White Curse

by Jumpitydude

Chapter 16 2

"Griffon! Timberwolf! Parasprite!"

Ocellus giggled at that last one but complied anyway.

Smolder was way too giddy about seeing Ocellus shapeshift into various things.

"Is that all, Smolder?" Ocellus turned into a Yak. "I thought you had a challenge."

Smolder thought for a second, then smiled. "I have one more thing."

"Bring it on."

"Turn... into... a... GIRLFRIEND!"

Ocellus stared in shock, then turned back into a Changeling before speaking in a tone that sounded like she was whispering and screaming at the same time. "You read my diary!"

Smolder's eyes went wide, then she started laughing. "You actually have a crush on someone?"

Ocellus turned a shade of red she never had before, then turned into a mouse.

"Oh, no you don't!" Smolder grabbed Ocellus by the tail. "You're telling me who it is, here and now!"

Ocellus sighed, then ran along Smolder's arm to her shoulder, then whispered in her ear. "Sandbar."

It took Smolder less than a second to process that Ocellus had a crush on the colt that had a crush on her, then burst out laughing.

"This is why I wanted it to be a secret." Ocellus hopped off of Smolder's shoulder and turned back into a Changeling. "He's probably the last creature someone would expect me to have a crush on."

"Y-yeah. It's pretty, heh, unexpected." Smolder couldn't calm herself down.

Ocellus sighed and sat down. "I think I realized it because of my dreams."

"Your dreams?"

Ocellus nodded. "When I started attending, I started having a dream. I was surrounded by Pony shaped shadows. Some were angry, some were mocking, some were afraid. None of them liked me. But when they started throwing things at me, a knight would come and protect me."

Smolder found herself actually interested. "A knight?"

"After a while, he drove off the shadows. For a while, that was followed by us in some romantic situation, ending when I tried to remove his helmet."

"Let me guess. That changed after your near-death experience?"

Ocellus nodded. "I fell asleep while Sandbar massaged me after that. That was the first dream it changed in. That dream, I removed his helmet once the shadows were gone. And every time, it was the same colt."

Smolder smiled. "Sandbar, right?"

"I... want to tell him. I've decided that, if he doesn't ask me out during our time here, I'll ask him out after graduating."

"That sounds like a plan." Smolder knew what Sandbar was planning, making Ocellus' plan amusing.

"Please don't tell him."

"I won't, although..." Smolder looked around, then waved Ocellus closer. "I'm a little shocked that you haven't heard the rumor that-"

In her usual method, Pinkie popped in out of nowhere and shoved a bar of soap into Smolder's mouth. Pinkie gave the dragon the stink-eye, then disappeared.

Smolder pulled the soap out of her mouth wearing an expression of pure shock. "I feel like I deserved that somehow."

---

Several onlookers were laughing. Gallus hadn't just bit into a balloon, it was full of glitter. Yona whistled innocently.

The laughter started echoing in his head. They were mocking him. Making fun of him. Not just the onlookers. His friends. They betrayed him.

He crushed the tin dish he was holding in his claws, then glared at Yona. "What. Was. That?"

"It prank!"

"It's a prank, huh?" Gallus threw the tin down. "I'm supposed to be the victim of all the pranks today?"

The other students realized something was up and fell quiet. One even stepped out of the room.

"This third prank you victim of today."

"Third? THIRD? Which two are you talking about? Ocellus'? Gilded Lily's? Cozy Glow's? Professor Pinkie's? One of the dozens that Smolder played on me?"

Yona shrugged. "It not big deal."

Gallus may have already snapped, but he wasn't about to let that slide. "Griffon think it big deal," He said in a mocking tone. "Yak not agree? Yak not smart enough to agree?"

Yona snarled at the Griffon. "... Are you mocking me?"

"So you can talk like a normal creature. Then I shouldn't have to tell you that I was mocking you."

Yona stomped her hoof down, pressing her nose against Gallus' beak. "Do you have a death wish, bird?"

Both creatures were suddenly yanked away from each other.

"Knock it off! Both of you!" Twilight stepped between them. "I don't know what caused this, but it shouldn't result in death threats!"

"Sorry."

"Yona is the one that-"

"I don't care who started it! You're both causing trouble!"

Gallus couldn't believe what he heard. So many others victimized him throughout the festival, and now he was being accused of being the problem? How? Twilight was talking, but he wasn't listening. The moment she dropped him, he took off.

"GALLUS!"

If she was chasing him, he never noticed. He just flew off, trying to get away. He hit a wall, but it only slowed him down a moment. He had to get away.

---

"Smolder?" Sandbar approached the Dragon from behind. "Could you come with me?"

"In a minute." Smolder tossed a gem in her mouth.

"Soon, please."

"I said in a minute." Smolder swallowed the gem she was chewing on and went to toss another in her mouth. Only for Sandbar to knock it out mid-flight. "Wha- HEY!" Smolder got up and got right in Sandbar's face. "What was that- OW!"

Sandbar bit her hand and led her into a side room. Once they were in, Sandbar shoved Smolder further into the room before closing the door and locking it.

At this point Smolder was angry. "What is your problem?"

Sandbar shot her a furious look. "We need to talk. Leader to teammate."

"What's that supposed to-"

"Death."

Smolder was confused. "Huh?"

"Do you realize how close Gallus and Silver were to death?"

"What are you- Oh, right. Starlight. Well, they didn't get seriously injured."

"That's your defense?" Sandbar was glaring at her. "You do realize how dangerous that situation was, and not just for the three of us, right?"

"What do you mean by that?"

Sandbar moved towards Smolder. "It was in the school hall. If there were any students there, she could have electrocuted them, used them as hostages, or taken control of them like she did with Gallus. If Yona hadn't shown up when she did, Silver would have been blinded or killed. And where were you during this?"

Smolder scratched her head. "... Sleeping? It's not that big of a-"

Sandbar started walking in a circle around her. "Gallus was under her control. Silver was at an elemental disadvantage, I couldn't get close safely, and my ranged attacks were to slow to be effective. You could have hit fast enough while keeping your distance. You could have stopped her. And where were you?"

"... Sleeping." Smolder started tapping her foot nervously.

"Ocellus was out of town. Yona was out shopping with Lily, and only got back because Lily knows our identities. And where were you?"

Smolder didn't respond.

Sandbar stopped in front of her. "Sleeping, right?"

"... Yeah." Smolder's breathing grew erratic.

"You could have shown up, dealt with Starlight, then gone back to sleep in a couple of minutes. Instead, you prioritized sleep over our lives! Do we even matter to you?"

She glared at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Answer the question."

"I'm not losing this argument, no matter what."

In the brief silence between her saying that and Sandbar's response, Smolder remembered a specific fact about Sandbar. Something only she would know.

He was very willing to get violent.

Right after she remembered that she found herself pinned to the wall.

"There has to be a loser, huh?" Sandbar's voice got very low. "So, why does there have to be a loser, and why will it be you?"

Smolder was looking for some way to get out. "Stop! My chest already hurts!"

"Really, now?" Sandbar gave her a wicked smile. "Why don't we make that pain worse?"

Suddenly, the breath in Smolder's lungs shot out of her mouth and wrapped around her mouth, keeping her from breathing. Sandbar! Stop!

"Do we matter to you?"

Yes! You do!

"Why did you choose to sleep over helping us?"

I was being stupid! I made the wrong choice!

"Will it happen again?"

At this point, Smolder was crying. No! Never!

"So who... lost?"

I did! I'm sorry! Please don't kill me!

Smolder fell to the ground. She coughed, then took a number of deep breaths. She looked up at Sandbar, who stood right in front of her.

"You brought that on yourself, you know."

"I... I know."

"You can't force others to do what you want them to all the time."

Smolder curled up into a ball. "I know."

Suddenly, Sandbar wrapped Smolder into a hug. "You know you matter to me, right?"

Smolder returned the hug. "I... know."

In those last moments, they both realized something. No matter how bad things may get between them, they are friends more than anything.

---

Silver was wandering the halls with a pie perched on her back. "Gallus?" She called out to her fellow half-bird. "Gallus?" But she couldn't find him anywhere. "Where is he?"

As she passed by a doorway, however, she spotted a blue feather with specks of glitter on it. She peeked into the room.

"There you are, Gallus!"

"Leave me alone."

Silver recognized that tone. She set the pie she had on her back down and went into full therapist mode, placing herself in front of Gallus. "What's wrong."

"I'll be fine. Just go enjoy yourself."

Silver put her left claw on Gallus' shoulder. "I can't. Not while you're like this."

Gallus made a point of looking away. "It's fine. Just let it go!"

Silver stayed silent.

"I... I'm just going to waste your time. Don't worry about me."

"You know our friends made an agreement to prank you today, right?"

"I... figured." He glanced at Silver. "Were they all in on it?"

"Well, Sandbar wasn't in on it, but the rest of them were."

Gallus sighed. "Great. This is worse than when I was at Griffonstone. Who am I to them?"

Silver moved her claw from his shoulder to his claw, holding it tightly. "A friend that won't leave. They wanted a bit of fun, wanted a victim, and figured that you wouldn't leave them over it. None of us think any less of you than when we first met."

Gallus looked at her head on. "That doesn't mean you think highly of me."

Silver poked his beak with her free claw. "Remember when you sparred with three of our teachers at once? The way we looked at you in amazement? We know you're still that Gallus. The one that isn't afraid of anything." She moved her claw down his beak and along his cheek. "Even if we catch up to you in physical skill, you're still an inspiration to us."

Gallus put his claws on Silver's shoulders... and started crying. "I'm sorry. I just... looked at what I couldn't do... what you could do... and felt like I'd never get back to... being the important one."

"It's alright." Silver wiped a tear from Gallus' cheek. "It's fine to look at what isn't there, but you can't ignore what is there. Just remember that you're important to us. No matter what."

"Thank you." Gallus stood up, still holding Silver's claw. "You know, you could probably take Miss Starlight's place someday."

"R-really?" Silver's face went red. "Hehe. Thanks."

They both looked each other in the eye for a moment.

"Close your eyes." Silver's voice was low.

Gallus closed his eyes, leaned forward, and opened his beak slightly.

...

Wait.

*SPLAT!*

Gallus opened his eyes, his face covered in blueberry pie.

"Sorry! I was in on it!" Silver was already out of the doorway. "See you later, Gallus!"

Gallus shook off most of the pie. "Get back here!" He gave chase to the Hippogriff, only going off course to grab another pie. All with a smile plastered on his face.

---

"Hey, Ocellus."

The Changeling looked over her shoulder at the Colt. "Hey, Sandbar."

Sandbar trotted up to Ocellus' side then leaned on the same rail she was. "Is there a reason you're hiding out in the Kindness Classroom?"

"It's quiet, and I needed to get away from the others for now."

"I don't blame you. Things can get a bit hectic around here."

"It's pretty hectic right now, but at least it's not scary."

Sandbar looked at her. "You're talking about Starlight, right?"

"I wasn't there, but hearing about it made it sound like it was the scariest thing ever."

Sandbar shrugged. "I've been in a scarier situation."

Ocellus giggled. "Oh, right. Fluttershy."

"Not even that. Before I came here and met the others."

Ocellus raised an eyebrow. "What happened?"

"I was kidnapped."

"Oh, yeah. That would be scary." She looked at him out of the corner of her eye.

His smile told her everything she needed to know.

Ocellus took a deep breath, then let it out. "You're not supposed to remember that."

Sandbar chuckled. "Twilight also thinks I don't. Miss Starlight was the one that let me remember."

"Why?"

Sandbar put his hoof on Ocellus'. "Did you know that there used to be a colt that ran around causing trouble in Ponyville? He damaged almost everything he touched, disrespected everyone he met, and never felt remorse. Even worse, his parents let him get away with all of it. He even tried to hurt a certain trio of fillies when they broke something he had."

Ocellus looked at Sandbar in shock. "Wow. He sounds terrible. Who was he?"

Sandbar looked away. "You already know him."

It took her a second to realize what he meant. "But... you're nothing like that."

Sandbar shook his head. "Not now. But back then, I was a nightmare to deal with. Dad was a deadbeat, and mom was too loving. I never faced consequences. Until the day I was kidnapped, that is. When I woke up, I thought Luna was tired of my antics, but then I heard the other victims, then the Changelings. At that point, I realized what was happening."

Ocellus swallowed. "I was right there."

Sandbar rubbed the back of his head. "I know. I don't think I would've forgotten your name, even if we never met again. I only heard Chitin say it once, but that was enough."

Ocellus looked away. "You even remember his name."

"I remember all of it. I even remember Lily's voice." Sandbar sighed. "I'm glad she forgot."

Ocellus felt her heart sink a bit. "It really stuck with you, huh?"

Sandbar moved a bit closer to Ocellus. "Why wouldn't it? That was the moment my life turned around. I started apologizing to those I hurt and started working to make up for it. I also learned that my mom went behind me and fixed a lot of the mistakes I made."

Ocellus giggled. "She sounds wonderful."

Sandbar smiled. "She really is. She kept things at a point where I could turn my life around. When I did, I had all of her support."

Ocellus bit her lip. "I wish I had that support."

Sandbar's smile faded. "Did you get caught?"

Ocellus shook her head. "I managed to make it look like I got carried away, and let you get free and knock me out. I cut one of your cuffs half-way and physically worked it until it snapped. I just cut the rest of them. Once you were all free, I grabbed you all up, took a form that could burrow, and slipped you all out of there. I got back as fast as I could, set up one of the spring punches we had, and struck myself with it, laying on the ground until someone found me. I got lucky it landed back on the table."

Sandbar looked amazed. "That had to take some time."

Ocellus nodded. "More than an hour. You remember why I had more than an hour to work with, right?"

Sandbar looked at the crowd below. "Because Chitin got carried away, giving you leverage to make him give you an extra hour to work with."

"Someone figured it out about an hour and a half after I started. At that point, I was laying there for about ten minutes, conscious but sore. They fully bought it, but I wasn't allowed into the torture rooms after that." Ocellus rubbed her head awkwardly. "Mostly because they were repurposed after Thorax took over."

Sandbar looked back at Ocellus. "That's good, huh?"

"Oh. I get it." Ocellus looked Sandbar in the eye. "You feel like you owe me your life. That's why you've been acting so protective of me."

Sandbar put his hoof on Ocellus' shoulder. "What, you mean I don't? You sure my life wasn't in danger back then?"

Ocellus stepped closer to him, almost instinctively. "We owe each other plenty. I think we can say we're even, even after-"

"What if I told you..." Sandbar moved his hoof to rest it across her shoulders. "... there was another reason?"

Ocellus' eyes went wide, her cheeks red. "S-Sandbar?"

He touched his forehead to her's. "A reason that can only be repaid in one way."

Ocellus gulped but managed to find the courage she needed. "Say it. Even if I know, you should say it."

He smiled. "I don't need words."

Ocellus' mind went hazy for a moment. Once the moment was about to end, however, she placed her hooves around Sandbar, forcing the moment to stay a bit longer. Her eyes drifted closed because she didn't need them right then. The warmth between them was something they would never forget. The happiness could only be matched by any affection between them later.

Once they broke off, Ocellus could only think of one thing to say. "I think I missed that. Could you repeat it?"

Sandbar laughed. A gentle, warming laugh. "I said, I love you, Ocellus."

Ocellus giggled in a similar way. "I love you too, Sandbar."

They shared another kiss as their friends watched from the doorway. Silver looked away to lick a bit of food off of Gallus' cheek. Gallus looked away to smile at her. None of them dared to say a word.

"Did you just want a shapeshifting girlfriend?"

"I'll be honest, that only just crossed my mind."

Comments

[Anthony158]

Amazing chapter...and finally after a lot of time... THEY FINALLY KISS

[Reading4HalfMyLife]

YES! LET THE SHIPS SAIL!!

I'm assuming Gallus is an orphan, as he is in canon?

I hope the others apologize for all the pranks

[A Wild Stridsfordon]

Ocellus' mind went hazy for a moment. Once the moment was about to end, however, she placed her hooves around Sandbar, forcing the moment to stay a bit longer. Her eyes drifted closed because she didn't need them right then. The warmth between them was something they would never forget. The happiness could only be matched by any affection between them later.

!!!YES!!! FINALLY!! 👍🇾🇪🇸❤💛💚💙💜

vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/bravefrontierglobal/images/8/87/F548dbe17e5521e79d7660962cfefb1a_wrestler-cheer-on-wwe-gif-yes-meme-wwe_300-160.gif/revision/latest?cb=20170426132522

[Yoshifan30]

In the brief silence between her saying that and Sandbar's response, Smolder remembered a specific fact about Sandbar. Something only she would know.

He was very willing to get violent.

Boy Sandbar is a little bit different from the chill pony I remember But then I realized this is an alternate universe but geez he scary

[Yoshifan30]

Suddenly, Sandbar wrapped Smolder into a hug. "You know you matter to me, right?"

Smolder returned the hug. "I... know."

In those last moments, they both realized something. No matter how bad things may get between them, they are friends more than anything.

Wow Despite their disagreements they still forgive each other

[Yoshifan30]

Sandbar laughed. A gentle, warming laugh. "I said, I love you, Ocellus."

Ocellus giggled in a similar way. "I love you too, Sandbar."

Omg thats so adorable 😍