Fanfic / Spike's Gambit

"Welcome to Las Pegasus!"

Spike's Gambit was a My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic fanfic written by Commissioner-Y on Fimfiction.net. While it is no longer available on Fimfiction, it can be found here on Fimfetch.

Welcome to the Flimflam Brothers' Casino and Resort, a lavish mega entertainment destination where high rollers gather from around the world to play and win big!

Meet Spike Drake, the handsome "Lucky Prince" who tries to live up to the legendary reputation of his mother, Barbara "Barb the Serpent" Drake. To be declared the MVCD (Most Valuable Casino Dealer), Spike must compete in a series of wild, sexy and breath-taking competitions against other cut-throat rival dealers.

The exciting casino battles are about to begin! May Lady Luck be with you!

---

Spike's Gambit provides examples of:

• Adaptational Heroism: Chrysalis, Feather Bangs and Diamond Tiara. They all Took a Level in Kindness.

• Ancient Conspiracy: The Rich family counterfeiting ring had been screwing with international affairs pretty much since money could be counterfeited.
  "This was how the Rich Family had been able to build their international empire! The men ran legitimate businesses while the women had been printing phony money! They had been secretly controlling global economics since the Dark Ages! Now, they were going to destroy the economy of the world, ruin every currency! The key of it all was the counterfeit bill, and those who tried to get a peek at its source, never lived to tell about it!"

• Arc Villain: The Storm King of the Ogres & Oubliettes: Dark Alliance six parter.
• Armor-Piercing Question: Rainbow Dash gets on Twilight's case about her relationship with Spike.
  Rainbow Dash: I'm not the one who's going out of her way trying to impress some guy that she's got no business trying to impress! You. Are. Pathetic. Pitiful! When are you going to realize, and accept the fact, that Spike is obviously not interested in you? I may be just a dim Wonderbolt Academy graduate and you're a snob, but I can tell that you don't really like Spike. And you know why I believe you don't like him? He's everything you're not! He's everything you could ever hope to be, but never can be, and never will be! Ever since he arrived, you have done nothing but gripe! Just look at yourself! You're always tired and dirty, you never go anywhere, and you don't have fun. Answer me, when was the last time you had fun? I mean some real fun? When's the last time you took a night off, had a date, anything like that? When? When was the last time you had a date? Huh? Let's hear it, Sparkle! The Year of the Horse?
• Artistic License: The Poker Tournament's final hand:
  • The math checks out on everyone's all-ins. However, Spike wagered $40.5 billion, whereas Filthy Rich goes all-in with the same amount... plus his two Gate cards, the King and Queen. Professional poker players will almost never wager any more than their opponent's total pot if making an all-in bet, mainly because the extra money in the pot would just go back to Spike to begin with. However, it increased the tension in the scene quite well.
  • Spike made the final raise, so he should have been the first to show his cards. Instead, his hand is shown last, again to increase the tension.
• Auto Erotica: Alluded to in "Perks & Invitations" when Spike shows Soarin and Zephyr Breeze a bruise on his lower back.
  "From the gearshift knob of the Mustang, courtesy of Rainbow Dash."
• The Bad Guy Wins: Impossibly Rich finally has the Flimflam Resort in her grasp. Too bad she doesn't hold on to it for very long.
• Bad Job, Worse Uniform: The cocktail waitresses that bus drinks on the casino floor and the female members of the housekeeping staff have to wear Playboy Bunny outfits and sexy French Maid uniforms respectively when they're working.

• Big Bad Ensemble: On one end, there's the power hungry Impossibly Rich. On the other, there's Flim and Flam, the protagonists' sleazy and crooked bosses. That is until Impossibly took over the brothers' business and assets and becomes the main Big Bad overall.
• Big Badass Battle Sequence: The free-for-all brawl in the Rich Towers casino.
• Big Damn Heroes: The Shadowbolt Five (Indigo Zap, Sour Sweet, Sunny Flare, Sugarcoat and Lemon Zest) latch on to Iron Will, giving Spike a chance to take on Garble during the climax.
• Big Labyrinthine Building: The Flimflam Brothers Casino and Resort. It has 3,044 rooms, two casinos, two theaters, four gyms, five arcades, a full spa, six saunas, pillow top beds, indoor and outdoor tennis courts, four swimming pools (two outside, two inside) with extreme slides, fine dining, warm cookies at turndown, a musical chocolate fountain, a wing for shopping, and areas for riflery and archery.
  Coco Pommel: Now, in order to get to your rooms, you'll have to take the gold elevators. To get to them, you're going to have to go through the casino, and veer to the left. Then take a right at the first palm tree. You'll see the blackjack tables. Not baccarat, not craps, blackjack. Take another right and wind around left. If you get to the indoor pools, you've gone too far.
• Big "OMG!": One, when Starlight Glimmer and Twilight Sparkle realize that both of their restroom stalls are out of toilet paper. But the biggest one of them all is from Pinkie, after Twilight reveals that she's 20 billion dollars in debt.
  Pinkie Pie: Oh, Faust! Oh, Faust! Oh, Faust! Oh, my Faust! Oh, Faust!

• Bilingual Bonus: For those who understand French and/or "Dragonese" (this universe's equivalent to Esperanto).
  Dragon Lord Torch: Saluton, mia filo, kiel vi fartas? Mi ĝojas vidi vin. Mi bezonas paroli kun vi. <Hello, my son, how are you? I'm glad to see you. I need to talk to you.>
  Spike: Kio pri? <What about?>
  Torch: Iu ekiris bombon en unu el la hazardludaj trunkoj de Impossibly Rich. Du el ŝiaj dungitoj estis mortigitaj. <Someone set off a bomb in one of Impossibly Rich's gambling dens. Two of her employees were killed.>
  Spike: Ĉu vi estis? <Was it you?>
  Torch: Mi festas en la Hard Rock Club venontan monaton, kaj la tuta Drako-Mafio estos tie. Se vi ne volas veni, mi komprenos. <I'm celebrating at the Hard Rock next month, and the whole Dragon Mafia will be there. If you don't want to come, I'll understand.>
  Spike: Ne, bonas. Mi estos tie. <No, good. I'll be there.>
• Birthday Episode: The "Spike's Birthday" chapter.
• Black Bra and Panties: Bon Bon wears them before her and Lyra's threesome with Spike, and Applejack wears a set later at the end of "Perks & Invitations".
  Spike: Black lace panties, matching bra, looks like – Celestia's Secret Spring Catalogue, page 27... She's got good taste!

• Book Ends: The story begins with 22-year-old Spike riding with Celestia in the back of a limo driving toward Las Pegasus with Celestia smiling as she remembers the very first time she brought Spike to Las Pegasus (when he was still a little kid bouncing in her lap), telling him to look out the window at the skyline ahead, and her saying, "See that city out there, Spike? See that big town, one day we're gonna own that town. You and me." The story ends with 23-year-old Spike standing on the balcony of his penthouse suite in his own casino resort, The Dragon's Horde, with Celestia (now the top woman of his harem) smiling and happy.
  • Another, more minor, example: the Dazzlings each open a bottle of Champagne and pour everyone (new employees as well as returning staff) a glass to mark the beginning of the summer season (and for good luck). They open more bottles of Champagne in the final chapter to celebrate the New Year.
• Briefcase Full of Money: A large silver one full of counterfeit cash Filthy Rich gave to Lyra and Bon Bon.
• Bullying a Dragon: In an early chapter, Spike commented that Zephyr Breeze should stop listening to whatever impulse is telling him not to be afraid of someone bigger and much stronger than him.
  Zephyr Breeze: Hey, what's up, Godzilla?
  Spike: Whatever it is that makes you feel comfortable enough to call me names like that... shouldn't.
• The Cameo: The lineup for the Poker Tournament includes Cozy Glow, Wind Rider and Chestnut Magnifico.
• Camp Gay: Steven Magnet, who owns a boutique that specializes in custom tailored suits and dresses.

• Car Cushion: Impossibly Rich died by falling over 30 stories onto a taxi.

• Chekhov's Gun: Both Applejack and Discord pocket counterfeit money for "evidence" late in the story when they find it. It ends up saving their lives when Impossibly Rich's mole tries to stab them through their chests. Discord kisses the wad he'd kept in his pocket, which saves him from what would have been a fatal wound.
• Chess Motifs: Variation, with casino motifs.
  • Although, Cozy Glow has a red rook tattooed on the back of her left hand (but it's a minor example).
• Come Back to Bed, Honey: At the end of "Lucky and Unlucky", when Rainbow Dash thanks Spike for saving her job, she sees Trapeze Star coming out of Spike's bedroom wearing one of Spike's shirts.
  Trapeze Star: Are you coming back to bed?
  Spike: I'll be right there, babe.
  (Spike closes the door on Rainbow Dash)
  Rainbow Dash: No! Way!
• Cool Car: Thanks to dumb luck, Spike wins not one, not two, not three, not even four or five, but fifteen of these at various slot machines. The "Takedown" chapter ends with him and his friends driving back to the city from the Las Pegasus airport in them.
• Cosmopolitan Council: The players in the Las Pegasus Poker Tournament.
  • Spike Drake, Tirek Lord, Grogar, Sombra King, Cozy Glow, Haakim, Amira, Filthy Rich, Wind Rider and Chestnut Magnifico.
• Costume Porn: Just about every outfit, for men and women, gets a gorgeous description.
• Counterfeit Cash: The money the Richs are printing can fool all but the most trained eyes.
  Rarity: This is great. It is a fake, but a good one. Even I can't tell the difference.
  Bon Bon: You would need a neutron microscope to tell that one apart from the real deal. It's identical right down to the number of hairs in the Chancellor's goatee. Impossibly Rich brought in an expert to help her. And she has printed two hundred and fifty billion dollars worth.

• Crowd Hockey: The climax at Rich Towers has Rarity chasing Spike's Fire Ruby all across the casino while fleeing customers kick it around.
• Cry into Chest: Spike cried into Sunset's shoulder after waking up from a nightmare.

• Defeat Means Friendship: Played with. Both Chrysalis and Feather Bangs become friends and allies of Spike after he beat them in their respective Gate Battles. Nightmare Moon doesn't exactly help Spike and his friends, but she does warn Spike about part of Impossibly Rich's plans.

• Drink-Based Characterization: Most of these are revealed in the chapter "Thrills, Cocktails and Cupcakes".
  • Spike is seen drinking all kinds of beverages, but being worldly and manly he prefers a bottle of Scotch. His second drink of choice is Champagne... or the occasional double bourbon ("Wild Dragon" brand). He also enjoys Coke and Rum, and hot cocoa instead of coffee. And he uses his knowledge and choice of wines to impress the ladies.
  • Celestia's drink of choice is a pineapple daiquiri.
  • Zecora's is gin and bitters.
  • Applejack's is hard cider.
  • Rainbow Dash's go-to drink is beer.
  • Fluttershy's occasionally has a Virgin Mary.
  • Rarity prefers white wine.
    Rarity: I didn't order that.
    Spike: You were about to.
  • Fleur ordered a Vodka on the rocks with a twist of lime, but Spike convinced her to try a Jus d'Amour (Juice of Love).
  • Moon Dancer asked for an Orgasm.
    Spike: How many would you like?
    Moon Dancer: Multiple.
  • And Twilight's is vermouth cassis.

• Easily Forgiven: The Casino Guild radicals wanted to take over the world with the Gates. After they lose the police just let them go with a warning. No other arrests or even financial penalties.
• Elevator Going Down: Happens to Spike, Applejack and Sunset Shimmer when they are trapped in an elevator during a blackout.
• Engineered Public Confession: The Flimflam Brothers create one by planting Spike's beloved Fire Ruby in Twilight's pocket, then announcing that a robbery has been committed and encouraging the thief to step forward. Unfortunately, no one does.
• Evil Plan: Impossibly Rich's plot was to print enough counterfeit currency to "flood the world" and destroy the economy of every nation... and stockpile all the real money for herself.
• Evil Power Vacuum: Happens very briefly. When Impossibly Rich left for a couple weeks, there was a power struggle between her top employees.
• Evil Versus Evil: Sort of. While Impossibly Rich is indeed the Big Bad, the Flimflam Brothers (her rivals and the heroes' bosses) have proven time and again that they aren't exactly saints themselves. Spike and the others make it clear from time to time that they do not like working for them.
• Face–Heel Turn: Caramel and Lucky Clover, two of the men who had worked security under Applejack and were seemingly loyal to her, had no problem switching sides after Impossibly Rich took control of Flimflam Casino and Resort. They both get what's coming to them in the final battle.

• Fancy Dinner: Several instances involving Spike. One in particular, between him and Trixie, where they enjoy lobster for two.
• Fanservice: It's a Harem Genre and there is lots of it.
  • When he's not being a Badass in a Nice Suit, Spike is basically a walking shirtless scene.
  • All of the women's bikinis and Applejack's red one-piece lifeguard uniform, meanwhile, are walking swimsuit scenes.
  • AJ's outfit for the "Luau" chapter is little more than a blue floral-print bikini, a leafy crown with matching bracelets and anklets, a pink flower in her hair, a lei Spike had given her, and a grass skirt that leaves one of her legs hanging out.

• Feud Episode: The "Deep Impact" chapter, between Rarity and Rainbow Dash.
• Fixing the Game: Sweetie Bot uses her strength to reshape the dice at the craps table in Spike's favor.
  • Sunset Shimmer had a ring that allowed her to win at slot machines; it contained a magnet that stabilized the tumblers in such a way that every machine always brought out a jackpot.
• Foreshadowing: Lots, but the biggest example is probably in the second chapter when Sunset Shimmer makes a comment that "this place might even be your future". Just guess what happens in the end.
• Food Fight: Rainbow Dash starts one in the Hive Bar and Grill when Indigo Zap's cover is blown.

• Gambler Groupies: Feather Bangs had a trio of women - Dear Darling, Fond Feather, and Swoon Song - who were impressed by his Awesomeness by Analysis skills. When he lost to Spike at the end of his debut chapter, the girls left him for Spike.
• Gotta Catch 'Em All: The 13 Gate cards, which grant one the title of Most Valuable Casino Dealer. Spike has one, and competitors with the rest come to challenge him.

• Hate Sink: There's a lot to go around: Suri Polomare, Garble, Svengallop, Abacus Cinch, Spoiled Rich, and Impossibly Rich. The last of which stands out the most.
• Heel–Face Turn: After spending most of the story hating Spike and trying to help Impossibly Rich break him, Indigo Zap, Sour Sweet, Sunny Flare, Sugarcoat and Lemon Zest have a change of heart when they see that Spike is a genuinely nice guy and how much he cares for his friends. Later, they help save the day and are arrested, but Spike promises to tell the police about their good deeds as they're led away.
• The Heist: After Impossibly Rich takes control of the Flimflam Brothers' Resort, converts it and renames it to "Rich Towers", Spike and his friends take matters into their own hands and return to Las Pegasus to clean out her casinos.
• Hotel Hellion: Mister and Mrs. Paradise had a pair of sons who caused all kinds of trouble at the Resort, including making messes for the staff to clean up.
• If You Kill Him, You Will Be Just Like Him!: Towards the end, Spike has Impossibly Rich at gunpoint when the majority of his harem shows up and Impossibly asks Spike if he wants to learn how his mother had died. Half of Spike's girlfriends tell him to not to kill her, then when Impossibly insults Spike's mother, the other half of the harem tells Spike to kill Impossibly.
• Impossibly Awesome Magic Trick: The two-parter "It's Magic" centers on the ghost of the recently deceased stage magician Jack Pot (father of The Great and Powerful Trixie), who turns out to have faked his death to get out of the spotlight and retire. He was last seen in a straitjacket nailed to a spinning wheel inside a building being demolishing by a wrecking ball and explosives, yet no explanation is given for how he survived other than "he's just that good", apparently. Later, when Jack was encouraged by Spike and the gang to hold one more show to lure out the ghost, he performed even more impossible tricks. His "ghost" can also fly, which turns out to be by magnets in its shoes, far more powerful than any real world magnet.

• Intimate Hair Brushing: At their sleepover party in Stellar Flare's suite, Sunset Shimmer brushes Applejack's hair, and even convinces AJ to let it down more often.
• Intoxication Ensues: Discord accidentally eats one of Zephyr Breeze and Tree Hugger's pot-laced cupcakes. There's not much difference between stoned Discord and sober Discord except stoned Discord eats more.
• Ironic Echo: "Don't tell me you're getting cold feet all of a sudden."
• Ivy League for Everyone: Spike, Sunburst, Sunset Shimmer, Moon Dancer and Trixie all went to Celestia's School For Gifted Youths. Together. Spike even still has a framed group photo of the five of them together from back then.
  Spike: We're gonna have to update that photo... now that we're all back together again.
• Kiss of Life: Spike gives CPR to Indigo Zap in the "Evil Women" chapter while Applejack applies compressions to Indigo's chest to get her heart going again.
• Last Episode, New Character: Cadence appears in the finale as Shining Armor's bride-to-be. Also counts with Luster Dawn as well.
• Laxative Prank: Starlight Glimmer bribes Pharynx to put liquid laxatives in Indigo Zap's chili fries. Unfortunately for him, he couldn't tell Indigo's order apart from Twilight Sparkle's... so he poured the last of the bottle on both orders. Indigo ends up not eating any of hers, while Twilight does. She and Starlight Glimmer both spend the rest of the evening "re-spackling the toilets."
  Starlight: O-M-G, I'm out of toilet paper!
  Twilight: Oh, my gosh! Me too!
• Lost Technology: The 13 Gate cards are magitek artifacts from a precursor civilization; tarot and playing cards are based on the Gates.
• Love at First Sight: It took Spike only one look to fall in love with Applejack and Sunset Shimmer.
• MacGuffin Melee: The Rich Towers casino fight, involving guns, swords, and various other weapons.
• The Mafia: The Dragon Mafia.
• The Magic Poker Equation: The final hands play it straight. The hands leading up to Spike's straight flush play with it a bit, especially with Filthy Rich's tell.
• Mind Control: What the "Roll Ruler" is - the power to manipulate probability as well as good and bad luck. It can also be used to create illusions and influence living things.
• Modesty Bedsheet: Applejack and Fluttershy end up beneath one after having sex with Spike.
• Mook–Face Turn: Fluttershy's O&O character, Lady Silentflyer, and her associates escaped from confinement by convincing the dark elf prison guards on duty with her cuteness.
• Mook Lieutenant: Abacus Cinch for the Shadowbolts (Impossibly Rich's casino employees) and Garble for the Dragons (at least the members of the Dragon Mafia who defected).
• Mooks: The Rich Casino employees fall under this.
• Motivational Kiss: Applejack, Sunset Shimmer, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Moon Dancer, Trixie, Coco, Fleur, Coloratura, Tempest Shadow, Rain Shine, Chrysalis and Celestia all haul Spike in for a kiss on the lips before he goes to confront Impossibly Rich.
  Celestia: Now go.
• Ms. Fanservice: Pretty much every woman in the story.
• My Hovercraft Is Full of Eels: Thanks to his poor Dragonese, Zephyr Breeze invited two women to get naked and shave his butt instead of having a drink.
• Naked People Are Funny: Twilight, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie end up stripped of their clothes and forced to run back to the resort with trash can lids and newspapers as coverings.
• Near-Villain Victory: Filthy Rich nearly cleaned Spike out in the Poker Tournament, Spike had some minor HeroicBSoD, and was rescued by the intervention of Diamond Tiara.

• Nightmare Sequence: Twilight's nightmare at the start of the "High Roller" chapter.

• Overcomplicated Menu Order: Spike orders a mixed drink consisting of, "one ounce of Alize Red Passion with half an ounce of Strawberry Liquer, another half ounce of Chambord, filled with half Red Bull, half Pink Lemonade, and garnished with a red Twizzler." And after three of the other people at the table - including Tirek and Grogar - decide they want one too (with Sombra telling Soarin to make his with black licorice), Cozy Glow sarcastically wonders aloud if anyone's interested in playing poker instead of drinking.

• Perpetual Frowner: Abacus Cinch. In the story, it's explained that she deliberately cultivates this image because she believes it'll be taken as a sign of weakness if she ever lets anyone see her smile.
• The Place: The Flimflam Brothers' Casino and Resort.
• Post Humous Character: Barbara Drake, Spike's birthmother.
• Professional Gambler: It would be easier to list the characters that aren't in this story.
• Quirky Miniboss Squad: Impossibly has quite the entourage of colorful characters under her belt: Filthy Rich, Spoiled Rich, Abacus Cinch, Garble, Iron Will, Suri Polomare, Indigo Zap, Sour Sweet, Sunny Flare, Sugarcoat Lemon Zest, and Twilight Sparkle.
• "Reason You Suck" Speech: Spike delivers an epic one to Impossibly Rich's mole after beating her in a game of Russian Roulette.
  • He also gave one to the Paradise twins' lazy parents to a point where even Discord agreed.
• The Reveal: At the end of "Torch Overthrown", it is revealed that Twilight was working for Impossibly Rich the entire time.
• Romantic Candlelit Dinner: In the "High Roller" chapter, Spike sits down to dinner with his whole harem.
• Romantic Spoon Feeding: In the chapter "Carnival Craze", Applejack ordered a funnel cake and she fed Spike from it as if he were a child. This did not go unnoticed by Sunset, Fluttershy and Rarity, who proceeded to do the same thing with their cotton candy, popcorn, and hot fudge sundae respectively.
• Russian Roulette: The final game of "chance" between Spike and Twilight Sparkle, Impossibly Rich's mole, which of course Spike wins, but only after he realizes that Twilight was rigging the game so that she would LOSE, wanting Spike to kill her. He then tears her a new one after he proves to her that he is not afraid to die.
• Say My Name: Almost all of the women Spike has ever slept with has shouted out his name during the love-making.
• "Scooby-Doo" Hoax: Discord's scheme to convince everyone that an unused luxury suite is haunted so he can keep it for himself.
• Screw the Money, I Have Rules!: The Flimflam Brothers offered to release Twilight from her gambling debts if she agreed to leave Las Pegasus. She refused.
• Self-Induced Allergic Reaction: Spike eats Fluttershy's pineapple pizza to prove that Sunset and the Dazzlings had maliciously tampered with the food they had prepared for all of the new employees. Turns out, they didn't.
• Self-Made Man: Starlight's father, Firelight.
• Shout-Outs: To several films and series, including (but not limited to)...
  • Rio -Rainbow Gate!-
  • Stōked
  • "The Royale" episode from Star Trek: The Next Generation
  • "Joker's Wild" from Batman: The Animated Series
  • Grim Fandango
  • The Castle of Cagliostro
  • Rush Hour 2
  • Shrek 2
  • Ocean's 11 (the original 1960 film starring the Rat Pack, as well as the 2001 remake and it's second sequel Ocean's Thirteen)
  • Casino Royale
  • Diamonds Are Forever
  • Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle
  • Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
  • Who Framed Roger Rabbit
  • The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries
  • Tiny Toon Adventures
  • The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas
  • Vegas Vacation
  • Kakegurui
    • The story is basically all of the aforementioned shows and films combined into one massive plot reference.
• Show Some Leg: Almost all of Spike's women wear low-cut dresses at some point or another, but Applejack and Sunset Shimmer probably show the most.
• Shrinking Violet: Fluttershy and Coco Pommel.
• Sleight of Tongue: A non-fatal example in the "Dancing With Dragons" chapter, when Applejack and Spike dance, the latter with a rose between his teeth.
  "Spike twirled the rose between his teeth before letting it fall to the floor as he dipped her. Applejack picked up the rose and held it between her teeth, and Spike lifted her to her feet again. The rose exchanged lips several times for the next minute before Spike finally threw it over the crowd and Fleur picked it out of the air, held it under her nose, and sniffed it."
• Spanner in the Works: Nightmare Moon/Rarity did not plan for Pinkie soaking her pineapple rings in her own special blend of hot sauce with extra habanero when she challenged Spike.
• Spit Take: Minor ones throughout.
• Take This Job and Shove It: In one of the chapters near the end, Twilight quit after she found out that Discord had a GPS tracking chip implanted into her butt.

• Tarot Troubles: Trixie has a deck of tarot cards and her predictions for Twilight are dead-on.
• The Talk: Subverted.
  Celestia: Spike, I can't help noticing you're taking more of an interest in the fairer gender lately. There's something I would like to say about that. There comes a time in every young man's life when he enters a garden of beautiful flowers. And he wants to enter that garden with the knowledge to let the flowers bloom...
  Spike: Mom, if this is about sex, you can save yourself the embarrassment. I already know.
  Celestia: You do?
  Spike: The Sex Ed course at your school is very thorough. Now, if you'll excuse me, I see a young lady who needs help putting on suntan lotion.
• Team Hand-Stack: Spike, Applejack, Sunset Shimmer, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Moon Dancer, Trixie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Starlight Glimmer, Sunburst, Vinyl Scratch, Discord, Thorax, Pharynx, Chrysalis, Soarin, and Feather Bangs.
• The Tell: Spike learns a lot of people's poker tells.
  • Applejack bites her bottom lip.
  • Fluttershy plays with her hair.
  • Sunset Shimmer clears her throat.
  • Rainbow Dash tugs on her ears.
  • Pinkie blinks twice in a row.
  • Twilight's eyes twitch.
  • Filthy Rich's ears wiggle.
• To the Pain: Spike explaining to Rainbow Dash and Zephyr Breeze what the Dragons will do to them.
  Zephyr Breeze: Spike, I know I'm gonna regret asking, but tell me how the Dragons are gonna kill us.
  Spike: First, they'll torture us for no less than three days.
  Rainbow Dash: Torture? I can deal with that.
  Spike: Then, they will cut off our bananas and berries and feed them to us.
  Zephyr Breeze: Cut off our—? Oh, Tartarus, no, we gotta get outta here! Come on, man! Don't give up!
• Town with a Dark Secret: No matter how many makeovers Las Pegasus gets, deep down it's still the same flashy, modernized shell concealing a dark core.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Nightmare Moon the Monster of the Week loves pineapple.
• Training from Hell: The fourth chapter, appropriately titled, "Initiation."
• Transplanted Character Fic: Aside from the names and a few careers, this has nothing to do with "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic".
• Trapped by Gambling Debts: Several of the characters. Sunset Shimmer and Applejack both owed Flim and Flam no less than five million dollars each.
• Trash the Set: When Spike and his friends infiltrate the Rich Towers and Impossibly Rich's employees attack them, the casino gets more and more damaged, culminating in Impossibly Rich's mole blowing up the top of the building.
• Undercover Cop Reveal: Fancy Pants, Fleur de Lis, Zecora, Bon Bon/Sweetie Drops and Lyra Heartstrings, who do so rather dramatically by pulling their various guns on the antagonists before shouting who they are.
• Victoria's Secret Compartment: When Discord gives Spike and his friends fake I.D. cards, this is where the ladies slip theirs into while the men put theirs in their wallets.
• Villainous Mother-Son Duo: Impossibly Rich is the Big Bad and Filthy Rich already owned almost half of Las Pegasus.

• Wardrobe Malfunction:
  • Twilight, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash all end up losing their clothes after crashing Discord's personal golf cart. Somehow, in all the chaos, the zippers on their shorts must have split and the strings on their bikinis had come undone, is all Twilight could figure.
  • One instance borders on clothing damage, where Spike and Applejack are pitted against each other in a skeet shooting match. A miss by the shooter (when it's their turn) would result in their clothes coming undone piece by piece. Fortunately, at the end of that challenge, it resulted in a draw.
• Wham Episode: Chapter 39 - "Torch Overthrown". First off, Garble pulls a coup on Dragon Lord Torch, seemingly killing him. While this was going on, Impossibly Rich had finally taken control of the Flimflam Brothers' Resort, with Twilight revealing herself to be Impossibly's mole, and Spike and the majority of his friends losing their jobs there.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Cheese Sandwich, the bus driver for the Flimflam Brothers' Resort, seemed to disappear by the end of the story.
• "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue:
  • Filthy Rich and Diamond Tiara are living much happier lives without Impossibly and Spoiled. From what Spike has heard, they are currently doing some cross-country.
• White Sheep: Diamond Tiara is this to the Rich Family. Her father, Filthy Rich, is somewhat this as well. Sure, he's a bit of a sleaze ball but he's showed that he's nowhere near as bad as both his mother and his wife, and genuinely cares for his daughter.

• Wild Teen Party: The party that Starlight Glimmer threw that ultimately forced her to work at the resort for the summer (her father even forcing her to live in the staff quarters) was described as "an end-of-the-school-year party gone wild." Some of the stuff that happened:
  • The more-than-100 teenaged-guests ended up trashing basically the entire hotel and its grounds (including Starlight's father's penthouse suite), disturbing pretty much everyone who happened to be staying at the hotel at the time, and the entire hotel staff (including the entire housekeeping staff and the new members of the incoming summer staff) were forced to clean up the aftermath of said party over the first two chapters.
  • Zephyr Breeze drove Starlight's car into the hotel's main outdoor pool.
  • After running out of firewood for this big bonfire that was in the parking lot, the people at the party ended up using the hotel's deck chairs in lieu of actual firewood.
  • It attracted the attention of at least one newspaper and one TV-news crew.
  • The Las Pegasus Police Department was called in at one point, presumably to try and break up the party.
• Winds of Destiny, Change!: Not only does Spike have extraordinarily good luck for himself, but he has the ability to absorb and redistribute the good luck of others that he comes into contact with. He can also change the environment so that everyone gets some of that luck when he's in their presence.
• World-Healing Wave: Once Spike becomes the MVCD, his Roll Ruler power is augmented by the 13 Gates and he creates a global wave of good fortune to the point of granting many peoples wishes (one man's thinning hair becomes a massive shock of hair that headbangers would envy, the comatose waking up, a 30 year civil war ends peacefully, and bringing Twilight back from the dead).

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