Setting, Setting, Setting!
“Woo… kinda… what’s the word? Light, I guess? Light-headed maybe,” Spike mumbled to himself, floating through some kind of space. His eyes drifted across the monotone world, not a shred of color anywhere, “Where…?”
“You’re dreaming. I thought you’d figure that much out on your own!” A voice, Spike’s voice, spoke off to the dragon’s right. He turned his heavy head, seeing his moustachioed self as the dastardly devil stroked the handlebar on his upper lip. He wore a grin on his face like he just cheated five gamblers out of every bit they had.
“Dreaming? Oh, right… I was thinking about the story,” Spike lifted himself off the ground with a grunt, staying on his rear as he rubbed a temple, “My dreams seem kinda… blank today though.”
“It’s because instead of your mind being locked on Lady Rarity, you’re thinking about something else. Particularily…”
“Right, my story and where it was gonna go. Me and Twilight were talking about that… earlier, I guess. I figured out my villain.”
“Me, of course,” Evil Spike chuckled evilly, finally leaving his moustache alone.
“Right. I’ve also got a hero,” Spike looked off to his right as Hot Shot came into existence. He didn’t have his tuxedo anymore, though, “Where’s your coat and shirt? I thought they looked pretty snappy.”
Hot Shot simply shrugged in response, taking a seat on the snow-white ground. The stallion adjusted his mane, trying to get the bed-head-for-days look out of it, but getting nowhere fast. He simply lowered his hooves with a grimace, letting the locks fall down in front of his eyes in victory.
“You still don’t have a voice, do you?” Spike got off his butt and walked up to the hero in his story. Evil Spike jumped up on Hot Shot’s head and gripped his mouth, opening and closing it in a talking fashion as he spoke, his voice a trying-but-failing-horribly impression of Derpy’s voice.
“I’m a big, dumb stallion who ALWAYS gets in the way of the handsome Evil Spike’s efforts to get his marefriend back!” Evil Spike lost his grip as Hot Shot clamped his jaw shut, glaring up at the dragon on his head, “What? No sense of humor, you big lug?” Evil Spike chuckled before being chucked off by a quick flick of Hot Shot’s head.
“…Seriously? You’re EVIL Spike, not CHILDISH Spike. Death traps, dastardly plots, complicated plans that have you leave the room JUST as the hero is coming towards the mouth of the volcano.”
“Are you kidding? None of those plans work; I’m not the stereotypical villain that laughs and monologues all the time,” Evil Spike threw his nose up in a pompous fashion, folding his arms with a ‘hmph’.
Spike simply rubbed his forehead, sighing. “Alright, before I get more sidetracked and wake up without actually doing anything, how about we start thinking about setting? Any good story needs a good location.”
As Spike completed his sentence, the world began to bend and fold on itself, walls shattering to reveal massive fences and the metal walls of a fortress. The atmosphere of oppression only grew thicker as the world built itself, stockades occupied by tortured criminals lining the single red carpet, drawing a blood-soaked path up a short staircase to a golden throne, standing upon it a rather royally-clad Evil Spike.
Both Hot Shot and Spike stare up in disbelief at the massive castle that now surrounded them. A courtyard, it’s just a courtyard with walls and tortured ponies!
“Are you crazy? If I use THIS as my setting, I’ll be… I’ll be… laughed at!” Spike shouted, the walls being torn down by a furious hurricane blowing past, Evil Spike’s royal crown and cape blowing away in the shredding wind. Just as quickly as the dark castle had been built, it had been swept away by something that could only be described as an Act of God, “If I do use this, I’m just gonna blow it away with some Celestia-driven event.”
“Party pooper,” Evil Spike mumbled as he sat down on the ground where his throne used to be, pouting like a child who'd just had his candy taken away.
Spike took a deep, hopefully calming breath, ignoring the evil him, and looked around at the thankfully blank world, “Now, what would be a PROPER setting? Considering your background, Hot Shot, I think it should start in Las Pegasus.”
Spike closed his eyes and concentrated, the world once again bending and fading away from the pure white of his blank dreams. They slowly gave way to neon-lit bars, casinos, and fast-moving chariots going up and down the road, carrying all manner of celebrities and gamblers wanting to make their mark on the world with that fabled roll of the dice, “This is my setting. Well… at least at the start of the story before you come to Ponyville.”
Hot Shot looked around, completely taken in by the yellows, greens and reds of all the neon signs. Luna’s moon hung in the air above the Pegasus Strip, allowing the night to be filled by the visual gold of the City of Sin’s blinding, gaudy lights. The moon even seemed to be orbiting further away, as if embarrassed with this challenge to its celestial beauty.
“Sheesh,” Evil Spike got up, moving about the middle of the street. Two stallions drawing a chariot shouted at him as he dodged out of the way of traffic, everypony seeming to be in the rush of their lives. Some drunkards walking out of a rather loud bar off to the left started squabbling, two in the group of four earth ponies quickly coming to blows with each other, “I think you over did it, Spike.”
“Are you kidding? I’ve only heard stories about this place. Always wanted to come here just to see the lights… this is probably exaggerating it, but c’mon! Isn’t it awesome!?” Spike gestured to all the sights around them. Hot Shot and Evil Spike followed his wild arm flails, both of them covering their eyes to protect from some of the more dangerous depictions of mares pouring drinks, or stallions dancing with canes and top hats. One even depicted the Great and Powerful Trixie performing a rather stunning act using two Ursa Minors and a deck of cards, “Take in the sights, guys, cause this is definitely where my story is gonna start.”
“You’re crazy. Anyone who reads this is gonna go blind from imagining this place… I know I am,” Evil Spike replied in his typically insulting tone, shielding his eyes. Hot Shot simply curved his mouth upwards in thought, nodding in approval of the setting.
“C’mon, it’s not that bad. Who knows? I know some villains had pretty cool secret bases, maybe you’ll have one too, Thorn?”
“Th-Thorn?! You’re calling me that!?” Evil Spike tore his eyes away from a bar called ‘The Liver Killer’ to stare at his doppelganger, a look of crazed disbelief on his face, “That’s the stupidest name I've ever heard!”
“Alright, alright! I’m probably gonna call you ‘Boss’ most of the story anyway, plenty of time to think of a name,” Spike said as he sidestepped another racing chariot, one of the stallions turning around to raise his hoof in a cursing manner, “Jeeze, they should call this place the ‘City of Stuck-ups’…”
“Fitting for the hero, don’t’cha think? Since ol’ Hot Shot here is such a stick in the mud… won’t even react when I insult him!” Evil Spike glared up at his rival, Hot Shot quickly returning it. They slowly leaned toward each other until Hot Shot’s chin was against the ground, both their foreheads butting against each other as they tried to burn holes into each other’s eyes.
“Alright guys, calm down. Now, since we’re here, what’s gonna happen? This is before Hot Shot meets Rarity, so what pushes him over to Ponyville?” Spike raised his brow at his cohorts, who both pulled away from their glare and placed hoof and claw on their chins. Spike joined them in the gesture of deep thought as they all start thinking.
“Maybe… the original idea was for him to get caught up in some trouble here, right?” Evil Spike started, raising an eyebrow. Spike nodded in confirmation, letting Evil Spike continue, “So why not get him involved with the mob? Maybe a deal goes bad and he has to run.”
“He’s a gambler, not a criminal. Getting bad debt at a casino would be reason enough to run though. Alright, so let’s see… come with me, Mr. Shot,” Spike strolled over to one of the sidewalks, Evil Spike and Hot Shot following behind him, “What’s a good name for a casino…?”
“The Hot Dice!” Evil Spike exclaimed, wearing a toothy smile.
“Nah…” Spike scratched his chin in thought, stopping in front of a monolithic building covered in neon lighting; Pinkie would've had a heart attack out of excitement if she was asked to host a party here. A massive sign hung high over the three pairs of double doors, a blank green across its front, surrounded by shining dark blue.
“Uhhh…The Stacked Deck,” Evil Spike suggested.
“That makes it sound like they’re trying to take your bits, as in ‘not fair.’”
“You’re busting me here, man!”
“You’re me! How could I be busting you without busting myself?! If… that makes sense. Stupid dreams…” Spike frowned at his evil double. A strange feeling passed through him as the world warped and faded, his eyelids falling against his commands to keep them open.
“Ah, guess it’s morning. We’ll see you later, Spike!” Evil Spike waved with Hot Shot as they faded away into the white of oblivion.
“Ngh…what a night,” Spike whispered, blinking hard against the light streaming in from the window, “What was I doing today? Urgh... well, I did just wake up, makes sense that I can’t remember immediately… maybe some breakfast’ll jog my memory,” Spike looked over at the bed, seeing Twilight snoring away, rolling occasionally in her covers. He smirked at the sight as he hopped out of his own basket, walking over to the stairs. He made careful steps down them while rubbing his eyes, the haze of drowsiness not quite cleared from his mind. He stopped half way down the staircase, looking at Castle Twilight standing in the middle of the room, the books that made up its walls still not taken down and re-organized.
Well… she did say she’d clean it up, Spike drooled in his mind, still blinking his eyes on occasion to get the blur out of his vision. He took a seat on the step, holding his head between his claws and closing his eyes, “Sheesh. How bad a sleep did I have? The dream seemed a lot longer than usual… then again; I don’t normally have conversations with myself… does that make me crazy?” Spike asked the darkness, not expecting an answer, “Just the creative process, Spike… didn’t somepony say something about madness and genius?”
Spike shook his head, waking up a bit as he continued his morning pilgrimage to the kitchen, stretching as he reached the bottom of the stairs, “Right then… breakfast, breakfast. Maybe I’ll go with emeralds today; the sour flavor might wake me up a bit. Finish off with a glass of milk,” Spike nodded at his breakfast plan, nearly falling on his face with it. Can't slack today, so better make it a double order! Well... slacking before breakfast isn't that bad. The dragon made a less-than-brisk walk into the kitchen. With all the enthusiasm of an irritated sloth, he’d assembled a good amount of gems and a glass with a milk carton next to it, and he stared off into space as he placed the first gem between his steel fangs.
“So. I’ve got a villain. He’s… well, me. Twilight did say to give the characters some quirks… what did Evil Spike act like?” Spike quirked his mouth as he chomped on the gem, the shock of sour hitting his cheeks and tongue and revving his brain like Pinkie after a small cup of coffee, “Woo! Plan worked better than I thought,” He raised his eyebrows, the scales nearly flying off at the velocity of the act, “Ok. Villain is me. How did he act in the dream and every time I went to my imagination?” Spike asked himself out loud, before frowning and furrowing his brow, “Like a foal… great. I’ve got a foalish, overconfident villain, and that’s just copying me!” Spike grumbled with a grimace as he chomped down the other half of his emerald, “That’s kinda bad… maybe he just needs a bit of refinement? He’s clever at least, that’s a feature any good villain needs!”
Grabbing another emerald as he mulled the gem chunks over his waiting tongue, his brain continued on the train of thought, thinking about villains and what made them good, “A good villain needs a reason to be one… Lady Rarity is a good reason, isn’t she? Would I turn evil if it meant she’d be with me?” He crushed the emerald in his hand with a motion of his guillotine jaw and fangs, considering the option, “Nah, Twilight would come after me, writing some speech on the way,” He chuckled at the thought of Twilight racing through Ponyville after his dastardly double, shouting something about a very scathing letter to be sent to the Princess about him, “Then Princess Celestia would get involved, and, well… that’d just end badly for everypony.”
“Morning, Spiiiike,” A voice moaned from the door, and he turned to see the frazzled form of Twilight. Signs of yet another crazed night of research shone through in her saggy, half-closed eyes and ragged mane and tail; somepony didn’t care how she woke up, apparently.
“Morning. I did some thinking about the story last night,” Spike chucked the last of his emerald into the air, it bouncing off his nose during its free fall and, thankfully, landing in his open mouth. He rubbed his nose while chewing on the sour morsel, each chew providing more shock for the brain to wake him up, “Like a cup of coffee, only ten times better! Makes me wish everypony was a dragon; emeralds make a great breakfast!”
“I’m sure they do…but coffee’ll do for us regular ponies, I suppose,” Twilight managed a short smirk as she dragged herself over to the other side of the table, sitting down and placing her head between her hooves.
“Something on your mind?” Spike grabbed another emerald as he raised an eyebrow, chomping down on it as he leaned on the table.
“I’m trying to invent a new spell combining teleportation and matter reformation; don’t worry about the terms, it’s making about as much sense to me as it does to you. It’s wreaking havoc on my brain…” Twilight let out a defeated groan, looking wearily up at her assistant from the table.
“There’s always the Princess. Teachers help their students on tough questions, right?” Spike finished off the emerald, grabbing another from the dwindling pile.
“I know, but this is a revolutionary spell, and I want to conquer it on my own. I might take a trip to Canterlot, see some of the material in the Archives… maybe somepony before me tried to make the same spell, took a different approach that I haven’t seen?” Twilight looked over at the dragon, hoping for some kind of answer from him. After receiving a few blinks of confusion and a quirk of his mouth in response, she got up from the table to make herself breakfast, “Well, just thought I should let you know, right?”
“Yeah, still, talking to me about magic is like talking to Rainbow Dash about subtlety,” Spike grinned as he got a chuckle out of Twilight. She's had a rough night... a good laugh is always a great way to start the morning any day.
“Too true. So, you mentioned your story, how’s that going?” Twilight drew some materials from the fridge, all coming out in a large purple aura.
“Pretty well, actually; thought up a pretty good villain, something of a plot, and my first setting,” Spike made a prideful smirk, tossing another emerald into his mouth. He poured himself a glass of milk, smashing the gem in his mouth to dust as Twilight set about prepping the area before her for a sandwich.
“First setting, eh? Where is it?”
“Las Pegasus.”
“The City of Sin, huh… sounds like the right place to start off a story about a gambler down on his luck.”
Bread, condiments and several flowers floated around in front of Twilight as she set about making the morning fuel for her brain, Spike watching in half-interest as he slurped from his glass of milk. He stared up at the ceiling, letting his thoughts wander in the delicious river of milk as he imagined the neon-lit streets of Las Pegasus, ponies coming and going, shouting about their crazy good luck, getting into bar fights, sometimes a combination of the two. “Maybe I’ll go there someday…”
“Ahhh, no. Las Pegasus isn’t the place for a baby dragon,” Twilight raised her eyebrow as she turned around, bringing a completed daisy-and-mustard sandwich to the table. Ahhh, my favorite kickstarter for the day! Daisies to fill the stomach for the day, and mustard to give me that wake-up jolt! Alright, sandwich, prepare to meet your maker... me! She grinned down at the helpless sandwich in her grip, the scent of the mustard already getting her gears turning.
“C’mon Twilight, I’ve gotta go to the place that’ll be the setting for my story!” Spike grimaced as tapped the table with his fist, grabbing the last emerald on his plate and tearing half of it off.
“It’s a city of casinos, bars, drunks and other riff-raff; you think I want a drunk dragon coming home after a week?” Twilight simply shook her head, sitting down at the table.
“I’m not old enough to drink, you know that. I just wanna go there to study the Strip, see what buildings are there.”
“Still, no. They don’t call it the City of Sin for nothing, Spike,” Twilight said in a motherly tone, as if dealing with a child who just couldn’t sit down and accept what she was saying.
Spike sighed, taking his milk in a claw and downing half of it in one glug, “Do you have any books on the city then?”
“The library carries a lot of historical books, fictional stories, and auto-biographies. I’m pretty sure that somepony wrote about a trip to Las Pegasus, and you might find it here if you look hard enough,” Twilight rubbed her chin as she thought of where such a book might be, ignoring the tasty sandwich in front of her. She looked over at Castle Twilight and sighed, “I remember going through the auto-biographical section for research material…”
“Don’t you usually go into the History and Magic sections for that?” Spike sipped his milk, following her gaze to the monolithic walls of the bastion facing them.
“Yeah, usually, but I heard about a famous unicorn travelling abroad who wrote a book on various magical formulae he learned during his travels. It was an auto-biography, so I went through the whole section looking for it… what was the title?” Twilight looked at the ceiling as she finally remembered her sandwich, taking a bite before the shock of mustard lit her up, “GAH! Too much mustard!”
Spike laughed at the puckered face of the librarian, thinking about what could be going on in her mind right now. Probably spells to neutralize a strong acid or something, he slammed his mouth shut, trying to hold down his laughter. To his surprise, Twilight’s horn lit up and surrounded her head in a bubble for a few moments before bursting, Twilight sighing in relief. “That took care of it…”
“Wait, what spell was that?”
“Acid neutralization.”
Spike eyes widened as he tilted his head. Dh-I-I was right? He couldn't even believe the notion of such a thought.
“I guess there’s a first for everything…” He mumbled to himself as he finished off the milk, wiping his mouth, “Well, what else can I take care of before setting?”
“You could try and think of a plot line,” Twilight suggested as she took a cautious bite, her face puckering up with a groan of anguish as the acidic mustard assaulted her tastebuds and cheeks. She clenched her eyes shut, trying to fight through the pain, moaning as the sting slowly dredged away, “Yep… not gonna finish this thing, am I?”
Spike shook his head with a smirk, “You need the food, Twi’, and tossing out a good sandwich isn’t good.”
“As if I need a lecture from you, Mr. Devour Every Gem In Sight, you hardly need all the food you dump into your stomach every day,” Twilight replied with the same smirk.
“Hey, I’m a growing dragon, and dragons need food, don’t we? Split it in half, I’ll take some; brain’s still kinda fuzzy anyway,” Spike dropped out of his chair and walked around to the other side of the table. After carefully considering the current shape of the sandwich, Twilight carefully cut it in two perfect halves, handing one half to Spike as she took another bite out of hers. Spike looks down at the sandwich, wondering what could be so bad about a ton of mustard. Ah, probably nothing. Down the hatch! He thought, and dove right into the sandwich with a large bite.
He immediately regretted it as something between getting stabbed in the cheek and having a ton of powdered emeralds dumped into his mouth attacked his tongue like a bunch of angry ponies going to war against a castle. “Hnngh!”
“See?” Twilight said with a smirk, not lasting long before being replaced by a pained grimace as she swallowed her food.
“Jeeze, you weren’t kidding! That’s way too much! Should probably check that bottle,” Spike groaned as he rubbed his cheek, looking at the menacing yellow bottle on the counter as if it were a weapon of mass cheek destruction, “That mustard is too dangerous to be in pony hooves…”
“I’ll be sure to send it to the Princess to make sure it doesn’t fall into the hooves of somepony with less-than-noble intentions,” Twilight giggled. Finishing off her sandwich with a groan and a grimace, she walked out of the kitchen to start work on disassembling her fortress. Spike decided to get it over with in one go as he tossed the remains of the sandwich into his mouth, and he dropped to his knees as the taste struck out with furious abandon, relentlessly tearing into his cheeks. His face turned red as he battled for dominance, but eventually it faded away, letting him exhale in a slow sigh, the first feelings of relief trickling in.
“Another fight is won by Spike the Brave!” Spike shouted with a smirk as he hopped up and walked into the library, which had already become a hurricane of books flying every which way as Twilight organized them. How can Twilight stay focused on her levitation while putting the books back in their proper places?
“It’s like the Pinkie Sense… something you just have to accept as true, I guess,” Spike sighed with a shrug as a frustrated groan escaped Twilight, one of her ears frantically flicking.
“Don’t mention that!” She shouted, the books still flying about in their crazed storm.
“Right, sorry,” Spike grinned apologetically as he walked over to his writing desk in the middle of the room. Ducking a few times to gather his supplies, and dodge a few book missiles, he finally started writing down his ideas, “Ok… Las Pegasus is the first setting. What should the casino beeee?” Spike mumbled as he tapped the paper with his quill, leaning on his other claw, “The Big Bit? Nah, sounds like they’d be handing out five-foot chips made of lead… Gold Bar Casino? Instead of paying you in bits, they give you gold nuggets!” Spike smirked, then drooled slightly, “Mmmm… gold. Way more chewy than gems, but it’s like a delicacy; smooth and sweet with a bitter aftertaste. Sticks to your teeth though…” He said with a grimace, scratching between two of his fangs with a claw to get some bread still stuck between his teeth out.
Dodging another book flying at him, Spike saw the cloud of books around Twilight finally thinning out, some of her biggest ammunition still in the cloud; dictionaries. Oh boy... if one of those hits me, it's lights out Spike! He quickly took cover behind his desk as a book flew overhead, “It’s always the dictionaries that hit you,” He said with a shake of his head, one of the massive tomes moving sluggishly by, “Why does Twilight have a dictionary on Olde Equestrian?”
“Helps me write to Luna; I like to send the occasional letter when I’m writing my friendship reports to Princess Celestia. She still uses the old dialect, so I use that old dictionary to help me write in a language that’s easier for her to understand,” Twilight stuck her tongue out in concentration as Spike lifted his head up over the desk, the hurricane of books finally gone. He sighed in relief, having survived the storm, and returned to his seat.
“I didn’t know you wrote to Princess Luna,” Spike leaned back in his chair, looking over at his friend.
“The seals look the same, so I’d be kind of surprised if you did,” Twilight grinned, walking over to Spike, “So, nothing planned for today?”
“I thought about it as I was waking up and nothing came to me. Thinking about it now, I think it was just getting some more ink from the local market… we don’t need quills, do we?”
“Nor do we need sofas; I’ve got a pile of them in the basement,” Twilight smirked, still slightly confused by how a pony could sell quills and sofas in the same shop, and why they’d choose such a strange inventory, “You can write out your setting ideas then head out. I’m going to keep working at that spell; I know I’m on the verge of a breakthrough!” Twilight triumphantly spoke with a determined nod, firing up her horn as she turned around, “I’m also on the verge of a breakthrough of how to build castles using books! My Northern wall was tilted a bit though…”
Spike rolled his eyes as they both set to their tasks, his imagination quickly taking over as he fell back into that white world again. He blinked and looked around, seeing only Hot Shot there waiting for him, “Hey, where’s Evil Me?”
Hot Shot replied with a shrug, looking around. He blinked in absent confusion before turning back to Spike.
“It’s gonna be really hard to talk to you if you don’t have a voice… what’s a proper voice for you to use though?” Spike asked himself as he folded his arms. He stroked his chin in thought as Hot Shot drew circles in the ground with his hoof, either bored with waiting, or simply not interested in finally being able to talk, “Voice… voice… well, who can I use as a base?” He blinked as he looked up at Hot Shot, who returned a half-interested stare, “Can you say something for me?”
“Alright. How about this, then? Why do I sound like a mare?” Hot Shot asked in Twilight’s voice, and Spike almost immediately broke down into a laugh, barely saving himself with a harsh hit made to his expression.
“Sorry…I guess the voice I knew best came up,” Spike said, letting a few laughs out. The voice doesn't fit him at all; this tall stud sounding like Twilight? Maybe when I'm writing some crazy comedy
“Ok, ok, ahem… try this one.”
“Ahem, the Lucky and Amazing Hot Shot demands he stop sounding like a mare!” Hot Shot spoke in a pompous manner, tilting his nose up in an equally noble way.
“Too familiar,” Spike answered with a grimace, thinking, “How about… this one?”
“Oh yeah, this makes me sound way better!” Hot Shot immediately belted out in a roar as he leaned into Spike’s face, flexing his forelegs with titanic effort to show off his muscles, “Hot Shot guarantees this voice will make your story amazing, or he will personally go out and wrestle the whiny reader, into submission!!”
“Woah!”
“Oh… sorry,” The stallion immediately looked down, using a small, meek mare’s voice.
“Well…” Spike said as he fell on his rear, sticking a finger in his ear, “It’s better than that other voice…” He rubbed it after pulling his finger out, shaking his head to get that infernal ringing out.
“Maybe… maybe we should… well… focus on the plotline… if… if you don’t mind…” Hot Shot drew a small circle in the ground, more than just the voice coming through, apparently.
“Yeah… I’ll fix your voice soon, but the plot comes first. Let’s see…” Spike folded his arms and started pacing, eyes locked on the floor as he sub-consciously counted his steps, “Alright, so, gambler who gambles all his money away. The policy at a casino is usually… what? Throw you out?”
“Well… I think… things can get a little more, um… violent…”
“That’s true…alright, so you’re gambling. What’s the problem with using your own money, right? In order to get in trouble, you’d have to borrow money from the wrong ponies,” A suited pony popped up in front of the dragon in response. The pony sported a brown coat, a white-gold mane, and a look in his eye that suggested he’d make all your dreams come true for the right price, “Let’s say that you’ve got a problem, hopping from casino to casino looking for your big break, and the bad ponies keep lending you money. You say you’re good for it, yet keep wasting it… they come looking for their money, throw a couple threats around, and you’ve got to leave town. Travelling for a while, you come to Ponyville and meet some of the local ponies.”
“You owes us some money, bub, time youse paid up,” The mysterious pony said with a heavy Booklyn accent, a toothpick appearing in his mouth, “Time’s up.”
“I… I’ll g-get you your money… I just… just need more time,” Hot Shot quivered, sweat falling like bombshells from his face to the ground as he stared at the other pony’s hooves.
“Da Boss ain’t got no more time t’ give; youse said you was gonna pay up, now pay up!” The other pony shouted, stepping forward. Spike backed off, everything about this pony setting off warning lights in the little dragon’s head; even in his imagination, the right pony could scare him!
“I… I-I can’t pay…” Hot Shot backed away from the advancing thug, even more scared than Spike.
“Then we got a problem… a big problem,” The pony adjusted the toothpick in his mouth as a devious smile crossed his face.
“This is good…” Spike mumbled to himself, watching the scene play out as a smile slowly grew on his face, “This isn’t good… this is perfect! A gambler with a problem goes to a loan shark, keeps taking money and wasting it all on gambling! It's brilliant!!” He jumped up in utter joy, the world falling apart around him as he returned to the library, “Twilight! I’ve got i-“
It took a bit for him, but he finally registered that he was, in fact, speaking to a book. Not just any book, but a Daring Do novel; ‘Knights of the Lost Ark’, to be exact. He looked up at the ever-growing wall of books, all ranging from reference tomes to dictionaries to the occasional fictional work, “… Another Castle Twilight?”
“Ohhh… why is this spell so difficult?!” Another book fell into rank with the others constructing the impenetrable wall; looking along it, Spike saw the beginnings of a castle tower, “It’s teleportation! A field that I know front to back! Why can’t I figure out mass movement of objects?!”
“Better just… let her work that out,” Spike whispered to himself, looking back at the paper, “Maybe somepony can help me think… I’ve got the beginning of a plot worked out, so maybe I should move on to characters? I’ve got my first setting, that being Las Pegasus… got my first plot point, being borrowing from the loan sharks, and I’ve got my characters. Personality and voice… well, only one pony to go to concerning ‘personality’,” Spike smirked, thinking of a certain mare with an overbearing personality, “Then maybe I’ll walk around town, see if I can make a voice for Hot Shot and Evil Spike… sounds good.”
Spike methodically wrote down the short list of points he’d made during his trip through his imagination, and filed the paper and supplies away in the desk. He hopped off his chair and moved along to a rather well-constructed archway in the wall, moving through, “Is that a cloak and crown?”
“It’s Castle Twilight; why can’t I wear a crown?” Twilight asked back, looking at Spike from behind her rather over-sized golden crown and regal cloak, reading book after book before sending them into eternal service as pieces of her castle wall.
“Your North wall’s a bit short,” Spike pointed to the top of the wall, about three layers of books shorter than the others. Twilight growled in frustration, moving some dictionaries off the East wall to compensate.
“Great, now I’m going to be doing this all day… I’ve got science to be doing!” Twilight grumbled in frustration, moving books around. Spike chuckled a bit as he heads for the door through another, larger archway; Must be the main entrance to Queen Twilight's throne room, heh...
“I’m heading out, Twilight! Off to study for my story!”
“Alright, have fun! And be back in time for lunch! Or it’s off to the dungeons with you!” Twilight shouted with a commanding tone before putting on a friendly smile.
“Will do, Your Highness,” Spike spoke with a bow before heading out of the library, leaving Twilight to her duties of fixing her castle and figuring out whatever crazy spell she’s trying to invent.
Time to go bother a certain baker pony…
Also LikedSimilarAuthor
- Lord Dico · 14k words · 47 3 · 7k views
- Your Antagonist · 2.2k words · 36 2 · 3k views
- MallaJong · 4.6k words · 75 4 · 2.7k views
Stats
Page generated in 0.082 seconds
Total duration
1,079 users online
1,650,369 hits today, 2,054,621 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
And the next chapter's up! Feel free to comment on it!
cool
yes i did read it
1117325
Short, sweet, and to the point. Much obliged, sir.
I love the conversation between Spike and Twilight in this story. Makes me smile every time. Also, the book castle is amazing and I want one.
1118822
1119403 Excellent! I just hope I have enough books...
The image of Twilight in her castle with royal regalia is too adorable for words. Ironic that that's what the castle's made of. HA, see what I did there? ...
1148605
Sadly, we do.
*Steel rolls his eyes, smiling, as Twilight facehoofs.*
Thanks for the comment.
Once again another pleasant read, Steel. No major problems or issues stick out.
You had me grinning throughout, but Twilight's Castle and the different voices for Hot Shot had me laughing out loud. I would love to see an image of "Princess Twlight" in her book castle.
Out of curiosity, was the loud voice for Hot Shot suppose to be Luna, Beauty Brass or someone else?
1157670
I thought the 'GUARANTEE' would be a big hint as to who it was.
Also, the Trixie voice was great.
Spike, I think you have less to worry about Twilight's speech and letter, and more to worry about her ...
iambrony.steeph.tp-radio.de/mlp/gif/lecture.gif
1157758
I think that was me, actually.
Say what?
...That was you?
I do.
Nine hours. We were out in the spring sun for nine hours.
Cupcake ring? There is a black market for cupcakes in Equestria? ... Actually, I'm not very surprised.
Tied up ... in the square ... in the sun ... for nine hours! And I though that trying to survive a 1-1/2 hr university class at 8am with a professor possessing a monotone voice and prefering to do all his writing on an overhead project with the class room light's turned off was bad enough. Dear Celestia, man, is there any of the Mane 6 that have not tortured you in one form or another yet? I'd recommend staying in 'Fly's good books as I have heard her stare is soul-crushing.
1157978
I've managed to stay on the good sides of Fluttershy, Pinkie and Rainbow Dash. Dash just thought it'd be funny to work with AJ...
I could hardly BREATHE!
We fixed that bridge, didn't we?
I, on the other hand, feel kinda bad...if only for all the pain it caused me. I do feel sorry for hurting you that way.
Yes ma'am.
The Twilight is angry! Everybody run!
*The group immediately runs for the door, only to be caught in Twilight's magic. Steel and Dash flail in the air like madmen; this can't happen again! NOT AGAIN!*
*The group of terrified foals turn their heads slowly to see Twilight surrounded by mounds of parchment. Dash and Steel start crying out of terror.*
Humm, you know, if she is going to torture you with a speech you can always get her back by being the peanut gallery; pointing out all her gramatical errors, misconstruing everything she says, asking a bunch of obvious questions, etc. Or you can make a bingo game using different words for each square and checking them off as Twi uses them in her speech (a group of us actually did that in one of our university lectures).
images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120323063640/mlp/images/thumb/e/e5/Twilight_about_to_give_a_speech_S1E04.png/640px-Twilight_about_to_give_a_speech_S1E04.png
1158047
Not quite possible for the bingo thing...we're all kinda paralyzed.
Oh God oh God oh God oh GOD!
"NO! NO! ANYTHING BUT THAT!"
"Why do Ah have t' listen?!"
"Let me down please...!"
"Wheeeee! I always wanted to be all floaty like this!"
This is gonna take her FOREVER!
*Pinkie flips over on her back and does a backstroke, grinning like it's the best thing in the world.*
...You know...
"That's actually pretty good."
*Steel starts swimming in the air.*
Well, it's something! Read away, Twilight!
*Everyone mimics his actions, Twilight included for a few moments with her own standing butterfly stroke before she shakes her head.*
Yeah, we are, and we're getting a work out in the process!
1158429
Yeah, she does! Why'd I ever doubt her?
*Twilight's muffled speech carries on in the background. Steel has switched to a leisurely kicking position on his back, his hands held behind his head.*
Well, there was that one time about Canterlot...
Still, the premise was solid. I think it was that new recipe you came up with that ultimately did the entire thing in.
Well, maybe it's because we got the 'hot sauce to sugar' ratio backwards...
I can still smell the after-effects...it sucks living downwind of Ponyville.
Wow, look at the time; its been three hours and Twilight is still going at it? Anything interesting happen while I had a nap?
I would ask Twilight, but I'm afraid I may cause her to lose her place and start from the beginning again: How does she manage to find time to squeeze in nine hours into her already over-scheduled schedule ... dear Celestia, she hasn't discovered a spell to stop time has she? We could be stuck here for all eternity ... or at least until her body collapsed due to dehyration, starvation, and/or sleep-deprevation.
Pinkie, two questions. If I hear this correctly, you tried setting up your own cupcake business in Ponyville and then Canterlot? Second, ... why do your cupcakes even have hot sauce in them? They might not be up there with your 'baked bads incident' but hot sauce in cupcakes is definately up there on my 'ick scale.'
1159619
Yeah, the Supreme Sugar & Spice Cupcakes recipe was the 'mistake' I referred to. Originally, it was ten parts sugar to one part hot sauce.
Well, it was an underground cupcake ring. It's the thing Twilight lectured me and Spike about, well, 'speeched' us about...
*Steel sighs, just kinda floating there in the cloud as he stares at the ceiling, fragments of the speech entering his head; those fragments were likely falling out the other side of his head just as easily.*
I've never seen Donut Joe go on such a pastry-based rampage...
1159655
Twilight never ceases to amaze me. She's not only giving her speech, holding all of us with her magical spell, but also listening into our conversation and providing commentary. That mare is truely fascinating.
I'm new to the concept of black-market cupcakes, so how exactly does one operate an underground cupcake ring. A hidden bakery in an abandoned factory in Canterlot? A secret code? The passing of bags full of cupcakes in dark corners of public parks at the dead of night? Pinkie soliciting orders while disguised as a ordinary garbage-bin/tree/cardboard box?
Well, I guess canterlot would be a lucrative market. So, is Donut Joe the Godfather of the pastry mafia in Canterlot? He looks so innocent at first glance.
1159744
You've only cracked the tip of the iceberg, my friend. Despite her looks, Pinkie knows her way around the bakery scene.
She doesn't go about her business normally though, she has frontmen; me and Spike.
I wanted to tap into my inner criminal, and the brown trenchcoat/fedora combo is a classic.
You bet, but only if you've got the right 'inspiration'...
That unicorn strikes a hard bargain, too! Really hard! But I snagged a good six hundred bits for a batch of your 'private' cupcakes.
No one's saying we can't try again. As for Donut Joe, we call him 'Father' for a reason...
I'm not surprised. If she can find her way around the fourth wall, I'm quite sure she can penetrate any scene within this world.
Friends in high places? Pinkie ... your the Element of Harmony and helped to save all of Equestria, twice. I'm not sure there are any higher places besides Princesses Luna/Celestia, and the Creator Faust Herself ... err ... you didn't get one of the princesses involved in this scheme of yours did you? Though, I wouldn't put it past Trollestia to try shaking up things in the pastry market within Canterlot.
Brown trenchcoat/fedora combo? Nice and classy. Two questions though, were did you manage to find a trenchcoat in Equestria and don't you think that combo is a bit ... umm ... conspicuous.
And here I thought everyone called him Father because everything he makes is holy.
What do you mean "private" cupcakes? Where those the ones with the hot sauce?
Why couldn't you simply restart the underground business? Or did Donut Joe catch on to your game?
1159918
Gotta be conspicuous in this business. Anonymity is your best friend; it's why Pinkie never did the deals herself.
Funnily enough, the names alone attracted a lot of attention. Deals by night, we'd always be out, either looking for new customers or making deals with regulars. 'Joker' had a way of getting cupcakes into our hands in Canterlot, and the rest was just getting the money out of our pockets and into her coffers.
I know, really smart, right? It's the perfect black market product! Besides, Donut Joe and his gang have such a choke-hold on the market, we had to bend the rules a bit in order to make a buck! You get all your cash from the royal coffers, don't try putting us down for the way we run things!
Hey, all we did was give the nobles what they wanted. No harm done.
*Steel makes a throwaway gesture as he speaks.*
Also, the point on speeches being effective motivational pieces is a bit flawed; the words have to be concise and inspiring, not hours long.
*Spike and Steel stroke their chins, thinking.*
We could try expanding out towards the big cities...
"We did a lot of research on Canterlot before even starting, though. What about Las Pegasus?"
I dunno about them, do they offer a lot of sweets out that way?
"It's certainly way out of Father Joe's influence."
True, and every ring's gotta start small...alright, we'll ship out tomorrow, head out on a research trip.
"YOU'RE WHAT?!"
Me and Spike are gonna head out to Las Pegasus. Pinkie, wanna tag along?
"Miss a trip to the City of Sin!? Are you kidding? Of course I'm in!"
"THE LAST THING I'M LETTING YOU DO IS TAKE A BABY DRAGON TO THAT...THAT...DUMP!"
Now that's just cruel. Despite the Strip being a location of much gambling and drinking, the city itself is kept quite clean. There...is the occasional prostitute, but law enforcement is keeping that under wraps. Dunno why they're cracking down on prostitution and not the crime lords running the casinos though...
1159969
'Private' cupcakes, meaning non-publicized recipes. The Cakes do have their unique spin-offs on recipes, but Pinkie designs her own from scratch. A lot of em are failures, but there's some real gold in there. The cupcakes using the hot sauce were just one of her ideas.
*AJ sniffs, rubbing her eyes.*
Were you sleeping?
Well, we didn't say anything.
*Sencing something had subtely changed*
Wait ... Twilight is not speeching anymore. Did she finish? I totally missed the que for the polite clap that comes after every speech. Humm, only six hours it could have been wors, I guess.
*Turning towards Twi and speaking in a helpful manner*
Twi, you need to better emphasize and announciate phrases like "finally" or "in conclusion," especially near the end of your speech, otherwise your audience won't know when to applaud.
*Turning back to the group*
Draco and Wraith? Any reason you chose the code name Wraith for yourself Steel? Though I do like the ominous sound of it.
Twi, what was there so criminal in it ... Besides being technically illegal. You make it sound as if they were laundering money for nefarious purposes. Princess Luna was in on it, so it couldn't have been that bad. Just wait ... Twilight! You depraved Princess Luna from having Pinkie's cupcakes? Don't you think that mare has suffered enough in her life?
Los Pegusus? Oh sounds exciting. Though it does not come across to me as cupcake gold mine and you wouldn't want to get tangled up with criminal gangs running the casinos.
*Notices AJ waking up*
Itsgettinglatehadagoodtimegottogobye....
By the way I havent seen Dash for a bit; she was here at the beginning of the speech.
*suddenly the window on the second floor is shoved open and Dash flies out as as fast as plausible after having snuck up to the window*
Huh, I guess that speech really got to her. Twi, you should be more considerate around Dash; she doesn't have the same level of egg-head tolerance as the rest of us.
She finished? Jeeze, Pinkie's idea was better than I figured!
"You doubted me?"
Of course not, Master KillTime.
Hey!
Wraith, because I was like a ghost; invisible to all but those who could see the right people.
"Exactly as he should be."
Oh crap...
Wherever there's ponies, there'll be a want for cupcakes.
"Especially mine!"
Calm, calm Miss Sparkle. Let's not start a war here.
*Steel floats over to Twilight, and she stares him dead in the eyes.*
...I'm not gonna sleep tonight, am I?
Enjoyment. Please continue.
1347321
Once I think of where to go, I definitely will. Apologies, I've been working on a LOT of stuff, college included (got about 7 different stories as well as a universe re-write to do for Duet Of Sorrow.)
I WILL continue this, definitely. Just need to think of more funnies!
1347379
I hear ya. I've been working hard myself with other stories. I was just able to update 1010, and it will be another couple of days before Shadow Play gets its turn. Best of luck to you, and I look forward to the next segment.
3.bp.blogspot.com/-Gr02jd19mOU/Ti-lQFEdCCI/AAAAAAAAJf4/6lbDwgRHGmU/s320/Waiting...%2BWeds%2B2.jpg
2569488
Yeah, I know, I know! I've had a lot of work lately, and been working on three new stories. Sorry!
Hmm... how far along was I on Chapter 4, anyway?