Anon opened his eyes.
A light breeze from the street gently swayed the entrance of the tent, partially opening it and letting air inside. Sunlight also penetrated inside, breaking the mystical atmosphere created by Trixie with a yellow color.
After Mr. Shy unexpectedly quickly while blushing flew home another hour passed, during which no one entered the tent. So, after three hours - ten bits.
"Three thousand bits... Maybe I can pretend I misheard her and unload three thousand beets next to her wagon? That would definitely be cheaper if I manage to find a place with discounts for large orders."
From behind the tent slope appeared a familiar purple horn, followed by all of Twilight.
"Anon, I'm back!" Twilight said, approaching Anon. On her back, a large bag was securely fastened in the saddlebag, with something round inside. "We finished with the new orb, but Trixie couldn't handle it and fell asleep in the middle of the spell. Had to leave her with Rarity."
Anon nodded and gave her a quick thumbs up.
"How was your time? You look pretty tired, did clients come by?"
"A couple did, yeah," Anon replied tiredly, running a hand through his hair.
"Really? And did you predict their future?" Twilight smiled. "Or show them your disappearing finger trick?"
"I saw the future, Twilight. And the present. And I really want to go back to the past."
She looked at him in surprise, then at the table, noticing the deck of cards on it. "Did you use trot cards? You know they were invented by aristocrats about a hundred years ago for games and theatrical rituals, not for predictions?"
"I had no idea. But for some reason, they work for me."
"They work? They're just drawings, Anon, they're not even enchanted."
Anon took the deck in his hand and spun it around. He still didn't feel any magic.
"But if you're so sure... How does my future look like?"
"Probably very purple," Anon replied and began shuffling the cards, more skillfully than at the beginning of the day, gaining experience after spending a whole day in the tent with a deck of cards in his hands. His head felt remarkably light and free from thoughts. And slightly dizzy, so he wanted to stop this charade of predictions and at least go outside to breathe.
After finishing shuffling, Anon took three cards from the top of the deck and placed them face down on the table, then three more, and three more, laying each one in a corner, forming a diamond shape. Setting aside the deck, he leaned forward to the first cards, which he placed closer to Twilight.
The first card - labeled "The Magician", showed a unicorn with a black infinity sign above its head, holding a white wand in his magical aura, while his hoofes were hidden by lush bushes of flowers.
Well, she certainly is magical, no surprises here.
But the inscription at the bottom of the card suddenly faded into the background, and the infinity sign above the unicorn seemed like a black hole, attracting all attention, not allowing him to focus on other details.
And, she is uh... Infinite? Eternal? The hell does that mean?
His hand moved on its own to the remaining two cards from the trio, flipping them - "Two Of Pentacles" and "The Emperor."
On the first one, a pony stood on its hind legs and danced while holding the infinity sign with two coins on its ends, on the second one, a crowned pegasus sat on a throne, his beard catching Anon's attention.
Eternal dances of the elderly? Or an endlessly long beard? Eternal old age? Doesn’t make sense anyway. Listen, magic, I've played enough riddles for today, just highlight letters for me, it'll be faster.
…
Seriously? Couldn't you just do that from the start?
F... o... and o again... c... and another o... and now f... and again f. So... Foocoof... Wait, wait, fooc off? You fooc off!
Twilight examined the cards together with Anon, trying to guess their meaning on her own and throwing glances at her fortune teller, who studied the drawings with a tense face and furrowed brows.
Reaching for another card, he turned over "The Empress", where Celestia sat on a red cushion with an unreadable expression on her face. Something clicked in Anon's mind, and he pushed all the open cards closer, examining them all simultaneously.
Magic, eternity, old age, eternity, power. Eternal life and eternal power through magic, is that what you're trying to tell me? So that means...?
From the deck came "The Hermit" with a bearded unicorn holding a lantern in an aura and bowing its head down, with what seemed to Anon like silent agreement with his words.
Holy shit. Now that's some news I was not ready for, and certainly wasn't meant to know. The alicorn, the princess. Why would they need another one?
Now appeared the "Two of Swords," where a minotaur with a blindfold crossed two swords on his chest in a gesture resembling denial, followed by the "Six of Swords," with a pony in a boat setting off on a journey, and this card wanted to be placed right next to the card depicting Celestia.
The only princess? Holiest shit, they just left Twi to deal with all this alone. And what's next?
Anon felt goosebumps all over his body and scooped up all the cards he had laid out on the table and the deck as well, pulling out one card after another, haphazardly laying them in free spaces, grabbing one detail from each before moving on to the next.
"The Three of Cups" with a pony, unicorn, and pegasus cheering together and raising cups in the air, and they clearly were happy with everything, even though the faces are barely visible. Anon smiled.
She'll definitely have friends, and they'll always be there.
On the "Nine of Cups" a smiling zebra sat in the center of the drawing, surrounded from behind by nine golden cups.
And the further she goes, the more she'll have of them.
He pulled out "The Three of Wands", where a diamond dog held a stick protruding from the ground, finding support in it.
And with their help...
"The Ace of Swords" with a griffon claw holding onto a sword with a crown above it.
She will reign.
"The Ten of Wands", where a unicorn tries his best to hold many sticks in his aura, struggling and almost falling.
And she will tire, doubt herself, and almost give up.
"The Five of Cups" appeared, with a unicorn in a black robe, sadly lowering his head while looking at three spilled cups on the ground near his hooves.
And even endure failures.
"The Tower" came in, with a drawing of a tower engulfed in flames and smoke, with lightning striking it. Ponies and unicorns fell from its windows.
Some serious fuck ups.
"The Four of Cups" showed a pony under a tree, to which a cloud with dragon claws was handing a cup.
But the world itself will help her deal with them.
On the "Ten of Cups" a whole family of ponies rejoiced and danced under ten cups against the backdrop of a rainbow.
And harmony will always be on their side.
Anon continued to pull out card after card, and there was no free space left on the table in front of him. The cards lay on top of each other in a canvas of drawings and creatures of Equestria, cups, crowns, wands, and coins mingled into one whole.
He snapped out of the trance when only the title card remained in his hand, the last of all. Anon raised his head, and Twilight's expectant face emerged from the haze before him.
Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Anon exhaled, not even realizing he had been holding his breath.
"Anon?"
He looked down one last time.
"Anon?"
A couple of seconds of contemplation, and he laid his hands on the table, gathering the cards from both sides into a single line and starting to stack them.
"You know, you're right. This crap clearly doesn't work and will only come in handy when there's nothing left to do but pick your nose."
Twilight looked at Anon in confusion, expecting any other response from him.
But he didn't say anything else. Tapping the cards against the table, Anon aligned the deck and wrapped it back in the beige fabric. "Let’s go and do something outside while we still have time, it's too stuffy in this tent already."