//------------------------------// // 17. Viva Las Pegasus // Story: Sunny's Days // by Anzel //------------------------------// The Western Express slowed as it pulled into the Las Pegasus station. My hooves were pressed against the window as I looked out at the tall hotels, gleaming surfaces, and shining lights. “Dolly, are you seeing this?” Dolly pressed in next to me and nodded. “Yes I am. It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” With a loud hiss and soft jolt, the train came to a stop. “Uh, yeah! I mean look at—” I trailed as a beautiful, blonde-maned unicorn mare walked along the platform. She was flawless. “—her.” “What? Oh, wow!” Dolly set her hoof against my face and pushed me out of the way so she could get a better look. I swatted at her and pushed my way back up. “I saw her first!” “You wouldn’t know what to do with a mare like that, filly! She’d require a mature touch.” “Uh-huh! We’ll see. Good luck catching up to me.” I bounded away from the window, snagged my bag in my magic, and galloped out of the cabin. All of the training at the academy had me in excellent shape. Let’s see Dolly keep up! In a matter of seconds, I’d crossed the length of the car and leapt out onto the platform, looking for the blonde mare. Where was she? The crowd of ponies leaving the train was huge and I had to hop up and down to try to look for her. On the third bounce, I caught sight of her. She was over by the entrance to the station. “Pardon me.” I pushed past two ponies and bounced again. Blonde mare had turned as if somepony had addressed her. Another bounce. A pink mane? Without being completely rude, I wiggled through the crowd faster, working my way to my destination. Almost there. Just a few more ponies. “Hi—” “So anyway, my much younger, little, baby sister and I are here to enjoy a few days in Las Pegasus and take in the sights. I mean, she’ll have to avoid the clubs and stuff because she is so young but my evenings are free,” Dolly explained to the blonde mare. She’d beaten me there! How? Also, she was lying! “Hey!” I squeaked. “Hey, sweetie, I was just telling Tiffy here that you were excited about your prep school graduation.” The blonde mare nodded and smiled down at me. “I just think it is so sweet your sister brought you here to celebrate. Prep school graduation is such a big deal! Look at you, all grown up now! I like your shirt by the way, I think it is cute.” My jaw went slack. Dolly had outfoxed me. “I… buh…” Dolly ruffled my mane and leaned closer to ‘Tiffy’ to whisper, “Don’t mind her, she’s really shy. Especially around beautiful mares.” Tiffy nodded knowingly and winked. “Oh, that’s fine. I was the same way around stallions when I was her age. Of course, these days, I can hardly keep them away.” “Dolly can’t keep stallions away, either. She has two back home!” I blurted out. Dolly turned from pink to bright red and covered my mouth with her hoof. “Fillies, they’ll say anything!” Tiffy laughed and shook her head. “You two are hilarious. Well, there is my stallionfriend. I should get going. Maybe I’ll see you around? “You know it,” Dolly replied, doing her best not-disappointed impression. Once Tiffy was gone, I pulled Dolly’s hoof off my mouth and stuck my tongue out at her. “Crash and burn.” “Hush, you. You’d have done just as bad. She’s into stallions.” “I could turn her,” I replied. Dolly snorted and teasingly pushed me. “Sure, sure. You and your cute shirt? What is that again?” My shirt was light pink, tight fit, and had a big yellow star on the chest. I thought it made me look good. “Yes! It is my rock star shirt! Me and it are going to get more mares than you.” “Of course you are. Come on, we need to go check in, anyway.” “Where are we staying?” “The Cosmarepolitan, right off the Las Pegasus Boulevard!” “Whoa, really? Dolly, are you going to have any bits left after this?” She grinned slyly and shook her head. “Nope! I’ll be fine. Plus, I plan to win plenty more while we’re here. Let me tell you a secret, filly: I’m an expert gambler. They used to call me Dolly Dice back in my riverboat days.” “What riverboat days and who is 'they'?” Dolly glared. “Ponies! Oh, come on!” She grabbed me by the hoof and tugged me towards the station. “Let’s just get to our hotel.” She didn’t really need to make any other argument for that. I trotted along behind her as she held onto my hoof. As soon as we stepped out of the station and onto the street, however, she came to a stop. “Oh… wow…” Dolly breathed. Las Pegasus looked even more amazing once you were in it. A pony could only see so much from a train window. The hotels rose higher into the sky than any building in Canterlot. They were also lit up by thousands of magic lamps and featured tons of glamorous banners. Ponies wandered up and down the wide sidewalks, looking into the various hotels and stores that lined one of the most famous road in all of Equestria: Las Pegasus Boulevard. Although it stretched the whole length of the city, the part everypony was interested in was commonly called 'the strip.' That is where all of the casinos were. It was also full of show ponies going out of their way to entertain guests. Dolly and I just stood there for a while, taking it all in, before she nudged me. “Okay, we seriously need to go check in. I want to dump these bags and get down to the casino floor.” “Yes, ma’am!” I replied before the two of us hurried off for the Cosmarepolitan. It wasn’t hard to find. It was one of the newest and tallest buildings in the entire city. All we had to do was follow the flashy signs right to one of the many sets of large double doors. Two stallions pulled a pair open for us and one motioned in. “Ladies.” Dolly winked at the one that had spoken, slipped a bit into the pocket of his doorpony’s coat, and winked. “Darling, while we’re here, we’re going to be anything but ladies. Thank you, though.” She wagged her rump as she went by and his face turned from the light yellow it was to bright red. I just giggled and followed along behind her. The lobby was massive and stretched two or perhaps three stories high. Everything was made of cream-colored stone and there were a lot of the square brass fittings you see in magazines from Manehattan. Dolly went right to the counter and said, “Checking in, please. Suite for Miss Dolly Dice.” My eyes rolled but I kept my mouth shut. The mare behind the counter flipped through a guest book and then nodded. “Yes, Miss Dice, I see your reservation right here. We’ve got you up on floor thirty-five in bachelorette suite six for one week. How many keys will you need?” “Two, please.” “Yes, ma’am,” the mare replied before setting two large, golden keys on the counter. “Can I get you a bellhop?” “No thank you, we packed very light. We’ll need one when we check out, though.” The mare looked at Dolly in confusion and then smiled. “Very well, enjoy your stay.” “Oh we will, I assure you. Come along, Sunny, my tail is twitching and that means the dice are hot.” What? Was Dolly Dice actually a thing or was she just being confident? This would require further investigation. We took an elevator up higher than I’d ever been in my life. It was somewhat unnerving but excitement was starting to overwhelm me. Dolly and I had found our suite. My Las Pegasus experience was about to begin. Dolly slipped the key into the lock, turned it, and pushed the door open. Light flooded in from a huge bay window opposite us and there was a lavish seating area in between. It had two red couches, a big plush chair, and a bright orange carpet. Beyond the seating area, there was a small kitchen with a bar, a long dining table, and doors on each side of the suite that opened into large bedrooms. “Wow! Seriously, Dolly, are we going to be poor after this?” I asked as I stuck my head into the bedroom off to the right. “I told you to stop worrying! This is a special time for my special filly, alright? You’re only going to graduate from the Royal Guard academy once. So stop worrying and let’s have a good time.” Twice asked was plenty. I tossed my bag into one of the bedrooms and came back out. “Alright then, let’s get this party started!” Dolly nodded. “Now that is the spirit! Before we get started, though, I have something for you.” “There is more?” “Of course!” Dolly reached into her saddlebag and pulled out a small bag. She levitated it over to me in her magic. There were five silver twenty-bit pieces inside. “Money?” I asked. “Yup, half the fun is gambling. You can only use those bits for gambling. That is your budget. If you lose it, no big deal! Anything else, you’re on your own… but that is for gambling only! No sneaking off and being responsible with that. Understood?” I snapped to attention and offered her a crisp salute. “Ma’am, yes, ma’am!” She snorted in response and gave me a soft shove. “Uh-huh. Come on, I want you to experience the thrill of Crabapples.” “What is Crabapples?” “Only the best game in Equestria. It is all about dice and planning,” Dolly explained as we trotted out of the room and back to the elevators. “So it’s all luck?” “What? No! What gave you that impression?” “You said it had dice!” I replied with a huff once we were in the elevator heading downstairs. “Silly filly, the dice are an element of random chance and excitement but there is so much more to the game than that. You have to know how to set your chips out and what to focus on. Plus, it is all odds. It will make sense when we get to the table.” “If you say so.” The elevator chimed and the attended opened the doors to the casino floor. My eyes widened at the bright, flashing magic lamps that were everywhere. They advertised various games and demanded that I separate my attention in a million different directions. Dolly grabbed my hoof and pulled me forwards. “Can you believe this? I’ve never seen anything like this.” “It hardly seems real,” I said in awe. Off to the right, an excited cheer washed over us and Dolly immediately changed course toward it. “That is our game! Crabapples has that impact on ponies.” When we got closer, it looked like utter chaos. There was a big table with raised walls and a long green felt area. Three ponies worked on one side while practically every other space opposite them was occupied. Those ponies were tossing down brightly colored chips and pointing. It seemed impossible to me that the dealer ponies were keeping up with it all but they seemed to be. Dolly slipped right up between two stallions and pulled me in close next to her. “Alright, fellas, make some room.” They briefly looked at us and then back to the felt. There were all kinds of boxes laid out with numbers and words. None of it made any sense to me. “Alright, Sunny. The first rule of Crabapples is that you have to wait until a shooter finishes before you can get started. Although we’re going to need some chips. Watch, though.” She pointed to a grey stallion at the head of the table. He held two bright red dice in his hoof before shaking them and tossing them down the table. They hit the opposite wall and bounced off, landing on the four and three sides. Everypony groaned. “What happened?” I asked. “He crabappled. That means the house wins and all bets are done. Come on, now is our chance to get in here.” She set down ten gold hundred-bit pieces. “Change one thousand, please!” “Whoa! Dolly! Wait a sec!” The mare peered at me and replied, “Put your money down, filly.” I reached into the little pouch and set a twenty-bit piece down just like Dolly had. “Change twenty, please.” The dealer opposite us scooped up Dolly’s bits and replaced them with a bunch of chips. He then gave me ten white chips and two blue ones. Dolly pointed to a band near us that wrapped around half the table. “Alright, that is the pass line. You have to bet there to play. Just do the minimum. It is five bits.” “Five bits!” I huffed before setting the bits on the table. “No more bets, please!” the pony in the middle of the table called. He then used a stick and pushed the dice to the pony next to the one that had crabappled. That pony picked up the dice and rolled them. Seven again. I groaned. Every other pony cheered. “What?” I asked. Dolly grinned. “Seven is good on the come out roll. We all win!” “This game makes no sense at all. Why would I want to— oh!” The dealer pony had just set five bits beside my five bits. I picked those up and put them away. The pony got his dice again and rolled a second time. It came up nine. “Okay, Sunny, now the point is ten. We’re betting that he’ll hit nine before the other thing happens.” “What other thing? Crabapples?” Dolly gasped and threw her hoof over my mouth. The stallion next to me glared. “Never say that, Sunny!” “Mmph?” “You can’t say that word until after it happens. Otherwise it is bad luck.” She let me go and started setting chips out. She put some behind the line in front of her. She then set some in a box that said 'come.' “Alright… this is weird but okay.” I set a white chip behind mine like she had. “You’ll want to make that an even number, miss," the dealer said. "Otherwise you won’t actually get the odds.” “Oh, thanks.” I evened the chips out. Dolly leaned back and nudged me. “Just watch what I do for now. We’ll get you trained up.” The pony with the dice rolled again. It came up nine and everypony cheered! I cheered, too, because that was the number he threw before. The dealers started setting out chips. He set five next to my five and then three next to the two behind the line. I pointed at the two chips. “I think that is too many.” He smiled. “No, miss, the odds were three-to-two. I give you three for every two you bet.” Wait. Three to two? I liked that! I picked up the chips and put them away. Now I knew why Dolly didn’t mind spending all this money. Gambling was easy! I set the rest of my bits on the table. “Change eighty, please!” “Now that is the spirit!” Dolly said with a grin. The pony rolled again, a new point was set, and it went on like that for a while. It was starting to make sense, too. Seven good and then seven bad! Bet on the pass line and then put money behind it. I left all the other bets to Dolly. At least at first. My eyes were drawn to all the boxes in the middle. One of them said ten-for-one and showed two dice with three pips. I tossed a fifty-bit chip towards a dealer and pointed. “That one, please.” “Six the hard way!” he replied cheerfully. Dolly groaned. “Sunny, those are sucker bets. You only get one roll and he has to roll six just like that. Otherwise, you lose your money.” “Oh… but… I didn’t know.” My ears drooped. I was going to lose fifty bits just like that! The pony with the dice rolled. They hit the back wall, bounced and landing with three pips on each. My sorrow was immediately washed away and I squealed in delight while bouncing up and down. “Oh my gosh!” The dealer set five hundred-bit chips beside my fifty-bit one. “Let it ride miss?” “Yes!” I cheered. Wait, what was let it ride? “No! She doesn’t… know.” Dolly sighed and set her hoof on her face. “Sunny. You just told him you want to leave the winners there for another roll.” “What? No! That was—” “No more bets, please,” the dealer said with his usual tone and the pony with the dice rolled. My hooves flew to my eyes. It would be too painful to watch that many bits evaporate. “Six the hard way, again!” “What!” Dolly gasped. My legs went weak. The dealer set another five hundred by my original bet and five thousand by the one I’d let ride. He then asked, “Do you want—” “NO!” Dolly and I shouted. He pushed the chips over to me… six thousand and fifty bits worth. He pushed six thousand and fifty bits in chips to me like it was nothing. I looked at Dolly with wide eyes. She grinned, leaned in and kissed my cheek. “Pick up your winnings, put most of them away, and keep playing. Just don’t bet anymore hard ways… or maybe you should, who knows!” Six thousand and fifty bits… I’d never seen that much money in my life. Even the counting room for the night’s take at the Mare Contraire hadn’t come close to that! I was rich! I had enough bits to buy a decent little condo. I didn’t even need to, though! The Royal Guard would provide me with one. I needed a bank. Where was a bank? Dolly seemed to notice my distress. She took her hoof and stroked my cheek. “Sweetie, play the game. You’ve hit a hot streak. Play it out and then we’ll take a break to let you process what just happened. You’ve still got about eighty bits on the table, though, and you need to mind them. Alright?” I blinked and looked down. She was right. I still had my other bets. “Yeah… alright. Let’s do this!” The pony with the dice rolled a seven. “Crabapples!” the dealer said. Everypony groaned. “Nevermind! Let’s take a break.” I laughed. Dolly nodded and grinned. “Yup. Come on, let’s head up to the room and count your winnings. You’ve had quite a day.” “Yeah… yeah, I have and it's all thanks to you. Thank you, Dolly. You’re the best friend a pony could ever have.” She slipped a forehoof around me and pulled me in tight. “And you’re the best sort-of daughter I could have hoped for.”