They sat down on the stools provided, facing the fortune telling stallion. "I am glad you have agreed to walk this path with me." They had dropped bits into his can, and he seemed ready to continue. He had no visible horn, though he wore a great hat on his head as part of his seer outfit that could have concealed one. No wings.
"Let us start with the one most eager." He looked to Bottom intensely. "From so far away." He perked an ear, cocking his head as if he heard something. "What's that? Canterlot? I doubt that, my friends. Who would come from so far away just to see me?"
Bottom burst into airy giggles, adjusting her glasses. "Your 'friends' are correct. What else are they telling you about me?"
Color rolled his eyes. "You're one of the fanciest dressed mares here. It was Canterlot or Manehattan."
The gypsy ignored Color, his eyes on Bottom. "They whisper a number. Two hundred and fifty six, light for a mare your size."
Bottom blushed softly. "Your friends are uncannily close... What else?"
The gypsy brought his hooves together. "I must congratulate you."
She tilted her head. "What for?"
"Your wedding, of course." He inclined his head towards Day before blinking. "Oh, that is to come, not here yet. My apologies."
Bottom's cheeks darkened all the harder as she glanced away. "We're not at that point."
"To come, not here yet. I misspoke." He dipped his head. "Still, my congratulations remain."
Day seemed to surface from his thoughts. "Hm? I'm not proposing to you at a carnival."
"Please don't," she easily agreed, a smile growing. "That would be too much."
The fortuneteller looked to Day. "Shall we move on to you, good sir?"
Day jumped in place. "Huh? Oh, sure, already paid."
"With my bit," noted Color with a little snort.
"Bit's a bit." Day nodded. "Show me the future."
The fortune teller waved his hooves over his crystal ball, fondling it lovingly as he gazed at Day. "Hm. Hmm... Three hundred, almost even?"
Day waved a hoof away. "Yeah yeah, I could step on a scale. Future please."
Bottom leaned in. "How close was he?"
Day's snout wrinkled a little. "Close enough."
"A local," interrupted the seer. "Your line has dug deep into this town, but you have ventured far from the tree you dropped. I see a regal pony, the most regal, looming large, but she is not focused on you, curious..."
Color quirked an ear at that. "Huh?"
The seer focused on Color suddenly. "Ah, that is where they are looking, mmm, yes, two, I feel certain..." He tapped his hooves on either side of the crystal orb. "But your friend is involved, I feel certain. They are quite unspecific... Matters of such powerful ponies always becomes hazy."
Color flattened his ears. Nopony but his closest friends would know about his direct dealings with the princesses, right? What evidence had he worn to even hint at the idea?!
"Your fortunes, revealed!" He did a circle around the orb with a hoof. "Now, would you like any other folk magics? I can hex someone who owes you bits, if you like."
Bottom snorted at that as she rose to her hooves. "There are no ponies I would wish such a petty revenge on."
Day tilted his head at that. "Huh, I'll be helping Color out? I coulda guessed that." He fell down to all fours as well. "Thanks."
As they wandered away, Color looked the most numb, his eyes unfocused.
Day bumped him. "You never got your weight."
"Yeah..." He shook his head. "Forget that. Want to give that a go?" He pointed to a hammer resting beside a long pole with a bell at the top. "No prize for winning, so..."
"Sure." Day ambled towards it. "You're going with the horn, right? No fair otherwise." Bottom knew he was stronger if it was hoof to hoof.
Bottom peered at the two stallions curious. "This a contest you do often?"
"Every carnival," easily agreed Color as he willed the hammer into the air. "What'd I get last time... Low 7s if I recall." He brought the floating hammer back. "Let's see what time has brought me."
Day picked up a second hammer, the only other in the area. "That sounds right. Give it your best shot."
Down came the hammer, driven by the glow of Color's magic, smashing into the pad and propelling the weight upwards. It had no hope of reaching the bell at the top, slowing gently to a stop and starting back down. "Aw..." He had scored just short of a seven.
Day advanced on it, the hammer clenched in his mouth. "Just because you're doing art doesn't make your magic stronger." He tossed the hammer up, caught it in his teeth and slammed on the pad with a hoof instead of the hammer. The weight flew up, close to nine without hitting the bell, then came back down to a stop. "Still got it."
"My hero," laughed Bottom as her magic took the hammer away from Day, plucking it from his teeth. "You might hit the bell if you actually use the hammer."
"Nah." He shook his head. "My legs are way stronger than my neck."
"If you say so." She weighed the mallet in her magic, hefting it up and down with a little frown. "Let's give this a try."
Color shook his head. "Don't strain yourself. It's harder than it looks."
"I know how to use my horn." She huffed softly, then brought down the hammer in a smooth arc, smashing into the pad and sending the weight up. 1, 3, 5, 6... 7... It stopped a little past seven, coming back down from whence it came. "Not bad."
"You beat me." Color smiled ruefully. "I'm the weakest one."
Day shrugged. "Mares can be strong, and unicorns use their minds. Bottom has a really good one of those."
"You flatterer." She bumped him gently and set the hammer back beside the pole. "There's more fun to be had, let's go."
Libel tapped the top of a table lightly. Sure, Color had asked her, more informed her, that he was going off with Day and Bottom... Still... "They could have invited me..." A multiple day trip to the country? That would have been a nice vacation.
That she would never get approved in such short warning.
If she didn't like Bottom, as a friend, she wouldn't have gotten it either... "But how could I say no?" Bottom had been so good to her, of course she just said yes when she was approached about it...
Shame that didn't really work on the next level up. "And I just fouled things up." There was no way her boss was feeling that generous towards her. She had to earn that standing the hard way, which left her at home, working, alone. "I bet they're having so much fun..."
She set her hooves down on her typewriter, but pushed it away after a moment of staring. "Forget it. I'm doing it." She snatched her phone with a wing. "I'm ordering that thing and I'll be a pro before they even get back." That'll teach them!
It arrived at her home by the time she went home that night. She ripped open the box eagerly and there it was, all shiny and polished. It had... so many keys. Her eyes wandered from one to the next as her wings gently brushed over them. It was so... pretty, and alien.
She depressed the 'I' key. With a loud clack, something happened. "Maybe I should read the instructions..."
She pulled the tome of the instructions free and let it fall to the table beside the beast. "Now let's see..."
Libel soon had paper loaded properly into it, and the ink ribbon was set in carefully. All the various levers were in the correct position, though most, it seemed, would remain just fine without her messing with them, more of a one time setup. If she were a writer, she would have to mess with them more often.
She felt ready. T... H... I... S... She hit the space bar. I... S... It was so slow, she frowned. She had seen ponies typing so very quickly with such a thing. Why was her typing so infuriatingly slow?!
She checked the manual in case it had advice. As it turned out, it did, a section on typing stances and practices. She soon had her primary feathers where it said would be easiest to reach the most keys. "And then..." She read on and it began to emphasize that the greatest increase to speed came with time and practice.
"Right..." No shortcuts. There was no friendly contact she could call that would just impart the physical knowledge of how to type fast. She pulled over a small book, her first novel. "Let's start with what you know."
She began transcribing the novel for practice, eyes trying to stay on the paper, but constantly drifting down to see where each given key was. Practice... She needed practice...
The next day, she brought the typewriter with her, slung to her side, as heavy as it was. Others gawked at her as she strode confidently to her office with it. She replaced the old keyboard with the new one and sat down. "Let's get to work."
And so she worked. It was slower. Oh, Celestia have mercy, it was slower, but she was doing it. She was slowly gaining the skill she needed with visions of how much faster she'd be when she finished mastering it.
Her phone rung suddenly. Her wings shot out to either side in surprise before she curled one in to grab the phone. Bottom wasn't there to get it for her. "Libelous Word speaking."
"Libel." It was her boss. "People are talking about you swapping to one of them multi-key models? I didn't know you knew how to use those."
She had hoped to practice more before he questioned her about it, but it wasn't as if she could fly with that massive thing... "They're made for pegasi," she retorted. True, she heard, not that it made her any better at it so far. "I'm on the case. I'll have the article spot-checked and marked up by lunch."
"You better. We'll have a second round to be sure." The line went dead.
Libel sagged. They'd have another editor check her work? It was a sign of a complete lack of faith... Of course, she had just messed up, and she was using a new typewriter.
She shook it off with a soft huff. She had to regain that confidence, and it started by working. She got back to typing and reading, even if the typing was slower. "At least I have to be careful." She had no choice but to check each letter as she did them, still learning the layout of the keys. Her speed would suffer, but her accuracy would benefit, she decided.
In the end, she double-checked her own work before turning it in. Not a single mistake could survive. She would not turn in less than perfection, not then. She just couldn't afford it. She arrived at his office at about one PM to drop off the finished paper. "I'll be at lunch."
"You're taking a late lunch." He grabbed the papers in his magic. "You were either being very careful or..." He tucked it away on his desk. "Have a nice lunch."
That was that, she was dismissed. Not even a thanks. She didn't deserve thanks just then, she quickly decided. If she were less than she was, she could have been fired to avoid dealing with the issue and no tears would have been shed. She nodded to her boss and departed without a word. There were no words that would smooth tings, just work.
She had to be perfect. Anything less would drag her name through the mud and her career with it.