Friday Night
Contrary to popular belief, particularly from Equestrians unfamiliar with the once-modest hamlet of Ponyville, the recently inducted School of Friendship wasn’t exactly a “hotspot” of activity after classes ended. Since many of the students attending the academy lived locally, only a small fraction actually lived in the dormitories on campus. While that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, especially due to how spacious and well-stocked the school was with basic amenities and luxuries expected of high-end universities, the living quarters were also quite intimidating when most of the students were gone. Hallways felt much larger, shadows appeared a bit darker, and even the slightest step could echo off the pristine crystal walls.
The sun had only just set outside, leaving the skies a deep shade of orange while the chandeliers indoors remained unlit. Aside from a few candles illuminating the halls here and there, the dorms were at their darkest until curfew in a few hours. Even though most of the students went home for the weekend, the silence was broken by the sounds of several hoofsteps traversing down the main hallway. Off in the distance, several hushed voices could be heard conversing during their walk.
“Are you sure she’s here?”
“Well, where else could she be? I doubt they’d let her sleep in any caves around here.”
“Maybe she’s at that clubhouse she and the others have by the Everfree Forest?”
“I still think that place might just be a rumor.”
“Trust me, she’s here. I saw her walk into the building with, uhhh… Oculus?”
“Ocellus, I think.”
“Yeah! That’s the one!”
Emerging from the shadows that hid a large flight of stairs, a group of four young mares trotted down the hallway. All of them were unicorns, so their horns helped to illuminate the darker parts of the halls as they chatted casually. The mare leading the way had a pristine white coat, which helped to emphasize her slender form and luscious blue mane. The three behind her had coats of pink, green and purple respectively, but they were all equally as thin and attractive in similar ways. The white mare’s horn was lit the brightest, but her powder-blue aura was for more than just lighting; since none of the four were wearing their school-issued saddlebags, she had to use her magic to make sure the gift-wrapped box was secured on her back.
“Turquoise, do you really think this’ll work?” The pink mare, who had her blonde mane tied up in a tasteful ponytail, trotted up beside the one taking the lead. “I mean… isn’t it a little soon to talk with them?”
“Psh! It’s been over two weeks, Rubellite.” Turquoise shot her friend a reassuring smirk as they walked, not even faltering a step in hesitance. “If anything, we should be more concerned if we waited too long to do this.”
The green and purple mares glanced at one another worriedly, but they could only shrug from Turquoise’s point. However, Rubellite still seemed apprehensive as she peered down the hallway ahead of them. “Besides,” continued Turquoise in a confident tone, “considering what they all went through, they probably needed some time to themselves, don’t you think?”
That got all three of them to nod begrudgingly. Although, the green mare still showed some discomfort as she winced and averted her eyes. “Yeah… hopefully they’ll be willing to hear us out.”
“Ugh! You can’t be this fidgety, Emerald.” Turquoise’s smile went away when she craned her head to stare back at her. “I told you, this plan will work! You girls just have to trust me on this.”
Despite Turquoise’s firm glare, Emerald still had to look over at the purple mare for assistance. Unfortunately, all she could do was motion back to their lead and point out, “I mean… We did go out of our way to get them this gift. It’d be rude if they rejected it, right?”
“Exactly! Thank you, Topaz.” Turquoise’s gracious smile was enough to make Topaz’s nervousness dissipate a little. The lead mare turned her attention back ahead, just as their destination came within sight. “Just remember, we’re not here to ask for anything, okay? We just wanted to drop off this present and apologize. No fuss, no muss.”
Rubellite, Emerald and Topaz all nodded affirmatively. Turquoise seemed especially confident with herself, which helped her friends to follow her without much apprehension. They soon reached the end of the hallway, where a door with two nametags were listed on the front: Smolder and Ocellus.
“See?” Turquoise motioned down to the thin beam of light that could be seen emanating from the bottom of the door. “I told you they were here.”
Turquoise floated the box off her back as she walked up to the door herself. The other three kept a respectful distance behind her, but made sure they were in view of the door’s peephole if necessary. After taking a deep breath, Turquoise kept a cheery smile and gave the door a few firm knocks with her hoof. She then took a couple steps back, waiting for a response from whomever was inside.
All four of the mares could hear some steps inside the dorm room, but it was too muffled to ascertain who it could’ve been. A couple seconds of silence passed before they heard an instantly recognizable voice.
“Who is it?”
Turquoise was the only one whose smile remained unchanged, while her friends all struggled not to cringe from how brash the dragoness sounded. The white mare made sure to keep herself front and center for the peephole as she levitated the box with her magic. “Hi, Smolder! It’s me, Turquoise! My friends and I wanted to wait until finals were finished to talk with you and Ocellus. Is that okay?”
Another awkward bout of silence passed after her question, which only intensified how wary Turquoise’s friends were feeling. Luckily for the group, they heard the metallic click of the door being unlocked from the other side. When it opened up, only the orange dragoness was standing bipedally before the group. She didn’t open the door all the way, which meant that none of the mares could see much behind Smolder. Before any of them could peek inside of her room, Smolder stepped out and closed the door behind her.
“Ummmm…” Turquoise stepped back a little more, but kept a respectful smile while they stood across from the dragon. Smolder didn’t show much emotion on her face, even when she leaned back against the door with her arms crossed over her chest. Her blue eyes narrowed on the four, obviously looking suspicious at their presence. Nevertheless, Turquoise breathed out pertly while holding the gift-wrapped box. “W-Well, ummm… It’s really nice to see you again. Is, uhhh… Is Ocellus with you?”
“No. It’s just me.”
Smolder may have been keeping her expression neutral, but her tone of voice definitely sounded annoyed. Even Turquoise’s composure faltered a little, although she tried to keep an optimistic smile compared to her friends. Smolder glanced over at the other three, whose smiles were obviously more forced than their leader. None of this seemed to change how Smolder looked, even as she returned her gaze towards Turquoise front and center. She didn’t even shoot a glance at the brightly-colored present hovering in the mare’s aura when she asked, “So, what’s this about?”
Her blunt wording wasn’t enough to fluster Turquoise, who merely breathed out in acceptance. “It’s alright, Smolder,” she said sympathetically. “Believe me, we totally get it. Finals have been tough on all of us, and… well, I don’t think I need to bring up the other things that happened. Heh heh…”
The mare’s cavalier tone didn’t seem to garner the response she and her friends had hoped for. Smolder kept a stoic pose in front of the door, while her eyes narrowed intensely on Turquoise. To her credit, her smile quickly dropped before she huffed through her nostrils. “Ummm… Alright, I… I suppose I do need to address it, don’t I?”
One of Smolder’s brows raised up while she stood silently in wait. Since it was clear she wasn’t too keen on starting conversation, it was up to Turquoise to address the elephant in the room. She closed her eyes with a stronger exhale, before staring back at Smolder guiltily. “Listen, I… I mean, we all really wanted to meet up with you before classes ended. I know we should’ve done this sooner, but… Well, we were kinda worried about bothering you guys during finals and all…”
Rubellite, Emerald and Topaz all nodded in agreement, and tried their best to smile more naturally behind their friend. Smolder remained deathly silent, but her face remained fairly blank while listening to Turquoise. The mare floated the box between herself and Smolder, and placed it on the floor so she could turn off her magic. Turquoise tried to show a sincere look as she spoke to the dragoness on her and her friends’ behalf. “But… since we’re here now, we all just wanted to say how sorry we were about the whole, you know… Cozy Glow incident.”
Just the mention of that filly’s name was enough to make Smolder’s muzzle clench tightly, exposing the tips of her fangs which poked out just below her upper lip. Turquoise’s friends had to stop themselves from reeling back from that response, trusting their friend who remained standing bravely. Luckily for all the mares, Smolder’s brief tension dissipated with a strong sigh through her nostrils. A couple plumes of smoke seeped out, but it was followed by her neutral face returning for Turquoise to see. The unicorn tried to remain calm, but she was sure that the dragoness heard her gulp.
“A-Anyways, we… we just wanted to give this to you guys as a token of our appreciation…” She reached down with a hoof, and carefully pushed the box closer towards Smolder. After pulling back, Turquoise admitted with a blush, “And… we’re all super grateful for you stopping Cozy Glow’s plans. So… enjoy?”
Smolder finally stared down at the box before her feet. She sighed silently and bent down to unwrap the box with a couple quick swipes of her claws. When she carefully opened the lid, she was greeted with the sight of a massive, beautifully decorated cake. Not only was it covered with a delicious-looking buttercream frosting, but the top of the cake featured a surprisingly detailed portrait of Smolder and her friends inside of a pink heart. Below the fondant artwork was some ornate cursive writing in black frosting, which Smolder read outloud.
“... We’re so sorry, Student Six… You’re our heroes…”
The four mares stood before Smolder with their hopeful smiles as wide as could be, eager to show how genuine their apology was. Smolder took a moment to examine the cake, and shrugged from the impressive artistry from Sugar Cube Corner. She then picked the lid of the box back up, and recovered the cake before pushing it aside. However, when she stood back up and returned her focus on the unicorns, she crossed her arms and shot them a surprisingly menacing stare.
“... Sorry about what?”
Turquoise and her friends’ smiles quickly depleted, as they all grew varying looks of confusion and worry. After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, Topaz was the first one to ask, “... Uhhhh… W-What?”
“Sorry. About. What?”
The bitterness in Smolder’s voice also showed on her face, as she was no longer able to hide her glare on the ponies. Turquoise’s friends reeled back in fear, nearly touching the wall with shared looks of intimidation. Only Turquoise herself remained in place, but even she was unsure how to respond to Smolder’s question. She turned to stare back at the others, which gave the dragoness enough time to clarify herself in a miffed-sounding tone.
“Because there’s a lot of things I think are deserving of an apology from you girls. And I’m not exactly in the mood to have you brush them all under one ‘Sorry’ without acknowledging them.”
Now the mares were really looking worried. Turquoise bit her lip for a second, but was able to exhale softly and acknowledge Smolder’s point with a raised hoof. “O-Okay, ummm… You know what? You make a valid point there. A-And you… you do deserve to hear it directly…” She quickly looked back at her friends with a wide-eyed, frantic stare that she hoped Smolder didn’t see. “Right, girls?”
Rubellite, Topaz and Emerald instantly nodded their heads and blurted a round of “Yeahs” without hesitance.
While Smolder stood in wait with her glare unchanged, Turquoise was the first to say to her, “We’re… We’re really sorry for not listening to you guys sooner. A-And we… we shouldn’t have blindly believed what Cozy Glow was saying about you.”
“Yeah!” added Rubellite with a guilty nod of her own. “W-We were just scared, but… We also acted really stupid and… a-and ignorant…”
Topaz and Emerald nodded with shameful looks, with the former pointing out, “We should’ve been more inclusive to you guys from the beginning… And we know how badly we screwed up by not doing so.”
“A-And we totally understand why you’re mad at us!” said Emerald, who kept a hoof raised to ensure there was some distance between them. “I know it might be too late to change what happened in the past, but… We were really hoping to start things anew.”
“That’s right…” Turquoise muzzle may have been skewed from the dragoness’ unchanging stare, but she managed to keep herself in check and speak from the heart. “Smolder, we were… we were total idiots, okay? We’re able to admit that. But… But all we’re asking is a chance to set things right.”
Smolder’s eyes slowly gazed across the four mares, who were all trying to give her hopeful smiles in accompaniment to Turquoise’s point. For a moment, it seemed that her apology had left an impact when Smolder’s muzzle became less clenched. In fact, all four of them relaxed quite a bit when her fangs disappeared behind her lips once more. Turquoise used that moment to show a more natural smile when she added, “It’s just like what Princess Twilight said in class: ‘The only thing more difficult than showing atonement is seeking forgiveness. But if you’re willing to accept both as sincere, it could lead to the strongest friendships of all.’”
The dragoness took another moment to process that quote, which she indeed remembered Twilight saying during class a month ago. The lesson definitely carried a lot of merit, especially with Twilight bringing up personal examples of looking at past mistakes and learning from them. Smolder understood the importance of forgiveness, at least in an Equestrian society; however, she remained silent while scanning the unicorns and seeing their wistful smiles back at her.
“... You know what?” Smolder tilted her head with her brows raised, revealing a less hostile look for Turquoise and her friends to see. “You’re right. It’s important to accept forgiveness and atonement when it’s sincere.”
All of their faces lit up in excitement and relief. “Oh, thank you so much, Smolder!” Turquoise leaned in with both hooves extended for a hug. “I’m so glad we--”
Before she could make contact with her, the unicorn was stopped by a claw that went out and pressed against her face. Smolder defensively held out her arm to keep Turquoise at bay, with only her palm making contact with the bridge of the mare’s snout. The other three gasped silently while frozen in shock, their eyes practically bulging out of their skulls. Smolder’s glare returned with great intensity as she stared Turquoise down. “I said… When. It’s. Sincere.”
She quickly pulled her claw away, allowing Turquoise to stumble back and rub her nose. “W-What the… What’s wrong with you?!” She immediately got pissed when she glared back at Smolder, looking like the dragoness just punched her in the face. Smolder didn’t look the slightest bit intimidated, or even surprised by the mare’s immediate change in tone. “Sweet Celestia, we… we went through ALL this effort to get you a cake and apologize for what we did! And this is how you act?!”
“Turquoise?” Rubellite was still frozen in place when she tried to whisper to her friend, “W-We promised to be nice.”
“Don’t poke the bear,” added Topaz hastily. “Don’t. Poke. The b--”
“Don’t say that!” Emerald nudged the purple mare sharply and hissed, “It might offend her.”
“Ugh…” Smolder just rolled her eyes in annoyance, and turned around to reopen her door. She left the box on the floor as she returned to her dorm room without another word. Before she could close the door behind her, a very upset Turquoise lunged in with her horn brightly lit.
“WAIT A MINUTE!!!” She grabbed hold of the door before the dragoness could slam it shut. Her magic wasn’t strong enough to counteract Smolder’s strength and throw it open; but as she grunted with a strained grimace on her face, she managed to keep a sizeable gap as she pushed with all of her aura’s might. “Nnnnnghhhhh!!! S… Smolder, you… Y-You can’t just walk away when we’re being nice to you!”
None of her friends tried to assist in Turquoise’s efforts, and just watched with hesitant expressions hidden behind their hooves. Despite how strenuously the unicorn tried to pry open the door, nothing could be heard from Smolder’s end on the other side. In fact, they all could see one of the dragoness’ arms reaching out to grab something nearby, indicating that she was holding the door in place with a single claw. That only made Turquoise even angrier, and her horn grew brighter as she pushed forward. “NNNNNGHHHHH!!!”
The door began to open up a little bit, which made the mare grin to herself as she tried to push her hooves forward. But alas, before she could think she was making some genuine effort, it was revealed that Smolder was opening the door herself without breaking a sweat. She returned to the hallway without question, starting Turquoise enough for her horn’s magic to dissipate when she paused in place. The dragoness used that moment to close the door behind her once more, which further confused the four unicorns. The only difference was that this time around, it seemed that Smolder had something hidden behind her back.
“Alright then…” Smolder kept a dominant, bipedal stance before the mares while keeping a stern look on her face. Turquoise still looked rightfully miffed, but she was pulled back by her friends before she could try anything too hasty. The dragoness didn’t try to advance towards the group by any means, and remained in place when she spoke firmly. “You girls seem pretty remorseful for how you treated me and my friends during the Cozy Glow stuff. And for all I know, maybe you do regret how you acted that day. However…”
That was when Smolder revealed what was behind her back. In her claw was a thick, rectangular device that made all four of the mares freeze up with their eyes wide, and their pupils shrunken to the size of pin-pricks. Meanwhile, Smolder kept a deadfaced glare as she held the tape recorder for all of them to see. “... your little ‘apology’ doesn’t acknowledge the things you’ve said behind our backs.”
Turquoise had her muzzle agape as she narrowed her eyes on Smolder, while her friends all glanced at one another with knowing looks of fear. Before any of them could try to ask what the dragoness meant, they heard the distinct click of the play button before some very familiar voices came through the speaker.
“... hahahahahahahaha!”
“Ohmigosh, did you see that hippogriff in the grand hall this morning?! What a loser!”
“Yeah, who the buck acts like that about a flight of stairs? It’s like she has mental issues or something!”
“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!”
“Who knows? Maybe she does! She spent her whole life underwater, so maybe she didn’t get enough oxygen to her brain!”
“I bet Twilight accepted her to the school as a favor or something.”
“Ugh, and to think my sister probably didn’t get in because of that bitch…”
All four of their faces paled in an instant, and were deathly silent when Smolder pressed the pause button. Her glare was showing full-force, with her muzzle tightly clenched to reveal her fangs once more. Turquoise and the others could see the faint white plumes of smoke coming from her nostrils, which was more than enough to make them step back against the adjacent wall. None of them tried to say a word about those recorded statements, mostly because it would instantly identify them as the ones who said those cruel remarks.
“Hmmmm… Interesting you didn’t apologize for that, huh?”
Smolder pressed the fast-forward button of the recorder, which sped through some of the girls’ dialogue with high-pitch gibberish. While the tape went forward a couple minutes, Turquoise tried to speak up through her rapid breaths. “W… W-Wait a minute! Di… D-Did you RECORD us?!”
“Only in public spaces where it’s legal. Besides, what are you gonna do? Tell Princess Twilight that I have a recording of you calling my friend and an Ambassador of Mount Aris a bitch?”
Any furious glare Turquoise tried to give instantly depleted, as she quickly looked as scared as the mares behind her. Nevertheless, Smolder stopped fast-forwarding so she could play another candid clip from the group.
“Oh man, Sandbar is such a little creep! Did you see how he was staring at that yak at lunch?”
“It’s such a shame too! I would’ve considered asking him out if he wasn’t drooling like a total spaz!”
“You think he has some weird fetish or something?”
“Oh, definitely! I mean, who in Equestria would find that thing hot?!”
“Apparently HE does.”
“Hehehehehehe!!”
“Well, what do you expect? He’s the only one stupid enough to hang with those freaks.”
“Eh, I’m willing to bet he’s being paid by the Princesses or something.”
Another click of the device ended the group’s “banter,” leaving only a deathly silence that left the group stunned speechless. There was no doubt that they were the ones who said those things, which left them right in the line of fire for Smolder’s wrath. If looks could kill, the dragoness likely would’ve inflicted some major damage from how intensely she was staring them all down. Turquoise’s muzzle was wide-open, but she wasn’t able to utter a peep in response to what had been recorded. However, Topaz’s mouth trembled a little when she tried to ask in a faint creak, “H… H-How long were you recording us?”
“Oh, I wasn’t the one who recorded these,” stated Smolder coldly. “Let’s just say one of my so-called ‘freak’ friends had to be careful about who to trust in this school. Oh! Speaking of which…”
Smolder pressed the fast-forward button again to speed up the recording a couple seconds. Rubellite and Emerald looked like they wanted to run away, but their hooves were firmly planted in place while their knees wobbled in growing dread. Topaz looked like she wanted to cry as she hung her head in shame. The only one who tried to look defensive was Turquoise, who shot a nasty glare back at the dragon when she asked, “W… W-What gives you the right to intrude on our privacy, huh?! W-What do you think the teachers would say?!”
“I dunno,” said Smolder with a shrug as she got to her desired section of the tape. “What would they say?”
As soon as the recording resumed with another click, all of their faces dropped like a bag of bricks.
“HAHAHAHAHAHA!! That speech was soooooo lame!”
“I know! ‘Durrrrr, I’m so happy to be myself!’ Jeeze, talk about being an attention-whore!”
“Well, what do you expect? Being a whore is basically in Changeling anatomy!”
“Hahahahahahahaha!”
“And what was with her claiming to be non-binary?! Like, you could at least pretend to be normal!”
“You just know she wanted to be the center of attention that day. ‘Daww, I wanna be called they or them from now on.’ PSH~ If anything, she should just be called an IT!”
“HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Oh my gosh, we SHOULD!”
“O-O-OKAY, OKAY!” Turquoise tried to speak up and stop Smolder from playing any more of that damning footage. The dragoness sped through the tape some more, and stared the mare down with her head tilted in wait. Given how badly her muzzle was twitching, it was unclear whether the unicorn was about to cry or blast Smolder with her magic. But since all of her friends were averting their eyes from the livid dragoness, it was up to her to speak on their behalf. “Alright! Y-You made your point, okay?! W-We promise we’ll leave you alo--”
Another click of the player stopped her plea in an instant, as she was interrupted by her own voice coming through the speaker again.
“Okay, so… did you girls hear about that little ‘clubhouse’ those guys have in the Everfree Forest?”
“Ugh, Turquoise, come on! There’s no way any of us could get out there and find it!”
“Well, maybe not ourselves, but… there’s always a chance we could talk with one of them to get access to it~”
“Pbbt! What, you expect us to pretend to like those freaks? Sandbar might be stupid enough to befriend them, but we have dignity!”
“Well, think about it! Most of them are in close ties with Royalty in their countries, so they probably have some expensive shit we could snag behind their backs.”
“Ugh, get real, Turquoise! They probably just hang out there by themselves because they’re too weird to hang around the school.”
“Well, that doesn’t mean they can’t have things! Besides, if we got caught, we could just claim they stole it from us! Who are the cops gonna believe: a bunch of honor students, or some gryphon who probably has a criminal record?”
“Yeah, that’s a good point, actually.”
“But they’re probably still pissed about everyone taking Cozy Glow’s side. I think it’s too late to talk with them.”
“Not if we try using one of Twilight's stupid ‘friendship lessons’ against them! All we have to do is buy a cake and hash out some bullshit apology to get on their good side. Then, we can try to get to that clubhouse and chip some of the crystals off the walls.”
All while the recording continued to play, all four of the mares looked like they wanted to die in that instant. But alas, none of their gaping muzzles could say a word to counteract their own voices on the tape.
“Okay then, who could we try talking to? I know you wanna avoid that yak like the plague.”
“Well, can you blame me? She smells like a wet dog!”
“I guess that means Sandbar isn’t an option, huh? I swear, he’s practically attached to that thing’s hip!”
“How about that Gallus guy? He might be scary, but he’s kinda hot.”
“Nah, I think he caught me cheating off his exam yesterday for the math final. I’d rather avoid that dork as much as we can.”
“Wait, you cheated off him too?”
“Okay then. Hmmmm… Well, Silverstream might be an option, but she’s been too buddy-buddy with the teachers recently. She might be basically retarded, but it’s too risky.”
“Alright, so… that just leaves the bug-thing and that lizard dyke.”
-CLICK-
Smolder stared Turquoise down like she wanted to murder her right there and then. The unicorn’s head was hung so low that her muzzle was practically touching the floor. All of her friends were reeling back from her, half-expecting for Smolder to use her flame-breath to immolate her in the middle of the hall. Turquoise could be heard breathing heavily, nearly hyperventilating as she struggled to speak in a meager voice. “... I… I didn’t… I didn’t mean to--”
Smolder pressed the rewind button for a split-second, but the high-pitched gibberish was replaced with Turquoise’s voice when she pressed play again.
-CLICK-CLICK-
“--that lizard dyke.”
Smolder pressed rewind again, starting a constant repetition of Turquoise’s words with the press of a few buttons back to back.
-CLICK-CLICK-
“--that lizard dyke.”
-CLICK-CLICK-
“--that lizard dyke.”
-CLICK-CLICK-
“-lizard dy--”
“OKAY!!! STOP IT, JUST FUCKING STOP IT!!!”
Much to Turquoise and her friends’ surprise, Smolder actually stopped replaying that slur after the mare’s outburst. Turquoise had her face covered with a hoof, but her overwhelming guilt and shame was still plastered clear as day behind it. None of her friends even tried to defend her, since all of them were just as fearful as they hung their heads to avoid Smolder’s glare. Meanwhile, Turquoise could be heard sniffling as she struggled not to cry. “O… O-Okay, Smolder… W-We get it… I’m sorry.”
“No… No you’re not.”
Smolder took a couple steps forward, which caused the three mares behind Turquoise to yelp and stumble with their backs against the wall. Before their leader could try and do the same, she gasped when she was met face-to-face with the furious dragoness. Smolder’s muzzle nearly resembled a hookah with how much smoke was stemming through her nostrils. It was almost a shock that Turquoise or the others hadn’t pissed themselves from the intimidation they felt in that moment; but since all of them were too stunned to speak, Smolder took her time as she talked down to Turquoise in an articulately livid tone.
“Let me make this clear to you and your little lackey friends. You’re NOT sorry about what you did. Even now, with the recordings I have of you all saying those horrible things, you’re not actually ‘sorry’ about what you said. All you’re sorry about is being caught. That’s not the same as showing remorse for your behavior, and you know it.”
She held up the tape player for Turquoise and the others to see, and made sure to add, “And just for the record, I have multiple copies of this tape. I’m not going to make any threats, because unlike any of you, I’M not stupid enough to have anything I say used against me. But you better believe me when I say I’m NOT afraid to show these to Twilight Sparkle, the EEA, andany future colleges you dumbasses try to apply to. Heck, you should be grateful I hadn’t shown this to Starlight Glimmer already.”
All four of them were staring at Smolder wide-eyed, and looking like they were going to cry with tears bulbing at the corners. But with the pissed-off dragon looming over them with such nasty blackmail in her claw, they were rightfully petrified in pure, unadulterated fear. Smolder could’ve easily kicked their asses in that moment, or at least chase them down the hallway with a fireball strong enough to singe their manes off their heads. But instead, she decided to take the nonviolent route as she leaned in close to Turquoise’s face, her burning gaze unblinking as she got less than an inch from the mare’s teary gaze.
“I am giving you a single warning. You and your shit-head friends are going to take that cake, and walk out of this building right now. And if any of you even try to talk with me or my friends, I promise you that expulsion will be the least of your problems. Do. You. Understand. Me?”
The unicorn may have been frozen in place, but her head was able to move enough to give Smolder a frantic nod in silence.
“GOOD.” Smolder stepped back from the ponies, and made sure to return their gift with a swift kick to the cake box. She could hear the muffled splat of the dessert inside as it hit Turquoise’s trembling hooves. But since none of the mares seemed too worried about their cake being ruined, Smolder just pointed a claw back down the hallway where they came from. “Now get the FUCK out of here!”
One of them lit up their horn to snag the box, and they all barrelled away like the building was on fire. Smolder stood in place and watched the group scurry away, the sound of their hooves echoing off the crystal walls. She could hear the four galloping down the stairs for quite a while, until an eventual slam of the dormitory doors being thrown open to make their escape. As soon as she was met with nothing but silence, Smolder closed her eyes and sighed deeply.
“Ughhhhhh…” The dragoness covered their face with a claw, cringing hard from how horribly that whole interaction became. They needed a minute to control their breathing, until their anger subsided enough to stop pluming smoke through their snout. Smolder eventually put down their claw and leaned their head back, keeping their eyes closed before letting out one final exhale. Since nobody else seemed to be around to overhear everything that was said, Smolder was able to mutter to themself, “Gods… I really hope that wasn’t too far…”
The dragoness reentered the dorm room, slamming the door behind them harshly. Unfortunately, the room wasn’t completely silent while the student stood alone. A thin beam of light could be seen across the room, which came through the gap between the bathroom door and the carpeted floor. And behind that closed door, the sound of muffled sobbing could be heard faintly enough to make the dragon wince.
“Ugh… It’s the right thing,” they said to themself while pinching the bridge of their snout with a claw. Even though it hurt to hear their friend in that state, it was enough to make them speak more confidently to themself. “... You did the right thing…”
After putting their claw back down, they slowly walked across the dorm room towards the bathroom door. As the dragoness stepped across the carpet, a bright gust of green flames emanated from the bottom of their bare feet. But unlike the flames expected of a dragon, the floor wasn’t melted at all when the student returned to their regular form.
The door to the bathroom slowly opened, as Ocellus peered inside with a worried look on their face. The real Smolder, who was thankfully unable to hear any of the things said out in the hall, was still hunched in the empty bathtub by herself. Her eyes were a deep shade of red, while her cheeks were glossy from the tears that had spilled not too long ago. She didn’t turn around to face the changeling at the doorway, but she sniffled a little before speaking in a weak whimper.
“Are… Are they gone?”
“It’s alright, I took care of it...” Ocellus didn’t hesitate to hop into the tub, and hugged their friend tightly from behind. They closed their eyes while their chin rested against Smolder’s shoulder, and their hooves wrapped securely around the dragon’s midsection. Smolder shut her eyes as well, and clung to Ocellus’ hooves as she struggled not to cry again. Luckily, she was able to breathe out shakily while locked in the changeling’s embrace. “Don’t worry,” they whispered tenderly, before planting a kiss on the dragon’s cheek. “I promise you, they’re not going to bother us anymore.”
“T-Thank you…” Smolder winced shamefully from how weak she felt in that moment, but she still held on to Ocellus tightly as a couple more tears streamed down her face. She tried not to sob openly, but she knew her friend had already seen enough earlier that afternoon. Neither of them said anything for a few minutes, and just savored each other’s warmth while alone in the bathroom. However, Smolder couldn’t help asking after a light sniff, “H-Hey, you… you didn’t like… kill them, did you?”
“PBBT!~” Despite the sensitive mood of their friend, Ocellus had to cover their muzzle with a hoof to keep from laughing at that assumption. “Excuse me?!” Fortunately for Smolder, Ocellus didn’t sound too offended when they gave their friend a light smack to the shoulder. “Oh, come on! You should know me better than that!”
“Y-Yeah, I know. It was just a joke, I swear…” Smolder huffed with a weak smile of her own, and wiped her cheeks with a claw. “Sorry, I just… I know how pissed off you were about them…”
“Well, can you blame me?” Ocellus’ muzzle wrinkled a little as they closed their eyes and breathed out hoarsely. But after that quick huff, they held Smolder a little tighter and said, “But still… I’m just glad you didn’t have to face them yourself.”
“Y… Y-Yeah…”
Smolder couldn’t even try to speak defensively on that point, since it was clear as day how hurt she felt about those mares. She closed her eyes with a bitter sigh, and leaned back to press up against her friend’s chest. As Ocellus held her tenderly, they smiled to themself when they sensed the clear auras of love and appreciation wafting off the dragon’s emotions. After leaning in to nuzzle her cheek, Ocellus tried to ask her, “So… are you sure you don’t want me to shape-shift into something else? I mean, I could give you a literal bear-hug right now.”
“No, it’s okay…” After taking a breath and pulling away for a second, Smolder turned herself around to face them directly. She gave Ocellus a gracious, albeit teary-eyed smile. “All I want is you…”
Ocellus tried not to tear up while smiling back at her. The two hugged each other with all their might as they let that tender moment last. After several minutes of blissful silence, Ocellus was the first to say something to help lighten the mood.
“Ughhh… I really hate to say this, but… Now I’m really craving some cake.”
“Hehehehe! H-Honestly, me too…”
The End
