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// Lucky Seven's Mark 
// Story: Tales From the Wasteland 
// by MLRNitevision 
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	The unicorn known as Lucky Seven walked through the dusty halls of Stable 7. As a compulsive gambler, the mare was desperately seeking her fix by looking for a game at which she could double her cash. A loose ban had been set on gambling within the vault, which had driven card games underground. Approaching a door at the end of a dark hallway, the unicorn took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. A small bag of cash hid in her saddle bag, next to a pair of identical decks of playing cards. The only difference between the two was that one of the decks had a set of invisible ink marks on the backs of each face card in the deck. The glasses on the top of Lucky Seven’s head had lenses capable of highlighting these individual marks, making it possible for her to consistently draw exactly the card she needed. It was this ‘good luck’ that had gotten her cutie mark, three identical sevens, symbolizing the mare’s gambling skill. 
Raising a hoof, the unicorn rapped three times on the door, paused, then knocked two more times. At the sound of the signal, a metal window slid open in the door, and a pair of eyes looked out at her. Lucky Seven had strategically buried her glasses under her mane to avoid having them spotted by the guard.
“What do you want?” He asked in a deep voice. The unicorn didn’t respond, instead reaching into her bag and producing the fake deck of cards. The metal window slid shut, two locks disengaged, and the door swung open with a faint squeak. Inside the room, smoke filled the air in a thick haze. Tables were scattered across the room, each one with a designated dealer. Lucky Seven looked around, making eye contact with three of the dealers at the tables, before crossing the room and sitting down at the table numbered seven. Setting her bag down underneath the table, she locked eyes with the dealer and nodded silently. The dealer didn’t respond. Instead, she picked up a blue chip from the stack and set it in front of her. Lucky Seven knew that this was a sign that the dealer would switch the decks for her in exchange for half of the unicorn’s winnings. 
“Chips in.” The dealer said, shuffling the marked deck with her magic. “If there are any ponies who wish to put on glasses, now is the time to do so. Lucky took her cue and put on her tinted glasses. The markings on the cards immediately lit up due to the special lenses. When the dealer finished passing out the cards, the unicorn could see that the top card of the deck was a face card. Without picking up the hand she had been dealt, she could tell that one of the cards was a face card. Picking it up, she immediately noticed that the second card in her hand was a nine. A grin slowly spread across the mare’s face as she realized that taking the face card on the top would set her over her goal. However, since the dealer had sided with her, Lucky Seven knew that she wouldn’t be taking the first, the second, or even the third card. The pegasus at the end of the table tossed three blue chips, the equivalent of $300, into the center of the table
The dealer ‘accidentally’ knocked the deck to one side, reaching for a card to pass to the first player. Lucky Seven analyzed the three cards on top of the deck, and noticed that none of them were Aces, tens, or face cards. This was exactly what she was supposed to look for. The dealer picked up the deck and put it back into place, handing the top card to the pony to the left of her.
“Blast!” The pegasus cursed as she set down her cards face up on the table in front of her. 
“Tough luck.” The dealer said, winking at Lucky, then turning towards Lucky Seven. “Hit or stay?” She asked.
“Hit.” Lucky ordered. A face down card skidded across the table towards her. She put a hoof down on top of it, then looked at the card. It was a two. Lucky Seven had to force herself to grin and act as though she won the money through luck, rather than knowing that the game had been rigged.
“Twenty one.” Lucky said as she flipped her cards face up on the table. Each pony at the table pushed three blue chips over to the unicorn’s chip stacks. 
“Congratulations.” The dealer said, smiling at Lucky Seven, who had just won $900. “Would you care to keep playing?” She asked. Lucky Seven shook her head. She knew that in between games all of the decks would be switched, and she had only brought one marked set. The dealer watched Lucky Seven as she picked up her chips and walked over to a desk to have them cashed. What the dealer did not notice, was when a second pony stood up from a table across the room, and followed Lucky out of the room. The guard opened the door to let Lucky Seven and her shadow out, then closed it behind them. Lucky’s hoof steps echoed in the hall, but right away she could tell something was off. Generally, she wouldn’t think twice about a pony coming out of the room at the same time as her, but today was different. Today, she had won three times what she usually brought home with her.   
“I know you’re following me.” Lucky said slowly, using her magic to reach for the file that hid in her saddle bag. 
“You were really lucky tonight. Is that normal for you?” The stallion asked. The unicorn immediately knew that he was threatening her, but she was prepared for this kind of thing. 
“Well, Lucky is my name…” She replied, pulling the file out of her bag and sliding it under her mane to conceal it, continuing to walk down the hallway. She heard the hoof steps behind her begin to speed up. Lucky Seven took a step forward, then began to run. Her body was no match for the stallion’s, who immediately overtook her. Rolling onto her back, she put up her hooves to block the first attack. His hoof slammed down right next to her head. She took the file from under her mane, and swung it at her attacker. The weapon hit its mark, burying itself deep into the stallion’s throat. He took a step back, blood dripping all over Lucky Seven, staining her sand coloured coat. The stallion fell against a wall, breathing his last breath. The unicorn stood up, brushing dust off of her coat, and went to work on the body, specifically looking for coins and food.	
“You there!” A voice echoed through the hallway. Lucky Seven turned to see a mare, dressed in Stable Security barding with a pistol pointed directly at her. “You’re under arrest for murder.” Lucky Seven swallowed hard, and slowly raised her hooves.