//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: Carnival of Lights (Part 1) // Story: The Winter Solstice // by Turtlehaus //------------------------------// “So tell me again, why are we spying on them?” The reformed con artist known as Bleak Weather moped behind a barrel of cider, he was a pegasi ice pony and was on a date with his special somepony. “To ensure that Lady Sapphire and Lord Smolder are not mobbed or attacked by paparazzi ponies.” The appointed bodyguard of Princess Sapphire, Summer Hearth, was crouched down behind an adjacent cider barrel peeking out to spy on her princess. “Aren’t we supposed to be having a date?” Bleak mentioned.  Summer looked over, her eyes narrowing at him with a small disappointed frown. “I know what sort of date you had in mind.”  Bleak smiled mischievously. “There’s still time to go on our date and have one hay of a happy ending.”  “If that's the case then we’ll only need about a minute and a half.” Summer snapped back. Bleak’s face turned a dark blue, his face screwed up in embarrassment and annoyance. “Oh, it’s going to be like that, is it?”  Summer reached over, gripping the collar of his armor, before tugging hard to bring his face closer before kissing him. He was caught off guard by this, bracing himself against the barrel as he let his eyes roll back before savoring this moment. Summer pulled away quickly, looking straight into his eyes. She had a way of making herself look extremely vulnerable, which had lured in potential bad guys before beating the hay out of them in the past. Although, she used it sparingly on Bleak whenever she wanted something from him. “Help me make this a memorable night for Sapphire and you’ll have a memorable night with me.” Summer offered.  Bleak smirked. “This sort of reminds me of our first date.”  “That wasn’t a date, we took down a crime boss in the lower terrace of the Shattered Bluff.” Summer recollected. “In exchange for your help you got off without having to go to prison.”  “Which somehow ended up with both of us spending a night at—“ Summer’s hoof gripped his face, mane flaring from her own embarrassment over that particular memory.  “I told you to never bring that up again or else I’d rip your lips right off your face, didn’t I?” Summer asked threateningly. “But my face is my best feature.” Bleak moaned. Summer planted a quick kiss on the side of his cheek.  “Come on, Sapphire and Smolder are already on the move.”  Most of the lights within the carnival were lanterns strewn about with different colored tinted glass to give off an array of colors. Loud shrieks and cries from the ponies riding the roller coaster off in the distance only enhanced the buzz of excitement many ponies seemed to have.  Sapphire and I were stopped a few times for pictures with passing ponies from out of the kingdom. It wasn’t hard to spot us, although we didn’t stand out as much as we would have if we were wearing our crowns and regal apparel. There were dozens and dozens of other ice ponies and flame ponies walking around the carnival, so it was just a matter of noticing Sapphire’s cutie mark or the scars of my hooves to point us out.  These minor distractions were enough to calm my nerves, growing more relaxed around Sapphire again realizing that we weren’t really doing anything too different than what we normally did.  With the last picture taken, giving a few waves goodbye, we were off again walking aimlessly through the carnival. “I like your… ummm… blanket?” I guessed. Sapphire laughed quietly to herself. “It’s a shawl, but thank you.”  Silence befell us again. I could feel the awkwardness slowly coming back. “I’m… sorry if I’m over dressed for this occasion. I haven’t actually been to a carnival before and I might have overdone it a bit with the makeup and—” “I think you look great.” I interrupted her. Sapphire glanced at me. Her face turning a soft purple right before my eyes. I felt my own face beginning to burn up having been so blunt about it. “You’ve… always been…” I could feel myself struggling to get the word out. “Beautiful.”  There was a sudden spark of Sapphire’s horn that popped at least twelve balloons in the booth next to us. This incidentally earned a small filly a large prize for managing to pop several balloons while having missed her initial throw with the dart. We hastened ourselves away, both extremely embarrassed over what I had said. I was tensing with anxiety, feeling stupid for saying something so bluntly without having any of that tact Wick was talking about.  “Thank… you.” Sapphire mumbled. Looking over I saw Sapphire was flushed a deep purple, but she made no attempt to hide it. Her eyes darted from the ground towards me and back again.  “Your… jacket looks… comfy.” Sapphire remarked. I silently pleaded with my flames to stop flaring, not wanting to burn a hole straight through Wick’s jacket.  “W-Wick let me borrow it.” I replied. Sapphire bit her bottom lip. Seemingly interested in the casual attire that the hoodie provided me and perhaps its versatile nature. “I want one.” Sapphire pouted.  “I could get one made for-”  “Lord Smolder! Lady Sapphire!” Our names rang out through the air, a voice magnified several times louder by a megaphone. Several foals and fillies were standing around a large placard, dressed in rather well put together costumes and Lionel Stonehardt waved his megaphone wildly for us to approach.  “Hey,” I said strolling up to the lot. “Are you coming to see our play?” Lionel asked excitedly. I looked over at Sapphire unsure. “Play? What play?” “I heard that Mr. Tutor’s class had put together a play before the Manehattan Theater is to go on.” Sapphire remarked. I had never been to a play before. Even if it was a children’s play, I had read several stories that I had always wanted to see performed live.  “Are they going to be performing ‘Call of the Pony’? I’ve always wanted to see that.” I replied. Lionel smiled wide, as the rest of the children pointed towards the placard for us to read. Sapphire and I moved to read the sign. In large letters the sign read ‘Phoenix: The Tale of Smolder’, starring Lionel Stoneheardt as Smolder and Mr. Tutor as the Mad King. I stood flabbergasted at what was posted. Sapphire did her best not to look embarrassed for me, but also trying hard not to smile at my predicament at the same time. “You’ll be coming, right? We’ve been preparing for this for weeks!” Lionel stated proudly. I was still staring at the sign with a look of disbelief when Sapphire jabbed me in the side to stop making a big deal out of it.  “Of course we’ll be attending your play.” Sapphire reassured him.  “Tickets are five bits per pony. Ten bits if you want seating in the front.” Lionel stated with his hoof out.  Sapphire glanced over at me with a coy smile, to which Lionel moved his hoof to me for the bits instead. I narrowed my eyes at Sapphire before reaching in my hoodie for the money.  Lionel pointed us towards the outdoor amphitheater near the other end of the carnival. We were also told that the tickets were selling out fast and that we should get there as soon as we could to get the best seats in the house. Sapphire and I set off to get some decent seating, not wanting to disappoint the children and noticed several posters strewn up for the Manehattan Theater's play of Call of the Pony.  The closer we got to the amphitheater the more we began to notice that the children had made their own posters to put up over the Manehattan Theater's ones. Reaching the entrance, we noticed several ponies just strolling in without approaching the ticket counter. In fact, there was no pony in the booth to sell tickets.  “Did all these ponies buy their tickets in advance?” I asked curiously.  “Tickets? What tickets?” A voice asked aloud.  We turned to see Mr. Tutor approaching us, carrying several saddle bags on his back filled with craft material for the play. He seemed visibly tired, perhaps from all the preparations for the play and dealing with the children, but he seemed to be in good spirits.  “Lionel sold us tickets.” Sapphire stated.  Mr. Tutor hoofed faced himself. Mumbling something under his breath before looking quite apologetic.  “The play is open to the public and free of admission. I’m afraid Lionel has swindled you out of some bits.” Mr. Tutor said.  Sapphire looked down at out tickets, seeing that it was written rather poorly with charcoal, but it did have a no refund clause on the back.  “How much did he take you for?”  “Smolder gave him twenty bits.” Sapphire replied. I pulled my hoodie over my face trying to hide the flaring of my mane from how embarrassed I was. With a few ponies trickling into the theater, Bleak and Summer were peering around the corner of the amphitheater eavesdropping on their conversation.  “Now that’s a pony after my own heart. Swindling coin from a King and Princess.” Bleak murmured with pride. Summer elbowed him in the side. “If I find  out you taught that little colt how to con ponies of their money…”  Bleak was quick to hold up his hooves to show his innocence. “I’m clean!” There was plenty of seating near the front, not too many ponies had come to see this school play, but ponies continued to file in little by little. A small slate was left on every chair, small program to offer the audience an idea of what to expect. Mr. Tutor’s class had put a lot of effort into the ‘adapting’ parts of A.K. Yearlings book for their play. Picking the most eventful chapters and bringing it to life on stage. This adaptation was done entirely by the children, acted by mostly children, and the entire set was designed by children. Mr. Tutor had been cast by the children to represent the Mad King, mostly for his adult size bringing a more realistic view of how vastly different my father and I were. I sat prepared for the play to start, not knowing what to expect or how far they would go with it, but I tried to be optimistic like Sapphire and hoped for the best. “Now that the love from my mommy has filled me, I possess the power to defeat you, father!”  Lionel Stoneheardt hollered. He was portraying me up on the stage while we could hear Mr. Tutor hissing under his breath to stick to the script, desperately trying to keep the play on the rails.  “You shall never defeat me… twerp!” From his awkwardness on stage it was clear that Mr. Tutor was not an actor pony at heart, but the children’s enthusiasm over the play really sold the energy of each scene. Lionel had almost completely lost himself in the roll of Smolder and was taking real swings at Mr. Tutor. This caused the audience to cheer harder at the sight of Mr. Tutor doing his best to stay in character and yet avoid Lionel’s onslaught.  Nearly everypony was in a fit of laughter, even Sapphire was unable to contain her enjoyment of it, and I found myself sinking deep into my chair. When the play had started it had only drawn in a quarter of the available seating, but the news spread fast of the most comical retelling of my past that it soon became a packed house. Even the Manehattan Theater were watching from the sidelines, cheering and laughing over the performance. The play raced along, having a quick narration of events leading up to the battle with the Orc. A rather impressive stone carving of the Elder Dragon’s head, vastly smaller to its actual size, but was used with great effect.  In a very polar opposite portrayal, along with the lack of ice pony children available, Licorice had taken up the mantle of playing Princess Sapphire. Who acted the hay out of her part, providing a very vivid re-enactment of Sapphire’s intelligence and elegance. So much so that Sapphire herself got to her hooves at points to cheer and applaud her. Lionel on the other hoof was still taking great liberties with my roll and even dropped kicked the large sculpted Elder Dragon statue.  It all came to a rousing conclusion with the battle between the dark spirit of Nadir and myself. What was truly remarkable was that the children had somehow convinced Mira to portray the dark entity of Nadir. Her Shadow Magic proved to be unmatched in special effects as it harmlessly swept through the auditorium but visually sold the gravity of the situation.  I watched Lionel struggle against the howling black mist Mira was spraying his way. Watching Mr. Tutor heroically jump in as my father to protect Lionel.  It was quite interesting to relive this particular moment as a bystander. Realizing that this entire scene had few to no words from my father or myself, just Mira taunting them as Nadir had done to me and my father. It made me realize that those final words my father had said to me, were truly just for me, and I felt myself holding back some feelings I thought I had buried away. Mr. Tutor had come to the end of his portrayal of my father, having destroyed himself in a rather heart wrenching scene, at least for me, by flaring his mane fiercely before quickly falling through a trapdoor.  “And so, the Mad King had given his life to save his son from the evil that had tried to take him. ”  The line hit me hard. I looked down at my hooves, staring at the cracks within my hide, hidden just underneath the sleeves of my hoodie.  The play had finally come to an end. Applause filled the auditorium. I was still staring at my hooves, thinking back on those final moments with my father when I saw Sapphire’s hoof come into view and took hold of my hoof. I turned to look at her and found her smiling sympathetically for me. She squeezed my hoof tightly for a moment before removing her hoof to join in on the clapping. I quickly joined in as well, watching Mr. Tutor and his class take a bow. Black flames fizzled through the air, revealing Mira’s signature blue star dust like hair and neon green markings on her arms. She took a dramatic bow, obviously enjoying the attention she was being given from her part in the play.  Mr. Tutor walked up to the microphone stand to address the auditorium just as the applause was beginning to die down.  “On behalf of the Phoenix School House, I would like to thank every pony for coming out and supporting this play. The children spent many weeks preparing for it and gave it everything they had to make it memorable.” Mr. Tutor announced. More clapping soon followed.  “I had given the class the opportunity to pick any story that they wanted to bring to the stage and it was a unanimous vote for the newest A.K. Yearling book. Go figure.” Mr. Tutor continued. There was mild laughter from the crowd. “The reason the students chose to adapt this play was to show how much they—“ Mr. Tutor was cut off as Lionel jumped up to snatch the microphone away.  “Lord Smolder!” Lionel shouted.  A random spotlight lit both Sapphire and myself up in our seats. Drawing the attention of everypony in the auditorium. The entire class quickly rushed towards Lionel, fighting for room near the microphone. “Thank you!”  I felt my mane flare. All the children smiled and waved to me while the rest of the ponies in the auditorium cheered and clapped in my honor. That’s when Sapphire nudged my side, staring at me earnestly to stand up. I got to my hooves, turning to the auditorium to wave for a minute to everypony. Earning an even louder applause with dozens of more cheers. “The Manehattan Theater will be setting up shortly. Please come back later to see their incredible performance.” Mr. Tutor announced. That was the cue for everypony to start heading towards the exits. The children rushed to tear down their decorations, eager to take part in the festivities while Mr. Tutor warned them that they had to put on another show tomorrow night.  Sapphire and I were stopped a few times leaving the auditorium for pictures and autographs from more ponies. After the last rock slate was signed, Sapphire and I were by ourselves again. “I found that play to be very enjoyable.” Sapphire remarked.  “It was… humbling.” I replied. Sapphire smiled at me. “It’s not easy to see one’s own life turned into a stage drama, especially done by children, but it’s clear that they have a greater understanding and respect of what you’ve done for them.”  “It really isn’t all that- I can't really—“ Sapphire touched my hoof again. “They’ve recognized all the pain and suffering you’ve went through to be the King they needed you to be. You’ve given them a future, one brighter than any pony could have possibly imagined. Let them express their thanks anyway that they can, because it is all they can offer you after losing so much.”  I slowed my pace. Still clutching Sapphire’s hoof. She had an incredible way of putting things in perspective for me and making me feel like I really was this amazing pony everypony painted me to be. “I… still have you.” I mumbled.  Sapphire’s mane almost cracked with thunder from how fast her face flushed. Taken completely off guard by my off the hoof remark. I felt that this was my moment. The quintessential kiss Wick and Pyre had told me about. That I needed to take a chance, be the first to take the initiative, and bet it all on luck that Sapphire felt the same way. Or I’d be eating dirt from how fast Sapphire would knock my flank to the ground. Holding her hoof I nervously pulled her towards me. She wasn’t resisting at all. Taking a small step towards me, not turning away, but her eyes were almost daring me to try what I was planning. “Sapphire—“ A metal staff wrapped me upside the head. Mira floated by with her arms now crossed and the staff resting against her shoulder. “What are you doing you stupid flame pony?” Mira hissed. Her glare was mixed with disgust and disappointment for me. I held the side of my head, notching how much harder Mira seemed to hit me with it than it’s previous owner.  “Mira!” Sapphire snapped heatedly. “Did you enjoy the show, Prissy Princess? I don’t do autographs, but you can tell ponies I talked to you if you like.” Mira commented. Mira flipped her stardust like hair as if she really was this highly paid Applewood actress speaking to commoners.  Sapphire’s mane turned stormy while Mira’s shadow magic crackled from her hands daring her to go toe to hoof with her.  “I’m on a date with Sapphire.” I interrupted. I quickly got between them, defusing the situation almost instantly as Sapphire seemed very pleased with my admission to it being an actual date, but more so that Mira seemed appalled by it. “A date? With her? So… what? You couldn’t get a date with a block of ice so you picked someone equally as cold and unfeeling?” This time I had to hold Sapphire back from getting close to Mira. “I’m happy to see that you were willing to help out the children with their play.” I mentioned quickly.  “Those stupid little rugrats begged me to do it.” Mira muttered waving her hand dismissively.  It was no secret to me that Mira absolutely loved the children. At first the children were scared around her, her constant scowl and piercing yellow eyes made her seem intimidating. Although, a different side of Mira seemed to show itself around them. One of pure happiness and love for the children that had once been Mira’s dominant trait.  I smiled at her. “Thank you for always looking after them.”  Mira grimaced. Folding her arms in a huff and turning her head away in defiance. She glanced back over her shoulder, looking a bit annoyed with us. “Go on then,  have your date.”  Sapphire was ready to say something to her when there was a literal stampede of young foals and fillies racing out of the auditorium and circling around Mira.  “Mira! Mira! Everypony liked our play! Now you have to treat us to candy apples! Just like you promised!” Lionel called out to her. Sapphire and I watched Mira drift down to the herd of children, patting several of them on the head and beaming at them proudly for their hard work. “First one there gets two!” Mira declared. Without another word the children stormed off, leaving Mira smiling devilishly at the commotion the children were causing by charging through the carnival. Mira turned to us. Her smile quickly fading, but turning her nose up at us in distaste.  “I’ve got some candy apples to buy. Try to keep it in your saddle bag, stupid.” Mira said snidely. “Perhaps you’re green glow is from jealousy and envy you have!” Sapphire shouted back. Mira turned around, cupping her hands over her mouth to shout back to us. “I guess the king just likes mares with big flanks!”  This had several ponies nearby turning to look at us. There were a couple of gossiping whispers and a few colts whistling loudly towards us. Sapphire and I both felt our faces burn hot from the attention and the implications as we both hurried off before anypony could get a picture of our embarrassment. Bleak had his hooves full holding Summer back from coming to Sapphire’s aid in her exchange with Mira.  “How dare she speak so ill of the princess! That evil little imp will pay for bad mouthing her!” Summer spat. “That evil little imp is Lord Smolder’s personal magic teacher and the Royal Adviser.” Bleak stated. “So what?”  “I don’t want to be thrown into another dimension or be put on double duty just because you tried to murder a council member.” Bleak replied.  Summer stopped her struggling. There was still an air of anger floating around her but the thought of causing trouble for Bleak had gotten her to hold back.  “Fine.” Summer sounded miffed.  “We haven’t wrestled that hard since that time we got locked in the old broom closet back in--” The tip of Summer’s sword was pressing against the bottom of Bleak’s chin. A wild look in her eye daring him to speak another word. Pursing his lips, Bleak gave her a quick wink to which Summer flushed at.  “Come on… we don’t want to fall too far behind.” Summer mumbled.  “That evil little imp! She is so horrid to me! Always calling me hussy! Making fun of me! I swear the next time I see her I’m going to freeze her solid and throw her into the Frozen Sea!” Sapphire declared. She was still pretty hot under the collar from what Mira had said. I decided to give Sapphire some space to let her talk things out and blow off some steam. Although, I ended up letting her walk ahead a bit and noticed that there was some truth to what Mira had said.  “Smolder?” Sapphire asked. “Hey! Whoa! What’s up?” I replied quickly. Sapphire had stopped in front of a cotton candy booth while I had spaced out. “I asked if you would like to try some of this cloud like substance?” Sapphire reiterated to me. “Sure!” I said quickly.  Sapphire dropped two bits on the counter, being given two cotton candy in return. She turned to me to offer me one.  “Flank you.” I muttered. “What?”  “Thank! I said thank! Ha! Of course I did! Yum!” I shouted. My face was a bright red, burying it in the cotton candy to hide it to avoid the suspicious stare I was getting from Sapphire.  “Are you alright?” Sapphire questioned.  “Just-just enjoying our time together.” I muttered. Sapphire smiled wide. Taking a lick of her cotton candy seemingly enjoying our time together as well. We walked off together admiring all the games that littered the carnival. For a flame pony carnival is reminiscent of a regular carnival, but with much harder games to win. Flame ponies are naturally more resilient, their hide is tough like stone, and their strength vastly exceeds normal ponies. So many of their games involved things to do with rocks, metal, and of course fire.  Looking around I could see many flame ponies having adapted to suppressing their flames. Allowing them to produce harmless clouds of smoke or steam that provided a warmth to the touch rather than a burn. Which allowed many regular games to be added to allow for a more diverse experience for every pony to enjoy.  “Have you had any luck in suppressing your flames yesterday, Smolder?” Sapphire asked.  “No…” My voice was weighted and full of bitterness. Ever since returning from the Realm of Naught I had been spending most of my free time trying to achieve this feat, but failed to even produce a wisp of smoke.  “Hasn’t Tea been able to… help you?” Sapphire asked slowly. Keeping my promise, I offered myself to be part of Tea’s research in Alicorn medicine. Over the last few months I have taken a few trips to Manehattan to allow her to run any sort of tests she wanted on me. Unfortunately, my last visit wasn’t a happy one. “Do you want to play a game?” I asked.  I avoided her question completely, as I had done many times before whenever Sapphire brought up Tea in our conversation. Sapphire looked rather concerned, noticing this consistent pattern, but never pressed the issue.  “Sure!” Sapphire said cheerfully. “Is there any you wanted to try?” I asked.  Dozens of foals and fillies had been practically stampeding there way around the gaming booths. Attempting to win the numerous amount of prizes available. One filly in particular was adorned with a rather shiny bracelet that sparkled like starlight from her flames. This of course brought up the question of which game she played to win such a trinket by the other children.  “It was the Geode Guess booth.” The young filly had said.  Sapphire and I stepped aside to allow the sudden wave of ponies rush towards that particular booth to try their hoof at winning one.  “Perhaps we should try our hoof at this Geode Guess game. It seems like a good place to start.” Sapphire suggested. I could tell that Sapphire really wanted to win one of those bracelets for herself. So I nodded my head in agreement and headed towards this booth.  Dozens of foals and fillies were crowding around a particular booth where the carnival barker of this game enticed the children to give it a shot.  “Everypony likes to break things! Except you always get in trouble for it when you do! Well here’s a game where you can only be a winner if you know what to break! Step right up and try your luck and best of all it’s only a buck!” We could clearly see over all the children’s heads of what the game in question entailed. There were hundreds upon hundreds of different colored and shaped rocks that were piled high in the booth. Dozens of prizes hung high over head, tantalizing the children below of the promise of gifts if lucky enough to win.  A few foals stepped up quick, tossing their coin upon the table. Picking out the rocks they chose to break. Once the rocks had been retrieved the children hit the rock hard with their hoof. This particular game was catered towards flame ponies more than regular ponies for our affinity to rocks and how well we could break them.  Some rocks were obliterated out right, one broke into several pieces of black glass, and one split in two revealing a core with several bright blue crystals.  “Volcanic glass! Earns you a candy apple! Blue crystals! That’s a big winner, choose a large prize from anything up above!”  “I’ll take the boulder with the snake for a face!” The foal declared. “That there is an elephant! Good on you for knowing your rocks!”  The foal took his prize. A rather impressively sized elephant plush that was not only fireproof, but also made a noise like an elephant when held tightly. There were cheers and excited shouts as many of the other children wanted a turn. I watched as Sapphire chuckled to herself in quiet determination.  “What a simple game, even children can win big at this.” Sapphire reported. “Would you like to try?” I asked her. “Perhaps only once, I would feel bad if I didn’t leave any prizes for the children.” Sapphire said confidently. The carnival barker noticed the rather pretty pony approaching the booth. Sliding down to the other end to greet her, he smiled wide with a raised brow. “Would the lovely lady like a turn? First rock is free.” The barker offered. Sapphire smiled slyly at the pony. “Now why would it be free for me?”  “Because you might be free later for some coffee.” The barker jived.  This got Sapphire to giggle, although my sudden appearance seemed to crush the carnival barkers morale. “Lord… Lord Smolder, I hadn’t realized it was the Princess and…”  He sounded apologetic, but Sapphire quickly dismissed his fears of being too forward. Thanking him for his interest and apologized herself for being unavailable. “I will be choosing that particular rock right there.” Sapphire stated. “Uh, Sapphire—“ I began. Sapphire shushed me. “Don’t cheat, Smolder. This is a game of geology and I passed that class with high marks.”  The carnival barker placed her rock down on the table, I could see that he was apprehensive about her choice just as I had been. Without much warning, Sapphire chopped the rock watching it explode beneath her hoof to dirt and dust. “That was a dirt clod.” I pointed out. The children still remaining giggled at Sapphire's unfortunate choice in rock which only made her flush with embarrassment. A coin hit the table in her response to attempt the feat again pointing to another rock. “Sapphire—“ I started again. “You will have your turn, Smolder. After I have mine.” Sapphire said competitively. With another rock on the table, Sapphire was quick to break this one and found it to be a literal rock with no amazing features. “A dud.” The carnival barker pointed out. A sudden ring of five coins showered the table as Sapphire was quick to pick five more rocks to smash. The carnival barker looked a bit concerned at Sapphire’s determination as I tried to reel her back in. “If I could just—“  “I can smash these rocks on my own, thank you.” Sapphire stated quickly.  “Well it’s not about how hard you hit it, but which one you hit to make it break—“ I watched Sapphire strike rock after rock, pulverizing and shattering the five before her in haste. Each rock was a dud or something that only resembled a lump of dirt. Sapphire threw what seemed to be twenty coins worth of tries onto the table as she started to just reach for rocks on her own. After several minutes of smashing rock after rock, Sapphire grew tired from her determination to win this game. Her inability to find a quartz stone had her heated and looking rather peeved at her losses. Having nearly spent all her coin in her feverish frenzy of rock smashing.  The owner of the game carefully pulled Sapphire’s pile of coins away from her. Looking rather sympathetic over her failure.  I dropped a coin on the counter before leaning over the table to pick up a rock. I struck the top of the rock and watched it split open like an egg, revealing a core of immense red crystals that shimmered from the lights around us.  “Red crystals! We have a winner!” Sapphire turned her head in a huff, pouting over the ease of my victory. My reward turned out to be the crystal bracelet Sapphire had tried so hard to win. I technically needed to have found the purple stone to claim such a prize, but a subtle wink from the owner made me realize he’s seen this sort of thing play out before. I turned to the still frustrated Sapphire. “Here.” I offered Sapphire the bracelet. She turned to look at it, her face just flushed now if not a bit embarrassed over the whole thing.  Sapphire took it slowly, fixing it over her hoof to admire it. “Thank you.”  It didn’t feel right giving Sapphire something so cheap. The crystal themselves were practically worthless. It was a children’s game that offered shiny prizes for foals and fillies, but the smile Sapphire wore made it feel as though I had given her a priceless heirloom. “Do… you want to try another game?” I asked. Sapphire thought for a moment, as if to contemplate the question, but it was clear that she was simply deciding which booth to try next. I felt her take a firm grip of my hoof before pulling me down the path towards another game. There was excitement in her eyes, a smile that didn’t go away, and I knew that she was having a time. I found myself smiling, realizing that I was having a great time as well.