“There are very few decisions that one makes in life that grow to define them for the rest of their lives,” Cloud Burn grinned, “And this is one of them.”

“Ugh, don’t be so melodramatic,” Hyacinth said, “It’s poker not marriage.”

“What’s your obsession with marriage?” Cloud Burn replied.

“I’m not obsessed with it!” Hyacinth replied blushing.

Ruby Rose grinned, “Sure you aren’t. All those Ballroom Blitz posters of Golden Lyric say otherwise.”

Cypress Black laughed, “Isn’t that that colt band you said you no longer liked?”

Hyacinth blushed, “Shut up.”

“What?” Cypress asked, “It wasn’t like I said you were in love with them or anything.”

Ruby and Spirited Shield both snickered.

Sentinel Eyes grinned, “Looks like you didn’t need to say anything at all.”

Hyacinth turned, “Girls?!”

Seven ponies sat around a circular table. One, a unicorn, had a white coat with a sapphire blue mane. His mark was of a castle turret crossed by a long rifle; Sentinel Eyes. Another was an earth pony mare with a butterscotch coat and a ruby red mane with streaks of silver running through it. Her mark was of a diamond and a ruby with a bed of vines cradling them; Ruby Rose. The third was an earth pony with a pure white coat and a midnight blue main with specks of white checkered throughout. Her mark was of a silvery shield with two revolvers crossing it; Spirited Shield. The fourth was a pegasus with a silver coat and a pink mane blown back by the wind. Her mark was of a rose with a pair of dove wings behind it; Hyacinth. The fifth was a pegasus with a fiery orange mane and a baby blue coat. He had a mark that was a storm cloud with two lightning bolts emanating from it; Cloud Burn.

The last two ponies were unicorns. One was a stallion with a windswept jet black mane with a pure white coat. His mark was of a stylized phoenix with outstretched wings formed to fit and match the inside of a Dragon’s Eye; Cypress Black. The second was a filly several a few years younger than the other six ponies. She had her brother’s white coat but sported a crystal blue mane. She was without a mark; Andromeda Nights.

The seven of them all had five cards in their hooves, wings or magic as they sat around the table.

“Heh, heh,” Cloud Burn laughed.

“Shut up butt head,” Hyacinth frowned, “Can we get back to the game?”

Cypress blinked, “Cloud Burn?”

The pegasus stopped his laughter, “What?”

“It’s your bet.”

“Oh, uh, I raise fifty.”

Spirit sighed and dropped her cards, “Buck, I fold.”

Sentinel glanced down at his cards, “I fold too.”

Ruby grinned and pushed in a stack of chips, “I match your fifty, and raise you a hundred.”

“Alright,” Hyacinth grinned, “I’m in. Cypress?”

“Buck that! I fold,” he replied.

Andromeda frowned, “Nope. I fold.”

Hyacinth and Ruby grinned at Cloud Burn, “Well?”

Cloud Burn grinned, “You think you girls are gonna get the best of me?”

Hyacinth laughed, “Yeah.”

“Alright,” he nodded, “I’ll match your fifty and your hundred and raise you all two hundred.”

“Two hundred?!” Ruby gapped.

“Yeah. You in?”

“No buck that! I’m out,” she said dropping her cards.

“You, Hyacinth?”

Hyacinth grinned, “I’m in.”

“Heh, heh. You think you got me don’t you?”

“Yeah,” she grinned.

“Well you don’t,” he declared, “Not even the magic of the princesses will change the cards in your hooves. You’re bluffing and now all your chips are belong to us!”

“You really think so?”

“Yeah, now show ‘em!”

He dropped his cards: three aces and two queens.

“Wrong again, airhead,” Hyacinth laughed and dropped her cards: four sevens and an ace.

“Well, uh,” Cloud Burn frowned, “Hmm.”

“So I believe under the circumstances,” Hyacinth laughed and pulled the massive pile of chips towards her, “Maybe you’ll have the chance to get this all back next time!”

Cloud Burn frowned, “Next time?!”

“Yeah, sorry about that but we’ve gotta be going,” Cypress said standing up. Andromeda followed him.

“Come on, just one more hand!”

Sentinel rolled his eyes, “It was ‘one more hand’ five hands ago.”

“Yeah, and besides, I have to get up early tomorrow,” Spirit yawned.

“I have to pack tomorrow,” Ruby said standing up as well.

“Where are you going?” Cloud Burn asked.

“Away, remember? Manehatten?”

“Ugh,” Cloud Burn said dropping his head to the table, “Why do you all have to leave so early?”

“Hey, don’t be sad,” Hyacinth said patting him on the back, “You’ll still be around for another two weeks so I can still clean you out.”

“Ugh no! You’re not getting any more out of me you siren!”

Hyacinth laughed, “See ya round, airhead.”

With one last jab she trotted up the stairs and out of the basement.

“Bye, bye Spitfire Jr,” Ruby said kissing him on the cheek before following Hyacinth.

“Don’t worry,” Sentinel said pulling the downtrodden Cloud Burn to his hooves and hugging him, “We’ll come visit.”

“And then you can do four minute miles with us,” Spirit grinned. Sentinel moved to stand with her.

Cloud Burn smiled sadly, “I think I’ll pass on that.”

She patted his shoulder, “Catch you on the downlow, Jr.”

The two of them trotted up the stairs after Ruby.

Cloud Burn turned, “I suppose you two have to leave too?”

“Yeah, sorry,” Cypress smiled sadly before glancing at his sister, “Gotta get this one to bed.”

“Ugh, fine.”

“Hey, don’t be sad, it’s only temporary,” he said comforting his friend.

“I know, I know, it’s just… don’t tell any of the girls this alright?”

“Cross my heart and hope to die.”

“Don’t do that! If you died then I’d be really bummed!”

“Relax I’m not going anywhere. So what’d you wanna say?”

He sighed, “I’m really gonna miss you guys. Even the girls.”

“Don’t be too sad about it. We’ll be back for the holidays. We all will.”

He smiled sadly, “Promise we all won’t grow apart?”

“Promise.”

“And tell the others, when we all reconvene here, I expect to need a bigger table and more chips and another deck of cards.”

Cypress grinned, “Count on it.”

“I will.”

Cypress gave him a hug, “See ya round buddy.”

“See ya,” he said before glancing at Andromeda, “And you too little missy.”

“Hey I’m not little!” Andromeda fumed, “I’m only three years younger than you!”

“And you still have three years of school left which starts next week,” Cypress replied, “You need to get used to waking up early again.”

“So?”

“Which means it’s passed your bed time little missy.”

“Uggh,” she groaned.

Cloud Burn laughed, “Go on, and get out of here. I’ll be here when you all return.”

“You’re going somewhere too. So don’t you mean Hyacinth will be here when we return?”

“I get back first.”

“Alright I’ll let you have this one.”

“Good,” he smiled, “See you on the other side mate.”

“Until next time,” Cypress grinned back.

With one last hug the brother and sister ascended the stairs out of the basement and headed for the front door. Once outside they closed the door behind them and started walking. It was already night and moon was low in the sky. They walked down the road out of the center of town and towards their home.

“Hey brother?” Andromeda asked.

“Yeah?” Cypress replied.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure. What’s on your mind?” he turned.

“You all… you all seemed so… sad. But happy at the same time! I’m… I suppose I am confused.”

Cypress sighed, “Rightfully so.”

“I mean… We’re going to just keep doing this every summer right? And on holiday vacations. You should all be happy but… during the game you all seemed so sad.”

Cypress laughed, “You only just joined us this year, Andy. We were doing this for years, every Friday night, even during the school year. But…”

“But what?”

“Now it’s… I can’t say it’s ending but it won’t be the same,” he said staring at the sky. He continued staring towards at the constellations before his head dipped down to the mountain ranges to the south. Just barely peeking over them was a faint glow.

“Brother?” Andromeda asked.

“I suppose it’s nights and occasions like this that mark… transition periods in our lives.”

“Transition periods?”

“Yes. Like… on your door frame you have those height markers. Of how tall you were when you said your first word, when you lost your first tooth, when you first started using magic, when you began school… things like that denote the passage of time.”

“The passage of time?”

“Yes.”

“So you were like this during the end of school last year as well?”

He gave a sad laugh, “No I can’t say we were. See it’s times like these that are different, Andromeda.”

“Different?”

“When you reach, uh… milestones in life like this, when you make another mark on the proverbial door frame, it marks the passage of time but also… it makes us aware of it as well.”

“Aware of it? How so?”

“These transition periods in our lives, where things change, the make us aware that this period in our lives is over, and all those years we spent sitting around the card table won’t happen again; at least, not for a while now anyway. The remind us of what has come to pass and what is still to come.”

“They do?”

“Yes, for example, all of us have been an integral part of each other’s lives for well over a decade and now… things are changing and we won’t be able to… relive those days like we used to. I mean…. Gosh, Sentinel and Spirit are both going to the Crystal Empire with the guard, Cloud Burn is going to the weather academy in Cloudsdale, Ruby’s moving out the Manehatten to mentor under Photo Finish, Hyacinth is taking over her parent’s flower shop here…”

“And you’re going to Canterlot to study magic.”

Cypress laughed, “And yes, I’m moving away to Canterlot. It’s nights like these that really hit home. They… they remind us of our mortality and how ever closer we are to the end. They make us reflect about what we’ve experienced and what we have yet to experience.”

“But aren’t you happy? I mean, you’re going off to a new place to meet new ponies and do new things. Isn’t that exciting? I mean… I’m almost jealous,” Andromeda said frowning.

Cypress laughed, “You just wait. In three years’ time you’ll be saying good-bye to all your friends as you all go off to experience new things. The future comes a lot sooner than you think.”

“I guess. But aren’t you happy still?”

“Of course I’m happy. I’m bloody excited! But… I can’t help but recognize the absence of their presence in my life. An empty hole in my life. I mean, I’m very happy for me and for them! We’re all going off to new experiences and to a new stage in our lives but… like Cloud Burn I will miss them.”

“So that is why you all seemed so sad?”

“Yeah, I guess it was. It was our last night together and yet I couldn’t help but be… nostalgic for something I hadn’t even lost yet.”

“Because you… you recognized that it was your last night together? And that you were all leaving?”

“Yes,” Cypress smiled, “That’s exactly it.”

The pair approached their house. The lights were off upstairs, signifying their parents were still asleep. They stepped inside the home and Cypress turned on the lights and walked to the kitchen. He opened up the fridge and removed a bottle of carbonated apple juice.

“Want a glass?” Cypress asked.

“That’s for tomorrow though.”

“I think we can make an exception for tonight. Just the two of us.”

She gave a small grin, “Alright brother.”

He floated over two wine glasses, “There, now we act like grown-ups.”

Andromeda laughed as he poured them both a cup. He capped the bottle and stared at into the amber liquid.

“You never know what’s over the horizon…” Cypress said staring into the glass.

“Hmm?”

He looked up, “I suppose that we were also sad because we tend to find comfort in the familiar, comfort in the past. But now that we’re going off to the future, to explore new worlds so to speak… it’s uncomfortable for us. That’s why the transition is uncomfortable for all of us. Not just that we’re all leaving each other but… the changes of life are finally ours to experience.”

“But… change is good right?”

“Well it can be good and bad but… in this case, for all of us, I would say that while we’re going to be different ponies when we next see each other again… it will be for the best. Some of the greatest things in life come out of change and I suppose I can’t deny myself that right or experience because of a little cold hooves. Right?”

“Right.”

Cypress raised his glass, “Want to make a toast?”

“A toast? Sure.”

Cypress stared at his glass before turning back to Andromeda, “To the future.”

Andromeda stared at her glass and cocked her head before smiling and looking up, “To new worlds, brother.”

Cypress smiled and clinked their glasses together, “To new worlds.”

Author's Notes:

College begins one day from the day this was published for me. I was feeling nostalgic so I decided to use it.