//------------------------------// // Day XV // Story: Celestia of Equestria's tonic experiment // by Acologic //------------------------------// ‘Behold,’ said Celestia, spreading her hooves. ‘The mess hall.’ Tirek fell to his knees, and Celestia held back laughter at his tears of joy. Luna grinned, and Cadence patted him on the shoulder. ‘Two weeks!’ he cried, gazing at the rickety stools and dented blue dining trays as if they were pure gold. ‘Two weeks alone in the dark! But now! But now!’ He did a lap or two round the rows before collapsing triumphantly into a chair. ‘Happy?’ asked Celestia, amused. ‘Very!’ said Tirek, shuffling his deck. ‘I can’t wait to get started!’ The opposition filed in, followed by a group DAGs and a painfully familiar voice. ‘Hey!’ shouted Trixie, wrestling with her chains. ‘What’s the big idea? Solitary for three days, and now you’re frog-marching me against my will! I demand a trial! I demand – curse you! I demand a trial!’ ‘If we’ve been through it once, we’ve been through it a thousand times,’ said Celestia, sighing. ‘You were found guilty, and that’s all there is to it. Enough now. Please.’ ‘I demand – get off me!’ She tried and failed to kick the DAG nearest to her. ‘I demand a –’ ‘Enough, I said!’ snarled Celestia, and she scowled. ‘You just don’t know when to give up, do you? But I shan’t tolerate it anymore! Not today! You will sit! And you will be silent!’ Trixie was pressed into a seat, her expression murderous, but said nothing more withal. Her companions watched, stony-faced. Celestia smirked. ‘Well, well, if it isn’t the architect herself. Enjoying your stay, I hope? Windowless depths certainly were your area of expertise, after all.’ Suri clenched her jaw and sat down. ‘Which leaves you,’ said Celestia. ‘The sunburnt satsuma with an attitude to match. Sit down, Sunset. Care to introduce us, Luna?’ ‘It’s time to play!’ said Luna, grinning broadly. She signalled a DAG, and it spouted two more decks, brand new, straight out of storage. She caught, then placed them atop the centre of their table. ‘Blackjack, normal rules. Three-round games. Let’s go!’ ‘Anything else?’ prompted Celestia, and Luna shrugged. Celestia rolled her eyes. ‘To make things a little more interesting,’ she began, disgruntled, ‘we’ll stagger the tournament rounds. Today it’s a fifty-bit stake to enter. All our antes go towards the final jackpot, and winner takes all. I trust you brought your purses?’ She chuckled once the DAGs had spat them out too. ‘Good, excellent. Any questions?’ ‘I’ve got a question,’ growled Sunset. ‘Just what do you think you’re playing at, treating us like this? We’re prisoners, not playthings brought out to satisfy your whims!’ ‘I thought you said they’d agreed to this!’ said Tirek, sounding hurt. Celestia dragged her hooves up and down her face. ‘Tirek,’ she said eventually. ‘Shut up.’ Soon the first-round matches were underway. Luna was first to win hers and celebrated via copious amounts of whooping and cheering, which seemingly triggered Sunset into throwing her cards skyward in protest. After losing his first hand, Tirek managed to brush Suri aside with two consecutive twenties. Cadence, although initially interested, caused a minor distraction nearer the end when she flopped onto the table and started to snore. ‘Busy at work,’ said Celestia quickly. ‘Never you mind.’ She smirked. She’d beaten Sunset’s final hand with a score of nineteen. Or so she thought. ‘Twenty-one!’ snarled Sunset, dashing her hand onto the floor and standing up. ‘I win!’ ‘Hard lines, your Majesty!’ crowed Tirek, downing his tonic in celebration and smacking his lips. Cadence jerked into life and slid off the tabletop. ‘Whuzzgoinon?’ Luna was still dancing. ‘Victory! Victory! Aha haha!’ Which set off Trixie. ‘Now listen here, you villains! I demand a trial! A fair, unbiased, open trial complete with judge and jury!’ Meanwhile, Sunset was shouting, ‘You’re a disgrace to Equestria! Get out!’ ‘I win! I win!’ ‘Bad luck, Your Highness!’ ‘Did I miss something?’ ‘Give me my trial!’ ‘A disgrace!’ Celestia rubbed her temples and pulled out of T-Kam.