Sandbar shifted anxiously and took a deep, calming breath. You can do this, he thought. His throat was dry, but he swallowed anyway. He lifted up a hoof, and it froze there, as if an invisible magic force held it in place. Move forward, hoof. Move forward. Just knock on the stupid door!
His hoof didn't move.
Fine, he thought, I'll just have to trick myself. He closed his eyes, and in his mind, he was standing in front of his grandma's door. With a short sniff, his nose picked up the sanitary scent of the dormitory hall, but he convinced himself he could also smell freshly baked peanut butter cookies through the door. A small shiver of excitement ran through his body. In the back of his mind, he knew it was based on a lie, but he pushed that thought away until all he could feel was anticipation of seeing Grandma again. All he had to do was...
His hoof struck the door three times.
"Come in," said his grandma, who sounded oddly like Gallus.
Sandbar opened the door and his eyes, and stepped into the room where his smile died, kept in place by force but lacking the comfortable warmth that had been behind it.
There he was. Gallus. Lying on his bed, curious smile on his beak, relaxed and casual as if nothing life-changing were about to happen, and oh Celestia, Sandbar's legs were shaking.
"Hey, Sandbar. What's up?" Gallus asked. His voice was so calm, so innocent and optimistic. So... sexy.
No! Sandbar thought. Stay focused. You're here now. So do it.
Gallus stopped smiling and tilted his head. "You alright there, buddy?"
"Yes," Sandbar squeaked, then cleared his throat a little too violently. "I mean, yes. Just fine and dandy. Maybe a little more dandy than fine, but definitely both. Usually I'm probably more fine than dandy, but today is just one of those days where I'm definitely more dandy than—"
"Sandbar," Gallus interrupted. He waited for the flustered pony to compose himself, and made eye contact to ensure he was listening. "There's obviously something wrong. Tell me what it is."
Sandbar could feel his heart pounding, and he worried that Gallus could see it. His chest was certainly physically throbbing outward, involuntarily betraying his nervousness. It just had to be. He could feel his heartbeat all the way up in his head, behind his eyes. Surely, it was visible—
"Hellooo? Anyone home?" Gallus asked, derailing Sandbar's paranoid train of thought.
"Yeah," Sandbar said. As he opened his mouth, tears of frustration threatened to come, but he steeled himself. He took a long, deep breath to communicate to Gallus that he was preparing to speak, but needed a moment.
Okay, just like at the door. You've said it a million times to Gram Gram, this is no different. Just three simple words. Yes. I can do it. I will do it. It's not Gallus, it's just my grandma.
Another deep breath, this time to speak.
"I love you, Grandma," Sandbar said. His eyes flew wide open. "Gallus! I mean Gallus."
"Huh?" Gallus asked, clearly taken by surprise. He blinked as the words sunk in. "Oh. Oh... wow. Really?"
Sandbar nodded stiffly, feeling like he was going to vomit.
As Gallus slowly digested the new information, he blinked and moved his beak as if speaking. For some reason, a low, hollow sound was all that came out, and he and the room spun and faded away.
As Sandbar's eyelids fluttered and his mind drifted away, he realized he could sure go for a peanut butter cookie.
Sandbar woke up smiling. He felt like he had just had a wonderful full night's sleep. Sandbar? Odd, though, that what he saw was black metal mesh and crumpled paper. And the side of his neck hurt, like it had been hit hard enough to bruise. Sandbar! One of his legs was under him, bent at an uncomfortable angle, and he licked his lips and blinked several times, as if testing to see that his face still worked.
"Sandbar! Are you okay?" came a caring and familiar voice.
Through the mesh, he noticed a pillar, yellow at its base, that became green and feathery as it went upward. It moved. The perspective sunk in, and he realized it was Gallus's claw. Then he remembered. The door. The room. Gallus. The confession. The peanut butter cookie.
"Oh no," he said, and tried to lift his head. Paper crinkled loudly in his ear, and the claw grabbed the mesh and pulled it away, spilling papers on the floor.
"Sandbar! Oh, thank the winds you're okay," Gallus said.
"What happened?" he asked, despite already having a good idea. Part of him hoped no answer would come.
"You passed out, and your face landed in my wastebasket. Don't worry, there's nothing gross in it."
Sandbar groaned, brought on by a mix of shame and neck pain. He rolled over and pushed himself up into a sitting position. "I'm so, so sorry. I shouldn't have—"
And there was a beak on his lips. Already lightheaded, he felt near to passing out again, but managed to stay conscious as Gallus kissed him. The griffon pulled back, looking about as anxious as Sandbar had felt.
Gallus mumbled something about Professor Applejack under his breath. "Sandbar, I've had a crush on you ever since we first met," he said.
"Wha... really? Then, were you really flirting with me at the Amity Ball? I wasn't imagining it?" Sandbar asked, hope rising up and threatening to fill his heart to bursting.
"Yeah... yeah, I was. It wasn't even on purpose, really. Griffons tend to get jealous over potential... well... you know. And seeing you there with Yona brought it out, and made me say some things. I wanted to be happy for you, but it's not exactly easy to control." Gallus sighed.
"Wait... you thought Yona and I...? Gallus. The Fetlock Fête was always strictly a friendship dance. I like Yona as a friend, but not... the same way I l-like, uh... you," Sandbar said, his face burning red with a fierce blush.
"We just kissed, Sandbar. Are you really still being shy about this?" Gallus asked. He was smirking, so Sandbar knew he was only teasing.
"Hey, not my fault you griffons aren't taught modesty," Sandbar retaliated with a similar smirk.
"Ha, I'm about to make you all kinds of modest," Gallus said, and advanced on the still-blushing pony. He kissed him on the lips, opening his beak to make it deeper, and Sandbar moaned appreciatively.
A yellow talon wandered down over Sandbar's side, and to his cutie mark. The pony pulled back from the kiss. "Mmh... Gallus... you wanna, uh... you know?"
"No, what?" Gallus asked, tilting his head.
"The... thing. The thing couples do?"
"We're already kissing." Gallus looked genuinely confused, frustrating Sandbar.
"No, like, more than kissing. The next thing. Like, after kissing." Green hooves made unclear gestures.
"There's a part after kissing?"
"Are you—no. I mean, yes, but—" Sandbar said, verbally stumbling. Then he saw another smug grin on Gallus's face.
"Sex, Sandbar. It's called sex. And yes, of course I wanna have sex with you. You're just really cute when you get flustered."
Sandbar let out a breath that he didn't realize he had been holding. "You jerk," he laughed.
Gallus giggled. "Now, come here and kiss me again."
The couple lay in Gallus's bed, recovering from strenuous lovemaking.
"Hey, Sandbar?" Gallus said.
"Yeah?"
"When you said you love me..."
Gallus paused, and Sandbar's heart raced as he nodded for him to continue. Was Gallus about to return his affections? Confess his own love? Ask him on a date? Hint at marriage? The moment of silence stretched on for Sandbar, and his ears strained to hear words that were not yet spoken but about to be. He leaned forward, if only so the griffon's voice would reach him a millionth of a second sooner.
"...why did you call me Grandma?"
Smolder's claw tapped the crystal table of the Tree of Harmony treehouse impatiently. Where was that stupid changeling? That stupid, lovely, sweet, beautiful, amazing changeling. She was late for lunch!
"Hey, Smolder," Ocellus said from behind, causing Smolder to start.
"What did I say about sneaking up on a dragon?" Smolder said and turned to face Ocellus, eyes narrow.
"That you might accidentally bite my head off, but good luck biting my head off when..." Ocellus said, and with a small blue flash, her head and neck disappeared. "... I don't have one!"
Smolder laughed. "Okay, okay, that was good. Wait, how are you talking?"
Ocellus reverted to her normal form and smirked. "You don't wanna know."
Smolder laughed again, then tossed a ruby into her mouth and chewed on it with a harsh crunch. She held a second one out to Ocellus as she swallowed the gem. "Want one?"
"I don't think I can eat gems," Ocellus said with a smile. Then she froze. She blinked. "Wait, what did you just say?"
"Huh? I asked if you wanted a ruby," Smolder said.
"Yeah. That. You never, and I mean never offer anycreature else your gems."
Smolder stopped. She licked her lips, and her eyes darted about, as if seeking an answer. "Uh, must have just never occurred to me until now. Yeah, that's it."
"No... no, that isn't it. Aren't dragons supposed to be super protective of their hoards?"
"Hey, that's not true. We share sometimes." Smolder crossed her arms and turned her head away with her eyes closed. One eye opened and snuck a peek back at Ocellus stealthily.
"Oh, yeah? With who?"
"With our... friends?"
"You've never shared with any of us at the school," Ocellus pointed out. "You're not saying that we weren't your friends this whole time, are you?"
Smolder was backed into a corner. She sighed and thought of how upset Professor Applejack would be that she had tried to lie her way out of this. "Fine. We share with... mates."
Ocellus tilted her head. "Are we mates?"
"No! I mean, not right now. Not unless you... maybe... want to be?" Smolder felt so lame at that moment. Dragons were normally very direct, and would often simply claim their mates without even asking, but she had picked up so many habits from the school that she couldn't do that to Ocellus.
"Sure."
Wow, that was easy, Smolder thought, bewildered.
"Cool," she said totally nonchalantly, and was definitely not nervous at all despite her awkward, forced smile and sudden squeaky voice.
Ocellus laughed. "Did I surprise you? Changelings tend to be pretty casual about relationships. It's just in our nature."
"And here I was, worrying you'd reject me."
"I would never! I love you."
Smolder coughed, spraying Ocellus with small bits of ruby. "You love me?"
"Yeah. I love all of my friends."
"Oh, that kind of love. I thought you meant romantically."
"Yeah, romantically." Ocellus tilted her head again and blinked as if confused as to why this wasn't clear.
"That's not how romantic love works," Smolder said with a frustrated grimace.
"It is for changelings. I guess we just feel it different than you."
"Well, dragons get pretty jealous, so if we're gonna do this, you can't love anycreature romantically except me."
"I can't change how I feel. I mean, all I can promise is that I won't kiss or mate with anycreature but you."
Smolder rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "You know what? That works for me," she said, holding out another ruby. "So, want one now?"
Ocellus smiled deviously. "Sure," she said. Her tongue slid out of her mouth and stretched all the way across the table, wrapped around the gem, and quickly snapped it back into her mouth. She pushed half of it out to show Smolder.
"Whoa. That was hot," Smolder said, fidgeting. "Uh... so, since we're mates now, you wanna bang?"
Grinning, Ocellus climbed onto the table to kiss her new lover. "Oh, Hive, yes."
Yona kissed Silverstream sloppily and passionately, nearly swallowing the hippogriff's face. Silverstream giggled as she pulled away, covered in yak slobber.
"Wow, Yona, you're a really good kisser," she said.
"Yaks best at kissing! But you not bad either," Yona replied.
"Thanks. I never thought I'd end up dating a yak."
"Yona not expect to date hippogriff either."
They shared a delighted laugh, and embraced, Yona's large and warm body making Silverstream feel safe next to her.
"Hey, Yona, I have a question," Silverstream said, running a claw over her lover's horn. Yona nodded, smiling. "Why are we together again?"
Yona scrunched her face in thought. "Yona not remember. Not remember, but also not care. Yona love Silverstream."
"Awww, I love you too, Yona," Silverstream said. "It's just weird that I can't remember how this happened."
"Probably because yaks best at sex!" Yona cried proudly.
Silverstream blushed. "Yona! That's... that's lewd!"
"In Yakyakistan, we have saying. Once you have yak, you never go back. That because yaks best."
"Well, yeah, that's true, but I can't shake this feeling that some other force is just putting us together. I mean, we don't even share any common interests! I love water, but you hate it. You like smashing things, but I can hardly even smash a twig! Isn't that a bit strange?" Silverstream offered a disarming smile in case what she said might upset Yona.
"Hmm... that make sense, yes."
"Should we tell Twilight?"
"That sound like good plan."
There was a silent tension in the air. Silverstream licked her beak anxiously. Yona sniffed, and her face twitched. They both blinked, their breathing heavy. Something between them broke, like an invisible barrier disappearing, and they lunged at each other, kissing fervently once they were together.
Silverstream spoke between deep kisses from her beloved yak. "Mmmh. Maybe we can—mmf—tell her—mmmnh—in a couple hours."
"See? Yaks best at sex," Yona said.
Silverstream was nearly comatose after what she had just experienced. Normally, the whole "yaks best at everything" stuff was exaggerated, but she couldn't deny what she had just experienced. Her vision wouldn't focus, and and simply nodded, unable to form a coherent thought and put it into words.
"Yona can tell Twilight about weird love while Silverstream sleep," Yona offered.
Silverstream nodded again. As soon as Yona left, Silverstream immediately felt indescribably lonely. Her lover was gone! Would she ever come back? How dare she be anywhere but right there, in bed?!
The hippogriff placed her claws over her eyes and wept softly.
