Tales and curiosities

It had been a peaceful day; Scryer was currently in the Velvet Room, heating up water for tea. He'd had a few ponies come in to have readings or get advice from the cards, but not too many; he noted with some chagrin that a lot of the 'socialites' seemed to think it beneath them.

"Ah... their loss, I suppose..." He wondered where that pegasus he'd met earlier was. Now there was an interesting pony... hard to read for most... but the unicorn was sure that he had an interesting tale for the cards to tell. He also had to admit that he thought the other stallion's bashfulness was rather endearingly cute. A small smile crossed his face at the thought as he rested.

Thundershot peeked his head in through the door of the Velvet Room. He sincerely hoped this was the right building-- not many places in Canterlot shared the name, after all, but he couldn't be too sure-- and he hadn't stumbled into a rather eccentric hotel. He winced, faintly remembering the time that he'd walked in on two ponies having a heated argument about umbrellas. It had been oddly frightening.

"Um..." He glanced inside, eyes falling on a familiar figure. The tarot reader! "Hey!" Thundershot's previously grim expression brightened in childish excitement, but it soon transformed to embarrassment. He wasn't a little colt anymore, damn it. "Uh, I was told I'd see you here, for um, cards." He blinked the blush away. "And stuff."

The unicorn chuckled a bit. "I trust you didn't have issue finding my caravan, Thundershot? Pleasure to have you here. If you would, take a seat in the chair in front of the table. Would you care for a cup of tea while I do my reading?"

He gestured across the table from his small couch to the chair, which looked rather comfortable. The pegasus would likely be able to feel a sort of mystic air around him in the fortunetelling room.

"Now... What do you seek? A glimpse of the future? Lessons to be learned from the past? Perhaps an introspective on yourself... or just some advice?"

He trotted over to the seat and sat down, shifting rather awkwardly in the plush couch. There was a strange feeling about him. Barely there, almost... ethereal? Mystical?

Thundershot frowned for a bit, bringing his hoof to his chin as he tapped and thought. Advice on how to address Crystal and Velra? He had no experience in dealing with mares, after all. Or perhaps he should ask about the future? Perhaps he should ask about Cloudspree's future husband? He mentally cringed at the idea of some random stallion marrying his sister.

He merely shrugged, "I--I don't know, really. It's my first time. Anything you'd like, then?"

"Very well. First things first, though..." He levitated a cup of green tea over to the pegasus. "Please drink this; it'll help you relax. You seem quite tense."

He gave a gentle smile to Thundershot. "I'll just do a general reading. You... those around you... and a glimpse of the future."

He set the cup down next to Thundershot, then closed his eyes in focus. His deck of tarot cards lifted up, glowing with the aura of his magic; the deck shuffled itself rapidly before quickly setting down on the table. His eyes still closed, he flipped the first card over.

"A bit about yourself..." He opened his eyes, looking at the card, which was, to Thundershot's view, an upside down stallion, dressed in robes and holding a coin.

"The King of Pentacles in the upright. What this tells me about you... is that you've worked quite hard to be where you are... that you can come across as cold or aloof because you don't speak much... but!"

He flipped over the next card. It was also upside-down to Thundershot's view, a stallion dressed in robes and holding a cup. "Warmhearted and caring beneath that. Your family is very dear to you, no? That's what the King of Cups represents."

He reshuffled the cards in and reshuffled the deck, preparing to address a different part.

Thundershot stared, agape. "Wh-- how-- that's amazing!" he declared. Then, realizing his outburst, he sunk uncomfortably in his seat and sipped a bit of tea to shut himself up. The unicorn-- oh, unicorns, why did they always have to look so damn aweso-- had been right; it certainly did have a calming effect on Thundershot. Just barely.

He cleared his throat and set the cup of tea back on the table. "Not that.. it... I mean, it wasn't that amazing. Just so-so amazing. Like-- like this tea. And this room and--" he coughed, "Itwasreallyamazingactually and I'll just shut up now." Scowling at his inability to speak properly, he swallowed down the giddy feelings with another sip of tea. This was terribly exciting to Thundershot-- he had never been able to explore the wonders of the caravans in Manehattan since his uncle and aunt were always demanding that he stay away from such 'filthy' places. Personally, he had not understood their disgust, but they were orders to follow...

Scryer internally chuckled, blushing a little bit at Thundershot's outburst. He decided to put on a little show, shuffling the cards once more with his magic, a faint glow of his purple magic aura filling the room.

The cards came down.

"Now then! For your future..." He drew a card, a single wand. "The Ace of Wands! This card represents energy for a new passion, a new hobby, a new career, just something new."

He drew another; a pony hanging from a tree limb by a hoof. "The Hanged Stallion. This card is advice for your present; it recommends you take time to meditate. Look internally and discover more about yourself."

Another card hit the table. "A warning." It was a horned pony with a malicious look, facing Thundershot. "The Devil in the reverse. Don't allow yourself to get trapped in base desires; the games of the nobility..." Another card appeared, a crumbling tower with ponies falling from it, facing Thundershot. "Else it will lead to ruin of what you know. Change is not necessarily a bad thing. That's what the Tower represents. Destruction of the old to make way for the new."

"And now..." He drew one more card. Two ponies in an embrace, upside down from Thundershot. "...The Lovers... interesting. I believe that sometime in your future, you will indeed find your 'second half'. The pony or thing that completes you."

One more flourish of the cards and the glow faded. "Now... Hopefully the cards helped enlighten your path... I'm glad you came, Thundershot. It's a pleasure to have you here." The unicorn gave the pegasus a small smile.

Thundershot's eyes grew in earnest wonder as he watched the room take on the strangely comforting glow of the unicorn's magic. Unicorns had always been fascinating to the pegasus-- he held himself back from reaching out to touch the magic. Was that even possible?

As the session seemed to have come to an end, Thundershot let out a breath that he hadn't known he'd been holding.

"That was-- that was amazing," Thundershot stammered, eyes still wide and studying the cards, no longer aglow. "How did you-- that's-- wait, how do you know my name?" He blinked, rather confused. Had he told the unicorn his name at the library? He didn't remember that. Or the unicorn giving his name. "Or is this another psychic-magical-card-reading sort of thing?" He waved his hooves around. Perhaps he had forgotten because he'd been so anxious about his secret fondness of the romance novels being found out?

Scryer smiled, blushing faintly at the praise. "Your... sister, I believe... mentioned your name... and you yourself told me your name as well. I believe you said..." He cleared his throat and said, in a pretty good imitation of Thundershot's voice. "Could I trust... that nopony will know of Chief Thundershot's, uh, liking for drippy, corny romance novels?"

He gave the pegasus a warm smile. "I haven't told a soul. Hmhmhm... I see your eyes have been glued to my cards..." His magic aura enveloped the deck and it levitated over. "You're welcome to look at them if you wish. Do you have any questions for me? I'd be happy to answer them."

Thundershot inhaled, exhaled, forced himself into a calmer state.

He would not gush about how amazing magic-- Scryer's fortunetelling, especially-- was. Not again.

Instead, he let out a faint chuckle, which was rather rare for a seldom-smiling pony like Thundershot. He held out a tentative hoof to take the cards, staring intently at the illustrations as if all the answers to any of the questions in the galaxy were there, hidden someplace in the corner.

His phthalo blue-green eyes flickered up toward the tarot reader. "How long have you been doing this?" Thundershot was about to let out a barrage of questions, but he swallowed and told himself to keep quiet until Scryer answered.