'Take notes, Rainbow... we're in the lead... no backing out now...' The cyan Pegasus cockily adjusted the tiara on her head, and grinned evilly at the old rabbit on her friend's back. 'That little twit Angel is sure going to miss this carrot!' She thought, chewing loudly on the vegetable.
This week's "meeting" with the others was going pretty well: it had only been four hours, and she had won over a hundred bits so far. But she had a nagging feeling things were about to go-
"AAAANND: Gin!"
'Oh... right...' She sighed, remembering to ignore those foolish premonitions.
"We're not playing Gin Rummy, Pinkie!" Twilight shouted sternly. Her mane was an absolute mess, tussled up with strands sticking out here and there, and she looked on the verge of another breakdown.
"Oh? Then why did I bring this?"
Everypony stared as Pinkie produced a dark green bottle from her mane, and set it on the table before her.
"Ah don't think anypony knows, sugarcube..." Applejack muttered, tilting her hat over her eyes as she looked over her cards. Rainbow saw her chance, and decided to go for a sneak attack.
"Tell me, Twilight..." She started, getting the mare's attention by motioning to the jewel on her head. "How do you get this adjusted? It's kind of loose around the ears, and--"
"That won't be necessary!" Twilight assured, waving her hoof while giving off a nervous smile. Spike chose just then to descend the stairway with a large, reddish-brown book in tow. Rainbow couldn't help snickering at the gold-letter title.
"Foal's Guide To The Winning Hoof. By Bad Booth." She chuckled. "Getting a little more yolk in the old egg, are we, Twili?"
Twilight gave her the most threatening glare she could muster... but, it was Twilight, though, so it still came off pretty adorable. "It's written by one of the most famous Poker Players in the Crystal Empire, Dash! You should be wary!"
"Fine," Rainbow shrugged, "let it play for you. Maybe the book'll have better luck."
Twilight gave her a scowl, and cracked the manuscript. After two seconds of reading, she smiled brightly and pushed her bits forward. "I'll see your thirty, and I raise you twenty!"
"I'll... um... I'll fold." Fluttershy said timidly, placing her cards on the table. Rainbow's brain did a fist pump.
'One down... four to go...'
She looked over to the next pony in line for a play.
"Still deciding a bet. Eh, Rare? I'm sure mama would loove a new pair of shoes..."
Rarity gave her a pooched lip. "For your information, Rainbow, I've got plenty of shoes! And I've been thinking on this bet for a while..." She scratched her chin with a hoof, and levitated some coins to the center of the table. "I'll copy Twilight's move, foolish as it was."
Rainbow looked at her hand, and lowered her lips into a blank expression.
"F-fine... I'll just, uh..." She looked around, taking notes of her friends' eager faces. "...Raise you twenty!" she said, watching with glee as their smiles drooped into disappointed scowls.
"Looks like Ah'm next up..." Applejack snorted. She counted her cards carefully, and a bead of sweat trickled down her forehead. She pushed her last few bits forward. "Ah'll see you, and raise you ten." She sighed.
All eyes turned to Pinkie Pie, who finished guzzling the beverage before spitting the bottle into a nearby garbage, and looking around with an all-but-confused face.
"What?!"
"Aren't you going to place a bet, sugarcube?"
"Oh, I fold!" Pinkie exclaimed with a shrug, as if that conclusion should be obvious to everypony.
"Why?" Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow.
As if on cue, Pinkie shuddered tremendously, shaking the chair she was sitting on and the drinks on the table. And causing all present to flinch.
"Doozy, that's why!"
Everypony turned to Rainbow unsurely, who was smiling smugly.
'That's two down...'
Twilight looked into her book, her nerves on the brink of firing off. She combed the book over, before her eyes went wide, and her pupils shrank.
"I... I'll fold..." She said, face turning green. Spike held up a bucket, and she shoved her face into it without missing a beat.
Rainbow was ecstatic, though she kept her face simply smug. 'Third times' the charm! I'm on a roll!'
She turned to Rarity, who seemed to have a few beads of sweat on her neck. "Well, Rarity? You up to go against the might of Dash?"
The seamstress looked nervously from her cards to Rainbow's, and back to hers. "I'm... n-n-not losing that much money if I fold now..." she sighed quietly, placing her cards on the table.
'Nailed it! That's four!'
Only. One. Pony. Left.
She smiled at Applejack in a sinister fashion, her bared teeth shining with an immediately unnerving amount of confidence. Sweat glowed and trickled down Applejack's face, and she licked her lips a few times.
Rainbow sat up, and went for the kill: Picking up some bits, and tossing them into the center.
"I see your ten, and I raise you..." She picked up a few more with her feathers, and leaned in close enough to even feel AJ's hot, nervous breath on her muzzle.
"Three." she hissed threateningly: eyes daring the farm pony to call it. She let the coins slide off her wing, and clatter theatrically onto the table: giving off a deathly foreboding ring with each clink.
"That's it! That's it! I fold!" Applejack cried, slamming her cards on the table. "You win! Once again, you win! Happy now, Rainbow?"
"Very." Rainbow sighed contentedly. She laid her cards face-up on the table, and gathered her winnings while her friends gawked at the hand.
A, 2, 9, 10, K.
Author's Note
This was so fun to write! I hope you enjoy my random ideas. 
