[Blacksmithing] You roll a 14 (required 10). Success!

You consider using silver. While you've never encountered any undead creatures on your adventures — and, quite frankly, you're not sure they even exist —, you've certainly heard many a story about such monsters' weakness to the material. That said, you've also heard a thing or two about iron, and decide to ask about it.

Lucky Smith: "The most common form of iron you can find is called cast iron. It's what you get when you smelt iron ore. But that's too brittle for a first-timer to work with; without the proper technique, it's bound to crack and break apart. You could heat and re-heat it until you get wrought iron instead, but that would take all day. Silver's a better choice!"

You nod, and with Lucky Smith's advice, you take a bar of silver. Meanwhile, Moonflower picks electrum (because it sounds cool), and Apple Basket goes for the ever-practical steel.

Once everypony has chosen a metal bar, you each walk over to a small workstation, where you find some safety gear to put on: a pair of goggles, earmuffs, and an apron. With everypony properly equipped, the lesson begins.

Lucky Smith: "Before we start hammering, the first thing we gotta do is soften the metal by heating it up in the forge. Grab your bar with the tongs like this, and carefully bring it into the furnace... like this!

Good! Now, let's wait for the metal to heat up. Different materials have different forging temperatures, so it might take longer for some than others. Your mini forges have an enchanted light right here that will tell you when it's ready."

Following Lucky Smith's instructions, you eventually take your silver bar out of the forge, but notice that it glows a very faint red, compared to some others' bright yellows or even hot whites.

Lucky Smith: "Don't worry about the colour! Some metals reach their forging temperature long before they become glow sticks. Now, we'll work the middle of the bar into the toe first, so let's cool off the edges in our water buckets... like this!"

You douse the edges of your bar in water, causing it to hiss a small puff of steam. Then, you place the bar back on the anvil, ready for the next step.

Lucky Smith: "Well done, everypony! Now's the time to do some smithing. Grab your rounding hammers — that's this one —, and start flattening your bars to reinforce them. Like this!"

Doing your best to mimic the instructor, you join the rest of the group in hammering the middle of your bar on the anvil's face. You don't notice any obvious changes, but hitting things with a hammer is fun nonetheless. The cacophony of metallic impacts lasts about a minute, during which you are glad to be wearing hearing protection.

Lucky Smith: "Okay! Now, let's do some bending! For that, we'll be using this side of the anvil, called the horn. Hold your tongs here, and start hammering on the side... like this!"

Using the hammer, you carefully bend your silver bar with each hit, all the while doing your best to replicate Lucky Smith's angle. Meanwhile, the grey mare helps a few participants with the roundness (or lack thereof) of their bends.

Once the horseshoe's toe is done, the lesson repeats from the start for both of the remaining branches. Soon enough, everypony's bar has been successfully forged into the shape of a horseshoe, and from there, the lesson continues.

Lucky Smith: "Good work, everypony! Now, let's add the final details. After heating up one side of your horseshoe again, use this creaser to dig a crease along the branch here... like this!

And while it's still hot, use this punch to stamp where the fasten holes will go. Then, align the horseshoe with this hole on your anvil over here — the round one —, and with this pritchel secured in each stamp, use the hammer to punch through... like this!"

As Lucky Smith's tool punches through her horseshoe, a small burst of flame erupts from the impact, earning a few oohs and aahs from around the room. Then, excited to try it out for themselves, everypony gets to work.

You get Trailblazer's Lucky Horseshoe!

By the end of the hour, the lesson has ended. You and your friends proudly show what you've made to each other.

Moonflower: "Heehee! It was harder than I thought, but I had lots of fun!"

Apple Basket: "Me too! These horseshoes are lookin' real nice, and I sure learned a thing or two about smithin'."

Lucky Smith: "Thanks for coming, everypony! Enjoy the rest of the festival!"

The clock on the wall indicates five to noon.

• To the north is: Apple Orchard, and Carpenter's Workshop.
• To the east is: Scarf Knitting, Games & Prizes, Souvenir Shops, Glassblower's Workshop, Weaver's Workshop, and Enchanter's Workshop.
• To the south is: Confectioner's Workshop.
• To the west is: Open Buffet, and Animal Farm.