Even though he'd never considered himself particularly skilled at it, Sandbar nevertheless had times when he was actually able to do it. Taking the stone into his hoof, the young stallion threw it as well as he could across the surface of the water. Many times before, it had sunk, but today, it appeared as though he was in for a treat, for the tiny pebble successfully bounced off the water, and then again, before finally plopping down. A smile crept onto his lips, and he sat himself down at the edge of the Ponyville lake. It was a pleasant day to be out here, with a warm sun beating its rays down upon him. But, he was not meant to be here alone, and he sighed as he counted the moments. She'd be here, he was sure of that, and a smile touched his lips as he dwelt on the thought of having her be with him today. But, before he could truly enjoy such thoughts, he was interrupted by the noticeable sound of somebody trying to clear their voice behind him.

"Um...hi?"

Turning, Sandbar looked on with slight surprise to find that there, standing not that far away from him, was a young earth pony mare, about his age. Her fur was a light blue in colour, and her mane was distinctly pink, and she carried herself with clear nervousness in both her stance and her expression. Although he'd never seen this person before, that did not mean Sandbar had forgotten his courtesies, and so, after getting up to his hooves, he responded.

"Hi. Er...can I help you?"

The mare smiled to him, raising a hoof and attempting to sweep aside some of her mane in some fancy gesture. But, this attempt failed when her hoof simply passed through random strands of it, as though she'd never attempted such a thing in her life. A brief look of annoyance came to her, but she moved past it soon afterwards, waking towards the stallion and sounding hesitant as she spoke.

"Well...um...I was wondering...do you come here often?"

Sandbar blinked.

"You mean...to the edge of this lake?"

The mare looked away for a few moments.

"It's just...a stallion like you could probably do with some...company?"

Here, a smile came to Sandbar, and he gave a brief chuckle.

"Oh, you don't need to worry about that. I'm actually waiting for someone right now. She should be here any minute."

The mare blushed slightly, again looking away from him. After a few moments of worry on her part, she sighed, looking back to him, with her smile now gone.

"Um...hi, Sandy."

Sandbar looked to her with confusion, for he could have sworn that her voice now sounded different from what it had been before. Then, ever so slowly, recognition came to him, and his eyes widened.

"O...Ocellus?"

The mare nodded, prompting Sandbar to ask the obvious question.

"Wha...what are you doing?"

Raising a hoof, the disguised Changeling nervously scratched the back of her head.

"Well...um...I was thinking it might be nice if I...you know...put on a face for our date that was...that was more..."

Sandbar tilted his head.

"More...what?"

To that, Ocellus slumped her shoulders.

"More...pretty."

A silence passed between them, and while Sandbar looked to his girlfriend as though he didn't understand what she was saying, his face gradually morphed into a softer look, as he let out a long sigh.

"Ocellus...change back...please."

There was no waiting on the part of the Changeling before she complied with that instruction, and within moments, she was engulfed in the distinct transformation magic of her people. But soon, it was gone, and Sandbar now looked upon Ocellus' TRUE appearance. Though, for some reason, she was continuing to just not look at him, which led to him taking a step closer before gently placing his hoof upon her shoulder.

"Ocellus...what's this all about?"

Slowly, the young Changeling turned her gaze back to him.

"I guess...I just felt a little worried that...it might be strange for you...being with, well...someone who looked like me...on a day like this one."

Sandbar frowned, but only a little bit.

"Ocellus, I've been with you when you're like this ever since we met."

Ocellus nodded.

"I know...but today is...different."

A blush came to the both of them.

"Yeah...but that doesn't mean you have to change," Sandbar remarked.

Ocellus looked back to him, and for a while, neither youth said a word to one another. Instead, Sandbar smiled to his girlfriend, walking away from her and going back to the spot by the lake where he'd been sitting. Ocellus watched as he sat himself down, patting a bare patch of earth next to him. The young shapeshifter knew what he was saying to her, and so she made her way over, sitting herself down beside him. Again, there was nothing but quiet between the young couple, even though they both clearly looked nervous for some reason. And Sandbar's eventual breaking of the silence merely added to this.

"Did...did you think I wouldn't want to try this with you if you looked like...you?"

Ocellus hung her head slightly.

"...Maybe."

Sandbar's expression again softened, and he once more reached forward. But this time, it was not for her shoulder, but for the underside of her chin, and once there, he gently guided her face to look at him, wherein he offered her a warm and loving smile.

"Ocellus...you don't need to change to try and make yourself look pretty. Because..."

Another blush came to him.

"...because you're already pretty."

As expected, Ocellus too blushed fiercely to those words, and while it would have been a simple matter to use her Changeling magic to alter her appearance so she wasn't blushing right now, it appeared as though the present circumstances weren't allowing her brain to provide her with that obvious escape route. Instead and after a few moments of hesitation, she responded, albeit slowly.

"You...you're just saying that."

But Sandbar shook his head.

"No...I mean it!"

If the stallion had fingers right now, he'd have been counting them off as he spoke.

"The way your eyes sometimes glitter, your beautiful wings, the..."

His blush deepened.

"...the smile you have."

Slowly, his own smile returned.

"When I said you were already pretty...I meant it."

Ocellus partly looked like she didn't believe him, but even so, she found herself gradually scooting to be closer to him. Both of them knew why they were here, and what they were going to want to do here. And both of them, understandably, looked almost terrified to even be attempting it right now. It was expected for ones as young as they were, and yet, here they were, ready to give it a go. It was something they wanted, even though neither of them really knew what to do first. Instead, Sandbar kept on speaking.

"And prettiness isn't all that would make me want to be with you, Ocellus. The drive you have to do well...how happy you are at everything you've seen since coming to Ponyville...the...the fun we've had together since we started dating."

His posture relaxed.

"All of it...I would want to be with you...because of you."

Here, Ocellus herself now began to speak, though looking a touch less confident than her boyfriend had been.

"And you...you've made me feel so welcome since I came here, Sandy. When I'm with you, I...I feel safe. You've not just made me feel like a friend...you've made me feel...so much more than that."

Her smile widened.

"I...I really am lucky that I met you."

Slowly, they were both moving closer to one another, their heads gradually leaning in towards the other. But, as this occurred, Ocellus again showed hesitation, and started to move back away from Sandbar. The stallion, seeing this, did not seem angry or upset, but rather understanding.

"Ocellus...you don't need to worry. If you don't think we're at that point, or if you don't think you're ready, then we don't have to go through with this right away."

But, Ocellus simply shook her head to that.

"It's not that, it's just...just..."

Letting out a long sigh, she looked right into Sandbar's eyes.

"I'm a Changeling...and you're a pony."

Fear took hold in her eyes.

"Two people like us have never tried doing something like this together. What if...what if it doesn't feel good to us? What if we do this and...and we find out it can only feel good if we experience it with those of our own kind?"

She paused, continuing to look almost distraught over these new thoughts of hers.

"What do we do if things go...wrong?"

Sandbar looked to her earnestly. In truth, it seemed as though he might, on some level, share the same fears. It was a valid concern after all. What would they do if this didn't go the way they expected it to? But, after a while, Sandbar put away whatever fears he might have felt over the matter and, in a move similar to what he'd done before, reached forward and patted her shoulder.

"If there's a problem...we'll work it out. And if another problem show up afterwards...we'll work that one out too."

He took on a more determined look.

"We'll try to move past whatever problem comes our way, Ocellus...because something like this...like us...it's worth working for to make it, well...work."

Ocellus stared at him for a long time, utterly astounded that he was so willing to say such things.

"Do...do you really think we can work past all that?"

Slowly, the stallion smiled.

"Ocellus...I know we can!"

With that, Ocellus, the shy, timid and ever-understated student, leaned forward, and without even warning him that it was going to happen, she was upon him. Their lips met, pressing hard against each other, and Sandbar's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. As confident as he had been in the moments leading up to this moment, now all that was left in him was shock and bewilderment, as evidenced by the tomato-red blush his face was now drowning in. Ocellus, for her part, had her eyes closed, and she too was overwhelmed with a fierce blush. It was a first kiss if ever there was one, with neither party really knowing what to do now that their lips were together. But, after a while, relaxation started to come to them. Gradually, Sandbar too started to close his eyes, but not before he gently placed his hoof upon the side of his girlfriend's face.

This state lasted for some time, with both youths easing themselves into the kiss, even though Ocellus' wings flittered a little, making it clear how excited she was about this. There was no serious passion or anything beyond this simple lip contact, but even so, this was what they wanted. Minute after minute passed, with neither one of them doing anything besides what they were doing, but, there eventually came a time when, at long last, their lips finally parted. A deep exhale escaped the both of them, and like before, they stared deeply into each others' eyes. No words were said, at least for now, and instead, the awkwardness of the moment finally got the better of them. The two burst into adolescent giggling, snorting occasionally as their laughs echoed across the surrounding area. After a time, however, they calmed down, sighing together before, finally, speaking.

"That was...wow," Sandbar began.

"Yes, it was...nice," Ocellus added.

Slowly, the young stallion leaned forward, placing his hoof upon hers, holding it carefully.

"Was it...what you thought it would be like?"

Ocellus, thinking hard on that, looked to him with a slightly-fading smile, before slowly shaking her head.

"...No...it wasn't."

Naturally, Sandbar looked devastated at those words, but said nothing as his girlfriend swiftly resumed her smile.

"...It was better."

Sandbar, allowing a relieved sigh to escape him, joined in with Ocellus as the two once more laughed together. As before, that laughter soon ended, and without saying anything, they moved closer, embracing one another in a warm hug. The embrace was tender, and both of them smiled widely, both for this moment, and for the threshold they'd just crossed together.

"Well...guess we don't need to worry about what we're going to have to do if kissing didn't work out for us," Sandbar remarked.

Ocellus giggled to this, and as the two again parted, they contented themselves in the calm and quiet of the moment. They looked over to the lake, to the waters that glistened brightly in the still-shining sun above them. This moment between them had gone perfectly, and what's more, they had this moment all to themselves. No craziness, no stress, just the two of them, feeling happy with each other. It was a thought that brought nothing but ceaseless smiles for the young pair, and after a time, Ocellus looked to her pony companion, seeming just a touch uncertain.

"So...um...do you want to try...another kiss?"

Sandbar looked to her, opening his mouth to reply, only to halt himself as a look of wariness came to him. At first, Ocellus didn't understand why seemed to be looking this way, and her confusion only deepened as she saw him get up and walk away from her. She observed him walking further and further from where he'd been, until he finally reach a long bush just a short distance away from where they were. Immediately, understanding came to Ocellus, and a small smile crept onto her lips as she gave a single nod. As for Sandbar, he quickly looked over the top of the bush, making sure that nobody was there. Thankfully, nobody was there, and once he was satisfied of this, he returned to his earlier smile, before promptly making his way back to his girlfriend. Sitting himself down, he let out a sigh, giving a brief look of apology to her.

"Sorry about that...just had to be sure."

Nodding, Ocellus leaned forward, giving his hoof a quick pat.

"No need to apologise. Though I hear it is rude to keep a lady waiting."

The two again laughed together, and Sandbar, taking Ocellus' hoof into his own, lifted it up before delivering a gentlemanly kiss upon it, bringing yet another blush to the young Changeling.

"So...another kiss?" he asked.

A pause, and then, Ocellus regained her composure, taking on a somewhat sly smile.

"Yes...I believe that would be appropriate."

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