Gangs of Manehattan

Finally, the night of the grand reopening of Tartarus had come! The excitement of the occasion was slightly dampened by Spike not being able to be there with Tempest Shadow, Starlight, Applejack, Trixie, Pinkie Pie and the others, but they were doing their best to make him, and the club, proud!

Except for the bouncers, who had to keep up appearance, all of them were in costume! Though most were handmade or store-bought, Rarity had given them some help when she could afford the time. Trixie Lulamoon had modified a 'Starswirl the Bearded' costume into a stripperific outfit that accentuated all her assets. Fluttershy, inspired by her masquerade when her colleagues had shown up, was wearing a batpony costume. Derpy was dressed as a mummy, and her daughter, whom she had brought along, was dressed as Somnabula. Considering the kind of event it was, the order had been that everything should be totally clean, and if any guest wanted anything 'extra' that was to happen behind closed doors! So there was no issue with young ones being there. Something that Quibble Pants and Clear Sky had used to bring Wind Spirit along.

Cozy Glow wore a costume that reminded many of her friends of the evil queen from an old fairy tale. Applejack had dressed as a timberwolf, and so had her little sister. Rarity herself had given herself an 'evil empress' look, dying her fur black and taking cues form the mythical Nightmare Moon, and just like Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle was also a miniature version of her older sister. Scootaloo, much to the amusement of Fluttershy, had costumed herself as Rainbow Dash!

Smolder, their newest hire, wasn't working this evening. She was being learned in by the other waitresses, and even learning some dancing, but since she didn't have any experience, they didn't want her to be thrown into an extraordinary situation like this. Therefore, she was able to just enjoy the evening!

The guests, of course, were also in costume! Filthy Rich, Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon... Even Sombra and Radiant Hope had deigned to show up! They were dressed as a king and a queen respectively, and Sombra told them how happy he was that they managed to come back from the fire!

And even bigger than Sombra: Mayor Celestia and Deputy Mayor Luna had been invited after Spike's meeting with Luna at Filthy Rich's gala, and had accepted the invitation! The sisters were dressed as the Dawnbreaker and Nightmare Moon. Costumes that, Rarity thought, fit them incredibly well! “Lulu?” Celestia turned to her sister, “You were right!”

Luna smirked a little. “With what, my dear sister?”

“I really needed to get away from all that paperwork for an evening! Honestly? This reminds me of easier times...”

“College?” The younger alicorn gave Celestia a sly look!

“Indeed.”

“We used to the bane of every party!” Luna laughed quietly, so that only her sister could hear her! “Partied hard, drank every stallion under the table and still aced our classes the next day!”

“And had some pretty good sex...” Tia added, just as quietly as she picked up a glass of whiskey on the rocks from the tablet a passing waitress offered. “I could use some...”

“You know that there are rumors about this club in this regard?” Lulu whispered. “After I ran into the owner, and he gave me his card, I looked it up a little. Apparently, some of their employees also sold some nude pics back in the day, before they set this up... They were pretty nice...”

“Oh? Considering how good the staff is looking, I am not really surprised.” Now, Celestia chuckled.

At this moment, Luna spotted a mare that, judging by the clubs website, was the manager, Sunset Shimmer! “Excuse me? Miss Shimmer, right?” She called over.

Seeing who had called her, Sunset hurried over immediately! “Yes, Deputy Mayor?”

“Please, just Luna at an event like this!” The dark alicorn smiled. “Where's Spike?” Luna wanted to introduce her older sister to the dragon, for one to avoid any uncomfortable shocks if she just stood in front of him, despite her having told Celestia about him, but also because he had been rather pleasant. And, well, rather cute. Neither of them had had the pleasure with a dragon, and he seemed to be able to keep a little secret or two...

“Sorry, some business came up. He won't be here this evening.”

“Ah... Too bad.” Luna turned to Celestia: “He's a really nice guy, from what I can tell from our little meeting.”

As Pinkie Pie was zipping through the building, to make sure that everyone was having fun, Diamond Tiara noticed Sunset talking with the mayor and her sister. She and Silver Spoon arrived next to them just in time to hear them talk about Spike! “He hasn't been here in what? Two weeks?” Tiara interjected herself. “Is he sick? Or what is going on?”

“It's business.” Tempest Shadow told her curtly! She had also noticed the group and had wanted to see what was going on. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were trusted friends, but they hadn't been told about it. They would worry, and they might end up spilling things by accident.

“I am Tempest Shadow, the co-owner, together with Spike.” Tempest introduced herself to the sisters. And she noticed a little twinkle in Luna's eyes as she seemed to focus on the unicorn's physique. Apparently, the two were just as much beholden to certain needs as any other being. Good to know... Maybe they could help them relieve these needs tonight.

They chatted for a bit, Tempest telling the two the story of Tartarus, leaving out the illegal bits...

Days had passed since the party, and Tempest Shadow slammed her hands onto the office desk! “He hasn't been back in three weeks!” Tempest Shadow slammed her hands on the desk, looking at Applejack, Big Mac, Sunset Shimmer and some of the others. Despite the anger, all of them heard the worried undertone, saw the worry in her eyes! “What the fuck happened to Spike?!”

None of the others said anything. They knew. Even Tempest knew. It was all rumors, of course, but so was the vast majority of things relating to Chrysalis... Some of those that had, allegedly, asked for her services and returned had told stories about how time seemed to behave different around her... Maybe...

“Nobody knows where he is, and we can't just turn the whole city on its head!” Big Mac shook his head. He worried just as much, but being of a much more calm nature, he tried to keep his mind clear.

As the others talked, for some reason, Apple Bloom turned around to face the door. Maybe she had heard something? In any case, now she saw something... “What's that?!” A piece of paper had been pushed through underneath the door!

Now, they all looked at her as she hurried to the piece of paper! Grabbing it with one hand, she opened the door with the other, looking to see who pushed it through! “There ain't nopony here!” Bloom realized.

“Apple Bloom?” Her sister asked her, “What's wrong?”

She handed them the piece of paper.