Adventures in the TARDIS

I take a deep breath as I stand in front of the exit of the TARDIS. I crack my neck left then right. I straighten up my tie.

I live for moments like this! Brand new adventure and whole new worlds just waiting for me beyond these doors. These magic doors that are so familiar inside, but once I step outside these doors . . .

Part of me inwardly scoffs when I think that Stern Wing would have insisted I view outside with my monitor first, but where is the fun in that, eh? I am the Doctor! I can handle whatever is beyond these doors.

Huh. It almost feels strange to me that I actually entered this timeline with a focused objective. I can’t believe it really is that time again to face an old enemy of mine.

And friend.

There’s hope in this pony universe. Derpy likes to tell me that friendship is magic. Well? Please, Friendship . . . don’t let me down.

I boldly open the doors.

Then I gasp and freeze when I behold a stunned crowd of ponies directly ahead of my ship. They gasp at me, too. For six seconds we just awkwardly stare at each other until the crowd ahead of me suddenly erupts into an unexpected cheer.

Where the heck am I? Did I really land off course?

I step outside of the TARDIS then look straight up into the sky. After that, I take a quick look around. I notice that not only did I land in some busy area of Los Pegasus, but I land here during broad daylight hours too. Man oh man! The only possible way I could’ve been more public about my landing is if I landed in front of the Queen of England during the first televised coronation.

I cast a playful glare back at the TARDIS as I begin to suspect it has a cruel sense of humor at this moment.

“That was FANTASTIC!” ecstatically cries out a yellow earth pony stallion who obviously looks like a tourist considering he’s hanging a camera about his neck. Around here, though, he actually seems to be the common one. “The way you just had that blue box thing appear from out of nowhere? Wowie-wow! You must be one of the city's stage magicians!”

“Ah . . . well . . .” I express bashfully as I rub a hoof behind my neck. “As a matter of fact, I do have some experience in stage magic.”

“No kidding!” the yellow stallion enthusiastically agrees. “What’s your stage name?”

“Well,” I say as I return my brown hoof to the ground. “If you must know, there are some who call me,” I stand up on my hind legs briefly while I strike a heroic pose by putting my forehooves on my hips and boldly declaring, “The Doctor!”

“Doctor who?” some pony in the crowd calls out. I actually fail to locate this pony.

“Just the Doctor,” I answer as I land back on all four legs.

“The stage must be where you ‘operate’ with your magic, eh?” the yellow stallion asks me as he gives me a good-natured nudge with his left fore wrist. Then he brightens again when he gets an idea. He asks me, “Hey! Can I get your autograph and your picture taken?”

“Ah . . . sure!” I agree with this pleasant, unexpected surprise. “I don’t see why not.” I give a sly look back at the TARDIS as I add under my breath, “I have the time, I suppose.”

“FANTASTIC!” the stallion cheers again. “Honey!” he calls to some pony out in the crowd. Based on the way they respond, I assume the pink earth pony mare with the white mane is this stallion’s wife. This seems confirmed when he tosses her his camera. “Could you take a picture with me and ‘The Doctor’ in it?”

“Only if you add the kids in it too,” the pink mare negotiates, then blushes at me as she adds, “If that is okay with you, Sir.”

“Of course! Of course!” I cheer then wave towards me. “Bring them in. Bring all of your kids in.”

I widen my eyes, startled, when I see a total of twelve foals cheer in this crowd then rush towards me and whom I assume is their father. I recover a moment later, though, as I look across them.

“Actually, allow me,” volunteers a blue earth pony filly within the crowd who is wearing some kind of stylistic, purple shades. She holds a hoof out to the pink mare, presumably for the camera. “You … go!” the blue filly insists. “You be wit’ yo’ fom-ah-ly while I, Photo Finish, shall take,” she lifts both forehooves in front of her eyes and spreads them apart, “dee magics wit dee cam-oh-ra!”

“Oh!” the pink mare gasps in delighted surprise. “Thank you, Miss.” Then she tilts her head questioningly. “But are you sure you know how to hoofle this?”

“Oh pwease,” Photo Finish says with a dismissive wave. “Dee pictures I take will be simp’wee shtunning!” She leaps up and snatches the camera away rather insistently then boldly points towards her family. “Now you go!”

“Okay-okay!” the pink mare cries out as she almost stumbles towards her family for a moment before recovering her balance and continues the rest of the way. Once she arrives, she spins about and smiles back at the insistent filly while requesting, “Make sure all of us are in the frame.”

For the next minute, the filly Photo Finish directs each of us to bunch up together then arranges us by height and apparently also color. Several times she keeps checking how we look inside the camera she’s borrowing without taking a picture yet. She occasionally adjusts her position in order to change the camera’s angle in order to include certain elements of the background. At first I thought she was merely trying to get the whole family, me, and the TARDIS in the frame but I eventually realize there were other things further back that she was trying to get in the frame as well.

“Yes. Yes!” the blue filly finally cries out triumphantly. “Dat iz zit! It’s goowd! Now ‘old shtill aaaaaaaaand . . . voilà! I ‘ave done it!” She then tosses the camera back to the family who catches it with a startled expression. Meanwhile the filly whips about and abruptly insists, “I go!” then immediately proceeds to do as promised.

Wow! And some people call me eccentric! But some of these ponies are really out there and I’m having a blast!

“Wow. You know what, honey?” the yellow husband says as he looks at the picture the camera produced. “This is pretty decent, especially for a filly.” He smiles as he looks for the filly out in the crowd. “I bet that pony is going to become a famous photographer someday.”

“Probably,” the pink wife agrees a little timidly. “I just hope she doesn’t keep tossing her cameras about like that.”

“Let me see! Let me see!” excitedly cries out a young purple earth pony filly.

“In a minute, Purple Pop,” the father says as he hooves the photo to me first. “I’d like for you to sign it first.”

“Certainly!” I accept good-naturedly. “I just need a pen.”

One of the twelve foals passes me a quill with ink. I have no idea where that colt produced the items. Part of me can’t dismiss the possibility of cartoon hammer-space or some obscure equivalent.

“Thank you, little man,” I express to the colt.

“I’m helping!” the tan brown colt cries out excitedly.

The family watches me struggle while I eventually opt to bite into the quill and try to write “The Doctor” on the photo with my mouth. It works but it is super sloppy. They wouldn’t be missing their guess if any of them believed that that was the first time I attempted to sign anything that way.

Then it hits me. That really might be the first time I signed anything in the pony universe.

“Well. I’ll tell you what,” I say after I spit the quill back out of my mouth. “I’ve been ‘shot’ in front of the TARDIS doors before but this time has been much more pleasant.”

“Yeah. It is a good photograph, isn’t it?” enthusiastically says the husband and father. “You can see some of the ferris wheels in the background and . . . Holy Cow! Is that really your signature, Sir?”

“For now, I’m afraid so,” I admit a bit sheepishly.

“Huh.” He gives me a dry look. “Perhaps you should consider just hoof-mark stamps as your signature. I’m just saying.”

I widen my eyes then express to the stallion brightly, “You know what? That’s not a bad idea!”

“Well,” he shifts his look to my ship as he says, “while your signatures clearly could use some practice, there’s no denying you have a talent for making things appear out of thin air! That almost looks like real magic!”

“Hey Pa! Look!” cries an excited green filly who peered inside my ship. “It’s actually bigger inside the box! Look at! Look at!”

“Ha-ha! That’s real funny, Candy Apple!” the yellow father scoffs.

“But it is! It really is!” the filly, Candy Apple, insists.

“More stage tricks?” the father guesses at me.

I give a sweeping bow with a hoof to my chest and deep nod of my head as I tell him, “A magician never gives away his secrets.”

“Too true,” the father agrees with me with a playful grin. “Well, anyway, we have to take off now and try to find a hotel before this city runs out of vacancies.”

“Which can happen often around here, so I heard,” agrees the pink mare. “So we need to hurry.”

Meanwhile I close the doors to the TARDIS before even more curious foals peek inside of it. Once the doors are closed, I give a secret wink to the green filly in order to imply to her that what she discovered needs to be our little secret. When she notices my expression, her face lights up in delight then she returns my secret wink.

It feels surreal to wander through this city while aware that it bears some reflection of the human universe city of Los Vegas but being ponified here reveals the differences between the two universes all the more clearly. This city is far more compact compared to Los Vegas which makes sense because these ponies don’t have cars. As such, they are building everything closer together.

There are many other differences too. Certainly Los Vegas can get all bright, shiny, and highly materialistic but I also recall it has dark alleys, police cars blaring back and forth on the highway, and ghetto neighborhoods that may have those of ill-repute of multiple types. That is so strongly true in the human universe that it comes as no surprise to most who even visit the city. They expect the city to have areas that are probably dangerous to navigate.

This place, however, illustrates everything I’ve ever observed and have been telling others about the differences between the two universes. Sure, this place is crowded and colorful and all kinds of lights and sounds and all things that can distract and overwhelm the senses, but it is all grounded by a sense of magic and innocent excitement. I’m not seeing any pony around here selling drugs or sex. Instead, there is this pure innocent joy that is so strong, it even affects the adults with the same attitude as their foals. Just that same sense of excitement like going to a theme park such as Disneyland for the first time!

Even those who seem to live and work here have this upbeat personality to them and a skip to their step. They are looking around at all their customers' happiness and they find it infectious. They are happy to work here because it keeps them close to a place where happiness and joy is so radiantly exemplified.

Normally I’d think a party-city like this would get tiring after a while and perhaps that is true on some level, but the thing about cutie marks is it can have a lasting psychological effect. Doing one thing over and over again would often exhaust and bore any typical human I know but ponies are different as long as that one thing they do has something to do with their cutie mark. I don’t fully understand this concept yet and I’m beginning to think these ponies don’t either. That the marks are just there and it’s too dynamic for them to fully understand either.

But then I arrive at the place I am looking for. A hotel and casino called “Casino Royale”. When I see it, I immediately think about an old film on earth that had the same name. The fact that this casino shares that name had a chance to be a coincidence but I know, for a fact, that this time it is not. Whoever named this casino was aware of that film on earth in the human universe.

This alludes to something pretty dark here, too. The old 1967 film was an old spy paradee film but the one who named this casino has a very shady past behind him. It is a spot of darkness in otherwise brilliant light here, and what’s worse is it is disguised as the light. It’s just as glamorous, glorious, and entertaining as a dozen other casinos nearby but this one actually was formed by a gangster one would expect in Los Vegas. A skilled and powerful one. There are hints of it all throughout this casino even from the outside. Little nods here and there that no pony from this universe would understand because it is a reference to something from another universe entirely.

A flood of memories and emotions assail me as I stand in front of this casino and behold giant, for the lack of a better term, magical holograms that slowly spin above a water fountain near the front entrance of the casino. The illusion shows two spinning playing cards. One of them is the King of Hearts but the other card keeps changing whenever the viewer looks away from it for a second and looks back or the image spins around. It’s like an optical illusion. Below that, the fountain is lit and I can’t help but notice it has a red light in the waterfall. Red, like the color of blood.

Yeah. He’s here. What Vision said is true.

I hesitate very strongly. What I’m about to do here is disturbing a sleeping giant. I’m about to poke a hornet's nest. At least here the damage is contained, but if I do this, if I press forward with the plan, a lot of dangerous outcomes may follow.

But I have to do this. I had already lived a small sample of the results after this day. For me, that’s now a fixed timeline. That’s the danger of encountering future events.

I have to hold faith that what I’m about to do will eventually have a positive outcome. There’s already a lot of sentimental value involved even if it has a dirty history. Still, that one piece of goodness out of all of this feels strangely nostalgic. It’s like a little piece of home.

I sigh as I close my eyes and gather my composure. I reach up and adjust my green necktie once again before opening my eyes and proceeding inside.

Inside the Casino, I continue to see much of the same kind of details as I did on the outside. Namely that someone has tried to taint the purity of this pony world. I am used to seeing a few ponies drink alcohol on occasion but this is the very first time I have ever seen any pony smoking for real. Sure, I have occasionally and hilariously seen ponies approximate it with something I can’t dismiss as a mockery of the foul habit, and that is blowing bubbles in a pipe designed to resemble a smoke pipe. Here, though, these are actual cigarettes, cigars, and smoke pipes that are all too familiar in a human universe Los Vagas setting, but here they are disturbingly out of place.

I can’t say this for sure, but I haven’t seen slot machines anywhere else in this floating city either, let alone anywhere near this number. There actually seems to be entire sections and floors dedicated to those machines and they are probably just as much of a rip-off as they are in the human universe. It’s so strange to see colorful marshmallow ponies keep yanking the levels of these slot machines while they are surrounded by flashing lights, mirrors for walls, smoke in the air, and mares dressed in sexy maid outfits while balancing a tray full of free alcohol on their heads.

This is all too familiar to me, yet it feels drastically out of place at the same time.

Well . . . whatever. I didn’t come here to admire or retch at the decor of this place. I know why these things are here and I well remember my vow to protect these ponies from the forces of outside corruption, and I will do that here too in my own way.

But first, I need to find the pony I’m looking for. I soon spot a poster on the wall that has two stage magician stallions on the stage. One of them is a pretty good sized lilac pony with a minty green mane, tail, and mustache, then there is another stallion beside him with a deep blue hide and white/baby blue mane/tail and kind of reminds me of Feather Wind. Seeing these two stallions makes me smile since they just gave me an idea.

“Halt,” orders a very dark brown earth pony stallion who has a black beard, afro mane, and straight tail. He is wearing an outfit that reminds me of Secret Service agents, complete with sunglasses. He holds a hoof out at me to block my path towards the backstage where the current performance is taking place.

“But the show is about to end and I want to have a word with the stars,” I announce to the stage security stallion. “I have a backstage V.I.P. badge for this and I paid very good bits for it. Look!”

To help “prove” my point, I reveal my folded leather case and reveal the psychic paper I have on one side of it. Now that I have implanted the suggestion of what this security officer should see on my psychic paper, that is most likely what he’ll see on it now.

The security officer leans forward and uses a hoof to lower the edge of his shades a quarter of an inch so he can get a better look at my “backstage pass” better. When he sees it, he nods in satisfaction, straightens his head, pushes his shades back into place then uses his head to gesture behind him to non-verbally signal permission for me to pass.

“Thank you, my good man!” I commend him gratefully. “And let me just say what a wonderful job you’re doing here.”

The security officer scoffs slightly but otherwise ignores me. He resumes vigilantly scanning any pony who may approach from behind me. Meanwhile I continue on my merry way and wait for the conclusion of the current set of performers.

“Did you see that?” asks the younger blue stallion, Jackpot, as the two of them step into the backstage after the curtain has lowered. “I had them going for a while there.”

“It was long enough,” Big Bucks, the partner of Jackpot, remarks in approval as he uses a hoof to adjust his necktie a bit. “That’s the important ingredient when it comes to this profession, and that is misdirection.”

Jackpot gains a devious look as he says, “But I think we can do better next time. What would you say if you and I step things up a notch, good chap?”

Big Bucks small green mustache twitches a bit as he regards me with a questioning blink to his eyes. Noticing the reaction of his friend, Jackpot soon regards me as well then gets a similar look of confusion.

“Can we help you, Sir?” Big Bucks checks with me.

“First of all, big fan of your work, you two,” I lie with enough enthusiasm to convey apparent sincerity. “That’s why I bought a backstage pass in order to see you two.” To prove my point, I flash them my psychic paper too.

“Simply marvelous!” Jackpot cheers.

“There is another reason I came to see you two,” I express as I fold up the psychic paper again and return it to the hidden pocket just above my cutie mark. “For you see, I need to speak to-”

“Whoa! Hang on a tick!” interrupts Jackpot as he lifts a hoof then uses that same hoof to point at me. “Did you just stick that thing in a hidden pocket above your cutie mark?”

“Yep!” I tell them with a half-grin. “I’ve been known to dabble in prestidigitation too.”

While that is true, I let them think that is the explanation for what I have done instead of going through the trouble of explaining that my body, along with Derpy’s, has a built-in hidden biological pocket a cut above our cutie marks.

“Well isn’t that something,” Big Bucks says with a smile. “Good for you.”

“Anyway,” I say with a very slight shake of my head, “I was hoping you two could introduce me to the manager of this resort, or at least point the way.”

My request won me a very noticeable reaction from the both of them. Big Bucks looks surprised but the mood of his partner immediately and greatly soured.

“What business could you possibly have with that lowly scoundrel?” Jackpot asks me in a tone of accusation.

“Now-now, Jack,” Big Bucks says to his partner. “You have no proof of your wild theories, and you are talking about our boss in this case.”

Jackpot narrows his eyes at his partner as he says, “You’re right. I don’t have proof and that just goes to show how smooth this criminal is.”

“Would you mind not saying this in public and in front of our new guest?” Big Bucks complains as he looks around at all the other stagehands with embarrassment and nervousness. He can’t help but feel worried that this kind of talk might get the two of them fired, or perhaps worse if his partner's fears are well founded.

Meanwhile I just blink at the two of them as I watch them going at this. I don’t feel like interrupting them yet because they are giving me valuable information at the moment.

“You got to admit,” Jackpot says in a tone of insistence as he taps a hoof on the stage with each word of his previous sentence, “that although his criminal record seems squeaky clean and he overall seems like a very nice guy, Card Shark has been very unusually lucky in this city. Plus, ever since he showed up, there have been a lot of mysterious disappearances and who is the pony who kept on profiting from it?”

“That’s just conjecture,” Big Bucks says dismissively but also with a hint of urgency in his voice.

“I’ve heard plenty of tales of a new mob boss that kept visiting the city ever since Card Shark took over this joint,” Jackpot goes on. “One Colonel Panders.”

I widen my eyes in surprised recognition of that name.

Big Bucks slaps the back of his partner's head as he insists, “That’s enough out of you! All of these are just rumors and hearsay. You have no proof so it’s smarter to keep your mouth quiet about this right now.”

“I’m warning you, Sir, for your own sake and good health, back off from this guy,” Jackpot warns me grimly then shakes his head. “No good ending will come from any association with that devious scoundrel. I wouldn’t want anything to happen to you, too.”

“Actually, I am here to investigate him,” I partially lie to help assuage their fears and get more cooperation out of these two. I reach back and flip open my psychic paper again, but this time I expect them to see some symbol of authority such as me being a police detective. I flip the psychic paper back and restuff it as I go on to say, “There does seem to be a suspicious amount of financial movement that’s been going on in this district and I’d like to follow the paper trail. I just need to ask him a few questions.”

“To establish his guilt?” Jackpot checks with me hopefully.

“Or innocence,” I counter propose. “I do think something suspicious is going on here but, if I can establish if Card Shark is innocent, then I’m one step closer to finding the true guilty party.” I wipe a hoof in front of me. “Either way, I intend to get to the bottom of all of this.”

“It would be good to put these nasty rumors to rest,” Big Bucks muses then nods towards his friend while still looking at me. “Forgive my friend, here. He’s a bit testy with our employer ever since he married his sister and had a kid with her.”

I widen my eyes in shock at Big Bucks as I ask in astonishment, “WHAT?! Card Shark has a child?”

“Yeah. Trixie,” Big Bucks says as he winces at me in suspicion since that is public knowledge to him. Now he’s starting to wonder why a professional “police detective” didn’t know that.

I realize I just made a blunder here, but I couldn’t help it. If this really is true then . . .

I shake my head to clear it. I need to stay focused here.

“Well, I suppose congratulations are in order then,” I express to Jackpot. “Regardless who is the father, Trixie is still your niece and I’m pretty sure at least she is innocent in this whole affair. That’s one great blessing to come out of all of this.”

“True,” Jackpot acknowledges far more calmly. In fact, he now looks fondly nostalgic. “And she has expressed interest in this profession as well. The apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree in this regard. Let’s just hope she isn’t like her father in other ways.”

“Card Shark is a magician as well?” I check with them.

“He sure is,” Big Bucks answers. “Scary good one too. The best I've ever seen in this business. That’s not his only talent either. As his name suggests, he can play a mean game of cards too.” He brightens slightly as he adds, “Speaking of which, that’s most likely where you’ll find him. He’ll probably be on the fifth floor of this resort. That stallion wears many hats, including the House's Card Dealer.” He shakes his head with a scoff. “The guy actually owns the whole building and the business within it for Celestia’s sake, yet he still likes to play cards along with the rest of us working grunts. That’s respectable if you ask me.”

“Thank you!” I tell them gratefully. “You two have been very helpful to my investigation.”

“I’d just be happy to finally have a resolution to all of this, come what may,” Big Bucks replies. “Whatever the truth is, it would be nice to finally have things settle down.”

“I know you may be an officer, but stay on your guard with him, my friend,” Jackpot warns me kindly. “A stallion like that doesn’t get this successful without a solid reason and I highly doubt what we see in the public is the whole story. You’re about to confront somepony whom I think even the mob is afraid of and I don’t want you to be his next victim.” He lifts a hoof gingerly. “So don’t underestimate him and please take care of yourself, alright?”

“Around him?” I ask. “Always.”

I now know where the target of my current mission is. Since that is the case, it’s time to prepare for that encounter. On the way up to the fifth floor, I stop by the slot machines first and take position in a more isolated corner. There are mirrors and security everywhere here. Normally I’d say there aren’t any sophisticated cameras in this time period, but I know who I’m dealing with so what I’m about to do is a bit of a risk.

Once I take position in front of one of the slot machines, I insert a bit, pull the lever, then check to see if the coast is clear before secretly pulling out my sonic screwdriver and stealthily using it on the machine ahead of me. I manipulate the machine to land on all cherries because I don’t want, or need, to win too big. Just get me a little extra spending bits necessary for the next phase of my mission.

My attempt to be stealthy is somewhat thwarted by the machine I am using flashing, dinging and ringing to signal there is a winner in this corner of the building, but that doesn’t win me anything more than a nod and a smile from some of the other slot machine players here for my good fortune. The rest of the security barely even glance at me because they are used to that noise from this section of the floor on occasion. I’m guessing if it happens too often, though, they might approach for a closer investigation.

Well, whatever. Mission accomplished. I fill a woven sack I have with the bits I won then continue on to the card playing section of the casino. Once I am there, I scrutinize the players carefully to single out the pony I am seeking. After a short while, I believe I have found him.

Card Shark is a sharp-looking, blue earth pony middle-age stallion. His mane is wavy with a mixture of white, gray, and a hint of blue, but it is mostly concealed beneath his gray fedora hat with a black stripe. From this angle I can’t see his tail since he is sitting on it but I assume it matches his mane. He has a snazzy black tuxedo outfit (which is rare for me to see ponies with clothes) and a red bow tie. He smokes a cigarette that is inserted into the end of a long stem which hangs in his mouth.

While he plays his hand at cards, he’s apparently good enough, or at least popular enough, to win a crowd around his table. Judging from the shoot of cards beside him, he’s obviously the dealer at this table. Eight other ponies sit at his table. When it comes to their confidence, this is a mixed bag.

I take my time to examine all the players and the cards on the table. I even get a peek at a few extra cards thanks to various reflective devices around here. Based on the cards I see in play, what the ponies have, and judging from the number of cards I see left in the shoot and discard pile, I do some rapid calculations in my head.

With this turn, the most nervous stallion is the last to decide his action. When I say nervous I mean very nervous. He is visibly sweating. I don’t think he’s on edge merely because of the outcome of this particular game but also because of other stakes that may be involved.

“Hit me,” the dark blue nervous pegasus stallion eventually decides. Complying, Card Shark pulls out a new card and deftly tosses it at the new stallion. I see it is seven of clubs.

Apparently the results of this card makes him even more nervous. I actually see him nibbling at the end of his hooves for a bit before reaching forward to touch the dwindling pile of bits he has left for this game. He’s about to call a raise, but I butt in by applying my right forehoof on his shoulder.

“I wouldn’t do that, if I were you,” I warn him.

“I know what I’m doing!” the nervous dark blue stallion argues then shakes off my hoof.

“As you wish,” I accept.

I figured the stallion would ignore my advice, but I didn’t actually say it for his sake. If he did what I said, he could have stuck around in this game a little longer but everyone at the table knows he’s bluffing. His tells are just too clear. That’s obviously why he’s visibly losing. This stallion truly is an amateur.

But whatever. I accomplished my objective. I won the attention of other key members of the table. Of them, the dealer is the most important one here.

Sure enough, the dark blue stallion gets broke and in short order. He ends up leaving while hanging his head in defeat.

“You’ve got a pretty sharp eye for this game, Stranger,” Card Shark says to me with a twisted, almost psychotic smile at me. “Care to put your money where your mouth is?”

“I suppose I could,” I express as if I’m on the fence with that idea. “But you gentlemen appear pretty sharp in this game as well.”

“Ah say, don’t you worry notten, good Sir,” says a very elderly stallion whose accent is dripping with southern charm. He is wearing a white outfit and hat and has a trimmed beard and mustache. He strongly reminds me of a certain Kentucky Fried Chicken’s main mascot if it weren’t for the fact that he’s a pony. I wonder if this is the infamous Colonel Panders. “We don’t bite too hard.” He gives a bit of a sinister smile of his own. “Not right away, at any rate.”

“Pull up a seat, Sir,” Card Shark invites while gesturing to the now vacant seat in front of me. “If you dare.”

The crowd around us cheers for me to do so.

“Well, if you all insist, I suppose I can give this a whirl,” I pretend to give in then take the vacant seat. “Deal me in.”

The crowd around us cheers again in approval of my decision.

Several hours later, Card Shark and I are the last players at the table. As the number of players thinned, the number of spectators seems to have increased.

Card Shark peers at me sharply above the edge of his cards and below the rim of his hat. He asks me, “You’re not going to even look at your cards?”

“Nope!” I declare with confidence. “Instead, I’m going to raise twenty-thousand.” With that, I push in the largest bet I made in this game so far, but I’m not all in yet. I already did that several hours ago.

My opponent raises his right eyebrow as he remarks, “You certainly play a dangerous game, Sir.”

“Well, I had quite some time to get accustomed to taking risks,” I venture to say as I fold my forehooves on the table. “Educated risks, mind you.” I narrow my eyes back at him as I raise a daring smile. “Are you going to meet my bet or not?”

Wordlessly, Card Shark uses a gentleman’s cane to push in some of his pile of bits to match mine with suave flourish, but I notice he doesn’t raise yet. I also notice he’s been examining me far more than his own cards.

On the next round, I tap the table to indicate another hit on my hand of cards. He passes me another card and notices that, again, I don’t look at it.

For the first time in this whole game, my opponent does the same. He dishes himself another card but refuses to look at it this time.

“I’ll stick with these,” Card Shark decides as he folds his own cards face down on the table. “Final round of bets, Sir.”

Now I push in all my remaining bits after pushing him this far.

Card Shark just stares at me for a while before grinning a devious smile and feels compelled to ask, since we both know I just won the game, “Who are you, Sir?”

“A perpetual traveler,” I answer honestly. “I’ve gone by many names over those years.” I lean back in my seat. “But the one I am called the most is the Doctor.”

At that, I finally match his smile while he leans back in his seat too. We are both quiet for a tense moment until he shakes his head and says, “That figures. Why is it that I can't ever escape from you for long?”

“Red Thread of Fate, I guess?” I tease then shrug. “I don’t know,” I reply a little more honestly. “I guess we both have one of those destinies.”

Card Shark sighs then flips over his cards to reveal his loss. We are met by stunned silence from our spectators then eventually a cheer. While that happens, Card Shark gives a whistle sound. A tan pony in a sexy, almost gothic-looking black spiderweb dress approaches him. He passes her a note then gives her a dismissive gesture. She nods to him then leaves.

“Come to my office, ‘Doctor’,” Card Shark says with a mocking tone around my name. “I got a business proposition for you.”

“Funny,” I say as I rise away from the table. “I was thinking the exact same thing.”

“Yeah. I bet you are,” Card Shark mutters under his breath with a bit of irritation.