Half-Hour Horses

by HoofAndQuill

Luck of the Draw [Slice of Life]

(The Prompt: It’s all in the cards.)

Princess Twilight Sparkle looked side to side as she trotted down the unfamiliar street, somewhere in Manehattan. She could have sworn her friends had been right behind her a minute ago. Her wings rustled uncomfortably behind her. "Oooh, how could I have lost track of everypony? I don't even know where I am!"

She might not have been sure where she was, but she was pretty sure it wasn't the best place to be. The streets were cracked, the building facades were crumbling, and many of the windows were broken. Every pony she passed seemed wearier and grumpier than the last, until she found herself walking very carefully and making absolute certain that she wouldn't attract any undue attention.

Of course it didn't seem to be working, for some reason she was drawing everypony's eyes as she walked through the city, no matter how inconspicuous she tried to be. It was unnerving enough that when she heard a familiar voice calling out her name, she immediately broke into a gallop toward it. "Twilight Sparkle! What in Equestria is a princess like you doing here?"

In her excitement, Twilight nearly reached the light blue mare before she even took the time to realize who it was. Once she recognized her, she stopped short, and crossed the rest of the distance more carefully. There, sitting behind a small cardboard box in an alleyway, was a sky blue unicorn mare that had brought her trouble twice already. "Trixie? Why are you in Manehattan?"

Trixie's horn glowed as she shuffled a small deck of cards against the top of the overturned box. "The Great and Powerful Trixie... has to make money somehow. Since she no longer can travel and tell her exciting stories of adventure, she has turned to this instead."

Twilight looked over the box and cards. Written in a fairly stylish script on the side were the words "THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE'S THREE-CARD AND FORTUNE-TELLING". She raised an eyebrow skeptically. "Card tricks, Trixie? Really?"

The other mare smiled and spun the cards through the air, fanning them out in a circle and then shuffling them in a maddening maze before pulling them all back together into a perfect deck. In the display, Twilight could see that they weren't modern playing cards, but some variation of old earth pony marot decks. Trixie placed the deck down on the box, next to the three playing cards that were laid out nearby. "Would you like to place a bet that you can choose the Princess of Hearts after Trixie mixes the cards? Or would you like a one-hundred percent guaranteed accurate marot reading from the Great and Prophetic Trixie?"

Twilight gave her a flat look. "Trixie, three-card is a scam and marot card readings are just superstition! You know as well as I do that there's no magic to predict the future!"

Trixie smirked, and pulled the top card from the stack, placing it down on the table. The face of the card showed a cutie mark probably only familiar to a select few ponies, Clover the Clever's, and had embellished text "MAGIC" on the bottom. Twilight bit back a comment on the inauthenticity of the marot deck, but Trixie didn't seem to notice. "You see? This card in this position symbolizes one of the ponies that this reading would be for! Magic can only symbolize either the Princess of Magic or the Great and Powerful Trixie herself! For ten bits, Trixie could continue."

Twilight glanced at the card, then to Trixie, and then to the fairly small pile of bits partially hidden nearby. There wasn't much. She sighed, and placed ten bits on the top of the box. "Fine, Trixie. It might be fun anyway."

Trixie straightened up, adopting a slight mysterious and mystical tone that did not fit the grungy alleyway in any way. She pulled another card from the deck, and levitated it to a place opposite the first card before flipping it over. It depicted an earth pony mare balancing on one hoof on top of a ball. The text read "THE JESTER". Trixie coughed pointedly. "Well, this would be the other pony in the prophecy. The Jester represents, perhaps one of your friends?"

"Actually Trixie, in most historical fortune telling practices, the Jester represents a performer, especially one skilled in spectacle. It might symbolize you!" Twilight shuffled her hooves, grinning. As silly as this was, trying to put meaning to random draws could be an interesting challenge, and it was distracting her from the unpleasant streets around her.

"Yes, of course! The Great and Powerful Trixie is extraordinarily skilled with all forms of performance! The next card symbolizes the location of the reading, though Trixie will admit it is not always clear." Trixie levitated another card over, between the two already placed, and flipped it over to reveal an illustration of food spilling from a cornucopia, and the text "THE FEAST". Trixie smiled at the card, before re-adopting her serious expression for fortune telling. "As you can see, the Great and Powerful Trixie knows prophetic magic of all types. The Feast shows... Ponyville! A farming town produces plenty of food."

"Oh, I like that, that's clever!" Twilight clapped her hooves together, smiling brightly. "As nice as Manehattan is, I already miss Ponyville."

"Yes, well, Trixie is certain you will be able to return. Now, the next card--"

Trixie was suddenly cut off by the appearance of a rather serious looking stallion, who pushed his way in between Princess Twilight and the box. He was wearing a blue cap and uniform, marking him as Manehattan city police. Twilight backpedaled slightly away. The stallion bowed and then spoke with the respect due a princess, drawing a blush from Twilight. "Princess Twilight! Welcome to Manehattan! This grifter isn't bothering you is she? Trixie, how many times do I have to stop you from gambling with tourists?"

Twilight stood up tall, and flared out her wings. "Officer, she wasn't bothering me. Trixie is a... friend of mine! Don't worry about her, we were just having fun. But could you point me toward The Qilin hotel? My other friends are waiting for me there."

He nodded, and rattled off a quick set of directions, before bowing and leaving, only glancing once more at Trixie. Twilight watched him go, and smiled apologetically at Trixie. "Sorry, Trixie. I forget sometimes that I... you know, have these wings and everything. It was nice seeing you again! I've got to go meet the others though, come by Ponyville sometime!"

Trixie waved as Twilight did the same, and watched her walk away in a rush. She looked down at the half-finished reading. "Well, Trixie supposes ten bits is ten bits."

Idly curious, she flipped over the next card, that was supposed to symbolize the theme of the interaction between the two ponies. It was a card showing a crystal carved into a heart, with magic lines encircling it. The text read "LOVE". Trixie blushed and looked around quickly, to make certain Twilight wasn't peeking around a corner or messing with the card order somehow. She stared down at the card, and then scoffed. "Marot is nonsense anyway! But perhaps... Perhaps the Great and Powerful Trixie will visit Ponyville again. Sometime."

Trixie packed up her box, putting the cards away and her small savings inside with her robe and wizard hat. She couldn't help smiling as she trotted her way toward the train station, and toward a brighter future.