Viva Las Neighgas

As Rainbow Dash stepped out of the balloon after Scootaloo, heads turned. Being a member of the Wonderbolts got you noticed, even if you weren't wearing your uniform. Having a celebrity on the landing strip got everypony extremely excited. Fans began to cheer and crowd. By the time Rainbow and Scootaloo broke free of the crowd, Dash had signed at least thirty autographs and posed for even more photos. All of a sudden, they were approached by an orange earth pony mare with blue eyes and an extravagantly styled blonde mane. Her gleaming smile was too white to be all natural and must have had some kind of treatment. She had a roulette wheel and some bits for a cutie mark and a short black skirt encircled her waist.

"Welcome to Las Neighgas!" she beamed, that bleached smile like a cluster of neon lights. "You must be Rainbow Dash of the Wonderbolts, yes?"

"Check this out Scoot," Dash whispered and addressed the beaming mare. "Yep, that's me! I booked a room for me and Scootaloo here at Celestias Palace?"

"Oh of course!" the mare smiled. "I'm Rouletta, the host at Celestia's Palace! I can offer you a VIP carriage to take you straight there and a top floor suite with compliments of the house. And because you are such an important guest, all of your meals, and any room service you order, will be free as well."

Rainbow smiled graciously and tried to look, and sound, surprised. "Complimentary? Oh that's so kind of you!"

Scootaloo gasped with delight. Celestias was the swankiest hotel in Neighgas! The most expensive too. How had Rainbow managed to get them a room there?

Offering Rainbow Dash  free room service was a big risk for Rouletta, considering she had a young filly with her (fillies tended to order a lot of expensive desserts), but Dash was a celebrity, and celebrities had big money to lose at the casino. Thousands, possibly even millions of bits could be lost in one go and that would be more than enough to pay for anything they might order! Rouletta smiled at her guests.

"Do follow me to your carriage darlings! I'm sure you'll find it more than satisfactory." said the host as she lead them towards the carriage park.

"See Scoot?" Rainbow grinned "Only the best for you and me!"

They rode to Celestia's Palace in style. The carriage was white with red silk curtains and real leather seats. The outside was decorated with intricate patterns in gold leaf and was pulled by four white stallions dressed in golden armour that resembled the armour royal guards. Rouletta sat on a seat outside, holding the reigns (Like the carriage in the last roundup, but way more posh.). When they arrived, a red carpet was rolled out for them and a porter took their saddlebags and suitcases. Rainbow surprised Scootaloo by pressing the lift button for the penthouse suite. Scootaloo squealed happily when Rainbow told her that they really were staying there.

The penthouse suite had an amazing view of Las Neighgas Boulevard (a.k.a. The Strip) from its huge balcony. There was floor to ceiling marble and deep pile white rugs. The beds were soft white linen and could have fit five Scootaloos comfortably. There were more pillows than the pair knew what to do with and the mattresses were as soft as clouds. The sofas in the lounge were equally soft and there was a state of the art sound system for Rainbows Metallicolt CDs. Even the bathroom was luxurious with its whirlpool bath and seemingly endless supply of warm towels. Scootaloo began to bounce around the living room. Rainbow Dash smiled and grabbed a can of ParaSprite from the mini fridge.

"Enjoying yourself so far, Scoot? Dash asked, as she sipped the cool lemonade.

"Oh yes! This is the best room ever!" Scootaloo cried, happily.

"Well, we can go explore tomorrow if you want," Rainbow said. "I hear there's some cool stuff to see and do along The Strip!" Scootaloo stopped bouncing and let off a huge yawn. "Wow! You'd better get to bed Squirt. You'll need plenty of energy for tomorrow."

Rainbow draped an exhausted Scootaloo over her back and carried her to her room. She tucked the little filly under the covers and made sure she had a nice, plump pillow. Rainbow gently patted Scootaloo on the head and whispered goodnight before retiring to her own room, tucking herself in, and wishing herself goodnight.

******

Scootaloo woke at six in the morning, feeling drowsy but a quick shower soon fixed that. She peeked inside Rainbow Dash's room to find her still asleep. Scootaloo didn't want to wake her guardian so she decided to explore the hotel for a while. Celestia's Palace was huge, so wandering around would probably keep her occupied until Rainbow got up. She decided to explore the casino floor first as Rainbow teaching her how to play blackjack on the way here had got her interested in what a real working casino actually looked like. What she saw when she went down, however, wasn't very impressive at all. She'd expected the tables to be full of mares and colts in fancy dresses and dinner jackets but there were only a few tired looking ponies who looked like they had been playing all night long and cleaners mopping the floors.

Scootaloo wasn't allowed to gamble, but she could still look around as long as she didn't play on a machine or a table. Her eyes were drawn to the only pony in the room who didn't look like he'd been there all night. A posh looking colt was sat at a blackjack table, his green eyes fixed intently on the game. Scootaloo trotted up, eager to watch some real casino blackjack being played. What she saw amazed her; this guy seemed incapable of losing! Even when he did lose, he never lost much. Scootaloo was transfixed. How was he doing it? The colt noticed her watching and smiled, never losing track of the cards.

"You interested in blackjack, kid?" he asked, playing with a chip.

"Umm, yes, but I'm not old enough to play yet. You're really good though, how do you keep winning like that?"

The colt laughed and turned back to the dealer. He stopped playing and gathered up his chips.

"Follow me," he said to Scootaloo "I'll show you my secret."

******

The two ponies sat on a bench by the slot machines and the colt took a pack of cards out of his pocket. He shuffled them and dealt them to Scootaloo as if they were playing blackjack.

"You wanted to know my secret kid?" he whispered, Scootaloo leant in closer to hear him above the machines. "I count the cards. Been practising for years. Now I can win big at any casino in the world! Now, if you like, I'll show you how it's done."

Intent on learning the one thing about the game Rainbow Dash couldn't teach her, Scootaloo didn't notice her guardian stagger onto the casino floor. Rainbow was very, very drunk. She'd probably helped herself to all of the alcohol in the mini fridge. Rainbow wobbled over to the bar and ordered five vodka shots, downing them one after the other. Now even more drunk, Dash collapsed onto a stool at the nearest gambling table and began to play, betting hundreds of bits on her first hoof alone. She was approached from behind by a handsome stallion who slid onto the stool to her left. He didn't gamble, but he did seem to have made an impression on Rainbow, who began to bet even more seemingly so she could impress this newcomer. Eventually, the booze and the flirting took their toll; Rainbow Dash had lost thousands of bits and, even in her drunken stupor, could see that she had to leave the game. She said something to the stallion that made him laugh and she tried to sweep out of the casino. Instead, she collapsed right by the doors.

Meanwhile, Scootaloo had begun to grasp the maths behind card counting and was winning big in imaginary game chips. The colt was impressed.

"You picked that up quick, kid!" he smiled "You're gonna be an awesome gambler when you grow up. Just to be on the safe side, don't count cards until everypony has gone back to bed. That way, all of the dealers are tired and never notice what your doing!"

"Thanks!" said Scootaloo "I'd better get back up to my room now though, my guardian will be awake now and she'll be worried if I'm not there."

As she got up to leave, the colt pressed the pack of cards into her hoof.

"Take them," he said "get some practice in."

Scootaloo nodded and headed for the doors. Suddenly, she noticed Rainbow Dash lying passed out on the floor. Gasping in surprise, Scootaloo knelt down next to her guardian and shook her. Rainbow groaned and sat up, bleary eyed.

"Scoot!" she smiled, drunkenly "What are you doing down here? You can't gamble."

"Are you drunk?" Scootaloo asked

"No! But you should've seen me out there, all the stallions wanted me! I was on fire!"

Rainbow was slurring her words and Scootaloo struggled to push Rainbow to her hooves. She swayed and Scootaloo let her guardian lean on her as they staggered towards the lift. Rainbow would never have managed the stairs.

"Oh, you should have seen that one guy, Squirt," Rainbow laughed as Scootaloo called the lift. "He wanted me, I could tell but when I asked him upstairs he laughed! Said he'd only do it with me for sixty an hour!"

The lift doors opened and Scootaloo had to drag a swaying Rainbow inside. She pressed the button for the penthouse and kept Dash from falling over as the lift began its journey upwards.

"Prostitutes," Rainbow spat "he wasn't really impressed with my gambling skills was he? He just wanted my money didn't he?"

Scootaloo flinched as Rainbow threw up in the corner of the lift. A sudden realisation hit Rainbow and she turned to Scootaloo, eyes wide. There was a ping as the doors opened.

"Oh my Celestia, I just lost five thousand bits!"