Not too long after Twilight Sparkle’s Friendship School of Friendship reopened its doors, now operating outside of the usual EEA rulebook in favor of Twilight’s own EFA handbook, the school was holding yet another Friends and Family Day. This was both as a way of apology to the diplomats who had been insulted, as Pinkie Pie’s cupcakes make everything better, but also to show them that this time the school would be different.
The event began after classes ended, students of all ages filling up the main hall along with their parents and guardians all mingling and having fun at the school for the first time since the first opening.
The younger students flitted about through the crowds, eagerly making their ways to all the interesting things there were to see. Of the utmost interest were the representatives of Yakyakistan, The Changeling Kingdom, Seaquestria, and The Dragon Lands. All of whom were attempting to one-up each other with tales of their own kingdom’s accomplishments.
Except for Thorax who, due to being the leader of a kingdom recently reformed from one that’s not suited for children, instead treated the wary crowd around him to a small transformative show to win them all over. After a lot of pushing from Spike.
Which just left the representative of Griffonstone, Grandpa Gruff, telling his own tales of the supremacy of the griffons to whoever would listen, willingly or otherwise. Beside him stood Gallus, the blue and orange griffon looking like he wanted to be anywhere but beside the older, ranting griffon.
Seeing that his elder was taking a moment to breathe, closing his eyes to focus, Gallus attempted to use this moment to step away and maybe find his friends.
“You’re not going anywhere.” Grandpa Gruff snapped at Gallus, suddenly grabbing the younger griffon’s leg with his boney claw. “You’re a representative of the Griffon Empire now, so you’ll act like one.” After shooting his grandson a glare, he released the iron clad grasp on his leg.
Now content that he’d asserted his dominance, Gruff cleared his throat. This throat clearing then turned into a loud, hacking cough that drew all eyes to the only two griffons in the room. All of this unwanted attention just caused Gallus’ face to flush red enough to show through his blue cheek fluff while he tried to sink away.
Gruff, on the other hand, either didn’t care or didn’t even notice as he turned to the younger griffon. “Now why don’t you be useful and go get me a thing of water?” He asked, though it was more of a demand, with a raspy voice. “Not exactly used to giving a presentation this long in front of an unpaying audience!” He then tipped his fez off the top of his head, graciously providing a place for those listening in to place their bits.
No one moved to do so.
In fact, the only one who moved at all was Gallus as he bolted to the table of drinks, thankfully far away from his greedy grandfather.
Once ta the table, he took his time in grabbing the glass of water, grumbling to himself in annoyance while also searching the crowd for one of his friends. The search proved useless for quite some time as he poured his drink. That was, right until he saw a face more familiar than the rest. Sort of.
Alongside the wall stood a homely earth pony mare, sunk close to the floor and trying to avoid being seen as she clung to the wall. Her pale blue eyes scanned the surrounding area for a quick escape, or maybe just something to hide behind or under.
It took Gallus a moment to realize where he’d seen the buck-toothed mare before, but gave a large grin once he realized who she really was.
“Ocellus!” He called out as he approached the mare.
Startled by hearing her name called so suddenly, Ocellus lost control over her magic and, with a flash of green fire, returned to being a small, powder blue changeling.
She was a bit miffed that her disguise had failed, but couldn’t help but smile gently as she saw her griffon friend bounding up to her. “I see that you’re finally free.” She timidly told him.
Gallus laughed gently, raking a claw through the stray feathers atop his head. “Hah, not for long though. Granpa’s gonna get annoyed if I’m not back with his drink soon.” He couldn’t help but roll his eyes, letting out a mournful sigh. He then shook his head, deciding to make the most of his time. “So, why’re you all alone over here? Where’s everyone else?”
Ocellus gestured over to the other side of the room where the commotion had once again picked up around the non-pony friends. “Helping spread the stories of their kingdom. I would be helping Thorax, but…” She trailed off as she eyes the crowd around her changeling companion, a shudder running down her spine as she imagined joining him.
She was tempted to go back into hiding right then and there, but she shook off the feeling for now as she turned back to Gallus instead. “The only one that I can’t feel around here is Sandbar. Any idea where he is?”
Gallus shook his head. “Haven’t seen him since I left our room. He told me he’d be right behind me.” Thinking on it a little bit, he shook his head with a lighthearted giggle. “Dumb pony probably fell asleep or something. I’d check up on him, but-”
“Gallus!” Came a screeching yell from across the room, followed by yet another hacking cough.
Grumbling softly, Gallus turned away from the commotion the crotchety old griffon had just caused, only to be shocked to see himself standing in front of him.
As Gallus blinked rapidly in order to check his eyesight, ‘Gallus’ took the glass of water with a wink. Only then did Gallus realize what was going on.
“I’ll go and deal with your grandfather,” ‘Gallus’ said with Ocellus’ voice, “so you go check up on Sandbar and drag him back here.”
Gallus nodded slowly, then shot a smile at his friend. “I owe you one.”
‘Gallus’ shook his head calmly, smiling gently and sadly. “I have to deal with your grandfather. You owe me way more than just one. Now then…” He proceeded to clear his throat, his voice dropping from Ocellus’ shy, timid tone to Gallus’ more sarcastic one.
The double cemented this change with an eye roll and a deep, mournful sigh. “Well, I guess I’ve gotta go, or whatever.” He blew his stray headfeathers out of the way, though they fell right back into place, then slowly and melodramatically sauntered off to his doom.
Gallus wasn’t exactly sure whether to be amused or insulted at his friend’s impersonation, but he quickly decided that wasn’t exactly important. He had Sandbar things to worry about.
And so, he kept low to the ground as he snuck over to the dorm area where he hoped that dumb earth pony still was.
Once in the dorm area, Gallus found that he could stop sneaking about as the halls were quiet and empty. Which was good, as stalking so low to the ground was tugging on a few primitive instincts that were probably left untouched.
The young griffon slowly walked through the empty halls of the male side of the dorms, taking his time as he approached his and Sandbar’s shared room as he felt that there was no need to rush. So he just took his time to enjoy the quiet, grinning as he felt the difference between the loud party and this hallway.
And yet, after a short amount of time, he happened upon the door to his room, decorated with both his and Sandbar’s names. He opened the door quickly, grumbling softly to himself about how his roommate never bothered to lock the door. Gallus had some fears of his belongings being pillaged, but it didn’t seem as if the lax stallion shared them. At least it meant he didn’t have to remember his key though.
Inside, he saw not a single pony. Which was strange because he assumed he’d find at least one. He stepped in, closing the door behind him and locking it, before looking around.
The room was still pretty barren as dorm rooms go, only containing two beds, two nightstands, two desks (Gallus’ more well organized) and a standing lamp to share. Gallus’ side was a bit decorated with a few posters of different travel locations (Trottingham, Applewood, and Prance), and a few books on his nightstand.
Sandbar’s side was completely undecorated beyond one book on marine biology resting on his desk and a photo album of contents unknown to Gallus barely hidden under the stallion’s bed. Another strange addition, one Gallus didn’t quite recall being there when he left, was a large, shifting bulge atop Sandbar’s bed. Whatever it really hid under the earth pony’s turtle themed blanket.
Gallus watched the blanket shift around for a few moments, half of his brain telling to check what was under it while the other screamed at him to pounce and attack. It took him a lot of thought, but he resisted the second urge as he pulled the blanket away.
Under it lay Sandbar, curled up as he stared up at Gallus. “Uh, hey dude. I… didn’t hear you come in?” He looked away for a second, wiping his eyes before sitting up and regarding his friend fully. “What’s up?”
Gallus gave his friend a strange, questioning grin as he pointed a thumb at the door. “Friends and Family Day, dude. We’re all out there partying without you.”
Sandbar gave a small, relaxed shrug as he laid back against the bed, closing his seafoam green eyes with a sigh. “Nah, I’m good. Go have fun without me. Drink, like, twelve beers. Or whatever they have out there.” He told Gallus calmly. “Tell everyone I’m sick or something.”
With that, the earth pony rolled onto his side and tried his best to ignore the griffon until he eventually left.
But Gallus refused, instead sitting right next to Sandbar and poking him with a claw. “Come on, I’m not leaving without you. Don’t you wanna see your parents or something?” He asked with a grin and a lighthearted chuckle, then gently grabbed one of Sandbar’s forelegs and attempted to tug him along.
Surprisingly, Sandbar snapped his hoof away quickly, letting out a very serious sounding huff. “I said I’m not interested!” He said quite loudly. “So just go and let me be for a while.”
Gallus remained shocked at the sudden anger for a few moments, questioning what the frick just happened. He looked to the door and considered listening to the pony’s request and leaving, forgetting that any of this happened.
And yet, as he looked back down to his friend, he felt that he couldn’t just leave him feeling… whatever it was that he was feeling.
“Talk to me, Sandy.” Gallus said softly, yet again poking Sandbar. “I’m not gonna leave until you do. Or, like, until you hit me or something.” He let out a small chuckle in order to attempt to lighten the mood. “So if you want me gone, just go ahead and…” He punctuated his point by tapping his cheek.
Sandbar grumbled softly, but couldn’t help but let out a small laugh. He took in a deep breath, then let out an equally deep sigh as he sat back up. “I’m not gonna hit you, but I really don’t wanna talk about it. So please…” He looked up at Gallus, and only then did the griffon notice that his friend’s eyes were both sad and bloodshot.
Yet again given pause by this pony’s actions, Gallus was stumped as for what to do next. So he simply did what came naturally. The griffon extended a dark blue wing, then proceeded to drape it around the pony in a manner meant to be comforting.
“Well, if you’re gonna be like that,” Gallus started softly, gently pulling Sandbar closer with his wing, “I’m just gonna have to stick around to keep you company. He followed his words up with a warm grin down at his friend. “You don’t need to talk, but you definitely need to deal with me staying.”
The earth pony stallion continued to stare up at his friend, his face lighting up with a massive blush from his cheeks to the tips of his ears. His face gave a scrunch as he looked away in embarrassment, but he still leaned slightly against Gallus.
“My parents aren’t coming tonight.” He admitted as a whisper, quiet enough that Gallus struggled to hear. “They’re too busy to show up and see me.” He spat out ‘busy’ as if it were the most heinous of swears. Even worse than a heck or a frick.
Gallus gave a questioning look and a strange smile, but still shrugged. “That’s pretty bad, but I’m sure they wish they could-”
“They’re always too busy.” The distraught stallion countered with a sigh, wiggling just a bit closer to Gallus for added comfort before continuing. “Birthdays, graduation, Cute Mitzvah. They probably would’ve missed me being born if there was a red carpet event somewhere.” He chuckled darkly at that, shaking his head.
Gallus perked up a bit at the end of that sentence, as ashamed as he was for it. “Red carpet? Are they actors?”
“Dad’s a publicist, mom’s an actress.” Sandbar corrected before giving a loud huff. He then leaned even more against the support of his friend, shutting his eyes. “It doesn’t even matter. At this point I’m probably bumming you out. Just go and enjoy the party already. I’ll be fine tomorrow, I promise.” He gently shooed towards the door.
The blue griffon didn’t even consider the request this time as he tightened his wing around Sandbar. “My parents aren’t here either. Heck, I doubt they’d even wanna come to Equestria, much less Ponyville. They weren’t exactly supportive of my want to move here, unlike Grampa Gruff for some reason.” He gave a tiny, depressing laugh.
“So, he’s actually your grandpa then?” Sandbar asked, trying to steer the conversation away.
Gallus simply responded with a shrug. “Dunno. He’s sort of everyone’s grandpa in Griffonstone. He’s the only one who’d care to keep track of that stuff. And he’s, by his word alone, ‘slept with more chicks than I’ve met.’” He grimaced as he recalled the event. ‘The Talk’ had been quite the event for twelve year old him.
The silence that followed was palpable, so strong that neither were jumping to break it any time soon. Neither really knew what to follow that up with.
That was until Gallus let out a heavy sigh. “Listen, what I was trying to say before was…” he hesitated, trying to figure out what that was himself. He placed a claw gently on Sandbar’s hindleg, sighing yet again. “It sucks that your parents aren’t here for you, and I’m not trying to devalue that but... we’re all still here for you.”
He let that sit for a moment before feeling the need to correct himself. “Well, Ocellus and I are. Everyone else was sort of busy with their own stuff. But they’re with us in spirit!” He immediately grumbled at his poor delivery, running a claw through his head feathers. “What I’m really struggling to say is that it’s Friends and Family Day, dude. And as your friend,” he looked down to Sandbar with a small grin, “I say frick our parents, let’s just have a good time together.”
Before Gallus could apologize for continuing to be so forceful, he felt a pair of hooves wrap around his torso as Sandbar buried his muzzle into the griffon’s very soft chest fluff. Said griffon had no idea how to respond, so he just gently returned the hug as his face became engulfed in a massive blush.
Sandbar pulled back slightly, but still kept the hug intact. “I guess you’re right. Moping around here won’t do me any good.” He gave a soft grunt as he pushed off the bed to stand, spinning around to face Gallus seconds later. “Thanks for coming to talk to me. And, uh,” he looked away, crossing one hoof over the other as his mild blush massively intensified, “Thank you… for all of this.”
With a strangely sweet smile, Sandbar leaned forward to press his lips against the bird boy’s beak, giving him a short and gentle smooch.
Popping back from it, the cheerful stallion gave a more wired grin. “I’m gonna go out and enjoy myself now. Wanna go chill next to the food table with me?”
Gallus cleared his throat, fluffing his wings as he tried to deal with the surprise and how flustered he suddenly was. “I’ll… be right behind you.” He said quietly.
“Sweet!” Sandbar smiled, then turned to leave the room.
Gallus didn’t move to leave, just questioning what had just happened there.
