Early in the morning...
The sun wasn't even up on the horizon. Most ponies were still fast asleep. With the exception of one pony, however, that was humming through the streets happily, pulling a cart behind her that was filled with all kinds of stuff. It was Happytrade, a pony that made herself a living by trading. As usual, she was up really early to set up everything for the day.
She arrived pretty early at the location where she usually set down her stand to sell some stuff. That stuff included old clothes that she had fixed, homemade goodies, and other things that she gathered or bought. Her parents, who were traders as well, also provided her with lots of stuff that she could sell, so there was always something that was in need to get rid of.
Once Happytrade arrived at the usual spot, she set up her merchant stand by practically transforming her cart into one and placing all her goodies on it. It wasn't long until she was done and ready to sell. "Alright then! Time to sell!" She said happily as she waited patiently for her first customer.
The mare looked around the place, which she would usually do so that she could take a look at the competition or the potential customers that would roam the place. There was only one problem though...
There were none yet...
Happytrade let out a sigh and rubbed her neck in embarrassment after she was aware of the problem now. "Guess I got up too early again, hehe," she said with a smile on her face.
It was true that Happytrade would easily get up really early because she got too excited to sell something. This was not the first time where she was standing in the marketplace alone before anypony else arrived. It was almost a habit of her, a really bad habit.
All she could do now was to wait...
Later...
A few hours later, the previously empty marketplace was filled with ponies walking around to find that little something that the traders offered. Two of those ponies were Crash and Brilliance who happened to come across each other. Both of them took their time to take a look at each stand to see what ponies had to offer, one of them clearly showing more excitement than the other.
"A fishing rod for five bucks!?" Crash said in his excitement as he looked at said object for a while, exterminating it carefully. "I don't really know anything about fishing...but five bucks is a really good deal..."
Seeing how Crash was fascinated by the fishing rod, the trader who was selling it decided to do the one thing any trader would do in this situation.
"Four bucks," he simply said.
"Deal!" Crash immediately said before he dropped four bits on the counter and took the fishing rode happily with him. Of course, he quickly had to show it to Brilliance, who stood right next to him the whole time and watched all of it. "Look what I got, Brilliance, a fishing rod!" He said happily.
Brilliance didn't show much excitement from the outside. "Cool," she simply said.
Crash then put away the fishing rod by putting it between his back and the saddlebag that he was wearing. "Have you found anything that caught your interest yet?" He then asked.
"No," Brilliance replied as her eyes wandered through the market.
"What are you looking for anyway?" Crash asked curiously.
"A book," Brilliance replied. "For my collection," she added all in a deadpan tone.
"Another one?" Crash asked. "Don't you have enough books?" He asked, being fully aware that her library was probably full.
Brilliance's answer was a short one. "No,"
Crash simply shrugged his shoulders and continued to walk around the marketplace while Brilliance followed him without complaints. The two came across a stand of one of their friends, Happytrade. They figured that they should go to her in order to greet her. That is if she was actually ready to talk.
The mare had her head dropped on the table. On further inspection, the two noticed that Happytrade was clearly asleep. This was weird since she was there to sell something and being asleep was obviously not the best strategy to attract costumers.
The two ponies decided to check up on the mare. As soon as Crash got closer to the mare and touched her shoulder, she quickly lifted her head again in shock. "I'm ready to sell!" She said loudly, much to Crash's surprise who got startled by this reaction. Happytrade quickly realized that she was drawing some attention from the other traders and the ponies who walked around the marketplace and lowered her head in embarrassment hiding it from everypony awkwardly.
Once the eyes looked away from her again, she began to yawn. Crash noticed that and straight out commented on how tired she obviously was. "You look like you didn't get enough sleep," he guessed.
"I did get enough sleep," Happytrade corrected. "I just got up too early and had to wait for a really long time. It...got a little boring..." she added as she leaned her head on her leg.
"No kidding!" Crash agreed. "Everypony would fall asleep if they had to just sit somewhere doing nothing for a few hours!" He then looked over to Brilliance. "Right?" He asked towards her, expecting her to agree on that as well.
"No," Brilliance boldly said. "I can be really patient..." she added almost proudly but without showing much emotion accompanying it.
Crash rolled his eyes because of this reply and tried to get across what he originally intended to say to Happytrade. "How about you set up your stand a little later?" He suggested.
He got a pretty quick response from Happytrade. "Can't do that! If I get here too late, then I'll risk losing my spot here!" She explained.
"Why would that be so bad?" Crash replied confused.
Happytrade explained. "I am not a trader since yesterday! I tried out every single spot on this marketplace and I stood everywhere at least once! This is the perfect spot! The spot that has the perfect mix of customer traffic! There is no better spot to set up your stand anywhere else if you want to sell something!"
Crash almost felt intimidated by how Happytrade explained all of this in this overly serious voice. He almost wanted to say that she was overreacting but he was afraid that this would make her only angry. It's not like, Happytrade was stopping her explanation anytime soon anyway.
"Just today, and it's only morning, I had twelve satisfied customers!" She added proudly.
"Wow...impressive," Crash replied amazed.
Happytrade lifted her head proudly. "That is why I can't allow myself to take it easy, even if it means that I exhaust myself a little,"
While Crash realized that he couldn't talk Happytrade out of this mindset, Brilliance decided to add her opinion into this. "Just don't overdo it too much. I'll get worried seeing you like that,"
"Huh?" Happytrade replied confused.
"She is right," Crash added in his concern as well. "I know this all is important for you but still, try to think about what others think if they see you exhausted like that,"
Hearing those words took away the proud expression on Happytrade's face and replaced it with a more puzzled one. She could see how both of her friends looked at her with concern on their faces and she started to feel bad.
Shortly after, the two ponies decided to leave again since they still had some stuff to buy and Happytrade was left alone again to attend her trading. Still, as soon as they left, she began to think about their words and couldn't help but frown.
"What kind of friend would I be if I make them worried about me?" She said as she was playing around with some bitcoins on her table out of boredom. Those words from before were stuck in her head now and made her feel bad. Eventually, her facial expression slowly turned from bored to a more determined one. She then suddenly began to smile and looked up into the sky.
"Okay! It's settled! Tomorrow I will get a good amount of sleep and then come to the marketplace later!" She vowed before she returned to focus on her job again.
Trading was, of course, really important to her but so was her friends and if she was worrying them because of her job, then taking it a little bit easier was probably not too bad of an idea. It was not as if she would not make enough money by attending the marketplace a little later anyway so taking it slower on one day shouldn't hurt too much. With that in mind, the day went past pretty quick and she decided to do exactly that on the next one.
On the next day...
Just like how she intended, Happytrade arrived a little bit later as usual on the marketplace after getting a good amount of sleep and not waiting hours before she could actually start trading. It was a pretty unusual view for her to see so much activity already. Normally, she would wait for the first ponies to arrive instead of setting up her stand after seeing already other ponies walking around.
"This is great!" She said in excitement as she looked around the marketplace. "I can place my table and instantly sell something with this much ponies around! Awesome!" She said with a huge grin on her face before she accidentally bumped into somepony on her way, causing her to rub her head after receiving a little headache. "Ouch, I'm sorry," she instantly apologized.
"Hey, no problem," the stallion replied, holding no grudge against Happytrade after this. The stallion had a gold-colored coat, with a slightly brighter gold mane, and green eyes. The Cutie Mark on his flank was a filled coin purse with coins coming out on top of it.
After that encounter, Happytrade was back on her way to get to her usual spot. However, she was surprised to find out that she was already there. The spot where she usually placed her stand was occupied by another one that belonged to the pony she just bumped into. The stallion had taken her spot, much to her dislike.
At first, she wanted to speak up to that but then she figured that it was to be expected since she arrived at the market a little late so it actually was her own fault that she lost her special spot. With that in mind, she walked away without a word and looked for a new spot.
She was not really successful though...
The only spot that she managed to get a hold of was way on the corner of the marketplace. Over there, not many ponies came across her stand, making it a little harder for her to make money. She could see the stand of the pony that took away her spot in the far distance and as expected, there was much more traffic going on over there, making her even more frustrated.
Happytrade clenched her teeth in anger after watching that but she slowly calmed down once she decided to do on the next day again. "Okay, no big deal...a got a pretty bad day, tomorrow is another day! I just get up a little earlier again and secure my usual spot!" She said determinedly. There was no way that she would let one day ruin her motivation after all.
This day might have been not too successful but as long as the next day would make up for it, there was not too much to worry about.
The next morning...
Despite, making her friends worry again, Happytrade still decided to get up earlier so that she could get to her usual spot again and make some more money. It was still dark and most ponies were probably asleep, meaning that it would take a while until Happytrade would get some customers but as long as she would get her spot back, that was all worth it for her.
Still, there was something that she didn't expect after she arrived at her usual spot. "What in the name of Celestia?" She said confused after she took a look at a little wagon that was still standing at the same place where the stand of the stallion one day earlier was standing at. Angered by this sight, Happytrade repeatedly knocked on a closed window to see if somepony was in there.
After some more knocking, the very stallion that she met a day before was opening the window and rubbed his eyes. He was clearly asleep and woken up by Happytrade's knocking. "Hey, what's your problem? I was still asleep!" He said angrily.
But Happytrade didn't seem to care that much. "Would you mind moving your wagon out of the way? I was planning to set up my stand over here!" She explained.
The stallion let out a yawn. "I don't think so. I will open up my stand at this very spot in a few hours," he replied with a tired tone in his voice.
"But you are still asleep!" Happytrade replied. "If you don't plan on setting up your stand anyway then you could at least let me set up my stand over here!" She pointed out annoyed.
"Can't you set up your stupid stand somewhere else!?" The stallion replied angrily.
"No, because I want to set it up here!" Happytrade replied. "This used to be my spot before you showed up after all!"
"Oh, is that so?" The stallion replied confused. "Well in that case..." he said before he slammed his window shut again right into Happytrade's face, making her even angrier and causing her to clench her teeth.
Later...
After getting enough sleep, the stallion inside stepped out of the wagon and stretched himself a little. He seemed to be ready to sell something now. However, he was greeted by a rather surprising sight once his eyes began to focus a little more.
"Morning," Happytrade greeted behind the stand that she set up right next to the wagon of this stallion.
"You again!?" He replied confused after he saw the same mare that ruined his sleep a few hours ago. "Hey, wait a minute!" He then added as soon as he realized how Happytrade's stand was literally a few steps away from his wagon. "You can't set up your stand this close to mine! You're ruining all of my business!" He said angrily.
But Happytrade smiled after hearing that and provided an option for the stallion. "You could always move your wagon away a little further. It has wheels after all," she said smugly.
The stallion, however, just silently walked inside his wagon and, from the inside, transformed it into a merchant stand that was ready to sell.
Without many words, the stallion stood there patiently and waited for the first customers to arrive. So did Happytrade, who wasn't even thinking about letting herself getting beaten by somepony else. Still, they both knew that things would get pretty annoying with both of them being that close to each other.
Later...
"Oh, you are looking for a new teacup? I got one right here!" The stallion said happily towards a customer that just showed up.
"Wait a minute!" Happytrade interrupted in order to get the customer's attention. "My teacups look much better and are much more sturdy!"
"But mine are cheaper!" The stallion quickly said to get back the attention of his customer.
"Mine can be as cheap as you want!" Happytrade added.
Needless to say, the customer left after practically being assaulted like that without buying anything. This, of course, angered the stallion, who fully blamed Happytrade for this outcome.
"Stop scaring away my customers!" He exclaimed angrily.
"Never!" Happytrade replied back in the same manner.
The two then minded their own business again and returned to their own stands. This was going on for quite a while now. Whenever somepony walked across either of the two of them, the other one would always try to get their hooves on the costumer and interrupt any of them to buy something at all. It quickly began to raise the tension even further between the two.
"Is something wrong, Happytrade?" A familiar male voice asked towards Happytrade, causing her attention to shift away from the stallion next to her.
It was Nightsky, who was accompanied by his little sister Lightbeam. Both Pegasi had a confused look on their face as they stood right in front of the mare. Of course, the stallion beside Happytrade quickly saw an opportunity.
"Hello there, may I interest you in some of my wares?" He said with a wide grin on his face.
But Happytrade got quickly between him and her friends. "Hooves off! They are my friends!" She said right into the stallion's face, causing him to back up again.
Nightsky and Lightbeam looked at each other confused after that. "What is all this about?" Nightsky asked.
"Yeah, we could hear you two from the other end of the marketplace," Lightbeam added.
Happytrade crossed her legs and glanced over to the stallion next to her stand. "It's because of him!" She said in a purposely loud tone so that the stallion could hear it. "It's all because of...um..." She then leaned over to the stand of the stallion. "What's your name!?" She asked.
Even though the stallion felt annoyed just talking to Happytrade, he still answered. "Big Deal,"
"Yes! It's all because of him!" Happytrade mumbled to herself. "He just appeared and took my spot...so I will stay here until he leaves first so that I can get it back,"
Nightsky lowered his eyebrows in confusion. "That's what this is all about? Because he took your spot? Can't you just stand somewhere else instead of doing...what you do now?" He asked.
But Lightbeam seemed to know how Happytrade must feel and tried to make her brother understand the situation. "Just look at it like this...imagine you have a cake in your fridge and somepony else was about to eat it and wouldn't let go until you gave it to him or her. What would you do?"
Nightsky gave a quick and simple answer. "Buy another one so that both of us could..."
"Exactly!" Lightbeam interrupted. "You defend that cake with your life because it's your cake!" She said, completely ignoring the answer from her brother.
Suddenly, Happytrade got a new kind of determination in her eyes and lifted her head. "You're right! This is my spot! And I will defend it!" She said before she walked towards Big Deal.
He wasn't aware of how Happytrade approached her so she tipped her hooves on his shoulder to get his attention. Once Big Deal turned around, he saw Happytrade looking at him with a pretty confident smile on her face. He was about to say something to her but once his lips started to move, Happytrade suddenly jumped on him and made him fall over before she again, jumped on the stallion to attack him.
Realizing that things got too out of hoof, Nightsky and Lightbeam jumped in and separated both Happytrade and Big Deal with Nightsky taking care of Big Deal and Lightbeam taking care of Happytrade.
This little scene caused quite a commotion. Everypony close to those ponies focused their attention on the two traders, unbeknownst to them. It's not like they would have cared that much about this anyway.
"Get that crazy mare away from me!" Big Deal exclaimed angrily while Nightsky tried his best to keep him away from his friend.
"That's it!" Happytrade exclaimed for everyone to hear. "This is a problem between traders and we will settle it like traders!" Happytrade explained before she composed herself again and explained what she had in mind. "I challenge you to a Trade Duel!"
The whole marketplace was filled with shocked gasps. Many ponies were whispering to each other in excitement. Big Deal didn't think much about it and gave a quick response. "Accepted!" He said determined, which caused many ponies to cheer in excitement.
"Yeah! Trade Duel! Trade Duel! Trade Duel!" Lightbeam repeated over and over again in her excitement before she suddenly stopped and formed a confused expression on her face. "What is a Trade Duel?" She then asked, causing the rest of the group to shook their heads.
Luckily, for the ones who felt left out, two traders were present to explain. Happytrade was the one who had the honor.
"A Trade Duel is a competition between two traders. Each of the traders will start with the same amount of money and try to make the most out of it. It is intended to buy something with this money so that, whatever was bought with it, can be sold for more money in return. The one who has the most money at the end wins!"
"Ah!" Nightsky said. "So it's like who can make the most out of their money," he figured.
"Exactly!" Big Deal replied. "It is the ultimate test to determine who has the best trading abilities! Also once I win, you must agree to never bother me again!"
"Deal!" Happytrade agreed before she shook hooves with Big Deal to seal it.
Happytrade was determined to deal with this situation once and for all. This Trade Duel was a fitting way to end any more fighting and since both ponies were reasonable traders, they should accept the outcome of this.
Later...
All of Happytrade's friends met up and decided to pay Happytrade a visit to the marketplace. They all heard about this Trade Duel and got quickly interested in it. Nightsky and Lightbeam explained the whole situation to the rest of their friends, Summershine, Crash and Brilliance.
"So all of this started just because one pony took Happytrade's favorite spot in the marketplace?" Summershine asked confused as he walked beside his friends.
Lightbeam got quickly offended by those words. "Do you want me to tell you the story of the cake again?" She asked with a glare on her face, which caused Summershine to shake his head.
"It's not like we can change it anymore," Nightsky pointed out. "She already agreed to this Trade Duel after all,"
"Yeah," Crash said. "I mean, even if she loses all that happens is that she has to find another spot to trade, right?" He said casually.
Again, Lightbeam got a little offended by those words. "But Happy really likes that spot! She will probably be devastated if she loses!"
While all of those ponies seemed to get worried about the outcome, Brilliance seemed to be the only one who still looked at the facts. "She didn't lose yet," she simply said.
Those words alone were enough to raise the mood again in the group. "Brilliance is right!" Summershine said. "We should all believe in Happytrade. She is a really good trader after all,"
"Ha! I don't think so!" A familiar male voice said towards the group after overhearing their conversation. The voice belonged to Big Deal, who seemed highly confident about winning the competition. "I don't know why that mare wants to keep that stupid spot but if she wants to make a competition out of this then I will make sure to let her know who is the better trader of us. Although, if she starts to do something like that for something this minor, then I guess me winning the duel is already set in stone," he explained with a wide grin on his face.
The five ponies were not happy at all to hear this pony talking like that and despite some of them wanting to say some stuff to him, they remained quiet to not put Happytrade's victory in danger or something and just walked away from him.
"Can't believe this guy is a trader just like Happytrade," Lightbeam said. "She is going to win this competition, right?" She then asked with some worry growing in her voice.
But instead of hearing some encouraging words, Nightsky decided to speak out what he was thinking. "I don't know," he replied brutally honest, much to the shock of his sister who was about to scold him any second. "I mean, as far as I understood the rules, you are supposed to buy something and sell it away for more money, right? And in case you have forgotten, Happytrade is not really somepony who likes to rip off others. She always looks for a fair trade and in a competition where you have to make money while having a limited amount at the beginning, the only way I see to get money is to buy something and sell it for more money to someone who is really naive or gullible,"
Hearing those words slowly made the others think. They were all well aware that Happytrade could get angry fast and that she sometimes had a pretty short fuse but she would never try to rip off somepony. She would never sell something worthless for more money than it was actually worth. Trading with such a mindset was probably not the best idea, especially in this competition.
"Yeah, you're right," Summershine figured. "If she wants to make money, she needs to buy something cheap and sell it for more than it is actually worth,"
"Exactly," Nightsky added.
"So Happytrade is going to lose?" Lightbeam asked worriedly.
"Not if we can help her in some way!" Crash added.
"He's right," Summershine said determinedly. "Let's go and offer our help to her!"
This idea was greeted with the agreement within the group. They all wanted to help Happytrade of course so they decided to do the best thing they could do now. Surely, Happytrade would appreciate some help with this competition.
Later...
"I don't need help," Happytrade instantly replied once the group told her about their plan.
"What?" Summershine replied confused after he and his friends went all the way to look for her to offer their help. "Surely there is something that we can do to help," he asked.
"Nope," Happytrade replied confidently.
"But Happy," Lightbeam said with teary eyes and shaking lips. "If you lose, then you won't be able to stay in your favorite spot anymore..."
Happytrade began to feel a little offended by those words. "And that is where you are worrying too much! Do I need to remind you that I am the best trader in Ponyville? There is no way that I am gonna lose! In fact, I made sure that my victory is ensured already!" She explained confidently. The group looked back and forth to each other in surprise and disbelieve. Realizing that, Happytrade went on and explained everything. "Really! Look, me and Big Deal agreed to start with ten bucks. And I already invested them in all the stuff that I need!"
"You already spent all of it!?" Summershine asked in shock.
"Let me continue..." Happytrade interrupted after seeing Summershine's concern. "I know what you are all thinking: Oh no! Happytrade doesn't stand any chance against Big Deal because she likes to trade on a fair base! She can never sell something for more than she originally paid because she likes to trade on a fair basis!"
The group, again, looked back and forth to each other. "Pretty much," Nightsky boldly replied, much to his sister's dislike, who was throwing daggers at him with her eyes because of how direct he was.
"Don't get us wrong, Happytrade," Summershine said. "We all know that you are good at what you are doing and we know that the way you do it works but this Big Deal guy doesn't seem to be thinking about making fair deals as long as he can win this competition,"
"You're right! I am good at what I am doing," Happytrade said. "And let me tell you that trading is not about taking advantage of other ponies but rather making the best out of what you have. It is about how much work was put into your wares. The worth is determined by how much work was put into something. Everyone can buy an apple for one buck and sell it for two but that is not trading...that, is tricking others," she explained with a serious expression on her face.
Again, the others didn't seem to be too impressed by those words. "But Happytrade," Nightsky started to ask. "Whatever you bought for those ten bits, you need to sell them again, right?"
"Wrong!" Happytrade replied, much to the confusion of everypony. She then pulled out a list and gave it to her friends. "Here, take a look at what I just bought," she said with a confident smile on her face.
Lightbeam readout for everypony what was on the list. "Sugar, flour, eggs, milk," she said before she figured out herself what this could be used to. "Sounds like the ingredients of a cake!"
"That's what it is," Happytrade replied. "I bought all this stuff to bake some cakes! I gave all those ingredients to the cakes in Sugarcube Corner to bake some cakes for me. The rules in a Trade Duel don't necessarily say that we can't use the stuff that we buy and make them into something else. Once I sell all the cakes, I should get a lot more money back that I can invest in something else and repeat the process,"
All of a sudden, everypony was impressed. Apparently, Happytrade planned everything way ahead and got every single spent bit covered. The group almost felt bad for not believing in her. She still wouldn't accept any help from her friends since she claimed that it was a duel between her and Big Deal. There is nothing else that her friends could do except waiting for the competition to be over in a few hours. Luckily, their fear that Happytrade would lose pretty much vanished with her set everything up perfectly. Now they truly believed that she would win.
Later...
"And the winner is...Big Deal!"
"WHAT!?" Happytrade exclaimed in shock.
Hearing those words from the judge of the competition truly surprised everyone in the crowd, especially Happytrade's friends who believed that she had the victory for sure. Big Deal, however, happily raised his head into the air and enjoyed every second of this victory. Happytrade had a whole wagon of profit to show off but Big Deal had more than double the amount next to him.
"I don't believe this..." Happytrade said, lowering her head with a frown on her face.
And of course, Big Deal decided to poke further into her wound. "Well, looks like I am the superior trader of the two of us. Not that there was any doubt at all,"
Happytrade's friends started to get angry hearing this stallion talk down on one of their friends and wanted to tell him a few things but Happytrade was actually the first one who walked up to the stallion.
"You won," she said. "Guess there were still some things that I don't know when it comes to making a good profit," she said, followed by a little laugh. "Alright, guess I finally have to give up my special spot," she added with a little frown on her face.
Luckily, her friends quickly walked up to her in order to cheer her up again.
"Don't worry, Happy," Crash said. "We will help you find another spot that will become even more special than this one!" He vowed, which quickly gained the agreement of his friends as well.
Happytrade smiled but still seemed a little upset. "I'm afraid, there will never be another spot like this one," she said. The group already was aware that this one spot was really good because Happytrade already tested out every other location before and figured that this one would give her the most profit. However, what Happytrade was about to tell them was not at all what they expected. "Yeah, about that...no, this spot is not much different when it comes to that, I'm afraid. I just made that up,"
Now the rest of her friends were really confused. "Then why is it so special to you?" Summershine asked confused.
"Well," Happytrade started. "It is true that I tested out almost every other spot on this marketplace before. You could say that the day when I set it up at this very location was pretty special to me and not the spot itself,"
"And...what was so special about that one day?" Nightsky asked confused, speaking for the rest of his friends who were curious as well.
Happytrade formed a really bright smile on her face and looked as happy as she was never before. "It was the day where I meet you all for the first time,"
Suddenly, the whole group was in a state of shock and surprise. All their mouth dropped open and they finally understood why Happytrade was so defensive about something silly as a spot on the marketplace.
"I know, it's silly but meeting you all for the first time was the best day of my life. I somehow connected that very spot with this day and...you. The thought of somepony taking it away from me was just..."
"So that's why you got so angry..." Big Deal said after he overheard those words. "Me taking away your spot must have felt like as if I took away your friends, huh?" Happytrade didn't reply but judging from her looking at the ground, it must have been just like Big Deal said. "Alright, you can have your spot back," he then said out of the blue.
"What!? Really!?" Happytrade replied surprised.
The stallion rubbed his neck. "Yeah. After hearing that story, there is no way that I can just take the win, especially since you are the better trader,"
"Better trader?" Happytrade asked confused. "But you earned more money than me," she pointed out.
Big Deal explained. "Actually, I didn't even earn half as much as you. I maybe added some money into the mix," he admitted with an awkward smile on his face. "I informed myself who I was facing off against, shortly after I took your challenge and everypony said that you were the best trader in this town. There was no way that I could win,"
"So you cheated..." Brilliance pointed out.
Of course, nopony in the crowd was really happy to hear Big Deal admitting something like this but Happytrade thought that it was okay since he actually admitted it and gave her the victory. The crowd was pretty forgiving as well. In the end, everything turned out well. Happytrade won and got her spot back and Big Deal decided to find another spot on the marketplace. It was as easy as that.
On the next day...
Against her better judgment, Happytrade decided to go to the marketplace a little later again. After thinking about it carefully, she came to the conclusion that the spot where she usually would stand was not different than any other. Trying to challenge other ponies because it was also probably not the best thing to do. She just decided to take any spot that was available.
But once she arrived at the marketplace, she was surprised by what she saw. There were signs that were all around where she would usually set up her merchant stand. They all said stuff like: "Happytrade's spot" or "No one allowed". Happytrade was wondering where all this came from and luckily, Big Deal was around to explain it.
"Your friends set this all up," he said. "Came here early in the morning to do all this," he explained.
"Really?" Happytrade asked confused after she looked at her usual spot being protected from anypony to be used. She then suddenly started to laugh happily. "Those ponies are amazing!" She expressed before she started to begin her usual day in the marketplace.