Life's Left Hook

Trixie's face, almost immediately after the Doctor is done talking, starts to warp.

"Pfft, five! Five minutes?! Trixie can do... Better tha!"

Her gag reflex kicks in, and immediately, she hops off of her seat and darts away.

Hopefully she'd find her way to the bathrooms before she--

*BROOOOLF*

And, there go your hopes.

Trixie hurls up all over the floor, splattering at the hooves of those on the nearby slot machines.

Luckily, Trixie manages to brace herself before the second wave hits, and scampers off in time.

You see her burst through the bathroom door at supersonic speeds, and from the sounds you hear, your gut hurts already.

"Hm. I vas wrong. Prehaps I meant five seconds."

The doctor shakes her head, looking at you.

"It's your go, Anonymous."

"Oh, right. Sure, I'm in."

You slide in five more chips.

Get a four and you're set!

Octavia presses the button, and down comes the turn...

10 of diamonds.

Drat.

Octavia pushes another ten chips into the pile.

Scootaloo suddenly looks as if she's been pumped full of adrenaline, and hastily shoves in a total of fifty chips.

"Raisin' the roof! Hahah!"

You blink.

And, after a look at the cards on the table, you realize she proooobably has a straight.

"Yeah, no. I'm out."

You slide your cards ahead of you.

Octavia looks at the chips, and is tempted to call.

Until she sees what you see, that is.

"Oh, come on, miss fancy pants. Too afraid to call?"

"Perhaps. I see what you have."

"Ooohoho. Is it worth it?"

With that, she...

Folds.

"Not worth the risk."

"Hah! Suckers!

Scootaloo sets down a 2 of clubs and an eight of hearts.

Wait, she—

She has jack shit!

She greedily scoops up the entire pot, laughing her flank off.

Octavia, meanwhile, had a king and a jack in her hooves.

She clenches her teeth.

She had been rused.

"Good bluff, Scootaloo," she says, shooting Scootaloo a half glare.

Although you knew it wasn't truly serious, due to the curl in her lips.

"Hahaha, I can't believe you suckers fell for it!"

Actually, on further inspection, maybe that ISN'T a friendly glare.

Which is quite unlike Octavia.

But then why is she smiling the way she is?

Probably not the best idea to ask, you suppose.

With that, you check over the standings.

With Scooter's bluff, she's ahead of you.

Scoots has 104 chips, you have 102, the doctor has 50, Octavia has 29, and Cadance has 15.

Trixie is out of the picture by a longshot.

With that, a new round begins.

The cards are dealt, and everyone takes a gander.

As do you.

King of clubs, king of spades.

Huh. Nice.

Also, since Doc has the big blind, it looks like she's finally going to be in for once.

Cadance slides in five chips, a third of her whole stack.

"Raising."

Well then.

Scootaloo calls soon after, and so do you.

No way you're letting a pair of kings slip.

Octavia calls, as well, sliding in four more.

The doctor thinks for a minute.

"Hmmm..."

And, then, after another moment of cold calculation, she slides in three more chips.

You look around.

Absolutely none of the faces are particularly readable, spare two.

Cadance's smile? You know something's up.

Scootaloo?

Well, you can't really consider that readable.

That damn filly is unpredictable.

Soon, the flop comes down.

KD, AS, 8C.

Damn, not bad.

Cadance slides in the rest of her chips.

"Might as well."

Scootaloo chuckles at her lesser foe, and slides over her cards.

"Naah, not feelin' it."

You, on the other hand, are feeling it.

Or is it the whiskey you're feeling?

Whatever. You slide in ten more chips.

Octavia shakes her head.

"I'm going to have to side with Scootaloo on this one."

You look up at her, eyebrow raised.

"And why's that, hun?" you ask, mocking.

"Well, there is a good reason. Are you familiar with the term 'peripeteia', Anonymous? Or, perhaps, the term 'turnabout'?"

You shake your head.

"Nupe."

"To be frank, it's getting -fucked- by a reversal of fortune. Like these cards!"

She sets them down on the table and slides them away.

You think she's on her third glass, like everyone else is, but you're not sure.

Not much else could explain the behavior she's been exhibiting this game.

You turn to the doctor.

"Well, doc? You in or what?"

She looks at her cards, and nods.

"I suppose."

With that, she slides in ten more chips.

Soon after, Octavia pushes the button, and the river comes.

Eight of hearts.

Hmm.

You're not sure what to do next...

But your gut full of booze is telling you to raise.

You slide in ten chips, giving Cuore a look.

"Can ya keep up with me, doc?"

She looks at you with an unimaginably blank face.

And, slowly, reaches forward and shoves a good chunk of her pile in.

Much more than you raised, actually.

"I raise you. Tventy-five."

Fuck, you have no clue what to do.

You have a full house, actually.

Hah! Now you know what to do!

"All right then. I'll call," you say, sliding in another fifteen.

The doctor, for once, smiles.

It's actually a little scary.

And slightly sadistic.

With that, comes the turn.

The king of hearts.

Shit son, you hit the jackpot.

You manage to keep your cool, looking at the doctor.

Cadance looks between the two of you, anxiously waiting.

Cuore slides in the last of her pile, grinning.

"All in."

No way you're skipping this.

You slide in ten more chips, grinning ear to ear.

"I'll call that."

Two players all in, and you're up against a perfectionist and a princess.

This can't possibly go wrong.

Octavia looks between the three of you, and nods.

"Well. Let's see them, girls."

"Hey! What about me?"

Octavia looks at you with a blank stare.

"Oh, right. Let's see them, ladies."

You look at the center of the table.

One hundred and twenty five chips, right there.

Shit, with that money, you could buy whatever you wanted.

You got this hand in the bag, too.

"Cadance, you first, since you were the first to go all in."

You smile wide, pouring another shot.

Cadance flips over her cards, revealing an eight of diamonds and a queen of spades.

"Three of a kind," she says, smiling a bit.

The doctor looks at her and scoffs.

"Hah! Three of a kind?! Pfft!"

She turns over her cards, revealing an ace of hearts and an eight of spades.

"Full house! Top shelf!"

You toss a shot down the hatch and pause a moment.

Eventually, both of the mares turn their gaze to you.

Cuore looks at you as if she's won already.

Oooh boy, you are going to crush that...

"Vell, monkey man. Show us vhat you have, and qvickly. I vant my money fast."

"...Welp, if you say so."

With that, you flip over your two kings.

"Four of a kind."

The doctor looks at your cards, and instantly, that confident smirk melts away.

It's replaced with fear.

"...Y-Y–"

You laugh out loud, looking at Octavia.

"I beat her hand, right?"

"By a long shot," Octy says, nodding.

You chuckle deeply, raking in all of your chips.

And, just like that, two more people are out of the picture.

The doctor sits there, stunned for a moment. You think one of her eyes is twitching.

After a long moment, she finally sits back and relaxes.

And, as an after thought, grabs the half-full bottle of wine that's nearby.

Which just so happens to be the second bottle, actually, concerning the first one was sucked dry a few rounds ago.

Thank god there was a second.

The doctor looks like she's about to snap.

Just as Octavia is about to start the new round, she hesitates.

"How long has it been since Trixie ran off?"

Everyone looks at eachother, asking themselves the same question.

"Uh, a while," you say, shrugging.

Octavia lets out a sigh, finishes off what's left in her glass, and hops off of her stool.

"I suppose I had better go check on her. I'm going to sit these next couple of rounds out. I'll be back."

With that, she hops off of her chair.

The doctor sighs, sliding off of her chair as well and heading straight towards the bar.

"Merda, I need a drink..."

You need a navy hat too, there, captain obvious.

Cadance shakes her head, hopping off of the chair as well.

"I felt my horn buzz earlier. Someone no doubt wants to talk to me, and I have a feeling that it's Spitfire."

"Oh, boy, that's great."

"Yeah, I know," she says, letting out a sigh. "But. Politics are important, I suppose. As well as relationships."

You give her a quizzical look.

"Is it about Shining?"

Cadance pauses for a moment, and then tilts her head.

"I'm not sure. There could be a number of things going wrong, and Shining is no doubt one of them."

"No shit. After the story you told me not that long ago, he sounds like more trouble than Scootaloo ever was."

Scootaloo glares at you, her jaw low.

"Hey! Cram it, meathead!"

"You first!"

"No, you!"

"No you!"

"No you!"

"No y—"

"Both of you cram it!" Cadance yells, trying to contain her giggling. "This is-... This is important!"

She turns to you, smiling and shaking her head.

"Anonymous. I had better talk to them. When you and dear Scootaloo are done here, come up to me right away, okay?"

"Gotcha."

She nods, turning around. "All right! Have fun, you two!"

And, as she trots off, you swear she puts a little sway in her step.

Or maybe it was just the wine doing that.

Either way, her booty is jiggling hypnotically.

You contain your unfs, and turn to Scootaloo.

Well, actually, you glance at the chair where Scootaloo once was.

You look over, seeing she's moved to the other side of the table, straight across from you.

She also has the remote in her hooves, idly fiddling with it.

When she notices that you noticed her move, she smiles, and starts fiddling even more.

"I figured it'd be more awesome if I did some things cool for our one on one. Even though I'm gonna kick your flank."

"Yeah, right..."

She rolls her eyes at you, and turns down a dial.

The lights above the table dim to the point where you are just able to see the cards.

She looks through it a bit more, and glances up at you. "...You mind if I crank some tunes?"

"Go ahead, Scoots."

"Cool."

She looks for a while, raising an eyebrow.

In the time it takes you to pour and drink another shot, she lets out a grumble.

"I can't decide. You wanna play any music, Anon?"

She slides the console over to you, and you grab it.

The thing is fairly simple; two knobs, five or six buttons, and a keypad.

"Sure. Lemme think of somethin'."

You look at the console, and...

Oh, there's a button labeled 'music'.

You press it, and a search bar comes up.

Now, what to put...

A-HA!

As soon as you remember the artist's name, you punch it into the keyboard.

And the first result is what you're after.

With a click of a button, it starts playing.

Ain't That a Kick in the Head

Yesssss...

The trumpets blare, and a smile comes to your face.

You pour yet another shot for courage, and press the start button.

Cards are dealt out to the three of you, since it still thinks Octy is playing

You quickly correct that on the console, set it aside, and push Octavia's cards away.

Scootaloo glances at her cards, and so do you.

Queen of diamonds, eight of spades.

Not bad.

You toss the shot down the hatch, and Scootaloo sets her cards dBlinds are all but forgotten, it seems.

"Eh, I'll raise a little," Scoots says, sliding five chips into the center.

"Pfft, five? Come on. I'll raise you."

Feeling particularly brave, you slide in twenty five.

"Fine! You're on, dude!"

She slides in twenty more chips, smiling.

You notice, however, that all of her chips, spare one, were from Octavia's pile.

Eh, she won't be back for a while.

You let it slide, and push the 'next hoof' button.

JH, 8H, 2S

Pair of 8s.

Not bad.

"Okay, I'm raisin'."

She slides in ten more chips.

You call, thinking you can keep up.

Quickly, you press the next button, and the river comes down.

QH.

Huh.

Scootaloo slides in fifteen more chips, and you're eager to call with your two pair.

"Sheesh, getting ballsy tonight, ain't ya?"

"Maybe. A lot of it's just me being the best pokerer ever."

"Yeah, 'cause that made total sense. I think you need to calm down on the drinks."

"Pff. Fat chance."

You call her bet, and with the press of a button, the turn falls.

2H.

Wait...

FUCK.

She has a flush, doesn't she?

Yeah, that's probably why--

"ALL IN!"

"FUCK NO."

You immediately fold your cards, shaking your head.

"Suckerrr!"

With that, you see her show her cards.

Six of spades, five of diamonds.

As you see her cards, the realization hits you harder than a freight train.

She got you.

She got you good.

The fury of a drunkard fills your chest, and you glare at the snickering little shit across the table.

"You little!"

You grit your teeth to stop yourself from insulting the filly, and let out a growl.

"I'll show you next round. THIS ROUND will be different!"

She just laughs at you, nodding.

"Hoo-oo-kay, man, whatever you say."