>Applebloom should not have been up this late.
>Not because of any bedtime, of course, she had passed the point where something like that could be held over her head. She was old enough now to know when she was sleepy or to know the consequences of staying up late when there was work to be done in the morning.
>She didn't have to be in bed by now, but this was normally the time when she was not only in bed, but had long since fallen asleep. It was just curiosity that had kept her awake.
>Curiosity of a glimmer in her window, reflected light from the barn that should have been dark and dead by now.
>One part of her only moved out of duty, it wouldn't do to leave a lantern on in the middle of the barn.
>But another part made her move because she knew her diligent sister would not be so reckless.
>That's why, rather than walk right up to it as she would any other day, she crept up silently, staying out of sight, until she reached the crack in the door.
>She heard voices talking within, and immediately red flags went up in her mind. Stealthily as she could, she pushed the door open just a crack, and she could not have imagined what she would see within.
>There were five ponies she could see, all of which were sitting around a round table and laughing and speaking over each other with such speed she couldn't make out a single one of their conversations. She recognized every one of them, her sister Applejack, the pair of married bakers Cup and Carrot Cake, and lastly the resident store mogul and richest ponies in town, Filthy and Spoiled Rich. 
>She recognized them all, but she couldn't recall a single time when they had all been together in any capacity, them getting together like this seemed even more strange.
>A bit of clarity came when her sister's hoof shot out and flung a flat white square across the table, a playing card. She followed it as it reached Filthy Rich, and suddenly something else became even more clear.
>There were six ponies in that room.
>Her eyes had needed to adjust a little more before she had seen it, just beneath him in the dark of the table was one more, very familiar, pony.
>Her brother, Big Macintosh.
>Who currently had his lips around Filthy Rich's dark brown dick.
>Her jaw dropped when she saw her brother dip down with an almost practiced grace. Even from her position she could hear him slurp and gurgle around the meat shoved down his throat, never pausing in his acts like an expert would. Humming, tongue rolling around every time he pulled up, he knew what he was doing
>She was nearly floored by this.
>Big Macintosh helping a needy stallion out wasn't shocking to her, though he preferred to give most times she knew he'd be neighborly and bend down enough to let some fella blow a load in his ass if they really needed it.
>But she'd never seen him suck a dick in his life. Not once.
>"Don't like how dick tastes" is what he'd said on the matter, and true to form nobody had been rude enough to ask him for it.
>Yet here he was, slamming down so far she could see the buldge engorge his throat nearly to the base of his neck without so much as a gag.
>This was not a new experience for him.
>More curious than ever, she listened as closely as she could, focusing only on Filthy Rich.
>"So then my wife says "Pinkie? I only have hooves!"
>The table found that hilarious apparently.
>"Shucks, Filthy, iffin' I didn't know better, I'd say you should'a been a comedian."
>He waved off Applejack's praise with a kind smile. One thing she always admired about him, no matter how rich he was, he always seemed to be a good person deep down. It was nice to see someone wealthy not be a jerk for once.
>"Hrmph! Do you see how comedians are paid? These two know, that's why Pinkie has to pay her rent in parties."
>Unlike his wife.
>"We don't mind the dearie, Spoiled."
>"She's family at this point, you don't kick family out on the street!"
>"I would. If Diamond Tiara ever gets her age, she'd better have her own place or else!"
>Her husband laughed, ignoring how uneasy the table seemed.
>"She's kidding of course, I'd never let my little princess go anywhere else until she's ready! She's the sweetest thing, she even helped me around the store the other day! She's such a wonderful pony."
>Applebloom had comments on that, but that would have blown her cover.
>Speaking of blown.
>"Y'all bout done with mah' brother down there?"
>"Hm? Oh!"
>The brown pony turned slightly, letting him get a better look at the stallion still laying lavish licks lengthwise on him.
>"Thank you for your service, Big Mac! You sure you don't want to get back in the game? I'll give you a couple more chips if you want."
>Her brother pulled back enough to come loose of the rich meat, letting it hang there as hard as stone in front of his nose.
>"Eeennnope. Ya' beat me fair and square, ain't gonna dig mah'self deeper in this pit. Shouldn'a bet it all on two pair anyway."
>"Oh well, it's all in good fun anyway."
>"Y'all just want me for more than a week, don't'cha?"
>Filthy Rich had an impish smile.
>"You've caught me, but what can I say? You're a good pony, Big Mac, I love having you around. Such a hard worker, nice to talk to..."
>His eyes trailed down the red pony's form, hanging for a moment too long on his tail.
>"Great work ethics, I respect that."
>Filthy's hoof cupped the side of Big Mac's face, looking almost like he admired what he held.
>"You're a good pony, Big Mac."
>Then without his smile ever wavering, he pulled the pony's head forwards. The red face was seemingly ready, willingly opening his mouth to pop in the massive head past his jaws without so much as slowing down to let it in.
>"Such a good, strong, tight pony."
>Both hooves held the back of the orange mane as he wildly shoved and thrust away, forcing the normally strong pony to submissively deepthroat every time. Big Mac never fought him, even when he had to bring his hooves to the table and chair to keep his balance. He just let loose lewd slurps, gags and gurgles with the occasional wet slap as the rich pony facefucked him into submission.
>"Such a good pony, such a good, good, gooooooood ponyyyy!"
>It finally seemed to pay off.
>Applebloom could see his flair engorging in her brother's throat, cutting off his air supply and choking him as the stallion forcibly pumped him full of load after load of seed. The stallions eyes rolled back in his head as the one above him continued to thrust, forcing him to helplessly claw around and whinny as the mixed sensations made his own long red rod spray all over the bottom of the chair and beyond.
>Finally Filthy seemed satisfied and lazily lifted the pony's head off his own smaller head, just far away enough he could add some white to that red face with his final spurts.
>"Thank you for that, Big Mac! You were a real help! I'll be seeing you tomorrow?"
>"E-eeeyyyuup."
>From the top of the table, off where Applebloom couldn't have seen, Filthy produced a collar that he quickly snapped around the long red neck, just under the where the yoke her brother would always wear would go.
>"A whole week, don't forget!"
>"Well, I think that's not fair by the way."
>Of course, Spoiled had to ruin the mood.
>"What'cha mean? Ya' think it should be shorter?"
>"Longer, of course! If we lose that chip, well, it obviously lasts more than a week!"
>"Not fer' him."
>"But for us!"
>"Ain't like he can do anything about that, bein' stallion and all. Ah' mean, iffin' we lose to each other it's the same deal, fairs fair."
>"It's not fair!"
>Her husband chuckled, pacifying his wife by patting her on the shoulder.
>"Tell you what, my darling, I'll ask Twilight if she's made any progress on certain spells, and if she has we'll switch Big Mac, and even me or Carrot if we lose! How about that? That sound good to you, Big Mac?"
>Her brother seemed strangely taken back, but also in a way, almost excited.
>"E-...eyyyup."
>"Really, Mac?"
>Still a little shaken, he nodded.
>"Well, alright, Ah'll ask. But it's a big responsibility! And ya' didn't know when ya' lost, so if he wants out-"
>"Fair's fair, of course, no changing the rules after loss!"
>"E...eyyyyup."
>"Done and done. Did you want to stay and watch?"
>Apparently still dizzy from the event before, the tallest pony shook his head.
>"Eennnope. Gonna go get me some rest, figure that Ah'll need it this week one way or another!"
>"That's the spirit! See you then!"
>"Eeeyyyup."
>"How does he always manage to lose to you? Every time! You always manage to get him! Hurmph!"
>"It is suspicious, isn't it, Cup?"
>Such ribbing made the tall red pony go even redder before he turned and raced out quickly.
>Too quickly.
>Applebloom realized too late she had no time to collect her thoughts before the door suddenly swung open, and she gasped.
>Then Big Mac gasped.
>Then everyone else gasped.
>Then, there was silence.
"...can ya' deal me in on the next one?" 
>"Applebloom, no!"
>The silence was broken with a shout, loud enough to shock the elder brother of the pair out of his stupor and send him scurrying off in a mixture of embarrassment, shame and just plain not wanting to know how much his little sister had seen or how much she knew.
>Appleblom stepped aside and let him pass before happily walking in to take his place.
"C'mon, Applejack, I wanna play."
>"Dang it, I said no, we ain't playin' the normal way here, this is only fer' grownups!"
"I'm legally an adult now, remember?"
>To punctuate her point, she wiggled her backside, either to show off her cutie mark or to show off something else that caught the interest of both stallions, and one mare, in the room.
>"It ain't about that, we don't bet like normal here, we bet somethin' else."
"Ya' don't mean sex, right? Cause like half of you in the room know that ain't a problem."
>Notably she smiled at Mrs Cake, who smiled right back with a touch of cheeriness to it.
>"No-well, yes, we do that too, but ya' don't understand. In this game we bet... bits."
>That did give Applebloom pause, at least.
"Really?"
>"Yeah! And it ain't like with yer' friends where it's only five bits total and ya' give it back at the end! We bet real bits here, and they get to keep them forever!"
>That did sound a little worrying, she would admit.
"Alright, hold up a second."
>With that, she turned around and left at top speed.
>"Good. That set her right."
>"You're sure? She said hold up for a moment, perhaps we should wait for her to come back."
>"Ain't no reason to, she ain't gonna come back. She just didn't wanna seem like she was runnin' off."
>"You're sure about that."
>"Absolutely sure!"
>"Positive."
>"I know mah' little sister and dang it, I will not be challenged on that there! Ah' know she ain't gonna come back!"
>About that time, Applebloom came back into the room, carrying in her mouth a rather hefty looking bag.
>Everyone laughed as Applejack began to blush.
"C'mmon, deal me in!"
>She hopped up into the chair her brother had abdicated, still a little warm from where he had been sitting mere minutes ago.
>"Dang it, I said no!"
>"Oh come on, Applejack, it wouldn't hurt to add another into the mix, would it? We are already skewed regardless, at least this way we stay at six, and she might add some variety."
>Fur stood up on the back of Applejack's neck at Spoiled Rich's words.
>"I don't know, it would be a little disappointing to add another mare instead of a stallion. Maybe we should see if Big Mac would come back?"
>Mrs Cake seemed more than a little hopeful.
>"Sure he can, if he brings his own bits. Which, seeing as what just happened..."
>Only to have it cruelly shot down by, as expected, the moguls wife.
>"Sorry huneybunches, but you know Mac only goes all in with Filthy."
>"I know, I know."
>The blue mare sighed in sadness, but accepted.
>"Told ya' we should'a had this when Cadence and Shining were around."
>"Oh please, they're royalty! As if they would lower themselves to play in some barn. They're much too busy with important matters to waste for some farm!"
>Both sisters pretended not to hear that.
"C'mon, deal me in already!"
>With that, she poured out the contents of the sack, her entire life's savings, onto the table and neatly stacked them as best she could with her mouth and hooves.
>Luckily, she was quite skilled with both.
>"Just deal her in, Applejack, I'm sure she'll have a fun time! Why, it'll be interesting to have around, that's for sure!"
>Ever the optimist, Filthy gave her a hoofs up with her support.
>"It does skew the numbers away from... you know."
>"Well, all the more chance you only have to deal with a week!"
>"Dang it... fine, but if somethin' happens, Ah'm not gonna bail you out or give you anymore bits for this week! If you're not gonna spend them right then I'm not loaning you anymore!"
"Fair's fair, now deal me in!"
>Grumbling all the way, Applejack reached over to a little table at her side, right next to where she kept the cards, and produced from it a small stack of colored poker chips.
>"Now I'm only gonna say this once so pay attention, you bet with real bits at first and only real bits if you have them. But, in case someone tries to buy you out, you got options to prevent it and get something of worth for the risk. Oral, this here is worth ten bits. Vaginal, this here is worth twenty bits. Anal is twenty five, and hoofjob is five. Ya'll can also do hotdogging for ten."
>There weren't many chips for each, obviously to ensure they didn't rely too much on them instead of their real money. Even so, all together it was rather substantial, she herself only had one hundred and thirty one bits to bet in total, the others nearly doubled what she had.
>Considering the stacks around those currently in the game, she was by far the poorest of the lot. Each one had around two hundred before their own extra chips. Filthy looked like he was holding at least three hundred, and his wife even higher than that.
>"Tell her about the last chip, don't forget."
>Something was off about the way Spoiled Rich winked, and the way her sister scowled.
>"I was getting to it. This last chip is... well, you saw what happened with Big Mac."
>She put it together pretty quickly.
>"Buuuut, that's only if a stallion wins from another stallion, a mare wins from another mare, or a mare wins from a stallion. The loser is at the beck and call of the winner for an entire week, which means for the rest of this week, any time my darling Filthy wants your brother to come over and choke on his massive, hard, so very virile di-"
>"HEY! No freebies!"
>Spoiled Rich's hoof jerked back, as if she genuinely did not notice she'd been creeping it towards her husband's lap.
>"Pay up or keep it away!"
>She humphed, but did not fight with Applejack on that one.
"But wait, what if a stallion wins it from a mare? Ya' left that one out."
>The table shared looks, very odd ones at that. Some of them smirked, like Spoiled, some of them blushed like Cup, and some of them just smiled away without a care like Filthy.
>"Ahem, that there chip is worth... four hundred bits."
>Appleblooms jaw nearly dropped, and she almost reached for the chip to put it into the pile.
>A quicker hoof stopped her and held her tight.
>"But if ya' lose it to a stallion, ya' ain't just gotta serve them for a week, you, well..."
>She thought of a good way to put it.
>"The stallion gets to have kids with you."
"What?"
>Then she threw caring about that to the wind.
>"Dang it, he gets ta' rut ya' and put a bun in the oven! Gets ta' sire your heirs! Gets ta' continue the blood line! Dang it Applebloom, he gets ta' breed you!"
>That seemed as best as she was going to get.
"Really?"
>"Yep. So don't you even think about usin' it, you hear! Especially not when Carrot or Filthy are in the game! Y'all are just lucky Big Mac is out of the game or I wouldn't even give one to you at all, I don't want you endin' up like Twilight and carryin' her brother's child before marriage! We ain't savages!"
>"I don't know, I think Applebloom would be a good mother for Carrot's sires!"
>Applejack shot the baker a terrible look.
>"Oh hush dearie, a mother knows when another mare would be a good mother! I tell it to everyone I think would be a good mother. Even you!"
>"You never said that to me!"
>Pointedly, the blue mare ignored the pink one.
>"But you can see why I think it's not fair, right? A week of being run ragged is terrible, but this is a whole lifetime!"
>"So don't play it."
>"I have no intention of, thank you! I'm rich enough I don't need pauperboosts."
>"Good."
>"Good!"
>"Good."
>"Good!"
>Her sister and Spoiled glared at one another.
"Can we play already? Ah' wanna start gettin' mah' funds up, I'm goin' to Applewood for the holiday with this!."
>The table seemed honestly shocked at that.
>"Y'all still wanna play?"
"Sure as shootin! Ah'm gonna whip you all, watch me!"
>"Well... alright."
>She couldn't fight anymore, and started dealing the cards.
>"Wonderful! But before we get started, I need to get my fire back, would you ladies mind?"
>Carrot flicked two chips, one to his wife and one to Applejack. Both the same color, the cheapest of the chips he had.
>"Of course, dearie!"
>"Fine."
>They accepted and reached down with both hooves for a slow and tender hoofjob.
>Made all the more impressive that Applejack could keep shuffling with just one hoof.
>"Thanks for helping, Dearie! I'm not so good with hoofjobs, I'm afraid, and Carrot's too low to spend for one of the ones I'm good at."
>"Aw shucks, I'm nothin' special with it."
>"You are! Look at him, he's loving it, and obviously more because of you."
>"Yer' a sweetheart, Mrs Cake."
>Her sister leaned forwards just as the elder mare did, and both met in a deep and sloppy kiss.
"Hey! How many bits is that?"
>Her sister pulled back, and rolled her eyes.
>"Kisses are free, obviously."
>They went back to it, and it seemed that poor Carrot couldn't take much of watching his wife make out with such a young mare while being stimulated down below. He grunted and there was the distinct sound of liquid against wood before the pair pulled away.
>"Y'all ready to play?"
>Applebloom smiled and pushed some of her bits forwards.
"Y'all ready to lose?"" 
>Things had not been going their best for certain members of the poker game.
>"OhfiddleDiddlekid!"
>Some, like the now 'cursing' Carrot Cake, had seen their supply slowly begin to dwindle as the night had worn on.
>"Almost got me that time, Carrot! One number off and you would have had me."
>Filthy for sure was not being of ill intent or insulting, even if it seemed that way from the circumstance and his words. 'One number off' meant a lot less when it was a three of a kind beating two aces.
>"Looks like ya' shouldn'a been so reckless with your ace in the hole, else you'll be getting something else shoved back in!"
>The table laughed a bit at his expense, and he took it in stride. Slightly impressive, since Spoiled Rich seemed less genuine than her husband in her laughter.
>"Smart playin', Bloom."
"Thanks, sis."
>Applebloom did not want to jinx it, but she was almost sure her own pile had finally lifted above his. As the night had worn on, little by little, she had been growing her stock with some rather cautious, but effective playing.
>Nothing outright said, but the look on her big sisters face made it clear she was quite impressed.
>Made all the more impressive thanks to the fact that, despite her own skill at it, Applejack's pile had taken quite a few hits, and substantial ones at that.
>"And I raise thirty bits."
>"Dang it! Ah'm five short..."
>"Do you need a quick bump?"
>Carrot Cake perked up, seeming quite eager with his ten chip despite how much it would take from his reduced pot.
>"Hmmmm..."
>The elder breathed into her hoof for a second.
>"Nah, Ah' don't wanna have my breath smellin' like dick this late. Cup Cake, ya' mind a payment?"
>"Of course not deary, I'll collect after this round"
>"Deal, gimme a ten spotter."
>Her husband seemed a little put out, but he made no fuss as his wife flicked a chip.
>This had been a staple of the game so far. Rather than simply break one of their bigger chips, or risk their own in a raise, if a certain threshhold of escalation was reached, a bargain was made. Nothing major so far, merely short little bursts, but as the night wore on and certain funds wore down, certain members seemed to be eyeing bigger chips a little more intently.
>"Dang it!"
>Her sister's scowl turned sour when the bits moved off to one side, a particularly stinging sourness at that when she saw which direction they went.
"Sorry, sis."
>Applebloom was sure that deep down, her sister was proud.
>"Gonna be sorry when Ah' dole out chore this week."
>Very deep down.
>"Sorry, deary."
>"Yeah, yeah"
>Begrudgingly, she slipped beneath the table, and Cup Cake's smile began to grow.
>"I suppose you're sitting this one out?"
>Applejack would have responded, had her mouth not been occupied beneath the table.
>"O-oh my! You've been practicing!"
>Cup Cake certainly seemed appreciative of that. Her smile grew wide and her hoof touched the top of the yellow mane just barely visible over the edge of the table. Every tender lick, every deep probe illcited an excited high pitched noise from the bakers mouth.
>"Always making me jealous, aren't you honeybunches?"
>Her husband smiled as he tried in vain to peer over the table and see the linguistic ministrations in action, only to be left without as her large mane completely covered his wife's lap.
>It seemed to make him more interested, if anything.
"So did ya'll actually get Shining Armor and Cadence to come play before?"
>Something, anything at all was needed to distract the filly from those wet licking noises and excited squeals, and she latched onto the first thing she could think of.
>"Of course not, they'd never come play poker with someone like us. They're royalty, this podunk town has to disgust them when they visit."
>The Rich wife sounded more than a little bitter about that situation.
"Ah' dunno, they're pretty nice. Ah' think they would iffin' Applejack asked them and they had the time."
>Applebloom had expected that, at worst, this would give a bit of encouragement to the wealthy mare, instead it only seemed to make her put down her bits a little harder than usual.
>"Oh absolutely! They're sweethearts, the two of them! Remember when they asked us to make that cake to surprise Twilight?"
>"I do! They were so thankful and appreciative, always saying what a good job we did, paying a little bit extra for the effort, they were simply wonderful."
>"And oh my, that prince!"
>Mrs Cake's hoof seemed to exert a little more force on the head in her lap, her hips beginning to grind of their own accord while she gave a far off look.
>"I never imagined he'd actually say yes when we made an offer, and certainly never imagined he would-"
>A bit hit the table, hard.
>The bakers wife didn't seem to mind when she saw the look her husband gave her, or the friend of his poking up over the edge.
>She just dutifully took it and dipped her head down, slurping the tip into her mouth with practiced precision and bobbing her head against her favorite treat.
>Coincidentally, her sideways angle also gave him a much better view of her own oral enjoyment, and the sight of a long pink tongue dancing inside of his wife was enough to make him nearly blow it all right there.
>"Good memories, I suppose?"
>Filthy Rich smiled in that same easy and kind smile he always did, not a hint of sarcasm in his voice.
>Carrot smiled back, a much more lecherous smile, and pushed his bits forwards without ever tearing his eyes away from the two mares beside him.
>"It was a wonderful time. Though, I will admit, I didn't think he would be so dominant. I couldn't sit down for days! I swear he forgot I wasn't a mare by the end of it!"
>"Still though, bedding a prince? Lucky lucky!"
>"Did Cadence join in?"
>The sickly sweet, almost mocking way that Spoiled Rich asked made it clear she knew the answer, and the hint of bitterness in her voice made it clear the previous conversation had left an unseen effect.
>"Well... no, of course not."
"Why not?"
>A loud, bleating laugh came from the pink pony, one that was equal parts mocking and genuinely amused.
>"Deary, Princesses are, well, they're not allowed to do that with non-noble ponies."
"That sounds really weird. Who wouldn't wanna just go enjoy a quick time with yer' friends?"
>"Because that's what comes with being im-por-tant. You only get royalty for your tastes."
>Spoiled Rich's sneer added just the right amount of mocking to her venomous words.
>"Common ponies like us could never, ever, ever-"
>A loud, muffled noise filled the room, the whole table shook for a moment and blue legs spasmed wildly as they stuck in the air before slowly, all three gradually went away, and a loud gulp filled the room .
>"Aaaactualllly."
>It was something quite impressive to see color drain from a furred face.
>Even more impressive was the look of scandal as Applejack slowly rose back into her seat with a wet, and quite wild grin.
>"You're lying."
>The smug look made it clear she absolutely was not.
>"Well, ya' see, Ah' helped save the Crystal Empire quite some time ago, whole big thing with Sombra, ya' probably heard the gist. Anyway, afterwards, those two were just so dang happy with us that they took all seven of us... yeah, Spike too. They took all seven of us to this biiiiig bedroom, and both of them got ta' work makin' sure they knew we were very, very appreciated, so that there princess of love helped me onto that stud, and then she got down, and reallly slow, and fer' the record... that's who Ah've been practicing with."
>The baker couldn't take any more, if his deep groan and the gargling noise from his wife was any indication.
>"What'cha got to say to that?"
>The pink, furious pony huffed.
>"You're out, Carrot."
>"...Wha? OH NO!"
>So caught up in the 'fun', he hadn't even noticed he'd been pushing all of his bits forwards until it was too late.
>"Honey!"
>His wife shot up, a scolding look on her face.
>"We were supposed to win this one so Pound could go to flight school next year!"
>"I'm sorry! I was distracted! You're just so good at this!"
>"That was all of our extra savings! You weren't supposed to get beneath a hundred bits, you promised! This was your idea and you promised me!"
>His ears fell back, genuinely sorry.
>"You silly thing! Now we're going to be broke for a week even if I do leave now!"
>She bopped him so hard it left a tiny red point on his square nose.
>"Flight school huh? Well then... why don't we give her a chance to win it all back, Applejack?"
>Something was wicked in the smirk of the wealthy mare as she pushed just the right amount of bits forwards, the exact amount that Cup had left. It wasn't even half of Spoiled's pile, and low enough that even if Applejack moved forwards to match her it would not deplete her own pile. Not completely, at least.
>"Oh, thank you deary!"
>Cup moved her bits forwards as soon as more came from the other side, making quite the large pot now stacked in the center.
>Quite a lot.
>Applebloom could feel her heart race looking at that pot, her mind racing with all it could buy her. She didn't have enough to buy into the pot right now, she was just a little shy and if she lost it was all over.
>But there was a certain chip.
>"In fact, why don't we add just a bit more..."
>The table went silent as Spoiled moved quite a bit more forwards. Just enough that it would match Applejack, and one bit more. And just enough it completely broke Cup Cake.
>"But... I don't have anymore bits, and the extras won't match it."
>Spoiled didn't say it. She didn't need to.
>"...Honey? Should we risk it?"
>He looked unsure.
>"It is a rather big risk."
>"I know... it's sort of fun!"
>A strange smile crossed Cups face.
>"It's so... tempting just for the risk, isn't it? All or nothing! One last chance!"
>"I'm the one who got us into this mess, betting our extra funds, so telling you not to risk something would be unfair..."
>"And I suppose, if I lose, a week wouldn't be too bad... I'm going to do it"
>She picked up her chip, and laid it down.
>Strangely, Spoiled didn't move anything else forwards.
"Ain't ya' gonna match her?"
>She rolled her eyes, clearly annoyed at even being asked.
>"When you use it to call, it only reaches the roof of the bet. It's a stop-gap, you little... ahem, filly. It's so I can't just push in enough to out call every bet every time. Because some ponies think having too much money is unfair!"
>She pointed her glare to her side.
>"This also means that if a certain someone doesn't want to risk their money but five hundred isn't enough..."
>She eyed Applebloom's minuscule pile, her lips curling much like a serpents would.
>Applebloom felt her heart race at the insinuation. There was a lot of bits there, more money than she'd ever had in her whole life. The risk alone was quite tempting, quite fun just to think about. Risking it all on one last game, win or lose.
>Isn't that what poker was? The risk of it all, down to luck on your side good or ill?
>Her hoof began to rise.
"OW!"
>Only to be flicked in the ear.
>Her sister's glare said it all.
>"Well, Applejack? Call?"
>A harsh glare that did not wither when she turned it to the smirking, coy mare sitting across the table.
>"...pass."
>Whatever had been blooming in Applebloom at that moment fell away from hearing her sister back down.
>She never, ever backed down, especially not to Spoiled Rich.
>"Hrmph, coward."
>Especially not after that.
>But she never moved her hoof.
>"Alright, dearie! Let's see what you've got! Win or lose, all on the line, let's do this!"
>Three sets of cards were shuffled, flicking out to all the players across the table.
>"You can do it, honey!"
>"Let's do it happycake!"
>Spoiled Rich peeked at her cards, and smirked.
>"Well, that's a pity.... for you. I hope you have something rather high for this match, otherwise..."
>Cup Cake began to sweat at little when she saw the cards.
>"...Playing as is!"
>Spoiled Rich's poker face smirk never wavered, even as she laid down two cards.
>"You sure you don't want to back out now? This is your last chance. I'm only being nice to you this once because I would love, just love, to see the look on your face when you realize how hard you would lose."
>Cup Cake began to sweat, her hooves shook.
>"Last chance, pull back everything else but the big chip... and I'll allow it. Only if you say 'pretty pretty please don't beat me.'"
>But, somehow still.
>"Alright... here goes! Eeeee!"
>Two pairs, jacks over tens, that's it. That's what the baker threw down. All she had, a mere two pair.
>"...well damn."
>Spoiled Rich sighed when she laid down a complete bust of a draw, nothing but random numbers and shapes.
>"WE DID IT!"
>"OH MY GOODNESS GRACIOUS GOLLY WE DID IT!"
>"WE DIIIIID IT WE DIIIIID IT!"
>The pair chanted, and Applebloom felt a bit of anger roll up in her chest for her sister's actions. She could have beaten that crappy hoof, easily. She could have won it all had Applejack not held her back. She could be the one dancing had she only told her sister to back off and let her play. She could be the one smiling.
>"Ahem."
>Like... Spoiled Rich?
>She was smiling much too wide, and holding onto the hoof that had reached for those bits much too tightly.
>"I do believe... you've forgotten something?"
>She reached out to her side, and grabbed another set of cards.
>The ones her husband had been subtly trying to sneak away this whole time.
>He smiled sheepishly when she flipped them over, and revealed three smiling kings.
>"...I win, I suppose?"
>The whole table looked down to the chip, back up to Cup Cake, and then slowly over to the awkwardly smiling stallion.
"Well shucks."