Ladybugs. Cute, harmless, helpful for protecting crops.

And a source of dread for the Princess of Friendship, all thanks to her brother’s foalhood pranks and hoaxes.

Or is that all there is to it?

Content Warning: Sleep deprived ravings of a madman

In the before times, young and newborn changelings were taken care of in nurseries by changelings whose jobs were to take care of them.

However, things have changed, and now other grown-up changelings can take care of their own young.

Ocellus, one young changeling who's spent all of her life in a nursery, will leave to be taken care of by two grown-up changelings, her actual parents. How will she cope with this change?

Turns out the School of Friendship has a swim team leader board. Turns out Smolder is a pretty good swimmer. She wants to be the best though, for a reason more complicated than simple pride.

Now with a Youtube reading!

This fic is the product of another one of Nitro Indigo's text prompts. This one: Portray a pony with Naked Foal Syndrome. It ended up morphing into brief character study on Smolder, but that’s not a bad thing for a fic to be.

Ocellus has been having some conflicting thoughts on her place at the School of Friendship. She loves her time there, and the friends she's made, but she can't help but wonder if there's anything more to it than just friendship. So she does the sensible thing and asks her guidance councilor.

Ever since Smolder revealed her affinity for the fashionable and cute to Ocellus, they've had secret tea parties where Smolder gets to indulge her interests and Ocellus gets to feel trusted. Symbiosis in action!

At their special Hearth's Warming secret tea, Ocellus notices that Smolder is acting strangely. She has no idea how deep the problem goes.

Written for Level Dasher for Jinglemas 2021

It’s vacation time! And much to the chagrin of everycreature but Ocellus, Professor Rarity has given an assignment: use your unique skills to provide a service for your friends.

Ocellus has a great idea! In order to help propagate love, her service to her friends is the chance to take a practice run at admitting their feelings to their crushes, a task made easy by her changeling magic. It’s a great idea!

Maybe.

This story takes place shortly after She’s All Yak.

Sandbar and Ocellus contemplate the nature of the changelings' main form of sustenance inside of a ring of magical fire. It's a nice bonding experience.

Ocellus has been decorating her dormroom as of late, and has heard of a Flea Market where she can pick up the bookcase she needs to complete her set. She's sure she'll get a good deal, but her friend Gallus is not so convinced.

Ocellus is about to learn one of the facts of life...

When haggling, Bring a Griffon.

EDIT: And hey! Thanks to SPANIARD KIWI for translating this fic into Spanish. You can find that translation here.

EDIT 2: Okay! Thanks to Disharmony Tree for translating this fic into Chinese! You can find that translation here!

Dragons are a lot of things. Strong. Brave. Confident.

Smolder has all of these qualities in spades. For example, she needed strength, bravery, and confidence to ask the object of her crush to visit her in the Dragon Lands.

She just didn't expect Ocellus to be such a good dragon too, or why that would be such a problem.

Edited by my dear friends FamousLastWords, Not Enough Coffee, Ice Star, Semillon, Muggonny, and MissytheAngle

Cover art by Raikohillust!

"For everything under the sun,/I owe you one." -Lights, 'I Owe You One'

Sequel 1: “Softly”
Sequel 2: "When You Know You Know"

An upcoming math exam has Gallus worried, so he asks a favor from Ocellus to help him study. However, the changeling also has a favor to ask of her friend. What could Ocellus want?

Cover art commissioned from Amy New.