//------------------------------// // Chapter 8: A Day at the Carnival // Story: A Dragon's Soft Spot // by Mister E-Nonymous //------------------------------// Chapter 8: A Day at the Carnival At the School of Friendship's Generosity Class, Rarity was finishing up the final class of the day. All of the students were packing up their stuff to get to head on back to their dorm rooms. "Alright, class," Rarity said. "You've all been doing so well in class. Perhaps it's time you all enjoyed some time at the carnival that's opening up tomorrow. Go on and enjoy yourselves." Then all of them headed out of there. Aaron and Sandbar were heading out of the room. Sandbar said, "A carnival. Sounds fun." "I haven't been to a carnival in years," Aaron said. "Really?" Sandbar asked. "When was the last time you've been to a carnival?" Aaron thought about it and said, "I don't know. It was maybe a month or two before Aunt Marissa got that job at that dog's boutique." They continued walking down the hall. Back in class, Smolder was getting her books and she headed out of the room quickly. But then, Ocellus came up to her. "Hey, Smolder," Ocellus said. "Mind if I talk to you about something?" Smolder stopped and said, "I really don't have time for our... private stuff." "No, I'm not talking about that," Ocellus said. "I'm talking about the way you were looking towards Aaron throughout the class." Smolder blushed and said, "That... That's nothing." "Smolder, you know I can tell," Ocellus said. "You've fallen in love with Aaron." "L-love?" Smolder said. She then put her right claw on her chest, feeling her heartbeat accelerating. "N-no. It c-can't be. I c-can't fall in love with him." "Hey, it happens, Smolder," Ocellus said. "Even if you two aren't born the same species. Sandbar is into Yona for some reason. Gallus and Silverstream started dating. What's to stop you from finding love with Aaron?" "He has a home to get back to," Smolder said. "A home in another dimension, his family. Plus, he's probably not into me anyway." "Oh, you don't know that," Ocellus said. She then brought Smolder into the same closet that Spike was hiding in when Smolder told him about the molt. "You could try hanging out with him at the carnival tomorrow, and see how well it goes." "I'm not so sure," Smolder said. "Besides, even if we did start seeing each other that way, it's not gonna last forever. You know long distance relationships don't work out that much." "But you can at least try to give it a try before he leaves," Ocellus said. "Why not practice asking him out?" She then shapeshifted into Aaron. She even used Aaron's voice. "Hey, Smolder. You wanted to see me?" Smolder then got nervous and said, "Well, Aaron. I... I don't know how to say this, but..." She then bit her lip. "Smolder?" Ocellus, still as Aaron, asked. "Are you okay?" Smolder groaned and said, "I can't do this, Ocellus!" Ocellus then turned back into her regular form. "Listen, I don't have time for this. I need some time to think." She then headed out of the closet. Ocellus sighed and said, "C'mon, Smolder. You just need a little push." Smolder was dreaming of herself and Aaron sitting at a table. Aaron looked around, looking for the others. "When do you think the others are gonna get here?" Aaron asked. "I don't know," Smolder said. "I told them we were all going out for dinner. What's taking them so long?" Just then, everything around them changed. From a large booth to a table for two, with a red and white checkered tablecloth, a lit candelabra, and romantic violin music playing in the background. "What... just... happened?" "What do you mean?" Aaron asked. "You asked me out on a date, remember?" "I did?" Smolder asked. She then saw a stallion carrying a huge plate of spaghetti. "Your meal," the waiter said, placing the spaghetti on the table. Smolder's heart was racing. "So, you ready to eat?" Aaron asked. Smolder blushed at the remark. Just then, her arm started moving on its own, grabbing a fork, and using it to twist the spaghetti onto it. She then pulled the fork towards her mouth, and the spaghetti went in. But then a line of spaghetti that was coming out of her mouth was also connected to Aaron's mouth. "Uh oh," Smolder thought. "Just like in that movie he showed me. Lady and the Tramp." They then started getting closer to each other. "No. I'm not ready. I'm not ready! I'M NOT READY!" Just then, something black came in and grabbed Aaron. "Whoa!!" Aaron called out. Smolder looked up to see a black and purple dragon. "FOUND YOU!!" called out the dragon. "What in the...?!" Aaron said. "Ragnarok the Reaper?!" "No! It can't be!" Smolder said. "You're mine!" Ragnarok said. He then opened up is mouth sucking something from Aaron. Aaron started groaning, and his body started getting scrawny and losing so much wait. Then something bright started coming out of him. Smolder woke up gasping, nearly shouting. "Aaron, no!" Smolder said. She then put a claw to her chest, breathing in and out with hesitation. She then saw that she was back in the room she shared with Silverstream. She then checked the alarm clock. It was a minute to 6. She then sighed. "It was just a dream. It was just a dream." Just then, the alarm clock went off, surprising Smolder. Silverstream woke up. "Oh, yeah!" Silverstream said. "The carnival's today! Might as well get ready for breakfast!" She then flew out of the room. Smolder than sighed. She then felt her sheets, and they were a little damp. She saw some sweat soaked into the sheets. Smolder sighed and stripped the bed. She then headed out of the room, carrying the sheets to see a maid in the hallway. "Give me those," the maid said. "I was just about to come and strip your sheets next." Smolder then put the sheets into the basket. The maid then went into the dorm that Smolder and Silverstream share. Smolder then went towards the bathroom to clean herself off. As soon as she cleaned herself, she went off towards the cafeteria to see the other students eating breakfast and talking to one another. She then noticed her friends sitting at one table. She then went and got her food and then went over to the table. "Hey, Smolder," Aaron said. "What took ya so long?" "Sorry," Smolder said. "I just... had to take a shower. It was hot last night." "Hot?" Sandbar asked. "I thought dragons could take the heat, especially in the dragon lands." "Smolder okay?" Yona asked. "N-never mind," Smolder said. "Let's just eat and get through the day." She then started eating her breakfast. The others were looking at her confused. Aaron looked towards Ocellus and asked, "What's up with her?" "I'm not at liberty to say," Ocellus said. Aaron raised an eyebrow in confusion. He then shrugged his shoulders and started eating. Later, Aaron and the Young 6 arrived at the carnival that came to Ponyville. The group looked around at all of the games and rides that were there. "Wow," Aaron said. "This is one heck of a carnival." "Yeah," Sandbar said. "So, does everycreature have any more bits on them, because I used up all mine to pay for my ticket." The others, except for Aaron shook their heads. "We all spent our bits up?" "Not me," Aaron said. He then brought out a sack of bits. "Where did you get all of those?!" Ocellus asked. "Rarity asked me to help her with some gem collecting," Aaron said. "She gave me a fair amount to trade them in for some bits, enough to share with all of you. And a little extra just to pay for a ticket to get in." "Wow," Gallus said. "How are we gonna divide them all?" Aaron looked around towards where the eating areas are. They then walked over towards one open table. Aaron sat down, emptied his sack of bits, and then he divided them up into seven shares. They each got 20 bits. "I still can't believe you got 140 bits," Ocellus said. "There must've been a lot of gems you collected." "Oh, there were," Aaron said. "So, everyone, grab a stack and head on and do something fun." Then the Young 6 grabbed one stack of bits each, and they spread out to do something fun. Aaron then headed out on his own to see what they had. Time had passed and the Young 6 were all having as much fun there. Aaron on the other hand was looking at all the games. He then saw a stand with a bunch of complaining ponies. He then walked up to the ponies and saw a bottle knock down game. "What's going on here?" Aaron asked. "Oh, there's nothing to peak your interest, my dragon friend," the carny said. "All of these ponies here just failed to knock down all of the bottles to win a prize." "Really?" Aaron said, looking at the bottles. He then smirked and thought to himself, "This dirty trick again." He then put a single bit on the counter and said, "Just... one." "Seriously?" the carny asked. "One ball? Alright. If you somehow knock down all the bottles with just one ball, you can have as many prizes as you want." "We shall see," Aaron said. He then grabbed the ball that was placed on the counter and got ready for a pitch. "Alright, there, my young drake," the carny said. "You give it your best shot." Aaron then looked towards the stand that holds up the bottles. It was a small circle on a single pole. Aaron then smirked, and threw the ball. Instead of heading towards the bottles, it headed towards the stand. The ball hit the pole hard, making the stand fall over, the bottles going with it. The ponies around him gasped. "Hey, hey, hey!" the carny shouted. "You were supposed to try and knock over the bottles, not the stand." "You said nothing about the stand," Aaron said, crossing his arms and smirking. "Besides, you've been cheating the entire time." He then pointed towards the bottles, all of the ponies looked and they saw that the bottles were connected by some small planks and nails, and the bottom middle bottle was connected to the table by another pole. The carny got nervous and started sweating. Aaron looked over and saw a security pony. "Security!" The guard's attention was caught. "This carny's a cheater!" The security guard stallion ran over to the game and looked at the bottles on the floor. He then looked towards the carny and said, "Seriously, Cheap? Up to your usual tricks again?! I told you, the next time you get caught, you'll be fired!" "No!" the carny, now known as Cheap Trick, said. "I was just doing my job!" "All games are to be won or lost fairly," the security guard said. He then looked towards Aaron and the other ponies. "Help yourselves. Anything he's got is yours." "Let the dragon choose the prize first," a unicorn mare said. "After all, he exposed this guy as a cheater." "That's a good idea," said a pegasus stallion. "Go ahead." Aaron smirked and then he looked at the prizes. He then saw one prize that peaked his interest. He saw a couple of star shaped lockets. Aaron then pointed towards the lockets, and a unicorn mare used her magic to grab the lockets and handed them to Aaron. "Have a special somecreature in mind?" the unicorn mare asked. "Not yet," Aaron said. "Maybe one day. Might as well keep it in case I meet someone special." "Sounds nice," said the unicorn mare. "Go on. And thank you for exposing that carny." "No problem," Aaron said. He then started flying up and over the other games. He looked around and then he saw the Young 6 gathering up. He then smiled and started coming down. "We should ask Aaron if he wants to go," Sandbar said. "Where is he anyway?" "Yona sees him!" Yona said, pointing upwards. The group looked up and saw Aaron descending. "Good thing you've finally mastered your wings," Smolder said. "It'll be a shame you won't have them when you go home." "Yeah," Aaron said. "I might as well use 'em when I have 'em." "Hey, guys!" Silverstream said. "What's that?!" Silverstream pointed over at one ride. It was a Ferris Wheel. "What, you've never seen a Ferris Wheel before?" Sandbar asked. "She's been underwater for a long time," Aaron said. "She gets easily excited from time to time at things she's never seen before. Like when she saw Ocellus shapeshifting on opening day of the School of Friendship." "He's right," Smolder said. "Silverstream even got excited about the stairs of the Castle of the Two Sisters." "So, who's up for it?" Sandbar asked. "Well, it would be a great way to see all around us without wearing ourselves out," Aaron said. "Who's up for it?" "Sure, why not," Gallus said. "I'd love to!" Silverstream said. "Yak in!" Yona said. "Me, too," Sandbar said. "Let's do this," Ocellus said. "Meh, whatever," Smolder said. Then the seven of them headed for the Ferris Wheel. As soon as they reached the end of the line for the Ferris Wheel, they reached the end, and they saw a sign that said, "Only two riders per cart." "Two riders per cart?" Silverstream asked. "That's right, Missy," the ride operator said. "It only has room for only two creatures. So, you better choose who's going with who in each cart." Gallus and Aaron smirked and Gallus said, "Say, Yona, how about you go in with Sandbar?" Sandbar started blushing. "I'm sure he'll enjoy the company." "Yona would love to ride with Sandbar!" Yona said. She then pulled Sandbar into the cart and the ride operator closed the cart, and they moved the Ferris Wheel to load up the next riders. "Next," the ride operator said. "You wanna go in together, Gallus?" Silverstream asked. "Why not?" Gallus asked. "Could be fun." Then the two went into the next cart. Then the operator closed the door and moved up the next cart. Just then, Ocellus moved her hind legs closer together, like she was holding in something. "Uh oh," Ocellus said. "Not now." Aaron and Smolder looked at Ocellus and Smolder asked, "You okay, Ocellus?" "Bad time for me to go to the bathroom," Ocellus said. "Oh, boy," Aaron said. "We can wait for you if you'd like." "Sorry, young drake," the operator said. "We got a strict policy. No holding up the line. Plus, this is the last empty cart. You two get on." Aaron and Smolder looked at each other. "Just go on without me," Ocellus said. "You two have fun." "Uh... okay," Aaron said. "See you after the ride." "Yeah, whatever," Smolder said. Then she and Aaron went into the cart. The operator then closed up the cart and started the ride. Ocellus's legs then went back to normal and she smirked. She then got out the bit bag she had and handed five bits to the operator. "Worked like a charm," the operator said. "Nice job, young one." "I'm so glad that Silverstream pointed towards this right at the exact time," Ocellus said. "I was going to, but she beat me to it." "You've been wanting to get those two dragons together?" the operator asked. "Might as well get them together at the time," Ocellus said. In the cart that Aaron and Smolder were in, the two of them were looking around at the sights from where they were. "Wow," Aaron said. "What a view." "Meh, not so different from what I'm used to," Smolder said. Just then, the ride stopped. "What's going on?" "Sorry for the inconvenience, everypony," came the voice of the ride operator. "The controls seem to be a little jammed. We'll get the ride moving as soon as possible." "How long is that gonna take?" Smolder said. "I guess we'll just have to enjoy the view," Aaron said. "Or we can watch something on your phone," Smolder said. "Good idea," Aaron said, reaching out for his bag. He then reached in and tried finding it. But he was surprised when he couldn't feel it. "Where's my phone?" Back on the ground, Ocellus had Aaron's phone. She then spoke with Aaron's voice, "Hey, Siri?" then the phone responded by humming. "Set a timer for five minutes." "Your timer is set for five minutes," the phone responded. Ocellus then spoke in her normal voice, saying, "Until the timer goes off, then you can start the ride again." "You got it," the operator said. "I'll just look into the controls to make myself look busy." In one cart, Gallus was banging on the door to get out of the cart. He was shouting, "Let me out, let me out, let me out!" Silverstream then grabbed him and said, "There, there, Gallus. It's gonna be alright. We'll be out of here as soon as they fix it." Back in the cart with Aaron and Smolder, the two were looking out the windows of the cart. "It sure is a nice view," Aaron said. He then sighed. "I have no idea how long we're gonna be up here." Smolder then started blushing, getting nervous about being stuck in the cart with Aaron. Aaron noticed that Smolder was sweating and asked, "Are you okay? You're sweating." "I'm fine," Smolder said hurriedly. "Is it getting hot in this cart?" She then started fanning herself with one of her claws. "Are you sure you're alright?" Aaron asked. "You can tell me. I can listen." Smolder sighed and said, "Fine. This is really... getting so... so complicated." "What is it?" Aaron asked. "Ever since we met, I've been... interested in what you've been doing," Smolder said. "You're so smart, and cool, and you are so good at making friends." "It's easier here than it was back in my world," Aaron said. "Yeah," Smolder said. Looking away from Aaron. "You said you weren't remembered by any of the other students or faculty of your last school." She then sighed. "But here, you've been... so cool. So amazing. So..." She then turned her head back towards Aaron, not seeing how close she was to Aaron, and her lips connected with Aaron's, the two kissing. The two then broke away and Smolder said, "Oh, my gosh. Aaron, I'm sorry. I didn't know we were that close to each other." "Hang on, Smolder," Aaron said. "That... that was unexpected for me as well." He then smiled and said, "You know. You and I haven't known each other for that long. Well, I might have known you longer than you have known me." "Right, since the show started not too long after you were born," Smolder said. "Anyway, you were always so... incredible," Aaron said. "I've gotten so into how you did all those amazing things. You stuck with your friends when the School of Friendship got shut down by Neighsay when he was racist at the time, you helped restore the Tree of Harmony, you helped save Equestria, twice." "Guess there are a lot of things we accomplished," Smolder said. "You've been brought here from another dimension, you basically mastered dragon flight and fire breathing, and let's not forget when you brought Gallus and Silverstream together." "Yeah, I kinda had to help Gallus with that," Aaron said. He then looked towards the cart where Gallus and Silverstream were. "Speaking of which, Gallus is claustrophobic." "I'm sure he'll get over it," Smolder said. She then looked out the window of the cart and asked, "So, when you get home, do you think it's possible for us to visit you in your world?" "I think it might be better if you ask Twilight about that," Aaron said. Smolder then started leaning her head on Aaron's shoulder. Aaron looked down at Smolder, him smiling at Smolder's gesture. "I guess that we'll just have to wait and see." "Kinda wish that long distance relationships aren't a problem," Smolder said. "I guess we're just going to have to wait and..." Aaron was then cut off when Smolder kissed him on the lips again. Smolder was being more passionate with this kiss. Aaron felt the passion in that kiss and accepted it as well. Back on the ground, Ocellus held out Aaron's phone as it started beeping, meaning the timer was done. Ocellus then said, "Okay, start it up again." The ride operator then started the ride again. As the ride was spinning, Ocellus felt something. She looked towards the ride and she saw Aaron and Smolder kissing on the ride. "Wow. That worked better than I thought." Later in the day, Aaron and the Young 6 were coming out of a photo booth. All of them were laughing at what they did for the photos taken there. "Wow," Gallus said. "That was so much fun." "I'm glad you suggested this, Aaron," Silverstream said. "I hope we can make copies of these photos." "I'm sure we can," Aaron said. "We're just gonna have to find someone who's good at copying photos." "Yeah," Smolder said, smiling at what Aaron said. Just then, her stomach started growling, making her blush. "Guess we've got to get some food in our stomachs," Aaron said. He then looked towards the others and saw something poking out of Ocellus's sack. "Is that my phone?!" Ocellus then gave a nervous smile. "You set up the ride for us, didn't you?" Smolder asked. "Did somecreature say they were hungry? I could really go for something to eat," Ocellus said, running ahead towards the eating area. "I knew she was smart, but I didn't think she'd be able to come up with this kind of love trap," Aaron said. "She is sneakier than I thought," Smolder said. The others nodded in agreement.