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Post by Low Key on Sept 6, 2014 19:53:34 GMT -5
Ok, let's see...several apples, two heads of lettuce, a pound of carrots, a band to play, an-ACH! Focus!
Low Key shook his head as he made his way through the market. It was early-afternoon by then and the place was crowded. The one thing he loved about living in a small town was that all of the produce was fresh and local; the apples came from an orchard outside town, the carrots and lettuce were grown in a co-op, and there was even a beekeeper that made the most delicious honeys he had ever tasted.
However, today of all days, despite having a list, Low Key was having trouble simply staying focused. Every few minutes, he'd lapse into deep thought and by the time he came out of it, he had walked right past the stall he had intended to go for. The content of these thoughts all had to do with one thing: What was he going to do for the future? Despite the satisfaction he sometimes got at his job, he didn't want to be a bartender for the rest of his life.
What did he want to do then? Well, it just so happened that his greatest dream had been to play in a band. However, whenever an opportunity to join one presented itself, he simply couldn't bring himself to ask. He was too bashful for his own good, and it was getting downright humiliating at this point.
There was also another issue, one that had been burning a hole in his chest for some time. He had never discussed it with anypony before, and he did his best to keep it hidden well.
As Low Key snapped back to reality, he realized that he had just walked past the egg stall for the second time. Rolling his eyes and cursing under his breath, he is about to turn back around when he sees a small cart near the edges of the market. Next to it sits a dark unicorn mare reading from a hard cover book. He had seen her multiple times when going to the market, and he had heard from several ponies that she specialized in tarot readings. Low Key had never been much for the occult, and he never had much of a trust for fortune tellers.
This time, however, was different. He wanted to turn around and walk away, but at the same time he was curious. He wanted to know if he still had a future, and he had never had a tarot reading before. Perhaps it was a worth a try...
Resolute, he began walking towards the tarot cart.
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Post by Midnight Mind on Sept 7, 2014 21:01:52 GMT -5
Midnight sat for the third day as ponies avoided her little make shift stand. She sighed some under her breathe mumbling to herself "Silly ponies." as her copper eyes read over a few pages from her journal she grumbled setting it aside as she had enough of the past for now. Soon everything will be over at the kingdom, and she knew Arid and Defiant were fine. She didn't need her cards to tell that she used her magic to move a few items on her table before her eyes went to a young male unicorn coming towards her stand. She stopped with her magic using a hoof to brush aside some pieces of stray mane.
"Good day to you sir." she called out to the male before bowing her head "Please feel free to ask any thing however, I believe you already know the question that you are gonna ask." she raised her head up as she smiled looking into Low Key's eyes "Would you care for a tarot reading?" she lifted her deck up and gave it a shuffle with her hooves as she set it down again "Or perhaps a reading from my crystal ball? I will give you a good price on both of them." she blinked and rubbed the back of her head a bit..wow has she been without a customer for so long she forgot her manners "Oh...sorry I didn't err..it's been a few days and...I probably sound like a loon."
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Post by Low Key on Sept 7, 2014 21:23:21 GMT -5
Low Key hesitates as he once again considers what it is he is doing. Does he really think that this mare has the gift of foresight? Does he realize just how ridiculous an idea it was to ask somepony to tell him his future. What if it was all a sham? What if she was just a con artist who was manipulating his insecurities for profit?
He pushes all those fears to the back of his mind as he finally introduces himself, "Well, I guess I need a fortune telling. There's something I've always wondered and I would like answers."
Low Key sits down on his haunches and continues, "I play the bass guitar, and I guess I play it pretty well." He scratches the back of his neck, "I-I want to know if I'll ever find a band, if I'll ever play live. Is that possible?"
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Post by Midnight Mind on Sept 7, 2014 21:41:50 GMT -5
"Your eyes tell so much about the soul. Some say the eyes are doors to the soul..yet it also shows us the fear we have. A band you say?" she began to move her deck up again and shuffled it before she shook her head a bit "I feel as if this calls for more then just the usual. I must insist on the seven point spread for you." she began to smile and tilted her head "The question of being in a band...the wanting to play live." she smiled a bit as she used her hoof to spread out the cards face down looking into Low Key's eyes as her smile faded "For in your eyes I see...a past full of missed chances as well looking towards the future. Instead of the here and now. Please...pull out seven cards. Keep them face down and I shall shed some light upon it."
As she looked into Low Key's eyes she began to feel all the emotions he had, was he worried he was a failure in his profession? Or sadness upon a missed cross road in his life? The eyes however did show all the happiness he had for his music. "I will reveal to you a missed cross road in your life. Upon which I will ask you a simple question, the answer will reveal a path. May it be the correct one, for I fear if it is not the correct one. The path you take may lead you into a spiral."
She began to close her eyes as she sighed a bit "Sorry if I sound a bit..forth coming but, when I have been granted permission to look and your doorways are open. I see every hidden emotion you have and I see your circle."
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Post by Low Key on Sept 7, 2014 22:05:26 GMT -5
Low Key was a little shocked by Midnight's primary statement. He also had a fascination with eyes as the windows into a pony's soul, and the way she spotted the hidden pain in his eyes seemed all too familiar to him. How much could she already see in them?
He remembered back to when he was making his way through high school. Academically, he was a B average student. He did his best in school, but his passion was clear. In the middle of class, he would zone out and his hoof would start tapping. Sometimes, it would be his pencil, much to his classmates' chagrin. There was always a song in the back of his mind, distracting him. Outside of class, he played his bass guitar every day. Some days, he would bring it to school and play it during the break.
Then Low remembered that fateful day. The last day of school was approaching and he was on his way home. He passed by the music room on the way out and could hear the sounds of guitars. Curious, he walked over to the door and looked inside. He could see multiple ponies practicing, and he recognized them as the band that would play in the farewell assembly. He remembered the bass guitar slung across his back and a question entered his mind: Do they need a bassist? He wanted to ask them, but maybe they did? Bassists are a dime a dozen, he was sure that they found someone. Plus, they would have asked him seeing as he takes it everywhere with him. So, he left them to their practice.
The day of the assembly, the band took the stage. Two guitars, one drummer...no bassist. Low Key had never been more mad at himself.
He looked at the fan of tarot cards and used his magic to randomly remove seven. He placed them face down on the cart before Midnight, watching with fascination to see what she would do next.
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Post by Midnight Mind on Sept 8, 2014 9:18:38 GMT -5
As she watched Key her head tilted to the side a bit, he seemed lost in thought on something. As he got around to picking out his cards she began to slide the rest of the cards back into a deck state. Setting them to the side she began to use her left hoof placing the cards out on the table. Taking out a marker she began to use her magic to draw a line in between the cards showing they formed a seven point star. Making a circle around the outside of the cards careful not to get any on them she capped the marker and set it aside "The seven point read is a style I worked on my own, usually some spreads have a past, present, and future. Or three cards...easy and really good. However sometimes in life it calls for more."
She moved her left hoof over to the left side of the table starting at the top card "This is your distant past, the card here.." she moved her hoof down to the one left of it "This is recent past." she moved down again to another card "This is your present...and this one" moving once again hitting the bottom left card "This is your present as well...the cards go together. The next is where this gets interesting." she moved her hoof to the far right "This will represent your near future..I call it the cross path card. It is the card that leads you to a choice in your life and your decision will determine what path you take."
As she moved to the last two cards she smiled a bit before her eyes looked into Low Key's eyes "Two choices yet only one will be flipped. Upon the answer you give me the card based on your answer will be revealed. The other shall remain down and not be revealed." she began to move her hoof out and touched the circle she drew "I was taught life is a circle. Never begins and never ends, around and around it goes forever." she began to sigh recalling her father's words to her in her head as she shut her eyes a bit "We never die nor do we live, we begin here at the edge of the circle and head towards the middle. As goes all things it isn't as easy as.." she moved her hooves up and made air quotes with her hooves "A straight path to death and repeat." life is filled with many cross roads. Each life is different but, if one were to make a circle with a marker and drew lines in every way...crossing each other some short...some long. Some reaching the middle faster then others." her eyes opened up as she looked skywards feeling the wind moving through her mane "So much of it is left untraveled because we do not see the other paths..sometimes being so focused on one thing when a new path opens we do not see it and, we need a guide to help us see what sometimes is right in front of us."
She looked down at Low and began to lose her smile as she had a serious look in her eyes now "Are you ready to see what paths lies before you?"
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Post by Low Key on Sept 8, 2014 10:13:01 GMT -5
Low listened intently to Midnight had to say. Sure, the voice in the back of his mind told him that she was mad, but at the same time, there seemed to be a method to her madness. As she explained the seven-point spread, he observed silently. The past and present made sense enough, but the future was startling. What if he made the wrong choice? Would he be stuck running headlong into disaster? He decided to wait and see.
Midnight's philosophy was just as interesting as everything else. Low Key liked to keep an open mind, but some things still sounded like lunacy. This would have been one of those things if Low Key hadn't noticed just how much detail Midnight gave. Perhaps he could meditate on it later.
As she proposed her question, Low Key nodded, "I'm ready."
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Post by Midnight Mind on Sept 8, 2014 20:13:08 GMT -5
"Then we begin...your entire soul shall be shown to me." she reached over to the top card with her left hoof and flipped it over revealing the moon card, on it was the picture of the moon in the sky with a sleeping pony hanging from it's crescent shape "Ahh the moon card...it seems as a colt you had this constant dream. You for the longest time would sit and day dream about becoming a star on stage, though it goes further then that. You didn't wanna do it because of fame or money you did it for your love of music. The innocence of the heart showing how much you care for the dream." she began to tilt her head a bit "You would when you slept.." she stared deep into his eyes as if she was seeing something there "The dreams you had when sleeping showed you with a band yet, no other pony or creature was revealed they were a blur to you. It wasn't a dream this I can assure you. When you dream and people are blurred it is a vision of things to come. Unknown entities that will become clear when you see them." she began to move her hoof away from the card as her eyes never left his
"I see so much of your past and it seems a shame the next card will reveal the beginning of what is to come. Is there anything you have to ask before we move forward?"
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Post by Low Key on Sept 8, 2014 20:47:12 GMT -5
Low Key's eyes were wide and he was absolutely shocked speechless. How did she know about his childhood? He mentally took back every reservation he had about this mare and sat there with his mouth hanging open.
Staring back into her eyes, he could almost feel them boring into him. When he often thought of the eyes being the windows to the soul, he often meant it in a less literal way. The eyes were the beautiful part of any pony, and Midnight's copper-colored eyes were no less mesmerizing. You could not hide emotion in your eyes, it always found a way to escape.
However, Midnight was doing more than analyzing his emotions, she could actually see his soul. Low wasn't sure whether he should be feeling violated at that thought, but seeing as how she hadn't tried to exploit him yet, he had nothing to fear.
After closing his mouth, he says, "That's amazing! I would ask you how you do that, but, well, I probably wouldn't understand it."
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Post by Midnight Mind on Sept 8, 2014 21:10:25 GMT -5
"Your eyes show me what you hide..what your soul speaks. Everything you are and ever thought of is there in your soul and as I stare into your eyes they are revealed to me. Even if I was an earth pony like my father or my sister I would still be able to see this." she moved her hoof down to the next card and flipped it over "Now begins the path of why you question yourself." flipping it over it was the devil's card. There was a throne surrounded with flames as shadow sat upon it without a true shape "The devil...it seems that you are your own worst enemy then and even now." she began to stare into his eyes and the longer she stared it was as if everything else around her and Low Key was gone "A chance came before you when you were younger..not so much a colt and not fully a stallion."
Her eyes didn't blink once as they stared "When you were given an open opportunity to fulfill your dream, you chose a path away from it. Self doubt clouded your judgement, you told yourself you were not good enough or the band had someone. In doing so you set yourself on a path of self doubt and destruction it seems." she began to move her hoof along the card as if feeling stuff from it "You chained up your own passion afraid of being turned down. From that day forth whenever a chance presented itself to you your clouded judgement and self doubt steered you away. Your soul crying out each time but stifled." she moved her hoof along the card once more "A voice whispering in your ear forever saying "You are not what they seek. You are not worthy." moving her hoof away she blinked and stared away from a second "Such pain of a stifle soul. Ponies with a soul bound and silenced because of their own self doubts. No one able to hear them crying." she began to shake her head a bit trying not to weep
"Your soul needs to be released from it's chains or you will never find your path and live a life of anguish of what could be until the end." she turned back at Low Key as sadness was in her eyes before blinking it disappeared
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Post by Low Key on Sept 8, 2014 21:56:50 GMT -5
So even his past wasn't safe from her? It never troubled Low, mostly because he was willing to let bygones be bygones. Sometimes, though, it would come back to bite him, and he couldn't help but visibly fidget and cringe whenever a memory forced itself into the forefront of his mind.
Many such memories reared their heads as Midnight embarked on her explanation of the Devil card. He could see himself back in middle and high school, his judgement clouded by a hormone haze, his actions ill-conceived and impulsive. He just wanted to be friends, he just wanted belong, but he didn't know how to ask nicely. Or give up when somepony didn't want to be friends. The harder he tried, the harder they pushed, until pushes turned to blows. By his junior year, he knew his place, and just how much he was wanted.
It nearly brought a tear to Low Key's eyes when Midnight finally broke contact. As she opens them again, he can see the pain in them.
"I'm sorry. I should have warned you."
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Post by Midnight Mind on Sept 9, 2014 9:09:10 GMT -5
"No, no apologizes needed." she used a hoof and wiped away a few stray tears from her cheeks "They are not my tears. They belong to your soul, and they would of gotten worse had I not broke my stare." she began to roll her head around hearing a crack in her neck "Ahh there we go. I do believe your past has shown much of why you are you today. I think the card needs an explanation though before we continue." she pointed at the devil card as she pointed right at the shadow upon the throne "This card represents a number of things and it is why it's shapeless. It comes in many forms...self doubt being one of them. It also means so many things I do believe it depends on the reading what it means. Another time it could mean vice, someone's addiction to something be it liquor, sex or whatever the case may be clouding their own judgement." she moved her hoof away and smiled softly at Low Key
"The next is your present state of affairs and I have a feeling this is gonna help determine your future hopefully it will be bright. The choice you make soon could send you down a path and it takes you to the middle of your life circle meaning death." she smiled still as she tilted her head "I can see it though as if you know the answer before I even asked the question. There within you holds the answer in in that will unlock your soul from it's bindings. Are you ready for your present?"
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Post by Low Key on Sept 9, 2014 16:19:54 GMT -5
Low Key momentarily contemplated the shadow on the throne. Something clouding his own judgement...he knew what that was easily. An inner voice, his inner critic, always telling him what he cannot do. It started off with good intentions, the critic kept him from opening his mouth and acting like a total twat, but then it started evolving. Now, every action he ever did was judged, nothing escaped from his own criticism. Sometimes, he even wondered if he was worthy of anypony, that they could easily find a more attractive and emotionally-stable stallion just around the bend.
He finally emerges from his dark thoughts and nods, "I am." He places his hooves upon the cart, ready for more.
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Post by Midnight Mind on Sept 9, 2014 21:02:11 GMT -5
"Let us see what your present is." her hoof went to the card and flipped it over showing the hanged pony card. On it was a pegasus pony hanging upside down from a hoof "This shows me much of your current life. In this place on the spread it shows sacrifice." she looked into Low Key's eyes once more and began to stare into what his life was now "You had to make a lot of sacrifices in your life to support yourself. Taking on a job that isn't your passion. When you work you feel this heavy burden on you that weighs you down often saying to yourself "This isn't what I had planned for myself." you as well it seems lost something or someone close to you which had to be made. What did you do?"
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Post by Low Key on Sept 9, 2014 21:20:55 GMT -5
Low Key put his right hoof to his chin and thought, "I'm not sure what you mean by that last part. I didn't necessarily lose anything or anypony, unless you mean that I left my old life behind in Manehattan." He ponders that for a moment and nods, "Yes, that is exactly it. I couldn't stay in Manehattan anymore. There was plenty of opportunity there, but I just couldn't stand to be there, around so many ponies. So I moved south, to here."
He then lets out a sigh, "As for my job, yes, that pretty much describes it. The only reason I took it was because I get to see live music every Friday night. If I could, I would be playing in a band, but you can't always get what you want in life and I need to put bread on the table somehow."
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