A few days before the Gala, all twelve of us had decided to have an evening set aside where we did 'grown up things', like gambling, drinking, and, in the case of eight of us...you get what I mean. First off, however, we'd be playing poker. All of us had agreed no fancy clothes were necessary, but we could wear something if we wanted to. I had decided to wear my hat, mostly because it would allow me to cheat somehow. The now released Ebony had opted to wear a visor, with a hole where his horn, cleverly, held the thing onto his head. Solar just went with his mane washed, a first for the stinky bugger. I hadn't seen him leaving the bathroom of our house, never mind knew if he's had a shower. Anyway, Inferno just went wearing some slim glasses, looking quite professional. Sky and Fire were the only ones who decided against wearing clothing, 'because it was too warm'. They had a point, it was mid-summer, but I just ignored that. By the time we were on the way to Twilight's, the sky had a sunset-purple glow, giving it a professional feel. As we passed the shop promenade, something caught my eye. 'Gryphonian Cigars'.
"Damn." I muttered. "Hey guys, wanna buy some cigars?"
"Alright, it's not like I give a damn about my lungs." Ebony shrugged. "I'll get 12, 2 each." Without any further things being said, he went into the shop, then came out 40 seconds later with a case levitated beside him. "Well, they didn't do 12 packs, they only did them in 24. So, 4 each."
"Nice, how much lighter is your wallet, though?" I asked.
"What wallet?" Ebony laughed. Each of us took a cigar, had them lit courtesy of a nearby candle on a table, and carried on. Cigars really choked you, but felt good at the same time. And, according to the box, contained no nicotine. So, no addiction: awesome. Our path to Twilight's didn't take long, we bumped into Colgate, Berry Punch, Cheerilee, Vinyl, Lyra, and Bon-Bon, had a short chat, before heading around the corner to the Library. Raising a hoof to knock on the door, it was as though she had been expecting us. The door swung open, the lavender mare on the other side wearing fake lashes and presumably a teeth whitening spell.
"Welcome to Casino Sparkle, please take a seat." she giggled, ushering us in to a very different looking Library. Instead of one table offset to the back of the room, now it was a giant table in the centre of the room, with a single lightbulb illuminating it with a rather gangster-like tone. One by one, we filed in, Inferno planting a kiss on his lover's cheek, before we sat down. Twilight looked as though she was gagging through the cigar smoke.
"These?" I asked, pointing at the brown cigar coming from my mouth, "We picked these up from a shop. There's some in that box, if you want one."
"No," she coughed, wafting it with a hoof. "I'm good. I didn't know you guys smoked, though."
"I don't." Inferno replied. "Well, didn't. I've got 4 of these to finish, and they're a relaxant, so looking at the way we're going, Twilight, these'll be used a LOT. If you know what I'm saying." Twilight groaned, but was interuppted by a knocking at the door. Sighing, she got up and opened it.
"Hello, darlings!~~" sang Rarity. We all knew she'd go OTT on her dress, and we were right. It was pretty much her Gala dress in the size of it and how unnecessary it was.
"Style rather than space?" I asked. She growled. "At least I didn't opt to wear such a dingy hat. Do you even know what that might have had on it?"
"Jarate, blood, sand, and masonry." I proudly replied. "Hat of a TRUE marksman."
"Hmmph." Rarity muttered as she sat down. "Have you been preparing for the Gala?"
"No." replied my friends and I instantly.
"Not like we can be fucked with that." Fire snorted, taking a puff from his cigar.
"Do you know what I can be fucked with?" Rarity replied, offering the earth pony a half lidded look. He chuckled to himself about something, presumably the 49th chapter of some inner monologue he was writing. However, these conversations were short lived, as the girls had begun arriving. One by one they filed through the door, taking seats around the table. Once we'd all taken our seats, Twilight decided to deal. She dove beneath the table, and came back wearing the same type of visor Ebony wore, except in a transparent green. After a second, she lit her horn again, and a green cloth with poker markings all over it landed onto the table, in an extremely professional manner.
"Nice," I whistled. "How long did you spend learning that?"
"Few hours." Twilight smiled, eyes rolling about in their sockets before she stopped them with a shake of her head."Really screws with your head, though."
"Huh. Where's Spike?"
"He went out to have a sleepover with the Cutie Mark Crusaders."
"Twilight! You know he's too young for THA-"
"Shut the fuck up."
"Now I know why he's not here." Solar laughed. I began to draw from my cigar again, because it felt damn good, but then I heard something that changed it.
"Oh, Thunder, Princess Luna's coming down to join the game." Twilight smirked.
"She's probably not." I groaned.
I am.
SHIT.
I promptly inhaled sharply, which also happened to pull the cigar in and down my throat. The feeling was incredibly painful, and burned my throat, lungs, and stomach. A hoof immediately began smacking my back to remove it, and I coughed it up. Well, what was left of it. A cloud of ashes came from my mouth.
"Jesus CHRIST, you guys!" I yelled, "FUCKING TELL ME THESE THINGS BEFOREHAND!"
"Calm down, Thunder, you were in the bathroom at the tim-"
"Did you not think to tell me when I CAME OUT OF THERE?!"
"What's so important about this, anyway?"
"I DON'T FUCKING KNOW!"

Author's Note

Kudos to those who can understand both references in the title.