The Ponyville markets were thriving and active today, with earth ponies, pegasi and unicorns all gathered here for groceries, exotic goods from beyond Equestria's borders, and everything in-between. It was a fun and exciting day, and amidst all of this, three females walked down the main street of the town. Ocellus, Smolder and Yona, walking together as they purveyed all the wares on display, from interesting knick-knacks to some tasty-looking food. Yona salivated at the sight of all the various treats on display, and Smolder was herself enthralled by some of the shinier stuff being sold. Ocellus, for her part, was focused on a local book-seller, who was particularly interested in selling some mint edition of ex-villain Stygian's latest novel. "My Shadow and Me 2: The Re-Darkening". It looked like a it'd be a good read, and Ocellus smiled at the sight of it, handing over a few bits to be able to get it. The stall's owner gave her a hearty nod, then watched as she re-joined her friends further down the street.

"There's certainly a lot of stuff here today," Smolder commented.

"Yona happy! So many tasty treats!" the young Yak added.

Ocellus giggled.

"Indeed. It really looks like the opening of Princess Twilight's school has brought in more people to Ponyville than ever before."

They all nodded in agreement to that, once more heading down the street. Opening up her new book, Ocellus glanced at a few of the first pages, smiling to herself as she did so. However, as the trio turned one corner in particular, Smolder looked around, and something caught her eye. Something that caused those eyes to snap open wide. Within an instant, she used her dragon strength to take hold of the scruff of not only Ocellus' neck but Yona's as well. With great effort, she hoisted them both back around the corner they'd just come from, before letting go of them. Naturally, this unexpected turn by their scaly friend had been both surprising and, for a certain Yak, most unwelcome.

"Hey! Why friend Smolder go and...?"

But, before she could finish her question, Smolder raised a claw to her own lips, gesturing for Yona to be silent. Then, moments afterwards, she looked over her shoulder to the corner, before glancing over to Ocellus.

"Okay, Ocellus? I...I don't think you're gonna like what you see back there."

Naturally, a comment like that earned her both confusion and curiosity from her Changeling colleague, not to mention a justifiable amount of fear. Slowly, Ocellus watched as Smolder tiptoed back to the corner, looking around it ever so slightly. Yona and Ocellus, after looking to one another, soon joined in, looking to see what their friend had been so concerned about. And when they, did, Ocellus let out a sudden gasp. Far away, further down this new street, was Sandbar. But, he was not alone here, for beside him was another pony, a mare, and one that the three of them had never seen before. She was an earth pony, like him, with colouring the same as his, only reversed, with her mane bearing the lighter shade of green. They couldn't hear what they were talking about, only that they were smiling at one another, even laughing at a few points. Retreating back around the corner, Ocellus looked to her two other friends, bearing understandable concern.

"Who...who is that?"

The other females glanced at one another, then looked back to Ocellus, with Smolder shrugging her shoulders.

"Dunno. Sandbar seems to know her though."

Ocellus' gaze darted from one friend to the other, and then she looked back to the same street corner.

"Maybe...maybe she's some childhood friend?"

Smolder seemed doubtful, and as the three looked around the corner again, they bore witness to the two earth ponies moving closer to one another, embracing each other in a hug. Ocellus gasped again, and Smolder sighed.

"Yeah...they're certainly looking friendly alright."

As they again retreated back around the corner, Ocellus, in her overly-analytical way, went through all the options her mind was conjuring.

"Maybe...maybe they're acting out a play? Or maybe she's another student we haven't met yet that Sandbar helped out with some homework?" Or...or...or..."

Smolder sighed, reaching forward and placing her claw on Ocellus' shoulder.

"Ocellus...I don't want to think about it either, but...from what we saw back there...we may have to accept that Sandbar is...well..."

Ocellus frowned at her dragoness friend.

"What...that he's seeing some other female? Behind my back?"

Smolder didn't seem happy at having suggested that, and was even less happy when Yona suddenly stepped forward, pointing her hoof straight into her chest.

"No! It not true! Friend Sandbar would never betray Ocellus! She mean too much to him!"

Placing her hands on her hips, Smolder looked to the two of them.

"Look, I don't like thinking about it either, but you both saw how they're acting with each other back there! And trust me, I've seen enough males do this kinda thing back in the dragon lands plenty of times. So, as much as I hate thinking about Sandy like that...it's not impossible."

Ocellus hung her head low, wandering back over to the corner, peering over it and seeing the two ponies start to walk away. After frowning deeply, she grunted.

"What would he see in her anyway? She's not even that pretty!"

Smolder and Yona, while somewhat taken aback by their friend's sudden spiteful tone, gave each other nervous glances. When they were done, Yona stepped forward, poking Ocellus in the side and gaining her attention.

"What friend Ocellus going to do?"

Looking to her furred friend, Ocellus sighed.

"I...I don't know."

Yona nodded.

"Ocellus could...talk to him? Go there now and ask him about her?"

Ocellus looked up at her with wide eyes.

"No! I...I can't just confront him!"

Smolder raised an eyebrow.

"Er...yeah you can! If he's seeing someone else like this, you absolutely can walk right over there and ask him to explain himself!"

Ocellus shook her head.

"I just...we need to be careful about this."

She took a few calming breaths.

"Right now, we're letting ourselves get worked up over something we don't even know is true or not. We're upsetting ourselves over an assumption, and until we can confirm that assumption, we shouldn't make any rash decisions."

Folding her arms, Smolder let out a snort.

"Well, you're certainly being calmer about it than I would in this situation."

Yona gave an uncharacteristic smirk to her orange compatriot.

"Yes...we know."

Smolder glared back at her, but Yona just kept on smiling at her successful burn. Ocellus, for her part, patted the end of her chin, carefully pondering their next course of action.

"I think...we need to keep an eye on them. We trail them for now, and once we have more information, then we'll decide on something else."

Here, Yona's smile faded, and she looked to Ocellus with both shock and worry.

"We...we going to spy on Sandbar?!"

Ocellus hung her head slightly.

"It's not a pleasant thought, spying on a friend, but given the circumstances..."

She trailed off, unwilling to finish her words, all while Yona continued to show understandable uncertainty about this plan.

"But...but spying is no good friend thing! Friends trust!"

Smolder frowned to that.

"And if Sandbar's just betrayed that trust? What then?"

Yona seemed unable to consider an answer to that point, and looked down at the ground, disheartened. Ocellus too sighed, looking to both of her friends.

"I won't ask either of you to be a part of this if you don't want to be."

Smolder chuckled dryly.

"Thanks for the out, Ocellus...but I think we're both in too deep at this point."

The three shared a nod to one another, then turned simultaneously. They made their way around the corner, seeing that Sandbar and his mysterious female companion had vanished. Wandering out, they made their way in the direction they'd last seen them go, and made sure to go as quietly as possible, lest they be heard from afar. Eventually, they reached another street corner, and after peering around it, they saw the pair yet again. They'd stopped for another chat, and this time, the three were close enough to actually make out some of the words.

"...Good to see you again...happy for you to be here...a lot of fun with you..."

Each utterance only drove Ocellus' fear deeper and deeper into her heart, and her two companions could see just how much this was bothering her. But again, they remained silent, watching as the other two eventually started to walk off again. Once more, they followed, peering around corners and finding whatever hiding place they could, doing all in their power to avoid being spotted by those they followed. After a time, they saw Sandbar and the other mare stop, and again the two spoke to one another. This time, however, things were more coherent.

"What are you doing, Sandbar?" the mare asked.

The young stallion chuckled.

"Oh, I was just keeping an eye out for my friends. I think they're supposed to be out here today."

Ocellus winced. Was he looking out for them to try and avoid being found out? That question, and a plethora of others, they tore at her mind constantly, making her worry more and more with every passing moment. But then, before she could take any further action, she spotted Yona. The Yak female had, inadvertently, caused one of her braids to become loose after finding a hiding spot behind a nearby bush, and as she stood to again move, she tripped on it, just as she had when she first came to school. Ocellus and Smolder grimaced at the sight of their larger friend tumbling out, causing such a ruckus that Sandbar and his companion at last noticed her.

"Wha...Yona?"

Yona, getting to her hooves, took on a look of terror at having been discovered, and Ocellus, unwilling to let her take the fall for this, emerged from behind the tree she'd chosen as her hiding spot.

"I'm here too!"

Sandbar looked to her, surprised.

"Ocellus?"

Annoyed that their pursuit was over, Smolder grunted, then walked out from the shop corner she'd been hiding behind.

"Yo," she said dully.

Sandbar looked to his three friends and, rather than looking worried at their presence, just seemed confused. He blinked a few times, and then looked back to the mare he'd been walking with, clearing his throat slightly.

"So...yeah, these are my friends."

The mare, though similarly confused about this, nevertheless smiled, walking over to Ocellus and stretching out her hoof in greeting.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Breezy Leaf."

Ocellus blinked. This was not the behaviour of someone who was afraid of having been found out. This, quite frankly, just looked like an everyday friendly greeting. After getting herself looking somewhat more presentable, the young Changeling put on a smile, accepting the offered hoof.

"I'm...I'm Ocellus."

"Smolder," said the dragoness as she drew nearer.

"Yona," spoken after she'd brushed off some stray leaves from her fur.

Breezy giggled at this assembly.

"It's wonderful to meet you all. Cousin Sandy's been going on about you all day!"

Ocellus stared at her, not quite sure at what she'd just heard.

"Um...cousin Sandy?"

The mare nodded.

"Yeah! I'm in town for a few days so I wanted to come on over and catch up with him a bit."

She smiled back to her relative.

"It's been pretty fun so far!"

Sandbar siled back, nodding in agreement.

"I'll say! I've been looking for you guys all day to introduce you to her!"

Smolder and Yona glanced to one another and, while Sandbar's attention was focused on Ocellus, gave each other very definite looks of "we've made a terrible mistake", complete with winces. As for Ocellus, she simply stood there, mouth agape, taking in all of this new information. In one fell swoop, all of the things she'd seen, all of the words she'd overheard, all of it came into focus for the first time, and she now saw a picture that she had been utterly blind to until this very moment. Then, at the end of it all, she offered her boyfriend a weak smile.

"I'm...I'm glad you're having a fun time with your cousin, Sandy."

Sandbar smiled to his girlfriend, and he then looked over to Yona and Smolder.

"Hey, why don't you girls show her around the school? I'm sure she'd love to see it!"

Breezy seemed pretty excited at that prospect, and the other two females, having recovered from their shock at learning the truth of this situation, regained their own smiles, nodding to the suggestion.

"Sure thing," Smolder declared.

"Yona happy to show around family of friend Sandbar!"

Then, Smolder scratched the back of her head.

"Maybe it'll help to make up for...erm..."

She cast Ocellus a glance, looking very guilty and apologetic right now. Ocellus, on her side of things, gave her a genuine smile and a nod, silently giving her friend the sense that she didn't need to worry about anything. Smolder looked back to her with appreciation, and then, both she and Yona started to walk off, leading Breezy away from the couple. The two watched them leave, and as soon as they were out of sight, Ocellus looked to Sandbar with earnestness.

"Sandbar, I..."

But, she soon found her boyfriend's hoof upon her lips, and he looked to her with a soft expression.

"Ocellus...let me guess...you saw me with Breezy, you assumed that she was a mare that I was seeing behind your back, and you and the girls followed me to see if it was true...right?"

Now free to speak, Ocellus blinked at her boyfriend with surprise.

"But...how...?"

In spite of the situation being far from funny, Sandbar still laughed.

"Come on, Ocellus, a person only need to look at all this to get the gist of what was going on. It's, like, the oldest story in the book!"

Though pleased that she wasn't going to have to explain herself, Ocellus still looked ashamed.

"I'm...I'm sorry. I should have trusted you."

She sighed.

"Yona was right. I should have come to you and just talked with you about it from the start."

Sandbar nodded.

"Yeah...you should have."

But, rather than seeming angry or disappointed, he simply continued to smile to her, placing his hoof under her chin and looking into her eyes.

"Ocellus...you should know by now how much you mean to me. All we've been through together, how close we've become...I would never betray you like that."

The female smiled.

"I...I know, sandy."

Sandbar gave a nod.

"So...no more spying?"

Ocellus shook her head.

"No...no more spying."

"Good. Now then..."

Sandbar looked around.

"...let's get back to our friends before they get my cousin lost or something."

Ocellus giggled, and as she and her boyfriend walked down the streets together, she looked to him with curiosity.

"So...why weren't you angry with me. After what I did, I...I thought you'd be furious."

Sandbar considered that, then looked to her with a touch more seriousness than before.

"Ocellus...one mistake isn't gonna make me turn against you. Especially if it was made because of a misunderstanding."

Ocellus smiled to that.

"You know...you really are the most chill pony I've ever met."

Sandbar chuckled.

"Well...when you have lives as good as ours...who wouldn't be?"

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