Chapters It was another typical day at the school of Friendship. Sandbar and Yona were just sitting at the couch in the lounge trying to do their homework. Yona was deep in thought until she could see Sandbar looking at some mares walking by.
“What Sandbar doing?” Yona asked.
“Uhh...nothing,” the colt replied. “I’m just……losing my train of thought.”
“So Sandbar just stare at mares, huh?”
“What? Yona, it’s not like that. I’m just…bored, that's it.”
He looked over to see Garry practicing some loop de loops. He was helping Grace with some tricks. Sandbar looked back towards Yona, who had an angry brow.
“Yona. I’m not dating any creature other than you.”
“What’s going on here?” Silverstream interrupted. She, Smolder, Gallus, and Ocellus walked over to them carrying their own school bags.
“Sandbar likes looking at mares more than homework and yak,” Yona explained.
Ocellus shivered and gagged. “Ack……The bitterness,” she quivered.
“You’re tasting their love?” Gallus asked.
“Yeah. Yona’s love tasted like a burnt slice of pie.”
“Guys, I’m not doing what Yona thinks I’m doing,” Sandbar stated. “I only have love for her and only her.”
“Then why Sandbar look towards mares?” Yona asked.
“I can’t focus on our homework, that’s all.”
“I know that feeling,” Gallus said.
“So you both push it off to the last second?” Smolder asked. She promptly got an angry look from her griffon friend. “What?”
“Yona, we know that Sandbar wouldn’t do something like that,” Silverstream said. They just stared at her colt friend with a low brow. Sandbar started feeling uncomfortable.
“Some creature just please, get me out of this,” he begged under his breath.
Someone might’ve been listening as Yona’s horn suddenly started to glow. Many of the students stared not just at her, but also at Ocellus. The changeling looked at her wings and could see they were glowing too.
“The map,” the yak and changeling gasped.
The holographic images started flying outside towards Twilight’s former castle.
“Follow them, quick!” Silverstream shouted.
Quickly, they ran out of the school with their friends following behind. When they got to the room where the magic map is, images of Ocellus and Yona’s head were circling around Canterlot.
“Canterlot? Of all places, why would there be a friendship problem there at Canterlot?” Smolder asked.
“Maybe there’s something that Princess Twilight needs help with,” Silverstream guessed.
“If she did,” Gallus spoke, “I think she would’ve sent a letter, not this.”
“Still, I’m curious what problem we’ll be solving there,” Ocellus said.
“Yona proudly accepts mission,” Yona spoke.
“So do I, but I think we should do our homework on the ride to Canterlot.” Yona groaned as she had to be reminded of that.
“Riiight,” Yona groaned.
After gathering their supplies, winter clothing, and Pinkie Pie to help guide them around, Ocellus and Yona made their way to the station to catch a train.
“I’m glad you’re taking me,” Pinkie said. “I’ve been looking for an excuse to see Twilight again.”
“Same with Spike,” Smolder grumbled, walking with her friends.
“We’ll be sure to say hi for you,” Ocellus said. Sandbar wanted to walk beside Yona, but the yak didn’t even want to look at him. When they got to the station, they didn’t have to wait long for their train to arrive.
“What kind of problem do you think you’re going to have to deal with?” Silverstream asked.
“It could go either way,” Sandbar commented. “The mission Smolder and I went on is involved Dragon Lord Ember and King Thorax.”
“Maybe ours could involve Princess Twilight,” Ocellus said. Soon, they could see their train pull up to the platform. “Wish us luck.”
The changeling, yak, and pink pony boarded on the train which shortly left to Canterlot. Their friends waved behind as Yona looked towards Sandbar. She started to feel something she didn’t like.
“So... What Yona and friend do now?” the yak asked.
“We’ll just wait for time to pass,” Ocellus replied. “Good thing I brought our homework.” She and her friend, who wasn’t looking forward to this, started working on their homework while waiting for their arrival at their destination.
They heard the whistle blowing with the captain speaking that they’re almost there at Canterlot. It was only an-hour-and-25-minute ride from Ponyville to Canterlot, so it wasn't really that long. With Ocellus and Yona finishing their homework, they started packing up their supplies in their bags. Pinkie Pie, who’s seated in the opposite row, also prepared her stuff as well.
The train finally arrived at the Canterlot Station. The passengers, including Professor Pinkie, Ocellus, and Yona, were now at the door waiting for it to be open. As the train hits the brakes, the train whistle once again blows and the doors are now open, and the passengers leave the car.
After leaving the station, the two students looked around to see if there’s a friendship problem to be solved.
“Where problem at?” Yona questioned.
“Hard to say, Yona,” Pinkie said. “The best thing I did before is to look around.” Pinkie bounced through the streets as a couple of ponies recognized her.
“Hey, are you one of Princess Twilight’s friends?” a unicorn asked.
“Yuppers.” The pink pony and unicorn quickly started chatting as Ocellus and Yona looked around.
“Yona don’t remember much of Canterlot,” the yak admitted.
“Yeah, we’ve only been here once before when Silverstream was possessed by that spirit of Storm King,” Ocellus said. “Now then, we should ask around if any creature’s having trouble.” And so they did. Though, they were just going around in circles. Finding the problem was usually the hardest part on friendship missions, because you can’t tell if somepony has a problem from the looks.
Pinkie bounced over to them after talking to the unicorn.
“Hey girls, any luck?” she asked them.
“Nope,” Yona stated, “Friends come up dry,”
“I know how you feel. Don’t worry, you’ll find it eventually.”
They carried on wandering around hoping to find something. Soon, they came across a unicorn who almost bumped into them.
"Oh, excuse... Hang on, I know you!"
"You do?" Ocellus and Yona questioned.
"Moon Dancer," Pinkie cheered, then hugged her. "How are you doing?"
"Hi Pinkie, I’m doing good," the unicorn replied. "My friends are doing great as well." She then turned back to Ocellus and Yona.
“Anyways,” Moon Dancer said, “you’re the two students there at that Friendship School, right?”
“We sure are,” Ocellus said to her, in a confident tone.
“Yona too.”
“And you must be one of Twilight’s old friends, right?”
“Yep, my name’s Moon Dancer. Nice to meet you.”
"Nice to meet you too.” Ocellus said, “Headmare Twilight did mention about you and the others in our lessons last time. Can we see them?"
"Of course. It's been a while since I've seen them all together. Follow me."
They then followed Moon Dancer to a restaurant called “The Tasty Treat”.
“Good choice,” Pinkie commented.
“Yes, when my friends told me about this, I told myself, ‘Sure, I’ll give this a try’ and I like it. I can visit this place anytime.”
They walked inside which was nice and warm.
“Welcome back, Pinkie,” Saffron Masala said.
“Saffy! It’s been a while,” Pinkie said, giving her a hoof bump.
“Yeah, long time no see.”
“She sure does know a lot of ponies,” Ocellus whispered. Yona nodded in response.
They went onto their seats, and they were given some menus as a blue unicorn walked in.
“Minuette, you made it,” Moon Dancer said.
“Hi Moon Dancer,” Minuette replied, then turned to Pinkie Pie, “Pinkie, you’re here too?”
“Yep,” Pinkie replied, “I’m helping Ocellus and Yona here with a friendship mission.”
“I see. So, basically they help with relationship problems?”
“That’s basically the idea,” Ocellus said. “This is our first time.”
“Then I wish you good luck, you two.”
Just then, three ponies walked in. Twinkleshine, Lemon Hearts, and a silver stallion. This stallion was as tall as Big Mac, had golden blonde hair, blue eyes, and had a silver coin as a cutie mark.
“Who’s that?” Yona asked.
“That’s Silver Coin,” Moon Dancer explained, “he’s been around us for a while.” The stallion and mares sat down just as Saffron Masala walked over to them.
“Good day, are you ready to start ordering?” she asked.
“Just give us a few more minutes,” Moon Dancer said. Saffron nodded.
Saffron Masala walked off to the other tables to take orders. As Ocellus and Yona read the menu, they both looked at Twilight's old friend and they all seemed to be a little upset. They all appeared to not want to be sitting next to each other but they all seemed to be interested in Silver.
“Ocellus,” the yak whispered to the light blue changeling, “Yona think friends found problem.”
“Probably,” Ocellus replied.
She shivered as she tasted something bittersweet. “What kind of love is this?” she questioned herself.
After a few minutes, their food has been served. “So, Silver. Can you tell us about yourself?” Moon Dancer asked him.
“Of course,” the earth pony replied. “I’ve been living in Canterlot about my whole life. My family is pretty rich.”
“Mhmm,” Moondancer said. “So, Pinkie didn’t you say you’ve been to Yakyakistan before?”
“Oh yeah,” the pink pony replied. “Being so high in the mountains near the Crystal Empire, there is a lot of snow. Like, up to my ears. High snow.”
“How do they live?”
“Yaks very strong,” Yona spoke.
“She would like to show you,” Ocellus spoke, “But probably not here.”
“Yaks can cause mini earthquakes,” Pinkie said.
“How is that possible?” Silver questioned.
“Knowing Pinkie, I’m pretty sure she’s right,” Moondancer said. “Twinkleshine, what do you think?” Her friend didn’t reply and just used her magic to stir her spoon in her food.
“Uhh………Twinkleshine?”
“You sure you don’t want that food?” Minuette asked.
“She doesn’t have to worry about cavities so much,” Lemon Hearts said in an ungentle tone.
“Here we go again,” Moondancer groaned.
“You really think I just raise my prices?” Minuette questioned in that same tone as hers.
“If you don’t have that many ponies come in with any cavities,” Lemon Hearts said.
“I took care of more than just cavities. Have you ever heard of gum disease?”
“Yep, we found the problem,” Ocellus confirmed quietly.
Minuette and Lemon Hearts continued arguing with each other while Silver and Twinkleshine stayed quiet. “Check please,” Moondancer called.
“Hey, we were just getting warm here,” Silver stated.
“If there’s one thing I hate more than the cold, it’s my friends arguing for no reason.”
Moon Dancer paid for their meal and they walked back outside. Her friends and Silver didn’t stick around for too long and they headed their own ways.
“What just happened back there?” Ocellus asked.
“Something that my friends probably aren’t understanding.” Moon Dancer replied.
“Yona and Ocellus help out,” Yona said.
“Can you give us some detail?” Ocellus asked.
“I’ll explain on the way to my place.” The changeling and yak followed the unicorn down the street with Pinkie following behind. “You know, how about I explain on the way?”
A few months ago, when the School of Friendship was starting its third year, Moon Dancer, Minuette, Twinkleshine, and Lemon Hearts were hanging out at the donut shop.
“So, you heard the news about Twilight’s school?” Twinkleshine asked.
“Oh yeah,” Lemon Hearts said. “They said that some creatures fought each other for no reason. So weird, right?”
“Uh huh, maybe some magic was involved, I think,” Minuette suggested.
“It wouldn’t surprise me,” Moon Dancer admitted.
They heard the wind chimes ring, signaling that somepony walked into the store. The mares looked over to see Silver Coin walking over to the counter. After placing his order, he walked over to the four mares.
“Afternoon,” he said with a smirk. Three of the four mares found themselves blushing at this.
“Can we help you, sir?” Moon Dancer asked.
“Oh, I thought I’d talk to somepony while I wait. Mind telling me about yourselves?”
“I’m... Minuette,” the blue unicorn replied. “I work as a dentist.”
“I’m Lemon Hearts,” the yellow one replied. “I…uhh…like baking.”
“Good to know,” the stallion replied, “my name’s Silver Coin. Do you work here?”
“N-no.” The mares kept blushing as Moon Dancer raised an eyebrow.
“Well, I’ve noticed you around here. I thought I’d try and introduce myself.”
A little while later, Silver and the mares walked out of the shop with Twinkleshine and Lemon Hearts going off to do their own thing.
“Shame they couldn’t stick around,” Minuette said.
“At least we’re still together,” Moon Dancer said.
“I know a good place we can hang out, come with me,” Silver said. They made their way over to the theater which they paid their tickets for.
“Wait, you can’t bring outside snacks in here.”
“Don’t worry, my father owns this place.”
“Really!?” Silver nodded.
They walked inside and got their seats. The film hasn’t even started for a while so Moondancer left to get a few drinks. “Donut?”
Minuette smiled as she ate the donut she was offered. “Thanks.”
Silver looked towards the mare’s cutie mark on her flank and looked confused. “Minuette, I thought you said you were a dentist.”
“I am.”
“So then why is your cutie mark an hourglass?”
Minuette looked at her cutie mark and chuckled. “Oh, well, I manage to complete tasks in mere seconds.”
“Like getting your mane ready?” This comment made the mare blushed.
“Yeah, something like that.”
Moon Dancer just came back with the drinks as she listened to their conversation.
“You know, I don’t see a lot of ponies pull off the color blue. You seem to be an exception.” Minuette giggled as Moon Dancer sat down next to them.
“So, what film are we watching?” Moon Dancer asked. She wasn’t given an answer as Minuette was too busy talking with Silver. She just rolled her eyes and sipped her soda.
The next day, Moon Dancer was running errands when she saw Silver Coin again. This wouldn’t be anything she wouldn’t pay attention to if Twinkleshine wasn’t with him.
“You know, I really like your white fur and pink mane,” the stallion commented.
Twinkleshine giggled. “Thank you,” she replied back.
They both walked down the street away from Moondancer.
The unicorn tried to catch up, but she was blocked by the large crowd swarming the street. By the time she got through the crowd, Twinkleshine and Silver were gone.
Later, Moondancer was eating her meal at a local cafe when she could see Lemon Hearts leaving with Silver Coin.
“What is this guy doing?” she questioned.
She left a couple of bits on the table and tried to follow the two.
“Oh, look at the time,” Silver said. “We better hurry.”
The two picked up the pace and left Moondancer behind. The mare was confused and frustrated.
Moondancer finished her story once they got back to her place.
“I wish I could tell you more,” she said, “But that stallion keeps getting away from me. When I meet up with my friends, I’m very lucky to even get two with each other. I have no idea what he has done to them.”
“Why stallion need three mare friends?” Yona asked.
“Because he’s a disgusting creature, that’s all.”
“I can only think of a changeling doing something like that,” Ocellus commented. “Though we’ve changed our ways and if they wanted love, they would’ve at least tried different forms.”
“I’d be lying if I wasn’t thinking Silver was a changeling,” Moondancer admitted. “I keep trying to tell the girls that Silver is going out with all of them, but they just say I’m jealous.”
“Did you try getting proof?”
“Well……multiple times. He’s always one step ahead of me.”
“Friends help out,” Yona said. “Yona show gross stallion why yaks best.”
“So, you can help me?” Moondancer questioned.
“Honestly, I think it might be your friends who need help,” Ocellus remarked.
“Okay, we’ll see what we can do.”
Author's Note
Thanks for Gregoryco123 for spellchecking.
Ocellus, Yona, Pinkie Pie, and Moon Dancer are now inside her place and started to have a plan. Their plan is to spy on Silver Coin and the three mares to see if something weird is going on. Moon Dancer suggested that Ocellus would be disguised as an ordinary mare to each of the three ponies who kept blaming each other to find out what causes them to have mistrust.
After a while of planning, they went out to start spying on that colt, except Pinkie Pie though, she just wanna let them complete their mission by themselves.
Ocellus, Yona, and Moon Dancer were at their hiding spot, spying at Silver Coin & Twinkleshine, who were wandering around the streets.
“Is he really dating all of them?” Ocellus questioned.
“I told you,” Moon Dancer replied.
“Yona just tells mares about gross pony,” Yona stated.
She was about to walk over to them, but Moon Dancer levitated her back.
“Whoa, stop right there. If Silver finds out about that, he’ll try and get one step ahead of us.”
“Yeah, that’s probably where I come in,” Ocellus said.
She demonstrated what she meant by turning herself into a different pony. This one was a mare who had a cherry red mane and orange fur. She was a pegasus with a sunset as a cutie mark.
Ocellus cleared her throat.
“Call me Sunny Skies,” she said with a different sounding voice.
“You’re good.” Moon Dancer said.
Ocellus, now Sunny Skies smiled before she walked over to Silver and Twinkleshine.
The unicorn was keeping quiet until the stallion noticed the disguised changeling walked over to them.
“Oh, hi,” Twinkleshine said quietly.
“I haven’t seen you around,” Silver asked. “Who are you?”
“My name’s Sunny Skies,” the disguised changeling replied. “I’m new in town, and I’m curious if you could show me around. This place is amazing.”
“Of course. We don’t mind, do you Twinkle?” Silver asked her.
“No,” the unicorn replied quietly.
Sunny Skies looked a little worried at the mare’s behavior. Still, she followed the two as they started a tour around Canterlot. Yona and Moondancer carefully followed behind them while trying not to be seen.
“So……are you two dating?” Sunny Skies asked. Silver simply just smiled and kept walking. “Okay, so how long have you been living here?”
“About all my life,” Silver replied. “My dad is quite a big business pony. He owns a couple of buildings around here.”
“Which ones?”
“Let’s see, there’s the movie theater, the furniture store, jewelry store, quite a lot of them actually. Isn’t that right, Twinkle?” The mare just smiled and nodded.
Sunny Skies had to figure out what was wrong, which would be hard to do since she had to keep her cover.
“So, what do you like doing in your free time?”
“I’m interested in reading a good book. I like watches too, though they’re too much work for me. They cause a lot of stress.”
“Good to know. What about...Twinkle?”
“Twinkleshine,” the mare stated.
“I usually... Enjoy a good conversation, that’s all.” She gave a sheepish smile but Sunny could see something wasn’t right.
“Oh, girls, I just remembered something,” Silver Coin said, “I’ve gotta go. You’ll be alright, will you?” Twinkleshine and Sunny Skies both nodded. “Great. See you again Twinkle.” The stallion walked off.
“Good, I was hoping I could talk to you in private,” Sunny Skies sighed. “What do you think of Silver?”
“Him?” Twinkleshine asked. “He’s pretty dreamy. You should’ve seen the things we’ve done together.” She gave a smile though she still looked upset.
“Is……something bothering you?”
“It’s my friends. I don’t like it when we don’t get along. Silver’s been trying to help me, but I can’t help thinking about it.”
“Maybe a few friends of mine could help. We’ve moved together and we usually help others out when we have the chance.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Just tell me what’s going on.”
Twinkleshine sighed before she spoke again. “It started a couple of months ago.”
Twinkleshine was walking into a bakery, where Lemon Hearts was working at. Minuette was also there as they both saw their friend walking in.
“Twinkle, glad you’re here,” Lemon Hearts said. “I’ve just got a batch of cupcakes prepared.”
“That’s great,” Twinkleshine said, “I’ll give it a try.”
Many of the pastries looked the same, except for one, which was red velvet. That one was given to Twinkleshine, who quickly took a big bite. Suddenly, she felt she bit onto something hard. She dropped her cupcake and held her teeth.
“Are you okay!?” Lemon Hearts exclaimed.
“What did you put in this?”
“What I normally put in them.”
Lemon Hearts took a look at the cupcake and could see a hard piece of caramel in the middle of it. “How did that get there?”
“Let me take a look at your teeth,” Minuette asked. She looked inside her mouth and could see a small crack. “Oh, dear.”
“Is it bad?” Twinkleshine asked Minuette.
“Nothing that can’t be fixed. Let’s see if one of my co-workers can help with this.”
Minuette and Twinkleshine walked away, leaving a confused and speechless Lemon Hearts.
“Girls,” she called, “I have no idea...”
Her friends didn’t listen and just left the bakery.
“My boss isn’t going to like this,” she sighed.
The next day, Twinkleshine’s tooth was feeling better and Minuette wasn’t feeling very trusting with Lemon Hearts’s cooking. When they saw her in, they tried to go a different way.
“What’s up girls?” Silver asked. They looked to see the silver stallion.
“Hey, Silver,” the mares replied.
“We had an incident at the bakery yesterday,” Twinkleshine sighed.
“What happened?”
“I chipped my tooth on something that’s inside her cupcake.”
“I thought she said that she checks what’s going on in the kitchen,” Minuette said.
“I’m not sure how things could’ve gone wrong. Maybe it was another pony in the kitchen.”
“I’m going to double-check with her from now on.” The dentist mare walked off as Silver stopped Twinkleshine.
“Do your friends usually act like this?” he asked.
“Not normally,” Twinkleshine muttered. “I don’t know what happened.”
“I don’t think you should get involved. When I tried talking to my friends about a situation like this, things got worse and they almost broke up.”
“Seriously?” Silver just nodded as his expression noted that he didn’t like thinking about that memory. “Maybe... I should stay quiet.”
“If you say so. Just remember, I’m here for you.” He wrapped his arm around the worried mare, who gave a timid smile.
“Since then, he’s been by my side,” Twinkleshine explained, finishing her story.
“I see,” Sunny Skies commented.
She looked around to see Yona and Moondancer hiding around the corner.
“It was nice to have a private conversation with you, but I have to get going now. Hopefully, we’ll see each other around.”
She waved goodbye before she flew off. Sunny Skies hid behind the corner with Yona and Moon Dancer and changed back into Ocellus. Once that was done, she explained what she heard from Twinkleshine.
“I can bet you ten bits that Silver planted that block of caramel in the cupcake,” Moon Dancer spoke.
“Friends need more knowledge?” Yona asked.
“Probably,” Ocellus said. “Moon Dancer, can you show us where Lemon Hearts works?”
The unicorn nodded before leading the way towards the bakery.
They arrived at Lemon Hearts’s bakery and waited outside the bakery as they could see her serving some cupcakes. Ocellus turned herself into a pony again. This time, the mare she turned into was a unicorn with a snow-white mane and mint green fur. Her cutie mark was now a hilltop with a tree and snow on it.
“Wish me luck, girls” she said. The disguised changeling walked inside and over to Lemon Hearts.
“How may I help you?” the mare asked.
“Hello,” Ocellus said. “My name is Snow Top. I was getting kind of hungry and so I thought I would stop by here.”
“Just wait by the counter and see what you can get.”
“Actually, can we talk about what’s on your mind? You sounded upset.”
“Ugh, it’s my friends. One of my pastries came out wrong and it chipped my friend’s tooth.”
“Can you tell me what happened before that happened? Maybe you could remember something you missed.”
“If you say so.” Lemon Hearts sat down and retraced her steps. “It goes like this……”
Lemon Hearts was quite busy in the kitchen. She was by herself that day, everyone else was able to get there due to unknown reasons. “Hey, Lemon, are you back there?” called a voice. The mare ran out and could see Silver waiting by the counter.
“Oh, hey Silver,” she panted. “Sorry, I’m a little busy at the moment. No time to chat.”
She ran back into the kitchen area, where Silver decided to follow behind.
“Listen, if you need some help, you could just ask.”
“Really?! Oh, that would be great!” She took her over to a mixing bowl. “Here. Just stir this batter and then pour it into that tray over there.”
“Sounds easy enough.” Lemon Hearts smiled before she ran off to do other work as the stallion started stirring.
“So, what’s this batter going to be for?”
“Cupcakes. I’m giving the first batch to Twinkleshine and Minuette. Twinkleshine loves red velvet cupcakes.”
Silver nodded as he heard this before he started pouring the batter into the cupcake tray. They already had the wrappers in them, so this wasn't an issue.
“Okay, I think I’m starting to run out of batter.”
“Don’t worry, I have the red velvet ready to pour in.” She placed another mixing bowl containing red batter. “Thanks for the help. I can’t thank you enough.”
“Anytime,” he replied with a smile.
Lemon Hearts walked off again to see if the work would be easier now as Silver looked over to a bowl containing some caramel.
The next day, Silver showed up at the bakery looking confused. “Hey, do you know why your friend ran out of here so fast?” he asked.
“Silver, look at this,” Lemon Heart cried. She showed a hard piece of candy that she found in the cupcake and explained what happened before he arrived.
“How did that get here?”
“I don’t know.”
“Look, I just did what you told me. I don’t know anything about cooking.”
“I believe you, I just...maybe I wasn’t thinking straight that day.”
“Hey, listen. What happens if you never see that coming. I’m sure this could’ve happened to anypony.”
“Well... I guess.”
“You probably need a minute to lie down. You were on your own the other day. I’m pretty sure that you need a day off.”
“Maybe you’re right.” She gave the stallion a hug, which he did back.
“I’m just glad he could comfort me,” Lemon Hearts said, finishing her story.
“I’m sorry for what happened,” Snow Top said. “Anyways, thanks for the pastries, I’ll just take them and go.” She chose what she wanted and paid the pony before leaving the bakery.
“Friend by snacks?!” Yona cheered.
“Keep it down,” Snow Top hushed before turning back into Ocellus. “I’m starting to see why Minuette and Lemon Hearts aren’t trusting each other.”
“And they refused to tell me because Silver’s messing with their minds,” Moon Dancer said.
“Let’s talk to Minuette and see if we can get anything else.” The three walked off to get their final story.
Minuette was at the library, reading a couple of books. Moon Dancer and Yona acted like they were minding their own business as Ocellus transformed again. This time, she became a unicorn with a deep purple mane and blue fur. Her cutie mark now was a worm slithering through a book.
She walked over to Minuette, who was surprised to see her.
“Oh hi, I haven’t seen you around,” the mare commented.
“Bookworm,” the disguised changeling spoke. “I’ve met up with this pony named...…what was that…Moon Dancer.”
“Her? I’m not willing to talk about her right now.”
“Okay. Why?”
“I like having a good conversation.”
“I’m not sure if you picked a good place for that.” They looked around to see many ponies who were enjoying the peace and quiet. “How about we take this outside?”
The two did so and once they did, Minuette explained what happened.
“I’ll explain everything. So it goes like this……” Minuette started.
After Twinkleshine’s cupcake incident, Minuette had brought some products to help with Twinkleshine’s teeth. She walked up to her friend’s home and knocked on the door. Twinkleshine answered with an unset expression.
“Hi, Twinkleshine,” Minuette said. “I’ve brought some things that’ll help you cure your chipped tooth.” The dentist’s friend gave a meek smile before taking the products and closing the door. “Um... Have a nice day.”
She walked away and could see Lemon Hearts walking towards her. Minuette was about to say “Hi” but when her friend saw her, Lemon Hearts walked the other direction. Minuette was confused and tried to follow, though it didn’t take long for her to lose Lemon Hearts.
Who she did find was Silver Coin. “Minnie,” he said, “I didn’t think I’d be seeing you today. What’s on your mind?”
“Lemon Hearts just walked away from me. What’s with her?”
“I think it’s probably the pricing of your services.” The mare was perplexed by this. “I could’ve sworn that I heard one of her co-workers say that the dentist’s office sometimes raises the prices when you don’t have that many patients.”
“That’s not true.”
“I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I thought I would check with you.”
“Again, not true. Why would I just raise the price of treatment?”
“Well, I don’t think some of those tools aren’t cheap.”
“They’re not... But we don’t just force ponies to pay us more money.”
“That’s what’s being said where Lemon Hearts works.”
“I... She can’t... I’m talking to those ponies.” Minuette walked off in a huff as she didn’t notice the smile on Silver’s face.
“We argued long enough until I realized I was wasting my time,” Minuette explained, finishing her story.
“I see,” Bookworm remarked. She looked over to see Moon Dancer and Yona leaving the library. “Thanks for a wonderful conversation we have, but I’ve gotta go now. See ya!”
She ran off with her two friends as Minuette wandered off.
They met back at Moon Dancer’s place, where they were taking notes. So far, from what they have gathered, they heard Twinkleshine’s point-of-view that she chipped her own tooth from a hard block of caramel and Silver came to comfort her; then Lemon Hearts, which she didn’t realize that a hard block of caramel was inside the batter; finally, there’s Minuette, which she said in her point-of-view that Silver Coin said that he heard from Lemon Hearts’s co-workers about the increase of price of dentistry services.
“Okay, so what we’ve been gathering,” the unicorn observed, “Silver Coin appears to be using his silver tongue to trick my friends into believing what he needs them to believe.”
“How pony have silver tongue?” Yona asked.
“It’s a figure of speech,” Ocellus explained. “Like, knock yourself out, or break a leg.”
“Oh. Okay.”
“We need to figure out some way to catch him in his scheme,” Moon Dancer said.
“I don’t think we can use my pony forms to get them into one place,” Ocellus commented. “I can only be in one place at a time.”
“Maybe try lunch idea again?” Yona suggested.
“Maybe, but I don’t think the girls are willing to listen to you, but maybe they could listen to my friends.” She then shape-shifted into one of the three pony disguises she used earlier.
“What Yona do?” the yak asked.
“...I’m not sure,” Ocellus said. “I think you can help keep an eye out for Silver.” Yona nodded in confirmation. “So, Moon Dancer, where would your friends be at this moment.”
“My best guess is Lemon Hearts is just getting off of work,” Moon Dancer replied. “If we go now, we can get there and meet her.”
The three left the house and walked down the streets.
However, things took a turn as they could see a stallion was trying to clean up some crate that had fallen out of his cart.
“Sorry, ladies,” he said, “This may take a while.”
The stallion was an earth pony, so he couldn’t just levitate the crates back into his cart.
Moon Dancer sighed with frustration. “We’re going to have to take a long way around,” she said, “C’mon!”
She, Ocellus, and Yona ran down to a different street, but there was another incident that’s blocking their way. They were starting to get fed up and Ocellus changed into a bugbear to help carry Moon Dancer and Yona.
When they got to the bakery, Lemon Hearts was nowhere to be seen.
“We must’ve missed her,” Ocellus sighed.
“Ponies couldn’t help problems,” Yona stated.
“I know that,” Moon Dancer sighed. “Let’s see if we can find Twinkleshine.”
They headed off again, but they were stopped by some construction site. The three did their best to get through, but everything seemed to be against them right now.
“Why this city have so many problems?” Yona questioned.
“I don’t know. Let’s just try and fly again.” Ocellus turned into a bugbear again and picked them up to fly again. However, they didn’t get far before they came across some pegasi who were trying to install a window.
“Come on!”
“Hey, lady,” one of the pegasi said, “We’re just doing our job.”
“Why are you doing it in the winter?”
“We were given orders to do this,” the other pegasus said. “Just let us do our job and don’t make it rain broken glass.”
The three slowly lowered back to the ground and Ocellus changed back to her base form.
“How Yona and friends find Moon friends?”
“I don’t know Yona,” Ocellus sighed.
“I wonder why all of these ponies are getting in our way?” Moon Dancer questioned.
Then, it suddenly hit Ocellus. “Wait! Didn’t Silver say his dad owns a couple of businesses in Canterlot?” she asked.
“...He did.”
“What businesses silver pony do?” Yona asked.
“If his dad owns all of those businesses,” Ocellus explained, “He must be rich. He must be giving the workers extra pay so they could stop us from getting to your friends.” The three looked up as the two pegasi who were just hovering in the air.
“Don’t you two have work to do?” Moon Dancer asked.
The two pegasi looked at each other, realizing that they were catching on.
“Oops,” one pegasus worker said, “Sorry!”
They quickly flew away while carrying the plate of glass.
“We have to get somewhere private,” Ocellus said.
“House,” Yona spoke. “Moon house private place.”
“You read my mind,” Moon Dancer commented.
They ran off and maneuvered around the obstacles that were in their way. It was incredibly difficult, Ocellus had to change into a bugbear so they could fly back to the house. Eventually, they made it.
“Okay, so what do we do?” Ocellus questioned.
“Well, Moon Dancer said, “if Silver’s paying them extra to make sure that we’re away from our friends as much as possible, it’ll be like climbing a mountain during a snowstorm,”
“Yona can confirm that’s not easy,” the yak spoke.
“Okay, I think I know one way we can stay ahead of Silver,” Ocellus spoke.
She changed her form into that of Sunny Skies. “I can change my form whenever I want.” She then changed into Snow Top. “Silver won’t be able to tell who I am.” She then changed into Bookworm. “We can use this to catch him.” She smiled before changing back into a changeling.
“Yona like changeling idea.”
“It seems like the best thing we can do now,” Moon Dancer admitted. “Still, I feel like Silver could catch onto this.”
“Either friends try or they let gross pony continue rudeness.”
“Yona’s right,” Ocellus confirmed, “We can't let him get away with this.”
“Hmm, you’re right,” Moondancer said, “But if we’re going to try this, we have to come up with a plan.”
With that, the three huddled up and talked between each other to think about what they could do. Hopefully, they’ll catch up to him.
Silver Coin was walking down the sidewalk with his usual confident smile until he came across Minuette, who’s looking rather annoyed. She also looked very sad and furious at the same time.
“Minuette,” the stallion asked, “what’s up?”
Minuette sighed and started speaking in a fierce tone.
“Hey Silver, it’s Lemon Hearts,” she muttered, “she’s still mad at me because she thought that we raised our prices on our services. Is that something she would really say?”
“Hard to say. I’m not sure who said it, but it did sound like a mare. So, it could’ve been her.” Minuette felt angrier as Silver smiled to himself. “Hey, I’m still here for you.” This made Minuette feel a little better. Soon, they heard some footsteps approaching them.
“Thanks,” she said.
Around the corner, Bookworm walked over to them.
“Minuette,” she gasped, “I didn’t know I’d see you here. I thought that wouldn’t happen around here.”
“Bookworm? What are you doing here?”
“Oh, I was just wandering around when I ran into my friends. We moved here a while ago and I heard from my friend, named Snow Top, that these ponies Twinkleshine and Lemon Hearts seem kind of upset. Do you know anything about that?”
“Ugh. Someone at Lemon Hearts’s job said that ponies at my job raise our prices when we’re not so busy. Why would we do that? Do they raise the prices when they don’t sell that many pastries?”
“I doubt that. Who says that Lemon Hearts says that? Plus, what if one of your co-workers said that they changed the recipe at the bakery to make sure that your teeth were easier to clean. Therefore, they wouldn't have to go to the dentist's office so often.”
Minuette paused to think about what she said. “...When you put it like that, it does sound petty. Maybe I should talk to her when I have the chance.”
Minuette then looked at Silver.
“Sorry Silver, but I’ve gotta go.”
She then walked away as Silver Coin looked at Bookworm.
“Who do you think you are?” he asked.
“Just somepony passing by, sir,” Bookworm stated.
“Well, stay out of my business and stop stealing my love.”
He walked off in a huff as Bookworm grinned. Though, she didn’t like the sound of stealing love.
She walked a few blocks away before she hid behind a corner and changed back into herself again. Yona and Moon Dancer, who were hiding under some cardboard boxes, came out of hiding.
“Is it working?” Moondancer asked.
“It seems like it,” Ocellus replied.
“So, what friends do now?” Yona asked.
Ocellus then quickly changed into Sunny Skies.
“I’m going to see how Lemon Hearts is doing,” she said.
She promptly flew off to find the said pony, while Yona and Moon Dancer followed her behind.
Later, Lemon Hearts was minding her own business until Minuette walked up to her until some customers got in her way. Minuette tried to get through, but by the time the crowd dissipated, Lemon Hearts was gone. The mare let out a frustrated sigh until she heard a voice.
“Would you like some help?” Minuette looked up to see Sunny Skies flying above her.
“Who are you?” Minuette asked.
“My name is Sunny Skies. My friend told me about you.”
“I see. Can you tell me what’s up with Canterlot today?” the unicorn asked.
“Unclear, but I can give you a lift.”
“Oh, thank you so much.”
Sunny picked Minuette up and took off to catch up with Lemon Hearts. They could see the said mare not too far away and they lowered down to talk to her.
“Lemon Hearts!” Minuette cried. They landed beside her despite several ponies trying to stop them.
“What do you want?” Lemon Hearts asked, still a little annoyed.
“I actually want to talk about what’s going on.”
“I’m going to leave this to you,” Sunny Skies said before flying away.
As she flew away from the two mares, she saw Silver Coin in front of her. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“Fix...”
“Fixing what I’ve done?” Sunny paused as she landed.
“You’ve been toying with these ponies. They’re friends. Why have you been doing this?”
“My dad owns many businesses here. I’m not letting some bug that was made of burnt Swiss cheese ruin my day.”
“...No changeling looks like that anymore.”
“So, Chrysalis isn’t a changeling?” Sunny Skies didn’t say anything as she was now lost in thought. “She’s your mother isn’t she?” Again, Sunny said nothing. “That’s what I thought. No matter what you say, I’ll always remember you as a love sucking leach.” He then walked away as some tears started forming in the mare’s eyes.
Yona and Moon Dancer were making their way through the city. A couple of ponies were giving them trouble, but they just ignored them.
“How much gross pony pay ponies?” Yona asked.
“Maybe somewhere in the triple digits,” Moon Dancer guessed.
“Yona wonder how Ocellus doing?”
“She’s got to be around here somewhere.”
The pony and yak kept walking until they heard sobbing. Yona walked closer to where it was coming from and found Ocellus. The changeling had tears pouring down her face. Yona and Moon Dancer walked over to her to see what the matter was.
“Why Ocellus crying?”
“It’s just... Something that he just said,” the changeling wept. She tried to wipe the tears away, but they kept coming.
“What gross pony say?”
“He reminded me of the times before King Thorax took the throne. I just... I can’t believe...” Ocellus could get her words out due to her sobbing.
Moon Dancer was about to talk but Yona gestured that she had this. “Ocellus shouldn’t listen to gross pony. Why would Ocellus listen?”
“It’s just... I was just different back then. I didn’t know better and... I actually idolized Chrysalis.” Yona was a bit shocked by this.
“What friend talking about?”
“Changelings didn’t really have much to make them different. The young ones, including me, didn’t know any better. We’d do our best to go hunting. Most of us didn’t go hunting, but still...it’s……it’s not something I like to think about.” Ocellus held her hooves to her face as Yona felt sympathetic to her.
“Ocellus not know better back then,” Yona stated. “Old Ocellus in past. New Ocellus is Ocellus. Don’t listen to gross pony anymore.”
“I know that.”
“I guess his silver tongue got you,” Moon Dancer said, “Didn’t he?” The changeling nodded. “Alright, let’s make sure that he doesn’t do it again. Let’s go.”
The yak and changeling agreed and raced off. Many more ponies got in their way, Yona managed to bash right through them. After seeing this, many others stayed out of their way.
Eventually, they came across Twinkleshine. She didn’t see them as they found a hiding spot. Ocellus transformed into a blue jay and flew over to the white unicorn, landing on her horn.
“Oh, hello there,” Twinkleshine said.
The bird tweeted before she could see Silver Coin walk up to them.
“Twinkle,” he said, “I’ve been looking all over for you.”
“Silver.”
The blue jay wasn’t so happy to see the stallion. She gave a couple of angry tweets and even started screeching.
“I don’t think birds really like me,” Silver guessed.
The bird landed on his muzzle and looked him dead in the eye. Twinkleshine tried using her magic to move the bird away. Though, every time she did, the blue jay would always fly back to Silver.
“What’s with this bird?”
“I’m not sure.”
As they chatted, Yona and Moon Dancer could see Minuette and Lemon Hearts. They were both having trouble getting through a mess of crates that had fallen off a cart. Yona walked over to the crates that had fallen and lifted one of them up.
“Hey, kid,” the stallion who was pulling the cart.
“...Why crates light?” Yona asked.
“What do you mean?” Lemon Hearts asked, “He said they were fully loaded.”
The yak and mares looked at the stallion who realized he was caught. He ran off as Yona and Moon Dancer helped move the boxes out of the way. Once that was done, they walked over to Twinkleshine and Silver.
“Girls, good to...”
“Don’t you try to play games on us,” Minuette interrupted. “What have you been playing at for the past few months?”
Silver was tempted to run off, but Yona quickly got in his way.
“Girl’s what’s going on?” Twinkleshine asked.
“It’s Silver Coin, he has been playing with all of us,” Lemon Hearts explained. The stallion was now starting to get worried.
“What?”
“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you,” Moon Dancer said, “But this disgusting piece of flank has been using his money and silver tongue to get the better of you.”
With that, the blue jay changed its form to show it was Ocellus.
“Moon Dancer isn’t wrong,” the changeling said.
The three mares that Silver had been dating and fooling slowly walked towards him with their angry expressions. “Uh...girls,” he stuttered. “I can explain.”
“Please do,” Minuette requested.
Silver couldn’t think of a good reason to explain. He tried to run off but Yona blocked him again.
“Gross pony not going anywhere,” she said.
“No kidding,” Lemon Hearts said.
“What were you going to gain by dating three mares like us, huh?” Twinkleshine asked.
Again, Silver couldn’t think of an answer. The three mares he’d been each gave him a slap with their tails before leaving him behind.
“Girls, come on...”
“Don’t talk to us,” Moondancer ordered.
Like her friends, she whipped Silver in the face with her tail. Yona and Ocellus followed the mares, leaving Silver by himself, and ran away.
“Glad that guy’s finally stopped,” Ocellus sighed with relief.
“I can’t believe we actually like that guy,” Lemon Hearts admitted. “Sorry if we said anything bad to you Moondancer.”
“It’s fine,” Moondancer replied.
“Sorry Minuette, for saying that your co-workers raised the price for your services, I know that’s not true.”
“So do I Lemon Hearts. Forgive me what I’ve said to you.”
“I do.”
She and her friends were taken by surprise by a sudden glow. This was coming from Yona’s horns and Ocellus’s wings.
“We did it,” Ocellus happily exclaimed.
“What does that mean?” Twinkleshine asked.
“It means friends’ work done,” Yona declared.
“We should probably get back to Ponyville,” Ocellus stated. “Just wonder where Professor Pinkie is at?”
“Right here,” the pony declared.
This surprised the mares and students.
“Pinkie Pie, where’ve you been?” Moondancer asked.
“I was just wandering around town. I didn’t want to get involved in the problem considering the map chose you to solve it. I feel like if I helped out I’d be cheating. So, are you ready to go home?” Yona and Ocellus nodded. “Alright. It was great to see you four again.”
“Have a safe trip home,” Moondancer said.
The pony, yak, and changeling all walked back to the train station as they waved goodbye to the mares before getting their trip home.
The sun finally sets on the horizon with the nice orange and yellow skies of Canterlot, they arrive at the train station, and the train arrives on time. They went inside and found their seats. Ocellus sat beside Yona who’s looking outside the glass window, and Pinkie Pie sat at the other side of the aisle.
As the train starts its engine and moves along the rails, Yona’s feeling bad about what happened before the map called them. She just judged Sandbar too quickly. She knew that she’ll apologize to him for the mistake she made when she arrived at the School of Friendship. Ocellus saw her and then tried to comfort her.
“Are you okay, Yona?” Ocellus asked her.
“Yeah, Yona’s fine,” she replied.
“C’mon Yona, you can at least tell me what’s bothering you.”
Yona sighed and started speaking.
“It’s just that Yona being judgemental to Sandbar a while ago,” she said, “Yona shouldn’t have judged quickly.”
“I know that, Yona. You should think twice before you speak or judge. Professor Applejack taught us that before, remember?”
Yona nodded.
“Don’t worry, when we come back, you should apologize to him.”
“Okay.”
It was already nighttime, the train finally arrived at the Ponyville Station, and they started preparing their supplies. The train hits the breaks, the whistle blows, and the doors are open for the passengers to leave.
The moon was surrounded by hundreds of stars in the sky as Yona and Ocellus returned to the school. The yak and changeling looked around when a familiar hippogriff came flying up to them.
“You’re back!” Silverstream cheered. “So how’s the mission going?”
Ocellus could see the rest of their friends walk up to them.
“Friendship mission success,” Yona said happily.
“It involves Twilight’s old friends,” she explained. “Moondancer, Minuette, Twinkleshine, and Lemon Hearts.”
“I have no idea who they are,” Gallus admitted.
“I didn’t know Minuette was one of Princess Twilight’s old friends!” Sandbar said in shock.
“Well, there was this stallion that was dating three of them.”
“Seriously?!” Smolder questioned. “How did he pull that off?”
“Paying a lot of ponies and using his silver tongue.…”
As Ocellus explained their outing, Yona got Sandbar’s attention.
“Sandbar,” the yak said, “Yona want to say sorry for judging colt friend earlier.”
“I understand,” the colt replied. “I could only imagine that stallion being way worse.”
They two chuckled at this. It had been an interesting day, but the six students were glad things were calming down. Another friendship mission completed.