The Jack of All Trades

by Lord Zalgo

Prologue- The Gambler

“All in.”

Lickety dropped the remainder of his chips into the pot, increasing its value to 400 bits. The player in the shadows watched the man’s movement silently. The next player took a quick glance at his cards and chuckled lightly.

“Raise.” Sore said in a cocky tone. He pushed a pile of red chips into the pile, making it worth 1000 bits. Two of the other players gasped, while the man in the shadows remained silent. A pair of silent, covered eyes watched their opponents closely from the darkness as the confident player smiled smugly.

“Call.” Lucky said shakily. The next player along pushed all of his chips away from him. The man in the shadows finally moved. He stopped leaning back, put his hoof forward and pushed six red chips into the pot. No one saw that move coming as the man leant back again with an expressionless face.

One card was discarded from the deck and three cards were laid face-up for all to see. The ‘flop’ consisted of: a queen of hearts, a seven of diamonds and a ten of hearts. The smug player looked a little less cocky now, as the silent player tapped his hoof on the table twice in succession to signify a check. The other two players made no moves. The smug player also tapped the table twice with his hoof.

“I’ll check, too.” Another card was discarded and the ‘turn’ card was placed next to the flop. A jack of hearts. The smug player smiled as the silent player checked again. The smug player however, pushed all of his chips into the pot.

“All in.” The silent player did not react. He simply wiped the smile off of the other player’s face by calling and pushing all of his chips into the middle. The final card was discarded and the ‘river’ card was an ace of spades. The players turned their cards over for the dealer to see. With the silent player going last, the players went in order. The first player had: an ace of diamonds and an ace of clubs.

“Lickety Split has a three of a kind.” The dealer said. The smug player turned his cards over which were: an eight of hearts and a nine of hearts.

“Sore Winner has a flush.” Sore Winner laughed as the next player turned his cards over with a disappointed expression. A jack of spades and a seven of hearts.

“Lucky Shot has two pair, jacks over sevens.” Silence fell as the final man leaned over and flicked his cards over. It was then, and only then that he smirked. An ace of hearts and a king of hearts.

“Phoenix has… a royal flush!” The dealer said in disbelief. Phoenix pulled the giant pile of chips towards him with a triumphant expression. Lucky Shot and Lickety Split looked disappointed, but impressed with their loss.

“Gentlemen, it’s been an honour… Also, go fuck your respective selves.” Lickety Split said before he walked away.

“Well, if anyone needs me, I’ll be at the bar, trying to dream up an excuse for losing that money.” Lucky Shot said as he straightened his suit and walked to the bar. Sore Winner however, was still staring in disbelief until he finally snapped his attention to Phoenix who was still sitting in silence as he calmly puffed on his cigarette.

“You couldn’t have done that… You must have cheated!” Sore continued to scream until security was called to remove him. Unfortunately, they weren’t quick enough, because Sore Winner had already pulled a revolver from his inside jacket pocket and shot the guards in the unarmoured parts of their legs. They fell to the ground and nopony else dared to move. The entire casino went silent, until Sore Winner spoke again.

“Now, this is what’s gonna happen… You’re gonna give me those chips, or I blow your fuckin’ brains out!” Sore roared. Phoenix finally moved. He removed himself from the seat and stood motionless, until his horn glowed for a second and something soared towards Sore Winner. In a panic, Sore Winner pulled the trigger with his magic and flinched at the sound… of silence. Everyone in the casino had ducked to the ground when the trigger was pulled but no shot was fired. Sore Winner finally looked back at Phoenix, only to find that several playing cards were in-between the hammer and the firing pin, preventing the gun from firing. A hoof then came into contact with Sore Winner’s muzzle, sending him flying to the ground.

Everypony barely believed what they saw. Phoenix finally walked out of the shadows and began walking slowly towards Sore. Phoenix had a light grey coat with a neatly combed, black mane and tail. He was head to hoof in black clothing. From his black hooded jacket to the black fedora on his head, he looked intimidating. It looked like he had no colour to him at all until he took off his sunglasses to reveal piercingly bright blue eyes. His cutie mark was a pair of playing cards: an ace of hearts and an ace of clubs. Sore looked up at Phoenix with blood leaking from his nose and tears leaking from his eyes.

“How…? How did you do that…?” Sore asked weakly. Phoenix was busy scooping his winnings into his saddlebag to notice what he said.

“HOW?!” Sore screamed half from frustration, half from pain. Sore’s head was suddenly surrounded by a black magical glow as his head was slammed into the ground again. Phoenix pressed his hoof to the top of Sore’s head to keep him from standing.

“I’m a Fortesque. It’s what we do.” Phoenix growled as he let go. He calmly walked towards the cash exchange as ponies began to lift themselves from the floor and more guards arrived to take Sore away. With his winnings, now in bits, he walked out of Ponyville Casino and began walking to his house.

‘Twenty thousand bits in one night. Not bad.’ Phoenix thought to himself. He continued to walk until he noticed something he didn’t remember from his travels through town. The local library had a ‘sold’ sign on its door.

‘Somepony must have finally bought the place.’ Phoenix’s thoughts began to wander on who the new owner would be. Though, those questions would be answered the very next day, Phoenix couldn't help but wonder...

‘...I mean, how much can life change from one new arrival?’

Author's Note:

My first MLP story, so please give any criticism or comments. Anything that will give me a push in the right direction of improving. Thanks.

Comments

[x0jackie0x]

Interesting, but I really didn't learn much from this, other than the name of the pony and that he's a Fortesque. Is he the main character? Then again, a setup is not necessary in the prologue. It just seems kind of empty, but that will be further based on following chapters.
As for 'Jack of all Trades', I'm very curious on how you're going to roll with that. I'm REALLY hoping you don't go down the dark path of this title.
Also, few typos, grammatical errors and such, like 'security were called' should be 'security was called. Security involves a singular unit or association, regardless of how many are a part of it.
The prologue is short, but you know how to make it seem like it's meant to be that short, so I don't feel like it disrupts my train of thought.
I'll be looking forward to more. :3

[Lord Zalgo]

3913008
Right. Cheers, mate. I'll have to work on that. I plan on re-writing the series from Phoenix's perspective. The story will follow him. I planned on making it a tad more violent here and there, but not too much. Yknow? Like somepony getting a wound rather than Cupcakes. Thanks for the feedback though.