//------------------------------//
// Maud: Crystalline Carnival 
// Story: Chosen Love 
// by Just A Random Pegasus 
//------------------------------//

"Are you ready to go, or what?!" A voice yelled, almost echoing through the small rock shop. Maud perked her head up, seeing Crystalline, Abalone Pearl, Thunder Spear, and Flash Sentry enter the rock shop. Maud waved to them as she saw them glancing at her. She then stepped away from the counter and walked over.

Today had been much like the day before. She had worked with Crystal Geode, helping with customers, and collecting data on rocks. The time flew, especially when she was talking with Geode. 

Crystal Geode now walked over to the counter where Maud left, looking in confusion. "Where are you going today?"

Maud saw Crystalline raise her eyebrows and walking closer to the counter. "Well, Maud's coming with us to the carnival that's in the Empire today." She paused for a moment before continuing. "Do you want to tag along?"

Maud's heart raced. Was she really asking him to join them? She then realized she was probably trying to set them up or something along those lines. Maud didn't mind it, though. In fact, she found it quite humorous. 

"Uh... well... why not?" Maud's ears perked up at the sound of his voice. "I haven't been to a carnival in a while." 

At this, Tango came out of a back room, levitating a few rocks. "Oh? Are you going somewhere?" 

Geode nodded. "Yep! I'm going to the carnival with Maud and her new friends."

Tango raised an eyebrow. "Uh... but there's still two hours until the shop closes. You shouldn't just leave."

Geode waved a hoof. "I know, I know. But, this will probably help me change more in public."

Tango blinked. "Change?"

Geode nodded. "Yes. I'm trying to not be so boring." He grew a sheepish grin. "I hope you understand. I'll tell you what: if you man the shop until closing, I'll raise this week's paycheck by fifteen bits." 

Tango smiled and put a hoof on the table. "You've got yourself a deal." 

Geode chuckled before waving to his co-worker and taking a spot next to Maud. Crystalline walked over as well. The six ponies walked out of the rock shop and into the refreshing afternoon breeze. 

"Come on, guys! The Crystalline Carnival won't be here forever!" She said, excitement dwelling in her voice. 

Maud raised an eyebrow. "Did you name it after yourself?" She asked Crystalline as the mare in question turned to face Maud, a bright smile on her face. 

"Nope! Some other crystal ponies apparently set it up! But I'm not complaining!" She replied as she swished her tail.

Geode cleared his throat. "I'm sorry, but I don't think I know who you four are. I mean, you invited me to join you in a carnival, so I would like to know who exactly you are."

Crystalline faced towards Geode. "Alright. Well, I'm Crystalline, that's Abalone Pearl, that's Thunder Spear, and that's Flash Sentry," she replied, pointing to each pony as their name came up. 

Geode gave a smile. "It's nice to meet you. I am Crystal Geode." 

"Hi there." The four said, close enough to unison. 

They awkwardly walked in silence, nopony certain on what to say. Abalone started up a conversation, flipping her shimmering green mane away from her face. 

"So... what do you all want to do when we get there?" 

Crystalline looked over to her, a bright smile on her face. "I think we should ride the ferris wheel! Then we can look out over the whole carnival and decide what to do next!"

Thunder Spear ruffled his feathers. "Well, Flash and I could get a view by flying."

Abalone rolled her eyes. "Well, then you would be killjoys. Come on. Nopony wants to be the ones who ruin good ideas." She teasingly stuck her tongue out at Thunder before turning back around, looking ahead of her. 

Thunder rolled his eyes in response to Abalone's comment. "Fine, fine. We'll go on the ride with everypony else." 

After a minute more of walking, they spotted the carnival. A ferris wheel was spinning round and round, and there were many tents and what looked to be games. There were also many foals carrying around balloons, obliviously hitting others' faces with them. It was a carnival, alright. 

When everypony got inside and bought their tickets, they got in line for the ferris wheel.

Thunder watched it before snorting. "This looks so slow."

"Stop being a killjoy, Thunder," Abalone replied. 

Crystalline narrowed her eyes, getting a better look at the ride in front of them. "Oh! Only two ponies can fit in one seat!" She raised her eyebrows teasingly. "Abalone and I will go together, Thunder and Flash will be together, and Maud and Crystal will be together!" She then fluttered her eyelashes at Maud.  "It looks like there's almost no room between two ponies on those seats~," she said as Maud stood, looking unaffected. 

"Okay." She said, trying her best to hide her internal blushing. Well, it wasn't that hard. 

Crystalline eyed her before turning back around. "Oh! We're almost on!" She replied as the ponies in front of her took a seat. 

In the next minute, the six were seated, and ready to go. 

Crystalline was right about there being very little space... Maud thought as the wheel sat still, loading a few more ponies. She and Geode were only a few inches away from touching each other. Maud felt her heart flutter from this closeness, and her conscious was telling her to scoot closer to him. She cleared the thoughts as the ride started, and they started to go up.

At the top of the wheel, it stopped again, loading ponies on the opposite side of the wheel. Maud felt the wind blow through her mane.

"It's very nice up here. I feel no burdens or anything," Geode said, closing his eyes to embrace the feeling. Maud nodded.

"I agree. I wish there were more opportunities for me to sit in the breeze like this." 

Maud felt Geode's tail slightly swishing against her side. She knew this was probably accidental, but was still a bit surprised at the sudden contact, even if it's just the hairs on a tail. 

"So, what do you want to do after this?" Maud asked. Geode shrugged his shoulders. 

"I'm not sure. I think the whole group will have to agree on something."

Maud thought for a moment. "Well, maybe we can play a game or something. I am really good at those games where you have to throw something."

Geode's ear twitched. "Really?"

Maud nodded. "Yeah. I win every rock throwing game I participate in. The rocks my opponents throw barely make a thud. Mine makes what looks like dust explosions in the distance, or at least that was what I've been told."

Geode raised his eyebrows in confusion. "What? How?"

"I guess I'll have to show you later."

"Well, not near my property. My parents would kill me if it looked like a bomb went off in the backyard."

Maud nodded. "I know. I'll do it someplace else."

Now, the wheel started back up again. They then went around, and Maud pointed to a few games where you have to throw balls into cups or little holes in cardboard. 

"I'm gonna beat you in all those games you just mentioned!" He said, egotistically puffing his chest out.

"Is that so?"

"I know it is!" He replied. "Those prizes have my name written all over them!"

"Doubtful."

"Why?" 

Maud blinked before answering. "Because they knew I would win, so they already put my name on everything before you claimed you would be victorious."

Geode tried to find words to retort what Maud replied with, but nothing was coming to him. He groaned in frustration. "Ugh! I give up!" 

A small smirk of satisfaction formed on Maud's face. 

Geode caught her smirk and huffed. "Shut up."

Maud tilted her head. "What? I wasn't saying anything."

"But you were implying that you won."

Maud thought for a moment. "Well, I guess that's true." 

Geode snorted. "Well, I'll prove you wrong."

"I would honestly like to see that."

The ferris wheel now came to a halt, and the two dismounted. They found their guard friends and exited with them.

"So... what does everypony want to do next?" Abalone asked as Maud and Geode both started to say something. Geode beat Maud to it.

"That game over there!" He pointed, enthusiasm in his voice. 

Thunder snorted. "That foal's game?" He said, pointing to a game designed for young fillies and colts. 

Geode rolled his eyes. "No, not that game. The one next to it." He gestured towards the game at which a mare was throwing a ball into cups, trying her hardest not to miss.

"Oh! Fine, that's not as foal-ish."

Crystalline got a good look at it. "Ooh! That looks like fun! Come on, everypony!" She replied as she trotted away, everypony else behind.

Flash started up a conversation. "You know, that ride was nice."

Thunder's wings ruffled. "Eh... it was okay. I would have preferred flying." 

Flash shrugged his shoulders. "Oh well. It's one of the last things I'll enjoy in the Crystal Empire."

Everypony stopped dead in their tracks and turned to face him. Crystalline's eyes widened. 

"What in Cadence's name do you mean by that?" She asked, concern in her voice.

Flash nervously glanced between everypony. "Oh, right! I haven't told you guys yet!" 

Abalone raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Well... what's going on? Spill the beans."

His feathers twitched. "You know how Captain Shining pulled me out of the throne room for a private talk earlier, right?"

The other three guards nodded. 

He bit his lip. "Well... he asked me to... in about a month or so... move my duties to Ponyville."

"WHAT?!" The three burst, their eyes wide. Flash nodded.

"It's true. Apparently, Princess Twilight Sparkle needs royal guards. Since I'm the only pony in the crystal guard that isn't a crystal pony, I'm a little... out of place."

Crystalline gawked. "He couldn't get somepony from Canterlot?!" 

Abalone nodded, still shocked. "I agree with Crystalline. We're going to be stuck with some rude pony taking your place!" 

Flash motioned a hoof to cut her off. "Well, Shining is getting guards from Canterlot. Not many are needed, since Princess Twilight doesn't have the desire to have a lot of royal guards in her castle. But, she is required to have them in case something bad were to happen." He then shook his head. "And Cadence wouldn't let a rude pony be her throne room guard. Remember how she evaluated us?"

Abalone nodded. "Touché." 

Thunder blinked, his wings spread in shock. "Wow. We'll miss you, dude. Be sure to tell us about your new position!"

"I'm not leaving for at least another month. And Of course I'll write to you guys!"

Everypony seemed satisfied with that response, though Crystalline's ears were folded back. 

"Well... let's go have some fun! We're going to have to make Flash's last month here the best month ever!" 

"Yeah!" Everypony said at once as they made their way over to the game.

As they approached it, Geode was getting his hooves ready. He was determined to win against Maud. Maud was mentally prepping to win. 

As soon as they were right in front of the game, Maud and Geode slapped tickets down on the table. "We're going to play competitively." They said at the same time. The worker was a bit taken back at the sudden presence of the two, but nodded his head. He gave them both three little balls; Geode blue, and Maud green. 

"Okay. The rules of the game are to throw those balls at these multi-colored cups. Each color represents a different point value. The pony with the most points after throwing all three balls wins a prize."

Geode got into ready position. "Okay. Ready?" He asked Maud. Maud nodded before picking up a ball in her hoof. 

The two then threw their three balls into the cups, all three going in successfully. The worker looked at the cups, and then looked back at them with a smile.

"Green wins!" He remarked as Geode looked at Maud in surprise. The worker than gave Maud an air horn as a prize. 

Now, everypony else was taking a turn. Maud and Geode studied each other, not sure what to say. 

Maud broke the silence by holding the air horn in front of his face and blowing it. A devious smile appeared on her face as Geode rolled his eyes at her. 





The six ponies were laughing (in Maud's case, internally) as Crystalline finished up a story.

"...and so I said: 'go and take your wimpy, rich flank back to Snoberlot!" She finished as everypony laughed harder. Maud's small smirk was present on her face.

Everypony was leaving the carnival, and it was rather late. They had spent a good time together, playing the many games that were presented. Though, Geode never won any of them, which was a huge deflation of his ego. 

"Well... I think we'll see each other tomorrow!" Crystalline said. A bright smile then inched its way up her face. "Oh my gosh! I forgot that tomorrow is Friday!"

Maud tilted her head. "What happens on Fridays?" 

"Well... normally, we all go to Crystal Nights every Friday!"

Maud blinked, still a bit confused. "What's that?"

"It's a night club, of course! Maybe you two would like to tag along?"

Maud shrugged her shoulders. "Sure. I've never been to a night club."

Geode shrugged his shoulders as well. "I mean, I guess... but I won't be a party animal."

Crystalline waved a hoof. "Oh, that's fine! I guess we'll meet tomorrow night!"

"Where?" Maud asked. Crystalline snorted. 

"At Crystal Nights, of course!"

"I know where it is," Geode said as Maud nodded. 

"Alright. So, we'll see you guys tomorrow." Maud said as the other four left.

"See ya!" They chorused, all laughing. 

Maud and Geode looked at each other, ready to head to Geode's mansion. Maud then took the air horn out of her bag of prizes, blowing the air horn in his face once again.

"Stop that!" He said as Maud showed him a small, victorious smirk.