.

It was a bright and sunny Monday morning as Sextant—a man who became a bazillionaire selling gooey fast-food products but lost sight of everything important to him, including his relationships with his friends, and was now Filthy Rich’s accountant—sat before a group of IRS agents who were accusing his employer of filing false returns on his taxes.

“Tax fraud?” he asked. “Oh, no, this is a miscalculation, a misunderstanding, I’d even go so far as to say that it was bad judgment, really bad judgment, but certainly not tax fraud.”

“We will be meeting with you and your boss at his office tomorrow morning at ten o’clock. Otherwise, warrants will be issued. Property gets attached and seized, everything gets very ugly... and you don’t want ugly, do you?”

“No, sir, I don’t,” Sextant replied.

.

It was 0619 hours when the Equestrian Dragon woke up that very same day.

He peered at his surroundings, and blew out a sigh, followed by steam, smoke, and fire.

“Thanks be to the Almighty, the Great I Am,” he thought. “I’m still in my cave. It smelled right, but I wasna certain. How long did I sleep?”

As he transformed back into his human form, Spike made his way to the surface, the words of his father echoing in his ears: “What’s done is done. We can’t change what happened. We can only move forward. No one must find out what you are. You know how persistent humans can be, completely dedicated. You are the chosen one. It will all work out. Everyone has a past they can work from. Trust me.”

After putting on a single-breasted dark gray suit and a black cashmere V-neck shirt (no tie required), Spike entered the main kitchen in Pendragon Castle, toasted a single piece of white bread with his fire breath and ate it.

Then he saw the morning paper: “College Open House Spreads Hate and Violence”.

“Police and campus officials are still trying to sort out exactly what took place near the student union as New Canterlot University’s ‘Open House Day’ turned deadly when the Equestrian Dragon descended upon the festivities in a rain of fire. Witnesses say it’s possible the Dragon was after drug dealers working for Legerdemain, but the resulting chaos claimed the lives of both gang members and students alike. A candlelight vigil is scheduled to be held outside the student union later this week.”

Spike hadn’t spoken to Fleur since the manticore’s attack at the University, and Fancy Pants had suggested that a visit to Zenith Industries might be in order... if nothing else but to make sure nothing untoward had happened there. But until 8:00 a.m., the Zenith Industries Towers were totally locked down—the only way in would be using a secret elevator hidden in the underground parking garage. Of course, that wasn’t a problem.

Taking his silver Series 1 roadster, Spike drove to New Canterlot City, into the Zenith Industries’ underground parking lot, parked in his reserved space—clearly marked “Don’t Even Think About It”—entered the secret elevator, and pressed the button for the top floor.

When he exited the elevator, Fleur de Lis was surprised at his arrival.

“Good morning, Monsieur Moneybags,” she greeted him. “I didn’t think you would be coming in today. Is something wrong?”

“Morning, Fleur,” Spike replied. He suddenly stopped and asked, “You smell that? That’s diesel fumes. That’s a turbo diesel, sixteen speeds, Tatum axle... that’s a delivery truck.”

“You can smell all that?” Fleur asked.

Instead of his usual, “You’re damn right I can,” Spike didn’t reply.

“Hey, why the long face? You must be worth your weight in gold. Cheer up!” she said.

“Any messages for Equestria’s most eligible?” Spike asked.

“No, but there is someone here to see you,” she replied.

“Who is it?” he inquired.

Just then, police officer Windstorm exited the public elevator, accompanied by two men. They both wore black uniforms which had more than just a passing nod to Third Reich tailoring.

“The Army,” Fleur said.

Spike recognized the insignia on the military officers’ caps and shoulders, but he knew only the younger of the two men by name: Cutter. He was a 28-year-old Captain when Spike first met him. He was 37 and a Major now, and one of the best officers serving in the Equestrian States Armed Forces and the Military Crime Investigative Service.

MCIS, as it was more commonly known, was a worldwide federal law enforcement organization whose mission was to protect and serve the Equestrian States Armed Forces and their families. But in order to counter the ever-evolving threats around the world, the MCIS had implemented a new, proactive strategic plan which emphasized the following priorities:

1: Prevent terrorism and related hostile acts against Equestria’s forces and installations.

2: Protect Equestrian systems and information against compromise.

3: Reduce criminal activity and mitigate its impact on military operational readiness.

Outside of that list, everything else was classified... and they were led by an arrogant, square-jawed ex-paratrooper named General Hackmane.

“Am I under arrest, General?” Spike asked.

“Mr. Zenith, we need to talk,” Hackmane said.

Spike nodded to Fleur, who returned the gesture. Then she led them into her office and closed the doors behind them.

“Word’s all over the capitol by now,” Hackmane began. “So the logical conclusion is that military and government information is leaking to our enemies from the area around here.”

“In the middle of Equestria?” Officer Windstorm asked. “That’s impossible.”

“Don’t contradict me,” Hackmane admonished her.

“I am inclined to agree with the General’s conclusion,” Major Cutter said.

“Again, it’s impossible,” Windstorm repeated.

“Don’t contradict him, either,” Hackmane told her. “In fact, don’t contradict anybody without permission from me.”

“Yes, sir,” Windstorm replied as they continued with the meeting.

“Mr. Zenith, ever since you came back to New Canterlot, strange things have been happening,” Cutter explained as he directed their attention to a local area map pinned up on the wall. “Our intelligence people have an agent planted here in the city. He reports to us through certain channels that there is a flow of information from this area. Here, a government supply train was robbed and then exploded. Here, an army tank was stolen. And here, a whole ammunition depot was blown up. Every mark on this map... an unsolved act of sabotage in the last six months--six months--all in a circle around this point!”

Officer Windstorm gulped when she took a closer look at the map... and she saw what was in the center of that circle.

“Major,” she said, “your finger is on New Canterlot City.”

“And my finger is on you, Zenith,” General Hackmane said.

“You were also the only one of us not present when the Equestrian Dragon attacked the University last Friday, making you a person of interest,” Major Cutter added.

“Just what are you implying?” Spike asked them.

“I am implying nothing,” Hackmane replied. “I am stating the fact that strange things keep happening. Government supply trains are robbed of their contents and then blown up, a tank suddenly appears in this city, blows up a few buildings, and then is returned to us... from a locked box my cigars vanish!”

Unfortunately for Spike, trying to pin down the source of the sensitive information leaks was not the only reason the MCIS was in New Canterlot City. Major Cutter had telephoned Spike over the weekend, shortly after the body of an Army lieutenant who vanished in the spring of 1994, four years prior—along with a million bucks in gold and precious jewels—was discovered in the Everfree Forest.

A deer hunter stumbled across what appeared to be a sarcophagus with the body inside it. At first, he thought it was an unexploded bomb or missile, until he tapped the side of it. Fortunately for him, it was hollow. He cleared some of the leaves away and opened the top, that’s when he saw the body. It was in remarkable condition; it appeared almost mummified. The container was airtight, creating a hermetic environment, which meant nothing could get inside it: no air, no bugs, no animals and no bacteria. Dog tags confirmed the victim’s identity as one Lieutenant Tone. The cause of death was massive internal hemorrhaging. That kind of bleeding could only have occurred when he was still alive, which meant that he not only bled to death, but he was murdered and then stuffed into the case that preserved him until he was found.

To make a long story short, Hackmane and his staff had reopened the investigation.

They had already pulled Tone’s service record: he was reported MIA near the end of a six-month deployment overseas. The lieutenant was believed to have absconded with the stolen military funds. He was declared a deserter and received a dishonorable discharge after being charged “in absentia with theft of government property” for allegedly deserting his position.

But the treasure was nowhere to be found.

General Hackmane believed that Tone stole the money; it was clear that he was going to stand by that. But if Tone had stolen the gold and jewels, he didn’t do it alone. Whoever took the treasure murdered him for it, and that meant he was either killed by an accomplice or killed catching the real thief in the act.

Major Cutter had spent three hours sorting through squadron records to locate the former members of Tone’s old unit: Lt. Commander Worth, Lieutenant Bronze “Lynch” Tan, a Mexicolt pilot named Maretinez, and the pilot’s Radar Intercept Officer, Lieutenant Mark Wiles.

Lt. Commander Worth had been killed in a ramp strike two years before; Hackmane had crossed him off the list of accomplices. And Cutter had already talked to Wiles, whose story checked out. But just because the Army cleared him didn’t mean they trusted him. He managed a skeet shooting range, he rented a house, he drove a car that was six-years-old and he had a child that went to public school.

“You think I would live like that if I had a million bucks lying around?” he’d asked.

It turned out Wiles had married Tone’s widow. After almost five years, she had Tone presumed dead. Finding his body had ended the vicious gossip and rumors that he had started a new life with the money and a new woman. Of course, the widow didn’t receive death benefits or child support because of his dishonorable discharge.

Back in ’94, Maretinez filed a TFOA (Things Falling Off Aircraft) report--squadrons had kept files on those going all the way back to the first biplanes--but he was found murdered in a hotel room in Mexicolt. And as for Bronze Tan, she was a hottie who had enlisted to catch an officer. She didn’t marry money, and she sure as Tartarus didn’t come from money either.

Cutter had tracked her down to New Canterlot City. That’s why they were there.

She was the only suspect left on their list—the only other one that was still alive—and they were wondering if she was Tone’s murderer. They were closing in on her.

“Well, if Tone stole that money, General, where is it?” Spike asked.

“We searched everywhere for him and the money,” Hackmane answered.

“How long did you search?” Spike inquired.

“Two days,” Cutter stated.

“Who searched, was it finders keepers?” Spike asked. “Frankly, I am curious how you manage to claim you searched every inch of a 95,000 ton, 24-story tall, 1,049 foot-long aircraft carrier in 48 hours,” he said. “If you’re going to accuse me of being responsible for any of this, do it already! This beating around the bush routine is insulting to me and it’s insulting to you.”

General Hackmane grimaced in disgust at Spike’s insolence.

“You didn’t search every inch,” Spike went on. “So, as far as you know, that money could still be there.”

“It could be, but it isn’t,” Cutter replied in earnest.

“Another assumption, Major, or do you know this as fact?” Spike asked.

“We are going to get to the bottom of this,” General Hackmane said at last.

“With your permission, sir,” the Major began, to which the General nodded. “General Hackmane has evolved what I consider to be a simple, yet brilliant plan.”

“So do I,” Officer Windstorm replied.

“You haven’t heard it yet,” Hackmane said.

“Yes, sir, I haven’t heard it yet,”

“We will plant military information at New Canterlot City,” Major Cutter explained.

“False information, of course,” General Hackmane added. “False but so tempting that the culprit, whoever it might be, can’t pass it up.”

“If someone, anyone acts on it, we can then be sure that the leak is somehow coming from this city,” Cutter stated.

“You will very carefully put out the information we give you,” Hackmane instructed Windstorm. “No one must suspect it is fraudulent. Do you think you can do it properly?”

“Of course, sir,” she replied.

“Now, it is my turn to contradict you,” Hackmane said, doubtfully.

He then began to explain how he intended to capture the Equestrian Dragon—by leading him into a trap at “the only strategic target in the area the Equestrian Dragon had not hit yet”—with Spike’s help, they were hoping.

“No time,” Spike said. “I’ve got to deal with a paper jam on level four and level six, then I’ve got to go inspect my new automobile and helicopter factories, plan a new line of action figures, and put a down payment on Europone.”

“After we finish questioning you and your people, Mr. Zenith,” Hackmane snapped in reply. “Your social life will have to wait.”

“Hackmane, it’s late, and so am I,” Spike stated.

“I don’t take orders from you,” Hackmane said.

“And I don’t take orders from you, either,” Spike countered. “But you will follow this order.” He looked over at Fleur, who was standing close to the telephone on her desk, and said, “Miss de Lis, call Chancellor Neighsay... direct.”

“Well, that’s not fair,” Windstorm commented.

“Neither is convicting a man to cover up a sloppy investigation!” Spike stated. “Losing someone you love is bad enough, but being accused of a crime without proof... that’s worse.”

When Hackmane attempted to argue, Spike abruptly ended their meeting.

“Leave! And do not ‘sir’ me,” Spike told him. “I work for a living.”

Hackmane grumbled as he marched out, whereas Cutter nodded respectfully to Spike before following the General, and Officer Windstorm calmly went after them.

“I didn’t know we had the Chancellor of Equestria on speed dial,” Fleur said to Spike after the two (technically, three) officers left her office.

“We don’t,” Spike replied. “But they didn’t know that.”

Fleur smiled and asked, “Do you know Major Cutter?”

“Yep,” he answered.

“I thought you would. Even though he’s considerably younger than you are,”

“What do you consider ‘considerably’?” Spike inquired.

“Just how old are you?” she asked.

“It doesn’t matter how old I am,” he stated.

“You’re embarrassed to tell me, a woman you met during the days of Emperor Caesar Salad and the Romane Empire, how old you are?” Fleur asked.

Spike shook his head and said, “Not at all.”

“How long did Cutter work for you?”

“He didn’t work for me,” Spike replied. “I worked with him.”

“You two served in the same unit?”

“For five years,”

Fleur could tell from the tone of his voice that Spike genuinely missed the man. Not only was Cutter an amazing agent, he was also an incredible athlete, one of the very few that could keep up with him. Fleur knew Spike was more than just an influential man, he was a cultural icon; the living embodiment of Equestria’s strength and power. His knack for reflecting these qualities back on almost everyone around him was more than enough to draw a devoted circle of admirers. But to Major Cutter, Spike wasn’t just a great officer. He was the squadron’s good luck man, a living lucky charm.

He always seemed to dodge the bullets.

Just last week, a car had run a red light and hit Spike dead on. His collarbone ached for a day, maybe two, but he was fine... other than that, not a scratch. An injured clavicle hurts like Tartarus and took more than a couple of days to heal. So either Spike was taking an extreme amount of painkillers or... there was more to him than met the eye. Of course, if anyone in the Equestrian military knew the truth about Spike, they didn’t tell.

Semper Fi. Always faithful.In other words, “You rat, you fry.”

As he stepped outside and walked through the above ground parking lot, towards his staff car, Hackmane felt that Spike should never have brought the Chancellor into this.

Spike was hiding something, but Hackmane wasn’t sure what.

“Talking to me like I’m a cadet, who the Tartarus does he think he is?” he muttered angrily. “Cutter, I said we are going to get to the bottom of this, and I meant it.”

“Yes, sir,” Cutter said emphatically.

“This turn of events is unfortunate,” Hackmane admitted. “We must accelerate our plan.”

“Sir, do you honestly suspect Zenith of treason?” Cutter asked.

“Treason? Never. Vanity, always!” the General said as he got in his car and drove away.

He and Cutter would continue to investigate the murder, working with Windstorm and the local police, who would also be tasked with tracking down the missing military funds. As for Spike... he was about to take matters into his own hands.

In the few minutes since they had left his office, Spike had become obsessed with clearing Lieutenant Tone’s name, but more importantly, he was devoted to ensuring the dead soldier’s former wife and young child receive his death benefits.

Before retracing his steps out of Zenith Industries, Spike called Pendragon Castle.

“Need I remind you we are not all creatures of the night?” Fancy Pants, who had just woken up, asked when he answered.

“Fancy, I’m on my way to the golf course. I need you to prepare a few things,”

“Sir, is something wrong?”

“A friend is in trouble,” Spike said, hanging up. “Hold on, Windstorm.”

.

The New Canterlot City Golf Course (NCCGC) wasn’t a private club... mostly because it was a nine-hole municipal facility, and a single membership cost several hundred bucks.

Major Cutter, eager to make up for his and his superior’s mistakes, had dropped Spike a hint that Maretinez and Bronze Tan may have had something going on with one another. In other words, they were screwing around. It was no coincidence that Maretinez was the pilot on the plane that dropped the pod carrying Tone’s body.

“That low-down, no-good Bronze Tan,” he had said.

“Who?” Spike asked.

“Bronze Tan!”

“Gesundheit,”

“She’s a gold digger! She lied to me!”

“Conned you?”

“Tricked me!”

“Fooled you,”

“Led me for a sap,”

“Made you look like a complete buffoon!”

“Alright, let’s not get bogged down on this point, Commander,” the Major told Spike.

So, with Cutter’s help, the Equestrian Dragon decided to start his own investigation. He arrived at the golf course (still in human form, and in the silver roadster) later that morning to confront Bronze Tan—who he’d learned was living a luxury-filled life—accompanied by Fleur de Lis, who interrupted Spike’s teeing-off by shouting, “Fore!”

“Never do that again!” he stated.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t--”

“It’s an automatic reflex when one is a golfer,” he told her. “Don’t yell when I have a niblick in my hand.”

“‘Niblick’?” she echoed.

“It’s what a nine iron used to be called,” he explained, “when golf was the province of Scolttish nobles, not the democratic ‘lovely walk spoiled’ by the weekend duffer.”

That’s when Spike and Fleur spotted Bronze Tan, exactly the same color as her name, sitting in the shade and sipping a margarita.

“We’ll have to split up. Take these,” Spike said, giving Fleur the keys to the roadster and a red carnation to wear. “We’ll meet later. Recognition code: knock three times and recite bippity-boppity-boo. Got it?”

“Got it,” Fleur replied. She approached Tan’s table and began with, “Who are you?”

“You’ve never heard of Bronze Tan? The fastest, strongest, smartest, most politically correct woman south of Liberal?” the other woman asked.

“Should I have?” Fleur countered, almost in retort.

After several minutes of chatting, Fleur lowered her voice, appearing to confide in Bronze Tan, and she casually mentioned the MCIS and how their presence had the whole town stirred up. Bronze Tan tried to act nonchalant, but Fleur noticed that the other woman looked uncomfortable. Bronze Tan finished off her drink, and then, after claiming that she had to use the ladies’ room, took the opportunity to quietly slip away... only to be confronted by Officer Windstorm, who had come to the golf course to check out her own lead in the investigation.

“That Windstorm is one femme courageuse,” Fleur said as the officer pursued Bronze Tan through the clubhouse.

“If by ‘brave woman’ you mean feisty and bold, yup, that’s her,” Spike replied.

“Freeze!” Windstorm shouted. “Hands where I can see ‘em! Turn around slowly!”

“You are making a big mistake, Officer,” Bronze Tan replied.

“She’s right,” Spike told Windstorm. “She’s more dangerous than she looks.”

“Look out!” Fleur shouted.

Bronze Tan grabbed Windstorm, taking the police officer’s weapon, and shot a warning shot at Spike and Fleur, who quickly ducked behind a corner.

As Bronze Tan left the clubhouse, holding the officer at gunpoint, Spike whispered, “Eye of the Dragon,” and shifted his sight to scan the area. His dragon vision was better to pierce the darkness and tricky lighting than his human eyes. Between that and the tracking device Windstorm had on her uniform—all the police officers had them—he kept his gaze upon them as they went through the parking lot outside.

Fortunately for Spike, the golf course had no security system, nor was anyone else looking after the first gunshot, so he didn’t have to worry about anybody seeing him transform. Once he became the Equestrian Dragon again, he exited the clubhouse and chased Bronze Tan into the parking lot. She was still using Officer Windstorm as a human shield.

“Let her go,” the Equestrian Dragon growled.

“How did you find me?” Bronze Tan demanded.

“I know that you murdered Lieutenant Tone,” the Dragon said bluntly.

Bronze Tan protested vehemently, pointing out that there was no proof.

“You also killed Maretinez because you didn’t want to share the wealth,” he added.

“There’s nothing wrong with living out a fantasy, especially when I can make it a reality,” she remarked.

Losing patience, the Equestrian Dragon got straight to the point.

“Someone had to move his body without being seen,” he went on. “Not an easy thing to do on a base filled with six thousand souls. So, how did you do it? I’m thinking you and Maretinez stuffed him into a mail sack and then dragged him in plain sight. But if that’s true, how come nobody noticed? You used to turn a lot of heads whenever you walked by. Who would have noticed someone dragging a mail bag with you walking by?”

“Look, maybe we can work something out?” Bronze Tan said. “I have a lot of money.”

“Stolen from the deaths of others!” the Equestrian Dragon roared. “Major Cutter saw the Lieutenant’s gold wedding band, he talked to his widow. She has a nine-year-old daughter, and she’s as pretty as her mother. You stole that money, set Tone up to take the fall, murdered him and cheated his wife and daughter out of the death benefits they deserve! You can tell it any way you want, but I will take you down. A Dragon doesn’t forget, nor get rid of, anything.”

The shocked Officer Windstorm was almost beyond words as the Dragon snarled at Bronze Tan and said, in a very icy voice, “I’ll give you a sporting chance.Run.”

In a desperate attempt to escape, Bronze Tan shoved Officer Windstorm toward the Equestrian Dragon and made a beeline for her red convertible. The Equestrian Dragon spat a fireball at the car, causing the fuel in its engine and gas tank to ignite and explode.

His anger having gone into overdrive, the Equestrian Dragon leapt at Bronze Tan. He tackled her, disarmed her, and pinned her to the ground, ready to melt her face off. But instead, he just used one of his claws to press down on her throat, suffocating her into submission while Officer Windstorm radioed for backup and he took off just before it arrived.

“I don’t know what’s dumber,” Windstorm said as she handcuffed Bronze Tan after the other woman had regained consciousness, “a criminal who breaks the law... or a criminal who breaks the law and believes that the police are as dumb as she is.”

“You all right, partner?” Sergeant Spearhead asked.

“Batting .500,” she replied. “While one monster almost killed me... one saved me.”

.

A short time later, Spike was in the library at New Canterlot University, where he found Moon Dancer, sitting on the floor, barefoot, cushion propped under her slender legs, thin arms, surrounded by books, one open and on her lap... as he always did.

“So fast,” Spike thought as he watched her eyes while her pale hands flipped through the pages. “That’s a genius for you.”

He gazed at the words in the book and his eyes widened.

The pages were printed in Prench! She was studying another language.

He said, “Excusez-moi.”

Moon Dancer stopped reading, looked up at him and smiled.

“Eh bien, quelle agréable surprise,” she began. “Bonjour, Spike. Comment vas-tu?”

He was surprised.

As well as unworldly, she was oddly friendly to him.

She tugged the hem of her short skirt down as she repositioned herself on the cushion.

“Vous parlez Français?” he asked. “Moi, je parle un peu Français.”

“J’ai habité à Paris un an,” she replied.

“Paris--la Ville Lumière, c’est le pays L’amour,”

“Bien sur,”

“C’est bien que je vous aie rencontree, parce que je n’ai pas eu la chance de pratiquer,”

“Su te veux, nous pouvons pratiquer beaucoup de choses ensemble,” she said. “Mon amour. Tu auras toujours une place dans mon cœur.”

“You speak beautifully,” he told her.

“So do you,” she replied as she got up and walked over to a nearby table, where she had left her lunchbox.

Spike asked, “What’s the matter?”

“To be honest, I had a feeling you might come and join me for lunch instead of going to the Café, so I made enough for two,” she replied.

“But what if I hadn’t come?” he asked.

“I didn’t think about that,” she said as she offered him a pork cutlet sandwich. “But it doesn’t matter. You came.”

The big difference between pork tenderloin and wiener schnitzel was that the former was made exclusively using pork loin and was deep fried instead of pan fried... and was typically served with fries, which she had made.

“You can have some more,” Moon Dancer said. “Spike, I also baked you some cookies--to thank you for fixing my front door.”

She also presented him with a stack of ginger snaps, carefully enclosed in a delicate white wrapping paper tied at the top by a ribbon. She knew he loved ginger snaps.

“Thank you,” he said.

“Here. If you like, take the rest. I’ve got plenty,” she said, handing him the whole bag.

“Are you sure? Well, thanks, Moon Dancer,”

Just saying that lit up her face. She seemed really happy.

At the same time, Rainbow Dash, Sunset Shimmer, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Fluttershy and Rarity were trying to decide on their own lunches in the University’s cafeteria.

“I officially give up,” Dash said. “What is it?”

“Jockeypanese, Moroccoltan, Coltcuttan...” Sunset Shimmer listed them off.

“Dash only eats plain food,” Pinkie replied. “You know, like burgers and pizza.”

“Come on, Rainbow Dash, live a little,” Sunset said. “You can’t go through life ordering through a clown’s head.”

“Oh, yeah?” she asked. Dash turned to Pinkie Pie, opened the party girl’s mouth with her hands, and shouted into it, “Cook some food!”

And she and Pinkie had a good laugh together.

“But seriously, what would you recommend?” Dash asked Pinkie.

“It all looks so good,” she replied. “We’ll take an order of everything with a side of everything else... my treat.”

“Eh, what the hay? I ain’t paying for it,” Dash said with a shrug.

“That’s my girl,” Pinkie smiled. “Hey, Cookie, you think you could splash some yellow paint on that, and a couple of red wagon wheels?” she inquired about the Sloppy Joe.

“Just try and stop me,” he replied.

“Wonderific!” Pinkie said as she loaded up her tray. “I’ll have one of these, two of these, two of those, four of these, twelve of those...”

She helped herself to soup and stew, pizza, lasagna, lamb, veal, chop suey, tacos, knockwurst, pastrami on rye, chocolate pie and tapioca pudding and she helped Fluttershy finish off the last of those delicious tarts left over from their dinner the night before.

Meanwhile, Dash had four onion rings and four big raviolis.

“So, what do you all feel like doing tonight?” Sunset asked them.

“Perhaps a nice walk in the forest,” Fluttershy suggested.

“Been there,” Rainbow Dash replied.

“How about a game of cards?” Applejack asked.

“Done that,” Dash said. “What I’d really like is a dad who lets me borrow his Ponyrsche. But we don’t always get what we want.”

“Like a certain someone who thinks she can figure out who the Equestrian Dragon is?” Sunset Shimmer asked.

“You might think my theories about the Equestrian Dragon are crazy, but you watch, I’ll prove you wrong,” Pinkie said.

As they ate, Rarity (who had seen Spike walking into the library earlier) couldn’t help but wonder how Spike felt about Moon Dancer.

“So, obviously he will chase any female wearing a skirt,” she thought out loud. “But, I mean, Moon Dancer? What is with that? You don’t think he like-likes her, do you?”

“Seriously? I had no idea you were such a wuss, Rarity,” Rainbow Dash said. “Did you ever think that maybe she’s just a friend? All they did was have lunch together.”

“You didn’t see him with her. It was a big love-fest in there... She baked him cookies!”

“So? That doesn’t necessarily mean she’s his girlfriend!” Dash replied. “Spike’s not the kind of guy who just forces himself on every woman in sight, you know.”

“It’s kind of sad that there’s absolutely no way to argue with her,” Rarity thought.

After the girls finished their meal, they saw Spike walking down the hall with a beautiful, busty young woman with glasses and long, red hair.

“That girl?” Dash asked. “Wow. She is cute,” she admitted.

Then they heard Moon Dancer ask, “How about tonight?”

“Then it’s settled,” Spike replied. “You’ll come to my house.”

“Sounds like a plan,” she said. “See you later.”

“His place?! Tonight?! What?!” Rarity exclaimed.

This caused the girls to ponder the current predicament while Rarity had reduced herself to drowning her sorrows with soda.

“I just don’t get it! You know what? I don’t care who Spike spends his time with!”

“Look, there’s no way she can be his girlfriend,” said Dash. “If she was, he would have told us about her before he invited us over for dinner.”

“Then what should I do?” Rarity asked.

“We’re going back to Pendragon Castle. Tonight,” Sunset Shimmer stated. “You want to know the truth, don’t you?”

“I don’t think I could handle the truth,” Rarity replied, scared. “I mean, are you sure about this? Just marching into his home uninvited? What if something happens? We might get into a huge fight.”

“Fine then, we won’t go. Just let her have Spike,” Dash told her. “We’re gonna be right there with you! Now, let’s go!”

.

Later that night, the six girls arrived at Pendragon Castle and saw that Spike—along with Celestia, Luna, Fancy Pants and Fleur—had prepared a barbecue for Moon Dancer... as well as Minuette, Lemon Hearts and Twinkleshine.

“Thanks for having us,” Minuette said.

“Another round of hot cocoa on Spike!” Lemon Hearts exclaimed.

Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Sunset Shimmer all started drooling... then their stomachs growled, which Spike heard.

“Someone must be starving out there...” he started to say. But when he saw the girls standing outside the steel fence, he asked, “What’re you doing here?”

“Drop the act,” Pinkie said, deathly serious. “We know you’re the Equestrian Dragon.”

The other girls, and everyone inside the yard, all gasped and stared at her with wide eyes.

“Gotcha!” she said. “You, the Dragon! That’s funny!”

Pinkie’s laughter was like music to Spike’s ears... even though no one was laughing at what she had just said.

“If you think that’s funny, I’d hate to see what your idea of hilarious is,” Rarity said.

“Well, did you ever notice how you never see Spike and the Equestrian Dragon in the same place at the same time?” Pinkie asked.

“What an odd and completely random thing to say,” Rarity replied. “I mean, a lot of people have never been in the same place as the Equestrian Dragon. We haven’t.”

“It was just an observation,” Pinkie said. “Excuse me for living.”

“Believe us, if anyone here had anything to do with the Equestrian Dragon we would be the first to know about it,” Luna told them.

Celestia smiled as she invited them in to join the cookout while Moon Dancer went inside, and Spike was shocked when he saw Major Cutter pull up in General Hackmane’s staff car... without Hackmane. Instead, he was accompanied by Sergeant Spearhead and Officer Windstorm, and they were all in civilian clothing.

“Cutter?” Spike asked. “What are you doing here?”

“Well, my flight to Pearl Harbor’s not till 9:00 in the morning. And since I’m here, I thought that...” The Major’s voice started to trail off. “Well, I could not be in New Canterlot City and not see my former C.O., and after what you did for my daughter--”

“Cutter, please, those would-be kidnappers had it coming,” Spike said, and he ushered the three officers in.

“You know, in all the time I’ve known Mr. Zenith, he’s never shaken my hand once,” Spearhead said.

“We were in the same unit three years before he even looked me in the eye,” Cutter shared. “Four years before he called me by name... He must really like you.”

After dinner, as Fleur and Fancy Pants worked to clear the dishes, the rich aroma of spiced apple pie filled the air. Moon Dancer had returned carrying a large, round dish covered by a simple white cloth, and she pulled it off to reveal that it was an apple pie.

“I made it for the first time,” she told them. “I know it won’t taste as good as the ones Buttercup Smith used to make, but...”

Applejack was surprised to hear her mother’s name mentioned, especially by Moon Dancer of all people. She was even more surprised when Moon Dancer cut the pie into pieces and offered Applejack the very first slice.

Applejack was impressed.

“Wow. This is amazing!” she said. “Did ya really make this for the first time?”

“I used Jonathan apples and brushed the top with a glaze made with apricot jam and rum,” Moon Dancer said.

“I never would have thought of that,” Applejack admitted.

It was delicious. Even Rainbow Dash, who couldn’t stand the thought of pie, stomached a tiny bite from Pinkie’s slice. As they enjoyed the dessert, the girls’ gazes kept straying to Spike and Moon Dancer. They saw how devoted she was to him.

“She’s hooked,” Fluttershy breathed.

“Eeyup,” Applejack agreed. “Like a wide-mouthed bass.”

“Spike,” Moon Dancer said. “I don’t know how to ask this, but I was wondering if you’d mind... if you want to, maybe... you would like to... you and I... maybe we... What time did you want to come over on Saturday to help me put up my bookshelves?”

“Well, is nine o’clock too early for you?” he asked.

“No, that’s perfect!”

All the other girls stared in shock as Moon Dancer quickly averted her eyes. They were even more surprised when she lost her balance and almost fell to the ground with Spike’s arm around her waist, but he quickly helped her to her feet.

“Nice catch, Spike!” Minuette exclaimed.

Applejack, Sunset, Pinkie, Dash, Fluttershy and Rarity were aghast as Moon Dancer coyly batted her dark eyes at Spike, her red lips smiling softly, and his own shy smile melted into a moony grin.

“Wait. She’s never even told Spike how she feels?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“It’s been close to ten years,” Celestia said. “There’s nothing going on between them. It would be too awkward, they’re practically family.”

“Well, Spike’s not the only dense one around here,” Rarity and Dash both thought.

As Dash refilled her drink, she couldn’t help but say, “Almost a whole ten years, huh? Talk about devotion.”

“Who cares how long he’s known her?” Rarity spat. “That doesn’t mean anything. Plus, I’m so much prettier than her. She’s a nerd!”

“She’s a very modest, hot nerd,” Sunset Shimmer corrected her. “Plus she cooks and she’s known him for practically a decade. On top of that, her boobs are, like, ridiculously huge, and you’re a B-cup who brags about her pretty looks and relies on her sexual charms.”

“Shut up! I do not do that!”

“I don’t think Spike even knows Moon Dancer likes him,” Fluttershy said honestly.

“And it’s not like he’s grossed out by her,” Applejack added. “If she told him how she felt, would they start dating?”

.

Rarity groaned as an image of Spike and Moon Dancer cuddling popped into her head.

“This sucks so much,” she said. “Do men really only go out with any woman as long as she has big breasts?”

“Now, Rarity, don’t judge Spike too harshly,” Pinkie told her. “After all, he really does care about each of us very much.”

Thankfully, the other guests didn’t hear any of what they had said. Frankly, they were more focused on Officer Windstorm, who dreamily stared off into the pink sunset, which slowly turned orange as it went down behind the beautiful rolling hills.

“What’s the matter with her?” Rarity inquired.

“Post-traumatic stress caused by her encounter with Bronze Tan?” Spike guessed.

“No, sir, it’s much worse than that,” Spearhead replied. “She glimpsed him for only a moment, and she’s hopelessly in love with him... her unknown savior, the Equestrian Dragon.”

.

The Main Street Bar & Grill had come under new ownership three times in the same number of months. It was first known as the “Beautiful Soul Bistro”, after that the “New Canterlot Pastry Emporium”... now, it was the Shadowbolts’ hangout, a place where the local lowlifes could just sit and have a beer.

The Shadowbolts were a group of street punks who had either been kicked out or dropped out of Crystal Prep Academy, took the school’s mascot as their own, and worked with the Raven Cartel as dope peddlers. Its three core members consisted of a young woman named Nightshade, and two guys, Descent and Shadow Surprise, and they rode dirt bikes instead of motorcycles.

Suddenly, a well-built man with black hair, wearing a black wide-brimmed hat and black leather overcoat, the high collar of which obscured his jaw line, walked into the establishment.

And he was carrying a black doctor’s bag.

He walked in like he owned the place, approached the bar, but he didn’t say anything.

Then the bartender asked, “You lost? ‘Cuz I ain’t got time for tourists.”

“Me? I’m just a simple doctor in search of a new practice,” the stranger said. “Perhaps you can help me find some work?”

“There’s no work here,” the bartender replied.

“I see. Something to drink, at least?”

“You got something in the bag?”

“Yeah,”

The bartender’s eyes narrowed. “What?”

“A bomb,” the doctor scoffed.

That pissed off the bartender.

Just then, a dagger flew across the room and stuck into a wanted poster adorning a picture of a man known as Doc McColt, a gun for hire who didn’t ask too many questions and always got the job done—the same man who had just walked in.

“I’m not looking for trouble,” he said.

“The only thing you will find tonight is trouble, Doctor,” one of the patrons, Nightshade, said as she ripped the wanted poster off the wall and crumpled it up. “If one of us was to tell the local sentry you’re in town, we could split the reward.”

Another patron, Shadow Surprise, gripping a knife, crept up behind the stranger, McColt, who reached into his black bag, pulled out a gun—and not just any gun, but a Colt Buntline Special, a hand cannon with one of the longest barrels ever conceived—and shot the blade out of Shadow Surprise’s hand.

“Two things you should know about me: I don’t steal from women or children,” McColt stated as he held the gun under his would-be assailant’s chin. “And I do not steal from houses of worship, either!” he added with a growl.

Shadow Surprise (the man that McColt had just disarmed) cleared his throat and said, “Well, the only other game left in town is the Equestrian Dragon.”

“Shh!” the bartender exclaimed. “Are you crazy?”

“The what?” McColt inquired.

Nightshade whispered, “Word is the murderous Equestrian Dragon has gotten his claws on... the Elements of Harmony.”

“Do not talk to me about dragons OR the Elements!” McColt shouted. “Do not even joke about that with me! I wasted half my life searching for both. They. Do. Not. Exist.”

“No. We have seen him,” Descent protested as he rolled up his jacket sleeve, revealing a crude tattoo of the purple dragon of myth. “He is said to have riches without end and the greatest jewel of all: the Dragon’s Eye... a ruby the size of your fist. A job like pulling a heist from a dragon’s hoard could set someone up for ten lifetimes! But only one with a death wish would try to take down a dragon, much less steal from one.”

The only wish McColt had was to repay an old debt.

“This could be my chance,” the Doctor thought.

“Where do I find the Equestrian Dragon?” he asked.

Nightshade shrugged as if to say, “It’s your funeral.”

Then she said, very carefully, “The Dragon lives on the peak of Mount Drago. Not many go up there... and even fewer return.”

Author's Note

Next time: The girls remember the day Spike returned to New Canterlot City and their first impressions of him.