More or Confess

by PonyPixel

Rating: everyone
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Ocellus, Smolder, Slice of Life, Romance, Drama
Length: 5140

Smolder has had enough and is finally going to tell Ocellus how she feels about her.

Love is a complicated thing, especially in Smolder’s situation. Her crush is Ocellus, which the changeling is unaware of. After asking for some advice from Sandbar, the dragoness decides to do a school project with just her changeling friend alone.

Little does Smolder know that Ocellus is feeling a little nervous about something that’s been on her mind. It’ll be quite surprised by what she’ll find out.

Cover art made by Cocomintkitty

Published 2020-02-06 22:40:01 UTC
Last updated 2020-02-06 22:40:01 UTC

Tea Parties and Secrets

It was Friday when school was let out, which meant a whole weekend of freedom. Yona was stomping with joy, making the school floor shake. “Easy, Yona,” Smolder cried. “Why are you so happy?”

“Yona and Sandbar go on special date,” the yak answered.

“What’s so special about?”

“Yak going to have dinner with Sandbar’s parents.” She started stomping on the ground again, which Smolder avoided by flying in the air.

“Yo-na!” cried a shaky voice. The yak stopped stomping and looked over to several annoyed students that had fallen over. Yona gave a nervous chuckle.

Sandbar, who was one of the creatures that fell over due to her stomping, stood up and walked over to his girlfriend. “I can see you’re excited,” he commented.

“Yona not really know Sandbar parents,” the yak said. “Or Sandbar’s sister.”

“Relax, I’m sure they’re going to love you.”

“When does Yona have dinner?”

“About around seven. You have plenty of time to get ready.”

“Maybe Yona ask Professor Rarity for help. Yak don’t want to overdo dinner.”

“Right. I think a few ribbons around the horns will be fine. Maybe one that can match one of my ties.” The pony and yak walked away, leaving Smolder by herself.

“Now what am I going to do with myself this weekend?” she asked herself. “Maybe one of the dragons want to hang out.” She took off and looked to find one of her fellow dragons. They’ve been around for a few weeks, surely they’ve gotten used to living in Ponyville.

Smolder kept flying around the school until she found Flare getting a snack with Gale. “Hey, Smolder,” the drake said with a mouth stuffed with cupcakes.

“Flare, you wanna hang out around town?”

Flare swallowed his mouthful of pastries. “Maybe. Gale, you wanna tag along?”

“Yeah, why not?” the griffon replied.

They were about to head to the exit when Ocellus and Frida walked in front of them. They nearly crashed into each other, but Frida was still shocked and dropped the books she was caring. “Darn it,” the yak cried in frustration.

“Sorry, girls,” Smolder apologized. The two dragons helped to pick up the dropped books.

“A little help?” Flare asked Gale.

“Sure, whatever,” the griffon said. He helped pick up the last of the books and gave them to the yak and changeling.

“Thanks, guys,” Ocellus said.

“What’s with all these books?” Flare asked.

“Frida have trouble studying,” Frida replied sadly.

“That’s why I’m helping her,” Ocellus said. “It won’t be too much work. Hopefully, I still have time to do something else today.”

“You’ve got an entire weekend,” Flare reminded.

“Time goes fast with fun,” Frida said. “Goes slow when bored.”

“Let’s get this over with,” the changeling said. She and Frida walked off as Smolder and the boys carried onto the exit.

“It’s the weekend,” Gale spoke, “Why would they try and study?”

“Maybe to get it over with,” Flare said. “It sounds right to me. What do you think Smolder?” The dragoness didn’t reply. She was too busy looking back at Ocellus. “Smolder?”

The dragoness turned her head back at the boys. “Sorry, I... Thought I saw something,” she apologized. “So, where do you want to go?”

“Maybe to the bowling alley,” Gale said. “A part of me wants to go there just to see how ponies could throw balls so precisely.”

“Sure, I’m up for that,” Flare agreed.

“You guys need me to show where...” Smolder was interrupted by Gale.

“We can find it,” Gale stated.

“...If you say so. I’m going to see if I can get anyone else to come along.” Smolder flew down the hall to find someone as the boys headed towards town.

Many of the students had already headed out or were studying at school. Smolder was having a hard time finding any that weren’t doing anything. When she looked in one of the dorm rooms where Ocellus, Frida, Silverstream, Shimmy Shake, Tarsi, and Coral in there.

“Oh, hi, Smolder,” Silverstream waved. “You want to join us?”

“Um, no,” the dragoness replied. “I was checking to see if any creature wanted to go bowling.”

“We’re a little busy,” Tarsi sighed. “Maybe tomorrow.”

“If you say so.”

“I kind of wish we could go with you,” Ocellus sighed. “You can pick an activity if we have time.”

The dragoness blushed at this comment. “Th... Thanks, Ocellus. Catch you later.” She flew off before anything else could be said.

“Let’s get this over with,” Coral groaned.

“Okay, I think if we start in the subjects that we’re all having trouble with, we can work together and get through this,” Ocellus said.

Gale and Flare walked around Ponyville until they came across the bowling alley. “Finally,” the drake sighed with relief.

“How was this place so hard to find?” the griffon questioned.

“Hey, guys,” Smolder called. She showed up with Trud and Moss by her side. “You sure you didn’t need my help?”

“I haven’t been this far from the school,” Flare sighed.

“I thought that griffons were crafty creatures,” Moss chuckled.

“Just shut up and go inside,” Gale groaned.

After paying for their balls and lane, Smolder explained the game to the boys. “Okay, so it works like this,” she told. “You simply roll the ball down the lane so you can hit those pins. There’s one catch though. See that line?”

“Yeah,” Trud replied.

“You’re not supposed to over that.”

“That makes sense,” Flare said. “So, who’s first?”

“Smolder should show how game works,” Trud suggested.

“I will,” the dragoness said. She picked up a ball and rolled it down the lane. She managed to knock over six pins and looked at the pretty impressed boys. “Who wants to go next?”

They set the order going as Smolder, then Flare, followed by Gale, then Moss, and lastly Trud. They all bowled for three rounds until a growling stomach was heard. The group looked over to Trud, who rubbed the back of his head.

“Yak have light lunch,” he stated.

“I think there’s a snack bar over there,” Smolder said. The yak looked over to the snack bar and walked over to it with Flare.

“I only got one a few cupcakes at the school,” the drake said. “Let’s see here.” They looked at the menu until they decided what the want. “I’ll take a cheese sandwich.”

“Yak would like cheesy nachos,” Trud declared. The mare working at the snack bar nodded and got to work. After a few minutes, she gave the boys their orders.

“And can I get you anything for your date?” the mare asked.

“Date?” Flare questioned.

“That orange dragon girl over there.” He looked over to where Smolder was sitting.

“Oh... No, we’re just friends.”

“Ah, sorry about that.” The drake and yak just pay and walked back to their lane.

“Okay, so that mare thought you and I were dating,” Flare said to Smolder.

“What?” the dragoness questioned.

“I know. I told her we were just friends.”

“Good.”

“...This is awkward,” Trud said.

“Just forget about it a bowl,” Moss said. The yak nodded and got his ball and bowled it down the lane to the pins.

“Did she really think that you two were a couple?” Gale questioned.

“I know,” Flare said. “No offense Smolder, but I don’t see us having that kind of relationship.”

“It’s fine,” Smolder said. She began thinking about someone else who made her blush.

Back at the school, Ocellus and the girls were finishing their study sessions. “And done,” she proclaimed. “See, that wasn’t so bad.”

“Thanks, Celly,” Silverstream said.

“What friends do now?” Frida asked.

“I know a couple of shops where we get some makeovers,” Coral said. “Maybe we can give your hair some buns and bows. I wonder if Pyther wants to tag along?” Coral left the room as did Frida, Shimmy, and Tarsi, leaving Silverstream and Ocellus.

“You want to go with them?” the hippogriff asked.

“Maybe,” the changeling replied. “I don’t have anything else to do.” The two walked down the hall to see if they could catch up with the girls. On their way, they met up with Pate who was looking a little tired.

“Is something wrong?”

“Oh, no, I’m fine,” he replied. “I was actually confused by this letter that my mom sent back to me.”

“What’s it about?”

“It said something about King Thorax leaving for a weekly visit. I don’t remember anything like that.”

“How long has he been doing this?”

“I don’t know. Anyways, I just passed Shimmy.”

“Oh, where she go?”

“Just to Pyther’s dorm. Tell her I said hi.” He started blushing as the girls walked off.

“...Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Silverstream asked.

“What do you mean?” Ocellus asked.

“I think that Pate has a crush on Shimmy.”

“Really?”

“Don’t changelings share love?”

“We do, though it doesn’t have a taste sometimes. Again, tasting love is complicated.”

“Do you think we should tell Shimmy about it?”

“I’m not sure. It’s so sudden.”

“If you think about it, I think they’d be cute together.”

They managed to catch up with the girls, Pyther had joined them. “I didn’t know you were following us,” Coral said.

“We had nothing else to do,” Silverstream explained.

“Did you see Pate?” Tarsi asked. “He was acting a bit weird.”

“He kind of was. I think maybe he a crush on some creature.”

“Seriously?” Shimmy asked. “Who is it?”

“We have no idea,” Ocellus spoke. “Could be any creature.”

“Hmm. I hope he can build up the confidence.”

“Let’s get going,” Coral said. “It’s going to get dark.” The group of girls left the school, hoping they could get to the shops before they closed. “You girls see any cute boys around the school.”

“They all seemed okay to me,” Tarsi said.

“I thought I saw one back in the Dragon Lands,” Pyther admitted. “Turns out he was just a taken jerk.”

“Sounds terrible,” Shimmy commented. “Silver, Celly, what about you?”

“I feel comfortable answering this question,” Ocellus replied.

“Me neither,” Silverstream added.

“Come on,” Coral said. “You’ve had to have had some boys go after you. Aren’t you relate to Queen Novo?”

“Well... Yes...”

“How about we talk about how we’re doing at the school?” Ocellus asked.

“Yaks doing fine,” Frida said. “Don’t know why Trud freaked out.”

“I think some creatures have their limits,” Shimmy said.

“I think it’s best not to focus on the first day,” Ocellus said.

“Yeah,” Silverstream agreed. “If the saying ‘First impressions are everything,’ we wouldn’t be hanging out with each other.” She and Ocellus shared a nervous chuckle.

“Or like our first cheer practice,” Shimmy said. The conversation kept going until they got to Rarity’s Boutique. The unicorn was surprised to see the students.

“Girls, what are you doing here?” Rarity asked.

“We wanted to try on a couple of dresses,” Coral said.

“If that’s the case, you can help with a few designs.”

“Actually, we just wanted to try them on.”

“But I was looking for some help with making clothing for other creatures.”

“Really?” Tarsi asked. “I like to have a special dress.”

“Then let’s get to work.”

Tarsi was the first one to become the base for Rarity’s new dress. The others started walking around helping to collect the materials their professor needed.

“This isn’t what I wanted to do,” Coral complained.

“I’m sorry about this,” Rarity apologized. “I haven’t had much free time. I had a few orders to sell.”

“Professor still have free time right?” Frida asked.

“Over the weekend, yes. Still, I enjoy making dresses. It’s a way of expressing myself.”

“Like me with painting?” Silverstream asked.

“Exactly. Could you upstairs and get some red silk.” The hippogriff nodded headed upstairs. Ocellus decided to follow, much to friend’s confusion.

“I thought I...”

“I know,” Ocellus interrupted, “But I want to tell you something in private.” Once they got upstairs, the changeling made sure to close the door behind her. “So, you remember how we were talking about boys earlier?”

“Not really sure why, but yes.”

“Well, there’s a reason I wasn’t feeling comfortable about answering that. No guy has caught my eye before.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I don’t know why but... I enjoyed being around girls more.” Ocellus rubbed the back of her head as she began feeling embarrassed.

“You mean...”

“Yeah. I don’t know any other creature who has this same feeling. ...You don’t think...”

“I love you Celly, just not in that way.”

The changeling sighed. “You can’t blame someone for trying.”

“Not really.” The two got the silk they needed and headed back downstairs to help with the dresses.

Back at the bowling alley, Trud made the last bowl and they added up all their points. “Okay,” Moss said, “Flare got fifth, Trud’s in fourth, Gale’s in third, I’m in second, and Smolder won.” The dragoness felt victorious, while the boys below third place felt rather embarrassed.

“Cheer up guys,” Smolder said, “This was your first time. You’ll probably do better next time.”

“Can yak try again?” Trud asked.

“I’m up for that,” Gale said.

“This place is going to be closing in a little bit,” Smolder informed.

“Let’s just accept our failure and get home,” Moss said. Smolder and the boys left the bowling alley headed back to the school. As they did, they kept talking about their game.

“Okay, so they had holes in balls,” Flare said, “But ponies don’t have any opposable digits.”

“I know, it doesn’t make sense,” Moss agreed.

“That’s the thing with a lot of pony stuff,” Smolder admitted.

“Trud still like to tell yaks about bowling,” Trud declared.

Gale didn’t say much, he still grumbled that he lost. Not focusing on where he was going, he accidentally bumped into a pegasus wearing a dress. This caught the pegasus to fall down and splash into a mud puddle. “Watch it!” cried the mare.

“Crud,” Smolder gasped. She walked over and help the pegasus up. “Our friend is kind of in a bad mood.”

“He lost,” Moss informed.

“Shut up,” the griffon growled.

“Just watch where you’re going in the future please,” the mare said. She walked away as she looked at the conditions of her dress. “This is going to take forever to wash out.”

“I don’t see what’s the big idea of dresses,” Moss admitted. “We don’t normally wear clothes.”

“I think it might be a girl thing,” Flare said. “Not trying to enforce any stereotypes, like dragons and griffons being greedy jerks, but I think dresses are just something they like.”

“Good for them,” Trud said. “Yak don’t understand either. Yaks like smashing stuff, which other creatures don’t like.”

Smolder had gone quiet at this point, which made Gale curious. “What’s bothering you?” the griffon asked.

“N... Nothing,” the dragoness replied. “I was just... Thinking how silly it would be if dragons were fans of dressing up.” She chuckled as she gave a ‘convincing’ smile.

“Okay then.”

When they made it back to the school, they ran into Pate, who dropped a pencil and some paper. “Sorry, Pate,” Trud apologized as he helped pick up the dropped items.

“What are you doing?” Moss asked.

“Making... A note,” Pate replied.

“Who’s it for?” Flare asked.

“Sh... Shimmy Shake.”

“That cheerleading pony?” Gale questioned.

“I can’t help it. She’s cute.”

“Did you even talk with her?” Moss asked.

“A couple of times. I don’t know what to say to her now. Smolder, you’re a part of the cheer squad. Any advice?”

“Well, I’m not sure,” the dragoness replied rubbing the back of her head.

“Maybe changeling ask Ocellus,” Trud suggested. “Changelings love experts.” Mention Ocellus started making Smolder blush all of a sudden.

“Is something wrong?” Flare asked.

“I’ve gotta go,” she declared. Smolder managed to split up from the boys. Letting out a sigh of relief, she was glad to be alone. She made it to her dorm room, where she looked in the closet and opened a hidden box. “Should I tell them?” Smolder opened the box to reveal a tiara and dress. She thought a couple of students would treat this like it was normal, especially her friends. Though, she couldn’t help but think about some of the students laughing at her.

The dragoness jumped when there was a knock on the door. She quickly hid her box under the bed in a panic before she opened the door and saw Sandbar waiting outside. “Hey, Smolder,” the colt said. “I heard you beat the boys at bowling.”

“Yeah, they put up a good game. What are you doing here?”

“I came to see if Silverstream was in here. I want to see if this tie is a good choice for my family dinner.” He gestured to the bowtie that was on his neck.

“Isn’t that the same tie you wore to the first pony pal dance?”

“Yes.”

“Then it’s fine.”

“...You look a little flustered. Is everything okay?” Smolder looked to the left and the right of the hall and saw no other creature was around and then she pulled her friend into her room.

“Look, I have to tell you something private. It’s... You remember our friendship mission to the Dragon Lands?”

“You mean the one with Ember and Thorax?”

“That’s the one. I’m in Thorax’s situation.”

“...Then who’s in Ember’s place?”

The dragoness took a deep breath and spilled the beans. “It’s Ocellus.”

“But... She’s a gir...”

“I know. I’m just confused on what to think about this.”

“I could imagine. Listen, if you just talk with Ocellus, I’m sure you’ll work things out.”

“And if there’s a high chance she’s not up to this.”

“Look, think about what Thorax went through. If you just tell her how you feel, you’ll get all of this off your chest.”

“...You’re right. I should just get this over with. Thank, Sandbar.”

“No problem. Now, I better get going if I’m going to make it to dinner.” With that, the colt left the dorm room. With him gone, Smolder looked under the bed and pick up the secret box. Then, she had an idea. Smolder snuck into Rarity’s classroom and found a table cloth. She took the cloth back to her room and then headed to Ocellus’s room. She looked in the closet and found a hidden box that was a bit bigger than her secret one.

“Yes, I knew she would still have this.” She picked up the box and took it back to her room. With the boxes and clothes together, she carried them out of the school and into the Everfree Forest.

A little while later, Ocellus and the girls were returning to the school. “That wasn’t what I was expecting,” Coral sighed.

“She said we could try on a couple of different dresses Sunday,” Silverstream said.

“Yeah, it’s not the same though.” When they got back, they all went to their own thing. Ocellus was busy thinking to herself, which her hippogriff friend asked her something.

“Does any creature know about your thing?”

“No,” the changeling sighed. “Not even my parents.”

“Wow. That has to be hard.”

“It is.” Suddenly, an orange dragoness flew up to them, nearly crashing into Silverstream.

“Sorry, Silver,” Smolder apologized. “I was... Kind of in a rush.” She stood up and looked towards the changeling. “Ocellus, I was looking for you.”

“What for?” the changeling asked.

“Oh... I needed... Some help with something. It’s at the clubhouse.”

“I can come along,” Silverstream spoke.

“No. I just need Ocellus.” A bit confused, the hippogriff listened to her friend and walked off. With that, the dragoness and changeling head through the forest, where the cold wind was starting to make itself known. Ocellus shivered.

“I wish I brought a scarf from the boutique,” she said.

“It’s not too far now,” Smolder said.

“I hope what you need is important.” The dragoness took a deep breath as she hoped for the best. When they got to the treehouse, Smolder flew inside ahead of her friend. A bit confused, Ocellus walked through the door and could see a tea set sitting on a table. She looked over to the left to see that Smolder was putting on a dress. “Hold on, you were planning a tea party?”

“...Yeah.”

“You could’ve just told me.”

“I know, but it’s been a while. I didn’t have time to get you a dress. Would you like my tiara?”

“Sure?” Ocellus placed the princess tiara on her head as Smolder finished putting on her dress. The dragoness picked up the teapot and breathed fire on the bottom of it to heat up the tea. The changeling held out a teacup that her friend pour some tea into. “It’s nice to have a little alone time.”

“Indeed.” She poured herself a cup of tea a sipped with her pinky out. “How are you feeling this fine evening?”

“Very nice. How are you feeling about the dragons getting used to being around other creatures.”

“Fine. Just fine. I took Flare and some of the boys to the bowling alley. I won.”

“Good for you. The changelings seem to be doing fine too.” The two sipped their tea as some awkward silence was being heard. “Anything else?”

“Oh, did I tell you about the friendship problem that Sandbar and I went on?”

“Not quite. Who needed help?”

“Dragon Lord Ember and King Thorax.”

“Really? Them?”

“Apparently.” She explained to her friend everything that happened on her mission.

“Wow. I didn’t think he would have a crush.”

“Pretty amazing, isn’t it? It’s pretty weird how a changeling and a dragon... I don’t mean to sound rude.”

“I know what you mean.”

“Thanks.” Smolder poured some more tea as she tried not to blush. “More tea?”

“Why yes.” Ocellus was poured more tea as she noticed that her friend looked a little nervous. “Is something on your mind?”

The dragoness jumped and nearly dropped the teapot. “Um... No...”

“Is it because of all of... This.” Ocellus gestured to the entire tea party.

“...Kind of. I don’t know when I can tell any creature about this or even if I can tell them.”

“Being honest is an important thing in life. Like with Thorax, or your brother.”

“I know. I told the same thing to Silver.”

“She knows about this? That’s progress. ...How did you feel after telling her?”

“...A little bit better. I guess Sandbar was right.”

“You told him too?”

“...Not exactly.”

“What did you tell him?”

Smolder took a deep breath. “It’s complicated. Look, you remember the first time when you and I had these secret tea parties?” The changeling thought back to their time during their first year at the school of friendship.

Smolder was feeling annoyed. Classes were giving her stress that seemed endless. Her friends noticed this but didn’t really know how to help cheer her up. It had only been about a week since their misadventure in the caves under the school with some... Unwanted memories.

Ocellus tried to think of how she could cheer her friend up. While looking around the library she could see some glowing lights in the corner of her eye. The changeling looked around the corner towards the grate and saw a big blue dress sitting beside it. She walked over to get a closer look and could see some holes for wings and a large tail.

Then the changeling thought back to what she heard in the tunnels. “This dress must belong to Smolder,” she said to herself. She thought of a plan. Ocellus took the dress and flew back to her dorm.

After school, Smolder placed a book on the table before she got a drink. When she got back, she saw there was a note on her book. ”Meet me in your dorm,” it read. Confused, Smolder picked up her book and headed to her dorm. Inside, she was surprised to see Ocellus waiting for her.

The changeling was sitting at a table with a tea set on it while wearing a fancy looking dress. “Good afternoon Smolder,” Ocellus said.

“...Where did you get all of this?” Smolder questioned.

“I can change into different creatures to lift heavy items. It wasn’t too difficult to get this set up. The hardest part was to find a dress.”

“Say what?” The changeling showed her friend a very familiar dress. “Where’d you get that?”

“I just found it in the library. I didn’t know why it was lying there, I thought it was something Professor Rarity would make.”

“That’s the dress I wore during the Spirit of Harmony’s tests.”

“I guess it was kind enough to let you keep this.” She handed the dress over to Smolder who promptly put it on. The dragoness turned to her door and made sure to lock it.

“Okay, now I can relax.” She sat down at the table and helped herself to the tea. “Did you prepare this for yourself?”

“Yeah. You feel better?”

“...I do. Thanks for planning this. You think you and I will be able to do this more often?”

“Sure thing.” The two clinked their cups before taking a sip.

“Ah, the memories,” Ocellus said.

“Thanks again for that,” Smolder said.

“So, what did you tell Sandbar about?”

The dragoness placed her teacup down and sighed again. “It’s about you. Think about it like this. You’re in Dragon Lord Ember’s position, and I’m in Thorax’s.”

Ocellus was confused for a minute until she started putting two and two together. “Are you saying...?” Smolder simply nodded. “Wow. This is... awkward.”

“Grrh, I knew it.” The dragoness lied her head down on the table.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m just seeing what I thought would come true. I have a crush on you and it’s just going to make our friendship more complicated than it needs to be.” The changeling walked over to her friend and stood her up.

“Smolder, you don’t have to get upset. I’m sort of in a predicament too.” The dragoness was too shocked to reply to this. “No boy has caught my eye before. I honestly have been having fuzzy feelings around girls more than boys.”

“You’re kidding me.”

“I’m not.” The two looked at each other before they started blushing.

“So... You... Feeling fuzzy?”

“Yep. That feeling’s back.” The two stood quietly until they could feel each other holding each other’s claw and hoof. When they did notice, they both jolted back.

“This... Turned out better than I thought.”

“Good. That’s good. So, is this crush the reason you snapped back to your old self?”

“Yeah. Please don’t remind me of that.”

“Sorry.” The two both started smiling as they then hugged each other.

“I’m glad you understand this. I feel a lot better now.”

“Yeah. Smolder, I think we should tell every creature about this.”

“Alright, fine.”

“I’m not just talking about us. I’m talking about your tea party secret.”

“What?!”

“Smolder, just your secret crush has been eating you up.”

“You’re right.” The dragoness took a deep breath. “Let’s get this over with.”

Later that evening, Sandbar and Yona returned from their dinner. “Yona enjoy Sandbar’s family,” the yak cheered.

“Glad you liked it,” Sandbar said. “Kind of wish Coral would stop playing with my tie.”

“Sister looked adorable.” The two were about to head to their individual dorm when they could hear some chattering from down the hall. “What that?” The couple investigated and were surprised at what they saw.

Smolder was standing in the hall in her fancy dress. She felt very embarrassed. “I thought we were only going to tell Yona and Sandbar,” she whispered to Ocellus.

“That was too start off slow,” Ocellus replied. “Besides, we we’re going to tell everyone else eventually.”

“I knew it,” said a voice. The two looked over to see Gallus and Silverstream getting a closer look at them. “I could’ve sworn I saw you wear something like that in the tunnels.” He only said this to himself so the other students didn’t hear.

“I knew you would tell every creature eventually,” Silverstream cheered.

“What are you talking about?” Pyther asked.

“Ye... Yeah,” Smolder confirmed. “It’s just like my brother being a poet.”

“I actually spent a bit of time with him,” Emerald said. “I didn’t think you had anything to hide.” Smolder gave a nervous chuckle.

“Hey, Smolder,” Coral said excitedly. “You want to head to Professor Rarity’s Sunday to try on dress?”

“Sure.” Smolder walked away from the crowd so only Ocellus, Gallus, and Silverstream were around her. Sandbar and Yona joined them. “How long had friend into dresses?” Yona asked.

“...A while,” Smolder admitted.

“You do look nice in that dress,” Sandbar commented. The dragoness smiled at this.

“You feeling better?” Ocellus asked.

“A little bit, yeah,” Smolder replied.

“I think I heard a couple of the girls think you did this due to a prank,” Gallus chuckled.

“Better than being a laughing stock,” the dragoness said.

“I’m glad that you’re finally being honest,” Ocellus said. She hugged her dragon friend making her blush a bit.

“Are we missing something here?” Gallus asked.

“Let’s just talk about it while we eat,” Smolder said.

“We just finished eating ten minutes ago,” Silverstream said.

“All Celly and I had was some tea. Speaking of which, Yona, Sandbar, how was your dinner?”

“Great,” the colt and yak answered. The six carried towards the cafeteria, hoping to find some food.

Smolder then noticed Pate pacing back and forth looking worried. She decided to get his attention. “Hey, Pate,” the dragoness called. The changeling looked over to her.

“Smolder, why are you wearing that dress?” he asked.

“It’s a secret passion. Anyways, I’ve just thought about you and your crush with Shimmy Shake.” She looked back to see the said mare talking to other girls about what they saw. “Just tell her how you feel. Take it from me and Sandbar.” Pate looked at the colt, who nodded in agreement.

He then looked down the hall and took a deep breath before walking over to the cheerleader. Though they couldn’t quite hear it, they did see that Pate was actually talking to her. Shimmy then nodded and walked off. Pate came running back with a smile on his face.

“What did you say?” Ocellus asked.

“I ask her if she wanted to hang out tomorrow,” Pate replied. “She said yes.”

“Good for you,” Sandbar commented. The changeling walked off with glee as Ocellus hugged Smolder. The two blushed as their friends noticed.

“Yeah,” Sandbar said, “The dress isn’t the only thing Smolder was hiding.”

“That’s true.” Ocellus nuzzled against the dragoness, who chuckled as she knew she had more explaining to do.

Author's Note

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone