Derpy took the precaution of turning invisible before travelling to Earth, as she knew that Karyn wouldn’t be in her dorm room that Sunday. She made a mental note to talk to one of the unicorns about changing the destination of the spell, but didn’t give it top priority, since she’d be back in a few months anyway. The window was left open and she took off in the direction she’d memorized.

When she arrived at Karyn’s house, the room there was just as empty, but Derpy could hear voices downstairs and concluded that she was with her parents. Derpy sat and twiddled her hooves for a few minutes, then Karyn came up.

Derpy concluded that they would have to set up some protocol to deal with the fact that Karyn wasn’t living alone anymore, but in the interim she’d make do. Once she was sure they were alone, she appeared before Karyn.

“Hey, K. What’s going on?” she said.

“Ugh,” said Karyn. “Am I glad to see you. The folks are driving me bonkers.”

“How?”

“They’re going on this day trip on a boat and they’re guilt-tripping me into coming.”

“Is it a day trip or a guilt trip?” Derpy asked.

“It’s one or the other for me.”

“Why don’t you want to go? A boat sounds like fun. It’s been a long time since I’ve been on the water.”

Karyn grabbed a bottle of sunscreen and threw it into her purse. “Because it’s not that kind of a boat trip. Heck, I probably don’t even need this sunblock. All they do is sail three miles out until they’re in international waters, then everyone plays slot machines all day. Boring as all get out, and the noise is just awful. Not to mention that it’s costing me time I could be spending with you.”

Derpy smiled and nodded. “I didn’t get most of that, but it will be too bad if we don’t get to spend the day together. Is it going to be like this every week?”

“I’m hoping not. I’m nineteen years old, my parents have got to allow me some independence. I’ll just start making plans ahead of time so I’m not stuck with them.”

“But we’re still out today.”

Karyn sighed and collapsed backward onto the bed. “Yeah.”

A moment later, Derpy said, “What was that noise?”

“What noise?”

“There, that noise.”

Karyn picked her head up. “Oh, that’s just the train. The crossing is about three miles away. You’ll hear it every hour.”

“You didn’t hear it?” asked Derpy.

“I heard it, I just didn’t notice it. I’ve lived around it so long. To tell the truth, when I went off to school, I slept worse because I kept noticing the silence.”

“It’s a much different whistle from Equestrian trains.”

Karyn flopped back down. “Yeah, I’ll bet. We said we were going to take a trip on one, didn’t we. That’s what I wish I were doing today. Forget the boat and the water. A long train trip through Equestria is just what I need!”

“Well, that might be a bit complicated.”

“Never you mind. Let’s go right now! Come on, whip out the spell and let’s blow this universe!”

Derpy was taken aback. Karyn had never suggested going to Equestria herself. Derpy assumed that, in her despair, she had forgotten that it would not be an escape. “You do remember that it won’t get you out of the boat trip, right? We’re going to come back right at the same time,” she said.

“Of course I know that. No, I wouldn’t leave my parents wondering where I was all day. I’m not a sadist. But if I’ve just spent a day of fun and sightseeing in Equestria, I know that I’ll be able to go placidly amidst the noise and haste and endure through the whole thing.”

“I guess, but there’s still the problem of—“

“No buts,” Karyn said. “No problems. Magic. Now.”

“All right, if you say so.”

Karyn practically flew off the bed and onto Derpy’s back. As they were about to leave, Karyn’s mother called up from downstairs, “Are you coming?!”

“In a minute, Mom!” she called, then said under her breath, “A minute, several hours, and the length of two universes from now. Go, Derpy!”

Hesitantly, Derpy activated the spell. Karyn was not even fazed as she usually was by the jump from ground to air. “Awesome! Now, take us down and toward the station!”

“OK, but there’s still the hitch—“

“Nothing to worry about, I’m sure.”

She must really want to get away from her parents. thought Derpy. She landed and let Karyn walk with her to the edge of town. When they reached the station, Karyn quickened her pace and marched right up to the window. “OK, Derpy. Get us two tickets to nowhere!”

Derpy pointed at the board.

“Yeah, so?” asked Karyn.

“You see how much they cost?”

“Is that a lot?”

Derpy sighed. “Yeah, Karyn. That’s a lot. A lot more than I’ve got on me, or can reasonably afford!”

“How come tickets are so much? I see ponies taking the train all the time!”

“That’s how. Tourist tickets like the ones we want cost a lot more than the ones for ponies who need to get somewhere. Let’s say you’ve really got to get to Canterlot because somepony you know is sick. You don’t want to have to pay the full fare when you’re going to need all your bits to take care of the friend when you get there. But everypony loves to ride the trains just for the fun of it, so the train makes enough.”

Karyn looked skeptical. “Don’t ponies take advantage of that?”

“No. Would you lie about having to do something urgent just to get a ticket at a lower price, miss out on all the amenities, and then not enjoy yourself because you’re feeling guilty?”

“I see your point.”

Derpy could see the disappointment in Karyn’s face, and she started trotting toward her house. She didn’t really want to disappoint her, but neither could she break her bank just for a fun outing. She would just have to make it up by having some inexpensive fun at home.

As if to mock them, just then a train whistle was heard in the distance. The express pulled into the station, and Karyn watched as all the ponies descended to the platform. Derpy wanted to drag her away rather than have her see it, but Karyn seemed fixed.

Near the back of the train was an elegant private car, from which an amber pony with moneybags for a cutie mark emerged. Karyn looked at him and said to Derpy, “I know that guy! He’s Silver Spoon’s father!”

“Diamond Tiara’s,” Derpy said.

“Right, what’s his name? Lotta Money or something?”

“Filthy Rich.”

“That’s it!” said Karyn. “He owns the Pony Mart.”

“Barnyard Bargains.”

“Yeah, you got it. I bet he never has trouble paying for the train.”

Derpy put a hoof on her shoulder. “Don’t beat yourself up over it, Karyn. Yeah, we’d all like to be wealthy, but unless you’re the type who likes to work their tail off all day and all night for a long time to get it, it’s not going to happen.

Karyn finally turned away from the station. “Yeah, it’s just not in the cards.”

“Not in the what, now?”

“The cards. You know, it’s an expression,” Karyn said.

Derpy looked confused. “I know index cards and place cards and greeting cards.”

“I’m talking about playing cards.”

“How do you play with cards?”

Karyn stopped in her tracks. The first parts of a plan were forming in her head. “Are you saying that you don’t have card games here in Equestria?”

“Not that I’ve ever heard of.”

Karyn was now openly snickering. “That should give us just the advantage we need. Now, let’s see, we’ll need to find a deck of some kind. You said you have index cards, right? Would you happen to have, say, fifty-two?”

“I’ve got a pack of fifty at home,” said Derpy.

“Two short. Well, we can pick up those at the store. Speaking of which: Mr. Rich!”

The merchant heard his name and looked around to see who was calling. “Well, what have we here? A human, I believe?”

“That’s right, Mr. Rich. Are you terribly busy right now?”

“Actually, I am. You know that I’m rather an important pony.”

“Too busy to listen to an opportunity to make money?”

“Never too busy for that.”

Derpy listened to this conversation, then grabbed Karyn and pulled her aside. “What are you doing? Not that I don’t trust you, but Filthy Rich is a tough customer. You don’t want to mess with him”

Karyn whispered, “Listen, we need money, he’s got money. We just need to convince him to give it to us. If what you’re saying is true, the way to do that is in a poker game.”

“Oh, this is not going to end well. OK, explain that to me.”

“Well, let’s get the cards first. Then I’ll explain it to everypony.”

They returned to Filthy Rich, and Karyn explained that there was a game of chance where he could win money. That worked on him like the music of the Pied Piper, and he was only too happy to follow them to his store. Once there, Karyn took a pack of index cards and a marker and started crafting a deck.

“Now, the idea is that each card is unique, and has a rank and a suit.”

Derpy opened her mouth to say something, and Karyn realized that there were an awful lot of opportunities for her to misinterpret something. She would be looking for suits of clothes, jacks that would lift wagons, and dance clubs. Karyn was particularly worried about explaining the concept of a flush. She kept on explaining the concepts to both of them, not particularly worried if they completely understood. Her purpose, after all, was to play a game she could win.

“It’s quite a concept you have there,” said Filthy. “and I’m sure there would be ponies who would buy this if I could popularize it.”

“Of course there are,” said Karyn. “You just have to see how fun it is. Would you like to play a few rounds?”

Again, Derpy conferred with Karyn. “Are you sure this is going to work? He has just as much chance of winning as we do.”

“No, he doesn’t. We’ll have two chances to every one of his, since there’s two of us.”

“Ah! Got it, so the more the better. Hey, Twilight! Want to play poker with us?”

Twilight Sparkle had come in to the store to restock her supply of scrolls. She found it useful to buy them in bulk. When she heard Derpy ask, she trotted over. “What’s that?”

“It’s a game that Karyn’s showing us. It’s supposed to be super fun, and you can win money!”

“Derpy!” Karyn said out of the side of her mouth, “It’s only better to have more if they’re on our side. Twilight’s going to skew the whole thing!”

“Well, it will be more fun.”

“I suppose.”

Karyn explained the concepts again, and Twilight looked confused until everything connected and she smiled. “Ah!” she said “It’s all about probability. The most likely combinations score less than the unlikely ones.”

“Essentially yes,” said Karyn. “So let’s set up a table and four places. Derpy, if you can split your bits between us, and we’ll go against Mr. Rich and Twilight.”

They went into a back room of the store and set up a card table. Karyn shuffled the cards. “Now, there are several ways of paying the game. This one is the most popular on Earth right now. I’ll give each of you two cards. Look at them but don’t show anypony.”

The cards were dealt. Karyn picked up hers with her hands. Twilight used magic. Filthy was able to use his hooves. But Derpy had a lot of trouble finding out what her cards were. After a few minutes of trying to pick them up, she slid them along the table and peeked at them from below table level.

Karyn realized that, whatever skill or advantages she had, she and Derpy were still on the short stacks, and would quickly have to bet heavy less they lose by tiny cuts. On the third hand, with Twilight dealing, she found herself with a pair of kings, and put in everything she had. Twilight and Derpy folded, but Filthy called, considering that even if he lost he could afford to do so.

Karyn turned up her kings, and Filthy showed an ace and a queen. Karyn had quiet confidence, but an ace could spell doom. The three cards came up five, seven, and king.

“Yes!” Karyn said. “Three of a kind.” Her chances had gone way up. She grinned at Filthy and leaned back in her chair. And then Twilight flipped over a ten, and then a jack. Her jaw dropped.

“It’s. . . a straight. I’m out.” She collapsed back into her chair.

“What happened?” asked Derpy.

“It was just bad luck for me. You’ll have to play well and win it back.”

Derpy frowned, but returned to the game. She had some good luck, and doubled her money over the next few hands. That gave her renewed spirit, and she didn’t feel so desperate each bet. Karyn busied herself by getting drinks for the three remaining players.

Several more hands passed, and then Twilight looked like she got an idea. She looked at her cards and made a small bet. When both Derpy and Filthy called, Twilight waited for the three-card flop. When it came up with two jacks, she bet everything. Derpy would have had to match her, and she only had a ten and a queen, so she folded. Filthy had plenty of money, but folded as well. Twilight took the pot.

Karyn saw the tone of the game shift. Twilight was consistently betting heavier, and the other two folded much more often. Karyn concluded that Twilight was bluffing most of the time, but she couldn’t communicate it to Derpy.

Derpy was getting down to her last few bits, and she excused herself to use the toilet. Karyn said that she had to go as well. They conferred in the privacy of the cubicle.

“I don’t think we’re going on the train any time soon,” said Derpy.

“Could be, but luck can always turn. You’ve got to realize that Twilight is bluffing.”

“What’s that?”

“She’s pretending that she has good cards when she doesn’t, and betting accordingly.”

“You’re allowed to do that?!” asked Derpy.

“Yes, that’s the game!”

“Why did nopony tell me?”

“I thought you knew,” said Karyn. “I figured you’d be a natural to have a poker face.”

They returned to the table and Derpy prepared to play again. Twilight made one of her high bets, but this time Derpy called. After the last card was shown, it was Twilight who folded. Derpy had won a small pot.

The next hand, Twilight looked at her cards and asked Derpy how much money she had. She checked until the flop came out, then bet enough that Derpy would have to spend everything to call. Filthy dealt an ace, a four, and a two.

Derpy looked at Twilight’s eyes. “I think you’re bluffing,” she said.

Twilight said nothing, but she appeared to start sweating.

Derpy shoved all of her bits into the center and flipped up her cards. They were an ace and an eight. “A pair of aces!” she said.

Twilight said, “I have a pair of aces as well. And both of them are right here.” She turned the cards face up and Derpy’s face fell.

Filthy laughed. “Well, looks like it’s about to be one-on-one,” he said. He turned another card. It was an eight.

“It’s not over yet!” shouted Karyn. “If she gets another eight she’s got a full house. There’s still a chance!”

Karyn grabbed Derpy’s hoof in her hand and held tight. Filthy tried to put some drama into his delivery as he flipped the final card. Derpy saw the multitude of diamonds and her heart soared. Then she saw the nine in the corner.

Karyn and Derpy were broke.

“Ha ha!” Filthy cheered. “Oh, I do like this game! All right, Miss Twilight, it’s you and me now.”

Twilight looked at her own stack of bits and at Filthy’s. They were close to equal. She also looked at Derpy’s downtrodden face and Karyn’s, which didn’t display quite so much emotion. Still, she was clearly distraught.

“It certainly is. Let’s get back to it,” she said, dealing out a hand.

“We’ll get out of your way,” said Derpy. “There’s no reason for us to stick around.”

“No, please, do stay,” said Twilight. “I’d like you to at least see the end of the game.”

“We might as well,” said Karyn. “There’s not a whole lot else to do now.”

They sat back down and watched Twilight and Filthy play. Twilight had picked up more of the nuances of the game, but Filthy had an instinct for getting money to come in his direction. There were some exciting hands played. Derpy remarked to Karyn, “It’s really more exciting watching other ponies go at it than it was to play. Especially since I can’t lose any more money now.”

“A lot of humans would agree with you. Watching people play poker is a popular pastime. They even have cameras that tell you what each player’s hole cards are without letting the others know,” said Karyn.

“Ooh, that would make it more fun. Hey, can you two tell us what your cards are without letting each other know?”

“Not now, Derpy!” said Twilight. “This is intense competition.”

They played on for over an hour. Slowly, but steadily, Filthy’s bits found their way onto Twilight’s pile until she had three times as many as he did. But then he made a bold move.

After he dealt himself his two cards, he said, “I don’t even need to see the flop. I bet it all.”

Twilight floated her cards up to her eyes and held them there a long time. Then she said, “I think you must have something, but I’ve got to call you anyway. Because I’ve got a pair of aces!” She laid down the two black aces.

“Well, I’ll be dipped,” Filthy said. “So do I!” He flipped over the two red aces.

“I guess it’s a tie for this hand and we split the pot,” said Twilight.

“Right,” said Filthy, but as he was already drawing the three cards, he turned them over. They were three diamonds. “Oh ho! Maybe it’s not a tie!”

The next card was a club, but the final card was the seven of diamonds, and Twilight gave a wan smile. “Nice round,” she said.

“You bet it was!” he said. Twilight shuffled and dealt the next hand. “And this one’s just as good. All of it! Again!”

Derpy and Karyn whispered to each other.

“Don’t you think he’s getting a bit overconfident?” asked Derpy.

“Definitely. I hope Twilight takes him to school.”

“Really? I think she should stay here and beat him in poker.”

Karyn slapped her forehead. “All my hard work to get you to understand poker terminology, and I still can’t win.”

Twilight called Filthy’s bet, and he showed his pair of kings. Twilight showed an ace and a jack.

“I’ve got a pair already, and you have nothing!” Filthy said. “It’s in the bag!”

“Not really. I’ve still got about a three in ten chance of winning,” said Twilight.

“How could she figure that out so fast?” whispered Karyn.

“Dunno,” Derpy said, “but she’s pretty smart.”

Twilight dealt the three face-up cards, none of which was higher than seven. “All right, now I’m a little worried,” she said. But then she dealt an ace.

It sounded as if Filthy was choking, even though he hadn’t eaten or drunk anything. Twilight, all business, said, “You still have a small chance. About one in twenty of getting one of the last two kings.”

She flipped the last card, which was a two.

“But it didn’t work out,” Twilight said. “Good game, all of you.”

“No!” cried Filthy. “It can’t end like this! We’ll keep playing. I’ll put up more. I’ll put up. . . Barnyard Bargains!”

“You’re really willing to wager your store on one hand of cards?” asked Derpy.

“Yes!”

“No,” said Twilight. “but I will make you a counteroffer. I’ll put up everything I won from you if you win. If I win, though, you give me the exclusive rights to sell playing cards in Equestria.”

Filthy thought about that for a moment, then agreed. Twilight dealt all the cards face-up. It was no contest. Filthy got a two and a seven, and Twilight a king and a ten, both of which were paired on the flop. The last two cards matched nothing.

“And that really is the last hand,” she said.

“All right,” said Filthy, “but when you do start making cards, I hope you’ll let me carry them here. We can make a fortune together!”

“Oh, I have no intention of making these cards. In fact, now that I’ve got all the rights to them, I’m going to destroy this deck and tell nopony about them.”

“What?!” all three of the others said.

“That’s right,” said Twilight. “Granted that Filthy isn’t the most popular pony in town, I still don’t want to see him suffer. And Derpy shouldn’t lose the money she saved up just because of the way the cards fall. No, we’re all definitely better off if we don’t have these.”

“Works for me,” said Derpy.

“I guess,” said Karyn.

“Come on, girls,” said Twilight. “I’ll buy you ice cream, since I’m so flush with cash.”

They all went to the ice cream parlor and sat down. Karyn had to admit that there was much more bonhomie and less tension when they weren’t playing.

“So what possessed you to bring that awful game up?” asked Twilight.

“We just really needed a way to make money fast,” said Derpy.

“It’s my fault,” said Karyn. “I wanted to ride the train so badly, I got a little desperate. It won’t happen again.”

“It’s all right,” said Twilight. She took a bite of her sundae. “You know, technically, I don’t have all the rights to playing cards in Equestria. You know about them too, Derpy.”

“Huh?”

“Would you be willing to sell out for, say, the cost of two train tickets?”

Derpy bit her own banana split. “First class?”

Twilight laughed. “You drive a hard bargain, but it’s a deal!”

Karyn brightened. “Really, Twilight? After what I did?”

“Uh-huh. Next time, just ask if you want something. It can be a lot easier than going for some crazy scheme.”

Derpy said, “Maybe you should just have asked your folks if you could have skipped the boat trip.”

“I guess so,” said Karyn. “I sure learned something today. Maybe I should write Princess Celestia about it. Or, wait! I could show you guys e-mail!”

Derpy and Twilight looked at each other. “Here we go again!” they said.

Author's Notes:

Preview of Chapter 16!

Karyn got out of the van, Bluetooth in place, and looked around nervously.

“Are you sure I can’t go with you?” Derpy asked.

“Honestly? I’m afraid to let you in the building.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Well, Derpy,” she said, pointing, “there’s the big city. What do you think?”

Derpy said nothing for a moment. She was drinking in the brownstones, the el train, and, off in the distance, the skyscrapers.

“It looks like a good skeleton for a city like Canterlot. The castles are there, they just need all the decorations. And the whole thing could use a good scrubbing,” she said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Derpy whispered into Karyn’s ear. “There’s so much going on here. Is this all for us ponies?”

“Heh, no. It’s Friday afternoon, and it’s rush hour. All this hustle is still people working,” said Karyn. “It’s always fun when you’re on vacation and everyone else isn’t. Everything is busy, but you have the time to take it slow.”

“I guess,” said Derpy. “I think it’s always good to take it slow.”

Be sure to read that one, too!