Poker Night at the Barn

"I don't get it." Sweetie Bell sighed.

"Mah head hurts." Apple Bloom muttered.

"I thought you said this would be easy." Scootaloo added.

All three Cutie Mark Crusaders sighed and let their heads drop onto the crate they were using as a table, the 'THUD' from all three of them sounding off almost simultaneously. In the middle of the crate was Sweetie Belle's laptop with multiple windows open on the screen, and all around the three girls playing cards littered the immediate area.

"Ah don't get it. Big Mac said this was an easy card game." Apple Bloom said, swatting away two cards on the crate by her.

"Maybe this just isn't the right game for us getting out cutie marks." Sweetie Belle said. "Maybe we can go back to Carousel Boutique and try dressmaking again. I'm sure my sis forgot all about us setting that fire last time."

"No way!" Apple Bloom said, bolting upright and quickly collecting the cards scattered around the floor. "We can't give up yet! What if this is our true calling? If we just give up we'll never get our cutie marks! We'll be blank flanks forever!"

The other two girls sighed but nodded in agreement and slowly picked up the cards closest to them. Though the instructions they had found online were confusing to them, the risk of this being their specialty was too great for any of them to simply give up. Once she had all the cards collected in her hand, Apple Bloom awkwardly shuffled the cards and hesitatingly started dealing out the cards.

"Okay, um... two for you Sweetie, then two for Scootaloo, then two for me. Now, one card on the table face up- I mean face down! Then three more for... no, wait..."

"Are those the community cards? I think we each get one since there are three?" Sweetie Belle guessed, looking over the notes on her computer.

"But I thought all three of us use all of them." Scootaloo said. "And I still don't get this turning card thing, or how a river is involved."

All three girls dropped their heads back to the crate with another 'THUD'.

"We'll never get our cutie marks at this rate." Scootaloo said in defeat. "We're going to be blank flanks forever."

None of the young girls moved as the side barn door creaked open, but Apple Bloom's ears twitched as she heard the newcomer humming a familiar tune. She raised her head and saw it was exactly who she thought it was; her older brother, Big Mac.

The muscular pony grunted as he dropped the two bales of hay he had been carrying. He nodded in satisfaction as he confirmed that he was done his chores for the day, and now he could finally go back inside and indulge himself in the cold apple cider he had hidden away in the cellar for himself. All he had to do was go back inside and-

"Big Mac! Can ya help us with something?" Apple Bloom's voice rang out.

Big Mac cringed as he realized that his youngest sister and her friends were in the barn. The thought of making a break for the safety of his house crossed his mind momentarily, but he soon sighed in defeat as he knew he could never do that to his own kin, even though he knew very well that she'd be asking for his help with trying to get their cutie marks.

"We need help with getting out cutie marks!" Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo chimed together.

Big Mac slowly approached where the girls were sitting. He looked down at the crate they were sitting around and spotted the playing cards strewn around the area, chuckling at the thoughts in his head. "Never knew there was a card stackin' cutie mark." he said to them.

Apple Bloom looked at her brother in confusion. "Card stackin'? Naw, we're trying to learn how to play Appleloosan Hold'em, like you an' cousin Braeburn play together."

Big Mac tried his best to stop from laughing at the thought of the three girls in front of him playing such a complicated game of deceit and luck. "Appleloosan Hold'em? Ah don't think you're cut out for that game." he said.

The three Cutie Mark Crusaders immediately went on the defensive. "We can too learn how to play!" Scootaloo confidently said, her wings buzzing in confidence.

"We almost got it, we just need some help with a few small things." Sweetie Belle insisted.

"Please, big bro?" Apple Bloom finished off.

All three fillies looked pleadingly at Big Mac. The stallion sighed hopelessly; their puppy dog eyes didn't sway him, but his firsthand knowledge that all three of them would not stop pestering him until he gave in did. "Fine." he said reluctantly, knowing that once they didn't receive their poker cutie marks they would move on to some other activity.

"Yay!" all three crusaders exclaimed. In a blur of motion they recollected the cards and gave all the cards back to Apple Bloom, who once again messily shuffled the cards and began dealing them out.

"Woah woah, hold on there." Big Mac interjected as he watched his sibling deal two cards immediately to Sweetie Belle. "Ya don' just give two card to each player." Sweeping up the cards in his massive hands, he shuffled the cards with ease before dealing out the cards correctly to everyone present.

Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom stared in awe as Big Mac flicked his wrists and expertly dealt them all their hands, the cards landing face down right in front of their respective player. "Wow, you're so awesome at this!" Scootaloo exclaimed. "Much better than Apple Bloom dealt them."

"Hey!" Apple Bloom exclaimed in embarrassment, turning slightly red.

Sweetie Belle ignored her two friends, instead concentrating on the two cards she had been dealt. "Okay, here's my hand." she said after a few moments, turning over her cards for everyone to see.

Big Mac smacked his forehead at Sweetie Belle's move. "You're not supposed to show anyone else your cards until the river card is played and you haven't folded." he explained.

The poker terminology caused all three fillies to look at him in confusion. "What the hay is with this river I keep on reading about?" Sweetie burst, banging her fist on the crate in frustration. "Why do we need water to play poker?"

Big Mac sighed and dropped his head to the crate himself. He was not one to quit halfway through a task, especially when it involved helping out family, but had he known that he was going to have to teach them EVERYTHING about playing poker he would have thought it over a bit more. Perhaps he would have called up Braeburn to help out, or let him teach them on his own...

"Big Mac!" Apple Bloom shouted in his ear, poking his side forcefully.

"Huh?" he responded, finally snapping out of his deep thought and returning to reality. "Oh, sorry. What did you say?"

"Ah asked why turns and rivers are involved in this game." she asked, pointing to the instructions one Sweetie Belle's computer.

Big Mac took a deep breath before finally committing himself to see the task through. "Well, let's start from the beginning. When you deal cards, you..."