A Young Mind

by Learn for Life

"How to Make Friends"

A Young Mind Final Draft

“How To Make Friends”

By the time Ocellus reached the school grounds, the air had warmed to a nice temperature, one perfect for a stroll. Ponies were walking down the path, grouping up in their own little groups of friends, but sparing time for chatting with others on the path. Some of the ponies also took time to wave at her as she flew over them; she recognized them as ponies she’d studied with from time to time. She smiled and waved at them, and as she did the bag of cucumbers fell out of her grasp. She dove and caught them, and smiled sheepishly as the ponies below chuckled at her.

“That was close,” she said, clutching the bag closer to her. “I better put these away before meeting up with my—”

“There she is! Ocelluuuuus!”

“—friends.” She smiled as she followed Silverstream’s voice to the steps of the school entrance, where her friends were just coming outside. Silverstream flew out first, waving her arms wildly for her. Gallus and Smolder flew out after her, and Sandbar and Yona brought up the rear. They were all carrying saddlebags on them. She flew over towards them. “Hey, guys!”

They waited until she landed on the steps before they started talking to her. “We’ve been waiting for you for a while!” Smolder flew right next to her. “We all decided we were gonna go to Sweet Apple Acres today, and were gonna wait for you to get back before we left.”

Ocellus gasped. “Oh, yeah! I was gonna go over there to do the assignment before coming back, so we could hang out.”

“Well, now you can hang out with us while doing the assignment,” Yona said with a large smile. “True, Yona not wanna do homework, but if Yona get to eat, then Yona is happy.”

“Speaking of eating,” Gallus said, sidling up to her side. “Aaare you gonna share some of those with us, ‘Cell?”

“What?” She looked down at her bag. “Oh, uh, I… suppose.”

“Hang on, Gallus,” Sandbar said, putting a hoof on Ocellus’s shoulder. “Those aren’t for eating, right, Ocellus?”

“Huh?” Silverstream flew down next to Gallus. “Why would she have cucumber slices if she wasn’t going to eat them?”

“I think those are for her eyes.”

Ocellus blinked, and then chuckled. “Oh, so putting cucumbers on your eyes is a common practice for ponies, right?”

“Well, some ponies do it,” Sandbar continued, “when their eyes get puffy.”

“Oh, like with lots of pollen?” Yona asked.

“Or when you’re middle-aged?” Silverstream said.

“Or,” Smolder butted in, “it’s more likely for what Silverstream told us earlier: she was crying.”

They all stopped playing around and looked at Ocellus seriously. She looked down at the ground and scuffed the ground. “Y-Yeah. I had a bad dream last night.”

Smolder landed next to her. “You know if you’re having a bad dream, you can ask to sleep with one of us. I don’t think we’d mind if you did that.”

Silverstream landed next to Smolder. “Yeah. Sometimes, I’ll have nightmares about the Storm King, and I’ll go lay down with Gallus and talk to him about it—”

“Yeeeeah,” Gallus said, looking away from the group. “Let’s not get into that.”

“Ooh, do you guys cuddle and all of that?” Smolder asked with a gleeful smirk.

“Y—”

“No! No no nonononono, no cuddling here.” Gallus laughed. “Hey, weren’t we going to go to Sweet Apple Acres?”

Ocellus couldn’t help but let out a chuckle at the griffon’s flustered display. “Yeah. I already had breakfast, but I can have a few apples. Especially for homework. Let me go put these up, get my saddlebag, and then we can head out.”

“Ooh, speaking of your saddlebag,” Silverstream said, pulling something out of her own bag and giving it to her. “Here, I thought you might like to take this with you.”

Ocellus stared at it. It was a book, called Granny Smith’s Compendium of Apple Varieties. “Wow, I could definitely use this for the homework! Where’d you find this?”

“In the library,” she said with a grin. “It should help you identify some species.”

“As for the rest of us,” Smolder continued, “we’ve already taken a look at it, and pretty much know what we’re going for—”

“Hey hey hey, come on already!” Gallus yelled with a clap of his talons. “We’re hungry!”

“Yeah! Yona so hungry, feel like can eat whole apple tree!”

Ocellus laughed. “Alright, guys, wait here, and I’ll be right back.”

She flew up and away from them, going down the hall to the students’ quarters. As she had expected, the halls were mostly empty, with the ponies having gone to Ponyville for a day of relaxation. She passed the occasional straggler and ponies who were heading to the library to study, and they all paid her no mind. It didn’t bother her in the slightest.

She finally reached her room. “Okay I’ll put these up, get my saddlebag, and—”

She had opened her door, but once she set eyes on the nightstand, she stopped. Lying down on it was “Good Night, Little Rabbit.”

“Silverstream,” she said to herself with a sigh. “Why’d you have to bring it back.” She walked over, placed the cucumbers down next to the book, and picked it up. Memories began stirring back up within her, but just as soon as they had started, she placed the book down again. “No. It’s over. I can’t go back. I should just forget it.”

She placed both books in her saddlebag, and placed the bag on her back. “I won’t make them wait any longer. I’ll return this when I get back.” She double-checked to make sure her notebook and pencils were there, and then turned to the doorway. “Alright. All of that is taken care of. I’ll go now and—”

But before she could leave, a figure popped into her doorway. “Ocellus?”

She jumped, startled. “Ah! Oh, hi Silverstream.”

“Sorry,” the hippogriff said, her voice unusually quiet. “I was just wondering if I could ask for a favor.”

Ocellus tilted her head. “Yeah, sure. What’s up?”

Silverstream scratched the back of her head. “I know your cucumbers aren’t for eating, and are for your eyes, but I was just wondering if…”

Ocellus sighed, but smiled as well. “It’s okay. I’m sure Gallus won’t get mad if you have some for a snack.” She went back, removed two slices, and brought them over. “Here.”

“Thank you!” Silverstream exclaimed with a small smile. “But these aren’t for me to eat, either. When Sandbar explained that these are helpful for when you cry, I wanted to have some. I sometimes have nightmares about the Storm King, y’know, and I don’t want my eyes to become all poofy.”

She nodded and patted Silverstream on the shoulder. “I understand. I’ll make sure to share with you whenever you need it.”

“Thanks, ‘Cell. But there’s something I don’t understand.” As she said this, her eyes grew wide, and her stare intensified.

“What’s that?” Ocellus asked as she stepped out of the room and beckoned the hippogriff to follow.

“With the Storm King, it was a fearful time.”

She looked at the ground. “I can’t really imagine something like that.”

“And whenever I have memories of it, I don’t ever want to go back to a time like that. But, when I came to your room just now, you said you couldn’t go back.”

Ocellus’s eyes widened. “You heard that?”

“Yeah, and you sounded so sad saying it. You should be happy that you can’t go back to relive a bad memory.”

She didn’t say anything. She just continued down the hall.

“Ocellus?”

“I know it doesn’t make sense to you. I mean—you’re right. I shouldn’t be worrying about it too much. It’s nothing.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yep!” Ocellus flew off the ground. “C’mon, let’s get to the others before they try to eat each other.”

Silverstream gasped. “Oh, no! You don’t think Smolder or Sandbar would do that, do you?”

“Silverstream, it’s just an expression—wait, Sandbar?” She slowed down. “He wouldn’t do that, would he? I mean, ponies…” She stopped in place. “Ponies have an odd diet. Does that include changelings as well?”

Silverstream flew past her. “We better not keep them waiting to find out!”

The two of them flew as fast as they could to the entrance, only stopping to help up a pony they blew over with their speed. The conversation went from how Sandbar would eat one of them, to who he would eat first, to why they wouldn’t taste good to a pony, to how large a pony’s appetite would be, to how large a yak’s appetite would be, to whether or not Yona would eat one of them for making her wait. By the time they began deliberating on Gallus’s diet, they had reached the entrance.

“Oh, hey,” Ocellus said, stopping short. “Since I’m close to the library, I’ll be right back.”

“Where are you going?”

She sighed. “I’m just going to return a book.”

Silverstream gasped. “Are you going to return “Good Night, Little Rabbit?”

“Y-Yeah. I’ve already read it. I don’t need to read it again.”

“Oh.” Silverstream looked away. “Well, okay then. If you don’t want to read it, that’s fine.”

She didn’t respond. Instead, she flew off to the library while Silverstream headed outside.

She must really like the book, if she doesn’t want me to return it. But then, she could just check it out for herself. I don’t need to hold onto it for her. But I hope I wasn’t too hard on her. I just want to be—

She was jolted out of her thoughts as she made it to the library’s entrance. There was only one pony walking around on the upper level; other than him, it was empty. The sign at the check-out counter read, “Back in 15,” and knowing how bright and perfect a day it was, she could safely assume it would be longer than that. As she approached the counter, she saw a clipboard resting on it. The columns one it read, “Name,” “Date,” “Time,” “Checking Out” and “Returning.” There was only one name there: Silverstream’s checking out the Apple Compendium.

“No ponies have been here yet,” she said to herself. “Everypony’s enjoying the weather.” She reached in her saddlebag and pulled out the book. The cover still had traces of teardrops, but Ocellus felt confident that, unless somepony held it up at a proper angle, no one would see them. With a sigh, she placed it on the counter and grabbed the clipboard.

Why am I still thinking about this? She wrote her name. I already told myself I’m over it. The date was next. I shouldn’t think about it anymore. The time came next, now well into the morning. Finally, she placed the quill onto the “Returning” column. And there we—

Her breath caught in her throat.

No no no! I can’t dwell on this anymore!

She scribbled the title, dropped the quill into the ink jar and pushed the clipboard and the book away. She started moving away from the counter, with one last look at the cover… but discovered the book had fallen behind. With a flustered sigh, she flew over the counter and picked it back up. Her eyes lingered on the cover. Little Rabbit didn’t judge her, instead focused entirely on his mother. Quickly, her expression softened.

Hoofsteps interrupted her. The single colt in the library was walking over to the counter, a stack of books on his back. When they made eye contact, he smiled at her. “Howdy!” He trotted over and slid the books on the counter. “Are you the check-out changeling today?”

She blushed. “Erm, no. I was just returning this.” She was about to set the book back on the counter, but suddenly, she had an idea. “Hey! Do you know where the foals’ section is?”

“Sure do!” He pointed straight up. “It’s right above us, can’t miss it.”

She looked up, and saw only ceiling. She flew out to where he was standing and then looked, and saw a balcony with bookshelves right next to the edge, blocking the section from view. It suddenly dawned on her that she wouldn’t have felt a need to check this part of the library out; it was far removed from the history, archaeology and older fiction section.

She spread her wings. “Thank you.”

“My pleasure.” With that, he took the clipboard and began filling it out.

Ocellus flew up until she could see the books themselves. Behind the wall of outward-facing cases were rows of books; each outward-facing shelf divided two shelves running perpendicularly, secluding each section from the rest of the library. She could see a walkway in between the wall of the library and the ends of the bookcases, and she flew over and landed there.

The section she landed at had Derby Decimal Digest numbers she wasn’t used to. Using a nearby chart, she was able to determine the contents of these books: psychology, infant care and parenthood. This must be for much older ponies, she thought to herself. She used the Derby Decimal Digest chart to find the shelf with the foals’ reading; it was closest to the corner. She walked over there.

If I can find where this goes, I can come by here and read it myself, when I have the time. I won’t have to worry about losing it again. She rounded the corner of the last shelf, and saw a rocking chair and a few bean bags, foal sized. I don’t remember having those at Mint Meadow…

Shaking her head clear, she turned her attention to the shelf itself. Colorful book covers lined it, as well as a few books opened and propped up on display. They were mostly newer books, books she wouldn’t have recognized from before coming to Ponyville. “Now, these look like they’re sorted by last name. I just need to find—”

But something caught her eye, and struck such a chord with her that she dropped the book right on the floor. It was another book, one propped open.

It was called How to Make Friends.

She picked up the book and scrambled away. She galloped as fast as she could, and once she reached the stairway to the upper level, she flew up and zoomed out of the library. She could feel her chest tightening and her eyes burning, and could hear laughter echoing in her ears.

How pathetic!

Her parents must not love her.

Ladybug, what are you doing? Stop it this instant!

She shook her head violently. Stop it, stop it, stop it!

“What’s gotten into her, anyway?”

That voice was more concrete, and it brought her out of her thoughts just in time to avoid crashing into a wall. She landed on the ground and began walking down the stairway that would lead to the front door, doing her best to stop the shaking in her legs, the heaving of her breath, the burning in her eyes.

“I’m not sure. It started with that book, though, right?”

She stopped right at the last step. “The book!” she whispered, taking a look at it. “I forgot to put it back! I should… I can’t face it. Not yet.” She continued on slowly.

“Yeah,” Silverstream’s muffled voice said from behind the doors. “I don’t know why she was so intent on putting it back just now.”

“Maybe it’s a scary story, and she doesn’t want to admit it?” Gallus’s voice said.

“No, that can’t be it. I read it, and I wasn’t scared of it. I was just hungry for carrots.”

“Maybe Ocellus afraid of carrots,” Yona’s voice said. That caused Ocellus to balk for a moment before continuing on.

“I doubt that,” Smolder’s voice said. “Maybe it has nothing to do with the book at all; maybe there’s something else wrong.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” Sandbar’s voice said. “Remember what Silverstream said? About Ocellus getting angry at the book?”

Ocellus bowed her head. “I should apologize for that.”

“Look, guys,” Smolder’s voice said. “Maybe we should just give her some distance away from it. If she’s putting it back, she’s not going to think about it.”

“I guess so,” Sandbar’s voice said. “I just wish she wouldn’t keep painful secrets, is all.”

A friend is, above all, somepony you can trust.

She winced and stared at the ground. I’m not being a good friend, aren’t I? But I’m not ready to tell them yet. I don’t want to tell them at all. I’d rather just forget about it all.

“Where is she, anyway?”

“I thought I heard her wings a few seconds ago…”

She straightened up immediately, and put her hooves on the door.

“Wait here, guys,” Silverstream said. “I’ll go in and see—”

With a sharp push, she flung the door open. “I’m back!”

All eyes locked onto her, including Silverstream’s, which were a few feet from her face. The hippogriff squawked and flapped herself away from the door. “Hey, Ocellus! We were wondering where you were. I was just coming in to find you.”

“Did you return the book?”

Ocellus looked away from Smolder. “Erm, actually, no. I tried, but… I decided not to.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sandbar raise his brow. Silverstream, meanwhile, brightened up. “Oh, nice! We can read it later, then!”

She smiled a crooked smile. “Yeah, later, of course.”

“Hey!” Everyone turned to Gallus, who was pointing to the west. “Enough talk! Let’s get to Sweet Apple Acres already and get some food!”

Yona ran past him. “Race you there!”

“Oh, you’re on!” The griffon straightened himself out and flew after the speeding yak.

Smolder was the next to take to the sky. “Well, come on slowpokes!”

Sandbar and Silverstream took off right after her, the former by hoof and the latter by wing. Ocellus, meanwhile, decided to take a more leisurely stroll to Sweet Apple Acres. They soon disappeared over a hill, leaving her by herself. When she couldn’t hear their flapping and galloping anymore, she slowed down a bit and kept her eyes to the ground.

Her eyes still stung, and she had a lump in her throat. Sandbar’s words echoed in her mind. Keep painful secrets, keep painful secrets. She wondered if she should just go back to her room and do the assignment another day. She wondered if it was too late to turn back and return the book. She wondered about that time, way back when…

She looked back up, and saw Sandbar trotting back to her. “Hey!” he shouted. “Are you coming?”

“Oh, y-yeah!” she shouted back. “Coming!” She cantered over to him, and the two of them soon caught up with Silverstream and Smolder, who had in turn been waiting for them.

The four of them soon caught up with Gallus and Yona, who were lying on the ground panting. They explained in great big breaths how they had realized they were too hungry to race, and besides, it was better to wait for them, right? They all set off again without incident. Ocellus caught Sandbar glancing at her a few times, but nothing came of it. Silverstream flew above her once or twice, and Smolder alternated between fluttering behind her and walking next to her. She just focused on walking ahead, and getting to Sweet Apple Acres.

After a while, they made it to the orchard. A group of students were already there ahead of them, each of them carrying a basket with them. To their sides, hundreds of apple trees spread out far beyond their view. The air was filled with the mild scents of apples, and the striking aroma of cinnamon and freshly-baked pastries.

Yona sniffed the air. “That smell like Professor Applejack’s baking.” She began to fidget in place. “Yona really hungry.”

Gallus charged forward, salivating. “What’re we waiting for? Let’s go before they run out of food!”

“Guys, wait!” Sandbar interjected, though he couldn’t hide his own drooling. “We came here for the apple homework, not breakfast. Besides, she only made enough for their family.”

But the two of them were already speeding down the path, towards the source of the aroma. Smolder flew down the path a bit as well. “Well, why don’t we go, too? The worst they can tell us in no.”

Silverstream bolted out in front of her. “Ooh, I hope they have apple-flavored kelp fritters!” The two of them flew away to join the others.

Ocellus looked over at Sandbar, who was shaking his head. But with a smile on his face, he cantered after them all. A few steps, though, and he turned back to her. “Hey, you coming?”

She found herself grinning. Despite everything that had happened earlier that day, she couldn’t help but be drawn by the sweet scents in the distance. “You bet!” she called with enthusiasm. She spread her wings and took off after him. As soon as she caught up to him, they proceeded together down the path.

The Apple Family house came into view, and she could see Applejack, Apple Bloom and an elderly mare moving around through the windows. Just as they broke the lines of trees and came into the residence proper, Gallus sped out of the barn and soared straight at them, followed by the others.

“Geezcanyougoanyslower?” he blurted, throwing two things at them. They each caught one, and soon realized that they were baskets. “Wehaveanassignmenttodo!”

“What?” they said in unison.

“What he’s saying—”

“Smolder will explain it hey gotta go get apples bye!” Gallus took off, and Yona and Silverstream sped off behind him, and all three of them went off in different directions.

Smolder sighed as she motioned for them to follow. “What he’s saying is that we need to do the assignment before we can get some apples in our baskets before we can eat anything.”

“Right, I figured.” Sandbar stopped, bucked a tree lightly, and a few apples fell out. Sandbar caught two in his basket, Smolder caught two in hers, and Ocellus, after snapping to attention, dove for the last one to fall. “She wouldn’t want us to fill up before eating.”

“But didn’t you say that they would’ve only made enough for themselves?”

“Yeah,” Sandbar agreed with a grin. “But Applejack’s very hospitable. She wouldn’t mind making food for us as well. But it seems like we’ll need to do some work before we can have breakfast.”

“Maybe Applejack just doesn’t want us to forget about the homework.”

Smolder shrugged. “Whatever the case, I’m getting hungrier by the second, so I’m going to go and get some apples. They all split up, so let’s all meet up back here, okay?” With that, she spread her wings and took off.

Sandbar arched his back. “Looks like it’s everypony for themselves. I’m gonna go look for some apples as well. Do you wanna come along?”

“N-No, I’ll look for apples on my own.”

“Are you going to be okay by yourself?”

What am I, a whelp? Wait, no. He’s just looking out for me. She winced, thinking about that book. “Y-Yeah, I’ll be fine.”

Sandbar narrowed his eyes, but nodded and gave her a smile. “Okay. Well, I’ll be over here, if you want to group up.” He went off on his own, and then Ocellus found herself alone.

And in that loneliness, she felt her eyes heat up.

Why did that book have to be in the library? I could’ve just returned the book, and it would’ve all been over! But now… She shook her head and began walking down where the others had sped off to, and then took a different path.

***

“Here it is: Honeycrisp.” She set the apple in her hoof next to the open page. “A large variety, this apple is red with streaks of yellow, usually at the top.” She took a look at the apple in front of her, noting how the top was mostly yellow, but the middle and bottom were both red. “Check. It is a very crunchy, very sweet apple.” She took a bite, her face puckering up a bit at how sweet it was. “And check.”

The first few minutes of the search for apple varieties were spent mostly this way. She had leisurely trekked through the orchard, picking this tree and that to sample their fruit. Each time she plucked an apple from a tree, she would then lie down in the shade and search for it in the apple compendium. After that, she would take a bite of it to confirm the sweetness and tartness of it. And then it would go into the basket to join the others. So far, she had collected a Gala, Jazz, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Braeburn, Jonathan, Ambrosia, Pink Lady, and Fuji apple. The Honeycrisp was set along with the rest of them.

The thoughts from earlier lingered, but gradually the stinging in her eyes receded. She didn’t say a word as she went on, and soon she had at least one red, yellow, green and pink apple in her basket. I wonder if that’s enough, she wondered. It sounds like the others are having much better luck than I am. Oh well. Maybe I should take some more time to myself.

She cleared a patch of bushes, and came across the group of students from earlier. They were all standing around and laughing, each of them having an assortment of apples that looked mostly different from hers. The pegasi of the group were flying around the trees, picking apples and tossing them down to their grateful companions. And they were all talking and joking together.

They look like they’re having fun. She looked at her own basket, and wilted at the empty space. I don’t have a lot, like them. I should leave them alone—

“Hey, Ocellus!”

Darnit! She slowly emerged from the bushes. “H-Hey, guys.”

“Doing the homework as well?”

“Yeah. I, uh, probably don’t have as many apples as you guys do.”

One of the unicorns took a look at her basket. “Wow, that’s way more than any of us have found! You must really love apples, right, Ocellus?”

Ocellus looked at the ground. “Well… y-y—”

“Hey,” one of the earth pony colts said. “You can’t have too many apples, right? I hope you don’t mind my asking, but do changelings like fruit?”

She nodded.

“Well, you must know a lot if you don’t have any duplicates.”

“Yeah,” one of the pegasi above shouted, pointing to the colt. “You got Polo Blitz here, who grabbed a whole basket full of the same one!”

“Hey!” The colt shouted back. “At least I got some variety back, you know?”

“Yeah,” the pegasus continued, landing next to him. “But still, you weren’t paying attention in class, right? How pathetic!”

“Well, at least—”

“Hey!”

The entire group looked at Ocellus, who was shaking in anger.

“That’s not a nice thing to say to a friend!” She flew up right in front of him.

“Hey, wait—”

“What the—”

“It is not pathetic that he forgot! He may’ve been thinking of something else when Applejack was giving the assignment, or maybe he was sleeping. Whatever it was, it does not give you the right to call him pathetic!”

“Whoa, whoa!” The pegasus backed up, and the other pegasus retreated. “Take it easy!”

“Ocellus!”

She whipped her head to the colt below her, her eyes stinging in anger. “What?”

“Ocellus, he’s just joking.”

Her blood turned cold. “Wh-what?”

The unicorn spoke up. “He’s just teasing him. Everything’s alright. They’re used to that, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Yeah!” The pegasus flew towards her and crossed his forelegs. “So chill out.”

She slowly descended to the ground. “A-A joke? So he didn’t mean it?”

“Of course not!” The colt chuckled. “It’s all in good fun.”

“Yeah,” the stallion said, landing next to the other colt and giving him a hoof-sandwich. “Because joking around’s what friends do.”

“Exactly.”

The words hit her hard. She looked down at the ground, doing her best not to look at anypony. It happened again. I didn’t understand how things work, and I made a fool of myself. I-I can’t do anything right! It’s like I don’t know how to… how to make friends.

---

Ocellus trudged through Mint Meadow with heavy hooves. This would be the third visit, after two weeks spent away from the library. She had been given three books by Sweet Scroll to read with her “parents,” but knowing how Elytra and Protonum would act with bringing pony material back into the hive, she had hidden them away. It had been less difficult to bring them in than she had feared; she had forgotten how all of the other whelps were busy fighting with one another. Elytra had given her an earful for running off again, but the books remained undetected. In truth, Ocellus felt a selfish glee from having these books all to herself. It was something that none of the larger, craftier, or more hot headed whelps had.

But her excitement had drained day by day as she took on the difficult task of teaching herself to read—on top of learning how to disguise herself, fight, siphon love and transport it to the hive—she would often look at the pages with blurry eyes and a rattled brain until she would fall asleep.

And now, her two weeks’ time with them was over, and she could barely read the word act, and could even sound out the word bit, Although she knew that she had to keep her disguise up, she couldn’t help but hang her head low. In fact, if the due date hadn’t been that day, she wouldn’t have bothered to come to Mint Meadow at all.

It was just another failure in her short life. She was the only one in the hive with books, and she had failed to master them. She was truly ashamed.

The quaint little building came up in front of her, and she hesitated. There was still a chance to turn back, to take the books and run, to practice more. If I do that, then Sweet Scroll won’t be disappointed in me.

But if I do that, then they’ll come looking for the books, and they’ll find the hive in the process. I can’t let that happen.

Even if it means facing her?

Yes. It doesn’t matter. I failed. I don’t deserve them anymore.

“Excuse us.”

Ocellus jumped in fright and dove into one of the nearby bushes. After a few seconds, she chanced a peek out, and saw a tall mare pawing at something on the ground. Once she saw what it was, she scrambled out. “My books!”

The mare looked at her. “I’m sorry to have scared you like that. Here you go.”

She picked them up in a flurry, balancing themselves on her back. The covers appeared squished, as if they had hit the ground. “I hope she’s not mad at me.”

“Who?”

She looked back to see a colt looking at her. “Sweet Scroll. I messed up her books.” She could feel tears welling up.

“Oh, now, don’t be silly,” the mare said, reaching down to her. “Come on. I’ll explain what happened, and Sweet Scroll will likely forget about it.”

“But—”

“It’s okay. Come along, Tambourine.”

“Yes, momma.” The colt rushed past her and, with great effort, pushed the door open. The mare followed and, at her urging, Ocellus followed.

She couldn’t shake the frown from her face as she continued to follow the two ponies. Inside was louder than it had been the past few times; more foals wandered around, some playing tag—much to Bookmark’s flustered annoyance—a pair playing peek-a-boo across shelves, and around five surrounding the foals’ section of the library. There were fewer adults as a trade-off, but Ocellus’s nervousness only grew after every pass a running foal would make past her.

They haven’t noticed anything odd about me yet. I guess I can blend in, if I try hard enough.

“Hello, Bookmark,” the mare said at the front desk.

Some shuffling from behind, and then Ocellus saw Bookmark’s head—complete with glasses askew and mane poking every which way—pop over the counter. “Hello, Castanets! Is little Tambourine here for the Foals’ Day reading session?”

“He sure is! And,” Castanets continued, pointing down to Ocellus, “I believe we have one more here for you guys.”

Bookmark adjusted her glasses and peered down. “Oh, hello Ladybug!”

“H-hi.”

“You’re here to return your books, right?”

She sniffled. “Yes.”

“Why, darling, what’s wrong?”

Ocellus didn’t speak. Thankfully, Castanets did it for her. “I accidentally scared her from behind, and she dropped her books. She thinks she’s damaged them.”

“Ooh,” Bookmark said, her tone low and raspy. “Let’s take a look, shall we?” She took up each book and turned them over and over. Ocellus began to back away from her, but bumped into something instead. She looked up, and who else but Sweet Scroll was behind her, holding a book in her foreleg.

“Hello, Ladybug!” Before Ocellus could react, she reached down and nuzzled her. “How’ve you been? I haven’t seen you in, gosh, what has it been? A week?”

“Two weeks,” Ocellus said, raising a foreleg defensively.

“My, then it’s about time that the books are returned.”

“Yup,” Bookmark continued in her low and raspy tone. “And she thinks she damaged the books.”

“Oh.” Sweet Scroll smiled. “I’m sure it’s nothing.”

“N-nothing?”

“Yes, child. Don’t worry.” Sweet Scroll walked over to the front counter. “Oh.”

She gulped.

“Is that it?”

Ocellus looked back up. “Huh?”

“You just dropped them, is all. I was worried you had torn a page.”

Ocellus blinked, confused. “So… they’re not ruined?”

“Oh, bless!” Sweet Scroll chuckled and walked over to her. “They’re hardly ruined. They were eventually going to look like that, anyway. There’s no harm whatsoever.”

“Really?”

“Mmhmm.” Sweet Scroll put a consoling hoof on her withers. “Really.”

“Oh.” Ocellus relaxed slightly. “Okay.”

“Ladybug…” Sweet Scroll began, her voice quiet. “Honey, were your parents mad at you over this?”

Ocellus’s head scrunched up. “No. They didn’t know I had the books at all.”

“What?” Sweet Scroll scoffed. “Ladybug, why wouldn’t you show your parents? You were supposed to read them with your family!”

“I know,” Ladybug continued, her voice shaky. “B-but they would’ve gotten mad.”

“Why?”

“I mean, no, they wouldn’t have—”

“Okay, okay,” Sweet Scroll interrupted immediately. “You don’t need to tell me if you don’t want to. I’m not going to judge.”

“You’re not?”

“Of course not.” Sweet Scroll sighed. “Don’t worry.”

“O-okay.” Ocellus straightened up.

“Did you practice on your own?”

And she instantly slunk back down. “I tried, honest, but… I just couldn’t understand it. I mean, I understood the A book, but not the B book or C book.”

“That’s fine.”

“No it isn’t. I couldn’t get it in two weeks.”

“And that’s fine.”

“But—”

“Ladybug,” Sweet Scroll began seriously. “It’s going to take more than two weeks to learn how to read.”

“But, what if I fall behind everyone else?”

Sweet Scroll grimaced. “Ladybug… it’s fine if you fall a little behind. It’s not a competition.”

Ladybug’s jaw dropped. “It’s not?”

“Of course not. You’ll get it eventually, as long as you keep on practicing. You like to read, right?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Then you just need to keep on reading. In fact, I think this was my fault.”

“Your fault?”

“I should’ve realized you needed more help with the reading. I wouldn’t have let you take the books if I realized you would have so much trouble.”

Ladybug winced.

“Oh no no no, I didn’t mean it like that! I mean—”

“It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not.” Sweet Scroll’s tone was now completely stern. “I don’t want you feeling bad.”

“Even if I am bad?”

“Honey,” Sweet Scroll’s tone became more exasperated. “You’re learning. Don’t put yourself down, okay?”

She didn’t answer.

“Okay, Ladybug?”

“Okay, ma’am.”

“Miss Sweet Scroll is fine.” The mare smiled at her, and then motioned to the book in her hoof. “Do you have time for a book?”

Suddenly, all of Ocellus’s doubts and despairing thoughts vanished. “Yes!”

“Lovely.” Sweet Scroll pointed with her head towards the children’s section. “Follow me, then.”

Ocellus did as she was told, keeping right next to Sweet Scroll as the mare rounded the shelf. The foals playing tag ran right past them, startling her and causing her to bring herself right next to Sweet Scroll’s legs. “There’s a lot of young ponies here, but at least I won’t have to talk to them. I can focus on the… book…”

The foals that had been playing tag ran over to the children’s section, joining about a dozen other foals on top of an oval rainbow-colored rug. In front of them was a wooden chair with rockers at the bottom. Ocellus watched as the dozen pairs of eyes watched Sweet Scroll walk through them, and then shifted to fixate on her. She didn’t know what they were thinking at the time, but as they continued to stare, she grew more nervous.

“Alright, fillies and colts,” Sweet Scroll said, turning to sit on the chair. “Gather around… oh, Ladybug, don’t be shy. Come join us and find a seat.”

“O-o-okay,” she said with a tight throat. She took a step forward, and then another towards the group of foals. Okay, Ocellus, keep your disguise up. Don’t panic. Just keep it calm. I need to find a seat away from them. She looked around the rug, trying to find somewhere to sit away from anypony. She circled around once, then twice, but the rug was mostly covered.

“Ladybug,” Sweet Scroll said. “There are a few spots around the rug. Take a spot, please.”

She began to sweat. “Yes, ma’am.” By now, the foals were staring at her, some with confusion, others with smiles, others with more silly smiles. Two colts even laughed. She looked down at the ground and looked for a spot away from those two. Eventually, she picked a spot near the front, off to the side.

“There we go,” Sweet Scroll said with the same tone. “Could one of you pass Ladybug a pillow?”

Pillow? “What’s a pillow?”

The foals laughed amongst themselves. “How does she not know what a pillow is? Doesn’t she have pillows? How sad.”

She began to fidget at the foals’ taunting words. It brought her back to her hive, and the other whelps putting each other down, trying to be the best… and now these ponies were doing the same thing. Mocking her, putting themselves above her…

“That’s enough, children.” Sweet Scroll’s tone was more stern. “Now please give her a pillow.”

The foals did as they were told, and soon one of them handed her a poofy object. “Is this a pillow?”

“Yeah,” one of the fillies said.

She turned the pillow in her hooves, looking it over. It was square in shape, and very soft. The fabric was as green as the moss around her cave, and this further confused her as to why it was so soft and dry. Besides a few ribbons at the corners, there was nothing else to note about how it looked.

But how it felt… Ocellus brought the pillow closer to her, and as it conformed to her chest and belly, she couldn’t help but smile. It was so soft! And warm! She clutched it tightly, feeling the fabric conforming to her.

“Hey.”

She opened her eyes and saw everypony staring at her. She raised the pillow defensively.

“Are you going to sit down?”

She raised up a brow. “But I am sitting down.”

They giggled, causing her to back away slowly.

“Ladybug,” Sweet Scroll said with just a hint of annoyance. “They mean for you to sit on the pillow.”

She tilted her head, but then recognized that everypony else was sitting on the pillows. She looked down at the ground solely to avoid everyone’s eyes, set the pillow onto the ground, climbed on top of it, and then sat down. It took some shimmying around to center herself, but once she did, she couldn’t help but smile. It was much softer than just sitting on the carpet.

“Now then,” Sweet Scroll began.

“Seriously, have you never had a pillow before?”

Ocellu turned to see a filly staring at her with a large smirk. “No, I haven’t.”

“Wow, your parents must not love you that much.”

Some of the other foals looked at the two of them. Ocellus folded her ears back and looked down. Why would I need love to have a pillow? Is that what these pillows are made of? She tried sucking some of the love from the pillow below her. Maybe they gave me a bad pillow as a joke? She tried the pillow next to her. Nothing, though she did manage to take a little love from the foal, prompting him to groan. No, it’s not like that. Maybe… maybe it’s love from one’s parents that does it? My parents don’t have enough to make a pillow, though.

“Ladybug?”

She jerked up. “Yes?”

“Are you paying attention?”

She blinked. “Oh… no, I wasn’t. I’m sorry.” She shrunk into herself.

“It’s okay,” Sweet Scroll said, adjusting her glasses. “Now pay attention, everypony.” She opened the book up. “How to Make Friends.”

Ocellus tilted her head. “Friends?” she thought to herself. “I wonder what those are.” The rest of the foals around her scooted in to listen; she decided to remain still, lest she unintentionally jostle one of them.

Sweet Scroll turned the page. “If you want a friend, don’t be shy!” She turned the page to show a little filly, all by herself, frowning. Ocellus felt an uncomfortable feeling within her.

Ocellus is too shy.

She needs to toughen up!

Poor little Ocellus, too weak to fight for herself!

She shuddered. When she opened her eyes, she saw Sweet Scroll unmistakably looking at her out of the corner of her eye. The mare didn’t say anything, though, and instead continued on.

“Ponies are always looking for new friends.” The picture showed a bunch of ponies talking to one another. Adult or foal, every pony was smiling. “Foals are always wanting to meet new ponies.”

“Except you.”

Ocellus turned to see the filly from earlier smirking at her. “No,” she thought, “ignore her. Don’t let Sweet Scroll notice.” She turned back.

“If you want to make a new friend, walk up to a pony and say ‘hello.’” Sweet Scroll looked at them all with wide eyes. “Now, everypony turn to your neighbor and say ‘hello!’”

“What’s a neighbor?” Ocellus thought. Suddenly, all of the other foals were looking at one another and saying ‘hello!’ and sharing a few laughs. She began to panic.

“What’s the matter?” The filly behind her asked. “Are you shy? Don’t be shy. Just say ‘hello.’”

Ocellus gulped, but turned to look at the filly. “H-Hello.”

“...Wow, that was really bad. You must really not have any friends.”

Her head began to hurt. “Do you have to have ‘friends’ to talk to ponies? Maybe I shouldn’t have come here at all, if I don’t have any.” Ocellus shrunk into herself and turned away, trying her best to shrink out of view. But there was a colt next to her who looked directly at her and said, ‘Hello’ in a pleasant manner. It turned out to be Tambourine, and he was smiling at her.

“Hello,” Ocellus said.

“It’s okay,” Tambourine said to her. “It’s not easy making friends.”

“It’s not?” she thought. “Then maybe I can blend in after all.” She took a deep breath and looked at him intensely. She noticed him backing away just a hair, and before he could get away, she asked her question:

“So what are friends, anyway?”

His eyes bugged, and his jaw dropped. Everypony stopped talking to one another and stared at her. Once again, Ocellus felt the dozen eyes upon her, and she tried shrinking again.

“Wow!” The filly yelled. “She doesn’t even know what friends are! How embarrassing!” She began laughing, and soon the others joined in.

She began to fill up with dread. She had been terrified of everypony around her to start, and now any one of them could attack her and probably be justified; if knowing what a friend was was paramount to fitting in with ponies, she could’ve been found out at any second! She had never heard the word at her hive, so how would she have known? From the practice books she had taken home? She couldn’t even read them!

But there was something else welling up inside of her. The laughing around her reminded her of the laughter and derision at her hive. She was often picked as the weak one, the one that everywhelp ganged up on. And at times, it was too much for her. When it went on for too long, something came out of her. Something that scared them away enough for her to be alone.

And now, with the filly laughing at her, she felt it all over again: her heart beating faster, her legs shaking, her breathing quicker, her jaw snarling. Her forehead burned, the horn concealed begging to drop the disguise, but the coward within her ignored it. Still, each laugh drummed against her ears, and her vision gradually narrowed until only the filly in front of her was present.

“That’s enough, Grape!”

“Okay, okay, but seriously, what kind of loser doesn’t have any friends?”

Then Ocellus did what came naturally to her kind: she pounced upon the filly. They both went flying back into a colt, who didn’t have enough time to get out of the way. She slammed the filly into the ground, pinned her down with her hooves, and snarled at her.

“Stop it!” she yelled.

The filly’s smug expression gave way to buggy eyes filling with tears, a wide quivering jaw and a raspy breath. The others around them backed away, squealing in panic.

“Ladybug, What are you doing?” she heard Sweet Scroll say behind her. “Stop it this instant!”

“G-Get off of me!”

“No!” Ocellus raised her hoof to strike at her. Suddenly, she felt something grab her leg and yank her off. She tumbled onto another pillow, and bounced back up to hiss at the assailant. But when she saw who it was, she froze in place.

“That’s enough!”

The loudness of the yell was enough to send her galloping as fast as she could away from them. She couldn’t see anything else, the room, the ponies, the shelves, all of it a blur as, with tears coming down her face, she ran. She had to find somewhere safe to hide. Sweet Scroll would never forgive her for this.

---

“Are you okay?”

She snapped back to reality. The ponies were all looking at her, concern clearly etched on their faces. She could feel her face turning red, and her eyes began to sting. “I-I’m sorry, I should go.”

“No, it’s alright—”

But before she could register what they were saying, she sped off. She had to get away from them, lest they find out she didn’t know how to wait her turn like a true friend. They would laugh at her, talk about her behind their back, tell everypony else and make her the laughing stock of Ponyville!

Right?

Slowly, after some flying, she came to a stop. She didn’t know exactly where she was—she realized then that she could just fly up and take a look around—but she knew that she was alone. There was nopony there to judge her.

So she began to walk around and talk to herself. “Would they really make fun of me? These are other students from the School of Friendship, after all, and that just seems rude. They’ve never made fun of me before. No… they wouldn’t. They wouldn’t do that. I made a mistake.”

She thought about going back, but couldn’t bring herself to do it. “They’re probably scared of me. I couldn’t keep control of my emotions, and they probably don’t want to see me right now.” She sighed and stopped her pacing. “I messed up. Again. I should study more.”

She looked at her back, only to realize something. “I forgot my saddlebag! Stingers!” Her eyes watered up again. “I can’t get anything right.”

She couldn’t think of anything else to do. She stood in place, and let the gravity of the situation settle in. She had made a fool of herself in front of her friends and the other ponies. She couldn’t focus on anything because of her meeting with Rarity earlier. She had made her friends worry over something that had happened years ago.

How embarrassing! Ha ha ha!

She couldn’t contain it anymore. The first few tears came out quickly, and the rest came out in a steady stream. Her legs became heavy, but luckily for her there was a rock nearby. She carried herself there and crawled next to it, making sure she would be out of sight of anyone coming along the same path. “I don’t want them to see me like this.”

And for however long it took, she let herself cry. She buried her head into her legs, just so the world wouldn’t be able to hear her, to discover her like this, so vulnerable and weak. There was nothing around her that disturbed her sobbing fits.

Why? Why am I being so emotional? And why do I keep thinking about that time? Mint Meadow is… Sweet Scroll’s probably… I can’t change anything. So why does it keep coming up?

She continued to cry, the shade of the rock keeping her cool, the silence of the air keeping her focused on her own tears.

I couldn’t make friends back then. No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t do it. I wanted to make a friend, I should have made friends, but I couldn’t do it. And I messed up here now. Will every pony hold it against me now? I should face them, but I can’t. Not now, not after I embarrassed myself like that.

She continued to cry and cry, until she heard something coming her way. She jerked her head up to hear somepony walking, with what sounded like wheels as well. She wiped her eyes just in time to see somepony approaching her, with a wagon in tow. She suddenly felt guilt well up inside her: she recognized him, knew that he was Professor Applejack’s brother, even remembered how he had shown her to sew, but she couldn’t remember his name. I’ll probably just embarrass myself further if I try and talk to him. I should just leave—

But before she could change, something walked right in front of her. The appearance of a brown face shocked her so much, she shouted and transformed into a rock. The thud she made from hitting the ground scared the creature into running away, barking as it retreated.

Oh. That was Winona. Another mistake.

But before she could transform again to run away, the stallion rounded the rock and looked down at her. Winona came running behind him, barking at the rock that was Ocellus. She closed her eyes to try and blend in, but suddenly the barking stopped. She opened her eyes to see the stallion holding a leg out in front of Winona, presumably telling her to stop.

Ocellus blinked as the stallion leaned in towards her. Her heartbeat picked up as he drew closer. He eyes her quizzically.

“Now, I’ve never seen a rock with eyes before. Nope.” He scratched his hoof. “Might be one of Maud’s rocks.”

Winona circled her, sniffing her surface.

“Or,” the stallion continued, “maybe it’s the changeling they’re looking for.” He nodded. “That would explain the crying.”

He figured it out. Oh well, it’s not like I hid well anyway. With an inward sigh, she transformed back. And as expected, the fire around her caused the stallion to jump in shock.

“Starswirl’s Beard!” He shook his head. “Don’t do that without telling me.”

She sniffled. “I’m sorry. I just got scared.” The crying resumed immediately, and she lowered herself against the rock again. “I *hic* won’t do it again, I promise.”

She waited for him to go away. But he didn’t. Instead, she felt a hoof rest on her forehead. “Now now, sugarcube. T’aint your fault or nothing. Winona’s got a lot of energy, you know.” Ocellus didn’t answer. “Something’s bothering you, huh?”

She nodded.

“You wanna talk about it?”

She shook her head.

“That’s alright.” He maneuvered himself next to her and lay down alongside her. “You don’t have to talk or nothing. But I’m here for you.”

The crying lessened. She looked at him, getting lost in his patient gaze.

“You want an apple? We’ve got tons.”

She nodded meekly. She barely noticed how, out of the corner of her eye, he tapped one of the apple trees with his hindleg, and a yellow apple fell out of it. He deftly kicked it over his body and into his hoof, and then gently placed it into her grasp.

“Th-thank you.” She continued to stifle sobs. She couldn’t stop even if she wanted to. But as she felt a leg wrap around her, and pull her to his side, and let her head rest against him, she felt calmer. She continued to cry, but her mind wasn’t a wreck anymore.

In fact, the calmness allowed her to focus on the past. Somepony had come to calm her down, just as it happened before. Did that mean… she had failed the friendship test as well?

---

The memory became clearer. She remembered the queer looks that ponies gave her as they went about their business. She remembered the darkness covering her. She remembered there not being enough room for her to stand up. And then, she remembered what had happened. She had run away from the group of foals, and had found a hiding spot underneath a reading chair.

After a fit of crying, she thought to herself. “What am I doing here? This is beyond suspicious! Nopony else is running around crying. Some changeling you are. Noling’s going to accept you now that I’ve run away like a coward. I am a disgrace. I shouldn’t return to the hive at all!

Minutes passed, and eventually, though she didn’t know how late, she saw the foals running to find their parents and leave the library. Only two of them had noticed her hiding: Tambourine, who gave her a look of pity and a small wave of farewell, and the filly who had mocked her, and who poked her tongue out at her.

Ocellus looked away, wishing she could hide further, or transform and run away. But even with how addled she was, she knew that her transformation would draw too much attention, and her cover, and Protonum’s and Elytra’s would be in danger as well. So she stayed silently underneath the chair and suffered the look of the ponies, who would no doubt be judging her with scorn.

It would be just like the changelings.

“That was certainly an interesting reading.”

She cringed as she heard Sweet Scroll’s voice, tinged with frustration.

“I heard, “Bookmark’s worried voice answered. “What happened?”

“Some of the foals made fun of Ladybug, and she ran out. I hope she was able to find her way home.”

“Home? But I think she’s still here.”

“What? Where?”

“I think she’s under that chair.”

Ocellus curled into as tight of a ball as she could. Her body trembled with every step that undoubtedly made its way over to her. And then the hoofsteps stopped, right next to her. By that point, she couldn’t stop herself from shaking.

“Ladybug?”

And in that instant, the shaking stopped. That voice, unlike the one conjured in her mind, was in no way menacing, derisive, angry, even impatient. There was something soft about it, a lot softer than it had been. And then a soft hoof found its way onto her wither.

“Ladybug?” Sweet Scroll called again. “Are you alright?”

She looked out, and only saw one eye from the angle. But that eye was clearly wide and staring with concern. A new wave of guilt came over her, and she couldn’t move.

“It’s okay, dear. They’re gone now.”

Ocellus took a quick glance around, and found that she was telling the truth. There was only Sweet Scroll, Bookmark at the counter, and an elderly stallion wandering around the shelves. She looked back at the mare, who was now smiling at her.

“See? It’s safe to come out now.” She motioned with her hoof. “Come on out now, Ladybug.”

She looked at the hoof, then at Sweet Scroll’s face, and then back at the hoof. Slowly, she reached for it. It felt soft as it wrapped around her ankle, and gentle as she pulled her out of the bottom of the chair. As she stood, her legs tingled and shook.

“There we go. Feeling better?”

She nodded, though not actually sure what she felt.

“I’m sorry.”

“Wh-what? Why?”

“I yelled. That’s why you ran away, right?”

Ocellus sulked. “Well, no, I mean yes, I mean… kinda.”

“...But what you did was wrong”

“What?”

“The filly who was sitting behind you., Grape Jam, didn’t deserve that.”

Her ears folded back as she nodded. “She wouldn’t stop laughing at me.”

“That didn’t give you the right to hit her.”

“It doesn’t?”

“Of course not!” Sweet Scroll sighed. “You just have to ignore it.”

Ocellus looked at Sweet Scroll intensely. That’s not what the hive says. Maybe that’s just a pony thing. I-can I really behave like that? Was it because… they know? Is this how changelings are treated when they’re found out? “Why did she make fun of me?”

“Some ponies are just like that,” Sweet Scroll said, stroking Ocellus’s mane, “when they find something unfamiliar to them. Give it time. Who knows,—”

“Who knows what?”

Sweet Scroll giggled. “Maybe you’ll make a new friend.”

“Oh, um, yeah.” She scuffed the ground. “But I don’t know how to make friends, or what a friend even is.”

Sweet Scroll cocked her head. “So you’ve really never had a friend?”

She shook her head.

“Oh my.” Sweet Scroll took her by the withers and guided her back to the foals’ section. “Well, a friend is somepony who you get along with. Somepony you like.”

“Like you?”

“Aww, that’s sweet.” Sweet Scroll sat back down in the chair. “I suppose so, if you want to call me that. A friend is somepony you can play with and share toys,”

Someone to play with? That sounds… nice.

“Tell jokes and whisper secrets.”

Ocellus’s heart froze. “S-Secrets?”

“Yes. A friend is, above all, somepony you can trust.”

Trust…

Sweet Scroll leaned her head towards Ocellus. “Do you have any secrets you want to share?”

“Y-N-No.”

“Okay.” She opened the book. “We’re still friends, right?”

“N-Y-Yes.”

“Good.” She cleared her throat. “How to Make Friends.”

Ocellus watched as Sweet Scroll read the words and showed the pictures, doing her best to understand the letters. The message, however, was lost on her. She knew it would mean nothing in the end. The hive had made it clear to her every day: deception was a changeling’s greatest weapon. Trust would mean nothing to a changeling. And, therefore, no matter what she was told or what she did, she would never have a friend.

Not even Sweet Scroll.

---

“Right?”

“Hmm?”

She looked up at the stallion. It took a bit to figure out what she had just said, but once she did she looked at the ground, wiping away the remaining tears in her eyes. “N-Nothing, it’s nothing.” She sniffled.

“Mmm.” He looked down at her. “Feelin’ better?”

“Mmhmm.” She rose to her legs, aided by a push from the stallion’s muzzle. “Thank you.”

“Eeyup.” He rose as well, giving his body a mighty good stretch. “Ya still got yer apple-pickin’, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Eeyup.” He walked over to his cart and began rummaging through the buckets of apples. “You ever try a Mcintosh?”

That’s it! Big Macintosh! “Um… I don’t remember Professor Applejack giving us that flavor to try.”

The next instant, she felt something land in her basket. A dark red apple had joined the others she had. “Thank you.”

“Eeyup,” he said as he hooked himself up to the cart. “You’d have to go far into the orchard to find that kind. Now yer gonna continue yer pickin’?”

She nodded.

“Take care, then,” he said, and began walking through the trees.

“Thank you, Big Macintosh!”

“Eeyup,” he said, as calmly as before. Before she could move, though, he spoke up again. “Hey!”

“Huh?”

““Ya got somepony to talk to about yer problems?” When she didn’t immediately answer. He continued. “Sometimes ya wanna keep yer problems to yerself, but it’s not always the right thing to do.”

“Oh.” She put on a smile and nodded. “Yeah, thanks.”

“Eeyup.” And with that, he took his leave.

Now that she was alone, she directed her attention to the path she had come down from. “I need to get my bag first… and apologize to those ponies.” With a deep breath, she began to trudge down the path.

It was quiet. I wonder if everyone else is already done. As she continued, she flew up to a few trees and plucked a few more apples for her basket. Now she had an assortment of differently sized apples, and she could pick out a few different patterns on the skin, to tell which were the same and which weren’t. By the time she reached the clearing, she had a dozen-or-so different apples in her basket.

But…

“Where is it?” She looked around the clearing. “Where is it?” She went around the trees, but it wasn’t there. “M-Maybe I dropped it in the tree when I flew up to yell at him.” But one search above the canopy, and a look through the branches revealed nothing. “Did somepony take it? Did the dog run off with it? Did Professor Applejack pick it up? Did I drop it as I was running? I should go back and see if I can—”

“Ocellus!”

She looked up and saw Smolder flying down towards her. “Hey!”

“There you are!” The dragon slammed down onto the ground, and then crossed her arms and grinned at her. “Geez, I’ve been looking everywhere for you. D’ya get lost?”

“Not exactly,” she said with an awkward laugh. “I just got sidetracked.

“Oh, yyyyyeah. Some other students were telling us what happened earlier.”

She shrunk. “They did?”

“Yeah. They told us you thought they were fighting. I didn’t think you’d stand up to them like that; that’s pretty awesome, ‘Cell. Don’t worry, we told them you’re shy, and that’s why you ran away.” Smolder’s expression softened. “Did any of them hurt you, or tease you?”

“N-No, of course not!”

“Good. We thought so, too, but I wanted to make sure. Wanted to make sure I didn’t have to find those ponies and give them a piece of my mind.” She reached behind her. “Here.”

Ocellus gasped. “My bag!”

“They brought it with them when we all gathered together for breakfast.”

“Oh-Oh yeah, Applejack’s cooking. Is there any left?”

“Don’t worry, ‘Cell. Professor Applejack had to leave for some ‘Pet Day’ thing, but she made sure to set some aside for you. It’s probably not hot anymore, but it’s better than nothing.”

“That’s fine.” Ocellus strapped the bag back onto her back and picked up the basket.

“Whoa, that’s a good variety!” Smolder picked up a few of the pinker apples she had. “I knew that book would help you out. It’s definitely more than we all got on our own, and may be more than what we have combined.” Smolder took to the air.

“Well, I’ll make sure to share with you guys,” Ocellus said, taking wing as well.

Friends share with one another.

Yes, I know. I don’t need a book to tell me that anymore. She spent the entirety of the flight to the Apple Family house clearing her thoughts—and the last few tears in her eyes.

Ya got somepony to talk to about yer problems? Sometimes ya wanna keep yer problems to yerself, but it’s not always the right thing to do.

Friends are able to keep each other’s secrets.

Should I tell them about it?... No, it’s already over, right? I shouldn’t make them worry anymore. I already cried about it. I just need to return the book, and then, I think, this will all be over.

Yet as she lowered herself and landed next to her friends, she couldn’t shake the feeling of guilt within herself.

Author's Note:

A huge thank you to Nekihya, Liquid Savage, RadPanic, and Synthetic Hour for proofreading this chapter.

Comments

[TCC56]

Poor Ocellus. She's gonna break soon, I think.

I did notice a small error, though. During the flashback sequence, Sweet Scroll names her as Ocellus rather than Ladybug at one point.

“There we go,” Sweet Scroll said with the same tone. “Could one of you pass Ocellus a pillow?”

[Learn for Life]

10452708
Thank you for pointing that out. It has been fixed.

I hope you are enjoying the story so far.