//------------------------------//
// Chapter 16 
// Story: White Curse 
// by Jumpitydude 
//------------------------------//

The School of Friendship's Hearth's Warming Festival was starting, but already many of the students and faculty were enjoying themselves. Everyone there knew it would be an eventful day, but none of them predicted some of the things that would happen.





Silverstream and Smolder quickly ducked into a small room no one was in at the time.

"So Yona and Ocellus know."

"Yes."

"Does Sandbar know?"

"No."

"Are we getting him on board?"

"No. He'll probably tell Gallus."

"So he's being kept in the dark, too?"

"Yes."

"So we're ready, right?"

"Yes."

Silver Looked through the doorway to the other room, where Gallus stood, unaware of what was about to happen. "This is gonna be great! Oh! But what if Gallus finds out by reading our minds?"

Smolder shook her head. "Gallus made our "non-invasion" agreement in the first place. If he breaks it, we get to break it. And Sandbar is too honorable to even consider reading our minds without consent."

"Right. Fair point."

"By the way." Smolder suddenly looked nervous. "May I hug you?"

Silver's eyes went wide. Had anyone else asked, she would have agreed in an instant. But Smolder? "Isn't that dangerous? Us coming into contact?"

"I know, but if we don't hug too long, it shouldn't be too damaging. Besides, I learned how fast I can cover up my wounds from water contact."

"... Alright." Silver let Smolder hug her, but made it a point to let the hug last about a second before breaking off. Especially since Smolder grunted in pain. Silver glanced down at where they connected. "Eugh."

Smolder chuckled as she dragged her flames across her body to cover it. "Yeah. That wasn't very pretty."





"You okay?"

Gallus looked over to Sandbar. "Yeah. Just a bit tired."

"It's not because of what happened with Miss Starlight, is it?"

Gallus chuckled. He would be more worried about Sandbar mentioning it in a crowded room, but he had gotten in trouble with Starlight between then and now. "Yeah, she's really laying into me." No. It's not about her.

Sandbar patted the griffon on the back. "Let's hope she lets up." Then what is it?

"I'm sure she will." I've been looking into things regarding our powers.

"Just tough it out until then." Does Ocellus know? I think she'll be able to help you.

"I'd go to Ocellus for help, but she's been working with Yona." There's your answer.

Sandbar raised an eyebrow. "Working on what?"

"Something personal. They wouldn't tell me. Though I'm guessing it has something to do with the way Yona talks."

"Why?"

Gallus pinched Sandbar's ear. "Have you been listening to her? She's been talking more and more like normal each day."

"Why would she be worried about that? She can just lay down on anyone that would bully her about that, and they would be regretting their life choices."

"Beats me." Maybe in case she needs to talk while we're in disguise?

Yeah, that makes sense. "By the way, have the girls been acting... odd to you?"

Gallus raised an eyebrow. "I didn't notice anything."

"Alright. Just checking."





"For... supper... Yona... I would like... party... a party platter."

Ocellus patted Yona on the back. "You're getting there. Just a bit more."

Yona looked at Ocellus, unconvinced. "You sure? Er, are you sure?"

"I'm positive. Just a few more times, and you'll be good."

They continued to practice, trying to get Yona to a point where her speech patterns wouldn't get her recognized, until...

"AARGH!" Yona flopped back in frustration. "I'm never going to figure this out! It's impossible!"

Ocellus froze up out of shock, then started laughing.

Yona glared at her. "What's so funny"

"Yona, say that again."

"I said I'm never going to figure this out! What's so funny about that?"

"Have you ever thought of how a centipede walks with all of those legs?"

"It... just does? It's not like it actively... thinks..." Yona trailed off as she realized what she was saying. Or rather, how she was saying it.

Ocellus hugged Yona. "Once you stopped trying to force your speech patterns, the normal "pony" speech patterns came naturally. That's the point we were trying to reach."

Yona slammed herself onto Ocellus. "Thank you thank you thank you! Hahahahaha!"

Ocellus winced in pain but was happy none the less.





"Hey, Sandbar. What are you doing?"

Sandbar looked up from his textbook at the Hippogriff. "Just working on the last bit of homework before the break."

Silver giggled. "I thought it was a love letter."

"Why would I write one?" Silver, if you tell anyone about my crush, I will shred your homework.

"Maybe you have a crush on someone?"

That wasn't Silver. The colt looked up to find a few other students looking at him curiously.

"Does he? I heard rumors, but-"

"He does! Smolder said so, and they're close friends!"

Sandbar looked back at his homework. "I don't have a crush on anypony." Don't you dare point out the word I used!

I won't! I don't want my homework shredded.

One of the other students looked at Silver. "What do you think, Silver? You're just as close to them."

Silver scratched her cheek. "Well, I did hear about it from Smolder."

Pinkie Pie popped out between the cushions in true Pinkie Pie fashion. "Leave him alone, guys! He's doing his homework!"

The students were shocked, then stepped away.

Pinkie plopped herself onto the cushion right next to Sandbar, then whispered into his ear, "So, who's the lucky filly?"

"Bluh?"

Silver held up two claws. "Two things. You can't hide anything from Pinkie, and she won't tell anyone your secrets."

"Oh." Sandbar whispered into Pinkie's ear, "Changeling, actually. And I haven't asked her out yet."

Pinkie looked shocked, then winked at him with a smile. "Your secret's safe with me!" With that, she dove back into the couch cushions.

Silver pulled back the cushion her teacher dove in then scratched her head. "Uh, that's her being her, right?"

Sandbar didn't look up. "Yup."





Smolder tied off the balloon right as Yona entered the room.

"Hey, Yona! You ready to prank a Griffon?"

"Yup! I bet Gallus won't know what hit him!"

Smolder stared at the young Yak for a moment.

"What?"

"S-sorry. I knew you and Ocellus were working on something, but I didn't think it was your... method of talking."

"You might want to get used to it. Ocellus said something about it being my new 'default' way of talking."

"What's that mean?"

Yona shrugged. "No idea. Anyway, are the tools ready?"

"Yeah. Ocellus already grabbed hers, and Silver said she has something else in mind."

Both girls giggled.

"This is going to be good!"

"You can say that again."

"This is going to be good!"

Smolder laughed. "I think you still need to learn some figures of speech."

Yona tilted her head. "You can make figurines by talking?"

Smolder stared at Yona in shock.

Yona giggled. "I'm kidding. I know what a figure of speech is."

Smolder scratched her cheek. "With you, you never... know." Smolder's face turned to annoyance as she started rubbing her chest.

"Uh, are you okay?"

"Yeah. My chest is... just a bit itchy."





"Hey, Gallus!"

Gallus stopped in the hallway, then turned to the orange Earth Pony. "What is it, Professor?"

Applejack pointed up at a line of lights. "Could you get that? It came unplugged from a couple of roughhousing ponies."

Gallus entered the room. Sure enough, one end of the cord popped out of the light socket. There weren't any Unicorns or Pegasi in the room. "Wait, how did it-" That's when he noticed the stone ornament tangled up in the cord. "Oh. That's how." He untangled the ornament and grabbed the end of the cord.

"You can even do fun things like... this!"

A chill shot through his spine. His confrontation with Starlight was still fresh in his mind.

"Something wrong, sugarcube?"

Gallus smiled over his shoulder. "I-it's nothing, Professor." He flew up to the socket.

Please don't shock me. Please don't shock me. Please don't shock me.

He closed his eyes and plugged it in.

...

He opened an eye to look. Sure enough, it was plugged in. He let out a sigh of relief and let go.

The plug promptly popped out.

"Huh?"

"Hey!" Applejack looked mad. "What's the big deal?"

"Sorry!" Gallus grabbed the plug and plugged it back in. Then it popped out again. "The heck?"

His next few attempts were not any more successful.

"Come on, sugarcube!" Applejack was barely hiding her amusement. "Plug it in already!"

"It keeps unplugging itself! I don't know..." Gallus took a moment to observe his "teacher" a bit longer. "... Didn't you say you weren't able to come?"

The other students burst out laughing.

"Took you long enough." The orange mare turned into a greyish blue Changeling.

Gallus' jaw dropped. "Ocellus?"

She flew up beside him, held up the plug, then removed a small, metal disk from it. She then pulled out a similar disk from the outlet.

Gallus scratched his head. "Are those magnets?"

"Yeah," Ocellus said between chuckles. "That's why the plug wouldn't stay in."

The Griffon stared for a second, then laughed. "Okay, that was good." I'm glad you didn't shock me somehow.

Ocellus blushed and rubbed the back of her head. "I thought you'd like it." After what happened with Miss Starlight? No way.





Yona stared at the pie on the countertop. The sign said "Silverstream's. Do not touch." But it was very tempting...

She can make another one. Yona leaned forward, her maw agape. She was ready to claim the large dessert all for her-

"NO TOUCHING!"

Yona rolled sideways onto her back, legs straight up in the air.

Silver giggled nervously, then helped Yona back on her hooves. "Sorry, but I need it to be as cool as possible before I use it."

"You mean eat it?"

"No." Silver then whispered into Yona's ear.

Yona smiled. "Oh! That sounds sneaky!"

Silver giggled, then hugged the larger creature. "Thank you. For saving me from that... thing."

"Starlight?" Yona whispered.

"Yeah." Silver whispered back.

They fell silent but began passing thoughts.

What happened? Gallus was attacking you.

Starlight took control of him somehow. Something about brain waves.

Why didn't you turn to water?

I did. At first. Then Starlight did something to me that kept me from doing that.

Oof. It sounds like I came at the right time.

Silver rubbed Yona's back. You weren't too late, and that's the important part.

What about Sandbar?

He was doing something to her, but I don't think it actually hurt her much. I think he figured something out, but she did something before he could act on it.

"May I ask you something?" Off topic?

Silver raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

"Do you have a crush?"

Silver's eyes shot wide.





"HOT! Hot hot hot hot hot!"

Gallus was running around like a chicken with its head cut off. The other students in the room were laughing their heads off.

"Gallus! Quick!" Smolder pointed at the drinks, a smile plastered on her face. "Wash it down!"

Gallus grabbed a glass, held the glass over his beak, opened wide... and felt something wet on his chest. "Huh?" There was a plug in the glass designed to look like the top of the juice, and a hole in the side, causing the juice to pour onto his chest. "Aw, come on!"

Everyone was laughing at him.

"If it makes you feel better," Pinkie said as she patted him on the back, "Gilda fell for the same prank the first time I met her. Although it was a spicy vanilla lemon drop and not a spicy cupcake."

"Wait, did you set those?"

"No. I pretty clearly label which cupcakes are spicy, since I got in trouble last time I didn't."

"Then who-" Gallus stopped himself and looked at the nearby Dragon. "It was you, wasn't it?"

Smolder wiped a tear from her eye. "Okay, I can't deny the cupcake. I literally handed that to you. But that was a one in eight chance of you grabbing the dribble glass! I didn't set that for you, you just happened to be the victim!"

Pinkie tilted her head. "You've been hanging with Dashie lately, haven't you?"

"Okay, yeah. That was pretty good," Gallus said with a tinge of annoyance in his voice.

"Here." Another student (Night View, if Gallus remembered correctly) pushed a present towards him. "This should help you calm down."

Gallus smiled, opened the present... and yelped as a bunch of snakes popped out at him. It took him a moment to realize that they were fake.

The student looked at him in shock and fear. "I-I-I didn't know that would happen!"

Smolder was laughing like mad. "Oh man! This is so good!"

Gallus faced Smolder head on. "Let me guess, yours?"

Smolder nodded. "I put your name on it!"

Gallus rolled his eyes and walked away... right onto a switch that caused something to swing up and hit him in the face. Everyone laughed as they saw what happened.

"What. Is. On. My. Face?"

Pinkie was giggling as she pulled out a mirror. "Nothing too bad."

Gallus looked in the mirror, and saw what he was wearing; Groucho Marx glasses. "Oh. Okay then."

"Oh, man. You're such an easy target!"

The Griffon glared at the prankster, then tossed his glasses aside, landing them perfectly on Night View's face. "Alright, listen here! Even if I'm an easy target, I've been targeted a bit too much today." He poked her in her chest. "So how about-"

"OW!"

Gallus pulled his claw back as Smolder rubbed the place he poked.

"I'm a bit sensitive there right now."

"Right. Anyway, how about you find another target, and I find someone that won't prank me." With that, Gallus left the room.

Smolder smirked. "Good luck with that."





Ocellus was so wrapped up in the book she was reading, she hadn't noticed Silver approach her. Not until a claw tapped on her book.

"Hey, Ocellus!"

"Oh, hey, Silver. It's been a while since we've talked."

Silver sat down next to her friend. "So, how was Mount Aris?"

"It was great. Especially your family." I just wish I had timed it better.

"Yeah. I probably miss them more than anything." You aren't too bothered by that are you? It all worked out in the end.

"I can tell why." It did, but it probably would have gone more smoothly with me there.

"I can't wait to see them over the break!" Blame Smolder if you want. She was available to help but just slept through it.

"I'm sure you're excited." I do blame her, but I also feel bad about it.

At that point, Rainbow Dash flew up next to them. "I hate to interrupt, but it's really awkward to hear you girls take a second or two to respond to each other. It can be pretty attention-grabbing."

Ocellus' eyes went wide. "Um..."

"I mean, I know why you're doing it, but you probably don't want to... do that in public." With that, the mare flew off.

The two friends looked at each other, then laughed awkwardly.

"So... Why did you go to Mount Aris again?"

"Oh, the Headmare let it slip that we're going to have an essay on other cultures, so I figured I could get a head start."

"Oh. I see." Silver turned her head down toward Ocellus' book.

That, and Queen Novo mentioned someone suspicious asking for help, and I wanted to check it out.

Why did she tell you and not me?

She told Lily. I don't know why.

... I know, and I'm not happy about it.

"So..." Rainbow flew back over. "You two just... sitting now? In silence?"

Silver shrugged. "I prefer talking, but Ocellus likes silence."

"Ah. Being a good friend."

Silver nodded.

"That's fair." Rainbow flew off again.





Yona stepped into the side room the team's leader was in. "Hey, Sandbar!"

Sandbar looked over to the large creature. "Hey, Yona."

The Yak stepped towards the colt. "I need to ask. Have you felt like something about you changed since... then?"

"What do you mean? Like, personality?"

Yona shook her head. "No. No. Like, how you see or hear things."

"Oh, like... this?"

A gentle breeze suddenly blew into the room, carrying something interesting on it.

"Was her name Princess Pearl? I thought it was Platinum."

"It was Pearl alright."

"Oh, I'm done for!"

Yona looked around. The room was empty aside from the two of them. "What the heck?"

"A sister? I had no idea."

"He was really upset."

"You hear that, right?" Sandbar was smiling at Yona. "It didn't happen right away, but I've been able to hear things like this for a while now."

Yona looked up like a god was talking to her. "This is amazing."

"I think the way it works is that I'm hearing the wind flow from their mouths as they talk. It's not like I can sense the sounds themselves." Sandbar chuckled to himself in thought. "Sound control. I wonder how that would be effective."

Yona stared at Sandbar. "I think I have something similar. Sometimes I'll feel tremors in the earth or floor. I thought it was just my imagination, but it might be something similar to your power. Oh!" Yona looked down. "I felt it!"

"Because I'm tapping my hoof. I think you're able to sense when those tremors move through the earth." Sandbar looked around the ground. "That means you can tell where others are when they're walking around. That can be very useful."

The Yak was amazed. "It's weird how our powers aren't just for combat. Silver is able to read emotions with her power, and Ocellus is learning how to grow several different types of plants which have different abilities. The only exception is Smolder's powers."

"And fire itself has plenty of uses outside of combat. It's like our powers aren't just for combat. They can be used for personal defense and to help others outside of combat."

Yona smiled at Sandbar. "It's really thought-provoking."

Something in Sandbar's head clicked. "You're getting pretty... philosophical. Have you been spending too much time with Ocellus?"

Yona rubbed the back of her head. "We used our telepathy to link our minds. I think some of her mind is still in mine. However that works."

"Maybe Ocellus is the only one that really knows."

"Who do you think Sandbar loves?" Sandbar's wind was still bringing in voices.

"Is it Silver? Maybe Smolder?"

"What if it's Yona?"

Sandbar sighed. "Why do the other students keep gossiping about my love life?"

Yona bit her lip and shifted uncomfortably.

"Yona?"

"... Smolder let it slip. She told an entire classroom that you're in love."

The air in the room instantly stagnated. It felt like Yona just teleported into a room from an abandoned old mansion full of ghosts. She looked right at Sandbar. The relaxed, friendly colt suddenly bore an expression of withheld fury, ready to go insane at the drop of a hat.

"She. Said. What?"