//------------------------------// // THAT Kind of 'It'?! // Story: Wait, What Kind of 'It'? // by Trinary //------------------------------// This story is a sequel to: “Midnight Rendezvous” by RainbowDoubleDash (https://www.fimfiction.net/story/450191/midnight-rendezvous), itself a sequel to “We Finally Did It” by Rated Ponystar (https://www.fimfiction.net/story/450156/we-finally-did-it). “So, think you’re ready to tell them?” Despite her light tone, Smolder’s simple question, was enough to send a shiver through Ocellus’ carapace. “I—I think so?” The young dragon sighed, patting Ocellus’ head fondly. “This isn’t a test, you know. If you don’t want to—” “I do! It’s just…” Ocellus nestled up next to Smolder, resting her head against her side and enjoying the warmth of her scales. “How will they react after … you know, yesterday with Sandbar and Yona?” Smolder didn’t answer right away, instead drumming her claws her claws gently along Ocellus’ elytra. Just yesterday, Sandbar had made waves in their small group after announcing that he and Yona had done it. There was amazement, shock, embarrassment, concern and no little confusion. Especially for Sandbar, who couldn’t understand why his proud announcement that the two had finally mastered their dance routine had somehow been taken the wrong way. But it had gotten Ocellus thinking so that night, she and Smolder had decided to do the form of it that didn’t involve dance routines. “Okay, so maybe it’ll be a bit weird. But you aren’t great with handling secrets and the longer this gets stretched out, the weirder it’ll be. Besides, once it’s out there, it’s done. We don’t have to tell anycreature else, and if Gallus gives us any lip I can always set his tail on fire.” Ocellus gasped. “Smolder! That’s not—oh, wait, you’re joking, aren’t you?” She giggled, untensing. Smolder opened her mouth to correct her, then thought better of it. Ocellus nuzzled her. “Thank you, I needed that. So, um, how do we…?” “Bring it up?” Smolder shrugged again. “Eh, let’s just see how the conversation goes. We don’t have to go in making some big announcement of it. If not now, we can always mention it later, after the study session.” She poked Ocellus’ school bag. “Especially if you want to show off that new book of yours…” As she expected, talking about Ocellus’ new prize was enough to get her eyes to light up with glee. “Come on, let’s go show them!” Ocellus opened the doors and flew into the library, Smolder following right behind. The hallowed halls of the School of Friendship library were considered sacred grounds—at least, to its headmare and possibly Ocellus. To the students using it for study hall, it was the ideal place for group study sessions which were often the key to their ability to pass. Or, as the case may be, the ideal place for them to gripe and grouse about the workload: a venting strategy that was arguably no less the key to their ability to pass; or at least their ability to stay sane. Ocellus and Smolder found the rest of their friends at a table that was already laden with textbooks, notebooks, quills and paper strewn about in a semi-chaotic manner. There was even a portable chalkboard on wheels covered with diagrams pulled up alongside it. “Hey guys!” Smolder waved, drawing their attention as she and Ocellus landed. Gallus rubbed his eyes. “Well, look who finally made it. Glad you decided to join us. What, did you sleep in today?” That simple teasing was close enough to the mark to make both of them blush. “I, we—I got in late after a walk and woke Smolder up and—” Smolder stepped in front of her. “Ocellus got a new book this morning and wanted to pick that up first, then we got to talking. So yeah, we’re late. Sue us.” She crossed her arms and snorted. Before Gallus could say anything else, Silverstream was already hovering over them with her usual look of gleeful excitement. “A new book? You gotta show us! What’s it about?” Ocellus’ discomfort was washed away now that she could gush about her other great love. Snatching the book from her bag, she held it aloft with the kind of pride Smolder showed for only the greatest treasures in her hoard. “It’s the new version of the professors’ old Friendship Journal, now updated and turned into a textbook!” She buzzed her wings and chirped happily, rubbing her cheek against the spine. “Nine glorious chapters and two hundred-twenty two lessons, plus several special entries and there’s even talk of a supplementary tenth chapter coming out separately!” She hugged it tightly to her chest. “It’s the perfect book for class!” “Whoa, that sounds so cool!” Sandbar’s eyes lit up. “Such a bookworm,” Gallus chuckled, his tail swishing lazily. “You and Smolder have been rubbing off on each other. I swear, any moment she’s going to start nibbling at it like a dragon with a ruby.” Ocellus pouted and let out an audible hmmph. “I would never damage my book,” she mumbled sulkily, soothing herself by stroking the spine. Smolder cracked a knuckle in what passed for a subtle warning—for a dragon. “Okay, come on. Let’s get this study session on the road.” “Speak for yourself. We’ve already been here for half an hour.” Gallus looked at his own book and glowered at it. “I give up. I swear, I’ve read this section five times already!” Sandbar leaned over to look at what he was reading. “Oh, you’re doing a report on Professor Fluttershy’s lessons? Nah, they’re totally different! See, that one is about her learning to stand up for herself, even against her friends, when it came to the vampire fruit bats at Sweet Apple Acres. This one is about her learning to stand up for herself, even against her friends, when it came to building Sweet Feather Sanctuary. And this one…” Gallus rolled his eyes, resting his head in his claws. “Oh yeah, those are totally different.” Sandbar beamed. “Glad to be of help!” He patted his friend on the shoulder before turning back to his own book, completely missing the look Gallus and half the table was throwing his way. “They are tossing a lot of assignments at us lately,” Smolder noted with a sigh as she sat down. “Most of them aren’t too long or anything it’s … ugh. It’s like being nibbled to death by—by—what were those animals Professor Fluttershy brought in last week? The ones with feathers, long bills, webbed feet, went ‘quack’?” “Cats!” Silverstream excitedly tossed out before any othercreature could. “It’s cats!” “Right, cats,” Smolder nodded. “Thanks. It’s like being nibbled to death by cats.” Ocellus looked up from her studies and was about to correct her when Gallus groaned and went completely limp, planting his face firmly into his book. “If any of you have any mercy at all, you’ll slam the book closed with my head still in it.” “Oooh, are you trying to learn by osmosis? That’s so neat!” Silverstream chirruped. “I didn’t know griffons could do that!” “They can’t,” Smolder smirked as she prodded him with an outstretched claw. “Though it would explain why his head gets so fat sometimes.” “Ha ha, funny dragon.” Gallus raised his claw and made a gesture that went completely over the heads of anycreature with hooves instead of digits. Smolder just chuckled, earning herself a playful elbowing from Ocellus. “Play nice, you two.” That just earned her a counter-elbowing, which went back and forth a few times before the two just collapsed into giggles. Feeling the gaze of the others on them, Ocellus blushed and hastily picked up her book to resume reading. “Anyway, you shouldn’t use a book that way, Gallus. Headmare Twilight wouldn’t like it.” “Yona seen Headmare Twilight sleep on big pile of books.” Yona thoughtfully tapped her hoof on the table, not noticing the way Gallus’ head bounced up and down as a result. “Maybe Headmare not mind?” “She would if he started drooling in it,” Smolder pointed out with a chuckle. Gallus sat up with a mild headache and a glare. “Or if it got burned somehow.” He crossed his arms. “Do you have any idea how obsessed Headmare Twilight is with books?” The reply from the rest of the table was immediate and unanimous. “Yes.” “Right, stupid question.” Gallus shook his head. “She really reamed me out when Smolder burned my book, seeing as I was the one who checked it out. I tried telling her that Griffonstone didn’t really have a library but that just made it worse.” Ocellus set down her book, tilting her head. “I thought Professors Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie visited Griffonstone and saw what mess its library was.” “They did, they were just smart enough to not tell Headmare Twilight about it. So I ended up with a week’s detention from her for letting a book I checked out get ruined and another week from both professors for blabbing to Twilight about it.” “That would explain why the teacher’s lounge was so loud last week,” Silverstream mused, tapping a pencil against her beak. “I thought Headmare Twilight was just practicing her Royal Canterlot Voice.” “Apparently she was being efficient and getting two things done at once.” Sandbar tilted his head in thought. “Wait—is that why she called an emergency summit of world leaders to meet at the school today?” Gallus thought about it. “Given that they’re supposed to meet in the library in a bit—yeah, that sounds about right.” Yona blinked. “Headmare Twilight have book issues.” “I thought newspapers had issues.” Silverstream looked confused. “Books have chapters … right? Have I been studying from the wrong thing this whole time?!” “No no, you’re fine,” Ocellus assured her. “Speaking of studying, we should probably get back to that before they come to clear us out.” She consulted her planner, but everycreature present knew she didn’t actually need to. “Professor Rainbow Dash is having us split up for team-building exercises, so I guess we should figure out who is partnering with whom.” Gallus snickered. “Well, Yona and Sandbar are a given, seeing how joined at the hip they are these days.” Sandbar rolled his eyes but Silverstream gasped. “They can’t be joined at the hip! Yona’s hips are so much bigger that Sandbar’s hooves won’t reach the floor!” “Yaks have BEST hips!” Yona proclaimed, prompting Gallus and Smolder to fall over laughing. “Real mature you two.” Sandbar frowned and prodded them with a hoof. “What?” Gallus chuckled. “Don’t you think Yona’s hips are the best?” Sandbar colored and fidgeted. “Well, o-of course I do, it’s just…” “Then why don’t you come out and say it?” Smolder teased. Yona pouted. “Yona’s hips are best … aren’t they?” She tried to turn her head as much as her form would allow to look for herself, but accomplished very little. “Y-yeah they are!” Sandbar blurted out. “They’re great! I love your hips and—if you two don’t stop laughing I swear to Celestia—!” Ocellus giggled and poked Smolder. “Okay, that’s enough. Be nice.” Smolder fought down her chuckles and sat back up. “Okay, okay, if you say so. Rein it in, Gallus.” Gallus stretched and stood back up as well. “I actually had a bit more left, but fine. So, heh, yeah if you two are paired up then I guess maybe me and Smolder could be another team? Or are you two lovebugs—lovewyrms, whatever, gonna do your own thing?” Smolder hugged Ocellus possessively and stuck her lengthy tongue out at the griffon. “You’re just jealous that I got the best one.” “Gonna have to argue with you on that, but it’s nothing personal.” Sandbar chuckled. “I know we all said this a lot once you got back from Tiatarta, but congrats again on becoming a couple!” Gallus chuckled. “Some of us were taking bets on how long it’d take.” “Bah.” Smolder flicked a crumpled ball of paper at his head. “You know, with everycreature else all paired up, it’s just you and Silverstream now…” Before Gallus could protest, Silverstream let out a squeal and fluttered around. “You mean Gallus is going to ask me out? I have to find something nice to wear!” “That isn’t—I’m not, I mean … I hate you.” Gallus groused at the grinning dragon. Smolder leaned forward to bust his chops some more, but a meaningful pat from Ocellus caused her to draw back. “Heh, okay okay…” She settled for leaning against Ocellus, letting her wing draw Ocellus closer to her. “You two are being even more couple-y than usual today.” Sandbar observed blithely even as he entwined pasterns with Yona. “Anything up?” Ocellus blushed. “Nope! Absolutely not, nothing at all!” Her giggles had a nervous edge to them, ignoring Smolder burying her face into a claw at Ocellus’ utter lack of guile. “B-but we should get back to studying. We’re going to be partners for Professor Dash’s project so Smolder can help me with Professor Dash’s more physical exercises. I bet Silverstream will be happy to work with you, Gallus.” “I would, I totally would!” Silverstream squealed. “I mean, I would be happy to work with anycreature, but still!” Gallus shrugged, not even batting an eye at Silverstream’s antics. “That’s cool. I guess our resident bookworm could probably use all the help she can get in that class. That is the one you’re struggling with the most, right?” Ocellus pouted. “That’s not fair, there just isn’t as much reading to do for Professor Dash! She focuses more on practical exercises.” Smolder patted the changeling’s back and shot a slight frown at Gallus, a thin trickle of smoke accentuating her warning. Gallus held up his claws in appeasement. “Okay, okay no need to bite my head off…” “Friend Smolder said it too fat anyway,” Yona added. “It’s okay, but thank you Smolder.” Ocellus shared a smile with Smolder before she remembered herself and ducked back into her planner. “So, um, has everyone picked out partners for Professor Fluttershy’s cross-creature study?” Gallus groaned, but was surprised when Smolder didn’t join him. Usually they were the ones who enjoyed bellyaching about schoolwork the most. Instead, the young wyrm was smiling as Ocellus jotted down something in her planner. “What’s got you so happy about a study project?” Gallus asked. “Nothing, just … doesn’t seem so bad.” Smolder shrugged. “So we pair off and study each other’s cultures. Not a big deal.” “You’re just saying that because it gives you more of an excuse to spend time with Ocellus,” Gallus observed. “I’m sure you and Ocellus and Sandbar and Yona will be quite eager to ‘study’ each other…” a stray pencil bonked off his head. “Okay, I deserved that.” Yona nodded firmly. “Friend Gallus certainly did! Especially after yesterday,” she huffed. “Thinking Yona and Sandbar had … had…” “Smashed each other?” Gallus finished. Yona stomped her hoof again, her face pink. “You think yaks barbarians?! Yaks not rush! And why Friend Smolder smiling?” She turned to the young wyrm, who was squirming in her seat and doing her best to hide a smile—her best clearly not being up to the task. “Who, me? Nothing!” Smolder pressed her claws over her snout, failing to suppress a snicker. Sandbar frowned. “That’s not cool. You shouldn’t make fun of us.” “She isn’t—really she’s not.” Ocellus chimed in, her cheeks coloring slightly. “We—we’d never make fun of anycreature for being, um…” she tapped her hooves together. “Intimate. Or for not being intimate!” “Even though one is definitely better than the other,” Smolder drawled. Ocellus blushed harder and swatted her with a wing, which did nothing except make the young dragon laugh. Sandbar rubbed his forehead. “I swear you guys are all secret perverts to be thinking about that all the time.” “You were the one who came in and announced that you and Yona had done ‘it’,” Silverstream pointed out. “Talking about how good it was and how fun and exhausted and sweaty you both were…” “And your first thought was that I was talking about sex?” Sandbar shook his head. “That’s ridiculous, right Yona?” He looked for support from his girlfriend, only to be surprised by her red-face and uncomfortable squirming. “Yona?” “When Friend Silverstream say it that way—way Sandbar said...” She idly tapped her front hooves together, her face glowing redder. “It does sound like … it.” Sandbar groaned. “Not you too! Who hears ‘it’ and thinks of sex instead of dancing?!” “Now there’s a pony perspective if I’ve ever heard one,” Smolder quipped. Gallus began ticking off points with his talons. “Gonna say 99.9% of all sapient creatures, animals, plants and that one rock Professor Pinkie’s sister carries around. So basically everyone and everything besides you.” “I give up.” Sandbar let his head flop forward on the table. Ocellus and Smolder gave each other a look and started giggling again. “Seriously, what’s got you two in such a good mood?” “What, can’t I just be happy?” Smolder protested. “Let me think.” Gallus stroked his chin with a claw. “Um, no. Not unless you just dug up some treasure to hoard and snack on.” Ocellus stood up, drawing close to Smolder. “You’re stereotyping. Lots of things make Smolder happy besides things that make dragons happy in general.” “I dunno, I did add something special to my hoard lately. A real treasure.” Smolder grinned at Ocellus’ increasingly flustered look. Gallus shrugged shamelessly. “Eh, I’ll stick with bits. Not that treasure wouldn’t make me happy, mind you…” he tilted his head. “So, I’m going to go on a limb here and say you two are going to partner up for the creature-study?” The dragon and changeling looked at each other and nodded in synch. “You two have been doing everything together lately, haven’t you? Even Yona and Sandbar occasionally switch up partners.” Ocellus squirmed when she saw the look on Smolder’s face as she was already preparing for a quip, no doubt about switching partners. She decided to preempt her. “Well, we’ve been working hard together to get Smolder’s grades up.” “And it’s working!” Silverstream trilled. “I saw when we got our tests back from Professor Rarity that Smolder’s score was way better than it was on her last test!” “Yona happy Friend Smolder doing good in class!” Yona clapped. “Smolder show us?” Smolder grinned. “Why not? Hit me with whatever you got.” “This oughta be good,” Gallus snickered as Ocellus picked up her new book. “Shush. Okay Smolder, let’s see what you remember—” Ocellus looked through the pages. “Can you remember the lesson for chapter four, section twenty?” That made Gallus sit up in his seat. “Seriously? You’re asking her to remember the specific lesson on top of the order they came in? Come on, you might as well ask her how Professor Pinkie Pie is able to pop-up at random, there’s no way—” Smolder faked a yawn. “Yeah, that’s the one where Professor Applejack learned that you should be honest even if it doesn’t make other creatures happy.” She tilted her head. “Or that you should just never trust those two con-artist ponies. Ever.” Smolder smirked Gallus’ way. “You know, they kinda remind me of you sometimes…” “They do have the best songs though!” Silverstream chimed in. Gallus grumbled something best left unintelligible. “Lucky guess.” “Is it?” Smolder quirked her brow. “Let’s see. Ocellus, give me another.” “Hmm, chapter eight, section six?” Smolder smirked. “It’s when the Cutie Mark Crusaders helped Terramar, Silverstream’s brother. They showed him that he didn’t have to choose between living with his dad as a hippogriff and his mom as a seapony.” She crossed her arms over her chest smugly at Gallus, who responded by rolling his eyes even as Ocellus rattled off several more. The others watched with growing astonishment as Smolder breezily answered them all. “Chapter two, section twenty-two?” “Even the smallest contribution can make a difference.” “Chapter three, section three?” “It’s okay that you can’t be everywhere or do everything with your friends. Also, making extras of Professor Pinkie Pie is just a bad idea.” “Chapter four, section thirteen?” “You shouldn’t change yourself because you think it’ll make other creatures like you better.” “Chapter two, section eight?” “Friends do hurtful things to each other without explaining why because they hope their friend will just understand.” “What? That’s not it…” Ocellus frowned, consulting the chapter. Smolder shrugged. “Well, that’s what I got out of that one.” “Whoa, that’s really impressive!” Sandbar noted with a grin. “Congrats, Smolder! You guys must’ve been up late studying every night to get that good!” “Well, we might stay up late a lot but I wouldn’t say we’re studying every night…” Smolder said coyly, earning her an embarrassed pout from Ocellus, so she let it rest there. Gallus drummed his talons on the table. “Yeah yeah—unless of course you rehearsed that ahead of time just to mess with us.” “But we didn’t!” Ocellus protested. “Smolder really has worked that hard! And I wouldn’t cheat by giving her easy questions or—” She fell into an embarrassed silence as Smolder casually dropped a claw on her shoulder. “Sorry, he was just joking, wasn’t he?” Smolder nodded. “Right, I knew that.” Ocellus sighed. “Sorry Gallus, it’s just … I don’t like minimizing her accomplishments like that.” Smolder chuckled and draped her arm around Ocellus, hugging her close. “Heh, you really are a sappy bug.” Silverstream d’awwed. “I love our friends!” She grabbed Gallus and hugged him tight, ignoring his wheezes and pained pleading for oxygen—something Silverstream always found overrated. “We’re so close and understanding and—eeeee!—friendship is the best BEST thing ever!” “Yeah, I feel the same way.” Sandbar leaned against Yona. “I feel like I can tell you guys anything.” “Really?” Smolder quirked a brow. “Even after yesterday?” Sandbar blushed but nodded. “Well, yeah, okay maybe you guys have some funny ideas about—stuff, but I wouldn’t trade you all for anything or anycreature.” “But, would you, um, feel comfortable talking about ‘stuff’ if you and Yona ever...?” Ocellus gestured vaguely. “Yona honest with friends!” Yona declared, even though her cheeks were turning pink again. “Even if embarrassing, Yona trust friends.” Sandbar gulped and nodded. “R-right, what she said. If we ever, t-take a step that big of course we’d let you know. I-I mean, that’s what friends are for, right? To be there when you need to say something or—you okay, Ocellus?” The changeling in question had slowly been sinking down in her seat and turning red. She mumbled something completely inaudible and looked imploringly at Smolder, who sighed and extended a comforting wing around her. “Actually…” Smolder rubbed her neck before stopping to take a breath and slowly let it out. “Ocellus and I, well, we decided to take things to the next level.” Silverstream gasped and gleefully leaned forward. “You guys finally committed to sleeping in a nest? I keep telling you all they are. The. BEST!” “What? No!” Smolder shook her head. “I mean, we did sleep. That is, we slept. Slept together.” To her own annoyance she felt herself blushing too, though nowhere near as brightly as Ocellus. Gallus shrugged and looked back to his book. “Meh, so what else is new?” “Excuse you?!” Smolder’s reddened face was now bracketed by black smoke streaming out of the corners of her mouth. His response was simply to turn another page, not even looking up at her. “So you slept together. Everycreature knows how cuddly you two get. It’s no different from Yona and Silverstream in their dorm.” “It’s true!” Silverstream landed on Yona, circling around and settling in on her back. “It’s just so cozy I sometimes fall asleep up here!” “Yeah, we’ve all slept together.” Sandbar scribbled a note down before looking back to the others. “Even me and Gallus.” “Hey!” Gallus protested hotly as it was his own face growing red now. Smolder and Ocellus blinked in unison, their brains careening against the sides of their skulls as their train of thought came to a crashing halt. “…what?” “What, you were feeling really down after coming out about your past in Griffonstone.” Sandbar shrugged. “No shame in needing to be held at night.” Gallus lashed his tail. “It was a one-time thing and I made you promise not to say anything!” “Oh, yeah,” Sandbar winced. “Sorry about that. But it’s no big deal! I mean, sometimes my sister and I still take a nap with our parents.” Gallus looked at him strangely. “What? Besides you just said it’s no big deal with Smolder and Ocellus or Yona and Silverstream sleep together.” “Yeah, but they’re girls! It’s okay for them to be all cuddly and touchy-feely!” Gallus threw up his talons. “Guys doing it is just weird and—” he looked around the table and began to notice the looks he was getting. “—I’m just digging myself in deeper here, aren’t I?” Silverstream nodded with all the solemnity she possessed—admittedly, not a lot, but enough to get the point across. “Like a diamond dog.” Gallus slunk down in his seat. “This is so going off the rails,” Smolder muttered, her claws rubbing at her temples. “What I meant was that Ocellus and I made love.” Ocellus meeped and blushed a little harder, looking more and more like a ladybug. “Ocellus needed love snack because she’s changeling?” Yona nodded in understanding. “Ocellus so tiny, you must make love lots and lots so she grow as big and strong like yak!” Smolder’s cheeks went scarlet and she fought a valiant, but losing struggle against her giggles. Ocellus’s blush had now consumed her entire head. Smolder looked down at her with a toothy grin. “What do you say, Ocellus? Want me to help you grow big and strong?” “S-SMOLDER!” Ocellus’ blush deepened a shade as she feebly flailed her hooves against Smolder’s hide. Luckily her tough dragon-scales meant she barely felt a thing. “You … Y-YOU—!!!” Sandbar scratched his head. “I feel like I’m missing something.” “What, you?” Gallus chuckled dryly. “Never.” Smolder narrowed her eyes, wondering if they were being messed with. Okay, it was almost a certainty that Sandbar, Yona and Silverstream were still in the dark but was Gallus trying to prolong this? “Look guys, this isn’t that complicated. We—” she coughed. “Uh, we mated. There, got that over with and—” “Oh my gosh!” Silverstream’s wings flared out in shock. “You two got married? And you didn’t invite us?!” Her beak trembled in a pout as she looked on the verge of tears. “Nah, I think it just means they got engaged.” Sandbar corrected, then blinked as it sunk in. “Wait, you guys are engaged?!” “Eergh, flaming firescales,” Smolder cursed, pinching the bridge of her snout while Ocellus sank lower in her seat. “It’s like trying to explain dragon-stuff to Spike, I swear...” Yona pouted. “So, friends not getting married? Yona was going to do traditional Yakyakistan bottle-stomping at wedding!” “No, we’re not getting married!” Smolder exclaimed. Gallus shrugged. “Guess you guys are just keeping this a casual thing. Don’t listen to these saps, that’s cool. No need to rush into things.” “It’s not that casual.” Smolder groaned. “I mean, we’re not rushing to get engaged or married or anything—not that I’m saying it won’t ever—I mean, if Ocellus wants—but the point is that we’re not exactly casual—” That’s when Ocellus, now bright red from head to hoof, finally exploded. “Sweet Tap-Dancing Thorax I can’t TAKE anymore of this!” She flew up onto the table, slamming her hooves down on the tabletop. “Listen up! Smolder. And I. Had. Sex. S-E-X! Do you get it?!” She was shouting and didn’t even care. “Physical intimacy! Carnal relations! Consummated our relationship! Romantic action! Intercourse! Banging! SEX! I love her, she loves me, we had sex and it was FANTASTIC! Have you gotten that through your thick endoskeletons yet or do you need me to draw you a diagram?! Wait, don’t answer!” She flew over to the chalkboard and proceeded to do just that: drawing a disturbingly accurate picture of her and Smolder in bed together, complete with hearts surrounding them and beatific smiles on their chalk faces. “There, have you got it now?!” She turned around to see all of her friends in various stages of stunned silence. Silverstream’s lower beak look like it had become detached from her jaw. Yona had leaned back so far the only reason she wasn’t falling over was because gravity was too scared to draw attention to itself. Sandbar’s eyes had bulged out, now occupying roughly half the space available on his head. Gallus wings were splayed out in shock, his tail literally twisted into a knot. All of them were blushing bright red, especially Smolder who was holding onto her own tail with both claws and fidgeting with embarrassment, her legs rubbing together. For a moment there was no sound but that of Ocellus’ panting. Then she heard a book fall and was suddenly reminded of the presence of every other creature in the library. Seated at the other tables were various groups of students, their studying abandoned as they turned to watch. There was Rainbow Dash, hovering at the top of one of the stacks with her mouth hanging open. Her body sagged with only the instinctive flapping of her wings being what kept her in the air. She was the one who had dropped the book, which landed right on Applejack’s head. Applejack barely even noticed the increased weight of her hat, blinking owlishly. They could almost see the gears in her mind that had ground to a halt. There was a brief gasp and a fwump that announced Rarity’s falling back on her fainting couch while Spike fanned at her with a feather duster. They spotted Fluttershy turn completely pink from head to hoof. However, a certain white rabbit, perched on her head, simply nodded his approval at them. Their fellow students, the professors, Spike … every last one of them was staring. Right at her and Smolder. “Oh no…” Ocellus buried her face into her hooves and shifted herself into a rock, Smolder catching it right before she hit the ground. This had to be some sort of nightmare. Any second now she’d wake up. Any second now... Just when the two thought it could get no worse, a strained but otherwise familiar voice cleared her throat behind them. “Can I have a word with you?” Smolder turned around, the Ocellus-rock still clutched in her claws. That’s when they spotted Headmare Twilight standing in the doorway, her magic aura still surrounding the doors. And she wasn’t alone. “Oh First Hive, no…” Ocellus whimpered. Right there with Twilight were the other leaders who came for the summit, including the other princesses, Dragon Lord Ember, Hive Leader Thorax, as well as Pharynx, all of them frozen in stunned silence. Princess Twilight Sparkle’s eye twitched. “…in private?”