It was safe to say at this point that the Amity Ball had been an eventful affair. Nocreature could have predicted that it would have gone the way that it did, but there was also no question that things had all worked out in the end. All of the students there were abuzz with chatter, both about the dance itself and just taking the opportunity to hang out with one another. Suffice to say, the swell of energy that the night had experienced had begun to wane, and a feeling of calm had descended over the guests. Twilight and her fellow teachers were all enjoying a few glasses of punch to the side as they watched their students, Spike was busy trying out some new music, and as for a certain group of six youths, they clearly had enjoyed the night. Smiles were abound as Yona, Sandbar, Silverstream, Smolder, Gallus and Ocellus sat around their table, laughing to one another over all they'd been through.
"I gotta hand it to ya, Yona, that was one neat dance," Gallus remarked.
"I'll say! I'll take some easy and simple jumping about over all that pony stuff any day of the week!" Smolder added.
Yona chuckled.
"Yona glad friends had fun. Yona did too! Even after she smashed whole party!"
She paused, blushing slightly and scratching the back of her head nervously.
"Um...Yona still sorry about that."
But there was nocreature there who was upset with her, and Sandbar exemplified this by reaching over and patting her on the hoof.
"Hey, it's no problem. We're all just glad to have you acting as you, Yona. And hey, if it takes a few broken bits and pieces along the way, then that's fine too!"
The group laughed together, Silverstream most of all.
"He's right, Yona! Having you be all Rarity-ish was so weird! It was like we were in some strange alternate reality or something!"
Ocellus, smiling to that, added her own voice to matters.
"I have to say though, it really is amazing how much effort you'd put into changing as much as you did."
She looked to her Yak friend slyly.
"Are you sure you don't have a bit of Changeling in you?"
Again, the group laughed, and when that laughter died down, Yona smiled towards Sandbar.
"Yona happy Sandbar talked to her. Yona not know what she do otherwise."
As before, Sandbar spoke softly to her.
"Hey, we're friends, Yona. That's what we do for each other."
Yona, as expected of her, moved forward, holding him close in a hug. Fortunately for Sandbar, said hug wasn't anywhere near as tight as it usually was with her, so he was at least able to breathe while she was doing it. When the hug ended, however, the young Yak got up from the table, smiling to all her friends before starting to move away.
"Yona get punch. Be right back."
Sandbar waved her off, watching her walk further and further away from them. When she was far enough, he let out a sigh, still smiling, before turning back to the rest of the group. And it was here that he noticed that they were all giving him funny looks. Looks that suggested that they were in on some big scheme of some sort. Naturally, this caused quite a bit of confusion for the lad.
"Er...you guys okay?"
Gallus chuckled.
"Oh, we were just wondering about that 'talk' you and Yona had back at the treehouse."
Smolder leaned forward, smirking as much as she was able.
"Yeah, watcha say up there? Something heartwarming and friendly, I bet?"
Sandbar shrugged, having apparently not caught the sly undertones of his draconic friend's words.
"Yeah, obviously. She was feeling down so I went to her and tried to cheer her up. You know, about not having to be like a pony and that we wouldn't blame her for the big crashes and stuff?"
Silverstream nodded.
"Uh-huh, sure, but what else did you two do there together?"
Sandbar blinked.
"Um...what else?"
Now Ocellus began to speak.
"Oh come on, Sandy! You can't seriously expect us to believe that something didn't happen back there!"
Sandbar's confusion only grew at this point.
"You guys are gonna have to be more specific."
Gallus slapped his claw on his own forehead.
"Oh for the love of...Sandy, we know how you feel about her!"
Sandbar frowned.
"Of course you guys know! She's my friend! I feel about her like all of you feel about her!"
The others looked to each other, stunned that their earth pony friend just wasn't getting it.
"Yeah, we all like her as a friend and stuff, but there's more to it with you though, isn't there, Sandy?" Smolder enquired.
Sandbar blinked a couple of times, making it obvious that he still didn't get the picture. Silverstream now tried her hand at explaining it.
"It's just...well...when you two are together lately, it seems that there's...you know...a bit of a spark."
Here, at long last, Sandbar finally seemed to understand. His eyes widened with realisation, and a fierce blush crept onto his cheeks. Clearing his throat, he looked away, suddenly looking like he wasn't able to talk properly. Smolder, seeing this, smirked again, looking to the others.
"I think our boy's finally got it."
Sandbar's head snapped back towards her.
"Look, I...it's not like that!" he protested.
Gallus snorted.
"Oh yeah? So the two of you didn't have some quiet, tender moment together at the treehouse?"
"No!" Sandbar responded.
Then he thought about it a bit more.
"Well...yeah, we did, but it wasn't what you guys are thinking!"
The others gave each other another look, and this time they all looked back to him with that exact same smirk.
"Did you hold each other's hooves?" Silverstream asked.
"...Yeah," Sandbar confessed.
"Did you blush at each other at the same time?" Ocellus enquired.
"...Yeah," the stallion admitted.
"Did you talk to one another about how much you mean to one another and how special you think the other one is?" Gallus prodded.
Sandbar's blush grew stronger here.
"I...I...alright, maybe we did do that."
Smolder, seeing his defences wearing down, went straight for the throat with the next one.
"Did you totally give in to your burning passions in a moment of..."
"SMOLDER!!!" Silverstream interrupted, looking aghast at her friend.
But Smolder simply shrugged.
"What? We were all thinking it, right?"
The stunned look they all gave her, Sandbar doubly so, was all the answer she needed, so she folded her arms and turned away slightly.
"Hey! Don't judge me! I'm just asking what everycreature would have asked...eventually."
Sandbar, who was still doing his best to have his mind recover from that particularly shocking moment, took a few deep breaths. But as he did this, he felt somecreature place their claw on his hoof, and he looked up to see that it was Silverstream, who smiled to him.
"Sandy, I know we make fun, but the fact is...if that sort of thing is happening with you two...we're all happy for you."
Sandbar stayed silent, looking to each of his friends in turn. They all grinned and smiled to him, and though no words were spoken, he knew that they shared Silverstream's feelings on the matter. Though it took a while for him to feel as calm as he would have wanted, the stallion soon sighed, returning the smile.
"I...I don't know if that kind of thing is happening between us, but...if it does...and I'm not saying I don't want it to...then I'm glad you guys are okay with it."
Gallus chortled to his friend's fumbling.
"Wow, what a romantic sentiment."
An elbow from Smolder into his ribs was his reward for that remark, earning a hearty laugh from all around the table, including him after a while. When the laugh ended, Gallus again leaned forward.
"Seriously, Sandy, how can you not like her like that? I mean, come on, as soon as Headmare Twilight said this dance was happening, you went straight to her!"
Sandbar's blush returned, and his voice cracked slightly as he responded.
"What? I mean, I didn't ask her that quickly, did I?"
Silverstream giggled.
"There wasn't even a debate with you. Dance happening? Boom, you choose Yona. There's 'seizing the day' and then there's that."
Sandbar gulped.
"I...I guess I did ask that fast."
Then, his pupils went as small as pinpoints, and he let out a sudden gasp.
"Oh no! You don't think Yona thinks I was being too forward, do you?! I mean, I don't want her to think I'm not interested, but I don't want her to think I'm too eager either! I mean...I mean...!"
He started panting, and before he even had the chance to ask, Ocellus offered him a paper bag, which he graciously accepted before starting to breathe in and out of it. As his friends watched him, Smolder leaned over to Gallus.
"Yep, you can definitely tell Twilight's been rubbing off on him."
The two shared a quiet snicker, but before anycreature had a chance to say anything else, they were suddenly joined by Yona, who had returned with a tray of punch glasses resting atop her back.
"Yona back! Sorry drinks take so long, but line was really big!"
Her friends all accepted the offered drinks, and Sandbar made sure to take the tray off her back, leading to an appreciative smile on her part. Naturally, another hug was his reward, and as they hugged, their cheeks ended up pressing against one another. For Sandbar, this meant more red in those cheeks, for Yona, who was oblivious to his predicament, she suddenly wondered why all of her friends were trying to hold back laughs. And speaking of whom, those four immediately started to stand, taking their glasses and making their way away from the two.
"Come on, guys. Let's give these two some privacy," Gallus stated.
"Yeah, I'm sure they've got lots to talk about!" Smolder added.
"Have fun you two!" Ocellus wished them.
"We know you will!" Silverstream finished.
As Sandbar and Yona parted, Yona looked to her pony pal with confusion.
"What friends mean when they say we have stuff to talk about, Sandy?"
Sandbar, suddenly at a loss for words, began to sweat quite a bit, then looked down to his glass of punch, took it, and gulped it all down in the vain hopes it would cool him off a bit. When it failed to do so, he took a deep breath, looked Yona right in the eye, and said the only thing he was capable of saying.
"Errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr..."
Author's Note
I know I'll have a few people asking this, so I'll answer it upfront. No, this story is not in any way connected to my prior Young Six stories. It's entirely a one-shot.
And I also know there will be people wondering if I'm in any way disappointed that the show seems to be aiming for a Sandbar/Yona pairing, rather than the Sandbar/Ocellus one I wrote about in the aforementioned story. The answer is no. Why? Simple. Because Sandbar and Yona were friggin' adorable together 
