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// Trouble in the Treasury 
// Story: Twilight's Reign 
// by James Pwyll 
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Ever since he took on this position, and even years before, Spike was no stranger to having piles of papers in front of him. But while there was a time when he might have relished going through such documents, these ones only brought him frustration, as every page only furthered the frown he wore. "Okay...there's no denying it. This needs to be fixed."

"Quite," a voice from the side said to him. "Princess Celestia often struggled to keep things from escalating, but thankfully, now that we've found the source of the problem, we can maybe get this matter resolved."

Spike turned to look upon the white earth pony, Raven Inkwell, standing beside him, looking over the same papers he was. "Did we manage to get them?"

Raven, taking off her glasses for a moment, rolled her eyes. "Yes...though not without considerable effort."

Spike sighed. "Let me guess, they charmed the guards and got away?"

Raven nodded solemnly. "Twice, unfortunately."

The young dragon rubbed his temples. "Yep, thought as much." He leaned back into his chair, glancing around the well-kept office he did most of his work in. "Times like this when you wonder just how Celestia kept herself from going nuts for all those centuries"

A knowing smile came to the mare beside him. "A good night's sleep, and plenty of good tea in the morning. That usually did the trick."

Spike chuckled drily. "Heh, might give that a try." His eyes narrowed. "But first..."

Raven smiled and then nodded again, understanding his meaning. "Of course." She gestured to one of the two guards that were stationed just outside of Spike's door, and the latter saluted before opening said door. On the other side, and being escorted in by another pair of guards, was a duo of unicorns that Spike had seen several times in his life, though ones he'd wished not to see again anytime soon. Raven was likewise unimpressed with them, yet maintained her professional tone. "Mr Flim. Mr Flam. Thank you for joining us."

Let it never be said that the brothers didn't try to act modest when they knew they were rumbled, as the first gave a bow. "Why it's no trouble at all, my dear. My brother and I are happy to be invited to the palace."

"Even if we were rather pressed into the matter," the other remarked, much to the prior brother's irritation.

Raven adjusted her glasses before gesturing to Spike. "If you would, the Royal Advisor has a matter of great importance to discuss with you."

It was only here when the brothers noticed Spike, and this apparently caused them some amusement. "Ah! Spike my boy! How stupendous to see you again! Why, it seems like only yesterday we were rubbing elbows with all our allies in the great battle against Tirek, Chrysalis and...whatever that little filly's name was. Ah, good times, am I right?"

Raven, who was clearly offended on Spike's behalf that these two would assume such good terms with him, stepped forward to speak, only to stop when Spike spoke up himself. "Oh, certainly. In fact, since we're such close allies, I was hoping we could talk about a few things."

Flim and Flam, sharing a confident look, waltzed right on over to Spike's desk, pulled out a couple of chairs, then plonked themselves in and stretched like they owned the place, much to Raven's obvious chagrin. But she kept herself quiet for now, listening on as Flim began. "I say, old boy, jolly nice of you to want to converse with us like this. Need a few pointers for public speaking or the like?"

Spike, looking like absolutely nothing was wrong, reached over and pulled out something from the drawer on his desk. After that, he tossed it over to Flam, who caught it between his hooves. Both brothers looked on at what had been thrown their way, and immediately their eyes widened. It was a golden coin, a bit, and one totally unassuming, yet for some reason caused the brothers some concern. But like Raven they too kept quiet, watching as Spike leaned forward to speak. "Do you know what that is?"

Pulling at his collar, Flim tried to act innocent. "Why it's a bit of course. Totally normal and nothing wrong with it."

Flam started sweating. "Was...was that all? Can we go now?"

Slowly, Spike shook his head. "Unfortunately, it is not a normal and ordinary bit. It looks like one, but a lot of the smaller details, like the writing on the coin and the markings around the edge, aren't in-line with what other bits have on them."

A quick gulp from Flim. "Oh...fascinating."

Spike smiled slightly. "In fact, it's almost as if this isn't a real bit at all, but a fake." His eyes narrowed. "Now, I wonder who would be so tricksy as to try and introduce counterfeit coins to the economy? Hmmmmm?"

Flim, his eyes darting around the room, quickly tried to assume the role of the confident conman yet again. "Oh! Well done, my lad! You found our little prize! Oh boy, we wondered if anycreature was going to find it at all, weren't we, brother?"

Flam, picking up on the cues, nodded enthusiastically. "Oh yes! But you did it, Spike old chap! And for that you win the prize of..."

Unfortunately, the two had no chance to finish whatever quick scheme they'd thought up, because at that moment Spike reached back into the drawer from before, pulling out a large sack, then dumped it onto the desk, causing several dozen more counterfeit coins to fall out. A long silence fell over them all, during which time the brothers could feel Spike's gaze drilling into them. After a long while of this, Flim again looked to him with nervousness. "Um...boys will be boys?"

Spike shook his head. "Flim...Flam...I'm going to assume you know it's illegal to do this. But even if you didn't, please know that this is an incredibly damaging thing to do."

Flim, who apparently did not believe that, waved him off. "Oh pish! Surely you exaggerate. It's just my brother and I trying to get a bit extra for our pockets, that's all."

Spike's look of disapproval was as clear as day. "Every new coin that goes out there, fake or not, devalues bits as a whole. The less valuable they are, the harder it'll be for people to buy stuff with it. Now, ponies like you, who like to surround yourselves with as much money as possible, probably won't feel that pinch, but for those who do it'll make life a lot harder for them." He balled his claw into a fist, slamming it onto the table and causing the brothers to flinch. "When I took this job, I did so because I felt I could try and make things good for this nation. So did Princess Twilight. And if you think I'm going to let this kind of thing carry on, you've got another thing coming."

The brothers were visibly nervous now, doubly so when they noticed that the guards who had escorted them here had actually taken to standing right behind them. After upping the amount of sweat he was letting out, Flam spoke to the small dragon before him. "What...what are you going to do?"

Taking a deep breath, Spike stood on top of his chair, making sure he was at eye-level with the two stallions. "First, you're going to give your full cooperation to the guards. We'll be conducting an investigation of all your dealings, and hopefully we'll be able to track down every single one of these fake bits you've put out there. As for you two..." He took a moment to enjoy the fear in their eyes, then continued. "You'll be sent to a place where you'll have to learn the value of being open and honest with people. There's a seminar being held in a town close to Canterlot, and the speaker is one known far and wide for getting across the importance of the truth." A sly smirk came to her. "I believe you know her well."

Instantly, the color drained from the brother's faces. "No...no! Not her! Anything but her! She'll...she'll eat us alive!" Flim declared.

Spike shrugged. "Well not to put too fine a point on it...but you should've thought of that before you started making fake money." His smile faded, and he looked to them with pure seriousness now. "I hope you both know that not cooperating with the guards won't earn you any points with me, right?"

Flam and Flam looked to each other, then the former put on perhaps the sleaziest smile Spike had ever seen. "Would...a free day in Las Pegasus maybe sway your opinion of us?" The arched eyebrow Spike gave him was all the answer he needed. "Right...message received and understood."

Spike gave a firm nod. "Good." He gestured to the guards. "Take them to that old 'university' of theirs first. If we're looking over their paperwork, that's a good place to start." He got a salute from the guards, watching as the two con-ponies were escorted out of their office with their tails between their legs. As soon as the door closed, and it was once more just him and Raven, Spike looked up to the latter. "Think we'll be able to get all the false bits?"

Raven smiled to him. "If anyone has a knack for finding gold, Spike, it's a dragon."

Spike smirked again. "Dang straight."