“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