The Nowhere King

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.