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0, The Fool
Ruby Fortuna:
Three solid knocks on the bedroom door woke the magenta mare up with a start. In her half sleeping grogginess, she sat up and raised a hoof to her eye to rub the rheum out of it, groaning a little as her mind pulled together a few questions from its sluggish consciousness. Did I wake up in my bed? Did I wake up in my bed? and What time is it? She **** open her right eye, brushing the low hanging bangs to the side to make out the blurry brown blob of wood in front of her. With another defeated groan, she set her head back down on her desk, having answered the first two questions she thought of. There was no bed to have woken up in, it was another night where she fell asleep at her desk, amidst the pages of a book that, for the time being, is serving as a rather uncomfortable pillow. Her mind cranked itself awake slowly as the knocking on the door continued, and her name was called through the door, "Ruby? Are you still in here?"
"Ugghh... yeah," came her half-assed response. She looked down at the book, slouching in her chair as she tried to figure out what she fell asleep doing. The book was open to a page on Doppelgangers once more, just as it was the day before, and her tarot card deck sat next to it, the cards knocked lightly over into a long fan across her desk. Her horn glowed as she picked up the cards, rifling through them and counting to make sure that the deck was still whole. 0, The Fool. I, The Magician. II, High Priestess... The voice from behind the door came once more, "Can I come in?" Ruby collapsed the deck into a neat pile and placed it back in its box, turning in her chair to face the door as she answered, "Yeah."
The door opened and in walked an older mare, her mane tied back in a bun, taking a quick look around the room before asking, "Were you reading in the dark again, Ruby?" to which she quickly answered, "I wasn't." The older mare looked at her, expecting more to the answer, and sighed as she realized that today was going to be a difficult day, "Were you sleeping then?" The answer came flatly, "Yeah." "Do you know what time it is?" "No." The older mare gave an exasperated sigh as she said, "Ruby, I'm not in the mood to play twenty questions with you today, so please, work with me here..." she trailed off as she looked at Ruby, then back around the room, asking nervously, "Wh-Where's your snake?" Ruby looked around the room as well, glancing quickly under the desk and in her drawers, "Iunno. She might be hunting for food again-- oh, here she is." Ruby opened a drawer, peering in at the python that coiled itself up in one of the many empty drawers that it liked to make itself home in. The python shifted as the drawer opened, flitting its tongue towards the intruder before resting its head back on its coils.
Ruby closed the drawer halfway and turned to look at her foster mother, arching her brow as she let out a sigh of relief. "Oh good," began the older mare, "anyways, it is nearly four o'clock in the afternoon. You've been sleeping all day, it's time to wake up. C'mon." Ruby flinched as the dim lights were flicked on, standing up on wobbly legs as the foster mother asked, "What are you going to do for the rest of the day? Clean your room I hope?" Ruby looked at her foster mother with a withering stare before setting her saddlebag on the chair, closing the book on the desk and putting it in the bag, along with a few other tomes and her deck of tarot cards, "I have to return these books before the library closes first, and then I'm meeting some friends to see a movie." Not one, but three blatant lies in one sentence: the books weren't due for another week, she had no friends to see a movie with, and there wasn't even anything interesting playing in the theater today and thus never planned on going. Her foster mother, oblivious to this, frowned and conceded, "Well, alright, but be back before eleven tonight. You're getting into your bad habits again."
===================
A half an hour later, Ruby sat in her usual place in the market square: on top of a cushion next to an isolated table with an umbrella sheltering it from the sun. Her saddlebag sat empty beside her, the python curled up inside it as it continued to bask while Ruby stayed out of the sun. Her books sat piled up on the table, supporting one that was propped open upright for easy reading as she shuffled her tarot cards. It was a beautiful afternoon, and there was still a few hours in the day left before it would start getting dark. Some of her regulars were no doubt annoyed that she was not where she usually was, or even around for the time they were looking for her, but really, what was the point of being a mystic if you were going to be in the same place at the same time every time? She needed to mix it up a little every so often, and today was one of the few days that this table was free. It was so much better than a dank alleyway.
There were, nonetheless, a few interested ponies who had approached her for readings, and she charged her usual fee of one bit each. From starstruck lovers, to ponies whose hearts pined for greater things, she would see many different kinds approach her, and many more consider it. It was only one bit after all, only half of an apple, mere pocket change. What was the worst that could happen? Right now though, she waited, reading her book on divination out of the corner of her eye as she shuffled, waiting for a customer to talk with, and possibly perform a reading for.
Brash and Carri:
Carri prances through the market with a smile, saddlebags full of many oddities mostly of a metal variety, and a filly on her back with a long list, Brash. Shopping for machine parts and scrap metal, even if some of said scrap metal was being sold as "art". Carri is suddenly distracted by a mare shuffling cards.
Carri approaches Ruby and happily asks, "What sort of games do you play here?" She assumes the stack of books are rulebooks for an assortment of playing card games.
Brash looks up from her list, "Gambling? Good thinking Carri, we need a sustainable source of income." She rolls up her list, hops down and places a bit in front of Ruby. "I bet on whatever has the biggest payout."
Nightingale:
Four o'clock and there was nothing to do. Pouting vehemently, Nightingale sat on top of the jungle gym of the playground as she glared towards the view of the open market square she could see from her perch. The leaves of the tree above her had slowly been changing as she sat there, the glowing horn atop her head the sole indicator that it was she who'd gradually been changing the leafy green into a rainbow assortment of cotton candy. Practicing her illusions was about the best thing for her to kill time with, so far, and even that was getting a little dull today. Partly because there weren't any other children around at the park today to impress.
She needed excitement. She needed adventure. She needed to mess with somepony and giggle childishly at their reaction. Yeah, that was the ticket. But who, and how... There were pretty much always ponies wandering around the market square, but most of them were either not worth the time to bother with, or much too easy to bother. Eventually, however, she could spot a mare sitting alone, looking unlike the other stalls set up nearby. The small parasol and... stack of books, it looked like, piqued Nightingale's interest. That was her target. Grinning to herself and already giggling a bit, Nightingale hopped down from her perch as she cut her spell, the cotton candy leaves returning to their normal selves.
It only took a brisk trot for her to reach the square a few minutes after, after which was when she had to put her plan in motion. First, she needed to make either way either behind or beside the mare, then create a crate around herself. Next, was slowly creeping up on the mare, the crate sliding along the ground as it kept up its illusion around Nightingale, the filly inside completely unawares that the tippy tip of her horn could still be seen outside her fabricated illusion. Then, finally, when she'd arrived at her destination, she took a look around from inside the crate, trying to figure out how she'd do this.
The books weren't really an option. She didn't have any ideas for those yet. Neither were the cards--they'd be seen pretty much instantly, and that was just too easy. But this saddlebag... Seemed empty at first, but it turned out there was actually a snake in it, and ponies who carried snakes around with 'em usually loved them to death. For some stupid reason. Either way, Nightingale had found her quarry. Gathering up another illusion, the snake inside shimmered a little bit as its appearance started to change--it went from a scaly abomination to a cute little pink balloon. It moved and felt every way that it did before, but now it looked much, much better in Nightingale's opinion.
But she couldn't stop there. As she had begun to mess with the card-mare, two other ponies had approached the table: one grey filly and one orange pegasus. Nightingale's eyes narrowed behind her 'impenetrable' fortress of illusory wood as she scanned her two new victims. The filly didn't have anything immediate she could use, but the pegasus... Creating another illusion alongside the other two she already had up, the wings at the pegasus' side also shimmered, changing into what would look like a wing made out of orange cotton balls, rather than the feathers normally present.
Satisfied with herself, she sat back in her crate, waiting for potential confusion to ensue.
Ruby Fortuna:
Ruby looks up from her reading as an orange pegasus approached, this one carrying a smaller pony on her back. This was nothing out of the ordinary, it was a bunch of young kids who were interested in what she was doing, maybe partake in her services just for the sake of the laughs. Whether or not they were going to take what she had to offer seriously was none of Ruby's concern though; she was only here to make some money, not think too hard about what ponies are saying behind her back. It looked like the two of them had been shopping for a bit, evident by the saddlebags the orange one carried, so maybe they just had some extra change to expunge before they were going home to the parents that charged them with their task. As Ruby looked a little closer, she had to double take quickly at the sight of the orange one's wings, which seemed to shimmer a little before she could see that they were an absolutely fluffy mess.
It was hot out, and mirages were pretty common on paved areas like this one as the concrete heated up, but as far as the wings were concerned, Ruby had no idea. She was no pegasus, and from what she knew, feathers tended to molt, and from what she'd overheard before, molting time tended to be a rather embarrassing time. She could see why now, this pegasus looked absolutely silly, if somewhat familiar. The orange one approached Ruby's table, asking what kinds of games she was playing, followed by the gray one jumping up and plopping a bit on the table, talking about... gambling?
She let that sink in for a few seconds as she gathered up her cards, looking at them through the top of her eyes as she shifted the book she was reading, to the side so that the title was a little more visible: The Art of Divination. "I do not play games." Ruby stated plainly after giving them a chance to read the title, "Gambling though, I suppose you could say what I do is something similar to that." She looked at the bit that sat on the table, pushing it back towards the small gray filly, "If you are giving this to me and expecting a game where you have the potential to obtain greater riches, then you are paying me for the wrong reasons. UNLESS..." she paused, shuffling it back towards herself, "you wish to have a glimpse at something that could be a lot more important than money." Letting her flair for theatrical drama begin to come through, she continued, "I am talking about your future of course. Ask me any question you have about the future that you are unsure of, and in three cards, I will provide you with hints as to what it could possibly hold for you, all for the easy price of one bit."
A slight tickling at her leg caught her attention, and she dropped her left foreleg to her side to pet the snake that had climbed out of the saddlebag to see her. Without even looking, she picked up the snake that had the illusion cast on it, letting it wrap itself along her foreleg without even looking at it. It still felt as scaly as her snake usually was, not at all the consistency of a balloon, so she had nothing to worry about. It was now, however, in plain sight of the other two, and Ruby was absentmindedly petting it as she awaited their answers.
Brash and Carri:
Carri watched as a balloon crawls up the mares foreleg, she smiles and is mesmerized by the neat magic trick.
Brash on the other hoof pays it no mind and squints at the mare, unsure of how helpful these hints might be. Most questions about her future she knows the answer to, like how she's obviously going to one day stand at the top of pony society and rule with an iron fist, or how she'll be the one saving Equestria from dangerous monsters with her all-powerful automaton.
"I suppose I could ask something, now that I don't want to take back the bit you touched." Brash glances over to Carri, not noticing her wings at first, "However I'm sure Carri has much more concerns than I."
Carri looks up from the balloon, "Oh, uh..." She thinks of the first future thing she is unsure of, "What am I having for lunch tomorrow?"
Brash grunts and shoves Carri aside, "Don't waste my bit," This time taking notice to Carri's wings, "And preen your wings or something, you're embarrassing all of us."
Carri stumbles but regains her balance as soon as she notices her wings as well, she gasps and gazes at them in panic fearing that she may have contracted some rare wing disease. Desperately brushing them with a hoof and gnawing at the strange cotton.
Brash turns back to Ruby, "Well, how's her future in general lookin'?" She asks nonchalantly.
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