//------------------------------//
// 2. Night One Part Two 
// Story: Poker Night 
// by SvenFoxx 
//------------------------------//

A few more hands into the game, with no one really gaining any leads, Twilight's mood had dropped slightly.

She wasn't sure what it was. Something about the situation just... bothered her. These ponies... no, people...were affable enough, and she could tell that for the most part she was left alone when it came to the barbs they traded back and forth.

She was also hearing a few interesting stories regarding them. Sly had apparently gone on a few adventures himself, though it mostly centered around his family legacy. Arkantos had been a General in the Atlantean army, and had led his loyal soldiers on a mission of both revenge and duty to save the world from some kind of group called the Titans. Kakashi's world was war torn and not used to friendship, at least not between the different Countries, and his students were at the forefront of the wave of change spreading through it. And Peter led a fairly sad life, in Twilight's eyes, one where he was perhaps the greatest hero of his world, and yet was scorned by that world for seemingly no reason other than because this James Jonah Jameson character spread lies about him on a daily basis. She wasn't sure she could do that, go on being a hero knowing that the world hated you despite it.

Arkantos suddenly stood up, garnering their attention. "Gentleman, I propose we restart the game. I can tell some of you are not taking Miss Twilight seriously, and I would rather we played the game seeing each other as equals, rather than looking down on each other for the circumstances of our birth," his glowing eyes seemed to flare at this.

Twilight frowned. Was that why she felt tense? They didn't acknowledge her? Now that she thought about it, Kakashi and Peter didn't seem to actually speak to her at all, only really conversing with Sly and Arkantos. They answered questions, but... didn't really seem to be into doing so.

Kakashi and Peter lowered their heads. "Sorry," Peter mumbled. "I just... find it difficult to believe a Unicorn of all things is supposed to be impressive."

Celestia frowned. "And what is that supposed to mean?" she asked, a dangerous glint in her eyes. For a moment she had begun to think prejudice wasn't a problem in this place. Clearly she was wrong.

Reginald waved a hand to deflect her anger. "It is nothing personal, Madam, just that in most human worlds Unicorns, and Alicorns such as you, do not exist. They are parts of fairy tales and children stories, played up for little girls. In their minds they are having a hard time seeing Miss Twilight as anything other than that. It is not their fault, merely a product of the society they grew up in."

Peter sighed. "Honestly, after dealing with Spider-Pig, I shouldn't be letting this bother me." He looked at Twilight and stood, and then bowed at the waist. "Please forgive me, Twilight."

Twilight felt a little uncomfortable, but waved a hoof. "It's okay, honest. It's not like you're going out of your way to demean me." She glanced at her hand. "Though I have no problem starting over. My hand is crap."

With a round of chuckles and a broken tension, the game was restarted with everyone starting with twenty thousand chips again.

Reginald stood and made his way over. "Would you like me to determine who deals first, gentleman?" he asked.

Everyone glanced at each other, before Peter shrugged and raised a hand. "I'll do it," he said, grabbing the deck and shuffling. He dealt out the cards and set the deck back down.

Twilight looked at her cards. Five of hearts and six of diamonds. 'Could be worse. I could get a few different things with this. Let's see the flop before I do anything though.' 

Kakashi and Twilight threw in their Blinds, 400 and 800 respectively. "What's your world like, Twilight? Besides friendship being a great source of magic I mean," Sly asked as Arkantos Folded. Sly frowned before Folding as well with a sigh.

Twilight hummed in thought. "Well... I guess the best way to describe it is 'peaceful'." She chuckled. "That's not to say there are no problems or war, but it's been a fairly long time since something like that happened. The Dragons had tried to invade and Princess Celestia convinced them to surrender after a short time."

Sly and Peter blinked. Sly frowned as he worked that explanation through his mind, but Peter gaped. "Dragon? You have Dragons in your world?" He grinned so widely that Twilight feared his head would split in two. "That is so cool!" he gushed. He also Called after a moment.

Kakashi also Called, chuckling. "Careful Peter, you're inner nerd is showing." He leaned back. "Though, to be fair, Dragons do sound interesting. The only thing close to that in our world would probably be the Legend of the Dragon Summons."

'Just three of us now. Not sure if that's a good sign or not.' Twilight thought, Checking.

Peter picked up the deck and put out three cards. seven of spades, king of spades, and four of clubs.

Twilight just stopped herself from grinning. 'I can work with that,' she thought. Kakashi Checked, and she did the same. "My assistant is a Dragon," she said with a fond smile. "He's a baby Dragon, granted, but still."

Peter looked at the pile of chips and smirked. "You know what? I see an awful lot of checks, but no actual money. Let's fix that. I Bet eight hundred."

'Uh oh. Does he have something? Or is he bluffing?'

"Making things interesting? Alright, I'll bite. I Call," Kakashi said, throwing chips into the pot.

Twilight hesitated, but decided another 800 wouldn't hurt too much if she lost. "I Call." She tossed her own chips in.

Peter flipped out another card. Eight of hearts. Twilight very nearly crowed in success.

Kakashi Checked.

Grinning, Twilight grabbed her chips. "I'm up for a little upheaval. I Bet 1,000," she said, throwing said chips out. She hoped it wasn't enough to scare them into Folding. She knew she could win this, but she wanted them to bet as much at they could first.

Arkantos whistled. "Gonna step up, Twilight? Let's see how you do," he said, grabbing his drink.

Peter threw in his chips. "I'll meet it."

Kakashi shrugged and threw in some chips as well. "Sure, let's see where this goes. Call."

Peter threw out one last card. Eight of clubs.

Kakashi's eye glinted. "I bet five thousand eight hundred," he said, shoving a pile of chips forward.

Arkantos, in the middle of drinking his water, choked and nearly spit it up. Twilight didn't blame him, she wasn't so confident anymore. Still, a Straight was hard to beat. "Call," she eventually said, levitating her pile forward.

Peter looked uncertain for a moment, but he visibly rallied himself and shoved all of his chips into the center of the table. "All-In!" he crowed. That was seventeen thousand and four hundred chips. Twilight gulped. She couldn't meet that. She only had two choices. Go All-In or backpedal hard with a Fold.

Kakashi leaned back. "Well... can't say I'm sure I'll win, but... I don't mind if I lose. All-In," he said, pushing the chips forward.

Twilight actually shivered, and looked up to Celestia. As per the rules, since Celestia was sitting at the bar, which was on the other side of the table, she was not looking towards them. "Princess? I..."

Celestia smiled. "There is no shame in admitting defeat, Twilight. If you are not confident you'll win, it is a common tactic to retreat so you may rearm and prepare for the next encounter," she said without looking.

Reginald nodded from next to her. "Princess Celestia is quite correct. The point of the game is to have fun first, and win second. No one will think less of you for backing down."

Hearing the words of comfort from her mentor, Twilight made her decision. "I'm All-In," she said, magically pushing all of her chips forward.

Sly whistled. "Would you look at that pot..." he mused. "I almost wish I stayed in."

Arkantos nodded. "Yes, though it's not often the beginning rounds see a pot like that," he commented.

Reginald walked over. "Alright, flip your cards over everyone."

Everyone flipped over their cards. Reginald took a moment to deliberate, then nodded. "Peter has two pairs. Kakashi has two pairs, and Twilight has a Straight." He smiled at Twilight while Peter groaned and Kakashi nodded to himself. "Twilight Sparkle wins, and wins quite a bit at that. Well done Miss Twilight, but do not get overconfident. It does not do to forget to be cautious in this game."

Twilight, grinning like a loon, nodded as she raked in her winning with her magic. All added up, she now had... wow... sixty thousand in chips. If she understood the conversion rate correctly based on her invitation... that was six thousand bits. A good amount of money indeed.

Peter sulkily stood up. "Well tonight went to crap fast," he grumbled, walking away. He waved as he did. "See you guys whenever."

Kakashi also stood up and pulled his orange book out. "Oh well. I don't bet what I'm not prepared to lose, so I'm okay with this." he faced Twilight and smiled, his eye doing  weird thing where it looked like and upside down U. "Congratulation, Twilight. I hope to play against you again some day. Maybe I'll get my money back then."

Twilight almost returned with a kind gesture, but paused. Then, with a growing smirk, she said, "Nah, I think I'll just walk away twenty thousand chips richer."

Sly snorted and Arkantos laughed. "Excellent recovery, Twilight!" Arkantos praised, patting her on the back. "We'll make a sailor out of you yet!"

Kakashi walked away chuckling. "Perhaps. Perhaps."

Reginald walked up. "Well, I must say that this doesn't happen often. The first hand of a game is usually very calm. This one became very intense very fast. Before the next hand, would anyone like refreshments?"

"No," was the general response.

Reginald nodded. "Then carry on, gentleman."