Rules Of The Truecard

After two months of going to the same school, all that I can say is this: I love it immensely! And I really do! Canterlot High is even better than what I went through at THS! And all of the tragic times that I had suffered there, though it was a very slow process in the beginning, began to be lifted up from my heart and soul. And after those first two months, I made a really tight group of friends. But it was long after the surprise party that Pinkie made for me. And that lifted my soul out to the point where I cried in the middle of it all.

When I told my new group of friends all about what really went on during my time there, and why I was so happy, they were all shocked. But that's just putting it mildly. When they gave their insights to me, I felt more alive with them than when I had to slither my way out of certain peoples grips. When they cried with me, I felt even better about my new life. This was a group that wanted the very best for me. And I loved every bit of their support.

On the next day, after the party, Sunset Shimmer had come up to me and asked me to join her in some random room that was just empty. Sunset had suddenly turned from the happy girl that I would see every day into a very sad girl. Now, this display was just heartbreaking to me. I mean, I never saw her like that at all. And it was quite scary for me to think about.

.....

Two weeks ago, a senior of my class named Oliver had taken a gun and threatened to kill Sunset for what she had done to the school in the past. But even as Sunset tried to reason with him, he pulled back the hammer and threatened her to 'just shut the fuck up!'. And that did not sit well with me. At all.

Even though Ms. Celestia called the police, the only one who could respond was one of my uncles who works as an officer: Sgt. Jimmy 'Clubs' Truecard.

Before the guy could pull the trigger, I somehow snapped. My fight-or-flight instincts came in. But it wasn't flight at the time. It was 'fight'. After disarming the gun from his hand, I made him fall to the ground with a submission move that was taught to me ages ago. The poor loser went down faster than I had thought. When Uncle Clubs came by, he immediately cuffed the guy that I kept on the ground and shoved him into the back of his car.

"You alright, Casino?" my uncle asked me.

"Yes I am, Uncle Clubs," I reply to him.

"Good. Now I'll take this guy with me to the station for booking and lockup, but don't forget to come to me on the day after tomorrow, okay?" he suggested to me with a pat on my shoulder.

"Yes, sir," I salute to him.

"Carry on with your day, my boy," he then suggests before driving off to his station in his car.

It was then that Principal Celestia had come up to me and asked, "Would you be so kind as to how you can tell the difference in your family members, Casino?"

"Jobs and a certain tattoo," I simply reply to her. "Dad is named Spades, and he works as a hotel manager next to a big casino at Silver Shilling Peak. Uncle Clubs so happens to be a police officer, the same one that you saw just now. Uncle Hearts works in one of the establishments that is next door to my dad's hotel as a card dealer. And finally: Uncle Diamonds is a construction worker who was honorably discharged from the Marines."

"And each of them has a tattoo that identifies them individually?" Vice Principal Luna asks.

"Uh-huh," I nod to her.

"Take the rest of the day off, Casino. You'll need it for what has happened here," Ms. Celestia orders me in a comfortable tone. Normally, I would have objected to such a thing, but when I saw that Sunset was still shivering from the event that took place, I look to my Principal and ask:

"Would it be alright if Sunset came with me? We'll call our friends so that we can catch up on our homework."

"You may, Mr. Truecard," Ms. Celestia answers.

And with that, I took Sunset with me and we head to her place so that she could recover from what had happened. But before I could take off, I feel her hugging me tightly.

"Please... don't go, Casino," she cries on my back. This wasn't what I had in mind. But the poor girl needed comfort.

"Okay, Sunset," I say to her. "Let's both head inside."

Within two hours, I leave her at her house, knowing that her friends will be there to comfort and support her as I have done.

.....

Four days later, I see a poster on the announcement board, announcing that a poker tournament was being held in a hotel just within the very center of the downtown area. And it was inviting all of the senior students from all of the high schools, including ours as well, to participate in it. No student, as I saw from the blank signup sheet, had volunteered. It was then, after reading the fine print that there was a one-hundred bits entry to be paid, that I decided to go to both Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna to find out if I could be allowed to enter the game.

I knock on the door three times before hearing my reply:

"Come in."

"Principal Celestia? There's something that I wish to discuss with you," I ask her, noticing that she must have been waiting for someone to come in. She beckons me to come in with a wave of her hand to the seat in front of her. I take the seat as she suggested and waited for a few moments before I hear her speak again.

"What is it that I can help you with, Mr. Truecard?"

"The downtown poker tournament that I saw on the announcement board," I answer her.

"And?" Celestia asks with an arched eyebrow to me.

"And I saw that not only has there been no person willing to participate in it, but that the grand prize is more than enough to cover the expenses of running a school like this, as I saw from the list from one of the other offices," I added on.

Within about a second, Ms. Celestia asks, "And you are wishing to play in this event?"

"Yes. And I already saw the fee to enter. So, if it'll please you, I'd like the honor of knowing, after I convince my parents to let me join, that I will do my very best to win that fat amount of money for you," I smiled to her. This causes my principal to look at me with some confusion. She was about to reply to my response when I hear the door of the Vice Principal's room open up.

"Sister? What's this I hear about--? Oh! Casino Truecard! What a surprise," Luna piped up. I nodded to her before looking back at Celestia. The reason I only say their given names to myself is because I have no intention to cause any miscommunication between the three of us.

"What is this I hear about a... tournament, as it is?" Ms. Luna asked with the same look that Ms. Celestia gave me a moment ago.

"Mr. Truecard here has expressed his desire to join the poker tournament for our school," Ms. Celestia answered her, pointing to me. They each look at me, and I nod to them. "Of course, I was about to let him join...."

Oh, now that is just teasing!

"But, I'd like your opinion, my dear sister. And after that, I'd like to get a hold of his parents. What do you think, Ms. Luna?" Ms. Celestia wondered to her counterpart.

After a moment to think about it, Ms. Luna looked to me and asked:

"Do you even have what it takes to beat the Crystal Prep Academy Shadowbolts and the Tirek High School Centaurs at the tournament, given that they together have won that game fifteen times?"

Even though this question wasn't bad, I couldn't help but laugh at her doubt.

"AhHahaha... I'm sorry, Ms. Luna. Really. But look at who you're talking to!" I growled up with a fist to the air. "I may have been in THS for three years, but your talking to a guy that was born in Las Pegasus! And I was personally trained by a great retired poker champion that taught both me, my dad, and my three uncles," I added to the speech with my right thumb to my face. The eyes of both Ms. Celestia and Ms. Luna widened after hearing my little bio.

"And you know the rules to every card game that every casino in Las Pegasus has?" Ms. Celestia asked me, betraying whatever excitement was being pushed back before.

"Traditional poker, Appleoosa Hold 'Em, Blackjack, Hearts, Solitaire of all types, Gin Rummy, Scotch Bridge, Baccarat- you name it, I've played it. As well as play D&D, Magic, Yu-Gi-Oh!, etc," I added further. This causes the ladies in front of me to clap their hands with delight.

"I say yes!" Luna shouted in her excitement. "As do I," Celestia smiled.

"So it's unanimous, then?" I ask them with a bit of hope.

"But I will have to call your parents so that you can go," Ms. Celestia told me with a finger pointed to the ceiling. I nodded to her and make my way to the door.

"If they say yes, then I will get you both that prize money, on my honor!" I announced to them with a beat on my chest. They both wave me goodbye and I close the door behind me.

.....

About two hours later, after talking to the head honchos about my desire, all of the classes were done for the day. And I thank the Goddesses for that in my little smile, given that it was Friday that day. But as I made my way to my locker, my I-Phone starts to buzz from my pocket. I open the locker door and put away the stuff that I wasn't needed to take home with me. A message from Sunset Shimmer is displayed on the screen. After I open the inbox, I see the message read:

"Hey, Casino? It's Sunset. Listen, do you think that you could meet me at the park? I really need to talk to you about something... alone."

Now this was a really big thing of her to ask of me. I mean, I know that I've spent some time with her, but only when I was in the company of her friends. I sigh to myself, thinking that she really must be kind of desperate if she wanted to talk to me alone. Within a few seconds, I compose my reply to her:

"Well, uh... Sure. Right now?" A beep comes back after about six seconds.

"Yes, please."

"On my way!"

"See you there! ;-)"

A wink? Huh.

.....

After driving to the park on Greenpike and Farley, I see that Sunset is sitting on the bench near the basketball courtyard. I place my backpack at the backseat of my car before opening and closing the door to walk up to her. When I got there, she sighs with a shiver going down her spine. I make my steps louder in order for her to hear me. Then I stop my steps.

"Sunset?" I speak up, causing her to look back to me from her seat.

"Oh, Casino! I didn't think you'd make it," she says to me with a deep hug.

"Oh, come on, Sunset! You should give me more credit than that," I reply with a teasing tongue out at her. She makes the same gesture to me. This causes us to laugh a bit before we give each other another deep hug. "Oh... I missed this quite a lot, y'know?" I said to her simply before parting from her.

"Really?" she asks me with her arms crossed while looking at me- wait a minute there. Was that a blush that I saw on her face?

"W-well... yes. Yes, I do," I nodded to her. "Um..."

Soon, I hear a sound that scares me more than anything in this world: Sunset is crying. But I don't know why she's crying. My only hope now is to just ask what's up.

"Sunset? Hey... W-what's wrong? Is everything alright?" I try to ask her.

"Hey, Cas...?" Sunset begins to ask.

"Yeah?"

"Remember when you said that you'd give me some time to think about you and I going out as a couple?"

Wow! Well, that was just... unexpected. I could only nod to her before remembering fully that after saving her from that 'Oliver' punk, I asked is she wanted to go out with me. Not because of a hero complex, and not to gain popularity. But only because of how I wanted something more with her. Something beyond friendship. Something... romantic.

"Yeah..." I replied to her before finishing up with the additive, "And I also remember that I was not going to pressure you into anything that-- mmmpphh!!"

I was swiftly interrupted by a pair of soft lips that pressed into mine before I could go on with my speech. The kiss that we feel was certainly the answer that I was hoping for. And the wait was so worth the time. And as I pressed my own lips back, we part them with just a few more smooches that escalate rather quickly. Within those intense moments, my tongue was daring me to let it loose. And so I did, but only with a small peak that licked her lips.

Sunset was able to pick up the newly found passion that I was feeling with her, and she darts her tongue into my mouth as a new dance from our tongues combines our saliva within the deepest kiss that I ever had. Though I was inexperienced with kissing, this first one was the absolute best one that I prayed for. And even the most explicit fantasies that I had of her with me were nothing compared to what was happening now.

After what felt like ages, our smooches had come to a complete stop as we soon found out that our bodies were lacking oxygen to go with an overheating that made me regret wearing my hoodie.

"So, uh..." I whisper softly to her.

"Mm-hmm?"

"Are we a couple?"

"...Yes, Cas. And I just want to be yours, and yours alone," she whispers back as another deep hug is exchanged between us.

This was the happiest moment of my life. And this was even better than when two hours ago, during my classes, my Mom had called me to let me know that I was allowed to enter the tournament for my school.

But then, Sunset looks at me with an almost naughty look and asks:

"So, Casino... Have you been wanting to see me naked?"

Oh, Goddesses above me! She must have some psychic ability or something!

"W-w-well, um... I-I- uh.... t-that is--"

"Because I've been having the same fantasies about seeing you that way," she whispers to my ear. "And for a very long time..."

"Damn it, Sunset! You're killing me here."

"Nah. Just teasing you. But I really want us to take that step. Do you know why?" she asks me with a finger tickling my chest. I could only shake my head because of how I felt my IQ dropping. "Because I love you, Casino. That's why."

"Sometime near Thanksgiving Day?" I suggest to her with a small grin.

"After Halloween?" she adds on.

"My own apartment near this park?" I further add on, pointing to the building where I now lived, courtesy of my parents believing that I was now responsible enough to live on my own.

"Bring some protection?" she coos.

"After lunch?"

"I'll be waiting for it, hon."

.....

.....

"And I'll be waiting for you, babe."

We soon give each other another kissing session before we hear the nearby kids groaning from the display. That was our cue to leave the park. And for a while now.

After turning on the engine, I ask Sunset if she wanted to go back to her place. To this, she said no. Not until she told her friends that we were now going to go out as a couple.

Well, shit! There goes my Friday night.... It's totally worth it, though.