The yacht arrived back at the port 6 hours ago, Spike's body was able to burn off enough booze to allow him to wake up, but that didn't make the hangover he had any better. "Ok, note to self, no more dragon Fire Rum for a while." He said that every time he drank the stuff, and he never followed his own notes. But then he noticed the gem in his room was glowing a bright green and had a number projecting off of it. "Shit, why do I have 53 messages?" Spike groaned as he got off the bed and walked over to the gem. He placed his hand on it. "Play last message." A screen was projected in front of Spike and standing there was a very tired and pissed off Coco.

"SPIKE DRAKE, I DON'T CARE IF YOU ARE BEING FUCKING EATEN BY A SEA MONSTER, YOU CALL ME BACK RIGHT THIS INSTANT OR I SWEAR BY CELESTIA I WILL QUIT!" Yelled Coco, she was not happy about him not picking up.

Spike gulped as she did not sound happy, and he liked having her around, so her quitting was not good. "Call Coco."

Soon a new screen popped up and sitting at her desk was a very, very, very, very, about 14 more verys, upset Coco. "Oh, look who decided to finally pick up?" Her speech was slurred.

Spike winced at her tone. "Coco, I'm sorry, is everything ok?"

Coco pulled a bottle out of her desk drawer and slammed it on her desk. "Spike, this is my 'You piss me off' bottle, it was here when I got the letter, it's now here." The bottle was a large vodka bottle, and from where Coco pointed first, she drank almost all of the bottle in a single night. "Your just lucky I was too drunk last night to go home." She hiccupped. "I'm too hungover to deal with this today. Princess Celestia is going to be arriving at the main port in less than 1 hour, and I'm going home."

"WAIT, why is she coming?" Asked Spike, he wasn't ready, or willing to face his mother right now, and she would kill him if she found out that he was drunk.

Coco groaned as she pulled out the letter. "Something about a diplomatic visit."

Spike gulped, he knew that meant she was coming for anything but a diplomatic visit. Hell, she used the diplomatic visit ploy to head to Mareocco for a cup of coffee. "Coco, tell her I'm taking over a small nation in the middle of Zebrica."

"Too late, maybe if I was able to get a hold of you before last night, but that's not going to work."

"Tell her I died and you're secretly running the company in my image?"

"I doubt she would believe that."

"Um...Get New G to turn her into a chicken?"

"Yes, because turning the single mare that can move the sun into a chicken is a great idea."

Spike groaned, short of blowing up the city to get out of this meeting, he was kinda outta luck. "Fine, send Tempest to escort her to the HQ and get Grubber to take you home, and don't bother coming in tomorrow, you done enough."

"Damn straight I have. You owe me a new bottle of hooch."

"Deal, and if I die, I want you to know, Whisky has a thing for you."

"Hell, that fine piece of tail is hot for me? Give her my address."

"Later, I don't think Drunk Coco is the best way to start a relationship." Spike ended the call and leaned against the bed. "Shit, why is she here?" But Spike didn't have time to dwell on that, he needed to get back to the office before his mother arrived.

He ran out of his cabin and got into his car. He refueled it and sped down the street to get to his HQ.

A little while later, Celestia and a squadron of guards were standing at the main transit port of the city. Many ponies bowed at the princess, but that was all, they still saw Celestia as the ruler, but Spike was in charge. 'At least he is treating them well.' Thought Celestia.

Tempest and a few of DRAKE's forces arrived at the port and it wasn't hard to find the massive alicorn that stood 2 heads taller than everyone else. "Ok, this is a diplomatic visit, so we have to do this by the book. I'm looking at you Jo-en-es, none of you start anything with her guard and make sure to keep calm." All of the DRAKE guards nodded. Tempest sighed as she forced a smile on her face and walked over to Celestia. "Princess Celestia?"

The Solar guard readied their weapons, which made the DRAKE guards do the same. "Not one more step." Said a guard.

Celestia sighed at how this meeting was already on thin ice. "Guard stand down, I have no doubt that this is our escort?" She looked to Tempest. "Greetings, and yes that is I, and who might you be dear?"

"Tempest Shadow, I am Spike's newest officer, and the company's head of security and training."

Celestia gave a pained smile. 'So, this is the mare that helped Spike?' But Celestia nodded. "Lovely to meet you, but this location is a little crowded, so shall we adjourn to wherever Spike is?"

Tempest nodded as she and her guards turned around and headed for a trio of carriages, pulled by a group of storm minions. Tempest opened the door for Celestia, and she entered it without a word. "Ok, one guard from each get in here, the rest file into the other carriages." Ordered Tempest. One DRAKE guard and one Solar guard entered the carriage, while the rest of the DRAKE guards took the front carriage and the Solar guard took the back one. Once everyone was loaded Tempest slid a little window on her side. "Head back, VIP is secure." With that, the Storm Minions sped off pulling the ponies faster than any carriage Celestia had been in before.

"My, they sure are fast?"

Tempest nodded. "Much faster, stronger, and trained than any stallion."

"I doubt it." Said Celestia's guard.

"Can you rip solid metal with your claws? No, I thought not." Said Tempest, not happy that her troops, the one's she trained for so long, were being looked down upon. "But if you wish to see their might, we can always stop in the training hall before we go see our boss?"

The Guard glared at Tempest. "Sure, that sounds perfect."

Celestia cleared her throat. "Unfortunately, that will have to wait for some time, I have matters to discuss with Spike Drake, and we should not keep him waiting."

The guard sighed. "Yes Princess."

There was a knock at the door, meaning that they had arrived, or something was going on in front of them. Tempest opened the window and noticed that the minions were nodding. "We've arrived."

"Wait, already, but we've only been riding for a few moments?" Asked Celestia, her scouts told her that Spike's HQ was the Chrysmare building, and the port they arrived in was almost 40 blocks away.

"They are very fast and most of the streets are cleared for this escort." Said Tempest as she and her guard exited the carriage. She walked over to the minions and un-hooked them. "Great job guys, go take a rest."

"Thanks Ma'am." Said the Minion as he and his squad walked off into the building to rest.

"They can talk?" Asked the solar guard.

Tempest glared at the guard. "What, you thought they were mindless beasts. No, they are just as smart as you or me, but they are more built for labor."

Celestia noticed that the minions were a sensitive subject for Tempest. "Well, I believe that we are going to learn a lot of things today."

Tempest snorted but she still had a job to do and punching a guard in the face was probably not a good way to start that. "Let's head up to Spike's office, he should be arriving soon."

Suddenly the sound of Spike's car roared down the street. "Never mind, it looks like he is just arriving." Said Tempest.

Spike noticed his mother and mare standing at the front of the building. Spike took a deep breath and pulled his car up behind the carriages. Giving one of the guards a nod, Spike got out of the car and the guard took his spot. "Same spot, and don't scratch it." Said Spike. The guard nodded and drove it to the parking lot under the building. Spike looked at his mother and smiled forcefully. "Princess Celestia, greetings, I hope my absence at the port was forgiven. I was dealing with another matter." Spike looked at Tempest. "Tempest, I hope everything went well?"

"Very much so, though one of her guards is really pissing me off."

Spike nodded as he walked over to his mare. "Tempest, calm down."

Tempest took a deep breath and she sighed. "Ok, I'm better."

Spike smiled at hearing that his mare was in control. "Now, how does a tour of my lovely HQ sound?"

"That sounds wonderful." Said Celestia.

So, with that, the guards circled Celestia while Spike dismissed all of the DRAKE guards, and the group headed inside. "Well, to start this is our lobby, I get clients, citizens, and everything in between all running around." Spike looked at a random pony that was carrying some papers. "Hey, what are you doing?"

"Delivering a submitted marriage license to be put into the system." Said the pony as she ran off to get her work done.

Spike then looked at a Stallion hauling a crate to the freight elevator. "Light Load, what are you hauling?" Asked Spike.

"Crate of parts for the doc's new toy, then I got to get across town to deliver some medical equipment for the foal hospital."

"Good, be careful with that equipment." Light Load nodded as he kept pulling the crate to the elevator.

"So, each floor deals with something, and it is all run through here. We are open 6am to 6pm every day of the week, but our staff is rotated out every 6 hours to ensure that no one is given subpar help. Now please follow me to the elevator so we can head to the next section?"

Spike and the group walked into the elevator and Spike selected the 23rd floor. "Mr. Drake, might I ask you some questions?" Asked Celestia.

"Not right now, I have a feeling what you want to ask is not something that others should hear." The elevator opened and Spike showed everyone the DRAKE personal living accommodations. "So, each group of 4 gets a room, we provide all necessary items, like a bathroom, beds, sheets, and food in the form of a kitchen, that is restocked once a week. But they use their pay to pay for the pots and pans, hygiene products, and entertainment. Though some floors hold weekly movie nights for the troops. Aside from that, they only work when they are needed, and they are free to relax when they are not on duty. Tempest, we're going to the training halls, I don't think New G will be in the best mood if he sees her." Tempest nodded.

Once the group skipped New G's labs, they arrived at the 35th floor. "From here, it's mostly training rooms, and storage. We have 4 training areas, the first is normal weight lifting, running tracks, boxing. The second is our magical defense training area. 3rd we have our air combat training slash racket ball courts, and lastly, we have our hand to hand fighting arena. All surfaces are magically enhanced to repair themselves almost instantly if damage is detected, and trust me, with the Storm Minions, damage is a guarantee, but they are great guys and surprisingly funny."

Tempest looked to the same guard from before. "So, you want to head down there and go around with them?"

Spike sighed as he had a feeling that she was going to do that. "No, I don't want to send him to the hospital."

Tempest groaned, she wanted to show up this punk, but Spike said no. "Fine, but how about I go in with Grubber?"

"That's worse, you'd kill him, and even with Grubber, I think he likes living."

"Fine." Huffed Tempest.

Spike laughed at Tempest's upset face, it was really cute. "Ok, maybe if you tie one arm behind your back, and promise not to kill him?"

Tempest smiled widely. "I promise." She looked to the guard and glared at him with a 'Your dead' face.

"After we're finished though." Said Spike.

"I can wait, it gives me more time to figure out how to beat his tail into the ground."

Spike sighed as he pushed Tempest out of her 'punching the guard in the face' thoughts. "Come on, we need to head to the apartments, and show our guests where they will be staying."

Tempest nodded as she showed everyone back to the elevator. "Ok, up to the 58th floor."

When they arrived at the 58th floor, Spike was the first to walk out of the box. "Ok, this is the start of the residential levels. until we hit the 64th floor, then it changes into my officer's rooms. Each floor has a sitting area, a meeting hall, standard master bedroom and bathroom, and kitchen, with all necessary equipment. This is where I keep any visiting dignitaries and their personal entourage, so I hope you find the accommodations to your liking. But on that note, Princess, should I expect any more equestrian rulers to drop by today?" He needed to make sure that Twilight and Luna weren't going to just show up at the port and demand to talk to him.

"No, I came alone, there was no real need to inform the other princesses, not for what I have planned. But I did inform Discord of my itinerary, that is how I was able to message you so quickly."

"Awe, you do care." Said Discord as his eyes appeared on an orange in a bowl behind Spike.

Spike sighed as he wasn't expecting Discord to drop by. "I swear, if you just say his name, he shows up." Suddenly there was a lion's paw wrapped around Spike's neck.

"Awe, I missed you too Spike, and look at you, nothing like that little whelp from years ago. Hell, you're banging the hottie next to you, and Tia has no idea."

Spike gulped as he looked at Celestia. "Crap." Celestia was motionless, the news that Spike was sleeping with a mare broke her mind. "Discord, why do you always make things worse for me?"

Discord laughed. "Spike, my boy, trust me, I'm not the worst there is out there, but just because I like you, I froze time the moment I showed up, haven't you noticed that nothing is happening?"

Spike looked around and like Discord said, no one was moving an inch. Spike walked to the window and noticed that the whole world was stuck in time. Spike sighed, Discord only did stuff like this when he wanted something. "Ok, what do you want?"

Discord gasped, a little hurt that Spike just assumed that he wanted something. "Spike, is that all you see me as, someone that only intervenes when he wants something?"

Spike cocked an eyebrow that AJ would be jealous over. "Do you want a list?"

Discord placed his eagle claw on Spike's mouth. "Save it, I have a problem, there is a Sphinx in a town near the border of Equestria called Somnambula, I kinda trapped her there when I was bored, she's free now, and she's looking for my head. Do what you do, and I'll throw some aid your way."

Spike looked at Discord. "Discord, you are literally the embodiment of chaos, how bad can a Sphinx be?"

"Spike, trust me when I say this, I fucked up royally when I trapped her in there, and right now it's either getting you to deal with her, or me dying, and trust me the second option is not a very good one."

"Fine, but I want to know what the hell I'm getting myself into first?"

"I slept with her, and never called again."

Spike looked at his friend. "Really, I did that in my month of freedom."

Discord shook his head. "Spike, Sphinxes are very set in their rules and promises. When I said I'd call her, she took it literally and that was almost 2000 years ago."

Spike hung his head. "Fine, I'll get it done, but I better not find out that she has been taking care of a bunch of Sphinx draconequus hybrid kittens, and she want's child support payments for the last 2000 years or something."

Discord smiled and gave Spike a hug. "Thanks Spike, you’re a pal." Discord then picked Spike up and placed him right where he was when this whole thing started. "I'll see you later Spike, don't die." Said Discord as he disappeared and restarted time.

Celestia blinked. "What was I saying again?"

"Nothing, but may I ask why you decided to come to Macro City today Princess?" Asked Spike.

Celestia sighed. "Spike, could we please talk somewhere more private?"

"Sure, let's head to my office."

Celestia sighed as she looked to her guards. "All of you, please rest, I'm sure that nothing will happen to me." They were about to protest, but Celestia silenced them with 3 words. "That's an order." So reluctantly all the guards walked past Spike and Tempest and took a seat in the floor's sitting area. "Now let us get down to business." Spike nodded as he, Tempest, and Celestia walked back into the elevator and went up to Spike's office.

When the elevator opened again, Spike noticed the state of Coco's work area, the desk was a mess, all of her papers were around the room, and her chair was in a dozen or so pieces in the potted plant in the corner. "Crap, I really pissed her off last night."

Tempest looked at the room's level of destruction. "Shit, I heard some loud banging from here, but I had no idea that Coco was able to do so much damage." Short of having the reinforced window shattered, Tempest was sure that a Storm Minion was responsible.

Spike groaned as he walked over to the desk and pulled out Coco's bottle. "Ok, note to self, don't piss her off." Spike decided to take the bottle, so he knew which brand she liked, and to make sure that she didn't use it again. "Come on, let's head into my office." Spike opened his office doors and left the mess for later. Tempest and Celestia followed Spike into his office and the former decided to stand near the door, while Celestia took one of the offered seats in front of Spike's desk. Once everyone was settled in the office, Spike went straight into why the hell are you here mode. "Ok mom, why are you here?"

Celestia sighed because she wasn't sure herself anymore. "I wanted to see you."

"Bull, I have been doing this for the last 2 years, and you just decided to come visit? Is it about what happened to Novo? Look I let her daughter go without a single fin out of place, and I didn't take the pearl, so no harm, no foul."

"Spike, that was very upsetting, but that is not what I'm here about."

"Is it about Bonnie? Look I wasn't expecting her to show up, and I turned down the marriage thing, so you don't have to worry about that."

"Wait, what marriage thing?"

"Oh, they came to offer a political alliance by marriage, and seeing as I'm the king of this land, I was free game, but if worse came to worst, they were ready for a political kidnapping, and as much as I like the idea of having a queen, I'd rather it be on my own accord. But they're down stairs in the guest rooms, they come and go just as long as they have an escort, and once she's crowned as queen, we'll talk about her repaying me."

"Well, the news about the possible daughter in law is surprising, but finding out that the now ex-prince was killed by your assassin was even more troublesome."

Spike smiled at hearing that Astral was doing his job. "Good, Astral is getting along well, and I'm a business drake, they came to me after you denied them aid to keep the royal family in power. I think that's more on you than me. Granted I would have done it myself, but I just got back, and I was kinda tired, plus Astral was around there last time I called him, and it would be a pain to send someone else. Speaking of that, I need to see if I have enough gems and bits for his pay." Spike placed his hand on the communication gem. "Treasury."

Soon a thin stallion with a green coat and a flat head answered. "Aw good day Mister Spike, what can I do for you?"

"Deep Pockets, how are our funds looking, I sent Astral out on a job, and so far, he's killed..." He looked at Celestia.

"15 people." Said the mare.

"15, so set aside around 20 bodies worth of treasure for him."

The stallion nodded as he did some mental math. "Ok, Astral has a 4 gem, and 1000 bit per head fee, so 80 gems, and 20000 bits, got it, anything else?"

"Yes, can you send in an order for a bottle of this vodka, I need to get it replaced?"

"Very well, that's some high end booze, so another 150 bits, but with all the stockpiles we got from the airships that have been coming this week, this will not even put a dent in the vault."

Spike nodded as he ended the call. "Ok, sorry, it takes a lot of money to keep this place a float, but the cost is worth the pay out."

Celestia sighed as she understood that better than anyone. "Yes, but can we get back on task here?" Spike nodded, they did get kinda sidetracked. "Why take the title of Dragon Lord from Dragon Lord Ember?"

Spike shrugged, there were actually a lot of reasons, but most of them were kinda petty. "Well, I was tired of being looked down by all of the dragons that I've come across in my time. So, I thought it was time that I make them see that I'm not weak, but that I'm in fact stronger than they could ever be. Plus, you don't have to worry about Ember, I used the Bloodstone's power to send the authority back to her. I just get to keep the Bloodstone with me."

Spike got up from his seat and walked to the window. "Mom, there is something I don't think you understand about me. I'm not a pure villain like Sombra, or Tirek, or even Discord before he changed. I care about my company and my city. I made sure that the street was evacuated when I split the city from the rest of Manehattan, I gave everyone 1 week to leave after I took over Macro City. I have ended bloody wars in a matter of moments, I dethroned a tyrant with a cloak of power over a fourth of the world, and I plan to leave them to their own devices. The Dragons are still under Ember's control, they just know that I'm not to be taken lightly, and while yes, I did hold Skystar hostage, but I let her go and the Hippogriffs can return to the surface. So, what's the big deal? Hell, you should be thanking me, I found plans when I took over the Storm King's empire to attack Canterlot. Granted I'm not that dumb to think of doing that, and the plans were kinda crappy, but it was something he was planning."

Tempest nodded, she remembers trying to help him with his strategies, but she was sure that he never listened to a single word she said. "He was big, conniving, and a great liar, but he was kinda dumb, and thought that brute force would win every time, so simple plans were his thing." Said Tempest, it was true, she was just surprised that it always worked.

Celestia was getting upset, she just wanted to know what Spike's goal was in all of this. "WHAT IS YOUR ENDGAME!?" Yelled Celestia, she was tired of all the excuses, all the half-truths, she wanted answers so she could prepare for the fall out.

Spike blinked, he had never heard his mother yell and the question wasn't one that he was expecting. "Oh, is that all you want to know?"

Celestia was confused, she was sure that was not the right reaction. "Is that all, I just asked you to tell me your goals for the last 2 years."

Spike nodded. "I know, and I have no problem telling you, it's not like it's a secret. I plan to do nothing but live my life the way I want to. Oh, that and make Twilight say the 4 words that could have stopped this whole part of my life from happening. Then maybe start a family?"

"That's it?" Asked Celestia, she was expecting something more 'take over the world' levels of ambition.

But no, Spike was sure that was all he wanted to do. "Yep, aside from that, I don't really care what happens. I make sure my city is taken care of, I make sure that bits are flowing in the economy, and I still need to learn to fly better with my armor, but I've gotten better since last week."

Tempest shook her head. Spike had not gotten any better with the jetpack on the armor, in fact he had gotten worse since his challenge with Ember. "Spike, you broke one of the windows in the air combat hall and took half of the equipment out with you, when you crashed."

Spike scratched his cheek. "Your point?"

"You need more practice."

"I don't remember you saying that last week, and that cute face you made, told me that I got you to cloud nine." Spike went silent the moment his brain processed what he just said. He looked to his mother and noticed that this time she was actually silent. "Discord, please tell me you saved me again?"

Suddenly a piece of paper in the form of a paper airplane flew in through a window, which was not supposed to open, and landed on Spike's desk. He took the paper and opened it to see the message.

Dear Spike, I warned you, good luck and I hope you get out of this with only half a foot in the grave."

Spike gulped as he looked at his mother. "Um... if it helps, she wasn't my first, Ember was." But that didn't make it better, in fact it made it much worse.

"You slept with Ember!?" Yelled Tempest.

Spike looked at Tempest. "What, I said we dated, and by that time, we had known each other for almost 2 years, and unless you had a dragon that didn't make fun of me, and actually lived with dragons, Ember was the closest thing I had to a dragon expert. That's how I learned to use my tongue the way you like it."

Tempest giggled, she loved how Spike used his tongue, and now she was cool with Spike sleeping with Ember. "Oh, is there something you haven't done with me?"

Spike smirked as he growled lustfully. "It's a 3 to 2 ratio, you figure it out."

"NOPE!" Yelled Celestia, she had enough of hearing about her son's sex life.

Spike looked at Celestia, he had almost forgotten that she was even here. "Right, you're here. Sorry about that mom, we are in the honeymoon stage, and she has really high stamina."

Celestia took a deep breath to calm her rage and disgust. "Ok, I'm just going to forget that the last minute of this conversation even happened, and I think it's time for me to leave before I send Tempest to the sun along with Ember."

Spike sighed, he actually didn't expect for this to go so well, and he actually did miss seeing his mother. Spike didn't have a problem with his mother, the only one that he was ever really angry at was Twilight, and kinda Rarity, but he got over that once he hooked up with Ember. "Mom, since you're already here, and no doubt already cancelled day court for at least the next few days, how about we go see the town? I got a nice box at the New Maresterdam Theatre and I know a great place not too far from there, that we can enjoy some dinner."

Celestia sighed, she would love to spend some time with her son and not the villain that he was, but if ponies saw that she was having a good time with Spike Drake, it could be seen as her conspiring with him. But thankfully she had a spell for when she wanted to get out of studying when she was a filly. She activated her horn and soon she started to shrink, her wings disappeared, and her three color mane combined into a single pink color.

Spike smiled at seeing Celestia accept the offer. "Well it's great to see you again, Solar Rose." Spike had seen his mother use this spell a few times, but very rarely for anything other than to get out of work.

Celestia rolled her eyes. "Spike, this spell will only last for 12 hours, so you better have a plan?"

Spike smiled as he placed his hand on the communication gem. "Front desk." Soon a screen popped up and a mare was waiting for her orders. "Hey, tell The Maresterdam Theater that I will be attending tonight's production, then I need reservations at La Sirène for three tonight."

The mare bowed her head. "Of course, sir, should I prepare anything else for you?"

"Make sure our guests on the 58th floor are taken care of."

"Very good, I will set everything up."

Spike smiled as he nodded. "Thanks." He removed his hand from the gem. "Ok, so it's around 1 in the afternoon, so how about we take a carriage, go around the town and do some shopping?"

Celestia smiled, Tempest nodded, and Spike sighed. "I'll go get my wallet." Spike had lived with mares all his life, when they shop, they only stop when the last thing to buy is the store.

So, with that, Spike, Tempest, and Celestia in her disguise, left DRAKE HQ and traveled around the city, not as a villain and a princess, but just as a mother, a son, and his marefriend. That last part still irked Celestia, but she could deal with that later.

Their first stop was the garment district. Both mares decided it was time for a shopping spree, and Spike's wallet took a big hit. The drake kept over 100000 bits in a magical wallet that New G enchanted for him, and by the time the mares were done with the first store, that reserve was almost down to 80000, and that was with Spike's discount for being the ruler of the city. He refused to just take from the owners, that's how an economy is ruined. So, he paid for everything he bought, just with a 15% discount. The next problem came in the form of the single question that no male ever wants to answer, hell they would rather admit to a murder than answer the question. Celestia walked out of a changing room dressed in a red evening dress. "Spike, tell me the truth, does this one make me look fat?" This was a double barrel loaded question. It looked great on Solar Rose, but on Celestia, it would be torn apart.

"On you, no, on the other you, yes." Said Spike. It was true, Solar Rose was more for evening colors, while Celestia was more for bright royal colors, and Solar was slightly larger than Tempest, but still only 60% of Celestia's size.

Celestia hummed as she did like the dress. "I think I'll take it, but can you go see if they have one in my other size?"

Spike sighed as he walked over to the clerk, a sky blue mare with her mane done up into a loose bun. "Hey, my friend was wondering if you guys had that same red dress in a larger size for her friend?"

The mare hummed as she checked her logs. "The largest we have is 94cm in the bust, 62cm in the waist, 70cm in the hips, does your friend know her measurements?"

Spike shrugged as he walked back to his mother to get her sizes. "Solar, what are your friend's sizes?"

"92,59,68." Said Celestia.

"They have one that should work. I'll get it." Said Spike as he walked back to the clerk. "She said that will be just fine." The mare nodded and went to the back to get the right sized dress for this friend. Spike looked at the clock and noticed it was only 2pm, they still had another 5 hours of shopping before they went to the theater. "They're going to bankrupt me."

"Spike, what do you think about this one?" Asked Tempest as she walked out of her dressing room dressed in a cream color strapless dress. "I like it, but it doesn't have any hidden pockets for weapons, and I can't run in it, but it makes my girls pop." The dress was tight on her, but the curve of her chest was on full display.

"Tempest, you look beautiful, and I don't think weapons or running will be needed."

Tempest smiled as she got close to Spike. "Well, want to see how long it takes you to get me out of it?"

Spike purred as he wrapped his arms around her waist. "Is that a challenge?"

"Maybe?"

Spike smirked as he could take Tempest in the dressing room and have a quickie, but with Celestia in the other dressing room, Spike liked living. "Tonight."

Tempest hummed as she pulled Spike down into a kiss. "Tonight it is."

Celestia walked out of the dressing room with all the dresses she liked and noticed Tempest and Spike. She used her magic, which now had a red aura and separated the 2. "Nope." Said Celestia as she placed all the dresses on the counter. "I'll take these as well, and see if you have them in the same size for my friend?"

The mare nodded as she ran off to get the dresses. Now that they were alone again Spike looked to Celestia. "Mom, what gives?"

"I don't care, I am still the mare that raised you, and until I instill the fear of me into her, I will block you every chance I can."

"Why, and if you bring up the time you saw TwinkleShine giving me a kiss on the cheek, I will burn down all the cake shops in Canterlot."

"You were 6."

"It was Hearts and Hooves day, and I gave her a cupcake."

"You were 6, and she was 10."

"And you are 7368, what's your point?"

Celestia huffed. "I thought I was going to be your special somepony that day."

Spike was confused. "Wait, is that why you didn't talk to me for the rest of the day?" Celestia nodded. "I thought you were upset that my Hearts and Hooves day cake was bad."

"Wait, you made me a cake?"

Spike nodded. "You were my mother, of course I wanted you to be my special somepony, and I asked it on a simple 12 inch cake with chocolate and pink frosting with 'Happy Hearts and Hooves Day Mom, I love you' on it. Didn't you eat it?"

Celestia shook her head. "No, I saw no sign of a cake that day, well except the one I saw Blueblood enjoying. But I thought a mare gave it to him... And now that I say that out loud, the more I think he took it from me." Spike nodded at the assumption.

"Wait, so since that day, every time you saw me with a filly or mare, you got upset..."

Celestia shook her head. "Oh, of course not, I'm not that petty, it was just for the rest of that year. Besides, you were only 6, and my little baby, you were just too young to have a filly friend."

Spike groaned as he couldn't believe that Celestia pretty much killed his chance at finding a filly friend when he was 6. Then again, he really didn't have much better luck until he was 18 with Ember, but it was the principal. "Ok, no more meddling in my love life."

"I'm your mother, I'll meddle until the day I die, and I'm immortal."

Spike sighed, he had enough of this conversation. "Ok, from this moment on, no more talking about my love life."

"Oh, hey Boss!" Yelled Whisky as she was coming into her favorite shop to do some shopping.

Spike turned around and gulped when Celestia noticed Whisky's chest. "Whisky, what are you doing here?" Asked Spike, he'd rather not lose her.

"Oh, I thought you knew, I only live a few blocks from this place, and it's where I get most of my clothes." She then looked to Solar Rose and Tempest. "Damn, when did you find the time to get these cuties?" She walked up to Celestia. "Oh, please tell me you're into mares as well. Spike's been dying to sleep with me, but if you join in, I wouldn't mind."

Celestia was at a loss for words, she was just asked if she was into mares, and if she wanted to have a threesome with her son. "Whisky, start a conversation with hello, my name is... not, hey, you want to have a great night, I like mares." Said Spike.

Whisky shrugged, she then noticed Tempest. "What about you, you got a nice pair and a fine flank, you want to meet up later and see where the night takes us?"

Tempest shrugged. "Sure, but I'm with him."

Whisky smiled. "Oh, you're Tempest, Spike told me a lot about you, and Sweetie, I think you and I are going to be great friends."

Spike could feel the back of his skull being melted by the glare Celestia was shooting him. "Whisky, we'll talk about it later, but right now, there are other things we could be talking about."

But Whisky wasn't listening to him. "So, I've heard dragons have 2, any truth to that?"

Tempest nodded. "Yes, he also has small barbs that rub and poke as he pulls out, but if you want some fun, they both have a good size knot that will stretch you. Then he does this thing with his tongue."

Before this got any worse for him, Spike grabbed Whisky by her waist, and without saying a word, he walked outside and tossed her into the carriage. He closed the door and looked to the storm minion. "Take her anywhere but here." The Storm Minion nodded and ran off with Whisky. Spike walked back inside and decided to leave the store 20000 bits and walk out with all the clothes. He was just grateful that the clerk had shown up with all of the Celestia sized dresses and placed them on the pile.

So, after a very awkward conversation with Celestia and Tempest, they headed to a few other places, like a salon to get their manes done, while Spike got his scales polished, his claws file, and his spines buffed. Then to a bookstore, but this was mostly for Spike, he was still an avid collector of Power Ponies, but Celestia found a new trashy romance novel, and Tempest found a book on fighting, so win, win, win. Then they headed to an accessory shop, Celestia bought a new sun hat that matched her mane, Tempest bought a nice purse, that was large enough for some weapons, and Spike was sure that this was what hell was like. But after that, they all went to one last shop because of Celestia's sweet tooth, Spike took her to one of the best sweet shops in the city, where she bought 15 cakes, 36 cupcakes, 8 dozen cookies, and more than half of their fudge. But seeing as it would look strange that a single unicorn mare with her figure, was scarfing down this much sugar, Spike decided to buy it all for her. Though because of where they were going, Spike had to get them to deliver the bulk of it to the HQ. But now it was time for them to get ready for the show, so after getting one of the storm minion carriages to take them back to the HQ, Tempest and Celestia took all their new dresses and headed to Tempest's floor to get changed, while Spike went up to his room to get on the only type of clothing he ever wore.

30 minutes later, Spike showed up at Tempest's floor dressed in a very nice suit along with a tie, he hated the formal noose, but even if he was in charge, he still needed to follow the rules, and showing up to a show, dressed in nothing but his scales, was a one way ticket to getting a talking to by his mother. "Tempest, mom, are you 2 ready?"

"Just about, we're picking purses." Spike sighed, that could take a mare forever to decide, and it just made Spike glad that he didn't need to deal with it. He walked to the sitting area of the apartment and took a seat on the couch. Tempest's floor was very much her, instead of the nice walls that would hang art, her wall held weapons, instead of a coffee table, she went for a punching bag, in fact the only things that Tempest didn't change was her bed room and her kitchen, she liked the idea of having a giant bed, and a clean place to cook. Suddenly Tempest's communication gem was going off, but it was meant for Spike.

The communication gems were all linked with each other, so if someone was calling from down stairs or somewhere else, all they needed to do to get into contact with the person they need to talk to is just say their name and the closest communication gem will activate, and since Spike was all alone in Tempest's sitting area, he knew it was for him. He placed his hand on the gem answering the call. Once the screen popped up, standing there was someone he was not expecting. "Bonnie, is there something you need?"

Princess Bonneble sighed. "Spike, do you have a moment?"

"Sure, what's going on?"

"I have gotten word that my father has passed. Has there been any word from your assassin, I wish to be home for the funeral?"

"First, I'm sorry for your loss, I have not talked with him directly, but I know that Astral has made great progress dealing with your uncle and his conspirators, would you like me to call him now and get a status report?"

Bonneble gave Spike a small smile and nod. "Thank you Spike, I do not want to leave my kingdom without a ruler in such a tough time."

Spike nodded as he ended the call. "Astral Flare." Soon a new screen showed up. "Astral, you there?" There was the sound of swords clashing, but since he answered, he was at least listening. Once the sound of something hitting the ground came into Spike's ear fin, he knew it was over, and since the gem didn't deactivate, it meant that Astral was the one who won.

"What do you want?" Asked Astral as he appeared on the screen.

"The king is dead, and the new queen wants to know if she could return soon?"

Astral nodded, he heard about the king’s death today, and he understood the need for a ruler to help her people through a time of grief. "I have one more name on my list, and I'm not too far from him now, I'll be done in Minotauria tonight."

Spike smiled at finding out that Astral was almost done. "Good, if you want to head to Macro for a little brake, just call ahead."

Astral rolled his eyes and ended the call. "Ok, he's as sociable as ever." Spike called Bonneble again. "Bonnie, good news, Astral is almost done, and you should be able to return tomorrow."

Bonneble smiled widely. "Thank you Spike, I'm happy to hear that I can return to my home, and give my father one last goodbye, I will remember your work in making sure that my reign was possible. I must inform Iron Horn, have a good night Spike, and I wish to say farewell before we depart."

"Sure, come by my office tomorrow and I'll have a carriage ready to take you to the port." Bonneble smiled and ended the call to let Spike go about his night.

Spike went back to the couch and was sure that they were going to need a storm minion carriage to make it for the show. "Tempest, we're going to be late, are you 2 done?"

Tempest walked into the room, but unlike normal, she was an ostrich. "Spike, tell her to turn me back, so I can wring her neck with my hands and not my feathery wings."

Spike looked at the mare turned ostrich and he laughed. "I always said you had some nice legs." Tempest walked over to Spike and gave him a slap to the head. "Right, what did you do?"

"I told her that all those sweets she bought will go straight to the royal flanks."

Celestia walked out of the room and glared at the ostrich. "I'll have you know that my flanks have been the same size since I was in my 2000s, and the only place that has changed are my tits."

Spike sighed, he knew the topic of his mother's rear had ended a few stallion's careers, but she never turned them into an ostrich. "Mom, we're going to need to rush, can you please turn Tempest back, so we can make the show?"

Celestia rolled her eyes as she changed the mare back into a mare. Thankfully, the dress she was wearing was fine. "There."

Spike groaned, this night was going to be long. "Thank you mom, now we need to get going."

"Hold on, your tie is not right." She walked over to him and fixed his tie for him. "I know that you never liked it, but that doesn't mean that you can just forget how to look appropriate." Said Celestia as she smiled at Spike.

"Sure, now let’s head down stairs and get going." Said Spike, both mares nodded as they all got into the elevator.

Down stairs there was a problem though, all four of Celestia's solar guards were being cornered after not hearing from the princess in almost 5 hours. "WE DEMAND TO SEE PRINCESS CELESTIA!" Yelled the guards.

"She is still in her meeting with Mister Drake, I'm sure that she will return once everything is settled." Said a receptionist, trying to stop the scene from escalating. But the Solar guards were there to protect Celestia, and if the villain Spike Drake was refusing to let them see her, then it was more than likely that Celestia was in trouble. The guards all readied their spears determined to fight their way to the princess if needed.

"Get back, I don't want to hurt anyone." Said the guards as they were getting really defensive.

But the DRAKE guards were ready to take them down, the moment things got hostile. "Stand down." Said Spike as he arrived in the lobby to the sight.

All the DRAKE guards lowered their weapons at the order, and Spike walked over to the Solar guards. "Now what seems to be the trouble?"

The Solar guards all pointed their Spears at Spike's neck. "SPIKE DRAKE, WHERE IS THE PRINCESS!?"

Spike looked at the guards confused. "How the fuck should I know, she left almost 3 hours ago."

"LIES, I DEMAND TO SEE HER NOW!" The guard pressed his spear closer to Spike's neck.

"Buddy trust me, I don't need but one finger to kill you, let alone an entire army. But one more move and that will be seen as an act of aggression towards me and my kingdom."

The head guard growled as he was really tempted to slice Spike's throat open. "Try it lizard."

Celestia's face went pale at the insult. "Spike don't do this, I'm sorry for him."

But Spike didn't hear a single word. "Really, you think I'm a lizard." Said Spike with a dark chuckle.

Tempest looked at Celestia. "What is going on?"

"Ever since he was young, that single word always set him off, and being from Canterlot, where it is the hardest for non-ponies to live, it did something to him, and it would take me and Twilight an hour to calm him down."

"Oh, this is not good. Attention, all storm minions report to the lobby, your target is Mister Drake, priority code 03."

"Well, that's fine, lizards are actually really cool." Said Spike as he pushed the spear away from his neck with a single finger. "Now, I told you that Celestia has left, so if you'd kindly leave my lobby, I have somewhere to be tonight." The guard was trying to push back the spear, but he was being overpowered by Spike.

"NO, I WILL FINALLY END THIS TYRANT IN THE NAME OF THE PRINCESS." Said the guard as he grabbed his allies spear and swiped it to Spike.

"Wrong move." Said Spike as he grabbed the second spear with his mouth and chomped down on it, shattering the metal, and splitting the wood. "Now, I know for a fact that none of your actions will be condoned by the princess, so I'm going to give you the choice, drop to your hands and knees, and beg for forgiveness, and the moment the next ship arrives you get off my island, or I keep you here and I send some of my associates to make any family that you have pay for your actions against me." Spike snaked his tail around the guard’s neck and lifted him up into the air. "Make your choice, preferably before you run out of air." Spike started to tighten his grip around the stallion’s neck, slowly choking him.

The guard started clawing and grabbing Spike's tail, rather than give his choice. "Also, the rest of you, just stay still and nothing will happen to you." This was enough to keep all the other guards in their place. "Come on buddy, it's a simple choice, live, live but others die, or die."

"I'm... Sorry." Said the guard.

Spike released the guard and he fell to his hands and knees in front of Spike. "Say it again."

The guard sighed as he didn't want to die and wasn't willing to let others die either. "I'm sorry Mister Drake."

Spike smiled as he looked at the guard. "Great, now I'm sorry about the spear, but it wasn't going to do much against me anyways." Spike helped the stallion to his hooves and dusted him off. "Now, I have to take these hot mares out for a good night, so please return to your rooms and relax, I'm sure that Celestia will be back to get you all, but the first boat is going to leave at 7 am, and you all better be on it." Spike smiled as he looked to Tempest and Celestia. "Well ladies, shall we go?"

Tempest smiled as she looked at Spike. "Sure Spike, but what about the storm minions?"

Spike looked around and noticed that everyone was evacuated and replaced with the storm minions. "Oh, when the hell did you all show up?"

"I had to call them in, I was worried that you would go nuts."

"Oh, I haven't done that in years, I found a great outlet to help me control that anger. Wait I forgot something." Spike turned around and punched the guard square in the head sending him to the ground again with a broken muzzle. "There we go, now I'm sure that we're going to have a problem with traffic, so we need to hurry." Spike wrapped his arm around Tempest and started carrying her, he also wrapped his tail around Celestia's waist and lifted her up into the air. "Oh, can someone take the asshole to the medical wing, and make sure he doesn't bleed on my nice tile floors." Said Spike as he carried the two mares outside and tossed both into a carriage.

Author's Note

See, he's reasonable just as long as you don't piss him off.