sweatpants she had just swatted before finally shrugging. “Alright then,” she replied, her tailed moving to scoop up the pants before handing them to herself. “It would be nice to wear some real clothing again.”

“I thought you said we were going to get me real clothing!” raged Ember. Spike held back a sigh, his eyes deadpanned as he glanced around the store. It was a place called The Fashion Horde, one of the more popular places in Dragon Town to purchase good clothing at decent prices. Like all buildings in Dragon Town, the store looked like it had been carved out of a single block of brown stone including the racks, poles, and even the store counter where two dragons stood waiting. The only things that were not made of stone were the mannequins which had been made to look like dragons showing off the latest fashions. Moving up and down the aisles were several dragons of various ages. He could see a slightly overweight mother herding her hatchlings who clearly wished to be doing anything else. A couple of teenage dragonesses were off to one side pressed outfits next to their frames and asking how they looked.

“Ember,” whispered Spike, fighting hard not to face palm at that moment. “We are getting you some real clothing. That’s why we’re here.”

“No,” stated Ember as she gestured to one of the mannequins nearby which had white khaki pants and a red top. The top had a V-shaped cut along the neck line that almost went well past the bust of the display wearing it. Not something Spike would consider functional or anything, but he guessed it was in fashion right now. “This crap is all pony clothing, not something a dragon with even an ounce of pride would ever consider wearing! I mean, look at it! No armor plating to speak of. One blow to this flimsy pony fabric by a mace or sword and shattering your scales in the process! Or one blast of fire will leave you in the nude! How could anydragon believe that wearing this stuff is a good idea?”

Spike didn’t say anything at first, instead looking around as he felt the mood in the room shift. He could see the dragoness mother looking over the racks in their direction, a disapproving glare on her face. The teenage dragonesses rolled their eyes before whispering something to each other that was quickly followed by laughter. Spike was glad neither he nor Ember heard anything that was said for he had a feeling she might jump on them. As for the two behind the counter, while their faces didn’t change he could see one of them gripping the counter tightly while the other looking like he had been personally insulted.

“Ember,” Spike said quietly while gesturing Ember to do the same. “Everydragon around here wears this. Even I wear similar stuff when I’m at work.”

Ember pulled back her head in surprise before it tilted to the side slightly. “Really? They expect you to stand up to others without even basic protection? At least tell me they give you a shield, sword, or even a freaking spear?!”

“Well there are riot shields in the precinct armory,” admitted Spike. “I get a baton, but that’s all the wepondry we really get. Not like I really need it.” As Ember placed her claws on her hips while also giving him a disapproving look, Spike began to recall the stories of the Dragon Lands he had heard here in Dragon Town. About a desolate place where might was the key to survival and those who were seen as weak were preyed upon by other dragons. That was the reason so many had left that land behind, coming to Equestria where they could be safe and live easier lives. It would make sense that a dragon like Ember who had been raised there would prioritize functionality over fashion, much like a certain farming family he knew so very well. However, the sort of function that armor provided wasn’t need on the streets here. So maybe…

“Just think of it this way,” Spike said quickly as he gestured to a random outfit, “this stuff won’t slow you down.”

Ember scowled at that. “Are you suggesting that I’m slow or something?”

“No, no,” replied Spike quickly. “What I’m trying to say is that heavy armor can wear a dragon down. Wearing something like this here won’t do that, letting you fly faster longer. Plus it won’t hamper your flexibility.” As Spike said this, Ember brought a claw to her chin to scratch it for a moment before turning to look at the clothing. It was clear that she was considering his words while her eyes scanned the stuff on the racks. So, Spike continued. “You could just try it out for a little while. See if you like it while we search for your armor. If you don’t like it then you’ll only have to put up with it until we find your armor.”

“I don’t know,” Ember said slowly in an apprehensive voice while eyeing a pink outfit with a smiling cat face on it. Yeah, Spike couldn’t understand why anypony or dragon would wear something like that but really who was he to judge?

“It’s that or staying cooped up in the apartment till I find your armor,” Spike muttered, just loud enough for Ember to hear it and sink a little. “It would also go a lot faster if you could be there to look at any armor I found to confirm its yours. But I’ll understand if you want to stay home all day and night, doing nothing but pacing back and forth and-”

“OK!” yelled Ember as she started in on the nearest rack looking for something to wear. “I get it geez. I don’t have to like it, just put up with it until I get something real to wear. But you would think that dragons around here would invest in non-flammable material for more than five seconds.” As she spoke, Ember’s claws began to violently search through the various attire before her. Her eyes scanned everything she could see, pausing only to rub the material between her fingers.

After what seemed like forever with Ember searching through more than half the store, even going through the men’s section, Ember had found something she believed would be tolerable. She had decided to go with jeans, forgoing skirts of any kind declaring that they provided the most flimsy of protection. As for her top, she had grabbed anything that she believed would fit her and didn’t look too ‘ponyish’ or ‘lame’. So when she had everything she could carry, the dragoness was pointed in the direction of the changing room where she stormed off to. As for Spike, he waited by the side of said room with him being separated from Ember only by a cloth curtain. Something which Ember once again chided on as being stupid.

“One sneeze and it all goes up in flames,” she growled from the other side. “Bloodstone, does anydragon here in Equestria think?” Spike said nothing, simply letting Ember since he did agree with the dragoness. He had heard that the reason was singly that it was cheaper. That if there was say a wooden door, an adult dragon sneezing would either burn it down as well or just put a hole through it. Also, when a dragon trips into a wooden door it breaks versus a cloth curtain that just falls down. Spike understood all of this, but there had to be a way. Like maybe a door made of rock or something. Or would that just send the flames back into the room to incinerate all the clothing?

Just as he was about to bring this point up with Ember, he spotted a dragoness walk through the door. Widening his eyes in surprise, Spike saw that it was the dragoness Mina dressed in a grey business suit. In the past, she had stood a good foot and a half taller than him. But that was when he was a baby dragon. Now, even though he was taller, it wasn’t by much. Perhaps a few inches. Mina had that perfect hourglass figure, with large DD breasts and a rounded ass. Her ruby colored scales shined brightly and she had horns that looked more like a bulls than anything else. Most ponies believed she had a mane, looking like a Mohawk that rose a bit before falling onto the left side of her head. In reality that was a series of fin scales, thousands of them clustered in a single line that only looked like a mane or any type of hair.

As the ruby dragoness walked in, she looked around for a moment before spotting Spike. In that moment her own eyes widened and Spike noted that her eyes darted towards the curtain he was standing next to. If this fazed her at all Spike could not tell for she walked towards him calmly

“Spike, it’s been awhile,” she said with a smile. “The last time I saw you was at that award ceremony with the mayor.”

“Right,” said Spike as he smiled back. “Could have gone without the fan-fair and all that. I mean, I was just doing my job. Don’t think I should get an award for that.”

“You really shouldn’t sell yourself short,” replied Mina as she playfully elbowed Spike. “I was there with the mayor when we heard about the bank robbery, so I know it was more than just doing your job. You really put yourself out there going in alone like that. If only the bank didn’t have those anti-teleportation runes then the police could have sent in a larger group to back you up.”

Spike shrugged at that, briefly remembering the randomly fired beams of magic coming out of the bank’s busted door. “Honestly I barely felt any of those blasts. Besides, the Princess’ were the ones who insisted on putting those runes in every bank to keep ponies from teleporting into the vault. Remember what happened in Manehatten a few years ago?”

“Right,” chuckled Mina. “That was a PR nightmare for them when a group of teenagers robbed half the banks there. Can you believe they tried to use the ‘I did it because I lost a friend’ excuse to get out of trouble?” The dragoness then briefly glanced over to the curtain again. “So, what’s going on here? Out on a date or something?”

“Something,” said Spike casually as his claws went into his pockets. “Just helping a new friend out who just arrived in Dragon Town. Still getting used to the place.”

Mina nodded. “Well then, I’ll leave you to it.” Mina turned and began to walk back towards the door. However, when she reached it, she turned around to look again at Spike before calling out. “Remember, if either of you need any help my office is always open.” And like that she had left without buying anything.

“So,” said a voice from above startling Spike before he could even collect his thoughts. He looked up and saw Ember’s head poking from above the curtains. “I guess there’s a history between you two?”

Author's Note

This one was difficult to write. I actually rewrote entire section multiple times before I was ready to have it looked over and edited. Hopefully you will all enjoy it

Walk About Town

“Come on Spike, let’s move it!” cried Ember as she entered the pawn shop, opening the door with such force that Spike was impressed that the door wasn’t ripped off its hinges. But whatever credit he was about to give the blue dragoness for self control was almost instantly squashed as he saw a light glow coming from the door. Perhaps a sort of enchantment placed on it to keep potential robbers from breaking down the door.

With a sigh, he followed behind Ember, his claws in his pockets, as she began to tap her foot in a manner that brought up memories of Rainbow Dash. Maybe it also had something to do with her new attire which also reminded him of the speedy pegasus from Ponyville. And, to be honest, it seemed to fit her well both in size and personality. The jeans she had picked out were not the skinny, form fitting type he saw on many mares and dragoness’ but they were not the overly baggy type either. No they were just casual, basic jeans with a little extra padding around the knee. As for her top, Ember had picked out a white shirt that looked like it might have belonged in the men’s section had it not been for the slight V-cut in front. Finally, she had gotten a black leather jacket.

The only problem they had was the underwear. It seemed dragons from the Dragon Lands had never heard of things like bras or panties as Ember’s rather…loud questioning of said garments suggested. She seemed wholly confused why anycreature would wear them and her admonishment of them was so bad that they were nearly thrown out of the store! Thankfully Spike had been able to find her a sports bra and matching panties that were just enough for Ember to deem acceptable.

“Don’t worry, the store isn’t going anywhere,” said Spike with a small grin as he stopped in front of her. Movement caught his eye, looking down and behind Ember just in time to see her tail swish from side to side.

“That doesn’t mean we have to drag our tails! The sooner we find my armor the better,” grumbled Ember, Spike looking up at her face just in time to see her looking around. “But why you would think to bring me to a place like this is beyond me.”

“It’s called a pawn shop,” explained Spike as he moved past her, heading down one of the many rows. “It’s a place where ponies go to sell stuff they don’t need in order to get some quick cash. Other ponies come here looking for cheap stuff that they might need or are just hoping to find something they’ve been looking for. Like, for example, a mint condition Power Ponies action set!” As he said this, Spike’s gaze shifted from side to side, seeking out the elusive action figures which had plagued him since he was a small dragon. However, it would take an extreme amount of luck to find them in this dingy store. The shelves here were not organized in any sort of manner. One moment you would be looking at salt and pepper shakers, then a couple books, some slightly damaged dolls, and then dinner plates. If Spike had to guess, it was like this so that ponies had to spend more time looking around for something they wanted and might see other things that they didn’t intend to buy. Still, Spike thought that that was too much of a hassle and would have rather searched one of the other pawn shops that at least attempted to keep the place clean.

Before he had even made it half-way through the shop, old habits began to stir within the purple dragon. He could see the dust covering items tucked away in the very back of the shelves, no doubt shoved back there some time ago to make way for newer items. His nose could pick up the scent of mold and dirt, turning his head towards the origin of the odor to find a literal pile of clothing in a corner of the room. And just by looking at it, he could tell that not everything had been washed before it was brought here. Spike’s fingers began to twitch madly as did his eye as he fought himself from grabbing a wash rag and a bucket. To keep himself from returning to those old days when he was Twilight’s number one assistant and begin cleaning as well as organizing everything the way Twilight would have had him do in such minute detail.

“Feels more like a junk shop to me,” said Ember as she walked behind Spike. Said dragon turned his head a little to watch Ember out of the corner of his eye, grateful for the distraction, as she looked almost disdainfully at the times they passed. She paused for a second to pick up a sun shaped alarm clock with a smiley face on it. “Not even a dragon going through a greed growth would want this junk. But that still doesn’t explain why we’re here.”

“Because not everything that’s brought here belonged to them,” said Spike. As Ember’s eyes instantly widened in realization, Spike continued to move forward towards the glass counter on the other side of the shop. With each step he took, the items on the other side of the case became clearer. A hoofball rookie card, autographed by the player who was now in the hoofball hall of fame. Several old, thick tomes with chew up covers which were no doubt very old spell books. A couple of swords. A collection of magical items. Several watches with diamonds embedded in the wristbands. A…cursed bra? Well, that was something you didn’t see everyday.

Before Spike was right in front of the counter, a stallion came out from behind a nearby curtain which led to the back room. “Welcome how can I- oh, it’s you again,” said the stallion, his fake smile vanishing on the spot as he eyed Spike with mild contempt. He was a bright red unicorn with a shaggy yellow mane that had several thin strips of crimson in it. He was a slender fellow, almost skeletal in fact, with a thin pointed bread at the end of his chin. Over his frame was a checkered button up shirt and filthy pants, neither of them looking like they had been washed in some time.

Spike, on the other hand, gave him a smile as he reached the barrier separating the two. “How’s it going Double Deal,” he said, eyeing a stack of old comics near the register. In a casual manner, he reached out with one hand and began to flip through the covers. “Anything interesting come in lately.”

“No,” said Double, his yellow eyes narrowing at Spike. “Not since the last time you and your buddies came in here. So if you don’t mind, leave.” Out of the corner of his eye, Spike watched the stallion’s hands. They were gripping the edge of the glass counter, pressing on it hard.

“Hey now,” said Spike as he straightened up, holding up both his claws in an attempt to help calm down the situation. “No need for the hostility, I was just doing my job. Besides, I’m not here as a cop today but as a customer.”

“I don’t care what- a customer?” Double released the glass, taking a step back as he looked at Spike’s grinning face. His face held unmasked surprised before the glint of greed appeared in his eyes. Spike could almost hear the sounds of bits dropping on top of each other as he prepared to over change him for whatever it was he wanted to buy. But then his look quickly changed into a look of suspicion. “Is this some sort of set up?”

“No, no,” said Spike as he set his hands down, still smiling at the shop owner. “I’m helping out my friend here. She’s looking for some armor and I thought you might have some.” Double again seemed taken aback by this, even more so when he looked over at Ember. As if he was just now realizing that there was another dragon in his shop. At the same time, Spike turned to look at Ember seeing that she looked very, very tense. He could see that her tail was twitching while her claws were held in her jacket. He couldn’t tell if she was just uncomfortable standing there doing nothing or if she was fighting the urge to jump over the counter to demand Double tell her where her armor was. Or it could be both, he shouldn’t discount that as a possibility.

“A-Armor?” stammered Double, clearly nervous as he looked at Ember. After taking a step backwards he brought a hand up to his chin, slowly stroking his bread. This seemed to calm him down a bit as when he spoke next, it was in a more controlled and business-like manner. “Well, that’s not something I usually get now. I have a few sets of thestral armor, got it cheap a while ago but I hear the prices for that sort of thing are going to skyrocket soon. A couple pairs of Royal Guard armor from deserters back in the day, but dragon? Not a whole lot of dragons from the Dragon Lands flying in to sell to my place.”

Spike nodded as he reached into his pocket. “I get it. But that doesn’t mean you might have one or two sets. Would you mind checking the back?” he asked as he dropped a bag of bits on the counter. A bag large enough to hold four hundred bits and, by the look Double was giving the bag, he could tell just by the sound the coins made when they hit the counter. Double’s eyes almost seemed to shine with the same color glow of the coins, slowly licking his lips. Spike watched him carefully as the seconds ticked by and it wasn’t until Double Deal’s hand reached out a little as if to grab the bag that Spike took it back into his claw. “But, if you’re sure, I guess we can go somewhere else. Sorry for wasting your time.”

Spike fought hard to keep his smile warm and friendly as Double looked like he might have a panic attack. “Well, I…I never said I didn’t have dragon armor,” said Double quickly, his eyes darting towards the curtain leading toward the backroom. He tried to speak, but the words were caught in his throat. So he gulped loudly before speaking. “I mean, I have so much stuff in the backroom that I might have something you’re looking for. Just…Just wait right there.” With that, Double made what felt like a mad dash towards the backroom.

Shortly after he was out of sight, Spike let out a sigh while his shoulders relaxed. “Well that was exhausting,” he said as he turned around. Now leaning against the glass counter, his claws resting on the edges for support, he looked over at Ember. “Thanks for letting me handle it.”

“I thought I’d see how a city living, pony loving dragon handled things,” said Ember as she moved in front of the glass counter. Once she got there, she folded her arms on top of its surface before lowering head downward to use it as a makeshift pillow. “You seemed to know what you were doing. Of course, if you screwed it up, I was ready with plan B. Namely lunging over his pathetic barrier and threatening to beat him senseless until he told us what we wanted to know.”

“Thanks for keeping yourself under control,” laughed Spike as he mentally patted himself on the back for calling it. “So, in your opinion, how did I do?”

“Gotta say, not too shabby,” answered Ember, surprising Spike. Ember noticed this, smirking at the purple dragon. “It’s nice to see a dragon using his brains instead of just resorting to brute force. Most of the time, the dragons back home just try to muscle their way through everything and throwing their weight around.”

“Really,” said Spike, a small and genuine smile appearing on his face as he leaned closer to Ember. “But weren’t you the one planning to beating him up?”

Ember let out a laugh. “Hey, gotta keep your options open,” she said grinning at him. “I like using my head, but I much rather keep it firmly attached to my neck. So it’s always good not to rule out violence.” There was a short pause as she turned to look at the curtain which was unmoving. “So, how does a good upstanding drake like you know a pony like this? He seems more like a dragon than the actual dragons in this city.”

“A few cases brought me here,” answered Spike as he looked up at the ceiling. “Most of the pawn shops contact the police if they suspect something was stolen. A couple diamond necklaces brought in by a stallion. A bum on the street suddenly coming in with a fancy watch. That sort of thing. But Double, well, he’s got this little history of ‘forgetting’ to contact us when that sort of thing happens. Or he was just about to contact us when we just happened to show up. Sometimes he even says that he didn’t even suspect that the item was stolen.”

A sudden crashing caused both dragons to stare at the curtain, interrupting their chat. The noise continued on for several long seconds, the sounds of hundreds of small objects falling on the ground as well as the shattering of glass added to the mix. The two dragons stood up straight as the noises continued longer than either thought possible. Even Spike who had spent time with the chaotic Pinkie Pie was amazed by just how long this was going as well as the new sounds being added. Before either of them could even suggest doing something a cloud of dust blew past the barrier where it hovered over the floor before them, bringing with it a stench that caused the two of them to briefly cover their noses. Both dragons exchanged a look with the other, but remained where they were as a series of curses were heard along with the sound of a hoof slamming into something hard.

As the dust settled, two sets of armor came out of the back room carried by Double’s magic, proving that he was alright. The first, a red one, came with arm gauntlets, chest and leg pieces, a helmet, and something for the tail. The armor itself was thicker than anything Spike had ever seen on a pony before, looking like it would more likely weigh down whoever wore it rather than help them in battle. It also seemed like it had been clumsily put together with what looked like tar and…duct tape? Squinting his eyes, Spike could now make out the clear tape on certain parts of the armor and hoped that Double had put that on. Other than that, the armor looked more like it was meant to give the impression of strength than anything else. Several curved spikes were coming out of the chest and back, making it seem more difficult to get close to your target, as well as on the shoulder pads. Those spikes brought forth a humorous image to Spike’s mind of a dragon trying to raise his or her arms upwards while holding a sword, only to have the spikes stab the dragon’s face! As for the tail armor, it just seemed like extra plating. The other set, this one black, looked like it had been made completely out of tar with scales pressed into it while it hardened. It was smoother, thankfully, but it’s helmet looked like it was for a dragon’s whose head was four times smaller than the rest of its body. Spike was almost certain that neither of these were the armor that Ember seemed so desperate to get back. Looking at her as the two sets were gently dropped onto the glass surface of the counter, proved him right as Ember’s hopeful expression lasted for half a second before dropping completely.

“Ok,” came Double Deal’s panting voice before he himself stumbled through the curtain. Now he was covered with dirt, some liquid that caused the dragon’s noses to wrinkle, spider webbing, and a few shards of wood. Thankfully he was not bleeding or appeared to be bruised. “This was all I could find.” He then rested a hand on the counter as if to help prop himself up, smiling at the two. “Hope it’s to your satisfaction?”

Ember picked up the red tail armor with two fingers, bringing it to her nose and then sniffing it. “Yep, its dragon armor alright,” she said after she let out a gag, pushing the armor away from her. “Just not what we’re looking for.”

Double Deal’s face fell as he stared at Ember, his breathing quickening. Sensing that he might start something, and losing badly, Spike opened up his money bag to pull out two dozen bits. “Maybe you can help us,” he said as he placed the bits in front of Double. “Like, say, somepony came in here with the dragon armor we’re looking for. Or if you happen to hear of anypony with a set like the one we’re looking for.” Double looked down at the bits, anger seeming to fade a little before looking back up at Spike who was tossing the bit bag into the air with one hand. “Of course, we’ll pay you more once you find it. Maybe fifty bits for the information? More if you actually have it.”

“A hundred bits for the information!” declared Double, scooping up the bits on the counter as he did so.

Spike, however, waved his finger in front of the pawn shop owner. “Double, without proof that you’re telling the truth, that information is worthless. Fifty bits seems like more than enough.” If looks could kill, Discord would have been dead and buried fifty times by the look Double was giving Spike. Yet the dragon took it in stride and, much to the surprise of Ember, backed away with a shrug. “Alright, alright. I get it. You can keep those bits for the trouble.” Spike then turned around to look at the door, making sure Double couldn’t see his smile.

“Wait Spike,” said Ember, anger in her voice while her tail swatted at the ground. While Spike didn’t turn around, he could imagine Ember pointing at Double with a look that screamed ‘bloodbath’. “We can’t leave yet. He could still-”

“If he wants to miss out on this little deal then it’s not my loss,” said Spike as he started to move towards the door. Already he could hear Double’s finger’s rattling on the counter. “There are plenty of other pawn shops in the city we can visit. It’ll take us some time, but I’m willing to do that. And perhaps some of them would be more than willing to help us out for a reasonable price. Or, at the very least, better at negotiations.”

As Spike’s hand reached towards the door, Double Deal broke down. “Wait!” he shouted. Spike turned around to see that Double was now sweating badly. “I, ah, maybe we were both a bit hasty. I mean, I did just have that nasty accident so I wasn’t thinking clearly and you…well.” As Spike turned around in time to watch Double cough into his fist, pulling his head back up to show off another fake smile. “Please, let’s all just talk about this like reasonable ponies. Ah, and other assorted creatures. I’m sure we can work out a price that benefits all parties.”

For the next hour and a half, Spike and Ember began their negotiations with Double Deal. The first thing they did was show what they were looking for, Double charging the pair for the use of his pen and paper so Ember could draw it down. Spike watched as Ember drew it to the best of her ability which was thankfully not stick figure level. From what Spike could see it looked more…professionally made compared to the two sets still sitting on the counter. She had even listed the metals it was made of, all the parts, and even that the tail armor had blades on it. When she was done Double took the list, eyeing it carefully before telling them that this would do just fine.

Once that was done, the two parties began talking bits. Double tried to convince them that the reason it had to be a hundred bits was for all the walking he would have to do, paying the right ponies, and other such details. Spike pointed out that Double could just sit on his flank for a while and then make up something. The two went back and forth over and over again while Ember stood there looking annoyed, her anger slowly rising at the snail’s pace they were moving. After a time, she finally exploded shooting fire as she screamed at them to stop beating around the bush. In the end, Double agreed to the fifty while Spike offered an additional ten bits for every new piece of info as well as proof.

“I’d also like to know who brought in the armor,” said Spike as they finished up. “We have a rough idea of who we’re looking for.”

“Either two annoying brothers or a prissy jackass,” said Ember. “All of them unicorns.”

That got a look out of Double. For a moment, Spike saw a slight smirk on his face before he covered it with his hand as if he were thinking about something. “A pair of brothers, you say,” he said. “Well now, that narrows it down. But…” He paused for a moment, looking at Spike again with a twinkle in his eyes. “I’ll send you a message in a couple of days. See if I find anything.”

“Alright,” replied Spike. “But just don’t take too long. I’m not going to be sitting on my ass on this one. Let’s go Ember.” With that, Spike turned around and began to walk towards the door with the blue dragoness by his side.

“Oh, one moment copper,” called out Double before the two could reach the door. Spike turned to see that Double had a smug look on his face. “Mind if we had a word. Alone.” Spike looked from him to Ember who merely shrugged before leaving the building. Through the dirty, barred windows Spike watched as she leaned against the glass waiting for him.

“What is it?” asked Spike as he returned to the counter.

“Just wanted to know the real reason you want that armor,” said Double. “Must be pretty important to you lady friend there.”

Outwardly Spike looked calm, but on the inside there was panic. Crap! He knew Double Deal wasn’t the smartest pony in the room and he had hoped that the stallion’s greed would blind him to the importance to all of this. Not asking any questions that might cost him a big payday. But perhaps Spike hadn’t thought of it the right way. Double was as greedy as they came, the kind of stallion who would overcharge his own grandmother and sell her useless junk. Which he had done! So of course that stallion would have picked up how important that armor was. Right now, he probably thought he had something over Spike.

“It is,” replied Spike, thinking quickly and trying to throw Double off his game a little. So far, it was working as Double looked surprised. Clearly he had not expected Spike to say that. More likely he believed Spike would downplay the importance of the armor. “It’s important to Ember at least. She got robbed, didn’t have it insured, and didn’t want the police to get involved. So I’m helping her out as best as I can.”

Double looked at Spike as if he were trying to figure out if he was telling the truth or not. Which, to be fair, Spike was telling mostly the truth. Ember had been robbed after she had been abducted. He wasn’t sure if dragons in the Dragon Lands had insurance…but he highly doubted it.

Double seemed to buy it, thankfully. “Well no fur off my back,” said Double as he began to toss several of the bits Spike had given him in the air and caught them. Over and over he continued this as he talked, as if he thought he was teasing or mocking Spike with the coin. “Guess you just like being the hero, both in and out of uniform. That or you just want a piece of some blue scales.” Steam shot out of Spike’s nose at that, his eyes narrowing at the stallion but didn’t make a move closer to him. Instead, Spike turned to leave while Double continued to talk. “Either way, it’s going to end up costing you a fortune to ‘help’ her.”

Spike said nothing as he left, closing the door behind him as Double began to laugh. Once he was out on the streets, Spike let out a sigh as Ember looked over at him. Overhead the sun was starting to set, ducking slowly over the horizon as Celestia’s magic gave her subjects these last moments in the light. Lights were springing up at almost every shop to signal that they were still open, save for the dingy pawn shop he had just left whose neon sign flickered for a brief moment before dying out. The lamp posts were already ablaze to light the way of those still walking the streets or flying above them, many giving the two dragons and the shop a wide berth. New scents filled the air as the various diners, restaurants, and cafés went into overdrive cooking up their various dishes for the dinner rush.

“What was that about?” asked Ember as she moved off the window.

“Double figured out that the armor was important,” replied Spike honestly. “Had to tell him something so I admitted it was stolen.”

That seemed to light a fire in the dragon’s eyes, her face turning into a snarl as she looked at him. “Why did you tell him that?!” she almost roared, clenching her fists before throwing them backwards. Her wings spread out as if to make herself look more intimidating. “You could have told him I loaned it out to somedragon and it got stolen from them?!”

“Because it would still have been stolen?” replied Spike, an eyebrow raised as he looked at the dragoness.

“Yeah, but not from me!” said Ember as she placed a claw on her small, but shapely chest.

“Well, I didn’t have a lot of time to think about it,” said Spike, a bit of frustration appearing in his voice. Sensing he was about to lose his cool, Spike paused to take a breath before speaking again. “Look, would it have been better if I told him the whole truth? How they really stole the armor?”

Ember’s eyes widened in horror as she stepped back. “N-No,” she said before gulping. “That would have been much worse!”

“Ok, so don’t bite my head off,” said Spike before he began to scratch the back on his head. “All I told him was that it was stolen. For all he knows, you were just coming home, saw the armor was missing, and spotted the thieves outside your home running away like cowards with it before teleporting away.”

Ember looked away for a moment. “I…I guess that doesn’t make me look weak,” she said. Then, rather quickly, she turned to look at Spike with a renewed fire in her eyes. “You know what? That sounds pretty damn good! Of course they would want to steal from the dragon who had the best horde! Trying to steal from me when I wasn’t there like the pony cowards that they are, running away and even using magic out of fear of what I could do to them! Yeah, I like that!”

“Well, glad that makes you happy,” said Spike with a sigh. “Because now that he knows how important it is to us, he has leverage over us. I might need to drain my entire bank account if he does end up finding it.”

At that, Ember rolled her eyes. “Don’t give me that,” she said while slamming a fist into her open claw. A half second later, Spike heard the cracking of several knuckles. The dragoness then turned her head to the side, another loud crack following suit. “Just give me five minutes with him and we’ll reach an understanding.”

Then, much to Ember’s surprise, Spike snorted. “Yeah, you’ll reach an understanding: Double will press charges on you and then I have to haul you in for assault and intimidation. Not something I’m looking forward to.” Spike then shook his head. “That, or he’ll find some way of screwing us over later. Like telling every low life in the city that we’re looking for that armor you drew for him. And there’s no telling if those jerks who abducted you and turned Sweetie Belle into…well, they might hear about us is the point. The last thing we want them to think is that I didn’t play by the books or find out where I live.”

Ember waved this off. “Please, the only reason-” she began, but then paused mid sentence. It surprised Spike as she brought a claw to her chin, her eyes darting from left to right as if she were putting together a very difficult puzzle. “They’re unicorns so they might take us by surprise and teleport inside your apartment. That or use some spell to blast the building. Pretty sure they couldn’t hurt us with a magic blast, but being buried under all that rock and rubble might do the job.” As Spike’s eyes widened at that, Ember looked behind her in the direction of Dragon Town while remaining thoughtful. “But it won’t be just us in there. Plenty of other wussy dragons will be in the building as well. Probably some of them with eggs or hatchlings. Then there’s Sweetie Belle. Damn, you’re right.”

“That’s,” began a wide eyed and amazed Spike as he looked at the dragoness, the sun beginning to set behind her. The way her mind worked, as well as the red glow of the horizon against her almost sky blue scales just made her seem amazing. “Wow.” A part of Spike wished he could come up with something better to say. A better way to convey the logic she just displayed. But the words failed him utterly as he stared at her.

Ember noticed this. After all, how could she not? She turned to face him, a satisfied smirk on her face as she leaned forward while her claws went to her hips. “Surprised?” she asked.

“Ah,” began Spike, not sure how to answer this without somehow offending her. So, instead he starched his chin while looking away. “It’s getting late. How about we stop at one more pawn shop before we head home? I think there’s one a couple of blocks away.”

“Fine,” said Ember with a snorting laugh and her confident smirk growing. Spike, however, said nothing as he turned and began to walk in the direction he believed the next pawn shop was at. He had only seen this one a few times in passing on his way to Double Deal’s shop. It was smaller, but from what he knew the owner tended to follow the law far better so he never had a reason to go there. Perhaps they might find something.

Within seconds, Ember moved to his side as they walked. The purple dragon could feel his scales burning a little. The two of them walking down the street, the sun setting while the scent of food was still in the air. Perhaps to onlookers, they appeared to be lovers going out for a night on the town. That’s certainly how it felt to Spike right now, the only thing missing was the two of them holding claws. By Celestia, how long had it been since he was in this situation? Not since…

“So, you never told me about that dragon,” said Ember, breaking the silence between them. “Come on, what’s the story with her?”

Spike let out a small sigh. “Not much to tell really,” he said, not wanting to go too much into her personal life with her. He had hoped that she would have forgotten about Mina after their shopping trip had ended, but no dice. And he had a feeling she just might keep pestering him until he complied. That or might try something else. “She’s the reason I came to live here in Fillydelphia. We were working together to try and improve and improve pony/dragon relationships.”

“Aha,” replied Ember slowly, giving him a once over. “And did the two of you fuck?” Instantly, Spike’s wings became erect as his face turned a deeper shade of purple. Shocked and opened mouthed, Spike quickly spun around to look at the other dragon who seemed pleased with herself. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

“We,” began Spike, but stopped himself to take several deep breaths. Anything to clear his head right now and gain some control over his beating heart. “We dated for a while and, yes, we did sleep together. Once.” Spike blinked as soon as he said this, wondering why he would admit something like that. It was none of her business how many times he slept with Mina.

Ember let out a chuckle before smirking more broadly at Spike. “So was the sex that bad that you two broke up?”

“It-” began a heated up Spike, feeling his heart beating all the faster. Sighing yet again, Spike placed a claw on his forehead, his eyes half lidded. Well, in for a bit in for a pound as they said. “It was just...awkward. For both of us. Truth is, I think we were just looking for something that wasn’t there. We got along ok, but we weren’t really clicking as another more than friends. Or maybe I was the one trying hard to find something and she was just…going along with it.”

“Ah,” began Ember, far less humor in her voice now as Spike continued.

“Mina was the first dragoness I ever met. It was back when I first came here to Fillydelphia, helping Princess Luna on a case involving burning buildings and the police believing that dragons were responsible. No dragon would talk to me when I asked about it, no dragon except Mina. When I met her, not only did I meet a friendly member of my own kind for the first time in my life, but also one who loved comics. Maybe…Maybe that’s all I saw back then.”

“Wait, hold on,” said Ember quickly as she grabbed Spike’s arm. The dragon froze for a moment before he turned to look at Ember with wide eyes. And she looked back at him with an expression that looked like a mix of anger as well as pity. “You…You were never around your own kind before? But how and…how?”

Spike shrugged. “I just was. All I know was Twilight was the one who hatched my egg and then took care of me from that day on.” The purple dragon then slowly shook his head before looking away from Ember who gently relaxed her grip. “And, for the longest time, I never really thought too much about it. But little by little, I started to want to know more about who I was, where I came from. It began to feel like I was the odd dragon out, the lone dragon surrounded by ponies. Guess you won’t know what that’s like.”

“You’d be surprised,” said Ember in a soft voice, one of the softest he had heard from the dragoness. Spike turned to see Ember just standing a few feet behind him now, looking down at a crack on the sidewalk. “Dragons are supposed to be big, strong, and tough. Just how things are. But I’m not…at least compared to most of the dragons. I’m a bit shorter, a bit thinner than them. Something my dad makes sure to mention from time to time. That’s why I had to be smarter, more clever than the rest so I can keep up. A lot of dragons look down at that so I feel…AHH!” Spike jumped back as Ember reached to grab her head with both claws before looking up at it. When she started to speak again, it was rushed. Like she was trying to spit out every word on her tongue as quickly as possible or else it might leave a bad taste in her mouth. “I feel alone sometimes because I want to prove that being big and strong isn’t everything and that dragons can use their brains and that I’m not like some helpless pony princess and that there’s a better way and I hate standing around doing nothing so I got to prove myself and please stop me from talking about my feelings!”

“Okay, okay,” said Spike as he approached her, his tone gentle as he took hold of her claws with his own. As he did, he noticed for the first time how small they were in his own, yet how rough they were. The claws of a hard working dragon. Slowly, he lowered them down to her side as Ember began to visibly calm down. “Feeling better?”

“Dragons don’t really do feelings,” muttered Ember, looking away slightly. As if she was ashamed with herself. “I just wanted to tell you that I know how you fe-, er, I know where you’re coming from. A little. I’m tough, can handle myself so it doesn’t bother me as much as you. But I get it.”

Spike couldn’t help but smirk a little at her attempt to brush what she had just said under the rug in a vain move to act tough. “Right,” was all he said as he turned around and continued to walk. Seconds later, Ember strode forward.

“So,” she began. “About you and Mina…”

Spike rolled his eyes a little, but answered her anyways with his head raised this time. “Well, long story short, Mina invited me to come live with her here. I don’t mean to brag but I’m a pretty important dragon.” Spike noticed Ember rolling her eyes at that, which caused Spike to grin at her smugly. “It’s true. Raised by the Princess of Friendship, helped save the Crystal Empire, went to another world to help retrieve the Element of Magic. I’ve gone on my fair share of adventures. So much that Mina thought that I would be a big help improving pony/dragon relations. It’s just…we had different ideas on how we wanted to do that.”

“I guess this is where the break up happened, right?” asked Ember. Spike nodded.

“Yeah,” he said. “Mina wanted to change things from the inside, leaning more towards politics. She went to work for the mayor and is now the Deputy Mayor. Me, I guess I was more inspired by my comics believing that ponies and dragons needed a symbol. For me to be seen walking the streets, working with ponies to show it could be done. Saving the lives of ponies just like how the dragons did with the fire snail. I thought it would be better than doing things behind the scenes, to be seen using my own claws alongside other pony officers.”

“Well, well,” said Ember as she paused in her step. Spike stopped as well, seeing that Ember was giving him a once over with a look of approval. “Look at you. I think there might be a little bit of ‘proper’ dragon in you after all.”

“Glad you approve,” said Spike with a slightly sad smile. “Mina, well, she didn’t. She thought that by joining the force would just prove to everypony that dragons were nothing but brutes. That I should rise above it.” As Ember looked disgusted, Spike shook his head. “We talked about it a lot and in the end we realized that we weren’t going to work out as a couple. We’re still on good terms though.”

Ember let out a snort. “Yeah, well, I think you were right.” Spike smiled for a moment, but that quickly faded as Ember began looking around. “Hey, are we close to this pawn shop yet?”

“What?” Looking around, Spike finally took note of his surroundings. The two dragons were still on a sidewalk, however the shops they had started to pass were more high end. At the moment, they were standing in front of a large jewelry shop whose large windows showcased diamond necklaces on the necks of mannequins whose price tag was something Spike could never afford to buy even with a discount. Looking further inside, Spike could see several ponies who all seemed to be dressed like they were upper class walking around a large square counter in the middle of the room. Several mares were standing on platforms wearing one to three of the jewelry as living displays. But there was one who seemed a little…off to Spike. He was younger and dressed more like Spike and Ember were now: jeans, a purple shirt, and wearing a spring jacket with the Crystal Empire Buckball team logo on the back. The employees within the building were clearly giving this unicorn stallion dirty looks, as if to tell him without speaking that he wasn’t wanted there.

Turning his head a little, he saw a café with an outdoor dining area which served those tiny little cups of coffee or whatever it was. The wait staff busied themselves, dressed in a Prench styled uniform with a few even sporting (what looked to Spike) fake mustaches. As for the customers, they were as well dressed as the ponies in the jewelry shop, some in the middle of leaving massive tips that made the bit bag Spike had been sporting seem puny. Other stores filled the streets up ahead, their signs elaborate and fancy to showcase how classy they were. And looking down the street, Spike could see a few ponies looking at them with slightly less disdainful looks as the ponies in the shop.

“Er, looks like we might have gone a little too far,” admitted Spike as he turned to look at Ember. “Look how about GET DOWN!” Spike roared, seeing a bright flash out of the corner of his eye. Acting on instinct drilled into him by the academy, he leapt towards Ember to cover her with his body as the two slammed into the ground. For a moment, the two laid there with Ember looking up at him in both alarm and anger before a blast above Spike destroyed the widow above. Ponies around they screamed in terror as the beam shot across the street to strike the building on the other side while glass shards flew in every direction. As Spike felt the glass rain upon his back, ripping his clothing, he wondered how this could have happened. Surely a shop with items that expensive would have cast a protection spell on it. Even the most basic spell caster could have put enough energy into it so that most common attack spell would have fizzled out. It was a spell that Twilight had learned when she was ten!

Hooves could be heard jumping onto glass by Spike’s side. He looked up and saw it was the jacket wearing pony from inside the jewelry shop. He had short, slicked back black mane as well as a lime green coat which gave him an almost sickly appearance. Spike’s eyes shot towards his hands to see if he had any sort of magical item in hand, but the only thing he saw were several diamond necklaces clutched in one hand which sparkled in the setting sun. But what surprised him more was what was on the unicorn’s horn: a magical amplifier ring!

Grinning, the unicorn began to run down the street in the direction both Spike and Ember had come from. As Spike began to get on his feet, the unicorn turned his head a little before firing another blast from his horn aimed at the middle of the street. More screams could be heard as a massive hole appeared in the street, ponies ran away from him.

“Why that little shit!” growled Ember as she slid out from under Spike before quickly getting to her feet. Spike was about to tell her to wait a moment, but it was already too late for Ember had begun to sprint off after the robber.

“Damn it,” cursed Spike as he pulled out a quill and parchment, writing a quick letter before sending it away via magical fire. Dropping his quill, Spike dashed off as well as another blast was fired.

It didn’t take long for Spike to catch up, seeing Ember was almost within arm’s reach of the trigger happy robber. Something that made him very nervous. He was about to call out to Ember, to warn her, when another massive blast was fired from the unicorn right into the dragoness’ body sending her flying backwards. Now close enough, Spike could see Ember’s eyes wide with shock as she was pushed back before they narrowed in focused anger. With one claw she reached down to grab the street, tearing several claw marks into the pavement to slow herself down.

“What the hell?!?” she gasped as she glanced downward. Spike glanced as well, quickly taking in the damage Ember took. Her clothing was nearly non-existent now, the front of her pants being vaporized while the back half fell down. Her shirt had been burned up all the way up to her small, perky breasts allowing them to hang freely. Her jacket had been the best survivor, only the zipper having vanished. His cheek burned a little at this, but Spike forced himself to focus on what was most important. Ember’s scales were smoking a little while a few looked slightly out of place or discolored. But she was in better shape than the road and, well, they could worry about their modesty later.

“Back off!” screamed the robber, as he looked over his shoulder. Spike could see it clearly in his eyes, he was worried. Oh, not about hurting somepony or anything like that. No, he had looked far too calm when he fired that beam right in Ember’s chest. He knew what he was doing and didn’t give one damn about anycreature he hurt. What had him worried, what he was scared about, was getting caught. Only his hide mattered. So, as this scum turned the corner, Spike’s eyes narrowed while a low growl escaped his throat.

Rather than chase after him blindly, Spike stopped at the edge of the corner which led into an alleyway. Slowly he peaked around the corner, taking in the area quickly before ducking his head back to avoid another magical beam. The robber was cornered. Not too far down was a large brick wall which blocked off part of the alley, preventing the thief from going any further. Two large dumpsters were pressed against the walls of the two buildings which lay on either side, but too far from where the wall was to climb up it and then jump over. There were also fire escapes running down the sides of the building to offer a potential method of getting off the street and into the building. But the unicorn seemed to be having trouble now, jumping up and down to grab the metal ladder only to fail utterly. Why didn’t he just blast down the wall? Well, either he wasn’t thinking straight right now or he didn’t want to continue broadcasting where he was going to two dragons who could survive getting hit. It was during one of these pathetic jumps that Spike caught sight of him, the robber spotting him as well and stopping to fire at him.

“Bloodstone, that pansy packs a punch!” shouted Ember. For a moment, Spike worried that Ember would rush down the alley to get to him in some mad charge of rage. But when he looked, he saw that she was on the opposite side of him with her back against the wall. “How the hell can such a twig pack so much punch?”

“Normally he couldn’t!” shouted Spike as another blast was fired. “He’s wearing a magical amplifier ring!”

“A what?” shouted Ember.

“Ever heard of a suppression ring?” shouted Spike, another blast being fired. After it passed, he saw the look Ember was giving him so he quickly explained. “They block all magic. Well, what he’s got is the opposite! It increases the power of his magic and its regeneration!”

“Sounds like Dragonlord Spit,” shouted Ember. “It’s a drink in the Dragon Lands, makes your fire hotter and shit but it slows down your speed. Tastes nasty too!”

Spike smirked a little. “Yeah, well, these rings have a similar downside. They make it harder to use more complex spells like levitation or teleportation. In fact, most first time users can only fire blasting spells like this.” As another energy blast was fired, Spike briefly thought of the other side effects. Yes, those rings gave a massive boost to your magic but at a cost. As Twilight would have said ‘Energy cannot be created or destroyed, only converted to another from one form or another. This includes magic.’ While Spike really didn’t get how unicorns built up their magic, he did know that the magic that guy was getting had to come from somewhere. Not his life force, but his body’s energy. From what Spike had learned during his time with Twilight, Celestia, and later the police academy ponies who use those rings crash pretty hard after a while. Some even spend thousands of bits on food, eating like their life depended on it. That was why they weren’t used all too often.

“Hey, he’s not firing,” said Ember, her voice lower now. Spike’s eyes widened, having been so deep in thought that he hadn’t noticed that the near frantic blasts had ceased. At the same time, the two dragons peeked down the alleyway to see that the unicorn had realized the same thing they had and was now trying to take the ring off his horn. Only he seemed to be having trouble with it, perhaps due to his sweaty hands.

Out of instinct, Spike reached for his belt to grab a club or something he could use only to remember that he was out of uniform. Silently he swore to himself, trying his hardest to figure something out and fast. The best case scenario (for Spike at least) was that the robber was planning on using a simple levitation spell to pull down one of the ladders and make his way up to the roof or something. If that was the case, Spike could take to the air and tackle him before the thought of even putting the ring back on crossed his mind. However, Spike knew he needed to operate under the assumption that he was going to teleport. While not every unicorn could teleport and that this unicorn would no doubt feel the draining effect of the ring, Spike knew he shouldn’t rule out the possibility that he could do it. Once that ring was off, he could disappear and then reappear anywhere within his range which would be unknown. Damn it!

The sound of cracking stone caught Spike’s attention. For a moment, he thought that one of the blasts had damaged the buildings around them and that they were starting to fall apart. But after looking at the source of the noise he saw how wrong he was. It was Ember, pulling off a large chunk of the building with the ease of ripping off a piece of paper! Before Spike could demand to know what she was thinking, the blue dragoness smirked at him before chucking the rock slab up into the air. The thief saw this and instantly ceased his attempt to take the ring off, instead blasting the incoming boulder.

Despite the horror of what Ember had done to the building, Spike was relieved to see that the thief had stopped taking the ring off. For the moment. Narrowing his eyes, Spike could see the robber was now panting while sweat soaked his shirt and pants. Clearly, he was starting to really feel the effects of the ring. But that just might make him more desperate to take it off! Throwing large chunks of rock at him might slow him down or even drain him of all his magic until he could no longer stand…but they would get in trouble with the city for something minor as theft. Not to mention he might just decide to blast the wall and continue the chase. Who knew how desperate he would be then? He might even try to take a hostage. Spike needed back up to…

“Ember, I’ll go high you go low,” Spike said loud enough for Ember to hopefully hear and to understand his meaning. Opening his wings, Spike shot into the air only stopping when he was well above the roofs around him. From there he made a swift U-turn, shooting down towards the thief while at the same time bringing his arms up to cover his face. And not a moment too soon because before he could pass two stories the thief had fired upon him. Spike grunted, his wings straining themselves to keep flying forward as his clothing began to vanish into dust. His scales began to quiver and shake, the pain causing Spike’s eyes to water a little. Within seconds he could feel himself being pushed back and up into the air. Damn, the pain was getting worse the more he fought it! He had never felt anything like this before. He had taken over a dozen energy blasts before and then jumped into a pool of lava to relax afterwards!

Then it suddenly stopped. Spike spiraled through the air as he tried to get his balance, tumbling downwards several dozen yards before regaining his balance. Looking downward, the dragon smiled to see that the thief was on the ground with Ember on top pulling the ring off his horn. The thief was fighting her every step on the way, looking like he was trying to knock her off by pushing himself off the ground. However, he stood no chance. Even from this distance, Spike could see that the effects of the amplifier were really starting to take effect as his arms were shaking uncontrollably as he tried to push himself off the ground. His mane was now heavily matted as was his shirt, causing him to look like he had just run ten Running of the Leaves at a sprint and no rest.

Silently, Spike landed next to the two. “Thanks for the help,” he said right before catching the ring as it was tossed to him.

“Yeah, well, I sort of owe you,” said Ember, her voice sounding a little strained as if she were having trouble saying the words. She then looked at Spike before frowning. “Ok, what’s the big deal here?!” Spike blinked before looking down. His shirt was gone, leaving his bare chest on full display. His pants, on the other hand, had been spared. They were smoking a little, but were otherwise fine.

“Well, would you look at that,” was all Spike could really say.

“Hey, you lizards better let me go if you know what’s good for you,” said the thief, still struggling. As he spoke, there was a sort of twisted smile on his face and an evil gleam that Spike did not like.

“Hey, why don’t you shut up before I really give it to-” Ember was interrupted as two new figures entered the alleyway. One was a bright red pegasus, who descended from the air, while an a earth pony who looked around Spike’s age came in running. Both of them were wearing matching uniforms and who paused as they saw the two mostly naked dragons along with the sweating unicorn. For one awkward moment, silence reigned over the scene. Then…

“HELP ME!” the thief suddenly screamed, kicking and flailing about while his sick grin vanished. “HELP ME! Officers, I managed to stop the thief only for these two greedy dragons to jump me. You have to help me!” At that, both officers looked upon Spike and Ember with suspicion and mistrust. Their eyes narrowed, hooves digging into the street a little as if they were preparing for a brawl. Not helped as Ember let out a growl with her fist raised; either ready to punch the thief upside the head to get him to shut up or to hit these two new ponies. Spike could also see small trickles of flame appearing between her teeth.

Spike, shot one more look at the kicking and screaming criminal as he understood what he was doing. The mistrust and scapegoating of dragons was still a thing. No doubt he was hoping for these two to take him at his word. For a moment, the two’s eyes met right before the kicking began to slow down a bit as the thief saw Spike beginning to smile a bit.

“Both of you, step away from the unicorn and put your hands in the air!” shouted the earth pony. “This is your one warning!”

Ember let out a growl, causing the two to take a step back. But before things could get any worse, Spike turned to look at the pair with his hands raised slightly. “Hey there Shield Wing,” he said, causing the pegasus to blink. “Took you guys long enough to get my message. What happened? Was there a party at the precinct and nopony told me?”

“Spike?” said the red pegasus, a confused look on his face as he began to loosen up. Slowly he began to look at the purple dragon more closely. “Is that you?”

“Come on, how many purple dragons are on the force?” Spike answered with a smirk, now approaching the two.

“Stay where you are!” shouted the earth pony. “You are under a-”

“Calm down rookie, he’s one of us,” said Shield as he placed a hand on the earth pony’s shoulder. ‘Rookie’ winced a little at the touch and while he still remained on guard, he did take a step back as Shield walked towards Spike. “Sorry about that. So used to seeing you in uniform that you look like a completely different dragon now.”

“Sure, sure,” said Spike with a good humored chuckle as the two walked towards each other, surprising everycreature there as they fist bumped.

“Wait!” shouted the thief in disbelief before anger took over. “THIS IS A SETUP! I WAS FRAMED! YOU CAN’T DO THIS TO ME!”

“So what happened here?” asked Shield as he looked around, eyeing Spike’s half naked body and Ember’s mostly naked one. “I hope you two weren’t in this alley having some fun, because I’ll have to take you in. Badge or not.”

Spike rolled his eyes at that before tossing the ring at Shield who caught it easily. “As if,” he said, ignoring the noises Ember was now making. “We were just at the right place at the right time when this dumb ass,” Spike shot a thumb at the robber, “decided he wanted to do some window shopping without paying. Came armed with a magic amplifier ring. Damn this stung like hell, did a number on our clothing.”

Shield let out a whistle, holding the ring up between two fingers towards the sky whose stars were now starting to come out. “Well now, this is something you don’t see every day,” he said before letting out another chuckle before looking at Spike. “Boy, you sure are lucky to be a dragon. Armed with one of these he could have killed a normal pony in a heartbeat.”

“Set up!” shouted the robber, again kicking and screaming albeit weaker than before. “That was planted on me you damn dirty cops!”

Shield brought the ring down as he pulled out an evidence bag. “Well, we’ll see,” he said as he dropped it in. Neither he nor Spike brought up the fact that there were ways of telling if a unicorn had used an item like this. Even using it once would leave enough magical energy within to last several days before it began to break down. Once they tested his magic and compared it to that on the ring, they would be able to tell he had used it. That, along with the dozen of witnesses that had no doubt seen it would be enough to confirm that he was the one using it.

“Sir, I don’t like it,” said ‘Rookie’, still eyeing Spike and Ember with clear mistrust and hatred. “These two just happened to be here at the right place at the right time? How do we know these two dragons weren’t in on it? That it was all for show and they were in the middle of stabbing him in the back?”

Ember let out a growl as Shield rolled his eyes. “Hey Rookie, how about you make yourself useful and send for a couple of police carriages. And tell them we need some spare clothes,” said Shield without turning his head. But Spike could see his eyes had turned, looking over at his side with clear annoyance. As for Spike, he did his best not to watch as ‘Rookie’ stormed off out of the alley way. Once he was gone, Shield shook his head. “Sorry about him Spike. Damn new colt, fresh out of the academy and transferred from Appleloosa. You’re not the first one he’s been suspicious about, seems to think that all crime here in the city is connected somehow. Seen seasoned detectives that aren’t as distrustful and jaded as he is. Oh well. Hopefully soon he’ll learn that you’re one of the good ones.”

“Yeah,” replied Spike, doing his best not to cringe at the ‘good ones’ comment. Instead, he was happy that he and Ember would be getting something to wear. “You need us to come to the station or…”

“Nah,” said Shield. “I’ll just need both of your statements while we wait for the carriages. Then you can take the little dragoness home.” That comment got another growl from Ember, but thankfully nothing more as Shield let out a sigh. “If we need anything else, we know where to find you. Trust me, you’ll want to head out as soon as possible before you get roped into helping us out. I saw the damage that was done on my way here and it looks like it’s going to be a long night.”

At that moment, Jet Set’s carriage passed the alleyway where Spike, Ember, and the police were. Not that the occupant of the carriage noticed them. No, he was sitting squarely in the middle of his seat with his hands folded neatly on top of each other. His eyes were closed as well, fighting the headache he had had since the night the cargo had slipped from his hands as well as the one that was to come.

Jet’s ears twitched slightly as the sound of the small window leading to the driver’s area opened up. “Sir,” said the driver in a curt tone. “Seems there’s been some damage to the street up ahead. I’m going to have to take an alternate route. It’ll be just a few more minutes before we reach our destination.”

“Very well,” said Jet, doing his best not to groan. Oh, how he hated talking to the commoner trash. But at least this one only spoke to him when it was necessary, making him slightly above the course grade of the common riff raff he was forced to deal with. Besides, a few extra minutes might help with this dreadful headache.

As his carriage turned a corner, Jet began to think about the source of this headache: the freed slaves. The loss of the slaves had placed him in a terrible predicament. He had rightly believed that such a story would make the front page news of every paper in Equestria, alerting Equestria to what the three of them had been doing. And while the two brothers had claimed that it would take years to undo what they had done to the mare, the dragon was another story. She had gotten a good look at all of them. It was only a matter of days or even weeks until the police came knocking at his very expensive door. Yet, strangely, there was nothing. Not a peep from the papers who would have loved nothing more than to watch his business empire crumble into nothing with this news. Not a whisper from the servants or, well, anypony really. And certainly not a knock on his door by anypony other than the doorstallion. What could the police be playing at?

This question kept rolling around inside Jet’s brain, bouncing around faster and faster to deal him no shortage of stress. The best he could hope for was that the dragon, with its tiny barbaric brain, had been unable to completely make them out or was only able to describe them in the crudest of manners. Or she had attacked her rescuers before fleeing, heading back to the Dragon Lands where she came from. But surely such an attack, at the very least, would have been mentioned in the papers. Worst case, the Royal Sisters had been informed and ordered the whole affair to be kept quiet like with the events at the Hanging City. If that were the case, the Royal Guard would be in charge of the investigation with the police being ordered to stand by. He could already see the gears turning in the heads of the two princesses, having their guards hidden and watching those coming and going from the city until they could unlock the secrets from their product’s minds. Thus he and his associates had to make their moves very carefully for the next couple of days. The brothers had agreed to lay low within the city, not pulling any of their usual stunts or schemes until the danger passed while Jet continued to do business as usual. He would stay within the city overseeing the construction of his new factory, meeting with investors, and all sorts of other proper activities.

If only that was the worst of it! Jet had already found a buyer for that unicorn. If he remembered correctly, she had been an extra in some show that one of the wealthier noble stallions in Canterlot had seen. Or, at the very least, had looked like her. The old fool would not stop babbling about her as if Jet cared. At the very least the stallion needed no other incentive after seeing her ‘before’ picture, using his magic to drop the first half of the payment right into Jet’s lap without seeing any of the other mares. More than enough bits to finalize the purchase of the land and, along with the profits from the other mares they had sold, to help begin construction of his new zeppelin factory! With that final payment as well as some additional sales of their products, Jet would be back in business! He could finally return to the country clubs with his head held high, truly a member of the Canterlot Elite once more. The shame of his decline would have been gone, rubbed out of history with all the bits he would be raking up. He even had an idea on how to continue this little slave trade business. Easiest money he ever made.

Or, at least, he would have been! The night they lost the two slaves Jet had been forced to write to the customer, explaining that there was a hold up with his delivery while doing his best to pin the blame on those two wrenched brothers. Rather than tell the noble stallion the truth, Jet had told him that the two brothers had allowed the slave for some time to walk about and that the mare had run away. He then went on to assure him that he was taking charge of the situation, overseeing the two brother’s to ensure a swift and speedy recovery. Jet also made sure to reassure the client that neither the mare nor those twin brothers knew who any of the clients were, thus there would be no trail leading to him or their dealing.

Perhaps the letter had been worded poorly seeing that it had been written in a hurry since the response Jet received shortly afterwards was less than ideal. A flurry of accusations appeared on the scroll, everything from trying to wring more bits out of him all the way to blackmail. He even thought there was a veiled threat there with Jet mentioning that only he knew who all the clients were, as if to say that if something went wrong he would be able to name names. Jet had only a moment to register this as he continued to read, the end of the scroll stating in no uncertain terms that he would ensure that none of this ever came back to him. No doubt implying that he had the power to end Jet before he had the chance to name any of his clients. What a nightmare this was.

So, here Jet Set was, on his way to try and scrape up whatever bits he could get in order to finish construction of his factory. He needed somepony important to help him, somepony who wouldn’t mind standing next to him and willing to be seen showing his support. Give his brand a bit more name recognition. Sadly, the best pony to do that was the disgraced Prince Blueblood.

As the carriage turned yet again, Jet let out a groan as his headache seemed to double in strength. Blueblood, what a fine stallion he used to be. A well bred stallion of the highest order, a unicorn who symbolized everything that their tribe stood for. One whose wealth and influence was the envy of all. Yes, Jet could remember those old days well when he saw Blueblood heading into one of the underground brothels within Canterlot. How he would be seated on one of the finest of chairs, sipping the finest wine as mares strutted forward to display themselves for his viewing pleasure. How he would instantly dismiss any non-unicorns, selecting only the most elegant of creatures to pleasure him. And when he was in public, he would utterly humiliate any of the common trash who tried to get into his pants. Yes, he had been an example the rest of them could follow.

Yet, that was the old Blueblood. Jet could understand, to a point, why Blueblood started down the road that he did. Such a rumor as liking little colts was such a vile thing that could plague a member of high society for some time. How or why it was started, nopony knew (although Jet had a few ideas). But the important thing was to prove it false before it could properly take root within their society. Why he had not hired a professional or the like was beyond him, but Jet could see at least a little merit in Blueblood’s choice to go to a strip club. He only wished that the prince had gone to one of the finer locals instead of some heap in a town as common as Ponyville.

That night had sadly changed the stallion into something he no longer recognized, something lower than what Blueblood should be. For a time he would make frequent visits to that club, the Pirate Cove or some other nonsense like that, and would be seen in the company of either a busty bat creature or a flat chested zebra. Pictures had been taken of the prince allowing those vile commoners placing their hands on his back or him toasting with what appeared to be cheap drinks while looking like he was enjoying himself! A bit of stomach bile tried to escape Jet’s stomach as he thought of those images which for a time circulated among the elite of Canterlot society. While Jet could potentially understand wishing to taste the sexual delights of dominating a far inferior pony, as he himself had done several times both before and after his marriage, it was simply wrong to show such displays out in public! Now Prince Blueblood’s brain was so clouded, and had sunken to such lows that he was reportedly courting a new Duchess from the Hanging City! Some bat whore named Batibat! How utterly repulsive of him! He was even going so far as to give the bitch a tour of Equestria, helping her make connections while giving her lessons on being a ruler.

Now Jet Set could feel the carriage begin to slow down, soon coming to a complete halt without so much as a jerk. Slowly the wealthy stallion opened his eyes, glancing to the side as to see out his window. Before him stood one of the finest restaurants in all of Fillydelphia, a modest looking building with large bay windows which were crystal clear. Through them he could look into the building, seeing the round covered tables full of finely dressed ponies with large chandeliers above their heads. Off to the side, Jet could see a small orchestra serenading their guests with music. And somewhere within this second rate establishment was Prince Blueblood. Or, at the very least, his informant had told him so.

As Jet waited for the carriage driver to open his door, the stallion began to clench his fists. He would never have come here had he not known Blueblood would be here and he would not even bother seeing Blueblood had the cargo not escaped him. Yet such was the way in business, dealing with those you would rather not. And while there were other ponies in Fillydelphia he could approach, none had the resources or connections that Blueblood held. Having the royal stamp of approval on his company would do wonders to help it take off again like it used to. Perhaps he would even be able to convince him to purchase a few dozen for the Royal Family. If he could do that, then this night would be more bearable. Still, he had not liked it when his informant mentioned that the Duchess would be dining with him as well along with her vile offspring. Jet could not help but sneer that the thought of some former low born scum sitting with Royalty as if she were somehow elite. Like she belonged there or had the right to be there. It was almost enough to make him reconsider seeing Blueblood, perhaps sending him a message to meet him at one of the ‘stallion’s only’ establishments within the city so that they could talk privately. A moment’s clarity, however, shook him from that thought. He was supposed to be showing Batibat around Equestria and no doubt the trash would be helpless without Blueblood by her side. Such a simple creature he was sure. Jet also had no idea how long the two would be in the city, making the prince’s time more valuable. And besides, he might be able to talk the creature into buying a few of his zeppelins…for triple the normal price of course.

“Hey, get away from that,” came the driver’s voice. Scowling now, Jet was forced to go out and see what the trouble was. As soon as he opened the door, his eyes widened with shock and alarm, for there bent over and looking at one of his custom built wheels was some low born ruffian in a trench coat!

“Be gone from here this instant!” commanded Jet, his voice booming with authority. This caused the street urchin to stir, standing up to look at Jet. But, as soon as he saw the stallion’s face, Jet’s anger faded rapidly to be replaced with a mask of neutrality as his body stiffened.

“Nice set of wheels you have here,” said By The Books, a detective of the Fillydelphia police that Jet had met with before. He could feel his heart racing, his fight or flight instinct telling him to run for it. To take hold of his carriage and flee Equestria while he still had the chance! But he ignored those base instincts. Just at a glance he could tell that the detective was alone. If he had something, surely Books would have brought some back up.

“Yes, they are,” said Jet as he stepped out of the carriage. As he did so, he eyed the restaurant where several heads were glancing to see what was going on. One of those heads was Prince Blueblood, seated in the back. However, from where he was seated, Jet could not see the rest of his party. If he had one that is. Satisfied at knowing that the prince was here, Jet returned to look at the aged detective. “Far more than someone like you could ever afford to purchase on your pitiful salary.”

Rather than be insulted, Books chuckled a bit. “Funny, with all the money trouble you’ve been having lately, I’d say my salary is looking pretty good right now,” he said. His words bit hard into Jet and he had to do his best not to clench his fists. No, it wouldn’t do to let this scum see that he had gotten the better of him in this verbal clash. So Jet just stood there, letting Books talk. “But I guess that’s old news now. Heard about the factory you’re building right here in town. Good news for you and for the ponies of the city. And with these fancy new wheels you got here, you must be swimming in the bits.”

“Yes,” said Jet in a breathy voice before quickly returning to his normal one. He raised his chin slightly to help him look down at the mere commoner. “Despite my…setbacks, they were not enough to ruin me. Now, is there a reason the Fillydelphia police are antagonizing me?”

“Antagonizing?” echoed the old stallion, looking wounded. “Oh no. No, no, no. I heard you were in town and wanted to say hi to an old friend, that’s all.” Jet’s eyes narrowed as the elder stallion walked towards him with a ghost of a smile. There was something in his eyes that Jet didn’t like but he let the old fool continue to speak. “Perhaps asking an old friend like yourself to regale me on how you managed such an amazing turn around over dinner? Food in there smells pretty good.”

“We’re not friends,” stated Jet in the coldest tone, fighting the urge not to grab his wrists. The phantom memory of the cold steel of the handcuffs was beginning to take hold as well as the shame of being thrown into the back of the police carriage by this stallion. “And I find it insulting that you would appear before me, asking me for my time without so much as an appointment! I am a busy stallion meeting with an important-” Jet’s words were cut off as he glanced through the window once more, his boiling blood turning as cold as a glacier. He almost stumbled backwards as past memories of his past, promises made returning to him as he watched Blueblood’s party rise from their seats. “I…I just remembered. I must go. Another pressing appointment. Yes…must go.” Jet’s hooves could not move fast enough, the elite stallion nearly tripping over himself in his rushed attempt to get inside his carriage. His magic lifted the driver back into his seat, much to the stallion’s alarm and annoyance, before ordering that they leave.

As the carriage began to depart, Jet Set leaned forward in his seat with his eyes wide in absolute horror as his hands clutched at his shirt.

“Well, well,” muttered By The Books as he watched Jet’s carriage drive off. Without looking away, the stallion pulled out his trusted notepad. Flipping the pages with his thumb, he came to the sheet containing the information on the wheels they had discovered at the scene of possible crime Spike had uncovered. His eyes flickered down, confirming what he had just seen not too long ago. Jet Set’s wheels were an exact match, from the size all the way to the elaborate, rose shaped tread marks. This didn’t mean the stallion was there in Dragon Town, but it didn’t rule him out as a suspect.

Pulling out a pencil, the stallion brought it up to the pad before eyeing the carriage one last time before it vanished into the dark of night and out of sight. Books then looked down at the pad and began to jot down what had happened as well as a few theories. He felt 60% percent certain that Jet had been in Dragon Town (with a 35% chance that it was a member of his staff and the other 5% being somepony else in town who had the same set of custom built wheels). Could his recent return to wealth have come from some sort of criminal deal? Well, it wouldn’t surprise the stallion given who he was dealing with. Jet Set was in a desperate situation and desperate ponies turn to desperate measures to hang on to their lifestyles. But what it was Books still didn’t have an idea. He wrote down the usual. Promising some griffons to move some illegal cargo for a fat sum of bits, drugs, that sort of thing.

Pausing for a moment, Books brought the eraser to his lips as he let out a small hum while thinking of Spike. As onlookers walked past him, giving him the briefest of glances, Detective Books considered another explanation. One far less illegal than the others. Given how desperate Jet was, there was a chance he could have been selling himself to the dragons. It was something that was whispered around Fillydelphia, that some of the richer dragons of Dragon Town enjoyed dangling their bits in front of the pony elite who had fallen on hard times. Seeing how far they would go, what they would do for cold hard coins. While Books knew Spike wouldn’t be involved in that sort of thing, the young dragon had looked into a few reports of ponies allowing themselves to get the shit beaten out of them as well as allowing dragons to have their way with them. All Spike could find was rumor and hearsay from a few unreliable witnesses. With another hum, Books jotted that idea down with a question mark next to it. Jet didn’t seem to have any injuries, but there was a chance that a wealthy dragon wanted to plow him on the ground of that abandoned building just for the extra humiliation.

“That’s odd, I could have sworn I saw Jet Set out here. Strange.” By The Books looked up from his notepad to see somepony he never thought he’d see tonight. Prince Blueblood was standing at the entrance to the restaurant in a fine tux while in the company of a thestral mare and an odd looking unicorn colt. The mare’s coat was a deep shade of purple with a long flowing mane of red that seemed utterly untamed. Her red slit eyes gave her the look of a predator eyeing the surroundings for her next meal. And perhaps she was a predator in a sense as he noted her callused hands, showing that she was no stranger to the outdoors and a rough lifestyle. Still she was a beauty, decked out in a black sparkling gown with only a single shoulder that showed off her rather large breasts. As for the colt, he seemed to be a mix of thestral and unicorn. He wore a white button up shirt and black pants over his brown coat and his blond mane was slicked back. While he had a horn, he also had his mother’s slit eyes and the ears of a thestral. Not to mention the fangs.

“You there,” said Blueblood, noticing Books. The stallion approached Books who quickly pocketed his notepad, a charming smile on his face that oddly seemed genuine for a stallion with the reputation of this prince. “You look familiar. I believe Princess Luna spoke of you once. Officer Bookings?”

“Detective By The Books,” corrected the aged stallion politely before bowing to show respect.

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” laughed Blueblood. “You must forgive me. Princess Luna only spoke of you once, but it was very fondly.”

“Well I’m just honored you remembered something from so long ago,” replied Books. He paused for a moment, taking in the sight of this stallion with new questions appearing in his head. “I was unaware you were in town. Normally whenever we get royalty the mayor is on our…” Books halted his tongue as he noticed the small one was looking up at him while holding his mother’s hand. He then looked up at the mother when he heard her chuckle.

“Oh, don’t mind him,” she said as she patted the colt on the head. “Murky here has heard far worse from me.”

“Well, ain’t that a sight,” sighed Books. “However,” he then gestured to the crowd around him, ponies who might not enjoy hearing his crude tongue at the moment.

“Yes, very wise,” agreed Blueblood as he briefly glanced around at the onlookers. “And it’s not surprising you never heard anything. This is a bit of a surprise trip. You see... Oh, where have my manners gone? Please, allow me to introduce you to Duchess Batibat of the Hanging City and her son Murky.” As he spoke, Blueblood gestured to his female companion who brought a hand to her face as she looked away, cheeks darkening as they did so. Books could also see that sharp look in her gaze soften a little while her body shifted very slightly to take up an uncomfortable pose. Understandable. While he had yet to see a picture of her, Books had read in the papers about this new Duchess who had gone from homeless to nobility almost overnight.

“Pleasure ma’am,” said Books as he gave her a short bow of respect.

“I have been giving the Duchess a proper tour of Equestria,” said Blueblood, his gaze drifting towards the mare for a moment. The way his eyes softened slightly, the slight turning of his lips as he looked at her; it was clear that the prince was smitten by the fair mare. And Books could not help but smile slightly when he noticed that the Duchess was looking at him similarly. He only wondered as Blueblood continued to talk if they were aware of each other’s feelings. “Helping her form connections with her fellow nobles across our great lands in order to better her ponies, making useful contacts with prominent ponies of business, finding the best possible staff, and so on. Which is what brought us here. Why, only a few moments ago I spotted Jet Set whom would be a tremendous help to the thestrals.”

“With the mines back under our control, me and my fellow Dukes and Duchess’ have begun the rebuilding of Hollow Shades and the Hanging City,” said Batibat in what sounded like forced political speech if ever Books had ever heard. Batibat seemed to feel it as well for she rolled her eyes a little before speaking again in something that was far more familiar to her. “But there is so much work to do. The previous bastards who were calling the shots squandered more of the ore, meaning we have to re-grow it from scratch, instead favoring gems. Then there are those damned Diamond Dogs. Plenty of tunnels have been turned into dens for them. Damn places now smell of wet dog and other shit. We’re either going to have to chase them out or just kill them all and feed their carcasses to the Wolf Spiders.” Batibat then let out a sigh while Blueblood let out a shudder, as if remembering something unpleasant. “And if all that wasn’t bad enough, we’re now having trouble transporting our goods out of Hollow Shades. Two of the previous dumbasses who were running the mines used their own train network to move their supplies and are still caught up in logistics on who owns them. So shipping our goods to the rest of Equestria has been slow.”

“Which was why me spotting Jet Set was so fortunate,” said Blueblood as he looked at Books, now seeming to look at him in a different sort of way. “I was hoping that we could sit down and discuss the purchase of a few zeppelins for the Duchess here. Now I would prefer the Crystal Empire models, I thought we might get a good deal from Jet. He certainly has had it hard recently. But, I dare say, he left in such a hurry. I…wonder why.” Again, he gave Books a look as if he were sizing the older stallion up.

“Who’s to say,” replied Books. “But, I couldn’t help but notice you never mentioned why nopony was told you were in town.”

For a moment, neither pony said anything as the two locked eyes. Neither of them showed any sign of hatred or malice, anything that would intimidate the other. Rather, their looks told that they were holding on to something that they could not share. At least, not in public. And not on the record.

“Well,” said Blueblood as he smiled, breaking the gaze to pull out a pocket watch. “Would you look at the time. Best to be getting off the streets.” He then looked up at Books, still smiling. “I heard there was a bit of a ruckus near here. Detective, I know this might be beneath you, but would it be too much to ask that you escort us back to our suite?”

Author's Note

Soooooooooo......

Sorry about the long wait. Had to get back into the groove with this story. But hopefully, this long chapter will be a good apology. Thanks to Kalash93 and Javarod

A Meeting of the Minds

Detective Books could not help himself, letting out a whistle as he stepped out of the private elevator belonging to the finest hotel in Fillydelphia and into the largest suite he had ever laid eyes on. The very first thing that caught the seasoned officer’s attention was the large pool in the middle of the room. Crystals of colors that mirrored the rainbow seemed fused to the ground, jutting upwards in large spikes or just in various small clusters here or there. Water poured out from the ceiling via a metal slit from the upper floor to create a waterfall which Books assumed one could control with a remote. After all, nearly everything in this day in age was controlled with a remote of some kind. The water poured gently into the water, creating a splashing sound that Books found to be rather soothing. But he wondered if there were any fish in the pool like had seen in some of the yards belonging to some of the more prodigious individuals he had visited during regrettable and often bloody cases. Alas, the detective found that he was too far away and the water too low to the ground behind the varied crystals to make anything out. Though, after a brief sniff of the air, he didn’t detect any algae or any of the other scents he found with those who owned such large aquariums.

Managing to pull himself away from such an opulent sight, Books looked around to see the rest of the suite. On one side, he saw that the entire wall was made of large rectangular windows which overlooked the city below. Through them, he could see the lights of the city flickering with a light in each of the buildings slowly beginning to fade out. But despite that, there were still pegasi flying around, passing by the windows without so much as giving it a glance. While Books had never been in this building before, let alone this very floor, he had passed by enough times to know that the two story tall glass panels were one way. No doubt meant to give them privacy from the paparazzi and soaring pegasi. Slowly his gaze moved across the rest of the suite, realizing that he was stepping upon fine white marble flooring which looked freshly polished. While he was no ‘real’ expert, Books had seen quality marble like this before from the Pie Rock Farm. Given the nature of the relationship between the Royal family and the Element bearers, it wouldn’t have surprised him if they did purchase their marble from them. Above their heads light shined from large, crystal chandeliers that dotted the ceiling.

While both the floors and the pool had a taste of modern wealth behind them, the rest of the suite seemed devoid of such things. The furniture, which was well spaced from what he could see with it being close enough so that the place didn’t look barren while at the same time careful not to make it feel cluttered, reminded him of hand crafted products of the century prior. The sort of thing that he had seen in both his grandmother’s and parent’s homes while they had been on this earth. But unlike theirs, the furniture before him still looked freshly made. The clawed feet of the sofas and chairs were freshly polished without so much as a sign that they had ever been scratched or dented. The cochins appeared plump and made of red silk which the detective had to assume was of the highest quality.

“Sir, may I take your jacket?” asked a maid, startling Books as she seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.

“I’m good,” replied Books as he held up a hand, smiling at the earth pony maid in a friendly manner as he gave her a quick once over. He eyed her hands, spotting how coarse they were as well as spotting an odd gesture she made as she lowered them. One hand seemed to reach for her waist, as if expecting to find something on her black maid uniform. The other became a fist briefly as it rose up her body but soon relaxed. When it was all said and done, the maid smiled and bowed before walking away.

“I’m going to put Murky to bed,” announced Batibat as she moved in, holding her son’s hand in a firm but guiding fashion. “We have a big day tomorrow.”

“Mother,” said Murky as they passed by a roaring fireplace, speaking for the first time since Books had been with them. His voice was a bit deeper than what he would have expected of a youth his age. Not by much, but it was noticeable. “Can Mr. Blueblood tuck me in as well? Maybe read me a story?” As he said this, the colt turned a little to look at the elder unicorn whom the detective noticed looked rather touched by this request.

“Blueblood,” began Batibat in a slightly nervous tone as she looked over at the two stallions. “Has some work he has to do tonight. It might take a while.”

“But,” began Murky, the mask of a perfect little colt beginning to shatter as he looked ready to stomp his hoof onto the ground, much to Books’ relief. Since the time he had first met the lad, he had remained silent and well behaved. Too well behaved for a colt his age if you asked him. No asking a thousand questions, looking around at everything around him, not displaying seemingly endless amounts of energy or any of the other things that he normally expected. There were, of course, more innocent reasons for this like the lad being naturally shy. However, having dealt with the darker parts of crime for so long, it always paid to keep an eye out for danger signs.

“Murky,” said Blueblood as he approached the pair. Books could barely contain his surprise as he watched THE Prince Blueblood lower himself to one knee as he looked the colt in the eye with a smile on his face. “Best to listen to your mother and run along to bed. I have a long, probably very boring conversation with this stallion that will no doubt put both of us to sleep. With so much boredom in the air, even our dreams are likely to be dull. Dull enough to put Princess Luna to sleep should she be unfortunate to visit us in our sleep. No, I couldn’t do this to you Murky. Please, save yourself from this foul fate. At the very least you shall be asleep in your own bed!” Books had to turn to his side to hide a grin on his face. Blueblood’s tone was a little over the top right now, looking like at any moment he was going to faint from dread at the thought of being out here with him. No doubt just playing it up for the colt.

Honestly, if this was how the stallion spun this yarn, Books was very interested in seeing how he told a bedtime story! And that was a thought he never expected to have about the prince!

Books then noticed Murky’s lower lip tremble as he took a step towards Blueblood. “But I don’t want you to have boring dreams,” he said, acting like it was the worst thing ever.

“Then you are my only hope!” exclaimed Blueblood as he put his hands on Murky’s shoulders in what felt like a desperate plea. “You must go to bed swiftly my colt! Sleep so that should Princess Luna visit you this night, you can warn her of my pitiful plight! If properly warned then perhaps she can wade through the boredom to save me!”

Hiding a smile with his hand, Books looked over at the Baroness whose hands were on her hips while it seemed like she was fighting to keep from rolling her eyes in amusement. With a shake of her head, she pulled Murky towards her. “Come on now,” she said, clearly trying to keep the amusement out of her voice. There was a twinkle in the mare’s eye as she then looked over at Blueblood, a smile of appreciation gracing her features as she led Murky across the room. Slowly, Blueblood got to his feet as the two of them watched the pair of mother and foal turn a corner before vanishing from sight.

For a moment, nopony said anything as the maid reentered the room with a tray held in both hands. On the tray was a large bottle of a dark amber liquid along with twin crystal glasses suited for such a drink as well as a container full of rather large ice cubes. The maid moved past them, moving towards a set of couches set so that they both faced the other as well as giving them an unhindered view of the cityscape. Between them was an old oak coffee table which the tray was set upon without the liquid even slightly turning about. When it was over, the maid moved around to stand behind one of the couches and she stopped just as soon as the sound of a door closing was heard from down the hall.

“Well, you certainly are full of surprises my Prince,” said Books at last, the humor in his voice never wavering while Blueblood moved over to the liquor. The detective noted just how calm he was as he poured two glasses, showing not a sign of embarrassment at the scene he had just been a part of. “Never thought that a stallion with your sort of reputation would get along with foals so well.”

“You’re not the only one,” admitted Blueblood as he turned around, looking unabashed as he walked over to Books to hand him a glass. Gently, Books accepted it and watched as Blueblood looked over to where the two had departed. “Never in a hundred years would I have ever dreamed of doing something of the sort for any foal. But I am fond of the young colt, despite him not being of my own flesh and blood. I have found myself wanting to spend more time with the lad and getting to know him better alongside his mother. He’s been a brave young colt for his mother during their hard times and wonderfully gifted as well from what I have seen. But, more than that he…”

There was a stillness in the room as an odd look fell upon Blueblood’s face, a distant one as his smile faltered. Books lightly sipped from his drink, his profession taking charge as he examined the stallion before him. He had seen that look plenty of times in the past: regret. But what that regret was, he had no idea though he could hazard a few theories. It could be that the Prince was thinking of himself when he was that age, not liking what he saw when he compared the two. That was possible, given the rumors that had circled around royalty for hundreds of years. Or was it regret that he had never had a foal of his own. That or he did, never spending time with the little ankle biter and now it was far too late.

To break the stillness of the moment, Books let out a loud and very forced cough. “Well now, such high praise coming from a prince of Equestria,” said the detective with a small smile visible on his mustached face. “Going to be pulling some strings in the background to make sure he gets into one of your auntie’s schools?”

“Heavens no!” laughed Blueblood, the good humor in his voice returning. As he continued to talk, the white stallion strode over to one of the couches while gesturing to Books to follow him. “I brought that same subject up with the Baroness and she was adamantly against the idea. Young Murky is a unicorn, but he is also half thestral. As such, it would be in poor taste having him travel all the way to Canterlot to receive a unicorn’s education…given the current state of affairs within the Hanging City. And after witnessing it first hand, well, I can’t say I disagree with her. A shame when you think about it, Murky would have truly excelled there. As for Princess Luna’s Academy, while I find it horribly brutish for my own tastes, I cannot deny that the end results are impressive. Given that the thestrals are fond of the night princess, having her give Murky a diploma might help them overlook his heritage. But despite this, the Baroness wishes to keep her son in the Hanging City for his education. No real harm there as a tutor can always be brought in to help him with his magic.” By this point, Blueblood was in front of one of the long sofas who's back faced the massive wall of windows. As the Prince sat down, he gestured to the sofa directly across from him leaving the old wooden coffee table as the only thing that separated them. Books took the hint, moving to sit down while Blueblood took a small sip of his drink. “But enough about such future matters. So, what had Jet Set gotten himself into this time?”

Books, who had been about to take a sip from his own glass, paused briefly as he looked at his host. Blueblood’s appearance had taken on a more curious approach, a leg shifting so that it lay on the other while his head rested upon his fist. Yet there was something in his eyes that…

“Pardon?” asked Books before taking a small sip from his drink, doing his best to buy himself more time in order to consider what he should and shouldn’t say.

“Come now, you don’t really expect me to believe that a high profile detective such as yourself was just chatting with Jet Set for no reason,” said Blueblood swiftly, a light smile on his face. “Meeting him on the street at one of the finest restaurants this city has at night.”

“Well…he hasn’t been charged with anything yet,” said Books, careful with his words still. Blueblood’s smile faded for a moment, but quickly appeared as his horn began to glow. There was a sudden flash that filled the room, Book’s instincts kicking in so he raised an arm to shield his face. A sudden pop was heard and then…nothing. Slowly, Books lowered his arm and saw Blueblood was still seated as he sipped from his glass. Yet his keen eyes did notice something and, when he looked down at the table, he saw it. There, next to the liquor, was a family crest. The Royal Family crest, belonging only to those directly related to Princess Celestia as a symbol of their authority. Not even Princess Twilight was allowed to carry one, though rumor had it she had gotten a similar one after the failed Starlight Rebellion.

“It seems like if we are going to make any progress we should, as they say, put all our cards on the table,” said Blueblood. “As long as our badges rest on this table, everything said this night is off the record.”

“Fine by me,” said Books, already reaching for his badge and resting it next to Blueblood’s. It was a little sad, as when the old detective looked down at his badge and compared it to the royal’s, his looked more like a plastic toy. “Could have done it without the flashy lights.”

“What’s life without a little fan-fair?” asked Blueblood, grinning a little at that. “Now, let me repeat myself: What has Jet Set done to gain the attention of the Fillydelphia police?”

“To be honest, we don’t know,” said Books, sipping from his glass while Blueblood looked irritated. “Not too long ago, there was an incident in Dragon Town. An off duty officer spotted two vehicles entering an abandoned building. He called for back-up while heading to confront them. Whoever they were got away.”

“Well that, ah, interesting,” said Blueblood, now looking confused. “But I fail to see how you connected the Jet Set to something like this.”

“The wheels,” said Books as he pulled out his notepad. Quickly, he turned page after page until he found what he was looking for: an image of the wheel’s tread marks created using his magic. More information was jotted down alongside it which included the dimensions as well as potential makers with nearly all of them crossed off. Using his magic, he floated the notepad to the prince and did not start talking again until the prince had it in hand. “Pricey custom job, made specifically for upscale clients. Don’t see too many of them here in Fillydelphia. So far, I’ve been checking with a few who could make them leaving only one left. One found in dear old Canterlot. And, well, wouldn’t you know it, that very night Jet Set came to our city.”

“Yes,” murmured Blueblood as his eyes scanned the paper. “I recall him showing off those gaudy wheels some time ago.” Gently, the Prince set down the notepad. “But you do know that there are others who could have ordered the same wheel design, correct? How many more are out there?”

“From what the maker was willing to let slip, about a dozen,” said Books calmly. “All of them made within the last couple of years. Couldn’t get the names without a warrant, but nothing stopping me from taking a look at a fancy set of wheels on the street. Just…admiring them.” Books took a sip of his glass, noting that the prince had moved his free hand over his lips as if to hide a slight smile. Was he amused with all of this or was he impressed that Books had managed to get this far by exploiting a small loophole. It was hard to say as the detective was finding it harder to get a good read on the stallion now that they were sitting here like this. Blueblood was hiding all of his tells; not an eye twitch, shifting around in his seat, or anything that could possibly give away his mood at the moment. Was this the result of some sort of training Blueblood had undergone in order to make him a better negotiator? Moving his lips from his glass, Books continued as to not give the impression that he was examining Blueblood. Or, at least, not making it too obvious. “Course, there is still a bit more leg work needed to be done before I can get that warrant.”

“Like, for example, trying to figure out if what was going on in that building was a crime,” suggested Blueblood gently. “If this was Jet Set, I dare say this wasn’t the first time he’s been in an abandoned building. You should see his old factory down in Horseshoe Bay.”

“Funny you should mention factories,” replied Books, a small smile at the slight insult his host had made at Jet’s expense. “See, Jet Set is opening a new factory right here in town. Thing is, with all the money trouble he’s been having lately, I’m having a hard time figuring out how he managed to open it in the first place. Don’t suppose you might know?”

“To be honest,” said Blueblood, his free hand leaving his mouth as he looked down at his glass, “that had crossed my mind when I heard he was building it. According to my very reliable source, the First Canterlot Bank has decided that they will no longer be loaning him any more bits.”

Now that got Books’ attention! The elder stallion leaned forward a little bit, staring at the prince with greater interest. “Have they now,” the detective whispered. “Is this reliable source Jet Set himself? Or his wife?” Normally, Books wouldn’t have asked this about somepony like Jet Set. It didn’t take somepony knowing him to a personal level to tell that he held within him a great deal of pride in, at the very least, his status. To have your financial situation being so poor that the bank believes you’re a bad investment had to be a blow to the stallion’s ego. And not just any bank. The First Canterlot Bank was home to the elite of elites that only took in the highest level clients! Ponies such as the entire royal family to the Canterlot elite to the most notable celebrities in Equestria. To have such a position rocked would most certainly be a badge of shame no sane pony would ever want to admit to.

Still, an admission would have been interesting to hear. Had he thought himself safe among his fellow elites? Perhaps loudly complaining to all those gathered, trying to paint himself as a victim? Or had his wife Upper Crust mentioned it, perhaps making a passing comment that Jet Set had to try and silence. It was possible. He could see a mare like her, gossiping with the other elites and then complaining how the bank was denying them funds. If that were the case, Jet Set would have been working damage control for the rest of the day and possibly days later. Oh, there was also the greatest lip loosener of all times: alcohol.

“Oh, very reliable,” answered Blueblood calmly. “Not Jet Set or Upper Crust, but I would take her word over anything those two said any day of the century.”

“Hmm,” was the only sound Books could make at the moment as he took back his notebook. This was getting interesting. Quickly he jotted down a few notes about what had been said, but knowing full well that he couldn’t reveal Blueblood had given him this tip. Still it would be helpful. “Sounds like you don’t get along with the two.”

Blueblood gave a little shrug, his horn lighting up as the glass full of high end liquor began to float in the air to refill his glass. “In all honestly…I was never that fond of Jet nor his wife,” said Blueblood with a light sigh. “Even before his financial troubles began, his presence among the Canterlot Elite was more…tolerated than anything else. He had deep pockets, connections to various industries both in Equestria as well as beyond, and there was something admirable about a stallion who had worked his way to the top. That said, however, many of his…‘conversations’ left something to be desired. There were times when I felt like he was acting more like a frat colt, his bag full of his father’s bits, and bragging about his latest…exploits.”

The mask Blueblood had worn so well was beginning to slip a little. His eyes were downcast, almost biting his lower lip. He was also struggling with his words, perhaps trying to keep them civil. But there was something more to it. Perhaps regret. Shame? But of what Books could not tell.

“These, er, exploits,” began Books, breaking the silence. “Hopefully all above the board?”

“Legally, yes,” responded Blueblood in a bitter tone. “Morally, however, is another matter entirely. Jet, well, he has bragged about the mares he’s seduced with honeyed words. Always ones he met while away from Canterlot. It doesn’t matter who they are be it the daughter of a business client, somepony’s wife, or even just a mare who seems hard on their luck. Jet would go on and on about how he got them to trust them, getting their hopes up, sleeping with them, and then laughing in their face when they thought he’d honor his word. He would laugh it all up in front of the other elites when he was sure his wife wasn’t around, feeling so very proud of what he had done.”

Books nodded as Blueblood talked, doing his best not to frown. While this was deplorable, it wasn’t illegal. Nothing he could get the bastard on. Also, hearing all of this reminded Books of the theory a few of the other officers had tossed around as to what might have happened. With this new information, one might assume that this was just another one of Jet’s outings. Perhaps to meet with a mare under the cover of darkness far from the eyes of other ponies, depositing his carriage and hopping into hers as they made their way to a more private and clean establishment. But Books quickly scoffed at the idea, even after hearing all of this. If Jet was having one of these exploits, then it would have been far less conspicuous for him just to rent a carriage for the night than to take his own all the way to Dragon Town. That was, after all, what got him on Spike’s radar in the first place. And if that had been the case, why did he flee?

Books went to take another sip of his drink, but found it was empty. Unphased by this, the detective began to help himself to another glass while his mind was still hard at work. Only this time he was more focused on the tidbit of information he had received about the bank. If the First Canterlot Bank had cut him off, then it seemed very unlikely that any other bank would have loaned him even a single bit. So the question was: where did he get the bits to start building that factory? Had the stallion sunk so low that he was meeting with an underground loan shark? That was possible, though nearly as unlikely as getting a loan from another bank. The sheer amount of bits needed to buy the land, build a factory, get materials, and so on would have had to range in the millions! What sort of collateral could he offer in exchange? Books doubted that the stallion could have been carrying with him anything valuable in his carriage that wouldn’t have fetched a better price on the regular markets. Was it a favor?

With his glass filled, Books knew he needed more information.

“When we spoke outside the restaurant,” began Books slowly. “You were hoping to help the Duchess do business with Jet Set since he’s been down on his luck. Strange you would do that considering how you feel about him.”

Blueblood’s calmer, more masked façade returned as the stallion lifted himself up a bit. “Well, time has a way of changing ponies,” he said. “I’ve been…reflecting on myself in recent times after a few random occurrences. They have been eye opening, to say the least.”

“I’m guessing that meeting a lovely Duchess and her son are among some of those occurrences,” suggested Books with a slight smirk on his face. The prince took no offense, or at least seemed to, as he blushed slightly at the remark.

“I admit that meeting both of them has left a powerful impact on me,” admitted the prince, lightly swirling his glass in hand. “Seeing how she was getting by back then, with few ponies to lend a helping hand. How her tribe was getting by. I don’t think that anypony should have to go through that sort of thing. That was why, despite my dislike for the stallion, I thought of setting up a potential business deal between the Duchess and himself. The very least I could do was offer him this chance.” The prince then paused, frowning a little. “Still, very odd that he would leave in such a hurry. The Jet Set I remember would have brushed right past you, entering the establishment before ordering them not to allow you inside.”

“Who’s to say,” said Books with a small smile. “Saw something inside that spooked him. Staring in through the window as we were talking, then suddenly claiming he forgot an appointment. Maybe he thought the crown was after him for missing his taxes.” Both stallions got a laugh out of this, Blueblood laughing the louder.

“No, no,” chuckled the prince as he leaned back into his seat. “Right now, Jet Set isn’t even on our list of concerns.”

“Hmm,” went Books, raising an eyebrow as he looked the prince over again. “Interesting choice of words there. Does that mean that there’s somepony in Fillydelphia that is on our list?”

“Well,” began Blueblood slowly, not seeming bothered by this question. In fact, Books began to feel like Blueblood had said that on purpose. That the prince had hoped he would pick up on that! “I will admit there are a few. Ponies like the Flim Flam Brothers.”

“Those con-artists?” asked Books, unable to hide any shock from his voice and nearly spilling his drink all over the place. “Is it about the Crystal Empire situation from way back?”

Blueblood let out a sad sigh. “No, no. Though truth be told, I wish it were. Princess Cadence and her husband have not forgotten what they did, nor have they forgiven them. But Princess Celestia had decided to forgive them back then…an act that did not help in her relations with the other princess’ mind you. She has her reasons, I’m sure. However, that forgiveness only applies here in Equestria. I know for a fact that Princess Cadence has been saving a very special cell for the two of them and when they set hoof in the Empire…” Blueblood allowed his words to hang in the air, causing Books to shiver slightly. He wondered what fate the Princess of Love had bestowed upon the two who had threatened everything she had ever held dear.

“Sadly, the reason I am looking for the two is of a more personal interest,” continued Blueblood. “While I was in Hollow Shades, a series of unfortunate circumstances prevented me from acquiring a place to stay. Thankfully, a mare by the name of Ghostly Stitch offered me shelter and what little food she could spare at the time. And it is that kindness I plan on repaying.”

“Let me guess, the brothers swindled her,” said Books.

“Got it in one,” laughed Blueblood in a humorless tone while gesturing to Books with his free hand. “You see, while Miss Ghostly was sheltering me, I inquired about a large selection of plates made of high grade silver that were in one of her rooms. Grand pieces that, I swear upon my life, were elegant enough to be given as gifts between rulers of nations! But the prices were labeled ‘best offer’. From her I learned that she had been trying to sell them during the tourist season, hoping to catch the eye of incoming ponies since the locals were in a bit of a financial crisis. Then, two ponies approached her and claimed that the product she was trying to sell was of low quality. The poor mare, she was so desperate that she accepted their offer for one bit per box! Well, before I left that haunting town, I made sure to ask Miss Ghostly to describe the two to me and discovered there that they were the Flim Flam brothers pulling a fast one on her. What’s more, I had been at an auction of theirs where they were selling those plates prior to meeting her. Each one went for well over a thousand bits!” Anger was beginning to flare up in the prince’s voice now while an almost faraway look appeared in the stallion’s eyes. Like he was recalling a memory of something. Or somepony. Perhaps he was remembering the mare who had shown him kindness or something more attached to her. But whatever it was, it vanished as it came. “Upon my return to Canterlot, I met with one of the ponies who bought several of those very same plates: Fancy Pants. Together we were able to confirm that these were the same plates that the brothers bought.”

Books let out a hum as he set down his glass. “I’m not really all that versed in the white collar division, but this is sounding like business fraud to me,” said Books as he scratched his chin slightly.

“Indeed, that is what the legal team I have hired to represent Miss Ghostly have told me,” said Blueblood with a nod. “And that will be just the beginning. I cannot go against Princess Celestia and have them tried for their crimes against the Empire, but for what they have done to the ponies of Equestria; I am ending it. Those two will be buried as I bring down the entirety of Equestria’s legal might down upon them! They have escaped its grasp for far too long, and with each new scheme they hatch is worse than the last. Who knows what bit making scheme they’ll think up next?!? All I need to do now is find them so that I may serve them their papers!” He ended his statement by patting his pants pocket, as if to indicate that he was carrying them with him at this moment.

“Well then, I’ll be happy to be on the lookout for them,” said Books with a grin. “Like to slap the cuffs on those two myself given everything they’ve done.”

“You might want to stay a bit longer after that,” said Blueblood with a grin. “Because I hope to question the two myself about a different subject. I will take great pleasure in watching the two squirm, in separate rooms of course, as I dangle their only hope at a slightly reduced sentence. A chance I will bestow upon one of them to not spend the next thirty to forty years in one of Equestria’s most vile prisons. You see-” The prince paused for a moment, eyes widening slightly before looking down at their badges. Once again the mask he had worn slipped ever so slightly, allowing Books to get a read on his host once more. By the way his lower lip was twitching, Books could tell he was having an internal debate with himself. But before he could wonder what that debate was about, Blueblood lifted his head while a look of the utmost seriousness appeared on his face. “I need to remind you that whatever is said next is off the record completely. Breath a word of it to anypony…”

“I understand,” said Books, fighting the slight chill he felt from Blueblood’s hanging threat. He knew that, legally, if he told anypony anything that happened tonight then he would make a powerful enemy. At the very least, the Prince would deny everything with a laugh while watching for the fallout and moving from there. If everypony believed him, then he would just destroy Books’ reputation via the paper; doing interviews where he would comment that Books was paranoid or seeking attention or something to that effect. Or perhaps pressure the department to force him out. If nopony believed him, well, the foal gloves would come off. A pony like Blueblood had the bits to sue him and make sure everypony was watching. Illegally, well, it would be so easy to make a nopony like himself just disappear.

Blueblood paused for a moment again, filling up his glass before he spoke. “What I am about to tell you is a matter of high importance currently only known by the Royal Family and a select member of the guards,” said Blueblood. “Given the level of trust Princess Luna put in you, as well as the number of years you have served this city, I am willing to trust you.”

“T-Thank you,” stuttered Books, feeling the weight of this unknown secret already pressing down on his shoulders.

Blueblood gave a small nod before taking a large gulp of his drink, smacking his lips loudly as he finished. Then, he set his glass down with a sigh. “I have mentioned Hollow Shades a few times now. Tell me, what do you know about the recent events there?”

“Just what was in the papers,” said Books. He knew what Blueblood was doing: seeing how much he knew so as to better explain the situation. “Three of the four Dukes down there were abusing their power. Creating an ore shortage to up the prices, barely maintaining the mines, driving the town into the ditch, and bribing the Mining Safety Committee.” The elder stallion paused for a moment. “But I think there was something more going on.”

“I wish I could say you were wrong,” said Blueblood sadly. “When I first arrived in Hollow Shades, or rather the forest surrounding it, I came upon several bodies entangled within webs. One of them, I noticed, worked for the crown. It took some looking into but we eventually discovered that he, along with several others, were employed by the Mining Safety Committee. Ponies who could not be swayed by bits, intent on doing their job.” Blueblood shook his head sadly. “I wish they had come to us sooner. They were left there, in the forest to be eaten by the large spiders that inhabit the woods while the Committee merely faked their resignation. And they were not the only ones. Anypony who could have been a threat to them suffered the same fate.”

“Hmm,” went Books as he noticed that Prince Blueblood’s hands were shaking slightly. It had happened half-way into the conversation. When he started talking about… The elder stallion’s eyes widened a bit while he recalled how Blueblood shuttered when the Duchess brought up some spiders. And, like that, the pieces began to fall into place. “I’m guessing they did the same to you.”

That caught the prince off guard. “How did you-” but caught himself. “I see, you picked up on that. Didn’t you?”

“Hard to miss,” replied Books with a slight shrug. “You’ve been avoiding saying it outright, but you leave in enough hints. See, I figured something must have happened to you when you mentioned that ‘series of unfortunate circumstances’ kept you from getting a place to stay. Seemed funny to me, a royal with your wealth and power unable to stop in at one of the Duke’s homes down there or at least get himself a room at a cheap motel. That’s odd, but I’m not willing to rule out a pickpocket or the like. But just now, when you started talking about the webs, your hands began shaking. I’m guessing they left a nasty impact on you.” Books watched at Prince Blueblood grasped his hands together quickly, as if trying to get them under control. “Makes sense. You being the Prince and all, having the Princess’s ear. Probably realized you couldn’t be bribed and so they tried to be done with you. It’s gutsy, I’ll give them that. You being a prince and all.”

Blueblood let out a sigh. “We have discovered that that was Copperhorn’s doing,” he said as he leaned back. “I was supposed to be teleported straight to Duke Dark Bargain’s estate, however the mages constructing the spell had been bribed by him. Instead of appearing in the Hanging City, I found myself in front of massive spider webs within the forest surrounding Hollow Shades. Apparently, he had hoped to frame the Duke for my disappearance to ensure that he would lose his title. And, as much as it pains me to admit it, Princess Celestia fears it might have worked. It would have been the word of Duke Dark Bargain, a stallion whose family was under investigation at the time, versus some of her most trusted mages within Canterlot.” Blueblood then paused for a moment as he looked down. “But, we soon found out that all that was just the tip of the iceberg.”

“Really?” asked Books, surprised. “What could be worse than-”

“Slave trade,” said Blueblood, interrupting Books. The elder stallion’s eyes shot wide, mouth shut as Blueblood continued. “When we were searching the estates of the other Dukes in the Hanging City, we discovered one of them held several mares and that had been there for some time. Probably keeping them there so that his wife in his ‘main’ home never found out. All of them nude along with clear signs of sexual abuse. Their minds…shattered. None of them had any idea who they were, only referring to themselves in the third pony as ‘This Slut’ or ‘Bitch’.”

Books felt himself breathing deeply without realizing it. “Dear Celestia,” he breathed. “Do you…Do you have any idea who they were?”

Blueblood nodded, his head rising as he did. The look he was giving Books was piercing. “Their cutie marks help to identify them,” he began. “All of these mares were living alone, having recently moved into a new area. Nearly all of them, a big city.”

“Makes sense,” muttered Books. “Big cities, it’s easier for ponies to fall through the cracks. With so many, it’s hard to notice when one or two goes missing. Especially if they just moved in.” Books then let out a sigh. “Were most of them low incomers?”

Blueblood looked surprised by that. “Why, yes. Nearly all of them were. How did you-”

“Jobs with high turnover rate,” said Books, his voice almost icy cold now. Though it was not directed at the prince nor the mares they spoke of. “A mare stops coming in one day and the boss just figures she quit like so many others. Never even bothers to check on her or see if she’s ok. Just mails the last check and moves on.” Books slightly gritted his teeth as his eyes focused on the floor. Memories of the past several decades began to flash before him. Club owners who seemed to shrug off the disappearance of one of their servers, not caring until they were told she was found in a ditch several blocks away. Restaurant owners ranting and raving about a ‘lousy’ waitress before the bomb of her death was dropped. The owner of a hotel unparsed that one of his housekeeping staff hadn’t been in for several days. How many ponies could Books have saved if any one of them had just tried to contact their employees? Just made the slightest effort to see if they were ok.

And how many more could have been saved if any of them ever learned from these tragedies…

“Yes, that seems to be the case,” said Blueblood. “None of their former employers went to check on them and their landlords only went to call on them when their rent was past due. Only a few who had family drop by for a surprise visit raised any alarm.”

“But I take it you’re not out here looking for the families of these mares,” said Books. It was not an accusation nor anything to bring shame upon the prince. Any social worker or officer could be looking for them. No, the prince was dipping his hooves into something much bigger and far worse.

“Right now, those who know of the situation are taking action while our foes are left in the dark,” the prince said with a sad smile. “Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are right now, respectively, trying to get answers out of the former Duke and trying to heal those mares. It is slow going as the pony in question has refused to answer anything unless he gets a deal. A deal which includes his freedom and being allowed to keep all his riches. He is a fool to think that Princess Celestia would grant him such a thing. She is willing to grant him peace of mind as well as allowing him to spend the rest of his days in a more, shall we say, comfortable cell. And her deal will be taken off the table if we are able to catch the scoundrels first. Meanwhile, Princess Luna is using her magic to try and repair the minds of those mares. Whatever they did, it wasn’t magic nor potions making the process slow going. Hopefully though, when they return to their senses, they will be able to shed some light on the situation.

“Since this was discovered in the Hanging City, the Countess is currently checking The Wall to see if any of her, er, ‘less fortunate’ subjects have been taken as well as those who live on the outskirts of Hollow Shades. She is also searching to discover how those mares were smuggled in without any thestral noticing. It could be anywhere from having paid off some of her guards to simply having them transported via flying carriage. As for the rest of us in the know, we all have our tasks. Mine, at the moment, is to see if I can discover who else might be involved in this heinous affair. Since the incident with the former Duke has been kept from the public at large, we are operating under the belief that any creature who has bought from this slave ring knows that we are aware of its existence. I have met with the mares whom we recovered, so I have an idea what to look for.”

“So the story about helping the Duchess making connections is…”

“Completely true,” said Blueblood as a smirk appeared on his face. “The best cover stories, in my humble opinion, are the ones with some truth to them. Duchess Batibat is in need of many things, so we have been going from city to city to meet with ponies of high importance. She, of course, knows about the slave ring and is eager to assist with her own set of skills. If we find any sign of wrong doing in this, then they will be hauled away in secret in the hope that they might be a bit more…cooperative. But, if we don’t, then we will hopefully have helped the Duchess with her affairs and nopony is any the wiser.”

Books nodded as he continued to process this, seeing everything working out before his eyes as if he were watching a play. He could see Blueblood and Batibat being welcomed into the home or office of one of the upper class. Perhaps asking for a tour of the manor, playing on the vanity or pride those elitists had. Heck, he could almost hear Blueblood buttering them up, suggesting that either he or the Duchess could use some inspiration for their own redecorating. Then, well, who knows?

“Well, well,” was all Books could say as his focus fell back on Blueblood. “Guess you have your work cut out for you. Still wondering why it’s a surprise visit, but-”

“That was my idea,” came the voice of Batibat, interrupting Books as she landed right next to Blueblood, startling the elder stallion. Quickly he placed a hand on his heart, feeling it race as he failed to notice her approaching. Looking up at her, Books saw that the thestral mare was grinning in a way that showed her fang while something glinted in her eyes. He also noticed that she had changed her clothing during the time they had been sitting here. Rather than a gown or some fancy night dress, she was wearing an old, loose fitting tee-shirt and shorts. This new attire seemed to help her relax as she sat down next to the prince. “The only ones who should know that we are now aware of the slave ring would be the ring leaders themselves. After all, the Dukes being outed and their homes searched made national headlines. I think it’s time they found out what it was like to be prey, with the eyes of the hunters looking down at them and wondering when they will strike.”

“Agreed,” said Blueblood with a smile, one that noticeably grew as Batibat cozied herself up to him. “We have no idea who is leading this ring, but it would have to be somepony, or creature, with high level connections. Perhaps a business pony of some note or a griffon claiming to represent Griffonstone or the like. Whatever the case, we feel that, if they knew we were coming ahead of time, the ring might have tried to move the mares out of the city. That or, far worse, dispose of the mares in an unpleasant manner. Now, however, they have been blindsided by our sudden arrival. Every single elite and leader of business within this city knows that we have arrived…or at least they should, considering that I personally made sure that all of their informants know. It will be interesting to see how they behave. Right now there are eyes watching who is coming in and out of the city, with certain targets getting a bit keener attention.” Blueblood then let out a small sigh. “So far, I am only aware of two ponies of interest who tried to leave the city in a blind panic before we even got our menus. We will be looking into why they did so in due time. The rest have sent me messenger ponies, stating how surprised they are to find me in the city and wish for me to call on them if my schedule allows.”

“They might not be in the city,” Books pointed out.

“That’s true,” agreed Blueblood. “But, as I said, we all have our parts. I’m just doing mine in this city.” The weight of that statement was quickly felt by the aged detective as he understood its meaning. Others were out there, looking for this ring in their own ways.

However, at the same time, a thought came to Detective Books. One that escaped his lips in a single sentence. “Why are you telling me all of this?” It seemed like the most obvious question. They had gone to great lengths to keep this secret, keeping the number of ponies who knew fairly limited to those they knew they could trust. So, why tell a lowly detective like him? How did they know they could trust him? For all they knew, he could be working for one…of the…nobles.

Could that be it?

“There are many, many pieces in play right now,” said Blueblood in an even tone, eyeing Books carefully. “However, we do not know how many pieces our foe has or how large they are. For all we know, there could be smaller ones out there that might slip through our grasp like grains of sand. Having somepony on the street, somepony we trust, would be of help.”

“And you think that pony is me?” asked Books, keeping his words careful and even.

“To be honest, it's more like you were in the right place at the right time,” said Blueblood with a little shrug. “I hadn’t considered getting any other ponies involved until you brought up Jet Set and Dragon Town. There are plenty of crimes going that may be connected that could escape my notice. So it makes sense for somepony who knows his way around to keep an eye on things for me. Especially if he now knows what to look for.” Then Blueblood let out a little grin. “Or, at the very least, having you look for those brothers so I can free up my other forces.”

Books forced out a laugh. “Well, like my mother always said: bits are like eyes. You can never have too-” As he spoke, Books had begun reaching for the liquor, ready to pour himself another glass but froze right before his fingers touched it. His eyes widened slightly as a new theory entered his mind. He remained that way for a good couple of seconds before licking his lips, his hand relaxing somewhat. Pulling back, Books looked up to see that Blueblood and Batibat were looking at him curiously. “Do you think our cases are somehow connected?”

“Connected?” blinked Blueblood. “I don’t see how…oh, you’re suggesting that Jet Set is involved somehow.”

“I happen to know where he is staying,” said Books in a firm tone. There was a part of him that knew that some might think that he was becoming obsessed with Jet Set, just throwing out ideas in order to see the upstart unicorn behind bars. And perhaps they were right…to a point anyways. But right now, there were so many pieces that seemed to be falling into place within his mind! “He’s renting a place on Saddle Boulevard while in town, a good distance away from the restaurant. He seemed eager to get inside, claiming to be meeting with somepony very important. Then, all of a sudden, he looks like a scared rabbit and runs away.” Books leaned forward a little. “Maybe he saw you were there.”

“I…I honestly find that hard to believe,” said a surprised looking Blueblood. “Jet Set is many things, I can assure you. Surely he would have been informed that I was there. And given his finances, well, it seems unlikely that he would buy-”

“Who said he was buying,” said Books, interrupting the prince. If the royal was offended, he didn’t show it as he instead stared at Books with wide eyes. As for Batibat, she gave a little nod for it seemed like she realized where this was going. “His bit problems seem to be going away, but no bank is lending him the bits. At least, that we know of. There is a factory going up here in town and I’ve been scratching my head trying to figure out how he was paying for it.”

“It is possible,” whispered Blueblood. “If you are right and he was in Dragon Town late at night, fleeing from the police, he could have been making a deal or something. He needed the bits so-” Blueblood paused for a moment to shake his head. “Still, I’m finding it hard to believe that Jet Set could do something like that to those mares. Jet, he,-”

“Well, somepony has to transport those mares,” said Books in a tone that caused the entire room to grow silent. Not even the lapping of the waterfall could be heard by those staring at each other as their focus was on what was said next. “And this wouldn’t be the first time we’ve caught him transporting illegal goods.”