"So, Yona..." Sandbar remarked to his 'Pony Pal', after the mini-earthquake of a dance known as the Yakyakistan Stomp had concluded. "Did you end up enjoying tonight after all?"
"Yes, Yona feel much better now not under so much pressure to be pony. Purple hair not Yona's colour, anyway." The cheerful bovine grinned bashfully to her partner, glad that things were now fully sorted between them. "Yona only want to fit in, but should have asked Sandbar first before assuming he want Yona to be something completely different."
"Glad our little talk on the treehouse got through to you, then." Sandbar smiled happily alongside Yona, which for some reason made the yak feel a little tingly in her stomach area. "You shouldn't change anything about yourself. That's why I invited you to the contest in the first place. Anypony who won't accept the wonderful and kind creature that you are, is not worth bothering with in the first place."
"W-Well, Yona not perfect..." The suddenly sweaty Yak had no idea what this strange escalating feeling was in her tummy. She wasn't hungry, and hairballs were usually accompanied by a retching cough. "S-She could not be so destructive when rushing about, and sometimes she not understand properly what other ponies say..."
"The first thing you said there is just part of your culture, from what you've told me and every creature before in class." Sandbar nodded in recognition, trotting forward a bit more to put a friendly hoof around Yona's neck. "And the other 'problem' is just the different ways we communicate. I dare say if I ever visited Yakyakistan, some of the heavier accents there would confuse me just as much. Come to think of it, I'd like to visit there sometime. Do you think your friends and family would mind?"
"O-Of course not, Sandbar. Ponies and yaks friends now, so drop by anytime." This was definitely getting weird. The ooey gooey feeling in Yona's tummy had now worked its way all the way up to her cheeks. "We could stomp on stuff, stamp on stuff, play the yovidaphone..."
"E-Erm, is that what Miss Pinkie practices on sometimes?" Sandbar reacted to the request by scratching the back of his head nervously. "I-I'm not too sure if I'd be good at that. Um..."
"It okay. Yona get it. Yovidaphone is acquired taste." Yona wasn't the best at picking up social clues, but having seen this response before to her kind's national instrument, she knew exactly what was being implied. "If you not like, we don't have to do. Why sudden interest in going to Yona's home, anyway? Is Sandbar passing by village, so might as well have look inside?"
"N-Not really..." Now it was the usually unflappable Sandbar's turn to look a little bashful, and he hopped from one wobbly front hoof to another with noticeable uncertainty. "I-I just thought it would be nice to see somewhere different. I mean, Ponyville is great and all, but there's a whole other world out there and sometimes I think I'm missing out. Especially when you see some of the places our teachers go to, while we're still stuck here learning. You'd have thought after we saved the world from Cozy Glow, they'd cut us a bit more slack, but nnnooo..."
"Oh well, at least Sandbar and Yona now have this!" The optimistic yak had had enough of feeling downbeat for one day, and decided to change the subject to something more positive. "Look at big trophy! That looks like pony and yak up there, not two ponies like on poster! It be the first thing Yona has won for anything, anywhere too!"
"That makes two of us, then. I'm glad we could share the moment together!" Sandbar smiled with amusement at Yona's contagious enthusiasm for everything, no matter how small. "Any ideas where you want to keep it? I'll let you have it, because to be honest I haven't even got the space in my pigsty of a bedroom..."
"Oh, thank you Sandbar! And if Sandbar want to visit Yakyakistan with Yona, Yona want to see Sandbar's bedroom as well!" Yona clapped her hooves together, thinking this would be a great chance to know one of her classmates properly.
"U-Uh, u-um... what exactly do you mean by that?!" If Sandbar was looking a tad red before, now he appeared to turn as scarlet as the sunset.
"Nothing. It's just if Yona is going to show pony where she come from, it be very nice and polite if pony does same." Yona answered innocently enough, thinking that what was suggested was only common curtesy.
"O-Oh right, I get it!" Sandbar visibly breathed a sigh of relief, also regaining a little of his usual greenish hue. "It's just, I'm not used to having girls in my room. Even my mom has to knock first, so don't think it's just you who I'd feel this way about."
"No, it fine. Yona respect wishes of Sandbar when she guest in his home." Even though Yona apparently understood the stallion's situation, she really didn't. After all, at her own communal village, personal boundaries were practically unheard of. "Now, Sandbar ready for next dance?"
"N-Not just yet..." Sandbar seemed to take in a big gulp, as if he wanted to say something important, but the words just wouldn't come out. "W-would you like... d-date?"
"Sure! Yona love dates! And Brussel sprouts, but not till recently." Yona grinned widely at Sandbar's apparent generosity, but then looked at him with concern. "Pony look very funny suddenly. Would pony like refreshing glass of punch? I now say that sentence normal Yona way, I hope pony understand."
"N-No, I don't feel unwell. I have got goosebumps, the jitters and a frog in my throat, but I don't think punch will help those symptoms..." Sandbar lamented sadly, whilst twitching for some reason.
"Oh, that coincidence! Yona feel exactly the same way, especially when around Sandbar! It must be catching." Yona nodded reassuringly at the stallion, to let him know he wasn't suffering alone. "But, don't worry! Yona sure that strange feelings about gooses and frogs will disappear after few days! If not, then Yona consult local doctor in Yakyakistan. He whizz with potions! Yona remember when she have foot rot as calf, him say 'alakazam' and fix Yona right up..."
"Y-You know Yona, if you really wanted to make these 'strange feelings' go away, you could always just say y-yes..." Sandbar took in a deep breath to continue, before realising that while he'd procrastinated the music had already been turned back on. "You know what? Let's talk about this later, and just try having fun for now! What's the name of this next dance? Did you hear what 'DJ-Scales-n-Tail' called it?"
"Yona not know if it Pony Cotillion or Pony Prance, but whatever it is, Yona going to love it!" The cheerful Yak said determinedly, now that all her previous formal training had been unceremoniously discarded. "Maybe if Yona feel ponies up to it later, Yona might teach them the Yakarena, or her own favourite dance... the YMCA!"
"YMCA? I've never heard of it. What's that?"
"Yona Moving Crushes Anything! It like something you never seen before!"
"I-I can't wait to see it, Yona... but perhaps we should practice outside first? I think Headmare Twilight and the others have done enough tidying up for one day."
"Whatever you say, Pony Pal!"
Author's Note
After some pretty off-the-wall stories of late, I decided to try something a little simpler, based on an interesting new ship which has arguably caught fire since the latest episode aired. Hope you enjoyed it! 
