Card Game
Spike shuffled the deck one last time before passing out the cards. It was their third weekly get together, and everypony was in attendance. Blade sat accross from him, absently eating a from a bag of pretzeles while Macintosh and Shining Armor chatted away about their respective weddings.
Things had been quiet around town lately. Nopony had heard a peep from the City Council after the'd passed all of the new regulations and reinstated old ordinances. Probably had something to do with the constant hit and runs against Justice, who he also had yet to see after their little spat in the Library last week.
Spike looked at his hand and supressed a sigh, not even a Jack high, but at least they were playing five card draw, so hopefully he'd get something for his trouble.
"Ante up" Blade reminded, throwing in two white chips. The others threw their own in and the first hand was played. Shining was the first up, Spike studied the stallion's face carefully, looking for a tell, but no matter where he looked or how hard he concentrated, the pony lead on to nothing of his hand. His face might as well have been made of stone.
He passed two cards to the drake in his magic and Spike took them and dished out two more. Mac knocked to pass, which wasn't good, and Blade showed an Ace, discarding four cards, along with Spike's three.
Supressing a smirk, the dragon internally cheered at his good fortune. Three of a kind, eights.
"Sad to hear that, Mac. It's terrible what some parents will do to their kids, even when they're adults." Shining said, tossing in a green chip to up the pot. The rest matched his gesture, up to Spike, who tossed in another two white chips in raise.
"Eyup, Anna took it pretty hard, took 'er a full week ta start talkin' again." He finished his words with a knock for call. Everypony else knocked as well and Shining played his hand first. Pair of kings and a pair of aces. Blade and Mac folded.
Spike displayed his three of a kind and passed the deck over to Shining to shuffle and deal while he collected the pot.
"Well, Spikey boy came to play." Blade snickered, taking another bite of pretzels.
"First dealer's luck." Shining smirked, shuffling the cards in his magic and distributing them. "Five card stud. So, Macintosh, when's the wedding going to be? Last week you said it'd be near the end of the month, but never gave a specific day."
Spike took a quick look at his card and allowed himself a frown. Though he hadn't a real reason to, he liked to keep everypony guessing by making unfit gestures to throw them off. Pair of queens, he'd play on that.
Everypony threw in their ante, save Blade who folded before the game even started.
"A week from today, Anna's havin' her family comin' in a few days." The red pony chuckled. "Boy, Ah tell ya what, Sweet Apple Acres is gonna get might crowded in the next few days once the Apple's start rollin' in."
Spike threw in a pair of white chips. "You get her a wedding gem, yet?"
Macintosh nodded, matching Shining's raise of a red chip. "Eyup. Got her a might nice necklace. Took me a trip tah find it, but Ah wanted somethin' meanin'ful."
"Call."
Everypony set their cards down, Shining took the pot with a pair of Aces.
The game continued with Shining complimenting Mac on his thoughtfulness and recalling how much trouble he'd gone through to find Cadance's wedding horn ring. Of course, he had a bit more money to throw around, but he didn't measure how much it meant by the capital cost, so much as the time and energy spent into finding it.
Spike noticed that Blade hadn't said much after the talk of the wedding began, aside from the occasion grunt of acknowledgement or funny quip here and there, the green earth pony stallion kept mainly to himself. The drake knew why he'd recluded, the two had spoken about his thing for Pinkie only once and Spike encouraged him to just ask her on a date, but Blade, for all of his talk and jokes, was a very shy pony around mares.
Spike wouldn't say he was bad looking or anything, he had a steady job, and was in the prime of his youth. Aside from his shyness, and maybe a little bit of immaturity, the stallion had everything he needed going for him.
A few hands passed in silence, with only the knocking of wood or showing of a higher bid to communicate. These short periods were nice, and were always welcomed among the four as time to ponder and process previous words. Most of the hands, oddly enough, went to Blade, who had one hay of a pokerface tonight.
"Ya think you n' Princess Cadance'll be able tah make it?" Mac asked, breaking the silence.
Shining smiled and nodded, grateful that his presence was being requested.
"Spike, Blade, what about you guys?"
Of course Spike was going to be there. Mac had already asked him to be his best mate for the wedding and give a speech, but it was more to not put he spot light on the other pony being addressed.
"I guess." Blade answered, looking a little put out.
"Y'all righ'? Been pretty quiet tonight."
The green stallion shrugged, staring down intently at his cards.
"He's having mare trouble." Spike stated bluntly, earning the first stink eye from his former co-worker. Shining and Mac both quirked a brow and looked to the drake for an elaboration.
"Honestly dude, you're biggest reservation about asking Pinkie out is what you two would do together, right? Why don't you ask her to be your date to the wedding? I know for a fact she doesn't have a special somepony."
Spike took a sick pleasure in watching Blade's eyes shoot wide as the other two stallion's turned their attention back to him. "Wow, dude. Wanna back up that carriage you just threw me under? I think I still have a ball that isn't busted here."
Mac and Shining snickered.
"Wait, Pinkie Pie? Huh, wouldn't have- no you know what? I could see it."
Blade glared at Shining for his comment before grabbing a blue chip and raising the pot substantially. Mac and Spike both folded, knowing their cards were not worth the gamble. The alabaster unicorn met his gambit with his own challenging glare.
The two eyed each other and Blade raised a pair of reds, met by Shining's own and he called. Both threw down their cards to reveal absolutly deplorable hands, though, both had queen highs, but Shining came next with a jack against's Blade's nine.
"I don't know, maybe." Blade admitted, seeing the pot taken by the unicorn and slumped.
Spike grabbed the cards and began to shuffle. "Don't be no bitch, Blade." Spike growled, doing his best impression of Ax, making all three stallion's burst out into snickers.
"He would say that, too. I guess, I mean, it isn't like she could say anything besides no, right?"
"Not sure why she'd say no, you're not that ugly."
Spike delt, and Blade flicked his hoof from his chin out at his antagonist a couple of times. Spike had no idea what it meant, but his co-workers didn't think much of the insult, so neither did he.
"Speakin' of dates, you bringing Twiligh' there, Spike?"
The drake nodded. "Most likely, it's kinda bad to bring your mom as a date, but I've been a little busy. Plus, you know-" he gestured, "-dragon."
"You better treat my sister right, and be a complete gentlecolt." Shining teased, making Spike roll his eyes.
"Yea yea, by the way, Mac. How's Scootaloo doing?."
The red pony was quiet for a moment then answered that she was doing alright. The filly was helping around the farm more and more. She typically assisted Applebloom with her morning chores of feeding the pig, cleaning up after Winona, checking on the new saplings and such. Though, Spike had learned of the filly being an orphan through a good bit of deduction on the stallion's words when the two spoke before, and it was to this that his inquiry was fashioned.
The drake knew the other's were trustworthy enough to allow such a delicate situation to be handled as such.
The hand went to Spike with a rather substantial pot and another three of a kind.
"Ah don't know, the family likes her bein' round. N' if'n she wants ta live with Rainbow er not is up tah her. She's got a parent teacher conference tomorrow with Cheerilee. Ah asked Granny wha' all she thought o it." Mac paused and snickered, building on the already growing anticipation. "Tol' me Ah was foolish fer askin'."
Spike had to agree. he wasn't sure how the whole adoption thing worked, but he'd seen how Macintosh was with Scootaloo around town and on the farm. He treated her kindly, looked after her needs, made sure she was safe and stayed out of trouble, herded her and Applebloom out during the dreaded ballon incident... It was pretty obvious to any who were in the know.
"No ahdea what she meant, but guess that means Ah'm takin' her."
Spike chuckled and shook his head. "No offense, Mac, but it amazes me how clueless you are sometimes."
The stallion gave him a glare and Blade asked if anypony was going to call his raise. Spike remembered they were playing cards and added his own chips.
"You adopt a foal? Don't you already have on on the way, Mac?" Shining asked.
The apple pony groaned and upped the bet before explaining the issue in all of its complexity. Scootaloo's time spent living out in the woods, her reluctance to stay on the farm, her understandable trust issues and pride, the conversation they've had about what she wanted in a family, all of it. The cards continued to play and Shining nodded and questioned appropriately when needed. Blade listened, but kept his mouth shut for most of the story. He did, however, make off like a bandit through the majority of the hands.
"Wow, that's pretty sad. How did her parents die?"
"Dunno, she ain't told nopony yet." Mac frowned, he'd never really asked either, but he would feel obligated to tell her about how his own parents had gone if he asked about hers, and the stallion didn't know if he was ready for that just yet.
"Sides, she's gotta decision to make o' her own. Ah got no problem with her stayin' on the farm if she wants, but Ah want her tah take time and think about who she'd rather live with 'fore she gets too comfortable."
Blade quirked a brow. "Sounds to me like her choice was made." Mac gave him a look. "You said she wants a mom and a dad, right? I don't like small town gossip, but word has it she isn't the straight edge type, if you know what I mean."
All three of them leveled the pony with a glare, giving him the "are you serious" look.
"Alright, does she currently have a coltfriend?"
...
"Has she ever had a coltfriend?"
"Just cause she didn't or does have a coltfriend don't make her gay." Mac pointed out.
Blade shook his head. "But it does tell me she isn't interested. I mean, have you seen her? I mean, damn. She could get any stallion in town if she wanted. I know I wouldn't mind a good night or two with her."
"Wait, I thought you had a thing for Pinkie."
"We're not in a relationship." Blade shrugged. "Be kinda creepy to commit myself to her when I'm not with her. Besides, it's Pinkie's personality I'm attracted to, when it comes to the smoking hotness, Rainbow Dash would win hooves down."
"Blade, you'd rut anything with a pulse." Spike commented.
Blade frowned at him. "That's not true, I have standards. I mean, I wouldn't touch Justice with a ten foot pole. Not to mention, her virgin self couldn't handle all of this sexiness."
The table burst into a round of laughs, if there was one thing Spike could count on, it was Blade bringing some much needed comic relief to an otherwise molodramatic mood.
Speaking of Justice, Spike asked the pony if she'd done anything to the mill. Surprisingly, despite a second visit from one of her lackeys, absolutely nothing had been done. Nothing at all. It made Spike a little nervous, ever since she'd come to town, it had been one drastic change after another, to have her and the city council go dark for so long was more than a little off putting.
"Was talkin' to Mask a while ago, she was tellin' me Justice wasn't feelin' well." Mac commented, tossing in his hand to fold. "Somethin' 'bout a dragon chewin' her out and leavin' her triggered or some such."
"HA! Nice goin', Spike." Blade beamed, holding out his hoof for a bump. Spike mirrored the stallion's motions.
As wrong as it felt to take pleasure in her suffering, Justice deserved to feel bad. What she'd asked Twilight a week ago was one of the most deplorable things the drake could think of. Especially considering how she was treating Uppity that same weekend, Twilight had spent hours trying to argue the poor unicorn out of the sick hold Justice had on her, but no matter how logical Twilight was about it, Uppity was tartarus bent on siding with the pegasus mare. It was really sad to witness.
Shining frowned, he knew Uppity and would never have thought she'd behave in such a subservient way to anypony. Though, he'd also spoken to Twilight about it and there was no denying what she told him. "The way she is at work is actually kinda scary, it's weird to think she'd just go along with Justice like that."
"Sin would lose his shit for sure." Blade said, shuffling the deck. "Made a joke about him being in a relationship with her once, I swear he was about to tear my head off."
Spike felt a little bit of bittersweet pride in the comment. It was an unwritten rule that they weren't supposed to talk about Sin at the table, but the deceased stallion's loyalty to his friends was as undeniable as Rainbow's. Spike wished he was here, things wouldn't be going this way if the Federalist was still in town.
Seeing the atmosphere turning meloncholy once again, the drake inquired to when Annabelle's dragon friend, Brute, would be in town to get things back on track. Mac didn't know, but speculated that it would likely be a day or before the wedding itself.
"Oh great, a second dragon in town." Blade gestured in an over figurative fashion. "As if I didn't have to worry about that little bastard stealing my job already."
"That's racist, Blade."
The dark green pony eyed Shining for a second. "It's not racist if it's a fact. The kid's barely an adolescent, and he loaded the logs like a freaking earth pony on rioids. If Spike here comes back to the mill-" he paused, eyeing the dragon intently "-it'll only be a matter of time before he took mi jerb."
Another round of light laughs and the happy mood of the night resumed.
The conversation died out to more inconsequential things and the cards continued to play. Tonight was a good night, and even if Sin couldn't be here for it, Spike planned to have a nice night, playing a relaxing game of cards with his best of friends and enjoy himself as best he could, as he deserved to.