Everycreature in class was staring at Smolder. By now, she was used to it; being a dragon in Equestria, she always tended to draw attention to herself. It was a weird sight for sure, even after everypony had gotten used to Spike. But this time, it wasn't for being a dragon. This time, it was something more embarrassing.
Silence. Everycreature watched as Smolder got up and pulled the whoopee cushion out from under her. Gallus was clearly trying to hold back a laugh, though he wasn't the only one; so was Ocellus.
As embarrassing as it was, Smolder could still take a joke. She started laughing, the rest of the class following her until Twilight shushed them.
Smolder sat back down, though she wasn't quite paying attention to the class. Rather, she was paying attention to Ocellus.
Smolder bit into her peridot sandwich and tossed a few quartz chips into her mouth. "Quiet!" Ocellus whispered next to her. "You'll scare the birds!"
"Sorry, I'll try eating my rocks more quietly." Smolder rolled her eyes as she set her lunch down. Ocellus had invited her birdwatching, and while she didn't quite understand the appeal, there was no way Smolder was going to turn down more time with Ocellus. Still, there was no way she was gonna spend her lunch period looking at birds, especially not when the most interesting flying creature was just to the left of her. She snuck a glance at Ocellus, taking note of the way the sunlight flowed through her translucent frill, adding a beautiful pink to the small changeling's shadow.
"Smolder!" Ocellus exclaimed, causing the dragon to snap back at attention. Fortunately, she wasn't scolding her for staring at her; she was bringing her attention to a red bird. "Quick, put on your binoculars!!"
Smolder did as instructed. "Huh," she said, zooming in on the bird. "Seems to be some sort of cardinal."
"Well, write that down! It's Cardinalis phoeniceus!" Smolder set her binoculars down to write an approximation of whatever Ocellus had just told her...only to be interrupted by laughter. She looked up to see Ocellus laughing uncontrollably, pointing at her face.
"...Cel?" Smolder asked. "You okay?" Ocellus answered by showing Smolder her reflection in the mirror, two black circles surrounding her eyes. "...heh, I, I guess you got me...did you put the whoopee cushion on my chair, too?" Ocellus nodded, still laughing. "Huh! Never thought pranks were your style!"
Ocellus looked like she wanted to say something but was overcome with laughter. Smolder got up and left her to it.
Once class was over, Smolder went on her way back to the dorms, ready for another afternoon of ignoring her homework. How could she focus on something as pointless as homework when she still needed to figure out how to confess her feelings to Ocellus?! At some point, she had to tell her...
...wait, why what her door already open?
Smolder almost opened it, then stopped herself. She'd seen doors open at this angle before. Once, when Gallus was late to Loyalty class, Professor Dash opened the door at this exact angle and rested a bucket of water on top. When Gallus came in, the bucket landed right on his head, soaking him. She stood back, opening the door with her tail. Sure enough, a bucket of water fell onto the floor.
This was a step too far. Not the prank, the prank was fine. Smolder was more focused on the door. How had Ocellus been able to unlock it?! What else had she done while in her room?! She quickly rushed inside to make sure everything was still in place, though knowing Ocellus was a changeling, that didn't ease her fears at all. Ocellus could still have snooped around, looked around in her closet, read her journal...
Smolder shut and locked her door, then blocked it with her desk. She slipped into her bed, rolling herself up tight in the covers. This was...why?! Why would Ocellus do this?! She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to calm herself down, justify Ocellus' actions. Maybe she just didn't know this sort of thing would be so terrifying? But she's a changeling, surely she understood the value of privacy. Ocellus wasn't at all malicious, though, she'd never take a chance to rifle through Smolder's belongings...then again, she'd never pull a prank on her own, either.
The next day, Smolder had finally calmed down. She sat down for her first class of the day...only to fall victim to a whoopee cushion once again. She didn't have any sort of reaction to it, though; she just picked up the whoopee cushion and nonchalantly flung it away, hitting a cackling Ocellus in the face with it.
At lunch, Ocellus approached Smolder and asked, "Hay, Smolder, do you want to--"
"No," Smolder cut her off curtly.
"...eat together...by the pond?" Ocellus smiled nervously.
"Not interested." Smolder took a loud bite of her sandwich.
"...oh...o-okay..." Ocellus walked away, hanging her head down.
After school, Ocellus offered Smolder some gum. Smolder accepted, only to be shocked by the gum. Ocellus burst out laughing.
This was the last straw.
"Ocellus," Smolder said sternly. Ocellus just kept laughing. "OCELLUS!!" she shouted, finally losing her temper. Ocellus stopped laughing, now looking scared.
"W-what...?" Ocellus asked, shaking.
"STOP with these PRANKS!!" Smolder yelled. "It's NOT funny anymore! ESPECIALLY not after you BROKE INTO MY ROOM!!! In fact...don't ever talk to me again! Don't even LOOK at me again! This friendship is OVER!" With that, she stormed off, flying back to the dorms, leaving behind a crying Ocellus.
Smolder heard a knock at her door. She got up and opened it, only to see Ocellus.
"H-hay, Smolder, I--"
Smolder slammed the door shut in her face.
"S-Smolder, wait!" Ocellus cried out. "I-I'm sorry! I'm sorry for pranking you!" Smolder opened the door a crack. "L-look, I..." Ocellus took a deep breath, then sighed. "Before Thorax took over, if two changelings wanted to mate, the Queen wouldn't allow it unless they absolutely hated each other. S-so, they would torment each other to the point that they couldn't stand each other. A-and now, w-with the new Kingdom, c-changelings continue this tradition t-through, through prank wars..."
Smolder opened the door slowly. "...are you..." She blushed ever so slightly. "...are you saying..."
Ocellus nodded. "I...I'm in love with you, Smolder..."
Smolder's blush increased in intensity, nearly turning her face a bright cherry red. "I-I...I'm in love with you, too, Cel..."
Ocellus smiled softly, stepping into Smolder's room. Smolder allowed this.
"...but," she began, "since you subjected me to your mating ritual, I think it's only fair I return the favor." Smolder smirked.
"What do you--" Before Ocellus could finish her sentence, Smolder had scooped her up into her arms and roughly tossed her onto the floor before entering a defensive stance in front of her. "What...is this?" Ocellus asked.
"You're my treasure now," Smolder answered. "Normally there's a fight before this to see who has to be the treasure, but I think your pranks were more than enough." She smirked. Ocellus giggled in response.
"...you're my treasure too, Smolder."
