The Nowhere King

Chapters

2 - The Solar Court & The Night Terror
3 - The Umbral Realm
4 - The Lunar Court
5 - Into the Dream
6 - A Simple Request
7 - Warnings
8 - Vanished
9 - Found: One Griffon
10 - Together Again
11 - Late
12 - International Relations
13 - What is Made
14 - Best Laid Plans
15 - Nightmare's End
16 - Dinner & Interrupted Plans
17 - The Wedding of Sandbar & Gallus
1 - Strange Dreams & Soft Beds

2 - The Solar Court & The Night Terror

Gallus woke refreshed and well-rested. The morning sun washed the valley in the distance with a warm light, and the griffon found his limbs were twined around his pony, who was already awake.

“Good morning,” Sandbar said, his voice quiet. He kissed Gallus’ beak. “Sleep well?”

Gallus stretched, enjoying the way his body shifted and twisted in the pony’s legs. “Really well, actually.” He relaxed, enjoying the gentle warmth of the fluffy bedding and the touch of his stallion. “No bad dreams about creepy shadow ponies, at least.”

Sandbar tilted his head and gave Gallus a concerned look. “Shadow ponies?”

Gallus shifted his shoulders in a small shrug. “The same creepy ponies showed up in two dreams yesterday. Weird, right?”

Sandbar frowned. “Very. What made them creepy, though?”

Gallus thought back. “I don’t know,” he said. “Just the way of dreams, right? They did have these weird, shifting cloaks.”

The green pony considered. “Well,” he replied, “just be careful.”

“In my dreams?” He couldn’t keep the sarcasm from his voice.

Sandbar extricated his hooves from around the griffon slowly. “You know what I mean,” he said. “Dream stuff isn’t something for just any creature to mess around with.”

Gallus smiled widely. “Unless it’s that one dream we shared once. There was plenty of messing around there.”

Sandbar’s eyes went wide and he bit his lip. “Hush, you’ll wake it up.”

Gallus ducked his head under the blanket and directed his voice to Sandbar’s underside. “Hey, good morning! You wanna come out and play?”

A hoof smacked the griffon’s shoulder.

Gallus groaned. “We never get morning sexy time anymore!” he whined.

Sandbar laughed. “We sucked each other off before class last week.”

Gallus nodded solemnly. “And that was days ago.” He felt an erection stirring in his sheath.

“You’re ridiculous,” the green pony said fondly.

Gallus sighed, pushing down the excitement that had been building. “I guess we should actually get up before we’re late again.”

Sandbar nodded and gingerly touched the bandaged part of his shoulder. “I’d like to avoid dragon fire today, if at all possible.”

The lesson was, ostensibly, about friendship’s impact on politics. So far as Sandbar could tell, though, it seemed like it was mostly a chance for their Headmare to fanfilly over the older Princess. After giving the students a cursory explanation of what would happen (which was unusual in and of itself—cursory was not usually in Twilight Sparkle’s repertoire), their Headmare had teleported herself away to stand beside Princess Celestia on the raised dais.

The Solar Court wasn’t really Sandbar’s scene. Too much formality, for one thing. Ponies entered, were announced by the Guard, greeted the Princess, and presented their petitions. Which, it turned out, were nearly always submitted in writing beforehoof. Sandbar quickly found his attention wandering. He glanced over at his friends. Ocellus was taking studious notes, because of course she was, but he was surprised to see Smolder paying close attention to the proceedings, occasionally whispering some commentary to the changeling, who would nod and scribble down a note. Maybe the dragon saw some advantage in learning the processes of pony royalty? Yona was doing her best yak statue impression, eyes slightly glazed over as she sat perfectly still. Silverstream was doodling idly, lazy circles and loops adorned the sides and top of her scroll. Sandbar leaned forward and poked her shoulder with a hoof. The hippogriff turned and beamed at him. “You bored too?” she whispered.

“W-well,” Sandbar hedged, “I don’t know if I’m ‘bored’ so much as ‘not enthralled.’” A quill stabbed him in the side. Sandbar jumped and rubbed his ribs. He turned to the guilty party. The griffon never even looked his way.

“Honesty,” Gallus muttered.

Sandbar glared at his boyfriend. “Fine,” he said quietly. He turned back to Silverstream. “Yes,” he admitted, “It’s all a little over my head. I’m not really following some of the requests.”

The hippogriff blinked. “Really?” She asked. “This is the kind of stuff my aunt deals with all the time. I was taught legal precedent practically before I knew my letters and numbers.”

“And certainly before she was told about stairs,” Gallus whispered, a hint of laughter in his voice.

Sandbar smiled and nudged the griffon.

“What was that?” Silverstream asked.

Sandbar shook his head. “He’s just being silly. I think it’s pretty neat you know all that stuff about law.”

The hippogriff considered. “I mean, I don’t know that much about Equestrian law, but I am pretty familiar with seapony and hippogriff rights and due process, and a lot of that seems to translate here.” She went back to doodling on her scroll.

Sandbar felt an elbow nudge him. “Hadn’t you noticed?” Gallus asked, his voice quiet. “The rest of our friends are all either related to rulers or likely to take on administrative positions in their governments. Even Smolder will probably use what she’s learned here to make a name for herself with the Dragon Lord.” He paused, his voice turning sour. “Makes you wonder why they associate with an orphan griff.”

Sandbar felt his heart ache. Or a listless pony, he thought. He leaned over and hugged his griffon with one hoof. “Don’t be like that,” he said, “you know by now they all genuinely care for you.”

Gallus nodded. “Yeah, I know. Just feeling mopey, I guess. It’s just times like these that make me feel like every other creature seems to have life all figured out – this grand road map for where they’re going – and I’m just floating along.” He set his quill down on the ground beside him. “Like, what am I going to do when we graduate?”

Sandbar finally got a good look at the scroll Gallus had been holding. It contained a detailed sketch of the princesses and one of the earlier petitioners. “Wow!” Sandbar said as he marveled over the image. He pulled it closer with a hoof. “I never knew you could draw like this!”

Gallus smiled slightly. “I actually haven’t drawn in a while, but a few weeks ago Professor Rarity was talking about rediscovering old talents.” He shrugged. “Things you did when you were young that you enjoyed that you don’t make time for anymore.” His eyes took on a faraway look. “I used to love drawing. I’d use up every scrap of paper in the house, until my mom…”

The griffon fell silent, and Sandbar reached out and put a comforting hoof on his griffon’s shoulder. Sandbar still didn’t know the story of how, exactly, Gallus had ended up an orphan, and he wasn’t a pony to pry, but the few times it had come up, Gallus had ended up teary-eyed. The griffon shook his head and looked at Sandbar with sad eyes. “Anyway,” he said, “I’ve been trying to take more time to draw. You think it’s good?”

Sandbar nodded enthusiastically. “It’s really good. What else have you been drawing?”

The griffon blushed. “Oh, you know, just stuff.”

That was odd. “Yeah?” Sandbar asked, “What kind of stuff?”

The griffon squirmed. The earth pony blinked. Very odd.

Sandbar lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “You wouldn’t be drawing… lewd things, would you?” The way the griffon’s crest feathers peaked confirmed it. Sandbar laughed quietly. It was so delightfully absurd—he was so rarely the one to do the teasing. He decided to push it. “If you want,” he whispered, “I could be your model later.”

Gallus looked at him with hungry and slightly-panicked eyes.

“Where are we going again?” Sandbar asked his boyfriend. The griffon had led them out of the castle proper and into the sea of wagons and stalls that operated as Canterlot’s main food market. “I thought you were going to show me more of your drawings,” he teased.

Gallus blushed. “I just need a few things first before the stalls close for the night.”

Sandbar shrugged. “Headmare Twilight said we could get whatever we want from the Royal kitchens.”

“Yeah, but sometimes it’s fun to wander the market.” The griffon sidestepped a pony dragging a large wagon and sidled up to a small apple cart. “Besides,” he said, “I’m looking for something the kitchen probably doesn’t just give out.”

Gallus grabbed two apples from the nearby cart and tossed a gold bit to the yellow earth pony behind the cart. Gallus passed one apple to Sandbar. Veins of gold and orange streaked through the mostly red surface of the fruit.

Gallus took a bite. The pony watched a look of surprise creep over the griffon’s face. “That’s…” he paused to lick a small bit of juice that had escaped down the side of his beak. “That’s really good.” Sandbar took a bite, not sure of what to expect. It was sweet and tart, firm yet juicy: in short, delicious.

The yellow earth pony behind the stand smiled. “Aw shucks, thanks fella. It’s my own cultivar. Some of us Apples—that’s the family, not the fruit—develop our own flavors. That, my fine griff, is a Braeburn apple.”

Gallus took another bite, the flesh of the apple crunching in his beak. He dug around quickly in his bag for another coin, flipped it to the vendor, and pocketed another pair of apples into his bag.

Sandbar swallowed his mouthful of delicious fruit. “Did you say you’re an Apple?”

The yellow pony nodded and tipped his hat toward the younger pony. “Reckon I did, fella. You know some of my clan?”

Sandbar nodded. “Professor Applejack is one our teachers.”

“Ain’t that somethin’? Small world.”

Sandbar nodded. “So you’re part of the Canterlot Apples? Though, I thought they were mostly Oranges?”

The yellow stallion laughed. “Nah. No disrespect to that part of the family or nothin’, but that ain’t me, living all fancy. This here’s the closest I get to city life—draggin’ my cart along on tour with the Wonderbolts.”

Gallus, who had been only half listening to the conversation, perked up. “Wait, Wonderbolts? They’re performing here?”

“Sure ‘nuff,” the yellow stallion said.

The griffon turned to Sandbar, excitement evident in his features. “I love watching them fly! Do you think we’ll have time to catch a show?”

Braeburn shook his head. “Pity these shows are already sold out.”

Sandbar frowned and watched Gallus’ excitement deflate like a leaky balloon.

The vendor scratched his chin with a hoof. “O’ course, I’m actually doin’ good business tonight, and I’d hate to close up early.” He smiled at the griffon and sea-green pony. “Don’t suppose y’all’d like to take my tickets? My husband always has free passes to his shows, and there’s only so many times this earth pony can watch him twirlin’ and loopin’ up there in the sky before gettin’ nervous.”

Gallus jumped with excitement. Sandbar’s mouth dropped. “Wait, you’re Soarin’s husband?” Sandbar had read the big expose, not quite a year back, when news had leaked that not only was Soarin bisexual, but that he was secretly engaged to a stallion. Sandbar still remembered the alliterative title: “A Million Mares Mourn.”

Braeburn nodded happily. “Now, y’all want these tickets or should I find another cute couple who’ll take them?”

Sandbar blushed fiercely and Gallus laughed. The griffon nodded. “Yeah, we’re totally in.” Gallus gestured with a claw at Sandbar. “For the record, though, he’s the cute one. I’m the awesome one.”

Sandbar made a rude sound in his throat.

Braeburn laughed. “You sound like Soarin. He’s wrong a lot, too.” The vendor leaned over the cart, a grin on his face at the griffon’s mildly offended look. He pressed a small token into Gallus’ claw. “This’ll get ya the tickets. Y’all go to on-call and tell ‘em you’re pickin’ up Braeburn’s tickets. They’re all yours.”

Gallus nudged Sandbar with his wing and passed him the token. “Why don’t you go grab the tickets, I’ll finish up shopping?”

Sandbar nodded and trotted away towards the arena that lay on the far side of the castle. He thought he heard his boyfriend ask the yellow pony about cooking supplies, which made no sense. They didn’t even have facilities to do any cooking in their room, nice as it was.

Smolder looked around the dark cave. Or tried to. The shadows seemed to shift as she turned, never giving her a clear view of any surface. Grumbling, she heaved and ignited the air with her breath. Orange flame licked the walls. In the flickering light, she finally recognized where she was—her mother’s hoard. Smolder swallowed roughly. Her mom was not one to look kindly on intruders in her hoard, even if they happened to be family. Especially if they were family. Smolder started slinking towards the exit.

The dragon tripped over some piece of treasure, and she landed hard on her claws. Smolder kept herself from crying out in surprise—it would do her no good to broadcast her presence in this forbidden place.

She stood quickly, and banged her head into the ceiling. She rubbed her scales and frowned. That was wrong. The ceilings in her mother’s hoard were mountainous, big enough for a very old and very large dragon to lumber around.

Smolder breathed fire again. Flames jetted from her mouth. They rebounded off a dark surface only a few talons from her face. At first, it looked like a new obsidian wall, unexpected in its placement, but as Smolder’s fiery breath subsided, she noticed tiny, swirling shapes in phosphorescent white and midnight black dancing across the surface. They drifted and twirled in the fading light, collided and shattered, or sometimes melted together.

Smolder screamed. Had it been anywhere else, for any other reason, she would have been embarrassed at the frightened tenor of the shriek. She tried to turn and run, her claws scrabbling on the rough floor of her mother’s hoard.

An immense crushing grip seized her around her midsection. Smolder slashed her claws, trying to tear herself loose.

“LITTLE DRAGON,” a booming, horrid voice filled the air. It sounded like the blood in her ears, rushing and desperate and loud, too loud. It scraped the very air around her, making everything feel sharp.

Smolder screamed wordlessly and retched in fear.

“YOUR DREAMS ARE MINE,” the voice boomed. The darkness fell away and the entirety of Smolder’s vision was filled with the shifting shapes on the dark planes of an enormous creature.

The monstrous grip on her midsection turned icy cold, and Smolder shivered pitifully as she thrashed and twisted. She needed to get away, at any cost. “YOU ARE MINE.”

“Mom!” She yelled. “Mom! I’m in your stash!”

The Nightmare quivered and writhed, and Smolder realized with gut-wrenching horror that it was laughing.

“Please, Mom! Help!” The dragon shivered as the chill spread through her core.

“Dad! Ember!” Smolder retched and nearly vomited.

“MINE!” the voice boomed.

“Ocellus, please! Princess! Yona! Silver!”

Something warm, blessedly warm, touched the dragon’s face.

“NO ONE WILL HELP YOU,” the horror announced calmly. Smolder knew it was true, knew nothing and no one could save her.

The warmth in her face pulsed.

“Please,” Smolder whispered, still desperately hacking with her claws and the frozen grip holding her in place.

“Smolder!”

The dragon focused all her desperate hope on that small answering voice as the cold began to choke her.

Smolder awoke screaming, her voice raw. “NO! NO!” her claws raked in front of her.

“AH! Ow! Smolder, what?!”

The sound snapped something in the dragon’s brain, causing her eyes to finally focus on the multi-hued changeling in front of her. “Oh GOLD, Ocellus?” Smolder leaned forward in a panic. “Oh Precious Platinum, are you okay?”

Green blood oozed from three long scratch marks in the changeling’s face.

Smolder felt tears form in her eyes. “Oh no. No no no no no no, sweetie, no.” She sat up and put an arm around the the changeling. Ocellus flinched. Only slightly, only for a fraction of a moment, not enough to pull away. Smolder felt like dying.

“I’m okay,” the smaller creature said. Smolder fussed at the scratch marks for a few moments before a wave of green magic flashed around the changeling, removing the wound, changing the gouges to normal flesh. Ocellus winced, and then shook her head. “Just a little hungry.”

The dragon leaned her head down, putting her crown on the changeling’s forehead. Smolder heard Ocellus sigh. “I can’t feed on you right now, love. You’re still… scared.” The changeling raised a slender hoof and lifted the dragon’s chin. Smolder stared into beautiful, jewel-like compound eyes. “What in Equestria can scare you like that?”

Smolder shuddered, hating herself for feeling so weak, for showing that weakness to another, even someone she valued and trusted as much as Ocellus. She took a slow breath to make sure she would have a steady voice.

“The Nowhere King.”

3 - The Umbral Realm

“…and then that part where two of them burst through a cloud and it turned into a star!”

“Or that new trick with the synchronized lightning strikes!”

“And when they buzzed the stands together during that final flyover right as the sun went down!”

Gallus nodded, a dopey grin on his beak. “I just can’t get enough of formation flying. I can’t imagining flying in a totally straight line, just feathers from another flier.”

Sandbar bumped his flank into the griffon’s side. “I can’t imagine you doing anything straight.”

Gallus’ beak dropped open. “Hey! Was that a burn?!” He faked a sniffle. “My little pony’s all big and tough now!”

Sandbar blushed fiercely and leaned over to whisper in the griffon’s ear. “I’ll show you big.”

“Mm. Yes, please,” the griffon responded, “I think that’d make for a great sketch.”

Sandbar coughed and nearly stumbled. In all the excitement, he’d nearly forgotten about that little revelation. He hurried to catch up to the griffon.

As they re-entered their lavish hotel room, Sandbar nuzzled Gallus and locked the door. The griffon ran a claw down the pony’s side, eliciting a shiver of excitement. “So,” he asked, “were you serious about modeling for me?”

The pony bit his lip and nodded.

“Good!” the griffon crowed, “because I have a piece that I’ve been working on that I just can’t get right. Let me grab it.” The griffon floated up into the air and landed beside his suitcase. He rummaged behind scarves and grooming supplies until he pulled out a scroll and a small nub of charcoal. He walked back to the small desk that stood just to the side of the magnificent windows, and he smoothed out the scroll on its surface.

Sandbar moved to take a look as the griffon unrolled the paper. Gallus shooed him away. “You can see when it’s done!”

“Aww,” Sandbar whined. “Not even a peek?”

Gallus grinned and shook his head. “It’s not ready yet. Now go stand over by the bed.”

The earth pony shrugged and walked toward the plush bed.

“Good. Now turn around a little.”

Sandbar turned to face the griffon.

Gallus cleared his throat and felt his cheeks flush. “No. The other direction.”

Sandbar whinnied. “You’ve been drawing my plot?”

Gallus shifted nervously. “Uh, yeah.”

The earth pony turned slowly around and flicked his tail up for a moment. “Naughty griff,” he teased.

Gallus’ loins reacted to the sight. “Unf. More like knotty griff, soon.”

Sandbar laughed and turned his head back to stare at the griffon’s underside beneath the desk. “I see what you did there.” The stallion’s own length starting dropping down.

Gallus grunted and started scribbling hurriedly. “This is way more distracting that I thought it would be.”

“Well,” the pony said, lifting his tail again and holding it steady, his rear on full display, “you come on over here whenever you get done with that, and I’ll really distract you.”

Gallus furrowed his brow and carefully rubbed away a bit of stray dust on the scroll with a wingtip. “That doesn’t even make sense.”

“Shush, I’m horny. I don’t have to make sense.”

Gallus nodded in agreement.

The griffon sketched away, trying to stay focused on his art, but the harder he got looking at his pony’s backside, the harder it was to pay attention to his art. Finally, he threw up his wings. “Good enough!”

Sandbar grinned and trotted over, his dark shaft bouncing around below his body. Gallus moaned at the sight. The earth pony turned the scroll around and stared. Gallus suddenly felt nervous, having someone else look at his work. Especially someone so important to him.

The earth pony nodded appreciatively. “It’s really good,” he said. Gallus blew out a breath he hadn’t realized he had been holding. “Is my flank really that big though?”

Gallus stood up and grabbed the flank in question. “Yes. Shut up. It’s perfect.” The griffon squeezed firmly, making the pony moan. “Can I have it?”

Sandbar whined. “We didn’t bring lube, remember?”

Gallus crowed triumphantly. “That’s where griffon ingenuity comes in.” He reluctantly released his grip on the pony and sauntered to the small travel bag. He pulled out a vial of yellow fluid. He gave it a shake and watched a thin veil of liquid coat the glass as it slid down. “Olive oil,” he said mischievously. “Not perfect, but pretty good in a pinch. Or a thrust.”

Sandbar’s staff lurched upward. “Ooh,” he said, “that’s what you were buying at market?”

“So, your flank?” the griffon asked again, “can I have it?”

Sandbar walked over and kissed the griffon. Gallus felt the pony’s wide tongue push into his mouth, rubbing against his own. Sandbar licked the roof of the griffon’s mouth as he pulled back. “Always,” he said, his tone quiet and intense.

Gallus grinned. “So, like, in the middle of class if I’m horny?”

The earth pony swatted the griffon’s chest with a hoof. “Shut up, I’m trying to be sexy.”

Gallus kissed the pony, spreading his beak wide around the opening of the pony’s muzzle. He pulled back slowly. “You don’t have to try, silly pony.” He pushed Sandbar insistently towards the bed. The pony let himself be pushed, walking backwards. Gallus gave a final, light shove and Sandbar flopped into the bed. The griffon grabbed the pony’s flanks and pulled, coaxing Sandbar onto his back. The pony’s dark staff dribbled precum onto the green fur of his stomach. Gallus felt a fresh surge of appreciation that this funny, weird, friendly, and overwhelmingly sexy pony was his. “I love you,” he whispered.

Sandbar grinned. “Love you too,” he said simply. He lifted his back legs apart, and Gallus felt his staff tighten in excitement. The griffon popped the vial of oil open and carefully tipped it to the side. It ran down his talons and into the palm of his claw. It was a good deal thinner than the lube they had gotten used to, but it would do. Especially with how worked up he already was. He applied the wetness quickly to his shaft, and then slowly slid a talon down to the pony’s hole.

“Ohh,” Sandbar whined.

Gallus’ cock jumped at the sound.

The griffon pushed in, forcing himself to take his time.

The earth pony’s shaft twitched and shivered.

“Aw fuck,” the griffon whined. He pushed a second slick talon in, and let the digits slowly spread the pony apart. His other claw reached forward and stroked the length of the dark shaft in front of him. It surged under the attention and wetness appeared at the tip. Gallus felt his own member throb in sympathy. “Ready?” he asked.

The pony simply nodded.

Gallus pulled his claw out and then straddled the pony. He positioned his throbbing need on the slickened opening. He pushed. The intense, immediate pressure on his tapered tip made him whimper in pleasure. Sandbar moaned below him.

As the pony relaxed, the griffon pushed deeper, slowly and smoothly. The oil was doing its job, he noted absently. After another brief pause, feeling the pony tightening around the shaft and then release, he leaned forward, putting his back into the motion. He was in to the top of his knot. He moaned and the pony below him whimpered. “Still good?” he asked, his breathing getting shaky.

The pony’s shaft surged, momentarily flaring. Sandbar nodded and pushed his body into the griffon.

Gallus pulled back, away from the pressure and began to thrust. The electric tightness and squeezing of his pony’s insides was already getting him close. Sandbar cried out in pleasure at the apex of every thrust, his cock leaking clear fluid and flaring at nearly every pass. Gallus felt his knot tighten and he gasped. He pushed firmly, just as the pony pushed back into him, and Gallus felt his knot squeezed by the pony’s ring. The griffon crowed in pleasure and shoved, putting the leonine strength of his back legs to work. He slipped inside and was overcome by pleasure. He pumped his hips, his flesh trapped inside his pony, the rhythmic clenching too much to take, too much to bear, and he began to climax.

His claws gripped Sandbar’s midsection tightly and he unloaded, pouring his seed into his stallion. He could feel the rush in his loins, as he spasmed, each burst glorious and distinct but the sensations rolling into one of overarching satisfaction.

Sandbar cried out, and the griffon watched in joy as the dark shaft flared and the pony writhed underneath him. A rope of cum jettisoned from the staff and arced through the air, eventually drawing a line from the pony’s stomach to the pillow beside his head. Sandbar came again, again, crying out wordlessly, cum spilling onto his chest and muzzle and stomach. Each burst was accompanied by a tight contraction that squeezed the griffon’s knot tightly.

The two slowly relaxed, the tension draining from their bodies. Gallus collapsed on top of the green pony’s chest. The stallion’s seed smeared between them. Their breathing slowed.

“Light,” Sandbar said huskily, “I love having sex with you.” He shifted his rear uncomfortably. “Even if this part is difficult.”

Gallus sighed and smiled blissfully. “Give it a minute to go down a little,” he chided. “You know teasing it just keeps it hard.” He yawned, suddenly sleepy.

Sandbar echoed the yawn. “Oh, don’t start that,” he complained. “I don’t wanna fall asleep without a shower.”

Gallus nodded, seeing the wisdom in that idea. The smell of stallion seed, and olive oil, and cotton sheets, and his own rutting musk filled his nostrils. It was good.

The air was clean and cool, and the sun was shining bright. Perfect day for a flight. Gallus winged through the sky, his teammates at his side. The climbed vertically until their bodies stalled, and, as one, they whipped around and dove toward the ground. Gallus whooped, feeling the wind in his crest and ruffling along his wings.

The ground approached with frightening velocity, and Gallus banked his wings, sending his body rocketing away, parallel to the ground. He tilted, strafing, knowing that his wingmates would be doing the same, creating a criss-cross pattern of fliers. It was a Wonderbolt signature move.

Gallus blinked. Since when was he a Wonderbolt? Hadn’t he just been watching them fly? He glanced behind his wing, and where a moment before had been the Wonderbolt squad, there were a group of griffons. Gallus started and nearly crashed into a cream-colored griffon strafing in his direction. Gallus quickly adjusted his maneuver to the approved pattern.

Wait, how did he know the approved pattern? When had he learned it?

He had to be dreaming. That realization caused the air around him to vibrate, and the griffons behind him vanished. Gallus slowed his wings and gaped. Had he done that?

“Okay,” he said aloud. Or aloud in a dream. He wasn’t sure that actually counted. He shook his head. “Okay, if I’m dreaming, then why can I think clearly?” He thought he could think clearly, anyway. The griffon remembered having dreams before, and his mind had always seemed fuzzy. At least… he thought he remembered that.

“Argh!” he yelled. “Too much uncertainty.” He tried to clear his head. He closed his eyes.

He gasped as the air around him shifted. It was like diving into a pond in autumn—cold doused him from head to talon to tail. His eyes shot open. He was in Canterlot. In his hotel. A strange, suffuse light filled the space, making it neither light nor dark. He could see no light source, but there were no shadows, even under his legs.

“This is weird,” he mumbled. “Even for a dream.”

Sandbar wasn’t in bed. In fact, the bed was neatly made. Maybe Sandbar had already gotten up and gone to breakfast?

The moment he had that thought, he felt the world shift around him. Light and dark moved nauseatingly fast, blurring, until he was in the hotel’s breakfast buffet. No creature stirred, no food filled the empty tables. The same half-light filled the space. Gallus shivered, and not due to the cold—it was neither hold nor cold. This dream was getting weirder and weirder. Out of the corner of his eye, Gallus saw something in the buffet shift. He turned, wary, to find the area around one table was shimmering, as if a large, clear bubble suddenly filled the space. He approached cautiously. As he neared, the light inside the bubble shimmered, and the griffon had to shield his eyes for a moment as normal-seeming daylight shone within the space. Once his eyes adjusted, he peered in.

Yona sat a table, a huge pile of pancakes sat before her. The yak was shoveling the sweet breakfast into her mouth with one hoof, while the other held open a textbook. “Yak study hard. Yak eat harder!” Her voice was distorted, like she was underwater instead of right beside him, inside the strange bubble. Gallus backed away. Maybe he’d eaten something that was causing him to hallucinate?

The world shifted and blurred, and the griffon was suddenly standing the in the middle of Canterlot square. It took him a moment to realize that this would be where the market usually stood, only there were no stalls or carts now. He groaned. “Okay, so I think of the last thing I ate and I wind up at the apple stall, I get it.” He shook his head, wondering at the strange logic that seemed to control this dream.

He looked around the square. It reminded him too much of Griffonstone’s plaza—empty and barren.

“HALT!” A booming voice commanded. Gallus flinched and looked around for the source. A speeding blur slammed into the paving stones in front of him and unfolded in the form of a large, dark alicorn.

The princess! Gallus racked his brain for her name. Not Celestia, the other one. The moon one. “Gah! Why am I so bad with names?” He bowed low and decided to take a guess. “Princess… Moona?”

The alicorn regarded him strangely. “Luna,” she corrected in an imperious tone. “You are the griffon from Twilight’s school, are you not?”

Gallus kept his head bowed. “Yeah, that’s me. Gallus of Griffonstone.”

“So you say.” Her voice dripped with mistrust. “Tell me then, what are you doing in the Umbral Realm?”

Gallus stood back up slowly. “The where now?”

Luna seemed to relax slightly at his confusion. “A drifter, then. Consider this just a strange dream. When you wake you will likely not even remember.” She waved a long hoof in his direction, dismissively.

Gallus grunted. The world tried to bend and shift around him. It tugged at his body and mind. The griffon dug in his claws, holding himself in place. “What are you doing?”

The alicorn gasped. “Impossible!” she said in awe. She lowered her hoof and the twisting sensation around Gallus vanished. Luna’s horn lit, preparing some spell. “There are no more Dream Striders.” She lowered her horn until it was pointed right at the griffon. “I ask you again, creature, what are you?” Her voice implied a threat that was perfectly clear from the horn.

“I’m a griffon. Geez, Princess!” He took a nervous step backward. “Put that thing away! What’s going on? Is this another of your weird dream things?” He took another step backward. “I gotta say, I like the one you helped me and Sandbar share way better than whatever this is.”

The princess’ horn stilled and lost its glow. A strange look passed through her stern features. Amusement, Gallus thought. “You recall that dream?”

Gallus snorted and, despite his discomfort and general unease, felt himself get a little hard. That dream had been incredible—what had felt like hours of sex, with neither the griffon or earth pony ever tiring or running dry. “Uh, yeah. Basically the best thing ever.”

A small blush appeared on the alicorn’s cheeks for a fraction of a moment. “You are who you claim then. Incredible.”

Gallus shrugged. “I mean, I like to think so.”

Luna laughed, a light, tinkling sound, so at odds with the stern, angry pony she had seemed moments before. “I believe you may possess an incredible gift, young griffon. One I have not seen in anypony since my return from exile.”

Gallus swallowed nervously.

The alicorn stepped forward, cautiously, and offered her hoof. “The Umbral Realm can be a dangerous place for an untrained Dream Strider.” Gallus carefully put a claw on her hoof. “I would ask that you attend me at my Lunar Court as soon as possible. We have much to discuss. For now,” she continued, “close your eyes.”

Gallus complied, finding no reason to resist.

“Return to your body,” Luna’s voice said. It seemed to come from everywhere around him.

“What? How?”

“Sight can deceive here. Trust in sound, smell, taste, and touch." She paused, considering, "though they, too, may deceive. Nothing is as it seems in this Realm. For now, though, focus."

Gallus concentrated. There. A bouquet of scents, seemingly a million miles away: olive oil, and cotton sheets, and the smell of Sandbar's fur, and (he blushed) drying spunk.

Gallus gasped awake. His limbs were tangled on top of his pony and he tried to slowly extricate himself. Sandbar shifted, opening his eyes. “Oh, hey,” the pony said groggily. “I think we fell asleep.” The stallion yawned broadly. “I’ll shower.. in the.. morn…” the green pony’s voice drifted off, and he was quickly back asleep.

There was no way Gallus was getting any more sleep that night. He got up and padded his way to the bathroom.

“I still think you should tell Headmare Twilight,” Ocellus said, nervously flitting around the dragon.

Smolder fixed her with a tough stare. “It. Was. A. Dream.”

The changeling was undeterred, much to the dragon’s consternation. “Yeah. A terrifying dream.” She shivered. “A dream so scary you woke up and slashed me.”

Smolder flinched.

“So why don’t we tell someone?”

“Because he’s just a bogey monster. A tall tale dragons tell—and you know how we love our stories larger than life.”

Smolder nodded slowly.

“My parents told me so many horrible stories about the Nowhere King trying to scare me into obedience. The monster who eats dragon fledglings who disobey their parents. The Thing that lurks in the shadows in every cave. The Eater of Dreams.” She blew a raspberry. “Guess I listened to too many of their stupid tales.”

Ocellus landed softly and brushed her side against the dragon softly. “And you’re sure that’s all it is?”

Smolder snorted. “I’m pretty sure we’d know if some ancient terror was really snatching up dragons.” She pulled the changeling into the briefest of hugs. “Now come on, I promised we’d go get ice cream!”

4 - The Lunar Court

Author's Note

A brief note of caution: the end of this chapter contains some horror and slightly gory elements. Anypony especially squeamish might want to skip past the last part of this chapter.

4 - The Lunar Court

Gallus walked the mostly-quiet halls of Canterlot Castle. Very few creatures were awake in the middle of the night. Gallus wished he, too, was among the sleeping. But he had too many questions that needed answering.

He wandered the halls past the main throne room. Underneath a massive dome, two paths split from the main concourse. One was well-trod, small grooves worn into the marbled floor from tens of thousands of hoofsteps. The other path was decidedly less-traveled. Gallus turned down the path emblazoned with moons and stars. At the end of the hall stood an enormous set of double doors, each bearing Princess Luna’s cutie mark in opals and moonstones. Two large ponies stood guard beside the doors, and each regarded the griffon skeptically.

Gallus noted with interest that the two ponies had elongated ears and leathery wings. He nodded in recognition. “I thought bat ponies were a myth,” he said.

“Daytime ignorance,” the slightly larger one on the left muttered.

“Name and petition,” the second, slightly darker colored guard stated blandly.

“Gallus of Griffonstone. And, uh, I don’t have a petition.”

The darker bat pony blinked and glared down at the smaller creature. “Then what is your business with the Princess of the Night?”

Gallus scoffed. “She told me to come here.”

The two guards exchanged a look. One bat pony slipped inside the large door. The other lowered a spear toward the griffon. “Perjury earns time in the dungeon,” he said with a hint of glee.

Gallus put on his best tough look. “Good thing I’m not lying, then.” Unless it was all just some strange dream he had imagined. He shifted his weight at that thought. Gaw, he hoped it wasn’t just a dream.

After a few uncomfortable moments, the smaller guard returned and crooked a hoof toward the griffon. “Come, you are summoned.”

Gallus leered at the other guard. “Told you so.” The guard remained frustratingly stoic.

Gallus stepped around the door and gazed upon the Lunar Court. Whereas Princess Celestia’s courtroom had been all windows and airiness, Princess Luna’s was marble and tile. Sculptures filled the numerous niches around the circular room, with only small porthole-style windows to gaze upon the surrounding countryside. Then Gallus looked up and his breath caught in his chest. Where there should have been a ceiling to the dome, he could see stars—thousands of stars—and off to one side, the majestic moon, currently in a stylish crescent.

“Beautiful, is it not?” A regal voice proclaimed.

The bat pony escorting Gallus cleared his throat. “Gallus of Griffonstone,” he announced loudly and clearly, “answering summons.”

“Thank you, Orpheus, you may leave us.”

“Of course, majesty.” The bat pony bowed briefly and trotted back out of the room.

Gallus’ gaze slowly shifted back from the stunning view to the pony princess walking in his direction. He wasn’t sure what to expect, given the up-and-down reception in his dream, but Luna smiled widely at the griffon. “It is a pleasure to meet you in the flesh, Gallus of Griffonstone.”

Gallus offered his claw in greeting. “Please, Princess, just ‘Gallus’ is fine.”

The alicorn placed her hoof in his claw. “You may call me Luna.”

The griffon nodded. “Luna, then.” He paused, then, trying to collect his thoughts. The late hour and stress of the last hour made it difficult. “I have so many questions.”

The princess laughed, a sound that made the griffon think of tiny silver bells. “I expect you do, Dream Strider.”

Gallus blinked. “You used that term in my dream, too. What does it mean?”

The alicorn strolled past the griffon, staring idly into the starscape above her. “It means that perhaps in this, as in so many other things, I should have followed dearest Twilight’s example.”

Gallus rubbed his eyes. He was too tired for cryptic remarks.

He turned and suddenly realized that Luna was staring at him coldly. She barked a sudden laugh. “Quite right, I suppose.” Gallus blanched, realizing he must have said his thoughts aloud. He really was tired.

“Here,” the princess said, “please join me for tea. Or do you prefer coffee?”

“Either would be a blessing,” he replied honestly. He had already forsaken sleep. He figured he may as well be as awake as possible.

“Coffee, then,” Luna said with a smile. “I so rarely get to enjoy it with my guests.” She lit her horn and a small bell chimed at the back of the court. A small, white unicorn poked her head into the room. “Coffee, if you please, Astra. For two.”

“At once, Princess,” the pony cantered off.

“Will you sit?” Luna asked the griffon.

Gallus gave a small laugh. “I’m afraid if I do, I’ll just fall asleep.”

“Then walk with me?” She gestured with a hoof and started a slow circuit of the chamber. Gallus stepped up beside her.

“To your question, the Dream Striders were once my lieutenants.” A sad look crossed her features for a moment. “They were ponies of innate talent, capable of entering the Umbral Realm and affecting dreams, much as I do.”

“The Umbral Realm? You said that, too, in the dream. That’s where we were?”

The alicorn shifted her head side-to-side. “In a manner of speaking. The Realm is neither here nor there. It is the base of reality for dreams.”

Gallus shook his head. “Nope. I’m lost. Maybe I’m just tired.”

Luna smiled. “Wiser and more eloquent creatures than I have tried to explain it without success. I tell you only what I have discovered.” She drew a deep breath. “The Umbral Realm exists in parallel to the world we know in waking. It is a subservient realm, in that it reflects anything permanent or longstanding in the waking world. Canterlot Castle exists there, but the market vendor stalls do not.”

Gallus nodded, remembering that part of his journey. “Okay. But what about the bed that Sandbar and I were on? It was in the dream. Er, Umbral Realm. But it was clean and made in there. It sure as gold wasn’t clean or freshly made when I woke.”

Luna nodded. “That hotel has stood for decades. Perhaps centuries. And that bed, or a prior one very similar to it, remains freshly made far more often than rumpled and used. I expect that is why it exists that way in the dream.”

Gallus frowned. “What about the bubble I found?”

“Shimmering luminescence? A scene of wonder inside?”

Gallus shrugged. “If you call a yak eating pancakes a wonder.”

Luna gave a cheerful laugh and then nodded. “A dream. All dreams exist within and upon the Umbral Realm. You may find many such ‘bubbles’ layered upon one another in places where ponies...” She paused, correcting herself, “creatures may dream themselves: The Canterlot gardens, the Wonderbolts academy, schools. Dreams often coexist in the same space without ever intersecting. 'N-th factor polydimensional overlays,' Starswirl the Bearded once called them.”

Gallus gaped. “What the Tartarus does that mean?”

Luna gave him a confiding look, a small twinkle in her eyes. “I have no idea.” She laughed again, and Gallus found himself smiling.

The small bell at the back of the chamber chimed and Luna lit her horn, making the bell chime twice in response. The white unicorn returned, levitating a silver tray with a large carafe and two fancy porcelain cups. The smell of roasted brewed coffee reached Gallus’ nose and he smiled.

Luna escorted the griffon to a set of cushions. Her magic subsumed the unicorn’s, and the princess filled the cups with steaming coffee. She set the tray and carafe down after floating one cup to Gallus. He took the hot cup in his claws willingly. “Thank you, Astra,” Luna said kindly. “That will be all.”

The unicorn bowed. Her eyes locked with Gallus’ for a moment and the griffon blinked as he realized the unicorn was an albino—she had no pigmentation in her eyes, mane, tail, or fur. No wonder she worked for the Princess of the Night; she would surely crisp during the day.

Gallus took a sip of the coffee. It was rich, and bold, and very subtly sweet. The griffon nodded contentedly. “You said there were no more Dream Striders? What happened to them?”

Luna sighed. She slowly sipped her coffee and gazed upward at the moon. “When I was banished a thousand years ago, the Dream Striders were nearly twenty strong. For a long time after my return, I avoided learning their fate for fear of what I would find.”

Gallus tilted his head to the side. “Why?”

Luna set her cup down with her magic. “They were fiercely loyal to me. Perhaps too loyal. I allowed my darker instincts to overtake me, and I feared many would have followed me to Tartarus itself.”

Gallus whistled softly. “You were worried they went rogue?” The princess nodded sadly. The griffon sipped at his drink, considering. “Did they?”

“Only one, a unicorn named Lilith.” Luna shook her head. “It took me moons to find the records in the Canterlot archives. Lilith swore vengeance on my sister, swore to tear Equestria to pieces until she could rescue Nightmare Moon,” Luna’s voice dripped with scorn at the title. “The rest of my Striders showed better sense, I am proud to say. They made to capture Lilith, but she escaped into the Umbral Realm in physical form.”

Gallus blinked. “Wait, what? I thought you said the Umbral Realm isn’t a real place?”

Luna nodded. “It is not. It is a terrible, dangerous thing to do, to enter the Realm with your real body instead of just your mind.” The alicorn shuddered. “I tried it once only. My power was magnified tenfold, but so was the danger—one small slip of attention, one nightmare bubble encountered, and I could have been maimed or killed.” Her eyes met Gallus’. “Have you ever fallen in a dream? Been attacked? Nearly died? Imagine if you could not wake.”

Gallus shivered at the thought. “Indeed,” the princess agreed.

“So Lilith?” Gallus prompted.

“Was never seen again,” Luna said. “I expect she found the wrong end of a nightmare.” Gallus heard no sympathy in her voice.

“What about the other Dream Striders?”

“They lived out their days in service to my sister.” Luna levitated her cup back to her lips and took a long drink. “Celestia has not the talent to walk the dream or discover new Striders, and so, one by one they aged and passed as ponies do.” Luna shook her head sadly. “I have made gentle inquiries since my return, but, if truth be told, I have not sought to rebuild the Dream Striders' numbers. The Umbral Realm stood undefended for nearly a thousand years without incident.” The alicorn took a long drink of coffee. “I began simply to walk dreams, to guide and support dreamers instead of watching for an outside threat that never came.”

Gallus felt a chill pass over his body, thinking of his repeated encounters with the ponies with the eye-wrenching cloaks. “Do shape-shifting cloaks mean anything to you?”

Luna blinked, apparently caught off-guard by the non-sequitur. “Explain,” she commanded simply.

Gallus shrugged and took a brief sip of coffee, giving himself time to think. “It’s just that I’ve had a couple dreams this week, with the same ponies in them, and I get a really uneasy feeling when I look at them. And they all have these dark cloaks with patterns and shapes that blend and twist until you can’t even keep looking at them.”

Luna tapped her chin with one hoof. “Interesting. Was this a dream or in the Umbral Realm?”

“I…” Gallus thought about it. “I have no idea.” He sighed. “I’m sorry. It’s probably nothing, right? Just some scary dream I thought up after having one too many late-night desserts.”

Luna tilted her head in consideration. “Mm. Possibly.” She stood and offered a hoof to the griffon. He set his coffee down and let himself be lifted to his feet. “You will continue to observe and report your findings over the next few days.”

Gallus balked. “Uh?”

Luna looked down at the griffon with a strange look on her face. After a moment she laughed. Gallus thought it sounded self-conscious. “Forgive my manners. We talk of Dream Striders and I fall back into old patterns.” She bowed slightly, tilting her head. “I would appreciate it if you would continue to watch for these ponies and their odd cloaks, in case they are not creations of your imagination. Please send word if you learn of anything important.” She began walking the griffon towards her chamber door. “You would do well to continue exploring your talent. Do not fear—very little can harm you in a dream, if you are careful, and I will be watching as well, should you ever need assistance.”

Luna began walking towards the large double doors. Gallus fell in beside her. “You would do well to sleep. Truly sleep,” she clarified. “Our bodies and minds get little rest in the Umbral Realm, and you appear quite ill-rested.” A yawn escaped the griffon’s beak, proving her point. “Should you find yourself there on accident, escape as I have shown you.”

The dark alicorn lifted a hoof and pushed one door open. “We shall speak again soon, I expect.” Gallus bowed low and began trudging back down the hall. Gallus felt like he was in a dream right at that moment. He had a special skill? And a task from a pony princess? He thought about pinching himself. Not, he realized with some small horror, that that had worked in his dream anyway.

The dark gray unicorn approached the enormous throne carefully. Her head was bowed, and she stared at the volcanic rock below her hooves as if it held her salvation. Her two compatriots stood to either side of her.

“YOU HAVE THE AMULET?” This close, the voice of her King tore at her ears. She winced and went down on her front knees.

“Deepest apologies. It has yet eluded us, your Greatness.” The unicorn prostrated herself fully, laying her front half down into the rough rock. “I still believe it may exist in the ancient castle. If we simply take more time-”

“TIME IS MY LUXURY. NOT YOURS.” The air shook and heaved around her.

The unicorn licked her lips nervously. “Of course, my King.” She lowered her hind quarters to the ground, until her entire body was pressed flat into the rough ground. “We are but mayflies in your sight.”

The earth pony beside her snorted. “Speak fer yerself, Shade.”

The unicorn flinched. Idiot, she thought.

“YOU DISAGREE, CROW?”

“We’ve been lookin’ for this bloody amulet for months, ain’t we?” The earth pony complained. “Day after day,” he complained, “an’ for what? So you can bitch at us ‘ere?”

The darkness rumbled, and Shade felt a spare moment of pity for her idiot partner. Out of the corner of one eye, she watched a dream bubble form behind the earth pony. She shivered as she watched dark visions populate the space within.

“YOU FORGET YOURSELF,” the Nowhere King boomed. A sudden gust of wind blew past Shade, the gale pushing the unicorn into the ground. It lifted the earth pony off his hooves and pushed him into the nightmare. Shade shivered in spite of herself. “OBSERVE,” her King demanded. Reluctantly, Shade turned her attention to the nightmare and saw the deep-blue pegasus beside her do the same.

In the dream, Crow fell, his hooves flailing wildly. He screamed. Oh, Darkness, how he screamed. Shade watched the silver earth pony fall from a great height towards a huge hole in the ground, a gaping maw full of teeth. Faster and faster he fell, until he impacted, his back left leg speared on a monstrous tooth. Blood gushed from the wound. Shade nearly retched, even knowing the damage was only mental. There was so much blood.

Crow screamed in agony. And the hole contracted, pulling him inward. The earth pony scrambled upward, pulling his injured leg free. He stumbled forward, but as the maw collapsed, the teeth suddenly pointed inward. The only way to move forward, to escape, was to drag his body through the hideous, sharp daggers of teeth.

Crow closed his eyes, and his form shimmered, becoming immaterial in the bubble.

The sound of mountains crashing together made Shade flinch. The Nowhere King laughed.

“YOU ARE MINE, CROW. YOU WILL SUFFER UNTIL I ALLOW YOU REST.”

Crow’s body regained its clarity, bloody wound and all. “No!” the earth pony shouted, his voice distorted from inside the dream bubble. “My King, please! Please! Forgive me!”

The earth pony slipped, falling deeper into the maw of teeth. A horrible green acid seeped from the walls and began to eat into his flesh. “PLEASE!” he screamed. Shade shuddered but kept her eyes on the scene, as she was bid to do.

His screams were awful. Shade was sure they would join the million other nightmares she already harbored in her head.

Crow heaved upward, pulling his tortured body out of the acid. Teeth, sharp as knives, tore into his flesh as he tried to pull himself out of the grotesque maw. His dripping blood pooled into the acid below him, sizzling wildly.

“Great Nightmare, please,” Shade pleaded, in as deferential a tone as she could manage, Canterlot breeding be damned, “you may break him if this keeps up.”

The air shivered and pulsed, beating against the unicorn. She focused her breathing. Slow. Steady. “He has been useful, if rash.”

Shade swallowed roughly, uncertain of why she was sticking her neck out for the idiot.

In the nightmare, the contractions of the terrible maw stopped. Crow scrambled his way across stilled teeth, pulling himself out with two uninjured legs. Blood seeped from numerous wounds, staining the majority of his coat a dark crimson. The earth pony closed his eyes. His form shimmered, and a moment later Crow re-appeared beside Shade. She drew a relieved breath seeing him physically uninjured.

The earth pony threw himself to the ground, groveling. “Greatest and most powerful Nowhere King, I apologize, I do! Oh Darkness take me, I’m only a worm, a mayfly, nothin’ to you, o’ course. You are-”

“SILENCE.” The word shook the air. Crow fell immediately silent. “FIND THE AMULET. MY PATIENCE THINS.”

Shade nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, our King!” she agreed. She took a deep breath and immediately left the dream.

A dark gray unicorn woke in a lavish bed. Despite the multitude of plush blankets draped across her, she shivered.

5 - Into the Dream

Gallus had been awake for at least an hour since leaving the Lunar Court. He knew he should try and sleep, but the caffeine buzz from the coffee had him wired. The griffon sat in the dark, his haunches on the cushion in front of the large desk. He stared out the large window at the valley below, thinking about his newfound ability. He had a title and everything. Dream Strider. He shook his head in wonder. He was no longer Gallus the unwanted, the little blue orphan of Griffonstone’s tough streets. Not Gallus the unloved, either. He had friends and the best boyfriend a griffon could have. He turned his gaze for a moment to the dark mound laying in the middle of the bed. The pony snored quietly. A small smile split the griffon’s beak as he fiddled with the scroll of his latest drawing. Which made him think about Sandbar’s backside. Which made him think about rutting the earth pony earlier. Which made him hard.

“Heh,” the griffon laughed quietly, a claw lazily drifting down to his rapidly-emerging tip. “I guess that’s one way I could get some rest.”

He considered for a moment clawing off right where he was, but Sandbar tended to be a lighter sleeper, and he didn’t want to wake his pony. Well, Gallus admitted to himself, he really, really wanted to wake Sandbar up, roll around with him, and ride the pony’s thick shaft to glory. But he also knew his pony hated being woken up in the night, and it was late enough that it would probably be cruel. And he was learning to be a considerate griff. Also, they were out of olive oil. He sighed quietly and wandered off to the bathroom, hopeful that the bathroom door would provide enough sound proofing to let his pony sleep.

The air in the room was still damp and warm from the griffon’s earlier bath. That felt like a lifetime ago, now, instead of just two hours gone. Gallus sat himself on the lip of the bathtub and felt his remaining length push out of his sheath. The pleasant, familiar stretching of the sensitive skin brought a smile to his beak. One claw moved down, gently scooping up and fondling his balls as the other gripped his shaft. The griffon sighed contentedly. His left claw migrated from root to tip, the moderately tight grip squeezing his flesh delightfully. He dragged the claw back, letting one talon lightly scrape the fleshy ridge of the underside of his swelling erection. The touch made him shiver, and he felt his balls pull themselves closer to his body.

Sweet Winds, he loved his boyfriend, but there were some things to which claws were just better suited.

He stroked away again, his shaft now fully extended. He let his talons play at the tapered tip, teasing and lightly stroking the small hole for a few moments until a small dollop of wetness appeared. He pinched the drop between two talons and slid the wetness around his tip.

“Haa, yeah,” he murmured, gently massaging and toying with his orbs with his free claw.

He stroked himself quickly, lightly, and felt his shaft twitch with pleasure. Another bead of precum sprouted and he rubbed the palm of his claw into it.

He stroked himself with his slickened claw and moaned softly. He felt his loins tighten and he thrust his hips into his claw, the movement making a wonderful wet sound.

*Shlick shlick shlick*

Gallus loved that sound. He loved it more when it was accompanied by his pony moaning around the griffon’s shaft in his mouth.

Precum flowed from his tip at the thought.

“Aw fuck, aw!” the whimpered. Okay, he conceded, maybe his claw was pretty good, but it was nothing compared to being inside his pony’s muzzle.

*Shlick shlickshlick shlickshlickshlick* A small burst of clear fluid splashed onto the tile floor.

Or, Gallus thought, of being knot deep in the stallion’s rear.

His groin ached, and he felt his knot swell.

He was panting. His claw gripped the swollen shaft tightly. Gallus could feel his load gathering in his loins.

He thrust his hips into his wet claw as he moved his other claw away from his balls. He stuck a pair of talons in his mouth and sucked. It was a poor facsimile for Sandbar’s firm, juicy cock, but this close to the edge it made little difference. The last lucid part of the griffon’s brain thought back to the numerous times the stallion had come in his beak, the musky, intense earth pony cum filling his mouth as Sandbar’s flesh throbbed and pulsed and—

“Oh Gaw! Ohhh!” he moaned around the intruding talons.

—pulsed and throbbed like his own knotted cock.

His wings swept wide behind him and his tail tensed.

“Fuuuuuck!” he cried. He thrust forcefully into his claw.

A long line of cum fired from his tip, landing on the luxurious white bathmat below. The griffon whimpered, lost in ecstasy as he thrust wildly. Gallus watched another white strand land beside the first. Then another, and another in quick, thrusting succession. His claw gripped his swollen knot nearly to the point of pain. The last of his load dribbled messily from his tip and the griffon sat on the edge of the bathtub panting.

Gallus collapsed onto the hotel bed, finally exhausted enough to sleep. He dreaded how little time likely remained of the night, but he was determined to get as much rest as he could before they faced a train ride back to Ponyville in the morning. He shimmied under the smooth sheets and snuggled into his stallion’s backside. Usually, being in that position gave him an instant hard-on, but he was so recently spent, and otherwise so physically tired, that he stayed in his sheath for once. He yawned broadly and closed his eyes.

Gallus could hear voices. Angry voices. He looked around the classroom. He was the only student there. And the voices were getting closer in the hall outside. The griffon ruffled his feathers as he stood, letting the tension out of his wings. He stepped quietly toward the door and then slowly peeked out.

A horde of angry-looking ponies swarmed the hall. Each had a terrible black cloak that swirled with symbols. Gallus shivered.

“Where is he?” one pony shouted.

“We know you’re here!” Another voice taunted.

Gallus leapt away from the door, landing quietly on the soft pads of his back legs. He needed to hide. He scanned the classroom, but the door to the hall was the only exit, and the desks provided little cover. Wait, he thought, wasn’t there a supply closet in this room? He looked around again. There! He padded over to the closet quickly. Why hadn’t he seen it before?

He opened the closet door. It was dark inside, and the space was pretty small—large enough for one griffon to stand still, so long as he kept his wings to his sides and didn’t need to turn around. Gallus felt his heart racing . Any moment, the ponies in the hall would barge into the classroom. He had to hide. In this supply closet. This tiny, tight closet. In the dark.

Gallus swallowed nervously and backed into the closet. He pulled the door closed, and darkness surrounded him. It was fine. He had plenty of room. He shifted his weight and one wing bumped a shelf. He fought to keep the rising panic at the constricted space from consuming him.

“Plenty of room,” he whispered to himself. “Totally spacious.”

He bumped into the shelf on his other side. And felt the wall behind him. And his claw was on the door, his breathing coming in erratic gulps. His crest feathers brushed the ceiling. “No no nononono," he whimpered. He felt a desperate need to escape, and pushed against the door. It didn’t budge. He was stuck.

He felt tears burning in his eyes. “It’s impossible,” he whimpered. His heart felt like it would beat his chest apart. Some tiny bit of reason tickled his mostly-panicked brain. “Wait,” he said, his voice sounding desperate in his own ears. “Impossible.” He said the word with soft wonder. His wings snapped out, banging into shelves. “It’s a dream!” he crowed. “Okay, okay, let’s just… Ugh. Concentrate, Gallus!”

He closed his eyes, and cold washed over him. He shivered and opened his eyes, finding himself in his and Sandbar’s dorm. The increasingly familiar half-light of the Umbral Realm filled the space.

Gallus drew a shaky breath and sat down on his bed.

It had just been a crappy dream. And the cloaked ponies had been there. So maybe they were just figments of his imagination after all. That would be a relief.

He sighed. Luna had said that he wouldn’t get much rest in this place. “Okay,” he said to himself, “just focus. Smell worked before, so…” He sniffed the air.

Something shimmered in the corner of the griffon’s eye. He yelled and jumped, letting his wings carry him into the air.

A bubble glinted softly in the not-light. Inside it, a sea-green earth pony and a blue furred griffon nuzzled each other sweetly. He blinked slowly, realizing what he was seeing. He hovered closer to the bubble’s iridescent surface, peering inward.

“Thanks for helping me ace that test,” dream Gallus said. The real griffon shook his head. He was glad the dream bubble was causing a weird distortion in the sound. No way did he sound that nasal and whiny.

“Anything for my husband,” the earth pony replied.

“Wait, we’re married?!” Gallus squawked. His wingtip touched the bubble on accident, and the griffon gasped—a terrible inferno raged across his feathers as they brushed the bubble’s surface. The wing sank into the bubble and the griffon was dragged forward against his will. A terrible heat rushed across his body and Gallus screamed, as his body burned.

Gallus blinked tears from his eyes. And saw a strange reflection of himself glaring back at him.

“That’s not funny, Ocellus, we’ve talked about you impersonating Gallus,” Sandbar said. “How did you even get in here?”

Gallus gaped in confusion. “What?”

“Knock it off,” the doppelganger griffon complained. Gallus’ eye twitched. No way did his voice actually sound like that. “We’re kind of in the middle of a private moment.” The faux griffon stroked one claw lovingly down Sandbar’s face. Gallus blushed, jealous. Despite, he realized, the ridiculousness of being jealous of himself.

“I’m not a changeling,” Gallus replied gruffly. “And you’re not me.” He waved a claw dismissively at the other Gallus and the griffon disintegrated into the ether. Sandbar gasped. Gallus stepped up to him. “Shh,” he said, calming the earth pony. His stallion looked him in the eyes. “You know we’re not married yet, right?”

Something changed in Sandbar’s eyes. The pony shifted and he was suddenly… Gallus lacked the words for it, but Sandbar seemed more present. “Y-yeah,” he stammered. Gallus smiled. His pony had the worst time getting anything out his mouth when he was nervous. “How are you— this is a dream, right?”

Gallus nodded.

“Did Princess Luna do this? Was I having a nightmare?” he shook his head, his shaggy mane shifting as he moved. “I don’t remember anything too awful.”

Gallus grinned. “Would you believe that I did it?”

Sandbar blinked slowly. “You… entered my dream?”

Gallus nodded, feeling heat warm his cheeks.

“How?” the stallion asked simply.

Gallus shrugged. “It’s a long story. I’ll tell you in the morning?”

Sandbar frowned but nodded. The two were silent for a moment before the earth pony’s face split in a sudden grin. “You wanna do what we did last time?”

Gallus blushed. “Part of me does, yeah,” he admitted, “but I’m also kind of exhausted. Like, in every way.” He sighed. “I know it’s weird since I’m currently holding you in bed anyway, but can we just, like, cuddle for a minute?”

The earth pony lifted one hoof and wrapped it around the griffon.

“So you wanna marry me?” The two creatures were wrapped in blankets around a large, warmly-glowing fire. It had started as a bonfire, but Gallus had managed to shrink it to a reasonable size pretty quickly. Sandbar’s head rested on the griffon’s chest, their limbs intertwined. The pony basked in the warmth of the fire and the radiating warmth of the griffon below him.

“Well, yeah,” the pony mumbled. “I mean, I did ask in the griffon way, right?”

Gallus nodded, feeling the small jade turtle that constantly hung around his neck, even in his dreams. “Pretty much. It’s not really a promise, though. Plenty of griffons break it off after exchanging feathers, and they start seeing other griffs.”

The light green pony raised his head and fixed Gallus with an intense stare. “Do you want to see anyone else?”

The griffon snorted. “Hardly. You’re my pony, Sandbar.” The pony’s face flushed red. “And you’re cute when you blush.”

Sandbar buried his face in the griffon’s chest. “Shut up,” he complained. “And good,” he continued. The two were silent for several moments. The fire crackled and snapped, and the only other sound was the sound of the two creatures’ breathing.

Sandbar shifted his head, softly nuzzling the underside of the griffon’s beak. “You sure you don’t want to do what we did before here?”

Gallus laughed and shook his head. “It’s really, really late, and I’ve had a weird day.”

Sandbar shrugged, his shoulders moving under the griffon’s arms. “Fair enough. Okay if I top tomorrow when we get back home, then?”

Gallus felt himself get a little hard, despite his protests.

The earth pony grinned. “I can feel that, you know.”

“It’s just saying yes,” the griffon deadpanned. “Now, shush. I should try and get out of here so we can get some actual rest.”

6 - A Simple Request

Sandbar settled onto the seat beside his griffon boyfriend. “So?” he asked quietly, his voice not quite a whisper, “you wanna tell me how you ended up in my dream last night?”

Gallus smirked. “Aren’t I always in your dreams?”

The earth pony rolled his eyes. “Not all the time. And you know what I mean.”

The train started moving and Gallus nodded slowly. “I’m not really sure where even to start. You know I’ve been having weird dreams?” Sandbar nodded, recalling that conversation. “Well, I ran into Princess Luna in this place outside a dream—but still a dream?—she called it the Umbral Realm.” The griffon shook his head. “It’s like… if dreams were plays, the Umbral Realm would be the stage.”

“Wait,” Sandbar said, holding up a hoof, “so a dream isn’t just inside my head?”

His griffon shrugged. “No?” He huffed in frustration. “But Luna said it wasn’t a real place, so… maybe?”

Sandbar scratched his mane with a forehoof. “Huh.” He didn’t really get it, but he didn’t want to keep Gallus from telling his story. “Wait, did you say you met Princess Luna?”

Gallus nodded slowly. “First in the dream. Er, Umbral Realm. And then in her Court last night.”

“HOLD ON,” a voice from the seat behind them screeched. “Were we supposed to stay up and see the Lunar court, too? Am I gonna FAIL?” Silverstream’s pink form floated up over the seat, a worried look on her face.

Gallus turned in his seat, an irritated look on his face. “No, that wasn’t part of our assignment.”

The hippogriff’s eyes bulged. “You were doing extra credit?” She asked, her voice incredulous.

In a heartbeat, a small changeling zipped into Sandbar’s view. “Wait, what? Extra credit?” Her gaze flicked from Silverstream to Gallus and back. “What did I miss?!”

Gallus groaned. “It wasn’t extra credit. Princess Luna asked me to visit her last night.”

Smolder’s head peeked up over the seat divider beside Silversteam. “That’s what she said.”

Yona peered up from the seat across from them, a small frown on her face. “Yona no think Gallus was into pony mares.”

Gallus slapped a claw into his beak and dragged it slowly downward. “I’m not.” Sandbar resisted the urge to laugh, certain it wouldn’t help his boyfriend’s irritation.

Ocellus took the small remaining space on the seat next to Yona. “Why were you summoned by one of the most powerful creatures in Equestria?”

“Because he was in my dream,” Sandbar explained.

Gallus sighed. “No, that was later.”

“I’m lost,” Smolder said.

“You’re not in the conversation at all!” Gallus said grumpily. “None of you were!”

“Can we be, though?” Ocellus asked. “I’m really, really interested to hear about whatever you and the Princess discussed.”

Sandbar heard Gallus mutter “of course you are” under his breath. “Fine,” he said, sighing deeply. “Every creature gather round so I don’t have to tell this a million times.”

Sandbar listened with growing amazement as his boyfriend explained about Dream Striders, his newfound talent, and his ability to walk in dreams like Princess Luna.

The changeling raised her hoof. Gallus sighed. “We’re not in class, Ocellus.”

She lowered her hoof sheepishly. “Sorry,” she muttered. “So does that mean you take care of nightmares like Princess Luna?”

Sandbar thought he saw Smolder shoot Ocellus a sharp look.

Gallus shrugged. “Maybe? This is all so new, really, and she didn’t say anything about that.” The griffon’s eyes narrowed for a moment. “Why? You having bad dreams?”

The changeling blushed and waved her hooves in front of her face. “What? Me? No. No, no I’m fine.” She cleared her throat. “But if I was, you think I should tell you?”

Gallus’ beak opened and closed before he nodded. “I was gonna make a sarcastic remark, but yeah, I think maybe you should.”

Sandbar watched Smolder cross her arms and glare at Ocellus.

The griffon looked around, surveying his friends. “Especially if you have nightmares about ponies with shadowy capes.”

Smolder huffed, a bit of smoke escaping her mouth. “No ponies in my dreams.”

“Yona neither.”

Ocellus nodded and Silverstream shrugged.

It was nice to be back in Ponyville. Sandbar stretched his legs and tossed his luggage onto his back. It had been a surreal few days, made stranger by Gallus’ revelation. He smiled widely as he stared at his griffon. Just another reason to be proud of his boyfriend. He bumped his flank into Gallus’ wing and wiggled his eyebrows in what he thought was a seductive manner. “Why don’t we go unpack and go make sure our bed is still in good shape?”

Gallus laughed. “You’re such a dork.” Sandbar felt a wingtip brush the underside of his chin.

“You love it,” the earth pony replied. “Besides, what better way to spend a lazy weekend afternoon?”

Smolder sat in the small window seat inside Sugarcube corner. She traced one claw lazily along the edge of the table, feeling the line where the two pieces of wood merged. She was continually impressed by pony craftwork—the fine detail work was something that just didn’t exist in the Dragon Lands. Here, even something heavy and sturdy like this table was worthy of impressively fine and delicate detail. That balance appealed to her.

She looked up to see Ocellus walking her way, levitating a small plate with her magic. The little changeling looked so fragile and acted so scared most of the time, but Smolder had seen her inner strength time and again. Soft and delicate and hard all in one. The dragon squirmed slightly in her seat, uncomfortably aware of her rising arousal at the thought of hard and soft together.

Ocellus set the plate down gently and squeezed in beside the dragon. The changeling smelled just faintly of polished quartz and crisped ozone and spun sugar. Their race apparently had very little natural scent, as part of their protean magic, but Ocellus had been trying different variations on her scent. “A social experiment” she had called it.

Smolder just called it delicious. She growled quietly under her breath.

“You like it?” the changeling asked with a small smirk, no doubt sensing Smolder’s reaction to the smell. The minx.

“I could eat you up,” Smolder replied, her voice low and dangerously needy. Little flames jetted from her nostrils.

“That’s the idea, yes,” Ocellus replied smoothly. She used a hoof to scoot the plate closer to the dragon. “Ruby dusted cherry doughnuts for you, plain cherry for me. Also, I ordered a set of cucumber sandwiches to go.” She dropped her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “For tea night.”

The crushed jewels sparkled gloriously on top of the sweet pastry. The dragon’s mouth watered in anticipation. Instead of digging in, though, she turned and glared at Ocellus. “Why are you trying to butter me up?

The changeling’s face turned deep purple. “What are you talking about?”

Smolder grunted. “The doughnuts cost you some dear bits, I’m sure.”

The changeling refused to meet her eyes. “My parents sent some extra bits, and I thought why not?”

“And your scent?”

“I can’t tease my dragon sometimes?”

Smolder stroked a claw down the changeling’s elytra. And waited, leaving one claw just inside the edge of one wing. Ocellus shivered under the touch.

“Okay, fine!” the changeling admitted. “I want you to tell Gallus about your nightmare.”

Smolder groaned. “Why are you still going on about that?”

The changeling’s voice dropped to a whisper. “You were scared, Smolder. Really, truly, authentically scared. I’ve never felt that from you.” Her face wrinkled in sadness. “I just don’t ever want you to feel that way again.”

Smolder pulled away and crossed her arms. She glared at the meddling changeling. “Will you stop bugging me if I tell him?” Ocellus’ compound eyes narrowed at the bug reference. Good, Smolder thought, let her be irritated too. Then she felt bad for being mean. “Will it make you feel better?”

“It will.”

Crusty scabs and dirty scales. “Fine,” she muttered.

“Really?” Ocellus’ face lit up and Smolder’s heart raced in response.

Smolder tossed up her claws helplessly, amused and irritated and how easily the little changeling had convinced her. “I’ll tell the stupid griffon, okay?”

Ocellus blushed again shyly. “Kindness outside the classroom, too, remember.”

“Ugh. You are the worst.” Smolder drew a deep breath. “I’ll tell our good friend Gallus. About my silly dream. If that’ll make you feel better.”

“It will. Thank you.”

“Now can we eat these doughnuts? Because at this point it’s them or you.”

Ocellus gasped and Smolder grinned.

Sandbar pulled his head back, gasping for air, as he lay his head on his pillow. He steeled himself and moved back in. One hoof held the griffon’s furry cheeks apart as the earth pony let his tongue play along the delicate pink skin. Sandbar did his best to keep himself focused on the task at hoof (or tongue, he supposed)—eating ass was not something he enjoyed, but Gallus liked it, especially before getting fucked. The anticipation of that imminent deed made Sandbar’s erection twitch, and it made the otherwise distasteful task worthwhile. The griffon was putting his own tongue to use, making the pony’s shaft nice and wet. Sandbar pushed his tongue into the griffon’s hole and felt the muscles clench down around him before relaxing and permitting him entry. Light, he couldn’t wait to get more than his tongue in there. He moaned, and he heard Gallus whimper in response. Sandbar gasped as he felt Gallus suck on the head of his shaft. The griffon’s own staff was pushed in between their bodies, and Sandbar could feel the stiff member twitch and jerk as the griffon moved his body. Sandbar’s cock surged in appreciation. The pony pushed forward, until his nose was up under the griffon’s tail and his tongue reached as far as it could go. He twirled his tongue in a circle, shifting the pressure inside the griffon from one side to another. The griffon swallowed the earth pony’s shaft down to its ring. Sandbar felt himself getting short of breath again and pulled out. The griffon dragged his tongue up the entire length as he, too, pulled off. Sandbar’s cock slapped into his belly with a wet sound.

“Gaw!” The griffon moaned. “I love the way you eat me out.”

Sandbar nodded as he scrunched his face up, trying to force the muscles to relax and unstretch. “That’s why I do it.”

The griffon turned his head to face the pony. “You want a turn, too?”

Sandbar shook his head.

“You ready then?”

Sandbar felt his cock leaking precum onto his stomach. “Better question,” he said, “you ready? Because I’m always ready to rut you.”

The griffon shrugged. “I could use some more licking.”

Sandbar sighed quietly and opened his mouth.

“I’m kidding!” the griffon said in a laughing tone.

Sandbar blushed and nodded. “You want to grab the lube?”

“Already on it,” the griffon purred, reaching one claw down and grabbing the bottle. He pulled the stopper free with his beak and poured the cold fluid directly onto Sandbar’s cock.

“AH!” the pony cried, squirming under the griffon’s weight. He took his front hooves and bodily shoved Gallus upward, launching the griffon off the bed and onto the ground, where he landed on his back feet. Sandbar wrenched himself upright and jumped down behind the griffon. He reared up onto his back legs and grabbed the griffon’s sides with his front hooves.

Gallus let out a shuddering breath. Sandbar felt his staff slap against his chest as he shifted and angled his body into the right position. The earth pony bit his lip as he felt the tip of his shaft push up against the fur of the griffon’s backside. His hips moved in small, jerky starts as he shifted, trying to gain entry. Finally, he felt the soft spot he was seeking. He moaned, feeling the blood rushing into his shaft.

The griffon echoed the sound. His tail flicked up from under Sandbar’s left front hoof and slapped the pony in the side. “You gonna just poke around? Or are you gonna rUUU-“ he cut off as Sandbar pushed in forcefully. Glorious, intense pressure squeezed the pony’s cock. Sandbar leaned forward and grabbed Gallus’ scruff in his teeth.

“CAW!” the griffon squawked. “Oh Fuck. Oh FUCK!” Rippling waves of tension rippled through the griffon’s insides, massaging the earth pony’s shaft. Sandbar began thrusting.

“Oh. Oh,” Gallus moaned in rhythm with the pony’s movements. “Oh fuck. I- AW! I was right before. Oh gaw! Merciless teasing leads to- AH shiny gold, fuck! – leads to my rear being pillaged. Ohhh,” he finished wordlessly as Sandbar pushed in, nearly to his full length.

Sandbar released his bite. “You little tease!” he said, pulling his cock out slowly before slamming it back home. He felt himself begin to flare, the relentless rubbing and squeezing bringing him right to the edge. He shifted one hoof to the griffon’s underside and stroked the griffon’s erection. Sandbar could feel a stream of precum leaking from the tip. The hoof drifted back up and lightly toyed with the flared flesh at the base of his cock. “Knotty griffon” he cooed.

Gallus was panting, his breaths coming fast. “Oh gaw. Oh gaw, Sandy. Don’t stop. Don’t stop now.”

Sandbar slowly eased his hips and slid back into the griffon slowly. So slowly. His flared head ached for release, but it was his turn to tease. He bottomed out, the griffon’s furry rump pressed into his groin. The pony felt his tail flick upward, his body desperately begging for orgasm. Gallus squirmed and pushed his hips backward. Sandbar every so slowly slid up and out, shivering as his medial ring popped into the cool air.

“Caw, OH! Shitshitshit, Sandbar!” The pony pushed back in, his balls climbing up against his body, his flare twitching and surely flooding the griffon’s insides with precum. He was so close. He just wanted to hear the griffon say it, first.

Gallus moaned. “Sandy, please. Please!”

The earth pony groaned in thanks and gave the griffon what he asked for. He shoved with his hips, causing their bodies to rock forward. If not for the griffon’s admirable strength, they might have fallen. Sandbar pulled back and thrust again. Hard. Again.

“Oh yeah!” The griffon shouted after the one especially hard push. “Fuck! I’m gonna- I’m gonna-!”

Sandbar bit his griffon’s scruff and moaned into the bright, musky-smelling fur. He was coming. He felt the pressure in his loins crest. He held himself back, pushing again and again into the griffon, the wet sounds of his sliding shaft punctuated by the slap of flesh meeting at the apex of each thrust. Gallus screeched and his hole tightened and spasmed, and Sandbar knew his griffon was cumming.

That thought, that knowledge that his touch could push his griffon over the edge, was fatal to the pony’s resolve. He whined, feeling the pressure crest and break and he felt his seed rush down and out his flared shaft. Sandbar filled Gallus, the pony's body nearly still, save an unconscious shifting of his hips, as the griffon heaved and gasped and shivered and clenched with his inner muscles around the pony’s turgid staff.

As the waves of his orgasm slowed and the griffon below him stilled his wild dance, Sandbar opened his mouth, letting go of the blue fur, and slid down off his boyfriend. He heard his shaft pop free with a wet sound, and he watched a thin stream of cum pour out of the griffon’s hole onto his balls. Sandbar glanced lower and appreciated the griffon’s thick knot, still swollen and throbbing in the afterglow of their encounter.

“Ohh, fuck, Sandy, that was so good.”

The green pony nodded, the glow of sex making him smile widely. He pulled Gallus around to face him, and they exchanged a long, slow kiss.

Sandbar had just finished cleaning up the floor and was just starting into his latest reread of Daring Do and the Eternal Flower when there was knock on the door. He sighed, gently closed the book, and stood up carefully to avoid disturbing Gallus, who was dozing beside him. He opened the door to find a grumpy-looking Smolder and a nervous-looking Ocellus.

“Guys?” he asked. “What’s up?”

Smolder huffed, a small plume of smoke emerging from her nostrils. “I need to talk to Gallus.”

“He’s napping. Can it wait?”

Smolder shrugged and turned to the changeling. “Welp, I tried. Good enough, let’s go.”

“Smolder,” the changeling said softly, her voice firm.

“UGH,” the dragon groaned. “Fine.” She turned back to Sandbar. “Would you wake him? Somecreature seems to think this is important.”

7 - Warnings

Gallus felt a hoof shaking him gently. “Nooo,” he whined. “Just wanna sleep.”

He heard Sandbar’s voice, then. “I know, I know. But Smolder says she needs your help.” The voice paused for a moment. “Well, Ocellus says Smolder needs your help.” Another pause. The pony’s voice slowly dragged the griffon unwillingly back to full consciousness. “And now we have a dragon standing by the door glaring at me while Ocellus gets us all tea. I’m not really sure why.”

Gallus rubbed sleep from his eyes. He groaned sadly. He had just managed to fall asleep after some excellent, enthusiastic sex, and he had been looking forward to resting. Now he was awake, his butt hurt (though in a good way, mostly), and he had a grumpy dragon in his room. He sighed. “Not sure why the glaring or why the tea? Because glaring seems like her default setting,” Gallus snarked.

A grin broke through Smolder’s features at that comment. “My reputation precedes me.”

The clipclop of hooves announced Ocellus’ return. “Oh, good, you’re awake. Here, I brought tea!” She levitated a pink teacup to each of the creatures and pulled the dorm room door shut.

Smolder stared at the frilly pink cup like it might bite her. She set it down gingerly on Sandbar’s desk.

Gallus took a long, slow sip of the hot beverage. As he swallowed, the liquid warmed his insides and that feeling sharpened his mind. He took a deep breath. “Okay, what was so important that it interrupted a nap?”

Smolder glared at him silently.

Ocellus’ wings fluttered nervously. “Smolder!” she whispered. “Tell him.”

The dragon shrugged. “You promise this doesn’t leave this room?”

The griffon set his teacup down carefully. He waved a claw over his chest and then his face. “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”

Ocellus nodded solemnly. The dragon raised an eyebrow. “Huh? Also, you fly all the time.”

Sandbar chuckled. “It’s a Pinkie Pie Promise,” he explained. “According to Professor Pinkie, only the most heinous of villains would ever break a Pinkie Promise.”

Smolder shrugged. “I must have missed that lesson. Anyway, I guess that’s good enough.” She seemed to steel herself. “I had a nightmare.”

Gallus waited expectantly. “Yeah?”

The dragon leaned forward aggressively. “Yeah what, griffon? You wanna fight?”

Gallus threw his claws up quickly. “No. Nope! Just trying to figure out what the big deal is.” Once he determined Smolder wasn’t actually going to attack him, he lowered his claws. “Did you run into shadow ponies or something?”

“What?” the dragon said. “No. I, uh…”

The changeling sidled up beside the dragon. “You can tell your friends,” she said quietly.

Smolder shuddered and shook her head. After a moment, she sucked in a deep breath. “I had a dream I was in my mother’s hoard. And then I ran into this dragon myth: A bogey monster that supposedly haunts dragons.” She shivered, causing her scales to ripple around her midsection. “He captured me and was torturing me just like legend says.”

Gallus sat quietly. Anything that could scare Smolder like that was something he wanted nothing to do with. The dragon looked up at him, expecting some sort of response. “Uh. Have you run into him again since then?”

Smolder shook her head fiercely. “Bless my hoard, no.”

Gallus was in over his head. He didn’t have training at this sort of thing. “Maybe we should tell Princess Luna?”

The dragon snorted, small jets of flame erupting from her nostrils. “No.”

The griffon sighed, realizing he would have to muddle through this himself. “Does this monster happen to have a creepy cape?”

“The Nowhere King?” Smolder asked, crossing her arms. “Hardly. I don’t think he could even fit into clothing.”

Gallus nodded. “I’m afraid I’m not going to be much help. I never should have said you guys should tell me about nightmares. My only experience with these sort of strange dreams was running into those ponies with their shape-melting cloaks.”

The dragon’s eyes bulged. “What did you say?”

Gallus shrugged. “I’ve had dreams about these strange ponies a lot.”

“No!” Smolder said, her tone even more intense than usual. “About the cloaks.”

Gallus shivered, remembering how uncomfortable they had made him. “They had these strange patterns and shapes, and they’d swirl around the fabric and crash into each other, and it made me sick to look at them.”

Smolder’s breath was coming in shallow gulps, little bits of smoke puffing from her nose. Ocellus had one hoof around the dragon’s midsection. “What color?”

Gallus grimaced. “What?”

“What color were the Tartarus-damned shapes?!”

Gallus shivered, remembering. “The brightest white and the darkest, deepest black. Why?”

Smolder slumped back against the wall and slid down slowly, her scales screeching against the wall.

“Why?” Gallus repeated, his heart racing with concern. Sandbar suddenly gathered him into a tight hug.

Smolder had tears in her eyes. The sight made Gallus shiver. “The Nowhere King,” the dragon whimpered, “he’s real. That means he’s real.”

Ocellus started sobbing.

It took a gargantuan effort to get the overly-empathic changeling to calm down, but they finally managed with some tea and some reassuring dragon hugs. Gallus realized he was in well over his head, and despite his promise to the contrary, he felt he might have to break his word and tell the Princess of Dreams about this apparently terrifying threat. The griffon thought it would take moving mountains to get Smolder to agree to tell Princess Luna about the Nowhere King. Sandbar squeezed the griffon with one hoof, silently offering reassurance.

“Yes,” Smolder replied instantly when Gallus brought the idea up. “You should tell her.”

Gallus blinked in surprise, the additional prepared argument dead on his tongue. “Really?” he managed.

Ocellus lay across the dragon’s lap, her head on one leg. The dragon slowly stroked a claw down the exterior of the changeling’s elytra. “Look, I’m sorry I was upset before. I thought it was just some stupid dream.” She shuddered. “You sure you never heard about the shifting shapes before? Not in some book or one of those pony horror films?”

Gallus shook his head.

Smolder seemed calm, but Ocellus squirmed below her, obviously reacting to the dragon’s emotions. “Then we need the strongest allies we can find.”

The griffon shuddered. “Is it that bad?”

Smolder closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I don’t know. I know what I saw, what I experienced. And I know the stories from the Dragon Lands. But that’s all they’ve ever been—just stories.”

The pony known as Midnight sat in a tree waiting. He could be patient when needed. He conjured a wingknife from the ether and pulled at a large branch on the tree. The tree resisted, its form shimmering, but eventually the branch broke free. The air around the pony shivered and shook and suddenly the tree was whole again. Midnight never even looked, familiar by now with the strange properties of this place. He applied the knife, peeling the papery bark from the broken branch.

The pegasus pony worked methodically, shaping and leveling the wood in his hooves.

Movement caught his eye. He dismissed the knife, letting it dissolve into nothingness. The pony felt a small smile creep onto his face. It was important to enjoy your chosen profession, he always felt. He trapped the sharpened branch between left forehoof and chest and took flight, his deep blue wings jutting from underneath his cloak. The pegasus drifted down towards the shimmering surface of a dream.

Fire crawled across Midnight’s skin as he broached the surface. His feathers felt likely to burst into flames. The pain was monumental and overwhelming. And entirely too brief for his liking.

The dark blue pony landed in the dream. A tottering, old griffon stood staring at a house, oblivious to the intruder in his dream. Midnight sighed in disappointment. Children were much easier to break. This old fool might take some effort. Still, he considered, he could be patient.

Gallus fiddled with the quill in his claw, rereading the hastily scribbled letter requesting Princess Luna’s help. Sandbar, who had been reading over the griffon’s shoulder nodded and pulled the griffon to his feet. The two walked toward the headmare’s office. Despite it being a weekend, Headmare Twilight and Spike were likely to be in her office even into the early evening. The Princess took her work very seriously. When they arrived at the door, Gallus raised a claw and rapped on the door. After a few moments, they heard the patter of small feet and the door cracked open.

A small purple and green dragon stared out of the opening. “Oh, hey guys! If you’re looking for Twilight you just missed her—she’s out for dinner with her friends.”

Sandbar scratched his mane with a hoof. “But they didn’t invite you?”

The dragon laughed. “What? Of course they did. But I’m meeting Ember and Thorax for food in an hour anyway, so I thought I’d finish up with some admin work.”

“Admin work?” the pony asked.

Spike gave him a level look. “You don’t think those multiple-choice tests grade themselves?”

Sandbar’s face lit up. “Ooh! Can you tell me how I did on ‘Troubles with Time Travel?’”

The griffon cleared his throat.

The earth pony blushed. “Right, sorry,” he said.

“We need to get a message to Princess Luna,” Gallus said, offering up the scroll.

“To Luna?” Spike asked. He shrugged. “That’s not a request I get very often. I can do that, though.” He held out his claw. “Here, gimme.”

The griffon handed over the letter and the dragon vaporized it in his fire. “There you go; one letter to Princess Luna sent.” He fussed at a small smudge of ink on his scales. “It’s pretty early still, for her, so I hope you’re not expecting a- *urp*”

Spike convulsed and spat out a scroll bearing Luna’s crescent moon cutie mark. He caught the letter in a claw and stared at it in surprise. “I stand corrected,” he said, offering the scroll to the griffon.

Gallus unrolled the scroll and read.

Gallus Dream Strider,

Meet me in the Umbral Realm tonight. I will be waiting in the Throne Room.

Sincerely,

Luna

Despite his interrupted nap earlier in the day, Gallus had a hard time falling asleep. What if he dreamt about those ponies again? Or worse, what if he ran into Smolder’s Nowhere King? He nibbled on one talon nervously.

The griffon felt a warm leg wrap around him. The earth pony’s mouth pressed into the back of the griffon’s head and planted a large kiss. Gallus felt himself blush at the attention. “You need to sleep, right?” the pony asked in a whisper.

Gallus grunted in agreement.

The pony started humming a soft, wordless tune. Gallus closed his eyes and focused on the pony’s soft song and the warmth of his embrace. Slowly, he felt himself drifting. Drifting…

Gallus drifted lazily in the air above the School of Friendship. The partly-cloudy sky was cool, and the air was brisk. It ruffled his feathers pleasantly. The tower’s bell began to toll, but instead of its usual clanging, it emitted a soft song. He knew that tune. He had just heard it, in fact.

Ah. Sandbar’s little lullaby. He sighed, reluctant to leave the pleasant dream. He closed his eyes and concentrated on his memories of Canterlot Castle.

The now-familiar sensation of cold washed over him. He opened his eyes to find a large, dark alicorn smiling at him from a short distance away. Gallus jumped in surprise, but collected himself and turned the motion into a jerky bow. “Princess,” he said, keeping his voice calm. “Sorry it took so long to get here.”

“On the contrary,” Luna said, learning forward on her own long legs. “Many apprentices would have taken half the night to make their way here. You show great promise and skill, Dream Strider.”

Gallus felt himself blush at the compliment and the title. “Wow. Uh, thanks.”

“You have news to share?”

Gallus nodded. He told the pony princess about Smolder’s nightmare and the dragon legend. The princess listened with rapt attention. “Smolder says dragons have told stories about the Nowhere King for centuries. That he can appear in any dream and brings violent torment to any creature he finds. Smolder said his whole body is made up of the same strange, swirling symbols I’ve seen on those capes from my dreams.” Gallus shivered.

“A dark omen, indeed,” Luna agreed.

Gallus paused, considering. “How can this happen? How have you never heard of this before?”

Luna eyed him critically. “I am a Princess of Equestria. I protect my citizens and those who dwell within the border of the nation. I do not expect my unannounced presence would be welcomed in the Dragon Lands, even in dreams.” She sighed. “If this self-styled King is as dangerous as your friend indicates, however, I may have to inquire about making certain polite incursions.” The alicorn sighed. “I do so hate politics.”

Gallus nodded in agreement, thinking back to when he and his friends nearly started an international conflict when they ran away from school.

“Have you more to report?”

Gallus shook his head. “I do have a question, though. How do I find a specific dream?” He smiled, thinking of his promise to try and find Sandbar’s dream.

Luna smiled wickedly. “You wish to visit your pony friend for a romp?”

Gallus blushed and his eyes went wide.

Luna barked a laugh. “The first wish of nearly every Dream Strider.” Her smile shrunk slowly, and her voice turned wistful. “I had nearly forgotten after all these years.” She spread her wings wide, stretching the muscles taut, then let them down gently.

“Part of the most difficult magic of the Umbral Realm is finding dreams,” Princess Luna explained. “It is no easy task, given that the Realm is as large as the world which we inhabit. Larger, truly,” she admitted, “as if a pony were to dream herself on the moon, her dream would manifest on the lunar surface in this Realm.” She smiled, “And of course, creatures may dream themselves to places that do not exist at all in the waking world: a nightmare field of smiling, singing flowers, perhaps.”

“Wait, what?” the griffon inquired. “That hardly sounds like a nightmare.”

The dark alicorn nodded in agreement. “And yet the mare in question considered it torturous. You may learn more about someone than you ever expect when you visit their dreams. As to the question of finding a particular dreamer, I have found that the better you know a pony, the easier the task becomes. Focus on your memories of them, and you should be transported to where their dream exists.”

Gallus grunted. “Easy as that?”

“Just so,” the alicorn replied. Princess Luna graced the griffon with a sly smile. “May you find sweet dreams, Dream Strider.”

Gallus laughed nervously through a rising blush.

Gallus floated in the air outside Canterlot Castle. “Sandbar,” he said aloud. Memories of his boyfriend flooded his mind. The pony laughing as they skipped classes at the lake. The way the pony had blushed every time he looked at Gallus when they had first started sleeping together. Gallus moved a claw to his neck, cradling the jade turtle that hung there. The night they had exchanged tokens of their affection.

The environment shifted and twisted, the movement pulling Gallus sideways, tugging at his mind. Then it suddenly stopped.

Gallus recognized the space immediately—the hall outside their dorms. A dream shimmered brightly in the hall. Gallus caught sight of a green pony within and smiled. Sandbar was wearing a dark blue bowtie and was humming to himself. The griffon always thought his boyfriend looked good in clothing. He stepped toward the dream bubble.

Gallus watched as the pony knocked on a door. A yak opened the door and smiled broadly at the pony. “Sandbar!” Yona said in the dream. “Pony look so handsome for dance!”

The griffon stopped dead in his tracks. “What?” he muttered.

“You look gorgeous, Yona!” Sandbar nuzzled the side of the yak’s face. Gallus felt his heart pounding.

The bubble winked in the half-light of the Umbral Realm and was gone in an instant. Gallus stood, shaken. “What the fuck was that?” he yelled aloud.

He closed his eyes and concentrated. Sandbar: His round and shapely flank, his caring eyes, the way his fur felt in the griffon’s claws. The world shifted and twisted again, and Gallus found himself in the school gym. He stared intently into the bubble in front of him. Inside, the gym had been decorated in streamers and bright fabrics. Sandbar was dancing with Yona, their flanks bouncing together as they pranced around the floor. As the song ended, the yak leaned down and kissed the earth pony on the cheek, causing Sandbar to blush. Gallus felt bile rise in his throat. And tears in his eyes. He scrubbed a claw across his eyes angrily. His talons clenched painfully into the palms of his claws.

Sandbar woke suddenly, his mind still groggy from sleep. “Wha?” he murmured. It was still dark outside. He reached a hoof ahead and felt an absence in the bed beside him where Gallus would usually be. Maybe the griffon had gotten up to use the restroom? He rolled over and wondered idly what kind of dream he had been having that had left him half-hard.

Author's Note

I should point out that when I first outlined this chapter a few months back, it was Silverstream in Sandbar's dream. But... well, you know.

8 - Vanished

Sandbar woke to an empty bed. He touched Gallus’ side of the bed with a hoof to find it cold. “Gallus?” he said, looking around the room. There was no blue griffon in sight in the small room. The earth pony frowned. It was unusual that Gallus woke before him, especially early enough that his part of the bed would be cold. Maybe he had gone to an early breakfast? Sandbar tossed the covers off and stood, stretching his limbs. He tried to put any worry aside—Gallus often told him he worried too much, anyway. Still, the pony found himself rushing through his morning shower.

Gallus wasn’t at breakfast, wasn’t back in their room when Sandbar went to retrieve his saddlebag, and wasn’t in class by the time Professor Pinkie Pie began her presentation on pre- and post-party pyrotechnics.

In between sets of explosions, Sandbar was able to ask Silverstream if she had seen Gallus. She hadn’t. Neither had Ocellus or Smolder or Sweet Maple.

The earth pony left Pinkie’s class with ringing ears and an ever-deepening worry for his boyfriend’s whereabouts. He rounded a building corner on the quad and bumped into something large and hairy. “Oof!” he said as he fell to his flank. “Sorry, Yona, didn’t hear you coming!”

The yak offered a hoof and pulled the pony up effortlessly. “WHY PONY YELLING?” she bellowed.

Sandbar flinched. “Sorry!” he said. Yelled. His ears were still a mess. “Sorry,” he repeated at a more acceptable volume, “I’m coming from Professor Pinkie’s class.”

“Ah!” the yak said, nodding solemnly. “Make perfect sense.” She gestured with her head and began walking down the path. Sandbar stepped along beside her as they headed to Professor Applejack’s barn.

“Hey,” the pony asked, “have you seen Gallus this morning?”

The yak gave him a skeptical look. “This pony game or joke?”

Sandbar shook his head. “No, I’m serious. I haven’t seen him this morning.” He sighed. “He wasn’t in bed this morning when I woke, and I’m starting to get worried.”

Yona stopped walking and laid a friendly, heavy hoof on her friend, who sagged slightly under the weight. “Maybe griffon have important errand to run and forget to tell you?”

Sandbar shrugged, or tried to, under the burden of the heavy hoof on his shoulder. “Maybe.”

The hoof moved and tapped the pony lightly on the side. “Yona sure everything okay. Gallus is good creature and able to take care of self.”

The earth pony nodded. “Yeah, I guess that makes sense.” He smiled up at the yak and tapped her shoulder with one hoof. “Thanks, Yona. You’re a good friend.”

She eyed him smugly. “Yona know.”

Lunchtime rolled around, and Sandbar’s worry spoiled his appetite. He walked past the cafeteria and headed for the Headmare’s office. As he neared the door, he heard a griffon screech of protest from inside. The pony’s fur stood on end. He kicked open the door and barged ahead, ready to rescue Gallus from whatever dark force had invaded the Headmare’s office. Two very angry creatures turned to face him: an apoplectic Grandpa Gruff and an equally furious and exasperated Twilight Sparkle.

“Sandbar!” the Princess snapped. “What in blazes are you doing?”

“What is the meaning of this interruption?” the old griffon shrieked. “Base lawlessness! No respect for a griffon’s rights! This is exactly what I’m here about!” he yelled.

“Grandpa Gruff, please,” Twilight coaxed. “I’ll address your concerns in a moment. Sandbar!” the alicorn said, addressing the earth pony with a fierce look. “The hall! Now!”

Sandbar’s face burned with embarrassment and he turned to leave.

The old griffon gave a start and suddenly flapped his wings. He flew over in front of the earth pony, staring at his chest with his one good eye. “What is that?” he demanded. He reached a knobby claw toward the pony’s necklace. Sandbar snatched the feather back away from his grasp. The griffon landed, blocking Sandbar’s exit. His face turned a violent shade of purple. He turned his glare on Twilight Sparkle. “What is the meaning of this?” he shrieked. “Why is this pony wearing a griffon feather around his neck like a trophy?!”

“It’s mine,” Sandbar said defiantly, proudly. He clutched the feather against his chest. “It’s a symbol of Gallus’ love for me.”

Grandpa Gruff spluttered. “Disgusting!” he finally spat.

“That’s quite enough!” Twilight said, floating over beside Sandbar.

“I’ll say!” the griffon screamed. “First I’m attacked by a pony in my dreams then you lot reveal this vile, outrageous scandal. I’ve had quite enough of your pony ‘friendship’ for a lifetime! Now where is my student? I’ve come to retrieve him.”

“He’s not your ward,” Sandbar said defensively. “You’re not taking him anywhere!”

“Sandbar, please” hissed Headmare Twilight, “let me handle this.”

Grandpa Gruff sneered. “Bless my bits that that degenerate isn’t my offspring. But you’re wrong if you think I can’t pull him from this school, little pony. He still needs the blessing of Griffonstone to attend, and I’ve come to rescind that privilege.”

“Grandpa Gruff, please,” Twilight said pleadingly, “let’s just talk this over for a moment.”

“Talk what over?” a new voice interrupted. Sandbar’s heart leapt in recognition. The blue griffon floated into the open doorway behind the older griffon. “I thought I saw you fly in, Gramps.”

“Gallus!” Sandbar cried out. The griffon gave him a withering look. Sandbar flinched, feeling like he had been struck in the muzzle.

“You, boy,” the older griffon said, whirling around to face Gallus, “are going home!”

Gallus shook his head. “Nah. We’ve done this dance before. It looks good to have a griffon here, and besides, me and my friends are heroes now. Griffonstone would lose too much face if you pulled me out.”

Grandpa Griff growled. “Enough chatter.” He reached out one claw, trying to grab Gallus’ shoulder. Gallus twisted free.

“Leave him alone!” Sandbar shouted. He made to charge the older griffon, but his limbs felt like they were caught in apple molasses. A pink glow surrounded him.

“Please please please don’t start an international incident,” Headmare Twilight begged, the magic from her lit horn holding Sandbar stationary.

Gallus took wing, zipping out of the room. The older griffon took flight, chasing after him.

Princess Twilight groaned. She flapped her wings and sped after the griffons. As she left the room, the magic holding Sandbar vanished. He galloped ahead.

He raced out in time to see Gallus slip through a high window in the atrium. The older griffon followed him, and Twilight vanished in a burst of pink magic. The earth pony raced ahead, looking for the nearest exterior door. The few students on free time in the halls gaped in amazement.

Sandbar found a door and slammed through, smashing the wood against his shoulder. “Gallus!” he cried, scanning the skies for his boyfriend. He spotted the two griffons zipping over the roof of the dorms. The pony galloped in that direction.

Sandbar noticed Twilight Sparkle flying in quick approach. The Headmare called out to the griffons disturbing the school’s airspace. “Please! Let’s all just go inside and talk like civilized creatures!” Gallus landed for a moment and Grandpa Gruff flew past, his claws outstretched. The elder griffon’s talons snagged Gallus’ necklace, pulling the attached griffon from his perch.

“Let go of me!” Gallus shouted. The blue griffon crossed his wings in front of his body, shielding himself.

Then Gallus was gone, vanished completely in a heartbeat, with Grandpa Gruff left grasping at empty air. A small jade turtle tumbled toward the ground.

“GALLUS!” Sandbar screamed in a panic.

Gallus landed hard on one wing. He rubbed the injured wing gingerly with one claw. Sprained, not broken, he decided. That was good news. About the best he’d had all day. He looked around, surprised that the old coot hadn’t landed on him yet. Grandpa Gruff was nowhere to be seen. Nor was anyone else.

Gallus swallowed nervously. He was having a really terrible day.

“What did you do?” Grandpa Gruff screamed. “I’ll have your hide you s-“ the griffon cut off mid-word, his entire being frozen in pink magic.

“Enough!” Twilight Sparkle shouted, trying her hardest to put the weight of her crown in her voice. “I will deal with you later.” She seethed, fear and anger and frustration making her blood boil. “I will NOT take any additional imposition of my time lightly. Do I make myself clear?” The gnarled old griffon inclined his head as much as her spell allowed, his eyes wide. She teleported him to the fourth-nicest guest room in her castle.

Sandbar picked something up off the grass. “Gallus? GALLUS!” he yelled frantically.

Twilight bit her lip.

The earth pony rounded on her. “Headmare Twilight, please, please! What happened to him? Where is he? Is he okay?”

The alicorn took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. “I hope so. Did you see what happened?”

The pony nodded. Tears were falling from his eyes and streaking his cheeks. “He was falling and he twisted his wings and then he was…” he heaved a small, hiccupping sob, “he was gone!”

Twilight nodded. That description matched her own recollection of events. She lit her horn and applied a comprehensive scanning spell to the air where Gallus had been moments before. No trace ether lines suggesting teleportation or invisibility. No shifted particles that would mean a shrinking spell. No scattered neutrinos that might suggest disintegration, thank Celestia.

“What is it?” the earth pony asked anxiously. “What happened?”

Twilight shifted her wings in unease. “Nothing,” she admitted. “Nothing happened as far as I can tell.”

Her student fell to his knees in the grass.

This was bad. This was very, very bad.

Gallus drew a slow, shaky breath, afraid even to think. He was in the Umbral Realm, somehow. And not while he was asleep. Luna had said it was exceptionally dangerous to be here in physical form.

He just needed to stay still and try to discover how to get out.

What a shitty day. First he discovered his boyfriend dreaming romantically about someone else.

A bubble shimmered into being in front of him. In it, a blue griffon stood staring into a secondary bubble that contained a dancing pony and yak.

Gallus couldn’t decide if it was worse that Sandbar had been dreaming about a girl or about a yak. Then decided it was worse that he had dreamed that way about a friend. Gallus had spent the rest of the night on the school roof, only to be woken at dawn by one of Fluttershy’s stupid roosters screaming over in her animal sanctuary.

The vision in the bubble shifted, and Gallus watched himself startle awake beneath the bell in the tower, the early morning sun just peeking over the horizon.

Then he had seen Sandbar and Yona touching each other fondly in the quad, while he was perched on the roof.

In the dream bubble, the pony and yak walked hoof-in-hoof towards class. Rain began to pour upon them, making their fur hang wetly at their sides. They found a dry space under an awning, and laughing, their faces drew closer and closer, until-

Gallus waved a claw angrily, and the bubble winked out of existence. That had been an exaggeration of events, maybe, but it felt like a truth at that moment.

Then he’d had to flee from senile Grandpa Gruff.

Now he was here. Where a simple misstep into the wrong dream might kill him, like it probably had that ancient Dream Strider Luna told him about.

He swallowed nervously.

Just stay still, he thought.

“Maybe it has something to do with his dream talent?” Sandbar suggested.

Headmare Twilight tilted her head to the side. “His what now?”

“He’s a Dream Strider. He met with Princess Luna and she apparently told him all about it.”

“Wait, what?” She pressed a hoof to the bridge of her nose and squeezed her eyes shut. “Okay, new rule, students must keep the Headmare apprised of all contacts with other princesses.” She sighed. “Be still,” she commanded.

A flash of pink light surrounded Sandbar. He screamed as the pink light vanished and he and Twilight were suddenly in the cafeteria. Students near them gasped.

“Spike! Come along! I need to get a letter to Luna stat.”

The dragon looked up from his small bowel of gems. “Luna again? Wow, she’s getting popular.”

The pink light flashed again and Sandbar found himself in the Headmare’s office. He was proud that he managed not to scream again.

“Wait,” Twilight said. “What do you mean ‘Luna again?’”

Spike shrugged. “Gallus had me send her a letter last night.”

“SERIOUSLY. NEW RULE!” Twilight yelled.

Being still was never one of the griffon’s strengths. His tail twitched and his talons itched. His whole body itched, for that matter. He scratched at his chest and gasped when he realized his necklace was missing. A quick glance revealed that it wasn’t on the ground near him. He cursed. “That old geezer must have ripped it off.”

He placed a claw where the turtle usually hung. A few breaths later, the necklace was back around his neck.

Did it even belong there, though? His boyfriend was out there dreaming about dancing with a yak. Of kissing her. Maybe more than kissing. The griffon made a ‘tsk’ sound in aggravation and the jade turtle dissolved back into nothing. He hated that it hurt so badly to take even a fake version of the necklace off.

Maybe Gruff was right. Maybe he should go home after all.

Light and sound warped around the griffon.

9 - Found: One Griffon

Sandbar was going to need a hooficure. It was a strange thing to think at a time when every ounce of his being was otherwise devoted to worrying about Gallus. He had been chewing his hooftips and now they looked mangled. Did hooficures hurt? He wondered deliriously what color he would get them painted.

A burst of cyan and white magic filled the Headmare’s office.

“Twilight Sparkle? I came as quickly as I could.”

“Princess Luna!” the smaller alicorn leapt forward and bowed.

Luna smiled and lifted Twilight with a hoof. “No bowing from a friend, please.”

Twilight blushed and cleared her throat. “We need your help. One of my students vanished in thin air. Literally. Sandbar seems to think Dream Magic may be at fault.”

Luna blinked slowly. “I do not see how unless…” Her gaze flicked to Sandbar and her eyes widened. “It was the griffon? Gallus of Griffonstone?”

Sandbar threw himself to the ground. “Yes! Yes, Princess, it was Gallus! Please! Please tell us you can help find him.”

Luna nodded slowly. “Take me to where it happened.”

Princess Luna studied the air beside the dormitory hall. Her horn lit and she prepared a spell.

Headmare Twilight cleared her throat. “I’ve already scanned it. No unusual magical traces whatsoever.”

Luna regarded her coolly. “None that you have been trained to detect, certainly.”

Twilight’s eyes went large.

Luna’s magic passed through the space. She clicked her tongue in annoyance.

“What is it?” Sandbar asked. “Is it bad?”

“It’s nothing,” Luna said, a hint of irritation in her tone. “No weaknesses in the liminal walls between the Realms; no evidence of temporal anomaly.”

“I would have detected time magic, at least,” Twilight said with mixed pride and irritation.

“Indeed,” Luna said with a small smile. “You have had more than your share of time travel misadventures.”

“But Gallus?” Sandbar pleaded.

“If he vanished here, as you say, then no unicorn magic was the cause.”

“Then how?” the earth pony begged.

“I believe he may have entered the Umbral Realm without unicorn magic. A feat accomplished by only a few in the last 1,200 years.”

Sandbar felt fear choking him. “So what, he’s lost in a dream somewhere? You’ve got to help him!”

Princess Luna nodded calmly. “We shall.”

Headmare Twilight balked. “We?”

The older alicorn nodded. “I require use of your student and a strong draft of valerian root tea.”

“Me?” Sandbar asked nervously.

Twilight nodded at Luna. “Of course. But what about me?”

Luna lay a hoof on her cheek kindly. “You, dearest Twilight, should attend to your school.” Her hoof gestured to the growing group of ponies and other creatures that had gathered to gawk.

Headmare Twilight blushed and then cleared her throat. “Alright, everyone! Back to class! Move along!”

Luna shifted her attention to Sandbar. The earth pony nodded at her nervously.

Sandbar drank the rich, earthy tea with a grimace.

“Once you are asleep,” Princess Luna said to him, “I will enter your dream and bring you the Umbral Realm.”

“Why do you need me?”

“Because you are close to our missing griffon. Perhaps the pony who knows him best. And that may well prove useful.”

Sandbar set down the teacup. He could already feel the draught working on his body, and he yawned.

“Sleep well, little pony. Your griffon friend may be counting on it.”

Sandbar shuddered in apprehension.

Gallus appeared in Griffonstone. It felt different than normal, and it took a moment for the griffon to realize that the usual, whipping winds weren’t chilling him. No wind in the Umbral Realm, it seemed. No gloriously direct rays of sunlight either, though. That would have been nice.

He walked through the jewel of the Griffon Kingdom, such as it was. He’d heard Grandpa Gruff tell of a time when the city had been a wondering sight to behold, but all he’d ever known was roughly-patched houses and makeshift gardens, both guarded with equal zeal by their owners.

Gallus tripped over a gnarled root that snaked into the road. He landed roughly, bruising a leg. Stupid, he chided himself. He needed to find his way back to the real world instead of wandering around in the Umbral Realm.

“The dreaming griffon!” The unexpected voice caused Gallus to freeze. A pegasus with a dark blue coat floated down from a nearby building. A color-shifting cloak fluttered in the air behind him. “And that senile old shit claimed you didn’t live here anymore. My, my, you’ve saved me a good deal of looking by coming to me here.”

Gallus’ heart raced. “Who are you?”

The pegasus landed smoothly and bowed low on one hoof. “I am known as Midnight.” His voice was rich and melodious. He stared up at the griffon with cold gray eyes. “My King has use for one with your skill. You will come with me.”

Gallus shook his head and backed away.

The pegasus grinned, showing teeth and no hint of amusement in his eyes. “That was not a request.”

A steel cage shimmered into place around Gallus. He struck the metal with a claw and the metal clanged loudly. “No!” he shouted, imagining himself free. The cage shattered and disintegrated. The pegasus leapt forward, a spear in one hoof. Gallus dodged to one side.

“Where are we?” Sandbar asked, taking stock of the strange, half-lit world in which he found himself.

“The answer is two-fold,” the Princess replied. “We are in the Umbral Realm, but it would also be true to say we are on the grounds of your School of Friendship.”

“But there’s nothing here?” Sandbar said, looking around the field of grass. The proximity and angle of Princess Twilight’s castle was right, but there were no buildings. But then, when he looked again, there were. It was as if they were only there when seem from a certain angle.

“The school is yet too new to reflect here fully, it seems. But I promise, this is the location where our Dream Strider entered the Realm.”

“But he’s not here,” Sandar said, his pulse racing.

Luna clicked her tongue. “No. I had hoped he would have the good sense to stay put.” She drew a long, slow breath. “Instead, we shall hunt.” She lit her horn and spun a complex strand of white magic. The tangled web hovered in the air and then slowly settled down on top of Sandbar’s form.

The earth pony flinched but felt nothing as the strands settled over his body. “What is it?”

“It is the reason you are here,” she said, unhelpfully. “It will only work between creatures that share a strong emotional bond. Hold an image of the griffon in your mind’s eye and say his name.”

Blue feathers, creamy belly fur, yellow beak. Sleek and slender and smug and sarcastic and sweet and smarter than he ever gave himself credit for. “Gallus.”

Nothing happened, and Sandbar frowned.

Gallus caused an enormous brick wall to spring up between him and the murderous pegasus. He needed to get away. It was usually so easy here, shifting and jumping without even meaning to half the time. Why was it so hard now?

A flash of light in the distance distracted him. A whisper of a voice emanated from that light. “Gallus.”

The griffon flinched at the sad and desperate tone of the whisper.

“Sandbar?”

An intense flare of heat in his side caused Sandbar to jump. It was as if he’d been branded by a hot skewer in his ribs. A small part of Luna’s web that hovered over that spot glowed red.

“Ow. OW! What was that?” The pain was gone as quickly as it had come. He rubbed his side, thankful and amazed that there was no lingering pain. His hide seemed to be intact.

Luna touched him with a hoof and the world shifted. The scenery twisted and churned, and Sandbar’s stomach echoed the movement. A nauseating second later, it stopped. They had moved, somehow. Sandbar plopped down on his flank, his head spinning. “I’m gonna be sick,” he whined. “This is even worse than teleportation.”

“Again,” Luna commanded.

The earth pony whimpered and closed his eyes.

Gallus ducked as the pegasus burst through the wall. The griffon watched the pony hurl the wooden spear in his direction. Gallus conjured a large, steel shield, which deflected the projectile. Midnight launched himself forward, kicking at the shield. Gallus let the shield go careering off, the pony’s momentum carrying him past his target. The griffon reached up one claw, raking the underside of the pony’s barrel. Gallus felt the meaty tug of flesh against his talons.

The pegasus screamed as he landed, but then laughed.

A new flash of light lit the horizon.

“Gallus!” There was Sandbar’s voice again.

The pegasus pony leapt again.

“Sandbar! I’m coming!” Gallus focused on the light, on trying to find the source of the pony’s voice.

“OW! Aw, why does it hurt so badly?!” Sandbar whimpered. This time the heat had moved forward towards his shoulder.

“It is a tracking spell,” Luna said calmly. “It is not really designed to work in the Umbral Realm, so it has some unpleasant side effects. Nothing permanent, I assure you. Now, this way,” she pointed with a hoof.

They shifted again, and Sandbar sat down heavily on his flank, fighting a fresh wave of nausea.

“Strength, young one,” Princess Luna said, her voice warm but commanding.

Sandbar took a deep breath and nodded. “Again?” he asked. Luna nodded, and the earth pony closed his eyes, bracing for the flash of heat and pain. “Gallus!” he yelled.

Gallus felt the air rush from his lungs. His body lurched as the pony bucked him in the stomach. As he hit the ground, the pain rushed through him. The griffon gasped for air.

The pegasus laughed. “Sweet Darkness, I’ve enjoyed this,” he taunted. He retrieved his spear from the ground and trotted forward, the weapon held at a menacing angle. “Now, again, I must insist you come with me.”

“Gallus!”

“Sandbar!” The griffon lunged desperately with his body and mind, angling himself toward the light and towards Sandbar’s worried voice.

Luna nodded as she inspected the fierce red glow on the web surrounding Sandbar.

“Holy,” Sandbar swore haltingly, in between pained breaths. “Holy. Fucking. Moonlight. That one fucking hurt.”

“We are getting close,” the Princess said.

As she lay her hoof on Sandbar, the air around them shimmered. The ground in front of Sandbar bent and swooped downward. The effect stretched nearly to the hills in the horizon, where that land lurched and the hills suddenly rushed forward. The two pieces of land connected, the hills suddenly right in front of the ponies, and a blue griffon leapt forward off the hill onto the ground in front of two astonished ponies. The land snapped back in a split second, the ground between stretching back into place.

“Gallus!” Sandbar cried. He leapt towards his boyfriend. Before he could close the gap between them, however, a blue sphere of magic surrounded the griffon.

“Hold,” Luna commanded. “We must be sure this is no trick.”

Gallus held a claw against his side and seemed to be breathing shallowly. His eyes regarded Sandbar sadly before turning his attention to the Princess. “We’ve got to get out of here. One of those crazy ponies attacked me.”

Princess Luna frowned.

“Come on! We don’t have time for this!” He stretched his wings wide, until his feathers stretched against the magic of the sphere around him. The magical energy bent and flickered, and after a moment popped out of existence altogether.

Luna gasped. “Impossible!” she said. She regarded Gallus with wide eyes.

Sandbar threw himself against the griffon, his front hooves squeezing him into a tight hug.

Gallus felt the warmth of the pony’s embrace and took a quick moment to enjoy the touch. He addressed Princess Luna without releasing Sandbar. “I’m me, not some trick. Now will you please help me get out of here before that crazy pony shows up?”

The alicorn pursed her lips but nodded. She lit her horn and a bright line of magic tore through the air. It split and widened until it was a griffon-sized portal. Sunlight streamed through from the other side.

Gallus pulled himself away from Sandbar and jumped through the portal.

As he emerged from the other side of the hole he was bathed in sunlight, bright and glorious and warm. He looked around in concern. He had no idea where he was, beyond being back in the physical world. He realized he was close enough to hear the sea. And those mountains to the east…

He groaned. He was in the foothills west of Griffonstone. A good half-day’s flight from the nearest train station, probably. Not that that mattered anyway, since he didn’t have any bits on him. He sighed heavily and took to the sky.

10 - Together Again

Sandbar settled into bed, uncomfortably aware of Gallus’ absence. After a few moments the pony shifted his body over to other side of the bed and breathed in deeply, pulling the scent of griffon into his nose, making it part of himself.

Princess Luna had said Gallus would be fine. That she was going to reach out to him tonight just to make sure. Sandbar knew he should relax, but he kept thinking about the way Gallus had glared at him—first in the headmare’s office and then when he was inside Luna’s magic. It hurt. He didn’t know why Gallus was so upset, and that made it worse. He found himself wondering what he could have possibly done to deserve such looks.

Gallus felt himself drifting off, the gentle rolling motion of the sky chariot lulling him to sleep. Princess Luna had sent two of her guard to find him, and now the bat ponies were ferrying him back to Ponyville like some valued prince. He smiled at that thought, wishing for a moment he would have asked them to detour to Griffonstone, so he could show everygriff how far he had risen in life. He yawned and he shook his head, fighting sleep. He had been flying the better part of the day, heading back towards Equestria. He couldn’t risk falling asleep again, though. What if he wound up back in the Umbral Realm with that Midnight pony? He shivered. It was cold this high up, this late at night. He just had to stay awake. Easy enough, he figured. He curled his body more tightly into the front of the chariot, away from the blowing wind. Once he was settled, he was comfortable enough.

He was not going to sleep, though.

He might, he considered, just close his eyes for a few minutes. Just to relax.

Gallus swore loudly as he opened his eyes to find himself in the Umbral Realm.

At least he was in his dorm room instead of in Griffonstone. The world began to shift and Gallus stomped a foot into the ground.

“No!” he said to the world. “I’m staying here, thank you!” The shifting stopped and Gallus nodded.

On second thought, the griffon considered, he was definitely not staying there. He needed to wake up.

The air in front of Gallus shivered, causing the griffon to jump. A dream bubble, he realized. It was dark and stormy within.

A dream bubble. In his dorm room. “Sandbar,” he whispered. Saying the pony’s name filled him with love and sadness and hurt. But also hope.

He peered inside, reluctantly.

“Sandbar!” Gallus yelled. “Help!”

Sandbar’s heart raced. His boyfriend needed help. He was in his dorm room. The voice had come from the hallway. The earth pony leapt off the bed ran into the hall. He heard the griffon’s voice again. “Help!” Around him, the halls seemed to stretch on to infinity in either direction. The griffon’s voice had come from the south. Sandbar galloped ahead. Behind him, the earth pony heard a low, deep laugh. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end. “Gallus!” he yelled, ignoring whatever lay behind him, “I’m coming!”

He ran, galloping as fast as his legs would carry him, but he got no closer to the end of the hall. Behind him, a monstrous screech tore through the air. Sandbar looked back over his shoulder in worry. An enormous blue and cream griffon flew through the hall, his red eyes glaring down at the pony. “You know what you did!” The monstrous griffon screeched.

“I need you!” Gallus’ voice cried from the other end of the hall.

Sandbar rushed ahead, trying to reach his boyfriend. He ran and ran but still the giant griffon chased him, never more than a few hoofsteps behind. The voices from both ends of the hall called to Sandbar—one scared, one angry. He was sweating, running as hard as he could, but no matter what he tried, he never got closer to the desperate voice of his boyfriend.

Until suddenly, a new screech pierced the air. Gallus winged his way in from Sandbar’s side and wrapped the pony in a hug. The chasing monstrosity and the voice from the far end of the hallway vanished, leaving the two creatures in a tight embrace in the dorm hall, which slowly shrank back to normal proportions.

As they hugged, Sandbar’s mind began to clear. He squeezed Gallus even tighter. “Is it really you? You’re really okay?” He released the hug and pulled back, looking into his boyfriend’s face. “I know Luna said you were fine, but I was just so worried.”

Gallus put a claw under the pony’s chin. “It’s me.”

Sandbar smiled slightly. “So you can take care of nightmares, huh?”

The griffon nodded slowly. “Seems so.”

Sandbar bit his lip. “So what is it? If you’re really safe, what’s still wrong?”

The griffon shifted his head to the side, pulling his eyes away from the pony. He opened the door to their dorm room led the pony out of the hallway and onto their bed. The griffon sat his backside down, and Sandbar did the same. The pony looked at him expectantly.

“I saw your dream last night.”

Sandbar paused, reflecting. He scratched his head with a hoof. “I don’t even remember having a dream last night,” he said honestly.

“You don’t remember dancing with Yona?”

Sandbar shook his head. “Like at a party? I don’t get why you’re upset, though.”

The griffon clacked his beak open and shut. “You don’t remember dreaming about kissing her?”

Sandbar felt the blood drain from his face. “Ooooh. No?” he said, starting to see the problem. “I mean, I have weird dreams all the time, right? Don’t you?”

***** ***** *****

“Good,” the griffon said slowly. “So it was just some random dream.”

“Yeah.”

“And you’re not attracted to her at all.”

The pony blushed. “I didn’t say that.”

Gallus frowned.

Sandbar gave a huff of annoyance. “You know I like girls, too. Heck, I’d never been with a guy before you.”

Gallus nodded, reluctantly acknowledging his pony’s tastes. “Okay, I guess that’s true. But… Yona?”

“What?” Sandbar said defensively. “Why not Yona?”

“She’s all…” he waved a claw in the air. “Yak-y.”

The earth pony frowned and crossed his hooves over his chest. “She’s honest and sweet and sturdy.”

Gallus found his jealousy growing with each word. “Yeah? And you’re attracted to that?”

Sandbar’s cheeks turned a dusty shade of pink.

Gallus huffed. “Just don’t tell me you’re lusting after any of our other friends, too.”

Sandbar’s blush intensified and he looked away.

“Oh, great!” the griffon crowed, throwing his claws up in the air. “More revelations! Who else?”

“Look,” Sandbar said firmly, “it doesn’t matter. Because I’m not going to act on any of those feelings.” He closed the small gap between them and pulled Gallus into a tight hug. “Because I love you. I want to be with you.”

Gallus felt his throat tighten.

“And I’m not a Dream Strider or anything, and I don’t think I can help what I might dream about sometimes.” He kissed the griffon on the side of his beak. “But I promise that whoever I dream about, it’ll always be you I’m with when I’m awake.” Sandbar pulled back, and Gallus saw tears sitting in the pony’s eyes. “I’m sorry that I hurt you. I didn’t mean to.”

Gallus pulled his pony back into a tight hug. He squeezed tightly. “I’m sorry too,” he said. He was not going to cry. “I probably overreacted.”

“I love you,” Sandbar whispered.

Gallus felt tears in his eyes. Blast it. “I love you too,” he cried.

They held each other tight, their tears flowing freely. Gallus felt like all the worry and sadness and stress of the last, very long day was pouring out of him.

“Okay,” Gallus said, once they had calmed down. “I have to ask. Just so I’m not surprised when it happens.”

“Ask what?” his boyfriend said, lounging in the comfortable bedding Gallus had summoned, one green hoof idly playing with the blue feathers of one wing.

“Who else you think you might have… those kinds of dreams about.”

Sandbar blushed fiercely. “You really want to know?”

Gallus sighed. “No. But yes. I’m probably going to see it anyway, right?”

Sandbar swallowed roughly. “Silverstream.”

Gallus pushed down the massive surge of jealousy. He counted to ten. “Okay. Silverstream.”

Sandbar nodded and then chuckled slowly. “You know she’s had a crush on you from week one, right?”

“What?” the griffon chirped in surprise.

“Oh come on. You seriously never noticed? All the hugs and looks she gives you?”

“She’s just really friendly,” Gallus protested.

“She is,” the pony agreed, “buuuuut, she also told me after you and I started being public that she had been thinking of asking you out.”

Gallus laughed. “That would have been awkward,”

Sandbar echoed the laugh. “No, ‘awkward’ was her not-so-subtly asking questions about our sex life and what you were like in bed.”

The griffon felt his face warm. “She didn’t.”

“Don’t worry,” the earth pony said, gathering Gallus back into a warm embrace. “I didn’t tell her anything.”

“Good,” the griffon harrumphed.

“Other than confirming that I’m bigger than you,” Sandbar mumbled.

Gallus gaped. “You what?” He poked his pony in the ribs with a talon, which made him wriggle. Sandbar started laughing nervously.

“Sorry! She totally wouldn’t leave me alone about it!” He pitched his voice into an imitation of Silverstream. “Who’s bigger, you or him? Is he big down there? Never mind, I don’t want to know. I want to know! No, I’m sorry, that’s rude. But how big? Sandbar, why are you walking away? Please I need to know the truuuuth!”

Gallus covered his eyes with one claw and sighed.

“I hope you’re not too angry?”

Gallus was jealous, yes, but he was feeling more and more confident about the depth of Sandbar’s emotions for him. He removed the claw from his eyes and glared playfully at Sandbar. “Only that you lied.” The pony leaned back in surprise. “I’m totally thicker than you, with my knot. Volume-wise I bet I’m just as big.”

Sandbar snorted. “That’s not what creatures usually mean when they ask about that.”

Gallus feigned shock. “You’re an expert on creatures asking about dick size?”

“Can we stop talking about dicks?” the pony asked. Gallus felt something poke against his leg. “Unless maybe we’re doing something with them?”

Gallus sent a claw down eagerly to test the disturbance. Sandbar shuddered. “I’d really like that,” Gallus purred. He kissed the pony on the side of his muzzle. “I’m really sorry I got all bent out of shape over a dream.”

Sandbar nodded sadly. “I’m sorry, too. I can’t help my feelings, but I promise it’s you I love.”

Gallus kissed him again, feeling the pony’s heartbeat through the flesh he held in one claw. “I want to marry you,” he said, a sudden impulse seizing him. “I thought I had lost you. Lost this… and it was the worst thing in the world.”

Sandbar smiled widely. “I want to marry you, too,” he said. The griffon’s heart filled with light and love, and his insides felt like they would burst from him in joy. “But it’s your turn to ask. The earth pony way.”

Gallus nodded. He would do anything to keep Sandbar as his pony forever. “Yeah? How do I do that, then?”

The earth pony stuck a tongue out. “Go figure it out. That’s what I did about griffon ways.”

Gallus groaned. “Ugggh, you mean books?”

Sandbar thrust his half-hard staff against the griffon’s body teasingly.

Gallus squeezed the flesh, reveling in the feel when it surged with blood in response. “Okay, okay. Another book report. At least this’ll be more interesting than the last one Headmare Twilight assigned.”

Sandbar chuckled. “I thought you said no talking about mares when we’re having sex.”

“Point taken,” Gallus said with a small laugh. “Hmm,” he rumbled, “speaking of taking points…” He leaned forward, taking the head of the pony’s shaft into his beak.

Gallus felt a hoof shake his shoulder. “Sir? We’re here,” a rough female voice said. Gallus looked back over his shoulder but saw no one. He heard a gruff laugh. “Must be a good dream he’s having, huh?” “Ew, don’t be a perv,” a second, lower-pitched voice chimed in.

Gallus blushed deeply, realizing it was the lunar guards, back in the physical realm. “Uhh, Sandy?” he said to his boyfriend, “I think I gotta go.”

“Aww,” the pony whined.

Gallus woke and immediately shifted a claw down to cover his throbbing erection. He cleared his throat. “Uh, evening. Thanks for the ride.”

The female guard eyed the area covered by the claw appreciatively. “Anytime you want a different kind of ride, you just come find me.” Her gaze slowly shifted up his body. “I ain’t never had a griffon before.”

Gallus blushed fiercely.

“Sweet Moonlight, Brightstar, lay off him.” The male bat pony pulled his compatriot backward. “You’re gonna get fired for harassment.” He turned his attention to Gallus. “Sorry about her. You’re back in Ponyville, as Princess Luna commanded. May we be of further assistance?”

Gallus shook his head. “No, but thank you. Really.”

The male bat pony bowed low. “Our pleasure.” The female guard winked lewdly at him. The bat ponies re-harnessed themselves to the chariot and took flight. As they departed, Gallus took wing, heading quickly for the dorms.

Sandbar was shaken awake. “Wha? Huh?” he mumbled. A familiar beak nuzzled the side of his muzzle. “Oh Light, Gallus!” he whimpered, dragging the griffon into a tight hug. And a kiss—a desperate, longing, kiss. It felt like they had been apart weeks instead of just two evenings. Having his griffon in his arms finally quenched the fiery dread in his stomach. It also provided a different kind of heat to other parts of him.

Gallus pulled back, his breathing ragged. “Now where was I before we were so rudely interrupted?”

Sandbar shifted his hips upward, giving the griffon a physical reminder.

“Oh yeah,” Gallus chuckled. The griffon spun away, pulling the sheets off the pony. The chill of the evening air was a shock, but the warmth was quickly replaced. Tongue and mouth slid down his shaft, making Sandbar moan. The griffon wasted no time, sliding down quickly, swallowing head and flesh, down past the medial ring until Sandbar felt the stiff points of a beak push into his groin.

“Oh fuck,” the pony whimpered. He wasn’t about to let the griffon have all the fun. As Gallus pulled back to gulp in air, Sandbar grabbed the griffon’s sides and twisted him down to the bed, until they were each laying on their sides. Gallus gave a startled squawk at the indignity. The tone of the griffon’s reaction changed as Sandbar located his target and darted forward. He lapped at the bright red length poking from the griffon’s underside. The usual warm, rich, musky smell was overlaid and somewhat soured by the acrid tang of unwashed sweat, but Sandbar swallowed the griffon’s length down eagerly. It tasted like Gallus. And Gallus was excitement and laughter and titillation and everything the pony loved about life.

Gallus went back to work on Sandbar, and the pony moaned around the ridged cock in his mouth. The earth pony shifted a seafoam-green hoof over to massage Gallus’ furry balls, making the griffon rumble in delight. Sandbar delighted in the small touches, the ways their bodies shifted and rubbed against each other. He swirled his tongue around the shaft, letting it play across the varied surface. He felt the fullness of Gallus in his mouth. He breathed deep the richness of his musk.

Gallus grunted and groaned and Sandbar felt himself echo the sounds automatically. The movements of the griffon’s head and mouth and throat were already getting the pony close to the edge. The base of Gallus’ shaft began to expand quickly. The griffon was close, too.

“Oh, Sandy,” Gallus crooned as he pulled back for a moment. “You’re so wet.”

Sandbar licked and swallowed the wetness from the end of the griffon’s tip. “Hmm,” he replied, feeling drunk with lust, “you too.”

Sandbar felt Gallus move a claw down below his leg. The pony shivered, knowing what was about to happen. A talon lightly teased around the sensitive skin of his ass.

Sandbar whimpered and went back to sucking his griffon. Wetness flowed down his tongue and he dove deep, burying his face in the griffon’s lap.

The talon pushed in gently. Sandbar felt his staff lurch in excitement. Gallus shifted his hips, bucking his knotted length into the pony’s muzzle.

Gallus’ length mashed against Sandbar’s tongue, rolled up against his upper palette, nearly to his throat, before sliding back down. Gallus thrust again. Again.

Sandbar felt his griffon swallow him down past his ring.

Oh Light Oh Light Oh Fuck. Sandbar shivered, feeling his orgasm rising.

He sucked desperately on the shifting griffon shaft in his mouth, tasting the wetness that streaked across his tongue on every pass.

The talon inside him shifted and wriggled and pushed and. OH. OH.

Sandbar felt his flare form. Gallus thrust in and Sandbar put his teeth on the griffon’s knot, none too gently, holding the staff in place pushed against the back of his throat, nearly gagging himself.

Sandbar’s orgasm ripped through his loins, rushing out of him and into Gallus’ eager beak. He felt the clenching bursts throughout his body, overcoming nearly all that he was. He kept working his tongue, though, lapping at the ridged underside of his griffon’s cock. And suddenly his mouth was full, too, awash with griffon semen. He heard Gallus whine and moan and the two of them unloaded into the other. Sandar felt each burst of his own orgasm only a heartbeat before a fresh wave of griffon seed would fill his throat.

Sandbar swallowed as much as he could and pulled back, letting the griffon’s spent shaft fall free. He felt the chill as Gallus did the same. The pony wriggled slightly, suddenly uncomfortable with having a griffon’s talon in his backside. Gallus drew his claw back, and the two of them lay there on their sides, panting heavily for several long moments.

“You know,” Sandbar said, hearing his voice come out soft and breathy. He cleared his throat of the remaining griffon seed. “This relationship isn’t just about sex.”

“I know,” he heard Gallus answer lazily. “I love you more than I ever thought possible.”

“I feel the same.” Sandbar smiled blissfully. “But hot damn I love having sex with you, too.”

The griffon shifted his body around and Sandbar found himself smothered in a fierce griffon hug.

“YOU HAVE INFORMATION?” the roaring voice thundered through the air, shaking Midnight to his very core.

The pegasus spread his wings and bowed low. “I encountered the blue griffon. The one who walks the dreams as we can.”

“YET YOU ARE ALONE.”

“He is strong. Startlingly so,” Midnight said smoothly. “He will be a valuable recruit to your most worthy cause, once we collect him.”

The air rumbled and shook, but the Nowhere King remained silent.

“FIND HIM,” the Great Nightmare commanded.

“I know exactly where to look,” the pegasus lied. He had a lead, at least: the name the griffon had cried in response to the strange, repeated light in the Umbra. Off to one side of the throne, a dream appeared. Inside, a large ochre dragon lay atop a glittering hoard of gemstones. The enormous white eyes of the Nowhere King widened with pleasure and anticipation. Midnight shivered in empathy with his King, reveling in the moment before a dream turned to nightmare.

“GO,” the Nowhere King commanded. “BRING ME THE GRIFFON.” The haunting presence shifted, one terrible claw touching the dream, and then Midnight was alone. Darkness fell inside the dream.

Midnight licked his lips and considered staying to watch the show. He had an order, though. Reluctantly, he stepped away. He expected this “Sandbar,” whoever he or she was, would lead him directly to the griffon.

The pegasus smiled darkly. He did so love his work.

11 - Late

Gallus sighed heavily. On the one claw, he knew he should get out of bed and go to class—he had already missed part of a week due to his recent misadventure. On the other claw was the flared head of his pony’s shaft. Sandbar grunted and whined.

“I don’t care if we’re gonna be a few minutes late, you can’t leave me like this!”

Gallus clucked his tongue. “Tardiness is a hurtful behavior that disrupts others. Not very kind.”

Sandbar groaned. “Don’t pretend this is a school lesson. Besides, ‘it’s always worth taking the extra time to do something right.’”

The griffon grinned and slowly slid his claw down the pony’s length. “I have always enjoyed Professor Rarity’s takes,” he considered. Gallus, having already come, was feeling extra cheeky. He nearly always came first in their morning sessions. If he didn’t, he’d still be indecent by the time class started.

“Gallus, please!” Sandbar whined.

The griffon relented gladly, eliciting a gasp from his pony. Gallus twirled a claw around the crown of the pony’s shaft, making it throb and causing a thin stream of precum to splash out. Gallus caught it on his tongue. He savored the sweet fluid and let his claw drag lazily down the dark gray flesh. Sandbar groaned and shifted his hips from where he was sitting on the bed. The pony’s shaft lurched upward until Gallus caught the tip in his other claw. He began to move his arms in tandem—one teasing the head and the other tugging tightly along the length.

“Oh that’s… O-oh,” the pony whimpered.

The flesh under the teasing claw swelled. Precum flowed freely into the griffon’s claw. Gallus grinned. “That good?”

“Oh yeah,” the earth pony said, his voice shaky. “Please keep going. Please. Please.”

Gallus slowed his claws, causing Sandbar to whinny. He lowered his beak down and took the swollen crown of Sandbar’s shaft into his mouth. Precum flowed freely over his tongue. The griffon put his mouth to work, massaging the flesh.

“No.” Sandbar whined and pulled the griffon back off with one hoof. “I’m close. I want to shoot on you.”

Gallus grinned and clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. “I’ll have to take a shower. We’ll be late.” He loved the idea. He put his claws back to work after another long lick of the pony’s flared head.

Sandbar shivered and shook his head. “We’ll get notes.” The dark flesh throbbed in Gallus’ claws. “Please?” he asked.

Who was Gallus to say no to that? He shifted the teasing claw down. He loved how big and how warm Sandbar’s cock was. His two claws began to move simultaneously—one gripping the upper end below the head, the other working the bottom portion between ring and sheath.

Sandbar moaned in appreciation.

Precum drooled incessantly down the pony’s length.

Gallus felt his own spent shaft twitch in appreciation of the sight.

The earth pony groaned, a low continuous sound, and Gallus grinned in anticipation. The flesh in the griffon’s claws swelled, the tip leaking creamy fluid.

A rope of the pony’s seed jettisoned out, impacting with surprising force on the griffon’s chest. Two small bursts followed quickly, landing with a wet sound on the bedding below them. Sandbar thrust his hips, causing his staff to surge upward in the griffon’s claws, and the next shot splashed across Gallus’ beak. “Oh CAW yeah!” the griffon cried. He kept his claws moving, milking the pony. More thick semen erupted from the swollen, flared head, a spare glob or two joining the largest mess on his beak. Gallus stuck out his tongue and collected what he could. The griffon’s still-swollen cock lurched as he tasted the rich, salty flavor.

Sandbar leaned back, his shaft quickly shrinking out of the griffon’s claws. He smiled lazily at his boyfriend. “You look a mess.”

Gallus gave him a faux-stern look. “And whose fault is that?”

The green earth pony shrugged expressively. “I can’t help it if you make me cum so hard.”

Gallus smirked happily. It gave him no end of joy and excitement to know how much Sandbar enjoyed his presence and touch. “I am definitely going to need that shower,” he said with a small laugh.

Sandbar sighed. “We are totally going to be late.”

Gallus leaned forward, tracing the claw not coated in semen through the pony’s fur. “Or we could just skip.” He licked the cum from one dirty talon. “Call it a… mental health break?”

Sandbar laughed at the memory. “That checks out,” he replied, leaning forward and pulling Gallus into a tight hug.

Sandbar stared down at the test on his desk. He knew the answer. He knew he knew the answer. But suddenly he couldn’t remember. And it was the only question on the test. He was going to fail.

He wobbled the quill in his mouth, the feather tickling his tongue.

What was the answer?

The quill fell free and rolled away from his desk, making an absurdly loud sound. That was embarrassing. The earth pony started to step away from his desk to retrieve the quill when he spotted his front legs. They were covered up past the knee with pink-and-white striped socks. He quickly shoved his legs back under the desk, hoping that no one had seen. His face was flushed as he quickly unrolled the stockings under the cover of his desk.

After a frustrated glance at the unanswerable test question, Sandbar stood up to grab the errant quill. A whistle cut through the otherwise silent room. The pony whipped his head around to find the source.

“Nice socks, hot stuff,” Silversteam cooed. Sandbar glanced down and realized with a growing horror that he had matching socks on his back legs, too.

“Ah!” a loud voice beside him said, “Yona like how socks hug Sandbar’s muscles!”

“Hey, we match!” Gallus said, stepping away from his own desk. His limbs were covered by the same pink stockings, the talons of his claws poking through the ends.

Sandbar bit his lip and felt himself getting hard.

“If it wouldn’t be too much trouble,” a soft voice from the front of the class said, “if you could all focus on your test instead of—oh my!” Fluttershy blushed, taking in the scene. “L-lewd!” she muttered quietly.

Sandbar blushed deeply. “S-sorry! Sorry everyone!”

“No, no,” Professor Fluttershy said, “I see you’re enjoying putting on a show.” She gestured down below Sandbar’s barrel, where his half-hard shaft hung heavily. “Please continue.”

“WHAT?” Sandbar yelled.

“Put it on! Put it on!” Silverstream yelled, twirling the discarded pink socks over her head before throwing them against the pony.

“You wanna do a little dress-tease?” Gallus suggested, giving a little wink.

Sandbar hesitated. It was too shameful to consider. And yet his growing arousal prodded him. He nodded.

Darkness suddenly flooded the room, causing Sandbar to flinch. His friends looked around, confused, before they were hidden by the gloom.

“My, my, my,” a rich voice chuckled. “Aren’t you just the prettiest little slut.”

Sandbar spun around, looking for the source of the voice.

“So you’re the griffon’s cockwarmer.” A chill wind suddenly filled the air. “Or is it the other way around? I never can tell with you coltcuddlers.”

“HAY!” Sandbar shouted. “Fuck you!”

“No,” the voice replied calmly, “I think not.” The wall of darkness receded. Sandbar found himself standing in a small cave, the rough walls lit by some unseen light. A pegasus with a coat the color of a late night’s sky stepped forward. Sandbar’s eyes were drawn to the shifting cloak that covered his back half. His heart began to race.

“Help!” He yelled, backing slowly away from the other pony.

The pegasus chuckled darkly. “Disgraceful. Listen to you, screaming like a little colt.” A hint of tight-lipped smile crossed his features. “I haven’t even started working yet.”

Sandbar fought against panic. This was that pony Gallus had seen in the dream. Which meant he was dreaming. He just had to wake up. He stomped a hoof painfully against the ground. “Wake up wake up!” he whimpered.

In one smooth step, the pegasus pony was suddenly beside him. “No,” he said, his voice sounding like a knife sliding from its sheath. “That will not work here.” Sandbar scrambled backward. Unseen rocks tripped his hooves, and the earth pony landed hard on his flank.

“Help! Gallus!” he yelled. He scrambled, trying to pull himself back up, but found his limbs bound, somehow captured in the rocks that had felled him.

The earth pony shuddered. He closed his eyes, tried to imagine waking up. He was distracted by a sound, almost like water running from a tap. No, not water, he thought. He opened his eyes to see snakes slithering into the cave. There were so many that they writhed and piled atop each other, like a moving wall of snakes. “No no no no!” he cried.

The pegasus grinned. “My second favorite word,” he said gleefully. He raised a wing as the snakes passed underneath him, heading directly for Sandbar. “You will tell me everything you know about this ‘Gallus.’”

“No! No!” Sandbar repeated. The serpents drew nearer, their scales shimmering in the low light and their fangs bared.

“Yes,” the pegasus drawled, his tone bored, “you will.”

Sandbar shrieked as the nearest snake lunged forward and sunk its teeth into his leg. The pony pulled helplessly at the rocks binding his legs. Pain arced through his leg from the bite.

“I’ve heard the poison of the Eastern Asp can be quite painful. Sometimes lethal.” Sandbar screamed wordlessly. “I can make them stop,” the pegasus offered. “Does the griffon have the Amulet?”

Sandbar whimpered. He shook his leg, trying to dislodge the serpent. Another snake lunged forward and latched onto a foreleg. Sandbar howled in pain.

“Does the griffon have the Amulet of Waking?” the pegasus asked calmly, looking with keen interest at Sandbar’s wounds.

Sandbar whimpered helplessly and stared at the writhing mass of snakes, sure that another would strike him at any moment. “I- I don’t know,” he said.

“He must, for him to be so powerful.”

“I don’t know!” Sandbar squealed. “I’ve never seen him with an amulet.”

“Not good enough,” the pegasus said coldly. He gestured with one wing, and the pile of snakes surged forward.

A blinding flash of light burst through the tunnel. Sandbar cried out in surprise.

“ENOUGH,” a booming voice proclaimed.

Sandbar realized his hooves were no longer trapped by stones and scrambled to a standing position, trying to get away from the snakes. Which were suddenly absent, he realized.

A boulder on one side of the cave exploded, and a tall, dark alicorn strode forth from the wreckage. “Princess Luna!” Sandbar cried.

The pegasus pony flinched, a look of worry twisting his features as he twirled to face the princess.

Luna surveyed the scene, and a bolt of fiery magic arced from her horn. The magic scorched the ground where the pegasus had stood moments before. He was gone. Sandbar slumped back to the ground.

The world of the dream shimmered, and Sandbar felt his wounds wash away, vanishing in a heartbeat.

“This is most troubling,” the alicorn said. “Who was that pony?”

“I don’t know,” Sandbar said, shivering and wrapping his front hooves around himself. “I think it was one of those ponies Gallus saw before. He wanted to know if Gallus had some amulet.”

“An amulet?” Princess Luna knelt down on her knees. Even so, she towered over Sandbar as he sat prone.

Sandbar nodded slowly. “The Amulet of Waking, I think he said.”

Luna’s eyes shot wide.

Sandbar felt his blood go cold. “Um. I’m assuming that’s not good then?”

The pony known as Shade walked slowly around a Dream. It didn’t matter which side she faced, the view inside remained constant. Another irregularity of the Realm. Still, even knowing it made no difference, she paced. Walking helped her think. Within, a broad-shouldered silver earth pony walked along the docks, a large sack slung across his back. Shade had watched this dream before. Crow often dreamed of his old life. He was supposed to be working with her at the moment, but Shade resisted pulling him into the Umbral Realm. Instead, she watched.

The earth pony paused at the entrance to a small house. Shade realized she was cantering and slowed her pace. She should pull him out of the dream. But maybe this time they would be there.

Crow opened the door and stepped through. Inside, the house was quiet. The watching unicorn sighed and stepped into the dream. Shade felt the heat wash over her, shuddering at its intensity.

She stood in the house, directly in front of Crow. The large earth pony blinked slowly and gave a small, jerky start. “Shade,” he said in greeting. His eyes drifted away from hers, his gaze shifting back to the corner of the room.

“Crow,” she said sharply, drawing his attention back. “It’s time to work. Midnight thinks he has a lead on the amulet.”

“Does he, then?” the earth pony said slowly, his gaze again returning to the corner of the room. “Best get on wi’ it.”

The unicorn nodded and laid a hoof softly on the earth pony’s shoulder.

“Shade?” Crow said, his rough voice quiet, “thank you.”

The unicorn nodded curtly and spared the briefest glance to the corner of the room, where two moldy gravestones stood at the foot of a large bed. the two ponies vanished, cold washing over them as they exited. The dream bubble collapsed.

12 - International Relations

Smolder could hear a faint buzzing sound to one side of her head. The dragon’s eyes were closed, but she knew without looking that it was Ocellus.

“Smolder?”

The dragon mumbled noncommittally.

“Smolder, you’re chewing on the table.”

No, that was silly. She was chewing on a big pile of emeralds. Obviously.

“Smolder!”

They weren’t very tasty emeralds, she admitted to herself, but they were hers! The changeling was trying to steal her gems! No. No, that didn’t sound right—not like Ocellus at all. Unless she was borrowing gems to adorn the pale green lace on their matching, frilly dresses she had bought for their next tea night. Yes, that was probably it. The dragon sighed contentedly.

“Ah! Smolder!”

The sound of changeling magic caused the dragon’s eyes to snap open. A small stack of paper was on the library table was on fire. A wide, gray foot crushed the papers and snuffed the flames, while very carefully avoiding breaking the table. A very disappointed-looking elephant stared down at Smolder.

“Uh. Sorry?” the dragon said with a shrug.

“Those were my notes from this morning’s class,” the Ocellus-sounding elephant complained. A flash of magic brought the changeling back to her normal form. “I was going to copy them for Gallus and Sandbar since they weren’t there.” She sighed. “Poor guys have been through a lot—they were probably sleeping in.”

“Or screwing,” Smolder suggested wryly. An intense yawn caused flames shot out of her open mouth. “Oops.”

“Are… are you okay?” Ocellus asked. Smolder could hear the genuine concern in her voice. “You seem really tired lately.”

Smolder crossed her arms over her chest and glared. “I’m fine. Just taking a power nap.”

“In the library?” Ocellus asked, one eye narrowed skeptically. “In the middle of our one-on-one study session?”

Smolder was trapped. She didn’t want to admit to the real reason she was tired, and she didn’t want to make Ocellus think she didn’t value their study sessions. Even if she really enjoyed the post-study snuggles more. “Just didn’t sleep well,” she hedged.

Ocellus gasped and threw her hooves around Smolder’s neck. “More nightmares?” she asked.

The dragon fought the urge to toss the changeling onto her butt. Public displays of affection were not a dragon thing. But Smolder was learning to appreciate it. Sort of. At least from small changelings that sometimes smelled of sulfur and raspberries. “Yeah,” she admitted. “And before you ask, it was just normal ones.”

“Oooh,” Ocellus purred, “I’m so sorry!”

Smolder shifted, pulling herself out of the changeling’s encircling hooves. “Yeah, yeah, whatever,” she said. “Let get on with studying so we can have time to do some private tutoring later.”

Ocellus blushed a light shade of purple and the merest hint of jalapeno entered her scent. “I forget,” she said, setting herself onto the bench beside the dragon, “are we on laughter or kindness?”

Smolder grinned in anticipation.

“This will not stand, sister!”

Princess Celestia sighed. “It’s good to see you too, Luna.”

“Morning niceties can wait,” Luna said brusquely, stepping past her sister. “I have been remiss in my duties in guarding the realm of dreams.” She marched into her bed chambers.

Princess Celestia fought the urge to sigh again. Instead, she took a deep breath. She felt the air move into her and let it flow slowly back out soundlessly. “What do you mean, ‘remiss’?”

Luna’s head snapped back out of the doorway. “Inattentive. Lackadaisical. Unmindful.” She shook her head ruefully. “Honestly, sister, I understand you enjoy modern parlance, but you are letting your vocabulary suffer.”

“That’s not-!” Luna had already ducked back into her room. “…what I meant,” Celestia finished lamely. She took a deep breath. Then another, while considering the flammability of the wooden door to Luna’s bed chambers. She knocked on the door.

Luna, adorned in full regalia, threw open the door.

“I meant, how were you re-“

“Ponies walk the dream, sister!” Luna interrupted. She straightened her crown with a brief burst of magic. “Dream Striders come anew, but learn from a dark tutor, I fear.”

Celestia blinked. Dream Striders. So far as she knew, nopony except her sister had walked in dreams in a thousand years. And if there was some villain at work… She nodded her head. “How can I help?”

Luna gave her a sad look. “I do not know that you can, directly.” She pursed her lips. “Perhaps put your Listeners to work asking about unusual nightmares.”

Celestia nodded. Her informal cadre of secret hunters would be well suited to such a task—also, she looked forward to reading reports about more substantive events than last-minute contract cancellations and dishonest flower merchants.

“Oh,” Luna said, brushing quickly past her sister, “and perhaps let the Dragon Lord know I will be visiting dreams in her lands. Starting with hers.”

“What?” Celestia blinked. She turned her head, but Luna was already nearly out of sight. “Luna!” She trotted after her little sister at a most un-princess-like pace. “Luna!”

Gallus waived his friends on as they left the barn. “I’ve gotta talk with the professor for a minute. You guys go on ahead.”

“Nerrrrd!” called Smolder, with her usual playful charm, floating out into the bright afternoon sky.

Gallus flipped her the bird, as griffons called it, flicking the longest pinion feather on each wing up at her.

“Remind me if’n I’m mistaken, but ain’t that a rude gesture?”

Gallus cringed. “Just, uh, showing her my honest feelings?”

Thankfully, Applejack laughed. “Fair enough,” she said, “just don’t let me catchin’ ya doin’ it in class. Ain’t proper.”

“No, totally,” Gallus replied. “So, uh…”

Applejack began pushing benches under the tables. “Ya got something t’ ask, just spit it out, Sugarcube.”

“How do Earth ponies ask someone to marry them?”

“That’s awful sweet, hon,” Applejack deadpanned, “but I’m yer teacher an’ all.”

Gallus grimaced. “Uh, no. I don’t want to marry you.” He realized how that sounded. “Not that you’re not great and everything! And, uh, nice… looking?”

The earth pony’s face broke into a large grin and she whooped in laughter. “Wooo, boy, you shoulda seen yer face! Hah!” She wiped a small tear from her eye. “Hoo, goody. Nah, I assume this is about Sandbar?”

Gallus felt warmth creep into his face. “Yeah. He said he wants… and I guess, I want… to ask him in the earth pony way.”

Applejack shook her head slowly side-to-side. “Never thought I’d see the day with griffons and ponies gettin’ on like y’all two do. ‘Specially two stallions. Guys. Whatever.” She gave herself a shake. “Not that I ain’t happy for ya!”

Gallus nodded. He had never expected to fall in love with a pony, either, but here he was.

“But, the ‘earth pony way,’” she said, considering. “I think somepony’s pullin’ yer leg.”

Gallus blinked slowly. “Wait, what? Is there not an earth pony tradition?”

“Nah,” His professor laughed loudly. She tipped her hat up on her head. “It ain’t that. It just… there ain’t one tradition—there’s near enough to a hundred depending on tribe and geography and what not.”

“Over a hundred…” Gallus felt a growing pit of concern in his stomach.

“Sure ‘nuf,” Professor Applejack said, nodding her head. “Take mah cousins from Manehatten. They’ve got a whole thing where they talk about their love in a big public ceremony.” She bucked the bench with her back legs, and it flipped up in the air and landed squarely atop another long table with a loud sound. She nodded to herself. “Then you’ve got the Pie family—they exchange these really strangely-shaped, tiny rocks.”

The griffon frowned. “But what about Sandbar?”

Professor Applejack shrugged. “Dunno. His family only moved here a few generations back, and I can’t say I know ‘em too well.”

Gallus groaned and pulled a claw through his crest.

“Sorry I ain’t more help. Maybe go ask Pinkie. She knows everypony.”

“Ooooooh! Please let me host the wedding reception?! Please? Pretty please!”

Gallus grimaced and immediately regretted asking professor Pinkie Pie about the proposal.

The pink mare somehow bounced in place on her tail. “Wedding receptions are my twenty-fourth favorite kind of party!

“That bad?”

Pinkie Pie collapsed in a fit of laughter. “Don’t be silly. That’s still pretty high up there. Not every party can be a surprise birthiversary bash! Ooh, plus this’ll be my first gay wedding in at least five years.” She gasped suddenly, bolting upright. “AND the first wedding among my students! Ohmygosh ohmygosh! That bumps up the excitement by several party hats. It’ll be the party of the MONTH! If not the season!” She stared at him with an intense look. “I have to do this party!”

“Sure,” Gallus said, relenting to the Pinkie pressure, “Sure, whatever.” The party pony began making a high-pitched squeal. Gallus waved a claw in her face to try and refocus her attention. “But none of that happens if I can’t figure out how to ask Sandbar to marry me.”

Pinkie Pie’s face got very serious. “Yes. Okay, now, where did I put the thing…” she zipped off before returning with a huge scroll. She dropped one end and Gallus watched in shock as it rolled away nearly to the door. “Okay, let’s see. Sandbar, Sandbar… Ah!” She stabbed a hoof at one very small piece of the parchment at a tiny, very neatly illustrated drawing of Sandbar’s cutie mark. The turtle triad had minute, spidery lines in a variety of colors leading away to other drawings. “Hmm. Son of Beachcomber and High Tide. Their parents lived here, too, but theeeeeeeeir parents,” the pink mare zipped down the paper, tracing a violet line’s path with one hoof, “immigrated from Fillydelphia. And his mom’s mom’s mom’s dad was from Canterlot. And his dad’s side has roots innnnnnnn,” she hopped over to the other side of the scroll and ran back down its length, nearly throwing the griffon to the ground, “Seaddle.” She rubbed a hoof through her hair. “Family with at least sixty-two percent aquatic-related cutie marks, bi-coastal, very few pegasus or unicorn relatives…”

The pink pony went very, very still, except for her eyes, which darted around the paper. Pinkie’s body then began to shake.

“Uhh, professor?” Gallus reached out a tentative claw. He had broken her, somehow.

“Flower exchange!” She shouted suddenly, her limbs shooting out at every angle. She zipped out of the room and returned carrying a small magazine before Gallus could even draw his claw back.

“What?”

“There’s a ninety-six percent chance his family exchanges vows in the form of a flower ceremony.”

Gallus blinked, taken aback. “Ninety-six?”

Pinkie Pie gave the griffon a lopsided shrug. “Ain’t nopinkie perfect.” After a moment, she added under her breath, “some Pinkies notably less perfect than others.”

Gallus looked at the magazine she was holding. “Flowers, huh? What kind of flowers?”

Pinkie sounded amused. “I dunno. Why would I know some tiny little detail like that, silly?”

Gallus glanced at the labyrinthine scroll and back to her. “…no reason.”

“Okie dokie! Don’t forget that I get to do the reception!”

Ember lay panting on the ground of her cave. She took a moment to enjoy the glittering jewels that surrounded her. They brought her such joy. None so much as the jewel-colored changeling who lay beside her, his carapace shivering with each ragged breath. He had taken to his assertiveness practice with extra zeal since she had suggested alternative training methods. Her lower half ached so pleasantly, it was almost as if she’d just been with a dragon instead of a milquetoast changeling king. Normally so kind, sweet, and mild. Which she loved about him. But oh, how she also enjoyed it when he wasn’t any of those things.

A chiming bell sounded outside the cave. Ember twisted her head, listening to the unfamiliar, crystalline tone.

“You should go see what it is,” Thorax suggested from her side.

“What happened to assertive?” the dragon asked with a smile.

“You fucked it out of me,” the changeling said with a sigh. Ember tickled his chin with a long talon. He hated using rough language, and she loved that he’d use it around her.

“Back in a sec,” she said. She flapped her wings and scowled at the interrupting noise. As she exited the cave, she discovered the source of the ringing—a large pony was using her magic to swing a crystal bell.

“Greetings Dragon Lord,” the pony said, bowing her head slightly.

“What in Smaug’s scaly ass are you doing here in my territory, pony?”

The dark-coated pony smiled slowly and shook her head. “First, let us be clear that we are not in your territory, but in mine.” The badlands cracked open under Ember’s feet and pink and yellow flowers sprouted from the fissures. The air cooled and the pony spread her wings. “You are dreaming, Dragon Lord.”

Ember’s mind began to clear, and she understood. It felt like the moment whisky left the body, even inlcuding the dull brain ache. “Ugh,” she said, blinking slowly, “Princess Luna, right? I’ve heard about your abilities. Still doesn’t explain what you’re doing here. And why I shouldn’t send an army to raze Canterlot for your interruption of a very, very good dream.”

“Yes, yes,” Princess Luna replied, sounding bored. “Very threatening, indeed. No doubt you’ve heard of the Great Dragon War? Or, likely to you, the Great Pony War?”

Ember scowled silently. Maybe one of the oral historians remembered.

“No? Let me simply say there is good reason ponies and dragons now share an easy truce.” She sighed slowly. “But I apologize. I mean no disrespect to you or your kin.” She bowed down on one front leg. “I come seeking assistance while offering the same in return.”

Ember shrugged. “I’m not in the mood to start a war today, anyway. Plus, Spike would be sad.”

The pony princess offered a small smirk. “My sister nearly had my mane when I told her I was doing this.”

Ember laughed. “Alright, then, what do you need, Princess?”

Smolder lay quietly, unwilling to disturb the dozing changeling laying on her arm. Ocellus liked taking naps after studying, which usually suited Smolder just fine. Recently, though, the dragon had resisted sleep to avoid winding up in another horrific nightmare with the Nowhere King. Not that she was scared. Just… reasonably cautious.

The late afternoon sunlight streamed in through the large window, the rays absorbing into the dragon’s orange scales. It was so nice. So relaxing. She was a lucky dragon, she reflected: she had worried she would have to give up some part of herself, some essential dragon-ness, to accept who she was; but here in this pony land, she could be a dragon and still be soft, like the blankets beneath her. It would be more difficult back home.

Her eyes drooped slowly downward, against her will.

“Okay,” Sandbar said, his voice distressed as he took a seat beside Gallus in the library. “The bad news is that you have two essays to make up for Headmare Twilight, a baking project for Professor Pinkie, and an overdue animal lab with Professor Fluttershy.”

Gallus groaned.

“The good news!” his boyfriend continued in an obviously-forced positive tone, “is that I’ve gotten extensions on everything for you until Moonday.”

The griffon rubbed a claw down his face. “So I’m going to have to work all weekend.”

Sandbar nodded. “Or take a zero. I figured this was better.”

Gallus sighed and put a claw on his pony’s arm. “It is. Thank you,” he said. “Sometimes, though, don’t you just wish we could get away from it all?”

The world shimmered, losing all color and flashing black in an instant. Shape and color flashed back into being a heartbeat later.

Gallus heard a panicked whinnying sound beside him. “What just happened?”

Gallus eyed the library. It is was now empty save for himself and Sandbar, and shaded in the familiar half-light of the Umbral Realm. “Oh for fuck’s sake,” he whined. “This is getting ridiculous.”

13 - What is Made

“Okay. Don’t panic,” Gallus said. Sandbar eyed him wildly, but nodded his head slowly. The griffon tried to still the panic rising in his own chest. “I just accidentally bought us back to the Umbral Realm. Where we could stumble into a nightmare and die.” The earth pony beside him whimpered. “This is fine.”

“I think our cultures have very different definitions of that word, then,” Sandbar said. The pony sidled over and brushed against Gallus.

“At least I’ve got you this time.” Gallus sighed. “Don’t get me wrong; I feel awful that I’ve dragged you into this, but it’s way less scary knowing that you’re here with me.” The earth pony nuzzled him softly.

Sandbar sighed. “Okay. So what do we do?”

“I… dunno,” Gallus admitted. “Last time I wandered off, and that didn’t go so well.”

The earth pony nodded. “You know, whenever we wind up in awful situations, I like to think about what my heroes would do is they were here.”

Gallus rolled his eyes. “You are such a suck-up.”

“Hush,” Sandbar replied. “Imagine: what would Headmare Twilight do?”

The air around them shimmered and a purple alicorn stepped into being directly in front of Sandbar. The earth pony screamed, and Gallus threw up a wing to protect the pony as he dove away.

“Headmare Twilight?” Gallus tilted his head. It certainly looked like their teacher.

Sandbar peeked up from behind the griffon’s wing. “Ooh! Is it the Tree of Harmony again?”

The purple alicorn glanced around slowly and pulled a book from the ether, its form quickly coalescing in her hooves.

Gallus stepped forward. She didn’t seem dangerous, whatever she was. It was a pretty convincing duplicate of Twilight Sparkle, except that the eyes were dull—they lacked the warmth and enthusiasm Gallus usually saw there. “It’s like a reflection of our teacher.”

“Or a replica, just a few shades different than the original,” Sandbar agreed, walking around the other side of the mare. “Did I…” he turned to Gallus. “Did I make her? It?”

Gallus gave his boyfriend a long, considering look. “Maybe.” He hummed, thinking back to a conversation with Luna. It seemed so long ago, now, even though he knew in realty it had been only a few weeks back. “Princess Luna said that we’re more powerful here when we’re here physically.”

Sandbar lifted a hoof and looked at it with an incredulous look on his face. “But I don’t have any sort of magic!”

Gallus shrugged. “Maybe you do, here.”

Between them, Twilight shade flipped its book shut and pulled another volume from the ether.

“So…” Sandbar said, looking at the thing uneasily, “what do we do with her?”

“I dunno,” Gallus said. “She’s not really helping, though. Can you, like, dismiss her?”

Sandbar looked panicked. “What? I can’t do that to our Headmare!”

Gallus snorted. “That’s not Twilight Sparkle any more than I’m Gustave LeGrand. It’s not even the Tree of Harmony pretending to be Headmare Twilight. It’s just a… a… shade!”

Sandbar shivered. “I guess.” He narrowed his eyes as the shade took a third book from the ether. It still hadn’t even acknowledged their presence. Sandbar bit his lower lip and waved a hoof, and the shade disintegrated, its being quickly fading into colorless strands of nothing.

“Well, that was wild,” Gallus said.

Princess Luna closed her eyes and felt her Umbral projection shift through space until she was standing inside a familiar room. The room lacked most of a ceiling and all of the furnishings that had once made it home. It was sometimes hard to believe that so much time had passed since she and her sister had lived within these walls, in the place ponies now called the Castle of the Two Sisters. Harder even to bear, knowing how much of that time she had spent in exile. She thanked the stars in the mercy that much of that time was lost to her—forgotten when Twilight Sparkle had helped wipe away Nightmare Moon. Those moments she still recalled were spotty: each covered in an undirected haze of anger, lashing out in frustration.

Luna pried open a door to a small cabinet. She fought down a rising fear at finding the space empty, but stayed very still, letting her eyes unfocus.

There. A small, nondescript brown box sat in the back corner. A chameleon spell twisted the light around it, keeping any eye from focusing on it directly, but the spell was not foolproof. Luna reached out a hoof and touched the box, which was no larger than one of her pinion feathers. She sighed in relief. The Amulet of Waking was safe.

Luna had created the Amulet more than a thousand years past. It was her crowning achievement—the missing link between dream and life—between the Umbral and Waking Realms. She had sealed it away more than a thousand years past, worried about what might happen if it fell into the wrong hooves. Luna knew she should have destroyed the artifact ages ago. She rued her hubris but had never found it in herself to break it.

The chameleon enchantment was not the only protective spell guarding the box. As the princess’s hoof lingered, the box seemed to shrink down and away, as if it were no longer in the same space. A massively tricky bit of space-time magic, that. One that would take a very powerful unicorn to break, and even then only if they were fully, physically present in the Umbral Realm.

Satisfied that the Amulet was safe, at least temporarily, Luna let her Umbral Projection fade and felt her mind return to her physical body. She resolved to re-enter the Umbral Realm in physical form to do what she should have done so long before—destroy her creation.

* * * * *

Outside the Castle of the Two Sisters, a pegasus perched on a cloud chuckled to himself. He took flight, a streaming, shape-changing cloak drifting behind him.

Ember sighed as she entered the small cave on the outskirts of her land. She disliked the ancient red dragon who lived in these rough-hewn walls, but he had proved useful time and time again.

“Singe!” She called as she strode inside. “I need my Loremaster!” It was death to enter a dragon’s abode without permission. Unless one was the Dragon Lord, of course.

A rough, angry voice called out in return. “Of course you do. I was just about to take a nap. Boy! Bring us firewine in the good mugs!” A large, gnarled dragon stepped out of the shadows. Broken scales traced a line down one side of his face, a scar left by a roc from when he was young. Singe claimed the thing had nearly eaten him.

“It’s good to see you,” Ember said, trying for politeness. Thorax, and his little lessons on diplomacy were fresh on her mind after the prior night’s dream.

The scarred dragon spat on the cave floor. Ember resisted the urge to put her claws through his eyes. “So what do you need, Dragon Lord?” He said the title with the slightest hint of reservation, a clawtip shy of disdainfully.

“Tell me about the Nowhere King.”

Loremaster Singe guffawed. “If you want scary stories, go ask one of the Hunters about the last wyvern raids.”

Ember ground her teeth. “I want facts, Singe. What do we actually know about him?”

The old dragon suddenly roared and slung a large rock at a smaller yellow dragon who was carrying a pair of drinks in his claws. “I said the good mugs, imbecile! The Dragon Lord is here!” The other dragon scuttled away. “How will you remember the Great Lineage when you can’t remember what I told you to do?!”

“The Nowhere King?” Ember prompted.

“Yes, yes,” Singe grumbled. “Little enough is known. A mass delusion originating with too much wine and too many scary tales, I suspect.”

Ember growled, low. “Is that a fact, Singe?”

“Fine,” he said petulantly. “Fact: The Nowhere King first appeared in myth and legend more than 650 years ago. Fact: The myth pattern of the Nowhere King is not present in the mythologies of ponies, hippogriffs, Abyssinians, or any other major race. Fact: While other circumstances change, his form is always said to be a shifting mass of black and white geometric shapes. Fact: The Nowhere King is not real.”

Ember wasn’t so certain of that last bit, especially after her talk with the pony princess. She grunted unhappily and chewed on a talon.

“The ponies of Equestria have the ability to walk in dreams,” Ember said. Singe nodded his head slowly. “I want a dream master of our own,” Ember continued.

“A dragon dreamer?” Loremaster Singe scoffed. “Afraid of a scary dream, Dragon Lord? Worried the Nowhere King will eat you? Should I call for your mommy to cuddle you to slee-?” His last word cut off suddenly, as he found a razor-sharp rock jammed between two scales, cutting into his windpipe.

“I’m getting sick of you old fogies questioning the strength of the hoard-damned DRAGON LORD,” Ember roared. Singe raised his claws in surrender, a wary look in his eyes. Ember released him, though kept a claw on the rock knife. Sometimes diplomacy still didn’t work. She made a mental note to tell Thorax. “Now tell me a tale of a dragon dreamer. Surely the histories have reference to somedrake with that kind of magic.”

“Heh,” the old dragon snorted, puffing smoke. “I need not dig into myth. My own former apprentice claimed to have such skills. His name was Obsidian. He’d go on and on about these wild fantasies. Said he could travel from dream to dream. Fancied himself the next Dragon Lord.” Singe snorted loudly. “Obsidian was a fool, and well named—incredibly sharp but undeniably brittle.”

Ember felt of thrill of expectation. This Obsidian sounded like a perfect candidate—a dragon who could stand against nightmares—and pony princesses, if it came to that. “Former apprentice, though? Where is he now?”

“Gone. Dead, likely. The weakling lost a fight to a hatchling just past her first molt, if you can believe it. We laughed him out of the Badlands.”

Ember scowled but stayed silent. She had begun to strangle the old dragon ways of strength first, second, and last, but knew it had once been common under her father and Dragon Lords before him to banish physically weaker dragons from their presence. It boiled her blood to know how much potential dragons used to waste—still wasted, really—being so focused on fire and claw. “How long ago was this? Maybe we can track him down.”

“Pheh,” Singe muttered. “Hundreds of years.” He waved a claw dismissively. “Don’t waste your time on a dead weakling, Dragon Lord.”

Ember’s scales tingled. “And no other since then?”

Singe grabbed a bejeweled mug from the yellow dragon who had just returned. “No. Not that I would care if there had been.”

Ember waived away the second cup. No telling what substances besides wine would be in there. “Make yourself care, Loremaster. That is a command.”

Singe eyed her angrily as he took a long swallow of firewine. Tendrils of fire licked at his muzzle as he pulled the mug away. “As you command, Dragon Lord.”

Ember turned and left the cave.

“Okay, but let’s think about it, Gallus. What were you doing when you brought us here?”

The griffon huffed and rolled his eyes. “Thinking about how much homework I had to make up. Being bitter about life. The usual.”

Sandbar narrowed his eyes, choosing to ignore his boyfriend’s pessimism. Now seemed a poor time to discuss it. “And when it happened last time?”

“Ugh,” Gallus groaned. “Grandpa Gruff was chasing me around the courtyard.”

Sandbar stomped a hoof. “Maybe that’s it!”

“…you want to threaten me with something I dislike until I magically vanish?”

“No, you drama griff, I mean-“ he cut off as something shimmered off to his side. “Ah! What is that?”

Gallus looked over, wary but altogether unconcerned. “Oh, that?” he gestured with a wing, “just a dream.”

Sandbar peered inside: The school’s library was draped with pink streamers, and the study tables had been pushed together to create a large seating area. Everycreature was in their finest dress wear, and sitting at the head of the table, in a luxurious blue dress… “Smolder?” Sandbar said, a laugh coloring his tone.

Gallus winged over, landing beside the pony. “Yup,” he said.

“You seem pretty unsurprised by this.”

“I was sworn to secrecy!” Gallus protested.

In the dream, Smolder took a dainty bite of cake and laughed airily with Ocellus. A very finely dressed pair of creatures entered the room. “Hey, that’s us!” Sandbar said.

“I’ve always thought I clean up nicely,” Gallus said. “Apparently Smolder agrees.”

Behind the dragon, dark tendrils twirled among the streamers. “Oh no,” the stallion said, pointing a hoof at the inky intrusions. He felt his heart begin to race. They looked far too similar to the snakes from his own disturbing dream. The tendrils gathered and coalesced until a huge, otherworldly form loomed behind the tea party. The exterior of the dark form twisted and shifted, until Sandbar couldn’t keep his eyes on it.

“Oh gaw,” Gallus, his voice trembling. “That must be him.”

Sandbar shuffled his hooves in fear. “The Nowhere King?” The form in the dream shook and shivered. “In there with Smolder?”

“I’ve gotta help her!” Gallus stood a step forward.

Sandbar held him back desperately. “You can’t! You said it yourself—you could die in there!”

“We can’t just leave our friend in there!”

“Then we’ve got to get out of here and wake her up!”

Gallus rounded on him. “If it was that easy, we’d already be back in the library!”

“No, listen, what I was going to say earlier,” Sandbar explained. “What you said just before you brought us here: about getting away. That’s probably what you felt when Gruff was chasing you too, right?”

“Yeah,” Gallus drawled. “So?”

“So what if we just need to do the reverse?” He took a deep breath. “Try to present, to be really focused on being home?” Sandbar hoped he right. Dear Celestia, he hoped he was right.

Gallus nodded slowly. “Okay. Okay, yeah, we can try that.”

The dream behind them filled with shadow. Smolder cried out. Sandbar couldn’t look.

The pony felt a claw on his arm. “Home,” he said.

“Back home,” Gallus agreed. “No running, no getting away, just back to school, and our friends, and our teachers and all the terrible homework, no matter how badly I don’t want to do it. Because I’m going to be there facing it. Because I’m going to be home with-“

Light, painfully bright, filled the space. Colors spasmed and twisted and flared. And stilled.

“-you.” Gallus gasped. “Holy crap, Sandbar, it worked!”

Sandbar whinnied and nearly cried in relief. He kissed Gallus, right there in the library. Then he gasped loudly.

“Smolder!” both creatures yelled at the same moment.

Ocellus screeched as the door to Smolder’s room came crashing open. She instinctively took on the form of a fearsome bear. And then her eyes focused on her two friends.

“What in the wide world?” she asked.

“Smolder!” Sandbar yelled.

“Wake her up!” the griffon shouted.

Ocellus glanced back at the bed. Smolder was twisting and grunting. Somehow, she hadn’t even noticed. The changeling gasped and she leapt down next to her dragon. “Smolder! Smolder, wake up!” She shook the dragon with her large bear claws.

Smolder spluttered and sat bolt upright.

“Are you okay?” Ocellus asked.

“We came as fast as we could,” Sandbar added.

Smolder blew out a long breath, little wisps of flame coloring the air. “I’m okay. Thank you,” she said.

“Was it… him?” Gallus asked.

Smolder nodded. “It was… different this time,” she said. “It started the same, and he grabbed me,” she shuddered. “But then he noticed my, uh,” her cheeks took on a dark hue, “my dress.”

The room fell silent. Ocellus reverted to her normal form. “Your dress?” she asked.

“Yeah,” the dragon said. “Then he just… he asked who I was. What kind of dragon I was.”

Ocellus felt her blood roil. “He does NOT get to judge you for being who you are.”

Sandbar nodded in agreement. Smolder shook her head. “No, I think… I mean, he stopped hurting me, then.” The dragon took another deep breath, letting it out slowly. “Then you guys woke me up.”

14 - Best Laid Plans

Princess Luna sealed the scroll in front of her with a quick flick of magic applied to the sealing wax. She rubbed the head of the gray opossum sitting to the side of the table. “Be easy, Tiberius,” she said. The little creature cooed softly, unaware of and thus unperturbed by his mistress’s plans. “I’ll be back shortly. I’ll be sure to have the kitchen prepare extra kibble for you before bed.” The opossum’s eyes lit up at the thought of food. Luna smiled and rang the bell at the back of her chambers.

After a moment, her loyal assistant opened the door. “Yes, Highness?”

“Please see that this scroll makes its way to my sister.”

The albino unicorn bowed. “Of course. Shall I wake her?”

Luna pursed her lips, considering. “Best not, I think. The morning shall suffice.”

“Of course, Princess. Is there anything else?”

Luna floated her crown onto her head. “Please have the kitchen prepare extra kibble for Tiberius. The dried fruit went over well, I think?” The opossum stood and made a grabbing gesture with his front paws. “Yes,” the alicorn smiled, “I thought so. Thank you, Astra.”

“Of course, Princess.”

Gallus drew a steadying breath. He was less nervous than the last time he had been standing in the same spot. That wasn’t saying much, he thought, considering the last time had involved Sandbar’s coming out to his parents in dramatic fashion. Still, incremental improvement was still improvement. Gallus rolled his eyes, realizing he was echoing one of Headmare Twilight’s lectures. That helped him fight past the last resistance of his nerves.

He raised a claw and rapped on the wooden door. After a few moments, he heard loud hoofsteps from inside the house. “One moment, I’m coming!” a voice called. Gallus stood up straight as the door opened. “Oh!” a middle-aged earth pony stallion said in surprise. “Gallus! What brings you here?”

“I’ve, uh, got a few questions about your family I was hoping you could answer.”

Beachcomber pulled the griffon into a quick, tight hug. “Of course!” the stallion said warmly. “You’re basically family now. Come in!” Gallus followed the stallion in, filled with a strange, queasy happiness at being welcomed as family.

Sandbar’s father gestured to the small couch to one side of the room. “Can I get you anything to drink? Water, juice?”

The griffon’s instinct was to refuse—griffons didn’t impose on their hosts, as a rule, but pony’s seemed to enjoy providing for their guests. “Water would be nice,” he said. Gallus felt strange being back in the house without Sandbar by his side.

Beachcomber nodded and walked off towards the kitchen. A few moments later he wandered back towards the living room, a small glass held in an upturned hoof. The stallion poked his head into a doorway to an adjacent room. “Sweetie, Sandbar’s griffon is here. You should come say hello if you get a minute.” Gallus heard a non-committal grunt in reply. Beachcomber handed the glass to Gallus, who took a slow sip.

“So!” the earth pony said, as he settled onto a large chair beside the couch, “family things, huh? What can I do for you?”

Gallus set the glass down carefully on a small side table. He felt his nerves return, suddenly. “You know how I feel about Sandbar,” he said.

Beachcomber smiled warmly. “And how he feels about you, yes! I must say I think you’re good for him. He’s come out of his shell, so to speak, since going to that school.”

Gallus gently toyed with the jade turtle necklace sitting against his chest. He was not going to get embarrassed just because some pony approved of his relationship. Even if Beachcomber wasn’t just any pony. “Well,” the griffon said, pausing to clear his throat, “he expressed his love to me the griffon way.” He held up the turtle in explanation. “And, uh, I want to return the favor. By asking for his hoof in marriage in the earth pony way.”

Beachcomber let out a loud whoop, startling Gallus. “Yes! My colt’s getting married!”

A yellow-muzzled mare’s face poked around a doorframe. High Tide’s eyes bored into Gallus. Gallus didn’t sense any malice, though, and no shocked despair, much unlike the last time he had seen Sandbar’s mother. She hadn’t taken her son’s announcement well at all.

Gallus swallowed roughly. “I just want to be sure I ask him the right way,” he said, addressing the stallion, “I’ve done a little digging, and it sounds like your family might do some kind of ceremonial flower exchange?”

Sandbar’s mother walked slowly into the room.

Beachcomber nodded. “Oh yes,” he said. “Both sides of our family are partial to flowers.” He tapped his front hooves on the arm of the chair. “I remember the night High Tide proposed like it was yesterday. She gave me the most delicious bouquet of day lilies and marigolds. Oh!” He said, as he noticed his wife step up beside him. “And what were those little purple ones, dear?”

High Tide gave the stallion a slow, small smile. “Bergamot.”

“Ah, yes! Those were good, too!”

“Crud, I should have brought a quill and paper,” Gallus said. “Was that lilies and marigolds? Are those the traditional flowers? Should I use those or something else?”

“You…” High Tide said slowly, turning her attention to the griffon. “You care about our traditions?”

Gallus nodded. “Well… yeah.” He shrugged. “They’re important to Sandbar, and he’s important to me, so…”

Sandbar’s mother pursed her lips. She turned to her husband. “You’re in my chair, dear. Go grab us my mom’s book on flower meanings?”

Beachcomber hopped up off the seat and wandered over to a nearby bookshelf.

High Tide sat down gingerly in the chair. She cleared her throat and then looked right at Gallus. Her gaze was still uneasy, but for the first time, Gallus thought he saw kindness there, too. The griffon sat up a little straighter. “If you’re going to do this,” she said, “let’s make sure you’re going to do it right.”

Shade shook her head. “This is absurd!” The unicorn backed away from the dark blue pegasus. “You claim to have found the amulet, but you need unicorn magic to retrieve it? Why?”

Midnight regarded her coldly. “Princess Luna appears to have layered several strong spells upon it for safekeeping.”

The unicorn balked. “I am no wizard,” she said, “I doubt my magic is strong enough to break an alicorn enchantment.”

Midnight chuckled dryly. “Unless you were physically present here, of course.”

The unicorn felt a chill speed down her spine. “No. Out of the question.” She shook her head fiercely. “Nothing you could say would convince me to put my life in danger.”

The pegasus turned away from her slowly. “Our King will be most disappointed to hear you have disobeyed his order.”

Shade felt as if she had been struck. She didn’t trust the pegasus as far as she could throw him, but she dared not risk disobedience if he was telling the truth. “Midnight, wait,” she said, keeping her voice level, “tell me where.”

Gallus groaned, laying his head down on the extended edition of Pillars and Possibilities. “You know what? Maybe I’ll just take a zero after all.”

Sandbar clucked his tongue. “Come on, don’t do that. Stygian’s tales not exciting enough for you? What’s wrong?”

The griffon gave his pony an irritated glare. “Other than the fact that I’m doing a book report on a weekend?”

The green stallion laughed. “Yes, besides that.” He flipped his comic book closed. “I’m here for moral support instead of hanging out at the lake with the others, right? If I can give that up, you can do a little catch-up work instead of napping. Not that hard, right?”

Gallus’ eyes turn on a wicked gleam. “Not hard at all, yet.”

Sandbar felt a twinge of excitement in his groin. “No. No! You are not sidetracking us with sex.”

The griffon fluttered his wings and let them settle back against his body. “Maybe I could work better with a little… incentive?”

Sandbar knew it was a bad idea—he was supposed to be helping Gallus study, not helping the griffon get his rocks off. On the other hoof… He shifted his position on their shared bed, until he was sitting back on his tailbone. His sheath poked out forward, just above his fuzzy balls.

Gallus made a low, growling sound, and made to stand up from his desk.

“No,” Sandbar said, gesturing him back with a hoof. “You have to keep working until that report is done. And done well! No sloppy work.” He fondled his orbs with his other hoof. “I’ll be here. Waiting for you.”

Gallus whimpered.

“Hush,” Sandbar said. “You said you wanted incentive. You don’t get to touch me until you’re done.” Sandbar felt his shaft peek out from its sheath. “Mm,” he said softly. “So keep working.”

“I don’t see how I’m supposed to focus with you moaning like that,” the griffon mumbled.

The earth pony laughed. He moved a hoof along the underside of his extending member. Sandbar was happy to see Gallus’ face buried in the book. The stallion began stroking a hoof up and down his length. The griffon glanced up for a brief moment and Sandbar gave him a wicked smile. That earned a frustrated grunt from Gallus.

Sandbar touched himself slowly. There was no rush, and he certainly didn’t intend to get off before his boyfriend finished his homework. Minutes past, and Sandbar rolled over onto his flank into a more comfortable position. He gave the tip of the dark staff a small squeeze, and clear fluid jetted out onto the bed. A low moan from the desk made Sandbar look up. Gallus had one claw under the desk, and it was moving slowly back and forth.

“How’s the reading going?” Sandbar asked.

Gallus groaned. “Are you sure I can’t just copy your paper?”

“Keep working,” he admonished. Light, though, he hoped the griffon worked quickly.

Sandbar rolled onto his back, letting a bit of sunlight from the window wash over his length. The glorious warmth felt so good. Almost like having a warm, furry griffon rubbing up against him. He felt himself surge and his staff flared. “Nrg,” he moaned. He had to calm down, or he was going to get too close too fast.

Gallus was going to make him pay for all the teasing. Sandbar smiled at the thought. Maybe the griffon would give him a good pounding. Light, he hadn’t had the griffon inside him since… had it been the Canterlot trip? He felt his shaft throb against his barrel as he remembered how the griffon had taken him in that gloriously soft bed.

“Okay, okay!” Gallus said, nearly screeching. “I finished reading. Can we fuck now?”

Sandbar shook his muzzle. “Write your report.”

Gallus whined. “That’ll take forever!”

“Headmare Twilight only wants a few paragraphs. Plus,” the pony continued, “that’ll give me time to get warmed up.”

“Fuck, Sandy,” the griffon said, openly ogling the puddle of clear fluid on the pony’s stomach. “You look pretty hot already.”

“Just get to work!” The pony teased. As the griffon turned his attention back to his desk, Sandbar leaned over the side of the bed. Where was it? After a few moments of shuffling, he found what he was looking for. He lifted a long object wrapped in a towel and set it beside himself on the bed.

Sandbar grabbed the lube from the bedside table and unrolled the towel. He smiled as he stared at the length of black rubber. He was familiar enough with his boyfriend’s dick now to see the subtle differences in shape and girth between it and the dildo beside him. He smeared the length in lube. The pony turned his head to see Gallus staring intently at him, but the griffon couldn’t see the dildo hidden on the other side of the pony’s body.

Sandbar lifted the rubber length dramatically, and Gallus crowed. “Holy shit!” the griffon cried, his wings shooting out behind him. “Where did you get that?”

Instead of answering, Sandbar pushed the tapered end of the faux griffon dick into his backside. He moaned loudly and felt his staff twitch. “Ohh fuck, Gally,” he whimpered. “You better finish that report quick.”

“Sonofabitch,” the griffon whimpered. Sandbar heard frantic scribbling.

The length slid in. Sandbar breathed slowly, letting his insides stretch to accommodate. He had only used the dildo once—right before Gallus had fucked him for the first time, and it had been a struggle. He was not surprised that he found it a much easier go since he’d had plenty of practice with the real thing.

The pony blew out several long, slow breaths and then pushed the dildo inward. He felt his ring stretch and the immense fullness of the rubber knot slid inside him. Sandbar moaned.

“Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck fuck fuck,” Gallus whined from his desk.

Sandbar’s glans flared and precum rushed out, wetting his chest fur. The earth pony shivered. He slowly moved a hoof along his length, every movement sending electric tingles down his entire length.

After a few minutes (maybe less, as Sandbar found it hard to focus on time with his hole filled), Gallus leapt away from the desk. His entire groin was soaking wet with precum, and his red, knotted cock throbbed beneath him. “Done!” he crowed.

The griffon flew at reckless speed to the bed. Sandbar smiled dopily up at his boyfriend. The griffon mashed his beak into the pony’s muzzle. They shared an intense, brief kiss before Gallus pulled away. “Get that fucking thing out of your ass so I can fuck you!” he commanded.

Sandbar shuddered in anticipation and pulled the end of the dildo. Once the knot cleared his ring, Gallus added his claw and pulled, popping the rubber out. “Holy shit yes,” the griffon mumbled. His claws gripped Sandbar’s flanks tightly and lifted the pony’s rear up off the bed. Sandbar felt the immediate sting of a rock-hard griffon cock pushing into him. Gallus pushed in fiercely, filing the pony up, until Sandbar felt the griffon’s knot pushed against his hole.

The pony’s staff flared and leaked as the griffon’s cock rubbed against his prostate.

Gallus pushed in.

“Aw! Fucking Light!” Sandbar cried. It was so much better than the dildo. The rubber didn’t throb and shift. And it wasn’t attached to a panting blue griffon who moaned and grunted in pleasure.

Gallus thrust, pushing their bodies together, their wetness and musk rubbing together when they joined. Sandbar bit his lip and tried to keep from coming immediately. The griffon flapped his wings, driving his body forward, mercilessly pushing his fully-inserted length into the pony with force. He would pull back, the knot dragging Sandbar’s body back with it.

Sandbar was flared. His cock sprayed his fur with clear fluid every time the griffon pushed in. “G-Gallus,” he moaned. He was going to cum.

Gallus had a fevered look in his eyes. The griffon pounded away, shaking their two bodies in unison. The pressure built inside Sandbar. He felt the ache build and build and-

“Fuuuuck,” the pony moaned loudly. His dark gray shaft twitched and lurched and a torrent of his own cum suddenly flooded his open muzzle. He shook and gasped as his insides cramped and released, spilling his seed over his face and onto his barrel. Onto the bedsheets beside him and up onto the headboard, as his body bounced in Gallus’ grip.

The griffon crowed, throwing his head back and screeching. Warmth flooded Sandbar’s insides. Gallus’ thrusts slowed in speed but gained in intensity. Sandbar could feel the griffon’s cum rush into him after each fierce push. “Oh Light, oh Liiiight,” the pony whimpered.

Gallus slowed and finally slumped forward, letting Sandbar’s back down onto the bed again. The griffon’s chest landed wetly on the stallion’s spent seed. His thin tongue snaked out stealthily and lapped at the mess.

Sandbar blushed and sighed happily.

“That,” Gallus said after a few shaky breaths, “was probably the worst paper I’ve ever written.”

The pair laughed happily, laying together in post-coital bliss.

Luna stepped through the small portal, letting the magic unravel as she entered the Umbral Realm. She gritted her teeth. There were so few things that scared her—a lifetime as a Princess and an alicorn had taught her to handle most threats with ease. A nearby tree swayed in the non-existent breeze, and Luna nearly jumped out of her skin. She drew a long, slow breath of air and chided herself for being ridiculous. The Umbral Realm was her second home, her domain. She had spent nearly as much time here as in the real world.

The panic fled as she held that breath. But the worry remained. Luna could not ignore that she was in her domain in the flesh. The shapes were sharper, the ground beneath her hooves more substantial. The threats to her body more substantial.

She blew out the breath and shook her head. She was wasting time. She shifted her presence to the Castle. Or she tried.

“Oh, this is most frustrating,” she muttered. No way to shift so easily with her real body. She nearly teleported herself before she remembered what the young griffon had done. She could not move, but she could control the Realm itself. The ground between the alicorn and the horizon snapped downward and the distant ground rushed to meet her. Luna stepped across and the land behind her snapped back into place. She repeated the process, covering enormous spans of distance with every step. She laughed lightly. Surely much different than she usually traveled here, but delightful in its own way.

A few more steps, and she reached the ancient castle.

A yellow glow filled the window of the room that held the amulet. Luna’s breath caught and she took wing. As she approached, she heard voices.

“Where, Midnight? I don’t see anything there. I swear to Celestia’s tits, if you made this up as a lark, I will have your feathers!”

Luna saw two figures in the room, both looking toward the small cabinet where the amulet hid. Both ponies wore dark cloaks with swirling patterns. “YOU!” the alicorn boomed, using the Canterlot voice. The pegasus was the same one she had chased out of the young stallion’s dream. She lit her horn and prepared to strike the villain. The ponies’ heads whipped around. Too late, as Luna released a powerful bolt of energy.

Something heavy and fast knocked the princess from where she hovered. Luna hit the ground hard, as the magical bolt of energy ripped through the ceiling instead of its intended target. Luna gasped for air. A large, silver-furred earth pony lay astride her. The stallion kicked one hoof swiftly. Luna flinched, the pain flooding her brain with panic.

“It’s the Princess!” the unicorn shouted.

“I see that!” the pegasus snarled. “Get the damn amulet!”

“Oy!” Luna heard the pony on top of her cry out. “A little help?”

Luna snapped a defensive ward into place as the stallion kicked again. He yowled in pain as his hoof met an indestructible shield. Luna sucked in air, refilling her lungs.

The pegasus bit and tore at his cloak. He flapped his wings, sending the cloak skyward.

Luna pushed the ward outward, using the magic to shove the earth pony away from her.

The fabric in the air shivered and trembled.

Luna dropped the ward and took aim at her earth pony assailant with her horn. The dark gray unicorn yelled something, and a yellow shield appeared between the alicorn and the earth pony. Luna nearly laughed. Her magic would rip through a weak shield like a spear through paper.

A horrific tearing sound filled the air. The cloak swelled and bloomed, its awful shapes stretching to fill the room. A monstrous, horned head appeared. After the merest moment legs, arms, and wings followed.

Luna switched her aim, turning her horn on this new monstrosity. A white-hot bar of energy erupted from her horn. The emerging horror writhed and the air around it shimmered. Luna’s magic attached twisted impossibly, curving as no magical attack could ever do, flying harmlessly around the creature.

“Inconceivable!” the alicorn cried.

“NIGHTMARE MOON!” the sound tore at the air, shaking the room in which they stood.

“Cage her!” somepony shouted.

Luna growled, hating this impossible creature who dared misname her. Green fury erupted from her horn: Balefire—a forbidden spell, one that tore at the reality of the plane.

The behemoth swallowed the green light in its claws. It shuddered but remained unmoved.

A splitting pain ripped through the alicorn’s mind. Great steel bars suddenly surrounded her body. Luna kicked violently with her back hooves. The steel cage rang and shook, and Luna doubled over with pain as light and sound lanced through her brain.

“Ya got ‘er!” The earth pony stallion shouted.

“Shut up and help me hold her, Crow!”

The steel bars suddenly flashed with laced gold. Dark, obsidian thorns sprouted a moment later. “Now this is delicious!” the haughty voice of the pegasus added.

Luna heard her breaths coming in panicked gulps. She realized now what they had done. This was some form of mind cage.

“I KNOW YOU.” The shattering voice sounded almost pensive. “SLEEP,” it commanded harshly.

Luna felt a wave of exhaustion hit her. Her knees buckled and she fell to the ground. Her mind sagged and slowed, but she fought to keep her eyes open. She had no doubt only her physical presence allowed to resist even as much as she did.

“Nowhere King,” the pegasus said proudly, “the Amulet of Waking is here, in that cabinet.” Luna hated him. Hated his smirking face. “I brought Shade to break the enchantments.”

“NO NEED,” the Nowhere King roared. “HOLD THE CAGE.”

The three ponies surrounded Luna’s cage, their faces tight with concentration. The Nowhere King turned to the cabinet. A faint glow of cerulean magic sprang from its head.

Luna gasped, fighting sleep as it tried to overtake her. That was unicorn magic.

Darkness snuffed her consciousness.

15 - Nightmare's End

Gallus entered the throne room nervously. He followed a step behind Headmare Twilight. “Princess Celestia,” the smaller alicorn said, bowing low. Gallus hastily drew himself down into a similar pose. “We came as quickly as we could. What’s wrong?”

Princess Celestia motioned for them to stand. She levitated a small scroll towards them.

Twilight Sparkle accepted the scroll in her own magical grip, the air surrounding the paper shifting from yellow to pink. Gallus fought the urge to read over her shoulder. “Oh,” his headmare said simply. “And she hasn’t returned yet?” Princess Celestia shook her head slightly. “Oh no. Oh no, this is bad,” Twilight muttered. She turned to face Gallus, a worried look coloring her features.

The griffon swallowed roughly and waited to hear the bad news.

Something was throbbing in Luna’s head. The susurrating whispers of pain stirred her back to consciousness, and she opened her eyes. She immediately regretted the decision. Three ponies in dark, shape-melting capes sat around the edge of the glittering mind cage in which she sat.

“She’s awake,” the unicorn said. Luna looked in the mare’s direction, and the pony flinched, her eyes darting towards the ground.

Luna tested the boundaries of the cage with a prodding hoof. She was met with a small stab of a headache for her efforts.

“It’s quite secure, I assure you,” the rich-voiced pegasus said calmly.

Luna turned her glare on him. “You are much braver now that I am bound,” she observed. The pegasus’ eyes narrowed tightly. Good, Luna thought, his pride would make him sloppy.

Luna raised her right forehoof and tapped the edge of the cage, wincing at the resulting pain. As she flinched, she moved her left back hoof to the lower side of the cage and pushed gently. It was hard to tell over the searing assault on her brain from the first tap, but she didn’t think the steady pressure created any feedback. Which was good, but not enough with three ponies watching her.

“What spell activates the Amulet?” the unicorn asked calmly as she looked back up at the alicorn. Luna saw worry in her face.

The Princess gave an undignified snort in response.

The dark-coated unicorn sighed and shifted her posture uncomfortably. She waved a hoof at the large earth pony stallion sitting to her side. The earth pony stood and turned his backside to the cage. Luna’s eyes went wide, and she gritted her teeth, realizing what was coming. The stallion kicked the cage with his back legs.

Though less direct that the pain created when she prodded her own cage, the full impact of a grown stallion’s bucking legs made Luna’s head throb, the cage magically transferring the vibrations directly into her own brain.

It was a crazy idea. Pure, unadulterated madness, but Twilight Sparkle couldn’t see another way that they could rescue Princess Luna. “Princess Celestia,” she said, addressing her friend and mentor, “I agree. But it can’t be you who goes. Equestria can’t afford to lose both its rulers.”

The great white alicorn was quiet. To everypony else, it likely seemed stoic—Twilight, though, caught the little, almost imperceptible shifts in Celestia’s face that told her the cascade of emotions the ancient alicorn was working through. After a moment, she nodded her head. “Though it disturbs me greatly to not personally see to this task, I have the utmost faith in you, my most faithful student.”

Twilight felt herself blush. She never grew accustomed to Celestia’s praise, though the older alicorn was far from stingy with it.

The young griffon beside her shifted his stance nervously. Twilight drew herself up and turned to face Gallus. “And I, in turn, have every faith in my students.” She put an enormous effort into sounding confident. She was not even a little certain of a positive outcome, but she saw no reason to share those doubts with Gallus, and every reason not to do so.

“Remember the plan,” Gallus had said. Sandbar shifted uneasily from hoof to hoof. “I have no idea what this guy can do, but the ponies that help him are bad enough.”

Sandbar nestled down into some bushes just outside the Castle of the Two Sisters, cursing his luck. They had split up to cover the most ground possible in the Umbral Realm, and after spending what felt like hours wandering from city to town to lonely mountaintop, Sandbar had somehow come across the villains first. He touched the small bead hanging beside Gallus’ feather on his necklace. The translucent bed let out a small pulse of light and then fell dark, its form disintegrating into dust. Sweet Sunlight, he hoped it worked as intended.

A tortured cry ripped through the air. The earth pony’s ears swiveled forward to the castle. It had to be Princess Luna. He found his hooves moving him forward. He had to help if she was hurt. He crept forward, nearer and nearer to the castle. The sound of something hard striking metal created a ringing sound, that was quickly followed by a pained yelp.

The sounds were coming from a room on the upper levels. Sandbar bit his lip. What he wouldn’t give for wings once in a while. He spotted a crumbled portion of a wall, though, that led up that direction. Swallowing past his fear, he approached the ancient wall.

The earth pony made his ascent carefully, and as quietly as possible. One hoof after another after another. Whimpering yelps and pained cries gave him the courage to keep climbing.

Somehow, some way, he finally made it. A small lip of stone let him walk along the exterior of the room, below a great, half-collapsed window. He peeked within. Princess Luna lay sprawled within a large cage, her head lying limply on one leg.

“Shade,” a large, gray coated stallion complained, “All this kickin’s makin’ me hungry. Why don’t you take a turn?”

The unicorn beside the stallion eyed him coolly. “Why don’t you try not being hungry? That’s a possibility here, remember?”

“Focus, fools,” a resonant voice commanded.

Sandbar felt his blood run cold. He knew that voice: the pony from his nightmare. He backed away and slipped on a loose stone.

“What was that?” A voice asked anxiously.

“ANOTHER INTERLOPER,” a thunderous voice boomed. Sandbar flinched and tried to back away quickly down the slope. The wall beside him ripped away, collapsing inward into the room. The earth pony fell to his knees and stared up into the face of terror—a huge monster with skin of shifting planes. Sandbar whinnied in fear.

“Sandbar!” the pegasus pony from his nightmare said, false warmth coloring his tone. “He accompanies the dreaming griffon, Great Nightmare.”

“NO MATTER,” the Nowhere King bellowed. A silver cage, much like the one around Luna, appeared around Sandbar.

“LITTLE PONIES,” the monster said, sounding amused. Sandbar struggled to escape the cage that had sprung up around him. He threw his body against the bars. All he got for his efforts was a splitting headache. The pony slumped, realizing it was no use. He was no match for the Nowhere King.

“YOU HAVE LOST,” the booming voice announced, the words shaking Sandbar’s entire body. “I HAVE CAGED THE MOON, THE MOST POWERFUL OF DREAMERS. YOU ARE ALONE AND POWERLESS.”

Sandbar lay of hoof on Gallus’ feather. He remembered what the griffon and Twilight had told him. He focused all his thoughts, all his needs. “My friends!” Sandbar screamed. He held onto a singular desperate hope that his boyfriend had been right.

In an instant, Gallus appeared by his side, just outside the cage. Then five more blue griffons appeared. Twenty. A hundred: All smiling and laughter as they ripped apart the Nowhere King’s cage around Sandbar. Suddenly Yonas appeared, the yaks growling and stomping and tripping over their braids. Ocelli, Silverstreams, and Smolders poured into the Realm by the hundreds, appearing from nothing until the space around the Nowhere King was crowded with shades of Sandbar’s friends. Sandbar smiled gratefully, deliriously happy for the help. The Nowhere King reared back, seemingly wary of this explosion of visions. Sandbar’s teachers began to appear. Headmare Twilight, leading the way, her friends and faculty triumphantly hollering and cheering loudly. A million variants of the heroes of Equestria struck heroic poses and stared fiercely at the Great Nightmare and his pony sycophants.

The three cloaked ponies stood warily, glancing between the thousands of newcomers, but the Nowhere King laughed darkly. “CHILD, YOU THINK TO SCARE ME WITH THESE SHADES?” He waved a huge, dark-taloned claw to his side, and the shades of his friends and teachers in the claw’s path faded away into darkness. “THESE TRICKS ARE IMPRESSIVE FOR ONE OF YOUR MEAGER SKILL. BUT THEY WILL NOT SAVE YOU.”

“You don’t get it,” Sandbar replied, a hint of amusement coloring the fear in his voice. “I’m never alone. My love, my friendship—it’ll always see me through.”

“SEE THROUGH THIS!” The Nowhere King roared, waving arms dramatically and throwing open his horrific, torn wings. The shades in the path of the motion withered and vanished. The scale of his power was terrifying. But Sandbar smiled suddenly, watching as a few of the shades dug in their hooves and claws, resisting the ethereal shear of the Nowhere King’s claws.

One of the few remaining Gallus shades rode the wave of the Nowhere King’s destructive attack, sliding back towards Sandbar. The earth pony watched the griffon’s talons slowly release the umbral dirt. Gallus put a claw on the pony’s shoulder, and his eyes shone with love. Sandbar’s heart soared, knowing Gallus was there with him—that he was no mere shade. “I love you,” he whispered.

“Awaken!” Gallus commanded, clapping his claws together.

The shockwave of the clap shattered the remaining shades of their friends, all except one of each.

The shades that remained blinked slowly, their eyes suddenly clear and bright. The faculty of the School of Friendship and their most accomplished students shook away the slumber that had clouded their eyes, disguising them as mere shades.

“WHAT?” the Nowhere King yelled. “NO!”

The Great Nightmare raised his claws, but too late. Sandbar smiled, feeling his connection with Gallus and his friends take physical form. The magic of Harmony was far too powerful for any one creature, no matter how legendary or frightening. Twice that balanced harmony from two powerful sets of friends, could move mountains. A massive coruscating wave of rainbow magic crashed into the Nowhere King. Even the most deadly of Nightmares stood no chance.

The Nowhere King screamed in fear and agony, the rapidly-shifting lines of his spectral form shattering. The Great Nightmare shrank, the Light of Friendship washing away every artifice that made him terrifying.

Until all the remained where the Nowhere King had stood was a scrawny-looking yellow dragon and a starved, black unicorn mare. The dragon cowered before the united friends and backed along the ground. A snarl curled his mouth around a cluster of sharp teeth. The unicorn wobbled on her hooves and promptly fell to the ground unconscious, her fire-red mane splayed about her face.

“You fools!” The dragon yelled, his voice mild and meager and scared. “What have you done?”

Gallus summoned a mirror from the ether and held it up to the dragon. “My job,” he said with immense pride. “I destroyed a nightmare to help you remember your true self.”

The dragon glanced at his reflection and immediately flinched. “A weak, useless dragon.”

Sandbar laughed nervously. “It took two sets of friends and the magic of Friendship to lay you low, I’d hardly call you weak.”

Princess Twilight approached slowly, her horn lit with pink magic. She glanced between the dragon and the unconscious unicorn mare. “What Sandbar says is true. You are a formidable dragon.” Her voice was cautious but optimistic. “Imagine what you could do in friendship instead of in rage.”

The dragon swiped a small claw in her direction. “Fool,” he cursed, “dragons don’t do ‘friendship.’”

A plume of fire filled the air and Smolder landed aggressively in front of her friends. “Maybe we didn’t use to,” she said harshly, “but you’re an idiot if you don’t see how powerful friendship is.”

Ocellus fluttered down timidly by the dragon’s side. She lay her head on the dragon’s shoulder, her eyes still warily watching the small dragon. “And love.”

From within a broken cage, Princess Luna stood on shaky legs. The movement caught the Nowhere King’s attention. “Moon pony!” he said in fear. He raised a claw in defense and began to shift away, his form beginning to fade. Gallus grunted and held up a claw. A luminescent cage suddenly surround the dragon. The griffon’s will held the dragon firm, bringing him back to solid form.

Luna’s eyes went wide as she spotted the dark unicorn on the ground. She turned her attention to the dragon, stepping towards the once Nowhere King. “I overestimated my own skills and dismissed yours. I attacked you without even knowing you, and for that I am sorry.” She offered a hoof through the bars of the cage in a friendly gesture. The dragon looked at it skeptically. He stood, slowly, and touched it with a closed fist.

“You offer me sympathy? Why?”

Gallus cleared his throat, getting the yellow dragon’s attention. “You could have killed Luna—instead you put her in a cage. You could have done the same to Sandbar when he was alone.” He wrapped the pony in a wing. Sandbar laughed nervously, only then fully realizing how much danger he had been in.

Luna nodded. “From all we have heard, you never hurt any creature—scared them half to death, maybe, but never really hurt anyone. I do not think you a monster. Believe me when I say I understand how sometimes the worst of ourselves can control us. Fear and loathing can make us think we are something we are not. Until we have a friend remind us of our better selves.” She directed a radiant smile at Twilight, who blushed fiercely.

Smolder put her claws on her hips. “The Dragon Lord could use a Dream Strider like you.” She paused. “If, you know, you stop giving everyone nightmares.”

The yellow dragon frowned. “He would accept a weakling Dreamer in his Court?”

A puff of smoke jetted from Smolder’s nostrils. “She, dumbass, and yeah. Dragon Lord Ember’s helping us figure out all new ways of being powerful—we’re more than teeth and claws.”

Tears suddenly filled the tawny dragon’s eyes. “I could go home?”

“Perhaps,” Princess Luna said imperiously. “First, though, there is a great deal you for which you and Lilith must answer.” Sandbar heard Gallus gasp in surprise. Luna’s horn lit and levitated the unconscious black unicorn into the air. “I believe you each have much to tell us. Starting with the identities of your erstwhile Dream Striders.” Sandbar noticed with a shock that the ponies in the dark capes were gone. They must have slipped away during the fight.

After Gallus and Luna had returned everyone to the physical realm, the griffon and his boyfriend had decided to walk back from the forest instead of taking Twilight’s offer of teleportation. “I’ve been thinking about home” Sandbar said, interrupting the griffon’s thoughts.

“What, like your parent’s place?” Gallus asked, clearly confused.

The pony shrugged. “Sort of. I’ve been thinking how that’s, ya know, not really home anymore.”

Gallus nodded. He thought he could understand the sentiment, but then, he had never really felt that attached to any part of Griffonstone. “What about it, though?”

“Well, it just…” Sandbar seemed to struggle with his words. “When I touched your feather in the Umbra…” Gallus felt his heart warm at the mention of the necklace. He touched the jade turtle around his neck and let his pony think. “You said to think of you and hold one word in my head.”

Gallus nodded. “Yeah. I’m just glad it worked like Twilight thought. The Realm seems to bend to our will when we’re there—using Twilight’s little magic locator bead focused that ability. I thought that if you cleared your mind of everything except one thought, one word, maybe it would make it easier for me to find you and bring everyone else along.”

Sandbar’s face flushed red beneath his eyes. “I know.” He stopped and looked at Gallus. “And when I was reaching out to you, that word I thought of, the one thing I kept in my head—that word was ‘Home.’”

Gallus’ stomach dropped and he felt tears spring to his eyes. He reached a claw over and touched his pony’s face. He loved this silly green pony more than he ever could have imagined. It was time, he realized. There would never be a more perfect moment.

Gallus blew out a shaky breath. He reached into the small bag hanging at his side. He pulled out a pink day lily. His claw was shaking as he moved it front of Sandbar’s muzzle. “F-for now,” he said.

Sandbar gasped and his eyes went wide at hearing the traditional offer.

“Don’t cry,” the griffon commanded in an uneven voice. “I’m already about to lose it.”

The earth pony opened his mouth and took a bite of the flower. Gallus’ heart raced.

He reached back into the bag and pulled out a clawful of various plant seeds. He offered them to Sandbar. “For later,” he said.

The earth pony was crying. Gallus felt his own eyes getting wet.

“Forever!” Sandbar said, taking the seeds and gathering Gallus into a tight hug. The griffon gave his pony several small kisses on his neck.

“Did I do it right?” Gallus asked.

Sandbar pulled back and grinned wildly. “You did great,” he said enthusiastically, wiping the tears from his face. He kissed the griffon passionately. “Although…”

Gallus groaned. “What?”

“Giving me ten kinds of seeds would usually mean you hoped we’d have at least five kids.”

“WHAT?” the griffon squawked.

“Don’t worry,” the pony replied with a laugh, “I don’t think either of us is getting knocked up anytime soon.”

Gallus made an effort to settle his startled feathers. He cleared his throat. “Maybe we could go give it a try anyway, though?”

Sandbar smiled blissfully, a small glint of mischief in his eyes. “That sounds amazing, future husband.”

Gallus’ heart fluttered mightily, and he pulled the pony into another long, passionate kiss.

16 - Dinner & Interrupted Plans

Gallus nodded to the large bat pony as he entered the Lunar Court. The guard rolled his eyes but made no move to block the griffon’s advance. Gallus looked around—still impressed by the grandeur of the space, but far less nervous than he had been the first time there. Princess Luna stood at the far end of the Court, a small black-coated unicorn by her side, an ugly iron ring surrounding her horn. Lilith shook her head fiercely at something Luna said, and her eyes shone brightly. Gallus paused, unwilling to intrude, but the tall alicorn waved him forward.

“There will be time enough later to discuss the damage you and the dragon Obsidian have wrought,” Luna said coolly. Her tone thawed somewhat as she continued, however. “The kitchens will see you fed—It would be most disappointing to lose you to undernourishment after surviving nearly a millennium in Dream Stasis.”

The unicorn gave Gallus a sidelong glance before nodding her head. A Lunar Guard stepped forward to escort the unicorn from the room. Luna stood stoically until the door closed, then she breathed a heavy sigh.

Gallus spotted a large, engraved opal hanging from a golden necklace around Princess Luna’s neck. “That’s the thing the Nowhere King was after, then?”

Luna touched the amulet with a hoof, lifting it up. The stone shimmered in the light. “Indeed. The Amulet of Waking.”

“It’s beautiful,” the griffon observed. “What does it do?”

Luna let the stone fall back against her chest. “It bridges realities. Weakens the liminal walls and permits passage between the Realms.”

Gallus shivered. “So, like what I do.”

“Yes,” Luna agreed, “but more powerfully. With a simple spell, I could bring dreams or nightmares through into the waking world. They would likely unravel soon enough, but not before real damage was done.”

Gallus nodded, following her logic. “Yeah, I don’t want to imagine what the Nowhere King would have done with it.” Though, he also found himself wondering what kind of beautiful things a creature could make true.

“I should have destroyed it long ago. I will make arrangements with my sister to do so.” She sounded sad. “Thankfully,” the princess continued, “we need not worry about the Nowhere King any more, given you and your friends’ efforts. Obsidian is returned to the Dragon Lands, and Lilith awaits my judgment.”

“It’s unbelievable she survived at all, no matter the form. Nearly a thousand years in the Umbral Realm,” Gallus said, disbelief coloring his tone. “I can’t imagine what that would be like.”

Luna’s muzzle twisted sourly. “Much like being banished to the Moon, I expect.”

Gallus flinched. He had flown right into that one. He had forgotten all about Luna’s history. “I’m sorry, Princess.”

Luna waved away the words. “Unnecessary, though appreciated. And Lilith will adapt as she always did.” She shook her head, a smile slowly tugging at the ends of her mouth. “A thousand years without Dream Striders, and suddenly so many. Assuming, of course, I can rehabilitate Lilith.”

Gallus shrugged. “And assuming the dragons can control theirs.”

Luna gave him a small smile. “Do the griffons control theirs, then?”

Gallus blushed. “I don’t think griffons control anything very well, much less something they’ve never seen before. Besides, I’m my own griff.”

“Indeed. You live here, among my subjects. You learn from a Princess in her School.”

“I’m marrying a pony,” Gallus muttered.

Luna’s smile told him she had heard. “Felicitations,” she said warmly. Her eyes traveled up and down his face. “Given your attachments here, together with my apparent need to rebuild the Dream Strider ranks, I feel it best that I ask for a formal pledge of your loyalty, Gallus of Griffonstone.”

Gallus paused, considering. This kind of commitment felt smothering, overwhelming. And yet his mind flashed back to the first days of school. Meeting Twilight Sparkle and all his friends. The halls full of ponies and other creatures. That had been scary and overwhelming, too. He raised his head, looking directly in Princess Luna’s eyes. “I think, Princess, that you’ve had my loyalty from the start.” He went down on his front legs, as he had seen ponies do. “My skills are yours to employ.”

Luna inclined her head in acknowledgment. “I will have the Clerks draft a formal announcement and remittance. If there is anything you would have of me as a boon, merely speak it, and I will see it done.”

“Actually,” Gallus drawled, letting his reluctance show. “I have an idea, if you can delay your plans just a little…”

“Okay!” Silverstream said, marshaling her troops. “Remember: Yona and Ocellus, you’ve got Sandbar. Smolder, you’re with me for Gallus.”

The changeling raised a slim hoof. “I’m sorry, I know you explained this before, but why are we separating them? I just don’t think I’m getting it.”

“That’s a first,” the orange dragon said, elbowing Ocellus in the side. The changeling blushed shyly.

“It’s a bachelor party!” The hippogriff said in exasperation. “It’s their last night as single creatures. They’ve gotta go out and live it up before they’re chained to each other permanently!”

“Yak thought that was point.”

“Well. Yes,” the pink hippogriff conceded. “But it’s tradition!”

“Not yak tradition.”

“Personally, I like the dragon tradition of claw-to-claw combat,” Smolder said. She grimaced as the changeling at her side winced. “Aw, don’t worry, Ocellus, I’m sure you could hold your own.”

“It’s pony tradition!” Silverstream said. She sat down and crossed her claws in front of her chest. “Now are you girls helping or not?”

“Yeah, whatever.”

“Yona always help support tradition.”

“Of course. We’re sorry for interrupting, Silver.”

“Good!” She hopped up and flapped her wings, taking to the air. “Let’s get going, then, before they get settled in for the night.” The four friends nodded to each other and split into their respective groups.

* * * * *

Silverstream glided down the dorm hall. “What are you guys doing here?”

Yona grunted. “Sandbar decided to take food back to dorm—he not at restaurant like you thought.”

Ocellus looked up at the hippogriff. “What are you guys doing here? Wasn’t Gallus at the gym?”

Smolder shook her head. “November Rain said he cut out early.”

The four friends reached the guys’ dorm room door and stopped short.

The walls of the School of Friendship were traditionally constructed, but had been reinforced with crystal from Princess Twilight’s nearby castle. As such, the soundproofing of the student rooms was exceptional. No one would hear anything that happened inside a dorm room. Unless that creature was standing directly in front of the plain, wooden door.

“Mmm.”

Silverstream dropped to the ground and slapped a wing over her beak at the muffled sound of Sandbar’s moan.

“Oh, Sandbar,” she heard Gallus reply, his voice thick with pleasure. “Oh gaw, that’s so good.”

“Yona suddenly need to visit her bunk,” the yak said as she sidled away from the group quickly.

Silversteam felt her face flush in embarrassment.

“Ooookay, I’m gonna go,” Smolder said.

“You want some more of that?” Sandbar’s voice said through the door.

“Ohmygosh,” Silversteam muttered, feeling a sudden heat in her hindquarters.

“Wait, wait, wait,” Ocellus said, drawing in a deep breath. “Girls, it’s okay.”

The hippogriff gave a tittering laugh. “I… don’t think spying on our friends is okay.”

Gallus moaned, loud even through the shut door. Silverstream was going to need some alone time, immediately.

The changeling gave her a wry smile before raising a hoof and knocking on the door.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” Silversteam shouted in horror.

After a moment, the door opened, and the hippogriff was hit with an amazing, aromatic smell. “Whoa,” Sandbar said, looking between an agitated Silverstream and amused Ocellus. “Hey guys, we got these amazing sautéed wild mushrooms. You want to try some?”

Gallus leaned into their field of view, a fork in one claw. “I’d get ‘em quick before this pony devours the whole plate!”

Silverstream laughed manically.

“Of course,” Ocellus agreed happily. “Thank you for sharing!” She waved a hoof back down the hall. “Okay if I grab the other girls too?”

Sandbar lounged on his side in bed, his shoulder leaning up against Gallus’ hip. Silverstream sat on the griffon’s other side, noisily licking her talons. “Those were so good!” She said in between lewd-sounding slurps.

“Yeah, I’ve gotta admit,” Smolder said from her spot on the floor, “for veggie eaters, you ponies can make some tasty stuff.”

Yona, sitting in front of the door made an offended sound. “Yaks not eat flesh and still best cooks!”

“Ooh,” Silverstream said, drawing their friends’ attention back to her. “You all should try the fish dishes when you come visit Seaquestria! My mom makes an amazing salmon meuniere.”

Sandbar felt his stomach churn in discomfort.

Gallus gave a short bark of a laugh. “Griffons may not cook much, but, dang, I’d give a wing to get a big ol’ plate of bacon again.”

“Oh Light, ew,” the earth pony muttered. He noticed Yona looked similarly distraught.

“Sorry, sorry,” Gallus said, laying a claw on the pony’s side. “I forget how sensitive you guys are about meat eating. I’ve gotta remember half our friend group is vegan.”

“Technically,” a soft voice said, “less than half.”

Smolder tilted her head down to the changeling drone sitting in her lap. “Are you serious?”

Ocellus shrugged. “We get most of our sustenance through emotion, but we used to supplement in all sorts of ways. Animal and bug protein was a quick fix, a lot of times.”

“That’s so fuckin’ hot,” the dragon said lustily. Ocellus ducked her head in embarrassment, hiding under one of Smolder’s wings.

“Wow,” the hippogriff said, “so Sandbar and Yona, you’re the only two who don’t eat meat? Huh.”

Gallus laughed. “You shouldn’t include Sandbar.” The pony gave him a questioning look that was mirrored by his other friends. “I mean, the way he eats my meat...” Sandbar felt his eyes go wide in surprise.

Their friends laughed raucously, with the exception of Yona, who just squirmed on her hindquarters. “Hungry little pony,” the griffon said, his voice low. Sandbar felt heat rising in his cheeks.

Sandbar felt the griffon’s talons slide down his belly. The earth pony felt a naughty thrill as Gallus brushed the sensitive skin of his sheath. The griffon’s movement was slow and subtle. Sandbar’s lower half was turned towards the wall, his body shielding his friends’ views, preventing them from seeing his body react to Gallus’ touch.

“So what brought you girls over, anyway?” Gallus asked.

“Oh! Right!” The hippogriff piped up. “Bachelor party!”

One of the griffon’s talons rubbed gently down Sandbar’s stiffening sheath.

The earth pony shivered from the touch. He hoped his friends took it as a reaction to the party idea. “I should have told you guys: we’re skipping that tradition. After all the craziness of the last few weeks, I don’t think either of us is up for any carousing.”

Silverstream looked a little crestfallen, but the other girls just shrugged.

Yona clambered to her hooves and opened the door. “Pony and griffon will have best wedding tomorrow. Yona make sure of it!”

Silverstream hopped off the bed and flew towards the door. “Well, maybe I’ll just go bachelor partying myself,” the hippogriff said.

“Yak pretty sure that not how it works.”

As Yona and Silverstream left, in the midst of their good-natured argument, Sandbar felt Gallus’ talon continue to tease his emerging staff. He bit his lip. The pony watched Ocellus twist her head up and whisper something to Smolder.

“Welp!” the dragon said, climbing to her feet. She eased Ocellus off her lap. “We’re gonna get going.”

A hint of purple crept into the changeling’s cheeks. “You boys have fun now.”

Gallus’ arm zipped away from Sandbar’s groin, and the pony buried his face in the blankets. Smolder laughed bawdily as she and Ocellus left.

“I keep forgetting she can feel when I’m horny,” the griffon said in embarrassment.

“Isn’t that basically always, though?” Sandbar teased.

Gallus turned to glare at him. “Is that how you’re going to talk to your betrothed?”

“Not after tomorrow,” the earth pony replied, putting a hoof around the griffon’s neck. “Then that’ll be how I’ll talk to my husband.”

Gallus nuzzled his cheek. “I love you,” the griffon whispered. “I can’t wait to be your husband.”

The warmth of the griffon’s words filled him and satisfied him like the world’s best Hearthswarming cake. “Good thing you’ve only got to wait, oh, 20 hours.” The pony kissed Gallus’ beak. “And really, we’re gonna be sleeping for, like, 8 of those hours. So more like 12, I guess.” He pondered for a moment. “And with all the stuff we have to do tomorrow morning to get ready, it probably won’t leave much time to think about waiting.” Sandbar felt a sharp nip of a beak closing on a small bit of skin. “Ow!” he said, leaning away from the griffon.

“If you’ll hush for a moment, maybe you’d like to hear a suggestion about how we spend a few of those hours tonight?” One claw stroked the fur on the side of the pony’s chest.

The earth pony blushed and smiled widely. “I like the way you think.”

“Probably one of the reasons you’re gonna marry me,” Gallus said confidently.

The griffon pulled Sandbar into a deep kiss. The pony felt the griffon’s thin tongue push into his mouth. Firmly, but not desperate or rushing. Sandbar rubbed a hoof down the griffon’s side, under his wing. He kissed back, letting his own tongue move around and on top of Gallus’. He felt his cock begin to slide from its sheath. They broke their kiss, their faces pulling apart. Gallus pushed Sandbar backward, and the pony smiled, letting himself fall onto his back, his dark, half-hard shaft wobbling in the air. He snuck a peek at Gallus’ cock—he loved looking, even though he was intimately familiar with its size and shape and smell and taste… Sandbar felt more blood flow into his own cock from thinking about his lover’s package. Gallus leaned forward, his beak going to the root of the towering stallion penis. The griffon’s tongue lapped at Sandbar’s balls, making the pony squirm. Gallus drew his head up, slowly, letting the tongue trace the entire length of Sandbar’s shaft.

Sandbar’s heart was beating fast—he loved how the griffon played with him. Loved being with him, and making Gallus feel the same sorts of things. Loved hugging him and kissing him and making him cum. Having Gallus make him cum. He moaned. Their lovemaking was no longer experimental, nor was it hesitant. Gallus’ tongue reached the crown of Sandbar’s cock and his beak opened wide. The griffon took the pony’s swollen head into his mouth, making Sandbar shudder in delight. Their passion had become confident without being predictable.

“Oh, Light, I love you, Gallus.”

The griffon pulled his head off the pony’s shaft. “Mmm. I love you too, Sandy.” He twisted and reached a claw into the bedside table. Bet you’ll love this, too.” He popped the stopper off the bottle of lube and poured a large dollop onto his claws.

Sandbar grinned and lifted his back legs, enjoying how his staff slapped wetly against his stomach.

Gallus shook his head and pulled the pony’s legs back down with one claw.

“Aww,” Sandbar whined.

Gallus laughed as he applied a slickened claw to his tailhole. “If someone went back in time a year-and-a-half and told you that you’d be arguing with a griffon over who was going to bottom…”

Sandbar blushed. “I would’ve told them their jokes were terrible.”

“But here we are.” Gallus shrugged. “Too bad for you I got to the lube first!” The griffon hopped up into the air and landed, his legs and claws around the pony’s side.

Sandbar leered appreciatively at the griffon’s body, letting his gaze travel the length of his fiancé’s form. “I guess you could bottom tonight.”

Gallus moved his beak down, until the tip rested against Sandbar’s nose. The pony could feel the griffon’s breath. “Don’t act like you don’t like it.”

Sandbar tightened the muscles in his groin, causing his cock to slap into the griffon’s backside. “I don’t like it,” he said. He licked Gallus’ beak. “I love it, Gally.”

Gallus sat back, letting his rear press into the pony’s staff. Sandbar grunted in excitement as he watched a bead of precum slide off the griffon’s tip.

Gallus pushed back, and just like that, an immense squeezing pressure surrounded the end of his shaft.

The pony thrust—firmly but slowly—he knew exactly how much his boyfriend could take. Light, no, he corrected himself, not just boyfriend. His lover. His sexy, athletic bedmate. His snarky, clever friend. His future husband.

Gallus crowed softly, and Sandbar felt the griffon slide farther down his shaft. The earth pony began thrusting slowly, savoring the feeling of tightness and resistance each time he changed directions.

Gallus moaned loudly and started moving his own hips, rocking back in time with Sandbar’s thrusts, until the pony felt his loins slap into the griffon’s backside and the griffon’s orbs slap into his stomach. The griffon’s knotted cock throbbed and lurched, spilling clear fluid everywhere.

Sandbar loved that sight. Loved seeing his griffon over him. Loved being inside him. Loved the rolling, squeezing, thrusting… Loved… “Oh, Light, oh, Light,” he whimpered. He tried to keep his thrusts slow, but felt his body speed up as he felt his climax building. “I love.. I fucking love…” Gallus moaned above him. “I fucking love you! I fucking… fucking…” Sandbar gripped the griffon with his front hooves, holding him in place against him as the full, excited feeling crested inside him. “Fuck, Love, I’m cumming!”

Sandbar filled his lover, firing his stallion seed into the stationary griffon. The pony continued thrusting, pulling back and shoving his member deep inside Gallus with each clenching eruption. Over his own gasps and the griffon’s throaty moans, Sandbar could hear the wet squelching of seed leaking from the griffon’s hole.

“Oh, fuck, Gallus,” Sandbar whimpered. He felt his staff begin to go soft, and he wished for a moment he stayed as hard as his fiancé after getting off, because he would have kept fucking him right then. As it was, the griffon was able to slide free as Sandbar’s hooves fell weakly to his sides. Gallus grinned wildly. He took one claw and waggled his leaking shaft. Sandbar nodded, opening his muzzle and sticking out his tongue.

Gallus hopped forward eagerly and put the tapered end into the pony’s mouth. Sandbar tasted sweet precum and breathed in the musky, rich griffon scent eagerly. Gallus crowed happily. “See?” he asked, “you do like this meat, don’t you, pony?” Sandbar, unable to talk in reply, swirled his tongue around the griffon’s tip, causing Gallus to groan. “I’m close, Sandy.” He shuddered and Sandbar felt a fresh wave of precum hit the back of his throat. “You want it in you or on you?”

Sandbar moaned happily and nodded without diverting his efforts. He watched the griffon’s already thick knot swell. Sandbar felt a sympathetic twitch in his own wilted member.

Gallus groaned through a clenched beak.

A rush of fluid filled Sandbar’s muzzle. He felt the warmth and sheer volume of the griffon’s cum first, then got the taste—salty, musky, and rich. More griffon seed rushed forth and then Gallus was pulling himself out of the pony’s mouth with a claw. The end of the red flesh was coated with thick, white fluid. More seed erupted as the griffon pulled free, cum splashing onto Sandbar’s nose, another strand landing on Sandbar’s outstretched tongue, and another launched itself up into Sandbar’s mane. The pony swallowed the bitter seed and put his tongue to use, lapping the ridged underside of Gallus’ cock as the griffon spent the last of his load onto the pony’s face.

Gallus sat back on shaky legs, his messy backside landing wetly on Sandbar’s stomach. The pony grimaced, the sexiness of the moment quickly passing. “I. Love. You.” The griffon panted in between lurching breaths. Sandbar could have lived without cold cum pressed into his fur, but he knew without a single doubt, that he never wanted to live without Gallus by his side.

17 - The Wedding of Sandbar & Gallus

Sandbar woke slowly, savoring the warmth of the bed and the closeness of the covers. He reached a hoof out to find Gallus and found his side of the bed cold. The earth pony’s eyes snapped open, and he found himself gulping in desperate breaths. Gallus was gone again! He felt his chest tighten.

Some tiny, nagging thought buzzed around his brain. Wait, he knew Gallus wasn’t going to be in bed with him. He hadn’t fallen asleep next to him—that had been why he’d found it so hard to find sleep the previous night. Another earth pony tradition dating back to ancient tribal times: the couple wasn’t supposed to see each other the day of the wedding until the ceremony.

The day of the wedding. Oh, dear. That had been another reason he had had difficulty resting.

Oh, Light, he was getting married today.

Sandbar wanted this. Wanted Gallus. But he found he was equal parts excited and terrified.

Gallus shifted under his blanket, unfamiliar pungent scents assailing him as he woke. The griffon opened his eyes, and he glanced out the portion of the window not blocked by the drawn curtain. It was a beautiful, calm morning. The sun was in the sky, a gentle breeze stirred a nearby tree. It looked like a perfect day. That mattered, he thought, though his waking brain struggled trying to figure out why it was important. He got sidetracked wondering why it smelled so strange in his bed. He shifted to his side to ask Sandbar and nearly fell out of the bunk.

“Good!” a loud voice announced from the desk by the wall. “Griffon awake! Yona ready to make this best pony-griffon wedding ever!”

“Right,” he said, ruffling his crest feathers with one claw. “The wedding.” He felt a wave of nervous excitement rush over him. “I’m not really sure there’s that much competition in the pony-griffon wedding category.”

Yona hopped to her hooves, nearly tripping in the process, and walked to the bunk beds. She reached a hoof up and set it on Gallus’ shoulder. He was surprised to discover that she had a surprisingly light touch when she wanted. “It not matter if it first or thousandth. Yona and friends make it best for Gallus and Sandbar!”

Gallus tapped the hoof with a claw. “Thanks, Yona. Thanks for letting me use the spare bed, too.” He gave a short laugh. “Beats sleeping in the bell tower.” He hopped down, using his wings to slow his descent to the ground. “I’m gonna go grab a shower.” He walked towards the door.

“WAIT!” the yak bellowed, causing the griffon to flinch. She rushed by him, knocking him to one side. “Yak make sure it safe!”

Gallus righted himself on his feet. “…Safe?”

“Yak not risk break in tradition! Griffon and pony must not see each other until wedding!”

Gallus sighed. This was going to be a long day. “Fine.”

Yona pulled the door open a crack, peeking out. After apparently being satisfied that Sandbar wasn’t lurking in the hall trying to sneak a sight of his fiancé, the yak threw the door open and lunged out into the hall, nearly knocking Silverstream over. The yak jumped in half-turns, scouting both directions of the hall quickly.

“Ohmygosh!” the pink hippogriff said excitedly. “Are we playing ninja?”

“No!” Yona replied. “Guarding Gallus from Sandbar!”

Gallus shook his head in exasperation.

Gallus spent longer than was strictly necessary in the shower. Nearly the entire time, he could hear Yona and Silverstream chatting about everything from school to mane care as they sat just outside the stall. The griffon used extra soap, rubbing the musky smell of yak out of his fur and feathers. It wasn’t unpleasant, exactly, but the last thing he wanted on his wedding day was to smell like Yona. Once he was fully scrubbed, he stood under the hot water for several minutes, letting the heat soak into his muscles as the spray massaged the tight spot between his wings.

He turned off the water and realized that his friends had gone quiet. Maybe they had finally given up on the guard routine. Gallus grabbed a towel and went to work rubbing his fur. Once he was fairly dry, he stepped out of the shower stall and walked over to a mirror to preen. He had just started pulling at his crest feathers when he heard a small laugh from near the entry. He glanced over and nearly fell in surprise. A tall, dark alicorn stood in the doorway. Princess Luna was dressed in her full regalia. Silverstream and Yona fidgeted behind the princess.

“Sorry!” the hippogriff said. “She, uh, kind of insisted on seeing you immediately.”

“Indeed,” Luna said, a smirk tugging the edges of her mouth upward. “Gallus Dream Strider,” she said in a formal tone, “my sister and I have considered your request.”

Gallus felt his mouth go dry. “And?”

Luna shook the end of her muzzle slightly. “And we have agreed to grant you this boon, despite our better judgment.”

Gallus felt tears in his eyes, and no effort at looking cool was going to keep them back for long.

“I still don’t see why Sandbar didn’t want a bigger ceremony.”

Beachcomber rubbed a hoof down his wife’s back. “Now, sweetie, it may be a small gathering, but I’m sure it’ll be nice.”

“At least he gave us enough notice to gather the family,” said a dark pony with a mischievous grin on her face.

“Oh for Celestia’s sake, Orca!” an earth pony with a rich, brown coat responded, “let it go! You were the one who suggested we elope!”

“Look at this view! It’s a beautiful venue,” Beachcomber said, playing the familiar role of family peacemaker. The grounds between Princess Twilight’s castle and the School of Friendship had been filled with benches. An enormous translucent tent covering the entire area billowed in the slight breeze. Green and blue flowers decorated the tent posts and the ends of every bench. A temporary stage had been placed at the edge of the pond.

“It is quite nice,” High Tide agreed.

A beautiful white mare walked along the aisle, making subtle adjustments to the flower arrangements.

“Oh, Miss Rarity!” Orca said, waving a hoof to get the unicorn’s attention. “I was just at your Manehatten shop. Your selection of chapeaus for this season is delightful!”

“Why thank you! You are too sweet!” Rarity gushed. “I take it you are Sandbar’s family?”

The dark earth pony nodded. “I’m his auntie Orca. This is my husband, Driftwood. And those two are Sandbar’s parents, High Tide and Beachcomber.”

Rarity inclined her head in greeting. “A pleasure, all.” Her horn lit as she shifted the green flowers in the closest bouquet into symmetry. “Sandbar is a lovely young stallion. You should all be quite proud of him.” As the family made various complimentary noises, Rarity’s eyes suddenly went wide and she gasped loudly. “Nopony told me Princess Luna RSVP’d! SPIKE!” she yelled. “Décor emergency! Fetch the extra emeralds STAT!”

Beachcomber blinked at the sudden rush of energy from the fashionable pony. He looked towards the back of the tent. Sure enough, the Princess of Dreams was walking towards the front of the tent. Along with two griffons. The larger one sported a light gray coat and speckled wings. The smaller one was a sandy-yellow color but sported bright blue feathers on its head. The two griffons and the alicorn took a seat on the front bench. Beachcomber harrumphed to himself and stood to go introduce himself.

Ocellus shivered at the emotional currents of the tent: Excitement and envy and nervousness and an almost overwhelming amount of love. It made her jittery and she lapped her tongue at the air, consuming the smallest hint of the emotional stew. She blew out a shaky breath.

A claw brushed down her elytra. “Hey,” Smolder said calmly. “You okay?”

Ocellus suppressed a shudder of enthusiasm. “Yeah,” she said.

Smolder rolled her eyes. “You’re doing the overindulging thing again aren’t you?”

The changeling tittered nervously.

“Uh huh.” The beautiful orange dragon lay her forehead along the bridge of Ocellus’ muzzle. “Here,” Smolder offered. Ocellus could feel the rough scales and deep, immense heat underneath them. She narrowed her senses, ignoring the hurricane of emotions around them, and breathed in the dragon’s steady, calm support. She drew deep, as deep as she dared, letting the woody notes of comfort fill and steady her own emotions. She released a long, slow breath as Smolder stepped away. The cacophonous swirl of excitement still filled the tent, but Ocellus let it wash over and through her. She ignited a minute burst of magic, spiking her scent to include citrus and jalapeno. Smolder gave her the smallest smile in return.

“I love you,” Ocellus whispered, causing Smolder’s wings to snap open.

“Ugh, shush,” the dragon replied, pulling Ocellus into a tight, brief hug. Ocellus heard the dragon mutter “I love you too, dummy” as she pulled away, and for a moment, Ocellus couldn’t even feel the other emotions in the tent.

Music began playing, and she nodded to Smolder. “That’s our cue,” she said. The two creatures began walking up the aisle. Ponies turned in their seats to watch them; many she knew, some she didn’t. “Hey,” she said quietly, just loud enough for Smolder to hear over the music, “you want to do this one day, too?”

Smolder blushed. Ocellus laughed in delight—she had actually made Smolder blush!

Sandbar fought against the urge to pull on his collar, knowing it would probably just mess up his tie without relieving any of the tightness. Everything felt tight. This was why he hated wearing clothes. Ponies went around every day, doing important things without feeling a need to dress up.

He paced the tiny enclosure at the back of the tent. Long curtains cordoned off two small spaces for the grooms to dress and prepare. Gallus would be in the other tiny space on the other side of the tent. Sandbar stamped his front hooves, trying to rid himself of the nervous energy.

Smolder, Ocellus, Yona, and Silverstream had already marched to the front. Princess Twilight Sparkle would be at the front, ready to officiate the ceremony. He just had to wait for the music. Then he and Gallus would walk the aisle together. Easy. Easier than any test he’d taken at school. Well, except for Fluttershy’s true/false tests—she was too polite to write any false answers.

The sound of horns trumpeting snapped him out of his reverie. The pony took a deep breath and almost vomited. He fought against his body’s urge to hyperventilate. “Come on,” he said to himself, “pony up.” He drew himself up tall and pushed aside the curtain.

Across the wide aisle, Gallus stepped out of his own enclosure. Sandbar felt his jaw drop. The griffon was wearing a charcoal gray suit with dark accents; the fabric hugged his sleek frame and contrasted nicely with his blue fur. The griffon’s crest feathers had been preened exquisitely—not a vane out of place. “W-Wow,” Sandbar muttered.

“’Wow’ yourself, sexy,” Gallus said with a smirk. “Nice tie.”

Sandbar brushed a hoof down his front self-consciously.

“Just think of what we could do with that later.”

The earth pony blushed. He realized the music was still playing, and nearly a hundred sets of eyes were turned towards him and Gallus. He took a steadying breath and offered his hoof. Gallus grabbed it with a claw. “Shall we?”

Stallion and griffon turned together and walked down the aisle, hoof in claw. The ponies in the crowd rose from their seats. As they began to walk, Sandbar spied Princess Luna up front. Right beside two griffons. “What?” He nodded his muzzle towards the front bench. “Who are they?”

Gallus’ claw trembled against Sandbar’s hoof. “My parents.”

The shock of that pronouncement made Sandbar stop in his tracks. “What?!” he asked. “I thought they were-“

“Yeah,” Gallus said, cutting him off. “They are. But it turns out the Amulet of Waking can make dreams true, too, not just nightmares.” There were tears forming in the griffon’s eyes. “I dream about them. A lot. And I just thought, if I could have them here for my wedding—a day I didn’t think I’d ever even see… even if it’s just a dream version of them…”

Sandbar kissed the griffon on the beak. He did his best to ignore the chorus of soft “ahhs!” and the lone wolf whistle. “I’m so happy for you,” he said simply. “It’s nice to have a dream come true, for once, instead of a nightmare.”

Gallus shook his head and blinked back the tears. “Tell me about it,” he said, sounding almost back to his normal, snarky self. The music began playing more loudly. “Ah,” the griffon said, gesturing to the stage, where Headmare Twilight was tapping a hoof impatiently. “We should, uh.”

Sandbar gave the griffon a brief nuzzle. “Yeah.”

“Mares and gentlecolts and respected creatures of the world,” Princess Twilight Sparkle intoned, “we are gathered here today to join Sandbar of Ponyville and Gallus Dream Strider in marriage, that their bond be witnessed and celebrated throughout the land.

“I look around this pavilion, and I see so much love. I may not be the Princess of that particular ideal, but I would posit that any good relationship is built on Honesty, Laughter, Generosity, Kindness, and Loyalty. And when two creatures find the Magic between them—Friendship and Love become one and the same. Gallus and Sandbar may be my students, but they have taught me much, too, and I am honored to be counted among their friends.

“I prepared a few words…” Twilight levitated a hefty stack of notecards in her magic. At the groans from the students, the purple alicorn smiled and flames suddenly erupted around the cards, burning them to cinders that then floated away. “But I thought maybe I’d let the couple’s friends say a few things instead.” A wave of relieved laughter rolled through the gathering. “Silverstream?”

Silverstream bounded forward. “I remember studying for this one test a few months ago, and Sandbar kept falling asleep, and then Yona would knock a book off the table and scare him awake, and we’d all laugh. And Gallus chided Sandbar for not getting enough sleep, and then Sandbar complained about Gallus snoring.” She giggled. “And they both stopped and laughed. Together.” She turned and gave the couple a wide grin. “That’s how I knew they were really good for each other.”

Smolder stepped forward next. “These kind of speeches are pretty mushy, but this school has that effect on creatures, it seems. So,” she said, picking at a scale on her arm with one talon, “here goes. These two wouldn’t know a lava bath from a steam tunnel, and their hoards, such as they are, would be the ridicule of every dragon in the badlands.” She snorted. “But. The moment they told us about their relationship, they were so stinkin’ happy. And proud enough to put a Dragon Lord to shame. They’re disgustingly cute together, and I wish them all the best.”

Ocellus followed quickly, her compound eyes scanning the audience. She took in a deep breath and spoke quietly. “I’m a changeling, so I have a hoof up on knowing when creatures are in love.” A slight purple blush filled her cheeks. “But it’s not just the emotions that make it real—it takes effort. They’ve both sacrificed things to be together and made journeys that sound unbelievable if I didn’t know they were real. They’ve always been there for each other, and for the rest of us. They’ve stood together against the scariest creatures in the world, so I know they’ll be together no matter where their relationship takes them.”

Twilight motioned to Yona Yak.

The yak nodded solemnly. “Yona proud to know both Sandbar and Gallus. When yak come to Ponyville, yak not know if going to stay full school year. But friends convince Yona to stay. Gallus tell Yona she is friend. Sandbar kind to Yona when feeling sad. Yona always support griffon and pony, and so, so happy they find love. Yona know that yaks not best at everything, now, because Gallus and Sandbar best at love!”

That pronouncement elicited a loud gasp of surprise among the other students.

“Thank you all,” Twilight said. “Gallus. Sandbar. I believe you both have prepared vows?”

Sandbar nodded. “Gallus,” he said, his voice steady and strong, “you are my best friend. You give me strength I never knew I had. You’ve helped me see the best parts of myself, and I love every moment we spend together. Even when you’re snoring,” he ad-libbed.

The guests laughed and Gallus rolled his eyes.

“I will cherish and honor you for all my days,” the earth pony continued. “I promise to learn with you and grow with you, even as time and life change us both. I love you, Gallus.”

The griffon shifted his feet and wiped a wingtip across his face. “I love you too,” he said. He cleared his throat.

“Sandbar, wherever the wind takes us, I will fly with you. You’ve shown me that two creatures joined together with respect and trust can be far happier than each could ever be alone. You are the strength I didn’t know I needed, and the coolness I didn’t know I lacked. I will be with you, through good times and bad, in wealth or poverty. I will always, always keep you safe, my love.”

Twilight Sparkle lit her horn and levitated a length of brocaded fabric into the air before her. She looped one end around each creature’s outstretched appendage and then wove the fabric into a complex knot, joining the griffon’s claw to the pony’s hoof. “Sandbar and Gallus: This bond symbolizes the unity of your two lives becoming one, as you go forth now to live in the vows you exchanged before your community of family and friends.”

Princess Twilight raised her wings wide. “Under the laws and customs of Equestria, I pronounce you married. You may kiss your husband.”

The pony and griffon leaned together, beak and muzzle meeting for a slow, passionate kiss.

“Oookay,” the two heard Headmare Twilight whisper, “save the rest for later, guys.”

The husbands leaned away, laughing softly.

Princess Twilight shook her head softly. She projected her voice to the crowd: “I present to you the husbands Gallus and Sandbar.”

Thunderous hoofbeats filled the pavilion.

Sandbar was married. Married! He had managed to make it through the whole ceremony without fainting or vomiting, which he considered a win. He stood beside his new husband and shook what seemed like a thousand hooves congratulating him on the beautiful wedding and wishing him and Gallus well.

He kept looking to the back of the line, where two griffons stood beside Princess Luna.

November Rain and Sweet Maple were the last students to come through, and as soon as Sandbar thanked them for coming, he whipped his head around. Gallus was caught in a hug between the gray and yellow griffons. Sandbar’s heart was racing wildly and he bit his lip.

Gallus looked up, and there were tears running down his cheeks. “Sandbar,” he said, reaching a claw towards the earth pony, “these are my parents: Gertrude and Gavin.”

Sandbar offered a hoof to them both. They felt real, that was for sure. “A pleasure to meet you,” he said.

“And you,” Gertrude said. She was the larger of the two griffons, by far, and once he was close to her, he noted her hide bore several long scars in her fur. “Gallus tells me you’re a worthy husband. If you’re half as decent as Gavin here, you two are in good shape.”

“Yes, Gerdy,” Gallus’ father said. He sounded almost bookish, which was a first in Sandbar’s encounters with griffondom. “We were lucky enough to find each other.” He turned to Sandbar, drawing a claw through his Gallus-blue crest feathers. “Don’t take your time together for granted. The pony princess explained how we’re… uh…”

“Dead, Gavin,” his wife said gruffly. “You can say it.”

“Yes, well, some of us are less chipper about the whole affair of being ghosts, or whatever,” he said, with a momentary glare at his wife. “My point being, that you never know how much time you have. Cherish it all.”

Sandbar swallowed roughly. “Yessir.”

Gallus moved back in for a hug, one wing around each parent. Sandbar stepped in to join them, awkwardly hugging part of his husband’s back.

“There’s so much I want to tell you. To ask you,” Gallus said, his voice strained.

Princess Luna cleared her throat. “I hate to disappoint, but as your dreams they will know no more than you do already.”

“Right,” Gallus sighed.

“Don’t cry, little one,” Gertrude commanded. “You’re stronger than that.”

“Always with the military attitude,” Gavin complained.

Gallus wiped away a tear. “I’ve missed you guys. Where to start, then?”

Sandbar smiled. “How about coming to the School?”

Gallus told his parents the story of his selection as the inaugural griffon pupil of the School of Friendship. He talked at length about his friends, about meeting Sandbar, and about falling in love. Sandbar interjected here and there to put his own spin on events. It was probably the most Sandbar had ever heard his husband speak in one sitting. The griffon’s parents laughed and poked fun and smiled in equal measure.

“You know,” Sandbar said, as Gallus finally ran low on stories, “it makes total sense that the best griffon I ever met has pretty cool parents.”

Gavin grinned and moved a claw to tap on Sandbar’s shoulder, but it passed through completely.

“Well, shit,” Gertrude said. She had pulled her tail forward, and the gray tuft at the end began to vanish.

Princess Luna, who had been sitting quietly in the corner, stepped forward. “The spell unravels.”

Gallus gave a choked sob. “I love you guys, and I miss you. I’m so glad you could be here today.” Sandbar put a hoof around his husband. “I’ll dream of you again, so you’ll always be out there somewhere.”

Gertrude sat on her haunches. “You do that, fledgling mine.”

Gavin took a deep breath. “We’ll see you soon, then.”

Gallus’ parents vanished. Sandbar held Gallus tightly.

Time passed. Sandbar couldn’t say how much, and he didn’t care.

Eventually, Gallus raised his head, and Sandbar met him with a kiss. It was slow and morose and felt to Sandbar like the only thing in the world that mattered at that moment. The kiss ended, and Gallus moved back in, the kiss quickly transitioning from maudlin to excited, and the earth pony felt a claw drift down his side.

They were interrupted by a loud harrumph.

“AH,” Sandbar said, jumping away from his husband. “Princess Luna!”

Gallus gave a small laugh. “You’re still here?”

“Patience is a virtue with which I have decided to become better acquainted.” She gave a short bow. “Congratulations on your marriage. Now, I believe the Pink One has a reception party planned. I would think it unwise to disappoint her plans.”

Sandbar shuddered at the thought.

Gallus stumbled out of the school gym in a half stupor. He held a half-conscious Sandbar tightly in one arm. That wedding reception really had been a six-party-hat Pinkie party, just like she had promised. Maybe even seven-hat. He wandered into a wall, using a wing to keep himself upright. Seven was after six, wasn’t it? He shook his head. The cider-coffee bombs were messing with him.

“You’re the prettiest griffon. Gorgeous. Gorgeous-ist.” Sandbar giggled like a filly. “Husband griffon.”

“Good thing I don’t need to fly anywhere tonight,” Gallus said with a sigh.

Sandbar rolled his head away from the sunlight streaming into his face. “No, I just wanna sleep,” he complained. He hugged Gallus tightly and blinked in surprise at feeling something other than the griffon’s fur. He blinked his eyes open. Gallus was still in his suit from the night before. The earth pony gave a start as he realized he was in his clothes too. The movement caused his head to throb.

“Oof,” he said, closing his eyes again. So much for a great first night of marriage. Maybe he could sleep it off.

* * * * *

Sandbar had taken off the suit, but he decided to keep the pink-striped socks on. He wasn’t sure why he had been wearing pink socks with a black suit, but he decided not to worry about it. The fabric hugged his legs and hooves nicely. And he felt pretty. He wandered around his and Gallus’ room watering the various plants.

Something shimmered at the edge of the pony’s vision. “We have plants now?”

Sandbar nearly dropped the watering can and water spilled on the ground below him.

“Nice socks, Sandy,” Gallus said appreciatively. Sandbar blinked slowly and stared down at his legs. He blushed as his husband laughed. “Gotta say, I never really understood the sock thing until just now.”

Sandbar ducked his head bashfully. “That was a wild night,” he said, now that he remembered the wedding reception. More or less. “We didn’t even get a chance to consummate the marriage.” He blinked, realizing that his head wasn’t throbbing as it had been when he was awake.

“Well, no time like the present, right?”

Sandbar shook his head. “No way am I waking up right now, promise of lewd pleasure or not. I’m pretty sure we’re both horribly hung over.”

The griffon smiled smugly and winked at him. “Who said anything about waking up?”

Sandbar whinnied. “Ohmygosh, yes please.”

Gallus strutted forward.

“Wait,” Sandbar said, holding up a pink-striped hoof. He felt heat in his cheeks. “Will you, uh…”

Gallus raised one eyebrow. “Spit it out, husband.”

Sandbar felt a giddy rush when Gallus used the H-word. “Heh. Um. W-will you wear socks too?”

Gallus laughed, and suddenly a set of rich-purple socks were in his claws. “You ponies are weird.”

Sandbar was blushing furiously. The griffon moved to start pulling one sock onto his back left leg. “Wait,” he said.

Gallus gave him an impatient look.

“May I?”

The griffon lifted his leg in the pony’s direction.

Sandbar stepped forward and rubbed a hoof from the griffon’s thigh all the way to his paws, tracing the sinewy lines of muscle that bulged through the fur. Gallus shivered at the light touch, the fur on his leg standing on end for a moment. Sandbar slipped the sock over the griffon’s fuzzy paw and up his shin. He leaned forward and planted small kisses on the exposed leg as he slid the sock fully into place. Sandbar continued to kiss upward into the curve where the griffon’s leg met his stomach.

“Ohh, Sandy,” Gallus muttered. “Geez! I’m starting to get the point about these socks if this happens every time.”

Sandbar nipped the thin bit of skin just outside the griffon’s groin. Gallus yelped and Sandbar watched the tip of the griffon’s penis descend from the furry sheath. He could feel his own member start to push out as well.

He repeated the process with Gallus’ other back leg, moving slightly faster the second time. Sexy was as well and good, but a stallion had needs. Before he could nip the other side of the griffon’s underside, though, Sandbar felt a claw grab the back of his mane and pull him away. Gallus sat down, still holding a clawful of Sandbar’s hair, and pulled the pony’s head down towards his now-erect shaft. Sandbar gave it a lick obediently and Gallus shuddered. The pony shook his head and Gallus released his grip. “The other socks?” he pleaded, looking upward at his husband.

Gallus rolled his eyes. “I’ll take care of them,” he said. The air around his arms shivered and suddenly the purple socks appeared on his arms, his talons tearing through the ends, roughly. “Better?”

Sandbar nodded happily, taking in the sight. He bent his head back down and went back to work. The rich aroma of griffon arousal filled his nostrils and he opened his mouth. He lapped slowly at the tip, making Gallus grunt and wiggle in delight. He closed his mouth around the end, letting the tapered tip poke into his tongue. A splash of fluid rewarded his gentle efforts. He swallowed, savoring the taste.

“Ah, fuck, Sandy,” his husband crooned.

The earth pony put one pink-striped hoof underneath the griffon’s sack, letting the silky fabric tease the orbs.

A claw raked through the pony’s mane.

Sandbar swallowed the griffon down to his knot. He let his tongue swirl around the swollen length. The griffon above him made tiny, excited mewling sounds.

“Mm,” Sandbar moaned, loving the reaction his movements caused.

Gallus suddenly clenched his claw and tugged the pony up.

“Aw,” Sandbar whined.

“Nngh,” the griffon whimpered. Clear fluid leaked from his tip. “I have an idea.”

Sandbar smiled. “Yeah?”

“I was, uh,” the griffon blushed suddenly. “I was thinking about who should top the first time we were married.”

The pony sat fully upright and stroked a hoof along the side of his husband’s beak. “We have all the time in the world, Gally. I don’t really care.”

Gallus moved his head into the touch. “I know. I know, but still… I think I figured something out. If it’ll work.”

Sandbar laughed. “Okay then. What is it?”

The dorm room around them slowly vanished, the walls and plants disappearing first, then the furniture, until there was nothing left but the pony and griffon.

“Uh,” Sandbar whinnied nervously. He pulled Gallus into a tight hug nervously.

“No, no, it’s okay. Watch,” Gallus said. He reached a claw forward, behind Sandbar. Suddenly, the same claw appeared in front of Sandbar, right over Gallus’ own shoulder and squeezed the pony’s hoof.

“Well that’s freaky,” Sandbar observed.

“No freakier than a weird dragon-unicorn hybrid nightmare,” Gallus replied wryly.

“…point,” Sandbar conceded.

“The point is,” Gallus explained. “if my claw was a different body part…”

“Oh. OH,” Sandbar said, suddenly realizing where the griffon was going. “Oh, but that’s…”

“Nothing impossible in a dream,” Gallus said with a smirk.

“Oh my,” Sandbar blushed. Gallus gave him a gentle tug with both claws, turning the pony around. Sandbar fought against disorientation—he could feel Gallus behind him, but the griffon’s backside was also right in front of him. And he could see a seafoam green pony mane past the griffon. His own mane.

Gallus chirped happily. “This is so cool.”

Sandbar demurred. “Ehh.”

Then Gallus grabbed his dick. Electric excitement pulsed down his length. The ponies in front of him shuddered in delight. He shuddered in delight. “Oh wow.”

“Yeah!” Gallus agreed. Sandbar could feel the griffon’s shaft rubbing against his backside.

“Lube!” he cautioned.

Gallus laughed. “Dream lube coming right up.”

Sandbar felt slickness fill the exterior of his hole. “Wow. Holy…” he kissed the back of the griffon’s neck in front of him and heard Gallus sigh happily simultaneously from both sides. “Hm. Don’t forget yourself.”

A thin tail lashed up and slapped the pony’s side. “Already done, Sandy.”

Sandbar felt himself surge in delight. Something firm pressed against his backside. He blew out a shaky breath. And pushed his own twitching member forward.

They entered each other at the same moment. It was like nothing Sandbar could ever have imagined. He cried out in excitement as Gallus crowed in ecstasy. “Oh, Light, Gally. Are you…”

“Yeah, hubby,” the griffon said, grinding his hips forward.

“Wow. Oh!” the pony said, awash in pleasure. He was inside Gallus and Gallus was inside him. At the same time. “This… Oh, Holy Light! Wow. This was… a very good idea.”

Gallus whimpered from behind him. And in front of him. “I… Oh gaw. Yeah, sometimes I’m pretty clever.”

Sandbar pushed in, feeling the griffon’s tight ring swallow his shaft. He tried to focus his breathing, to let Gallus’ member slide easily in his own passage.

He gripped his hooves tightly around the griffon’s midsection. Gallus’ knot pressed against his ponut.

“Oh fuck, Gallus.”

“Yeah, Sandbar!”

“I love you, husband.”

The griffon’s knot slipped inside him. The pony cried out in pleasure and thrust his hips, dragging the knotted griffon forward as he pushed his staff in past the medial ring.

“Fucking yes!” the griffon crowed. “I love you, Sandbar!”

The rest of the pony’s shaft pushed in and Sandbar felt his flare forming.

The knot tugged at Sandbar’s hole and the pony thought he could feel the warm gouts of precum splashing his insides.

Sandbar slipped closer and closer to the edge of his orgasm, the pounding of the griffon’s hips on his haunches driving him further and further into the griffon’s rear.

They were an eternal, unending loop of pleasure, each pushing the other closer to the edge.

“I’m… I’m gonna…”

“I… I…”

Sandbar came, his flared staff clenching and pulsing.

The pony felt the griffon’s hot seed flow into him. Filling him. As he filled the griffon in turn. The duo thrust and moaned and wet splashing sounds joined the chorus of orgasmic bliss.

Sandbar kissed the back of Gallus’ neck as his climax ended. He felt and saw the griffon’s beak return the favor, just below the bottom of his mane.

They stayed together, locked inside one another. Still except for their pounding hearts and gasping breaths.

“Now… phew,” Sandbar whispered. “Now that’s the way to consummate a marriage.”

“Together,” Gallus agreed. “In all things. Forever.”

“Forever,” Sandbar agreed with all his heart.

Author's Note

And that's a wrap on my second Gallbar story!

I'm actually really emotional, sitting here typing this out. It's taken a ton of hard work to get this story here before you. It's hard for me to believe that I've managed to put so many words into telling the story of these two beautiful creatures. I never thought I was a long-form author, but I've pushed myself because this story was worth it.

I really appreciate everyone who's read and commented and bookmarked this story. I hope you've enjoyed this sequel. To all the Gallbar shippers out there: OTP FOREVER.

Thank you for reading.
~Parker

1 - Strange Dreams & Soft Beds

Gallus shifted uncomfortably. He was perched on a tree branch, and it was neither as smooth nor as flat as it had seemed as he was flying towards it. He stilled his wings and nestled quietly behind a leafy bough, keeping his eyes on the ground. There, a quick flight from the tree, stood two earth ponies and a unicorn. He didn’t recognize any of them, which was a relief. He didn’t know why, but he would have hated to learn that one of his friends was in that group.

His friendship circle had grown tremendously during his time at the School of Friendship. He paused for a moment, reflecting on all the joys he had experienced since coming to Ponyville. He touched his chest, where a small, jade turtle hung from a finely-woven chain.

He turned his attention back to the gathering below. All three wore long capes that covered their cutie marks and draped down nearly to the ground. They looked ominous. Gallus felt a chill looking at the patterned cloth.

The chill was quickly replaced by warmth. Warm fur pressed into his back, along his wings, and down towards his tail.

“Gallllus,” a familiar voice whined. The griffon suddenly felt the warmth not just on his back, but in his chest, too. His beak split in a smile at hearing his boyfriend’s voice and feeling the stallion’s body pressed up against his own. “You let us oversleep,” Sandbar complained.

Gallus shook his head, confused. How was Sandbar up in tree with him? Why was the stallion talking about sleeping?

Gallus turned his attention back to the gathering on the ground.

All three ponies stared at Gallus, their eyes wide.

Gallus jerked back in alarm, and he fell from the tree. He cried out in surprise, and tried to flap his wings. His wings, though, were still bound in the earth pony’s warm embrace. There was also something firm pressing against his tail.

Gallus fell, the ground racing to meet him. He screamed in terror, unable to wing his way to safety.

The blue griffon’s body jerked in Sandbar’s arms. One wing slapped outward and clipped the pony’s nose.

“Ow!” Sandbar complained. He pulled one hoof free from the hug and rubbed the sore spot.

Gallus sucked in a deep breath, his chest heaving. “Oh! Oh. Thank goodness. Just a dream. A terrible dream.”

Sandbar nuzzled back into his now-awake boyfriend. He breathed in the smell of him, appreciating the rich muskiness. His staff twitched, showing its own appreciation.

“Good morning to you, too,” Gallus said. The griffon rolled over. “What was that about me letting us oversleep?”

Sandbar fought to avoid getting lost in the griffon’s deep blue eyes. “You were supposed to set the alarm,” he said.

The griffon huffed. “I’d like to see you remember to set an alarm after getting sucked off like that.”

Sandbar felt his face go warm and another part of himself go firm.

The griffon’s claw massaged the stiffening flesh that lay between them. “Heck, I’d be willing to test it right now.” The claw squeezed gently, the pressure making Sandbar shudder in delight. “See if you remember some stupid alarm clock afterward.”

Sandbar groaned, the sound of pleasure quickly transforming into regret. “Nooo,” he said pulling his shaft away from the griffon. He wanted desperately to stay there in bed, but they couldn’t. “We’re going to be late!”

Gallus gave him an evil look. “What’s another 10 minutes, huh?” Sandbar felt his resolve melt.

The sound of repeated pounding caused the earth pony and griffon to flinch. “Yo, dweebs!” Smolder’s voice yelled through the door. “Get a move on or we’ll miss the train!”

Sandbar shrugged regretfully at Gallus. He rolled to the side, letting his hooves hang off the side of the bed.

More pounding. “You can fuck each other later!” Smolder yelled. “Let’s go!”

Sandbar blushed.

“Keep your wings on!” Gallus yelled back. “We’re coming!” Sandbar felt a wingtip slap his flank, just behind his cutie mark. The griffon muttered in a low voice, “or I wish we were.”

“Gallus!” Sandbar whined. “Stop teasing. I don’t want to walk out there half hard.”

“Spoilsport,” the griffon harrumphed. “Maybe after we get to Canterlot?”

Sandbar stood up and offered a hoof to the griffon. A claw gripped around the fetlocks, and Sandbar easily pulled the griffon to a sitting position. He nuzzled the side of the griffon’s beak. “I can’t wait.”

“That’s it!” the dragon’s voice announced, “I’m burning down the door!”

Sandbar raced to open the door.

Little puffs of black smoke wafted out of the orange dragon’s mouth as she kept clearing her throat. Some ponies at the back of the train car were giving the group of students concerned looks.

“Yak thought dragons breathe fire all the time. Why this so bad?”

Smolder gave a small cough and a tiny burst of flame roared into the air. “Sorry,” she said hoarsely. “Fire supposed to go out, not in,” she explained.

Sandbar glared at her. “You could have just, you know, not tried to burn down our door.” He touched a bandaged shoulder gently with one hoof. He’d nearly gotten away from the flames as he pulled the door open, catching just a bit before Smolder had somehow sucked it all back in. It had singed the fur off his shoulder, though, and left the skin tender.

“It worked, didn’t it?” Smolder replied with a guilty grin.

Ocellus laid a hoof on the dragon’s shoulder and shook her head.

“Ugh, fine,” she said, fighting off a cough and expelling a black cloud of smoke. “Sorry.”

Sandbar nodded in forgiveness.

“OOH You guys LOOK!” Silverstream yelped. “a waterfall!”

Gallus sighed. “We literally have those at school.”

Silverstream floated over in front of the griffon and squeezed his cheeks, turning his face towards the windows. “But not falling from a MOUNTAIN!”

Sandbar chuckled. “You mean like the ones right behind the school?”

The hippogriff released Gallus’s face. “Huh,” she said quietly. She hovered in place for a moment in blessed silence. “It’s just like being at school! That’s so cool!”

Beside him, Sandbar heard Gallus yawn and stretch. “I don’t know what it is about train rides that makes me so tired.” He laid his head on Sandbar’s uninjured shoulder. The earth pony blushed from the public display of affection. “I’m just gonna,” a yawn interrupted his thought, “take a nap.”

Sandbar heard Gallus whisper “love you” softly as he settled down. The stallion leaned his head to the side, careful not to dislodge the griffon, and kissed him on the forehead.

Gallus was walking in an ancient castle, his claws clacking lightly on the stones below. The sun shone overhead, sending streaks of light through the occasional gaps in the ceiling. He turned a corner and approached a wide foyer. He realized then where he was: The Castle of the Two Sisters. He had fond memories of the ruined castle. He and his newly-made friends had hidden there, avoiding their families and responsibilities and the new school’s temporarily-terrible curriculum. They had become friends there, playing and bonding, enjoying the supplies Sandbar was able to collect from the town. The griffon smiled, thinking about his boyfriend and the effort he had taken to keep his friends well fed and supplied.

“Careful, you’ll break something,” a stern, female voice whispered. Gallus looked around, trying to find the source of the speaker.

“Come off it,” a second, deeper voice replied. Gallus located the source of the sound down another hall. “It’s only a dream anyway.”

Gallus blinked. Was he dreaming? He pinched his arm with two talons. He felt real enough. But then, how had he gotten to the castle? His memory felt fuzzy and unreliable. Something about a train? But no trains went into the Everfree forest.

“Let him hear you say that about dreams,” the first voice said. Gallus walked slowly, almost unconsciously, toward the voices.

“Oy!” the second voice replied, “no need to threaten.”

“Then be careful,” the first voice replied.

The voices were getting louder as Gallus approached a stone arch. He figured the voices had to be coming from the next room. He peeked around one corner of the arch. His breath froze as he spotted two ponies in dark capes. Up close, he could see the geometric patterns on the capes twisting and slurring together before breaking back apart. It made his eyes and stomach hurt just looking at it.

The unicorn was holding a dusty gray tome with one hoof. She set it gently on a stone dais.

The earth pony yawned loudly, causing the unicorn to flinch. The unicorn mare glared at the stallion. “What?” the earth pony stallion objected. “I’m bloody tired. Sleeping in the middle of the blight-forsaken day is ruddy awful, innit?”

The unicorn glared for another few moments before returning her attention to the book. “Now, let’s see if this little adventure has paid off.”

The earth pony stallion shrugged and turned away. Until he was facing Gallus.

Gallus drew a sharp breath and jumped back.

“Shade? Shade!” the stallion’s voice yelled.

Gallus turned and ran, his claws sounding to him like hammers on the tough floor.

“It’s that griffon again!”

Gallus took flight, his wings flapping hard to give him instant lift. That turned out to be a poor decision, as one wing clipped a suit of armor and the griffon went spiraling down to the ground.

Gallus started awake. That was getting old, fast. He was still leaning against Sandbar, but the pony had shifted so Gallus was on his flank instead of his shoulder. Gallus blew out a shaky breath. When Sandbar looked down in concern, Gallus shook his head. It was nothing.

Why would he have a weird nightmare about shadowy ponies twice in one day?

The train cleared the final turn in the mountain, giving the students a clear view of Canterlot. Gallus was floored. It was like a glamorous version of Griffonstone: instead of rundown huts and broken towers, there were spires and turrets, every building tall and proud and gleaming, soaring above the ground. The others seemed similarly impressed.

“It’s magnificent!” Ocellus said, her voice shaking with awe.

“It’s so shiny!” Silverstream agreed.

Smolder leaned past Ocellus and stared hungrily at the gemstones adorning the various buildings.

“City… very tall,” Yona added in a begrudging tone. “Too tall. Yak short hut best,” she amended. Gallus rolled his eyes at the predictable backtrack.

His boyfriend beamed with pony pride. “Welcome to the center of Equestrian culture, every creature!”

Gallus was impressed at the grandeur and the scale of the place. And he was generally a pretty tough griffon to impress. He leaned over and whispered in his stallion’s ear. “I hope the hotel beds are as nice as the rest of the city.” He stroked the pony’s flank with a claw and grinned as he saw the muscles underneath shiver.

A few minutes later, the train pulled into the station, and Gallus stooped to collect the small duffel bag from under his seat. He grabbed Sandbar’s saddle bag and helped the pony sling it over his back. He may have also let one wing subtly brush from stifle to sheath on his boyfriend’s underside. The green pony blushed as the griffon stepped away. Gallus put on his best innocent face.

Ocellus slid past him, the usually periwinkle-colored skin of her face sporting a deep purplish hue. “I can feel that, you know,” she whispered.

Gallus quickly stepped further away from Sandbar and laughed nervously.

The hotel was nice. Far nicer than anyplace Gallus had ever seen. He was very, very glad that Headmare Twilight was footing the bill for this little expedition. He had a feeling even paying for a small room would have cost him a wing and a claw. He led the way up several flights of stairs and found the room number matching his key. He turned the door and gasped. The room sported large windows with an uninterrupted view of the valley to the west. The sun hovered just over the horizon, painting the fields and forests below in a vibrant, warm light. It was beautiful. Gallus stepped slowly into the room, his eyes fixed on the vista before him. As he watched, the sun slipped out of sight and darkness rushed across the valley and up the Canterlot mountain. Just almost out of view to the south, a small collection of lights dotted the valley floor. He realized that must be Ponyville. The bustling little pony village looked so small from up here. “What a sight,” he said in awe.

Gallus lost in the sight of the lights, never saw Sandbar move until he was tackled from behind. He cried out as he was thrown onto a soft bed, Sandbar’s body slamming into his. “Almost as good as the one I’ve got right here,” the stallion said mischievously.

“Excited much?” the griffon responded dryly.

Sandbar nipped his neck, making Gallus squawk. “You’ve been teasing me all day.” Gallus noticed he could feel his favorite pony part poking him. “You’re lucky I don’t just turn you over and have my way with you now.”

Gallus’ heartbeat increased. He grinned. “Ooh, I like that idea. It’s been too long.”

Sandbar’s staff twitched upward. “We didn’t bring the lube,” he said in consternation.

Gallus grimaced. “Yeah, okay, not going with that plan, then.” He recalled the single time he had tried to take the pony without proper preparation. Never again. He nuzzled the green pony. “Note to self, though, next time I want my rear pillaged, tease Sandbar mercilessly for an entire day.”

The pony glared at him. “You wouldn’t.”

Gallus felt his own erection stir in his sheath. “I might,” he suggested evilly.

Sandbar laughed. “You know how Headmare Twilight feels about ‘the ends justify the means.’”

Gallus pushed the pony playfully. “One, would it surprise you to hear that I don’t recall that lecture?” At a wry look from the pony, Gallus sighed. “Don’t answer that. Two, don’t talk about mares when we’re about to have sex.”

“Oh!” Sandbar feigned innocence. “Is that what we’re doing?”

The two kissed. Gallus loved feeling the stallion’s body pressed up against his. Feeling the pony’s wide tongue entering his beak and exploring his mouth. Loved the warmth and connection and… Swift Winds, he was super hard already. He felt a surge of blood, his knot starting to form at the base of his dick.

“Ugh, Sandy,” Gallus moaned, his tough demeanor fading away in the comforting hooves of his earth pony. “I need it.”

Sandbar pushed the griffon gently backward. As Gallus fell into the very soft bedding (seriously, a small part of his mind had time to wonder, who makes blankets that feel like clouds?), Sandbar straddled him, laying his thick, blunt staff on top of Gallus’ tapered one. Wetness streamed from both dicks.

The pony moaned. “Geez, you’re as worked up as I am. All that teasing good for you too, then, huh?”

“Y-yeah,” Gallus gasped as Sandbar shifted his hips, causing their shafts to rub together. “Gaw, that feels good.”

Sandbar’s face was flushed. “Just like our first time.”

The memory caused Gallus’ knot to swell. A stream of precum was thrown onto the cream fur of his stomach.

“Unless we count you jerking off while you thought I was asleep.”

Gallus groaned, only in part due to the amazing feeling of their wet cocks playing against each other. “You gonna hold that against me forever?”

The stallion moved one hoof over and squeezed their shafts together. Gallus whined. “I-I’d rather this against you.” The head of the pony’s dick flared.

“Yes!” Gallus promised eagerly. “Oh fuck, Sandy, that feels good.”

“Y-yeah,” the earth pony said, his voice strained. The green pony shifted his hips, causing his long, dark shaft to push down against Gallus’ red shaft. The pony’s flared glans dribbled precum onto the griffon’s belly. Gallus heard himself whine in pleasure and anticipation.

His pony’s eyes squeezed shut suddenly. Sandbar whinnied. “I think I-I’m, oh Light-“

Gallus thrust his hips several times in quick succession, shoving his slick, knotted dick against the underside of the pony’s flared head.

Sandbar cried out and shuddered and bucked his hips. Gallus watched in excitement as the flared flesh throbbed. In a rush, a huge eruption of stallion seed splashed against his beak. Gallus cried out, feeling his own orgasm building. Cum landed on his chest, his stomach. Sandbar shot his loads with a ferocity Gallus loved. He watched his pony empty himself and screeched in ecstasy as his own orgasm hit. His own eruptions were mostly contained under the pony’s larger organ, making a rough mess of his own tawny stomach fur, but Sandbar’s staff shrunk away and the last few bursts joined the mess the pony had made on the griffon’s chest.

Gallus gasped for breath and felt like he was sinking even farther into the plush bedding. He sighed contentedly. “I hope they gave us enough towels.”