"Speaking of there being six of us...anyone seen Sandbar around lately?"

Realising that their earth pony friend was indeed absent from this gathering, the others all started looking around. After a time, however, Yona gained a look of realisation.

"Oh! Yona see friend Sandbar go to his room a while back. He looked distracted about Something."

Nodding to that, Ocellus got out of her chair, starting to walk off in the direction of one of the doors leading into the school.

"I'll get him."

And so it was that Ocellus got up from her chair, leaving her four friends, Gallus, Yona, Silverstream and Smolder, behind her. She made her way into the school from the courtyard, heading down the often-walked path through the hallways, passing many a fellow student as she did so. Now, having been instrumental in the saving of both the school and Equestria, it was no surprise that the young Changeling received more than a few nods and smiles from the other students, all showing their appreciation to her. She smiled back to this, but her focus was on getting up to Sandbar's dormitory. Sure enough, she found herself there shortly afterwards, seeing the closed door before her. She took a moment to try and listen for any sounds from the other side, but soon realised that there were none. Slowly, she raised her hoof to the door, giving a few gentle knocks upon it.

"Sandbar? You in there?"

There was no response, leading to a somewhat worried look on Ocellus' part.

"It's me...Ocellus."

Another pause, but this time, it was Sandbar who ultimately ended it when he, at last, spoke from the other side.

"...I'm here."

Ocellus gave a small simile to that, then opened up the door. Once she saw the interior of the dormitory, she saw that Sandbar was indeed there, standing over at the window. His hooves were resting on the windowsill, and he was staring out at what was beyond. He didn't turn to look at her, which was something that caused Ocellus to realise straight away that something was up with him. So, slowly, she entered the room in earnest, closing the door behind her. Walking forward, she soon stood alongside him, looking to him with interest, and it was here that she noted that he appeared to be deep in thought over something.

"Are...are you okay?"

Sandbar, again, didn't look to her, instead just answering, his voice almost monotone.

"I'm fine."

Now, as a Changeling, Ocellus was more suited than most to be able to read people, though in fairness, even a novice to such things would have been able to tell that he was upset by something. So, after just a moment, she frowned.

"Sandbar...you're not fine."

Gently, she reached forward, placing her hoof upon his.

"Please...tell me."

There was a long silence between the young couple, and Ocellus grew increasingly concerned over his continued lack of response. But, after a while, the green earth pony sighed.

"I'm...I'm sorry."

Ocellus tilted her head.

"Sorry? What for?"

Sandbar finally turned to look at her, his face one of pure regret.

"For...for what I did."

He hung his head low, shame as clear as day upon his face.

"For...betraying you."

It took only the barest of moments for his Changeling girlfriend to realise what he was talking about, and though she was surprised to see him feeling this way, she wasted no time in trying to reassure him.

"Sandbar...you had to do what you did! If you hadn't tricked Neighsay like that, you'd have been stuck with the rest of us. You wouldn't have been able to get help and...and Cosy would have probably won!"

Sandbar gave a nod, but it was slow and unenthused.

"I know that...but no matter my reasons, no matter how things turned out...I still betrayed you. I made you all feel like I didn't care about you. I...I..."

He looked her right in the eye, appearing more pained than Ocellus had ever seen him before.

"I...I hurt you!"

Ocellus said nothing to that, instead watching as he again looked away from her, his face twisting into a grimace.

"When I said what I said...you looked at me...a pony you cared about...saying all of that. You thought I'd abandoned you, that I'd thrown you aside to save myself."

He shut his eyes tightly.

"Even if it was just for a short while...I made you feel like...like you meant nothing to me."

Slowly, his eyes opened again, and he cast the quickest of glances to his beloved companion.

"I'll never forget that look, Ocellus. And I'll never forget how much it tore me up to say all of that, even if I did it to save everyone."

Ocellus could see how distraught he was over this, how angry he was at himself and his actions. For a long while, she didn't know what to do or say to make him feel better. He'd clearly been building this up in himself for some time, and it was unlikely that a few kind words from her were going to dislodge this sense of self-loathing he was going through right now. Instead, she watched in further silence as Sandbar hung his head down again, his words as bitter as they had been yet.

"I was no better...than him. No...no better than Comet!"

At the mention of that name, and the way he'd compared himself to him, Ocellus had finally heard enough, and she placed her hoof on his shoulder, gaining his attention instantly.

"You are nothing like Comet! Do you hear me, Sandbar?"

The earth pony turned to look at her.

"But..."

However, before he could say anything, he was stopped, seeing Ocellus place her hoof upon his lips to silence him.

"No buts! Sandbar...I'm going to say something to you, and I want you to listen carefully, alright?"

Realising that she wasn't going to budge on this one, Sandbar gave a quiet nod, leading to Ocellus taking in a deep breath. When she exhaled, she looked to him again, her expression one of seriousness.

"You are one of the nicest, kindest, most considerate people I have ever known. You love your friends more than you can ever say. And you love me."

Carefully, she placed her hoof on the side of his face, giving him a quick moment of warmth there, before starting to smile with tenderness at him.

"You...have never betrayed me. Or anyone else. What you did back there? It was painful...but it was needed. If you hadn't...we all know how bad things would have really been."

Shame returned to Sandbar's face, and here, Ocellus seemed to relent just a little bit.

"I realise that this anger you feel about yourself isn't going to go away any time soon. And I won't stand here and force you to feel one way or another. But I want you to know that..."

Slowly, her smile widened.

"...I'm...I'm proud of you, Sandbar. You did the right thing. You stood by us, even when the whole school thought we were their enemies. When it came down to standing with your friends, or siding with those who thought of us as monsters...you chose us."

Her face softened.

"And me and Gallus and all the others...we can never thank you enough for that."

Her words, if only a little, had reached him, and at least some of the anger he'd been feeling about himself began to dissipate. As before, a silence fell over the young couple, and as they stared into each others eyes, a time came when both of them were smiling. Sandbar exhaled deeply, as though releasing all of the stress and strain this ordeal had put onto him. Ocellus, seeing that, smiled sweetly still, and before long, the two of them moved closer, embracing one another in a loving hug. This lasted for several minutes at least, and as they parted, Ocellus saw that her boyfriend had actually been on the cusp of shedding a few tears, which he now wiped away from one of his eyes.

"I...I don't know what to say."

Ocellus giggled slightly.

"You don't need to say anything. Just...just be there for us...and for me."

She, as before, placed her hoof on the side of his face.

"...Just as you always have."

Sandbar sighed again, giving a slow nod to her, and though he said no words at all, it was obvious from looking that he had appreciated every single thing that had been said to him by Ocellus. The Changeling herself was happy to see him like this, particularly when, at last, he finally did speak.

"Don't tell Professor Applejack I said this, but...I guess there really were a few perks to lying."

The two shared a laugh, and when it was over, it was Ocellus' turn to speak.

"Believe me, Sandbar, you're talking to a Changeling. If there's anyone at this school who can appreciate using a little bit of deception to make things happen, it's me."

Again, the two laughed, and that did much to make the two of them feel better than they had done before. But, as time wore on, Ocellus' smile faded, and it wasn't long before Sandbar took note of this. Much like he was minutes ago, she appeared to be thinking on something, and from the looks of things, it wasn't anything pleasant.

"Ocellus? What's wrong?"

The young Changeling had a grimace of her own, knowing that she wasn't about to say anything he'd enjoy hearing. And yet, as she finally looked him in the eye, her voice was tinted with the resolve of one who knew that her words were something that had to be spoken.

"Sandbar...I think..."

She briefly took a deep breath.

"...I think you need to try and reach out to Comet again."

Immediately, Sandbar's eyes widened immensely, and he actually took a step backwards from her out of pure shock.

"Wh...what?! Are you serious?!"

Ocellus gave a firm nod.

"Yes...I am."

Sandbar, who was understandably flummoxed at his girlfriend's declaration, glanced around with confusion for a time, and when he finally looked back to her, he spoke what anyone would have in that situation.

"But...but why?! Everything he said, to you, to the others, how...how can you possibly suggest that I go back to him?!"

Ocellus' face softened a little.

"Sandbar...it's been months since the two of you last saw each other. Months since that stallion lost the closest friend he ever had in his life. What he said...it hurt me. Hurt all of us. But..."

She sighed again.

"...I think it might be worth at least trying to mend what happened between you."

Sandbar frowned, looking angrier with his girlfriend than he ever had done before.

"Oh yeah? Pardon me for saying so, Ocellus, but if he still feels the way he does about Changelings and Yaks and all the rest of you, there's no way in Tartarus I want anything to do with him! What makes you think he could have changed?"

To that, Ocellus offered her beloved stallion a small smile.

"...Because Neighsay changed."

Those three simple words caused Sandbar to halt dead in his tracks. He very much looked like he wanted to argue further with her, and yet, as that utterance from her sank in for him, he soon found that he couldn't. He looked away, continuing to seethe at the thought of seeing his former childhood friend again. Ocellus, seeing this, reached forward, touching him on the side of his foreleg as she spoke.

"I know I'm asking for a lot...but remember...Neighsay hated people like me more than any other pony. He viewed us as nothing but a threat, a danger to ponies and to Equestria."

A quick pause.

"...And at the end...he saw that we were none of those things. If a pony like him can change...then maybe Comet can too."

Sandbar glanced away from her, narrowing his eyes as he stared out of the window again. Ocellus looked to him, taking a small step closer, before speaking in an almost pleading tone.

"I'm not asking for you to be friends with him again. I'm not asking you to forgive him, or forget what he said. I know I certainly can't. I'm just...asking for you to see...if he can change."

Sandbar, for a time, said nothing, continuing to stare out of the window. But, after a long and uncomfortable while, he sighed deeply, looking back to her. He wasn't happy, but he at least seemed to begrudgingly acknowledge her words.

"I'll find him...and I'll try to speak to him. I won't promise anything will happen...but I'll try."

Ocellus nodded.

"Thank you."

Sandbar frowned further.

"Please remember...I'm doing this for you...not for him."

Again, Ocellus nodded.

"Understood."

Letting out another deep exhale, Sandbar soon looked to her with a softer expression. As they had done before, they embraced one another, which continued to make them feel better after a, quite frankly, very uncomfortable discussion. When they finally moved away from one another, Sandbar smiled for the first time in a while.

"Come on...let's meet up with the others. They'll probably be wondering where we've disappeared to."

Ocellus giggled to that, and together, the two of them finally made their way out of the dormitory. They walked down hallways, down staircases, passing other students several times over, before finally reaching the great courtyard at the centre of the school. There, they soon caught sight of their friends, sitting around their chosen table and chatting to one another. As they approached, the other four looked to them, and Gallus especially spoke with a degree of inquisitiveness.

"You two okay? You look kinda...well...preoccupied."

Neither Sandbar or Ocellus refuted that point, and so soon looked to one another. They said nothing, instead sharing a silent glance that seemed to convey more than the other four were able to discern. But, the two eventually did look back to them, with Ocellus speaking first.

"Don't worry. It's nothing."

Sandbar nodded.

"Yeah, we were just...talking about stuff."

Next Chapter: Mount Aris Estimated time remaining: 58 Minutes