Game of Chance

Chapters

A new kind of game in town
Losing streak
Hobbies and interests
When a good mare breaks bad
The Hornet's Nest

A new kind of game in town

Game of Chance
Chapter 1: A new kind of game in town

Twilight Sparkle was getting herself ready to leave the house, making sure that absolutely everything was in order.

"Alright Spike, how's the checklist coming along?" Twilight asked her number one assistant.

"Make sure Spike has food for dinner, check. Close windows so that the night breeze doesn't chill the library too much, check..." Spike read aloud, muttering quietly to himself as he skimmed through the lengthy list, "And lastly, give Twilight a bag of exactly one hundred bits."

"Check." Twilight finished for Spike, drawing out a small pouch from a hidden wall compartment.

"Whoah, since when did we have that?" Spike questioned in surprise.

"Ever since we came here..." Twilight replied disappointedly, realizing her sloppy mistake of revealing her secret money compartment to Spike.

"And when exactly were you going to tell me this?" Spike interrogated in slight annoyance, he had always assumed transparency with his foster 'sister'.

"Um, never. But now you know, so you can be relieved by the fact that there is no longer any secrets between us!" Twilight replied quickly with a nervous grin. Spike cocked an eyebrow at Twilight, "Look, I'm about to fall behind schedule; how about we talk about this some other time?" Twilight offered.

"Fine, we'll talk about this when you come back from that money drain." Spike scoffed, giving Twilight a goodbye nuzzle before leaving for the kitchen.

Twilight watched as the purple baby dragon walked off before quietly leaving the library and into the chilly breeze. "Bye Spike! I'll be home before midnight!" Twilight called behind her as she checked her saddlebag and trotted slowly down the dirt path.

It's really starting to get cold out here, I'll need to start wearing a scarf sooner than later... Twilight thought to herself as she made the short fifteen minute walk to Sugar Cube Corner.

Twilight was on schedule to her rendezvous with her friends. A casino has opened up in Ponyville and the six friends eventually decided to try it out for the sake of trying it out, after all, they didn't want to have watched that casino being built for eight months for no reason at all.

Soon enough, Twilight arrived at Sugar Cube Corner at seven o'clock sharp; Rarity and Applejack were waiting out front. "Hey girls," Twilight greeted as she approached the two mares, "Where are the others?"

"Heya Twilight!" Applejack greeted, giving the lavender mare a quick, friendly hug.

"Hello Twilight dear," Rarity greeted with a slight flick of her fashionable scarf, "I can't say where the others are now, but I'm sure we could wait for a few minutes."

"Uh, where's Pinkie Pie? Doesn't she work here?" Twilight suddenly questioned.

Rarity nodded, "That she does, but I can't say that I've seen that silly mare at all today." she said with a thoughtful expression.

Twilight seemed a bit irked, "Ugh, I thought we all agreed to meet up at Sugar Cube Corner at seven o'clock... No earlier and certainly no later." Twilight ranted with her uncanny sense of punctuality in mind.

"C'mon now sugarcube, ya can't expect everypony to arrive on time every time; especially with a mare like Rainbow. Let's all jest get ourselves a seat while we wait for the rest." Applejack offered, receiving nods of agreement before heading to the outdoor seating so thoughtfully provided by Sugar Cube Corner.

The three mares waited for around ten minutes when a polychrome contrail became visible in the distance, Applejack could just faintly hear the sound of screaming in the distance. "Y'all hear that?" the orange mare inquired seconds before a cyan Pegasus landed a short distance away in a rather unceremoniously ungraceful manner.

Rainbow Dash sprinted towards the three mares as soon as she spotted them, she was panting heavily, "Hey guys!" Rainbow greeted, pausing for breath, "I." more panting, "Came as soon..." another pause for breath, "As I saw I was going to be... Late." the cyan Pegasus finally declared.

"Well, you sure made it seem like you care." Twilight commented genuinely... No really, she wasn't being sarcastic.

"Thanks..." Rainbow replied, suddenly looking around, "Hey, I thought I was late, where's P-"

Rainbow Dash didn't manage to finish that question as a pink blur suddenly rammed into her. "Oh dear, Rainbow Dash, are you alright?" an exasperated yellow Pegasus apologized as she arrived.

"Heya Dash!" the Pink blur greeted Rainbow who was currently pinned on the floor, dazed and confused.

"What... The hay just happened?" Rainbow asked in despair as a pair of massive cobalt-blue eyes stared in unrestrained excitement right into the pit of her soul.

"Hello girls! Are we ready to head out?" Rarity asked, almost completely disregarding Rainbow Dash's situation.

"Pinkie, could you pl-"

"Yeah! Let's go!" Pinkie interrupted, leaping off of Rainbow Dash and already beginning her hopping trail to the new casino. Everypony simply shrugged off Pinkie's antics as they began to follow the excited pink mare, Rainbow soon managed to get to her hooves and slowly trotted her way to the group.

"Thanks for waiting..." Rainbow muttered as she readjusted her saddlebag.

Twilight suddenly spoke up in realization, "Pinkie, you're the only one of us without a saddlebag, where are you keeping your money?" she asked tentatively.

Pinkie paused in midair, craning her head back to Twilight before landing on the ground quietly, "Right here, Twipie." she said as she pulled out a bag of bits from her mane before placing it back and continuing her hoping trail to the new casino. Twilight blinked, slowing her pace ever so slightly before regaining her composure.

You just had to ask, Twilight Sparkle. The lavender mare chided.

"Ohmygosh! This is going to be so exciting! Games games and games everywhere and all of my bestest friends are going to participate!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed mostly to herself, each syllable punctuated by a hop.

"Oh my, I still don't know about this. Do any of us have any actual experience gambling?" Fluttershy asked, feeling very unsure. Suddenly, all eyes turned to Rainbow Dash.

"What?" Rainbow stared back, giving everypony indignant looks, "I've placed wagers before but I've never done any actual gambling before." the cyan mare defended.

"We know that dearie, a pony like you could never be the likes to play such games of chance... No offense of course." Rarity added, everypony now looked at Rarity.

"Rarity? Have you gambled before?" Twilight asked innocently.

"I... Um... Maybe just a few times on a business trip to Las Pegasus, it was nothing really." Rarity replied nervously.

"Well, that's certainly more experience anypony else around here has. What's it like?" Applejack asked curiously.

"It's like watching your bits disappear really, I mostly went in for the other forms of entertainment." Rarity explained quickly.

"Could you tell us a bit about the games they have? I'm not very familiar with what they have." Twilight continued as the mares made their way down the path.

"Well, there's Equestrian Hoof'em... That games requires one's ability for self control and hiding emotions, they call it 'having a poker face'..." Rarity delved deeper into the rules of the games and how they are played in casinos.

"That slot machine sounds like a scam to me." Twilight commented thoughtfully after Rarity finished her explanation of what goes on in a casino, "I don't think that would be the kind of game that would give you much of a chance if you were to play it."

Pinkie Pie suddenly stopped, "Hey, Rarity! When you said that you went to one of these places for the other forms of entertainment, what did you mean?" the pink mare asked excitedly, genuinely hoping that they had cupcake eating contests inside.

"Well, um, they had... Um." Rarity flustered, Rainbow Dash grew a sly grin.

"Did ya go for the 'special' services I hear some of those places provide?" Rainbow asked with a growing grin.

"Well, I never!" Rarity retorted in an offended expression, "This mare shall never stoop so low as to hire somepony else for something like that!.... I may, however, had gone to see some... Exotic dancers." Rarity finished quietly, a faint blush appearing under her pearl white coat.

"What? You mean like zebras?" Pinkie Pie asked obliviously.

"Um, there was a zebra, yes." Rarity answered politely. Twilight's eyes lit up in understanding.

"Oh! You meant male dancers?" Twilight asked innocently.

"Yes." Rarity replied in shame.

"I've always wanted to see what those are like, did you enjoy it?" Twilight continued asked, deeply confusing the white mare.

"Twilight, my dear, you do understand what I'm talking about, right?" Rarity questioned, she was sure that a mare like Twilight would disapprove of such a thing.

"Of course I understand, I've read a few books on the subject; it's a form of erotic dancing performed by either gender to arouse the audience, who in turn tip whichever dancer appealed to them the most. You said you saw a zebra there?" Twilight continued.

"Wha-?" Rarity's jaw could have hit the floor if she was Pinkie Pie.

"Oh my, a zebra? W-what was that like?" Fluttershy asked timidly, jumping into the conversation.

"It... Was... Well, it was a pleasant surprise really. I never would have thought that a stallion could be so flexible, but there he was." Rarity replied, feeling slightly less awkward in this conversation.

"I bet it was, I heard that zebras have really hu-" Rainbow Dash was suddenly interrupted.

"Rainbow! That was not at all what I meant!" Rarity yelled at Rainbow indignantly, her eyes shooting daggers at her. Rainbow just cocked an eyebrow at her. "Maybe just a bit what I meant." Rarity then said in defeat.

...

The six mares arrived at their destination, it was already after dark and the casino was displaying an impressive light show and a banner that announced to all of Ponyville: 'Grand Opening!'

"Oh boy! We're here!" Pinkie exclaimed as she approached the front door.

"We can see it Pinkie." Rainbow muttered.

"Well, somepony had to say it, and it sure wasn't going to be Fluttershy." Pinkie Pie explained.

"Um, I-I c-could have." Fluttershy defended. Twilight just shrugged and walked past the three mares and into the luxurious building, closely followed by Rarity and a quiet Applejack.

"Well, this is a nice change of scenery." Rarity commented as she observed the lavish decor of the main lobby.

"How many bits did it take to build a thing like this?" Applejack said in a strange mix of awe and outrage.

"Many, but I'm sure they'll start making a profit soon." Twilight replied, remembering the slot machines Rarity told her about. Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash came in soon after another group did; catching up with the other three mares.

"C'mon, let's get this show on the road." Rainbow Dash announced as she carelessly bounced her bag of bits on her head. Rainbow had disconnected herself from that money long ago, now she wouldn't feel too hurt if she were to lose it all to gambling.

The six mares approached a stallion in a gray suit standing behind a large desk, they saw the massive crowd of ponies behind him. "Welcome to the Aurora casino of Ponyville, I will have to ask you to hand over any weapons before I let you in." the stallion announced in a charismatic tone.

"Does it look like we would carry weapons?" Twilight retorted in a suddenly annoyed tone. The stallion merely pointed at Applejack, "Sir, I don't think my friend counts as a weapon." Twilight reasoned, the stallion behind the desk facehoofed.

"Not your friend, what's on your friend." he said, motioning to the rope tied on Applejack's tail.

"Hey! It's just a lasso!" Applejack protested.

"Sorry, rules are rules. Just sign the thing in and you'll get it back when you leave." the stallion replied with a shrug.

"Fine." Applejack huffed, hoofing over her lasso and undoing her ponytail in the process. "Now ya got mah tail all messed up." Applejack complained.

"Applejack, dearie, I never thought you would be one to care about your own looks within this lifetime." Rarity commented with a hopeful grin.

"Ah just like it that way is all." Applejack retorted, avoiding eye contact. The stallion behind the desk cleared his throat to get everypony's attention.

"Thank you, you may go inside and trade your bits in for chips at the booth." the stallion informed, seemingly unaffected by Applejack's seething glare. The six mares walked past the stallion, albeit Twilight magically dragging Applejack in tow, to where most of the games are.

"Why do we need to change our bits into chips anyway?" Twilight asked incredulously and she set Applejack back on the ground.

"Who knows dear, it's just custom." Rarity dismissed as she turned to a mare inside of a booth, "I would like to exchange twenty-five bits please."

"That'll be twenty-five bits." the mare replied with a smirk.

"Oh ho ho, I see what you did there madam." Rarity giggled at the mare's joke, after all, what else did that mare do other than exchange bits to chips and vice versa? Rarity pulled out twenty-five bits from her money pouch and floated them over to the mare on the other end.

The rest of them followed suit, exchanging just a few of their coins to chips in case they wanted to spend some money on the other things this place had to offer.

"So, what do we do first?" Rainbow Dash asked excitedly.

"Oh! Let's try Equestrian Hoof'em! It's right over there!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, quickly disappearing to an empty gaming table. The rest of the mares sat at the table, filling it up completely with the exception of the dealer. The mares were simply playing against each other for their first game, most likely to test the gambling waters.

...

The dealer turned out to have an olden times announcer's voice, it made Twilight's mood really light and, in turn, made the learning process of a new game really fun.

"Small blind of one bit for miss Rarity and big blind of two bits for miss Dash." the dealer announced.

"Oh ponyfeathers." Rainbow complained quietly as she looked down at the small button.

"Relax dear, we all have to pay the blind every now and then." Rarity soothed with a coy smile, she had gained a total of ten bits out of her friends.

"Yeah, yeah. Are you gonna deal us some cards or what?" Rainbow said, shooting a glance at the dealer. The gentlestallion simply shrugged and dealt the hole cards to the players, Fluttershy immediately shrunk back at the sight of her cards.

"Call." Applejack announced stoically, placing two-one bit chips on the table.

"Raise!" Pinkie announced.

".... To what amount?" the dealer asked confusedly once he noticed that Pinkie wasn't doing anything.

"Three bits!"

"I guess I'll call on you Pinkie." Twilight announced.

"I... Um, can I fold?" Fluttershy asked quietly.

"Fluttershy, dearie. You haven't had a turn where you didn't fold, you won't win if you don't risk yourself just a little." Rarity encouraged.

"Oh, well, in that case... I'll raise for four bits." Fluttershy called, everypony gaped at her in surprise. The stares earned everypony a small grin and an even smaller squee from Fluttershy. The dealer nodded and dealt three cards at the center of the table for everypony to see.

Hello and welcome all to the 1976 Equestrian zeppelin races. Twilight thought in the voice of the dealer, giving a slight grin but shaking the silly thought away as soon as it came. Focus Twilight, focus!

Everypony looked at the cards on display: a ten of hearts, a jack of diamonds, and a prince of spades.

Everypony's gaze remained stoic, albeit Rarity's eyes bulging slightly and Fluttershy cringing just a bit.

That was called the flop, right? Twilight thought to herself. She soon realized that it was her turn to bet again, she quickly called on the bet since she had a jack in her hoof. The rest of Twilight's friends made their bets and the dealer announced the 'turn' in that funny voice, almost making Twilight smirk. The dealer revealed another ten.

The next round of betting ensued, Applejack folded after Rainbow raised the ante to six bits. Twilight decided to stay on the round since she still had a chance. The dealer finally revealed the 'river' card, it was another jack; Twilight tried her best to not reveal any emotion.

Rainbow Dash started sweating in the final round of betting and folded, leaving just Pinkie, Rarity, Fluttershy and Twilight. Everypony just called on the previous bet.

"Would everypony still in the game reveal their hoofs." the dealer announced.

This must be the 'showdown' Rarity talked about. Twilight thought to herself.

Pinkie Pie revealed her cards to be two aces, two of a kind.

Twilight revealed her cards to be a jack and a prince, a full house. Twilight decided that now was the time to smile, and she most definitely beamed at her friends.

"Not so fast Twilight dearie." Rarity intervened politely, revealing her cards to be two tens, "Four of a kind." Rarity beamed, all eyes fell on a shivering Fluttershy.

"Miss Shy, would you please reveal you cards?" the dealer asked politely, almost sensing how fragile this pony really was.

"Um.." Flutteshy then gave a small squeak before showing her cards. The yellow Pegasus revealed an ace and a princess, a royal flush. Rarity's demeanor quickly deflated as her head landed softly on the table with a small pout, nothing can beat a royal flush. Fluttershy was clearly confused, she didn't understand what was going on.

"And miss Shy takes the pot." the dealer announced.

"What? I won?" Fluttershy asked in confusion.

"Dearie, you just threw down a royal flush; nothing can beat that." Rarity said in defeat.

"Congrats Fluttershy." Twilight commented as a squeeing yellow Pegasus took the large pile of chips into her saddlebag.

"Thank you Twilight, but I think I'm done with this game right now. Who's up for a few drinks? It's on me." Fluttershy offered, getting massive nods of approval as everypony stood and made their way to the casino's bar.

Author's note:

Well, there's the beginning to what's to come! Fluttershy owns a poker, Rainbow is the first to use the bluff to no avail, and Rarity likes erotic dancers! I hope you will all stick around for the ride, I have high hopes for this story after all.

Losing streak

Chapter 2: Losing streak

The six mares left the Equestrian Hoof'em table and began finding their way to the casino's bar, the only one out of the six that had actually gained from that game was Fluttershy. Of course, nopony with her was cross with that fact since she was the one treating them all for a few drinks.

"That was quite an exciting game. Fluttershy, you certainly turned the tables on everypony with that last hoof." Rarity commented as the six mares walked around.

"Thank you Rarity, but I just so happened to get really lucky just then, I'm sure you would have won since you know the rules far better than me." Fluttershy replied modestly.

Everypony simply nodded, not really knowing what else to say. The six mares found the bar and took their seats.

"Welcome to the Aurora Iceberg, what can I help you with?" the bartender stallion called to all six of the mares, Rainbow Dash immediately plastered a goofy grin on her face.

"Do you serve Appletinis here?" Rainbow asked, trying her best to maintain a straight face as soon as she began to speak, Applejack stared daggers and short swords at Rainbow Dash.

"As a matter of fact: we do!" the bartender replied, seemingly not noticing Applejack's fuming, "Would you like an apple slice on the glass?" the bartender offered.

"Yes, make it a red one." Rainbow ordered, almost losing control of herself, almost.

"RD, what did Ah ever do to ya to deserve this?" Applejack asked with bared teeth, Rainbow simply stuck her tongue out at the orange mare who, in turn, cracked a smile.

"Admit it, it's kinda funny." Rainbow responded at the sight of her friend's smile.

"Ah guess..." Applejack said with restrained giggles. The bartender served Rainbow's drink and placed a small, red apple slice on the brim of the glass.

"What can I get the rest of ya?" the bartender asked charismatically.

"Can Ah get an 'over the rainbow' please?" Applejack asked with a mischievous grin, Rainbow appeared stunned to have her joke thrown back at her so quickly.

"From Manehatten, are we? Sure, wait just a moment." the bartender replied, "Oh, what are the rest of you getting?" the stallion asked politely as he stopped in his tracks.

"I'll have a glass of hard cider, please." Fluttershy asked timidly.

"I'll try the Trottingham ale." Twilight said, glancing at a nearby menu.

"Cider for me." Pinkie said briefly.

"Alright, and you?" the bartender said, now looking at Rarity.

Rarity held her hoof to her chin, deep in thought. "Surprise me." the cultured mare said with a mysterious grin, the stallion simply nodded and walked off to serve the orders.

"That was odd of you." Twilight commented on Rarity's choice.

"Twilight my dear, ponies have to live a little now and then; having a little adventure today should suffice for me until a few weeks from now." Rarity responded as she gently ran a hoof through her mane.

"Alright, I guess." Twilight said unsure of Rarity's explanation and then proceeding to rest her head on the bar as she sat and waited for her ale.

...

"Trottingham ale for the lovely lavender mare; two hard ciders for the yellow and pink ones; an 'over the rainbow' for miss Manehatten." the bartender hoofed over the drinks to their respective drinkers, giving Twilight a slight wink, which in turn gave Twilight a slight blush.

"You haven't forgotten about me have you, handsome?" Rarity inquired innocently, fluttering her eyes at the stallion.

"Of course not." the bartender announced, quickly sliding a drink down the bar and passing a blowtorch over it, setting the drink ablaze as it stopped right in front of the white mare; leaving everypony stunned. "My special 'torch me pretty' for you. Wait for the flames to die down a bit before you drink." the bartender said with a slight bow, placing a straw in the flaming drink before walking off to serve other customers.

"Wow, fancy." Applejack commented stoically.

"It... Certainly is." Rarity replied in a mixture of shock and awe.

...

The six mares patiently sipped their drinks as the talked about various things, mostly just catching up on the past few days. Rarity commented that her drink tasted a little like raspberries and happily continued drinking after the flames died.

"Hey Rainbow, I bet I can drink mah liquor faster than you can drink yers." Applejack challenged after a mere sip of her drink.

"The hay you can! Chugging contest on the count of three!" Rainbow retorted quickly.

"Alright." Applejack accepted.

"Alright then, one, three!" Rainbow skipped two and immediately tipped her glass over into her muzzle, Applejack did the same and the other four mares simply facehoofed.

"We should have placed bets on who would have challenged the other first instead." Rarity said quietly.

"Eeyup." Twilight agreed, the four mares giggled at Twilight's uncanny impression of Big Macintosh as the continued to watch the two other mares finish their drinks.

"Ah won!" Applejack declared.

"No you didn't, I won!" Rainbow Dash protested.

"Oh yeah? Prove it." Applejack challenged.

"I will, wanna go again?" Rainbow challenged back.

"Hay yeah!" Applejack quickly accepted.

"Um, girls?" Fluttershy interrupted.

"Yes?" the two combating mares answered simultaneously.

"I hate to interrupt, but you're on my tab right now... I don't really want to pay for the two of you getting drunk." the yellow mare said politely, immediately deflating the competitive spirit in the two mares.

"Oh, sorry." Rainbow apologized.

"It's alright Rainbow, anypony could have forgotten that in the heat of excitement." Fluttershy said with a much brighter mood. The yellow Pegasus promptly paid off her tab and the six friends made their way to the center of the casino.

"So, what should we try next?" Twilight asked, Applejack and Rainbow glanced at each other challengingly.

"I think Applejack and I are going to try out those games over there." Rainbow announced, pointing to a randomly vague direction and sprinting back to the bar, Applejack in tow. Twilight sighed heavily.

"Well, besides more drinking games, what should we try next?" Twilight asked again, slightly irked by the fact that Applejack and Rainbow had to make a challenge out of everything they did.

"Um, I heard that they have a dance show somewhere here, Rarity and I want to go find it... If that's alright with you." Fluttershy said timidly, giving a sheepish smile soon after.

"Ugh, fine, go watch the dancers." Twilight sighed heavily, giving herself a second facehoof.

"Okay dearie, are you sure you don't want to come with us?" Rarity asked, quickly getting rejected by Twilight and Pinkie, "Alright then, we'll catch up with you later!" the white mare said as she walked off with the yellow Pegasus.

Twilight watched as another pair of her friends left before turning to Pinkie, "I guess it's just you and me Pinkie."

"Yup! Let's find another game!" the pink mare offered excitedly.

"It's rare that I would completely understand and agree with you, but yeah, let's." Twilight replied with a nod and promptly getting grabbed by the pink mare as she bounced towards a random direction. "Whoah! Pinkie? Pinkie! Let me down, please?" the lavender mare pleaded as she was helplessly dragged by her pink friend.

"Oh, sorry Twi. I got a little excited there." Pinkie apologized as she let Twilight back on her hooves.

"It's alright, let's just fi-"

"Look at those machines with the pretty colors and stuff!" Pinkie Pie interrupted Twilight and ran off, Twilight confusedly followed suit.

Twilight followed Pinkie Pie to a row of slot machines, the same ones Rarity had told her about, the ones that you were almost definitely going to lose money if you were to play them. "Pinkie, I don't think that playing on those machines is such a good idea." Twilight said tentatively.

"Twilight, the reason we're here is to spend money and have fun while you watch those bits disappear!" Pinkie reasoned as she entered a 20-bit chip into the slot machine, which seemed a little excessive to Twilight, and pulled the lever.

The first slot stopped at the cherry.

Chimey. Pinkie thought to herself. The next slot slowed into the lemon, but slipped past it and into another cherry.

Cherry. Pinkie thought to herself a bit more excitedly. Her fore-hooves began tapping softly on the counter of the slot machine as she internally cheered her luck on, her brow was beginning to break into a cold sweat . The last slot landed on a third cherry.

"Chonga!" Pinkie exclaimed out loud as bits started pouring out of the slot machine, everypony around her was confused as to why she exclaimed that, but gave a quick cheer once they realized that she had won at slots.

"Wow, didn't see that coming." Twilight commented, she never thought that such an improbable game could be won on the first try, that was a long shot even for that odd pink mare. "Okay Pinkie, let's find something else to play." Twilight pleaded, trying to drag her friend from the slot machine.

"But I just won! Just a few more minutes?" Pinkie protested.

"Ugh, okay Pinkie..." Twilight caught sight of something peculiar, "If you need me I'll be over there." Twilight informed Pinkie as she pointed at a table with a spinning circle in the center.

"Okey dokey lokey pokey anamolokey!" Pinkie replied, making Twilight cringe slightly at the vast ocean of made up words. With a slight shrug, Twilight made her way to the interesting looking game. There were two other ponies at the table along with the dealer.

I've seen those two mares before... Berry Punch and Rose Luck, right? Twilight thought as she approached the table.

"Ahem, would you like to play ma'am?" the dealer asked awkwardly, making Twilight realize that she had been quietly standing at the table for quite some time.

"Oh, um, yes.. I mean, uh, how do you play?" Twilight asked, stumbling over her words.

"Ah, a newbie huh?" the dealer observed curiously, he glanced over at the two mares that were currently playing, "Would you two mind if I teach this lady the ropes before we continue?"

"Shhure, I have all night." Berry Punch slurred, she had a drunkard blush across her muzzle that clearly indicated that she should have had trouble sitting upright, but somehow managed to not look very intoxicated until she spoke. The other mare, Rose Luck, simply shrugged and gave the dealer the go ahead.

"Alright, welcome to Equestrian roulette 101, miss..."

"Sparkle."

"Sparks, got it."

"Sparkle." Twilight corrected.

"Yep, Sparks, got it." the dealer continued, Twilight scoffed quietly but the stallion continued his lecture, "The basics of this very popular game is that I, the dealer, will spin this roulette wheel one way and toss this little white ball in the opposite direction. The ball will eventually stop and land at one of these numbers and it is your duty as the gamer to bet on where it's going to land."

"That's a whole lot of numbers... thirty-eight to be exact, how am I supposed to simply guess on where it will land?" Twilight inquired incredulously.

"Well that's where I explain the betting, no? There's a straight bet where you bet on a single number, if you win you would get the largest payout ratio of thirty-five to one..." the stallion continued his long explanation of the different bets Twilight could place and where she had to place her chips on the table for said different bets. Twilight suddenly realized something, she only had ten bits worth of chips left.

"Um, I need to go exchange some more bits." Twilight said sheepishly.

"Nonsense, this is one of the only games in this casino that allows bits to be played. Unless your purse is dry, you can still play." the dealer said charismatically.

"Oh, okay." Twilight replied with a tiny smile as she sat herself down, this dealer was a bit more talkative than the other one... His voice isn't as funny though.

The lavender mare looked at the betting table in front of her, her thoughts drowning out the world around her. Alright, a straight bet obviously leaves me with the least chances to win but also has the largest payout... I can also bet as many times as I want at a time, so I could make.... No, straight bets are too risky, corner bets quadruple my chances to win and still have an eight to one payout. I'll just make a corner bet and a column bet to start myself off.

Twilight placed five bits at the center of four numbers, a ten, eleven, thirteen and fourteen. With a quick thought, Twilight placed another five bits at the bottom of the first column. The dealer nodded in acknowledgement as the other two mares placed their own bets on the table and spun the roulette wheel. Twilight watched as the little white ball spun counter clockwise, rapidly going past the intervals of red and black.

For a time span that seemed to last forever; the white ball finally began slowing down, bouncing lightly as it passed from number to number. Fifteen, thirteen, eleven...... Ten.

"Yes!" Twilight let out excitedly as her first gamble in roulette turned out for the best, she quietly clopped her forehooves together before continuing her game.

...

Roulette isn't Twilight's calling, after that first win came a losing streak that brought her down to forty bits... That was already less than half of what she came in with. The lavender mare sighed heavily before stepping away from the table, the charismatic dealer and the drunken mares in search of something else to do in this place that now seemed like a massive money drain. Just like Spike had said before.

Twilight walked for just a few paces before she heard a very odd and cheery phrase: "Winner winner hay fries dinner!"... What?

Twilight looked around for the source of the voice that had said that.... That phrase that had somehow caught her attention. Sure enough, she had found the source of the phrase; it was another dealer who stood at a semi-circular table. Twilight didn't understand why, but she almost felt magnetized to the table. This game somehow felt different from the others in some inexplicable way, Twilight hates when she can't explain herself.

I still have a few bits to throw away. Twilight thought with a shrug she trotted slowly to the semi-circle and sat herself down without a clue as to how to play.

"Um, could I get a bit of a tutorial before I play? I'm new to this and I'm not familiar with the rules." Twilight asked sheepishly. The mare working as the dealer cocked an eyebrow at her.

"It ain't my job to teach ya how to play, ask somepony else." the mare spat in a heavy Manehatten accent.

"Uh, um sorry? Twilight replied confusedly, she didn't expect this dealer to be so nasty after being treated so kindly by another. Before Twilight could stand from her seat to find somepony to teach her the rules to this unknown game, a brown hoof placed itself upon hers.

"Don't worry about her, Merry, I'll handle her for you." the brown stallion sitting next to her announced in a peculiar accent before turning to Twilight, "You said that you're new to this, right?" he asked kindly.

"Yeah, yes I am." Twilight replied, beginning to regain her composure.

"This game is called Hoof-jack, the basic premise of this game is that you want to have a hoof value that is closer to 21 than that of the dealer, without actually going over 21. Other players at the table are of no concern. Your hoof is strictly played out against the hoof of the dealer. The rules of play for the dealer are strictly dictated, leaving no decisions up to the dealer. Therefore, there is not a problem with the dealer or any of the other players at the table seeing the cards in your hand." the brown stallion explained quickly, Twilight keeping track of the information with practiced ease.

"What about the card values?" Twilight inquired.

"Are we going to continue the game?" the dealer asked impatiently.

"Erm, you can go on without me." the brown stallion dismissed, "The ace card is valued as either one or eleven while the number cards of every suit counts as their respective number; that's two to nine."

"What about the ten?" Twilight asked as she spotted a ten of diamonds on the table.

"The ten, Jack, Prince and Princess are all valued at ten." the stallion replied, his eyes casually darting between Twilight and the cards being dealt on the table.

"So the suits of the card hold no meaning in this game?" Twilight inquired, the stallion shook his head slowly. "Do I need to tell the dealer whether I want the ace to be one or eleven?"

"Nope, it is always assumed that the value of the ace is the value that suits your hoof best..." the brown stallion continued to explain the details of Hoof-jack as the game before them came to a close, Twilight kept a neat set of notes on the game in mind, taking another mental note that she should write it down later.

"I think I got it now, mister..."

"Hooves, Doctor Whooves." the stallion introduced himself with a gentle hoof-shake. Twilight's face lit up.

"I've seen you around Ponyville before! I just never had the chance to talk to you since you always seem to be busy or running." Twilight said in response to this earthpony's name.

"Yeah, I tend to do a whole lot of running in my life. I guess trying a hoof at gambling is one of the few ways that I can force myself to sit and relax for a while." mister Whooves replied, rubbing his neck awkwardly.

"Well, it's nice to finally meet you. My name is Twilight Sparkle." Twilight said with an innocent smile as she motioned to the table, "Shall we begin playing?"

"Indeed, let's wait for this round to finish first." Doctor Whooves offered, not that the two really had a choice. Twilight nodded her head in agreement and watched as the Doctor examined each card that was being placed on the tabletop. What's he up to?

Twilight dismissed any trains of thought once the game ended and it was time for her game to begin. The dealer gave everypony a blank stare before dealing two cards to every player and herself. Remember Twi, the other players don't matter; just focus on your play and you'll get the hang of this in no time.

Twilight just shocked herself with that thought, she was thinking as if she were going to be coming back to this place. Twilight's plan was to come here once and never again, that was not about to change now.

"Um, miss?"

Twilight shook herself out of her thoughts to see the dealer glancing at her. "Yes?"

"Would you kindly make your move?" the dealing mare asked in a nasty tone. Twilight quickly looked at her cards that currently lay face up on the tabletop: a two and an eight. The lavender mare quietly placed ten bits on the betting circle as she pulled the cards closer to her, with some difficulty, for examination; she instantly felt the atmosphere around her getting tense.

"Um, miss Sparkle, you aren't allowed to touch the cards, and much less allowed to use magic in the duration of the game." Doctor Whooves whispered to Twilight, his tone was clearly nervous for some reason.

"Oh!" Twilight quickly placed the card back where they were, this time without magic, "Sorry." Twilight apologized, briefly thinking about why it was so difficult to pick the cards up with magic in the first place and then turning back to the game at hoof.

"It's alright, just don't let it happen again." the dealing mare forgave in a much softer tone than before, she too was somewhat nervous for a reason Twilight couldn't decipher. With a shrug and a sheepish grin, the lavender mare tapped the space behind her cards to signal for another. The dealer placed another card next to her pair, it was a six.

"Ponyfeathers, that lowers my probability of winning." Twilight whispered harshly at herself before tapping the space behind her cards once more, another two. Eighteen, if I hit one more time I'm likely to bust out, I should just stay where I am now.

Twilight waved her hoof horizontally over her cards, making sure not to touch them this time, to signal the end of her turn. She turned to watch the Doctor's turn being played. Before the brown earth pony lay an eight and a three, Doctor Hooves tapped the space behind his cards and was dealt a prince of hearts... Twenty-one.

"Twenty-one." the dealer echoed Twilight's thoughts before turning to the last two players on the table who both stopped at seventeen. The dealer then took her turn, revealing an ace after the eight that was already there but Twilight was too distracted to notice before.

Why are you so oblivious to your surroundings all of a sudden Twilight? That eight should have been no surprise to you... Maybe it was that Trottingham ale getting to you.

Twilight watched as the dealer collected her bet of ten bits, the dealer had beat her by a single point... Just a single number! The lavender mare proceeded to watch as the brown stallion next to her received a strange purple chip as his winnings, Twilight's jaw almost dropped once she saw the value imprinted on the chip: five-hundred bits.

"How could you win that much?" Twilight asked dumbfounded.

"By betting two-fifty?" the Doctor replied with a smirk, "Don't worry, one day you will win as much as this high-roller." the Doctor said before taking all of his chips and leaving the table.

"Man, that guy really busted the bank today." the dealer commented in awe.

"How much did he win?" Twilight asked curiously.

"Twenty." the mare began.

"That sounds a bit low to me." Twilight commented incredulously.

"Thousand." the dealing mare deadpanned, leaving Twilight to take in that information.

"I don't think I've ever had that much money at one time." Twilight commented.

"Some are just lucky, I guess." the mare shrugged before turning back to the other two players, "You two going to keep playing?"

The two players nodded and Twilight decided to stick around for a bit longer, she still had thirty bits to spend. "I'll stick around too, I guess."

...

Twilight had a massive grin on her face. Sure, the dealer had an ace on her hoof, but Twilight had a fully fledged twenty-one on her side. Before Twilight lay a princess, six and a five. "I've got this one in the bag." Twilight declared triumphantly, she had bet her last fifteen bits on this round and expected to win with this hoof of cards.

"Hoof-jack." the dealer said monotonously as she revealed her second card to be a jack. Twilight's smile instantly fell, she had lost it all. The dealer didn't show any emotion as she collected everypony's bets.

"Well, it was a good match." Twilight said in defeat to nopony in particular before sliding out of her seat and beginning her attempt to find her friends. Where could they all be?

Twilight's first guess as to where Rainbow and AJ could be was at the bar, so she headed there first. Twilight weaved between a sea of gambling ponies before reaching some empty space to see where she was going...

"Twilight!"

"Huh?" Twilight looked around for the source of the call.

"Over here Twi!" somepony called, Twilight spotted a pink hoof in the crowd. Oh, there's Pinkie.

Twilight waited for Pinkie Pie to reach her, "Hey Pinkie, how did the slots game go?"

"Oh, I won the first time, but the meanie pants machine made me lose every single time after that. I was sure that fifty bit bet would have won me something." Pinkie replied casually. Twilight did a double take.

"Fifty bits? Why would you bet so high on a game like that?" Twilight questioned in surprise, almost assuming that madness was the only reason for such an action.

"I was feeling lucky." Pinkie said with a shrug. Twilight gave herself a quick face-hoof for the third time that day.

"Anyway, did you find the other girls yet?" Twilight inquired.

"Nope, I was going to ask you the same thing!" Pinkie replied without the slightest concern.

"Well, let's go looking for them." Twilight urged as she headed towards the bar.

"Okie dokie!" Pinkie exclaimed in agreement as she hopped behind Twilight's trail.

...

Twilight and Pinkie Pie arrived at the casino bar fully expecting Rainbow Dash and Applejack to be making a scene and drinking their flanks off... Only to be surprised by the sight of nothing unusual and no Rainbow or Applejack. "Where could they be?" Twilight asked herself with a tilt of her head.

"We could ask the bartender, I'm sure Dashie and AJ must have had a huge competition here!" Pinkie offered with a surprising amount of reason.

"G-good idea Pinkie." Twilight replied in surprise before approaching the bartender, the stallion noticed her before she greeted him.

"Hey, it's the lovely lavender mare! What brin-"

"We were wondering if you've seen a rainbow-maned Pegasus and an orange earthpony recently!" Pinkie Pie interrupted, the bartender stopped in his tracks and scratched his chin in deep thought.

"Yeah, as a matter of fact, I did." the bartender finally replied.

"Would you kindly tell us where they went?" Twilight asked.

"They left." the stallion replied simply.

"That's it? Where did they leave to? How long ago?" Twilight interrogated, utterly annoyed at this bartender's vagueness.

"Sorry, I can't keep track of everypony I see... They left a few minutes ago, you should still be able to catch up to them considering how intoxicated the two are." the stallion offered.

"Thank you, that was actually helpful." Twilight said before heading for the exit, Pinkie Pie in tow. The two mares made their way to the exit, ignored the friendly stallion at the front door and left, it was really dark out, but the moonlight was enough to look around. Twilight and Pinkie Pie did not have to walk very far before finding an orange mare collapsing on top of a cyan Pegasus.

"Ah-" *hic* "Told ya you would pass out before-" *hic* "Me! Who's the liquor champ-" *hic* "Now?" the intoxicated orange mare exclaimed, she was on the brink of passing out. Rainbow Dash simply replied by vomiting on the cobblestone road that she currently laid on. Twilight could only shake her head slowly before giving herself yet another face-hoof, that's four today.

"There they are." Twilight declared unenthusiastically, knowing that somepony would have to carry these two mares to a safe place.

"Poor Dashie, let's make sure that she isn't having trouble breathing through all of that pukeyness." Pinkie said worriedly as she trotted to Rainbow Dash's aid, Twilight followed suit.

Twilight levitated Applejack off of Rainbow Dash and placed her on her side, "Applejack, are you still conscious?"

"Yesh, Ah'm still heeeeresh." Applejack slurred, her eyes focused on nothing in particular. Good thing she isn't an angry drunk like Rarity is.

"Come on, let's get you home AJ." Twilight said as calmly as she could, lifting Applejack in a levitation cushion as Pinkie placed Rainbow Dash on her back.

"Oh my, what did Applejack and Rainbow Dash get themselves into this time?" a confused Rarity approached. Twilight turned around to see Rarity and Fluttershy join them. Fluttershy was keeping her wings fully extended in an attempt to hide the fact that her wings were stiff, Twilight saw right through that half-hearted attempt.

"Hey girls, Applejack and Rainbow took their drinking game a bit too far... Again." Twilight announced.

"Are you sure they aren't suffering from alcohol poisoning?" Flutteshy asked worriedly, promting Twilight to cast a quick diagnosis spell.

"Besides from the biggest headache of their lives, they'll be just fine." Twilight assured.

"Oh, good. Should we all just go home now?" Fluttershy offered with a sigh of relief.

"Yeah, let's." Twilight agreed quickly, nopony else argued otherwise.

"You would think that these two would learn after the first time." Rarity chided as the four conscious mares made their way home, Applejack and Rainbow Dash literally in tow.

"Or the third time." Pinkie added with a giggle. The other three mares gave an exasperated sigh.

"Where should we leave Rainbow Dash?" Rarity asked after a few moments of silent walking.

"I guess she could stay at my place this time, you three all had your turns already." Twilight offered.

"Oh, you remembered! How kind of you!" Rarity exclaimed in feigned surprise, the four mares laughed somewhat bitterly.

"I think we need to talk to them when they wake up, this kind of drinking is really unhealthy." Fluttershy offered, there were unanimous nods of agreement.

"Oh! We could host an intervention party for them! I haven't done one of those in a while!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed with a bounce, almost letting Rainbow Dash fall from her back, but thankfully caught her just in time.

"That actually sounds like a good idea." Twilight agreed.

"Idea! I could make everypony intervention dresses for Pinkie's party!" Rarity pitched in, everypony gave her confused looks.

"Rarity, what would an 'intervention dress' even look like?" Twilight responded, Rarity scratched her chin in thought.

"Actually, I haven't really thought about it." Rarity replied with a slight shrug.

"I don't think we really need dresses for an intervention, Rarity. No offense of course." Fluttershy said nervously.

"Oh, none taken, Fluttershy dear. I completely understand." Rarity replied, wiping away an unseen tear.

"Anyway..." Twilight began awkwardly, "Did you two have fun?" Twilight asked tentatively. Fluttershy's wings immediately went back up again after finally going down a few minutes ago.

"We did, thank you." Rarity replied with a genuine smile.

"I can see that." Twilight said, noting Fluttershy's red face.

"There was a minotaur there... I'm not sure why, but he kept coming back to dance in front of me." Fluttershy confessed.

"That's... A rare race to see around Ponyville." Twilight replied with an inward wince, minotaurs weren't part of her taste. To her, four legs are much more attractive than two.

"I personally enjoyed the ponies from Stalliongrad.... Those muscles." Rarity muttered in desire, Twilight swore she saw a small line of drool coming from Rarity glisten in the starlight. No, a lady like Rarity would.. Never act so un-ladylike and creepy. Especially in front of others, right?

"Um, I'm glad you girls had fun too?" Twilight replied, unsure of how to properly react.

"Thanks! We sure did have loads of fun!" Pinkie replied, "At the cost of eighty bits, sure, but fun nevertheless!"

"You're one to complain, I lost all one-hundred of my bits today." Twilight said slightly annoyed at herself.

"Nor are you, dear. I spent nearly two-hundred bits today." Rarity added casually before tensing up at her own revelation.

"What!?" the three conscious mares exclaimed in shock. Rarity hung her head in shame, whether or not anypony else could see that through the darkness, she would never know.

"How did you lose that much money gambling? We were at the dance club for the majority of our stay." Fluttershy asked, being the first one to recover.

"I don't think she lost that much to gambling; she did say that she spent that money, not lose it." Twilight reasoned.

"It's true, what a miserable way to throw away my hard earned bits!" Rarity suddenly wailed.

"Throw away on what, exactly?" Pinkie asked confusedly, there was an intense silence before she managed to answer her own question, "Oh."

"That much for tips?" Twilight inquired, still surprised.

"Yes." Rarity answered quietly. Everypony remained quiet.

...

"Well, this is my road, bye girls." Fluttershy waved in the darkness. The other three mares said their farewells before continuing their walk.

"Hey, Twilight?" Pinkie inquired.

"Yes?"

"Since Dashie is staying at your place tonight, could you carry her instead of Applejack?" Pinkie offered.

"Sure, might as well do the switch now." Twilight replied, levitating Rainbow off of Pinkie Pie and placing Applejack in her place.

...

Rarity separated from the group to get to her boutique and Pinkie went off to drop Applejack off at the farm before heading home; leaving Twilight alone with her thoughts and an unconscious Rainbow Dash levitating close behind.

How did a normal pony like Doctor Whooves win so many bits while everypony else around him lost almost constantly with only minor victories? Well, maybe I can't consider him as a normal pony, but still... There must have been something more to that than just chance, there must have been something much more organized than luck at play here. What was that earthpony up to?

Twilight eventually arrived to her home, her library... Actually almost running into the door due to her deep thoughts. "Wow, close." Twilight muttered to herself before opening the door as quietly as she could, making sure not to wake Spike in the middle of the night. Twilight levitated Rainbow inside and shut the door quietly before tip-hoofing her way upstairs to the guest bedroom. She placed the drunken Rainbow on the twin-size bed, on her side of course, making sure to tuck her in nicely before tip-hoofing her way to bed.

Maybe there's another way to play Hoof-jack...

Hobbies and interests

Chapter 3: Hobbies and interests

The scent of pancakes wafted into Twilight's nostrils despite the fact that the lavender mare found herself sleeping face-down on her pillow. Twilight shifted her weight lazily as she groggily attempted to get out of bed, she found this task to be more difficult than usual. With a few failed half-hearted attempts at getting out of bed, Twilight finally decided to activate her contingency plan and literally rolled out of bed. She gave a slight "Oomph!" once she hit the ground, but she had managed to successfully get out of bed and was now getting off the floor.

Well, now I'm up. Time to get ready for another day of running the library.

Twilight slowly walked over the her bedroom mirror, noting that Spike was already out of his bed, and tiredly dragged a comb through her bed ragged mane, revealing her lavender horn. Twilight briefly remembered the time she and her friends had their first experience with poison joke, she woke every morning for two months straight after that dreading what she would find in her reflection... Twilight hates irrational fears, they are just so... Irrational.

Oh yeah, Rainbow Dash slept here tonight.

Twilight decided to make her way to the guest bedroom before braving the stairs while in her half-asleep state, might as well wake Rainbow up as she attempted to wake herself up. Twilight arrived at the closed door that lead to the bedroom, she didn't bother knocking since she was sure that Rainbow was still passed out from all of those drinks she had.

"Rainbow, wake up." Twilight said groggily as she entered the room, "Rainbow."

Twilight sighed inwardly before walking up to Rainbow's bedside, "Rainbow, come on, Spike made us breakfast." Twilight attempted to wake Rainbow Dash with just her voice again. She sighed as she realized that she would have to put more effort into waking the Pegasus than simply calling her name; with that said, Twilight began nudging Rainbow's side with her hoof. "Dash." Twilight deadpanned.

Rainbow shifted her weight and covered her head with a pillow, "It's too early." Rainbow grumbled and proceeded to mumble something inaudible. This made Twilight glance at a nearby clock, it was close to 9:30 in the morning.

"You had your sleep Rainbow, I have a library to run and I can't have you talking in your sleep while ponies are browsing through my books." Twilight retorted as she headed over to the bedroom window and pulled open the curtains.

"Mmmphm, the light, make it stop." Rainbow grumbled through her pillow.

"Don't be ridiculous, how could you see through that pillow?" Twilight asked incredulously.

"Make it stop, please?" Rainbow begged through her tiredness.

"Get out of bed, we're eating breakfast." Twilight ordered.

"Fine." Rainbow gave in, she quickly winced at the sunlight flooding through her dilated pupils and threw the bed covers over her face to keep the pain at bay... That didn't change the fact that she had a splitting headache. Twilight didn't need Rainbow to say anything, she simply moved the curtains back where they were to allow Rainbow to walk around with minimal pain.

"Can you get out of bed when the sun isn't melting your brain?" Twilight asked with a strange mix of annoyance and genuine care. Rainbow climbed out of bed and stood shakily, putting a hoof to her forehead.

"Ow, I don't remember getting railed by the express train to Canterlot last night." Rainbow commented through the debilitating headache.

"It can't be helped if you won't be responsible for limiting how much you drink." Twilight shrugged, "Come now, breakfast is probably ready and I'm famished."

"Yeah, eating away the pain sounds nice." Rainbow agreed, Twilight winced slightly at the sound of those words. Sure, Rainbow didn't exactly mean it like that, but she has read somewhere that eating to suppress emotions is not healthy at all.

Twilight and Rainbow Dash slowly made their way downstairs, reaching the bottom just as Spike was leaving the kitchen. "It's about time you two woke up," Spike chided, "Your pancakes are getting cold!"

"Thanks for the grub Spike." Rainbow thanked through her headache, Spike seemed to notice Rainbow wincing.

"Uh, we have some medicine for headaches from Zecora. Would you like me to get you some?" Spike asked politely.

"Yeah, that would really... Help right about now." Rainbow replied before making her way to her designated stack of pancakes.

"Thank you Spike." Twilight thanked Spike for the food with a quick, sisterly nuzzle. It wasn't every day Spike cooked for Twilight.

"It was nothing." Spike dismissed with a smile before setting off to fetch something to help with Rainbow Dash's headache.

"Wow." Twilight stared in awe before sitting down.

"I know." Rainbow agreed.

"It's almost too majestic to eat." Twilight said hesitantly.

"Yeah, almost." Rainbow agreed before digging into her massive stack of pancake heaven, carelessly spilling apple syrup both on the table and on herself.

"Ew." Twilight said quietly before levitating a fork and neatly cutting herself a piece, chewing tentatively to savor the soft dough with the sweet syrup.

...

Rainbow hadn't bothered with the silverware so thoughtfully provided by Spike, she was simply gorging herself on the plate, licking the remnants of pancake and syrup, making sure to get every last bit. Twilight was disgusted but far too accustomed to Rainbow and Pinkie's eating habits, so she stopped complaining and continued eating peacefully.

"I think Spike gave you more pancakes than me." Rainbow Dash announced suspiciously, her headache almost forgotten.

"No way! You just didn't slow down to enjoy your meal." Twilight retorted as she shoveled another forkful into her mouth.

Rainbow Dash put a hoof to her syrup-caked chin in thought, "Debatable." she replied with a grin as she grabbed one of the dough saucers with her hooves and shoved it into her muzzle.

"Hey!" Twilight exclaimed indignantly. Rainbow chewed furiously so that she could reply quickly.

"Whoever finishes first gets to help her partner out." Rainbow argued.

"Not if the partner doesn't need any of her partners help!" Twilight almost yelled, slamming her fork down onto the table for emphasis.

"Jeez, calm down you two." Spike said as he entered the room with two white tablets. "Hey Dash, I found the medicine you asked for."

"Oh, thanks." Rainbow replied with relief as Spike handed her the two tiny tablets of relief and a glass of water, she downed them quickly and drank the water greedily.

"Um, would you like a shower too? You're always free to use ours." Spike offered as he stared at Rainbow's syrup covered face. Rainbow seemed confused at first, but realized exactly what he meant once she touched her cheek.

"Oh, thanks." Rainbow replied with a sheepish grin before taking off for the bathroom.

"Well, I'm glad to see that she enjoyed them." Spike commented in solace.

"She sure did..." Twilight responded angrily, Rainbow stole her pancake!

"So, uh, how'd it go yesterday?" Spike asked anxiously as he sat in front of his 'sister'.

"It was fun." Twilight replied simply as she levitated her last pancake and began to spin it over the plate.

"Would you care to elaborate?" Spike asked in Twilight's signature tone.

"Well, I learned about a lot of different games... I also learned that you are almost guaranteed to lose your bits in there, but it was fun nonetheless." Twilight replied, setting the pancake back in its dignified spot on the plate and began digging into it with her fork.

"Yeah, that's what I was worried about." Spike replied reluctantly.

"Worried about what?" Twilight echoed, setting her fork down and giving Spike her full attention.

"That you would enjoy being there... I've read books, and more importantly, I've heard stories about those places Twi. Ponies getting addicted; losing everything they have just so that they could continue to play those silly games. Worse, the other things they provide there, ponies selling their bodies; selling weird and addictive chemicals. Those places have trouble written all over them." Spike replied worriedly.

"I'm so sorry Spike, I had no idea you felt that way." Twilight stood from her chair and pulled her little Spike into a hug, "Don't worry too much about me, things like that won't influence me as easily as other ponies."

Spike pulled away from the hug and looked into his foster sister's eyes, "Just promise me you won't go back, okay?"

Twilight froze, she hadn't expected Spike to make her promise something like that. Besides, it's not like things like that could actually happen to her, right?

"I promise, Spike." Twilight answered truthfully.

"Do you Pinkie promise?" Spike insisted.

"Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." Twilight promised, making all of the appropriate hoof-motions and being extra careful not to actually stick her hoof in her eye. Spike immediately beamed and pulled Twilight in for another hug.

"Thanks, I just can't imagine a life where you got tangled into a mess like that. I'm glad you understand." Spike said gratefully.

"It's no problem, I wasn't planning on going back to begin with anyway! Besides, I could never consciously make a decision like that if I knew it would hurt you." Twilight replied warmly.

Twilight heard Rainbow coming down the stairs and quickly pulled away from Spike and turned to greet a fuzzy cyan Pegasus. "Thanks for the shower guys, I feel a whole lot more refreshed now!" Rainbow said excitedly.

"It's nothing." Twilight dismissed, thinking about just how quickly Rainbow Dash had showered herself clean. Twilight then randomly glanced at her pantry only to see that it was almost empty, "Spike, when were we supposed to go food shopping again?"

"Um," Spike paused, pulling out a checklist from under the table, "Today, actually."

"Shoot, could you keep an eye on the library while I go buy the groceries?" Twilight asked.

"You could have asked me..." Rainbow offered.

"Um, no thanks Dash... Don't you have some weather to attend to?" Twilight replied, instantly alarming the cyan Pegasus.

"Crap, why didn't you say anything? What time is it?" Rainbow asked franticly.

"Um, fifteen past ten." Spike answered quickly.

"Oh ponyfeathers, I'm in trouble now. See ya!" Rainbow suddenly shot out through the window next to the front door.

"Why can't that pony ever use a door?" Twilight chided.

"Rainbow is what Rainbow does." Spike replied with a shrug, "Do you need a list of what we need?"

"When don't I?" Twilight asked rhetorically.

"True, I'll get some parchment ready." Spike said, heading upstairs to the quill, ink and parchment storage room.

...

"Um, some celery, carrots would be nice, how about some daisies? We haven't had daisies in a while."

"Sure."

"Oh, eggs and some milk."

"I already have those down."

"Then I think that's it, did you want anything as well?"

"Um, I think that merchant from the Manehatten pier is back, could you check if he has some pearls?"

"Okay, but I won't let you snack for a while, I know how plump pearls make you."

"Hey!"

"I said yes, stop complaining."

"Alright, five pearls."

"Four."

"Fine..."

...

The sun shone brightly, the clouds up above did their thing, Ponyville wasn't in ruins and Twilight made her way to the market at a leisurely pace, she didn't really have a whole lot to do today other than run the library, why not enjoy this small frame of time to relax?

Twilight eventually made it to the town square where the market is held and began her search for the items on her list. Before she even began shopping, she spotted a blur of pink in the crowd. The lavender mare immediately recognized the pony and made her way over to greet her friend.

"Hey Pinkie, did Applejack make it home alright?" Twilight greeted as she approached the pink mare.

"Heya Twilight! Yep, Applejack got home just fine, I dunno about her this morning though." Pinkie replied happily.

"Hmm, I wonder why." Twilight answered in feigned ignorance, the two mares giggled briefly. Sure, they were laughing at their friend's expense; but it was Applejack and Rainbow Dash that weren't watching how much they drank last night, not them. "So, Pinkie, what brings you here? Aren't you supposed to be at Sugarcube Corner?" Twilight inquired.

"I should, yeah, but we ran out of flour and I came to buy a few bags for the day." Pinkie replied with a shrug, "What about you, Twi?"

"I just so happened to notice that my pantry is running empty, I'm here to buy a few things that Spike and I might need." Twilight replied, suddenly realizing something, "Shoot, I didn't bring anything to carry my groceries in." Twilight added with self disappointment, why was she feeling so forgetful recently?

"Hold on a second!" Pinkie begged before disappearing behind a few trees, Twilight simply watched in confusion as the pink mare came back with a basket in her mouth, "I always keep baskets lying around, in case-"

"In case of basket emergency, I know." Twilight interjected, having heard this explanation dozens of times has left Twilight numb to most of Pinkie's wild antics.

"I could give you a map of where I stash all of my baskets if you want!" Pinkie offered, seemingly not realizing the fact that she should be insulted by Twilight's interruption.

"Um, no thanks. I can still borrow the basket, right?" Twilight answered with a sudden yawn.

Pinkie shook her head, "You can keep it, sleepy head, I have five others in the town square alone, and another three near Fluttershy's cottage." Pinkie answered quickly.

"Why would you need baskets near Fluttershy's cottage?" Twilight asked confusedly.

"Oh you know, in case Fluttershy decides to plant a cherry tree... Or maybe some kumquats! Oh, I would sooo help her grow kumquat trees if she planted some. I could totally just say kumquats all day: kumquats kumquats kumquats!" Pinkie rambled on with a jump of excitement.

"Erm, okay... I have some food shopping to do now..." Twilight replied awkwardly as she tried backing away from her friend.

"Okie dokie lokie! See ya!" Pinkie said as she hopped away to the nearest flour stand.

"That... Was a little more Pinkie Pie than normal." Twilight commented to herself as she walked through the market with her newly acquired basket. I really should not have forgotten something as important as bringing a basket to carry the stuff you buy. Twilight chided internally.

...

Twilight quickly had everything on the list except for Spike's pearls. The lavender mare scanned the market for that Manehatten merchant and eventually found him. The merchant was a gray pegasus stallion who looked particularly grumpy. "Um, do you have any pearls?" Twilight asked tentatively.

"Yes." the stallion answered curtly.

There was a long moment of silence; long and uncomfortable silence. "Aren't you going to tell me how much I need to pay for some?" Twilight asked.

"You didn't ask." the stallion replied.

"Well, I am now. How much is each pearl worth?" Twilight inquired with a hint of annoyance.

"Five bits a piece." the pegasus answered. Twilight thought about debating the price but soon concluded that it wasn't worth the trouble and began pulling out twenty bits when something caught her eye...

It was that stallion she met at the casino last night, albeit more clothed than before. Twilight didn't hesitate, she didn't think; she just shot after that brown earthpony in an attempt to get some answers. "Doctor Whooves! Wait up!" Twilight called. The stallion seemed startled and quickly took off into an alleyway, his disguise left behind in his wake.

Why in Equestria is he running from me? Twilight wondered but gave chase anyway, making sure to leave her basket at the alleyway's entrance, "I only want to ask a few questions!"

The Doctor didn't reply, he just looked back and shot Twilight a panicked look. Why would he be scared of me?

"You can stop chasing me now!" the Doctor called back as he ran.

"Why? I mean you no harm!" Twilight yelled back as the brown stallion turned a corner into another alleyway. Twilight pushed herself to catch up with the frightened stallion only to slow to a halt as she realized that the Doctor had turned into a dead end.

"There's no need to do this, I played by the rules!" Doctor Whooves pleaded in a normal Equestrian tone, leaving Twilight completely off guard.

"Huh?" Twilight just stood there as she watched the stallion come to realization.

"Wait, you're not with them, are you?" the Doctor asked with a sudden gain on his composure, his odd accent creeping back into his voice.

"With who? I just wanted to ask you a few questions about last night." Twilight responded, still confused as ever.

"So, you aren't working with the Aurora?" Doctor Whooves questioned confusedly.

"No, I work at the local library... Why did you think I work there? I was playing next to you for pony's sake!" Twilight replied. The Doctor gave a laugh of relief.

"Huh," the Doctor let out with a final realization,"Ha! Look at me! Running off like that and leaving some mare confused out of her mind, how absolutely hilarious that must have looked!" the brown stallion continued laughing, almost losing his balance. His laugh had a precarious amount of nervous relief in it.

"Yes, and I'm still confused; I just wanted some answers." Twilight interrogated, the Doctor seemed to regain his composure once more, his face suddenly switching from a mask of joy to a mask of utter seriousness.

"Right, explanations. Ask away before I skip out of town." the Doctor said stoically.

"Um, why did you run?" Twilight asked, feeling this question to be much more urgent that her earlier one.

"Because there are bad ponies out there who want to do bad things to me, I didn't know if you were with them but I'd much rather not take that risk." Doctor Whooves answered quickly.

"Who? Why didn't you tell anypony that you're in danger?" Twilight asked in sudden desperation.

Doctor Whooves cocked an eyebrow at her, "You are much more naive than you look."

"I am not!" Twilight defended indignantly, but quickly shrank a bit once she remembered how her parents gave her 'the talk' three years after she hit puberty and how she hadn't really known about that stuff until she picked up a book on the subject... When she was sixteen. "Okay, maybe a little... But that's beside the point, my original question was: how did you win so much at hoof-jack last night?"

"A little creativity and recreational mathematics, the game isn't as much about probability as it is skill after that." the Doctor replied.

"Really? How? Can you show me?" Twilight questioned curiously. Suddenly, Twilight spotted a flood of fear in the Doctor's eye.

"Who's that?" he asked shakily as he pointed past Twilight.

"Who?" Twilight echoed as she turned around to see the new appearance, only to see a brown hoof flick her horn... Hard.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" the Doctor called back as he ran away, leaving a disoriented Twilight in his wake.

"Ughh, my head." Twilight mumbled as she tried to get a hold of her headache/nausea combo. "That was a dirty trick..."

Twilight slowly walked out of the alleyway and back towards the market, sticking close to the wall in case she were to lose her balance. Why do horns have to be so sensitive?

"Oh, the basket." Twilight commented to herself aloud once she spotted her groceries where she left them, "And nopony took it either, that's good." the lavender mare continued to talk to herself as she levitated the food basket to her side. Oh right, I still need to buy those pearls...

Twilight trotted briskly to the merchant's stall, dropping twenty bits on front of the stallion as she took four pearls from the counter and placed them gingerly into the basket. "Pleasure doing business with you." Twilight mumbled curtly and walked off before the stallion could muster a reply, leaving him completely dumbfounded.

...

"Well, that took longer than expected." Spike commented once he noticed Twilight walk in through the door.

"Yeah, you would not believe the lines that I had to wait in; a total nightmare!" Twilight replied as convincingly as she could. Spike just shrugged, putting down a list and then taking the basket off of Twilight's grip and into the kitchen to put everything away.

"Wow, this is a really nice basket! Where'd you get it?" Spike asked in awe while putting the foodstuffs away.

"Um, Pinkie Pie gave it to me once she realized I didn't bring one." Twilight replied awkwardly from the living room.

"Pinkie was there? How is she?" Spike inquired, throwing back the proverbial ball of small talk.

"Actually, she was a bit more Pinkie Pie than usual, if you can believe that." Twilight launched the proverbial ball back, beginning her way up to her bedroom with a quiet yawn.

"Hard to believe it, but I think I could imagine that... A few more random outbursts and bouncing a little higher and you have some extra Pinkie..." Spike mused, Twilight began blocking Spike's voice out once he started trailing off about Pinkie's antics while he put the groceries away; she just wanted to lay down and think for a few minutes.

"Oh, bed." Twilight moaned slightly as she plopped herself down on her mattress, that little sprint really took the energy right out of her.

...

Why was that stallion so desperate to get out of Ponyville? He did mention the Aurora and the suspicion of me working at the casino... But, a casino is an entertainment business. That's all it is, a business, so why would he be running from a casino? Twilight mused while staring at the wooden ceiling of her bedroom.

And what was that he said about recreational mathematics?... Oh! 'a little creativity and recreational mathematics', that's what he said. How does that fit into playing hoof-jack though? Twilight continued thinking, she gave an exasperated groan when she realized she had more questions than answers. Twilight heard her bedroom door creak open.

"Twi? You alright?" Spike asked quietly.

"Yeah, just a little tired is all." Twilight reassured.

"I noticed that you were in bed for a while so I made you some herbal tea to get you going, some ginger mix Zecora came up with to restore energy or something like that." Spike moved fully into the bedroom as Twilight sat up from staring at the ceiling.

"Thanks," Twilight said wearily before catching the powerful scent of ginger and immediately feeling more alert, "Wow, that's some strong stuff."

"Yeah," Spike smiled, "Just what you would need to get out of that mopey attitude and run the library like you always do."

"I almost forgot about that." Twilight admitted, taking the cup into her levitation. Spike cocked an eyebrow at her, "What? I said 'almost', not 'completely forgot'." Twilight defended before attempting to sip her cup of tea.

"Right, I guess I'll see you downstairs soon, right? We just got a new order of books and we need to organize them." Spike replied.

"Wait, that was today?" Twilight nearly choked on steaming ginger-water, "I thought that delivery was tomorrow!"

"Yeah, it was supposed to, but Ditzy managed to do a really fast delivery run this week... She said something about skipping town for a while, I was surprised she wasn't in a rush for a muffin sale or something." Spike shrugged.

"Okay, that messes up the schedule a little. Thankfully our calendar isn't full this month, so this shouldn't set us back." Twilight though out loud, shaking her head briefly to get herself back into the conversation at hoof, "I'll be right down with you Spike, just... Give me a moment."

"Sure." Spike said nonchalantly before walking out of the room, Twilight listened to Spike's footsteps as he neared the bottom of the staircase and gave a heavy sigh before returning her attention to her tea.

Ditzy managed to do a really fast delivery run this week... She said something about skipping town for a while, I was surprised she wasn't in a rush for a muffin sale or something. Twilight paused.

She said something about skipping town for a while, I was surprised she wasn't in a rush for a muffin sale or something.

She said something about skipping town for a while.

Skipping town for a while.

Skipping town.

"Could it be?..." Twilight wondered at the immense improbability that her connection had any validity to it, "Nah."

Twilight continued drinking her revitalizing tea, noting to thank Zecora sometime later.

...

"Okay, what have we got?"

"The box had twenty-four books in it, I already put away five."

"Let's get started then. Lion's cradle by Cat Vonnegut goes in V."

"Got it."

"R for Revenge by Linen Moore, great graphic novel, it goes in M."

"Done."

"Quotes by George Marelin? Who ordered this?"

"Dunno, I could check if you want."

"No thanks, let's get this over with."

...

Spike and Twilight finished shelving most of the books inside of the box, there was just one left at the bottom. Twilight casually levitated the small book out to read the title, her eyes bulged ever so slightly. Tips and tricks: Gambling 101, there was no author written.

"Okay, seriously, who ordered this book?" Twilight questioned in surprise.

"Who ordered what?" Spike echoed.

"This." Twilight replied simply, turning the book to Spike.

"Huh, I don't remember that being in the list." Spike commented with a scratch of his head.

"Odd." Twilight thought aloud.

"Very odd, I just noticed that we already shelved all twenty-four books; that's an extra book you have." Spike remarked after double checking the mail receipt with the books he shelved.

"How the hay did that happen?"

Spike shrugged, "Dunno, should we send it back?"

Twilight weighed her options for a moment before responding, "No, we keep it. It's still one more book that somepony might come looking for, and it's more likely that somepony will come looking for this one now that a casino opened up in Ponyville."

"Um, if you say so." Spike replied, both unsure and surprised at Twilight's response.

A little creativity and recreational mathematics.

"Hey, spike? I just remembered that Pinkie invited me for lunch. Do you think you could handle the library while I'm gone?" Twilight asked innocently.

"Sure Twi, as long as I still get to go to the Cutie Mark Crusader sleepover on Saturday." Spike said nonchalantly.

"Sure Spike." Twilight replied with a giggle before taking a few bits with her and leaving Spike to his own devices.

...

Twilight trotted briskly to the general store, making sure to not be seen by anypony she was close to. I just have to find out what he meant by all of that... I'm decent at math, so this shouldn't be that hard. The lavender mare casually strolled into the general store and spotted a deck of playing cards, she took the playing cards and pretended to continue browsing for something else... Twilight wanted to get something else so that she doesn't arouse any possible suspicion, however slim the possibility of that may be. After all, she isn't the kind of mare to take chances.

"Aha." Twilight announced quietly to herself once she spotted the perfect decoy product: bubblegum. Triumphantly, Twilight trotted to the cashier and made her purchase. The cashier was an aging blue unicorn stallion.

"Good afternoon miss." the cashier greeted.

"Hello, just making a few purchases." Twilight replied awkwardly. The gray stallion nodded slowly.

"Playing cards..." the gray unicorn held the cards with thoughtful regard, Twilight began breaking into a cold sweat as she began to realize that, however slim a chance, she may have been caught red-hoofed by a complete stranger. "Three bits." the stallion finally announced the price of the playing cards, making Twilight release a breath she didn't even realize she was holding. Twilight's heart was still racing at sonic rainboom speeds.

"Bubblegum..." the gray unicorn scowled slightly, "One bit, just make sure not to stick this in the wrong places. If you get caught sticking chewed gum on benches, you will get into some serious trouble young lady."

"I'm a grown mare." Twilight replied in slight shock, she seriously didn't not expect that repercussion.

"If you say so little filly," the gray unicorn replied with a massive squint, "Four bits please."

Twilight paid for her things and left quickly, not wanting to risk further conversation with the close-to-senile stallion. She hid the deck of cards inside of her tail and popped a piece of bubblegum into her mouth, chewing nervously.

I don't really know if that was close or not... That might be what worries me the most too. Mmm, this gum is really minty.

...

Twilight finally arrived at her destination: Ponyville's public park. She quickly surveyed the area for anypony she might know, having found none, she casually strolled in and headed to the most secluded part of the park she knows of.

Finding out what he did that night couldn't hurt... The curiosity alone is almost killing me!

The lavender mare found her secluded spot and gingerly laid herself down on the grass, pulling the deck of cards from the tangles of her tail. "Now to give trial and error some credit." Twilight said quietly to herself, taking the cards out of the deck and placing the useless joker cards aside.

Okay, what do I know about the dealer... Oh! The dealer has his or her moves dictated by rules, so I know that I'm not up against somepony else's judgment. Now, what were those rules...

Twilight put a hoof to her chin in thought, she knew she remembered the rules for the dealer but needed to place them in the right order. She shuffled the cards swiftly and served the cards as if she were playing against a dealer.

The dealer keeps on hitting until he or she gets to... was it sixteen or seventeen?

The lavender mare went back to trying to remember the tiny details, deep in thought. She eventually gave a sigh of defeat, her mind wasn't perfect, but that doesn't mean she can't use inductive reasoning.

"I'll just guess sixteen, it's a nice, even number." Twilight mumbled to herself, she spotted a squirrel in the distance, it stood at the base of a tree and simply stared. Squirrels can't tell anypony I know of, can they?

Twilight shook the odd thought out of her head and continued her experiment, she received a ten and a five while the 'dealer' received a four and a five. Twilight carried out her turn, hit, princess. "Ponyfeathers." Twilight cursed under her breath, that makes her hoof value to a total of twenty-five, she had busted out already.

Pay attention Twilight, the purpose of this is to observe, not to win.

Twilight continued her experiment and played out the 'dealer's' turn by the book: seven, three.... Twilight huffed quietly, staring at the results. She played a few more rounds to herself and almost constantly lost to the 'dealer'. The lavender mare gave an exasperated sigh, "Why is the dealer winning even if the dealer isn't actually here?" Twilight whispered to herself, quickly berating herself mentally for talking to herself out loud and for saying that before remembering that the dealer has his or her plays dictated by procedure, meaning that it wouldn't actually make a difference if the dealer was actually there or not.

There must be something else here... A pattern of sorts.

Twilight continued making her plays in an attempt to catch what Doctor Whooves had been doing when he was playing last night, anything she could catch that would help her understand a way around this system.

...

What time is it?

Twilight looked up at the sky and gasped as she realized the sun's position, it was past five o'clock. Oh no, Spike must be worried by now; I only said I would be out for lunch today.

The lavender mare swiftly and somewhat gracefully jammed all of the cards into their pack and teleported out of the park, onto the park entrance where Twilight startled many of the ponies ready to leave the park themselves. With an ushered sorry, Twilight ran the rest of the way home, deck of cards cleverly concealed, of course. Twilight was about to open her front door when it was opened for her, a mint-green mare stepped out and Twilight stared in momentary confusedness.

"Oh, hey Twilight." Lyra greeted as she left the library with a book on pony anatomy in tow.

"Hey... Lyra." Twilight greeted back awkwardly after Lyra had left and proceeded to enter her home/public library. Once inside, she found Spike shelving some books, presumably some books Lyra had just taken a look at and hadn't considered putting them back where she found them.

"Oh, hi Twilight. How was lunch?" Spike began once he noticed Twilight's presence.

"It was good... Was that Lyra taking out a book on pony anatomy? Did she get past her interests in mythological creatures?" Twilight inquired.

"No, she's still very much interested in those bipeds... I dunno why she isn't very interested in much cooler, and much more real bipeds." Spike huffed.

"You mean baby dragons?" Twilight asked playfully as she greeted Spike with a nuzzle and headed towards the kitchen. Twilight stopped at the doorway once she realized that going in would ruin her lie about having lunch with Pinkie Pie.

"Yeah, that too." Spike replied, taking out a ladder from behind one of the bookcases and placing it on the bookshelf labeled 'Biology'. "It's a good thing that Lyra only took out a few books... Well, compared to you, fewer books to deal with at a time just seems to lower the chance for me to hurt my back." Spike commented from the top of the ladder, book on equine organ systems in claw.

Twilight suddenly lit up, "Spike, that's it!" she exclaimed, startling the poor dragon and almost making him fall from his already precarious position.

"What's what?" Spike asked once he regained his balance, but it was too late, Twilight had already shut herself in her room. "Ugh, nopony knows how long she will be in there."

...

Twilight shut the door behind her, book on gambling levitating in front of her.

Fewer books to deal with at a time... Lower chance of going over. Smaller numbers means less chance of going over twenty-one.

The lavender mare pulled the deck of cards from her tail once more and placed both the book and the cards on her bed as she laid herself down on the springy mattress. Twilight opened the book to the section on Hoof-jack and began reviewing her knowledge on the game.

Thank you secret somepony that ordered this book, it might just help me.

Twilight then skimmed through the chapter in search of something useful, she wasn't finding anything that she didn't know. "Come on stupid book, you must be able to tell me something I don't know!" Twilight whispered harshly at the gambling guide.

I already know this, that I did not really need to know... I already know about the deale-

Twilight gave a pause, she read and reread a section on the rules the dealer has to follow. A bright idea sparked inside of the clever mare's head and it was beginning to engulf her like wild fire. The lavender mare grew a wide, sly smile across her face.

"Bingo."

Author's note:

Well, that was fun to write. I sure hope you all enjoy this chapter as well! Don't forget to comment, favorite, thumbs up (or down if that's what you feel is right), the works. I'll do my best to write the next chapter soon!

When a good mare breaks bad

Chapter 4: When a good mare breaks bad

...

.........

*yawn*

A tired Twilight Sparkle woke up on her bed, eyes heavy and legs splayed with her covers in a tangled mess. She tiredly crawled her way out of the trap she had made herself, her covers didn't seem to want to comply.

How in Equestria did this happen?

Twilight continued to fight against the lifeless covers of doom. She gave a quiet, yet exasperated huff as she finally made her way out of bed and landed unceremoniously on her legs, almost losing her balance but somehow managing to play it off to an invisible audience. The lavender mare gave herself a quick glance at the mirror and winced, but instead of following her usual routine of combing her hair first, she headed downstairs for some reason she herself could not quite explain. She just felt like today was going to be different in some way, skipping the comb for a few minutes just seemed to contribute to that feeling.

"Morning Twi!" little Spike greeted happily as soon as he saw Twilight through the kitchen door.

"Morning Spike, how'd you sleep?" Twilight asked groggily, Spike shrugged before going through the pantry.

"Slept pretty well considering it wasn't my bed I was sleeping on." Spike replied nonchalantly.

"Oh, sorry about locking you out of your room by the way." Twilight blushed slightly, embarrassed by her own actions.

"Our room, Twi." Spike corrected in the briefest moment of dead seriousness before instantly lighting up again,
"Besides, it's not the first time you had some idea you just had to write an exploratory essay on."

"Yeah..."

"What was it about this time? It had to be interesting, I could tell from the look on your face right before you sprinted into our room and locked yourself in for the night." Spike inquired, leaving Twilight with a blank stare as she scrambled for a valid answer that wouldn't reveal the true nature of her essay.

"I-it was about, eh, about..." Twilight rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly, "About... Dandelion reproduction cycles! Yes, that's what it was about!" Twilight then shot Spike an awkwardly forced smile in hopes that Spike would buy the terribly bad lie.

"What's so interesting about dandelion sex?" Spike asked incredulously, he began to make his way to the pantry.

"Language, Spike!" Twilight chided, stopping the baby dragon in his tracks.

"Sorry." Spike apologized genuinely, but quickly recovered his mood, "Anyway, would you like some breakfast?"

"Sure." Twilight nodded, prompting the baby dragon to continue his way to the pantry and pull out an assortment of foodstuffs for the upcoming meal.

...

"So..." Twilight began between munches, "Any plans for today?"

"Well, I was planning on helping Scootaloo on her latest musical number." Spike replied nonchalantly.

"Musical... Number?" Twilight replied tentatively, cringing ever so slightly at the memory of the small orange pegasus' singing voice.

"You know, a song or performance?" Spike elaborated, burying Twilight's true meaning behind those words under six feet of sand. Twilight resisted the urge to facehoof.

"I was referring to her... Sub-standard musical talents." Twilight said as politely as possible.

"I know what you mean..." Spike's gaze trailed off as his expression turned nostalgic.

...

"Spike?" Twilight inquired worriedly as he just stared into the distance. No response. "Spike?" Twilight asked again, worry more evident in her tone. Spike shuddered and seemingly came back to reality.

"Sorry."

"Spike, what was that?" Twilight asked, worry still in her voice. Spike stared deeply into Twilight's soul.

"Veteran's memories, Twilight, veteran's memories." Spike replied sternly.

"Veteran's memories?" Twilight echoed.

"Yeah, of Scootaloo's previous attempts at singing." Spike shuddered again. Twilight cringed slightly and her expression showed how she felt genuinely bad for Spike's traumatic experience at such a young age.

"You know that you don't have to be near her when she sings, right?" Twilight offered with some comfort.

"Yeah, I just want to help her improve so that no more ponies get hurt." Spike retorted.

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"That's just silly, Spike."

"Is it?"

"Yes, it's ridiculous, why are you really going with Scootaloo?" Twilight inquired, her BS meter had been triggered at 'veteran's memories'.

"Um, no reason." Spike dismissed nervously, Twilight cocked an eyebrow. "Fine, maybe it's because Sweetie Belle is always with her..."

I totally knew it. Twilight mentally patted herself on her back, her suspicions have just been confirmed after all. "You don't say?"

"I do say." Spike replied, totally unsure of where this conversation was headed.

"Aren't you a bit too young for chasing mares?" Twilight asked with a coy smile.

"Twilight, I'm almost thirteen years old now, I think I should be able to go for the girls I like." Spike protested immediately. Twilight decided to back off at this point.

"Hey, I'm just teasing you, as for Sweetie Belle, I just want you to be careful, alright?"

"Careful about what?" Spike asked innocently.

"Well, there are a few things you shoul-" Twilight paused when she noticed Spike lose his balance a bit, but he managed to catch himself, "Are you alright Spike?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. That was really weird though." Spike assured, "What were you saying again?"

"Well, I know you two are young and naive, but I want you to be careful when mingling with feelings, a lot can go-" Twilight didn't get to finish her lecture, Spike had collapsed on the ground, unconscious. "Spike? Spike!!"

...

"Get him to the ER, now!"

"What's wrong with him?"

"We don't know yet, sorry."

"He... He was just t-talking to m-me.. And he j-just."

"Miss Sparkle, all you can do right now for Spike is to keep your hopes up for him. Now, will you please go to the waiting room and let us do what we can?"

.........

Twilight sat at the waiting room, simply staring at the magazines splayed at the small table before her. She had enough time to read every magazine from beginning to end... Thrice. And the lavender unicorn was tired of distracting herself with the shallow articles.

Get a tail extension today and receive a free tail ribbon!

This salad tosser is simply magnifique!

Wubway: coming to a town near you, sandwiches and fresh beats have never been so plentiful.

Nopony could live without this waffle maker, it just does everything!

Is Spike going to die?

"Agh!" Twilight gave the table before her a frustrated kick, sending the magazines flying in every which way, she had had enough of these stupid magazines and she could no longer bear the worry she had for little Spike. Twilight then glanced upward to see the desk mare staring at her as a telephone hung in the air.

"Um, sorry?" Twilight managed to say before getting all of the magazines she had thrown into a neat stack, alphabetized of course, and then slumping down on her chair.

"It's... Quite alright?" The mare responded awkwardly and evidently concerned for her own safety.

"Uh, y-" Twilight was about to complete her response when a white earthpony with a pink mane and red cross cutie mark came through a set of double doors, it was Nurse Redheart. Twilight's attention was completely drawn by the news she was about to receive.

"Twilight?" Nurse Redheart began tentatively.

"Yes, Nurse Redheart?" Twilight responded, trying to keep her composure.

"Well w-"

"Is Spike alright? What happened to him?" Twilight blurted out, Redheart was somewhat irked but let it go with a sorrowful look in her eye.

"Yes, Spike, we managed to bring him back to consciousness." Nurse Redheart began.

"Oh, what a relief, so he will be coming home today?" Twilight interjected again, a faint smile beginning to creep onto her muzzle.

"Twilight, we had the chance to scan Spike, since we needed to know what's wrong and there isn't anypony waiting on the MRI today."

"MRI?" Twilight echoed, the sound of that made her pupils begin to shrink, the roots of the smile now gone.

"Yes, we have a good idea of w-"

"What happened to him?!" Twilight interrupted, again, this time with tears beginning to well up; she knew well enough where this conversation was headed.

There was a brief moment of absolute silence.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry Twilight. Spike has a tumor pressing up against his cerebellum..." Nurse Redheart took a downward glance, avoiding Twilight's reaction as best she could.

"T-tumor?" Twilight repeated, her mind doing its best to reject the idea, her eyes now but mere pinpricks of black and purple and her ears folding back as her legs began to give up from underneath her.

"Twilight!" Redheart gasped once she saw the lavender unicorn losing her balance, she at once moved to the mare's side and helped her to a chair.

"It can't be, it can't be, it simply cannot be!" Twilight began to protest like a foal, "Spike, he's my little brother! Things like that can't just-"

"I'm sorry Twilight, as unfortunate as this is, you have to understand the reality of the situation." Nurse Redheart said, stopping Twilight from completely losing herself, "He's awake now, would you care to see him?"

Twilight stared at the pink maned mare for a moment before slowing down the breath she hadn't realized had sped up, she then squeaked a "Yes." and followed Nurse Redheart quietly and sorrowfully.

The nurse led Twilight through the wing of the hospital, they had moved Spike from the emergency room once he was stabilized. Twilight was deep in thought and followed the white mare without much focus to the world around her; when Nurse Redheart stopped at one of the doors, Twilight kept walking.

"Uh, miss Sparkle?" Redheart announced as soon as she noticed the lavender mare was walking aimlessly, she motioned towards the door once Twilight came back to reality.

"Oh, sorry." Twilight apologized sheepishly, turning on her hooves and walking to the door at a brisk pace. What she saw on the other side of that door took her breath away, she had never seen Spike hooked up to so many machines before, and she certainly wished she never had. "Spike." Twilight managed to gasp as soon as she caught her breath once more.

"Twilight?" Spike asked slowly, opening his eyes at the call of his name.

"Oh, Spike, it's alright now." Twilight rushed to Spike's bedside, tears beginning to well up again, giving him a loving hug in an attempt to comfort him.

"Erm, what's alright? What exactly happened?" Spike inquired, Twilight did a double take and blinked.

"Oh, sorry Twilight, we haven't told Spike yet." Nurse Redheart intervened with remorse.

"Told me what?" Spike inquired again, somewhat irked. Twilight gave him a teary gaze.

"I'm so sor- oh, look who's here!" Nurse Redheart finished with a slight hint of relief, "Right here, doctor."

"Oh, I almost walked into the wrong room, pardon me." a white unicorn stallion walked in with a clipboard levitated in front of him, he seemed to have had a tiny smile before, but all traces of it were now gone.

"I'm sorry, and you are?" Twilight asked politely.

"Dr. Helping Hoof, I have the test results that lead to our diagnosis for our little friend here." the doctor announced, indifference heavy in his tone.

"But I already got the diagnosis from Nurse Redheart." Twilight interjected, Nurse Redheart gave Twilight an alarmed look, flailing her forelegs side to side to indicate something, but she knew it was too late.

"Did she now? No matter, that will be dealt with later." Helping Hoof dismissed, giving Nurse Redheart a cold but brief stare, "Now, this is our patient, right?"

"Yes." Spike confirmed, impatiently staring the room down for answers.

"I'm very sorry," the doctor began, although he didn't seem very sorry, "I'm afraid the MRI revealed there to be a tumor growing in your brain cavity."

"What?" Spike raised his voice slightly.

"Brain cancer, you have a tumor pressing against your cerebellum and it seems to be what caused you to lose consciousness. The good news is that it seems benign, for now, and it doesn't seem like it'll spread, yet. The bad news is, well, it's currently entering stage two status."

Silence hung in the air for a few moments. Nurse Redheart gave a small cough.

"Are you sick, miss Redheart?" the doctor inquired.

"No, thank you." Nurse Redheart dismissed before turning to Spike and Twilight, "Stage two means that the tumor is becoming malignant, and it is likely to spread, albeit slowly. Spike's chances are still relatively good." the white mare informed and reassured. Twilight wasn't feeling very reassured.

"What exactly are Spike's chances of... Survival?" Twilight gulped. The doctor and the nurse exchanged glances briefly.

"I'm sorry, but survival isn't a common place for this kind of cancer. From the little we know about our patient's own cancer, I would say he has somewhere between twelve to fifteen months, very good chances indeed. If this was a decade ago, a patient with a similar tumor would have had much le-"

"You speak of him as if he were dead already!" Twilight blurted out, tears were now flowing, trickling down the fur on her face. Nurse Redheart looked down at the pristine white floor while the doctor simply blinked.

"Well, he's not dead yet, do try to make the best of the time that you have. Also: Spike will have to stay in the hospital for a few days, just a formal precaution to make sure he's stable." the doctor nodded to himself and walked out, "Come, Nurse Redheart, we have other patients to look after."

Redheart began to leave the room and stopped herself mid-step, turning to look at Twilight, "I'm sorry about the way Dr. Helping Hoof talks to others, I can assure you he means well... It's just that he's been desensitized by all of the pain he has seen over the years. I really wish the best for you and Spike, Twilight."

Twilight watched Nurse Redheart leave the room before turning to Spike.

"So, brain cancer, huh?" Spike said with a wry smile. Twilight approached his bedside and gave him a teary look, which was Spike's half-second warning before Twilight broke down into a fit of sobs on Spike's lap, "Uh, Twi?"

"How can you be so calm about this? Did you not hear what he just said?" Twilight questioned Spike between sobs. Spike cast a sidelong glance at nowhere in particular.

"I... May have been, uh, ready to hear news like that." Spike answered tentatively. Twilight looked up to Spike's grim face.

"What? How? Why didn't you ever tell me?" Twilight questioned, clearly confused at Spike's statement.

"Well, I never wanted to worry you in case it wasn't true but..."

"But what, Spike?"

"Well, I read this research paper on the dragons hatched in Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, how they normally differ from dragons who are hatched naturally. They have certain health related... Issues."

"You're saying that this happened because I hatched you?" Twilight was beginning to regret everything since magic school.

"No no no, don't take it like that Twilight. It's not like you could have known." Spike reassured, seeing how Twilight interpreted his information.

"Oh Celestia, I'm so sorry Spike, for everything." Twilight began apologizing.

"No, seriously. I've thought about it for long enough and I really think th-"

"I should have gotten into calligraphy like mom did."

"Twilight!"

"Spike?"

"You aren't listening to me, I don't blame you for anything. I can't imagine living life any other way than the way it is now. I have you, I have my friends and I have my life; I'm content." Spike gave Twilight a weak smile, "It'll be alright."

Twilight simply looked at Spike, surprised by how he suddenly seemed so old and wise... He's just a child. Another thought hit her that she did not want to think about right now. "Spike?"

"Yes, Twi?"

"You don't have insurance, do you?"

"Never did, always had been pretty healthy up unti- oh."

Twilight stood from Spike's bedside with sudden determination, "Spike, you don't have to worry about that, I'll take care of everything. Everything will be alright."

"Sure, It's all going to be alright." Spike agreed, wincing slightly. Twilight glanced at a clock on the wall.

"Um, Spike?"

"Yeah?"

"I think it's time for bed."

"What?" Spike looked at the time, "Jeez, how long was I out?"

"Very." Twilight answered, they both gave a nervous chuckle. "Um, do you want anything before you go to bed?"

"No, I'm alright."

"Well, goodnight then." Twilight gave Spike a peck on the cheek, "I'll come back tomorrow morning with your tooth brush and some more comfortable sheets."

"Can you bring Blanky?" Spike asked.

"Yeah, I'll bring Blanky too."

"Thanks." Spike gave Twilight a tiny smile.

"Sleep well."

"Yeah, you too."

Yesterday night...

The lavender unicorn was laying down on her bed, staring at the empty inkwell before her; she had finished her piece without a drop of ink to spare. She had, after a few hours of writing, finally finished the final draft of her theory.

"Huh." Twilight quietly mumbled, she then levitated the piece of parchment in front of her to double check her work.

Well, compared to you, fewer books to deal with at a time just seems to lower the chance for me to hurt my back

... I guess I owe little Spike some credit, not that he needs to know. Twilight dropped that train of thought and read through her work:

Hoof-jack, by design, is a game of chance that is played on the basis of 'luck'. Fortunately, it is possible to turn this game of chance into a game of strategy where the player no longer has to guess if s/he is going to beat the dealer. This can be done by adding another set of values to the cards in the Hoof-jack deck; these values determine their value to you as the player versus the dealer instead of their value to the player's goal.

The entire theory behind this system is based on the fact that small cards seem to benefit the dealer more than the player since the dealer plays by strict rules and is less likely to go over twenty-one when the majority of the cards in the deck are small in value. So, to make this system simple we can add the values of negative one and positive one to small and large number cards, respectively. This will make a side score that tells the player how many large-value cards are in the deck versus the number of small-value cards, which in turn the player can use to change their betting strategy. One thing that must be made sure of is that the player starts the count at the beginning of the game! Otherwise, the count would be off and the accuracy of the system would be in serious question.

So, the values to be assigned are as follows:

Cards with the values of two, three, four, five, and six are considered small cards, giving them the value of negative one. Seven and eight, on the other hoof, are valued as zero since they are considered neither small or large and benefit both the player and the dealer equally. And finally, cards with the values of nine, ten, jack, princess, prince and ace are valued as one because they are considered to be the large cards that will give you the advantage over the dealer.

In conclusion, this system would cause the dealer to 'bust out' much more often (an example would be the dealer hitting a fifteen and getting a ten, causing the dealer to bust) and cause the player to win much more often than 'normal'. Turning Hoof-jack from a game of probability to a game of strategy and rudimentary math skills greatly increases the validity to the game and probably make it much more popular than it is today.

Twilight stared at the written piece before her, satisfied that it was done. The lavender unicorn mentally patted herself in the back and abruptly stood from her bed and began searching under it, pulling out a small box, kept secret with a small combination lock. Twilight quickly put in the combination and carefully placed the piece of parchment inside, locking the box and placing it back where it was.

"No one shall grace their eyes on this again, ever." Twilight whispered to herself. She then turned to her bedroom door, unlocked it so that Spike could come in, and then proceeded to her own bed and fell asleep almost immediately.

Present day... And hour.

Twilight burst into her home and dashed to the hidden wall compartment where she kept her savings.

I'm sorry, I'm so sorry... He said it would cost approximately six hundred-thousand bits for treatment... Just treatment!

Twilight opened the compartment and began counting all of the bits and bank notes inside.

Thousand... fifteen thousand... seventeen thousand bits? There has got to be more than that...

Twilight stared at the pile of wealth before her, it was nowhere near what she needed.

"No, no, no.. This can't be all of it, it can't!" Twilight smashed her hoof into the compartment's inner wall, leaving a small dent on the wooden surface, and of course, making the lavender unicorn yelp at the unexpected pain. Twilight then sucked on her hoof to ease the pain when an idea came to her, an idea that brought a twinkle to her eye. That could do.

There was a purple blur where Twilight once stood, she was already at the underside of her bed. She pulled out the box she had in mind at mind boggling speeds and quickly set onto opening the combination lock, failing once, twice in her haste. "Come on, open!" Twilight whispered harshly at the lock, which as if in compliance, opened. "Much better." Twilight sighed, pulling out the piece of parchment she was looking for.

Twilight skimmed over her work to make sure everything was in order. I'm sorry, this is for you Spike.

The lavender mare made her way down to the kitchen, card counting instructions and a deck of cards in tow. She promptly sat down on a chair and began practicing for the near future.

Author's note:

That took way too long to write up, I'm so sorry about the wait! I've been busy keeping up with schoolstuffs that, really, can be a serious burden at times... Especially at a school of my vocation.

Well, onto the topic of the story itself. I apologize if the whole chapter seemed abrupt and unexpected, I needed the use of Deus Ex Machina to get the story going, and trust me, it will take an interesting turn. It has also been brought to my attention of a possible plot hole involving Celestia and the act of asking her for assistance, which I already planned for but didn't expect that it would look like a plot hole... It isn't, I think... Nah, it's not.

Anyway, please please please comment, it helps me greatly in terms of improving myself as a writer and I deeply, genuinely appreciate it. Oh, you can also thumb up my story if you enjoyed your free entertainment thus far, but that's up to you, really.

Until next time! (I sure hope that 'next time' won't be too far ahead)

-TheEngineer

The Hornet's Nest

Chapter 5: The Hornet's Nest

It was dark outside, hardly anypony roaming the streets of Ponyville at this hour. Twilight was sitting in the library's kitchen, done practicing her counting method with her own deck of cards and ready to take on the casino's game. The lavender mare neatly put the cards back into the case, in numerical order of course, also organized from the suite she liked the most and the suit she liked the least. Satisfied with her work, she stood from her spot and made her way to the main hall.

This is it, day one.

Twilight quickly found a place behind a book to hide her deck of cards and made her way to the door, telekinetically putting on her saddlebags that contained the few bits from which her wealth would grow. She opened the front door, the chilly night biting the skin beneath her coat, earning a small yelp from the unicorn. Twilight quickly closed the door and searched for a light jacket to suit her needs.

Come on Twilight, the night won't last forever...

Twilight trotted up to her room and opened her wardrobe, everything she ever wears neatly organized for each season. She quickly found an adequate coat to put on top of her... coat. Twilight briefly chided herself for that silly thought, putting on the jacket and once again putting on her saddlebags. Twilight trotted in place for a moment to get some body heat into her garment before heading for the door again, ceremoniously locking the door behind her. She was now alone with her thoughts...

This is for Spike's treatment, he would understand.

Twilight trotted down the road, the walk to the Aurora wasn't too long, but it was dark and chilly out. Twilight was accompanied only by starlight and her own condensed breath.

Even if I am breaking a Pinkie promise...

Twilight made it to the Aurora, the walk felt like it lasted an eternity even if it was only a fifteen minute trot. With a deep breath of confidence and cool night air, Twilight stepped into the casino. Pleasantly warm air slammed into her face as soon as she telekinetically opened the door, she gave the stallion behind the front desk a tiny smile.

"I do hope you know that magic is prohibited in the Aurora." the stallion told Twilight coldly, he wasn't the same stallion from the other night... Twilight liked the other stallion's attitude a little better than this one's already.

"Y-yes I do, but I wasn't in the casino yet." Twilight replied meekly, shivering slightly. The stallion didn't seem to notice nor care.

"Well, the coat room is to your left, the exchange booth is just down that way. Try to enjoy yourself and," the stallion's previously impassive tone suddenly dropped to a whisper with a warning, "don't use magic around the ponies who actually care."

"Ookay, thank you." Twilight replied nervously, almost tip-hoofing her way to the coat room. Apparently, there was a fee to hold coats, and they were none too modest about the prices, Twilight walked back past the rude stallion and to the exchange booth to get some chips.

I'll just put my coat in my saddlebags later.

"One-hundred and fifty bits." Twilight announced as she hoofed the mare behind the booth a pouch of bits. The earthpony mare pulled out the bits and counted them at an incredibly fast speed, reaching over and pulling out seven 20-bit chips and one ten.

"Enjoy your visit ma'am." the earthpony mare said warmly as she gave Twilight the chips.

"Thanks." Twilight smiled, glad that not everypony working here today was as rude as the stallion up front. Turning on her hooves, Twilight headed to the casino's bar and spotted a seat from where she could see the hoofjack tables. "Now to find a table that isn't halfway through the deck..."

Twilight took a seat and watched the tables, seizing the opportunity to remove her jacket and neatly fold it so it could fit in her saddlebag. She saw the bartender stallion approach her through her peripheral.

"Hello miss, welcome to the Aurora Iceberg, can I get you something?" the charismatic bartender asked.

"Oh, no thanks, I'm just waiting." Twilight replied, sparing him a single glance.

"Oh hey, I remember you. I didn't think someone like you would be back so soon." the stallion stated in mild surprise.

"Someone?" Twilight questioned instinctively.

"I stopped saying somepony after bar tending in griffin lands for two years, a polite little habit I picked up." the stallion replied casually, "Can I ask what you're waiting for?"

"Um, no, no you cannot. Sorry." Twilight replied while keeping an eye on three tables in particular, "You said that you worked in griffin territory? How did you end up there?"

"Nice dodge," Twilight cringed a bit, she was caught off guard by the bartender's light tone, "Anyway, there was a massive drop in business in Equestria around four years ago. I got laid off like many bartenders did. Most of us quit bar tending, you know, because most don't see it as an honorable profession. Personally, I love this line of work, and naturally went to whichever bar that had an opening."

Twilight blinked, really not expecting to get this pony's life story out of her question. "Wow, so you just traveled all the way out of Equestria just to work as a bartender?"

"Yep, I enjoy listening to other conversations. I learned over the years that speech is more of a skill that you hone in towards perfection, listening to others helps me understand how speech works and also allows me to see more ideas. Did you know that griffin society is a patriarchy, as opposed to Equestria's Matriarchy?"

"I... Didn't know that. It does sound very interesting though, being able to see other points of view like that." she spotted one of the dealers begin to shuffle their deck, "Excuse me, I need to get going now." Twilight said quickly.

"W-wait!" Twilight turned around, "You forgot your saddlebags, miss...?"

"Twilight Sparkle." Twilight replied without thinking, "Thanks, mister...?"

"Barley Malt." the stallion gave a small bow, "Have a pleasant night, ma'am."

...

Well, he was certainly polite...

Twilight walked at a brisk pace towards the table, the dealer was about to start, well, dealing cards. Twilight quickly, and as nonchalantly as she could, sat down at the end of the hoofjack table, giving everypony a sheepish grin before pulling out two twenty-bit chips and placing them on her betting circle just on time.

This is it, the first step to helping Spike...

The dealer mare began hoofing out the first round of cards, Twilight keeping count rather easily. One, two, one, two, three. Twilight's first card was a nine. The next wave came as soon as the dealer placed a card face down; four, three, two, three, four. The dealer then placed her second card face up, a princess... Five.

Twilight looked at her cards, a nine and an eight, her hoof was valued at seventeen... The first player made his decision quickly, "Hit me." and busted out with a prince. six. The mare next to him hit as well, turning her fourteen into a nineteen. Five.

There was a short pause, long enough for Twilight to look at the next player, a confident looking stallion who was clearly thinking very hard. He had a five and a six, a mere eleven. The stallion then added chips to his betting circle and with a small grin said, "Double down." the dealer mare nodded and added one more card to his hoof, a nine. Six, smart move.

The next player, a nervous looking stallion, simply stayed at eighteen. It was Twilight's turn now, gears were turning in her head as she decided what her move would be. Oh no, I bet too high at the very beginning, I should have waited until later to start betting higher... Only seventeen, that can't be enough to beat the dealer. But if my card is too high I'll lose anyway.

"Hit." Twilight said bluntly, almost visibly shocked at herself. She shut her eyes as the dealer went to place the card in front of her, opening them just enough to see what it was once she heard the soft slapping of paper on suede. A three...

*Squee!*

Twilight softly clopped her hooves together in celebration of her successful gamble, suddenly chiding herself once she got her forty bits. It's supposed to be a game of strategy, not gambling.

This was going to be a long night...

Twilight gently weighed the bag of casino chips in her hoof before cashing them in, she had lost count of how much she had won, at this rate, she could pay for half of Spike's treatment in two months or so.

The mare inside the exchange booth whistled as Twilight approached, "Having a good day today, aren't we?" she said appraisingly.

"Yeah, a very good... Night actually." Twilight replied, remembering that this was all because of what happened that very morning... Or was it yesterday? Twilight checked the clock inside the booth, it was already three in the morning.

"Well, let me change those into money that you can use outside of this place." the mare said warmly, counting Twilight's winnings.

...

One thousand... and one hundred-sixty bits. Twilight had expected to make a profit... but this was spectacular! She could pay for Spike's treatment in... Well, a relatively short time. Still, that was way too many bits for her to carry in her saddlebag, so Twilight asked for a banknote instead. She continued her way home, plodding home through a slightly shorter route through the alleyways. Twilight wanted sleep, and she needed to get into her cozy bed soon since she had to visit Spike before noon.

"Three months of winter coolness, and awesome holiday..." Twilight sang softly to herself, both to keep calm and because no pony was around to hear her. "We've kept our hoovesies warm at home, time off from work to pl-"

Twilight stopped abruptly, startled by the sound of wings flapping. She looked around the dark alleyway, seeing nopony...

"Hello?" nothing. Twilight stood still for a few seconds, sighing deeply and trotting to the end of the alleyway and making a turn into the street, bumping into somepony; her rump dropping onto the floor, leaving her sitting and dazed.

*Umph!*

"Twilight! I thought I lost you for a second!" a very, very familiar voice called out. Twilight looked up, focusing.

"Derpy?" Twilight asked in surprise, "What are you doing out so late?"

"I could ask you the same thing." Derpy replied darkly, then added with a light stomp, "I came with a message."

"A letter? Why couldn't you just drop it off at my mailbox?" Twilight questioned, not thinking too clearly through a mixture of tiredness and the small bump she had with Derpy Whooves.

Derpy shook her head, "No, a message," Derpy put her hoof to her chin in thought, "Um, a warning about the casino."

"A warning?" Twilight asked, alarms going off in her head.

"The Doctor sent me, said that he saw a spark in your eye and wanted to warn you about the ponies that run that... establishment." Derpy's eyes were dead focused on Twilight now.

There was a brief pause, Twilight's voice lowered, "Ditzy," Twilight breathed, the vapor clearly visible in the starlight, "What about those ponies do I need to be warned about?"

"That they're bad ponies with greedy intentions, they do not take very kindly to ponies taking their money." Derpy's eyes began going off in their own directions, but her expression was just as hard as before, "They almost hurt my Doctor, but he's very clever... Twilight, these are ponies who you don't want to get involved with, you could get into much more trouble than he did."

Twilight stared at Ditzy Doo, the ordinary mailmare who is now warning her, and possibly saving her life. "Der-" she didn't get to finish, a bright, blueish light began pouring out of Derpy's messenger bag.

"I'm sorry Twilight, I need to get going now!" Ditzy Doo lunged into Twilight for a hug and flew off in a moment's notice, effectively leaving Twilight stunned in the cold night.

Ditzy is right, going to the casino and winning too much could be dangerous...

Twilight opened the door to her home, tiredly closing it behind her, dragging herself upstairs to her room. Once there, she put away her jacket in its rightful place and placed tonight's banknote in the safe box she had previously kept her theory on card counting, and previously promised herself nopony would ever read it again...

Still... I have to go back, a librarian's salary isn't something to behold. I just have to be more careful.

Twilight set her saddlebag down next to her bed and contemplated brushing her teeth before going to bed, ultimately deciding that she would do so after the few hours she has to sleep.

*Yawn*

Very careful, that's not too hard to do.

Twilight heard the soft thud of a purple unicorn landing on a plush bed and instantly fell asleep...

...

Author's note:

Well, that certainly took WAY too long to write. I'm really sorry for the delay, Junior year in my Highschool doesn't necessarily scream with 'free time for all students!'

But enough about my life and its tragic shortage on spare time for sanity, enjoy your free entertainment!