[Ponyville] Visions of Frosting and Terror! [Open]

[Rosewind]

The dog days of summer were here. Intense, glowing heat from the sun pounded relentlessly over Ponyville; flowers shriveled under the unmerciful gaze of the bright orb in the sky. It seemed like nopony was willing to brave going outside in the muggy heat. Insects hummed lazily from the flower beds outside Sugarcube Corner, where a mysterious figure was pitching a purple tent just outside. She wore a headdress covered thickly in multicolored beads, frocks of her curly pink mane poking through the fabric. She wore a brilliant cloak of woven cotton and flax, dyed various flowing shades of blue and purple. It was embroidered with yellow stars, creamy white comets, and ...cupcakes? A shimmering blue sash was tied around the pink pony's waist, completing her look. She pounded a sign just outside the tent, daring anypony to enter:

Ask Madame Pinkie!

Fortune and Fa...

The sign ended mid-sentence, as she had run out of room. Satisfied she was now available for business, she cupped her hooves to her mouth, and shouted in her highest-pitched, most dramatic voice possible: "MADAME PINKIE SHALL BE GIVING FREE FORTUNES TO ALL WHO DARE ENTER HER TENT! I HAVE HAY COOKIES! YA HEAR THAT?! HAY COOKIES! OH YEAH, AND LEMONADE, I GOT SOME OF THAT TOO! I RAN OUT OF SUGAR THOUGH, SO IT MIGHT BE A LITTLE SOUR!" Madame Pinkie turned, swirling her cloak with a flourish, before dramatically casting the curtains of her tent open to the cool confines within...

[ONWARDconwardicus]

Lon was in the mood for some questioning, as he usually was. He had decided to go into town to ask anypony he saw how their day was going, and maybe a conversation would strike up. But he was having trouble finding anypony outside in this sweltering heat. He was content on giving up until he heard a voice yelling something about having sour lemonade and cookies. He followed the voice just in time to see a cloaked figure enter the tent. The sign next to it amused him, for he liked to have fun with mystics. He also hadn't heard lots about this Pinkie Pie since he had moved in, and this might be a good time to ask her some questions. He trotted up to the tent and entered, making sure to wipe his hooves before he entered.

"Is anyone in here?" he asked as he poked his head in.

[Lux]

Lore Weaver was dying from the heat... well maybe not dying but he wasn't the most comfortable unicorn either. He grudgingly knew that he had to venture out of his cool comfortable bookstore to get a bite to eat, but not the trip back felt less like walking a few blocks an more like he was wandering through a desert.

Stopping to wipe the sweat off his forehead, he say a sign that read:

Ask Madame Pinkie!

Fortune and Fa...

He stared quizzically at the sign wondering who Madame Pinkie was or what exactly a Fa was. He guessed that whoever was running the tent had plans to finish the last word but ran out of space. Then he saw a pink earth pony clad in a robe with a headress announcing free fortunes, cookies, and lemonade. Lore never had his fortune read, but he read a little about fortunetelling. Reading came with the territory of being a writer/ bookstore owner after all.

He approached the tent when another pony entered before him. Not wanting to disturb the privacy that he asumed would be involved with fortunetelling, Lore decided that at the expense of his comfort he would wait until it was his turn.

[Rosewind]

The inside of Madame Pinkie's tent was dimly lit, save for several firefly lamps attached to ropes, hung with knotted flourishes from the wooden framework of the enclosure. A shaggy, slightly dirty orange rug covered the floor. The soft light from the fireflies gave the inside a mystical, greenish glow. The air inside was much cooler, scented with smoldering sage and tumbleflower. A small, circular table was set in the middle of Pinkie's tent, a sweating pitcher filled with lemonade was set on top, next to a plate of slightly charred hay cookies. A wilted cabbage also rested on top. Yes, a cabbage. Two wicker seats with heavy woven bottoms completed the guts of the operation.

Pinkie looked up at her new arrival, smiling. "Is anypony here!? Of course she is! Welcome! No...wait! Don't say anything! I know your name. You are...Lon! Yes! Come, sit darling! Madame Pinkie knows you must have many questions." She shoved the plate of cookies in front of the unicorn. "Sadly I lost my crystal ball, so we'll be divining by cabbage today! I would have preferred pumpkin, but those aren't in season yet!"

[ONWARDconwardicus]

Lon's eyes widened at the mention of his name. She might be the real deal after all. But then why couldn't she locate her crystal ball? Mabye she needs a crystal ball to find stuff. He took a seat and floated a cookie to his mouth. They were good enough. He swallowed and began speaking.

"If you know my name," he started out, "then perhaps you know my question. Well, I have two actually, one being about the lack of cups, but that's only a minor question."

He knew something was odd about the pony in front of him since he had seen the cabbage. The cabbage he had assumed was her meal, but now he knew that this was no ordinary pony across from him. Not mystical or magical, just odd.

[Rosewind]

Pinkie nodded knowingly, tweaking her head to the side. "No cups?! Oh, DUH! I knew I forgot something!" Pinkie looked around for a suitable vessel to put her lemonade in. Looking up, she decided one of her firefly lamps would do the trick. She plucked one down, popped the top off, grabbed the pitcher of lemonade, and began to dump it inside. The fireflies within fluttered around, quite unhappy. Several managed to escape. The rest? They made the drink that much more...bright. And crunchy. The pink mare shoved the lamp -- now a glass -- in front of Lon. "Here ya go, buddy! Drinkie up while I figure out your future!"

Pinkie shooed an escaped firefly off her cabbage, then wrapped her hooves around it, humming to herself:

"Ommmmmmm! Wooooooooo! Weeeee! O great cabbage, rustle thy greens, show me what Lon wants to see!" Several awkward moments passed. "Are you sure? For realsies?" Pinkie tapped her chin, obviously not speaking to Lon. "That's actually pretty interesting, I'll let him know!" Another pause. "Okies Lon! You wanted to know the answer to your other question, right? It is this: probably, but not uncertainly, but it's entirely unpossibly possible." She smiled widely at him, the beads of her headdress clinking. "Glad to be of help!"

[ONWARDconwardicus]

Lon took a sip of lemonade while Pinkie was, apparently, divining her cabage. He pressed his teeth against the rim of the glass so no fireflies got in his mouth. His mouth puckered a bit, but he had sucked on lemons as a foal so this was no big deal for him.

Hearing the prediction though, his face contorted into that of confusion.

"Err, Pin... Madame Pinkie, my question was not really a yes or no." He said, nervously scratching behind his head. "It was more along the lines of 'Where will I find the love of my life?' And I don't think any of the words you said in there are actual places."

This had suddenly become akward for Lon. Telling some random mare that he was searching for his long lost foalhood friend was embarassing enough, but he was doing it to one pretending to be a mystic. Nonetheless, he wanted a clue to where she was, and this Pinkie seemed like the best shot he'd come across in a while.

[Rosewind]

Pinkie nodded understandingly. "Ooooooh! Why didn't you say so! I can't use a cabbage to figure that out! We'll have to do an ink-horn reading for love and romancey stuff." Pinkie produced a pot of midnight blue ink from her robes, as well as a piece of parchment. "Don't move! This might get a teensy bit messy!" Without further adieu, she leaned over the top of the table and dumped the pot of ink on Lon's horn. "Don't breathe, it might skew the results!" She folded her paper and wrapped it around the poor unicorn's horn, tying it into a knot. She crossed her arms, satisfied. "Now it has to dry! More lemonade?"

[hinata2000100]

Twilight Shine was walking around when she heard a pony yelling. "MADAME PINKIE SHALL BE GIVING FREE FORTUNES TO ALL WHO DARE ENTER HER TENT! I HAVE HAY COOKIES! YA HEAR THAT?! HAY COOKIES! OH YEAH, AND LEMONADE, I GOT SOME OF THAT TOO! I RAN OUT OF SUGAR THOUGH, SO IT MIGHT BE A LITTLE SOUR!" She heard. She became interested, so she walked to where she heard the voice coming from. She saw a small tent, and a sign hanging above it.

Ask Madame Pinkie!

Fortune and Fa...

Twilight stared at the sign, trying to make sense of it. "...I don't get it." She finally said after observing the sign. She considered going in, but saw somepony waiting outside, so she assumed there was a line. She took her place behind the pony waiting outside.

[ONWARDconwardicus]

Lon was suprised about the ink. He hoped it wasn't permanent. Still, since he had been told not to breathe, he obeyed. He looked at the lemonade nervously, starting to sweat from the lack of oxygen. I'm starting to think she is crazy. But he would go through. Crazy just might be what he needed to find Reina.

He started turning blue, and he kicked the ground. As he started swaying side to side, he finaly gave in, taking a huge breath of air. Becoming less and less blue with each deep breath, he looked at Pinkie and asked, "How long will it take to dry?" before taking another deep breath and holding it.

[Rosewind]

Lon was suprised about the ink. He hoped it wasn't permanent. Still, since he had been told not to breathe, he obeyed. He looked at the lemonade nervously, starting to sweat from the lack of oxygen. I'm starting to think she is crazy. But he would go through. Crazy just might be what he needed to find Reina.

He started turning blue, and he kicked the ground. As he started swaying side to side, he finaly gave in, taking a huge breath of air. Becoming less and less blue with each deep breath, he looked at Pinkie and asked, "How long will it take to dry?" before taking another deep breath and holding it.

Pinkie smiled as she watched the unicorn hold his breath. His lovely shade of blue complimented the ink she had coated him with! "It should be done now, let's take a lookie!" Pinkie untied the parchment from the horn, giving it a shaky shake to air it out. It was still slightly damp. The tannic smell of ink mingled with her sage and tumbleflower incense. With a dramatic flourish, she rolled the parchment open on her table. Her blue eyes scanned the blotted, inky paper. She flinched. "Oooh!" Her eyes slid back and forth with quick twitches.

After a time, Pinkie picked up a hay cookie and nibbled the edge, looking rather worried. The air hung heavy and thick. A firefly landed on her snout, and she wiggled her nose to shoo it off. "This is very interesting indeed. Look!" She slid the parchment in front of Lon.

"It looks like an imprint of a unicorn horn!" She grinned. "Neato, huh? I should try this with Pumpkin sometime. I wonder if Mrs. Cake would appreciate a horn-print of her daughter? Oh, right, you'll find your love at Pony Joe's Doughnut Shop in about three months, six days, two hours, thirty-eight seconds. Walk in the shop at that time, order a chocolate-frosted zucchini tart, and look to your left."

Pinkie could hear a line starting to form outside of her tent, so she stood up, hopped over to the purple fabric flap, and opened it for Lon. "The ink? It might come off in a few weeks! Take care, okies?!"

[Lux]

Lore Weaver waited patiently outside the tent. The fact that he couldn't see or hear what was going on was a little unsettling.

Then the flap opened and a unicorn walked out, his horn drenched in ink and covered with bits of paper remnants. Then the pink pony mentioned that the ink wouldn't come off until a few weeks! The unicorn stallion wondered if this was a good idea or if he should high tail it home. He knew he couldn't back out now, especianny because it was his turn in line. He entered to see an interestingly decorated area. Strangely, there was a cabbage on the table. Whatever that was for Lore had no clue.

"Um... hi. I supposed you're Madme Pinkie?"

[ONWARDconwardicus]

Lore Weaver waited patiently outside the tent. The fact that he couldn't see or hear what was going on was a little unsettling.

Then the flap opened and a unicorn walked out, his horn drenched in ink and covered with bits of paper remnants. Then the pink pony mentioned that the ink wouldn't come off until a few weeks! The unicorn stallion wondered if this was a good idea or if he should high tail it home. He knew he couldn't back out now, especianny because it was his turn in line. He entered to see an interestingly decorated area. Strangely, there was a cabbage on the table. Whatever that was for Lore had no clue.

"Um... hi. I supposed you're Madme Pinkie?"

Lon walked out of the tent with a super stuned look on his face. He saw another pony enter and was sad he was too late to warn him. He saw another in line though. He grimaced and made his hoof move across his neck like he was going to cut it at her, then hurried off to a bathroom.

[hinata2000100]

Twilight looks at the pony with his horn covered in ink and bits of paper, and he makes a motion with his hoof, like he was trying to tell her something. She ignores it, however, and keeps waiting.

[Rosewind]

Lore Weaver waited patiently outside the tent. The fact that he couldn't see or hear what was going on was a little unsettling.

Then the flap opened and a unicorn walked out, his horn drenched in ink and covered with bits of paper remnants. Then the pink pony mentioned that the ink wouldn't come off until a few weeks! The unicorn stallion wondered if this was a good idea or if he should high tail it home. He knew he couldn't back out now, especianny because it was his turn in line. He entered to see an interestingly decorated area. Strangely, there was a cabbage on the table. Whatever that was for Lore had no clue.

"Um... hi. I supposed you're Madme Pinkie?"

Pinkie waved to Lon, wiping a tear from her eye. "Let me know how it works out in three months, okay?! I'm usually pretty confident with my predictions, but you never really know, huh?!" She turned to Lore, smiling ever so brightly. "Hi there, Lore! I seem to be attracting all of the unicorns today! That's just dandyrooski! Come, enter! Do it fast, I don't want any more of my fireflies escaping." Pinkie opened the flap of her tent wide, beckoning her latest victim volunteer inside. She refilled the firefly-lamp-to-glass with her super sour lemonade, motioning to the woven wicker seat.

"What brings a unicorny like yourself to humble Madame Pinkie's tent? I can predict weather, what you'll have for breakfast, falling objects, and where you lost your lucky dried carrot, but...love? I'm out of ink at the moment, so if you want me to predict anything romantic you'll have to wait on that." Pinkie placed her elbows on her cabbage, while fluttering her eyelashes at Lore, and grinning, grinning, grinning. "What'll it be, handsome?!"

[Lux]

Lore was surprised that Pinkie knew his name. He didn't remember bumping into her in town or her visiting his store. Then again she was known to know everypony in town. The fact that she was a seer also bolstered this claim.

The stallon quickly dashed in under the pink pony's request. Apparantly fireflies were used as a lamp or two inside and he could see a few were loose and flying about the area.

He was then given a jar filled with lemonade which he quickly drank to quell the feeling of standing out in the hot sun. Little did he know that the lemonade lacked sugar. Immediately his eyes began to water at how sour tasting the drink was. It took him a few seconds to recover from the shock.

Then Pinkie began to rattle off things she could predict. Unfortunately the topic of love was off the table, and on the mentioning of ink Lore realized that the unicorn before him asked for that. Lore was interested in knowing about his future romance since he did some day wish to find a special somepony in his life. But today was not that day he'd find out.

Lore did blush when Pinkie batted her eyelashes at him and called him handsome. He tried to colect himself and come up with something to ask.

"Well, I just moved to Ponyville a month ago and opened a new bookstore. So I guess I want to know how well my business will be in the future."

[Rosewind]

Pinkie smiled as she watched Lore drink her super-sour firefly speckled lemonade. It gave a days' supply of vitamin C and plenty of protein in one gulp! "Business, hmmm? I dunno if it was a wise idea to open a book store with a Library in town. I mean like, anypony can go visit there and check out books for free, right?" Pinkie pulled out a flow chart, where all of the book business data for the past year was neatly scrawled, complete with bit conversion ratios and monthly collections data. "Ahem...as you can see the book market was in a state of flux last year during Hearth's Warming due to the demand of cookie recipe books purchased during that time. Romance novels during Hearts and Hooves, scary stories during Nightmare Night. You can see there are clear trends here!" She prodded a pink hoof at the squiggly line. "So in order to grow your business, I think you should take a bimonthly survey in Town Hall and collaborate with The Mayor to project resident futures while keeping your inventory and stock balance in check. It's all in the data. Have to strike when the iron is hot! You know?"

The crazy pink mare rolled the paper up and stuffed it in her robe. "Oh, right! A prediction." She hugged her wilting cabbage, humming to herself in a mystical tone. "I think your book store will be a little slow to start. Re-arrange all of the furniture to face the south window of your book shop, and stick a cactus in the window. Profits should go up then! Right, mon choux?" She glanced down at her cabbage, as if expecting an answer. "Exactly."

[Lux]

Lore was shocked when Pinkie pulled out the chart with bookselling data. Usually only a bookstore owner would be concerned with those details. The regular pony would just be interested in what titles were available and how much it cost. Everything the pinki pony said made perfect sense as Lore did see the trends with each special event going on. He also knew the series that were popular and frequently checked the Canterlot Times Bestseller List to see what ponies were reading.

Then came the perdiction. While it made sense to possibly move the furniture, Lore questioned in his mind how a cactus would boost sales. Furthermore, Lore had no idea where to find a cactus as they were definitely not grown in Ponyville.

"That makes sense about the sales flux. And I can try moving the furniture around. As for the cactus, I'll have to see in a pony is selling one. But thanks for the advice Pinkie, or Madame Pinkie."

With that he gave the robed mare a little hug f gratitude, hoping that she didn't think it was that awkward.

[Rosewind]

Lore might as well have tried to hug an Ursa Major. "Ooooh! HEEHEHEE! Hugglies with Madame Pinkie?! If you insist!" Pinkie wrapped her hooves around the poor unicorn and squeeze, squeeze, squeezed! Hard. Oh so hard. She was an Earth Pony, after all. "Hnnnngggggnnnn!" She grunted, gritting her teeth. She lifted him clear up in the air and spun him around. Growing quite dizzy, she toppled over on top of him, locks of her curly pink mane poking out from under her beaded headdress. "Oops! Sorry about that! Are you okay?" She asked, as she laid upside down with her haunches in the air. She flicked her curly tail, the contents of her tent spinning around in her head.

"Please let the next pony know that Madame Pinkie will see her now! Weeee! Where'd my cabbage go, anyway?"

[Lux]

(OOC: LOL!)

At first Lore thought that pinkie would simply accept the hug as a generous offer. But then suddenly the pink pony grabbed him and squeezed. Lore, underestimating her strength, felt like she was going to hug him so hard he'd be reduced to a purple paste on the ground. Just when he thought it was over, the pony then lifted him and twirled him in the air before losing her balance and after dropping him fell over him!

"Everything's spinning and I think I see six of you, but I'm ok," Lore said in response to Pinkie checking on him.

He slowly got up, his legs wobbling like he was ready to fall over. Pinkie then asked, mainly to herself where her divining cabbage went. Lore felt strange, like there was something heavy on his forehead.

He then realized:The cabbage was on his forehead, skewered on his horn.

"Um... Pinkie. I think I found your cabbage. Can you help get it off my horn?"

[Rosewind]

Pinkie staggered up, still dizzy from the epic hugging ordeal. "Six of me!? That would be a real pain if I had five other mes to worry about!" As Lore came into focus, she noticed her divining cabbage was, indeed, skewered on his horn. "Oh no! If this keeps up, I might need to find another vegetable. Then again, it does look kind of neat on your forehead like that. Are you sure you don't want to keep it? It looks trendy!" Pinkie brushed dust off her tummy, obviously lost in thought. "You know, once I tried to start a fashion trend by making a necklace out of week old cherry muffins? It didn't catch on, but the the muffins eventually got so stale they made a great door stop. I think Mrs. Cake threw it away, calling it a crime against the bakery or something like that! Oh well, see you later!"

Pinkie nudged Lore out of her tent, the cabbage still stuck firmly to his horn. It definitely was not a day for unicorns in Madame Pinkie's tent!

[Lux]

At first Lore thought that Pinkie would relieve him of the giant vegetable orb ttached to his forehead. But then Pinkie started ranting about fashion and how she made a necklace out of muffins. Before he could say anything, Pinkie Pie pushed him out of the tent.

"Wait! What about your... cabbage?"

Realizing that there was a line forming and there was no use trying to go back in, Lore just sighed.

"She's all yours," the stallion said to the next pony in line.

Lore walked home, his body crushed by Pinkie's hug and a vegetable on his head. And he loved every minuted of this strange encounter.

"Well, I guess I'll be having a cabbage salad for dinner, and maybe lunch tomorrow."

(OOC: Exit Lore Weaver)

[hinata2000100]

"Um....." Twilight said in disbelief at the pony walking out. 'Why do they all come out with things on their horn?' She thought to herself as she looked in the tent. "Hellllo? Anypony hoooome?" She asked, walking into the tent.

[Rosewind]

The air inside the tent smelled heavily of cabbage, ink, sage, and tumbleflower, albeit it was much cooler inside than it was outside. Several fireflies lazily droned around the inside of the tent, lighting up once in a while. A half-filled jug of lemonade was set at the table, along with several half-eaten hay cookies and a topless firefly lamp. It was quiet. Very quiet. Was anypony home?

She sure was! Pinkie jumped out from behind the tent flap and grabbed Twilight's sides. "BOO! Heeheheeheehee!" The crazy pink pony gigglesnorted, quite pleased with her little prank. The beads of her headdress jingled as she flared her cloak backward with a dramatic flair. "I am Madame Pinkie! See-er of stuff to be seen! Watcher of watchingness! Uuhh...I predict stuff! Wanna have your fortune read, Twilight? You know it is funny your name is Twilight, I happen to know another one that lives around here!"

[hinata2000100]

"Knowing my name before I even tell it to you? Maybe you are the real deal. But what's with your sign? 'Ask Madame Pinkie Fortune and fa'?" Twilight asked quizzically. She sat at one end of the table, waiting for Pinkie's response.