One windy afternoon, Ocellus was in the library, about to finish up her first essay of the semester.
“Aaaaaaaand finished! I can’t wait for Professor Sunburst to read it!” Ocellus thought to herself.
Suddenly, Brony came inside the library. “Hey, ‘Cell! We’re all goin’ to Sugarcube Corner if you wanna come”
“Oh, sure! I was just finishing up my essay. I can’t wait for Sunburst to read it! I put so much work into it!”
“You’re a smart cookie, Ocellus. I’m sure he’ll give you a very good grade”
“Thank you, Brony! You’re so sweet!”
As the two stepped outside the school, the pages of Ocellus’s essay flew out of her saddlebag.
“My essay!” Ocellus cried.
“Don’t worry, ‘Cell! I’ll get it!” Brony replied as he flew off to get the pages.
Flying in such high winds was tough for Brony, but he was determined to recover Ocellus’s essay. He recovered one page from a tree, another from a bird’s nest, and another in a nearby pond. Once he recovered all the pages, he flew back to Ocellus.
“Excuse me, miss. I believe these belong to you” Brony informed.
“My essay! Oh, thank you so much, Brony! How can I ever repay you?” Ocellus cheered.
“Aw shucks! You don’t have to repay me!” Brony replied, blushing.
“No, I insist. You’ve done something kind for me, now I have to return the favor. That’s what Professor Fluttershy taught us, right?”
“I guess you have a valid point. Well, you know that test on Equestrian history we got coming up, right?”
“Yes”
“Do you think you and I could spend a couple hours studying for that test? I know it’s a pretty easy test, but I kinda…wanna…spend a bit of time…”
“You wanna hang out, is that what you’re saying?”
Brony blushed profusely to the point where he looked like a tomato. “Uh, yeah, sure”
“Sure! Just meet me in the library after dinner. Now come on! Everyone’s waiting!” Ocellus replied as she and Brony rushed to Sugarcube Corner.
After dinner, Brony went over to the library to meet Ocellus as promised.
“Hi, Brony! Why don’t you come sit with me?” Ocellus greeted as Brony went over and took his seat.
“So, do you know what we’ll be tested on?” Brony asked.
“First two chapters”
“Easy-peazy! We’ve got this in the bag!”
After about an hour and a half of studying, Brony decided that he and Ocellus should go to a nearby milkshake bar.
“Hey, ‘Cell. If you don’t mind, why don’t we go to that new milkshake bar that just opened up. They got my favorite kind of milkshake: Oreos and M&Ms!”
“Really? The sugar will keep us all night and we have class tomorrow”
“Come on, ‘Cell! I know we’re the smartest in our social group, but we gotta live a little!”
Ocellus sighed. “Oh, alright! I suppose we could reward ourselves for working hard”
After a short walk, they made it to the milkshake bar. It felt like a much trendier version of Sugarcube Corner with modern décor and a space for dancing. Once inside, Brony and Ocellus walked towards the bar and took their seats.
“Welcome to SHAKE. Here are our selections tonight. Do you know what you would like?” the waiter greeted.
“I’ll take an Oreo and M&M shake” Brony ordered.
“You have red velvet milkshakes? I’ll take one please!” Ocellus ordered.
One Oreo and M&M milkshake and one red velvet milkshake, coming right up!” the waiter replied.
“Not bad, huh?” Brony asked Ocellus.
“This place is very neat. I haven’t seen anything like this. At least, not in Ponyville” Ocellus replied.
“Yeah. When I was living in Las Pegasus, places like these were everywhere. They’ve got really nice décor too”
Soon, the waiter returned with their milkshakes. “Enjoy, you two!”
The two then began to drink their milkshakes. In just seconds, they were all gone.
“Mmm! These are the best milkshakes I’ve ever had! Thanks for the idea, Brony!” Ocellus remarked before letting out a deep, masculine belch which was very embarrassing to her.
“Oops! Pardon me! Oh dear, how very unladylike of me!”
“Eh, don’t you worry, ‘Cell! I can do one better” Brony replied before letting out a rolling belch of his own.
“Oh, so now you’re challenging me, huh? Well, let’s see if you can beat this!” Ocellus said before letting out a grand belch, which prompted a big belching contest between the two.
Soon, Ocellus shape shifted into a bear and let out a humongous belch right in Brony’s face, much to his shock.
“Ok, I can see who the winner is” Brony said as Ocellus shapeshifted back to normal, causing the two to laugh.
Suddenly, Brony noticed that the DJ was playing his favorite song, giving him the urge to dance.
“Oh my gosh! Ocellus, they’re playing my favorite song! We gotta get up and dance!” Brony cheered.
“Brony, it’s getting late and we have to go back to the school”
“Come on, ‘Cell! The night’s still young and this is a great song!”
“It’s really not. It’s a quarter to nine, but I suppose we should burn off all the sugar and calories”
After about 20 minutes of dancing, Ocellus and Brony finally left the milkshake bar and walked back to the school.
“I had a great time with you tonight, Brony. Woo, you really danced my socks off!”
“You really impressed me with your moves. We oughta do this again!”
“We should. But now, I’m feeling kinda tired. I’m ready for bed”
Brony let out a yawn. “Yeah, me too”
Once they made their way to the school, Brony and Ocellus parted for their rooms.
Once Brony went inside his dorm room, Gallus was wondering where he’s been.
“Oh, sorry I came back late. Ocellus and I were hanging out at this new milkshake bar” Brony informed.
“Oh, so you and Ocellus were on a date?” Gallus asked.
Brony blushed as he retorted. “We weren’t on a date! We just got together and hung out, which is what friends do!”
Gallus began to laugh. “But you’re blushing! Come on, Bro! You’re hiding something!”
Brony let out a sigh. “Alright, it was sort of a date. I’ve always had a crush on Ocellus, but I’m not sure if she would ever return the favor. I know she likes me, but would she be ready to take it to the next level?”
“Y’know, Brony, you kinda remind me of…me. I had that same exact thought come into my head when I first met Silverstream. She was beautiful and nice, and she still is. Took about a few get-togethers for us to confess our true feelings, at least I did anyways. I had one too many milkshakes and I got this weird thing that makes me get drunk on milkshakes, but Silverstream seemed to understand. In fact, I found out that night that she had those same feelings as well. The next day, everycreature knew! Mostly because Sil told everyone”
“What are you trying to prove exactly?”
“You gotta let things between you and Ocellus go naturally. A good relationship takes time to develop”
Brony giggled. “You sound like my mom. She would always say things like that”
“Sounds like your mom’s a haven of knowledge”
“She sure is! I wouldn’t be who I am now if I weren’t for her. Anyways, I’m really tired. I’m gonna hit the hay. Good night, Gallus!”
“Night, Brony!”
When Ocellus arrived at her dorm room, Peg was also wondering where she was.
“Oh dear, I’m sorry I got you worried. I was just out with Brony for a little while” Ocellus informed.
“That was more than ‘just a while’. What exactly were you two doing?” Peg replied.
“Well, he wanted to go to some fancy milkshake bar and dance. It was a lot of fun”
“That does sound like fun. I don’t mean to jump to conclusions right away, but do you feel that you and Brony are close?”
“Well, when Brony recovered all the pages of my essay after they flew away, I asked him if there was any way to repay him and that was when we started hanging out. We did a bit of studying before we went for dancing and milkshakes”
“Yes, but do you think that you and Brony are close?”
“He’s a very sweet guy. Snarky but lovable. He’s very fun to be around and brings a smile to my face whenever I see him. I don’t know exactly how he feels, but I wouldn’t mind starting a relationship with him” Suddenly, Ocellus belched. “Sorry, we changelings feed on love and that was a lot of love. I’m stuffed!”
“I think I got the answer to that question, but don’t make it obvious. You have to wait for things between you and him to come naturally. Just try not to get fat on love or anything. Anyways, it’s getting pretty late. We should drift off to bed”
Later that night, the sound of the wind and branches scraping the window awoke Ocellus and she started to be scared. She found Peg still sleeping and decided to sneak off to Brony’s room. She was very careful to not wake up Gallus. She snuck up to Brony and lightly prodded him a few times until he woke up.
“Ocellus, what are you doing here?” Brony whispered.
“I can’t sleep. The wind is causing the tree branches to scrape the windows and that’s unsettling to me” Ocellus replied.
“I got just the thing to help you, but we best not wake Gallus. This way”
Ocellus followed Brony to his bookshelf as he took out a small children’s book. “Whenever I had trouble sleeping at night, I always looked through this special book my mom would read to me”
Brony began reading, but as he approached the ending, both he and Ocellus fell asleep right then and there. The next morning, Gallus found them curled up next to each other.
“Aww! That’s so cute! I gotta take a picture” Gallus said as he grabbed his phone to take a picture.
Right on cue, Brony and Ocellus woke up.
“Hi, Gallus. Hope you don’t mind, but I had to comfort Ocellus last night. She couldn’t sleep because of the wind last night” Brony said.
“That’s alright. Sometimes, I keep dreaming about my life in Griffonstone and that gives me trouble sleeping at night. The weather should be better today though. Now, you two better hurry up or you’ll be late for breakfast. We’re having chocolate chip pancakes!” Gallus replied.
“Mmmm! I love chocolate chip pancakes!” Brony said as he licked his lips.
“Brony” Ocellus called.
“Yeah, ‘Cell?” Brony replied.
“I just want to thank you for everything. Taking us out for milkshakes, dancing with me, and comforting me when I can’t sleep. You’re incredibly sweet and…I could see us together for a very long time”
“Funny, because I got feelings for you too. Hope this doesn’t make you uncomfortable, but…I’ve always had a crush on you”
“Ditto”
“Wait, really?”
“Yep. You’re such a great friend and a very sweet gentlecolt. And that’s who I want in a partner” Ocellus replied before she tugged him in for a kiss.
“Now, we should probably hurry so we don’t miss breakfast. I really want chocolate chip pancakes” Brony said.
“Same here! Let’s go!” Ocellus replied before the two left the room.