Second Chances II: Love and Courage

Second Chances II: Love and Courage
By Hero541
Chapter 8: The Art of Messing Up

Josh had made his way to a nearby bar not too far from the pavilion they would be performing at, and was now sipping on a gin and tonic and talking to some other ponies in the bar. Almost as soon as he’d walked into the building, ponies rushed up to him and asked for photos and autographs. Josh happily obliged, signing anything he was handed and posing for a few photos here and there. When he was finally able to approach the bar, ponies began to buy him drinks and talk to him about the show in a few days.

“I always love being on that stage and seeing people going as crazy as me and enjoying themselves.” he told a tan colored mare with a curly pink and blue mane, “It at least tells me I’m doing my job right.”

The mare simply nodded and looked to her friend, a teal colored unicorn who was staring intently at Josh with a dreamy look on her face. Josh looked at his watch and gasped as he realized what time it was.

“Excuse me, ladies.” he said, standing and preparing to leave, “I’ve gotta be going now. My marefriend’s back at the hotel, and I wanna make sure I get back there to be with her for a while.”

“We’ll see you at your show tomorrow, Xploshun.” said the tan mare, winking at Josh.

“Thanks again for the drinks.” he said, smiling and returning her wink, “What were your names again?”

“I’m Bon Bon.” said the tan mare, gesturing to herself, then to her unicorn friend, “And this is Lyra.”

“Well, Lyra and Bon Bon,” said Josh, bowing a little and causing them both to giggle, “I bid you both adieus. Have a nice evening.”

Lyra and Bon Bon waved to him as he turned to leave. Josh had only been gone for an hour or so, but he still wanted to make sure he was there to be with Vinyl when she got up. He stepped outside, seeing the warm Equestrian sun beam down on him. He began to make his way through the rather large city that was Las Pegasus. It wasn’t much unlike the city of Las Vegas he knew of back home.

Casino’s and restaurants lined the streets all down the main thoroughfare, their lights twinkling a little even in the daylight. Josh had never even been inside a casino in his life, not even when he’d made a stop in Vegas on his tour. He wasn’t much for gambling. To him, one could simply pull a dollar out of their pocket and light it on fire and achieve the same effect as gambling. However, deep down, he had always wanted to try the slot machines…

Josh passed by a rather small casino with a giant sign that read “Casino del Caballo”. As he peered up at the sign, a blue stallion rushed out, his saddlebags filled with bits and a huge smile on his face. Josh watched as the stallion made his way down the street before he turned back to the casino. I really shouldn’t… he thought, biting his lip I need to get back to Vinyl. He looked to his watch once more, then back at the casino, wondering whether or not it would be worth it…

“Fuck it. I’ve got time.”

He made his way into the casino and looked around. It was much larger inside than it appeared to be outside. Josh saw mares and stallions of all kinds sitting or standing at tables all around, most thoroughly enjoying themselves, or at least they appeared to be doing so. Every now and then, a casino employee would walk past, most of the time carrying a tray laden with drinks or food of some kind. Unsure of what to do, Josh simply stood there for awhile, watching the ponies on the main floor as they continued to gamble.

“Can I help you sir?” asked a voice nearby which made Josh jump a little.

He turned to see a bright pink mare with a straight green mane and tail wearing a red and white vest smiling up at him as he stood there.

“Uh…” he stalled, looking between the mare and the other ponies in the main hall, “I’m not so sure what I’m doing here.”

“This is your first time in our lovely establishment?” she asked, her eyes beginning to twinkle a little.

“It’s kinda my first time at any sort of casino…” said Josh, scratching the back of his head nervously.

“Well, not to worry.” said the mare, turning and beginning to gesture all around the casino with her hoof, “We here at Casino del Caballo are more than willing to help you have a good time. What kind of games interest you exactly?”

“I’ve always kinda wanted to use the slot machines…” he said, glancing around once more.

“An excellent choice!” said the mare, heading off towards the floor, “Those are some of my favorites as well. Our slot machines are located over here. Feel free to use them to your little-er… large heart’s content.”

Josh followed the mare, passing by all sorts of tables and other setups on the floor. Eventually, he saw the familiar cabinets of a few slot machines, and the pink mare stopped and looked back at him, smiling once more.

“Here you are, sir.” she said, gesturing to the machines, “If you need anything at all, don’t be afraid to ask one of our staff, or come and get me and I’ll assist you in any way I can.”

“Thanks.” said Josh simply, beginning to make his way towards the machines, “What was your name?”

“Oh! Silly me, I almost forgot.” said the pink mare, facehoofing a little, “My name is Lilac. I’ll be around if you need anything. Have a nice time!”

Josh thanked Lilac as she walked away. He turned back to the bright machine, almost being blinded by its bright lights all around. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his bag of bits, grabbing one out and preparing to gamble for the first time. He slid the little gold coin into the machine’s coin slot and pulled the arm, making the barrels inside begin to spin around. They spun for what seemed like an eternity, before finally settling on their final marks.

Three in a row. Josh smiled wide as bits began to pour out of the machine below his legs. That wasn’t so bad he thought, scooping up a few of the gold coins and pocketing them That was actually kinda fun! I wonder if I can do that again?

*****

“So, from there you lost 2,000 bits?” asked Vinyl, glaring at Josh as he stood in the entryway and talked to his marefriend.

“Pretty much…” he said, feeling himself shrink a little as she glared at him, “I figured I could win all of it back at some point, but I just kept losing more and more. It wasn’t till I reached in my pocket and realized I didn’t have anymore bits that I had to send a message to you.”

“Why’d you get me out here?” she asked, her voice beginning to rise a little from her anger at Josh’s stupidity, “You know I don’t gamble!”

“I just need you to help me out.” he said, falling on his knees and taking a pleading position, “I’ve got nothing left to use. We’ve gotta get back our money somehow.”

“Aren’t we here to get paid?” asked Vinyl, raising an eyebrow, “Our shows aren’t free you know.”

“Babe, we don’t get the money for another week after the show!” exclaimed Josh, “We can’t afford to stay here another week! This place is expensive.”

“I told you to get us roundtrip tickets for the train!” said Vinyl, pointing her hoof at Josh and scowling heavily, “That way we could leave as soon as the show was done!”

“I thought we might wanna stay for another day or two after.” said Josh meekly, beginning to lose all hope.

Vinyl sighed and facehoofed. She glared at Josh from behind her hoof, unable to believe her coltfriend’s stupidity. She wasn’t a gambler, but she knew that the worst thing that could happen to somepony when they gambled for the first time was to win big. It built a false sense of confidence, and the casino would feed off that confidence like hungry timberwolves till they got every bit of money they could from the victim.

“I don’t know what you think I’ll be able to do here.” she finally said, lowering her hoof so she could glare at Josh once more, “What do you expect? That I can just use my charm and good looks to get the money back? This is a casino. They exist to simply take all your money and then laugh at you when you lose it all. They’re not gonna take any pity on us, especially not when they know what we do for a living.”

Josh’s head hung low, shame painting his every feature. He couldn’t believe he’d allowed himself to do something this stupid. Now, here he was, groveling at his marefriend’s hooves, praying that she could help him. At this point, it all seemed so hopeless.

“I’m… more sorry than you’ll ever know.” he finally said, gathering the courage to look at Vinyl once more, “I can’t believe I let myself get caught up in something like this…”

Vinyl’s look softened a little at Josh’s words. She knew he was normally better than that, and that he’d just allowed his curiosity to get the better of him. Plus, she did recall the last time they were in Las Pegasus and she got drunk right before the show…

“Do you have anything left?” she asked, trying her best to sound more comforting.

Josh reached into his pocket and pulled out a single bit. Vinyl grabbed it in her magic and made her way over to a roulette table. As she walked up, the manager of the table began to call out for bets.

“And, my beautiful friend,” he said, addressing Vinyl as she approached, the bit in her magic, “What’ll your bet be?”

“I’ll take…” said Vinyl, peering up at the board showing the last few rolls, “33 black please.”

“You know, the odds of hitting that right now aren’t too good.” said the manager, raising an eyebrow as Vinyl presented the coin to him, “You sure you wanna place that?”

“What’s the payout?” she asked.

“About 2,000 bits.”

“I’ll take it then.” said Vinyl, floating the coin closer to the stallion.

He shrugged and grabbed the coin in his teeth before spinning the wheel and throwing the ball into the riding slot. Josh walked up and stood behind Vinyl, both of them watching the ball roll with bated breath. After what seemed like forever, the ball began to slow and settle in a pocket.

“Looks like… 33 black!” called the manager.

Josh and Vinyl jumped for joy, the human grabbing his marefriend and spinning around, making her back legs flail about. The manager smiled at them both and congratulated the two, handing over two colored chips.

“You sure you don’t wanna double up on that?” he asked, gesturing back to the table, “You’ve got quite the luck over here.”

Vinyl looked between the chips and the table, contemplating his words. However, before she had the chance to lay down another bet, Josh reached under her belly and hoisted her up on his shoulder, carrying her away from the table. Thank God she’s lucky he thought as they approached the payout counter Otherwise we’d have been pretty well fucked.