Intro (Formalities)

Many moons after Twilight's departure from Canterlot to Ponyville, her old castle was abandoned. In spite of the windows shone by the bright light of Luna's moon, the widened rooms were surrounded by book shelves. The ambiance filling the structure was struck with sounds of creaking floors and dust flying almost everywhere. Now the old castle became an fancy housing and leisure inn. The building was finally fixed to perfection by several paid construction workers, who then spent their nights inside afterwards. The inside resembled a fancy tavern and lounge, filled with improved furniture and sparkling clean glass tables. The first floors consisted of a spa center, a casino, and a bar room, while the miniature sections became rooms for guests to stay in. On special occasions, the inn would hold random events, which would consist of parties, which provides entertainment by local and outside jazz bands, while the tavern plays soft house music for regular hours. Since then, the business of the inn was a decent success.

As Celestia's sun slowly sets downward for Luna's moon to rise, four mares made their way to the inn, dressed in gala-like attire. Each of them brought with them a sack of bits.

One of them was Suri Polomare, a knitters' league professional who made it to a big city. She wears a purple glistening fabric dress, in which she made after 'borrowing' it from Rarity at a recent fashion week event not so long ago; She still has plenty of it left. The second one was Maud Pie, a rock farmer and one of Pinkie Pie's three sisters. Despite her major enthusiasm of rocks, she holds a face of non-emotion, which resembles her own states of emotion unlike her pink party sister. She wears a silver night dress filled with several sparkling sequins on either side.

The third is Ms. Harshwinny, formerly a head of the Equestria Games events. Her posh attitude and authority can plant fear into a filly's eyes. She wears a white blouse and a long purple-striped skirt. The fourth mare is none other than the Applebuck Ace of Sweet Apple Acres-Applejack. Her Element of Honesty is what resembles her strength in heart as well as mind, but her luck can be tested. In spite of her trusty hat not present, she wears her hair in a long ponytail, along with a black sleek dress with a leg line cut and orange heels.

"Well, hello ladies." A bellhop greeted after opening the door. "Welcome to the Canterlot Lounge. Please come in."

"And I believe you will be the one leading us to the game, dear?" Suri asked before extending her hand to the bellhop, in which he led her and the other mares inside. He shows his gentleman-like charm to them before bowing.

"Yes, of course." the bellhop answered politely. "You are expected. Please follow me."

As the bellhop turned to walk, the four mares followed. As they walked, they were fascinated by the structure and classy atmosphere. Their eyes were fixated on how the lights slightly dim some of the rooms, including the spa and tavern. After taking in the sights, they turned to the bellhop. He shows them the casino room.

"Well, ah'll be!" Applejack glared as she sees the room. "Now, ah may not be a gamblin' mare, but this place looks prettier than the Great Gallopin' Gala itself!

No doubt about it, madam." the bellhop nodded at the statement. "The place was made to sweet perfection, and it makes guaranteed excellent business, but wait till you see the card room."

He, along with the four mares, approached a wood-polished door before knocking on it. As it opens, he sees a posh colt, wearing a British-style suit.

"Ah! There you are, ol' chap." said the colt. "We have been expecting you. And you brought some guests. Well, come on in then."

As the bellhop introduced their names, Applejack greeted with a slight howdy, while Maud greeted with a short nod. Ms. Harshwinny proudly bowed while Suri winked and giggled.

"These four beautiful ladies are here for the game." he stated before turning to them. "This is Fancy Pants and Fleur De Lis, Canterlot's very own rich couple, and your host for tonight."

Once the mares said their hellos to the couple, the bellhop bids everyone adieu before exiting the room. Fancy Pants straightened his tie and sat on the dealer chair. He then starts to shuffle a deck of cards with his magic.

"First things first, ladies," He announced. "The buy-in is twenty-thousand bits, if you please."

The four mares brought out their sacks of bits and planted them to the table. Fancy then stops shuffling to carry the sacks with his horn to the couch beside Fleur De Lis. After carrying 4 sets of chips worth twenty-thousand bits and setting them to the table for each player. But before he can start the game, he has one last trick to show them. He uses his magic to change the table color to light blue while the words, 'Texas Hold 'em', 'Omaha', 'Five-card Draw', and 'Five-Card Stud' appear on it.

Fancy announces the rules. "This isn't just an ordinary game of poker, mind you. This is what I like to call, 'Ladies' Choice Poker'. We'll be playing in a series of four types of games, as you can see on this table. For each eliminated player, the game will be changed. And my wife and I will be alternating management of the table. And to ensure that no cheating in any way, shape, or form, will occur, my wife has established a magic spell that keeps watch in the case of any activity in the room. But, of course, we can guarantee that this room is one-hundred-percent cheat-proof, so there is no need to worry about that. A different player will be in control of choosing the game for the series. Standard rules apply for every game."

The last remaining player on the table is the winner of the series," Fleur added. "And will be entitled to an additional twenty-thousand bits, added to the full total of one hundred thousand bits in cash."

"Complementary services courtesy of our finest spa patrons, bartenders, and employees." Fancy announced before introducing the spa patron ponies from Ponyville, and three bartender ponies mixing drinks. They all took a bow and curtesy before going back to their positions.

"So, with that being said," Fancy said as picks up the shuffled deck. "The player at my left of the table will be starting us off. Mrs. Polomare, care to select the first game?"

Author's Notes:

I'll be writing the chapters with the best research I can soon enough. It will take a long time but patience and assistance are what I need. Thank you.

Five-Card Draw 1 (Blinds: 100-200)

Each of the four mares have twenty thousand bits worth of chips. Each stack is divided equally into four sections to equal twenty thousand, and are in different colors: Five hundred 'tens' in green, two hundred fifty 'twenties' in red, one hundred 'fifties' blue, and fifty 'one hundreds' in yellow.

Suri Polomare thought about what game to do first. "Let's do... Five-card Draw."

"Five-card draw, it is." Fancy agreed as he used his magic to clear the table of the other choices. He then handed four hands of cards to the four players, starting from Polomare to Maud to Harshwinny to Applejack. Keeping the cards low, they took their peeks before turning to each other. Polomare confidently planted her two hundred in 'one hundreds' to the middle of the table as her big blind, while Maud does the same. Harshwinny and Applejack called, planting their two hundreds in the middle before making their choices on what cards to trade.

Polomare's hand contained a six, a five, an eight, a queen, and a two. She opened the bet round by adding three hundred bits to the pot. Maud took a look at Polomare's confidence then her own hand and called. Harshwinny, seeing that her hand of one, three, six, nine, and jack could use more work, took her chance and called. Applejack looked at the other players, feeling a little nervous that her hand wouldn't be able to match with the others, and decided to fold her cards down.

Polomare decided to trade her six and two to Fancy as he tossed two new cards to her. She now has an eight and a four, resulting in a pair. After trading one card to Fancy, Maud's hand now contained a queen, a ten, a nine, and two sevens without showing any other expression. Harshwinny traded three cards to him and received three new cards to add. She now has a queen, a ten, and a a four to add with her jack and nine.

"Card trades are off. Second bet round." Fancy announced, setting the tossed cards face down near him in a stack. Polomare and Maud checked, and Harshwinny folded. As Fancy set the cards face down on top of the recent stack, he told the two players to show their hands. They planted their cards face up, and he scans Polomare's hand before Maud's.

"Maud wins." Fancy uttered before pushing the seventeen hundred bit pot to Maud and stacking the cards to the pile near him.

"That was a soft play. Hopefully, I get a better one." Polomare scoffed as Fancy shuffled the deck and placed five new cards to each of the players. Once they peeked, Applejack flipped her hair behind her ear, which made Harshwinny look suspicious. Applejack's hand contained two eights, a jack, a ten, and a nine, while Harshwinny's hand consisted of an Ace, a four, a seven, and a pair of threes. They both set their two hundred bit blinds to the table while Maud and Polomare followed. Maud started the betting round with another two hundred bits before Harshwinny does the same, making the pot twelve hundred bits. Applejack added six hundred bits to the pot, which made Polomare and Harshwinny widened their eyes in surprise. Polomare folded her cards to Fancy, who was a little surprised too. Once he set the stack near him, Maud saw the pot and called Applejack's bet while Harshwinny folded.

"Cards, ladies?" Fancy asked. Maud took a look at her hand, and traded four of her cards to Fancy for new ones. She received a decent hand, consisting of a three, a seven, a two, and a King of the same suit to match her remaining 'three' card. Applejack traded her three and seven for two new cards, receiving a two and a five.

Once Fancy called out the second betting round, Maud bet two thousand bits to the table. Applejack decided to call her bluff, placing another two thousand. Fancy called off the bets and told them to show their hands. They both set their cards face up, and he scanned them before looking at the players.

"Flush beats pairs. Applejack wins the pot." Fancy announced as he gathered all of the cards and shuffled. Pleased, Applejack gathered the seven thousand and six hundred bit pot.

"Nice hand, Applejack." Maud said in her blank tone.

"Uh... Thanks. Ah may have jus' got a lil' lucky." Applejack smiled as Fancy tossed five new cards each to her and the other players. They all took a peek at their hands and set their two hundred bit blinds to the table. Polomare smiled confidently after she saw her hand consisting of a king, a queen, a seven, a two, and a ten. Applejack started the bet round by landing four hundred bits to the table and waited for the others to make their decisions. Polomare decided to call, waiting for Maud or Harshwinny to fold. However, she raised her eyes in shock as they called, putting their four hundred bits in the pot.

Applejack, whose hand consisted of a five, a ten, a one, a jack, and a three. Feeling confident with her pair, she tossed out her 'ten' card to Fancy and received a nine. Polomare kept her hand while Maud tossed out to him two cards. Maud received a jack and Queen to match with her three cards: a nine, an eight, and a seven. Harshwinny's hand looked better with a king, queen, and jack. However, she wanted to make it better by tossing two of her cards to Fancy, thus receiving a ten and one. He called off the trade as Applejack checked, leaving Polomare with a choice to bet or fold. However, she looked at Maud with a suspicious glance.

"So, Maud, is it? Let's see what you have up your blank sleeve..." Polomare shown a smug face as she bet two thousand of her bits. Maud eyed the pot then at Polomare's smugness, but decided to fold her cards to Fancy.

"Oh man! I was so close to knowing whether she cheated or not." Polomare thought in anger, but calmed herself down. Harshwinny and Applejack folded quickly after glancing at the pot, leaving Polomare to take the pot. Despite being granted the bits, she was disappointed about not getting to know Maud's tricks. While Fancy shuffled the cards, Applejack glanced at Polomare with a raised eyebrow, wondering what she is trying to do. He set the deck down and used her magic to send five newer cards to each of them, expecting an exciting outcome.

After the players placed their big blinds, Polomare carefully placed one thousand bits to the table. All of them called before peeking at their hands. Polomare's hands were made up of a one, a three, a jack, a four, and a seven. Maud, with her hand consisting of a nine, a two, a queen, a ten, and an eight, glanced at Harshwinny flipping a chip with her finger before calling. While Harshwinny's hand held an Ace, a king, a five, a three, and an eight, Applejack's hand has a one, a three, a jack, an eight, and a six. They all decided to keep their hands as Fancy nodded and turned to Polomare, who checked. As the other players checked, they showed their hands face up, with Fancy scanning them.

"Harshwinny wins with High Ace." Fancy announced. Harshwinny grabbed the pot with a smile as he grabbed the cards and shuffled. Applejack felt like she was close to losing, but she considered herself lucky to obtain a decent amount of money to stay in the game. Maud and Harshwinny had their share of glares, while Polomare tries to read either of their minds.

Author's Notes:

I'm gonna need some help with the scores since I am focusing on making details of the story. So if anyone would help me with the numbers on this chapter, I would gladly be appreciated. Comment if you can. Thank you.

Five-Card Draw 2 (Blinds: 200-400)

The next of cards were thrown to the four mares while they threw in their blinds, with Applejack and Mrs. Harshwinny putting in small, and Maud and Siri putting big. Applejack, feeling a strike of confidence in her mind, picked up three hundred bits just before Fancy Pants carefully set up the pot, which was now at six hundred bits.

Maud examined her five new cards: An ace of threes, a five of clubs, a four of clubs, a eight of diamonds, and a seven of Diamonds. She decided to wait it out until the other mares made their decisions. Luckily, neither of them detected her strategy, but she would have to switch it up afterwards.

Applejack was mentally in shock when she examined her five cards: A three of spades, a four of hearts, a five of spades, a six of hearts, and a seven of spades. She was that close to being easy to read, so she had to keep her cool by picking up four hundred bits and placing them into the pot, starting the first bet round.

"I'll bet it. Seems like a good pot to spill 'me in." Applejack said before turning to either Suri or Harshwinny, who both held four hundred bits each in hand and placed them in. Maud had no choice and decided to fold her deck to Fancy, who grabbed them. Applejack decided to keep her cards, but Suri felt suspicious of how she kept her cards with confidence. Her current hand consisted of two threes of hearts and diamonds, a queen of diamonds, and a nine of clubs. She traded her nine of clubs to Fancy, who then replaced it with a nine of spades.

"Dammit... would've been a flush..." Polomare cursed in her head. Harshwinny giggled in her head as she examined her hand: a seven of clubs, a eight of hearts, a nine of hearts, a ten of spades, and a jack of spades. Maud was lucky to have folded, otherwise she would embarrass herself showing a weak hand against any two mares battling for the pot.

"Honestly, Maud. You're still having a bad luck streak, and yet you're folding at a pot like this?" Suri took a gander at Maud's chip count, which was approximately lower than the others.

Applejack started the second betting round by putting in two thousand of her bits into the pot, and Suri called. Harshwinny took a gander at the pot, then raised three thousand bits. Applejack shrugged her shoulders and raised four thousand, which made Suri gulp into having to either follow them, or quit the whole thing. She may have a tolerable amount to set up, but even she would know when to quit, so she decided to fold her cards, leaving Applejack and Harshwinny to face-off.

"What's the matter, Mrs. Polomare? Can't take the pressure?" Harshwinny boasted. Suri didn't bother saying a word and watched. Harshwinny called Applejack's raise and the round has ended. Fancy saw the pressure rising between them and told the two mares to show their cards. Applejack took a deep breath and placed her cards down, showing her three-to-seven flush. Harshwinny gazed at it, and smiled before showing her hand down. Fancy examined the hands and forwarded the large pot to Harshwinny.

"Both flushes. Harshwinny wins with the higher flush." Fancy announced before taking all of the cards and shuffling them with his magic.

"Now I really gotta start bluffing them up..." Suri was anxious to score big, but her experience from playing bridge didn't come close to poker, and she was this close to losing all of her dough.

"Lets up the blinds with two hundred to four hundred, shall we ladies?" Fancy set the card deck near him. They all set their small blinds to the table just before they were given new hands. Applejack and Maud examined their hands and stood silent, while Suri and Harshwinny lightly showed eagerness to make their move. Harshwinny's hand consist of a five of clubs, a five of hearts, a three of spades, a four of diamonds, and an eight of hearts. She started the betting round by adding five hundred bits to the pot, much to the other players' dismay. Applejack called, and so did Maud, whose hand consisted of two sevens of clubs and diamonds, two tens of hearts and diamonds, and a queen of clubs. As for Harshwinny, her hand consisted of ten of hearts, spades, and diamonds, a two of hearts, and a jack of clubs, and was waiting to strike at the right moment.

Suri was sure to get back in the game with her luckily earned hand: a eight of clubs, hearts, and spades, a nine of hearts, and a king of spades. She then followed Applejack's bet, hoping that it doesn't break her chip count.

"Ok. First round's over. Any trades?" Fancy said. Suri had no intention of trading either of her cards from her hands at that point, but she quickly decided to trade her nine of hearts and king of spades. After receiving a three of clubs and a ten of spades, her chances are still strong.

The pressure rolls down as Fancy called the second bet round. Applejack, Maud, and Harshwinny all called check. Once Suri witnessed that, it was a perfect opportunity to score big with her best hand. Gathering all of her chips, she paused and looked around at the other players before smirking.

"All in, baby." Suri giggled before placing all of her chips right to the middle of the table just as Fancy used her magic to assemble them in organized rows. Applejack and Naud looked at her in utter shock before quickly folding their cards. Harshwinny thought for a moment, and examined the amount of chips, then faced Suri.

"Guess I'll call out your bluff." Harshwinny said as she called her full amount. Fancy gathered them all with her magic, and placed it all in an orb before calling off the round. The showdown between Suri and Harshwinny has commenced, with Applejack looking pressured alongside an un-afraid Maud.

"Triple eights! Total domination, am I right?" Suri set her hand with utmost confidence, leaving Applejack gasping in her mind, and Maud still watching blankly. Fancy examined the hand and announced a three pair before turning to one hand that is yet to show.

Harshwinny shook her head and chuckled softly. "The way you mentioned "domination" has no merit. And that hand of yours is strictly beyond me." She then quietly laid down her hand, and Fancy examined it with widened eyes.

"Both Suri and Harshwinny have three pair. However, Harshwinny's higher three wins the pot." Fancy settled the full pot down carefully, not letting a single bit fall off. Suri was flabbergasted at the result, and had no idea that her winning hand would beaten by another player's hand.

Fancy turned to Suri with a concerned face. "Sorry, Ms. Polomare, but you're out of bits, and must leave immediately."

"Guess playing poker was nothing like bridge..." Suri said before getting up from the table and heading to the exit. In her own voice, she cursed in failure, bashing her head with her hand.

"She'll be fine." Harshwinny said. "I wanted her to be rid of. She annoys me."

"Well, ya gave Suri a flank whoopin' with that there hand." Applejack replied.

"That seemed a bit too easy." Maud chimed in to the conversation.