//------------------------------//
// Pentagramma - Part 2 
// Story: Book 1 - The Behemoth came to Canterlot 
// by Equimorto 
//------------------------------//

Applejack nodded, along with the other girls. Lemon cut the deck, then Sour began to distribute the cards, all forty, eight to each player. Once done she picked her own up and looked at them, her face showing no reaction.
Applejack had a look at the hand she'd been dealt. Six of Swords, Seven of Wands, Five of Cups, Six of Cups, Knight of Wands, Ace of Swords, Ace of Wands, Three of Coins. Thirty-five points in hand, certainly more than average, and three of the same suit. Two of them high ranking cards at that. Not bad at all.
To Sour's right, Indigo had one last look at her cards, then looked at the others with a smirk. "Seventy," she confidently stated, initiating the bid.
"Feeling confident, are we?" Sunny threw a sideways glare at Indigo, smiling. "Seventy-five," she said.
Applejack looked back at her cards. She'd never been one to tempt fate too far. But Sunny and Indigo looked like they weren't about to let each other win the bid, and if she knew anything about Lemon then the girl would keep pushing as well, at least for the moment. She wasn't planning to win the bid at that point, but she could still hang on just to see where the others took it. "Seventy-six," she said, one-upping Sunny's offer.
The turn order moved on counter-clockwise, and it became Lemon Zest's time to bid. "Seventy-seven," she said. It wasn't hard to read on her face and through her tone that she was doing it more out of principle than out of conviction in her ability to win.
To Lemon's right, Sour Sweet smiled brightly, then her expression immediately dropped into a pout. "Pass." She kept eyeing her cards, evidently unsure of who to be annoyed at when she'd been the dealer.
Indigo's confidence hadn't left her face yet. "Eighty," she said, in the same low and raspy tone Rainbow used when she was challenging someone to a race.
"Eighty-five," Sunny replied, still glaring at Indigo, still smiling, clearly up to the challenge.
At that point, Applejack was having too much fun to let things drop. Especially when she knew the other two wouldn't. "Eighty-seven," she called out, which earned her a raised eyebrow from Sour Sweet.
Lemon held her hands up, her cards face down on the table. "Pass," she declared. She then began to tap her fingers on the back of her cards, curiously watching Indigo and Sunny.
"Ninety." Indigo crossed her arms, waiting for Sunny's reaction.
It came just a second later. "Ninety-one."
"Pass." Applejack set down her cards for the moment, and she too focused on the only two players still bidding. For a second she wondered if that was what it would have looked like had Rarity ever picked up on one of Rainbow's challenges. She hushed the thought almost immediately. 
"Ninety-two." Indigo was still determined to win it. At that point, she was probably doing it out of principle, considering she hadn't looked back at her cards.
Sunny seemed just as determined. "Ninety-three."
Indigo's grin grew a little wider. "Pass." She leaned back in her chair, looking at her cards again. "Have fun losing."
Sunny sputtered, then glared at Indigo in disbelief. "You played me?"
"Hate the game, not the player," the girl replied, pouring herself a drink.
Sunny crossed her arms and blew air through her nose, somehow making the sound of it perfectly carry both her annoyance and her determination. "We'll see about that." She looked at her cards, her smile returning to her lips. "Three of Cups," she called out, then set down the first card of the game. "Applejack, your turn."
Too busy focusing on her hand to properly appreciate the sight of Indigo tilting her glass too far and almost choking herself on the pseudo-cocktail, Applejack pondered her options for a second, then looked back at what Sunny had opened the game with. Four of Swords. She placed her Six of Swords on top.