"So," Ocellus started. "Where do you wanna go...?" She asked as they walked through the hallways of the school.

"Canterlot, obviously." Smolder replied. "The always have the best gemstones."

"And, where would we get those?"

"I have a couple ideas." Smolder pushed open the door to the school, heading outside with Ocellus.

They were on their way to the train station as Smolder got some bits ready to pay for the tickets. They boarded the train, taking their seats and giggling to each other. "You think any of our friends with notice we're gone?" Inquired Ocellus as she nuzzled Smolder's cheek.

"Nah. If none of the teacher's could notice we were gone when we ran away, then..." Smolder thought for a second. "Yeah. Definitely." She then looked away, thinking about what she was going to say next. "Remember when I told you that class was probably ending soon?" She asked nervously.

"Yesssss?" She replied, blinking adorably and making Smolder even more nervous.

"I lied." She flushed out.

"What?!" Ocellus gasped while Smolder winced.

"Woah, chill." She hushed Ocellus as she put a claw to her muzzle. "We'll just enjoy our time now, and worry later." She said as she sheepishly smiled. Ocellus groaned, burying her face into her girlfriend's shoulder. "I swear. It's gonna be fine."

Fast forward to the end of the train ride, the couple entered Canterlot. "It's really beautiful here! Too bad I won't get to... see it..." Ocellus deadpanned, being dragged around by Smolder.

"Hey, no worries! We're almost there." Smolder replied as her eyes sparked with devilishness as if she were up to something.

Ocellus sighed while she let Smolder drag her around a little longer before asking. "Um.. where are we even going?"

"It's funny you ask that, because we're here." She looked over at the building they were standing next to, which was a bakery. Smolder chuckled as she walked inside with Ocellus following close behind.

"Oh my gosh!" Ocellus exclaimed as she ran up to the display case and pressed her face against the glass. "I love sweets! How did you know?" She turned to Smolder, who was blushing slightly and brushing her foot on the floor shyly.

"Research." She replied. "Lots of research."

"Hush." Ocellus replied, kissing Smolder on the cheek to calm her down.

"Which one do you want?" She looked to her chitinous lover, who was, unsurprisingly, pressing her face against the glass on the display case.

"All of them!' Ocellus gasped, her eyes sparkling. "I-I mean... two or three..."

"Five." Smolder added, kissing Ocellus on the forehead and causing her to blush.

"If you say so..."

"C'mon, pick the ones you want."

Ocellus thought for a moment as she continued to press her face on the glass. She picked out a few. A pink frosted cupcake with a few sprinkles, a slice of regular chocolate cake with buttercream rosettes, a slice of vanilla oat swirl cake, a bowl of strawberry-cherry ice cream, and a doughnut. She stared intently at these desserts as the salespony took them from the shelf. "Will that be all...?" He deadpanned.

"Yes sir! Thank you so much!" Ocellus spoke enthusiastically, earning an eyeroll from the stallion. Smolder grabbed each of the desserts one at a time and set them at a coffee table where she and Ocellus sat. Smolder sat with her head resting in a claw, while her girlfriend stared at the desserts, not knowing which one to eat first.

"..Is it that serious..?" She asked?

"Of course." Ocellus replied, sliding one of the desserts her way. "Besides, how was I supposed to tell if you wanted something or not...?" She smiled, watching the scaly creature slowly lift her head from her claw. "You haven't eaten in days anyway."

"I dunno, you asked for them." She replied.

"But you paid for them."

Smolder groaned. “Whatever,” she said. “I paid for them so you could eat them. Besides, all I’m really looking forward to is those gemstones.” She continued, licking her lips.

“I can tell.” Giggled Ocellus.

“Mmmhmm.” Smolder was now daydreaming about the mischief she would cause, especially in turn for a few gems.

"This isn't all we're doing today, is it...?" Sighed Ocellus, who was now on her last dessert.

"Of course it is... n't." The reptile jumped up from her seat. Tossing a few bits onto the table, she left the bakery with Ocellus.

"Alright, you got me. Where are we going now?"

"I told you, I already have an idea. Just hush." She continued to lead Ocellus to different places, until they were near the princess' castle in Canterlot.

"Alright, alright, care to explain, maybe...?" The bug looked around frantically. "We're supposed to be back at the school by now!"

"I told you to relax. We'll be done just as soon as I get outta here." Smolder pointed to the building they were standing in front of. As she rushed into the building, her partner not getting a chance to object, she paced around it in search for her goal. Meanwhile, Ocellus stood at the base of the structure. While upset that she wasn't given the option to object, she knew her date wouldn't be too fond of her leaving her 'post'.

When she finally reached her point of interest, Smolder decided to take a look at it first. In front of her stood a statue made of gems she caught the Headmare going on about in one of her lessons. It looked just as delicious as it was described to be. She desperately wished she had brought a basket for her convenience, but she had spoken too soon. Her cards were all played in the right places, but not at the right time. She paced around the statue while scanning it to find out which gem would be the best to yank from the statue without having it collapse. "Aw, man." She whispered to herself. Looking around hastily she found a basket lying around. It was slightly wilted, as if it had been submerged in water and left to dry for the past three years. As she grabbed it, she quickly collected all the gems she could before dropping them into the basket. The statue collapsed, causing Smolder to wince. After all this, shouldn't she take advantage of all that free space in the basket and just take the rest of them?

She frantically left the building, full statue remains in basket, and looked at Ocellus. "What.. what did you just do?" The changeling asked.

"Don't worry about it. Let's just go." Smolder flushed out shortly, Ocellus looking at the basket sternly.

"I can tell you're lying." She added. "Just tell me what you did." Before Smolder could answer, Ocellus interrupted her. "You just stole those gems, didn't you...?"

Smolder blew a raspberry as she waved a claw dismissively. "Why would I-"

"Why would a pony be yelling about something being gone straight after you left?" Ocellus asked, pointing toward the entrance to the building where a pony was yelling and screaming about the missing statue.

"Burn me," She replied, looking down at the basket. Just a second after she looked up, there was a crowed of ponies storming toward her. She looked around frantically as she turned to Ocellus. "I think I have an idea."

"You sure it's a good one?" She groaned.

"Just... fly with me. Quickly." Smolder then grabbed Ocellus' hoof and flew away with her as fast as she could. They reached the train station, but with all the angry unicorns and pegasi storming after them, she decided to just book it toward the school.

"How exactly do you plan to get out of this!?" Ocellus hissed, breathing heavily while she flied as quickly as she could.
Smolder shook her head in reply, trying to clear her head as they flew faster and faster, her dragging her company rather than just letting her fly on her own. "And where are we going to go?" She continued to heave, still waiting for an answer. If they were both going to be caught, she at least wanted Smolder to take up for her actions rather than not respond. She looked at her as she waited for a reply, growing more and more anxious each second. Eventually, the turned a few corners once they reached Ponyville and dove into a pile of hay. Ocellus began to hyperventilate as Smolder quickly covered her mouth with her claw.

"Hush," She spoke in a low voice. "They're probably just gonna pass by or something."

Ocellus removed the claw from her mouth. "Why would you steal? I know you're not that kind of creature." Ocellus whispered back. "Is it worth it just to make everycreature panic?" She continued, making Smolder growl softly. "It's not like you.."

“Well- whatever! So what?” She snapped back. “What If I took a few gems because I was hungry?! Sue me!!” As Smolder continued to shout, Ocellus quivered a little while she hoped that the crowd of ponies had dissipated. “I’m not going to give up my only bucking source of food just because I’m being chased by some flower-frolicking ponies!” Smolder quieted down, breathing in humongous amounts of air. The pile of hay collapsed.

Ocellus began to shed tears. “This... this isn’t you.” she choked. Turning away, she took to the air and flew away as fast as she could.

“Ocellus!” Smolder shouted before taking off with the basket in claw.

As she arrived back at the school, Ocellus ran back to her dorm to collect her thoughts. She slammed the door shut once she was in, locking it and plopping down on the floor next to it. There she was, again. Just a day ago, she was right here, crying.

Smolder rushed through the hallways to find her lover, who was unintentionally hurt by her. She kicked her self as she ran for her actions and how she acted. When she arrived at Ocellus’ dorm, she pounded on the door, still standing at the other side. “Ocellus!” She shouted. “Open up, c’mon! You know I didn’t mean what I said!”

“But you said it!” The changeling replied in between sobs. “You said it! That’s all that matters!” Smolder was going to reply, but Ocellus spoke once more. “You’re being a jerk!” She sobbed even louder, causing Smolder to jump slightly before cringing.

“Look, I know. This is only our first date, and I already managed to screw it up, and I’m sorry!” Smolder leaned against the door. “But I need your help.” Smolder was surprised once she saw the door open, revealing a teary-eyed Ocellus. Before she could speak again, She was embraced by a surprise hug.

“Just so you know, I’m... I’m really angry with you.” Ocellus croaked in between sniffs.

Smolder blushed. “Hug time later-“ she urged, pushing Ocellus off her. “Right now, we gotta hide these gems.”

“Or, just give them back.” Replied Ocellus, Who was now at a shy glare.

“Um-“ They were interrupted by what appeared to be a very confused Yona.

“Why friends shouting so loud? Yona trying to catch up on sleep.” The yak rubbed her eyes, inspecting the scene with sketch. “What changeling and dragon doing in hallway...?” She asked.

“What are you doing napping in the afternoon?” Smolder asked in reply, turning toward her.

Ocellus interjected. “I think we should go before word reaches the headmare.” Ocellus looked to Smolder, Who had already stuffed her face with most of the gems. “Smolder! What in the hive are you doing?!”

“I was kind of hungry after all this small talk, so-“ She chewed the gems up before swallowing them, and Ocellus fainted.

“Yona no understand. Why can’t Smolder eat gems?”

Smolder was apt to reply, but Ocellus had already jumped up promptly. “Because they were stolen!” She flushed. “If she doesn’t return them, she’ll be in huge trouble!”

“Oh,” Yona responded. “THEN SPIT THEM OUT!” She rushes to Smolder, shaking her violently in hopes for her to cough up some gems. The reptile choked, cough, and gagged, but no gems.

“Yona, stop it! That’s not helping!” Ocellus pushed a hoof on Yona’s as she prompted her to drop the dragon. Smolder lay on the floor, coughing still. Groaning, she finally spoke.

“Okay! Maybe... we can just replace them...?”

“How can dragon-“ Yona began to reply, but was cut off by another opening door.

“What are you three doing out here mid afternoon...?” Sandbar inquired, approaching the trio calmly.

“No time to explain!” Ocellus rushed. “Just follow us!” The group then started out of the school quickly as they could, bumping into Silverstream and Gallus on the way.

“We-“ Smolder was quickly interrupted/

“Don’t care. We’re in.” Said Gallus, Who had already taken his place alongside the group of creatures, followed by Silverstream.

"What are we doing?" Silverstream asked.

"Yona not know. Yona only here for about ten minutes." Yona replied.

"Smolder stole a statue and ate it." Ocellus spoke up, finally.

"How can she-" Gallus started.

"Gems." She replied.

"Look," Smolder tried to explain, clearly frustrated about how her time was slowly being wasted and how she'd be caught if they took anymore time clarifying everything else. "Basically, I'm gonna be thrown in Tartarus because I ate a special 'friendship' statue, and we need help fixing the massive storm I just caused."

"I have an idea," Ocellus interrupted. "Maybe we can get a spell on how to reverse time!"

"How about-" Smolder started, but Ocellus quickly put a hoof in her mouth.

"I don't really think you have a choice here." She said, glaring at Smolder sternly.

"Okay, let's all calm down." Sandbar turned to the two.

"And to sum it all up, we're supposed to travel back in time and stop Smolder from eating a statue?" Gallus deadpanned.

"Precisely." Ocellus almost singsonged, grabbing Smolder's claw and trotting back into the school with the others following behind.

"The Book of Titanic Tables of Time!!" Ocellus declared, clearly proud of herself. Smolder grumbled.

"Is it this serious?"

"Very." Ocellus replied, flicking through the book.

"Doesn't anycreature find it odd that Headmare Twilight would leave a book on time travel in the catacombs despite her history with it...?" Sandbar asked, putting a hoof to his chin and tapping it thoughtfully.

"Yona saw Headmare hide it in here." Yona noted aloud.

"There goes our booksmart Mac-hoofin." Gallus deadpanned.

"Okay, so on the count of three, we'll all hold.... appendages- and I'll cast the spell." Ocellus assured the group, who all nodded except for Smolder. "Smolder, you have to do this; It's the only way!"

"But is it!? All because I ate a statue on our date!?"

"Hold on- You two are dating!?" Gallus gasped, along with the rest of the group.

"Yona isn't surprised. Yona's seen how dragon and changeling stare at each other." Yona added, causing both Ocellus and Smolder to blush.

"Smolder, she's right!" Spoke Sandbar. "If you get in trouble for this, you'll be sent to Tartarus, and if you're sent to Tartarus, then Ocellus'll be sad and lonely for the rest of her life!"

"Hey!" Ocellus hissed, blushing even more.

"And we're in this cult circle because I ate a statue!?"

"It's because we care about you!" Silverstream interjected. "We wouldn't have you here if we didn't."

"Whatever." Smolder sat down, holding Ocellus' hoof.

"Finally," Ocellus said. "Now, on the count of three, one, two, three!" And with a magical blast, they all teleported to a few hours ago, in Canterlot.

The six stood watching the scene as Smolder entered the building. They all closely followed, watching her carefully. “So all I have to do is just... attack her...? Me...?” Smolder whispered.

“Don’t attack yourself. Maybe just- a light tackle?” Ocellus blushed. “I just can’t stand you hurting yourself.”

“Wow,” Gallus deadpanned in a hushed voice. “Never thought I’d hear you saying that. Or anycreature for that matter.”

“Alright. I’m gonna do it- right now-“ Smolder continued to stall, uneasy about this entire ordeal. Ocellus planted a kiss on her cheek to calm her down.

“Relax. You can do this!” She reassured her while pushing her forward.

“Yeah, yeah I can do this!” Smolder charged herself up as she ran toward herself, yelling like a mad dragon. She tackled her past self, tumbling on the ground with her.

“Ow! What the-“ Her past self was shut up by a hard impact of her own fist. Her ‘future’ self’s fist.

“Hush!” Smolder told Smolder, who had a claw pressed to her mouth. “And don’t touch that statue! If you do, you’ll be forced by your girlfriend to travel back in time!”

“O-Okay.” She replied. “I’ll get out of here, I guess.” She slipped from under her future self, who had already shoved her out of the building.

“Okay, Ocellus!” Smolder- the real one- had rushed up to her friends, who were all overcome with sketch. “Now get us out of here!”

“I’m so confused-“ Silverstream thought to herself aloud.

“Totally confused.” Replied Sandbar.

With a zap, Ocellus had magicked them out of the building, and into the present. Before she could speak, Gallus had taken the cake.
“That was weird, right?”

“Exactly.” Replied Smolder.

“So, what we do now?” Yona asked Ocellus, Who was snuggled into Smolder’s shoulder, with the dragon’s wing wrapped around her.

“I dunno. Just wait it out, I guess.” Ocellus looked to Smolder Who was leaning against a bookcase. “What do you think?”

“I think I’m done for the day.”

“Me too.” Silverstream sighed, laying against a stack of books. “Time traveling is hard.”

“I think we’re all finished,” Sandbar started, but fainted as he was reduced to snores. Everycreature started sleeping peacefully, satisfied with how productive they were today.

After all, the six had stuck together no matter what.

Author's Notes:

Well, this was a fun little chapter. Took me about three days, but I made it work. Bonus update, I plan on writing an nsfw Smolcellus fic over the weekend, so, look out for that next week. Thank you so much for reading this bonus thingy, and see you next week!