A week later, Fluttershy visited Tartarus twice for her training, when her shift had allowed her to show up before the club opened. It was obvious she hadn't danced much, and never in the style needed to entertain a drunk and horny audience, but, Fleur, Trixie and Cloudchaser vouched, she was making decent progress!

Spike had introduced her to most of his employees/friends on Sunday, and Shy had made herself popular with the others, for being kindhearted and anything but ego driven. Things that made her easy to get along with! And the fact that she was a great and natural beauty with quite seductive attributes made it hard for mares and stallions to keep their hands of her! And when it was time for her to train getting more comfortable with getting groped and such, they would clump around her in an unintentional, but pretty accurate, simulation of a very busy night!

Only Cozy Glow seemed to dislike working with a cop, which was, on the one hand, understandable, but on the other hand, she of all should appreciate the advantages of having a cop on their side!

Today, Fluttershy was at work however, and Spike sat in his office looking through some paperwork and doing some other administrative stuff, some results for searches for seamstresses and designers, but none that really caught his eye, while Tempest Shadow was working on... their other businesses.

The dragon was torn out of his work, something he rather appreciated if he was being honest, by a knock at the door. “Yes, come in!”

It were Sweetie Belle and her friends, still wearing their school uniforms. Brown slip on shoes , light black thigh highs for Sweetie Belle, short socks for Scootaloo, knee high socks for Apple Bloom, black skirts down to their lower thighs and white blouses. Over them, they wore black vests with the schools emblem,vests that curiously didn't cover their breasts but instead curved around them before forming a collar around their neck, and black neckties. They were really lucky that Diamond Tiara had pulled some strings to get them into such a high class school...

"Hello, Spike?" Sweetie's voice was uncertain.

The dragon answered the greeting in kind. "Sweetie Belle?”

The young unicorn stood in the door frame, looking somewhat unsure what to do next... When Scootaloo suddenly gave her a push into the office. Sweetie stumbled a few steps before she regained her balance and her two friends followed her inside, urgently whispering to her. Slowly, she and the others made their way to Spike's desk.

The dragon decided to kind off break the ice by starting: “I do have to compliment whoever set the dress code for you school. I love how the vest curves around your tits! Has a nice 'good girl' vibe while adding the naughtiness of the breasts bulging through the outer layer of clothing. Maybe we should get something like that for the dancers?”

The three blushed, but certainly looked rather pleased by the comment. Spike had long had the feeling that the three were naughtier than Applejack and Big Macintosh assumed... “The reason I'm here...” His thoughts were interrupted by Sweetie Belle, "It's about my sister... “

“You have a sister?”Spike raised an eyebrow. She'd never told him, or any of the other older gang members about her having a sister, as far as he knew....

“An older one, yes.” Sweetie reaffirmed. “I've heard you were looking for somebody to design and tailor new outfits for the dancers and the others?"

“Indeed.” The dragon nodded and explained further: “And also the waitresses and bar tenders. To give the club a bit more personality and irreconcilability. And to aid with the you know what!”

“I think my sister could help with that!” Her voice had become firmer again, as if she'd wanted to tell him that for a while now.

“Is that so?” Spike raised an eyebrow, “Why don't you introduce her to me then?”

Sweetie Belle let out a sad sigh! ”There's just one issue...”

“O. K.?”

"You see, when she was younger, my sister Rarity dreamed of being a fashion designer.” Sweetie stared at her hooves as she continued, “She'd even design and tailor clothes for friends! And, if I had to judge, the work was pretty good! But when she was old enough to care for me and herself, my parents had to move for work, while we wanted to stay. She had just been accepted at a school for fashion design! So, mom and dad allowed us to stay... They sent... are sending money, but...it was easy for others to take advantage of us, of her generosity. She always wanted to give to others... Soon, the money mom and dad were sending wasn't enough to cover all the expenses! Our landlord jacked up the rent once the last contract our parents had made was over and we didn't really have any options but to accept it! Rarity took odd jobs next to her working towards becoming a designer. But after a while, she had to give that up and work full time... and then, she fell into a bad crowd. I barely see her anymore. And when she's home, she doesn't even seem to recognize me!”

Spike had listened to the story and a vague image had formed in his mind. He'd seen a number of cases of somepony “falling in with a bad crowd” while trying to make due. The dragon looked into Sweetie's large, green eyes. Were... were there tears forming in their corners? "So, what do you want me to do, Sweetie?"

"I want you to help my older sister!” She called out as she began to cry and her friends hugged her! “Please, offer her the job! Maybe it'll get her out of all that crap!"

"I don't even know what she..." he couldn't even finish the sentence, when the unicorn tore herself from her friends and slammed a photo on the desk

"Here, I know the picture is a bit old, but... I think it should be good enough."

Spike picked up the photo and looked at it. On it, there as a mare with a pristine white coat, gorgeous blue eyes and a long, well kept purple mane and tail. Some blue eye shadow was visible and in general, the picture had an air of gentle sophistication. And the dragon didn't quite know what to say! "Wow... she's gorgeous..." He felt like his heart had just skipped a beat as he saw the picture!

Trembling with barely restrained rage, Sweetie Belle let loose! "That beautiful, long mane? She cut it into a short, punk cut and added yellow and light blue streaks, same with her tail. She's mainly wearing leather jackets nowadays as well. And make-up like a cheap hooker! I mean, it still looks good on her, but that's because of who she is!” She grabbed her phone and searched through some pictures, then shoved it in front of her boss!

Indeed... the same mare, but with heavier make-up, not as tasteless as Spike had seen many times already, she seemed to try to keep some sort of class, torn fishnets, a very short leather skirt, a studded collar and bracelets, an open leather jacket with see-through mesh top and a band of fabric, that probably barely classified as tube top, underneath... and, indeed, a very punk-like manecut. Part of her head was shaved in addition to what Sweetie had told him. It did look quite hot on her, but he also couldn't shake off the feeling that it was just... off!

And the expression in her eyes... The eyes of a pony who knew she wasn't anywhere near what she wanted to be, who was in a shitty situation and tried to make the pain go away, pretend not care, by drowning herself in stimuli... But, deep down, Spike could swear that her expression told him “Please... get me out of this...”

“Please, Spike! Help her!” The tears returned to Sweetie's eyes! “I want my sister back! I barely see her anymore, and when I see her, she's either barely coherent, just coming home, leaving, or in... very questionable companionship! She used to be so generous... making outfits for my school plays, helping the neighbors when they needed help with their clothes, and more... Now, those ponies that treat her like a piece of meat! And... some of them look at me with those eyes...” She shuddered! “I think her new 'friends' got her hooked on drugs and whatever else and are whoring her out if they aren't fucking her themselves... And some of those I've seen... I think they would love to do the same to me...”

When her boss heard all of this, his eyes narrowed in anger! He bared his teeth and growled, “If they'd do anything to you or your friends, we'd find out... At the very least once you stop showing up without telling anyone, or potentially quit without giving any real reasons! We'd know something was wrong... and I'd personally turn them into minced meat... Or maybe Big Mac would love to have some fun with some asshole screwing with his younger sister's friend!”

Apple Bloom let out a rather grim chuckle: Big Mac certainly would make anypony regret hurting her...

“Maybe, in return,-” Sweetie sounded insecure again, but with a hint of... was it hope? In her voice as she took her phone, “-I c... I could start working here properly?”

Spike was confused! “What do you mean with that? You're a proper employee, even if only part-time because of school!”

“I'm talking about... about dancing, and... you know!”

“We've been over this already!” He told her, clearly annoyed at having this topic again! “And why would I want anything in return for helping you with your sister?”

Sweetie insisted however! “I... I would feel bad if I couldn't give something back to you! You've already given me a job, with fair pay and the tips, and it really made a difference at home... I've befriended Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon here, which allowed me to go to a good school...”

“And in any case,” Scootaloo interjected herself, “it was never our decision to only be waiters! You and the others decided that for us! You lot never asked what we think about being left out on all that stuff!”

Spike rolled his eyes and his voice turned stern! “We've been over this so many times already! Applejack and Big Mac don't want Apple Bloom to be involved with that stuff, and if you'd be allowed to do it and she...”

“Actually,” Apple Bloom told him, an unfitting smugness in her voice, “I've already talked to my family. They weren't thrilled at first, but then I threatened that I'd spread my legs for the next best stallion in school or wherever and send them a recording. With the face blurred out. Suddenly, they thought me becoming a proper employee wasn't such a bad idea after all... Hehe!”

Silence ruled the room for a good minute. “Sounds to me like you'd win either way, Sweetie!” The dragon snorted humorless. “We'll help your sister and if we accept your offer, you and your friends are getting laid and will make more money... and if we don't, we'll still hep your sister.”

“Maybe?” Sweetie shrugged, “But wouldn't it be beneficial for you in either case as well?”

“True...,” he had to admit. But he noticed something else: “You never told me her name!”

“Rarity. Her name is Rarity.”

“OK! And now, go and have fun, or get ready for work or whatever! I have paperwork to do! And send the picture on your phone to me! I'll need an up to date one if we're supposed to find her!” Spike shooed her out of his office! As the door closed behind them, however... “Rarity, hmm?” He looked at the picture again. “An appropriate name for a mare like her...”

Sometime later, Spike, Big Macintosh, Tempest Shadow, Applejack and Night Glider walked down a street. It was shabby even for the standards of this part of the city, And it was the area where, according to some quick research, Rarity, or at least the crowd she hung out with, had been seen. It had been quite a bit of work to find them, a whole lot of “You know this pony? Ever seen her? If you see her, contact us...” But now, they had gotten a reasonable lead! A mare fitting her description and a large group of locally known troublemakers, small time dealers, crooks and drug addicts had been seen entering a derelict building in the area they were now in.

The building was run down even for this area! Boarded up windows, burst plaster, a few broken windows... And the alleyway next to it... Yikes! A pony and a griffon seemed to stand guard at the entrance. They didn't look particularly bright.

Spike waved his friends into a side alley. “Let's try to get in quietly first. We'll act like we've done this before, just try to walk in. Then, we pretend that we were interested in whatever they're doing inside, mix ourselves under the crowd and look for Sweetie Belle's sister! Maybe we can talk to her in quiet... But stay on your hooves! The way those guys look, we might have to fight our way out!” The others nodded quietly. They didn't need any further discussion or anything! After all, they knew each other for a long time now and had done a number of jobs together!

Their outfits certainly made them stand out.! They didn't wear any particularly fancy stuff looking stuff, but well made, reasonably expensive stuff nonetheless. Enough, to attract some attention, and to stand out, but not too much. They wouldn't look like some big wigs to be wary off, or a group to be robbed immediately. Instead, they looked like easy prey to be ripped off! Like a group of young adults from reasonably well-off backgrounds, possibly going to college, trying to hang around society's questionable elements, to get a kick out of being “one of those gangsters!” and maybe scoring some cheap shit. A bunch of idiots any reasonably street smart two bit crook could trick out of their money.

They also didn't carry any guns with them. The Apple siblings had a pair of brass knucks each and Tempest carried a switchblade with her. Night Glider didn't have any weapons on her, except if you counted the rings on her fingers, while Spike, naturally, had his sharp claws and teeth and his fire breath. Even in an area such as this, gunfire would more easily attract attention than a brawl. And a bunch of beaten up crooks would cause less of a ruckus, especially with the police, than a slaughter house... Depending on how full the building was, it'd be incredibly stupid for anypony inside to try to pull a gun, since they were more likely to hit friends, or “friends”, than Spike or his crew! And considering how likely it was that most of them weren't even sober... The gang had concluded that they probably could leave the guns at home.

Doing their best to look like it wasn't the first time they did this, but not as often to be thought of as very experienced and not easy marks, the dragon and his his companions walked towards the building entrance. They were rather sure that none of these sad figures they'd seen enter before, or guarded the building for that matter, had ever been to their club, or would be able to remember them if they had. Spike put a foot onto the first step to the door when a hand shot up and shoved him down again! The guard whom the arm belonged to had a rather smug expression his face, obviously relishing the prospect of being able to flex his non-existent authority! “Stop! What do you think you're doing here?!”

“Looking to have some fun!” Spike told the guard, trying to sound like a reasonably well-off idiot with too much leisure and not enough common sense.

“Sure... And I'm Princess Platinum!” The other guard snarked. Apparently the smarter one of the two.

The dragon decided to play dumb. “I'm sorry? Princess Platinum is a fairy tale character! And in any case, the Princess is, well, a mare... and a unicorn! And you're an earth pony stallion!”

He grinned internally as he saw the expression on the guards face. Without saying a word, his face screamed “Oh dear, fucking... Why do I have to deal with a pampered idiot like this?!”

Spike shrugged and spread out his arms and turned slightly, his left pointing over the others! “Come on, let us in! All my friends and I want is a good time!”

“Piss off!” The first guard interjected himself again. He threw a glare at his companion, as if he didn't appreciate how he played himself into the foreground...

“Please! We only want some entertainment!” He pulled out two one hundred bit notes, “I bet we can arrange something?”

“Oh!” In a heartbeat, the guards mood had massively improved: He was grinning from ear-to-ear! “He knows the extra secret password...”

“But...” Guard number two tried to object, apparently taking his job more seriously than the other one...

To the groups luck, however, it seemed like the more stupid one, or at least less duty bound one, was the one in charge. “Shut it!” He snapped at his colleague! “I've been doing this for longer than you! Never say no to extra money. Those assholes pay us little enough...”

“Come on, friends,” the dragon continued to act like the pampered brat, “thank these nice gentlecolts for their generosity!”

Suddenly feeling himself to be very important, the guard decided to feel very magnanimously, “Hey, when you're inside... 've heard they've got smoepony special today. A white unicorn. Think she's on the fourth!”

The guards grinned to each other when the door closed behind Spike and the others: A hundred bucks richer each... and idiots like those would most likely lose their last shirt in there sooner rather than later anyway!

Entering, the first thing they saw was a large staircase going up six stories and probably ending with an exit to the roof. “What a pair of idiots...” Applejack rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, but at least dumb and dumber told us where to look!” Night Glider replied. “Checking every floor would've been a pain in the ass!”

“Eeeyup!” Big Mac agreed with her.

Tempest , however, looked up and down the stairs still, a rather grim look on her face! “If we assume that there is something going on on each of the floors... If it comes to a fight, we might be facing long odds...”

“Numerically? Yes,” Applejack agreed, “But if those guys at the door are anything to go buy, and if the rest of the guys here are on a similar level, or on drugs, or both, I think we can handle them. We know what we all can do, and each of us is a good fighter! A bunch of low-life wannabe crooks!” And with more than a hint of rather nasty and grim satisfaction, she added: “ As far as I see it, this could be a whole lotta fun!”

Tempest raised an eyebrow as she looked at AJ. “You've been itching for another fight for a while now, haven't you?”

“Yup,” She admitted without any hesitation! “There wasn't much fun stuff going on recently. I know you are all busy with the club, but... I do yearn for a nice job. Cracking some skulls, busting some shoddy backroom lab... Robbing a smuggling truck!”

“And to think you wanted to join the police!” The unicorn snorted.

“I mean, I would have preferred to stay home and run the farm...” Applejack's grin faltered ever so slightly as she tried to play it off as more of a joke than it actually was, but it had it even crept into her voice. “Funny, how fate works sometimes... If it had gone differently, neither Mac nor I would be here. Either, we'd be on our farm, or I'd be working at the police now...”

Spike and Big Mac each put an arm over her shoulder. It wasn't like her to get that sentimental, especially not in a situation like this. “You ever regret ending up with me?” The dragon asked her.

She shot him a faint smile. “Only in the sense that it includes the death of our parents and the loss of our farm...” Then, AJ shook her head and the vulnerability was gone and her usual self back! “Enough of the sentimentality! Let's git!” And with that, she was the first to rush up the stairs.

Spike looked at her brother. Mac just shrugged and was the first after his sister, followed by Night Glider and then Tempest. The dragon hurried to catch up! “I will never understand these farm ponies...”

“Me neither!” The obsidian mare told him with a grin. “What do you think used to be in here? Doesn't look like an apartment building!”

Had he no t been holding on to the railings, as he rushed after his partner-in-crime, the dragon would've shrugged. “Maybe offices? Or rather, office companies! Could've had one larger one per floor! With reception and separate offices for the employees. Or large offices for the employees and separate ones for the higher ups!” He suggested. It was as good a guess as any.

“It's as good a guess as any...” She concluded.

When they reached the fourth level, all of them, sans Applejack had to take a few deep breaths.

The guards on this floor just glared at them and more or less waved them in, probably assuming that anyone who got past the dimwits at the front door without causing a massive ruckus was supposed to get in. Good thing. Otherwise, they looked at least a bit smarter than the goons at the front door.

Whatever these rooms used to be used for, they certainly had seen better days. The parts of the walls were the plaster hadn't fallen off already were discolored and covered in... splotches. None of them even wanted to guess on what had made them, though some of them looked like dried blood. Not that that was of any surprise.

There was a lot of smoke in the air. Cigarettes, cigars, joints. Spike could see some bongs... And also needles and spoons... and pills... and he figured there probably more types of drugs in here than on an average night in Tartarus. And with less quality control and more dubious side-effects as well. A dragon and a griffon were snorting some white powder... Most of the “guests” seemed to be under the influence of one or more substances already.

Some were busy with other activities: Playing cards, playing darts,billiard... boozing up, eliciting services from some questionable looking mares and stallions... Due to the fact that he couldn't see her, Spike figured that Sweetie Belle's sister was used as a... higher quality companion compared to the normal whores, separated from the normal goings on in one of the side rooms. Probably also to keep her better under control, especially if she wasn't completely drug-addled yet. Considering most creatures here, those that would ask for her probably wouldn't be interested in listening to any self-doubts she had about her situation, and even less would even contemplate helping her.

Applejack went to the bar, while her brother had taken an interest in a quite worn down, but still somewhat serviceable looking pool table in the corner. Tempest Shadow and Night Glider meanwhile pretended to be interested in more carnal fun and began to flirt.

Spike meanwhile had narrowed down the potential ponies of interest to one. Mainly because he looked somewhat less shabby than the others. So be probably ran the place and had managed not to get hooked on the stuff going on here. Not too much, at least. “Excuse me?”

The expression on the guys face told Spike that their charade worked. He mustered the dragon for a moment, and a spark lightened up in his eyes. The spark of a pony seeing a whole load of easy cash just materializing in front of him. Especially if he could get Spike to become a regular. For a while at least. As a matter of fact, the guy looked like he had to hold himself back very much to NOT look (more) like a shark that had just seen a bared ass in front of him. “Yes?” He really didn't manage to sound reassuring in any way...

Spike meanwhile did his best to look as if he thought the face-splitting grin on the ponies face looked like the most reassuring and trustworthy expression this side of wherever those Wuv Cats live. “Your guards downstairs mentioned a white unicorn mare?”

“Ahh... D's mare. Parity or something like that... You interested in her?”

“She sounded hot!” It was pretty lucky that this guy didn't know what the guards told him...

“Oh, she's first rate!” Spike had to fight down the urge to smack that smug grin of the guy's face... “And at least for today, you're the first asking for her! Lucky you! No sloppy seconds for you! Well, D might've had her before you, but...”

'D' and you probably as well, you sleazy piece of shit... But aloud, the dragon told him “Sounds perfect! How much?”

He measured Spike's clothes again, obviously basing his price on what a potential customer looke like being able to afford... “Four hundred and fifty bits! But believe me! She's worth it!” It always unnerved Spike seeing such a slimy piece of shit try and act all buddy buddy... it reminded him of Sludge. When the older dragon and, unfortunately, parental substitute, had pulled such stuff whenever some of his 'children' had about had it with him and wanted to leave. He'd been quite competent at gas lighting and guilt tripping them... “And if you want to get her really going-,” the guy pulled out a light ping pill, “-I can give give you this. Just fifty bits more!”

On the one hand, Spike had to, begrudgingly, admit that, from a pure monetary point of view, this wasn't that stupid at all. Charge a load for the girl, then promise an even better experience for an additional fee...If there wasn't so much wrong with it! But aloud, he just played along: “Sounds fair for a first class bitch!” And handed over the cash.

“Oh, that she is, my friend!” The guy tried to act as 'trustworthy' as he could as he quickly counted the money and gave Spike the pill. “Enjoy your stay, and I hope, you'll visit us again!”

Spike flashed him a smile that was meant to look harmless, but he couldn't quite avoid flashing some of his teeth in a more menacing manner. Of course this guy would've loved to have folks like Spike come over. Probably the next step would've been to get him start using some of the shit they peddled here. Or gambling. At first, of course, he'd win... and then, he'd start to lose and lose and lose... And continue to play to recoup his losses until he was screwed. Spike knew those shticks. This went through his mind as he opened the door and entered the small room at the back of the main room.

It really was a small room, just enough space for a small bed with a quite questionable looking mattress, a cupboard, a small table and a chair on which Rarity sat, her leather jacket hanging over the backrest, an ashtray with a smoking cigarette, or whatever, in front of her. The dragon smelled the traces of a number of smoked drugs. Might've been from the unicorn, or maybe from folks who'd been in here before. Could've also just seeped into the room from the main one... There also was the smell of cheap perfumes, aftershaves and deodorants, and sex and sweat. And a hint of blood...

Slowly, the white mare looked up. Judging from the look in her eyes and the way she moved, she clearly was already under the influence of something! Those beautiful, blue eyes looked dull, lacking any sort of lively spark! “Hello, darling!~” She purred as she stood up. The greeting threw Spike off a little. The way she looked, 'darling' wasn't a word he'd expect from her. But then, Sweetie had told him that she wasn't always like this... a holdover from better days?

Rarity strutted the few short distance to him, trying to move as lascivious as possible. Her 'assets' risked spilling out of the bits of fabric that probably classified as 'clothing', though to be far, it was pretty much what she wore on the latest picture her sister had showed Spike and the others, except that she didn't wear the mesh top over her tube top. And he could see a hint of nipple piercings through the fabric. “What a handsome dragon...” The stench of far too much cheap perfume invaded his nostrils as she came closer and began to rub herself against him. “You're cuter than my usual customers!” She sounded rather happy about it as she kissed his neck.

The mare dropped to her knees and ran a hand over his crotch, and felt his member react. “Oh my...” A hungry smile spread over face! “I'm so horny for some big dragon cock!”

Spike, however, had to cut her off. “I'd appreciate if it you could wait for a moment.”

“Oh?” Rarity looked confused as she stood up again, “Usually whoever comes in here wants to get off and leave, but it's your money.” Then, she saw the pill in Spike's hand and her eyes took on a greedy expression. “Oh! I see! You got the extra!” She tried to snatch the pill from the dragon's claws, but he quickly closed his hand! “What the...?!” The unicorn basically tried to pull Spike's fingers apart to get to whatever drug it was. “Give it to me! You paid for this after all! And I want that pill!”

“No!” Spike told her, “I won't give you this thing! It's not good for you!”

“I need it! Give it to me! It makes me feel sooooo good! It makes me feel all funny and happy and the sex, oh my gosh..” “If you want to feel the same way, I have something like that for guys in the cupboard!”

Instead, Spike crushed the pill with his hand and let the dust fall unto the dirty carpet. “Nooo!” She was about to drop to the ground and possibly either try to snort the remnants of the pill, and whatever was in the carpet, or to collect as much as possible. So the dragon grabbed her shoulder and pulled her up again!

Gently, but firm, he pushed her back into her chair. “Rarity! I'm here to help you!” His voice sounded stern and worried.

“Oh? You know my name?” There was... something in her eyes? Was it greed for more drugs? Or was there a glimmer of her old self? She certainly sounded more normal than before! “Have we met before? Sorry, my memory has been a bit hazy for a while now...”

“No, we don't know each other,” He told her. “But somepony told me about you.”

“A former client that got you interested?”

Spike sighed. Seemed like she was in this for too long already to not go straight to the point. And who knew what she'd already ingested! There certainly was something off about her voice, expressions and movements... He sighed and went straight to the point: “Your sister asked me to help you!”

“Help me?! With what?!” Rarity sounded honestly confused and even somewhat offended as she protested! “I'm happy! I don't have to worry about money anymore! That's getting taken care off! I feel good! I have fun! Sweetie Belle never asked what I had to sacrifice for her! It's finally time that I have some fun!”

“Are you really happy?” He shook his head after he'd listened to her. It certainly sounded convincing. Or rather like she was trying to convince herself more so than anyone else. A part of her probably never quite accepted falling into an environment such as this, especially if she'd been a mare that tried to project an air of classiness! “From what Sweetie Belle told me, you wanted to make it as a fashion designer, maybe model a bit!”

Rarity rushed over to her table and grabbed what looked like a cigarette from the ashtray. She filled her lungs with whatever was in the little thing, probably to calm herself down, maybe even to suppress any doubts. Spike had heard about a number of folks who used drugs to quell any doubts that could arise in the ponies they whored out... The unicorn's actions got followed by a coughing fit. She still wasn't quite used this, at least. “Well, that was then! Now, I'm happy doing this!” Her voice had a quiver of insecurity, and her gaze was haunted. She knew she was lying, even if she wanted to think she wasn't.

“Have you even looked into the mirror recently?” The dragon pulled out the picture Rarity's sister had left with him. “Sweetie Belle showed me an old picture of yours! You were gorgeous! Now? Well, you're still attractive, but if you added just a bit more make-up, you'd look like a cheap hooker you'd find at two AM at the harbor, desperately looking for some semi-drunk sailors that want to blow off some steam!”

Judging by her expression, the shot against her appearance had hit a nerve, even if she tried to blow it off. “And what if that is the case? Maybe I'm f-fine looking like a ch-cheap whorse!”

This denial... Spike felt himself getting angry! He knew that she was mainly trying to cope with her situation, but this denial of her situation still just hit something with him. Probably due to the way Sludge had treated him, and Tempest and the other street urchins. Really, it hadn't been too dissimilar, even if it had involved less drugs and prostitution! “If you're fine with it, then only because you are one!” His voice was quite cold.

Rarity tore open her eyes and then swiftly narrowed them in cold fury! “I AM! NOT! CHEAP!”

“Your boss charges depending on what he thinks a customer can pay,” Spike replied, his tone derisive!” Doesn't sound like a high-class escort to me! Wanna bet that I've seen lower price prostitutes that make nearly as much as I paid for this? With a time limit!” He was, of course, talking about the girls working for him...

“Oh, what would some spoiled kid like you know about what I am going through? Wearing a five hundred bit leather jacket, a three hundred bits shirt, four hundred bits jeans and... shoes for fifty bits? What the...” He couldn't hide a smile at her surprise. Yes, he had deliberately taken some of his better clothes, exactly to put on this appearance, but the cheap shoes... he just liked them. It was something he was used to, and most didn't notice them anyway. “Anyway! 'Your low price prostitutes'? Want to bet that they just overcharged a kid like you? A kid with more money than sense, waving around daddy's money for some cheap thrills!”

“No, I'm fairly certain that those girls charged what they are worth,” He told her calmly. Of course, he, Tempest and Sunset had also been the ones that set the prices... Now, it was time to tear down her delusional defenses! “And believe me, I'm not just some stupid kid waving around my parents' money. I don't have any parents! All the money I have has been earned by me and the businesses I and my friends built up! You think you had a hard time? You don't know half of it...” Of course, privately he had to admit that he didn't have to take care of a younger sibling, but, that didn't matter right now...

She was silent for a few minutes. At first, it'd been out f surprise from the dragon's words and changing behavior. Gone had been the silly rich kid and instead, there was a confident you drake projecting an aura of authority. Rarity had to admit, she found him rather attractive. And then, she began fighting inside her own mind. The reasonable, old Rarity against the new one, the creation of drugs, pleasure and abuse. The side that wanted out, wanted to go back home and try to rebuild her life... and the side who just wanted to chase the next thrill... When she spoke again, her words sounded more like she was trying to convince herself that she'd done the right thing by getting involved with all of this... “I have to do this! To pay the rent! To get Sweetie Belle through school...”

“Did you even talk to your sister ever since you fell in with those losers?” He asked her, “Or rather, once you've started this?”

“Of course!...” Rarity quickly told him. But then, she went silent again, for a few moments. In a sad voice, she corrected herself: “No. not really... I barely see her, and when I do, I'm usually not in the mood for talk... or in the right state of mind...”

Just as Spike had expected... “I thought so. I noticed-,” He put a hand on her shoulder, hoping it'd comfort and reassure her. For a moment, she flinched, as if she wanted to pull away out of fear, but then, she just let it be, “-you didn't even ask how I've come to know your sister, and why she asked me to look for you...”

“What does it matter? Maybe a private eye that that silly filly hired?” She guessed. Why did Spike get the feeling that she had a fable for noir stories?

“I thought you and her had money issues? How would she afford it?” He pointed out the logical flaw in her assumption.

“Maybe...” Her eyes went wide as her mind realized the implication those words might carry! “You don't mean... she offered herself...” Rarity was doing all of this work, or at least told herself that she did, to give Sweetie Belle a better life!

Well, she did... but that wasn't the main reason Spike had decided to help her! And he HAD refused it until Sweetie and her friends convinced him... Reassuringly, he told her, “Your sister took a job to help with the money issues! And I'm not a private eye.”

“Well then! Tell me how you know all of this!” The unicorn demanded!

“Because I'm her boss!” Spike told her bluntly! “She's a waitress at my club!” Rarity was speechless, and so, the dragon continued: “And I'm here because Sweetie Belle asked me to look after you. She's worried, scared for you!”

Rarity looked at her customer with the same blue eyes she had had on the old picture, just marred by uncertainty and worry! “She... she works for you? As a waitress?”

“Yes.” Spike confirmed.

“What club?” She had heard about all, and been to, all kinds of clubs since she had gotten intot his mess... and most of them had been seedy at best...

The dragon pulled something out of his pocket. It was a an emblem. She was fairly sure, she'd seen it on some add posters or something. Wasn't that the emblem of... “Tartarus,” he told her, “and I take good care of those that work for me. We're basically family!”

Rarity had heard some things about Tartarus, but it'd been out of her current social circles. For D and his friends... they claimed it was too regulated, too boring. That all of the shady air about it was only an act to cater to rich idiots! The drugs getting sold there not hard enough for their liking, it was too clean... But then, they thought a place like this rundown shit hole was great... There'd always been that lingering feeling that they mainly wanted to avoid it because it made them feel inadequate and, maybe, a better male than them would come along and potentially offer Rarity, or some other mare, a better life... And now, the owner of this top club was the boss of her sister and here to help her? That sounded unlikely... “Good joke, but I hope you're aware how much of a tall tale that is!” She sounded quite bitter. Was it, because she didn't (want) to believe him? Or because she thought he was taunting her?

Spike pulled out his phone. “If you want, I can call your sister and you can ask her! Hear everything from her!”

“Sweetie Belle is in school, and you know it! She won't be able to answer!”

“If she was at any normal school? Certainly, but she made friends working for me. Four fillies around her age... and two of them are from quite wealthy families. They got her and her other friends to a rather prestigious school, and, from what I've heard, due to the amount of money coming in from most students, they tend to overlook the odd call every now and then! And, I think, she told me that, today, the last few lessons had to be canceled, so it's about to be over anyway!”

The unicorn sounded honestly offended at this reveal, or, at least, claim. “If what you say is the truth, why don't I know anything about it?! Why wouldn't Sweetie Belle have told me about that?”

“Because you're here and too busy chasing the next high or letting yourself get kicked around by the lowlifes outside!” Spike told her as he scrolled through his numbers list and tapped on Sweetie's name. After a few seconds of waiting, she picked up the phone and urgently whispered. “Hello Spike? Can you call me back in a minute? We'll be on break the-...”

“Sweetie, I'm calling about your sister,” He interrupted her and she went silent.

Faintly, he could hear Sweetie call over to her classroom teacher: “Ms. Cheerilee, sorry! This call is important!”

He also faintly heard the odd word picked up by the microphone by what he assumed was her teacher. “O... ma... re... to... ch up... j...ct ma...er... me off!”

A few moments later, Sweetie was back on the phone. “Alright, I'm back! I just have to make sure the others tell me about what I'm missing out right now! Tell me! How's Rarity doing!”

Spike didn't answer her. Instead, he just handed his phone over to her older sister. “S-Sweetie Belle? Is that you?” He didn't hear Sweetie's reply, but judging by the expression on Rarity's face, she at least seemed to trust that the voice she heard was her sisters'!

The two talked for a short while, and it seemed like Rarity was calming down. Every now and then, she shot a glance at Spike. “So, you're telling me that it's true? That what he said is true?” She looked surprised. “P-please... send.... send me a picture. Just to confirm it!”

Á minute later, Sweetie sent a picture. It showed her, Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon in their school uniforms and standing in front of the school building. “Al... alright. Thank you. Yes, s-see you later, Sweetie!”

“Believe me now?” She nodded. “Please, Rarity!” Spike pleaded softly to her, “How did you end up like this? Please, tell me!”

A solid minute, there was only silence in the room, and Spike hoped that the idiots outside were loud enough for the owner to not notice the things going on inside... “Suri Polomare...” She hissed., as tears began to well up in her eyes. Tears of anger and sorrow.

Spike remembered hearing the name somewhere! But what had it been... “Who?”

“It was a design competition.” She sighed and let herself slouch backwards, starting at the ceiling. “If I had won... the price money would've helped us... But before it began, I met this mare. Suri Polomare.”

Now, he realized where he'd heard the name! His search for a designer! “Isn't she a household name? I think she's managed to become a bit famous over the last few years!”

“Yes. By stealing other ponies' designs! She came to me...,-” She looked at Spike again, “-I was ecstatic! A known designer, taking an interest in my work? That could've been a jumping board for me! The competition, together with the patronage of somepony like Suri Polomare could've kickstarted my career! It could've shot myself to the top instantly! Or, at the very least, maybe gotten a stipend for it... When we met, she played nice... and stole my design and the special fabric I had created! I didn't find out until it was too late. She claimed I had stolen from her, and it was my word, the word of a newcomer against that of an already established name...” She glared at a point behind Spike's back and her voice turned into a rather unfitting, angry growl! “If I'd get her between my hands, I'd...”

Rarity trailed off and buried her face in her hands! “Over night, I was persona non grata in the world of fashion... At school, most of the others quickly turned on me, feeling like I probably stole stuff from them without anypony noticing... I turned into a pariah...” She looked up, right into Spike's eyes. “Already stressed from trying to make enough money, I began to neglect my studies... And finally left school. One late shift at a store, I ran into a group, and they invited me for a drink. I took the offer and, well...”

Spike didn't press her on the topic. He could already imagine what had happened. “Do you want to get out of this? I can help you!”

“Even if I could walk away, they would come looking for me! And go after Sweetie Belle as well...”

“Those idiots wouldn't be able even find you! And... I can protect you!” He offered her his hand. “And your sister! I take care of those that work for me!”

She wanted to believe this dragon, wanted to believe in him so much! Slowly, Rarity's hand closed in on his, when the door opened. The manager glared into the room and, no longer interested in putting on a facade, barked into the room: “Hey! How long is this going to take? I've got five more customers who want a ride with...” He cut himself off as he saw them both. Fully clothed and, apparently, still not having done it! “What the fuck is going on here?!”

Slamming the door shut behind him, the stallion barged into the room, his eyes fixed on Rarity! “You! Stop wasting time and get to work!”

And now, Spike had had it with the guy. In one swift motion, as he rushed past Spike, the dragon stood up and grabbed the stallion. “Leave her alone!” He growled, baring his teeth. Any smart pony would've let it be...

Any smart pony. Which this guy wasn't. “Or what, you spoiled idiot! You have no id...” Spike was actually rather happy that the guy decided that he wanted it the hard way. Allowed him to work off some pent up aggression! Without responding, he handily pushed the pony a few steps back... and then threw him through the door!

A few seconds after the guy got thrown back into the other room, chaos erupted! As if it had been a prearranged signal, Spike's friends jumped into action: In a heartbeat, Night Glider put the pony she'd just been chatting with, pretending to have an interest in him, into a choke hold. Applejack meanwhile slammed a beer bottle she'd grabbed to blend in over the head of an already pretty drunk looking stallion. This was followed by Tempest kicking a hippogriff, that had been trying to flirt with her, in the nuts, something that pleased her very much, and followed it up taking a few steps of run-up and delivering a hard kick to the side of his face as he was bent over. A guard had tried to pull a gun, but Mac's large left hand had easily grabbed the guy's gun hand and begun to squeeze. When the guard dropped his firearm, the tall farmstallion had caught the gun with his right... and crushed it. His adversary fainted at the view.

The next moment, two goons charged at Big Macintosh, but he simply smashed their heads together and they fell to the ground, unconscious. Night Glider meanwhile had choked her victim out and let him drop to the floor. Just in time, as it turned out, because it allowed her to dodge a poorly aimed and executed swing at her head. She delivered a hard kick to the culprit's knee, which made a nasty noise, and finished him off with an elbow to the back of the head!

Out of the next room burst a bunch of tougher looking opponents. A white stallion, who looked like he was made solely out of muscle! He immediately charged at Big Mac, like a bull that had seen a red cloth! The stallion had to admit that his opponent wasn't bad! It could've even been a fun test of strength under different circumstances! But this was serious... and so, he delivered a crushing headbutt, followed by a belly-to-belly suplex. Before the muscle bound brute could do anything else, Applejack threw her current opponent on him and hit both with a single dropkick. The two siblings gave each other a high five. AJ laughed! “Those sad sobs are nothing compared to an Applelooza bar room bra...”

Moments later however, another pony of similar stature to Mac crashed into his sister's back. Apparently not noticing the pissed off three hundred pounds of very angry big brother, he proceeded to taunt the mare as she shook her head to clear her mind! Her brother simply grabbed the asshole by the throat and chokeslammed him through the pool table. One of his friends, trying to help the guy, stormed towards Mac but was easily caught with a big boot, while his sister's boot connected with the jaw of a mare that had just grabbed a steel pipe, followed by a hard lariat to some idiot that had been waving a biker chain around! “AJ! More fighting, less bragging!” Her brother called over her to keep her from making the same mistake again.

“Yeah, yeah!” She answered him a few moments later as they double teamed another enemy, Applejack kicking his mid-section, while Mac's fist hit him square on the forehead!

Spike and Rarity, in all the chaos, had managed to make their way halfway across the room without being noticed, thanks to the distraction that were there other four. Now, however, eyes began to fixate on them! A female griffon with a crazed look in her eyes charged at Spike, who grabbed Rarity tight and intercepted the attacker with a hard headbutt. Another attacker rushing towards them got intercepted, and thrown out of the window, by Tempest, and judging by the sound, he was lucky. His fall got cushioned by the dumpster below.

More opponents came charging in from the other rooms, the commotion apparently being loud enough to get their attention even through drug-induced stupor! Two screeching mares charged at Big Mac, who already was busy with a pretty powerfully built griffon. Usually, that guy wouldn't have been much of an issue, but It seemed like he was on some sort of performance enhancing drugs... and then, his reinforcements joined in and tried to claw out Big Mac's eyes!

His sister came to his aid, grabbing one of the mares from behind and tossing her against the next wall so hard that the plaster cracked and covered her. The other one didn't seem to notice, whatever she'd taken before this had started clouding her mind. Applejack tapped her on her shoulder, which she did seem to notice though. Slowly, the mare turned around... right into an uppercut. She dropped like a sack of apples.

Tempest and Night Glider had grouped around Spike, doing their best to fight off any new arrivals and recovering fools who hadn't had enough yet! Even a dragon joined their attackers now. Pretty muscular too! Brandishing his claws, he'd locked the exist door behind him and blocked the approach to it. To his ill-fortune however, the two mares were more than able to deal with him!

The obsidian mare avoided an overhead double axe handle blow to her back and used the dragons own momentum against him by countering his forward approach with a hard knee strike to the gut! Swiftly, she got behind her opponent, holding him in a sleeper hold as Night Glider spun around! Tempest let go mere moments before her friend's spinning back kick crashed against her opponents temple!

His body bumped into the door from the force, but to the dragons credit, he wasn't out yet. He turned to face his opponents again and roared defiantly! However, two simultaneous kicks against his chest sent him crashing through the locked door and down the first flight of stairs. He twitched, but didn't rise again.

Spike, Rarity, Tempest Shadow and Night Glider hurried down the stairs, while the Apple siblings stayed back to clean up. “Hi, Fellas...” Tempest greeted the guards they'd bribed on their way in. And swiftly knocked both of them out. She quickly pulled both of them into the entrance and hid them behind the door, went through their pockets to take back the bribe money.

The group waited for a few minutes, until Applejack and Big Mac finally showed up. “Why did you two take so long?” Spike asked them, slightly impatient!

Applejack raised her arms as she shrugged and bluntly explained: “Those guys must've been on some weird stuff... at least a quarter of those we thought knocked out got up again and again... The guy Mac hammered through a table? We ended up having to throw him through the fucking wall! Sure, it's a dry wall, but still!”

“It'll be a pain to get the blood out of the suit...” Big Mac sounded rather annoyed at the splatters of blood from various lacerations, cuts and bleeding noses. It wasn't all that much, certainly wasn't drenched or anything, but enough to be annoying... and noticeable. “I better take the shirt and jacket off, before anypony asks questions...”

“Good thing that the cars ain't parked too far away,” His sister agreed.

“But,-” the usually quiet Mac sighed, “-at least it was a nice fight again! Those altercations at the club just don't challenge me...And we didn't have a real job in quite a while!”

They hadn't moved more than a few steps however, when, from behind, “Hey!” A voice called out, obviously directed at them! “Get your hands off of my mare!”A group of new ponies, and what was left of the guy running the place, came running after them. At the front of them was the stallion that had just shouted after them. That must've been this “D” guy.

“Really?” Spike rolled his eyes, “You didn't have enough already?” He looked at his top enforcer... “Big Mac... would you please?”

“Eeyup...” Most of the group seemed smart enough to stop as they saw that moving wall of muscles move towards them, but the leader, and the manager that Spike had tossed through the door, weren't so smart! Mac's huge hand grabbed the pony's forehead and lifted him up to eye level. He made it look so easy...

His sister, meanwhile, put on her brass knuckles while Tempest intercepted the manager and delivered a hard kick against his knee, causing him to crumble to the ground. Night Glider finished him off with a kick to the head, knocking him out cold. Just like before Tempest quickly pilfered his pockets to retake the money spent on him. And then, she pulled out her switchblade and dared the others to get closer, as Night Glider and Applejack formed up next to her...

Spike's gaze shifted from the guy in Mac's grasp back at the group, somewhere between nine and twelve wannabes, who, apparently, had decided that they had better things to do than to get their asses kicked. Surprising intelligence for a bunch like them! They just sidled back into the building to do whatever. Therefore, he shifted his attention back...

“You'll leave her alone. Do you understand?” Spike told the guy, eerily calm.

“She's my mare!” D protested, apparently still not realizing the situation he was in! “Come on, Rares! Tell 'em!”

For a moment, a part of Rarity wanted to say “Of course I am, D!” The part that, for months now, had been subjected to drugs, sex and whatever else... but that part quickly got buried “I. Am. Not. Your. Mare. You bastard! You ruined me!” She spat into what was visible of his face! “I needed help! Support! And you took advantage of that!”

“But... Rares!”

“Don't you dare to 'Rares' anymore!” She cut him off!

D's attempt at another ill-thought reply got cut off when a claw traced the ponies jawline. “You will. Leave. Her. Alone! Got it?” Spike slowly told him with barely restrained rage as he moved his claw over the stallion's throat, the edge digging ever so slightly into the skin...

He didn't answer, so Spike grabbed his jaw in his hand, this time with far less restraint about how deep his claws dug. “DO YOU GET IT?!” He screamed through gritted teeth!

What he could see of D's eyes between Big Mac's fingers looked quite panicked and it looked like he did his bet to nod. Which obviously wasn't easy with him being held up by his head. “Answer me, you pathetic piece of poorly packed pony shit!”

He was obviously panicking, judging by the tone of his voice! “I get it! I get it! I'll leave her alone! Just let me go!”

“See? That wasn't so hard after all, wasn't it?” He gently patted the stallion's cheek and gestured to Mac to put him down.

D fell to his knees, jumped up and turned around to leave. Or rather, to run away, muttering “She'll be back!” under his breath.... and turned right into a punch from Applejack's brass knucks, knocking him out cold. “Don't worry. I've held back. His skull should be fine!”

Rarity spat out at her former “friend” and, for good measure, kicked him a few times, while Tempest handed Spike the money she'd taken out of the pony that probably was the manager of this 'operation'. “One... two... three... five hundred... That's everything. And... hmm... six hundred more? I'll keep that as well!”

“Come on. Let's leave...”

When they had gotten a good amount of distance between them and their victims, Tempest turned to Spike. “You think he got the message?”

“Which one?” He asked her in return, “The wannabe pimp or the wannabe who ran this 'establishment'?”

“Both, actually,-” Tempest shrugged, “-but as far as I'm concerned, the latter might be the one who is more likely to have the means and ego to try to get back at us. Or maybe his boss.”

Spike thought about it for a moment. “Him personally? Yes, I think he got the message. But I'm not too sure if he wouldn't think it would be awfully clever to send someone. Or that some of his goons act on their own.”

“And the wannabe pimp?” Night Glider chimed in.

“Stupid enough to try something, probably... But, I'd say, not much of a threat if he does, at least as long as we can keep an eye on the more vulnerable members of our crew. And if he does anything...” Spike got a rather nasty idea... “Have they already poured the foundation for that new mall?”

“No. I think it's due in a week or two. Why do you...” Tempest realized the direction as she spoke. “Oh. Well, if he does anything stupid during that time, I think we have some friends on the workforce!”

“Good...” He told her rather grimly.

This whole time, Rarity had pretended to not hear anything of that stuff. She'd been quiet since they'd gotten rid of her ex-”boyfriend”, in fact! But, suddenly, she tugged on Spike's sleeve. “What is...” He cut off as he saw how she looked!

Rarity was bent over slightly, looking at him from below, her face was flushed with red. one hand had moved between her legs and she was panting heavily. “It must be some of the thins I took before you came!” She told him!“I... I'm so horny... So hot... I need... need...” Her face took on a most lewd expression! “Coooock!” She moaned, as her hands began to move over the dragon's body!

Spike knew he had to act swiftly! He took a quick look down the next ally way and turned to his companions! “I'll take care of this! You just get back to the club, or whatever you wanna do, OK?”

“But...” Applejack wanted to object, but he cut her off!

“No buts, Applejack!” Spike told her, and then addressed them all! “I'll handle this! Go to the club, or have some fun or whatever, but please, tell Zecora we might need her skills to help Rarity to get off the drugs. Having her go cold turkey without anything to mitigate the withdrawal effects could be a recipe for disaster!”

“Alright! Have it your way!” Now, Tempest interjected herself. “But I'll also inform Redheart! Better to have somepony with medical education involved in this...”

Redheart... Formerly Nurse Redheart... She'd always wanted to be a doctor, had nearly even finished med school, but then some unfortunate events had piled up and forced her out. Instead, she'd become a nurse to at least try to do some good... And this had, after a few years, cost her that job as well. Never told anypony what exactly had gone wrong either. What was obvious, however, was that her medical skills were excellent, especially for somepony operating without a license! They'd run into her one night, after Big Mac had taken a knife to the thigh. Luckily it had missed major blood vessel or sinew, but it had been a nasty wound nonetheless.

She'd offered to patch him back up, in exchange for money to pay off her debts... and ever since, she'd been the gang's go to back-alley doc!

“OK! That's a good idea! Do that!” He agreed. “And now, go!”

As Spike pulled Rarity into the alley, he saw how his friends moved on. With Rarity clawing on her, and his, clothes, he hurried down the alley, around a corner and into a cul-de-sac. At least, there weren't any major exits here and the windows seemed to be all covered...

Rarity's jacket lay on the ground behind her, her mesh shirt was half-torn and her tube top was hanging loosely below her ample bosom. For Spike, she'd already opened his belt and zipper... Figuring that in her current state of mind any pleasantries would be a waste of time, Spike cut the chase. “Bend over, slut!” He ordered her, guessing that it was more than appropriate for how she behaved!

“Yes!” She answered him eagerly, her hands pressed against a building's wall, her ass stretched to the dragon! “Slut! Rarity is a slut! Cum dump! Rarislut! Cock sleeve!” She wasn't even wearing any panties...

Wondering just what exactly they'd given to her, Spike opened his pants and pulled his cock out, then lined it up, rubbing the tip over her dripping cunt, put his hands on her hips and pushed in. The mare howled in pleasure, and Spike hoped it wouldn't echo all the way to the street... But he had to admit, she had a fine pussy! Such a shame that a body like hers had been wasted on that lowlife scum for so long!

He stared at Rarity's heart-shaped pillow of an ass ,and few moments later, a sharp pain rushed through one of her ass cheeks! She moaned in delight, as her partner told her, “Dirty sluts like you need some spanking!”

“Yes! Spank!” She urged him on, “Spank me! Harder!”

Spike gladly obliged. Not only with the spanking, but also with his thrusts. It certainly was a pleasure seeing the unicorn's tits jiggle at every one of them! As he saw some red shimmer through the white fur however, he decided the spanking had been enough.

After a few minutes, Spike grabbed her short tail and gave it a firm tug! “I'm about to...” He groaned.

Rarity just egged him on! “Fill me up! Fill this whorse's slut pussy with your cum!” They both half moand, half groaned as they came, Rarity's pussy basically trying to milk him, by the feeling of how it convulsed around his member.

After enjoying the feeling of her for a few seconds longer, Spike pulled out and Rarity slowly sank onto her knees, his cum running out of her pussy. Moments later, just before she swallowed his cock as if she was starving, she told him: “Rarislut is so sorry for wasting your cum like this!”

Those guys, and drugs, must've really done a number on her... Spike hoped it was nothing permanent... And the withdrawal would probably be nasty... Hopefully, Zecora and Redheart could help...

But, he had to admit, she was pretty adept at giving head! Despite just having had an orgasm, she managed to wring even more of his cum out of him after a, relatively, short time! Her fingers dug into the dragon's ass as she chugged down his second load! She did this so thoroughly that barely a drop landed on her face, except for a tiny trickle from between her lips and a few, tiny sprays around her mouth, when she pulled back! Now, Rarity sat there, on the dirty ground, still panting like a bitch in heat...

And then, from one moment to the other, her expression normalized again. Gone was the, well, bitch in heat, and back was that gorgeous mare from the picture, discounting for current mane-style and clothing, or lack of it. Pressing a hand against her forehead, she climbed back onto her hooves. “Oooh... my head!”

“Back to normal?” Spike asked her as he offered her a hand to help her up.

She took his hand, and he pulled her up. “More or less... I am so sorry that you had to see me like that!” Rarity sighed, “Before all of this, I preferred to act more, well, dignified. And I'd really like to get my dignity back now...”

Dignity? In her current state? Nude? Cum running down her thighs? Spike had to honestly fight back a grin. “What was that just now anyway?”

“You remember the pill that cretin gave to you?” She asked him as she put her tube top back on. Spike nodded. “Basically, this was the effect it would have had. I had ingested a small amount of the stuff earlier. Similar effect strength, but delayed...” She cut off a she noticed something else: “This is just awful... my behind is covered in dirt!” She did her best to slap as much of the dirt out of the fur.

“'Behind'?!” Spike snorted, half amused, half confused at her choice of expression!

Rarity either didn't notice or ignored him and looked around “I hate to say it, but... I've done it in worse places...” Then, her tongue licked over the left overs on her face, “And I've certainly tasted worse cum than yours!”

“Behind?” Spike just couldn't let go of it, however, “Why don't you just say 'ass'? Or at least 'butt'?” He asked her as he handed her her skirt and jacket.

Rarity didn't answer with words, just a small, gentle smile. And Spike felt his cheeks heating up! What was it with this mare? Why did she make him feel like this?

After they'd left the back alley, and once they'd got a few blocks further, Spike spoke to her again: “Rarity?”

“Yes?” She wondered what the dragon wanted.

An earnest look in his eyes, he looked into hers and told her, “I want to take you and your sister in!”

“What?!” The unicorn was shocked!

“I have enough room in my apartment! And if you don't like the arrangement, I think the building I live in still has one or two empty ones, I even think one of the ones near me is still empty after the old lady living there passed away. It's not the most luxurious place but, for the time being, should be good enough. I have a good... relation... with the owner and she wouldn't try to bleed you dry like your current landlord does! It also means anyone of your former friends who's being very stupid wouldn't find you at your place. And I'll have my lawyer check your rental agreement. Maybe we can force your landlord to pay some money back!” He sighed and quietly added, “Think about it. At least, until you get back on your hooves.”

It was very sudden, but, at the same time, she knew that they wouldn't be able to keep their current living arrangements for much longer... Even with the income she had had, the rent payments of the last few months had been in arrears... “Well... alright... But if we don't like it, we can leave?”

“Naturally!” He told her. Though the dragon also was curious. Curious about how her landlord had, apparently, decided to be an asshole once their parents had moved... “So, your landlord never pulled something like that with your parents?”

“No,” Rarity decided to explain the situation, as far as she knew it at least, “But... Sweetie probably doesn't remember it, or just didn't know about it, but... our current landlord isn't the one who'd rented our apartment to our parents. Our old landlord was nice enough, I've met him a few times and my father always said that he was an old school kind of pony. But,-” She sighed, “-he died shortly before my parents moved and his nephew took over. And he had 'big plans' with the stuff he had inherited. That didn't get far, however, because he has a gambling issue and so could do nothing but squeeze everything out of his tenants!”

The dragon nodded. “Ah, that kind. The landlady who bought the building I live in also had big plans. Wanted to tear down everything and build something modern... and expensive. I managed to convince her otherwise though!”

Rarity now focused on the other elephant in the room, at least for her and her sister: “What about my mother and father?”

“Tell them that you and Sweetie Belle had to leave the apartment because of your landlord being an ass and that you're staying with friends for the time being and that they don't have to worry. It's basically the truth anyway.”

“Yes, this is probably for the best...,” She paused as she realized something! “You know... I don't think you ever introduced yourself to me!”

For a moment, there was just silence between them. Then... “... I think you're right! Crap! Sorry!” He feigned a small bow, “My name's Spike and I'm running Tartarus.” Then, he offered her his arm.

“Such a gentledrake... Where have you been all my life?” She smiled at him as she took his offer.

“Making ends meet while clawing my way out of the gutter!” The dragon laughed, but he was unable to hide a hint of bitterness.

“Oh?

“I'm going to be honest with you...” He sighed, figuring it was better to come clean with her asap, especially now that the streets were rather empty. “If you think that I'm just a legitimate businassdragon, I have to disappoint you. Just like your former friends back there, I'm involved in shady shit! Being frank: drug production and distribution, some racketeering, though we do prefer it to be a mutually beneficial arrangement, prostitution and strip clubs! But,-” Spike added quickly, “Me and my gang certainly aren't as bad as them. We have standards and rules of conduct and would never do the stuff they did! All those working for me do so out of their own volition!”

Hearing this made Rarity scoff! “And you want us to live with you just out the kindness of your heart? Not likely!”

He'd expected this reaction, he had to admit. It was better to come clean right away... “To be honest, I do have an interest in what you can do for me!”

She'd known it! Saved from one life of mistreatment and drugs to be thrown into... whatever. His next words surprised her however: “I've been looking for somepony to make nice outfits for the club. For the dancers and waiters and so on. Most of the ones who'd made stuff I liked didn't gave us a second look. Sweetie Belle told me that your stuff had been pretty good! And,” he added, “if you don't trust me, ask your sister about us!”

“So, I'd only have to come up with designs? And nothing else?” Rarity didn't believe him! This sounded too convenient!

“Nothing else, unless you want to do something. If you want to show off something new yourself, be my guest. If you want to give a bunch of horny ponies a little show? Great! If you don't want to do any of that? Just as well!”

They walked in silence for a few minutes. Then... “Why?” She asked him! “Why do you offer this to me?”

“Well... for one, because of Sweetie Belle. She's been doing good work for me, and I do consider her a friend... and...” He blushed. “I think I've developed a crush on you when she showed me that picture.”

“Oh?...” Rarity was speechless. “Uhm... I guess.... I have to admit I feel a bit flattered, hearing this, in my current state, from a handsome drake like you! And judging by your other friends, you are surrounded by rather attractive mares...”

“Yeah. I mean, it's part of the club's allure, I think.” Spike shrugged, “And, well, they are very good to have a fun time to have with, if you catch my drift.”

She shot him a sly look. “Oh, I do catch it. Not like my former relation was much different in that regard. Though it probably was different in regards of the state of mind...”

“By the way... here. Take this.” He handed her the eleven hundred bits Tempest had taken off of the guy running the operation. “It should help to get you started again, or pay some of the outstanding rent at least! Especially if Starlight can't twist your landlords arm a bit...”

“I... I can't accept this!” Rarity protested!

“Yes, you can! Otherwise I'll give it to Sweetie Belle and she'll probably blow it on a trip with her friends!”

“She would....” Rarity agreed with a soft chuckle, “Not that it necessarily is a bad thing for her to have some fun! But yes, I guess it would be better for me to take it. Once I have some clothes in which I can store it. Or my purse... it's at home...”

“Yeah, makes sense... I'll keep it until then!”

As the two walked, they slowly got into better looking areas again, Spike's mind began to wander. And, out of the blue, he told the mare on his arm: “Aaah... I sometimes wish it was the 20's... “

“Why that?” She was surprised at this sudden change of topic!

“Prohibition!” Spike laughed! “Instead of a club, I'd be running speakeasy's! Smuggling in good booze from Griffonstone and the Dragonlands or homebrew from Applelooza! Some reasonable quality distilling inside the city...” The dragon really got into his little fantasy, sounding quite excited as he continued to tell the unicorn about it! “We'd have started small... All the politicians who publicly supported dryness and condemned alcohol would, in the evening, sit in one of our bars and have a good time with us! Or maybe get a delivery straight to town hall! I wonder how Mayor Celestia would've acted in the 20's! She seems to be pretty by the book, but on the other hand, she's also rather pragmatic. I can't really see her cracking down too hard on booze as long as it doesn't lead to any excessive violence, so as long as we keep a low profile...” And now, he turned his attention to Rarity. “I think you would've made a great lounge singer, or...”

Rarity was even more bewildered now! “Uhm... I don't know...”

He apparently didn't even hear her! “A nice evening dress, teasing with your cleavage, long gloves... Standing in a smokey room... And then, the jazz band would play up and we'd dance!a” And with a chuckle, Spike added: “You'd be my moll, and I your fella!”

Bewilderment made way for utter confusion at those words. “What?”

The dragon looked a tad embarrassed at this random tangent! “Sorry. I've been reading some stories taking place during those days and fantasizing like that got me into the slang... Not that I can promise that I even used it correctly!” He laughed. “I think, if I recall the stories correctly, it means 'You'd be my girlfriend and I your boyfriend!”

Rarity stared at him, lost for words. Spike sighed, his face blushing. “To be honest... I think I've developed a crush on you the moment Sweetie Belle had shown me your picture... I've never seen a mare like you!”

A small smile crept onto Rarity's face. “You know... Let me humor you for a moment... You seem nice enough... And got me out of this... Maybe I could've welcomed the guests by calling out to them 'Hello, Sucker! Come on in and leave your wallet on the bar'!”

“That's the spirit!” He laughed. But Rarity stared at her hooves,thinking.

He seemed nice enough and was, apparently, willing to take care of her, and her younger sister, and in return he only wanted her... to essentially rebuild her life. Maybe... just maybe...”It's a bit soon, but, maybe... we two could give it a try? Between us, I mean?”

Spike's heart was racing, “Only if you want...”

“You've saved me. I think, I could try if we're fit for one another... “ Rarity nodded! “Under a few conditions: Considering what I've just heard, I don't expect you two have nopony aside me. But then, I want the same for me: We'd be together, but I get to have some little trysts on the side!”

“No objections here,” the dragon agreed, “Part of my gang was built on liberal love making!”

“Two: Sweetie Belle won't...”

Sike cut her off immediately, assuming he knew where this was going! “I won't force her to do anything she doesn't want to. She knows that already. But, I have to tell you... when you suggested she had offered her body to me to find you... well... she kind off did. I would have done this for her anyway, but her and her friends had wanted to do more... serious work for a while now, and we'd always denied it. One of her friends is the younger sister of Big Mac, the tall stallion, and Applejack, the orange mare, so it was a case of 'all three are off limits'. Apparently, Apple Bloom threatened to just spread her legs for whatever random stallion she'd meet if she wasn't allowed to get more involved... And then, there are her other friends...”

Rarity sighed. That sounded like Sweetie Belle... “And three!” Now, it was time to indulge in a bit of personal pettiness! “I want revenge on Suri Polomare! I want her to pay for what she did to me, and probably many other designers! And WILL do to many more! And my career back! It doesn't have to be soon, but I want to rebuild what I have lost!”

“Oh, that's something I'll gladly help with!” He told her grimly, “And in regards of your career... Two of your sisters friends are the daughters of some rather important ponies! Filthy Rich's daughter Diamond Tiara. So, maybe there's an option for advertisement for you!” However, he did have to dial down her expectations! “But, I can't promise it'll be be fast, or a priority. We'll get to the stuff when appropriate. Or at least, well, when get to it!”

“I understand that. And,” she added, “I assume that rebuilding my career will be happening on the side anyway, with ponies seeing my designs! Maybe you could add a disclaimer to adds? 'Outfits designed by Rarity'?”

“We'll see!”

Finally the two got into areas both of them were more familiar with again! They were actually not too far away from the club! A mile, a mile and half or thereabout!

Rarity and Spike rounded another corner and pink mare hurried over to them, holding a sign. It read “Sugarcobe Corner – Bakery and confectionery!” Below of that, there was a short text: “Fresh bread, cakes, pies, and cookies every day! Open from 6 AM – 3 PM! Come visit us at...” They couldn't quite make out the address due to how the mare bounced over to them! She also turned the sign around, and there was a list of some of the the goods on offer: “Artisan Breads, Bread Rolls, Pretzels, Cookies, Brownies, Pastries, Cupcakes, Cakes, Donuts and more!”

“A bakery?” Spike whispered to his now-girlfriend (pending confirmation that it'd work out between them), “Have you ever heard of it?”

Rarity shook her head. “No... But then, I've rarely been in this area. And a lot of last year is a bit of a blur for me...”

“Strange... I thought I knew most stores here!” He humbled to himself. But then, something made itself noticeable in the back of his head! “That reminds me... I kinda want to have a little kitchen in the back of my club, like in taverns, or bars, where we can prepare some snacks for the guests. Like pizzas, sandwiches and so on!”

“Nice and salty so that they buy more drinks?” The unicorn chuckled. And seeing how he nodded, she added: “At least you have some sense for business!”

The pink earth pony was just about to reach them, and so Spike whispered to Rarity: “Let's hear what she has to say!”

“Hello!” She greeted them, obviously very excited. And then, she began to speak without pausing for a single moment! WouldyoubeinterestedinvisitingSugarCubeCo...”

“Breath,please!” Rarity cut her off, and, with some amusement, she continued, “We can barely understand what you're saying!”

“Sorry! I'm just excited that you want to listen to me!” She told them, “Most others here just ignored me!” And now, finally, she proceeded to introduce herself and what she wanted to say: “I'm Pinkie Pie, and work at Sugarcube Corner! Would you be interested in giving it a try?” She held out a pair of flyers to them.

Both him and Rarity each taking one, Spike looked at it and asked, “Is that store new? I work not too far away but never heard of it!”

“We've been here for a few years actually!” Pinkie Pie chirped happily, “But Mr. and Mrs. Cake unfortunately never bothered with trying to advertise their store much, so it was something the ponies in the area knew about, but barely anypony else! I decided to drum up some interest, to repay them for taking me in as their apprentice AND allow me and my sister to live upstairs! She's studying geology!” After taking a breath, she continued: “So, I saved some money and had those fliers printed, made the sign and, on my off time, am now trying to drum up business!”

“Is it working?” Rarity asked her, looking up from the flyer.

“A bit.” And it seemed like she deflated slightly. “Not as much as we'd like, but business has increased somewhat!”

Spike shrugged. “Well, tell us about it!”

“Oh, right! Silly me!-” Pinkie twisted her head a bit, slightly stuck out her tongue and gave herself a playful knock against her head,- “Sugarcube Corner is an artisan bakery! All our breads, bread rolls and so on are hand made! Same for our pastries!”

“Sounds like a lot of work... how do you manage that?” Rarity asked her.

“Rising early, working hard, having the things on offer rotate, and making a large batch of dough that's enough for two days! And, maybe, if business picks up we can hire more hands! The Pies,-” Pinkie chuckled,”-would love to have the store open until evening! We also sell soft drinks, coffee, cocoa and tea and savory snacks! Topped bread rolls, bagels and so on! There is also a breakfast offer from 6 to 12!”

Feeling how empty his stomach was, Spike talked to himself, “Maybe we should check that bakery?” He looked at his phone to check the time, “Know what? I'll invite you to a late breakfast!”

Rarity raised an eyebrow. “Breakfast? At 11:30 AM?”

“Didn't have anything to eat yet!” The dragon laughed! “And considering what you went through, I don't think you had a good breakfast either!” Her suddenly rumbling stomach confirmed that... “And I also kinda doubt they serve a full brunch.”

“Really?! You want to try it out right now?” The pink mare sounded surprised and excited!

The unicorn looked surprised herself, as she saw how Pinkie reacted! “Would that be an issue?”

“Not at all!” She was basically bouncing around Spike and Rarity as she answered! “It's just that most, at best, tell me 'Maybe sometime'! You two being interested enough to try it out now is great!”

“Lead the way!”

A few minutes later, they arrived at the bakery. It was a corner shop on the ground floor, reached by three steps. It was rather unassuming. Even the sign didn't jump into the eye immediately. Well, that at least partially explained why Spike had never noticed it.! A blue, middle-aged mare stood behind the counter, filling up a shelf with bread rolls.

“Mrs. Cake!” Pinke called out to her as the door opened and a bell rang to announce their entry, “Look! I've found two new customers!” And she rushed off into the back, where Spike assumed the kitchen was.

For a moment, it seemed her shoulders sagged, but then the mare turned around and, after a moment of surprise, smiled gently. “Welcome to Sugarcube Corner!” She greeted them. “How can I help you?”

Still staring after Pinkie's disappearance, Spike took a few moments to realize what he'd just been asked! “Uhm... we would like to have breakfast? If it's not too late for that?”

“Oh no! The offer is still running!” Mrs. Cake told them as she stepped out from behind the counter, and, lead Spike and Rarity to a small table. The older mare looked a bit frustrated, “Is she still running around with that sign? Did she just drag you with her? I am terribly sorry!”

Rarity was surprised! “Why?”

“Pinkie means well,” The owner sighed wearily, “but she can get very overexcited very easily!”

“Actually,” Spike began to explain, “I suggested to check your bakery out after we ran into her! We were hungry!” The dragon told her, looking at how the plump pink mare whizzed around behind the counter, filling emptied baskets and display cases with freshly baked goods from the back! “And what she told us about this place, and the pictures on her flyers, got me interested!”

“Oh? Really?” She sounded quite relied, “That's good to hear. There had been a few cases when Pinkie had just dragged some ponies with her when she'd gotten too excited! What,-” Mrs. Cake pulled out a little notepad and a pen, -”do you want?”

“Well,” he laughed, “we'd like to try your breakfast!”

“I would like some black tea, please! If you have any.” For a moment, Mrs. Cake was taking off-guard by the discrepancy of the white unicorn's appearance and behavior! She hadn't payed much attention to it earlier, but... this punk pony acted, or at the very least tried to act, rather dignified, utterly clashing with her look! Well, there were all sorts of ponies... why not a refined punk?

Her companion meanwhile ordered coffee, and before the baker could ask him to specify, he told her, as if anticipating it, “Just normal coffee. Maybe a small can of cream and some sugar on the side, depending on how I feel, but nothing fancy.”

Mrs. Cake had hastily scribbled the orders on the notepad in her hand and turned her head and called over to her apprentice, “Pinkie? You heard them? One black tea and one coffee!” Turning back to her guests, she placed the pen against the paper again. “And one breakfast plate for two, right?”

“Yep!” He nodded and Mrs. Cake disappeared into the kitchen.

A few minutes later, Pinkie brought them their tea, coffee and cream and sugar. Both cups looked piping hot! As Spike lifted his coffee to his lips, Rarity stared at him! “Don't you want to let it cool off a bit?”

He grinned and let a tiny bit of fire shoot out of his mouth! Dragons... fireproof. Of course! Rarity could've slapped herself! A species that could breathe fire obviously had to be resilient to hot temperatures! Then, he took a small sip of the hot beverage. “Hmm... not bad!”

After they'd waited a while, just enough for the tea to cool down to a drinkable degree, Mrs. Cake and Pinkie brought them a few plates, filled with a variety of bread rolls, pretzels and sweater things, another plate with savory sides, like sliced cucumbers and radishes, carrots and so on, and a third one with jams, honey, cream cheese and more!

Both, Spike and Rarity stared at the food with large eyes! “Man! That looks nice!” The dragon's tongue hungrily licked over his lips...

Rarity grabbed a croissant and told him, “Bon appetit!”

The two emptied all the platters! Barely a crumb was left when they were finished! “Man, I was hungrier than I thought!” Spike chuckled.

Rarity looked at him and pointed at some crumbs stuck on his face. “I concur...” She sighed, more content than she'd been in a long time, just as Mrs. Cake came back and Spike pulled his wallet out of his pocket.

“How much will that cost?” He asked her as he looked through the bit bills he had left.

Mrs. Cake thought for a moment. “Twenty-five bits for the breakfast, including the tea and the coffee!”

“That's a steal for food like this!” He cheered! In many other establishments, he'd pay more for less. Or worse. Hopefully, they didn't make the stuff so cheap that the overhead would ruin them... He pushed a fifty bit bill and one tewnty bit bill into Mrs. Cake's hand. “Can I get one more tea and coffee please? This should be enough to cover everything and keep the change!”

Shortly afterwards, Pinkie hurried to prepare their fresh beverages. Spike had to admit: The bouncy pink mare was cute... maybe someday, they'd get to know each other more personally... much more personally.

Suddenly, he noticed Rarity snapping her fingers in front of his face. Glaring, she told him, “You're staring at her as if you wanted to jump and eat her at any moment!”

“Sorry! I was just,-” He let out an embarrassed laugh, “just thinking that she looked like somepony who'd be pretty nice to have some fun with!”

“You're an utterly hopeless pervert!” She shot at her new boyfriend with as much prim and proper indignation as she could muster!

“You don't know half of it, and considering what we did a few moments ago, I don't think you're one to talk!” He threw back at her with a smug grin, “And believe me, you'll love it!” The dragon let out a small chuckle.

It was easy to read Rarity's facial expressions at that moment: Part of her wanted to act offended and shocked... but the other part knew that Spike was more than correct... The time with D hadn't passed without leaving traces on her mind... and she'd felt pleasure she'd never felt before... a dirty, perverted side of hers had been awoken, and it probably would never disappear... So, having a boyfriend who'd be more than happy to indulge her, personally and by allowing a tryst or two on the side certainly was something very nice! Deciding on not risking any proper reply, she just let out an annoyed sigh.

Just in time for Pinkie to show up with the new cups! “What'cha talking about?”

“Nothing important!” Spike hurried to tell her, “Just chatting a bit!” Then, he took a look around. Since they'd entered, maybe two or three customers had shown up... “Not many customers today?”

“Yes, but that's not unusual...” The bouncy mare seemed to deflate somewhat. “But!-” Her mood immediately shifted again, “I know, if I just do more advertisement, we'll drown in customers!”

Well, she certainly was an optimist! Spike leaned over to the nearest other table and pulled a chair over. “Why don't you sit down a bit and tell us about you?”

Pinkie sat down. “Well, I was born on a rock farm, out in the sticks and, when my sister moved here to study, and she told me she found a cheap room owned by a pair of bakers, and then I got into contact with them and Mr. and Mrs. Cake accepted me as their apprentice!”

Putting down her coffee, Rarity raised an eyebrow. “One question?”

“Yes?”

“You say you,-” the unicorn gesticulated a bit with her hand, “-and your sister live here. And she's studying?”

“Yes!” Pinkie confirmed again.

“And she lives here, with you?” She just wanted to confirm again, “Isn't that a bit far away from any of Manehattan's colleges?”

“It works for her,” Pinkie shrugged, “She usually rises early and does a lot of her work on the computer. As far as I know, Maude has yet to miss a single lecture! I wish I could introduce you to her, but she's on a field trip with other students and their professor right now!”

“Even so... how can she afford all this?” Considering her own financial difficulties before she got kicked out, this apparent ease was vexing Rarity!

“She's got a stipend.” Pinkie shrugged, “And she found a reasonably paid job she works at on the side!”

Not wanting to answer, Rarity instead took another sip from her tea, and Pinkie just continued: “Otherwise, I'm a party pony at heart! Next to baking, I love to throw parties! Wild ones! It's more of a hobby, but I just love to make everypony smile and have a good time!” Calming down a bit, she added, “But I don't have many opportunities for doing so, unfortunately...”

“Maybe.-” Spike took a sip from his coffee, causing him to pause for a moment, “-I could arrange an opportunity or two for you?”

Pinkie Pie looked surprised! “Huh?”

“I own a club!” He shrugged, taking another sip, “So, maybe we could arrange for you to throw a party there. And if it does well, we might make that a regular thing!” Before Pinkie could do anything, like vigorously hug him or bounce up and down so much that she'd shoot through the roof, he pulled out another ten bits from his wallet. “By the way, here's your tip!”

“THANK YOU!” She hugged him, without noticing his head was between her breasts, when a male voice called out from the kitchen.

“Pinkie! I need some help here!”

The earth pony quickly jumped up and rushed to the kitchen. “Coming, Mr. Cake!”

During all of this, Rarity's mind had worked through some things... “You know, I think I know what's part of the issue... For this bakery, I mean!”

“So?” The dragon raised an eyebrow.

“They aren't advertising, or, at best, only in the area! And most ponies here who know about it, well, their word won't spread far!” Rarity concluded. “And Pinkie running around with that shield and flyers? Many ponies will just get annoyed by that, especially considering her... very outgoing personality. And they might not trust the word of an employee on the quality of something!”

Emptying his cup, Spike drew a conclusion: “You mean, they need more word of mouth? With more reach? Maybe some buzz on the internet?”

“Exactly!” She nodded.

And now, Spike had an idea... “I think I could kill two birds with one stone here...”

“What do you mean?” Now, Rarity was curious!

“I mean, I did tell you that...-,” His phone rang, and spike looked at the caller. “Huh? Diamond Tiara?” He turned to his girlfriend! “One moment, please!” Spike picked up the phone... “Hey, DT! What's up?... Oh, I'm fine!” Suddenly, he tore his eyes wide open! “YOU WANT ME TO DO WHAT?!” He was silent for a short while, as he listened to this DT... “Alright! Alright! I'll think about it... Yeah, bye!” An unbelieving look on his face, Spike told Rarity, “She wants me to accompany her to a party!”

“So?” Rarity scoffed, wondering what could be so shocking at being invited to accompany somepony to a party...

“I mean, like, a big, fancy,-” Spike spread out his arms, trying to kinda show how rich they were, “-upper crust, rich idiots party! Enough money to buy half the city... if they don't already own it! I think it's a charity event hosted by her dad...

“And? Why is that a big deal?” She sounded... either unimpressed, or unconvinced.

He shrugged. “Well, her father is Filthy Rich.”

“And?” The unicorn asked again. “What's his name?”

“Filthy Rich. I told you before!” The dragon told her, sounding a mix of a bit confused, slightly annoyed, but also amused.

Rarity had nearly spat out the rest of her tea when she realized that he'd been telling the truth, instead of just one of far too many 'I know important ponies!' pick up attempts! “Wait... you were serious about that?! I thought you were joking! Or trying to impress me with empty bluster!” This dragon was friends with one of the richest ponies in Equestria?! And... that meant... “And Sweetie Belle is friends with his daughter?!”

“Yup! And, as I told you, Sweetie Belle and her friends even got into a pretty good school thanks to Diamond Tiara!”

Rarity got an idea... “Do you have any idea when the party takes place?”

“I think she said in a few weeks?” He shrugged, “Said me she'd give me the details in person.”

“Maybe,” She mumbled to herself, “Maybe, I could come up with a dress for her, if she's interested! I need to see if I can still do this, and she probably has enough money that, if it goes wrong, she can just buy an appropriate outfit... Or use one from her wardrobe...”

“We can ask her later, if you want! I bet she'll show up today, together with your sister and her other friends!”

“That would be very kind.” Her hand brushed over her colorful mohawk and, more to herself, mumbled, “I can't wait until my mane has grown back...”

A yellow earth-pony stallion, looking a similar age to Mrs. Cake, walked out from the kitchen, carrying a sheet cake. Maybe now was the time for Spike to act on this idea he just had... “Excuse me? Am I right to assume that you're Mr. Cake?”

“Yes?” Mr. Cake turned around, surprised to be spoken to. Most of the the guests that showed up that weren't regulars usually didn't care much about anypony not serving them right now. “You must be the ones Pinkie dragged with her, right?”

“Well, we came along because we were hungry, but I guess you could say that!” The dragon chuckled. “But anyway,-” He turned more serious, ”-I might have a business proposal to make...”

The stallion was surprised. That was new! At the very least from a dragon who's just been having a nice chat with his wife and who'd come along with Pinkie, and who was alone instead of with a group of goons... and without baseball bats or sledge hammers... Suspicious and cautiously, he coldly asked the dragon, “What? I'll warn you, we've already dealt with racketeers before...”

“Oh no, nothing like that!” Spike hurriedly tried to calm him down, but it didn't seem to do much to ease the stallion's suspicions. “I am serious with the term 'business'! I own a club, not that far away from here. Maybe you've heard of it? Tartarus?”

“Of course I've heard of it.” The stallion grumbled, not quite convinced, “You wouldn't believe how many hung over party goers show up here early in the morning!” And, though he didn't like to admit it, they probably are the main reason he and his wife were still in business...

Spike shrugged. It'd be nice to have a local collab, but he could find others... “Well, we've been thinking of offering some snacks alongside the drinks, and you seem to need more publicity. So, I thought that, maybe, we could help each other.”

Well, he could at least listen to that dragon. At worst, it'd be a waste of time on an already slow day... But he wouldn't leave his wife out of this. In case it defied expectations and turned out productive. “Wait a moment, let me get my wife.”

The two bakers and Spike talked for a while, Pinkie bringing everyone more beverages. Asked about how he imagined this working out, Spike told them that they could outfit at least a small backroom with an oven and the Cakes could deliver frozen dough pieces that only needed to be baked. Maybe also some pizza dough that only needed toppings and so on. He also suggested that, if their business picks up, one of them could maybe work the bakery at the club.

“What do you think, dear?” Mr. Cake turned to his wife.

“This sounds... reasonable enough?” His wife told him, but then looked at Spike... “But... We still don't know if you're really who you say you are!”

“Let me call my partner, my lawyer and my manager...” The dragon sighed, grabbing his phone. They should be able to clear up everything. “They can also draft a preliminary contract...”

Author's Note

Gotta admit, the little “Prohibition” part... yeah, it was inspired by the Pilot of Lackadaisy. I'd gotten around to watching the pilot a month or 1.5 months or thereabout after release. Read the webcomic. Nice stuff, but...

This should also tell you, when this stuff was written originally...