What Happens In Las Pegasus Stays In Las Pegasus

The room was gold from mane to hoof. The walls were a light gold, gold bed sheets lay under gold monogrammed Party Brothers Pillows. The sole window faced the hotel pool, palm trees all around, and lit by tiki lights at this time of the night. Rubber launched himself onto the bed.

"Ya best git resting. Round two starts at 7 sharp in the mornin', and I still need time to get my daily tea."

Taking his advice, I slid into the other bed. My eyelids were closed before I hit the pillows.

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The next morning, we headed back down to the lobby. Rubber headed towards the hotel cafe to get his tea, but I headed towards the table we were booked at. Another mare, this one with a fire-like yellow mane, sat across from me. The table also had an elderly stallion and Mr. Hand, all waiting for Rubber to arrive.

Rubber ran into the room in a huff. "And ah though I was late!" Sliding into his stool, Mr. Hand dealt out our chips with a composed air to him. I stacked my chips, trying to appear like I had my act together, while inside I was stressed out! This was the quarter final! Thousands of chips were on the line. Our pocket cards were dealt out, and I had received the aces of hearts and spades! Yes!, I thought to myself. Time to eliminate some opponents. I bet 5 red chips. Rubber and the mare folded, but the old pony stayed in. The flop reveled a three, the four of hearts and the jack of clubs. Trying to bet the old horse out, I slid 4 more reds into the pot. This time however, he folded, leaving me with the sweet pot.

================================================================================================= Hand after hand was dealt, the money shifting between the players. Eventually, the old stallion went all in and lost, leaving it between me, Rubber, and the mare. On one hand, I had a three of a kind, and Rubber was all in. As the dealer turned over the 4th card, Rubber flinched. He coughed, and then the mare bet two chips. He coughed again. I raised the mare's bet by 6 red chips. She folded. Rubber was freaking out on his corner of the table, coughing as if he had caught a cold. We flipped our cards. Rubber had one pair, and then I realized: It was my fault! I eliminated him. But he just shook my hoof, and glanced over his shoulder.

"I think we should get back to the room Pip, ah need a bite to eat." He said, looking around nervously. But I agreed with him, wondering why Rubber was trying to signal me to fold with his coughing. I very well could have lost. It was as if he knew my hand, but I didn't think it was that obvious.

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As we entered our room, Rubber plopped down onto the bed.

"Sit down Pip, ah have somethin' to tell you." He said. I complied, sitting on the other bed.

"Now, how do ah explain this? Remember my strange behavior this game?" I nodded, thinking of his coughing.

"Well, you know that mare at the table, and the guy with the jacket from the first round? We are part of a, well, team ah guess.

"Wait? A team? You aren't aloud to talk or anything."

"Well, let's just say that we can tell what the cards are before they appear. It's called card counting." he explained.

"What?! Is that legal?"

"Lets just say that some other activities aren't legal either, but ponies do them anyways. We were tryin' to win the tournament, until you knocked us all out. Now we need to..."

Rubber was interrupted by a banging on the door.

"Room service!" said a stallion.

"Ah'm sleeping!" yelled Rubber, as the horse outside walked away. "what the buck was I thinking?"

"What's wrong?" I said.

Rubber reared back his hoof, and punched through a painting of a mare reclining on a couch. He pulled it out, and grabbed a metal object with his mouth.

"What the buck is that? What else are you not telling me?"

"The room is bucking bugged!" He yelled, running towards the window.

Out in the hall, I could hear ponies running. The door shook, almost collapsing inwards.Rubber jumped, crashing through the window, and falling 9 floors off the side of the building. The door was kicked down, splintering into tiny wood fragments. Standing in the frame were three security guards, all holding sub machine guns in their mouths. Right now, the window seemed like the best option. I cantered towards the cracked glass, speeding to a gallop as the guards bit down on the triggers. I could feel the bullets speeding by as a lamp exploded behind me. Only 2 meters from the gaping hole where the window used to be, I felt a sharp stinging sensation in my plot. Ignoring the pain, I took a leap of faith through the window. Nine floors below me was a roof, containing a skylight over the casino floor. Crashing through the glass, I fell onto the floor, bones crunching on impact. With blood staining my coat, I limped over to Rubber. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that we were surrounded. Guards closed in on us from all directions, speaking in their earpieces. As a guard lunged towards Rubber, he ducked, flipping the pony. Rubber then started sprinting towards a large bank of slot machines, so I followed suit. A large gray mass lunged into me from the side. I smacked the guard with my hoof, shattering his jaw. He screamed in pain as I followed Rubber through several poker rooms, ending up at another slot lobby, the highlight being a beautiful new Cowtalac car, black finish gleaming under the chandeliers, rotating on a display table. Rubber jumped into the drivers seat, and I took the back as he floored the pedal. The car's V8 engine roared as a guard yelled into his radio. Launching off it's raised platform, the car tore up carpet and sent bits flying as gamblers jumped out of the way. A guard drew his gun as we drove towards him, but it was too late. There was a large thump as he hit the windshield and slid over the car. Speeding through the lobby, we hit several shrubs when swerving around tourists. Ahead of us, large iron doors were closing the exit through the front door.

"Brace yourself!" yelled Rubber as we hit the steel at 100 miles. The doors crumpled like tinfoil in front of the might of the car, and we drifted onto the strip.

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Mr. Wheel heard a large banging on his door. Setting his paperweights aside, he opened the large oak door, a present from the royal family when they came to the casino for a night. Outside was a security guard, sweating. "Sir, the counters have escaped. They stole a car from sector 45, and proceeded to exit the building."

"So, they are out of the building? Out of the sight of the tourists?"

"Yes sir."

"Gather 4 dozen of your best guards, and try not to wreck the company cars. Also, ditch those pathetic guns. Take the Thompsons and M4's."