Christmas Christmas time was hear and all the songs you loved to hear were playing on the radio. Songs of joy and laughter there, but mostly shopping, shopping, shopping!
In the Chrysalis household, the family was already readying for the Christmas season. Thorax and his twin sister Ocellus were currently sitting in front of the tree, planning some decorations to put on it.
"Should we put tinsel or baubels on the lower levels of the tree?" Ocellus asked her brother.
"The colours would clash with the branches," Thorax pointed out. "We only have red and gold, and somehow that wouldn't look so good on the branches."
"So, green tinsel then," Ocellus nodded. She flipped open a box and took some out, running it through the branches with a merry smile and a bounce in her step. Elsewhere, Thorax got himself up on a ladder and began to put some baubels onto the upper branches, sliding each one on with the delicate hand of a master craftsman. The tree did almost bump into the roof, so a ladder was needed to access the upper branches. Within minutes, the tree was beautifully decorated with tinsel and golden baubels, which left one last thing to do.
It was time to add the Christmas lights. Opening another box, Ocellus rolled out a series of lights attached to one another with a green cord that gave away the fact the lights were wired in series, not in parallel. This was most annoying; if one blew, the whole lot went, and this meant you would have to put a new set in their place! Talk about flushing money down the drain. Anyways, the two siblings got to work running the lights through the branches, Ocellus focusing on the lower ones whilst Thorax ran the lights almost to the top of the tree and round the top, settling on leaving the top set on the top of the tree whilst connecting a lower set with a plastic cable tie, to secure the light in place.
This left one thing. A Christmas star. Thorax hopped back down the ladder and opened the last box there was on the sofa. Inside it was a golden star, set on a sprung base that allowed it to be lowered onto a branch and set there, shining in the firmament for all to see. He climbed back up the ladder, and popped the star on top, before throwing the switch that illuminated it. That, or made it play Jingle Bell Rock, which was not a good idea at this time in the morning.
At the bottom, however, Ocellus was busy laying track in a circle and running wires from connection ports. The wires linked into a socket locked into the wall, attached into a plug as attaching cables directly into a power socket on a wall is not a smart idea. However, she was so focused on what she was doing, her feet accidentally knocked the ladder.
The ladder began to fall over, and Thorax fell from it. "Aaagh!"
His fall was suddenly interrupted by a pair of arms, who put him down on his feet. Chrysalis had arrived on time, and at the right time too, and went back over to the ladder to prop it up. "You really need to be more careful, Thorax. You worry me half to death some days."
Thorax looked sad. "Sorry mom."
Ocellus got up, and threw the power switch. "The train works!" she cried, as a miniature model of the Polar Express steamed round and round the base of the tree in an eternal circuit.
Chrysalis smiled and surveyed her kids' work. "You've done a great job of making this feel like Christmas," she smiled. "Hopefully your father will be home soon." She then looked at the clock. "But you two appear to be forgetting something."
Thorax's face switched to shock. "School!" he cried. "It's the last day today! Come on, Ocellus, we're gonna be late!" Before anybody could stop him, he ran straight for the door, grabbed his bag, and ran out the door. Ocellus was hot on his heels, and grabbed her own back and headed out the door.
A voice stopped them both. "You've forgotten something else!" Both kids turned back to see Chrysalis holding their coats.
Thorax facepalmed. "I knew I was missing something!" He ran back, Ocellus following, and they pulled their coats on, before heading back toward the streetcar stop.
"Have fun!" Chrysalis called, before getting her motorbike out and revving the engine. "Heaven knows we'll have a lot of drunks to get rid of tonight. Why does Christmas produce so many drunk people?" Releasing the foot clamp, she hopped onboard, gunned the engine, and sped off toward Canterlot Police Station, where she worked. Those who have read the previous stories would know this piece of information.
Ocellus and Thorax's journey to school was the same as ever, the red streetcars continuing to roll along the streets as they always did. Snow continued to fall, meaning the roads were a little slippier than usual, and as a result the journey took a little longer, the streetcar going slower to ensure that they could stop due to the increased stopping distance. At long last, the streetcar stopped at the stop for Canterlot High School, and the passengers disembarked out of the doors and headed across the road, the streetlights holding the traffic and preventing a nasty accident.
Handily, both siblings had their lockers right next to each other, and they put their stuff in them ready for the day. Lessons was an interesting way to describe them, given that at this time of year it mostly consisted of watching films (being only 8th graders, they didn't have anything in the way of winter exams to worry about, only the summer ones right at the end). Ocellus shut her door, and stepped back, ready to head off for her lesson, when suddenly she slipped and nearly hit the tiled floor.
Moments before she did hit the ground, however, a hand grabbed her and pulled her back up, setting her firmly on her feet once more.
Ocellus turned to see who had saved her. "Thanks," she smiled, before her face went bright red with emotion. Not embarrassment. A blush. Standing in front of her was a boy with light green skin, messy green hair in two shades of green, and pale green eyes. He was currently dressed for winter, with thick winter slacks, and a coat covering over his combo of jumper and polo shirt, which became visible as he took his coat off and shuffled towards his locker.
This was Sandbar, a boy around Ocellus' age who was very popular indeed with the ladies. This was strange, as he had zero social skills with most of the girls, preferring to stay within his own circle of friends, which currently included kids such as Star Tracker and Lemon Crumble (who was often incorrectly identified as a boy when she was in fact a girl). He was in quite a few of Ocellus' classes, and to say Ocellus had a crush on him was something of an understatement.
Sandbar smiled as he opened his locker. "Well, I could hardly let you slip and fall on the floor, could I?" he replied. "That would hardly be right. Besides, what sort of Samaritan would I be if I let that sort of thing happen?"
"Indeed," Ocellus replied, nodding as she did so. "So, what you got today?"
"In terms of lessons?" Sandbar returned in kind, looking through his books. "Oh, the usual. Mostly movies today. Then there's a rehearsal for this year's Christmas show. I'm Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady. It's quite good fun, actually!"
"I may give it a go next year," Ocellus answered. This, however, seemed unlikely, as she was something of a worrier and also had severe stage fright, meaning she would lock up at the worst possible moment. "Can I talk with you abo-"
Suddenly, the bell went, and students began rushing about in a panic, keen to get to lessons before being caught out by the tardy bell.
"Gotta go!" Sandbar cried, and sprinted off before anybody else could react. Ocellus grabbed the last of her books, and rushed through the corridor before opening the door to her formgroup, getting onto her desk seconds before the tardy bell went.
"That was too close for comfort," Miss Cheerilee said from the front board. "I was about to start taking the register."
"Sorry, Miss Cheerilee," Ocellus panted. She was not hugely fit, and would often end up out of breath. "Streetcar was late."
"Noted," Cheerilee replied. "Thorax?"
Just then, Thorax opened the door and looked in disbelief.
"Why are you late?"
"The bell rang before I got here." Thorax had a tendancy to take questions literally, but sometimes he couldn't resist the urge to be perhaps a little too cheeky for his own good.
Cheerilee frowned. "You're lucky it's the last day of term, or else I might have been less lenient. At least you're here now."
Thorax dashed to his seat (right next to Scootaloo) and took his books out. "Sorry about mom," Scootaloo whispered to him. "She's a real stickler for punctuality."
"I can tell," Thorax responded, equally quietly. Mercifully, the room fell silent for the rest of the session, and all was well as the students went through the morning briefing.
Lunch was a most special occasion that day. It was Christmas dinner, as the last day was a tradition for this, and the Apple family had prepared it specially for the many students who had ordered the meal for that day. A long line formed as turkey, roast potatoes, and carrots were dispensed onto the plates, alongside healthy doses of cutlery and oceans of gravy (and Christmas pudding, issued in both forms with and without raisins, and even with some non alocoholic brandy sauce (Brady sauce would be messy, and would be a bunch too much)). Having collected hers, Ocellus sat down at her usual table, Thorax joining her and followed soon after by the Crusaders, then Pip, Button Mash, and Rumble, the middle boy having his face glued to the screen of his 3DS.
"So, how are we y'all?" Apple Bloom asked. "Why ya lookin' so down, Ocellus?"
Ocellus looked up. "Oh! I was just checking I hadn't spilled any on my dress."
"That wasn't what she meant," Sweetie Belle answered. "She's referring to the fact you look glum."
Ocellus sighed. "Oh boy. Well, you see, there's a boy I like."
"Is it Gallus?" Rumble asked. "If it is, I know him fairly well."
"No," Ocellus replied. "Sandbar."
"I swear he's with-" Scootaloo began, before Pip quickly covered her mouth.
"Have you asked him?" he asked.
"No," Ocellus sighed. "I tried to earlier today, but I got interrupted by the bell. I also don't know where he is today."
"After school is a fairly good bet," Button said, the first words he had spoken the entire conversation. "He's part of that play, and they are rehearsing after school today in the gymn. That'd be a good place to catch him and talk to him."
Thorax put a hand on her shoulder. "This isn't as scary as it may seem," he smiled. "Heck, I was pretty scared when I first told Silver how I felt. Good thing she took it well. Remember, you just need to be confident and it should work."
Ocellus glanced back and forth at her friends, and smiled. "Thanks, guys," she said, and finally picked up a Christmas cracker. "Shall we pull them?"
Before long, the hands of everybody were linked, and the crackers were held. With a single act, they were pulled, and loud bangs and crashes echoed across the room as party gifts, hats, and many other things flew everywhere.
"Now THIS is a party!" cried Pinkie, as confetti flew everywhere. And thus and great was the merriment there thereof.
"So here it is, merry Christmas, everbody's havin' fun!" the Crusaders sang, as they started off down the corridor, grinning like lunatics.
"I don't dislike the song," Thorax admitted, as he walked gently behind them, "but it does get a little grating after a while when you hear it played a thousand times each year."
"Christmas season!"
"Starting sooner every year!"
"Touche," Rumble laughed. "So, how do you want to play this?"
"In all likelihood," Scootaloo answered, having dropped back from the front of the crowd to speak with Rumble, "Sandbar will be in the gymn. I don't know which scenes they are rehearsing, but he'll almost certainly be there."
"How do you know this?" Sweetie Belle asked her.
"Button told me."
"Oh. That makes perfect sense!" Sweetie Belle replied, now grinning from ear to ear. "There's no way this can go wrong... right?"
"Don't count your chickens before they've hatched," Button reminded all assembled. "But let's try and stay positive. After all, hope for the best, plan for the worst."
Ocellus looked at the floor. "I can only hope this helps, as you're not exactly filling me with confidence."
"Oh, cheer up!" Apple Bloom exclaimed. "Ah'm certain it'll all go absolutely fine. Here we are!"
They opened the door to the gymn, and inside the rehearshal seemed to be taking a break. The students sat about on the bleachers or on chairs, either chatting, or drinking festive fare such as (strictly non alcoholic) mulled wine, or eating mince pies (yuck!). Ocellus' eyes were immediately drawn over to a certain pair standing in front of each other, seemingly looking into each other's eyes. Sandbar was instantly recognisable, but the other person had mildly grey or brown skin, thick brown hair that hung chaotically around her head and ears, with two loops hanging around the bottom, and grey eyes. She currently wore a brown long skirt, white socks, a pair of black shoes, a white thick winter shirt, and a green shawl on top of that, so she certainly looked very warm indeed. That, Ocellus assumed, must be the 'Yona' she'd heard so much about but was yet to actually meet.
"Hey, Yona," Sandbar asked, as Ocellus could make out. Then came something she couldn't quite follow.
"You wanted to ask something, good sir?" Yona replied to that.
Quick as lightning, Sandbar dropped to one knee, and said something else. Ocellus couldn't figure out the words, but could figure out the context. Sandbar was proposing to Yona.
Ocellus stepped back from the door, her mouth open in horror and her eyes wide. "Please say no, please say no!" she whispered, in a rising state of panic.
Her worst fears were confirmed in that very moment. "I do accept, and wish us both well," Yona replied, taking Sandbar's hand and pulling him up. "May we only have the best together."
In that one moment, Ocellus' heart shattered into pieces. Closing her eyes in pain, tears leaking out of them, she ran from the door and as far as she could, away from the gymn and past her locker without stopping.
"Hey, Ocellus!" called one of her classmates. "Could you he-"
Ocellus flew past without even acknowledging him.
"Never mind."
How could this have gone so wrong? Ocellus faught back the tears as much as she could until she crashed through the doors to the school, and turned to face a wall, dropping to her knees as she did so. Only then did she allow herself the luxury of actually crying. The only boy she had feelings for was dating somebody else. As much as she knew she couldn't control who he did and didn't like in life, it still felt like a slap in the face nontheless. She had no clue how long she was there for, until she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Oh golly, you don't look too happy." Ocellus looked back to see that Cozy Glow had spoken. Her gloved hand sat upon her shoulder, and she had a genuine look of concern on her face.
Ocellus, however, felt a little irritated. "The sky is also grey," she replied. "Care to continue stating the obvious?"
Cozy Glow didn't seem too concerned with that remark. "What happened?"
"Well," Ocellus began, "I went to try and tell Sandbar how I felt about him but it seems he wants to date Yona instead. I know it seems immature, but to see the only one you like not even notice you really hurts."
Cozy Glow nodded. "I have a piece of advice for you. Don't judge a book by its cover. I know it sounds cliche, but in my case it makes sense. I used to be quite a bad cookie."
Ocellus was surprised. Cozy Glow was one of the nicest and sweetest people she knew. "Really?" she asked.
"Yeah," Cozy Glow sighed. "And a lot of people here didn't exactly forget it either. Somehow, they learned, and I had a really hard time convincing anybody I'd change. Even that time when Spirit of Everfree got trashed, Applejack initially assumed I'd done it, given my past. It was a good thing I had my friends by my side, or else things would have gotten nasty very quickly!"
Ocellus nodded. "So... I should give it a chance? See what happens in the next few days and hope for the best?"
"More or less," Cozy Glow replied. There was a loud ringing as a streetcar pulled in and came to a stop, with sparks showering from the old overhead power lines. "Sorry! I gotta go! I need to get home before things get worse. But good luck!"
"Thanks!" Ocellus replied, and stood up, confidence in herself restored. She walked toward the door and prepared to open it, before choosing instead, for reasons known only to herself, to sit down and watch the crowds roll by. There was no point in getting up. Her parents were going to pick them up today, including her dad.
Although in reality the time of a few minutes passed by, to Ocellus the seconds felt like minutes, the minutes hours, time slowly grinding on as the uncertainty yet strange clarity flowed through her mind about this situation. True, it wasn't the best of situations to find yourself in, but then again it could easily be a lot worse what will all the shenanigans going on this year (thank heavens there was no equivalent of Anon-a-Miss this time around! The students had made sure of that, with no secret leaking taking place, either intentional or deliberate), so for not much to be happening was good indeed.
Just then, she heard a voice behind her. "Ocellus? Are you OK?"
Ocellus got up to see Sandbar standing there, looking concerned. "Apple Bloom told me what happened. What's wrong?"
"Are you dating Yona?" Ocellus asked, getting straight to the point.
"Sorry, what?" Sandbar asked in return, answering a question with a question.
"I saw that you asked her out and she agreed to it! Thanks a lot for stomping all over my heart!"
"When did I-"
"Don't you get it?" Ocellus countered, the pitch and volume of her voice rising as she did so. "I love you! You're the only boy I've ever had feelings for!" Her energy spent, she just collapsed to her knees. "Go and enjoy your time with her. I know you will."
"Ocellus, I don't even like Yona."
The girl perked up. "What?"
Sandbar had dropped to his knees as well, and took her gloved hand. "Yona and I don't even get on. It's kinda awkward we're the leads in the show, given we don't like one another."
"Th- then what was that all about?" Ocellus asked, by now very confused.
"We were rehearsing a scene from the show," Sandbar explained. "It's the end, when Henry proposes to Eliza. Yona doesn't even speak like that, as her English isn't great. It's mostly broken phrases and referring to herself in the third person."
Just then, Yona went through the doors. "Yona wish classmates happy new year!" she called, before slipping on some ice and hitting the floor. Sandbar quickly pulled her up, and she went on her way without so much as a thank you.
"See?" Sandbar replied. "Not so keen on me. Besides, I've been keeping it a secret as Gallus would never let me hear the end of it, but... I'm in love with you too, Ocellus."
Ocellus could hardly believe her ears. "You mean?"
"Yes," Sandbar said, walking back over to her. "Ocellus, it would be an honour to be your boyfriend." And they took each other in a gentle, affectionate hug. "Bit early for kissing, eh?"
"Ew!" Ocellus replied. "Gross!"
Just then, there was a loud beeping noise from nearby as a car rolled to a stop. One of the people who got out was Chrysalis, but the other was a man with grey skin, black hair, and blue eyes. He currently wore a winter coat with grey shoes, black pants, and a dark blue shirt with a black waistcoat.
"Dad!" Ocellus called.
Sandbar looked in amazement. "Your dad is Fire Chief Sombra?"
"The very same," Sombra replied. "Good thing nothing's on fire today. Where's Thorax?"
"Here dad!" Thorax called, appearing from nowhere.
"Great to see you, son," Sombra replied. "Ocellus, who's the boy?"'
Ocellus smiled. "Dad, this is my boyfriend, Sandbar."
Sombra walked over to the pair, and extended his hand. "Welcome to the family, Sandbar. I'm Sombra, but you already knew that. You probably already know my wife, Chrysalis, obviously you know Ocellus, and the lad over there is Thorax, my son."
"It's an honour to meet you sir," Sandbar replied, and responded to Sombra's firm handshake in kind. "You don't need to worry about me getting on your bad side, I won't do anything stupid."
"That's a relief," Sombra answered. "I deal with enough idiots in my job. How are you suited for Christmas day?"
"I'd normally spend it with my family," Sandbar replied.
"Then how about we invite them over to ours and have ours together?" Chrysalis suggested. "The more, the merrier!"
Ocellus and Sandbar could only smile, happy with each other and ready to move forward in their new life.
Author's Note
This is my Christmas entry for the second season of the Railway Adventure timeline, and the last story in the series until next year. I thought I nice, fluffy shipfic would be a better fit for the season than an Anon-a-Miss story.
And yes, I am a Sandcellus shipper.
